1
雋不疑
Jun Buyi
2
雋不疑字曼倩，勃海人也。 治《春秋》，為郡文學，進退必以禮，名聞州郡。
Jun Buyi, courtesy name Manqian, came from Bohai commandery. He mastered the Spring and Autumn Annals, served as his commandery's erudite, and comported himself with such punctilious courtesy that his reputation spread through the province.
3
武帝末，郡國盜賊群起，暴勝之為直指使者，衣繡衣，持斧，逐捕盜賊，督課郡國，東至海，以軍興誅不從命者，威振州郡。 勝之素聞不疑賢，至勃海，遣吏請與相見。 不疑冠進賢冠，帶櫑具劍，佩環玦，褒衣博帶，盛服至門上謁。 門下欲使解劍，不疑曰：「劍者，君子武備，所以衛身，不可解。 請退。」 吏白勝之。 勝之開閣延請，望見不疑容貌尊嚴，衣冠甚偉，勝之□履起迎。 登堂坐定，不疑據地曰：「竊伏海瀕，聞暴公子威名舊矣，今乃承顏接辭。 凡為吏，太剛則折，太柔則廢，威行施之以恩，然後樹功揚名，永終天祿。」 勝之知不疑非庸人，敬納其戒，深接以禮意，問當世所施行。 門下諸從事皆州郡選吏，側聽不疑，莫不驚駭。 至昏夜，罷去。 勝之遂表薦不疑，征詣公車，拜為青州刺史。
Late in Emperor Wu's reign bandits sprang up everywhere; Bao Shengzhi was named commissioner with plenipotentiary powers, robed in silk and carrying the imperial axe, hunted down outlaws from the sea westward, enforced the law with military rigor, and cowed every circuit he touched. Shengzhi had long heard of Buyi's worth; on reaching Bohai he sent an officer to ask for an interview. Buyi appeared in the cap of the worthy candidate, the long sword at his belt, jade ring and pendant, wide sleeves and flowing sash, and presented himself at the gate in full court dress. The porters asked him to leave his sword outside. Buyi replied, "The sword is a gentleman's arms; it guards his person and must stay at his side. Then I shall withdraw." The officer reported this to Shengzhi. Shengzhi threw open the door to receive him; one look at Buyi's stern bearing and magnificent dress sent him scrambling from his seat—one character missing in the text—to greet him. When they were seated in the hall, Buyi knelt and said, "I have lived obscurely by the coast and long admired your lordship's name; today I am honored to look upon you and speak with you. For any magistrate, too much rigidity snaps him, too much softness undoes him; temper stern rule with kindness, and only then can he win lasting merit, a good name, and the blessings of office." Shengzhi saw he was no common man, took his counsel to heart, treated him with full courtesy, and asked his views on current policy. The staff—all picked men from the provinces—listened in stunned silence. They talked on until nightfall before breaking up. Shengzhi memorialized his name; the court summoned him through the public carriage office and named him Governor of Qingzhou.
4
始元五年，有一男子乘黃犢車，建黃旐，衣黃襜褕，著黃冒，詣北闕，自謂衛太子。 公車以聞，詔使公卿、將軍、中二千石雜識視。 長安中吏民聚觀者數萬人。 右將軍勒兵闕下，以備非常。 丞相、御史、中二千石至者並莫敢發言。 京兆尹不疑後到，叱從吏收縛。 或曰：「是非未可知，且安之。」 不疑曰：「諸君何患於衛太子！ 昔蒯聵違命出奔，輒距而不納，《春秋》是之。 衛太子得罪先帝，亡不即死，今來自詣，此罪人也。」 遂送詔獄。
In Shiyuan 5 a man arrived at the north gate in a yellow cart under a yellow banner, dressed in yellow from cap to coat, and announced that he was the crown prince of Wei. The public carriage office reported the matter, and the emperor ordered high ministers, generals, and officials at the two-thousand-shi rank to go and identify him. Tens of thousands of officials and commoners mobbed the streets of Chang'an to watch. The General of the Right drew up troops beneath the gate in case of trouble. The chancellor, the imperial counselor, and every two-thousand-shi official on the scene kept silent. Jun Buyi, Governor of the Capital, arrived last and ordered his men to arrest the man at once. Someone urged him to wait: "We cannot yet be sure—go slowly." Buyi replied, "Why should you fear the crown prince of Wei? When Prince Kuai Kui fled Wei, his son refused him entry, and the Spring and Autumn praises that refusal. The crown prince of Wei wronged the late emperor and ran away instead of dying for it; whoever walks in now is a criminal impostor." He was marched off to the imperial prison.
5
天子與大將軍霍光聞而嘉之，曰：「公卿大臣當用經術明於大誼。」 由是名聲重於朝廷，在位者皆自以不及也。 大將軍光欲以女妻之，不疑固辭，不肯當。 久之，以病免，終於家。 京師紀之。 後趙廣漢為京兆尹，言：「我禁奸止邪，行於吏民，至於朝廷事，不及不疑遠甚。」 廷尉驗治何人，竟得奸詐。 本夏陽人，姓成名方遂，居湖，以卜筮為事。 有故太子舍人嘗從方遂卜，謂曰：「子狀貌甚似衛太子。」 方遂心利其言，幾得以富貴，即詐自稱詣闕，廷尉逮召鄉里知識者張宗祿等，方遂坐誣罔不道，要斬東市。 一雲姓張名延年。
The emperor and Grand General Huo Guang praised him, declaring that ministers should settle great questions with the classics. His name rang through the court, and every man in office felt himself outmatched. Huo Guang offered him a daughter in marriage, but Buyi steadfastly refused. In time he resigned on grounds of illness and died at home. The capital long remembered the deed. Later Zhao Guanghan, as Governor of the Capital, said, "I can curb crime among officials and commoners, but beside Buyi I am nothing when it comes to affairs of state." The commandant of justice investigated and exposed the imposture. He was a native of Xiayang named Cheng Fangsu, who lived at Hu and earned his living as a diviner. A former gentleman-attendant of the heir apparent had once consulted him and remarked, "You look remarkably like the crown prince of Wei." Fangsu seized on the idea, hoping for rank and riches, and presented himself at the palace gates under a false name. The commandant of justice rounded up witnesses such as Zhang Zonglu; Fangsu was convicted of outrageous imposture and beheaded in the eastern market. Another tradition gives his name as Zhang Yannian.
6
疏廣字仲翁，東海蘭陵人也。 少好學，明《春秋》，家居教授，學者自遠方至。 徵為博士、太中大夫。 地節三年，立皇太子，選丙吉為太傅，廣為少傅，數月，吉遷御史大夫，廣徙為太傅。
Shu Guang, courtesy name Zhongweng, came from Lanling in Donghai commandery. He loved learning from boyhood, mastered the Spring and Autumn Annals, and taught at home until students came from afar. The court summoned him as an erudite and then as Grand Counselor of the Palace. In Dijie 3, when the heir apparent was installed, Bing Ji became grand tutor and Shu Guang junior tutor; a few months later Ji rose to commandant of the imperial counselors and Guang succeeded him as grand tutor.
7
廣兄子受字公子，亦以賢良舉為太子家令。 受好禮恭謹，敏而有辭。 宣帝幸太子宮，受迎謁應對，及置酒宴，奉觴上壽，辭禮閑雅，上甚歡說。 頃之，拜受為少傅。
His nephew Shu Shou, courtesy name Gongzi, was likewise recommended on the worthy-and-good list and made superintendent of the heir's household. Shu Shou loved ritual, was deferential and careful, quick-witted and eloquent. When Emperor Xuan visited the heir's palace, Shou received him with flawless courtesy; at the banquet he raised the toast with such grace that the emperor was delighted. Soon afterward he was named junior tutor.
8
太子外祖父特進平恩侯許伯以為太子少，白使其弟中郎將舜監護太子家。 上以問廣，廣對曰：「太子國儲副君，師友必於天下英俊，不宜獨親外家許氏。 且太子自有太傅、少傅。 官屬已備，今復使舜護太子家，視陋，非所以廣太子德於天下也。」 上善其言，以語丞相魏相，相免冠謝曰：「此非臣等所能及。」 廣由是見器重，數受賞賜。 太子每朝，因進見，太傅在前，少傅在後。 父子並為師傅，朝廷以為榮。
The heir's maternal grandfather, Marquis of Ping'en Xu Bo, thought the boy needed more minders and asked that his brother, General of the Household Xu Shun, oversee the heir's establishment. The emperor consulted Shu Guang, who answered, "The heir is the nation's reserve; his teachers and companions should be the finest men in the empire, not drawn chiefly from the Xu in-laws. Besides, he already has a grand tutor and a junior tutor. His staff is complete; to add Xu Shun as overseer looks petty and does nothing to spread the heir's virtue through the realm." The emperor approved and repeated the remark to Chancellor Wei Xiang, who removed his cap and said, "We could never have risen to that." From then on Guang stood high in favor and often received imperial gifts. Whenever the heir attended court, the grand tutor walked before him and the junior tutor behind. Uncle and nephew serving together as the heir's tutors was counted an honor throughout the court.
9
在位五歲，皇太子年十二，通《論語》、《孝經》。 廣謂受曰：「吾聞『知足不辱，知止不殆』，『功遂身退，天之道』也。 今仕官至二千石，宦成名立，如此不去，懼有後悔，豈如父子相隨出關，歸老故鄉，以壽命終，不亦善乎？」 受叩頭曰：「從大人議。」 即日父子俱移病。 滿三月賜告，廣遂稱篤，上疏乞骸骨。 上以其年篤老，皆許之，加賜黃金二十斤，皇太子贈以五十斤。 公卿大夫故人邑子設祖道，供張東都門外，送者車數百兩，辭決而去。 及道路觀者皆曰：「賢哉二大夫！」 或歎息為之下泣。
After five years in office the heir was twelve and had mastered the Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety. Guang said to Shou, "I have read that contentment saves a man from shame, that knowing when to stop keeps him from harm, and that to retire once the deed is done is heaven's own way." We stand at the two-thousand-shi rank with name and office secure; if we stay on we may live to regret it. Better that uncle and nephew leave the capital together, go home to grow old, and die in our own beds—would that not be the better course?" Shou kowtowed and said, "I obey your counsel, uncle." That same day both men reported themselves ill. After three months' sick leave Guang declared his illness grave and memorialized for permission to retire. Considering their age, the emperor granted the request, added twenty jin of gold from his own purse, and the heir sent fifty more. High officials, old friends, and fellow townsmen staged a farewell banquet outside the eastern gate; hundreds of carts lined the road as the two men took their leave and set out. Onlookers along the way cried, "What worthy men these two grandees are!" Some sighed and wept for them.
10
廣既歸鄉里，日令家共具設酒食，請族人故舊賓客，與相娛樂。 數問其家金余尚有幾所，趣賣以共具。 居歲餘，廣子孫竊謂其昆弟老人廣所愛信者曰：「子孫幾及君時頗立產業基址，今日飲食，費且盡。 宜從丈人所，勸說君買田宅。」 老人即以閒暇時為廣言此計，廣曰：「吾凱老悖不念子孫哉？ 顧自有舊田廬，令子孫勤力其中，足以共衣食，與凡人齊。 今復增益之以為贏余，但教子孫怠惰耳。 賢而多財，則捐其志； 愚而多財，則益其過。 且夫富者，眾人之怨也； 吾既亡以教化子孫，不欲益其過而生怨。 又此金者，聖主所以惠養老臣也，故樂與鄉黨宗族共饗其賜，以盡吾餘日，不亦可乎！」 於是族人說服。 皆以壽終。
Back in his home district Guang had his household lay a feast every day for kinsmen, old friends, and guests, and joined them in good cheer. He often asked how much gold was left and urged his people to sell some whenever supplies ran low. After a year his descendants quietly said to the old kinsmen Guang trusted, "We hoped to build up land and houses while you still lived, but these feasts are eating the fortune away. Ask our elders to urge him to buy land and a house." When the elders relayed the plea, Guang said, "Do you take me for a senile fool who no longer cares for his descendants?" They already have our old fields and cottages; if they work them hard they can dress and eat like any other family. To pile up more for them now would only teach them idleness. Talent plus a fat purse erodes ambition; foolishness plus wealth only magnifies fault. Besides, riches draw the world's resentment; I have no new wisdom to pass on; I will not swell their faults and make enemies for them. This gold is the emperor's gift to an old servant; I mean to share it with neighbors and kin and toast away my last years—what could be better?" The clan accepted his reasoning. Both men lived out their full span.
11
于定國
Yu Dingguo
12
于定國字曼倩，東海郯人也。 其父於公為縣獄吏、郡決曹，決獄平，羅文法者於公所決皆不恨。 郡中為之生立祠，號曰于公祠。
Yu Dingguo, courtesy name Manqian, came from Tan in Donghai commandery. His father, known as Lord Yu, was a county prison clerk and a commandery sentencing officer; his verdicts were so fair that even those he condemned under the statutes felt no bitterness. The commandery built him a shrine while he still lived—the Shrine of Lord Yu.
13
東海有孝婦，少寡，亡子，養姑甚謹，姑欲嫁之，終不肯。 姑謂鄰人曰：「孝婦事我勤苦，哀其亡子守寡。 我老，久累丁壯，奈何？」 其後姑自經死，姑女告吏：「婦殺我母」。 吏捕孝婦，孝婦辭不殺姑。 吏驗治，孝婦自誣服。 具獄上府，于公以為此婦養姑十餘年，以孝聞，必不殺也。 太守不聽，于公爭之，弗能得，乃抱其具獄，哭於府上，因辭疾去。 太守竟論殺孝婦。 郡中枯旱三年。 後太守至，卜筮其故，於公曰：「孝婦不當死，前太守強斷之，咎黨在是乎？」 於是太守殺牛自祭孝婦塚，因表其墓，天立大雨，歲孰。 郡中以此大敬重于公。
Donghai had a famously dutiful daughter-in-law: widowed young and childless, she cared for her mother-in-law with devotion; when the old woman tried to marry her off, she refused. The mother-in-law told a neighbor, "She slaves for me out of pity—she lost her child and stays a widow for my sake. I am old and have tied down a young woman—what am I to do?" Later the mother-in-law hanged herself, and the old woman's daughter told the magistrate, "The daughter-in-law murdered my mother." Officers seized the daughter-in-law, who swore she had not harmed her mother-in-law. Under interrogation she broke and confessed to a crime she had not committed. When the file reached headquarters, Lord Yu argued that a woman famed for more than ten years of care could not have killed her. The grand administrator would not hear him; Lord Yu wept on the steps with the dossier in his arms, then resigned on grounds of illness. In the end the grand administrator had the innocent woman executed. For three years the commandery withered in drought. A new grand administrator cast divinations to learn the cause. Lord Yu said, "That woman should never have died; the last magistrate forced a verdict—perhaps the blame lies there?" The magistrate sacrificed an ox at her grave and had the tomb marked; rain fell at once and the harvest ripened. From that day the commandery revered Lord Yu as a prophet of justice.
14
定國乃迎師學《春秋》，身執經，北面備弟子禮。 為人廉恭，尤重經術士，雖卑賤徒步往過，定國皆與鈞禮，恩敬甚備，學士咸稱焉。 其決疑平法，務在哀鰥寡，罪疑從輕。 加審慎之心。 朝廷稱之曰：「張釋之為廷尉，天下無冤民； 於定國為廷尉，民自以不冤。」 定國食酒至數石不亂，冬月治請讞，飲酒益精明。 為廷尉十八歲，遷御史大夫。
Dingguo took a tutor in the Spring and Autumn Annals, clasped the text in his own hands, and sat as a pupil facing north. He was modest and scrupulous and honored classicists; even a poor scholar who walked to his door received the same courtesy as a noble guest, and men of learning sang his praises. In doubtful cases he leaned toward mercy for the widow and the orphan and always chose the lighter penalty when the facts were unclear. He added a painstaking care of his own. The court said of him, "When Zhang Shizhi held the seal of the commandant of justice, no innocent man languished in prison; under Yu Dingguo as commandant of justice the common folk still believed themselves free of injustice." Dingguo could drink several stone of wine without losing his wits; in the deep of winter, when he reviewed capital appeals, a cup seemed only to sharpen his judgment. After eighteen years as commandant of justice he rose to commandant of the imperial counselors.
15
子永嗣。 少時，耆酒多過失，年且三十，乃折節修行，以父任為侍中中郎將、長水校尉。 定國死，居喪如禮，孝行聞。 由是以列侯為散騎、光祿勳，至御史大夫。 尚館陶公主施。 施者，宣帝長女，成帝姑也，賢有行，永以選尚焉。 上方欲相之，會永薨。 子恬嗣。 恬不肖，薄於行。
His son Yu Yong inherited his title. In youth he drank hard and often stumbled; near thirty he mended his ways, and through his father's rank became a palace attendant, General of the Household, and Colonel of the Changshui Archers. When Dingguo died, he observed the full mourning rites and his filial piety became known. He rose from full marquis to attendant at leisure and superintendent of the imperial household, then to commandant of the imperial counselors. He was given in marriage to Princess Guantao, whose personal name was Shi. Shi was Emperor Xuan's eldest daughter and Emperor Cheng's aunt, a woman of virtue and good repute; Yong was chosen as her consort. The emperor was on the point of making him chancellor when Yu Yong died. His son Yu Tian inherited the line. Yu Tian proved unworthy and mean in his conduct.
16
始，定國父于公，其閭門壞，父老方共治之。 于公謂曰：「少高大閭門，令容駟馬高蓋車。 我治獄多陰德，未嘗有所冤，子孫必有興者。」 至定國為丞相，永為御史大夫，封侯傳世雲。
Long before, when Dingguo's father Lord Yu was alive, the gate of their lane fell into ruin and the elders of the village were repairing it together. Lord Yu told them, "Raise the gate high enough for a four-horse carriage with a tall canopy to pass through. I have tried cases with a mind to hidden merit and have never knowingly wronged a soul; my descendants will flourish for it." In the end Dingguo became chancellor and Yong commandant of the imperial counselors, both enfeoffed as marquises whose lines endured for generations.
17
薛廣德
Xue Guangde
18
薛廣德字長卿，沛郡相人也。 以《魯詩》教授楚國，龔勝、捨師事焉。 蕭望之為御史大夫，除廣德為屬，數與論議，器之，薦廣德經行宜充本朝。 為博士，論石渠，遷諫大夫，代貢禹為長信少府、御史大夫。
Xue Guangde, courtesy name Changqing, came from Xiang in Pei commandery. He taught the Lu recension of the Classic of Songs in the state of Chu; Gong Sheng and Gong She became his disciples. When Xiao Wangzhi was commandant of the imperial counselors he took Guangde onto his staff, debated policy with him often, admired him, and recommended his learning and character as fit for high office at court. He served as an erudite, took part in the Stone Canal conference, became remonstrance grandee, then succeeded Gong Yu as superintendent of the Changle Palace and as commandant of the imperial counselors.
19
廣德為人溫雅有醞藉。 及為三公，直言諫爭。 始拜旬日間，上幸甘泉，郊泰時畤，禮畢，因留射獵。 廣德上書曰：「竊見關東困極，人民流離。 陛下日撞亡秦之鐘，聽鄭、衛之樂，臣誠悼之。 今士卒暴露，從官勞倦，願隊下亟反官，思與百姓同憂樂，天下幸甚。」 上即日還。 其秋，上酎祭宗廟，出便門，欲御樓船，廣德當乘輿車，免冠頓首曰：「宜從橋。」 詔曰：「大夫冠。」 廣德曰：「陛下不聽臣，臣自刎，以血污車輪，陛下不得入廟矣！」 上不說。 先驅光祿大夫張猛進曰：「臣聞主聖臣直。 乘船危，就橋安，聖主不乘危。 御史大夫言可聽。」 上曰：「曉人不當如是邪！」 乃從橋。
Guangde was gentle, refined, and self-contained. Once he sat among the three dukes he spoke bluntly in remonstrance. Within days of his appointment the emperor went to Sweet Springs to sacrifice at the Taiyi and Tai shrines and then lingered to hunt. Guangde memorialized: "East of the passes the people are destitute and driven from their homes. Yet Your Majesty tolls the bell of fallen Qin day after day and fills your ears with the licentious airs of Zheng and Wei—I grieve for it. The troops stand in the open and your attendants are worn out; I beg Your Majesty to return to the palace at once and share the people's weal and woe—that would be the realm's good fortune. The manuscript here confuses two similar characters for the honorific "your majesty." The emperor turned back the same day. That autumn, after the zhōu offering at the ancestral shrines, the emperor left by the Convenient Gate intending to board a tower ship. Guangde planted himself before the chariot, removed his cap, and kowtowed: "You should take the bridge." The edict read, "Grandee, put your cap back on." Guangde cried, "If you will not hear me I shall cut my throat here and foul your wheels with my blood—you will never enter the temple!" The emperor was not pleased. Zhang Meng, Imperial Household Grandee riding in the van, stepped forward: "They say a wise sovereign has blunt ministers. A boat is perilous, the bridge is safe, and a sage king does not court danger. The commandant of the imperial counselors speaks with good sense." The emperor said, "Is this not the way to set a man right!" He took the bridge.
20
後月餘，以歲惡民流，與丞相定國、大司馬車騎將軍史高俱乞骸骨，皆賜安車駟馬、黃金六十斤，罷。 廣德為御史大夫，凡十月免。 東歸沛，太守迎之界上。 沛以為榮，縣其安車傳子孫。
A month later, citing a bad harvest and wandering refugees, he joined Chancellor Yu Dingguo and Grand Marshal Shi Gao in asking to retire; each received a comfortable carriage, four horses, sixty jin of gold, and was dismissed. Guangde had held the post of commandant of the imperial counselors only ten months when he stepped down. He went home east to Pei, where the grand administrator met him at the commandery border. Pei took pride in him and hung up the imperial carriage in the hall to hand down to his descendants.
21
平當字子思，祖父以訾百萬，自下邑徙平陵。 當少為大行治禮丞，功次補大鴻臚文學，察廉為順陽長、栒邑令，以明經為博士，公卿薦當論議通明，給事中。 每有災異，當輒傅經術，言得失。 文雅雖不能及蕭望之、匡衡，然指意略同。
Ping Dang, courtesy name Zisi, was descended from a grandfather worth a million cash who had moved the family from Xiayi to Pingling. In youth he served as assistant for rites under the grand courier, rose through merit to an erudite post at the office of the grand herald, was nominated incorrupt and became chief of Shunyang and magistrate of Xunyi, then, on his mastery of the classics, was named an erudite; the high ministers praised the clarity of his memorials and he received appointment as palace attendant. Whenever omens appeared he framed his analysis in the classics and spoke plainly of policy failures and successes. His literary polish fell short of Xiao Wangzhi's or Kuang Heng's, but his aims ran along the same lines.
22
自元帝時，韋玄成為丞相，奏罷太上皇寢廟園，當上書言：「臣聞孔子曰：『如有王者，必世而後仁。』 三十年之間，道德和洽，制禮興樂，災害不生，禍亂不作。 今聖漢受命而王，繼體承業二百餘年，孜孜不怠，政令清矣。 然風俗未和，陰陽未調，災害數見，意者大本有不立與？ 何德化休征不應之久也！ 禍福不虛，必有因而至者焉。 宜深跡其道而務修其本。 昔者帝堯南面而治，先『克膽俊德，以親九族』，而化及萬國《孝經》曰『天地之性人為貴，人之行莫大於孝，孝莫大於嚴父，嚴父莫大於配天，則周公其人也。』 夫孝子善述人之志，周公既成文、武之業而製作禮樂，修嚴父配天之事，知文王不欲以子臨父，故推而序之，上極於後稷而以配天。 此聖人之德，亡以加於孝也。 高皇帝聖德受命，有天下，尊太上皇，猶周文、武之追王太王、王季也。 此漢之始祖，後嗣所宜尊奉以廣盛德，孝之至也。 《書》云：『正稽古建功立事，可以永年，傳於亡窮。』」 上納其言，下詔復太上皇寢廟園。
Under Emperor Yuan, Chancellor Wei Xuancheng had persuaded the throne to close the shrine park of the Exalted Supreme Emperor. Ping Dang memorialized: "Confucius said, 'Give a true king one generation and benevolence will appear.'" Within thirty years virtue and custom would blend, rites and music would flourish, and neither disaster nor rebellion would arise. Sacred Han has held the mandate for more than two hundred tireless years, and the statutes run clear. Yet custom is still discordant, yin and yang are out of tune, and omens come thick and fast—can the great foundations still be unsettled? How long has virtuous rule waited in vain for its auspicious answer! Blessing and calamity do not strike at random; each has its cause. We should trace the way to its source and mend the root. Emperor Yao faced his court and began by cultivating matchless virtue and bringing harmony to his nine clans, until his influence spread to every state. The Classic of Filial Piety says that among heaven and earth's gifts none ranks above man, that among human deeds none ranks above filial piety, that honoring the father is filial piety's height, and that joining the father to heaven is its summit—and the Duke of Zhou is the model. The manuscript uses an uncommon graph where standard editions read "illume" in the line on Yao's virtue. A true son carries on his forebears' purpose. The Duke of Zhou, having finished the work of Kings Wen and Wu, composed the rites and music and set his father King Wen beside heaven; knowing that a living son must not overshadow his father, he pushed the line back through the ancestors to Hou Ji so that Hou Ji might share heaven's honor. That is sage virtue, and filial piety cannot rise higher. The High Emperor received heaven's mandate and ruled the world; he honored his father as Exalted Supreme Emperor just as Kings Wen and Wu of Zhou posthumously ennobled King Tai and Wang Ji. He is Han's founding forebear; later generations owe him reverent service to magnify the dynasty's virtue—that is filial piety in full measure. The Documents says, 'He who founds lasting deeds on the lessons of antiquity may enjoy long life and hand his work down forever.'" The emperor accepted the argument and ordered the shrine park of the Exalted Supreme Emperor restored.
23
頃之，使行流民幽州。 舉奏刺史二千石勞徠有意者，言勃海鹽池可且勿禁，以救民急。 所過見稱，奉使者十一人，為最，遷丞相司直。 坐法，左遷逆方刺史，復征入為太中大夫給事中，累遷長信少府、大鴻臚、光祿勳。
Soon afterward he was dispatched to Youzhou to oversee relief for displaced people. He cited governors and two-thousand-shi officials who had worked earnestly to settle refugees and urged that the Bohai salt ponds be opened temporarily to ease the people's distress. Wherever he went he won praise; among eleven commissioners on the same errand he ranked first and was promoted director of integrity for the chancellor. A legal fault demoted him to governor of a northern frontier commandery whose name is miscopied in the received text; editors usually restore the name Shuofang. He was recalled as grand counselor of the palace with palace attendant duties and rose through superintendent of the Changle Palace, grand herald, and superintendent of the imperial household.
24
先是，太后姊子衛尉淳于長白言昌陵不可成，下有司議。 當以為作治連年，可遂就。 上既罷昌陵，以長首建忠策，復下公卿議封長。 當又以為長雖有善言，不應封爵之科。 坐前議不正，左遷鉅鹿太守。 後上遂封上。 當以經明《禹貢》，使行河，為騎都尉，領河堤。
Earlier the Empress Dowager's nephew, Commandant of the Guards Chunyu Chang, had warned that the Changling project could not succeed, and the matter was sent to the ministries for debate. Ping Dang had argued that work already stretched over many years and could be brought to completion. When the emperor abandoned Changling, he credited Chunyu Chang with the loyal warning and asked the high ministers whether to enfeoff him. Ping Dang replied that Chang's counsel, however sound, did not meet the criteria for a noble title. He was faulted for that earlier opinion and demoted to grand administrator of Julu. The emperor later enfeoffed Chunyu Chang anyway. The sentence is garbled in the manuscript; sense requires enfeoffing Chunyu Chang. For his mastery of the Tribute of Yu he was sent to inspect the Yellow River, appointed Commandant of Cavalry, and put in charge of the dikes.
25
哀帝即位，征當為光祿大夫、諸吏、散騎，復為光祿勳、御史大夫，至丞相。 以冬月，賜爵關內侯。 明年春，上使使者召，欲封當。 當病篤，不應召。 室家或謂當：「不可強起受侯印為子孫耶？」 當曰：「吾居大位，已負素餐之責矣，起受侯印，還臥而死，死有餘罪。 今不起者，所以為子孫也。」 遂上書乞骸骨。 上報曰：「朕選於眾，以君為相，視事日寡，輔政未久，陰陽不調，冬無大雪，旱氣為災，朕之不德，何必君罪？ 君何疑而上書乞骸骨，歸關內侯爵邑？ 使尚書令譚賜君養牛一，上尊酒十石。 君其勉致醫藥以自持。」 後月餘，卒。 子晏以明經歷位大司徒，封防鄉侯。 漢興，唯韋、平父子至宰相。
Emperor Ai summoned him as Imperial Household Grandee with attendant-at-leisure privileges; he rose again to superintendent of the imperial household and commandant of the imperial counselors, and finally to chancellor. That winter he was given the rank of marquis within the passes. The next spring the emperor sent messengers to call him to court for enfeoffment. He was too ill to answer the summons. Someone in his household urged him, "Why not drag yourself to court, take the seal of a full marquis, and secure something for your heirs?" Dang answered, "I have held high office long enough to be ashamed of an empty salary; to rise now, clutch a marquis's seal, and die the moment I return to bed would leave guilt enough for the grave. My refusal to rise is precisely how I mean to help my descendants." He then memorialized for permission to retire. The emperor answered, "We picked you from many men for chancellor; you have not long held the seal, yet yin and yang are awry, no heavy snow fell this winter, and drought stalks the land. The fault is Our lack of virtue—why blame you? Why doubt yourself, resign your post, and give back the income of a marquis within the passes? We send Secretary Director Tan with a fattening ox and ten stone of finest ale. Take physic and nurse your strength." He died a little over a month later. His son Ping Yan, a classicist, rose to grand minister of education and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Fang township. Since the founding of Han only the Wei and Ping families had both father and son serve as chancellor.
26
宣罷數歲，諫大夫鮑宣數薦宣。 會元壽元年正月朔日蝕，鮑宣復言，上乃召宣為光祿大夫，遷御史大夫，轉為大司空，封長平侯。
Some years after Peng Xuan retired, Remonstrance Grandee Bao Xuan repeatedly recommended him to the throne. At the solar eclipse on the new moon of the first month of Yuanshou 1, Bao Xuan spoke again; the emperor recalled Peng Xuan as Imperial Household Grandee, then promoted him to commandant of the imperial counselors, grand minister of works, and Marquis of Changping.
27
會哀帝崩，新都侯王莽為大司馬，秉政專權。 宣上書言：「三公鼎足承君，一足不任，則覆亂美實。 臣資性淺薄，年齒老眊，數伏疾病，昏亂遺忘，願上大司空、長平侯印綬，乞骸骨歸鄉里，俟置溝壑。」 莽白太后，策宣曰：「惟君視事日寡，功德未效，迫於老眊昏亂，非所以輔國家、綏海內也。 使光祿勳豐冊詔君，其上大司空印綬，便就國。」 莽恨宣求退，故不賜黃金、安車駟馬。 宣居國數年，薨，謚曰頃侯。 傳子至孫，王莽敗，乃絕。
When Emperor Ai died, Wang Mang of Xindu became grand marshal and seized sole power. Peng Xuan memorialized that the three dukes are like a tripod that props the throne; if one leg fails, the vessel overturns and the good wine is spilled. Your servant is shallow by nature, old and dim of eye, often ill, confused and forgetful; I beg to return the seals of grand minister of works and Marquis of Changping and retire to my home to await death in the ditch. Wang Mang informed the Empress Dowager and issued a rescript: "You have held office briefly and shown little merit; age and infirmity unfit you to steady the state within the four seas. Let Superintendent of the Imperial Household Wang Feng bring the edict: surrender the seals of the grand minister of works and go at once to your fief. Mang resented his asking to withdraw and withheld the usual gift of gold, carriage, and four horses. Peng Xuan lived on his fief a few years, died, and was posthumously titled Marquis Qing. The title passed to his son and grandson until Wang Mang fell and the line ended.
28
贊曰：雋不疑學以從政，臨事不惑，遂立名跡，終始可述。 疏廣行止足之計，免辱殆之累，亦其次也。 於安國父子哀鰥哲獄，為任職臣。 薛廣德保縣車之榮，平當逡遁有恥，彭宣見險而止，異乎「苟患失之」者矣。
The historian's judgment: Jun Buyi turned classical learning into firm government; he never wavered in a crisis and left a name worth telling from first to last. Shu Guang knew when enough was enough and so escaped shame and danger—a worthy second. Yu Dingguo and his son showed mercy to the helpless and wisdom in judgment—true ministers for their posts. Xue Guangde kept the honor of a carriage hung up for good; Ping Dang stepped back with a sense of shame; Peng Xuan turned back when he saw the cliff ahead—men unlike those who cling to office for fear of poverty.