1
列傳第五十明四王
Biographies 50: the four sons of Emperor Ming who received princely rank.
2
明帝十二子：陳貴妃生後廢帝，謝脩儀生皇子法良，陳昭華生順帝，徐婕妤生第四皇子，鄭脩容生皇子智井，次晉熙王燮，與皇子法良同生。 泉美人生邵陵殤王友； 次江夏王躋，與第四皇子同生。 徐良人生武陵王贊，杜脩華生隨陽王翽。 次新興王嵩，與武陵王贊同生。 又泉美人生始建王禧。 智井、燮、躋、贊並出繼。 法良未封，第四皇子未有名，早夭。
Emperor Ming fathered twelve sons: Consort Chen’s son became the later deposed ruler; Lady Xie’s son was Prince Fa-liang; Lady Chen the Bright Consort bore Shun; Lady Xu the Fourth Prince; Lady Zheng bore Prince Zhijing; next came Prince Xie of Jinxi, Fa-liang’s full brother. Lady Quan gave birth to Prince You, posthumously ennobled as Prince Shao-ling. Next was Prince Ji of Jiangxia, the Fourth Prince’s full brother. Lady Xu of lower rank bore Prince Zan of Wuling; Lady Du the Accomplished bore Prince Hui of Suiyang. Then came Prince Song of Xinxing, Prince Zan’s twin by the same mother. Lady Quan also bore Prince Xi of Shijian. Zhijing, Xie, Ji, and Zan were each given in adoption to continue collateral houses. Fa-liang died before investiture; the Fourth Prince never even received a personal name—both perished in childhood.
3
新興王嵩，字仲嶽，明帝第十一子。 元徽四年，年六歲，封新興王，食邑二千戶。 齊受禪，降封定襄縣公，食邑千五百戶。 謀反，賜死。
Prince Song of Xinxing, styled Zhongyue, was the eleventh son of Emperor Ming. In 476, at the age of six, he was made Prince of Xinxing with a fief of two thousand households. When the Qi founder took the throne from the Song, Song was reduced to county duke of Dingxiang with fifteen hundred households. Convicted of plotting rebellion, he was ordered to take his own life.
4
始建王禧，字仲安，明帝第十二子也。 元徽四年，年六歲，封始建王，食邑二千戶。 齊受禪，降封荔封縣公，食邑千五百戶。 謀反，賜死。
Prince Xi of Shijian, styled Zhongan, was the twelfth son of Emperor Ming. In 476, at the age of six, he was made Prince of Shijian with a fief of two thousand households. When Qi succeeded the Song, Xi was demoted to county duke of Lifeng with fifteen hundred households. Convicted of plotting rebellion, he was ordered to take his own life.
5
史臣曰：太宗負螟之慶，事非己出，枝葉不茂，豈能庇其本根。 侯服於周，斯為幸矣。
The historians observed that Mingdi’s line rested on an adopted succession: those sons were not truly of his own issue, and a sparse canopy of twigs cannot shield the trunk. To end merely as a Zhou-style fief-holder was, under the circumstances, the kinder fate.