Volume 67: Yang, Hu, Zhu, Mei and Yun

卷六十七·楊胡朱梅云傳第三十七

Volume 67: Biographies of Yang, Hu, Zhu, Mei, and Yun—the thirty-seventh series.

楊王孫

Yang Wangsun

楊王孫者，孝武時人也。學黃老之術，家業千金，厚自奉養生，亡所不致。〈師古曰：「致，至也。」〉及病且終，先令其子，〈師古曰：「先令，爲遺令。」〉曰：「吾欲臝葬，以反吾真，〈師古曰：「臝者，不爲衣衾棺槨者也。反，歸也。真者，自然之道也。臝音郎果反。」〉必亡易吾意。〈師古曰：「易，改也。」〉死則爲布囊盛尸，入地七尺，旣下，從足引脫其囊，以身親土。」其子欲默而不從，重廢父命，〈師古曰：「重，難也。」〉欲從之，心又不忍，迺往見王孫友人祁侯。〈師古曰：「祁侯繒賀之孫承嗣者，名它。」〉

Yang Wangsun lived under Emperor Wu. He studied Huang-Lao, commanded a fortune in gold, and pursued longevity with every luxury money could buy. 〈Yan Shigu glosses the word zhi (here "bring to bear") as "reach the utmost." As death neared he issued final instructions to his son—what commentators call a "first command," meaning a deathbed will. He said, "I want a naked burial—to go back to what is real. Yan Shigu: naked burial omits shroud, inner coffin, and outer shell. Return" means to go back. The real is nature's own course. The word for naked burial is pronounced like the syllables lang-guo in the fanqie spelling (ancient reading guide)." You must not alter my intent. 〈Yan Shigu glosses yi as "alter" or "change." When I die, sew me in a sack, lower me seven feet, then strip the sack upward from my feet until my flesh meets native earth." The son wanted to refuse yet shrank from disobeying a father—zhong meaning "a hard choice." If he obeyed, his heart rebelled; so he went to Wangsun's friend, the Marquis of Qi. 〈Yan's note: "Marquis of Qi is the heir who continued the line of Zeng He, named Ta."〉

祁侯與王孫書曰：「王孫苦疾，僕迫從上祠雍，未得詣前。〈師古曰：「詣，至也。至前，言來見也。」〉願存精神，省思慮，進醫藥，厚自持。竊聞王孫先令臝葬，令死者亡知則已，若其有知，是戮尸地下，將臝見先人，竊爲王孫不取也。且孝經曰『爲之棺椁衣衾』，是亦聖人之遺制，何必區區獨守所聞？〈師古曰：「區區，小意也。」〉願王孫察焉。」

Marquis Qi wrote: "Friend, your illness is cruel; I have been tied to the emperor's Yong sacrifice and could not visit you. 〈Yan Shigu glosses yi as "to arrive" or "reach. To come before you is to pay a visit." Guard your strength, worry less, take physic, and be kind to yourself. Your naked-burial will: if the dead feel nothing, very well; if they do, you invite the shame of a corpse abused in the dark and would greet ancestors stripped—surely that cannot be your wish. The Classic of Filial Piety still commands coffin, shell, and winding-sheet—the sages' own rule. Why hug one eccentric opinion? 〈Yan Shigu: ququ means petty, narrow-minded fussing. Think again, I beg you."

王孫報曰：「蓋聞古之聖王，緣人情不忍其親，故爲制禮，今則越之，〈師古曰：「言踰禮而厚葬也。」〉吾是以臝葬，將以矯世也。〈師古曰：「正曲曰矯。」〉夫厚葬誠亡益於死者，而俗人競以相高，靡財單幣，腐之地下。〈師古曰：「靡，散也。單，盡也。」〉或迺今日入而明日發，〈師古曰：「言見發掘也。」〉此真與暴骸於中野何異！且夫死者，終生之化，而物之歸者也。歸者得至，化者得變，是物各反其真也。反真冥冥，亡形亡聲，迺合道情。夫飾外以華衆，厚葬以鬲真，〈師古曰：「鬲與隔同。其後並類此。」〉使歸者不得至，化者不得變，是使物各失其所也。且吾聞之，精神者天之有也，形骸者地之有也。〈師古曰：「文子稱天氣爲魂。延陵季子云『骨肉下歸於土』，是以云然。」〉精神離形，各歸其真，故謂之鬼，鬼之爲言歸也。其尸塊然獨處，〈師古曰：「塊音口對反。」〉豈有知哉？裹以幣帛，鬲以棺椁，支體絡束，口含玉石，欲化不得，鬱爲枯腊，千載之後，棺椁朽腐，迺得歸土，就其真宅。繇是言之，焉用乆客！〈師古曰：「言不用乆爲客也。繇讀與由同。」〉昔帝堯之葬也，窾木爲匵，葛藟爲緘，〈服虔曰：「窾音款。款，空也，空木爲匵。」師古曰：「匵即櫝字也。櫝，小棺也。藟，葛蔓也。一曰，藟亦草名，葛之類也。緘，束也。藟音力水反。緘音工咸反。」〉其穿下不亂泉，〈師古曰：「亂，絕也。」〉上不泄殠。故聖王生易尚，死易葬也。〈師古曰：「尚，崇也。言生死皆儉約也。」〉不加功於亡用，不損財於亡謂。〈師古曰：「謂者，名稱也，亦指趣也。」〉今費財厚葬，留歸鬲至，死者不知，生者不得，是謂重惑。於戲！吾不爲也。」〈師古曰：「於讀曰烏。戲讀曰呼。」〉

Wangsun answered: "The ancient kings framed rites from human pity for the dead; today men vault past those bounds into wasteful tombs. Yan Shigu notes: they overspend the rites. I choose naked burial to jerk the age back toward sanity. 〈Yan Shigu: jiao means to straighten what is bent. Rich tombs help the corpse not at all, yet the world competes in piling treasure underground until fortunes dissolve. 〈Yan Shigu glosses mi as "scatter" or "squander. Dan means "drain dry." Some are sealed tonight and rifled tomorrow—Yan Shigu: opened by thieves. That is no better than leaving carrion on the plain. The dead are life's last change, the homecoming all matter makes. Return finishes the journey; change sheds the old—each creature goes home to its own nature. In that dark return, shape and voice gone, the man at last fits the Way. Gaudy display for the living and thick coffins for the dead both wall off the true return. Yan Shigu reads the character here as "block" or "separate off. The glosses that follow run on the same principle." You trap the traveler short of the inn and freeze the chrysalis in the shell—every creature misses its appointed end. The hun soul is heaven's loan; the bones are earth's clay. 〈Yan Shigu cites the Wenzi: celestial breath is the ethereal soul. Jizha of Yanling said, "Flesh and bone return to mud"—the same teaching." Spirit and carcass part, each to its element—hence we call the dead gui, "those who have gone home. The husk sits lumpish and alone; Yan Shigu gives the fanqie spelling (kou-dui) for the word rendered "lumpish." What mind is left in meat? Swaddle it in brocade, box it in double caskets, bind the limbs, plug the mouth with jade—you forbid decay until it mummifies; only when wood rots a thousand years later does dust rejoin dust. Why prolong a guest lease on nothing? 〈Yan Shigu: do not overstay as a traveler in the world. The graph for you ("thereby") is read like the homophone you meaning "from" or "by." Emperor Yao's grave was a hollowed log for a coffin, wild grapevine for straps—Fu Qian says the first word is read kuan, meaning "hollowed. Empty timber formed the shell." Yan Shigu: the graph here is the same as the word for a small chest or inner coffin. A small inner box. Lei is dolichos vine. Another gloss: lei names a vine like kudzu. Jian means lash tight. The plant name lei is spelled in the fanqie system as li-shui. The word jian (to bind) is spelled in fanqie as gong-xian." The pit did not pierce the aquifer below—Yan Shigu reads the verb as "cut off" the spring. Nor did stench seep upward to offend heaven. Thus the sage kings lived simply and buried simply. 〈Yan Shigu glosses shang as "honor" or "esteem. Both ends of life stayed spare." They wasted no labor on the pointless, no coin on empty show. 〈Yan Shigu: wei means "name" or "pretext." Today men bankrupt kin for tombs that neither comfort the dead nor enrich the living—twice deluded. Alas! I will not do it." 〈Yan's note: "Yu is read wu. The second syllable xi is read like hu (a sigh)."〉"

祁侯曰：「善。」遂臝葬。

The Marquis of Qi said, "Excellent." They buried him as he asked—stripped to earth.

胡建字子孟，河東人也。孝武天漢中，守軍正丞，〈師古曰：「南北軍各有正，正又置丞，而建未得真官，兼守之。」〉貧亡車馬，常步與走卒起居，所以尉薦走卒，甚得其心。〈師古曰：「尉者，自上安之也。薦者，舉籍也。」〉時監軍御史爲姦，穿北軍壘垣以爲賈區，〈師古曰：「坐賣曰賈，爲賣物之區也。區者，小室之名，若今小庵屋之類耳。故衞士之屋謂之區廬，宿衞宮外士稱爲區士也。賈音古。其下亦同。」〉建欲誅之，迺約其走卒曰：〈師古曰：「約，束也。」〉「我欲與公有所誅，吾言取之則取，斬之則斬。」於是當選士馬日，監御史與護軍諸校列坐堂皇上，〈師古曰：「校者，軍之諸部校也。室無四壁曰皇。」〉建從走卒趨至堂皇下拜謁，因上堂皇，走卒皆上，建指監御史曰：「取彼。」走卒前曳下堂皇。建曰：「斬之。」遂斬御史。護軍諸校皆愕驚，不知所以。建亦已有成奏在其懷中，遂上奏曰：「臣聞軍法，立武以威衆，誅惡以禁邪。今監御史公穿軍垣以求賈利，〈師古曰：「公謂顯然爲之。」〉私買賣以與士巿，不立剛毅之心，勇猛之節，亡以帥先士大夫，尤失理不公。用文吏議，不至重法。黃帝李法曰：〈蘇林曰：「獄官名也。天文志『左角李，右角將』。」孟康曰：「兵書之法也。」師古曰：「李者，法官之號也，緫主征伐刑戮之事也，故稱其書曰李法。蘇說近之。」〉『壁壘已定，穿窬不繇路，是謂姦人，姦人者殺。』〈師古曰：「窬，小竇也，音踰。繇讀與由同。下皆類此。」〉臣謹桉軍法曰：『正亡屬將軍，將軍有罪以聞，〈師古曰：「言軍正不屬將軍。將軍有罪過，得表奏之。」〉二千石以下行法焉。』〈孟康曰：「二千石謂軍中校尉、都尉之屬。」〉丞於用法疑，〈孟康曰：「丞屬軍正，斬御史於法有疑。」〉執事不諉上，〈師古曰：「諉，累也。言執事者，當見法即行，不可以事累於上也。諉音女瑞反。累音力瑞反。」〉臣謹以斬，昧死以聞。」制曰：「司馬法曰『國容不入軍，軍容不入國』，何文吏也？〈師古曰：「司馬法亦兵書之名也，解在主父偃傳。詔言在於軍中，何用文吏議也。」〉三王或誓於軍中，欲民先成其慮也；或誓於軍門之外，欲民先意以待事也；〈師古曰：「慮謂計念也。先意謂先爲之意也。」〉或將交刃而誓，致民志也。」〈師古曰：「欲致民勇志，使不奔北。」〉建又何疑焉？建繇是顯名。

Hu Jian, courtesy Zimeng, came from Hedong. In Emperor Wu's Tianhan era he acted as assistant to the army's chief rectifier. 〈Yan's note: "North and south armies each had a chief rectifier, who again had an assistant; Jian had not yet obtained substantive office but was holding the post concurrently." Too poor for a cart, he marched with the camp runners, sharing their bed and board until they loved him. 〈Yan's note: "Wei means to soothe from above. Jian in this sense means to enroll someone on the promotion roster." At that time the supervising army Imperial Clerk did wrong, breaching the north army's rampart to make a market stall. 〈Yan's note: "Sitting sale is gu; it means a place for selling goods. Qu names a small booth, like a guard hut. Hence guard sheds are called qu-lu, and exterior palace sentries are called qu-shi. The merchant graph is read with the same sound as the word for "merchant" (gu). The same reading applies below." Jian bound his runners with an oath—Yan Shigu glosses yue as "bind" or "pledge." Jian told them, "We are going to kill a man: when I say take, you seize; when I say strike, you strike." Therefore on the day when picked troops and horses were reviewed, the supervising clerk and the protectors' various colonels sat in rows in the open hall. 〈Yan's note: "Colonel means the army's various colonels' sections. Huang names an open hall without four enclosing walls." Jian rushed up with the runners, bowed, mounted the platform, and pointed at the supervising clerk: "Seize him." They dragged the censor from the dais. Jian said, "Behead him." They beheaded the supervising clerk. The colonels sat frozen, not grasping what had happened. Jian drew from his breast a finished memorial: "Your servant has heard that military law establishes martial awe to overawe the masses and punishes evil to forbid deviance. This censor openly breached the camp wall for trade—Yan Shigu reads gong as "openly" or "in public view." He peddled inside the lines, showed no stern courage, and could not lead officers—gross injustice by statute. A civil tribunal might call it a light offense. The Yellow Emperor's Li canons—Su Lin: Li was a judicial title. The monograph on astronomy pairs the left horn with Li." Meng Kang: a military-law formula." Yan Shigu: Li judges war and punishment, hence the Li Code—Su Lin's gloss is closest. Su Lin had the sense of it." Once walls stand, tunneling off the line is treason—treason earns death." 〈Yan Shigu explains the word for a thief-tunnel as a small hole, with the reading given in fanqie spelling. The graph is read like the homophone meaning "from" or "thereby. The same glossing convention applies below." Your servant cites the code: the chief judge answers to the throne, not the camp commander; a general's crimes go up by memorial. Yan Shigu stresses that the rectifier is not the general's subordinate. Any fault on the general's part may be tabled for the emperor." Officials at two thousand piculs and below enforce the statute." 〈Meng Kang clarifies: here "two thousand piculs" covers colonels and chief commandants. As deputy I hesitated at the law's edge—Meng Kang notes the deputy served the chief rectifier, so killing a censor sat in a gray zone. The officer on the spot must act when the code demands—not pass the buck upward. Yan Shigu glosses wei as "burden" or "implicate. Execute the law at once; do not drag the throne into it. The character wei is spelled fanqie as nu-rui. The character lei is spelled fanqie as li-rui." Your servant therefore took his head and reports at peril of his life." The emperor answered: "The Sima canons say camp law is not capital etiquette—why drag in civil judges? 〈Yan Shigu: Sima Fa is a military treatise, as explained under Zhufu Yan. The rescript puts the case under field law, not the ministry clerks." The three sage kings swore inside the camp so every soldier fixed his plan before battle; or they swore beyond the gate so the host steeled its will before the order came; 〈Yan Shigu: lu is forethought, calculation. Xian yi means shaping resolve beforehand." or when about to cross blades they swore, fixing the people's will." 〈Yan Shigu: the oath was meant to nerve the ranks so none broke and ran." How could Jian still have doubted? Hu Jian's name rang through the empire.

後爲渭城令，治甚有聲。值昭帝幼，皇后父上官將軍安與帝姊蓋主私夫丁外人相善。外人驕恣，怨故京兆尹樊福，使客射殺之。客臧公主廬，吏不敢捕。渭城令建將吏卒圍捕。蓋主聞之，與外人、上官將軍多從奴客往，犇射追吏，〈師古曰：「犇，古奔字也。奔走赴之而射也。」〉吏散走。主使僕射劾渭城令游徼傷主家奴。建報亡它坐。〈服虔曰：「言游徼奉公，無它坐也。」〉蓋主怒，使人上書告建侵辱長公主，射甲舍門。〈師古曰：「甲舍即甲第，公主之宅。」〉知吏賊傷奴，辟報故不窮審。〈蘇林曰：「辟，迴也。報，論也。斷獄爲報。故言有故也。不窮審，不窮盡其事也。」師古曰：「蘇說非也。言爲游徼避罪而妄報文書，故不窮治也。辟讀曰避。」〉大將軍霍光寢其奏。後光病，上官氏代聽事，下吏捕建，建自殺。吏民稱冤，至今渭城立其祠。

He later governed Weicheng county and earned a ringing reputation. Young Zhao sat the throne while the empress's father, General Shangguan An, consorted with Ding Wairen, lover of the emperor's sister the Princess of Gai. Ding Wairen was insolent, hated the ex-governor Fan Fu, and had him shot by hired blades. The killers sheltered in the princess's compound; no constable dared touch them. Magistrate Hu Jian ringed the house with troops and moved to arrest. The princess rode out with Ding, Shangguan, and a mob of clients, galloping and shooting at Hu's men—Yan Shigu notes ben is the old graph for "run. They charged in shooting." Hu's detachment broke and ran. She had her majordomo indict the county patrol for wounding her slaves. Hu Jian answered that the patrol had committed no separate crime. 〈Fu Qian's note: "It means the patrol officer acted on public duty; there was no other offense." She struck back with a memorial accusing Hu Jian of lèse-majesté and riddling the gate of her first-ranked mansion. 〈Yan Shigu: "armor hall" is another name for a nobleman's top-tier residence. Hu knew his men had bloodied her slaves yet filed a dodgy closing report and closed the case. Su Lin thought pi meant "turn aside." 〈Bao means "verdict" or "finding. Closing a criminal file is called bao. Su read it as "there was a stated reason. Not to investigate exhaustively is to leave the matter half done. Yan Shigu rejects Su Lin." "It means that for the patrol officer he avoided guilt and falsely returned documents, and therefore was not exhaustively prosecuted. The character pi is read like bi, "avoid. Huo Guang buried the princess's bill." When Huo fell sick the Shangguans seized the reins, ordered Hu Jian arrested, and he killed himself. The people of Weicheng still call it murder and keep a shrine to his memory. The people of Weicheng still call it murder and keep a shrine to his memory.

朱雲字游，魯人也，徙平陵。少時通輕俠，借客報仇。〈師古曰：「借，助也，音子夜反。」〉長八尺餘，容貌甚壯，以勇力聞。年四十，迺變節從博士白子友受易，又事前將軍蕭望之受論語，皆能傳其業。好倜儻大節，〈師古曰：「倜音吐歷反。」〉當世以是高之。

Zhu Yun, courtesy You, was a Lu man who resettled at Pingling. As a youth he ran with swordsmen and hired blades for revenge. 〈Yan Shigu glosses jie as "lend aid," with fanqie spelling zi-ye. He stood over eight feet, looked every inch a fighter, and was known for raw strength. At forty he reformed, studied the Zhou yi under Doctor Bai Ziyou and the Analects under the retired general Xiao Wangzhi, and mastered both teachers. He loved grand integrity and unconstrained spirit. 〈Yan's note: "Ti is read tu-li fan." The capital set great store by him.

元帝時，琅邪貢禹爲御史大夫，而華陰守丞嘉上封事，〈師古曰：「守華陰縣丞者，其人名嘉。」〉言『治道在於得賢，御史之官，宰相之副，九卿之右，〈師古曰：「右言在上也。」〉不可不選。平陵朱雲，兼資文武，忠正有智略，可使以六百石秩試守御史大夫，以盡其能。』上迺下其事問公卿。太子少傅匡衡對，以爲「大臣者，國家之股肱，萬姓所瞻仰，明王所慎擇也。傳曰下輕其上爵，賤人圖柄臣，則國家搖動而民不靜矣。〈師古曰：「上爵，大官也。圖，謀也。柄臣，執權之臣。」〉今嘉從守丞而圖大臣之位，欲以匹夫徒步之人而超九卿之右，非所以重國家而尊社稷也。自堯之用舜，文王於太公，猶試然後爵之，又況朱雲者乎？雲素好勇，數犯法亡命，受易頗有師道，其行義未有以異。今御史大夫禹絜白廉正，經術通明，有伯夷、史魚之風，海內莫不聞知，而嘉猥稱雲，〈師古曰：「猥，曲也。」〉欲令爲御史大夫，妄相稱舉，疑有姦心，漸不可長，宜下有司案驗以明好惡。」嘉竟坐之。

Under Emperor Yuan, Gong Yu of Langya was Imperial Counselor, while the acting guardian of Huayin, chief clerk Jia, submitted a sealed memorial. 〈Yan's note: "He is the man named Jia who was acting chief clerk of Huayin county." It argued that order rests on worthy ministers, that the censor is the chancellor's right hand and outranks the nine ministers—Yan Shigu reads you as "senior." The memorial insisted that the post must be filled with care. Zhu Yun of Pingling combines civil and military talent, is loyal, upright, and has strategy; he may be tried as acting Imperial Counselor at six hundred piculs salary to exhaust his ability. The emperor bounced the memorial to the high assembly. Junior Tutor to the Heir Kuang Heng replied, holding that "great ministers are the state's thighs and arms, what the myriad surnames look up to, whom an enlightened king chooses with care. The classics warn that when commoners despise high rank and plot against power-holders, the realm shakes. 〈Yan Shigu: shang jue means exalted posts. Tu is "to scheme. bingchen day is a minister who wields the levers of power. Yet Jia, a mere acting clerk, would vault a foot soldier into the censor's chair—not how you steady the altars. Even Yao with Shun and King Wen with the Grand Duke tested them long before handing seals—would Zhu Yun be rushed faster? Zhu loves a fight, has fled the law more than once, knows the Changes well enough to teach, yet shows nothing singular in conduct. Imperial Counselor Gong Yu is stainless, learned, and as straight as Boyi or Ziyu—everyone knows it—yet Jia crookedly praises Zhu Yun. Yan Shigu: wei means "twisted" or "improper." wishing to make him Imperial Counselor, recklessly recommending each other—I suspect a treacherous heart; such gradual encroachment must not be allowed to grow; it is fitting to send it down to the authorities to investigate and verify, to clarify good and evil.' Jia paid for the stunt with his career.

是時，少府五鹿充宗貴幸，爲梁丘易。自宣帝時善梁丘氏說，元帝好之，欲考其異同，令充宗與諸易家論。充宗乘貴辯口，〈師古曰：「乘，因也。言因藉尊貴之權也。」〉諸儒莫能與抗，皆稱疾不敢會。有薦雲者，召入，攝𪗋登堂，〈師古曰：「𪗋，衣下之裳，音子私反。」〉抗首而請，〈師古曰：「抗，舉也。」〉音動左右。旣論難，連拄五鹿君，〈師古曰：「拄，刺也，距也，音竹庾反。」〉故諸儒爲之語曰：「五鹿嶽嶽，朱雲折其角。」〈師古曰：「嶽嶽，長角之貌。」〉繇是爲博士。

Meanwhile Junior Minister Wulu Chongzong stood high at court expounding the Liangqiu interpretation of the Changes. Since Xuandi the court had favored Liangqiu; Yuan ordered a showdown between Chongzong and every other school. Chongzong traded on rank and a glib tongue—Yan Shigu glosses cheng as "ride on" or "trade on. He leaned on imperial favor to cow the doctors." Every scholar feigned sickness rather than face him. Someone recommended Yun; he was summoned in, tucked his lower robe and ascended the hall. 〈Yan's note: "Zi is the lower skirt of the garment, read zi-si fan." He lifted his head to speak—Yan Shigu: kang is "raise." His voice shook the hall. In disputation he pinned Chongzong again and again—Yan Shigu glosses zhu as "gore" or "parry," fanqie zhu-yu. The doctors sang: "Wulu locks horns high—Zhu Yun snaps his tip." 〈Yan's note: "Yueyue is the appearance of long horns." The emperor named him an erudite.

遷杜陵令，坐故縱亡命，會赦，舉方正，爲槐里令。時中書令石顯用事，與充宗爲黨，百僚畏之。唯御史中丞陳咸年少抗節，不附顯等，而與雲相結。雲數上疏，言丞相韋玄成容身保位，亡能往來，〈李竒曰：「不能有所前卻也。」師古曰：「周書君奭之篇稱周公曰：『惟文王尚克修和有夏，有若虢叔、閎夭、散宜生、泰顛、南宮括。』又曰『亡能往來』。故雲引此以爲言也。」〉而咸數毀石顯。乆之，有司考雲，疑風吏殺人。〈師古曰：「風讀曰諷。」〉羣臣朝見，上問丞相以雲治行。丞相玄成言雲暴虐亡狀。〈師古曰：「無善狀也。」〉時陳咸在前，聞之，以語雲。雲上書自訟，咸爲定奏草，求下御史中丞。事下丞相，丞相部吏考立其殺人罪。〈師古曰：「立，成也。」〉雲亡入長安，復與咸計議。丞相具發其事，奏「咸宿衞執法之臣，幸得進見，漏泄所聞，以私語雲，爲定奏草，欲令自下治，〈師古曰：「咸爲御史中丞，而奏請下中丞，故云自下治。」〉後知雲亡命罪人，而與交通，雲以故不得。」〈師古曰：「吏捕之不得。」〉上於是下咸、雲獄，減死爲城旦。咸、雲遂廢錮，終元帝世。

He moved to Duling magistrate, fell for letting fugitives slip, then was pardoned, recommended as upright, and sent to Huaili. Palace secretary Shi Xian ran the inner court in league with Chongzong, and the bureaucracy trembled. Only young Chen Xian, assistant censor, defied Shi Xian and befriended Zhu Yun. Zhu Yun memorialized that Chancellor Wei Xuancheng clung to his cushion, neither advancing policy nor yielding—Li Qi reads the phrase as "unable to move either way." Yan Shigu quotes the "Jun Shi" chapter: the Duke of Zhou praises King Wen's ministers—Guo Shu, Hong Yao, San Yisheng, Tai Dian, and Nangong Kuo. The same passage speaks of men who could neither press forward nor step back." That is the line Zhu Yun invoked against Wei Xuancheng." Chen Xian meanwhile kept impeaching Shi Xian before the throne. Months later the authorities reopened Zhu Yun's file, suspecting he had urged underlings to kill. 〈Yan's note: "Feng is read feng 'to hint.'" At the next great audience Emperor Yuan asked the chancellor how Zhu Yun had governed. Wei Xuancheng replied that Zhu Yun was savage and had left no creditable record. 〈Yan Shigu glosses "no good aspect" as no praiseworthy conduct to report. Chen Xian stood in the front ranks, overheard the answer, and warned Zhu Yun. Zhu Yun filed a memorial in his own defense; Chen Xian composed the draft and asked that it be referred to the assistant censor. The chancellor's yamen ran the inquest until clerks could enter a murder conviction in the record. 〈Yan Shigu glosses li as "establish" or "complete." Zhu Yun slipped into Chang'an and took counsel again with Chen Xian. The chancellor laid out the whole intrigue: Chen Xian held a law officer's post, had heard state business in audience, leaked it to Zhu Yun, ghost-wrote his defense, and tried to route the case to his own bureau—Yan Shigu notes the irony of an assistant censor referring a case to himself. Chen Xian learned Zhu was a wanted fugitive yet conspired with him anyway—so Zhu could not be seized." 〈Yan's note: "The clerks could not catch him." The emperor jailed both men and spared their lives for hard labor on the walls. Both were disgraced and blocked from employment until Yuan died.

至成帝時，丞相故安昌侯張禹以帝師位特進，甚尊重。雲上書求見，公卿在前。雲曰：「今朝庭大臣上不能匡主，下亡以益民，皆尸位素餐，〈師古曰：「尸，主也。素，空也。尸位者，不舉其事，但主其位而已。素餐者，德不稱官，空當食祿。」〉孔子所謂『鄙夫不可與事君』，『苟患失之，亡所不至』者也。〈師古曰：「皆論語所載孔子之言也。苟患失其寵祿，則言行僻邪，無所不至也。」〉臣願賜尚方斬馬劔，斷佞臣一人以厲其餘。」〈師古曰：「尚方，少府之屬官也，作供御器物，故有斬馬劔，劔利可以斬馬也。」〉上問：「誰也？」對曰「安昌侯張禹。」上大怒，曰：「小臣居下訕上，〈師古曰：「訕，謗也，音所諫反，又音刪。」〉廷辱師傅，罪死不赦。」御史將雲下，雲攀殿檻，檻折。〈師古曰：「檻，軒前欄也。」〉雲呼曰：〈師古曰：「呼，叫也，音火故反。」〉「臣得下從龍逢、比干遊於地下，足矣！〈師古曰：「關龍逢，桀臣，王子比干，紂之諸父，皆以諫而死，故云然。」〉未知聖朝何如耳？」〈師古曰：「言殺直臣其聲惡。」〉御史遂將雲去。於是左將軍辛慶忌免冠解印綬，叩頭殿下曰：「此臣素著狂直於世。〈師古曰：「著，表也。言此名乆彰表。」〉使其言是，不可誅；其言非，固當容之。臣敢以死爭。」慶忌叩頭流血。上意解，然後得已。及後當治檻，上曰：「勿易！因而輯之，以旌直臣。」〈師古曰：「輯與集同，謂補合之也。旌，表也。」〉

Under Cheng, Zhang Yu of Anchang—once the emperor's tutor—sat as specially advanced minister and basked in deference. Zhu Yun demanded a hearing with the high ministers looking on. Zhu Yun said the high ministers neither steadied the throne nor helped the people—they were "corpse seat" placeholders drawing empty pay. Yan Shigu glosses shi as "preside. Su means hollow or wasted. They warm the bench without doing the job. They draw pay while their virtue never matches their rank." They are the petty men Confucius warned against—clinging to place until they will commit any crime. 〈Yan Shigu: both quotations come from the Analects. Terror for salary twists every word and deed." Give me the imperial blade reserved for traitors—one stroke on a sycophant to sober the rest." 〈Yan's note: "Shangfang is a sub-bureau of the Junior Minister; it makes objects for imperial use, hence the horse-beheading sword—so sharp it can sever a horse." The emperor snapped, "Name him." Zhu Yun replied, "Marquis of Anchang Zhang Yu." Cheng boiled over: "A low clerk defames his betters—Yan Shigu glosses shan as revile. You have insulted my teacher in the hall—no pardon." Guards dragged Zhu away; he locked arms on the door sill until the carved rail snapped. 〈Yan's note: "Kan is the railing before the hall." Yun cried out—〈Yan's note: "Hu means to shout; read huo-gu fan." "Let me join Long Peng and Bi Gan in the grave—I am content! 〈Yan Shigu names the two martyred remonstrators of Jie and Zhou. I do not yet know what this sage court of yours will prove to be!" 〈Yan's note: "It means killing straight ministers brings an ill name." The guards marched him off. Left general Xin Qingji tore off cap and sash and kowtowed: "The man is famous for wild integrity. 〈Yan Shigu: zhu means "display" or "show forth. His reputation has stood for years." If he speaks truth, spare him; if he is wrong, still indulge his bluntness. I will plead for him on pain of death." Xin battered his brow on the stone until blood ran. Cheng's rage cooled and the execution halted. When carpenters came to mend the rail, the emperor said, "Leave it broken! Patch the break and keep it as a monument to blunt loyalty." 〈Yan's note: "Ji is the same as ji 'to gather'—meaning to mend and join. Jing means to set forth for all to see."〉"

雲自是之後不復仕，常居鄠田，時出乘牛車從諸生，所過皆敬事焉。薛宣爲丞相，雲往見之。宣備賔主禮，因留雲宿，從容謂雲曰：〈師古曰：「從音七庸反。」〉「在田野亡事，且留我東閤，可以觀四方竒士。」雲曰：「小生迺欲相吏邪？」〈師古曰：「小生謂其新學後進。言欲以我爲吏乎？」〉宣不敢復言。

Zhu Yun never served again. He farmed at Hu, sometimes toured in an ox-cart with students, and every village honored him. When Xue Xuan took the chancellorship, Zhu called on him. Xuan prepared full host-and-guest courtesy, then detained Yun overnight and, at leisure, said to Yun—〈Yan's note: "Cong is read qi-yong fan." "Idle in the country—lodge in my east wing and watch the empire's odd talents pass through." "You fresh-faced stripling—you think you can press me into clerking for you?" 〈Yan's note: "Xiao sheng means a newly advanced student. Are you trying to hire me as a secretary?" Xue never raised it again.

其敎授，擇諸生，然後爲弟子。九江嚴望及望兄子元，字仲，能傳雲學，皆爲博士。望至泰山太守。

He picked disciples only from the worthiest students. Yan Wang of Jiujiang and his nephew Yan Yuan mastered Zhu's school; both rose to erudite. Yan Wang governed Taishan.

雲年七十餘，終於家。病不呼醫飲藥。遺言以身服斂，棺周於身，土周於椁，〈師古曰：「棺周於身，小棺裁容身也。土周於椁，冢壙裁容椁也。」〉爲丈五墳，葬平陵東郭外。

Zhu Yun died at home past seventy. Sick, he refused doctors and drugs. He left instructions to be clothed for burial only to the body's measure, a coffin just fitting the frame, earth just enclosing the outer shell—〈Yan's note: "The coffin circles the body—a small coffin barely holding the frame. The shaft would only admit the inner box." He asked for a burial mound one zhang and five chi high east of Pingling's outer wall.

梅福字子真，九江壽春人也。少學長安，明尚書、穀梁春秋，爲郡文學，補南昌尉。〈師古曰：「豫章之縣。」〉後去官歸壽春，數因縣道上言變事，〈師古曰：「附縣道之使而封奏也。變謂非常之事。」〉求假軺傳，〈師古曰：「小車之傳也。軺音遙。傳音張戀反。」〉詣行在所條對急政，〈師古曰：「條對者，一一條錄而對之。」〉輒報罷。

Mei Fu, courtesy Zizhen, came from Shouchun in Jiujiang. He studied in Chang'an, mastered the Shang shu and Guliang Annals, served as commandery instructor, then constable of Nanchang. 〈Yan's note: "A county in Yuzhang." Later he left office and returned to Shouchun, repeatedly using county couriers to memorialize on portents—〈Yan's note: "He attached sealed memorials to county couriers. Bian means crises or anomalies." He begged leave to borrow a light carriage's relay tallies—〈Yan's note: "The relay tallies of a light cart. Yao is read yao. Zhuan is read zhang-lian in fanqie." to go to the imperial encampment and itemize answers on urgent policy—〈Yan's note: "Tiao dui means to list each item and answer." Each time the court brushed him off.

是時成帝委任大將軍王鳳，鳳專埶擅朝，而京兆尹王章素忠直，譏刺鳳，爲鳳所誅。王氏浸盛，〈師古曰：「浸，漸也。」〉災異數見，羣下莫敢正言。福復上書曰：

Cheng handed power to Wang Feng; Feng choked the court. Wang Zhang of the capital spoke sharp truth and Feng had him killed. The Wangs swelled—Yan Shigu: jin is "step by step." Omens stacked up while every tongue stayed tied. Mei Fu memorialized again:

臣聞箕子佯狂於殷，而爲周陳洪範；叔孫通遁秦歸漢，制作儀品。〈師古曰：「遁，逃也。」〉夫叔孫先非不忠也，〈師古曰：「先猶言先生也。一曰，先謂在秦時。」〉箕子非疏其家而畔親也，〈師古曰：「箕子，紂之諸父，故言疏家畔親也。」〉不可爲言也。昔高祖納善若不及，從諫若轉圜，〈師古曰：「不及，恐失之也。轉圜，言其順也。」〉聽言不求其能，舉功不考其素。〈師古曰：「直取其功，不論其舊行及所從來也。」〉陳平起於亡命而爲謀主，韓信拔於行陳而建上將。〈師古曰：「立以爲大將軍。」〉故天下之士雲合歸漢，〈師古曰：「言四面而至。」〉爭進竒異，知者竭其策，愚者盡其慮，勇士極其節，怯夫勉其死。合天下之知，并天下之威，是以舉秦如鴻毛，取楚若拾遺，〈師古曰：「鴻毛喻輕。拾遺，言其易也。」〉此高祖所以亡敵於天下也。〈師古曰：「亡讀曰無。」〉孝文皇帝起於代谷，〈師古曰：「從代而來即帝位。」〉非有周召之師，伊呂之佐也，〈師古曰：「召讀曰邵。」〉循高祖之法，加以恭儉。當此之時，天下幾平。〈師古曰：「幾音距依反。」〉繇是言之，循高祖之法則治，不循則亂。何者？秦爲亡道，削仲尼之迹，滅周公之軌，〈師古曰：「軌，法也。」〉壞井田，除五等，禮廢樂崩，王道不通，故欲行王道者莫能致其功也。孝武皇帝好忠諫，說至言，〈師古曰：「說讀曰悅。」〉出爵不待廉茂，慶賜不須顯功，〈師古曰：「謂諫爭合意即得官爵，不由薦舉及軍功也。廉，廉吏也。茂，茂材也。」〉是以天下布衣各厲志竭精以赴闕廷自衒鬻者不可勝數。漢家得賢，於此爲盛。使孝武皇帝聽用其計，升平可致。〈張晏曰：「民有三年之儲曰升平。」〉於是積尸暴骨，快心胡越，故淮南王安緣間而起。所以計慮不成而謀議泄者，以衆賢聚於本朝，〈師古曰：「本朝，漢朝也。」〉故其大臣埶陵不敢和從也。〈服虔曰：「臣勢陵君也。」師古曰：「謂淮南大臣相內史之屬也。」〉方今布衣迺窺國家之隙，見間而起者，蜀郡是也。〈孟康曰：「成帝鴻嘉中廣漢男子鄭躬等反是也。」〉及山陽亡徒蘇令之羣，蹈藉名都大郡，求黨與，索隨和，〈李竒曰：「求索與己和及隨己者。」〉而亡逃匿之意。此皆輕量大臣，亡所畏忌，國家之權輕，故匹夫欲與上爭衡也。

Your servant has heard that Jizi played the madman under Shang yet gave Zhou the Hong fan; Shusun Tong slipped from Qin to Han and built the court's ritual code. 〈Yan's note: "Dun means to flee." Shusun Tong was no traitor—Yan Shigu glosses xian as "sir" or "venerable. Another gloss: xian means "while still in Qin." Jizi did not cast off his kin to rebel against kin—〈Yan's note: "Jizi was Zhou's uncle, hence 'cast off kin to rebel against kin.'" No one would listen. Formerly Gaozu welcomed good counsel as if he could never catch up, followed remonstrance as easily as turning a round object—〈Yan's note: "Bu ji means fearing to miss it. Zhuan yuan means turning a round weight—easy motion, ready compliance." He heard men out without demanding polish and rewarded deeds without probing pedigrees. 〈Yan's note: "He took the merit alone, not debating old conduct or where they came from." Chen Ping rose from exile as strategist; Han Xin leaped from the ranks to grand marshal. 〈Yan's note: "He was appointed grand general." Therefore knights of the empire flocked to Han like clouds—〈Yan's note: "It means they came from all sides." Wise men laid schemes, fools found courage, heroes spent their nerve, cowards learned to die. They pooled the wit of the realm and the majesty of the realm—therefore they lifted Qin as lightly as a goose feather and took Chu like picking up lost goods—〈Yan's note: "Goose feather means light. Shi yi means as easy as stooping for a trifle." That is how Gaozu became unbeatable. 〈Yan Shigu reads wu like wu, "without peer." Emperor Wen rose from the Dai valley—〈Yan's note: "He came from Dai to take the throne." without the tutors of Zhou and Shao or the assistants of Yi and Lu—〈Yan's note: "Shao is read shao." He kept Gaozu's code and layered on modest thrift. By then the realm was nearly at peace. 〈Yan's note: "Ji is read ju-yi fan." Follow Gaozu's pattern and the land rests; abandon it and the land boils. Why? Qin hacked away Confucius, smashed the Duke of Zhou's models—Yan Shigu: gui is "pattern." It tore up well-fields and the five ranks until rites and music died and the royal way clogged—so no later king could finish the work. Emperor Wu loved loyal remonstrance and delighted in utmost words—〈Yan's note: "Yue is read yue 'delight.'" he issued noble rank without waiting for "incorrupt" or "abundant talent," granted rewards without requiring manifest merit—〈Yan's note: "It means if remonstrance pleased him he gave office and rank without recommendation or military merit. Lian names the "incorrupt" recommendation class. Mao names the "abundant talent" class." Commoners sharpened wits and thronged the capital to sell their service—uncountable. Han talent peaked in that age. Had Wu used their advice, the realm might have reached true peace. 〈Zhang Yan's note: "When the people hold three years' stores it is called shengping." Instead came slaughter abroad and pride at crushing barbarians—so Liu An of Huainan saw his opening. The reason his plots never matured and his counsels leaked was that many worthies crowded this court—〈Yan's note: "Ben chao means the Han court." Huainan's ministers could not bully the ruler into conspiracy. 〈Fu Qian's note: "The ministers' power overawed the ruler." Yan's note: "It means Huainan's ministers such as the chancellor and palace secretary."〉 Today rustics watch for weakness—Shu rose first. 〈Meng Kang's note: "It means the Guanghan men Zheng Gong and others who rebelled in the Hongjia era of Cheng." And the band of Shanyang fugitive Su Ling, trampling famous capitals and great commanderies, seeking allies, hunting for those who would follow or join them—〈Li Qi's note: "They sought men who would join them or go along with them." They marched openly, never slinking into hiding. They despise high ministers because the court's awe has thinned—commoners dare face the Son of Heaven.

士者，國之重器；得士則重，失士則輕。詩云：「濟濟多士，文王以寧。」〈師古曰：「大雅文王之詩也。已解於上。」〉廟堂之議，非草茅所當言也。臣誠恐身塗野草，尸并卒伍，故數上書求見，輒報罷。臣聞齊桓之時有以九九見者，桓公不逆，欲以致大也。〈師古曰：「九九，筭術，若今九章、五曹之輩。」〉今臣所言非特九九也，陛下距臣者三矣，此天下士所以不至也。昔秦武王好力，任鄙叩關自鬻；〈師古曰：「秦武王即孝公之孫，惠文王之子也。任鄙，力士也。」〉繆公行伯，繇余歸德。〈師古曰：「即秦穆公。伯讀曰霸。繇讀曰由。」〉今欲致天下之士，民有上書求見者，輒使詣尚書問其所言，言可采取者，秩以升斗之祿，賜以一束之帛。若此，則天下之士發憤懣，〈師古曰：「懣音滿。」〉吐忠言，嘉謀日聞於上，天下條貫，國家表裏，爛然可睹矣。〈師古曰：「爛然，分明之貌也。」〉夫以四海之廣，士民之數，能言之類至衆多也。然其儁桀指世陳政，言成文章，質之先聖而不繆，〈師古曰：「質，正也。」〉施之當世合時務，若此者，亦亡幾人。〈師古曰：「無幾，言不多也。幾音居豈反。」〉故爵祿束帛者，天下之厎石，〈師古曰：「厎，細石也，音之履反，又音秖。」〉高祖所以厲世摩鈍也。孔子曰：「工欲善其事，必先利其器。」〈師古曰：「論語載孔子之言也。工以喻國政，利器喻賢材。」〉至秦則不然，張誹謗之罔，以爲漢𢿛除，倒持泰阿，授楚其柄。〈師古曰：「泰阿，劔名，歐冶所鑄也。言秦無道，令陳涉、項羽乘間而發，譬倒持劔而以把授與人也。」〉故誠能勿失其柄，天下雖有不順，莫敢觸其鋒，此孝武皇帝所以辟地建功爲漢世宗也。〈師古曰：「辟讀曰闢。」〉今不循伯者之道，〈師古曰：「伯讀曰霸。次下亦同。」〉欲以三代選舉之法取當時之士，猶察伯樂之圖，求騏驥於市，而不可得，亦已明矣。故高祖棄陳平之過而獲其謀，〈師古曰：「盜嫂受金之事。」〉晉文召天王，齊桓用其讎，〈師古曰：「召天王，謂狩于河陽也。用其讎，謂以管仲爲相。並解於上。」〉亡益於時，不顧逆順，此所謂伯道者也。一色成體謂之醇，白黑雜合謂之駮。欲以承平之法治暴秦之緒，〈師古曰：「緒謂餘業也。」〉猶以鄉飲酒之禮理軍市也。

Talent is the dynasty's heavy armor; with them you stand firm, without them you totter. The Odes says, "In hosts so many the knights were—King Wen thereby had peace." 〈Yan Shigu: from the Greater Ya "Wen Wang" ode. As explained earlier." Inner-court policy is no topic for grass huts. I risk the execution ground yet keep petitioning—and each time you brush me off. Duke Huan once heard a man teach the times table and still received him—hunger for greatness. 〈Yan's note: "Jiu jiu is reckoning, like today's Nine Chapters or Five Offices manuals." My words outweigh a times table—three rebuffs prove why talent stays home. King Wu of Qin loved brawn; Ren Bi pounded the gate to offer his back; 〈Yan's note: "King Wu of Qin is the grandson of Duke Xiao, son of King Huiwen. Ren Bi was a noted strongman." Duke Mu sought hegemony; You Yu defected out of respect. 〈Yan's note: "That is Duke Mu of Qin. Bo here reads ba, hegemon. You is read you." To summon talent, route every memorial to the Imperial Secretary; pay useful words with a token stipend and a bolt of silk. If so, then knights of the realm will vent loyal resentment—〈Yan's note: "Men is read man." Good counsel will flow upward until every fiber of the realm lies plain. 〈Yan's note: "Ran ran means the appearance of clarity." Eloquent men swarm the four seas. Yet few who write like classics and pass the sages' test—Yan Shigu: zhi is "test against." Fewer still fit the present moment. 〈Yan's note: "Wu ji means not many. Fanqie for ji." Therefore rank, stipend, and bundles of silk are the realm's whetstone—〈Yan's note: "Di is fine stone; read zhi-li fan, also read zhi." That is how Gaozu whetted the world's edge. Confucius said, "The craftsman who wishes to do his work well must first sharpen his tools." 〈Yan's note: "The Analects records Confucius's words. The craftsman is government; the tools are ministers." Qin stretched slander statutes to pave Han's rise—then gripped the Tai'e blade by the edge and gave the hilt to rebels. 〈Yan's note: "Tai'e is a sword name, forged by Ou Yezi. It means Qin was lawless, letting Chen She and Xiang Yu seize the moment—like holding a sword upside down and offering the grip to another."〉" Keep the hilt and no rebel tests the edge—that is how Wu became the dynasty's martial ancestor. 〈Yan's note: "Pi is read pi 'to open.'" Now, not following the hegemon's path—〈Yan's note: "Bo is read ba. The same reading recurs below." Using ancient selection rites to hire modern men is like finding a thoroughbred from a picture—hopeless and obvious. Therefore Gaozu overlooked Chen Ping's faults and gained his stratagems—〈Yan's note: "The affair of stealing his sister-in-law and accepting gold." King Wen of Jin summoned the Son of Heaven; Duke Huan of Qi employed his enemy—〈Yan's note: "Summoning the Son of Heaven means the hunt at Heyang. The enemy was Guan Zhong, made chief minister. Both stories glossed earlier." It ignores expedience yet works—that is hegemon politics. Pure hue is chun; mottled white and black is bo. To wish to govern the violent leavings of tyrant Qin with the statutes of full peace—〈Yan's note: "Xu means the remaining work." It is like running a village banquet in a war camp.

今陛下旣不納天下之言，又加戮焉。夫䳒鵲遭害，則仁鳥增逝；〈師古曰：「䳒，鴟也。仁鳥，鸞鳳也。䳒音緣。」〉愚者蒙戮，則知士深退。〈師古曰：「蒙，被也。」〉間者愚民上疏，多觸不急之法，或下廷尉，而死者衆。〈師古曰：「以其所言爲不急而罪之也。」〉自陽朔以來，天下以言爲諱，朝廷尤甚，〈師古曰：「防人之口，法禁嚴切。」〉羣臣皆承順上指，莫有執正。何以明其然也？取民所上書，陛下之所善，試下之廷尉，廷尉必曰「非所宜言，大不敬。」以此卜之，一矣。故京兆尹王章資質忠直，敢面引廷爭，孝元皇帝擢之，以厲具臣而矯曲朝。〈師古曰：「具臣，具位之臣無益者也。矯，正也。」〉及至陛下，戮及妻子。且惡惡止其身，王章非有反畔之辜，而殃及家。折直士之節，結諫臣之舌，羣臣皆知其非，然不敢爭，天下以言爲戒，最國家之大患也。願陛下循高祖之軌，杜亡秦之路，〈師古曰：「杜，塞也。」〉數御十月之歌，〈孟康曰：「福譏切王氏。十月之詩，刺后族太盛也。」師古曰：「詩小雅十月之交篇也。」〉留意亡逸之戒，〈師古曰：「周書篇名也，周公作之以戒成王。」〉除不急之法，下亡諱之詔，博覽兼聽，謀及疏賤，令深者不隱，遠者不塞，所謂「辟四門，明四目」也。〈師古曰：「虞書舜典曰『闢四門，明四目』，言開四門以致衆賢，則明視於四方也。」〉且不急之法，誹謗之微者也。「往者不可及，來者猶可追。」方今君命犯而主威奪，〈師古曰：「君命犯者，謂大臣犯君之命。」〉外戚之權日以益隆，陛下不見其形，願察其景。建始以來，日食地震，以率言之，三倍春秋，水災亡與比數。〈師古曰：「言其極多，不可比較而數也。」〉陰盛陽微，金鐵爲飛，此何景也！〈張晏曰：「河平二年，沛郡鐵官鑄鐵如星飛上去，權臣用事之異也。」蘇林曰：「『言之不從，是謂不艾，則金不從革。』景，象也。何象，言將危亡也。」〉漢興以來，社稷二危。呂、霍、上官皆母后之家也，親親之道，全之爲右，〈師古曰：「務全安之，此爲上。」〉當與之賢師良傅，敎以忠孝之道。今迺尊寵其位，授以魁柄，〈師古曰：「以斗爲喻也，斗身爲魁。」〉使之驕逆，至於夷滅，〈師古曰：「夷，平也，謂平除之。」〉此失親親之大者也。自霍光之賢，不能爲子孫慮，故權臣易世則危。書曰：「毋若火，始庸庸。」〈師古曰：「周書洛誥之辭也。庸庸，微小貌也。言火始微小，不早撲滅則至熾盛。大臣貴擅，亦當早圖黜其權也。」〉埶陵於君，權隆於主，然後防之，亦亡及已。〈師古曰：「已，語終辭。」〉

You reject counsel and pile executions on top. When hawks and owls are harmed, the benevolent birds fly farther away; 〈Yan's note: "You is the owl. Benevolent birds are luan and phoenix. You is read yuan." Kill fools and the wise dig in. 〈Yan's note: "Meng means to suffer." Lately common memorials trip petty statutes; the Commandant of Justice swallows them and men die. 〈Yan Shigu: punished for "non-urgent" speech. Since Yangshuo the realm has taken speech as taboo, worst at court—〈Yan's note: "They plugged men's mouths; the statutes bit deep." Every minister nods at your hint; none stands straight. How do we know? Take what the people memorialize that Your Majesty praises, try sending it down to the Commandant of Justice—the Commandant will surely say, "Improper speech—great irreverence." That is one proof. Wang Zhang of the capital spoke truth to power; Yuan promoted him to shame seat-warmers. 〈Yan's note: "Ju chen means ministers who hold place without benefit. Jiao means set right." Under you his wife and children died too. Punish the man, not the clan—Wang Zhang was no traitor, yet his house fell. You broke honest spines and sealed loyal mouths; all know it is wrong yet stay mute—speech taboo is the worst peril. I beg Your Majesty follow Gaozu's track and block Qin's road to ruin—〈Yan's note: "Du means to stop up." Sing often the "Tenth Month" ode—Meng Kang says Fu attacks the Wangs. It warns when maternal kin swell." Yan Shigu: from Lesser Ya "Shi yue zhi jiao." Study the "Wu yi" chapter—Yan Shigu: Zhou document to King Cheng. abolish statutes that are not urgent, issue an edict forbidding no speech, read widely and listen broadly, take counsel even from the distant and base, so the deep are not hidden and the far are not blocked—what is called "open the four gates, brighten the four eyes." 〈Yan's note: "The Shun dian in the Documents says 'open the four gates, brighten the four eyes'—meaning open four gates to draw many worthies and see clearly in four directions." Petty statutes are slander-law snares. "What is past cannot be caught up; what comes may still be pursued." Now lordly commands are violated and sovereign awe is wrested away—〈Yan's note: "Lordly commands violated means great ministers defying the ruler's orders." Consort power swells by the day—read the shadow if not the shape. Since Jianshi, eclipses and quakes triple the Annals' count; floods beyond reckoning. 〈Yan's note: "It means they are extremely many—not to be compared or counted." Yin swells, yang thins—metal flies from forges: what omen is that! 〈Zhang Yan's note: "In the second year of Heping, molten iron at the Pei foundry flew like stars—an anomaly of mighty ministers at work." Su Lin said: "'If words are not heeded, that is called not governing—then metal will not obey smelting. Jing means the portent or shadow cast. The shadow foretells collapse." Since Gaozu the dynastic altars have twice tottered. The Lu, Huo, and Shangguan houses were all the empress dowagers' kin; in the way of loving kin, to keep them whole is best—〈Yan's note: "Strive to keep them secure—this is highest." Give them wise tutors and drill loyalty and filial piety. Now you instead honor and dote on their stations and hand them the dipper's handle—〈Yan's note: "Using the dipper as metaphor—the dipper's body is the kui." letting them grow arrogant and rebellious until they are leveled and exterminated—〈Yan's note: "Yi means level—utterly cleared." That is how loving kin goes wrong. Even Huo Guang could not save his line—so when regents survive a change of throne, peril follows. The Document says, "Do not be like fire, which at first smolders." 〈Yan's note: "It is a saying in the Zhou document 'Luo gao. Yong yong describes a tiny spark. A spark ignored becomes an inferno. When ministers swell, cut their power early." Wait until they dwarf the throne and it is too late to fence them in. 〈Yan's note: "Yi is a closing particle."〉

上遂不納。

The throne ignored the memorial.

成帝乆亡繼嗣，福以爲宜建三統，封孔子之世以爲殷後，復上書曰：

Cheng still had no heir; Mei Fu urged reviving the three royal lines by enfeoffing Confucius's house as heir to Yin, and wrote again:

臣聞「不在其位，不謀其政」。政者職也，位卑而言高者罪也。越職觸罪，危言世患，雖伏質橫分，臣之願也。〈師古曰：「伏質，斬刑也。橫分，謂身首分離也。」〉守職不言，沒齒身全，死之日，尸未腐而名滅，雖有景公之位，伏歷千駟，臣不貪也。〈師古曰：「景公，齊景公也。論語云：『齊景公有馬千駟，死之日，民無得而稱焉。』故引之也。」〉故願壹登文石之陛，涉赤墀之塗，〈應劭曰：「以丹淹泥塗殿上也。」〉當戶牖之法坐，〈師古曰：「戶牖之間謂之扆，言負扆也。法坐，正坐也，聽朝之處，猶言法官、法駕也。坐音才卧反。」〉盡平生之愚慮。亡益於時，有遺於世，〈師古曰：「遺，留也。」〉此臣寢所以不安，食所以忘味也。願陛下深省臣言。〈師古曰：「省，察也。」〉

Your servant has heard, "Not in that office, do not seek that government." Policy belongs to rank; humble men who lecture upward commit a crime. I risk the waist block to name this age's sickness—gladly. 〈Yan's note: "Fu zhi is the beheading stroke. Heng fen means cut in two." Silent clerks die whole yet nameless before the flesh cools; I would not trade this for Qi Jing's thousand teams. 〈Yan's note: "Duke Jing is Duke Jing of Qi. The Analects says Jing's thousand teams won him no praise after death. Hence the quotation." Therefore I wish once to ascend the patterned stone steps and tread the crimson courtyard's mud—〈Ying Shao's note: "They smeared the hall with cinnabar mud." to sit at the lawful seat between the doors—〈Yan's note: "The space between doors is called yi—meaning you lean on the yi screen. Fa zuo is the formal audience seat, like "law carriage. Fanqie for zuo." And pour out every thought I have. If it brings no benefit to the times yet leaves something for posterity—〈Yan's note: "Yi means to leave behind." That is why I cannot sleep or taste my food. I beg you weigh every line. 〈Yan's note: "Xing means to examine."〉

臣聞存人所以自立也，壅人所以自塞也。善惡之報，各如其事。昔者秦滅二周，夷六國，〈師古曰：「二周，東周、西周君也。六國，齊、楚、韓、魏、趙、燕。」〉隱士不顯，佚民不舉，〈師古曰：「佚與逸同。」〉絕三統，滅天道，是以身危子殺，厥孫不嗣，〈張晏曰：「身爲燕丹、張良所謀，子二世見殺。孫謂子嬰。」〉所謂壅人以自塞者也。故武王克殷，未下車，存五帝之後，封殷於宋，紹夏於杞，〈師古曰：「謂封黃帝之後於薊，帝堯之後於祝，帝舜之後於陳，并杞、宋，是爲五帝。」〉明著三統，示不獨有也。是以姬姓半天下，遷廟之主，流出於戶，〈李竒曰：「言其多。」〉所謂存人以自立者也。今成湯不祀，殷人亡後。陛下繼嗣乆微，殆爲此也。春秋經曰：「宋殺其大夫。」穀梁傳曰：「其不稱名姓，以其在祖位，尊之也。」〈師古曰：「事在僖二十五年。穀梁所云『在祖位』者，謂孔子本宋孔父之後，防叔奔魯，遂爲魯人。今宋所殺者亦孔父之後留在宋者，於孔子爲祖列，故尊而不名也。」〉此言孔子故殷後也，雖不正統，封其子孫以爲殷後，禮亦宜之。何者？諸侯奪宗，聖庶奪適。〈如淳曰：「奪宗，始封之君尊爲諸侯，則奪其舊爲宗子之事也。奪適，文王舍伯邑考而立武王是也。孔子雖庶，可爲殷後。」師古曰：「適讀曰嫡。」〉傳曰「賢者子孫宜有土」，而況聖人，又殷之後哉！昔成王以諸侯禮葬周公，而皇天動威，雷風著災。〈師古曰：「尚書大傳云：『周公疾，曰：「吾死必葬於成周，示天下臣於成王也。」周公死，天乃雷雨以風，禾盡偃，大木斯拔。國恐，王與大夫開金縢之書，執書以泣曰：「周公勤勞王家，予幼人弗及知。」乃不葬於成周而葬之於畢，示天下不敢臣。』」〉今仲尼之廟不出闕里，〈師古曰：「闕里，孔子舊里也。言除此之外，更無祭祀孔子者也。」〉孔氏子孫不免編戶，〈師古曰：「列爲庶人也。」〉以聖人而歆匹夫之祀，非皇天之意也。今陛下誠能據仲尼之素功，以封其子孫，〈師古曰：「素功，素王之功也。穀梁傳曰『孔子素王』。」〉則國家必獲其福，又陛下之名與天亡極。何者？追聖人素功，封其子孫，未有法也，後聖必以爲則。不滅之名，可不勉哉！

Help others rise and you rise; choke them and you choke yourself. Good and evil reap their own fruit. Formerly Qin destroyed the two Zhous and leveled the six states—〈Yan's note: "The two Zhous are the lords of Eastern and Western Zhou. The six are Qi, Chu, Han, Wei, Zhao, Yan." recluses were not displayed, wandering men were not raised—〈Yan's note: "Yi is the same as yi 'ease' in the sense of reclusion." cut off the three lineages and extinguished Heaven's way—therefore his person was endangered, his son killed, his grandson could not succeed—〈Zhang Yan's note: "His person was plotted against by Jing Dan and Zhang Liang; his son the Second Generation was killed. The grandson is Ziying." That is choking others and choking yourself. Therefore when King Wu conquered Yin, before he stepped down from the chariot he preserved the heirs of the Five Thearchs, enfeoffed Yin in Song and continued Xia in Qi—〈Yan's note: "He means enfeoffing Huang Di's heir at Ji, Yao's at Zhu, Shun's at Chen, together with Qi and Song—making five." He showed the three lines of succession so no one house owned Heaven. Therefore the Ji surname held half the realm; wandering ancestral tablets flowed out the doors—〈Li Qi's note: "It means they were very many." That is helping others to stand firm yourself. King Tang's line lacks smoke on the altar; Yin has no heir. Your own heir-lessness may stem from the same neglect. The Spring and Autumn Annals records, "Song put its great officer to death." The Guliang commentary says, "It does not give name or surname because he stood in the ancestor's place—therefore he is honored." 〈Yan's note: "The affair is in Xi 25. The "ancestor seat" means Confucius sprang from Song's Kong clan before Fangshu fled to Lu. The victim was another Kong kinsman left in Song—Confucius's senior line—hence the text withholds his name." The classic hints Confucius carried Yin blood; even off the main line, enfeoffing his seed as Yin heir fits the rites. Why? Marquises can supplant the main house; wise younger sons can supplant the heir. 〈Ru Chun's note: "Duo zong means the first enfeoffed lord, honored as marquis, thereby strips the old duty of being lineage heir. Duo shi is Wen passing Bo Yikao for Wu. Confucius, though a cadet branch, may stand as Yin heir." Yan's note: "Shi is read di."〉 The tradition says "the worthy man's descendants deserve land"—how much the more a sage who is also Yin's kin! When Cheng buried the Duke of Zhou with only a lord's honors, Heaven answered with storm and wind. 〈Yan Shigu quotes the Great Tradition: Zhou asked burial at Chengzhou to show he served Cheng. At his death Heaven blasted wind and rain until grain flattened and trees uprooted. Panic gripped the court; king and ministers opened the golden coffer and wept that they had missed Zhou's loyalty. They moved the tomb to Bi to show they dared not treat him as a vassal." Now Confucius's temple does not step beyond Que village—〈Yan's note: "Que village is Confucius's old home. No second site honors the sage." Kong descendants still rank as registered households—〈Yan's note: "They are listed as commoners." A sage fed like a peasant cannot be Heaven's will. If you reward Confucius's "uncrowned king" merit with a fief—Yan Shigu cites the Guliang title. Guliang calls him the king without throne." The dynasty will gain blessing and your name will ride the sky. Why? Honoring a throneless sage sets precedent for every age to come. Immortal fame is worth the reach.

福孤遠，又譏切王氏，故終不見納。

Mei Fu stood alone, slashed at the Wangs, and was never heard.

至元始中，王莽顓政，〈師古曰：「顓讀與專同。」〉福一朝棄妻子，去九江，至今傳以爲仙。其後，人有見福於會稽者，變名姓，爲吳市門卒云。〈師古曰：「其後謂棄妻子去之後。」〉

By the Yanshi era Wang Mang monopolized government—〈Yan's note: "Zhuan is read the same as zhuan." He abandoned kin overnight, fled to Jiujiang, and legend makes him a transcendent. Later rumor placed him in Kuaiji under a new name, tending a market gate. 〈Yan's note: "Afterward means after he abandoned wife and children and left."〉

云敞字幼孺，平陵人也。師事同縣吳章，章治尚書經爲博士。平帝以中山王即帝位，年幼，莽秉政，自號安漢公。以平帝爲成帝後，不得顧私親，帝母及外家衞氏皆留中山，不得至京師。莽長子宇，非莽鬲絕衞氏，〈師古曰：「鬲讀與隔同。」〉恐帝長大後見怨。宇與吳章謀，夜以血塗莽門，若鬼神之戒，兾以懼莽。章欲因對其咎。事發覺，莽殺宇，誅滅衞氏，謀所聯及，死者百餘人。章坐要斬，磔尸東市門。初，章爲當世名儒，敎授尤盛，弟子千餘人，莽以爲惡人黨，皆當禁錮，不得仕宦。門人盡更名他師。〈師古曰：「更以他人爲師，諱不言是章弟子。」〉敞時爲大司徒掾，自劾吳章第子，收抱章尸歸，棺斂葬之，〈師古曰：「棺音工喚反。斂音力贍反。」〉京師稱焉。車騎將軍王舜高其志節，比之欒布，表奏以爲掾，薦爲中郎諫大夫。莽篡位，王舜爲太師。復薦敞可輔職。〈師古曰：「爲輔弼之任。」〉以病免。唐林言敞可典郡，擢爲魯郡大尹。更始時，安車徵敞爲御史大夫，復病免去，卒于家。

Yun Chang, courtesy Youru, came from Pingling. He studied under Wu Zhang of his county; Zhang mastered the Shang shu and rose to erudite. Boy emperor Ping of Zhongshan left Mang as regent calling himself the Han-pacifying duke. As Cheng's heir he barred his mother and the Wei in-laws from the capital. Mang's eldest son Yu resented Mang for blocking the Wei—〈Yan's note: "Ge is read the same as ge." He feared the boy emperor's future grudge. Yu and Zhang smeared Mang's gate with blood like a ghost warning. Zhang meant to use the scare to open a remonstrance. The plot surfaced; Mang killed Yu, wiped the Wei, and executed over a hundred linked names. Zhang died by waist-slicing; his body was displayed at the east market. Zhang had been a celebrated teacher with a thousand pupils; Mang branded the school criminal and barred every man from office. Students renounced him overnight and claimed new masters. 〈Yan's note: "They took someone else as teacher, ashamed to say they were Zhang's disciples." At that time Chang was a clerk in the Grand Minister of Education's bureau; he impeached himself as Zhang's disciple, collected and embraced Zhang's corpse, returned home, coffined and buried him—〈Yan's note: "Guan is read gong-huan fan. Lian is read li-shan." Chang'an praised his courage. Wang Shun, chariot general, likened him to Luan Bu, named him a yamen clerk, then recommended him as palace gentleman and remonstrating grandee. Once Wang Mang seized the throne, Wang Shun rose to grand tutor. He again urged that Chang could serve as a pillar of government. 〈Yan's note: "For the duty of assistant and support." Illness forced him out. Tang Lin argued Chang could govern; the court named him chief magistrate of Lu. Gengshi recalled him in a honor carriage for the censorate; he begged off again and died in retirement.

【贊】

Appraisal

贊曰：昔仲尼稱不得中行，則思狂狷。〈師古曰：「論語載孔子曰：『不得中行而與之，必也狂狷乎！狂者進取，狷者有所不爲。』中行，中庸也。狷，介也。言不必得中庸之人與之論道，則思狂狷，猶愈於頑嚚無識者也。狷音子掾反。」〉觀楊王孫之志，賢於秦始皇遠矣。世稱朱雲多過其實，故曰「蓋有不知而作之者，我亡是也。」〈師古曰：「論語稱孔子之言也。疾時人妄有述作，非有實也。」〉胡建臨敵敢斷，武昭於外。〈師古曰：「昭，明也。」〉斬伐姦隙，軍旅不隊。梅福之辭，合於大雅，雖無老成，尚有典刑；殷監不遠，夏后所聞。〈師古曰：「大雅蕩之詩曰『雖無老成人，尚有典刑』，言今雖無其人，尚有故法可案用也。又曰『殷監不遠，在夏后之時』，言殷視夏桀之亡，可爲戒也。贊引此者，謂梅福請封孔子後，是案武王克商之法而行之。又視秦滅二周，夷六國，不爲立後，自取喪亡，可爲戒也。」〉遂從所好，全性市門。云敞之義，著於吳章，爲仁由己，再入大府，〈師古曰：「論語稱孔子曰：『爲仁由己，而由人乎哉！』此贊引之。再入大府，謂初爲大司徒掾，後爲車騎將軍掾也。」〉清則濯纓，何遠之有？〈師古曰：「楚辭漁父之歌曰：『滄浪之水清，可以濯我纓；滄浪之水濁，可以濯我足。』遇治則仕，遇亂則隱，云敞謝病去職，近於此義也。」〉

The historian writes: Confucius said without the steadfast mean he turned to the fierce and the fastidious. 〈Yan's note: "The Analects records Confucius saying, 'If I cannot get men who steer a middle course to associate with, I must surely find the ardent and the cautious! The bold push ahead; the scrupulous refuse what is wrong." Zhong xing is the Confucian middle way. Juan names stubborn integrity. Better hot-tempered worthies than witless flatterers. Fanqie spelling for juan." Yang Wangsun's burial vow shames Qin Shihuang. The age praises Zhu Yun as often exceeding the fact—therefore "probably there are those who create without knowing—I am not such." 〈Yan's note: "The Analects records Confucius's words. He scorned hollow writers of his day." Hu Jian struck before the enemy without flinching—martial order blazed abroad. 〈Yan's note: "Zhao means clear." He cut corruption in camp and never let the line break. Mei Fu's prose belongs with the Greater Ya: "No graybeards remain, yet the old pattern still stands." "Yin's lesson is near—the lesson Xia's king heard." 〈Yan's note: "The poem 'Dang' in the Greater Ya says 'Though there are no old men, there are still statutes and models'—meaning though such men are gone, former laws may still be consulted. The same ode warns Yin to read Xia's fall. The praise ties Mei Fu's plea for Kong heirs to King Wu's settlement of Shang. It also recalls Qin's refusal to plant successor lines—another mirror." So Mei Fu followed his bent and kept his integrity as a gate guard. Yun Chang's righteousness shone in the matter of Wu Zhang—"to practice benevolence rests with oneself"—twice he entered the high minister's yamen—〈Yan's note: "The Analects records Confucius saying, 'To practice benevolence rests with oneself—how could it rest with others? The eulogy quotes that line. Two tours through high offices: first under the Grand Minister of Education, then under the chariot general." Clear water lets you rinse your hat strings—how far must purity flee? 〈Yan's note: "The fisherman's song in the Chuci says, 'When the Canglang's waters are clear, they can wash my cap-strings; Muddy Canglang water washes only the feet." Meet good government and take office; meet chaos and withdraw—Yun Chang's sick retirements echo that teaching."〉"

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