Empresses and Consorts : Selections from Chen Shou’s Records of the Three States and Pei Songzhi’s Commentary. 9780824819453, 0824819454

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Selections from Chen Shou's Records of the Three States with Pei Songzhi's Commentary Translated with Annotations and Introduction by Robert Joe Cutter and William Gordon Crowell

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© 1999 University of Hawai'i Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America 04 03 02. 01 00 99 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ch'en, Shou, 233-297. [San kuo chih. English. Selections] Empresses and consorts: selections from Chen Shou's Records of the Three States with Pei Songzhi's commentary / translated with annotations and introduction by Robert Joe Cutter and William Gordon Crowell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–8248–1945–4 (alk. paper) 1. Empresses—China. 2. China—Court and courtiers. 3. Women—China—History. 4. China—History—Three Kingdoms, 220–265. I. P'ei, Sung-chih, 372–451. II. Cutter, Robert Joe. III. Crowell, William Gordon. IV. Title. DS748.25.C49 199 98–41899 931'.04—dc21 CIP University of Hawai'i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. Designed by Cameron Poulter Printed by Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group Start of Citation[PU]University of Hawaii Press[/PU][DP]1999[/DP]End of Citation

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For Kay, Krista, Mei-yüeh, Alexis, Claudia, Erin, and in the memory of Barbara Start of Citation[PU]University of Hawaii Press[/PU][DP]1999[/DP]End of Citation

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Page vii Profound is the love between a wife and her husband. A ruler cannot obtain it from his ministers nor can a father obtain it from his sons. —Sima Qian, Shi ji

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CONTENTS Preface Translators' Note

xi xiii

Part One: Prolegomenon 1 Introduction

3

2 Palace Women in the Early Empire

9

3 Women in Early Imperial History and Thought

26

4 Empresses and Consorts of the Three States

46

5 Records of the Three States

61

Part Two: Translation Records of the Three States: The Book of Wei

89

Fascicle 5: Empresses and Consorts Records of the Three States: The Book of Shu

115

Fascicle 34: Consorts and Sons of the Two Sovereigns Records of the Three States: The Book of Wu

122

Fascicle 50: Consorts and Concubines Appendixes Appendix I: Tables

137

Appendix II: Character Count in the San guo zhi and Its Commentary

149

Abbreviations

151

Notes

153

Bibliography

229

Index

255

Maps follow page

81

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PREFACE This volume is the result of a long-standing mutual interest in the Han and immediately post-Han periods. Although the idea for this book came much later, we first met at the University of Washington, where history and literature students habitually invaded each other's disciplines with relative impunity. During a conversation in Madison, Wisconsin in the summer of 1985, we decided to identify a project that would lend itself to being undertaken jointly by two people with separate interests in literature and social and economic history and a shared love of classical Chinese texts. The fascicles devoted to empresses and consorts in Records of the Three States presented themselves as an obvious choice, for in addition to meeting these criteria, they offered a sampling from each of the three divisions of the text and dealt with a common theme. We also had in mind a complete translation of Records of the Three States, and it seemed to us that this initial publication would provide an opportunity to test ideas and approaches, as well as to seek criticism that could guide us in the larger work. Finally, we thought that translating these fascicles would serve as a tribute to the women in our own lives, to whom this effort is dedicated. Would that the project could have been carried out under such circumstances as we enjoyed in our graduate student days! Instead, we have contrived to work separately in places as scattered as Bamako, Beijing, Boise, Boulder, Falls Church, Hong Kong, Madison, Reykjavík, Sarajevo, Shenyang, Taipei, and Yuma, with only a handful of opportunities to work briefly together in any of these cities. While the three fascicles and prolegomenon offered here deal with issues relating to women during the Three States period, it has not been our intention to write a history of women. Such a history is unquestionably needed, and Records of the Three States contains much valuable information on third-century Chinese society. We can only hope that we have made the way a bit smoother for those better qualified than we for such an undertaking. We have benefited from the help and guidance of many. Among those who have read and commented on all or portions of the manuscript Start of Citation[PU]University of Hawaii Press[/PU][DP]1999[/DP]End of Citation

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at various stages in its development are Jeff Howard, Hsing I-tien, David N. Keightley, William H. Nienhauser, Jr., Melvin P. Thatcher, and Stephen H. West. We would especially like to thank Rafe de Crespigny, Albert Dien, Anne Kinney, and David Roy. Their wise and generous counsel immeasurably improved the final work. Where we failed to heed that counsel, and the work has consequently fallen short, we are of course to blame. Others who offered guidance or information include Ho Tze-chuan, Ch'en Shun-cheng and Lü Zongli. Their help was critical to enlightening us on specific points. J. Michael Farmer assisted with computer-related questions and ran the character count that appears in Appendix II. Francis Stanton of Eagle Eye Maps crafted the maps. We are also grateful to the Vilas Foundation and the Graduate School Research Committee of the University of Wisconsin-Madison for their financial support, to Patricia Crosby of the University of Hawai'i Press for her advice and encouragement, and to our editors Victoria Scott and Masako Ikeda for their careful reading and helpful suggestions. A special expression of gratitude is due our mentors in classical Chinese language and literature, especially Father Paul L-M Serruys and David R. Knechtges. Father Serruys imbued us with an appreciation of the importance of rigor in reading and understanding classical Chinese, while Professor Knechtges showed us that such rigor should not be incompatible with an elegant rendering into English that conveys a sense of the beauty of the original. We cannot claim to have achieved their standards, but as Father Serruys would say, "Even a cow can catch a rabbit sometimes." We hope these pages contain a bunny or two. In closing, we wish to express our gratitude to three gentlemen whose contributions have greatly influenced our efforts and whose example will be sorely missed as our work continues. The writings of Professor Miao Yue on the Three States era are well known and widely appreciated. Perhaps less well known are his generosity with foreign scholars and his interest in their understanding of the literature of the period. As is obvious from the Notes, we are beholden to him not only for his own contributions but also for those of the scholars he trained. Similarly, the Notes reveal our debt to Achilles Fang and his translation of those portions of the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Governing (Zizhi tongjian) concerned with the Three States. The passages from Records of the Three States translated in Fang's work have often proved valuable. Finally, it is with gratitude, and sorrow, that we note our indebtedness to Jack L. Dull, whose high standards, ever-questioning mind, and deep sense of integrity have informed this effort. Demanding teacher, valued colleague, and cherished friend, he is greatly missed. Start of Citation[PU]University of Hawaii Press[/PU][DP]1999[/DP]End of Citation

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TRANSLATORS' NOTE The translation is based on the Zhonghua shuju

and other works.

This book consists of two main parts. Part One is introductory and provides historical and historiographical information on women in early imperial China. Part Two consists of three chapters of (233–297) history and Pei Songzhi's (372–451) translation and includes both Chen Shou's (fascicle, or chapter) and page numbers of the 1982 Zhonghua shuju edition commentary. The juan are provided in the margins of the translation to facilitate finding the original text; thus "5.160" in the margin marks the beginning of juan 5 on page 160 of that edition. The translation of the San guo zhi itself is in regular type, while Pei's commentary, which is keyed to the text by superscript letters (beginning with A), is set off from it in a smaller type size. The placement of the commentary mirrors the Zhonghua shuju text, which in turn follows the traditional placement of the commentary. There are two appendices. Appendix I contains tables that present or supplement some of the information in the Prolegomenon and the Translation in concise form. Appendix II contains a character count for the San guo zhi that shows the lengths both of the history proper and of Pei's commentary. This is useful because of the widespread but unfounded assumption, sometimes purportedly supported by numbers, that the commentary is much longer than Chen's own work. Sources are cited in the Notes in two principal ways—either by an abbreviation of the title (as listed in the Abbreviations) or by an

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author-title reference. In both cases, of course, page numbers are provided. Full bibliographic information on each work cited is provided in the Bibliography. Citations to a small number of Classics are given according to Sinological convention, and reference is made to specific editions only where necessary. Since it is our desire to make our work and related material accessible to the specialist and nonspecialist alike, where possible we provide references to English translations of texts we cite. If an English translation is not available, we try to refer the reader to translations in other Western languages. Unless otherwise noted, however, all translations included herein are our own.3 Chinese characters are given at the first occurrence of a name or term. If no characters are given, the reader can assume that the name or term appeared earlier in the text and can consult the Index to find the earlier occurrence. Names in the text are frequently anachronistic. For example, in the Wei section, Cao Cao (155–220) is consistently referred to by his posthumous title Grand Progenitor (tai zu ), and empresses may be called empress (hou ) even in accounts of events that occurred before their assumption of that title or after their assumption of some other title.4 These special usages figure not only in the descriptive and narrative parts of the material, but in ostensible reports of direct speech as well. Thus, in a statement supposedly made by Empress Bian to Cao Cao's supporters, she is made to refer to Cao Cao as Grand Progenitor, even though his later success and his role as father of a dynastic founder could scarcely have been guessed at the time. In the translation, the name Cao Cao or an appropriate pronoun may sometimes be substituted for the Grand Progenitor of the Chinese text. Such posthumous names and titles (shi ) figure prominently in the juan translated here.5 A posthumous name represents a judgment about an individual's life. Ideally, probity led to a good posthumous name, lack of probity to a bad one.6 Since the bestowal of such a name took place soon after death, it constituted a contemporary evaluation of the person. But inasmuch as it was intended to be permanent, the name selected was meant to shape the image of the deceased in the minds of both present and future generations. Thus the power to determine posthumous names was not trivial. It generally rested with the sovereign and his ritual advisers. Although this power might theoretically be exercised in a more or less impartial way to commemorate genuine virtue and condemn undesirable behavior, inevitably political judgments and personal considerations colored the process.7 Because posthumous names were meant to carry meaning, we have attempted to translate many of them.8 Among the most notable posthumous titles in the translation are those applied to the royal women. These follow Start of Citation[PU]University of Hawaii Press[/PU][DP]1999[/DP]End of Citation

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a pattern established earlier.9 Cao Cao's Empress Bian, for instance, is given the title Wu Xuan Bian huanghou .The title can be explained as follows: huanghou means empress; Wu (the Martial [Emperor]) is her husband Cao Cao's posthumous designation;10 Bian is her own surname; and Xuan is her posthumous name. This can be dealt with in translation by writing ''Empress Bian, Consort of the Martial Emperor and Canonized 'Celebrious,'" which we shorten to "Empress Bian the Celebrious of the Martial Emperor."11 To render the word zi , referring to the name given to or adopted by an individual after reaching maturity, we have used the English word "appellative." We considered "courtesy name" and "maturity name," which describe zi of certain types, but ultimately rejected them as too narrow to encompass the full range of zi. The Roman terms agnomen and cognomen were eliminated after consultation with Hsing I-tien of Academia Sinica. Dr. Hsing, a specialist in the comparative history of the Han and Roman empires, pointed out that, even though there are some superficial similarities, the Chinese and Latin terms denote quite different names, and to adopt Roman usage would risk leading the non-Sinological specialist astray. We also decided against the old standby of "style" for zi as misleading. In China, people have traditionally been reckoned one year (sui ) old at birth and turn two at the first lunar New Year. Thus a person who is forty sui might be thirty-nine or even thirty-eight years of age according to Western reckoning. Because of the difficulty of knowing a person's age according to the Western system of counting, the reader should understand that when a person's age is given, it is in sui. A good deal of direct speech is recorded in these chapters. Clearly, these words cannot all be the actual utterances of the parties involved. Not only would verbatim transcripts have been lacking in most cases, but the literary language in which the texts are written was even then at some remove from the spoken vernacular. The direct speech probably comes from three sources: oral traditions concerning what was said at a given moment; written materials available at the time; and conjectures about what might have been said, based on the author's understanding of the circumstances and personalities involved and his own agenda. Since the Three States continued in large measure to use Han official titles, we have generally opted for the translations in Hans Bielenstein's The Bureaucracy of Han Times. We have chosen Bielenstein's renderings12 over Charles Hucker's functional translations because they convey a better sense of the system of naming offices. We have employed Bielenstein's translations and conventions even with regard to titles from the Jin and other periods, because although the nature of offices might change over time, the titles themselves frequently remained the Start of Citation[PU]University of Hawaii Press[/PU][DP]1999[/DP]End of Citation

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same. Occasionally we have had recourse to Hucker's A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China and other sources, particularly "Official Titles of the Han Dynasty: A Tentative List," which was compiled under the direction of Jack L. Dull for the Han Dynasty History Project at the University of Washington. Where necessary, we have coined our own. Pinyin is the principal romanization system for this book. When quoted material includes transliterated Chinese words in other romanizations, we have converted them to Pinyin. We acknowledge that this is an imperfect way of dealing with the problem of different romanizations but hope that it may make the work somewhat more accessible to a variety of readers. We ask the forbearance of those who find this convention objectionable. We have not, of course, altered transliterations appearing in the titles of books, articles, and other works. After the manuscript of this book had gone to the publisher, we learned of two new works on palace women in early imperial China: Liu Yongcong , De, cai, se, quan: lun Zhongguo gudai nüxing : [Virtue, Talent, Beauty, and Power: Women in Ancient China] (Taipei: Maitian chubanshe, 1998) and Lisa Raphals, Sharing the Light: Representations of Women and Virtue in Early China (Albany: SUNY Press, 1998). While we were unable to make use of these two fine studies in our research, we were gratified to find that their interpretations parallel many of our own and agree with Professor Raphals regarding Liu Xiang's authorship of the Lie nü zhuan. Start of Citation[PU]University of Hawaii Press[/PU][DP]1999[/DP]End of Citation

Prolegomenon

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1

Introduction

It has long been held mat througho ut Chinese history women occupied a positio n subordinate (0 men, inhabiting a sphere of activity that was limited by ideology and social custom to serving the needs of a patriarchal, patrilineal, and patrilocal world. Occasionally a woman might be able to surmount these constraints, but such instances were considered aberrations. To early Western observers, the position of women, like other aspects of China's history and culture, seemed to change little from ancient times to the beginning of the twentieth century. And what change there appeared to have been was for the worse, such as the emergence of the practice of foorbinding and the adoptio n of Neo-Confucianism as o nhodoxy from the Song dynasty (96o-Y2.79) onward. During the past quarter century, as approaches to (he history of women generally have advanced and become more sensitive and as the handling of the Chinese sources has been refined, our understanding of the position of women in Chi nese history has grown more sophisticated. Recent research has made it strikingly dear that the picture is far more complicated and nuanced than would have been expected just a few decades ago. Even so, little has been uncovered to suggest that Chinese women were significantly better off than heretofore thought, and while broad generalizations can no longer be made without care and qualification, it does still Srtill appropriate to conclude that Chinese women have seen their position-as manifested in social statuS, legal protection, economic rights, and ideological valorization-in continuing decline from earliest times to at least the end of the nineteenth century. This decline has not been entirely constant, however, and as o ne might expect, changes in the position of wo men have paralleled changes in other aspects of China's historical development and have experienced a number of "turning points." The Song has long been considered one of the most significant of these turning points, though " point" is perhaps a misnomer for a span of three hundred years.! Chinese and Western writers alike have pointed to Neo-Confucian onhodoxy, (he J

4

Prolegomenon

importance assigned to widow chastity, and footbinding as developments during the Song that rationalized and enforced the inferiority of women. l Recent research has shown, however, that the matter is rather more involved. The idea that widows should remain chaste and not remarry hardly began with the Song, and the new emphasis given it was actually a post-Song development.1 Moreover, developments were not uniform1y to the disadvantage of women. For example, during the Song women enjoyed much greater property rights than in earlier periods. 4 In recent years, scholars have posited a second major ruming point in Chinese women's history: the Ming-Qing uansirion.i One writer has pointed to the rise of a group of male critics who questioned such repressive practices as widow chastity and suicide, footbinding and concubinage. Some of these critics grew out of the new school of Han Learning that challenged the assumptions of Song Neo-Confucianism, while others were the product of a culture that sprang from increased urbanization and commercialization and the spread of literacy among elite women.' Other scholars have pointed to a growing women's literary movement or to intellectual developments that, though they might embody a reaffirmation of classical ideals and result in a solidification of the existing gender system, generally represented beneficial developments for Chinese women.' While these studies underscore the need for a rethinking of received notions of the situation of women during the Ming-Qing period, there has also been a recent reminder that we must be careful in viewing discrete phenomena as representative of broader and deeper developments. Kathryn Bernhardt has noted that, when placed in a broader context, many of the beneficial developments noted by others seem less striking and of diminished import for the later rise of feminism and growing pressure for the equality of women. Moreover, Bernhardt shows that, when one considers the matter from the point of view of law, the important transition in fact occurred earlier, between the Tang-Song and MingQing periods,' and that, rather than being beneficial, the change actually brought decline in rhe legal status of women.' The Song and the Ming-Qing transition are, of course, by no means the only ruming points in the history of Chinese women. During the Qin-Han period as well, developments occurred that fundamentall y altered the direction of the history of Chinese women. As the examples of later periods have demonstrated, however, these developments are best understood in the broader context of the social, economic, and political changes that were occurring at the time. One would naturally expect that the creation of the centralized Chinese imperial structure by the Qin M (2.21-206 B.C.) and Han iJ. (206 B.C.-A.D. 2.20) emperors

5

Introduction

would have enonnous implications for social institutions, and this was certainly the case where women and the family were concerned. One of the most significant of these implications stemmed from the;: desire of the imperial govemmem to deal directly with the heads of families rather than through a hierarchy of feudal-like subordinates. As Patricia Ebrey has pointed out, Chinese pacriarchy was to a very large extent the product not of the classical period but of the early imperial state, and pacriarchal institutions and practices were reinforced by the policies a nd laws adopted by the Qin and Han.1O The appearance of patriarchy was strongly supponed by imellectual developments. A gradual transformation of yin-yang ~M.} thought took place during the Han that saw the nature of the feminine principle of yin change from being complementary and equivalent to the male principle of yang to being subordinate and inferior to yang.I I The Han also saw the compilation of the first texts explicitly intended to provide examples of correct behavior for women. The first among the extant examples of these, compiled during the Fonner Han, was Liu Xiang's fII(.i] (77-6 B.C. ) Lie nu zhuan JiJ::~d' (Biographies of Women]. tiu presented examples of feminine virtues that were hardly intended to promote expansion of the scope of women's activities outside traditional roles. A section with a similar ride and purpose became a regular feature of the dynastic histories. 12 The second was the Nu iie *~ (Precepts for Women], written during the Later Han by Ban Zhao JiE~ (ca. 4~. I 2.0).1l Both works became extraordinarily influential in later periods and were models fo r similar works right up to the modem era. H With the creation of the centralized imperial structure, the role and function of royal wives necessarily changed as well. Marriages among royal families of the pre-Qin states were largely between persons of the same or nearly the same social standing, and they were contracted to fonn political aUiances between states or between states and the royal Zhou house. IS Once China was governed by a single imperial structure with an emperor at its head, such marriages were no longer needed or possible. An imperial wife was chosen from among the emperor's subjects, and although her family might gain enormous influence through the marriage, they could never be the equals of the imperial family. At the same rime, the exalted position of the emperor made him more remote from his ministers and officers, presenting opportunities for imperial wives and their families to exert extraordinary influence over the government and the country through manipulation of the mechanisms of imperial rule or even of the emperor himself. The potential for mischief contained in this new situation and the threat it posed to the empire became clear very early in the Fonner Han, when

6

Prolegomenon

Empress Hi 8 was able for a time to seize control of the government. Coping with this problem would require a redefinition of the role and function of imperial wives, to give them a place within the imperial structure where they were clearly subordinate to the emperor and from which they could not undermine the imperial family. But a new definition of the role of the imperial wives had implications beyond the imperial government, because it established a model for the place of women generally, whether in the household or at court. Despite the importance of the early imperial period for the history of Chinese women, there has been relatively Iinle study of women during this era and even less that places them in the context of wider social, economic, and political changes. Earlier studies tended to deal with outstanding individuals, such as the historian and poet Ban Zhao,I6 or with particular empresses. 17 Others have examined somewhat broader issues, such as the influence of the imperial wives and their relatives on court politics. II In most cases these studies have followed the primarily political concerns of the sources on which they have been based. More recently, however, historians of the Qin-Han have undertaken new approaches, not simply looking at women as such but examining the institutions that shape women's lives, such as marriage and the family. T'ung-tsu Ch'ii's study of Han social structure, for example, included chapters on marriage and the position of women." Although Ch'u's work advanced our understanding of Han society significantly and made available in translation a considerable amount of primary source material, it suffered from trearing the QinHan period-a span of more than four hundred years-almost as though it were a homogeneous block of time. One thus misses a sense of the developments that occurred over the course of this period. Subsequent writers have continued to focus on particular aspects of women in early imperial China, gradually building up a body of analytical literature and increasing our understanding of the subject.20 The fruits of their work not surprisingly reinforce the conclusions reached by their colleagues studying the history of women in later periods; Whereas the broad, impressionistic view may show women to have been subject to social, ideological, and economic constraints, closer examination reveals that the strength and relative importance of these forces varied in response to social, economic, and political change. This should caution us against being too quick to assume that we understand what life might have been like for any woman-from empress to peasant-in early imperial China. The purpose of the present work is not to attempt a history of women in early imperial China. Although we sketch the history of women from earliest times through the Later Han-apparentiy in flagrant violation

7

Introduction

of our own caveats against superficial studies-our aim is more modest. Our hope is to contribute to the growing body of literature and source material that will ont: day make possible the writing of that histOry. Specifically, we have translated the three fascicles of Chen Shou's Records of the Three States that are devoted to empresses and consorts, together with the extensive material found in Pei Songzhi's commentary to those chapters. Records of the Three States is the history of the three independent states of Wei t!i ( 2~265 ) , Wu ~ (2.22-280), and Shu 11 (or Shu Han iUil. 2.21-263 ), which were established as a result of the dissolution of the Han il empire (206 B.C.-A.D. 2.20). The parts translated here are the " Hou fei 2huan" IIHc1W [Biographies of Empresses and Consorts) from the Wei section, the ''F.r rou fei zi zhuan" = .±. tc T ~ [Biographies of the Consorts and Sons of the Two Sovereignsj from the Shu section, and the "Fei pin zhuan" ~~~ [Biographies of Consorts and Concubines] from the section devoted to WU.21 Because these deal with the various wives and concubines of the successive heads of state in the three regions, they fo rm a topically coherent groupP The biographies in this group are intrinsically interesting for what they tell us about the lives of these women and their relatives, for the anirudes toward women expressed in them, and for the light they shed on historians' approaches to writing about women. A comparative study of these ~tions can also deepen our understanding of the structure and composition of the text of Records of the Three States as a whole. The material in this prolegomenon is meant to give our texts and their content a historical context. We discuss the treatment of women by Han writers, how their views. were influenced by political developments, and how attitudes toward imperial spouses in particular and women in general might have changed over time. Although we believe the reader will find in our translation and discussion much that is useful for understanding the history of women of this period, we feel ubliged tu caution against assuming that these (.;hapters present a complete picture of the subject. There is much yet to be gleaned from a ca reful study not only of Records of the Three States but of other writings of the period. Still, taken as a whole, the three fascicles presenred here seem to ptovide a fuller picture of women in general than do the chapters on empresses and consorts in the other histories of the Han period. This has much to do with the differing natures of the courtS of the Three States. The chapter on the Wei comes closest to the nonn for a chapter on empresses and consorts, because the Wei court was in many ways a continuation of the Han court, with all its attendant tides and ritual. The Wu court, in contrast, to a very large degree grew our of a series of marriages among regional elites, perhaps

8

Prolegomenon

more akin to those of the pre·Qin era than to those of the Han. And the Shu Han court and the marriage panems of Liu Bei .HI (1611.2. 3) and Liu Shan 'H!J. (2.07-2.71 ) were even further from the imperial model of the Han. Thus these three chapters show us a variety of types of women and JXlSSible spheres of activity for them. Moreover, the rich variety of material found in Pei Songzhj's commentary presents us with additional perspectives on the women, while allowing us to evaluate Chen's historiography in the context of his time. Finally, aside from whatever scholarly merit our modest effort might have, it is our fervent hope that it will provide the nonspecialist (in Chinese srudies and beyond) an opportunity to appreciate better the richness of this transitional period and the extraordinary people and writing it produced.

2

Palace Women

In

the Early Empire

A fair amount has been written on changes in the starus of women in China over the last fifteen hundred years, but those that occurred in the preceding millennium and a half up through the end of early imperial China were no less sweeping or significant. I Meager literary and archeological sources strongly suggest the outlines of a profound transformation beginning at least with the Shang i3i (ca. 1700ca. 1028 B.C.) and ending with me early empire. It began with a time when women-royal wives in paniculac---«cupied a position of com-

plementarity, if not equality, in governing. Their position was legitimate and their acts of governance were recognized. By the end of the early empire (A.D. mid-third century), however, the situation was quite different, and though imperial wives and other palace women might be active in affairs of state, their actions were regularly thought to be inappropriate and ultimately inimical to the well-being of the empire. A person alive in the Shang probably would not have predicted that result. In the first hali of the twentieth century, influenced by Marxist ideas coming from the West, Chinese historians posited the existence of a very early period of Chinese history characterized by matrilineal sociery.2 After 1949. this view became orthodoxy, and variations of it are found in China in general histories and on signs for museum exhibits about prehistoric times. Ideological content aside, historiarls in China have been able to presenr considerable circumstantia l evidence to support their claims. Early writers such as Chen Dongyuan ~j'.[ W: pointed to rhe supposedly immaculare births of such mythological figures as Fu Xi tJ:.:«, Shen Nong ~ A, and Zhuan Xu .fR, whose mothers were touched by supemaruraJ forces and became pregnant: a footprint into which Fu Xi's mother stepped; a divine dragon (shen long -pjIft) thar quickened Shen Nong's morher; and a rainbow rhat affected Zhuan XU'S.l A similar myth exists for the birth of Hou Ji Fa fI, or Lord Millet, the founding ancestor the Zhou }!] dynasty (ca. 1040-256 B.C.), whose mother Jiang Yuan ~lI. became pregnant after she trod in a divine footprint. 4 Other evidence adduced for this 9

10

Prolegomenon

interpretation is that the graph for the word for lineage. xing tf., comprises the elements for female and birth. Additionally, several writers have pointed out that many ancient surnames conta in (he element for female.} Also frequently cited in support of the evidence of matrilineality are passages from later texts-mostly founh and third cenrury B.c.--{hat in ancient rime "people knew their mothers but not their fathers.'" Finally, some have found practices and terminology in the Shang period that they believe to be artifacts of a pre·Shang matrilineal society.? Having established to their own satisfaction the existence of matrilineal society, some scholars have made the dubious inference that matriarchy (rule by women) existed in most ancient China, a conclusion that is not sustained by the evidence. I PRE-IMPERIAL CH INA

Tantalizing pieces of evidence notwithstanding, the existence of a preShang matriarchal or matrilineal sociecy remains unproven. Moreover, even if one grants the existence of matrilineal elements, by Shang times Chinese S(Xiety was unquestionably patrilineal and patriarchal.9 Even so, royal wives and other women could exercise considerable authority and have high status. Shang kings performed sacrifices to their female as well as their male ancestors, and the well-being and health of a royal consort was onen the subject of the king's divinations. 10 Shang kings seem to have praCticed mo nogamy in the beginning but later adopted polygyny, probably for political reasons and to address growing concern about the need for heirs who could continue the royal sacrifices. 11 According to o ne Chinese scholar, King Wu Ding itT (ca. 12.00--ca. I lSI B.C.)ll had at least sixty-four concubines, not aU of whom lived in the palace. Those he did not favor (maintain as sexual panners) were given a piece of territory, and some of these were ordered to perform sacrifices or to conduct military expeditions. They traveled back and forth between the capital and the outlying regions on the king's business, and they were for all practical purposes trusted officers of the king.13 They also supervised ancestral sacrifices and seem to have performed other duties at coun.14 The performance of such important functions appears not to have been limited to Wu Ding's wives or just to the wives of the Shang king. It has been suggested that the wives of subject rulers may have presented tribute at the Shang court on behalf of their husbands, or the women presenting the tribute may in fact have been subject rulers themselves. I S The overall impression is that royal wives, and perhaps upper--class women generally, were respected and held positions of authority, though Shang women typically occupied a position inferior to men. l' Royal wives continued to perfonn an active role in governing during

II

Palace Women in the Early Empire

the Western Zhou (ca. 10-40-771 B.C.). Bronze inscriptions refer to the activities of queens, who had their own officers and were persons of starusY H. G. Creel noted that one queen, whom he identified as the consort of King Cheng nt (t ca. I035-ca. 1006 B.C.), appears in several bronze inscriptions performing functions that normally would have been those of a king. IS For a later period, a poem in the Shi jing ~ i!l!. [Classic of Poetry] presents a list of seven of the highest officials of the government and states that "the beautiful wife splendidly side by side (with the king) has her place. " 19 The " Minor Preface" ("Xiao xu" /J\J¥) to this poem says it is a criticism of King You l!:I!:I (r. 781- 771 B.C.).20 The beautiful wife has been understood to be the enchanting Baosi ftlltl., with whom King You was so infatuated that he bungled his rule of the kingdom and allowed it to be overrun by the armies of a non·Chinese people from the North.2 1 As we' shall see in Chapter 3. this interpretation may be more a reflection of later thinking than a description of what actually transpired. Creel could be correct in sayi ng that Baosi's appearance here (if indeed it is she) might simply acknowledge the important role this wife played in decision·making and perhaps t:ven in tht: conduct of govt:rnmt:nt. l l In any case, the impression conveyed by the available sources is that at times during the Western Z hou, if not throughoU( the period, royal wives could and did actively participate in government functions, in some cases acting as a king might and in others perhaps performing duries analogous [Q those of a minister. Our understanding of the situation, however, is decidedly hampered by limited evidence. With the Eastern Zhou (720-256 B.C.),lJ source materials become more plentiful, offering us a mo~ complete and more e1abora~ picture. The major texts from the period reveal a set of intricate institutions and practices involving not only the Zho u kings but the rulers of subordinate states (zhuhou ~~ ) and the aristocracy (qing daifu ~ *~). 14 Their very complexity suggesrs that the beginnings of rhese institutions would surely be found well back in the Western Zhou, if only our sources were richer. Particularly interesting are the institutions of marriage as practiced during the Spring and Autumn period. These consriruted arrangements based on sororal polygyny, whereby the Zhou king married twelve women at one rime, the rulers of subordinate states, nine women, and aristocrats lesser numbers according to their rank.l l Although this practice was in part d riven by the desire to ensure an heir, it was also largely impeUed by political motives, especially the need to establish and sustain alliances among states, as is suggested by the fact that aU primary wives of rulers came from other states. In a process known as ying .81, one state would send the primary bride, accompanied by a younger sister and a niece, while two related states would

I 2.

Prolegomenon

each send a secondary bride, also accompanied by a younger sister and niece, making a total of nine. The primary bride became the primary wife, and the eight other women (or girls) who accompanied her all became secondary wives. This ensured that even if the primary wife failed to produce an heir or was for some reason divorced, mere would be an heir from the lineage of the principal bride or from a related lineage, thereby preserving the affinal relationships established by the marriage. These wives were also to be agents of their natal states and were to protect the shon·term interests of their lineages while producing heirs who would ensure long-term amity between their natal states and those of their husbands. 26 A practice so involved must have been difficult to sustain, and it eventually ceased, though vestiges existed during the Han. 27 The harem of a ruler also included concubines and maids. Wives and concubines were ranked within the harem, and we know that there were at least nine ranks. A woman's ranking determined the starns of her children in the succession, and it could change. lI There were several sources for concubines, including rulers sending girls from their lineage or fathers sending their daughters into concubinage. An abbreviated marriage rite might be performed for some com::ubines, panicularly those from other ruling lineages, btl[ they were usually created as private property. A ruler could elevate a concubine and make her his wife; this usually happened only if the concubine had become a special favorite of the ruler or he wanted to make her son his successor. Such actions were frowned upon and were apparently made a punishable offense through an interstate convention; there was a recognition that concubines were a potential source of disruption. 2 ' The size of the harems is unclear, but they could sometimes run into the hundreds ..M1 Although women could still be imponant in the cementing of alliances among lineages and states, they do not appear to have exercised the same son of atl[horiry in the Eastern Zhou as they did in me Shang and the Western Zhou. The Zhou Ii JI]" [Rites of Zhou I lists a number of poSts that were to be held by women. The Rites is a relatively late text,}1 and although many of the positions it de· scribes are attested to in othe£, earlier works, this does not seem to be so much the case with the positions held by women. l l The Riles does describe the royal wives as being counterpans of the highesr.ranking ministers in the government, but there is no evidence that they or the wives of the rulers of the subordinate states exercised any authority outside the confines of the palace. The separation of the coun into inner and outer domains appears to have been well established by Spring and Autumn times, and the appropriate realm of the activities of the royal wives was considered to be limited to the inner courtY Because the

13

Palace Women in the Early Empire

main political function of the royal wives was to serve as agents for their natal lineages. conditions were ripe for (hem to begin engaging in (he sorts of manipulative. innerl'-iiii [Lowly and Weak], uFu fu "

*"

[Husband and W;fe], U];ng

shen" 'ittA IRespect and Discretio nl . uFu xing" tift £Womanly Conductl. "Zhuan xin" [Single-minded Devotionl. "Qu cong" IltI W [Yield and Obey). a nd "He shu mei" fU4&U: (Harmonize with Younger Brothers and Sisters·in· law). The underlying theme of the work is the importance of a woman's holding to her proper place in the relatio nsh ip with her husba nd and his family. Of particu lar significance for later periods was her admonition that a woman should a lways remain fa ithful to her husband a nd that a widow must not remarry." Although some of Ban Zhao's injunctions may no t have seemed immediately pertinent to the situation of the imperial inner apartments, others dearly were, such as this passage from " Respect and Discretion":

. ,e.,

If husband and wife prefer to be inseparable, and they circulate only within the confines of their apar;tments, then indecent behavior will occur. When indecent behavior occurs. their language will be improper. When their language is improper, licentiousness will certainly follow. And if licentiousness follows, then an attitude of disrespect for the husband will arise. This arises from not knowing to stop at what is appropriate.1IO The applicabiliry of this passage to an emperor's relationship with his consorts would have been obvious, and although the work was ostensibly wrinen for her daughters, Ban surely shared it with the empress and other palace women.' · It was certainly circulated, for me esteemed scholar Ma Rong ,~ Ml (79-1 66) praised it highly and required his wife and daughters to study it.'l Liu Xiang's and Ban Zhao's works both inspired imitation. Beginning with Fan Ye's Later Han History. the standard histo ries conta ined a section entitled " Biographies of Women," as did many local histo ries

44

Prolegomenon

and similar works.') The famous second-century literams Cai Yong seems {O have been inspired by Ban's Precepts to write a similar work.'H Both the Biographies and the Precepts were {O become basic texts for the education of women of all classes and have remained influential into modern rimes.'s CONCLUS ION

Even a cursory examination of the literature of the early imperial period is sufficient to demonstrate that palace women in general. and the emperor's consorts in particular, had become a subject of major concern to Han officials and scholars. This development is directly related to the growth of the centralized imperial state. The role of the ruler's wives had changed. No longer was a wife the agent of another scare and the means of cementing an alliance, for political activity was no longer focused on the relations among heads of state. Now there was but o ne head of state, and political activity centered on him. This had the effect of heightening the role of palace women as a route to political power. and it increased the possibility of their becoming the locus of conspiracies that could threaten the stability of the empire. TIll: ConCern of Han offi(.:iais (at least those not rdated to someone in the harem) and political thinkers was how to limit the influence of palace women and their relatives. To this end they began to diminish me position of woman. Ths was managed to a very large and important extent through revisions in cosmology that justified a rather different view of woman than had existed in the pre-imperial period. Granted, woman had never held a place of dominance over man in ancient China. 'fet, as we have seen, a royal consort was considered to occupy a position that complemented or even mirrored that of the ruler. But within a century of the founding of the Han, changes were being made in cosmological thinking that rendered woman subservient to man and constrained her scope of activity. The first development is evident in the writings of Dong Zhongshu, for whom yin was no longer the same complement to yang that it had once been. The application of cosmology to history justified limiting the activities of palace women by offering concrete examples of Heaven's displeasure at their having stepped beyond their appropriate bounds. Finally, the proper role and behavior for women were defined through example, as in the models presented in Liu Xiang's Biographies of Women, and by prescription, as in Ban Zhao's Precepts for Women. Although Ban's work may not seem to be aimed particularly at palace women, the values expressed in it were intended for the education of all women. At the level of the empress dowager-and, presumably, me widowed matriarchs of large and extended families-a contradiction presented

-45

Women in Early Imperial History and Thought

itself, for though the empress dowager was a woman and thus a potential threat to the stability and well-being of the poliry, she was also recognized as having a legitimate role of authority both as senior member of the family in kinship terms and as regent to a minor emperor. The problem was to ensure that she carried out these responsibilities in a way that ensured the prosperity and authority of the imperial famil y and that she did not exceed her role in a way that would undermine them. Empresses who recognized these limits and remained within them-Empress Yuan, for example-enjoyoo the approbation of historians; those who transgressed were criticized. The ramifications of the Han scholars' contribution should nOt be underestimated. The ideas they developed did not disappear with the Han but established the framework for attirudes and policies toward women for the rest of the history of imperial China, as the enduring influence of the concept of model women developed by Liu Xiang and Ban Zhao amply demonstrates. The Han scholars defined a subservient role for woman and presented her as a potential source of instability that had to be kept within bounds. Although the actualities of women's lives might depart from these ideals-as was the case with widow chastity, for example-the ideals remained a standard to be applied whenever this was deemed appropriate.

4

Empresses and Consorts of the Three States

The Three States were established on the ruins of the Later Han empire, and they inherited many of its imperial institutions and much of its imperial ideology. To a greater or lesser extent, each of the du-ee states

of Wei, Shu, and Wu sought to recreate the Han imperium. But although they possessed the Han blueprint, the materials and context they had (0 work with were not the same. The empire was no longer united, and even within the individual states, central government conO'ol at the local level was nominal at best. In the mid-third century, the political landscape of China in many ways resembled the mulristate system of the Warring States period, when the various heads of srate were on more or less equal footing and the ability of one to prevail over the others depended much less on any sort of moral authoriry than on simple might and on strategic and tactical acumen. Indeed, in East Asia the Three States connotes a period of struggle for supremacy among a group of men known for their cunning, COli rage, and commitment (0 comrades-a period not dissimilar to the Warring States. MARRIAGE PATTERNS

Although many of the COncerns about palace women that had occupied the Han continued to be important during the Three States, the changed political context brought differences in their relative importance and revived some pre-imperial concerns. Most important among these laner was the use of marriage to cement alliances. There were no interstate marriages such as those that had characterized the pre-imperial period, yet in the struggles preceding the creation of the Three States, short-lived marriage alliances were concluded among the men whose families would ultimately rule the three states. These marriages do not seem (0 have done much to change the balance among the three states, but one of them did contribute (0 the lore of the period, and it also provides insight into the possible roles fo r women at a time when norms had been relaxed. In 209, while Liu Bei was still in Jing province jjij#\ and more than a decade before he entered Yi province 46

47

Empresses and Consons of the Three States

~HH and established Shu Han, he married Sun Quan's I*tI (182-252.) younger sister. This marriage probably took place at the initiative of Sun Quan, and it followed the general pauem of Sun marriage alliances discussed below. U Sun hoped for much from this misalliance, he was surely disappointed. The unconventional Lady Sun 1¥.xA was much younger than Liu Bei and was considered to be as courageous and capable as her brothers. She went about accompanied by anned female retainers, and as relations becween Liu Bei and Sun Quan soured, she was seen by none other than Zhuge Liang lltl!1f (181-234 ) to be the potential source of a coup. I She left Liu Bei in 2 I I and returned to her brother, attempting unsuccessfuUy in the process to spirit away the young heir apparent Liu Shan. 2 Significantly, Chen Shou did not give Lady Sun a biography, though we cannot be certain whether this was because of her actions or because of some other selection criterion he appiie(i,3 Cao Cao resorted to marriage as a means of neucralizing the growing power of Sun Ce ll. (175-200) at a point when Sun had acquired Yuan Shu's:«tfi (d. 199) croops and gained some victories in the South and Cao was being pressed by Yuan Shao :tt~ (d. 202). Cao's niece was married to Sun Kuang W,I£, Sun u's younger brother, and Cao's son Cao Zhang"~ (d. 21J) was married to the daughter of Sun Cc's cousin Sun Ben ~ • .4 The marriages were undertaken to address inunediate circumstances, however, and had no long-term effect. The importance of marriage pacts during this period lay not in concluding alliances between states to ensure a state's security, but in cementing ties with other families during smJggles for supremacy within a region or state. This was the case wich Cao ColO, who recognized the value of marriage as a rool for forming alliances wich formidable families and often married off his children accordingly. S But he and his immediate successors also recognized me dangers of a woman who had a power base and loyalties outside the court, and they were not inclined to tum to powerful families in selecting their own empresses:' ColO Cao's Empress Rian had been an entertainer, perhaps even a courtesan;7 chough Empress Zhen was from a family of officials, she was married to the defeated Yuan Xi 1t~ at the time Cao Cao appropriated her for Cao Pi tf2f (187-2.2.6); Cao Pi's furure Empress Guo was an orphan of little status when, as heir apparent, he acquired her; Cao Ruj's ff .. (206-2.39) Empress Guo ~ had been sent to the harem because was dearly her home commandery rebelled, and his Empress Mao of plebian origins.' The grossly weakened Cao princes toward the end of the dynasty did marry relatives of the previous empresses: Empress Zhen fi of Cao Fang, the King of Qi _I, was grandniece of Cao Pi's Empress Zhen, while Empress Bian 't of the King of Chenliu ,.

.:e

48

Prolegomenon

!i.E (Cao Huan Jf!A!:; r. 26~2.65) and Empress 8ian l' of the Duke of Gaogui District iGj • •~ (Cao Mao . . .; 2.41-260) were, respectively, gri\r.di,iece and great-grandniece of Cao Cao's Empress Bian.' Under the Han, this pattern would have led to a dominant position at coun for one or another of the affinal families. At the end of the Wei, however, real power lay with the Sima iij .~ family. Of Chen Shou's three fascicles on royal women, that for Shu Han is probably the least satisfying. The picture it affords of the marriages of tiu Bei and his son Liu Shan is very sketchy. In contrast to the Caos and the Suns, the Lius had no apparent marriage policy. Liu Bei was the ruler of Shu for only two years, and unlike the Caos and Suns, he had no extended family to draw on or to be concerned about in planning marriages. Rather, with the exceptions noted below, liu marriages followed a pattern that might have been expected for a military leader in liu Bei's circumstances. He married women from the families of his supporters, as did liu Shan, who successively wed two daughters of Zhang Fei ~;!l (d. 1.2.1), one of his father's closest comrades. In contrast to the Suns, the Lius do not seem to have used marriage to form the sorts of alliances with local elites that would be important to assuring the position of a ruling group from outside the region. But not all the wives of the two Lius have biographies, so it is difficult to know whether or not there was a marriage policy directed at local elites. Arguments ex silentio are always risky, but the fact that no such unions are mentioned suggests that the Lius did not follow a policy of alliance by marriage. Imerestingly, each of Liu Bei's wives who does have an entry in Fascicle 34 is a secondary wife. Liu had one, perhaps two, principal wives before he entered Jing province in 201 . 10 During the period when Liu was actively fighting in eastern China prior to 200, he was three times forced to abandon his famil y and suffered the humiliation of having his wife and children captured. The first rime was in 196, when he was defeated by Lii Bu 8::tIJ (d. (98 ), an ally of Yuan Shu. Subsequently, Liu and Lii became aUies, and Liu's family was returned to him. II In 198, me two men became enemies again, and Lo once more captured Liu's wife and children. Lo was captured and killed by Cao Cao, and Liu was reunited with his family. Il Finally, Liu was forced to abandon his family yet again when he was implicated in a plot against Cao, in whose service he then was. 1J To console Liu Bei following his defeat at me hands of Lo Bu in 196, his supporter Mi Zhu .~ , head of a locally prominent and powerful family, gave his younger sister in marriage to Liu. 14 Presumably once Liu's first wife rerumed, he kept Lady Mi, though nothing more is heard of het Neither do we know anything further of the wife (or wives) who

... 9

Empresses and Consorts of the Thret States

had been captured and returned by Ui Bu. 1i We do know that one of Liu Bei's secondary wives from this period, Lady Gan, accompanied him to Jing province when he sought the protection of Liu Biao 'J~ (142-208), and there she gave birth to Liu Shan. Following Liu's assumprion of the title of emperor in Yi province, Lady Gan, as mother of the heir apparent, was made empress. Liu Bei's Empress Wu ~ was a widow and the sister of an important officer who first fought against and then on the side of Liu Bei. 16 Noteworthy here is Liu Bei's concern that he might have been related to her deceased husband Liu Mao 'lJU. Liu Mao was the son of tiu Van '1g; (d. 19 ... ), the powerful shepherd of Yi province at the end of the Han. Both Liu Bei and Liu Van traced their separate ancestries to Emperor Jing of the Fonner Han. Liu Bei claimed descent from Emperor Jing's son Liu Sheng IIJ8 (d. 112 B.C.), king of Zhongshan tp LlJI , and Liu Van from Liu Yu (d. 128 B.C.), king of Lu ... I. With the judicious use of historical example, however, Fa Zheng j!-lE, a close adviser from Yi province, was able to convince Liu thar under the circumstances the marriage was permissable and advisable. Still, the Eastern Jin Jfnf (317-4 20) historian Xi Zuochi 'I!li'se (d. 38 ... ) thought Liu erred in marrying Liu Mao's widow and criticized rum for it.17 Liu Bei had at least two other wives who were apparendy with him in Yi province but who do not have biographies in Records of the Three States. Their existence is evident from the entries on two of his sonsuu Li .1J.1 (d. 2 ...... ) and uu Yang '1h:.- who are described as being Lill Shan's half brothers, each with a different mother. I I Why Chen omitted these women is not dear. Chen also seems not to have written about all of till Shan's wives, for Pei Songzhi cites Xi Zuochi's Han lin chunqiu iJtffftk [Han-Jin Spring and Aurumn Annals] about a certain Brilliant Companion Li who committed suicide rather than submit to the indignity of being handed over to a Wei general in need of a wife. 19 Moreover, when Liu Shan tried to build up a harem, he was told that in ancient times the Son of Heaven had only twelve wives and that he himself already had enough, suggesting that he had at least a dozen.20 Three of Lill Shan's wives a re mentioned by Chen. These include the two daughters of Zhang Fei mentioned earlier. Little is said about them other than that they were both made empress, the younger upon the death of the e1der.l l Also mentioned is Honorable Lady Wang 3:, who was the mother of Liu Shan's heir apparent. All we are told about her is that she had been an attendant to the elder Zhang sister. The latter half of the chapter is largely devoted to tiu Shan's heir apparent, his half brothers, and their descendants.

.1.

*,

Prolegomenon

SO

Of the three ruling houses of the Three States, marriage alliances were most important to the Suns. Indeed, they were crucial [0 the Suns' establishment of their hegemony over Wu. As a consequence, of the three fascicles translated here, Fascicle 50 contains more detailed information about marriages than is found in the other twO, and its descripcion of events in general is more vivid and engrossing. Whereas the Caos already had a power base and were concerned with maintaining their control over the imperial and governmental structure of an existing-albeit weakened-state, the Suns needed first to consolidate a power base, create an administrative structure, and establish their right to dominance. To solidify their position, it was necessary for the Suns to overcome three problems: the resistance of the Mountain Yue LlJ'-, instability within the ruling group, and lack of experience in governing a state.22 The marriage policy chey pursued was important in addressing the second and third of these problems. The preeminent position of the Suns had been gained through military accomplishment, primarily north of the Yangtze, where Sun Jian If,~ (15 S-1 92) proved himself a talented commander, first against the Yellow Turbans and then in the power struggles anending the end of the Han.21 Although the Suns were from the South, they were not prominent there. The famil y claimed descent from Sun Wu Ij;:iit, the putative author of the famous fifth-cenrury B.C. text Sunzi bingfa Ii. T~t! [Sunzi's An ofWar}-not a particularly impressive pedigree in the context of the times. Before he made his mark in the wars, Sun J ian held only minor office in his home area, and even there he distinguished himself largely through arms.14 Upon his death, his son Sun Ce inherited command of a portion of his troops and likewise embarked on a military career. Given their background and lack of a solid base in the South, the Suns needed the acceptance and suppOrt of prominent southern fami lies--something not easily gained. In the $ouch, the closed society of elite families that would become characteristic of Chinese society in succeeding centuries was beginning to take shape. Several powerful lineages had come to dominate the region. The most prominent-the Z hu Gu .II, Lu Itt, and Zhang families-were known as " the four lineages" (si xing 1lQ./It), testimony to their importanceP But there were other such families as well. u; Their social position came through holding office in the civil government for successive generations, and they were inclined to look down on military men and their deeds. 21 This attirude was very likely at the root of Sun Jian's rejection by the relatives of Lady Wu ~ described at the beginning of Fascicle 50, for although her famil y, the Qiantang Wu tlJI!l, were not among the most prominent lineages, they nonetheless appear to have been a family

*,

*

5I

Empresses and Consorts of the Three States

of some standing. The southern elite famili es were well established and already dominant in the region, so there was no need for them to seek power through marriage with the Suns. (Significantly, Lady Wu overcame her relatives' objections not by arguing the benefits of concluding such a match but by alluding to the potentially dire consequences of not doing so.)211 Moreover, their position vis-a.-vis any inrerioper bent on establishing control over the region was greatly strengthened by the close ties among the families through intermarriage. 2' To have attempted to crush the most powerfu1 of these families would have been difficult and costly.* For most of the families--especially the four great c1ans-the Suns employed a series of measures to win their support, or at least their acquiescence. First, they assured the political and economic advantages of the e1ire families by appointing their members to office in the central and loca l governments and by permitting them to control significant bodies of military manpower. Second, they showed these families respect and trust through special courtesies and appointments. Finally, they concluded marriage alliances with the leading families, thereby effectivel y linking the fonunes of the two sides.'l The Wu section of Records of the Three States on empres5ts and consorts offers dramatic examples of intermarriage between the Suns and Wu elite families. Ta bles 6 and 7 of Appendix I are illustrative, showing the Suns' links through marriage with the Lu a nd Z hu families. 12 And because of (he extensive intermarriage among the Wu elite, a marital bond with one family brought ties with several others.)} Even marriage ties to lesser elite families could bring indirect ties to greater elites. Sun He ~fO married Zhang Cheng's~. (178-244 ) daughter, whose sister wed Lu Kang (226-2.74). Sun Jian's younger sister married Xu Zhen ~}t , and their granddaughter wed Lu Shang lliffilij, and then, following lu's death, Sun Quan. The Suns did not take their wives exclusively from the Wu regional elite families. They also married women from lCK.-a1 magnale families. Sun Jian's marriage to Wu Jing's }l. (d. 203) sister is an example. Wu Jing contributed substantially to the consolidation of the power of the Sun family, and Lady Wu made notable contributions as well. The Quans ~, also prominent in Qiantang, are another such family (see Appendix I, Table 8). Marriage connections with the Quans, however, proved to be a mixed blessing. Quan Rou 1£ ~ was one of the first local elites to throw in with Sun Ce. His son Quan Cong ~ ~ (d. 249) was among Sun Quan's ablest commanders and married Sun Quan's daughters, and his nephew Quan Shang 1£r'Aj held high office in the Wu government and had a daughter who married Sun Liang 1f-1t (24 3-260). But Quan Cong's sons went over to the Caos

ltim

S2.

Prolegomenon

in 2.57 and subsequently became Wei commandery administrators and marquises. }4 Sun Quan also concluded marriage alliances wim Zhou Yu. a shrewd adviser and ally of Sun Ce and Sun Quan. Zhou was from a family of prominent officials in Lujiang ail: and had two sons. as well as a daughter who married the heir apparent Sun Deng ~~ (d. 2.41). Zhou's eldest son Zhou Xun Jfi1t1 married Sun Quan's daughter Sun Luban ~"IjI. His younger son Zhou Ym fIlJll also married a member of the royal family. Unfortunately, Yin proved to be something of a wastrel and was a disappointment to Sun Quan, who banished him.15 Besides me Wu local and regional elites. the Suns sought wives from families that were prominent for reasons other than economic and military might. Sun Quan's lady Xie .iM came from a southern family with a reputation for producing scholars and worthy officials. Her father had been a gentleman of the masters of writing and a prefect under the Han, and her younger brother Cheng" became a commandery administrator and was well known for writing a history of the later Han. J6 Associating themselves with the Xies had obvious legitimating benefits for the Suns, whose reputation was based on military exploits and who were considered ramer unrefined. Lady)Ge's dismay at having lady Xu ~ promoted above her may have been in part because she considered a military family like the Xus to be her inferiors. 17 Still another consideration was probably at work when Yuan Shu's daughter was caken into Sun Quan's harem in 199. This union was likely motivated less by a desire to form a connection to a nationally powerful family than by a sense of obligation and loyalty to a powerful patron and ally. It served to recognize the role Yuan played in the Sun family's rise to national prominence. Besides, although the Yuan family for several generations had held some of the highest offices in the Han empire, by this point it was fragmented and weakened by the struggles that were hastening the end of the dynasty. Yuan Shu himself, having failed in an attempt to establish a new dynasty, was dead. There may, however, have been residual Yuan assets in the form of military forces and other support to be gained by forming a marriage alliance with the Yuans. Sun men also married for beauty, though such unions could result in problems. Sun Quan was smitten with Lady Pan II and took her for his seraglio. She gave birth to Sun Liang. but she was considered a troublemaker and was killed by several courtiers as Sun Quan lay on his deathbed. 1I While touring military encampments, Sun Quan was similarly taken with the beauty of the daughter of one of his cavalrymen, He Sui liiJli . and she was summoned to the palace,

53

Empresses and Consorts of the Three States

became Sun He's concubine, and bore a son. While she seems ro have been a devoted wife. her family rook advantage of the chaos toward the end of Sun Hao's !f,~ (r. z.64-l.80) reign to arrogate power to themselves, undoubtedly concriburing to the fall of the Suns.J' Sun Hao himself was enthralled by Zhang Bu's ~;tp (d. l.64) daughter, whom he killed in a fit of rage. He reportedly was so heartbroken that he took Zhang's other daughter from her husband and so occupied himself with her that he ignored affairs of state.40 This account is in accord with what we know about Sun Hao's character, hut it also fits the "had last emperor" topos emphasized hy Liu Xiang in his Biographies of Women.~1

Nor all of the wives whom the Suns chose for their beauty were so problematic. Lady Su tJ7, a relative of the chancellor Su Zhi $. (d. 2.47), was said to have been widely held in fond regard, and Sun Quan had hoped to designate her as his principal wife.~ l We are told that his officials opposed such a move, however, and favored Lady Xu for the position. Since Lady Xu seems not to have been particularly congenial, support for her may have been based on factional considerations. Mer Lady fiu's death, Sun similarly hoped to make Lady Yuan l£, daughter of Yuan Shu, principal wife. She was very modest and, bc::cause she had no children, adamantly refused Sun's effons to promote her.41 Finally, there were Sun Quan's two wives surnamed Wang X , one the mother of Sun He and the other the mother of Sun Xiu tf.1* (l.35l.64). Nothing is known about either other than their families' homes of record and the fact that their brothers were appointed marquises after the ladies' deaths. That Sun Xiu's mother's home of record was Langye Jf$$ may mean she was related to the Langye Wangs, who were to become so prominent under the Southern Dynasties, but there is no firm evidence for this. SOCIAL ORIGINS OF CONSORTS AND POLITICAL POWER

It should be clear from the discussion of Sun marriage policies that the social origins of prospective consorts remained a concern under the Three States, though the underlying reasons may have been different from those during the Han. For the Suns the question was not so much one of finding spouses who were worthy of them as it was one of establishing their standing in the region and linking up with the powerful and wealthy. The Caos, in contrast, at times deliberately selected women of humble origin, much to the exasperation of some of the men who served them. Cao Pi and Cao Rui in panicular were criticized for their choices of empresses. Zhan Qian inveighed against Cao Pi 's desire to make Honored Concubine Guo empress, and when Cao Rui failed to name Madam Yu .II EX. as his empress, she did not

54

Prolegomenon

hesitate to point out the Caos' proclivity for picking inferior women. 44 Although powerful and prestigious families did sometimes place their daughters in the Wei rulers' seraglios, social background was no guarantee against a woman's ultimately being rejected. Madam Yu and Madam Ren ff IX. are cases in point.~5 The extent to which the Lius might have been concerned about the social origins of their spouses is unclear. For the most part, Liu Bei's wives seem to have had respectable backgrounds, though perhaps not always elite ones. Liu Shan married the daughters of his father's comrade-in-anns Zhang Fei, whose own origins were not particularly impressive, though his wife was supposedly descended from one of Han Gaozu's most important supporters.46 Related to the issue of the social origins of spouses was the problem of their interference in affairs of state. The lesson of the dangers of such involvement was part of the legacy that the Later Han bequeathed to the rulers of the Three States. And it is dear that some, at least, understood the importance of the lesson. We find, for example, Zhongchang Tong, writing in his Changyan ~ 1l [Frankly Speaking] for the' edification of Cao Cao, "'You should not condude marriages with those to whom you entrust governing; those with whom you conclude marriages you should not entrust with governing. "41 With the lesson of the Later Han before him and with ample metaphysical and cultural support at hand, it is not surprising that Cao Pi, the founder of the Wei, quickly took steps to remove the potentiaUy baleful influence of fhe imperial women and their families. On 15 October 22.2, JUST before he named Honored Concubine Guo .fiS • • empress, he issued the following edict: Women's participation in government is the beginning of disorder. From now on, no official may report state affairs to the Empress Dowager, nor shall any member of the dans of the imperial consorts be appointed regents (during the minority of young emperors), nor shall they be given enfeoffment without due merit. This edict shall be transmitted to later generations. Any transgression of this the empire shall punish with death."

Cao Pi's decree is reminiscent of the attempts of Emperors Guangwu and Ming to achieve the same result; his effort was no more successful than theirs had been. The involvement of empresses dowager in the affairs of state was another theme that continued into the Three States from the Han. The Wei witnessed a reprise of the dismissal of Liu He as successor to Emperor Zhao when Cao Fang was deposed as emperor by Sima Shi

55

Empresses and Consorts of the Three States

1iI,~8ifj in 1,54. Again the young emperor was accused of being dissolute, though this time not only with his boon companions but with female relatives of more than one generation as well. A bill of particulars was drawn up against him and presented by Sima Shi and more than forty other officials to Empress Dowager Guo. The empress dowager was then requested, in accordance with the precedent of Huo Guang's deposal of Liu He, to take back the seal of the emperor and return him to be king of Qi. 49 On 17 October 1,54, the empress dowager issued a decree saying that although the emperor was now of age (he was twenty-three), he did not artend to the affairs of state but preferred to indulge in indecent behavior. Claiming that he was unfit [Q carry on the imperial line or serve the imperial ancestral temple, she ordered the marter reported at the ancestral temple and that he abdicate. 50 h is certain that Empress Dowager Guo did not support this action, but troops were posted outside her palace to ensure her compliance.51 This, of course, marked the difference between ColO Fang's case and the deposal of Liu He: In the latter instance, the empress dowager presumably supported the act (which her grandfather, after all, desired), whereas Empress Dowager Guo was opposed. It is noteworthy that, powerful as he was, Sima Shi still felt that he must work through the empress dowager for the act to have legitimacy. Shu Han does not appear to have had problems with interference in the affairs of state by palace women, though the eunuch Huang Hao jf~ did dominate the later years of Liu Shan's court. Indeed, a beneficial aspect of Huang's ascendency may have been to prevent affinal families from gaining influence. The modus operandi of the Shu court resembled that of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in that the closest confidants of the ruler were his ministers. This was, of course, an outgrowth of Liu Bei's relations with his comrades during the wars for supremacy that attended the breakup of the Han. Because Zhuge Liang was able to maintain his influence as Liu Shan's dosest adviser for a dn:ade following the death of Liu 8ei, and because the younger Liu was married to Zhang Fei's daughters, the problems with affinal families experienced by the Han did not arise. The situation in Wu was quite different from both Wei and Shu Han. Sun Jian's wife Lady Wu and her brother were perhaps the model of how a ruler's wife and her family should conduct themselves. Her brother was a dose adviser to Sun Jian, and following Jian's death he supported the young Sun Ce racher than becoming a rival.52 His aid was crucial to Sun's ability to establish himself as his father's successor. Lady Wu likewise made important contributions [0 her sons' success, reportedly giving Sun Ce useful counsel that prevemed him from inadvisedly killing someone and creating resennnent, and assisting the

56

Prolegomenon

young Sun Quan in administering the army and the state. From her deathbed, she took steps to ensure that Sun Quan would continue to receive good advice;u Fascicle 50 contains examples of other women whose behavior could be considered exemplary. One was Sun Quan's conson Lady Yuan, who, as we have seen, declined the opportunity to become empress.54 Lady Bu, another of Sun Quan's consorts, was widely liked for her generous narure.SS Another example of model behavior was Sun Jian's younger sister, whose son Xu Kun fought in Sun v's army. (Xu Kun's daughter would become one of Sun Quan's consorts.) In a crucial battle, she gave tactical advice to her son, which he passed on to Sun Ce. The advice was adopted by Sun, and he was victorious.S6 The involvement of Sun Jian's sister and Sun Quan's mother in military activities suggests that the scope of activity for women of the Sun family extended beyond the nonnal bounds. This conclusion gains further credence from what is known of Lady Sun, Sun Quan's younger sister who married Liu Bei. She is described a having an obdurate personality and going about accompanied by female a rmed retainersY Clearly these were remarkable women, and their activities and personalities perhaps say something about the nature of the Sun family, suggesting why this family of relatively humble origins was able to gain the cooperation, if not the respect, of the more venerable lineages of the Jiangnan region. Unfortunately for the Suns, these women seem to have been exceptions. A good portion of Fascicle 50 is taken up with machinations and backstabbing among palace women. A case in point is Lady Pan, whom Sun Quan married rather late in life for her beauty. She was insanely jealous and inclined to speak ill of others behind their backs. When she was exhausted and unwell from attending to the dying Sun Quan, a group of couniers strangled her in her sleep.58 Throughout the brief history of Wu, palace women engaged in inrrigue, a nd their families were not above betraying the Suns to save their own skins. Members of the family of Lady Quan, wife of Sun Liang, were made marquises and held numerous offices. In what was surely one of the more bizarre episodes of the period, several of them, fleeing familial conflicts and suits, crossed the Yangtze and surrendered to Wei just as another member, Quan Yi :i:_, was supposed to be accepting the surrender of a Wei general who had rebelled and who wanted to caSt his lot with Wu. The group that had surrendered deceived Quan Yi into believing that Wu was angry with him and planning to execute his family. Rather than accepting the surrender of a Wei general on behalf of Wu, Quan Yi himself went over to Wei. tnrimately, the famil y went into decline when a member was discovered hatching a plot, the purpose of which is not known.59

57

Empresses and Consons of the Three Stales

The antics of such people make the Wu section the most interesting of the sections on empresses and consorts. It differs from the othersand from those in the three histories of the Han discussed in Chapter 3-in that it deals with more than just the emperors' wives and their families. Imperial princesses are included as well. The comparatively titillating flavor of the section is due in part to the personalities of the people described. But perhaps this characterisitic is also a function of the position of Wu in Chinese history. Only if the Suns could conquer the rest of the country and lay claim to Heaven's blessing would mere be grounds for considering Wu the legitimate heir to the empite. But there were grounds for considering either Wei or Shu Han legitimate: The last emperor of the Han had abdicated to the one, and a member of the Han imperial clan headed the other. The marginal Status of Wu may have led Chen Shou to feel less need to be discreet in writing about it, and he may have included the sort of material that he felt constrained to suppress in his accounts of Wei and Shu. Another motivation may have been Chen's association with the faction in the Jin government pushing for an invasion of Wu (see Chapter 5). Demonsrraring the moral bankrupocy of the ruling house of Wu would have been further proof of the correctness of the pro-invasion party's position. HAREMS

Aside from empresses and consorts, as we have seen, me Han harems had contained large numbers of assorted concubines, handmaidens, and the like. By the second half of the Later Han dynasty, the harem was said to have numbered in excess of five thousand women, and there had been frequent calls for reductions. Besides the enormous expenditures such a harem entailed, one of the greatest concerns was, of course, mat the ruler would be distracted from his responsibilities. The problem remained pertinent during the Three States, and the behavior of both Cao Fang and Sun Hao demonstrated the dangers to the state if a ruler were permined to indulge himself. Both Wei and Wu saw the creation of large harems. Cao Fang's lasciviousness may have been encouraged by the example of his adoptive father Emperor Ming, who built up a large harem that occupied his anention at the expense of the affairs of state. 60 Although it is only obliquely mentioned in one place in the translation below, Emperor Ming was criticized for recruiting large numbers of young women for his harem." One passage from the Wei Epitome reports that he established eight wards in which to house his ladies of talent (cairen ;;fA) according to rank, with those holding titles of honorable lady (guiren) and lady ({uren ) or above occupying the south side.': The Wei Epitome goes on to say, "The

58

Prolegomenon

emperor often amused himself and feasted there. He chose six women who were literate and could send correspondence and made them female masters of writing (nil shangshu ::(cr.tJ. )." Finally, the Wei Epitome observes that "those from the honorable ladies (guiren) down to shangbao ~{¥O and those who swept the lateral courts [i.e., the harem) or were versed in entertainment and song. each numbered in the thousands." Chen Shou described the consequences of Emperor Ming's excesses: "The emperor built palaces on a large scale and thus made the people toil; he made extensive levies of girls to fill his harem. The imperial sons born in the harem died premarurely one after another, no heir growing up. "6-4 Emperor Ming's failure to produce an heir was thus linked-at least in the historian's mind--to his profligacy, and by extension, so was the fait of the Wei. Profligacy, then, was viewed as a political problem as well as a moral one, for the growth of a harem usually was taken to signal a decline in the emperor's engagement in affairs of state. No doubt similar considerations were operating when the young Liu Shan wanted to select women to fill out his harem, and, as we have seen, Dong Yun responded that in ancient rimes the number of wives of the Son of Heaven had not exceeded twelve. Dong simply refused to carry out Liu's instruction, and although Liu acquiesced he was not pleased. 6S The Suns were apparently unconcerned about classical precedent. A large harem developed there, too, and though one cannot be certain when it began, by the reign of the final ruler, Sun Hao, it was said to have numbered several thousand." The libidinous activities of the Suns were specifically cited by Chen Shou as one of the reasons for their demise, and Sun Quan was likened to Duke Huan of Qi.67 But the lessons of Wei and Wu were lost on the Simas. The jin continued in their footsteps, taking over some five thousand women from among Sun Hao's concubines and entertainers. And just prior to that, in the seventh month of Taishi $./lij 9 (August 273), Emperor Wu widely selected women of good families to fill the rear palaces. He accomplished this by first declaring a prohibition on marriage and then dispatching eunuchs to search throughout the provinces for girls to be sent to Empress Yang -II for final selection. The}in History relates that, being of a jealous nature, she chose no real beauties-only those who were "pure and mature.'" The families themselves do not seem to have been keen to have their daughters join the harem, for many young women are said to have made themselves unattractive to avoid being selected, apparently as a sweet lady or an even lower rank.6s CONC LU SION

The story of the empresses and consorts of the Three States period is the taste that proves the pudding of George Santayana's time-worn

59

Empresses and Consorts of the Three States

dicrum about what happens to those who forget the past. The examples of four hWldred years of the Han dynasty were manifest and accessible to all who would benefit from them. And if the import of the lesson was not immediately apparent, Han political and social critics had provided clear interpretations. But the rulers of the Three States were little inclined to master this lesson. Many of the problems associated with Han consorts, their families, and the harems reappeared in the Three States. There was nothing inevitable about their recurrence. As with the Han, the nature of the problems surrounding palace women grew out of the moral and political culture of the leadership of the individual states and reflected me rulers' personalities, proclivities, and weaknesses. Like the men, the women at a dynasty's beginning seem generally to have been stronger and abler at carrying out their sanctioned roles. As the quality of rulers declined, along with their ability to perform properly the duties of their station and to keep their appetites in check, so did that of the palace women. In the years prior to the founding of Wei, Cao Cao adopted a policy of selecting men of ability and anached little importance to birth. This policy found its analogue in tht: selection of palace women. Cao Cao's own pedigree was anything but elite, and he did not fee l obligated to rum to the prominent families for his wives. Although this eliminated the danger of affinal families coming to dominate the government, it did not prevent a consort from being able to manipulate an emperor for her own ends, as the case of Empress Zhen demonstrates. 6~ But whether the palace women might distract a ruler from the affairs of state was more a function of the inclinations and will of the ruler than of the women themselves. Emperor Millg and his adoptive son Cao Fang increasingly directed their interests toward the harem and away from their responsibilities as heads of state-with predictable results. Shu Han provided the counterexample. The position of palace women there was relatively weak, and their families did not exercise untoward influence on the lius. One important reason was that the principal consorrs-aside from Liu Bei's wife Lady Wu-did not have roots in the region, and there were no broad netWorks of affinal relatives to try to manipulate the ruler or his conson. Another factor was the continuing influence of liu Bei's trusted advisers after his death and their ability to deter Liu Shan's incipient desire to replicate the examples of his counterparts in the ocher two states. Had this not been the case, Shu Han might well have followed the same path. In several ways, Wu represented a special case. Marriage alliances were crucial to the foundation and survival of the Wu state. The Suns married women who came from families of higher social standing, and these women may have felt little need to defer to their husbands. The culrure of the Wu court seems to have been comparatively open and

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Prolegomenon

freewheeling. permitting women to playa stronger role rhan elsewhere. During the family's struggle for ascendency and in the early years of the Wu state, SWl women were matches for the early, strong SUII male leadership. Sun Jian's sister and Sun Quan's mother both seem [Q have been capable of offering informed advice on political and military affairs. Lady Sun had a strong martial bem and was considered as capable and courageous as her brothers. Whether such women were conunon in the Jiangnan region or unique to the Sun family is unknown bur is a question worthy of further srudy because of its implications for our understanding of the different roles of women in early imperial China. Yet as the quality of the leadership declined, so did that of the palace women, until, like Wei, Wu found its rulers sunk in debauchery and unable to preserve the state. Thus while writers in early imperial China might complain about the malignant influence of women, in truth responsibilicy lay with the men who set the conditions under which they lived and acted.

5

Records of the Three States

There is a common tendency to think about China in terms of comparatively long and relatively stable dynastic periods such as the Han, the Tang. and the Qing. 1 The Three States period does not follow this pattern, however, and Records of the Three States differs significantly from the other standard histories of the early imperial period. The period it describes was quite unlike those of The Grand

Scribe's Records and the Han History: The subject is three separate and competing regimes, and the period covered is less than a century. Yet despite its political fragmentation and brief duration, few historica l periods are as woven into the cllimral fabric of a people's existence as the Three States period is for the Chinese.l "' If one wishes to understand China," writes Lyman Van Slyke, "one must have some familiarity with the history of the Three Kingdoms and with the lore that surrounds it."l There can be no doubt about the importance of Records o{ the Three States to this process of understanding. It is a fascinating work dealing with an extraordinary period and has long been considered one of the most imponant dynastic histories. In irs pages are chronicled the ideas and events of an exciting period in Chinese history-the late second and third centurics. This was a time of tremendous social, economic, and political change and an age of great achievements in literature. As a repository of information and documents concerning political and military events, people, religion, science, fo reign customs, and literature, Records o{ the Three States is crucial for an understanding of the period. 4 Funhermore, the book has indirectly left a lasting impression on Chinese of all ages through its "pervasive influence in fiction, drama, and popular religion,".! not to mention history and historiography. In Taiwan alone, there are scores of temples decorated with scenes from Records o{ the Three States, as sifted through popular lore and fiction. The canonization of Guan Yu and the widespread devotions to him today are just one example of this influence.' Similarly, the fact that the book has long been mentioned in the same breath with Sima Qian's The Grand Scribe's Records, Ban Gu's Han History, and Fan Ye's wier 6,

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Prolegomenon

Han History as one of the Four Histories (Si shi tm~) indicates the high regard in which it has been held ? Although there is no complete Western-language translation of Records of the Three States, books, a rticles, and dissertations sometimes do comain translations of passages or sections. But they almost never include the relevam parts of Pei Songzhi's commentary, and the rotal amount in translation is miniscule. A translator who sampled broadly from the text was the redoubtable Achilles Fang.Fang, of course, was translating from Zi zhi tong ;ian ittililil [Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Governing}, not Records of the Three States, and only when the twO texts are the same, a nd in occasional notes, can he be said to be dealing with Records of the Three States proper. ~ CHE N SHOU AND RECO RD S OF THE THREE STATES

Chen Shou, author of Records of the Three States, was from Anhan ~iI prefecture in Baxi Eo eli commandery of Shu.1O In his youch he

itij.

studied with an older historian from the same commandery, Qiao Zhou !itf&] (20 1-27°),11 and learned the Shang shu lHallowed Documents) and the three commentaries to the Spring and Autumn Annals. But he especially concentrated on The Grand Scribe 's Records and the Han History.ll Later, Chen was an official in Shu, where he served as master of records (zhup u j:; ~ ) for the general of the guards (wei jiangjun f.fiJlffJtr), gentleman librarian in the Eastern Library (Dongguan mishulang • •~.ll~), and cavalier gentlemanin-attendance of the Yellow Gates (sanji Huangmen shilang At • • -ffl: 1l1S).1l According to the lin shu (Jin History), Chen was removed from office more than once because he chose CO remain aloof from the eunuch Huang Hao, who controlled Shu at the time.14 In 1.6} Shu was conquered by Wei, and two years later Sima Yan i'i]'.~~ (2} 6-290) abolished Wei a nd became the first ruler of the WesternJin iNti- (1.66--} 17). Chen, however, did nor immediately take office in the Jin government. Sometime before the change of regimes, he was in mourning for his father, and during the mourning period, he fe ll ill and had a maidservant concoct some pills for him to ta ke. This was apparently a violation of ritual and engendered censure, with the result that Chen spent some years out of office. IS After a time, Chen Shou was recommended as filially pious and incorrupt '6 by a powerful admirer, the influential official and literatus Z hang Hua, and so came to serve the Jin. He became an assistant gentleman editor (zuo zhuzuo lang iti:Wft:~IS) , then gentleman editor (zh uzuo lang), and next chancellor of Pingyang marquisate (Pingyang hou xiong -'f'-~~.f§). 1 7 While Chen was serving as gentleman editor,

If.

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Records of the Three States

Inspector of the Palace Writers (zhongshu jian ~.Ii) Xun Xu ltillb (d. 2.89) and Prefect of the Palace Writers (zhongshu ling ~.~) He Jiao :.tn .. (d. 2.92.) enlisted him (0 edit the works of the famous Shu statesman and strategist Zhuge Liang. The Zhuge Liang ji • • ~. [Collected Works of Zhuge Liang], Chen's edition of Zhuge's works in twenty-four juan, was submitted to the throne in 274. 1• With Jin's conquest of Wu in 280, Chen began work on his his(Ory of the three now defunct states. U Just when he completed the manuscript is not known. Chen may have completed portions of the work as eatly as sometime prior to the fall of Shu. The Wei section was certain1y well along or complete before the faU of Wu, but the Wu section itself was probably not begun until after 2.80, and the complete work may not have been presented for some years after that.20 Since the writing of the work had not been officially sponsored, official copies were nO[ made until after Chen's death. 21 It was generally well received. Xiahou Zhan Jl~~ (2.43-2.91), who was compiling his own Wei shu ft. [Wei History), was reponedly so impressed with Chen's work that he quit and destroyed what he had written.22 Even so, the praise of Chen's work was not universal, and assessments of it could be affected by nonhistoriographical considerations. The Huayang guozhi • III iii it [Record of the States South of Mt. Hua) says: Following the pacification of Wu, Shou a5S('mbled histories of the TIu-c:c Stales, weott: iI histoI'y of Wt:i. Wu, iI[ld Shu in stxty-fivt: j uan, and titled it Records of the Three States. He further wrote Records of Ancient Stares in fifty chapters. It was elegant and refined. Inspector of the Palace Writers Xun Xu and Prefect of the Palace Writers Zhang Hua deeply liked it and believed that Ban Gu and Sima Qian could not match him.lJ A few lines later, however, one finds: Hua memorialiud that IChen] be made concurrently a gentleman of the palace writers (zhongshu lang "P.1l1l), but Shou's Record of Wei had displeased [Xun] Xu. Xu did not want him within Ithe court) and memorialiud that he be grand administrator (taishou ;t;-'f) of Changguang -&JJ( commandery. Z~ Chen's lin History biography mentions this incident as well but does nO{ refer to Xun's unhappiness with Chen's history. Rather, it says, " Xun Xu was jealous of [Zhang] Hua and hated Shou, so he spoke disparagingly to the Division of Personnel (Li bu !l!$), and Shou was

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Prolegomenon

transferred to be administrator of Changguang commandery. He declined because of his mother's age and did not gO."25 The reaSOn for Xun's displeasure Over Chen's Record of Wei is not readily apparent, though given the prominence of the Xun family in the work and Xun's own role in the events described rhere, the possibilities are probably countless. But the problem may have been a difference over policy between Xun and Zhang, who was Chen's champion. The two disagreed over plans to conquer Wu, with Xun opposed and Zhang in favor. 26 Xun may not have wanted Zhang to have another partisan within the palace, and he may have seen something in the Record that he felt argued against his position. In any case, although Chen did not take up the Changguang posting, later Du Yu ttffl (2.2.2.-2.84), who was then general-in-chief who subdues South (zhennan do jidngjun flm*~.), recommended Chen to be a cavalier gentleman-in-attendance ($Onji shifang It.f~ t!~ l . The court actually appointed him attending secretary-preparer of documents (zhishu shi yushi fij.f~lIP.t.), a high office in the Censorate. By and by, he left office to go into mourning for his mother.27 Before she died. Chen's mother had asked to be buried in Luoyang m~. Chen followed her wishes, but once more he met with criticism on the death of a parent. Some felt that Chen should have returned her to their home in Shu for buriat.z~ At any rate. several years later Chen was appointed. palace lli'i)." Tbe essential oudines of the story are as follows: Empress Zhen was initially the wife of Yuan Xi. When her husband went off to govern You province I!i!!Itti, she stayed behind in Ji province.1+I to care for her mother·in-Iaw. When the Cao armies captured Ye . , the seat of Ji province, she was discovered by and subsequently married ro Cao

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Records of the Three States

Pi, the future Emperor Wen of Wei . She bore Cao Rui, who would become Emperor Ming. Afrer Cao Pi acceded fO the imperial throne, Zhen gradually fell out of favor and was replaced by lady Guo, who was later named empress in her stead. Empress Zhen was unhappy with this turn of events and apparently became increasingly difficult. Emperor Wen grew angry with her and ordered her to commit suicide. Subsequently, Cao Rui came to the throne. He had her reinterred in a more lavish tomb and bestowed extensive honors on her famil y, in some cases posthumously. The body of Records of the Three States contains a fai rly complete though terse version of the story, while Pei's commentary cites sometimes fuller, sometimes alternative versions. The works Pei cites include twO that antedate Chen's work, as well as some wrinen not long after his death. The first of these is Wang Chen's Wei History, which deals with the later part of the Zhen story, the events surrounding her death: The officials concerned memorialized the throne about naming a Palace o f Prolonged Auru mn [i.e., an empress]. The empc:ro r sent a

letter bearing his seal inviting the empress to come to him. The empress sent up a memo rial stating: I have heard tha t, from the beginning of the earliest dynasties, the perperuation of sacrifices to the state and the handing down of blessings to descendants all were due to empresses and consorts. Therefore, you must carefully 5('lecr such women in order to make moral education thrive in the palace. Now, when you have JUSt assumed the imperia l throne, you really should mist: and promote a worthy and good woman to take overall charge of the Six Palaces. I consider myst:lf ignorant and lowly; not up to the offerillg.s of grain-filled vessels. Besides, I am sick in bed and dare not maintain the slightest aspirations. The sealed lener came three times and the empress thrice declined. her words being very sincere. At the rime it was the height of sununer, so [he emperor wanted to wait until the coolness of aurumn before again inviting the empress. But it happened that her illness became grave, and that summer, o n the dingmao day of the sixth month [4 August 2.ul. she died in YeoThe emperor sighed in sorrow and pain and issued a patent bestowing on her the seal and ribbon of empress. u

Wang's account of the events surrounding Empress Zhen's death seems almost perfunctory. From it one gai ns the impression that,

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Prolegomenon

contrary ro being unhappy with Empress Zhen, the emperor wanted to honor her, and it was only her reluctance that prevented him from doing so. Even so, he did not entirely give up and and plalUled to pursue the matter again later, being thwarted only by the empress's death. According to Wang. Cao Pi was anguished by the passing of a devoted spouse and posthumously bestowed the honors of an empress on her. As we shall see, this version is quite at odds with other accounts of the empress's death. The second text that contributes a passage to the story of Empress Z hen is the We; Epitome. It describes the initial encounter between Cao Pi and the future Empress Zhen: Xi went out to run You province, and the empress remained behind to wait on her mother-in-law. When Ye's ciry-wall was breached, Shao's wife and the empress sat together in the main hall. Emperor Wen entered Shao's residence and saw Shao's wife and the empress. As the empress, terrified, put her head on her mother-in-Iaw's lap, Shao's wife insrinctivdy clutched her with her hands. Emperor Wen said, - Lady Liu fl, what makes her thus? Have your daughter-inlaw lin her head." The mother-in-law then supponed her and made her look up. Emperor Wen approached and looked at her. Seeing that she was extraordinary, he sang her praises. When Cao Cao learned how he fdt, he brought her back as Emperor Wen's wife.1) There is another fragment from Yu Huan's Wei Epitome quoted by Pei Songzhi concerning events following the death of Empress Zhen: After Emperor Ming ascended the throne, he was pained by the memory of Empress Zhen's dtarn; therefore, Empress Dowager (Guo] died unexpectedly from worry. When Empress Zhen was near death. she had placed the emperor under the care of Lady Li Once the empress dowager had died. Lady Li explained the harm dOI~c by Empress Zhen's being slandered, that she was not properly coEfined, and that her disheveled hair covered her face . The emperor shed tears in his sorrow and regret and commanded that in the funeral and burial of the empress dowager all be done as in the case of Empress Zhen."

**A.

Yu Huan's accounr here is fairl y straightforward. and though dearly embellished. it is no more so than normal among historical texts of the period, including the o fficial histories. Chen Shou's account, written sometime after 2.65. is the only one extant that covers Empress Zhen's entire life. Jr comprises three pans:

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Records of the Three States

The first discusses the empress's family antecedents, rells us that she lost her farher at an early age, and offers a formulaic anecdote that demonstrates her precocity. The s«:ond part, which is of about equal length to the first, is a terse recounting of her marriage to Yuan Xi and then to Cao Pi , her giving birth to Cao Rui and the Princess of Dongxiang (Dongxiang gongzhu • •0 -=t), and then her loss of favor and death. These latter are described in the following terms; In the t~nth month of Huangchu I (October I November u ol, the emperor ascended th~ throne as ~mperor. Afterward, the Duk~ of Shan yang presented two daughters in marriage to the Wei ruling house. Empress Guo and the Honorable Ladies Li ~ and Yin ~ wer~ all lov~d and favor~d. Empress Zhen was increasingly discouraged and had fractious words. The emperor became irate, and in the sixth month of th~ second year, he sent an ~nvoy to order her to commit suicid~. She was buried in Ye."

The third part of her biography, which is three times the combined length of the first two sections, describes the events after her death, primarily her reinterment and the honors granted her relatives. In contrast to the preced ing sections, this one is rather detail ed. Considerable space is devoted to the erection of a temple in her memory, and the memorial proposing it is quoted in full. This is followed by still furth er descriptio n of the honors bestowed on the empress's relatives, a number of whom were made marquises. Interestingly, Emperor Ming made Empress Guo's younger cousin Guo De $~ the posthumous son of Empress Zhen's deceased grandnephew Zhen Huang and had him take the surname Zhen. At first glance, Chen 's account of all this seems straightforward e.nough, Bue on reexamination, one is struck by the juxtaposition of, on the one hand, the fav or shown Lady Guo and the Ladies Li and Yin and, on [he other hand, Empress Zhen's behavior, which led to me emperor's dissatisfaction with her and his ordering her to commit suicide. Add to rhis the lengthy description of Emperor Ming's rehabilitation of his mother and her relatives, which dearly gives the impression of the rectification of an injustice, and it seems clear that Chen is conveying a discreet message. This becomes even more certain when he writes in the biography of Empress Guo thar "the death of Empress Zhen resulted from the favor shown Empress Guo. "86 His assertion is echoed by Xi Zuocru's Han~Jjn Spring and Autumn Annills:

Ii..-

Earlier; (he killing of Empress Zhen st~mmed from the favoritism shown Empress Guo, and when she was buried, they let her

76

Prolegomenon disheveled hair cover her face and stuffed her mouth with chaff. Subsequently Empress Guo was made empress and charged with raising Em~ror Ming. The em~ror was aware of this, '!.Ild ill his heart always harbored resentment. He often tearfully inquired about the circumstances of Empress Zhen's demise. Empress Guo replied, "The late e m~ror killed her. Why blame me? Besides, maya child carry a grudge against his deceased father and wrongly kill his stepmother ~cause of his natural mother?" Emperor Ming was angry and subsequently hounded her to death. In ordering her funera l, he had them do as previously in the case of Emprt·ss Zhen.'1

Xi wrote during the Eastern Jin, and there is always the possibiliry that distance from the acrual event encouraged a certain amount of distortion and elaboration. But we need only recall the passage from the Wei Epitome cited earlier to realize that the shift in Emperor Wen's favor to Empress Guo entailed more than a new anraction piqued by the infusion of fresh blood into the seraglio: Empress Guo had actively undermined Empress Zhen's position. There can be no question that Xi's account is close to the truth. But what docs that suggest about Chen's version? The two quotations from the Wei Epitome provided by Pei Songzhi are just snippets from what was a complete text, and on reading them, one is certain that Yu Huan might very well have included an account of Empress Guo's actions against Empress Zhen. After all, the Epitome does refer to Empress Zhen's having been slandered, to her having been improperly coffined, and to her disheveled hair covering her face. As indicated earlier, the Epitome was one of rhe sources available at the time Chen Shou was writing Records of the Three States, and he is assumed to have consulted ir.u There can be no doubt. then, that he intentionaUy muted his accouO[ of Empress Guo's treatment of Empress Zhen. Unlike Wang Chen, however, he did not suppress it entirely. He left the alert reader clues to what had acrually occurred; if necessary, his account might be fleshed our by recourse to unofficial works such as the Wei Epitome. Even so, the question remains: Why did Chen Shou d«:ide not to use all that was available to him and write the complete story of the events surrounding Empress Zhen's death? The Qing scholar He Zhuo speculates that Chen was reluctant because the Guos were still influential when Chen was wriring. 89 This would probably have made any reasonable person caUfious. But Chen's simarion was further complicated by policy differences in the government. Let us recall that Chen was a protege of Zhang Hua. Although Zhang was widely respected

77

Records of the Three States

for his abilities, his own origins were relatively humble, and his power to protect Chen would have been limited. When it came to one of the most important issues of the day-whether Or TIOt to attempt the conquest of Wu-Zhang was in opposition to both Xun Xu, as noted earlier, and jia Chong. In 1.65, Shu had been defeated and absorbed by Wei, but Wu was still independent more than ten years later. Emperor Wu of jin (Sima Yan) wanted to attack the southern state. A number of high-ranking officials-including jia and Xun-were opposed, while Zhang and others strongly endorsed the plan. In a memorial to the emperor, jia and Xun insisted that such an effort was doomed to failure. The emperor apparently did not agree, for he ordered jia to lead the arrack. When the campaign experienced logistical difficulties, jia and Xun unsuccessfully called for Zhang's execution because he was responsible for planning grain transport. The jin armies were ultimately victorious, however, much to the chagrin of jia Chong, who feared that he would now fall into disfavor. 90 Even though the emperor seems to have been willing co overlook Jia's behavior, this surely did little co improve jia or Xun's feelings roward Zhang and Chen. In addition to policy differences, there were deeper and more intensely personal differences that could have affected Chen's work. Zhang and Chen found themselves embroiled in bitter factional struggles at court revolving around jia Chong and his daughter, jia Nanfeng (d. 300), the consort of the future Emperor Hui !B (Sima Zhong ~,~~).' I Xun Xu and his father, Xun Yi, were closely allied with Jia. Both father and son had proposed that jia's daughter be married to the mentally deficient heir apparent Sima Zhong, an idea for which Xun Yi was widely ridiculed.92 Zhang Hua, in conrrast,later supported Empress Dowager Yang when Empress jia sought [Q have her executed.'13 As Zhang's protege, Chen would have found himself willy-nilly in opposition ro the Jia family and its supporters. 94 Given the COntext in which Chen wrott his history, then, he could have expected his work to be carefully scrutinized by people who were not entirely sympathetic to him. 's Although according to one account Xun Xu praised Chen's Record of Ancient States, the same source says that something in Chen's hisrory of the Wei displeased Xun and led him to prevent Zhang's gaining Chen an appoinnnenr at court." As noted earlier, considering the prominence of the Xun family in the work, there were probably numerous opportunities for Xun Xu to take offense. Even so, what irritated Xun may well have been Chen's treatment of Empresses Zhen and Guo. Although the details differ, this episode is in many ways analogous to Empress Jia's treatment of Empress Yang, and Chen's account could be taken as an implied crit-

.moo.

78

Prolegomenon

icism of Empress Jia . Moreover, his lengthy description of the honors bestowed on the Zhen family by Emperor Ming might be seen as a hint that members o f the Yang family deserved similar consideration.' 7 Chen 's handling of the Empress Guo affair could also have been interpreted as being critical of Xun's father, Xun Yi, who had collaborated with Wang Chen on the Wei History.~s As we have seen, the Wei History omitted any mention of Empress Guo's treatment of Empress Zhen." Chen's circumspection notwithstanding, under such circumstances his account could no t have avoided offending Xun. Of course, we can never know for certain Chen's reasons for writing as he did. But the contexts and constraints with which he had to deal are clear. In hindsight, it would be easy to fault him for not living up to ideal historiographical standards. But it should be remembered that, in addition to the political context in which he wrote, history as a field was still developing and had not come completely into its own. 1OO In any case, Chen did not do all that badly. Despite the pressures and limitations to which he was subject, he managed to give sufficient information and leave adequate dues to enable his readers to discern the truth. This at least seems to have been Pei Songzhi's conclusion when he compared Chen 's version of the Empress Zhen story with that of Wang Chen: Your servant Songzhi understands the principles of the Spring ami Autumn Annals to be that great evils within the palace are concealed, while lesser evils are recorded. We have clear knowledge of the fact that Emperor Wen did not make Madam Zhen empress and went so far as to kill her. If the Wei hiSlOrians considered this lO be a great evil. they should have concealed it and not spoken of it. If they considered it a lesser evil, then they should not have written falsely about it. Such revering of embellimed and untrue texts is alien to what we learn from the old historians. If we were to judge from this, then whenever the historians praised the g~ of the words and deeds of the e mpres~ Sian and Zhen, they would be difficult to find credible. Chen Shou's abridgements and omissions truly have some basis. 101 Fang Xuanling 1R~ 1It ( 578--648) and the other compilers of the lin

History agreed. They noted that the We; History by Wang Chen (and Xun Yi) had covered up a great deal and that it "was not like the crue record of Chen ShOU."·Ol Fang and his collaborators may indeed have been thinking in pan of Chen's treatment of Empress Zhen when they wrote in their appreciation of Chen and other Jin historians:

79

Records of the Three States The ancient kings all established historians; they illuminated the models and set up patterns, but none approached these. In tracing origins and seeking denouements, chronicling emotions and taking the measure of human nature, their words are subtle yet apparent, their intentions pure and enlightened, and so they were able to establish persons of distinction'OJ as standards for distam generarions. After rZuo] Qiuming li:lilfjJ had passed away, Ban Gu and Sima Qian rose, one after the other. wielding their magnificent writing brushes in the Western Capital, giving free rein to candid words in the Eastern Lodge. From mat rime on down, did nOt: Chen ShOll attain the status of one who clarified things, was frank, and could carry on and illuminate the former canons!,04

In summary, although Records of the Three States has some shoncomings-shoncomings that led Pei Songzhi to compile his commentary-as early as the late Six Dynasties and Tang, Chen Shou was recognized as an outstanding historian who had succeeded, under difficult circumstances, in preserving his integrity by producing an anful history thar withheld linle from the accomplished reader. WHO I S INCLUDED?

A word needs to be said about the criteria Chen Shou used in se:iecring women to include in his history, for not all palace women or even all rulers' wives have entries in the Records of the ThTee States fascicles on empresses and consortS. Mo reover; the treatment of them differs somewhat state by state. In picking those to be included in the section o n Wei, Chen followed criteria similar to those applied later by Fan Ye in his Later Han History.'OJ All had been empresses and are listed by their tides, as befit the consorts of the rulers of the legitimate successor state to the Han. This legitimacy is underscored by the omission of the term "empress" (houl from the tides of the chapters on Shu and Wu. Curiously, however, the section on Shu also lists empresses by their titles, though Liu Bei and Liu Shan are naturally not referred to as "emperor." The Shu chapter differs from the ocher two in that it combines the biographies of the conSOrts with those of the younger male offspring, rathet than separating them, as is done fot Wei and Wu. This is, of course, a function of me relatively small number of persons involved. Fascicle so differs from me orner two in not listing any of the women under the title of "empress." With one exception, all ate listed under the tide of "lady" ((uTen ), though most had been declared empress. The exception is Sun He's conson nee He, who was mother of Sun Hao, the last ruler of Wu. Altho ugh Sun Hao bestowed

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Prolegomenon

on her the ride of empress and then empress dowaget, she was listed as Dame He fiiJtJ2 to indicate that she was not the wife of a ruler.I06 Another difference is that Fascicle 50 includes wives of Sun QuanLady Xie and Lady Xu-who had not been declared empresses, either in their own lifet imes or posthumously. Their inclusion is further indication that Chen Shou believed there were no grounds for considering Wu to be a legitimate successor to the Han. Aside from the empresses who appear in Fascicle 5, the CaDS had other wives who were mothers of younger sons who did not become emperor. These are mentioned in Fascicle 2.0 with the entries for their sons (see Appendix I, Tables 9 and 10). The infonnation is sketchy, and for most Chen gives linle more than a name. la' Fascicle 59, on the five sons of Sun Quan who did not rule (Sun Liang and Sun Xiu, having been rulers, share a separate fascicle with Sun Hao, the final ruler of Wu), differs somewhat because the mothers of these five are covered in Fascicle 50. Still, Fascicle 59 contains some additional infonnation that complements parts of the biographical sketches found in the section on consorts. CONCLUSION

There can be no question that Chen Shou was an accomplished historian for his time, the weaknesses of Records of the Three States nQcwitbstanding. Those weaknesses were to a large extent the product of the very difficult circumstances and highly charged and politicized atmosphere in which he wrote. Chen omitted or only alluded to important particulars, which led Pei Songzhi to supplement Chen's work with numerous quotations from contemporary or nearcontemporary sources. But while Pei's additions point up the lacunae in Chen's work, they also reveal how adroit Chen was in handling sensitive events and signaling the reader of the need to look more deeply into a maner. His handling of the death of Empress Z hen is an excellent example of the context in which hI:: wrote and thl:: constraints under which he labored. Thanks to Pei Songzhi's selection of material for his commentary, we a re ab le to appreciate the nature of Chen 's achievement. Small wonder that Chen's work survived rather than Wang Chen ·s. The women whom Chen selected for his history are not, of course, representative of women at large, nor do they include the totality of the wives or concubines of anyone of the rulers. As we have seen, Chen applied fairly narrow criteria in making his choices, criteria that resembled those of historians before him, and ones that were later foUowed by Fan Yeo Given what we know about the sources for Fan's

8I

Records of the Three States

Later Han History, it seems likely that the same criteria were applied by other historians among Chen's contemporaries, such as Hua Qiao. We have noted that these fascicles are as much about the male relatives of the women included as they are about the women themselves. Wu Jing's biography appears at his sister's entry, and likewise the entry for Xu Kun, father of Sun Quan's Lady Xu, is included with hers. Liu Shan's two brothers and his son are given three quarters the space of the four imperial wives in the Shu section. Thus these two fascicles each do double duty: The Wu section incorporates material that in other histories is found in the sections on the imperially affined families, whereas the Shu section includes the entries normally found in a section devoted to younger sons of the imperial line. Only with Fascicle 5, the Wei chapter, do we have something like the typical standard history section on empresses and consorts. One wishes that Chen could have broken with the tradition established by his predecessors and given us a fuller picture of the women about whom he did write. We are not usually told their given names, and the descriptions of them are almost entirely from the standpoint of the impact of their actions on the ruling house. Aside from a panicular woman's being eimer jealous and scheming or warmhearted and wise, in most cases the historian tells us linle of their personalities, their lives, and their aspirations. Still, as the reader will find in the following translation, a careful and sympathetic reading of me fascicles on palace women-supplemented by Pei's commentary and by material from omer parts of the Records and elsewhere-yields the outlines of these women and their lives, and though one can never hope to know them intimately, it is possible at least to have a sense of them and their world. Clearly there were some extraordinary individuals among the royal women of the Three States. If the age is rightly known for having produced men of heroic stature and exceptional ability, the limited sample of the following chapters is evidence that it also yielded women who were their match.

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Records of the Three States: The Book of Wei Fascicle 5: Empresses and Consorts

5. I 5 5 The Classic of Changes states, "A man properly takes his place outside the home; a woman properly takes her place within the home. For a man and a woman to be proper is the greatest principle of Heaven and Earth. "I Without exception, the wise kings of bygone days understood the regulations regarding empresses and consorts and complied with the morals of Heaven and Earth. Therefore, two consorts were given in marriage at Gui ttl, and the way of Yu ,. was able to thrive; Reo if and 5i b:l married into the Ji :0»:, and the Zhou house thus prospered,! Whether a stMe rises or fa lls, lives or dies is ever due to this. The

(Apocryphon to thel Spring and Autumn Annals: Explaining [the Themes and Wo rds] says that the Son of Heaven has twelve women and the nobles have nine. l If one looks into it, this is a sound rule in terms of both emotion and reason. But later ages were extravagant and undisciplined and indulged their wasteful desires to the point that it left men and women pining and single and affected and shook the spirit of harmony.4 They only exalted sex and did not take pure goodness as basic. Therefore, customs and moral teaching deteriorated, and the major relationships were destroyed. Is it not a pity? Alas, may whosoever possesses a kingdom or a family always be able to learn from this! In the Han system, the grandmother of the emperor was called grand empress dowager, the mother of the emperor was called empress dowager, the wife of the emperor was called empress, and for the remainder of the palace women there were fourteen ranks. Wei followed the Han model; all the terms for mothers and empresses were the same as under the old system. But from the rank of lady down, there were additions and deletions. When the Grand Progenitor (Cao Cao) established the kingdom, he initially named a queen (wanghou 1£ Iff 1, with five ranks below her: lady, brilliant companion, favorite beauty, elegant lady, and beautiful lady. Emperor Wen (i.e., Cao Pi] added honored concubine (guipin), lady of chaste beauty (shuyuan Ui~l, lady of cultivated

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Records of the Three States

CQumenance (x;urong ti~), lady of complete complaisance (shuncheng JtR,flt), and sweet lady. Emperor Ming [Cao Rui] added pure COllSOrt (shurei Ui~), lady of bright loveliness (zhaohua II{J~ ) , and lady of cultivated deportment (xiuyi _11) and abolished the office of lady of complete complaisance. Only in the Taihe j;:.f:IJ reign period l2.2.7-2.33J did Emperor Ming restore lady to its position above pure consort. S From lady down, there were altogether twelve grades of aristocratic rank:6 The positions of honored concubine or lady were second only to empress, and there were no equivalent aristocratic ranks; the position of pure consort was equivalent to chancellor of state and the aristocratic rank was comparable to king (z},uhou wang ift&t.::£l;7 the position of lady of chaste beauty was equivalent to grandee secretary (yush; dJJ(u .j!*~ J , and the aristocratic rank was comparable to prefectural duke (xian gong «t.~ ); brilliant companion was comparable to prefectural marquis (xian hou Q.~ ); lady of bright loveliness was comparable to district marquis (xiong hou .~J; lady of cultivated coumenance was comparable to commune marquis (ting hou ~ ~) ; lady of cultivated deportment was comparable to marquis within the passes; favorite beauty was equivalent to an official ranking fully two thousand bushels; elegant lady was equivalent ro an official ranking exactly two thousand bushels; beautiful lady was equivalent ro an official ranking equivalent ro two thousand bushels; and sweet lady was equivalent to one thousand bushels. Empress Sian the Celebrious of the Manial Emperor (Wu Xuan Sian huanghou it'fi'""t £Fo), whose home of record was Kaiyang MM in Langye, was the mother of Emperor Wen! Originally, she was in a brothel," but when she was twenty, the Grand Progenitor took her as a concubine at Qiao.' Later, she followed him to Luoyang. When Dong Zhuo if...!j! (d. 192.) rebelled, the Grand Progenitor went eastward in disguise to avoid trouble. 'o Yuan Shu spread news of his death, and at the time those of the Grand Progenitor'S associates who had come to Luoyang all wanted to go home. II The empress stopped them, saying, "Lord Cao's fate as yet cannot be known. If you go home coday and tomorrow he is alive, could you look him in the eye again? And if calamity should happen to befall us, what misery is there in dying together?"12 They did as she said. The Grand Progenitor learned of it and praised her. At the beginning of the jian'an period, Lady Ding T was set aside, and he made the empress his next wifeY He had the empress raise all his sons whose mothers had died. 8 When

9I

The Book of Wei

Emperor Wen was named heir apparent, the left and right chief attendants (zuo you zhangyu li:ti -t?t f)jJ) congratulated her, saying, "Since the general has been made heir apparent, everyOne in the empire is overjoyed. You should open your coffers and bestow rewards: ',4 She replied, "The king named Pi successor because he is the eldest. I should just count myself lucky that 1 did not make the mistake of failing [0 teach and guide him. Why should I also bestow gifts?" The chief attendant returned and told the Grand Progenitor of this exchange. The Grand Progenitor was pleased and said, "Not showing your anger and maintaining your dignity when you are glad are surely the most difficult of accomplishments. " A

The J#i History says: The empress was born :1.1 Baiting B? in Q ~ commandery on the day yisi E. in the twelfth month ofYanxi g}( l l! There was a yellow pneuma that fi lled the room for a long time. Her father, the Attentive Marquis (jing hou lit~), wondered at it and asked the diviner Wang Dan about it.16 Dan said, "This is an auspicious sign." 11

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The Wri Epitomt says: In the beginning, the Grand Progenitor had Lady Ding, and then Lady Liu, who gave birth to Zixiu (Can Ang) and the Senior Princess of Qnghe (Qnghe z/lang gongzhll T~ TiiJ~~ 1: ). Liu died young, and Ding raised Zixiu. Zixiu feli at Rang"' , and Ding would always say, " Having taken my son and killed him, you don't think of him anymore!" Then she would weep uncontrollably. The Grand Progenitor found this exasperating and sent her back to her family, hoping she wOlild have a change ofhearl. Later, he went to see her. She was weaving just then, and when someone from outside conveyed the WOrdli "His lordship has arri ved," she remained kneeling at the loom. The Grand Progenitor arrived, and stroking her back, said, "Thm around and look at me and lei us ride back together!" She did not rum to face him or respond. He withdrew and, sunding outside the door, spoke asain: "Might it still be possible?" But there was no reply. He said, "Then this is really goodbye" and broke off with her. He wamed her family to marry her ofT to someone else.. but they did not dare. Earlier, when Lady Ding had already become the principal wife and had additionaJly taken on Zixiu, she had insufficient regard for the empress and her sons. When Empress Bian became the next wife, she did not think about this old grudge. When the Grand Progenitor was away, she sent someone to take presents to Lady Ding with C""\·ery season of the year. She also received her privately, inviting her to take the seat of honor and taking the place below her. She received her

9Z,

Records of the Th ree States when she came and saw her off when she left , just as in former days. Ding apologized, "Ho..... can you a1\\'a)'s be so kind 10 a castoff such as me?" Afterward, when Ding died, the empress asked the Grand Progenitor to be allowed 10 hold the funeral. He permitted it, and she was buried south of Xucheng iltlJit." Later, when the Grand Progenitor was troubled by illness and thought he would not r«O\'er, he sighed, saying. "In all of my thoughts and deeds, there has never been anything that I was ashamed of in my heart. But if there is a soul after death and should Zixiu ask, 'Where is my mother?'-ho..... sMiIi I reply?" The Uti History says: The empress was by nature thrifty and frugal and did not value ornament :.md beauty. She had no panemed embroidery or pearls or jade, and her utensils were all of black lacquer. The Grand Progenitor once obtained se\'era! sets of famous ear ornaments and bade the emp ress to ch()()Se a set. She selected a middling set, and when the Grand Progenitor asked her why, she replied, " It would be greWY to pick the best and hypocri tical to pick the worst, so I picked the middling ones."

In Jian'an 24 [219 /2201, she was made queen, and the patent said, "Lady Sian has had the virtue of a model mother in rearing all of my sons. Now let her be promoted to queen. Let the heir apparent and the imperial marquises take their places by her side a nd all the ministers wish her long life. Let the death sentences within the kingdom be commuted by one degree.'" In Jian'an 2S (220122 11. the Grand Progenitor died and Emperur Wen assumed the royal thrunt:." He honort:d the queen as queen dowager. When he succeeded to the imperial throne, he honored her, calling her empress dowager and designating her Palace of Eternal LongevitylO (Yongshou gong lk. g).c When Emperor Ming assumed the throne. he honored the empress dowager as the grand empress dowager. c

The Wn Hutory says: Because the state's finances were insufficient, the empress reduced her livery and comestibles and got rid of all her objects of gold and sih·er. (Caol Zhi, the king of Dong'e Jk.1!'iJ.:£, was her youngest son, and she loved him best. Later, when Zhi committed an offense and was reported by the officials concerned, Emperor Wen had Chief Commandant of Imperial Equipages (frngiu JU1l!(j *1fllll 1M) (Bian] Lan .. , who was the son of the empress's younger brother, take the deliberations of the highest officials and report them to her. The empress said , "I did not exped this son to do such a thing. Go back and tell the emperor that he cannot vioble the laws of the COUntry

93

The Book of Wei on my account." And when she personally yw the emperor, she yid nothing about it. Your servant Songzhi notes: Emperor Wen dreamed that he was rubbing a coin. He wanted the markings to disappear, but they became even dearer. He asked ZOOu Xum 1Il'll'£ about this.1I Xuan replied, "This derives from a problem in Your Majesty's own household. Although you are wishing for something, the imperial mother does not concur." Thus, the empress's intentions could not have been as stated in this history [i.e., the Wn" History]. u The JfI(j History also says: Whenever the empress dowager went on campaigns \\ith the army and saw dderly, white-haired people, she would always halt the arriage and call them over to ask how the)' were. She would present them with taffeta and fa~ diem weeping, SlIying, '" regret that my parenlli died before I came into my own." Whenever the empress dOW1lger saw her own relatives, she did not put on a charming face. She always said, "In the management of your daily affairs you should strive for economy and frugality. You should not expect rewards or gifts, but be mindful of your own excesses. The imperial in-laws nlust find it queer th.d I tre".lt them so stingily, but it is btt;,cuSc I iI.he my own norms and standards. ! have served Emperor Wu [Cao Caol for fony or fifty years and have practiced frugality for a long time. I cannot change myself to be extravagant. If any among ),ou violates a law, , can even increase 1M offense one degree. Do not expect mone)', grain, kindness, or leniency." The emperor (Cao 010) built a rruonsion for the empress's youn~ brother [Bian] Bing When it W2S finiShed, the empress paid a visit to it and invited her entire family and her in-laws. She offered an inferiot' cuisine and had no special foods. The empress and her entourage fed on vegetables and millet and had no fish or meat. Such W2S her frugality. U

*.

5· I 5 8

During the Huangt:hu period, Emperor Wen wanted to ennoble posthumously the empress dowager's parents. Master of Writing (shang shu to'{! IF) Chen Qun _If memorialized, saying,14 Your Majesty, with Your sage virtue, responded to destiny and received the mandat('. You established th(' dynasty and reformed the regulations and should forever stand as a model for lat('r ages. According to the texts of the canonical books, there are no regulations for distributing land to and bestowing titles upon one's wife's people. In th(' ritual canons, the wife's noble rank depends on the husband.l $ Qin went against the old laws, and Han did the same. Theirs were not the ('xcellent canons of the early rulers.

94

Records of the Three States

The emperor said, "This argument is correct. It shall not be done. We shall take the document you have initiated and order it sent down and kept in the imperial secretariat (taige .IM) to serve forever as a model for later ages."2' In the spring of Taihe 4 [2 30), Emperor Ming did confer the posthumous tide Respectful Marquis of Kaiyang (Kaiyang Gong. hou fUJlII?J.*if* ) on the empress dowager's grandfather Guang Jj( Y Her father Yuan it was called Attentive Marquis, her grandmother Zhou l!:I was made countess of Yangdu (Yangdu jun f:t) and lady of the Respectful Marquis (Gong hou luren .!J!i~~ A.). All received seals and ribbons of office. In the fifth month of that yea r [May /June), the empress died.1I In the seventh month UulY/August). she was buried with Cao Cao at Gao Tumulus (Gaoling illiFil)." Earlier, the empress dowager's younger brother Bing had been made a marquis of the capital district (du xiang hou ~.~) for his merit. lO In the year Huangchu 7 [22 61227 ), he was promoted a nd appointed both ma rquis of Kaiyang (Kaiyang hou [WJ~~ ) . with a benefice of (Welve hundred households, and general of briliialH achievements (zhao/ie jiangjun 1IlJ~,~Hff.JJ).D When Bing died, his son Lan succeeded him. As a youth Lan possessed talent and learning,E and he became chief commandant of imperial equipages, scouting and attacking general (youji jiangjun M:.JIfflfl) and honorary cavalier attendant in regular attendance (sanji cbangsbi ftt.'M'f~). When Lan died, his son Hui ~ succeeded him.f Moreover, Bing's benefice was divided, and Lan's younger brother Lin Ii became a full marquis and rose in office to be colonel of foot soldiers (bubing xiaowei ~~t2:jf). The daughter of Lan's son Long r4" became empress of the Duke of Gaogui District. JI Because Long was the empress's father, he became imperial household grandee (guong/u da(u :itl*::k1c) and advanced in position with unusual ra pidity. He was appointed marquis of Suiyang district (Suiyang xiang h ou ItINU.~), and his wife Wang .:E became countess of Xianyang district (Xianyang xiangjun MIII.tt). Long's late wife liu .J was posthumously appointed countess of Shunyang district (Shunyang xiangjun JOIIli .~) because she was the empress's mother. lin's daughter also became empress of the King of Chenliu.Jl At the time, Lin had already died, but his wife liu ~ was appointed countess of Guangyang district (Guangyang xiangjun IlJII.tt).'u

llin

D

The JVri EpilOTM says: Earlier, in }ian'an times. EmplUS Bian's younger brother Bing attained a position as ma~r of a separate regiment (~bu

95

The Book of Wei ~$ iij Mi ) .)4The empress once complained to 0.0 Uo, who replied, "But isn't it enough that he gets to be my little brother- inlaw?" She also wanted Cao Cao to give him money and silk. Cao Cao again said, "But isn' t it sufficient that you misappropriate things and give them to him?" Therefore, to the end of Cao Cao's days, Bing's office was not changed, neither was his wealth increased.

sima

E

5.159

The m,. £p'tUtW says; Lan presented a rhapsody praising and recounting the beauty of the heir apparent's ( Cao Pi's) virtue. The heir apparent replied, saying, "A rhapsody speaks of the attributes of objective categories, and a eulogy praises the form and appearance of great virtue. Therefore, their authors do not falsify the words, and their recipients must live up to them. How can I live up to th is r hapsody of yours? Formerly, when Wuqiu Shouwang ~.fi 113:. once discoursed on a precious tripod cauldron and He Wu fDJit and others sang eulogies, they eo.·en received rewards of gold and silk. J5 Although your action has not been sincere, the intent is commendable. We now award you one ox." Thenceforth, Lan was treated as an intimate and respected. The Wri £P;IO,," says: In Emperor Ming's rime, Lan saw that ..... hile there .....ere two external d ifficulties, the emperor devoted his anentian to his household." Lan alw:ays took ad..-anuge of attending upon and accompanying the emperor to remonstrate earnestly with him St:\'eraJ times. Although the emperor WllS unable to follow his advice, he still acknowledged his sincerity. Later, Lan suffered from diabetes caused by drinking. At the time, Emperor Ming belieo.·ed in a shamaness's cure using water. He sent someone to deliver the water [0 Lan, but Lan was unwilling to drink it. The emperor summoned him and asked why. Lan said that in curing iUncss one should usc prescribed medicines. How could one trust in this? The emperor was irked, bul Lan never did take the cure. Later, the diabetes gradually worsened and Un died. Thus people of today view Lan as someone ..... ho WllS fond of speaking bluntly, but when they say that he commined suicide because the emperor humiliated him face-to-face. such was not actually the case.

Empress Zhen the Illustrious of the Civilizing Emperor (Wen Zhao Zhen huanghou Illlfi.f.Fo 1. whose home of record was Wuj i #!!liM! in Zhongshan .:p Ill , was the mother of Emperor Ming and a descendant of Grand Guardian (taibao ;;t {¥ ) Zhen Han fitW of Han times.17 The family had been officials for generations at two thousand bushels.lI Her father Yi ~ was prefect of Shangcai ...t ~ .3~ She lost her father when she was three. G Later, when the

96

Records of the Three States

armies of the empire rebelled and there was also famine, people all sold their precious objects of gold, silvet; pearls, and jade.o4(I At that time, the empress's family had an abundance of stOred grain, and they bought many such objects with it. The empress was ten or so and said to her mothet; "Although the world is now in turmoil, we are buying more precious objects. 'Though a man may be innocent, just possessing a jade may constitute a crime.'41 More· over, all about us everyone is starving and in want. It would be better to give our grain as relief to kinsmen and neighboring villages and to practice benevolence and charity on a broad scale." The whole famil y agreed it was a good idea and followed her advice.H G

The 'Yri HiJtory says: Yi married a woman named Zhang ~ from Changshan # LI.i. and she gave birth to three boys and five girls. li The eldest son Yu It died young. Next was Yan • • who "'as recommended as filially pious and incorrupt, was clerk (yuon tilt) to the genenJ- inchief (dajiQnKiulJ :k.~.), and was chief of Quliang IIIJ~ Next was Yao ~. recommended as filially pious and incorrupt. The eldest daughter was Jiang ~, followed in order by Tho ~, Dao tl , Rong ;f , and the empress. The empress ....'as born during the Han on a dinKYou TD day in the twelfth month of Guanghe 1t1tl 5 [2.6 January I R3J. E\·cry rime she .....cnt to slccill her family seemed to see something like a person bringing a jade garment to cover her, and they often marveled al it tQgClher. When Vi died. she added [her link \'oice] to the keening and wailing," and those within and without the family increasingly regarded her as special. Later, when the physiognomist Liu Liang .J ~ examined the empress and other children, he pointed to hcr and said. "The exalted status of this girl slWl be inexpressible." From the time she was little until SM was grCM'll, the empress M\'er liked fri\·olity. When she ....'as eight, someone performed outside by riding standing up on a horse. The people in the household and all her older sisters .....ent up to the p llery 10 watch it. Only the empres:s did not go along. All her older sisters thought this was odd and asked her ..... hy. S he replied, "A .....oman should not ..... atch such things." When she was nine. she enjoyed writing, and whene\·er she saw a character, she always recognized it. She often used her elder brothers' brushes and inkstones. and they said (0 her, "You ought to learn woI1'Im's work. Do you think all this writing and study will make you a woman erudite?" The empress replied, "I have heard that. of the worthy women of antiquity, there ....·as never one who did not study the successes and failures of former times in order (0 admonish herselC If one does nOt understand writing, how can one enmine these?"

.o j

97 H

5. 160

The Book of We; The Jt'(i EpilomL says: When the empress was fourteen, she lost her middle elder brother Yan, and her sorrow continued beyond the SriPUt.tM mourning period. In serving her widO'lo'ed sister-in-law, she was humble and respectful. Managing and dealing ..... ith the work :lOd solicitously caring for Yan's child, her affection and 10\"1: were '·ery great. The empress's mother was by nature stem and had norms for treating all her daughters-in-law. 1be empress often remonstrated ..... ith her mother, saying, "My elder brorher unfortunately died early. Sisterin- law is young to be a celibate widow and has been left with but a single child"~ Speaking in terms of moral obliptions., you ought to tteat her like a daughter-in-law, and you should ]o,·e her like a daughter." Her mother was mO'red by the empress's .....ords and shed tears. She then ordered the empress and her sister-in- law to li,·e together. Whether sleeping or resting. sitting or rising. they .....ere ll ..... ays together, lnd their mutu.a.l lffecrion grew increasingly deep.

In the Jian'an period, Yuan Shao obtained her for his middle son Xi. When Xi went out to govern You province, the empress remained behind (0 care for her mother-in-law,'" When 1i province was pacified, Emperor Wen married the empress in YeY She was fa vored and gave birth to Emperor Ming and the Princess of Dongxiang.' In the first month of Yankang .m:~ I (February/ March 2.201, Emperor Wen assumed the throne as king. In the sixth month, he went on a military expedition south and the empress remained in Yeo In the tenth month of Huangchu I (October/November 2201. the emperor ascended the throne as emperor.·' Afterward, the Duke of Shan yang presented two daughters in marriage to the Wei ruling house.· 9 Empress Guo and the Honorable Ladies Li and Yin were all loved and favored. 50 The empress was increasingly discouraged and had fractious words, The emperor became irate, and in the sixth month of the second year, he sent an envoy to order her to commi( suicide.}) She was buried in Ye) The Jfii Epitomt" uys: Xi went out to run You province., and the empress remained behind (0 wait on hcr mother- in- law. When Y~'s city wall was breached, Shao's wife and th~ empress Slt together in the main hall. Emperor Wen entered Shao's residence and $2W Shao's wife and the empress.11 As the empress, terrified, put her head on her mother-in-law's lap. Shao's wife instinctively clutched her with her hands. E mperor Wen said, " udy Liu, ""hll makes her thus? Ha'·e your daughter-in-law lift her head." The mother-in-law then supported her lnd mld~ her look up. Emperor Wen lpproached lnd looked at her.

98

Records of the Three States ~ng th:n she Wti exl1'1lOrdinary, he sang her pnaises. When Cao Cao learned how he felt, he brought her back as Emperor Wen's wifeY

nie UmvtNO/wm of lIlt Eras says: When Cao Cao subjugated Yeo Emperor Wen 'A-as first to enter Yuan Shang's compound . There was a v.~oman· with disheveled hair and a dirty faa: sllInding behind Stao's wife Liu shedding tears. Emperor Wen asked about her, and Liu replied, "This is Xi's wife." Turning around, she gathtted the woman's hair and rubbed her faa: 'A;th a kerchief. Her good looks were matchless. Once il was o\·er. Liu said to the empress, " You don't need to worry about d ying now!" She was taken in marriage and was favored .Sf The JVti His/ory says: The more the empress's fa"or grew, lhe more she denigrated herself. She advised and encouraged those in the rear palace who had favor, and consoled and instructed Ih06C who did not.S! She always took advanta~ of leisure times to exhort the emperor, saying. " In former times the descendants of the YeIlO'A' Emperor were born in great numbers. It was probably because his royal ladies were multitudinous thaI he obtained Ihis blessing. Wh~1 I wish is for you to search everywhere for ladies of chaste beaut)' to make your progeny abundant." The emperor in his heart ~ppreciated this. Later, Ihe emperor was about to banish Madam Ren, and the emp~ implored him, " Ren is from a well- known dan of your homelown, and her virtue and beauty are more th~n someone like me C'.lJl malch. Why b;wish her?" The emperor said, "Ren is by llatufC rash and impetuous and not pleasant and agreeable. She has all in all angerUt me more than once. This is why I ml banishing her." The empress, shedding le:lrs, insistently implored, "Evnyone knows that I ha"e received the favor of your esteemed attention. They will say Ren's leaving is all my doing. Just as you feu criticism for being prejudicial, I may tuve a turd time for being specially favored. I hope you will reconsider!" The emperor did not heed her and sent Ren away. In Jim 'an 16 [2. I 1 / 2.12.], Cao Cao led a military expedition to Guanztwng III 9=', and Empress Bian the Cclebrious of the Manial Emperor went along [part of the way), stopping off at Mengjin ~$.SoO The emperor (Cao Pi] stayed beh.ind in charge o(Ye. At that time, Empress Bian ....-as in poor health. and indisposed. The empress could not periodically ch«k on her and wu so an xious and frightened thai she wept day and ·night. Her attendants repeatedly sent messengers to ask aboul and report (on her improvementj, but the empress still did not txlie"e il. She said, " When Iht consort was ~I hOfT'le, every time her old ailmenl flared up, il lasted for a time. How could she improve so quickly now? You just want 10 PUI my mind al ease!" Laler she

is

5. 161

99

The Book of Wei received a return letter from Emp~ Sian which said that she had already recovered from her a.iJrnent and had rtturned to normal. The empress rejokc:d. In the first month of (Jian'an] 17 [February/Much 2.12.), the greal army returned to Ye, and the empress had an audience with Empress Sian. When she gazed on her scated in hI!!" tent, she was both sad and happy, which moved those in attendance. When Emp~ Bian saw the empress like this, she, 100.. cried and s:a.id to her, "Were you upstt over my recent illness, as you were on former ocasions? It only lasted for a linle while, and I was bener in ten days or so. Sut don 't look at my face!" She sighed and said, "This is a truly filial daughtl!!"-in-Iaw." In (Jian'an] 2.1 [2.16/2.17], Cao Cao led a military expedition east. Empress Sian, Emperor Wen, Emperor Ming, and Princess of Dongxiang a]] accompanied him. At the time, the empress remained in Ye due to illness.. 11 In the ninth month of [Jian'anJ l.l. [October / November 2.17], the greal umy returned. The attendants and courtiers of Empress Sian noticed that the empress's face was plump and full. They were surprised and asked, "Since the empress has been separated from her twO children for so long, and feelings for offspring cmnOt be pUi out of one's consciousness, how is it that the empress's face is more magnificent?" The empress smiled and anS'oOo·ered them, "Since Rui and the others were the conson , what have I had to be anxious about?" Such was the way tilP;tI.

Dame Sun • •

HUI. (d. 242)

.w 10

I

Wengtt

Ilit

Kun

NOTE: This tablC' is baS«! on informalion from Sgt. 19 and 1.0. It dOC'S not presumC' 10 bt inclusivC'. For C'xam plC', Cao Zhi had two daughlC'u who diC'd VC'1'y you ng and arC' 1'101 included. (Zhao. CaD Zhi ji ;ido WU, I !.I - I u • • 81- 181).

1.

Stt Tabk

1. 3. 4. S. 1>.

Cong was made heir to the childle$S Cao Chong i'I'. Fan was made heir to the childle$S Cao Zheng It. Wen was made heir to the childless Cao Yong !!t. $On of Cao Pi (see Table 10). 1i was mack heir fO the childle$S Cao Li /I, $On of Cao Pi (see Table 10 ). According to the Wti Epitome. Gan, who was al50 narnN Liang fl. was originally the $On of a concubine (qie) surnamed Chen". When she died, Cao Cao ordered Brilliant Companion Wang to raise him (Su, lo.S86). Zan was Ill;Ide heir to the childless Cao Xuan JE. Zheng was Ill;Ide heir \0 Cao Cao's cousin Cao Shao .S. Min was made heir to the childless Cao Ju ~ . Wan was made heir to the childle$S Cao Ang $. Zan was made heir to the chiJdle$S Cao Rui II, $On of Cao Pi (see Table 10).

7. 8. 9. 10.

II .

10.

TA8~E

10 : WIVES, SONS. AND GR.ANDSONS Of C AO PI

Empress Zhen .tUUfi (183-22 1)

Empress Guo f!I _~ 16 (184-235)

Honorable lady Yin g:I:A

Honorable lady li

I

I

Rui ~ (d. 239)' Emperor Ming

lady of Chaste Beauty Pan II IIUI:

*1: A

I

Xie \{/,

Rui

I.et (d. 248 )

I

Xun lady of Chaste Beauty Zhu )JUlUI:

I Jian & Id. 225 )

Brilliant Companion Chou itt.!l{fil

Lin

I

a

I

Qilt

DaJll(' Su

I

(d. 249)

I

Dame Xu l*:_

Li 11 (d. 229)

I

a_

t

Yong ~ (d. 229)

I

DalllC' Zhang~.

Gong

I

•

Maoe

ifl .237-264 )

Dame Song

I

*_

Yan • (d. 223 )

I.

Empress Guo adoPled Cao Rui after the dea th of Empress Zhen.

1. Cao un , son of Cao Min (see Table 9 ), was made heir to the childl ess Rui . }. Cao Ti, son of Cao Kai (see Table 9), was made heir 10 Ihe childl ess li.

Sec Sgz ;;;ie,

4. Cao Wen, son of Cao Kai (see Table 9 ), was made heir to the childless Yong.

s.15~l7a.

it (d. 233 )

I

It (d. 223)

Appendix II: Character Count in the San guo zhi and Its Commentary

The idea that Pei Songzhi's commentary is longer than C hen Sholl's San guo zhj proper has been around at least since Song rimes. Only recently has this notion been challenged. Because of competing claims, it seemed wise to check the figures. Methodology

The total number of characters (including bracketed variants) in an electronic text of the Zhonghua shuju redaction of the San guo 1,hi and Pei's commentary was counted. Alter finding the total, C hen ShOll'S text and Pei's commemary were separated into [wo files. Each file was then

separately counted .

Results

=

TOTAL GRAPH S

PUNCTtJAnON

NET GRAPHS

835,629

1-i8,586

687,043

Ow:n Shou

441 ,865

n,7fA

J6.4,101

Pti Songzhi

393,764

70,822

JU,942

835,629

148,586

687,043

Zhonghuil

TOtal

( ~Il)

Ch~n +

Pd

Thus the reputed 3: I ratio of Pei to Chen is inaccurate. Chen Sholl's text is some 4 0,000 characters longer than Pei's commentary. There may be some error in this count, but the figures are close and fairly represent the general ratio of text co commentary. (See also Cui, "'San guo zhj benwen queshi duo yu Pei zhu;" Sgz jiaogu, 300-302; Cao, " Qianyan," 15-16. Our count is virtually the same as Cui's.) '49

“This page left intentionally blank.”

Abbreviations

For full citations of items listed here,

Stt

the Bibliography.

Baibu cangshu iichmg S'$ • • • r& Bulletin of the Museum of For Etlslern Antiquities Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews

Bba BMFEA

CLEAR Csih Ctwh Dd DHhy Fswsbh Gy HH, H, HJAS Hm HR H, HWa HY Hyg: JAOS

Cot/gshu jinghuG

.'8".

Chuantong wenhua yu xiandaihua

.!1f:tftPi!JJlttft

Cai Yong M~ (13 1.-192.). Du duan flIT Xu Tianlin f*"7Ci1 (d. 12.2.6). Dong Han huiyao *ile-~ Ershiwu shi bu hian = +li'it'.*,!Q Guo yu tlilt Fan Ye fflif (398-445 ), Hou Han shu ft?Je: Xun Vue l'fj~ (148-2°9). Han ji il!C. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies Huoinanz; illf'i=f Historical Re{lectionslRi{lexions Historiques Ban Gu lJImI (A.D. 32.-92). Han shu il1!f Cheng Rong @~ (fourteenth century). Han Wei congshu ~tUl1! Weng Dujian $Jlf@,comp. Daa zang timu yinde UiM =fEl 'JIm Liu Lin JIJ*", ed . Huayang guotbi jiao thu .NHIi5~t.t Journal of the Amerialn Oriental Society Xu Song llf* (fl. 756), camp. )iankang shitu ed. Meng Zhaogeng ~II{W!, Sun Shuqi ~~.tJT. and Wu Yiye ffilt'nt Xu Song 3"fiC (fl. 756), camp. )iankang shUu it.f.i.», ed . Zhang Chenshi ~tt:ti Fang Xuanling tn"'£1t (578-648 ) et al. )in shu It. L; ji zheng yi tlllC..iEfIt Liang Duan !l;t;t (d. 1815), Lie nu t.huan ;iao zhu :Jtsd'tl):ii Liu Xi III~ (Eastern Han). Shi fa l:1! Monumenta Serial Papers on Far Eastern History Zhu Yizun *44 (1619-1709). Pushu ling ii .!f~. Sibu beiyao ml$ftJI

f!/l.n.

Jks/(al

Jktror An at age thirteen, Emperor Shun at age eleven, Empero r Chong M'~ (r. 14Sthumously made Lady Bu empress. The empress's taboo name was Lianshi .8iIi, and her home of record was Huaiyin prefecture in Linhuai commandery. She accompanied her mO[her to Lujiang. lujiang was overrun by King Huan til [Sun Cel, so they crossed to south [of the Yangtze]. Boc3~ of her beauty she obtained the emperor's favor and bore fWO daughters, Luban and Luyu. By nature she was not jealo us and she o ften advanced others. As a result she was long beloved and he made her the fa vorite of the rear apartments. When the emperor acceded [Q the throne, o n numerous occasions he wanted to establish her as empress, but his senior ministers had their minds set on the mother o f the heir apparent, Madam Xu. So the emperor had no cho ice but [Q put it o ff fo r more than ten years. She passed away, and he mourned her. It was in this year that he posthumously made her empress. Later they were buried together at Jiang Tumulus" (Jks/ (aJ , 2..jl.-n). Sun Quan was also buried at Jiang Tumulus, as were Lady Pan (see below) and Quao's eldest son Sun [)eong. For anothr:r [ransiation of this paragraph, set" Fang, The o,ronicles of the Three Kingdoms, 1;690-691. The Huangwu reign title was actually adopted in the tenth month of the year (Novem~r/ Decem~r 2.2.2.), and was changed to Huanglong in the fourth month of the year (May/June 2.2.9). The biography of the unfortu nate Sun He appears in Sgz, 59.1367-1371. Sun He's biography says; .. After this, Lady Wang and Princess Quan harbored ill feelings toward each other. Sun Quan was bedridden with iIloess, and Sun He offered sacrifices at the temple. Zhang Xiu, the younger paternal uncle of He's concubine, dwelled near the temple, and he invited He to stay with him. Priocess Quan sent someone to spy. Consequently, she said that the heir apparent was nO[ in the temple but had gone solely to plot: with the concubi ~'s family. She further said that when Lady Wang had seen the emperor in ~d, she had looked happy. Sun Quan was fu rious about this. The lady died of anxiety, while Sun He's favor declined, and he feared demotion and dismissal" (Sgz, 59.1369; cf. Fang, The o,ronic/es of the Three Kingdoms, 1;683-684 ,

220

49·

50.

,,. l '.

,6.

Notes to Page

128

690). lui 74.:'36:. says that Sun Quan sent Sun He to the Temple of King Huan of Changsha (Changsha Huan wang miao ~t:tmI"n. King Huan of Changsha is the posthwnous ride bes[Owed on Sun Ce by Sun Quan when he assumed the imperial title in :':'9 (Sgz, 047.1134). Hao ascended the throne in :.64, and despite the display of filial piety a[ the beginning of his reign, he proved an arrogant and cruel ruler. Nothing else is known about Lady Wang's father, and there is nothing to suggest that he may have been one of the Langye Wangs who were [0 become so prominent in the South during a somewhat later period. The reign title was changed to Chiwu in the ninth month of the latter year (August/September :'38). Sun Xiu was born in :'35 or :'36. He acceded to the throne in 2.58, when Sun Lang was set aside. Xiu's reign was somewhat rocky, and there were attempts to topple him. He died in 2.65 at the age of thirty (Sgz, 48.1155-1163 ). Gongan was a remote town of some strategic importance o n the Yangtze in Jing Province, not far from the city of the same name in present-day southern Hunan. The locatio n of J ing Tumulus is unknown. Cf. Zzt;, 75.:'385-2.387; Fang, The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, 2.:1 [4. Juzhang was near present-day Ningbo *l'lt.. The Weaving Chamber was within the palace and supplied woven goods for imperial needs, including the imperial ancestral temple (Hs, 2.710. I J 3- [J 3' ). The Qin created an Eastern Weaving Chamber and a Western Weaving Chamber. In 2.8 B.C., the Former Han abolished the Eastern Weaving Chamber and called the Western Weaving Chamber simply the Weaving Chamber (Hs, 19 .... 73:.). Women cou ld be sent to the Weaving Chamber as a form of punishment. For example, Bo Ji llf:*- (Dame Bo), a member of the harem of Wei Bao ftf.}, king of Wei ft, wa~ sent to the Weaving Chamber following Sao's capture by Cao Shen 1f ~ during the fighting that attended the fall of the Qin and the rise of the Han. She was discovered by the then king of Han, Liu Bang, who had her transferred to the Inner Palace, where she was eventua lly favored and became the mother of the future Emperor Wen (Hs, 4.1°5> 97 A·}94 1).

Lady Pan was sent to the Weaving Chamber because of her father's crime, and her discovery there is described here in terms similar 10 those used to describe [he fate of Bo Ji . Wang Jia's Record of Collected Remnants conlains a somewhat embellished description of this incident: The fathe r of Lady Pan, wife of the Sovereign of Wu, had been convicted, and she had been brought to the Weaving Chamber. Her appearance was uncommon, and in the region east of the Yangtze her beauty was unsurpassed. More than a hundred of those who were confined with her referred to the lady as a goddess. They showed her respec:t and maintained their distance from her. Some officers reported this to the lord of Wu, who ordered that a portrait be drawn of her. The conson. was melancholy and would not eat. She grew thin, altering her appearance. The artist drew her as she was and submitted it. The Sovereign of Wu saw it and was p leased. Rubbing an agate scepter (myi 1lfI:@:) until it broke, he sighed, "This is a goddess! If a sorrowful appearance can so move men, how more so if she were

2.2.1

Notes to Page 12.8 happy!" He ordered an engraved carriage to go to the Weaving Cham~r to take her to the rear palace. In the end, because of her ability she was favored. Whenever he took the lady strolling through the Terrace of Brilliant Proclamation, he was happy and content. when they were completely intoxicated, she would spit into a jade vase. She would have the serving girls pour this on the ground beneath the terrace and it would bum. She hung all her rings on a pomegranate branch, so (the Sovereign of WuJ had built on that spot a terrace, which he named the Ringed Pomegranate Terrace (Huanliu tai It• • ). At the time there were remonstrators who said, "Now Wu and Shu are struggling for supremacy. The name ' huan Liu' will become an omen!" Sun Quan then reversed the name to "Pomegranate Ring Terracc" (Liuhuan tail. Another time he went suolling with the consort at the Angling Terrace (Diao tai fl.) and caught a large fish. The sovereign ofWu was greatly pleased. Lady Pan said, "In the paS[ 1have heard of ,crying over a fish.' Now it makes you happy. If there is happiness, certainly it will make the sadness deeper." In later years, others slandered her, and they gradually withdrew from her. People at the rime said of the consort, "Her understanding of portents is divine." lbe sovereign of Wu presently ended the feasts, and the conSOrt was finally sent away. (Syj, 8. 3b-4a; d. Foster, "The Shih·; chi and Its Relationship to the Genre Known as Chih-kua; hsiao-shuo," 258-259)

This account is obviously fictionalized. It does not agree with the account of tht: rdationship lx:twc:cn Sun Quan and Lady Pan in Records of the Three States, and Lu Bi has pointed out its unreliability (Sgz ;i;ie, 50.7b). The anecdOte about the Ringed Pomegranate Terract: involves a pun. Liu was the surnal1"l(" of the ruling family of the Han dynasty, of which the ruler of Shu, Liu Bei, was a distant member (the putative descendant of one of the sons of Emperor Jing of the Former Han (r. 156-141 s.c.]). Huan liu (ringed pomegranate) is nearly homophonous with "huan Liu" II:.J (" bring back the Liu" ). "Crying over a fish" is a reference to a story in the Zhan guo ce ~iII. (Intrigues of the Warring States]: The kinA of Wei wa~ fishing with his lover, the Lord of Longyang (Longyang ;un ftrl'tt). When the Lord of Longyang h.ad caught ten or mote fish, tears began streaming down his cheeks. The king asked why he was crying. 1be lord replied that when he had caught the first fish, he had been extremely happy. But then he caught others that were even larger, and he wanted to get rid of those he had caught earlier. This made him think: If he displeased the king, the king would no longer slttp with him. There were lots of pretty boys in the world, and when they heard that he had been favored by the king, they tOO would pick up their skirts and come running. The Lord of Longyang compared himself to the first fish, saying that he too would be abandoned, so he could not help but cry (Zhan guo ce, 25.917; d. Hinsch, Passions of the Cut Sleeve, 32-33 )' It is interesting that in WangJia's story Madam Pan sees nothing amiss in comparing her situation with that of the homosexual lover of an ancient ruler. By this time Lord Longyang was already an "'icon" of homosexual love (Hinsch, Passions o f the Cut Sleeve, 7 1 ).

'1

21.2

Notes to Pages Il.8-129

YHer und~rstanding of pon~nts is divine" is an allusion to th~ dassic of Changes: The Master said: "To know the seeds (i.e., the ponentsl, that is divine indeed. In his association with those above him, the superior man does not flaner. In his association with those beneath him, he is not are the first impera:prible anogant. For he knows the seeds. The beginning of movement, the first trace of good fortune (or misfortune) that shows itself. The superior man perceives the seeds a nd immediately takes action. He does not wait even a whole day." (Wilhelm, J Ching, 341 )

seros

57·

5'· 59·

60.

Lady Pan is being credited with having foreseen her fate. The dragon is, of course, a symbol o f imperial rule. Sun liang replaced Sun He, who was set aside. From Guiii, Sun Hong apparently was unrelated to the ruling family. He was instrumental in eliminating some of Sun He's supporters through false decrttS that he was able to issue because of Quan's iUness. He was appointed junior tutor of the heir apparent (ta;';; shaofu :tT-yft) by the dying Sun Quan. Hong was on ,PO!)r terms with Zhuge Ke, whom Quan had appointed grand ruror (taiV datu :tT-:;kff) to the heir apparenr and made regenr to Sun Liang. Sun Hong arranged to be notified the moment Quan expired so that he could issue a forged decree eliminating Zhuge Ke. Ke learned of this, interrogated Hong, and had rum executed (Sgt. 52.1225, 57.134°. 59.1369, 1370,6 1.1401, 64. 1 433, 1434)· Sima Guang iijllj1t;. (1019-1086) says that Lady Pan was killed ~y her attendants, who could not bear her tyrannical manner. Hu Sanxing ~ = i!i (Il. 3~1287 ), however, thinks this ludicrous. He writes that such people would have encouraged her for their own benefit and believes that it was high·ranking officials who did her in. Hu suggests that Sima Guang was misled by embellished histories of Wu. See Zztj. 75.2394- 2395; Fang, The Chronie/es of the Three Kingdoms, 2:104, 114. Luling was in southeastem Jiangxi province near Ji'an 1!i~ city. The account in the True Record of Jiankang says, [Taiyuan .i::Jt I]. fifth month Uune/July 25I), Madam Pan was established as empress.... [Taiyuan 21, second month [Februaryl March 2531. a great amnesty was granted throughout the empire, and the year was changed to Shenfeng .,.. I. Empress Pan died violently in the inner halls. The empress was respectful and virtuous. and she had her home of record in Juzhang in Guiji commandery. She was summoned into the palace from the Weaving Room and o btained favor. She often said she dreamed that she was presented with a dragon's head and that she received it with an apron. Subsequently she bore the Young Emperor. The empress by nature was secretly jealous and was skilled at charm. From ~ng to end, she slandered without cease. When she became ill, the people of the palace attended to her illness and could not bear the fatigue. Taking advantage of her being in a deep sleep, they together strangled her and said she died of a sudden illness.

1.1.3

Notes to Page 11.9 There was an investigation and the matter leakt:d. Six or St:ven persons were sentenced to death. (jksfJa}, 2.45)

62.

The accounts in the Records of the Three States and the True Record of ]iankong diverge significantly, and it is likely the latter is corrupt. Cf. Jksl (b), 2.68 nn. 67 and 68. The connt:ctions between the Suns and the Yuan family, whose members had held high office since the reign of Emperor Zhang. were dose. Sun jian had commanded an army under Yuan Shu in the wars against Dong Zhuo and Liu Biao. Following Sun jian's death, his nephew Sun Ben took command of his troops and was appointed inspector of Yu province by Yuan Shu. A couple of years later, Sun jian's son Sun Ce entered Yuan Shu's service and took command of his father's troops, Sun Ben having returned south. Relations between Sun Ce and Yuan Shu do not appear to have been particularly wann, and in 197. when Yuan Shu declared himseU emptrorof the Zhong f'l' dynasry, Sun Ce broke with him. Yuan found himself opposed from all sides, and when he died in 199, his power had been greatly rt:duced. H is wife and children took refuge with Liu Xun .JII. administrator of Lujiang commandery and a former official under Yuan. Sun Ce defeated Liu Xun, and Yuan Shu's daughter was taken into Sun Quan's harem. Yuan's son Yuan Yao :§:BI1 was made gentleman--of-rhe-palace, and his daughter was wed to Sun Quan's son Sun Fen. (HHs, 7j.1.4J9-2.444; Sgz 6.2.07- l.l0; de Crespigny, Generals of the South, 146-180, 189). Since Sun Quan did nOt attempt to make Lady Yuan principal wife until aher the death of Lady Bu in 238, Lady Yuan must have been at least forry years of age and may have been much older. Sun's desire ro elevate her to principal wife may have been morivatt:d by a desire to bring otder to his harem, and her reasons for declining--aside from the fact that she had no childrenmay have stemmt:d from a desire to remain aloof from harem machinations. She may have understood the impact of such machinations. In his commentary, Pei Songzhi includes the following excerpt from the Jiu thou chunqiu 1t:Hi 0-"* (Spring and Autumn Annals elf the Nine Provinces}: The daughter of Director of Retainers (sili '6]8:) Feng Fang ~1i was a beauty of the empire. She took refuge in Yang province from the disorder. Yuan Shu ascended the ciry wall, where he saw and was smitten with her. Presently, he took her into his harem and was extremely fOnd of her. The uther wives were jealous of the favor shown her and told her, "The general esteems those who have aspirations and integrity. You should frequently weep and be melancholy. Then you will surely be long honort:d. " Madam Feng believed them, and aherward, when she saw Yuan Shu, she let her tears fall. Yuan Shu took this as a sign of her will, and he increasingly pitied her. The other wives then strangled her and hung her from the roof beam of the privy. Yuan Shu truly believed that she had died because she was unable to achieve her aspirations. so he gave her an elaborate funeral. (Sgt, 6.1.10)

63.

Sun Liang's biography offers the following background: "Sun Quan was advanced in years, and liang being his youngest son, Sun was especially

2.2.4

6,.

65·

Notes to Pages 12.9-13°

attentive to him. Liang's older sister Printess Quan had slandered the heir apparent Sun He and his mother and was apprehensive. So she took advantage of Sun Q uan's inclinations to secure her position in advance and repeatedly praised Quan Shang's daughter, urging that she be wed to Sun Liang. In Chiwu 13 11.50), Sun H e was deposed, and Sun Quan appointed Liang heir apparent, with Lady Quan as his consort" (Sgz, 48.1 151; d. Fang, The Oronic/e5 of the Three Kingdoms, 2.;74 ). Quan Shang was a nephew of Q uan Cong, Princess Quan's husba nd. Yongping was soulhwest of the capital near present·day Yixing 1i: •. Z huge Dan was commander o f the Wei garrison al Shouchun. In 2.57, he rebelled and tried to surrender the garrison to Wu. Several members of the Quan family, led by Quan Vi tI, were sent to assist Zhuge Dan. Two members of the family, Quan Hui and Quan Vi fI, remained in the capital at Jianye, and because of the conflict and suits within the family, they took their mother and several tens of fa milies of their personal retainers, crossed the Yangtze, and surre ndered to the Wei general Sima Zhao. At the suggestion of his advisers, Sima Zhao had Quan Hui and Quan Yi fill write a lener to Quan Vi" stating that Wu was angry with Vi tI for being unable to take Shouchun and planned to execUie his entire family. They had, therefore, fled for their lives. Quan Yi tI and his followers were frightened into submitting to Sima Z hao. They were all richly rewa rded, w hich caused discord among the Wei rebc:ls, who subseque ntly also surrendered (S~, 2.8.786-787,48. 11 ,4-1 I " , 64.1447; ls, 2.·H-}5; Fang, The Chronicles of the T hree Kingdoms, 2.:2.852.86). Nothing mo re i.~ known about this plot. H ouguan was at present-day Fuzhou .fIffl. Lingling commandeer was in pr~nt-day southW6tem Hunan, in the regio n now covered by Lingling county. The Quans were involved in a plot to eliminate Sun Lin, whose arrogance and usurpation of authority had angered Sun Liang. Sun Liang o rdered Quan Ji ~!C to kill Sun Lin. Quan Ji discussed fhe plot with Quan Shang, who unthinkingly mentioned it to QuanJi's mother. She informed Sun Lin (another version says Lin was informed by a nitte who was one of Liang's concubines), who struck at the plotters, defeated them, and then deposed Sun Liang. Quan Ji committed suicide (Sgz, 64.1448, and Pei quoti ngJiangbiao zhuan). See also ati, 77. 2.445-2.44 7; Fang, The o,ronicles of the Three Kingdoms, 2.:2.95-2.97. Sun Jun was the great grandson of Sun Jian's younge r brother Jing". H e apparently had an affair with Sun Luban, Sun Luyu's elder sister and his own lineage member. Following the death of Sun Quan, he became one of the regents and was responsible for the death of Z huge Ke. A number of people tried unsuccessfully to eliminate him (Sgz, 64 . 1444-1445; d . Fang, The Oronic/es of the Three Kingdoms, 2:3 13-314 )' Emperor Hui married the da ughter of his eldest sister (Hs, 97A.3940; Ch'u, Han Social Structure, 263-2.64). In commenting on Empero r Hui's marriage, Xun Yue (14 8-209) wrote:

*'

66.

67· 68.

69·

70.

The match between husband and wife is a majo r relationship of the way o f humankind. The [Classic of] Poetry says, " His example influenced his wife, extended ro his brothers, and thereby exercised

U5

Notes to Page 1)0 control over his family and the state. "lbe Changes says, "When the family is put in orde!; the world will all be in order." To make one's sister's child a q\K'en brings confusion to propriety and defilement to human emotion. It is not the way to show the entire world the principles of being people. None of the ministers dared to criticize {the emperor's) faults. (Hj, 5.4b)

73·

Although Sun He and Sun Sa were on excellent terms and treated each other as equals, parties grew up supporting one or the other for heir apparent. The result was a bitter factionalism that threatened to divide the state. h was to avoid such a disaster that Sun Quan changed the succession (Sgz, 59.13691370, Pei quoting Tong yu). This 0C'CUI"I"ed in the autumn of 1.55. The conspirators included Sun Vi, Zhang Yi ~1it , and Lin Xun *+:tfO. Several versions say that when the plot was discovered, Sun Vi committed. suicide and the others confessed. A 1a~ number ("several tens") of conspirators lost their lives (Sgx, 48.11Sl., p.11.08, 64.1444-1445; Zzlj, 76.2..p.6). Zhu Xiong and Zhu Sun were the sons of Zhu Ju, who was a follower of Sun Quan and remained a supporter of Sun He against Sun Liang. When Sun Quan was ill, Sun H ong fabricated a decree ordering Zhu to kill himself. Princess Quan's accusation was false, though this was discovered too late. X io llg and SUII wen:: pw;thumuusly ra.-ognizc:d fur their meritoriuus :;crvil.."C, and Xiong's son succeeded his father as marquis of Yunyang 3rr1 (Sgx. 57. 1 340 ).

74·

7'·

Sun Jun died in 1.56, when he was thirty-eight, and Sun Lin came to dominate the coun in much the same way Jun had. When Sun Xiu ovenhrew Sun Lin and assened his authority, he had Jun's body exhumed and stripped of its official seals because of his role in the death of Princess Zhu (Sg.t, 64.I45 I ). Following Sgz pangzheng, 1.8.8a. we read l€! (po "to force.") for (zhui " to pursue"). O. Sg.tjijie, 50.9b, which has 11. Ding Tumulus was in Yu province, south of modem Xuchang in He'nan. Sun Xiu was buried there in 1.65 (Sgz, 48.1I63). Sgz, 48.1164 says,

m

In autumn. the seventh month lof Ganlu I; i.e., August of 2.65 I. Sun Hao forced Madam Zhu, the Empress Jing, to commit suicide. She did not die in the main hall, and the funeral was held in a small building in the garden. Everyone knew she had not been ill, and there was none who did not grieve. He further sent Sun Xiu's foW'sons to a small town in Wu. Shonly thereafter he had the two eldest of them tracked down and killed. Cf. Fang, The Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms, 1.:510. The True Record of Jumkang has: In Yongan 7, seventh month [July/August 1.64) Em~or jing ISun XiuJ died . ... General of the Left (zuo ;iangiun li:~.) Wan Yu .!II formerly had been prefect of Wucheng and got on well with ISun] Hao. . .. He subsequently spoke with the Empress Dowager Zhu, and he wished to make the Laner Sovereign ISun Hao] successor. The empress said, w , am a widow. How would I know the concerns of state? So long as the state of Wu does not perish and the ancestral

1.26

Notes to Pages 1)0-1)1 temples are cared for, it is aU right." Subsequently, it was decided to ......elcome the Latter Sovereign. On aJengyin tttx day [July 1.6], he acceded to the thro ne as emperor an changed the year to Yuanxing * M I . ... In autumn. the ninth month LOaober/Novemberl.lSun Hao] demoted the empress dowager to Empress Jing, referring to her as the Palace of Peace and Stabiliry. He posthumously bestowed on his father, He, the title of Emperor Wen and reinterred him at Ming Tumulus (Mingling 1J)J1Il). He set up a park bendice of two hundred households Ito care for the tomb]. His great-grandmother Madam Wang he made Empress of Great Virtue (da yi huanghou *Il£ 15), his mother Madam He fiiJ he made Empress Wen, and he established the lady Madam Teng .. as empress. The empress's taboo name was Fanglan ~ • . She was a third cousin of Grand Master of Ceremonies Teng Yin. Her father was Mu ~, who was general-of.the-household for all purposes. When the emperor was marquis of Wucheng, he brought her in as concubine. At this point. he named her empress and appointed {her father] marquis of Gaomi itj ~ . Later she fell o ut of favor. Empress He protected her and she was permanently supported in the Palace of Ascendant Peace. In Tianji ~lIC. 4 {1.So!. she accompanied the emperor when he moved northward. and she passed away at Luoyang. (jksllaJ, 4.6)-64)

The True Record ofJiankang says tbat Sun Xiu died in the eighth month, falling sick on a guiwei ~* day and expiring on a bingxu J"ii\:. day: Eighth month, guiwei, the emperor fell ill and was unable to s{!tak. He wrote by hand, summoning Chancellor Puyang Xing lIJi. to enter, and ordered the heir apparent Wan. to come out and do obeisana to the chancellor. The emperor held Xing's shoulda and, pointing at Wan, entrusted him Ito Xing). On bingxu the emperor died in the inner hall. In the twelfth month he was huried at Dingling.

IIksll'l,

76.

).6.)

For a similar scene, in which the dying Emperor Ming of Wei entrusts Cao Faqg to Sima Yi, see the We; Epitome and Sun Sheng's We; shi chunqiu tl ~tJ;.flI:: {Spring and Aurumn Annals of the House of Wei). quoted in Sgt,). I 14. commentary. Both Chen Shou and Sima Guang say that Sun Xiu died on ;t guiwei day, and the laner indicates that this occurred in the seventh month (jks/(aJ, 4.63; Sgt, 48.1162.; Zztj, 78.1.487). Since there was neither a guiwei nor a bingxu day in the eighth month, Sun must have died in the seventh month. If, as the True Record has it, he fell ill on guiwei and passed away on bingxu, that would have ~n the rwenry-fihh and twenry-eighth days respectively of the seventh month () and 6 September 1.64; cf.Jksllb), ).88 nn. )0, )1; 4 .1 15 n. 1.). Sun Xiu's trust proved to have bttn misplaced, for Purang Xing, believing that circumstances called for a strong ruleJ:; joined severa other high officials in deposing Wan in favor of Sun Hao. Subsequently, Xing was himself killed on Sun Hao's orders (Sgt, 64. 1451-1452). The location of Gaomi is uncertain. There was a prefecture by this name located not far from the modem ciry of the same name in Shandong province, but it seems doubtful that this is the place referred to here. The use of the tide here is anachronistic. Following his surrender to the Jin

2.2.7

77.

Notes to Pages 1}1-1}2

armies on 3 May 280. whi,h marked the end of Wu, Sun Hao was taken to the Western Jin c:apital of Luoyang, where he was treated fairly leniently. He was given the title Marquis Guiming (Marquis Who Has Submitted to the Mandate; (see Sgz. 48.Hnijs, 3.71 ). For another translation of the biography of dame He, see Fang, The (firon;cks of the Three Kingdoms, 2:160, 502. The word we have translated as "dame" here is ii (EH kjOlh in Goblin, A Handbook of Eastern Han Sound Glosses, 201). The ,ommentator identified simply as Chen Zan C!JIt (" Your subject Zan") cites [WO Han texts (now lost) that give the tenn as one of the ranks of the harem, coming after favori~ beauty and ahead of eighth rank lady. But it is nOt found among [he ranks given for consortS and concubines in the Han History (Hs, 97A.393S), and in fact there are three other ranks between favorite beauty and eighth rank lady. Van Shigu rejeers the Chen Zan explanation, saying,

*

"Ji" was originally [he surname of the Zhou. [Zhou women) were more noble than the women of the many states, so in order to give the (Zhou) wives an attractive appellation, they were addressed as ;; by them. . .. Later, one 'arne to refer generally to all concubines (qie ~ as ii. The Grand Scribe's Records' statement, "When Gaozu dwelled in Shandong, he was fond of beautiful concubines (ii)," is an example of this. If "dame" were a ritle of office, then one ought not say "favored concubine (mLady Qi.'" Moreover, the " Wai qi zhuan in setting fonh the variow offices penaining to empresses and consorts does nor include a position of ii. (Hs, 4.105 n. 2) n

71$. 79 .

80. 8r.

82.

Ru Chun says that the word was pronounced like ffl (EH rj:,i in Goblin, A Handbook of Eastern Han Sound Glosses, 224) and was a general (erm to refer to concubines. TItis would seem to be correct. See Hemyu da zidian, 1049. Cf. Dubs, The History of the Former Han f)yn4sry , r:221 n. I. We have another example in Records of the Three States of the term's being employed (0 refer to several of Cao Cao's secondary wives (see Sgz.. 20.579). Jurong was near tne modem place by tne same name southeast of Nanjing. Peng Zu was China's Methuselah, who supposedly lived seven hundred years. See, for example, Yuan, Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian, 378- 379. Sun Jun availed himself of the opportuniry presented by the death of Zhuge Ke to take the royal seal from Sun He and send him to >Gndu. Sun He's consort Zhang was Zhang Cheng's daughter and Zhuge Ke's niece. When Sun He was ordered to commit suicide, Zhang told him, "We should share bad fonune as well as good; I'll not live o ut my life alone!" and killed herself (Sgz.. 59.1 370; Zzt;, 76.2412). Aside from this reference and one below, nothing is known about the Palace of Ascendant Peace, which appears to have been a home for conSOrtS who were no longer in favor. Liyang was almost directly south of the capital on the present-day AnhuiJiangsu border near Gucheng 1!J.iJi: lake; Xuancheng was farther south and to the west of the present-day ciry of the same name. All seem (0 have been of some srrategic importance, judging by their locations and by references to the last [WO as having been garrisoned. Lu Bi says Wuling should be Hulin bt.ft: (Sgz iiiie, 50. l ob). Liang Zhangju says it should be Wulin it.ft: (Sgt pangzheng, 28.8b).

2.28 8J.

84·

86.

88.

'9·

90.

9"

9'·

9J·

94· 9j·

Notes to Pages 132-134

Zhang Bu was instrumental in putting Sun Hao on the throm~ following the death of Sun Xiu, and he was honored for his efforts. Once Hao was on the throne. however. he became arrogant. violent. and debauched. and Bu surreptitiously expressed his dissatisfaction and was slandered to Hao. For this Hao had him executed (S~. ,,8 .1163 ), Feog Chao Served as commandant of the guards under Sun Liang, who was deposed in :1.58.10 :1.56, Fel)l was appointed commissioner for inspection of the army (iianjun shizhe I'r.ft:#) to oversee military affairs in Xu province (Sgz, ,,8.1 I 52-I 15). "Step-shaker" hair ornaments were so called because they shook when the wearer walked. A similar story involving Sun Hao and one of his ladies is found in Sgt, 59· 1 375· Sgz, ,,8.1 170 gives supervisor of the three conunanderies (sanjun du -=- ~.) as Zhi's tide. The three commanderies were Guiji, Linhai, and jian'an, all of which were along the coast of Yang province. Teng Yin was a member of a faction that opposed Sun Lin after the laner replaced Sun Jun as the dominant power at court. An effort to oust Sun Lin fa iled, Teng's army was dekated by one of Sun's supporters, and Teng's famil y was exterminated (Sgt, 48.1 J 53). This was in the twelfth mo nth of Yuanxing 1 (165 ). Cangwu commandery was on the border b«ween modem Guangdong and Guangxi and was the place of exile for a ~at many officials. The Yellow Gates wt.u thost to the impe;rial quarters. During the Han there were several positions-induding prefect of the Yellow Gates, assistant of the Yellow Gates, and palace attendant of the Yellow Gates---that were held by eunuchs. Sec Bielenstein, The Bureaucracy of Han Times, 53, and Bielenstein, "Lo-yang in Later Han limes," 1." , This number may be an understatement. Following his conquest of Wu. Emperor Wu of Jin ordered sekcrion of five thousand of Sun Hao's courtesans and concubines to be taken into the palace (js, 3.73). Presumably not all of these were the daughters of high officials, The sentence comes from the Classic of Changes, Hexagram 37, "Commentary on the D«:ision." Cf. Wilhelm, I Ching, 570. Thus, just as Chen Shou began his section on the Wei empresses and consorts with a quote from this passage, so he returns to it in his judgment of the Wu arrangemenrs concerning consorts and concubines. Mao shi :1.4°/2.. Duke Huan gathered about himself several talented ministers, including Guan Zhong, Baoshu Ya .~3f, and Xi Peng AiM. The duke had three consorts, none of whom produced a son. But he also had six women in the inner apartments whom be "treated as wives," and each of these produced a son. One son was given to Duke Xiang of Song to be his heir apparent. When Duke Huan was on his deathbed, the other sons fonned factions and began to fight over the succession. Aher the duke died, the struJOOe broke into open conflict. The palace was left with no one to encoffin the"duke's corpse, which was left unattended for over two months until "the maggors spilled out the doorway" (Si, 3l..1493-1494; Chavannes, Mbnoires hutoriques, 2.:3940).

*_1:

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