1
卷一百上敘傳第七十上
Hanshu, volume 100a: the afterword and family history, first installment.
2
班氏之先，與楚同姓，令尹子文之後也。 子文初生，棄於瞢中，而虎乳之。 楚人謂乳「穀」，謂虎「於檡」，故名穀於檡，字子文。 楚人謂虎「班」，其子以為號。 秦之滅楚，遷晉、代之間，因氏焉。
The Ban lineage traced its kinship to the house of Chu and claimed descent from the chief minister known as Ziwen. Newborn Ziwen was abandoned in the wilderness, where a tigress nursed him and spared his life. In Chu speech a mother's milk was "gu" and a tiger was "yutu"; from those words came his personal name, and he received the courtesy name Ziwen. Chu folk also called a tiger "ban," and his posterity adopted that syllable as their surname. After Qin conquered Chu, the family was resettled along the Jin–Dai frontier and took "Ban" as their hereditary name.
3
始皇之末，班壹避墬於樓煩，致馬牛羊數千群。 值漢初定，與民無禁，當孝惠、高后時，以財雄邊，出入弋獵，旌旗鼓吹，年百餘歲，以壽終，故北方多以「壹」為字者。
Near the close of the Qin First Emperor's reign, Ban Yi escaped unrest by settling in Loufan, where he built up herds counted in the thousands. The new Han order left commoners largely untrammeled. Under Emperor Hui and Empress Lü he grew fabulously rich on the border, hunted with full panoply of banners and music, passed the century mark, and died in bed, which is why so many northerners worked the character "Yi" into their courtesy names.
4
壹生孺。 孺為任俠，州郡歌之。 孺生長，官至上谷守。 長生回，以茂材為長子令。 回生況，舉孝廉為郎，積功勞，至上河農都尉，大司農奏課連最，入為左曹越騎校尉。 成帝之初，女為婕妤，致仕就第，貲累千金，徙昌陵。 昌陵後罷，大臣名家皆占數于長安。
Ban Yi was the father of Ban Ru. Ban Ru lived the life of a roaming knight-errant, and songs of his deeds spread through the provinces. Ru's son Chang attained the post of governor of Shanggu. Chang's son Hui entered office as magistrate of Changzi on a nomination for outstanding talent. Hui's son Kuang began as a gentleman-attendant after a filial-and-incorrupt recommendation, then climbed by steady service to Capital Agriculture commandant at Shanghe; year after year the Minister of Finance ranked his performance at the top, and he was brought to the capital as colonel of the Yueqi cavalry on the left. Early in Cheng's reign Kuang's daughter entered the harem as an honored lady; he resigned and went home, amassed wealth reckoned in thousands of gold, and was relocated to the new Changling site. When the Changling mausoleum town was scrapped, leading families of the court all took out household registration in Chang'an.
5
況生三子：伯、斿、稚。 伯少受《詩》於師丹。 大將軍王鳳薦伯宜勸學，召見宴昵殿，容貌甚麗，誦說有法，拜為中常侍。 時上方鄉學，鄭寬中、張禹朝夕入說尚書、論語於金華殿中，詔伯受焉。 既通大義，又講異同於許商，遷奉車都尉。 數年，金華之業絕，出與王、許子弟為群，在於綺襦紈褲之間，非其好也。
Ban Kuang fathered three sons named Bo, You, and Zhi. Ban Bo studied the Odes under Shi Dan while he was still young. Wang Feng urged the throne to employ Ban Bo as a scholar who could inspire study; summoned to the private audience hall, Ban Bo cut a striking figure and lectured with crisp order, and the emperor named him Palace Attendant. Cheng was bent on scholarship, so Zheng Kuanzhong and Zhang Yu lectured each day on the Documents and the Analects in the Jinhua Palace while Ban Bo was told to join the class. Once he had the larger outlines, he argued fine points with Xu Shang and was promoted to Privy Coachman. When the Jinhua tutorials stopped, Ban Bo drifted into the set of Wang and Xu heirs, a crowd of brocade-clad idlers that never suited him.
6
家本北邊，志節忼慨，數求使匈奴。 河平中，單于來朝，上使伯持節迎於塞下。 會定襄大姓石、李群輩報怨，殺追捕吏，伯上狀，因自請願試守期月。 上遣侍中中郎將王舜馳傳代伯護單于，并奉璽書印綬，即拜伯為定襄太守。 定襄聞伯素貴，年少，自請治劇，畏其下車作威，吏民竦息。 伯至，請問耆老父祖故人有舊恩者，迎延滿堂，日為供具，執子孫禮。 郡中益弛。 諸所賓禮皆名豪，懷恩醉酒，共諫伯宜頗攝錄盜賊，具言本謀亡匿處。 伯曰：「是所望於父師矣。」 乃召屬縣長吏，選精進掾史，分部收捕，及它隱伏，旬日盡得。 郡中震栗，咸稱神明。 歲餘，上徵伯。 伯上書願過故郡上父祖冢。 有詔，太守都尉以下會。 因召宗族，各以親疏加恩施，散數百金。 北州以為榮，長老紀焉。 道病中風，既至，以侍中光祿大夫養病，賞賜甚厚，數年未能起。
Raised on the northern marches, he burned with blunt ardor and repeatedly asked to be sent on embassies to the steppe. During the Heping reign the Chanyu visited the capital, and the emperor dispatched Ban Bo with an imperial staff to greet him just inside the frontier. Just then magnate families named Shi and Li in Dingxiang, feuding bloodily, had murdered pursuing constables; Ban Bo filed a report and volunteered to govern the commandery provisionally for one month. The court therefore sent Wang Shun galloping with the imperial insignia to relieve Ban Bo of the reception duty and invest him on the spot as governor of Dingxiang. The commandery knew Ban Bo as young, noble-born, and hungry for a tough post, and everyone braced for a harsh new governor who would swagger in with threats. Instead he sought out venerable locals and long-standing friends of his forebears, filled his hall with guests, fed them daily, and treated them with the deference of a grandson. Tension in the commandery eased further. The notables he had wined were local titans who, warmed by his courtesy, drank deep and urged him to tighten the dragnet and map every hideout of the feuding clans. Ban Bo answered, "That is exactly the counsel I wanted from elders I respect. He then assembled county heads, picked sharp subordinates, fanned them out in teams, and within ten days every fugitive and accomplice was in custody. The whole commandery stood in awe and hailed him as uncannily effective. A little over a year later the emperor recalled Ban Bo to court. Ban Bo asked leave to detour through Dingxiang and tend the graves of his father and grandfather. An edict ordered the sitting governor, the commandant of dependent states, and every official beneath them to gather with him. He called his clan, graded gifts by kinship nearness, and handed out several hundred pounds of gold. Northerners spoke of the scene with pride, and old men still recounted it. A stroke struck him en route; once home he held titular rank as Palace Attendant and Grand Counselor of the Household under lavish stipends, yet for years he could not leave his bed.
7
會許皇后廢，班婕妤供養東宮，進侍者李平為婕妤，而趙飛燕為皇后，伯遂稱篤。 久之，上出過臨候伯，伯惶恐，起視事。
After Empress Xu fell, Lady Ban withdrew to serve the Dowager in the eastern palace, a maid named Li Ping rose to an honored lady, and Zhao Feiyan took the empress's seal; Ban Bo promptly claimed serious illness. Months later Cheng called on him while touring nearby estates; terrified of seeming disloyal, Ban Bo roused himself and went back on duty.
8
自大將軍薨後，富平、定陵侯張放、淳于長等始愛幸，出為微行，行則同輿執轡； 入侍禁中，設宴飲之會，及趙、李諸侍中皆引滿舉白，談笑大噱。 時乘輿幄坐張畫屏風，畫紂醉踞妲己作長夜之樂。 上以伯新起，數目禮之，因顧指畫而問伯：「紂為無道，至於是虖？」 伯對曰：「書云『乃用婦人之言』，何有踞肆於朝？ 所謂眾惡歸之，不如是之甚者也。」 上曰：「苟不若此，此圖何戒？」 伯曰：「『沈湎于酒』，微子所以告去也； 『式號式謼』，大雅所以流連也。 詩書淫亂之戒，其原皆在於酒。」 上乃謂然歎曰：「吾久不見班生，今日復聞讜言！」 放等不懌，稍自引起更衣，因罷出。 時長信庭林表適使來，聞見之。
Once Wang Feng was gone, favorites such as Marquis Zhang Fang of Fuping and Marquis Chunyu Chang of Dingling won the emperor's intimacy: on town trips they slipped out in disguise, and on the road they shared his chariot and took the reins. Inside the palace they threw banquets where the Zhao and Li women and the gentlemen-attendants tipped their cups, bellowed toasts, and roared with laughter. Beside the imperial couch stood painted screens of King Zhou drunk and draped over Daji in the revels of the endless night. Noting that Ban Bo had lately returned to favor, the emperor kept glancing at him politely, then jerked his chin at the scene and asked Ban Bo, "Was wicked King Zhou really as bad as this?" Ban Bo replied, "The Documents says, 'Then he used women's words'—how could there have been such sprawling license at court? What people call 'every evil was ascribed to him' means the truth was not in fact this extreme." The emperor said, "If it was not like this, what warning does this picture carry?" Ban Bo said, "'Sunk deep in drink' is why the viscount of Wei announced his departure; 'Shouting this way and roaring that way' is why the Greater Odes linger on it with sorrow. The warnings in the Odes and Documents against licentious disorder all trace their source to wine." The emperor thereupon sighed as if agreeing and said, "I have not seen Ban for a long time; today I have again heard blunt straight speech!" Zhang Fang and his set scowled, excused themselves to change robes, and drifted out until the party collapsed. An agent from the Changxin Palace steward Linbiao happened to witness the whole exchange.
9
後上朝東宮，太后泣曰：「帝間顏色瘦黑，班侍中本大將軍所舉，宜寵異之，益求其比，以輔聖德。 宜遣富平侯且就國。」 上曰：「諾。」 車騎將軍王音聞之，以風丞相御史奏富平侯罪過，上乃出放為邊都尉。 後復徵入，太后與上書曰：「前所道尚未效，富平侯反復來，其能默虖？」 上謝曰：「請今奉詔。」 是時許商為少府，師丹為光祿勳，上於是引商、丹入為光祿大夫，伯遷水衡都尉，與兩師並侍中，皆秩中二千石。 每朝東宮，常從； 及有大政，俱使諭指於公卿。 上亦稍厭游宴，復修經書之業，太后甚悅。 丞相方進復奏，富平侯竟就國。 會伯病卒，年三十八，朝廷愍惜焉。
Later, when the emperor attended court at the eastern palace, the Dowager wept and said, "The emperor's face lately looks thin and dark; Palace Attendant Ban was originally raised by the grand general—he should be favored above others; seek out more men like him to support sagely virtue. She insisted that Marquis Zhang Fang of Fuping be ordered back to his estate for the time being." The emperor said, "Yes. Wang Yin nudged the chancellor into impeaching Zhang Fang, and the emperor banished him to a frontier post. Later he was summoned back; the Dowager wrote to the emperor saying, "What I urged earlier has not yet taken effect, yet the Marquis of Fuping has returned—can I remain silent? The emperor apologized and said, "From now on I shall obey the edict. Xu Shang and Shi Dan were pulled in as grand counselors while Ban Bo became chief commandant of waters and parks; all three served as palace attendants at the top salary grade. Ban Bo routinely escorted the emperor to the Dowager's audiences; and whenever weighty policy arose, he and his colleagues carried the throne's instructions to the high ministers. Cheng slowly lost his taste for pleasure trips and turned again to classical study, which delighted the Dowager. After another memorial from Chancellor Fangjin, Zhang Fang finally went to his estate for good. Ban Bo soon died of illness at thirty-eight, and the court mourned the loss.
10
斿博學有俊材，左將軍師丹舉賢良方正，以對策為議郎，遷諫大夫、右曹中郎將，與劉向校祕書。 每奏事，斿以選受詔進讀群書。 上器其能，賜以祕書之副。 時書不布，自東平思王以叔父求太史公、諸子書，大將軍白不許。 語在東平王傳。 斿亦早卒，有子曰嗣，顯名當世。
Ban You had a capacious mind; Shi Dan nominated him worthy and upright, his policy essay won him a consultant post, and he rose to remonstrant grandee and right colonel of the gentlemen while collating palace archives beside Liu Xiang. Whenever memorials reached the throne, Ban You was the reader the emperor picked to intone the palace collection. Cheng prized his skill enough to gift him facsimile sets of the rare books. Because palace books were still withheld from the public, the Prince of Dongping's request, as imperial uncle, for Sima Qian's histories and the masters' treatises was blocked by the regent's office. The full story appears in the prince's biography. Ban You died young as well, leaving a son Si who won renown in that generation.
11
穉少為黃門郎中常侍，方直自守。 成帝季年，立定陶王為太子，數遣中盾請問近臣，穉獨不敢答。 哀帝即位，出穉為西河屬國都尉，遷廣平相。
Ban Zhi served as gentleman-attendant and eunuch attendant in his youth and held to strict integrity. Late in Cheng's reign, when the Prince of Dingtao was named heir, the heir's agents quizzed every intimate attendant, but Ban Zhi alone refused to reply. Emperor Ai posted him chief commandant over the Xihe dependent state, then promoted him to chancellor of Guangping.
12
初，成帝性寬，進入直言，是以王音、翟方進等繩法舉過，而劉向、杜鄴、王章、朱雲之徒肆意犯上，故自帝師安昌侯，諸舅大將軍兄弟及公卿大夫、後宮外屬史許之家有貴寵者，莫不被文傷詆。 唯谷永嘗言「建始、河平之際，許、班之貴，傾動前朝，熏灼四方，賞賜無量，空虛內臧，女寵至極，不可尚矣； 今之後起，天所不饗，什倍於前。」 永指以駮譏趙、李，亦無間云。
Cheng's easy temper invited blunt speech, so ministers such as Wang Yin and Zhai Fangjin policed the law while scholars like Liu Xiang, Du Ye, Wang Zhang, and Zhu Yun flayed the throne; from the imperial tutor the marquis of Anchang through the Wang uncles and every powerful consort kin of the Shi and Xu lines, no favorite escaped their written attacks. Only Gu Yong once said, "In the Jianhe and Heping era the eminence of the Xu and Ban houses shook the previous court, scorched the four quarters, and their gifts had no measure; they emptied the inner treasury; favor to women reached an extreme that could not be surpassed; while the new crop of favorites, heaven-rejected, would outdo them tenfold." He aimed the rebuke at Zhao Feiyan and Li Ping, yet commentators say no one could gainsay his point.
13
穉生彪。 彪字叔皮，幼與從兄嗣共遊學，家有賜書，內足於財，好古之士自遠方至，父黨揚子雲以下莫不造門。
Ban Zhi was the father of Ban Biao. Ban Biao, styled Shuipi, studied abroad with his cousin Ban Si while the household enjoyed imperial book grants and deep coffers, drawing classicists from afar so that even Yang Xuan and his father's circle beat a path to their door.
14
嗣雖修儒學，然貴老嚴之術。 桓生欲借其書，嗣報曰：「若夫嚴子者，絕聖棄智，修生保真，清虛澹泊，歸之自然，獨師友造化，而不為世俗所役者也。 漁釣於一壑，則萬物不奸其志； 栖遲於一丘，則天下不易其樂。 不絓聖人之罔，不齅驕君之餌，蕩然肆志，談者不得而名焉，故可貴也。 今吾子已貫仁誼之羈絆，繫名聲之韁鎖，伏周、孔之軌躅，馳顏、閔之極摯，既繫攣於世教矣，何用大道為自眩曜？ 昔有學步於邯鄲者。 曾未得其髣彿，又復失其故步，遂匍匐而歸耳！ 恐似此類，故不進。」 嗣之行己持論如此。
Ban Si pursued Confucian texts yet revered the Daoist teachings of Laozi and Yan Junping. When Huan Sheng wished to borrow his books, Ban Si replied, "As for Master Yan, he cut off sagehood and discarded cleverness, cultivated life and guarded the genuine, was clear, empty, and still, and returned to the natural; he took only creation as teacher and friend and was not enslaved by the vulgar world. If he angled in one gully, then the myriad things could not corrupt his purpose; if he rested on one hill, then all under Heaven could not alter his joy. Such a man never walked into the sages' snares or nibbled a proud king's hook; he wandered beyond labels, which is why he is worth imitating. Now you, sir, have already passed through the hobbles of benevolence and duty, are tethered by the bridle of reputation, tread in the tracks of the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, and gallop to the utmost earnestness of Yan and Min; you are already bound by worldly instruction—why use the great Way to dazzle yourself? He likened his cousin to the fool who went to Handan to learn a new gait. Before mastering the strut he forgot his own walk and had to crawl home in shame. Lest your borrowing end the same way, I decline to lend the books." Such was Ban Si's conduct and the tone of his debate.
15
叔皮唯聖人之道然後盡心焉。 年二十，遭王莽敗，世祖即位於冀州。 時隗囂據壟擁眾，招輯英俊，而公孫述稱帝於蜀漢，天下雲擾，大者連州郡，小者據縣邑。 囂問彪曰：「往者周亡，戰國並爭，天下分裂，數世然後乃定，其抑者從橫之事復起於今乎？ 將承運迭興在於一人也？ 願先生論之。」 對曰：「周之廢興與漢異。 昔周立爵五等，諸侯從政，本根既微，枝葉強大，故其末流有從橫之事，其勢然也。 漢家承秦之制，並立郡縣，主有專己之威，臣無百年之柄，至於成帝，假借外家，哀、平短祚，國嗣三絕，危自上起，傷不及下。 故王氏之貴，傾擅朝廷，能竊號位，而不根於民。 是以即真之後，天下莫不引領而歎，十餘年間，外內騷擾，遠近俱發，假號雲合，咸稱劉氏，不謀而同辭。 方今雄桀帶州城者，皆無七國世業之資。 詩云：『皇矣上帝，臨下有赫，鑒觀四方，求民之莫。』 今民皆謳吟思漢，鄉仰劉氏，已可知矣。」 囂曰：「先生言周、漢之勢，可也，至於但見愚民習識劉氏姓號之故，而謂漢家復興，疏矣！ 昔秦失其鹿，劉季逐而掎之，時民復知漢虖！」 既感囂言，又愍狂狡之不息，乃著王命論以救時難。 其辭曰：
Ban Biao reserved his full devotion for the path of the sages alone. At twenty he lived through Wang Mang's fall and watched Liu Xiu raise the Han banner in Ji. Wei Xiao then blocked the Long road and recruited talent while Gongsun Shu styled himself emperor in Shu; the realm splintered into rival zones large and small. Wei Xiao asked Ban Biao, "In former times when Zhou fell, the Warring States strove together and the realm split apart, and only after several generations was it settled—will the affairs of vertical and horizontal alliances rise again now, or will the received mandate pass in turn and concentrate in a single man? He begged Ban Biao to give his reading." He replied, "The decline and rise of Zhou differ from those of Han. Zhou had enfeoffed powerful barons whose branches overshadowed the crown, which is why the age of alliances followed inevitably. Han copied Qin's commandery system so the emperor kept iron control while ministers lacked hereditary leverage; down to Cheng the consort clans borrowed authority, Ai and Ping died young, the succession failed thrice, yet the rot started in the palace, not among the people. Thus the Wangs could bully the court and seize the throne in name, but they never sank roots in the common folk. Once Wang Mang mounted the throne as emperor, the realm looked on with clenched throats; within a decade rebellion boiled inside the borders and out, every quarter flew false Liu banners, and men who had never conspired used the same slogan. Today's strongmen who sit on walled prefectures command none of the old Warring States' hereditary depth. As the Greater Odes put it: "Sublime is God on high, terrible in His gaze across the realm, searching out where the people may find peace. The folk already sing of their longing for Han and lift their eyes to the Liu name, which tells you all you need to know." Wei Xiao said, "What you say, sir, about the tendencies of Zhou and Han is acceptable, but to infer from the mere fact that foolish commoners are habituated to the Liu surname that the house of Han will rise again is far too loose! In olden times Qin lost the deer, and Liu Ji chased and seized it—did the people then even know there would be a Han?" Half persuaded by Wei Xiao yet sick of endless adventurism, Ban Biao drafted the Discourse on the King's Mandate to steady a chaotic age. The text runs as follows:
16
昔在帝堯之禪曰：「咨爾舜，天之曆數在爾躬。」 舜亦以命禹。 臮于稷𢍆，咸佐唐虞，光濟四海，奕世載德，至于湯武，而有天下。 雖其遭遇異時，禪代不同，至于應天順民，其揆一也。 是故劉氏承堯之祚，氏族之世，著乎春秋。 唐據火德，而漢紹之，始起沛澤，則神母夜號，以章赤帝之符。 由是言之，帝王之祚，必有明聖顯懿之德，豐功厚利積絫之業，然後精誠通於神明，流澤加於生民，故能為鬼神所福饗，天下所歸往，未見運世無本，功德不紀，而得屈起在此位者也。 世俗見高祖興於布衣，不達其故，以為適遭暴亂，得奮其劍，游說之士至比天下於逐鹿，幸捷而得之，不知神器有命，不可以智力求也。 悲夫！ 此世所以多亂臣賊子者也。 若然者，豈徒闇於天道哉？ 又不睹之於人事矣！
When Emperor Yao yielded the throne he said, "Shun, the numbered seasons of Heaven now sit on you. Shun passed the same charge to Yu. Through ministers such as Hou Ji and Xie the virtue of Yao and Shun spread across the seas, generation on generation, until Tang of Shang and Wu of Zhou inherited the whole realm. Their circumstances and transfers of power varied, yet each case matched Heaven's will and the people's heart in the same way. The Liu lineage thus continued Yao's mandate, a pedigree the Spring and Autumn Annals already recorded. Emperor Yao held the virtue of Fire, and Han succeeded it; when it first arose in the Pei marshes, the divine mother cried out in the night to manifest the token of the Red Emperor. Imperial fortune, in short, demands luminous virtue and piled-up achievements before the spirits answer and the people rally; no one seizes the dragon throne from thin air with neither merit nor mandate. Common opinion mistakes Gaozu for a lucky swordsman who grabbed power in chaos, the "deer hunt" cliché of rhetoricians; they miss that the sacred vessel answers only to fate, not to cunning or muscle. A bitter pity. That blindness is why treason and usurpation multiply. If that were the whole story, would the fault lie only in misunderstanding Heaven? They have not even looked at the evidence of human affairs.
17
夫餓饉流隸，飢寒道路，思有裋褐之褻，儋石之畜，所願不過一金，然終於轉死溝壑。 何則？ 貧窮亦有命也。 況虖天子之貴，四海之富，神明之祚，可得而妄處哉？ 故雖遭罹阨會，竊其權柄，勇如信、布，彊如梁、籍，成如王莽，然卒潤鑊伏質，亨醢分裂，又況幺{麻骨}，尚不及數子，而欲闇奸天位者虖！ 是故駑蹇之乘不騁千里之塗，燕雀之疇不奮六翮之用，楶梲之材不荷棟梁之任，斗筲之子不秉帝王之重。 易曰「鼎折足，覆公餗」，不勝其任也。
Starving drifters on the highway dream only of a patched coat or a sack of grain, a few coins of wealth, and still rot in the ditch. Why should that be? Even poverty and plenty ride an appointed lot. How then could anyone lightly seize the Son of Heaven's rank, the wealth of the realm, and the spirits' favor? Think of Xin, Bu, Xiang Yu, or even Wang Mang, who briefly seized power yet ended in the pot or on the block; petty upstarts far beneath them have even less business eyeing the throne. A cripple nag cannot run the thousand-mile road, sparrows cannot soar like great birds, splinter wood will not roof a hall, and a small-minded man cannot wear the crown. The Changes say, "The tripod breaks its legs and spills the duke's gruel," meaning it could not bear the burden.
18
當秦之末，豪桀共推陳嬰而王之，嬰母止之曰：「自吾為子家婦，而世貧賤，卒富貴不祥，不如以兵屬人，事成少受其利，不成禍有所歸。」 嬰從其言，而陳氏以寧。 王陵之母亦見項氏之必亡，而劉氏之將興也。 是時陵為漢將，而母獲於楚，有漢使來，陵母見之，謂曰：「願告吾子，漢王長者，必得天下，子謹事之，無有二心。」 遂對漢使伏劍而死，以固勉陵。 其後果定於漢，陵為宰相封侯。 夫以匹婦之明，猶能推事理之致，探禍福之機，而全宗祀於無窮，垂策書於春秋，而況大丈夫之事虖！ 是故窮達有命，吉凶由人，嬰母知廢，陵母知興，審此四者，帝王之分決矣。
At the end of Qin, the bold men together urged Chen Ying to take the kingly title; Ying's mother stopped him, saying, "Ever since I became your family's daughter-in-law, generation after generation we have been poor and base; to end in wealth and honor is inauspicious; better to hand the troops to another—if the affair succeeds you will receive a little benefit; if it fails disaster will have somewhere to go. Chen Ying obeyed, and his house survived the wars unscathed. Wang Ling's mother likewise saw that Xiang Yu would fall and Han would rise. While Wang Ling served Han, his mother was held by Chu; meeting a Han envoy, she said to him, "I beg you tell my son: the King of Han is a man of generous nature and is sure to gain all under Heaven; let him serve him carefully and harbor no second heart." She then drew a blade before the envoy and fell dead to steel her son's resolve. Han triumphed, Wang Ling rose to chancellor, and ennoblement followed. If a woman's wit could read fate, save her lineage, and earn a line in the annals, how much more should a grown man grasp the mandate! Fortune governs rise and fall, yet human choice steers blessing or curse; Chen's mother knew whom to quit, Wang's mother knew whom to back, and those four judgments settle who may be king.
19
蓋在高祖，其興也有五：一曰帝堯之苗裔，二曰體貌多奇異，三曰神武有徵應，四曰寬明而仁恕，五曰知人善任使。 加之以信誠好謀，達於聽受，見善如不及，用人如由己，從諫如順流，趣時如嚮赴； 當食吐哺，納子房之策； 拔足揮洗，揖酈生之說； 寤戍卒之言，斷懷土之情； 高四皓之名，割肌膚之愛； 舉韓信於行陳，收陳平於亡命，英雄陳力，群策畢舉：此高祖之大略，所以成帝業也。 若乃靈瑞符應，又可略聞矣。 初劉媼任高祖而夢與神遇，震電晦冥，有龍蛇之怪。 及其長而多靈，有異於眾，是以王、武感物而折券，呂公睹形而進女； 秦皇東游以厭其氣，呂后望雲而知所處； 始受命則白蛇分，西入關則五星聚。 故淮陰、留侯謂之天授，非人力也。
Gaozu's ascent rested on five signs: Yao's bloodline, a singular physique, omens that blessed his arms, a generous humane temper, and a gift for placing the right men. He was candid, loved strategy, listened well, chased every good counsel, handed offices as freely as if they were his own limbs, took advice like running water, and seized each moment as though answering a call; he spat out a mouthful mid-meal to enact Zhang Liang's scheme; he broke off his bath to salute Li Yiji's plea; he heeded a guardsman's plea and checked his homesick march; he courted the Four Elders though it cost him a father's love; He pulled Han Xin from the ranks, rescued Chen Ping from flight, and let every able man lend strength until the imperial work was done. The portents that marked him deserve a word as well. Lady Liu dreamed of a spirit when she conceived him; thunder rolled in black sky and dragon shapes writhed. As he matured, uncanny signs set him apart, so Wang and Wu tore up old debts at a glance and Lü Gong married him a daughter for his bearing; the Qin First Emperor toured east to smother his qi, while Empress Lü read clouds to find him; His first mandate split the white serpent, and the five planets clustered when he entered the passes. Han Xin and Zhang Liang called such things Heaven's investiture, not mortal striving.
20
歷古今之得失，驗行事之成敗，稽帝王之世運，考五者之所謂，取舍不厭斯位，符瑞不同斯度，而苟昧於權利，越次妄據，外不量力，內不知命，則必喪保家之主，失天年之壽，遇折足之凶，伏鈇鉞之誅。 英雄誠知覺寤，畏若禍戒，超然遠覽，淵然深識，收陵、嬰之明分，絕信、布之覬覦，距逐鹿之瞽說，審神器之有授，毋貪不可幾，為二母之所咲，則福祚流于子孫，天祿其永終矣。
Survey history, weigh deeds, test the five signs of true kingship, and if you still covet the throne without the omens or the merit, you invite family ruin, a shortened life, the broken tripod's curse, and the headsman's block. Wake to that lesson, shun Xin and Bu's ambition, laugh off the deer hunt, respect Heaven's chosen vessel, and you may pass fortune to your heirs instead of becoming a jest to history's mothers.
21
知隗囂終不寤，乃避墬於河西。 河西大將軍竇融嘉其美德，訪問焉。 舉茂材，為徐令，以病去官。 後數應三公之召。 仕不為祿，所如不合； 學不為人，博而不俗； 言不為華，述而不作。
Seeing that Wei Xiao would never see reason, Ban Biao crossed to the Hexi corridor beyond the Yellow River. Dou Rong, general of the west, admired his character and sought him out. Nominated for outstanding talent, he served as magistrate of Xu until illness drove him home. Later the three highest ministers repeatedly called him to office. He never took a post for the stipend, and each appointment chafed; He studied for truth, not for show, wide-ranging yet never coarse; His words stayed plain: he expounded the classics rather than inventing flashy prose.
22
有子曰固，弱冠而孤，作幽通之賦，以致命遂志。 其辭曰：
His son Ban Gu, orphaned at twenty, wrote the Rhapsody on Communicating with the Hidden to set his life on record. The piece begins:
23
系高頊之玄冑兮，氏中葉之炳靈，繇凱風而蟬蛻兮，雄朔野以颺聲。 皇十紀而鴻漸兮，有羽儀於上京。 巨滔天而泯夏兮，考遘愍以行謠，終保己而貽則兮，里上仁之所廬。 懿前烈之純淑兮，窮與達其必濟，咨孤矇之眇眇兮，將圮絕而罔階，豈余身之足殉兮？ 愇世業之可懷。
I am sprung from Zhuanxu's line; at mid-house a bright spirit woke; borne on a victorious wind I shed my shell like a cicada and sent a hero's cry across the northern wastes. Ten generations later the great wild goose began its climb, and in the capital our clan spread ceremonial plumes. When the flood drowned Xia, my people wandered in grief yet kept their integrity and left a pattern of life in the village they called supreme goodness. Their old virtue shone in every fortune, high or low; now I, a blind orphan on the edge of ruin, ask whether my life is worth the sacrifice. I mourn because the family legacy still calls me back.
24
靖潛處以永思兮，經日月而彌遠，匪黨人之敢拾兮，庶斯言之不玷。 魂煢煢與神交兮，精誠發於宵寐，夢登山而迥眺兮，覿幽人之髣彿，㩜葛藟而授余兮，眷峻谷曰勿隧。 昒昕寤而仰思兮，心蒙蒙猶未察，黃神邈而靡質兮，儀遺讖以臆對。 曰乘高而遌神兮，道遐通而不迷，葛綿綿於樛木兮，詠南風以為綏，蓋惴惴之臨深兮，乃二雅之所祗。 既誶爾以吉象兮，又申之以炯戒：盍孟晉以迨群兮？ 辰焂忽其不再。
I lie withdrawn and brood as months lengthen; no faction lifts me, yet I pray these lines stay clean. In dream my lonely soul meets a sage on a height; he gives me twisting vines and a voice from the gorge warns me not to bore through the cliff. Dawn breaks and I am still dazed; the Yellow Spirit stays veiled, leaving only a riddle to puzzle out. The voice said: climb high to meet the god, the path stays true, bind yourself like kudzu to a great tree, sing the southern breeze for calm, and tremble at the abyss as the Odes demand. Having shown good omens, it also warned: why not hurry on with the throng? The moments race past and will not return.
25
承靈訓其虛徐兮，竚盤桓而且俟，惟天墬之無窮兮，鱻生民之脢在。 紛屯亶與蹇連兮，何艱多而智寡！ 上聖寤而後拔兮，豈群黎之所御！ 昔衛叔之御昆兮，昆為寇而喪予。 管彎弧欲斃讎兮，讎作后而成己。 變化故而相詭兮，孰云豫其終始！ 雍造怨而先賞兮，丁繇惠而被戮； 㮚取弔于逌吉兮，王膺慶於所慼。 畔回宂其若茲兮，北叟頗識其倚伏。 單治裏而外凋兮，張修襮而內逼，欥中龢為庶幾兮，顏與冉又不得。 溺招路以從己兮，謂孔氏猶未可，安慆慆而不萉兮，卒隕身虖世禍。 游聖門而靡救兮，顧覆醢其何補？ 固行行其必凶兮，免盜亂為賴道； 形氣發于根柢兮，柯葉彙而靈茂。 恐网蜽之責景兮，慶未得其云已。
I hold the spirit's slow counsel and linger, knowing heaven and earth are endless while new generations crowd the world. Obstacles tangle, troubles multiply, yet wisdom stays scarce. Only the greatest sage awakens and escapes; the mob cannot steer that fate. Wei Shou of old guarded his brother, yet the brother turned raider and ruined him. Guan Zhong drew a bow to slay his enemy, only to see that enemy become lord and finish his own rise. Fortunes shift and mock foresight; no one reads the end from the beginning. Some nursed grudge yet won first reward, others earned favor yet died; Li asked for blessing from distant luck, Wang found joy in what had frightened him. Twists like these taught the northern elder how gain and loss lean on each other. Shan lost vigor though he ruled a lane, Zhang shone outward yet felt inner pinch; I aimed at the golden mean like the rare few, yet even Yan and Ran missed it. Ni dragged the Way to serve himself and judged Confucius wanting, yet could not rest easy and fell to worldly ruin. He haunted the Master's school yet found no rescue; when the pickle jar spilled, what good was hindsight? Rigid uprightness courts disaster; only shunning chaos is a trustworthy path; Form and breath rise from the root while branches grow thick with spirit. I fear the mantis scolding its shadow; good fortune has hardly begun to speak.
26
黎淳耀于高辛兮，羋彊大於南汜； 嬴取威於百儀兮，姜本支虖三止：既仁得其信然兮，卬天路而同軌。 東厸虐而殲仁兮，王合位虖三五； 戎女烈而喪孝兮，伯徂歸於龍虎：發還師以成性兮，重醉行而自耦。 震鱗漦于夏庭兮，匝三正而滅周； 巽羽化于宣宮兮，彌五辟而成災。
Houji blazed at Gaoxin's court; Chu swelled along the southern rivers; Qin won awe through every ceremony, Jiang's line paused thrice at its zenith; seeing how kindness proves true, I lift my gaze to Heaven's highway and walk that track. The eastern Yi slew kindness, yet kings aligned the threes and fives; A Rong queen broke filial piety, Bo returned between dragon and tiger, disbanded troops to nurture nature, then drowned himself in wine and paired his own fetters. Scales stirred in Xia's hall, turned three dynasties, and snuffed Zhou out; Soft feathers changed in Xuan's palace and brought five reigns to ruin.
27
道悠長而世短兮，敻冥默而不周，胥仍物而鬼諏兮，乃窮宙而達幽。 媯巢姜於孺筮兮，旦算祀于挈龜。 宣、曹興敗於下夢兮，魯、衛名諡於銘謠。 妣聆呱而刻石兮，許相理而鞠條。 道混成而自然兮，術同原而分流。 神先心以定命兮，命隨行以消息。 斡流遷其不濟兮，故遭罹而贏縮。 三欒同於一體兮，雖移盈然不忒。 洞參差其紛錯兮，斯眾兆之所惑。 周、賈盪而貢憤兮，齊死生與禍福，抗爽言以矯情兮，信畏犧而忌服。
The Way runs long while life runs short; silence never circles all; clerks still ask things of ghosts and sound the dark through time. Gui divined Jiang with a child's stalks, Dan read the tortoise for ritual fate. Xuan and Cao rose or fell by dreams below; Lu and Wei won posthumous names from carved songs. An ancestress heard a newborn wail and set it in stone; Xu read fate in twisted twigs. The Way blends whole and follows nature; methods spring from one root yet branch apart. Spirit settles fate before the heart knows it; fate then rides every deed up or down. The turning stream never rests; fortune therefore tightens and slackens with each blow. Three luan share one frame; though plenty shifts, the rule holds true. Deeply tangled omens bewilder the common crowd. Zhuang Zhou and Jia Yi railed in reckless essays, treating life and death, fortune and woe, as one; their brave words chided human passion, yet they still shrank from the butchered ox and hated the halter.
28
所貴聖人之至論兮，順天性而斷誼。 物有欲而不居兮，亦有惡而不避，守孔約而不貳兮，乃輶德而無累。 三仁殊而一致兮，夷、惠舛而齊聲。 木偃息以蕃魏兮，申重繭以存荊。 紀焚躬以衛上兮，皓頤志而弗營。 侯屮木之區別兮，苟能實而必榮。 要沒世而不朽兮，乃先民之所程。
The highest teaching is the sage's verdict: trust innate nature and judge duty accordingly. You may crave yet not clutch, shrink from evil yet not dodge duty; hold fast to the Master's spare rule and virtue rides easy. The three benevolent worthies walked different paths to the same goal; Yi and Hui clashed in style yet harmonized in purpose. Duanmu Ci's retirement by moral example strengthened Wei; Shen Baoxu's bleeding feet saved Chu from ruin. Ji Xin gave his body for the emperor; the Four Elders fed their resolve and shunned ambition. Trees and shrubs differ, yet any that bears true fruit will thrive. To perish yet leave an undying name is the standard the ancients strove for.
29
觀天罔之紘覆兮，實棐諶而相順，謨先聖之大繇兮，亦厸德而助信。 虞韶美而儀鳳兮，孔忘味於千載。 素文信而底麟兮，漢賓祚于異代。 精通靈而感物兮，神動氣而入微。 養游睇而猿號兮，李虎發而石開。 非精誠其焉通兮，苟無實其孰信！ 操末技猶必然兮，矧湛躬於道真！
Heaven's canopy rewards sincerity; the sages' great paths gather lesser goodness into faith. The Shao dance of Emperor Shun so moved nature that phoenixes flocked; Confucius forgot his meal for ages after hearing it. The uncrowned king's classic drew the qilin at the end; Han inherited that mandate in a later era. When essence meets spirit it moves the world; spirit rides breath into the finest grain of things. Prince Yang's wandering glance made gibbons wail; Li Guang's tiger shot cracked the boulder. Without utter sincerity nothing connects; without inward truth no one trusts the sign. Trifling arts demand truth at last; how much more the man who drowns himself in the genuine Way.
30
登孔、顥而上下兮，緯群龍之所經，朝貞觀而夕化兮，猶諠己而遺形，若胤彭而偕老兮，訴來哲以通情。
Climb the heights of Confucius and Yan Hui, follow the dragons' tracks, wake to the true pattern by dusk though ego still chatters, shed the shell, and if you walk with Peng Zu into age, leave a thread of feeling for sages yet unborn.
31
亂曰：天造屮昧，立性命兮，復心弘道，惟賢聖兮。 渾元運物，流不處兮，
Coda: Heaven began in twilight and fixed our natures; broadening the mind and the Way is work for sages alone. The cosmic breath rolls creation onward and never lingers in one place.
32
保身遺名，民之表兮。 舍生取誼，亦道用兮，憂傷夭物，忝莫痛兮！ 昊爾太素，
Keep the body whole yet leave a name: that is the people's pattern. To die for duty is also the Way's tool; to wound creation through worry is the bitterest disgrace. O boundless primal simplicity,
33
曷渝色兮？ 尚粵其幾，淪神域兮！
why should you shift your color? I would rise on your hidden hinge and plunge into the spirit's domain.
34
永平中為郎，典校祕書，專篤志於博學，以著述為業。 或譏以無功，又感東方朔、揚雄自諭以不遭蘇、張、范、蔡之時，曾不折之以正道，明君子之所守，故聊復應焉。 其辭曰：
Under Yongping he entered as a court gentleman, supervised collation of the palace library, gave himself wholly to learning, and took writing for his life's work. Critics mocked his want of deeds; remembering how Dongfang Shuo and Yang Xiong excused their obscurity by the absence of Su or Zhang, yet never rebuked opportunism with the true Way, he felt compelled to answer. The piece opens:
35
賓戲主人曰：「蓋聞聖人有壹定之論，列士有不易之分，亦云名而已矣。 故太上有立德，其次有立功。 夫德不得後身而特盛，功不得背時而獨章，是以聖喆之治，棲棲皇皇，孔席不煗，墨突不黔。 由此言之，取舍者昔人之上務，著作者前列之餘事耳。 今吾子幸游帝王之世，躬帶冕之服，浮英華，湛道德，矕龍虎之文，舊矣。 卒不能攄首尾，奮翼鱗，振拔洿塗，跨騰風雲，使見之者景駭，聞之者嚮震。 徒樂枕經籍書，紆體衡門，上無所蔕，下無所根。 獨攄意虖宇宙之外，銳思於豪芒之內，潛神默記，恆以年歲。 然而器不賈於當己，用不效於一世，雖馳辯如濤波，摛藻如春華，猶無益於殿最。 意者，且運朝夕之策，定合會之計，使存有顯號，亡有美諡，不亦優虖？」
The guest said to the host, "Sages hold one steady teaching, steadfast men one fixed portion, and fame is said to crown the whole affair. The highest goal is founding imperishable virtue; next comes founding merit. Virtue cannot peak if you put yourself last, nor can merit blaze if you ignore the hour; hence true sages never rest—Confucius' mat stayed cool, Mozi's hearth stayed clean. Choosing a path was the ancients' first duty; composing books came after. You live under an enlightened throne, wear court regalia, swim in culture and soak in the Way, and have long feasted your eyes on imperial portents. Yet you never spread wings from the mud or ride the tempest so that sight of you would stagger the world. You hug your books beneath a humble gate, tethered neither to high office nor to solid ground. You send the mind past the sky while polishing thoughts on a pinpoint, brooding in silence year on year. Still your talent finds no buyer today, your use no proof in this life; torrents of eloquence and springtime rhetoric win you no place in the merit roll. Why not scheme for office and alliance so the living gain rank and the dead fine posthumous names—would that not be wiser?"
36
主人逌爾而咲曰：「若賓之言，斯所謂見勢利之華，闇道德之實，守穾奧之熒燭，未卬天庭而睹白日也。 曩者王塗蕪穢，周失其御，侯伯方軌，戰國橫騖，於是七雄虓闞，分裂諸夏，龍戰而虎爭。 游說之徒，風颺電激，並起而救之，其餘猋飛景附，煜霅其間者，蓋不可勝載。 當此之時，搦朽摩鈍，鈆刀皆能壹斷，是故魯連飛一矢而蹶千金，虞卿以顧眄而捐相印也。 夫啾發投曲，感耳之聲，合之律度，淫䵷而不可聽者，非韶、夏之樂也； 因勢合變，偶時之會，風移俗易，乖忤而不可通者，非君子之法也。 及至從人合之，衡人散之，亡命漂說，羇旅騁辭，商鞅挾三術以鑽孝公，李斯奮時務而要始皇，彼皆躡風雲之會，履顛沛之勢，據徼乘邪以求一日之富貴，朝為榮華，夕而焦瘁，福不盈眥，禍益於世，凶人且以自悔，況吉士而是賴虖！ 且功不可以虛成，名不可以偽立，韓設辯以徼君，呂行詐以賈國。 說難既酋，其身乃囚； 秦貨既貴，厥宗亦隧。 是故仲尼抗浮雲之志，孟軻養浩然之氣，彼豈樂為迂闊哉？ 道不可以貳也。 方今大漢洒埽群穢，夷險芟荒，廓帝紘，恢皇綱，基隆於羲、農，規廣於黃、唐； 其君天下也，炎之如日，威之如神，函之如海，養之如春。 是以六合之內，莫不同原共流，沐浴玄德，稟卬太和，枝附葉著，譬猶屮木之殖山林，鳥魚之毓川澤，得氣者蕃滋，失時者苓落，參天墬而施化，豈云人事之厚薄哉？ 今子處皇世而論戰國，耀所聞而疑所覿，欲從旄敦而度高虖泰山，懷氿濫而測深虖重淵，亦未至也。」
The host smiled faintly and said, "If that is your doctrine, it is what people call seeing the flowers of power and profit while blind to the fruit of the Way, guarding a guttering candle in a corner and never lifting your eyes to the celestial court to behold the bright sun. Once royal roads rotted, Zhou lost control, barons raced abreast, and the seven powers tore China in a war of dragon and tiger. Rhetoricians stormed in like wind and lightning, and hangers-on swarmed beyond counting. In that chaos a blunt knife could decide a fate, so Lu Zhonglian felled a fortune with one shaft and Yu Qing dropped a premier's seal at a glance. Shrill novelty may please the ear yet fail the scale—that is not the music of Shao and Xia; and tactics that chase fashion until custom warps are not the gentleman's law. Think of vertical and horizontal schemers, exiled tongues, Shang Yang's triple trick on Duke Xiao, Li Si's grab at Qin's moment—they rode storm and crisis, gambled on crooked odds, blazed one dawn and burned by dusk; rogues rued it—should an honest man copy them? Merit cannot be faked nor name bought: Han Fei angled his prince with rhetoric, Lü Buwei sold the realm by deceit. Han Fei finished his essay on persuasion and landed in prison; when Lü's price for Qin rose, his house followed him into the grave. So Confucius fixed his mind above the clouds and Mencius fed the flood-like breath—were they merely eccentric? The Way allows no divided loyalty. Great Han has cleansed the mire, cut the brambles, stretched the emperor's net wider than Fu Xi or Shen Nong, vaster than Huangdi or Yao; its rule warms like the sun, awes like a god, holds all like the sea, and quickens like spring. Within the six directions all drink one stream, bathe in hidden virtue, and cling like leaves to a tree; timing makes the growth, heaven and earth do the shaping—human whim weighs little. You judge a golden age by Warring States gossip, like gauging Tai Shan with a desert foot-rule or sounding the deep with ditch water."
37
賓曰：「若夫鞅、斯之倫，衰周之凶人，既聞命矣。 敢問上古之士，處身行道，輔世成名，可述於後者，默而已虖？」
The guest said, "As for men like Shang Yang and Li Si, villains of failing Zhou—I have heard your command. But did the ancients who kept the Way, aided their times, and left great names do it in silence?"
38
主人曰：「何為其然也！ 昔咎繇謨虞，箕子訪周，言通帝王，謀合聖神； 殷說夢發於傅巖，周望兆動於渭濱，齊甯激聲於康衢，漢良受書於邳沂，皆俟命而神交，匪詞言之所信，故能建必然之策，展無窮之勳也。 近者陸子優繇，新語以興； 董生下帷，發藻儒林； 劉向司籍，辯章舊聞； 揚雄覃思，法言、大玄：皆及時君之門闈，究先聖之壼奧，婆娑虖術藝之場，休息虖篇籍之囿，以全其質而發其文，用納虖聖聽，列炳於後人，斯非其亞與！ 若乃夷抗行於首陽，惠降志於辱仕，顏耽樂於簞瓢，孔終篇於西狩，聲盈塞於天淵，真吾徒之師表也。 且吾聞之：壹陰壹陽，天墬之方； 乃文乃質，王道之綱； 有同有異，聖喆之常。 故曰：慎修所志，守爾天符，委命共己，味道之腴，神之聽之，名其舍諸！ 賓又不聞龢氏之璧韞於荊石，隨侯之珠藏於蜯蛤虖？ 歷世莫眡，不知其將含景耀，吐英精，曠千載而流夜光也。 應龍潛於潢汙，魚黿媟之，不睹其能奮靈德，合風雲，超忽荒，而躆顥蒼也。 故夫泥蟠而天飛者，應龍之神也； 先賤而後貴者，龢、隨之珍也； 時闇而久章者，君子之真也。 若乃牙、曠清耳於管絃，離婁眇目於豪分； 逢蒙絕技於弧矢，班輸榷巧於斧斤； 良樂軼能於相馭，烏獲抗力於千鈞； 龢、鵲發精於鍼石，研、桑心計於無垠。 僕亦不任廁技於彼列，故密爾自娛於斯文。」
The host answered, "Why imagine such a thing? Gao Yao advised Yu, Jizi counseled Zhou—their speech reached kings, their plans matched the spirits; Fu Yue rose from a cliff dream, Lü Wang from the Wei shallows, Ning Qi from a roadside song, Zhang Liang from a book at dawn—they waited Heaven's nod, not rhetoric, and so built lasting deeds. Lu Jia, calm and unhurried, raised the New Discourses; Dong Zhongshu drew his curtain and lit the grove of scholars; Liu Xiang ordered the archives and clarified antiquity; Yang Xiong brooded out the Model Sayings and Great Arcana; each entered the ruler's gate, sounded the sages' chambers, ranged the field of learning, and left texts that shine for posterity—second only to the greatest. Think of Yi and Shu on Shouyang, Hui in a low post, Yan with his single meal, Confucius closing the Spring and Autumn at the western hunt—their names shook heaven and earth; they are our true exemplars. I have heard that yin and yang are the square of heaven and earth; culture and substance are the twin cords of the kingly Way; sameness and difference are the sage's constant scales. The ode says: polish your purpose, keep Heaven's tally, yield life to what is already yours, taste the Way's fat—when spirits listen, can fame stay away? Have you never heard how the He-bi jade slept inside a dull rock or Sui's pearl hid in a shell? Ages passed before anyone knew they would blaze with inner fire and gleam in the dark after a thousand years. The winged dragon wallowed in a puddle while minnows mocked him, blind to the day he would ride the storm into the blue. Mud-bound yet sky-soaring—that is the responding dragon; cheap at first, costly later—that is the He jade and Sui pearl; long hidden, long bright—that is the gentleman's truth. When Ya and Kuang tune their ears to music, or Li Lou splits a hair's breadth; when Peng Meng masters the bow or Lu Ban the adze; when Wang Liang and Bo Le judge horses or Wu Huo hefts a thousand jun; Bian Que and Hua Tuo wield the needle with spirit, while Yi Dun and Zhuo Sang calculate gain across the boundless market. I am not fit to stack my small talent beside theirs, so I take quiet joy in these words alone."