| Abstract |
The emperor’s last testament usually involved the power-transferring problem. Although the emperor himself had “passed away,” his last testament still continued being effective. Hence, the history must leave records of the influence of the last testament naturally. The author browsed through “The Historical Records,” and found that there were seven data about emperor’s “last testament.” Among them, two described the whole story of the last testament of the First Emperor of Cin Dynasty, one was the last testament of Queen Lyu, two related to Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty, one was the last testament of Queen Dou, and one was the last testament of Emperor Wun of Han Dynasty. Besides, there was one that was not named the “last testament” but equal to the “last testament.” That was the last testament of Gao Zu (founder) of Han Dynasty. He summoned Jhou, Bo, Marquis Jiang to kneel accepting the last testament beside his bed when he was about to die. For other emperor’s last testaments, Ssu Ma, Chien only explained the gist of the content; only the last testament of Emperor Wun, he recorded the full text. Ssu Ma, Chien’s thought of writing the history was meticulous and minute. Therefore, he must have a special intention to manifest the last testament of Emperor Wun in this way! To study the last testament of Emperor Wun, we can comprehend how Ssu Ma, Chien supplied the clues and gave the hints foreshadowing later developments to clarify Emperor Wun’s thought, and explore Emperor Wun’s style of life presented in his political career, and Ssu Ma, Chien’s purpose of describing Emperor Wun on history further. |
