Qin and Han · Emperor of Han

Emperor Xuan 宣帝

Xuandi

Attested BC 74

Passages: 25
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Emperor Xuan was an emperor of Han.

Life and dates

Attested activity

BC 74 尊立宣帝
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 203

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Spouse of Lady Xu (許妃)
consort 妃
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 223

Career and standing

Event succeeded to the throne
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 227

Places and affiliations

Polity Han 漢
Directly stated · Book of Han 69, passage 203

References in the histories

Search passages

History

25 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 69Volume 59: Zhang Tang · 25 passages

王行淫亂，光復與安世謀，廢王、尊立宣帝。 When the new king proved dissolute, Huo Guang again plotted with Anshi, deposed him, and enthroned Emperor Xuan in his place.

帝初即位，褒賞大臣，下詔曰：「夫褒有德，賞有功，古今之通義也。 Soon after his accession the emperor rewarded his leading ministers with an edict: "To praise the virtuous and reward the meritorious is the universal principle of ancient and modern times.

上亦欲用之。 The emperor was inclined to follow this plan.

請聞求見，免冠頓首曰：「老臣耳妄聞，言之為先事，不言情不達，誠自量不足以居大位，繼大將軍後，唯天子財哀，以全老臣之命。」 He asked leave to see the emperor, removed his cap, and kowtowed, saying, "This old minister has only overheard rumors. I must speak before events overtake us; if I stay silent my meaning will not be understood. I truly know myself unfit for so great a post after the grand general. May Your Majesty alone show mercy and spare this old minister's life."

上笑曰：「君言泰謙。 The emperor laughed and said, "You are far too modest.

時，霍光子禹為右將軍，上亦以禹為大司馬，罷其右將軍屯兵，以虛尊加之，而實奪其眾。 At that time Huo Guang's son Huo Yu held the post of general of the right while also bearing the title of grand marshal. The emperor stripped him of his field command, leaving the grand marshal's title a hollow honor while removing his real military following.

其女孫敬為霍氏外屬婦，當相坐，安世瘦懼，形於顏色，上怪而憐之，以問左右，乃赦敬，以尉其意。 His granddaughter Zhang Jing had married into a Huo-affiliated family and stood liable to collective punishment. Anshi grew haggard with dread, and it showed on his face. The emperor noticed, took pity, asked his attendants for the story, and pardoned Jing to set his mind at ease.

安世自見父子尊顯，懷不自安，為子延壽求出補吏，上以為北地太守。 Seeing how exalted he and his son had become, Anshi grew uneasy. He asked that his son Yanshou be given a provincial post, and the emperor appointed Yanshou governor of Beidi.

歲餘，上閔安世年老，復徵延壽為左曹、太僕。 A year later, pitying Anshi's age, the emperor recalled Yanshou to court as left aide in the secretariat and chamberlain for the imperial stud.

後為掖庭令，而宣帝以皇曾孫收養掖庭。 He later became director of the palace consorts quarters, where the future Emperor Xuan was reared as imperial great-grandson.

賀內傷太子無辜，而曾孫孤幼，所以視養拊循，恩甚密焉。 He grieved that the crown prince had been innocent while the great-grandson was orphaned and young, and so he watched over, reared, and comforted the boy with the closest affection.

及曾孫壯大，賀教書，令受《詩》，為取許妃，以家財聘之。 When the boy grew up, He taught him letters, had him study the Odes, secured Lady Xu as his bride, and betrothed her with his own family wealth.

曾孫數有徵怪，語在《宣紀》。 The great-grandson several times experienced strange omens; the account is in the Annals of Emperor Xuan.

安世輒絕止，以為少主在上，不宜稱述曾孫。 Anshi always cut him short, holding that with the reigning young emperor above, it was improper to speak openly of the great-grandson.

及宣帝即位，而賀已死。 By the time Emperor Xuan came to the throne, He had already died.

上謂安世曰：「掖廷令平生稱我，將軍止之，是也。」 The emperor said to Anshi, "The director of the palace consorts quarters praised me all his life, and you stopped him—that was right."

上追思賀恩，欲封其塚為恩德侯，置家塚二百家。 The emperor recalled He's kindness and wished to enfeoff his tomb as Marquis of Endeavor and Virtue with two hundred households to guard the family grave.

彭祖又小與上同席研書，指欲封之，先賜爵關內侯。 Pengzu had also studied at the same mat with the emperor in youth; the emperor meant to enfeoff him and first granted him the rank of marquis within the passes.

上曰：「吾自為掖廷令，非為將軍也。」 The emperor said, "I do this for the director of the palace consorts quarters himself, not for you, General."

上自處置其裡，居塚西鬥雞翁捨南，上少時所嘗游處也。 The emperor himself arranged the ward south of the cockfighting elder's lodge west of the tomb—the place where he had wandered in youth.

天子甚尊憚大將軍，然內親安世，心密於光焉。 The emperor treated Huo Guang with awe and kept him at a distance, but he was genuinely intimate with Anshi in a way he never was with Guang.

天子報曰：「將軍年老被病，朕甚閔之。 The emperor replied, "General, you are old and ill; I am deeply concerned.

天子贈印綬，送以輕車介士，謚曰敬侯。 The emperor presented seals and ribbons, sent light carriages and armored soldiers as escort, and granted the posthumous title Marquis Jing.

延壽自以身無功德，何以能久堪先人大國，數上書讓減戶邑，又因弟陽都侯彭祖口陳至誠，天子以為有讓，乃徙封平原，並一國，戶口如故，而租稅減半。 Yanshou felt himself without merit and wondered how he could long hold his forebear's great fief. He repeatedly memorialized to yield and reduce his households, and through his younger brother Marquis of Yangdu Pengzu spoke his utmost sincerity. The emperor took this as genuine yielding and transferred the enfeoffment to Pingyuan, merging the two states into one with the same households but half the rent and tax.

及禹誅滅，而安世子孫相繼，自宣、元以來為侍中、中常侍、諸曹散騎、列校尉者凡十餘人。 After the Huo clan was extirpated, Zhang Anshi's descendants held one high post after another. From the reigns of Xuandi and Yuandi onward, more than ten of them served as palace attendants, regular attendants, mounted escorts in the various bureaus, or colonels of the guard.