1
班超字仲升，扶風平陵人，徐令彪之少子也。 為人有大志，不修細節。 然內孝謹，居家常執勤苦，不恥勞辱。 有口辯，而涉獵書傳。 [1]永平五年，兄固被召詣校書郎，[2]超與母隨至洛陽。 家貧，常為官傭書以供養。 久勞苦，嘗輟業投筆歎曰：「大丈夫無它志略，猶當效傅介子、張騫立功異域，以取封侯，安能久事筆研閒乎？ 」[3]左右皆笑之。 超曰：「小子安知壯士志哉！ 」其後行詣相者，曰：「祭酒，布衣諸生耳，[4]而當封侯萬里之外。 」超問其狀。 相者指曰：「生燕頷虎頸，飛而食肉，此萬里侯相也。 」久之，顯宗問固「卿弟安在」，固對「為官寫書，受直以養老母」。 帝乃除超為蘭台令史，[5]後坐事免官。
Ban Chao, style Zhongsheng, came from Pingling in Fufeng commandery; he was the youngest son of Ban Biao, once prefect of Xu. He aimed high and did not fuss over trifling points of deportment. Within the family he was dutiful and meticulous, shouldered the hardest chores at home without complaint, and thought nothing of drudgery or lowly work. He was a fluent speaker and had read widely in the classics and histories. [1] In Yongping 5 (62 CE), his older brother Ban Gu was called to the capital as a court collator; [2] Ban Chao traveled with their mother and settled in Luoyang. Because the household was poor, he often earned their keep by copying documents on contract for the clerks. Weary after long days of grinding work, he once set down his brush mid-copy and exclaimed, "A man of spirit who lacks some grand design should still follow Fu Jiezi and Zhang Qian—win glory beyond the frontier and earn a noble title. Why should I spend my life chained to a desk?" " [3] Everyone within earshot laughed. Ban Chao shot back, "Small minds cannot fathom what drives a man of resolve!" " Later he had his features read. The diviner told him, "Sir, you are nothing but a poor scholar in plain cloth, [4] yet your fate is a marquisate thousands of miles from here." " Ban Chao pressed him for particulars. The man traced his features and said, "Swallow's jowl, tiger's neck—you are built to rise fast and feed on rich fare. That is the face of a frontier marquis." " Time passed. Emperor Ming (Xianzong) asked Ban Gu where his brother was. Ban Gu answered that Ban Chao copied texts for the clerks and used the pay to support their mother. The emperor then named him a Lan Terrace clerk; [5] he was later stripped of his post over an incident.
2
十六年，奉車都尉竇固出擊匈奴，以超為假司馬，將兵別擊伊吾，戰於蒲類海，多斬首虜而還。 [6]固以為能，遣與從事郭恂俱使西域。
In the sixteenth year of Yongping (73 CE), Dou Gu, commandant of the imperial coach, marched against the Xiongnu. He gave Ban Chao the brevet rank of major and detached him to strike Yiwu. They fought at Lake Barkol, took many heads, and withdrew. [6] Dou Gu, impressed by his ability, dispatched him to the Western Regions in company with Guo Xun, the staff adjutant.
3
超到鄯善，[7]鄯善王廣奉超禮敬甚備，後忽更疏懈。 超謂其官屬曰：「寧覺廣禮意薄乎？ 此必有北虜使來，狐疑未知所從故也。 明者睹未萌，況已著邪。」
When Ban Chao reached Shanshan, [7] King Guang first received him with every courtesy; then, without warning, his manner turned cold and distant. Ban Chao asked his men, "Surely you have seen how thin Guang's hospitality has become?" There must be a Xiongnu embassy in town; he is wavering between two masters. The wise read trouble before it breaks—how much more when the signs are already plain!"
4
乃召侍胡詐之曰：「匈奴使來數日，今安在乎？ 」侍胡惶恐，具服其狀。 超乃閉侍胡，悉會其吏士三十六人，與共飲，酒酣，因激怒之曰：「卿曹與我俱在絕域，[8]欲立大功，以求富貴。 今虜使到裁數日，而王廣禮敬即廢； 如令鄯善收吾屬送匈奴，骸骨長為豺狼食矣。 為之柰何？ 」官屬皆曰：「今在危亡之地，死生從司馬。 」超曰：「不入虎穴，不得虎子。 當今之計，獨有因夜以火攻虜，使彼不知我多少，必大震怖，可殄盡也。 滅此虜，則鄯善破膽，功成事立矣。 」觿曰：「當與從事議之。 」超怒曰：「吉凶決於今日。 從事文俗吏，聞此必恐而謀洩，死無所名，非壯士也！ 」觿曰：「善」。 初夜，遂將吏士往奔虜營。 會天大風，超令十人持鼓藏虜捨後，約曰：「見火然，皆當鳴鼓大呼。 」餘人悉持兵弩夾門而伏。 超乃順風縱火，前後鼓噪。 虜觿驚亂，超手格殺三人，吏兵斬其使及從士三十餘級，余觿百許人悉燒死。 [9]明日乃還告郭恂，恂大驚，既而色動。 超知其意，舉手曰：「掾雖不行，班超何心獨擅之乎？ 」恂乃悅。 超於是召鄯善王廣，以虜使首示之，一國震怖。 超曉告撫慰，遂納子為質。 還奏於竇固，固大喜，具上超功效，並求更選使使西域。
He called in a native attendant and bluffed him: "The Xiongnu delegation has been here for days. Where are they hiding?" " Cornered, the man panicked and told him everything. Ban Chao locked the attendant away, gathered his entire party of thirty-six clerks and troops, and threw a feast. When they were deep in their cups, he roused them: "You and I are stranded at the ends of the earth, [8] yet we still mean to win fame and fortune." The Xiongnu envoys have been here only a handful of days, and already King Guang has dropped every courtesy toward us; if Shanshan hands us over to the Xiongnu, our bones will feed the wolves of the desert. What are we going to do?" " They answered as one: "We stand on the edge of ruin; our lives are yours, Major." " Ban Chao said, "No one takes a tiger cub without entering the den. Our only move is a night raid with fire. If they cannot count us, panic will break them, and we can wipe them out. Destroy that embassy, and Shanshan's nerve will fail; the deed will be done and our names made." " Guo Xun objected: "We must take this to the adjutant first." " Ban Chao flared: "Our fate is sealed tonight—no tomorrow about it. The adjutant is a timid desk-man; one word to him and he will panic, the plot will leak, and we will die for nothing. That is not how bold men act!" " Guo Xun yielded: "Very well." At first watch he led his men at a run against the Xiongnu camp. A fierce wind sprang up. Ban Chao hid ten men with drums behind the enemy compound and told them, "The moment you see flame, raise a thunder of drums and war cries. " The rest took arms and lay in wait on both sides of the gate. Ban Chao lit the camp downwind; drums and shouts erupted front and rear. The Xiongnu camp dissolved in panic. Ban Chao killed three men himself; his troops cut down the envoy and over thirty of his escort, and the rest of the party—some hundred souls—perished in the flames. [9] Next morning Ban Chao told Guo Xun. Guo was stunned, then his face changed as greed flickered across it. Reading his thoughts, Ban Chao raised a hand and said, "You were not in the fight, sir—would I dare hoard the credit?" " Guo Xun brightened at once. Ban Chao summoned King Guang and set the severed heads of the Xiongnu envoys before him. The court of Shanshan trembled with fear. Ban Chao explained Han's intentions and offered reassurance; the king sent a prince to Luoyang as hostage. On their return Dou Gu was elated. He drafted a full memorial on Ban Chao's exploit and asked the throne to appoint a fresh mission to the west.
5
帝壯超節，詔固曰：「吏如班超，何故不遣而更選乎？ 今以超為軍司馬，令遂前功。 」超復受使，固欲益其兵，超曰：「願將本所從三十餘人足矣。 如有不虞，多益為累。」
The emperor, impressed by Ban Chao's steadfastness, instructed Dou Gu: "With such an officer already in the field, why look elsewhere for an envoy?" Appoint him army major and let him carry the enterprise forward." " Ban Chao accepted the new commission. When Dou Gu offered reinforcements, he replied, "Give me the thirty-odd men who came west with me; that is enough. In a crisis, extra mouths would only slow us down."
6
是時于窴王廣德新攻破莎車，遂雄張南道，[10]而匈奴遣使監護其國。 超既西，先至于窴。 廣德禮意甚疏。 且其俗信巫。 巫言：「神怒何故欲向漢？ 漢使有騧馬，急求取以祠我。 」廣德乃遣使就超請馬。 [11]超密知其狀，報許之，而令巫自來取馬。 有頃，巫至，超即斬其首以送廣德，因辭讓之。 廣德素聞超在鄯善誅滅虜使，大惶恐，即攻殺匈奴使者而降超。 超重賜其王以下，因鎮撫焉。
King Guangde of Khotan had just crushed Kasha and dominated the southern track, [10] while Xiongnu overseers watched his court. Ban Chao's westward road led him first to Khotan. Guangde received him coolly. The kingdom put great stock in its shamans. The royal shaman announced, "The gods are wroth—why do you lean toward Han?" The Han envoy rides a dapple-gray—seize it at once for my altar." " Guangde sent men to demand the horse from Ban Chao. [11] Ban Chao saw through the ruse, agreed aloud, and told the shaman to fetch the mount in person. When the shaman appeared, Ban Chao struck off his head and had it delivered to Guangde with a stern rebuke. Guangde already knew how Ban Chao had annihilated the Xiongnu embassy at Shanshan; shaking with fear, he murdered the Xiongnu resident ministers and submitted to Han through Ban Chao. Ban Chao heaped gifts on the king and his nobles and brought the country quietly under Han influence.
7
時龜茲王建為匈奴所立，倚恃虜威，據有北道，攻破疏勒，殺其王，[12]而立龜茲人兜題為疏勒王。 明年春，超從閒道至疏勒。 去兜題所居盤橐城九十里，逆遣吏田慮先往降之。 □慮曰：「兜題本非疏勒種，國人必不用命。 若不即降，便可執之。 」慮既到，兜題見慮輕弱，殊無降意。 慮因其無備，遂前劫縛兜題。
King Jian of Kucha owed his throne to the Xiongnu. Backed by their power he held the northern road, overran Shule, executed its king, [12] and installed Dou Ti, a Kuchean, as ruler of Shule. The following spring Ban Chao slipped along a side route into Shule. He halted ninety li short of Dou Ti's stronghold at Pantuo and sent Tian Lü ahead to treat for surrender. Tian Lü warned him, "Dou Ti is no son of Shule; the nobles will not obey him. If he will not yield at once, seize him by force." " When Tian Lü arrived, Dou Ti sized him up as slight and harmless and showed no inclination to capitulate. Tian Lü caught him off guard, rushed forward, and bound him.
8
左右出其不意，皆驚懼奔走。 慮馳報超，超即赴之，悉召疏勒將吏，說以龜茲無道之狀，因立其故王兄子忠為王，[13]國人大悅。 忠及官屬皆請殺兜題，超不聽，欲示以威信，釋而遣之。 疏勒由是與龜茲結怨。
His attendants, taken by surprise, panicked and scattered. Tian Lü raced back with word; Ban Chao rode in at once, assembled Shule's commanders, denounced Kucha's tyranny, and enthroned Zhong, nephew of the murdered king; [13] the realm rejoiced. Zhong and his courtiers begged to execute Dou Ti, but Ban Chao refused: he meant to awe them with magnanimity, so he freed Dou Ti and sent him home. From that day Shule and Kucha were sworn enemies.
9
建初三年，超率疏勒、康居、于窴、拘彌兵一萬人攻姑墨石城，破之，[17]斬首七百級。 超欲因此叵平諸國，[18]乃上疏請兵。 曰：「臣竊見先帝欲開西域，故北擊匈奴，西使外國，鄯善、于窴實時向化。 今拘彌、莎車、疏勒、月氏、烏孫、康居復願歸附，欲共並力破滅龜茲，平通漢道。 若得龜茲，則西域未服者百分之一耳。 臣伏自惟念，卒伍小吏，實願從谷吉效命絕域，庶幾張騫□身曠野。 [19]昔魏絳列國大夫，尚能和輯諸戎，[20]況臣奉大漢之威，而無鈆刀一割之用乎？ [21]前世議者皆曰取三十六國，號為斷匈奴右臂。 [22]今西域諸國，自日之所入，莫不向化，[23]大小欣欣，貢奉不絕，唯焉耆、龜茲獨未服從。 臣前與官屬三十六人奉使絕域，備遭艱□。 自孤守疏勒，於今五載，胡夷情數，臣頗識之。 問其城郭小大，皆言『倚漢與依天等』。 以是效之，則□領可通，[24]□領通則龜茲可伐。 今宜拜龜茲侍子白霸為其國王，以步騎數百送之，與諸國連兵，歲月之閒，龜茲可禽。 以夷狄攻夷狄，計之善者也。 [25]臣見莎車、疏勒田地肥廣，草牧饒衍，不比敦煌，鄯善閒也，[26]兵可不費中國而徹食自足。 且姑墨、溫宿二王，特為龜茲所置，[27]既非其種，更相厭苦，其埶必有降反。 若二國來降，則龜茲自破。 願下臣章，參考行事。 誠有萬分，死復何恨。 臣超區區，特蒙神靈，竊冀未便僵仆，目見西域平定，陛下舉萬年之觴，[28]薦勳祖廟，布大喜於天下。 」[29]書奏，帝知其功可成，議欲給兵。 平陵人徐干素與超同志，上疏願奮身佐超。 五年，遂以干為假司馬，將□刑及義從千人就超。
In Jianchu 3 (78 CE) Ban Chao led ten thousand men from Shule, Kangju, Khotan, and Jumi against Gumo's stone citadel, stormed it, [17] and took seven hundred heads. He meant to ride that victory to pacify the Tarim states [18] and memorialized Luoyang for reinforcements. He wrote: "I have reflected that our late sovereign meant to open the Western Regions—hence the northern campaigns against the Xiongnu and embassies sent west—while Shanshan and Khotan were among the first to accept Han guidance. Today Jumi, Kasha, Shule, the Yuezhi, Wusun, and Kangju again ask to renew their allegiance and join arms to crush Kucha and clear the road to the interior. Take Kucha, and the handful of states still outside our fold shrinks to one percent of the west. I am only a foot soldier turned clerk, yet I would follow Gu Ji in laying down my life beyond the passes, and dare hope to match Zhang Qian, who risked everything on the open steppe. [19] Wei Jiang was merely a statesman of one kingdom, yet he reconciled the Rong tribes; [20] shall I, bearing the prestige of Han, be less useful than a blunt blade's single stroke?" [21] Strategists of old agreed: win the thirty-six kingdoms and you sever the Xiongnu's right arm. [22] From the sunset lands westward every kingdom inclines toward us; [23] great and small send gifts without cease. Only Yanqi and Kucha still hold out. When I first led thirty-six men into the farthest west, we tasted every hardship the desert could offer. Five years alone in Shule have taught me the temper of the frontier peoples. Ask any ruler, great or small, and you hear the same refrain: 'Leaning on Han is like leaning on Heaven itself.'" The lesson is plain: open the Congling passes [24] and a strike at Kucha becomes possible. Invest Ba Ba, Kucha's hostage prince, as king, escort him with a few hundred horse and foot, weld the oases into one host, and Kucha can be taken within a year or two. Pit barbarian against barbarian—that is the soundest strategy. [25] Kasha and Shule own rich soil and ample pasture—nothing like the barren strip between Dunhuang and Shanshan; [26] an army there can live off the land without draining the interior. The kings of Gumo and Wensu are Kucha's puppets; [27] foreign to the people they oppress, they loathe one another and will crack or defect. Win those two oases and Kucha collapses of its own weight. I ask that this memorial be laid before the ministers for deliberation. If there is the slightest merit in my plea, I shall die content. I am a minor man heaven has spared; I pray I may not fall before I see the west at peace, Your Majesty toasting ten thousand years, [28] the ancestral shrines recording our triumph, and joy spreading through the empire. " [29] The memorial reached the throne; the emperor saw the plan could work and the court began debating reinforcements. Xu Gan of Pingling, who had long shared Ban Chao's purpose, offered his own memorial volunteering to join him. In the fifth year of Jianchu (80 CE) Xu Gan was named brevet major and marched a thousand reprieved convicts and volunteers to Ban Chao's camp.
10
先是莎車以為漢兵不出，遂降於龜茲，而疏勒都尉番辰[30]亦復反叛。 會徐干適至，超遂與干擊番辰，大破之，斬首千餘級，多獲生口。 超既破番辰，欲進攻龜茲。 以烏孫兵強，宜因其力，乃上言：「烏孫大國，控弦十萬，故武帝妻以公主，[31]至孝宣皇帝，卒得其用。 [32]今可遣使招慰，與共合力。 」帝納之。
Meanwhile Kasha, assuming no Han army would march west, had gone over to Kucha, and Fan Chen, [30] Shule's commandant, had mutinied as well. Xu Gan arrived in the nick of time; together they fell on Fan Chen, shattered his force, took more than a thousand heads, and rounded up many captives. With Fan Chen crushed, Ban Chao prepared to march on Kucha. Wusun's cavalry was formidable; he memorialized that the union should be renewed: "Wusun fields a hundred thousand archers; Emperor Wu married a princess into their royal house; [31] under Emperor Xuan we reaped the reward." [32] Send envoys now to court them and bind them to our campaign." The emperor approved the proposal.
11
八年，拜超為將兵長史，假鼓吹幢麾。 [33]以徐干為軍司馬，別遣□候李邑護送烏孫使者，賜大小昆彌以下錦帛。 [34]
In the eighth year of Jianchu he was named chief clerk with military authority and given the regalia of a field commander—drums, pipes, banners, and standards. [33] Xu Gan was promoted to army major; Li Yi, a junhou, was sent separately to escort the Wusun party, bearing brocades and silks as gifts for the great and lesser Kunmi and their nobles. [34] The edition carries only this annotation marker at this point in the narrative.
12
李邑始到于窴，而值龜茲攻疏勒，恐懼不敢前，因上書陳西域之功不可成，又盛毀超擁愛妻，抱愛子，安樂外國，無內顧心。 超聞之，歎曰：「身非曾參而有三至之讒，恐見疑於當時矣。 」[35]遂去其妻。 帝知超忠，乃切責邑曰：「縱超擁愛妻，抱愛子，思歸之士千餘人，何能盡與超同心乎？ 」令邑詣超受節度。 詔超：「若邑任在外者，便留與從事。」
Li Yi had barely reached Khotan when he learned Kucha was besieging Shule. Frightened, he halted and memorialized that the western enterprise was hopeless, while vilifying Ban Chao as a man dallying abroad with wife and child, indifferent to home. Ban Chao sighed when the news reached him: "I am no Zeng Shen, yet I face the old tale of thrice-told slander—I will be distrusted at court." [35] He dismissed his wife to silence the gossip. The emperor, knowing Ban Chao's loyalty, rebuked Li Yi sharply: "Even if Ban Chao kept wife and child with him, could more than a thousand homesick soldiers all share his single-minded devotion?" He ordered Li Yi to report to Ban Chao and take his orders." The throne told Ban Chao: "If Li Yi proves useful in the field, keep him under your adjutant."
13
超即遣邑將烏孫侍子還京師。 徐干謂超曰：「邑前親毀君，欲敗西域，今何不緣詔書留之，更遣它吏送侍子乎？ 」超曰：「是何言之陋也！ 以邑毀超，故今遣之。 內省不疚，何恤人言！ [36]快意留之，非忠臣也。」
Ban Chao at once sent Li Yi to escort the Wusun hostage prince to Luoyang. Xu Gan asked, "Li Yi slandered you to wreck the mission—why not use the edict's loophole, keep him here, and send someone else with the prince?" " Ban Chao replied, "That would be petty beyond words." Precisely because he maligned me, I send him back to show my clear conscience. When your heart is clean, why fear rumor?" [36] To keep him out of spite would be unworthy of a loyal servant."
14
明年，復遣假司馬和恭等四人將兵八百詣超，超因發疏勒、于窴兵擊莎車。 莎車陰通使疏勒王忠，啖以重利，[37]忠遂反從之，西保烏即城。 超乃更立其府丞成大為疏勒王，悉發其不反者以攻忠。 積半歲，而康居遣精兵救之，超不能下。 是時月氏新與康居婚，相親，超乃使使多繼錦帛遺月氏王，令曉示康居王，康居王乃罷兵，執忠以歸其國，烏即城遂降於超。
The following year four brevet majors led by He Gong marched eight hundred men to Ban Chao, who then raised Shule and Khotan forces against Kasha. Kasha secretly bribed King Zhong of Shule with rich promises; [37] Zhong turned traitor and withdrew west to fortify Wuji. Ban Chao deposed Zhong and enthroned Cheng Da, the kingdom's chief clerk, then marched every loyal Shule regiment against the rebel. Six months of siege failed when Kangju threw in elite reinforcements. The Yuezhi had just allied with Kangju by marriage. Ban Chao sent rich silks to the Yuezhi king and had him persuade the Kangju ruler to withdraw. Kangju pulled out, handed Zhong back to his own people, and Wuji opened its gates to Han.
15
後三年，忠說康居王借兵，還據損中，[38]密與龜茲謀，遣使詐降於超。 超內知其奸而外偽許之。 忠大喜，即從輕騎詣超。 超密勒兵待之，為供張設樂。 [39]酒行，乃叱吏縛忠斬之。 因擊破其觿，殺七百餘人，南道於是遂通。
Three years later Zhong borrowed Kangju troops, reoccupied Sunzhong, [38] conspired with Kucha in secret, and sent envoys offering a false surrender to Ban Chao. Ban Chao saw through the ruse but played along. Zhong, elated, rode in with a light escort to Ban Chao's camp. Ban Chao hid armed men in readiness and staged a banquet with music. [39] Mid-feast he gave the signal; his guards seized Zhong and struck off his head. He then routed Zhong's force, killing over seven hundred, and the southern road lay open again.
16
明年，超發于窴諸國兵二萬五千人，復擊莎車。 而龜茲王遣左將軍發溫宿、姑墨、尉頭合五萬人救之。 超召將校及于窴王議曰：「今兵少不敵，其計莫若各散去。 于窴從是而東，長史亦於此西歸，可須夜鼓聲而發。 」陰緩所得生口。 龜茲王聞之大喜，自以萬騎於西界遮超，溫宿王將八千騎於東界徼于窴。 超知二虜已出，密召諸部勒兵，雞鳴馳赴莎車營，胡大驚亂奔走，追斬五千餘級，大獲其馬畜財物。 莎車遂降，龜茲等因各退散，自是威震西域。
The next year he raised twenty-five thousand men from Khotan and allied kingdoms for a second drive on Kasha. The king of Kucha sent his left general to levy fifty thousand troops from Wensu, Gumo, and Weitou to relieve the city. Ban Chao called his officers and the king of Khotan to council: "We are outnumbered; our best ruse is to pretend to break camp and scatter." Let Khotan march east while I, the chief clerk, withdraw west; we move on the night drum." He quietly loosened the guard on his prisoners so word would leak. The Kucha king swallowed the bait with delight, posting ten thousand cavalry on the western approaches to trap Ban Chao while the king of Wensu took eight thousand horsemen eastward to cut off Khotan. Once both enemy columns had marched off, Ban Chao mustered his men, rode at cockcrow straight into the Kasha camp, threw the allies into panic, and ran them down for more than five thousand heads, seizing vast herds and baggage. Kasha capitulated; Kucha and its allies melted away. From that day Ban Chao's name struck terror across the Tarim basin.
17
初，月氏嘗助漢擊車師有功，是歲貢奉珍寶、符拔、師子，[40]因求漢公主。
The Yuezhi had once helped Han crush Cheshi. That year they sent tribute—jewels, fabo horses, lions [40]—and asked for a Han princess in marriage.
18
超拒還其使，由是怨恨。 永元二年，月氏遣其副王謝將兵七萬攻超。 超觿少，皆大恐。 超譬軍士曰：「月氏兵雖多，然數千里踰□領來，非有運輸，何足憂邪？
Ban Chao turned the embassy away, and the court of the Kushans nursed a grudge. In Yongyuan 2 (90 CE) the Yuezhi deputy king Xie marched seventy thousand men against Ban Chao. Ban Chao's command was tiny by comparison, and his men were terrified. He rallied them: "Their numbers look vast, but they have crossed thousands of li over the Pamirs with no baggage train behind them—why should we fear?"
19
但當收谷堅守，彼饑窮自降，不過數十日決矣。 」謝遂前攻超，不下，又鈔掠無所得。 超度其糧將盡，必從龜茲求救，乃遣兵數百於東界要之。 謝果遣騎繼金銀珠玉以賂龜茲。 超伏兵遮擊，盡殺之，持其使首以示謝。 謝大驚，即遣使請罪，願得生歸。 超縱遣之。 月氏由是大震，歲奉貢獻。
Harvest the grain, hold the walls, and hunger will break them inside a month." " Xie pressed the siege without success and found nothing to forage. Ban Chao reckoned their supplies were nearly gone and that they would beg Kucha for relief; he posted a few hundred men on the eastern road to ambush the convoy. Xie sent riders laden with gold, silver, and gems to buy Kucha's aid. Ban Chao's ambush wiped out the party; he sent the bearers' heads to Xie's camp. Xie was shaken and sued for peace, begging leave to withdraw alive. Ban Chao let them go. The Kushan court was thoroughly cowed and sent annual tribute thereafter.
20
明年，龜茲、姑墨、溫宿皆降，乃以超為都護，徐干為長史。 拜白霸為龜茲王，遣司馬姚光送之。 超與光共脅龜茲廢其王尤利多而立白霸，使光將尤利多還詣京師。 超居龜茲它干城，徐干屯疏勒。 西域唯焉耆、危須、尉犁以前沒都護，懷二心，其餘悉定。
The following year Kucha, Gumo, and Wensu capitulated; Ban Chao was named protector-general of the Western Regions and Xu Gan his chief clerk. Ba Ba was enthroned as king of Kucha, escorted by Major Yao Guang. Ban Chao and Yao Guang forced Kucha to depose King Youliduo in favor of Ba Ba, then sent Youliduo to Luoyang under escort. Ban Chao made his headquarters at Tagan in Kucha while Xu Gan held Shule. Only Yanqi, Weixu, and Yuli—kingdoms that had murdered an earlier protector-general—still wavered; every other state acknowledged Han.
21
六年秋，超遂發龜茲、鄯善等八國兵合七萬人，及吏士賈客千四百人討焉耆。
That autumn, in the sixth year of Yongyuan (94 CE), he raised seventy thousand men from Kucha, Shanshan, and six other kingdoms, plus fourteen hundred clerks, troops, and merchants, for a punitive expedition against Yanqi.
22
兵到尉犁界，而遣曉說焉耆、尉犁、危須曰：「都護來者，欲鎮撫三國。 即欲改過向善，宜遣大人來迎，當賞賜王侯已下，[41]事畢即還。 今賜王彩五百匹。」
At the Yuli frontier he sent heralds to Yanqi, Yuli, and Weixu: "The protector-general comes to reassure your three kingdoms. If you mean to mend your ways, send your leading nobles to meet him; he will reward kings and officers alike [41] and withdraw when the business is done. He sends five hundred bolts of brocade as a gift to your king."
23
焉耆王廣遣其左將北鞬支奉牛酒迎超。 [42]超結鞬支曰：「汝雖匈奴侍子，而今秉國之權。 都護自來，王不以時迎，皆汝罪也。 」或謂超可便殺之。 超曰：「非汝所及。 此人權重於王，今未入其國而殺之，遂令自疑，設備守險，豈得到其城下哉！ 」於是賜而遣之。 廣乃與大人迎超於尉犁，奉獻珍物。
King Guang of Yanqi sent his left general Beijianzhi with cattle and wine to greet Ban Chao. [42] Ban Chao took Beijianzhi aside: "You may be a Xiongnu hostage by birth, yet you hold real power in Yanqi. The protector-general is here in person, and your king failed to meet him—that fault is yours." Some urged Ban Chao to kill him on the spot. Ban Chao said, "You miss the point. He outranks the king. Execute him before we cross the border and they will bar every pass—how then do we reach their capital?" He heaped gifts on Beijianzhi and sent him back. Guang then came with his nobles to Yuli, where he received Ban Chao and offered rare gifts.
24
焉耆國有葦橋之險，廣乃絕橋，不欲令漢軍入國。 超更從它道厲度。 [43]七月晦，到焉耆，去城二十里，* (正) *營大澤中。 廣出不意，大恐，乃欲悉驅其人共入山保。 焉耆左候元孟先嘗質京師，密遣使以事告超，超即斬之，示不信用。
Yanqi's reed bridge was the choke point; Guang had it destroyed to keep the Han army out. Ban Chao forded by another, harder crossing. [43] On the last day of the seventh month he drew up twenty li short of the walls of Yanqi; * (The edition carries an editorial collation marker at this break in the sentence.) * and pitched camp in a broad marsh. Guang, caught off guard, panicked and planned to herd his entire population into the hills for refuge. Yuan Meng, the left hou of Yanqi, who had once been a hostage in Luoyang, sent a secret messenger to Ban Chao; Ban Chao executed the man at once to prove he would not be played.
25
乃期大會諸國王，因揚聲當重加賞賜，於是焉耆王廣、尉犁王泛及北鞬支等三十人相率詣超。 其國相腹久等十七人懼誅，皆亡入海，[44]而危須王亦不至。 坐定，超怒詰廣曰：「危須王何故不到？ 腹久等所緣逃亡？ 」遂叱吏士收廣、泛等於陳睦故城斬之，傳首京師。 因縱兵鈔掠，斬首五千餘級，獲生口萬五千人，馬畜牛羊三十餘萬頭，更立元孟為焉耆王。 超留焉耆半歲，慰撫之。 於是西域五十餘國悉皆納質內屬焉。
He summoned the kings of the region to a great conclave, promising lavish rewards; King Guang of Yanqi, King Fan of Yuli, Beijianzhi, and some thirty others walked into his camp together. Seventeen ministers led by Chancellor Fujiu fled toward the coast, fearing execution; [44] the king of Weixu stayed away entirely. Once they were seated, Ban Chao turned on Guang in fury: "Why is the king of Weixu absent?" Why have Fujiu and his party run away?" He ordered his men to drag Guang, Fan, and their party to the ruins of Chen Mu's old fort, struck off their heads, and sent the heads to Luoyang. His troops then swept the countryside, taking more than five thousand heads, fifteen thousand captives, and three hundred thousand head of horse and herd stock, and enthroned Yuan Meng as king of Yanqi. Ban Chao stayed six months in Yanqi to restore order. More than fifty western kingdoms then sent hostages and acknowledged Han sovereignty.
26
明年，下詔曰：「往者匈奴獨擅西域，寇盜河西，永平之末，城門晝閉。 先帝深愍邊萌嬰羅寇害，乃命將帥擊右地，破白山，臨蒲類，[45]取車師，城郭諸國震懾響應，遂開西域，置都護。 而焉耆王舜、舜子忠獨謀悖逆，持其險隘，覆沒都護，並及吏士。 先帝重元元之命，憚兵役之興，故使軍司馬班超安集于窴以西。 超遂踰□領，迄縣度，[46]出入二十二年，莫不賓從。 改立其王，而綏其人。 不動中國，不煩戎士，得遠夷之和，同異俗之心，而致天誅，蠲宿恥，以報將士之讎。 [47]司馬法曰：『賞不踰月，欲人速鶯為善之利也。 』其封超為定遠侯，邑千戶。 」[48]
The following year an edict ran: "Once the Xiongnu held the Western Regions to themselves and ravaged Hexi; in the last years of Yongping the capital barred its gates even in daylight. Our late sovereign pitied the frontier folk caught in that storm and sent armies against the western Xiongnu, broke the White Mountain tribes, reached Lake Barkol, [45] and took Cheshi; the oasis states trembled and rallied to Han, the road west reopened, and a protector-general took his seat. Yet King Shun of Yanqi and his son Zhong turned traitor, used their mountain defiles to ambush the protector-general, and slaughtered him and his command. The late emperor shrank from another general war yet would not abandon the people, so he sent Army Major Ban Chao to pacify everything west of Khotan. Ban Chao crossed the Pamirs to the hanging crossings beyond, [46] and for twenty-two years of campaigning every kingdom along the way submitted. He deposed tyrants, enthroned rightful rulers, and brought calm to their peoples. He did it without draining the interior or drafting fresh legions from the border: he won the trust of distant tribes, reconciled alien customs to Han, executed heaven's judgment on the murderers, washed away an old disgrace, and avenged our fallen generals. [47] The Simafa says, 'Bestow rewards within the month so men quickly see the good of virtuous deeds.' ' Let Ban Chao be enfeoffed as Marquis of Dingyuan with a thousand-household fief.'" " [48] The edict closes with this citation marker in the received text.
27
超自以久在絕域，年老思土。 十二年，上疏曰：「臣聞太公封齊，五世葬周，狐死首丘，代馬依風。 [49]夫周齊同在中土千里之閒，況於遠處絕域，小臣能無依風首丘之思哉？ 蠻夷之俗，畏壯侮老。 [50]臣超犬馬齒殲，常恐年衰，奄忽僵仆，孤魂□捐。 昔蘇武留匈奴中尚十九年，今臣幸得奉節帶金銀護西域，[51]如自以壽終屯部，誠無所恨，然恐後世或名臣為沒西域。 臣不敢望到酒泉郡，但願生入玉門關。 [52]臣老病衰困，冒死瞽言，謹遣子勇隨獻物入塞。 [53]及臣生在，令勇目見中土。 」而超妹同郡曹壽妻昭亦上書請超曰：
Ban Chao felt the weight of years spent at the rim of the world and longed for home. In the twelfth year of Yongyuan he memorialized: "I have read how the Grand Duke's line, though lords of Qi, still sought tombs in Zhou; how the fox turns its head toward its burrow at death; how northern horses still scent the home wind." [49] Qi and Zhou lay within the same heartland, a mere thousand li apart—how much more must a humble servant beyond the passes ache for the wind from home?" Barbarian ways respect only strength and despise age. [50] I am old in service as a man's dog grows old; I dread that weakness will strike me down and my ghost wander rootless in the sand. Su Wu endured nineteen years among the Xiongnu; I have been honored with the golden staff as protector of the west. [51] If I die at my post I will not complain, yet I fear later historians will say Ban Chao vanished into the desert. I dare not ask to reach Jiuquan; I beg only to pass through the Jade Gate alive. [52] Old, ill, and failing, I risk these foolish words and send my son Yong inland with the tribute train. [53] While I still breathe, let Yong set eyes on the heartland of Han." " His sister Ban Zhao, wife of Cao Shou of the same commandery, also laid a memorial on his behalf, saying:
28
妾同產兄西域都護定遠侯超，幸得以微功特蒙重賞，爵列通侯，位二千石。 天恩殊絕，誠非小臣所當被蒙。 超之始出，志捐軀命，冀立微功，以自陳效。 會陳睦之變，道路隔絕，超以一身轉側絕域，曉譬諸國，因其兵觿，每有攻戰，輒為先登，身被金夷，[54]不避死亡。 賴蒙陛下神靈，且得延命沙漠，至今積三十年。 骨肉生離，不復相識。 所與相隨時人士觿，皆已物故。 超年最長，今且七十。 衰老被病，頭髮無黑，兩手不仁，[55]耳目不聰明，扶杖乃能行。 雖欲竭盡其力，以報塞天恩，迫於歲暮，犬馬齒索。 蠻夷之性，悖逆侮老，而超旦暮入地，久不見代，恐開奸宄之源，生逆亂之心。 而卿大夫咸懷一切，莫肯遠慮。 如有卒暴，超之氣力不能從心，便為上損國家累世之功，下□忠臣竭力之用，誠可痛也。 故超萬里歸誠，自陳苦急，延頸踰望，三年於今，未蒙省錄。 [56]
My elder brother Ban Chao, protector-general of the west and Marquis of Dingyuan, was raised by your grace from small merit to a full marquisate and a two-thousand-picul post. Such favor is far beyond what a humble subject may expect. When he first rode west, he meant to give his life for a modest name on the frontier. Then came Chen Mu's catastrophe and the closing of the roads; alone in the desert he turned kingdom after kingdom to Han, led their hosts in every assault, took the van himself, and bore wound on wound [54] without flinching from death. By your majesty's blessing he has survived the sands for thirty years. Kin have been torn apart so long they no longer know one another's faces. The comrades who marched with him in his prime are all dead. Ban Chao is the oldest of them, nearly seventy now. Age and illness have left him white-haired, numb in both hands, dim of eye and ear; [55] he can walk only with a staff. He would still give his last strength for the throne, but the years are against him; his body is spent. Barbarians scorn the weak and old. Ban Chao stands at death's door, yet no successor is named—I fear that invites intrigue and revolt. Yet the ministers cling to short-term expedients and will not look ahead. If crisis strikes and his strength fails him, the empire loses the work of generations and a loyal servant loses the use of his last breath—how bitter that would be. For three years he has stretched his neck toward Luoyang, pouring out his plea from the ends of the earth, yet no answer has come. [56] The edition carries only this annotation marker at this point.
29
妾竊聞古者十五受兵，六十還之，[57]亦有休息不任職也。 緣陛下以至孝理天下，得萬國之歡心，不遺小國之臣，況超得備侯伯之位，故敢觸死為超求哀，□超餘年。 [58]一得生還，復見闕庭，使國永無勞遠之慮，西域無倉卒之憂，超得長蒙文王葬骨之恩，子方哀老之惠。 [59]詩云：「民亦勞止，汔可小康，惠此中國，以綏四方。 」[60]超有書與妾生訣，恐不復相見。 妾誠傷超以壯年竭忠孝於沙漠，疲老則便捐死於曠野，誠可哀憐。 如不蒙救護，超後有一旦之變，冀幸超家得蒙趙母、□姬先請之貸。 [61]妾愚戇不知大義，觸犯忌諱。
In olden days men took arms at fifteen and laid them down at sixty; [57] even soldiers were given rest. You rule all under heaven with supreme filial piety and never scorn the envoys of small states—still less should you abandon a servant already raised to marquis rank. I risk death to beg you to grant my brother whatever years remain to him. [58] Let him live to see the capital again, and the court need never fear another long western campaign, nor the oases dread sudden disaster. He will owe you the kindness King Wen showed to dry bones, the compassion Duke Zifang showed the aged. [59] The Classic says: 'The people are weary—grant them a little peace; cherish the heartland and the four quarters will be still.' [60] He has written me what may be our last farewell. It breaks my heart that he gave his youth and loyalty to the sands and may be left to die in the wilderness in old age. If he is not spared and some morning brings disaster, I pray only that his family may win the same mercy Zhao's mother and Lady Wei once obtained for their kin. [61] I am a foolish woman who may have overstepped—but I speak from the heart."
30
書奏，帝感其言，乃徵超還。
The emperor was moved and recalled Ban Chao to the capital.
31
超在西域三十一歲。 十四年八月至洛陽，拜為射聲校尉。 超素有匈脅疾，既至，病遂加。 帝遣中黃門問疾，賜醫藥。 其年九月卒，年七十一。 朝廷愍惜焉，使者弔祭，贈賵甚厚。 子雄嗣。
Ban Chao spent thirty-one years in the Western Regions. In the eighth month of Yongyuan 14 (102 CE) he reached Luoyang and was named colonel of the sound-shooters. He had long suffered chest pain; the journey made it worse. The court sent a eunuch physician with imperial medicines. He died that September at seventy-one. The court mourned him deeply: envoys performed the rites of condolence and the burial gifts were lavish. His son Ban Xiong inherited the title.
32
初，超被徵，以戊己校尉任尚為都護。 與超交代。 尚謂超曰：「君侯在外國三十餘年，而小人猥承君後，任重慮淺，宜有以誨之。 」超曰：「年老失智，任君數當大位，豈班超所能及哉！ 必不得已，願進愚言。 塞外吏士，本非孝子順孫，皆以罪過徙補邊屯。 而蠻夷懷鳥獸之心，難養易敗。 今君性嚴急，水清無大魚，察政不得下和。 [62]宜蕩佚簡易，寬小過，總大綱而已。 」超去後，尚私謂所親曰：「我以班君當有奇策，今所言平平耳。 」尚至數年，而西域反亂，以罪被征，如超所戒。
When Ban Chao was recalled, Ren Shang of the Wu-Ji colonelcy was named protector-general. He took over from Ban Chao. Ren Shang said, "You spent thirty years abroad; I am a lesser man following in your tracks, heavy duty and shallow judgment—give me your counsel." " Ban Chao answered, "I am old and dull; you have risen to high office again and again—what could I teach you?" " If you insist, I offer a few plain words." The garrison troops beyond the pass are not dutiful sons; most were exiled thither for crime. The frontier peoples are like wild things: hard to tame, quick to turn. You are stern and impatient. Clear water holds no big fish; pick at every fault and you lose the men's goodwill. [62] Be easy and broad, forgive small slips, hold only the main lines—that is enough." " After Ban Chao left, Ren Shang muttered to friends, "I expected marvels; all I got was platitudes." " Within a few years the west rose in revolt; Ren Shang was recalled in disgrace—exactly as Ban Chao had foretold."
33
有三子。 長子雄，累遷屯騎校尉。 會叛羌寇三輔，詔雄將五營兵屯長安，就拜京兆尹。 雄卒，子始嗣，尚清河孝王女陰城公主。 主順帝之姑，貴驕淫亂，與嬖人居帷中，而召始入，使伏默下。 始積怒，永建五年，遂拔刃殺主。 帝大怒，腰斬始，同產皆□巿。 超少子勇。
He had three sons. The eldest, Ban Xiong, rose to colonel of the garrison cavalry. When rebel Qiang threatened the capital region, Ban Xiong was ordered to lead the five camps to Chang'an and was appointed metropolitan governor of Jingzhao. Ban Xiong died; his son Ban Shi inherited the title and married the Princess of Yincheng, daughter of Prince Xiao of Qinghe. She was Emperor Shun's aunt by marriage—proud, dissolute. She hid with a lover behind her curtains, called Ban Shi in, and made him kneel in silence beneath the bed. The humiliation festered until in Yongjian 5 Ban Shi drew his sword and killed the princess. The emperor in fury had him cut in two at the waist; his full siblings were executed in the marketplace. Ban Chao's youngest son was Ban Yong.
34
勇字宜僚，少有父風。 永初元年，西域反叛，以勇為軍司馬。 與兄雄俱出敦煌，迎都護及西域甲卒而還。 因罷都護。 後西域絕無漢吏十餘年。
Ban Yong, style Yiliao, showed his father's mettle even as a youth. In Yongchu 1 (107 CE), when the west revolted, he was named army major. He rode out of Dunhuang with Ban Xiong to escort the protector-general and the western garrisons home. The protector-generalship was then abolished. For more than a decade thereafter no Han official set foot in the Tarim basin.
35
元初六年，敦煌太守曹宗遣長史索班將千餘人屯伊吾，車師前王及鄯善王皆來降班。 後數月，北單于與車師後部遂共攻沒班，進擊走前王，略有北道。 鄯善王急，求救於曹宗，宗因此請出兵五千人擊匈奴，報索班之恥，因復取西域。
In Yuanchu 6 (119 CE) Governor Cao Zong of Dunhuang sent Chief Clerk Suo Ban with a thousand men to hold Yiwu; the king of Forward Cheshi and the king of Shanshan both submitted to him. Months later the northern chanyu and Rear Cheshi destroyed Suo Ban, drove out the forward king, and overran the northern track. The king of Shanshan begged Cao Zong for aid; Cao asked leave to send five thousand men against the Xiongnu to avenge Suo Ban and reopen the west.
36
鄧太后召勇詣朝堂會議。 先是公卿多以為宜閉玉門關，遂□西域。 勇上議曰：「昔孝武皇帝患匈奴強盛，兼總百蠻，以逼障塞。 於是開通西域，離其黨與，論者以為奪匈奴府藏，斷其右臂。 遭王莽篡盜，徵求無猒，胡夷忿毒，遂以背叛。
Empress Dowager Deng summoned Ban Yong to court for debate. Most ministers had already argued for sealing the Jade Gate and abandoning the west. Ban Yong argued: "Emperor Wu faced a powerful Xiongnu confederation choking the frontier." He opened the Western Regions to split their allies—strategists called it emptying the Xiongnu treasury and severing their right arm." Wang Mang's exactions turned them against us; the tribes burned with hatred and rose in revolt.
37
光武中興，未遑外事，故匈奴負強，驅率諸國。 及至永平，再攻敦煌，河西諸郡，城門晝閉。 孝明皇帝深惟廟策，[63]乃命虎臣，出征西域，[64]故匈奴遠遁，邊境得安。 及至永元，莫不內屬。 會閒者羌亂，西域復絕，北虜遂遣責諸國，備其逋租，高其價直，嚴以期會。 鄯善、車師皆懷憤怨，思樂事漢，其路無從。 前所以時有叛者，皆由牧養失宜，還為其害故也。 今曹宗徒恥於前負，欲報雪匈奴，而不尋出兵故事，未度當時之宜也。 夫要功荒外，萬無一成，若兵連禍結，悔無及已。 況今府藏未充，師無後繼，是示弱於遠夷，暴短於海內，臣愚以為不可許也。 舊敦煌郡有營兵三百人，今宜復之，復置護西域副校尉，居於敦煌，如永元故事。 又宜遣西域長史將五百人屯樓蘭，西當焉耆、龜茲徑路，南強鄯善、于窴心膽，北扞匈奴，東近敦煌。 如此誠便。」
Guangwu had no leisure for the frontier, so the Xiongnu bullied the oases at will. By Yongping they were raiding Dunhuang twice over; Hexi barred its gates even in daylight. Emperor Ming weighed the ancestral counsel [63] and sent his generals west; [64] the Xiongnu fled and the border knew peace again. By Yongyuan every kingdom had submitted. Then Qiang troubles cut the road again; the northern chanyu extorted the oases for back tribute at ruinous rates on pain of war. Shanshan and Cheshi burn with resentment yet long to serve Han—they have no opening. Their earlier revolts came from bad policy, not from innate treachery. Cao Zong smart from defeat wants revenge without studying how campaigns were run or what the moment allows. Adventures beyond the wall almost never pay; if war drags on, remorse will come too late. The treasury is thin and there is no second army—this would advertise weakness to the tribes and fault at home. I say the proposal should be refused. Restore Dunhuang's three hundred garrison troops and revive the deputy colonel for the west at Dunhuang, as under Yongyuan. Send the western chief clerk with five hundred men to Loulan—blocking Yanqi and Kucha to the west, heartening Shanshan and Khotan to the south, shielding against the Xiongnu to the north, within reach of Dunhuang to the east. That is the prudent course."
38
尚書問勇曰：「今立副校尉，何以為便？ 又置長史屯樓蘭，利害云何？ 」勇對曰：「昔永平之末，始通西域，初遣中郎將居敦煌，後置副校*[尉]*於車師，既為胡虜節度，又禁漢人不得有所侵擾。 故外夷歸心，匈奴畏威。 今鄯善王尤還，[65]漢人外孫，若匈奴得志，則尤還必死。 此等雖同鳥獸，亦知避害。 若出屯樓蘭，足以招附其心，愚以為便。 」長樂□尉鐔顯、廷尉綦母參、司隸校尉崔據難曰：
The ministers asked: "What good comes of reviving the deputy colonel?" And what of posting the chief clerk at Loulan?" " Ban Yong answered: "At the end of Yongping, when the road first opened, a court officer held Dunhuang and a deputy colonel sat at Cheshi—controlling the tribes while barring Han from abuses." The tribes trusted us and the Xiongnu feared our shadow. King You Huan of Shanshan is a Han grandson by the female line; [65] if the Xiongnu have their way, he is a dead man. Even brutes flee danger. A garrison at Loulan would win their allegiance again. That is my counsel." Tan Xian, colonel of the Changle guard, Qimu Can the commandant of the court, and Cui Ju the metropolitan commandant objected:
39
「朝廷前所以□西域者，以其無益於中國而費難供也。 今車師已屬匈奴，鄯善不可保信，一旦反覆，班將能保北虜不為邊害乎？ 」[66]勇對曰：「今中國置州牧者，以禁郡縣奸猾盜賊也。 若州牧能保盜賊不起者，臣亦願以要斬保匈奴之不為邊害也。 今通西域則虜埶必弱，虜埶* (必) *弱則為患微矣。 孰與歸其府藏，續其斷臂哉！ 今置校尉以扞撫西域，設長史以招懷諸國，若□而不立，則西域望絕。 望絕之後，屈就北虜，緣邊之郡將受困害，恐河西城門必復有晝閉之儆矣。 今不廓開朝廷之德，而拘屯戍之費，若北虜遂熾，豈安邊久長之策哉！」
" The court gave up the west because it drained the interior without return." Cheshi is now Xiongnu territory; Shanshan cannot be trusted. If they turn again, can Ban Yong swear the tribes will not threaten the border?" " [66] Ban Yong answered: "We set provincial shepherds to curb thieves in the commanderies." If a shepherd could swear no thief would ever rise, I would pledge my neck that the Xiongnu would not trouble the passes." Reopening the west weakens the Xiongnu; a weaker foe * (The edition carries a collation mark in this sentence.) * means slighter danger on the frontier. How does that compare to handing them back their granaries and sewing on their severed arm?" A colonel reassures the oases; a chief clerk woos their kings. Abandon both and the west gives up hope. Despair drives them into the Xiongnu orbit, and the border commanderies will suffer—I fear Hexi will bar its gates in daylight once more. To stint on a little garrison silver while the northern power swells is no way to keep the frontier quiet for long!"
40
太尉屬毛軫難曰：「今若置校尉，則西域駱驛遣使，求索無猒，與之則費難供，不與則失其心。 一旦為匈奴所迫，當復求救，則為役大矣。 」勇對曰：「今設以西域歸匈奴，而使其恩德大漢，不為鈔盜則可矣。
Mao Zhen of the grand commandant's staff objected: "A colonel means endless embassies from the west, insatiable demands—pay and you bankrupt the treasury; refuse and you lose them." When the Xiongnu lean on them again they will beg for armies—that is the heavier burden." " Ban Yong replied: "If yielding the west made the Xiongnu grateful and ended their raids, fine."
41
如其不然，則因西域租入之饒，兵馬之觿，以擾動緣邊，是為富仇讎之財，增暴夷之埶也。 置校尉者，宣威布德，以系諸國內向之心，以疑匈奴覬覦之情，而無財費耗國之慮也。 且西域之人無它求索，其來入者，不過稟食而已。 今若拒絕，埶歸北屬，夷虜並力以寇並、涼，則中國之費不止千億。 置之誠便。」
Otherwise they will tax the oases' wealth and ride their cavalry to harry our border—that feeds our foe and swells a savage power. A colonel projects Han power and virtue, keeps the kingdoms facing inward, checks Xiongnu ambition, and costs the treasury far less than a full war." The westerners are not greedy—when they visit they mainly want their government grain. Shut them out and they swing to the Xiongnu; united steppe power will ravage Bing and Liang, and the interior will pay far more than a few garrison piculs. Adopt the plan—it is plainly the cheaper course."
42
於是從勇議，復敦煌郡營兵三百人，置西域副校尉居敦煌。 雖復羈縻西域，然亦未能出屯。 其後匈奴果數與車師共入寇鈔，河西大被其害。
The court followed Ban Yong: three hundred Dunhuang garrison troops and a deputy colonel for the west based at Dunhuang. The west was held only by loose suzerainty; the forward posts Yong had urged were never planted. The Xiongnu then raided Hexi again and again with Cheshi, and the northwest paid dearly.
43
延光二年夏，復以勇為西域長史，將兵五百人出屯柳中。 [67]明年正月，勇至樓蘭，以鄯善歸附，特加三綬。 而龜茲王白英猶自疑未下，勇開以恩信，白英乃率姑墨、溫宿自縛詣勇降。 勇因發其兵步騎萬餘人到車師前王庭，擊走匈奴伊蠡王於伊和谷，收得前部五千餘人，於是前部始復開通。 還，屯田柳中。
In Yanguang 2 summer Ban Yong was again named western chief clerk and led five hundred men to hold Liuzhong. [67] The next first month he reached Loulan and, because Shanshan had renewed fealty, upgraded their seals with three added ribbons. King Bai Ying of Kucha still wavered until Ban Yong won him with trust; then Bai Ying came in bonds with the kings of Gumo and Wensu to surrender. He marched their ten thousand-odd horse and foot to Forward Cheshi's royal camp, routed the Xiongnu Yili king in the Yihe gorge, rallied over five thousand men of the forward division, and reopened the northern route. He then farmed the garrison fields at Liuzhong.
44
四年秋，勇發敦煌、張掖、酒泉六千騎及鄯善、疏勒、車師前部兵擊後部王軍就，大破之。 [68]首虜八千餘人，馬畜五萬餘頭。 捕得軍就及匈奴持節使者，將至索班沒處斬之，以報其恥，傳首京師。 永建元年，更立後部故王子加特奴為王。 勇又使別校誅斬東且彌王，亦更立其種人為王，[69]於是車師六國悉平。
In Yanguang 4 autumn he led six thousand Hexi cavalry plus Shanshan, Shule, and Forward Cheshi against Rear Cheshi's king Jungjiu and shattered his army. [68] The butcher's bill passed eight thousand; horses and herds topped fifty thousand head. Jungjiu and the Xiongnu credential-bearer were executed on the ground where Suo Ban fell, avenging his death; their heads were sent to Luoyang. Yongjian 1: Jianu, a prince of Rear Cheshi, was enthroned as king. A detached force killed the king of Eastern Jumi and set a clansman on his throne [69]; the six Cheshi polities were quiet.
45
其冬，勇發諸國兵擊匈奴呼衍王，呼衍王亡走，其觿二萬餘人皆降。 捕得單于從兄，勇使加特奴手斬之，以結車師匈奴之隙。 北單于自將萬餘騎入後部，至金且谷，勇使假司馬曹俊馳救之。 單于引去，俊追斬其貴人骨都侯，於是呼衍王遂徙居枯梧河上。 是後車師無復虜跡，城郭皆安。 唯焉耆王元孟未降。
That winter allied troops struck the Xiongnu Huyan prince; he fled and over twenty thousand of his men yielded. They took the chanyu's cousin; Ban Yong had King Jianu cut off his head to set Cheshi and the Xiongnu at odds. The northern chanyu led ten thousand riders into Rear Cheshi as far as Jinqiu; Ban Yong sent brevet major Cao Jun to relieve the town. The chanyu withdrew; Cao Jun ran down the noble Guduhou, and Huyan shifted his camp to the Kuwu River. Cheshi saw no more Xiongnu; the oasis towns were safe. Only Yuan Meng of Yanqi still held out.
46
二年，勇上請攻元孟，於是遣敦煌太守張朗將河西四郡兵三千人配勇。 [70]因發諸國兵四萬餘人，分騎為兩道擊之。 勇從南道，朗從北道，約期俱至焉耆。
Yongjian 2: Ban Yong asked to attack Yuan Meng; Zhang Lang, governor of Dunhuang, was given three thousand men from four Hexi commanderies to join him. [70] He raised over forty thousand allied troops and split them into two columns. Ban Yong took the southern road, Zhang Lang the northern, with a rendezvous at Yanqi.
47
而朗先有罪，欲徼功自贖，遂先期至爵離關，遣司馬將兵前戰，首虜二千餘人。
Zhang Lang, under a cloud, raced ahead to win pardon: he reached Jueliguan early, sent a major forward, and claimed over two thousand heads.
48
元孟懼誅，逆遣使乞降，張朗徑入焉耆受降而還。 元孟竟不肯面縛，唯遣子詣闕貢獻。 朗遂得免誅。 勇以後期，徵下獄，免。 後卒於家。
Yuan Meng, fearing death, sued for peace; Zhang Lang marched straight into Yanqi, accepted the surrender, and withdrew. Yuan Meng refused to appear with corded hands—he sent only his son to Luoyang with tribute. Zhang Lang escaped punishment. Ban Yong, late to the rendezvous, was jailed and stripped of office. He died at home in obscurity.
49
梁慬字伯威，[71]北地弋居人也。 [72]父諷，歷州宰。 永元元年，車騎將軍竇憲出征匈奴，除諷為軍司馬，令先繼金帛使北單于，宣國威德，其歸附者萬餘人。 後坐失憲意，髡輸武威，武威太守承旨殺之。 竇氏既滅，和帝知其為憲所誣，徵慬，除為郎中。
Liang Jin, style Bowei, [71] came from Yiju in Beidi commandery. [72] His father Liang Feng had been a provincial governor. In Yongyuan 1 (89 CE) Dou Xian marched against the Xiongnu; Liang Feng was named army major and sent ahead with gold and silk to the northern chanyu to proclaim Han power; over ten thousand submitted. He later offended Dou Xian, was shorn and exiled to Wuwei, and the governor there killed him on orders. When the Dou fell, Emperor He knew Liang Feng had been framed and summoned Liang Jin as a gentleman of the interior.
50
慬有勇氣，常慷慨好功名。 初為車騎將軍鄧鴻司馬，再遷，延平元年拜西域副校尉。 慬行至河西，會西域諸國反叛，攻都護任尚於疏勒。 尚上書求救，詔慬將河西四郡羌胡五千騎馳赴之，慬未至而尚已得解。 會征尚還，以騎都尉段禧為都護，西域長史趙博為騎都尉。 禧、博守它干城。 它干城小，慬以為不可固，乃譎說龜茲王白霸，欲入共保其城，白霸許之。 吏人固諫，白霸不聽。 慬既入，遣將急迎禧、博，合軍八九千人。 龜茲吏人並叛其王，而與溫宿、姑墨數萬兵反，共圍城。 慬等出戰，大破之。 連兵數月，胡觿敗走，乘勝追擊，凡斬首萬餘級，獲生口數千人，駱駝畜產數萬頭，龜茲乃定。 而道路尚隔，檄書不通。
Liang Jin was bold and hungry for renown. He began as Deng Hong's major, rose twice, and in Yanping 1 (106 CE) became deputy colonel for the west. He reached Hexi as the western states rose and besieged Ren Shang in Shule. Ren Shang begged for aid; the court ordered Liang Jin to race west with five thousand Qiang and Hu cavalry from four Hexi commanderies, but Ren Shang broke the siege before he arrived. Ren Shang was recalled; Duan Xi became protector-general and Zhao Bo western chief clerk, both with colonel of the horse rank. Duan Xi and Zhao Bo held Tagan. Tagan was too small to hold; Liang Jin talked King Ba Ba of Kucha into letting him move into the capital for mutual defense, and Ba Ba agreed. Kucha's officials pleaded against it; Ba Ba refused. Once inside, Liang Jin rushed escorts for Duan Xi and Zhao Bo and united some nine thousand men. The Kucheans mutinied against their king and, with tens of thousands from Wensu and Gumo, besieged the city. Liang Jin sallied and broke them. Months of fighting routed the allies; the pursuit took ten thousand heads, thousands of captives, and tens of thousands of camels and beasts, and Kucha was pacified. The road east stayed closed; no courier reached the capital.
51
歲餘，朝廷憂之。 公卿議者以為西域阻遠，數有背叛，吏士屯田，其費無已。
After a year the court grew anxious. Ministers argued the west was distant, unruly, and the garrison farms bled the treasury dry.
52
永初元年，遂罷都護，遣騎都尉王弘發關中兵迎慬、禧、博及伊吾盧、柳中屯田吏士。
Yongchu 1 (107 CE): the protector-generalship was scrapped; Wang Hong led Guanzhong troops to evacuate Liang Jin, Duan Xi, Zhao Bo, and the colonists at Yiwulu and Liuzhong.
53
二年春，還至敦煌。 會觿羌反叛，朝廷大發兵西擊之，逆詔慬留為諸軍援。 慬至張掖日勒。 [73]羌諸種萬餘人攻亭候，殺略吏人。 慬進兵擊，大破之，乘勝追至昭武，[74]虜遂散走，其能脫者十二三。 及至姑臧，羌大豪三百餘人詣慬降，並尉譬遣還故地，河西四郡復安。
The next spring they reached Dunhuang. Then the Qiang rose; the court sent a great host west and ordered Liang Jin to stay as reserve for the armies. Liang Jin reached Rile in Zhangye. [73] Over ten thousand Qiang clansmen stormed the watch-posts, killing and looting. Liang Jin attacked, routed them, and chased them to Zhaowu; [74] only two or three in ten escaped. At Guzang three hundred Qiang headmen surrendered; Liang Jin sent them home with reassurances and Hexi was calm again.
54
慬受詔當屯金城，聞羌轉寇三輔，迫近園陵，即引兵赴擊之，轉戰武功美陽關。 [75]慬臨陣被創，不顧，連破走之，盡還得所掠生口，獲馬畜財物甚觿，羌遂奔散。 朝廷嘉之，數璽書勞勉，委以西方事，令為諸軍節度。
Ordered to Jincheng, he heard the Qiang were threatening the capital tombs and raced to fight them on the Wugong–Meiyang road. [75] Wounded on the line, he fought on, broke the Qiang, freed every captive, and seized rich spoils of horse and herd until the tribes scattered. The court praised him in repeated edicts, gave him overall command in the west, and set him over the armies.
55
三年冬，南單于與烏桓大人俱反。 以大司農何熙行車騎將軍事，中郎將龐雄為副，將羽林五校營士，及發緣邊十郡兵二萬餘人，[76]又遼東太守耿夔率將鮮卑種觿共擊之，詔慬行度遼將軍事。 龐雄與耿夔共擊匈奴奧鞬日逐王，破之。
Yongchu 3 winter: the southern chanyu and Wuhuan chiefs rose together. He Xi directed the campaign with Pang Xiong as deputy, twenty thousand men from ten border commanderies, [76] and Geng Kui of Liaodong led Xianbei auxiliaries; Liang Jin was named acting general on the Liao. Pang Xiong and Geng Kui crushed the Xiongnu Aojian prince of the left.
56
單于乃自將圍中郎將耿種於美稷，連戰數月，攻之轉急，種移檄求救。 明年正月，慬將八千餘人馳往赴之，至屬國故城，與匈奴左將軍、烏桓大人戰，破斬其渠帥，殺三千餘人，虜其妻子，獲財物甚觿。
The chanyu then besieged Geng Zhong at Meiji for months; Geng Zhong called for help. The next first month Liang Jin flew to the old dependent-state fort with eight thousand men, routed the Xiongnu left general and Wuhuan chiefs, took three thousand heads, captives, and rich booty.
57
單于復自將七八千騎迎攻，圍慬。 慬被甲奔擊，所向皆破，虜遂引還虎澤。 三月，何熙軍到五原曼柏，[77]暴疾，不能進，遣龐雄與慬及耿種步騎萬六千人攻虎澤。 連營稍前，單于惶怖，遣左奧鞬日逐王詣慬乞降，慬乃大陳兵受之。
The chanyu counterattacked with seven or eight thousand riders and surrounded Liang Jin. Liang Jin in armor charged every point of the ring until the enemy broke and fled to Huzhe marsh. In the third month He Xi reached Manbai in Wuyuan [77] but fell mortally ill; he sent Pang Xiong, Liang Jin, and Geng Zhong with sixteen thousand men against Huzhe. The linked camps crept forward; the chanyu panicked and sent the left Aojian prince to sue for surrender; Liang Jin received the capitulation in full battle order.
58
單于脫帽徒跣，面縛稽顙，納質。 會熙卒於師，即拜慬度遼將軍。 龐雄還為大鴻臚。 雄，巴郡人，有勇略，稱為名將。
The chanyu doffed cap and shoes, bound his hands, kowtowed, and sent hostages. He Xi died in camp; Liang Jin was named general on the Liao at once. Pang Xiong became grand herald. Pang Xiong of Ba commandery was reckoned a famous general for courage and craft.
59
明年，安定、北地、上郡皆被羌寇，谷貴人流，不能自立。 詔慬發邊兵迎三郡太守，使將吏人徙扶風界。 慬即遣南單于兄子優孤塗奴將兵迎之。 既還，慬以塗奴接其家屬有勞，輒授以羌侯印綬，坐專擅，征下獄，抵罪。 明年，校書郎馬融上書訟慬與護羌校尉龐參，有詔原刑。 語在龐參傳。
The next year Anding, Beidi, and Shang were overrun; famine drove the people from their homes. He was told to send border troops to escort the three governors and move their people into Fufeng. Liang Jin sent the chanyu's nephew Yougu Tunu with troops to escort them. Afterward Liang Jin gave Tunu a Qiang marquis seal for escorting the families—an unauthorized enfeoffment—and was jailed for it. The next year Ma Rong memorialized for Liang Jin and Pang Can; the throne remitted their punishment. The story is told in the biography of Pang Can.
60
會叛羌寇三輔，關中盜賊起，拜慬謁者，將兵擊之。 至湖縣，病卒。
When Qiang rebels threatened Guanzhong, Liang Jin was named herald and sent against them. He died of illness at Hu county.
61
何熙字孟孫，陳國人。 少有大志。 永元中，為謁者。 身長八尺五寸，善為威容，贊拜殿中，音動左右。 和帝偉之，擢為御史中丞，歷司隸校尉、大司農。 及在軍臨歿，遺言薄葬。
He Xi, style Mengsun, was a native of Chen. Even as a youth he aimed high. Under Yongyuan he became a herald. He stood eight chi five cun tall, carried himself with majesty in court rituals, and his voice filled the hall. Emperor He admired him and raised him to palace assistant censor, then metropolitan commandant, then grand minister of agriculture. Facing death in the field he asked only for a plain burial.
62
三子：臨，瑾，阜。 臨、瑾並有政能。 阜俊才早沒。 臨子衡，為尚書，以正直稱，坐訟李膺等下獄，免官，廢於家。
He had three sons: Lin, Jin, and Fu. Lin and Jin both proved able administrators. Fu, a brilliant son, died young. Lin's son Heng rose to secretary, famed for integrity; he defended Li Ying, went to prison, was dismissed, and lived out his days in retirement.
63
論曰：時政平則文德用，而武略之士無所奮其力能，故漢世有發憤張膽，爭膏身於夷狄以要功名，多矣。 祭肜、耿秉啟匈奴之權，班超、梁慬奮西域之略，卒能成功立名，享受爵位，薦功祖廟，勒勳於後，亦一時之志士也。
The historian remarks: In times of peace civil arts rule and soldiers have no outlet—so Han produced many who gladly risked the barbarian wastes for a name. Zhai Tong and Geng Bing broke the Xiongnu; Ban Chao and Liang Jin carved a path through the west—all won titles, offered victory at the shrines, and left their names for later ages: true men of their day.
64
贊曰：定遠慷慨，專功西遐。 坦步□、雪，咫尺龍沙。 [78]慬亦抗憤，勇乃負荷。 [79]
The verse says: The Marquis of Dingyuan burned with zeal and staked his fame on the farthest west. He strode the Pamirs and the snow-line; the Dragon Sands lay within a stone's throw. [78] Liang Jin matched that fire; Ban Yong shouldered the load after him. [79] The edition carries only this annotation marker at this point in the verse.
65
校勘記
Textual collation notes
66
一五七一頁三行：扶風平陵人。 按：《班彪傳》云扶風安陵人，錢大昕謂當有一誤。 校補引柳從辰說，謂《東觀記》載班超亦為安陵人，則作「平陵」者誤。
Collation note: the line reads 'a man of Pingling in Fufeng.' The Ban Biao biography gives Anling in Fufeng; Qian Daxin argues one reading must be erroneous. Supplementary collation cites Liu Congchen: the Dongguan ji likewise calls Ban Chao an Anling native, so "Pingling" is the error.
67
一五七一頁一〇行：超持《公羊春秋》。 按：王先謙謂「持」當為「治」，避唐高宗諱改。
Collation line: Ban Chao studied the Gongyang commentary on the Spring and Autumn. Wang Xianqian: the graph "hold" stands for "study," changed under Tang taboo.
68
一五七四頁一行：西與姑墨接。 按：校補謂《前書》《西域傳》作「北與姑墨接」。
Collation: "borders Gumo on the west." Collation note: the Han shu western treatise has "north," not "west."
69
一五七四頁二行：東西六千餘里。 按：「千」原作「十」，逕改正。
Collation: "more than six thousand li from east to west." Editorial note: the manuscript had "ten" for "thousand"; the text was emended.
70
一五七四頁二行：傍南山北波河西行。 按：《西域傳》「波」作「陂」。 下一二行注「隨北山波河西行」同。
Collation: "going west along the south range north of the bo channel." The western treatise writes "pi" (embankment) for "bo." Same gloss applies to the note twelve lines below.
71
一五七四頁六行：逆遣吏田慮先往降之。 〈袁宏紀〉 「田慮」作「陳憲」。 惠棟謂古陳田字通，「憲」當為「慮」，字之誤也。 今按：慮憲形近，未知孰是。
Collation line on Tian Lü sent ahead to treat for surrender. From the Annals of the Later Han by Yuan Hong That text reads "Chen Xian" instead. Hui Dong: Chen and Tian could interchange; "Xian" is a corruption of "Lü." The forms are easily confused; the true reading remains uncertain.
72
一五七四頁一二行：今龜音丘勿反。 按：龜無入聲，「勿」字疑鬥。
Collation: note on reading Qi (Kucha). Phonological note: the fanqie may be corrupt—"wu" for "dou."
73
一五七五頁一行：超守盤橐城。 按：汲本、殿本「盤」作「盤」。
Collation: "Chao held Pancheng." Ji and Palace editions use the same character form for "Pan."
74
一五八〇頁二行：本或作植。 按：通鑒胡注引「植」作「楨」，胡氏謂案《西域傳》，靈帝建寧三年，涼州刺史孟佗遣兵討疏勒，攻楨中城，「楨中」是也。
Collation: alternate reading "zhi." Hu Sanxing argues for "Zhenzhong" from the western treatise parallel.
75
一五八〇頁一三行：必從龜茲求救。 按：集解引惠棟說，謂袁宏紀「救」作「食」。
Collation line on seeking Kucha's aid. Variant: Yuan Hong has "food" for "rescue."
76
一五八一頁七行：遣其左將北鞬支。 按：集解引惠棟說，謂「北」一作「比」。 校補引錢大昭說，謂閩本作「比」。
Collation: the left general Beijianzhi. Some manuscripts write "Bi" for "Bei." Qian Dazhao notes the Min edition has "bi."
77
一五八一頁一四行： (正) 營大澤中。 按：刊誤謂案文「正」當作「止」。 集解引惠棟說，謂案 〈袁宏紀〉 ，「正」字當衍。 今依惠說刪「正」字。
Page 1581 line 14: (lemma only in the edition). (Collation marker in the received text.) Continuation: "encamped in a broad marsh." Kanwu emends "zheng" to "zhi" (halted). Hui Dong in the Jiji argues that examining the Yuan Hong ji the character "zheng" is a stray addition. The edition deletes "zheng" per Hui Dong.
78
一五八二頁一行：尉犁王泛及北鞬支等三十人。 按：集解引王補說，謂袁宏紀「泛」作「沉」。 又引惠棟說，謂 〈袁紀〉 作「四十一人」。
Collation: King Fan of Yuli, Beijianzhi, and thirty men. Wang Bu: Yuan Hong writes "Chen" for the king's name. Hui Dong adds the Yuan ji gives "forty-one persons" instead of thirty.
79
一五八二頁八行：先帝深愍邊萌嬰羅寇害。 「萌」汲本、殿本作「氓」。 今按：「氓」亦作「萌」，音義並同。 又「羅」汲本、殿本作「罹」。 今按：羅罹通。
Collation: "pitied the border folk caught in invasion." Ji and Palace read "mang" for "meng." "Mang" and "meng" are equivalent here. Ji and Palace use "li" (suffer) for "luo." "Luo" and "li" are variant graphs for the same word.
80
一五八三頁一二行：正丘首[正首]丘也。 據集解本補，與禮檀弓鄭注合。
Collation on the fox proverb; bracketed correction follows the Jiji. The supplement aligns with Zheng Xuan's Li ji commentary.
81
一五八五頁九行：《周禮》 (卿) [鄉]大夫職。 據殿本改。
Collation: opening citation of the Zhou li (Collation: "qing" for "xiang" in the manuscript.) Bracketed emendation: "grandee of the district," per the Zhou li office. Emended from the Palace edition.
82
一五八五頁一〇行：即知 (一) [二十]與《周禮》七尺。 同據刊誤改。
Collation fragment: "then knowing" (Collation marker: "one" for "twenty" in a numeral.) Emended numeral to match the Zhou li seven-chi measure. Kanwu emendation applied here as well.
83
一五八五頁一〇行：[周]禮國中六十免役。 據刊誤補。
Collation: Zhou li passage on exemption at sixty. Supplied per Kanwu.
84
一五八六頁六行：以戊己校尉任尚為都護。 按：刊誤謂是時但有戊校尉，多「己」字。
Collation: Ren Shang as Wu-Ji colonel becomes protector-general. Kanwu: only the Wu colonel existed—the "ji" is superfluous.
85
一五八六頁六行：尚謂超曰。 按：集解引王補說，謂 〈袁宏紀〉 作「尚與超書曰」。
Collation: "Shang said to Chao." Wang Bu in the Jiji notes the Yuan Hong ji has this as a letter from Shang to Chao.
86
一五八六頁七行：超曰。 按：集解引王補說，謂據 〈袁紀〉 尚與超書，則超此語亦荅書，非面論也。
Collation: "Chao said." Wang Bu argues from the Yuan ji that Ban Chao's words are a written reply, not a conversation.
87
一五八七頁三行：元初六年至遂共攻沒班。 按：集解引通鑒考異，謂案 〈本紀〉 及 〈車師傳〉 ，皆云永寧元年事，蓋班以去年末屯伊吾，今春見殺，或今春奏事方到也。
Collation block on the Suo Ban incident dating. The Kaoyi checks the annals and the Cheshi treatise which date the affair to Yongning 1: Ban wintered at Yiwu and was killed the next spring, or news arrived that spring.
88
一五八八頁六行：後置副校[尉]於車師。 據汲本、殿本補。
Collation: bracketed "wei" (colonel) supplied. Added from Ji and Palace.
89
一五八八頁九行：廷尉綦母參。 按：集解本「母」作「毋」，校補謂據《通鑒》正。
Collation: Qimu Can as commandant of the court. Jiji writes "Qiwu"; Jiaobu follows the Zizhi tongjian spelling.
90
一五八八頁一二行：虜埶 (必) 弱則為患微矣。 據刊誤刪。
Collation: "the barbarian situation" (Collation: spurious "must" inserted in some texts.) If they are weak, the threat they pose is slight. Kanwu deletes the spurious character.
91
涉如涉水，獵如獵獸。 言不能周悉，粗窺覽之也。 《東觀記》曰：「超持公羊春秋，多所窺覽。」
Gloss: "peruse" likened to wading and hunting—skimming, not deep study. He skimmed widely rather than mastering every detail. Dongguan ji parallel: Ban Chao read the Gongyang and browsed widely.
92
校書郎，解見 〈班固傳〉 。
On collator, see the biography of Ban Gu End of cross-reference.
93
傅介子，北地人。 昭帝時使西域，刺殺樓蘭王，封義陽侯。 張騫，漢中人，武帝時鑿空開西域，封博望侯。 《續漢書》作「久弄筆研乎」。 《華嶠書》作「久事筆耕乎」。 研音硯。
Fu Jiezi of Beidi. Under Emperor Zhao he killed the Loulan king in the west and was made marquis of Yiyang. Zhang Qian of Hanzhong opened the west for Emperor Wu and became marquis of Bowang. Xu Han shu variant: "long fiddling with brush and inkstone." Hua Qiao shu variant: "long at brush-plowing." Note: "yan" (grind) is the inkstone word.
94
一坐所尊，則先祭酒。 今稱祭酒，相尊敬之詞也。
The libationer was the senior who poured the first cup. Later usage made "libationer" a polite address.
95
《續漢志》曰：「蘭台令史六人，秩百石，掌書劾奏及印主文書。」
Xu Han zhi on the six Lan Terrace clerks at one hundred piculs.
96
伊吾，匈奴中地名，在今伊州納職縣界。 《前書》音義曰「蒲類，匈奴中海名，在敦煌北」也。
Yiwu: Xiongnu toponym, near modern Hami region. Han shu gloss: Pulei (Barkol) is the northern Xiongnu sea by Dunhuang.
97
鄯善本西域樓蘭國也，昭帝元鳳四年改為鄯善。 去陽關一千六百里，去長安六千一百里也。
Shanshan was Loulan, renamed in Yuanfeng 4 of Emperor Zhao. Distance: 1,600 li from Yang Pass, 6,100 li from Chang'an.
98
曹，輩也。
Here the word means 'you gentlemen'—his comrades.
99
《東觀記》曰「斬得匈奴節使屋賴帶、副使比離支首及節」也。
Dongguan ji records the heads of envoys Wulaidai and Bilizhi and the captured staff.
100
于窴國去長安九千六百七十里，南與婼羌，西與姑墨接。 莎車國去長安九千九百五十里。 西城南北有大山，中央有河，東西六千餘里。 東至玉門、陽關有兩道，從鄯善傍南山北波河西行，至莎車，為南道。 雄張猶熾盛也。 張音丁亮反。 波，傍也。 波音詖。
Khotan lies 9,670 li from Chang'an, bordering Ruoqiang south and Gumo west. Kasha is 9,950 li from Chang'an. The Western Regions are boxed by ranges north and south, with a central river and more than six thousand li from east to west. The southern road runs from Shanshan west along the southern range north of the river channel to Kasha. The phrase means to lord it over others or throw one's weight about. Comment on the pronunciation of the graph (first syllable zhang). The graph is read in the sense of 'alongside' the river. Phonetic gloss: read like the homophone meaning 'side' or 'slant.'
101
《續漢》及《華嶠書》「騧」字並作「騩」。 說文：「馬淺黑色也。 」音京媚反。
Commentaries alternate graphs for the dapple mount. Shuowen: a gray-black horse. Fanqie reading for the horse name.
102
龜茲國居居延城，去長安七千四百八十里，南與精絕，東與且末，北與烏孫，西與姑墨接。 《前書》音義龜茲音丘慈。 今龜音丘勿反，茲音沮惟反，蓋急言耳。 自車師前王庭隨北山波河西行，至疏勒，為北道。 疏勒國居疏勒城，去長安九千三百五十里也。
Kucha: capital Juyan, 7,480 li from Chang'an; borders given for four directions. Han shu gloss: Kucha as qiu-ci. Later fanqie gives the modern pronunciation cluster. The northern road runs from Forward Cheshi along the northern range to Shule. Shule's capital is 9,350 li from Chang'an.
103
《續漢書》曰「求得故王兄子榆勒立之，更名曰忠」也。
Xu Han shu: the restored heir Yu Le was renamed Zhong.
104
焉耆國居員渠城，去長安七千三百里，北與烏孫接。
Yanqi: Yuanqu, 7,300 li from Chang'an, borders Wusun north.
105
姑墨國王居南城，去長安八千一百五十里。
Gumo king at southern city, 8,150 li from Chang'an.
106
尉頭國居尉頭谷，去長八千六百五十里，南與疏勒接。 衣服類烏孫也。
Weitou in its gorge, 8,650 li from Chang'an, borders Shule south. Costume like Wusun's.
107
康居國去長安萬二千三百里，不屬都護。
Kangju: 12,300 li from Chang'an, outside the protector-general's register.
108
叵猶遂也。
The character carries the sense of 'thereupon' or 'finally' in pacifying the states.
109
谷吉，長安人，永之父也。 元帝時為□司馬，使送郅支單于侍子，為郅支所殺。 張騫，武帝時為郎，使月氏，為匈奴所閉，留之十餘歲，乃亡走大宛，窮急即射禽獸給食。
Gu Ji of Chang'an was Gu Yong's father. As court major under Yuan he escorted Zhizhi's hostage and was murdered by Zhizhi. Zhang Qian, detained by the Xiongnu a decade en route to the Yuezhi, escaped to Dawan and lived by hunting.
110
魏絳，晉大夫。 晉悼公時，山戎使孟樂如晉，因魏絳納虎豹之皮，請和諸戎。 公悅，使魏絳盟諸戎。 事見左傳。 輯亦和也。
Wei Jiang of Jin. The Rong sent Meng Yue with pelts to sue for peace through Wei Jiang. The duke had Wei Jiang swear peace with the Rong tribes. See Zuo zhuan. Here the verb means to gather people in harmony.
111
賈誼曰：「莫邪為鈍兮，鈆刀為銛。 」楚詞曰：「捐□太阿，寶鈆刀兮。」
Jia Yi: even dull Moye beats a sharp lead blade—irony on worth. Chu ci variant on valuing the mean tool.
112
《前書》曰，漢遣公主為烏孫夫人，結為昆弟，則是斷匈奴右臂也。 哀帝時劉歆上議曰，武帝時立五屬國，起朔方，伐朝鮮，起玄菟、樂浪，以斷匈奴之左臂。 西伐大宛，結烏孫，裂匈奴之右臂。 南面以西為右也。
Han shu: the Wusun marriage was called severing the Xiongnu's right arm. Liu Xin: Wu's eastern pushes cut the left arm. Western campaigns cut the right arm. Facing south, west is 'right'—hence 'right arm.'
113
《西域傳》曰「自條支國乘水西行，可百餘日，近日所入」也。
Western treatise on the sunset lands.
114
效猶驗也。 《西河舊事》曰：「□領山，其上多□，因以為名。」
In this context the word means to verify or prove. Xihe jiushi: Pamirs named for onions (or wrong graph in lacuna).
115
《前書》朝錯曰：「以蠻夷攻蠻夷，中國之利。」
Chao Cuo's maxim on using tribes against tribes.
116
敦煌今涼州縣。
Dunhuang: modern Liangzhou county seat.
117
溫宿國王居溫宿城，去長安八千三百五十里也。
Wensu capital 8,350 li from Chang'an.
118
詩曰：「躋彼公堂，稱彼兕觥，萬壽無疆。 」《前書》兒寬傳曰：「臣寬再拜上千萬歲壽。」
Shijing toast on the hall. Ni Kuan's court toast parallel.
119
薦，進也。 勳，功也。 左氏傳曰：「反行飲至，捨爵策勳焉。」
It means to advance or present an offering at the shrine. It means merit worthy of record. Zuo: post-campaign ritual and recording merit.
120
番音潘，下同也。
Read the name as Pan (same below).
121
烏孫國居赤谷城，去長安八千九百里。 武帝元封中，以江都王建女細君為公主，以妻烏孫，贈送甚盛，烏孫以為右夫人。
Wusun at Chigu, 8,900 li from Chang'an. Princess Xijun married the Wusun king in Yuanfeng with great gifts.
122
《西域傳》曰，宣帝即位，烏孫遣使上書，言匈奴連發大兵侵擊烏孫，欲隔絕漢，烏孫願發國半精兵五萬騎，盡力擊匈奴，唯天子出兵以救公主。 漢大發十五萬騎，五將軍分道並出。 烏孫以五萬騎從西方入，至右谷蠡王庭，獲四萬餘級，馬牛羊七十餘萬。
Wusun's plea under Xuan for Han rescue against Xiongnu pressure. Han answered with 150,000 men in five columns. Wusun's wing took forty thousand heads and vast herds at the Goulou court.
123
將兵長史，解見和帝紀。 平帝元始二年，使謁者大司馬掾持節行邊兵，遣執金吾候陳茂假以鉦鼓。 《古今樂錄》曰：「橫吹，胡樂也。 張騫入西城，傳其法於長安，唯得摩訶兜勒一曲，李延年因之更造新聲二十八解，乘輿以為武樂，後漢以給邊將，萬人將軍得之。 在俗用者有黃鵠、隴頭、出關、入關、出塞、入塞、折楊柳、黃覃子、赤之楊、望行人十曲。 」劉熙《釋名》曰：「幢，童也，其貌童童然。 」蔡邕《月令章句》曰：「羽，鳥翼也，以為旌幢麾也。 」橫吹、麾幢皆大將所有，超非大將，故言假。
On chief clerk with troops, see Emperor He's annals. Yuanshi 2: court envoys gave border troops Chen Mao and signal drums. Hengchui: frontier wind instruments. Zhang Qian brought back hengchui tunes; Li Yanian expanded them; Han used them as martial music for high command. Ten named hengchui pieces in common use. Liu Xi's dictionary explains the command banner (tall staff with streamers). Cai Yong on feather standards. Ban Chao was lent general regalia though not a full general.
124
《前書》曰，烏孫國王先號昆莫，名獵驕靡，《後書》昆彌云。 後代取「昆」字，靡彌聲相近，音有輕重耳。 昆莫既死，子孫爭國，漢令立元貴靡為大昆彌，烏就屠為小昆彌，賜印綬，故有大小昆彌之號焉。
Kunmo vs Kunmi title variants. Sound shift from Kunmo to Kunmi. The great and lesser Kunmi partition after the civil war.
125
三至，解見 〈寇榮傳〉 。
On thrice-told slander see Kou Rong's biography End cross-reference.
126
疚，病也。 恤，憂也。 《論語》孔子曰：「內省不疚，夫何憂何懼！ 」《左氏傳》曰：「詩云『禮義不愆，何恤乎人之言』！ 」詩謂逸詩也。
Fault or moral blemish. Worry or pity. Analects on a clear conscience. Zuo citation on ignoring slander. The line comes from a lost Shijing piece.
127
謂多以珍寶誘引之。 啖音徒濫反。 《前書》曰，高祖令陸賈往說秦將，啖以利。 啖與啖同。
The verb means to bait with riches. Fanqie spelling for the verb meaning 'to tempt with food.' Lu Jia bribing a Qin general—Han shu parallel. Two variant graphs write the same word.
128
損中，未詳。 《東觀記》作「頓中」，續漢及《華嶠書》並作「損中」，本或作「植」，未知孰是也。
Sunzhun: location uncertain. Manuscript variants Dunzhong / Sunzhong / zhi.
129
供音居用反，張音竹亮反。
Fanqie readings for the graphs in 'spread a feast.'
130
《續漢書》曰：「符拔，形似麟而無角。」
Xu Han shu on the fabo beast tribute.
131
大人謂其酋豪。
Great man here means tribal chief.
132
鞬音九言反。
Fanqie reading for the leather component in the envoy's title.
133
由帶以上為厲，由膝以下為揭，見《爾雅》也。
Erya clothing terms for formal dress.
134
「十七」字本或為「七十」。
Manuscript reads 17 or 70.
135
《西河舊事》曰：「白山之中有好木，匈奴謂之天山，去蒲類海百里。 」郭義恭廣志曰：「西域有白山，通歲有雪，亦名雪山。 」破白山見明紀也。
White Mountain by Barkol. Guo Yigong on the snowy range. See Mingdi ji for the White Mountain campaign.
136
迄，至也。 縣度，山名。 縣音玄。 謂以繩索縣縋而過也。 其處在皮山國以西，罽賓國之東也。
Means to reach or extend to. Name of the hanging-cord pass. Read this graph with the xuan initial. Rope-bridge crossing at Xiandu. Xiandu lies between Pishan and Jibin.
137
致猶至也。 蠲，除也。
Means to bring about or to reach. Means to remit or wipe away.
138
《東觀記》曰：「其以漢中郡南鄭之西鄉戶千封超為定遠侯。 」故城在今洋州西鄉縣南。
Dingyuan fief in Hanzhong Xixiang. The fief site lies south of present-day Xixiang county in southern Shaanxi.
139
《禮記》曰：「太公封於營丘，比及五世，皆反葬於周。 君子曰：『樂樂其所自生，禮不忘其本。 古之人有言曰：狐死正丘首，仁也。 』」鄭玄注曰：「正丘首，*[正首]*丘也。 」代，郡名，在趙北。 韓詩外傳曰「代馬依北風，飛鳥揚故巢」也。
Liji: Qi line still buried in Zhou—homesickness parallel for Ban Chao. The Record of Rites: music delights in its origins; ritual keeps its roots in view. The old proverb: the fox dies heading home—natural human feeling. Zheng Xuan glosses the fox proverb: the head turns toward the home burrow. Dai commandery lay north of the old state of Zhao. Han shi waizhuan on homeward longing of horse and bird.
140
案《前書》曰，匈奴，其俗壯者食肥美，老者食其餘。 貴壯健，賤老弱也。
Han shu: Xiongnu give the best meat to warriors and scraps to elders. They revere youth and strength and scorn age.
141
金銀謂印也。 金印紫綬，銀印青綬也。
Gold and silver here refer to the credential seals. Gold with purple cords for higher rank, silver with blue cords.
142
玉門關屬敦煌郡，今沙州也。 去長安三千六百里。 關在敦煌縣西北。 酒泉，今肅州也。 去長安二千八百五十里也。
The Jade Gate was in Dunhuang—roughly modern Dunhuang prefecture. Three thousand six hundred li from Chang'an. The pass stood northwest of the county seat. Jiuquan corresponds to modern Jiuquan or Suzhou region. Two thousand eight hundred fifty li from Chang'an.
143
《東觀記》曰「時安息遣使獻大爵、師子，超遣子勇隨入塞」也。
Dongguan ji: Parthian lions and rhyta; Ban Yong escorted the embassy inland.
144
夷，傷也。
Yi here means wounded or scarred.
145
不仁猶不遂也。
Bu ren means numbness, loss of feeling.
146
踰，遙也。 高祖踰謂黥布曰：「何苦而反？」
Yu means far off. Emperor Gaozu taunted Qing Bu across the couch.
147
《周禮》 (卿) [鄉]大夫職曰：「國中七尺以及六十，野自六尺以及六十有五，皆征之。 」征謂賦稅從征役也。 《韓詩外傳》曰「二十行役，六十免役」，與《周禮》國中同，即知 (一) [二十]與《周禮》七尺同。 [周]禮國中六十免役，野即六十有五，晚於國中五年。 國中七尺從役，野六尺，即是野又早於國中五年。 七尺謂二十，六尺即十五也。 此言十五受兵，謂據野外為言，六十還之，據國中為說也。
Opening citation of the Zhou li. Collation marker in the manuscript. Zhou li passage on ages liable for labor levy. Zheng means taxes and military corvee. Han shi waizhuan age rule aligns with the capital section of the Zhou li. Collation: numeral variant in the manuscript. Twenty sui equals the seven-chi height rule. Urban exemption at sixty; rural at sixty-five. Rural youths enter service earlier than urban. Height rules map to twenty and fifteen sui. Ban Zhao mixes rural enlistment age with urban retirement age.
148
□，乞。
The damaged character is read as a word for begging mercy.
149
葬骨，解見明紀。 田子方，魏文侯之師也。 見君之老馬□之，曰：「少盡其力，老而□之，非仁也。 」於是收而養之。 事見史記也。
King Wen's dry-bones story—see Emperor Ming's annals. Tian Zifang, moral adviser to Wei Wen Hou. Tian Zifang rebuked the duke for abandoning a spent war-horse. The duke took the horse in and cared for it. Recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian.
150
詩大雅也。 汔，其也。 康、綏，皆安也。 言先施恩惠於中國，然後乃安四方。
This line comes from the Da ya section of the Odes. Qi here means nearly or almost. Kang and sui both gloss as peace or ease. Bless the heartland first, then the borderlands follow.
151
趙母謂趙奢之妻，趙括之母也。 懼括敗，先請，得不坐。 事見史記。 □姬者，齊桓公之姬。 桓公與管仲謀伐□，桓公入，姬請□之罪。 事見《列女傳》也。
The mother of Zhao Kuo who pled before battle. She obtained an amnesty before disaster struck. See the Shiji account. A Qi consort whose plea spared her state—name partially lost in the text. She interceded when Huan and Guan Zhong plotted a campaign. See the Lienu zhuan.
152
《家語》孔子曰：「水至清則無魚，人至察則無徒。」
Kongzi on excessive severity—no fish in overly clear water.
153
古者謀事必就祖，故言「廟策」也。
Grand plans were called temple strategy because one consulted the shrines.
154
《毛詩》曰：「進厥虎臣，闞如虓虎。」
Mao Shi on fierce generals.
155
尤還，王名。
You Huan is the personal name of the Shanshan king.
156
以勇為軍司馬，故以將言之。 將音子亮反。
Ban Yong held army-major rank, hence 'lead' in the narrative. Fanqie reading for the verb 'to lead.'
157
柳中，今西州縣。
Liuzhong is in modern Turfan region.
158
軍就，名也。
Jungjiu is a personal name, king of Rear Cheshi.
159
且音子余反。
Fanqie for the graph in Eastern Jumi.
160
河西四郡，金城、敦煌、張掖、酒泉。
The four western commanderies: Jincheng, Dunhuang, Zhangye, Jiuquan.
161
慬音勤。
The name Liang Qin uses the qin reading.
162
弋居，縣名。 郡國志曰有鐵官。
Yiju was a county in Beidi. The gazetteer notes an iron monopoly there.
163
日勒，縣名，屬張掖郡，故城在今甘州刪丹縣東南。
Rile county site southeast of Shandan.
164
縣名，屬張掖郡，故城在今甘州張掖縣西北也。
Another Zhangye county site northwest of modern Zhangye city.
165
美陽，縣名，故城在武功縣北七里，於其所置關。
Meiyang pass north of Wugong.
166
緣邊十郡謂五原、雲中、定襄、鴈門、朔方、代郡、上谷、漁陽、遼西、右北平。
The ten northern frontier commanderies named for the great mobilization.
167
曼柏，縣名，屬五原郡。
Manbai in Wuyuan.
168
□領、雪山，白龍堆沙漠也。 八寸曰咫。 坦步言不以為艱，咫尺言不以為遠也。
The Pamirs, the Snowy Range, and the White Dragon Desert. Eight cun make one short span. The verse plays on easy stride and a span's distance—nothing daunting.
169
《左傳》曰：「其父析薪，其子弗克負荷。 」言勇能繼超之功業。
Zuo zhuan: sons cannot always carry the father's burden. The line praises Ban Yong for continuing his father's work.