Wife of Bo (巨嫂) | 24 Histories

Overview

The translated histories identify Wife of Bo as a 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
Personal	Wife of Bo	巨嫂
Descriptive kinship	eldest brother's wife	巨嫂
Descriptive kinship	sister-in-law	嫂

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Anonymous individuated
Sex: Female

Sex: female
Explicit · shiji:050:s0003

Roles

Family Member

Life and dates

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 始高祖微時 · Western Interval: Start: BC 210 · End: BC 206
Explicit event contextual date · shiji:050:s0003

Family

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

Spouse of Bo (伯)
Kinship Term: brother's wife / 嫂 · Union Category: marriage · Subject Role: wife · Object Role: husband
Parent of Xin (信)
Kinship Term: his mother / 其母 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: mother

Events and relationships

Kind: personal · Role: host · Action: feigned-empty-stew
Explicit · shiji:050:s0004, shiji:050:s0005

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: not virtuous · Provenance: Mode: speech · Speaker Person Id: Emperor Gaozu (高祖)
Explicit · shiji:050:s0007

Source notes

Historicity: historical
Explicit · shiji:050:s0003

References in the histories

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Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 50House of Prince Yuan of Chu · 4 passages

Open chapter

始高祖微時，嘗辟事，時時與賓客過巨嫂食。 In the early days, when Gaozu was still a man of humble station, he would shirk his duties and often bring guests to dine at his eldest brother's wife's home.

嫂厭叔，叔與客來，嫂詳為羹盡，櫟釜，賓客以故去。 His sister-in-law grew tired of her brother-in-law. Whenever he arrived with guests, she would pretend the stew had run out and scrape the pot loudly, so the guests would take their leave.

已而視釜中尚有羹，高祖由此怨其嫂。 But when they looked in the pot afterward, there was still plenty of stew. From that day on, Gaozu bore a grudge against his sister-in-law.

太上皇以為言，高祖曰：「某非忘封之也，為其母不長者耳。」 The Retired Emperor raised the matter, and Gaozu replied, "It is not that I forgot to grant him a fief—it is because his mother was no woman of virtue."