赵昌 / Zhao Chang (Western Han)

Overview

赵昌 / Zhao Chang enters the wiki through Hanji 585 as a late Western Han Shangshu Ling who uses 汉哀帝’s anger at 郑崇 to file an accusation against him.

Current Profile

Hanji 585 presents Zhao Chang as a court actor whose private resentment aligns with the ruler’s favorite-centered displeasure. The episode says Zhao Chang likes pleasing Aidi and has long resented Zheng Chong. After Zheng Chong criticizes Aidi’s excessive favor toward 董贤 and Aidi grows hostile, Zhao Chang reports that Zheng Chong has too much contact with Liu royal kin and may be plotting something.

Zhao Chang’s importance is not the independent strength of the charge, which the source does not prove. He matters because accusation becomes the channel through which already-existing ruler anger gains procedural form. 孙宝 later suspects Zhao Chang of using old resentment and slander to frame Zheng Chong, but Sun Bao’s defense is rejected and Zheng Chong dies in prison.

Key Characteristics

• Late-Western-Han Shangshu Ling under Han Aidi.
• Court actor described as pleasing the emperor.
• Longstanding resentful rival of Zheng Chong in the source’s account.
• Uses Zheng Chong’s Liu-kin contacts as an accusation after Aidi has turned against Zheng.
• Functions as the procedural trigger for Zheng Chong’s imprisonment.
• Remains source-bounded; the current wiki does not yet reconstruct his full career.

Evidence

• Office and posture: Hanji 585 identifies Zhao Chang as Shangshu Ling and says he likes pleasing Aidi.
• Resentment: Hanji 585 says Zhao Chang had long hated Zheng Chong.
• Accusation: Hanji 585 says Zhao Chang reports Zheng Chong’s close contact with Liu royal kin as suspicious.
• Counter-reading: Hanji 585 says Sun Bao suspects Zhao Chang used private resentment and slander to harm Zheng Chong.

Qualifications

The page is currently source-scoped to Hanji 585. Zhao Chang’s full career, prior conflict with Zheng Chong, evidence for the accusation, relationship with Aidi, and later fate are not settled. The wiki records Sun Bao’s suspicion of slander as a source-backed judgment inside the episode rather than independent proof of Zhao Chang’s private motive.

What Changed

• Created Zhao Chang as the accusation-channel actor in Zheng Chong’s Dong Xian remonstrance case.

Relationships

• 郑崇 - rival and accusation target.
• 汉哀帝 - ruler whose anger makes Zhao Chang’s accusation effective.
• 董贤 - favorite whose overfavor creates the background conflict.
• 孙宝 - investigator who suspects Zhao Chang’s charge is retaliatory.
• 君臣反馈失灵 - broader setting in which accusation overrides correction.
• 西汉 - dynastic setting for the case.