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卷二十 銚期王霸祭遵列傳

Volume 20: Biographies of Tiao Qi; Wang Ba; Zhai Zun

Chapter 23 of 後漢書 ✓ Translated
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Chapter 23
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1
731
Source edition, page 731.
2
[1][2] 滿[3][4]
Tiao Qi, courtesy name Cikuang, was a native of Jia in Yingchuan commandery. He stood eight chi and two cun tall, with striking looks and a severe, awe-inspiring bearing. His father Tiao Meng had been the governor of Guiyang; when he died, Qi mourned three full years, and the neighbors praised him. While Guangwu was taking Yingchuan he heard of Qi's steadfast loyalty, summoned him as clerk of the bandit bureau [1], and took him on the expedition to Ji [2]. Wang Lang's summons reached Ji, and the city rose in arms for him. As Guangwu spurred his carriage out, the crowd mobbed the street and blocked the way. Qi rode forward, whirling his halberd, glared, and roared "Clear the road" [3] until the mob broke and scattered [4]. They reached the city gate to find it shut; they forced it and got out. At Xindu he was made a lieutenant general under Deng Yu, alongside Fu Kuan and Lü Yan. He campaigned the neighboring counties and also levied troops from Fangzi. Deng Yu, judging Qi especially able, commissioned him alone as lieutenant general with two thousand men, while Fu Kuan and Lü Yan received only a few hundred each.
3
使[5][6][7]
On his return he reported how things stood, and Guangwu was much pleased. He was sent to campaign separately in Zhending and Songzi, capturing Leyang [5], Gao [6], and Feilei [7].
4
732-741
Source edition, pages 732-741.
5
[8]鹿* () **[]*[9] 觿 [10]觿[11] [12]
Under Julu he joined the attack on Wang Lang's generals Er Hong [8] and Liu Feng: Qi was first on the wall, killed more than fifty men with his own hand, and took a blow to the forehead— (textual note: head-wrap variant) —bound up his wound with a headcloth and fought on [9], and they routed the enemy. When Wang Lang fell, Qi was named tiger-fang grand general. He found a private moment to say to Guangwu, "Hebei borders the frontier; its people are inured to war and famed as fierce fighters. The Gengshi court has lost its grip; the imperial line totters, and the realm has nowhere to look for leadership. You hold the natural fortress of the Yellow River and Taihang and command picked troops; if you answer the people's longing for Han, who under Heaven would dare refuse you? Guangwu laughed. "You want to press that old counsel of yours, do you?" " [10] Just then several tens of thousands of Bronze Horse troops poured into Qingyang and Boping [11]; Qi and the other generals met them in a run of reverses, so Qi drew his line with its back to the water and fought again, inflicting heavy casualties. Guangwu's reinforcements arrived; they broke the enemy and chased them to Guantao, where all surrendered. He joined the fight against the Green Calf and Red Eyebrows at Shequan; when the rebels hit his baggage train he turned back, killed or wounded dozens with his own hand though thrice wounded, and still fought with full force [12] until the enemy broke and fled.
6
[] [][] [] []使 西
When Guangwu took the throne, Qi was enfeoffed as marquis of Ancheng [one] with a fief of five thousand households. Tanxiang and Wulou raiders had entered Fanyang and Neihuang [two]; the great clans of Wei were shifting allegiance again and again, and the Gengshi general Zhuo Jing [three] plotted to lead a mutiny back into Ye. The emperor named Qi governor of Wei commandery with the powers of a grand general. Qi raised the commandery troops, defeated Zhuo Jing, and took more than six hundred heads. Jing fled into the hills; the pursuit cut down dozens of his officers and seized his wife and children. He pushed on into Fanyang and Neihuang, took another few hundred heads, and the commandery was quiet. Li Xiong, who supervised bandit affairs, was a leading man of Ye; his younger brother Li Lu plotted to open the gates for the Tanxiang raiders. [Four] Informants came to Qi, who at first made no move; when they came three or four times he summoned Li Xiong for questioning. Li Xiong kowtowed and confessed, ready to die with his aged mother. Qi said, 'If you think office less pleasant than brigandage, go home and take your mother to your brother Lu.' [Five] He had clerks escort him beyond the walls. Li Xiong found Li Lu and brought him to the west gate of Ye. Overcome with shame and gratitude, Li Lu killed himself to answer Qi. Qi sighed, buried him with full rites, and restored Li Xiong to his old post. The whole commandery then deferred to his majesty and good faith.
7
[]
Commentary [one]: Ancheng was a county in Runan commandery; its old walled town lay southeast of present-day Ruyang in Yuzhou.
8
[] 西
Commentary [two]: Fanyang was a county; its old site lay northeast of present-day Neihuang in Xiangzhou; the old site of Neihuang lay to the northwest.
9
[]
Commentary [three]: The graph "Jing" is sometimes written "Yuan".
10
[]
Commentary [four]: The gloss reads "fan" in the sense of turning or reversing.
11
[]
Commentary [five]: If they truly thought life as a clerk in the city less happy than banditry, he let them take their mother to the younger brother.
12
In the fifth year of Jianwu the emperor visited Wei commandery in person and named Qi grand palace grandee. On the return to Luoyang he was again appointed minister of the guards.
13
[] 輿 []
Qi set great store by good faith: as a general he never looted those who yielded. At court he anguished for the state and loved his sovereign; whatever sat ill with him he would speak bluntly against the ruler's will. The emperor once slipped out incognito with only his Qimen guards [one]; Qi kowtowed before the chariot and said, "I have heard that sudden turns spare no man, ancient or modern; I beg Your Majesty not to make a habit of these secret excursions." The emperor turned the carriage round and went back for his sake. He died in the tenth year [two]; the emperor came in person to lay the burial shroud and presented the seals of minister of the guards and of marquis of Ancheng, with the posthumous title Loyal Marquis.
14
[]殿
Commentary [one]: The Former Han Documents say that Emperor Wu, before going out, always set a rendezvous with picked sons of good families from Beidi at the palace gate, hence the name "Qimen", gate of the rendezvous.
15
[]使使
Commentary [two]: The Eastern View Records says that when Qi fell ill the court sent an envoy to inquire and heaped medical gifts on him. His mother asked which son should receive the enfeoffment?
16
Qi replied, "I have received too much from the state and always fear I cannot repay it; if I die, I do not know how I could still repay it, how could I think of enfeoffing a son!" The emperor was deeply moved."
17
[13] [14]
His son Tiao Dan inherited the title. Dan's younger brother Tiao Tong was also enfeoffed as marquis of Jianping [13]. Later Dan's fief was moved to Geleng [14]. When Dan died, his son Shu succeeded. When Shu died, his son Yu succeeded. When Yu died, his son Cai succeeded.
18
[][] 西
Wang Ba, courtesy name Yuanbo, was a man of Yingyang in Yingchuan. For generations the family had loved statute and precedent [one]; his father had been sentencing clerk of the commandery [two], and Ba himself began as a prison clerk. He was always restless and discontented with clerical work, and his father thought him unusual. He was sent west to study in Chang'an. When Han forces rose and Guangwu passed through Yingyang, Wang Ba led his clients to pay court, saying, "You raise the standard of righteousness; I know I overreach, yet I crave your majesty and virtue and beg a place in the ranks." Guangwu answered, "I have longed for worthy men to finish the great work with me; could I refuse you?" He then followed the victory over Wang Xun and Wang Yi at Kunyang and went home to rest.
19
[]
Commentary [one]: The Eastern View Records says his grandfather had been assistant of the imperial prison.
20
[]
Commentary [two]: Han old regulations: the sentencing bureau handled penal law.
21
When Guangwu became the metropolitan commandant and passed Yingyang again, Wang Ba begged his father's leave to follow him. His father said, "I am too old for campaigning; you go, and give it your all!" Wang Ba followed him to Luoyang. When Guangwu became grand marshal he made Wang Ba clerk-scribe of the merit bureau and took him north of the Yellow River.
22
Several dozen of Wang Ba's clients had followed him, but they drifted away one by one. Guangwu said to him, "The men of Yingchuan who followed me have all left; only you remain." Strive hard! In a high wind one sees which grass stands firm."
23
[] [] [] 觿
When Wang Lang rose, Guangwu was at Ji; Wang Lang put a price on his head. Guangwu ordered Wang Ba into the market to recruit men for the strike at Wang Lang. The townsfolk only laughed and mocked him with waves of the hand [one]; Wang Ba returned ashamed and shaken. [Two] Guangwu thereupon spurred south to Xiaquyang. Rumor said Wang Lang's army was on their heels, and the party was afraid. At the Hutuo the scout came back reporting ice floes in the flood [three], no boats, no crossing. The staff were terrified. Guangwu sent Wang Ba to look for himself. Fearing panic, Wang Ba wished to press on; he blocked the bad news and lied on his return, "The ice is solid enough to cross."
24
[] 觿 []
The staff rejoiced. Guangwu laughed, "The scout was lying after all." They went forward. When they reached the river the ice had bridged it; Guangwu had Wang Ba supervise the crossing [four], and before the last riders were over the ice broke up. Guangwu said to him, "You steadied our men and got us across; the credit is yours." Wang Ba demurred, "It is your supreme virtue and the blessing of the spirits; even King Wu's white-fish omen could not match this." [Five] Guangwu told his staff, "Wang Ba bent the truth to save the day; surely that is an omen from Heaven." He named him army rectifier with rank as marquis within the passes. At Xindu he raised troops and took Handan. Wang Ba ran Wang Lang down, beheaded him, and seized his seals and ribbons. He was enfeoffed as marquis of Wang township.
25
[]
Commentary [one]: The Shuowen jiezi glosses the expression as hands mocking one another in laughter. The graph ye is read with the yi-zhi fan spelling. The second graph is read like yu, or sometimes like you. Here the text writes xieyu; the wording varies slightly in other sources.
26
[]
Commentary [two]: Ju here means fear, read like ju.
27
[]
Commentary [three]: The graph si is read si.
28
[]
Commentary [four]: Meaning he supervised the crossing.
29
[]
Commentary [five]: The modern-text Book of Documents records that when King Wu crossed the ford at Mengjin a white fish leapt into his boat.
30
During the pacification of Hebei he often shared a camp with Zang Gong and Fu Jun, yet Wang Ba alone excelled at caring for the troops: he stripped his own clothes to shroud the dead and nursed the wounded with his own hands.
31
[]
When Guangwu took the throne he judged Wang Ba fit to command alone because he knew war and cherished his men; he named him lieutenant general, gave him joint command of Zang Gong's and Fu Jun's troops, and made Gong and Jun cavalry commandants under him. In the second year of Jianwu his fief was moved to Fubo. Endnote marker [one] in the received text.
32
[]
Commentary [one]: Fubo was a county in Runan commandery, in the area of present-day Yuzhou.
33
使 觿 觿
In the autumn of the fourth year the emperor went to Qiao and sent Wang Ba with Ma Wu, general who campaigns against the Caitiffs, east against Zhou Jian at Chuihui. Su Mao brought more than four thousand men of the five camps to relieve Zhou Jian and first sent picked cavalry to cut Ma Wu's supply line; Ma Wu went to the rescue. Zhou Jian sallied from the city to catch Ma Wu in a pincer; Ma Wu, counting on Wang Ba's support, did not fight at full stretch and was beaten by Su Mao and Zhou Jian. Ma Wu's men raced past Wang Ba's camp shouting for help. Wang Ba said, 'The enemy is strong; if we go out both of us will lose—hold fast.' He shut the camp and strengthened the walls. His officers all remonstrated with him. Wang Ba said, 'Su Mao's men are picked and numerous; our troops are afraid. The Caitiff-catcher and I depend on each other—if the two hosts do not act as one, that is the road to defeat.' Shut the camp and stand firm, show that we will not lend aid, and the enemy will press their advantage and advance rashly; with no rescue for Ma Wu, his men will fight twice as hard. Su Mao's host will tire; I will strike their exhaustion and can win.' Su Mao and Zhou Jian threw their whole strength against Ma Wu. The fight wore on until several dozen stalwarts in Wang Ba's ranks, Lu Run among them, cut their hair and begged to be sent in.
34
觿 []
Reading the men's fighting spirit, Wang Ba opened the rear of his camp and sent picked cavalry against the enemy's rear. Caught front and rear, Su Mao and Zhou Jian broke in panic; Wang Ba and Ma Wu each drew back to camp. The rebels massed again and offered battle; Wang Ba stayed shut in his camp and feasted his men to music. Su Mao showered the camp with arrows and struck the wine cup before Wang Ba; Wang Ba sat unmoved. His officers said, 'Su Mao was beaten the other day—' he should be easy meat now.' Wang Ba said, 'No.' Su Mao's auxiliaries have come a long way and are short of food; that is why he keeps challenging us, angling for a lucky stroke.' [One] To rest the army behind closed gates is the best of the best—to win without fighting.' Unable to bring him to battle, Su Mao and Zhou Jian withdrew to camp. That night Zhou Jian's nephew Zhou Song mutinied, barred the gates against them, and Su Mao and Zhou Jian fled; Zhou Song surrendered the city.
35
[]
Commentary [one]: Jiao here means to seek or angle for. One-moment means a temporary or opportune stroke.
36
使 *[]*
In the spring of the fifth year the emperor sent a grand palace grandee with credentials to name Wang Ba general who campaigns against the Caitiffs. In the sixth year he opened tuntian fields at Xin'an. In the eighth year he garrisoned the Hangu Pass. He reduced the bandits of Xingyang and Zhongmou and pacified them.
37
涿 [] []
In the ninth year Wang Ba joined Wu Han, Wang Chang the field general, Zhu You who establishes righteousness, Hou Jin who breaks treachery, and more than fifty thousand others against Lu Fang's generals Jia Lan and Min Kan at Gaoliu. The Xiongnu sent cavalry to help Lu Fang; the Han army was caught in the rain and the battle went badly. Wu Han went back to Luoyang while Zhu You was ordered to hold Changshan, Wang Chang Zhuo commandery, and Hou Jin Yuyang. Imperial rescript named him governor of Shanggu, keeping his garrison command as before, with authority to pursue Hu raiders without respect to commandery boundaries. [One] The next year Wang Ba again joined Wu Han and four other generals with sixty thousand men out of Gaoliu against Jia Lan; the edict told Wang Ba and Yuyang governor Chen Xin to lead the van of the combined armies. The Xiongnu left south general came with several thousand horsemen to relieve Jia Lan; Wang Ba and his colleagues fought them repeatedly below Pingcheng, broke them, and pursued beyond the passes for several hundred heads. Wang Ba and the generals re-entered Yanmen and with Du Mao, grand general of valiant cavalry, attacked Lu Fang's officer Yin You at Guo and Fanzhi but could not carry the places. Endnote marker [two] in the received text.
38
[]
Commentary [one]: Ju here means to confine or limit.
39
[]
Commentary [two]: Guo and Fanzhi were counties in Yanmen commandery, both in the present Daizhou region, near Mount Guo. Guo is read like guo.
40
[] [] []
In the thirteenth year his fief was enlarged and he was transferred to the marquisate of Xiang. [One] Lu Fang was then in league with the Xiongnu and Wuhuan; raids were constant and the frontier suffered. By edict Wang Ba led more than six thousand remitted convict laborers with Du Mao to repair the Flying Fox road, [two] piling stone and earth to raise watchtowers and walls for more than three hundred li from Dai to Pingcheng. He fought the Xiongnu and Wuhuan dozens or hundreds of times, large and small, and knew the frontier well; he repeatedly memorialized for peace and marriage with the Xiongnu and proposed shipping supplies up the Warm Water canal [three] to spare the labor of overland haulage—measures that were adopted.
41
[]
After the southern chanyu and the Wuhuan submitted, the north was quiet. Wang Ba spent more than twenty years at Shanggu. In the thirtieth year his title was fixed as marquis of Huailing. [Four] In the second year of Yongping he stepped down for illness and died a few months later.
42
[]
Commentary [one]: Xiang was a county in Pei commandery. The Zuo Commentary says, 'The people of Ju entered Xiang.' Note: south of present-day Ju county in Mizhou there is another town called Xiang.
43
[]
Commentary [two]: The Flying Fox road ran through present-day Flying Fox county in Weizhou, northward to Huairong in Guizhou—the ancient Flying Fox defile.
44
[]
Commentary [three]: The Commentary on the Water Classic traces the Warm Remainder River from east of Juyong pass in Shanggu east past Jun county south and Ji county north.
45
Widening it would ease canal transport.
46
[]
Commentary [four]: Huailing was a county in Linhuai commandery.
47
[]
His son Wang Fu inherited and was later moved to the marquisate of Zhi. [One] When Fu died, his son Du succeeded. Du married Emperor Ming's daughter, the senior princess of Junyi, and served as a gentleman of the Yellow Gates.
48
When Du died, his son Xin inherited.
49
[]
Commentary [one]: Zhi was a county in Jiangxia commandery. Zhi is read like dai.
50
The text turns to Zhai Zun and Zhai Rong.
51
[]
Zhai Zun, courtesy name Disun, [one] was a man of Yingyang in Yingchuan. From boyhood he loved the classical texts. His household was wealthy, yet Zhai Zun was modest and plain and disdained fine dress. When his mother died he carried earth to build her tomb. A department clerk had once wronged him; he gathered clients and killed the man. At first the county thought him mild; afterward everyone feared him.
52
[]
Commentary [one]: The surname Ji is read with the ce-jie fan spelling.
53
After Guangwu broke Wang Xun and his host and passed Yingyang again, Zhai Zun, as a county clerk, was admitted several times; Guangwu admired his bearing and made him a gate clerk-scribe.
54
簿觿 []
He campaigned north of the Yellow River as army market commandant. A boy from the headquarters broke the law and Zhai Zun had him executed on the spot. Guangwu was furious and ordered Zhai Zun arrested. Chief clerk Chen Fu remonstrated, 'You want the army kept in good order; Zhai Zun enforces the law without favor—that is exactly how orders are carried out.' Guangwu pardoned him [one] and named him general who probes treachery. He told his generals, 'Watch yourselves around Zhai Zun—' he killed even a boy from my own quarters for breaking the law; he will show you no private favor.' Soon he was made lieutenant general, followed the pacification of Hebei, and was enfeoffed a full marquis for his merit.
55
[]
Commentary [one]: Shi means to pardon.
56
[] []觿退 滿[] 滿 滿[] 滿 滿 []
In the spring of the second year of Jianwu he was named general who campaigns against the Caitiffs with a fixed fief as marquis of Yingyang. With Jing Dan, Zhu You, Wang Chang, Wang Liang, Zang Gong, and others he entered Ji Pass [one] and struck south against the Man bandits of Hongnong, Yanxin, and Baihua. [Two] A crossbow bolt pierced Zhai Zun's mouth and came out bleeding; the men, seeing him hurt, began to fall back until he roared them to a halt, and they fought twice as hard and routed the enemy. [Three] Zhang Man of the Zhongshan bandits in Xincheng Man was holding the defiles to plague the region; Zhai Zun was ordered against him. Zhai Zun severed his supply line; Zhang Man challenged again and again, but Zhai Zun stayed behind his walls. The remnants of Yanxin and Baihua joined Zhang Man, took the Huoyang stockade, [four] until Zhai Zun divided his force, broke them, and received their surrender. The next spring, starving and trapped, Zhang Man lost his fort and was taken alive. He had sacrificed to Heaven and Earth, claiming the omens made him king; when captured he sighed, "The prophecy texts misled me!" He was beheaded and his wife and children extirpated. Zhai Zun marched south and defeated Deng Feng's younger brother Deng Zhong at Duyan. The chapter carries the marginal note [five] at this break in the narrative.
57
[]
Commentary [one]: Ji Pass is explained in the biography of Deng Yu.
58
[]
Commentary [two]: The Eastern View Records identifies the place as the Baihua stockade.
59
[]
Commentary [three]: Xincheng was a county in Henan commandery, in the area of present-day Yique.
60
[]西
Commentary [four]: It is named for Mount Huoyang; popular usage calls it Marquis Zhang's fort, southwest of present-day Nanyang in Dengzhou.
61
[]西
Commentary [five]: Duyan was a county in Nanyang commandery, southwest of present-day Nanyang in Dengzhou.
62
涿使 [15]
Zhang Feng, governor of Zhuo, seized an imperial envoy, rose in arms, styled himself unsurpassed grand general, and joined forces with Peng Chong. In the fourth year Zhai Zun joined Zhu You, Geng Yan the grand general who establishes might, and Liu Xi the valiant cavalry general in the attack. Zhai Zun's troops arrived first and stormed Zhang Feng; Feng's merit clerk Meng (name lacuna) seized Feng and surrendered him. [15] Zhang Feng had dabbled in occult arts; a Daoist told him he was destined to be Son of Heaven, tied a five-colored bag holding a stone to his elbow, and claimed a jade seal lay inside the stone. Zhang Feng believed him and rebelled. Even on the execution ground he insisted, "The stone on my elbow holds the jade seal." Zhai Zun smashed it with a mallet; Zhang Feng saw the fraud, looked to heaven, and said, "I deserve death and bear no grudge!" The other generals withdrew while Zhai Zun, by edict, stayed to hold Liangxiang against Peng Chong. He sent the protector of the army, Fu Xuan, to fall on Peng Chong's general Li Hao at Lu, routed him, and took more than a thousand heads. They faced each other for over a year; Zhai Zun repeatedly blunted the enemy's edge and many of their followers came over. When Peng Chong died, Zhai Zun advanced and pacified the territory.
63
[16] [17] 使 使 退 西
In the spring of the sixth year an edict ordered Zhai Zun to join Geng Yan, Gai Yan, Wang Chang, Ma Wu, Liu Xin, Liu Shang, and others from Tianshui in the campaign against Gongsun Shu. [16] The army halted at Chang'an as the emperor arrived, but Wei Ao refused to let Han forces up onto Long and pleaded excuses. [17] The emperor called the generals into council. They said, "We might stall Wei Ao for a time, enlarge the fiefs of his generals, and so break him up.' Zhai Zun said, 'Wei Ao has long nursed treachery.' To halt the army now would only deepen his plots and let Shu tighten its defenses—we had better strike at once.' The emperor agreed and sent Zhai Zun ahead as vanguard. Wei Ao posted Wang Yuan to hold the Long mound; Zhai Zun attacked, broke him, and chased him to Xin Pass. When the full host came up they fought Wei Ao, were defeated together, and fell back off Long. An edict then stationed Zhai Zun at Qian, Geng Yan at Qi, Feng Yi the grand general who campaigns west at Xunyi, and Wu Han the grand marshal and others back to garrison Chang'an. Thereafter Zhai Zun repeatedly worsted Wei Ao. The details are given in the biography of Feng Yi.
64
[18] [19]
In the autumn of the eighth year he again accompanied the emperor up onto Long. When Wei Ao fell the emperor returned east by way of Qian, visited Zhai Zun's camp, feasted the troops to Yellow Gate martial music, and kept the revel far into the night [18]. Zhai Zun was ill; the court sent him a thick mat and covered him with the imperial umbrella. He was ordered forward to garrison below Long. When Gongsun Shu sent troops to relieve Wei Ao, Wu Han and Geng Yan all fled back, but Zhai Zun alone did not retreat [19]. He died in camp in the spring of the ninth year.
65
稿[20] [21]
Zhai Zun was frugal and cautious, strict with himself and loyal to the public good: he gave every reward to the ranks, kept no private wealth, wore leather and hemp, slept under a hemp coverlet, and would not let his wife hem her skirts [20]—for this the emperor held him in the highest regard. When he died the ruler mourned him with unusual depth. When the bier reached Henan county the edict had the high officials gather first at the mourning hall; the emperor came in plain dress, looked on the catafalque, and wept bitterly. Returning, he stopped again at the city gate as Zhai Zun's escort passed and wept until he could not stop [21].
66
[22] [23]
When the funeral rites were done he sacrificed in person with a great victim, following the precedent of Emperor Xuan's visit to Huo Guang [22]. He ordered the grand chief steward, the herald, and the governor of Henan to supervise the funeral while the grand minister of agriculture paid the costs. Doctor Fan Sheng memorialized in praise of Zhai Zun: "I have heard that the kings of old exalted good government, honored the worthy, and barred the wicked [23].
67
[24] [25][26] [27]
Gaozu was a sage of deep foresight: he ranked nobles, carved out domains, shared merit with his helpers, recorded his meritorious ministers, and sang their virtues. In life they received extraordinary honors—memorials without naming them, entry to court without hurrying [24]. In death their fiefs continued and their lines were never cut off [25]; vermilion writs and iron tallies passed down without end [26]. Such was the Han's deep kindness to the people and its policy of endurance through many reigns and centuries [27],
68
[28]
so that what fell was raised again and what seemed ended went on. Your Majesty, receiving the mandate in the highest virtue, has clarified the Han way, set your helpers in order, and enfeoffed your meritorious servants in accord with the founders. The general who campaigns against the Caitiffs, Marquis Zun of Yingyang, has died before his time. Your benevolence has moved you to grief, to go far to meet the bier in Henan and show sorrow in your own person; funeral costs drawn from the treasury and lavish gifts to his wife and children are beyond reckoning. You have honored the dead beyond the living and mourned the lost more generously than the surviving—reforming custom in a splendor like sun and moon [28].
69
[29] 西[30] 觿退[31] [32] 使 [33] [34]
Of old the ruler visited a sick minister and condoled a dead one [29]—the mark of the deepest virtue. That practice had long faded since the decline of the Later Han. Under Your Majesty it is revived; every officer is stirred to give his best. I have observed that Zhai Zun cultivated virtue and served the state with utter loyalty—pacifying Yuyang in the north, holding Long and Shu in the west, first scaling the Long heights [30], and boldly taking Lueyang. When the army drew back he alone held on through the worst [31]. He mastered his men's hearts without stepping outside the law. Wherever he was stationed the local people scarcely knew an army was camped among them [32]. His fair name filled the realm and his integrity shone in his own age. He passed every gift to officers and men, wore no finery, and kept no private fortune. His elder brother Wu, because Zhai Zun had no son, sent him a concubine; Zhai Zun sent her back, pledging his body to the state and refusing to think of heirs while alive. Dying, he ordered an ox cart for his bier and a plain burial in Luoyang. Asked about his household, he said nothing at the last. Heavy was the burden and long the road—he stopped only with death [33]. As a general he chose his men for Confucian learning; at wine he set music and always sang the classical hymns and played pitch-pot [34]. He also had an heir appointed for Confucius and memorialized for doctors of the Five Classics.
70
742
Source edition, page 742.
71
744
Source edition, page 744.
72
[41]
He had no son, and the marquisate was abolished. His elder brother Wu rose to be governor of Jiuquan. His paternal cousin was Zhai Rong [41].
73
Zhai Rong, courtesy name Cisun, was orphaned young and was famed for his filial devotion. When the realm fell into chaos and the countryside knew no hearthfires, he stayed alone at his widowed mother's side. Raiders who passed saw that though he was a boy he had backbone, and they marveled and pitied him.
74
[42]
At first Guangwu, for Zhai Zun's sake, named Zhai Rong a gentleman-attendant at the Yellow Gates and kept him always at his side. When Zhai Zun died without an heir the emperor grieved and made Rong magistrate of Yanshi so he could tend the tomb and sacrifice at the four seasons. Zhai Rong had resource and drive; in five years as magistrate he cleared the county of bandits, ranked first in assessment, and was moved to Xiangben [42]. The empire was not yet fully pacified, and in Xiangben bandits walked abroad in broad daylight. Zhai Rong arrived, executed the ringleaders, extirpated their gangs, and within a few years Xiangben was clean. An imperial rescript praised him, raised his rank one grade, and gave him a hundred bolts of silk.
75
*[]*[43] [44]使 [45]使
The Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Chishan Wuhuan had allied and grown strong, raiding the passes again and again to kill and plunder. The court was troubled, thickened the border garrisons to several thousand men per commandery, and sent generals to hold the defiles. Judging Zhai Rong able, in the seventeenth year of Jianwu the emperor named him governor of Liaodong. On arrival he drilled horses and men and pushed out his scouts. Zhai Rong was strong enough to draw a bow of three hundred jin. Whenever the raiders hit the frontier he always led from the front of his men [43] and repeatedly drove them off. In the autumn of the twenty-first year over ten thousand Xianbei horsemen raided Liaodong; Zhai Rong met them with a few thousand, fought in the van in full armor, and routed them so badly that more than half drowned fleeing across water. He chased them beyond the passes until, desperate, they threw away arms and ran naked. He took more than three thousand heads and several thousand horses. After that the Xianbei were terrified of Zhai Rong and dared not approach the passes. Because the three barbarian powers in league would be a lasting border threat [44], in the twenty-fifth year Zhai Rong summoned the Xianbei and tempted them with profit. Their great chief protector, Pian He [45], sent envoys with tribute and offered submission; Zhai Rong welcomed them, rewarded them, and gradually drew them close again.
76
745
Source edition, page 745.
77
滿 * () **[]*[46] 觿 * () **[]*[47] [48] 西
Other peoples such as the Manli and Koguryo then came in steady streams to the passes with sable and fine horses, and the emperor always doubled their rewards. Later the chiefs of Pian He's settlements all submitted and offered their service. Zhai Rong said, 'If you truly want merit, go back and strike the Xiongnu and bring me heads—then I will believe you.' Pian He and his men looked to heaven, laid hand on heart, and cried, 'We will serve you!' They thereupon struck the Xiongnu left Yiwei-rank Zi division [46], took more than two thousand heads, and brought the heads to the commandery seat. (The manuscript gives a variant graph for the second syllable of the Xiongnu title.) The Yiwei-rank Zi division [46] lost more than two thousand men; they brought the heads to the commandery seat. Year after year they fought one another and regularly sent in heads for their rewards. The Xiongnu thereafter waned, the border knew no alarms, and Xianbei and Wuhuan alike came to court with tribute. Zhai Rong was stolid and resolute, with a striking presence among men. He ruled the Yi and Di with grace and good faith; they feared and loved him and so gave him their utmost strength. At first the Chishan Wuhuan had repeatedly raided Shanggu and plagued the frontier; an edict offered a bounty, * (textual variant: merit) and sternly rebuked the commanderies [47] for failing to stop them. Zhai Rong then roused Pian He and sent him to punish them. In the first year of Yongping, Pian He crushed the Red Mountain band, beheaded their chief, and brought the head to Zhai Rong; beyond the passes all trembled [48]. Zhai Rong's name carried through the north from Wuwei in the west to Xuandu and Lelang in the east; Hu and Yi came in to submit and the steppe knew no dust of war. The court was then able to dismiss the frontier garrisons.
78
746
Source edition, page 746 and following.
79
[49]使涿 涿
In the twelfth year he was summoned to the post of grand coachman. He had been in Liaodong nearly thirty years and still had no second suit of clothes. Emperor Ming admired both his service and his austerity; on the day of his promotion he gave him a million cash, three horses, clothes, quilts, a knife (character missing in text), and every need of his household down to the smallest utensil. Whenever the emperor saw Zhai Rong he would sigh that here was a man fit for the heaviest charge. Later, on an eastern tour, he passed through Lu, sat in Confucius's lecture hall, and pointing to the chamber once assigned to Zilu said to those beside him, 'That was the grand coachman's room.' The grand coachman is my shield against insult.' [49] In the sixteenth year he sent Zhai Rong as grand coachman with more than ten thousand horsemen and the southern chanyu's left worthy king, Xin, against the northern Xiongnu, with a rendezvous at Mount Zhuoxie. Xin had borne a grudge against Zhai Rong; marching more than nine hundred li beyond Gaoque Pass he found a low hill and falsely declared it Mount Zhuoxie. Zhai Rong found no enemy and withdrew; for dilatoriness and cowardice he was jailed and stripped of office. Deeply ashamed of having been tricked into failure, he vomited blood and died a few days after leaving prison.
80
使 簿[50]
At the last he told his son, 'I have received too much from the state; I disgraced my mission and won no merit. My death is true shame and regret.' Honor does not allow reward without merit. After I die, register every gift the court gave me [50], take yourself to the camp, and die in the vanguard—that would match my heart.'"
81
When he died, his son Zhai Feng memorialized his last words in full. The emperor, who had thought highly of Zhai Rong and meant to employ him again, was stunned; he summoned Feng to ask how the illness had gone and sighed a long while. The Wuhuan and Xianbei could not forget Zhai Rong: whenever they came to the capital for court they would detour to his tomb, wail to heaven, and only then leave. The officials and people of Liaodong built him a shrine and sacrificed at the four seasons.
82
After Zhai Rong's burial his son Shen joined coach commandant Dou Gu, campaigned against Jushi with distinction, and rose to governor of Liaodong. During the Yongyuan era the Xianbei entered the commandery; Shen was charged with defeat, thrown into prison, and died. Many of Zhai Rong's descendants served on the frontier and all won good reputations.
83
[51] [52][53] [54] [55][56]
The appraiser writes: Zhai Rong's military integrity was stern and steadfast, his conduct grave and sure—even men of the stamp of Marquis Tiao or Sima Rangju could not surpass him [51]. He governed a distant seaboard, turned rough frontier ways by policy [52], bound faith with tallies for the tribesmen [52], and piled Hu and Mo heads beneath the walls [53]; for almost thirty years the watchtowers could idle their drums and douse their beacon fires. This is what the ancients meant by 'benevolence must wait a generation' [54]—and was it not so here! Yet for one fault [55] he was driven to such grief—alas, the harm of making law too terrible [56]!
84
The encomium runs: Qi opened the gate of Yan; Ba froze the Hutuo. Zhai Zun loved ritual and sang the hymns in camp. Zhai Rong held the eastern Liaodong march; the court and the steppe met in peace.
85
Section heading: collation notes.
86
04[2]
Collation note for p. 731 line 4: the Jijie cites Hui Dong that the Eastern View Records reads "followed the pacification of Hebei" instead of the Ji campaign.
87
11[4]
Collation note for p. 731 line 11: the gloss "pu" was corrupted as "fang" in the source and has been corrected.
88
12[][6]
Collation note for p. 731 line 12: bracketed "Zao" supplied per Qian Daxin's Jijie commentary. Collation: the graph should be another character with the grain radical, but all editions read "Zao"; the text is left unchanged.
89
* () **[]*
Collation note for p. 732 line 2: textual fragment "she". The variant reading is the head-wrap graph. Collation on "fight again": the head-wrap graph denotes a horse flank cloth; Qi was struck in the forehead, so the reading should be "ze" (headcloth). Wang Xianqian notes that the Eastern View Records correctly writes "ze". The text has been emended accordingly. Collation: the head-wrap graph was corrupted as "indignant" and has been corrected.
90
輿
Collation note for p. 734 line 2: Jijie cites Hui Dong that the Shuijing zhu gives "Pingyu" in Runan for the fief.
91
殿
Collation note for p. 735 line 9: the Dianben examination doubts the place name "Wang township" in the Treatise on Administrative Geography.
92
Collation note for p. 735 line 10: Jijie cites Sun Xingyan on the Shuowen gloss. The Shuowen defines mutual ridicule among people, not specifically hands. The commentary is judged erroneous.
93
Collation note for p. 735 line 15: Kanwu argues against redundant "to" before "nurture". Collation: the parallel "to bury" / "to nurture" is idiomatic; Liu's objection is rejected.
94
觿
Collation note for p. 736 line 8: cited from Yulan 284. The citation adds the graph "Jian" after "Mao".
95
*[]*殿
Collation note for p. 737 line 1: "field" in garrison Hangu supplied from Ji and Dian editions.
96
Collation note for p. 738 line 3: the river name as given should be emended per Yang Shoujing's Shuijing commentary.
97
Collation note for p. 739 line 4: Eastern View Records variant for Ji Pass.
98
西
Collation note for p. 739 line 4: geographic gloss on Baigu versus Baihua. "Baihua" is probably a corruption of "Baigu".
99
滿
Collation note for p. 739 line 5: identification of Manzhong stockade. Shuowen writes the toponym with a different initial graph.
100
觿
Collation note for p. 739 line 8: variant graphs for the younger brother's name.
101
Collation note for p. 741 line 14: Kanwu emends "first" to "Guang" (Guangwu).
102
08[35]
Collation note for p. 742 line 08: variant wording in Eastern View Records.
103
08* () **[]*[36]殿
Collation fragment p. 742 line 08. This line records a textual variant. Collation: phrasing "love rites and delight in music" [36] adopted per Ji and Dian editions.
104
11[39]
Collation note on posthumous title variant [39].
105
03[41]殿
Collation note on the graph for Zhai Rong's name [41].
106
13*[]*[43]
Collation note [43] on "front" in vanguard.
107
05* () **[]*[46]
Collation note for p. 745 line 05: title fragment. The note marks a variant graph in the Xiongnu title. Collation: Zi rank reading [46] aligned with the Former Han Xiongnu treatise.
108
11* () **[]*[47]
Collation fragment p. 745 line 11. The note marks an alternate graph in the manuscript. Collation: severe blame wording [47] per Kanwu.
109
西
Han guanyi: east and west bureau clerks rank at four hundred dan, other bureau clerks at three hundred dan. The bandit bureau handled banditry.
110
^2.02.1
Footnote: Jijie cites Hui Dong on the Eastern View Records variant.
111
觿
Zhouli: the prison servant manages certain inner-palace duties. Zheng Zhong glosses: clearing the road for the ruler, as with modern jingbi. Shuowen equates the graph with bi (clearing the way).
112
^4.04.1
Footnote: reading for pi. Collation: emendation of the gloss.
113
Leyang was a county in Changshan commandery.
114
^6.06.1*[]*西
Footnote on Zao place name. Supplemented per Jijie citing Qian Daxin. Collation: graph discussion as in parallel note above.
115
西
Feilei was the old state of Fei, made a Han county southwest of present Zao city, within Zhending. Lei is read with the li-zhui fan spelling.
116
Er is read with the wu-xi fan spelling.
117
She here means to set right or correct.
118
Only the Son of Heaven may use the full clearing-of-the-way terminology (lacuna in text).
119
Boping was a county in Dong commandery, in the area of present-day Bo prefecture.
120
The gloss explains *li* as denoting a hard-fought, grueling battle.
121
西
Jianping was a county in Pei commandery; its former seat lay northwest of present-day Zui County in Bozhou, also known as Matou (“Horse Head”) City.
122
Geling was a county whose ancient seat lay in Runan on the ground of the old Tongyang County.
123
The *Shuowen* defines the graph *gong*, the standard character for the forearm, as the upper arm. The commentary gives its fanqie spelling as gong-hong.
124
The *Xu Han shu* records that Guangwu went out to the Guangyang gate, laid a ritual send-off lane, and reviewed the generals as they rode by; because Zun had just crushed the enemy at Yuyang, the emperor had him lead the column.
125
*Jie gu* means spinning an exculpatory story—casting off responsibility for what had gone wrong and dressing it up as reasoned explanation.
126
“Yellow Gates” (*huangmen*) was the name of an imperial bureau. The earlier history notes that celebrated performers were then assembled at the Yellow Gates. “Martial music” meant dancers bearing shield and battle-axe in the military choreography. Here *liang* carries the sense “deep”; some manuscripts read *jiu* instead.
127
觿 退宿調
The *Dongguan ji* notes that Zun was then encamped along the Qian River. The edict ran: “Year on year you have borne the brunt of the fighting; though arms clash at your front, you alone keep your command in order—your service blazes with distinction.” “Your men march off without a standing garrison; when rations are cut there is no stockpile. If we reshuffle deployments now, I worry your command will be stretched past endurance.” “The court knows how hard this is on you, and it is not holding back support.” “Here are a thousand bolts of silk for you to distribute among your officers and men.””
128
One manuscript reads *cai* where others have *yuan*.
129
The *Dongguan ji* adds that on his way back Guangwu halted at the gate, watched the hearses file past, lifted his eyes, and wept.
130
使
At Huo Guang’s death, Emperor Xuan and Empress Dowager Shangguan both went in person to the lying-in-state; the throne dispatched Grand Palace Counsellor Ren Xuan and five attendant censors with credentialed staffs to oversee the obsequies. The *Dongguan ji* notes that Xuan’s obsequies for General Huo were then circulated in full for the high ministers to review as a model for state mourning.
131
Confucius speaks of “honoring the five beauties and casting out the four evils.”
132
The earlier annals record that Xiao He could submit memorials without signing his name and enter the palace gate without breaking into the hurried “mincing” gait.
133
Here *chou* means “of the same rank” or “a match.” That is, once a founding minister died, his heirs kept the noble title in unbroken succession, each generation standing equal to the original honoree.
134
The *Han shu* recounts how Gaozu “clove the tallies” with his chief ministers, sealed oaths in vermilion on iron, and lodged those covenants—along with golden casings and stone archives—in the imperial temple.
135
The Han house had then stood for over two centuries; speaking of “several hundred” years is a round figure counted by centuries.
136
Here *zhuo* means “lofty” or “eminent.”
137
祿
Jia Shan’s memorial to Emperor Wen quotes the old ideal: a sage king raised his ministers in rank and salary, stayed close to them, visited them tirelessly when they were ill, mourned them at death, and attended both the minor and major laying-out—ritual carried to the limit—so that those below would spend their last breath repaying him.
138
That is, the Long Slope (*Long di*) divide.
139
The gloss takes *mo* as the clash and friction of armed hosts. While Wu Han, Geng Yan, and others broke off and rode for safety, Zun alone held his ground and did not pull back.
140
That is, his men did not molest the populace.
141
Confucius says in the *Analects*: “If you make benevolence your burden, is it not a heavy one?” “You lay it down only at death—is that not a long road?”
142
“Ya songs” refers to the court hymns of the *Book of Odes*. The pitch-pot chapter of the *Book of Rites* gives the vessel’s dimensions: a seven-inch neck, a five-inch belly, a two-and-a-half-inch mouth, and a capacity of one *dou* and five *sheng*. They filled the belly with small beans so the arrows would not ricochet out. The arrows were of mulberry or jujube, two feet eight inches long, bark left on for heft and stiffness. The winner drank while the loser went dry—an easy way to mark who was up and who was down.”
143
^35.035.1
Wang Xianqian observes that the *Dongguan ji* wording should be “never forgot the royal house.”
144
^36.036.1殿
The text follows the Jie and Dian recensions.
145
The “canons of posthumous names” come from a *Zhou* document traditionally ascribed to the Duke of Zhou.
146
The *rong* hearse was the ornamented chariot that reproduced the look of the man while alive. *Jie shi* means mailed escorts. The *Dongguan ji* adds that the court sent a colonel with four hundred mailed riders in black lacquer armor and helmets, drawn up with war wagons in battle order, to convoy the cortège.
147
^39.039.1
Shen Qinhan, cited in the collected commentary, notes that Fan Ye’s *Han ji* gives the posthumous style as “Marquis Wei.”
148
The *Dongguan ji* quotes Guangwu sighing repeatedly until Colonel Yao Qi, seeing his anguish, said: “Such boundless kindness—your mourning for Zun never slackens—leaves each of us ministers abashed and anxious.”
149
^41.041.1殿
Manuscripts disagree on the character for Rong: Jie and Dian favor the graph read *tong* in the sense of cinnabar red, while the *Zizhi tongjian* alternates between that spelling and the form read *rong*.
150
Xiangben County belonged to Donghai; its old seat lay south of modern Linyi in the Yi region. The second syllable *ben* is pronounced like English “fay” (*fei*).
151
^43.043.1
The *Yulan* quotation has “always led from the front for the troops,” whereas the *Dongguan ji* reads “vanguard for the soldiers”; the extra character *qian* (“ahead”) is restored from the *Yulan* text.
152
Here *zu* means “in the end” or “at last.” The “three barbarian powers” are the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Wuhuan of Chishan.
153
This is a Xianbei tribal designation.
154
^46.046.1* () **[]*
Scholarly note: the clause should continue “striking the Xiongnu Left Yi—” The damaged graph is *zhi*, the element meaning rank or order, and it belongs to the Xiongnu title. —*zhi zi* band; the reading follows the Jijie recension and aligns with the *Han shu* “Xiongnu Account.”
155
^47.047.1* () **[]*
Further editorial note: The graph *qie*, read in the sense of cutting or incisive rebuke, begins the compound *qie ze*, to rebuke harshly. —*qie ze* (“sharply rebuke”) the commanderies; corrected from a mistaken graph per the *Kanwu*.
156
Fanqie spelling: zhi-she.
157
The *Shangshu dazhuan* quotes Confucius: “I count four true friends.” “Once I gained Hui, my students drew nearer to one another—is that not true *xu fu*?” “Once I gained Zigong, men from afar flocked in—is that not true *ben zou*?” “Once I gained Shi Ye, there was light ahead and glory behind—is that not *xian hou*?” “Once I gained Zhong You, slander never crossed my threshold—is that not *yu wu*?””
158
簿
Here *ruo* is the pronoun “you.” Each office drew up written returns and forwarded them to the throne.
159
使使
The “Tiao marquis” is Zhou Yafu of the Western Han. As general at the Xiliu camp, Zhou Yafu met Emperor Wen in full harness, saluted with arms cradled, and said: “A mailed officer cannot kowtow; I beg leave to greet Your Majesty by the rules of the camp.” Wen exclaimed: “There is the real article of a field commander!” Tian Rangju of Qi is the strategist meant by *Rangju*. Qi’s Duke Jing commissioned him and paired him with Zhuang Jia; Rangju set the rendezvous: “Tomorrow at noon outside the camp gate.” Rangju was punctual, Zhuang Jia was late, so Rangju executed Jia before the host to establish discipline, and every man shook with awe.
160
The commentary gives two fanqie readings for *guang*: gu-meng and jiu-yong.
161
“Men beyond the frontier” refers to leaders like the Wuhuan chief Pian He. Here *fu* means a token of verification. The court had Pian He go back in person to the capital so his allegiance could be tested and trusted. “Tallying heads” describes how Pian He cut down Xiongnu, forwarded the skulls, and collected imperial bounty.
162
Thirty years count as a generation—here the point is how slowly kingly virtue reshapes the realm. Confucius says that if a perfect sovereign arose, humaneness would need a full generation to take root.
163
Here *sheng* means a blemish or slip. The *Zuo zhuan* warns against letting a single misstep eclipse great merit. The commentary glosses *sheng* with the suo-jing fanqie.
164
“Stand in awe of the law” is equivalent here to “submit to its severity.”
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