Five Dynasties · Ruler

Gaozu 高祖

First attested AD 934; died AD 942

Passages: 15
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Gaozu was a ruler.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Nickname	that Shi fellow	石郎

Life and dates

Death

AD 942 天福七年夏五月
Cause Illness
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 12

Attested activity

AD 936 三年
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 5, 7-8
AD 942 天福七年夏五月
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 12
AD 937 天福二年三月
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 9, 11
AD 934 to AD 936 自廢帝立
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 4

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Spouse of Empress Li (李氏)
consort 后 · Primary marriage
consort 皇后 · Primary marriage
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 1-2, 8
Child of Father of Gaozu (高祖之父)
father 父 · paternal line
Strongly inferred · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 10
Parent of Chonggui (重貴)
son 子 · Uncertain parentage
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 22, 31, 46
Child of Consort Liu (劉氏)
stepmother 庶母 · Step parentage
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 10

Origins and identity

House House of Shi 石氏
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 30, 45

Career and standing

Suspected
AD 934 to AD 936 自廢帝立 · Suspected of rebellion
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 4
AD 936 高祖即位
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 8

Places and affiliations

Polity Later Jin 晉 · Relation Founded
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 8, 30
At Bing and Fen 並、汾 · Relation Active at · Mode quoted-document Speaker Empress Li (李氏)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 43
At Taiyuan 太原 · Relation Based at
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 5, 22

Events and relationships

Deferred investiture because the ancestral temple was not yet built
AD 937 天福二年三月 · Ritual · Decision maker
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 11
Grew still less secure
AD 936 三年 · Political · Subject
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 7
Honored Liu as empress dowager
AD 942 七年夏五月 · Edict · Issuer · With Consort Liu (劉氏)
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 12
Rose at Taiyuan and consulted the Khitan emperor about leaving a son
AD 936 先帝起太原時 · Military · Founder · With Yelü Deguang (耶律德光) · At Taiyuan 太原
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 22
Relation Ritual son of · Person Yelü Deguang (耶律德光)
Strongly inferred · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passages 30, 45

Assessments and attributes

Assessment often stood in awe of Empress Li · With Empress Li (李氏) · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 14

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · New History of the Five Dynasties 17, passage 1

References in the histories

Search passages

History

15 passages

New History of the Five Dynasties, Chapter 17Volume 17: The Later Jin Imperial Family · 15 passages

高祖皇后李氏 Empress Li, Consort of Gaozu

高祖皇后李氏，唐明宗皇帝女也。 Empress Li, Gaozu’s consort, was a daughter of Tang’s Emperor Mingzong.

自廢帝立，常疑高祖必反。 Once the Deposed Emperor rose, he constantly feared Gaozu would rebel.

三年，公主自太原入朝千春節，辭歸，留之不得，廢帝醉，語公主曰：「爾歸何速，欲與石郎反邪？」 In the third year the princess came from Taiyuan for the Qianchun Festival; when she asked leave to go home they could not hold her. The Deposed Emperor, drunk, told the princess: “Why leave so fast—do you plan to rebel with that Shi fellow?”

公主歸，以語高祖，高祖由是益不自安。 The princess went home and told Gaozu; from then on he felt still less secure.

高祖即位，公主當為皇后。 When Gaozu succeeded, the princess was to be made empress.

太妃，高祖庶母劉氏也。 The Grand Consort was Liu, Gaozu’s stepmother.

高祖以宗廟未立，謙抑未皇。 Gaozu, the ancestral temple not yet built, was humble and deferred.

七年夏五月，高祖已病，乃詔尊太妃為皇太后，然卒不奉冊而高祖崩，故后訖高祖世亦無冊命。 In the fifth month of summer, Tianfu 7, Gaozu, already failing, decreed the Grand Consort empress dowager—but died before the patent could be given, and the empress received no investiture at all in Gaozu’s lifetime.

太后為人強敏，高祖常嚴憚之。 The dowager was sharp and resolute; Gaozu often feared her.

昔先帝起太原時，欲擇一子留守，謀之北朝皇帝，皇帝以屬我，我素以為其所知，卿為我草奏具言之，庶幾活我子母。」 When my late father first raised the banner at Taiyuan, he meant to leave one son behind and asked the Khitan emperor’s counsel; the emperor chose me—I always thought he understood. Draft a memorial for me and tell the whole story plainly; perhaps it will save my mother and me.”

先人有田一成，有眾一旅，兵連禍結，力屈勢孤。 My forebear held one field and one band of men; battle piled on disaster until his strength failed and he stood alone.

旋屬天降鞠凶，先君即世，臣遵承遺旨，纂紹前基。 Then Heaven sent down grief and my late father died; I obeyed his last charge and succeeded to carry on what he had built.

妾伏念先皇帝頃在並、汾，適逢屯難，危同累卵，急若倒懸，智勇俱窮，朝夕不保。 I remember when my late husband was at Bing and Fen, sudden hardship fell; danger stacked like eggs, urgency like a man hung upside down; wit and courage were spent and each day and night held no promise.

不幸先帝厭代，嗣子承祧，不能繼好息民，而反虧恩辜義。 Alas, my late husband died; the heir took the ancestral line but could not keep peace and renew friendship—instead he wronged kindness and broke faith.