1
自書契之作，先民可得而聞者，經傳所稱，唐虞以上，帝王有號諡。 輔佐不可得而稱矣，而諸子頗言之，雖不考虖孔氏，然猶著在篇籍，歸乎顯善昭惡，勸戒後人，故博采焉。 孔子曰：「若聖與仁，則吾豈敢？」 又曰：「何事於仁，必也聖乎！」 「未知，焉得仁？」 「生而知之者，上也； 學而知之者，次也； 困而學之，又其次也； 困而不學，民斯為下矣。」 又曰：「中人以上，可以語上也。」 「唯上智與下愚不移。」
From the time writing was first made, what we can still know of the ancients through the Classics and their commentaries is this: for the ages of Tang and Yu and earlier, rulers bore formal titles and posthumous names. The ministers and aides who supported those rulers cannot all be fully identified. Still, the various philosophical writings discuss many of them. Even where these accounts cannot be fully confirmed by the Confucian tradition, they remain preserved in the texts and serve a common purpose: to display virtue, expose wrongdoing, and admonish later generations. For that reason, they are broadly collected here. Confucius said, "As for claiming sagehood and perfect benevolence, how could I dare?" He also said, "Why speak only of benevolence? One must reach sagehood!" He also said, "If one does not yet understand, how can one possess benevolence?" "Those born already knowing stand at the top; those who come to knowledge through study are next; those who learn under hardship come next; and those who suffer hardship yet refuse to learn are the lowest of all." He also said, "With people of average ability and above, one can discuss what is higher." "Only the supremely wise and the utterly foolish cannot be changed."
2
傳曰：譬如堯舜，禹、稷、镨與之為善則行，鯀、讙兜欲與為惡則誅。 可與為善，不可與為惡，是謂上智。 桀紂，龍逢、比干欲與之為善則誅，于莘、崇侯與之為惡則行。 可與為惡，不可與為善，是謂下愚。 齊桓公，管仲相之則霸，豎貂輔之則亂。 可與為善，可與為惡，是謂中人。 因茲以列九等之序，究極經傳，繼世相次，總備古今之略要云。 張晏曰：「老子玄默，仲尼所師，雖不在聖，要為大賢，文伯之母達於禮典，動為聖人所歎，言為後世所則，而在第四。田單以即墨孤城復強齊之大，魯連之博通，忽於榮利，藺子申威秦王，退讓廉頗，乃在第五。大姬巫怪，好祭鬼神，陳人化之，國多淫祀，寺人孟子違於大雅，以保其身，旣被宮刑，怨刺而作，乃在第三。嫪毐上烝，昬亂禮度，惡不忍聞，乃在第七。其餘差違紛錯不少，略舉揚較，以起失謬。獨馳騖於數千歲之中，旁觀諸子，事業未究，而尋遇竇氏之難，使之然乎？」 師古曰：「六家之論，輕重不同；百行所存，趣拾難壹。張氏輒申所見，掎摭班史，然其所論，又自差錯。且年代乆遠，墳典隟亡，學者舛駮，師論分異，是以表載古人名氏，或與諸書不同。今則特有發明，用暢厥旨。自女媧以下，帝鴻以前，諸子傳記，互有舛駮，敘說不同，無所取正，大要知其古帝之號而已。諸人士見於史傳，彰灼可知者，無待解釋，其間幽昧者，時復及焉。」
As the Tradition says: take Yao and Shun. When Yu, Ji, and Xie joined them in doing what was right, those policies were put into effect; when Gun and Huan Dou sought to join them in wrongdoing, they were punished to death. To be able to cooperate in good but never in evil: this is what is called highest wisdom. By contrast, with Jie and Zhou, Long Feng and Bi Gan were executed for trying to do what was right with them, while Yu Xin and the Marquis of Chong were followed when they proposed evil. To be capable only of joining in evil, never in good: this is what is called utter folly. Duke Huan of Qi became hegemon when Guan Zhong was his minister, but fell into disorder when Shu Diao aided him. Those who can join either good or evil are what we call people of the middle rank. On this basis, I set out a sequence of nine grades, tracing the classics and commentaries as far as possible, arranging each generation in order, and providing in sum a concise outline of notable figures from ancient to later times. Zhang Yan said, "Laozi was deep and silent, and Confucius regarded him as a teacher. Though not ranked among sages, he surely counts as a great worthy. Wenbo's mother mastered the ritual classics; the sage praised her conduct and later ages took her words as a model—yet she appears in the fourth grade. Tian Dan restored great Qi from the isolated city of Jimo; Lu Lian was broadly learned yet disdained fame and profit; Lord Lin awed the King of Qin and yielded to Lian Po—yet they are placed in the fifth grade. Great Ji practiced sorcery and loved sacrificing to ghosts and spirits; the people of Chen were transformed by her and the state was full of improper cults. The eunuch Mengzi, turning from the great elegant style to preserve himself—after castration, wrote in resentment—yet is placed in the third grade. Lao Ai committed incest at court and threw ritual order into chaos, in deeds too foul to bear hearing—yet he is placed in the seventh grade. Discrepancies and errors are many; I have cited a few to expose the faults. Did he gallop alone across thousands of years, looking on at the various masters while his work remained unfinished, then soon meet the Dou family's disaster—and did that make it turn out this way?" Yan Shigu said, "The six schools' doctrines differ in what they value; the conduct preserved across the hundred practices is hard to gather into one standard. Master Zhang then set forth his own views, picking at Ban Gu's history—yet his arguments are themselves mistaken. Moreover, the ages are distant, canonical texts have gaps and losses, scholars contradict one another, and teachers' explanations diverge; for this reason the names recorded in the table may differ from other books. Here I add explanations of my own to make the meaning clear. From Nüwa down to before Emperor Hong, the various masters' records conflict and their accounts differ, with no way to decide which is right; in general one need only know the designations of the ancient emperors. Persons who appear in historical records and are plainly identifiable need no commentary; where matters are obscure, I sometimes explain them."