Emperor Wen (文帝) | 24 Histories

Overview

Emperor Wen was a ruler.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 180 to BC 157 孝文帝
Dated from the passage context · Records of the Grand Historian 101, passage 43
BC 180 孝文帝即位
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 101, passage 4

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Child of Empress Dowager of Emperor Wen (太后)
empress dowager / mother 太后
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 101, passage 35
Spouse of Empress of Emperor Wen (皇后)
empress 后 · Primary marriage
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 101, passages 58, 64
Parent of Emperor Jing (景帝)
heir apparent 太子
Strongly inferred · Records of the Grand Historian 101, passages 100, 156
Spouse of Lady Shen (慎夫人)
lady / concubine 夫人
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 101, passages 58, 64
Sibling of King of Huainan (淮南王)
younger brother 弟
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 101, passage 27

References in the histories

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History

49 passages

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 101Biographies of Yuan Ang and Chao Cuo · 49 passages

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及孝文帝即位，盎兄噲任盎為中郎。 When Emperor Wen came to the throne, Ang's elder brother Kuai secured him a position as Gentleman of the Palace.

上禮之恭，常自送之。 The Emperor showed him such deference that he would personally see him off.

袁盎進曰：「陛下以丞相何如人？」 Yuan Ang came forward and asked, 'Your Majesty, what sort of man do you think the Chancellor is?'

上曰：「社稷臣。」 The Emperor replied, 'A pillar of the state.'

丞相如有驕主色。 The Chancellor carries himself with an air of arrogance toward Your Majesty.

陛下謙讓，臣主失禮，竊為陛下不取也。」 Your Majesty has been humble and yielding, but the proper decorum between sovereign and minister has been lost. I venture to say that this is beneath Your Majesty.'

後朝，上益莊，丞相益畏。 From then on, the Emperor grew more commanding at court, and the Chancellor became ever more apprehensive.

上弗用。 The Emperor did not heed his advice.

及棘蒲侯柴武太子謀反事覺，治，連淮南王，淮南王徵，上因遷之蜀，轞車傳送。 When the plot of the heir of the Marquis of Jipu Chai Wu was uncovered and investigated, the trail led to the King of Huainan. The king was summoned, and the Emperor ordered him banished to Shu, to be transported in a prisoner's cart from station to station.

袁盎時為中郎將，乃諫曰：「陛下素驕淮南王，弗稍禁，以至此，今又暴摧折之。 Yuan Ang, then serving as Commander of the Gentlemen of the Palace, remonstrated, 'Your Majesty has always indulged the King of Huainan and never reined him in, which is how things came to this pass. Now you would break him all at once.

淮南王為人剛，如有遇霧露行道死，陛下竟為以天下之大弗能容，有殺弟之名，柰何？」 The King of Huainan is a man of unyielding spirit. If he should fall ill on the road and die from exposure, Your Majesty will be seen as one who, despite ruling all under heaven, could not abide his own brother—and will bear the name of a fratricide. What then?'

上弗聽，遂行之。 The Emperor refused to listen and carried out the order.

淮南王至雍，病死，聞，上輟食，哭甚哀。 The King of Huainan died of illness on the road at Yong. When the Emperor received the news, he stopped eating and wept bitterly.

盎入，頓首請罪。 Ang came before the Emperor, kowtowed, and begged to be punished.

上曰：「以不用公言至此。」 The Emperor said, 'It is because I did not listen to you that things have come to this.'

盎曰：「上自寬，此往事，豈可悔哉！ Ang said, 'Your Majesty should put this behind you. The matter is past—regret will not undo it.

且陛下有高世之行者三，此不足以毀名。」 Moreover, Your Majesty has three deeds that surpass those of any age, and this alone is not enough to tarnish your name.'

上曰：「吾高世行三者何事？」 The Emperor asked, 'What are these three surpassing deeds of mine?'

盎曰：「陛下居代時，太后嘗病，三年，陛下不交睫，不解衣，湯藥非陛下口所嘗弗進。 Ang said, 'When Your Majesty was King of Dai, the Empress Dowager fell ill, and for three years you never closed your eyes to rest, never changed your robes, and refused to let any medicine be given to her unless you had tasted it first.

夫曾參以布衣猶難之，今陛下親以王者修之，過曾參孝遠矣。 Even Zeng Shen, a commoner, found such devotion difficult to sustain. Yet Your Majesty practiced it as a king, far surpassing the filial piety of Zeng Shen.

夫諸呂用事，大臣專制，然陛下從代乘六傳馳不測之淵，雖賁育之勇不及陛下。 When the Lü clan held power and the ministers ruled as they pleased, Your Majesty rode from Dai by relay carriage and plunged headlong into an abyss of danger. Even the legendary warriors Ben and Yu could not match such courage.

陛下至代邸，西向讓天子位者再，南面讓天子位者三。 When Your Majesty arrived at the Dai residence, you declined the throne twice while facing west, and three more times while facing south.

夫許由一讓，而陛下五以天下讓，過許由四矣。 The sage Xu You declined the throne once, but Your Majesty declined the empire five times, surpassing Xu You fourfold.

且陛下遷淮南王，欲以苦其志，使改過，有司衛不謹，故病死。」 Moreover, when Your Majesty exiled the King of Huainan, the intention was to chasten his spirit and bring him to repentance. It was the negligence of the escorting officials that caused his death.'

於是上乃解，曰：「將柰何？」 At this the Emperor's spirits lifted, and he asked, 'What should be done?'

盎曰：「淮南王有三子，唯在陛下耳。」 Ang said, 'The King of Huainan had three sons. The matter rests entirely with Your Majesty.'

於是文帝立其三子皆為王。 Emperor Wen then enfeoffed all three of the late king's sons as kings.

宦者趙同以數幸，常害袁盎，袁盎患之。 The eunuch Zhao Tong, who had long enjoyed the Emperor's favor, constantly sought to undermine Yuan Ang, and Ang was troubled by this.

孝文帝出，趙同參乘，袁盎伏車前曰：「臣聞天子所與共六尺輿者，皆天下豪英。 When Emperor Wen went out, Zhao Tong rode as a companion in the imperial carriage. Yuan Ang threw himself before the carriage and said, 'I have heard that those who share the Son of Heaven's carriage should be the finest heroes of the realm.

今漢雖乏人，陛下獨奈何與刀鋸餘人載！」 Though the Han may be short of men, how can Your Majesty ride with the leavings of the knife and saw!'

於是上笑，下趙同。 The Emperor laughed and ordered Zhao Tong to get off.

文帝從霸陵上，欲西馳下峻阪。 Emperor Wen ascended the heights at Baling and wanted to gallop down the steep western slope.

上曰：「將軍怯邪？」 The Emperor said, 'Are you afraid, General?'

今陛下騁六騑，馳下峻山，如有馬驚車敗，陛下縱自輕，柰高廟、太后何？」 Now Your Majesty drives a team of six at full gallop down a steep mountain. If the horses bolt and the carriage overturns, even if Your Majesty makes light of your own life, what of the ancestral temple and the Empress Dowager?'

上乃止。 The Emperor relented.

上幸上林，皇后、慎夫人從。 The Emperor went to the Shanglin Park with the Empress and Lady Shen in attendance.

上亦怒，起，入禁中。 The Emperor was also angered. He stood and withdrew into the inner palace.

今陛下既已立后，慎夫人乃妾，妾主豈可與同坐哉！ Now that Your Majesty has installed the Empress, Lady Shen is a concubine. How can a concubine sit as an equal with her mistress!

且陛下幸之，即厚賜之。 If Your Majesty favors her, then shower her with gifts.

陛下所以為慎夫人，適所以禍之。 What Your Majesty does for Lady Shen is precisely what will bring disaster upon her.

陛下獨不見『人彘』乎？」 Has Your Majesty forgotten the fate of the Human Swine?'

於是上乃說，召語慎夫人。 At this the Emperor was persuaded. He summoned Lady Shen and explained Ang's reasoning to her.

且陛下從代來，每朝，郎官上書疏，未嘗不止輦受其言，言不可用置之，言可受採之，未嘗不稱善。 Moreover, since His Majesty came from Dai, whenever the Gentlemen submit memorials at court, he always stops his carriage to hear their words. Proposals he cannot use he sets aside; those he can accept he adopts, and he never fails to commend them.

上日聞所不聞，明所不知，日益聖智； Each day the Emperor learns what he did not know before, understands what was once obscure, and grows daily in wisdom.

及孝文帝崩，孝景帝即位，鼂錯為御史大夫，使吏案袁盎受吳王財物，抵罪，詔赦以為庶人。 When Emperor Wen died and Emperor Jing came to the throne, Chao Cuo was appointed Imperial Secretary. He sent officials to investigate Yuan Ang for accepting gifts from the King of Wu, and Ang was convicted. By imperial edict he was pardoned but reduced to a commoner.

孝文帝時，天下無治尚書者，獨聞濟南伏生故秦博士，治尚書，年九十餘，老不可徵，乃詔太常使人往受之。 In the time of Emperor Wen, no one in the realm still studied the Book of Documents. The only master known to survive was Fu Sheng of Jinan, a former Erudite of the Qin, who was over ninety and too old to be summoned to court. An edict was issued ordering the Grand Master of Ceremonies to send someone to study under him.

數上書孝文時，言削諸侯事，及法令可更定者。 He submitted numerous memorials during Emperor Wen's reign, arguing for the reduction of the feudal lords' territories and proposing revisions to the laws.

書數十上，孝文不聽，然奇其材，遷為中大夫。 He submitted dozens of memorials, but Emperor Wen did not adopt his proposals. The Emperor admired his talent, however, and promoted him to Palace Grandee.

遭孝文初立，資適逢世。 He had the fortune to serve at the beginning of Emperor Wen's reign, and his qualities were well suited to the times.