1
魏收，字伯起，小字佛助，鉅鹿下曲陽人也。 曾祖緝，祖韶。 父子建，字敬忠，贈儀同、定州刺史。 收年十五，頗已屬文。 及隨父赴邊，好習騎射，欲以武藝自達。 滎陽鄭伯調之曰：「魏郎弄戟多少？」 收慚，遂折節讀書。 夏月坐板床，隨樹陰諷誦，積年，板床為之銳減，而精力不輟。 以文華顯。
Biography of Wei Shou. Wei Shou, styled Bowei, childhood name Fozhu, was from Xiaquyang in Julu commandery. His great-grandfather was Ji; his grandfather was Shao. His father Wei Zijian, styled Jingzhong, was posthumously made pillar of the state and governor of Dingzhou. At fifteen Shou could already write compositions. When he followed his father to the frontier, he took to riding and archery, hoping to make his name by martial arts. Zheng Bo of Xingyang jested, "Young Wei, how fond are you of waving halberds?" Ashamed, Shou bent his will to books. In summer he sat on a plank bed and chanted as he moved with the shade; over the years the bed wore thin at the edges, yet his vigor never flagged. He won fame through literary brilliance.
2
初除太學博士。 及尒朱榮於河陰濫害朝士，收亦在圍中，以日晏獲免。 吏部尚書李神儁重收才學，奏授司徒記室參軍。 永安三年，除北主客郎中。 節閔帝立，妙簡近侍，詔試收為《封禪書》，收下筆便就，不立稿草，文將千言，所改無幾。 時黃門郎賈思同侍立，深奇之，白帝曰：「雖七步之才，無以過此。」 遷散騎侍郎，尋勑典起居注，並修國史，兼中書侍郎，時年二十六。
His first appointment was erudite of the imperial academy. When Erzhu Rong massacred court officials at Heyin, Shou was caught in the roundup but was spared as dusk fell. Li Shenjun of the ministry of personnel prized Shou's talent and had him made staff secretary in the grand secretariat. In the third year of Yong'an he was made northern master of guests lang. When Emperor Jiemin took the throne, he culled his inner circle and ordered Shou to draft a Feng and Shan memorial; Shou wrote it at a stroke without notes, nearly a thousand words with scarcely a revision. Yellow gate gentleman Jia Sitong, standing by, was deeply struck and told the emperor, "Even the seven-pace talent could not outdo this." He was made gentleman attendant of the scattered cavalry, soon ordered to keep the daily record and compile the national history, with concurrent secretariat attendant; he was twenty-six.
3
孝武初，又詔收攝本職。 文誥填積，事咸稱旨。 黃門郎崔悛從齊神武入朝，熏灼於世，收初不詣門。 悛為帝登阼赦，云「朕託體孝文」，收嗤其率直。 正員郎李慎以告之，悛深憤忌。 時節閔帝殂，令收為詔。 悛乃宣言：收普泰世出入幃幄，一日造詔，優為詞旨，然則義旗之士盡為逆人； 又收父老，合解官歸侍，南臺將加彈劾，賴尚書辛雄為言於中尉綦儁，乃解。 收有賤生弟仲同，先未齒錄，因此怖懼，上籍，遣還鄉扶侍。 孝武嘗大發士卒，狩於嵩少之南旬有六日。 時天寒，朝野嗟怨。 帝與從官及諸妃主，奇伎異飾，多非禮度。 收欲言則懼，欲默不能已，乃上《南狩賦》以諷焉，時年二十七，雖富言淫麗，而終歸雅正。 帝手詔報焉，甚見褒美。 鄭伯謂曰：「卿不遇老夫，猶應逐兔。」
Early in Emperor Xiaowu of Wei's reign Shou was again ordered to resume his former posts. Drafts piled high and every piece pleased the throne. Yellow gate gentleman Cui Juan came to court with Gao Huan and blazed in influence, but Shou at first would not call on him. Juan wrote the enthronement amnesty with the phrase "Our body is entrusted to Emperor Xiaowen"; Shou laughed at its bluntness. Regular attendant Li Shen reported this, and Juan came to resent and fear him deeply. When Emperor Jiemin died, Shou was ordered to draft the edict of mourning. Juan publicly declared, "In the Putai years Shou moved in the inner curtains; he composed an edict in a day with polished wording—by that logic every man who raised the righteous standard is a rebel; Shou's father is old and ought to leave office to tend him; the southern terrace was set to impeach him until minister Xin Xiong pleaded with commandant Qi Juan, and the matter was dropped. Shou had a younger half-brother Zhongtong, not yet on the family register; terrified by the scandal, he registered him and sent him home to care for their father. Emperor Xiaowu once raised a great host and hunted south of Mount Song for sixteen days. The weather was bitter; court and people groaned in complaint. The emperor, his attendants, and the palace women showed exotic tricks and outrageous dress, mostly beyond propriety. Shou wished to remonstrate yet feared to; wished to hold silence yet could not, and submitted the "Fu on the Southern Hunt" as subtle counsel; he was twenty-seven—though the diction ran rich and ornate, the piece ended in sober propriety. The emperor answered in his own hand with high praise. Zheng Bo told him, "Had you not met me, you would still be chasing rabbits."
4
初，神武固讓天柱大將軍，魏帝勑收為詔，令遂所請。 欲加相國，問品秩，收以實對，帝遂止。 收旣未測主相之意，以前事不安，求解，詔許焉。 久之，除帝兄子廣平王贊開府從事中郎，收不敢辭，乃為《庭竹賦》以致己意。 尋兼中書舍人，與濟陰溫子升、河間邢子才齊譽，世號三才。 時孝武猜忌神武，內有間隙，收遂以疾固辭而免。 其舅崔孝芬怪而問之，收曰：「懼有晉陽之甲。」 尋而神武南上，帝西入關。
When Gao Huan first firmly declined grand general of the pillar of heaven, the Wei emperor had Shou draft the edict granting his request. When the throne wished to make him chancellor of state and asked about rank and precedence, Shou answered plainly and the emperor dropped the matter. Unable to read sovereign and minister, uneasy over past trouble, Shou asked to resign and was allowed. Long afterward he was made eastern headquarters retainer to Prince Zan of Guangping, the emperor's brother's son; Shou dared not refuse and wrote the "Fu on Bamboo in the Court" to set out his feelings. Soon he was concurrent secretariat drafter, ranked with Wen Zisheng of Jiyin and Xing Shao of Hejian; contemporaries called them the Three Talents. Emperor Xiaowu then suspected Gao Huan and rifts opened within; Shou pleaded illness and secured release. His uncle Cui Xiaofen, puzzled, asked why; Shou said, "I fear armor will march from Jinyang." Soon Gao Huan marched south while the emperor fled west into the passes.
5
收兼通直散騎常侍，副王昕使梁，昕風流文辯，收辭藻富逸，梁主及其群臣咸加敬異。 先是南北初和，李諧、盧元明首通使命，二人才器，並為鄰國所重。 至此，梁主稱曰：「盧、李命世，王、魏中興，未知後來復何如耳？」 收在館，遂賣吳婢入館，其部下有賣婢者，收亦喚取，遍行奸穢，梁朝館司皆為之獲罪。 人稱其才而鄙其行。 在途作《聘遊賦》，辭甚美盛。 使還，尚書右僕射高隆之求南貨於昕、收，不能如志，遂諷御史中尉高仲密禁止昕、收於其臺，久之得釋。
Shou served as concurrent regular attendant for imperial missions and assisted Wang Xin on an embassy to Liang; Xin was elegant and quick in debate, Shou lush in ornament—the Liang ruler and his court all honored them. When north and south first made peace, Li Xie and Lu Yuanming had led the embassies; both men's gifts were prized by the rival court. Now the Liang ruler said, "Lu and Li belonged to a destined age; Wang and Wei revive the age—who knows what envoys will follow?" In the embassy lodge Shou trafficked in Wu slave-girls; when his men did the same he joined them, debauching at will, and every Liang hostel officer involved was punished. Men praised his talent but scorned his morals. On the journey he wrote the "Fu on the Embassy Journey," the diction splendid. On their return, vice director Gao Longzhi pressed Xin and Shou for southern luxuries; thwarted, he prompted censor commandant Gao Zhongmi to hold them at the censorate until they were freed long afterward.
6
及孫搴死，司馬子如薦收，召赴晉陽，以為中外府主簿。 以受旨乖忤，頻被嫌責，加以棰楚，久不得志。 會司馬子如奉使霸朝，收假其餘光。 子如因宴戲言於神武曰：「魏收天子中書郎，一國大才，願大王借以顏色。」 由此轉府屬，然未甚優禮。
After Sun Qian died, Sima Ziru recommended Shou; summoned to Jinyang, he was made chief clerk of the inner and outer government office. His orders often missed the mark; he was blamed and beaten and for long found no favor. When Sima Ziru went on mission to the hegemonic court, Shou borrowed reflected glory. At a banquet Ziru jested to Gao Huan, "Wei Shou was the Son of Heaven's secretariat lang—a state talent; I ask the Great King to show him a kind face." By that he became a staff officer in the office, though not yet with full courtesy.
7
收從叔季景，有才學，歷官著名，並在收前，然收常欺忽。 季景、收初赴幷，頓丘李庶者，故大司農諧之子也，以華辯見稱，曾謂收曰：「霸朝便有二魏。」 收率爾曰：「以從叔見比，便是耶輸之比卿。」 耶輸者，故尚書令陳留公繼伯之子也，愚癡有名，好自入市肆，高價買物，商賈共所嗤玩。 收忽季景，故方之，不遜例多如此。
His cousin Ji Jing was learned and had risen through famous posts ahead of Shou, yet Shou often slighted him. When Ji Jing and Shou first reached Bing, Li Shu of Dunqiu—son of the former grand minister of agriculture Xie, famed for florid debate—once told Shou, "The hegemonic court already has two Weis. Shou blurted, "If you liken me to my cousin, that's Yesu compared with you. Yesu was son of the former director of the masters of writing, Duke Jibo of Chenliu, notorious for stupidity; he loved to walk the markets and pay high prices, a jest to every trader. Shou despised Ji Jing and matched him so—his insolence was often of this sort.
8
收本以文才，必望穎脫見知，位旣不遂，求修國史。 崔進為言於文襄曰：「國史事重，公家父子霸王功業，皆須具載，非收不可。」 文襄啟收兼散騎常侍，修國史。 武定二年，除正常侍，領兼中書侍郎，仍修史。 魏帝宴百僚，問何故名人日，皆莫能知。 收對曰：「晉議郎董勛《答問禮俗》云：「正月一日為雞，二日為狗，三日為豬，四日為羊，五日為牛，六日為馬，七日為人。」 時邢卲亦在側，甚恧焉。 自魏、梁和好，書下紙每卽：「想彼境內寧靜，此率土安和。」 梁後使，其書乃云「彼」字，自稱猶著「此」，欲示無外之意。 收定報書云：「想境內清晏，今萬國安和。」 梁人復書，依以為體。 後神武入朝，靜帝授相國，固讓，令收為啟。 啟成呈上，文襄時侍側，神武指收曰：「此人當復為崔光。」 四年，神武於西門豹祠宴集，謂司馬子如曰：「魏收為史官，書吾等善惡，聞北伐時，諸貴常餉史官飲食，司馬僕射頗曾餉不？」 因共大笑。 仍謂收曰：「卿勿見元康等在吾目下趨走，謂吾以為勤勞，我後世身名在卿手，勿謂我不知。」 尋加兼著作郎。
Counting on literary talent he had hoped to shine and be noticed; when rank failed him, he asked to compile the national history. Cui Jin told Gao Cheng, "National history is grave; your house's hegemonic deeds, father and son, must all be set down—only Shou can do it." Gao Cheng had Shou made concurrent regular attendant of the scattered cavalry to compile the history. In the second year of Wuding he was made regular attendant, leading as concurrent secretariat attendant, still editing history. The Wei emperor feasted his officers and asked why the day was called Human Day; none could answer. Shou answered, "Dong Xun's Answers on Rites and Customs says, "On the first day of the first month is the cock, the second the dog, the third the pig, the fourth the sheep, the fifth the ox, the sixth the horse, the seventh is mankind." Xing Shao, standing by, was deeply mortified. Since Wei and Liang made peace, every letter opened, "We trust your realm is tranquil; here the empire is at peace." Later Liang envoys wrote "that realm" yet still called their own "this," to show they admitted no outsider. Shou fixed replies to read, "We trust the realm is clear and calm; now the ten thousand states are at peace." Liang envoys thereafter followed that form. Later Gao Huan came to court; Emperor Jing invested him chancellor of state; he declined, and Shou was ordered to draft the memorial. When the memorial was done, Gao Cheng stood by; Gao Huan pointed at Shou and said, "This man will be another Cui Guang." In the fourth year Gao Huan feasted at the shrine of Ximen Bao and asked Sima Ziru, "Wei Shou as historiographer will write our good and evil—I hear nobles fed the historiographers on the northern campaign; did you, vice director Sima, ever feed them? They laughed together. He told Shou, "Do not see Yuankang and the rest scurrying before me and think I mistake it for diligence—my name in later ages is in your hands; do not think I do not know." Soon he was made concurrent master of composition.
9
收昔在洛京，輕薄尤甚，人號云「魏收驚蛺蝶。」 文襄曾遊東山，令給事黃門侍郎顥等宴。 文襄曰：「魏收恃才無宜適，須出其短。」 往復數番，收忽大唱曰：「楊遵彥理屈已倒。」 愔從容曰：「我綽有餘暇，山立不動，若遇當塗，恐翩翩遂逝。」 當塗者魏，翩翩者蛺蝶也。 文襄先知之，大笑稱善。 文襄又曰：「向語猶微，宜更指斥。」 愔應聲曰：「魏收在幷作一篇詩，對衆讀訖，云：『打從叔季景出六百斛米，亦不辨此。』 遠近所知，非敢妄語。」 文襄喜曰：「我亦先聞。」 衆人皆笑。 收雖自申雪，不復抗拒，終身病之。
In Luoyang Shou had been utterly rakish; men nicknamed him "Wei Shou, startler of butterflies." Gao Cheng once toured Eastern Hill and had attendant gentleman of the yellow gate Yuan and others hold a banquet. Gao Cheng said, "Wei Shou is insufferably proud—his faults must be aired. After several rounds Shou suddenly shouted, "Yang Zunyian's argument is broken and down. Yang Yin calmly said, "I still have ample leisure and stand unmoved as a mountain; meet the one on the road and I fear I would flutter away." The one on the road" meant Wei; "flutter away" meant butterflies. Gao Cheng had seen it coming and laughed with praise. Gao Cheng said, "That was still too mild—press harder. Yang Yin answered at once, "Wei Shou in Bing wrote a poem and read it before the crowd: 'Beat my cousin Ji Jing for six hundred hu of rice—you cannot tell this either. Everyone near and far knows it—I do not speak idle scandal.' Gao Cheng said with delight, "I heard it too." The company laughed. Though Shou defended himself, he could not answer back and bore the wound for life.
10
侯景叛入梁，寇南境，文襄時在晉陽，令收為檄五十餘紙，不日而就。 又檄梁朝，令送侯景，初夜執筆，三更便成，文過七紙。 文襄善之。 魏帝曾季秋大射，普令賦詩，收詩末云：「尺書徵建鄴，折簡召長安。」 文襄壯之，顧諸人曰：「在朝今有魏收，便是國之光采。 雅俗文墨，通達縱橫，我亦使子才、子升時有所作，至於詞氣，並不及之。 吾或意有所懷，忘而不語，語而不盡，意有未及，收呈草皆以周悉，此亦難有。」 又勑兼主客郎，接梁使謝珽、徐陵。 侯景旣陷梁，梁鄱陽王範時為合州刺史，文襄勑收以書喻之。 範得書，仍率部伍西上，刺史崔聖念入據其城。 文襄謂收曰：「今定一州，卿有其力，猶恨『尺書徵建鄴』未效耳。」
Hou Jing defected to Liang and raided the south; Gao Cheng in Jinyang ordered more than fifty proclamations from Shou, finished within days. He also drafted a summons to Liang to surrender Hou Jing—brush in hand at first night, done by the third watch, seven sheets and more. Gao Cheng was pleased. The Wei emperor once held the autumn great archery and ordered poems; Shou's ended, "A foot-long letter summons Jiankang; a folded note calls Chang'an. Gao Cheng exclaimed and told the assembly, "With Wei Shou in court today the state has its splendor. High and low, ink and polish, all run through his hand—I set Xing Shao and Wen Zisheng to write at times, yet neither matches his tone. Sometimes I harbor a thought, forget to speak it, speak but fall short—Shou's drafts fill every gap; that too is rare. He was also made concurrent master of guests lang to receive Liang envoys Xie Yan and Xu Ling. After Hou Jing overran Liang, Prince Fan of Poyang held Hezhou; Gao Cheng had Shou persuade him by letter. Fan received the letter and marched west with his men; governor Cui Shengnian took the city. Gao Cheng told Shou, "You helped secure a province today, yet I still regret that your line about summoning Jiankang has not come true."
11
二年，詔撰魏史。 四年，除魏尹，故優以祿力，專在史閣，不知郡事。 初，帝令群臣各言爾志，收曰：「臣願得直筆東觀，早成《魏書》。」 故帝使收專其任。 又詔平原王高隆之總監之，署名而已。 帝勑收曰：「好直筆，我終不作魏太武誅史官。」 始魏初鄧彥海撰《代記》十餘卷，其後崔浩典史，遊雅、高允、程駿、李彪、崔光、李琰之徒世修其業。 浩為編年體，彪始分作紀、表、志、傳，書猶未出。 宣武時，命邢巒追撰《孝文起居注》，書至太和十四年，又命崔鴻、王遵業補續焉。 下訖孝明，事甚委悉。 濟陰王暉業撰《辨宗室錄》三十卷。 收於是與通直常侍房延佑、司空司馬辛元植、國子博士刁柔、裴昂之、尚書郎高孝幹專總斟酌，以成《魏書》。 辨定名稱，隨條甄舉，又搜采亡遺，綴續後事，備一代史籍，表而上聞之。 勒成一代大典：凡十二紀，九十二列傳，合一百一十卷。 五年三月奏上之。 秋，除梁州刺史。 收以志未成，奏請終業，許之。 十一月，復奏十志：《天象》四卷，《地形》三卷，《律歷》二卷，《禮樂》四卷，《食貨》一卷，《刑罰》一卷，《靈徵》二卷，《官氏》二卷，《釋老》一卷，凡二十卷，續於紀傳，合一百三十卷，分為十二帙。 其史三十五例，二十五序，九十四論，前後二表一啟焉。
In the second year the throne ordered him to compile the History of Wei. In the fourth year he was made Wei intendant, favored with stipend so he could dwell in the history office and ignore commandery business. Once the emperor asked each minister his wish; Shou said, "Your servant seeks the straight brush at Eastern Watch and an early completion of the Book of Wei." With that the emperor gave Shou exclusive responsibility for the work. He also ordered Prince of Pingyuan Gao Longzhi to oversee the project, though Longzhi did no more than sign his name. The emperor charged Shou, saying, "Write straight—I shall never do as Emperor Taiwu of Wei did and execute the historians." In early Wei, Deng Yanhai compiled the Records of the Dynasty in more than ten scrolls; later Cui Hao directed the histories, and You Ya, Gao Yun, Cheng Jun, Li Biao, Cui Guang, Li Yan, and others carried on the work generation after generation. Hao wrote in annalistic form; Biao first divided the work into annals, tables, treatises, and biographies, yet the book still had not been published. Under Emperor Xuanwu the court ordered Xing Luan to compile a Daily Records of Emperor Xiaowen; the text reached the fourteenth year of Taihe, and then Cui Hong and Wang Zunye were ordered to carry it on. It continued down to Emperor Xiaoming, with events recorded in exhaustive detail. Prince of Jiyin Huiye compiled the Record of Distinguishing the Imperial Clan in thirty scrolls. Shou then joined Unimpeded regular attendant Fang Yanyou, minister of works chief clerk Xin Yuanzhi, national university erudites Diao Rou and Pei Angzhi, and masters of writing gentleman Gao Xiaogan in overall deliberation to finish the Book of Wei. He fixed names and titles, chose entries clause by clause, recovered what had been lost, stitched on later events, and completed the historical record of a whole dynasty, then memorialized it to the throne. He brought to completion the great canon of an age: twelve annals and ninety-two biographical scrolls, one hundred and ten scrolls in all. In the third month of the fifth year it was submitted. That autumn he was appointed governor of Liang province. Because the treatises were still unfinished, Shou asked leave to complete them and was allowed. In the eleventh month he submitted the ten treatises: Celestial Phenomena (four scrolls), Geography (three), Calendars and Pitchpipes (two), Rites and Music (four), Food and Goods (one), Punishments (one), Omens (two), Offices and Clans (two), and Buddhism and Daoism (one)—twenty scrolls in all, appended to the annals and biographies for one hundred and thirty scrolls together, divided into twelve fascicles. The history had thirty-five topical models, twenty-five prefaces, ninety-four disquisitions, and besides two tables and one memorial.
12
所引史官，恐其淩逼，唯取學流先相依附者。 房延佑、辛元植、眭仲讓雖夙涉朝位，並非史才。 刁柔、裴昂之以儒業見知，全不堪編緝。 高孝幹以左道求進。 修史諸人祖宗姻戚多被書錄，飾以美言。 收性頗急，不甚能平，夙有怨者，多沒其善。 每言：「何物小子，敢共魏收作色！ 舉之則使上天，按之當使入地。」 初，收在神武時為太常少卿，修國史，得陽休之助，因謝休之曰：「無以謝德，當為卿作佳傳。」 休之父固，魏世為北平太守，以貪虐為中尉李平所彈獲罪，載在《魏起居註》。 收書云：「固為北平，甚有惠政，坐公事免官。」 又云：「李平深相敬重。」 尒朱榮於魏為賊，收以高氏出自尒朱，且納榮子金，故減其惡而增其善，論云：「若修德義之風，則韓、彭、伊、霍，夫何足數。」
Among the historians he enlisted, fearing they might crowd him, he took only scholars of his own circle who had long attached themselves to him. Fang Yanyou, Xin Yuanzhi, and Sui Zhongrang had long held court posts, yet none had a gift for history. Diao Rou and Pei Angzhi were known for Confucian learning and were wholly unfit for compilation. Gao Xiaogan sought advancement through heterodox arts. The ancestors and affines of those who revised the history were for the most part written up and dressed in fine words. Shou was quick-tempered and not very even-handed; those who had long borne him grudges found much of their merit omitted. He would often say, "What sort of stripling dares stand up to Wei Shou! Lift him and he goes to heaven; press him down and he goes into the earth." In Gao Huan's day, when Shou was vice director of the imperial clan and revised the national history, Yang Xiuzhi helped him; Shou thanked Xiuzhi, saying, "I have no other way to repay you than to write you a fine biography." Xiuzhi's father Gu had been governor of Beiping in Wei and, for greed and cruelty, was impeached and punished by chief commandant of justice Li Ping, as recorded in the Wei Daily Records. In Shou's book it says, "Gu governed Beiping with great benevolent rule and was removed from office over a public matter." It also says, "Li Ping deeply respected him." Erzhu Rong was a rebel against Wei; because the Gao house sprang from the Erzhu line and Shou had also taken gold from Rong's son, he softened Rong's crimes and magnified his virtues, writing in a disquisition, "If one cultivates virtue and righteousness, then Han Xin, Peng Yue, Yi Yin, and Huo Guang—how are they worth counting?"
13
時論旣言收著史不平，文宣詔收於尚書省與諸家子孫共加論討，前後投訴百有餘人，云「遺其家世職位」，或云「其家不見記錄」，或云「妄有非毀」。 收皆隨狀答之。 范陽盧斐父同附出族祖玄傳下，頓丘李庶家《傳》稱其本是梁國蒙人，斐、庶譏議云：「史書不直」。 收性急，不勝其憤，啟誣其欲加屠害。 帝大怒，親自詰責。 斐曰：「臣父仕魏，位至儀同，功業顯著，名聞天下，與收無親，遂不立傳。 博陵崔綽，位止本郡功曹，更無事跡，是收外親，乃為《傳》首。」 收曰：「綽雖無位，名義可嘉，所以合傳。」 帝曰：「卿何由知其好人？」 收曰：「高允曾為綽贊，稱有道德。」 帝曰：「司空才士，為人作贊，正應稱揚。 亦如卿為人作文章，道其好者豈能皆實？」 收無以對，戰栗而已。 但帝先重收才，不欲加罪。 時太原王松年亦謗史，及斐、庶並獲罪，各被鞭配甲坊，或因以致死，盧思道亦抵罪。 然猶以群口沸騰，勑魏史且勿施行，令群官博議，聽有家事者入署，不實者陳牒。 於是衆口喧然，號為「穢史」，投牒者相次，收無以抗之。 時左僕射楊愔、右僕射高德正二人勢傾朝野，與收皆親，收遂為其家並作傳。 二人不欲言史不實，抑塞訴辭，終文宣世更不重論。 又尚書陸操嘗謂愔曰：「魏收《魏書》可謂博物宏才，有大功於魏室。」 愔謂收曰：「此謂不刊之書，傳之萬古。 但恨論及諸家枝葉親姻，過為繁碎，與舊史體例不同耳。」 收曰：「往因中原喪亂，人士譜牒，遺逸略盡，是以具書其支流。 望公觀過知仁，以免尤責。」
Opinion already held that Shou's history was unfair; Emperor Wenxuan ordered Shou to the Masters of Writing to debate with the descendants of the various families; in all more than a hundred people complained that hereditary posts had been omitted, that their house was not recorded, or that they had been slandered without cause. Shou answered each complaint as it stood. Fanyang Lu Pei's father Tong was attached under his clan grandfather Xuan's biography; Dunqiu Li Shu's family biography said his line came from Meng in Liang; Pei and Shu protested that "the history is not straight. Shou, quick-tempered, could not contain his anger and memorialized that they meant to have him killed. The emperor was furious and personally interrogated and rebuked them. Pei said, "My father served Wei, rose to pillar of state, his achievements were illustrious and his name known throughout the realm, and he was no kin of Shou—yet no biography was made for him. Boling Cui Chuo held office only as merit officer of his home commandery and had no further deeds, yet as Shou's maternal kin he led a biography. Shou said, "Though Chuo had no office, his reputation and conduct were admirable, and therefore he deserved a biography." The emperor said, "How do you know he was a good man? Shou said, "Gao Yun once wrote a eulogy for Chuo praising his virtue." The emperor said, "The minister of works is a man of talent; when he writes a eulogy for someone, of course he praises him. It is just as when you write for someone and speak of his virtues—can they all be true? Shou had nothing to answer and only trembled. But the emperor had long valued Shou's talent and did not wish to punish him. At the time Wang Songnian of Taiyuan also attacked the history; Pei and Shu were both punished, flogged and assigned to the armorers' ward, and some died of it; Lu Sidao was punished as well. Yet because complaint still boiled over, he ordered the Wei history withheld for the time and commanded officials to debate broadly, allowing anyone with a family stake to enter the office and file memorials where facts were wrong. Thereupon every tongue cried out and it was called the "Foul History"; memorials poured in one after another, and Shou could not withstand them. At the time left vice director Yang Yin and right vice director Gao Dezheng tilted court and countryside between them; both were close to Shou, and Shou wrote biographies for both families. The two would not admit the history was false and choked off the complaints; through the end of the Wenxuan reign it was never reopened. Masters of writing Lu Cao once told Yin, "Wei Shou's Book of Wei is broad in learning and great in talent, with great merit to the Wei house. Yin told Shou, "This is a book that cannot be carved away—it will pass through ten thousand ages. Only I regret that in treating the branches, leaves, and affines of the various families it is too prolix and unlike the old histories in form. Shou said, "Formerly, when the central plains fell into chaos, gentry genealogies were largely lost, and therefore I fully recorded collateral lines. I hope you will see the fault and know the kindness, and spare me severe blame."
14
八年夏，除太子少傅、監國史，復參議律令。 三臺成，文宣曰：「臺成須有賦。」 愔先以告收，收上《皇居新殿臺賦》，其文甚壯麗。 時所作者，自邢卲已下咸不逮焉。 收上賦前數日乃告卲。 卲後告人曰：「收甚惡人，不早言之。」 帝曾遊東山，勑收作詔，宣揚威德，譬喻關西，俄頃而訖，詞理宏壯。 帝對百僚大嗟賞之。 仍兼太子詹事。 收娶其舅女，崔昂之妹，產一女，無子。 魏太常劉芳孫女，中書郎崔啟師女，夫家坐事，帝並賜收為妻，時人比之賈充置左右夫人。 然無子。 後病甚，恐身後嫡媵不平，乃放二姬。 及疾瘳追憶，作《懷離賦》以申意。 文宣每以酣宴之次，云：「太子性懦，宗社事重，終當傳位常山。」 收謂楊愔曰：「古人云，太子國之根本，不可動搖。 至尊三爵後，每言傳位常山，令臣下疑貳。 若實，便須決行。 此言若戲，魏收旣忝師傅，正當守之以死，但恐國家不安。」 愔以收言白於帝，自此便止。 帝數宴喜，收每預侍從。 皇太子之納鄭良娣也，有司備設牢饌，帝旣酣飲，起而自毀覆之。 仍詔收曰：「知我意不？」 收曰：「臣愚謂長娣旣東宮之妾，理不須牢，仰惟聖懷，緣此毀去。」 帝大笑，握收手曰：「卿知我意。」 安德王延宗納趙郡李祖收女為妃，後帝幸李宅宴，而妃母宋氏薦二石榴於帝前。 問諸人莫知其意，帝投之。 收曰：「石榴房中多子，王新婚，妃母欲子孫衆多。」 帝大喜，詔收」卿還將來」，仍賜收美錦二疋。 十年，除儀同三司。 帝在宴席，口勑以為中書監，命中書郎李愔於樹下造詔。 愔以收一代盛才，難於率爾，久而未訖。 比成，帝已醉醒，遂不重言，愔仍不奏，事竟寢。
" In the summer of the eighth year he was made junior tutor of the heir apparent and supervised the national history, again joining deliberation on statutes and ordinances. When the Three Terraces were completed, Emperor Wenxuan said, "When a terrace is finished there must be a rhapsody. Yin had warned Shou beforehand; Shou submitted the "Rhapsody on the New Palace and Terraces of the Imperial Residence," and its text was very grand. Of those who wrote at the time, from Xing Shao downward none matched it. Only a few days before submitting the rhapsody did Shou tell Shao. Shao later told others, "Shou is a hateful man—why did he not speak sooner?" The emperor once toured East Mountain and ordered Shou to draft an edict proclaiming majesty and virtue and admonishing the lands west of the passes; in a moment it was done, and its reasoning and diction were grand. Facing the hundred officials the emperor sighed in great admiration. He was then also made junior mentor of the heir apparent. Shou married his maternal uncle's daughter, younger sister of Cui Angzhi; she bore one daughter but no son. The granddaughters of Wei grand master of ceremonies Liu Fang and of secretariat gentleman Cui Qishi, whose husbands' families had been implicated, the emperor bestowed on Shou as wives; men of the time compared it to Jia Chong keeping a left and a right madam. Yet he still had no sons. Later, when he fell gravely ill, fearing strife between principal wife and concubines after his death, he released the two concubines. When the illness abated he recalled them with longing and wrote the "Rhapsody on Longing in Separation" to express his feeling. Emperor Wenxuan at every drunken feast would say, "The heir apparent is timid by nature; the altars of state are weighty—ultimately the succession should pass to Changshan. Shou told Yang Yin, "The ancients said the heir apparent is the root of the state and must not be shaken. After His Majesty has taken three cups, he every time speaks of passing the succession to Changshan, making his ministers doubtful and divided. If he means it, it must be carried out decisively. If these words are in jest, Wei Shou, having the shameful post of tutor, ought to guard the heir to the death—only I fear the state will not be secure. Yin reported Shou's words to the emperor, and from then on he stopped. The emperor often held feasts of pleasure, and Shou each time attended. When the crown prince took Zheng as good secondary consort, the offices prepared a full set of sacrificial meats; the emperor, already deep in drink, rose and overturned them himself. He then charged Shou, saying, "Do you know my intent? Shou said, "This subject foolishly thinks that since the chief secondary consort is already a concubine of the eastern palace, by right she needs no full victims; looking up to Your Sagely intent, it was on this account that you destroyed them." The emperor laughed loudly, grasped Shou's hand, and said, "You know my intent." Prince Ande Yan Zong took as consort the daughter of Li Zu of Zhao commandery; later the emperor visited the Li house for a feast, and the consort's mother Song presented two pomegranates before the emperor. He asked the company and none knew the meaning; the emperor tossed them aside. Shou said, "The pomegranate has many seeds within—the prince is newly wed, and the consort's mother wishes many sons and grandsons." The emperor was greatly pleased and charged Shou, "Bring them back," and at once bestowed two bolts of fine brocade on Shou. In the tenth year he was made pillar of state of the third rank. At a banquet the emperor orally ordered him made director of the secretariat and commanded secretariat gentleman Li Yin to draft the edict under a tree. Yin, because Shou was a towering talent of an age, found it hard to compose offhand and long went without finishing. By the time it was done the emperor had sobered and did not speak of it again; Yin still did not submit it, and the matter lapsed.
15
及帝崩於晉陽，驛召收及中山太守陽休之參議吉凶之禮，並掌詔誥。 仍除侍中，遷太常卿。 文宣諡及廟號、陵名，皆收議也。 及孝昭居中宰事，命收禁中為諸詔文，積日不出。 轉中書監。 皇建元年，除兼侍中、右光祿大夫，仍儀同、監史。 收先副王昕使梁，不相協睦。 時昕弟晞親密。 而孝昭別令陽休之兼中書，在晉陽典詔誥，收留在鄴。 蓋晞所為，收大不平，謂太子舍人盧詢祖曰：「若使卿作文誥，我亦不言。」 又除祖珽為著作郎，欲以代收。 司空主簿李翥，文詞士也，聞而告人曰：「詔誥悉歸陽子烈，著作復遣祖孝徵，文史頓失，恐魏公發背。」 於時詔議二王三恪，收執王肅、杜預義，以元、司馬氏為二王，通曹備三恪。 詔諸禮學之官，皆執鄭玄五代之議。 孝昭後姓元，議恪不欲廣及，故議從收。 又除兼太子少傅，解侍中。
When the emperor died at Jinyang, couriers summoned Shou and Zhongshan governor Yang Xiuzhi to deliberate on auspicious and inauspicious rites, and both managed edicts and charges. He was then made palace attendant and promoted to director of the imperial clan. Emperor Wenxuan's posthumous title, temple name, and tomb name were all Shou's deliberations. When Emperor Xiaozhao held affairs as regent in the center, he ordered Shou to remain in the palace to draft the various edicts; for days he did not go out. He was transferred to director of the secretariat. In the first year of Huangjian he was made concurrent palace attendant, right grand master of the palace, still pillar of state, and supervisor of the histories. Shou had earlier served as deputy to Wang Xin on an embassy to Liang and they did not get along. At the time Xin's younger brother Xi was intimate with the emperor. But Emperor Xiaozhao separately ordered Yang Xiuzhi to hold the secretariat concurrently and at Jinyang manage edicts, while Shou remained at Ye—this was Xi's doing, and Shou was greatly resentful. He told heir apparent attendant Lu Xunzu, "If you were made to compose edicts, I too would say nothing." He also made Zu Ting compiler in the Masters of Writing, intending that Ting replace Shou. Minister of works chief clerk Li Zhu, a man of letters, heard it and told others, "Edicts all go to Yang Zilie; compilation is again sent to Zu Xiaozheng—the literary offices are suddenly stripped; I fear the Duke of Wei will break out in a rash on his back." At the time an edict debated the Two Kings and Three Honored Guests; Shou held to Wang Su and Du Yu, taking the Yuan and the Sima as the Two Kings and Tongcao as supplying the Three Honored Guests. The edict ordered all officials of ritual learning to hold to Zheng Xuan's doctrine of five generations. Emperor Xiaozhao's consort was of the Yuan clan; when the court debated the protocol of honoring former rulers, they did not wish to extend it broadly and followed Shou's view. He was also appointed concurrent junior tutor of the heir apparent and relieved of palace attendant.
16
帝以魏史未行，詔收更加研審。 收奉詔，頗有改正。 及詔行魏史，收以為直置秘閣，外人無由得見，於是命送一本付幷省，一本付鄴下，任人寫之。
Because the Book of Wei had not yet been issued, the emperor ordered Shou to review it again. Shou obeyed and revised it extensively. When the throne ordered the Book of Wei circulated, Shou argued that locking it in the secret archive barred the public; he had one copy sent to the Bing secretariat and one to Ye and let anyone copy it.
17
大寧元年，加開府。 河清二年，兼右僕射。 時武成酣飲終日，朝事專委侍中高元海。 元海凡庸，不堪大任，以收才名振俗，都官尚書畢義雲長於斷割，乃虛心倚仗。 收畏避不能匡救，為議者所譏。 帝於華林別起玄洲苑，備山水臺觀之麗，詔於閣上畫收，其見重如此。
In the first year of Daning he was granted an open office. In the second year of Heqing he was made concurrent right vice director of the secretariat. Emperor Wucheng then drank all day long, leaving court affairs entirely to palace attendant Gao Yuanhai. Yuanhai was commonplace and unfit for great responsibility; Shou's talent and fame shook the age, and Bi Yiyun as director of the department of state affairs excelled at cutting through cases—so the emperor leaned on them in earnest. Shou shrank from remonstrance and could not set things right; critics jeered at him. At Hualin the emperor built the separate Xuanyuan Park, stocked with hills, water, terraces, and towers, and ordered Shou painted on a pavilion gallery—such was his favor.
18
始收比溫子升、邢卲稍為後進，卲旣被疏出，子升以罪幽死，收遂大被任用，獨步一時。 議論更相訾毀，各有朋黨。 收每議陋邢卲文。 卲又云：「江南任昉，文體本疏，魏收非直模擬，亦大偷竊。」 收聞乃曰：「伊常於《沈約集》中作賊，何意道我偷任昉。」 任、沈俱有重名，邢、魏各有所好。 武平中，黃門郎顏之推以二公意問僕射祖珽，珽答曰：「見邢、魏之臧否，即是任、沈之優劣。」 收以溫子升全不作賦，邢雖有一兩首，又非所長，常云：「會須作賦，始成大才士。 唯以章表碑誌自許，此外更同兒戲。」 自武定二年已後，國家大事詔命，軍國文詞，皆收所作。 每有警急，受詔立成，或時中使催促，收筆下有同宿構，敏速之工，邢、溫所不逮，其參議典禮，與邢相埒。
Early on Shou had ranked after Wen Zisheng and Xing Shao; once Shao was driven out and Zisheng died in prison for his crimes, Shou rose to sole eminence. Rivals slandered one another, each with his own clique. Shou always spoke down Xing Shao's prose. Shao also said, "South of the Yangtze, Ren Fang's style was loose by nature; Wei Shou did not just imitate him—he stole wholesale." Hearing this, Shou said, "He is forever burgling the Collected Works of Shen Yue—why accuse me of stealing Ren Fang? Ren and Shen both bore great names; Xing and Wei each took a side. In Wuping, yellow gate gentleman Yan Zhitui asked vice director Zu Ting what the two grandees thought; Ting answered, "Judge Xing and Wei for praise or blame, and you know Ren and Shen's worth. Shou held that Wen Zisheng never wrote a fu at all, and though Xing had one or two, they were not his strength; he often said, "Only when you can write fu do you count as a great man of letters. He rates himself only on memorials, tables, steles, and epitaphs; all else is child's play. From the second year of Wuding on, every great edict and military dispatch of state was Shou's. When crisis struck he took orders and finished at once; sometimes palace envoys hurried him, yet his brush moved as if the piece had been drafted overnight—swiftness Xing and Wen could not match, while in ritual deliberation he stood even with Xing.
19
收以子侄少年，申以戒厲，著《枕中篇》，其詞曰：
His sons and nephews still young, Shou warned them sternly and wrote the Pillow Book, which reads:
20
吾曾覽管子之書，其言曰：「任之重者莫如身，途之畏者莫如口，期之遠者莫如年。 以重任行畏途，至遠期，惟君子為能及矣。」 追而味之，喟然長息。 若夫岳立為重，有潛戴而不傾； 山藏稱固，亦趨負而弗停； 呂梁獨浚，能行歌而匪惕； 焦原作險，或躋踵而不驚； 九陔方集，故眇然而迅舉； 五紀當定，想窅乎而上征。 茍任重也有度，則任之而愈固； 乘危也有術，蓋乘之而靡恤。 彼期遠而能通，果應之而可必。 豈神理之獨爾，亦人事其如一。 嗚呼！ 處天壤之間，勞死生之地，攻之以嗜欲，牽之以名利，粱肉不期而共臻，珠玉無足而俱致； 於是乎驕奢仍作，危亡旋至。 然則上知大賢，唯幾唯哲，或出或處，不常其節。 其舒也濟世成務，其卷也聲銷跡滅。 玉帛子女，椒蘭律呂，諂諛無所先； 稱肉度骨，膏唇挑舌，怨惡莫之前。 勳名共山河同久，志業與金石比堅。 斯蓋厚棟不橈，遊刃砉然。 逮於厥德不常，喪其金璞。 馳騖人世，鼓動流俗。 挾湯日而謂寒，包溪壑而未足。 源不清而流濁，表不端而影曲。 嗟乎！ 膠漆詎堅，寒暑甚促。 反利而成害，化榮而就辱。 欣戚更來，得喪仍續。 至有身禦魑魅，魂沈狴獄。 詎非足力不強，迷在當局。 孰可謂車戒前傾，人師先覺。
I once read Master Guan's book, which says, "Of burdens none is heavier than the body; of roads none more fearful than the mouth; of distant deadlines none longer than the years. To bear that weight along that fearful road toward that far deadline—only a gentleman can arrive. Turning it over afterward, I sigh at length. A peak rises in its mass, yet bears what lies hidden beneath without toppling; mountains hoard their solidity, yet press on under their burden without halt; Liang of the ford dredged alone, yet walked and sang without fear; Jiao Yuan made the cliff road perilous, yet men climbed heel to heel unafraid; when the nine terraces gather, he lifts swift as a glance; when the five eras are to be fixed, he seems to climb far above. If the burden has its measure, the more you bear the firmer you stand; if crossing peril has its method, you cross and do not flinch. What is far in deadline yet can be threaded through—when the fruit answers, it is sure. Is it only divine principle that works so? Human affairs are alike. Alas! Between heaven and earth we toil on the field of life and death; appetites assault us, fame and gain pull—rich fare arrives unbidden, pearls and jade gather though we never went to fetch them; then pride and excess follow one another, and peril comes swift. Yet the highest knower, the greatest sage—subtle in foresight, clear in judgment—now emerge, now withdraw, never fixed to one rule. Unfolded, they save the age and finish its work; rolled up, voice fades and footprints vanish. Silks, gems, women, spice and song—flattery cannot get ahead of them; weighing flesh, sizing bone, oiling lips, whetting tongues—malice cannot stand before them. Fame and merit last with mountains and rivers; resolve and deed match metal and stone in hardness. Such is the thick beam that does not warp, the blade that finds its gap. When virtue wavers, the gold and jade within are lost. They race through the human world and stir the drifting crowd. They clutch the sun's warmth and call it cold, fill ravines and gullies and still are not satisfied. Source unclear, stream muddied; face not square, shadow crooked. Alas! Glue and lacquer—how can they endure? Cold and heat crowd close. Gain reverses into harm, splendor into shame. Joy and grief alternate; gain and loss follow without end. Some guard the body yet are seized by demons; souls sink into the pit of law. Is it that the legs are weak? They are lost because they stand in the match. Who can say the cart warned of a forward fall while the driver's teacher woke first?
21
聞諸君子，雅道之士，遊遨經術，厭飫文史。 筆有奇鋒，談有勝理。 孝悌之至，神明通矣。 審道而行，量路而止。 自我及物，先人後己。 情無繫於榮悴，心靡滯於慍喜。 不養望於丘壑，不待價於城市。 言行相顧，慎終猶始。 有一於斯，鬱為羽儀。 恪居展事，知無不為。 或左或右，則髦士攸宜； 無悔無吝，故高而不危。 異乎勇進忘退，茍得患失，射千金之產，邀萬鐘之秩，投烈風之門，趣炎火之室，載蹶而墜其貽宴，或蹲乃喪其貞吉。 可不畏歟！ 可不戒歟！
I have heard of gentlemen, men of the elegant Way, who roam the classics and feast on letters and history. Their brush holds a keen edge; their talk holds winning reason. Filial piety and brotherliness at their utmost—and the spirits respond. They weigh the Way, then walk; measure the road, then stop. From self to things, they put others first. Feeling is not bound to rise or fall; the heart does not stick in anger or joy. They do not nurse ambition in hill and dell, nor wait for a price in the market. Word and deed watch each other; they guard the end as the beginning. Where one of these stands, he becomes a feathered standard. Respectful in his post, broad in his service—what he knows, he does. Left or right, the eminent man suits the post; without regret, without grudging—high yet not in peril. Unlike the bold who advance and forget retreat, who clutch gain and dread loss, who stake a fortune in gold, who chase a stipend of ten thousand bushels, who hurl themselves through gates of violent wind into chambers of flame—some stumble from the feast they meant to keep, others crouch and forfeit their steady fortune. Can one not fear? Can one not take warning?
22
門有倚禍，事不可不密； 墻有伏寇，言不可而失。 宜諦其言，宜端其行。 言之不善，行之不正，鬼執強梁，人囚徑廷。 幽奪其魄，明夭其命。 不服非法，不行非道。 公鼎為己信，私玉非身寶。 過涅為紺，踰藍作青。 持繩視直，置水觀平。 時然後取，未若無欲。 知止知足，庶免於辱。
At the gate calamity waits; affairs cannot but be kept close. Behind the wall foes lie in wait; words cannot be let slip. Scrutinize what you say; square what you do. Words not good, conduct not straight—the ghost seizes the bully, men bind him in the open court. In darkness his soul is taken; in daylight his life is cut short. Do not bow to what is not law; do not walk what is not the Way. The public tripod is trust for oneself; private jade is no personal treasure. Pass through the black dye and turn indigo; cross the blue and become green. Hold the cord and see what is straight; set the water and see what is level. Take only when the time is right—better still to want nothing. Know where to stop and what is enough, and you may escape shame.
23
是以為必察其幾，舉必慎於微。 知幾慮微，斯亡則稀。 旣察且慎，福祿攸歸。 昔蘧瑗識四十九非，顏子幾三月不違。 跬步無已，至於千里。 覆一簣進，及於萬仞。 故云行遠自邇，登高自卑，可大可久，與世推移。 月滿如規，後夜則虧。 槿榮于枝，望暮而萎。 夫奚益而非損，孰有損而不害？ 益不欲多，利不欲大。 唯居德者畏其甚，體真者懼其大。 道尊則群謗集，任重而衆怨會。 其達也則尼父棲遑，其忠也而周公狼狽。 無曰人之我狹，在我不可而覆。 無曰人之我厚，在我不可而咎。 如山之大，無不有也； 如谷之虛，無不受也； 能剛能柔，重可負也； 能信能順，險可走也； 能知能愚，期可久也。 周廟之人，三緘其口。 漏巵在前，欹器留後。 俾諸來裔，傳之坐右。
Therefore in acting one must read the subtle; in raising anything one must guard the small. Read the subtle and think ahead, and ruin grows rare. Having examined and being careful, fortune and rank gather to you. Of old Qu Yuan marked forty-nine faults; Yan Hui for nearly three months did not stray. Half-steps without cease reach a thousand li. Overturn one basketful and advance, and you reach ten thousand ren. Thus they say: go far from what is near; climb high from what is low—great, lasting, moving with the age. The moon full as a compass—after that night it wanes. The hibiscus blooms on the branch—by evening it withers. What gain that is not loss? What loss that does not harm? Gain should not be many; profit should not be large. Only he who dwells in virtue fears its height; only he who embodies truth fears its breadth. When the Way is honored, slanders gather; when the burden is heavy, many hatreds meet. In success Confucius was harried; in loyalty the Duke of Zhou was hard pressed. Do not say others are narrow toward me—if I cannot bear it, I cannot cover it. Do not say others are generous toward me—if I cannot bear it, I cannot blame them. Like a mountain's mass, nothing is not held; like the valley's hollow, nothing is not received; Be firm when you must and yielding when you may, and heavy burdens will still be borne. Be steadfast in trust and supple in compliance, and even perilous paths may be walked. Know when to show wisdom and when to feign ignorance, and your days may endure. Men of the Zhou ancestral temple sealed their lips three times over. Keep the leaky cup before your eyes and the tilting vessel at your back. May posterity take it up and keep it at the right hand.
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其後羣臣多言魏史不實，武成復勑更審，收又回換。 遂為盧同立傳，崔綽返更附出。 楊愔家《傳》，本云「有魏以來一門而已」，至是改此八字； 又先云「弘農華陰人」，乃改「自云弘農」以配王慧龍自云太原人。 此其失也。
Later many officials declared the Book of Wei unreliable; Emperor Wucheng ordered another review, and Shou revised it again. He then composed a biography for Lu Tong and moved Cui Chuo's entry back out as a separate appendix. In the Yang Yin family biography the text had read, "Since Wei there has been only one house in the clan"—he now altered those eight characters; and where it had first said "of Hongnong, Huayin," he changed it to "claims Hongnong," to match Wang Huilong's claim to be from Taiyuan. These were his lapses.
25
尋除開府、中書監。 武成崩，未發喪。 在內諸公以後主即位有年，疑於赦令。 諸公引收訪焉，收固執宜有恩澤，乃從之。 掌詔誥，除尚書右僕射，總議監五禮事，位特進。 收奏請趙彥深、和士開、徐之才共監。 先以告士開，士開驚辭以不學。 收曰：「天下事皆由王，五禮非王不決。」 士開謝而許之。 多引文士令執筆，儒者馬敬德、熊安生、權會實主之。 武平三年薨。 贈司空、尚書左僕射，諡文貞。 有集七十卷。
Before long he was appointed director of the palace secretariat and concurrently secretariat supervisor. When Wucheng died, mourning had not yet been publicly announced. The inner ministers, since the Later Sovereign had already reigned for years, doubted whether an amnesty should be issued. They summoned Shou for counsel; Shou insisted that grace was due, and they followed his view. He directed edicts and rescripts, was made right vice director of the masters of writing, and oversaw the Five Rites in general, with the rank of special advance. Shou memorialized asking Zhao Yanshen, He Shikai, and Xu Zhicai to serve as co-supervisors. He told Shikai first; Shikai, alarmed, declined on the ground that he was no scholar. Shou said, "All affairs under Heaven are yours to decide; the Five Rites cannot be settled without you." Shikai thanked him and consented. He brought in many literary men to draft the text; the Confucian scholars Ma Jingde, Xiong Ansheng, and Quan Hui actually directed the work. In the third year of Wuping he died. He was posthumously made minister of works and left vice director of the masters of writing, with the posthumous title Wenzhen. His collected works ran to seventy scrolls.
26
收碩學大才，然性褊，不能達命體道。 見當途貴遊，每以色相悅。 然提獎後輩，以名行為先，浮華輕險之徒，雖有才能，弗重也。 初，河間邢子才及季景與收並以文章顯，世稱大邢小魏，言尤俊也。 收少子才十歲，子才每曰：「佛助寮人之偉。」 後收稍與子才爭名，文宣貶子才曰：「爾才不及魏收。」 收益得志。 自序云：「先稱溫、邢，後曰邢、魏。」 然收內陋邢，心不許也。 收旣輕疾，好聲樂，善胡舞。 文宣末，數於東山與諸優為獼猴與狗鬬，帝寵狎之。 收外兄博陵崔巖嘗以雙聲嘲收曰：「愚魏衰收。」 收答曰：「顏巖腥瘦，是誰所生，羊頤狗頰，頭團鼻平，飯房苓籠，著孔嘲玎。」 其辯捷不拘若是。 旣緣史筆，多憾於人。 齊亡之歲，收冢被發，棄其骨于外。 先養弟子仁表為嗣，位至尚書膳部郎中。 隋開皇中，卒於溫縣令。
Shou was a great scholar of vast talent, yet by nature narrow and unable to accept fate or embody the Way. Before the powerful and noble of his day he always wore a pleasing countenance. Yet he championed younger men and put character before talent; flashy, frivolous, and reckless men he would not honor, however able they were. Early on Xing Zicai of Hejian and his brother Jijing had won fame for letters alongside Shou; the age called them Great Xing and Little Wei, saying Wei was the keener wit. Shou was ten years younger than Zicai; Zicai would often say, "The Buddha aids the lodge's towering man." Later Shou began to rival Zicai for renown; Wenyuan slighted Zicai, saying, "Your talent cannot match Wei Shou's." Shou grew all the more triumphant. In his autobiography he wrote, "At first they named Wen and Xing; later they said Xing and Wei." Yet inwardly he despised Xing and would not admit it. When Shou fell ill he took to music and was skilled at barbarian dance. At the end of Wenyuan's reign he several times on the Eastern Hill staged monkey-and-dog fights with performers; the emperor treated him with familiar affection. His mother's sister's son Cui Yan of Boling once mocked him with paired-alliteration verse, saying, "Fool-Wei, fade-Shou." Shou replied, "Yan-face, rank-lean—whose whelp are you? Sheep-jaw, dog-cheek; knob-head, flat-nose. Meal-barracks, tuckah-cage—stop-hole, sting-mock!" His repartee was as nimble and unrestrained as that. Once he held the historian's brush, he earned much resentment. In the year Qi fell, Shou's tomb was opened and his bones thrown out. He had earlier adopted his nephew Renbiao as heir; Renbiao rose to gentleman of the masters of writing in the board of provisions. In the Sui Kaihuang era he died in office as magistrate of Wen county.
27
全文以中華書局、一九七二年十一月、第一版《北齊書》為本校。
The full text uses the Zhonghua Shuju first edition of the Book of Northern Qi (November 1972) as the base for collation.