Volume 34 Biographies 22: You Ya, Gao Lu, Zhao Yi, Hu Sou, Hu Fanggui, Zhang Zhan, Duan Chenggen, Kang Yin, Liu Yanming, Zhao Rou, Sou Chang, Song Yao, Jiang Shi

游雅高閭趙逸胡叟胡方回張湛段承根闞駰劉延明趙柔索敞宋繇江式

You Ya, Gao Lu, Zhao Yi, Hu Sou, Hu Fanghui, Zhang Zhan, Duan Chenggen, Kang Yin, Liu Yanming, Zhao Rou, Sou Chang, Song Yao, and Jiang Shi

列傳第二十二

Biographies 22

游雅從祖弟明根高閭趙逸兄子琰胡叟胡方回張湛段承根宗欽闞駰劉延明趙柔索敞宋繇孫游道江式

Minggen, You Ya's fifth-generation cousin; Gao Lu; Yan, nephew of Zhao Yi; Hu Sou; Hu Fanghui; Zhang Zhan; Zongqin of Duan Chenggen's clan; Kang Yin; Liu Yanming; Zhao Rou; Sou Chang; Youdao, grandson of Song Yao; and Jiang Shi

游雅，字伯度，小名黃頭，廣平任人也。太武時，與勃海高允等俱知名，徵拜中書博士。後使宋，授散騎侍郎，賜爵廣平子。稍遷太子少傅，領禁兵，進爵為侯。受詔與中書侍郎胡方回等改定律制。出為東雍州刺史，假梁郡公。在任廉白，甚有惠政。徵為秘書監，委以國史之任，竟無所成。雅性剛戇，好自矜誕，淩獵人物。高允重雅文學，而雅輕允才，允性柔寬，不以為恨。允將婚于邢氏，雅勸允娶其族，允不從。雅曰：「人貴河間邢，不勝廣平遊；人自棄伯度，我自敬黃頭。」其貴己賤人，皆此類也。允著《征士頌》，殊重雅。雅因議論長短，忿儒者陳奇，遂陷奇至族。議者深責之。卒，贈相州刺史，諡曰宣侯。

You Ya, whose style name was Bodu and whose childhood name was Huangtou, came from Ren in Guangping commandery. Under Emperor Taiwu he won fame alongside Gao Yun of Bohai and others, and was summoned to serve as Erudite of the Secretariat. He was later dispatched as envoy to the Liu Song court, appointed Gentleman of the Palace Cadet, and ennobled as Viscount of Guangping. He rose step by step to Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent, took charge of the palace guard, and was advanced to marquis. By imperial command he joined Secretariat Attendant Hu Fanghui and others in revising the legal code. He was sent out as Governor of Eastern Yong province and given the provisional title Duke of Liang. In his post he was scrupulously honest and governed with notable kindness. Recalled to serve as Director of the Secretariat and charged with compiling the national history, he ultimately produced nothing. Ya was by nature obstinate and overbearing, given to self-aggrandizement, and ruthless toward those around him. Gao Yun held Ya's scholarship in high regard, yet Ya belittled Yun's abilities; Yun, mild and magnanimous by nature, bore no grudge. When Yun was preparing to marry into the Xing clan, Ya pressed him to take a wife from the You family instead, but Yun refused. Ya said, "Men may honor the Xing of Hejian, but they cannot outrank the You of Guangping; others may spurn Bodu, but I still revere Huangtou. His habit of exalting himself while demeaning others was entirely in this vein. Yun composed the "Ode to Reclusive Scholars," in which he singled out Ya for special praise. During a debate over comparative merits, Ya took offense at the scholar Chen Qi and had him condemned in a case that wiped out his entire clan. Commentators condemned him harshly for it. At his death he was posthumously appointed Governor of Xiang province and given the posthumous title Marquis Xuan.

明根字志遠，雅從祖弟也。祖鱓，慕容熙樂浪太守。父幼，馮跋假廣平太守。

Minggen, whose style name was Zhiyuan, was You Ya's fifth-generation cousin. His grandfather Shan had been Administrator of Lelang under Murong Xi. His father You held the provisional post of Administrator of Guangping under Feng Ba.

明根幼年遭亂，為櫟陽王氏奴。主使牧羊，明根以漿壺倩人書字路邊，書地學之。長安鎮將竇瑾見之，呼問，知其姓名，乃告遊雅。雅使人贖之，教書。年十六，辭雅歸鄉里，于白渠坎為窟，讀書積歲。雅稱薦之，太武擢為中書學生。性寡欲，綜習經史。文成踐阼，為都曹主書。帝以其敬慎，每嗟美之。假員外散騎常侍、安樂侯，使宋。宋孝武稱其長者，迎送禮加常使。獻文時，累遷東兗州刺史，封新泰侯，為政清平。孝文時為儀曹長，清約恭謹，號為稱職。曆儀曹尚書，加散騎常侍。遷大鴻臚卿、河南王幹師，尚書如故，隨例降侯為伯。又參定律令，屢進讜言。

Minggen was caught up in the chaos of his youth and ended up a bondservant in the household of the Wangs of Liyang. His master set him to tend sheep; Minggen would trade his broth jar for someone to write characters along the road, then copy them on the ground to teach himself. Dou Jin, the garrison commander at Chang'an, noticed him, summoned him for questioning, learned who he was, and reported the matter to You Ya. Ya sent men to ransom him and put him to his studies. At sixteen he took leave of Ya and went home, excavating a cave beside the Baiqu canal where he buried himself in books for years on end. Ya spoke highly of him and recommended him; Emperor Taiwu selected him as a student of the Secretariat. He was abstemious by temperament and had mastered the full range of classical and historical texts. When Emperor Wencheng took the throne, he was appointed Chief Clerk of the Capital Bureau. The emperor, struck by his dutiful care, often praised him with audible admiration. He was given the provisional posts of Acting Regular Attendant of the Palace Cadet and Marquis of Anle and dispatched as envoy to the Song court. Emperor Xiaowu of Song hailed him as a man of mature dignity, and the courtesies of his reception and farewell surpassed those accorded ordinary envoys. Under Emperor Xianwen he rose through successive appointments to Governor of Eastern Yan, was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xintai, and governed with clarity and fairness. Under Emperor Xiaowen he headed the Ceremonies Bureau, living frugally and conducting himself with scrupulous deference, and was regarded as thoroughly competent. He went on to serve as Minister of Ceremonies and was additionally appointed Regular Attendant of the Palace Cadet. He was promoted to Grand Minister of Splendor and appointed tutor to Prince Gan of Henan while keeping his ministerial title; in accordance with precedent his marquisate was lowered to a barony. He also took part in drafting laws and statutes and submitted forthright counsel on many occasions.

明根以年逾七十，表求致仕，優詔許之。引入陳謝，悲不自勝。帝言別殷勤，仍為流涕，賜青紗單衣、委貌冠、被褥、錦袍等物。其年，以司徒尉元為三老，明根為五更，行禮辟雍，賜步挽一乘，給上卿祿，供食之味，太官就第月送。以定律令。賜布帛等。歸本郡，又賜安車、兩馬、幄帳、被褥。車駕幸鄴，明根朝於行宮，優詔賜以穀帛，敕太官備送珍羞，為造甲第。國有大事，恆璽書訪之。舊疾發動，手詔問疾，太醫送藥。卒于家，宣武弔祭贈賵甚厚，贈光祿大夫，金章紫綬，諡靖侯。

When Minggen passed seventy, he memorialized the throne requesting retirement, and a gracious edict approved his request. He was summoned for a farewell audience and was overcome with sorrow. The emperor addressed him with affectionate parting words, wept again himself, and granted him a green gauze coat, a ceremonial cap, bedding, a brocade robe, and other gifts. That same year Yuan Xuan, Minister of Works, was appointed Elder and Minggen Quintus for the rites at the Imperial Academy; he received a hand-drawn carriage, a senior minister's stipend, delicacies for his table, and monthly deliveries from the Imperial Kitchen to his home. He was charged with revising the laws and statutes. He received gifts of cloth, silk, and other goods. On returning to his native commandery he was further given a comfort carriage, two horses, a curtained pavilion, and bedding. When the emperor traveled to Ye, Minggen presented himself at the temporary palace; a gracious edict bestowed grain and cloth, the Imperial Kitchen was ordered to supply delicacies, and a grand residence was built for him. Whenever weighty matters arose for the state, the throne unfailingly sought his counsel by sealed edict. When his chronic ailment returned, the emperor wrote in his own hand to ask after him, and the court physicians sent medicines. He died at home; Emperor Xuanwu sent condolences and lavish funeral gifts, posthumously raising him to Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with golden seal and purple cord and the posthumous title Marquis Jing.

明根曆官內外五十餘年，處身以仁和，接物以禮讓，時論貴之。孝文初，明根與高閭以儒老學業，特被禮遇，公私出入，每相追隨；而閭以才筆，時侮明根。世號高、遊焉。

Minggen served at court and in the provinces for more than fifty years, living with benevolence and treating others with courteous restraint; men of his day held him in high esteem. Early in Emperor Xiaowen's reign, Minggen and Gao Lu, revered as venerable Confucian scholars, enjoyed exceptional favor; whether at court or abroad they were seldom apart; yet Lu, confident in his literary gifts, would often slight Minggen. Their generation paired them as "Gao and You."

子肇襲，字伯始，孝文賜名焉。博綜經史。孝文初，為內秘書侍御中散，稍遷典命中大夫。車駕南伐，肇表諫，不納。尋遷太子中庶子。肇謙素敦重，文雅見任。以父老，求解官扶侍。孝文欲令祿養，出為本州南安王楨鎮北府長史，帶魏郡太守。王薨，復為高陽王雍鎮北府長史，太守如故。為政清簡，加以匡贊，曆佐二王，甚有聲績。以父憂解任。復授黃門侍郎，兼侍中，為畿內大使，黜陟善惡，賞罰分明。曆太府、廷尉卿，兼御史中尉，黃門如故。肇儒者，動存名教，直繩所舉，莫非傷風敗俗。持法仁平，斷獄務於矜恕。尚書令高肇，宣武之舅，百僚懾憚，以肇名與己同，欲令改易。肇以孝文所賜，執志不許，高肇甚銜之，宣武嘉其剛梗。

His son Zhao succeeded him, with the style name Boshi, a name granted by Emperor Xiaowen. He had a comprehensive command of the classics and histories. Early in Emperor Xiaowen's reign he served as Attendant and Regular Palace Cadet of the Inner Secretariat, and was later promoted to Grand Master of Palace Writings. When the emperor marched south on campaign, Zhao memorialized in protest, but his advice went unheeded. He was soon appointed Junior Mentor of the Heir Apparent. Zhao was modest, sober, and grave in bearing, and won trust through his cultivated learning. When his father grew old, he asked to resign his post so he could care for him at home. Emperor Xiaowen arranged for him to draw a stipend while serving near home as Chief Clerk on the staff of Prince Zhen of Nan'an's northern headquarters, with concurrent appointment as Administrator of Wei commandery. After that prince's death he took the same post on Prince Yong of Gaoyang's northern staff, still holding the prefecture. He governed with clarity and restraint while offering steadfast counsel; assisting two princes in turn, he built a strong reputation. He resigned when his father died. He was reappointed Gentleman of the Yellow Gate and Attendant-in-Ordinary, and as metropolitan inspector he promoted the worthy and removed the unfit, distinguishing rewards from punishments with unmistakable clarity. He went on to head the Imperial Treasury and the Ministry of Justice, while also serving as Chief Commandant of Censors and keeping his Yellow Gate title. A Confucian in spirit, he upheld the moral order in every action; every case he brought forward as censor involved conduct that offended public decency. He applied the law with humane evenhandedness and judged cases with an eye to mercy. Chief Minister Gao Zhao, the emperor's uncle on his mother's side, inspired fear throughout the bureaucracy; finding that Zhao bore the same personal name, he wanted him to change it. Zhao refused, insisting that the name had been granted by Emperor Xiaowen; Gao Zhao bore a deep grudge, but Emperor Xuanwu admired his unyielding integrity.

肇外寬柔，內剛直，耽好經傳，手不釋書。善《周易》、《毛詩》，尤精《三禮》。為《易集解》，撰《冠婚儀》、《白圭論》，詩賦表啟凡七十五篇。謙廉不競，曾撰《儒棋》，以表其志。清貧寡欲，資仰俸祿而已。為廷尉時，宣武嘗敕肇有所降恕，執而不從，曰：「陛下自能恕之，豈可令臣曲筆也。」其執意如此。及明帝初，近侍群官預在奉迎者，自侍中崔光以下並加封，封肇文安縣侯。肇獨曰：「子襲父位，今古之常，因此獲封，何以自處？」固辭不應。論者高之。

Outwardly mild, inwardly unbending, he was devoted to the classics and never let a book leave his hand. He excelled in the Book of Changes and the Mao recension of the Odes, and was especially masterful in the Three Rites. He produced Collected Explanations of the Changes, authored Rites of Capping and Marriage and Discourse on the White Jade, and wrote seventy-five works in all, including verse, fu, memorials, and reports. Humble, upright, and free of rivalry, he once wrote Confucian Chess to declare his principles. He lived in clean poverty with few wants, subsisting on his official stipend alone. As Minister of Justice, he once received an order from Emperor Xuanwu to extend clemency in certain cases; he stood firm and refused, saying, "Your Majesty may pardon whom you will—how can you ask me to distort the record? Such was the steadfastness of his convictions. At the beginning of Emperor Ming's reign, every close attendant who had helped receive him at his accession, from Cui Guang the Attendant-in-Ordinary on down, was ennobled; Zhao was made Marquis of Wen'an. Zhao alone protested, "A son succeeds his father's place—that is the way of every age. To be ennobled for that alone—how could one face the world? He steadfastly refused the honor. Contemporary opinion ranked him the higher for it.

子祥，字宗良，頗有才學。襲爵新泰伯，位國子博士，領尚書郎中。明帝以肇昔辭文安之封，復欲封祥，祥守其父志，卒不受。又追論肇前議清河，守正不屈，乃封祥高邑縣侯。卒，贈給事黃門侍郎、幽州刺史，諡曰文。

His son Xiang, whose style name was Zongliang, was a man of real learning. He inherited his father's barony of Xintai, served as Erudite of the Imperial University, and concurrently headed a bureau in the Secretariat. Remembering that Zhao had once refused Wen'an, Emperor Ming sought to ennoble Xiang instead; Xiang held to his father's principles and ultimately declined. The court then recalled Zhao's earlier stand on the Qinghe affair, when he had upheld principle without bending, and enfeoffed Xiang as Marquis of Gaoyi. At his death he was posthumously appointed Supervisor of Attendants of the Yellow Gate and Governor of You province, with the posthumous epithet Wen.

高閭，字閻士，漁陽雍奴人也。五世祖原，晉安北將軍、上谷太守、關中侯，有碑在薊中。祖雅，少有令名，位州別駕。父洪，字季願，位陳留王從事中郎。閭貴，乃贈幽州刺史、固安貞子。

Gao Lu, whose style name was Yanshi, came from Yongnu in Yuyang commandery. His fifth-generation ancestor Yuan had been a Jin general titled Pacifier of the North, Administrator of Shanggu, and Marquis Within the Passes; a memorial stele to him still stood in Ji. His grandfather Ya won an excellent name while young and rose to Provincial Attendant. His father Hong, styled Jiyuan, served as Attendant on the staff of the Prince of Chenliu. After Lu achieved distinction, his father was posthumously honored as Governor of You and Viscount Zhen of Gu'an.

閭早孤，少好學，博綜經史，下筆成章。少為車子，送租至平城，修剌詣崔浩。浩與語奇之，使為謝中書監表。明日，浩曆租車過，駐馬呼閭，諸車子皆驚。閭本名驢，浩乃改為閭，而字焉，由是知名。和平末，為中書侍郎。文成崩，乙渾擅權，內外危懼，文明太后臨朝誅渾，引閭與中書令高允入禁中參決大政，賜爵安樂子。與鎮南大將軍尉元南赴徐州，以功進爵為侯。獻文即位，徙崇光宮，閭表上《至德頌》。高允以閭文章富逸，舉以自代，遂為獻文所知，參論政事。永明初，為中書令、給事中，委以機密。文明太后甚重閭，詔令書檄碑銘讚頌皆其文也。太和三年，出師討淮北，閭表諫，陳四疑，請時速返旆。文明太后曰：「六軍電發，有若摧朽，何慮四難也。」遷尚書、中書監。淮南王他奏求依舊斷祿，閭表以為若不班祿，則貪者肆其姦情，清者不能自保，詔從閭議。

Orphaned young, Lu took eagerly to study in his boyhood, mastered the classics and histories, and wrote polished prose at a stroke. As a youth he drove carts, hauling rent grain to Pingcheng; he drafted a visiting card and called on Cui Hao. Hao spoke with him, was struck by his ability, and had him draft a letter of thanks to the Director of the Secretariat. The next day, as Hao passed the rent carts, he reined in and called out to Lu; every cart-hand was astonished. Lu had originally been named Donkey; Hao changed his name to Lu and gave him a style name, and from that moment he became known. Near the close of the Heping era he was appointed Secretariat Attendant. After Emperor Wencheng's death, Yichun Hun seized power and the court was gripped by fear; Empress Dowager Wenming took the reins, executed Hun, and brought Lu and Chief Minister Gao Yun into the inner palace to decide major policy, ennobling Lu as Viscount of Anle. He accompanied General Who Guards the South Yuan Xuan on the southern campaign to Xuzhou and, for his service, was promoted to marquis. When Emperor Xianwen took the throne and the court relocated to Chongguang Palace, Lu memorialized the throne with his "Ode to Supreme Virtue." Gao Yun, impressed by the richness and grace of Lu's prose, proposed him as his successor; Lu thereby won Emperor Xianwen's attention and joined in deliberations on state policy. Early in the Yongming era he was appointed Chief Minister of the Secretariat and Palace Attendant, with charge of confidential affairs. Empress Dowager Wenming held Lu in high esteem; edicts, dispatches, stele texts, eulogies, and hymns issued under her name were largely his work. In the third year of Taihe, as troops marched to subdue the region north of the Huai, Lu memorialized in protest, laying out four grounds for doubt and urging an immediate withdrawal. Empress Dowager Wenming replied, "The six armies move like lightning, crushing all before them like rotten timber—what need to fret over four difficulties? He was promoted to Minister of the Secretariat and Director of the Secretariat. Prince Ta of Huainan asked that official stipends be suspended as in earlier times; Lu argued that without regular distribution of salaries the corrupt would run unchecked and honest men could not survive; the throne adopted Lu's view.

孝文又引見王公以下于皇信堂，令辯忠佞。閭曰：「佞者飾知以行事，忠者發心以附道，譬如玉石，皦然可知。」帝曰：「玉石同體而異名，忠佞異名而同理。求之於同，則得其所以異；尋之於異，則失其所以同。出處同異之間，交換忠佞之境，豈是皦然易明哉？或有托佞以成忠，或有假忠以飾佞，如楚之子綦，後事雖忠，初非佞也？」閭曰：「子綦諫楚，初雖隨述，終致忠言，此適欲幾諫，非為佞也。子綦若不設初權，後忠無由得顯。」帝善閭對。後上表曰：

Emperor Xiaowen again assembled the princes, nobles, and officials in the Hall of Imperial Trust and set them to debate the difference between loyalty and sycophancy. Lu said, "The sycophant dresses up knowledge to get his way; the loyal man gives his heart to the Way. The difference is as clear as that between jade and common stone. The emperor said, "Jade and stone are the same in substance yet differ in name; loyalty and sycophancy differ in name yet rest on the same underlying pattern. Seek what they share in common, and you grasp why they differ; pursue only what sets them apart, and you lose sight of what unites them. Between advance and retreat, likeness and difference, the shifting ground where loyalty and sycophancy trade places—how could any distinction be obvious at a glance? Some use sycophancy to accomplish loyalty; some borrow loyalty to mask sycophancy. Take Ziqi of Chu: though loyal in the end, was he not sycophantic at the outset? Lu replied, "When Ziqi remonstrated with the king of Chu, he began by echoing the king's own words yet ended in frank counsel. That was indirect remonstrance, not sycophancy. Without that initial stratagem, his later loyalty could never have come to light. The emperor was pleased with Lu's answer. He later submitted a memorial that read:

臣聞為國之道，其要有五：一曰文德，二曰武功，三曰法度，四曰防固，五曰刑賞。故遠人不服，則修文德以來之；荒狡放命，則播武功以威之；人未知戰，則制法度以齊之；暴敵輕侵，則設防固以禦之；臨事制勝，則明賞罰以勸之。用能辟國甯方，征伐四克。北狄悍愚，同於禽獸，所長者野戰，所短者攻城。若以狄之所短，奪其所長，則雖眾不能成患，雖來不能內逼。又狄散居野澤，隨逐水草，戰則與室家並至，奔則與畜牧俱逃。是以古人伐北方，攘其侵掠而已。歷代為邊患者，良以倏忽無常故也。六鎮勢分，倍眾不鬥，互相圍逼，難以制之。昔周命南仲，城彼朔方，趙靈、秦始，長城是築；漢之孝武，踵其前事。此四代之君，皆帝王之雄傑，所以同此役者，非智術之不長，兵眾之不足，乃防狄之要事，理宜然也。

I have heard that governing a state rests on five essentials: civil virtue, martial prowess, law and regulation, frontier defense, and the balance of punishment and reward. When distant peoples refuse submission, cultivate civil virtue to win them over; when savage and defiant enemies run riot, display martial might to overawe them; when the people are untrained for war, establish laws and standards to discipline them; when violent foes raid with impunity, build defenses to hold them off; when victory must be seized in the field, make rewards and punishments clear to spur men on. By such means a state may expand its borders, secure the realm, and prevail in every campaign. The northern barbarians are brutal and simple, little better than animals; they excel at open battle but are weak at siege warfare. If we exploit their weaknesses to neutralize their strengths, then even in great numbers they cannot threaten us, and even when they come they cannot press deep into our territory. Moreover they live scattered across marshes and wild country, moving with the pasturage; when they fight they bring their families with them, and when they flee they drive off their herds as well. That is why the ancients, when they campaigned northward, contented themselves with repelling raids and incursions. Dynasty after dynasty suffered on the frontier chiefly because these enemies struck suddenly and without warning. The six frontier garrisons are scattered; even at double strength they hesitate to give battle, and when they hem one another in they become difficult to command. Long ago Zhou commissioned Nanzhong to fortify the northern frontier; King Ling of Zhao and the First Emperor of Qin raised the Long Wall; and Emperor Wu of Han followed their example. These four rulers were all formidable sovereigns. They undertook the same labor not from lack of strategy or troops, but because guarding against the northern barbarians was essential—and rightly so.

今故宜於六鎮之北築長城，以禦北虜，雖有暫勞之勤，乃有永逸之益。即於要害，往往開門，造小城於其側，因施卻敵，多置弓弩。狄來，有城可守，有兵可捍。既不攻城，野掠無獲，草盡則走，終始必懲。又宜發近州武勇四萬人，及京師二萬人，合六萬人，為武士；于苑內立征北大將軍府，選忠勇有志幹者以充其選。下置官屬，分為三軍：二萬人專習弓射，二萬人專習刀楯，二萬人專習騎槊。修立戰場，十日一習。采諸葛亮八陣之法，為平地禦敵之方，使其解兵革之宜，識旌旗之節。兵器精堅，必堪禦寇。使將有定兵，兵有常主，上下相信，晝夜如一。七月，發六郡兵萬人，各備戎作之具，敕臺北諸屯倉庫，隨近往來，俱送北鎮。至八月，征北部率所鎮，與六鎮之兵，直至磧南，揚威漠北。狄若來拒，與決戰；若其不來，然後散分其地，以築長城。計六鎮，東西不過千里，若一夫一月之功當二步之地，三百人三里，三千人三十里，三萬人三百里，則千里之地，強弱相兼，計十萬人一月必就。軍糧一月，不足為多，人懷永逸，勞而無怨。計築長城，其利有五：罷遊防之苦，其利一也；北部放牧，無抄掠之患，其利二也；登城觀敵，以逸待勞，其利三也；省境防之虞，息無時之備，其利四也；歲常遊運，永得不匱，其利五也。

We should therefore build a long wall north of the six garrisons to hold off the northern foe. The labor would be brief; the benefit, lasting. At every critical point open gates at intervals, erect small forts beside them, deploy countermeasures against attack, and stock them heavily with crossbows. When the barbarians come, there will be walls to hold and soldiers to fight. Unable to take walled places and finding no profit in open raiding, they will withdraw once the pasturage is spent—and in the end they will always be punished. We should also mobilize forty thousand seasoned fighters from nearby provinces and twenty thousand from the capital—sixty thousand warriors in all. Establish a headquarters for the General Who Campaigns North within the imperial park, and fill its ranks with men of loyalty, courage, and resolve. Appoint a full staff beneath it and divide the force into three corps: twenty thousand trained in archery, twenty thousand in sword and shield, and twenty thousand in mounted lance combat. Build training grounds and drill the men every ten days. Adopt Zhuge Liang's Eight Arrays formation for open-field defense, so that the men learn the proper use of arms and the signals of banner and drum. Their weapons must be of the finest make, fit to repel any foe. Let each commander have a fixed force and each soldier a fixed leader, so that officers and men trust one another without fail, day or night. In the seventh month mobilize ten thousand men from six commanderies, each with tools for military construction; order the depots north of the capital to forward supplies as convenience allows, all destined for the northern garrisons. By the eighth month the northern headquarters should lead its forces and the six garrisons' troops to the southern desert and display our might across the northern steppe. If the barbarians come out to fight, meet them in decisive battle; if they do not, then divide the labor across the territory and raise the long wall. The six garrisons span no more than a thousand li east to west. If one man in one month can complete two paces of wall, then three hundred men will finish three li, three thousand thirty li, and thirty thousand three hundred li. With a mixed force of strong and weak totaling one hundred thousand men, the full thousand li could be finished in a single month. A month's rations are a modest expense; the men will accept brief hardship for lasting security and labor without resentment. Building the long wall offers five benefits: first, an end to the misery of roving frontier defense; second, secure pasturage in the north without fear of raids; third, the ability to watch the enemy from the walls and meet their exertion with rested troops; fourth, relief from constant frontier anxiety and endless vigilance; fifth, an end to the annual emergency convoys and perpetual shortages of supply.

孝文詔曰：「比當與卿面論。」又詔閭為書問蠕蠕。時蠕蠕國有喪而書不敘凶事。帝曰：「卿職典文辭，不論彼之凶事，若知而不作，罪在灼然；若情思不至，應謝所任。」對曰：「昔蠕蠕主敦崇和親，其子屢犯邊境，如臣愚見，謂不宜吊。」帝曰：「敬其父則子悅，敬其君則臣悅，卿雲不合吊慰，是何言歟？」閭遂免冠謝罪。帝曰：「蠕蠕使牟提，小心恭慎，同行疾其敦厚，恐其還北，必被謗誣。昔劉准使殷靈誕，每禁下人不為非禮事，及還，果被譖訴，以致極刑。今書可明牟提忠於其國，使蠕蠕主知之。」

Emperor Xiaowen replied, "I shall discuss this with you in person before long. He also ordered Lu to draft a diplomatic letter to the Rouran. The Rouran were in mourning at the time, yet the letter made no mention of the bereavement. The emperor said, "Your office oversees state documents. To ignore their bereavement—if you knew and omitted it, the fault is plain; if your heart was not in the task, you ought to resign your post. Lu replied, "The late Rouran ruler honored peace with us, yet his son has raided our borders again and again. In my humble view, condolences would be inappropriate." The emperor said, "Honor the father and the son is gratified; honor the ruler and his ministers are gratified—yet you say we should not send condolences. What kind of counsel is that?" Lu removed his cap and begged the emperor's pardon. The emperor said, "The Rouran envoy Mouti is careful and respectful. His companions resent his integrity, and I fear that when he returns north he will be slandered. When Liu Song once sent Yin Lingdan as envoy, he forbade his attendants every impropriety; on his return he was denounced nonetheless and put to death. Let today's letter make plain that Mouti is loyal to his country, so that the Rouran ruler may know it."

是年冬至，大饗群官，孝文親舞于太后前，群臣皆舞。帝乃長歌，仍率群臣再拜上壽。閭進曰：「臣聞大夫行孝，行合一家；諸侯行孝，聲著一國；天子行孝，德被四海。今陛下敦行孝道，臣等不勝慶踴，謹上千萬歲壽。」帝大悅。又議政於皇信堂，閭曰：「伏思太皇太后十八條之令，及仰尋聖朝所行，事周於百揆，願終成其事。」帝曰：「刑法者，王道所用。何者為法？何者為刑？施行之日，何先何後？」對曰：「刑制之會，軌物齊眾，謂之法；犯違制約，致之於憲，謂之刑。然則法必先施，刑必後著。」帝曰：「《論語》稱：冉子退朝，孔子曰：'何晏也？ '曰：'有政。 '子曰：'其事也，如其有政，雖不吾以，吾其與聞之。 '何者為政？何者為事？」對曰：「政者，上之所行；事者，下之所綜。」後詔閭與太常采雅樂以營金石。又領廣陵王師，出除鎮南將軍、相州刺史。以參定律令之勤，賜布帛粟牛馬等。遷都洛陽，閭表諫，言遷有十損，必不獲已，請遷於鄴。帝頗嫌之。

At the winter solstice that year the court held a grand feast for the officials; Emperor Xiaowen danced before the empress dowager, and the whole assembly followed. The emperor then sang a long verse and led the ministers in bowing twice to offer wishes for long life. Lu stepped forward and said, "I have heard that when a grandee practices filial piety, his household is brought into harmony; when a feudal lord practices it, his renown fills a whole state; when the Son of Heaven practices it, his virtue reaches the four seas. Your Majesty now practices filial piety with such devotion that we cannot contain our joy, and we respectfully wish you ten thousand years of life. The emperor was delighted. Deliberating again in the Hall of Imperial Trust, Lu said, "I reflect on the Grand Empress Dowager's eighteen ordinances and review what the sacred court has undertaken. The program touches every branch of government, and I pray it may be brought to completion. The emperor said, "Punishments and laws are instruments of the kingly Way. What counts as law? What counts as punishment? When they are put into practice, which comes first and which after? Lu replied, "The standards that regulate conduct and harmonize the people are called law; transgression of those standards and subjection to the penal code is called punishment. Law must therefore be established first; punishment follows after. The emperor said, "The Analects records that when Ran withdrew from court, Confucius asked, 'Why so late? Ran replied, 'There was government business.' Confucius said, 'Mere routine affairs. If it had been true government, even though he does not employ me, I should have heard something of it.' What counts as government? What counts as routine affairs?' Lu replied, "Government is what those above enact; affairs are what those below manage. Later the emperor ordered Lu and the Minister of Ceremonies to collect refined music for the court's bells and stone chimes. He also served as tutor to the Prince of Guangling, then left the capital as General Who Guards the South and Governor of Xiang province. For his work on the legal code he received gifts of cloth, silk, grain, cattle, and horses. When the court moved the capital to Luoyang, Lu memorialized in protest, arguing that the transfer entailed ten losses; if a move could not be avoided, he urged relocating to Ye instead. The emperor took considerable offense.

雍州刺史曹武據襄陽請降，車駕親幸懸瓠。閭表諫：洛陽草創，武既不遣質任，必非誠心，帝不納。武果虛詐，諸將皆無功而還。車駕還幸石濟，閭朝於行宮。帝謂曰：「朕往年之意，不欲決征。但兵士已集，恐為幽王之失，不容中止，遂至淮南。而彼諸將並列州鎮，至無所獲，實由晚一月日故耳。」閭曰：「古攻戰法，倍則攻之，十則圍之。聖駕親征，誠應大捷，所以無大獲，良由兵少故也。今京邑甫爾，庶事造創，願陛下當從容伊、瀍，使德被四海。」帝曰：「願從容伊、瀍，實亦不少，但未獲耳。」閭曰：「司馬相如臨終，恨不封禪。今雖江介不賓，然中州地略以盡平，豈可聖明之辰，而闕盛禮？」帝曰：「荊揚未一，豈得如卿言也？」閭以江南非中國，且三代之境，亦不能遠。帝曰：「淮海惟揚州，荊及衡陽惟荊州，此非近中國乎？」

Cao Wu, Governor of Yong province, held Xiangyang and offered to surrender; the emperor went in person to Xuanchi. Lu memorialized in protest: Luoyang was still being built, and since Wu had sent no hostage his offer could not be sincere. The emperor would not listen. Wu proved treacherous after all, and the generals returned without success. On the emperor's return to Shiji, Lu presented himself at the traveling palace. The Emperor said to him, "In earlier years I had not meant to commit to a full-scale campaign. But the troops were already mustered, and I feared repeating King You's error—once begun, the campaign could not be stopped, and so it reached Huainan. Those commanders all held provincial and garrison posts at the same time, so in the end we took almost nothing—the real reason was simply that we were a month too late. Gao Lu replied, "The old military rule says: double the enemy's strength and you attack; ten times it and you besiege. When Your Majesty leads the army in person, a great victory is only right—but we won little because our forces were too few. The capital has only just been settled and every institution is still being built. I hope Your Majesty will govern at ease from the Yi and Chan rivers, and let your virtue reach the four seas." The Emperor said, "My wish to rule at ease from Yi and Chan is no small one—but I have not yet attained it." Gao Lu said, "On his deathbed Sima Xiangru regretted that he had never performed the feng and shan rites. Though the riverlands still hold out, the heartland is largely at peace. How can an age as enlightened as this go without the supreme ceremony?" The Emperor said, "Jing and Yang are not yet united—how can I do as you suggest?" Gao Lu considered the lands south of the Yangzi not to be China, and held that even the Three Dynasties had never reached far beyond that. The Emperor said, "From the Huai to the sea is Yang Province; Jing and Hengyang make up Jing Province—is that not near the heartland?"

及車駕至鄴，孝文頻幸其州館，下詔褒揚之。閭每請本州以自效，詔曰：「閭以懸車之年，方求衣錦。知進忘退，有塵謙德，可降號平北將軍。朝之老成，宜遂情願，徙授幽州刺史，令存勸兼行，恩法並舉。」閭以諸州罷從事，依府置參軍，於政體不便，表宜復舊。帝不悅。歲餘，表求致仕，優答不許。徵為太常卿，頻表陳遜，不聽。又車駕南討漢陽，閭上表諫求回師，帝不納。漢陽平，賜閭璽書，閭上表陳謝。

When the imperial procession reached Ye, Emperor Xiaowen often called at Gao Lu's provincial residence and issued an edict commending him. Gao Lu repeatedly asked to serve in his home province and prove himself. An edict read: "Gao Lu, at the age when one should retire, now seeks to return home in glory. He knows how to press forward but not how to step back, tarnishing the virtue of humility. Let his title be reduced to General Who Pacifies the North. As a senior man of the court, his wish should be granted. Transfer him and appoint him Governor of You Province, with orders to practice both nurture and admonition together, blending grace and law. Gao Lu held that abolishing provincial Recorders and staffing offices with Military Aides on the prefectural model was bad for governance, and submitted a memorial asking that the old arrangement be restored. The Emperor was displeased. More than a year later he submitted a memorial asking to retire; the Emperor graciously refused. He was summoned to serve as Minister of Ceremonies and repeatedly memorialized to decline, but the Emperor would not hear of it. When the Emperor marched south against Hanyang, Gao Lu submitted a memorial urging withdrawal; the Emperor did not accept his advice. After Hanyang was pacified, the Emperor sent Gao Lu an imperial letter under seal, and Gao Lu submitted a memorial of thanks.

宣武踐阼，閭累表遜位，優詔授光祿大夫，金章紫綬；使吏部尚書邢巒就家拜授。及辭，引見東堂，賜以肴羞，訪之大政。以其先朝儒舊，告老求歸，帝為之流涕。優詔賜安車、几杖、輿馬、繪彩、衣服、布帛，事從豐厚。百寮餞之，猶群公之祖二疏也。閭進陟北芒，上《望闕表》以示戀慕之誠。卒于家，諡文貞。

When Emperor Xuanwu took the throne, Gao Lu repeatedly asked to yield his post. A gracious edict appointed him Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, with golden seal and purple sash. The Minister of the Civil Service, Xing Luan, was sent to his home to confer the appointment. When he came to bid farewell, the Emperor received him in the Eastern Hall, gave him a feast, and questioned him on weighty affairs of state. Because he was a scholar-official of the former reign who now asked to retire and go home, the Emperor wept for him. A gracious edict granted him a comfort carriage, armrest and staff, horses and carriage, painted silks, robes, and cloth—all in generous measure. The whole court saw him off, as the great ministers had once done for the Two Shu. Gao Lu climbed Mount Beimang and submitted his "Memorial Gazing Toward the Palace Gate" to show his longing and loyalty. He died at home and was given the posthumous name Wen Zhen.

閭好為文章，集四十卷。其文亦高允之流，後稱二高，為當時所服。閭強果敢直諫，其在私室，言裁聞耳；及於朝廷廣眾之中，則談論鋒起，人莫能敵。孝文以其文雅之美，每優禮之。然貪褊矜慢。初在中書，好詈辱諸博士。學生百餘人，有所幹求者，無不受其賄。及老為二州，乃更廉儉自謹，有良牧之譽。子元昌襲爵，位遼西、博陵二郡太守。閭弟悅，篤志好學，有美於閭，早卒。

Gao Lu loved writing, and his collected works ran to forty scrolls. His prose ranked with Gao Yun's; later the two were called "the Two Gaos," and men of the time held them in esteem. Gao Lu was forceful, resolute, and fearless in direct remonstrance; in private his words scarcely rose above a whisper. Yet in the open court, his speech flashed like drawn steel, and no one could stand against him. Emperor Xiaowen, valuing his literary grace, always treated him with exceptional courtesy. Yet he was greedy, petty, proud, and disdainful of others. In his early days at the Secretariat he liked to curse and humiliate the court erudites. Of his more than a hundred student clerks, anyone who came with a request had to pay him a bribe—none escaped it. When he grew old and governed two provinces, he turned frugal and self-disciplined and won a name as a good magistrate. His son Yuan Chang inherited the marquisate and served as Administrator of Liaoxi and Boling commanderies. Gao Lu's younger brother Yue was devoted to learning and outshone Gao Lu in talent, but died young.

趙逸，字思群，天水人也。父昌，石勒黃門郎。逸好學夙成，仕姚興，曆中書侍郎。後為赫連屈丐所虜，拜著作郎。太武平統萬，見逸所著，曰：「此豎無道，安得為此言乎！作者誰也？速推之。」司徒崔浩進曰：「彼之謬述，亦子雲《美新》，固宜容之。」帝乃止。曆中書侍郎、赤城鎮將，頻表乞免，久乃見許。性好墳典，白首彌勤，年逾七十，手不釋卷，凡所著述，詩賦銘頌五十餘篇。

Zhao Yi, styled Sigun, was a native of Tianshui. His father Chang had been a Yellow Gate Attendant under Shi Le. Zhao Yi loved learning and showed early promise. He entered the service of Yao Xing and rose to Secretariat Gentleman. Later he was taken captive by Helian Qugai and appointed Compiler. When Emperor Taiwu took Tongwan and read Zhao Yi's writings, he said, "This worthless wretch has no principles—how dare he write such things! Who wrote this? Bring him here at once. Minister over the Masses Cui Hao stepped forward and said, "These mistaken writings are like Yang Xiong's Praise of the New—they should be tolerated." The Emperor then let the matter drop. He served in turn as Secretariat Gentleman and General of Chicheng Garrison, repeatedly asking to be relieved of office; only after a long while was he allowed to go. He loved the classics by nature and grew only more diligent with age. Past seventy he never put down his books; his writings—poems, rhapsodies, inscriptions, and eulogies—numbered more than fifty pieces.

逸兄溫，字思恭，博學有高名，為姚泓天水太守。劉裕滅泓，遂沒於氐。氐王楊難當稱籓，太武以溫為難當府司馬，卒于仇池令。

Zhao Yi's elder brother Wen, styled Sigong, was widely learned and greatly admired; he served Yao Hong as Administrator of Tianshui. When Liu Yu destroyed Yao Hong, Wen fell into Di hands. When the Di king Yang Nandang submitted as a vassal, Emperor Taiwu made Wen Chief Administrator in Nandang's princely household; he died while serving as Magistrate of Qiuchi.

溫子琰，字叔起。初，苻氏亂，琰為乳母攜奔壽春，年十四乃歸。孝心色養，飪熟之節，必親調之。皇興中，京師儉，婢簡粟糶之，琰遇見，切責，敕留輕昻比。嘗送子應冀州娉室，從者于路遇得一羊，行三十里而琰知之，令送於本處。又過路旁，主人設羊羹，琰訪知盜殺，卒辭不食。遣人買耜刃，得剩六耜，即命送還刃主。刃主高之，義而不受，琰命委之而去。初為兗州司馬，轉團城鎮副將。還京，為淮南王他府長史。時禁制甚嚴，不聽越關葬於舊兆，琰積四十餘年不得葬二親。及蒸嘗拜獻，未曾不嬰慕卒事。每於時節，不受子孫慶賀。年餘耳順，而孝思彌篤，慨歲月推移，遷窆無冀，乃絕鹽粟，斷諸肴味，食麥而已。年八十卒。遷都洛陽，子應等乃還鄉葬焉。應弟煦，字賓育，好音律，以善歌聞於世，位秦州刺史。

Wen's son was Yan, styled Shuqi. When the Fu clan fell into chaos, Yan's wet nurse fled with him to Shouchun; he did not return until he was fourteen. He cared for his parents with filial devotion in word and deed; whenever food was cooked, he personally saw to its preparation. During the Huangxing reign, when the capital was in famine, a maidservant sifted grain to sell it. Yan caught her at it, rebuked her sharply, and ordered one light angbi measure withheld. Once, while sending his son Ying to Jizhou to arrange a marriage, a servant picked up a goat on the road. Thirty li later Yan found out and ordered it returned to the spot where it had been taken. On another journey he stopped at a roadside house where the host served goat stew. Yan asked around, learned the goat had been stolen and slaughtered, and in the end refused the meal. He sent a man to buy plow blades; six blades were left over, and he at once ordered them returned to the seller. The seller, admiring his integrity, would not accept payment on principle; Yan had the money left with him and went on. He first served as Chief Administrator of Yanzhou, then was transferred to Deputy General of Tuancheng Garrison. Returning to the capital, he became Senior Administrator in the household of the Prince of Huainan, Ta. Restrictions were then very strict: burial in ancestral tombs across the frontier was forbidden, and Yan went more than forty years unable to bury his parents. At the seasonal sacrifices he never failed to be overcome with grief when the rites ended, weeping as he finished. At every seasonal festival he refused congratulations from his children and grandchildren. Past sixty his filial devotion only deepened. Grieving that the years passed with no hope of reburial, he gave up salt and grain, refused all savory food, and ate nothing but wheat. He died at the age of eighty. After the capital moved to Luoyang, his son Ying and the others were at last able to return home and bury their parents. Ying's younger brother Xu, styled Binyu, loved music and was renowned for his singing; he served as Governor of Qinzhou.

胡叟，字倫許，安定臨涇人也，世為西夏著姓。叟少聰慧，年十三，辯疑釋理，鮮有屈焉。學不師受，拔讀群籍，再閱於目，皆誦焉。好屬文，既善典雅之詞，又工鄙欲之句。

Hu Sou, styled Lunxu, came from Linjing in Anding; his family had been a leading clan of Western Xia for generations. Hu Sou was bright from childhood; at thirteen, when debating knotty questions and explaining doctrine, few could get the better of him. He studied without a teacher, pulling works from the shelves and reading through whole libraries; after a second reading he could recite them from memory. He loved to write, excelling both in elegant diction and in plain, rough-hewn lines.

以姚氏將衰，遂入長安觀風化。隱匿名行，懼人見知。時京兆韋祖思少閱典墳，多蔑時彥，待叟不足。叟拂衣而出，祖思固留之曰：「當與君論天人之際，何遽返乎？」叟曰：「論天人者其亡久矣，與君相知，何誇言若是。」遂歸主人，賦韋、杜二族，一宿而成。時年十八矣。其述前載，無違舊美；敘中世，有協時事；而末及鄙黷。人皆奇其才，畏其筆。

Seeing the Yao house nearing its fall, he went to Chang'an to observe its customs and culture. He traveled under a false name, afraid of being recognized. At the time Wei Zusi of Jingzhao had read little of the classics yet often scorned the day's leading men, and treated Hu Sou with scant courtesy. Hu Sou shook out his robes and walked out. Zusi pressed him to stay, saying, "I meant to discuss Heaven and man with you—why leave in such haste? Hu Sou said, "Men who truly discuss Heaven and man have been gone a long while. Knowing you as I do, why talk so grandly?" He went back to his host's house and wrote a piece on the Wei and Du clans, finishing it in a single night. He was eighteen at the time. In treating earlier times he did not depart from the old encomia. In recounting the middle period he matched the affairs of the day. At the end he added coarse invective. All who read it marveled at his talent and feared his pen.

叟孤飄坎壈，未有仕路，遂入漢中。宋梁、秦二州刺史馮翊吉翰頗相禮接。授叟末佐，不稱其懷。未幾，翰遷益州，叟隨入蜀。時蜀沙門法成率僧數千人鑄丈六金像，宋文帝惡其聚眾，將加大辟。叟聞之，即赴丹楊，啟申其美，遂免。復還蜀，法成遺其珍物，價直千餘匹，叟一無所受。

Alone and adrift through hard times, with no road to office, Hu Sou went into Hanzhong. Jihan of Fenyang, Song Governor of Liang and Qin, treated him with real courtesy. He gave Hu Sou a low assistant post, which did not satisfy Hu Sou's ambitions. Before long Jihan was transferred to Yizhou, and Hu Sou followed him into Shu. At that time the Shu monk Facheng led several thousand monks in casting a sixteen-foot golden image. Emperor Wen of Song hated the mass gathering and was about to condemn him to death. Hu Sou heard of it, went at once to Danyang, and submitted a memorial setting out the project's merits; Facheng was spared. When he returned to Shu, Facheng tried to give him valuables worth more than a thousand bolts of silk; Hu Sou would take none of it.

後入沮渠牧犍，牧犍遇之不重，叟乃為詩，示所知廣平程伯達。其略曰：「群犬吠新客，佞暗排疏賓；直途既已塞，曲路非所遵。望衛惋祝鮀，眄楚悼靈均。何用宣憂懷，托翰寄輔仁。」伯達見詩，謂曰：「涼州雖地居戎域，然自張氏以來，號有華風。今則憲章無虧，何祝鮀之有？」叟曰：「貴主奉正朔而弗淳，慕仁義而未允。吾之擇木，夙在大魏，與子暫違，非久闊也。」歲餘，牧犍破降。

Later he entered the service of Juqu Mujian, who did not treat him well. Hu Sou then wrote a poem and showed it to his friend Cheng Boda of Guangping. It ran in part: "A pack of dogs bark at the new guest; sycophants in the dark drive off the honest guest. The straight road is already shut; crooked paths are not for me. Looking toward Wei I mourn Zhu Tuoruo; looking toward Chu I grieve for Qu Yuan. Why give voice to sorrow? I commit it to writing and send it to Furen. Cheng Boda read the poem and said, "Liangzhou may lie in barbarian country, but since the Zhang house it has been famed for Chinese culture. The laws stand intact and unbroken—what need is there to invoke the name of Zhu Tuo?" Sou said, "Your lordship observes the imperial calendar yet lacks sincerity; you affect benevolence and righteousness but have not fulfilled them. My chosen perch has always been Great Wei; a brief parting from you is no lasting estrangement." Within a little more than a year Mujian was broken and surrendered.

叟既先歸魏，朝廷以其識機，賜爵始復男。家於密雲，蓬室草筵，唯以酒自適。謂友人金城宗舒曰：「我此生活，似勝焦先，志意所棲，謝其高矣。」文成時，召叟及舒，並使作檄，檄宋、蠕蠕。舒文劣於叟。尋歸家，不事產業，常苦饑貧，然不以為恥。養子字螟蛉，以自給養。每至貴勝門，恆乘一牸牛，弊韋袴褶而已。作布囊。容三四斛，飲啖醉飽，盛余肉餅以付螟蛉。見車馬榮華者，視之蔑如也。尚書李敷嘗遺以財，都無所取。初，叟一見高允曰：「吳、鄭之交，以糸寧縞為美談；吾之於子，以弦韋為幽贄。以此言之，彼可無愧也。」於允館見中書侍郎趙郡李璨，被服華靡；叟貧老衣褐，璨頗忽之。叟謂曰：「李子，今若相脫體上袴褶衣帽，君欲作何許也？」譏其惟假盛服。璨惕然失色。叟少孤，每言及父母，則淚下若孺子號。春秋當祭之前，則先求旨酒美膳，將其所知廣甯常順陽、馮翊田文宗、上谷侯法俊，提壺執俎，至郭外空靜處，設坐奠拜，盡孝思之敬。時燉煌汜潛家善釀酒，每節送一壺與叟。著作佐郎博陵許赤武、河東裴定宗等謂潛曰：「再三之惠，以為過厚，子惠於叟，何其恆也？」潛曰：「我恆給祭者，以其恆於孝思也。」論者以潛為君子矣。順陽等數子，稟叟獎示，頗涉文流。

Sou had already gone back to Wei ahead of time; the court, noting his grasp of the moment, ennobled him as Baron Shifu. He settled at Miyun in a thatched hut with a grass mat, taking his pleasure in wine alone. He told his friend Zong Shu of Jincheng, "This way of living of mine seems even better than Jiao Xian's; as for the lofty ambition one might embrace, I must yield to his height. Under Emperor Wencheng, Sou and Shu were both summoned and told to write proclamations denouncing Song and the Rouran. Shu's writing fell short of Sou's. Soon he went home again, neglected property, often knew hunger and poverty, yet felt no shame in it. He adopted a son styled Mingling to provide for his daily needs. Each time he came to Guisheng Gate he rode a single cow, dressed in nothing but threadbare leather trousers and jacket. He made a cloth sack. It held three or four hu; when he had eaten and drunk his fill he packed the leftover meat cakes into it for Mingling. Carriages and horses in all their splendor he regarded with utter contempt. Minister of the Secretariat Li Fu once sent him gifts of money; he would accept none of it. When he first met Gao Yun, Sou said, "The bond between Wu and Zheng was famed for its gifts of fine silk. As between us, I offer bowstring and leather as a modest token. Spoken thus, they need feel no shame. At Yun's house he saw Secretariat Attendant Li Can of Zhao commandery, dressed in lavish finery. Sou, poor and old in coarse hemp, Can looked down on him. Sou said, "Master Li, if someone stripped off the trousers, jacket, cap, and robes on your body, where would you say you belonged? — mocking him for depending on splendid dress alone. Can blanched in sudden alarm. Orphaned in youth, whenever he spoke of his parents tears would fall like a child crying out. Before each spring and autumn offering he first sought fine wine and delicacies, then with Chang Shunyang of Guangning, Tian Wenzong of Fenyang, and Hou Fajun of Shanggu—men he knew—carried wine jars and sacrificial trays to a quiet place outside the walls, set out seats, bowed, and paid the full rites of filial remembrance. At the time Si Qian's household in Dunhuang brewed well; every festival he sent Sou a flask of wine. Chief Clerk for Compilation Xu Chiwu of Boling, Pei Dingzong of Hedong, and others said to Qian, "Such repeated kindness seems too much—why are you so constant in your generosity toward Sou? Qian said, "I constantly supply one who makes offerings because he is constant in filial thought." Commentators took Qian for a gentleman. Shunyang and several others, encouraged and instructed by Sou, entered largely into literary circles.

高閭曾造其家，遇叟短褐曳柴，從田歸舍，為閭設濁酒蔬食，皆手自辦。然案其館宇卑陋，園疇褊局，而飯菜精潔，醢醬調美。見其二妾，並年衰跛眇，衣布穿弊。閭見其貧，以衣物直十餘匹贈之，亦無辭免。閭作《宣命賦》，叟為之序。密雲左右皆祗仰其德，歲時奉以布麻穀麥，叟隨分散之，家無餘財。卒，無子。無家人營主凶事，胡始昌迎殯之於家，葬於墓次。即令弟繼之，襲其爵始復男、武威將軍。叟與始昌雖宗室，性氣殊詭，不相附，其存，往來乃簡；及亡，而收恤至厚。議者以為非必敦哀疏宗，或緣求利品秩也。

Gao Lu once called at his house and found Sou in a short hemp robe dragging firewood back from the fields; for Lu he laid out coarse wine and plain food, all prepared with his own hands. Yet though his dwelling was low and cramped and his garden plot narrow, the rice and dishes were refined and the sauces and relish beautifully seasoned. He saw Sou's two concubines, both aged, lame, and blind in one eye, in patched hemp garments. Lu, seeing his poverty, gave him clothing worth more than ten bolts of cloth, and Sou did not decline. Lu wrote the "Ode on the Imperial Edict," and Sou composed its preface. Those around Miyun all revered his virtue; each year they brought him cloth, hemp, grain, and wheat, and Sou gave it away as he went, leaving nothing at home. He died without sons. With no family to manage the funeral, Hu Shichang received the coffin into his home and buried him beside the clan tomb. He then had his younger brother Jizhi inherit the barony of Shifu and the post of General Who Pacifies Wei. Though Sou and Shichang were clan kin, their temperaments were utterly unlike and they did not draw close; while Sou lived their contact was sparse. After his death, however, Shichang's care in receiving and mourning him was exceedingly generous. Commentators thought this was not necessarily deep mourning toward a distant kinsman, but perhaps a move to gain rank and title.

胡方回，安定臨涇人也。父義周，姚泓黃門侍郎。方回仕赫連屈丐為中書侍郎。涉獵史籍，辭彩可觀，為屈丐《統萬城銘》、《蛇祠碑》諸文，頗行於世。太武破赫連昌，方回入魏，未為時知。後為北鎮司馬，為鎮修表，有所稱薦，帝覽之嗟美。閭知方回，召為中書博士，賜爵臨涇子。遷侍郎，與太子少傅游雅等改定律制。司徒崔浩及當時朝賢，並愛重之。清貧守道，以壽終。

Hu Fanghui came from Linjing in Anding commandery. His father Yizhou served as Yellow Gate Attendant under Yao Hong. Fanghui served Helian Qifu as Secretariat Attendant. He ranged widely through historical records and wrote with pleasing literary color; for Qifu he composed the "Inscription on Tongwan City," the "Stele of the Snake Shrine," and other pieces that circulated widely. When Emperor Taiwu defeated Helian Chang, Fanghui entered Wei but was not yet known at court. Later, as Northern Garrison Marshal, he drafted a memorial commending the garrison; the emperor read it and sighed in admiration. Lu, recognizing Fanghui's talent, summoned him as Erudite of the Secretariat and ennobled him as Viscount of Linjing. He was promoted to Attendant and, with Junior Tutor You Ya and others, revised the laws and statutes. Minister of Works Cui Hao and the leading men of the court all valued him highly. Poor yet steadfast in the Way, he died at an advanced age.

張湛，字子然，一字仲玄，燉煌深泉人也。魏執金吾恭九葉孫，為河西著姓。祖質，仕涼，位金城太守。父顯，有遠量，武昭王據有西夏，引為功曹，甚器異之。嘗稱曰：「吾之臧子原也。」位酒泉太守。

Zhang Zhan, styled Ziran and also Zhongxuan, came from Shenquan in Dunhuang. He was a ninth-generation descendant of Gong, Chamberlain for the Imperial Insignia of Wei—a leading clan of Hexi. His grandfather Zhi served Liang as Administrator of Jincheng. His father Xian had far-reaching judgment; when Prince Zhaowu of Liang held Western Xia, he brought Xian in as Merit Officer and valued him greatly. He once said, "He is my Zang Ziyuan. He served as Administrator of Jiuquan.

湛弱冠知名涼土，好學能屬文，沖素有大志。仕沮渠蒙遜，位兵部尚書。涼州平，拜甯遠將軍，賜爵南蒲男。司徒崔浩識而禮之。浩注《易》，敘曰：「氇敦煌張湛、金城宗欽、武威段承根三人皆儒者，並有俊才，見稱西州。每與余論《易》，余以《左氏傳》卦解之，遂相勸為解注，故為之解。」其見稱如此。

Zhan was famed in Liangzhou while still young; he loved learning and could compose prose, pure and high-minded with great ambition. He served Juqu Mengxun as Minister of War. When Liangzhou was pacified he was appointed General Who Calms the Distance and ennobled as Baron of Nanpu. Minister Cui Hao recognized his worth and honored him. In his commentary on the Changes, Hao wrote in the preface, "Zhang Zhan of Dunhuang, Zong Qin of Jincheng, and Duan Chenggen of Wuwei—all three Confucian scholars with outstanding talent, famed in the western provinces. Whenever they discussed the Changes with me, I explained the hexagrams through the Zuo Commentary; they urged one another to write commentaries, and so I produced my explanation. Such was the praise he received.

湛至京師，家貧不立，操尚無虧。浩常給其衣食，薦為中書侍郎；湛知浩必敗，固辭。每贈浩詩頌，多箴規之言。浩亦欽敬其志，每常報答，極推崇之美。浩誅，湛懼，悉燒之，閉門卻掃，慶吊皆絕，以壽終。

When Zhan reached the capital his household was too poor to set itself up, yet his integrity was unblemished. Hao regularly supplied his food and clothing and recommended him for Secretariat Attendant. Zhan knew Hao was bound to fall and firmly refused. Whenever he sent Hao poems and eulogies they were full of admonitory counsel. Hao likewise respected his resolve and always replied with the highest praise. When Hao was executed Zhan feared for himself, burned everything, shut his gate and swept the courtyard clean, cut off all visits of condolence and congratulation, and died at an advanced age.

兄銑，字懷義，閑粹有才幹，仕沮渠蒙遜，位建昌令。性至孝，母憂，哀毀過人，服制雖除，而蔬糲弗改。崔浩禮之與湛等。卒於征西參軍。

His elder brother Xian, styled Huaiyi, was refined and capable; he served Juqu Mengxun as Magistrate of Jianchang. Deeply filial by nature, when his mother died his grief and self-wasting surpassed others; though the mourning period ended he still ate plain vegetables and coarse fare. Cui Hao honored him as he did Zhan and the others. He died while serving as staff officer on the western campaign.

懷義孫通，字彥綽，博通經史，沈冥不預時事。頓丘李彪欽其學行，與之遊款。及彪用事，言于中書令李沖，沖召見，甚器重之。太和中，征中書博士、中書侍郎，永平中，又征汾州刺史，皆不赴，終於家。

Huaiyi's grandson Tong, styled Yanchuo, mastered the classics and histories comprehensively and kept aloof from worldly affairs. Li Biao of Dunqiu admired his scholarship and conduct and cultivated a close friendship with him. When Biao came to power he spoke of Tong to Director of the Secretariat Li Chong; Chong summoned him and valued him greatly. In the Taihe era he was summoned as Erudite and Attendant of the Secretariat; in Yongping he was again summoned as Governor of Fenzhou—all summons he declined, and he died at home.

通四子，徹、麟、儉、鳳，皆傳家業，知名於世。徹子方明，位侍中、衛尉卿，封西平縣公。子敢之襲，位太中大夫、樂陵郡守。麟字嘉應，位廣平太守。儉字元慎，位涼州刺史。鳳字孔鸞，位國子博士、散騎常侍。著《五經異同評》十卷，為儒者所稱。

Tong had four sons—Che, Lin, Jian, and Feng—all inherited the family tradition and won fame in the world. Che's son Fangming held the posts of Palace Attendant and Commandant of the Guard and was enfeoffed as Duke of Xiping county. His son Ganzhi succeeded, holding the post of Grand Master of Palace Counsel and Prefect of Leling commandery. Lin, styled Jiaying, was Administrator of Guangping. Jian, styled Yuanshen, was Governor of Liangzhou. Feng, styled Kongluan, was Erudite of the National University and Regular Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry. He authored ten scrolls of "Evaluations of Differences and Agreements among the Five Classics," praised by Confucian scholars.

段承根，武威姑臧人，自雲漢太尉熲九世孫也。父暉，字長祚，身八尺餘。師事歐陽湯，湯甚器愛之。有一童子與暉同志，後二年，童子辭歸，從暉請馬。暉戲作木馬與童子。甚悅，謝暉曰：「吾太山府君子，奉敕遊學，今將歸，損子厚贈，無以報德。子後至常伯封侯，非報也，且以為好。」言終，乘馬騰虛而去。暉乃自知必將貴。仕乞伏熾盤為輔國大將軍、涼州刺史、御史大夫、西海侯。熾盤子慕末襲位，政亂，暉父子奔吐谷渾。慕容璝內附，暉與承根歸魏。

Duan Chenggen came from Guzang in Wuwei and claimed to be a ninth-generation descendant of Han Grand Commandant Duan Ying. His father Hui, styled Changzuo, stood more than eight chi in height. He studied under Ouyang Tang, who valued and loved him dearly. There was a young lad who shared Hui's aspirations; two years later the lad took leave to return and asked Hui for a horse. Hui jokingly made a wooden horse for the lad. Greatly pleased, he thanked Hui, saying, "I am a gentleman of the Mount Tai prefecture; by imperial command I have been studying abroad and now return. You have burdened yourself with so generous a gift, and I have no way to repay your kindness. Your son will later reach the rank of Chamberlain and be enfeoffed as marquis—not as repayment, but simply as a token of friendship. When he finished speaking he mounted the horse and soared away through the air. Hui then knew he himself would surely rise to eminence. He served Qifu Chipan as Grand General Who Assists the State, Governor of Liangzhou, Grand Censor, and Marquis of Xihai. When Chipan's son Mumo succeeded, amid chaotic government Hui and his son fled to Tuyuhun. When Murong Gui submitted to Wei, Hui and Chenggen returned to Wei.

太武至長安，人告暉欲南奔，雲置金于馬韉中。帝密遣視之，果如告者言，斬之於市，暴屍數日。時有儒生京兆林白奴，欽暉德音，夜竊其屍，置之枯井。女為燉煌張氏婦，聞之，乃向長安收葬。

When Emperor Taiwu reached Chang'an, someone reported that Hui meant to flee south, saying he had placed gold in his saddle bags. The emperor secretly sent men to investigate, and found matters exactly as the accuser had claimed. Hui was beheaded in the marketplace, and his body was left exposed for several days. A Confucian scholar from Jingzhao named Lin Bairu, who revered Hui's reputation for virtue, stole the body by night and hid it in a dry well. Hui's daughter, married into the Zhang family of Dunhuang, heard what had happened and traveled to Chang'an to recover his body for burial.

承根好學機辯，有文思，而性行疏薄，有始無終。司徒崔浩見而奇之，與同郡陰仲達俱被浩引，以為俱涼土文華，才堪注述。言之太武，並請為著作郎，引與同事。世咸重承根文而薄其行。甚為燉煌公李寶所敬待。浩誅，承根與宗欽等俱死。

Chenggen loved learning, was quick-witted and eloquent, and possessed real literary gifts, yet his character was fickle and shallow: he always started well and never finished. Minister of Works Cui Hao took notice of him and was struck by his gifts. He and Yin Zhongda of the same commandery were both brought forward by Hao, who regarded them as the finest literary minds of Liang province and judged their talents fit for scholarly compilation. He recommended them to Emperor Taiwu, asked that both be appointed Compilers, and brought them in to serve alongside him. Everyone respected Chenggen's writing and looked down on his conduct. The Duke of Dunhuang, Li Bao, held him in high esteem and treated him with great respect. When Cui Hao was put to death, Chenggen was executed along with Zongqin and the others.

宗欽字景若，金城人。少好學，有儒者風。仕沮渠蒙遜為中書郎、世子洗馬。上《東宮侍臣箴》。太武平涼州，入魏，賜爵臥樹男，拜著作郎。與高允書，贈詩，允答書並詩，甚相褒美。在河西撰《蒙遜記》十卷，無足可稱。

Zongqin, whose style name was Jingruo, came from Jincheng. From boyhood he loved learning and carried himself like a true Confucian scholar. He entered the service of Juqu Mengxun as Secretariat Gentleman and Groom of the Heir Apparent's Stud. He submitted his "Admonition for Palace Attendants of the Eastern Palace." After Emperor Taiwu conquered Liang province, he entered Wei, was ennobled as Baron of Woshu, and appointed Compiler. He wrote to Gao Yun and sent him poems; Yun answered with letters and poems of his own, and the two men lavished praise on each other. While in Hexi he wrote ten scrolls of Records of Mengxun, a work of no particular distinction.

闞駰，字玄陰，燉煌人也。祖倞，父玖，並有名於西土，玖位會稽令。駰博通經傳，聰敏過人，三史群言，經目則誦，時人謂之宿讀。注王朗《易傳》，撰《十三州志》。沮渠蒙遜甚重之，常侍左右，訪以政事損益。拜秘書、考課郎中，給文吏三十人，典校經籍，刊定諸子三千餘卷。牧犍待之彌重，拜大行台，遷尚書。及姑臧平，樂安王丕鎮涼州，引為從事中郎。王薨，遷京師。家甚貧，不免饑寒。性能多食，一飯至三升乃飽。卒，無後。

Kan Yan, whose style name was Xuanyin, came from Dunhuang. His grandfather Jing and his father Jiu were both renowned in the western regions; Jiu served as magistrate of Kuaiji. Yan had mastered the classics and their commentaries and was unusually quick of mind. The Three Histories and every sort of learned text—he needed only to glance at a page to recite it from memory, and men of the day called him a reader from a previous life. He annotated Wang Lang's Commentary on the Changes and compiled Geographical Records of the Thirteen Provinces. Juqu Mengxun held him in the highest regard, kept him constantly at his side, and consulted him on what policies should be adopted or abandoned. He was appointed Secretariat and Evaluation Gentleman, given thirty clerical assistants, and charged with overseeing the classics. He collated and revised more than three thousand scrolls of the various masters. Juqu Mujian treated him with even greater honor, appointing him to the Grand Commissariat Office and then promoting him to Director of the Secretariat. After Guzang fell, Prince Le'an Pi took command of Liang province and brought Yan in as Attendant Gentleman. When the prince died, Yan was transferred to the capital. His household was desperately poor and knew hunger and cold. He had an enormous appetite by nature and needed three sheng of grain at a single meal before he felt satisfied. He died leaving no heirs.

劉延明，燉煌人也。父寶，字子玉，以儒學稱。延明年十四，就博士郭瑀。瑀弟子五百餘人，通經業者八十餘人。瑀有女始笄，妙選良偶，有心於延明。遂別設一席，謂弟子曰：「吾有一女，欲覓一快女婿，誰坐此席者，吾當婚焉。」延明遂奮衣坐，神志湛然曰：「延明其人也。」瑀遂以女妻之。延明後隱居酒泉，不應州郡命，弟子受業者五百餘人。

Liu Yanming came from Dunhuang. His father Bao, whose style name was Ziyu, was celebrated for Confucian learning. At fourteen, Yanming went to study under the erudite Guo Yu. Guo Yu had more than five hundred disciples, and more than eighty of them had truly mastered the classics. Guo Yu had a daughter who had just come of age. He wanted to choose an excellent son-in-law and had Yanming in mind. So he set out a separate seat and told his disciples, "I have a daughter and want to find her an outstanding husband. Whoever sits in this seat shall marry her." Yanming at once threw off his outer robe, sat down, and with perfect composure said, "Yanming is your man." Guo Yu then gave him his daughter in marriage. Yanming later withdrew to Jiuquan, ignored summons from the prefecture and commandery, and gathered more than five hundred disciples under his instruction.

涼武昭王徵為儒林祭酒、從事中郎。昭王好尚文典，書史穿落者，親自補葺。延明時侍側，請代其事。王曰：「躬自執者，欲人重此典籍。吾與卿相遇，何異孔明之會玄德。」遷撫夷護軍，雖有政務，手不釋卷。昭王曰：「卿注記篇籍，以燭繼晝，白日且然，夜可休息。」延明曰：「朝聞道，夕死可矣，不知老之將至，孔聖稱焉。延明何人斯，敢不如此。」延明以三史文繁，著《略記》百三十篇、八十四卷，《燉煌實錄》二十卷，《方言》三卷，《靖恭堂銘》一卷，注《周易》、《韓子》、《人物志》、《黃石公三略》行於世。

Prince Wuzhao of Liang summoned him to serve as Libationer of the Confucian Grove and Attendant Gentleman. Prince Zhaowang loved the classics and histories. When books and records were frayed or torn, he repaired them with his own hands. Yanming was attending him at the time and asked to take over the work. The prince said, "I do this myself because I want others to treat these texts with respect. My meeting with you is no different from Kongming's meeting with Xuande." He was transferred to Colonel Who Pacifies the Yi. Even with official business pressing on him, he never let go of his books. Prince Zhaowang said, "You annotate and compile texts by lamplight long after dawn. If you work like that even in daylight, at least rest at night." Yanming replied, "If one hears the Way in the morning, one may die content that same evening. Not knowing that old age is near—Confucius praised that spirit. What sort of man am I, Yanming, to dare do any less?" Finding the Three Histories unwieldy, Yanming wrote Brief Records in one hundred thirty sections across eighty-four scrolls, True Records of Dunhuang in twenty scrolls, Dialect Words in three scrolls, and Inscription for the Hall of Reverent Respect in one scroll. He also annotated the Book of Changes, Han Feizi, Records of Human Character, and Three Stratagems of Master Yellow Stone, and all these works circulated widely.

蒙遜平酒泉，拜秘書郎，專管注記。築陸沈觀於西苑，躬往禮焉，號玄處先生。學徒數百，月致羊酒。牧犍尊為國師，親自致拜；命官屬以下，皆北面受業。時同郡索敞、陰興為助教，並以文學見稱，每巾衣而入。太武平涼州，士庶東遷，夙聞其名，拜樂平王從事中郎。太武詔諸年七十已上，聽留本鄉，一子扶養。延明時老矣，在姑臧歲餘，思鄉而返，至涼州西四百里{艸韭}穀窟，疾卒。

After Mengxun conquered Jiuquan, Yanming was appointed Secretariat Gentleman and put solely in charge of scholarly annotation and record keeping. Mengxun built the Lushen Pavilion in the western park, went in person to pay his respects, and honored Yanming as Master Xuan Chu. He had several hundred disciples, and every month they brought him mutton and wine. Juqu Mujian honored him as National Preceptor and bowed to him in person; he ordered all officials and subordinates to face north and receive instruction from him. At the time Suo Chang and Yin Xing of the same commandery served as assistant instructors. Both were known for literary accomplishment and always entered dressed in plain scholars' garb. When Emperor Taiwu conquered Liang province and the gentry and common people were moved east, Yanming—long famous—was appointed Attendant Gentleman to Prince Le'an. Emperor Taiwu issued an edict allowing men seventy years of age and older to remain in their home districts, with one son permitted to stay and support them. Yanming was by then an old man. After more than a year at Guzang he grew homesick and set out for home, but fell ill and died at the Jiugu Ravine cave, four hundred li west of Liang province.

太和十四年，尚書李沖奏：延明河右碩儒，今子孫沈屈，未有祿潤；賢者子孫，宜蒙顯異。於是除其一子為郢州雲陽令。正光三年，太保崔光奏曰：「故樂平王從事中郎燉煌劉延明，著業涼城，遺文在茲。如或愆釁，當蒙數世之宥。況乃維祖逮孫，相去未遠，而令久淪皁隸，不獲收異，儒學之士，所為竊歎。乞敕尚書，推檢所屬，甄免碎役，敦化厲俗，於是乎在。」詔曰：「太保啟陳，深合勸善，其孫等三家，特可聽免。」河西人以為榮。

In the fourteenth year of Taihe, Director of the Secretariat Li Chong submitted a memorial: "Liu Yanming was a leading scholar of the lands west of the Yellow River, yet his descendants now languish in obscurity without any stipend. The descendants of the worthy ought to receive special favor." Accordingly one of his sons was appointed magistrate of Yunyang in Ying province. In the third year of Zhengguang, Grand Tutor Cui Guang submitted a memorial: "The late Attendant Gentleman to Prince Le'an, Liu Yanming of Dunhuang, built his reputation in Liang city, and his writings survive here. If he or his house had committed any offense, they should have received pardon for several generations. How much more so when only a few generations separate forebears from grandchildren, yet his descendants have long been reduced to menial service without receiving any special exemption. Confucian scholars cannot help sighing over this in private. I beg that Your Majesty command the Secretariat to investigate the relevant offices, select his descendants, and exempt them from petty corvée. Encouraging learning and reforming custom depend on acts such as this. An edict replied, "The Grand Tutor's memorial accords perfectly with the encouragement of virtue. The three households of his grandchildren may specially be granted exemption." People throughout Hexi took this as an honor.

趙柔，字元順，金城人也，少以德行才學，知名河右。沮渠牧犍時，為金部郎。太武平涼州，內徙京師。曆著作郎、河內太守，甚著信惠。柔嘗在路，得人所遺金珠一貫，價直數百縑，柔呼主還之。後有人遺柔鏵數百枚者，柔與子善明鬻之市。有人從柔買，柔索絹二十疋。有商人知其賤，與柔三十匹。善明欲取之，柔曰：「與人交易，一言便定，豈可以利動心？」遂與之。晉紳之流，聞而敬服。隴西王源賀采佛經幽旨作《祗洹精舍圖偈》六卷，柔為之注解，為當時俊僧所欽味。又憑立銘贊，頗行於世。子默，字沖明，武威太守。

Zhao Rou, whose style name was Yuanshun, came from Jincheng. From youth he was renowned west of the Yellow River for virtue, talent, and learning. Under Juqu Mujian he served as Gentleman of the Gold Office. When Emperor Taiwu conquered Liang province, he was relocated to the capital. He served in turn as Compiler and administrator of Henei, and became widely known for integrity and kindness. Once on the road Zhao Rou found a lost string of gold pearls worth several hundred bolts of silk. He called out for the owner and returned them. Later someone gave him several hundred iron plowshares, and Rou and his son Shanming took them to market to sell. When a buyer came to Rou, he asked twenty bolts of silk. A merchant who knew the plowshares were worth less offered him thirty bolts. Shanming wanted to accept, but Rou said, "In a bargain, one word fixes the price. How can profit sway the heart?" So he sold them for twenty bolts. Men of the old Jin gentry, hearing of this, admired and respected him. Wang Yuanhe of Longxi distilled the hidden meaning of Buddhist sutras and wrote six scrolls of Verses on the Diagram of the Jetavana Grove. Rou annotated the work, and leading monks of the day cherished it. He also wrote commissioned inscriptions and eulogies, which circulated widely in his time. His son Mo, whose style name was Chongming, served as administrator of Wuwei.

索敞，字巨振，燉煌人也。為劉延明助教，專心經籍，盡能傳延明業。涼州平，入魏，以儒學為中書博士。京師貴遊之子，皆敬憚威嚴，多所成益，前後顯達位至尚書、牧、守者數十人，皆受業於敞。敞以喪服散在眾篇，遂撰比為《喪服要記》。出補扶風太守，在位清貧，卒官。時舊同學生等為請諡，詔贈涼州刺史，諡曰獻。

Suo Chang, whose style name was Juzhen, came from Dunhuang. He served as Liu Yanming's assistant instructor, devoted himself to the classics, and mastered Yanming's entire teaching. After Liang province was pacified he entered Wei and, on the strength of his Confucian learning, was appointed Erudite of the Secretariat. Sons of the capital's great families all respected and feared his stern authority, and many profited from his instruction. Several dozen men who later rose to posts as Secretariat directors, governors, and administrators had all studied under Chang. Because rules on mourning garb were scattered through many texts, Chang gathered and arranged them into Essential Records on Mourning Garb. Sent out to serve as administrator of Fufeng, he lived in scrupulous poverty in office and died there. Former fellow students and others petitioned for a posthumous title. An edict posthumously appointed him Governor of Liang province and gave him the posthumous name Dedicated.

初，敞之在涼州，與鄉人陰世隆，文才相友。世隆至京師，被罪，徙和龍，屈上穀，困不前達，土人徐能抑掠為奴。敞因行至上穀，遇見世隆，對泣而別。敞為訴理，得免。世隆子孟貴，性至孝。每向田芸耨，早朝拜父，來亦如之，鄉人欽焉。

Earlier, while Chang was in Liang province, he and Yin Shilong of his home district became friends through their shared literary gifts. Shilong reached the capital, was convicted of a crime, and was exiled toward Helong. Held up at Shanggu and unable to go farther, he was seized and enslaved by a local man named Xu Neng. Chang happened to pass through Shanggu, met Shilong, and the two men wept as they parted. Chang pleaded his case for him and won his release. Shilong's son Menggui was profoundly filial by nature. Whenever he went out to hoe the fields, he paid his respects to his father at dawn; when he returned he did the same. His neighbors admired him for it.

宋繇，字體業，燉煌人也，世仕張氏。父僚，張玄靚武興太守。繇生而僚為張邕所誅。五歲喪母，事伯母張氏以孝聞。八歲而張氏卒，居喪過禮。喟然謂妹夫張彥曰：「門戶傾覆，歲荷在繇，不銜膽自厲，何以繼承先業。」遂隨彥至酒泉，追師就學，閉室讀書，晝夜不倦，博通經史。呂光時，舉秀才，除郎中。後奔段業，為中散騎常侍。以業無遠略，西奔涼武昭王。歷位通顯，家無餘財；雖兵革間，講誦不廢。每聞儒士在門，常倒屣出迎，引談經籍。尤明斷決，時事亦無滯也。沮渠蒙遜平酒泉，於繇室得書數千卷、鹽米數十斛而已。蒙遜歎曰：「孤不喜克李氏，欣得宋繇耳。」拜尚書吏部郎中，委以銓衡。蒙遜將死，以子牧犍托之。牧犍以為左丞，送其妹興平公主于京師。太武拜繇河西王右丞相，錫爵清水公。及平涼州，從牧犍至京師，卒，諡恭公。

Song Yao, whose style name was Tiye, came from Dunhuang. His family had served the Zhang clan for generations. His father Liao had been administrator of Wuxing under Zhang Xuanjing. Song Yao was born after his father Liao had been executed by Zhang Yong. He lost his mother at five and served his aunt by marriage, Lady Zhang, with such devotion that he became known for filial piety. When he was eight Lady Zhang died, and he observed mourning with a rigor that exceeded ritual requirement. He sighed and said to his brother-in-law Zhang Yan, "Our house has fallen. The burden of the clan rests on me. If I do not swallow gall and steel myself, how can I carry on our ancestors' work?" So he followed Zhang Yan to Jiuquan, sought out teachers, shut himself in a room to read, and worked day and night without rest until he had mastered the classics and histories. Under Lü Guang he was recommended as a Filial and Incorrupt graduate and appointed Gentleman of the Palace. He later fled to Duan Ye and was appointed Regular Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry. Finding Ye devoid of far-reaching vision, he fled west to serve the Martial and Illustrious King of Liang. Though he rose through posts of rank and renown, his household held no surplus wealth; and even in the midst of war he never ceased teaching and reciting the classics. Whenever a scholar appeared at his door, he would hurry out with shoes still unlaced to welcome him and draw him into conversation over the classics. He was especially sharp in judgment, and affairs of the day never stalled in his hands. When Juqu Mengsun took Jiuquan, he searched Yao's home and found only a few thousand scrolls of books and a few dozen hu of salt and grain—nothing else. Mengsun sighed and said, "I take no joy in defeating the Li clan—I rejoice only in gaining Song Yao." Yao was then made Director of the Personnel Section in the Secretariat and charged with weighing merit and appointing men to office. As Mengsun lay dying, he entrusted his son Muqian to Yao's care. Muqian appointed him Left Assistant and sent his sister, the Princess of Xingping, to the capital. Emperor Taiwu made Yao Right Chancellor to the King of Hexi and ennobled him as Duke of Qingshui. After Liang province fell, he followed Muqian to the capital, died there, and was posthumously honored as Duke Gong.

長子岩襲爵，改為西平侯。岩子廕，中書議郎、樂安王范從事中郎，卒，贈咸陽太守。

His eldest son Yan inherited the title, though it was reduced to Marquis of Xiping. Yan's son Yin held posts as Consultant of the Secretariat and Aide to Prince Fan of Lean; he died in office and was posthumously named Administrator of Xianyang.

廕子季預，性清嚴，居家如官，位勃海太守。子遊道。

Yin's son Jiyu was stern and upright by nature, kept his household with the discipline of a yamen, and eventually became Administrator of Bohai. His son was Youdao.

游道弱冠隨父在郡，父亡，吏人贈遺無所受，事母以孝聞。與叔父別居。叔父為奴誣以構逆，遊道誘令返，雪而殺之。魏廣陽王深北伐，請為鎧曹，及為定州刺史，又以為府佐。廣陽為葛榮所殺，元徽誣其降賊，收錄妻子，游道為訴得釋，與廣陽子迎喪返葬。中尉酈善長嘉其氣節，引為殿中侍御史。台中語曰：「見惡能討，宋遊道。」

Youdao came of age while serving with his father in the commandery. When his father died, he refused every gift from officials and commoners alike and won renown for his devotion to his mother. He lived apart from his uncle. A slave had falsely accused his uncle of plotting rebellion. Youdao coaxed the slave into returning, cleared his uncle's name, and then killed the slave. When the Wei Prince of Guangyang, Shen, launched his northern campaign, Youdao was asked to serve in the armor bureau; later, when Shen became Governor of Ding province, Youdao again joined his staff. After Guangyang was killed by Ge Rong, Yuan Hui falsely charged him with surrendering to the rebels and seized his family. Youdao pleaded their case and won their release, then helped Guangyang's son bring the body home for burial. The Censor-in-Chief Li Shanchang admired his moral courage and made him a Palace Attending Censor. A saying in the censorate ran: "See evil and strike it down—that is Song Youdao."

孝莊即位，除左兵中軍。為尚書令臨淮王彧譴責，遊道乃執版長揖曰：「下官謝王瞋，不謝王理。」即日詣闕上書曰：「徐州刺史元孚頻有表，雲偽梁廣發士卒，圖彭城，乞增羽林二千。以孚宗室重臣，告請應實，所以量奏給武官千人。孚今代下，以路阻自防，遂納在防羽林八百人；辭雲疆境無事，乞將還家。臣忝局司，深知不可。尚書令臨淮王彧，即孚之兄子，遣省事謝遠，三日之中，八度逼迫，雲宜依判許。臣不敢附下罔上，孤負聖明。但孚身在任，乞師相繼；及其代下，便請放還。進退為身，無憂國之意。所請不合，其罪下科。彧乃召臣于尚書都堂云：'卿一小郎，憂國之心，豈厚於我？ '醜罵溢口，不顧朝章。右僕射臣世隆、吏部郎中臣薛琡已下百餘人，並皆聞見。臣實獻直言云：'忠臣奉國，事在其心，亦復何簡貴賤？比自北海入洛，王不能致身死難，方清宮以迎篡賊；鄭先護立義廣州，王復建旗往討。趣惡如流，伐善何速？」今得冠冕百寮，乃欲為私害政！ '為臣此言，彧賜怒更甚。臣既不佞，干犯貴臣，乞解郎中。」帝召見遊道，嘉勞之。彧亦奏言：「臣忝冠百寮，遂使一郎攘袂高聲，肆言頓挫，乞解尚書令。」帝乃下敕，聽解台郎。後除司州中從事。

When Emperor Xiaozhuang took the throne, Youdao was made Commander of the Left Military Army. Rebuked by the Secretariat Director, Prince of Linhuai Yuan Yu, Youdao took up his tablet and bowed deeply. "Your humble servant," he said, "thanks the prince for his anger—not for his reasoning." That same day he went to the palace and submitted a memorial: "Yuan Fu, Governor of Xuzhou, has repeatedly reported that the false Liang are massing troops to seize Pengcheng and has asked for two thousand additional imperial guards. As a senior member of the imperial clan, Fu's requests seemed credible, and I accordingly reported approval for one thousand military officers. Fu is now leaving office. Citing dangerous roads, he has kept eight hundred of the guards assigned to frontier defense; yet in his petition he claims the border is quiet and asks permission to send them home. Your servant, who holds this bureau post, knows this cannot be permitted. The Secretariat Director, Prince of Linhuai Yuan Yu—Fu's nephew—sent his attendant Xie Yuan, who within three days pressed eight times for the ruling to be granted. Your servant dares not side with inferiors to mislead superiors and fail his sovereign's trust. While still in office, Fu kept asking for reinforcements one after another; but the moment he was leaving office, he asked to send them home. He acted only for his own convenience, with no thought for the realm. His request violates proper procedure and merits punishment under the lesser statutes. Yu then summoned me to the Secretariat hall and said, "You—a mere junior clerk—do you care more for the state than I do? Vile curses poured from his mouth with no regard for court propriety. Right Vice Director Shi Long, Personnel Director Xue Bo, and more than a hundred others all heard and saw it. I spoke plainly in reply: "Loyal ministers serve the realm from the heart—what does rank matter? When you came from Beihai to Luoyang, you would not die for the dynasty, yet you cleared the palace to welcome usurpers; when Zheng Xianhu raised the banner of righteousness in Guangzhou, you again took the field against him. You run toward evil like a current and cut down the good with equal speed—why?" Now that you stand at the head of the hundred offices, you would ruin governance for private ends! " At these words Yu's anger only burned hotter. Your servant is no sycophant. Having offended a great minister, I ask to be relieved of my directorship." The emperor summoned Youdao, praised his courage, and rewarded him. Yu submitted a memorial of his own: "Your servant, who leads the hundred offices, was forced to endure a junior clerk rolling up his sleeves and shouting me down in public. I ask to be relieved of the Secretariat directorship." The emperor issued an edict granting the censorate officer's resignation. He was later appointed Mid-Level Staff Officer of Sizhou.

時將還鄴，會霖雨，行旅擁於河橋。游道於幕下朝夕宴歌。行者曰：「何時節作此聲也？固大癡！」游道應曰：「何時節而不作此聲也？亦大癡！」後齊神武自太原來朝，見之曰：「此人是遊道邪？常聞其名，今日始識其面。」遷遊道別駕，後日，神武之司州，饗朝士，舉觴屬遊道曰：「飲高歡手中酒者大丈夫，卿之為人，合飲此酒。」及還晉陽，百官辭於紫陌，神武執遊道手曰：「甚知朝貴中有憎忌卿者。但用心，莫懷畏慮，當使卿位與之相似。」於是啟以游道為中尉。文襄執請，乃以吏部郎中崔暹為御史中尉，以游道為尚書左丞。文襄謂暹、遊道曰：「卿一人處南台，一人處北省，當使天下肅然。」

At the time the court was preparing to return to Ye. Torrential rain fell, and travelers jammed the river bridge. Youdao feasted and sang beneath his tent from morning till night. Passersby said, "What season is this for singing and feasting? The man is a perfect fool!" Youdao answered, "What season is there when one should not sing? You people are the fools!" Later Gao Huan, the Divine Martial Emperor, came from Taiyuan to court, saw him, and said, "So this is Youdao? I have long heard his name—today I finally see his face." He promoted Youdao to Vice Administrator. A few days later, when Gao Huan visited Sizhou and feasted the court, he raised his cup to Youdao and said, "A man who drinks from Gao Huan's hand is a true man—and you, sir, are such a man." On the return to Jinyang, as the hundred officers took leave at Zimo Lane, Gao Huan took Youdao's hand and said, "I know many at court resent and envy you. Stand firm and do not be afraid. I will see that your rank matches theirs. He then memorialized to make Youdao Censor-in-Chief. Gao Cheng pressed his own preference, so Cui Xuan of the Personnel Section became Chief Censor while Youdao was made Left Assistant Director of the Secretariat. Gao Cheng told Cui and Youdao, "One of you at the Southern Platform and one in the Northern Bureau should be enough to make the realm tremble.

遊道入省，劾太師咸陽王但、太保孫騰、司徒高隆之、司空侯景、錄尚書元弼、尚書令司馬子如官貸金銀，催征酬價。雖非指事贓賄，終是不避權豪。又奏駁尚書違失數百條；省中豪吏王儒之徒，並鞭斥之；始依故事於尚書省立門名，以記出入早晚。令僕已下皆側目。

Youdao entered the Secretariat and impeached Grand Preceptor Prince Xianyang Dan, Grand Guardian Sun Teng, Minister of Works Gao Longzhi, Minister of Public Works Hou Jing, Secretariat Recorder Yuan Bi, and Secretariat Director Sima Ziru for lending out official gold and silver and pressing for repayment. It was not a direct charge of graft, yet it showed he would not flinch before the mighty. He also submitted memorials correcting several hundred violations within the Secretariat; powerful clerks such as Wang Ru were whipped and expelled; and for the first time he instituted a gate register at the Secretariat, recording who came and went and at what hour. Vice directors and everyone below watched him with sidelong eyes.

魏安平王坐事亡，章武二王及諸王妃、太妃是其近親者，皆被征責。都官郎中畢義雲主其事，有奏而禁，有不奏輒禁者。游道判下廷尉科罪。高隆之不同，於是反誣游道厲色挫辱己，遂枉拷群令史證成之。與左僕射襄城王旭、尚書鄭述祖等上言曰：

When the Wei Prince of Anping was condemned and fled, the two princes of Zhangwu and every princess and grand princess closely related to him were summoned and fined. Bi Yiyun, Director of the Punishments Section, handled the cases—some were reported before arrest, others were arrested without report. Youdao ruled on the cases and referred them to the Court of Judicature for punishment. Gao Longzhi objected and in turn falsely accused Youdao of berating and humiliating him, then tortured the clerks until they gave the testimony he wanted. Together with Left Vice Director Prince Xu of Xiangcheng, Secretariat Minister Zheng Shuzu, and others, they submitted a memorial:

飾偽亂真，國法所必去；附下罔上，王政所不容。謹案：尚書左丞宋游道，名望本闕，功績何紀？屬永安之始，朝士亡散，乏人之際，叨竊台郎。躁行謟言，肆其奸詐，空識名義，不顧典文。人鄙其心，眾畏其口。出州入省，曆忝清資，而長惡不悛，曾無忌諱，毀譽由己，憎惡任情。比因安平王事，遂肆其褊心，因公報隙，與郎中畢義雲遞相糾舉。

To dress falsehood as truth is what the law must root out; to collude with inferiors against superiors is what the throne cannot abide. We respectfully charge: Left Assistant Director Song Youdao had no reputation to speak of and no deeds worth recording. At the start of the Yong'an era, when officials fled and the court was desperate for men, he clawed his way into a censorate post. Restless and sycophantic, he gave free rein to deceit, mouthing righteousness while ignoring the code of law. Men despised his character; everyone feared his tongue. Whether in the provinces or the Secretariat, he held one prestigious post after another, yet never mended his ways. He praised and condemned as he pleased and indulged every grudge. Most recently, in the Prince of Anping case, he gave vent to petty malice and used official business to settle private scores, trading accusations with Bi Yiyun.

又在外兵郎中魏叔道牒云：「局內降人左澤等為京畿送省，令取保放出。」大將軍在省日，判聽。遊道發怒曰：「往日官府成何物官府？將此為例！」又云：「乘前旨格，成何物旨格？」依事請問，遊道並皆承引。案律：「對捍詔使，無人臣之禮大不敬者，死。」對捍使者尚得死坐，況遊道吐不臣之言，犯慢上之罪？口稱夷、齊，心懷盜蹠，欺公賣法，受納苞苴，產隨官厚，財與位積。雖贓汙未露，而奸許如是，舉此一隅，餘詐可驗。今依禮據律，處遊道死罪。

There is also a memo from External Military Director Wei Shudao stating that surrendered men in the bureau, including Zuo Ze, were sent to the Secretariat by the capital command with orders to release them on bail." On the day the Grand General was present in the Secretariat, the case was approved. Youdao flew into a rage and said, "In the old days, what kind of office was this? And you would make this your precedent!" He also said, "Leaning on old imperial orders—what kind of orders were those?" When questioned on the facts, Youdao admitted every charge. The law states: "To resist an imperial emissary and show no subject's deference is grand disrespect—and death is the penalty." If resisting an emissary alone warrants death, how much more Youdao's disloyal words and contempt for his superiors? He spoke like Bo Yi and Shu Qi while his heart was that of the robber Zhi. He betrayed the public trust, traded in justice, and took bribes—his estate swelling with every promotion. Though his graft has not yet surfaced, deceit of this kind, once glimpsed in one corner, proves the rest. We therefore ask, by ritual and statute, that Song Youdao be sentenced to death.

是時朝士皆忿為遊道不濟。而文襄聞其與隆之相抗之言，謂楊遵彥曰：「此真是鯁直大剛惡人。」遵彥曰：「譬之畜狗，本取其吠，今以數吠殺之，恐將來無復吠狗。」詔付廷尉，遊道坐除名。文襄使元景康謂曰：「卿早逐我向并州他經略，不忍殺卿。」游道從至晉陽，以為大行台吏部，又以為太原公開府諮議。及平陽公為中尉，游道以諮議領書侍御史。尋以本官兼司徒左長史。

At the time every court officer seethed that Youdao might not be saved. But when Gao Cheng heard how Youdao had stood up to Longzhi, he told Yang Zunyan, "That man is a stubborn, incorruptible scourge." Zunyan replied, "It is like keeping a dog for its bark. Kill it for barking too much, and soon you will have no dogs left to bark." An edict sent the case to the Court of Judicature, and Youdao was stripped of office. Gao Cheng sent Yuan Jingkang to tell him, "Come with me to Bingzhou while there is still time. I could not bring myself to kill you. Youdao followed Wen Cheng to Jinyang and was placed in the Grand Commission's personnel office, then made opening-the-office consultant to the Prince of Taiyuan. When the Prince of Pingyang took office as Central Censor, Youdao served as his consultant while concurrently heading the Secretariat Attendant Censorate. He was soon additionally appointed Left Chief Clerk of the Minister of Works while keeping his existing rank.

及文襄疑黃門郎溫子升知元瑾之謀，系諸獄而餓之，食弊襦而死，棄屍路隅，遊道收而葬之。文襄謂曰：「吾近書與京師諸貴，論及朝士，雲卿僻於朋黨，將為一病。今卿真是重舊節義人，此情不可奪。子升吾本不殺之，卿葬之何所憚？天下人代卿怖者，是不知吾心也。」尋除御史中尉。東萊王道習參御史選，限外投狀，道習與遊道有舊，使令史受之。文襄怒，收遊道，辯而判之曰：「遊道稟性獷悍，是非肆己，吹毛洗垢，創疵人物。往與郎中蘭景雲忿競，列事十條，及加推窮，便是虛妄。方共道習，陵侮朝典。法官而犯，特是難原，宜付省科。」游道被禁，獄吏欲為脫枷，遊道不肯曰：「此令公命所著，不可輙脫。」文襄聞而免之。遊道抗志不改。

When Wen Cheng suspected Yellow Gate Attendant Wen Zisheng of complicity in Yuan Jin's plot, he had him jailed and starved; Zisheng died gnawing ragged inner garments, and his body was left by the road until Youdao recovered and buried it. Wen Cheng told him, "I recently wrote the capital nobility about court gentlemen and said you stood apart from faction—that would be a failing. Now I see you truly honor old ties and hold to integrity; that loyalty cannot be stripped away. I never intended to kill Zisheng—what was there to fear in burying him? Those who feared for you on my account simply did not know my mind. Soon afterward he was appointed Censor-in-Chief. Prince of Donglai Dao Xi took part in censorial selection and submitted a petition after the deadline; because he and Youdao were old friends, he had a clerk accept it. Wen Cheng was enraged, seized Youdao, and after hearing the case ruled: "Youdao is by nature fierce and overbearing; he decides right and wrong on his own, hunts for flaws in trifles, and invents faults in others. Earlier he had quarreled with Bureau Director Lan Jingyun and laid ten charges against him; when the matter was fully investigated, every one proved false. Only now, in the affair with Dao Xi, he has trampled on and insulted court law. For a judge himself to break the law is especially hard to pardon; he should be remanded to the provincial sentencing office. Youdao was imprisoned; the jailer tried to take off his cangue, but Youdao refused: "This was imposed by the Chancellor's order and must not be removed at will. When Wen Cheng heard of it, he released him. Youdao's unyielding spirit remained unchanged.

天保元年，以遊道兼太府卿，乃於少府覆檢主司盜截，得钜萬計。奸吏反誣奏之，下獄。尋得出，不歸家，徑之府理事。卒，遺令薄葬，不立碑表，不求贈諡。贈瓜州刺史。武平中，以子士素久典機密，重贈儀同三司，諡曰貞惠。

In Tianbao 1, Youdao was additionally made Minister of the Grand Storehouse; he reinspected the chief office of the Lesser Storehouse for theft and uncovered sums in the tens of thousands. The corrupt clerks then falsely impeached him, and he was thrown into prison. Released not long after, he did not go home but went directly to the office to conduct business. When he died he left orders for a plain burial, no stele or tomb inscription, and no petition for a posthumous title. He was posthumously appointed Governor of Guazhou. In the Wuping era, because his son Shisu had long managed state secrets, he was again posthumously granted Provisionally Equal to the Three Excellencies with the posthumous name Zhenhui.

遊道剛直，疾惡如仇，見人犯罪，皆欲致之極法。彈糾見事，又好察陰私，問獄察情，捶撻嚴酷。兗州刺史李子貞在州貪暴，遊道案之。文襄以子貞預建義勳，意將含忍。游道疑陳元康為其內助，密啟云：「子貞、元康交遊，恐其別有請屬。」文襄怒，于尚書都堂集百寮，撲殺子貞。又兗州人為遊道生立祠堂，像題曰「忠清君」。游道別劾吉寧等五人同死，有欣悅色。朝士甚鄙之。然重交遊，存然諾之分。曆官嚴整，而時大納賄，分及親故之艱匱者，其男女孤弱，為嫁娶之，臨喪必哀，躬親營視。為司州綱紀，與牧昌樂、西河二王乖忤，及二王薨，每事經恤之。與頓丘李獎，一面便定死交。獎曰：「我年位已高，會用弟為佐史，令弟北面於我足矣。」遊道曰：「不能。」既而獎為河南尹，辟遊道為中正，便者相屬，以衣帢待之，握手歡謔。元顥入洛，獎受其命。出使徐州，都督元孚與城人趙紹兵殺之。遊道為獎訟冤，得雪。又表為請贈，回己考一泛階以益之。又與劉廞結交，托廞弟粹于徐州殺趙紹。後劉廞伏法於洛陽，粹以徐州叛，官軍討平之，梟粹首於鄴市。孫騰使客告市司，得五百匹後，聽收。游道時為司州中從事，令家人作劉粹所視，於州陳訴，依律判許，而奏之。敕至，市司猶不許，遊道杖市司，勒使速付。騰聞大怒，遊道立理以抗之。既收粹屍，厚加贈遺。李獎二子構、訓居貧，遊道後令其求三富人死事判免之，凡得錢百五十萬，盡以入構、訓。其使氣党俠如此。時人語曰：「遊道獼猴面，陸操科斗形，意識不關見，何謂醜者必無情。」

Youdao was rigidly upright and hated wrongdoing like a personal enemy; whenever he saw a crime, he wanted it punished to the full extent of the law. In impeachments he seized on whatever came to hand, loved probing private affairs, and in interrogations read motives and flogged prisoners with brutal severity. Yanzhou Inspector Li Zizhen was rapacious and brutal in his province, and Youdao opened a case against him. Wen Cheng, considering that Zizhen had earned merit in the founding of the righteous cause, meant to show forbearance. Youdao suspected Chen Yuankang of backing him from within and secretly memorialized: "Zizhen and Yuankang are close; I fear they have other private solicitations. Wen Cheng was furious; he assembled the hundred officials in the main hall of the Masters of Writing and had Zizhen beaten to death on the spot. Men of Yanzhou also built Youdao a living shrine while he was still alive, with an image inscribed "Lord Loyal and Pure." When Youdao separately impeached Ji Ning and four others to death together, he wore a look of satisfaction. Court gentlemen held him in deep contempt for it. Yet he set great store by friendship and honored his word. Though stern in every post he held, he sometimes took large bribes and gave them to kin and friends in need; he arranged marriages for orphaned and helpless men and women, and at every funeral mourned deeply and saw to the rites himself. As chief regulator of Sizhou he clashed with the provincial governors, the Princes of Changle and Xihe; when both princes died, he personally looked after their households in every need. With Li Jiang of Dunqiu he formed, at a single meeting, a sworn friendship unto death. Jiang said, "My years and rank are already advanced; I mean to employ you, younger brother, as assistant clerk—having you face north to me would be enough. Youdao replied, "I cannot." Soon Jiang became Intendant of Henan, recruited Youdao as Chief Rectifier, and sent messengers in steady succession; he received him in informal dress, clasping hands in easy banter. When Yuan Hao entered Luoyang, Jiang accepted his appointment. Dispatched as envoy to Xuzhou, he was killed by Area Commander Yuan Fu and the townsman Zhao Shao at the head of troops. Youdao pressed Jiang's case and cleared the wrong done him. He also memorialized for posthumous honors on Jiang's behalf, transferring one general rank-step from his own father's record to augment Jiang's. He also befriended Liu Yin and entrusted Yin's younger brother Cui with killing Zhao Shao at Xuzhou. Later Liu Yin was executed at Luoyang; Cui rebelled at Xuzhou; government troops put down the revolt and displayed Cui's head in the market at Ye. Sun Teng had a client tell the market bureau that once five hundred bolts of silk were paid, they might take the corpse. Youdao was then Central Army Attendant of Sizhou; he had members of his household pose as witnesses to Liu Cui, petitioned at the provincial level, won a judgment under law, and memorialized the result. When the edict arrived the market bureau still refused; Youdao flogged the market officials and forced them to hand over the body at once. Sun Teng heard and was enraged; Youdao held to principle and resisted him. Once Cui's body was recovered, he added generous gifts of his own. Li Jiang's sons Gou and Xun lived in poverty; later Youdao had them bring capital cases against three wealthy men and secure acquittals, collecting 1.5 million cash in all, which he gave entirely to Gou and Xun. His swaggering chivalry and factional loyalty were of this sort. People said at the time: "Youdao has a monkey's face and Lu Cao a tadpole's form—mind has nothing to do with appearance; why assume the ugly must be heartless?"

構嘗因遊道會客，因戲之曰：「賢從在門外，大好人，宜自迎接。」為通名，稱族弟游山。遊道出見之，乃獼猴而衣帽也。將與構絕，構謝之，豁然如舊。遊道死後，構為定州長史，遊道第三子士遜為墨曹、博陵王管記，與典簽共誣奏構。構于禁所祭遊道而訴焉。士遜晝臥如夢者，見遊道怒己曰：「我與構恩義，汝豈不知？何共小人謀陷清直之士！」士遜驚跪曰：「不敢！不敢！」旬日而卒。

Once, while Youdao was entertaining guests, Gou jested: "Your worthy clansman is at the door—a splendid fellow; you ought to go welcome him yourself. He announced the name as clansman You Shan. Youdao went out to meet him and found a monkey dressed in cap and robes. He was ready to break with Gou, but Gou apologized and they were reconciled as before. After Youdao died, Gou served as Chief Administrator of Dingzhou; Youdao's third son Shixun held posts in the Ink Office and as recorder to the Prince of Boling; with the chief clerk he jointly submitted a false impeachment against Gou. Imprisoned, Gou offered sacrifice to Youdao and pleaded his case to him. Shixun, napping by day as in a dream, saw Youdao angry with him: "Gou and I shared bonds of grace and duty—do you not know that? Why join petty men in plotting against an upright man! Shixun woke in terror, knelt, and cried, "I dare not! I dare not! Within ten days he was dead.

遊道每戒其子士素、士約、士慎等曰：「吾執法太剛，數遭屯蹇，性自如此，子孫不足以師之。諸子奉父言，柔和廉遜。

Youdao often warned his sons Shisu, Shiyue, Shizhen, and the rest: "I enforce the law too harshly and have repeatedly met misfortune; that is my nature—my descendants need not take me as their model. The sons obeyed their father's counsel and were gentle, modest, and deferential.

士素沉密少言，有才識，稍遷中書舍人。趙彥深引入內省，參典機密。曆中書、黃門侍郎，遷儀同三司、散騎常侍，恆領黃門侍郎。自處機要，近二十年，周慎溫恭，甚為彥深所重。初，祖珽知朝政，出彥深為刺史。珽奏以士素為東郡守，中書侍郎李德林白珽留之，由是還除黃門侍郎，共典機密。士約亦重善士，官尚書左丞。

Shisu was reserved, guarded, and sparing of words, yet talented and discerning; he rose gradually to Secretariat Gentleman. Zhao Yanshen brought him into the Inner Secretariat to share in managing state secrets. He served in turn as Secretariat Gentleman and Yellow Gate Attendant, was promoted to Provisionally Equal to the Three Excellencies and Regular Palace Attendant, and always retained the Yellow Gate Attendant post. For nearly twenty years he handled crucial affairs with circumspect warmth, and Yanshen held him in high esteem. At first Zu Ting dominated court governance and sent Yanshen out to serve as provincial inspector. Ting memorialized to appoint Shisu Administrator of Eastern Commandery; Secretariat Attendant Li Delin urged Ting to retain him, and Shisu was instead made Yellow Gate Attendant and continued to manage secrets with Yanshen. Shiyue was likewise a man of substance and virtue, holding the post of Left Vice Director of the Masters of Writing.

江式，字法字，陳留濟陽人也。六世祖瓊，字孟琚，晉馮翊太守，善蟲篆詁訓。永嘉大亂，瓊棄官投張軌，子孫因居涼士，世傳家業。祖強，字文威，涼州平，內徙代京。上書三十餘法，各有體例，又獻經史諸子千餘卷，由是拜中書博士。卒，贈敦煌太守。父紹興，高允奏為秘書郎，掌國史二十餘年，以謹厚稱。卒于趙郡太守。式少專家學，數年中，常夢兩人時相教授；及寤，每有記識。初拜司徒長史兼行參軍，檢校御史，尋除符節令。以書文昭太后尊號諡冊，除奉朝請，仍符節令。篆體尤工，洛京宮殿諸門板題，皆式書也。延昌三年三月，式表曰：

Jiang Shi, whose style name was Fazi, came from Jiyang in Chenliu commandery. His sixth-generation ancestor Qiong, styled Mengju, had been Jin Administrator of Fengyi and was skilled in seal script and lexicographical glossing. In the great upheaval of Yongjia, Qiong left office and entered Zhang Gui's service; his descendants settled in the Liang region and passed down the family craft for generations. His grandfather Qiang, styled Wenwei, moved inward to the Dai capital when Liangzhou was pacified. He submitted more than thirty calligraphic models, each with its own formal pattern, and also presented over a thousand scrolls of classics, histories, and masters' works; for this he was appointed Erudite of the Secretariat. At his death he was posthumously made Administrator of Dunhuang. His father Shaoxing was recommended by Gao Yun for the post of Secretariat Gentleman and oversaw the national history for more than twenty years, renowned for diligence and steadiness. He died while serving as Administrator of Zhao commandery. From youth Shi devoted himself to the family learning; for several years he often dreamed of two men teaching each other in turn; and on waking always retained what he had learned. He was first appointed Chief Clerk of the Minister of Works with concurrent acting adjutant and investigating censor; soon afterward he was made Keeper of Talismanic Insignia. For drafting the honorific title and posthumous edict of Empress Dowager Wen Zhao, he was made Court Gentleman for Attendance while continuing as Keeper of Talismanic Insignia. He was especially accomplished in seal script; the gate plaques of Luoyang's palaces were all in his hand. In the third month of Yanchang 3, Shi submitted a memorial:

臣聞伏羲氏作而八卦形其畫，軒轅氏興而靈龜彰其彩。古史倉頡覽二象之爻，觀鳥獸之跡，別創文字，以代結繩，用書契以維事。宣之王跡，則百工以敘；載之方冊，則萬品以明。迄於三代，厥體頗異，雖依類取制，未能殊倉氏矣。故《周禮》：八歲入小學，保氏教國子以六書：一曰指事，二曰象形，三曰形聲，四曰會意，五曰轉注，六曰假借。蓋是史頡之遺法。及宣王太史史籀著《大篆》十五篇，與古文或同或異，時人即謂之籀書。孔子修《六經》，左丘明述《春秋》，皆以古文，厥意可得而言。其後七國殊軌，文字乖別。暨秦兼天下，丞相李斯乃奏蠲罷不合秦文者。斯作《倉頡篇》，車府令趙高作《爰曆篇》，太史令胡母敬作《博學篇》，皆取史籀式，頗有省改，所謂小篆者也。於是秦燒經書，滌除舊典，官獄繁多，以趣約易，始用隸書，古文由此息矣。隸書者，始皇使下杜人程邈附於小篆所作也。世人以邈徒隸，即謂之隸書。故秦有八體：一曰大篆，二曰小篆，三曰符書，四曰蟲書，五曰摹印，六曰署書，七曰殳書，八曰隸書。

"Your subject has heard that when Fuxi came forth the Eight Trigrams took shape in their lines, and when the Yellow Emperor arose the sacred tortoise revealed its markings. The ancient scribe Cangjie contemplated the lines of the two cosmic emblems and observed the tracks of birds and beasts; he then devised writing to replace knotted cords and used written contracts to order affairs. When King Xuan's royal way prevailed, the hundred crafts were put in order; and once set down in bound registers, the myriad things were made clear. Down to the Three Dynasties the script forms diverged widely; though each type was modeled by category, none could be wholly separate from Cangjie's invention. Thus the Offices of Zhou: at eight one enters elementary school, and the tutor-in-chief teaches the sons of the state the Six Scripts—indicatives, pictographs, phonetic compounds, associative compounds, derivative cognates, and phonetic loans. These were the methods handed down from the scribe Cangjie. When King Xuan's Grand Historian Shi Zhou composed the fifteen chapters of Great Seal, they partly matched and partly differed from ancient script; contemporaries called this Zhou script. Confucius edited the Six Classics and Zuo Qiuming composed the Spring and Autumn Annals, all in ancient script; their meaning can therefore still be expressed. Afterward the Seven States went their separate ways and writing diverged. When Qin united the realm, Chancellor Li Si memorialized to abolish every script that did not conform to Qin writing. Li Si composed the Cangjie Primer, Chariot Office Director Zhao Gao the Yuanli Primer, and Grand Astrologer Humu Jing the Boxue Primer—all drawing on Zhou script with considerable abbreviation and revision; this is what is called small seal script. Thereupon Qin burned the classics and purged the old canon; with official documents multiplying, they sought brevity and ease and began to use clerical script, and ancient script thus fell out of use. Clerical script was invented when the First Emperor ordered Cheng Miao of Xiadu to adapt the small seal script. Because Miao had served as a convict clerk, people called the new script "clerical writing." Qin therefore recognized eight scripts: great seal, small seal, talisman script, tadpole script, seal-impression script, signature script, weapon script, and clerical script.

漢興，有尉律學，復教以籀書，又習八體，試之課最，以為尚書史。書省字不正，輒舉劾焉。又有草書，莫知誰始，其形書雖無厥誼，亦是一時之變通也。孝宣時，召通《倉頡》讀者，獨張敞從受之。涼州刺史杜業、沛人爰禮講學，大夫秦近亦能言之。孝平時，征禮等百餘人說文字于未央宮中，以禮為小學元士。黃門侍郎揚雄采以作《訓纂篇》。及亡新居攝，自以運應制作，大司馬甄豐校文字之部，頗改定古文。時有六書：一曰古文，孔子壁中書也；二曰奇字，即古文而異者；三曰篆書，雲小篆也；四曰佐書，秦隸書也；五曰繆篆，所以摹印也；六曰鳥蟲，所以幡信也。壁中書者，魯恭王壞孔子宅而得《尚書》、《春秋》、《論語》、《孝經》也。又北平侯張倉獻《春秋左氏傳》，書體與孔氏相類，即前代之古文矣。後漢郎中扶風曹喜號曰工篆，小異斯法，而甚精巧，自是後學，皆其法也。又詔侍中賈逵修理舊文，殊藝異術，王教一端，苟有可以加于國者，靡不悉集。逵即汝南許慎古學之師也。後慎嗟時人之好奇，歎俗儒之穿鑿，故撰《說文解字》十五篇，首一終亥，各有部屬，可謂類聚群分，雜而不越，文質彬彬，最可得而論也。左中郎將陳留蔡邕采李斯、曹喜之法，為古今雜形，詔於太學立石碑，刊載《五經》，題書楷法，多是邕書也。後開鴻都，書畫奇能，莫不雲集。時諸方獻篆，無出邕者。

Under the Han there was a prison-law school that again taught Zhou script and the eight scripts; candidates were examined, ranked by merit, and appointed clerks of the Masters of Writing. If the Masters of Writing found a character wrongly written, they would at once impeach the offender. Cursive script also appeared, though no one knows who invented it. Its forms carried no fixed authority, yet it was another expedient of the age. During Emperor Xiaoxuan's reign, readers of the *Cangjie* were summoned to court; only Zhang Chang answered the call. Du Ye, governor of Liang province, and Yuan Li of Pei gave lectures on the text, and Grandee Qin Jin could expound it as well. Under Emperor Xiaoping, Yuan Li and more than a hundred scholars were summoned to Weiyang Palace to expound the script, and Yuan Li was appointed Chief Scholar of Elementary Learning. Gentleman of the Yellow Gate Yang Xiong collected their work and compiled the *Xunzuan*. After Wang Mang seized power, convinced that Heaven had transferred the mandate to him, Grand Marshal Zhen Feng reviewed the script categories and extensively revised the ancient forms. At that time six scripts were recognized: first, ancient script—the texts recovered from Confucius's wall; second, odd characters, meaning ancient forms that differed from the norm; third, seal script, namely small seal; fourth, assistant script, the Qin clerical script; fifth, twisted seal, used for carving seals; sixth, bird-and-insect script, used for banners and credentials. The wall texts were discovered when Prince Gong of Lu tore down Confucius's house and found the *Documents*, the *Spring and Autumn*, the *Analects*, and the *Classic of Filial Piety*. Marquis Cang of Beiping also submitted the *Zuo Tradition to the Spring and Autumn*; its script resembled the Kong family's and was the ancient writing of earlier ages. In Later Han, Palace Attendant Cao Xi of Fufeng was famed as a master of seal script. His hand differed slightly from Li Si's method, yet was exquisitely refined, and later students all followed his style. The court also ordered Palace Attendant Jia Kui to restore the old texts, gathering every rare art and unusual skill, every branch of royal teaching that might serve the state. Kui was the teacher in ancient learning to Xu Shen of Runan. Later Shen deplored the age's appetite for novelty and the vulgar scholars' habit of forcing meanings onto words, and so compiled the fifteen chapters of the *Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters*. From the first radical to the last, each entry had its place; like was grouped with like, distinctions held without confusion, and substance and style stood in fine balance—the work at its best repays close reading. Left Palace General Cai Yong of Chenliu took the methods of Li Si and Cao Xi, blended ancient and modern forms, and by imperial order erected a stone stele at the Imperial Academy bearing the *Five Classics* in the standard script—most of it in Yong's own hand. Later, when the Hongdu Gate Academy opened, every rare talent in calligraphy and painting flocked there. When the regions submitted examples of seal script, none could match Yong's.

魏初，博士清河張揖著《埤倉》、《廣雅》、《古今字詁》。究諸《埤》、《廣》，綴拾遺漏，增長事類，抑亦于文為益者。然其《字詁》，方之許篇，古今體用，或得或失。陳留邯鄲淳亦與揖同，博開古藝，特善《倉》、《雅》。許氏字指、八體、六書，精究閑理，有名於揖。以書教諸皇子。又建《三字石經》於漢碑西，其文蔚煥，三體復宣。校之《說文》，篆、隸大同，而古字少異。又有京兆韋誕、河東衛覬二家，並號能篆。當時台觀榜題，寶器之銘，悉是誕書。咸傳之子孫，世稱其妙。晉世義陽王典祠令任城呂忱表上《字林》六卷，尋其況趣，附托許慎《說文》，而按偶章句，隱別古籀奇惑之字，文得正隸，不差篆意也。忱弟靜別放故左校令李登《聲類》之法，作《韻集》五卷，使宮、商、角、徵、羽各為一篇，而文字與兄便是魯、衛，音讀楚、夏，時有不同。皇魏承百王之季，紹五運之緒。世易風移，文字改變，篆形謬錯，隸體失真。俗學鄙習，復加虛造。巧談辯士，以意為疑，炫惑于時，難以厘改。乃曰：追來為歸，巧言為辯，小免為<需免>，神嵒為蠶。如斯甚眾，皆不合孔氏古書、史籀《大篆》、許氏《說文》、《石經》三字也。凡所關古，莫不惆悵焉。嗟夫！文字者六籍之宗，王教之始，前人所以垂今，今人所以識古。

Early in Wei, Erudite Zhang Yi of Qinghe composed the *Etymological Storehouse*, the *Broad Lexicon*, and the *Glosses on Ancient and Modern Characters*. In compiling the *Storehouse* and the *Lexicon*, he patched omissions and expanded the categories of terms—work that did some service to written learning. Yet in his *Character Glosses*, measured against Xu's treatise, the ancient and modern forms and usages were sometimes correct and sometimes mistaken. Handan Chun of Chenliu was Zhang Yi's peer: broadly versed in ancient arts and especially masterful in the *Cangjie* and the *Lexicon*. In the Xu family's explanations of character purpose, the eight scripts, and the six principles, he pursued the subtle logic to the full and outshone Zhang Yi in reputation. He instructed the princes in writing. He also set up the *Three-Script Stone Classic* west of the Han stele; its text shone with brilliance, and the three scripts were displayed once more. Checked against the *Explaining Graphs*, the seal and clerical forms were largely identical, though a few ancient characters differed. Two other masters were famed for seal script: Wei Dan of Jingzhao and Wei Ji of Hedong. In those days the inscriptions on palace towers and precious vessels were all written by Dan. Their art passed to their descendants, and for generations their skill was hailed as exquisite. In Jin, Lü Chen of Rencheng, director of sacrifices under the Prince of Yiyang, submitted the six scrolls of the *Forest of Characters*. In spirit it followed Xu Shen's *Explaining Graphs*, arranged entries in parallel phrases, and discreetly sorted out ancient Zhou forms, odd characters, and misleading variants, preserving correct clerical writing without abandoning seal-script meaning. Chen's younger brother Jing, adapting the method of Li Deng's *Categories of Sounds*, compiled the five scrolls of the *Collection of Rhymes*, with gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu each forming one chapter. In script he and his brother were as close as Lu to Wei, yet in pronunciation they were as far apart as Chu from Xia—sometimes they did not agree. Great Wei succeeded the last of the hundred kings and carried forward the line of the five cycles. As times changed and customs shifted, the script altered too: seal forms grew corrupt and clerical writing lost its integrity. Shallow scholarship and vulgar habit piled invention upon invention. Clever talkers and debaters, treating private fancy as grounds for doubt, dazzled their contemporaries and made correction nearly impossible. They would say that *zhui* (follow) stood for *gui* (return), *qiaoyan* (clever speech) for *bian* (debate), *xiaomian* (small hare) for *xumian*, and *shenyan* (divine cliff) for *can* (silkworm). Such cases were legion, and none accorded with the Kong family's ancient texts, Scribe Zhou's *Great Seal*, Xu Shen's *Explaining Graphs*, or the three-script stone classic. Every matter touching the ancient script filled the heart with sorrow. Alas! Writing is the root of the Six Classics and the beginning of royal instruction: through it the ancients handed down the past to the present, and the present learns to know antiquity.

臣六世祖瓊，家世陳留，往晉之初，與從父兄俱受學于衛覬，古篆之法，《倉》、《雅》、《方言》、《說文》之誼，當時並收善譽。而祖遇洛陽之亂，避地河西，數世傳習，斯業所以不墜也。世祖太延中，牧犍內附，臣亡祖文威杖策歸國，奉獻五世傳掌之書，古篆八體之法。時蒙褒錄，敘列于儒林，官班文省，家號世業。

Your subject's sixth-generation ancestor Qiong came from a Chenliu family. In early Jin he and a cousin studied under Wei Ji in ancient seal script and in the *Cangjie*, the *Lexicon*, the *Dialect Words*, and the *Explaining Graphs*—and at the time both won high praise. When my ancestor met the chaos at Luoyang, he fled west of the river; for generations the art was handed down and practiced, and so the family craft did not perish. In the Ta Yan era of Emperor Shizu, when Mujian submitted to the court, my late ancestor Wenwei returned home with staff in hand and presented the books preserved through five generations along with the methods of the eight ancient scripts. He was then commended and enrolled among the forest of scholars, given rank among the script offices, and the family came to be known for a hereditary craft.

暨臣闇短，識學庸薄，漸漬家風，有忝無顯。是藉六世之資，奉遵祖考之訓，竊慕古人之軌，企踐儒門之轍。求撰集古來文字，以許慎《說文》為主，及孔氏《尚書》、《五經音注》、《籀篇》、《爾雅》、《三倉》、《凡將》、《方言》、《通俗文》、祖文宗《埤倉》、《廣雅》、《古今字詁》、《三字石經》、《字林》、《韻集》、諸賦文字有六書之誼者，以類編聯，文無復重，統為一部。其古籀、奇惑、俗隸諸體，咸使班於篆下，各有區別。詁訓假借之誼，僉隨文而解；音讀楚、夏之聲，並逐字而注。其所不知者，則闕如也。脫蒙遂許，冀省百氏之觀，而同文字之域。典書秘書所須之書，乞垂敕給；並學士五人嘗習文字者，助臣披覽；書生各五人，專令抄寫。侍中、黃門、國子祭酒一月一監，誣議疑隱，庶無紕繆。所撰名目，伏聽明旨。

As for myself, I am dim of mind and slight in talent, my learning shallow and thin. Nurtured in the family tradition, I have brought it shame without adding luster. Yet drawing on the resources of six generations and obeying my forefathers' teaching, I secretly admire the ancients' example and aspire to walk the Confucian path. I beg leave to compile the writing of antiquity, taking Xu Shen's *Explaining Graphs* as the foundation and drawing also on the Kong family's *Documents*, the *Phonetic Commentaries on the Five Classics*, the *Zhou Pian*, the *Erya*, the *Three Storehouses*, the *Fanjiang*, the *Dialect Words*, the *Popular Explanations of Characters*, the *Zu Wenzong*, the *Etymological Storehouse*, the *Broad Lexicon*, the *Glosses on Ancient and Modern Characters*, the *Three-Script Stone Classic*, the *Forest of Characters*, the *Collection of Rhymes*, and the characters in rhapsodies that preserve the six principles of writing—arranging all by category, linking like with like, eliminating duplication, and unifying them in one work. Ancient Zhou forms, odd and misleading characters, and vulgar clerical variants shall all be displayed beneath the seal forms, each clearly distinguished. Glosses and borrowed usages shall be explained in each case according to the text; and Chu and Xia pronunciations shall be noted for each character. Where I do not know, I shall leave the entry blank. If granted permission, I hope to spare the hundred schools their toil and bring the world of writing into one shared order. For the books required by the Directorate of Documents and the Imperial Library, I beg that an edict supply them; together with five scholars practiced in writing to assist me in reviewing them; and five copyists apiece, assigned solely to transcription. The Palace Attendant, Gentleman of the Yellow Gate, and Director of the Imperial Academy shall supervise once a month, deliberating on doubtful and obscure points so that no error may remain. As for the title of the work I propose, I bow and await Your Majesty's decision.

詔曰：「可如所請，並就太常，冀兼教八書史也。其有所須，依請給之。名目待書成重聞。」式於是撰集字書，號曰《古今文字》，凡四十卷，大體依許氏《說文》為本，上篆下隸。正光中，兼著作郎。卒官，贈巴州刺史。其書竟未能成。式兄子征虜將軍順和，亦工篆書。

An edict replied: "Let it be as requested, and refer the matter to the Minister of Ceremonies, that he may also instruct the clerks in the eight scripts. Whatever is required shall be supplied as requested. The title may be reported again once the book is complete. Thereupon Shi compiled the lexicon, titled *Characters Ancient and Modern*, forty scrolls in all. In the main it followed Xu Shen's *Explaining Graphs*, with seal script above and clerical script below. During the Zhengguang era he also served as Compiler. He died in office and was posthumously appointed governor of Ba province. The book, in the end, was never finished. Shi's nephew Shunhe, General Who Pacifies the Barbarians, was also accomplished in seal script.

先是，太和中，兗州人沈法會能隸書。宣武之在東宮，敕法會侍書。後以隸跡見知於閭里者甚眾，未有如崔浩之妙。

Earlier, during the Taihe era, Shen Fahui of Yan province was accomplished in clerical script. When Emperor Xuanwu was crown prince, he ordered Fahui to serve as his writing attendant. Later many in the countryside knew him by his clerical hand, yet none could rival the mastery of Cui Hao.

論曰：游雅才業，亦高允之亞，至於陷族陳奇，斯所以絕世而莫祀。明根雅道儒風，終受非常之遇。乙太和之盛，有乞言之重，抑乃曠世一時。肇既聿修，克隆堂構，正清梗概，顛沛不渝；辭爵主幼之年，抗節臣權之日，顧視群公，其風固已遠矣。高閭發言有章句，下筆富文詞，故能受遇累朝，見重明主，掛冠謝事，禮備懸輿。美矣！趙逸文雅自業，琰加之孝義，可謂世有人焉。胡叟顯晦之間，優遊無悶，亦一代之異人歟！胡方回、張湛、段承根、闞駰、劉延明、趙柔、索敞皆通涉經史，才志不群，價重西州，有聞東國，故流播之中，自拔泥滓。人之不可以無能，信也。宋繇處屈能申，終致顯達。游道剛直自立，任使為累。江式能世其業，亦足稱云。

The commentator says: In talent and achievement You Ya stood second only to Gao Yun; yet in implicating Chen Qi and destroying his clan, he ensured that his line would die out unmourned. Minggen's refined conduct and Confucian bearing won him, in the end, exceptional favor. At the height of the Taihe era, when remonstrance carried real weight, that too was a distinction rare in any age. Zhao not only carried forward what he had inherited but enlarged the house his fathers built; upright, pure, and steadfast in principle, he did not bend even in adversity; when he declined a fief while the emperor was still a child, and when he held to his integrity though powerful ministers ruled the court, he stood apart from the great lords around him by a distance already vast. Gao Lu spoke in measured periods and wrote with rich literary grace; therefore he won favor across successive reigns, earned the esteem of enlightened rulers, resigned his office, and in retirement received every honor due a man of years. Beautiful indeed! Zhao Yi made literary refinement his calling, and Yan added filial piety and righteousness to it—truly, their generation had men worth remembering. Hu Sou, whether in obscurity or in the light, moved at ease and without vexation—is he not also a singular figure of his age? Hu Fanghui, Zhang Zhan, Duan Chenggen, Kang Yin, Liu Yanming, Zhao Rou, and Sou Chang all ranged widely through the classics and histories; their talent and resolve were uncommon, their worth was prized in the western provinces, and their names reached the eastern courts—so even amid exile and dispersal they pulled themselves free of the mud. That a man cannot afford to be without ability—this is certainly true. Song Yao, though brought low, was able to rise again and in the end won distinction. Youdao was upright and self-reliant, yet his readiness to act for others became his undoing. Jiang Shi was able to carry the family craft from generation to generation—and that alone is praise enough.

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