胡家草场西汉简牍《岁纪》

Hujiacaochang Western Han slips: the Suiji (Annual Record)

Excavated texts 简牍 · 249 BC · 秦庄襄王元年

Introduction

The entry for the first year of King Zhuangxiang in the Suiji (Annual Record) of the Western Han slips from Hujiacaochang, Jingzhou, which names him by his later title and sums up his reign under its first year.

Text and Translation

§1 《秦简牍合集》（一）睡虎地竹简Collected Qin Slips I: the Shuihudi bamboo slips
§2 岳麓书院藏秦简Qin slips in the Yuelu Academy collection
§3 胡家草场西汉简牍《岁纪》Hujiacaochang Western Han slips: the Suiji (Annual Record)
§4 附：《戰國縱橫家書》原文Appendix: text of the Zhanguo zonghengjia shu

Text: Chinese source

Text: English Translation

Annotations

[§3] 胡家草场西汉简牍《岁纪》

[§3] Hujiacaochang Western Han slips: the Suiji (Annual Record)

泰上皇元年。立三年。生始皇帝。呂不韋相......

First year of the Grand Supreme Emperor.¹ On the throne three years.² Fathered the First Emperor.³ Lü Buwei Chancellor⁴......⁵

[§3] Click each triangle to expand/collapse note
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Terms

Chancellor / 相

n. the chief minister of a state.

Persons

King Zhuangxiang of Qin 秦庄襄王

King of Qin, reigned 249–247 BC; personal name Zichu 子楚 (Suoyin); the Grand Supreme Emperor 泰上皇 (太上皇) of the Qin and Han slips, the title given him after his death.

the First Emperor of Qin 秦始皇帝

Ying Zheng 嬴政, King of Qin from 246 BC and First Emperor from 221 BC.

Lü Buwei 吕不韦

Chancellor of State of Qin, Marquis Wenxin 文信侯; by origin a merchant of Yangdi.

Notes

¹ first year

泰上皇元年: the Suiji, a Han text, calls King Zhuangxiang by the title given him after his death (see §2); 249 BC.

² three years

立三年: the reign summed up at its first year, as the Suiji does for each ruler; 249–247 BC.

³ fathered

生始皇帝: that the king was the First Emperor's father, not that the First Emperor was born this year (the Shiji puts his birth in 259 BC).

⁴ Chancellor

呂不韋相: his appointment as Chancellor of State is in the Basic Annals for this year, §1.

⁵ ellipsis

The entry goes on; the rest of it is not reproduced here.