齊靈聲姬

列女傳

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聲姬者，魯侯之女，靈公之夫人，太子光之母也，號孟子。
Sheng Ji was the daughter of the marquis of Lu, the wife of Duke Ling, and the mother of crown prince Guang. She was called Mengzi.

淫通於大夫慶剋，與之蒙衣乘輦，
She had an affair with dafu Qingke, and rode with him covered by clothes in a carriage.

而入於閎，鮑牽見之，以告國佐。
They entered the gates, where Bao Qian saw them, and informed Guo Zuo about this.

國佐召慶剋，將詢之，慶剋久不出，
Guo Zuo summoned Qingke, and intended to ask him. For a long time Qingke did not go out.

以告孟子曰：「國佐非我。」孟子怒。
He informed Mengzi, saying: "Guo Zuo thinks I am doing wrong." Mengzi got angry.

時國佐相靈公，會諸侯於柯陵，
At the time Guo Zuo was a minister of Duke Ling, who was meeting with the feudal lords in Keling.

高子鮑子處內守，及還，將至，閉門而索，孟子訴之曰：
Gaozi and Baozi were staying inside the fief. When the duke returned, on arriving at the gates he found them closed and became afraid. Mengzi offered the accusation:

「高鮑將不內君，而欲立公子角，國佐知之。」
"Gao and Bao do not want to let you in, my lord, for they desire to enthrone prince Jiao. Guo Zuo knew of this."

公怒，刖鮑牽而逐高子、國佐，二人奔莒，
The duke was angry, cut off the feet of Bao Qian, and expelled Gaozi and Guo Zuo. These two men fled to Ju.

更以崔杼為大夫，使慶剋佐之，乃帥師圍莒，
The duke also made Cui Zhu dafu, and commanded Qingke to assist him in commanding troops to besiege Ju.

不勝，國佐使人殺慶剋，靈公與佐盟而復之。
They were unable to win, and Guo Zuo sent men to kill Qingke. Duke Ling made a covenant with Zuo and returned with him.

孟子又愬而殺之。
Mengzi once again accused and had him killed.

及靈公薨，高鮑皆復遂殺孟子，齊亂乃息。
When Duke Ling died, Gao and Bao both returned and killed Mengzi. The disorder in Qi thereupon ceased.

詩云：「匪教匪誨，時維婦寺。」此之謂也。
The ode says: "Those from whom come no lessons, no instruction, Are women and eunuchs." This applies here.
Note: from James Legge's translation of 瞻卬 (ode 264). More on this can be found in the chapter on Mo Xi.

左傳

襄公十九年

齊侯娶于魯，曰顏懿姬，無子，其姪鬷聲姬生光，以為大子，諸子，仲子，戎子，戎子嬖，仲子生牙，屬諸戎子，戎子請以為大子，許之，仲子曰，不可，廢常不祥，間諸侯難，光之立也，列於諸侯矣，今無故而廢之，是專黜諸侯，而以難犯不祥也，君必悔之，公曰，在我而已，遂東大子光，使高厚傅牙以為大子，夙沙衛為少傅。

The marquis of Qi had married Yanyi, a daughter of Lu, but she bore him no son. Her niece, Zongsheng [Sheng Ji], however, bore him Guang, who was declared his eldest son and successor. Among his concubines were two daughters of Song, Zhongzi and Rongzi. The latter was his favourite, and when Zhongzi bore a son Ya, the child was given to Rongzi, who begged that he might be madesuccessor to his father. The marquis agreed to this; but the child's mother objected, saying, "To abrogate in his favour the regular order [of succession] will be inauspicious. It is hard, moreover, to interfere with the other princes. Since Guang was declared your successor, he has been numbered among them; and now to displace him without any cause is to take it on yourself to degrade a prince. Your lordship will be sure to repent of incurring, in such a difficult matter, the charge of doing what is inauspicious." The marquis replied that the thing rested entirely with himself, and sent Guang away to the east. At the same time he appointed Gao Hou grand-tutor to Ya, whom he declared to be his successor, with Susha Wei as assistant-tutor.

齊侯疾，崔杼微逆光，疾病而立之，光殺戎子，尸諸朝，非禮也，婦人無刑，雖有刑，不在朝市，

When the marquis was ill, Cui Zhu privately brought Guang back to the capital; and when the marquis became very ill, Cui raised Guang to be his successor. Guang then put Rongzi to death, and exposed her body in the court,---which was contrary to rule. A wife should not be subjected to the [ordinary] punishments; and if it be necessary to punish her, the thing should not be done in the court or the market place.

夏，五月，壬辰，晦，齊靈公卒，莊公即位，執公子牙於句瀆之丘，以夙沙衛易已，衛奔高唐以叛。

In summer, in the 5th month, on renchen, the last day of the moon, duke Ling of Qi died. Duke Zhuang [Guang] took his place, and seized Ya on the mound of Judu. As he held that the substitution of him in his own place had been owing to Susha Wei, Wei fled to Gaotang, and held it in revolt.

Vocabulary