Qin and Han · Grandee Secretary

Zhou Chang 周昌

Attested BC 204 - BC 149

Passages: 31
Chapters: 3
Histories: 2

Overview

The translated histories identify Zhou Chang as an aristocrat, official, and statesman. This record brings together 31 passages from 3 chapters across 2 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.

Names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Personal	Zhou Chang	周昌	Zhou Chang
Given	Chang	昌	Chang
Title	Grandee Secretary	御史大夫
Posthumous	Marquis Dao	悼侯
Title	Marquis of Fenyin	汾陰侯
Surname	Zhou	周	Zhou
Personal name	Zhou Chang	周昌	Zhou Chang

Identity

Historicity: Historical
Identification: Named
Sex: Male

Sex: male
Explicit · hanshu:006:s0088, hanshu:051:s0026, shiji:011:s0056

Roles

Aristocrat
Official
Statesman

Life and dates

Death

Explicit · hanshu:051:s0078

Attested activity

Source Date: Text: 中元年 · Western Year: BC 149
Explicit · hanshu:006:s0088, shiji:011:s0056
Source Date: Text: 六年 · Western Year: BC 201
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0037
Source Date: Text: 漢三年 · Western Year: BC 204
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0031

Family

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

Ancestor of Zhou Zuoche (周左車)
Kinship Term: grandson / 孫 · Generation Distance: 2
Kinship Term: grandson / 孫 · Generation Distance: 2
Parent of Child of Zhou Chang (周昌子)
Kinship Term: child / 子 · Parentage: biological
Kinship Term: child / 子 · Parentage: biological
Sibling of Zhou Ke (周苛)
Kinship Term: cousin / 從兄 · Shared Parentage: uncertain · Subject Relative Age: elder
Parent of Son of Zhou Chang (周昌子)
Kinship Term: son / 子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: father · Object Role: son

Kinship Role: grandsons · Note: grandsons enfeoffed as marquises; unnamed (count not stated; recorded as plural minimum 2) · Count: 2
Explicit · hanshu:006:s0088

Career and standing

Label: imperial counsellor / 御史大夫 · Action: appointed
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0035
Label: Grandee Secretary / 御史大夫 · Action: held
Explicit · shiji:011:s0056
Label: minister of Zhao / 趙相 · Action: transferred
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0065
Title: Marquis of Fenyin / 汾陰侯 · Action: enfeoffed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 六年 · Western Year: BC 201
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0037

Places and affiliations

Place: Pei / 沛
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0026

Works and attributed material

Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0042, hanshu:051:s0045, hanshu:051:s0046

Assessments and attributes

Assessment: blunt and forceful · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0039, hanshu:051:s0141
Kind: speech-impediment · Statement: stuttered
Explicit · hanshu:051:s0045

References in the histories

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

Book of Han, Chapter 6Volume 5: Annals of Emperor Jing · 1 passage

封故御史大夫周苛、周昌孫子為列侯。 He enfeoffed the grandsons of the former Grandee Secretaries Zhou Ke and Zhou Chang as marquises.

Book of Han, Chapter 51Volume 42: Zhang, Zhou, Zhao, Ren and Shentu · 29 passages

周昌者，沛人也。 Zhou Chang was a native of Pei.

及高祖起沛，擊破泗水守監，於是苛、昌以卒史從沛公，沛公以昌為職志，苛為客。 When the High Ancestor rose at Pei and overthrew the Sishui governor and his inspector, the Zhou brothers followed the Lord of Pei in their old clerkships; the Lord of Pei named Zhou Chang duty officer and Zhou Ke a guest-retainer.

沛公立為漢王，以苛為御史大夫，昌為中尉。 When the Lord of Pei became King of Han, he appointed Zhou Ke imperial counsellor and Zhou Chang commandant of the guard.

漢王於是拜昌為御史大夫。 The King of Han then named Zhou Chang imperial counsellor.

六年，與蕭、曹等俱封，為汾陰侯。 In the sixth year he was enfeoffed along with Xiao He, Cao Shen, and the rest, as marquis of Fenyin.

昌為人強力，敢直言，自蕭、曹等皆卑下之。 Zhou Chang was blunt and fearless; even Xiao He and Cao Shen treated him with deference.

昌嘗燕入奏事，高帝方擁戚姬，昌還走。 Once, when Zhou Chang came in informally to report on business, he found the High Ancestor with Lady Qi in his arms and beat a hasty retreat.

高帝逐得，騎昌項，上問曰：「我何如主也？」 The High Ancestor caught up, threw an arm over his shoulders like a rider's grip, and asked, "What kind of sovereign do you take me for?"

昌仰曰：「陛下即桀、紂之主也。」 Zhou Chang looked him in the eye and said, "You are a sovereign in the mold of Jie or Zhou—the last kings of Xia and Shang."

於是上笑之，然尤憚昌。 The emperor laughed—but from then on he was warier of Zhou Chang than ever.

而昌庭爭之強，上問其說，昌為人吃，又盛怒，曰：「臣口不能言，然臣期期知其不可。 Zhou Chang opposed him just as fiercely in open court. Asked to explain, he stammered with rage: "I—I cannot find the words, but I know in my bones this must not happen.

呂後側耳於東箱聽，見昌，為跪謝曰：「微君，太子幾廢。」 Empress Lü had been listening from the eastern gallery. When she met Zhou Chang afterward, she knelt in gratitude and said, "Had it not been for you, the heir would have been lost."

趙堯為符璽御史，趙人方與公謂御史大夫周昌曰：「君之史趙堯年雖少，然奇士，君必異之，是且代君之位。」 Zhao Yao served as clerk of tallies and seals. A Zhao native known as the lord of Fangyu said to Imperial Counsellor Zhou Chang, "That clerk of yours, Zhao Yao, is young, but he is no ordinary man. Mark my words—he will one day take your chair."

昌笑曰：「堯年少，刀筆吏耳，何至是乎！」 Zhou Chang laughed. "Zhao Yao is a youngster—a mere scribal clerk. How could he rise that high?"

堯曰：「御史大夫昌，其人堅忍伉直，自呂後、太子及大臣皆素嚴憚之。 Zhao Yao answered, "Imperial Counsellor Zhou Chang is stubborn, plain-spoken, and unbending. The empress, the heir, and every senior minister already tread softly around him.

獨昌可。」 He alone will do."

於是召昌謂曰：「吾固欲煩公，公強為我相趙。」 He summoned Zhou Chang and said, "I hate to impose on you, but I need you to take the chancellorship of Zhao."

昌泣曰：「臣初起從陛下，陛下獨奈何中道而棄之于諸侯乎？」 Zhou Chang wept. "I have followed Your Majesty since the very beginning. How can you cast me off midway among the regional kings?"

於是徙御史大夫昌為趙相。 Imperial Counsellor Zhou Chang was therefore transferred to the chancellorship of Zhao.

既行久之，高祖持御史大夫印弄之，曰：「誰可以為御史大夫者？」 Some time after Zhou Chang had left, the High Ancestor turned the imperial counsellor's seal over in his hands and asked, "Who is fit to be imperial counsellor now?"

高祖崩，太后使使召趙王，其相昌令王稱疾不行。 After the High Ancestor's death, the empress dowager sent for the king of Zhao. Chancellor Zhou Chang had the young king plead illness and refuse to travel.

使者三反，昌曰：「高帝屬臣趙王，王年少，竊聞太后怨戚夫人，欲召趙王並誅之。 The envoys came back three times. Zhou Chang replied, "The late emperor left the king of Zhao in my care. The boy is young, and word has reached me that the empress dowager bears a grudge against Lady Qi and means to summon the king of Zhao so she can destroy them together.

相至，謁太后，太后罵昌曰：「爾不知我之怨戚氏乎？ When he arrived at court and was admitted to her presence, she rounded on Zhou Chang: "Do you not know how I hate the Qi house?

昌既被征，高後使使召趙王。 Once Zhou Chang had been called away, Empress Gao sent again for the king of Zhao.

王果來，至長安月餘，見鴆殺。 The boy came. Within little more than a month of his arrival in Chang'an he was dead—poisoned.

昌謝病不朝見，三歲而薨，諡曰悼侯。 Zhou Chang pleaded illness and stayed away from court. He died three years later and was given the posthumous title Dao—the Lamented Marquis.

景帝復封昌孫左車為安陽侯，有罪，國除。 Emperor Jing later restored the line, enfeoffing Zhou Chang's grandson Zuoche as marquis of Anyang, but that fief, too, was stripped after a conviction.

初，趙堯既代周昌為御史大夫，高祖崩，事惠帝終世。 Zhao Yao had succeeded Zhou Chang as imperial counsellor before the High Ancestor died, and he served out Emperor Hui's entire reign.

周昌，木強人也。 Zhou Chang was a blunt, obstinate man.

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 11Annals of the Xiaojing Emperor · 1 passage

中元年，封故御史大夫周苛孫平為繩侯，故御史大夫周昌（子）［孫］左車為安陽侯，四月乙巳，赦天下，賜爵一級。 In the first year of the middle period, he enfeoffed Ping, grandson of the former Grandee Secretary Zhou Ke, as Marquis of Sheng, and Zuoju, grandson of the former Grandee Secretary Zhou Chang, as Marquis of Anyang. On the yisi day of the fourth month, he granted a general amnesty throughout the empire and bestowed one grade of noble rank.