Ancient China · Ruler

King Zhuang of Chu 楚莊王

Chu Zhuang Wang

Attested BC 613 - BC 591

Passages: 17
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

King Zhuang of Chu was a ruler.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 613 to BC 591 楚莊王之時
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 47
BC 613 to BC 591 莊王置酒
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 71

Career and standing

hegemon 霸
Achieved · Mode quotation Speaker You Meng (優孟)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 78

Places and affiliations

Polity Chu 楚 · Relation Ruled
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 47

Works and attributed material

Edict · Author · Direct quotation · Mode quotation Speaker King Zhuang of Chu (楚莊王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 50
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · With You Meng (優孟) · Mode quotation Speaker King Zhuang of Chu (楚莊王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 76
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · Mode quotation Speaker King Zhuang of Chu (楚莊王)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passages 55, 58-59

Events and relationships

Doted on a horse and housed it lavishly
Ritual · Sponsor
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 47
Granted You Meng three days to consult his wife
Political · Ruler
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 74
Held a banquet
Ritual · Host
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 71
Mistook You Meng for Sun Shuao returned to life and wished to appoint him chancellor
Political · Ruler · With You Meng (優孟)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 72
Ordered mourning and intended a grandee burial for the dead horse
Ritual · Sponsor
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 48
Sent the horse to the Grand Provisioner
Administrative · Ruler
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 62

Show 2 more source-backed claims

Startled, asked why You Meng wept
Political · Ruler
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 53
Thanked You Meng, summoned Sun Shuao's son, and enfeoffed him
Political · Ruler · With Son of Sun Shuao (孫叔敖之子)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 126, passage 88

References in the histories

Search passages

History

17 passages

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 126Biographies of Jesters · 17 passages

楚莊王之時，有所愛馬，衣以文繡，置之華屋之下，席以露床，啗以棗脯。 King Zhuang of Chu had a horse he doted on. He dressed it in embroidered silks, housed it beneath a splendid canopy, bedded it upon an open couch, and fed it dates and dried meat.

馬病肥死，使群臣喪之，欲以棺槨大夫禮葬之。 The horse grew fat, fell ill, and died. The king commanded his officials to observe mourning for it, and he wished to bury it in a double coffin with the full rites accorded a grandee.

王下令曰：「有敢以馬諫者，罪至死。」 The king issued a decree: "Anyone who dares remonstrate with me over the horse shall be put to death."

王驚而問其故。 Startled, the king demanded to know the cause of his grief.

優孟曰：「馬者王之所愛也，以楚國堂堂之大，何求不得，而以大夫禮葬之，薄，請以人君禮葬之。」 You Meng said: "The horse was Your Majesty's beloved. With all the grandeur and might of Chu at your command, what could be beyond your reach? But to bury it with the rites of a mere grandee — that is too paltry by far! I beg that you bury it with the full rites due a sovereign lord."

王曰：「何如？」 The king asked: "And how would that be done?"

諸侯聞之，皆知大王賤人而貴馬也。」 When the feudal lords hear of this, they will all understand that Your Majesty prizes horses above human beings."

王曰：「寡人之過一至此乎！ The king exclaimed: "Can my folly truly have gone so far!

優孟曰：「請為大王六畜葬之。 You Meng said: "I suggest Your Majesty bury it as one buries any beast of the barnyard.

於是王乃使以馬屬太官，無令天下久聞也。 At this, the king had the horse sent to the imperial kitchen, eager that the world should hear no more of the affair.

歲餘，像孫叔敖，楚王及左右不能別也。 After more than a year of practice, his impersonation of Sun Shuao was so perfect that neither the King of Chu nor his attendants could tell the two apart.

莊王置酒，優孟前為壽。 At a banquet held by King Zhuang, You Meng came forward to offer a toast to the king's health.

莊王大驚，以為孫叔敖復生也，欲以為相。 King Zhuang was astonished, convinced that Sun Shuao had returned from the dead. He wanted to appoint him chancellor on the spot.

莊王許之。 King Zhuang agreed.

王曰：「婦言謂何？」 The king asked: "And what did your wife have to say?"

如孫叔敖之為楚相，盡忠為廉以治楚，楚王得以霸。 Consider Sun Shuao as chancellor — he poured out his loyalty and served with perfect integrity, governing Chu so well that the king rose to become hegemon.

於是莊王謝優孟，乃召孫叔敖子，封之寢丘四百戶，以奉其祀。 At this, King Zhuang thanked You Meng. He summoned the son of Sun Shuao and enfeoffed him with four hundred households at Qinqiu, so that the ancestral sacrifices might be maintained.