Qin and Han · Queen Dowager of Nanyue

Jiu clan consort 樛氏女

Attested BC 113

Passages: 21
Chapters: 1
Histories: 1

Overview

Jiu clan consort was a queen Dowager of Nanyue.

Life and dates

Death

Killed · Killed by Lü Jia (呂嘉)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 99

Attested activity

BC 113 元鼎四年
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passages 62, 64

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Spouse of Yingqi (嬰齊)
consort/queen 姬/后
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passages 55-56
Sibling of Jiu Le (樛樂)
younger brother 弟
elder sister 姊
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 106
Parent of Zhao Xing (趙興)
mother 母
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passages 55, 60

Origins and identity

person of the Central States 中國人
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 64

Places and affiliations

At Handan 邯鄲
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 55

Works and attributed material

Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · With Lü Jia (呂嘉)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 80

Events and relationships

Urged inner submission
Political · Advocate
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passages 66-67
Relation Lover of · Person An Guoshaoji (安國少季)
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passages 61, 64

Assessments and attributes

Assessment licentious conduct costing popular support · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Records of the Grand Historian 113, passage 88

References in the histories

Search passages

History

21 passages

Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 113Treatise on the Nanyue · 21 passages

嬰齊其入宿衛在長安時，取邯鄲樛氏女，生子興。 While serving in the palace guard at Chang'an, Yingqi had taken a woman of the Jiu clan from Handan as his consort and fathered a son named Xing.

及即位，上書請立樛氏女為后，興為嗣。 Upon his accession, he petitioned the Han court to recognize the Jiu woman as his queen and Xing as his heir.

太子興代立，其母為太后。 Crown Prince Xing succeeded to the throne, and his mother was elevated to the rank of Queen Dowager.

太后自未為嬰齊姬時，嘗與霸陵人安國少季通。 Even before the Queen Dowager had become Yingqi's consort, she had carried on an affair with a man named An Guoshaoji from Baling.

及嬰齊薨後，元鼎四年，漢使安國少季往諭王、王太后以入朝，比內諸侯； After Yingqi's death, in the fourth year of the Yuanding era, the Han court dispatched An Guoshaoji to persuade the king and the Queen Dowager to present themselves at court and accept the status of inner feudal lords.

王年少，太後中國人也，嘗與安國少季通，其使復私焉。 The king was young, and the Queen Dowager, who was originally from the Central Plains, had previously been An Guoshaoji's lover. When he arrived as envoy, the two resumed their affair.

國人頗知之，多不附太后。 The people of the kingdom were well aware of the affair, and many withheld their support from the Queen Dowager.

太后恐亂起，亦欲倚漢威，數勸王及群臣求內屬。 The Queen Dowager, fearing that unrest might break out, sought to rely on the might of the Han dynasty. She repeatedly urged the king and his ministers to petition for the status of inner subjects of the Han.

王、王太后飭治行裝重齎，為入朝具。 The king and the Queen Dowager began outfitting their traveling retinue and assembling lavish gifts in preparation for the journey to court.

王、王太后亦恐嘉等先事發，乃置酒，介漢使者權，謀誅嘉等。 The king and the Queen Dowager, fearing that Lu Jia might strike first, arranged a banquet. They planned to use the presence and authority of the Han envoys to assassinate Lu Jia and his faction.

使者皆東鄉，太后南鄉，王北鄉，相嘉、大臣皆西鄉，侍坐飲。 At the banquet, the envoys were seated facing east, the Queen Dowager facing south, the king facing north, and Chancellor Lu Jia and the senior ministers all facing west.

酒行，太后謂嘉曰：「南越內屬，國之利也，而相君苦不便者，何也？」 As the wine flowed, the Queen Dowager turned to Lu Jia and said: "For Nanyue to submit as an inner subject would serve the kingdom's best interests. Yet you, Lord Chancellor, keep objecting that it is inconvenient. Why?"

太后怒，欲鏦嘉以矛，王止太後。 The Queen Dowager flew into a rage and wanted to strike Lu Jia down with a spear, but the king held her back.

太后有淫行，國人不附，欲獨誅嘉等，力又不能。 The Queen Dowager's scandalous conduct had cost her the people's support. She wished to eliminate Lu Jia and his faction single-handedly, but she lacked the power to do so.

天子聞嘉不聽王，王、王太后弱孤不能制，使者怯無決。 When the Son of Heaven learned that Lu Jia defied the king, that the king and the Queen Dowager were too weak and isolated to control him, and that the envoys were timid and indecisive.

又以為王、王太后已附漢，獨呂嘉為亂，不足以興兵，欲使莊參以二千人往使。 He also reckoned that since the king and the Queen Dowager had already aligned with the Han, it was Lu Jia alone who was causing trouble. This did not warrant a full military campaign. He planned to send Zhuang Can with two thousand men on a diplomatic mission.

郟壯士故濟北相韓千秋奮曰：「以區區之越，又有王、太后應，獨相呂嘉為害，願得勇士二百人，必斬嘉以報。」 Han Qianqiu, a bold warrior from Jia and former Chancellor of Jibei, stepped forward and declared: "Yue is a trifling state, and the king and the Queen Dowager are on our side. Only Chancellor Lu Jia stands in the way. Give me two hundred brave men, and I will take Lu Jia's head."

於是天子遣千秋與王太后弟樛樂將二千人往，入越境。 The Son of Heaven then dispatched Han Qianqiu along with the Queen Dowager's younger brother, Jiu Le, at the head of two thousand soldiers to enter Yue territory.

太後，中國人也，又與使者亂，專欲內屬，盡持先王寶器入獻天子以自媚，多從人，行至長安，虜賣以為僮仆。 The Queen Dowager is a woman from the Central Plains who has carried on a sordid affair with the envoy. She is bent on submitting our kingdom to the Han, carrying off all the treasures of the former kings to present to the Son of Heaven and ingratiate herself. She plans to take many of our people along to Chang'an, where they will be seized and sold into servitude.

乃與其弟將卒攻殺王、太后及漢使者。 Lu Jia and his brother then led their soldiers in an assault on the palace, killing the king, the Queen Dowager, and the Han envoys.

樛樂，其姊為王太后，首願屬漢，封其子廣德為龍亢侯。 As for Jiu Le, whose elder sister had been the Queen Dowager—he had been the first to volunteer to submit to the Han. His son Guangde was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Longkang.