釋氏稽古略 2.10

2.10

紹。元帝長子。幼而聰哲。年數歲屬長安使來。帝因問曰。汝謂日與長安孰近。對曰。長安近。但聞人從長安來。不聞從日邊來。元帝異之。明日宴群僚。又問之。對曰。日近。元帝失色曰。何乃異間者之言乎。對曰。舉目即見日。不見長安。由是益奇之。立為皇太子。性至孝有文武才略。欽賢愛客。雅好文辭。當時名臣自王導庾亮溫嶠桓彝阮放等。咸見親待。習武藝善撫將士。於時東朝濟濟遠近屬心焉。永昌元年春正月。王敦於武昌上疏。罪狀刀協劉隗。元帝勸協隗避禍。協行為人所殺。送首於敦。隗奔後趙石氏。官至太子太傅而卒。敦進兵據石頭。元帝以敦為丞相。敦謀廢太子不果。遂不朝天子而還武昌。十一月元帝憂憤成疾崩。太子即位。改元太寧。三月王敦謀篡位再興兵。帝出師討敦。二年五月敦疾甚。王含戰敗。敦尋卒。敦黨祕不發喪。裹尸以席。蠟塗其外。埋於江寧廳事中。敦黨既平。有司發敦瘞。出尸焚其衣冠跽而斬之。帝在位三年。壽二十七歲　帝崇齋興福。造皇興道場二寺（義楚六帖）　太寧（三）。

Shao was the eldest son of Emperor Yuan. He was intelligent and wise from his youth. When he was a few years old, an envoy happened to arrive from Chang'an, and the emperor thereupon asked him, "Which do you say is closer, the sun or Chang'an?" He replied, "Chang'an is closer. I have only heard of people coming from Chang'an, not of anyone coming from beside the sun." Emperor Yuan marveled at this. The next day, feasting his various officials, he asked him again, and he replied, "The sun is closer." Emperor Yuan changed countenance and said, "Why is this different from what you said the other day?" He replied, "When I raise my eyes I immediately see the sun, but I do not see Chang'an." On account of this, [the emperor] marveled at him all the more and installed him as crown prince. By nature he was exceedingly filial and possessed literary and military talent and strategy. He honored the worthy, loved guests, and had an elegant fondness for literary composition. The famous ministers of that time, from Wang Dao, Yu Liang, Wen Qiao, Huan Yi, Ruan Fang, and others, were all treated with intimacy by him. He practiced martial arts and was good at caring for his generals and soldiers. At that time, the Eastern Palace was filled with talent, and those near and far set their hearts on him. In the spring of the first year of the Yongchang era (322 CE), in the first month, Wang Dun submitted a memorial from Wuchang enumerating the crimes of Diao Xie and Liu Wei. Emperor Yuan urged Xie and Wei to avoid the disaster. As Xie traveled, he was killed by others, who sent his head to Dun. Wei fled to Shi's Later Zhao, where his rank reached grand tutor to the crown prince before he died. Dun advanced his troops and occupied Shitou. Emperor Yuan made Dun chancellor. Dun plotted to depose the crown prince but did not succeed; he then did not have an audience with the Son of Heaven and returned to Wuchang. In the eleventh month, Emperor Yuan fell ill from anxiety and indignation and died. The crown prince ascended the throne and changed the reign era to Taining. In the third month [of Taining 2], Wang Dun plotted to usurp the throne and again raised troops. The emperor sent an army out to punish Dun. In the fifth month of the second year (324 CE), Dun became gravely ill. Wang Han was defeated in battle, and Dun soon died. Dun's faction kept the mourning secret and did not announce it, wrapping the corpse with a mat, coating the outside with wax, and burying it in the hall of the Jiangning government office. Once Dun's faction was pacified, the authorities excavated Dun's burial, took out the corpse, burned its robes and caps, knelt it up, and decapitated it. The emperor was on the throne for three years and lived to the age of twenty-seven. The emperor venerated vegetarian fasts and generated merit, building two monasteries: the Huangxing and the Daochang (Yichu liutie). Taining: three [years].