1
王充字仲任，會稽上虞人也，其先自魏郡元城徙焉。 充少孤，鄉里稱孝。 後到京師，受業太學，[一]師事扶風班彪。 好博覽而不守章句。 家貧無書，常游洛陽市肆，閱所賣書，一見輒能誦憶，遂博通觿流百家之言。 後歸鄉里，屏居教授。 仕郡為功曹，以數諫爭不合去。 注[一]袁山松《書》：「充幼聰朗。 詣太學，觀天子臨辟雍，作六儒論。」
Wang Chong, whose courtesy name was Zhongren, came from Shangyu in Kuaiji; his family had originally relocated there from Yuancheng in Wei Commandery. He lost his father while still a boy, and the people of his district commended him as a dutiful son. He later traveled to the capital, enrolled at the Imperial Academy, and studied under Ban Biao of Fufeng. He read broadly and refused to be bound by narrow philological literalism. Too poor to buy books, he haunted the Luoyang market stalls and read every volume on offer; one look sufficed to fix a text in memory, until he had absorbed the teachings of every school. He then went home, lived in seclusion, and made his living as a teacher. He held the post of merit clerk in the commandery but resigned after his repeated admonitions fell on deaf ears. Note [1] to Yuan Shansong's Book: "As a boy, Wang Chong was clever and alert. He entered the Imperial Academy, witnessed the emperor's ceremony at the Hall of the Circular Moat, and wrote the 'Treatise on the Six Scholars.'"
2
充好論說，始若詭異，終有理實。 以為俗儒守文，多失其真，乃閉門潛思，絕慶吊之禮，戶牖牆壁各置刀筆。 箸《論衡》八十五篇，二十餘萬言，[一]釋物類同異，正時俗嫌疑。 注[一]袁山松《書》曰：「充所作《論衡》，中土未有傳者，蔡邕入吳始得之，恆秘玩以為談助。 其後王朗為會稽太守，又得其書，及還許下，時人稱其才進。 或曰，不見異人，當得異書。 問之，果以論衡之益，由是遂見傳焉。 」《抱朴子》曰：「時人嫌蔡邕得異書，或搜求其帳中隱處，果得論衡，抱數卷持去。 邕丁寧之曰：『唯我與爾共之，勿廣也。』」
He delighted in debate—what began sounding outlandish always resolved into sound reasoning. He held that pedantic Confucians, slaves to the letter, routinely lost the genuine meaning; he therefore withdrew, reflected in solitude, forswore social calls of congratulation or condolence, and stationed brush and knife at every window and along the walls to write whenever thought struck. He composed the Lunheng in eighty-five pian—over two hundred thousand characters [1]—to sort out how kinds of things agree or differ and to settle the confusions of common opinion. Note [1] Yuan Shansong's Book records: "Wang Chong's Lunheng had not reached the heartland; when Cai Yong came south into Wu he acquired a copy and hoarded it as a private treasure to enliven his talk. When Wang Lang later served as governor of Kuaiji, he also got hold of the book, and after he returned to Xu people remarked that his literary powers had markedly improved. People said, 'Without encountering a remarkable person, one may still chance upon a remarkable book.' Asked to explain, they traced the improvement to the Lunheng—after which the work began to spread. The Baopuzi relates: "Some begrudged Cai Yong his unusual find and rummaged through the recesses of his bed-curtains until they turned up the Lunheng, seized a few bundles, and made off with them. Cai Yong urgently cautioned them, 'Let this stay between us—do not spread it abroad.'"
3
刺史董勤辟為從事，轉治中，自免還家。 友人同郡謝夷吾上書薦充才學，[一]肅宗特詔公車征，病不行。 年漸七十，志力衰耗，乃造養性書十六篇，裁節嗜欲，頤神自守。 永元中，病卒於家。 注[一]謝承《書》曰：「夷吾薦充曰：『充之天才，非學所加，雖前世孟軻、孫卿，近漢楊雄、劉向、司馬遷，不能過也。』」
The provincial inspector Dong Qin appointed him attendant clerk; he was promoted to administrative supervisor, then left office of his own accord and went home. Xie Yiwu, a countryman, memorialized to recommend Chong's erudition; [1] Emperor Zhang therefore issued a special summons by the imperial carriage, but Chong pleaded illness and declined to travel. When he neared seventy, vigor and resolve failed; he then wrote sixteen chapters on cultivating longevity, curbing desire, and quieting the mind to sustain himself. During the Yongyuan reign he succumbed to illness in his own house. Note [1] Xie Cheng's Book quotes Xie Yiwu's recommendation: 'Wang Chong's innate brilliance outstrips what mere learning can yield; not even ancient Mengzi or Xunzi, nor Han writers such as Yang Xiong, Liu Xiang, and Sima Qian, could exceed him.'"
4
王符字節信，安定臨涇人也。 少好學，有志操，與馬融、竇章、張衡、崔瑗等友善。 安定俗鄙庶孽，[一]而符無外家，為鄉人所賤。 自和、安之後，世務游宦，當塗者更相薦引，而符獨耿介不同於俗，以此遂不得升進。 志意蘊憤，乃隱居著書三十餘篇，以譏當時失得，不欲章顯其名，故號曰潛夫論。 其指訐時短，討□物情，[二]足以觀見當時風政，著其五篇云爾。 注[一]何休注《公羊傳》云：「孽，賤也。」
Wang Fu, whose courtesy name was Jiexin, hailed from Linjing in Anding Commandery. From his youth he was devoted to study, held himself to high standards, and counted Ma Rong, Dou Zhang, Zhang Heng, and Cui Yuan among his friends. Local custom in Anding scorned offspring of concubines; [1] because Wang Fu lacked connections on his mother's side, his neighbors held him in contempt. After the He and An eras, men chased careers through itinerant posts and the powerful traded recommendations, while Wang Fu stood aloof and refused to play that game, and so he was never promoted. Seething with thwarted purpose, he retired and composed over thirty essays exposing contemporary wrongs; unwilling to reveal his identity, he published them under the title Discourses of a Hidden Man. They attack the vices of the hour and probe how people feel; [2] they open a window on policy and manners—I excerpt five pieces here by way of illustration. Note [1] He Xiu's gloss on the Gongyang Commentary explains: "Ni means 'low-born.'"
5
注[二]訐，攻也。 □，責也。
Note [2] Ji means 'to assail' or 'attack.' The missing graph means 'to reproach' or 'blame.'
6
貴忠篇曰：
The essay "On Exalting Loyalty" begins:
7
夫帝王之所尊敬者天也，皇天之所愛育者人也。 今人臣受君之重位，牧天之所愛，焉可以不安而利之，養而濟之哉？ 是以君子任職則思利人，達上則思進賢，故居上而下不怨，在前而後不恨也。 書稱「天工人其代之」。 王者法天而建官，[一]故明主不敢以私授，忠臣不敢以虛受。 竊人之財猶謂之盜，況偷天官以私己乎！ [二]以罪犯人，必加誅罰，況乃犯天，得無咎乎？ 夫五* (世) **[代]*之臣，以道事君，[三]澤及草木，仁被率土，是以福祚流衍，本支百世。 [四]季世之臣，以諂媚主，不思順天，專杖殺伐。 白起、蒙恬，秦以為功，天以為賊； [五]息夫、董賢，主以為忠，天以為盜。 [六]易曰：「德薄而位尊，智小而謀大，鮮不及矣。 」[七]是故德不稱，其禍必酷； 能不稱，其殃必大。 夫竊位之人，天奪其鑒。 [八]雖有明察之資，仁義之志，一旦富貴，則背親捐舊，喪其本心，□骨肉而親便辟，薄知友而厚犬馬，寧見朽貫千萬，而不忍貸人一錢，情知積粟腐倉，而不忍貸人一斗，骨肉怨望於家，細人謗讟於道。 前人以敗，後爭襲之，誠可傷也。
Sovereigns revere Heaven above all; Heaven's care rests on the human race. A subject who holds high office from his ruler tends the very people Heaven loves—how dare he neglect their welfare and their lives? Hence the gentleman in office seeks the people's good; when he addresses his superiors he seeks to elevate the worthy—so inferiors do not grudge his rank and followers do not nurse grievances. The Classic of Documents states, 'Heaven's task is discharged through human agents.' The sovereign patterns his bureaucracy on Heaven; [1] a wise ruler therefore never hands out office from whim, and a true minister never accepts a hollow honor. Appropriating another's goods is theft—how much worse to usurp a divinely sanctioned post for selfish ends! [2] Men are executed for their crimes—when the offense is against Heaven, can punishment not be all the severer? The phrase begins 'As for the five—' The alternate reading '(generations)' glosses the preceding character. Ministers of the Five Dynasties who serve their lord through the moral Way [3] extend grace even to grass and trees and spread benevolence across the land—hence fortune overflows and the royal house endures for generations. [4] In a failing age, ministers toady to the throne, ignore Heaven's will, and trust in violence alone. Qin praised Bai Qi and Meng Tian as heroes; Heaven counted them as bandits; [5] Emperor Ai called Xifu Gong and Dong Xian loyal; Heaven deemed them robbers. [6] The Zhouyi warns: 'Thin virtue matched with high rank, petty wit matched with grand designs—scarcely anyone avoids disaster in such a case. ' [7] When character and station are mismatched, the punishment is bound to be savage; when talent and office diverge, the ruin is proportionally greater. Those who steal high office lose even the mirror by which they might see themselves—Heaven takes it away. [8] However keen their judgment or righteous their intent, riches and rank make them abandon family, betray old ties, and forfeit their better selves—[text defective] kin for sycophants, neglect friends while indulging horses and hounds, let millions moulder in the treasury yet refuse a single coin, watch grain rot in storehouses yet refuse a peck to the needy—so relatives curse them indoors and commoners curse them in the road. Their predecessors perished of it, yet successors rush to repeat the folly—how lamentable.
8
注[一]《尚書》咎繇謨曰：「亡曠庶官，天工人其代之。 」孔安國注云：「言人代天理官，不可以天官私非其才也。 」又曰：「明王奉若天道，建邦設都。 」孔安國注云：「天有日、月、北斗、五星二十八宿，皆有尊卑相正之法。 言明王奉順此道，以立國設都也。」
Note [1] The Documents, "Counsels of Gao Yao," reads: 'Do not suffer offices to stand vacant; Heaven's work is carried out through human agents. Kong Anguo explains: 'People stand in for Heaven in assigning duties—celestial posts must not be treated as private sinecures.' The text continues: 'The enlightened king models himself on Heaven when founding a state and setting its capital. Kong Anguo adds: 'Heaven possesses sun and moon, the Northern Dipper, the five planets, and the twenty-eight lodges—each has its proper ordering. Thus the enlightened king follows this model in establishing the realm and its seat.'"
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注[二]《左傳》介之推曰：「竊人之財猶謂之盜，況貪天功以為己力乎？」
Note [2] Jie Zhitui in the Zuo Commentary: 'Taking another's goods is theft—how much worse to claim Heaven's achievement as one's own!'
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注[三]五代謂唐、虞、夏、殷、周也。
Note [3] 'Five generations' denotes Tang, Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou.
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注[四]詩大雅曰：「文王孫子，本支百世。」
Note [4] The Book of Odes, Greater Ya: 'The progeny of King Wen—root and branch for a hundred generations.'
12
注[五]《史記》曰，白起為秦將，與趙戰於長平，坑趙卒四十五萬人。 蒙恬為秦將，北逐戎翟，築長城，起臨洮至遼東，延袤萬餘里。 此為虐於人也。
Note [5] The Shiji records that Bai Qi, commanding Qin, defeated Zhao at Changping and slaughtered four hundred fifty thousand troops. Meng Tian, another Qin general, pursued the Rong and Di northward and ran the long wall from Lintao to Liaodong—over ten thousand li. These were atrocities against humanity.
13
注[六]息夫躬字子微，哀帝時，告東平王雲事，封宜陵侯。 董賢字聖卿，得幸哀帝，為賢起大第於北闕下，封為高安侯。
Note [6] Xifu Gong, style Ziwei, informed on the Prince of Dongping's plot under Emperor Ai and was made marquis of Yiling. Dong Xian, style Shengqing, became the emperor's favorite; Emperor Ai raised a palace for him north of the gate and invested him as marquis of Gao'an.
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注[七]《易系辭》之言。
Note [7] A line from the Zhouyi's Xici.
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注[八]《論語》孔子曰：「臧文仲其竊位者歟？ 」《左傳》晉卜偃曰：「虢必亡矣，天奪之鑒而益其疾也。 」杜預注云「鑒，所以自照」也。
Note [8] The Analects: Confucius asks whether Zang Wenzhong 'stole his station.' The Zuo Commentary: Jin's diviner Boyan said, 'Guo will surely fall—Heaven has removed its mirror and deepened its malady. Du Yu explains: 'The mirror is the means of self-reflection.'
16
歷觀前政貴人之用心也，與嬰兒子其何異哉？ 嬰兒有常病，貴臣有常禍，父母有常失，人君有常過。 嬰兒常病，傷於飽也； 貴臣常禍，傷於寵也。 哺乳多則生□病，富貴盛而致驕疾。 愛子而賊之，驕臣而滅之者，非一也。 極其罰者，乃有僕死深牢，銜刀都巿，[一]豈非無功於天，有害於人者乎？ 夫鳥以山為埤而增巢其上，魚以泉為淺而穿穴其中，卒所以得者餌也。 [二]貴戚願其宅吉而制為令名，欲其門堅而造作鐵樞，卒其所以敗者，非苦禁忌少而門樞朽也，常苦崇財貨而行驕僭耳。
Looking at how favorites of past courts set their hearts—how is it any wiser than an infant's whim? Infants have their usual illnesses, powerful ministers their usual downfalls, parents their usual missteps, sovereigns their usual blunders. Children fall ill chiefly from being overfed; great ministers fall chiefly from excessive favor. Too much coddling breeds certain ailments; too much wealth and rank breeds the disease of pride. Parents who spoil a child into ruin or rulers who pamper a minister into destruction are everywhere. The worst end in fetid dungeons or bite a blade in the execution ground—[1] have they not failed Heaven and wronged humanity? Birds deem hills too low and build higher nests; fish find springs too shallow and tunnel deeper—yet bait is what destroys them. [2] Imperial affines want lucky sites and proud gate plaques, iron hinges for sturdy doors—yet they fall not for broken hinges or neglected omens but for piling wealth and flouting propriety.
17
注[一]趙將李牧為韓倉所譖，賜死。 將自誅，臂短不能及，銜刀於柱以自殺。 見《戰國策》。
Note [1] Zhao's general Li Mu, framed by Han Cang, was condemned to death. Ordered to fall on his sword, his arms could not reach; he wedged the blade against a pillar and severed his own throat. Recorded in the Stratagems of the Warring States.
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注[二]曾子之文也。 亦見《大戴禮》。
Note [2] The passage comes from Zengzi. It is likewise found in the Da Dai Liji.
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不上順天心，下育人物，而欲任其私智，竊弄君威，反戾天地，欺誣神明。 居累卵之危，而圖太山之安，為朝露之行，而思傳世之功。 [一]豈不惑哉！ 豈不惑哉！ 注[一]朝露言易盡也。 蘇子曰：「人生一世，若朝露之托於桐葉耳，其與幾何！」
Instead of harmonizing with Heaven above and caring for the people below, they play private tricks, steal royal authority, set themselves against Heaven and earth, and lie to the gods. They perch on a pile of eggs yet plot Mount Tai's solidity; their deeds are morning dew yet they fantasize achievements for posterity. [1] Can such people be anything but mad! Could they be anything but deluded! Note [1] 'Morning dew' signifies how swiftly life passes. Su Shi wrote: 'A man's life is morning dew on a paulownia leaf—what span is that!'
20
浮侈篇曰：
The treatise "On Floating Extravagance" says:
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王者以四海為家，兆人為子。 一夫不耕，天下受其饑； 一婦不織，天下受其寒。
The Son of Heaven makes the realm his household and the million commoners his children. When one farmer idles, the empire goes hungry; when one woman neglects her loom, the empire shivers.
22
[一]今舉俗捨本農，趨商賈，牛馬車輿，填塞道路，游手為巧，充盈都邑，[二]務本者少，浮食者觿。 「商邑翼翼，四方是極。 」[三]今察洛陽，資末業者什於農夫，虛偽游手什於末業。 是則一夫耕，百人食之，一婦桑，百人衣之，以一奉百，孰能供之！ 天下百郡千縣，巿邑萬數，類皆如此。 本末不足相供，則民安得不饑寒？ 饑寒並至，則民安能無奸軌？ 奸軌繁多，則吏安能無嚴酷？ 嚴酷數加，則下安能無愁怨？ 愁怨者多，則咎徵並臻。 下民無聊，而上天降□，則國危矣。
[1] Today popular habit forsakes farming for commerce; wagons choke the highways, loafers with clever schemes pack the towns; [2] few cultivate the soil, many live on others' labor. 'Awesome stands the Shang capital; the regions turn to it as their pole.' ' [3] Look at Luoyang—men in secondary occupations outnumber peasants tenfold, and sham idlers outnumber those tradesmen tenfold. One plowman feeds a hundred mouths; one silkworm-tender clothes a hundred bodies—how can a ratio of one to a hundred be sustained? The realm's hundreds of districts and thousands of counties, its myriad towns, follow the same pattern. When agriculture cannot sustain the secondary occupations, how shall the people escape want and chill? When hunger and cold strike together, how shall the people keep from crime? When crime and corruption multiply, how are magistrates to keep from turning cruel? When cruelty is applied relentlessly, how can the people not seethe with grievance? Where resentment spreads widely, Heaven's reproofs descend in clusters. When the masses are desperate and Heaven adds its stroke of disaster, the realm stands on the brink.
23
注[一]文子曰：「神農之法曰：『丈夫丁壯不耕，天下有受其饑者，婦人當年不織，天下有受其寒者。 故其耕不強者，無以養生，其織不力者，無以衣形。』」
Note 1 Wenzi quotes Shennong's rule: 'When grown men refuse the plow, hunger stalks the world; when women of age abandon the loom, cold stalks the world. Without vigorous tillage there is no sustenance; without diligent spinning there is no covering for the body.'"
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注[二]游手為巧謂雕鏤之屬也。
Note 2 The phrase denotes ornamental carving and similar handicrafts.
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注[三]詩商頌文也。 鄭玄注云：「極，中也。 翼翼然可則□，乃四方之中正也。」
Note 3 The quotation comes from the Shang song in the Book of Odes. Zheng Xuan glosses: 'Ji is the axial point.' Majestic and ordered, it sets the standard for the regions—it is the moral axis toward which the four quarters turn.'"
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夫貧生於富，弱生於強，亂生於化，危生於安。 [一]是故明王之養民，憂之勞之，教之誨之，慎微防萌，以斷其邪。 故易美節以制度，不傷財，不害民。 [二]七月之詩，大小教之，終而復始。 由此觀之，人固不可恣也。 [三]注[一]富而不節則貧，強而驕人則弱，居理而不修德則亂，恃安而不慎微則危矣。
Want springs from excess, feebleness from overweening power, chaos from misplaced reform, danger from complacent ease. Hence the wise ruler rears the people with care and toil, with constant teaching and warning, nipping vice while it is still invisible, and so cuts off corruption at the root. The Classic of Changes commends measured institutions that spare the treasury and the common folk. The 'Seventh Month' ode instructs high and low in a rhythm that closes one year only to open the next. Seen in this light, no one may safely give free rein to appetite. Note 1 Riches without temperance turn to want; power without humility turns to weakness; stability without moral care turns to disorder; security without vigilance turns to ruin.
27
注[二]「節以制度」以下，並節卦彖辭也。 鄭玄注云：「空府臧則傷財，力役繁則害人，二者奢泰之所致。」
Note 2 The passage from 'moderation through institutions' onward quotes the Tuan commentary on the hexagram Jie. Zheng Xuan explains: 'Depleted storehouses ruin the economy; crushing corvée ruins lives—both are born of luxury.'"
28
注[三]七月，詩豳風也。 大謂耕桑之法，小謂索綯之類。 自春及冬，終而復始也。
Note 3 'Seventh Month' belongs to the Bin section of the Odes. The 'great' lessons are farming and silk culture; the 'small' ones include chores like making rope. It runs the round of the seasons and starts the teaching anew each year.
29
今人奢衣服，侈飲食，事口舌而習調欺。 或以謀奸合任為業，[一]或以游博持掩為事。 [二]丁夫不扶廣鋤，而懷丸挾彈，攜手上山遨遊，或好取土作丸賣之，外不足禦寇盜，內不足禁鼠雀。 或作泥車瓦狗諸戲弄之具，以巧詐小兒，此皆無益也。 注[一]合任謂相合為任俠也。
People now squander finery and feasts, live by quarrelsome speech, and train themselves in fraud. Some make a living of intrigue, knightly gangs, and shady alliances, while others live by wandering, dicing, and games of chance. Young fellows leave the mattock idle yet pack slingshots for idle rambles in the hills, or peddle clay pellets—useless against raiders at the gate or vermin in the granary. Others mold toy carts and clay hounds to wheedle pocket money from children—utterly worthless pursuits. Note 1 'He ren' describes men who band together as bravos and sworn brothers.
30
注[二]博謂六博，掩謂意錢也。 《前書貨殖傳》曰「又況掘頤搏掩犯奸成富」也。
Note 2 Bo is the six-token board game; yan is the coin-guessing wager. The Former Han 'Treatise on Money-making' adds, 'Not to mention those who gnaw fortunes by gambling and sharp practice—criminals who grow rich.'
31
詩刺「不績其麻，巿也婆娑」。 [一]又婦人不修中饋，休其蠶織，[二]而起學巫祝，鼓舞事神，以欺誣細民，熒惑百姓妻女。 羸弱疾病之家，懷憂憤憤，易為恐懼。 至使奔走便時，去離正宅，崎嶇路側，風寒所傷，奸人所利，盜賊所中。
The Classic of Odes mocks women who 'leave their hemp untwisted yet posture and dance in the marketplace.' Wives neglect the hearth and the loom to study spirit mediums, beat drums in trances, fleece simple neighbors, and bewitch other men's women. Families already broken by illness and poverty, smoldering with worry, fall quickest under fear's spell. Victims hurry off at the diviner's hour, desert decent roofs, and huddle on broken roadsides—exposed to the elements, fleeced by scoundrels, robbed by thieves.
32
或增禍重祟，至於死亡，而不知巫所欺誤，反恨事神之晚，此妖妄之甚者也。 注[一]詩陳風也。 婆娑，舞魍。 謂婦人於巿中歌舞以事神也。
Some die heaped with fresh disasters, yet blame themselves for not paying the medium sooner, never seeing the fraud—delusion could go no further. Note 1 The line comes from the Chen airs in the Odes. Suosuo describes a whirling, spirit-like dance. It refers to women performing ritual dance in the marketplace for the gods.
33
注[二]《易》家人卦六二曰：「在中饋，貞吉。 」鄭玄注云：「中饋，酒食也。 」詩大雅曰：「婦無公事，休其蠶織。」
Note 2 The Zhouyi hexagram Jiaren, second line: 'Tending the inner kitchen—firmness brings good fortune. Zheng Xuan glosses: 'The inner kitchen is drink and food.' The Greater Odes add: 'Woman has no office abroad—she may rest from silk and loom.'"
34
或刻畫好繒，以書祝辭； 或虛飾巧言，希致福祚； 或糜折金彩，令廣分寸； 或斷截觿縷，繞帶手腕； 或裁切綺縠，繨紩成幡。 皆單費百縑，用功千倍，破牢為偽，以易就難，坐食嘉谷，消損白日。 [一]夫山林不能給野火，江海不能實漏琶，皆所宜禁也。 注[一]損或作「捐」。
Some scratch prayers onto costly silk; some spin ornate phrases to beg for fortune; some hammer gold leaf thinner to stretch each inch; some hack good damask into strips to wind around the wrist; some slash patterned silks to sew spirit banners. Each trick wastes a hundred rolls of plain silk and a thousandfold labor—destroying sound cloth for counterfeit charms, choosing the harder path for show, eating the best grain while idling away the daylight. Forests cannot feed a bonfire, oceans cannot fill a holed jar—such waste ought to be banned outright. Note 1 An alternate reading writes 'squander' for 'consume.'
35
昔孝文皇帝躬衣弋綈，[一]革舄韋帶。 而今京師貴戚，衣服飲食，車輿廬第，奢過王制，固亦甚矣。 且其徒御僕妾，皆服文組彩牒，[二]錦繡綺紈，葛子升越，筩中女布。 [三]犀象珠玉，虎魄輂瑁，石山隱飾，金銀錯鏤，[四]窮極麗靡，轉相誇宛。 [五]其嫁娶者，車軿數里，緹帷竟道，[六]騎奴侍童，夾轂並引。 富者競欲相過，貧者恥其不逮，一饗之所費，破終身之業。 古者必有命然後乃得衣繒絲而乘車馬，[七]今雖不能復古，宜令細民略用孝文之制。 注[一]前書音義曰：「弋，皁也。 綈，繒也。」
Emperor Wen of Han wore plain black homespun, leather slippers, and a simple leather belt. Today the capital nobility outdo the sumptuary laws in dress, diet, carriages, and mansions—the excess is shocking. Even grooms and maids are swathed in patterned damask and layered silks—Gezi, Sheng, and the costly tube-woven cloth of Yizhou. They flaunt rhino horn, ivory, pearls, jade, amber, hawksbill, relief work like stone cliffs, and gold-inlaid metal—each trying to outshine the next in wasteful display. Wedding and funeral trains clog the road for li on end, with crimson canopies meeting overhead and outriders flanking every axle. The wealthy compete to spend more; the humble are shamed if they cannot match them—one banquet can bankrupt a family forever. Anciently no one wore silk or rode carriages without a royal patent; we cannot revive every old rule, yet commoners might still be held to something like Wen's frugality. Note 1 The Former Han sound gloss: 'Yi is black cloth. Ti is a kind of silk.'"
36
注[二]牒即今疊布也。
Note 2 Die is what we now call layered bolt cloth.
37
注[三]《說文》曰：「綺，文繒也。 」前書曰：「齊俗作冰紈。 」子，細稱也。 沈懷遠《南越志》曰：「蕉布之品有三，有蕉布，有竹子布，又有葛焉。 雖精麤之殊，皆同出而異名。 」楊雄《蜀都賦》曰：「布則蜘蛛作絲，不可見風，筩中黃潤，一端數金。 」盛弘之《荊州記》曰：「秭歸縣室多幽閒，其女盡織布至數十升。 」今永州俗猶呼貢布為女子布也。
Note 3 The Shuowen defines qi as patterned silk. The Former Han adds: 'Qi folk wove ice-white gauze. Zi denotes the finest grade. Shen Huaiyuan's Southern Yue treatise lists three plantain fabrics—pure plantain, bamboo fiber, and ge. Coarse or fine, they share one origin and bear different labels. Yang Xiong's Shu rhapsody boasts cloth so fine a spider's thread must not feel the breeze, and tube-woven yellow silk worth its weight in gold. Sheng Hongzhi's Jingzhou gazetteer says Zigui women weave cloth of extraordinary tightness. Even now Yongzhou folk still call tribute-grade cloth 'women's cloth.'"
38
注[四]《廣雅》曰：「虎魄，珠也。 生地中，其上及旁不生草，深者八九尺。 初時如桃膠，凝堅乃成。 其方人以為枕。 出罽賓及大秦國。 」吳錄曰：「輂瑁似龜而大，出南海。 」山石謂隱起為山石之文也。
Note 4 The Guangya classes amber as a gem. It forms underground; no grass grows on the spot; the deepest deposits lie eight or nine feet down. At first it resembles peach resin; hardened, it becomes true amber. Locals carve it into pillows. Sources lie in Jibin and the Roman East. The Wu lu describes the hawksbill as a giant sea turtle from the southern ocean. Relief 'mountain-stone' pattern means raised landscape motifs.
39
注[五]郭景純注《子虛賦》曰：「詫，誇也。 」宛與詫通也。
Note 5 Guo Pu on the Rhapsody on the Void glosses tuo as boasting. Yuan here reads the same as tuo.
40
注[六]蒼頡篇曰：「軿，衣車。 」軿音薄丁反，又步田反。
Note 6 The Cangjie wordbook defines ping as a veiled women's carriage. The graph is read boding or butian.
41
注[七]《尚書大傳》曰：「古之帝王者必有命。 人能敬長矜孤，取捨好讓者，命於其君，得乘飾車軿馬，衣文錦。 未有命者，不得衣，不得乘，乘衣者有罰。」
Note 7 The Documents Great Tradition says ancient kings issued sumptuary patents. Whoever honors age, pities orphans, and yields in giving and taking receives a patent to ride fine carriages and wear patterned brocade. Without a patent one may not wear silk or ride; violators are punished.'"
42
古之葬者，厚衣之以薪，葬之中野，不封不樹，喪期無數。 後世聖人易之以棺槨，[一]桐木為棺，葛采為緘，[二]下不及泉，上不洩臭。 中世以後，轉用楸梓槐柏杶樗之屬，各因方土，裁用膠漆，使其堅足恃，其用足任，如此而已。
Ancient burials wrapped the corpse in fuel and laid it in the wild without mound or marker, with no set mourning span. Later ritualists introduced inner and outer coffins—paulownia shells, kudzu stitching—sealed so neither groundwater nor odor escaped. Middle-period practice used local hardwoods—catalpa, cedar, locust, cypress, chinquapin, ailanthus—glued and lacquered until the box was sound and serviceable, nothing more.
43
今者京師貴戚，必欲江南檽梓豫章之木。 [三]邊遠下土，亦競相放□。 夫檽樟豫章，所出殊遠，伐之高山，引之窮谷，入海乘淮，逆河泝洛，工匠雕刻，連累日月，會觿而後動，多牛而後致，重且千斤，功將萬夫，而東至樂浪，西達敦煌，費力傷農於萬里之地。 古者墓而不墳，中世墳而不崇。 仲尼喪母，頤高四尺，遇雨而崩，弟子請修之，夫子泣曰：「古不修墓。 」[四]及鯉也死，有棺無幟。 文帝葬芷陽，[五]明帝葬洛南，皆不臧珠寶，不起山陵，墓雖卑而德最高。 今京師貴戚，郡縣豪家，生不極養，死乃崇喪。 或至金縷玉匣，檽梓楩□，多埋珍寶偶人車馬，造起大頤，廣種松柏，廬舍祠堂，務崇華侈。 案鄗畢之陵，南城之頤，[六]周公非不忠，曾子非不孝，以為□君愛父，不在於聚財，揚名顯親，無取於車馬。 昔晉靈公多賦以雕牆，春秋以為* (非) **[不]*君； [七]華元、樂舉厚葬文公，君子以為不臣。 [八]況於腢司士庶，乃可僭侈主上，過天道乎？ [九]
Capital grandees demand southern camphor, nanmu, and Zhang timber. Even distant commanderies scramble to copy the style. Those timbers grow far away—cut on mountain heights, snaked through ravines, rafted on the Huai, poled up the Yellow River and Luo, worked for months, joined with iron and glue, dragged by whole herds of oxen—loads of a thousand jin apiece, the toil of myriad men, shipped from Lelang to Dunhuang, bleeding the farmer dry across the realm. Antiquity buried flat; the middle ages added low mounds, never high tumuli. Confucius gave his mother a barrow only four chi high; rain washed it flat and the disciples wished to rebuild it, but he wept, 'The ancients did not repair graves. When his son Li died, he used an inner coffin without an outer casing. Emperor Wen lay at Zhiyang, Ming south of the Luo—no jade shrouds, no artificial mountains; modest graves, towering virtue. Capital nobles and rural magnates stint the parents while alive yet bankrupt themselves for the dead. They sew gold into shrouds, line tombs with rare wood, pack grave goods, clay armies, paper chariots, heap artificial hills, blanket acres in pine, and raise ancestral halls of pointless grandeur. Look at the Zhou tombs at Hao and Bi, the southern barrows—the Duke of Zhou was hardly faithless, Zengzi hardly undutiful, yet both knew that honoring lord or parent is not a matter of piling treasure, and that fame does not ride on funeral display. Duke Ling of Jin taxed the people to carve his palace walls—the Spring and Autumn annals branded such conduct as * (wrong) **[unworthy]* in a ruler; Hua Yuan and Yue Ju buried Duke Wen with wasteful pomp, and critics judged them disloyal ministers. How much worse when petty officials and commoners outspend the throne and violate cosmic order? The ninth note stands without appended text in the received edition.
44
注[一]《易系辭》之言也。
Note 1 The passage quotes the Zhouyi Xici.
45
注[二]《屍子》曰：「禹之喪法，死於陵者葬於陵，死於澤者葬於澤，桐棺三寸，制喪三日。 」《墨子》曰：「舜西教乎七戎，道死，葬南巴之中，衣衾三領，款木之棺，葛以緘之。 」采猶蔓也。 緘，束也。
Note 2 Master Shi records Yu's law: bury highlanders on the heights, lowlanders in the wetlands; use a three-inch paulownia shell and mourn three days. The Mozi records that Shun traveled west to teach the seven Rong, died en route, and was interred in the Southern Ba region with only three winding-sheets, a plain kuanshu coffin, and kudzu lashing. Here cai means 'to spread' or 'run along' like a creeping vine. Jian means to bind or lash shut.
46
注[三]檽音乃豆反，見埤蒼。 《爾雅》曰：「栵檽。 」音而。 注云「檽似槲□而痺小」，恐非棺槨之用。 豫章即樟木也。
Note 3 The tree-name graph here is read naidou; see the Bicang lexicon. The Erya pairs lie with nai (oak species). The reading is er. The gloss compares nai to a dwarf oak—hardly suitable timber for state coffins. The 'Zhang' of Yuzhang commandery is camphorwood.
47
注[四]孔子合葬母於防，曰：「吾聞之，古也墓而不墳。 」於是封之崇四尺。 孔子先反，門人後，雨甚至。 孔子曰：「爾來何遲也？ 」曰：「防墓崩。 」孔子泫然流涕曰：「吾聞之，古不修墓。 」見《禮記》也。
Note 4 Confucius reinterred his parents at Fang, remarking, 'The ancients raised barrows but not high tumuli. He therefore heaped earth only four chi high. The Master went ahead while the disciples lagged, and a downpour struck. Confucius asked, 'Why are you so late?' They answered, 'The barrow at Fang has washed out. Weeping, he said, 'I was taught that the ancients never rebuilt tombs. The episode appears in the Liji.'"
48
注[五]縣名，屬京兆，文帝后改曰霸陵。
Note 5 Zhiyang was a Jingzhao county later renamed Baling for Emperor Wen's mausoleum.
49
注[六]畢，周文王、武王葬地也。 司馬遷云「在鄗東南杜中」，無墳隴，在今咸陽縣西北。 孔安國注《尚書》雲在長安西北。 南城山，曾子父所葬，在今沂州費縣西南也。
Note 6 Bi is the Zhou royal burial ground of Wen and Wu. Sima Qian places it southeast of Hao in Du, flat and unmarked—northwest of present Xianyang. Kong Anguo's Shangshu gloss puts the site northwest of Chang'an. The southern-city hill where Zengzi's father lies is southwest of Fei in modern Yizhou.
50
注[七]《左傳》：「晉靈公不君，厚斂以雕牆。 」杜預注云：「不君，失君道也。 雕，畫也。」
Note 7 The Zuo: 'Duke Ling of Jin failed as sovereign, taxing the people to ornament his walls. Du Yu explains: 'Not ruling' means abandoning the ruler's path. Diao here means painted relief.'"
51
注[八]左傳：「宋文公卒，始厚葬，用蜃炭，益車馬，始用殉，幟有四阿，棺有翰檜。 君子謂華元、樂舉於是不臣，是□君於惡也。」
Note 8 The Zuo records Duke Wen of Song's first extravagant funeral—oyster lime, extra chariots, human victims, four-eaved shades, coffins with han and gui timbers. Critics said Hua Yuan and Yue Ju were no true ministers—they led their lord into vice.'"
52
注[九]前書貢禹曰：「今大夫僭諸侯，諸侯僭天子，天子過天道，其日久矣。」
Note 9 Gong Yu warned that ministers ape marquises, marquises ape the throne, and the throne outruns cosmic order—a long-standing evil.'"
53
實貢篇曰：
The treatise "On Substantive Recommendation" declares:
54
國以賢興，以諂衰； 君以忠安，以佞危。 此古今之常論，而時所共知也。 然衰國危君，繼踵不絕者，豈時無忠信正直之士哉，誠苦其道不得行耳。 夫十步之閒，必有茂草； 十室之邑，必有忠信。 [一]是故亂殷有三仁，小□多君子。 [二]今以大漢之廣土，士民之繁庶，朝廷之清明，上下之修正，而官無善吏，位無良臣。 此豈時之無賢，諒由取之乖實。 夫志道者少與，逐俗者多疇，是以朋黨用私，背實趨華。 其貢士者，不復依其質干，准其才行，但虛造聲譽，妄生羽毛。 略計所舉，歲且二百。 覽察其狀，則德侔顏、冉，詳核厥能，則鮮及中人，皆總務陞官，自相推達。 夫士者貴其用也，不必求備。 故四友雖美，能不相兼； [三]三仁齊致，事不一節。 高祖佐命，出自亡秦； 光武得士，亦資暴莽。 況太平之時，而雲無士乎！
States flourish when the worthy advance and wither when sycophants rule; sovereigns stand firm on loyal counsel and totter on deceit. So runs the perennial verdict of history, acknowledged in every generation. Still, ruined realms and imperiled thrones succeed without end—not because integrity is extinct, but because honest men cannot get a hearing. As the proverb says, rank grass grows within ten paces; in a village of ten doors you will find loyalty and faith. Thus even decadent Yin kept the Three Worthies, and minor states could field gentlemen aplenty. Yet under the Han's wide domain, teeming population, lucid court, and ordered hierarchy, good clerks are scarce and able ministers fewer still— surely the fault is not missing talent but recruitment divorced from fact. Few follow the Way, many chase fashion—so cliques serve private ends, abandon the real, and chase glitter. Patrons no longer weigh character and capacity but fabricate fame and pin borrowed feathers on mediocrity. Tallies suggest nearly two hundred men are pushed forward yearly. On paper they equal Yan and Ran; judged by performance scarcely one reaches average—yet all climb by logrolling. What counts in a scholar is what he can do, not encyclopedic perfection. Confucius' four disciples excelled, yet each had a different gift; Yin's three loyalists rose side by side yet filled unlike roles. Liu Bang's helpers emerged from the wreck of Qin; Guangwu's talent pool likewise fed on Wang Mang's tyranny. In a peaceful age, then, who dare claim the realm lacks able men?
55
注[一]《說苑》曰：「十步之澤，必有芳草。 」《論語》曰「十室之邑，必有忠信」也。
Note 1 Shuoyuan: 'Even by a ten-pace marsh sweet herbs grow. The Analects adds, 'Ten doors will still yield loyalty and faith.'"
56
注[二]亂殷謂紂時也。 三仁，箕子、微子、比干也。 《左傳》，吳季札適□，悅蘧瑗、史狗、史□、公子荊、公叔發、公子朝，曰：「□多君子，未有患也。 」又臧宣叔曰：「□之於晉，不得為次國。 」杜預注云：「春秋之時，以強弱為大小，□雖侯爵，猶為小國。」
Note 2 'Troubled Yin' denotes King Zhou's reign. The Three Worthies are Jizi, Weizi, and Bigan. Prince Jizha of Wu toured Wei, praised Qu Yuan, Shi Gou, Shi [lacuna], Prince Jing, Gongshu Fa, and Prince Zhao, and declared, 'Wei teems with gentlemen—no peril there. Zang Xuanshu observed that Wei beside Jin barely ranks as a middling power. Du Yu notes that in the Chunqiu era size followed power; though Wei bore a marquisal rank, it was still counted small.'"
57
注[三]《尚書大傳》孔子曰：「文王得四臣，丘亦得四友。 」謂回也為胥附，賜也為奔走，師也為先後，由也為禦侮，其能各不同也。
Note 3 The Shangshu dazhuan quotes Confucius: 'King Wen had four helpers, and I have four companions. He called Hui counselor at his flank, Ci his swift messenger, Shi his advance and rear guard, You his champion against affront—each with a distinct role.'"
58
夫明君之詔也若聲，忠臣之和也如響。 長短大小，清濁疾徐，必相應也。 且攻玉以石，洗金以鹽，[一]濯錦以魚，浣布以灰。 夫物固有以賤理貴，以醜化好者矣。 智者□短取長，以致其功。 今使貢士必核以實，其有小疵，勿強衣飾，[二]出處默語，各因其方，則蕭、曹、周、韓之倫，何足不致，吳、鄧、梁、竇之屬，企踵可待。 孔子曰：「未之思也，夫何遠之有？ 」注[一]詩小雅曰：「它山之石，可以攻玉。 」今之金工發金色者，皆淬之於鹽水焉。
A wise sovereign's command is voice; the faithful minister's answer is echo. Length, size, tone, and pace must match as in call and response. Jade is cut with common stone, gold brightened in brine, brocade washed with isinglass, cloth bleached with lye— low means can perfect high ends, homely agents make beauty shine. The wise accept flaws and exploit strengths, and so achieve their aim. Were nominees tested for real substance, petty faults left unvarnished, and temperaments matched to roles—Xiao He, Cao Shen, Zhou Bo, and Han Xin would crowd the gates; even Wu, Deng, Liang, and Dou would arrive at a beckon. Confucius said, 'They have not thought it through—how then could it be distant? Note 1 The Lesser Ya: 'Alien stone may grind this jade. Modern smiths dip gold in salt water to draw its luster.
59
注[二]衣飾謂裝飾以成其過也。 衣音於氣反。
Note 2 'Dressing' here means papering over defects with ornament. Yi is read yuqi fan.
60
愛日篇曰：
The essay "Cherishing the Days" says:
61
國之所以為國者，以有民也。 民之所以為民者，以有谷也。 谷之所以豐殖者，以有民功也。 功之所以能建者，以日力也。 化國之日舒以長，故其民閒暇而力有餘； 亂國之日促以短，故其民困務而力不足。 舒長者，非謂羲和安行，[一]乃君明民靜而力有餘也。 促短者，非謂分度損減，[二]乃上闇下亂，力不足也。
A realm is a realm because it has a people; the people are a people because they have grain; grain multiplies because the people can work the soil; work succeeds because days are not stolen from them. Under good rule the daylight feels long—people have leisure and surplus strength; under bad rule the hours race—people are driven to exhaustion. Leisurely length is not slow suns; it means clear sovereigns and calm subjects with energy to spare. Short hurry is not a shrunken calendar; it means benighted thrones, riot below, and spent strength.
62
孔子稱「既庶則富之，既富乃教之」。 是故禮義生於富足，盜竊起於貧窮； 富足生於寬暇，貧窮起於無日。
Confucius taught, 'Make them numerous, then enrich them; enrich them, then teach them.' Hence rites and justice grow from abundance, theft and banditry from privation; abundance comes from unharried days, want from days devoured by the state.
63
聖人深知力者民之本，國之基也，故務省徭役，使之愛日。 是以堯□羲和，欽若昊天，敬授民時。 明帝時，公車以反支日不受章奏，[三]帝聞而怪曰：「民廢農桑，遠來詣闕，而復拘以禁忌，豈為政之意乎！ 」於是遂蠲其制。 * (令) **[今]*冤民仰希申訴，而令長以神自畜，[四]百姓廢農桑而趨府廷者，相續道路，非朝餔不得通，非意氣不得見。 [五]或連日累月，更相瞻視； 或轉請鄰里，饋糧應對。 歲功既虧，天下豈無受其饑者乎？
Sages understood labor as the people's root and the state's base, and strove to ease corvée so folk could husband their hours. Thus Yao charged Xi and He to revere Heaven and hand down the farming seasons. Under Mingdi the capital coach office rejected petitions on unlucky days; the emperor exclaimed, 'Men abandon field and loom to reach our gates, and clerks block them with superstition—is that governance? He therefore scrapped the rule. An asterisk in the edition flags damaged text. The gloss '(order)' supplies a missing graph. Today the injured petition heaven for redress while district magistrates hide like gods; peasants desert plow and loom to pack the courthouse lane, admitted only at the noon or dusk audiences, granted audience only if the clerk is in humor. Some camp for days and weeks, exchanging helpless glances; others beg neighbors for food to endure the wait and the questioning. When the year's tillage is lost in queues, can the empire escape famine?
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注[一]羲和，日也。 《山海經》曰：「東南海之外，甘水之閒，有羲和之國。 有女子曰羲和，方浴日於甘泉。 羲和者，帝俊之妻，是生十日。 」郭璞注曰：「羲和蓋天地始生日月者也。」
Note 1 Here Xi and He stand for the solar course. The Shanhaijing: 'South-east of the sea, between sweet rivers, lies Xi-He's country. A woman named Xi He bathes the sun in a sweet spring. She is Di Jun's wife and mother of the ten suns. Guo Pu glosses them as primordial parents of the luminaries.'"
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注[二]洛書甄耀度曰「凡周天三百六十五度四分度之一，一度為千九百三十二里。 日一日行一度，月一日行十三度十九分度之一」也。
Note 2 The Apocryphal Luoshu: 'The circuit is 365¼ degrees; each degree spans 1,932 li. The sun moves one degree daily, the moon thirteen and nineteen thirty-seconds.'"
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注[三]凡反支日，用月朔為正。 戌﹑亥朔一日反支，申﹑酉朔二日反支，午﹑未朔三日反支，辰﹑巳朔四日反支，寅﹑卯朔五日反支，子﹑丑朔六日反支。 見《陰陽書》也。
Note 3 Fanzhi inauspicious days are reckoned from each month's first day. Xu/hai first days make day one fanzhi; shen/you make day two; wu/wei day three; chen/si day four; yin/mao day five; zi/chou day six. See the yin-yang manuals.
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注[四]難見如神也。
Note 4 'Like spirits' means as hard to approach as gods.
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注[五]《說文》曰：「餔謂日加申時也。 」今為「晡」字也。
Note 5 The Shuowen defines bu as late afternoon when the sun stands at shen. The graph is now written as bu, the late-afternoon designation.
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孔子曰：「聽訟吾猶人也。 」從此言之，中才以上，足議曲直，鄉亭部吏，亦有任決斷者，而類多枉曲，蓋有故焉。 夫理直則恃正而不橈，事曲則諂意以行賕。
Confucius said, 'When I sit in judgment I am no wiser than anyone else.' From this we see that anyone of average ability can weigh justice, and local clerks sometimes can judge—yet verdicts are routinely crooked, and the causes lie deeper. The innocent stand on truth and refuse to grovel; the guilty flatter and buy favor.
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不橈故無恩於吏，行賕故見私於法。 若事有反覆，吏應坐之，吏以應坐之故，不得不枉之於庭。 以羸民之少黨，而與豪吏對訟，其埶得無屈乎？ 縣承吏言，故與之同。
Uprightness earns no debt from the magistrate's clerk; bribes buy private mercy from the code. When a verdict flips, the clerk should be punished—so to save himself he warps the hearing. How can a lone peasant, friendless, face a venal clerk and not be crushed? The county magistrate trusts the clerk and follows his lead.
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若事有反覆，縣亦應坐之，縣以應坐之故，而排之於郡。 以一民之輕，而與一縣為訟，其理豈得申乎？ 事有反覆，郡亦坐之，郡以共坐之故，而排之於州。
If judgment flips, the county should answer for it—so it kicks the file upward to spare itself. One private citizen against a whole district—how shall his cause prevail? When blame would fall on the commandery, it passes the buck to the provincial office.
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以一民之輕，與一郡為訟，其事豈獲勝乎？ 既不肯理，故乃遠詣公府。 公府復不能察，而當延以日月。 貧弱者無以曠旬，強富者可盈千日。 理訟若此，何枉之能理乎？ 正士懷怨結而不見信，[一]猾吏崇奸軌而不被坐，此小民所以易侵苦，而天下所以多困窮也。 注[一]信讀曰伸。
A single plaintiff against a commandery—what chance has he? Refused locally, he trudges to the capital tribunals. Even there the boards drag out the calendar and never decide. Paupers cannot wait out endless weeks; magnates can spin a case for years. Under such procedure, what injustice is ever redressed? Honest men choke on unvented rage while [1] slick clerics prosper crime unpunished—hence the weak are trampled and want spreads across the realm. Note 1 Xin here reads as shen, meaning to get a full hearing.
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且除上天感痛致□，但以人功見事言之。 自三府州郡，至於鄉縣典司之吏，辭訟之民，官事相連，更相檢對者，日可有十萬人。 一人有事，二人經營，是為日三十萬人廢其業也。 以中農率之，則是歲三百萬人受其饑者也。 然則盜賊何從而銷，太平何由而作乎？ 詩云：「莫肯念亂，誰無父母？ 」[一]百姓不足，君誰與足？ 可無思哉！ 可無思哉！ 注[一]詩小雅也。
Leaving aside Heaven's own grief, consider only what human agency reveals. From capital boards to village yamens, clerks, suitors, and cross-filed cases may involve a hundred thousand people a day. One lawsuit ties up three lives—three hundred thousand daily who forsake their trade. At a middling farmer's yield, that wastes enough labor to leave three million hungry each year. How then shall theft cease or the Great Peace arrive? The Classic warns, 'No one heeds the chaos—yet who lacks parents to mourn?' ' [1] If the people lack means, what can sustain the throne? Can rulers ignore this! They must think on it again and again! Note 1 The lines come from the Lesser Ya.
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述赦篇曰：
The essay "On Amnesties" declares:
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凡療病者，必知脈之虛實，氣之所結，然後為之方，故疾可愈而壽可長也。 為國者，必先知民之所苦，禍之所起，然後為之禁，故奸可塞而國可安也。 今日賊良民之甚者，莫大於數赦贖。 赦贖數，則惡人昌而善人傷矣。 何以明之哉？
A physician must read pulse and blockage before dosing—so the state must diagnose popular woes before legislating. Rulers must learn where harm begins before they ban it—then crime is choked off and the realm rests easy. Nothing harms the law-abiding like constant general pardons and paid commutations. Frequent mercy makes rogues bold and honest men bleed. How is this shown?
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夫謹□之人，身不蹈非，又有為吏正直，不避強禦，而奸猾之黨橫加誣言者，皆知赦之不久故也。 善人君子，被侵怨而能至闕庭自明者，萬無數人； 數人之中得省問者，百不過一； 既對尚書而空遣去者，復什六七矣。 其輕薄奸軌，既陷罪法，怨毒之家冀其辜戮，以解畜憤，而反一□悉蒙赦釋，令惡人高會而誇宛，老盜服臧而過門，孝子見讎而不得討，遭盜者鶯物而不敢取，痛莫甚焉！
Steadfast men and upright clerks who never bend still get framed, because rogues bank on the next blanket pardon. Of worthy men wronged who reach the capital to plead, fewer than one in ten thousand arrives; of those, fewer than one in a hundred win an audience; and six or seven in ten of the survivors leave with no result. Families of victims long for executions to cool their rage—then a general amnesty lets every knave swagger home in stolen silks while sons may not avenge fathers and plundered men may not reclaim a bolt—what pain could exceed that?
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夫養稂莠者傷禾稼，惠奸軌者賊良民。 [一]書曰：「文王作罰，刑茲無赦。 」[二]先王之制刑法也，非好傷人肌膚，斷人壽命也； 貴威奸懲惡，除人害也。 故經稱「天命有德，五服五章哉，天討有罪，五刑五用哉」； 詩刺「彼宜有罪，汝反脫之」。 [三]古者唯始受命之君，承大亂之極，寇賊奸軌，難為法禁，故不得不有一赦，與之更新，頤育萬民，以成大化。 非以養奸活罪，放縱天賊也。 夫性惡之民，民之豺狼，雖得放宥之澤，終無改悔之心。 旦脫重梏，夕還囹圄，嚴明令尹，不能使其斷絕。 何也？ 凡敢為大奸者，才必有過於觿，而能自媚於上者也。 多散誕得之財，奉以諂諛之辭，以轉相驅，[四]非有第五公之廉直，孰不為顧哉？ [五]論者多曰：「久不赦則奸軌熾而吏不制，宜數肆眚以解散之。 」此未昭政亂之本源，不察禍福之所生也。
Coddling weeds starves the crop; coddling criminals starves the people. The Documents say King Wen fixed penalties and granted no indulgence to these crimes. ' [2] The ancient kings framed penal law not to relish blood but to overawe the wicked and rid the world of harm. They meant to terrify the wicked, crush crime, and lift harm from the common people. Hence the canon pairs 'Heaven invested the worthy with five insignia' with 'Heaven struck the guilty with five punishments'; and the Odes mock rulers who 'free the guilty while binding the innocent.' [3] Only a founding sovereign, inheriting total chaos when law could not yet bite, might issue one great amnesty to reset the era and rear the people. That was never meant to fatten crime or loose Heaven's thieves. Innately evil men are human jackals; pardon only hardens them. They leave the stocks at dawn and re-enter the jail by dusk—no strict prefect can sever the chain. Why is this? Every arch-criminal combines unusual gifts with a gift for flattering superiors. They shower stolen riches and honeyed words in relays—[4] and without a Fifth Lun's probity, who stays straight? [5] Critics urge frequent clemency lest crime rage beyond control. They mistake symptom for source and never trace blessing or bane to its root.'
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注[一]《爾雅》曰：「稂，童徹。 」郭璞注云：「莠類也。 」詩曰：「不稂不莠。 」稂音郎。
Note 1 Erya: lang is tongche (false grain). Guo Pu calls it a tare resembling grain. The Odes cry, 'No darnel, no tares among our fields.' The reading is lang.
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注[二]康誥之言也。
Note 2 The quotation comes from the Kanggao.
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注[三]詩大雅也。 「此宜無罪，汝反收之； 彼宜有罪，汝反脫之」。 毛萇注云：「脫，赦也。」
Note 3 The lines belong to the Greater Ya. 'The innocent you bound; the guilty you let slip.'" Mao's gloss: tuo means amnesty.'"
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注[四]誕猶虛也。
Note 4 Dan means hollow boasting.
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注[五]謂第五倫也。 為司空，性廉直也。
Note 5 Fifth Lun is meant. As minister of works he was famed for blunt integrity.
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後度遼將軍皇甫規解官歸安定，鄉人有以貨得鴈門太守者，亦去職還家，書刺謁規。 規臥不迎，既入而問：「卿前在郡食鴈美乎？ 」有頃，又白王符在門。 規素聞符名，乃驚遽而起，衣不及帶，屣履出迎，援符手而還，與同坐，極歡。
When Huangfu Gui retired to Anding, a neighbor who had purchased the Yanmen governorship also came home and called on him with a formal card. Huangfu feigned illness, then asked pointedly whether 'wild goose' had tasted well in his lucrative post. Soon an attendant reported Wang Fu outside. At Wang Fu's name Huangfu leaped up half-dressed, shuffled out in slippers, seized his hand, and ushered him in as an honored guest.
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時人為之語曰：「徒見二千石，不如一縫掖。 」[一]言書生道義之為貴也。 符竟不仕，終於家。 注[一]《禮記·儒行》孔子曰：「丘少居魯，衣逢掖之衣。 」鄭玄注曰：「逢猶大也。 大掖之衣，大袂單衣也。」
Wits said meeting a poor scholar beats dining with a two-thousand-bushel grandee. ' [1] The jest praises learning over rank. Wang Fu died a private gentleman, never serving. Note 1 Liji, 'Conduct of the Scholar': Confucius wore Lu's broad-sleeved scholar's coat. Zheng Xuan glosses feng as 'ample.' The fengye robe is a loose gown with wide sleeves.'"
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仲長統
Section heading: Zhongchang Tong.
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仲長統字公理，山陽高平人也。 少好學，博涉書記，贍於文辭。 年二十餘，遊學青﹑徐﹑並﹑冀之閒，與交友者多異之。 并州刺史高干，袁紹甥也。 素貴有名，招致四方游士，士多歸附。 統過干，干善待遇，訪以當時之事。 統謂干曰：「君有雄志而無雄才，好士而不能擇人，所以為君深戒也。 」干雅自多，不納其言，統遂去之。 無幾，干以并州叛，卒至於敗。 [一]並冀之士皆以是異統。 [二]注[一]魏志曰：「高干叛，欲*[南]*奔* (南) *荊州，上洛都尉王琰捕斬之」也。
Zhongchang Tong, style Gongli, came from Gaoping in Shanyang commandery. He studied voraciously, mastered many texts, and wrote with uncommon fluency. Before thirty he wandered the northern provinces; companions found him remarkable. Bing inspector Gao Gan was Yuan Shao's nephew. Proud of his pedigree, he gathered itinerant scholars in crowds. Zhongchang called on him; Gan was courteous and pressed him for policy. Zhongchang warned him: 'You aim high but judge poorly; you patronize talent yet cannot sort the worthy from the worthless—take that as grave counsel. Gan, vain as ever, ignored him, and Zhongchang departed. Soon after, Gan revolted in Bing and came to ruin. [1] Northern literati then esteemed Zhongchang's foresight. [2] Note 1 The Wei chronicle says Gao Gan, in revolt, tried to flee south— the gloss '(south)' marks an editorial restoration, toward Jing Province—until Wang Yan of Shangluo cut him down.'
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注[二]異其有知人之鑒也。
Note 2 They praised his discernment of character.
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統性俶儻，敢直言，不矜小節，默語無常，時人或謂之狂生。 每州郡命召，輒稱疾不就。 常以為凡游帝王者，欲以立身揚名耳，而名不常存，人生易滅，優遊偃仰，可以自娛，欲卜居清曠，以樂其志，論之曰：「使居有良田廣宅，背山臨流，溝池環□，竹木周布，場圃築前，果園樹後。 舟車足以代步涉之艱，使令足以息四體之役。 養親有兼珍之膳，妻孥無苦身之勞。 [一]良朋萃止，則陳酒餚以娛之； 嘉時吉日，則亨羔豚以奉之。 木躇畦苑，遊戲平林，[二]濯清水，追涼風，釣遊鯉，弋高鴻。 諷於舞雩之下，詠歸高堂之上。 [三]安神閨房，思老氏之玄虛； 呼吸精和，求至人之彷彿。 [四]與達者數子，論道講書，俯仰二儀，錯綜人物。 彈南風之雅操，發清商之妙曲。 [五]消搖一世之上，睥睨天地之閒。 不受當時之責，永保性命之期。 如是，則可以陵霄漢，出宇宙之外矣。 豈羨夫入帝王之門哉！」
He was blunt, erratic, careless of decorum—some called him a wild scholar. Every official summons he declined on grounds of illness. He argued that courting power wins only fleeting name while life is brief—far better to retire; he sketched an ideal estate: fertile acres, a broad hall against hills above a river, ditches and groves ringing the wall, kitchen gardens forward and fruit trees behind. Boats and wagons remove the ache of travel; a few retainers spare one's limbs. Parents dine on doubled delicacies; wife and children never know crushing toil. [1] When friends visit, lay out wine and savories; on festival days roast lamb and pork in their honor. Ramble the nursery slopes, idle in open groves, bathe in clear pools, ride the summer wind, hook carp, wing-shoot wild geese. Chant verses below the Wu rain altar, sing homecoming songs in the upper hall. [3] You quiet the mind in private chambers, mulling Laozi's teaching of dark emptiness; you draw in vital breath, straining after the sage who has left self behind. [4] With a few enlightened friends you dispute doctrine and parse the classics, scanning heaven and earth and threading human affairs into sense. You pluck Shun's southern breeze on the zither and lift the pure shang tunes. [5] You float above the age, glancing proudly between sky and soil, free of the era's reproaches, guarding the full span of life. Then you may cross the River of Stars and step outside the shell of space. Why should one envy the antechambers of kings?'
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又作詩二篇，以見其志。 辭曰：
He added two poems to spell out his mind. The verses read:
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注[一]孥讀曰奴。 注[二]木躇猶踟木也。
Note 1 Nu here means children or household dependents. Note 2 'Wood-strolling' is wandering among trees.
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注[三]雩，祭旱之名也。 為壇而□其上，以祈雨焉。 《論語》曾點曰：「春服既成，冠者五六人，童子六七人，浴乎沂，風乎舞雩，詠而歸。」
Note 3 Yu names the rain-prayer rite for drought. They raise a platform and stack the offering there to plead for showers. The Analects quotes Zeng Dian bathing in the Yi and singing home from the Wu rain altar.'"
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注[四]《老子》曰：「玄之又玄，虛其心，實其腹。 」呼吸謂嚥氣養生也。 《莊子》曰：「吹煦呼吸，吐故納新。 」又曰「至人無己」也。
Note 4 Laozi: 'Deeper than deep—empty the heart, fill the belly. Controlled breathing is the art of ingesting qi for longevity. Zhuangzi teaches 'puffing and sipping, casting out stale breath, drawing fresh.' It adds that the perfected man 'has no separate ego.'"
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注[五]家語曰：「舜彈五弦之琴，造南風之詩曰：『南風之熏兮，可以解吾人之慍兮。 南風之時兮，可以阜吾人之財兮。 』」三禮圖曰：「琴本五弦，曰宮﹑商﹑角﹑征﹑羽，文王增二，曰少宮﹑少商，弦最清也。」
Note 5 The Kongzi jiayu: Shun played five strings and sang, 'How soft the south wind—it lifts the people's gloom. How timely that breeze—it swells the people's wealth.'" The Sanli tu adds that Wen added two higher strings for clarity.'"
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飛鳥遺跡，蟬蛻亡殼。 騰蛇□鱗，神龍喪角。 [一]至人能變，達士拔俗。 乘雲無轡，騁風無足。 垂露成幃，張霄成幄。 沆瀣當餐，九陽代燭。 [二]恆星艷珠，朝霞潤玉。 六合之內，恣心所欲。 人事可遺，何為侷促？
Birds vanish leaving only tracks; cicadas slip the husk and fly. The winged serpent strips its scales; the dragon casts its horn-crown. [1] Sages transfigure themselves; wise men shake off the dust. Cloud-chariots need no bridles; wind-steeds need no hooves. Dripping dew weaves curtains; stretched rainbows roof the sky. Night vapor becomes your meal; nine suns replace lamp-flame. [2] Constellations shine pearl-bright; dawn clouds wash you like cool jade. Inside the six reaches you follow every whim. Why cling to mortal bother when you could be vast?
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注[一]王充《論衡》曰：「蠐螬化為復育，復育轉為蟬。 蟬之去復育，龜之解甲，蛇之脫皮，可謂屍解矣。 」蛻音式銳反。 《爾雅》曰：「騰蛇有鱗。 」《廣雅》曰：「有角曰龍。 」喪角，解角也。
Note 1 Wang Chong compares metamorphosis: grub to pupa to cicada. Leaving the pupa, like tortoise shell or serpent skin, is the Daoist 'release from the corpse.' Tui is read shirui. Erya: the flying serpent bears scales. Guangya: horned dragons are true dragons. To lose horns is to slough them like skin.
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注[二]霄，摩天赤氣也。 在旁曰幃，在上曰幄。 陵陽子明經曰：「沆瀣者，北方夜半氣也。 」九陽謂日也。 《山海經》曰「陽谷上有扶木，九日居下枝，一日居上枝」也。
Note 2 Xiao is the red mist scraping the sky. Side-hangings are wei; overhead hangings are wo. Lingyang Ziming's scripture defines hangxie as northern midnight breath. Nine yangs stand for the sun. Shanhaijing places nine suns on Fusang's lower branches, one above.'"
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大道雖夷，見幾者寡。 任意無非，適物無可。 古來繞繞，委曲如瑣。 百慮何為，至要在我。 寄愁天上，埋憂地下。 叛散五經，滅□風﹑雅。 百家雜碎，請用從火。 抗志山棲，游心海左。 元氣為舟，微風為柂。 [一]敖翔太清，縱意容冶。
The Way lies plain, yet few spy the hinge of change. Act without forcing and blame fades; fit the moment and obstruction ends. Since antiquity the world has coiled like linked rings. Why multiply anxieties? The pivot is in me. Hang grief in the sky, inter worry underground. Cast off the Five Classics, erase the Airs and Elegants, and toss the hundred schools' scraps to the flames. Plant your purpose in high hills, sail your mind beyond the eastern sea. Chaos-qi builds your hull, soft wind trims the stern. [1] You wheel in the empyrean, indulging poise and polish.
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注[一]柂，船尾也，音徒可反。
Note 1 Tuo names the steering oar at the stern.
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尚書令荀彧聞統名，奇之，舉為尚書郎。 後參丞相曹操軍事。 每論說古今及時俗行事，恆發憤歎息。 因著論名曰昌言，[一]凡三十四篇，十餘萬言。 注[一]昌，當也。 尚書曰：「汝亦昌言。」
Xun Yu, head of the secretariat, heard of Zhongchang, admired him, and nominated him as a secretary. He later joined Cao Cao's military staff as strategist. Whenever he spoke of history or policy he broke into angry laments. He therefore composed the Changyan in thirty-four pian—over a hundred thousand graphs. Note 1: chang means 'straight.' Note 1 Chang carries the sense of 'fitting speech.' The Shangshu bids ministers to 'speak straight.'"
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獻帝遜位之歲，統卒，時年四十一。 友人東海繆襲常稱統才章足繼西京董﹑賈﹑劉﹑楊。 [一]今簡撮其書有益政者，略載之雲。 注[一]董仲舒﹑賈誼﹑劉向﹑楊雄也。 襲字熙伯，辟御史府，後至尚書﹑光祿勳。
The year the emperor yielded the throne, Zhongchang died at forty-one. His friend Miao Xi ranked his prose with the great Western Han masters Dong, Jia, Liu, and Yang. What follows excerpts the politically useful parts of that work. Note 1 The four Han writers named above. Miao Xi, style Xibo, entered the censorate and ended as secretariat director and chamberlain for the palace.
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理亂篇曰：
The essay "On Order and Disorder" says:
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豪傑之當天命者，未始有天下之分者也。 無天下之分，故戰爭者競起焉。 於斯之時，並偽假天威，矯據方國，擁甲兵與我角才智，程勇力與我競雌雄，不知去就，疑誤天下，蓋不可數也。 角知者皆窮，角力者皆負，形不堪復伉，埶不足復校，乃始羈首繫頸，就我之銜紲耳。 [一]夫或曾為我之尊長矣，或曾與我為等儕矣，或曾臣虜我矣，或曾執囚我矣。 彼之蔚蔚，皆匈詈腹詛，幸我之不成，[二]而以奮其前志，詎肯用此為終死之分邪？ 注[一]銜，勒也。 紲，韁也。
No warlord who seizes Heaven's nod begins with a guaranteed empire. Without fixed shares, contention explodes. Each pretends to divine sanction, seizes a corner, marshals arms to rival my wit and nerve, confuses the age—legion are their names. When brains and brawn fail, they can neither fight nor flee—they slip halters on their necks and take my bridle. [1] Yesterday's captor may be today's captive; yesterday's jailer, jailed. They nursed secret oaths, praying I would stumble so old scores might be paid—would they truly accept lifelong servitude? Note 1 Xian is the cheek-piece, xie the leather reins. Xie is the head-stall.
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注[二]蔚與郁古字通。
Note 2 Wei reads as yu, 'dense' or 'sullen.'
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及繼體之時，民心定矣。 普天之下，賴我而得生育，由我而得富貴，安居樂業，長養子孫，天下晏然，皆歸心於我矣。 豪傑之心既絕，士民之志已定，貴有常家，尊在一人。 當此之時，雖下愚之才居之，猶能使恩同天地，威侔鬼神。 暴風疾霆，不足以方其怒； 陽春時雨，不足以喻其澤； 周﹑孔數千，無所復角其聖； 賁﹑育百萬，無所復奮其勇矣。
Once the heir's reign opens, hearts stabilize. The realm lives by my care, grows rich at my hand, raises children in peace—all hearts pivot to the throne. Rivals are broken; ranks are fixed; honor belongs to old families; awe to one man. Then even a dullard on the throne seems kind as cosmos, terrible as gods. His rage outstorms thunder; his bounty outsoftens spring rain. A thousand Confuciuses could not outshine him; a million Bens or Yus could not outbrave him.
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彼後嗣之愚主，見天下莫敢與之違，自謂若天地之不可亡也，乃奔其私嗜，騁其邪欲，君臣宣淫，上下同惡。 [一]目極角抵之觀，耳窮鄭□之聲。 [二]入則耽於婦人，出則馳於田獵。 荒廢庶政，□亡人物，澶漫彌流，無所底極。 [三]信任親愛者，盡佞諂容說之人也； 寵貴隆豐者，盡后妃姬妾之家也。 使餓狼守庖廚，饑虎牧牢豚，遂至熬天下之脂膏，斲生人之骨髓。 怨毒無聊，禍亂並起，中國擾攘，四夷侵叛，土崩瓦解，一朝而去。 昔之為我哺乳之子孫者，今儘是我飲血之寇讎也。 至於運徙埶去，猶不覺悟者，豈非富貴生不仁，沉溺致愚疾邪？ 存亡以之迭代，政亂從此周復，天道常然之大數也。 [四]注[一]《左傳》洩冶諫陳靈公曰：「公卿宣淫，人無□焉。 」杜預注云：「宣，示也。」
Yet feckless sons of fortune, sure none dare resist, think themselves eternal; they chase lust, wallow in vice, court and harem rot together. [1] Eyes gorge on acrobats, ears on the lewd strains of Zheng and Wei. [2] Indoors they drown in concubines; outdoors they race hounds and chariots. State business moulders, lives are squandered, excess swells without bound. [3] Every favorite is a smiling parasite; every enriched clan is kin to the harem. They hire wolves to mind the larder and tigers to herd lambs—until the empire's grease is rendered and the people's marrow carved out. Hatred chokes with no vent; revolt and invasion follow; China boils, border tribes rise; the realm shatters overnight. The babes I nursed return as vampires at my throat. Those who still sleep as power ebbs—has not ease bred cruelty and indulgence bred stupidity? Rise and fall rotate; order and chaos return—such is Heaven's long rhythm. [4] Note 1 Xie Ye warned Chen Ling that public debauchery in high places leaves the people no model. Du Yu glosses xuan as 'parade' or 'display.'"
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注[二]武帝元封三年，作角抵戲。 音義云：「兩兩相當角力，角伎蓺射御，故名角抵，蓋雜伎樂* (以) **[也]*，巴俞戲魚龍蔓延之屬也。 後更名平樂觀。 」《禮記》曰「鄭音好濫淫志，宋音宴安溺志」也。
Note 2 In 108 BCE Wu Di introduced horn-wrestling spectacles. The commentary explains paired combat and acrobatics under the label 'horn-butting,' a medley of acts * the gloss '(with)' supplies a missing particle, **including Ba-Yu dances, fish-dragon illusions, and the spreading-vine show. The arena was later renamed the Pingle viewing stand. The Liji warns that Zheng tunes dissolve the will and Song airs lull the spirit into sloth.'"
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注[三]澶漫猶縱逸也。 澶音徒旦反。 《莊子外篇》曰「澶漫為樂」也。
Note 3 Dan man denotes wanton excess. The graph dan is read tudan. Zhuangzi's outer books use dan man for heedless revelry.'"
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注[四]《左傳》曰「美惡周必復，天之道也。」
Note 4 The Zuo: 'Beauty and ugliness turn full circle—such is the Dao of Heaven.'"
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又政之為理者，取一切而已，非能斟酌賢愚之分，以開盛衰之數也。 日不如古，彌以遠甚，豈不然邪？ 漢興以來，相與同為編戶齊民，而以財力相君長者，世無數焉。 而清絜之士，徒自苦於茨棘之閒，無所益損於風俗也。 豪人之室，連棟數百，膏田滿野，奴婢千腢，徒附萬計。 [一]船車賈販，周於四方； 廢居積貯，滿於都城。 [二]琦賂寶貨，巨室不能容； [三]馬牛羊豕，山谷不能受。 妖童美妾，填乎綺室； 倡謳* (妓) *[伎]樂，列乎深堂。 賓客待見而不敢去，車騎交錯而不敢進。 三牲之肉，臭而不可食； 清醇之酎，敗而不可飲。 睇盼則人從其目之所視，喜怒則人隨其心之所慮。 此皆公侯之廣樂，君長之厚實也。 苟能運智詐者，則得之焉； 苟能得之者，人不以為罪焉。 源發而橫流，路開而四通矣。 求士之捨榮樂而居窮苦，[四]□放逸而赴束縛，夫誰肯為之者邪！ [五]夫亂世長而化世短。 亂世則小人貴寵，君子困賤。 當君子困賤之時，局高天，蹐厚地，猶恐有鎮厭之禍也。 [六]逮至清世，則復入於矯枉過正之檢。 老者耄矣，不能及寬饒之俗； 少者方壯，將復困於衰亂之時。 是使奸人擅無窮之福利，而善士掛不赦之罪辜。 苟目能辯色，耳能辯聲，口能辯味，體能辯寒溫者，將皆以修絜為諱惡，設智巧以避之焉，況肯有安而樂之者邪？ 斯下世人主一切之愆也。 注[一]徒，觿也。 附，親也。
Policy that seizes the whole in one sweep cannot sort sage from mediocrity or chart fortune's tide. With every generation the model of the past recedes—can anyone deny it? For two centuries men equal on the tax rolls have bullied one another with money and muscle without number. The fastidious recluse starves in weeds yet shifts the age not a hair. A great house strings a hundred gables, owns valleys of grain, keeps a thousand slaves and ten thousand dependents. [1] His fleets and caravans huckster the realm; speculative granaries choke the metropolis. [2] Curios overflow rooms no vault can fit; [3] His herds outgrow every pasture. Catamites and concubines crowd the inner chambers; The manuscript reads 'singing girls' with an asterisk, the gloss '(courtesans)' supplies the missing word, and the line continues with musicians filling the inner hall. Clients cool their heels in the courtyard; equipage blocks the lane yet none may pass. Offered meat moulders untouched; vintage mash turns vinegary in the jars. One look binds retainers to his glance; whim becomes their law. Such display belongs to princes of blood, not commoners. Cunning wins the pile; once won, the world forgives the theft. Wealth floods every outlet; every path runs to his door. Who would trade soft honors for thorns, [lacuna] quit leisure for fetters—who signs for such a bargain! [5] Disorder outlasts order in the ledger of time. When the realm tilts, knaves rise and the worthy sink. Even crouching under sky and earth they dread the crush of power. [6] In a lucid reign men swing to the opposite excess. Gray heads cannot live to see generous rule return. Youth will meet another round of rot before their hair whitens. Rogues harvest every boon; the righteous wear unpardonable blame. Anyone sharp enough to sense the world brands integrity a bore and schemes to dodge it—who then chooses the hard clean path for joy? Such is the wholesale error of late sovereigns. Note 1 Tu means throng or mass. Fu denotes hangers-on bound to a patron.
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注[二]《史記》曰：「轉轂百數，廢居蓄邑。 」注云：「有所廢，有所蓄，言其乘時射利也。」
Note 2 The Shiji speaks of caravans numbering hundreds, speculating in urban markets. The gloss: buy low, sell high—timing the market.'"
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注[三]琦，瑋也。 《抱朴子》曰「片玉可以琦，奚必俟盈尺」也。
Note 3 Qi means precious oddity. Ge Hong: even a splinter of jade counts as treasure.'"
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注[四]捨音式者反。
Note 4 She is read shizhe.
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注[五]束縛謂自潔清如拘執也。
Note 5 'Bondage' describes self-imposed austerity like a prisoner's discipline.
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注[六]詩小雅曰：「謂天蓋高，不敢不局； 謂地蓋厚，不敢不蹐。 」毛萇注云：「局，曲也。 蹐，累足也。」
Lesser Ya: 'Heaven is called high, yet I dare not stand upright; earth is called thick, yet I dare not stride freely.' Mao's gloss: ju means to cower; ji means to tread with mincing, stacked steps.'"
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昔春秋之時，周氏之亂世也。 逮乎戰國，則又甚矣。 秦政乘並兼之埶，放虎狼之心，[一]屠裂天下，吞食生人，暴虐不已，以招楚漢用兵之苦，甚於戰國之時也。 漢二百年而遭王莽之亂，[二]計其殘夷滅亡之數，又復倍乎秦﹑項矣。
The Chunqiu age was already Zhou's disorder. The Zhanguo decades deepened the rot. The First Emperor used conquest to loose wolfish greed, butchered the world, and outdid Warring States carnage until the Chu-Han war topped every prior horror. Two centuries of Han ended in Mang's coup; the body count doubled Qin's tyranny and Xiang Yu's fury.
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以及今日，名都空而不居，百里絕而無民者，不可勝數。 [三]此則又甚於亡新之時也。 悲夫！ 不及五百年，大難三起，[四]中閒之亂，尚不數焉。 變而彌猜，下而加酷，[五]推此以往，可及於盡矣。 嗟乎！ 不知來世聖人救此之道，將何用也？ 又不知天若窮此之數，欲何至邪？ 注[一]政，始皇名也。
Today ghost cities and depopulated cantons are too many to list. [3] The waste exceeds Xin dynasty's collapse. How pitiful! Under five hundred years heaven sent three great convulsions, not counting the lesser shocks. Each cycle breeds sharper fear and harsher rule—carry the line to its end and nothing survives. Alas again! What remedy later sages may find is beyond my sight. Nor whether Heaven, exhausting this span, aims at annihilation or renewal. Note 1 Zheng names the First Emperor of Qin.
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注[二]漢至王莽篡位二百一十四年。 雲二百者，舉全數。
Note 2 Han ruled 214 years before Mang seized the throne. The text rounds to two hundred for simplicity.
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注[三]孝平帝時，凡郡國一百三，縣邑一千三百一十四，道三十四，侯國二百四十一。 地東西九千三百二里，南北一萬三百六十八里。 人戶一千二百二十三萬三千六十二，口五千九百五十九萬四千九百七十八。 此漢家極盛之時。 遭王莽喪亂，暨光武中興，海內人戶，准之於前，十裁二三，邊方蕭條，略無孑遺。 孝靈遭黃巾之寇，獻帝嬰董卓之禍，英雄潟峙，白骨膏野，兵亂相尋三十餘年，三方既寧，萬不存一也。
Note 3 Ping's register: 103 commanderies, 1,314 county seats, 34 routes, 241 noble fiefs. The realm spanned 9,302 li east-west and 10,368 li north-south. Households totaled over 12.2 million; population nearly 60 million. That was the Han peak. Mang's wars cut the census to a fifth or third of the peak; the marches were stripped bare. Ling fell to turbans, Xian to Dong Zhuo; warlords fed crows for thirty years; when the tripartite peace came, perhaps one soul in ten thousand remained.
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注[四]秦三王二帝通在位四十九年，前漢二百三十年，後漢百九十五年，凡四百七十四年，故云不及五百年也。 三起謂秦末及王莽並獻帝時也。
Note 4 Qin's kings and First Emperor total 49 years; Former Han 230; Later Han 195—474—hence 'under five hundred years.' The three cataclysms are Qin's fall, Mang's coup, and Han's end under Xian.
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注[五]下猶後也。
Note 5 Xia means 'afterward' or 'later.'
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損益篇曰：
The treatise "On Profit and Loss" says:
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作有利於時，制有便於物者，可為也。 事有乖於數，法有翫於時者，可改也。
Institutions that serve the age and tools that fit reality may stand. When policy fights the trend and statutes rot, change is owed.
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故行於古有其多，用於今無其功者，不可不變。 變而不如前，易有多所敗者，亦不可不復也。 漢之初興，分王子弟，委之以士民之命，假之以殺生之權。 於是驕逸自恣，志意無厭。 魚肉百姓，以盈其欲； 報蒸骨血，以快其情。 上有篡叛不軌之奸，下有暴亂殘賊之害。 雖藉親屬之恩，蓋源流形埶使之然也。 降爵削土，稍稍割奪，卒至於坐食奉祿而已。 然其洿穢之行，淫昏之罪，猶尚多焉。 故淺其根本，輕其恩義，猶尚假一日之尊，收士民之用。 況專之於國，擅之於嗣，豈可鞭笞叱宛，而使唯我所為者乎？ 時政雕敝，風俗移易，純樸已去，智惠已來。 [一]出於禮制之防，放於嗜欲之域久矣，固不可授之以柄，假之以資者也。 是故收其奕世之權，校其從橫之埶，善者早登，否者早去，[二]故下土無壅滯之士，國朝無專貴之人。 此變之善，可遂行者也。
What worked for the ancients but fails now must yield. If reform only deepens the wound, revert without shame. Founding Han parcelled kingdoms to princes, handing them the people and the sword of justice. The princes then rode whim and excess without limit. They devoured the peasantry to fill private want; they even tortured kin for sport. Rebellion festered above; slaughter spread below. Blood ties could not check the structural rot. Titles shrank, fiefs were shaved, until nobles lived on salaries alone. Even stripped of power they wallowed in vice. The court still lent them a day's prestige to command the people. Had they kept whole kingdoms, could any whip have bent them to one will? Government is fractured; manners have turned; simplicity is lost to cunning. [1] Men long outside ritual's banks and sunk in appetite must not be given levers or loans of authority. Recall hereditary clout, read the chessboard, elevate the worthy early and purge the vicious—then the provinces stay fluid and no clan owns the court. That reform is sound and practicable.
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注[一]《老子》曰「智惠出，有大偽」也。 注[二]去音袪莒反。
Note 1 Laozi ties wit to wholesale deceit.'" Note 2 Qu is read quju.
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井田之變，豪人貨殖，館舍佈於州郡，田畝連於方國。 身無半通青綸之命，而竊三辰龍章之服； [一]不為編戶一伍之長，而有千室名邑之役。 [二]榮樂過於封君，埶力侔於守令。 財賂自營，犯法不坐。 刺客死士，為之投命。 至使弱力少智之子，被穿帷敗，寄死不斂，冤枉窮困，不敢自理。 雖亦由網禁□闊，蓋分田無限使之然也。 今欲張太平之紀綱，立至化之基趾，齊民財之豐寡，正風俗之奢儉，非井田實莫由也。 此變有所敗，而宜復者也。 注[一]十三州志曰：「有秩、嗇夫，得假半章印。 」續漢輿服志曰：「百石，青紺綸，一采，宛轉繆織，長丈二尺。 」《說文》：「綸，青絲綬也。 」鄭玄注《禮記》曰：「綸，今有秩、嗇夫所佩也。 」三辰，日、月、星也。 龍章謂山龍之章。 皆畫於衣也。
Once equal-field rule vanished, merchants built hostels in every commandery and stitched manors across state borders. Without a petty clerk's warrant they wear insignia reserved for the throne. [1] They shirk the five-house headship yet impose labor worthy of a county seat. [2] Their splendor outshines titled lords; their muscle rivals governors. They buy impunity and laugh at the code. Bravos and killers pledge lives to their purse. Weaklings end stripped, dying on the road unshrouded, too crushed to sue. Partly the law was slack—but above all, abolishing caps on landholding caused it. To set lasting peace, true reform, fair shares, and sound customs, you cannot bypass the well-field system. That reform stumbled; the old system deserves another hearing. Note 1 The provincial gazetteer: petty officials may use the half-size seal. Xu Han yufu zhi: hundred-bushel rank wears a green twisted ribbon twelve chi long. Shuowen defines lun as a green silk cord. Zheng Xuan: lun is the sash worn by low clerks today. The three celestial emblems are sun, moon, and stars. 'Dragon chapter' denotes the mountain-dragon motif on court dress. Those designs are woven or painted on the garments.
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注[二]《周禮》小司徒職：「五人為伍。 」《前書》曰：「五家為伍，伍有長。 」《論語》孔子曰：「千室之邑，百乘之家。 」言豪強之家，身無品秩，而強富比於公侯也。
Note 2 Zhou li junior steward: five households form a squad. Former Han law: five doors to a squad, each with a leader. The Analects speaks of a thousand-gate town and a hundred-chariot house. That is magnates without rank whose riches match princes of blood.
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肉刑之廢，輕重無品，下死則得髡鉗，下髡鉗則得鞭笞。 [一]死者不可復生，而髡者無傷於人。 髡笞不足以懲中罪，安得不至於死哉！ [二]夫雞狗之攘竊，男女之淫奔，酒醴之賂遺，謬誤之傷害，皆非值於死者也。 殺之則甚重，髡之則甚輕。 不制中刑以稱其罪，則法令安得不參差，殺生安得不過謬乎？ 今患刑輕之不足以懲惡，則假臧貨以成罪，托疾病以諱殺。 [三]科條無所准，名實不相應，恐非帝王之通法，聖人之良制也。 或曰：過刑惡人，可也； 過刑善人，豈可復哉？ 曰：若前政以來，未曾枉害善人者，則有罪不死也，[四]是為忍於殺人* (也) *，而不忍於刑人也。 今令五刑有品，輕重有數，科條有序，名實有正，非殺人逆亂鳥獸之行甚重者，皆勿殺。 [五]嗣周氏之秘典，續呂侯之祥刑，此又宜復之善者也。 [六]注[一]下猶減也。
Ending corporal punishment erased proportion: just short of death you shave and collar; short of that you only flog. [1] Dead men stay dead, while shaving wounds no third party. When flogging cannot check middling guilt, cases slide inexorably toward the headsman's block. [2] Chicken-thieving, elopement, jugs of wine, accidental injury—none merit capital punishment. Execution is disproportionate; shaving alone is far too mild. Without middle penalties matched to guilt, law becomes a lottery and killing a blunder. Fearing leniency emboldens knaves, yamen men inflate stolen sums or forge sickbed deaths to kill by stealth. [3] When codes lack anchors and charges lie, you have neither royal precedent nor sage-like justice. Critics say: crushing villains might be tolerable; but crushing the innocent—can that stand? The reply: if no innocent ever died, no criminal would either—[4] that would pity the killer* the gloss '(indeed)' marks the particle, yet shrink from mutilating the living. Set clear degrees for the five punishments, ranked statutes, honest charges—spare the axe except for murder, revolt, or bestial crimes. [5] Revive Zhou's penal canons and Lü's balanced code—another worthy return. [6] Note 1 Xia means 'reduce' or 'step down.'
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注[二]言髡笞太輕，不足畏懼，而奸人冒罪，以陷於死。 明復古肉刑，則人不陷於死也。
Note 2 Light flogging fails to deter, so rogues gamble and end on the scaffold. Restoring graded mutilation would pull many back from the death pit.
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注[三]假增臧貨，以益其罪。 托稱疾病，令死於獄也。
Note 3 Clerks inflate theft tallies to deepen guilt. They feign illness so the prisoner dies in custody.
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注[四]言善人有罪，亦當殺之也。
Note 4 Even worthy offenders must die when law demands.
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注[五]鳥獸之行謂蒸報也。
Note 5 'Bestial conduct' denotes incestuous outrage.
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注[六]《周禮》大司寇職：「掌邦之三典，以佐王刑邦國，詰四方，一曰刑新國用輕典，二曰刑平國用中典，三曰刑亂國用重典。 」祥，善也。 《尚書》曰：「教爾祥刑。」
Note 6 Zhou li great minister of justice lists light, middle, and heavy codes for new, stable, and chaotic realms. Xiang means 'good' or 'auspicious.' The Shangshu bids rulers teach lenient justice.
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《易》曰：「陽一君二臣，君子之道也； 陰二君一臣，小人之道也。 」[一]然則寡者，為人上者也； 觿者，為人下者也。 一伍之長，才足以長一伍者也； 一國之君，才足以君一國者也； 天下之王，才足以王天下者也。 愚役於智，猶枝之附干，此理天下之常法也。 制國以分人，立政以分事，人遠則難綏，事總則難了。 今遠州之縣，或相去數百千里，雖多山陵洿澤，猶有可居人種穀者焉。 當更制其境界，使遠者不過二百里。 明版籍以相數閱，審什伍以相連持，[二]限夫田以斷並兼，定五刑以救死亡，[三]益君長以興政理，急農桑以豐委積，去末作以一本業，敦教學以移情性，表德行以厲風俗，核才蓺以□官宜，簡精悍以習師田，[四]修武器以存守戰，嚴禁令以防僭差，信實罰以驗懲勸，糾游戲以杜奸邪，察苛刻以絕煩暴。 審此十六者以為政務，操之有常，課之有限，安寧勿懈墯，有事不迫遽，聖人復起，不能易也。 注[一]系詞之文也。 陽卦一陽而二陰，陰卦一陰而二陽。 陽為君，陰為臣。
The Zhouyi: one ruler, two ministers in a yang hexagram marks the gentleman's path; two rulers, one minister in yin marks the small man's path. ' [1] The few sit atop the many; the many serve beneath. A squad leader needs only squad-scale talent; a king needs only state-scale talent; the Son of Heaven needs empire-spanning gifts alone. Stupid obeys clever as twigs cling to bough—Heaven's rule for governing. Rule splits labor among men and offices—distance breeds neglect, central overload chokes action. Frontier counties sprawl hundreds of li apart, yet even amid waste there is arable ground. Redraw borders so no magistrate sits farther than two hundred li from his farthest hamlet. Brighten registers and mutual surveillance, bind squads of five and ten, limit acreage against land-grabs, grade punishments to spare the wrongly killed, add honest magistrates, push tillage and silk to fill bins, choke off huckstering to fix the root, thicken schooling to reshape hearts, honor virtue to stiffen manners, audit skill to fit office, drill picked troops, keep weapons ready, seal sumptuary law, make rewards and fines credible, ban gambling dens, purge cruel petty clerks. Make these sixteen policies the backbone of rule, hold the course, grade performance on a calendar—neither slack in peace nor frantic in crisis—and no sage could better the scheme. Note 1 The lines come from the Xici. Yang trigrams show one firm line among two yielding; yin the reverse. Yang images the throne, yin the subject.
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注[二]《周禮》曰：「凡在版者。 」注云：「版，名籍也，以版為之也。」
Note 2 Zhou li: everyone on the board. The gloss: wooden tablets list households.'"
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注[三]《司馬法》曰：「步百為畝，畝百為夫，夫三為屋，屋三為井。 」並兼謂豪富之家以財埶並取貧人之田而兼有之。
Note 3 Sima fa lays out the well-field chain from pace to well. Land-grabbers use money and muscle to swallow smallholders whole.
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注四《周禮》曰：「凡師田斬牲以左右徇陳。 」注云：「示犯誓必殺也。」
Note 4 Zhou li: military drill begins with a sacrificial beast run down the ranks. The gloss: oath-breakers die like the victim.'"
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向者，天下戶過千萬，除其老弱，但戶一丁壯，則千萬人也。 遺漏既多，又蠻夷戎狄居漢地者尚不在焉。 丁壯十人之中，必有堪為其什伍之長，推什長已上，則百萬人也。 又十取之，則佐史之才已上十萬人也。 又十取之，則可使在政理之位者萬人也。 以筋力用者謂之人，人求丁壯； 以才智用者謂之士，士貴耆老。
At Han's height the census passed ten million doors—one able man each yields ten million soldiers on paper. Undercounting was huge, and border tribes inside the wall are not even tallied. One leader in ten can captain squads—stack promotions and you have a million officers. Another decimation yields a hundred thousand clerk-grade talents. One more pass yields ten thousand capable of high office. Laborers are 'people'—you draft youth; thinkers are 'gentlemen'—you prize gray hair.
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充此制以用天下之人，猶將有儲，何嫌乎不足也？ 故物有不求，未有無物之歲也； 士有不用，未有少士之世也。 夫如此，然後可以用天性，究人理，興頓廢，屬斷絕，[一]網羅遺漏，拱柙天人矣。 [二]注[一]屬猶續也。
Staff the empire this way and talent still pools unused—what shortage could you fear? Products may lie idle, yet no age lacks goods; scholars may sit idle, yet no era truly lacks scholars. Then you align human nature with cosmic pattern, revive the fallen, mend broken lines—[1] catch every stray talent and join Heaven with man. [2] Note 1 Shu means 'continue' or 'reconnect.'
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注[二]拱，執也。 柙，檻也。 柙，音下甲反。
Note 2 Gong means to hold fast. Xia means a wooden cage or pen. Xia is read xiajia.
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或曰：善為政者，欲除煩去苛，並官省職，為之以無為，事之以無事，何子言之云云也？ [一]曰：若是，三代不足摹，聖人未可師也。 [二]君子用法制而至於化，小人用法制而至於亂。 均是一法制也，或以之化，或以之亂，行之不同也。 苟使豺狼牧羊豚，盜跖主徵稅，國家昏亂，吏人放肆，則惡復論損益之閒哉！ [三]夫人待君子然後化理，國待蓄積乃無憂患。 君子非自農桑以求衣食者也，蓄積非橫賦斂以取優饒者也。 奉祿誠厚，則割剝貿易之罪乃可絕也； 蓄積誠多，則兵寇水旱之□不足苦也。 故由其道而得之，民不以為奢； 由其道而取之，民不以為勞。 天□流行，開倉庫以稟貸，不亦仁乎？ 衣食有餘，損靡麗以散施，不亦義乎？ 彼君子居位為士民之長，固宜重肉累帛，朱輪四馬。 今反謂薄屋者為高，藿食者為清，既失天地之性，又開虛偽之名，使小智居大位，庶績不咸熙，未必不由此也。 得拘絜而失才能，非立功之實也。 [四]以廉舉而以貪去，非士君子之志也。 [五]夫選用必取善士。 善士富者少而貧者多，祿不足以供養，安能不少營私門乎？ 從而罪之，是設機置稨以待天下之君子也。 [六]注[一]《老子》云「為無為，事無事」也。
Critics quote Laozi: rule by doing nothing—why your sixteen-point plan? [1] If that were enough, the Three Ages need not be copied nor sages heeded. [2] Good men with codes bring order; knaves with the same codes bring riot. Identical statutes succeed or fail with the hand that wields them. Wolves guarding lambs or bandits collecting tax ends debate about 'streamlining.' [3] Folk need leaders to change; treasuries need grain before crisis. Officials are not peasants; granaries are not built on predatory surtaxes. Pay magistrates enough and extortion ends; fill bins and flood, drought, and raid lose their sting. Wealth taken by honest rule does not read as excess; taxes gathered fairly do not feel like crushing toil. When Heaven sends dearth, open the bins—is that not kindness? When surplus fills lofts, trim finery to feed the needy—is that not justice? Magistrates who lead the million should dine well and ride high—that is fitting. To praise hovels and coarse fare as 'integrity' perverts nature, invites poseurs, and fills high seats with small minds—source of every failure. Clutching cheap virtue while losing talent wins no real merit. [4] Elevating the honest yet firing the grasping twists the gentleman's purpose. [5] Appointments must seek the worthy. Worthy men are mostly poor—starve their pay and they moonlight. Punishing that squeeze lays traps for every honest clerk. [6] Note 1 Laozi counsels wu wei.'"
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注[二]摹，法也。 三代皆用肉刑及井田之法，今不用，是不摹之也。
Note 2 Mo means pattern or model. Antiquity used mutilation and well-fields; discarding both is to reject their pattern.
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注[三]惡音烏。
Note 3 Wu here is read wu (the negative).
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注[四]拘絜謂自拘束而絜其身者，即隱逸之人也。
Note 4 'Ju jie' describes recluses who bind their conduct and keep themselves pure.
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注[五]去音欺呂反。
Note 5 Qu is read qilü.
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注[六]稨，穿地陷獸也。 機，弩牙也。
Note 6 A bian is a pitfall trap for game. Ji names the crossbow's release mechanism.
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盜賊凶荒，九州代作，饑饉暴至，軍旅捽髮，橫稅弱人，割奪吏祿，所恃者寡，所取者猥，[一]萬里懸乏，首尾不救，徭役並起，農桑失業，兆民呼嗟於昊天，貧窮轉死於溝壑矣。 今通肥饒之率，計稼穡之入，令畝收三斛，斛取一斗，未為甚多。 一歲之閒，則有數年之儲，雖興非法之役，恣奢侈之欲，廣愛幸之賜，猶未能盡也。 不循古法，規為輕稅，及至一方有警，一面被□，未逮三年，校計騫短，坐視戰士之蔬食，立望餓殍之滿道，如之何為君行此政也？ [二]二十稅一，名之曰貊，況三十稅一乎？ [三]夫薄吏祿以豐軍用，緣於秦征諸侯，續以四夷，漢承其業，遂不改更，危國亂家，此之由也。 今田無常主，民無常居，吏食日稟，[四]* (祿) *班*[祿]*未定。 可為法制，畫一定科，租稅十一，更賦如舊。 [五]今者土廣民稀，中地未墾； [六]雖然，猶當限以大家，勿令過制。
Raiders, drought, and riot rotate through the provinces; famine and draft follow; predatory tax flays the poor and cuts official pay—revenue shrinks while exactions swell; [1] relief cannot reach from end to end of the realm; corvée ruins the crop cycle; the masses wail to Heaven and the hungry die in the mud. Assume fertile land yields three hu per mu and take one tenth of each hu—still a modest levy. One good harvest would bank several years of grain; waste and favoritism could not empty the bins. Light taxes without a cushion mean one alarm empties the treasury; you watch troops starve and corpses line the roads—what governance is that? [2] Mencius mocked a twenty-to-one tax as fit only for the Mo; a thirty-to-one rate is emptier still. [3] Starving the bureaucracy to fund armies began with Qin and continued under Han—root of ruined dynasties. Land and tenants shift daily; officials live hand-to-mouth; [4] * the gloss marks 'salary,' while rank and pay stay unsettled. Fix the code: one-tenth field rent, poll tax unchanged from precedent. [5] The empire has land to spare and people too few; middling soil lies fallow; [6] Still cap great estates so none outgrows the rule.
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其地有草者，盡曰官田，力堪農事，乃聽受之。 若聽其自取，後必為奸也。 注[一]猥猶多也。
Mark brushland as state domain; lease it only to those who can farm it. Free grabbing invites fraud. Note 1 Wei means excessive or many.
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注[二]《孟子》曰：「塗有餓莩而不知發。 」趙岐注云：「餓死者曰莩」。 莩與殍通，音皮表反。
Note 2 Mencius: 'Starved bodies litter the road while granaries stay shut.' Zhao Qi: the starved are called piao.'" Piao reads like biao (corpse by the wayside).
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注[三]《孟子》載白圭曰：「吾欲二十而取一何如？ 」孟子曰：「子之道貊*[道]*也。 」趙岐注云：「貊，夷貊之人在荒者也。 貊在北方，其氣寒，不生五穀，無中國之禮，故可二十取一而足也。 」此言欲輕稅也。
Note 3 Bai Gui asked Mencius about a one-twentieth tax. Mencius replied, 'That is a northern barbarian's rate. Zhao Qi: Mo are cold-country tribes without grain. Their northland cannot support Chinese farming, so a light tithe suffices there. The point is he wanted lower taxes.
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注[四]稟，給也。
Note 4 Bin means ration or issue.
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注[五]更賦，已見 〈光武紀〉 也。
Note 5 The poll tax is explained elsewhere—see the Guangwu annals for details.
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注[六]上田已耕，唯中地已下未也。
Note 6 Best land is under plow; middling and poor soils await.
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法誡篇曰：
The essay "On Laws and Warnings" says:
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周禮六典，頤宰貳王而理天下。 [一]春秋之時，諸侯明德者，皆一卿為政。 爰及戰國，亦皆然也。 秦兼天下，則置丞相，而貳之以御史大夫。 自高帝逮於孝成，因而不改，多終其身。 漢之隆盛，是惟在焉。 夫任一人則政專，任數人則相倚。 政專則和諧，相倚則違戾。 和諧則太平之所興也，違戾則荒亂之所起也。
The Zhou li's six statutes have the grand steward as the king's deputy to govern the realm. [1] Virtuous marquises ruled through one chief minister. Warring kingdoms did the same. Qin paired chancellor with censor-in-chief. From Gaodi to Chengdi the structure held; ministers often died in office. Han zenith rode that balance. One chief focuses power; many chiefs lean on each other. Unity breeds harmony; mutual obstruction breeds strife. Harmony builds peace; strife spawns ruin.
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光武皇帝慍數世之失權，忿強臣之竊命，[二]矯枉過直，政不任下，雖置三公，事歸台閣。 [三]自此以來，三公之職，備員而已，然政有不理，猶加譴責。 而權移外戚之家，寵被近習之豎，親其黨類，用其私人，內充京師，外布列郡，顛倒賢愚，貿易選舉，疲駑守境，貪殘牧民，撓擾百姓，忿怒四夷，[四]招致乖叛，亂離斯瘼。 [五]怨氣並作，陰陽失和，三光虧缺，怪異數至，蟲螟食稼，水旱為□，此皆戚宦之臣所致然也。 反以策讓三公，至於死免，乃足為叫呼蒼天，號咷泣血者也。 又中世之選三公也，務於清□謹慎，循常習故者。 是婦女之檢柙，鄉曲之常人耳，惡足以居斯位邪？ [六]埶既如彼，選又如此，而慾望三公勳立於國家，績加於生民，不亦遠乎？ 昔文帝之於鄧通，可謂至愛，而猶展申徒嘉之志。 [七]夫見任如此，則何患於左右小臣哉？ 至如近世，外戚臣豎請托不行，意氣不滿，立能陷人於不測之禍，惡可得彈正者哉！ 曩者任之重而責之輕，今者任之輕而責之重。 昔賈誼感絳侯之困辱，因陳大臣廉恥之分，開引自裁之端。 [八]自此以來，遂以成俗。
Guangwu hated regents and strongmen; [2] he over-tightened reins—three titular dukes while the secretariat held real power. [3] The three excellences became sinecures, yet still took the blame. Power slid to in-laws and eunuchs; cliques packed the capital and provinces, sold posts, set cowards on the frontier and thieves to govern, tormented the people and provoked tribes—[4] inviting revolt and collapse. [5] Ill omens—eclipses, locusts, flood and drought—stemmed from consort clans and eunuchs. The throne scapegoated the three excellences—cause for tears of blood. Mid-Han picked dukes for punctilio and timidity. Such men are village pedants, not architects of state. [6] With power and recruitment so broken, expecting the three excellences to save the realm is fantasy. Even Wen's doting on Deng Tong yielded to Shen Tu Jia's steel. [7] With such oversight, petty favorites cannot ruin the court. Today a snubbed consort or eunuch invents a capital crime—who dares correct them? Old Han loaded office and spared blame; now blame crushes figureheads. Jia Yi, pitying Zhou Bo's jailhouse shame, urged ministers to fall on their swords. [8] Suicide for disgraced ministers became habit.
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繼世之主，生而見之，習其所常，曾莫之悟。 嗚呼，可悲夫！ 左手據天下之圖，右手刎其喉，愚者猶知難之，況明哲君子哉！ [九]光武奪三公之重，至今而加甚，不假後黨以權，數世而不行，蓋親疏之埶異也。 [一０]母后之黨，左右之人，有此至親之埶，故其貴任萬世。 常然之敗，無世而無之，莫之斯鑒，亦可痛矣。 未若置丞相自總之。 若委三公，則宜分任責成。 夫使為政者，不當與之婚姻； 婚姻者，不當使之為政也。 如此，在位病人，[一一]舉用失賢，百姓不安，爭訟不息，天地多變，人物多妖，然後可以分此罪矣。
Sons of Heaven inherit the custom and never question it. Alas—how lamentable! To clutch the realm and slit your own throat—fools shrink from it, let alone sages! [9] Guangwu weakened the excellences; later courts weakened them further; he refused consort power, yet later ages ignored the lesson—kinship politics changed the board. [10] Consort kin and bedchamber favorites ride intimacy to perpetual power. The crash always comes, yet no reign learns—agonizing to watch. Better restore a chancellor with full portfolio. If you keep three heads, split portfolios and audit outcomes. Office-holders should not marry into the throne; royal in-laws should not hold the levers. Only when the people sicken, talent is missed, suits choke the courts, omens multiply, [11] may you assign blame where it belongs.
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注[一]《爾雅》曰：「頤，大也。 」貳謂副貳也。 《周禮》天官頤宰「掌建邦之六典，以佐王理邦國。 一曰理典，以理官府； 二曰教典，以擾萬姓； 三曰禮典，以諧萬姓； 四曰政典，以均萬姓； 五曰刑典，以愨萬姓； 六曰事典，以生萬姓」也。
Note 1 Erya: yi means great. Er is deputy or assistant. Zhou li grand steward of heaven: six canons to aid the king. First canon orders government offices; second harmonizes the people through teaching; third aligns them with rites; fourth balances them through policy; fifth awes them with penal law; sixth secures their livelihood through public works.'"
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注[二]慍猶恨也。 數代謂元、成、哀、平。 強臣謂王莽。
Note 2 Yun means bitter resentment. The lost generations are Yuan, Cheng, Ai, and Ping. The usurper is Wang Mang.
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注[三]台閣謂尚書也。 注[四]撓音火高反。 注[五]瘼，病也。
Note 3 Tai ge denotes the imperial secretariat. Note 4 Rao is read huogao. Note 5 Mo means wasting sickness.
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注[六]檢柙猶規矩也。
Note 6 Jian xia means compass and square—rules.
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注[七]展猶申也。 文帝時，太中大夫鄧通居上傍，有怠慢禮，丞相申屠嘉奏事見之，罷朝，召通責之曰：「通小臣，戲殿上，大不敬，當斬。 」通頓首，首盡出血。 文帝使人召通，謝丞相曰：「此吾弄臣，君其釋之。」
Note 7 Zhan means to press or assert. Wen let Deng Tong lounge by the throne; Shen Tu Jia, leaving court, seized him: 'You play on the dais—death offense. Deng beat his head bloody. Wen intervened: 'He is my fool—let him go.'"
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注[八]文帝時賈誼上書曰：「大臣有罪，不執縛係引而行也。 其有大罪者，聞命則北面再拜，跪而自裁，* (之) **[上]*不使人捽抑而刑之也。 」是時丞相絳侯周勃免就國，人有告勃謀反，系長安獄，卒無事，復爵邑，故誼以此譏上。 上深納其言，是後大臣有罪，皆自殺，不受刑也。
Note 8 Jia Yi: disgraced ministers should not be hauled in ropes. For capital guilt they kneel north and open their own throats* the gloss '(themselves)' marks an editorial reading, **so the throne need not send bailiffs to torture them. Zhou Bo was jailed on a false treason charge, then cleared—Jia Yi cited it to shame the court. Wen adopted the advice; later disgraced ministers fell on their swords.
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注[九]言不以重利害其生。 事見莊子。
Note 9 Honor life over crushing humiliation. The parable appears in Zhuangzi.
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注[一０]言光武奪三公重任，今奪更甚。 光武不假後黨威權，數代遂不遵行。 此為三公疏，後族親故也。
Note 10 Guangwu hollowed the excellences; later courts hollowed them further. He refused consort power, yet successors ignored him. Excellences were remote; in-laws were close.
165
注[一一]病人謂萬姓困敝也。
Note 11 'Sicken' means the masses are worn out.
166
或曰：政在一人，權甚重也。 曰：人實難得，何重之嫌？ 昔者霍禹、竇憲、鄧騭、梁冀之徒，籍外戚之權，管國家之柄； 及其伏誅，以一言之詔，詰朝而決，何重之畏乎？ 今夫國家漏神明於媟近，輸權重於婦黨，筭十世而為之者八九焉。 不此之罪而彼之疑，何其詭邪！ [一]注[一]此謂後黨，彼謂三公也。 詭猶違也。
Critics say: one-man rule concentrates terrifying power. He replies: true talent is scarce—why fear entrusting it with real power? Huo Yu, Dou Xian, Deng Zhi, and Liang Ji used in-law clout to seize the levers of state; when the axe fell, one edict cleared them by dawn—where was the danger of 'too much authority'? Today sovereignty leaks into bedchamber favorites and weight piles on consort clans—nine rulers in ten across ten reigns. You scapegoat ministers yet spare the harem—how perverse! [1] Note 1 'This' is the consort clan; 'that' the three excellences. Gui means backwards or perverse.
167
論曰：百家之言政者尚矣。 [一]大略歸乎寧固根柢，革易時敝也。 夫遭運無恆，意見偏雜，故是非之論，紛然相乖。 嘗試妄論之，[二]以為世非胥、庭，人乖鷇飲，化多萬肇，情故萌生。 [三]雖周物之智，不能研其推變； 山川之奧，未足況其紆險。 [四]則應俗適事，難以常條。 如使用審其道，則殊塗同會； 才爽其分，則一豪以乖。 [五]何以言之？ 若夫玄聖御世，則天同極，施捨之道，宜無殊典。 [六]而損益異運，文樸遞行。 [七]用明居晦，回泬於曩時； 興戈陳俎，參差於上世。 [八]及至戴黃屋，服絺衣，豐薄不齊，而致化則一； [九]亦有宥公族，黥國儲，寬慘巨隔，而防非必同。 此其分波而共源，百慮而一致者也。 [一０]若乃偏情矯用，則枉直必過。 [一一]故葛屨履霜，敝由崇儉； [一二]楚楚衣服，戒在窮賒； [一三]□禁厚下，以尾大陵弱； [一四]斂威峻罰，以苛薄分崩。 [一五]斯曹、魏之刺，所以明乎國風； 周、秦末軌，所以彰於微滅。 故用捨之端，興敗資焉。 是以繁簡唯時，寬猛相濟。 刑書鐫鼎，事有可詳； 三章在令，取貴能約。 [一六]太叔致猛政之□，國子流遺愛之涕，[一七]宣孟改冬日之和，平陽循畫一之法。 斯實□張之弘致，可以征其統乎！ [一八]數子之言當世失得皆究矣，然多謬通方之訓，好申一隅之說。 [一九]貴清靜者，以席上為腐議； 束名實者，以柱下為誕辭。 [二０]或推前王之風，可行於當年，有引救敝之規，宜流於長世。 稽之篤論，將為敝矣。 如以舟無推陸之分，瑟非常調之音，[二一]不陽局以疑遠，不拘玄以妨素，則化樞各管其極，理略可得而言與？ [二二]注[一]尚猶遠也。
Fan Ye's judgment: political debate is ancient as the hundred schools. [1] At heart it means firming the foundation and curing each era's sickness. Times change; views splinter; verdicts on policy cross and quarrel. I risk a thesis: [2] we are not in the age of Herxu's simplicity; men have left the quail-roost, nestling-drink purity; change spawns endlessly and habit breeds new motives. [3] Even omniscience cannot chart every permutation; mountain secrets cannot match the maze of the human heart. [4] So policy must track the moment—no one rule fits all ages. Fit the man to the Way and divergent paths converge; misplace talent by a hair and the whole machine jams. [5] Why is this so? Under a hidden sage the pole aligns with Heaven; founding and ending dynasties should follow one principle. [6] Still each age adds or strips rite; refinement and plainness alternate. [7] Clever rule in dark times zigzagged in the past; arms and altars took different shapes in high antiquity. [8] Some ride the yellow-canopy carriage in ramie robes—rich or spare, their moral lesson converges; [9] Some spare nobles, brand the crown prince—wide or harsh, the fence against evil matches. They are tributaries of one stream, many plans with one end. [10] When bias twists practice, correction overshoots the mark. [11] Hemp shoes on frost—misery from excessive thrift; [12] Showy mayfly robes—danger from bottomless debt of splendor; [13] Checking inferiors while fattening vassals—tail-heavy lords crushed the throne; [14] Hoarded terror and cruel law—Qin-style harshness shattered the state. [15] Wei satires expose local manners; Zhou and Qin's death-spasms show in their dying flicker. Use or discard talent—that is where fortune turns. Detail or simplicity must fit the hour; soft and hard must temper one another. Tripod statutes spelled out what needed spelling; Liu Bang's three-article code prized brevity. [16] Taishu ran harsh justice and paid for it; the people wept Zichan's kindness; [17] Zhao Dun changed winter's warmth; Cao Can kept one clear line for all. These are the grand rhythms of slack and taut—[lacuna]—do they not map the whole? [18] Wang Fu and friends read their times well yet often miss universal principle and preach one-sided cures. [19] Quietists dismiss policy talk as cant; Legalists mock archive subtlety as hollow. [20] Some say ancient wind can be copied now; some say crisis remedies should bind all later ages. Tested by steady sense, both go wrong. [21] Boats belong on water, zithers to their key—do not measure the horizon with a foot-rule nor block plain dealing with occult theory; then each age's hinge keeps its balance and we may outline the Way—may we not? [22] Note 1 Shang here means lofty or remote.
168
注[二]謙不敢正言也。
Note 2 He speaks humbly.
169
注[三]赫胥氏、大庭氏並古之帝號。 莊子曰：「夫聖人鶉居而鷇飲。 」言鶉鳥無常居，鷇飲不假物，並淳樸時也。 肇，始也。
Note 3 Herxu and Dating are archaic sage-kings. Zhuangzi: the sage nests like quail, sips like a fledgling. Quail shift roosts; nestlings need no cup—images of primal simplicity. Zhao means 'origin' or 'start.'
170
注[四]易系辭曰：「知周乎萬物而道濟天下。 」推，遷也。 莊子曰「凡人心險於山川，難知於天」也。
Note 4 Zhouyi Xici: knowledge circles the myriad things and the Way saves the world. Tui means transformation. Zhuangzi: hearts hide more than mountains.'"
171
注[五]用得其人，審其道也。 授非其才，爽其分也。 易系辭曰：「天下同歸而殊塗，一致而百慮。 」易緯曰：「差以毫釐，失之千里。」
Note 5 Right man, right Way. Wrong talent misses the fit. Xici: many roads, one return; many cares, one end. Yi wei: a hair's miss loses a thousand li.'"
172
注[六]莊子曰：「玄聖，素王道也。 」極猶致也。 言法天之道，同其致也。 施捨猶興廢也。
Note 6 Zhuangzi: 'dark sage' is the plain king's path. Ji means the utmost reach. It means matching Heaven's pole. She she means founding and ending policies.
173
注[七]論語孔子曰：「殷因於夏禮，所損益可知也。 」樸，質也。 禮記曰「文質再而復」也。
Note 7 Lunyu: Yin revised Xia ritual. Pu means plain substance. Liji: refinement and plainness cycle.'"
174
注[八]回泬猶攜互不齊一也。 泬音穴。
Note 8 Hui xue means jumbled, uneven practice. Xue is read xue (the graph).
175
注[九]前書音義曰：「天子車以黃繒為蓋裡，故曰黃屋。 」韓子曰：「堯之王天下也，冬日鹿裘，夏日葛衣。 」絺，葛也。
Note 9 Yellow canopy: yellow silk lining the imperial roof. Han Feizi: Yao wore fur in winter, ramie in summer. Chi is fine ramie cloth.
176
注[一０]禮記曰：「公族有死罪，獄成，有司讞於公曰『某之罪在大辟』，公曰『宥之』。 有司又曰『在大辟』，公又曰『宥之』。 」史記曰，秦孝公太子犯法，□鞅曰「太子君嗣也，不可施刑，刑其傅公子虔，黥其師公孫賈」也。
Note 10 Liji: thrice the duke pardons a kinsman's death sentence. The officer repeats; the duke repeats mercy. Shiji: Shang Yang flogged the tutor and tattooed the instructor when the crown prince sinned.
177
注[一一]孟子曰：「矯枉過直。 」矯，正也。 枉，曲也。 言正曲者過於直，以喻為政者懲奢則太儉，患寬則傷猛，不能折衷也。
Note 11 Mencius: correcting bend overshoots straight. Jiao means set straight. Wang means crooked. The image: zealots overcorrect—too spare after luxury, too cruel after laxity—missing the middle.
178
注[一二]詩魏風序曰：「葛屨，刺褊也。 其君儉嗇褊急，而無德以將之。 」詩曰：「糾糾葛屨，可以履霜。 」鄭玄注云：「葛屨賤，皮屨貴，魏俗至冬猶葛屨，可用履霜，利其賤也。」
Note 12 Wei feng preface: Ge ju attacks stinginess. The marquis was tight-fisted and harsh. The ode: twisted hemp shoes on frost. Zheng Xuan: Wei prized cheap hemp over warm leather.'"
179
注[一三]詩曹風序曰：「蜉蝣，刺奢也。 」詩曰：「蜉蝣之羽，衣裳楚楚。 」毛萇注云：「蜉蝣，渠略也。 朝生夕死，猶有羽翼以自飾。 楚楚，鮮魍也。 喻曹朝腢臣皆小人也。 徒飾其衣裳，不知死亡之無日。 」賒奢同。
Note 13 Cao feng: Mayfly attacks luxury. The poem: mayfly wings, gorgeous dress. Mao: mayfly is qu lü. It lives one day yet preens feathers. Chu chu means glittering finery. It satirizes Cao's petty courtiers. They dress up though sunset is hours away. She reads as she, 'extravagance.'
180
注[一四]□禁謂防制太寬，厚下謂封建太廣。 言周室微弱而諸侯強盛，如尾大然。 左傳楚申無宇曰「末大必折，尾大不掉」也。
Note 14 Loose control plus fat vassals—Zhou's error. Weak Zhou, strong barons—tail too big to wag. Zuo: big branches break; big tails cannot wag.'"
181
注[一五]斂，聚也。 言秦酷法，以至分崩也。
Note 15 Lian means amass. Qin's cruelty split the realm.
182
注[一六]左傳曰：「鄭人鑄刑書。 」杜預注云「鑄刑書於鼎，以為國之常法」也。 高祖初入關，除秦苛法，約法三章，言其詳約不同。
Note 16 Zuo: Zheng cast penal tripods. Du Yu: bronze law code.'" Gaozu replaced Qin detail with three articles—full versus spare code.
183
注[一七]左傳曰：「鄭子產有疾，謂子大叔曰：『我死，子必為政。 唯有德者能以寬服人，其次莫如猛。 』」又曰：「子產卒，仲尼聞之，出涕曰：『古之遺愛也。 』」國子即子產也，鄭穆公子國之子，因以為姓也。
Note 17 Zuo: dying Zichan tells Taishu to take office. Only the virtuous govern with lenience; the next best is severity. The Zuo adds that Confucius wept Zichan was antiquity's lingering kindness. Guozi is Zichan, scion of Zheng's ducal house.
184
注[一八]宣孟，晉大夫趙盾也。 左傳賈季對酆舒曰：「趙衰，冬日之日也。 趙盾，夏日之日也。 」注云：「冬日可愛，夏日可畏。 」前書平陽侯曹參為相國，百姓歌之曰：「蕭何為法，講若畫一。 曹參代之，守而勿失。 載其清靜，人以寧一。」
Note 18 Xuan Meng is Zhao Dun of Jin. In the Zuo, Jia Ji tells Feng Shu that Zhao Cui is the winter sun— —and Zhao Dun the summer sun.' The gloss adds: winter's warmth invites love; summer's blaze inspires fear. When Cao Can was chief minister the folk sang that Xiao He's code was clear as one ruled line; Cao Can succeeded him and changed nothing; he carried on the quiet style until the realm rested easy.'"
185
注[一九]一隅謂一方偏見也。
Note 19 'One corner' is partisan dogma.
186
注[二０]清靜謂道家也。 席上謂儒也。 腐，朽也。 禮記儒行曰：「儒有席上之珍。 」高祖折隨何曰：「安用腐儒哉。 」名實，名家也。 柱下，老子也。 誕，虛也。 言志各不同也。
Note 20 'Quiet stillness' denotes Daoist teaching. Xishang means the scholar at the mat—the Confucian. Fu means rotten or stale. The Liji Ruxing says the scholar brings treasures to the feast of learning. Emperor Gao sneered at Sui He, 'Why need I stale pedants?' Ming shi is the Legalist logician school. Zhuxia names Laozi as archivist. Dan means hollow or inflated. Each school pursued a different end.
187
注[二一]古法不施於今，猶舟不可行之於陸也。 今法有合於時，如瑟可移柱而調也。 莊子曰「是推舟於陸，勞而無功」也。 前書董仲舒曰：「琴瑟不調，甚者必解而更張之，乃可鼓也。 為政不行，甚者必變而更化之，乃可理也。」
Note 21 Antique codes do not fit modern soil—like barging a boat overland. Timely statute is like shifting bridges on a zither to find the key. Zhuangzi: hauling a hull across fields—labor without profit. Dong Zhongshu wrote that when lute and zither jar, you slack and retune before playing; when policy fails, the worst knots demand reform before order returns.'"
188
注[二二]音余。
Note 22 The graph is read yu.
189
贊曰：管視好偏，腢言難一。 救樸雖文，矯□必疾。 舉端自理，滯隅則失。 詳觀時蠹，成昭政術。 [一]注[一]滯隅謂偏執一隅也。 淮南子曰：「非循一跡之路，守一隅之指，而不與俗推移也。」
The eulogy: narrow sight breeds partiality; many tongues rarely agree; plain rescue needs polish; correcting excess must be swift; grasp the root and things align; cling to one corner and you stumble; read the rot of the times and governance shows plain. [1] Note 1 Zhiyu is obstinate one-sidedness. Huainanzi: do not rut in one track nor point one dogma—move with the age.'"
190
校勘記
Section title: Collation notes.
191
一六二九頁七行充幼聰朗按：汲本、殿本「朗」作「明」。
Collation: the Palace woodblocks write the cleverness binome with the graph meaning 'enlighten' where other editions use the graph meaning 'clear.'
192
一六三一頁四行夫五* (世) **[代]*之臣刊誤謂此「世」字當是「代」字，後人誤改。 今據以回改。
Collation line marking the broken phrase about the five ages or dynasties. The parenthesis supplies the alternate gloss 'generations' for the preceding lacuna. Kanwu argues the word for reign-generation was corrupted into the word for world-age; later copyists erred. Text restored per note.
193
一六三一頁七行是故德不稱其禍必酷能不稱其殃必大刊誤謂「德不稱」下脫「其位」二字，「能不稱」下脫「其祿」二字。 按：集解引蘇輿說，謂潛夫論貴忠篇作「德不稱其任」，「能不稱其位」。
Kanwu supplies the missing objects—office for virtue, stipend for ability—that the sentence requires. Su Yu's parallel in the Qianfu lun uses charge and station as the complements instead of bare verbs.
194
一六三二頁九行歷觀前政貴人之用心也按：集解引蘇輿說，謂潛夫論「政」作「世」，連下讀，疑此避唐諱改。
Su Yu thinks the original read 'former ages' in one word order and that the received 'reign' reflects Tang avoidance of the imperial name.
195
一六三四頁一三行懷憂憤憤按：殿本「憤憤」作「憤憒」，今潛夫論亦作「憤憒」。
The Palace edition's reduplication differs from the Qianfu lun wording; editors align with that text.
196
一六三四頁一五行此妖妄之甚者也按：「妖」原作「□」，逕改正。
The manuscript gap was filled with the graph meaning uncanny or demonic.
197
一六三五頁四行用功千倍按：集解引蘇輿說，謂「千倍」當從元書作「十倍」。
Su Yu argues the multiplier was ten, not a thousand, in the older recension.
198
一六三五頁一０行車軿數里汲本「軿」作「駢」。 校補謂車駢數里本指車馬言。 作「軿」者誤，章懷注亦誤。 今按：下言「緹帷竟道」，明指車言，作「軿」者是，校補說非。
One woodblock tradition prefers the paired-horses graph over the curtained-carriage graph. Supplement: phrase describes carriages. That supplement rejects the curtained-carriage reading and faults Zhang Hua's gloss. The modern editor answers the supplement: the following line about crimson curtains proves the curtained-carriage reading.
199
一六三七頁四行春秋以為* (非) **[不]*君殿本「非」作「不」，與左傳合，今據改。
Collation note on the Spring and Autumn judgment line ending with an asterisk. The gloss marks the negative particle supplied in the lacuna. The Palace edition's negative matches the Zuo wording; editors adopt it.
200
一六三七頁四行樂舉按：潛夫論作「樂呂」，成二年左傳作「樂舉」，文十八年、宣二年並作「樂呂」。
The minister's name appears with two variant second syllables across the Qianfu lun and Zuo parallels.
201
一六三七頁七行葬南巴之中按：集解引沉欽韓說，謂墨子節葬篇「南巴之中」作「南己之巿」。 呂覽安死篇「舜葬於紀巿，不變其肆」。 高注「九疑山亦有紀邑」。 己與巴相似而誤。
Mozi names a different southern market; the place-name graphs were confused. The Lüshi parallel places the grave at Ji market with stalls still open. Gao You locates the Ji placename on Mount Jiuyi. Copyists confused two similar place-name graphs.
202
一六三九頁六行出處默語按：殿本「默語」作「語默」。
The Palace edition transposes the silence-and-speech binome.
203
一六三九頁一三行化國之日舒以長按：潛夫論「化」作「治」，此亦避唐諱改。 惠棟謂唐諱「治」，章懷注後漢書，隨文改易，此篇「治國之日舒以長」，改為「化國」，後人因之，遂有「光天化日」之語，豈非郢書而燕說乎？
The Qianfu lun uses the verb to govern where this text reads transform—likely Tang taboo substitution. Hui Dong traces how taboo-driven substitution spawned a folk proverb detached from the original sense.
204
一六四０頁四行* (令) **[今]*冤民仰希申訴刊誤謂案文「令」當作「今」。 今據改。
Lacuna marker * The gloss marks the graph for command or order supplied in the lacuna. Kanwu corrects a copyist's confusion between now and command. Applied emendation.
205
一六四０頁一六行不橈故無恩於吏「橈」原作「撓」，逕據殿本改。 按：撓橈從手從木，古互通，然上文既作「橈」，以改歸一律為是。
Editors normalize to the wood-radical graph for unbending, per the Palace edition. The note explains why the hand-radical form was swapped for the wood-radical form for consistency.
206
一六四二頁一二行頤育萬民按：汲本、殿本「民」作「物」。
Some Palace editions read the myriad things instead of the myriad people.
207
一六四四頁五行欲*[南]*奔* (南) *荊州張森楷校勘記謂州名有「南」字，始見宋志，漢、魏、晉俱無，此「南」字當在「奔」字上。 按：魏志袁紹傳正作「欲南奔荊州」，今據改。
Collation note on the line about fleeing south, with asterisks marking lacunae. The gloss marks the cardinal south supplied in the lacuna. Zhang Senkai argues the south modifier should precede the verb flee, not the province name. The Wei chronicle's word order is adopted as authoritative.
208
一六四五頁一三行騰蛇有鱗按：集解引沉欽韓說，謂爾雅釋魚「騰」作「螣」，無「有鱗」二字。
The Erya fish chapter uses another graph for the serpent and lacks the scales clause.
209
一六四五頁一三行有角曰龍按：集解引沉欽韓說，謂廣雅「有角曰虯龍」，注脫「虯」字。
The Guangya lemma names a horned dragon; a graph dropped out of this commentary.
210
一六四六頁一行抗志山棲按：汲本、殿本「棲」作「西」。
Some editions miswrite mountain seclusion as mountain west.
211
一六四六頁二行微風為柂按：「柂」原斗「杝」，逕改正。 注同。
Editors fix a tree-radical misprint to the rudder graph. Same fix in commentary.
212
一六四七頁一五行政亂從此周復按：王先謙謂「政」亦「治」字避諱改。
Wang Xianqian argues that the graph zheng in this line likewise substitutes for zhi because Tang editors tabooed the emperor's personal name, so the original wording likely read zhi luan.
213
一六四八頁三行蓋雜伎樂* (以) **[也]*據漢書武帝紀文穎注改。
Collation line about miscellaneous entertainments, ending with an asterisk. The gloss supplies the preposition meaning with or by means of. The reading follows Wenying's gloss in the Han shu commentary tradition.
214
一六四八頁四行宋音宴安溺志按：禮記樂記「安」作「女」。
The Record of Music uses the graph for daughter or woman where this text reads ease.
215
一六四八頁一一行倡謳* (妓) **[伎]*樂據集解本改。
Collation note on the line ending with singers and jesters, marked with an asterisk in the manuscript. The interlinear gloss identifies the missing graph as the character for female entertainers or courtesans. The entertainers graph is restored from the Jijie recension.
216
一六五０頁五行道三十四按：集解引洪亮吉說，謂前書地理志「三十四」作「三十二」。
Hong Liangji counts thirty-two routes in the Former Han geography, not thirty-four.
217
一六五０頁五行南北一萬三百六十八里按：集解引王鳴盛說，謂「南北一萬」下前書有「三千」字，此脫。
Wang Mingsheng, cited in the collected commentary, notes that the Former Han geography entry inserts the two graphs for three thousand immediately after north-south ten thousand, and those graphs have dropped out in this copy.
218
一六五０頁一五行假之以殺生之權按：汲本、殿本作「生殺之權」。
Palace editions transpose life and killing in the binome.
219
一六五二頁一０行是為忍於殺人* (也) *而不忍於刑人也據刊誤刪。
Collation line on sparing murderers, ending with an asterisk. The particle ye in parentheses marks a variant or editorial seal on the preceding clause. Kanwu deletes the dangling clause as spurious.
220
一六五六頁七行* (祿) *班*[祿]*未定刊誤謂案文當作「班祿」。 今據改。
Line marker * The gloss in parentheses supplies the graph lu meaning stipend or salary. Kanwu restores the binome meaning fixed stipend ranks. Applied.
221
一六五六頁一二行子之道貊*[道]*也據汲本補，與今本孟子合。
The Jiben woodblock restores the second dao character in the line so that the sentence matches the wording of the Mencius as it circulates today.
222
一六五六頁一二行趙岐注雲按：原本趙岐之「岐」皆作「歧」，逕改正。
Editors normalize the commentator's name to the standard spelling with the mount graph.
223
一六五七頁一四行而猶展申徒嘉之志按：汲本、殿本「徒」作「屠」。
Palace editions vary the second graph of the chancellor's compound surname.
224
一六五九頁二行* (之) **[上]*不使人捽抑而刑之也據殿本改，與前書賈誼傳合。
* The parenthetical graph records the pronoun zhi as the reading adopted in the revised text. The Palace reading aligns with the Former Han biography of Jia Yi.
225
一六六二頁四行言其詳約不同按：「詳」原斗「群」，逕改正。 又按：汲本、殿本作「言其詳約也」，無「不同」二字。
A flock graph was misread as the graph for detail. Some editions omit the final two graphs meaning not the same.