Lady Xia (夏姬) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Lady Xia as a consort and royal family member. This record brings together 4 passages from 1 chapter across 1 history, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Lady Xia	夏姬	Xià Jī
Title	Empress Dowager Xia	夏太后	Xià Tàihòu
Title	Lady Xia	夏姬	Xià Jī
Descriptive kinship	Zichu's mother	子楚母

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Female

Sex: female
Explicit · shiji:085:s0008

Roles

Consort
Royal Family Member

Life and dates

Death

Date Context: Source Date: Text: 始皇七年 · Western Year: BC 240
Explicit · shiji:085:s0072

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 始皇七年 · Western Year: BC 240
Explicit · shiji:085:s0072
Source Date: Text: 秦昭王四十二年 · Western Year: BC 265
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:085:s0004, shiji:085:s0008
Source Date: Text: 莊襄王元年 · Western Year: BC 249
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:085:s0051

Family

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

Spouse of King Xiaowen (孝文王)
Kinship Term: concubine / 姬 · Union Category: concubinage · Relationship State: active
Parent of King Zhuangxiang (莊襄王)
Kinship Term: mother / 母 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: mother · Object Role: son

Career and standing

Status: empress-dowager · Action: honored
Explicit · shiji:085:s0051

Places and affiliations

Polity: Qin / 秦 · Relation: of
Explicit · shiji:085:s0008
Place: east of Du / 杜東 · Relation: buried-at
Explicit · shiji:085:s0074

Works and attributed material

Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true
Explicit · shiji:085:s0074, shiji:085:s0075

References in the histories

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

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 85Biography of Master Lü Buwei · 4 passages

Open chapter

安國君中男名子楚，子楚母曰夏姬，毋愛。 One of Lord Anguo's middle sons was named Zichu. His mother, Lady Xia, had long fallen out of favor.

莊襄王所母華陽后為華陽太后，真母夏姬尊以為夏太后。 King Zhuangxiang elevated his adoptive mother, Queen Huayang, to the title of Empress Dowager Huayang, and his birth mother, Lady Xia, was honored as Empress Dowager Xia.

始皇七年，莊襄王母夏太后薨。 In the seventh year of the First Emperor's reign, Empress Dowager Xia, the mother of King Zhuangxiang, died.

夏太后子莊襄王葬芷陽，故夏太后獨別葬杜東，曰「東望吾子，西望吾夫。 Her son, King Zhuangxiang, was buried at Zhiyang. Therefore, Empress Dowager Xia was buried separately, east of Du. She had said, "To the east I shall gaze upon my son, and to the west upon my husband.