Qin and Han · Ruler

Emperor Xiaocheng 孝成皇帝

Xiàochéng Huángdì

Died BC 7

Passages
168
Chapters
26
Histories
4

Overview

The translated histories identify Emperor Xiaocheng as a royal family member and ruler. This record brings together 168 passages from 26 chapters across 4 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

TypeEnglishChinesePinyin
Personal Emperor Xiaocheng 孝成皇帝 Xiàochéng Huángdì
Temple Cheng 成 Cheng
Regnal Cheng 成 Chéng
Temple name Cheng 成帝
Title Cheng 成帝
Temple Cheng 成
Temple name Cheng 成 Cheng
Posthumous Chengdi 成帝 Chengdi
Temple name Chengdi 成帝 Chéngdì
Regnal Chengdi Chengdi
Posthumous Chengdi 成帝 Chéngdì
Regnal Chengdi 成帝 Cheng Di
Title Emperor 帝 Di
Title Emperor 帝
Regnal Emperor Cheng 成帝 Chengdi
Posthumous Emperor Cheng 成帝
Title Emperor Cheng 成帝 Cheng Di
Temple Emperor Cheng 成帝 Chéng dì
Regnal Emperor Cheng 成帝 Cheng Di
Regnal name Emperor Cheng 成帝
Temple Emperor Cheng 成帝
Temple name Emperor Cheng 成帝
Posthumous Emperor Cheng 成帝 Cheng Di
Title Emperor Cheng 成帝 Chengdi
Temple Emperor Cheng 孝成 Xiàochéng
Temple name Emperor Cheng 孝成帝 Xiaochengdi
Title Emperor Cheng 成帝
Title Emperor Cheng 成
Posthumous Emperor Cheng 孝成 Xiàochéng
Temple name Emperor Cheng 成帝 Chengdi
Posthumous Emperor Cheng 成帝 Chengdi
Posthumous Emperor Cheng 成帝 Chéngdì
Regnal Emperor Cheng of Han 漢成帝
Temple name Emperor Cheng of Han 漢成帝 Han Chengdi
Temple Emperor Xiaocheng 孝成帝 Xiaocheng Di
Posthumous Filial Emperor Cheng 孝成皇帝 Xiao Cheng Huangdi
Courtesy Grandson of the Emperor 太孫 Tàisūn
Title His Majesty
Title Son of Heaven 天子 Tianzi
Title the emperor 上
Title the late emperor 先帝
Title the sage ruler 聖主 Shengzhu
Posthumous Xiaocheng 孝成 Xiàochéng
Title Your Majesty 陛下
Title 天子
Temple 孝成 Xiao Cheng

Identity

Historicity
Historical
Identification
Named
Sex
Male

Roles

  • Royal Family Member
  • Ruler

Life and dates

Birth

  • Place: Painted Hall of the Jia Lodge · Date: Text: 元帝在太子宮 · Resolved: false
    Explicit · hanshu:011:s0303

Death

  • Date Context: Source Date: Text: 成帝崩 · Western Year: BC 7
    Explicit · hanshu:091:s0220
  • Date Context: Source Date: Text: 綏和二年三月 · Western Year: BC 7
    Explicit · hanshu:012:s0026
  • Date Text: 綏和二年三月丙戌 · Place: Weiyang Palace / 未央宮 · Unresolved: true
    Explicit · hanshu:011:s0293
  • Text: Emperor Cheng died (崩)
    Explicit · hanshu:070:s0262

Age

Attested activity

Family

Immediate source-linked family. Drag to pan, scroll or pinch to zoom, and select a person to open their record.

Origins and identity

Career and standing

Places and affiliations

Events and relationships

Source notes

References in the histories

Open any source group to read the Chinese and English passage in context.

Book of Han, Chapter 11Volume 10: Annals of Emperor Cheng · 29 passages
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贊曰：臣之姑充後宮為婕妤，父子昆弟侍帷幄，數為臣言成帝善修容儀，升車正立，不內顧，不疾言，不親指，臨朝淵嘿，尊嚴若神，可謂穆穆天子之容者矣！ Praise says: The minister's paternal aunt filled the rear palace as a Lady, and father, sons, and brothers served the curtains and canopy. Frequently spoke to the minister saying that Emperor Cheng was good at cultivating his appearance and conduct—ascending the chariot he stood upright, not looking back inward, not speaking rapidly, not pointing personally, facing court in deep silence, dignified like a god—can truly be called the solemn and solemn appearance of the Son of Heaven!
Book of Han, Chapter 12Volume 11: Annals of Emperor Ai · 7 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 27Volume 24b: Treatise on Trade 2 · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 38Volume 29: Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 42Volume 33: Wei Bao, Tian Dan and Hán Xin (King of Han) · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 48Volume 39: Xiao He and Cao Shen · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 70Volume 60: Du Zhou · 23 passages
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唯陛下正後妾，抑女寵，防奢泰，去佚游，躬節儉，親萬事，數御安車，由輦道，親二宮之饔膳，致晨昏之定省。 Correct the harem hierarchy, curb excessive favor to women, shun luxury and idle sport, practice personal frugality, mind the myriad details of government yourself, ride often in the modest state carriage along the palace carriage ways, attend your mother and aunt in the two palaces in person, and perform the morning and evening courtesies of a filial son.
其春，丞相方進薨，業上書言：「方進本與長深結厚，更相稱薦，長陷大惡，獨得不坐，苟慾障塞前過，不為陛下廣持平例，又無恐懼之心，反因時信其邪辟，報睚眥怨。 That spring Chancellor Zhai Fangjin died. Du Ye submitted a memorial saying, "Fangjin had been deeply bound in friendship with Chang and repeatedly recommended each other. Chang fell into great wickedness yet alone escaped punishment. Fangjin wished to cover his former faults, did not extend evenhanded standards for Your Majesty, and lacked fear; instead he seized the moment to trust Chang's perverse ways and repay a grudge for a trifle.
會成帝崩，哀帝即位，業復上書言：「王氏世權日久，朝無骨鯁之臣，宗室諸侯微弱，與系囚無異，自佐史以上至於大吏皆權臣之黨。 It happened that Emperor Cheng died and Emperor Ai took the throne. Du Ye again submitted a memorial saying, "The Wang clan has held power for generations. The court has no blunt-spoken ministers. Imperial clansmen and feudal lords are weak, no different from bound prisoners. From clerks upward to great officials, all are partisans of the power-holders.
Book of Han, Chapter 75Volume 64b: Yan, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang, and Jia 2 · 1 passage
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Book of Han, Chapter 85Volume 74: Wei Xiang and Bing Ji · 1 passage
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成帝時，修廢功，以吉舊恩尤重，鴻嘉元年制詔丞相御史：「蓋聞褒功德，繼絕統，所以重宗廟，廣賢聖之路也。 In Emperor Cheng’s time, neglected services were restored to honor. Because Bing Ji’s old kindness was especially weighty, in the first year of Hongjia an edict was issued to the chancellor and imperial secretary: ‘We have heard that commending merit and virtue and continuing broken lines of succession are ways to honor the ancestral temples and broaden the path for worthies and sages.
Book of Han, Chapter 88Volume 77: Gai, Zhuge, Liu, Zheng, Sun, Wujiang and He · 6 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 91Volume 80: The Six Sons of Emperors Xuan and Yuan · 11 passages
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楚孝王囂，甘露二年立為定陶王，三年徙楚，成帝河平中入朝，時被疾，天子閔之，下詔曰：「蓋聞『天地之性人為貴，人之行莫大於孝』。 Prince Xiao of Chu, Ao, was enfeoffed as king of Dingtao in Ganlu 2 and transferred to Chu in Ganlu 3. During the He Ping era under Emperor Cheng he came to court but fell ill. The emperor pitied him and issued an edict: "We have heard that 'among the nature of Heaven and Earth, humanity is most prized, and among human conduct nothing is greater than filial piety.'
Book of Han, Chapter 94Volume 83: Xue Xuan and Zhu Bo · 7 passages
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是時，成帝初即位，宣為中丞，執法殿中，外總部刺史，上疏曰：「陛下至德仁厚，哀閔元元，躬有日仄之勞，而亡佚豫之樂，允執聖道，刑罰惟中，然而嘉氣尚凝，陰陽不和，是臣下未稱，而聖化獨有不洽者也。 Emperor Cheng had only just taken the throne. As vice-imperial secretary, Xue Xuan upheld the law inside the halls and coordinated the regional inspectors outside. He wrote: "Your Majesty's kindness is boundless: you grieve for the people, labor past sunset without thought of rest, and hold true to the sage's path so penalties stay even—yet good omens remain scarce and yin and yang stay out of tune. The fault lies with officials who fall short of your example, not with your own transforming power.
Book of Han, Chapter 96Volume 85: Gu Yong and Du Ye · 34 passages
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書陳於前，陛下委棄不納，而更使方正對策，背可懼之大異，問不急之常論，廢承天之至言，角無用之虛文，欲末殺災異，滿讕誣天，是故皇天勃然發怒，甲己之間暴風三溱，拔樹折木，此天至明不可欺之效也。」 The writing was set before you, but Your Majesty cast it aside and did not accept it; instead you again had upright men answer policy questions, turning your back on terrifying great anomalies and asking about ordinary arguments that were not urgent, discarding the utmost words that receive Heaven’s charge and competing in useless empty rhetoric. You wished to minimize and kill off the disasters and anomalies, fully deceiving and slandering Heaven; therefore High Heaven burst out in anger, and between the jia and ji days violent winds came three times, uprooting trees and snapping timber. This is the clearest proof that Heaven cannot be deceived."
陛下誠深察愚臣之言，致懼天地之異，長思宗廟之計，改往反過，抗湛溺之意，解偏駁之愛，奮乾剛之威，平天覆之施，使列妾得人人更進，猶尚未足也，急復益納宜子婦人，毋擇好醜，毋避嘗字，毋論年齒。 If you heed this counsel, dread Heaven's signs, think long on the ancestral shrines, mend past errors, shake off sensual obsession and lopsided favor, show the firmness of the sovereign's will, and spread your favor evenly so every consort may in turn attend you—even that would not suffice: you must urgently take in more women likely to bear sons, without regard to looks, taboo homonyms, or age.
陛下棄萬乘之至貴，樂家人之賤事，厭高美之尊號，好匹夫之卑字，崇聚□輕無義小人以為私客，數離深宮之固，挺身晨夜，與群小相隨，烏集雜會，飲醉吏民之家，亂服共坐，流面媟嫚，混淆無別，閔免遁樂，晝夜在路。 You abandon imperial dignity for the pleasures of the street, spurn your rightful style for a low nickname, pack your retinue with riffraff, slip the palace night and day, carouse in commoners' houses, sit in disheveled company, smear your face in debauch, and spend your nights on the road like a vagabond.
今陛下輕奪民財，不愛民力，聽邪臣之計，去高敞初陵，捐十年功緒，改作昌陵，反天地之性，因下為高，積土為山，發徒起邑，並治宮館，大興繇役，重增賦斂，征發如雨，役百乾溪，費疑驪山，靡敝天下，五年不成而後反故。 You heed evil counsel, abandon the first mausoleum site, waste a decade of labor to raise Changling against nature—piling hills, dragging conscripts from town to town, throwing up palaces, doubling taxes, drafting men like rain until the burden recalls King Chu's Qianxi or the First Emperor's Lishan—exhausting the empire, and after five fruitless years you fell back to the old plan.
方今社稷宗廟禍福安危之機在於陛下，陛下誠肯發明聖之德，昭然遠寤，畏此上天之威怒，深懼危亡之徵兆，蕩滌邪辟之惡志，厲精緻政，專心反道，絕群小之私客，免不正之詔除，悉罷北宮私奴車馬□出之具，克己復禮，毋二微行出飲之過，以防迫切之禍，深惟日食再既之意，抑損椒房玉堂之盛寵，毋聽後宮之請謁，除掖庭之亂獄，出砲格之陷阱，誅戮邪佞之臣及左右執左道以事上者以塞天下之望，且寢初陵之作，止諸繕治宮室，闕更減賦，盡休力役，存恤振救困乏之人以弭遠方，厲崇忠直，放退殘賊，無使素餐之吏久屍厚祿，以次貫行，固執無違，夙夜孳孳，屢省無怠，舊愆畢改，新德既章，纖介之邪不復載心，則赫赫大異庶幾可銷，天命去就庶幾可復，社稷宗廟庶幾可保。 At present, the turning point for the altars of state and ancestral temples, for disaster or blessing, safety or danger, lies with Your Majesty. If Your Majesty will truly bring forth enlightened and sagely virtue, awaken clearly from afar, fear Heaven's anger, deeply dread the signs of peril and ruin, wash away perverse intentions, govern with concentrated vigor, turn wholly back to the Way, cut off the private retainers among petty men, revoke improper appointments, strip the Northern Palace of its private slaves, carriages, horses, and outing equipment, restrain yourself and return to ritual, and end the repeated fault of going out incognito to drink, then urgent disaster may be prevented. Ponder deeply the meaning of the two total solar eclipses, curb the harem's lavish favor, refuse palace petitions, clear out the disorderly cases in the Yeeting, remove the burning-pillar torture pits, execute corrupt favorites and those around you who serve you by heterodox arts, suspend the initial mausoleum works, stop palace repairs, reduce taxes and corvee, rest the laboring people, aid the poor, honor the loyal and upright, dismiss the cruel, and do not let idle officials long hold rich salaries. Carry these out in order, hold firmly to them without deviation, inspect yourself day and night without slackening, correct all old faults, let new virtue shine, and allow no tiny perversity to lodge again in your heart. Then the great anomalies may perhaps be dispelled, Heaven's Mandate may perhaps return, and the altars of state and ancestral temples may perhaps be preserved.
Book of Han, Chapter 98Volume 87a: Yang Xiong 1 · 6 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 99Volume 87b: Yang Xiong 2 · 3 passages
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明年，上將大誇胡人以多禽獸，秋，命右扶風發民入南山，西自褒斜，東至弘農，南驅漢中，張羅罔羆罘，捕熊羆、豪豬、虎豹、□、狐菟、麋鹿，載以檻車，輸長楊射熊館。 The following year the emperor meant to dazzle the nomads with the empire’s teeming game. That autumn he had the governor of Right Fufeng press commoners into the Qinling range from Baoxie in the west to Hongnong in the east and south into Hanzhong, stringing nets and traps for bears, boars, tigers, leopards, lynxes, foxes, hares, and deer, then hauling the catch in barred wagons up to the Changyang hunting park.
Book of Han, Chapter 103Volume 91: Usurers · 4 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 104Volume 92: Youxias · 3 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 105Volume 93: Flatterers · 12 passages
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Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 8 passages
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初，成帝性寬，進入直言，是以王音、翟方進等繩法舉過，而劉向、杜鄴、王章、朱雲之徒肆意犯上，故自帝師安昌侯，諸舅大將軍兄弟及公卿大夫、後宮外屬史許之家有貴寵者，莫不被文傷詆。 Cheng's easy temper invited blunt speech, so ministers such as Wang Yin and Zhai Fangjin policed the law while scholars like Liu Xiang, Du Ye, Wang Zhang, and Zhu Yun flayed the throne; from the imperial tutor the marquis of Anchang through the Wang uncles and every powerful consort kin of the Shi and Xu lines, no favorite escaped their written attacks.
Book of Later Han, Chapter 31Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan · 1 passage
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Book of Later Han, Chapter 89Volume 80a: Biographies of Writers 1 · 1 passage
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Book of Later Han, Chapter 125Volume 114: Officials Part One · 1 passage
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Book of Later Han, Chapter 127Volume 116: Officials Part Three · 2 passages
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Book of Later Han, Chapter 128Volume 117: Officials Part Four · 2 passages
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History of Jin, Chapter 130Volume 130 Biographies 68: Exemplary Women: The Wife of A Lin; The Wife of Li Baoxin; The Wife of Han Qingmin; Lei Fu, née Shi; Kang Zhuzhu; The Wife of Li Wen; The Wife of Li Ying; The Wife of Xiang Qi; A Luzhen; The Wife of Sahe Nian; The Wife of Xu Gu; Feng Miaozhen; Lady Pucha; Lady Wugulun; The Wife of Su Lan; The Wife of Mang Ge; Lady Yin; Lady Bai; Nie Xiaonü; The Wife of Zhong De; Lady Li of Baofu; Zhang Fengnu · 1 passage
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History of Song, Chapter 197Volume 197 Treatises 150: Military 11 · 1 passage
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