1
楚元王劉交者，高祖之同母少弟也，字游。
Liu Jiao, King Yuan of Chu, was the youngest brother of Emperor Gaozu by the same mother, and bore the courtesy name You.
2
高祖兄弟四人，長兄伯，伯蚤卒。 始高祖微時，嘗辟事，時時與賓客過巨嫂食。 嫂厭叔，叔與客來，嫂詳為羹盡，櫟釜，賓客以故去。 已而視釜中尚有羹，高祖由此怨其嫂。 及高祖為帝，封昆弟，而伯子獨不得封。 太上皇以為言，高祖曰：「某非忘封之也，為其母不長者耳。」 於是乃封其子信為羹頡侯。 而王次兄仲於代。
There were four brothers in all. The eldest, Bo, died young. 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. 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. 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. When Gaozu became emperor and enfeoffed his brothers, Bo's son alone received no fief. 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." He then enfeoffed Bo's son Xin as the Marquis of Gengjie. His second eldest brother, Zhong, was made King of Dai.
3
高祖六年，已禽楚王韓信於陳，乃以弟交為楚王，都彭城。 即位二十三年卒，子夷王郢立。 夷王四年卒，子王戊立。
In the sixth year of Gaozu's reign, having captured Han Xin, the King of Chu, at Chen, the emperor appointed his brother Jiao as King of Chu, with his capital at Pengcheng. After twenty-three years on the throne, he died, and his son Ying succeeded him as King Yi. King Yi reigned for four years before his death, and his son Wu succeeded him.
4
王戊立二十年，冬，坐為薄太后服私姦，削東海郡。 春，戊與吳王合謀反，其相張尚、太傅趙夷吾諫，不聽。 戊則殺尚、夷吾，起兵與吳西攻梁，破棘壁。 至昌邑南，與漢將周亞夫戰。 漢絕吳楚糧道，士卒饑，吳王走，楚王戊自殺，軍遂降漢。
In the twentieth year of King Wu's reign, during winter, he was found guilty of committing adultery during the mourning period for Empress Dowager Bo, and the commandery of Donghai was stripped from him. In spring, Wu joined the King of Wu in a conspiracy to rebel. His chancellor Zhang Shang and Grand Tutor Zhao Yiwu remonstrated with him, but he refused to listen. Wu had Shang and Yiwu executed, raised his troops, and marched west with the forces of Wu against Liang, breaching the fortifications at Jibi. They advanced as far south as Changyi, where they engaged the Han general Zhou Yafu in battle. The Han forces cut off the supply lines of Wu and Chu. The soldiers starved. The King of Wu fled, and King Wu of Chu took his own life. The army then surrendered to Han.
5
漢已平吳楚，孝景帝欲以德侯子續吳，以元王子禮續楚。 竇太后曰：「吳王，老人也，宜為宗室順善。 今乃首率七國，紛亂天下，柰何續其後！」 不許吳，許立楚後。 是時禮為漢宗正。 乃拜禮為楚王，奉元王宗廟，是為楚文王。
After Han had pacified Wu and Chu, Emperor Jing wished to restore the line of Wu through the son of the Marquis of De, and the line of Chu through King Yuan's son Li. Empress Dowager Dou said, "The King of Wu was an elder of the realm. He should have been a model of obedience and virtue among the imperial clan. Instead, he took the lead in rallying seven states to throw the realm into chaos—how can we perpetuate his line!" The request for Wu was denied, but permission was granted to continue the line of Chu. At that time, Li was serving as the Director of the Imperial Clan for the Han court. Li was then appointed King of Chu to carry on the ancestral sacrifices of King Yuan, and he became known as King Wen of Chu.
6
文王立三年卒，子安王道立。 安王二十二年卒，子襄王注立。 襄王立十四年卒，子王純代立。 王純立，地節二年，中人上書告楚王謀反，王自殺，國除，入漢為彭城郡。
King Wen reigned for three years before his death. His son Dao succeeded him as King An. King An reigned for twenty-two years and died. His son Zhu succeeded him as King Xiang. King Xiang reigned for fourteen years and died, and his son Chun took the throne. After King Chun took the throne, in the second year of the Dijie era, a palace attendant submitted a memorial accusing the King of Chu of plotting rebellion. The king took his own life, the state was abolished, and its territory became the Pengcheng commandery under Han.
7
趙王劉遂者，其父高祖中子，名友，謚曰「幽」。 幽王以憂死，故為「幽」。 高后王呂祿於趙，一歲而高后崩。 大臣誅諸呂呂祿等，乃立幽王子遂為趙王。
Liu Sui, King of Zhao—his father was the middle son of Emperor Gaozu, named You, who was given the posthumous title of You, 'the Secluded.' King You died of grief, and so received the posthumous name 'the Secluded.' Empress Dowager Gao installed Lu Lu as King of Zhao, but within a year she passed away. The great ministers put to death the Lu clansmen, including Lu Lu, and then established Sui, son of King You, as King of Zhao.
8
孝文帝即位二年，立遂弟辟彊，取趙之河閒郡為河閒王，（以）［是］為文王。 立十三年卒，子哀王福立。 一年卒，無子，絕後，國除，入于漢。
In the second year after Emperor Wen took the throne, he established Sui's younger brother Piqiang as King of Hejian, carving out the Hejian commandery from Zhao for this purpose. He became known as King Wen. He reigned for thirteen years and died. His son Fu succeeded him as King Ai. He reigned for just one year before dying without an heir. The line was extinguished, the state abolished, and the territory reverted to Han.
9
遂既王趙二十六年，孝景帝時坐晁錯以適削趙王常山之郡。 吳楚反，趙王遂與合謀起兵。 其相建德、內史王悍諫，不聽。 遂燒殺建德、王悍，發兵屯其西界，欲待吳與俱西。 北使匈奴，與連和攻漢。 漢使曲周侯酈寄擊之。 趙王遂還，城守邯鄲，相距七月。 吳楚敗於梁，不能西。 匈奴聞之，亦止，不肯入漢邊。 欒布自破齊還，乃并兵引水灌趙城。 趙城壞，趙王自殺，邯鄲遂降。 趙幽王絕後。
After Sui had been King of Zhao for twenty-six years, in Emperor Jing's time, he was implicated through the policies of Chao Cuo and had the commandery of Changshan stripped from his domain. When Wu and Chu rose in rebellion, King Sui of Zhao joined the conspiracy and raised his own troops. His chancellor Jiande and Interior Minister Wang Han remonstrated with him, but he would not listen. Sui had Jiande and Wang Han burned alive, deployed troops to garrison his western border, and planned to wait for the forces of Wu before advancing west together. He dispatched envoys northward to the Xiongnu, seeking an alliance to jointly attack Han. Han dispatched Li Ji, the Marquis of Quzhou, to attack him. King Sui of Zhao withdrew and fortified Handan. The two sides held each other at bay for seven months. Wu and Chu were defeated at Liang and could advance no further west. When the Xiongnu learned of this, they too held back and refused to cross into Han territory. Luan Bu, returning from his victory over Qi, combined his forces and diverted the river to flood the walls of Zhao. The walls of Zhao collapsed. The King of Zhao took his own life, and Handan surrendered. The line of King You of Zhao was thus extinguished.
10
太史公曰：國之將興，必有禎祥，君子用而小人退。 國之將亡，賢人隱，亂臣貴。 使楚王戊毋刑申公，遵其言，趙任防與先生，豈有篡殺之謀，為天下僇哉？ 賢人乎，賢人乎！ 非質有其內，惡能用之哉？ 甚矣，「安危在出令，存亡在所任」，誠哉是言也！
The Grand Historian remarks: When a state is about to rise, auspicious signs are sure to appear—the worthy are given office and the petty retreat. When a state is about to fall, the wise withdraw into seclusion and the treacherous are elevated. Had King Wu of Chu not punished Master Shen but heeded his counsel, and had Zhao entrusted its affairs to Fang and his fellow scholars, how could there have been conspiracies of usurpation and bloodshed, bringing shame upon the realm? O, the worthy! O, the worthy! Without possessing true substance within oneself, how can one make use of the worthy? How profoundly true is the saying: 'Whether a state knows security or peril depends on the decrees it issues; whether it survives or perishes depends on whom it appoints'—these words ring true indeed!