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漢書六

武紀第六

孝武皇帝，景帝中子也，母曰王美人。年四歲立為膠東王。七歲為皇太子，母為皇后。十六歲，後三年正月，景帝崩。甲子，太子即皇帝位，尊皇太后竇氏曰太皇太后，皇后曰皇太后。三月，封皇太后同母弟田蚡、勝皆為列侯。

建元元年冬十月，詔丞相、御史、列侯、中二千石、二千石、諸侯相舉賢良方正直言極諫之士。

丞相綰奏：「所舉賢良，或治申、商、韓非、蘇秦、張儀之言，亂國政，請皆罷。」奏可。　　

春二月，赦天下，賜民爵一級。年八十復二算，九十復甲卒。

行三銖錢。

夏四月己巳，詔曰：「古之立教，鄉里以齒，朝廷以爵，扶世導民，莫善於德。然則於鄉里先耆艾，奉高年，古之道也。

今天下孝子順孫願自竭盡以承其親，外迫公事，內乏資財，是以孝心闕焉。朕甚哀之。民年九十以上，已有受鬻法，為復子若孫，令得身帥妻妾遂其供養之事。」　　

五月，詔曰：「河海潤千里，其令祠官修山川之祠，為歲事，曲加禮。」

赦吳楚七國帑輸在官者。

秋七月，詔曰：「衛士轉置送迎二萬人，其省萬人。罷苑馬，以賜貧民。」　　

議立明堂。遣使者安車蒲輪，束帛加璧，徵魯申公。

二年冬十月，御史大夫趙綰坐請毋奏事太皇太后，及郎中令王臧皆下獄，自殺。丞相嬰、太尉蚡免。　　

春二月丙戌朔，日有蝕之。夏四月戊申，有如日夜出。　　初置茂陵邑。　　

三年春，河水溢于平原，大飢，人相食。　　

賜徙茂陵者戶錢二十萬，田二頃。初作便門橋。　　

秋七月，有星孛于西北。　　濟川王明坐殺太傅、中傅廢遷防陵。　　

閩越圍東甌，東甌告急。遣中大夫嚴助持節發會稽兵，浮海救之。未至，閩越走，兵還。　　九月丙子晦，日有蝕之。　　

四年夏，有風赤如血。六月，旱。秋九月，有星孛于東北。　　

五年春，罷三銖錢，行半兩錢。　　

置五經博士。

夏四月，平原君薨。　　五月，大蝗。　　秋八月，廣川王越、清河王乘皆薨。　　

六年春二月乙未，遼東高廟災。夏四月壬子，高園便殿火。上素服五日。　　五月丁亥，太皇太后崩。　　秋八月，有星孛于東方，長竟天。　　

閩越王郢攻南越。遣大行王恢將兵出豫章，大司農韓安國出會稽，擊之。未至，越人殺郢降，兵還。　　

元光元年冬十一月，初令郡國舉孝廉各一人。　　

衛尉李廣為驍騎將軍屯雲中，中尉程不識為車騎將軍屯鴈門，六月罷。　　

夏四月，赦天下，賜民長子爵一級。復七國宗室前絕屬者。　　

五月，詔賢良曰：「朕聞昔在唐虞，畫象而民不犯，日月所燭，莫不率俾。周之成康，刑錯不用，德及鳥獸，教通四海。海外肅  ，北發渠搜，氐羌徠服。星辰不孛，日月不蝕，山陵不崩，川谷不塞；麟鳳在郊藪，河洛出圖書。嗚虖，何施而臻此與！

今朕獲奉宗廟，夙興以求，夜寐以思，若涉淵水，未知所濟。猗與偉與！何行而可以章先帝之洪業休德，上參堯舜，下配三王！朕之不敏，不能遠德，此子大夫之所睹聞也。

賢良明於古今王事之體，受策察問，咸以書對，著之於篇，朕親覽焉。」於是董仲舒、公孫弘等出焉。

秋七月癸未，日有蝕之。　　

二年冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤。　　

春，詔問公卿曰：「朕飾子女以配單于，金幣文繡賂之甚厚，單于待命加嫚，侵盜亡已。邊境被害，朕甚閔之。今欲舉兵攻之，何如？」大行王恢建議宜擊。

夏六月，御史大夫韓安國為護軍將軍，衛尉李廣為驍騎將軍，太僕公孫賀為輕車將軍，大行王恢為將屯將軍，太中大夫李息為材官將軍，將三十萬眾屯馬邑谷中，誘致單于，欲襲擊之。單于入塞，覺之，走出。六月，軍罷。將軍王恢坐首謀不進，下獄死。　　

秋九月，令民大酺五日。

三年春，河水徙，從頓丘東南流入勃海。

夏五月，封高祖功臣五人後為列侯。　　

河水決濮陽，氾郡十六。發卒十萬救決河。

起龍淵宮。

四年冬，魏其侯竇嬰有罪，棄巿。　　春三月乙卯，丞相蚡薨。　　

夏四月，隕霜殺草。五月，地震。赦天下。

五年春正月，河間王德薨。

夏，發巴蜀治南夷道，又發卒萬人治雁門阻險。　　

秋七月，大風拔木。　　乙巳，皇后陳氏廢。捕為巫蠱者，皆梟首。　　八月，螟。　

徵吏民有明當時之務習先聖之術者，縣次續食，令與計偕。　　

六年冬，初算商車。　　春，穿漕渠通渭。

匈奴入上谷，殺略吏民。遣車騎將軍衛青出上谷，騎將軍公孫敖出代，輕車將軍公孫賀出雲中，驍騎將軍李廣出雁門。青至龍城，獲首虜七百級。

廣、敖失師而還。詔曰：「夷狄無義，所從來久。間者匈奴數寇邊境，故遣將撫師。古者治兵振旅，因遭虜之方入，將吏新會，上下未輯，代郡將軍敖、雁門將軍廣所任不肖，校尉又背義妄行，棄軍而北，少吏犯禁。

用兵之法：不勤不教，將率之過也；教令宣明，不能盡力，士卒之罪也。將軍已下廷尉，使理正之，而又加法於士卒，二者並行，非仁聖之心。朕閔眾庶陷害，欲刷恥改行，復奉正義，厥路亡繇。其赦雁門、代郡軍士不循法者。」　

夏，大旱，蝗。　　六月，行幸雍。　

秋，匈奴盜邊。遣將軍韓安國屯漁陽。

元朔元年冬十一月，詔曰：「公卿大夫，所使總方略，壹統類，廣教化，美風俗也。夫本仁祖義，褒德祿賢，勸善刑暴，五帝三王所繇昌也。

朕夙興夜寐，嘉與宇內之士臻於斯路。故旅耆老，復孝敬，選豪俊，講文學，稽參政事，祈進民心，深詔執事，興廉舉孝，庶幾成風，紹休聖緒。

夫十室之邑，必有忠信；三人並行，厥有我師。今或至闔郡而不薦一人，是化不下究，而積行之君子雍於上聞也。二千石官長紀綱人倫，將何以佐朕燭幽隱，勸元元，厲蒸庶，崇鄉黨之訓哉？

且進賢受上賞，蔽賢蒙顯戮，古之道也。其與中二千石、禮官、博士議不舉者罪。」

有司奏議曰：「古者，諸侯貢士，壹適謂之好德，再適謂之賢賢，三適謂之有功，乃加九錫；不貢士，壹則黜爵，再則黜地，三而黜爵地畢矣。

夫附下罔上者死，附上罔下者刑，與聞國政而無益於民者斥，在上位而不能進賢者退，此所以勸善黜惡也。

今詔書昭先帝聖緒，令二千石舉孝廉，所以化元元，移風易俗也。不舉孝，不奉詔，當以不敬論。不察廉，不勝任也，當免。」奏可。　　

十二月，江都王非薨。　　春三月甲子，立皇后衛氏。

詔曰：「朕聞天地不變，不成施化；陰陽不變，物不暢茂。易曰『通其變，使民不倦』。詩云『九變復貫，知言之選』。朕嘉唐虞而樂殷周，據舊以鑒新。

其赦天下，與民更始。諸逋貸及辭訟在孝景後三年以前，皆勿聽治。」

秋，匈奴入遼西，殺太守；入漁陽、雁門，敗都尉，殺略三千餘人。遣將軍衛青出雁門，將軍李息出代，獲首虜數千級。　　

東夷薉君南閭等口二十八萬人降，為蒼海郡。　　

魯王餘、長沙王發皆薨。　　

二年冬，賜淮南王、菑川王几杖，毋朝。　　

春正月，詔曰：「梁王、城陽王親慈同生，願以邑分弟，其許之。諸侯王請與子弟邑者，朕將親覽，使有列位焉。」於是藩國始分，而子弟畢侯矣。　　

匈奴入上谷、漁陽，殺略吏民千餘人。遣將軍衛青、李息出雲中，至高闕，遂西至符離，獲首虜數千級。數河南地，置朔方、五原郡。三月乙亥晦，日有蝕之。　　夏，募民徙朔方十萬口。又徙郡國豪傑及訾三百萬以上于茂陵。　　

秋，燕王定國有罪，自殺。　　

三年春，罷蒼海郡。

三月，詔曰：「夫刑罰所以防姦也，內長文所以見愛也；以百姓之未洽于教化，朕嘉與士大夫日新厥業，祗而不解。其赦天下。」　　

夏，匈奴入代，殺太守；入雁門，殺略千餘人。

六月庚午，皇太后崩。

秋，罷西南夷，城朔方城。令民大酺五日。

四年冬，行幸甘泉。　　夏，匈奴入代、定襄、上郡，殺略數千人。　　

五年春，大旱。大將軍衛青將六將軍兵十餘萬人出朔方、高闕，獲首虜萬五千級。　　

夏六月，詔曰：「蓋聞導民以禮，風之以樂，今禮壞樂崩，朕甚閔焉。故詳延天下方聞之士，咸薦諸朝。

其令禮官勸學，講議洽聞，舉遺興禮，以為天下先。

太常其議予博士弟子，崇鄉黨之化，以厲賢材焉。」丞相弘請為博士置弟子員，學者益廣。

秋，匈奴入代，殺都尉。

六年春二月，大將軍衛青將六將軍兵十餘萬騎出定襄，斬首三千餘級。還，休士馬于定襄、雲中、鴈門。赦天下。　　

夏四月，衛青復將六將軍絕幕，大克獲。前將軍趙信軍敗，降匈奴。右將軍蘇建亡軍，獨身脫還，贖為庶人。

六月，詔曰：「朕聞五帝不相復禮，三代不同法，所繇殊路而建德一也。蓋孔子對定公以徠遠，哀公以論臣，景公以節用，非期不同，所急異務也。

今中國一統而北邊未安，朕甚悼之。日者大將軍巡朔方，征匈奴，斬首虜萬八千級，諸禁錮及有過者，咸蒙厚賞，得免減罪。

今大將軍仍復克獲，斬首虜萬九千級，受爵賞而欲移賣者，無所流貤。其議為令。」有司奏請置武功賞官，以寵戰士。　　

元狩元年冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤。獲白麟，作白麟之歌。　　

十一月，淮南王安、衡山王賜謀反，誅。黨與死者數萬人。　　十二月，大雨雪，民凍死。

夏四月，赦天下。　　丁卯，立皇太子。賜中二千石爵右庶長，民為父後者一級。

詔曰：「朕聞咎繇對禹，曰在知人，知人則哲，惟帝難之。蓋君者心也，民猶支體，支體傷則心憯怛。

日者淮南、衡山修文學，流貨賂，兩國接壤，怵於邪說，而造篡弒，此朕之不德。詩云：『憂心慘慘，念國之為虐。』已赦天下，滌除與之更始。

朕嘉孝弟力田，哀夫老眊孤寡鰥獨或匱於衣食，甚憐愍焉。其遣謁者巡行天下，存問致賜。

曰『皇帝使謁者賜縣三老、孝者帛，人五匹；鄉三老、弟者、力田帛，人三匹；年九十以上及鰥寡孤獨帛，人二匹，絮三斤；八十以上米，人三石。有冤失職，使者以聞。縣鄉即賜，毋贅聚』。」　　

五月乙巳晦，日有蝕之。匈奴入上谷，殺數百人。

二年冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤。

春三月戊寅，丞相弘薨。

遣驃騎將軍霍去病出隴西，至皋蘭，斬首八千餘級。　　

夏，馬生余吾水中。南越獻馴象、能言鳥。　　

將軍去病、公孫敖出北地二千餘里，過居延，斬首虜三萬餘級。　　匈奴入鴈門，殺略數百人。遣衛尉張騫、郎中令李廣皆出右北平。廣殺匈奴三千餘人，盡亡其軍四千人，獨身脫還，及公孫敖、張騫皆後期，當斬，贖為庶人。　　

江都王建有罪，自殺。膠東王寄薨。　　

秋，匈奴昆邪王殺休屠王，并將其眾合四萬餘人來降，置五屬國以處之。以其地為武威、酒泉郡。

三年春，有星孛于東方。夏五月，赦天下。立膠東康王少子慶為六安王。封故相國蕭何曾孫慶為列侯。秋，匈奴入右北平、定襄，殺略千餘人。　　遣謁者勸有水災郡種宿麥。舉吏民能假貸貧民者以名聞。　　減隴西、北地、上郡戍卒半。　　發謫吏穿昆明池。　　

四年冬，有司言關東貧民徙隴西、北地、西河、上郡、會稽凡七十二萬五千口，縣官衣食振業，用度不足，請收銀錫造白金及皮幣以足用。初算緡錢。

春，有星孛于東北。夏，有長星出于西北。　　大將軍衛青將四將軍出定襄，將軍去病出代，各將五萬騎。步兵踵軍後數十萬人。青至幕北圍單于，斬首萬九千級，至闐顏山乃還。去病與左賢王戰，斬獲首虜七萬餘級，封狼居胥山乃還。兩軍士戰死者數萬人。前將軍廣、後將軍食其皆後期。廣自殺，食其贖死。　　

五年春三月甲午，丞相李蔡有罪，自殺。

天下馬少，平牡馬匹二十萬。　　罷半兩錢，行五銖錢。　　徙天下姦猾吏民於邊。　　

六年冬十月，賜丞相以下至吏二千石金，千石以下至乘從者帛，蠻夷錦各有差。　　

雨水亡冰。

夏四月乙巳，廟立皇子閎為齊王，旦為燕王，胥為廣陵王。初作誥。　　

六月，詔曰：「日者有司以幣輕多姦，農傷而末眾，又禁兼并之塗，故改幣以約之。稽諸往古，制宜於今。廢期有月，而山澤之民未諭。

夫仁行而從善，義立則俗易，意奉憲者所以導之未明與？將百姓所安殊路，而撟虔吏因乘勢以侵蒸庶邪？何紛然其擾也！

今遣博士大等六人分循行天下，存問鰥寡廢疾，無以自振業者貸與之。諭三老孝弟以為民師，舉獨行之君子，徵詣行在所。朕嘉賢者，樂知其人。廣宣厥道，士有特招，使者之任也。詳問隱處亡位，及冤失職，姦猾為害，野荒治苛者，舉奏。郡國有所以為便者，上丞相、御史以聞。」　　

秋九月，大司馬驃騎將軍去病薨。

元鼎元年夏五月，赦天下。

大酺五日。得鼎汾水上。　

濟東王彭離有罪，廢徙上庸。

二年冬十一月，御史大夫張湯有罪，自殺。十二月，丞相青翟下獄死。　　春，起柏梁臺。　　

三月，大雨雪。夏，大水，關東餓死者以千數。

秋九月，詔曰：「仁不異遠，義不辭難。今京師雖未為豐年，山林池澤之饒與民共之。

今水潦移於江南，迫隆冬至，朕懼其飢寒不活。江南之地，火耕水耨。

方下巴蜀之粟致之江陵，遣博士中等分循行，諭告所抵，無令重困。吏民有振救飢民免其厄者，具舉以聞。」　　

三年冬，徙函谷關於新安。以故關為弘農縣。　　

十一月，令民告緡者以其半與之。　　

正月戊子，陽陵園火。夏四月，雨雹。

關東郡國十餘飢，人相食。　　

常山王舜薨。子  嗣立，有罪，廢徙房陵。　　

四年冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤。賜民爵一級，女子百戶牛酒。行自夏陽，東幸汾陰。十一月甲子，立后土祠于汾陰脽上。禮畢，行幸滎陽。

還至洛陽，詔曰：「祭地冀州，瞻望河洛，巡省豫州，觀于周室，邈而無祀。詢問耆老，乃得孽子嘉。其封嘉為周子南君，以奉周祀。」　　

春二月，中山王勝薨。　　

夏，封方士欒大為樂通侯，位上將軍。　　六月，得寶鼎后土祠旁。秋，馬生渥洼水中。作寶鼎、天馬之歌。　　

利長先作土人，特勒靽於水旁。後馬玩習，久之代土人特勒靽收得其馬，獻之。欲神異此馬，云從水中出。」蘇林曰：「洼音窐曲之窐。」師古曰：「渥音握。洼音於佳反。」　　立常山憲王子商為泗水王。

五年冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤。遂踰隴，登空同，西臨祖厲河而還。　　

十一月辛巳朔旦，冬至。立泰畤于甘泉。天子親郊見，朝日夕月。

詔曰：「朕以眇身託于王侯之上，德未能綏民，民或飢寒，故巡祭后土以祈豐年。冀州脽壤乃顯文鼎，獲祭於廟。渥洼水出馬，朕其御焉。戰戰兢兢，懼不克任，思昭天地，內惟自新。

詩云：『四牡翼翼，以征不服。』親省邊垂，用事所極。望見泰一，修天文  。辛卯夜，若景光十有二明。易曰：『先甲三日，後甲三日。』朕甚念年歲未咸登，飭躬齋戒，丁酉，拜況于郊。」

夏四月，南越王相呂嘉反，殺漢使者及其王、王太后。赦天下。　　丁丑晦，日有蝕之。　　秋，鼃、蝦蟆鬥。　　遣伏波將軍路博德出桂陽，下湟水；樓船將軍楊僕出豫章，下湞水；歸義越侯嚴為戈船將軍，出零陵，下離水；甲為下瀨將軍，下蒼梧。皆將罪人，江淮以南樓船十萬人。越馳義侯遺別將巴蜀罪人，發夜郎兵，下牂柯江，咸會番禺。　　

九月，列侯坐獻黃金酎祭宗廟不如法奪爵者百六人，丞相趙周下獄死。

樂通侯欒大坐誣罔要斬。

西羌眾十萬人反，與匈奴通使，攻故安，圍枹罕。匈奴入五原，殺太守。鄧展曰：「枹音鈇。罕音漢。」師古曰：「枹罕，金城之縣也。罕讀如本字。」　　

六年冬十月，發隴西、天水、安定騎士及中尉，河南、河內卒十萬人，遣將軍李息、郎中令一自為征西羌，平之。　　

行東，將幸緱氏，至左邑桐鄉，聞南越破，以為聞喜縣。春，至汲新中鄉，得呂嘉首，以為獲嘉縣。馳義侯遺兵未及下，上便令征西南夷，平之。遂定越地，以為南海、蒼梧、鬱林、合浦、交阯、九真、日南、珠崖、儋耳郡。定西南夷，以為武都、牂柯、越嶲、沈黎、文山郡。　　

秋，東越王餘善反，攻殺漢將吏。遣橫海將軍韓說、中尉王溫舒出會稽，樓船將軍楊僕出豫章，擊之。

又遣浮沮將軍公孫賀出九原，匈河將軍趙破奴出令居，皆二千餘里，不見虜而還。乃分武威、酒泉地置張掖、敦煌郡，徙民以實之。　　

元封元年冬十月，詔曰：「南越、東甌咸伏其辜，西蠻北夷頗未輯睦，朕將巡邊垂，擇兵振旅，躬秉武節，置十二部將軍，親帥師焉。」

行自雲陽，北歷上郡、西河、五原，出長城，北登單于臺，至朔方，臨北河。勒兵十八萬騎，旌旗徑千餘里，威震匈奴。遣使者告單于曰：「南越王頭已縣於漢北闕矣。單于能戰，天子自將待邊；不能，亟來臣服。何但亡匿幕北寒苦之地為！」匈奴讋焉。

還，祠黃帝於橋山，乃歸甘泉。　　

東越殺王餘善降。詔曰：「東越險阻反覆，為後世患，遷其民於江淮間。」遂虛其地。　　

春正月，行幸緱氏。詔曰：「朕用事華山，至於中嶽，獲駮麃，見夏后啟母石。翌日親登嵩高，御史乘屬，在廟旁吏卒咸聞呼萬歲者三。登禮罔不答。其令祠官加增太室祠，禁無伐其草木。以山下戶三百為之奉邑，名曰崇高，獨給祠，復亡所與。」

行，遂東巡海上。　　夏四月癸卯，上還，登封泰山，降坐明堂。詔曰：「朕以眇身承至尊，兢兢焉惟德菲薄，不明于禮樂，故用事八神。遭天地況施，著見景象，  然如有聞。震于怪物，欲止不敢，遂登封泰山，至於梁父，然後升襢肅然。

自新，嘉與士大夫更始，其以十月為元封元年。行所巡至，博、奉高、蛇丘，歷城、梁父，民田租逋賦貸，已除。加年七十以上孤寡帛，人二匹。四縣無出今年算。賜天下民爵一級，女子百戶牛酒。」　　

行自泰山，復東巡海上，至碣石。自遼西歷北邊九原，歸于甘泉。

秋，有星孛于東井，又孛于三台。　　齊王閎薨。　　

二年冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤。春，幸緱氏，遂至東萊。夏四月，還祠泰山。

至瓠子，臨決河，命從臣將軍以下皆負薪塞河隄，作瓠子之歌。赦所過徒，賜孤獨高年米，人四石。還，作甘泉通天臺、長安飛廉館。　　

朝鮮王攻殺遼東都尉，乃募天下死罪擊朝鮮。　　

六月，詔曰：「甘泉宮內中產芝，九莖連葉。上帝博臨，不異下房，賜朕弘休。其赦天下，賜雲陽都百戶牛酒。」作芝房之歌。　　

秋，作明堂于泰山下。　　

遣樓船將軍楊僕、左將軍荀彘將應募罪人擊朝鮮。又遣將軍郭昌、中郎將衛廣發巴蜀兵平西南夷未服者，以為益州郡。　應劭曰：「樓船者，時欲擊越，非水不至，故作大船，上施樓也。」　

三年春，作角抵戲，三百里內皆來觀。　　

夏，朝鮮斬其王右渠降，以其地為樂浪、臨屯、玄菟、真番郡。　　樓船將軍楊僕坐失亡多免為庶民，左將軍荀彘坐爭功棄市。　　

秋七月，膠西王端薨。　　

武都氐人反，分徙酒泉郡。

四年冬十月，行幸雍，祠五畤。通回中道，遂北出蕭關，歷獨鹿、鳴澤，自代而還，幸河東。

春三月，祠后土。詔曰：「朕躬祭后土地祇，見光集于靈壇，一夜三燭。幸中都宮，殿上見光。其赦汾陰、夏陽、中都死罪以下，賜三縣及楊氏皆無出今年租賦。」

夏，大旱，民多暍死。　　秋，以匈奴弱，可遂臣服，乃遣使說之。單于使來，死京師。匈奴寇邊，遣拔胡將軍郭昌屯朔方。　　

五年冬，行南巡狩，至于盛唐，望祀虞舜于九嶷。登灊天柱山，自尋陽浮江，親射蛟江中，獲之。舳艫千里，薄樅陽而出，作盛唐樅陽之歌。遂北至琅邪，並海，所過禮祠其名山大川。春三月，還至泰山，增封。甲子，祠高祖于明堂，以配上帝，因朝諸侯王列侯，受郡國計。

夏四月，詔曰：「朕巡荊揚，輯江淮物，會大海氣，以合泰山。上天見象，增修封禪。其赦天下。所幸縣毋出今年租賦，賜鰥寡孤獨帛，貧窮者粟。」

還幸甘泉，郊泰畤。　　

大司馬大將軍青薨。　　

初置刺史部十三州。

名臣文武欲盡，詔曰：「蓋有非常之功，必待非常之人，故馬或奔踶而致千里，士或有負俗之累而立功名。夫泛駕之馬，跅弛之士，亦在御之而已。其令州郡察吏民有茂材異等可為將相及使絕國者。」　　

六年冬，行幸回中。春，作首山宮。　　三月，行幸河東，祠后土。詔曰：「朕禮首山，昆田出珍物，化或為黃金。祭后土，神光三燭。其赦汾陰殊死以下，賜天下貧民布帛，人一匹。」　　

益州、昆明反，赦京師亡命令從軍，遣拔胡將軍郭昌將以擊之。　　

夏，京師民觀角抵于上林平樂館。　　秋，大旱，蝗。　　

太初元年冬十月，行幸泰山。　　十一月甲子朔旦，冬至，祀上帝于明堂。　　

乙酉，柏梁臺災。　　

十二月，禪高里，祠后土。東臨勃海，望祠蓬萊。春還，受計于甘泉。　　

二月，起建章宮。　　

夏五月，正曆，以正月為歲首。色上黃，數用五，定官名，協音律。

遣因杅將軍公孫敖築塞外受降城。　　秋八月，行幸安定。

遣貳師將軍李廣利發天下謫民西征大宛。　　蝗從東方飛至敦煌。

二年春正月戊申，丞相慶薨。

三月，行幸河東，祠后土。令天下大酺五日，膢五日，祠門戶，比臘。　　

夏四月，詔曰：「朕用事介山，祭后土，皆有光應。其赦汾陰、安邑殊死以下。」　　

五月，籍吏民馬，補車騎馬。　　秋，蝗。

遣浚稽將軍趙破奴二萬騎出朔方擊匈奴，不還。

冬十二月，御史大夫兒寬卒。　　

三年春正月，行東巡海上。夏四月，還，修封泰山，禪石閭。　　

遣光祿勳徐自為築五原塞外列城，西北至盧朐，游擊將軍韓說將兵屯之。強弩都尉路博德築居延。　　秋，匈奴入定襄、雲中，殺略數千人，行壞光祿諸亭障；又入張掖、酒泉，殺都尉。　　

四年春，貳師將軍廣利斬大宛王首，獲汗血馬來。作西極天馬之歌。　　

秋，起明光宮。

冬，行幸回中。　　徙弘農都尉治武關，稅出入者以給關吏卒食。　　

天漢元年春正月，行幸甘泉，郊泰畤。三月，行幸河東，祠后土。　　

匈奴歸漢使者，使使來獻。　　夏五月，赦天下。　　

秋，閉城門大搜。發謫戍屯五原。　　

二年春，行幸東海。還幸回中。　　

夏五月，貳師將軍三萬騎出酒泉，與右賢王戰于天山，斬首虜萬餘級。又遣因杅將軍出西河，騎都尉李陵將步兵五千人出居延北，與單于戰，斬首虜萬餘級。陵兵敗，降匈奴。　

秋，止禁巫祠道中者。大搜。　　

渠黎六國使使來獻。

泰山、琅邪群盜徐  等阻山攻城，道路不通。遣直指使者暴勝之等衣繡衣杖斧分部逐捕。刺史郡守以下皆伏誅。　　冬十一月，詔關都尉曰：「今豪傑多遠交，依東方群盜。其謹察出入者。」　　

三年春二月，御史大夫王卿有罪，自殺。　　　　

初榷酒酤。

三月，行幸泰山，修封，祀明堂，因受計。還幸北地，祠常山，瘞玄玉。夏四月，赦天下。行所過毋出田租。　　

秋，匈奴入鴈門，太守坐畏  棄市。

四年春正月，朝諸侯王于甘泉宮。

發天下七科謫及勇敢士，遣貳師將軍李廣利將六萬騎、步兵七萬人出朔方，因杅將軍公孫敖萬騎、步兵三萬人出鴈門，游擊將軍韓說步兵三萬人出五原，強弩都尉路博德步兵萬餘人與貳師會。廣利與單于戰余吾水上連日，敖與左賢王戰不利，皆引還。　　

夏四月，立皇子髆為昌邑王。

秋九月，令死罪人贖錢五十萬減死一等。　　

太始元年春正月，因杅將軍敖有罪，要斬。　　

徙郡國吏民豪桀于茂陵、雲陵。　　夏六月，赦天下。　　

二年春正月，行幸回中。　　三月，詔曰：「有司議曰，往者朕郊見上帝，西登隴首，獲白麟以饋宗廟，渥洼水出天馬，泰山見黃金，宜改故名。今更黃金為麟趾褭蹄以協瑞焉。」因以班賜諸侯王。　　

秋，旱。九月，募死罪人贖錢五十萬減死一等。　　

御史大夫杜周卒。　　

三年春正月，行幸甘泉宮，饗外國客。　　二月，令天下大酺五日。行幸東海，獲赤鴈，作朱鴈之歌。幸琅邪，禮日成山。登之罘，浮大海。山稱萬歲。冬，賜行所過戶五千錢，鰥寡孤獨帛人一匹。　　

四年春三月，行幸泰山。壬午，祀高祖于明堂，以配上帝，因受計。癸未，祀孝景皇帝于明堂。甲申，修封。丙戌，禪石閭。夏四月，幸不其，祠神人于交門宮，若有鄉坐拜者。作交門之歌。夏五月，還幸建章宮，大置酒，赦天下。　　

秋七月，趙有蛇從郭外入邑，與邑中蛇群鬥孝文廟下，邑中蛇死。　　冬十月甲寅晦，日有蝕之。　　

十二月，行幸雍，祠五畤，西至安定、北地。　　

征和元年春正月，還，行幸建章宮。　　

三月，趙王彭祖薨。　　

冬十一月，發三輔騎士大搜上林，閉長安城門索，十一日乃解。巫蠱起。　　

二年春正月，丞相賀下獄死。　夏四月，大風發屋折木。　　閏月，諸邑公主、陽石公主皆坐巫蠱死。

夏，行幸甘泉。　　秋七月，按道侯韓說、使者江充等掘蠱太子宮。壬午，太子與皇后謀斬充，以節發兵與丞相劉屈氂大戰長安，死者數萬人。庚寅，太子亡，皇后自殺。初置城門屯兵。更節加黃旄。御史大夫暴勝之、司直田仁坐失縱，勝之自殺，仁要斬。八月辛亥，太子自殺于湖。　　癸亥，地震。

九月，立趙敬肅王子偃為平王。　　　

匈奴入上谷、五原，殺略吏民。　

三年春正月，行幸雍，至安定、北地。

匈奴入五原、酒泉，殺兩都尉。三月，遣貳師將軍廣利將七萬人出五原，御史大夫商丘成二萬人出西河，重合侯馬通四萬騎出酒泉。成至浚稽山與虜戰，多斬首。通至天山，虜引去，因降車師。皆引兵還。廣利敗，降匈奴。　　

夏五月，赦天下。　　六月，丞相屈氂下獄要斬，妻子梟首。　鄭氏曰：「妻作巫蠱，夫從坐，但要斬也。」師古曰：「屈氂亦坐與貳師將軍謀立昌邑王。」　　秋，蝗。　　九月，反者公孫勇、胡倩發覺，皆伏辜。　　

四年春正月，行幸東萊，臨大海。　　二月丁酉，隕石于雍，二，聲聞四百里。　　三月，上耕于鉅定。還幸泰山，修封。庚寅，祀于明堂。癸巳，  石閭。夏六月，還幸甘泉。　　秋八月辛酉晦，日有蝕之。　　

後元元年春正月，行幸甘泉，郊泰畤，遂幸安定。　　

昌邑王髆薨。　　

二月，詔曰：「朕郊見上帝，巡于北邊，見群鶴留止，以不羅罔，靡所獲獻。薦于泰畤，光景並見。其赦天下。」　　

夏六月，御史大夫商丘成有罪自殺。

侍中僕射莽何羅與弟重合侯通謀反，侍中駙馬都尉金日磾、奉車都尉霍光、騎都尉上官桀討之。　　秋七月，地震，往往湧泉出。　　

二年春正月，朝諸侯王于甘泉宮，賜宗室。　　二月，行幸盩厔五柞宮。

乙丑，立皇子弗陵為皇太子。丁卯，帝崩于五柞宮，入殯于未央宮前殿。三月甲申，葬茂陵。　　

贊曰：漢承百王之弊，高祖撥亂反正，文景務在養民，至于稽古禮文之事，猶多闕焉。孝武初立，卓然罷黜百家，表章六經。遂疇咨海內，舉其俊茂，與之立功。興太學，修郊祀，改正朔，定曆數，協音律，作詩樂，建封禪，禮百神，紹周後，號令文章，煥焉可述。後嗣得遵洪業，而有三代之風。

如武帝之雄材大略，不改文景之恭儉以濟斯民，雖詩書所稱何有加焉！

Translation and Notes

The Sixth [Imperial Annals]

The Annals of [Emperor Hsiao]-Wu

Emperor Hsiao-wu was a son of Emperor Ching, neither the eldest nor the youngest. His mother was entitled the Beauty [née] Wang. When he was in his fourth year [of age], he was made King of ¹ Chiao-tung; in his seventh year, he was made Imperial Heir-apparent and his mother was made Empress. In his sixteenth year, [which was] the third ² year of the latter [part of Emperor Ching's reign], in the first month, Emperor Ching died. On the ³ [same day], chia-tzu, the Heir-apparent took the imperial throne. ⁴ He honored the Empress Dowager née Tou with the title, Grand Empress Dowager, and the Empress [née Wang] with the title, Empress Dowager. In the third month, he enfeoffed both the younger brothers of the Empress Dowager by the same mother, T'ien Fen and [T'ien] Sheng, as Marquises.

In the [period] Chien-Yüan, ⁵ the first year, in the winter, the tenth month, an imperial edict [ordered] the Lieutenant Chancellor, the [Grandee] Secretary, the marquises, [officials ranking at] fully two thousand piculs and at two thousand piculs, and Chancellors of the nobles to recommend persons who were capable and good, sincere and upright, [able to] speak frankly and admonish unflinchingly. ⁶

The Lieutenant Chancellor, [Wei] Wan, memorialized, "Of those capable and good [persons] who were recommended, some have applied themselves to [and are conversant with] the sayings of Shen [Pu-hai], of Shang [Yang], of Han Fei, of Su Ch'in, and of Chang Yi. [Such persons] cause confusion in the government of the State. I beg that they all be dismissed". The memorial was approved.

In the spring, the second month, an amnesty was granted to the empire and the common people were granted one step in noble rank. Those who were in their eightieth year were exempted from two poll-taxes [for members of their households] and those in their ninetieth year were [also] exempted [from the tax for] military purposes. ⁷

Three-shu cash were put into circulation. ⁸

In the summer, the fourth month, on the [day] chi-szu, an imperial edict said, "[According to] the teaching established by ancient [rulers], in the districts and hamlets, [honor was given to people] in accordance with their age, [and] in the court, [honor was given] in accordance with noble rank. Nothing is as good as virtue for supporting society and guiding the people. Hence the way of the ancients was to give precedence to those who were aged and to treat carefully those who were advanced in years in the districts and hamlets. ⁹

"When now the world's filial and obedient sons and grandsons wish to put forth all their efforts in serving their parents and grandparents, [from] outside [their households] they are harassed by [the requirements for] the public services and within [their homes] they lack [the necessary] property and wealth---for these reasons their filial intentions are enfeebled. We pity them greatly. For those of the [common] people who are in their ninetieth year and over, there is already a law that they should receive gruel. ¹⁰ For them, their sons or grandsons should be exempted [from public service] in order that [these sons and grandsons] may be free to lead their wives and concubines in person, in order to perform their service in caring for and serving [their parents or grandparents]."

In the fifth month, an imperial edict said, "The [Yellow] River and the sea fertilize ten thousand li[of land].' ¹¹ Let it be ordered that the sacrificial offices should renew the sacrifices to the mountains and streams and for the annual services let additions be made to the rites with minute care." ¹²

An amnesty was granted to the wives and children of those [persons] from Wu, Ch'u, and [the others of] the Seven States who had been condemned and [had been made to serve at] the government offices. ¹³

In the autumn, the seventh month, an imperial edict said, "The guards for transport and post [service] and for escorting away and bringing [people] to [the capital number] twenty thousand men. Let them be reduced by ten thousand men, ¹⁴ and let the [imperial] pastures and their horses be abolished, in order that [these regions] may be used to grant to the poor people. ¹⁵

The establishment of a Ming-t'ang was discussed, and a messenger was sent with a comfortable chariot with its wheels [wrapped in] rushes and with packages of silk to which were added [jade] circlets, to invite his excellency Shen [P'ei] of Lu [to come to court]. ¹⁶

In the second year, in the winter, the tenth month, the Grandee Secretary, Chao Wan, was sentenced for begging [the throne] that it should be forbidden to memorialize [government] matters to the Grand Empress Dowager. Both he and the Chief of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, Wang Tsang, were imprisoned and committed suicide. The Lieutenant Chancellor, [Tou] Ying, and the Grand Commandant, [T'ien] Fen, were dismissed. ¹⁷

In the spring, the second month, on the [day] ping-hsü, the first day of the month, there was an ¹⁸ eclipse of the sun. ¹⁹ In the summer, the fourth month, on the [day] mou-shen, there was [a star] ²⁰which was as if the sun appeared at night.

[The Emperor] first established the Mou Tomb and the town of [Mou-ling]. ²¹

In the third year, in the spring, the water of the [Yellow] River overflowed in P'ing-Yüan [Commandery] and there was a great famine, [so that] people ate each other.

[The Emperor] granted to those who moved to Mou-ling two hundred thousand cash to each household and two hundred mou of land, and for the first time the Pien Gate Bridge was built.

In the autumn, the seventh month, there was a comet in the north-west. ²² The King of Chi-ch'uan, [Liu] Ming, was sentenced for killing his Grand Tutor and Palace Tutor. He was dismissed and exiled to Fang-ling. ²³

[The state of] Min-Yüeh besieged Tung-ou; [the king of] Tung-ou sent information that he was in straits. [The Emperor] sent Palace Grandee Chuang Tsu with a credential [to order] the mobilization of troops from K'uai-chi [Commandery]. He went by sea and rescued [the King of Tung-ou]. Before [Chuang Tsu] arrived, [the forces] of Min-Yüeh fled, [so the imperial] troops returned. ²⁴ In the ninth month, on the [day] ping-tzu, the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun.

In the fourth year, in the summer, there was a wind as red as blood. In the sixth month, there was a drought. In the authumn, the ninth month, a comet appeared in the northeast. ²⁵

In the fifth year, in the spring, [the Emperor] abolished the three-shu cash and put in circulaton the half-tael cash. ²⁶

[Five] Erudits for the Five Classics were established. ²⁷

In the summer, the fourth month, the Baronetess of P'ing-Yüan, [Tsang Erh], died. In the fifth month, there was a great [plague of] locusts. In the autumn, the eighth month, the King of Kuang-ch'uan, [Liu] Yüeh, and the King of Ch'ing-ho, [Liu Fang]-sheng, both died.

In the sixth year, in the spring, the second month, on [the day] yi-wei, there was a visitation [of fire] in the Temple of [Emperor] Kao [in the commandery of] Liao-tung. ²⁸ In the summer, the fourth month, on [the day] jen-tzu, there was a fire in the side-halls at the [funerary] park of [Emperor] Kao, ²⁹ and Emperor [Wu wore] plain [mourning] garments to the fifth day. In the fifth month, on [the day] ting-hai, the Grand Empress Dowager [née Tou] died. In the autumn, the eighth month, a comet appeared in the eastern quarter; it was long, extending through the entire sky. ³⁰

The King of Min-Yüeh, [Tsou] Ying, attacked Nan-Yüeh. [The Emperor] sent the [Chief] Grand Messenger, Wang Huia, with troops, to go out of Yü-chang [Commandery] and the Grand Chief of Agriculture, ³¹ Han An-kuo, to go out of K'uai-chi [Commandery] to attack him. Before they arrived, the people of [Min]-Yüeh killed [Tsou] Ying and surrendered, [so] the troops returned [home].

In the [period] Yüan-kuang, ³² the first year, in the winter, the eleventh month, for the first time [the Emperor] ordered that the commanderies and kingdoms should each recommend one Filially Pious and one Incorrupt [person to the Imperial court]. ³³

The Commandant of the Palace Guard [at Wei-yang Palace], Li Kuang(3), was made the General of Resolute Cavalry and [sent to] encamp in Yün-chung [Commandery]; the Commandant of the Palace Guard [at Ch'ang-lo Palace] ³⁴ , Ch'eng Pu-shih, was made General of Chariots and Cavalry and [sent to] encamp in Yen-men [Commandery]. In the sixth month [after, these troops] were dismissed.

In the summer, the fourth month, an amnesty [was granted to] the empire and one step in noble rank was granted to the eldest sons of the common people. There were restored [to registration among members of the imperial house] those [members of] the imperial house [who belonged to] the Seven States and had previously been cut off from membership. ³⁵

In the fifth month, [the Emperor] issued an imperial edict to the Capable and Good which said, "We have heard that when, formerly in [the time of] T'ang [Yao] and Yü [Shun, the rulers merely] portrayed [the mutilating punishments by] likenesses [of those punishments in the criminals' clothing], ³⁶ the people did not commit [crime], and, wherever the sun and moon shone, `none failed to be led by and to follow them.' ³⁷ [Kings] Ch'eng and K'ang of the Chou [dynasty] established [mutilating] punishments but did not employ them and the virtue [of these Kings] reached [even] to birds and beasts. ³⁸ `Their culture extended to the four seas; from beyond the sea, the Su-shen, the Po-fa, the Ch'ü-sou, and the Ti-ch'iang came to submit [to them].' ³⁹ The stars and zodiacal constellations did not [produce] comets and the sun and moon were not eclipsed; the mountains and hills did not crumble and the streams and the valleys were not stopped up [by unnatural occurrences]. Unicorns and phoenixes were in their suburbs and marshes; the [Yellow] and Lo Rivers produced their diagram and book [respectively]. ⁴⁰ Ah! What [did they] do that [they] attained to this [perfection]?

"Now that We have secured [the opportunity to] uphold the [imperial] ancestral temples, [We have] risen early in order to seek [for the springs of their perfection] and have gone to bed late in order to think about them. It is like fording a deep river without knowing where to cross it. How fine, how extraordinary [was their virtue]! What can [We] do that [We] may glorify the vast achievements and beautiful virtue of the late emperors? [How can We] be in the same class with Yao and Shun of early [times] and be the equals of the three [great] kings of later [times]? [Owing to] Our lack of intelligence, [We] have been unable to make Our virtue [felt at] great distances---this is what you, sirs and grandees, have seen and heard.

"You, Capable and Good [persons], know clearly the essence of state affairs under ancient and modern [true] kings; when you have received this document and have examined these interrogations, do you all answer them in writing and set [your replies] down on the tablets. We Ourselves will read them." Thereupon Tung Chung-shu, Kung-sun Hung(1), and others distinguished themselves. ⁴¹

In the autumn, the seventh month, on [the day] kuei-wei, there was an eclipse of the sun.

In the second year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Yung [with a visit, where] he sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High].

In the spring, an imperial edict made request of the ministers as follows: "We have fitted out a daughter [of the imperial house] as a mate to the Shan-Yü, and have shown to him the utmost generosity in presents of gold, silk, and ornamental embroidery. The Shan-Yü [has however] treated [Our] commands with increasing disrespect---he has invaded and pillaged [Our borders] without cease. The border regions have suffered [great] injury from [him]. We greatly pity these [people at the borders]. If now [We] wish to raise troops and attack him, how would that be?" The Grand Messenger, Wang Hui(a), gave advice that it would be proper to attack [the Huns]. ⁴²

In the summer, the sixth month, the Grandee Secretary, Han An-kuo, was made General of the Protecting Army, the Commandant of the Palace Guard, Li Kuang3, was made General of Resolute Cavalry, the Grand Coachman, Kung-sun Ho, was made General of Light Chariots, the Grand Messenger, Wang Huia, was made General in Charge of Encampments, and the Grand Palace Grandee, Li Hsi, was made General of Skilled Soldiers. [Altogether] they led a troop of three hundred thousand [soldiers] and encamped in a ravine at Ma-yi. They lured the Shan-Yü to come, intending to attack him by surprise. When the Shan-Yü entered the Barrier, he became aware of [the ambush] and fled [out of the Barrier]. In the sixth month [after], the army was disbanded. General Wang Hui(a) was sentenced for having been the first to plan [this campaign but] not having advanced [at the right moment]. He was sent to prison and died.

In the autumn, the ninth month, [the Emperor] ordered that the common people should be [allowed to assemble] for universal drinking during five days.

In the third year, in the spring, the [Yellow] River shifted [its course] and went southeastwards from Tun-ch'iu, [but still] flowed into the P'o Sea. ⁴³

In the summer, the fifth month, there were enfeoffed as marquises [by succession ⁴⁴ ] five persons who were descendants of the distinguished officials of the Eminent Founder, [Emperor Kao].

The Yellow River broke its dikes at P'u-yang and flooded sixteen commanderies. ⁴⁵ [The Emperor] mobilized a hundred thousand soldiers to mend the breach in the dikes of the [Yellow] River.

The Lung-Yüan Residence was built. ⁴⁶

In the fourth year, in the winter, the Marquis of Wei-ch'i, Tou Ying, who had committed a crime, was publicly executed ⁴⁷ and in the spring, the third month, on [the day] yi-mao, the Lieutenant Chancellor, [T'ien] Fen, died.

In the summer, the fourth month, there was a fall of frost which killed plants. ⁴⁸ In the fifth month, there was an earthquake and an amnesty was granted to the empire.

In the fifth year, in the spring, the first month, the King of Ho-chien, [Liu] Tê(5a), died.

In the summer, [men] from Pa and Shu [Commanderies] were mobilized to repair the roads to the southern barbarians ⁴⁹ and ten thousand soldiers were also mobilized to strengthen the narrow and difficult [places] in Yen-men [Commandery].

In the autumn, the seventh month, a great wind pulled up trees and, on [the day] yi-szu, the Empress née Ch'en was dismissed. The heads of those who were arrested on account of witchcraft and black magic were all impaled in the market-place. ⁵⁰ In the eighth month, there [was a plague of] grubs. ⁵¹

[The Emperor] summoned those of the officials and common people who understood the needs of that age and were well-versed in the methods of the ancient Sages; the prefectures where they sojourned [on the road] were to provide ⁵² their food, and it was ordered that they should [come to the capital] along with the [officers who yearly brought to the imperial court the commandery] accounts.

In the sixth year, in the winter, for the first time commercial conveyances [were required to pay] poll-taxes (suan). ⁵³ In the spring the canal for water transport was dug, connecting with the Wei [River]. ⁵⁴

The Huns entered Shang-ku [Commandery] and killed and kidnapped officials and common people. [The Emperor] sent the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Wei Ch'ing, out of Shang-ku [Commandery], the Cavalry General, Kung-sun Ao, out of Tai [Commandery], the General of Light Chariots, Kung-sun Ho, out of Yün-chung [Commandery], and the General of Resolute Cavalry, Li Kuang3, out of Yen-men [Commandery]. ⁵⁵ [General Wei] Ch'ing reached Lung-ch'eng and took seven hundred heads and prisoners. ⁵⁶

[Generals Li] Kuang and [Kung-sun] Ao lost their armies, but returned. An imperial edict said, "The barbarians are devoid of the sense of proper relationships [between suzerain and vassal], which [has been the case] for a long time down to the present. Recently the Huns have several times pillaged the border regions, hence [We] have sent [against them] generals leading armies. Anciently, [rulers] trained their soldiers and arranged their cohorts, [but now] because [the generals] encountered the caitiff [Huns] just when these were invading [the borders, and because the Chinese] generals and their officers had just newly met, [so that] superiors and their subordinates had not yet become adjusted [to each other], the General in Tai Commandery, [Kung-sun] Ao, and the General in Yen-men Commandery, [Li] Kuang, showed themselves unworthy of their charges. Their Colonels moreover turned their backs upon their duty and acted senselessly in deserting the army and fleeing, [so that] the lower officers violated the prohibitions.

"[In accordance with] the laws governing the use of troops, failure in being diligent or in instructing [the troops] is the fault of a general or a leader; [whereas] when instructions and orders have been proclaimed clearly, not to be able to use all his power [in obeying those instructions and orders] is the crime of an officer or a soldier. [These] generals have already been given into the charge of the Commandant of Justice, who is to apply the law and execute them. But [if We] also apply this law to the soldiers, [so that] both [generals and troops] are punished---this would not be [in accordance with] the will of a benevolent or a sage person. We pity the crowd of common [soldiers], when they have sunk into [this] disastrous [situation], and wish to wipe away their disgrace ⁵⁷ , change their conduct, and once more act respectfully according to their rightful duty, ⁵⁸ [but who] have no way to do so. Let the soldiers of the armies from Yen-men and Tai Commanderies who did not obey the law be pardoned."

In the summer, there was a great drought and [a plague of] locusts. ⁵⁹ In the sixth month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Yung [with a visit].

In the autumn, the Huns plundered at the borders. [The Emperor] sent General Han An-kuo to encamp in Yü-yang [Commandery].

In [the period] Yüan-so, ⁶⁰ the first year, in the winter, the eleventh month, an imperial edict said, "The functions of ministers and grandees are to unite ways of government, to unify general principles and specific cases [in the administration of law and justice], ⁶¹ to spread [the imperial] culture and influence, and to beautify [the people's] usages and customs. Verily, [taking] benevolence as the root and correct social relationships as the leading principle, recompensing the virtuous and giving office to capable [persons], encouraging the good and punishing the violent, were the means whereby the Five Lords and the Three Kings became glorious.

"We have risen early and retired late [in order] felicitously to give the gentlemen of the world [the opportunity of] attaining this path [of governmental power]. Hence [We] have cared for the aged and venerable and exempted the filially pious and those who are respectful [to their elders]; We have selected [for official positions] eminent and distinguished [persons] to expound literary and scholarly [matters; We have] examined into and taken part in governmental affairs, seeking to make the minds of the common people progress; and [We] have instructed in grave [terms] those who have charge of [state] affairs to elevate the Incorrupt and promote the Filially Pious, hoping that [such actions] might become a custom [and thereby] transmit and glorify [Our] sage [imperial] succession.

"Verily, `Even in a town of ten houses there must be [someone as] conscientious and [as] sincere [as myself]' and `When walking in a party of three, there [must] be [one] there [who can be] my teacher.' ⁶² [But] today sometimes even in a whole commandery not one person is recommended [for imperial attention]. This [situation arises because Our] transforming influence does not penetrate [the bureaucracy] to the bottom, so that superior men who have piled up their [meritorious] actions are blocked from being reported to the emperor. [The officials ranking at] two thousand piculs [down to] the offices and chiefs [of prefectures] rule and control human relationships. [If they do not search out and promote capable persons], wherewith will they be able to assist Us in illuminating that which is hidden and dark, in exhorting the great multitude, in encouraging the crowd of commoners, and in making [people] honor the instructions [of the elders in] the districts and villages?

"Moreover it was the way of the ancients that `he who promotes the capable will receive high rewards' ⁶³ and he who keeps the capable in obscurity will receive public execution. Let it be that you, together with [the officials ranking at] fully two thousand piculs, the officials [in charge of] the rites, and the Erudits, should discuss [what should be] the punishment for not promoting [capable persons]."

The high officials memorialized [the results of their] discussions as follows: "Anciently, when the nobles presented gentlemen [to the sovereign], if once [the persons who were recommended proved] suitable, [the person who presented them] was said to have had a love of virtue; if a second [time the persons who were recommended proved] suitable, [the person who presented them] was said to esteem the capable; if the third [time the persons who were recommended proved] suitable, [the person who presented them] was said to have [performed] a distinguished deed, and there were given to him [some of] the nine distinctions. ⁶⁴ The first time [a noble] did not present a gentleman to the sovereign, he was degraded in his [noble] rank; the second time, his territory was diminished; and ⁶⁵ the third time, he was completely deprived of [noble] rank and territory.

"Verily `he who leagues himself with his inferiors and deceives his superiors should die, and he who attaches himself to his superior and deceives his inferiors should be punished; he who takes part in a country's government but is of no benefit to the common people should be' expelled, `he who occupies the highest position and is unable to advance those who are capable should be' made to resign---`this [way of government] is the means of encouraging the good and abasing the evil.' ⁶⁶

"Now the imperial edict glorifies the sage succession of the deceased emperors and orders [the officials ranking at] two thousand piculs to promote filially pious and incorrupt [persons], whereby to influence the great multitude, to alter their customs and change their usages. Those who do not promote filially pious [persons, thus] not upholding [that] edict, should be sentenced for being disrespectful; those who do not seek for incorrupt persons are not able to perform their duties and should be dismissed." The memorial was approved.

In the twelfth month, the King of Chiang-tu, [Liu] Fei(1), died. In the spring, the third month, on the [day] chia-tzu, the Empress née Wei was established [as Empress].

An imperial edict said, "We have heard that if Heaven and Earth do not mutate, they cannot accomplish their bestowing and transforming [influence], and if the yin and yang do not mutate, things will not be abundant and flourishing. The Book of Changes says, `They carried through their [necessary] mutations, [thereby] causing people not to be wearied.' ⁶⁷ The ode says, `[After] nine mutations, the series is renewed, [hence] he knows how to select among saying.' ⁶⁸ We esteem T'ang [Yao] and Yü [Shun] and rejoice at the Yin and Chou [dynasties; We] hold to the old, mirroring the new by it.

"Let an amnesty [be granted to] the empire in order that the common people may be given [the opportunity to make] a new beginning. [As to] those [who are charged with] having absconded, owing [debts to the government], together with those who have lawsuits [dating] from before the third year in the latter [part of the reign of Emperor] Hsiao-ching, ⁶⁹ [let] it be ordered that all [such cases] be not admitted to a hearing at law."

In the autumn, the Huns entered Liao-hsi [Commandery] and killed its Grand Administrator. They entered Yü-yang and Yen-men [Commanderies] and defeated a Chief Commandant, ⁷⁰ killing or kidnapping more than three thousand persons. [The Emperor] sent General Wei Ch'ing out of Yen-men [Commandery] and General Li Hsi out of Tai [Commandery]. They took several thousand heads and captives.

[Among] the eastern barbarians, the Prince of the Wei-[mo], Nan-lü, and others, [numbering] two hundred and eighty thousand persons, surrendered, and [his territory] was made into Ts'and-hai Commandery. ⁷¹

The King of Lu, [Liu] Yü(2b), and the King of Ch'ang-sha, [Liu] Fa, both died.

In the second year, in the winter, [the Emperor] granted to the King of Huai-nan, [Liu An], and the King of Tzu-ch'uan, [Liu Chien], stools and canes [with permission] not to come to court. ⁷²

In the spring, the first month, an imperial edict said, "The King of Liang, [Liu Hsiang(1b)], and the King of Ch'eng-yang, [Liu Yen(5a)], love dearly those who are born of their own [fathers]. They wish to divide their estates with their younger brothers. Let [their wishes] be granted. When vassal kings beg [to be permitted] to give [territory from their] estates to their sons or younger brothers, We will Ourselves examine [the proposed division] and see to it that there are proper rankings and positions." Thereupon the tributary kingdoms were first divided and consequently sons and younger brothers [of vassal kings] were all made marquises. ⁷³

The Huns entered Shang-ku and Yü-yang [Commanderies], killing and kidnapping more than a thousand officials and common people. [The Emperor] sent Generals Wei Ch'ing and Li Hsi out of Yün-chung [Commandery]. They went to Kao-ch'üeh and then west to Fu-li, ⁷⁴ taking several thousand heads and prisoners. [Wei Ch'ing] seized the territory south of the [Yellow] River, so that the commanderies of So-fang and Wu-Yüan were established. ⁷⁵In the third month, on [the day] yi-hai, the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun. In the summer, a hundred thousand common people were levied to move into So-fang [Commandery]. Moreover braves and stalwarts from the commanderies and kingdoms, together with those whose property was three million [cash] or over were moved to Mou-ling. ⁷⁶

In the autumn, the King of Yen, [Liu] Ting-kuo, who had committed crimes, killed himself. ⁷⁷

In the third year, in the spring, the commandery of Ts'ang-hai was abolished.

In the third month, an imperial edict said, "Verily punishments are the means of preventing evils; to receive those who exalt culture ⁷⁸ is the means whereby love [for the people] is manifested. Because of the people's failure to accord with [the correct] teaching and culture, We felicitate and give [Our] gentlemen and Grandees [the opportunity of] renewing this undertaking daily. ⁷⁹ Be attentive and be not negligent. Let an amnesty [be grantedto] the empire."

In the summer, the Huns entered Tai [Commandery] and killed its Grand Administrator. They entered Yen-men [Commandery] and killed and kidnapped more than a thousand people. ⁸⁰

In the sixth month, on [the day] keng-wu, the Empress Dowager [née Wang] died.

In the autumn, the southwestern barbarians were dismissed [from being vassals of the empire]. ⁸¹ The city wall to the city of So-fang was built and [the Emperor] ordered that the common people should be [allowed to assemble] for universal drinking during five days.

In the fourth year, in the winter, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Kan-ch'üan [Palace with a visit]. In the summer the Huns entered Tai, Ting-hsiang, and Shang Commanderies, killing and kidnapping several thousand persons.

In the fifth year, in the spring, there was a great drought. ⁸² The General-in-chief, ⁸³ Wei Ch'ing, leading six generals and more than a hundred thousand troops, went out of Kao-ch'üeh in So-fang [Commandery], and took fifteen thousand heads and captives.

In the summer, the sixth month, an imperial edict said, ⁸⁴ "Verily, [We] have heard that one should lead the people by the rules of proper conduct and influence them by music. [But] now the rules of proper conduct have fallen into ruin and [the standards of proper] music have crumbled. We are very much saddened [thereby]. Hence [We] have diligently sought to obtain the gentlemen who are renowned in [the various] quarters of the empire, and have had them all recommended to the various courts.

"Let it be ordered that the officials for the rites should encourage study, discourse on rights and duties, broaden scholarship, ⁸⁵ present [to the court] lost [documents], and promote the rules of proper conduct, in order that they may lead the world [to do likewise]. Let the Grand Master of Ceremonies discuss the giving of Disciples to the Erudits, for the promoting of cultural influence in the districts and villages, in order to encourage those who are capable and able."

The Lieutenant Chancellor, [Kung-sun] Hung(1), begged [the throne] that for the Erudits there should be established a definite number of Disciples. Scholars [thereupon] became increasingly greater [in number]. ⁸⁶

In the autumn, the Huns entered Tai [Commandery] and killed its Chief Commandant.

In the sixth year, in the spring, the second month, the General-in-chief, Wei Ch'ing, leading six generals with more than a hundred thousand horsemen, went out of Ting-hsiang [Commandery]. ⁸⁷ They cut off more than three thousand heads, returned, and rested their soldiers and horses in Ting-hsiang, Yün-chung, and Yen-men [Commanderies]. An amnesty [was granted to] the empire.

In the summer, the fourth month, Wei Ch'ing again led [out] six generals, crossed the [Gobi] desert, [and achieved] a great victory and many captures [of heads or captives]. The army of the General of the Van, Chao Hsin4, was defeated and surrendered to the Huns. The General of the Right, Su Chien, lost his army, escaped by himself alone, and returned. He ransomed [his life] and became a commoner. ⁸⁸

In the sixth month, an imperial edict said, "We have heard that the Five Lords did not [each] repeat the same rites [as those used by the preceding Lord] and that the three dynasties were different in their laws; ⁸⁹ the ways by which they proceeded were different, yet in establishing virtue they were one and the same. Indeed when Confucius replied to Duke Ting [that good government] consisted in attracting the distant, ⁹⁰ to Duke Ai that it consisted in selecting one's officials [correctly], ⁹¹ and to Duke Ching [of Ch'i] that it consisted in economical use [of the state's wealth, ⁹² it was] not [that their] aims were different, [but that] their necessities [required] different means.

"Now the Middle Kingdom ⁹³ has one government, but its northern borders are not yet at peace. We very much lament it. Recently, when the General-in-chief [Wei Ch'ing] was traveling about So-fang [Commandery], he attacked the Huns, cut off heads and captured [prisoners to] the number of eighteen thousand, and those who had been disqualified [from receiving office], ⁹⁴ together with those who had committed crimes, all received liberal rewards by being pardoned or by having their punishment lessened.

"Now that the General-in-chief, [Wei Ch'ing], has frequently repeated his victories and captures, having cut off heads and taken [prisoners to] the number of nineteen thousand, those who have received [noble] ranks or rewards and wish to transfer [them to others] or sell [them] have no means of transferring or bestowing [their titles upon others]. ⁹⁵ Let [this matter] be discussed and an ordinance be made." The high officials memorialized [the Emperor] begging the establishment of an office for rewarding military merits, and thereby granting favors to military gentlemen.

In [the period] Yüan-shou, ⁹⁶ the first year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] travelled and favored Yung [by a visit, where he] sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High] and a white unicorn was captured. The "White Unicorn" song was composed. ⁹⁷

In the eleventh month the King of Huai-nan, [Liu] An, and the King of Heng(2b)-shan, [Liu]Tz'u(4a), who had plotted rebellion, were executed. Several ten-thousands of their associates died with them. ⁹⁸ In the twelfth month there was a great fall of snow and [many ⁹⁹ ] common people froze to death.

In the summer, the fourth month, an amnesty was granted to the empire and on the [day] ting-mao, [Liu Chü] was established as Imperial Heir-apparent. ¹⁰⁰ There were granted to [officials ranking at] fully two thousand piculs, the noble rank of Senior Chief of the Multitude, ¹⁰¹ and those of the common people who would be the successors of their fathers, one step [in noble rank].

An imperial edict said, "We have heard that Kao-yao, in reply to Yü, said, `[Good government lies] in knowing men. If [the ruler] knows men, he is wise. Even Lord [Yao] found this [knowledge] difficult.' ¹⁰² Verily the prince is the heart and the common people are like his members or body. When the members or body are injured, then the heart is pained and distressed.

"Recently [the kings of] Huai-nan and Heng-shan have cultivated literature and scholarship, [in so doing] diffusing goods and presents; both states are contiguous in territory. [Their rulers] were versed in ¹⁰³ perverse teachings, hence they have given rise to rebellions and assassinations. This [fact] is due to Our lack of virtue. The ode says, `My sorrowing heart is deeply pained, when I think of the oppression in the country.' ¹⁰⁴ [We] have already [granted an] amnesty to the empire, and have washed away and removed [these evils from Our people, thus] giving them [the opportunity of] beginning anew.

"We felicitate the Filially Pious, the Respectful of their Elders, and the [Diligent] Cultivators of the Soil, and [We] are sorrowed at the aged and those of eighty or over, orphans, widows, widowers, and childless [persons]. Some are lacking in clothes or food; [We] greatly pity and are solicitous for them. Let Internuncios be sent to travel about the empire, express [Our] regards, ask [them what sufferings they have], bring [Our] grants [to them], and say,

" `The Emperor has sent [me], an Internuncio, to make grants: to each person [who is] a Filially Pious among the Thrice Venerable of the prefectures, five pieces of plain silk; to each person who is a Respectful to his Elders among the Thrice Venerable of districts and to each [Diligent] Cultivator of the Soil, three pieces of plain silk; to each of those who are in their ninetieth [year] or over, together with each widower, widow, orphan, and childless [person], two pieces of plain silk and three catties of silk floss; to each person in his eightieth [year] or over, three piculs of grain.' If anyone has suffered injustice and has [thereby] lost his position, the [imperial] messenger shall report it. In the prefectures and districts, [the messenger] shall visit and make grants, and not gather and assemble [the people before making grants]." ¹⁰⁵

In the fifth month, on the [day] yi-szu, the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun. The Huns entered Shang-ku [Commandery] and killed several hundred persons.

In the second year, in the winter, the tenth month, the Emperor traveled and favored Yung [by a visit, where he] sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High].

In the spring, the third month, on the [day] mou-yin, the Lieutenant Chancellor, [Kung-sun] Hung(1), died.

[The Emperor] sent the General of Agile Cavalry, Ho Ch'ü-ping, out of Lung-hsi [Commandery]. He reached Kao-lan and cut off more than eight thousand heads.

In the summer, a horse was born in the midst of the Yü-wu River and the [kingdom of] Nan-Yüeh presented [to the Emperor] a trained elephant and a bird that could talk. ¹⁰⁶

Generals [Ho] Ch'ü-ping and Kung-sun Ao went out of Po-ti [Commandery for] more than two thousand li, went past Chü-yen, and cut off heads [and captured] prisoners [to the number of] more than thirty thousand. The Huns entered Yen-men [Commandery] and killed and kidnapped several hundred persons. [The Emperor] sent the Commandant of the Palace Guard, Chang Ch'ien, and the Chief of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, Li Kuang3, both out of Yu-po-p'ing [Commandery. Li] Kuang(3) killed more than three thousand Huns, [but] lost his army of four thousand men completely, escaping alone by himself, and returned. ¹⁰⁷ Kung-sun Ao and Chang Ch'ien moreover both [arrived at their separate rendevous] after the fixed time and should have been beheaded. [They were allowed to] ransom [themselves and] become commoners.

The King of Chiang-tu, [Liu] Chien(4c), who had committed crimes, killed himself. ¹⁰⁸ The King of Chiao-tung, [Liu] Chi(4), died.

In the autumn, the Hun King of Kun-hsieh killed the King of Hsiu-t'u, united and led [the dead King's] troop [with his own], altogether more than forty thousand persons, came, and surrendered. ¹⁰⁹ Five [Chief Commandants of] Dependent States were established to give habitations to these [surrendered persons]. ¹¹⁰ Out of their territory there were [later] made the commanderies of Wu-wei and Chiu-ch'üan.

In the third year, in the spring, there was a comet in the eastern quarter [of the sky]. ¹¹¹ In the summer, the fifth month, an amnesty [was granted to] the empire and [the Emperor] established [Liu] Ch'ing(4a), the younger son of King K'ang of Chiao-tung, [Liu Chi(4)], as King of Liu-an, ¹¹² and enfeoffed [Hsiao] Ch'ing, a great-grandson of the former Chancellor of State, Hsiao Ho, as a marquis.In the autumn, the Huns entered Yu-po-p'ing and Ting-hsiang [Commanderies], killing and kidnapping more than a thousand persons. [The Emperor] sent Internuncios to exhort those commanderies which suffered from floods to plant winter wheat. ¹¹³ They recommended [to the Emperor] those officials and common people who were able to lend to the poor people, and their names were reported. ¹¹⁴ The garrison soldiers [at the frontier of] Lung-hsi, Po-ti, and Shang Commanderies were reduced by half. ¹¹⁵ Officials who were reprobated were sent to dig the K'ung-ming Pond. ¹¹⁶

In the fourth year, in the winter, the high officials said that altogether 725,000 poor people from east of the [Han-ku] Pass had been moved to Lung-hsi [Commandery], Po-ti [Commandery], Hsi-ho [Commandery], Shang Commandery, and K'uai-chi [Commandery], ¹¹⁷ and if the imperial government were to clothe and feed them and assist them in their occupations, the [imperial] revenues would be inadequate [for such expenditures, hence] they begged [the throne] to collect silver and tin and make [of them] white-metal and also leathern money in order to have enough [revenue] for these expenses. ¹¹⁸ For the first time poll-taxes (suan) were levied upon [merchants' and artisans'] property [in terms of] cash. ¹¹⁹

In the spring, there was a comet in the northeast; in the summer a long comet appeared in the northwest. ¹²⁰The General-in-chief, Wei Ch'ing, leading four generals, ¹²¹ went out of Ting-hsiang [Commandery] and General [Ho] Ch'ü-ping went out of Tai [Commandery]. Each led fifty thousand cavalry; several hundred thousands of foot-soldiers followed after these armies. [Wei] Ch'ing reached [a place] north of the [Gobi] Desert, surrounded the Shan-Yü, [but did not capture him], and cut off nineteen thousand heads. He reached the T'ienyen Mountains and returned. [Ho] Ch'ü-ping fought a battle with the [Hun] Worthy King of the East and cut off heads and captured prisoners [to the number of] more than seventy thousand. He [performed the sacrifice] feng¹²² [on] Lang-chü-hsü Mountain and then returned. In the two armies several ten-thousands of men died. ¹²³ The General of the Van, [Li] Kuang(3), and the General of the Right, ¹²⁴ [Chao] Yi-chi, were both late at their rendezvous; [Li] Kuang(3) committed suicide; [Chao] Yi-chi ransomed himself from death.

In the fifth year, in the spring, the third month, on the [day] chia-wu, the Lieutenant Chancellor, Li Ts'ai, who had committed a crime, killed himself. ¹²⁵

In the empire, horses were scarce, [and so the price of] stallions was standardized at 200,000 [cash] apiece. ¹²⁶ The half-tael cash were abolished and the five-shu cash were put in circulation. Cunning and troublesome officials and common people of the empire were transported to the boundaries. ¹²⁷

In the sixth year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] made grants: to the Lieutenant Chancellor, [Chuang Ch'ing-ti], and those [ranking] lower [than he], down to the officials [ranking at] two thousand piculs, a hundred [catties of] gold; ¹²⁸ to those [ranking at] a thousand piculs and those [ranking] lower, down to [the retainers] who follow the [official] ¹²⁹ chariots, silk; to the [subject] barbarians, brocade; to each [person] proportionately [to his rank and position].

It rained rain and there was no ice. ¹³⁰

In the summer, the fourth month, on the [day] yi-szu, in the [imperial ancestral] temple, there were set up [as kings] the Imperial Sons, [Liu] Hung(1) as King of Ch'i, [Liu] Tan(4a) as King of Yen, and [Liu] Hsü(a) as King of Kuang-ling. For the first time [the Emperor] issued admonitory decrees. ¹³¹

In the sixth month, an imperial edict said, "Recently [some] high officials [have said that] because the currency is light and there is much illegal [coinage], agriculture has been injured and unimportant [activities, such as manufacturing and merchandizing], are numerous. ¹³² [We] have also [tried to] close the road [whereby people have been able] to take concurrently [the advantages of more than one class]. [We] have hence changed the currency in order to restrain [such practices. ¹³³ We] have examined into the various past [i.e. Han] and ancient [i.e. Chou] regulations that are appropriate for the present time. Since the abolition [of these light cash], there has been a full year ¹³⁴ and [some] months, yet the common people in the mountains and marshes have not yet taken cognizance [of Our order].

"Verily, when [the principles of] benevolence are carried out [by the ruler, the people] will follow goodness; when [the principles of] righteousness are established, then [the people's] customs will be changed. Is it, probably, that those [high officials] who have received [and are in charge of carrying out Our] decree have not been perways by which the people are made content are [still] not all of the same sort, so that violent and outrageous ¹³⁵ [lower] officials have taken advantage of their power to oppress and squeeze the multitude of people? How is it that their vexations are so numerous?

"Now [We] send the Erudit [Ch'u] Ta and others, six persons [in all], to tour about and inspect the empire in separate [groups], to visit and ask about widowers, widows, destitute, sick, and those who have no means of securing an occupation, to lend and give [aid] to them, ¹³⁶ to choose ¹³⁷ Thrice Venerable, Filially Pious, and Respectful to their Elders to be the teachers of the people, and to recommend superior men of outstanding conduct and invite them to come to the place where [We] are. ¹³⁸ We honor capable persons and are happy to know them personally in order to broaden and extend their influence [by giving them official positions]. If [any] gentlemen should be [given] special summons, [the issuing of such summons] will be the duty of [Our] messengers. [Let them] carefully seek for [capable people] who live in retirement and have no [official] positions, together with those who have lost their positions through injustice. As to tricky and cunning [officials] who do injury or those [in whose territory] there are waste and uncultivated [fields] or those who [exercise] a tyrannical administration, let them be pointed out and [let the facts] be memorialized [to the court]. If in the commanderies or kingdoms there is anything that is for the advantage [of the people, let it] be reported to the Lieutenant Chancellor [or Grandee] Secretary in order that they may inform [Us of it]."

In the autumn, the ninth month, the Commander-in-chief and General of Agile Cavalry, [Ho] Ch'ü-ping, died.

In [the period] Yüan-ting, ¹³⁹ the first year, in the summer, the fifth month, an amnesty [was granted] to the empire and [there was granted permission for]

universal drinking during five days. A three legged cauldron was obtained at the Fen River. ¹⁴⁰

The King of Chi-tung, [Liu] P'eng-li, who had committed crimes, was dismissed and exiled to Shang-yung. ¹⁴¹

In the second year, in the winter, the eleventh month, the Grandee Secretary, Chang T'ang, who had committed a crime, killed himself, and in the twelfth month, the Lieutenant Chanceller, [Chuang] Ch'ing-ti, was sent to prison and died. ¹⁴²In the spring, the Po-liang Terrace was built.

In the third month, there was a great fall of snow. ¹⁴³ In the summer, there was high water, and east of [Han-ku] Pass, those who died of starvation were counted by the thousands. ¹⁴⁴

In the autumn, the ninth month, an imperial edict said, "A benevolent [person] does not treat [people who come from] distant places differently [from the way he treats his neighbors]; a righteous [person] does not shun what is difficult. At present, since in the capital [districts] there has not been a prosperous harvest, [We] have shared with the common people the abundance of [Our] mountains, forests, ponds, and marshes.

"Now that the great floods have moved to Chiang-nan and [the distress] will become [more] urgent as the severities of winter approach, We fear that [people] will be hungry and cold and not able to survive. In Chiang-nan, the land is plowed by fire and hoed by water. ¹⁴⁵ Just now [We] have sent millet down [the Yangtze River] from Pa and Shu

[Commanderies] and had it brought to Chiang-ling. [We] send the Erudit Chung and others to tour about and inspect [the empire] in separate [groups], to inform and announce in all places to which they come that no one will be allowed to be in serious distress. Let all those officials or common people who succor or save common people or relieve their difficulties be reported [to the court] in order that [We] may be informed [about them]."

In the third year, in the winter, the Han-ku [Pass] Barrier was moved to Hsin-an, ¹⁴⁶ and the former [Han-ku] Pass [Prefecture] was made the prefecture of Hung-nung.

In the eleventh month, [the Emperor] ordered that those common people who inform about [incorrect reports concerning the value of movable] property [for purposes of taxation] would be given half of [the confiscated property]. ¹⁴⁷

In the first month, on the [day] mou-tzu, there was a fire in the Park of the Yang Tomb. In the summer, the fourth month, there was a fall of hail. ¹⁴⁸

There was a famine in more than ten of the commanderies and kingdoms east of [Han-ku] Pass, and people ate each other.

The King of Ch'ang-shan, [Liu] Shun, died. His son, [Liu] P'o(5b), was enfeoffed in succession [to his father, but] he had committed a crime, was dismissed [from his kingdom and noble rank], and was exiled to Fang-ling. ¹⁴⁹

In the fourth year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Yung [by a visit, where he] sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High]. He granted to the common people one step in rank and to the women of [every] hundred households an ox and wine. He traveled eastwards from Hsia-yang and favored Fen-yin [with a visit]. In the eleventh month, on the [day] chia-tzu, he established the Sacrificial Hall to Sovereign Earth on the Shui [Mound] at Fen-yin. ¹⁵⁰ When the rites were completed, [the Emperor] travelled and favored Jung-yang [with a visit]. He returned and went to Lo-yang.

An imperial edict said, ¹⁵¹ "[We] have sacrificed to the Earth in Chi Province; [We] have viewed and made the sacrifice from a distance to the [Yellow] and Lo Rivers; [We] have visited and inspected Yü Province, where [We] looked about for [members] of the Chou [dynastic] house, [but its direct line of descent] has been ended and [the ancestors of the line] have not been sacrificed to. [We] enquired and questioned aged people and have found an indirect descendant ¹⁵² [Chi] Chia. Let [Chi] Chia be enfeoffed as the Baronet Baron Descendant of the Chou [Dynasty], ¹⁵³ in order to uphold the [ancestral] sacrifices of the Chou [dynastic house]."

In the spring, the second month, the King of Chung-shan, [Liu] Sheng(4), died.

In the summer, the magician Luan Ta was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Lo-t'ung, with the rank of a First [Class] General. In the sixth month, a precious three-legged cauldron was obtained at the side of the Sacrificial Hall to Sovereign Earth. ¹⁵⁴ In the autumn, a horse was born in the midst of the Wu-wa River. ¹⁵⁵ The songs concerning the "Precious Three-legged Cauldron" and concerning the "Heavenly Horse" were composed. ¹⁵⁶

The sons of King Hsien of Ch'ang-shan, [Liu Shun], were set up [as kings: Liu P'ing as King of Chen-ting and Liu] Shang(1a) as King of Szu-shui. ¹⁵⁷

In the fifth year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Yung [by a visit, where he] sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High]. He thereupon crossed Lung [Mountain], climbed K'ung-t'ung [Mountain], went westwards to the Chia-lai River, ¹⁵⁸ and returned [to the capital].

In the eleventh month, the [day] hsin-szun, the first day of the month, in the morning, was the winter solstice; ¹⁵⁹ [the Emperor had previously] established the place for sacrifice to the Supreme [One] at Kan-ch'üan [Palace, and on this morning] the Son of Heaven in person made the suburban sacrifice and presented himself [to the Supreme One]. He made the morning sacrifice to the Sun and the evening sacrifice to the Moon. ¹⁶⁰

An imperial edict said, "With Our insignificant person [We] have been entrusted [with a position] above that of kings and marquises, [but Our] virtue has not yet been able to tranquillize the common people. Some of the common people [have suffered from] hunger and cold, hence [We] have toured about and have sacrificed to Sovereign Earth in order to pray for a prosperous year. At the Shui Mound in Chi Province there thereupon appeared an inscribed three-legged cauldron, [which We] secured and offered ¹⁶¹ [to the spirits] in the [imperial ancestral] temple; and from the Wu-wa River there came a horse. When We rule [the empire, We] tremble and are circumspect, ¹⁶² fearing that [we] are incapable [of performing Our] duty, and thinking of glorifying Heaven and Earth. Within [Ourself We] ponder concerning the renewing of Ourself. The Ode says,

	`Their four steeds are strong and vigorous,
	So that they may conquer those who do not submit.'

¹⁶³ "[We have] Ourselves inspected the borders and frontiers and have made sacrifices at the farthest places [that We have reached. When We] made the sacrifice at a distance, presented [Ourself] to the Supreme One, and arranged sacrifices to the heavenly bodies, on the night of [the day] hsin-mao, there were twelve shinings, like flames of light. ¹⁶⁴ The Book of Changes says, `[Be prepared on] the third day before [the day] chia [i.e., the day hsin] and the third day after [the day] chia [i.e., the day ting]'. ¹⁶⁵ We have been very much concerned that for years the harvests have not all been abundant. [We] have regulated Ourself and have fasted and purified [Ourself], ¹⁶⁶and, on the [day] ting-yu [We] gave thanks by a suburban sacrifice [for the] favors [granted by the gods]."

In the summer, the fourth month, Lü Chia(b) the Chancellor to the King of Nan-yüeh, rebelled and killed the Han [dynasty's] envoys together with his King, [Chao Hsing], and the Queen Dowager [née Chiu]. ¹⁶⁷ An amnesty was granted to the empire. On [the day] ting-ch'ou, the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun. In the autumn, toads and frogs fought together. ¹⁶⁸ [The Emperor] sent the General Who Calms the Waves, Lu Po-tê, to go out of Kuei-yang [Commandery] down the Nieh River and the General of Towered Warships, Yang P'u, to go out of Yü-chang [Commandery] down the Ch'eng River. The [former] Marquis [in the kingdom of] Yüeh, [who became the Chinese Marquis] Who Returns to His [Proper] Fealty, Yen, was made General of Vessels With Dagger-axes [and sent] to go out of Ling-ling [Commandery] down the Li River, and a certain person, [Tsu Kuang-ming], ¹⁶⁹ was made the General Who Can Descend the Torrents, [and sent] to go down [from] Ts'ang-wu [Commandery]. All led criminals. From south of the Yangtze and Huai [Rivers there were to be] warships with towers and a hundred thousand men. A [man of] Yüeh [who became] the Marquis Who Gallops to His Proper Fealty, Yi(2), [was to] lead separately criminals from Pa and Shu and to mobilize the troops of Yeh-lang [and come] down the Tsang-k'o River. All were to meet at P'an-Yü. ¹⁷⁰

In the ninth month, ¹⁷¹ those marquises were sentenced who had offered [to the Emperor], for the sacrificial [offering of] the eighth month fermented wine in the [imperial] ancestral temples, [amounts of] real gold not according to the law. [Noble] titles were taken away from a hundred and six persons, ¹⁷² and the Lieutenant Chancellor Chao Chou was sent to prison, where he died.

The Marquis of Lo-t'ung, Luan Ta, was sentenced for lying and deceiving [the Emperor] and was cut in two at the waist. ¹⁷³

A group of a hundred thousand Western Ch'iang revolted and communicated by an envoy with the Huns. They attacked An-ku ¹⁷⁴ and besieged Fu-han. The Huns entered Wu-Yüan [Commandery] and killed its Grand Administrator.

In the sixth year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] mobilized the cavalry of Lung-hsi, T'ien-shui, and An-tung [Commanderies], together with a hundred thousand soldiers of the Palace Military Commander and Ho-nan and Ho-nei [Commanderies. The Emperor also] sent General Li Hsi and the Chief of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, Hsü Tzu-wei, ¹⁷⁵ to chastize the Western Ch'iang. They were tranquillized.

[The Emperor] traveled eastwards. When he was about to favor Kou-shih [with a visit] ¹⁷⁶ and had reached Tung District of Tso-yi, it was reported that [the capital of] Nan-Yüeh had been captured. He [therefore] made [the place where he then was] the prefecture of Wen-hsi. In the spring, when he reached Hsin-chung District of Chi(5), he received the head of Lü Chia(b), and [therefore] made [that place] the prefecture of Huo-chia. ¹⁷⁷ The troops of the Marquis Who Gallops to His Proper Fealty, Yi(2), had not yet arrived when [Nan-Yüeh] had been subjugated; the Emperor immediately ordered him to march against the southwestern barbarians. He tranquillized them. Thereupon [the Emperor] fixed [the administration of] the territory of [Nan]-Yüeh and made of it the commanderies of Nan-hai, Ts'ang-wu, Yü-lin, Ho-p'u, Chiao-chih, Chiu-chen, Jih-nan, Chu-yai, and Tan-erh; he [also] fixed [the administration of the territory occupied by] the southwestern barbarians and made of it the commanderies of Wu-tu, Tsang-k'o, Yüeh-sui, Shen-li, and Wen-shan.

In the autumn, the King of Tung-Yüeh, [Tsou] Yü-shan, rebelled and attacked and killed the Han [dynasty's] generals and officials. [The Emperor] sent the General Who Traverses the Seas, Han Yüeh, and the Palace Military Commander, Wang Wen-shu, to go out of K'uai-chi [Commandery], and the General of Towered Warships, Yang P'u, out of Yü-chang [Commandery] to attack [Tung-Yüeh].

[The Emperor] also sent the General of Fou-chü [Well], Kung-sun Ho, out of Chiu-Yüan and the General of the Hun River, Chao P'o-nu, out of Ling-chü. Both [of them marched] more than two thousand li without meeting any caitiff [Huns], and so returned. Thereupon [the Emperor] divided [off pieces from] the territory of Wu-wei and Chiu-ch'üan [Commanderies], established the commanderies of Chang-yi and Tun-huang, ¹⁷⁸ and moved common people [into these places] to fill them.

In [the period] Yüan-feng, ¹⁷⁹ the first year, in the winter, the tenth month, an imperial edict said, "[The states of] Nan-Yüeh and Tung-ou have both suffered for their crimes, [but We] have not been quite [able to] bring the western savages and the northern barbarians together [with Ourself] in peace. We are going to travel and inspect the borders and frontiers, to dismiss ¹⁸⁰ [temporarily] the troops and have the cohorts retreat. In person [We] shall hold the military credentials and establish the twelve regimental generals. We Ourself shall lead the army."

[The Emperor] traveled from Yün-yang, went northwards, passed through Shang Commandery, Hsi-ho [Commandery], and Wu-Yüan [Commandery], went outside the Great Wall, went northwards, and mounted the Shan-Yü's Terrace. He reached So-fang [Commandery] and visited Po-ho. Leading one hundred eighty thousand cavalry, his flags and pennons traversed more than a thousand li and his majesty terrified the Huns. He sent an envoy to inform the Shan-Yü, saying, "The head of the King of Nan-Yüeh has already been hung upon the Northern Portal of the Han [palace]. If the Shan-Yü is able to fight a battle, the Son of Heaven, leading [his troops] in person, is waiting at the boundary; if [the Shan-Yü] is unable [to fight the Chinese], let him hasten to come and submit [to the Chinese Emperor] as his subject. Why should [the Shan-Yü] uselessly flee and hide north of the [Gobi] desert, in a cold and bitter region?" The Huns were breathless [with fear] ¹⁸¹

[The Emperor] returned and sacrificed to the Yellow Lord upon Mount Ch'iao, then returned to Kan-ch'üan [Palace].

[Some people of] Tung-Yüeh killed their king, [Tsou] Yü-shan, and surrendered. An imperial edict said, "Tung-Yüeh is an inaccessible and difficult [region]. It has been vacillating [in its allegiance] and would be a trouble in later reigns. Let its people be moved into [the region] between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers and thereupon let its land be emptied."

In the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Kou-shih [with a visit]. ¹⁸² An imperial edict said, "We have made offerings at Mount Hua, have proceeded to the central [sacred] peak, [Mount Sung-kao], and have secured a variegated one-horned deer. ¹⁸³ [We] have seen the stone to the mother of the Hsia [dynasty] sovereign, [Ch'i], ¹⁸⁴ and the next day in person [We] climbed [Mount] Sung-kao. ¹⁸⁵ While the Secretaries Who Accompany the [Imperial] Chariot were beside the temple, the officials and troops all heard three shouts of `Long Life.' ¹⁸⁶ [Whenever We have] ascended [a sacred mountain or performed] rites [of sacrifice, there has been] no [deity who has] failed to respond. Let it be ordered that the sacrificial officials shall add to [the official] sacrifices at [Mount] T'ai-shih and [let there be] a prohibition, that its plants and trees be not cut. [Let] three hundred households at the foot of the mountain be made an estate for upholding [its sacrifices] and let its name be called Sung-kao; [let these people] provide only for the sacrifices and be exempted so that they shall not contribute anything else."

[The Emperor] traveled, and then went eastwards, [where he] passed along and inspected the sea-coast. In the summer, the fourth month, on the [day] kuei-mao, the Emperor returned, and ascended and [performed the sacrifice] feng upon Mount T'ai. ¹⁸⁷ [The Emperor] descended [the mountain] and seated himself in the Ming-t'ang. ¹⁸⁸ His imperial edict said, "With Our insignificant person We have received the most exalted [post. We have been] most circumspect, ¹⁸⁹ and have pondered that [Our] virtue is slight and that [We] are not perfectly conversant with the rules of proper conduct and music. [We] have hence engaged in making sacrifices to the eight gods ¹⁹⁰ and so have been met with favors and gifts from Heaven and Earth. Phenomena and signs have appeared and have been manifested and light [sounds] have been heard, just as if [words were spoken]. ¹⁹¹ [We] were terrified by these prodigies, and wished to stop [where We were, but] did not dare [to do so]. Thereupon [We] ascended and [offered the sacrifice] feng upon Mount T'ai and went to [Mount] Liang-fu; thereafter [We] ascended and [offered the sacrifice] shan at [Mount] Su-jan.

"[We] will renew Ourself and felicitate [Our] gentlemen and grandees by giving them [the opportunity of making] a eriod] Yüan-feng. ¹⁹² [At the places where We] have gone and which [We] have inspected, [namely], Po(6), Feng-kao, Yi-ch'iu, Li-ch'eng, and Liang-fu, there have already been remitted the tax on the cultivated fields of the common people and the capitation taxes and debts [to the government] which were in arrears; [We] additionally [grant] two bolts of silk to each of those who are in their seventieth year or over and to orphans and widows. [Let these] four prefectures not [be required] to pay this year's poll-tax (suan). ¹⁹³ [We] grant to the common people of the empire one step in noble rank and to the women in [each] hundred households an ox and wine."

[The Emperor] traveled from T'ai-shan [Commandery] and again went eastwards, where he went along the seashore to Chieh-shih. From Liao-hsi [Commandery] he passed along the northern boundary to Chiu-Yüan, [then] returned to Kan-ch'üan [Palace]. ¹⁹⁴

In the autumn, a comet appeared in the [constellation] Tung-ching and again appeared in the [constellation] San-t'ai, ¹⁹⁵ and the King of Ch'i, [Liu] Hung(1), died.

In the second year, in the winter, ¹⁹⁶ the tenth month, [the Emperor] traveled, and favored Yung [with a visit, where he] sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High]. In the spring, he favored Kou-shih [with a visit], and thereupon went to Tung-lai [Commandery]. ¹⁹⁷ In the summer, the fourth month, he returned and sacrificed at [Mount] T'ai.

He went to Hu-tzu and visited the breach [in the dikes of the Yellow] River. He commanded those courtiers who had followed [him], from the [rank of] general on down, all to bear brush to stop up [the breach] in the dike of the [Yellow] River. He made "Song of Hu-tzu." ¹⁹⁸ An amnesty was granted to those who had been exiled [to toil at those places] by which [the Emperor] had passed. Four piculs of grain were granted to each orphan, childless [person], and person advanced in years. [The Emperor] returned [to the capital]. He had the T'ung-t'ien Terrace built in the Kan-ch'üan [Palace] and the Fei-lien Lodge [in the city of] Ch'ang-an.

The King of Chao-hsien, [Wei Yu-ch'ü], attacked and killed the Chief Commandant [of the Eastern Section in] Liao-tung [Commandery, Shê Ho]; ¹⁹⁹ thereupon [the Emperor] solicited [all the] criminals in the empire [sentenced to] capital [punishment to go and] attack Chao-hsien.

In the sixth month, an imperial edict said, "In an inner chamber of Kan-ch'üan Palace, there has sprung up a fungus of immortality with nine stalks and interconnected leaves. ²⁰⁰ The Lords on High ²⁰¹ visit widely and do not disdain the inferior rooms; they have granted Us an eminent favor. Let an amnesty be granted to the empire. [Let] an ox and wine be granted to [every] hundred households in the Yün-yang capital." ²⁰² The "Song of the Fungus of Immortality Room" was made. ²⁰³

In the autumn, a Ming-t'ang was built at the foot of Mount T'ai. ²⁰⁴

[The Emperor] sent the General of Towered Warships, Yang P'u, and the General of the Left, Hsün Chih, leading the criminals who had responded to [the Emperor's] solicitation, to attack Chao-hsien. [The Emperor] also sent General Kuo Chang and a General of the Gentlemen-of-the-Household, Wei Kuang, to mobilize the troops of Pa a yet submitted. [Upon its conquest, this region] was made into the commandery of Yi-chou. ²⁰⁵

In the third year, in the spring, competitive games were held and [people] from all [places] within three hundred li [came] to look at them. ²⁰⁶

In the summer, [the people of] of Chao-hsien beheaded their King, [Wei] Yu-ch'ü, and surrendered. Of his territory there were made the commanderies of Lo-lang, Lin-t'un, Hsüan-t'u, and Chen-p'an. The General of Towered Warships, Yang P'u, was sentenced for having lost many [of his troops in battle] and by desertion, was dismissed, and became a commoner; ²⁰⁷ the General of the Left, Hsün Chih, was sentenced for having [illegally] striven for distinction and was publicly executed.

In the autumn, the seventh month, the King of Chiao-hsi, [Liu] Tuan, died.

The Ti [barbarians] of Wu-tu [Commandery] rebelled; they were divided [and a part of them] were transported to Chiu-ch'üan Commandery.

In the fourth year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] favored Yung [with a visit, where he] sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High]. He passed through the Hui-chung Road and then went north out of Hsiao Pass, passing by [Mount] Tu-lu and the Ming Marsh. From Tai [Commandery] he then returned [to the capital] and [on the way] favored Ho-tung [Commandery with a visit]. ²⁰⁸

In the spring, the third month, he sacrificed to Sovereign Earth. His imperial edict said, "When We sacrificed in person to Sovereign Earth, the Spirit of Earth in one night manifested three flames of light, which rested upon the altar for sacrifice. When [We] favored the palace at Chung-tu [with a visit], above the [main] hall there appeared a light. Let an amnesty be granted [to those] in Fen-yin, Hsia-yang, and Chung-tu [who have committed] crimes [deserving] capital [punishment] and less. [We] grant to [the foregoing] three prefectures, together with the [prefecture of] Yang-shih6, that they shall not [be required] to pay this year's land or capitation taxes."

In the summer there was a great drought, and many common people died of the heat. ²⁰⁹ In the autumn, it was considered that the Huns were weak and might therefore [be induced] to submit [to the Chinese Emperor] as subjects, hence [the Emperor] sent envoys to persuade them [to do so]. After the envoy of the Shan-Yü arrived, he died in the [Chinese] capital. ²¹⁰ [Hence] the Huns raided the borders, and [the Emperor] sent the General Who Destroys the Huns, Kuo Ch'ang, to encamp in So-fang [Commandery]. ²¹¹

In the fifth year, in the winter, [the Emperor] traveled southwards, making a tour of inspection, ²¹²and reached Sheng-t'ang. He made the sacrifice from a distance to Yü Shun at [Mount] Chiu-yi ²¹³ and ascended Mount T'ien-chu in Ch'ien(2) [Prefecture]. From Hsün-yang he traveled on the [Yangtze] River, in person shot an alligator in the river, ²¹⁴ and captured it. When the vessels [on which the Emperor had traversed] a thousand li²¹⁵ neared Ts'ung-yang, he disembarked. The "Songs of Sheeng-t'ang" and "of Ts'ung-yang" were made. ²¹⁶ Thereupon he went northwards to Lang-yeh [Commandery], where he reached the sea. Wherever he went, he performed ceremonials and sacrifices to the famous mountains and large streams. In the spring, the third month, he turned back [towards the capital and, on the way,] reached Mount T'ai, where he added [the sacrifice] feng to [the imperial sacrifices]. ²¹⁷ On [the day] chia-tzu, he sacrificed to the Eminent Founder, [Emperor Kao], in the Ming-t'ang, making him the coadjutor of the Lords on High. ²¹⁸ Thereupon he held a court for the vassal kings and marquises, [at which] he received the accounts from the commanderies and kingdoms.

In the summer, the fourth month, an imperial edict said, "We have traveled over and inspected Ching and Yang [Provinces], have communed with the [spiritual] beings of the Yangtze and Huai [River regions, and] have met with the emanations of the Great Sea, in order that [We] might unite [these spiritual beings for worship] at Mount T'ai, [with the result that in heaven above [favorable] phenomena appeared. [We] have added to and renewed [the sacrifices] feng and shan. Let an amnesty [be granted to] the empire. [Let] those prefectures which [We] have favored [by a visit] not [be required] to pay this year's land or capitation taxes. [We] grant silk to the widowers, widows, orphans, and childless, and grain to the poor."

[The Emperor] returned [to the capital] and favored Kan-ch'üan [Palace with a visit, where he performed] the suburban sacrifice at the altar to the Supreme [One].

The Commander-in-chief and General-in-chief, [Wei] Ch'ing, died.

For the first time Inspectors and the regional divisions of the thirteen provinces were established.

[Because] the famous civil and military subjects [of the dynasty] had nearly all passed away, an imperial edict said, "Verily, if any unusual distinction is to be achieved, it must wait for an unusual person [to accomplish it]. Hence [just as] a horse may bolt and kick, but may yet travel a thousand li, [so] a gentleman may have got into difficulties by going contrary to the customs, but may yet achieve distinction and fame. Now [what is accomplished by] a horse who might upset the carriage or by a gentleman who is self-willed and wild depends moreover entirely upon how they are guided. Let it be ordered that the provinces and commanderies shall investigate [among their] officials and common people whether there are any [persons of] Unusual Degree of Accomplished Talent who might be made generals or chancellors or sent [as envoys] to distant countries." ²¹⁹

In the sixth year, in the winter, [the Emperor] favored Hui-chung [Palace with a visit]. In the spring, Mount Shou Palace was built. In the third month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Ho-tung [Commandery with a visit, where he] sacrificed to Sovereign Earth. His imperial edict said, "When We performed the rites to Mount Shou, the fields at its foot produced precious things which metamorphosed, some [of which] became actual gold; when [We] sacrificed to Sovereign Earth, there were three flames of supernatural light. Let there be [granted] an amnesty [to those in] Fen-yin [whose crimes are those deserving] capital [punishment] and below. [Let there] be granted one bolt of linen or of silk to each poor person in the empire."

The K'un-ming [tribe] in Yi-chou [Commandery] revolted. [The Emperor] pardoned the fugitives in the imperial capital and ordered them to go with the army. He sent the General Who Destroys the Huns, Kuo Ch'ang, to lead them and attack [the K'un-ming tribesmen].

In the summer, the common people of the imperial capital watched some competitive games at P'ing-lo Lodge in Shang-lin [Park]. In the autumn there was a great drought and [a plague of] locusts. ²²⁰

In [the period] T'ai-ch'u, ²²¹ the first year, in the winter, the tenth month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Mount T'ai [with a visit]. In the eleventh month, on the [day] chia-tzu, the first day of the month, in the morning, which was the winter solstice, ²²² [the Emperor] sacrificed to the Lords on High in the Ming-t'ang.

On the [day] yi-yu, there was a visitation [of fire] in the Po-liang Terrace. ²²³

In the twelfth month, [the Emperor performed the sacrifice] shan at [Mount] Kao-li and sacrificed to Sovereign Earth. He went east to the P'o Sea, [where he performed] the sacrifice from a distance [to the immortals on the island] P'eng-lai. ²²⁴ In the spring, he returned [to the capital] and received in Kan-ch'üan [Palace] the [yearly] accounts [from the commanderies and kingdoms].

In the second month, Chien-chang Palace was built. ²²⁵

In the summer, the fifth month, [the Emperor] corrected the calendar and took the first month as the beginning of the year; ²²⁶ [among] the colors, he took yellow [as the ruling color], and [among] the numbers, he used five. ²²⁷ He fixed official titles and harmonized the sounds of the musical pipes. ²²⁸

[The Emperor] sent the General of Yin-Yü, Kung-sun Ao, to build Shou-hsiang-ch'eng outside of the barriers. ²²⁹ In the autumn, the eighth month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored An-ting [Commandery with a visit].

[The Emperor] sent the General of Sutrishna (Erh-shih), Li Kuang-li, to mobilize the reprobated common people of the empire, to go west and make an expedition against Ferghana (Ta-Yüan). ²³⁰ Locusts flew from the eastern quarter and reached Tun-huang [Commandery]. ²³¹

In the second year, in the spring, the first month, on the [day] mou-shen, the Lieutenant Chancellor, [Shih] Ch'ing, died. ²³²

In the third month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Ho-tung [Commandery with a visit, where he] sacrificed to Sovereign Earth. He ordered that [everyone in] the empire should [be permitted to assemble] for universal drinking during five days, and on the day for the lou [sacrifice], the five sacrifices should be made to the Gates and Doors just as at the la [sacrifice]. ²³³

In the summer, the fourth month, an imperial edict said, "We have held services at Mount Chieh and sacrificed to Sovereign Earth; at both [places] there were lights [which appeared] in response. Let an amnesty be granted to Fen-yin and An-yi, to those [who have committed crimes deserving] death [sentences] and less."

In the fifth month, the horses of the officials and the common people were enregistered in order to supply horses for the [military] chariots and cavalry, ²³⁴ and in the autumn, [there was a plague of] locusts.

[The Emperor] sent the General of [Mount] Chün-chi, Chao P'o-nu, with twenty thousand cavalry, to go out of So-fang [Commandery] and attack the Huns. He did not return. ²³⁵

In the winter, the twelfth month, the Grandee Secretary, Yi K'uan, died. ²³⁶

In the third year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled eastwards and went along and inspected the sea-coast. ²³⁷ In the summer, the fourth month, he returned, and [on the way] renewed [the sacrifice] feng on Mount T'ai and [the sacrifice] shan on [Mount] Shih-lü.

He sent the Superintendent of the Imperial Household, Hsü Tzu-wei, to build several forts outside the Barrier of Wu-Yüan [Commandery] northwestwards to [Mount] Lu-ch'ü, ²³⁸ the Scouting and Attacking General, Han Yüeh, with troops, to garrison them, and the Chief Commandant of Strong Crossbowmen, Lu Po-tê, to build Chü-yen. In the autumn, ²³⁹ the Huns entered Ting-hsiang and Yün-chung [Commanderies], killing or kidnapping several thousand persons. They went to and ruined the various fortifications [maintained by] Communes [that had been built by the Superintendent of] the Imperial Household. ²⁴⁰ They also entered Chang-yi and Chiu-ch'üan [Commanderies] and killed a Chief Commandant.

In the fourth year, in the spring, there arrived the General of Sutrishna (Erh-shih), [Li] Kued the horses that sweat blood. ²⁴¹ The "Song of the Heavenly Horses from the Extreme West" was made. ²⁴²

In the autumn, Ming-kuang Palace was built.

In the winter, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Hui-chung [Palace with a visit]. He moved the Chief Commandant of Hung-nung [Commandery] to control Wu Pass; those going out and in [the Pass] were to be taxed in order to provide supplies for the officials and soldiers of the Pass.

In the [period] T'ien-han, ²⁴³ the first year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Kan-ch'üan [Palace with a visit, where he] performed the suburban sacrifice at the altar to the Supreme [One]. In the third month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Ho-tung [Commandery with a visit, where he] sacrificed to Sovereign Earth. ²⁴⁴

The Huns returned the Chinese envoys and sent a messenger to bring tribute. ²⁴⁵ In the summer, the fifth month, an amnesty was granted to the world.

In the autumn, the city gates were closed and there was a great search. ²⁴⁶ Reprobated persons and exiles were sent to encamp [as guards] in Wu-Yüan [Commandery].

In the second year, in the spring, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Tung-hai [Commandery with a visit]. He returned and favored Hui-chung [Palace with a visit].

In the summer, the fifth month, the General of Sutrishna (Erh-shih), [Li Kuang-li], with thirty thousand horsemen, went out of Chiu-ch'üan [Commandery] and fought [a battle] with the [Hun] Worthy King of the West at the T'ien Mountains, [in which he] cut off heads and took prisoners [to the number of] more than ten thousand. [The Emperor] also sent the General of Yin-Yü, [Kung-sun Ao], ²⁴⁷ to go out of Hsi-ho [Commandery]. The Chief Commandant of Cavalry, Li Ling, leading five thousand foot-soldiers, went out of Chü-yen, went north, and fought [battles] with the Shan-Yü, cutting off heads and [taking] captives [to the number of] more than ten thousand. [Li] Ling's troops were defeated and [he] surrendered to the Huns.

In the autumn, those shamans who made sacrifices on the roads were stopped and prohibited. ²⁴⁸ There was a great search.

Six states, [including the state of] Ch'ü-li, sent messengers bringing tribute. ²⁴⁹

In T'ai-shan and Lang-yeh [Commanderies], crowds of robbers, [led by] Hsü P'o and others, obstructed the mountain [passes] and attacked cities, [so that] the roads and highways were blocked. ²⁵⁰ [The Emperor] sent Special Commissioners, Pao Shen-chih and others, clad in embroidered clothes and bearing axes, in separate parties, to pursue and arrest [the wrong-doers]. Inspectors, Commandery Administrators, and lower [officials] all suffered execution. ²⁵¹In the winter, the eleventh month, an imperial edict to the Chief Commandants of the Passes said, "At present many of the braves and stalwarts [of the capital commanderies] have relationships [with people] at a distance and attach themselves to the groups of bandits in the east. Be careful in investigating those who come and go [through the passes]."

In the third year, in the spring, the second month, the Grandee Secretary, Wang Ch'ing, who had committed crimes, killed himself

For the first time there was created a [government] monopoly of [brewing] fermented drink and selling it. ²⁵²

In the third month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Mount T'ai [with a visit, where] he renewed [the sacrifice] feng and sacrificed in the Ming-t'ang. Thereupon he received the [yearly] accounts [from the commanderies and kingdoms]. He returned and favored the northern regions ²⁵³ [of the empire with a visit, where he] sacrificed to Mount Ch'ang and buried black jade. ²⁵⁴ In the summer, ²⁵⁵ the fourth month, an amnesty was granted to the empire and [the places through which the Emperor] had passed in his travels [were allowed] not to pay the land tax.

In the autumn, the Huns entered Yen-men [Commandery]. Its Grand Administrator was sentenced for cowardice and timidity and was publicly executed. ²⁵⁶

In the fourth year, ²⁵⁷ in the spring, the first month, the court for the vassal kings was held in Kan-ch'üan Palace.

[The Emperor] mobilized the seven classes of reprobated persons ²⁵⁸ in the empire together with resolute and courageous gentlemen, and sent the General of Sutrishna (Erh-shih), Li Kuang-li, leading sixty thousand cavalry and seventy thousand foot-soldiers, to go out of So-fang [Commandery]; the General of Yin-Yü, Kung-sun Ao, [leading] ten thousand cavalry and thirty thousand foot-soldiers, to go out of Yen-men [Commandery]; and the Scouting and Attacking General, Han Yüeh, [leading] thirty thousand foot-soldiers, to go out of Wu-Yüan [Commandery]. The Chief Commander of Strong Crossbowmen, Lu Po-tê, [leading] more than ten thousand foot-soldiers, effected a junction with the [General of] Sutrishna (Erh-shih). [Li] Kuang-li fought battles with the Shan-Yü on the Yü-wu River for [several] successive days. [Kung-sun] Ao fought a battle with the Worthy King of the East, [but] was unsuccessful. All led [their troops] back.

In the summer, the fourth month, [the Emperor] established his Imperial Son, [Liu] Po(6), as King of Ch'ang-yi. ²⁵⁹

In the autumn, the ninth month, [the Emperor] ordered that [those who had committed] capital crimes [could] diminish their death [sentences by] one degree by paying ²⁶⁰ five hundred thousand cash as a ransom.

In [the period] T'ai-shih, ²⁶¹ the first year, in the spring, the first month, the General of Yin-Yü, [Kung-sun] Ao, who had committed crimes, was ²⁶² cut in two at the waist. ²⁶³

Braves and stalwarts from among the officials and common people of the commanderies and kingdoms were moved to Mou-ling and Yün-yang. ²⁶⁴ In the Summer, the sixth month, an amnesty [was granted] to the empire.

In the second year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Hui-chung [Palace with a visit]. In the third month, an imperial edict said, "The high officials have discussed and said that when formerly We made the suburban sacrifice [in which We] presented [Ourself] to the Lords on High and went westwards and ascended [Mount] Lung-shou, [We] captured a white unicorn and used it as an offering in the [imperial] ancestral temple, the Wu-wa River produced a heavenly horse, and actual gold was discovered on Mount T'ai, ²⁶⁵ [hence] it is proper that [We] should change [some] former appellations. Now [We] change [the shape for ingots of] actual gold to have that of unicorns' feet and fine horses' hoofs, in order to accord with these auspicious presages, and use them to distribute among the vassal kings as grants to them." ²⁶⁶

In the autumn, there was a drought. In the ninth month, those who had committed capital crimes were solicited [each] to pay five hundred thousand cash as ransom in order to diminish their death [sentence by] one degree. ²⁶⁷

The Grandee Secretary, Tu Chou, died.

In the third year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Kan-ch'üan Palace [with a visit, where he] banqueted his guests from foreign countries. In the second month, he ordered that [everyone] in the empire should [be permitted to assemble] for universal drinking during five days. He traveled and favored Tung-hai [commandery with a visit, where he] secured [some] red wild geese. The "Red Wild Goose Song" was made. ²⁶⁸ He favored Lang-yeh [Commandery with a visit, where he] paid rites to the Sun at Mount Ch'eng and ascended [Mount] Chih-fou. When he floated upon the ocean [in a boat], the mountains called out, "Long life [to the Emperor]." In the winter he granted five thousand cash to the households by which he had passed, and to widowers, widows, orphans, and childless, one bolt of silk per person.

In the fourth year, in the spring, the third month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Mount T'ai [with a visit]. On the [day] jen-wu, he sacrificed in the Ming-t'ang to the Eminent Founder, [Emperor Kao], as the coadjutor of the Lords on High. Thereupon he received the [yearly] accounts [from the commanderies and kingdoms]. On [the day] kuei-wei, he sacrificed in the Ming-t'ang to Emperor Hsiao-ching. On [the day] chia-shen, he renewed [the sacrifice] feng. On [the day] ping-hsü, [he performed the sacrifice] shan at [Mount] Shih-lü. In the summer, the fourth month, he favored Pu-chi [with a visit] and when he sacrificed at Chiao-men Palace to the supernatural persons [of P'eng-lai], it was as if there were [some of these immortals] who made obeisance towards the [Emperor's] throne. ²⁶⁹ The "Chiao-men Song" was made. In the summer, the fifth month, [the Emperor] returned and favored Chien-chang Palace [with a visit, where he] held a great feast and [granted] an amnesty to the empire.

In the autumn, the seventh month, in [the kingdom of] Chao, there were snakes who [came from] outside of the outer wall, entered the city, and fought in droves with the snakes inside the city at the foot of the temple to [Emperor] Hsiao-wen, [so that] the snakes inside the city died. ²⁷⁰ In the winter, the tenth month, on [the day] chia-yin, the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun.

In the twelfth month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Yung [with a visit, where he] sacrificed at the altars to the Five [Lords on High. Then he] went west to An-ting and Po-ti [Commanderies].

In [the period] Cheng-ho, ²⁷¹ the first year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] returned. He traveled and favored Chien-chang Palace [with a visit].

In the third month, the King of Chao, [Liu] P'eng-tsu, died. ²⁷²

In the winter, the eleventh month, [the Emperor] sent out the cavalrymen of the three capital commanderies to make a grand search in Shang-lin [Park]. He had the city gates of Ch'ang-an closed for the search to the eleventh day, and then they were opened. ²⁷³ The witchcraft and black magic [case] arose. ²⁷⁴

In the second year, in the spring, the first month, the Lieutenant Chancellor, [Kung-sun] Ho, was sent to prison and died, and in the summer, the fourth month, a great wind blew away houses and broke trees, [then] in the intercalary month, the Princess of Chu-yi and the Princess of Yang-shih(5) were both sentenced for witchcraft and black magic and died.

In the summer, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Kan-ch'üan [Palace with a visit], and in the autumn, the seventh month, the Marquis of An ²⁷⁵ -tao, Han Yüeh, the [Special] Commissioner [Clad in Embroidered Garments], Chiang Ch'ung, and others dug up black magic [charms] in the Palace of the Heir-apparent. On [the day] jen-wu, the Heir-apparent, [Liu Chü], and the Empress [née Wei] plotted and beheaded [Chiang] Ch'ung. By means of credentials, they mobilized troops and fought a great battle with the Lieutenant Chancellor, Liu Ch'u-li, in Ch'ang-an, [in which] the dead [numbered] several tens of thousands. On [the day] keng-yin, the Heir-apparent fled and the Empress [née Wei] committed suicide. For the first time troops garrisoning the city gates were established. The [imperial] credentials were changed [in that] yellow pennons were added. ²⁷⁶ The Grandee Secretary, Pao Sheng-chih, and the Director of Justice [to the Lieutenant Chancellor], T'ien Jen, were sentenced for negligence in allowing [the Heir-apparent] to escape. [Pao] Sheng-chih committed suicide and [T'ien] Jen was cut in two at the waist. In the eighth month, on [the day] hsin-hai, the Heir-apparent committed suicide at Hu(2), and on [the day] kuei-hai, there was an earthquake. ²⁷⁷

In the ninth month, [the Emperor] established [Liu] Yen(3a), the son of King Ching-su of Chao, [Liu P'eng-tsu], as King of P'ing-kan. ²⁷⁸

The Huns entered Shang-ku and Wu-Yüan [Commanderies], killing and kidnapping officials and common people.

In the third year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Yung [with a visit]. He went to An-ting and Po-ti [Commanderies].

The Huns entered Wu-Yüan and Chiu-ch'üan [Commanderies] and killed two Chief Commandants. In the third month, [the Emperor] sent the General of Sutrishna (Erh-shih), [Li] Kuang-li, leading seventy thousand men, out of Wu-Yüan [Commandery]; the Grandee Secretary, Shang-ch'iu Ch'eng, with twenty thousand men, out of Hsi-ho [Commandery]; and the Marquis of Chung-ho, Ma T'ung, with forty thousand cavalry, out of Chiu-ch'üan [Commandery. Shang-ch'iu] Ch'eng reached the Chün-chi Mountains and fought [a battle] with the caitiff [Huns], cutting off many heads. [Ma] T'ung reached the T'ien Mountains. The caitiff [Huns] led away [their troops]; thereupon he [brought about] the surrender of Turfan (Chü-shih). ²⁷⁹ Both [of these generals] led their troops [safely] back [to China, but Li] Kuang-li was defeated and surrendered to the Huns. ²⁸⁰

In the summer, the fifth month, an amnesty [was granted to] the empire and in the sixth month, the Lieutenant Chancellor, [Liu] Ch'u-li, was sent to prison and was [executed by being] cut in two at the waist; his wife's head was exposed in public. ²⁸¹ In the autumn, [there was a plague of]locusts. In the ninth month, the rebels Kung-sun Yung and Hu Ch'ien were discovered and both suffered for their crimes.

In the fourth year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled, favored Tung-lai [Commandery with a visit], and went to [the shore of] the ocean. In the second month, on [the day] ting-yu, two meteorites fell at Yung and the noise was heard four hundred li [distant]. ²⁸² In the third month, the Emperor plowed [the sacred field] at Chü-ting. He returned and favored Mount T'ai [with a visit, where he] renewed [the sacrifice] feng. On [the day] keng-yin, he sacrificed in the Ming-t'ang. On [the day] kuei-szu, [he performed the sacrifice] shan at [Mount] Shih-lü. In the summer, the sixth month, he returned and favored Kan-ch'üan [Palace with a visit]. In the autumn, the eight month, on [the day] hsin-yu, the last day of the month, there was an eclipse of the sun.

In [the year period] Hou-Yüan, ²⁸³ the first year,in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor] traveled and favored Kan-ch'üan [Palace, where] he performed the suburban sacrifice at the altar to the Supreme [One]. Thereupon he favored An-ting [Commandery with a visit].

The King of Ch'ang-yi, [Liu] Po(6), died.

In the second month, an imperial edict said, "When We presented [Ourself] in the suburban sacrifice to the Lords on High, [We had previously] traveled along the northern border and had seen a flock of cranes stop and settle. Because [We] did not spread any nets [for them, We] did not capture any as an offering. ²⁸⁴ When we made offerings at the altar to the Supreme [One], both [supernatural] lights and signs appeared. Let an amnesty [be granted] to the empire."

In the summer, the sixth month, the Grandee Secretary, Shang-ch'iu Ch'eng, who had committed crimes, killed himself. ²⁸⁵

The Palace Attendant Supervisor, Ma Ho-lo, ²⁸⁶ with his younger brother, the Marquis of Chung-ho, [Ma] T'ung, planned to rebel. The Palace Attendant and Chief Commandant of Auxiliary Cavalry, Chin Mi-ti, the Chief Commandant Custodian of Imperial Equipages, Ho Kuang, and the Chief Commandant of Cavalry, Shang-kuan Chieh, executed them. ²⁸⁷ In the autumn, the seventh month, there was an earthquake, and at many [places] gushing springs appeared.

In the second year, in the spring, the first month, [the Emperor held] court for the vassal kings in Kan-ch'üan Palace and made grants to the imperial house. In the second month, [the Emperor] favored Wu-tso Palace at Chou-chih. ²⁸⁸

On [the day] yi-ch'ou, he established his Imperial Son [Liu] Fu-ling as the Imperial Heir-apparent and, on [the day] ting-mao, the Emperor died in Wu-tso Palace. [His body] was encoffined in the Front Hall of Wei-yang Palace. In the third month, on [the day] chia-shen, he was buried in the Mou Tomb.

In eulogy we say: The Han [dynasty] inherited the evils of the many Kings; the Eminent Founder, [Emperor Kao], established order [out of] confusion and turned [things] aright. ²⁸⁹ The attention of [Emperors] Wen and Ching was [directed to] nurturing the common people, [but] in the matters of investigating ancient [practices] and of respecting literature they still had many defects. When [Emperor] Hsiao-wu first came to the throne, he abolished and dismissed [the study of] the many [non-Confucian] schools [of philosophy] in a surpassing manner, [thus] making known and rendering illustrious the six [Confucian] classics. ²⁹⁰ There upon he [had all the officials] within the [four] seas "search for [intelligent persons who could accord with the times]" ²⁹¹ and recommend those who were talented and excellent; [then] he gave them [the opportunity to] distinguish themselves. He founded the [Imperial] University, renewed the suburban [and other] sacrifices, corrected the commencement [of the year], fixed the calculation of the calendar, harmonized the [musical] notes and musical tubes, composed songs and music, established [the sacrifices] feng and shan, worshipped the various divinities, and gave [a noble appointment] by succession to the posterity of the Chou [dynasty]. His commands and his ordinances, his writings and literary compositions are splendid and may be transmitted [to posterity, so that] his descendants are able to follow his grand achievements and possess the fame of the three [great] dynasties. ²⁹²

If Emperor Wu, with his superior ability and his great plans, had not departed from the modesty and economy of [Emperors] Wen and Ching, and if, by means of [these principles], he had helped the common people, in what respects could [any of] those [heroes who are] praised in the Book of Odes or the Book of History have surpassed him? ²⁹³

Notes

1. Cf. HS 5: 4b; 14: 17a.

2. Cf. 5: 5a; 14: 17a.

3. Cf. 5: 10b.

4. Down to this point, SC ch. 12 is practically the same as HS ch. 6. From this point on, the rest of SC ch. 12 is a reproduction of the second part of SC ch. 28, the "Book on the Sacrifices Feng and Shan." The remainder of HS ch. 6 seems to be a compilation from other sources; cf. the Introduction, p. 1 ff.

5. Cf. App. I.

6. Han Fei-tzuzu, ch. 20 (Liao's trans., p. 178) defines fang 方 as follows: "To act fang is to have one's thoughts and deeds correspond to each other, to make one's words and acts balance."For the first use of the phrase, "speak frankly and admonish unflinchingly," cf. 4: 9a. HS 56: 1b-3a makes plain that the Emperor himself set questions about the ancient and present ways of government and that over a hundred persons wrote answers which the Emperor read in person, and as a result Tung Chung-shu was made Chancellor of Chiang-tu and Chuang Tsu was promoted to be a Palace Grandee (64: 1a).

7. Chang Yen says, "[Those who were exempted from] two suan were exempted from the suan for two persons. [Those who] fu chia-tsu 復甲卒 were not [required] to participate in [paying] the tax for military purposes."

8. Cf. 24 B: 12a. These were abolished in the spring of 136 B.C. Cf. 6: 3b, 24 B: 12b. "Cash" is the common word for the round, square-holed Chinese copper coins.

9. Yen Shih-ku (581-645) says, "Those fifty years of age are called ai 艾". Wang Nien-sun (1744-1832) notes that the Ching-yu ed. (1034-5) writes 即 for the 則 of the other editions: anciently these two words were interchanged; somebody did not recognize the ancient writing, so exchanged these words.

10. Cf. 4: 7a, b. Li T'zu-ming (1824-1894) says that the 鬻 of the text must be the present 粥, for the Shuo-wen does not have the former, only the latter word.

11. A quotation from the Kung-yang Commentary, 12: 12a, Dk. Hsi, XXXI (year 31), iv (fourth month).

12. Meng K'ang comments, "These were prayers for agriculture. They were instituted at this time and the annual [services] were made a regular [institution]. Hence it says, `For the annual services.' "

13. Ying Shao (ca. 140-206) writes, "When Wu, Ch'u and [the others of] the Seven States had rebelled, the wives and children of those who had taken the lead in this matter had been condemned to be government slaves and slave women. Emperor Wu pitied them, freed, and sent them all to [their homes]." For this rebellion, cf. 5: 4a.

14. Cf. Glossary sub Guard.

15. Yen Shih-ku remarks, "In the pastures for rearing [government] horses, the people were formerly not allowed to cut grass, pasture [animals], or pick firewood. Now [this law forbidding such use of the government pastures] was abolished." Emperor Ching had established these pastures; cf. 24 A: 15b.

16. This proposal to erect a Ming-t'ang, for which Shen P'ei was summoned, was not carried out; it was initiated under the influence of Chao Wan and Wang Tsang; the opposition of the Grand Empress Dowager née Tou caused them to be sentenced and to commit suicide, whereupon the whole matter was dropped for some time. Cf. Glossary sub Shen P'ei; Mh III, 461, 462; HS 22: 4a.The rushes on the wheels were to make this chariot (which was furnished with seats) more comfortable. In ordinary chariots, riders stood.

17. Ying Shao explains, "[According to] the principles of proper conduct, women should not take part in governmental matters. At this time the Emperor was already himself overseeing the multifarious duties [of the government] in person. Wang Tsang was a Confucian and wanted to set up a Ming-t'ang and a Pi-yung. The [Grand] Empress Dowager had always been fond of the practises of the Yellow [Lord] and Lao-[tzu], and disapproved and scorned the Five Classics. Because [Wang Tsang] wanted to put an end to the memorializing of matters to Empress Dowagers, the [Grand] Empress Dowager became angry. Hence she killed him." Cf. 52: 4b; Glossary sub vocibus.

18. For the discussion of eclipses and of this date, cf. App. VI.

19. For the discussion of eclipses and of this date, cf. App. VI.

20. The Han-chi (by Hsün Yüeh, 148-209) 10: 1b and the Tzu-chih T'ung-chien (1084) 17: 9a add the word hsing 星 at this point; Wang Nien-sun thinks it has dropped out of the text, saying that the sentence does not make sense without this word. Chou Shou-ch'ang (1814-1884) objects that the text is correct; something appeared at night which could hardly have been called the sun and yet could not be called a star. The Wen-hsien T'ung-K'ao 284: 1a, by Ma Tuan-lin (xiv cent.) lists this event without the word hsing; the Hsi-Han Hui-yao (by Hsü T'ien-lin) 29: 9a, lists it in the same fashion. This event was possibly the appearance of a fireball or a large meteor.

21. Emperor Wu's tomb and its town. Cf. Glossary sub voce.

22. This is comet no. 27 in J. Williams, Observations of Comets Extracted from the Chinese Annals. Cf. also G. F. Chambers, Descriptive Astronomy, IV ed., I, p. 555.

23. The text reads 防, but 47: 6a and 14: 12a read the first word as 房, which is the modern name of the place. Wang Hsien-ch'ien (1842-1918) suggests that the text arose from a confusion with ？（此字為“戶“旁“方“）. For these events and locations, cf. Glossary sub vocibus.

24. Note the transportation of troops by sea-going vessels. For this affair, cf. Glossary sub vocibus.

25. This comet no.28 in Williams, Observations of Comets.

26. The three-shu cash had been orderd to be coined in the spring of 140. Now the half-tael cash were again coined. Cf. 6: 2a.

27. It is far from certain that there were only five Erudits; but Emperor Hsüan increased their number to twelve, so that it is likely that 五 here refers both to the number of the Classics and to the number of the Erudits. Like the Ch'in First Emperor, Emperor Wen had probbly had 70 Erudits, who were expert in the various philosophies; Emperor Wu's law of 141 B.C. (6: 1b, 2a) had dismissed most of them. That these were the same Five Classics as those now enumerated is shown by Pan Ku's listing of the imperial Erudits in accordance with their specialties: on the Book of Changes (HS 88: 6a), of History (88: 11a), of Odes (88: 15b), of Rites (the Yi-li, 88: 20b), and the Spring and Autumn with the Kung-yang Commentary (88: 21b).

28. HS 27 A: 11a dates this fire in the sixth month, the day ting-yu, (July 9).

29. Yen Shih-ku writes, "The phrases pien-tien 便殿 (side-hall), pien-shih 室 (side-chamber), and pien-tso 坐 (side-sanctum), all [mean] not the principal or large places, [but] those where [people] go for convenience (pien) and rest. The funerary park (yüan 園) was made above the ling 陵; since it had a central funerary chamber (cheng-ch'in 正寢) like the Main Hall (cheng-tien) [of the palace] in his life, there were also built side-halls (pien-tien) as places of rest and relaxation. . . . Their meanings may be found from the memoirs of Shih Chien [46: 2a], Wei Hsüan-ch'eng [73: 9b], K'ung Kuang [81: 15a, 22a] and others." But according to 73: 9b, only the daily sacrifices to the departed were offered in the funerary chambers; the monthly sacrifices were performed in the funerary temples and the seasonal sacrifices (which were naturally the most solemn of all) were performed in the side halls. Ju Shun says that the side halls were "the central main halls," which statement is contradicted by Yen Shih-ku, apparently without any evidence except for the name of these buildings. Seemingly the spirit of the deceased ruler was conceived as residing in his Main Funerary Chamber, where his daily meals were offered; at special times he was invited to repair to his Funerary Temple or his Side Hall, where more elaborate festivals were held. Since the sacrifices in the side halls occurred even less frequently (and hence were more grandiose) than those in the funerary temples, the former must have been more elaborate structures than even the latter. Ju Shun therefore seems correct in making them the chief buildings at the imperial tombs.Hu San-hsing (1230-1287), in a note to Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 17: 14a, quotes Shen Yo (441-513) as saying, "The various tombs (ling) of the Han dynasty all had parks (yüan) and funerary chambers (ch'in), following the practise of the Ch'in [dynasty]. Those who explained [things] considered that anciently in front [there was] the sacrificial hall (miao 廟) and in the rear [there was] the funerary chamber (ch'in), just as for the Lord of Men, [the Emperor], there is in front the reception hall (ch'ao 朝) and in the rear there is his bedroom (ch'in). The sacrificial hall (miao) is to contain the tablet (chu 主), [which is] sacrificed to at the four seasons; the funerary chamber (ch'in) contains clothes and hats, like those [worn] in [his] lifetime, [before which] to offer first-offerings. The Ch'in [dynasty] first removed the funerary hall (ch'in) and built it at the side of the grave (mu 墓); the Han [dynasty] followed suit and did not change [the arrangement of the funerary buildings]. When Emperor Wu [d. A.D. 220] of the Wei [dynasty] was buried at the Kao Tomb (ling), the high officials, following [the practises of] the Han [dynasty], established a sacrificial hall (tien) at his ling. Emperor Wen [of the Wei dynasty, 220-226,] thought that anciently there was no sacrifice at the tomb (mu), [but the sacrifices] were all set out in the sacrificial hall (miao). The halls (tien) and houses (wu 屋) on the Kao Tomb (ling) [for Emperor Wu of the Wei dynasty] were all torn down; the chariots and horses were returned to the stables; the clothes and robes were sent back to the treasury and storehouse, and Emperor Wen himself made funerary regulations. [Emperor Wen] also said, `At my tomb (shou-ling), do not establish a funerary chamber (ch'in), a hall (tien), or make a park and town [of tomb-keepers].' From this [time] until the present, the funerary chamber (ch'in) at a ling has therefore ceased [to be established]."

30. HS 27 Cb: 22b reads, "In Chien-Yüan VI, the sixth month, [July, 135 B.C.] a comet appeared in the northern quarter. . . . In the eighth month [Sept.], a long comet appeared in the eastern quarter, as long as the whole sky. On the thirtieth day it left. The diviner said, `This is the Flag of Ch'ih-yu.' " These two appearances (they may have been from the same comet) are Williams' nos. 29 and 30. The first appearance is not mentioned in the "Annals." This comet may have been the one that appeared at the birth of Mithridates, cf. Chambers, Descriptive Astronomy, I, p. 555.

31. The text writes "Grand Minister of Agriculture"; but that title was not established until 104 B.C.; the term in use at this time is substituted in the translation.

32. Fu Tsang (fl. ca. 285) says, "Because the long comet was seen, it was [named] Yüan-kuang [lit. "grand light"]." (The present reading is san 三 instead of ch'ang 長 ["long (comet)"]; Ch'ien Ta-chao says that san should be ch'ang; the Official ed. has emended accordingly.)

33. Filially Pious and Incorrupt were not official titles, but qualities supposed to be possessed by certain persons, who were recommended to the imperial court because they were said to have these qualities. These terms came however to be used in the same way as official titles. Yen Shih-ku writes, "[The appellation of] `Filially pious' denotes those who are good at serving their fathers and mothers; [the appellation of] `Incorrupt' denotes those who are pure and irreproachable and show incorruptibility and integrity." Yü Yüeh (1821-1906) explains that each commandery and kingdom was to recommend two persons, not one, for some persons were recommended for filial piety and others for incorruptibility. The first virtue was considered more important than the other. Cf. 6: 9b, 50: 5b.

34. The text writes "Palace Military Commander," but Ch'i Shao-nan (1703-1768) notes that, according to 19 B: 13b, the Palace Military Commander at this time was Chang Ou and that, according to 54: 3a, Li Kuang3 was Commandant of the Palace Guard at Wei-yang Palace and Ch'eng Pu-shih was Commandant of the Palace Guard at Ch'ang-lo Palace, which statement is confirmed by 52: 9b. HS 19 B: 15a moreover records that in this year Li Kuang(3) became the Commandant of the Palace Guards (there was one such official in charge of all the palace guards; sometimes special Commandants of the Palace Guards were appointed to individual palaces). Hence the 中 in the text should be emended to read 衛. It is natural that some copyist should have thought that there could not have been two persons with the same title.

35. They had rebelled in 154 B.C. Cf. 5: 4b.

36. Cf. Appendix II.

37. A quotation from the Book of History, V, xvi, 21 (Legge, p. 485) or iii, 6 (Legge, p. 313).

38. The second word in the phrase hsing-ts'o 邢錯(or 措) had in Han times and earlier both the meaning "to establish" and "to disuse." The latter meaning is plainly to be found in HS 4: 22a, which must be interpreted to mean that Emperor Wen "set aside punishments [without using them]." The former meaning is illustrated in Hsün-tzu, ch. 28, 20: 3a (Wang Hsien-ch'ien's ed.), "For this reason the severity of [the ancient sage-kings] was exhibited but not used and the [mutilating] punishments were established but not employed 威厲而不試邢錯而不用," in which passage parallelism compels us to interpret ts'o as meaning "establish." Any other interpretation makes the sentence a stupid tautology. The same sentence (without the 而) is found in Hsün-tzu ch. 15, 10: 14b as a quotation from some ancient book. My translation of the latter passage, "punishments should be established but not used," is approved by Duyvendak ("Notes on Dubs's Translation of Hsün-tzu," T'oung Pao, 1932, p. 25), who himself translates the phrase 錯法, which is the title of Paragraph 9 in the Book of Lord Shang (p. 238) as, "Establishing Laws."The connection between the meanings, "establish" and "disuse" is supplied by a sentence in SC ch. 4 (Mh I, 250), "During the time of [Kings] Ch'eng and K'ang [of the Chou dynasty, the civilized] world was calm and peaceful, [so that the mutilating] punishments were established for more than forty years, [but] not used 邢錯四十餘年不用." (Chavannes translates differently.) Ying Shao, in a note to this passage, interprets ts'o by chih 置, to establish, and adds, "The common people did not violate the laws, [hence] there was no cause [for suffering in] establishing the [mutilating] punishments 無所置邢." This interpretation of ts'o by chih is repeated by Yen Shih-ku in a note to HS 6: 4a and by Yang Liang in a note to Hsün-tzu 20: 3b. It is approved by Wang Nien-sun in a note to Hsün-tzu 10: 14b, who adds the explanation 設也. The saying from the Hsün-tsu is also quoted in SC ch. 23 (Mh III, 220). The passage in SC ch. 4 is abbreviated in HS 23: 23a(12).This saying is explained by two sentences in the Bamboo Books (Chu-shu Chi-nien, Legge, Chin. Clas. III, i, 147, 149; [which saying may however have been inserted as a result of the statements in the SC and Hsün-tzu]): sub King Ch'eng, XXI yr., "[King Ch'eng] did away with government [by the use of] symbolic [punishments] 除治象," and sub King Chao, I yr., "[King Chao] reestablished the symbolic [punishments] 復設象." Forty-four years are supposed to have elapsed between these two dates. The implication is that during this period of forty-odd years, the ruler's virtue caused the people to be free from crime, so that even the symbolic punishments were not used, hence the rulers established the ancient cruel mutilating punishments because there was no need to employ them. Hence hsing-ts'o always means "the punishments were established," and the tradition about Kings Ch'eng and K'ang gave it the connotation of "establishing but not employing punishments," so that the phrase came to imply "the punishments were disused." It is necessary to understand the details of Confucian mythological history in order to interpret Chinese phrases. Cf. also App. II.

39. The passage in single quotation marks is a quotation from the Ta-Tai Li-chi, Ch. 76, 11: 9a, although that passage refers to Shun, Yü, T'ang, and King Wen. The "Preface" to the Book of History, verse 56 (Legge, p. 12; part of the ancient text, but quoted in SC 4: 41, cf. Mh I, 249) reads, "When King Ch'eng had punished the eastern barbarians, the Su-shen came to congratulate him." For these place-names, cf. Glossary and Mh I, 89, n. 4.

40. For the diagram from the Yellow River and the book from the Lo River, cf. Book of Changes, App. III, ch. XI, Sect. 73 (Legge, p. 374); Glossarysub vocibus.

41. According to 56: 1b, Tung Chung-shu was recommended as a Capable and Good and answered the examination questions "when Emperor Wu ascended the throne." That passage moreover quotes another edict of the Emperor, similar to this one. HS 6: 1b records that Capable and Good were promoted in Nov. 141 B.C.; presumably they were also examined at that time. Ssu-ma Kuang has followed the biography and dated Tung Chung Shu's advancement in 141 B.C. (cf. n. 1.6).According to 58: 1b, when Emperor Wu came to the throne, Kung-sun Hung(1) was then in his sixtieth year, was summoned as a Capable and Good, and was made an Erudit. Later he was dismissed, but was again, in 130 B.C., sent to the court as a Capable and Good. According to 64 A: 1a, Chuang Tsu was also sent to the court as a Capable and Good and promoted to be Palace Grandee because of his answers to the examination questions; Ch'i Shao-nan (1703-1768) says that this was in Nov. 141 B.C. Shen Ch'in-han (1775-1832) thinks that possibly all three of these persons were promoted in the same year. The disagreement between these biographies and the "Annals" makes us suspect this notation concerning Tung Chung-shu and Kung-sun Hung; it seems out of place in an "Annals" devoted to important governmental affairs; probably it is an interpolation.

42. Cf. Glossary, sub Wang K'uei; SC 110: 43, 44 = HS 94 A: 16a, b = de Groot, Die Hunnen, p. 95 ff.

43. The Yellow River had previously followed approximately the course of the present Grand Canal, and entered the sea near Tientsin; now it changed its course, but still flowed into the present Gulf of Chihli. This change was followed, a few months later, by the breach at Hu-tzu, after which the River flowed into the Yellow Sea. Tun-ch'iu was not far from Hu-tzu.

44. The names of these persons are not given and there were no such enfeoffments made for the first time in this year. There are however recorded in this year as being enfeoffed by succession the following: Chang Kuang-kuo as Marquis of Sui-ling, because he was the younger brother of Chang Sheng, the great-grandson of Chang Ao (16: 46a), and Kuan Hsien as Marquis of Lin-ju, because he was the grandson of Kuan Ying (16: 15b). (His appointment is listed for the second year, which is possibly a mistake for the third year, since the previous marquis of Lin-ju, Yang Wu-hai, was dismissed in the second year. Cf. 16: 36a.) The other three persons are not mentioned in the "Tables," so that ch. 16 and 17 lack the names of some marquises. Chou Shou-ch'ang suggests that all these five enfeoffments were enfeoffments by succession, and that the word 紹 has dropped out of the text just before 封. These appointments show the high honor in which were held those who assisted in the founding of the dynasty.

45. HS 29: 6a, b, following SC 29: 8, says that the Yellow River broke its dikes at Hu-tzu, turned into the Chü-yeh Marsh, and ran into the Huai and Szu Rivers. Su Lin (fl. 196-227) says that the breach was south of Chüan-ch'eng 鄄城 and north of P'u-yang. (Wang Hsien-ch'ien says that Hu-tzu was a dike in P'u-yang prefecture.) The Hsi-ching Tsa-chi 2: 6b (vi cent.) says, "At Hu-tzu, when the [Yellow] River broke its dikes, a chiao dragon [possibly an alligator], followed by nine young, from within the breach, went against the current up into the River, spurting out foam and making waves for several tens of li," which statement is probably based on a line of Emperor Wu's poem in HS 29: 10a. This breach was closed in 109 B.C.: cf. 6: 26b.

46. The funerary temple of Emperor Wu. Cf. Glossary sub voce.

47. Cf. Glossary, sub voce for this very interesting quarrel.

48. HS 27 Bb: 14b says that it killed "plants and trees."

49. Cf. 95: 3a(12).

50. HS 97 A: 11a says that only the Empress née Ch'en's daughter, Ch'u-fu, had her head impaled on a stake in the market-place; more than three hundred persons were executed as accomplices. Wang Hsien-shen (1859-1922) thinks that 皆 is an interpolation and that the last clause should be translated in the singular number. Black magic, 蠱 ku, was thought to act as a love philter and to punish a faithless lover. Cf. Introduction to this chapter, p. 18 ff; H. Y. Feng and J. R. Shryock in Jour. Amer. Or. Soc'y Mar. 1935, pp. 1-30.

51. This record is repeated in 27 Bb: 20a. Other plagues of ming are mentioned in HHS, Tr. 16: 7a, b, under dates of 82, 175, and 185 A.D., as early as July/Aug. and as late as Sept./Oct. The localities are from the modern K'ai-feng to the neighborhood of Ch'ang-an. The Spring and Autumn notes ming in 718 B.C. and later; cf. Legge, p. 18.In a note to Lü-shih Ch'un-ch'iu 18: 12b, "Pu-ch'ü," Kao Yu (fl. 205-212) remarks, "Huang 蝗 are insects. When they eat the heart [of plants], they are called ming 螟. When they eat the leaves, they are called t'eng 螣. Today in Yen Province [present Shantung, Honan], they say that huang are t'eng." Thus the ming would appear to have been a worm or grub. Mr. J. A. Hunter, writing from near Peiping, says that the farmers around there call the army worm or any worm on the grain a ming-ch'ung 虫, and also call small moths by this name. Mr. Raymond T. Moyer, writing from Taiku, Shansi, reports that farmers there know as ming a stem borer of rice and of millet.The ancient literary Chinese do not however seem to have been exact in their use of the word ming. Shuo-wen (100 A.D.) 13 A: 6a(10) defines ming as "Insects that eat the leaves of plants." Mr. Moyebability, ming was a common noun applied to various insects; there likely were local variations in the designation intended by this word and the intelligensia may not have clearly understood the distinctions made by farmers.

52. The text here reads hsü 續; the Sung Ch'i ed. (xii cent.) notes that the Ancient Text (before vi cent.) read instead chi(1) 給; Yen Shih-ku's (636-641) comment uses chi(1) and 12: 6a has a similar phrase with chi1. The T'ung-tien (by Tu Yu, 735-812) 13: 5a, "Hsüan-chü," 1, quotes this order with chi(1); the T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan (978-983), 628: 3a "Sect. on Chih-tao," 9, has the same reading. The Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 18: 10b (1084) has hsü, so that in its time the HS already contained this error. Wang Nien-sun concludes that the reading chi(1) is correct.The Official ed. reads 時 for the 世.Yen Shih-ku explains, "The chi(2)-chê 計者 was the messenger who presented [to the imperial court] the accounts and registers 上計簿使者也. Every year the commanderies and kingdoms sent him to the imperial capital to present them. Chieh 偕 is together 俱也. [The Emperor] ordered that the persons who were summoned should come with the person who presented the accounts and that the prefectures where they sojourned were to furnish (chi(1)) them with food. Later generations were deceived and mistaken in transmitting [the interpretation of] this passage, hence generally said that the presenters of the accounts were chi(1)-chieh. K'an Ying [fl. ca. 422] did not examine carefully, and erroneously gave such an explanation, saying, `The Ch'in and Han [dynasties] called the officials who came to court for the nobles by the name of chi(2)-chieh. Chieh is 次 (to sojourn).' In the Chin dynasty there were chi(2)-chieh-pu 簿. [People] also changed chieh to 階 (steps, to mount), [thereby] misunderstanding it even worse, and bringing later scholarship into error." Cf. also the phrase with chi(2) on 6: 29b.

53. Li Ch'i (fl. ca. 200) writes, "[The Emperor] for the first [time] taxed carriages and boats of resident and traveling merchants and ordered them to pay poll-taxes (suan)." Cf. Kato, "A Study of the Suan-fu," Mem. Toyo Bunko, no. 1, p. 57.The Official ed. reads 等 for 算.

54. Cf. HS 29: 7a. This canal extended from below the Southern Mts. near Ch'ang-an direct to the Yellow River, for a distance of more than 300 li, and was for the purpose of irrigation and of facilitating the transport of tribute grain to the capital. It was not completed until the third year.

55. In SC 110: 44 = HS 94 A: 16b = de Groot, Die Hunnen, p. 103, this expedition is dated in the "autumn."

56. Chavannes (cf. Mh III, 553, n. 2) would translate huo-shou-lu 獲首虜 as "made surrendered slaves prisoner," taking shou in the sense "submit," as in the expression 降-shou. But "submitting [or bending] one's head" is not the same as "capturing heads." Huo in the expression above can hardly mean anything except "capturing" or "taking." In HS ch. 94, the parallel passages use tê 得 for huo, which likewise means "secured" or "captured." In 6: 12b, Emperor Wu says that Wei Ching attacked the Huns and chan 斬-shou-lu 萬九千級, which Chavannes (Mh III, 554) translates, "décapité dix-neuf mille esclaves soumis." But the Chinese have never eulogized the killing of prisoners. A reader of emanations told Li Kuang3 that the reason he had been so unlucky as not to have secured a high position was because he had killed 800 surrendered Ch'iang; cf. his Memoir, 54: 6bGlossary. sub voce.An illuminating phrase is found in 6: 16a, where it says that Ho Ch'ü-ping fought a battle with the Worthy King of the West and chan huo shou lu 七萬餘級. It could hardly mean that he beheaded and captured 70,000 surrendered slaves. Rather it means that he cut off heads and took prisoners to the number of more than 70,000. This expression seems to be the complete form of the phrase, of which other forms commonly found, chan-shou-lu and huo-shou-lu or tê-shou-lu are abbreviations. The Yen-t'ieh Lun, ch. 44, 9: 13a has moreover the phrase 斬首捕虜. Evidently, in reckoning up the number of the rewards to be given to an army, the number of the slaughtered was added to that of the prisoners. Cf. also 7: n. 9.2.A step in noble rank was given for each head taken, according to the Ch'in law. This important law is to be found in J. J. L. Duyvendak, The Book of Lord Shang, pp. 297-300, and specifies the promotions for various grades. Cf. also Maspero's emendations to this passage in Jour. Asiatique, 1933, Supplement to vol. 222, pp. 55-59.The Han dynasty may have followed the same plan; it gave money rewards for captures of heads or prisoners; 24 B: 8a. Such prisoners were probably worked by the government or sold as slaves. Since no distinction is made between heads and prisoners, it seems that one prisoner counted as much as one head. We are not told anything to the contrary; yet it is impossible to be sure.Since a chi 級, lit. "step [in noble rank]" was given for each head, chi came to be the numerator for the number of heads taken, and, by extension, for the number of prisoners. The number of prisoners and heads was sometimes exaggerated by the soldiers or generals; if detected, they were punished severely.Lung-ch'eng was the capital of the Huns; cfGlossary. sub voce. For an account of this campaign, cf. de Groot, Die Hunnen, p. 103.

57. This phrase is probably taken from the source of the similar phrase in HS 91: 4a, possibly SC 40: 61 = Mh IV, 395.

58. The Official ed. (1739) emends 議 to 義, which Wang Hsien-ch'ien approves and I accept.

59. Repeated in 27 Ba: 24a and 27 Bb: 20a.

60. The name of this year-period was probably taken from the fact that during this period the commandery of So-fang was established as the result of great victories in the northwest. Ying Shao however says that so means to revive, quoting Mencius I, ii, xi, 2 ad fin. (Legge, p. 47), where Mencius quotes the Book of History. "The prince's coming will be our reviving." Yen Shih-ku replies that so means beginning. Wang Hsien-ch'ien points out that all of Emperor Wu's early year-periods were named from some actual happening, not from literary quotations.

61. These phrases seem to have been taken from Hsüntzu, ch. 6, 3: 16b, "To unite ways of government, to make [people's] words and deeds accord [with the true standard], to unify general principles and specific cases 總方略齊言行壹統類," which is said of Confucius and Tzu-kung.

62. Quotations from Analects V, xxvii and VII, xxi.

63. A quotation from the Ho-kuan-tzu (author unknown, professes to be written by an author who fl. dur. 325-299 B.C.), A: 10b, ch. 6, "If the person who promotes the capable will receive high rewards, then one's inferiors will not keep each other in obscurity."

64. The Shang-shu Ta-chuan (compiled by Master Fu, [d. dur. 179-157 B.C.] from material that had been reworked, book lost in the xiv cent.) is quoted by Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) as having said, "[When for] the third [time the persons who are recommended to the emperor prove] suitable, [the person who presented them] is said to have done a distinguished deed, and there are granted to him [the distinctions of] carriages and horses [or] a bow and arrows." The Ch'ien-fu Lun 2: 5a, ch. 7, quotes this paragraph.Ying Shao writes, "The first [distinction 錫] was chariots and horses, the second was garments [of honor], the third was music and instruments, the fourth was vermillion doors, the fifth was inside staircases [cf. 99 A: n. 23.2], the sixth was a hundred of the As Rapid as Tigers [cf. Glossary, sub Gentlemen as Rapid as Tigers], the seventh was axes [carried as insignia of honor], the eighth was bows and arrows, and the ninth was black millet herb-flavored liquor---these all were institutions [fixed by] the Son of Heaven for honoring a person. Therefore he grants and bestows them on several [occasions], but only a few [of each]." Wang Mang was granted the nine distinctions; cf. 99 A: 22b, 23a, and n. 23.3.

65. The Official ed. reads 則 for 而.

66. The sentences in single quotation marks are said to be a quotation from the Book of History, V, i, "The Great Declaration," by the Shuo-Yüan (by Liu Hsiang, 79-8 B.C.; present text compiled by Ts'eng Kung, 1019-1083), 2: 14a, chapter "Ch'en-shu." The Ch'ien-fu Lun (by Wang Fu, fl. dur. 79-166), 2: 5a, chap. 7, "K'ao-chi," also quotes 3 clauses of this passage. These sentences are not in the present text of the Book of History. Ma Jung (79-166) doubted these sentences, and Chao Ch'i (108-201) said that they were obtained later than the genuine text. They are also quoted in Legge's appendix to that chapter; cf. his Shoo-king, II, p. 299.

67. A quotation from the Book of Changes, App. III, ch. II, sect. 15 (Legge, p. 383). The passage refers to the reforms instituted by the Yellow Lord, Yao, and Shun.

68. A poem lost even in the time of Ying Shao (140-206), about whose meaning the commentators dispute. In explanation of "nine mutations," Shen Ch'in-han quotes Lieh-tzu (iii cent. B.C.) A: 1b, chap. "T'ien-jui," "The primeval impalpable chaos mutates and becomes one; the one mutates and becomes seven; the seven mutates and becomes nine; nine is the limit of mutation, so that when it mutates again, it becomes one."

69. The date of Emperor Wu's accession.

70. Ch'ien Ta-chao says that the Fukien ed. (1549) writes 殺 for the 敗 of the text, but SC 110: 45 = HS 94 A: 17a = de Groot, Die Hunnen, p. 106 says that the Huns "defeated the Grand Administrator of Yü-yang [Commandery] with his army of more than a thousand men, . . . and also entered Yen-men. [Commandery], killing or kidnapping more than a thousand persons," so that "defeat" is corroborated, but not "Chief Commandant." The Chief Commandant was the military head of a commandery; the Grand Administrator was its civil head.

71. HS 24 B: 6b says, "P'eng Wu opened the way to the Wei-mo and Chao-hsien, [whereupon] Ts'ang-hai Commandery was established." In 194 to 180 B.C., a treaty had been made by the Chinese government with Wei Man, a Chinese adventurer who had made himself King of Chao-hsien, in accordance with which he agreed to prevent the barbarians from raiding Chinese territory, in return for which the present Korean peninsula was to be regarded as his "sphere of influence," so that all intercourse between chieftains of that region was to come through Wei Man, and Korean chieftains were to be denied audience with and by the Chinese emperor (95: 19a). The admission of Nan-lu to audience, who was probably challenging the overlordship of Wei Man's successor, and the taking of his territory as a nominal imperial commandery was a direct breaking of this treaty. Although this territory was given up in 126 B.C. (p. 10b), probably because Wei Man's successors asserted their rights, Emperor Wu did not forget the incident, and, when Wei Man's grandson, Wei Yu-ch'ü, refused to come to court in person and acknowledge Chinese overlordship, an expedition captured his capital and annexed his territory.

72. The stool and cane were symbols of age; they had previously been granted for the same reason by Emperor Wen to Liu P'i, King of Wu (cf. 4: 21b and HFHD I, 274, n. 2). Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 18: 17a omits the mention of the King of Tzu-ch'uan, and Tzu-chih T'ung-chien K'ao-yi. HS 14: 7a; 38: 10a). Shih Yün-Yü (1756-1837) remarks that Liu Chien had just come to the throne, so that it would be unlikely that he should have been so infirm as to be unable to attend court; Szu-ma Kuang, Wang Hsien-ch'ien, and Shih Yün-Yü all consider that the mention of the King of Tzu-ch'uan is probably a mistaken interpolation. Han-chi 12: 2b however mentions the King of Tzu-ch'uan.

73. This dynastic practice was suggested by Chu-fu Yen; cf. 64 A: 19a, b. On its importance, cf. O. Franke, Geschichte des Chinesischen Reiches, I, 293.

74. This was the region earlier conquered by Meng T'ien in 214 B.C. It was located in the present Ordos region inside the great northward bend of the Yellow River and beyond it. Cf. Glossary sub vocibus; Mh II, 168.

75. For this campaign, cf. SC 110: 44, 45 = HS 94 A: 17a = de Groot, Die Hunnen p. 107 f.

76. These transportations were also at the suggestion of Chu-fu Yen; cf. 64 A: 19b, 20a.

77. He had committed incest. Cf. Glossary, sub voce.

78. The K'un-hsüeh Chi-wen 12: 5a, (Com. Press ed., p. 1001), (by Wang Ying-lin, 1223-1296) says that somebody reported an old hand-written copy of the HS, lacking comment, to have read for the 内長文 of the present HS text, 而肆赦 "and to publish amnesties," which Wang Nien-sun thinks fits into the text much better than what is there now. This reading is supported by the reference to "amnesty" in the following sentence. Li Tz'u-ming adds that Liu Ch'ang-shih (xii/xiii cent.), in his Lu-pu Pi-chi, wrote that an old copy of the HS, preserved in the home of Chang Tun (fl. 1094-1101), which may have been the same copy as that mentioned by Wang Ying-lin, had this latter phrase. But this reading is possibly merely a conjectural emendation by Liu Ch'ang-shih himself. Dr. Duyvendak moreover objects that the emendation 而 is not very good, for there are two complete sentences, each ending in 也, so that there is no room for 而. Chin Shao (fl. ca. 275) and Chang Yen (prob. iii cent.) show, by their comments, that they had substantially the present text. Yang Shu-ta (1885- ) quotes the Discourse on Salt and Iron, ch. 44, 9: 11b, which uses the phrase 長文, so that this phrase was used in Han times.

79. An allusion to the Doctrine of the Mean, "Commentary," II, 1 (Legge, p. 361).

80. SC 110: 46, 47 = HS 94 A: 17b = de Groot ibid., p. 111 dates the foray of the Huns into Tai Commandery in the summer and that into Yen-men Commandery in the autumn.

81. Kung-sun Hung had inspected this region in 129 B.C. He reported that it was not worth the effort to reconquer it and it should be discarded. Emperor Wu did not heed his advice. In 126, when Kung-sun Hung became the Grandee Secretary, he repeated his suggestion; at this time the Chinese forces were needed to fortify and defend So-fang in the north, hence this suggestion was adopted. Cf. Glossary, sub voce; HS 95: 3b; 58: 4b.

82. Also noted in 27 Ba: 24a.

83. According to 55: 4b, 5a, Wei Ch'ing did not receive the title of General-in-chief until after this expedition; at this time he was still General of Chariots and Cavalry. That passage moreover says that he led 300,000 cavalry, and that the other generals were subordinate to him. These six generals were Su Chien, Li Chü, Kung-sun Ho, Li Ts'ai, Li Hsi, and Chang Tz'u-kung.

84. This edict is also found in SC 121: 9 and HS 88: 3b-4a. Together with Kung-sun Hung's reply it constituted the charter of the Imperial University.

85. This phrase is also found in HS 36: 35b(6).

86. Cf. Introduction, p.24.

87. For details, cf. SC 110: 48 = HS 94 A: 18a = de Groot, Die Hunnen, p. 115 f., which says they went out several hundred li. The six generals were Kung-sun Ao, Kung-sun Ho, Chao Hsin(4), Su Chien, Li Kuang(3), and Li Chü.

88. Cf. de Groot ibid., pp. 116-118.

89. A Legalist teaching, also found in a memorial of Li Szu, SC 6: 50 = Mh II, 171 = Bodde, China's First Unifier, p. 81. (Reference from Dr. Bodde.)

90. An allusion to Analects XIII, xvi; but there, and in Han-fei-tzu, 16: 2b, ch. 38, "Nan iii," as well as in the Shuo-Yüan (by Liu Hsiang, 79-8 B.C., compiled by Tseng Kung, 1019-1083), 7: 7b, all of which quote this saying, the interlocutor is the Duke of Shê, not Duke Ting. Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) has noticed this difference.

91. A reference to a saying of Confucius in Han-fei-tzu 16: 2b, ch. 38, "Nan iii," "Duke Ai asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, `[Good] government [lies] in selecting the capable." The Shuo-Yüan, 7: 5a, in quoting this saying, for the last two characters, 論臣, uses 諭臣, which looks like the original of the passage in the HS; the confusion between 諭 and 論 is easy to make; Yang Shu-ta, in his comment on this passage, has either misread the first character to be the second or has a variant edition of the Shuo-Yüan that we have not been able to find; both words mean the same in this connection. Wang Nien-sun explains that the second character means the same as and stands for 掄, which means "select."

92. A reference to a saying of Confucius in Han-fei-tzu, 16: 2b, ch. 38, "Nan iii," "Duke Ching of Ch'i asked Confucius about government. Confucius replied, `[Good] government [lies] in economizing [the state's] wealth.' " This passage in Han-fei-tzu of the interlocutor. These three sayings are all quoted in Liu Hsiang's Shuo-Yüan, 7: 7b, in a form that matches much more exactly the expressions in this edict than the form in the Han-fei-tzu; possibly Liu Hsiang, when he wrote this passage, had Emperor Wu's edict in mind, and Emperor Wu took them from the Han-fei-tzu.

93. Here chung-kuo 中國 is used as equivalent to China and is contrasted with surrounding states.

94. Cf. Mh II, 502, n. 2. For those disqualified for office, cf. n. 35.2.

95. This edict is found in substance in the SC (cf. Mh III, 554, and n. 5; cf. also HS 24 B: 8a, b), but with variations and not labelled as an edict. Ying Shao writes, "It says that military officers or soldiers who have taken heads or prisoners have many noble ranks and no means of transferring or giving [them to others]. Now for their [sakes] there was established an office for rewarding military merit, [so that] those who had [too] many noble [ranks] could distribute them and give them to their fathers, their elder brothers, their sons, or their younger brothers, or sell them to other persons." Yen Shih-ku disagrees with this translation (Chavannes, Mh III, 554, n. 6, follows him), quoting Hsü Shen's Shuo-wen 6 B: 4b as saying that "Yi 貤 [means] the order of layers of things," and interpreting the edict as ordering that a value should be set for various ranks. But Wang Nien-sun shows that yi has also the meaning "confer," "transmit" (cf. 100 B: 15a), and says that if it had the meaning assumed by Yen Shih-ku, the words 流 and yi should have been interchanged and several other words must have been added to explain it. Hence Ying Shao's interpretation is correct.Dr. Duyvendak however writes, "I think that we should take the meaning [of yi]: layer, stratification, gradation, [and translate], `For those who wish to transfer or to sell [the various rewards they have received] there is no current gradation.' "The purpose of this order was to establish a new noble hierarchy, the eleven grades in which could be given as rewards to victorious troops instead of money or the former noble ranks, thus economizing expenditure, and also enabling the troops to sell these noble ranks in order to secure money if they needed it. At the same time these new titles were available for sale by the government, giving it more revenue. Mr. Tai Jen suggests that the last part of this sentence should be translated, "should have no means of transferring their conferred [titles]," implying that the Emperor was putting a stop to the sale of titles by private individuals, in order to encourage their sale by the government. Ying Shao testifies to the continuance of this practice of transferring titles.For the details of the hierarchy of military titles now established, cf. Mh III, 555 and n. 4; HS 24 B: 8a-9a.

96. Ying Shao writes, "A white unicorn was captured, hence, when the year period was changed, it was called Yüan-shou," (lit. "the first year of the [period in which] the animal [was captured]").

97. This unicorn was used in an offering in the imperial ancestral temple; cf. 6: 35b. Yen Shih-ku writes, "The unicorn has the body of a deer, the tail of a cow, the feet of a horse, is yellow in color, has round hoofs, one horn, and flesh at the end of its horn." He seems to be quoting freely from a saying in the Yi-chuan (a lost book) by Ching Fang (77-37 B.C.), now found in a comment on the Tso-chuan (Dk. Ai, XIV), "The unicorn has the body of a muntjak, the tail of a cow, the forehead of a wolf, and the hoofs of a horse. [It is dappled with all] five colors. Below its belly it is yellow. It is twelve feet tall [9 ft. Eng. meas.]." Wang Ch'ung (27-97), in his Lun-heng, Bk. XVI, Ch. IV (Forke, ch. 30; I, 359) discusses the unicorn and phoenix. He writes, "In Chou [times], a unicorn was captured; the unicorn was like a deer and had a horn. The unicorn of Emperor Wu was also like a deer and had a horn." He also writes ibid. p. 370), "In the time of Emperor Wu, a western hunting party secured a white unicorn, with one horn and five feet." According to HS 25 A: 24a, the chief characteristic of this animal was its single horn; at first people were by no means certain that it was a unicorn.The "White Unicorn" Song is in 22: 31b, 32a. It is translated in Mh III, 626 f, XVII.

98. According to 44: 11b, the rebellion of Liu An had been crushed in the autumn of the preceding year; because these two kings had plotted together to rebel, the suicides of Liu An and Liu Tz'u were recorded at the same time.

99. Wang Hsien-ch'ien remarks that the present text is not happy and proposes inserting 多, following 27 Bb: 13a.

100. This act was the result of discovering that Liu An's rebellion arose from his hope to succeed to the imperial throne because no heir had been appointed. Cf. Glossary, sub Liu An.

101. The eleventh noble rank. Cf. Glossary, sub voce.

102. A free quotation from the Book of History, II, iii, 2 (Legge, p. 70). In the original, the second and third sentences are interchanged and some words intervene between the first and second sentences quoted by Emperor Wu.

103. Reading 忕 for the character in the text. According to the pronunciations and meanings given in their comments, Fu Ch'ien (ca. 125-195) and Ying Shao (ca. 140-206) seem to have had the former character in their texts and Ju Shun (fl. 189-265) seems to have had the latter reading, which arose because the former reading had been corrupted to 忲. Wang Nien-sun points out this fact and illustrates this reading from parallel passages.

104. Book of Odes, II, iv, viii, 11 (Legge, II, 319).

105. Ju Shun says that chui 贅 means to assemble 會. The Shuo-Yüan (by Liu Hsiang 79-8 B.C.) 12: 6a says, "The King of Liang assembled (chui) his various officials and they discussed his faults." The idea seems to have been that the Messengers should actually visit the people themselves and not collect a number of people in a haphazard fashion, to whom rewards were to be given.

106. HS 6: 19b notes a horse born in another river.Yen Shih-ku says that this bird was a parrot and that in his time they occurred in both Lung-hsi (Kansu) and Nan-hai (Kuang-tung). Shen Ch'in-han however points out that the HS elsewhere uses the usual Chinese word for `parrot,' so that if this bird was a parrot, it would have been directly mentioned by that name; and that there were many parrots in Ch'in and Lung [Shensi and Kansu], so that the presentation of a parrot would not have been important enough to mention. [Cf. also Ni Heng (style, Cheng-p'ing's) "Fu on the Parrot," in the Wen-hsüan, ch. 13.] Shen Ch'in-han adds that the T'ang History, "Treatise on Music," says, "In Ling-nan [Kwangtung] there is a bird like a thrush, but somewhat larger. When one suddenly glances at it, one cannot distinguish it [from a thrush]. When it is reared in a cage for a long time, it can talk and can repeat anything. The people of the south call it a chi-liao 吉了. At the beginning of [the period] K'ai-Yüan [713-742], Kuang-chou [modern Canton] presented one. Its speech and voice is loud and heavy like a man. It is docile and recognizes people; its nature is more intelligent than a parrot." Shen Ch'in-han accordingly thinks that this bird was a Chi-liao. The Tz'u-Yüan, sub Ch'in 秦 -chi-liao, says, "The name of a bird. In shape it is like a thrush. Its whole body is black. Behind its two eyes there is a yellow flesh crest. Its feet are yellow and its beak red. It can imitate human speech." This bird was, according to Herbert Friedman of the U. S. National Museum, the Chinese crested mynah, Aethiopsar cristatellus, which is now a common cage bird with the Chinese, because of its attractive plumage and its ability as a mimic.

107. Liu P'in (1022-1088) remarks that Li Kuang(3)'s "Memoir" (cf. 54: 6a; Glossary, sub voce) has a different statement, to the effect that Chang Ch'ien came to Li Kuang(3)'s rescue when Li Kuang3's men had almost all been killed. Liu P'in accordingly thinks that the "Annals" are mistaken here.

108. He had been inhumanly licentious and had plotted rebellion. Cf. Glossary, sub voce.

109. HS 94 A: 19a reads, "That autumn the Shan-Yü became angry at the King of Kun-hsieh and the King of Hsiu-t'u, who lived in the western part [of the Shan-Yü's empire] and several ten-thousands of whose men had been killed or captured [by Ho Ch'ü-ping. The Shan-Yü] wanted moreover to summon and execute [these kings]. The Kings of Kun-hsieh and of Hsiu-t'u were afraid, and plotted to surrender to the Chinese [Emperor]. The Chinese [Emperor] sent the General of Agile Cavalry, [Ho Ch'ü-ping], to receive them. The King of Kun-hsieh killed the King of Hsiu-t'u, united and led [the dead King's] troop [with his own], and surrendered to the Chinese. [The two troups were] altogether more than forty thousand men and were called a hundred thousand. When the Chinese had thereupon secured [the territory of] Kun-hsieh, then Lung-hsi, Po-ti, and Ho-hsi [Commanderies suffered] much less [from] raids by the Hu." Cf. de Groot, ibid., p. 126 f = SC 110: 51.

110. Hu San-hsing, following Chang Shou-chieh (fl. 737) says that the surrendered Huns were distributed to regions outside the former Barrier (the Great Wall) in these five commanderies, where Chief Commandants of Dependent States were established, namely, the commanderies of Lung-hsi, Po-ti, Shang, So-fang, and Yün-chung. Cf. 55: 12b.

111. This comet is not in the list in ch. 27. It is no. 32 in Williams' list. HS 27 Ba: 24a adds that in this summer there was a severe drought.

112. This appointment was probably made in the preceeding year; cf. Glossary, sub Liu Ch'ing.

113. Yen Shin-ku says, "In the autumn or winter, they plant it, over the New Years it is ripe, hence it is called su 宿 [lit. sleeping or over-night] wheat."

114. HS 24 B: 10a reads, "Many of the people east of the mountains who suffered from floods were famished and lacked everything, whereupon the Son of Heaven sent a messenger to empty the depots and granaries of the commanderies and kingdoms in order to aid the poor, [but the food] was still not sufficient; [so he] also solicited distinguished and rich people to lend to them, [but] it was still impossible to rescue [the starving]; so more than seven hundred thousand of the poor people were removed to the west of [Han-ku] Pass and [were sent] to fill up [the region in the] south of So-fang [Commandery] in Hsin-ch'in." Cf. also Mh III, 562.

115. This action was the result of the surrender of the Hun Kings of Kun-hsieh and Hsiu-t'u and the victories of Ho Ch'ü-ping, whereby the invasions of the Huns were greatly lessened.

116. HS 24 B: 12a says that as the laws became more severe, most of the officials were dismissed, and adds, "Those who had formerly been officials had all been reporbates and were ordered to cut down thorns in Shang-lin [Park] or make the K'un-ming pond." (Cf. Mh III, 568-9.) Ju Shu remarks, "HS ch. 24 [recounts] that the former officials had fallen foul of the law as being former reprobates, so they were sent to dig the Pond, and those who had property were instead appointed [as officials]." For "reprobated persons," cf. n. 35.2. It looks as though a law had been discovered or enacted, prohibiting those who had been connected with trade from occupying official posts, with the result that many officials had to be dismissed.Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) adds, "HS 95: [1b reports] that in the state of K'un-ming [later included in the Han dynasty's] Yüeh-sui [Commandery], there is `a T'ien Lake, whose circumference is three hundred li' [which was the present lake by the same name, located just south of K'un-ming (the Ch'ing dynasty's Yün-nan Fu), Yunnan]. The Han messengers sought the country of Shen-tu [India] and were stopped by [the King of] K'un-ming [cf. 95: 4a]. Now [the Emperor] wished to make an expedition against it, hence made a K'un-ming Pond like [the one in Yünnan], in order to practise naval fighting. [It was] southwest of Ch'ang-an and was forty li in circumference."

117. HS 24 B: 10a reads much the same as this passage (cf. n. 15.8), except that it says the people were moved to the region of Hsin-ch'in in the south of So-fang Commandery and does not mention K'uai-chi Commandery.

118. Ying Shao says, "At this time [the resources for] the state revenues were insufficient, so white deerskin was used to make money." HS 24 B: 11a, b says, "The high officials said, `Anciently the nobles used leathern money for ambassadorial offerings and presents [given by guests at feasts]. Of metals there were three grades: actual gold was the highest, silver was the second, and Tan-yang copper was the lowest. Now . . . as the cash become lighter and thinner and goods become [more] expensive, [when people from] distant places use currency [to present to the emperor], it is troublesome and expensive and not economical.' So white deerskin, a foot square, bordered with embroidery, was used as leathern money worth four hundred thousand [cash]. When the kings, marquises, and [members of] the imperial house attended court and in the autumn made offerings to the Emperor, they were required to use [this] leathern money and present jade circlets, and then only were [their offerings] accepted. Silver and tin were also made into white metal. Because it is considered that for use [as a symbol of] `Heaven, nothing is as good as the dragon,' for use [as a symbol of] `Earth, nothing is as good as the horse [a mare],' [an allusion to sayings in the Book of Changes, Hex. 1 and 2] and for use [as a symbol of] man, nothing is as good as the tortoise, hence [this] white metal [money was of] three grades: the first was called `Weight eight taels.' It was round, its device was a dragon, its name was `A White Hsüan' [the hsüan was an ancient weight of 6 taels (of gold)], and it was worth 3000 [cash]. The second was called, `A little less in weight.' It was square; its device was a horse [mare], and it was worth 500 [cash]. The third was called, `Still less [in weight].' It was oblong, its device was a tortoise, and it was worth 300 [cash]." Cf. Mh III, 564 ff.

119. HS 24 B: 13a, b says, "[As to] resident merchants and craftsmen, who buy on credit and lend on interest, and who buy and sell and live in towns [cf. 24 B: 10b], or who collect and amass various [kinds of] goods, together with the merchants [who travel] in order to make profits, although they [may] not be [enregistered on] the registers of the market-places, [yet] each one [of the foregoing must] himself estimate [the value of his goods, report it to the officials], and be taxed on his property [in terms of] cash, one poll-tax (suan) on [each] two thousand [cash]. Those who manufacture and pay the land-tax, together with those who cast [r thousand [cash]." Cf. also Mh III, 571-5.Fu Tsan quotes the above passage as quoted in the Mou-ling Shu (prob. written in Han times, lost before 312) and adds, "This property [in terms of] cash is their accumulated [property in terms of] cash. Hence [a merchant's taxes] are in accordance with the way he uses [his property]. If he uses it to get a high profit, his poll-taxes are also more [in proportion]." If the poll-tax was 190 cash (cf. Glossary, sub voce), merchants and pedlars paid 9(1/2)% and artisans 4(3/4)% on their capital.Li Fei (prob. iii cent.) and Yen Shih-ku would interpret min(1) 緡 as the string used to `string' cash; Chavannes (Mh, III, 573, n. 4) follows this interpretation; but Su Yü (fl. 1913) notes that Shuo-wen 14 A: 4b defines min(2) 鍲 [and 錉] as "property. Shop-keepers estimate [the value of their] property," while min(1) is defined as "a line for angling fish." He points out that here min(1) is used for min(2), and adds that the Yü-p'ien (by Ku Yeh-wang, 519-581) interprets min(2) as "capital."

120. These are nos. 32 and 33 in Williams' list of comets. HS 27 Cb: 22b does not mention the first of these, but says that "a long comet came out again" in the fourth month, which was May/June, 119 B.C. This seems to have been the comet that appeared when Mithridates ascended the throne; cf. Chambers, op. cit. p. 555.

121. These four generals were Li Kuang, Kung-sun Ho, Chao Yi-chi, and Ts'ao Hsiang. Cf. 55: 13a; de Groot, ibid., p. 133 ff.

122. Yen Shih-ku says, "To climb a mountain, worship Heaven, and pile up earth [for a memorial] is to feng 封. He engraved a stone recording this event in order to manifest the achievements of the Han [army]." Cf. n. 25.1; Chavannes' discussion of feng in Mh III, 413, n. 1; Ku Chieh-kang, Han-tai Hsüeh-shu-shih Lüeh, ch. 2. Po-hu-t'ung B: la says that the sacrifice feng must be made on top of Mount T'ai, and continues, "It must be on top of it. Why? It utilizes its height to give information to [Heaven, who] is high, [thereby] according with the nature [of Heaven and the mountain]. Hence the person who sheng 升-feng (raises up [the altar to perform the sacrifice] feng) increases its height." The altar on Mount T'ai was twenty (Chinese) feet high. Cf. n. 25.1. According to 55: 14b, Ho Ch'ü-ping also performed the sacrifice shan.

123. Wang Nien-sun says that the chan 戰 is an interpolation, for the Ching-yu ed. (1034) is without it and 94 A: 20a is also without it. The Official ed. reads chan shih 士, instead of shih chan.

124. Ju Shun notes that HS 54: 7a, 8a, b; 55: 13a, b record Chao Yi-chi as General of the Right; Yen Shih-ku says that ch. 6, which here entitles Chao Yi-chi as General of the Rear, contains an error of transcription.

125. He was charged with peculation. Cf. Glossary, sub voce.

126. Ju Shun says, "The price of stallions was standardized at a high [value], with the intention of making people compete in rearing horses." The campaigns of 119 B.C. alone had caused the loss of 100,000 horses (cf. Mh III, 569; HS 24 B: 12b).

127. Szu-ma Kuang, in his Tzu-chih T'ung-chien K'ao-yi 1: 8b, says that this recording is erroneous, for the half-tael cash had been previously melted down (according to the order in Mh III, 567 = HS 24 B: 12a), so that at this time the three-shu cash were abolished, not the half-tael cash. Since however the order for the imperial government (not the "fonctionnaires provinciaux" as Chavannes translates; cf. HFHD I, 311, n. 3.5) to melt down half-tael cash had only been issued in the preceding year, no large proportion of these coins could yet have been withdrawn from circulation, hence the present reading of this order may be correct.The three-shu cash were put into circulation in 140 B.C. (cf. 6: 2a), and in 136 B.C. they were abolished and the half-tael cash coined in their place (cf. 6: 3b). In 120 B.C., they were ordered melted and three-shu cash were to be issued with the legend, "Three-shu cash." Now, in 119 B.C. (Mh III, 569 = HS 24 B: 12b) an official complained that the three-shu cash were light, hence could easily be counterfeited, and begged that five-shu cash be coined. The term "half-tael cash" does not mean that cash by this name actually weighed half a tael or 12 shu; HS 24 B: 4a reports that Emperor Wen coined four-shu cash with the legend, "Half-tael." There was much illicit private coinage, and light coins would naturally continue in use and not be melted down.The "cunning and troublesome officials and common people" were probably the counterfeiters.

128. The Ching-yu ed. (1034), the Academy ed. (1124), and the Official ed. read 百金; the Sung Ch'i ed. says that the New ed. (unknown) does not have the first of these words; Wang Hsien-ch'ien's ed. also omits it, saying that this word is a mistake. I have retained it in the translation because of its excellent textual evidence.

129. Yen Shih-ku states that some popularly current copies of the HS read "public chariots 公乘," which he says is a mistake. These grants were probably in gratitude for the Emperor's recovery from illness in the preceding year (Mh III, 472).

130. This occurrence is also mentioned in 27 Bb: 3b.

131. These admonitory decrees, kao 誥, were formal written admonitions given by the Emperor to the kings he was appointing and were in imitation of the kao, "Admonitions," in the Book of History. Several such admonitory decrees are to be found in ch. 63, among the biographies of Emperor Wu's sons. These admonitory decrees were similar in their nature to the charters of appointment given officials; cf. 5: n. 5.7 and 5: app. I. Fu Ch'ien (ca. 125-195) and Li Fei (prob. iii cent.) testify to this technical sense of kao.

132. This memorial is to be found in 24 B: 12b.

133. Li Ch'i (fl. ca. 200) explains, "It says that powerful families have been taking possession of (兼 ) and making servants of the unimportant common people and the rich have been taking possession of (chien) and making servants of the poor people, and [the Emperor] wished to equalize matters." But Wen Ying replies, "Those who `had taken concurrently (chien-ping 并)' were the families who enjoyed official salaries; they were not permitted to rule their estates and concurrently (chien) to take the advantages [given to] unimportant common people. Although merchants might be rich, they were not again concurrently (chien) to hold fields and residences, to have guest-[retainers], or to plow and farm." Yen Shih-ku approved of Li Ch'i's interpretation, but Wen Ying seems to be correct, for Mh III, 575 = HS 24 B: 13b records for the year 119 B.C., "Merchants who are enregistered in the market-places, together with their families and relatives, are all not to be permitted to own private cultivated fields in order to take advantage of [the privileges accorded to] farmers."Wen Ying seems to imply that there were three classes: (1) officials and nobility, who might possess fields and residences and entertain guest-retainers, (2) farmers, and (3) merchants. Farmers were granted many privileges by the Ch'in and Han dynasties; Emperor Wu tried to keep the officials and merchants from claiming the advantages granted to farmers, by prohibiting merchants from owning farm land.The phrase ping-chien has however a different meaning: Li Hsien, in a note to HHS, Mem. 39: 17a, says, "Ping-chien means that powerful and rich [people], by means of their wealth and influence, unite and secure (ping-取) the fields of poor people and take and possess (chien-有) them."The change in the currency referred to is the coining of five-shu cash (cf. n. 16.8).The Ching-yu ed. and the Official ed., Li Ch'i and Wen Ying, read chien for the 以 in Wang Hsien-ch'ien's text. I have adopted this reading.

134. I follow Ju Shun (fl. dur. 189-265) in interpreting 期 as 朞. The edict abolishing the three-shu cash was dated a year and three months previous to this one.

135. The phrase 殊路 is an allusion to Book of Changes III, Sect. II, ch. 5, par. 31 (Legge, p. 389).Wei Chao (197-273/4) says, "Whenever one is considered deceptive, he is chiao 矯; to take by force is ch`ien 虔," quoting, in support, the Tso-chuan, Dk. Ch'eng, XIII, iv; 27: 7b (Legge, 38010), where ch'ien is used in that sense. But Wang Nien-sun quotes a comment of Cheng Hsüan (127-200) on the Book of History, IV, xxvii, 2, where the phrase chiao-ch'ien occurs (this comment is now to be found in the comment of Chia Kung-yen [fl. dur. 640-455] on the Chou-li, 36: 1b, sub the Szu-hsing), "Chiao-ch'ien means 撓擾(to make a [serious] disturbance). The Commentary on the Spring and Autumn [the passage in the Tso-chuan referred to above] means that they pillaged and took people and things in order to make a [serious] disturbance." Wang Nien-sun says that chiao and ch'ien mean [approximately] the same and have not here two different meanings.

136. Mh III, 580 and HS 24 B: 14b say that Ch'u Ta, Hsü Yen and others were sent out to suppress the grasping rich and the Administrators and Chancellors who were profiting. Chavannes' translation gives a wrong impression; his notes, 581, n.1 and 563, n 2 furnish the correct explanation.

137. Wang Nien-sun says that 諭 is a mistake for lun 論; and that the latter word here means `choose'. The parallelism with 擧 in the next clause and the meaning require lun.

138. Ju Shun quotes Ts'ai Yung (133-192) as saying, "The Son of Heaven considers the world as his household; he himself calls the place where he dwells the 行在所." Yen Shih-ku points out that this phrase may be used of the place where the Emperor is, whether he is in the capital or out traveling or hunting; Chou Shou-ch'ang adds that at this time the Emperor was out traveling. The last two words of this phrase are used of another person than the emperor in HS 99 C: 6a.

139. Ying Shao remarks that this period was named for the three-legged cauldron. This article was not however secured until the sixth month of the fourth year in the period, and this year-period was not named until 114 B.C. Cf. n. 17.9, n. 19.5, and App. I.

140. The Han-chi 13: 8a follows the HS in recording on this date the finding of a percious three-legged cauldron in Ho-tung, on the Fen River, saying that it was presented in the Ancestral Temple and preserved in the Kan-ch'üan Palace, and was 8 ft. 1 inch in size [circumference] and 3 ft. 6 in. in height; the officials said that it was the lost three-legged cauldron of the Chou dynasty, but Wu-ch'iu Shou-wang replied that it was not a Chou cauldron, but one that Heaven had given especially to the Han dynasty. This material in the Han-chi (except for the size of the cauldron) is taken from this passage of the HS and from HS 64 A: 16.The statement that this three-legged cauldron was found at this time is almost certainly a mistake. Szu-ma Kuang notes, in his Tzu-chih T'ung-chien K'ao-yi, 1:9a under this date, that SC ch. 28 (Mh III, 482) reports that in the same year that Luan Ta was made Marquis of Lo-t'ung (Mh III, 480) a shamaness of Fen-yin, Chin, made at Shui in Wei(h) a sacrifice to Sovereign Earth, that there was found, in the earth at the side of the place where the sacrifice was made, a three-legged cauldron, and that the Emperor said in an edict (Mh III, 483) that he had recently traveled, had sacrificed to Sovereign Earth, and asked why the three-legged cauldron had now appeared. This account is repeated in HS 25 A: 29a-30b. Now HS 6: 18b also records that in the fourth year of Yüan-ting, in the tenth month, the Emperor visited Fen-yin, that (p. 19a) in the eleventh month he established sacrifices to Sovereign Earth on Shui Mound in Fen-yin district, and that (p. 20a) in the sixth month he obtained a precious three-legged cauldron at the side of the place for sacrificing to Sovereign Earth. Thus the HS records the finding of a three-legged cauldron twice: here and in July 113 B.C. HS 22: 30a also says, "In [the period] Yüan-ting, the fifth year, [after] the three-legged cauldron had been secured at Fen-yin, [this poem] was composed." According to 18: 10b, Luan Ta was made Marquis of Lo-t'ung on May 22, 113 B.C., so that the account in SC ch. 28 is also dated in 113 B.C. Thus, except for this one recording and its parallel in the Han-chi, the discovery of the three-legged cauldron is dated in 113 B.C. and nowhere else except in this one place is such a discovery said to have been made in 116 B.C. Szu-ma Kuang thinks that the account of finding a three-legged cauldron in 116 B.C. is a doublet of the account dated for 113 B.C., and that the first account was inserted into the record by mistake because someone thought it necessary to account for the name of the year-period, since the interpolator did not realize that the names of these year-periods were not given until 114 or 113 B.C. The size given by the Han-chi for the cauldron may however be a genuine addition to our knowledge, coming from Hsün Yüeh's personal knowledge.

141. He had committed brigandage. Cf. Glossary, sub voce. Shang-yung was near the present Chu-shan, in northwestern Hupeh.

142. These two officials had quarrelled and accused each other unjustly. Cf. Glossary sub Chang T'ang.

143. HS 27 Bb: 13b states that on level ground the snow was five feet thick.

144. For an enumeration of the localities affected, cf. 74: 4b.

145. Ying Shao (ca. 140-206) writes, "[They] burn the grass and let in water, [then] plant rice. The grass and rice grow together [until they are] seven or eight inches tall. Thereupon it is all mowed [by fire?] and then again water is let in to flood it. The grass dies and only the rice grows. [This is] what is called `to plow by fire and hoe by water'," Shen Ch'in-han (1775-1832) adds, "In plowing by fire, when the rice is cut, they burn its straw in order to fertilize the ground and then only do they plow it. The duty of the Tao-jen [the Rice Official, cf. Chou-li 16: 5a; Biot, XVI, 18] was `in summer to destroy the grass by means of water and mow it.' "

146. The customs barrier, which had been at Han-ku Pass (cf. Glossary, sub voce). was moved some 270 li eastwards.

147. HS 24B: 13b says, "Those who conceal [their property] and do not themselves testify [the amount of their estate], or those who do not testify the full [amount of their property] shall be sent to the border as garrison soldiers for one year and their property [in terms of] cash shall be confiscated [to the government]. Those who are able to give information shall be given half of [what is confiscated]."

148. HS 27 Bb: 13b records in this month "a fall of snow", which is much more appropriate as an unusual event in May or June. Ch. 27 lists it along with other unseasonable snows, so that "snow" is probably correct and ch. 6 is erroneous here. The Han-chi 13: 10b and the Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 20: 8a read "snow".

149. Liu P'o had been unfilial and had violated the mourning prohibitions. CfGlossary. sub voce.

150. Cf. 25 A: 26b, 27a; Mh III, 474-6; Glossary sub Shui, Sovereign Earth.

151. Chou Shou-ch'ang remarks that the SC (Mh III, 476-7) summarizes this edict and that here Pan Ku quotes the original. Evidently Pan Ku used a collection of imperial edicts.

152. The Sung Ch'i ed. reports that the Ching-tê ed. (1004) does not have the word 子.

153. On the translation of this title, cf. Glossary, sub voce.

154. Cf. 25 A: 29a; 64 A: 16; 22: 30a; 6: n. 17.9; Mh III, 482. It may have been a Yin cauldron; more likely it was the one hidden by Hsin-Yüan P'ing in 164 B.C.; cf. HFHD, I, 218, 259, n. 3.

155. Li Fei writes, "In Hsin-yeh of Nan-yang [Commandery] there was a Pao Li-chang, who, during the time of Emperor Wu, happened to have been punished [by exile to] a garrison colony in the region of Tun-huang. Many times on the shore of this [Wu-wa] River he saw that in a herd of wild horses there was a very peculiar [horse], which came with all the [other] horses to drink at this river. [Pao] Li-chang first made on the border of the river an earthen mannekin holding a halter and horse-hobbles. Later, when the horses had played with and become accustomed to it for a long time, he took the place of the earthen mannekin and held a halter and horse-hobbles. He took and secured this horse and presented it [to the Emperor]. Wishing to [make out] this horse as a supernatural marvel, he said that it came out of the midst of the River." Cf. also Mh III, 236, n. 3. Possibly this report of a horse being born in a river originated from the similar one recorded on 6: 14a.

156. These songs are to be found in HS 22: 30a and 26b, 27a; they are translated in Mh III, 624, XIV and 620, X.

157. This recording lacks the words "P'ing, King of Chen-ting" and should have been listed with the events of the preceding year. HS 53: 19a says that after Liu P'o had been king for several months, he was dismissed; 6: 18b records that dismissal in the summer of 114 B.C. HS 53: 19a goes on to quote an imperial edict dated several months after that dismissal, which orders the enfeoffment of Liu P'ing and Liu Shang as Kings of Chen-ting and Szu-shui, respectively. The notice of Liu P'ing has undoubtedly dropped out of HS ch. 6, for the son with the smaller kingdom would hardly be mentioned and the one with the larger kingdom left out. Wang Hsien-ch'ien thinks that Pan Ku may here have been misled by the recording in SC 17: 66f, in which Liu Shang and Liu P'ing are recorded as reigning for their first year in Yüan-ting IV, and may have thought that the appointment of these two kings came in the preceding year. In HS 28 Bii: 17a and 39a, both the kingdoms of Chen-ting and Szu-shui are moreover recorded as having been established in 113 B.C.

158. Cf. Glossary. sub voce. He was making a trip into the present eastern Kansuh.

159. This date, Dec. 24, 113 B.C., is taken from P. Hoang's tables, changing his gregorian to the julian day. De Saussure (in Jour. Asiatique, 1925, p. 285, n. 1) reports a computation by Dr. J. K. Fotheringham, showing that the solstice actually occurred on Dec. 23 at 8 h. 1 m. p.m. (Hsi-an time) and that the true new moon occurred on Dec. 22, 10 h. 48 m. p.m. and the mean new moon on Dec. 23, 3 h. 49 m. a.m. The observation of the solstice by a gnomen 8 ft. in length, which seems to have been the method used by the Chinese, is however very inexact, since the declination of the sun varies less than half a degree in the whole of the ten days preceeding and following the winter solstice. Dr. Fotheringham writes me that "it was in antiquity very difficult to determine the time of the solstice by direct observation to within a day or two. . .even for the great Ptolemy." Hence a difference of one day between the actual and recorded solstice (assuming P. Hoang's calendar is correct) is not surprising.Eight years later, another solstice is listed on Dec. 25, 105 B.C. (cf. 6: 31a). But this interval is one day more than eight solar years. According to the cyclical date, the interval must have been 2923 days, whereas 8 tropical years contain 2921.938 days and 8 julian years contain 2922 days. The Chinese astronomers must have known this discrepancy in the number of elapsed days; de Saussure says of the latter date. "On fausse volontairement d'un jour et demi la date du solstice.". 280).HS 21 B: 73b lists another winter solstice on Dec. 25 or 26, 124 B.C. julian ("eleventh month" in that text should plainly be amended to "twelfth month").

160. HS 25 A: 33a says, "In the eleventh month, [the day] hsin-szun, the first day of the month, in the morning, was the winter solstice and at the break of day the Son of Heaven first made the surburban sacrifice (chiao) and prostrated himself to the Supreme One; in the morning he made the morning sacrifice (chao) to the Sun and in the evening he made the evening sacrifice (hsi) to the Moon." Cf. Mh III, 491. Fu Tsan (fl. ca. 285) quotes a note in the Han-chiu-yi (by Wei Hung, fl. dur. 25-57) as saying, "In making the suburban sacrifice at the place for sacrifice to the Supreme [One], at daybreak the emperor comes out of the Bamboo Palace [within Kan-ch'üan Palace, according to the San-fu Huang-t'u, 2: 6b], and, facing east, he bows to the Sun; that evening, facing southwest, he bows to the Moon."Ying Shao however says, "In the spring, the Son of Heaven makes the morning sacrifice to the Sun and in the autumn he makes the evening sacrifice to the Moon. He makes the morning sacrifice to the sun in the morning and the evening sacrifice to the Moon in the evening." This statement represents a slightly different practise, and may have been taken from Chia Yi's memorial in HS 48:24a(10).

161. The Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed. (1528-31), the Fukien ed. (1549), and the Official ed. read 薦. Wang Hsien-ch'ien reads 祭. I have adopted the former reading.

162. For the 兢 of the text, the Official ed. mistakenly reads 競.

163. The ode from which these lines were taken was not extant even as early as the time of Yen Shih-ku.

164. HS 25 A: 33b (Mh III, 492) reports that on Dec. 24, while the Emperor was sacrificing, a light was seen by some officials, and that at other times lights were seen. The hymn in HS 22: 27a (trans. in Mh III, 621, XI) says, "Light shone at night."

165. A quotation from Book of Changes, Hex. 18 (Legge, p. 95 and Wilhelm, I, 55 translate differently). Ying Shao quotes here from a commentary on that Book, "The third day before [the day] chia is hsin; the third day after [the day] chia is ting." The Han dynasty performed the suburban sacrifice on days whose cyclical date contained the words hsin or ting. Su Yü quotes the Po-hu-t'ung as saying, "For the days of sacrifice, [the days] ting and hsin were used." (A lost fragment.) Since the miracle of lights occurred on a hsin day, the thanksgiving was made on a ting day, thus conforming to this saying.Cheng Hsüan, in a comment upon the Book of Changes (quoted in a note to HHS, Tr. 4: 2b, where these days are discussed) gives a moralistic explanation for these days, based on puns: "[The day] chia is the day when new ordinances are made. The three days previous to [the day] chia [should be] employed [by the ruler] to correct his errors and renew (hsin) himself, hence [the day] hsin is used; the three days after [the day] chia [should be] employed with the purpose of making repeated (ting) admonitions [to himself], hence [the day] ting is used."

166. HHS Tr. 4: 4a explains "abstain 齋" as follows: "Whenever [it is necessary to] abstain, [before sacrificing to] Heaven and Earth, [the emperor should abstain for] seven days; [before sacrificing] in the ancestral temples or to the mountains and streams, five days; [before] lesser sacrifices, three days. [During] the days of abstinence, [he should remain] within [the house or room. If he should commit any] impurity or uncleanness [during the period of abstinence, it would] dissolve the abstinence." Ch'ien Ta-hsin (1728-1804) notes that Shuo-wen 12 B: 4b, sub 姅, says, "Women's impurity. . . . The Han [Dynastic] Code says, `[If anyone] sees [a woman in] menstruation, he may not wait upon [the divinities in] sacrifice.' " Thus the fundamental idea about abstinence in Han times was not the avoidance of particular foods, as at present under the influence of Buddhism, but the purification of the celebrant by ablutions and the avoidance of contamination from others' uncleanness. For a more elevated conception of abstinence, cf. Li-chi, XXII, 6 and XXI, i, 2 (Legge, II, 239 f, 210 f; Couvreur, II, 323 f, 272); Wei Hung's Han-chiu-yi, Pu, B: 2b.

167. Lü Chia had held this office during three reigns; he opposed the pro-Chinese policy of the Chinese-born Queen Dowager and her paramour, the Chinese envoy. She attempted Lü Chia's life; when Chinese troops approached, he massacred the pro-Chinese party and annihilated the troops.

168. Yen Shih-ku explains, "The wa 鼃 is a toad 黽. It is like a frog 蝦蟇, but with long legs. Its color is green 青." HS 27 Bb: 17b says that toads and frogs "fought together in droves." Han-chi 14: 1b adds that they were fighting "below the [Palace] portals." Toads and frogs figure in the stone reliefs from the Wu clan funerary chamber in Chavannes, Mission archeologique.Fighting frogs were reported earlier in Chinese literatureHan Fei-tzu (iii cent. B.C.) 9: 9b, ch. 30, 3 (Liao's trans. I, 302) says, "King Kou-ch'ien of Yüeh saw frogs raging and bowed to them. His driver said, `Why bow to them?' The King replied, `When frogs have such spirit as these, can one forbear from bowing [in respect] to them?' When his gentlemen and people heard of it, they said, `If, when frogs have spirit, the King bows to them, how much more [will he do so to any of his] gentlemen or people who possess courage?' " T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 949: 3b quotes a variant of the foregoing often mentioned passage, in which the frogs are said to have been "fighting".Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, Head Curator of Biology at the United States National Museum, however writes me, "It can be safely asserted that frogs and toads do not fight in droves, and I doubt very much that anybody has ever seen individual frogs `fighting' individual toads (and surely they have nothing to fight with); but some person with a very vivid imagination may have interpreted the commotion observed in a pond full of mating toads, as a fight."

169. The name is found in Han-chi 14: 1b.

170. The Emperor's plan was to have six generals collect troops in six different regions in the present Kiangsi, Hunan, Kwangsi, and Kweichow (including Szechuan) and converge upon P'an-Yü (modern Canton) by various river routes. Yang P'u and Lu Po-tê arrived first and took the city. Some of the other armies were then diverted to conquer the present Yünnan. Cf. Glossary sub vocibus.

171. HS 27 Bb: 20a says that in the autumn there was a plague of locusts.

172. Cf. Appendix III.

173. He had failed to materialize any immortals and had gone to the east, saying he needed to consult his teacher. When he would not venture upon the sea, Emperor Wu had him followed. Upon receiving the report that his magical powers were at an end, Emperor Wu had him executed. Cf. Mh. III, 493; HS 25 A: 34a; Glossary, sub Luan Ta.

174. The text writes Ku-an, which was the name of a place in Cho Commandery in the present northern Hopei, far from the lands of the Western Ch'iang. Hu San-hsing suggests transposing these two words. An-ku was, in the time of the Contending States, a city of the Western Ch'iang. Further confirmation for that emendation is to be found in the next note.

175. Wang Hsien-ch'ien's text writes this surname as 一; but the Ching-yu ed. and the Official ed. read Hsü 徐. Ch'ien Ta-chao notes that 19 B: 19a lists Hsü Tzu-wei as Chief of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace during 117-105. HHS Mem. 77: 5b reads, "At this time the Hsien-ling Ch'iang and the tribe of the Feng-yang-lao-tzu made up their feuds, bound themselves together by an oath, and communicated with the Huns that they would join more than 100,000 of their troops [with them]. Together they attacked Ling-chü and An-ku and thereupon besieged Fu-han. The Han [Emperor] sent General Li Hsi and the Chief of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, Hsü Tzu-wei, with 100,000 soldiers to attack and tranquillize them, and for the first time the Colonel Protecting the Ch'iang was established."

176. HS 25 A: 34a says, "Kung-sun Ch'ing was attending upon the gods in Hoof Kou-shih, that there was something like a pheasant going and coming on top of the city-wall. The Son of Heaven himself favored Kou-shih [with a visit] and looked at these traces."

177. Wen-hsi means, "The happy [news] was [here] reported." Huo-chia means, "[The Emperor] obtained [the head of Lü] Chia." Cf. Glossary sub vocibus.

178. According to 28 Bi: 15a and 17b, the commanderies of Chang-yeh and Tun-huang were established in 104 B.C. and 88 or 87 B.C., respectively. The commanderies of Wu-wei and Chiu-ch'üan were moreover not established, according to 28 Bi: 13b, 16b, until 101 and 104 B.C., respectively. The Han-chi, 14: 2a, and the Tzu-chih T'ung-chien, 20: 19a, follow ch. 6. Possibly these commanderies were nominally ordered in 111, but administration was not organized until 104 and 87 B.C.

179. Ying Shao says, "[The Emperor] for the first time performed the sacrifice feng at Mount T'ai, hence changed the year-period." The edict ordering this year-period was not given until the fourth month of this year; cf. p. 26a.

180. Wang Hsien-ch'ien declares that tse(1) 擇 should be shih 釋. HS 25 A: 35a (taken from SC ch. 28; cf. Mh III, 495 f) reads shih twice, "In the next year, in the winter [of 111 B.C.], the Emperor discussed [the matter] and said, `Anciently, the troops were first made to retreat and the cohorts were [temporarily] dismissed [the same phrase as here, 振兵 shih- 旅], and then only were the sacrifices feng and shan performed. . . .He returned, sacrificed at the tomb of the Yellow Lord at Ch'iao-shan and [temporarily] dismissed (shih) the troops at Liang-ju." Hsü Kuang (ca. 352-425) says, "The ancient word shih was written tse(2) 澤." According to Wang Hsien-ch'ien, in the ancient writing, shih and tse(2) were interchanged, and shih and tse(1) were not interchanged; but because tse(1) is similar to tse(2), the former was here written for shih. On the meaning of this phrase, cf. Mh III, 495, n. 5. The dismissal of the troops was merely during the time of sacrifice---war was considered as an inauspicious matter. The purpose of this campaign seems to have been to lure the Shan-Yü to his final defeat. But he would not be tempted. Emperor Wu went north of the great northern bend in the Yellow River.

181. HS 94 A: 21a (de Groot, ibid., p. 148 = SC 110: 56) continues, "When his speech was ended, the Shan-Yü was infuriated and immediately beheaded his Intendant in Charge of Guests, who had introduced [the Chinese envoy]. He retained Kuo Chi [the envoy], not [allowing him] to return. He exiled him shamefully north of the Northern Sea [Lake Baikal]. However, in the end, the Shan-Yü did not permit the making of any raids into the Chinese borders."

182. Han-chi, 14: 2b and Tzu-chih T'ung-chien, 20: 21a follow this chapter in dating this visit in the first month; SC ch. 28 (Mh III, 498) and HS 25 A: 35b date it in the third month (Apr.).

183. In a note to SC 12:10, Wei Chao (197-273/4) says, "The people of Ch'u call a tailed deer [Cervus (elaphurus) davidianus] 麋 a p'ao 麃." In a note to HS 25 A: 24a, Yen Shih-ku, commenting upon the capture of a supposed unicorn, says, "The p'ao is like a deer, in shape like a hornless river-deer [Hydropotes inermis] 麞, with the tail of an ox and one horn." This animal was shot by Emperor Wu himself; 25 A: 29b calls it a deer 鹿; SC 28: 61 (Mh III, 483) and HS 6: 24a call it a p'ao. Emperor Wu's edict is also translated in Chavannes, Mission archeologique, vol. 11, p. 47, n.

184. The present text contains the personal name of this sovereign, Ch'i. But Ch'i was also the personal name of Emperor Wu's father, Emperor Ching, so that Emperor Wu would hardly have used the word ch'i. Liu Pin (1022-1088) says that Emperor Wu changed the name of this shrine from "The Stone of the Mother of Ch'i 啓母石" to "The Stone of the Mother of the Hsia Sovereign 夏后母石" on account of the taboo on his father's name; he concludes that the word Ch'i is an attempt at restoring the original name after ch'i was no longer tabooed, and hence was not original in the History. Yen Shih-ku (581-645) mentions the presence of Ch'i in the text. For an account of this person and shrine, cf. Glossary, sub Ch'i.

185. The Sung Ch'i ed. said that the New ed. (unknown) writes 嵩高. The Ching-yu ed. (1034-5) reads likewise. Ch'ien Ta-chao notes that the Fukien ed. (1549) writes the first character as the Official ed. does, and that 25 A: 36a writes that character 崈. The Official ed. writes the name of this mountain 崇嵩. (In 25 A: 13b, 14a, Wang Hsien-ch'ien's ed. reads as the Official ed. does here.) Wang Nien-sun says that we should follow the Ching-yu ed. Anciently 嵩 and 崇 were interchanged. Wang Nien-sun adds that the first of these two words is not in the Shuo-wen; the ancients used the second character for the first; the second character came into use during 168-189 A.D.

186. HS 25 A: 35b, 36a says, "[The Emperor] favored Kou-shih [with a visit], performed the [sacrifical] rites, and ascended the T'ai-shih [Mount] of the Central [Sacred] Peak, [Mount Sung-kao]. When his attendant officials who accompanied him were on the mountain, they heard [something] as it were the words, `Long life.' They asked those above them, [but] those above them had not said it; they a5b) is even milder, "Light sounds just as if words [were spoken]." Han-chi 14: 2b says, "[The Emperor] favored Kou-shih [with a visit] and ascended [Mt.] Sung-kao. He heard three sounds calling `Long life.' His various ministers, officials, and troops did not [make this] call, [but] all heard it." Hsün Yüeh says that the mountain spirits were acclaiming the Emperor. Ying Shao (ca. 140-206) says, "In Sung-kao prefecture, there are [today] an Upper, Middle, and Lower Wan-sui [lit. `Long life'] Hamlet."

187. Meng K'ang (ca. 180-260) explains, "When the achievements of [true] kings are complete and their rule has been established, they inform Heaven that they have completed their work. To feng 封 is to elevate. [This sacrifice] is to assist [in showing] the greatness of Heaven. He had a stone engraved, recording his words. There was the sealing (feng) of a golden document on a stone envelop bottom (han 函) with a golden mortar [seal] on a jade envelop top (chien 檢)." The "envelop" was probably similar to the wooden ones found by Stein in the Tarim basin; cf. Serindia, vol. IV, pl. xxi.Ying Shao writes, "[For the sacrifice] feng, the altar was 120 feet wide and 20 feet high, with three flights of steps [to ascend it. The sacrifice] feng [was performed] on top of it, to show [that the Emperor] had increased in greatness. A stone was inscribed to record his achievements. [Emperor Wu] set up a stone 31 feet [tall]. Its inscription reads,

	[We, the Emperor,] have served Heaven with [proper] rites
	And established [Our] person according to moral principles.
	[We] have served [Our] parents according to [the principle of] filial piety
	And nurtured the common people according to [the principle of] benevolence.
	Within the four boundaries.
	The whole [land] has been [organized] into commanderies and prefectures.
	The four [groups of] eastern barbarians and the eight [tribes of] southern barbarians
	Have all come to pay dues and tribute.
	Together with Heaven, [Our empire] is endless;
	The people are defended and live in quietude.
	The blessings of Heaven will [hereby] be everlastingly obtained.'

"Dark wine was presented and raw fish [was offered] on the sacrificial table. [The Emperor] descended [the mountain and performed the sacrifice] shan at [Mount] Liang-fu [a lower peak of Mount T'ai, cf. Glossary, sub voce], worshipping the Ruler of Earth, to show that he had increased the breadth [of his territory]. This [practise (reading 此 for 比 with the Southern Academy, Fukien, and Official editions)] was an ancient institution."HS 25 A: 37a says, "[The altar for the sacrifice] feng was twelve feet wide and nine feet high; below it there were jade tablets with writing [on them, but] the writing was hidden," probably by this envelop arrangement. Ying Shao, in quoting this passage, says it was "a writing [tied up with] cords 縢書," just as those ancient envelops were tied. The writing was probably thus sealed because it was directed to the gods alone. Then a feature of the sacrifice feng (the word means "to seal") was a sealed message to the god, hence this name. An elaborate account of the sacrifice feng made by Emperor Kuang-wu in A.D. 56, in which he followed Former Han practises, is to be found in HHS, Tr. 7: 7a-11b. Cf. also n. 16.3 to this chapter; Ying Shao's Han-Kuan-yi, B: 1b-3b. According to HS 58: 12bf, Emperor Wu himself fixed the rites for the sacrifice feng.

188. HS 25 A: 37b adds that the Emperor's "many courtiers in order presented to the Emperor their congratulations." Fu Tsan explains, "HS 25 [B: 2b] says, `[At] the northeast foot of Mt. T'ai, in ancient times there had been a place for a Ming-t'ang.' [This statement is taken from the SC; cf. Mh III, 510.] Then this was the place where [the Emperor] seated himself. In the next year, in the autumn, he built a Ming-t'ang." HS 28 Aii: 75a notes that at Feng-kao in T'ai-shan Commandery, "there is a Ming-t'ang four li southwest [of the city], which was built by Emperor Wu in 109 B.C." Wang Hsien-ch'ien infers that the Ming-t'ang southwest of Feng-kao was the one used by the Han emperors and the one at the northeast foot of Mt. T'ai was the one used by the Chou dynasty. The Shina Rekidai Chimei Yoran, p. 596, locates Feng-kao as seventeen li northeast of the present T'ai-an Hsien (which is south of Mount T'ai), so that the two Ming-t'ang must have been at different localities. The establishment of a Ming-t'ang had previously been discussed in 140 B.C.; cf. 6: 2b.

189. For 兢兢 , the Official ed. has mistakenly 競競; Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 20: 22a reads as Wang Hsien-ch'ien's ed. does.

190. HS 25 A: 36a states that Emperor Wu "went east, traveled along and inspected the sea-coast, and performed sacrificial rites to the eight gods." HS 25 A: 10b-11b enumerates these eight divinities as the Ruler of Heaven (T'ien-chu), the Ruler of Earth, the Ruler of War, the Ruler of the Yin [Principle], the Ruler of the Yang [Principle], the Ruler of the Moon, the Ruler of the Sun, and the Ruler of the Four Seasons. Cf. also Mh III, 432-435. Liu Pin says that the altars to these eight gods were all in the territory of Ch'i, so that when Emperor Wu imitated the First Emperor in going eastwards and along the sea-shore, he similarly sacrificed to these eight deities (cf. Mh III, 431).

191. The reference is probably to the lights seen at sacrifices (cf. p. 21a) and to the supposed shouts of "Long life!" (cf. p. 24b). Fu Tsan makes this identification.

192. This sentence establishes that the official year began with the tenth month (cf. 1: App. II). The names of the previous year-periods were not given until 113 or 114 B.C. Cf. App. I. Chavannes translates the preceding sentence differently, cf. Mh III, 503. Tzu-hsin 自新 is also used to mean "reform oneself" in 7: 7a.

193. Five prefectures are enumerated above; here only four are exempted from the poll-tax; Yen Shih-ku explains that Feng-kao did not pay the poll-tax, but instead regularly made provision for the offerings to the gods. I use "capitation taxes" to translate 賦, which is the general term, and "poll-tax" to translate 算, which is one of the various capitation taxes.

194. HS 25 A: 38a says, "In the fifth month [June], he thereupon reached Kan-ch'üan [Palace. He had started out in the first month.] The circuit [he traveled was] eighteen thousand li." Cf. also Mh III, 504.

195. HS 27 Cb: 22b, 23a dates these two appearances in the fifth month. They are considered as two appearances of the same comet and numbered 34 in Williams, Observations of Comets. HS 25 A: 38a says, "A comet appeared in Tung-ching; more than ten days later a comet appeared in San-t'ai."

196. The Hsi-ching Tsa-chi (vi cent.), 2: 6a, says that this year "it was extremely cold; the snow was five feet deep, [so that] wild birds and beasts all died and cattle and horses all coiled and shrunk themselves up like porcupines. Two or three tenths of the people in the three capital [commanderies] froze to death."

197. HS 25 A: 38b says, "In that spring, Kung-sun Ch'ing said that he saw a supernatural person on a mountain of Tung-lai [Commandery], who seemed to say that he wished to have an audience with the Son of Heaven. The Son of Heaven thereupon favored the city of Kou-shih [with a visit] and installed [Kung-sun] Ch'ing as a Palace Grandee. Thereupon he went to Tung-lai [Commandery] and lodged there. For several days there was nothing to be seen. [Then] he saw the footprints of a giant."

198. This breach in the Yellow River dike had occurred in 132 B.C.; it had remained open for 23 years. Cf. p. 6a. HS 25 A: 39a says that Emperor Wu stopped at Hu-tzu only two days, sacrificed, and left. The "Song of Hu-tzu" is to be found in 29: 9b-11a. It was translated by Edkins in the China Review, vol. 15, no. 5, p. 287, and by Chavannes in Mh III, 533-5.

199. HS 95: 19a reports that the Emperor had sent Shê Ho as an envoy to rebuke the King of Chao-hsien, Wei Yu-ch'ü, who was however unwilling to submit to the Chinese. Shê Ho had the Assistant King of Chao-hsien, Chang, who was escorting Shê Ho out of Korean territory, assassinated and then reported to the Emperor that he had killed a Chao-hsien general. Shê Ho was made Chief Commandant of the Eastern Section in the Liao-tung Commandery; Wei Yü-ch'ü, in revenge, attacked and killed Shê Ho.

200. Ying Shao writes, "Chih 芝 means the chih plant. Its leaves interconnect." Ju Shun adds, "The Jui-ying T'u [by Sung Jou-chih, prob. fl. before 265] [says], `When [true] kings respectfully serve the aged and old and do not neglect their former old [subjects], then the chih plant is produced.' " This book also says, "The chih plant usually springs up in the sixth month; in the spring it is blue, in the summer it is purple, in the autumn it is white, and in the winter it is black." Bretschneider (Jour. N. C. Br., 25: 40) identifies the chih as an orange colored branching fungus of a ligneous structure, described as Agaric ramifié.Yen Shih-ku says that this fungus grew in a room of the harem; Wang Hsien-ch'ien points out that 内 means a room, and quotes the Book of Odes, I, x, ii, 2 (Legge, p. 176) in illustration. HS 22: 30a says, "In 109 B.C., a fungus of immortality sprang up in the room for [ceremonial] retreat in Kan-ch'üan [Palace]." This mushroom is also mentioned in 25 B: 2a. Cf. also 8: 16a.

201. Yen Shih-ku writes, "The Lord on High is Heaven. 上帝天也." But in the HS, this term refers to more than one god, for 25 A: 17b lists five Lords on High; cfGlossary. sub voce. Emperor Wu worshiped the Supreme One and five Lords on High.

202. Chin Shao (fl. ca. 275) writes, "In Kan-ch'üan [Palace] in Yün-yang there was the place [where there was located] the round mound for the worship of Heaven from the time of the Yellow Lord on. Emperor Wu regularly [went there] to escape the heat. He had a palace and lodge there, hence he called it his capital." Yen Shih-ku however objects that "capital" means merely the prefecture in which the Emperor happens to occupy a palace or building, and that it did not mean to imply that Yün-yang was an imperial capital. Wang Hsin-ch'ien replies that Yen Shih-ku's remark is unsubstantiated, and quotes a line from the poem in 22: 30a5, where Kan-ch'üan Palace is also called a "capital." HS 25 B: 4b moreover states that Emperor Wu was urged to make Kan-ch'üan Palace his capital and that he built lodges there for his vassal kings.

203. This poem is to be found in 22: 30a. It is translated in Mh III, 624, XIII.

204. This Ming-t'ang was built according to plans made by Kung-Yü Tai; cf. 25 B: 2b-3b.

205. HS 95: 4b, 5a recounts that they destroyed the states of Lao-shen and Mi-mo, and that the King of T'ien submitted and was enfeoffed by the Emperor.The Liang-shu, 40: 5a, in the biography of Liu Chih-lin (477-548), says that this scholar and collector possessed a foreign-style ewer, on which there was the inscription, "Presented in Yuan-feng II by the state of Kuei-tzu" (the present Kucha). HS 96 B: 14b says, concerning Kuei-tzu, "They are skilled in casting [metal] and possess lead [mines as well as of other metals]." Thus intercourse between the Chinese capital and what became the Western Frontier Regions was already well-developed at this time.

206. For the "competitive games," cf. Appendix IV.Wang Nien-sun says that lai 來 is an interpolation; the Ching-yu ed. (1034-5) is without it; T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 755: 5a has it, but Han-chi 14: 4a quotes this sentence without this word. The latter adds that the games were for the purpose of entertaining those who brought offerings to the court from foreign countries. The Official ed. writes 采 instead of lai.

207. Li Tz'u-ming (1824-1894) says that min 民 here should be jen 人; other similar passages do not use min. Probably Yen Shih-ku changed the words min in the HS to jen in order to avoid the taboo on the name of the T'ang Grand Exempler, Li Shih-min (reigned 627-649); later other persons changed them all back, and then this jen was also mistakenly changed to min.

208. He seems to have gone north through the present western Shensi and eastern Kansuh and south through northern Hopei. Cf. Glossary, sub vocibus.

209. Ju Shun says that 暍 has the same pronunciation as 謁(yeh5) and Yen Shih-ku says, "They suffered from the heat and died."

210. For the events summarized here, cf. SC 110: 58-60 = HS 94 A: 21, 22 = de Groot, ibid., 149, 150.

211. SC 110: 60 = HS 94 A: 22b = de Groot, ibid., 150 adds that Chao P'o-nu was sent with Kuo Ch'ang.

212. For this phrase, cf. Mencius I, ii, iv, 5 (Legge p. 35).

213. Shun was sacrificed to as the tutelary deity of Mt. Chiu-yi. Cf. Glossary, sub voce. Emperor Wu probably did not go to this mountain (in the present southern Hunan), but performed the sacrifice in the present Anhui, where the ancient Sheng-t'ang and Ch'ien2 were located.

214. The word used is chiao(1) 蛟 , which the Shuo-wen interprets as "a kind of dragon." Cf. HFHD I, 29, n. 1. Yen Shih-ku quotes Kuo P'u (276-324) as saying, "It is like a snake but has four feet and a narrow neck. On its neck is a white ring-mark. The large ones are several double arms' length [around]. They are hatched from eggs. The young are like a jar [the size of] one or two hu. [These creatures] are able to swallow a man." Wang Nien-sun adds, "The chiao(1) which was shot should be read as Chiao(2) 鮫 and it should be explained as a large fish of the Yangtze River. The Shuo-wen[11 B: 5b, explains] chiao(2) as a sea-fish, whose skin is used to encase knives." This word is translated in Couvreur, Dict. Class., as "large shark." As Wang Nien-sun points out, this fish is recognized in the SC (cf. Mh II, 190) as a sea-fish. He continues, "The chiao2 is a sea-fish, yet there are also some in the Yangtze River [Dr. C. W. Bishop tells me that in the Yangtze River, fresh-water porpoises are seen as far up as Ichang, and dolphins are seen in the Tung-t'ing Lake. A species of alligator is also found in that river (the only place in the world where it occurs outside of North America).].... In the [Li-chi, chap.] "Yüeh-ling," the Lü-shih Ch'un-ch'iu, and the Huai-nan-[tzu], chiao(2) is written chiao(1)." Since Emperor Wu was emulating the Ch'in First Emperor's exploits, chiao(2) was very probably meant. In view of Kuo P'u's description, this creature was probably an alligator, altho we cannot be sure that it was not a fresh-water porpoise or dolphin.The Ta-Ch'ing Yi-t'ung Chih (1842) vol. 116, Chiu-chiang Fu, 1: 15b, lists a Shêchiao-p'u 射蛟浦 (lit. "the bank where the alligator was shot"), located ten li southeast of the present Hu-k'ou 湖口, in the Ching dynasty's Chiu-chiang Fu, Kiangsi, which is said to have been the place where Emperor Wu shot his alligator.

215. Li Fei (prob. iii cent.) writes, "Chu 舳 is the stern of a boat, where one holds the rudder. Lu 艫 is the front of a boat, where the [places for] oars are incised. It means that his boats were many, with their stems and sterns linked unbroken for a thousand li." "Thousand li" is then a poetical exaggeration. But Ch'ien Ta-chao (1744-1813) points out that the Shuo-wen 8 B: 1b, sub chu, says, "The Han Code names a boat, when it is square and long, a chu-lu. It also means the stern of a boat." sub lu, it says, "It also means the bow of a boat." The Emperor's route on the Yangtze River seems to have been nearer five hundred than a thousand li.

216. HS 30: 56b lists a book with the title "Songs of Travels, Tours of Inspection, and Pleasure-trips, in ten chapters," which are probably Emperor Wu's poems and included these two. These poems have been lost.

217. HS 25 B: 3b says, "This year [the Emperor] renewed [the sacrifice] feng;" SC 28: 82 reads 五年脩封, which is translated in Mh III, 511 "La cinquième année (106 av. J.-C.), il recommenÃ§a le sacrifice fong," for Chavannes considers that Pan Ku wrote the sentence in HS ch. 25 in interpretation of this sentence in the SC. In a comment to HS 6: 29, Wang Hsien-ch'ien however interprets this passage, "[The Emperor] renewed [the sacrifice] feng once every five years."

218. HS 25 B: 3b says, "Then he sacrificed to the Supreme One and to the Five Lords [on High, putting their thrones] in the highest place at the Ming-t'ang, and united the throne for sacrifice to Emperor Kao [with their thrones], putting his throne facing theirs. [He also] sacrificed to Sovereign Earth in the lower room, using, [for these sacrifices, altogether] twenty suevotaurilia." Fu Ch'ien (ca. 125-195) adds, "The Han [dynasty] had not yet at this time made the Eminent Founder, [Emperor Kao] the coadjutor of Heaven, hence it says `[placed his throne] facing [theirs].' From [the time of Emperor] Kuang-wu, [25-57], [Emperor Kao] was made the coadjutor [of Heaven]." A memorial by Wang Mang, in 25 B: 19a, states that in 164 B.C., when Emperor Wen sacrificed to the Supreme One, he made the Eminent Founder, Emperor Kao, the coadjutor of the Sun. Making Kao-tsu the coadjutor of Heaven meant that his tablet was put with that of Heaven, so that Emperor Kao acted as the intermediary to the god, and both tablets were worshipped at the same time with offerings of the same rank.

219. Cf. von Zach, Übersetzungen aus dem Wên Hsüan, p. 112; Margoulies, Le Kou Wen, p. 55 for other translations of this edict.

220. This plague is also mentioned in 27 Bb: 20a.

221. Ying Shao says, "For the first time, [the Emperor] used the calendar of the Hsia [dynasty] and made the first month the beginning of the year. Hence he changed the year and made [the year-period] T'ai-ch'u (the Great Beginning)." Cf. Mh III, 512.

222. Cf. n. 20.4.

223. HS 27 A: 13a adds to this recording, "Before this a great wind had blown away its roof. Hsia-hou Shih-ch'ang predicted the day of this visitation." Cf. also 75: 2a.

224. HS 25 B: 4a says, "He went to the P'o Sea in order to [perform] the sacrifice from a distance to the inhabitants of [the island] P'eng-lai [q. v. in Glossary], hoping to reach its marvellous halls." Cf. also Mh III, 513.

225. HS 25 B: 4a, b says, "Because there had been a visitation [of fire] to the Po-liang [Terrace in Wei-yang Palace, the Emperor] received the [yearly] accounts at Kan-ch'üan [Palace]. . . .Yung-chih [whom Wen Ying says was a shamaness from the Yüeh barbarians] however said, `[According to] the customs of Yüeh, when there is a visitation of fire, they again raise up a building which must be larger, in order to overcome and suppress [the malignant influences that caused the fire].' Thereupon [the Emperor] built Chien-chang Palace."

226. This statement proves that previously the month called "the first month" did not begin the year. Cf. ch. I, App. II. The change was from a year beginning in the tenth month, which calendar had been adopted from the Ch'in dynasty, to a year beginning in the first month. P. Hoang gives this year an intercalary month, so that this calendar year contained 16 months. For this change, cf. 21 A: 25a ff.

227. HS 25 B: 5b (Mh III, 515) says, "[The Emperor] took the first month as the beginning of the year, and [among] the colors, took yellow [as the ruling color. For] the officials, he changed their seals, [making them] of five characters." Chang Yen (prob. iii cent.) explains, "The Han [dynasty] occupied [its place through] the virtue of [the element] earth. The number [corresponding to the element] earth is five, hence he used five. This refers to the inscriptions on seals. For example, for the Lieutenant Chancellor it said, 丞相之印章, and for the ministers, together with Administrators and Chancellorsgmented [to this number]."

228. Emperor Wu changed the titles of many official positions at this time; he and other emperors had made changes previously and subsequently continued to do so. For these changes, cf. Glossary, sub the various official titles. Many are noted in HS 19.There is no actual record of any changes in music, but 22: 15a says that Emperor Wu appointed Li Yen-nien as "the Commandant for Harmonizing the Musical Pipes." Feng-su-t'ung (by Ying Shao) 6: 9b, sub the "Flute (ti 笛)," says, "According to the Classic of Music, the flute was made in the time of Emperor Wu by Ch'iu Chung 丘仲. The flute (ti) is to cleanse (ti 滌). It is the means of purifying and cleansing unorthodox and harmful [music] and bringing it [into harmony with music that is] elegant and correct. [The flute] is two feet four inches long and has seven holes." Shen Ch'in-han remarks, "Judging by the example of the twelve flutes used by Hsün Hsü 荀勗 (d. 289), probably at this time they made this instrument to harmonize the musical tubes."

229. SC 110: 61, 62 = HS 94 A: 22b, 23a = de Groot, ibid., 152 says, "The Shan-Yü was young and was fond of killing and fighting, so that there was much disturbance in his country. The [Hun] Grand Commandant of the East intended to kill the Shan-Yü. He sent a man secretly to inform the Chinese, saying, `I intend to kill the Shan-Yü and surrender to the Chinese. [But] China is distant. If [the Chinese] will send troops to my vicinity, I will at once make [an attack upon the Shan-Yü].' When the Han [Emperor] had first heard these words, he had Shou-hsiang-ch'eng [lit. "the city to receive the surrenderers"] built, [but the Hun Grand Commandant of the East] still thought it was too distant, [so did not come to surrender]."

230. Yen Shih-ku writes, "The ordinary people 庶人 who have committed crimes are the 讁者." But cf. n. 35.2. For this expedition, cf. App. V and Glossary, sub Li Kuang-li.

231. HS 27 Bb: 20a says, "In the summer, locusts [came] from the east; by flying they reached Tun-huang [Commandery]."

232. Hsi-Han Nien-chi 16: 15b (by Wang Yi-chih, fl. 1221) notes that the first month of this year did not contain a mou-shen day, so that this date is impossible; Hoang agrees; HS 19 B: 23a dates this death on the day mou-jin, which P. Hoang equates with Mar. 4, 103. Han-chi 14: 8b and Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 21: 13a however both write mou-shen, so that this error must have occurred very early.

233. Ju Shun interprets lou 膢 as ch'ou 貙-lou, which was a sacrifice to the ancestors at the autumnal equinox, according to the comment in the Han-chiu-yi; the early commentators follow him. Ch'ien Ta-chao objects that this meaning is inappropriate, since the Emperor's order was for the third month, not for the autumn. Shuo-wen 4 B: 5a says, "Lou is a sacrifice in the second month with eating and drinking, according to the custom in [the state of] Ch'u. ... It is also said, `To pray for grain and eat of the new [products of the year] is called li 離-lou.' " (One text omits the word li.) Shen Ch'in-han quotes Han-fei-tzu, "Wu-tu P'ien," 19: 1b, "Those who dwell in the mountains and draw water from the valleys, [on the days for the sacrifices] lou and la, offer water to each other [as a gift]," so that this festival was ancient. The la sacrifice was made to the spirits on the third day having the cyclical character hsü, after the winter solstice.Liu Pin (1022-1088) says that the word 五 is an interpolation; I have taken it that 五 and 日 should be interchanged. HS 25 A: 3b says "Grandees make the `five sacrifices' to the Gates, Doors, Well, Stove, and Center of the [Principal] Room." The Li-ki IV, vi, 19 (Couvreur, I, 396) says, "On the La [day], he [sacrifices] to the ancestors and makes the `five sacrifices'," which latter are the sacrifices to the parts of the house enumerated above. These five sacrifices are described in Ts'ai Yung's Tu-tuan 10b, 11a and in Po-hu T'ung 1: 15a-16b.

234. Yen Shih-ku explains, "Registration means that they were all put on the registers, recorded and taken." Ho Ch'uo adds, "This registration of horses was for the expedition against Ferghana (Ta-Yüan)."

235. For the fate of this expedition, cf. Glossary, sub Chao P'o-nu.

236. Ch'ien Ta-hsin (1728-1804) remarks, "The recording of deaths of Grandee Secretaries begins with [Yi] K'uan. There is only omitted in the `Annals of Emperor Yüan' the recording of the death of Ch'en Wan-nien, which is an omission of the annalist. When Grandee Secretaries died, their surname was regularly recorded. [But] in 33 B.C., upon the death of Grandee Secretary [P'an] Yen-shou [cf. 9: 13a], his surname is not recorded, which is also an omission."

237. HS 25 B: 5b (= Mh III, 516) adds, "He investigated the [alleged] divinities, immortals, and the like [upon the sea-coast, but] none were verified."

238. Cf. Glossary, sub Kuang-lu-ch'eng.

239. HS 27 Bb: 20a says, "In the autumn, there was again [a plague of] locusts."

240. Yen Shih-ku writes, "[According to] the Han institutions, at important places on each [part of] the Barrier, there were separate buildings constituting a fort 城, and there were people appointed to hold 鎮 and guard it. It was called a captain's fort 候城. These were precisely the fortifications 鄣 [spoken of]."

241. Cf. Appendix V.

242. This poem is to be found in 22: 26b, 27a and is translated in Mh III, 620, X, 2.

243. In 39: 2b, Hsiao Ho is represented as saying, "The saying is, `The heavenly Han(s) [i.e., the Milky Way; Han(s) is the same word as that for the Han dynasty];' this name is very beautiful." Fu Tsan interprets this saying, "A vulgar expression is `The heavenly Han(s).' It means that the Han(s) [dynasty] is regularly matched with Heaven." Wang Hsien-ch'ien asserts that this saying indicates the meaning of the name for this year-period. But Ying Shao says, "At that time, for successive years there had been bitter droughts, hence the year-period was changed to T'ien-hans in order to pray for sweet rain." Yen Shih-ku agrees; he refers to the Book of Odes, III, iii, iv, which poem is entitled "Yün-han(s)" (the Milky Way, the heavenly river, from which rain comes), and which was composed, according to him, "by Jeng Shu in order to glorify [the preparations made by] King Hsüan [827-782 B.C.] for meeting a visitation of drought, by cultivating his virtue and by a diligent government, so that he was able to bring rain. Hence, because of [this conception, the Milky Way] was taken as the name of the year-period." Wang Hsien-ch'ien denies that meaning because of Hsiao Ho's saying. Possibly both conceptions, the aversion of drought and the glorification of the dynasty, were implied in this name.

244. HS 27 Ba: 29a says, "In the third month, Heaven rained white feathers."

245. This submission was the result of Li Kuang-li's conquest of Ferghana; cf. SC 110: 64, 65 = HS 94 A: 23b, 24a = de Groot, ibid., 156, 157.According to 27 Ba: 24a, in the summer of this year there was a great drought.

246. Such a "great search" is also recorded in the autumn of 99 B.C. (p. 34a) and in Nov./Dec. 92 B.C. (p. 36b). Huai-nan-tzu, "T'ien-wen Hsün," 3: 10b, says, "If on [the day] jen-tzu, an order is received, thereupon the [city]-gates and street-[gates] are closed, there is a great search for strangers, criminal cases are decided and those who deserve it are killed, the [customs] barriers and the bridges are closed, and moving out of [the kingdom] is prohibitated. ibid., "Shih-tse Hsün," 5: 13a says, "In the first month of winter, . . . [the ruler should] prohibit moving out [of the country], close [the gates to] the streets, [make] a great search for strangers, decide criminal cases, and kill those who deserve [this] punishment."Chou Shou-ch'ang remarks, "The `great search' probably arose [in the time of] the Contending States [403-255 B.C.]; it was especially used in the time of the Ch'in [dynasty]. For proof, see the various "Memoirs of Li Szu" [SC ch. 87] and "of Shang Yang" [SC ch. 68 (I have not been able to find there any reference to a great search in SC 68 or 87)], together with the Huai-nan-tzu. When [Emperor] Kao of the Han [dynasty] united [the empire], this law was considerably relaxed. [Emperor] Hsiao-wen did away with the barriers and did not employ passports, so that he was not generous merely to the imperial capital. Emperor Wu again employed this law. When [the affair of] witchcraft and black magic arose, this prohibition [was enforced] still more strictly. Pan [Ku] mentioned it especially in his "Annals" in order to record the harshness of the government in this period. During and after [the reigns of Emperors] Chao and Hsüan, [this practise of making a `great search'] is not seen in history. Probably this prohibition had already been entirely done away with." The biographies of Shang Yang and of Li Szu do not contain any accounts of `great searches' having been made; but the spirit of the `great search' is very akin to what is found there. This practise fits in well with the legalist measures adopted by Emperor Wu.

247. Wang Hsien-ch'ien remarks that it was not the practise of the historian to omit the name of a general in such a case as this one, so that the words, "Kung-sun Ao," have probably dropped out of the text here. SC 110: 66 = HS 94 A: 24a = de Groot, ibid., 162 states that Li Kuang-li was surrounded by a great force of Huns on his return, and barely escaped with the loss of 60% to 70% of his force. It also says that Kung-sun Ao was to meet Lu Po-tê at Mt. Cho-yeh, and that they did not even make any captures.

248. Wen Ying (fl. ca. 196-220) writes, "At first, the Han dynasty made sacrifices upon the roads, to take away misfortunes and calamities and transfer them upon travelers. The people considered this [practise] unorthodox, so he now stopped it." Yen Shih-ku says however that this interpretation is mistaken, for "Emperor Wen had previously done away with the Secret Invocator and the transferrence of faults [to others, cf. 4: 14b. But this practise may meanwhile have been revived]. This [order] is now merely a general prohibition to the people against shamans and seers who perform sacrifices upon the roads." Shen Ch'in-han notes that the Chou-li 26: 5b (Biot, II, 103) says, "The Male Shaman 男巫 has charge of sacrifices at a distance. He looks towards [the divinities invoked], invites [them to come; the word used is yen(1) 衍] and bestows upon them [honorific] titles." (Tu Tzu-ch'un, ca. 30 B.C.-A.D. 60, says that the bestowing of titles consists in "bestowing upon them the name used in sacrificing to them." Cheng Hsüan, 127-200, says that yen(1) should be read as yen(2) 延, which we have interpreted as "invite to come." But Szu-ma Cheng [fl. 713-742], in a note to SC ch. 28, quotes Li Ch'i [fl. ca. 200] as saying, "In the three capital commanderies, [the region] between hills or tomb mounds is called yen(1)." Shen Ch'in-han accordingly says that this yen(1) sacrifice is a sacrifice in the regions between hills or tomb mounds, and is the sacrifice referred to in the HS text as being on roads. The above passage from the Chou-li should accordingly be translated, "He looks to the gaps between hills or tomb mounds and bestows [upon the divinity dwelling there an honorific] title.")

249. HS 96 B: 17b, quoting an edict of Emperor Wu, says, "The young men of six states, [including] Korla (Wei-hsü), Wei-li, and Lou-lan, who were in the imperial capital, all came [to Us] first." Hsü Sung (1781-1848) suggests that the other two states might have been Charchan (Chü-mo) (which does not seem correct on geographic grounds) and Karashahr (Yen-ch'i).

250. There was considerable disorder at this time. HS 90: 12a says, "At this time the Commandery Administrators and Commandants, and the nobles' Chancellors and [officials ranking at] two thousand piculs who wished to have a good government generally imitated Wang Wen-shu and others in all things [by controlling the people thru stool-pigeons and protected criminals], so that the officials and common people increasingly despized and violated the laws, and robbers and thieves arose increasingly. In Nan-yang [Commandery] there were Mei Mien and Po Cheng; in [the region of] Ch'u there were Tuan Chung and Tu Shao; in Ch'i there was Hsü P'o; in [the region] between Yen and Chao there were Chien Lu and Fan Chu, and their like. The large groups attained [the number of] several thousand persons. They unauthorizedly gave themselves titles, attacked cities and towns, took arms from the arsenals, freed [those who had committed] capital crimes, bound and insulted Commandery Administrators and Chief Commandants, killed [officials ranking at] 2000 piculs, and by means of dispatches informed prefectural [cities] that they must hasten to provide food. The small groups, numbering hundreds [of people], who kidnapped and captured in the villages and hamlets, could not be estimated or numbered."

251. HS 90: 12b says, "They cut off the heads of the greater part [of the robbers, whose number] reached to perhaps more than ten thousand. Moreover, in accordance with the law, there were executed: those who had opened the way [for the robbers], those who had given them food, and those who were sentenced for being implicated [with them, whose number totaled] at most several thousand persons in a commandery."

252. Ying Shao explains, "The imperial government itself dealt in liquor and monopolized the selling of fermented drink. Ordinary people were not again permitted to deal in it."Wei Chao writes, "To use a tree to cross a stream is called chio 榷 [Ju Shun says this word is pronounced the same as 較]. It says that it was prohibited for the people to deal in or ferment liquors, only the officials could open and establish [places for such activities], just as on the roads and ways when logs are placed to serve as a means of crossing a stream (a chio), they alone get the profit [from it]." Yen Shih-ku writes, "The chio is a bridge for crossing [a stream] on foot. The Erh-ya [5:4b] speaks of `a stone foot-bridge 石杠 [i.e., stepping stones].' The present small beam or tree lying across a stream 略彴 is [precisely] this [thing]. They prohibited and closed up this business, gathering its profits for the government, so that their inferiors would have no means of securing or having them, like a foot-bridge (chio) for crossing a stream. From that it was given [this] name, [chio]. Wei [Chao's] explanation and Ju [Shun's] pronunciation are correct."

253. Ch'i Shao-nan (1703-1768) remarks that po-ti cannot here be the name of a commandery, because Mt. Ch'ang was in Ch'ang-shan Commandery. "It is merely as if it said `the northern borders.' "

254. Teng Chang (fl. ca. 208) writes, "Yi 瘞 is to bury." Yen Shih-ku adds, "The Erh-ya [6: 8a] says, `Sacrifices to the Earth are called yi-mai 薶.' The objects [used as offerings] are buried to show that they are devoted to the Earth."

255. HS 27 Ba: 24a says, "In the summer, there was a great drought."

256. A similar case is mentioned in 52: 20a, "The Commandant of Justice charged that [Wang] Hui had stopped and hesitated, and should be executed by being cut [in two]." Ju Shun explains "[According to] the military law, one who delays or is fearful or timid should be cut in two at the waist."

257. Ch'ien Ta-chao remarks that HHS, Mem. 76: 20b, states that in this year Shen-li Commandery was abolished and its territory was made the western portion of Shu Commandery.

258. Chang Yen (prob. iii cent.) writes, "[The reprobated persons (tse 讁) are:] first, petty officials who have committed crimes; second, fugitives [the Official ed. and Hu San-hsing in his quotation of this comment in the Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 22: 1b write 亡命 instead of 亡人]; third, adopted sons-in-law [there was an intense prejudice against the practise employed by some persons who had no sons, of adopting a boy, giving him their surname, and marrying him to a daughter, in order to perpetuate their ancestral sacrifices, probably on the ground that such a practise constituted incest]; fourth, resident merchants; fifth, those who had formerly been enregistered in the market-place [as merchants]; sixth, those whose father or mother had been enregistered in the marketplace [as merchants]; seventh, those whose grandfather or grandmother had been enregistered in the market-place [as merchants]; seven classes in all."

259. HS 14: 21a dates this appointment on July 17.

260. The Official ed. has correctly emended 人 to 入. This order commuting death punishment for a money payment is repeated on p. 35b under the date 95 B.C. The latter seems a doublet for the present recording; in 78: 5b, Hsiao Wang-chih mentions this order, dating it in 97 B.C., and not even hinting that it was repeated in 95 B.C.

261. Ying Shao explains, "It says that he purified and cleansed the world and gave the common people [an opportunity to make] a new beginning, hence he capped the year-period with [this name]," lit. "the great beginning."

262. Chavannes, Documents Chinois découverts par Aurel Stein, p. 71, notes that one of Stein's tablets necessitates putting the intercalary month at the end of the year T'ai-shih I, not at the end of T'ien-han IV, as Hoang has it. The months in Hoang's calendar for T'ai-shih I are then each to be moved along by one month. This change is confirmed by the eclipse recorded for this year; cf. App. VI, xi.

263. HS 55: 18b states that Kung-sun Ao feigned death and fled, hiding among the common people. Five or six years later he was discovered and executed. The "Annals" is probably merely copying his sentence of death. Cf. Glossary, sub voce.

264. The present text reads, "Yün-ling." Yen Shih-ku remarks that at this time there was no Yün-ling. Mou-ling was the city at the tomb erected by Emperor Wu for himself. Yün-yang was the prefecture in which Kan-ch'üan Palace was located. When the Favorite Beauty nee Chao of the Kou-yi Palace died between 91 and 87 B.C., she was buried in Yün-yang prefecture; when her son, Emperor Chao, ascended the throne in 87 B.C., she was for the first time entitled Empress Dowager and the Yün tomb was built with the town of Yün-ling, made from part of Yün-yang prefecture. Hence in 96 B.C. there was no Yün-ling and the future Empress Dowager nee Chao was still living. In Pan Ku's time only Yün-yang remained. Hence Yen Shih-ku is probably correct in suggesting the emendation of "Yün-ling" to "Yün-yang." The Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 22: 2b however deletes "Yün-ling" as an interpolation. Han-chi 15: 1a reads, "to Mou-ling and the tomb which is at Yün-yang," so that the present reading of the HS is ancient. A copyist who knew that there had been a Yün-ling might have written ling for yang through the attraction of the first ling.

265. For the ascent of Mt. Lung, cf. 6: 20a; for the white unicorn, cf. 6: 13a; for the horse, cf. 6: 19b. The gold may be that mentioned in 6: 30b, but that was at another locality.

266. Ying Shao says, "He captured a white unicorn and had the auspicious presage of the horse [from the Wu-wa River], hence he changed the casting of actual gold to be like unicorns' feet and fine horses' hoofs, in order to accord with these happy celestial favors. Anciently there was an excellent horse by the name of Yao-niao 要褭 [the latter of which words is here translated `fine horse'], who had a red muzzle, a black body, and could travel fifteen thousand li in one day." Yen Shih-ku adds, "Since it says, `It was proper that [We] should change former appellations,' it also says, `[We] change [the shape for ingots of] actual gold to have [the shape of] unicorns' feet and fine horses' hoofs.' This [means] that although anciently gold was named in terms of [its weight in] catties and taels, yet according to the official regulations it had a regular shape, like the present golden ingots with lucky words 吉字金挺 [which we have not been able to find described elsewhere]. Emperor Wu wished to make known his auspicious presages, hence universally changed [the shapes of gold ingots] and cast [gold] in the shape of unicorns' feet and horses' hoofs, merely to change the ancient forms. At present people from time to time find in the earth [ingots in the shape of] golden horses' hoofs 馬號金 [this seems to be the only place where these ingots are mentioned], the gold of which is very fine and good and whose shape is beautiful and elegant." Liu Pin remarks that Emperor Wu probably used gold from Mt. Lung-shou to make these castings in order to accord with the portents. "Unicorns' hoofs" is an allusion to Book of Odes, I, i, xi (Legge, p. 19). Unicorns were supposed to have the hoofs of a horse; the animal was the symbol of all goodness and benevolence. One of these ingots is reproduced in the magazine Ch'üan pi (Chinese Numismatics) vol. 1, no. 1, July 1940, p. 26.

267. This recording is a doublet for the one on p. 35a; cf. n. 35.4.

268. The Emperor secured six wild geese. The poem is found in HS 22: 32a, b and translated in Mh III, 628, XVIII.

269. Yen Shih-ku quotes a note of Ju Shun to HS 25 B: 6b, saying, "It was as if there were shadows of spirits who faced the throne which was sacrificed to and who made obeisance," and adds, "A Han [dynasty] commentator says, `[Some] spirits appeared together, both white and black, both great and small, facing the [Emperor's] throne, and [made] three obeisances.' " Sacrifices were made in the morning before dawn. The "three obeisances" look like the required obeisances to the emperor; such obeisances were probably also made to shrines. Ying Shao identifies these spirits as immortals from the fairy isle of P'eng-lai.

270. This event is also noted in 27 Ca: 17a, where it is interpreted as presaging the downfall of Heir-apparent Li, since his downfall was caused by a man from Chao, Chiang Ch'ung, who dug up the black magic; cf. 6: 37a. Snakes, frogs, fish, and the like were thought to be attendants upon certain gods; Cf. the plates of the Wu clan graves in Chavannes, Mission archeologique, which also show toads fighting.This portent is an imitation of the one recorded in the Tso-chuan, Dk. Chuang, XIV, (Legge, p. 92), where the fighting of serpents prophesies the assassination of the Earl of Cheng and his two sons. The fighting in the HS may have been believed to presage the fighting in Ch'ang-an at the time of the Heir-apparent's turmoil.Dr. Leonhard Stejneger, Head Curator of Biology at the United States National Museum, Washington, D. C., writes, "It does not seem possible that the account can have reference to `snakes' or serpents in the ordinary sense of the word. It seems to be pure myth." This account is one of the rare purely mythological events reported for Han times in the HS. It may be paralleled by the fight between frogs and toads (6: 21a; cf. n. 21.6). Practically all the portents in the HS dated in Han times are possible events; among the impossible ones, besides these two, there are the hair on the bottoms of Emperor Hsüan's feet (8: 3a), the dwarf shadows (99 B: 18a), and Emperor Hsüan's grave-clothes standing up (99 C: 8b, which seems a sheer exaggeration of the similar and possible event in 12: 3b). The rarity of such impossible events recorded in a superstitious era speaks well for Pan Ku's carefulness.

271. Ying Shao explains the name of this year-period as follows: "It says that [the Emperor] had made military expeditions (cheng) against the barbarians in all directions, so that the world was at peace (ho)."

272. HS 27 Ba: 24b reads, "In the summer, there was a great drought."

273. Wen Ying (fl. ca. 196-220) says, "They surveyed the chariots and rch' means to seek for evil people [cf. n. 33.5]. Shang-lin Park is several hundred li around, hence [the Emperor] mobilized the chariots and cavalry of the three capital commanderies to enter it and make a grand search. The Han-ti Nien-chi [(before 285) says the Emperor] `mobilized the cavalrymen of the three capital commanderies to make a grand search in Ch'ang-an and in the Shang-lin [Park]. The city gates were closed to the fifteenth day and many of the military officials who were Expectant Appointees to the Northern Army died of hunger.' Then in both [cases, in the Park and in the city], it was a search, and was not to count the provisions for the army." Han-chi 15: 3a and Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 22: 4b both read "the eleventh day," so that the "fifteenth day" of the Han-ti Nien-chi is a mistake. A search is mentioned in the Tso-chuan Dk. Ch'eng, XVII, 574 B.C. (Legge, p. 404). Cf. also Book of Changes, App. II, xxiv, Legge, p. 297; SC 15: 116, under date 236 B.C.

274. For this cause célèbre, and the subsequent tumult, cf. Glossary, sub Kung-sun Ho, Chiang Ch'ung, and Liu Chü; J. J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China, V, 826-844.

275. The typesetters have followed the Official ed. This is also the reading of the Ching-yu ed. and is correct. The traditional text, followed by Wang Hsien-ch'ien, gives An the wood (No. 75) radical.

276. Ying Shao comments, "At that time, the Heir-apparent had also sent out credentials in order to be able to fight, hence yellow [pennons] were affixed to the top of [the imperial credentials] in order to distinguish them." HS 66: 3b says, "At first, the credentials of the Han [emperors] were pure red [in color]. Because the Heir-apparent used red credentials, [the imperial credentials] were changed to have yellow pennons added to them in order to distinguish [the two kinds of credentials]."

277. HS 27 Ca: 9a adds, "It crushed and killed people."

278. Wang Hsien-ch'ien's ed. has dropped the kan 干 at this point; the Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed. (1528-31), the Fukien ed. (1549), and the Official ed. have it.

279. HS 94 A: 25b = de Groot, ibid., 178f recounts that the Huns sent more than twenty thousand troops to block Ma T'ung's way, but retreated when they found the Chinese force was strong, so that Ma T'ung neither gained nor lost anything. At this time the Chinese feared that the troops of Turfan (Chü-shih) would intercept Ma T'ung, so Ma T'ung sent the Marquis of K'ai-ling, Ch'eng Wan, who was originally a Hun, to besiege Turfan. He captured its king and all its people.

280. For details, cf. Glossary. sub voce. According to 94 A: 26a, Li Kuang-li was not defeated until after the execution of Liu Ch'u-li; this paragraph sums up the year's campaigns.

281. For details, cf. Glossary, sub Liu Ch'u-li. The present text adds the word "children 子" after "wife"; but Mr. Cheng (fl. dur. 265-317) comments, "His wife committed witchcraft and black magic; her husband was sentenced as her accomplice, [but] he only was cut in two at the waist." The Sung Ch'i ed. writes that the Old text (before vi cent.) has not the word for "children"; the Ching-yu ed. (1034-5) also has not this word. HS 27 A: 13b also mentions only his wife as having had her head exposed; Han-chi 15: 7a likewise mentions her alone. Wang Nien-sun says accordingly that "children" is a conflation from 66: 5a. But in the Han style tzu may be an enclitic; cf. p. 425, addition to 231, n. 2.

282. These meteorites are also mentioned in 27 Cb: 25a and in 25 B: 6b, 7a. The latter passage says, "In this year, at Yung Hsien, when there were no clouds, it was as if there were three [peals] of thunder, and something as if it were a rainbow mist, blue and yellow, like a [flock of] flying birds, perched south of Yü-yang Palace. The noise was heard for four hundred li and the two meteorites were as black as a black mole. A high official considered them as a fortunate [sign, so] they were offered in the [imperial] ancestral temples."

283. The name of this year-period, which seems to mean "the last year-period," is peculiar. It looks very much as if Emperor Wu had failed to give a name to this year-period (names were not usually assigned until some time, sometimes years, after the year-period began), and this name was used by historians because it was the last period of his reign.But Wang Yi (1321-1372) says that Emperor Wu was imitating Emperor Wen's and Emperor Ching's last year-periods, so that the name of this year-period was not given by historians. Wang Hsien-ch'ien approves. Liu Pin (1022-1088) thinks that, just as in the reigns of Emperors Wen and Ching there were properly no named year-periods, so here there was merely a "last first year 後元年." Chu Yi-hsin (1848-1894) points out that this phrase is found in 68: 2a and 28 Bi: 17b, and that the phrase 後二年 is found in 7: 3b and 14: 9b. (In these cases however the word 元 may have merely dropped out in the transmission of the text. Cf. 7: n. 3.8.) Chu Yi-hsin suggests that 後元年 was probably a popular term for the more precise 後元元年. Wu Jen-chieh (ca. 1137-1199) suggests that just as Emperor Kuang-wu named 56 A.D. as 建武中元元年 and the historians dropped the first two words, so Emperor Wu called this year-period Cheng-ho-hou-Yüan, and the historian deleted the first two characters. But there is independent proof for the above designation of 56 A.D., whereas there is no corroboration for Wu Jen-chieh's suggestion. Wang Hsien-ch'ien points out that Emperor Wu began the practise of giving year-periods with a name composed of two characters, and that each of his ten previous year-periods had such a name, so that this year-period would hardly be an exception. These explanations seem however far-fetched, so that I am possibly correct in suggesting that the name of this year-period was given by historians on the model of those in preceding reigns.

284. Ju Shun says, "At the time it was spring, not the time to use bird-nets, hence he did not capture any."

285. He was sentenced for impious disrespect or witchcraft. Cf. Glossary, sub voce.

286. 馬 and 莽 seem anciently to have been pronounced alike, as muo. For the change of this surname, cf. Glossary, sub Ma T'ung. The first of these two words is usually written, hence I have used its modern pronunciation, in accordance with my practise of employing the modern equivalents of ancient pronunciations, unless there is some justification for a change.

287. For this attempted assassination of Emperor Wu, cf. Glossary, sub Ma Ho-lo. Chin Mi-ti siezed Ma Ho-lo; Ho Kuang and Shang-kuan Chieh probably pursued and killed Ma T'ung.

288. In a note to 7: 1b, Liu Pin remarks that in this year, the second month (Mar./Apr.), there was an amnesty, mentioned in 8: 2a and 74: 7a (also 97 A: 19b7), which the "Annals" fail to record.

289. A quotation from Kung-yang Commentary 28: 8a, Dk. Ai, XIV. It is repeated in SC 8: 86 = Mh II, 403 = HS 1 B: 24b.

290. Yen Shih-ku writes, "The six classics are the Book of Changes, the Book of Odes, the Book of History, the Spring and Autumn, the Book of Rites, and the Book of Music.

291. Ch'ou-tzu 疇咨 is a phrase used by Yao in the Book of History, I, iii, 9 (Legge, p. 23) and must be interpreted accordingly.

292. Much of the above eulogy is taken from the laudatory edict of Emperor Hsüan; cf. 8: 5b; 75: 3b.

293. For Pan Ku's drastic criticism of Emperor Wu's reign, cf. the eulogies of Emperors Chao and Wen, 7: 10b and 4: 21a-22a; also the bitter summary in 96B: 36a-38b.


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漢 書 六

Translation and Notes

Notes

漢書六