趙悼倡后

列女傳

Scanned original

倡后者，邯鄲之倡，趙悼襄王之后也。
Queen Chang was a singer (chang) from Handan, and King Daoxiang of Zhao's queen.

前日而亂一宗之族。既寡，悼襄王以其美而取之。
Previously there had been a struggle in her family. When she became a widow, King Daoxiang wanted to marry her for her beauty.

李牧諫曰：「不可。女之不正，國家所以覆而不安也。
Li Mu remonstrated, saying: "You can not. Women who are not upright, are the reason why a state is overthrown and without peace.

此女亂一宗，大王不畏乎？」
This woman's family has been in disorder, oh great king, do you not fear her?"

王曰：「亂與不亂，在寡人為政。」遂娶之。
The king said: "Disorder or not, I am the one in charge." Then he married her.

初，悼襄王后生子嘉為太子。
Earlier, the queen of Daoxiang gave birth to crown prince Jia.

倡后既入為姬，生子遷。
When the Queen Chang joined the royal family she received the surname Ji, and gave birth to Qian.

倡后既嬖幸於王，陰譖后及太子於王，
Queen Chang then became a favorite of the king, and secretly slandered the queen and the crown prince before him.

使人犯太子而陷之於罪，
She sent men to offend the crown prince and provoke a crime.

王遂廢嘉而立遷，黜后而立倡姬為后。
The king then discarded crown prince Jia, and made Qian the new crown prince. He demoted the queen and made Chang Ji the new queen.

及悼襄王薨，遷立，是為幽閔王。
When King Daoxiang died, Qian became King Youmin.

倡后淫佚不正，通於春平君，多受秦賂，
Queen Chang was acting improperly, had an affair with Lord Chunping, received many bribes from the state of Qin

而使王誅其良將武安君李牧。
and made the king execute his good general, the lord of Wu'an, Li Mu.

其後秦兵徑入，莫能距遷，遂見虜於秦，趙亡。
Afterwards the troops of Qin could enter, and nobody was able to reach Qian, who was captured by Qin. The state of Zhao was no more.

大夫怨倡后之譖太子及殺李牧，
The dafus resented Queen Chang's slander of the crown prince and her killing of Li Mu,

乃殺倡后而滅其家，共立嘉於代，
so they killed her and exterminated her family, and collectively established prince Jia as successor.

七年，不能勝秦，趙遂滅為郡。
After seven years, they were unable to defeat Qin. Zhao was then extinguished and made into a district of Qin.

詩云：「人而無禮，不死胡俟？」此之謂也。
The ode says: "a man without decorum, why does he not quickly die?" This applies here.
Note: from Bernhard Karlgren's translation of 相鼠 (ode 52). For the full translation, see the chapter on the two reckless women of Wei

Vocabulary