1
後漢書卷三十七桓榮丁鴻列傳第二十七桓榮字春卿，沛郡龍亢人也。 [一]少學長安，習歐陽尚書，事博士九江朱普。 [二]貧窶無資，[三]常客傭以自給，精力不倦，十五年不窺家園。 至王莽篡位乃歸。
From the Book of Later Han, scroll 37: the twenty-seventh set of paired biographies, of Huan Rong and Ding Hong. Huan Rong, courtesy name Chunqing, came from Longkang in Pei commandery. As a young man he studied in Chang'an, mastering the Ouyang tradition of the Book of Documents under the court scholar Zhu Pu of Jiujiang. Destitute and without means, he often worked as a hired hand to get by; he never flagged, and for fifteen years he never so much as looked homeward. It was not until Wang Mang seized the throne that he went home.
2
會朱普卒，榮奔喪九江，負土成墳，因留教授，徒觿數百人。 莽敗，天下亂。
When Zhu Pu died, Huan Rong rushed to Jiujiang to mourn him, shouldering earth until the tomb was heaped high, then stayed on to teach. Several hundred students gathered at his belt. Wang Mang fell, and the empire descended into turmoil.
3
榮抱其經書與弟子逃匿山谷，雖常饑困而講論不輟，後復客授江淮閒。 注[一]續漢書曰：「榮本齊人，遷於龍亢，至榮六葉。 」東觀記曰：「榮本齊桓公後也。 桓公作伯，支庶用其謚立族命氏焉。」
Huan Rong clutched his texts and fled into the hills with his students; even when they were half starved he never stopped expounding the classics. Later he resumed itinerant teaching between the Yangzi and the Huai. Note 1: The Continued Book of Han says that Huan Rong's family were originally from Qi, relocated to Longkang, and that six generations had passed down to Huan Rong himself. The Eastern Lodge Record adds that he was descended from Duke Huan of Qi. When that duke rose to hegemony, junior branches took his posthumous title as the basis of their lineage and adopted it as their clan name."
4
注[二]朱普字公文，受業於平當，為博士，徒觿尤盛。 見前書。
Note 2: Zhu Pu, courtesy name Gongwen, had studied under Ping Dang, held a chair as court scholar, and drew an exceptionally large following of students. See the earlier Han history.
5
注[三]字林曰：「窶，空也。」
Note 3: The Forest of Graphs glosses ju (want) as "empty, destitute."
6
建武十九年，年六十餘，始辟大司徒府。 時顯宗始立為皇太子，選求明經，乃擢榮弟子豫章何湯為虎賁中郎將，以尚書授太子。 世祖從容問湯[一]本師為誰，湯對曰：「事沛國桓榮。 」帝即召榮，令說尚書，甚善之。 [二]拜為議郎，賜錢十萬，入使授太子。
In 43 CE, already past sixty, he received his first appointment to the staff of the Grand Excellency of Education. The future Emperor Ming had just been named crown prince, and the court wanted a scholar steeped in the classics. Huan Rong's disciple He Tang of Yuzhang was therefore promoted to captain of the Rapid-as-Tigers guard and charged with teaching the prince the Book of Documents. Guangwu casually asked He Tang who his first master had been. Tang answered, "I studied under Huan Rong of Pei." The emperor summoned Huan Rong at once, had him lecture on the Documents, and was deeply impressed. He was named a gentleman consultant, given a hundred thousand cash, and brought into the palace to teach the crown prince.
7
每朝會，輒令榮於公卿前敷奏經書。 帝稱善，曰：「得生幾晚！ 」會歐陽博士缺，帝欲用榮。 榮叩頭讓曰：「臣經術淺薄，不如同門生郎中彭閎、揚州從事戲弘。」
Whenever the court met, the emperor had Huan Rong expound a passage from the classics before the high ministers. Delighted, the emperor exclaimed, "Why did I only find this man so late in the day?" Soon afterward the chair for the Ouyang Book of Documents fell vacant, and the emperor meant to give it to Huan Rong. Huan Rong kowtowed and demurred: "My grasp of the classics is shallow; I am not the equal of my classmates Peng Hong, a gentleman of the household, and Xi Hong, a provincial clerk in Yangzhou."
8
帝曰：「俞，往，女諧。 」[三]因拜榮為博士，引閎、弘為議郎。 注[一]從音七容反。
The emperor said, "Very well—go, and see that all is settled harmoniously." With that he named Huan Rong court scholar and appointed Peng Hong and Xi Hong gentlemen consultants as well. Note 1: The character cong ("calmly") is glossed with the fanqie spelling qi-rong.
9
注[二]謝承書曰：「何湯字仲弓，豫章南昌人也。 榮門徒常四百餘人，湯為高第，以才明知名。 榮年四十無子，湯乃去榮妻為更娶，生三子，榮甚重之。 後拜郎中，守開陽門候。 上微行夜還，湯閉門不納，更從中東門入。 明旦，召詣太官賜食，諸門候皆奪俸。 建武十八年夏旱，公卿皆暴露請雨。 洛陽令著車蓋出門，湯將□士鉤令車收案，有詔免令官，拜湯虎賁中郎將。 上澗歎曰：『赳赳武夫，公侯干城，何湯之謂也。 』湯以明經嘗授太子，推薦榮，榮拜五更，封關內侯。
Note 2: Xie Cheng's history identifies He Tang, courtesy name Zhonggong, as a native of Nanchang in Yuzhang. Huan Rong's lecture hall regularly held more than four hundred students; He Tang stood at the top of the class and was celebrated for his brilliance. Huan Rong had reached forty without an heir, so He Tang sent away Huan's wife and found him a new one, who bore three sons. Huan Rong ever after held him in the highest regard. He Tang was later promoted to gentleman of the palace and assigned as warden of Luoyang's Kaiyang Gate. The emperor once returned from an incognito outing after dark; He Tang shut the gate and refused him entry, forcing the party to use the central-east gate instead. The next morning he summoned He Tang to the imperial kitchen for a royal meal, while every other gate warden lost his pay. In the summer drought of 42 CE the senior ministers stood in the open sun, praying for rain. The magistrate of Luoyang rode out under a parasol while the capital prayed for rain. He Tang led county officers, seized the cart by hook, and had the case pressed. An edict dismissed the magistrate and promoted He Tang to captain of the Rapid-as-Tigers guard. The emperor sighed, "A stalwart bulwark for ruler and realm—that ode might have been composed for He Tang." He Tang, who had taught the crown prince the classics, now recommended Huan Rong, who was named an elder of the five ranks and enfeoffed as a marquis within the passes.
10
榮常言曰：『此皆何仲弓之力也。 』」注[三]續漢書曰：「閎字作明。 」俞，然也。 然其所舉，□令往，言汝能和諧此官。 謝承書曰：「戲弘字奉卿，吳郡人也。 家代為冠族。 少有英才，與桓榮相善。
Huan Rong used to say, "Everything I have I owe to He Zhonggong." End of the passage quoted from Xie Cheng. Note 3: The Continued Book of Han records Peng Hong's courtesy name as Ming. Yu means "yes," assent. As for those he recommended, the emperor sent them forward with orders to work in harmony with the new post. Xie Cheng's history describes Xi Hong, courtesy name Fengqing, as a man of Wu commandery. His family had been a leading clan for generations. Gifted from youth, he became a close friend of Huan Rong.
11
子徽，至司徒長史」也。
His son Xi Hui rose to chief clerk to the minister of education."
12
車駕幸大學，會諸博士論難於前，榮被服儒衣，溫恭有蘊籍，[一]辯明經義，每以禮讓相猒，不以辭長勝人，儒者莫之及，[二]特加賞賜。 又詔諸生雅吹擊磬，盡日乃罷。 [三]後榮入會庭中，詔賜奇果，受者皆懷之，榮獨舉手捧之以拜。 帝笑指之曰：「此真儒生也。 」以是愈見敬厚，常令止宿太子宮。 積五年，榮薦門下生九江胡憲侍講，乃聽得出，旦一入而已。 榮嘗寢病，太子朝夕遣中傅問病，賜以珍羞、帷帳、奴婢，謂曰：「如有不諱，無憂家室也。 」[四]後病癒，復入侍講。 注[一]蘊籍猶言寬博有餘也。 蘊音於問反。
When the emperor visited the Imperial Academy and the scholars debated before the throne, Huan Rong appeared in full scholar's dress, gentle, deferential, and composed. He clarified the classics with courtesy rather than verbal one-upmanship, and none of the other ru could match him. The court singled him out for lavish gifts. He also ordered the students to play the stone chimes in the proper ya mode, and the music lasted the whole day. Later, when Huan Rong attended a garden audience, the emperor sent out rare fruit. Everyone else tucked the gift away; Huan Rong alone lifted his with both hands and bowed over them in thanks. The emperor laughed, pointed, and said, "There stands a real Confucian." From then on he was held in ever deeper esteem and was regularly told to spend the night in the crown prince's residence. After five years Huan Rong recommended his pupil Hu Xian of Jiujiang as co-tutor, and only then was he allowed to leave the palace each evening, returning once at dawn. When Huan Rong fell gravely ill, the crown prince sent his tutor morning and night with gifts of fine food, hangings, and servants, and told him, "If the worst should happen, your family will want for nothing." When he recovered, he returned to the palace to resume his teaching. Note 1: Yunji here means breadth of manner, an easy, ample reserve. The character yun is glossed yu-wen in the fanqie spelling.
13
注[二]猒，服也。 音一葉反。
Note 2: Here yan means to defer or yield to one another. It is read with the fanqie yi-ye.
14
注[三]吹管奏雅頌也。
Note 3: The students were playing wind instruments in the ya and song modes.
15
注[四]不諱謂死也。 死者人之常，故言不諱也。
Note 4: "The unmentionable" is a euphemism for death. Because dying is the common lot of humanity, polite speech calls it "what cannot be spoken of."
16
二十八年，大會百官，詔問誰可傅太子者，腢臣承望上意，皆言太子舅執金吾原鹿侯陰識可。 [一]博士張佚正色曰：「今陛下立太子，為陰氏乎？ 為天下乎？
In 52 CE the emperor convened his officials and asked who should tutor the crown prince. Reading his mood, the ministers all named the prince's uncle Yin Shi, marquis of Yuanlu and Bearer of the Mace. The scholar Zhang Yi spoke up sternly: "Is Your Majesty installing an heir for the house of Yin," or for the empire?"
17
即為陰氏，則陰侯可； 為天下，則固宜用天下之賢才。 」帝稱善，曰：「欲置傅者，以輔太子也。 今博士不難正朕，況太子乎？ 」即拜佚為太子太傅，而以榮為少傅，賜以輜車、乘馬。 榮大會諸生，陳其車馬、印綬，曰：「今日所蒙，稽古之力也，可不勉哉！ 」榮以太子經學成畢，上疏謝曰：「臣幸得侍帷幄，執經連年，而智學淺短，無以補益萬分。 今皇太子以聰叡之姿，通明經義，觀覽古今，儲君副主莫能專精博學若此者也。 斯誠國家福佑，天下幸甚。 臣師道已盡，皆在太子，謹使掾臣汜再拜歸道。 」[二]太子報書曰：「莊以童蒙，學道九載，而典訓不明，無所曉識。 夫五經廣大，聖言幽遠，非天下之至精，豈能與於此！
If it is for the Yins, then Lord Yin will do; if it is for the realm, you must choose the best talent in the realm." The emperor approved. "A tutor is meant to guide the heir," he said. "If a court scholar will correct me to my face, what better model could the crown prince have?" He thereupon named Zhang Yi grand tutor to the heir apparent and Huan Rong junior tutor, and presented them with covered carriages and teams. Huan Rong gathered his students, displayed the imperial carriage, horses, and seals, and declared, "Today's honors come from devotion to the classics—how can we fail to press on?" When the crown prince had finished his classical course, Huan Rong submitted a memorial of thanks: "I have been privileged to attend you in the inner quarters and hold the classics year after year, yet my learning remains slight and has scarcely repaid your favor." The heir apparent's native intelligence has opened the meaning of the classics to him; he ranges across past and present as no other heir in memory has done through sheer breadth of study." That is true good fortune for the dynasty and a blessing for the whole realm." I have taught all I know; it now rests with the heir. I therefore send my clerk Fan Si to bow twice and convey my withdrawal from instruction. The crown prince replied: "Zhuang began as a child ignorant of letters; for nine years I have studied the Way, yet the norms of the classics remain dim to me, and I still understand little." The Five Classics are vast and the sages' words abstruse; without the keenest mind alive, who could master them?"
18
[三]況以不才，敢承誨命。 昔之先師謝弟子者有矣，上則通達經旨，分明章句，[四]下則去家慕鄉，求謝師門。 [五]今蒙下列，不敢有辭，願君慎疾加餐，重愛玉體。 」[六]注[一]言可任也。
As for me, lacking ability, how could I presume to refuse the lesson you offer?" History records masters who released a finished pupil: the finest left having mastered the text and every subdivision; [four] the humblest went home lovesick for kin, yet still returned to the master's door to give thanks." [Five] Now that you have granted me leave to step down, I dare not object. I pray you, sir, guard your health, take your meals, and cherish your person." Note 1: The earlier remark means that Yin Shi was considered a suitable appointment.
19
注[二]續漢書曰：「三公東西曹掾四百石，余掾比二百石。 」歸猶謝也。
Note 2: The Continued Book of Han states that clerks of the eastern and western bureaus under the Three Excellencies ranked at four hundred bushels and the rest at two hundred. Here gui means to decline or take leave, the same as xie.
20
注[三]此上二句，周易之系辭。 與音預。
Note 3: The two lines just quoted come from the Appended Remarks to the Zhouyi. Yu ("participate") is read like the word yu meaning "to take part in."
21
注[四]前書丁寬受學於田何，學成，何謝寬，寬東歸，何謂門人曰：「易東矣。」
Note 4: The earlier history tells how Ding Kuan finished his study under Tian He; the master then dismissed his pupil, Ding returned east, and Tian He told his followers, "The Book of Changes is traveling eastward."
22
是先師謝弟子。
That is an instance of the master dismissing the disciple.
23
注[五]韓詩外傳曰「孔子行，見戲魚哭。 孔子曰：『子非有喪，何哭悲也？ 』戲魚曰：『吾少而好學，周流諸侯，以沒吾親。 樹欲靜而風不止，子欲養而親不待。
Note 5: The Han Shi Wai Zhuan tells how Confucius, on the road, met Gao Yu in tears—the name is written with variant graphs in some manuscripts. Confucius asked, "You are not in mourning—why weep as if you were?" Gao Yu replied, "I loved books in youth and wandered the states in their service, and my parents died before I could support them." The tree would be still, yet the wind never ceases; the child would repay his parents, yet they are gone too soon."
24
往而不可追者年也，去而不見者親也。 』孔子曰：『弟子識之。 』於是門人辭歸者十有三」也。
The years that pass cannot be overtaken; the parents who depart cannot be seen again." Confucius told his disciples, "Burn this lesson into your memory." Thirteen disciples thereupon resigned and went home to their families."
25
注[六]史記曰：「伏聞太后玉體不安。 」君子於玉比德，故以言也。
Note 6: The Shiji quotes a memorial opening, "I have heard with bowed head that Her Majesty's precious health is unsteady." The gentleman likens virtue to fine jade, hence the polite reference to the "jade body."
26
三十年，拜為太常。 榮初遭倉卒，與族人桓元卿同饑□，而榮講誦不息。 元卿嗤榮曰：「但自苦氣力，何時復施用乎？ 」榮笑不應。 及為太常，元卿歎曰：「我農家子，豈意學之為利乃若是哉！ 」[一]注[一]東觀漢記曰：「榮為太常，元卿來候榮，榮諸弟子謂曰：『平生笑盡氣力，今何如？ 』元卿曰：『我安能知此哉！ 』」顯宗即位，尊以師禮，甚見親重，拜二子為郎。 榮年踰八十，自以衰老，數上書乞身，輒加賞賜。 乘輿嘗幸太常府，令榮坐東面，設幾杖，會百官驃騎將軍東平王蒼以下及榮門生數百人，天子親自執業，每言輒曰「大師在是」。 [一]既罷，悉以太官供具賜太常家。 其恩禮若此。 注[一]東觀記曰「時執經生避位發難，上謙曰『大師在是』」也。
In 54 CE he was appointed minister of rituals. In the first panic of the wars Huan Rong and his kinsman Huan Yuanqing shivered and starved together, yet Huan Rong never stopped chanting the classics. Yuanqing mocked him: "You only wear yourself out—when will any of this ever matter?" Huan Rong smiled and said nothing. When Huan Rong became minister of rituals, Yuanqing sighed, "I was born a farmer's son; I never dreamed scholarship could bring a man this far." Note 1: The Eastern Lodge Record says that when Huan Rong took office, Yuanqing came to call. The students teased him, "You used to ridicule him for wasting his strength—what do you say now?" Yuanqing replied, "How was I to know it would come to this?" When Emperor Ming came to the throne he treated Huan Rong with full master's rites, held him in the closest confidence, and appointed two of his sons gentlemen of the palace. Past eighty, Huan Rong judged himself too frail for office and repeatedly asked to retire; each time the court answered with fresh honors and gifts. The emperor once paid a call on the minister of rituals' residence, had Huan Rong seated with his back to the east—the seat of honor—supplied him with a desk and cane, and gathered the high ministers from the general of swift cavalry and Prince Cang of Dongping down to several hundred of Huan's own students. The sovereign himself took the pupil's part, and whenever he spoke he would say only, "The great master is present." [1] When the visit ended he had the entire imperial banquet service sent to Huan Rong's home. Such was the favor shown him. Note 1: The Eastern Lodge Record says that when students holding the classics yielded their seats to press hard questions, the emperor modestly replied, "The great master is here."
27
永平二年，三雍初成，拜榮為五更。 [一]每大射養老禮畢，帝輒引榮及弟子升堂，執經自為下說。 [二]乃封榮為關內侯，食邑五千戶。 [三]注[一]三雍，宮也，謂明堂、靈台、辟雍。 前書音義曰：「皆□天人雍和之氣為之，故謂三雍。 」五更，解見明紀。
In 59 CE, when the three ritual complexes—the Bright Hall, the Spirit Terrace, and the Ring Moat Academy—were finished, Huan Rong was named elder of the fifth order. [1] After each grand archery ceremony and banquet for the aged, the emperor would lead Huan Rong and his students up into the hall, take the text in his own hands, and play disciple while Huan expounded from below. [2] He then enfeoffed Huan Rong as marquis within the passes with a fief of five thousand households. [3] Note 1: The "three Yong" are ritual buildings: the Bright Hall, the Spirit Terrace, and the imperial academy in its moated ring. The Former Han sound gloss explains that the three complexes embody the harmonious qi of the Yong sacrifice between Heaven and man, which is why they are grouped as the "three Yong." On the title "elder of the fifth order," see the annals of Emperor Ming.
28
注[二]下說謂下語而講說之也。
Note 2: "Speaking from below" means the emperor took the lower place and listened while the teacher lectured.
29
注[三]東觀記曰：「榮以尚書授朕十有餘年。 詩云：『日就月將，示我顯德行。 』乃封之。」
Note 3: The Eastern Lodge Record quotes the emperor: "Huan Rong has taught Us the Documents for more than a decade." The Classic of Poetry says, "Advancing day by day and month by month, you display illustrious virtue." So I granted him a fief."
30
榮每疾病，帝輒遣使者存問，太官、太醫相望於道。 及篤，上疏謝恩，讓還爵土。 帝幸其家問起居，入街下車，擁經而前，撫榮垂涕，賜以默茵、帷帳、刀□、衣被，良久乃去。 自是諸侯將軍大夫問疾者，不敢復乘車到門，皆拜默下。
Whenever Huan Rong fell ill, the emperor dispatched messengers to ask after him, and imperial physicians and kitchen stewards crowded the road to his door. When his condition turned grave he memorialized his gratitude and asked to surrender his title and fief. The emperor called at his home to inquire after him, left his chariot in the lane, and advanced clutching the classics to Huan Rong's bedside. He stroked the old man and wept, then presented him with a dark cushion, hangings, weapons, and bedding, and stayed a long while before he left. After that, no marquis, general, or senior official who came to ask after his health would drive a carriage to the door; each dismounted and bowed from the lane below the mat the emperor had blessed.
31
榮卒，帝親自變服，臨喪送葬，賜頤塋於首山之陽。 [一]除兄子二人補四百石，都講生八人補二百石，其餘門徒多至公卿。 [二]子郁嗣。 [三]注[一]首陽山在今偃師縣西北也。
When Huan Rong died, the emperor changed out of court dress, attended the funeral in person, and granted him a burial mound on the southern slope of Mount Shou. [1] Two of his nephews were given posts at four hundred bushels, eight senior lecture students at two hundred bushels, and many of his other disciples rose to the highest offices. [2] His son Huan Yu inherited the title. [3] Note 1: Mount Shouyang lies northwest of present-day Yanshi county.
32
注[二]華嶠書曰：「榮弟子丁鴻學最高。」
Note 2: Hua Qiao's history names Ding Hong as the foremost of Huan Rong's students in scholarship.
33
注[三]華嶠書曰：「榮長子雍早卒，少子郁嗣。」
Note 3: Hua Qiao records that Huan Rong's eldest son Yong died young and the younger son Yu carried on the line.
34
論曰：張佚訐切陰侯，以取高位，危言犯觿，義動明後，知其直有餘也。 若夫一言納賞，志士為之懷恥； [一]受爵不讓，風人所以興歌。 [二]而佚廷議戚援，自居全德，[三]意者以廉不足乎？ 昔樂羊食子，有功見疑； 西巴放麑，以罪作傅。 [四]蓋推仁審偽，本乎其情。 君人者能以此察，則真邪幾於辨矣。 [五]注[一]秦兵圍趙，時魯仲連在趙，因說令退兵。 平原君趙勝乃以千金為仲連壽，連笑曰：「所貴於天下之士者，能排患解紛而無取也。 即有取者，是商賈之事也，而連不忍為也。 」遂去，終身不復見。 見史記也。
The historian's judgment: Zhang Yi won high office by bluntly challenging the Yin clan's monopoly on the tutorship; his daring words caught even the heir's attention and stirred a wise ruler—here was integrity in full measure. Yet to win a rich reward on the strength of a single remark is something a man of principle would find shameful; [1] and to accept a fief without demur is what moved the poets of the Airs to compose their verse. [2] Still, at court Zhang Yi had argued for talent over nepotism, then stepped forward to take the grand tutor's post himself—[3] was he, after all, less than perfect in unstained conduct? Yue Yang drank soup made from his own son's flesh and was distrusted even after his victory; Xi Ba set a captured fawn free and was punished, yet was later made tutor to the heir. [4] Judging true benevolence against mere pretense always comes back to the heart's motive. A ruler who tests men in this way will come close to telling loyalty from sham. [5] Note 1: When Qin besieged Zhao, Lu Zhonglian was in Handan and talked the besiegers into lifting the siege. Lord Pingyuan offered Lu Zhonglian a thousand in gold as a birthday gift; Lu laughed and said, "The true knight relieves calamity and untangles strife without pocketing a fee." To take payment would be huckster's work, and I will not stoop to it." With that he left and never saw Lord Pingyuan again. The full story is in the Records of the Grand Historian.
35
注[二]詩小雅角弓篇曰：「受爵不讓，至於己斯亡。 」風人猶詩人也。
Note 2: The Horn Bow ode in the Minor Odes runs, "He takes rank without yielding—thus he brings ruin on himself." "The poets of the Airs" simply means the poets of the Classic of Poetry.
36
注[三]佚諫云「當用天下之賢才」，而乃自當其任，故曰「自居全德」。 全德言無玷缺也。 莊子曰「是謂全德」也。
Note 3: Zhang Yi had urged the throne to choose the worthiest man in the realm, then accepted the grand tutorship himself—hence the comment that he "claimed complete virtue for himself." "Complete virtue" means conduct without flaw. Zhuangzi uses the same phrase of a man whose character is whole.
37
注[四]並解見吳漢傳。
Note 4: The parallels of Yue Yang and Xi Ba are discussed in the biography of Wu Han.
38
注[五]幾，近也，音鉅依反。
Note 5: Ji here means "almost"; it is read with the fanqie ju-yi.
39
郁字仲恩，少以父任為郎。 敦厚篤學，傳父業，以尚書教授，門徒常數百人。
Huan Yu, courtesy name Zhongen, entered the palace as a gentleman cadet through his father's privilege. Steadfast and bookish, he carried on his father's teaching of the Book of Documents to a lecture hall that again numbered in the hundreds.
40
榮卒，郁當襲爵，上書讓于兄子泛，顯宗不許，不得已受封，悉以租入與之。
When Huan Rong died, Huan Yu was heir to the marquisate but memorialized asking to pass the title to his cousin Fan. Emperor Ming refused. Yu accepted the fief only under protest and handed every copper of the rental income to Fan.
41
帝以郁先師子，有禮讓，甚見親厚，常居中論經書，問以政事，稍遷侍中。 [一]帝自製五家要說章句，令郁校定於宣明殿，[二]以侍中監虎賁中郎將。 注[一]東觀記曰「永平十四年為議郎，遷侍中」也。
Because he was the old tutor's son and had shown such modesty, the emperor kept him close, had him discourse on the classics in the inner palace, consulted him on policy, and gradually promoted him to palace attendant. [1] The emperor drafted his own commentary on the Five Classics in chapter-and-sentence form and had Huan Yu collate it in the Xuanyang Hall; [2] as palace attendant he also oversaw the Rapid-as-Tigers guard. Note 1: The Eastern Lodge Record places his appointment as gentleman consultant in 71 CE and his promotion to palace attendant soon after.
42
注[二]華嶠書曰「帝自製五行章句」，此言「五家」，即謂五行之家也。 宣明殿在德陽殿後。 東觀記曰：「上謂郁曰：『卿經及先師，致覆文雅。 』其冬，上親於辟雍，自講所制五行章句已，復令郁說一篇。 上謂郁曰：『我為孔子，卿為子夏，起予者商也。 』又問郁曰：『子幾人能傳學？ 』郁曰：『臣子皆未能傳學，孤兄子一人學方起。 』上曰：『努力教之，有起者即白之。 』」永平十五年，入授皇太子經，遷越騎校尉，詔□太子、諸王各奉賀致禮。 郁數進忠言，多見納錄。 [一]肅宗即位，郁以母憂乞身，詔聽以侍中行服。 [二]建初二年，遷屯騎校尉。 注[一]東觀記曰：「皇太子賜郁鞍馬、刀□，郁乃上疏皇太子曰：『伏見太子體性自然，包含今古，謙謙允恭，天下共見。 郁父子受恩，無以明益，夙夜籩懼，誠思自竭。 愚以為太子上當合聖心，下當卓絕於觿，宜思遠慮，以光朝廷。 』」注[二]華嶠書曰「郁上書乞身，天子憂之，有詔公卿議。 議者皆以郁身為名儒，學者之宗，可許之，於是詔郁以侍中行服」也。
Note 2: Hua Qiao says the sovereign wrote a commentary on the Five Phases; "five houses" here is the same tradition. The Xuanyang Hall stood behind the Deyang Hall in the palace. The Eastern Lodge Record quotes the emperor telling Huan Yu, "Your learning matches your father's; your diction is refined and sure." That winter, after lecturing on his own commentary on the Five Phases at the academy, he had Huan Yu present a further section. He said to Yu, "Let me be Confucius and you Zixia—'It is Shang who can set me on my way with the Odes.'" Then he asked, "How many of your sons can carry on your scholarship?" Yu answered, "None of my own boys show promise; only my late brother's orphan is beginning to take to the work." The emperor said, "Train him hard, and tell me the moment he begins to shine." In 72 CE he entered the palace to teach the crown prince the classics, was promoted to colonel of swift cavalry, and an edict directed the heir and the princes each to send congratulations and formal gifts. Huan Yu often offered blunt counsel, and most of it was accepted. [1] When Emperor Zhang came to the throne, Huan Yu asked leave to mourn his mother; the court allowed him to keep his rank of palace attendant while in mourning. [2] In 77 CE he was transferred to colonel of garrison cavalry. Note 1: The Eastern Lodge Record says the crown prince once gave Huan Yu horses and arms. Yu memorialized in reply: "I have observed that Your Highness's temperament is naturally balanced, comprehending past and present, humble and truly reverent, as the whole court can see." Your servants father and son owe a debt your kindness can never repay; we are anxious night and day and would give our last breath in your service. I beg Your Highness to satisfy the sage Son of Heaven above and to stand head and shoulders above your peers at court; look to the long view and so bring luster to the dynasty. Note 2: Hua Qiao records that when Yu asked to retire for mourning, "the emperor was troubled and ordered the ministers to debate the matter." They agreed that a scholar of his stature, the acknowledged head of the school, should be granted the request, and an edict allowed him to complete mourning without resigning his post of palace attendant."
43
由是遷長樂少府，復入侍講。 頃之，轉為侍中奉車都尉。 永元四年，代丁鴻為太常。 明年，病卒。 注[一]自禮記以下，至此以上，皆大戴禮之文也。 切而不勤，謂習與智長，則常自切厲而不須勤□，若性猶自然也。 襁絡也； 保，小兒被也。 「保」當作「褓」，古字通也。 史佚，成王時史官，名佚，賢者也。 維，持也。 遺，失也。
He was then promoted to junior steward of the Changle Palace and again joined the palace lecturing staff. Soon afterward he became palace attendant and chief commandant for the imperial carriages. In 92 CE he succeeded Ding Hong as minister of rituals. He died of illness the following year. Note 1: From the Liji passage cited down to this point, the commentary follows the text of the Da Dai Liji. "Keen without being driven" means that as habit and understanding grow, a man spurs himself without external goading, almost as second nature. Qiang denotes the bands by which an infant is carried on the back; bao is the quilt wrapped around a baby. The character here should be understood as bao, "swaddling"; the two graphs were often interchanged in old texts. Yi the scribe, who served under King Cheng of Zhou, was a man of noted virtue. Wei means to uphold or sustain. Yi (here) means to lose or let slip.
44
注[二]韋賢字長孺，魯國鄒人，治魯詩。 蔡義，河內溫人也，為韓詩，給事中也。 夏侯勝，魯人也，字長公，治歐陽尚書。 並見前書。
Note 2: Wei Xian, courtesy name Changru, a native of Zou in Lu, was a master of the Lu tradition of the Classic of Poetry. Cai Yi of Wen in Henei specialized in the Han Odes and served as a palace attendant. Xiahou Sheng of Lu, courtesy name Changgong, was a master of the Ouyang Book of Documents. All are treated in the earlier Han history.
45
注[三]酺等並自有傳。
Note 3: Yu Pu and the others named here have separate biographies.
46
郁經授二帝，恩寵甚篤，賞賜前後數百千萬，顯於當世。 門人楊震、朱寵，皆至三公。 [一]注[一]鄧騭傳曰：「朱寵字仲威，京兆人也。 篤行好學，從桓榮受尚書，位至太尉。」
Huan Yu taught two emperors from the classics and basked in extraordinary favor; gifts in cash and silk ran into the millions, and he stood at the apex of his age. Among his pupils Yang Zhen and Zhu Chong rose to the three highest offices. [1] Note 1: Deng Zhi's biography identifies Zhu Chong, courtesy name Zhongwei, as a man of the metropolitan region. Scrupulous in conduct and devoted to study, he learned the Documents from Huan Rong and rose to grand commandant."
47
初，榮受朱普學章句四十萬言，浮辭繁長，多過其實。 [一]及榮入授顯宗，減為二十三萬言。 郁復刪省定成十二萬言。 由是有桓君大小太常章句。 注[一]長音直亮反。
At first Huan Rong had learned Zhu Pu's commentary on the Documents—four hundred thousand characters of inflated verbiage that often overshot the sense. [1] When he taught Emperor Ming he pared it to two hundred thirty thousand characters. Huan Yu cut and condensed it again until a stable text of one hundred twenty thousand characters remained. Hence the two recensions known as the elder and younger Lord Huan's minister-of-rituals commentary. Note 1: The character chang ("long") is read with the fanqie zhi-liang.
48
子普嗣，傳爵至曾孫。 郁中子焉，能世傳其家學。 [一]孫鸞、曾孫彬，並知名。 注[一]華嶠書曰：「郁六子，普、延、焉、俊、酆、良。 普嗣侯，傳國至曾孫，絕。 酆、良子孫皆博學有才能。」
His son Huan Pu inherited the title, which passed down to a great-grandson. Huan Yu's middle son, Huan Yan, carried the family learning into the next generation. [1] His grandsons Huan Luan and great-grandsons such as Huan Bin also won renown. Note 1: Hua Qiao names six sons: Pu, Yan, Yan, Jun, Feng, and Liang—that is, Huan Pu, Huan Yan, Huan Yan, and their younger brothers. Pu inherited the marquisate; the line ran to a great-grandson and then failed. The descendants of Feng and Liang remained learned men of ability."
49
焉字叔元，少以父任為郎。 明經篤行，有名稱。 永初元年，入授安帝，三遷為侍中步兵校尉。 永寧中，順帝立為皇太子，以焉為太子少傅，月餘，遷太傅，以母憂自乞，聽以大夫行喪。 踰年，詔使者賜牛酒，奪服，即拜光祿大夫，遷太常。 時廢皇太子為濟陰王，焉與太僕來歷、廷尉張□諫，不能得，事已具來歷傳。
Huan Yan, courtesy name Shuyuan, entered the palace as a gentleman cadet through his father's rank. He was celebrated for classical learning and steadfast conduct. In 107 CE he went to the palace to teach Emperor An, and after three promotions he was palace attendant and colonel of foot soldiers. During the Yongning era, when Emperor Shun was named crown prince, Huan Yan became his junior tutor; a month later he was promoted to grand tutor. He asked leave to mourn his mother and was allowed to keep only his grandee's title while in mourning. When the mourning year ended, envoys brought him oxen and wine, his mourning dress was formally removed, and he was at once named supernumerary grandee and then minister of rituals. When the crown prince was demoted to prince of Jiyin, Huan Yan joined Grand Coachman Lai Li and Judge Zhang Hao in protesting; they failed to reverse the decision, as recounted in the biography of Lai Li.
50
視事三年，坐辟召禁錮者為吏免。 復拜光祿大夫。 陽嘉二年，代來歷為大鴻臚，數日，遷為太常。 永和五年，代王龔為太尉。 漢安元年，以日食免。 明年，卒於家。 注[一]省猶視也。
After three years in office he was dismissed for appointing a man still under the ban on officeholding to a clerical post. He was soon reappointed supernumerary grandee. In 133 CE he succeeded Lai Li as grand herald, then within days was transferred back to minister of rituals. In 140 CE he replaced Wang Gong as grand commandant. In 142 CE he stepped down after a solar eclipse was laid to ministers' fault. He died at home the following year. Note 1: The commentary glosses the character sheng with shi: to look after or oversee one's duties.
51
弟子傳業者數百人，黃瓊、楊賜最為顯貴。 焉孫典。 [一]注[一]華嶠書曰：「焉長子衡，早卒。 中子順，順子典。」
Several hundred students carried on his school; Huang Qiong and Yang Ci rose highest. His grandson was Huan Dian. [1] Note 1: Hua Qiao records that Huan Yan's eldest son Heng died young. The middle son was Shun; Shun's son was Dian."
52
典字公雅，復傳其家業，[一]以尚書教授穎川，門徒數百人。 舉孝廉為郎。 居無幾，會國相王吉以罪被誅，[二]故人親戚莫敢至者。 典獨□官收斂歸葬，服喪三年，負土成墳，為立祠堂，盡禮而去。 注[一]華嶠書曰「典十二喪父母，事叔母如事親。 立廉操，不取於人，門生故吏問遺，一無所受」也。
Huan Dian, courtesy name Gongya, continued the family tradition, teaching the Book of Documents in Yingchuan to several hundred pupils. Recommended as filial and incorrupt, he was appointed a gentleman. Soon afterward the chancellor of Pei, Wang Ji, was executed for a crime, and none of his former friends or relatives dared come near. Huan Dian alone resigned his post, collected the body, escorted the coffin home, and mourned three years. He shouldered earth until the tomb stood high, built a shrine to Wang, observed every rite, and only then left. Note 1: Hua Qiao says Huan Dian lost his parents at twelve and thereafter honored his aunt as a mother. He lived frugally and took nothing from others; when pupils or old subordinates brought gifts, he refused every one."
53
注[二]沛相。
Note 2: Wang Ji was chancellor of Pei.
54
辟司徒袁隗府，舉高第，拜侍御史。 是時宦官秉權，典執政無所迴避。 常乘驄馬，京師畏憚，為之語曰：「行行且止，避驄馬御史。 」及黃巾賊起滎陽，典奉使督軍。 賊破，還，以啎宦官賞不行。 在御史七年不調，[一]後出為郎。 注[一]華嶠書作「十年」。
He was summoned to the staff of Minister Yuan Sui, graduated at the top of the class, and named attendant censor. Eunuchs held the reins of power, yet Huan Dian in office showed no fear of them. He always rode a grey horse, and the capital was so wary of him that people said, "Move along if you must, but halt if you see the censor on the grey horse." When the Yellow Turbans broke out at Xingyang, he was sent to oversee the troops. After the rebels were crushed he returned, but because he had crossed the eunuchs his reward was never granted. He languished seven years in the censorate without promotion, [1] then was transferred out as a gentleman. Note 1: Hua Qiao's text says ten years instead of seven.
55
靈帝崩，大將軍何進秉政，典與同謀議，三遷羽林中郎將。 [一]獻帝即位，三公奏典前與何進謀誅閹官，功雖不遂，忠義炳著。 詔拜家一人為郎，賜錢二十萬。 注[一]華嶠書曰「遷平津都尉、鉤盾令、羽林中郎將」也。
When Emperor Ling died, General He Jin seized power; Huan Dian joined his councils and rose thrice to colonel of the Yulin guard. [1] At Emperor Xian's accession the Three Excellencies reported that Huan Dian had earlier conspired with He Jin to purge the eunuchs; though the coup failed, his loyalty was beyond question. An edict named one member of his household a gentleman of the palace and gave him two hundred thousand cash. Note 1: Hua Qiao adds promotions to commandant of Pingjin, director of the hook-shield office, and colonel of the Yulin guard.
56
從西入關，拜御史中丞，賜爵關內侯。 車駕都許，遷光祿勳。 建安六年，卒官。
He followed the court west through the passes, was named imperial secretary, and enfeoffed as marquis within the passes. When the capital moved to Xu he became superintendent of the imperial household. He died in office in 201 CE.
57
鸞字始春，焉弟子也。 [一]少立操行，褞袍糟食，不求盈餘。 [二]以世濁，州郡多非其人，恥不肯仕。 注[一]東觀記曰「鸞父良，龍舒侯相」也。
Huan Luan, courtesy name Shichun, had studied under Huan Yan. [1] From youth he lived plainly—patched cloak, coarse fare—and never chased wealth. [2] The times were corrupt and local posts went to unworthy men; he thought it shameful to take office. Note 1: The Eastern Lodge Record gives his father as Huan Liang, minister of Longshu.
58
注[二]東觀記曰「鸞貞亮之性，著乎幼沖。 學覽六經，莫不貫綜。 推財孤寡，分賄友朋。 泰於待賢，狹於養己。 常著大布褞袍，糲食醋餐」也。
Note 2: The Eastern Lodge Record says his integrity showed even in boyhood. He mastered the Six Classics from end to end. He gave his surplus to widows and orphans and shared gifts among friends. Lavish toward worthy men, he stinted himself. He went about in a heavy homespun cloak and lived on coarse grain and vinegar."
59
曄字文林，一名嚴，[一]尤修志介。 姑為司空楊賜夫人。 初鸞卒，姑歸寧赴哀，將至，止於傳捨，整飾從者而後入，曄心非之。 及姑勞問，終無所言，號哭而已。 賜遣吏奉祠，因縣發取祠具，曄拒不受。 後每至京師，未嘗捨宿楊氏。 其貞忮若此。 [二]賓客從者，皆祗其志行，一餐不受於人。 仕為郡功曹。 後舉孝廉、有道、方正、茂才，三公並辟，皆不應。 注[一]東觀記「嚴」作「礹」。
Huan Ye, courtesy name Wenlin, also called Yan, [1] was famous for fierce integrity. His aunt was the wife of Minister Yang Ci. When Huan Luan died, his aunt set out from her husband's house to mourn; she halted at a post station to dress her retinue before entering, and Huan Ye inwardly condemned the display. When she offered condolences he answered nothing—only wept. Yang Ci sent an officer to offer sacrifice, and the county tried to requisition the vessels from Huan Ye; he refused. After that he never spent a night under the Yang roof when he visited the capital. Such was the rigor of his principles. [2] His retainers took his austerity to heart and would not accept even a single meal from outsiders. He held the post of merit assessor in his commandery. He was recommended filial and incorrupt, as a man of the Way, as upright talent, and as flourishing talent; the Three Excellencies summoned him repeatedly, and each time he declined. Note 1: The Eastern Lodge text writes the alternate name with the "stone" radical.
60
注[二]忮，堅也。
Note 2: Zhi here means unyielding or adamant.
61
初平中，天下亂，避地會稽，遂浮海客交址，[一]越人化其節，至閭裡不爭訟。
During the Chuping era he fled the turmoil to Kuaiji, then crossed the sea to sojourn in Jiaozhi; [1] the local people were so moved by his example that quarrels ceased even in the lanes.
62
為凶人所誣，遂死於合浦獄。 注[一]東觀記曰「礹到吳郡，揚州刺史劉繇振給谷食衣服所乏者，悉不受。 後東適會稽，住止山陰縣故魯相鐘離意捨，太守王朗餉給徹食﹑布帛﹑牛羊，一無所* (當) **[留]*。 臨去之際，屋中尺寸之物，悉疏付主人，纖微不漏。 移居揚州從事屈豫室中，中庭橘樹一株，遇實孰，乃以竹藩樹四面，風吹落兩實，以繩繫著樹枝。 每當危亡之急，其志彌固，賓客從者皆肅其行」也。
Slandered by villains, he died in the Hepu jail. Note 1: The Eastern Lodge Record says that when Huan Ye reached Wu, Inspector Liu Yao of Yangzhou offered grain, clothing, and whatever he lacked, and he refused everything. He then traveled east to Kuaiji and lodged in Shanyin at the house once used by Zhong Li Yi, minister to the prince of Lu. Prefect Wang Lang sent cooked food, cloth, sheep, and cattle. Editorial gloss in the manuscript: the graph should read dang, meaning "it ought to." The manuscript tradition is damaged here; he accepted none of it." When he left, he inventoried every stick of furniture for his host and omitted not the smallest item. He next stayed with clerk Qu Yu of Yangzhou. A single orange tree stood in the courtyard; when the fruit ripened he fenced it with bamboo. Wind shook down two oranges, and he tied them back to the branches with string. In every crisis his resolution only hardened, and those who followed him respected his conduct."
63
彬字彥林，焉之兄孫也。
Huan Bin, courtesy name Yanlin, was a grandson of Huan Yan's elder brother.
64
父麟，字符鳳，早有才惠。 [一]桓帝初，為議郎，入侍講禁中，以直道啎左右，出為許令，[二]病免。 會母終，麟不勝喪，未祥而卒，年四十一。 所著碑﹑誄﹑贊﹑說﹑書凡二十一篇。 [三]注[一]華嶠書曰「酆生麟」也。
His father Huan Lin, courtesy name Zifeng, showed brilliance from an early age. [1] Early in Emperor Huan's reign he was a gentleman consultant and lectured inside the palace; his bluntness offended favorites and he was sent out as magistrate of Xu, [2] then dismissed on grounds of illness. When his mother died, Huan Lin's grief overwhelmed him; he died before the second anniversary of her death, aged forty-one. His writings—twenty-one pieces of epigraphy, dirges, encomia, essays, and letters—survived him. [3] Note 1: Hua Qiao identifies him as the son of Huan Feng.
65
注[二]許，縣名，今許州許昌縣也。
Note 2: Xu is the county that is now Xuchang in Xuzhou.
66
注[三]案摯虞文章志，麟文見在者十八篇，有碑九首，誄七首，七說一首，沛相郭府君書一首。
Note 3: Zhi Yu's catalogue lists eighteen of Huan Lin's works still extant: nine stele inscriptions, seven dirges, one "Seven Discourses," and one letter to the minister of Pei, Lord Guo.
67
所著七說及書凡三篇，蔡邕等共論序其志，僉以為彬有過人者四：夙智早成，岐嶷也； [一]學優文麗，至通也； 仕不苟祿，絕高也； 辭隆從窊，絜操也。 [二]乃共樹碑而頌焉。 注[一]夙，早也。 岐，行魍也。 嶷然有所識也。 詩曰「克岐克嶷」也。
Cai Yong and others discussed the three surviving pieces—the "Seven Discourses" and letters—and agreed that Huan Bin surpassed other men in four ways. The first was precocious wisdom, the "keen and knowing" bearing praised in the Classic of Poetry. [1] The second was learning of depth and prose of grace—true mastery of the tradition. The third was that he would not take office merely for the stipend—loftiness of aim. The fourth was that he turned down exalted rank to accept a lowly post—conduct of crystalline purity. [2] Together they set up a stele in his honor. Note 1: Su means "from childhood." Note 2: The line glossing qi is damaged in transmission; it echoes the Odes image of an infant already showing discernment. Yi marks the moment a child already shows discernment. The Classic of Poetry speaks of a child "keen and knowing" in the same sense.
68
注[二]窊，下也，音烏瓜反。
Note 2: Wa means "lowly"; it is read wu-gua in the fanqie spelling.
69
論曰：伏氏自東西京相襲為名儒，以取爵位。 [一]中興而桓氏尤盛，自榮至典，世宗其道，父子兄弟代作帝師，受其業者皆至卿相，顯乎當世。 [孔]子曰：「古之學者為己，今之學者為人。 」[二]為人者，憑譽以顯物； 為己者，因心以會道。 桓榮之累世見宗，豈其為己乎！ 注[一]謂伏生已後至伏湛也。
The judgment: the Fu family of Chang'an and Luoyang produced noted scholars generation after generation and rose to high rank. [1] After the restoration none matched the Huans: from Huan Rong to Huan Dian they handed down one school, and fathers, sons, and brothers served turn after turn as tutor to the throne; their pupils became ministers and stood at the center of public life. The Master said, "The men of old studied for their own sake; men today study for show." [2] To study for others is to trade on reputation; to study for oneself is to let the heart find the Way. Given the Master's distinction, was the long glory of the Huan line really a case of learning purely for one's own moral sake? Note 1: That is, from Fu Sheng down to Fu Zhan in the Later Han.
70
注[二]論語文也。
Note 2: The quotation is from the Analects.
71
丁鴻字孝公，穎川定陵人也。
Ding Hong, courtesy name Xiaogong, came from Dingling in Yingchuan commandery.
72
父綝，字幼春，王莽末守穎陽尉。 世祖略地穎陽，穎陽城守不下，綝說其宰，遂與俱降，世祖大喜，厚加賞勞，以綝為偏將軍，因從征伐。 綝將兵先度河，移檄郡國，攻營略地，下河南﹑陳留﹑穎川二十一縣。
His father Ding Lin, courtesy name Youchun, was assistant magistrate of Yingyang in Wang Mang's last years. When Guangwu was reducing Yingyang the city held out; Ding Lin talked its magistrate into surrendering with him. Delighted, Guangwu heaped rewards on him, named him lieutenant general, and took him on campaign. Ding Lin led troops across the Yellow River first, sent summons through the commanderies, stormed camps and seized ground, and brought twenty-one counties of Henan, Chenliu, and Yingchuan to heel.
73
鴻年十三，從桓榮受歐陽尚書，三年而明章句，善論難，為都講，遂篤志精銳，布衣荷擔，不遠千里。
At thirteen Ding Hong studied the Ouyang Book of Documents under Huan Rong; within three years he had mastered the glosses, excelled at disputation, and became chief lecturer. After that he devoted himself utterly, dressed as a commoner and staff on shoulder, and would travel a thousand li without hesitation.
74
初，綝從世祖征伐，鴻獨與弟盛居，憐盛幼小而共寒苦。 及綝卒，鴻當襲封，上書讓國於盛，不報。 既葬，乃掛縗絰於頤廬而逃去，留書與盛曰：「鴻貪經書，不顧恩義，弱而隨師，[一]生不供養，死不飯唅，皇天先祖，並不佑助，身被大病，不任茅土。 [二]前上疾狀，願辭爵仲公，[三]章寢不報，迫且當襲封。
While Ding Lin marched with Guangwu, Ding Hong stayed home with his younger brother Sheng, shielding the boy from cold and want. When Ding Lin died, Ding Hong was heir to the marquisate; he asked to pass the title to his younger brother Sheng, but the court never answered. After the funeral he hung his mourning cords on the grave shed and ran away, leaving Ding Sheng a letter: "I have given my life to books and neglected family duty; I left home young to study, failed my parents in life, and could not close their mouths in death. Heaven and the ancestors withhold their blessing; I am gravely ill and unfit to hold a fief." [2] I have already memorialized my sickness and begged to cede the rank to Zhonggong, [3] yet no edict has come; the court still expects me to take the succession.
75
謹自放□，逐求良醫。 如遂不瘳，永歸溝壑。 」鴻初與九江人鮑駿同事桓榮，甚相友善，及鴻亡封，與駿遇於東海，陽狂不識駿。 駿乃止而讓之曰：「昔伯夷﹑吳札亂世權行，故得申其志耳。 [四]春秋之義，不以家事廢王事。 [五]今子以兄弟私恩而絕父不滅之基，可謂智乎？ 」鴻感悟，垂涕歎息，乃還就國，開門教授。 鮑駿亦上書言鴻經學至行，顯宗甚賢之。 [六]注[一]弱，少也。
I am laying down every office to seek a cure. If I do not recover, I shall die on the road and trouble no one. Ding Hong had studied with Bao Jun of Jiujiang under Huan Rong and they were fast friends; when Ding fled the succession, he met Bao in Donghai and played the madman, refusing to acknowledge him. Bao Jun caught him and scolded him: "Boyi and Prince Jizha of Wu bent the rule in troubled times so they could follow their hearts." [4] The Spring and Autumn teaches that public duty outweighs private kinship." [5] You would sacrifice the line your father meant to preserve for brotherly sentiment—do you call that wisdom?" Ding Hong broke down, wept, and went home to his fief, where he opened his doors to students. Bao Jun too memorialized on Ding Hong's scholarship and character, and Emperor Ming thought the world of him. Note 1: Ruo here means "in youth."
76
注[二]任，堪也。
Note 2: Ren means "to be equal to" or "to bear."
77
注[三]仲公，盛之字也。
Note 3: Zhonggong is the courtesy name of Ding Sheng.
78
注[四]伯夷，孤竹君之子，讓其弟叔齊，餓死於首陽之山。 吳札，吳王壽夢之季子也，諸兄欲讓其國，季子乃捨其室而耕。 皆是權時所行，非常之道也。 伯夷當紂時，吳札當周之末，故言亂* (也) **[世]*。
Note 4: Boyi was a prince of Guzhu who yielded to his brother Shuqi and died of hunger on Mount Shouyang. Prince Jizha of Wu was the youngest son of King Shou Meng; when his brothers tried to pass him the throne, he left his palace and took up the plough. Those were exceptional measures for exceptional times, not a precedent for ordinary conduct. Boyi faced the fall of Shang and Jizha the decay of Zhou—hence the gloss speaks of "troubled ages"; the manuscript is damaged at this point. The particle ye closes the gloss; the preceding graph is uncertain in transmission. The commentary originally read "in chaotic ages."
79
注[五]春秋衛靈公卒，孫輒立，父蒯聵與輒爭國。 公羊傳曰：「輒者曷為？ 蒯聵之子。 然則曷為不立蒯聵而立輒？ 蒯聵無道，靈公逐之而立輒。 然則輒之義可以立乎？ 曰可。 不以父命辭於王命，不以家事辭於王事。 」故駿引以為言也。
Note 5: Duke Ling of Wei died, his grandson Ji came to the throne, and his father Kuai Kui fought him for power. The Guliang asks, "Who is Ji?" He was Kuai Kui's son. Why, then, was the father passed over in favor of the son?" Because Kuai Kui was unworthy, Duke Ling expelled him and set Ji on the throne." Was Ji therefore right to reign?" The text answers: Yes." A subject must not refuse the ruler's mandate for a father's word, nor set private family concerns above public duty." That is the passage Bao Jun quoted to Ding Hong."
80
注[六]續漢書載駿書曰：「臣聞武王克殷，封比干之墓，表商容之閭，二人無功，下車先封之，表善顯仁，為國之砥礪也。 伏見丁鴻經明行修，志節清妙。 」由是上賢之也。
Note 6: The Continued Han quotes Bao Jun: "When King Wu overthrew Yin, he repaired Bi Gan's grave and marked the lane of Shang Rong—men who had never aided him—because a ruler must hold up goodness as the state's grindstone. I submit that Ding Hong's scholarship is clear and his life stainless, his aims high and clean." On that account the emperor honored Ding Hong.
81
永平十年詔征，鴻至即召見，說文侯之命篇，[一]賜御衣及綬，稟食公車，[二]與博士同禮。 頃之，拜侍中。 十三年，兼射聲校尉。 建初四年，徙封魯陽鄉侯。
In 67 CE an edict summoned him; as soon as he reached the capital he was admitted to audience, lectured on the "Charge to Wen" in the Documents, received court dress and seals, a stipend from the imperial messengers' hostel, [2] and rank equal to the chair-holders. Soon he became a palace attendant. In 70 CE he was also named colonel of the Archers' Voice regiment. In 79 CE his enfeoffment was transferred to the village of Luyang.
82
[三]注[一]周平王東遷洛邑，晉文侯仇有輔佐之功，平王賜以車馬﹑弓矢而策命之，因以名篇，事見尚書也。
[3] Note 1: King Ping's eastern move to Luoyang and his charge to Marquis Wen of Jin, with its gifts of chariot, bow, and arrows, form the "Charge to Wen" chapter of the Book of Documents.
83
注[二]稟，給也。 公車，署名，公車所在，因以名。 諸待詔者，皆居以待命，故令給食焉。
Note 2: Bin means "to supply" or "to ration." The "public carriage" office took its name from the post where candidates for summons waited. Men awaiting imperial appointment lived there, hence the court fed them.
84
注[三]東觀記曰：「魯陽鄉在尋陽* (郡) **[縣]*」也。
The Eastern Lodge Record places the Luyang fief in Xunyang The gloss supplies the word commandery; the manuscript is defective here. The line should read that Luyang township lies in Xunyang commandery, in such-and-such a county, but the county name is lost in a lacuna in the text.
85
肅宗詔鴻與廣平王羨及諸儒樓望﹑成封﹑桓郁﹑賈逵等，論定五經同異於北宮白虎觀，[一]使五官中郎將魏應主承製問難，侍中淳於恭奏上，帝親稱制臨決。
Emperor Zhang ordered Ding Hong, Prince Xian of Guangping, Lou Wang, Cheng Feng, Huan Yu, Jia Kui, and others to thrash out the Five Classics at the White Tiger Hall; Captain Wei Ying put the emperor's questions, Chunyu Gong reported the answers, and the sovereign gave the final ruling in his own voice.
86
鴻以才高，論難最明，諸儒稱之，帝數嗟美焉。 時人歎曰：「殿中無雙丁孝公。」
Ding Hong's brilliance carried the disputation; the Ru applauded him and the emperor often marveled aloud. Contemporaries said, "Under the palace roof no one rivals Ding Xiaogong."
87
[二]數受賞賜，擢徙校書，遂代成封為少府。 門下由是益盛，遠方至者數千人。
[2] Honors and gifts followed in succession; he rose to collator of the palace library and then replaced Cheng Feng as junior steward. His following swelled until several thousand students came from distant commanderies.
88
彭城劉愷﹑北海巴茂﹑九江朱倀皆至公卿。 元和三年，徙封馬亭鄉侯。 [三]注[一]廣平王羨，明帝子也。 東觀記曰「與太常樓望﹑少府成封﹑屯騎校尉桓郁﹑衛士令賈逵等集議」也。 白虎，門名。
Among his pupils Liu Kai of Pengcheng, Ba Mao of Beihai, and Zhu Zhang of Jiujiang reached ministerial rank. In 86 CE his title was transferred to the village of Mating. [3] Note 1: Prince Xian of Guangping was a son of Emperor Ming. The Eastern Lodge names Grand Minister Lou Wang, Junior Steward Cheng Feng, Colonel Huan Yu, and Guard Director Jia Kui among those who sat in conference. "White Tiger" was the name of a palace gate.
89
於門立觀，因之以名焉。
A lecture hall was built beside that gate, which gave the conference its name.
90
注[二]東觀記曰：「上歎嗟其才，號之曰『殿中無雙丁孝公』，賜錢二十萬。」
Note 2: The Eastern Lodge says the emperor himself bestowed the nickname and two hundred thousand cash.
91
續漢書亦同。 而此書獨作「時人歎」也。
The Continued Han agrees. Our text alone attributes the praise to "people of the time."
92
注[三]東觀記曰：「元和二年，車駕東巡狩，鴻以少府從。 上奏曰：『臣聞古之帝王，統治天下，五載巡狩，至於岱宗，柴祭於天，望秩山川，協時月正日，同斗斛權衡，使人不爭。 陛下尊履蒸蒸，奉承弘業，祀五帝於明堂，配以光武，二祖四宗，鹹有告祀。 瞻望太山，嘉澤降澍，柴祭之日，白氣上升，與燎煙合，黃鵠腢翔，所謂神人以和，荅響之休符也。 』上善焉。 」又曰「以廬江郡為六安國」，所以徙封為馬亭侯。
Note 3: In 85 CE, says the Eastern Lodge, the emperor toured the east and Ding Hong accompanied him as junior steward. Ding Hong memorialized: "The sage-kings of old, ruling the realm, inspected the empire every five years, climbed Mount Tai to burn offerings to Heaven, sacrificed to the peaks and streams in due order, aligned the calendar, and standardized measures so that the people would not quarrel." Your Majesty, steeped in filial devotion, carries on the grand work: you sacrifice to the Five Lords in the Bright Hall with Emperor Guangwu as correlative, and the two founders and four temple ancestors all receive their due offerings." When you turned toward Mount Tai, blessed rain fell; on the day of the burnt offering white mist rose to mingle with the smoke, and paired yellow cranes circled—the very token of accord between Heaven and man." The emperor praised the memorial. The Eastern Lodge Record adds that Lujiang commandery was reorganized as the principality of Liu'an, which prompted Ding Hong's transfer to the Mating marquisate."
93
和帝即位，遷太常。 永元四年，代袁安為司徒。 是時竇太后臨政，憲兄弟各□威權。 鴻因日食，上封事曰：
When Emperor He came to the throne, Ding Hong became minister of rituals. In 92 CE he succeeded Yuan An as minister of education. Empress Dowager Dou held court, and her brothers monopolized military and civil power. After a solar eclipse Ding Hong submitted a sealed memorial:
94
臣聞日者陽精，守實不虧，君之象也； 月者陰精，盈毀有常，臣之表也。 故日食者，臣乘君，陰陵陽； 月滿不虧，下驕盈也。 昔周室衰季，皇甫之屬專權於外，黨類強盛，侵奪主埶，則日月薄食，[一]故詩曰：「十月之交，朔月辛卯，日有食之，亦孔之丑。 」[二]春秋日食三十六，弒君三十二。 變不空生，各以類應。 夫威柄不以放下，利器不可假人。 [三]覽觀往古，近察漢興，傾危之禍，靡不由之。 是以三桓專魯，田氏□齊，六卿分晉； 諸呂握權，統嗣幾移； 哀﹑平之末，廟不血食。 [四]故雖有周公之親，而無其德，不得行其埶也。 [五]注[一]周室衰謂幽王時也。 皇甫即幽王后之黨也。 詩小雅曰：「皇甫卿士，番惟司徒，家伯維宰，仲允膳夫。 」其類非一，故言之屬也。
The sun is the quintessence of yang: it keeps its fullness and is the image of the sovereign; the moon is the essence of yin, waxing and waning by rule, and mirrors the ministers. A solar eclipse therefore means subjects encroaching on the ruler, yin riding over yang; a full moon that fails to wane means pride and excess below. In the late Zhou, when favorites such as the Huangfu clan seized power abroad, sun and moon went dark together; [1] the Classic of Poetry cries, "On the new moon of the tenth month, the day xin-mao, came an eclipse—how dreadful an omen!" [2] The Spring and Autumn records thirty-six eclipses and thirty-two regicides. Heaven does not send warnings for nothing; each portent answers to its moral class. The rod of authority must not be dropped into inferior hands, nor the state's sharp weapons lent out. [3] A glance at antiquity and at our own dynasty shows every catastrophe sprang from the same root. The Three Huan held Lu captive, the Tian house usurped Qi, the six ministerial clans carved up Jin; the Lü kin seized the government and the imperial line nearly changed hands; by the end of Emperors Ai and Ping the ancestral shrines stood cold. [4] Kinship as close as the Duke of Zhou's avails nothing without the Duke of Zhou's virtue. [5] Note 1: "Decline of Zhou" refers to the reign of King You. The Huangfu ministers were the faction of Queen Bao of You. The Minor Odes names them: "Huangfu was minister of works, Fan steward of the temple, Jia Bo steward of the interior, Zhong Yun master of meats." They were not a single clan but a whole clique of favorites."
95
注[二]十月之交，詩小雅篇名也。 孔，甚也。 丑，惡也。 周之十月，夏之八月也。 八月朔，日月交而日食，陰侵陽，臣侵君之象也。 日辰之義，日為君，辰為臣。 辛，金也。 卯，木也。 又以卯侵金，故甚惡也。
Note 2: "Tenth month" is the name of an ode in the Minor Odes. Kong here means "greatly." Chou means "hideous" or "ill-omened." The Zhou tenth month corresponds to the eighth month of the Xia calendar. At the new moon of the eighth month the luminaries met and the sun was eaten—yin assailing yang, ministers overshadowing their lord. In calendrical symbolism the day stands for the ruler and the cyclical sign for his ministers. The stem xin belongs to the element metal. The branch mao belongs to wood. Wood then overcomes metal, which makes the omen especially grim.
96
注[三]劉向上書云：「弒君三十六。 」今據春秋與劉向同，而東觀及續漢范氏諸本皆云「三十二」，蓋誤也。 威柄謂周禮之八柄，即爵﹑祿﹑生﹑置、予﹑奪﹑廢﹑誅也。 利器謂國之權埶。 假，借也。 左傳曰「唯器與名，不可以假人」也。
Note 3: Liu Xiang's memorial counts thirty-six regicides. The Spring and Autumn actually supports Liu Xiang's thirty-six; the figures of thirty-two in the Eastern Lodge and Fan Ye's text are mistaken. "The handle of awe" is the eight powers in the Rites of Zhou: conferring rank, salary, life, placement, gifts, confiscation, dismissal, and execution. "Sharp tools" means the coercive power of the state. Jia means "to lend." The Zuo zhuan warns that regalia and titles must never be lent away."
97
注[四]三桓謂季孫氏﹑叔孫氏﹑仲孫氏。 三家皆出自魯桓公，故言三桓。 並專權魯國。 至魯昭公，遂為季氏所逐，平子乃攝行君事。 田氏，陳敬仲之後，因自陳奔齊，改為田氏，遂執齊政，至田和乃篡齊。 六卿謂晉之智氏﹑中行氏﹑范氏﹑韓氏﹑趙氏﹑魏氏，並專晉政，韓﹑趙﹑魏卒三分晉國也。 諸呂謂呂產﹑呂祿也。 產領南軍，祿領北軍，謀危劉氏，故曰「統嗣幾移」。
Note 4: The Three Huan are the Ji, Shu, and Meng clans of Lu. The Ji, Shu, and Meng houses were all cadet lines of Duke Huan of Lu, which is why historians speak of the Three Huan. Together they dominated the government of Lu. Under Duke Zhao the Ji drove the duke into exile, and Ji Pingzi ruled Lu in his name. The Tian lineage sprang from Chen Wan, who fled Qi for Chen and adopted the name Tian; his descendants took Qi from within until Tian He formally seized the throne. The six ministerial clans of Jin—the Zhi, Zhonghang, Fan, Han, Zhao, and Wei—partitioned ducal power until Han, Zhao, and Wei carved the old state into three successor realms. "The various Lü" refers to Lü Chan and Lü Lu, the empress dowager's kin. Lü Chan led the southern garrison and Lü Lu the northern; their plot to topple the Liu dynasty is what the text means by the succession almost changing hands.
98
注[五]言親賢兼重，方可執政。 孟子曰：「有伊尹之心則可，無伊尹之心則篡也。」
Note 5: The gloss recalls Mencius: only when both blood ties and moral weight suffice may a man govern. Mencius warns that power may be taken only with Yi Yin's disinterested intent; otherwise it is plain usurpation.
99
今大將軍雖欲□身自約，不敢僭差，然而天下遠近皆惶怖承旨，刺史二千石初除謁辭，求通待報，雖奉符璽，受台□，不敢便去，久者至數十日。 背王室，向私門，此乃上威損，下權盛也。 人道悖於下，效驗見於天，雖有隱謀，神照其情，垂象見戒，以告人君。 閒者月滿先節，過望不虧，[一]此臣驕溢背君，專功獨行也。 陛下未深覺悟，故天重見戒，誠宜畏懼，以防其禍。 詩云：「敬天之怒，不敢戲豫。 」[二]若□政責躬，杜漸防萌，則凶妖銷滅，害除福湊矣。 注[一]易曰「天垂象，見吉凶」，故言見戒也。 月滿先節謂未及望而滿也。 東觀記亦* (雲) *作「先節」，俗本作「失節」，字之誤也。
Even if General Dou Xian claims to discipline himself and never overstep, every official from the capital to the marches waits in terror on his nod. Newly appointed governors must call on him before taking up duty; though they hold imperial tallies and secretariat edicts, they dare not leave his gate for weeks. Men face away from the throne and toward the Dou clan—proof that the sovereign's awe is waning while a subject's power swells. Moral disorder below shows in the sky above; secret schemes cannot hide from spiritual insight; omens are Heaven's memoranda to the throne. [1] Lately the moon has waxed full before its due and stayed round past the night of opposition—signs that ministers grow insolent, defy their lord, and arrogate every success. Because Your Majesty has not taken the lesson to heart, Heaven repeats its warning; you must meet it with dread and cut off the disaster at the root. The Classic of Poetry says, "Stand in awe of Heaven's wrath and never treat it lightly." [2] Reform the administration, search your own heart, strangle misrule at the first green shoot, and calamity will lift while good fortune returns. Note 1: The Zhouyi says Heaven displays images to reveal fortune and misfortune—hence the phrase "shows a warning." "Full before its season" means the moon swelled to fullness ahead of the calendar. The Eastern Lodge text also has an alternate reading here in the manuscript. The better reading is xian jie, "before its season"; popular texts miswrite it as shijie, "missed its season."
100
注[二]詩大雅也。 雷電震耀，天怒也。 戲豫猶逸豫也。 不敢自逸，所以敬天也。
Note 2: The quotation comes from the Major Odes. Lightning and thunder are Heaven in anger. Xi yu means idle ease. To shun complacency is to reverence Heaven.
101
夫壞崖破巖之水，源自涓涓； 干雲蔽日之木，起於□青。 禁微則易，救末者難，人莫不忽於微細，以致其大。 恩不忍誨，義不忍割，去事之後，未然之明鏡也。
Floods that shatter cliffs begin as trickles; forest giants that shade the sky begin as green shoots no wider than a finger. Evil is easy to stop at the bud and hard to uproot at maturity, yet everyone ignores the first faint signs. When kindness spares correction and principle spares a clean break, hindsight is only a bright mirror on what might have been.
102
臣愚以為左官外附之臣，[一]依托權門，傾覆諂諛，以求容媚者，宜行一切之誅。 閒者大將軍再出，威振州郡，莫不賦斂吏人，遣使貢獻。 大將軍雖雲不受，而物不還主，部署之吏無所畏憚，縱行非法，不伏罪辜，故海內貪猾，競為奸吏，小民吁嗟，怨氣滿腹。 臣聞天不可以不剛，不剛則三光不明； [二]王不可以不強，不強則宰牧從橫。 宜因大變，改政匡失，以塞天意。 注[一]前書：「左官附益阿黨之法設。 」左官者，人道尚右，捨天子而事諸侯為左官。 外附謂背正法而附私家。
[1] I urge that every official who has slipped into a great clan's private service, who toadies for protection, be cut off without mercy. Twice now the general has marched out; his prestige has cowed every commandery into squeezing the people for gifts sent through his couriers. He says he takes no bribes, yet nothing is returned to the donors; his agents break the law with impunity, so knaves everywhere imitate them and the common people boil with grievance. Heaven must keep its firmness; without it sun, moon, and stars lose their light; [2] the king must keep his strength; without it regional lords ride roughshod over the law. Use this celestial rebuke to reform policy and mend faults, and you will answer Heaven's demand. Note 1: The Former Han history records statutes against serving great houses instead of the throne. "Left-office" means leaving the emperor's service for a magnate's staff, reversing the proper precedence of right over left. "Outer attachment" means forsaking statute law to curry favor with private clans.
103
注[二]三光，日﹑月﹑星也。 天道尚剛。 周易曰：「干，健也。 」左傳曰：「天為剛德。」
Note 2: The three luminaries are sun, moon, and stars. The way of Heaven is firmness. The Zhouyi says the creative hexagram Qian stands for strength. The Zuo zhuan adds that Heaven's virtue is adamantine.'
104
書奏十餘日，帝以鴻行太尉兼□尉，屯南﹑北宮。 於是收竇憲大將軍印綬，憲及諸弟皆自殺。
Within a fortnight of Ding Hong's memorial the emperor named him acting grand commandant and colonel of the Northern Army, billeting him in the southern and northern palace compounds. Dou Xian was stripped of the great general's seal and sash, and he and his brothers took their own lives.
105
時大郡口五六十萬舉孝廉二人，小郡口二十萬並有蠻夷者亦舉二人，帝以為不均，下公卿會議。 鴻與司空劉方上言：「凡口率之科，宜有階品，蠻夷錯雜，不得為數。 自今郡國率二十萬口歲舉孝廉一人，四十萬二人，六十萬三人，八十萬四人，百萬五人，百二十萬六人。 不滿二十萬二歲一人，不滿十萬三歲一人。」
Great commanderies of half a million souls sent up two filial-and-incorrupt candidates each, while tiny frontier prefectures with mixed populations had to match that quota; the emperor called the rule unfair and asked his ministers to redesign it. Ding Hong and Minister Liu Fang proposed graded quotas and insisted that non-Han populations not be lumped into the same head count as Chinese taxpayers. Henceforth a commandery of twenty thousand adults would nominate one candidate yearly, forty thousand two, sixty thousand three, eighty thousand four, one million five, and one million two hundred thousand six. Below twenty thousand the nomination would come once every two years, and below ten thousand once every three years."
106
帝從之。
The emperor adopted the plan.
107
六年，鴻薨，賜贈有加常禮。 子湛嗣。 *[湛]*卒，子浮嗣。 浮卒，子夏嗣。 [一]注[一]東觀記及續漢書「夏」字作「夔」也。
In the sixth year of his reign Emperor He mourned Ding Hong with gifts richer than the ordinary standard. His son Ding Zhan inherited the title. When Ding Zhan died, his son Ding Fu succeeded. Ding Fu was followed by his son Ding Xia. [1] Note 1: Other histories write this heir's name with the graph kui instead of xia.
108
論曰：孔子曰「太伯三以天下讓，民無得而稱焉」。 [一]孟子曰「聞伯夷之風者，貪夫廉，懦夫有立志」。 若乃太伯以天下而違周，伯夷率絜情以去國，並未始有其讓也。 [二]故太伯稱至德，伯夷稱賢人。 後世聞其讓而慕其風，徇其名而昧其致，所以激詭行生而取與妄矣。 [三]至夫鄧彪﹑劉愷，讓其弟以取義，使弟受非服而己厚其名，於義不亦薄乎！ [四]君子立言，非苟顯其理，將以啟天下之方悟者； 立行，非獨善其身，將以訓天下之方動者。 言行之所開塞，可無慎哉！ 原丁鴻之心，主於忠愛乎？ 何其終悟而從義也！ 異夫數子類乎徇名者焉。 注[一]此上論語載孔子之言也。 鄭玄注云：「太伯，周太王之長子，次子仲雍，次子季歷。 太王見季歷賢，又生文王有聖人表，故欲立之，而未有命。 太王疾，太伯因適吳﹑越採藥，太王歿而不返，季歷為喪主，一讓也。 季歷赴之，不來奔喪，二讓也。 免喪之後，遂斷髮文身，三讓也。 三讓之美皆蔽隱不著，故人無得而稱焉。」
The historian reflects: Confucius said Taibo three times gave away the realm, yet the people could find no language fine enough to praise him. [1] Mencius adds that Boyi's example turned the grasping honest and the timid resolute. Taibo walked away from a throne that could have been his, and Boyi fled Shang out of stainless principle; neither set out to win the reputation of a yielder. [2] That is why one is hailed as consummate virtue and the other as a sage recluse. Later men copied the gesture without the spirit, chasing the label of selflessness until sham yielding made every gift and bribe a masquerade. [3] Think of Deng Biao and Liu Kai, who pressed titles on younger brothers to polish their own halo while trapping kin in titles they should never have held—that is a shabby sort of virtue. [4] A gentleman publishes doctrine not to parade cleverness but to rouse the obtuse; he models conduct not for private perfection alone but to teach everyone still wavering. How grave is the duty when words and deeds can either open the road to goodness or wall it shut! Read Ding Hong's heart as loyal love for the dynasty: see how he woke at a friend's rebuke and chose the harder right. He stands apart from the crowd who only rehearsed yielding for applause. Note 1: The quotation is from the Analects. Zheng Xuan explains that Taibo was the eldest son of King Tai of Zhou, followed by Zhong Yong and Ji Li. King Tai saw worth in Ji Li and a sage's omens on the child who became King Wen, and longed to pass the realm to that line though no formal order had been given." When King Tai fell ill Taibo withdrew to the southeast on the pretext of gathering herbs and never returned for the funeral, leaving Ji Li to preside—the first renunciation. Ji Li went to recall him, yet he would not return for the obsequies—the second renunciation. After the mourning period he cropped his hair and tattooed his skin like a barbarian, making himself unfit to rule—the third renunciation. Because each act was done without thought of fame, ordinary praise could not compass his virtue.'
109
注[二]違，去也。 未始猶未嘗也。 言太伯﹑伯夷率性清絜，超然去國，未嘗故有求讓之名。
Note 2: Wei means "to leave" or "quit." Wei shi here equals "never once." Taibo and Boyi acted from innate purity, not to manufacture a reputation for selflessness.
110
注[三]徇，營也。 言二子非故立讓風以求聲譽，故至德稱於前古。 後代之人直欲營慕其名，而昧其深致，所以激射詭譎之行生，而取與之閒多詐妄矣。
Note 3: Xun means to chase after. Because they never performed for an audience, antiquity could call their virtue complete. Later imitators chased the label, missed the lesson, and turned gift and bribe alike into theater.
111
注[四]彪讓國異母弟荊及鳳，愷以國讓弟憲，帝皆許焉。 弟不當襲爵，故言非服，而彪﹑愷皆獨受美名，而陷弟於不義也。
Note 4: Deng Biao ceded his place to half-brothers Jing and Feng, and Liu Kai to his brother Xian, with imperial approval. Those brothers were not lawful heirs, yet Biao and Liu Kai walked off with the moral credit while saddling kin with titles they should not have held.
112
贊曰：五更待問，應若鳴鐘。 [一]庭列輜駕，堂修禮容。 穆穆帝則，擁經以從。
Encomium: the ritual elder waited on the emperor's questions and answered like a bell when struck. [1] Covered carriages lined his court; ritual filled his hall. August was the sovereign's bearing as he clutched the text and played disciple.
113
[二]丁鴻翼翼，讓而不飾。 高論白虎，深言日食。 [三]注[一]禮記曰：「夙夜強學以待問。 」又曰「善待問者如撞鐘，扣之以小者則小鳴，扣之以大者則大鳴，待其舂容而後盡其聲，不善荅問者反此」也。
[2] Ding Hong moved with cautious grace, yielding without show. He soared in debate at the White Tiger Hall and spoke trenchantly on the eclipse. [3] The Liji says a scholar must study day and night against the moment the ruler will ask. It also compares a good teacher to a bell: light questions draw a soft note, great questions a peal that rolls away only when the bronze has spent its voice.
114
注[二]從，就也。
Note 2: Cong means "to attend" or "follow."
115
注[三]春秋經書「日有食之」。 杜注云：「日食者，月掩日。 聖人不言月掩日，而以自食為文，闕於所不見也。」
Note 3: The Chunqiu annals record each eclipse with the formula "the sun was eaten." Du Yu explains that the moon passed over the face of the sun. The classic does not say "the moon masked the sun" but "the sun was eclipsed," acknowledging the limits of what the scribes could see.'
116
校勘記一二四九頁三行桓榮字春卿按：集解引汪文台說，謂書鈔雲字子春。
Textual note: some editions give Huan Rong's courtesy name as Zichun rather than Chunqing.
117
一二四九頁三行事博士九江朱普按：王先謙謂今本東觀記作「朱文剛」。
Textual note: the Eastern Lodge version of Zhu Pu's name is written Zhu Wengang.
118
一二五０頁一行入使授太子刊誤謂案文「入使」當作「使入」。 按：孔廣陶校注本北堂書鈔五十六引續漢書作「入授太子」，無「使」字。 張森楷校勘記謂治要無「使」字。
Textual note: an editor argues the phrase should read "ordered him into the palace to teach," not "entered envoy." Textual note: the Beitang Shuchao quotation omits the word "envoy." Textual note: the Tang encyclopedia Zhengyao also drops "envoy."
119
一二五０頁四行引閎弘為議郎按：東觀記無「弘」字。
Textual note: the Eastern Lodge omits the second name in the phrase about Peng Hong and Xi Hong.
120
一二五０頁八行建武十八年夏旱汲本、殿本「十八年」作「十六年」。 按：光武紀建武十八年夏五月旱，是作「十六年」者誤也。
Textual note: some block-print editions miswrite the drought year as the sixteenth of Jianwu. Textual note: Emperor Guangwu's annals confirm the drought in the fifth month of Jianwu 18, so "sixteen" is the error.
121
一二五０頁一一行戲弘字奉卿按：「奉」原斗「秦」，逕據汲本、殿本改正。
Collation: the graph for "Feng" in Xi Hong's courtesy name was corrupted to "Qin" in some editions; the received text follows the palace block prints.
122
一二五０頁一一行吳郡人也按：張□謂吳郡順帝時置，榮時乃會稽郡耳，「郡」當為「縣」。
Collation: Xi Hong's home should read a county in Kuaiji, not Wu commandery, which did not yet exist in Huan Rong's lifetime.
123
一二五三頁五行食邑五千戶按：東觀記作「五百戶」，雲後以五更祿終厥身。
Collation: the Eastern Lodge gives five hundred households for Huan Rong's fief, explaining the income as the stipend of an elder of the fifth order.
124
一二五四頁五行則真邪幾於辨矣按：王先謙謂「真」蓋「貞」之誤。
Collation: Wang Xianqian argues the graph zhen should read zheng, "straightforward," in this judgment sentence.
125
一二五四頁一０行並解見吳漢傳按：集解引黃山說，謂注誤，乃見公孫述傳。
Collation: the cross-reference to Wu Han is wrong; the Yue Yang and Xi Ba stories belong rather with Gongsun Shu.
126
一二五五頁一行以侍中監虎賁中郎將按：刊誤謂漢無監虎賁官，蓋是「兼」字，與丁鴻同也。
Collation: the character should be "concurrently" rather than "supervise"; Han had no separate censorate over the Rapid-as-Tigers guard.
127
一二五五頁一四行則切而不勤按：集解引沉欽韓說，謂大戴禮保傅篇作「切而不攘」，賈誼傳及新書作「切而不媿」。
Collation: parallel texts in the Da Dai Liji and Jia Yi quote a different third word in this gloss on princely education.
128
一二五六頁一行召訓按：集解引惠棟說，謂本傳作「馴」，徐廣雲馴古訓字。
Collation: the Eastern Lodge writes Shao Xun with the "horse" radical; Xu Guang notes it is the old form of the name meaning "instruction."
129
一二五八頁六行典執政無所迴避刊誤謂典為御史，非執政者，「政」當作「正」。
Collation: emend zheng, "integrity," for zheng, "government," since Huan Dian was an imperial censor.
130
按：御覽四二七引作「正」。
Collation: the Tang encyclopedia supports the reading "uprightness."
131
一二五九頁五行糲食醋餐按：聚珍本東觀記「醋餐」作「粗餐」。
Collation: one manuscript reads "coarse fare" instead of "vinegar fare."
132
一二五九頁六行時太守向苗按：校補引錢大昭說，謂鸞，沛國人，苗當為國相，桓典之為孝廉，國相王吉舉之，是其證。 此云「太守」，誤。
Collation: the Eastern Lodge's "prefect" should be "chancellor of Pei," consistent with Huan Luan's home commandery and Huan Dian's filial-and-incorrupt sponsor. The title "prefect" is therefore a scribal error.
133
一二五九頁七行復征* (辟) *拜議郎刊誤謂征則上征之，辟則諸府辟之，議郎當雲征而已，明多「辟」字。 今據刪。
Page 1259 line 7: lacuna in the phrase "again summoned and appointed gentleman consultant." Editorial insertion: the lacuna wrongly added the graph bi, "summoned by a ministerial office." Collation: Kanwu holds that the redundant bi should be deleted; the gentleman consultant post was filled by imperial summons (zheng), not by a yamen summons (bi). The editors have removed the superfluous graph.
134
一二五九頁一０行*[除]*陳留巳吾長據汲本、殿本補。
Collation: the words "appointed magistrate of Yiwu" are restored from the palace editions.
135
一二六０頁六行一無所* (當) **[留]*據殿本改，與聚珍本東觀記合。
Page 1260 line 6: lacuna in "accepted nothing." Gloss: the full phrase is yi wu suo shou, "accepted nothing." Collation: the lacuna is filled as in the Dianben, agreeing with the Zhizhen Eastern Lodge.
136
一二六一頁三行*[猛]*雅善彬等據汲本、殿本補。 按：御覽二一五引重「猛」字。
Collation: the name Meng Ya is restored from the block-print tradition. Collation: one Tang quotation repeats the graph "Meng."
137
一二六一頁四行彬遂以廢按：御覽二一五引「以」作「見」。
Collation: the Imperial Readings variant reads "was seen as" instead of "thereupon by."
138
一二六一頁六行所著七說按：校補引侯康及柳從辰說，並謂「七說」當作「七誤」。
Collation: some scholars emend the title to "Seven Errors" rather than "Seven Discourses."
139
一二六一頁六行夙智早成岐嶷也按：刊誤謂案蔡邕本以早成為一德，傳寫之誤，反以「岐嶷」在下，當云「夙智岐嶷，早成也」。
Collation: Kanwu argues Cai Yong's list paired "precocious" with "keen and knowing," not with "early completion."
140
一二六一頁一三行*[孔]*子曰據汲本、殿本補。
Collation: the words "The Master said" are restored from the palace editions.
141
一二六二頁四行丁鴻字孝公按：王先謙謂李善文選注作「字季公」。
Collation: Li Shan's commentary gives the courtesy name as Jigong instead of Xiaogong.
142
一二六三頁七行九江人鮑駿按：集解引惠棟說，謂袁宏紀「駿」作「俊」。
Collation: Yuan Hong writes the name with a different homophone.
143
一二六三頁一五行故言亂* (也) **[世]*據殿本改。
Page 1263 line 15: lacuna after "chaotic." Particle ye closes the gloss. Collation: the lacuna is filled as "ages" per the Dianben.
144
一二六四頁一行父蒯聵與輒爭國按：汲本、殿本「聵」作「瞶」。 下同。
Collation: the palace editions use an alternate graph for Kuai Kui's name. The same variant applies in following lines.
145
一二六四頁二行不以父命辭於王命按：陳景雲謂按公羊傳本文，當作「不以父命辭王父命」。
Collation: Chen Jingyun restores the Guliang wording with "grandfather's command."
146
一二六四頁一０行魯陽鄉在尋陽* (郡) **[縣]*也集解引洪亮吉說，謂漢時止有尋陽縣，屬廬江郡，此「郡」字蓋「縣」字之誤。 今據改。
Page 1264 line 10: lacuna in the Luyang geography note. Editorial mark: the following word should be commandery or county. Collation: Hong Liangji shows that Han had Xunyang county in Lujiang, so "commandery" is a copyist's error for "county." The text has been emended accordingly.
147
一二六四頁一三行數受賞賜擢徙校書刊誤謂漢校書者郎官而已，鴻已為二千石，不當以校書為擢徙也，明衍「校書」二字。 集解引惠棟說，謂如劉說，則「擢徙」二字無所附麗，或作「尚書」。 校補謂案劉意，「擢徙」二字承上「數受賞賜」為一句，不必有所附麗，尚書六百石，亦非二千石擢徙之官。 此傳但云「校書」，未言「校書郎」，則「賞賜擢徙」與「校書」各為一事，原不必校書定為官名。 今按：句當有脫鬥，諸說皆未諦。
Collation: Kanwu doubts that a minister could be "promoted to collator" and suspects a two-character gloss crept into the text. Collation: Hui Dong suggests "secretariat" as an alternative if "collator" is struck. Collation: another editor argues "promoted transfer" simply follows "rewards" and need not govern an office name. Collation: the biography may mean archival collation as a task, not the later title "collating gentleman." Collation: the line is probably corrupt beyond recovery of one certain reading.
148
一二六五頁四行同斗斛權衡按：「同」原斗「角」，逕據汲本、殿本改正。
Collation: the graph "unify" was miswritten as "horn" in some witnesses.
149
一二六五頁一二行弒君三十二按：「弒」原斗「殺」，逕據汲本、殿本改正。
Collation: the text distinguishes regicide from ordinary killing.
150
一二六六頁一一行有伊尹之心則可無伊尹之心則篡也按：殿本「心」皆改作「志」，取與今本孟子合。 校補謂案周章傳論已引作「心」，官本同，周廣業據為孟子異本是也。
Collation: the Dianben harmonizes the quotation with the received Mencius by reading "will" instead of "heart." Collation: an earlier Hou Han judgment already used "heart," so the graph may be an authentic variant of Mencius.
151
一二六六頁一四行雖有隱謀按：集解引王補說，謂袁宏紀作「雖欲隱諱」。
Collation: Yuan Hong's text reads "though wishing to conceal" instead of "hidden plots."
152
一二六七頁二行東觀記亦* (雲) *作先節據校補刪。
Page 1267 line 2: lacuna in the Eastern Lodge quotation. Editorial restoration of the verb "says." Collation: a spurious phrase "writes before season" has been removed.
153
一二六七頁一三行左傳曰天為剛德按：汲本、殿本注無此七字，而有「天道終日干干是其剛也」十字。
Collation: the palace editions substitute a longer gloss on Heaven's firmness for the short Zuo quotation.
154
一二六八頁五行*[湛]*卒子浮嗣。 據汲本、殿本補。
Collation: the heir's name Zhan is restored from Jiben and Dianben. The restoration follows the palace block prints.
155
一二六八頁一０行而己厚其名按：集解引惠棟說，謂華嶠書「厚」作「享」。
Collation: Hua Qiao's history uses a different graph meaning "to enjoy" where this text has "thicken" or "fatten."