本文探究漢人劉向編纂《列女傳》，並專立「孽嬖」為傳之用意。自西周晚
期以降，女寵問題便不斷重現，至西漢時期更因君權擴張，一夫多妻形式在缺乏
規範下繼續變化，君主私愛與女性爭權所造成禍亂益發嚴峻。至漢成帝以好色聞
名，乃至於放任趙飛燕與趙合德姊娣危害宮闈、扼殺皇子。故而劉向《洪範五行
傳論》以五行失性為框架，持陰陽論尊卑之觀點，論述女主得勢必導致災患之理
論。劉向憂慮若放任「孽嬖」問題而不予重視，漢廷將重蹈歷史覆轍。據此，
〈孽嬖傳〉內容不僅揭示先秦以來反覆重現之女寵問題，亦融入劉向以五行失性
解釋災異的思想，使「女寵致禍」的意義獲得更深一層的論證與強化。

This article investigates Liu Xiang of the Han dynasty and his intention in
compiling the Lienüzhuan, with particular attention to the establishment of a dedicated
category on “Niebi”( 孽嬖). From the late Western Zhou onward, the problem of
favored women repeatedly resurfaced; by the Western Han, with the expansion
of imperial authority, polygamous practices continued to evolve in the absence of
eff ective regulation. As a result, the calamities caused by monarchs’ private aff ections
and women’s struggles for power grew increasingly severe. Emperor Cheng of Han,
notorious for his indulgence in sensual pleasures, went so far as to allow the sisters
Zhao Feiyan and Zhao Hede to endanger the inner court and murder imperial heirs.
Accordingly, in his Hongfan Wuxing Zhuan Lun（《洪範五行傳論》）, Liu Xiang
employed the framework of the Five Phases’ loss（五行失性） of proper function
and adopted a yin–yang（陰陽） hierarchy to argue that the ascendancy of women
in political power inevitably leads to disaster. Liu Xiang feared that if the problem
of “niebi” were ignored, the Han court would repeat the mistakes of history. On this
basis, the “Biography of Niebi” not only exposes the recurrent problem of favored
women since the pre-Qin period but also incorporates Liu Xiang’s interpretation of

anomalies and calamities through the theory of the Five Phases, thereby providing
a deeper level of argumentation and reinforcement for the idea that favored female
brings catastrophe.