Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance
By Sima Guang
Translated By Yiming Yang
Annals of Han Book 14 Scroll 22 (continued)
The 2nd year of Emperor Wu’s Zhenghe Era (91 B.C. continued)
The Crown Prince issued a proclamation to the officials, saying, “The Emperor lies ill and in distress at Ganquan Palace. I suspect treacherous ministers are plotting a riot.”
Meanwhile, the Emperor departed Ganquan Palace and proceeded to the Jianzhang Palace west of the city. He summoned troops from the nearby counties of the Three Metropolitan Districts, ordering that all officials of rank two-thousand-picul and below be placed under the command of the Chancellor.
The Crown Prince dispatched envoys bearing forged decrees, proclaiming amnesty to the prisoners in the central prison of Chang’an, and appointing Junior Tutor Shi De, together with his client Zhang Guang, to lead troops. He further sent a convict of Chang’an, Ruhou, bearing his royal scepter, to muster Changshui tribe cavalry battalions stationed at Xuanqu Palace, and bring them to Chang’an.
Palace Gentleman Ma Tong, sent by the Emperor to Chang’an, seized Ruhou. He addressed the nomad cavalrymen, saying, “This order is false; you must not obey it!” Thereupon he executed Ruhou, and led the cavalry into Chang’an. In addition, ship rowers were mustered and placed under the command of the Grand Herald, Shangqiu Cheng.
The sceptres of Han were all of red hue, yet as the Crown Prince also bore a red sceptre, yellow ribbons were bound upon it for distinction.
The Crown Prince halted his chariot before the North Gate of the Northern Army Camp, summoning Ren An, Guardian of the Northern Army, and handed him the tally, commanding him to deploy the troops. Ren An received the tally yet remained within, refusing to open the gate. The Crown Prince then withdrew with his forces, compelling tens of thousands from the four boroughs of Chang’an to follow.
Reaching the western gate of Changle Palace, they encountered the Chancellor’s host. The two sides fought for five days, with corpses strewn in heaps and blood flowing into the gutters. Rumors spread among the populace that the Crown Prince had rebelled; the people ceased to support him, while the Chancellor’s numbers swelled.
On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the Crown Prince’s army was routed, and he fled south toward the Fu’ang Gate. Tian Ren, Judicial Assistant of the Chancellor, was then closing the gate. Considering the Crown Prince the Emperor’s son, he refrained from rash action and let him pass. The Chancellor sought to execute Tian Ren, but the Grand Master of the Censorate, Bao Shengzhi, said to him, “Tian Ren, a judicial officer of rank two-thousand-picul, ought to be judged with imperial sanction. How can you execute him at will?” The Chancellor thereupon spared Tian Ren.
When the Emperor heard of this, he was enraged and questioned the Grand Master of the Censorate, saying, “The Judicial Administrator let the rebel escape. By law, the Chancellor should have executed him. Why did you intercede?” Bao Shengzhi, fearing retribution, took his own life.
Decrees were issued to the Minister of the Imperial Clan, Liu Chang, and the Bearer of the Mace, Liu Gan, commanding them to take from the Empress the Imperial Seals and Insignia. The Empress, Wei Zifu, thereupon took her own life.
The Emperor held that Ren An, being a seasoned minister, had witnessed the rebellion yet hesitated to act, choosing instead to side with the victor, thus harboring a divided allegiance. Accordingly, Ren An and Tian Ren were both sentenced to death by waist chop.
The Emperor rewarded Ma Tong, who had seized Ruhou; Jing Jian, a man of Chang’an, who had accompanied Ma Tong and captured Shi De; and Shangqiu Cheng, who, after fierce combat, took Zhang Guang alive. Ma Tong was enfeoffed as Marquis of Chonghe, Jing Jian as Marquis of De, and Shangqiu Cheng as Marquis of Du.
All of the Crown Prince’s close retainers and those who frequented the palace gates were put to death. Those who had joined the Crown Prince’s rebellion were exterminated together with their clans. Those coerced or compelled to follow the Crown Prince were judged guilty under the law and banished to Dunhuang Commandery. As the Crown Prince was beyond the walls, troops were stationed at the several gates of Chang’an for the first time.
The Emperor was greatly enraged, and the court was in fear, none knowing what to do. Linghu Mao, Three-Elder of Huguan, submitted a memorial:
“It is said that a father is as Heaven, a mother as Earth, and the children as the myriad beings. When Heaven is tranquil and Earth is at peace, the myriad beings flourish. When the father is kind and the mother loving, the children are filial.
“Now, the Crown Prince, as the appointed heir of Han, bears the charge of a thousand generations, inheriting the solemn charge of the ancestors. In kinship, he is the Emperor’s own son. Jiang Chong, a base man of the alleys, was raised and employed by Your Majesty, entrusted with the highest authority to press and constrain the Crown Prince. Having received the supreme command, he assailed and cornered the Crown Prince, using craft and falsehood, joining with charlatans and deviants to frame him. Thus father and son were sundered, unable to meet. Advancing, the Crown Prince could not see the Emperor; retreating, he was hemmed in by traitorous ministers, left alone in injustice with no place to appeal. Unable to bear his wrath and grief, he rose and slew those who had wronged him. Fearing punishment, he sought to flee. His taking of his father’s troops was solely to preserve himself from mortal peril; I dare assert there was no rebellious intent in his heart.
“As the Book of Songs says: ‘The buzzing flies circle, alighting on the hedge. The noble man, mild and gentle, believes not in slander. Slander unbridled brings disorder to the four quarters.’ In the past, Jiang Chong slandered and slew the Crown Prince of Zhao; this is known throughout the realm. Now Your Majesty, without due reflection, has dealt harshly with the Crown Prince, arousing his great anger, raising a vast host to pursue him, with the Three Excellencies leading the van. The wise dare not speak, and the eloquent dare not present their case; my heart is grieved beyond measure.
“I beg Your Majesty to calm your wrath and find repose. Restore your affection for the Crown Prince; let him not wander in peril for long. I am deeply troubled, and thus I lay forth these words, offering my life with utmost sincerity, awaiting at Jianzhang Palace to receive punishment.”
The memorial was received by the Emperor, stirring in him a sense of awakening, yet he did not at once grant a clear pardon.
The Crown Prince fled eastward to Hu County, hiding in a neighborhood called Quan’jiu’li. The householder was poor and daily sold shoes to provide for the Crown Prince. The Crown Prince had an acquaintance in Hu County who was wealthy, and sent to summon him for aid; this revealed his whereabouts.
On August 8, the local officials surrounded and seized the Crown Prince’s hideout. Knowing there was no escape, the Crown Prince entered a room, shut the door, and hanged himself. A foot soldier, Zhang Fuchang of Shanyang, broke the door open with his foot, and an assistant to the Magistrate of Xin’an, Li Shou, rushed in, holding up the Crown Prince and loosening the cord. The householder fought the intruders with desperate valor and was slain, and both the Crown Prince’s sons were also killed.
The Emperor, grieving for the Crown Prince, ennobled Li Shou as Marquis of Yu, and Zhang Fuchang as Marquis of Ti.
Earlier the Emperor had established Bowang[Broad View] Park for the Crown Prince, so that he might entertain his retainers and follow his inclinations. Many among his clients were not Confucians, and they instilled in him heterodox ideas.
Sima Guang’s commentary: In antiquity, enlightened kings reared their crown princes by selecting men of uprightness and virtue to serve as teachers, guardians, and companions, so that they were together day and night, and all around them were men of propriety and decorum. Yet even so, there were still those who indulged in wantonness and deviancy, bringing upon themselves calamity and ruin. Now the Crown Prince was permitted to associate freely with clients and indulge his own desires—uprightness is hard to befriend, but flattery easily takes root. This is the way of human nature, and it likely brought about the Crown Prince’s unhappy ending.
On August 20, there was an earthquake.
In September, Shangqiu Cheng was appointed Grand Master of the Censorate. Liu Yan, younger son of Prince Jingsu of Zhao(Liu Pengzu), was made Prince of Pinggan.
The Xiongnu raided Shanggu and Wuyuan, slaying and plundering officials and commoners alike.
Reflection by Rio Grande 
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