Volume 64b: an, Zhu, Wuqiu, Zhufu, Xu, Yan, Zhong, Wang and Jia 2

卷六十四下嚴朱吾丘主父徐嚴終王賈傳第三十三下

Volume 64b, Part Two: biographies of Yan An, Zhu Mai Chen, Wuqiu Shouwang, Zhufu Yan, Xu Le, Yan Cang, Zhong Jun, Wang Bao, and Jia Yi—the thirty-third set of biographies, lower scroll.

嚴安者，臨菑人也。以故丞相史上書，曰：

Yan An came from Linzi. Serving as a clerk who had once worked under the chancellor, he presented a memorial that began:

臣聞鄒衍曰：「政教文質者，所以云救也，當時則用，過則舍之，有易則易也，故守一而不變者，未睹治之至也。」今天下人民用財侈靡，車馬衣裘宮室皆競修飾，調五聲使有節族，雜五色使有文章，重五味方丈於前，以觀欲天下。彼民之情，見美則願之，是教民以侈也。侈而無節，則不可贍，民離本而徼末矣。末不可徒得，故搢紳者不憚為詐，帶劍者夸殺人以矯奪，而世不知媿，故姦軌浸長。夫佳麗珍怪固順於耳目，故養失而泰，樂失而淫，禮失而采，教失而偽。偽、采、淫、泰，非所以範民之道也。是以天下人民逐利無已，犯法者眾。臣願為民制度以防其淫，使貧富不相燿以和其心。心既和平，其性恬安。恬安不營，則盜賊銷；盜賊銷，則刑罰少；刑罰少，則陰陽和，四時正，風雨時，草木暢茂，五穀蕃孰，六畜遂字，民不夭厲，和之至也。

I have heard Zou Yan say that policy and moral teaching, refinement and plainness, exist to redress imbalance: use what suits the moment, discard what is out of date, and change when change is due. A ruler who clings to a single formula and never revises it has never grasped what true good government looks like. Today the common people spend money with reckless luxury: they outdo one another in decking out carriages, horses, robes, furs, and houses; they arrange the five notes into elaborate music, blend the five colors into rich designs, and heap rare flavors across a table before them—all to flaunt appetite and set a fashion for the whole world. Human nature being what it is, people covet whatever looks splendid; in effect, the court is schooling them in excess. Extravagance without limits outruns any purse, and the people abandon farming to chase petty profit at the margins. Those secondary gains do not come honestly, so belted officials turn to fraud without a qualm, and men who wear swords swagger through murder and robbery, while society feels no shame. Crime and violence spread unchecked. Splendid sights and rare treasures naturally delight the senses, yet when we indulge them, nourishment slides into excess, music into licentiousness, ritual into mere display, and moral teaching into hollow pretense. Pretense, ornament, debauchery, and extravagance are no model for how the people ought to live. The result is a tireless scramble for gain across the land, and the jails fill with lawbreakers. I urge you to set norms that curb excess, so that rich and poor are not locked in mutual envy and hearts can find peace. When minds are at peace, temperaments grow calm and steady. Content people who are not driven by restless ambition will not turn to theft. With theft rare, punishments become infrequent. Fewer punishments mean balanced yin and yang, orderly seasons, timely rain and wind, lush growth, abundant harvests, thriving herds, and no plague of untimely deaths—this is harmony brought to perfection.

臣聞周有天下，其治三百餘歲，成康其隆也，刑錯四十餘年而不用。及其衰，亦三百餘年，故五伯更起。伯者，常佐天子興利除害，誅暴禁邪，匡正海內，以尊天子。五伯既沒，賢聖莫續，天子孤弱，號令不行。諸侯恣行，彊陵弱，眾暴寡。田常篡齊，六卿分晉，並為戰國，此民之始苦也。於是彊國務攻，弱國修守，合從連衡，馳車轂擊，介冑生蟣蝨，民無所告愬。

I am told the Zhou held the realm for over three hundred years of rule; the reigns of King Cheng and King Kang were its high point, when criminal penalties lay unused for more than forty years. Its decline lasted another three hundred years, a span in which the Five Lords Protector rose one after another. Those hegemons habitually aided the Son of Heaven by advancing good, removing harm, crushing cruelty, and checking wickedness, bringing order within the Four Seas so as to uphold the throne. After the last hegemon died, no worthy successor appeared; the Zhou king grew isolated and feeble, and his decrees carried no weight. Regional lords did as they pleased: the strong swallowed the weak, and great states bullied small ones. Tian Chang seized Qi, six noble clans carved up Jin, and the age of the Warring States began—the first great wave of misery for the common people. Mighty states threw everything into conquest while weaker ones dug in behind their walls; leagues shifted from north–south pacts to east–west deals; chariots jammed wheel-hub to wheel-hub; soldiers lived so long in mail that lice bred in the lining; ordinary folk had no court to which they could appeal.

及至秦王，蠶食天下，并吞戰國，稱號皇帝，一海內之政，壞諸侯之城。銷其兵，鑄以為鍾虡，示不復用。元元黎民得免於戰國，逢明天子，人人自以為更生。鄉使秦緩刑罰，薄賦斂，省繇役，貴仁義，賤權利，上篤厚，下佞巧，變風易俗，化於海內，則世世必安矣。秦不行是風，循其故俗，為知巧權利者進，篤厚忠正者退，法嚴令苛，諂諛者眾，曰聞其美，章廣心逸。欲威海外，使蒙恬將兵以北攻彊胡，辟地進境，戍於北河，飛芻輓粟以隨其後。又使尉屠睢將樓船之士攻越，使監祿鑿渠運糧，深入越地，越人遁逃。曠日持久，糧食乏絕，越人擊之，秦兵大敗。秦乃使尉佗將卒以戍越。當是時，秦禍北構於胡，南挂於越，宿兵於無用之地，進而不得退。行十餘年，丁男被甲，丁女轉輸，苦不聊生，自經於道樹，死者相望。及秦皇帝崩，天下大畔。陳勝、吳廣舉陳，武臣、張耳舉趙，項梁舉吳，田儋舉齊，景駒舉郢，周市舉魏，韓廣舉燕，窮山通谷，豪士並起，不可勝載也。然本皆非公侯之後，非長官之吏，無尺寸之勢，起閭巷，杖棘矜，應時而動，不謀而俱起，不約而同會，壤長地進，至乎伯王，時教使然也。秦貴為天子，富有天下，滅世絕祀，窮兵之禍也。故周失之弱，秦失之彊，不變之患也。

Then came the First Emperor of Qin, who gnawed away the states one by one, swallowed the warring kingdoms, took the title of emperor, centralized all authority, and razed the walls of the old feudatories. He had their bronze weapons melted down and recast into bells and bell-frames, a public pledge that arms would not be taken up again. The common people, delivered at last from endless war, believed they had met an enlightened sovereign; every household felt as though it had been given a new life. Had Qin only eased its penalties, cut taxes and labor service, honored humanity and duty over ruthless calculation, encouraged integrity in high places and discouraged sycophancy below, and reformed customs throughout the realm, its peace might have lasted for generations. Qin did nothing of the kind. It clung to old habits, promoting the cunning and the self-seeking while sidelining the steadfast and true. Statutes grew harsher, orders more cruel, and flatterers multiplied; the court daily heard only its own praises until ambition swelled and discipline collapsed. Intent on striking terror into lands beyond China, he sent Meng Tian north against the Xiongnu, pushed the frontier forward, planted garrisons along the northern river line, and then rushed grain and fodder north in an endless train to supply them. He also ordered Commandant Tu Sui to take marines in tower ships against the Yue, while Superintendent Lu cut a canal to move supplies deep into Yue country until the local people melted away into the hills. The campaign dragged on until provisions ran out; the Yue struck back and shattered the Qin army. Qin then dispatched Commandant Zhao Tuo with a garrison to hold the conquered south. At that moment Qin was caught between the Xiongnu in the north and Yue in the south, with armies tied down in barren country where they could advance but not withdraw. For over a decade every able-bodied man wore armor and every woman hauled supplies for the front. Life became unbearable; people strung themselves up from roadside trees until the corpses lined the highways. When the First Emperor died, the empire erupted in revolt. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang seized Chen, Wu Chen and Zhang Er raised Zhao, Xiang Liang rose in Wu, Tian Dan in Qi, Jing Ju in Ying, Zhou Shi in Wei, Han Guang in Yan—bold leaders sprang up in every ravine and pass, too many to list. Yet none of these men sprang from ducal houses or high office; they held not an inch of legitimate power. They came out of the back alleys with improvised weapons, stirred by the moment, acting without prior conspiracy yet rising as one, seizing ground until some stood as kings or hegemons—such was the lesson the age had taught them. Though Qin had worn the imperial crown and owned the wealth of the world, its line was extinguished and its ancestral rites cut short—this is what endless war buys a dynasty. Zhou fell because it grew too weak to act; Qin fell because it clung too fiercely to force. Both perished from the same refusal to change course.

今徇南夷，朝夜郎，降羌僰，略薉州，建城邑，深入匈奴，燔其龍城，議者美之。此人臣之利，非天下之長策也。今中國無狗吠之警，而外累於遠方之備，靡敝國家，非所以子民也。行無窮之欲，甘心快意，結怨於匈奴，非所以安邊也。禍挐而不解，兵休而復起，近者愁苦，遠者驚駭，非所以持久也。今天下鍛甲摩劍，矯箭控弦，轉輸軍糧，未見休時，此天下所共憂也。夫兵久而變起，事煩而慮生。今外郡之地或幾千里，列城數十，形束壤制，帶脅諸侯，非宗室之利也。上觀齊晉所以亡，公室卑削，六卿大盛也；下覽秦之所以滅，刑嚴文刻，欲大無窮也。今郡守之權非特六卿之重也，地幾千里非特閭巷之資也，甲兵器械非特棘矜之用也，以逢萬世之變，則不可勝諱也。

Today the court campaigns in the southern tribes, brings Yelang to audience, subdues Qiang and Bo peoples, seizes border prefectures, founds new towns, drives deep into the steppe, and burns the Xiongnu court at Longcheng—and advisers call all of it glorious. That may serve ambitious officials; it is no lasting policy for the empire. The heartland faces no threat that would set village dogs barking, yet we strain the treasury on garrisons thousands of miles away. Bleeding the state dry is no way to care for the people as a father should. To indulge boundless appetite for glory, savor short-term triumph, and pile up lasting hatred with the Xiongnu is no recipe for a quiet frontier. Calamity clings without release; each pause in fighting is followed by a new mobilization. Those nearby groan under the burden; distant peoples tremble at the rumor of arms. No dynasty can last on such a footing. Across the empire men beat mail, hone blades, straighten shafts, and string bows, while grain trains roll east and west without cease. This is the specter that haunts every household. Protracted war breeds mutiny; tangled administration breeds fresh crises. Some frontier commanderies sprawl across a thousand li and hold dozens of walled towns whose geography can choke rival powers as a belt tightens the waist. That strength lies outside the imperial clan, and it bodes ill for the throne. Consider why Qi and Jin fell: their ruling houses withered while great ministerial clans grew too strong to curb. Look lower, at Qin's ruin: savage law, pitiless edicts, and ambition without limit. A modern governor commands more real authority than any of Jin's six ministers; his domain is vaster than a rebel's alley-kingdom; his arsenals hold more than thornwood spears. Should the world shift again, the danger is too obvious to gloss over.

後以安為騎馬令。

Afterward Yan An was appointed Master of the Imperial Horse.

終軍字子雲，濟南人也。少好學，以辯博能屬文聞於郡中。年十八，選為博士弟子。至府受遣，太守聞其有異材，召見軍，甚奇之，與交結。軍揖太守而去，至長安上書言事。武帝異其文，拜軍為謁者給事中。

Zhong Jun, whose courtesy name was Ziyun, came from Jinan. From boyhood he loved study and won countywide renown for wide reading, sharp debate, and a ready pen. At eighteen he was chosen as a student of the imperial academy. When he went to the yamen for his travel orders, the grand administrator heard reports of his gifts, called him in, was deeply impressed, and struck up a friendship. Zhong Jun bowed once to the governor and left for the capital, where he filed a memorial on state policy. Emperor Wu was struck by the quality of his prose and named him court herald with standing access to the inner palace.

從上幸雍祠五畤，獲白麟，一角而五蹄。時又得奇木，其枝旁出，輒復合於木上。上異此二物，博謀群臣。軍上對曰：

He accompanied the sovereign to Yong for the sacrifices at the five shrines, where hunters brought in a white unicorn bearing a single horn and five hooves. About the same time someone presented a freakish tree whose limbs jutted sideways only to fuse back into the trunk. The emperor regarded both prodigies as extraordinary and asked his officials for wide-ranging counsel. Zhong Jun responded with a memorial that read:

臣聞詩頌君德，樂舞后功，異經而同指，明盛德之所隆也。南越竄屏葭葦，與鳥魚群，正朔不及其俗。有司臨境，而東甌內附，閩王伏辜，南越賴救。北胡隨畜薦居，禽獸行，虎狼心，上古未能攝。大將軍秉鉞，單于奔幕；票騎抗旌，昆邪右衽。是澤南洽而威北暢也。若罰不阿近，舉不遺遠，設官俟賢，縣賞待功，能者進以保祿，罷者退而勞力，刑於宇內矣。履眾美而不足，懷聖明而不專，建三宮之文質，章厥職之所宜，封禪之君無聞焉。

The Book of Odes hymns a ruler's virtue; ritual music celebrates deeds handed down from sage-kings. The texts differ, yet they point the same way: they mark where true greatness gathers. The Yue huddle beyond the reeds like waterfowl and fish; our calendar and rites have never touched their ways. As soon as imperial officers reached the frontier, Eastern Ou came in, the king of Min accepted punishment, and Yue itself owed its survival to Han mercy. The northern nomads drift with their herds like animals, with appetites as fierce as wolves'. Even the sage-kings of high antiquity could not fully tame them. The supreme commander took the war-axe in hand and drove the Chanyu headlong into the steppe. The Swift Cavalry general unfurled his standard until Prince Hunye surrendered and adopted Han dress. Thus kindness has soaked the south while awe runs clear across the north. When penalties spare no favorite, promotions reach the humblest talent, posts await true worth, honors hang ready for merit, capable men rise to secure their stipends while the inept step down to manual work, the whole realm becomes your mirror of justice. You walk amid every excellence yet still feel wanting; you hold sagely insight yet refuse to monopolize it; you set the three palaces in proper balance of ornament and plainness and define each office's charge. No ruler who merely mounted Mount Tai for feng and shan rites ever matched that.

夫人命初定，萬事草創，及臻六合同風，九州共貫，必待明聖潤色，祖業傳於無窮。故周至成王，然後制定，而休徵之應見。陛下盛日月之光，垂聖思於勒成，專神明之敬，奉燔瘞於郊宮，獻享之精交神，積和之氣塞明，而異獸來獲，宜矣。昔武王中流未濟，白魚入於王舟，俯取以燎，群公咸曰「休哉！」今郊祀未見於神祇，而獲獸以饋，此天之所以示饗，而上通之符合也。宜因昭時令日，改定告元，苴以白茅於江淮，發嘉號于營丘，以應緝熙，使著事者有紀焉。

At the founding of a house all institutions are rough; only when the six quarters breathe a single culture and the nine regions run on one thread does a truly enlightened sovereign put the finishing polish on them, so the patrimony may pass down without end. The house of Zhou did not complete its statutes until the reign of King Cheng; only then did propitious omens begin to answer its virtue. Your Majesty outshines sun and moon, bends sage reflection toward perfecting the record, concentrates reverence on the gods, and presents burnt and buried offerings at the suburban shrines until the subtle ether of sacrifice mingles with the spirits and a tide of harmony fills the bright sky. Small wonder strange beasts should present themselves. Once, when King Wu had not yet finished fording the river, a white fish leaped into his barge; he lifted it out for a burnt offering, and the nobles cried, 'Excellent omen!' You have not yet announced the suburban rites to the high gods, yet Heaven sends a beast fit for the altar—clear proof that the spirits accept your worship and that your virtue resonates above. Seize an auspicious season and day to proclaim a new era name, invest the princes along the Yangzi and Huai with bundles of white rushes, and broadcast a glorious title from Yingqiu, echoing the bright mandate so historians may set it down in good order.

蓋六鶂退飛，逆也；白魚登舟，順也。夫明闇之徵，上亂飛鳥，下動淵魚，各以類推。今野獸并角，明同本也；眾支內附，示無外也。若此之應，殆將有解編髮，削左衽，襲冠帶，要衣裳，而蒙化者焉。斯拱而俟之耳！

When six wild geese beat their way upwind, the Spring and Autumn Annals read it as ill omen. The white fish leaping into the royal boat betokened favor from Heaven. Omens of light and shadow work by kind: Heaven stirs the birds aloft, and the fish below feel it too. A beast in the wild with twin horns merged as one proclaims that all creatures share a single root. When every branch people turns inward to the throne, it signals that nothing lies beyond the emperor's embrace. Portents such as these foretell tribes who will unbind their hair, cut away barbarian dress, and don caps, sashes, robes, and skirts to receive your civilization. You have only to fold your hands and wait.

對奏，上甚異之，由是改元為元狩。後數月，越地及匈奴名王有率眾來降者，時皆以軍言為中。

The emperor was so struck by the memorial that he renamed the reign Yuanshou. Within a few months Yue chiefs and noted Xiongnu princes began leading their followers in to surrender—just as Zhong Jun had predicted.

元鼎中，博士徐偃使行風俗。偃矯制，使膠東、魯國鼓鑄鹽鐵。還，奏事，徙為太常丞。御史大夫張湯劾偃矯制大害，法至死。偃以為春秋之義，大夫出疆，有可以安社稷，存萬民，顓之可也。湯以致其法，不能詘其義。有詔下軍問狀，軍詰偃曰：「古者諸侯國異俗分，百里不通，時有聘會之事，安危之勢，呼吸成變，故有不受辭造命顓己之宜；今天下為一，萬里同風，故春秋『王者無外』。偃巡封域之中，稱以出疆何也？且鹽鐵，郡有餘臧，正二國廢，國家不足以為利害，而以安社稷存萬民為辭，何也？」又詰偃：「膠東南近琅邪，北接北海，魯國西枕泰山，東有東海，受其鹽鐵。偃度四郡口數田地，率其用器食鹽，不足以并給二郡邪？將勢宜有餘，而吏不能也？何以言之？偃矯制而鼓鑄者，欲及春耕種贍民器也。今魯國之鼓，當先具其備，至秋乃能舉火。此言與實反者非？偃已前三奏，無詔，不惟所為不許，而直矯作威福，以從民望，干名采譽，此明聖所必加誅也。『枉尺直尋』，孟子稱其不可；今所犯罪重，所就者小，偃自予必死而為之邪？將幸誅不加，欲以采名也？」偃窮詘，服罪當死。軍奏「偃矯制顓行，非奉使體，請下御史徵偃即罪。」奏可。上善其詰，有詔示御史大夫。

During the Yuanding era the court scholar Xu Yan was dispatched to inspect local customs. Xu Yan forged imperial orders and had Jiaodong and Lu cast iron and boil salt on their own. On his return he filed his report and was promoted to assistant director under the Chamberlain for Ceremonials. Imperial Counselor Zhang Tang impeached him for counterfeiting orders with grave consequences—a capital crime. Xu Yan cited the Spring and Autumn principle that a minister abroad may act on his own authority if the altars and the lives of the people hang in the balance. Zhang Tang could press the statute but could not overturn the moral argument. An edict ordered Zhong Jun to examine the case. He questioned Xu Yan: 'In ancient times each feudal state kept its own ways; a hundred li might as well have been a world apart. Envoys hurried between courts because fortune could turn in a breath, so a minister might rightly assume emergency powers without waiting for a written order.' Today the empire is one house under a single wind for ten thousand li, and the Annals teach that the king knows no "outside." You never left the emperor's domain—how can you call that "crossing the border"? Besides, every commandery stockpiles salt and iron; ending the two kingdoms' local monopolies would barely touch the central treasury. What sense is there in pleading the fate of the altars and the people? Zhong Jun pressed further: 'Jiaodong borders Langye to the south and Beihai to the north; Lu lies against Mount Tai in the west and the Eastern Sea in the east—both regions already draw salt and iron from their own ground.' If you reckoned the population and acreage of the four neighboring commanderies, could their usual tools and salt rations not have supplied both kingdoms? Or was there plenty of capacity while the local officials simply failed to manage it? What proves that? You forged orders to cast tools, you say, so peasants would have iron for the spring planting. If Lu were really to fire its forges, the works would need to be readied first; the furnaces could not even be lit until autumn. Does that not flatly contradict what you claim? You had already memorialized three times and received no imperial reply. Not only were you never authorized to act, you forged orders, threw your weight about, pandered to popular opinion, and traded on moral prestige for personal fame—conduct that any enlightened ruler would punish with death. Mencius rejected the notion of bending a cubit to gain eight cubits; Your offense is grave and your supposed public benefit slight. Did you expect execution and press ahead anyway? Or did you count on escaping the law and merely wanted the glory? Xu Yan had no answer left; he confessed and accepted that he deserved death. Zhong Jun reported that Xu Yan had counterfeited orders and acted arbitrarily—conduct unworthy of an imperial envoy—and asked that the case be handed to the censor so Xu Yan could be arrested and sentenced. The throne approved the memorial. The emperor commended Zhong Jun's cross-examination and issued an edict laying out the case for the Imperial Counselor.

初，軍從濟南當詣博士，步入關，關吏予軍繻。軍問：「以此何為？」吏曰；「為復傳，還當以合符。」軍曰：「大丈夫西游，終不復傳還。」棄繻而去。軍為謁者，使行郡國，建節東出關，關吏識之，曰：「此使者乃前棄繻生也。」軍行郡國，所見便宜以聞。還奏事，上甚說。

Long ago, when Zhong Jun left Jinan to enroll as a student of the imperial academy, he entered the frontier pass on foot, and the gate officer handed him the return-token of split silk. Zhong Jun asked, 'What is this for?' The officer replied, 'It is your return chit; when you come back you must present the matching half.' Zhong Jun said, 'A man of spirit who sets out for the west does not plan to slink home on a return pass.' He threw away the token and walked on. Later, as court herald on an inspection tour of the commanderies, Zhong Jun rode east through the same pass with the imperial credentia staff. The gate officer recognized him and exclaimed, 'This is the young scholar who threw away his chit!' Wherever he went, he reported every useful measure or abuse he observed. When he returned to give account, the emperor was delighted.

當發使使匈奴，軍自請曰：「軍無橫草之功，得列宿衛，食祿五年。邊境時有風塵之警，臣宜被堅執銳，當矢石，啟前行。駑下不習金革之事，今聞將遣匈奴使者，臣願盡精厲氣，奉佐明使，畫吉凶於單于之前。臣年少材下，孤於外官，不足以亢一方之任，竊不勝憤懣。」詔問畫吉凶之狀，上奇軍對，擢為諫大夫。

When envoys were to be sent to the Xiongnu, Zhong Jun volunteered: 'I have never so much as thrown a blade of grass across the battlefield for the dynasty, yet I have stood in the palace guard and drawn a stipend for five years.' Whenever the frontier flares with war, a subject ought to buckle on armor, take up arms, face arrow and stone, and lead the van. I am a poor hand at war. Now that the court will send an embassy to the Chanyu, I beg to marshal all my wit and zeal as aide to the chief envoy and to lay out before the Chanyu himself where fortune and peril lie. I am young, my talents slight, and I have languished in minor posts without a frontier command worthy of the trust you place in me—the thought leaves me choked with frustration. An edict asked him to spell out what he meant by laying out good and ill fortune. The emperor was so struck by his answer that he promoted him to Grandee Remonstrant.

南越與漢和親，乃遣軍使南越，說其王，欲令入朝，比內諸侯。軍自請：「願受長纓，必羈南越王而致之闕下。」軍遂往說越王，越王聽許，請舉國內屬。天子大說，賜南越大臣印綬，壹用漢法，以新改其俗，令使者留填撫之。越相呂嘉不欲內屬，發兵攻殺其王，及漢使者皆死。語在南越傳。軍死時年二十餘，故世謂之「終童」。

After Southern Yue sealed a marriage alliance with Han, the court dispatched Zhong Jun to persuade its king to come to audience and accept the status of an internal feudatory. Zhong Jun volunteered: 'Give me a long cord and I will bind the King of Southern Yue and haul him to the palace steps.' Zhong Jun went south and won the king's ear; the king agreed to place his entire realm under Han. The emperor was overjoyed. He issued Han seals and ribbons to Yue ministers, extended Han law uniformly to refashion local custom, and ordered the envoys to stay behind to stabilize the new order. The Yue prime minister Lü Jia refused submission, rose in arms, murdered his king, and killed the Han envoys as well. The full story is told in the biography of Southern Yue. He was barely past twenty when he died, and posterity remembers him as 'Zhong the lad'—the boy who never grew old.

王褒字子淵，蜀人也。宣帝時修武帝故事，講論六藝群書，博盡奇異之好，徵能為楚辭九江被公，召見誦讀，益召高材劉向、張子僑、華龍、柳褒等待詔金馬門。神爵、五鳳之間，天下殷當，數有嘉應。上頗作歌詩，欲興協律之事，丞相魏相奏言知音善鼓雅琴者渤海趙定、梁國龔德，皆召見待詔。於是益州刺史王襄欲宣風化於眾庶，聞王褒有俊材，請與相見，使褒作中和、樂職、宣布詩，選好事者令依鹿鳴之聲習而歌之。時氾鄉侯何武為僮子，選在歌中。久之，武等學長安，歌太學下，轉而上聞。宣帝召見武等觀之，皆賜帛，謂曰：「此盛德之事，吾何足以當之！」

Wang Bao, courtesy name Ziyuan, was a native of Shu. Under Emperor Xuan the court revived Emperor Wu's cultural program: debate on the Six Classics and the wider corpus, a restless taste for the rare and marvelous. It summoned Bei Gong of Jiujiang, famed for his Chu-style verse, heard him recite, and then added brilliant men such as Liu Xiang, Zhang Ziqiao, Hua Long, and Liu Bao to the roster of scholars awaiting summons at the Golden Horse Gate. Between the Shenjue and Wufeng reign titles the empire prospered, and auspicious omens arrived again and again. The emperor himself began writing lyrics and wished to revive the office for tuning pitch standards. Chancellor Wei Xiang recommended Zhao Ding of Bohai and Gong De of Liang, both masters of the classical zither, and they too were summoned to the waiting roster. The governor of Yizhou, Wang Xiang, hoped to bring moral suasion to the common people. Learning of Wang Bao's gifts, he invited him in and commissioned the poems 'Central Harmony,' 'Joy in Duty,' and 'The Proclamation,' then picked enthusiasts to set them to the tune of the 'Deer Call' ode and teach them by singing. Among the choristers was the future Marquis of Fanxiang, He Wu, still a schoolboy. Years later, when He Wu and his companions were students in Chang'an, they sang the pieces below the walls of the Imperial Academy until word of them reached the throne. Emperor Xuan called He Wu and his fellows in to perform, rewarded each with silk, and said, 'Such music belongs to a reign of supreme virtue; how can I deserve it?'

褒既為刺史作頌，又作其傳，益州刺史因奏褒有軼材。上乃徵褒。既至，詔褎為聖主得賢臣頌其意。褒對曰：

Wang Bao had not only written the governor's celebratory verse but drafted his biography as well, and on that basis the governor reported Wang Bao's exceptional gifts to the capital. The emperor thereupon summoned Wang Bao to court. Once he arrived, an edict instructed him to compose a rhapsody expounding the theme 'How a sage ruler wins worthy ministers.' Wang Bao replied:

夫荷旃被毳者，難與道純綿之麗密；羹黎唅糗者，不足與論太牢之滋味。今臣辟在西蜀，生於窮巷之中，長於蓬茨之下，無有游觀廣覽之知，顧有至愚極陋之累，不足以塞厚望，應明指。雖然，敢不略陳愚而抒情素！

A man bundled in felt and coarse fur will not appreciate the fine weave of pure silk; one who lives on millet gruel and dry rations is no judge of the taste of a full royal banquet. I am a rustic from the far west, bred in a back alley and raised under a thatched roof. I have never traveled to broaden my mind; I bear instead the heaviest load of ignorance. I cannot satisfy your lofty expectations or meet the clarity of your command. Yet I would be craven not to sketch my humble thoughts and lay bare my heart.

記曰：共惟春秋五始之要，在乎審己正統而已。夫賢者，國家之器用也。所任賢，則趨舍省而功施普；器用利，則用力少而就效眾。故工人之用鈍器也，勞筋苦骨，終日矻矻。及至巧冶鑄干將之樸，清水焠其鋒，越砥斂其咢，水斷蛟龍，陸剸犀革，忽若彗氾畫塗。如此，則使離婁督繩，公輸削墨，雖崇臺五增，延袤百丈，而不溷者，工用相得也。庸人之御駑馬，亦傷吻敝策而不進於行，匈喘膚汗，人極馬倦。及至駕齧錾，驂乘旦，王良執靶，韓哀附輿，縱馳騁騖，忽如景靡，過都越國，蹶如歷塊；追奔電，逐遺風，周流八極，萬里壹息。何其遼哉？人馬相得也。故服絺綌之涼者，不苦盛暑之鬱燠；襲貂狐之飕者，不憂至寒之悽愴。何則？有其具者易其備。賢人君子，亦聖主之所以易海內也。是以嘔喻受之，開寬裕之路，以延天下英俊也。夫竭知附賢者，必建仁策；索人求士者，必樹伯跡。昔周公躬吐捉之勞，故有圉空之隆；齊桓設庭燎之禮，故有匡合之功。由此觀之，君人者勤於求賢而逸於得人。

The classic says that the crux of the Annals' doctrine of the five beginnings is simply to know oneself and set the true succession straight. Worthy men are the instruments of state. Employ the right men and effort is spared while their good work reaches everywhere; give them sharp tools and little labor yields great results. A craftsman with a dull blade wears himself out from dawn to dusk. Hand that smith the rough ingot of a Gan Jiang blade, let him quench the edge in pure water and true the guard on a Yue whetstone, and the finished sword will slice dragons in the river and rhinoceros hide on land as easily as a comet streaks or a brush draws a line in wet plaster. Set Li Lou to snap the plumb line and Gongshu Ban to true the ink, and terraces may rise five stories and stretch a hundred yards without the least disorder, for master and tool are perfectly matched. Put a plow horse in the hands of a duffer and he will bloody its mouth and splinter his whip without gaining a mile—man panting, horse lathered, both pushed past endurance. Yoke mettlesome steeds at dawn, put Wang Liang on the reins and Han Ai beside the box, and the team flies like a dissolving shadow past cities and through whole provinces as though each stride cleared a low hillock; they race the lightning and hunt the tail of the storm, wheel through the eight directions, and clear ten thousand li between one breath and the next. How boundless that freedom! Horse and driver have become one. He who dons fine summer gauze does not dread the worst dog-day glare; wrap himself in sable and fox and he forgets the bite of deepest winter. Why? Because the right equipment makes readiness easy. The worthy minister is the sage emperor's tool for bringing ease to the realm. That is why he welcomes them with open encouragement, clears a broad path, and draws the empire's finest minds to his side. A ruler who pours out his wit to serve the worthy will lay plans rooted in humanity; one who hunts everywhere for talent will leave the footprints of a true king. The Duke of Zhou interrupted every meal and shampoo to receive guests, and his reward was an age in which the jails stood empty; Duke Huan of Qi lit torches in his courtyard to welcome late-night counsel, and so won the deed of binding the states in alliance. From this we see that the sovereign who toils to find ministers may rule at ease once they are found.

人臣亦然。昔賢者之未遭遇也，圖事揆策則君不用其謀，陳見悃誠則上不然其信，進仕不得施效，斥逐又非其愆。是故伊尹勤於鼎俎，太公困於鼓刀，百里自鬻，甯子飯牛，離此患也。及其遇明君遭聖主也，運籌合上意，諫諍即見聽，進退得關其忠，任職得行其術，去卑辱奧渫而升本朝，離疏釋蹻而享膏粱，剖符錫壤而光祖考，傳之子孫，以資說士。故世必有聖知之君，而後有賢明之臣。故虎嘯而冽風，龍興而致雲，蟋蟀俟秋吟，蜉蝤出以陰。《易》曰：「飛龍在天，利見大人。」《詩》曰：「思皇多士，生此王國。」故世平主聖，俊艾將自至，若堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武之君，獲稷、契、皋陶、伊尹、呂望，明明在朝，穆穆列布，聚精會神，相得益章。雖伯牙操遞鍾，逢門子彎烏號，猶未足以喻其意也。

The same holds for those who serve him. Before a worthy man meets his moment, the ruler ignores every plan he lays, doubts every pledge of loyalty he offers, denies him office where he might prove himself, and casts him aside for faults that are not his own. Yi Yin sweated over the kitchen cauldrons, the Grand Duke Tai peddled from a butcher's block, Baili Xi sold himself into service, Ning Qi sang beside his ox—all to escape that plight. But let them find an enlightened sovereign, and every stratagem strikes home, every remonstrance wins a hearing, every move displays loyalty, every post lets their policy work. They rise from humble toil to stand in the central court, shed hemp shoes for robes of grain-fed silk, take investiture and fief to bring honor to the ancestors, and hand the credit down to their sons as a lesson to every persuader who waits in the cold. So the age must first produce a sage-king; only then can it produce ministers of true clarity. The tiger's roar summons the biting gale; the dragon's ascent draws the rain clouds; the cricket waits for autumn to sing; the mayfly hatches when the yin ether gathers. The Book of Changes says, 'The dragon flies in the heavens: it furthers one to see the great man.' The Odes sing, 'Splendid host of knights, born for this royal house.' When the realm is at peace and the throne is wise, great men come unbidden, as when Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu won the service of Hou Ji, Xie, Gao Yao, Yi Yin, and Lü Wang—radiant ministers ranked in solemn order, pooling their insight until ruler and subject shine the brighter together. Not even Boya on the Di Zhong harp or Fengmenzi drawing the Wuhao bow could capture the harmony of that meeting.

故聖主必待賢臣而弘功業，俊士亦俟明主以顯其德。上下俱欲，驩然交欣，千載壹合，論說無疑，翼乎如鴻毛過順風，沛乎如巨魚縱大壑。其得意若此，則胡禁不止，曷令不行？化溢四表，橫被無窮，遐夷貢獻，萬祥畢溱。是以聖王不遍窺望而視已明，不單頃耳而聽已聰；恩從祥風翱，德與和氣游，太平之責塞，優游之望得；遵遊自然之勢，恬淡無為之場，休徵自至，壽考無疆，雍容垂拱，永永萬年，何必偃卬詘信若彭祖，呴噓呼吸如僑、松，眇然絕俗離世哉！《詩》云「濟濟多士，文王以寧」，蓋信乎其以寧也！

The sage ruler waits on worthy ministers to magnify his achievement, and the brilliant minister waits on an enlightened throne to give full scope to his virtue. When sovereign and minister share one will, they rejoice together in a match made once in a millennium, speaking as freely as a feather on a fair wind or a great fish loosed in the ocean trench. At such a height of concord, what could resist your ban or disobey your command? Your transforming power spills beyond the four seas, rolls on without limit, draws tribute from the farthest tribes, and heaps every kind of blessing at your feet. The sage king need not crane his neck in every direction to see clearly, nor strain his ears to hear acutely; his kindness rides the auspicious breeze, his virtue mingles with the harmonious ether, the weight of perfect peace settles on his shoulders, and the dream of ruling at leisure comes true; he drifts with nature's current in the stillness of wu-wei until good omens come unbidden, his years know no bound, and he may rule with folded hands for endless ages. Why should he need Pengzu's calisthenics or the breathing tricks of Wangzi Qiao and Chisongzi, or cut himself off from the human world to chase immortals? The Odes say, 'Rank on rank of knights—that was how King Wen kept the realm at peace'—and we may trust every word.

是時，上頗好神僊，故褒對及之。

The emperor was much taken with immortality cults at the time, so Wang Bao touched the theme in his answer.

上令褒與張子僑等並待詔，數從褒等放獵，所幸宮館，輒為歌頌，第其高下，以差賜帛。議者多以為淫靡不急，上曰：「『不有博弈者乎，為之猶賢乎已！』辭賦大者與古詩同義，小者辯麗可喜。辟如女工有綺縠，音樂有鄭衛，今世俗猶皆以此虞說耳目，辭賦比之，尚有仁義風諭，鳥獸草木多聞之觀，賢於倡優博弈遠矣。」頃之，擢褒為諫大夫。

The emperor kept Wang Bao and Zhang Ziqiao on the waiting roster and often took them along on the hunt. Wherever the royal party lodged, Wang Bao would compose a celebratory piece; the emperor ranked the poems and handed out silk according to merit. Critics dismissed such verse as frivolous and beside the point of government, but the emperor replied, 'Confucius himself asked whether a game of chess was not still better than doing nothing at all.' The greater rhapsodies pursue the same ends as the ancient odes; the lighter pieces charm with wit and color. Think of figured damask among weavers or the airs of Zheng and Wei among tunes: the world already delights its eyes and ears with such things. Beside them, rhapsody still carries moral allegory in birds, beasts, plants, and trees—it is infinitely superior to buffoonery or a game of weiqi.' Soon afterward Wang Bao was promoted to Grandee Remonstrant.

其後太子體不安，苦忽忽善忘，不樂。詔使褒等皆之太子宮虞侍太子，朝夕誦讀奇文及所自造作。疾平復，乃歸。太子喜褒所為甘泉及洞簫頌，令後宮貴人左右皆誦讀之。

Later the crown prince fell ill with a restless, forgetful melancholy that would not lift. An edict sent Wang Bao and his colleagues to the heir apparent's quarters to divert and attend him, reading aloud day and night from rare literature and from their own compositions. When the prince recovered, they were dismissed to their posts. The heir especially loved Wang Bao's 'Sweet Springs' rhapsody and his 'Eulogy on the Panpipes' and ordered the palace ladies in attendance to memorize them.

後方士言益州有金馬碧雞之寶，可祭祀致也，宣帝使褒往祀焉。褒於道病死，上閔惜之。

Later a wizard reported that Yizhou held the spirits of the Golden Horse and Green Cock, which might be summoned by sacrifice. Emperor Xuan dispatched Wang Bao to conduct the rites. Wang Bao died of illness en route, and the emperor mourned his loss.

賈捐之

Jia Juanzhi

賈捐之字君房，賈誼之曾孫也。元帝初即位，上疏言得失，召待詔金馬門。

Jia Juanzhi, courtesy name Junfang, was the great-grandson of Jia Yi. Soon after Emperor Yuan took the throne, Jia Juanzhi presented a memorial on policy, and the court added him to the scholars awaiting summons at the Golden Horse Gate.

初，武帝征南越，元封元年立儋耳、珠崖郡，皆在南方海中洲居，廣袤可千里，合十六縣，戶二萬三千餘。其民暴惡，自以阻絕，數犯吏禁，吏亦酷之，率數年壹反，殺吏，漢輒發兵擊定之。自初為郡至昭帝始元元年，二十餘年間，凡六反叛。至其五年，罷儋耳郡并屬珠崖。至宣帝神爵三年，珠崖三縣復反。反後七年，甘露元年，九縣反，輒發兵擊定之。元帝初元元年，珠崖又反，發兵擊之。諸縣更叛，連年不定。上與有司議大發軍，捐之建議，以為不當擊。上使侍中駙馬都尉樂昌侯王商詰問捐之曰：「珠崖內屬為郡久矣，今背畔逆節，而云不當擊，長蠻夷之亂，虧先帝功德，經義何以處之？」捐之對曰：

When Emperor Wu conquered Southern Yue, he founded the commanderies of Dan'er and Zhuya in the first year of Yuanfeng. They lay on islands in the southern sea, stretched perhaps a thousand li from end to end, comprised sixteen counties, and counted a little over twenty-three thousand households. The inhabitants were fierce and lawless, confident that distance shielded them. They broke official regulations again and again, and the magistrates repaid them with cruelty. Every few years they would rise, murder Han officials, and prompt a punitive expedition from the mainland. Between the founding of the commanderies and Emperor Zhao's first Shiyuan year—barely twenty years—there were six full-scale revolts. In the fifth year of that reign Dan'er was abolished and its territory folded into Zhuya. Under Emperor Xuan, in the third Shenjue year, three Zhuya counties rose again. Seven years later, in the first Ganlu year, nine counties mutinied and were again beaten down by Han arms. In Emperor Yuan's first Chuyuan year Zhuya rebelled once more, and the court sent troops against it. County after county changed sides; the turmoil dragged on without end. The emperor and his ministers debated a major mobilization, but Jia Juanzhi argued that conquest was the wrong course. The emperor ordered Wang Shang, the marquis of Yuechang, who served as palace attendant and commandant of household cavalry, to confront Jia Juanzhi. 'Zhuya has been an internal commandery for ages,' he said. 'Now it breaks faith. To refuse a campaign is to encourage barbarian revolt and blot the achievement of the late emperor. What do the classics say to that?' Jia Juanzhi replied:

臣幸得遭明盛之朝，蒙危言之策，無忌諱之患，敢昧死竭卷卷。

I am blessed to serve an enlightened age that welcomes blunt counsel and imposes no muzzle on loyal speech. I will risk my life to speak plainly.

臣聞堯舜，聖之盛也，禹入聖域而不優，故孔子稱堯曰「大哉」，韶曰「盡善」，禹曰「無間」。以三聖之德，地方不過數千里，被流沙，東漸于海，朔南暨聲教，迄于四海，欲與聲教則治之，不欲與者不彊治也。故君臣歌德，含氣之物各德其宜。武丁、成王，殷、周之大仁也，然地東不過江、黃，西不過氐、羌，南不過蠻荊，北不過朔方。是以頌聲並作，視聽之類咸樂其生，越裳氏重九譯而獻，此非兵革之所能致。及其衰也，南征不還，齊桓捄其難，孔子定其文。以至乎秦，興兵遠攻，貪外虛內，務欲廣地，不慮其害。然地南不過閩越，北不過太原，而天下潰畔，禍卒在於二世之末，長城之歌至今未絕。

Yao and Shun stood at the summit of sagehood; Yu entered that company yet did not surpass them—which is why Confucius called Yao 'magnificent,' the Shao music 'perfect in goodness,' and Yu 'without blemish.' Even those three sages held only a few thousand li of ground—west to the drifting sands, east to the sea—yet their moral voice reached north and south to the rim of the world. They ruled only those who welcomed their teaching and never forced it on those who did not. Ruler and ministers could hymn one another's virtue, and every living creature found its proper place. Wu Ding of Shang and King Cheng of Zhou were paragons of humanity, yet Shang territory reached east only to the Jiang and Huang domains, west only to the Di and Qiang, south only to the Man tribes of Jing, and north only to Shuofang. Praise filled the air, every creature rejoiced in its life, and the Yueshang people sent tribute through nine relays of interpreters—gifts won by virtue, not by the sword. In decline, kings marched south and never came home; Duke Huan of Qi had to rescue the house of Zhou, and Confucius set the record straight in the Spring and Autumn Annals. Then came Qin, which launched distant wars, starved the interior to feed ambition, and grabbed land without counting the cost. Even so Qin never pushed south beyond Min-Yue or north beyond Taiyuan, yet the empire shattered. Calamity struck under the Second Emperor, and the ballad of the Great Wall still haunts us.

賴聖漢初興，為百姓請命，平定天下。至孝文皇帝，閔中國未安，偃武行文，則斷獄數百，民賦四十，丁男三年而一事。時有獻千里馬者，詔曰：「鸞旗在前，屬車在後，吉行日五十里，師行二十里，朕乘千里之馬，獨先安之？」於是還馬，與道里費，而下詔曰：「朕不受獻也，其令四方毋求來獻。」當此之時，逸游之樂絕，奇麗之賂塞，鄭衛之倡微矣。夫後官盛色則賢者隱處，佞人用事則諍臣杜口，而文帝不行，故諡為孝文，廟稱太宗。至孝武皇帝元狩六年，太倉之粟紅腐而不可食，都內之錢貫朽而不可挍。乃探平城之事，錄冒頓以來數為邊害，籍兵厲馬，因富民以攘服之。西連諸國至于安息，東過碣石以玄菟、樂浪為郡，比卻匈奴萬里，更起營塞，制南海以為八郡，則天下斷獄萬數，民賦數百，造鹽鐵酒榷之利以佐用度，猶不能足。當此之時，寇賊並起，軍旅數發，父戰死於前，子鬥傷於後，女子乘亭鄣，孤兒號於道，老母寡婦飲泣巷哭，遙設虛祭，想魂乎萬里之外。淮南王盜寫虎符，陰聘名士，關東公孫勇等詐為使者，是皆廓地泰大，征伐不休之故也。

Our sacred Han rose in mercy, pleaded Heaven for the people's lives, and brought peace to the world. Emperor Wen, grieving that the heartland was still unsettled, sheathed the sword and promoted civil rule until court dockets numbered only in the hundreds, the poll tax fell to forty cash, and each able-bodied man owed the state only one month's labor every three years. When someone offered a horse said to cover a thousand li a day, the emperor replied with an edict: 'The imperial pennons lead and the train follows; on a peaceful journey I cover fifty li a day, on campaign twenty. Where under Heaven could I gallop alone on such a beast?' He sent the horse back with money for the donor's journey and proclaimed, 'I accept no gifts. Let no region send tribute of this kind again.' At that moment wasteful pastimes died away, lavish bribes dried up, and the lewd music of Zheng and Wei faded from court. A harem crowded with beauties drives the good into hiding; when sycophants hold power, honest advisers fall silent. Emperor Wen would have none of it, which is why posterity calls him 'the Filial and Cultured' and honors his shrine as Taizong. By the sixth Yuanshou year of Emperor Wu the imperial granaries held grain that had rotted to pink dust, and the strings of cash in the capital vaults had decayed so that the coins could not be tallied. He brooded on the humiliation of Pingcheng, reviewed how Modu and his heirs had ravaged the frontier, mobilized armies and bred horses, and drew on the wealthy to fund conquest until the steppe submitted. He linked the western states as far as Parthia, pushed east beyond Jieshi to found Xuantu and Lelang, drove the Xiongnu back ten thousand li, threw up a chain of fortresses, and carved eight commanderies from the southern sea. Court cases mounted into the tens of thousands, the poll tax into the hundreds of cash, and even the monopolies on salt, iron, and wine could not fill the treasury. Banditry flared everywhere. Campaign followed campaign: fathers fell in the van while sons bled in the rear, women mounted the signal towers of frontier posts, orphans screamed along the highways, and gray-haired widows wept in the alleys, offering ghost feasts to souls lost ten thousand li away. The king of Huainan forged the tiger tally and hired secret partisans; east of the passes men such as Gongsun Yong posed as imperial envoys. All of it sprang from overgrown frontiers and endless war.

今天下獨有關東，關東大者獨有齊楚，民眾久困，連年流離，離其城郭，相枕席於道路。人情莫親父母，莫樂夫婦，至嫁妻賣子，法不能禁，義不能止，此社稷之憂也。今陛下不忍悁悁之忿，欲驅士眾擠之大海之中，快心幽冥之地，非所以救助飢饉，保全元元也。《詩》云「蠢爾蠻荊，大邦為讎」，言聖人起則後服，中國衰則先畔，動為國家難，自古而患之久矣，何況乃復其南方萬里之蠻乎！駱越之人父子同川而浴，相習以鼻飲，與禽獸無異，本不足郡縣置也。顓顓獨居一海之中，霧露氣溼，多毒草蟲蛇水土之害，人未見虜，戰士自死。又非獨珠崖有珠犀玳瑁也，棄之不足惜，不擊不損威。其民譬猶魚鱉，何足貪也！

Today all that truly sustains the dynasty lies east of the passes, and the chief weight there falls on Qi and Chu. The people have suffered too long: year after year they flee their homes and sleep in heaps along the roads. Nothing binds the heart like parent and child or husband and wife—yet we now see wives sold and children pawned, beyond the reach of law or shame. This is a crisis for the altars themselves. To indulge a private grudge and march an army into the wastes of the southern sea, chasing satisfaction in a barbarous gloom, is no way to relieve famine or save the common people. The Odes call the Jing tribes 'crafty southern savages, enemies of the great state'—they submit only when a sage-king holds the throne and are first to rebel when China weakens. They have been a running sore since high antiquity; how much more those savages ten thousand li to the south! The Luo-Yue bathe in the same streams with their sons and sip liquor through their noses like animals. They were never fit subjects for Chinese magistrates. They squat alone beyond the sea in fog and rot, among venomous plants, snakes, and tainted water. Our soldiers perish of disease before they ever sight an enemy. Nor does Zhuya alone yield pearls, rhino horn, and hawksbill. To give it up costs little; to leave it unsubdued costs the throne no true prestige. They are fish and turtles in the sea—hardly worth a greedy war!

臣竊以往者羌軍言之，暴師曾未一年，兵出不踰千里，費四十餘萬萬，大司農錢盡，乃以少府禁錢續之。夫一隅為不善，費尚如此，況於勞師遠攻，亡士毋功乎！求之往古則不合，施之當今又不便。臣愚以為非冠帶之國，禹貢所及，春秋所治，皆可且無以為。願遂棄珠崖，專用恤關東為憂。

Consider the recent Qiang war: the army was in the field less than a year and never marched a thousand li, yet it swallowed more than four billion cash, emptied the agriculture ministry's vaults, and forced the palace treasury to make up the deficit. If a single corner of the realm could burn so much treasure, what would a distant expedition cost in blood and bronze for no gain at all? The policy fits neither ancient precedent nor present need. I would leave unmolested every land that wears neither cap nor sash, lies beyond the world charted in the Tribute of Yu, and falls outside the moral geography of the Spring and Autumn Annals. Abandon Zhuya outright and bend every concern to the starving east of the passes.

對奏，上以問丞相御史。御史大夫陳萬年以為當擊；丞相于定國以為「前日興兵擊之連年，護軍都尉、校尉及丞凡十一人，還者二人，卒士及轉輸死者萬人以上，費用三萬萬餘，尚未能盡降。今關東困乏，民難搖動，捐之議是。」上乃從之。遂下詔曰：「珠崖虜殺吏民，背畔為逆，今廷議者或言可擊，或言可守，或欲棄之，其指各殊。朕日夜惟思議者之言，羞威不行，則欲誅之；狐疑辟難，則守屯田；通于時變，則憂萬民。夫萬民之饑餓，與遠蠻之不討，危孰大焉？且宗廟之祭，凶年不備，況乎辟不嫌之辱哉！今關東大困，倉庫空虛，無以相贍，又以動兵，非特勞民，凶年隨之。其罷珠崖郡。民有慕義欲內屬，便處之；不欲，勿彊。」珠崖由是罷。

When the memorial was read, the emperor referred it to the chancellor and the Imperial Counselor. Imperial Counselor Chen Wannian urged a full campaign; Chancellor Yu Dingguo replied: 'We have already campaigned year after year. Of eleven generals, colonels, and deputies sent, only two came back alive. More than ten thousand soldiers and transport laborers died, and the cost passed three billion—yet the islanders are not fully subdued. The east is exhausted; the people cannot bear another shock. Jia Juanzhi is right. The emperor accepted their advice. He then promulgated an edict: 'The people of Zhuya have murdered our officials and risen in treason. At court some counsel attack, some garrison, some abandonment—three irreconcilable views.' Day and night I weigh those arguments. Shame at impotent prestige tempts me to extirpate them by force; doubt and fear of the cost tempt me to dig in with garrison farms; a sense of what the times allow turns my heart to the millions who suffer hunger. Which is the greater peril—the hunger of my people or an unpunished tribe beyond the sea? Even ancestral offerings are curtailed in years of famine; how can I court the shame of chasing a pointless slight to the ends of the earth? The east is in desperate straits; granaries are bare and there is nothing left to feed the people. To mobilize another army would not merely exhaust them—it would invite famine in its train. Therefore I abolish the commandery of Zhuya. Those islanders who wish in good faith to submit may be settled where convenient; those who do not wish it shall not be compelled. Thus Zhuya was abandoned.

捐之數召見，言多納用。時中書令石顯用事，捐之數短顯，以故不得官，後稀復見。而長安令楊興新以材能得幸，與捐之相善。捐之欲得召見，謂興曰：「京兆尹缺，使我得見，言君蘭，京兆尹可立得。」興曰：「縣官嘗言興瘉薛大夫，我易助也。君房下筆，言語妙天下，使君房為尚書令，勝五鹿充宗遠甚。」捐之曰：「令我得代充宗，君蘭為京兆，京兆郡國首，尚書百官本，天下真大治，士則不隔矣。捐之前言平恩侯可為將軍，期思侯並可為諸曹，皆如言；又薦謁者滿宣，立為冀州刺史；言中謁者不宜受事，宦者不宜入宗廟，立止。相薦之信，不當如是乎！」興曰：「我復見，言君房也。」捐之復短石顯。興曰：「顯鼎貴，上信用之。今欲進，弟從我計，且與合意，即得入矣。」

Jia Juanzhi was summoned often, and much of his advice was taken. Palace Secretary Shi Xian held power at the time, and Jia Juanzhi repeatedly attacked him in memorials—so he never won a substantive post and was seldom called to audience again. Yang Xing, the magistrate of Chang'an, had lately won favor through his abilities and was on close terms with Jia Juanzhi. Jia Juanzhi longed for another summons. He told Yang Xing, 'The governorship of the capital is open. Give me a chance to praise you to the throne, Junlan, and you can have that office at once.' Yang Xing replied, 'The emperor has said I outrank Minister Xue—so you will find me an easy ally.' Your pen and tongue are the finest in the realm. Were you made palace secretary, you would put Wulu Chongzong to shame. Jia Juanzhi said, 'If I replace Chongzong and you, Junlan, take the capital governorship—the premier local post—and I hold the secretariat—the spine of the bureaucracy—the empire would be truly well ruled and no talent would languish in obscurity.' I once said the marquis of Ping'en should be made a general and the marquis of Qisi given bureau posts—and it happened just as I predicted; I recommended the herald Man Xuan, who was promptly named governor of Ji; I argued that inner heralds should not handle state business and that eunuchs should not enter the ancestral shrine—and the court stopped the practice at once. Surely men who recommend each other ought to keep faith like that! Yang Xing said, 'On my next audience I will speak up for you.' Jia Juanzhi again launched a tirade against Shi Xian. Yang Xing said, 'Shi Xian stands at the summit of power; the emperor trusts him utterly.' If you want preferment, brother, follow my advice: humor him for now, and you will win your way in.

捐之即與興共為薦顯奏，曰：「竊見石顯本山東名族，有禮義之家也。持正六年，未嘗有過，明習於事，敏而疾見，出公門，入私門。宜賜爵關內侯，引其兄弟以為諸曹。」又共為薦興奏，曰：「竊見長安令興，幸得以知名數召見。興事父母有曾氏之孝，事師有顏閔之材，榮名聞於四方。明詔舉茂材，列侯以為首。為長安令，吏民敬鄉，道路皆稱能。觀其下筆屬文，則董仲舒；進談動辭，則東方生；置之爭臣，則汲直；用之介冑，則冠軍侯；施之治民，則趙廣漢；抱公絕私，則尹翁歸。興兼此六人而有之，守道堅固，執義不回，臨大節而不可奪，國之良臣也，可試守京兆尹。」

Jia Juanzhi then drafted with Yang Xing a joint memorial praising Shi Xian: 'We observe that Shi Xian springs from a great Shandong lineage, a house schooled in ritual and duty.' For six years he has upheld integrity without a stain, knows every detail of government, is quick and perceptive, and moves straight from the yamen to his private quarters without detour. He should be ennobled as a marquis within the passes, and his brothers appointed to the chief bureaus. They also filed a joint memorial for Yang Xing: 'We note that the magistrate of Chang'an has won fame and repeated audiences with Your Majesty.' He honors his parents with the devotion of Zeng Shen, serves his teachers with the gifts of Yan Hui and Min Sun, and his good name rings through the realm. When Your Majesty called for men of outstanding talent, the ranked nobles put him at the head of the list. As magistrate of Chang'an he commands the reverence of officials and commoners alike, and travelers on every road praise his competence. Judge him by his prose and you find another Dong Zhongshu; listen to his wit in conversation and you hear Dongfang Shuo; set him among blunt remonstrators and he matches Ji An; put him in armor and he rivals the Champion Marquis; give him a district and he governs like Zhao Guanghan; charge him to serve the public and spurn private interest and he is another Yin Wenggui. Yang Xing unites the virtues of all six: he holds fast to principle, bends duty for no man, and cannot be swayed at the moment of truth. He is a pillar of the state and should be appointed acting metropolitan governor.

石顯聞知，白之上。乃下興、捐之獄，令皇后父陽平侯禁與顯共雜治，奏「興、捐之懷詐偽，以上語相風，更相薦譽，欲得大位，漏泄省中語，岡上不道。書曰：『讒說殄行，震驚朕師。』王制：『順非而澤，不聽而誅。』請論如法。」

Shi Xian learned of the scheme and denounced them to the emperor. Both men were jailed. The emperor assigned the empress's father, Wang Jin, marquis of Yangping, and Shi Xian to hear the case jointly. They reported that Yang Xing and Jia Juanzhi had plotted in fraud, trading confidential phrases from the throne to cue each other, exchanging glowing recommendations in hope of high office, leaking palace secrets, and deceiving their sovereign—conduct that violated every principle of loyalty. The Documents say, "Slanderous words and vile deeds shock my hosts of officers." The Royal Regulations add, "Whoever glosses evil with fair speech shall be executed without a hearing." We ask sentence under the statute.

捐之竟坐棄市。興減死罪一等，髡鉗為城旦。成帝時，至部刺史。

Jia Juanzhi was executed in the marketplace. Yang Xing's sentence was commuted one degree from death to shaved head, iron collar, and hard labor on the walls. Under Emperor Cheng he rose to become a regional inspector.

贊曰：《詩》稱「戎狄是膺，荊舒是懲」，久矣其為諸夏患也。漢興，征伐胡越，於是為盛。究觀淮南、捐之、主父、嚴安之義，深切著明，故備論其語。世稱公孫弘排主父，張湯陷嚴助，石顯譖捐之，察其行跡，主父求欲鼎亨而得族，嚴、賈出入禁門招權利，死皆其所也，亦何排陷之恨哉！

The historian's judgment: the Odes pronounce the northern tribes fit for chastisement and the southern states of Jing and Shu fit for punishment—for ages they have plagued the heartland of civilization. With the rise of Han, wars against the steppe and the south reached their greatest intensity. The arguments of the Huainan faction, of Jia Juanzhi, of Zhufu Yan, and of Yan An repay close reading: they are trenchant, lucid, and morally plain, which is why this chapter records their words at such length. Posterity blames Gongsun Hong for sidelining Zhufu Yan, Zhang Tang for ruining Yan Zhu, and Shi Xian for destroying Jia Juanzhi—yet examine how these men lived. Zhufu Yan clawed after the honors of the high minister's tripod and instead won the execution of his entire kin; Yan Zhu and Jia Juanzhi used their passes through the forbidden gates to peddle influence and line their pockets. Each fell by his own doing; there is little cause to nurse a grudge against those who merely 'squeezed' or 'framed' them.

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