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the emperor was a ruler.
IdentityHistorical · Male · Title only
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Western Han 漢
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- Assessment imperial hunt extravagance too great; should open parks to farming and reform · Mode quoted-speech Speaker the emperor (上)
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Book of Han, Chapter 66Volume 57a: Sima Xiangru · 13 passages
居久之，蜀人楊得意為狗監，侍上。
Some time later a fellow townsman, Yang Deyi, served as imperial kennel-master at court.
上讀《子虛賦》而善之，曰：「朕獨不得與此人同時哉！」
The emperor read the “Sir Vacuity” and exclaimed, “Why could I not have lived in the same era as the man who wrote this?”
上驚，乃召問相如。
Startled, the emperor summoned Sima Xiangru for an audience.
然此乃諸侯之事，未足觀，請為天子遊獵之賦。」
But that piece,” he went on, “only treats the hunts of the feudal lords—it is hardly fit for your majesty. Allow me to offer a fu on the Son of Heaven’s hunt.”
上令尚書給筆札，相如以「子虛」，虛言也，為楚稱；
The emperor ordered brushes and bamboo slips from the Secretariat. Sima Xiangru explained that “Sir Vacuity” stood for empty boasting on Chu’s behalf;
「亡是公」者，亡是人也，欲明天子之義。
and that “Lord No-such-person” signified no such man at all—figures meant to expound the Son of Heaven’s true standard.
故虛借此三人為辭，以推天子諸侯之苑囿。
He used these three allegorical speakers to unfold the hunting grounds of emperor and kings alike.
奏之天子，天子大說。
He presented it to the throne, and the emperor was delighted.
君未睹夫巨麗也，獨不聞天子之上林乎？
You have never seen true magnificence. Surely you have heard of the Son of Heaven’s Shanglin preserve?
「於是乎背秋涉冬，天子校獵。
“Thereupon turning back autumn crossing winter, the Son of Heaven conducts the grand hunt.
消□乎襄羊，降集乎北□，率乎直指，□乎反鄉，蹶石關，歷封巒，過□鵲，望露寒，下堂□，息宜春，西馳宣曲，濯□牛首，登龍台，掩細柳，觀士大夫之勤略，鈞獵者之所得獲。
The procession drifts through the park’s gates and lodges—Shimen, Fengluan, and the rest, many names partly lost—while the emperor reviews what his men have taken.
「於是酒中樂酣，天子芒然而思，似若有亡，曰：『嗟乎，此大奢侈！
Deep in wine and music the emperor’s mood turns grave, as if something had been lost, and he murmurs, “This is too much—far too much.
賦奏，天子以為郎。
When the fu was laid before the throne, the emperor appointed Sima Xiangru a gentleman-attendant at court.