Overview
Son of Heaven was a ruler.
IdentityHistorical · Male · Title only
Life and dates
Attested activity
BC 132 今天子元光之中
BC 109 天子既封禪巡祭山川，其明年
BC 129 漢興七十有八載
Places and affiliations
- Polity Han 漢 · Relation Ruled
- Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Works and attributed material
Events and relationships
Agreed to attempt feng and shan after reading Xiangru manuscript
Ritual planning · Sovereign
Appointed Xiangru Zhonglangjiang and sent him as envoy
Approved Bao Xie road
Infrastructure · Approver
Approved Hedong canal fields
Hydraulic · Approver
Approved Wei transport canal
Hydraulic · Approver
Closed Huzi breach
BC 109 天子既封禪巡祭山川，其明年 · Disaster response · Director · At Huzi 瓠子
Show 5 more source-backed claims
Composed Huzi songs
Literary · Author
Deferred resealing breach
BC 132 今天子元光之中 · Policy · Ruler
Fengshan and mountain river sacrifices
BC 110 天子既封禪巡祭山川 · Ritual · Performer
Sank white horse and jade bi
Ritual · Performer · At breached Yellow River 決河
Sent officials to block Huzi
BC 132 今天子元光之中 · Disaster response · Ruler · At Huzi 瓠子
References in the histories
No matching passages.
Book of Han, Chapter 67Volume 57b: Sima Xiangru · 24 passages
上聞之，乃遣相如責唐蒙等，因諭告巴、蜀民以非上意。
When the emperor learned of the unrest, he sent Xiangru to reprimand Tang Meng and his associates and to make clear to the people of Ba and Shu that none of this had been the sovereign's will.
陛下患使者有司之若彼，悼不肖愚民之如此，故遣信使，曉諭百姓以發卒之事，因數之以不忠死亡之罪，讓三老孝弟以不教誨之過。
The throne deplores officials who behaved as they did and pities ignorant folk who reacted so rashly. Hence a reliable envoy has been sent to explain why levies were ordered, to spell out how disloyalty leads to death, and to call village elders to account for failing to teach their people.
方今田時，重煩百姓，已親見近縣，恐遠所溪谷山澤之民不遍聞，檄到，亟下縣道，鹹諭陛下意，毋忽！
It is planting season, and the court regrets the burden on the people. Envoys have already toured the nearer counties, but those in remote valleys and hills may not have heard. When this edict reaches you, relay it at once along every county and post road so that every household understands the emperor's purpose. Do not treat it lightly.
上問相如，相如曰：「邛、莋、冉、駹者近蜀，道易通，異時嘗通為郡縣矣，至漢興而罷。
The emperor asked Xiangru for his view. He replied: "The tribes of Qiong, Zuo, Ran, and Mang border Shu; their routes are easy to open. They were once organized as commanderies in earlier dynasties and only lapsed when the Han arose.
上以為然，乃拜相如為中郎將，建節往使。
The emperor agreed and appointed Xiangru General of the Household, sending him as an envoy bearing imperial credentials.
還報，天子大說。
When he reported back, the emperor was delighted.
相如欲諫，業已建之，不敢，乃著書，借蜀父老為辭，而己詰難之，以風天子，且因宣其使指，令百姓皆知天子意。
He wanted to argue the case but dared not, having himself sponsored the scheme. Instead he drafted a dialogue, putting the objections in the mouths of Shu elders and answering them in his own voice, both to sway the throne and to spell out what his mission had meant so that every household would grasp the emperor's purpose.
辭畢，進曰：「蓋聞天子之於夷狄也，其義羈縻勿絕而已。
When formal greetings were finished, they stepped forward: "We have always understood that the Son of Heaven's policy toward barbarians is to keep them on a loose tether without cutting them off.
夫拯民於沈溺，奉至尊之休德，反衰世之陵夷，繼周氏之絕業，天子之急務也。
Snatching people from the flood, displaying the sovereign's perfect virtue, reversing the rot of a declining age, and taking up the broken work of the Zhou—these are the throne's pressing duties.
嘗從上至長楊獵。
He once accompanied the emperor on a hunt at the Changyang park.
是時天子方好自擊熊豕，馳逐野獸，相如因上疏諫。
The emperor had taken to killing bears and boars with his own hands and racing after game; Xiangru therefore presented a written remonstrance.
今陛下好陵阻險，射猛獸，卒然遇逸材之獸，駭不存之地，犯屬車之清塵，輿不及還轅，人不暇施巧，雖有烏獲、逢蒙之技不能用，枯木朽株盡為難矣。
Yet Your Majesty loves to climb dangerous ground and shoot savage game. Should some powerful beast bolt from cover in a spot where the chariot cannot save you, the dust of your escort would be thrown into peril: the carriage could not wheel about in time, guards could not react in time—even Wuhuo's strength or Peng Meng's archery would be useless, and every dead trunk becomes a weapon against you.
雖萬全而無患，然本非天子之所宜近也。
Even if no disaster came, such sport is unworthy of the Son of Heaven.
夫輕萬乘之重不以為安，樂出萬有一危之塗以為娛，臣竊為陛下不取。
To treat the safety of the imperial equipage lightly and seek pleasure on a road where ruin needs only one chance in ten thousand—your servant respectfully urges that Your Majesty should not choose this.
臣願陛下留意幸察。
I beg Your Majesty to weigh these words with care.
上善之。
The emperor approved the memorial.
上既美子虛之事，相如見上好仙，因曰：「上林之事未足美也，尚有靡者。
The sovereign had already praised his "Sir Fantasy" rhapsody. Seeing how fond the emperor was of immortals, Xiangru said: "What I wrote of the Upper Grove is not the limit of splendor; something grander remains.
相如既奏《大人賦》，天子大說，飄飄有陵雲氣游天地之間意。
After Xiangru recited the "Rhapsody for the Great Man," the emperor was transported; he felt light enough to ride the wind between heaven and earth.
天子曰：「司馬相如病甚，可往從悉取其書，若後之矣。」
The emperor said: "Sima Xiangru is dying; send someone to collect whatever manuscripts he has before it is too late."
其遺札書言封禪事，所忠奏焉，天子異之。
That final manuscript discussed the feng and shan sacrifices. Suo Zhong laid it before the throne, and the emperor received it with wonder.
於是大司馬進曰：「陛下仁育群生，義征不譓，諸夏樂貢，百蠻執贄，德牟往初，功無與二，休烈液洽，符瑞眾變，斯應紹至，不特創見。
The commander-in-chief then stepped forward: "Your Majesty nurtures all life with humanity and chastises the stubborn with justice. The Hua states gladly bring tribute; barbarian chiefs arrive with gifts. Your virtue outshines antiquity; your deeds have no peer. Glory spreads abroad; omens arrive in endless variety—this is no first-time wonder but heaven's steady answer.
意者太山、梁父設壇場望幸，蓋號以況榮，上帝垂恩儲祉，，將以慶成，陛下嗛讓而弗發也。
Mount Tai and Mount Liangfu have long stood ready with their altars, waiting for your chariot so their names may share your glory. High God heaps favor upon you to mark the work fulfilled—yet you modestly hold back and will not begin.
願陛下全之。
We beg you to bring it to fulfillment.
於是天子沛然改容，曰：「俞乎，朕其試哉！」
The emperor's face cleared; he said, "Very well—I will make the attempt!"
Records of the Grand Historian, Chapter 29Treatise on Rivers and Canals · 10 passages
其後四十有餘年，今天子元光之中，而河決於瓠子，東南注鉅野，通於淮、泗。
More than forty years later, in the middle years of the present emperor's Yuanguang era, the Yellow River burst at Huzi, flowed southeast into Juye, and joined the Huai and Si rivers.
於是天子使汲黯、鄭當時興人徒塞之，輒復壞。
The Son of Heaven accordingly sent Ji An and Zheng Dangshi to raise laborers and block the breach, but each repair broke open again.
於是天子久之不事復塞也。
For a long time after that, the Son of Heaven made no further attempt to close the breach.
天子以為然，令齊人水工徐伯表，悉發卒數萬人穿漕渠，三歲而通。
The Son of Heaven approved. He ordered Xu Bo, a water engineer from Qi, to mark out the route, and mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers to cut the transport canal for more than three years.
天子以為然，發卒數萬人作渠田。
The Son of Heaven approved and mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers to create canal-irrigated fields.
天子以為然，拜湯子卬為漢中守，發數萬人作褒斜道五百餘里。
The Son of Heaven approved. He appointed Tang's son Ang as governor of Hanzhong and mobilized tens of thousands of men to build the Bao-Xie road for more than five hundred li.
天子既封禪巡祭山川，其明年，旱，乾封少雨。
After the Son of Heaven performed the fengshan rites, inspected the mountains and rivers, and offered sacrifices to them, drought came the following year, and the sealed altar was dry with little rain.
天子乃使汲仁、郭昌發卒數萬人塞瓠子決。
The Son of Heaven then sent Ji Ren and Guo Chang to mobilize tens of thousands of soldiers and close the breach at Huzi.
於是天子已用事萬里沙，則還自臨決河，沈白馬玉璧于河，令群臣從官自將軍已下皆負薪窴決河。
When the Son of Heaven had performed the rites at Wanli Sha, he returned and personally inspected the breached river, sank a white horse and a jade bi into it, and ordered all the officials and attendants, from the generals down, to carry firewood and fill the breach.
天子既臨河決，悼功之不成，乃作歌曰：「瓠子決兮將柰何？
When the Son of Heaven came to the breached Yellow River, he grieved that the work was not complete and composed a song: “The Huzi breach! What can be done?