 | Chapter V The history of the former Han dynasty |  |
Chapter V
INTRODUCTION
This chapter, like the other Annals, is rather a chronological summary
of the reign, amplified by the more important imperial enactments of the
period, than what we should today call a history. The history, in the
modern sense, is to be found in the "Treatises" and "Memoirs" dealing
with the period.
The chief source for this chapter, as for the preceding chapters, was
probably the corresponding section of the SC, which, in this case, comprises
the last part of ch. 10 ("The Annals of Emperor Wen") and the
whole of ch. 11 ("The Annals of Emperor Ching"). The foregoing conclusion
has however been challenged; Chang Yen, in the third century,
declared that SC ch. 11 was one of the ten chapters which Pan Ku
says were missing from that book; Szu-ma Cheng in the eighth century
says that SC ch. 11 was taken from HS ch. 5. That skeptical view
has received wide credence; Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (1873-1929) accepts it
without comment in his Yao-chi Chieh-t'i Chi-ch'i Tu-fa, p. 51.
Since Chang Yen's exact statement can better be discussed in connection
with the next chapter, I shall here merely refer the reader to
the introduction of that chapter and the conclusions there drawn. The
only sure fact is that Pan Ku found ten chapters missing from the SC;
Chang Yen seems to have made little more than a poor guess concerning
which ones they were. Chavannes, after discussing this matter, says
flatly that SC ch. 11 is not taken from HS ch. 5: "Nous ne voyons
aucune raison de mettre en doubte leur authenticité." (Mh I, cciv;
cf. also id. II, p. 496, n. 1). He also says that SC ch. 11 is quite incomplete,
that it is inferior to Szu-ma Ch'ien's other work, and that hence
the latter doubtless did not complete it as he had planned.
With Chavannes's conclusion I am in full accord. HS ch. 5 is similar
to the preceding chapters in its condensation and amplification of the
material in the corresponding chapters of the SC. SC ch. 11 is rather
sketchy; Pan Ku filled it out, chiefly from the collection of imperial
edicts which he found in the imperial files, so that this chapter contains
much that is not in the SC. Sometimes, however, Pan Ku condensed
SC ch. 11. That chapter contains a long list of the alterations in official
dealing with the bureaucracy. Mentions of ministerial appointments
are similarily transferred. The estimate of Emperor Ching in the concluding
paragraph of SC ch. 11 is moreover quite different from that in
this chapter, so much so that Pan Ku seems to be combating the unfavorable
impression given by Szu-ma Ch'ien in that paragraph. These
are precisely the phenomena we should expect if Pan Ku were basing
his account upon that of Szu-ma Ch'ien.
Perhaps the most nearly conclusive evidence for the originality of SC
ch. 11 is the curious mistake made in HS 5: 5a. Evidence from other
parts of the HS and SC shows that the text of the HS at this point is in
error (cf. n. 5.6); that error is moreover merely a condensed repetition
of the corresponding passage in SC ch. 11. The SC moreover contains
at this point additional statements omitted from the HS, so that the
HS is plainly condensing the account in the SC and has fallen into error
by copying that account. If Pan Ku had been compiling his account
independently, he would hardly have made the same mistake that SC
ch. 11 does, and would in more likelihood have given the correct information
obtainable from other parts of his own and of Szu-ma Ch'ien's book.
There is then every reason to conclude that Pan Ku followed mainly
the corresponding chapter of the SC in preparing this chapter. The
sort of material he added is the same as that in ch. 4, and has been
discussed in the introduction to that chapter.
The outstanding event during the reign of Emperor Ching was the
rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms in 154 B.C. Because it lasted only a
few months, only one paragraph is devoted to it in the Annals. Yet it
was the most serious revolt during the Former Han period. The leaders
of this rebellion were Liu P'i, King of Wu, and the descendants of Liu
Fei, King of Ch'i. A full account is given in the relevant Memoirs,
from which this abstract in condensed.
There had previously been serious trouble between Liu P'i and the
imperial family. When Emperor Ching was still Heir-apparent, while
playing an ancient game, resembling dice, he had a drunken quarrel
over precedence with his second cousin, Liu Hsien, who was the son and
heir of Liu P'i. The future Emperor took up the dice board, struck, and
killed Liu Hsien. The Heir-apparent seems to have been in the right,
for he was not punished, and the body was sent to Wu for burial. But
Liu P'i was angry and sent the body back to Ch'ang-an. Emperor Wen
smoothed the matter over and buried the murdered prince. Liu P'i
thereafter alleged that he was ill and refused to come annually to
equivalent to rebellion, but Emperor Wen, after investigation, again
smoothed matters over, granting to the offended King a stool and cane,
symbols of age, and excusing him from attendance because of his infirmities.
Liu P'i then maintained peace as long as Emperor Wen was alive.
There had also been bad feeling between the royal family of Ch'i and
the imperial family. That royal family had descended from Kao-tsu's
eldest son, Liu Fei, who did not succeed Kao-tsu because he was the child
of a concubine. When the Empress of Kao-tsu died, Liu Fei's eldest
son, Liu Hsiang, naturally thought that he would be given the imperial
throne, but Kao-tsu's followers selected Emperor Wen, a son of Kao-tsu
by another concubine. Liu Hsiang had put into the field his army and
that of the oldest active member of the imperial clan, while the future
Emperor Wen had done nothing. Hence Liu Hsiang and his clan
thought the selection unjust and were bitterly disappointed.
Chia Yi, perhaps the greatest statesman of Former Han times, warned
Emperor Wen about the possibility of rebellion by the various vassal
kingdoms, and urged weakening their power. Emperor Wen saw the
cogency of his reasoning, but also had the wisdom to see that if he
tried to take any territory from the feudal princes, such action would
induce, rather than avoid, rebellion. He rejected Chia Yi's advice and
sent him away to Ch'ang-sha, far from the court, thus placating the
vassal kings. When Liu Tse, King of Ch'i and son of Liu Hsiang, died
without heirs in 164 B.C., Emperor Wen put into practise Chia Yi's
advice, dividing the large kingdom of Ch'i into seven kingdoms, which
were given to Liu Hsiang's six brothers who had not yet been given
kingdoms. Another kingdom, Ch'eng-yang, had also previously been
made out of a section from Ch'i.
Emperor Ching favored Ch'ao Ts'o greatly, and, soon after he ascended
the throne, made the latter his Grandee Secretary. Like Chia
Yi, Ch'ao Ts'o realized the danger to the throne from the vassal kingdoms.
The strongest kingdom was Wu, rich in copper ore. Its king,
Liu P'i, minted cash and made salt from sea-water in the southern part
of his kingdom. These two enterprises produced so much revenue that
he dispensed with taxation. Ch'ao Ts'o was not willing to wait to
enfeeble Wu until the death of this king, who was already over sixty,
for he had heard that Liu P'i was making preparations for rebellion and
would rebel as soon as those preparations were complete. So Ch'ao Ts'o
urged upon Emperor Ching the importance of curtailing immediately
the power of the various vassal kings.
In doing so, he took advantage of the Han laws, which seem to have
been so numerous and flexible that hardly anyone could avoid violating
some of them. The King of Ch'u was first charged with having broken
the rule requiring continence during mourning. Ch'ao Ts'o reported
his crime and suggested that he be sentenced to execution so that
Emperor Ching might take away a large slice of his territory in commutation
of his sentence. Ch'ao Ts'o next made other accusations
against the King of Chao, part of whose territory was likewise confiscated.
The same treatment was given to the kingdom of Chiao-hsi. Thus
the vassal kings were thrown into consternation, wondering who would
suffer next.
The King of Wu knew that, as the richest and strongest of the vassal
kings, he would undoubtedly be attacked, and seems to have had private
information that the officials in the capital were planning to take away
most of his territory. He took the lead in arousing the vassal kings
against the imperial government, especially the descendants of the King
of Ch'i. His messengers arranged a coalition against the Emperor. He
especially sought the King of Chiao-hsi, who was known for his military
prowess. When a order arrived in Wu, commanding that his fairest
provinces, including the copper region, should be taken from him, the
King of Wu mobilized his army and six other kingdoms followed suit.
The news of the revolt threw Emperor Ching into a panic. Urged by
his ministers, he however promptly made arrangements to meet the
rebellion. The Han dynasty kept a very large body of troops, numbering
many tens of thousands, at the capital (cf. p. 206, n. 4). Emperor Ching
selected his father's ablest generals to lead the three armies sent against
the three groups of rebels, and made his maternal cousin, Tou Ying,
the Commander-in-chief, putting him in charge of the reserve army to
be stationed at Jung-yang.
The King of Wu had sent a letter to all the vassal kings, blaming
Ch'ao Ts'o for the conditions which led to the revolt, and urging them
to join in executing Ch'ao Ts'o. A private enemy of this powerful
minister secured an imperial audience and told Emperor Ching that if
Ch'ao Ts'o were executed and the territory of the rebels were restored to
them, they would submit. The Emperor was ready to catch at a straw.
His ablest advisors, who could have corrected him, were away with the
armies; when Emperor Ching secretly proposed the matter to three of
his high ministers, they servilly agreed and prepared a secret memorial
accusing Ch'ao Ts'o of capital crimes and begging for his execution,
together with that of his relatives. Emperor Ching secretly approved this
Ch'ao Ts'o. The latter had no suspicion of the plot; when summoned,
he dressed in his court garb and mounted his chariot to attend court.
At the market-place he was stopped, was made to get down, and was
cut in two at the waist.
This cowardly sacrifice of a loyal minister helped Emperor Ching not
at all. Some days later an aged colonel told him that Liu P'i had
visions of setting up an independent empire with himself as Eastern
Emperor; Ch'ao Ts'o's death had merely aided the rebels by removing
a faithful and far-seeing servant of the Emperor and by discouraging
bold and loyal imperial subjects.
The rebelling kingdoms included four of the seven kingdoms that had
been made out of Ch'i, viz. Chiao-hsi, Chi-nan, Tzu-ch'uan, and Chiao-tung,
together with the three other kingdoms that had been curtailed,
Wu, Chao, and Ch'u. The three other kingdoms formed from Ch'i
remained loyal. The King of Ch'i went back on his agreement to rebel
and guarded his cities. The King of Chi-pei said that his city-wall was
broken and needed to be repaired. Nothing is said about the King of
Ch'eng-yang. The King of Huai-nan, the famous Liu An, had also
planned to rebel, but his plan was thwarted by his Lieutenant Chancellor.
The high officials of the vassal kings were all appointed by the Emperor
and were expected to watch their kings; in Ch'u and Chao four loyal
officials lost their lives in attempting to prevent the revolt (cf. n. 6.5).
In Huai-nan the Lieutenant Chancellor induced his King to make him
General-in-Chief. In time of war, by custom, even a king had to obey
his General-in-chief. This official then closed the gates of the cities and
declared for the Han dynasty! An imperial general was sent to aid him;
thus revolt was averted and the king kept his throne.
Thus of the ten or more kingdoms that planned to rebel, only seven
actually put their forces into the field. The rebels were located in three
regions: Wu and Ch'u in the lower Yangtze valley, the four kingdoms
made out of Ch'i in the present Shantung, and Chao in the present
western Hopei. Chao was isolated; it sent its troops to its western
border, intending to join with the forces of Wu and Ch'u when they came
north, secure aid from the Huns, and advance upon the imperial capital.
Chao was unable to take any active part in the campaign.
The kingdoms formed from Ch'i were held back by the defections in
their ranks. They gathered to besiege the capital of Ch'i. Its king
sent a palace official to the Emperor for aid. Just when, against the
wishes of his officials, the King of Ch'i was arranging to surrender, this
allowed to speak to his King from the foot of the city-wall, on condition
that he would falsely report the defeat of the relieving army. The
man agreed, but, when he had his opportunity to speak, he sacrificed his
life in order to give his message that the relieving force had been victorious
and would soon arrive. Thus surrender was prevented. The
troops of these four kingdoms were thus held near their bases and did
little to aid the revolt.
The brunt of the fighting fell upon the troops of Wu and Ch'u. The
King of Wu assembled his troops at Kuang-ling, crossed the Huai River,
went west, made a junction with the troops of Ch'u, and attacked the
kingdom of Liang, which was ruled by Emperor Ching's full brother,
Liu Wu. The forces of Liang were routed at Chi-pi, where it is said
that several tens of thousands were killed. The King of Liang sent
another army against the rebels, but it was also defeated, so his troops
fled into his capital, Sui-yang, which was defended.
Chou Ya-fu, who was made the imperial general against the armies
of Wu and Ch'u, proposed, as his plan of campaign, to cut their communications
and allow them to wear themselves out before he attacked
them. They came from the Yangtze valley, where horses were scarce,
hence were weak in light soldiers and cavalry, while the imperial force
was strong in cavalry. Chou Ya-fu sent his cavalry to cut the communications
by which food was brought to these armies.
The King of Liang sent a messenger to Chou Ya-fu for aid. But
Emperor Ching was jealous of his brother, for Liu Wu was the favorite
child of his mother, the Empress Dowager née Tou. The Emperor
could not openly oppose his mother, but he would not have been sorry
if his brother had suffered harm, for, probably by prearrangement with
the Emperor, Chou Ya-fu refused to send aid to Liang. When Liu Wu
got Emperor Ching to order that Chou Ya-fu should send aid to Liang,
Chou Ya-fu did not pay any attention to the order, yet he was never
called to account for his disobedience of an imperial edict.
Time was with the imperial forces, and Chou Ya-fu's plan of campaign
proved wise. It was winter and the rebels had little food, for they
could not capture the cities, in which food was stored, and their communications
were interrupted. The rebels were finally defeated by Liang
and came to Hsia-yi, where Chou Ya-fu had concentrated his troops,
but Chou Ya-fu would not come out of his entrenchments to fight. Not
until more than a month after the rebellion had begun, when the troops
of Wu were scattered, had lost many through desertion, and were
of Wu and Ch'u. The King of Wu fled from the army by night and the
King of Ch'u committed suicide.
Liu P'i fled across his kingdom to the south, where he took refuge with
the barbarians of Eastern Yüeh and attempted to gather troops for
another attempt. But the emissaries of Emperor Ching induced the
people of Tan-t'u to stab Liu P'i as he was out encouraging his troops.
His head was sent to Ch'ang-an.
When the imperial forces had routed the besiegers of the capital of
Ch'i and relieved its siege, it was discovered that the King of Ch'i had
originally agreed to revolt. He committed suicide. Emperor Ching
however pardoned his heir and appointed him to succeed his father.
The kings of the four revolting kingdoms made from Ch'i either committed
suicide or were executed; their kingdoms were abolished and
made into commanderies.
When the Huns heard that Wu and Ch'u had been defeated, they did
not come to the aid of Chao. Its king retreated to his capital, Han-tan,
where he was besieged. The river was finally used to breach the city-wall,
and the King of Chao committed suicide.
Thus the imperial line was firmly established on the throne and a
break-up of the empire was prevented. Thereafter it became the set
policy of the dynasty to enfeeble the vassal kingdoms by dividing the
territory of a kingdom among all the heirs of a king, and by taking away
some territory whenever a king committed a misstep. The vassal kings
were carefully watched and supervised by their own officials (who were
appointed by the imperial court). These kings became so unimportant
that the Emperor could utterly disregard their wishes and Wang Mang
could reduce them to private life without difficulty.
The reign of Emperor Ching shows the deterioration in character that
was inevitable when an emperor had been raised in a harem and protected
from close contact with the world of action. The decay and fall
of the dynasty was eventually produced by this deterioration. Emperor
Ching indulged his petty personal feelings, allowing his likes and
dislikes to guide him in his choice and treatment of his ministers. He
showed in practise an acute distaste for frank admonitions, and allowed
palace intrigues to influence the government.
Chou Ya-fu was the most distinguished general and official in the
reign. He was a faithful and capable servant, who put down the rebellion
of the Seven Kingdoms and in reward was made Lieutenant
always trouble to bring himself into accord with Emperor Ching's likes
and dislikes. After the Emperor had divorced his first Empress and had
appointed his second Empress, the Emperor's mother suggested that the
new Empress's brother, Wang Hsin, should be made a marquis. The
procedure of ennobling the close relatives of an empress or even those
of a favorite concubine, which later became common, had not yet become
a custom, and Chou Ya-fu protested. He is reported to have said,
"Emperor Kao-tsu made a covenant with his generals that, except for
members of the Liu clan, no one should be made a king, and, except for
those who have done distinguished [military] service, no one should be
made a marquis. Now, although Wang Hsin is the older brother of the
Empress, he has done no distinguished service; to make him a marquis
would be contrary to the covenant." Emperor Ching had accordingly
to drop the matter. Later Chou Ya-fu also protested against enfeoffing
as marquises five Hun kings and nobles who surrendered to the Chinese:
"These people have turned traitor to their king and have surrendered to
your Majesty; if your Majesty makes marquises of them, then how will
you be able to reprove your subjects who do not keep faith with you?"
Emperor Ching did not think his arguments were apposite. He enfeoffed
the lot, and Chou Ya-fu resigned his position on account of illness.
The Emperor could not forget criticism and resolved to even the score.
He summoned Chou Ya-fu to a feast in the forbidden apartments of the
palace and had set before him large slices of meat without having them
cut up and without any chopsticks wherewith to eat. Chou Ya-fu fell
into the trap, and, with the easy familiarity of one who was used to
command, turned to the Master of the Mats, saying, "Bring some chopsticks."
Such a request however implied criticism of the imperial arrangements,
and Emperor Ching looked at him, laughing sarcastically,
"This too cannot be unsatisfactory to you, sir?" Chou Ya-fu begged
pardon, but the Emperor merely said, "Rise," whereupon Chou Ya-fu
hastened out. Emperor Ching looked after him and said, "This man is
tormented by desire; he cannot be a satisfactory official for the young
lord my successor."
After such an imperial condemnation, the officials merely awaited a
pretext to end his career. Before long his son purchased five hundred
suits of armor from the imperial Department of Works for use in his
father's funeral. A mistreated workman informed against the son, and
Chou Ya-fu was arrested. He proudly refused to answer the questions
put him by the officials. When Emperor Ching heard of it, he cursed
of Justice's jail. There he was again questioned and charged with
planning rebellion. Chou Ya-fu answered that these arms were merely
burial articles, whereupon an official replied, "If you, sir, do not intend to
rebel on earth, then you merely intend to rebel below the earth." The
officials pressed him harshly; he refused to eat and died in five days. Thus
was rewarded a faithful servant of the dynasty who had opposed the imperial
will for the good of the empire.
Although Emperor Ching continued the practise of his father in his
edicts, asking the officials to recommend for the bureaucracy persons
who "can speak frankly and admonish unflinchingly," yet by his actions
he tacitly encouraged sycophancy and discouraged any opposition to his
will. A century later advice contrary to the imperial will could be
denominated a crime and punished. Chou Ya-fu was the outstanding
example of the Emperor's indulgence in petty dislikes; the able and
proud Tou Ying was kept from high office all through the reign because
he had opposed the Emperor's change of his Heir. Emperor Ching
tolerated no opposition.
Intrigue showed itself most prominently in the change of the imperial
heir. Emperor Ching had fourteen sons (and numerous daughters) by
six different women of his harem, the largest number of children by any
emperor of the Former Han dynasty. He first chose as his Heir-apparent
his oldest son, Liu Jung, a son of the Concubine née Li. His other sons,
including Liu Ch'ê, the future Emperor Wu, were made kings.
The first Empress, née Po, had been appointed through the influence
of Emperior Ching's grandmother, the Grand Dowager Empress née Po,
to whose clan the Empress belonged. But the Empress had no children
and lost her husband's favor; four years after the death of the Grand
Empress Dowager, the Empress née Po was dismissed. The favorite
women of the Emperor thereupon intrigued for the vacant position.
Emperor Ching's eldest sister, Liu Piao, who was entitled an Elder
Princess, recommended to him the women of his harem whom he favored
with his attentions. She wanted to marry her daughter to the Heir-apparent,
as was often done, for the two children were of different surnames.
But the Heir-apparent's mother, the concubine née Li, was
jealous of the Elder Princess's influence with the Emperor and refused
to consent to the marriage.
The Elder Princess thereupon suggested marrying her daughter to
Liu Ch'ê, the Emperor's son by a Lady née Wang. The Lady née Wang
time on, the Elder Princess slandered the Concubine née Li to Emperor
Ching and praised the Lady née Wang. When the latter knew that the
Concubine née Li was definitely out of favor with Emperor Ching, she
moved to crystallize his feelings by sending someone to urge upon the
officials the propriety of asking for the appointment of a new Empress.
An official promptly suggested the mother of the Heir-apparent, the
Concubine née Li, as the Empress. Emperor Ching became thoroughly
wrathful at this idea and had the official who had made the suggestion
tried and executed. Then he dismissed from his position as Heir-apparent
the son of the Concubine née Li, Liu Jung, for it was the custom
that the mother of the Heir-apparent should become the Empress.
Emperor Ching next appointed as Empress his favorite, the Lady née
Wang, and then made her son, Liu Ch'ê, the Imperial Heir-apparent.
Three years later, the first Heir-apparent, Liu Jung, was imprisoned for
usurping temple land and committed suicide. Thus Emperor Wu came
to the throne because of palace intrigues.
There were other such palace intrigues: the memoirs of the important
personages of the reign are full of them. Liu Wu, Emperor Ching's
younger brother, was the favorite son of Emperor Ching's mother, and
she tried to have Liu Wu made the Heir-apparent of Emperor Ching.
Her nephew, the bold Tou Ying, advised Emperor Ching against such a
move, thus incurring the enmity of the Empress Dowager, who banished
him from the court. Later she renewed her entreaties for Liu Wu, but
Yüan Ang opposed the move. In revenge Liu Wu had Yüan Ang
assassinated. Emperor Ching was enraged and had the assassins traced
to Liu Wu's palace. The Empress Dowager wept incessantly and refused
to eat for fear that her younger son would be executed. Emperor Ching
was told by the official sent to investigate, "If now Liu Wu is not
executed, the law of the Han dynasty will not be carried out; if he is
executed, the Empress Dowager's food will be tasteless and her sleep
troubled. This trouble will come upon your Majesty." Filial piety
thus kept Emperor Ching from carrying out the law, and Liu Wu was
finally pardoned in spite of the Emperor's dislike for him.
Such incidents throw deep shadows upon Emperor Ching's reign.
They seem quite inevitable when the ruler has grown up in the luxury
and indulgence of an imperial harem. These intrigues are not told in
the "Imperial Annals," because they belong to the private life of the
individuals concerned, rather than to the official actions of the government,
which latter were alone thought to belong in the "Annals." They
in this encyclopedic history and to urge the reader to go behind
the "Annals" to the real history of the reign, which is often to be found
in the "Memoirs." An abstract of the pertinent "Memoirs" will be
found in the Glossary. * * *
Szu-ma Ch'ien, in his summary of this reign (Mh II, 509), does not
award the slightest praise to Emperor Ching; Wieger, in his Textes historiques,
I, 452 f, condemns the Emperor roundly. Pan Ku, in his
eulogy (5: 10b), on the other hand equates Emperors Wen and Ching
with Kings Ch'eng and K'ang of the Chou dynasty, which seems to be
high praise. Many of the additions made by Pan Ku to Szu-ma Ch'ien's
"Annals," especially those in the latter years of the reign, seem designed
to counteract the low impression of Emperor Ching given in the SC—
these additions show an attempt on the part of the Emperor to be
a beneficent ruler over his people, limiting severities, punishing wrongdoing,
and improving the administration. Emperor Ching does not
deserve Wieger's condemnation. In spite of the fact that many of his
deeds cannot bear scrutiny, and that his self-indulgence of petty whims
sometimes brought calamity to the highest personages, yet in general the
administration of the government was good, and the Emperor attempted
to continue the beneficence and economy of Emperor Wen.
Szu-ma Kuang, in his Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 15: 19b ff, quotes Pan Ku's
eulogy and points out that the period of Emperors Wen and Ching was
in general a time of peace and plenty, when wealth accumulated and
properity was restored, but when growing wealth also brought about the
beginning of the extravagance and luxury that was, together with continual
military expeditions, to result in the economic collapse under
Emperor Wu. The SC says little of King K'ang except that his reign
was a period of peace, so that, during his reign and that of his father,
"the mutilating punishments were set aside and not used for a period of
forty years." Inasmuch as Emperor Ching's reign was largely a period
of peace (the revolt of the Seven Kingdoms lasted only a few months),
and inasmuch as he attempted to continue the excellent tradition left
by his father, Pan Ku's comparison of Emperor Ching with King K'ang
seems quite apt.
THE BOOK OF THE [FORMER] HAN [DYNASTY]
Chapter V
THE FIFTH [IMPERIAL ANNALS]
The Annals of [Emperor Hsiao]-Ching
Emperor Hsiao-ching was the Heir-apparent of
Emperor Wen. His mother was called the Empress
[née] Tou. In the seventh year of the latter [part
Wen died; on [the day] ting-wei the Heir-apparent
took the imperial throne.[5] He honored
the Empress Dowager née Po, entitling her the Grand
Dowager Empress. The Empress [née Tou] was entitled
the Empress Dowager. In the ninth month a
comet appeared in the western quarter [of the sky].[7]
In the first year, in the winter, the tenth month,
an imperial edict said, "We have indeed heard that
the ancients regarded as founder him who achieves
great deeds and as exemplar him who possesses
virtue.[13] In establishing rites and music, each [element
of the ceremonies] should have its corresponding
motive. Songs are the means of expressing virtue.
Dances are the means of manifesting great
deeds.[14] When, in the Temple of Kao-[tsu], the
formed the Dances of Military Virtue, of the Peaceful
Beginning, and of the Five Elements.[18] When,
month wine is offered, there are performed the
Dances of the Peaceful Beginning, and of the Five
Elements.
"When Emperor Hsiao-wen administered the empire,
he opened [free] the [customs] barriers and
bridges,[21]
making no difference between [near and]
distant regions; he suppressed [the punishments for]
speaking ill and criticizing,[22]
and did away with
mutilating punishments;[23]
he bestowed and granted
[pensions] to elders and the aged;[24]
he took
care of and pitied the orphans and the childless,[25]
in order to satisfy [the desires of all] living [persons].
He restrained his likes and desires and did not receive
any presents, not enriching himself with [such] advantages.[27]
did not involve] their wives and children;[28] he did
not punish those who had committed no crimes; he
suppressed the punishment of castration,[29] and sent
their homes,[32] because] he considered important the
cutting off of these persons' posterity.
"Since We are not intelligent, [We] are not able
to know everything. [It however appears to Us] that
these things were all beyond the attainment of previous
generations, yet they have been achieved by
Emperor Hsiao-wen himself. The depth of his virtue
was equal to that of Heaven and Earth; the
benefits of his favor were extended to [the borders
of] the four seas, [so that] no one failed to receive
happiness. His brilliance was like that of the sun
and moon, yet the music in the [imperial ancestral]
temple is inadequate [to express it]. We are very
much awed. Let there be made for the Temple of
Emperor Hsiao-wen the Dance of Glorious Virtue,[33]
in order to make manifest his praiseworthy virtue.
Then only the glory and virtue of the founder and
exemplar[34]
will be exhibited for ten thousand generations,
for ever and ever without end. We approve
most highly of this. Let [the proper officials], with
the Lieutenant Chancellor [Shen-t'u Chia], the marquises,
[officials ranking at] fully two thousand
piculs,[35]
and the officials [set over] the rites, prepare
a memorial concerning these rites and observances."
[In reply], "the Lieutenant Chancellor, your subject
[Shen-t'u] Chia" and others memorialized [the
Emperor], saying, "Your Majesty is always thinking
of the Way of filial piety and has established the
the abundant virtue of Emperor Hsiao-wen. The
stupidity of us, your subjects, [Shen-t'u] Chia and
the others, prevents us from attaining to all [these
matters]. Your servants have carefully discussed
[this matter], and say:[38]
"In achievements, no one has been greater than
abundant than Emperor Hsiao-wen—the Temple of
Emperor Kao-[tsu] should be made the Temple of
the Great Founder of Emperors and the Temple of
Emperor Hsiao-wen should be made the Temple of
the Great Exemplar of Emperors.[40] The Son of
Heaven should from generation to generation make
offerings in the Temples of the [Great] Founder and
of the [Great] Exemplar. The commanderies, the
kingdoms, and the nobles should each establish a
Temple of the Great Exemplar for Emperor Hsiao-wen;
delegates from the vassal kings and the marquises
should attend at the sacrifices which the Son
of Heaven offers [yearly] in the Temples of the
[Great] Founder and of the [Great] Exemplar.[41]
world." [The Emperor's] decree said, "It may be
done."
In the spring, the first month, an imperial edict
been good harvests, so that many people are lacking
food; early death is cutting short their natural [span
of] years. We are very much pained at this [circumstance].
In some of the commanderies and kingdoms
there are stony and narrow [regions] and there
is no place for agriculture or sericulture or the
feeding and rearing [of domestic animals],[46]
[whereas] in other [commanderies and kingdoms]
there are fertile and broad regions, abundant in tall
grass,[47] and the streams and wells are advantageous,
these places]. Let it be discussed that the people
who wish to migrate to [such] broad and large regions
may be permitted to do so."
In the summer, the fourth month, an amnesty was
granted to the empire and the common people were
given one step in noble rank.[52]
[The Emperor] sent the Grandee Secretary [T'ao]
Ch'ing-ti[53]
to Tai[54]
to make peace and friendship
with the Huns.
In the fifth month [the Emperor] ordered that the
cultivated fields should pay half of their [former]
tax.[58]
In the autumn, the seventh month, an imperial
those who are superintended or governed by them,
dismissal [from their positions and noble ranks is
too] heavy [a punishment]; when they receive valuables
and articles [from such persons], or when they
purchase [things] cheaply and sell dearly, their sentences
have been [too] light. [Let] the Commandant
of Justice discuss [this matter] anew with the Lieutenant
Chancellor [in order to establish] a statutory
ordinance."
The Commandant of Justice Hsin carefully discussed
[the matter] with the Lieutenant Chancellor
[Shen-t'u Chia], and said, "If an official or anyone who
has [official] rank has received anything from his official
subordinates, whether from those superintended
by him, or those under his rule, or those of whom
he is [temporarily] in charge, or those whom he commands
[as a military leader], let those who have received
food or drink and who calculate [its value]
and repay this expense not be tried [for crime; those
who receive] other things, [not food or drink, and
officials who] have purposely bought things cheap
and purposely sold them dear must all be sentenced
for having received bribes, and treated as robbers;
If officials have been removed, exiled,
from their former official subordinates who have been
under their [military] command or under their
superintendency or control, the gift of any valuables
or things sent them, their noble ranks shall be taken
away from them and they shall be made common
soldiers, [but] shall be relieved of [any further punishment].[64]
If they have no noble rank, they shall
be fined [the equivalent of] two catties of gold and
it shall be ordered that [the amount] they have received
shall be confiscated and paid [into the treasury].
Anyone who is able to arrest or inform [of
bribery] shall be given [the amount of] the bribe
which is received [by the accused]."
In the second year, in the winter, the twelfth
month, a comet appeared in the southwest.[67] [The
Emperor] ordered that young men of the empire
should be first enregistered [for military service and
taxes] in their twentieth year.[69]
In the spring, the third month,[71] [the Emperor]
established his Imperial Sons: [Liu] Tê as King of
as King of Huai-yang, [Liu] Fei1 as King of Ju-nan,
[Liu] P'eng-tsu as King of Kuang-ch'uan, and [Liu]
Fa as King of Ch'ang-sha.
In the summer, the fourth month, on [the day]
In the sixth month the Lieutenant Chancellor,
[Shen-t'u] Chia, died.
[The Emperor] enfeoffed [Hsiao] Hsi, a grandson
of the former Chancellor of State, Hsiao Ho, as a
marquis.
In the autumn, [the Emperor] made peace and
In the third year, in the winter, the twelfth month,
the Marquis of Hsiang-p'ing, [Chi T'ung]-chia,[80] has
been unfilial and has conspired to revolt, intending
thereby to kill [his father, Chi T'ung]-chia, which is
treason and inhumanity. Let [Chi T'ung]-chia be
pardoned and be [again] made Marquis of Hsiang-p'ing,
and, together with his wife and children, who
should be condemned with him, let him be restored
to his former noble rank; let [Chi] K'uei-yüeh,
together with his wife and children, be sentenced
according to the law."[82]
In the spring, the first month, there was a visitation
King of Huai-yang [Liu Yü2], and the King of Wu,
[Liu] P'i, the King of Chiao-hsi, [Liu] Ang, the
King of Ch'u, [Liu] Mou, the King of Chao, [Liu]
Sui, the King of Chi-nan, [Liu] Pi-kuang, the King
tung, [Liu] Hsiung-ch'ü, all mobilized their troops
and rebelled. [The Emperor] granted a general
amnesty to the empire and sent the Grand Commandant,
[Chou] Ya-fu, and the General-in-chief, Tou
Ying, with troops, to attack them. [The Emperor]
had the Grandee Secretary, Ch'ao Ts'o, beheaded in
order to excuse himself to the Seven Kingdoms. In
the second month, on [the day] jen-tzu, the last
day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun.[87]
The generals routed the Seven Kingdoms, cut off
more than a hundred thousand heads, pursued and
beheaded the King of Wu, [Liu] P'i, at Tan-t'u.
The King of Chiao-hsi, [Liu] Ang, the King of Ch'u,
[Liu] Mou, the King of Chao, [Liu] Sui, the King of
Chi-nan, [Liu] Pi-kuang, the King of Tzu-ch'uan,
[Liu] Hsien, and the King of Chiao-tung, [Liu]
Hsiung-ch'ü, all committed suicide.[89]
In the summer, the sixth month, an imperial edict
said, "Recently the King of Wu, [Liu] P'i, and
others, rebelled and raised their troops to coerce
[Us], leading astray their officials and people. Their
officials and people could not do otherwise [than
follow them]. Now that [Liu] P'i and the others
have already been exterminated, let the officials and
people who should be sentenced [for being accomplices
of Liu] P'i and the others, together with those
who have absconded and fled or deserted the army,
all be pardoned. [With regard to Liu] Yi4, the son
of King Yüan of Ch'u, [Liu Chiao], and others, who
rebelled with [Liu] P'i and the others, We cannot
bear to apply the law [to them]. Let [their names]
be expunged from the register [of the imperial house]
and do not let them defile the imperial house. We
establish the Marquis of P'ing-lu, Liu Li, as King of
[The Emperor also] established his Imperial Sons,
[Liu] Tuan as King of Chiao-hsi and [Liu] Sheng as
King of Chung-shan, and granted to the common
people one step in noble rank.
In the fourth year, in the spring, [the Emperor]
ordered] the use of passports for going out and in.[95]
In the summer, the fourth month, on [the day]
Sons, [Liu] Jung as Imperial heir-apparent, and [Liu]
Ch'ê as King of Chiao-tung, and in the sixth month
an amnesty was granted to the world and the common
people were granted a step in noble rank.
In the autumn, the seventh month, the King of
[the day] mou-hsü, the last day of the month, there
was an eclipse of the sun.
In the fifth year, in the spring, the first month,
[of Yang-ling]. In the summer, [the Emperor] solicited
common people to move to Yang-ling, granting
them two hundred thousand cash.
He sent a Princess to be married to the Shan-yü
of the Huns.
In the sixth year, in the winter, the twelfth month,
In the autumn, the ninth month, the Empress
In the seventh year, in the winter, the eleventh
spring, the first month, [the Emperor] dismissed the
Imperial Heir-apparent [Liu] Jung and made him
King of Lin-chiang.[115]
In the second month, [the Emperor] abolished the
office of the Grand Commandant.[117]
In the summer, the fourth month, on [the day]
yi-szŭ, [the Emperor] established the Empress née
Wang [as Empress]. On [the day] ting-szŭ, [the
Emperor] established the King of Chiao-tung, [Liu]
Ch'ê, as Imperial Heir-apparent, and granted to those
common people who would be the successors of their
fathers one step in noble rank.[120]
In the middle [part of the reign],[122] the first year,
granted to the world and the common people were
granted one step in noble rank. [The Emperor]
enfeoffed the grandson and son of the former Grandee
Secretaries Chou Ho and Chou Ch'ang as marquises.[127]
In the second year, in the spring, the second
kings die, and when marquises are first enfeoffed and
go to their states, the Grand Herald should memorialize
[the Emperor] concerning [respectively] their
posthumous names and eulogies and their charters
[of appointment]. When marquises die and when
the nobles' Grand Tutors are first appointed and go
to their offices, the Grand Messenger shall memorialize
[the throne concerning respectively] their posthumous
appointment].[135] When kings die, an Imperial
Household Grandee shall be sent to condole, provide
grave-clothes, sacrifical food, funeral horses and
carriages, oversee the mourning ceremonies and on
to [the kingdom]. When marquises die, a Grand
Palace Grandee[138] shall be sent to condole, offer sacrifical
food, oversee the mourning ceremonies, and on
the same occasion enfeoff the heir. When they[139]
are buried, their states shall be allowed to mobilize
not more than three hundred common people for the
whole matter of pulling the hearse and mourning,
digging and replacing the earth, and building the
tomb.
The Huns entered into [the kingdom of] Yen.[140]
[The punishment of execution and] quartering [the
body] was changed to that of public execution, so
that no one was any more to be quartered.[141]
In the third month, the King of Lin-chiang, [Liu]
of the Temple of the Great Exemplar. He was summoned
[to the capital], went to [the quarters of] the
Palace Military Commander, and committed suicide.
In the summer, the fourth month, a comet
appeared in the northwest.
[The Emperor] established his Imperial Sons, [Liu]
Yüeh as King of Kuang-ch'uan and [Liu] Chi as
King of Chiao-tung.
In the autumn, the seventh month, [the Emperor]
changed [the titles of] Commandery Administrators
to be Grand Administrators, and Commandery Commandants
to be Chief Commandants.
In the ninth month, [the Emperor] enfeoffed the
sons of four persons who had been the former [Grand]
Tutor, Chancellors, and Prefect of the Capital at [the
kingdoms of] Ch'u and Chao, who had previously
died [because of] what they had done, and made
[these sons] marquises.[149]
On [the day] chia-hsü, the last day of the month,
there was an eclipse of the sun.
In the third year, in the winter, the eleventh
month, the offices of Grandee Secretaries were abolished
in [the courts of] the nobles.
In the spring, the first month, the dismissed Empress
[née Po] died.[154]
In the summer there was a drought,[156] and the
sale of wine was prohibited. In the autumn, the
ninth month, there were locusts,[160] and there was a
comet in the northwest.[161] On [the day] mou-hsü,
the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of
the sun.
[The Emperor] established his Imperial Son [Liu
Fang]-sheng as King of Ch'ing-ho.[163]
In the fourth year, in the spring, the third month,
The Grandee Secretary [Wei] Wan memorialized
and more in height whose teeth were not yet smooth
should not be allowed to go out through the [customs]
barriers.[168]
In the summer, there were locusts.
In the autumn, an amnesty was granted to the
had committed capital crimes and wished to be castrated
be thus punished].[173]
In the tenth month, on [the day] mou-wu, there
was an eclipse of the sun.
In the fifth year, in the summer, [the Emperor]
established his Imperial Son [Liu] Shun as King of
Ch'ang-shan.[179] In the sixth month an amnesty was
granted to the world and the common people were
granted one step in noble rank.
In the autumn, the eighth month, on [the day]
chi-yu, there was a visitation [of fire] at the Eastern
Portal of the Wei-yang Palace.[181]
The titles of the nobles' Lieutenant Chancellors
were changed to that of Chancellors.[182]
In the ninth month, an imperial edict said, "The
laws and ordinances, the measures and weights are
for the purpose of preventing violence and of stopping
wrongdoing. Criminal tribunals are the great
[determiners] of peoples' fate, [for] the dead cannot
come to life again. Some of the officials do
not uphold the laws and ordinances: they make a
business of presents and bribes; they form parties
and cliques and practise favoritism; they consider
merciless inquisition as penetration and exacting
cent to lose their positions (We pity them greatly),
and the guilty do not suffer for their crimes. They
violate the laws and act tyrranously. It is utterly
unspeakable. Whenever a judicial case is doubtful,
although [the decision] may have been made out as
if it fits the law, if yet it does not satisfy peoples'
minds, [the case] shall be specially referred to a
superior."[187]
In the sixth year, in the winter, the tenth month,
visit, where he] performed the suburban sacrifice at
the altars to the Five [Lords on High].[190]
In the twelfth month, he changed the names of the
execution for coining cash or [making alchemistic]
counterfeit gold.[194]
In the spring, the third month, snow fell,[197] and
in the summer, the fourth month, the King of Liang,
[Liu Wu3], died.[200] [The Emperor] divided Liang
into five kingdoms and established all the five sons
of King Hsiao [Liu Wu3] as kings.
In the fifth month an imperial edict said, "Now
the officials are the teachers of the people. It is
proper for their carriages and quadrigae, their clothes
and robes to be proportionate [to their station].
Officials [ranking at] six hundred piculs and above
are all important officials.[203] Persons negligent of
the rules sometimes do not [wear] their official robes,
so that when they go in and out of the villages they
[appear] no different from the common people. [We]
order that on the carriages of important officials
[who are ranked at] two thousand piculs, both side-screens
should be made vermillion;[204] and on those
thousand to six hundred piculs the left screen should
be made vermillion. If their carriages or the horsemen
in their retinue are not proportionate to the office
[of their master], or if the robes of petty officials, when
they go out and in the hamlets, are not according
to their official dignity, [officials ranking at] two
thousand piculs should report what are the offices to
which [such officials] belong; [in the capital districts]
the Three Adjuncts[207] should report any who
do not act in accordance with the laws and ordinances
[on this point]. All shall be reported to the
Lieutenant Chancellor or [Grandee] Secretary, who
shall beg [the throne to order them punished]."
Previous to this time most of the officials [had
owed their appointments to] their military achievement,
so they had paid scant attention to their
carriages and robes, hence [the Emperor] made this
using the sanction of the law, might depart
from equity, hence he issued an imperial edict [ordering]
that the high officials should [propose] a law
lightening [the punishment] of beating, and an ordinance
fixing [the size of] the stick. A discussion is
in the "Treatise on Punishments and Laws."
In the sixth month, the Huns entered into the
into the Shang Commandery, where they took the
horses of the imperial pastures.[211] Two thousand
the seventh month, on [the day] hsin-hai, the last
day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun.
In the last [part of the Emperor's reign], the first
year, in the spring, the first month, an imperial edict
said, "A trial at law is an important matter. [Some]
people are wise and [some are] stupid; [some] offices
are superior and [some] inferior. When, in a
trial it is doubtful [what to decide, the case] should
be referred to the high officials; what the high officials
cannot settle should be transferred to the Commandant
of Justice. If it is ordered that a matter
should be referred [to a superior judge], and later
[it is found that] it should not have been referred,
[that reference] does not constitute a fault. [We]
desire to bring it about that those who judge lawsuits
should above all take care to be lenient."
In the third month, an amnesty was granted to
the empire, the common people were granted one
step in noble rank, and [officials ranking at] fully two
thousand piculs and Chancellors of the nobles [were
granted] the noble rank of Senior Chiefs of the
Multitude. In the summer, universal drinking [was
allowed] for five days and the people were permitted
to buy and sell wine.[220]
In the fifth month there was an earthquake. In
the autumn, the seventh month, on [the day] yi-szŭ,
the last day of the month, there was an eclipse
of the sun, and the Marquis of T'iao, Chou Ya-fu,
was sent to prison, where he died.[223]
In the second year, in the winter, the tenth month,
[the Emperor] dispensed with the marquises going
to their states.[228]
In the spring the Huns entered into the Yen-men
Ching, died in battle with them. Chariots, cavalry,
and skilled soldiers were sent to garrison [the Yen-men
Commandery].
In the spring,[232]
because in the [previous] year
there had not been a [good] harvest, in the commanderies
under [the Prefects] of the [Imperial]
Capital,[233]
feeding horses with grain was prohibited
and they were confiscated to the government.
In the summer, the fourth month, an imperial
edict said, "Carved ornaments and chiseled engravings
are matters that injure agriculture. Brocade,
embroidery, vermillion silk ribbons, and braided ribbons
harm women's work.[237] Injury to agriculture
is the source of hunger; harm to women's work is
the cause of [suffering from] cold. Verily when
hunger and cold both come at the same time,
there are few who will be able to keep from doing
wrong.[238] We Ourself plow and the Empress herself
cultivates silkworms in order to lead the empire by
furnishing the millet, the sacrifical grain, and the
sacrificial robes for the [imperial] ancestral temples.
[We] have not accepted the [yearly] offerings;[239]
[We] have reduced [the supplies of] the Grand Provisioner;
[We] have diminished the amount of public
service and the poll-taxes, wishing that the empire
should stress agriculture and sericulture and should
constantly have stores and provisions in order to be
prepared for visitations and calamities, the strong
should not rob from the weak, the many should not
do violence to the few, the aged and those over sixty
should die a natural death, and the young and orphans
should be allowed to grow to maturity.
"Now for some years there have not been good
harvests and the food of the common people has
been quite scanty; where does the fault lie? Perhaps
dishonest and hypocritical officials make a
business of presents and bribes, taking by fraud or
by force the peoples' [property], encroaching upon
and consuming the many common people.[243] An
Assistant Prefect is a Chief Official; [for him] to
pervert the laws and rob with the robbers is utterly
unspeakable.[244]
"Let it be ordered that [officials whose positions
rank as] two thousand piculs should each look after
their own charge. As to those who do not occupy
themselves with their official duties or who govern
unintelligently, the Lieutenant Chancellor should
report it and beg [the throne to order punishment]
for their crimes. Let this be published and told to
the empire and cause Our will to be clearly known."
In the fifth month, an imperial edict said, "A
[but] he should be disquieted if he acts deceitfully.
He should not be disquieted if he is not brave, [but]
he should be disquieted if he acts tyrannously. He
should not be disquieted if he is not rich, [but] he
should be disquieted if he is not satisfied [i.e., is
covetous]. Only incorrupt gentlemen make their
desires few and are easily satisfied. [But] now [a
person must have] capital [sufficient to be required
to pay at least] ten or more [times] the poll-tax
(suan) before he is permitted to become a palace
official.[246] The [number of] poll-taxes [which can
many. [Just as] those who are enregistered in the
market-places [as merchants] are not allowed to become
palace officials,9.9 [so] those who have not [sufficient]
capital are also not allowed to become palace
officials.9.9 We very much deplore this. If the
capital [of incorrupt gentlemen is sufficient so that
they pay] four [times] the poll-tax, they shall be
allowed to become palace officials,9.9 so as not to let
incorrupt persons be kept for a long time from office
and covetous fellows to profit continuously."
In the autumn there was a great drought.
In the third year, in the spring, the first month,
of the world. As to real gold, pearls, or jade, when
one is hungry, they cannot be eaten; when one is
cold, they cannot be worn. They are considered and
used as objects of value, [but] one does not understand
how their final or original [value came to be].
"Recently for some years there have not been good
harvests. In [Our] opinion this is because those who
do non-essential things [merchanizing and craftsmanship]
are many, [whereas] the common people
who make agriculture [their profession] are few.
Let it be ordered that the commanderies and kingdoms
shall stress the encouragement of agriculture
and sericulture, and increase the sowing and planting,
[in order that] there may [thus] be obtained
articles for clothing and food. If officials, in mobilizing
the common people or in taking from them
substitute-[money, employ them] to collect real
gold, pearls, or jade, [such officials] shall be condemned
[as having taken] booty and treated as robbers. [Officials
ranking at] two thousand piculs who permit
[such actions, shall be punished] with the same
punishment [as other officials]."
The Imperial Heir-apparent [Liu Ch'ê] was
capped,[257]
and those people who would be the successors
of their fathers were granted one step in
noble rank.
On [the day] chia-tzu, the Emperor died in the
Wei-yang Palace.[259] In his testamentary edict, he
granted to the vassal kings and to the marquises
two teams of four horses each, to officials [ranking at]
two thousand piculs, two catties of actual gold, and
to the [lower] officials and the common people, a
hundred cash to each household. He freed the
women of the [imperial] harem and sent them back
to their families, exempting their persons [from taxation]
for life.[260] In the second month, on [the day]
kuei-yu, he was buried in the Yang Tomb.
In eulogy we say: Confucius eulogized, "These
people! They are whereby the three dynasties pursued
their straight course."[263] It was true indeed;
the error of the Chou and the Ch'in [dynasties]
was that although the net [of their laws] was fine
and their enactments were severe, yet they could
not overcome the ways of the wicked.[264]
When the Han [dynasty] arose, it swept away
[such] vexations and harshness and gave the common
people repose and rest. [Emperor] Hsiao-wen
added [the virtues of] respectfulness and frugality;
[Emperor] Hsiao-ching followed his practises. In
the course of fifty or sixty years,[265]
[these Emperors
even] altered the people's customs and changed their
usages, [so that] the many common people[266]
became
pure and sincere. The Chou [dynasty] talked about
[Kings] Ch'eng and K'ang; the Han [dynasty similarly]
speaks of [Emperors] Wen and Ching. How
splendid!
The reign of an emperor continues, for chronological purposes, to the end of the
calendar year in which he dies. The Tzu-chih T'ung-chien (1084) includes the events
in an emperor's reign previous to the beginning of his first year, including his accession,
in the previous emperor's reign.
This date was two days after the burial of Emperor Wen. SC 10: 18b (Mh II, 491)
says that he took the throne "in the Temple of Kao-[tsu] and on [the day] ting-wei
he inherited the title and was called `Emperor.' " The Kung-yang Commentary (iii cent.
B.C.) 25: 7b (Dk. Ting, I), says, "Arrange the coffin between the two [central] pillars,
and then only take the throne." Shen Ch'in-han (1775-1831) remarks, "The regulation,
[used by] later generations, of taking the throne before the encoffined corpse, came
thus from the explanation in the Kung-yang [Commentary]. This [practise] is honoring
[the customs] of later antiquity."
HS 27 Cb: 22b adds, "Its trunk was straight [in the constellations] Wei3 and Chi,
and its end pointed to [the constellations] Hsü and Wei1. It was more than ten feet
long and reached the Heavenly Han [River (the Milky Way)]. On the sixteenth day
it disappeared." This comet is no. 17 in J. Williams, Chinese Observations of Comets.
The Chinese phraseology in recording a comet is very expressive, e.g., [OMITTED],
lit. "There was a star which bushed out [or `cometed'] in the western quarter [of the
sky]." When we remember that a comet often appears at first as a mere star wandering
among the other stars and later puts forth a tail, the Chinese expression appears apt.
Before the time of Emperor Ching only two comets are mentioned in Han times:
one in Aug./Sept. 204 B.C. (27 Cb: 22a) and the other in the summer of 172 B.C. (4: 13b).
Even Halley's comet, which passed perihelion on May 20, 163 B.C., was not recorded.
Did Emperor Ching install an astrologer who was really interested in watching the
heavens? Szu-ma T'an did not begin his official career until after 140 B.C., when he
became Grand Astrologer (SC 130: 3a).
In 157 B.C. there was ended the last of the vassal kingdoms not ruled by a scion of
the Liu family. Wu Jui had been moved from the kingdom of Heng-shan to that of
Ch'ang-sha in 202 B.C. (1 B: 4a); in 157 B.C. the last king of his line died without
heirs, and the kingdom was abolished, later to be given to a son of Emperor Wu. All
the other vassal kingdoms not in the hands of a member of the imperial clan had been
ended by 196 B.C.
Ying Shao (ca. 140-206) says, "The one who first takes the empire is the Founder
(tsu [OMITTED]). That Emperor Kao was entitled Kao-tsu [lit. "the Eminent Founder"]
is an instance [of this use]. The one who first governs the empire well becomes the
Exemplar (tsung [OMITTED]). That Emperor Wen was entitled the Grand Exemplar (t'ai
[OMITTED]-tsung) is an instance [of this use]." Yen Shih-ku, with his usual cocksureness,
writes, "Ying [Shao's] explanation is wrong. Tsu [means] first; he first received the
mandate [of Heaven]. Tsung [means] honorable; being virtuous he deserves to be
honored." Liu Pin (1022-1088) replies, "Yen [Shih-ku's] saying is mistaken. The one
who first received the Mandate [of Heaven] is entitled the Great Founder (t'ai-tsu).
Those who perform great deeds are also entitled tsu. [Emperor] Tsu-chia [said to have
reigned 1258-1226 B.C.] of the Shang [dynasty] was an instance [of this use]." Cf.
Mh II, 491, n. 1.
Wang Ch'i-yüan (xix cent.) writes, "That `the Founder has merit and the Exemplar
has virtue' is said in the K'ung-tzu Chia-yü [forged by Wang Su, fl. 386-534, based on
an ancient book and later interpolated], ch. "Miao-chih," to be a saying of Confucius.
Although this is not adequate proof, in the HHS, An. 1: [1a], the commentator [Li
Hsien, 651-684] quotes these words and attributes them to the Rites, which is probably
a lost treatise on the rites."
Wang Ch'i-yüan calls attention to a passage in the Po-hu-t'ung Te-lun (said in
HHS, Mem. 40 B: 9a to have been composed by Pan Ku; said by W. Hung to have been
composed between 213-245), A: 22a, which reads, "The singers are placed above [in
the hall]; the dancers are placed below [the hall]. Why? Because the singers symbolize
virtue and the dancers symbolize great deeds. The superior man places virtue
above and great deeds below."
Chang Yen (prob. iii cent.) explains, "On the first day of the first month they
make wine; in the eighth month it is completed. It is named chou [OMITTED] [the word in
the text]. It is called chou because it is pure. At the time of Emperor Wu, because in
the eighth month, when [the Emperor first] tastes this chou, there was an assembly of
the nobles in the [imperial ancestral] temple, at which they paid money to assist in
[defraying the expenses of] the sacrifice, it was hence called the eighth month wine
money [OMITTED]." Yen Shih-ku adds, "Chou is a thrice-repeated agitated and purified
wine. Its taste is rich, hence it is used as an offering in the ancestral temples." Cf. 6:
App. III for a description of the ceremonies connected with this wine.
HS 22: 13b says, "The Dance of Military Virtue was made in the fourth year of
Kao-tsu (203 B.C.) in order to symbolize that the empire is happy because military
power has already been used to do away with confusion. The Dance of the Peaceful
Beginning was originally Shun's Shao Dance. In his sixth year (201 B.C.), Kao-tsu
changed its name to the Peaceful Beginning to show that he [did] not copy [what
Shun had done]. The Dance of the Five Elements was originally a dance of the Chou
[dynasty]. In his twenty-sixth year (221 B.C.), the First Emperor of the Ch'in [dynasty]
changed its name to the Five Elements."
Meng K'ang (ca. 180-260) adds, "In the Military Virtue, the dancers hold shields
and battle-axes. In the Peaceful Beginning, the dancers hold feathers and flutes. In
the Five Elements, the dancers' ceremonial hats and clothes imitate the colors of the
five elements. Cf. the `Treatise on Music' [HS, ch. 22]."
Ying Shao, in a note to SCHC 10: 44, remarks, "According to my opinion of what
the present passage says about the dancing in the Dances of Military Virtue, of the
Peaceful Beginning, and of the Five Elements, their music in general was like the music
of King Wu [of the Chou dynasty, 1122-1117 B.C.]. The meaning was that Kao-tsu
used military means to conquer the world, hence he showed that he was not copying
[what King Wu had done, and could make a new beginning, just as King Wu did].
When they begin to perform music, they first perform the Peaceful Beginning. Using
feathers, flutes, and ornamented and embroidered clothes, they make the first [performance];
then they immediately perform the Five Elements. The Five Elements is a
military dance; they hold shields and battleaxes and in their clothes they have the colors
of the five elements."
In a comment to the Chou-li 23: 7b, sub the Ta-hsü, Cheng Chung (ca. 5 B.C.-A.D. 83)
says, "The Han Code Concerning the Music Master [now lost] says, `The children of
humble people are not permitted to dance at the offering of the eighth month wine
in the [imperial] ancestral temples. Officials who have been appointed to [positions
ranked at] two thousand piculs down to six hundred piculs, together with those [holding
noble ranks from] Kuan-nei Marquis down to Fifth Rank Grandee first pick their heirs
who are seven feet [63 in. Eng. meas.] tall or more, in their twelfth year to their
thirtieth year, whose features and appearance are harmonious, and whose body and
members are healthy, and use them for the dancers.' "
The clause translated, "not enriching himself with such advantages," now stands
after the clause, "did not punish those who had committed no crimes." It has been
moved in accordance with its meaning, following the Fukien ed. (1549) and the SC, at
the suggestion of Ch'ien Ta-chao and Wang Hsien-ch'ien.
Cf. p. 233 & n. 3. The text reads [OMITTED]; Yen Shih-ku says that this character "should
be read as [OMITTED]." Ch'ien Ta-chao remarks, "The Mao [text of] the Book of Odes, the
Li-ki, and the HS all write" the first character; "the Book of History and the Mencius
write" the second character. "It is a corrupt form, and arose from Lü Shen's [fl. 265330]
Tzu-lin. Cf. Chang Ts'an, Wu-ching Wen-tzu [776]."
The SC reads [OMITTED] instead of [OMITTED], repeating what is said above (5: 1b); cf. Mh II,
492, n. 5. This reading in the SC may be a corruption arising from conflation with this
passage of the HS, as Wang Hsien-ch'ien thinks, or it may be an error in transcribing an
original [OMITTED]. Wang Hsien-ch'ien remarks that the last part of this sentence shows that
castration, not mutilation, is the original meaning. Ch. 23 does not say that Emperor
Wen specifically abolished castration independently of the other mutilating punishments.
But 5: 7a says that the Emperor allowed those who had been sentenced to
capital punishment to be castrated instead, so that probably in the time of Emperor
Wen castration had really been abolished.
HS 22: 14a says, "[Emperor] Hsiao-ching selected from the Dance of Military
Virtue to make [the Dance of] Glorious Virtue, in honoring the Temple of the Great
Exemplar."
The SC at this point adds, "will be written upon bamboo and silk" (the writing
materials of the time). Cf. Mh II, 493.
Wang Hsien-ch'ien suggests that, since the [OMITTED] in the text is inappropriate and
the SC and the Tzu-chih T'ung-chien do not have it, it is a mistake for [OMITTED], which is in
the SC. We have adopted this emendation in the translation.
The titles "Great Founder" and "Great Exemplar" became the "temple names"
of Emperors Kao-tsu and Hsiao-wen respectively, and are used with their posthumous
names in the headings of the chapters devoted to them in the Tzu-chih T'ung-chien and
other histories.
Wang Hsien-ch'ien points out that the SC has [OMITTED] for the HS's [OMITTED], and that
Chang Yen (prob. iii cent.) explicitly uses the former word in his comment; Yen Shih-ku
uses the latter character. We have adopted this emendation.
Chang Yen says, "The kings together with the marquises, yearly, at the correct
seasons, sent delegates to visit the capital and attend the sacrifices to assist at the sacrifices."
Ju Shun (fl. dur. 189-265) says, "It is exactly [the case] as the Temple of [Emperor]
Kuang-wu [25-58] is at the Chang Tomb and the Grand Administrator of the Nan-yang
[Commandery], being entitled a delegate, went to sacrifice [there]. The marquises
and kings are not sent to make the sacrifices, [because] the nobles of the imperial
house are not permitted to take as their ancestor the Son of Heaven; [they worshipped
their imperial ancestors as subjects, not as descendants]. All [nobles] who attend the
sacrifices at the ancestral temples act as attendants [not as sacrificers] at the sacrifices."
Yen Shih-ku adds, "Chang [Yen's] explanation is correct. Since it says, `The temple
where the son of Heaven makes offerings to the [Great] Founder and the [Great] Exemplar,'
it does not speak of the temples in the commanderies and kingdoms."
Wang Nien-sun (1744-1832) says that the T'ung-tien (compiled by Tu Yu, 735812)
in its first chapter on "Foods and Goods," quotes this passage, and that before the
words [OMITTED] there is the word [OMITTED], which is lacking in the present text, and should
be supplied. It is parallel with the same word in the next sentence.
Yen Shih-ku says, "[OMITTED] is an ancient form of [OMITTED]; it means to fatten and rear
them; [OMITTED] means to put out to grass."
Ju Shun explains, "Chuang Chou [iv cent. B.C.] says, `What deer eat is called
grass (chien [OMITTED]).' It is also said that when the grass is thick it is called chien; when
it is long it is called mang [OMITTED] [translated, `tall grass']." But Wang Nien-sun replies,
"If you interpret chien as grass, then the phrase, `chien, grass, and mang' is repetitious.
I say that chien means chü [OMITTED] [together, dense]. It means that the region is fertile
and broad and that in it the grass and tall grass is dense. Chien is used for ch'ien [OMITTED].
The Tso-chuan [iv. cent. B.C., Dk.] Hsiang, IV [Legge 42214], says, `The Jung and Ti
live in groups (ch'ien),' while the [Kuo]-yü [iv or iii cent. B.C., in the chapters on]
Chin, says, `The Jung and Ti dwell in groups (ch'ien).' Wei [Chao (197-273/4)] and
Tu [Yü (222-284)] both comment, saying, `Ch'ien is chü.' HS ch. 84: [20a, says],
`He planted it heavily (chien) with thorns,' and Yen Shih-ku comments, `Chien should
be read as ch'ien. Ch'ien is heavily, together (chü).' " Chou Shou-ch'ang (1814-1884)
adds, "HS ch. 69: [11b, says], `Now the caitiffs [Huns] have lost their beautiful land
and chien grass.' The T'ang History, `Memoir on the Ch'i-pi-ho-li,' [says], `They
followed the dense (chien) grass and fine water for their livelihood." This [passage]
speaks of the density of the grass and the advantageousness of streams and springs.
The ancients changed the word-order in using [passages with] parallel [phrases]."
The SC says that the Huns had invaded the region of Tai, hence this treaty.
This man's personal name has been the subject of discussion. HS 19 B: 10 says,
"The Grandee Secretary T'ao Ch'ing [sic] was made Lieutenant Chancellor." Ibid. 9b
says, "T'ao Ch'ing became Grandee Secretary." Shen Ch'in-han writes that the Wen-yüan
Ying-hua (publ. ca. 978), ch. 873 tells that Hsiao Lun's (ca. 508-551) stele to T'ao
the Hermit (T'ao Hung-ching, 452-536) says, "The son of T'ao She, [T'ao] Ching-ti
[occupied] positions up to that of Lieutenant Chancellor." A Lieutenant Chancellor
of Emperor Wu was named Yen (or Chuang) Ch'ing-ti; Yen Shih-ku, Shen Ch'in-han,
Ch'ien Ta-hsin, and Ch'i Shao-nan think that the last word of his name may have been
added by confusion to that of T'ao Ch'ing.
But Yang Shu-ta (1885- ), in his Han-shu Pu-chu Pu-cheng 2: 30, remarks, "Duke
Wen of Chin [636-628 B.C.] was named Ch'ung-erh; the Tso-chuan, [Dk.] Ting, IV, in
recording the oath at Chien-t'u, however says, `Chung of Chin.' Shou Chen-to of Ts'ao
is called `Shou Chen' in the [Kuo]-yü, [ch. on] Chin; the SC calls him `Shou To.' Duke
Yin of Lu [722-712 B.C.] was named Hsi-ku; SC ch. 33 calls him only `Hsi.' Anciently
there was the practise of calling [given] names [composed] of two words by one word
for short. HS ch. 19 [in mentioning T'ao Ch'ing-ti] has not the word ti, for it copies
the text of SC 22: [11b], this text [i.e. HS 5: 3a] therefore completes [the name]. The
Superintendent of the Imperial House, Liu Hsi, in SC ch. 120, is called Liu Hsi-chi in
the HS—this is a clear proof that the SC [uses] a shorter name and Pan [Ku] added to
it and that the explanations of Ch'i [Shao-nan], Shen [Ch'in-han], and Ch'ien [Ta-hsin]
are all incorrect. Cf. my Ku-shu Yi-yi Chü-lieh Pu."
The word hsia [OMITTED] is sometimes added to a place-name which is composed of only
one word in order to make a binomial. For example, in SCHC 47: 91 and HS 81: 14b,
K'ung Fu is said to have died at Ch'en2-hsia; in the K'ung-ts'ung B: 34a, sect. 19, near
the end, he is said to have died at Ch'en2. SCHC 11: 3 (Mh II, 497) says under this
date, "The Huns entered Tai and [the Emperor] made a treaty of peace and friendship
with them," hence it was natural that T'ao Ch'ing-ti should have been sent to Tai.
Emperor Wen had exempted agriculturists from taxes; cf. 4: 14b. Now that tax
was re-established at half its former rate. The Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 15: 16b adds that
this tax was at the rate of 1/30.
Szu-ma Cheng (fl. 713-742) in a note to SCHC 57: 23 says, "The hsien-kuan [OMITTED]
is the Son of Heaven. The reason that the state is called the hsien-kuan is that in
[the Chou-li, sub] the Ministers of Summer, [it says,] `The inner prefecture (hsien) of
the imperial central domain is the capital of the state.' The king controls (kuan) the
world. Hence he is called the hsien-kuan [i.e. controller of the capital prefecture]."
The Chou-li does not seem to contain this statement; the two words referring to that
book may be an interpolation.
Li Ch'i explains, "Those who had noble ranks were to have [their ranks] taken
from them and to be made common soldiers; those who had official positions were to be
dismissed from their positions." But Shen Ch'in-han replies that the case of those
who have already left their positions is different from those who are in official positions,
since in the former case they could not compel their subordinates to pay bribes; hence
in such cases they were to be punished by merely having their noble titles taken away
from them and were excused from further trial. He adds that the Han practise was,
at the first crime, to dismiss a person from official position, and, when he was tried a
second time, to take away his noble rank.
This is comet no. 18 in John Williams, Chinese Observations of Comets, London,
1871. His date is incorrect; this month was Jan. 18-Feb. 15, 155 B.C. The Han-chi
9: 1b erroneously dates this comet in the eleventh month; the Tzu-chih T'ung-chien
reads as the present text does.
Yen Shih-ku explains "[According to] the old law, in their twenty-third [year
they were enregistered (cf. p. 80, n. 2)]; now this [edict sets the age at] twenty, a change
to a different [dynasty's] code." But Shen Ch'in-han replies, "Originally those who
were in their fifteenth year and over had to pay the poll-tax (suan) in cash [cf. p. 93,
n. 1]; now [the Emperor] liberalized it, making it the twentieth year."
According to 16: 43b, the Marquis of Hsiang-p'ing was Chi T'ung. Here he is
called [Chi] Chia. We have understood this as merely another case of a double given
name for one person; cf. n. 3.2.
Ju Shun says, "According to the Code, when there is a case of `treason and inhumanity,'
the father, mother, wife, children, and brothers and sisters should all be
publicly executed." Evidently Emperor Wen's abrogation of extending punishment to
the relatives of a criminal (4: 5b) did not extend to treason and inhumanity.
In 169 B.C. these barriers had been abolished. Cf. 4: 14a. The SC dates the
present order in the intercalary ninth month (Oct./Nov., 153) and says, "He re-established
the fords and [customs] barriers." Cf. Mh II, 500. Ying Shao says that this reestablishment
was "because the Seven Kingdoms had just rebelled and to be prepared
for any untoward circumstance."
She had no children, had lost the favor of Emperor Ching, and her protectress,
the Grand Empress Dowager née Po, had died.
SC ch. 11 (Mh II, 501) dates this dismissal in the winter of 151/150 B.C. HS 14:
17a dates his appointment as king "in the eleventh month, on [the day] chi-yu," which
day was only possible in the tenth and twelfth months of that year. SC 17: 21b
dates the dismissal and appointment both "in the eleventh month, on [the day]
yi-ch'ou," which was Dec. 28, 151. The Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 16: 12b follows HS 14:
17a. The Han-chi 9: 12b follows HS 5: 5a.
The Grand Commandant, Chou Ya-fu, was made Lieutenant Chancellor on
Apr. 7, according to Mh II, 501, and, according to HS 19 B: 11a, after Aug. 5.
For the intrigues leading to this change of heirs, cf. Glossary sub Wang, Empress
née; Mh II, 501, n. 5.
The name for this year is usually written today as if there had been a year-period
by the name of Chung-yüan [OMITTED]. There is also tacitly assumed to have been a year-period
Hou-yüan [OMITTED]. Both the SC and the HS however only write the first of
these two pairs of characters. In the SC, the Chinese for the various years is [OMITTED],
etc. In the HS, only the first year of the part of the reign is preceded by [OMITTED]; in that
year the word yüan [OMITTED] is plainly intended to indicate the "first" year of that part of
the reign. In the "Tables," the Chinese dates for the latter two parts of this reign are
always written [OMITTED], etc. Cf. 14: 17b, 19a; 15 A: 8a; 16: 7b, 8a, 9a, 14a,
b; 17: 1b, 4a, 6a; 18: 7b. There is an exception: 16: 13b has [OMITTED], but Chu
Yi-hsin (1846-1894) says that the Wang ed. (1546) is correct in reading only one yüan,
for the second yüan is dittography. Wang Hsien-ch'ien, in a note to 5: 8b, also uses
the single character to indicate this part of the reign, but Shen Ch'in-han, in a note
to 5: 8a, uses two characters, making it the name of a year-period. Emperor Ching
was merely imitating the practise of his father, Emperor Wen, in beginning anew the
numbering of the years in his reign. Reign-periods were not introduced until 114 or 113
B.C., in the reign of Emperor Wu. Cf. p. 260, n. 1; ch. 6, App. I.
The words for "grandson and son" seem to be a mistake on the part of Pan Ku
in which he follows the text of SC ch. 11. HS 16: 45a tells that the Marquis of Kaoching,
Chou Ch'eng, was enfeoffed because of his father, Chou Ho, and that in 159 B.C.
his marquisate was abolished, but that in 149 B.C. (the present year) Chou Ch'eng's
grandson, Chou Ying, was enfeoffed as Marquis of Sheng. SC 18: 45a (Mh III, 130,
no. 25) says the same. Then Chou Ying was Chou Ho's great-grandson.
HS 16: 15b, 16a tells that Marquis Tao of Fen-yin, Chou Ch'ang, transmitted his
marquisate to his son and grandson. The latter was punished and the marquisate
abolished, but in "the second year of the middle [part of the reign] of [Emperor] Hsiao-ching,
[Ch'ien Ta-chao remarks that it should be the "first year"], [Chou] Tso-ch'ê
succeeded to enfeoffment because he was a grandson of [Chou] Ch'ang" and became
Marquis of An-yang. SC 18: 12a says the same. HS 42: 4a also says that Chou Tso-ch'ê
was Chou Ch'ang's grandson.
Then these two new marquises were the great-grandson and grandson of these
Grandee Secretaries. SC ch. 11 (Mh II, 502) says, "[The Emperor] appointed [Chou]
P'ing [who was the son of Chou Ying, according to SC 18: 45a and HS 16: 45a], the
grandson of the former Grandee Secretary Chou Ho, as Marquis of Sheng and [Chou]
Tso-chün [chün [OMITTED] instead of the ch'ê [OMITTED] in HS 16: 15b], the son of the former Grandee
Secretary Chou Ch'ang, as Marquis of An-yang." The HS seems here to have clearly
been abstracting from the corresponding passage in the SC.
Ying Shao writes, "When the Emperor entertains the vassal kings or treats kings
and nobles as his guests, they are all under the charge of the Grand Herald. Hence,
when they die, he memorializes their deeds and grants them posthumous names, together
with funeral eulogies." Ch'ien Ta-hsin adds, "The posthumous name and eulogy are
used for the dead; charters are used by those who are newly enfeoffed and go to their
states."
Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) says, "Emperor Ching in this year had already established a
Grand Herald, yet HS 19 [A: 13b] says, `In 104 B.C. Emperor Wu changed [the title
of the Chief Grand Messenger] to be the Grand Herald,' which is, according to this
passage, incorrect." The use of the title, Grand Herald, here may however be an
anachronism. Yen Shih-ku says, "The Grand Herald was originally named the Director
of Guests; later [his title] was changed to be Grand Herald. The Chief Grand Messenger
was originally named the Messenger, which was a subordinate office to the Director of
Guests. [His title] was later changed to be Chief Grand Messenger. Hence, in honorable
and important matters, [the Emperor] sent the Grand Herald, and in less honorable
or important ones, [the Emperor] sent the Grand Messenger. According to the text of
this `Annals,' Emperor Ching had already changed [the title of] the Director of Guests
to be Grand Herald, and changed the Messenger to be the Grand Messenger. Yet HS
19 [A: 13b] says, `In 144 B.C. Emperor Ching changed the title [of the Director of
Guests] to be Chief Grand Messenger. In 104 B.C. Emperor Wu changed the title
[of the Chief Grand Messenger] to be Grand Herald . . . and changed the title of the
Messenger to be the Chief Grand Messenger.' According to the text [of ch. 5], ch. 19
is mistaken."
According to HS 53: 2b, when King Hsien of Ho-chien, Liu Tê, died in 130 B.C., the
Chief Grand Messenger memorialized his posthumous name. The passage regarding
posthumous names, etc., is not in SC ch. 11; Pan Ku probably found the law regarding
the memorializing of posthumous names, eulogies, and charters in the form it assumed
after the titles of the participating officials had been changed, and inserted it in the
"Annals" at the time when it was originally enacted, so that the titles of the officials
are merely anachronisms. The title in this passage, Imperial Household Grandee, is
also an anachronism, for according to HS 19 A: 9a that title was not established until
104 B.C.
Ying Shao misunderstood the meaning of ts'ê [OMITTED] in this passage. Here it is the term
for the charter given an official upon his appointment. Ch'ien Ta-hsin (1720-1804)
corrects him, saying, "When marquises are first enfeoffed and go to their states, the
Grand Herald has charge of memorializing their charter. Ying [Shao] considered
that the ts'ê was a `funeral eulogy,' which is a mistake." Such charters are to be
found in HS 99 A: 6b, 21a, etc. Another is translated in Appendix I.
Wang Hsien-ch'ien's text writes [OMITTED]; the Official ed. (1739) writes [OMITTED], so does HS
19 A: 8b, 9a.
The text at this point has the word [OMITTED], which is superfluous and interrupts the
meaning. It seems to have crept in through dittography from the preceding three
instances of that word. It is not in Han-chi 9: 3a. Following Wang Nien-sun, we
have omitted it.
SC ch. 11 (Mh II, 503) adds at this point, "Thereafter there ceased to be peace and
friendship [between the Chinese and the Huns]."
This is one of the classic texts dealing with these two punishments. Ying Shao
says, "Before this time those who were punished with death were all chê in the marketplace
[OMITTED]. Now it was changed and called public execution [OMITTED]. From
[this time], except for monstrous [crimes] and rebellion, they did not again chê anyone."
Chavannes Mh I, cxi, n. 2), Couvreur, (Dict. Classique) and the Tz'u-yüan say that chê
means "to quarter" (the latter writes [OMITTED]). In support of this interpretation
is the use of the word chê in the Book of Rites for the cutting up of victims offered
in some sacrifices (cf. Couvreur, Li-Ki, I, 352, 406). The existence of a punishment
which consisted in quartering [OMITTED] is established by the use of those words in HS
100 A: 9a.
But Yen Shih-ku writes, "Chê means exposing his corpse [OMITTED]; public
execution is to kill him in the market-place [OMITTED]. It means that
when someone is to be publicly executed, there is employed [the principle stated in the
Li-ki III, ii, 11 (Legge I, 215; Couvreur I, 274)], `A person should be executed in the
market-place, [thus] being done away with (hsi) with the participation of the crowd.' "
The K'ang-hsi Dictionary gives both meanings for chê: "[OMITTED]." Perhaps
Yen Shih-ku was attempting to make an ancient practise appear more humane than
it really was.
Wen Ying (fl. ca. 196-220) says, "The Chancellor of Ch'u, Chang Shang, the
Grand Tutor [of Ch'u], Chao Yi-wu, the Chancellor of Chao, Chien-tê, and the Prefect
of the Capital [at Chao], Wang Han—these were the four persons. Each had admonished
his king not to bring about a revolt, [but their kings] would not heed and killed
all of them. Hence their sons were appointed." HS 17: 3a, b, 4a and SC 19: 21b,
22a, b (from which the above information was taken) note these four persons as all
appointed in the fourth month, on the day yi-szu, May 26, 148 B.C. SC ch. 11 (Mh II,
503) dates these appointments "in the summer," putting the words for "in the ninth
month" after this notice.
There is some mistake in the text. At present it reads, "The Empress Dowager
died." But the Empress Dowager née Tou did not die until 135 B.C. This notice of a
death is not in the SC or the Han-chi. Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) quotes Wang Mou (fl.
before 265) as saying, "The Empress [née] Po of Emperor Ching died in this year;
I suspect that it was she. It should say the `dismissed Empress,' " i.e., read [OMITTED] instead
of [OMITTED]. Wang Mou may be taking as his authority HS 97 A: 8b, which says that this
Empress died the fourth year after she was dismissed. The latter date was 151 B.C.
(5: 5a); then she died in 147 B.C. We have followed Wang Mou's emendation in the
translation.
There are however very serious objections. Yen Shih-ku points out that the death
of a dismissed empress is not recorded and that the particular word here used for "died"
would never be used of a dismissed Empress. Cf. p. 260, n. 3. Ch'ien Ta-chao concludes
that the whole sentence is an interpolation.
This was to be Emperor Ching's funerary temple. Ch'ien Ta-chao notes that
the Fukien ed. (1549) mistakenly has interchanged the words in this temple's name.
This height is about 52 in. Eng. meas. Fu Ch'ien explains, "When horses are in
their tenth year, the surfaces of their teeth become smooth." The SC (Mh III, 544)
says that in the time of Emperor Ching, additional horse pastures were established in
order to increase the public resources.
Ju Shun explains that castration was called [OMITTED], i.e., rottenness, because it was
being like a rotten tree, which could not bring forth any fruit. HS 97 A: 21b tells
that when Hsü Kuang-han had committed a capital crime, an edict of Emperor Wu
invited him to enter the silkworm room of the palace, (i.e., to be castrated instead of
executed). In the San-kuo Chih (by Ch'en Shou, 233-297) Chung Yu (a Grand Tutor
and a famous calligraphist) says to Emperor Ming (58-75), "It is proper that, like the
ordinance of [Emperor] Hsiao-ching, whoever should be publicly executed and wishes
[instead] to cut off his right toes should be permitted to do so." Chou Shou-ch'ang
remarks that castration accordingly does not seem to have been the only way of commuting
the death penalty.
HS 14: 19a dates this appointment in the third month, on the day ting-szu, an
impossible month and day, according to Hoang, Concordance.
HS 27 A: 11a blames this fire on the dismissal and suicide of the first heir-apparent,
Liu Jung, and the dismissal of Chou Ya-fu. Cf. Glossary, sub vocibus.
The purpose of this change, as of that abolishing Grandee Secretaries in kingly
courts, was to exalt the imperial court and to distinguish imperial from kingly titles.
Chou Shou-ch'ang says, "The T'ung-tien, ch. 4 on Punishments, "Miscellaneous
Discussions," pt. A, says, `The Chief Justice sent to the Emperor a prisoner, Fang Nien.
His step-mother, [Fang] Ch'en, had murdered Fang Nien's father. Fang Nien therefore
killed [Fang] Ch'en. According to the Code, a matricide should be sentenced as
having committed treason. The Emperor doubted [the justice of such a sentence].
" `The [future] Emperor Wu was at this time in his twelfth year and was Heir-apparent.
He was by [the Emperor's] side. The Emperor thereupon asked him [about
the case]. The Heir-apparent replied, saying, "Now a step-mother is like a mother,
[but] it is plain that she is not equal to a mother. Because of his father, she is similar
to a mother. Now this step-mother acted wrongly. With her own hand she murdered
his father; then from the day that she put forth her hand [against his father], his
indebtedness to her as a mother was already ended. He should be sentenced as a person
who has killed another, and should not be sentenced as one who has committed treason."
[The Emperor] followed his [judgment].' From this [account we see that] this affair
happened in precisely the year [of the edict in the text]."
SC 11: 5a (Mh II, 505) says that this visit was in the second month, on the day
chi-mao, Apr. 9, 144 B.C.
Ying Shao writes, "Emperor Wen, in his fifth year (175 B.C., cf. 4: 12b), allowed
people to coin [cash], a law that had not yet been abrogated. At earlier times there
had been made much [alchemistic] counterfeit gold. [But] counterfeit gold cannot
really be made, and vainly [causes] loss and expense, so that it turns to mutual boasting
about one's brilliancy. When [these alchemists become] poor, then they rise up and
become brigands and robbers, hence [the Emperor] established this law." Meng K'ang
(ca. 180-260) quites a popular "saying, `If gold could be made, the world could be
measured.' " This edict of 144 B.C., together with these comments of the second and
third century of our era establish the existence of alchemy in China at this early date.
Cash had been largely coined in the kingdom of Wu, under its King, Liu P'i. Now
that he had rebelled and had been executed, private coinage was forbidden.
Ch'ien Ta-chao says that the omission of the King's personal name must probably
have been due to a copyist's error.
Chang Yen (prob. iii cent.) comments, "The position of six hundred piculs was
that of Grandees." This may be the only place where [OMITTED] is used in the sense of
"important officials." Elsewhere it is the title of certain subordinate officials.
Ying Shao explains, "They are the ears of a carriage which open out. They are
the means whereby one protects (fan) and covers himself against dust and mud. [Officials
ranking at] two thousand piculs make the pair of them vermillion; those of lower
rank do it for the left side only. They are made of bamboo matting, or leather is used."
Ju Shun says, "Fan [OMITTED] is pronounced as [OMITTED]; they are the two screens of a small
carriage." Yen Shih-ku adds, "According to the explanation of Hsü Shen [fl. 100] and
Li Teng [fl. dur. 220-265], fan is the covering of a carriage. . . . They were screens to
cover the carriage. To say that they `are the ears of a carriage which open out' is
mistaken."
Wang Hsien-ch'ien notes that the Supplement to the Official ed. (1739) says, "[OMITTED] is
erroneously written [OMITTED]. Following Sung [Ch'i's] ed. [ca. xii cent.], it is emended."
HHS, Tr. 29: 10b (by Szu-ma Piao, ca. 240-304) says, "In 145 B.C. there first was
an edict granting permission to [officials ranked at] six hundred piculs and above to use
bronze for the five ends of their carriage screens and on their yokes to have chi-yang
pipes."
"Three Adjuncts" (q.v. in Glossary) is probably anachronistic here; this title was
not used until 104 B.C. According to HS 19 A: 20b, until 155 B.C. there was only a
Prefect of the Capital; in that year Western and Eastern Prefects of the Capital were
appointed. Ch'üan Tsu-wang (1705-1755) thinks that perhaps the Western and
Eastern Prefects of the Capital, together with the Military Commander at the Capital,
governed the capital city, and had covertly divided it into the "Three Adjuncts" (which
title denotes also the three districts governed by those three officials). Wang Hsien-ch'ien
suggests, "The use of the title, `Three Adjuncts,' is perhaps an anachronistic
change by a historian. In this book this sort of thing is quite frequent."
Ju Shun comments, "The comment in the Han-[chiu]-yi [written by Wei Hung,
fl. dur. 25-57, says], `The various pastures [under the care of] the herdsmen of the Chief
of the Stud [number] thirty-six. They are divided and spread over the northern and
western borders. Gentlemen are used as Superintendants of the Pastures; thirty
thousand male and female slaves care for three hundred thousand horses.' " Yen Shih-ku
adds, "Places for rearing birds and beasts are comprehensively named pastures .
Hence it says that a place for herding horses is a pasture."
Wang Hsien-shen (1859-1922) argues that this date is mistaken and that Chou
Ya-fu died in 147 B.C., which is the date given in the SC (Mh II, 504). According to HS
19 B: 12a, he was dismissed from his position as Lieutenant Chancellor in 147 B.C., and
40: 28a tells that soon afterwards he was insulted by the Emperor. When his son had
purchased arms for use in his funeral, Chou Ya-fu was arrested and committed suicide
by starvation. HS 16: 13a notes that he was made a marquis in 162 B.C., (Chu Yi-hsin
says that the Wang ed. (1546) is correct in reading 161 B.C.) and was dismissed
from his title of marquis in the eighteenth year after, which would be 145, 144 or 143 B.C.
HS 40: 28b moreover says that the same year that he died, Emperor Ching enfeoffed
his son as Marquis of P'ing-ch'ü; HS 16: 13b dates that appointment in 143 B.C., so that
the date of his death in 5: 8b is corroborated.
In 179 B.C. (cf. 4: 8b), Emperor Wen ordered the marquises to go to their states,
which order is now dispensed with. Chavannes (Mh II, 508) translates quite differently,
"on examine si les seigneurs avaient été envoyés dans leurs états." The nobles had however
evaded Emperor Wen's order that they should go to their estates (cf. p. 246).
Emperors regularily enfeoffed the relatives of their mothers and favorite concubines;
we do not hear of any such nobles thereupon disappearing from the capital; on the contrary
they continued to figure in intrigues even when they did not hold office. According
to 8: 9a, in 67 B.C. the Emperor "granted to each of the eighty-seven marquises who
were at their estates twenty catties of actual gold." But, according to the "Tables,"
there were at that time more than two hundred marquises, so that the vast majority of
the marquises were in the capital. Marquises were moreover sometimes sent to their
estates as a punishment, cf. HS 45: 18a, also Glossary, sub Marquis.
The original term for marquis [OMITTED], which is here used in the text, was tabooed
because the word ch'ê was the personal name of Emperor Wu. Chou Shou-ch'ang
says that this reading is a copyist's chance error.
Wang Hsien-ch'ien points out that "the spring" has been previously mentioned
and that this word is here an interpolation. The SC dates the invasion of the Huns
in the third month and the prohibition of feeding grain in the first month.
SC 11: 6a reads [OMITTED], in which phrase the HS omits the middle word. Yen
Shih-ku says that what were confiscated were the horses.
Ying Shao writes, "Tsuan [OMITTED] are the present laces of many colors. Silk stuff of
variegated colors (tsui [OMITTED]) is this [material]. Tsu [OMITTED] is the present seal-ribbon.
Intermixed silk cords [OMITTED] is this [material]." But Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) writes,
"Hsü Shen [who wrote the Shuo-wen, ca. 100] says, "Tsuan is vermillion tsu,' " and Yen
Shih-ku writes "[Fu] Tsan's explanation is correct. Tsui is hui [OMITTED] [many-colored
embroidery] and hui is many [colored] ts'ai [OMITTED] [many-colored flowered silk]. At
present it is called ts'o-ts'ai [OMITTED] [woven multicolored stuff]. It is not tsuan."
Women's work was especially raising silk-worms, weaving, and sewing. Raising food
is men's work; making cloth and clothes is women's work.
The foregoing sentence is found in a conversation about punishments between
Marquis Wen of Weih and Li K'o or Li K'uei (cf. Duyvendak, Book of Lord Shang,
p. 43, n. 2), in the Shuo-yüan (written by Liu Hsiang, 77-6 B.C.), ch. "Fan-chih."
Yü Yüeh (1821-1906), in his Hu-lou Pi-t'an 4:4, suggests that one wei and one li
are due to dittography. A parallel passage is found in HS 6: 17a.
Li Ch'i (fl. 220-265) writes, "Mou [OMITTED] is an insect that eats the roots of cereals.
[OMITTED] is to eat up the people like this mou."
Yen Shih-ku explains yü [OMITTED] by lieh [OMITTED] (hunting), but Chou Shou-ch'ang replies,
"To invade and take by force without choosing [any particular things] is called yü.
Yü and lieh are two [different] things."
Fu Ch'ien (ca. 125-195) comments, "Those whose tzu [OMITTED] (capital or property)
is ten thousand cash [pay] as a poll-tax (suan [OMITTED] [cf. p. 184, n.1]) 127 [cash]." Ying
Shao explains, "Anciently [people] hated that officials should be covetous. `If their
clothes and food are enough, they know [how to distinguish between] honor and disgrace.'
[A quotation from Kuan-tzu]. So [official position] was restricted [to those
whose] capital (tzu) [was sufficient so that they paid at least] ten [times] the poll-tax
(suan) and then only were people permitted to become officials. [Those who paid]
ten [times] the poll-tax [possessed] a hundred thousand [cash]. Merchants who had
wealth were not permitted to become officials; incorrupt gentlemen who had no capital
were also not allowed to become palace officials (huan). Hence [the Emperor] reduced
[the required] capital to [enough to require the payment of only] four [times] the poll-tax
[as the amount required before they] were permitted to become palace officials (huan)."
Ho Ch'uo (1661-1722) adds "What Tung Chung-shu said [in the HS] `To select
Gentlemen and officials according to their wealth and capital (tzu)' points to this tzu
and suan. [HS 57 A: 1a says that] Szu-ma Hsiang-ju, `by his capital (tzu) and poll-taxes
(suan) became a Gentleman.' " The Han dynasty had a tax upon property or
capital; each ten-thousand cash of property paid one poll-tax (which tax was different
in amount at different times; cf. Glossary sub Poll-tax). Poor people were kept out of
office in order to avoid securing high officials who sought profit in holding office.
Yao Nai (1732-1815) however says, "When this [passage] says palace officials (huan
[OMITTED]), it means Gentlemen. [But cf. below]. At the beginning of the Han [period],
Gentlemen had to furnish ornamented robes and horses before they were permitted to
wait upon the emperor, hence [they were appointed] according to their capital (tzu)
and poll-taxes (suan). The saying of Chang Shih-chih [HS 50: 1a], `Being a palace
official (huan) for a long time reduced my [older brother] Chung's possessions' and that
General Wei Ch'ing ordered that the members of his suite should all furnish their
saddles, horses, deep red garments, jade, utensils, and swords is about this [matter].
"In Han [times], when a person [wanted to] enter official life, in general there were
three ways: [1] as a Gentleman or [Palace] Attendant, [2] by holding office in a province
or commandery or in the yamen of a minister, or [3] by an imperial summons. Gentlemen
were attendants upon the emperor. Without capital, they were not allowed to
become attendants upon the emperor, but naturally they could hold office in the commanderies
or prefectures or in the yamens of the ministers. At the time of Emperor Wu,
schools were established and the filial and incorrupt were recommended; after that,
Gentlemen did not need capital [on which to pay] poll-taxes in order to be promoted;
yet they contributed sheep and contributed grain in order to be given a vacancy among
the Gentlemen, which was a very much greater [payment] than the former [requirement]
of capital [on which to pay] poll-taxes. All this did not exist before the time
of Emperor Ching. When Ying [Shao] says, `[Official position] was restricted to those
whose capital [was sufficient so that they paid at least] ten [times] the poll-tax, and then
only were they permitted to become officials,' he did not comprehend that this regulation
did not apply to all officials."
Wang Hsien-ch'ien says that the Official ed. (1739) and the Academy ed. (1124)
read kuan [OMITTED] (offices) instead of huan (palace officials) both in the text and in Ying Shao's
comment, at the places indicated by 9.9 or by (huan). If this emendation is accepted
(and the first part of Ying Shao's comment uses the word li [OMITTED] for "officials," so that
he may not have had huan in his text), Yao Nai's restriction that only palace officials
were required to have property falls to the ground.
This emendation is however making a difficult reading easy and hence is operating
on a wrong principle. Dr. J. J. L. Duyvendak remarks that it is not likely that an
original kuan should have been changed to huan and that such a change does not make
a proper sentence, inasmuch as in the HS kuan is used to mean "office" rather than
"official." For "official," the word li would have been used.
Emperor Ching seems to have been thinking that entrance into the government
bureaucracy is normally through first becoming a Gentleman in the imperial palace,
where the Emperor could get to know him, and from which position persons were promoted
to governmental offices. He deplored that only very wealthy persons could thus
enter the government service, hence he lowered the amount of property required for
service in the palace. At a later time Commandery Administrators and other high
officials recommended persons as filial and incorrupt, etc., whereupon such persons were
sent to the quarters of the Major in Charge of Public Carriages or to the Yellow Gate
in the imperial palace, where they became Expectant Appointees and were given a small
allowance. Later such persons were given positions in the bureaucracy, seemingly
without being made Gentlemen. Hence Yao Nai is correct in pointing out that not all
officials first became Gentlemen, at least in the time of Ying Shao. Whether that was
the case before the time of Emperor Ching is difficult to determine.
Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) writes, "The Emperor was in his thirty-second year when
he came to the throne; he reigned to his sixteenth year; he lived to his forty-eighth
year." Then he was born in 188 B.C.
Wang Ming-sheng (1722-1798) remarks, "When Emperor Wen died, he sent home
[his concubines], from his Ladies down to his Junior Maids, [hence] when Emperor Ching
died, he also freed the women of his harem. In [the time of Emperors] Wu and Chao
there came to be the practise [that members of an emperor's harem] should uphold
[his worship] at his tomb. When Emperor P'ing died, Wang Mang again freed [the
Emperor's] concubines and sent them all home."
Analects, XV, xxiv, 2. Yen Shih-ku explains, "He means that the people of this
time were the same as those governed by the Hsia, Yin, and Chou [dynasties], when,
because of the government's cultural influence, purity, and unity, [the people] could
follow a straight path in their actions. He regrets that at this time [the situation]
was different."
The Ch'in dynasty enacted many and severe laws, which applied to everyone,
high and low. These were the "fine net" and "severe enactments." The Lord of
Shang, who established the severe laws of Ch'in, is said to have even had the nose of
the Grand Tutor of the Heir-apparent, Prince Ch'ien, sliced off in punishment. Cf.
J. J. L. Duyvendak, The Book of Lord Shang, p. 19.
Wang Hsien-shen (1859-1922) says that the words [OMITTED] are an interpolation;
the T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan (978-983) ch. 88, quotes this passage without these two words.
Appendix I
AN OFFICIAL'S CHARTER
When important officials or nobles were appointed, they were given a
charter; cf. n. 5.7. The Han-chiu-yi (by Wei Hung, fl. 25-57) A: 12a,
contains such a charter, which shows that these charters consisted of
admonitions by the ruler to the appointee:
"A [certain] charter for a Grandee who was newly installed says,
" `Verily, in [the year-period] Wu-feng, the third year, the first month,
on [the day] yi-szu [Feb. 19, 55 B.C.], the Grandee Secretary took office
and the Emperor invited him to mount [the steps to the throne] and in
person gave him an imperial edict, which said,
" ` "Let the Grandee Secretary approach, empty himself [of his notions],
and receive Our words. We are ignorant of the Great Way,
[yet We] have had the opportunity to protect the [imperial] ancestral
temples, [so that We are] very fearful and humble. Day and night [We]
think of [Our] own faults without taking leisure, joy, or repose. During
the day We think that the people have not yet been able to be tranquil.
Alas! Let the Grandee Secretary apply himself with all his mind and do
his best in supplying Our deficiencies. Alas! Let the nine high ministers,
the grandees, and all the officials be careful. If you are not earnest in
your duty, there is the regular law. Go and apply yourself with all
your mind in harmonizing, enriching, and opening [the way for] capable
persons, enabling the capable to have the means of returning to their
proper places [in the bureaucracy, and so of] directing the people. Do
not keep silence before Our Self. The multitude [of people] in the world
receive commands from Us and consider the law as [determining] their
fates. [Then] can you fail to be careful? Alas! O Grandee Secretary,
be warned." ' "
The list of officials in HS ch. 19 B does not give any appointment on
the date in this document, and from the dates in that chapter it does not
seem at all likely that this date is correct. Ibid. p. 23a however lists the
appointment of Wang Yen-kuang in the third year of T'ai-ch'u, the first
month. According to this suggestion, the year and month are correct,
and yi-szu is a mistake for chi-szu (a common error). Then the date is
Feb. 18, 102 B.C. The phrasing may well be that of Emperor Wu.
Appendix II
SOLAR ECLIPSES DURING THE REIGN OF
EMPEROR CHING
During this period of sixteen years, ten eclipses are recorded in the
SC or HS. We consider them in their chronological order.
i. In Ch'ien III (the third year of the first part of the reign), the second
month, on the day jen-tzu, the last day of the month, a solar eclipse is
listed (HS 5: 4a). But, according to P. Hoang, Concordance des chronologies
néoméniques chinoise et européenne, there was no jen-tzu day in the
second month. HS 27 Cb: 13b dates this eclipse "on [the day] jen-wu,
the last day of the month. It was two degrees in [the constellation]
Wei4." This date was Apr. 5, 154 B.C. The Han-chi (ii cent.) 9:5b however
dates this eclipse "in the second month, on [the day] hsin-szu, the
first day of the month," which was Apr. 4, 154 B.C., according to Hoang.
Oppolzer calculates his solar eclipse no. 2506 on Apr. 4, 154 B.C.,
which date Hoang calculates as the day before the last day of the month.
Oppolzer calculates the sun as in long. 10.9° = 10.0° R.A.; the stars
of Wei4 were then in 11.2° to 12.8° R.A.
ii. HS 5: 4b says, In Ch'ien IV, "the tenth month, on [the day]
mou-hsü, the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun."
HS ch. 27 and the Han-chi both fail to list this eclipse. The listing in
ch. 5 is moreover peculiar, since here the tenth month, which really
began the year, is noted at the end of the year.
Another eclipse in the tenth month at the end of a year is noted in
Chung IV, on the day mou-wu. Because of the similarity of these two
dates, there is a possibility of conflation between these two recordings.
HS ch. 27 lists neither of them.
P. Hoang, in his Catalogue des éclipses de soleil et de lune dans les
documents chinois ("Variétés sinologiques", n. 56) suggests Oppolzer's
solar eclipse no. 2507, but that was visible only in the southern hemisphere.
Chu Wen-hsin, in his Li-tai Jih-shih K'ao (1934) suggests
Oppolzer's no. 2510, but that eclipse was also invisible in China. Liu
Pin and Chou Shou-ch'ang think that this eclipse is an interpolation,
because of the peculiar month, because HS ch. 27 does not list it, and
because of the similarity to the one listed for Chung IV. Ho Ch'uo
suggests that since the SC lists an "intercalary ninth month" in this
put any mou-hsü day in that intercalary month, making such a day the
twenty-fifth of the regular ninth month, Oct. 12, 153 B.C.
In the four years between the preceeding correctly recorded eclipse
in 154 B.C. and the next such a one in 150 B.C., there occurred eight
solar eclipses, of which only two were visible in China.[1]
The eclipse of
Aug. 7, 152 B.C. was invisible in Ch'ang-an, but calculation shows that
at the present Peiping it reached a magnitude of 0.08 (totality = 1.00)
at sunrise. This day was in Ch'ien V, the sixth month, on the day
ting-yu, the day before the last day of the month. Calculation shows
also that the eclipse of Feb. 2, 151 B.C. reached a magnitude of 0.03
at Ch'ang-an at 10:08 a.m., local time; at the present Ch'ang-sha it
reached a magnitude of 0.15 at 10:27 a.m., local time. This date was in
Ch'ien VI, the first month, the day ping-shen, the first day of the month.
Ping-shen is two days before mou-hsü and ting-yu is the day before
mou-hsü. Since Hoang's calendar (from which these datings are taken)
might be as much as three days in error, either of these two eclipses
might be the one referred to in this recording, as far as the cyclical days
go. These eclipses were however both quite small and would easily be
missed. Since our other sources do not list this eclipse, it is more probably
an interpolation into the text, possibly a conflation or dittography
for the other peculiar eclipse in Chung IV.
iii. In Ch'ien VII, the eleventh month, on the day keng-yin, the last
day of the month, a third eclipse of the sun is recorded (5:5a). HS
27 Cb: 13b also records it and adds, "It was 9 degrees in [the constellation]
Hsü." The SC (Mh II, 501) mistakenly dates this eclipse on the
last day of the twelfth month.
Hoang gives this date as Jan. 22, 150 B.C.; Oppolzer calculates his
solar eclipse no. 2515 for that date. He calculates the sun's longitude
as 299.1° = 301.2° R.A. The two stars of Hsü were then in 291.8°
and 293.9° R.A.
iv. In Chung I, the twelfth month, on the day chia-yin, the last
day of the month, a fourth solar eclipse is listed in HS 27 Cb: 13b;
ch. 5 and the Han-chi do not mention this eclipse. Hoang gives this
date as Feb. 10, 149 B.C. There was no eclipse on that date.
In the three years between the preceding eclipse and the next correctly
was visible in China.[2] This one occurred on June 7, 149 B.C., in Chung I,
the fifth month, on the day jen-tzu, the last day of the month. Oppolzer
charts the moon's umbra as passing into northern Siberia, so that this
eclipse was visible as a small partial eclipse in northern China.
Chia-yin is the second day after jen-tzu; it is likely that Hoang's
calendar is here two days in error and that "fifth" was misread as
"twelfth," so that the eclipse of 149 B.C. is the one intended in this
recording. Then the Han-chi did not list all the eclipses given in the
HS, and missed this one because it is listed only in HS ch. 27.
v. In Chung II, the ninth month, on the day chia-hsü, the last day
of the month, a fifth solar eclipse is recorded (5: 6b; 27 Cb: 13b; Han-chi
9: 14b). Hoang gives this date as Oct. 22, 148 B.C. No eclipse happened
on that day.
If we are correct in identifying the preceeding eclipse with that of
149 B.C., there was no solar eclipse visible in China between the two
eclipses of 150 and 147 B.C.
This listing is probably dittography for the next eclipse. Both were
listed in the ninth month, one on the day chia-hsü and the other on the
day mou-hsü; one in the second year and the other in the third year.
In the list of eclipses in ch. 27 this dittography is quite plain. There
two groups, each of eleven characters, follow each other, differing only
in two characters. If, possibly in copying the original astronomical
records, the word for "three" had been carelessly written "two," and
someone had added the correct notation of the next eclipse and had also
noted that mou-hsü is incorrect for that month of the second year
and had changed mou to chia, the list would stand as it is now. Its
insertion into the Annals would naturally have followed.
vi. In Chung III, the ninth month, on the day mou-hsü, the last day
of the month, a sixth solar eclipse is recorded (5: 6b; 27 Cb: 13b; Han-chi
9: 14b). Ch. 27 adds, "It was almost total. It was nine degrees
in Wei3."
Hoang gives this date as Nov. 10, 147 B.C., for which Oppolzer
calculates his solar eclipse no. 2523. He charts the moon's umbra as
passing approximately through the present Urga, Mongolia, and Shanhai-kuan,
Hopei. Calculation shows that the eclipse reached a magnitude
of 0.77 in Ch'ang-an at 10:58 a.m., local time.
The sun's longitude was 224.9° = 222.4° R.A. The nine stars of
Wei3 ranged in R.A. from 218.2° to 230.7°.
vii. In Chung IV, at the end of the record for the year, there is listed
an eclipse of the sun in the tenth month, on the day mou-wu (5: 7a;
Han-chi 9: 14b). HS ch. 27 does not list this eclipse. There could of
course be no tenth month at the end of the year, for the tenth month
was the first month in a year.
In the three years between the preceeding eclipse and the next correctly
recorded one in 144 B.C., there were six solar eclipses, of which
only one was visible in China.[3]
This one occurred on the morning of
Mar. 26, 145 B.C. It was invisible at Ch'ang-an and even in the ancient
Lu, the modern Ch'ü-fou, Shantung. But at Jung-ch'eng, on the
eastern tip of the Shantung peninsula, the eclipse reached a magnitude
of 0.16 at sunrise, according to calculation. This day was in Chung V,
the second month, the day keng-shen, the last day of the month, according
to Hoang.
Mou-wu is the second day before keng-shen. There thus occurred
an eclipse within a few months of the time when this eclipse is said to
have occurred, on a cyclical day which was possibly the same cyclical
day as that for which it was listed (since Hoang's calendar might be two
days in error). At sunrise an eclipse must reach a magnitude of 0.33
to be conspicuous, and an eclipse of 0.16 is visible to the naked eye. It
is possible that some official in eastern Shantung reported this eclipse
to the imperial court and that somehow the record got into the "Imperial
Annals" in a garbled form. Since the list in ch. 27 seems to represent the
records of the court astronomers, it is natural that this eclipse did not
get into that list.
viii. In Chung VI, the seventh month, on the day hsin-hai, the last
day of the month, an eighth eclipse is recorded (5: 8b; 27 Cb: 14a;
Han-chi 9: 15b). Ch. 27 adds, "It was 7 degrees in [the constellation]
Chen3."
Hoang gives this day as Sept. 8, 144 B.C., for which Oppolzer calculates
his solar eclipse no. 2530. He charts the path of totality as passing
near the present Canton.
He calculates the sun in long. 161.6° = 163.2° R.A. The stars of
Chen3 then ranged from 155.7° to 161.4° R.A.
ix. In Hou I, the seventh month, on the day yi-szu, a ninth solar
eclipse is recorded. HS 5: 8b says it was on the last day of the month;
27 Cb: 14a however says it was "one day before the last day of the
month," and adds, "It was 17 degrees in [the constellation] Yi."
Hoang gives this date as Aug. 28, 143 B.C., the day before the last
day of the month, for which day Oppolzer calculates his solar eclipse
no. 2532. He charts the path of totality as passing through Siberia and
the island of Yezo.
He calculates the sun's longitude as 150.8° = 152.9° R.A. The stars
of Yi then ranged from 136.0° to 144.7° R.A.
x. Under Hou III, the tenth month, which was Nov. 16-Dec. 14,
142 B.C., the SC (Mh II, 508) says, "The sun and the moon were both
eclipsed and red for five days." The HS does not mention this matter
either in the Annals or in ch. 27. The only solar eclipse visible in China
between that of 143 B.C. and the next correctly recorded one in 138 B.C.
was that of Aug. 8, 141 B.C., which may have been separately recorded
in ch. 6.[4]
This record seems to refer to a dust-storm.
Besides those located by Oppolzer, three were partial. Of those, no. 2508 was near
the south polar regions; the other two, upon cursory calculation, were also found located
outside China.
The one partial eclipse, no. 2517, was located near the south pole. Five other
eclipses are charted as invisible in China.
| Chapter V The history of the former Han dynasty | |