Volume 45 Biographies 37: Men of Letters

夫玄象著明，以察時變，天文也；聖達立言，化成天下，人文也；達幽顯之情，明天人之際，其在文乎。逖聽三古，彌綸百代，制禮作樂，騰實飛聲，若或言之不文，豈能行之遠也？子曰：「文王旣沒，文不在茲？」大聖踵武，邈將千載，其間英賢卓犖，不可勝紀，咸宜韜筆寢牘，未可言文，斯固才難，不其然也。至夫遊、夏以文詞擅美，顏回則庶幾將聖，屈、宋所以後塵，卿、雲未能輟簡。於是辭人才子，波駭雲屬，振鵷鷺之羽儀，縱雕龍之符采，人謂得玄珠於赤水，策奔電於崑丘，開四照於春華，成萬寶於秋實。

Heaven's dark signs shine forth to read the seasons' turn—that is celestial pattern. Sages and the accomplished set words in the world and transform it—that is human pattern. To sound the feelings of hidden and manifest and clarify where Heaven and man meet—is that not the work of wen? Listening back through the three antiquities and spanning a hundred generations, they set rites and made music, lifting substance and sending fame abroad—yet if words lacked pattern, how could their reach endure? The Master said, "When King Wen was already gone, was not the culture here?" The Great Sage followed in his wake, nearly a thousand years on; between them outstanding men beyond count—all might have laid down brush and stilled the desk and left wen unspoken—yet talent was scarce; was it not so? You and Xia excelled in literary phrasing; Yan Hui nearly reached sagehood; Qu Yuan and Song Yu followed in the dust; Sima Xiangru and Yang Xiong could not lay down the slip— then men of letters and fine minds surged like waves and clustered like clouds, shaking phoenix pinions and letting carved-dragon brilliance run free; they were said to have taken the dark pearl at Red Water and driven lightning across Kunqiu, opening fourfold radiance on spring flowers and heaping ten thousand treasures in autumn fruit.

然文之所起，情發於中。人有六情，稟五常之秀；情感六氣，順四時之序。其有帝資懸解，天縱多能，摛黼黻於生知，問珪璋於先覺，譬雕雲之自成五色，猶儀鳳之冥會八音，斯固感英靈以特達，非勞心所能致也。縱其情思底滯，關鍵不通，但伏膺無怠，鑽仰斯切，馳騖勝流，周旋益友，強學廣其聞見，專心屏於涉求，畫繢飾以丹青，雕琢成其器用，是以學而知之，猶足賢乎已也。謂石為獸，射之洞開，精之至也。積歲解牛，砉然遊刃，習之久也。自非渾沌無可鑿之姿，窮奇懷不移之情，安有至精久習而不成功者焉。善乎魏文之著論也：「人多不強力，貧賤則懾於饑寒，富貴則流於逸樂，遂營目前之務，而遺千載之功，日月逝於上，體貌衰於下，忽然與萬物遷化，斯志士大痛也。」

Yet wen arises when feeling stirs within. Man has six feelings and receives the excellence of the five constants; feeling answers the six qi and follows the four seasons' order. Those Heaven-endowed and Heaven-talented, weaving brocade from innate knowing and seeking jade from foreknowing sages—as if carved clouds took five colors of themselves, as if the ritual phoenix matched the eight tones in secret—are lifted by heroic spirit; no laboring mind can force that. Even when feeling and thought stall and the key will not turn, if one bows the breast without slackening, drills upward with keenness, races among masters and turns with worthy friends, strengthens study to widen sight and hearing and bars the mind from vain seeking—painting with cinnabar and green, carving into useful vessels—then to learn and know still makes one worthy enough. To take stone for beast and shoot until the hole opens clean—that is skill at its utmost. Year upon year to dissect the ox until the blade hums through the gaps—that is long practice. Unless one's form were Chaos that nothing can carve and one's heart held feeling that would not shift, how could utmost skill and long habit ever succeed? Well said is Emperor Wen of Wei's treatise: "Most men do not strengthen their force; poor and lowly, they shrink before hunger and cold; rich and honored, they drift into ease and pleasure; they scheme for what lies before them and abandon work for a thousand years. Sun and moon flee overhead while the body fails below; suddenly one transforms with the ten thousand things—that is the great pain of men of resolve."

沈休文云：「自漢至魏，四百餘年，辭人才子，文體三變。」然自茲厥後，軌轍尤多。江左梁末，彌尚輕險，始自儲宮，刑乎流俗，雜惉懘以成音，故雖悲而不雅。爰逮武平，政乖時蠹，唯藻思之美，雅道猶存，履柔順以成文，蒙大難而能正。原夫兩朝叔世，俱肆淫聲，而齊氏變風，屬諸弦管，梁時變雅，在夫篇什。莫非易俗所致，並為亡國之音；而應變不殊，感物或異，何哉？蓋隨君上之情欲也。

Shen Yue said, "From Han to Wei, more than four hundred years—men of letters and fine minds; literary forms changed thrice." Yet from then on, tracks and ruts multiplied all the more. East of the Yangzi in late Liang, frivolity and peril were honored still more, beginning in the crown prince's quarters and spreading through floating custom, mixing turbid clamor into music—so that though mournful, it was not refined. Down to Wuping, government strayed and the age rotted; only literary thought's beauty and the elegant way survived—treading softness and compliance to make wen, enduring great calamity yet keeping upright. Both dynasties in their declining age indulged licentious sound; yet Qi changed the wind and put it in string and pipe, while Liang changed the ya and put it in chapters and stanzas. All came from changing custom and together made music of a perishing state; yet responding to change was the same while being moved by things sometimes differed—why? It followed the desires and feelings of the ruler above.

有齊自霸圖云啟，廣延髦儁，開四門以納之，舉八纮以掩之，鄴京之下，煙霏霧集，河間邢子才、鉅鹿魏伯起、范陽盧元明、鉅鹿魏季景、清河崔長孺、河間邢子明、范陽祖孝徵、樂安孫彥舉、中山杜輔玄、北平陽子烈並其流也。復有范陽祖鴻勳亦參文士之列。天保中，李愔、陸邛、崔瞻、陸元規並在中書，參掌綸誥。其李廣、樊遜、李德林、盧詢祖、盧思道始以文章著名。皇建之朝，常侍王晞獨擅其美。河清、天統之辰，杜臺卿、劉逖、魏騫亦參知詔敕。自愔以下，在省唯撰述除官詔旨，其關涉軍國文翰，多是魏收作之。及在武平，李若、荀士遜、李德林、薛道衡為中書侍郎，諸軍國文書及大詔誥俱是德林之筆，道衡諸人皆不預也。

When Qi from its hegemonic design onward extended eminent worthies, opened four gates to receive them, and raised eight cords to gather them, below Ye mist and fog clustered—Hejian Xing Zicai, Julu Wei Boqi, Fanyang Lu Yuanming, Julu Wei Jijing, Qinghe Cui Changru, Hejian Xing Ziming, Fanyang Zu Xiaozheng, Le'an Sun Yanju, Zhongshan Du Fuxuan, and Beiping Yang Zilie were all of that stream. Fanyang Zu Hongxun also joined the ranks of literary gentlemen. In the Tianbao era, Li Yin, Lu Qiong, Cui Zhan, and Lu Yuangui were all in the Secretariat, sharing in the drafting of edicts and commands. Li Guang, Fan Xun, Li Delin, Lu Xunzu, and Lu Sidao first won fame through their writings. In the Huangjian reign, Regular Attendant Wang Xi alone held the beauty of it. In the Heqing and Tiantong eras, Du Taiqing, Liu Ti, and Wei Qian also shared in edicts and commands. From Yin downward, within the Secretariat they only compiled appointments and dismissal edicts; documents touching military and state affairs were mostly Wei Shou's work. In Wuping, Li Ruo, Xun Shixun, Li Delin, and Xue Daheng were secretariat vice ministers; military and state papers and great edicts were all Delin's brush—Daheng and the rest did not take part.

後主雖溺於群小，然頗好諷詠，幼稚時，曾讀詩賦，語人云：「終有解作此理不？」及長，亦少留意。初因畫屏風，敕通直郎蘭陵蕭放及晉陵王孝式錄古名賢烈士及近代輕豔諸詩以充圖畫，帝彌重之。後復追齊州錄事參軍蕭愨、趙州功曹參軍顏之推同入撰次，猶依霸朝，謂之館客。放及之推意欲更廣其事，又祖珽輔政，愛重之推，又托鄧長颙漸說後主，屬意斯文。三年，祖珽奏立文林館，於是更召引文學士，謂之待詔文林館焉。珽又奏撰《御覽》，詔珽及特進魏收、太子太師徐之才、中書令崔劼、散騎常侍張雕、中書監陽休之監撰。珽等奏追通直散騎侍郎韋道遜、陸乂、太子舍人王劭、衛尉丞李孝基、殿中侍御史魏澹、中散大夫劉仲威、袁奭、國子博士朱才、奉車都尉眭道閑、考功郎中崔子樞、左外兵郎薛道衡、幷省主客郎中盧思道、司空東閤祭酒崔德、太學博士諸葛漢、奉朝請鄭公超、殿中侍御史鄭子信等入館撰書，幷勑放、愨、之推等同入撰例。復令散騎常侍封孝琰、前樂陵太守鄭元禮、衛尉少卿杜臺卿、通直散騎常侍王訓、前南兗州長史羊肅、通直散騎常侍馬元熙、幷省三公郎中劉瑉、開府行參軍李師上、溫君悠入館，亦令撰書。復命特進崔季舒、前仁州刺史劉逖、散騎常侍李孝貞、中書侍郎李德林續入待詔。尋又詔諸人各舉所知，又有前濟州長史李翥、前廣武太守魏騫、前西兗州司馬蕭溉、前幽州長史陸仁惠、鄭州司馬江旰、前通直散騎侍郎辛德源、陸開明、通直郎封孝謇、太尉掾張德沖、幷省右民郎高行恭、司徒戶曹參軍古道子、前司空功曹參軍劉顗、獲嘉令崔德儒、給事中李元楷、晉州治中陽師孝、太尉中兵參軍劉儒行、司空祭酒陽辟疆、司空士曹參軍盧公順、司徒中兵參軍周子深、開府參軍王友伯、崔君洽、魏師謇並入館待詔，又敕右僕射段孝言亦入焉。《御覽》成後，所撰錄人亦有不時待詔，付所司處分者。凡此諸人，亦有文學膚淺，附會親識，妄相推薦者十三四焉。雖然，當時操筆之徒，搜求略盡。其外如廣平宋孝王、信都劉善經輩三數人，論其才性，入館諸賢亦十三四不逮之也。待詔文林，亦是一時盛事，故存錄其姓名。

Though the Later Sovereign was drowned among petty men, he was quite fond of recitation; as a child he had read poetry and fu and said to people, "Will there in the end be someone who understands how to make this art?" When he grew up he gave it some attention as well. At first, for painted screens, he ordered Unhampered Attendant Xiao Fang of Lanling and Wang Xiaoshi of Jinling to record ancient worthies, martyrs, and recent frivolous poems to fill the pictures; the emperor valued this still more. Later he again summoned Qi recorder-assistant Xiao Yi and Zhao merit-clerk Yan Zhitui to compile together, still under the hegemonic court—calling them lodge guests. Fang and Zhitui wished to broaden the work further; Zu Ting was also assisting in government and cherished Zhitui; through Deng Changyong he gradually persuaded the Later Sovereign to set his mind on this literature. In the third year Zu Ting memorialized to establish the Forest of Literature Hall; literary gentlemen were summoned again and called awaiting-edict gentlemen of the Forest of Literature. Ting again memorialized to compile the Imperial Overview; an edict ordered Ting, specially advanced Wei Shou, Grand Mentor of the Crown Prince Xu Zhicai, Secretariat Director Cui Jie, scattered-cavalry regular attendant Zhang Diao, and Secretariat Supervisor Yang Xiuzhi to supervise it. Ting and the others memorialized to recall unhampered scattered-cavalry vice minister Wei Daoxun, Lu Yi, crown prince household retainer Wang Shao, commandery-wei aide Li Xiaoji, palace investigation censor Wei Tan, palace standard grandee Liu Zhongwei, Yuan Shuang, National University doctorate Zhu Cai, chariot-of-the-court commandant Sui Daoxian, merit-examination director Cui Zishu, left outer-troops gentleman Xue Daohang, joint-province guest-bureau director Lu Sidao, Minister of Works eastern-pavilion sacrifice wine Cui De, Grand Academy doctorate Zhuge Han, court gentleman attendant Zheng Gongchao, palace investigation censor Zheng Zixin, and others into the hall to compile, and also ordered Fang, Yi, and Zhitui to enter the compilation rules together. They again ordered scattered-cavalry regular attendant Feng Xiaoyan, former music-commandery administrator Zheng Yuanli, commandery-wei vice director Du Taiqing, unhampered scattered-cavalry regular attendant Wang Xun, former southern Yanzhou chief clerk Yang Su, unhampered scattered-cavalry regular attendant Ma Yuanxi, joint-province three-offices director Liu Min, opening-office acting retainer Li Shishang, and Wen Junyou into the hall, also to compile. They again commanded specially advanced Cui Jishu, former Renzhou inspector Liu Ti, scattered-cavalry regular attendant Li Xiaozhen, and secretariat vice minister Li Delin to continue entering as awaiting-edict. Soon an edict ordered each man to recommend those he knew; there were also former Jizhou chief clerk Li Xu, former Guangwu administrator Wei Qian, former western Yanzhou marshal Xiao Gai, former Youzhou chief clerk Lu Renhui, Zhengzhou marshal Jiang Gan, former unhampered scattered-cavalry vice minister Xin Deyuan, Lu Kaiming, unhampered gentleman Feng Xiaojie, grand marshal retainer Zhang Dechong, joint-province right-populace gentleman Gao Xinggong, Secretariat household-census retainer Gu Daozi, former Minister of Works merit-clerk retainer Liu Yi, Huojia magistrate Cui Deru, giving-the-affairs attendant Li Yuankai, Jinzhou acting administrator Yang Shixiao, grand marshal central-troops retainer Liu Ruxing, Minister of Works sacrifice wine Yang Bijiang, Minister of Works scholar-census retainer Lu Gongshun, Secretariat central-troops retainer Zhou Zishen, opening-office retainer Wang Youbo, Cui Junqia, and Wei Shijian—all entered the hall as awaiting-edict; an edict also ordered right vice director of the masters of writing Duan Xiaoyan to enter. After the Imperial Overview was completed, some of those recorded did not await edict in time and were handed to the relevant office for disposition. Of all these men, perhaps thirteen or fourteen in ten also had shallow literary learning, clung to kin and acquaintances, and recklessly pushed one another forward. Even so, those who wielded the brush at the time were sought out almost to the last. Beyond them, such as Guangping Song Xiaowang and Xindu Liu Shanjing and a few others—in talent and nature, thirteen or fourteen in ten of the hall's worthies did not match them. Awaiting edict at the Forest of Literature was itself a grand affair of the age; therefore their names are preserved here.

自邢子才以還，或身終魏朝，已入前史；或名位旣重，自有列傳；或附其家世；或名存後書，輒略而不載。今綴序祖鴻勳等列於《文苑》者焉。自外有可錄者，存之篇末。

From Xing Zicai onward, some ended their lives in the Wei court and already entered the earlier histories; some had name and rank already weighty and have their own biographies; some are attached to their family lines; some have names preserved in later books—here they are briefly omitted. Now I set forth in sequence Zu Hongxun and those listed in Men of Letters. Beyond these, whatever can be recorded is kept at the chapter's end.

祖鴻勳，涿郡范陽人也。父慎，仕魏歷雁門、咸陽太守，治有能名。卒於金紫光祿大夫，贈中書監、幽州刺史，諡惠侯。鴻勳弱冠與同郡盧文符並為州主簿。僕射臨淮王或表薦鴻勳有文學，宜試以一官，敕除奉朝請。人謂之曰：「臨淮舉卿，便以得調，竟不相謝，恐非其宜。」鴻勳曰：「為國舉才，臨淮之務，祖鴻勳何事從而謝之？」彧聞而喜曰：「吾得其人矣。」及葛榮南逼，出為防河別將，守滑臺。永安初，元羅為東道大使，署封隆之、邢邵、李渾、李象、鴻勳並為子使。除東濟北太守，以父老疾為請，竟不之官。後城陽王徽奏鴻勳為司徒法曹參軍事，赴洛，徽謂之曰：「吾聞臨淮相舉，竟不到門，今來何也？」鴻勳曰：「今來赴職，非為謝恩。」轉廷尉正。

Zu Hongxun came from Fanyang in Zhuo commandery. His father Shen served Wei as grand administrator of Yanmen and Xianyang; in governance he had a reputation for ability. He died as golden-gleaming grand master for splendid virtue, posthumously enfeoffed as Secretariat Supervisor and inspector of You province, with the posthumous title Marquis Hui. At twenty sui Hongxun and Lu Wenfu of the same commandery together served as provincial recorder. Vice director of the masters of writing the Prince of Huaiyang once memorialized that Hongxun had literary learning and should be tried in office; an edict appointed him court gentleman attendant. Someone said to him, "The Prince of Huaiyang recommended you, and you immediately gained assignment—yet you never thanked him; I fear that is not fitting." Hongxun said, "To recommend talent for the state is the Prince of Huaiyang's duty—what business has Zu Hongxun in following to thank him?" When Yu heard it he was pleased and said, "I have got my man." When Ge Rong pressed southward he went out as separate general defending the river and held Hua Terrace. At the beginning of Yong'an, Yuan Luo was eastern-route grand ambassador and appointed Feng Longzhi, Xing Shao, Li Hun, Li Xiang, and Hongxun all as deputy envoys. He was appointed grand administrator of eastern Jibei; because his father was old and ill he requested leave and in the end did not take office. Later the Prince of Chengyang, Hui, memorialized Hongxun as Secretariat legal-affairs retainer; he went to Luoyang, and Hui said to him, "I heard that when the Prince of Huaiyang recommended you, you never came to the door—why have you come now?" Hongxun said, "I come now to take up duty, not to thank for favor." He was transferred to director of the Court of Justice.

後去官歸鄉里，與陽休之書曰：

Later he left office and returned to his native district; he wrote to Yang Xiuzhi:

陽生大弟：吾比以家貧親老，時還故郡。在本縣之西界，有雕山焉。其處閑遠，水石清麗，高巖四匝，良田數頃。家先有野舍於斯，而遭亂荒廢，今復經始。即石成基，憑林起棟。蘿生映宇，泉流繞階。月松風草，緣庭綺合；日華雲實，傍沼星羅。簷下流煙，共霄氣而舒卷；園中桃李，雜椿柏而蔥茜。時一褰裳涉澗，負杖登峰，心悠悠以孤上，身飄飄而將逝，杳然不復自知在天地間矣。若此者久之，乃還所住，孤坐危石，撫琴對水，獨詠山阿，舉酒望月，聽風聲以興思，聞鶴唳以動懷。企莊生之逍遙，慕尚子之清曠。首戴萌蒲，身衣缊襏，出藝粱稻，歸奉慈親，緩步當車，無事為貴，斯已適矣，豈必撫塵哉！

Elder Brother Yang: lately, because my family is poor and my parents old, I have from time to time returned to my home commandery. On the western border of this county there is Eagle Mountain. The place is secluded and far; waters and stones are clear and lovely; high cliffs ring it on four sides, and good fields number several qing. My family once had a rustic lodge there, but turmoil left it in ruins; now I am building it anew. Taking stone for foundation and leaning on the woods to raise beams. Creepers reflect on the eaves; springs wind around the steps. Moon, pine, wind, and grass—along the courtyard, brocade pavilions; sun's glory, clouds, and fruit—beside the pool, stars scattered. Beneath the eaves drifting smoke rises and falls with the sky's breath; in the garden peach and plum mix with cedar and cypress in verdant profusion. From time to time I lift my robe and ford the stream, lean on my staff and climb the peak; my heart drifts lonely upward and my body seems about to float away—so remote that I no longer know myself to stand between Heaven and earth. When this had lasted long, I would return to where I dwelt, sit alone on a perilous rock, stroke the zither facing the water, chant alone on the mountain slope, raise my cup and gaze at the moon, listen to the wind to stir thought and hear the crane's cry to move the breast. I look up to Master Zhuang's free wandering and admire Master Shang's clear expanse. I wear budding sedge on my head and coarse cloth on my body; going out I gather millet and grain, returning I serve my kindly parent; easy pace counts as carriage, having nothing to do is honor—this is already enough; must one brush the dust?

而吾生旣繫名聲之韁鎖，就良工之剞劂。振佩紫臺之上，鼓袖丹墀之下。采金匱之漏簡，訪玉山之遺文。敝精神於丘墳，盡心力於河漢。摛藻期之鞶繡，發議必在芬香。茲自美耳，吾無取焉。

Yet my life is already bound by the bridle of fame and reputation and goes to the good artisan's carving. I shake my girdle-pendants above the Purple Terrace and beat my sleeves below the cinnabar steps. I gather leaking bamboo slips from the golden coffer and seek surviving texts from the jade mountain. I wear out spirit on the hill graves and exhaust mind on the Milky Way. When I weave ornament I expect brocade sashes; when I raise discourse it must be in fragrant words. That is beauty in itself—I have no part in it.

嘗試論之：夫崑峯積玉，光澤者前毀；瑤山叢桂，芳茂者先折。是以東都有挂冕之臣，南國見捐情之士。斯豈惡粱錦，好蔬布哉？蓋欲保其七尺，終其百年耳。今弟官位旣達，聲華已遠，象由齒斃，膏用明煎，旣覽老氏谷神之談，應體留侯止足之逸。若能翻然清尚，解佩捐簪，則吾於茲山，莊可辦一。得把臂入林，掛巾垂枝，攜酒登巘，舒席平山，道素志，論舊款，訪丹法，語玄書，斯亦樂矣，何必富貴乎？去矣陽子，途乖趣別，緬尋此旨，杳若天漢。已矣哉，書不盡意。

I once tried to discuss it: the Kunlun peak piles jade—the lustrous piece is destroyed first; the jade mountain clusters cassia—the fragrant flourishing branch is broken first. Therefore in the eastern capital there were ministers who hung up their caps; in the southern state there appeared gentlemen who cast away feeling. Was that because they hated fine grain and brocade and loved coarse greens? They wished only to preserve their seven feet and complete their hundred years. Now younger brother, your office and rank are already advanced and your fame and splendor already far; the tusk is gone because the teeth perish, the fat is used because the lamp burns bright—you have already read Laozi's talk of the valley spirit and should embody Marquis Liu's rest in knowing when to stop. If you can turn about to pure elevation, unfasten your girdle and cast aside your hairpin, then on this mountain of mine a lodge can be prepared at once. To link arms and enter the woods, hang the towel on drooping branches, carry wine and climb the height, spread mat on level mountain, speak plain resolve and discuss old friendship, inquire into cinnabar methods and converse on dark books—that too would be joy; why must one be rich and honored? Farewell, Master Yang—the road divides and our aims part; tracing this intent back, it is remote as the Milky Way. It is over—writing cannot exhaust the meaning.

梁使將至，勑鴻勳對客。高祖曾征至幷州，作《晉祠記》，好事者玩其文。位至高陽太守，在官清素，妻子不免寒餒，時議高之。天保初卒官。

When envoys from Liang were due to arrive, the court ordered Hongxun to receive them. Emperor Gaozu had once marched to Bingzhou and written the Record of the Jin Shrine, and men who cared for letters treasured its prose. He rose to Grand Administrator of Gaoyang, where he served with austere integrity—so much so that his wife and children still knew cold and hunger—and contemporaries held him in high regard. At the opening of the Tianbao era he died in office.

李廣，字弘基，范陽人也，其先自遼東徙焉。廣博涉群書，有才思文議之美，少與趙郡李謇齊名，為邢、魏之亞。而訥於言，敏於行。魏安豐王延明鎮徐州，署廣長流參軍。釋褐蕩逆將軍。尒朱仲遠牒為大將軍記室，加諫議大夫。荊州行臺辛纂上為行臺郎中，尋為車騎府錄事參軍。中尉崔暹精選御史，皆是世胄，廣獨以才學兼御史，修國史。南臺文奏，多其辭也。平陽公淹辟為中尉，轉侍御史。顯祖初嗣霸業，命掌書記。天保初，欲以為中書郎，遇其病篤而止。

Li Guang, styled Hongji, was from Fanyang; his forebears had moved there from Liaodong. Guang had read widely in the classics and possessed talent, reflection, and a gift for literary argument. In his youth he stood equal in reputation with Li Jian of Zhao commandery, second only to Xing Shao and Wei Shou. Yet he was slow of tongue and swift in deed. When Prince Anfeng of Wei, Yuan Yanming, held Xuzhou, he appointed Guang senior staff officer for current affairs. On first entering service he was made Pacification General. Erzhu Zhongyuan summoned him as record keeper to the Grand General, with the additional title Remonstrance Grand Master. Xingzao of the Jingzhou frontier staff had him promoted to bureau gentleman on the staff; before long he was recorder in the Office of the Chariots and Cavalry. Censor-in-Chief Cui Xuan chose his censors with exacting care, and every appointee was a son of a noble house—Guang alone won the post on learning and talent, and while serving as censor he also edited the national history. Most of the Southern Terrace's official documents carried his phrasing. Duke of Pingyang Yan appointed him vice censor, then transferred him to palace censor. When Emperor Xianzu first took up the hegemony, Guang was ordered to keep the records. At the opening of Tianbao he was to be made secretariat gentleman, but his illness turned grave and the appointment was set aside.

廣曾欲早朝，未明假寐，忽驚覺，謂其妻云：「吾向似睡，忽見一人出吾身中，語云：『君用心過苦，非精神所堪，今辭君去。』」因而惚怳不樂，數日便遇疾，積年不起，資產屢空，藥石無繼。廣雅有鑒識，度量弘遠，坦平無私，為士流所愛，歲時共贍遺之，賴以自給。竟以疾終。曾薦畢義雲於崔暹，廣卒後，義雲集其文筆十卷，托魏收為之敘。其族人子道亦有文章。

Once, on his way to early court while it was still dark, he dozed and suddenly started awake. He told his wife, "I seemed to sleep, then saw a man step out of my body and say, 'You tax your mind past what the spirit can bear—I now take my leave of you.' After that he was dazed and low in spirit; within days he fell ill and for years could not rise. His household was emptied again and again, until there was no money left for medicine." Guang had a keen eye, a wide measure, and a level hand without favor; men of standing loved him, and year by year they sent him gifts on which he managed to live. In the end he died of his illness. He had once recommended Bi Yiyun to Cui Xuan. After Guang's death, Yiyun gathered ten juan of his writings and entrusted Wei Shou to write the preface. His clansman Zidao also wrote with distinction.

樊遜，字孝謙，河東北猗氏人也。祖琰，父衡，並無官宦。而衡性至孝，喪父，負土成墳，植柏方數十畝，朝夕號慕。遜少學，常為兄仲優饒。旣而自責曰：「名為人弟，獨受安逸，可不愧於心乎？」欲同勤事業。母馮氏謂之曰：「汝欲謹小行耶？」遜感母言，遂專心典籍，恒書壁作「見賢思齊」四字，以自勸勉。屬本州淪陷，寓居鄴中，為臨漳小史。縣令裴鑒蒞官清苦，致白雀等瑞，遜上《清德頌》十首。鑒大加賞重，擢為主簿，仍薦之於右僕射崔暹，與遼東李廣、渤海封孝琰等為暹賓客。人有譏其靖默不能趣時者。遜常服東方朔之言，陸沉世俗，避世金馬，何必深山蒿廬之下，遂借陸沉公子為主人，擬《客難》，制《客誨》以自廣。後崔暹大會賓客，大司馬、襄城王元旭時亦在坐，論欲命府僚。暹指遜曰：「此人學富才高，兼之佳行，可為王參軍也。」旭目之曰：「豈能就耶？」遜曰：「家無蔭第，不敢當此。」武定七年，世宗崩，暹徙於邊裔，賓客咸散，遜遂往陳留而居之。

Fan Xun, styled Xiaoqian, was from Beiyi in Hedong. His grandfather Yan and his father Heng both held no office. Heng was supremely filial. When his father died he carried earth to raise the mound and planted cypresses over several tens of mu, weeping morning and evening beside them. Xun studied from youth, and his elder brother Zhong often provided for him generously. Then he reproached himself: "I am called a younger brother, yet I alone enjoy ease—how can I not be ashamed before my own heart?" He wished to share the same labor and ambition. His mother, Lady Feng, said to him, "Do you mean to keep only to petty circumspection?" Moved by his mother's words, he gave himself wholly to the classics and constantly wrote on the wall the four characters "see the worthy and think to emulate," to steel himself. When his home commandery fell to the enemy he lodged in Ye and served as a minor clerk in Linzhang. Magistrate Pei Jian took office with austere integrity and drew forth omens such as the white sparrow; Xun submitted ten pieces of the Ode to Pure Virtue. Jian prized him greatly, promoted him to chief clerk, and recommended him to Right Vice-Director Cui Xuan—together with Li Guang of Liaodong and Feng Xiaoyan of Bohai—as one of Xuan's literary guests. Some mocked his quiet manner and his refusal to chase the fashion of the hour. Xun often took to heart Dongfang Shuo's counsel about lying low in the world and keeping to the Golden Horse Gate to avoid the age—why must one hide only in deep mountains and thatched huts? He therefore borrowed the name Lord Lying Low as his host, modeled on the Guest's Difficulty, and wrote the Guest's Reproach to give his meaning room. Later, when Cui Xuan held a great gathering of guests, Grand Marshal Prince of Xiangcheng Yuan Xu was also seated there, and they discussed whom to appoint to the prince's staff. Xuan pointed at Xun and said, "This man's learning is deep and his talent high, and his conduct is fine besides—he can serve as the prince's army adviser." Xu looked him over and said, "Could he really take such a post?" Xun said, "My house has no hereditary stipend—I dare not accept this." In the seventh year of Wuding the Emperor passed away; Xuan was sent to the frontier marches and his guests scattered, and Xun went to settle in Chenliu.

梁州刺史劉殺鬼以遜兼錄事參軍，仍舉秀才。尚書案舊令，下州三載一舉秀才，為五年已貢開封人鄭祖獻，計至此年未合，兼別駕王聰抗議，右丞陽斐不能卻。尚書令高隆之曰：「雖遜才學優異，待明年仕非遠。」遜竟還本州。八年，轉兼長史，從軍南討。軍還，殺鬼移任潁川，又引遜兼潁州長史。天保元年，本州復召舉秀才。二年春，會朝堂對策罷，中書郎張子融奏入。至四年五月，遜與定州秀才李子宣等以對策三年不調，被付外，上書請從聞罷，詔不報。

Liu Shagui, governor of Liangzhou, made Xun concurrent recorder and also nominated him as xiucai. The Secretariat's old rule held that each lower province presented xiucai once every three years; five years had already passed since Kaifeng man Zheng Zuxian was sent up, and by the count this year did not qualify. Vice Governor Wang Cong protested, and Right Assistant Director Yang Fei could not set his protest aside. Shangshu Ling Gao Longzhi said, "Though Xun's learning and talent are outstanding, to wait until next year for office is not far." Xun in the end returned to his home province. In the eighth year he was transferred to concurrent chief clerk and followed the army on the southern campaign. When the army returned, Shagui was moved to Yingchuan and again drew Xun as concurrent chief clerk of Yingzhou. In the first year of Tianbao his home province again summoned him as xiucai. In the second year, in spring, after the palace examination and policy response had ended, Secretariat Gentleman Zhang Zirong memorialized his entry. By the fourth year, in the fifth month, Xun and Dingzhou xiucai Li Zixuan and others—because three years had passed since the policy response without appointment—were sent outside the ranks. They memorialized asking that their cases be heard and dismissed, but the edict gave no reply.

梁州重表舉遜為秀才。五年正月制詔問升中紀號，遜對曰：

Liangzhou again memorialized Xun as xiucai. In the fifth year, in the first month, an imperial edict questioned the title for ascending the central peak; Xun answered:

臣聞巡嶽之禮，勒在《虞書》，省方之義，著於《易象》。往帝前王，匪唯一姓，封金刊玉，億有餘人。仲尼之觀梁甫，不能盡識；夷吾之對齊桓，所存未幾。然盛德之事，必待太平，茍非其人，更貽靈譴。秦皇無道，致雨風之災；漢武奢淫，有奉車之害。及文叔受命，炎精更輝，四海安流，天下輯睦，劍賜騎士，馬駕鼓車，乃用張純之文，始從伯陽之說。至於魏、晉，雖各有君，量德而處，莫能擬議。蔣濟上言於前，徒穢紙墨；袁準發論於後，終未施行。世歷三朝，年將十祀，啟聖之期，茲為昌會。然自水德不競，函谷封途，天馬息歌，苞茅絕貢。我太祖收寶雞之瑞，握鳳皇之書，體一德以匡朝，屈三分而事主，蕩此妖寇，易如沃雪。但昌旣受命，發乃行誅，雖太白出高，中國宜戰，置之度外，望其遷善。伏惟陛下以神武之姿，天然之略，馬多冀北，將異山西，涼風至，白露下，北上太行，東臨碣石，方欲吞巴蜀而掃崤函，苑長洲而池江漢。復恐迎風縱火，芝艾共焚，按此六軍，未申九伐。夫周發牙璋，漢馳竹使，義在濟民，非聞好戰。至如投鼠忌器之說，蓋是常談；文德懷遠之言，豈識權道。今三臺令子，六郡良家，蓄銳須時，裹糧待詔。未若龍駕虎服，先收隴右之民，電轉雷驚，因取荊南之地。昔秦舉長平，金精食昴，楚攻鉅鹿，枉矢霄流，況我威靈，能無協贊。但使彼之百姓，一睹六軍，似見周王，若逢司隸。然後除其苛令，與其約法，振旅而還，止戈為武，標金南海，勒石東山，紀天地之奇功，被風聲於千載。若令馬皃不死，子陽尚在，便欲案明堂之圖，草射牛之禮，比德論功，多慚往列，升中告禪，臣用有疑。

Your servant has heard that the rite of touring the sacred peaks is cut into the Document of Yu, and the meaning of surveying the regions is set forth in the Images of the Changes. Former emperors and early kings were not of a single surname; those who sealed gold and carved jade number beyond counting. When Zhongni viewed Liangfu he could not know them all; what Guan Zhong answered Duke Huan of Qi preserved was only a few. Yet the deed of greatest virtue must await great peace; if it is not the right man, it only invites spiritual punishment. Qin Huang was without the Way and brought the disaster of rain and wind; Han Wu was extravagant and licentious and suffered the harm of the carriage that bore his coffin. When Emperor Wendi received the Mandate the flame of Han shone anew; the four seas flowed in peace and the realm was united. Swords were bestowed on knights and horses yoked to the drum carriage—only then did he use Zhang Chun's text and begin to follow Boyang's teaching. As for Wei and Jin, though each had its ruler, they measured virtue and took their place, and none could be compared in such deliberation. Jiang Ji's memorial came before and only soiled paper and ink; Yuan Zhun's treatise came after and in the end was not carried out. The age has passed through three courts and the years approach ten reign-periods; the season of opening sagehood is now this splendid assembly. Yet since the power of water ceased to contend, the passes of Hangu were sealed; the heavenly horse ceased its song and the tribute of thatched bundles was cut off. Our Grand Ancestor gathered the omen of the treasure cock and grasped the book of the phoenix, with one virtue to set the court aright and bowing to three parts to serve his lord, scattering these demon bands as easily as pouring boiling water on snow. But when Chang received the Mandate, Fa then carried out punishment; though the Great White rose high and the Central Land ought to fight, he set it outside his measure and looked for them to turn to goodness. I bow before Your Majesty's divine martial bearing and heaven-given strategy—horses many as in Jibei, generals unlike those of Shanxi; when the cool wind comes and white dew falls, you will march north to the Taihang and east to Jieshi, about to swallow Ba-Shu and sweep Xiao-Han, to park Long Isle and pool the Jiang-Han. Yet I fear that if we meet the wind and set the fire, wormwood and mugwort will burn together; if we press these six armies, the nine punishments will not be declared. When Zhou Fa sent the jade tally and Han dispatched the bamboo envoy, the meaning lay in succoring the people, not in love of war. As for the saying about casting at a rat and fearing the vessel, that is common talk; the words about civil virtue embracing the distant do not know expedient policy. Now the sons of the Three Terraces and the good families of the six commanderies store their edge and wait for the hour, wrap their grain and await the edict. Better to drive the dragon carriage in tiger garb, first gather the people of Longyou, turn like lightning and startle like thunder, and then take the lands of southern Jing. In old times Qin raised Changping and the metal essence devoured Mao; Chu attacked Julu and the crooked arrow streamed across the sky—how much more, with our majesty and spirit, can there be no concerted aid? Only let their common people once behold the six armies—they will seem to see the King of Zhou, or to meet the Minister of Correction. Then remove their harsh orders and give them your compact laws, shake the ranks and return, halt the weapons and make martial virtue a name only, plant the golden marker on the southern sea and carve stone on the eastern mountain, recording heaven and earth's strange achievement and spreading your renown for a thousand years. If Ma Huang were not dead and Ziyang still stood, you would then consult the diagram of the Bright Hall and draft the rite of shooting the ox, comparing virtue and discussing merit—you would be shamed beside the men of old. To ascend the central peak and announce fengshan—your servant has doubts.

又問求才審官，遜對曰：

He was again questioned on seeking talent and examining office; Xun answered:

臣聞雕獸畫龍，徒有風雲之勢；金舟玉馬，終無水陸之功。三駕禮賢，將收實用，一毛不拔，復何足取。是以堯作虞賓，遂全箕山之操；周移商鼎，不納孤竹之言。但處土盜名，雖云久矣；朝臣竊位，蓋亦實多。漢拜丞相，便有鐘鼓之妖；魏用三公，乃致孫權之笑。故山林之與朝廷，得容非毀；肥遁之與賓王，翻有優劣。至於時非蹈海，而曰羞作秦民；事異出關，而言恥從衛亂。雖復星干帝座，不易高尚之心；月犯少微，終存耿介之志。

Your servant has heard that carved beasts and painted dragons have only the air of wind and clouds; golden boats and jade horses in the end have no achievement on water or land. Three times to drive the carriage and honor the worthy is to gather what is truly useful; one hair not plucked—what is there to take? Therefore Yao made Yu guest and thereby preserved the conduct of Mount Ji; Zhou moved the tripod of Shang and did not admit the words of the lone bamboo. Yet recluses who steal a name have long been so; court ministers who usurp place are also truly many. When Han invested the chief minister, there was at once the omen of bells and drums; when Wei used the Three Dukes, it brought Sun Quan's laughter. Thus mountain forest and court can each tolerate blame and praise; fat reclusion and honored guest in turn have their better and worse. As for times that were not crossing the sea yet saying it shames one to be a subject of Qin; affairs unlike leaving the passes yet speaking of shame at following Wei's disorder. Though the stars trespass on the Emperor's seat, they do not alter a heart set on loftiness; though the moon offends the Lesser Apex, they still keep a straight and unyielding will.

自我太嶽之後，克廣洪業，禹至神宗，舜格文祖。陛下受天之明命，光華日月，爰自納麓，乃格文祖，儀天地以設官，象星辰而布職。漢家神鳳，慚用紀年；魏氏青龍，羞將改號。上膺列宿，咸是異人；下法山川，莫非奇士。所以畫堂甲觀，修德日新，廟鼎歌鐘，王勳歲委。循名責實，選衆舉能，朝無銅臭之公，世絕《錢神》之論。昔百里相秦，名存《雀籙》；蕭、張輔沛，姓在《河書》。今日公卿，抑亦天授，與之為治，何欲不從。未必稽首天師，方聞牧馬之術；膝行山上，始得治身之道。但使帝德休明，自強不息，甲夜觀書，支日通奏。周昌桀、紂之論，欣然開納；劉毅桓、靈之比，終自含弘。高懸王爵，唯能是與，管庫靡遺，漁鹽畢錄。無令桓譚非讖，官止於郡丞；趙壹負才，位終於計掾。則天下宅心，幽明知感，歲精仕漢，風伯朝周，真人去而復歸，臺星坼而還斂，《詩》稱多士，《易》載群龍，從此而言，可以無愧。

Since our Grand Ancestor, we have broadened the great enterprise—from Yu reaching the Divine Ancestor, from Shun matching the Literary Ancestor. Your Majesty received heaven's bright mandate, your glory eclipsing sun and moon; from accepting the regency you matched the Literary Ancestor, taking heaven and earth as model to set offices and stars as image to spread duties. Han of the Divine Phoenix was shamed to use it only for chronology; Wei of the Blue Dragon was ashamed to change the reign title. Above you answer to the arrayed stars—all are uncommon men; below you take mountains and rivers as law—none are not strange knights. Therefore in the painted hall and armored watchtower virtue is renewed day by day; in the temple cauldrons and singing bells royal merit is entrusted year by year. Match titles to what men truly are; choose widely and promote talent, until no grandee at court smells of coin and the age has done with talk of the Money God. Long ago Baili Xi became minister of Qin, and his name still lives in the Sparrow Register; Xiao He and Zhang Liang helped found Han at Pei, and their houses are written in the River Chart. The high ministers of today are heaven's gift as well; rule beside them, and what desire would go unmet? You need not kowtow to a Celestial Master before you may hear how to tend horses; nor crawl on your knees up a mountain before you learn how to order your own life. Let the emperor's virtue shine clear and his resolve never slacken—books open at the first watch of night, memorials flowing the whole day through. When Zhou Chang compares the throne to Jie and Zhou, welcome the words gladly; when Liu Yi compares you to Huan and Ling, in the end swallow the sting and show forbearance. Hang the royal ranks high and grant them only to the capable; leave no clerk of the granaries overlooked, no fisherman or salt-worker unlisted. Do not let a Huan Tan, punished for rejecting prophecy, die a county aide; nor a Zhao Yi, rich in talent, end his days as a petty recorder. Then the realm will give you its heart, spirits dark and bright will answer, omens will align as in Han and Zhou of old, sage and star will return to their courses, the Odes will again praise a multitude of men, the Changes a throng of dragons—and on that score, Your Majesty, you need not blush.

又問釋道兩教，遜對曰：

He was questioned next on the two teachings, Buddhism and Daoism. Xun answered:

臣聞天道性命，聖人所不言，蓋以理絕涉求，難為稱謂，伯陽道德之論，莊周逍遙之旨，遺言取意，猶有可尋。至若玉簡金書，神經秘錄，三尺九轉之奇，絳雪玄霜之異，淮南成道，犬吠雲中，子喬得仙，劍飛天上，皆是憑虛之說。海棗之談，求之如係風，學之如捕影。而燕君、齊後，秦皇、漢帝，信彼方士，冀遇其真。徐福去而不歸，欒大往而無獲。猶謂升遐倒影，抵掌可期；祭鬼求神，庶或不死。江璧旣返，還入驪山之墓；龍媒已至，終下茂陵之墳。方知劉向之信洪寶，沒有餘責；王充之非黃帝，比為不相。又末葉已來，大存佛教，寫經西土，畫像南宮。昆池地黑，以為燒劫之灰；春秋夜明，謂是降神之日。法王自在，變化無窮，置世界於微塵，納須彌於黍米。蓋理本虛無，示諸方便，而妖妄之輩，茍求出家，藥王燔軀，波論灑血，假未能然，猶當克命。寧有改形易貌，有異生人，恣意放情，還同俗物。龍宮餘論，鹿野前言，此而得容，道風前墜。

I have heard that the Way of Heaven and the matter of fate are what the sages leave unspoken—the principle lies beyond grasp, hard to put into words. Still, in Laozi's talk of the Way and Zhuangzi's teaching of free wandering, if one reads for the meaning behind the words, something can be found. But jade slips and golden books, secret canon and hidden lore—the three-foot rod turned nine times, elixirs of crimson snow and dark frost—when the King of Huainan 'attained the Way,' dogs were said to bark in the clouds; when Prince Qiao 'became immortal,' swords were said to fly in the sky. These are stories that lean on thin air. Talk of sea-dates and the like is like trying to tie down the wind, or study it like chasing a shadow. Yet the rulers of Yan and Qi, the First Emperor of Qin, and the Han emperors trusted such masters and hoped to meet the Real. Xu Fu sailed away and never came back; Luan Da went forth and brought back nothing. Still they believed that to rise in the far reflection and clap their hands was something they could expect any day; that if they sacrificed to ghosts and besought the spirits, they might somehow escape death. When the river jewel was 'returned,' it only entered the tomb on Mount Li; when the dragon steed 'arrived,' it ended beneath the mound at Maoling. Then one sees that Liu Xiang, who believed in the great treasure, was left with no surplus of excuse; and that Wang Chong, who rejected the Yellow Emperor legend, was not so far wrong. In later ages, moreover, Buddhism has grown vast—scriptures copied from the western lands, images painted in the southern palace. The black earth of the Kunming Pool was taken for the ash of a cosmic burn; a night in spring or autumn when the sky stayed bright was called the day the gods came down. The Dharma-king is sovereign and without limit, setting the whole world in a speck of dust and packing Mount Sumeru into a grain of millet. The root teaching is emptiness; the rest is skillful means shown to the crowd. Yet the deluded clutch at it and beg to leave the world; the Medicine King burned his body, Bodhidharma shed his blood—if they cannot do even that, they should at least be ready to give their lives. How much less should they change their form and face until they hardly seem human, indulge every appetite, and in the end be no better than the common run. If the leftover talk of the dragon palace and the old words of the deer park are indulged, the wind of the true Way will fall before it ever rises.

伏惟陛下受天明命，屈己濟民，山鬼效靈，海神率職。湘中石燕，沐時雨而群飛；臺上銅烏，訴和風而杓轉。以周都洛邑，治在鎬京，漢宅咸陽，魂歸豐、沛，汾、晉之地，王跡維始，眷言巡幸，且勞經略。猶復降情文苑，斟酌百家，想執玉於瑤池，念求珠於赤水。竊以王母獻環，由感周德；上天錫佩，實報禹功。二班勒史，兩馬制書，未見三世之辭，無聞一乘之旨。帝樂王禮，尚有時而沿革；左道怪民，亦何疑於沙汰。

I venture to think that Your Majesty, having received Heaven's bright mandate, has humbled himself to rescue the people; mountain ghosts show their power, the sea god does his duty. The stone swallows of Xiangzhong, when the timely rain washes them, rise in flocks; the bronze raven on the terrace, feeling the fair wind, turns its ladle. When Zhou built Luoyang, rule still lay at Haojing; when Han dwelt at Xianyang, its soul looked back to Feng and Pei. The lands of Fen and Jin, where the royal trace first began—to speak of touring them is already to tax your strategy. Yet you still bend your mind to the Literary Garden and sift the hundred schools, as though to hold jade at Jasper Pool or seek pearls at Red Water. I take it that when the Queen Mother of the West offered her ring, she was answering Zhou's virtue; when Heaven bestowed the girdle-gem, it was true payment for Yu's service. The two Bans wrote history, the two Simas wrote prose—none of them knew the phrasing of the third age, none heard the teaching of the one vehicle. Imperial music and royal rites still shifted with the times; why should you hesitate to winnow out left-hand ways and strange folk?

又問刑罰寬猛，遜對曰：

He was questioned next on whether punishments should be lenient or severe. Xun answered:

臣聞惟王建國，刑以助禮，猶寒暑之贊陰陽，山川之通天地。爰自末葉，法令稍滋，秦篆無以窮書，楚竹不能盡載。有司因此，開以二門，高下在心，寒熱隨意。《周官》三典，棄之若吹毛；漢律九章，違之如覆手。遂使長平獄氣，得酒而後消；東海孝婦，因災而方雪。詔書掛壁，有善而莫遵；姦吏到門，無求而不可。皆由上失其道，民不見德。而議者守迷，不尋其本。鐘繇、王朗追怨張蒼，祖訥、梅陶共尤文帝。便謂化屍起偃，在復肉刑；致治興邦，無關周禮。伏惟陛下，昧旦坐朝，留心政術，明罰以糾諸侯，申恩以孩百姓。黃旗紫蓋，已絕東南；白馬素車，將降軹道。若復峻典深文，臣實未悟。何則？人肖天地，俱稟陰陽，安則願存，擾則圖死。故王者之治，務先禮樂，如有未從，刑書乃用，寬猛兼設，水火俱陳，未有專任商、韓而能長久。昔秦歸士會，晉盜來奔；舜舉臯陶，不仁自遠。但令釋之、定國迭作理官，龔遂、文翁繼為郡守，科間律令，一此憲章，欣聞汲黯之言，泣斷昭平之罪。則天下自治，大道公行，乳獸含牙，蒼鷹垂翅，楚王錢府，不復須封，漢獄冤囚，自然蒙理。後服之徒，旣承風而慕化；有截之內，皆蹈德而詠仁。號以成康，何難之有？

I have heard that when a true king founds a state, punishments help ritual along—as cold and heat help yin and yang, as mountains and rivers thread through heaven and earth. From the late age on, laws have crept wider; Qin could not write them all on bamboo, Chu could not load them on slips. On that basis the clerks opened two gates—high or low at their whim, harsh or mild as they pleased. The three codes of the Zhou Offices they tossed aside like blowing fur; the nine chapters of Han law they broke as easily as turning the hand over. So the foul air of the Longping prison only lifted after wine was granted; the filial woman of Donghai was only cleared when Heaven sent disaster. Edicts hung on the wall, yet when they commanded good, no one obeyed; when a corrupt clerk came to the door, nothing was asked that could not be bought. All because above, the Way was lost; below, the people saw no virtue. Yet debaters cling to their delusions and never look for the root. Zhong Yao and Wang Lang nursed old grievance against Zhang Cang; Zu Na and Mei Tao together praised Emperor Wen. From that they said that to raise the dead and still the corpse meant bringing back corporal punishment; that to order the realm and exalt the state had nothing to do with the Zhou rites. I venture to think that Your Majesty, rising before dawn to hold court, keeps his mind on government, uses clear punishments to correct the feudal lords, and extends grace to cherish the hundred surnames. The yellow banner and purple canopy have already quit the southeast; the white horse and plain carriage are about to come down Zhi Road. If you now make the code stern again and the text deep, I truly do not understand. Why? Men mirror heaven and earth and share in yin and yang; when at peace they wish to live, when harried they plot death. So the king's rule must put ritual and music first; only when some still will not follow does the penal code come out. Leniency and severity stand together, water and fire both in view—never yet has a realm leaned only on Shang Yang and Han Fei and lasted. Long ago Qin sent back Shi Hui and Jin's thief fled to them; Shun raised Gao Yao and the unkind kept their distance of themselves. Only let Zhang Shizhi and Yu Dingguo serve in turn as judges, Gong Sui and Wen Weng follow one another as prefects, knit the statutes to a single code, rejoice to hear Ji An speak, weep and set aside the sentence on Lord Shao. Then the realm will order itself, the great Way will walk abroad, suckling beasts will sheathe their tusks, the dark kite will fold its wings, the Chu king's treasury will need no further seal, and Han's wronged prisoners will naturally find justice. Those beyond the borders, having caught the wind, will admire and change; within the four seas all will tread in virtue and sing of benevolence. To be hailed as another age of Cheng and Kang—what could be hard about that?

又問禍福報應，遜對曰：

He was questioned next on fortune, misfortune, and retribution. Xun answered:

臣聞五方易辨，尚待指南；百世可知，猶須吹律。況復天道秘遠，神跡難源，不有通靈，孰能盡悟。乘查至於河漢，唯睹牽牛；假寐遊於上玄，止逢翟犬。造化之理，旣寂寞而無傳；報應之來，固難得而妄說。但秦穆有道，勾芒錫祥；虢公涼德，蓐收降禍。高明在上，定自有知，不可謂神冥昧難信。若夫仲尼厄於陳、蔡，孟軻困於齊、梁，自是不遇其時，寧關性命之理。子胥無君，馬遷附下，受誅取辱，何可尤人。至如協律見親，櫂船得幸，從此而言，更不足怪。周王漂杵，致天之罰；白起誅降，行己之意。是以七百之祚，仍加姬氏；杜郵之戮，還屬武安。

I have heard that the five directions are easy to tell apart, yet one still waits for the south-pointing chariot; a hundred generations may be foreknown, yet one still must blow the pitch-pipes. How much more the secret remoteness of Heaven's Way and the hard-to-trace tracks of the spirits—without communion, who can grasp them whole? When the raft reached the River of Heaven, one only saw the Cowherd Star; in a feigned sleep one wandered the upper mystery and only met the Di Dog. The principle of creation and change is already silent and untransmitted; the coming of retribution is, by nature, not something to speak of rashly. Yet when Duke Mu of Qin held the Way, Goumang granted good omens; when Duke Guo had a cold virtue, Rusou sent calamity down. What is high above surely knows—one cannot say the spirits are dark and untrustworthy. As for Confucius trapped at Chen and Cai, Mencius hard pressed in Qi and Liang—that was simply not meeting the time; what has that to do with the principle of fate? Wu Zixu without a lord, Sima Qian clinging to a low post—taking execution and shame: how can one blame others for that? As for the pitch-pipe officer who found favor, the boatman who gained luck—from that angle, there is less to marvel at. King Wu's floating pestle was Heaven's punishment; Bai Qi's slaughter of the surrendered was his own intent. Thus the seven-hundred-year span was still added to the house of Ji; the execution at Duyou still fell on Lord Wu'an.

昔漢問上計，不過日蝕；晉策秀才，止於寒火。前賢往士，咸用為難；推古比今，臣見其易。然草萊百姓，過荷恩私，三折寒膠，再遊金馬。王言昭賁，思若有神，占對失圖，伏深悚懼。

Long ago Han questioned the upper accounts and went no further than solar eclipses; Jin tested the cultivated talent and stopped at cold fire. Former worthies and past gentlemen all took this as hard; weighing antiquity against today, I see it as easy. Yet this humble commoner has overborne your grace—lacquer thrice broken, twice admitted at the Golden Horse Gate. Your words were bright and splendid; my thought seemed touched by the spirits—yet in answering I missed the mark, and I bow deep in fear.

尚書擢第，以遜為當時第一。

The Secretariat ranked the candidates and placed Xun first in the land.

十二月，清河王岳為大行臺，率衆南討，以遜從軍。明年，顯祖納貞陰侯為梁主，岳假遜大行臺郎中，使於南，與蕭脩、侯瑱和解。遜往來五日，得脩等報書，岳因與脩盟于江上。大軍還鄴，遜仍被都官尚書崔昂舉薦。詔付尚書，考為清平勤幹，送吏部。

In the twelfth month Prince of Qinghe Yue became Grand Commissioner-in-Chief, led troops south on campaign, and Xun went with the army. The next year the Manifest Ancestor set up the Marquis of Zhenyin as lord of Liang. Yue made Xun acting director of the Grand Commissioner's office and sent him south to treat for peace with Xiao Xiu and Hou Zhen. Within five days going and returning he had the reply letters from Xiu and the others; Yue then allied with Xiu on the river. When the great army returned to Ye, Xun was again recommended by Cui Ang, Director of the Ministry of Justice. An edict placed him in the hands of the Ministry of State Affairs; when they examined his record they found him clear, fair, diligent, and capable, and sent him on to the Ministry of Personnel.

七年，詔令校定群書，供皇太子。遜與冀州秀才高乾和、瀛州秀才馬敬德、許散愁、韓同寶、洛州秀才傅懷德、懷州秀才古道子、廣平郡孝廉李漢子、渤海郡孝廉鮑長暄、陽平郡孝廉景孫、前梁州府主簿王九元、前開府水曹參軍周子深等十一人同被尚書召共刊定。時秘府書籍紕繆者多，遜乃議曰：「按漢中壘校尉劉向受詔校書，每一書竟，表上，輒言：臣向書、長水校尉臣參書，太史公、太常博士書、中外書合若干本以相比校，然後殺青。今所讎校，供擬極重，出自蘭臺，御諸甲館。向之故事，見存府閤，即欲刊定，必藉衆本。太常卿邢子才、太子少傅魏收、吏部尚書辛術、司農少卿穆子容、前黃門郎司馬子瑞、故國子祭酒李業興並是多書之家，請牒借本參校得失。」秘書監尉瑾移尚書都坐，凡得別本三千餘卷，《五經》諸史，殆無遺闕。

In the seventh year an edict ordered the collation of the collected classics for the Crown Prince's use. Xun and eleven others—the Jizhou licentiate Gao Qianhe, the Yingzhou licentiate Ma Jingde, Xu San'chou, Han Tongbao, the Luozhou licentiate Fu Huai'de, the Huaizhou licentiate Gu Daozi, the Guangping filial exemplar Li Hanzi, the Bohai filial exemplar Bao Changxuan, the Yangping filial exemplar Jing Sun, the former Liangzhou establishment chief clerk Wang Jiuyuan, and the former establishment water-bureau section chief Zhou Zishen—were summoned by the Ministry to collate as one body. Many volumes in the secret repository were corrupt at the time, and Xun proposed: "We should follow Liu Xiang, Director of the Fortress at Hanzhong, who received an imperial charge to collate the classics. Whenever he finished a book he would memorialize the throne, always reporting: 'Your servant Xiang's copy, Director of the Long Water Gate Your servant Can's copy, the Grand Historian's copy, the Grand Director of Ceremonies doctor's copy, and inner and outer office copies—so many fascicles in all were compared and collated, and only then was the text fixed in ink for publication. The texts we are collating now are meant for the gravest purposes, issued from the Orchid Terrace and housed in the First-Rank Archives. Liu Xiang's procedure still survives in the office archives; if we mean to collate and fix the texts now, we must lean on many copies. Grand Director of Ceremonies Xing Zicai, Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince Wei Shou, Minister of Personnel Xin Shu, Vice Minister of Revenue Mu Zirong, former Yellow Gate Gentleman Sima Zirui, and the late Director of the Imperial University Li Yexing all kept great libraries; he asked that lists be sent so their copies might be borrowed to collate against our texts." Secretariat Supervisor Wei Jin forwarded the request to the Ministry's chief seat; in all they obtained more than three thousand juan of alternate copies, and among the Five Classics and the various histories scarcely a title was missing.

八年，詔尚書開東西二省官選，所司策問，遜為當時第一。左僕射楊愔辟遜為其府佐。遜辭曰：「門族寒陋，訪第必不成，乞補員外司馬督。」愔曰：「才高不依常例。」特奏用之。九年，有詔超除員外將軍。後世祖鎮鄴，召入司徒府管書記。及登祚，轉授主書，遷員外散騎侍郎。天統初，病卒。

In the eighth year an edict opened selection for officials of the Eastern and Western Provinces at the Ministry; in the policy questions set by the office, Xun took first place in his generation. Left Vice Director Yang Yin recruited Xun as a staff officer in his establishment. Xun declined, saying, "My house is poor and low; if I seek a ranked post I am sure to fail. I beg instead for an irregular aide who supervises the establishment's military affairs." Yin said, "When talent runs high, one does not follow the usual rule." He memorialized specially to employ him. In the ninth year an edict promoted him by exception to irregular general. Later, when Shizu was stationed at Ye, he was summoned into the Secretariat to manage documents. When Shizu ascended the throne, he was transferred and made chief secretary, then promoted to irregular attendant of the cavalry. At the opening of Tiantong he died of illness.

劉逖，字子長，彭城叢亭裏人也。祖芳，魏太常卿。父戫，金紫光祿大夫。逖少而聰敏，好弋獵騎射，以行樂為事，愛交遊，善戲謔。郡辟功曹，州命主簿。魏末徵詣霸府，世宗以為永安公浚開府行參軍。逖遠離鄉家，倦於羈旅，發憤自勵，專精讀書。晉陽都會之所，霸朝人士攸集，咸務於宴集。逖在遊宴之中，卷不離手，值有文籍所未見者，則終日諷誦，或通夜不歸，其好學如此。亦留心文藻，頗工詩詠。天保初，行定陶縣令，坐姦事免，十餘年不得調。乾明年，兼員外散騎常侍，使於梁主蕭莊，還，兼三公郎中。皇建元年，除太子洗馬。肅宗崩，從世祖赴晉陽，除散騎侍郎，兼儀曹郎中。久之，兼中書侍郎。和士開寵要，逖附之，正授中書侍郎，入典機密，兼散騎常侍，聘陳使主。還，除通直散騎常侍。尋遷給事黃門侍郎，修國史，加散騎常侍。又除假儀同三司，聘周使副。二國始通，禮儀未定，逖與周朝議論往復，斟酌古今，事多合禮，兼文辭可觀，甚得名譽。使還，拜儀同三司。世祖崩，出為江州刺史。祖珽執政，徙為仁州刺史。祖珽旣出，徵還，待詔文林館，重除散騎常侍，奏門下事。未幾，與崔季舒等同時被戮，時年四十九。

Liu Ti, styled Zichang, came from Congting Lane in Pengcheng. His grandfather Fang had been Grand Director of Ceremonies of Wei. His father Yi held the rank of Grand Master of Splendid Virtue with Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon. Ti was clever from youth, fond of hunting and archery on horseback; he made pleasure and travel his trade, loved company, and was skilled at jest. The commandery recruited him as merit officer; the province appointed him chief clerk. At the end of Wei he was summoned to the hegemon's office; Shizong made him a traveling aide in the establishment of Prince of Yong'an Jun. Far from home and weary of life on the road, he roused himself and bent all his force to reading. Jinyang was the gathering place of the hegemon's court; men of the ruling house flocked there, all bent on feasting. Even amid these revels Ti never let his scroll leave his hand; whenever he came upon a text he had not seen before, he would chant it through the day, sometimes not returning home all night—such was his hunger for learning. He also turned his mind to belles-lettres and was quite skilled at verse. At the opening of Tianbao he served as acting magistrate of Dingtao county and was dismissed on a charge of misconduct; for more than ten years he received no new appointment. In the Qianming era he was concurrently irregular attendant of the cavalry and sent as envoy to Liang's ruler Xiao Zhuang; on his return he was concurrently a gentleman of the Three Excellencies Bureau. In the first year of Huangjian he was made mentor of the heir. When Suzong died, he followed Shizu to Jinyang, was made irregular attendant of the cavalry, and concurrently a gentleman of the Ceremonies Bureau. After a long while he was concurrently a gentleman of the Secretariat. He Shikai held favor and power; Ti attached himself to him, was formally appointed gentleman of the Secretariat, entered to manage secrets, was concurrently irregular attendant of the cavalry, and served as chief envoy to Chen. On his return he was made attendant of direct communication and irregular cavalry. Soon he was promoted to attendant who presents matters to the Yellow Gate, edited the national history, and was given concurrent irregular attendant of the cavalry. He was further made acting insignia equal to the Three Excellencies and deputy chief envoy to Zhou. When the two states first opened relations, ritual had not yet been fixed; Ti debated back and forth with the Zhou court, weighing past and present, and in most matters matched ritual; his literary phrasing was also admirable, and he won great reputation. When the mission returned, he was given insignia equal to the Three Excellencies. When Shizu died, he went out as inspector of Jiang province. When Zu Ting held power, he was moved to inspector of Ren province. After Zu Ting was removed, Ti was recalled, kept on call at the Forest of Literature Hall, and again made irregular attendant of the cavalry to present matters at the Gate. Before long he was executed together with Cui Jishu and others at the same time, aged forty-nine.

初，逖與珽以文義相得，結雷、陳之契，又為弟俊聘珽之女。珽之將免趙彥深等也，先以告逖，仍付密啟，令其奏聞。彥深等頗知之，先自申理，珽由此疑逖告其所為。及珽被出，逖遂遣弟離婚，其輕交易絕如此。所制詩賦及雜文文筆三十卷。子逸民，開府行參軍。

Earlier Ti and Zu Ting had found each other through literary affinity and made a bond like Lei and Chen; he also had his younger brother Jun take Ting's daughter in marriage. When Ting was about to remove Zhao Yanshen and the others, he first told Ti and even handed him a secret memorial, ordering him to report it to the throne. Yanshen and the others learned of it somewhat in advance and pleaded their own case first; because of this Ting suspected Ti had informed on what he had done. When Ting was removed, Ti at once sent his brother to divorce her—so lightly did he break ties and cut relations. The poetry, rhapsodies, and miscellaneous prose he composed came to thirty juan. His son Yimin was a traveling aide in an establishment office.

逖弟詧，少聰明，好文學。天統、武平之間，歷殿中侍御史，兼散騎侍郎，迎勞陳使，轉尚書儀曹郎。周大象末，卒於黎州治中。子玄道，有人品識用，定州騎兵參軍。

Ti's younger brother Cha was clever from youth and loved literature. Between Tiantong and Wuping he served in turn as attendant censor within the palace, concurrently irregular attendant of the cavalry, welcomed and entertained the Chen envoy, and was transferred to a gentleman of the Ceremonies Bureau in the Ministry. At the end of the Zhou era of Great Elephant he died as administrator of Li province. His son Xuandao had character and judgment and served as cavalry section chief of Ding province.

逖從子顗，字君卿。祖廞，魏尚書，為高祖所殺。顗父濟及濟弟峻俱奔江南。顗出後。武定中從峻還北。摐賜爵臨潁子，大寧中卒於司徒司馬。顗好文學，工草書，風儀甚美。歷瀛州外兵參軍、司空功曹，待詔文林館，除大理司直。隋開皇中鄜州司馬，卒。

Ti's nephew Yan, styled Junqing. His grandfather Yin had been a minister of Wei and was killed by Gaozu. Yan's father Ji and Ji's younger brother Jun both fled south of the Yangtze. Yan was given out in adoption. In the Wuding era he followed Jun back north. He was granted the title Marquis of Linying and died in the Daning era as a secretary in the Grand Marshal's office. Yan loved literature, was skilled at cursive script, and his bearing was very fine. He served in turn as outer military section chief of Ying province and merit officer in the Ministry of Works, was kept on call at the Forest of Literature Hall, and was made direct judge in the Court of Review. In the Kaihuang era of Sui he was a secretary of Zheng province and died.

顏之推，字介，瑯邪臨沂人也。九世祖含，從晉元東渡，官至侍中、右光祿、西平侯。父勰，梁湘東王繹鎮西府諮議參軍。世善《周官》、《左氏》，之推早傳家業。年十二，值繹自講《莊》、《老》，便預門徒。虛談非其所好，還習《禮》、《傳》，博覽群書，無不該洽，詞情典麗，甚為西府所稱。繹以為其國左常侍，加鎮西墨曹參軍。好飲酒，多任縱，不修邊幅，時論以此少之。繹遣世子方諸出鎮郢州，以之推掌管記。值侯景陷郢州，頻欲殺之，賴其行臺郎中王則以獲免。被囚送建業。景平，還江陵。時繹已自立，以之推為散騎侍郎，奏舍人事。後為周軍所破。大將軍李顯慶重之，薦往弘農，令掌其兄陽平公遠書翰。值河水暴長，具船將妻子來奔，經砥柱之險，時人稱其勇決。顯祖見而悅之，即除奉朝請，引於內館中，侍從左右，頗被顧眄。天保末，從至天池，以為中書舍人，令中書郎段孝信將勑書出示之推。之推營外飲酒，孝信還以狀言，顯祖乃曰：「且停」。由是遂寢。河清末，被舉為趙州功曹參軍，尋待詔文林館，除司徒錄事參軍。

Yan Zhitui, styled Jie, came from Linyi in Langye. His ninth-generation ancestor Han, following Emperor Yuan of Jin east across the river, reached the post of attendant, Right Grand Master of Splendid Virtue, and Marquis of Xiping. His father Xie was a consulting officer in the western establishment staff of Xiao Yi, Prince of Xiangdong. The family had long excelled in the Offices of Zhou and the Zuo Tradition; Zhitui received the household learning early. At twelve, when Yi was himself lecturing on the Zhuangzi and Laozi, he was admitted among the disciples. Empty talk was not to his taste; he returned to the study of the Rites and the Commentaries, ranged widely through books, and was thorough in all he touched; his phrasing was classical and beautiful, and the western establishment praised him highly. Yi made him regular attendant of the state on the left and added him as ink-and-brush section chief of the western establishment. He loved wine, was much given to license, and did not keep his dress in order; opinion at the time therefore thought less of him. Yi sent the heir Fangzhu out to garrison Yingzhou and put Zhitui in charge of documents. When Hou Jing took Yingzhou he repeatedly wished to kill him; he was spared thanks to Wang Ze, a gentleman in Jing's traveling office. He was imprisoned and sent to Jiankang. When Jing was pacified, he returned to Jiangling. By then Yi had declared himself ruler; he made Zhitui irregular attendant of the cavalry and a gentleman who presents matters in the heir's household. Later he was defeated by the Zhou army. Grand General Li Xianqing valued him, recommended him to Hongnong, and had him manage the correspondence of his elder brother, the Duke of Yangping, Yuan. When the river rose in sudden flood, he prepared a boat and came fleeing with wife and children; he passed the peril of the Rapids, and men of the time praised his courage and resolve. Xianzu saw him and was pleased, at once made him a court gentleman for attendance, brought him into the inner lodge to attend left and right, and favored him with frequent glances. At the end of Tianbao he followed the ruler to Heavenly Pool; he was made a secretary in the Secretariat and ordered that Secretariat Gentleman Duan Xiaoxin bring out the edict documents and show them to Zhitui. Zhitui was drinking outside the camp; when Xiaoxin returned and reported the matter, Xianzu said, "Let it wait." Because of this the appointment was dropped. At the end of the Heqing era he was recommended as merit officer in Zhao province, soon kept on call at the Forest of Literature Hall, and made recording officer in the Grand Marshal's office.

之推聰穎機悟，博識有才辯，工尺牘，應對閑明，大為祖珽所重，令掌知館事，判署文書。尋遷通直散騎常侍，俄領中書舍人。帝時有取索，恒令中使傳旨，之推稟承宣告，館中皆受進止。所進文章，皆是其封署，於進賢門奏之，待報方出。兼善於文字，監校繕寫，處事勤敏，號為稱職。帝甚加恩接，顧遇逾厚，為勳要者所嫉，常欲害之。崔季舒等將諫也，之推取急還宅，故不連署。及召集諫人，之推亦被喚入，勘無其名，方得免禍。尋除黃門侍郎。

Zhitui was clever, quick-witted, broadly learned, talented in debate, skilled at documents, and easy in reply; Zu Ting valued him greatly, put him in charge of the hall's affairs, and had him sign and judge papers. Soon he was promoted to attendant of direct communication and irregular cavalry, and shortly led the secretariat as secretary. Whenever the emperor had a request, he always sent a palace messenger to transmit the order; Zhitui received and announced it, and everyone in the hall took their cue from him. Every document submitted was sealed by him; he presented them at the Gate of Advancement to the Worthy and waited for a reply before they went out. He was also skilled at writing, supervised collation and copying, handled affairs diligently and swiftly, and was called competent in his post. The emperor showed him great favor and regard beyond the usual; men of merit and power envied him and often wished to harm him. When Cui Jishu and the others were about to remonstrate, Zhitui took urgent leave and returned home, and therefore did not join in the collective signature. When the remonstrators were summoned, Zhitui was called in as well; on investigation his name was not among them, and only then did he escape disaster. Soon he was made gentleman of the Yellow Gate.

及周兵陷晉陽，帝輕騎還鄴，窘急計無所從，之推因宦者侍中鄧長颙進奔陳之策，仍勸募吳士千餘人以為左右，取青、徐路共投陳國。帝甚納之，以告丞相高阿那肱等。阿那肱不願入陳，乃云吳士難信，不須募之。勸帝送珍寶累重向青州，且守三齊之地，若不可保，徐浮海南渡。雖不從之推計策，然猶以為平原太守，令守河津。齊亡入周，大象末為御史上士。隋開皇中，太子召為學士，甚見禮重。尋以疾終。有文三十卷，撰《家訓》二十篇，並行於世。曾撰《觀我生賦》，文致清遠，其詞曰：

When the Zhou army took Jinyang, the emperor rode back to Ye in light armor; in desperate straits he had no plan to follow; Zhitui, through the eunuch attendant Deng Changyong, advanced a plan to flee to Chen, and urged recruiting more than a thousand Wu men as a personal guard, taking the Qing and Xu route together to throw themselves on Chen. The emperor was much inclined to accept it and told the chief minister Gao Anagong and the others. Anagong did not wish to enter Chen and said the Wu men were hard to trust and need not be recruited. He urged the emperor to send heavy treasures to Qing province and for the time being hold the land of the Three Qi; if it could not be kept, then cross the sea south to escape. Though they did not follow Zhitui's plan, they still made him governor of Pingyuan and ordered him to guard the river crossing. When Qi fell he entered Zhou and, at the end of the Great Elephant era, was a senior scholar in the Censorate. In the Kaihuang era of Sui the heir summoned him as academician and treated him with great ceremony and weight. Before long he died of illness. He left thirty juan of writings and compiled twenty chapters of Family Instructions, both of which circulated in the world. He once wrote the rhapsody Observing My Life, its language clear and far-reaching; it begins:

仰浮清之藐藐，俯沈奧之茫茫。已生民而立教，乃司牧以分疆。內諸夏而外夷狄，驟五帝而馳三王。大道寢而日隱，《小雅》摧以云亡。哀趙武之作孽，怪漢靈之不祥。旄頭玩其金鼎，典午失其珠囊。瀍澗鞠成沙漠，神華泯為龍荒。吾王所以東運，我祖於是南翔。（晉中宗以瑯邪王南渡，之推瑯邪人，故稱吾王。）去琅邪之遷越，宅金陵之舊章。作羽儀於新邑，樹杞梓於水鄉。傳清白而勿替，守法度而不忘。

I lift my gaze to the far floating clarity above; I bend my eyes to the deep, sunken mystery below. Once the people were raised, teaching was set; stewards of the land were appointed to divide the realms. Within lay the myriad Xia; without, the barbarian tribes—racing through the Five Emperors, galloping past the Three Kings. The Great Way withdrew and the sun went into hiding; the Minor Odes were shattered, and so it perished. I mourn the crimes of Zhao Wu; I marvel at the ill fortune of Han Ling. The Bushel star played with the golden tripod; the Hall of Wu lost its pearl pouch. The Chan and Jian streams curled into desert; Sacred Splendor was extinguished into dragon wilderness. Thus our king moved east; thus our ancestor flew south. (The Jin Central Banner, as Prince of Langye, crossed south; Zhitui was a man of Langye, hence "our king.") We left Langye's flight to Yue and made our home in Jinling's old statutes. We raised feathered standards in the new capital and planted catalpa and nan in the water country. We transmitted purity without decline and held to law without forgetting.

逮微躬之九葉，頹世濟之聲芳。問我良之安在，鐘厭惡於有梁。養傅翼之飛獸，（梁武帝納亡人侯景，授其命，遂為反叛之基。）子貪心之野狼。（武帝初養臨川王子正德為嗣，生昭明後，正德還本，特封臨賀王。猶懷怨恨。徑叛入北而還，積財養士，每有異志也。）初召禍於絕域，重發釁於蕭墻。（正德求征侯景，至新林，叛投景，景立為主，以攻臺城。）雖萬里而作限，聊一葦而可航。指金闕以長鎩，向王路而蹶張。勤王逾於十萬，曾不解其扼吭。嗟將相之骨鯁，皆屈體於犬羊。臺城陷，援軍並問訊二宮，致敬於侯景也。武皇忽以厭世，白日黯而無光。旣饗國而五十，何克終之弗康。嗣君聽於巨猾，每凜然而負芒。自東晉之違難，寓禮樂於江湘。迄此幾於三百，左衽浹於四方。詠苦胡而永嘆，吟微管而增傷。

It reached my slight self in the ninth generation—the declining age's accumulated fragrance of merit. I asked where my good days had gone; the bell had grown weary of Liang. They raised Fu Yi's flying beast, (Emperor Wu of Liang took in the fugitive Hou Jing and gave him command—thus the foundation of rebellion was laid.) and the son—a wolf of greedy heart. (At first Emperor Wu raised Linchuan prince Zhengde as heir; after Zhaoming was born, Zhengde was returned to his original status and specially enfeoffed as Prince of Linhe.) He still harbored resentment. He fled straight to the north and returned, amassed wealth and nurtured soldiers, and always harbored strange designs. At first he summoned disaster from the outer marches; again he raised strife within the palace walls. (Zhengde requested to campaign against Hou Jing; reaching Xinlin, he rebelled and threw himself on Jing, who set him up as ruler to attack the Terrace City.) Though ten thousand li made a barrier, a single reed could still be sailed. They pointed their long spears at the golden towers and turned their bows toward the royal road. Those who came to rescue the throne exceeded a hundred thousand, yet not one knew how to seize the throat. Alas—the backbones of generals and ministers all bent their bodies before dogs and goats. When the Terrace City fell, the relief armies alike inquired after the Two Palaces and paid homage to Hou Jing. The Martial Emperor suddenly grew weary of the world; the white sun dimmed and lost its light. Having enjoyed the state for fifty years, how could its end not be unpeaceful? The heir listened to the great villain; each day he shivered, bearing thorns on his back. Since Eastern Jin's flight from calamity, rites and music have lodged by the Yangzi and Xiang. Nearly three hundred years have passed since; left lapels have soaked the four quarters. I chant the bitter barbarian and sigh without end; I intone the faint pipes and my grief grows.

世祖赫其斯怒，奮大義於沮漳。（孝元帝時為荊州刺史。）授犀函與鶴膝，建飛雲及艅艎。北征兵於漢曲，南發餫於衡陽。（湘州刺史河東王譽、雍州刺史嶽陽王察並隸荊州都督府。）昔承華之賓帝，實兄亡而弟及。（昭明太子薨，乃立晉安王為太子。）逮皇孫之失寵，嘆扶車之不立。（嫡皇孫驩出封豫章王而薨。）間王道之多難，各私求於京邑。襄陽阻其銅符，長沙閉其玉粒。（河東、嶽陽皆昭明子。）遽自戰於其地，豈大勛之暇集。子旣殞而侄攻，昆亦圍而叔襲。褚乘城而宵下，杜倒戈而夜入。（孝元以河東不供船艎，乃遣世子方等為刺史。大軍掩至，河東不暇遣拒。世子信用群小，貪其子女玉帛，遂欲攻之，故河東急而逆戰，世子為亂兵所害。孝元發怒，又使鮑泉圍河東。而岳陽宣言大獵，即擁衆襲荊州求解湘州之圍。時襄陽杜岸兄弟怨其見劫，不以實告，又不義此行，率兵八千夜降，岳陽於是遁走。河東府褚顯族據投岳陽。所以湘州見陷也。）行路彎弓而含笑，骨肉相誅而涕泣。周旦其猶病諸，孝武悔而焉及。

The Founding Ancestor blazed in his wrath and roused great righteousness at Juzhang. (At the time he was Jingzhou inspector.) He handed out rhinoceros cases and crane-knee bows, built Flying Cloud and Warship vessels. North he raised troops at Han's bend; south he sent grain from Hengyang. (Xiangzhou inspector Prince of Hedong Yu and Yongzhou inspector Prince of Yueyang Cha both fell under the Jingzhou commandery.) Long ago the heir of Chenghua attended the emperor; in truth the elder brother died and the younger succeeded. (When Crown Prince Zhaoming died, the Jin'an king was then made crown prince.) When the legitimate grandson lost favor, I sighed that the heir's carriage could not be set upright. (The legitimate grandson Huan was enfeoffed as Prince of Yuzhang and died.) The royal way knew many hardships; each sought his private gain in the capital districts. Xiangyang blocked its bronze tally; Changsha shut its jade grain. (Hedong and Yueyang were both sons of Zhaoming.) They hastened to fight on their own ground; how could great merit find leisure to gather? The son had fallen and the nephew attacked; the elder brother was besieged and the uncle struck. Chu descended the walls by night; Du turned his spears and entered by night. (Emperor Yuan, because Hedong would not supply ships, sent the heir Fangdeng out as inspector.) The great army came suddenly; Hedong had no time to send resistance. The heir trusted petty men, coveted their daughters, jade, and silks, and thus wished to attack them; so Hedong was pressed and fought in rebellion, and the heir was killed by mutinous troops. Emperor Yuan grew angry and again sent Bao Quan to besiege Hedong. Yueyang proclaimed a great hunt and at once led his host to strike Jingzhou, seeking to lift the siege of Xiangzhou. At the time the Xiangyang brothers Du An and Du Mu resented being seized and did not report the truth; they also thought the campaign unjust, and led eight thousand men to surrender by night—Yueyang therefore fled. Chu Xianzu of the Hedong establishment surrendered to Yueyang. Thus Xiangzhou was taken. Travelers bent their bows and smiled; flesh and bone slew one another and wept. Would even the Duke of Zhou still be ill at this? Emperor Wu of Han repented—yet how could he reach it?

方幕府之事殷，謬見擇於人群。未成冠而登仕，財解履以從軍。（時年十九，釋褐湘東國右常侍，以軍功加鎮西墨曹參軍。）非社稷之能衛。（童汪綺）。闕僅書記於階闥，罕羽翼於風雲。及荊王之定霸，始讎恥而圖雪。舟師次乎武昌，撫軍鎮於夏汭。（時遣徐州刺史徐文盛領二萬人屯武昌蘆州拒侯景將任約，又第二子綏寧度方諸為世子，拜中撫軍將軍、郢州刺史，以盛聲勢。）濫充選於多士，在參戎之盛列。慚四白之調護，廁六友之談說。（時遷中撫軍外兵參軍，掌管記，與文拚、劉民英等與世子遊處。）雖形就而心和，匪余懷之所說。繄深宮之生貴，矧垂堂與倚衡。欲推心以厲物，樹幼齒以先聲。（中撫軍時年十五。）愾敷求之不器，乃畫地而取名。仗禦武於文吏，（以虞預為郢州司馬，領城防事。）委軍政於儒生。（以鮑泉為郢州行事，總攝州府也。）值白波之猝駭，逢赤舌之燒城。王凝坐而對寇，向詡拱以臨兵。（任約為文盛所困，侯景自上救之，舟艦弊漏，軍饑卒疲，數戰失利。乃令宋子仙、任約步道偷郢州城，預無備，故陷賊。）莫不變蝯而化鵠，皆自取首以破腦。將睥睨於渚宮，先憑陵於他道。（景欲攻荊州，路由巴陵。）懿永寧之龍蟠，（永寧公王僧辯據巴陵城，善於守禦，景不能進。）奇護軍之電掃。（護軍將軍陸法和破任約於赤亭湖，景退走，大潰。）奔虜快其餘毒，縲囚膏乎野草。幸先生之無勸，賴滕公之我保。（之推執在景軍，例當見殺。景行臺郎中王則初無舊識，再三救護，獲免，囚以還都。）剟鬼錄於岱宗，招歸魂於蒼昊。時解衣訖而獲全。荷性命之重賜，銜若人以終老。

When the headquarters' affairs were pressing, I was wrongly chosen from the crowd. Before the cap was complete I entered office; barely untying my shoes I followed the army. (At the time he was nineteen; he doffed the hemp and became right regular attendant of the Xiangdong state, and for military merit was added as ink-collar aide of the army pacifying the west.) Not able to guard the altars of state. (Tong Wangqi) I lacked only secretarial duties at the inner gate; I rarely had wingbeats in wind and clouds. When the King of Jing fixed his hegemony, I at last turned shame into a plan for vengeance. The fleet anchored at Wuchang; the pacifying army garrisoned at Xia'er. (At the time he sent Xuzhou inspector Xu Wensheng with twenty thousand men to camp at Wuchang's Luzhou to resist Hou Jing's general Ren Yue; his second son Suining duke Fangzhu was made heir, appointed Central Pacifying Army general and Yingzhou inspector, to swell the momentum.) I was rashly placed among the many talents in the ranks of those joining the army. Ashamed to tune and nurse the four whites, I stood in the corner of the six friends' talk. (At the time he was transferred to Central Pacifying Army outer-troops aide, in charge of records, and with Wen Pin, Liu Minying, and others kept company with the heir.) Though the form drew near and the heart was harmonious, it was not what my breast delighted in. Alas—the noble born in the deep palace; how much more those who lean on the hall and the scale! He wished to lay bare his heart to stiffen others and set the young teeth ahead to sound first. (The Central Pacifying Army was then fifteen sui.) Indignant that his wide search found no fit vessel, he drew on the ground to take a name. He relied on martial defense in a literary officer, (making Yu Yu Yingzhou marshal, in charge of city defense.) and entrusted military affairs to a Confucian scholar. (He made Bao Quan acting Yingzhou administrator, in overall charge of the prefecture.) I met the white wave's sudden terror and encountered the red tongue burning the city. Wang Ning sat facing the foe; Xiang Xu folded his hands before the troops. (Ren Yue was pressed by Wensheng; Hou Jing came up himself to rescue him. The ships leaked and were worn; the army was hungry and the soldiers weary; battle after battle was lost.) He then ordered Song Zixian and Ren Yue to march by land and steal into Yingzhou city; there was no preparation, and so it fell to the bandits. None failed to change from gibbon to swan and each took his own head to break his skull. They were about to look down on the Palace of Isles; first they overran the other road. (Jing wished to attack Jingzhou; the route passed through Baling.) Yi of Yongning coiled like a dragon; (Duke of Yongning Wang Sengbian held Baling city, skilled in defense; Jing could not advance.) the odd Protector of the Army swept like lightning. (Protector of the Army Lu Fahe broke Ren Yue at Chiting Lake; Jing retreated and was utterly routed.) Fleeing captives rejoiced in their remaining poison; bound prisoners were greased on the wild grass. I was spared thanks to the Master's not urging; I was preserved thanks to Duke Teng's regard for me. (Zhitui was held in Jing's army and by rule should have been killed.) Jing's traveling-office gentleman Wang Ze had at first no old acquaintance with him, yet again and again protected him; he was spared and imprisoned and sent back to the capital. I struck the ghost record at Mount Dai and summoned the returning soul to the azure heaven. At the time, once I had stripped my clothes I was wholly spared. I bore the heavy gift of life; I cherished such a man to my old age.

賊棄甲而來復，肆觜距之雕鳶。積假履而弒帝，憑衣霧以上天。用速災於四月，奚聞道之十年。（臺城陷後，梁武曾獨坐嘆曰：「侯景於文為小人百日天子。」及景以大寶二年十一月十九日僭位，至明年三月十九日棄城逃竄，是一百二十日，掞天道紀大數，故文為百日。」言與公孫述俱稟十二，而旬歲不同。）就狄俘於舊壤，陷戎俗於來旋。慨黍離於清廟，愴麥秀於空廛。鼗鼓臥而不考，景鐘毀而莫懸。野蕭條以橫骨，邑闃寂而無煙。疇百家之或在，（中原冠帶隨晉渡江者百家，故江東有《百譜》，至是在都者覆滅略盡。）覆五宗而翦焉。獨昭君之哀奏，唯翁主之悲弦。（公主子女見辱見讎。）經長干以掩抑，（長干舊顏家巷。）展白下以流連。（靖侯以下七世墳塋皆在白下。）深燕雀之餘思，感桑梓之遺虔。得此心於尼甫，信茲言乎仲宣。逷西土之有衆，資方叔以薄伐。（永寧公以司徒為大都督。）撫鳴劍而雷咤，振雄旗而雲窣。千里追其飛走，三載窮於巢窟。屠蚩尤於東郡，掛郅支於北闕。（旣斬侯景，烹尸於建業市，百姓食之，至於肉盡齕骨，傳首荊州，懸於都街。弔幽魂之冤枉，掃園陵之蕪沒。殷道是以再興，夏祀於焉不忽。但遺恨於炎崑，火延宮而累月。（侯景旣走，義師採櫓失火，燒宮殿蕩盡也。）

The bandits cast off their armor and came again, baring beak and talon like carved kites. Piling up leave-slips in straw sandals, he murdered the emperor; riding robe-mist, he claimed heaven. Swift disaster in the fourth month—what of the Way's ten-year promise? (After Terrace City fell, Emperor Wu of Liang sat alone and sighed: "In wen, Hou Jing is a petty man's hundred-day Son of Heaven." When Jing usurped the throne on the nineteenth of the eleventh month, year two of Dabao, and on the nineteenth of the third month the next year abandoned the city and fled, it was a hundred and twenty days; by Heaven's great reckoning, in wen that reads as a hundred days." The phrase, like Gongsun Shu's, shares twelve—yet the ten-day count differs.) Taken captive by Di on native soil, sunk in barbarian custom on the road home. He grieved "Pleasant Valley" in the clear temple, mourned "Wheat in Ear" in empty stalls. Toy drums lie unplayed; the great bell lies broken, unhung. The wilds were desolate, bones strewn across them; towns stood silent, without smoke. Of the hundred clans, perhaps some still survived, (A hundred families of Central Plains gentry who crossed the Yangzi with Jin—hence Jiangdong kept the Hundred Genealogies; those still in the capital were nearly all destroyed.) five generations were overthrown and cut down. Only Princess Zhaojun's lament sounded; only Princess Wengzhu's grieving strings. (The princesses' sons and daughters were shamed and slain.) He passed Changgan in suppressed grief, (Changgan was the old lane of the Yan house.) and lingered through Baixia in sorrow that would not leave. (Seven generations of tombs from Jing Marquis down all lay at Baixia.) He felt deeply what swallows and sparrows remember, and was moved by the old devotion of native earth. In Confucius he found this heart; in Wang Can he trusted these words. From afar the western lands had hosts; he leaned on Fang Shu for a light punitive strike. (The Duke of Yongning served as Minister over the Masses and Grand Commander.) He stroked ringing swords till thunder roared, shook heroic banners till clouds scudded. A thousand li he chased their flight; three years he wore out their nests and dens. He slew Chiyou in the eastern commandery and hung Zhizhi's head on the northern gate. (After Hou Jing was beheaded, his corpse was boiled in the Jiankang market; commoners ate until the flesh was gone and gnawed the bones; the head was sent to Jingzhou and hung on the capital street. He mourned wronged shades, swept imperial mounds choked with weeds. Thus the Yin way rose again; Xia sacrifices were not neglected. But regret lingered for Flame-Kun—fire ran through the palace for months. (After Hou Jing fled, the loyalist army, gathering rudders, lost control of fire and burned the palaces to nothing.)

指余櫂於兩東，侍升壇之五讓。欽漢官之復覩，赴楚民之有望。攝絳衣以奏言，忝黃散於官謗。（時為散騎侍郎，奏舍人事也。）或校石渠之文，（王司徒表送秘閤舊事八萬卷，乃詔比校，部分為正禦、副御、重雜三本。左民尚書周弘正、黃門郎彭僧朗、直省學士王珪、戴陵校經部，左僕射王褒、吏部尚書宗懷正、員外郎顏之推、直學士劉仁英校史部，廷尉卿殷不害、御史中丞王孝紀、中書郎鄧藎、金部郎中徐報校子部，右衛將軍庾信、中書郎王固、晉安王文學宗善業、直省學士周確校集部也。）時參柏梁之唱。顧甂甌之不算，濯波濤而無量。屬瀟湘之負罪，（陸納。）兼岷峨之自王。（武陵王。）竚旣定以鳴鸞，修東都之大壯。（詔司農卿黃文超營殿。）

I pointed my oars toward the two easts and attended the five deferrals at the ascending altar. I rejoiced to see Han officials again and answered what the Chu people had hoped for. In crimson robes I presented memorials, humbly bearing Yellow Gate office amid slander. (At the time he was irregular attendant of the scattered cavalry, presenting lodge affairs.) Sometimes he collated Stone Canal texts, (Minister Wang memorialized sending eighty thousand juan of secret-repository records; an edict ordered collation into principal, secondary, and miscellaneous sets. Zhou Hongzheng of the Left for the People, Peng Senglang of the Yellow Gate, Wang Gui and Dai Ling of the direct province collated Classics; Wang Bao, Left Vice Director, Zong Huaizheng of Personnel, Yan Zhitui as irregular gentleman, Liu Renying as direct scholar collated History; Yin Buhai of Justice, censor-in-chief Wang Xiaoji, Deng Shen of the Secretariat, Xu Bao of the Gold Bureau collated Masters; Yu Xin of the Right Guard, Wang Gu, Zong Shanye of Jin'an, Zhou Que collated Collectanea.) at times joining the Bo Liang hymns. He looked on jars and caldrons as beyond count and bathed in waves without measure. When Xiangyang bore guilt, (Lu Na.) and Min-Emei made itself king, (the Prince of Wuling.) he waited till order returned to ring the phoenix carriage and rebuild the Eastern Capital's grandeur. (An edict ordered Minister of Agriculture Huang Chao to build the halls.)

驚北風之復起，慘南歌之不暢。（秦兵繼來。）守金城之湯池，轉絳宮之玉帳。（孝元自曉陰陽兵法，初聞賊來，頗為厭勝，被圍之後，每嘆息，知必敗。）徒有道而師直，翻無名之不抗。（孝元與宇文丞相斷金結和，無何見滅，是師出無名。）民百萬而囚虜，書千兩而煙煬。溥天之下，斯文盡喪。（北於墳籍少於江東三分之一，梁氏剝亂，散逸湮亡。唯孝元鳩合，通重十餘萬，史籍以來，未之有也。兵敗悉焚之，海內無復書府。）憐嬰孺之何辜，矜老疾之無狀。奪諸懷而棄草，踣於途而受掠。冤乘輿之殘酷，軫人神之無狀。載下車以黜喪，揜藳桐棺之藳葬。雲無心以容與，風懷憤而憀悢。井伯飲牛於秦中，子卿牧羊於海上。留釧之妻，人銜其斷絕；擊磬之子，家纏其悲愴。

He was startled when the north wind rose again, grieved when southern songs would not flow. (Qin troops came again and again.) He held the golden city's boiling moat and turned the crimson palace's jade canopy. (Emperor Xiaoyuan knew yin-yang and military arts; when rebels first came he relied on exorcism; under siege he sighed again and again, knowing he must fall.) He had the Way and a straight army—yet without a righteous name he could not hold out. (Xiaoyuan and Chancellor Yuwen pledged like severed metal; soon he was destroyed—the campaign had no righteous name.) A million people were taken captive; a thousand cartloads of books burned to ash. Under broad heaven, all culture perished. (In the north, tomb records were less than a third of Jiangdong's; Liang's stripping and chaos scattered and drowned them. Only Xiaoyuan gathered them—more than a hundred thousand in all—unprecedented in the records. Defeat burned them all; within the seas there were no book houses again.) He pitied infants—what crime had they? He grieved for the old and sick left without proper burial. Torn from arms and cast on the grass, they fell on the roads and were plundered. He resented cruelty to the imperial carriage and grieved that man and spirits had lost all law. He rode the cart of dismissal in mourning and covered the rush-and-tung coffin's sparse burial. Clouds drifted without heart; wind nursed rage and would not rest. Jing Bo drank with his ox in Qin; Ziqing herded sheep by the sea. The sword-belt wife—people mourned her severance; the stone-chime player's son—households wrapped themselves in grief.

小臣恥其獨死，實有愧於胡顏，牽屙疻而就路，（時患腳氣。）策駑蹇以入關。（官疲驢瘦馬。）下無景而屬蹈，上有尋而亟搴。嗟飛蓬之日永，恨流梗之無還。若乃玄牛之旌，九龍之路，土圭測影，璇璣審度。或先聖之規模，乍前王之典故。與神鼎而偕沒，切仙宮之永慕。爾其十六國之風教，七十代之州壤，接耳目而不通，詠圖書而可想。何黎氓之匪昔，徒山川之猶曩。每結思於江湖，將取弊於羅網。聆代竹之哀怨，聽出塞之嘹朗。對皓月以增愁，臨芳樽而無賞。

This petty minister shamed to die alone, ashamed before barbarian faces, dragging lame foot toward the road, (at the time he suffered from foot qi.) driving a lame nag into the pass. (Post horses were exhausted; donkeys and horses were thin.) Below there was no shadow yet he had to tread on; above, a span yet he had to climb fast. Alas—the flying tumbleweed's days stretch on; hatred—the drifting stem never comes home. As for black-ox banners, nine-dragon roads, the earth gui measuring shadow, the armillary sphere fixing degrees— sometimes a former sage's model, sometimes a former king's statute. They sank with the divine tripod; the immortal palace was cut off forever, only missed. The sixteen kingdoms' customs, seventy generations' commanderies—heard and seen but unreachable; sung in maps and books, only imaginable. Why are the people not as they were? Only mountains and rivers stay as before. Each time he knotted his thoughts on rivers and lakes, about to be taken in nets. He heard another age's bamboo grief and listened to the frontier song's clear cry. Facing the bright moon, sorrow grew; before the fragrant cup, there was no delight.

自太清之內釁，彼天齊而外侵。始蹙國於淮滸，遂壓境於江潯。（侯景之亂，齊氏深斥梁家土宇，江北、淮北唯餘廬江、晉熙、高唐、新蔡、西陽、齊昌數郡。至孝元之敗，於是盡矣，以江為界也。）獲仁厚之麟角，剋儁秀之南金。爰衆旅而納主，車五百以敻臨，（齊遣上黨王渙率兵數萬納梁貞陽侯明為主。）返季子之觀樂，釋鍾儀之鼓琴。（梁武聘使謝挺、徐陵始得還南，凡厥梁臣，皆以禮遣。）竊聞風而清耳，傾見日之歸心。試拂蓍以貞筮，遇交泰之吉林。（之推聞梁人返國，故有奔齊之心。以丙子歲旦筮東行吉不，遇《泰》之《坎》，乃喜曰：「天地交泰而更習，坎重險，行而不失其信，此吉卦也，但恨小往大來耳。」後遂吉也。）譬欲秦而更楚，假南路於東尋。乘龍門之一曲，歷砥柱之雙岑。冰夷風薄而雷呴，陽侯山載而谷沈。侔挈龜以憑濬，類斬蛟而赴深。昏揚舲於分陜，曙結纜於河陰。（水路七百里一夜而至）。追風飈之逸氣，從忠信以行吟。

From strife within Great Clarity, Heavenly Qi invaded from without. First they cramped the state at the Huai shore; then pressed the border at the Yangzi bank. (In Hou Jing's rebellion, Qi deeply stripped Liang's territory; north and south of the Huai only Lujiang, Jinxi, Gaotang, Xincai, Xiyang, and Qichang remained. At Xiaoyuan's defeat, all was gone—the Yangzi became the border.) They gained the qilin's benevolent horn and overcame outstanding southern gold. They gathered hosts and installed a ruler; five hundred chariots came from afar, (Qi sent Prince of Shangdang Huan with tens of thousands to install Liang's Marquis of Zhenyang Ming as ruler.) They returned Jizi to his music and released Zhong Yi from drum and zither. (Liang's envoys Xie Ting and Xu Ling at last returned south; all Liang subjects were sent off with ceremony.) Hearing the wind in secret, ears grew clear; leaning toward the seen sun, hearts turned homeward. He brushed the yarrow for a true divination and met auspicious fortune in the hexagram of Tai. (Zhitui heard Liang people were returning home and therefore meant to flee to Qi. On New Year's day of the bingzi year he divined whether going east was auspicious and met Tai changing to Kan; he rejoiced and said, "Heaven and earth join in Tai and turn to practice; Kan doubles peril, yet the journey keeps faith—an auspicious hexagram, only I regret small going and great coming." Later it indeed proved auspicious.) It was like wishing for Qin yet changing to Chu, borrowing the southern road toward eastern Xun. He rode one bend of Dragon Gate and passed the twin peaks of Dizhu. Ice Spirit thinned the wind and thunder roared; Yang Lord bore mountains and valleys sank. He matched one who carried the turtle to ford the deep and was like one who slew the flood dragon and plunged into the depths. At dusk he raised sails at Fen-Shan; at dawn he moored at Heyin. (Seven hundred li by water—they arrived in one night.) He chased the swift wind's fleeing breath and followed loyalty and faith in his traveling song.

遭厄命而事旋，舊國從於采芑。先廢君而誅相，訖變朝而易市。（至鄴，便值陳興而梁滅，故不得還南。）遂留滯於漳濱，私自憐其何已。謝黃鵠之迴集，恧翠鳳之高峙。曾微令思之對，空竊彥先之仕，纂書盛化之旁，待詔崇文之裏。（齊武平中，署文林館待詔者僕射陽休之、祖孝徵以下三十餘人，之推專掌，其撰《修文殿御覽》、《續文章流別》等皆詣進賢門奏之。）珥貂蟬而就列，執麾蓋以入齒。（時以通直散騎常侍遷黃門郎也。）款一相之故人，（故人祖僕射掌機密，吐納帝令也。）賀萬乘之知己。秪夜語之見忌，寧懷璧之足恃。諫譖言之矛戟，惕險情之山水。由重裘以寒勝，用去薪而沸止。（時武職疾文人，之推蒙禮遇，每構創痏。故侍中崔季舒等六人以諫誅，之推爾日鄰禍。而儕流或有毀之推於祖僕射者，僕射察之無實，所知如舊不忘。）

Fate turned hostile, yet affairs wheeled about—and the old realm went the way of Gathering Calamus. First they deposed the ruler and killed the chancellor; in the end the court changed hands and the market changed with it. (When he reached Ye, Chen was rising and Liang was falling, and he could not go home to the south.) So he stayed stranded on the Zhang's shore, privately asking when the waiting would ever end. He refused the yellow swan's wheeling homeward flight and felt small before the azure phoenix on its height. He never had Wei Lingsi's wit in debate, only borrowed Yan Xianzhi's post in name—compiling books by the Flourishing Culture Hall, awaiting edict in the quarter where letters were honored. (In Qi's Wuping era over thirty awaiting-edict gentlemen of the Forest of Literature were appointed, from Vice Director Yang Xiuzhi and Zu Xiaozheng downward; Zhitui held sole charge, and works such as the Repair the Culture Hall Imperial Overview and the Continuation of Literary Genres Classification were all submitted at the Gate of Advancing Worthies.) He pinned marten tail and cicada badge and took his place in the ranks; he bore canopy and halberd and entered the court sequence. (At the time he was promoted from unhampered attendant of scattered cavalry to gentleman of the Yellow Gate.) He paid a visit to an old friend, the chancellor who stood alone— (That friend was Vice Director Zu, who held the secrets of state and shaped what the emperor sent out and took in.) and counted himself blessed with a sovereign's intimate trust. Even whispered talk after dark drew suspicion; could clutching a jade disk really keep one safe? He braced against remonstrance and slander, spear and shield alike, and watched hearts treacherous as mountain rivers. Heavy furs could beat back the cold; take away the fuel and the boil stops. (The military class then despised men of letters; Zhitui, though favored, was cut at every turn.) (When Attendant-in-Ordinary Cui Jishu and six others were executed for remonstrance, Zhitui that day barely escaped the disaster next door.) (Some peers still slandered Zhitui to Vice Director Zu; Zu investigated, found nothing, and kept his regard unchanged.)

予武成之燕翼，遵春坊而原始。唯驕奢之是修，亦佞臣之云使。（武成奢侈，後宮御者數百人，食於水陸貢獻珍異，至乃厭飽，棄於廁中。褌衣悉羅纈錦繡珍玉，織成五百一段。爾後宮掖遂為舊事。後主之在宮，乃使駱提婆母陸氏為之，又胡人何洪珍等為左右，後皆預政亂國焉。）惜染絲之良質，惰琢玉之遺祉。用夷吾而治臻，昵狄牙而亂起。（祖孝徵用事，則朝野翕然，政刑有綱紀矣。駱提婆等苦孝徵以法繩己，譖而出之。於是教令昏僻，至于滅亡。誠怠荒於度政，惋驅除之神速。肇平陽之爛魚，次太原之破竹。晉州小失利，便棄軍還幷，又不守幷州，奔走向鄴。寔未改於弦望，遂□□□□□，及都□而升降，懷墳墓之淪覆。迷識主而狀人，競己棲而擇木。六馬紛其顛沛，千官散於犇逐。無寒瓜以療饑，靡秋螢而照宿。（時在季冬，故無此物。）讎敵起於舟中，胡、越生於輦轂。壯安德之一戰，邀文武之餘福。屍狼藉其如莽，血玄黃以成谷。（後主犇後，安德王延宗收合餘燼，於幷州夜戰，殺數千人。周主欲退，齊將之降周者告以虛實，故留至明而安德敗也。）天命縱不可再來，猶賢死廟而慟哭。乃詔余以典郡，據要路而問津。（除之推為平原郡，據河津，以為犇陳之計。）斯呼航而濟水，郊鄉導於善鄰。（約以鄴下一戰不剋，當與之推入陳。）不羞寄公之禮，願為式微之賓。忽成言而中悔，矯陰疏而陽親。信諂謀於公主，競受陷於姦臣。（丞相高阿那肱等不願入南，又懼失齊主則得罪於周朝，故疏間之推。所以齊主留之推守平原城，而索船渡濟向青州。阿那肱求自鎮濟州，乃啟報應齊主云：「無賊，勿怱怱。」遂道周軍追齊主而及之。）曩九圍以制命，今八尺而由人。四七之期必盡，百六之數溘屯。（趙郡李穆叔調妙占天文算術，齊初踐祚計止於二十八年。至是如期而滅。）

I followed Martial Completion's soaring wings and traced the Spring Quarters back to their source. Only extravagance was tended; sycophant ministers were put to use as well. (Wucheng was extravagant: several hundred women of the inner palace were fed from land and sea with rare tribute until they were glutted and the surplus was thrown into the privy.) Even their undergarments were brocade and embroidery studded with pearl and jade, woven in lengths of five hundred. After that the inner palace kept the custom. When the Later Sovereign was still in the palace, Luotuopa's mother Lady Lu and Hu favorites such as He Hongzhen stood at his side—and in time they all meddled in rule and wrecked the realm.) He prized the good fiber of dyed silk yet was slack toward the lasting blessing of carved jade. Use a Guan Zhong and order comes; dote on a Duke Huan's favorite and chaos rises. (When Zu Xiaozheng held power, court and countryside moved as one and law and policy had a thread to follow.) Luotuopa and his circle hated Xiaozheng for binding them with law and slandered him out of office. Edicts then grew benighted and perverse, all the way to extinction. He was slack and negligent in measuring government, and grieved how swiftly heaven's banishment came. First the rotting fish at Pingyang, then bamboo splitting at Taiyuan. A small reverse at Jin province and he abandoned the army for Bing; he would not hold Bing either, but fled toward Ye. The moon's phases had barely shifted when [text missing]; when the capital [text missing] rose and fell he nursed the fear that his family's graves had been drowned. Men forgot the ruler and judged only people; each hurried to roost and choose his tree. Six horses thrashed in chaos; a thousand officials scattered in the rout. There was no winter melon to ease hunger, no autumn firefly to light the night. (It was deep winter, so such things did not exist.) Enemies rose within the boat; Hu and Yue sprang from the chariot's hub. Prince Ande's single battle drew what blessing civil and military remnants could offer. Corpses lay thick as wild grass; blood black and yellow heaped into valleys. (After the Later Sovereign fled, Prince Ande Yan Zong gathered the embers, fought at Bing by night, and killed several thousand.) The Zhou ruler meant to pull back, but Qi generals who had surrendered to Zhou told him the true situation, so he held on until dawn and Ande was defeated.) Heaven's mandate might not come twice, yet he still thought it nobler to die at the ancestral temple and weep. Then they charged him with governing a commandery, holding a key road and asking after the crossing. (Zhitui was made governor of Pingyuan, holding the river crossing, as part of the plan to flee to Chen.) It was like shouting for a ferry to cross the waters; the countryside would guide them to a friendly neighbor. (They agreed that if the fight below Ye failed, the sovereign would enter Chen with Zhitui.) He was not ashamed to accept a lord's sheltering kindness and was willing to be a guest in Decaying Splendour. Suddenly, after words were given, he repented halfway; private coldness wore the mask of public warmth. He trusted the princess's flattery and plots, and all raced to fall into treacherous ministers' snares. (Chief Minister Gao Anagong and the rest did not wish to flee south and feared that if they lost the Qi ruler Zhou would blame them, so they drove a wedge between sovereign and Zhitui.) So the Qi ruler left Zhitui to hold Pingyuan while he demanded boats to cross the Ji toward Qing province. Anagong asked to garrison Jizhou himself, then sent word to the Qi ruler: "There are no bandits—do not hurry." So he guided the Zhou army in pursuit until they overtook the Qi ruler.) Once the nine domains answered to his command; now even eight feet of body belong to another. The twenty-eight-year span had to end; the hundred-six calamity number suddenly piled up. (Li Muchu of Zhao commandery was skilled in astronomy and reckoning; at Qi's founding he calculated that the dynasty would end in twenty-eight years.) When the term came it fell exactly as he had said.)

予一生而三化，備荼苦而蓼辛。（在揚都值侯景殺簡文而篡位，於江陵逢孝元覆滅，至此而三為亡國之人。）鳥焚林而鎩翮，魚奪水而暴鱗。嗟宇宙之遼曠，愧無所而容身。夫有過而自訟，始發矇於天真。遠絕聖而棄智，妄鎖義以羈仁。舉世溺而欲拯，王道鬱以求申。旣銜石以填海，終荷戟入秦。亡壽陵之故步，臨大行以逡巡。向使潛於草茅之下，甘為畎畝之人。無讀書而學劍，莫抵掌以膏身，委明珠而樂賤，辭白璧以安貧，堯、舜不能榮其素樸，桀、紂無以汙其清塵。此窮何由而至，茲辱安所自臻。而今而後，不敢怨天而泣麟也。

In one life he knew three transformations and tasted tea's bitterness and smartweed's bite. (At Yangdu he lived through Hou Jing's murder of Emperor Jianwen and seizure of the throne; at Jiangling through Emperor Xiaoyuan's destruction; here he was a man of a ruined state for the third time.) Birds burned the forest and broke their pinions; fish lost the water and bared their scales. Alas—the universe's vast emptiness; he was ashamed that nowhere could hold his body. Only when a man accuses himself does the veil lift from inborn truth. He had rejected the sages from afar and cast wisdom aside, vainly locking duty to chain benevolence. The whole world was drowning and he wished to save it; the kingly way was choked and he sought to open it. First he carried stone to fill the sea; in the end he bore a spear toward Qin. He lost Shouling's old stride and halted on the great road, unable to go forward. Had he only hidden under thatch and been content as a man behind the plow— never reading books and learning the sword, never rubbing his palms to grease his way upward, yielding bright pearls to rejoice in low estate, declining white jade to rest in poverty—Yao and Shun could not have glorified such plainness, Jie and Zhou could not have stained such clear dust. Whence came this extremity? Whence this disgrace? From now on I dare not blame heaven or weep for the unicorn.

之推在齊有二子，長曰思魯，次曰敏楚，不忘本也。之推集在，思魯自為序錄。

Zhitui had two sons in Qi: the elder Siyu, the younger Minchu—names that would not let them forget where they came from. Zhitui's collected works survive; Siyu wrote the preface and catalogue himself.

袁奭，字元明，陳郡人，梁司空昂之孫也。父君方，梁侍中。奭，蕭莊時以侍中奉使貢。莊敗，除琅邪王儼大將軍諮議，入館，遷太中大夫。

Yuan Shuang, styled Yuanming, came from Chen commandery and was grandson of Liang Minister of Works Yuan Ang. His father Junfang had been Liang attendant-in-ordinary. In Xiao Zhuang's time Shuang served as attendant-in-ordinary on missions bearing tribute. When Zhuang fell he was attached to Prince of Langye Yan as army counsellor, entered the Forest of Literature Hall, and rose to grand palace counsellor.

韋道遜，京兆杜陵人。曾祖肅，隨劉義真渡江。祖崇，自宋入魏，寓居河南洛陽，官至華山太守。道遜與兄道密、道建、道儒並早以文學知名。道密，魏永熙中開府祭酒。因患恍惚，沉廢於家。道建，天保末卒司農少卿。道儒，歷中書黃門侍郎。道遜，武平初尚書左中兵，加通直散騎侍郎，入館，加通直常侍。

Wei Daoxun came from Duling in Jingzhao. His great-grandfather Su followed Liu Yizhen when he crossed the Yangtze. His grandfather Chong came from Song into Wei, settled at Luoyang in Henan, and rose to governor of Huashan. Daoxun and his elder brothers Daomi, Daojian, and Daoru were all known early for literary talent. Daomi, in Wei's Yongxi era, was libationer of an opening establishment. He fell into mental confusion and lived out his days confined at home. Daojian died at the end of Tianbao while serving as vice minister of agriculture. Daoru served as gentleman of the Yellow Gate in the Secretariat. In early Wuping Daoxun was left military section chief in the Secretariat, then added unhampered attendant of scattered cavalry, entered the hall, and became unhampered regular attendant.

江旰，字季，濟陽人也。祖柔之，蕭齊尚書右丞。叔父革，梁都官尚書。旰，梁末給事黃門郎，因使至淮南，為邊將所執，送鄴。稍遷鄭州司馬，入館，除太尉從事中郎，轉太子家令。齊亡，逃還建業。終於都官尚書。

Jiang Gan, styled Ji, came from Jiyang. His grandfather Rouzhi had been Southern Qi's director of the right section. His uncle Ge had been Liang director of punishments at court. At the end of Liang Gan was gentleman of the Yellow Gate; on a mission to Huainan he was seized by a border general and sent to Ye. He rose gradually to marshal of Zheng province, entered the hall, became senior aide to the Grand Commandant, and was transferred to crown prince household head. When Qi fell he fled back to Jianye. He ended his career as director of punishments at court.

眭豫，字道閑，趙郡高邑人。父寂，梁北平太守。道閑弱冠，州舉秀才。天保中，參議禮令，歷晉州道行臺郎、大理正、奉車都尉。入館。遷員外散騎常侍，尋兼祠部郎中。隋開皇中，卒於洛州司馬。豫宗人仲讓，天保時尚書左丞。

Sui Yu, styled Daoxian, came from Gaoyi in Zhao commandery. His father Ji had been Liang governor of Beiping. At cap maturity Daoxian was nominated eminent scholar by his province. In Tianbao he took part in drafting ritual ordinances and served as Jin province expedition staff clerk, grand judge, and chariot-of-the-court commandant. He entered the Forest of Literature Hall. He was promoted to supernumerary scattered-cavalry regular attendant and soon also director of the sacrifices department. In Sui's Kaihuang era he died while serving as marshal of Lu province. Yu had a kinsman, Zhongrang, who served as left vice director of the masters of writing in the Tianbao era.

朱才，字待問，吳都人。蕭莊在淮南，以才兼散騎常侍，副袁奭入朝。莊敗，留鄴。稍遷國子博士、諫議大夫。齊亡，客遊信都而卒。

Zhu Cai, styled Daiwen, came from the Wu capital. While Xiao Zhuang held Huainan, he gave Cai the concurrent post of irregular attendant of the scattered cavalry and sent him as Yuan Shuang's deputy on a mission to court. When Zhuang fell, Cai stayed behind at Ye. He rose by degrees to doctorate of the National University and remonstrance and review grandee. After Qi fell he wandered as a guest in Xindu and died there.

荀仲舉，字士高，潁川人，世江南。仕梁為南沙令，從蕭明於寒山被執。長樂王尉粲甚禮之。與粲劇飲，嚙粲指至骨。顯祖知之，杖仲舉一百。或問其故，答云：「我那知許，當是正疑是麈尾耳。」入館，除符璽郎。後以年老家貧，出為義寧太守。仲舉與趙郡李概交款，概死，仲舉因至其宅，為五言詩十六韻以傷之，詞甚悲切。世稱其美。

Xun Zhongju, styled Shigao, was from Yingchuan; his house had lived for generations in the lands south of the Yangzi. Under Liang he was magistrate of Nansha; he followed Xiao Ming to Hanshan and was taken prisoner. Prince Changle Wei Can honored him deeply. Once, drinking hard with Can, he bit Can's finger to the bone. Xianzu heard of it and had Zhongju beaten one hundred strokes. Asked why, he said, "How was I to know? I must have taken it for the handle of a fly-whisk." He entered the Forest of Literature Hall and was made gentleman of seals and credentials. Later, old age and poverty at home sent him out as grand administrator of Yining. Zhongju and Li Gai of Zhao were close friends; when Gai died, Zhongju went to his house and wrote a pentasyllabic poem in sixteen rhyme-groups to mourn him—its language was piercingly sad. His age praised its beauty.

蕭慤，字仁祖，梁上黃侯曄之子。天保中入國，武平中太子洗馬。

Xiao Min, styled Renzu, was the son of Liang's Marquis Ye of Shanghuang. In the Tianbao era he came into Qi; in Wuping he was crown prince groom.

古道子，河內人。父起，魏太中大夫。道子有幹局，當官以強濟知名，歷檢校御史、司空田曹參軍。自袁奭等俱涉學有文詞。荀仲舉、蕭慤工於詩詠。慤曾秋夜賦詩，其兩句云「芙蓉露下落，楊柳月中疏」，為知音所賞。

Gu Daozi came from Henei. His father Qi had been grand master of palace counsel under Wei. Daozi had real administrative grip; in office he was known for driving affairs through by force, and served as reviewing censor and household-census retainer in the Minister of Works' fields bureau. From Yuan Shuang on, all had touched learning and carried literary skill. Xun Zhongju and Xiao Min were masters of verse. Min once wrote a poem on an autumn night whose two lines ran, "Lotus dew falls; willows thin in the moon"—and men of taste prized them.

贊曰：九流百氏，立言立德，不有斯文，寧資刊勒？乃眷淫靡，永言麗則，雅以正邦，哀以亡國。

Praise: The nine currents and the hundred schools set words and establish virtue—without this cultural pattern, what would carving and printing even serve? Yet the age dotes on lush excess and forever hymns beautiful norms: the elegant style rectifies a state; the elegiac style destroys one.

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.

Cite this Chapter