The History of the Former Han Dynasty

Last updated: 12/24/09 Homer H. Dubs The History of the Former Han Dynasty GLOSSARY CHAPTER VIII Emperor Hsüan (r. 73-49 B.C.

2 199. Emperor Hsiao-hsüan, usually called Emperor Hsüan for short, was the grandson of Liu Chü, the first Heir-apparent of Emperor Wu. He was first named Ping-yi (cf. Hs 8.3a), but in 64 B.C. changed his personal name to Hsün 2. His style was Tz uch ing. Hsiao-hsüan was his posthumous name. In his early days he was entitled the Imperial Great-grandson. In 4 A.D. he was given the temple name of the Central Successor. On his first name, Yen Shih-ku writes, Probably because he early happened upon difficulties and troubles and had much sickness and trouble [Hs 74.7a says that in babyhood he several times almost died of illness], he was hence named Ping-yi [lit. sickness will leave or sickness is over ; cf. Ho Ch ü-ping ], with the intention of quickly making him well. Later he considered [his name] as vulgar, hence changed it and [took] the name Hsün. Cf. Hs 8.3a. In his edict ordering the change of name, he however gives as his reason that many people had suffered punishment because inadvertently they had used his tabooed name in memorials [Cf. Hs 8.13a,b & HFHD II.233 n 13.3], and other graphs also avoided because they were homophones. Possibly the name of Hsün-tzu was written because of this taboo. Hsün Yueh (148-209) writes, His taboo [or name ] was Hsün and his style Tz uching. In place of the work hsün write mou. Ying Shao writes, The Rules for Posthumous Titles [say], [One who is] sage, good, and well-informed [may be] called hsüan. Cf. Hs 8.la. Chang Shou-chieh (fl. 737) in his appendix to the Shih chi, quotes the above statement and also says, To indicate [what should be done] but without doing it is to hsüan (promulgate). Cf. Glossary sub Shih, Sweet Younger Sister née; sub Ping Ch i. He was born in 91 B.C. (Hs 97A.20a) and came to the throne in his 18th year. 199. Heir-Apparent Li. Wei Chao writes, Because he transgressed and rebelled, unauthorizedly mobilizing troops, his posthumous name was Li (lit. rebel ). But Fu Tsan (f1. ca. 285) says, The Heir-apparent executed Chiang Ch ung in order to do away with a slanderer and assassin, but the affair was not understood clearly. Later Emperor Wu awoke [to the real facts] and thereupon exterminated [Chiang] Ch ung s family. Emperor Hsüan would not have given [his grandfather] a bad posthumous name. Tung Chung-shu [ii cent. B.C.] wrote, [One who] has the achievements [but] has not the appearance [of having achieved anything] is called Li [lit. arrived ], [one who] has no achievement [but] has the appearance [of achievement] is called a criminal. Chou Shou-ch ang adds, The Shuo-wen [ca. 100 says,] Li is stooped. [It comes] from dog [the lower part of the character] going out of the lower part of a door [the upper part of the character]. The person who is stooped has his body bent. [Emperor] Hsüan of the Han [dynasty] would certainly not have endured that a condemnatory posthumous name should have been given to his grandfather. Probably it means that in person he had received injustice which he was not himself able to straighten out. Cf. Hs 8.la. Chang Shou-chieh (fl. 737), in his appendix to the Sc quotes the Rules for

3 Posthumous Names as follows. [One who] does not repent for a former fault [may be] called Li. 199. Imperial Grandson was the title given to all the sons of an Imperial Heir-apparent, according to Hs 97A.19a. 199. The Sweet Little Lady was the second rank among the women of the imperial Heirapparent. According to 97A.19b, The Heir-apparent has altogether three grades [of spouses]. the Crown Princess, the Sweet Little Ladies, and the Maids. His wife and concubines together were of three ranks. In ancient times, when a man married two sisters or cousins at the same time, the one who had the first rank was called szu and the other was called Younger Sister, for she was usually the younger sister (or cousin) of the other one. 199. The Sweet Little Lady née Shih of the Heir-apparent Li, posthumous name was Queen Li, was the grandmother of Emperor Hsüan. Her home was originally in the kingdom of Lu. Her mother was Cheng-chün and her older brother was Shih Kung. In 113 B.C. she entered the harem of the Heir-apparent and became a Sweet Little Lady. She bore a boy named Chin, who was entitled the Imperial Grandson whose mother was née Shih. At the end of Emperor Wu s reign in 92 B.C., the witchcraft and black magic case arose and the Heir-apparent Li, the Sweet Colleen née Shih and the Imperial Grandson whose mother was née Shih were all killed in 91 B.C. But the Imperial Grandson whose mother was née Shih had had a son who was entitled the Imperial Great-grandson. He was only several months old, but was nevertheless sentenced along with the Heir-apparent and was tied in prison. When he was in his fifth year, an amnesty occurred. The person in charge of the prison, Ping Chi (q.v.), pitied the Imperial Great-grandson because he had no home and sent him to Shih Kung. Shih Kung s mother, Cheng-chün was aged, but when she saw that her grand son was an orphan, she pitied him greatly and cared for him personally. Later the Imperial Great-grandson was received into and reared in the Yi-t ing in the imperial palace, and finally ascended the throne. He became Emperor Hsüan. After he ascended the throne, he posthumously honored his grandmother the Sweet Little Lady née Shih with the posthumous name, Queen Li. Cf. Hs 97A.19a, b. 199. Wang, Lady née. The Lady née Wang of the Imperial Grandson whose mother was née Shih, was the mother of Emperor Hsüan. Her posthumous name was Queen Tao. Her maiden name was Wang Weng-hsü. During the period T ai-shih (96-93 B.C.) she was favored by the Imperial Grandson whose mother was née Shih. There were no special ranks or titles given to the wife and concubines of an imperial grandson, all were called Ladies of Good Family. In 91 B.C. the Lady née Wang gave birth to the future Emperor Hsüan. Several months after he was born, the Heir-apparent Li was defeated and his wife and concubines were all sentenced and executed, so that no one would dare to bury them. Only Emperor Hsüan was saved alive. After he ascended the throne, he posthumously honored his mother

4 with the name Queen Tao. She and his grandmother, the Sweet Younger Sister née Shih were reinterred. He built a park and town with a Chief and Assistant to care for their graves. Cf. the Memoir of the Heir-apparent Li. After Emperor Hsüan came to the throne he sought his relatives on his mother s side. Many imposters came, but he finally found his grandmother on the female side, the old dame Wang, and her sons Wang Wu-ku and his younger brother Wang Wu. They were brought to the palace by a messenger. When they entered the Palace Portal, they were riding a cart drawn by a brown ox, hence the people called the old dame, the brown-ox old dame. The old lady was examined and told the Lieutenant Chancellor and Grandee Secretary that her name was Wang-jen and her home was originally in the Cho Commandery, in the Li-wu Prefecture, the P ing District. When she was in her fourteenth year she was married to a man of the same district, Wang Keng-te, as his wife. After his death she was remarried to a man of Kuang-wang, Wang Nai-shih, as a married woman, and had two sons, Wu-ku and Wu and a daughter, Weng-hsü. When Weng-hsü was in her 8th or 9th year she lived in the home of a younger son of Marquis Chieh of Kuang-wang (Liu Chung ) whose name was Liu Chung-ch ing. Liu Chung-ch ing told Wang Nai-shih, Give me Weng-hsü and I will rear her myself. So her mother made her some thin silk unlined clothes and sent her to the home of Liu Chungch ing, who taught her to sing and dance. She went back and forth to her home to get clothes for winter and summer. When she had lived there to the fourth or fifth year, Weng-hsü came home and said, A man of Han-tan, Chia Chang-erh, is seeking for singers and dancers and Liu Chung-ch ing wants to give me to him. The old dame Wang immediately fled with Weng-hsü to the P ing District. But Liu Chung-ch ing rode with Wang Nai-shih in search of her. The old dame became fearful, took Weng-hsü home, and said to Liu Chung-ch ing, When my daughter lived in your home, Sir, we did not [sell her to you or] receive one cash. How can you [rightfully] plan to give her to another man? Liu Chung-ch ing deceived her, saying, I do not. Several days later Weng-hsü went by the door of her family in the carriage of Chia Chang-erh and cried out, I really have been made to go away, the destination is Liu-su. The old dame and Wang Nai-shih went to Liu-su and saw Weng-hsü. They wept together. The old dame wanted to tell the official, but the girl urged her to let things go. The father and mother returned home, raised some money, and followed her to Lu-nu in the Chung-shan Commandery, where they saw her living with five singers and dancers. The old dame slept with Weng-hsü; the next day she went back to get money to follow her to Han-tan, while Wang Nai-shih stopped to see about Weng-hsü. Before the old dame had sold enough to secure the needed money, Wang Nai-shih returned and said that Weng-hsü had gone and he had not had money to follow her. Probably he had sold his daughter. So they were separated and from that time they heard nothing more about her. The testimony of Chia Chang-erh s wife, Cheng together with the instructors who accompanied her was as follows. Twenty years ago a man of the suite of the Heir-apparent, Hou Ming, came from Ch ang-an seeking singers and dancers. He asked for Weng-hsü and the others of the five. Chia Chang-erh thereupon sent them to Ch ang-an and all entered the family of the Heir- apparent. Three San-lao of Kuang-wang, Liu Chung-ch ing s wife, Ch i,

5 and 43 others confirmed this evidence. The officials agreed that the old dame Wang was the mother of Queen Tao. The old dame was given much money and was honored with the title, the Baronetess of Po-p ing. Wang Nai-shih died of illness in 70 B.C.; three years later the family became rich and influential, and he was posthumously made the Szu-ch eng Marquis. More than a year later the Baronetess of Po-p ing died and was given the posthumous title, the Szu-ch eng Lady. Cf. Hs 97A.20a-21b. There was also a Lady née Wang who bore four sons to Emperor Ching (Hs 53.la), the younger sister of his Empress née Wang, and a Lady née Wang who bore a son to Emperor Wu (Hs 63.la). 199. Liu Chin, called the Imperial Grandson whose mother was née Shih, posthumous title and name, the Deceased Imperial Father Tao, was the son of Liu Chü, the Heir-apparent Li, by the Sweet Younger Sister née Shih, and the father of Emperor Hsüan. He was born some time after 113 B.C. and was killed with his father in 91 B.C. Cf. Glossary sub Shih, Sweet Younger Sister née, 97A.19a, 63.6. 200. Ping Chi or, style Shao-ch ing, title Marquis Ting of Po-yang was a prison official who protected the future Emperor Hsüan and rose to be Lieutenant Chancellor. He came from Lu. Because he was versed in law and ordinances, he became an official in the prison at Lu. He distinguished himself and was promoted considerably to be Senior Superintendent to the Chief Justice, but was sentenced for violating the law and lost his official position. He returned home and became a provincial official. When, in the last years of Emperor Wu (92 B.C.) the witchcraft and black magic case arose, Ping Chi was summoned because he had formerly been a Superintendent to the Chief Justice. He was ordered to be in charge of the witchcraft and black magic case and of the Prison for the Commanderies and Princes at the capital (where there involved in the case were kept). At that time the future Emperor Hsüan was several months old and was sentenced as an Imperial Great-grandson for complicity in the case of the Heir-apparent and was tied in prison. Ping Chi saw him and pitied him. He knew in his heart that the evidence against the Heir-apparent was not really conclusive and had compassion upon the Imperial Greatgrandson, since he was blameless. Ping Chi selected careful and dependable female convicts and ordered them to protect and rear the Imperial Great-grandson. He put him in a large and dry place. Ping Chi had charge of the witchcraft and black magic case for several years without it coming to an end. In 87 B.C. Emperor Wu was ill and went back and forth between the Ch ang-yang and Wu-tso Palaces. The person who observed emanations said that in the prison at Ch ang-an there was the emanation of a Son of Heaven. Thereupon the Emperor sent messengers to instruct separately the officials in the imperial capital, ordering that those serving time in the prisons should all, be killed, irrespective of the nature of their crime. The Chief of the Palace Internuncios, Kuo Jang, came by night to the Prison for Commanderies and Princes. Ping Chi closed the gates and refused to admit him, saying, The Imperial Great-grandson is here, it is not right to kill other people who are guiltless, how much more

6 the Emperor s own great-grandson. The two watched each other until dawn, but Kuo Jang did not get to enter. Kuo Jang returned and accused Ping Chi. Emperor Wu finally awoke to the facts and said that it must have been Heaven who sent him to save the boy. So in Mar./Apr. 87 B.C. a general amnesty was granted to the empire. Only those imprisoned in the Prison for the Commanderies were saved alive because of Ping Chi. The Imperial Great-grandson became ill and was several times on the verge of death. Ping Chi several times told the wet-nurses who were caring for him to give him medicine and in general showed favor to him. Out of his private property he provided for his clothes and food. Later Ping Chi became Chief of the Army Market to the General of Chariots and Cavalry and was promoted to be Chief Official to the General-in- chief. Ho Kuang esteemed him highly and made him an Imperial House-hold Grandee, Serving in the Inner Apartments. When Emperor Chao died in 74 B.C. without an heir, Ho Kuang sent Ping Chi to get the King of Chang-yi, Liu Ho. When Liu Ho ascended the throne, he thereupon committed licentious and disorderly conduct. When Ho Kuang, Chang An-shih, and the great ministers were discussing whom they should enthrone and had not yet yet decided, Ping Chi memorialized them suggesting Liu Ping-yi (the future Emperor Hsüan ), who was then in his 18th or 19th year. He said that the boy knew the Classics and the arts, had fine abilities, and was a steady, self-controlled, and temperate person. Ho Kuang agreed and sent the Superintendent of the Imperial House, Liu Tê, and Ping Chi to get the Imperial Greatgrandson from the Yi-t ing. When Emperor Hsüan ascended the throne, he then honored Ping Chi as a Kuan-nei Marquis. In character Ping Chi was good-natured and silent and did not brag. From the time that he had cared for the Imperial Great-grandson, he said nothing about what he had done, hence no one in the court knew what he had actually done. In 67 B.C. Emperor Hsüan appointed an Imperial Heir-apparent, and Ping Chi was made Grand Tutor to the Heir-apparent. After several months, on Aug. 14, 67 B.C., he was promoted to be Grandee Secretary. After the Ho family had been executed, the Emperor himself took control of and examined the affairs of the Masters of Writing. At that time a government slave in the Yit ing, Tse, had her husband (who was a commoner) memorialize the Emperor that formerly she had cared for the Emperor when he was a child. The Chief of the Lateral Courts was ordered to investigate. The woman deposed that Ping Chi knew about the matter and she was taken to the office of the Grandee Secretary. Ping Chi recognized her and said that she had indeed cared for the boy, but that she had been negligent and had been beaten for it. He said that only Ho Tsu of Wei-ch eng and Kuo Cheng-ch ing of Huai-yang had done well, and that these two should be reported separately in order that the Emperor might know of their toil in rearing him. Ping Chi was ordered to seek for Ho Tsu and Kuo Cheng-ch ing but they were already dead, their sons and grandsons were rewarded highly. Tse was dismissed and made a commoner, and given 100,000 cash. The Emperor himself talked with her and in this way first learned of the former kindness of Ping Chi to himself. Then on Apr. 20, 63 B.C. Ping Chi was made Marquis of Po-yang with the income of 1300 families. When he was to be

7 enfeoffed, he was ill, the Emperor sent a man to put ribbons on his seal and enfeoffed him. The Emperor was afraid that Ping Chi would not arise from his illness, but he finally convalesced and asked to resign his honors. The Emperor refused to permit it. On June 5, 59 B.C., Ping Chi became Lieutenant Chancellor. He had risen from the position of a small prison official. He had studied the Odes and Rites and understood their general principles. When he was Lieutenant Chancellor he was very liberal and loved courtesy and yielding to others. If an upper-class official committed crime, Ping Chi concealed it and suggested that the man had better resign, he did not try to make a case out of it. He was ashamed to turn his office into a court for trying small officials, the precedent arose from him that minor officials were not to be tried by the Lieutenant Chancellor. He covered up the faults of his subordinates and praised their virtues. One of his subordinates was a habitual drinker and several times absconded from his duties. He once accompanied Ping Chi, and, in his drunkenness, vomited on the Lieutenant Chancellor s chariot. His Division Chief wanted to dismiss him, but Ping Chi would not permit it. In the spring of 55 B.C. Ping Chi fell seriously ill. The Emperor himself visited him and asked him to recommend his successor. At first he did not want to do so, but he finally recommended Tu Yen-nien, Yu Ting-kuo, and Chen Wan-nien. All were promoted and the first two finally became Lieutenant Chancellors and proved capable. Emperor Hsüan praised Ping Chi for his knowledge of men. He died on March 17, 55 B.C. Cf. Hs 74.6b-11a, 18.18a, 19B.31a,b, 34b, 35b, 8.19b; Sc ch. 96. 200. The Superintendents to the Commandant of Justice were judges subordinate to him. They ranked at a thousand piculs. There was also a Director to the Commandant of Justice. There was a Senior and a Junior Superintendent. They decided lawsuits, in a trial the Director and Superintendents heard and decided cases. Their decisions were reported to the Commandant of Justice, important and capital cases were then reported to the Emperor for confirmation. In the Later Han period, the Junior Superintendent was done away with. Cf. Hs 19A.13a, 83.13a, Han-kuan ta-wen, 2.10a. 200. Chao Cheng-ch ing was a woman of the Huai-yang Commandery who about 91 B.C. was serving out her sentence in the Prison for Commanderies and Princes in Ch ang-an after having been freed, and was made to nurse the future Emperor Hsüan by Ping Chi (q.v.). She died before 63 B.C. and probably before 74 B.C. Ping Ch is Memoir gives her surname as Kuo, Chou Shou-ch ang suggests that her maiden name and the other her married name. Cf. Hs 8.lb, 64.8b. 200. Hu Tsu was a woman of Wei-ch eng who about 91 B.C. was serving out her sentence in the Prison for Commanderies and Princes in Ch ang-an after having been freed, and was made to nurse the future Emperor Hsüan by Ping Chi (q.v.). She died before 63 B.C. and probably before 74 B.C. Cf. Hs 8.lb, 64.8b, ch. 68 (sub Ho Kuang). 200. Wei-ch eng {15-16:4/4} was the chief city of the Yu-fu-feng commandery and was

8 the former Ch in capital, Hsien-yang 2. In the first year of his reign, 206 B.C., Kao-tsu changed its name to the New City. In 200 B.C. this territory was made subordinate to Ch ang-an. In 114 B.C. Emperor Wu changed its name to Wei-ch eng. The Shina rekidai chimei yoran, p. 714 locates it 17 li northeast of the present Hsien-yang, Shensi. Cf. Hs Hs 28Ai.30b. Ta-ch ing Yi-t ung-chih 229.4a locates it east of the present Hsien-yang, Shansi. 201. The Ch ang-yang Palace, lit. The Palace of Sweeping Willows was located at Chou-chih (q.v.). The San-fu huang-t u (iii-vi cent.) 1.4b says, The Ch ang-an Palace was 30 li southeast of the present Chou-chih Prefecture. It was originally an old palace of the Ch in dynasty. In Han [times] it was repaired and decorated, in preparation for imperial visits. Inside the palace there are several mou of drooping poplars, from which the palace is named. The gate is called the Lodge for Shooting and Hitting Bears (q.v.). It is a place where the Ch in and Han [rulers went] for excursions and hunting. 201. The Internuncios of the Inner [Courts] were eunuchs who acted as messengers in the forbidden apartments of the Imperial Palace. This title is not found in the Table of Officials, but they were probably the same as the Palace Internuncios (q.v.). Cf. Hs 19A.16a, Han-kuan ta-wen, 3.10b. The Palace Internuncios had probably the same duties as the Internuncios q.v., but were eunuchs who served in the forbidden apartments of the imperial place. In Han times those officials in whose title the term chung (indicating the forbidden apartments of the imperial palaces) occurred were all eunuchs. At the beginning of the Han period, the emperors however appointed familiar and trustworthy officials to this office, Kuan Ying, who was also a marquis, held this position, so that at that time Palace Internuncios were not necessarily eunuchs. They were also called Internuncios of the Inner Courts (q.v.). Cf. Hs 19A.16a, Han-kuan ta-wen 3.10b. 201. Kuo Jang was a eunuch who in 87 B.C. was Chief Internuncio of the Inner courts and carried a message for Emperor Wu. Cf. Hs 8.2a, ch. 74 (sub Ping Chi ), ch. 66, sub Liu Ch u-li. 201. The Lateral Courts were the part of the Imperial Palace occupied by the harem. This place was originally called the Long Lane ; in 104 B.C. its name was changed to the Lateral Courts. It had a Chief, an Assistant, Supervisors, etc. who had charge of the harem. The Favorite Beauties and imperial concubines ranking below them all lived in the Lateral Courts. When ministers or lower officials presented a girl to the Emperor, she either went to live in the Lateral Courts and immediately became a member of the imperial household or waited in the Lateral Courts for her turn to see the Emperor. Women who had committed crimes and who were in consequence enslaved to the government also lived in the Lateral Courts. Government slaves were selected to be clerks and accountants [cf. Hs 72.22a]. [p. Correct cf. C. Martin Wilbur. Slavery in China during the Former Han Dynasty, 206 B.C. - A.D. 25. New York: Russell & Russell, 1967 [1943], 404.]

9 In the Lateral Courts there was a prison, in which were probably imprisoned those in the palace who committed crime; women of the Lateral Court who committed crimes were at times also imprisoned there. Cf. Hs 19A.16, 17; Han-kuan ta-wen 3.12b. In Wang Mang s time, the imperial concubine lived in the Eastern Long Lane; Hs 99C.8a. 202. The Bailiff was an official of a Prefectural District. His duty was to judge litigations and collect taxes. Each district had one Inspector of Fields. Altho his rank was low, yet he was able to exercise an influence upon the countryside. Besides the District Inspectors of Fields, there was an Inspector of Fields for the [Imperial] Stables, and an Inspector of Fields for the Drying House (q.v.). Cf. Hs 19A.30a, 8.2b; Han-kuan ta-wen 5.12b; Book of History 3.IV, 4, p. 165; Hs 4.7b, 72.23b, 13b, 99A.28a. 202. The Drying House was a department of the Lateral Courts in the Imperial Palace which had charge of weaving, making clothes, dying, and cooking silk. It took its name from spreading out of the cloth to dry in the sun necessary in these processes. Ying Shao says that in his time it was called the Po-shih, which had the same meaning. Yen Shih-ku says that people also vulgularily say. Yen Shih-ku says that probably because there were so many people there a prison was established there, but it was not originally a prison. Palace Maids who were ill were sent to the Drying House, if the Empress or the imperial concubines committed a crime, they might also be sent to this place. The Bailiff in the Drying House had charge of these criminal. Ying Shao says that this place was a prison, but he is probably mistaken. Cf. Hs 8.2a, Han-kuan ta-wen 3.12b. 202. Chang Ho a title Marquis Ai of Yang-tu (f1. 91) was the elder brother of Chang Anshih (q.v.). He became a follower of the Heir-apparent Li, Liu Chü, and was favored by him. After the Heir-apparent Li had been defeated and killed in 91 B.C., thru the influence of his brother, Chang Ho was merely sentenced to be castrated. Later he became the Chief of the Lateral Courts (q.v.) in the Imperial Palace. When the future Emperor Hsüan was an Imperial Great-grandson and was received into and reared in the Lateral Courts, Chang Ho had compassion on him because he had been blameless in connection with the deeds of his grandfather, the Heir-apparent Li, and was young and an orphan; so he looked after the boy and cared for him with extreme kindness. When he was grown, Chang Ho taught him to write, had him learn the Book of Odes, and married him to his Consort née Hsü providing the dowry out of his own property. Several times there were portents concerning the Imperial Great-grandson. Chang Ho heard of them and told them to Chang An-shih also telling him of his ability and handsomeness. But Chang An-shih stopped him, saying that with another boy on the throne one should not say such things. When Emperor Hsüan ascended the throne in 74 B.C., Chang Ho had already died. The Emperor remembered his kindness and enfeoffed his tumulus, making him the En-te Marquis, and established 200 families to care for his tomb. Later, thru the entreaties of Chang An-shih the number was reduced to 30 families. Chang Ho had had one child who had died young, so that he was childless, hence he

10 adopted Chang An-shih s youngest son, Chang P eng-tzu. On Apr. 20, 63 B.C. Chang P engtzu was made Marquis of Yang-tu, and Chang Ho was given the posthumous name, Marquis Ai of Yang-tu. Chang Ho s deceased son had, however, had a son, so that Chang Ho had a grandson, Chang Pa, who was at that time in his seventh year. He was installed as General of Cavalrymen without Specified Appointment of the Gentlemen-of-the-Palace and given the noble rank of Kuan-nei Marquis with the income of 300 families. Cf. Hs 59.9b-10b, 8.2, 97A.21b-22a. 202. Hsü Kuang-han, title Marquis Tai of P ing-en, known as Earl Hsü, was the father-in-law of Emperor Hsüan and the grandfather of Emperor Yüan. He was from the kingdom of Chang-yi, and when young for a time was a Gentleman to the King of Ch ang-yi. He followed Emperor Wu and went to the Kan-ch üan Palace. By mistake he took the saddle of another Gentleman and used it on his horse. When the fact became known, he was impeached for robbery when accompanying the Emperor and should have suffered capital punishment. But there was an edict allowing him to be castrated instead, as it was the common practise to commute capital punishment to castration. Later he became an Assistant Eunuch. At the time of Shang-kuan Chieh s attempted rebellion, Hsü Kuang-han was sent out to search. In the servants quarters of the Hall of Shang-kuan Chieh there were several thousand ropes each measuring several feet long, for binding people. They filled a sealed chest. Hsü Kuang-han failed to locate it, and another official went and found it. So Hsü Kuang-han was sentenced to cut firewood for the spirits and made to serve in the Lateral Courts. Later he became Inspector of Fields in the Drying House (q.v.). At that time Emperor Hsüan was the Imperial Great-grandson and was being reared in the Lateral Courts. He lived in the same residence with Hsü Kuang-han. The Chief of the Lateral Courts, Chang Ho (q.v.) sought for a wife for the Imperial Great-grandson; Hsü Kuang-han s daughter, P ing-chün, was in her fourteenth or fifteenth year and had been betrothed to a boy who had died. Because Hsü Kuang-han was Chang Ho s subordinate, the latter got him to marry his daughter to the Imperial Great-grandson. When this Imperial Great-grandson ascended the throne in 74 B.C., P ingchun was made first a Favorite Beauty, and later Empress. Ho Kuang considered that the Empress s father was a convict and so was not proper to give him a title. Nevertheless more than a year later he was enfeoffed as the Ch ang-ch eng Baronet. The fifth year after the Empress née Hsü was murdered, her son became Imperial Heir-apparent, and his grandfather, Hsü Kuang-han was enfeoffed as Marquis of P ing-en on May 24, 67 B.C. In the fourth year afterwards, his two younger brothers were also ennobled as marquises. Hsü kuang-han died in 61 B.C. without heirs. Cf. Hs 97A.21b-23b, 18.14b, 8.2a, 9.10b, ch. 68 sub Ho Kuang, ch. 74 sub Wei Hsiang, ch. 71, sub Su Kuang, ch. 77, sub Kai K uan-jao. 202. Fu Chung-weng was a man of the Tung-hai Commandery who taught the Book of Odes to the Imperial Great-grandson Liu Ping-yi sometime just previous to 74 B.C. Cf. Hs 8.2b.

11 202. Lien-shao {15-16:4/5} was a prefecture of the Tso-p ing-yi Commandery. The city by this name was located at the present Lai-hua-chen 70 li northeast of Wei-nan, Shensi. Ju Shun says, In the Lien-shao prefecture there were salt pools, ten odd li across in both directions. The people of the district name it Lu-chung.[The first word of this name] is pronounced [the same as], [the second word the same as]. Cf. Hs 8.2b. But in 28Ai.26b he says the second character is pronounced the same as. Salt is still extracted there by leaching and evaporating. 202. Hu 3 {15-16:4/4} was a prefecture and city of the Yu-fu-feng Commandery, located, according to the Ta-ch ing Yi-t ung-chih north of the present city by the same name, in the Ch ing dynasty s Hsi-an Fu, Shensi. It was the ancient state of Hu, which had been attacked by King Ch i of the Hsia dynasty, according to Pan Ku. The Feng River had its source to the southeast, and there was also there the Lao River, both of which flowed north and passed the Shang-lin Park and entered the Wei River. The Pei-yang Palace, built by King Wen of the Ch in dynasty was in this prefecture, also the Ch ang-yang Palace and the She-hsiung Lodge, built by King Chao of the Ch in dynasty, and the Ling-chih canal, dug by Emperor Wu. Cf. Hs 28Ai.31b-32b, 8.2b. 202. Hsia-tu was a city south of the Ch ang-an of Han times, according to Meng K ang (ca. 180-260). The comment in the Shui-ching (by Li Tao-yüan, d. 527), 19.11b, sub Ch angan, says, To the south on the eastern end [of that face of the city wall] the first gate was originally called the Fu-yang Gate. To the south of it there is the city of Hsia-tu. It is the settlement at the foot of Tu-ling. Its location is in the southwest of the Tu-ling prefecture, northeast of the Hu Prefecture. Cf. Hs 8.2b. 202. The Shang-kuan Ward was, according to Yen Shih-ku, a ward in Ch ang-an. The comment in the Tzu-chih t ung-chien 24.17a, probably inserted by Hu San-hsing (1230-1287) quotes the San-fu huang-t u (iii to vi cent.) as saying, The Governor of the Capital ruled the Shang-kuan Ward. Cf. Hs 8.2b. 204. Liu P ing-yi, same as Hsiao-hsüan Emperor, q.v. 204. Liu Tê 5a, title Marquis Miu of Yang-ch eng (d. 56 B.C.) was the son of Liu Pich iang q.v., and a great grandson of Liu Chiao, King Yüan of Ch u and the father of Liu Hsiang. Someone warned Ho Kung that if he wanted to escape the fate of the Lü clan after the death of the Empress Dowager née Lü, he had better appoint members of the imperial clan to office. He accordingly appointed Liu Tê. He was one of those who assisted in elevating Emperor Hsüan to the throne in 74 B.C. and was made a Kuan-nei Marquis in 73 B.C. Because of his services as Sup t. of the Imperial House on May 15, 66 B.C. he became Marquis of Yang-ch eng with the income of 1140 families. He died in 56 B.C. Cf. Hs 8.3a, 36.4b-6a, 19B.28b, 29a, 18.15b; HFHD II.204.

12 204. Liu Ho b, title, King of Ch ang-yi, Emperor for 27 days, later a commoner, then Marquis of Hai-hun, was the son of Liu Po and the grandson of Emperor Wu. He was born in 92 or 91 B.C. In 86 B.C. he succeeded his father as King of Ch ang-yi. When, in 74 B.C., Emperor Chao died without any heir, the General-in-Chief, Ho Kuang, summoned Liu Ho to perform the funeral duties as the heir, sending him a letter in the name of the Empress Dowager with the imperial seal and an imperial edict of decree, ordering him to supervise the duties of the Grand Herald. Liu Ho was then 17 or 18 years old and had already reigned as king of Ch ang-yi for 12 years. The Privy Treasurer, Shih Lo-ch eng, the Superintendent of the Imperial House, Liu Tê, the Imperial Household Grandee, Ping Chi, the General of the Gentlemen-at-the- Household, Li-han, were sent to summon the King with seven carriages. They reached the Prince s Lodge in Ch ang-an when the eight clepsydra had not quite emptied itself by one gradation. The message was sent by signal beacons to Ch ang-yi, in the present southwestern Shantung. That day Liu Ho, started late in the afternoon and reached Ting-t ao, having traveled 135 li. The horses of his followers died on the way, so that one dead horse could be seen from the next. The Chief of his Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, Kung Sui, admonished him and he agreed to send back more than fifty of his Gentlemen and Internuncios. When the King reached Chi-yang, he sought cocks who could crow for a long time; on the way he purchased an elegant bamboo cane. When he passed thru the Hung-nung Commandery, he had his chief slave seize and transport women in his carriages. (lntercourse with women was forbidden during mourning.) When he reached Hu, a messenger from Ch ang-an complained of these improper acts of Liu Ho to his Chancellor, who in turn told Kung Sui, who asked Liu Ho about it. The latter denied it. Kung Sui had the chief slave arrested by the guard. When Liu Ho reached Pa-shang, the Grand Herald brought him the official carriages. Liu Ho had Kung Sui act as his Chariot-companion. At dawn they reached the city gate of Ch ang-an. Kung Sui said, According to the Rites, when one is going to a funeral and sees the capital of the state, he should weep. But Liu Ho replied, My throat hurts, I cannot weep. When he reached the city gate, Kung Sui repeated his advice, but the King said, These are only city gates and gates to the outer wall. I shall soon reach the Eastern Portal of the Wei-yang Palace. Kung Sui replied, Your [mourning] tent is outside of that Portal, north of the imperial pathway. Before you reach the tent there are highroads going north and south. Several steps before the horses hoofs have reached this place, it is proper that you, great King, should get down from your chariot and face the Portal, prostrate yourself facing west, and weep. The King agreed, when he reached the place, he wept according to the Rites. The King received the Emperor s seal and seal-cord and succeeded to the imperial title. He took the throne for 27 days, during which time the funeral of Emperor Chao was carried out. But Liu Ho committed fornication and disorderly conduct. Ho Kuang was in distress, and privately asked his intimate old officials about it. T ien Yen-nien told him that in the Yin dynasty Yi Yin had dismissed T ai-chia for the sake of the imperial ancestral temple and later generations had praised the deed; if Ho Kuang would do the same, he would be the Yi Yin of the Han dynasty. So Ho Kuang planned with Chang An-shih and summoned the Lieutenant Chancellor,

13 the Grandee Secretary, the generals, the marquises, the officials ranking at fully two thousand piculs, the grandees and the erudits to a meeting for a council at the Wei-yang Palace. He told them that Liu Ho had acted crazily and disorderly and he feared that Liu Ho would endanger the dynasty s gods of the soil and grain. He asked them what to do. They were all astounded and dared not say anything except, Yes, yes. T ien Yen-nien first arose, pulled out his sword, and asked for leave to kill anyone who disagreed from the proposal to dismiss Liu Ho. The officials then all agreed that Ho Kuang should arrange matters. Ho Kuang and the officials then went and told the Empress Dowager née Shang-kuan, his grand-daughter, who, because she had been made the new Emperor s Empress Dowager, was legally his mother. She was told that Liu Ho was not fit to be the emperor. The Empress Dowager thereupon took carriage and went to the Ch eng-ming Hall of the Wei-yang Palace. She ordered those who guarded the doors of the forbidden apartments not to admit the courtiers of Liu Ho. When the King came to pay court to the Empress Dowager, and returned to the Palace, going into the Wen Residence (Hs 68.6a), the eunuchs of the Yellow Gate held the leaves of the doors and, after Liu Ho had entered, they closed them, not permitting his followers to enter. When Liu Ho asked why they had done this, Ho Kuang knelt and told him it was by the orders of the Empress Dowager. All the followers of Liu Ho were driven away. Chang An-shih and the imperial guard arrested over 200 of them and sent them to the Commandant of Justice s prison. Emperor Chao s Palace Attendants were ordered to guard Liu Ho lest he commit suicide and the blame be thrown upon Ho Kuang. Liu Ho did not yet know that he was to be dismissed. The Empress Dowager summoned him to attend and received him in full regalia in the military tent with several hundred attendants bearing arms, the Attendants at the Gate, the Men of War, and the Spearbearers being arranged below the Hall. The courtiers ascended into the Hall according to their proper order (Hs 68.6b) and Liu Ho was commanded to prostrate himself before the Empress Dowager and hear the proceedings. The Chief Master of Writing then read a memorial by Ho Kuang and the other important officials, whose names are given, to the effect that Liu Ho had been summoned to be the heir of Emperor Chao but had not shown the proper way of mourning and had abandoned the rules of proper conduct and moral principles. On his way to the funeral, he did not maintain a vegetarian diet and had his followers seize girls and carried them in his carriage and had them admitted to his temporary abodes on the road. When he first arrived and was installed as Imperial Heir-apparent, he continually secretly sent to buy chickens and pigs to eat. When he received the Emperor s Witnessing Seal and Seal of the Emperor s Performance in front of the coffin, he immediately brought them back to his room, opened them, and did not seal them up again. His followers moreover carried credentials and he admitted to the forbidden apartments more than 2000 of his followers and slaves who were continually with him in the forbidden apartments. He played with credentials and imperial seals and took 16 credentials ordering his followers to follow him with them. He gave his followers a thousand catties of gold so that they could select ten wives for him. While Emperor Chao s coffin was in the Front Hall, he sent for the musical instruments from the office of music and admitted musicians of Ch ang-yi, who beat drums, sang, blew musical instruments, and he had male and female comedians perform. After the burial, he returned, ascended the Front Hall, had the bells and stone chimes struck, summoned the musicians from

14 the temples of the Great One and the imperial ancestral temple, had drums beaten, instruments blown, singing, and dancing and had all sorts of music played. He ordered three suevotaurilia sent from the Ch ang-an Ch u to be sacrificed in the Ko-shih. After the sacrifice, he ate and drank with his followers. He ordered out the state carriages and flags from the Northern and Kuei Palace and had a boar fight a tiger. He ordered out the Empress Dowager s pony carriage and had the government slaves ride in it and let them play in the Lateral Courts. He had relations with a Palace Maid of Emperor Chao by the name of Meng and others, and told the Chief of the Lateral Courts that if he revealed that fact, he would be executed by being cut in two. At this point, the Empress Dowager said, Stop, could any subject or son [of mine] act in as disorderly a manner as this? Liu Ho left his seat and prostrated himself while the Chief Master of Writing continued reading the memorial, which declared that Liu Ho had taken the seal cords of the vassal kings, the marquises, and the officials of two thousand piculs, together with the black and yellow seal-cords and had freed slaves belonging to the Gentlemen of Ch ang-yi wear them. He had changed the credentials of the emperor from yellow to red. He gave gold, cash, swords, jade articles, and flowered silk as rewards to those who played with him. He got drunk on wine one night with the government slaves of his followers. He ordered the Grand Provisioner to furnish the usual food, the Superintendent of Food memorialized that the period of mourning was not over so that he could not provide the usual food. Liu Ho them summoned the Grand Provisioner and ordered him to get things without paying any attention to the Superintendent of Food. When the Grand Provisioner would not do so, Liu Ho sent his followers out to buy chickens and pigs and ordered the keepers of the Hall gates regularly to admit such people. For himself, privately at night he established the nine intermediaries [which were reserved for a full audience] in the Wen Residence, in holding a feast for his brother-in-law. Before he had sacrificed in the Imperial Ancestral Temple, he had sent a messenger with credentials, bearing a letter sealed with the imperial seal, with orders to sacrifice to his father, King Ai of Ch ang-yi, at his tomb and temple with three suevotaurilia, calling himself the Emperor who was his heir (which was wrong, for Liu Ho was now the heir of Emperor Chao). He had had the Imperial Seals for only 27 days and had already sent numerous messengers with credentials and edicts on 1127 missions. When two officials had admonished him, he had had one warned and the other imprisoned. Thus he had disordered the practises of the dynasty. He had been admonished several times but had not reformed and had instead become worse. The petitioners feared that he would endanger the dynasty s gods of the soil and grain and the peace of the empire. He had not yet appeared in the Temple of Kao-tsu to receive the imperial mandate and was not fit to uphold the Imperial Ancestral Temple. The petitioners begged that they, together with the Grand Prayer should sacrifice a suevotaurilia and make the matter known in the Temple of Kao-tsu. The Empress Dowager approved the petition and Ho Kuang ordered Liu Ho to arise, bow, and receive the imperial edict. Liu Ho replied, I have heard that if the Son of Heaven had seven ministers who disagree with him, even tho he acts contrary to the right, he yet does not lose the empire. Ho Kuang replied, The Empress Dowager has ordered that you be dismissed, how can you be the Son of Heaven? He then held his hands and took away his imperial seals and seal-cords and gave them to the Empress Dowager. Liu Ho was led down

15 below the Hall and out of the Chin-ma Gate. The officials accompanied him out. He bowed towards the west and said, I, a stupid and foolish person, was not equal to the tasks of the dynasty. He got up and went to his carriage. Ho Kuang accompanied him to the Ch ang-yi Prince s Lodge. He begged the King s pardon and told him that he, the King, had himself severed himself from the grace of Heaven and that he, Ho Kuang was incapable of supporting him. He begged the King to think of his own welfare, wept, and left. The officials memorialized the Empress Dowager that a dismissed person would be exiled to a distance and begged that Liu Ho be sent to Fang-ling Hsien in the Han-chung Commandery. But. the Empress Dowager ordered that he should be sent back to Ch ang-yi and granted him the income of two thousand families. His kingdom was done away with and made the Shan-yang Commandery. His followers were sentenced for having neglected their duty and having misled him. Ho Kuang had them all executed, more than two hundred in number. As they went out to die they shouted out in the market-place, He who should decide but does not decide receives the consequences [of his indecision.) referring to a plan that Liu Ho had to execute Ho Kuang. Liu Ho had previously had several times seen apparitions a tailless dog three feet high with the body of a man and wearing a square cap. Later he saw a bear, but his companions did not see it. Moreover a large bird fled and roosted on his palace. There were other portents also. In 64 B.C. the Grand Administrator of the Shan-yang Commandery was instructed to report on the doings of Liu Ho. He replied that in June 67 B.C. he had taken office. The former King of Ch ang-yi lived in his former palace and his 183 male and female slaves lived in it with the great gates closed and only small doors open. An inspecting official had charge of his property and sent to the market to buy things and admitted food; others did not go in or out of the palace. He had one watchman to patrol, watch passers in and out, and watch for thieves. The Grand Administrator had several times sent his assistants to inspect. In Oct./ Nov. 66 he had himself visited Liu Ho s palace to inspect. The former King was in his twenty-sixth or twenty-seventh year. He was dark brown in color, with small eyes, a sharp and short nose, and a small mustache and eyebrows. His body was large, he had rheumatism and could not walk easily. He wore short clothes and large trousers with jade rings on his girdle with a pen in his hair and held a tablet as he hastened to receive the official. The Grand Administrator sat and talked with him and inspected his wives, children, and slaves. He reported that the former king was crazy. He had sixteen wives and 22 children, eleven male and eleven female. Emperor Hsüan then knew that he had no reason to be jealous of Liu Ho. The next year, in all probability, on May 7, 63 B.C. Liu Ho was appointed the Marquis of Hai-hun with the income of 4000 families. But he was barred from the ancestral temple and from communication with the Emperor. Several years after Liu Ho had gone to his state in the Yüchang Commandery, the Inspector of the Yang Province memorialized that a grandson of a subordinate of the Grand Administrator had become friendly with Liu Ho and had asked him why, before he was dismissed, he had not firmly refused to leave the Palace and had not beheaded Ho Kuang but instead had allowed people to take away his imperial seals and sealcords. Liu Ho had replied, Yes, he had made a mistake. His friend then asked him if he was

16 not shortly to be made the King of Yü-chang since he had recently been made a marquis, and Liu Ho had replied that it was so, but it was not proper to say so. The high officials then suggested that Liu Ho be arrested, but the Emperor merely ordered that three thousand families be taken from his estate. Liu Ho died in 59 B.C. and the Grand Administrator of Yü-chang memorialized that his heir should not succeed him. The marquisate was accordingly abolished. But in 46 B.C., after Emperor Yüan had come to the throne, Liu Ho s son, Tai-tsung, was enfeoffed as Marquis of Hai-hun and this marquisate was transmitted from father to son down to Pan Ku s time. Cf. Hs 63.17b-22a, 68.5a-10a, 15B.13a, 9.5a. 205. Yang-wu was the name of the marquisate conferred upon Liu Ping-yi on Sept. 11, 74 B.C. just before he was enthroned as Emperor. Yang-wu was a city of the Ho-nan Commandery, and was located, according to the Ta-ch ing Yi-t ung-chih, 28 li southeast of the present city by the same name in the Ch ing dynasty s Huai-ch ing Fu, Honan. Cf. Hs 8.3b, 15B.4b, 28Ai.70a. 205. The Empress née Hsü of Emperor Hsiao-hsüan was the daughter of Hsü Kuang-han (q.v.) and the mother of Emperor Yüan. Her given name was P ing-chün, her posthumous name was Empress Kung-ai. Thru the efforts of Ping Chi she was married to Liu Ping-yi in 75 B.C. when he was a commoner and merely called the Imperial Great-grandson, while her father was Inspector of Fields in the Drying House of the Lateral Courts in the Imperial Palace. When she had been married a year, she gave birth to the future Emperor Yüan. Several months later, in Sept. 74 B.C., Liu Ping-yi was made Emperor and P ing-chün became a Favorite Beauty. At that time Ho Kuang, the regent, had a young daughter and was related to the Empress Dowager. The high ministers discussed appointing an Empress, intending that the daughter of Ho Kuang should be made Empress. Before anything was said, Emperor Hsüan ordered that the officials should seek even for the swords he had used when he was an unimportant person, and the high officials knew that he had hinted that the Favorite Beauty née Hsü should be made Empress. That appointment was made on Dec. 31, 74 B.C. The Lady of Ho Kuang, Ho Hsieh, did not know what to do. The next year the Empress née Hsü fell ill when she was with child. A woman physician, Shun-yü Yen, had been a favorite in the Ho family. Before she entered the palace to wait upon the ill Empress, her own husband, Shang, who was a guard in the Lateral Courts, told her to visit Lady Ho and ask for him the position of the Superintendent of the Salt March at An-yi. When Shun-yü saw Lady Ho, the latter told her maids to leave. She called Shun-yi Yen by her style, Shao-fu, and suggested that she could do something in return for the appointment. Lady Ho said that women usually die in giving birth and suggested that the Empress be poisoned so that Chengchün, Lady Ho s daughter, could become Empress. She promised to share her riches and honors with Shun-yi Shao-fu. The woman physician replied that the Empress had many physicians, and that before she took any medicine, it must be tasted. Lady Ho urged her, and she finally replied that she would try. She pounded some shells and brought them in her baggage to the Ch ang-ting Palace. After the Empress had given birth, Shun-yi Yen mixed