1
愍皇帝，明宗第五子從厚也。 為人形質豐厚，寡言好禮，明宗以其貌類己，特愛之。 天成二年，以檢校司徒拜河南尹、判六軍諸衞事，加檢校太保、同中書門下平章事。 從厚妃，孔循女也，安重誨怒循以女妻從厚，三年，罷循樞密使，出從厚為宣武軍節度使。 明年，徙鎮河東。 長興元年，封從厚宋王，徙鎮成德。 二年，徙鎮天雄，累加兼中書令。 四年十一月，秦王從榮伏誅。 明宗病甚，遣宦者孟漢瓊召王于鄴，而明宗崩，祕其喪六日。 十二月癸卯朔，發喪于西宮，皇帝即位于柩前，羣臣見於東階，復于喪位。 丙午，成服于西宮。 二代五君，於此始見嗣君即位服喪之事，先君得其終，嗣君得其始，而免禍亂於臣民，於篡亂之世，稀見之事也，故特詳言之。 庚戌，登光政門樓，存問軍民。 辛亥，殺司衣王氏。 癸丑，始聽政。 乙卯，殺司儀康氏。 丁巳，馮道為大行皇帝山陵使，戶部尚書韓彥惲為副，中書舍人王延為判官，禮部尚書王權為禮儀使，兵部尚書李鏻為鹵簿使，御史中丞龍敏為儀仗使，左僕射權判河南府盧質為橋道頓遞使。 丁卯，禫。 應順元年春正月壬申朔，視朝於廣壽殿。 乙亥，契丹使都督沒辣於來。 戊寅，大赦，改元，用樂。 回鶻可汗王仁美遣使者來。 沙州、瓜州遣使者來。 乙未，朱弘昭、馮赟獻錢助作山陵。 閏月丙午，冊皇太后。 甲寅，冊太妃王氏。 北京留守石敬瑭獻銀絹助作山陵。 二月庚寅，視作山陵。 鳳翔節度使潞王從珂反。 辛卯，西京留守王思同為西面行營都部署，靜難軍節度使藥彥稠為副。 三月丙辰，思同兵潰，嚴衛指揮使尹暉、羽林指揮使楊思權以其軍叛降於從珂。 辛酉，殺侍衛親軍都指揮使朱弘實。 癸亥，河陽三城節度使康義誠為鳳翔行營都招討使，王思同為副。 西京副留守劉遂雍叛降於從珂，思同奔歸於京師，不克，死之。 丁卯，京城巡檢使安從進叛，殺馮赟，朱弘昭自殺，從進傳其二首於從珂。 戊辰，如衛州。
Emperor Min was Conghou, the fifth son of Mingzong. He was broad and solid in build, quiet, and fond of ritual. Mingzong loved him especially because he looked like him. In Tiancheng 2, with the title acting Minister over the Masses, he was appointed governor of Henan and supervisor of the Six Armies and the Guards; he was also given the titles acting Grand Guardian and joint manager of affairs with the Secretariat-Chancellery. Conghou’s consort was Kong Xun’s daughter. An Chonghui was angered that Kong Xun had married her to Conghou; in the third year, Xun was removed as privy commissioner and Conghou was sent out as military governor of Xuanwu. The next year, he was transferred to the Hedong command. In Changxing 1, Conghou was made Prince of Song and transferred to the Chengde command. In the second year, he was transferred to Tianxiong and eventually given the additional title concurrent Director of the Secretariat. In the eleventh month of the fourth year, Congrong, Prince of Qin, was put to death. When Mingzong became gravely ill, he sent the eunuch Meng Hanqiong to summon the prince from Ye. Mingzong then died, and his death was kept secret for six days. On the guimao new moon of the twelfth month, the death was announced in the Western Palace. The emperor ascended before the coffin; the assembled ministers presented themselves at the eastern steps and then returned to their mourning positions. On bingwu, the court formally assumed mourning dress in the Western Palace. Across two dynasties and five rulers, this is the first case in which a successor took the throne and observed mourning: the former ruler had a proper end, the successor a proper beginning, and ministers and people were spared disaster. In an age of usurpation and disorder, this was rare, so the text records it in special detail. On gengxu, he mounted the Guangzheng Gate tower and addressed the soldiers and people. On xinhai, he killed Lady Wang, the Wardrobe Attendant. On guichou, he first attended to government business. On yimao, he killed Lady Kang, the Ceremonial Attendant. On dingsi, Feng Dao was appointed commissioner for the late emperor’s mausoleum, with Minister of Revenue Han Yanyun as deputy. Wang Yan served as administrative judge, Wang Quan oversaw the rites, Li Lin the procession, Long Min the honor guard, and Lu Zhi the bridges, roads, lodging, and relays. On dingmao, the concluding mourning sacrifice was performed. In the first year of Yingshun, on the new moon of the first month of spring, the Min Emperor held audience in Guangshou Hall. On yihai a Khitan envoy, the commissioner Molayu, arrived at court. On wuyin the throne proclaimed a general amnesty, altered the reign title, and restored court music. Wang Renmei, khan of the Uyghurs, dispatched envoys. Envoys came from Shazhou and Guazhou. On yiwei Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun offered funds toward Mingzong’s mausoleum. On bingwu of the intercalary month the empress dowager received her patent of investiture. On jiayin the consort dowager Lady Wang was formally invested. Shi Jingtang, who held Taiyuan as military governor and metropolitan defender, sent silver and silk for the imperial tomb. On gengyin of the second month he went in person to oversee the tomb works. Li Congke, Prince of Lu and military governor of Fengxiang, rose in rebellion. On xinmao Wang Sitong, defender of Luoyang, was named commander-in-chief of the western field army, with Yao Yanchou of Jingnan as his second. On bingchen of the third month Sitong’s force collapsed. Yin Hui of the Yanwei command and Yang Siquan of the Yulin command took their units over to Congke. On xinyou the court put to death Zhu Hongshi, commander of the Palace Attendant Personal Army. On guihai Kang Yicheng of Heyang became grand suppression commissioner for the Fengxiang campaign, with Wang Sitong again as deputy. Liu Suiyong, deputy defender of Luoyang, went over to Congke. Sitong raced for the capital, failed to break through, and was killed. On dingmao the capital inspector An Congjin mutinied, slew Feng Yun, and Zhu Hongzhao took his own life. Congjin forwarded both heads to Congke. On wuchen the Min Emperor withdrew to Weizhou.
2
不書帝崩者，當於廢帝紀書弒鄂王也。 廢帝，鎮州平山人也，本姓王氏，其世微賤，母魏氏，少寡，明宗為騎將，過平山，掠得之。 魏氏有子阿三，已十餘歲，明宗養以為子，名曰從珂。 及長，狀貌雄偉，謹信寡言，而驍勇善戰，明宗甚愛之。 自晉兵戰梁於河上，從珂常立戰功，莊宗呼其小字曰：「阿三不徒與我同年，其敢戰亦類我。」 同光二年，為衛州刺史突騎指揮使，戍於石門。 明宗討趙在禮，自魏反兵而南，從珂率戍兵自曲陽、孟縣馳出常山以追明宗。 明宗之南也，兵少，得從珂兵在後，而軍聲大振。 明宗入立，拜從珂河中節度使，封潞王。 是時，明宗春秋已高，王於諸子次最長，樞密使安重誨患之，乃矯詔河中裨將楊彥溫使圖之。 王閱馬於黃龍莊，彥溫即閉門拒之，王止於虞鄉以聞。 明宗召王還京師，居之清化裏第。 重誨數請行軍法，明宗不聽，後重誨見殺，乃起王為左衛大將軍、西京留守。 長興三年，為鳳翔節度使。 王子重吉自明宗時典禁兵，為控鶴指揮使，湣帝即位，朱弘昭、馮赟用事，乃罷重吉兵職，出為亳州團練使。 又徙王為北京留守，不降制書而宣授，又以李從璋為代。 初，安重誨得罪罷河中，以從璋為代，而重誨見殺，故王益自疑，遂據城反。 湣帝遣王思同會諸鎮兵討之，思同戰敗走，諸鎮兵皆潰。
The text does not say here that the emperor died because the event belongs in Feidi’s annals as the murder of the Prince of E. Feidi came from Pingshan in Zhenzhou. His original surname was Wang, and his family was humble. His mother, Lady Wei, was widowed young; Mingzong seized her when he passed through Pingshan as a cavalry officer. Lady Wei already had a boy called Asan, past ten. Mingzong adopted him and gave him the name Congke. Grown to manhood he was tall and formidable—quiet, dutiful, and few of words—yet a terror in the field. Mingzong doted on him. While Jin and Liang battled along the Yellow River, Congke piled up merit. Zhuangzong used his pet name and said, “Asan is more than a comrade of my years—he fights the way I do.” In Tongguang 2 (924) he was made prefect of Weizhou and commander of the surprise cavalry, stationed at Shimen. When Mingzong marched south from Wei against Zhao Zaili, Congke swept down from Quyang and Meng county through Changshan to join him. Mingzong’s column was thin on the road south, but Congke’s detachment in the rear made the host seem suddenly vast. After Mingzong seized the throne he made Congke military governor of Hezhong and created him Prince of Lu. Mingzong was old by then, and the Prince of Lu outranked every other son. An Chonghui, who controlled the Bureau of Military Affairs, grew alarmed and forged orders for Yang Yanwen, a Hezhong subordinate, to move against him. While the prince exercised horses at Yellow Dragon Manor, Yanwen barred the gates. He camped at Yuxiang and sent word to the throne. Mingzong recalled him to Luoyang and housed him in the mansion on Qinghua Lane. Chonghui pressed again and again for court-martial; Mingzong refused. After Chonghui’s fall the prince was restored as Left Guard grand general and defender of Luoyang. In Changxing 3 (932) he received Fengxiang as his circuit. Congke’s son Chongji had held the inner army since Mingzong’s reign as Crane Control commander. Once Conghou took the throne, Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun stripped him of command and posted him to Bozhou as training commissioner. They shifted the prince to Taiyuan as metropolitan defender—by word of mouth, with no written patent—and installed Li Congzhang at Fengxiang in his place. Congzhang had once succeeded An Chonghui at Hezhong when Chonghui fell. Chonghui’s execution only deepened the prince’s fears; he closed Fengxiang and rose in arms. Conghou sent Wang Sitong to rally the provincial hosts. Sitong was routed, and every allied column broke apart.
3
清泰元年三月丁巳，王以兵東。 庚申，次長安，西京副留守劉遂雍叛於唐，來降。 甲子，次華州，執藥彥稠。 丙寅，次靈寶，河中安彥威、陜州康思立叛於唐，來降。 己巳，次陜州。 康義誠叛於唐，來降。 殺宣徽使孟漢瓊。 愍帝出居於衛州。 夏四月壬申，入京師，馮道率百官迎王於蔣橋，王辭不見。 入哭於西宮，遂見群臣，道拜，王答拜。 入居於至德宮。 癸酉，以太后令降天子為鄂王，命王監國。 乙亥，皇帝即位。 丙子，率河南民財以賞軍。 丁丑，借民房課五月以賞軍。 戊寅，弒鄂王，義與「弒濟陰王」同。 慈州刺史宋令詢死之。 乙酉，大赦，改元。 戊子，殺康義誠及藥彥稠。 義誠叛于愍帝，罪宜曰「誅」，而廢帝同惡相殺，故書曰「殺」。 五月丙午，端明殿學士、左諫議大夫韓昭胤為樞密使，莊宅使劉延朗為樞密副使。 庚戌，馮道罷。 天雄軍節度使範延光為樞密使。 甲寅，賜勸進選人、宗子官。 六月庚辰，幸範延光及索自通第。 秋七月辛亥，太常卿盧文紀為中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 丁巳，立沛國夫人劉氏為皇后。 八月辛未，尚書左丞姚顗為中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 許御署官選。 「御署官」，疑是廢帝初舉兵時所置之官，以其非吏部正授，故須有旨方得選。 此於事無勸戒，不必書，以舊史不詳，故存所不知，慎傳疑也。 九月，契丹寇邊。 冬十月戊寅，李愚、劉句罷。 十二月己亥，雄武軍節度使張延郎為中書侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 契丹寇雲州。 庚寅，幸龍門。 旱。
On dingsi of the third month of Qingtai 1 (934) the prince drove his army east. On gengshen he reached Chang’an. Liu Suiyong, deputy defender of Luoyang, broke with the Tang court and submitted. On jiazi he paused at Hua prefecture and took Yao Yanchou prisoner. On bingyin he camped at Lingbao. An Yanwei in Hezhong and Kang Sil in Shanzhou turned their backs on the court and joined him. On jisi he halted at Shanzhou. Kang Yicheng abandoned the Tang cause and came over. The court had Meng Hanqiong, commissioner of the Palace Secretariat, put to death. The Min Emperor was sent to live at Weizhou. On renshen of the fourth month, in summer, he entered Luoyang. Feng Dao brought the bureaucracy to Jiang Bridge to welcome the prince, who refused to show himself. He went in to weep at the Western Palace, then received the ministers. Feng Dao bowed; the prince bowed in return. He took up residence in Zhide Palace. On guiyou the empress dowager’s edict demoted Conghou to Prince of E and put Congke in charge of the realm as regent. On yihai the Deposed Emperor took the throne. On bingzi he stripped Henan households to pay off the troops. On dingchou he seized private homes and took a fifth-month rent to feed the army. On wuyin, the Prince of E was murdered; the wording has the same force as “murdered the Prince of Jiyin.” Song Lingxun, prefect of Cizhou, died in his defense. On yiyou the new emperor proclaimed a general amnesty and changed the reign title. On wuzi Kang Yicheng and Yao Yanchou were put to death. Kang Yicheng rebelled against Mindi, so his crime should have been recorded as execution. But Feidi and Yicheng were partners in evil who killed each other, so the text says “killed.” On bingwu of the fifth month Han Zhaoyin, academician of the Duanming Hall and Left Remonstrance counsellor, became Bureau Military Affairs commissioner, with manor commissioner Liu Yanlang as deputy. On gengxu Feng Dao left office. Fan Yanguang, military governor of Tianxiong, was named Bureau Military Affairs commissioner. On jiayin he rewarded men who had memorialized for his accession and granted posts to clansmen. On gengchen of the sixth month he called at the homes of Fan Yanguang and Suo Zitong. On xinhai of the seventh month, in autumn, Lu Wenji, director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, entered the Secretariat as vice director and grand councillor. On dingsi Lady Liu of Pei was enthroned as empress. On xinwei of the eighth month Yao Ting, left vice director of the ministries, joined the Secretariat as vice director and grand councillor. The court permitted the selection of yushu officials. The “yushu officials” were probably offices created when Feidi first raised troops. Since they were not regular Ministry of Personnel appointments, they required an imperial order before they could be selected. The matter carries no lesson of praise or warning and did not need to be recorded; because the old history is unclear, the text preserves the uncertainty and carefully transmits the doubt. In the ninth month Khitan forces struck the frontier. On wuyin of the tenth month, in winter, Li Yu and Liu Gou left office. On jihai of the twelfth month Zhang Yanlang of Xiongwu became vice director of the Secretariat and grand councillor. Khitan raiders struck Yunzhou. On gengyin he traveled to Longmen. Drought gripped the land.
4
二年春二月甲戌，範延光罷。 己丑，追尊魯國太夫人魏氏為皇太后。 非嫡母，故詳其爵氏。 三月辛丑，忠武軍節度使趙延壽為樞密使。 夏五月辛卯，宣徽南院使劉延皓為樞密使。 契丹寇邊。 六月癸未，群臣獻添都馬。 「都」者，軍伍之名。 秋七月丁酉，回鶻可汗王仁美使其都督陳福海來。 劉延皓罷。 九月己酉，刑部尚書房暠為樞密使。 乙卯，渤海遣使者來。
On jiaxu of the second month in the spring of his second year, Fan Yanguang left office. On jichou the court posthumously raised Congke’s mother, Grand Lady Wei of Lu, to empress dowager. Because she was not the legitimate mother, the text gives her title and clan in detail. On xinchou of the third month Zhao Yanshou, military governor of Zhongwu, became Bureau Military Affairs commissioner. On xinmao of the fifth month, in summer, Liu Yanhao of the southern Palace Secretariat bureau took the Bureau of Military Affairs. Khitan forces again raided the frontier. On guiwei of the sixth month the ministers offered extra horses for the capital guard. “Du” was the name of a military unit. On dingyou of the seventh month, in autumn, Wang Renmei of the Uyghurs sent his commissioner Chen Fuhai. Liu Yanhao left office. On jiyou of the ninth month Fang Gao, minister of punishments, became Bureau Military Affairs commissioner. On yimao envoys arrived from Bohai.
5
三年春正月乙未，百濟遣使者來。 丁未，封子重美為雍王。 三月丙午，翰林學士、禮部侍郎馬胤孫為中書侍郎，同中書門下平章事。 河東節度使石敬瑭反。 夏五月乙卯，建雄軍節度使張敬達為太原四面都招討使，義武軍節度使楊光遠為副。 戊申，先鋒指揮使安審信叛降於石敬瑭。 己酉，振武戍將安重榮叛降於石敬瑭。 壬子，天雄軍屯駐捧聖都虞候張令昭逐其節度使劉延皓。 六月癸亥，以令昭為右千牛衛將軍，權知天雄軍事。 佗命官不書「以」，此書「以」者，明令昭猶可「以」。 甲戌，宣武軍節度使範延光為天雄軍四面招討使。 秋七月戊申，克魏州。 壬子，張令昭伏誅。 癸丑，彰聖指揮使張萬迪叛降於石敬瑭。 八月戊午，契丹使梅裏來。 九月甲辰，張敬達及契丹戰於太原，敗績，契丹圍敬達於晉安。 戊申，如河陽。 冬十月壬戌，括馬，籍民為兵。 十一月戊子，盧龍軍節度使趙德鈞為行營都統。 丁酉，契丹立晉。 閏月甲子，楊光遠殺張敬達，以其軍叛降於契丹。 敬達不書死之而書「殺」者，敬達大將，宜以義責光遠而誅之，雖不果而見殺，猶為得死，乃諷光遠殺己以叛，故書之如其志。 甲戌，契丹及晉人至於潞州。 丁丑，至自河陽。 辛巳，皇帝崩。
On yiwei of the first month in the spring of his third year, envoys came from Baekje. On dingwei his son Chongmei was created Prince of Yong. On bingwu of the third month Ma Yinsun, Hanlin academician and vice minister of rites, joined the Secretariat as vice director and grand councillor. Shi Jingtang, military governor of Hedong, rose in rebellion. On yimao of the fifth month, in summer, Zhang Jingda of Jianxiong became grand suppression commissioner for Taiyuan on every side, with Yang Guangyuan of Yiwu as his second. On wushen the vanguard commander An Shenxin defected to Shi Jingtang. On jiyou An Chongrong, officer of the Zhenwu garrison, went over to Shi Jingtang. On renzi Zhang Lingzhao, deputy of the Bearer-of-Sagacity command at the Tianxiong encampment, drove out his military governor Liu Yanhao. On guihai of the sixth month Lingzhao was made a general of the Right Thousand-Ox Guard and left in temporary charge of Tianxiong. Other appointments do not use the word “by.” It is used here to show that Lingzhao could still be appointed. On jiaxu Fan Yanguang of Xuanwu became suppression commissioner for Tianxiong on every side. On wushen of the seventh month, in autumn, the imperial army captured Weizhou. On renzi Zhang Lingzhao was put to death. On guichou Zhang Wandi of the Zhangsheng command went over to Shi Jingtang. On wuwu of the eighth month the Khitan envoy Meili arrived. On jiachen of the ninth month Zhang Jingda met the Khitan at Taiyuan and was shattered; they penned him in at Jin’an. On wushen the Deposed Emperor moved to Heyang. On renxu of the tenth month, in winter, the court seized horses and enrolled commoners as troops. On wuzi of the eleventh month Zhao Dejun of Lulong became commander-in-chief of the field army. On dingyou the Khitan enthroned the Later Jin. On jiazi of the intercalary month Yang Guangyuan murdered Zhang Jingda and took his army over to the Khitan. Zhang Jingda is not said to have died for the cause but to have been “killed.” As a senior general, he should have rebuked Yang Guangyuan on grounds of duty and executed him; even if he had failed and been killed, that would still have been an honorable death. Instead he urged Guangyuan to kill him and rebel, so the text records the death according to his own intention. On jiaxu Khitan and Jin forces arrived at Luzhou. On dingchou day he returned from Heyang. On xinsi day the emperor died.
6
年五十一，帝自焚死，晉高祖命葬其燼骨於徽陵域中。
He was fifty-one. The emperor burned himself to death, and Gaozu of Jin ordered his charred bones buried within the Huiling precinct.
7
嗚呼，君臣之際，可謂難哉！ 蓋明者慮於未萌而前知，暗者告以將及而不懼，故先事而言，則雖忠而不信，事至而悔，其可及乎？ 重誨區區獨見潞王之禍，而謀之不臧，至於殞身赤族，其隙自茲。 及湣帝之亡也，穴於徽陵，其土一壟，路人見者，皆為之悲。 使明宗為有知，其有愧於重誨矣，哀哉！
Alas—the bond between ruler and minister is a hard thing to sustain! The clear-sighted foresee trouble before it sprouts; the blind are warned that disaster is near yet feel no fear. Speak too soon and loyalty may go unbelieved; wait until ruin is upon you and regret cannot catch up. Chonghui alone, in his narrow wisdom, foresaw the Prince of Lu's doom, yet schemed badly and ended with his own death and his clan wiped out—the breach began here. When the Min Emperor died he was laid in a shallow grave at Huiling, a single mound of earth; travelers who passed by all mourned for him. If Mingzong could know from beyond the grave, he would blush for Chonghui—how lamentable!