Qin and Han · Ruler

Emperor Cheng of Han 成帝

Han Chengdi

Attested BC 28 - BC 25

Passages
1
Chapters
1
Histories
1

Overview

Emperor Cheng of Han was a ruler.

IdentityHistorical
RolesRuler
Found inBook of Han

Life and dates

Attested activity

Works and attributed material

  • BC 28 to BC 25 河平中
    Edict · Issuer · Direct quotation · Topic reducing capital punishments and simplifying law
    Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 25, passages 206-211

References in the histories

Book of Han, Chapter 25Volume 23: Treatise on Punishment and Law · 1 passage
Open chapter
至成帝河平中，復下詔曰：「甫刑云『五刑之屬三千，大辟之罰其屬二百』，今大辟之刑千有餘條，律令煩多，百有餘萬言，奇請它比，日以益滋，自明習者不知所由，欲以曉喻眾庶，不亦難乎！ During Emperor Cheng's Heping era, another edict said: 'The Fuxing says, "The categories of the Five Punishments number three thousand, and the categories of capital punishment number two hundred." Now the capital clauses exceed a thousand, and statutes and ordinances are numerous and cumbersome, amounting to more than a million words. Exceptional petitions and analogous precedents grow more numerous by the day; even those who understand and practice the law do not know where to proceed from. How difficult, then, to explain it clearly to the common people!