1
吳佑字季英，[一]陳留長垣人也。 父恢，為南海太守。 [二]佑年十二，隨從到官。 恢欲殺青簡以寫經書，[三]佑諫曰：「今大人踰越五領，[四]遠在海濱，其俗誠陋，然舊多珍怪，上為國家所疑，下為權戚所望。 [五]此書若成，則載之兼兩。 [六]昔馬援以薏苡興謗，王陽以衣囊徼名。 [七]嫌疑之閒，誠先賢所慎也。 」恢乃止，撫其首曰：「吳氏世不乏季子矣。 」[八]及年二十，喪父，居無簷石，而不受贍遺。 常牧豕於長垣澤中，[九]行吟經書。 遇父故人，謂曰：「卿二千石子而自業賤事，縱子無恥，柰先君何？ 」佑辭謝而已，守志如初。
Wu You, whose courtesy name was Jiying, came from Changyuan in Chenliu commandery. His father Wu Hui was the Administrator of Nanhai. At the age of twelve he accompanied his father to the yamen. When his father planned to cure bamboo slips for copying the classics, Wu You urged him not to: “You have crossed the Five Ridges and sit far down the coast. The folkways are rough, but this region has long been known for rare treasures. That draws suspicion from the court above and greedy expectation from the great families below.” If that book is finished, it will take two full cartloads to carry. Think of Ma Yuan, whose bags of coix seeds started a rumor of graft, or Wang Yang, who won a reputation with nothing but his luggage. The narrow ground between suspicion and scandal is exactly where past sages trod most carefully. Wu Hui gave up the plan, stroked his son’s head, and said, “Our line has never wanted for a Jizi.” At twenty he buried his father. He had no store of grain at home, yet he refused charity from others. He tended pigs in the Changyuan wetlands, pacing and reciting the classics aloud. An old acquaintance of his father found him there and said, “You are a governor’s son, yet you debased yourself with menial work. Suppose you feel no shame—what would your late father say?” Wu You only bowed and excused himself, then went on living as he had chosen.
2
注[一]佑音又。 續漢書作「佑」。 注[二]「恢」或作「惔」，音徒濫反。
Commentary: The character 佑 is glossed with the homophone 又. The Continuation of the Han spells his personal name with the character noted in commentary [1]. Commentary: The father’s name appears as 惔 in some texts, with the fanqie reading 徒濫反.
3
注[三]殺青者，以火炙簡令汗，取其青易書，復不蠹，謂之殺青，亦謂汗簡。 義見劉向別錄也。
Commentary: “Killing the green” means drying bamboo slips over a flame so the surface sweats, takes ink, and resists worms—also called “sweating the slips.” The same explanation appears in Liu Xiang’s separate catalogue of works.
4
注[四]領者，西自衡山之南，東至於海，一山之限耳，別標名則有五焉。 裴氏廣* (川) **[州]*記云：「大庾、始安、臨賀、桂陽、揭陽，是為五領。 」鄧德明南康記曰：「大庾，一也； 桂陽甲騎，二也； 九真都龐，三也； 臨賀萌渚，四也； 始安越城，五也。 」裴氏之說則為審矣。
Commentary: Here “ridge” means the barrier formed by the Nanling range from south of Mount Heng eastward to the sea; five passes along it bear separate names. Pei’s Guang— (Chuan) The Guangzhou ji states: “The Five Ridges are Dayu, Shi’an, Linhe, Guiyang, and Jieyang.” Deng Deming’s Record of Nankang says, “First, Dayu; second, the armored horsemen of Guiyang; third, Dulang in Jiuzhen; fourth, Mengzhu in Linhe; fifth, Yuecheng in Shi’an.” Pei Songzhi’s version is the sounder identification.
5
注[五]希望其贈遺也。 注[六]車有兩輪，故稱「兩」也。
Commentary: That is, people hope he will send them presents. Commentary: A cart has two wheels, so a double load is called “two pairs” (jian liang).
6
注[七]徼，要也，音工堯反。 前書曰，王陽好車馬，衣服鮮明，而遷徙轉移，所載不過囊橐。 時人怪其奢，伏其儉，故俗傳王陽能作黃金。
Commentary: 徼 means “to angle for”; the fanqie is 工堯反. The Hanshu notes that Wang Yang loved fine horses and bright dress, yet when he moved house he took only satchels and sacks. Onlookers thought him extravagant in appearance but thrifty in fact, and gossip soon claimed he could transmute gold.
7
注[八]季子謂季札也。 注[九]續漢書曰「年四十餘，乃為郡吏」也。
Commentary: “Jizi” means Prince Jizha of Wu. Commentary: The Xù Hànshū adds that he did not take a county post until he was past forty.
8
後舉孝廉，[一]將行，郡中為祖道，佑越□共小史雍丘黃真歡語移時，與結友而別。 [二]功曹以佑倨，請黜之。 太守曰：「吳季英有知人之明，卿且勿言。」
Recommended as Filial and Incorrupt, he was about to leave when the whole commandery gathered for the road-side blessing. He rose from the gathering and spent a long while in easy talk with a minor clerk, Huang Zhen of Yongqiu, and they parted as friends. The merit clerk thought this arrogant and asked the governor to strike Wu You from the list. The governor replied, “Wu Jiying knows how to read people. Say no more for now.”
9
真後亦舉孝廉，除新蔡長，世稱其清節。 [三]時公沙穆來游太學，無資糧，乃變服客傭，為佑賃舂。 佑與語大驚，遂共定交於杵臼之閒。 注[一]陳留耆舊傳曰：「太守冷宏召補文學，宏見異之，擢舉孝廉。」
Huang Zhen was later recommended as Filial and Incorrupt, became magistrate of Xincai, and won fame for incorruptibility. When Gongsha Mu arrived at the Imperial Academy without money for food, he disguised himself and hired out as a laborer, pounding grain in Wu You’s household. A single conversation astonished Wu You, and the two became friends there at the mill. Commentary: The Chenliu qijiu zhuan records that Governor Leng Hong first appointed him to a literary post, then singled him out and nominated him as Filial and Incorrupt.
10
注[二]祖道之禮，封土為軷□也。 五經要義曰：「祖道者，行祭為道路祈也。 」周禮太馭：「掌王玉路以祀，及* (祀) **[犯]*軷。 」注云：「*[犯]*軷* (祀) *者，封土象山於路側，以*[菩]*芻□□為神主祭之，以車轢軷而去。 喻無險難。」
Commentary: The farewell sacrifice on the road involved heaping earth for the ba (threshold) rite. The Wujing yaoyi explains it as a sacrifice to pray for a safe journey. The Zhou li, office of the Grand Charioteer, says he drives the king’s jade chariot for sacrifice and for— (si) —crossing the ba mound.” Zheng Xuan’s commentary glosses “crossing the ba” as— (si) —heaping earth beside the road like a small hill, setting a spirit seat of straw, offering sacrifice, then driving the wheels across it to symbolize an unhindered road. The image means “no peril or hardship ahead.”
11
注[三]謝承書曰：「真字夏甫。」
Commentary: Xie Cheng’s Hou Hànshū gives Huang Zhen’s courtesy name as Xiafu.
12
佑以光祿四行遷膠東侯相。 [一]時濟北戴宏父為縣丞，宏年十六，從在丞捨。
On the strength of the Director of Retainers’ “four virtues” nomination he was promoted to Marquis-Administrator of Jiaodong. At that time Dai Hong of Jibei was sixteen; his father was a county assistant, and the boy lived with him in the yamen quarters.
13
佑每行園，常聞諷誦之音，奇而厚之，亦與為友，卒成儒宗，知名東夏，[二]官至酒泉太守。 [三]佑政唯仁簡，以身率物。 民有爭訴者，輒閉合自責，然後斷其訟，以道譬之。 或身到閭裡，重相和解。 自是之後，爭隙省息，吏人懷而不欺。 嗇夫孫性私賦民錢，[四]市衣以進其父，父得而怒曰：「有君如是，何忍欺之！ 」促歸伏罪。 性籩懼，詣合持衣自首。 佑屏左右問其故，性具談父言。
Whenever Wu You strolled the grounds he heard someone chanting texts; he sought the boy out, encouraged him, and befriended him. Dai Hong grew into a leading scholar of the east and eventually reached the post of Administrator of Jiuquan. Commentary: Wu You governed with kindness and restraint, setting the example himself. If commoners came to court with a quarrel, he first shut himself in to reflect on his own faults, then opened the case and reasoned with them in moral terms. Sometimes he walked into the neighborhoods to patch up feuds in person. After that, lawsuits and grudges dwindled; officials and townsfolk trusted him and ceased deceit. A bailiff named Sun Xing secretly taxed the villagers to buy his father a robe. When the old man saw it he grew angry: “We have such a magistrate—how dare you cheat him!” He ordered his son to go back and confess. Terrified, Sun Xing took the garment to the yamen gate and gave himself up. Wu You dismissed his attendants and asked what had happened; Sun Xing repeated his father’s rebuke word for word.
14
佑曰：「掾以親故，受□穢之名，所謂『觀過斯知人矣』。 」[五]使歸謝其父，還以衣遺之。 又安丘男子毋丘長與母俱行市，道遇醉客辱其母，長殺之而亡，安丘追蹤於膠東得之。 佑呼長謂曰：「子母見辱，人情所恥。 然孝子忿必慮難，動不累親。 [六]今若背親逞怒，[七]白日殺人，赦若非義，刑若不忍，將如之何？ 」長以械自系，[八]曰：「國家製法，囚身犯之。 明府雖加哀鄉，恩無所施。」
Wu You said, “You stained your office for a father’s sake—that is what the Analects mean by ‘study his faults and you know his character.’ He sent him home to thank his father and let him keep the clothes. A man of Anqiu, Wuqiu Chang, was in the market with his mother when a drunk humiliated her; Chang killed the man and fled. Anqiu officers traced him to Jiaodong and arrested him. Wu You had him brought in and said, “Any son would burn with shame when his mother is insulted. Yet a dutiful son weighs the danger before he strikes, so his kin are not ruined with him. But you cast off your duty to your mother to indulge your wrath and killed in open day. To spare you would betray the law; to behead you would seem heartless. What should I do?” Wuqiu Chang locked the stocks on himself and said, “The statutes are fixed—I am the criminal who broke them. Even your mercy cannot undo what the code demands.”
15
佑問長有妻子乎？ 對曰：「有妻未有子也。 」即移安丘逮長妻，妻到，解其桎梏，使同宿獄中，妻遂懷孕。 至冬盡行刑，長泣謂母曰：「負母應死，當何以報吳君乎？ 」乃嚙指而吞之，含血言曰：「妻若生子，名之『吳生』，言我臨死吞指為誓，屬兒以報吳君。 」因投繯而死。 [九]注[一]漢官儀曰「四行，敦厚、質樸、遜讓、節儉」也。
Wu You asked whether he had a wife. He said he was married but had no son yet. Wu You sent to Anqiu for the wife, removed his shackles when she arrived, and left them together in the cell until she conceived. When winter closed and the sentence was carried out, he wept to his mother, “I wronged you and must die—how can I ever repay Magistrate Wu?” He bit off a finger, swallowed it, and with blood on his lips said, “If my wife bears a son, name him ‘Wu’s Child,’ so he will know I swore with my lifeblood to repay the magistrate.” Then he slipped the noose around his neck and hanged himself. Commentary: The Han guan yi defines the Director of Retainers’ “four virtues” as honesty, plainness, modesty, and thrift.
16
注[二]東夏，東方也。 尚書曰「尹茲東夏」也。
Commentary: “Eastern Summer” means the eastern quarter of the realm. The Shang shu speaks of “ruling this eastern summer” in the same sense.
17
注[三]濟北先賢傳曰「宏字符襄，剛縣人也。 年二十二，為郡督郵，曾以職事見詰，府君欲撻之。 宏曰：『今鄙郡遭明府，鹹以為仲尼之君，國小人少，以宏為顏回，豈聞仲尼有撻顏回之義？ 』府君異其對，即日教署主簿」也。
Commentary: The Jibei xianxian zhuan identifies Dai Hong, courtesy name Zixiang, a native of Gang county. At twenty-two he served as dūyóu; once the governor meant to flog him over a paperwork dispute. Dai Hong replied, “We call you another Confucius in this small commandery and think of me as Yan Hui—would Confucius beat Yan Hui?” The governor admired the answer and appointed him chief clerk the same day.”
18
注[四]續漢書曰：「賦錢五百，為父市單衣。」
Commentary: The Xù Hànshū specifies that Sun Xing levied five hundred cash to buy his father a single-layer robe.
19
注[五]論語載孔子之言也。
Commentary: The quotation is from the Analects.
20
注[六]論語孔子曰：「忿思難。 」又曰：「一朝之忿，忘其身以及其親，非惑與？」
Commentary: The Analects has Confucius say, “When moved to anger, consider the consequences.” It also says, “A fit of rage that costs you your life and shames your parents—is that not folly?”
21
注[七]若，汝也。 逞，快也。 注[八]在手曰械。
Commentary: the graph glossed here is the second-person pronoun “you.” Commentary: the verb means to indulge a whim or gratify a passion. Commentary: Wooden cuffs on the hands are called xie.
22
注[九]謂以繩為繯，投之而縊也。 繯音胡犬反。
Commentary: He fashioned a cord into a noose and strangled himself. The character 繯 is glossed 胡犬反.
23
佑在膠東九年，[一]遷齊相，大將軍梁冀表為長史。 及冀誣奏太尉李固，佑聞而請見，與冀爭之，不聽。 時扶風馬融在坐，為冀章草，佑因謂融曰：「李公之罪，成於卿手。 李公即誅，卿何面目見天下之人乎？ 」冀怒而起入室，佑亦徑去。 冀道出佑為河閒相，因自免歸家，不復仕，躬灌園蔬，以經書教授。 年九十八卒。 注[一]陳留耆舊傳曰：「佑處同僚，無私書之問，上司無箋檄之敬。 在膠東，書不入京師也。」
After nine years in Jiaodong he became Administrator of Qi; Grand General Liang Ji then recommended him as senior clerk. When Liang Ji framed Grand Commandant Li Gu, Wu You demanded an audience and argued face to face; Liang Ji refused to listen. Ma Rong of Fufeng sat nearby, drafting the memorial. Wu You told him, “You are finishing the work of destroying Li Gu. When Li Gu dies, how will you meet anyone under heaven?” Liang Ji stormed off to his private rooms; Wu You walked out without another word. Liang Ji shunted him off as Administrator of Hejian; Wu You resigned at once, went home, never took office again, tended his garden, and taught the classics. He died at the age of ninety-eight. Commentary: The Chenliu qijiu zhuan says he exchanged no private letters with colleagues and sent no obsequious paperwork to superiors. While he held Jiaodong he sent no private letters to anyone at court.”
24
長子鳳，官至樂浪太守，少子愷，新息令； 鳳子馮，鮦陽侯相：[一]皆有名於世。 [二]注[一]鮦陽，縣，屬汝南郡。 音紂。
His eldest son rose to Administrator of Lelang; his younger son Kai became magistrate of Xinxi; Feng’s son served as Marquis-Administrator of Tongyang; every generation of the family earned a public name. Commentary: Tongyang county lay in Runan commandery. The place name is pronounced like the name of the last Shang king.
25
注[二]陳留耆舊傳曰：「鳳字君雅，馮字子高。」
Commentary: The Chenliu qijiu zhuan names the elder son Feng with the courtesy name Junya and the grandson Feng with the courtesy name Zigao (different characters, same surname).
26
延篤字叔堅，南陽犨人也。 [一]少從穎川唐溪典受左氏傳，[二]旬日能諷之，典深敬焉。 [三]又從馬融受業，博通經傳及百家之言，能著文章，有名京師。 注[一]犨音昌猶反，故城在汝州魯山縣東南也。
Yan Du, whose courtesy name was Shujian, came from Chou in Nanyang commandery. As a boy he took the Zuo Tradition from Tang Xi Dian of Yingchuan and memorized it in a matter of days, to his teacher’s admiration. He went on to sit at Ma Rong’s feet, mastered the canon and masters’ glosses as well as miscellaneous learning, wrote well, and made a name in Luoyang. Commentary: The place name is read chang-you in the fanqie system; the old walled town lay southeast of present-day Lushan in Henan.
27
注[二]先賢行狀曰：「典字季度，為西鄂長。 」風俗通曰：「吳夫□王奔楚，封堂溪，因以為氏。 」典為五官中郎將。 「唐」與「堂」同也。
Commentary: The Lives of Worthies of Antiquity record Dian’s courtesy name as Jidu and his post as magistrate of Xi’e. The Fengsu tong traces the surname to a fugitive king of Wu enfeoffed at Tangxi in Chu. Tang Xi Dian later rose to Colonel of the Five Offices. The graphs for “Tang” and “hall” were interchangeable in this surname.
28
注[三]先賢行狀曰：「篤欲寫左氏傳，無紙，唐溪典以廢箋記與之。 篤以箋記紙不可寫傳，乃借本諷之，徹盡辭歸。 典曰：『卿欲寫傳，何故辭歸？ 』篤曰：『已諷之矣。 』典聞之歎曰：『嗟乎延生！ 雖復端木聞一知二，未足為喻。 若使尼父更起於洙、泗，君當編名七十，與游、夏爭匹也。 』」舉孝廉，為平陽侯相。 到官，表龔遂之墓，立銘祭祠，擢用其後於畎畝之閒。 [一]以師喪□官奔赴，五府並辟不就。 注[一]前書龔遂，山陽南平陽人，為勃海太守。 南平陽故城*[在]*今兗州鄒縣。
Commentary: Yan Du lacked paper to copy the Zuo Tradition; Dian gave him scrap slips from old files. He thought thin note paper wrong for a fair copy, borrowed the full scroll, learned it by heart, and handed it back when finished. Dian asked, “You meant to transcribe the text—why walk away now?” Yan Du answered, “It is already in my memory.” Dian sighed, “Ah, young Yan! Even Zigong, who grasped two corners from one hint, is no match for this.” Had Confucius taught again by the Zhu and Si rivers, you would earn a place among the seventy and rank with You and Bu. ” He was nominated as Filial and Incorrupt and appointed Marquis-Administrator of Pingyang. On taking office he restored Gong Sui’s neglected grave, inscribed a stele and sacrificed there, then raised Gong’s heirs from the fields to office. Commentary: He resigned to mourn a teacher; every top office tried to recruit him and he refused them all. Commentary: Gong Sui of Nanpingyang in Shanyang had been Bohai’s governor under the Former Han. The Han site of Nanpingyang is within present-day Zou county in Shandong.
29
桓帝以博士征，拜議郎，與朱穆、邊韶共著作東觀。 稍遷侍中。 帝數問政事，篤詭辭密對，[一]動依典義。 遷左馮翊，又徙京兆尹。 其政用寬仁，憂恤民黎，擢用長者，與參政事，郡中歡愛，三輔咨嗟焉。 先是陳留邊鳳為京兆尹，亦有能名，郡人為之語曰：「前有趙張三王，[二]後有邊延二君。 」注[一]谷梁傳曰：「故士造辟而言，詭辭而出。 」范寧注云：「辟，君也。 詭辭而出，不以實告人也。」
Emperor Huan called him up as a doctoral scholar, named him a Court Gentleman, and assigned him to compile history at the Eastern Pavilion beside Zhu Mu and Bian Shao. He rose in stages to palace attendant. The sovereign often pressed him on policy; Yan Du answered obliquely but always from the classics. He became Governor of Left Fengyi, then Metropolitan Governor of Jingzhao. He governed with mercy, cared for the poor, brought gray-haired local leaders into counsel, and won such love in the capital region that the whole triple belt spoke his praise. Earlier Bian Feng of Chenliu had held the same post with equal talent, so locals coined a rhyme: “First Zhao, Zhang, and the three Wangs; then Bian and Yan, two sterling lords.” Commentary: The Guliang commentary contrasts straight speech in court with oblique withdrawal. Fan Ning glosses bi as “the ruler.” “Indirection” means leaving without laying the whole truth bare.
30
注[二]前書，趙廣漢、張敞、王遵、王章、王駿俱為京兆尹也。
Commentary: The “three Wangs” with Zhao and Zhang are the famous Former Han governors of the capital.
31
時皇子有疾，下郡縣出珍藥，而大將軍梁冀遣客繼書詣京兆，並貨牛黃。 [一]篤發書收客，曰：「大將軍椒房外家，而皇子有疾，必應陳進醫方，豈當使客千里求利乎？ 」遂殺之。 冀籩而不得言，有司承旨欲求其事。 篤以病免歸，教授家巷。 注[一]吳普本草曰：「牛黃味苦，無毒，牛出入呻者有之。 夜有光走角中。 牛死，入膽中，如□子黃。 」神農本草曰：「療驚□，除邪逐鬼。」
When a prince fell sick, counties were ordered to send rare medicines; Liang Ji’s clients flooded Jingzhao with orders to corner the market in bezoar. Yan Du broke the seals, arrested the messengers, and said, “The general is imperial in-law; if the boy is ill he should offer cures, not run a long-distance trade in bezoar!” He had them put to death. Liang Ji fumed in silence; his creatures hunted for a charge against the governor. Yan Du claimed illness, went home, and taught from his house. Commentary: Wu Pu describes bezoar as bitter, harmless, and found in cattle that low strangely. At night a glow sometimes runs along the horns. After death it congeals in the gall like a ball of yolk. The Shennong canon adds that it calms convulsions and expels malignant influences.
32
時人或疑仁孝前後之證，篤乃論之曰：「觀夫仁孝之辯，[一]紛然異端，互引典文，代取事據，[二]可謂篤論矣。 [三]夫人二致同源，總率百行，[四]非復銖兩輕重，必定前後之數也。 而如欲分其大較，[五]體而名之，則孝在事親，仁施品物。 施物則功濟於時，事親則德歸於己。 於己則事寡，濟時則功多。 推此以言，仁則遠矣。 然物有出微而著，事有由隱而章。 近取諸身，刵耳有聽受之用，目有察見之明，足有致遠之勞，手有飾衛之功，功雖顯外，本之者心也。
People were arguing whether benevolence or filial duty came first; Yan Du wrote, “The debate splinters into schools, each waving its own texts—yet all that citation only clouds the issue. Commentary: In truth benevolence and filial piety spring from one root and inform every virtue; they are not beans on a scale that must be ranked first or second. Still, if we sketch the difference: filial piety is love at home; benevolence is kindness spread abroad. Public kindness helps the world; honoring parents perfects the self. The one is a narrow circle of duty; the other reaches far in time. On that reckoning benevolence looks the larger virtue. Yet small roots can grow great, and hidden beginnings can end in glory. Close at hand, the ear hears, the eye sees, the foot travels, the hand defends—yet all these limbs obey the heart.
33
遠取諸物，則草木之生，始於萌牙，終於彌蔓，枝葉扶疏，榮華紛縟，[六]末雖繁蔚，致之者根也。 夫仁人之有孝，猶四體之有心腹，[七]枝葉之有本根也。
In nature, trees begin as shoots and end as forest; the crown may blaze with color, but the root commands the growth. So benevolence that includes filial piety is like a body with its trunk, or a tree with its living core.
34
聖人知之，故曰：
The sages saw this and said:
35
『夫孝，天之經也，地之義也，人之行也。 』[八]『君子務本，本立而道生，孝悌也者，其為仁之本與！ 』[九]然體大難備，物性好偏，故所施不同，事少兩兼者也。 如必對其優劣，則仁以枝葉扶疏為大，孝以心體本根為先，可無訟也。 或謂先孝後仁，非仲尼序回、參之意。 [一０]蓋以為仁孝同質而生，純體之者，則互以為稱，虞舜、顏回是也。 [一一]若偏而體之，則各有其目，公劉、曾參是也。 [一二]夫曾、閔以孝悌為至德，[一三]管仲以九合為仁功，[一四]未有論德不先回、參，考功不大夷吾。 以此而言，各從其稱者也。」
“Filial piety is Heaven’s pattern, Earth’s norm, and the way human beings should walk.” Commentary: The Analects adds that dutiful children at home are the soil from which benevolence grows. Commentary: No one embodies the whole perfectly; temperament pulls us one way or another, so few deeds unite both virtues at once. If we must rank them, benevolence is the spreading canopy and filial piety the deep root—yet there is no real quarrel between them. Critics say “filial first” cannot be what Confucius meant when he paired Yan Hui with Zeng Shen. Commentary: In a fully rounded character the two merge—think of Shun or Yan Hui. Where the nature is partial, one name stands out—Gong Liu for benevolence, Zeng Shen for filial piety. Zeng Shen and Min Sun were paragons of family duty; Guan Zhong’s nine leagues were hailed as benevolence—yet whenever scholars weigh moral character they still pair Yan Hui with Zeng Shen at the top, and whenever they reckon public service they still set no one above Guan Zhong of Qi. Each virtue keeps its own title, and that is enough.”
36
注[一]辯，爭也。 注[二]代，更也。 注[三]篤，厚也。
Commentary: Here bian means “debate” or “contention.” Commentary: Dai means “to take turns” or “replace.” Commentary: The character for his name also means “solid” or “weighty.”
37
注[四]二致，仁、孝也。 易系詞曰「殊塗而同歸，百慮而一致」也。
Commentary: “The two goals” are benevolence and filial piety. The Appended Remarks speak of many paths leading to one end.
38
注[五]較猶略也。
Commentary: Jiao here means “to sketch” or “compare in outline.”
39
注[六]說文曰：「縟，繁彩飾也。」
Commentary: The Shuowen defines ru as rich, many-colored decoration.
40
注[七]四體謂手足也。
Commentary: “Four limbs” means arms and legs.
41
注[八]左氏傳趙簡子問子太叔：「何謂禮？ 」對曰：「聞諸先大夫子產曰：『夫禮，天之經也，地之義也，人之行也。 天地之經，人實則之，則天之明，因地之性。 』」孔子取為孝經之詞也。
Commentary: The line echoes Grand Shu’s answer to Zhao Jianzi in the Zuo Tradition. Grand Shu quoted Zichan: ritual is the cosmic pattern for human conduct. Men should mirror heaven and earth and so clarify what is bright in nature. Confucius borrowed this wording for the opening of the Classic of Filial Piety.
42
注[九]論語載有若之詞也。
Commentary: The remark on the root of benevolence comes from You Ruo in the Analects.
43
注[一０]論語孔子曰：「參也魯，回也其庶乎？ 」言庶幾於善道也。 魯，鈍也。 言若先孝後仁，則曾參不得不賢於顏子。
Commentary: Confucius called Zeng Shen slow and praised Yan Hui’s nearness to the Way. “Almost there” means close to moral perfection. “Dull” (lu) means slow of wit. If filial piety always ranked above benevolence, Zeng Shen would outshine Yan Hui—yet Confucius ranked them the other way.
44
注[一一]虞舜、顏回純德既備，或仁或孝，但隨其所稱爾。
Commentary: Shun and Yan Hui earned either name because their virtue was entire.
45
注[一二]史記，公劉，後稷曾孫也。 能修復後稷之業，務耕種，行地宜，百姓懷之，多從而保歸焉。 故公劉以仁紀德，曾參以至孝稱賢，此則各自為目，不能總兼其美也。
Commentary: The Shiji makes Gong Liu a great-grandson of the grain god Hou Ji. He revived agriculture, suited crops to soil, and drew the people to follow him into exile. So Gong Liu stands for public benevolence and Zeng Shen for private devotion—each label fits only one side.
46
注[一三]曾參、閔損也。
Commentary: Zeng Shen and Min Sun (Ziqian).
47
注[一四]論語孔子曰：「桓公九合諸侯，不以兵車，管仲之力，如其仁，如其仁。 」九合者，謂再會於鄄，兩會於幽，又會檉、首止、戴寧、母洮、葵丘也。
Commentary: Confucius credited Guan Zhong’s “benevolence” with Duke Huan’s nine leagues without war. The “nine” leagues are the gatherings at Juan (twice), You (twice), Zhi, Shouzhi, Dai, Ning, Mutao, and Kuiqiu.
48
前越巂太守李文德素善於篤，時在京師，謂公卿曰：「延叔堅有王佐之才，奈何屈千里之足乎？ 」欲令引進之。 篤聞，乃為書止文德曰：「夫道之將廢，所謂命也。 [一]流聞乃欲相為求還東觀，來命雖篤，所未敢當。 吾嘗昧爽櫛梳，坐於客堂。 [二]朝則誦羲、文之易，虞、夏之書，歷公旦之典禮，覽仲尼之春秋。 [三]夕則消搖內階，詠詩南軒。 [四]百家觿氏，投閒而作。 [五]洋洋乎其盈耳也，[六]渙爛兮其溢目也，[七]紛紛欣欣兮其獨樂也。 當此之時，不知天之為蓋，地之為輿； [八]不知世之有人，己之有軀也。 雖漸離擊築，傍若無人，[九]高鳳讀書，不知暴雨，[一０]方之於吾，未足況也。 且吾自束修已來，[一一]為人臣不陷於不忠，為人子不陷於不孝，上交不諂，下交不黷，[一二]從此而歿，下見先君遠祖，可不籩赧。 [一三]如此而不以善止者，恐如教羿射者也。 [一四]慎勿迷其本，□其生也。 」注[一]論語孔子曰：「道之將行也與？ 命也。 道之將廢也與？ 命也。」
Li Wende, once governor of Yuexi and an old friend, told the high ministers in Luoyang that Yan Du had the makings of a chief minister and should not be left in the provinces. He wanted them to pull strings and bring Yan Du back to court. Yan Du answered with a letter: “When the Way is failing, men call it fate. I hear you would lobby to send me back to the Eastern Library; I am grateful but cannot accept. At dawn I comb my hair and sit in the guest hall. Mornings I read the Changes, the earliest Documents, the Zhou rituals, and Confucius’ Spring and Autumn. Commentary: Evenings I stroll the inner court and hum poems by the south casement. Commentary: In spare moments I turn to the masters and the philosophers. The sound fills my ears, the color floods my eyes, and a private joy runs riot in me. In those hours I forget whether heaven is a dome or earth a cart; Commentary: I forget there is a world beyond me or a body that belongs to me. Gao Jianli could thrum his zhu as if the market were empty, and Gao Feng could read through a thunderstorm—yet neither example comes close to the absorption I describe. Since I came of age I have kept faith as a minister and piety as a son; I have neither truckled to the great nor trampled the humble. When I meet my forebears below, I shall not hang my head for shame. Commentary: To push further would be like the fable of teaching the master archer Yi to shoot. Guard your true vocation and do not throw your life away on ambition.” Commentary: Confucius said in the Analects, “If the Way is going to triumph—is it not— —a matter of fate?” “If the Way is going to fail—is it not— —a matter of fate?”
49
注[二]孔安國注尚書曰：「昧，暝也。 爽，明也。」
Commentary: Kong Anguo glosses mei as dusk. Shuang means first light.”
50
注[三]周公攝政七年，制禮作樂。 班固東都賦曰「今論者但知誦虞、夏之書，詠殷、周之詩，講羲、文之易，論孔氏之春秋」也。
Commentary: The Duke of Zhou ruled as regent for seven years and then fixed the rites and music. Ban Gu’s rhapsody on the eastern capital lists the same canon Yan Du claims to read each morning.
51
注[四]楚詞：「高堂邃宇，鏤檻層軒。 」王逸注云：「軒，樓板也。」
Commentary: A Chu ci couplet describes a lofty hall with latticed galleries. Wang Yi glosses xuan as the boarded gallery of an upper story.
52
注[五]言誦經典之餘，投射閒隙而翫百氏也。
Commentary: Between sessions with the canon he fills the gaps by browsing miscellaneous writers.
53
注[六]洋洋，美也。 論語曰：「洋洋乎盈耳哉。」
Commentary: Yangyang here means rich and full. The Analects praises music that floods the listener’s ear.
54
注[七]渙爛，文章貌也。
Commentary: Huanlan describes brilliant, well-wrought prose.
55
注[八]宋玉大言賦曰「方地為輿，員天為蓋」也。
Commentary: Song Yu’s rhapsody imagines the earth as a chariot floor and heaven as a domed cover.
56
注[九]說文曰：「築，五弦之樂也。 」沈約宋書曰：「築不知誰所造也。 史記唯雲高漸離擊築。 」案：今築形似箏，有項有柱。 史記，荊軻至燕，日與屠狗及高漸離擊築，荊軻和而歌於巿中，相樂，已而相泣，傍若無人。
Commentary: The Shuowen defines the zhu as a five-stringed lute. The Song shu admits that the zhu’s inventor is unknown. The Shiji mentions only Gao Jianli playing it. Modern instruments shaped like the zheng retain neck and bridges. The Shiji tells how Jing Ke, the dog-butcher, and Gao Jianli sang in the Yan capital—first laughing, then weeping—as if the crowd did not exist.
57
注[一０]事具逸人傳也。
Commentary: Gao Feng’s storm story appears in the recluse biographies.
58
注[一一]束修謂束帶修飾。 鄭玄注論語曰「謂年十五已上」也。
Commentary: “Hair bound for study” means the age when a youth girds himself for formal education. Zheng Xuan takes it to mean fifteen years and older.
59
注[一二]易系詞之文也。
Commentary: The line about not flattering above or slighting below comes from the Appended Remarks.
60
注[一三]色媿曰赧，音女板反。
Commentary: Nan means flushing with shame; the fanqie is 女板反.
61
注[一四]史記，有養由基者，善射者也，去柳葉百步而射之，百發而百中之。
Commentary: The Shiji tells of Yang Youji, who could hit a willow leaf a hundred paces off, a hundred times running.
62
左右觀者數千人，皆曰「善射」。 有一人立其旁，曰：「善，可教射矣。 」養由基怒，釋弓搤□曰：「客安能教我射乎？ 」客曰：「非吾能教枝左詘右也。 夫去柳葉百步而射之，百發百中之，不以善息，少焉氣衰力倦，弓撥矢鉤，一發不中者百發盡息。 」此言羿者，蓋以俱善射而稱之焉。
Thousands of spectators cried, “A master bowman!” A stranger beside him said, “Skillful—but still teachable.” Yang Youji dropped his bow, seized the bridge of his nose, and snapped, “What right has a passer-by to instruct me?” The man answered, “I am not teaching you fancy footwork. If you never pause after a perfect hundred, your wind soon fails, your bow twists, and one miss wipes out the whole string of bulls-eyes.” Commentary: The parable is tagged with Yi’s name because both men were legendary archers.
63
後遭黨事禁錮。 [一]永康元年，卒於家。 鄉里圖其形於屈原之廟。 [二]注[一]錮謂閉塞。
Later the partisan persecutions caught him and he was barred from office. He died at home in the first year of Yongkang (167). His neighbors hung his portrait in the temple of Qu Yuan. Commentary: Gu here means “locked out” or “proscribed.”
64
注[二]屈原，楚大夫，抱忠貞而死。 篤有志行文彩，故圖其像而偶之焉。
Commentary: Qu Yuan, loyal minister of Chu, drowned himself for principle. They paired Yan Du with Qu Yuan because he matched that blend of integrity and letters.
65
篤論解經傳，多所駁正，後儒服虔等以為折中。 所著詩、論、銘、書、應訊、表、教令，[一]凡二十篇雲。 注[一]訊，問也。 蓋荅客難之類。
His essays on the canon overturned many sloppy glosses, and later exegetes such as Fu Qian treated them as authoritative. His surviving works—verse, essays, inscriptions, letters, dialogues, memorials, and commands—fill twenty titles. Commentary: Xun means a formal question or interrogation. They belong to the same genre as “Answering a Guest’s Cavils.”
66
史弼字公謙，陳留考城人也。 父敞，順帝時以佞辯至尚書、郡守。 [一]弼少篤學，聚徒數百。 仕州郡，[二]辟公府，遷北軍中候。 注[一]續漢書曰「敞為京兆尹，化有能名，尤善條教，見稱於三輔」也。
Shi Bi, whose courtesy name was Gongqian, came from Kaocheng in Chenliu. His father Shi Chang rose under Emperor Shun to Minister in the capital and governor of a commandery through clever tongue. Commentary: Shi Bi studied to the point of austerity and drew hundreds of students. He held provincial posts, entered the ministries, and became colonel of the Northern Army. Commentary: The Xù Hànshū praises Shi Chang as a capable Metropolitan Governor with a gift for lucid directives.
67
注[二]謝承書曰：「弼年二十為郡功曹，承前太守宋欣穢濁之後，悉條諸生聚斂奸吏百餘人，皆白太守，埽多還縣，高名由此而興。」
Commentary: Xie Cheng records that at twenty he cleaned house after a corrupt governor, cashiering over a hundred crooked scholars and clerks and winning instant fame.
68
注[二]梁孝王，景帝弟，竇太后少子，愛之，賜天子旌旗，出警入蹕。 景帝嘗與王宴太后前，曰：「千秋萬歲後傳王。 」爰盎諫不許，遂令人刺殺盎也。
Commentary: Emperor Jing’s brother Liu Wu received princely regalia almost equal to the throne. At a banquet before their mother Emperor Jing promised Liu Wu the succession. Yuan Ang’s protest blocked the plan, so the prince had Yuan murdered.
69
注[三]剽，悍也。 逞，快也。 謂被侵枉不快之人也。 左傳曰：「率腢不逞之人。 」剽音疋妙反。
Commentary: Piao means fierce or predatory. Cheng means gratified or vented. The phrase describes men who feel wronged and cannot rest. Commentary: The Zuo Tradition warns against gathering malcontents who nurse unresolved grievances. The graph glossed for “fierce” is read in the entering tone with the fanqie spelling given in the commentary.
70
注[四]有虛言無實行也。
Commentary: That is, big talk without deeds to match.
71
注[五]前書羊勝勸梁王求漢嗣，伍被勸准南* (子) **[王]*謀反誅也。
Commentary: The gloss cites Yang Sheng’s flattery of Liu Wu and Wu Bei’s incitement of the Huainan heir— The lacuna in the manuscript is filled with “heir,” i.e., the crown prince of Huainan. —both princes who listened to sycophants and came to ruin.
72
注[六]友，親也。 尚書曰：「惟孝友于兄弟。」
Commentary: You here means kin or intimate ally. The Documents enjoin brotherly harmony as part of filial duty.
73
注[七]滋，長； 蔓，延也。 左氏傳：「無使滋蔓，蔓難圖也。」
Commentary: Zi means to sprout or grow. Man means to spread unchecked. The Zuo Tradition warns, “Do not let evil sprawl—sprawl is hard to uproot.”
74
弼遷尚書，出為平原相。 時詔書下舉鉤黨，[一]郡國所奏相連及者多至數百，唯弼獨無所上。 詔書前後切□州郡，[二]髡笞掾史。 從事坐傳責曰：[三]「詔書疾惡黨人，旨意懇惻。 青州六郡，其五有黨，[四]近國甘陵，亦考南北部，[五]平原何理而得獨無？ 」弼曰：「先王疆理天下，畫界分境，[六]水土異齊，風俗不同，[七]它郡自有，平原自無，胡可相比？ 若承望上司，誣陷良善，淫刑濫罰，以逞非理，則平原之人，戶可為黨。 相有死而已，所不能也。 」從事大怒，即收郡僚職送獄，道舉奏弼。 會黨禁中解，弼以俸贖罪得免，[八]濟活者千餘人。 注[一]鉤謂相連也。
Shi Bi became a Minister, then left the capital as governor of Pingyuan. Edicts ordered round-ups of the “partisan” networks; most commanderies denounced hundreds of names, but Pingyuan filed none. Imperial messengers scourged provincial staff to force names. An inspector met him at the relay inn and demanded, “The court despises factions; the order is urgent. Five of Qingzhou’s six circuits show lists; even Ganling by the capital split into northern and southern cliques—how can Pingyuan claim innocence?” Shi Bi answered, “The sages mapped soil and custom: what thrives in Qi need not exist in Pingyuan. Other regions may breed factions; ours does not. You cannot equate them. If I fawned on you, framed the innocent, and tortured people to please you, I could mark every door in the county a “faction.” I would sooner die than sign such a list.” The inspector jailed his aides and sent a denunciation of Shi Bi to Luoyang. When the proscription eased, he bought off the charge with his pay, and over a thousand people he had shielded survived. Commentary: Gou means “to hook” or link names together.
75
注[二]切，急也。 □，退也。
Commentary: Qie means pressing or severe. The glossed character means to give way or retreat.
76
注[三]續漢志每州皆有從事史及諸曹掾史。 傳，客舍也，音知戀反。 坐傳捨召弼而責。
Commentary: The Xù Hàn zhi lists the provincial inspector’s staff. Zhuan is a post-station; the fanqie is 知戀反. The man called Shi Bi to the relay station for a dressing-down.
77
注[四]濟南、樂安、齊國、東萊、平原、北海六郡，青州所管也。 青州在齊國臨淄，見漢官儀。
Commentary: Qingzhou supervised those six commanderies. Its capital was Linzi in Qi, per the Han guan yi.
78
注[五]桓帝為蠡吾侯，受學於甘陵周福，及帝即位，擢福為尚書。 時同郡河南尹房植有名當朝，二家賓客互相譏揣，遂各樹朋徒，漸成尤隙，由是甘陵有南北部。 見黨人篇序也。
Commentary: Emperor Huan had studied under Zhou Fu of Ganling and raised him to high office. Fang Zhi of Henan rivaled Zhou Fu; their clients traded insults until Ganling split into northern and southern camps. The full story opens the treatise on the partisans.
79
注[六]疆，界也。 理，正也。 左傳曰「先王疆理天下，物土之宜而布其利」也。
Commentary: Jiang means a territorial limit. Li means to arrange or regulate. The Zuo Tradition praises early kings who “mapped the realm and assigned its gains.”
80
注[七]前書曰「凡人函五常之性，而其剛柔緩急，音聲不同。 系水土之風氣，故謂之風。 好惡取捨，動靜無常，隨君上之情慾，故謂之俗」也。
Commentary: The Hanshu notes that all men share the five virtues yet differ in temperament and speech. What comes from terrain and climate is called feng (“wind”). Habits that follow a lord’s whims are called su (“custom”).
81
注[八]* (奉) **[俸]*音扶用反。
Commentary: Note eight (the gloss continues on the following fragment). The variant character in the margin is the one normally read “to receive” or “tribute.” The word for “salary” in the text is read with the fanqie spelling 扶用反.
82
弼為政特挫抑強豪，其小民有罪，多所容貸。 遷河東太守，被一切詔書當舉孝廉。 弼知多權貴請托，乃豫□斷絕書屬。 [一]中常侍侯覽果遣諸生繼書請之，並求假鹽稅，積日不得通。 生乃說以它事謁弼，而因達覽書。 弼大怒曰：「太守忝荷重任，當選士報國，爾何人而偽詐無狀！ 」命左右引出，楚捶數百，府丞、掾史十餘人皆諫於廷，弼不對。 遂付安邑獄，即日考殺之。 侯覽大怨，遂詐作飛章下司隸，誣弼誹謗，檻車征。 吏人莫敢近者，唯前孝廉裴瑜送到崤澠之閒，大言於道傍曰：「明府摧折虐臣，選德報國，如其獲罪，足以垂名竹帛，願不憂不懼。 」弼曰：「『誰謂荼苦，其甘如薺。 』[二]昔人刎頸，九死不恨。 」[三]及下廷尉詔獄，平原吏人奔走詣闕訟之。 又前孝廉魏劭毀變形服，詐為家僮，瞻護於弼。 弼遂受誣，事當□市。 劭與郡人賣郡邸，[四]行賂於侯覽，得減死罪一等，論輸左校。 時人或譏曰：「平原行貨以免君，無乃蚩乎！ 」陶丘洪曰：
As governor he humbled the great families while forgiving petty folk who broke the law. Promoted to governor of Hedong, he was hit with a general edict demanding fresh Filial-and-Incorrupt nominations. Expecting a flood of patronage letters from the great families, he shut his door to all written solicitations beforehand. The eunuch Hou Lan sent scholars with back-to-back letters—and a demand for the salt monopoly—yet could not get past the yamen gate. One student invented a pretext for an audience and slipped Hou Lan’s note onto the desk. Shi Bi thundered, “I wear the seal to serve the throne, not to traffic in names—who are you to peddle fraud in my hall?” He had the man dragged out and flogged hundreds of times while a dozen aides pleaded in the courtyard; he gave no reply. He sent the wretch to Anyi jail, tried him the same day, and had him executed. Hou Lan forged an urgent denunciation to the capital police, accusing Shi Bi of slander, and had him hauled north in a prison wagon. Only Pei Yu, a former nominee, walked with him to the Xiao–Mian pass and shouted for all to hear, “You crushed a tyrant for the Han—if you pay with your life, history will remember you; walk on without fear.” Shi Bi answered, “They say the sowthistle is bitter, yet it can taste sweet as shepherd’s purse.” Commentary: Men of old died many deaths without regret when honor demanded it. When the imperial jail took him, the whole of Pingyuan raced to Luoyang to petition for justice. Wei Shao, another former nominee, scarred his face, dressed as a bondsman, and stayed at Shi Bi’s side. The forged charge should have sent him to the public block. Wei Shao sold a county hostel in Luoyang, bought off Hou Lan, won commutation from death, and drew a sentence to the convict workshops. Wits sneered that Pingyuan had “purchased” its governor’s life. Taoqiu Hong retorted,
83
[五]「昔文王牖裡，閎、散懷金。 [六]史弼遭患，義夫獻寶。 亦何疑焉！ 」於是議者乃息。 刑竟歸田裡，稱病閉門不出。 數為公卿所薦，議郎何休又訟弼有干國之器，宜登台相，征拜議郎。 侯覽等惡之。 光和中，出為彭城相，會病卒。 裴瑜位至尚書。 [七]注[一]屬音之欲反。
“When King Wen languished in Youli, Hong and San weighed out gold to free him.” “When Shi Bi fell into trouble, righteous men paid ransom— why fault Pingyuan for doing the same?” The gossip died away. After his release he retired to the country, feigned illness, and never opened his gate. High ministers kept recommending him; He Xiu argued he had ministerial timber, and the court recalled him as a Court Gentleman. Hou Lan and his clique still loathed him. During Guanghe he was sent out as chancellor of Pengcheng and died there of illness. Pei Yu later reached the post of Minister. Commentary: The graph for “connection” is glossed with the fanqie reading zhi-yu.
84
注[二]詩□風也。 荼，苦菜也。
Commentary: The quotation comes from the Airs of the Classic of Poetry. “Sowthistle” names a bitter edible herb.
85
注[三]刎，割也。 楚詞曰「雖九死其猶未悔」也。
Commentary: Wen means to cut the throat. The Chuci line runs, “Nine deaths would not make me repent.”
86
注[四]郡邸，若今之寺邸也。
Commentary: A “commandery hostel” in the capital served visiting officials, like a later monastic guesthouse.
87
注[五]青州先賢傳曰：「洪字子林，平原人也。 清達博辯，文冠當代。 舉孝廉，不行，辟太尉府。 年三十卒。」
Commentary: The Qingzhou worthy biography names Taoqiu Hong, courtesy Zilin, of Pingyuan. He was lucid, eloquent, and the foremost writer of his day. He declined nomination but accepted a summons to the Grand Commandant’s bureau. He died at thirty.”
88
注[六]牖裡，殷獄名。 或作「羑」，亦名羑城，在今相州湯陰縣北。 帝王紀：「散宜生、南宮括、閎夭學乎呂尚。 尚知三人賢，結朋友之交。 及紂囚文王，乃以黃金千鎰與宜生，令求諸物與紂。 」史記曰「閎夭之徒乃求有莘美女，驪戎文馬，有熊九駟，它奇怪物，因殷孽臣費仲獻之於紂，紂大說，乃赦之」也。
Commentary: Youli was the Shang prison where King Wen was held. Some texts write the name as You; the site lies north of present-day Tangyin. The Diwang ji says San Yisheng, Nangong Kuo, and Hong Yao studied under Lü Shang. Taigong saw their worth and befriended them. When King Zhou jailed King Wen, he gave Yisheng a thousand yi of gold to buy curios for the tyrant. The Shiji tells how Hong Yao’s party procured beauties, rare horses, and oddities and bribed Fei Zhong until Zhou released Wen.
89
注[七]先賢行狀曰「瑜字雉璜。 聰明敏達，觀物無滯。 清論所加，必為成器； 丑議所指，沒齒無怨」也。
Commentary: Pei Yu’s courtesy name was Zhihuang. He was quick, perceptive, and never baffled by detail. Those he praised matured into useful men; those he censured swallowed the rebuke without lasting rancor.”
90
論曰：夫剛烈表性，鮮能優寬； 仁柔用情，多乏貞直。 吳季英視人畏傷，發言烝烝，[一]似夫儒者； 而懷憤激揚，折讓權枉，又何壯也！ 仁以鄉物，義以退身，君子哉！ [二]語曰：「活千人者子孫必封。 」[三]史弼頡頏嚴吏，[四]終全平原之黨，而其後不大，[五]斯亦未可論也。 注[一]烝烝猶仍也。
The historian observes: stern integrity rarely pairs with easy tolerance; gentle temperaments seldom stay straight under pressure. Wu You spoke as if every word might wound—soft as a pedant, yet he flung himself against corrupt grandees—how bold! He met the world with kindness and stepped down for principle: a true gentleman. Commentary: The proverb promises noble rank to the house that saves a thousand lives. Shi Bi defied brutal inspectors and spared a thousand households, yet his line never rose high—fate is not ours to argue. Commentary: Zhengzheng here means “repeatedly” or “continuously.”
91
注[二]法言曰：「君子於仁也柔，於義也剛。」
Commentary: Yang Xiong’s Fayan pairs soft-hearted humanity with hard-edged righteousness.
92
注[三]前書王翁孺曰：「聞活千人者有封*[子]*孫。 吾所活者千人，*[後]*世其興乎？」
Commentary: Wang Zunjun recalled the saying about saving a thousand souls. “I have spared a thousand lives—will my house rise?”
93
注[四]頡頏猶上下也。
Commentary: Xiehang means to wrestle or contend on equal terms.
94
注[五]不大謂子孫衰替也。 左傳晉卜偃曰：「畢萬之後必大。」
Commentary: “Posterity not great” means his line faded rather than flourished. Commentary: The Zuo Tradition promises greatness to Bi Wan’s descendants—yet fate is uneven.
95
盧植字子幹，涿郡涿人也。 身長八尺二寸，音聲如鐘。 少與鄭玄俱事馬融，能通古今學，好研精而不守章句。 融外戚豪家，[一]多列女倡歌舞於前。 植侍講積年，未嘗轉眄，融以是敬之。 學終辭歸，闔門教授。 性剛毅有大節，常懷濟世志，不好辭賦，能飲酒一石。 注[一]融，明德皇后之從侄也。
Lu Zhi, courtesy name Zigan, came from Zhuo in Zhuo commandery. He stood eight feet two inches tall and boomed like a bronze bell. He and Zheng Xuan studied under Ma Rong, ranged over classical and current learning, and pursued deep principles instead of literalism. Commentary: Ma Rong’s clan was wealthy and royal; he kept singing girls in his lecture hall. Lu Zhi sat through years of lessons without glancing at the dancers, and Ma Rong honored him for it. When his course finished he went home and taught behind closed doors. He was austere, ambitious for the realm, cared little for belles-lettres, and could down a full dan of wine. Commentary: Ma Rong was a nephew of Empress Mingde of the Eastern Han.
96
時皇后父大將軍竇武援立靈帝，初秉機政，朝議欲加封爵。 植雖布衣，以武素有名譽，乃獻書以規之曰：「植聞嫠有不恤緯之事，[一]漆室有倚楹之戚，[二]憂深思遠，君子之情。 [三]夫士立爭友，義貴切磋。 [四]書陳『謀及庶人』，[五]詩詠『詢於芻蕘』。 [六]植誦先王之書久矣，敢愛其瞽言哉！ [七]今足下之於漢朝，猶旦、奭之在周室，建立聖主，四海有系。 論者以為吾子之功，於斯為重。 天下聚目而視，攢耳而聽，[八]謂准之前事，將有景風之祚。 [九]尋春秋之義，王后無嗣，擇立親長，年均以德，德均則決之卜筮。 [一０]今同宗相後，披圖案牒，以次建之，何勳之有？ 豈橫叨天功以為己力乎！ [一一]宜辭大賞，以全身名。 又比世祚不競，[一二]仍外求嗣，可謂危矣。 而四方未寧，盜賊伺隙，恆岳、勃碣，[一三]特多奸盜，將有楚人脅比，尹氏立朝之變。 [一四]宜依古禮，置諸子之官，征王侯愛子，宗室賢才，外崇訓道之義，內息貪利之心，簡其良能，隨用爵之，強幹弱枝之道也。 」[一五]武並不能用。 州郡數命，植皆不就。 建寧中，征為博士，乃始起焉。 熹平四年，九江蠻反，四府選植才兼文武，拜九江太守，蠻寇賓服。 以疾去官。
Dou Wu, the queen’s father who had enthroned Emperor Ling, now dominated policy, and the court debated lavish enfeoffment. Though only a commoner, Lu Zhi wrote Dou Wu a long remonstrance: “I recall the widow who forgot her shuttle from worry for the Zhou house, and the Lacquer-Chamber girl who wept against a pillar—such is a gentleman’s far-sighted care.” Commentary: A nobleman keeps friends who will argue him sharp. The Shang shu tells kings to ask the people; the Shi jing praises consulting the woodcutter. I have studied the sages too long to hoard blunt advice. You stand to the Han as the Duke of Zhou and the Grand Duke to the young Zhou kings—you enthroned a sage and gave the empire an anchor. Public opinion calls that your crowning deed. All eyes and ears wait to see whether you will earn the “bright wind” of ancient paragons. The Spring and Autumn rule: without an heir, choose the eldest qualified kinsman; if ages match, weigh virtue; if virtue matches, trust divination. The Liu clan now picks successors by genealogy—where is the unique merit in that? How can you pocket Heaven’s credit as private heroism? Refuse the huge reward and keep your life and reputation whole. Commentary: Lately the dynasty’s qi has faltered while the throne keeps looking outward for heirs—dangerous business. The frontiers seethe with rebels; the Yan–Zhao corridor breeds plotters—think of Chu’s hostage kings or the Duke of Yin’s coup. Restore the old “sons of the blood” schools, call imperial princes’ heirs and talented kinsmen to the capital for training, and bind them with measured ranks—that is how you thicken the root and thin the twigs.” Dou Wu ignored every word. Provincial posts came again and again; Lu Zhi refused them all. During Jianning the court finally called him up as a doctoral scholar. In 175 the Jiujiang tribes rose; the high ministers sent Lu Zhi as governor, and he pacified them by arms and policy. Ill health forced him to resign.
97
注[一]左傳曰，范獻子曰：「人亦有言，嫠不恤其緯而憂宗周之隕，為將及焉。 」杜預注曰：「嫠，寡婦也。 織者常苦緯少，寡婦所宜憂也。」
Commentary: Fan Xianzi’s Zuo Tradition tag tells of a widow who forgot her loom from worry for the realm. Du Yu glosses li as “widow.” A weaver’s petty trouble is short weft—but a widow should fear the state’s ruin.”
98
注[二]琴操曰：「魯漆室女倚柱悲吟而嘯，□人見其心之不樂也，進而問之曰：
Commentary: The Qincao tells of a Lu girl who moaned against a pillar until neighbors asked,
99
『有淫心欲嫁之念耶，何吟之悲？ 』漆室女曰：『嗟乎！ 嗟乎！ 子無志，不知人之甚也。 昔者楚人得罪於其君，走逃吾東家，馬逸，蹈吾園葵，使吾終年不□菜； 吾西□人失羊不還，請吾兄追之，霧濁水出，使吾兄溺死，終身無兄。 政之所致也。 吾憂國傷人，心悲而嘯，豈欲嫁哉！ 』自傷懷結而為人所疑，於是褰裳入山林之中，見女貞之木，喟然歎息，援琴而弦歌以女貞之辭，自經而死。」
“Are you pining for a husband? Why such grief?” She cried, “Alas! Alas! You have no sense—you read a human heart so shallowly. When a Chu fugitive’s horse ruined my greens I went hungry a year; when a western neighbor lost sheep my brother drowned chasing it through flood—I am brotherless forever. Misrule did that to me.” “I whistle from sorrow for the realm, not from desire for a match!” Heartbroken and misunderstood, she fled to the woods, saw the chaste-tree, played the “Chaste Wife” song, and hanged herself.”
100
注[三]詩序曰：「憂深思遠，儉而用禮，乃有堯之遺風焉。」
Commentary: The Mao preface praises states whose air is frugal, ritual-minded, and far-sighted like Yao’s.
101
注[四]孝經曰：「士有爭友，身不陷於不義。 」詩云：「如切如磋。 」鄭玄注云：「骨曰切，像曰磋。 言友之相規誡，如骨象之見切磋。」
Commentary: The Xiaojing says a disputing friend keeps one from wrong. The Classic of Poetry compares friends to bone and ivory worked smooth. Zheng Xuan glosses “cutting” and “polishing” as working bone and horn. Friends sharpen one another the same way.”
102
注[五]尚書洪範曰「謀及卿士，謀及庶人」也。
Commentary: The Hong fan counsels consulting ministers and commoners alike.
103
注[六]詩大雅曰：「先人有言，詢於芻蕘。 」毛萇注云：「芻蕘，采薪者也。」
Commentary: The Greater Ya urges rulers to ask even the fuel-gatherers. Mao Chang defines chu rao as men who cut kindling.
104
注[七]無目□曰瞽。 □音直忍反。
Commentary: Gu means blind, lacking sight. The graph is read with the fanqie spelling zhi-ren.
105
注[八]前書賈山曰「使天下戴目而視，傾耳而聽」也。
Commentary: Jia Shan’s phrase describes all China watching and listening.
106
注[九]景風，解見和紀。
Commentary: “Bright wind” is glossed in the reign-treatise on harmony.
107
注[一０]左傳王子朝曰：「先王之命，王后無嫡，則擇立長。 年鈞以德，德鈞以卜，古之制也。」
Commentary: Prince Zhao’s speech sets the rule for choosing an heir when the queen has no firstborn. Age yields to virtue, virtue to divination—so ran the old law.”
108
注[一一]叨，貪也。 左傳曰「貪天之功，以為己力」也。
Commentary: Tao means to covet or steal credit. The Zuo Tradition condemns “stealing Heaven’s merit as one’s own.”
109
注[一二]競，強也。
Commentary: Jing here means vigorous or robust.
110
注[一三]勃，勃海也。 碣，碣石山也。
Commentary: “Bo” is Bohai sea. “Jie” is Mount Jieshi on the coast.
111
注[一四]左傳曰，楚公子比，恭王之子也。 靈王立，子比奔晉。 靈王卒，子比自晉歸楚，立為君。 比弟公子□疾欲篡其位，夜乃使人周走呼曰：「王至矣。 」國人大驚，子比乃自殺。 王子朝，周景王之庶子。 景王卒，子猛立。 尹氏，周卿士，立子朝，奪猛位也。
Commentary: Prince Bi of Chu was King Gong’s son. When King Ling took the throne, Bi fled to Jin. On Ling’s death Bi returned from Jin and was enthroned. His brother Ji plotted a coup and had runners cry at night, “The king is coming!” The capital panicked and Bi killed himself. Prince Zhao was a bastard son of King Jing of Zhou. When Jing died, Crown Prince Meng briefly ruled. Minister Yin of Zhou enthroned Zhao and ousted Meng.
112
注[一五]以樹為喻也。 謂京師為干，四方為枝。 前書曰：「漢興，立都長安，徙齊諸田、楚昭、屈、景及諸功臣家於長陵。 蓋以強幹弱枝，非獨為奉山園也。」
Commentary: The “trunk and branch” image explains strengthening the capital. The capital is the trunk; the commanderies are the limbs. The Hanshu records how Gaozu planted powerful clans around Chang’an to guard the core. The policy was to thicken the root, not merely to populate the mausoleum towns.”
113
作尚書章句、三禮解詁。 [一]時始立太學石經，以正五經文字，植乃上書曰：「臣少從通儒故南郡太守馬融受古學，頗知今之禮記特多回□。 [二]臣前以周禮諸經，發起□謬，[三]敢率愚淺，為之解詁，而家乏，無力供繕*[寫]*上。 [四]願得將書生二人，共詣東觀，就官財糧，專心研精，合尚書章句，考禮記失得，庶裁定聖典，刊正碑文。 古文科斗，近於為實，而厭抑流俗，降在小學。 [五]中興以來，通儒達士班固、賈逵、鄭興父子，並敦悅之。 [六]今毛詩、左氏、周禮各有傳記，其興春秋共相表裡，[七]宜置博士，為立學官，以助後來，以廣聖意。 」注[一]詁，事也。 言解其事意。
He wrote a segmented commentary on the Shang shu and glosses on the three ritual books. When the stone classics went up at the academy, Lu Zhi wrote that he had studied under Ma Rong and found the current Liji full of corrupt passages. He had already drafted corrections but was too poor to copy them out for the throne. He asked for two copyists, state rations at the Eastern Pavilion, and time to merge his Shang shu gloss with a critical edition of the Liji for the steles. Old-wall script and seal forms are truest to antiquity yet dismissed as “minor learning.” Commentary: Eastern Han scholars from Ban Gu to Zheng Xing cherished those scripts. He urged doctoral chairs for Mao, Zuo, and Zhou li to anchor the Spring and Autumn curriculum. Commentary: Gu means “matter” or “subject.” That is, to unpack the sense.
114
注[二]回□猶紆曲也。
Commentary: The phrase means convoluted or crooked wording.
115
注[三]□，粟不成。 諭義之乖僻也。
Commentary: The graph names shriveled grain— —a metaphor for twisted doctrine.
116
注[四]繕，善也。 言家貧不能善寫而上也。
Commentary: Shan here means a clean, fair copy. Lu Zhi means he cannot afford a fair manuscript for the palace.
117
注[五]古文謂孔子壁中書也。 形似科斗，因以為名。 前書謂文字為「小學」也。
Commentary: “Ancient script” denotes the wall manuscripts. Their strokes look like tadpoles, hence the nickname. The Hanshu classed paleography as “elementary learning.”
118
注[六]興子觿也，自有傳。 左傳曰「□縠悅禮樂而敦詩書」也。
Commentary: Zheng Xing’s son Zheng Xi wrote independent glosses. Commentary: The Zuo praises a minister who loved ritual, music, and the classics.
119
注[七]表裡言義相須而成也。 前書云：「河圖、洛書相為經緯，八卦、九章相為表裡。」
Commentary: “Mutual outer and inner” means the texts illuminate one another. The Hanshu pairs charts and documents as warp and woof.
120
會南夷反叛，以植嘗在九江有恩信，拜為廬江太守。 植深達政宜，務存清靜，弘大體而已。
When southern tribes rose, the court sent Lu Zhi to Lujiang, where his old kindness from Jiujiang still won trust. He governed Lujiang with quiet breadth—few measures, large principle.
121
[一一]帝不省。 注[一]言中書以別於外也。
Commentary: Emperor Ling ignored the advice (or did not look into the matter). Commentary: “Inner” here means the palace secretariat.
122
注[二]五行傳，劉向所著。 朓者，月行速在日前，故早見。 劉向以為君舒緩則臣* (嬌) **[驕]*慢，故日行□而月行速也。
Commentary: Liu Xiang’s treatise on the five phases. A “hasty” moon outruns the sun and shows too soon. Liu Xiang read it as an omen of slack rule—ministers— The marginal gloss gives an alternate graph for “arrogant.” —grow arrogant, so the sun seems slow and the moon races ahead.
123
注[三]左氏傳曰：「日過分未至三辰有□，於是乎君不舉，避移時。 」杜預注曰：「避正寑，過日食時也。」
Commentary: The Zuo prescribes abstaining from court meals during certain solar omens. Du Yu says the ruler leaves the main hall until the eclipse ends.
124
注[四]原其所禁而宥之也。
Commentary: Investigate the taboo, then grant amnesty.
125
注[五]防禦疫癘之氣。
Commentary: Rites to ward off epidemic miasma.
126
注[六]核，實也。 注[七]回，邪也。
Commentary: He means solid fact or pit. Commentary: Hui means crooked or heterodox.
127
注[八]後以王甫、程阿所構，憂死，父及兄弟並被誅。 靈帝后夢見桓帝怒曰「宋皇後何罪而絕其命？ 已訴於天，上帝震怒，罪在難救」也。
Commentary: Slander by Wang Fu and Cheng A drove him to grief-death; his kin were executed. Empress Song appeared to Emperor Ling’s consort in a dream: Huan’s ghost demanded why Song was murdered. “She has appealed to Heaven; the sentence cannot be lifted.”
128
注[九]書曰：「三載考績，黜陟幽明。 」孔安國注曰：「三年考功，三考九年，能否幽明有別，升進其明者，黜退其幽者。 」此皆唐堯之法也。
Commentary: The Shang shu mandates triennial review of officials. Kong Anguo explains nine-year cycles of promotion and demotion. These were Tang Yao’s methods of governance.”
129
注[一０]希，求也。 注[一一]蠲，除也。
Commentary: Xi means to seek or importune. Commentary: Juan means to remit or cancel.
130
中平元年，黃巾賊起，四府舉植，拜北中郎將，持節，以護烏桓中郎將宗員副，將北軍五校士，發天下諸郡兵征之。 連戰破賊帥張角，斬獲萬餘人。 角等走保廣宗，植築圍鑿燎，造作雲梯，垂當拔之。 帝遣小黃門左豐詣軍觀賊形埶，或勸植以賂送豐，植不肯。 豐還言於帝曰：「廣宗賊易破耳。 盧中郎固壘息軍，以待天誅。 」帝怒，遂檻車征植，減死罪一等。
In 184 the Yellow Turbans erupted; Lu Zhi was named North Colonel with banner authority, Zong Yuan as Wuhuan colonel seconded him, and they led imperial troops from every circuit. He smashed Zhang Jiao’s host and took over ten thousand heads and prisoners. The rebels barricaded Guangzong; Lu Zhi ringed the city with ditches, fires, and ladders and was ready to storm it. A court eunuch came to spy on the siege; aides urged Lu Zhi to bribe him—he refused. Zuo Feng told the throne the rebels were easy meat. “Yet Colonel Lu sits behind walls, idle, waiting for Heaven to strike them.” Emperor Ling raged, recalled Lu Zhi in fetters, and spared his life only by one degree.
131
及車騎將車皇甫嵩討平黃巾，盛稱植行師方略，嵩皆資用規謀，濟成其功。 以其年復為尚書。
When Huangfu Song finished the war, he told the court that Lu Zhi’s strategy had made victory possible. The same year he was restored as Minister.
132
帝崩，大將軍何進謀誅中官，乃召并州牧董卓，以懼太后。 植知卓凶悍難制，必生後患，固止之。 進不從。 及卓至，果陵虐朝廷，乃大會百官於朝堂，議欲廢立。 腢僚無敢言，植獨抗議不同。 卓怒罷會，將誅植，語在卓傳。 植素善蔡邕，邕前徙朔方，植獨上書請之。 邕時見親於卓，故往請植事。 又議郎彭伯諫卓曰：「盧尚書海內大儒，人之望也。 今先害*[之]*，天下震怖。 」卓乃止，但免植官而已。
At Ling’s death He Jin summoned Dong Zhuo from Bingzhou to cow the empress dowager. Lu Zhi warned that Dong Zhuo could not be tamed and would bring disaster. He Jin refused to listen. Dong Zhuo seized Luoyang, terrorized the court, and called a full assembly to debate deposing the emperor. The whole bureaucracy held its tongue; only Lu Zhi defied the tyrant’s plan. Dong Zhuo broke up the session and meant to kill him—the full story is in Dong Zhuo’s memoir. When Cai Yong was sent to Shuofang, only Lu Zhi petitioned for mercy. Cai Yong, now favored by Dong Zhuo, interceded in turn. Peng Bo told Dong Zhuo, “Lu Zhi is the empire’s leading scholar—the people look to him. Kill him first and the world will panic.” Dong Zhuo stayed his hand and merely stripped Lu Zhi of his post.
133
植以老病求歸，懼不免禍，乃詭道從轘轅出。 [一]卓果使人追之，到懷，不及。
Lu Zhi begged leave on grounds of age and illness, then slipped away by back roads through Huanyuan pass. Dong Zhuo’s riders reached Huai but missed him.
134
遂隱於上谷，不交人事。 冀州牧袁紹請為軍師。 初平三年卒。 臨困，□其子儉葬於土穴，不用棺幟，附體單帛而已。 所著碑、誄、表、記凡六篇。 注[一]詭，詐也。 轘轅道在今洛州緱氏縣東南也。
He hid in Shanggu and shunned the world. Yuan Shao, governor of Ji province, called him in as military counselor. He died in 192, the third year of Chuping. On his deathbed he told his son Lu Jian to lay him in a soil vault with no coffin—only a winding-sheet against his skin. Six of his writings survive: stele inscriptions, dirges, petitions, and notes. Commentary: Gui means cunning or false pretense. Commentary: The Huanyuan pass road ran southeast of present Gongshi in Henan.
135
建安中，曹操北討柳城，過涿郡，[一]告守令曰：「故北中郎將盧植，名著海內，學為儒宗，士之楷模，國之楨干也。 昔武王入殷，封商容之閭； 鄭喪子產，仲尼隕涕。 [二]孤到此州，嘉其餘風。 春秋之義，賢者之後，宜有殊禮。 [三]亟遣丞掾除其墳墓，[四]存其子孫，並致薄醊，[五]以彰厥德。 」子毓，知名。 [六]注[一]魏志曰，建安十二年，操北征烏桓，涉鮮卑，討柳城，登白狼山也。
On his northern campaign in 207 Cao Cao stopped at Zhuo and ordered the local magistrate to honor the late Lu Zhi as the age’s leading scholar and pillar of state. King Wu of Zhou ennobled Shang Rong’s lane when he entered Yin. Confucius wept when Zichan died in Zheng. I have come to your circuit and admire what still lingers of his virtue. The Chunqiu principle demands special honor for a worthy man’s heirs. Send men at once to tend his grave, succor his line, and pour a modest libation in his memory. His son Lu Yu won fame in his own right. Commentary: The Wei zhi dates Cao’s 207 raid on Wuhuan and the climb of Mount Bailang.
136
注[二]左傳曰：「仲尼聞子產死，出涕曰：『古之遺愛也。 』」注[三]公羊傳曰：「君子之善善也長，惡惡也短。 惡惡止其身，善善及子孫。 賢者子孫，故君子為之諱也。」
Confucius called Zichan “the love of antiquity” left to the world. Commentary: The Gongyang says a gentleman’s praise endures longer than his blame. Blame stops with the guilty; praise extends to their children. Hence the gentleman softens judgment on a sage’s posterity.”
137
注[四]亟，急也。
Commentary: Ji means “at once” or “urgently.”
138
注[五]醊，祭酹也。 音張芮反。
Commentary: Zhui is the poured offering at a tomb sacrifice. The fanqie spelling is zhang-rui.
139
注[六]魏志曰：「毓字子家，十歲而孤，以學行稱，仕魏至侍中、吏部尚書。 時舉中書郎，詔曰：『得其人與不，在盧生耳。 選舉莫取有名，如畫地為餅，不可啖也。 』毓對曰：『名不足以致異人，而可以得常士。 常士畏教慕善，然後有名也。 』」論曰：風霜以別草木之性，[一]危亂而見貞良之節，[二]則盧公之心可知矣。
Lu Yu rose in Wei to Minister of Personnel and palace attendant. An edict once said, “Whether we get the right man for the secretariat rests with Master Lu.” “Do not pick names off rumor—that is like drawing a cake in the dust.” Lu Yu replied that fame cannot lure geniuses but can find solid middling talent. Ordinary men learn to fear teaching and love goodness—then they earn a name.” The historian concludes: trial by frost shows pine and oak; trial by chaos shows Lu Zhi’s mettle.
140
夫螽蠆起懷，雷霆駭耳，雖賁、育、荊、諸之倫，[三]未有不冘豫奪常者也。 [四]當植抽白刃嚴合之下，追帝河津之閒，排戈刃，赴戕折，[五]豈先計哉？ 君子之於忠義，造次必於是，顛沛必於是也。 [六]注[一]論語曰：「歲寒然後知松柏之後雕也。」
When panic claws the heart and thunder splits the ear, even heroes like Meng Ben falter. Yet Lu Zhi bared steel under Dong Zhuo’s glare and defied him at the Yellow River—no cold calculation there. A gentleman keeps faith in the flash of crisis and in the crush of disaster. Commentary: The Analects compares constancy to winter pines.
141
注[二]老子曰：「國家昏亂有忠臣。」
Commentary: Laozi says loyal ministers emerge when the kingdom totters.
142
注[三]孟賁，多力者也； 夏育，勇者也：並□人。 荊，荊軻也。 諸，專諸也。
Commentary: Meng Ben was a famous strongman; Xia Yu a famous brave—both hailed from Qi. “Jing” is the assassin Jing Ke. “Zhu” is the assassin Zhuan Zhu.
143
注[四]冘，人行貌也，音淫。 言冘豫不能自定也。 奪謂易其常分者也。
Commentary: Yin-yu describes hesitant pacing. It means wavering, unable to decide. “Lose composure” means abandoning one’s usual measure.
144
注[五]事見何進傳。 杜預注左傳曰：「戕者，卒暴之名也。」
Commentary: The confrontation is told in He Jin’s memoir. Du Yu glosses qiang as a violent, sudden end.
145
注[六]孔子曰：「君子無終食之閒違仁，造次必於是，顛沛必於是。 」馬融注云：「造次，急遽也。 顛沛，僵仆也。 雖急遽僵仆，不違仁也。」
Commentary: Confucius said the gentleman never drops humanity, in haste or in ruin. Ma Rong glosses zaoci as sudden hurry. Dianpei means falling flat. Even then he does not abandon humanity.”
146
趙岐字邠卿，京兆長陵人也。 初名嘉，生於御史臺，因字臺卿，[一]後避難，故自改名字，示不忘本土也。 岐少明經，有才蓺，娶扶風馬融兄女。 融外戚豪家，岐常鄙之，不與融相見。 [二]仕州郡，以廉直疾惡見憚。 年三十餘，有重疾，臥蓐七年，[三]自慮奄忽，乃為遺令□兄子曰：「大丈夫生世，遯無箕山之操，[四]仕無伊、呂之勳，天不我與，復何言哉！ 可立一員石於吾墓前，刻之曰：『漢有逸人，姓趙名嘉。 有志無時，命也柰何！ 』」其後疾瘳。 注[一]以其祖為御史，故生於臺也。
Zhao Qi, courtesy name Bingqing, came from Changling in Jingzhao. Born in the imperial censor yamen as Zhao Jia, he took the courtesy name Taiqing; later, fleeing persecution, he changed his name to Zhao Qi to mark his roots. He mastered the classics young and married Ma Rong’s niece. He despised Ma Rong’s flashy clan and refused to visit him. In office his honesty and hatred of corruption made others wary. At thirty he fell mortally ill for seven years and drafted a will for his nephew: “If I lack Xu You’s reclusion or Yi Yin’s service, Heaven denies me my time—so be it! Raise one round stone at my grave and carve: “Here lies Zhao Jia, recluse of Han. Ambition without a season—blame fate, not me!” He recovered from the illness. Commentary: His grandfather’s post explains a birth in the censor yamen.
147
注[二]三輔決錄注曰：「岐娶馬敦女宗姜為妻。 敦兄子融嘗至岐家，多從賓與從妹宴飲作樂，日夕乃出。 過問趙處士所在。 岐亦厲節，不以妹拿之故屈志於融也。 與其友書曰：『馬季長雖有名當世，而不持士節，三輔高士未曾以衣裾襒其門也。 』岐曾讀周官二義不通，一往造之，賤融如此也。」
Commentary: The Sanfu jue lu names his wife as Ma Dun’s daughter. Ma Rong once caroused at Zhao’s home with a crowd and a cousin until nightfall. On leaving he asked where “Recluse Zhao” might be. Zhao Qi kept his distance and would not bend to Ma Rong for a marriage tie. He wrote a friend that Ma Rong had fame but no integrity—no worthy of the capital would darken his door. He once swallowed pride to ask Ma Rong about the Zhou li—then went back to scorning him.”
148
注[三]蓐，寢蓐也。 聲類曰：「蓐，薦也。」
Commentary: Ru is the sickbed mat. The Sheng lei glosses ru as a pallet or mat.
149
注[四]易曰：「遯而亨，君子以遠小人。 」王弼註：「遯之義，避內而之外者也。 」箕山，許由所隱處也。
Commentary: The hexagram Dun tells the gentleman to flee the mean. Wang Bi reads dun as withdrawal from the inner to the outer world. Mount Ji is where Xu You hid from Yao’s offer.
150
永興二年，辟司空掾，議二千石得去官為親行服，朝廷從之。 其後為大將軍梁冀所辟，為陳損益求賢之策，冀不納。 舉理劇，為皮氏長。 [一]會河東太守劉佑去郡，而中常侍左悺兄勝代之，岐恥疾宦官，即日西歸。 京兆尹延篤復以為功曹。 注[一]皮氏故城在今絳州龍門縣西。 決錄曰「岐為長，抑強討奸，大興學校」也。
In 154 he served the Minister of Works and won a rule letting governors resign to mourn parents. Liang Ji later summoned him for reform memos and ignored them. Nominated for “hard cases,” he became magistrate of Pishi. When a eunuch’s brother replaced Liu You as governor of Hedong, Zhao Qi resigned on the spot and went home west. Yan Du of Jingzhao rehired him as merit clerk. Commentary: Han Pishi stood west of present Longmen in Shanxi. The Jue lu praises his term for crushing magnates and building schools.
151
先是中常侍唐衡兄玹為京兆虎牙都尉，[一]郡人以玹進不由德，皆輕侮之。 岐及從兄襲又數為貶議，玹深毒恨。 [二]延熹元年，玹為京兆尹，岐懼禍及，乃與從子戩逃避之。 玹果收岐家屬宗親，陷以重法，盡殺之。 [三]岐遂逃難四方，江、淮、海、岱，靡所不歷。 自匿姓名，賣餅北海市中。 時安丘孫嵩年二十餘，游市見岐，察非常人，停車呼與共載。 岐懼失色，嵩乃下帷，令騎屏行人。 密問岐曰：「視子非賣餅者，又相問而色動，不有重怨，即亡命乎？ 我北海孫賓石，闔門百口，埶能相濟。 」岐素聞嵩名，即以實告之，遂以俱歸。 嵩先入白母曰：「出行，乃得死友。 」迎入上堂，饗之極歡。 藏岐復壁中數年，岐作□屯歌二十三章。
Earlier Tang Xuan, brother of the eunuch Tang Heng, held a capital military post; locals despised his unmerited rise. Zhao Qi and his cousin Zhao Xi mocked him until Tang Xuan burned with hate. In 158 Tang Xuan became Metropolitan Governor; Zhao Qi fled with his nephew Jian. Tang Xuan arrested every Zhao kinsman and executed them on trumped-up charges. Zhao Qi wandered the Yangzi, Huai, coast, and Taishan—nowhere was too far. He hid his identity and peddled cakes in Beihai. Sun Song of Anqiu, twenty-something, spotted him in the market, sensed quality, and offered a lift. Zhao Qi blanched; Sun Song drew the curtains and cleared the street. He whispered, “You are no baker—your face betrays a blood feud or a fugitive’s fear.” “I am Sun Bingshi of Beihai; my whole clan can hide you.” Zhao Qi knew Sun Song’s reputation and told the truth; they rode home together. Sun Song told his mother, “I went out and found a friend for life and death.” He feasted him in the main hall with highest joy. Sun Song hid him between walls for years while Zhao Qi wrote twenty-three stanzas of his “Ailment” ballad.
152
注[一]玹音玄。
Commentary: The graph 玹 is read like “xuan.”
153
注[二]決錄註：「襲字符嗣。 先是杜伯度、崔子玉以工草書稱於前代，襲與羅暉拙書，見蚩於張伯英。 英頗自鄉高，與朱賜書云『上比崔、杜不足，下方羅、趙有餘』」也。
Commentary: Zhao Xi, courtesy Zisi— —once ranked below Du and Cui as a calligrapher and was mocked by Zhang Zhi. Zhang Zhi boasted in a letter that he stood below the masters but above Luo and Zhao.”
154
注[三]決錄注曰：「岐長兄盤，州都官從事，早亡。 次兄無忌，字世卿，部河東從事，為玹所殺。 」戩音翦。
Commentary: His elder brother Pan died young as a provincial clerk. His brother Wuji, Hedong clerk, was murdered by Tang Xuan.” The nephew’s name Jian is read jian.
155
後諸唐死滅，因赦乃出。 三府聞之，同時並辟。 九年，乃應司徒胡廣之命。 會南匈奴、烏桓、鮮卑反叛，公卿舉岐，擢拜并州刺史。 岐欲奏守邊之策，未及上，會坐黨事免，因撰次以為禦寇論。 [一]注[一]決錄注曰：「是時綱維不攝，閹豎專權，岐擬前代連珠之書四十章上之，留中不出。」
When the Tang clan fell and an amnesty was proclaimed, he emerged from hiding. All three ministries summoned him at once. In the ninth year he accepted Hu Guang’s call. When northern tribes revolted, the court made him Governor of Bingzhou. Partisan charges struck him down before he could submit border plans; he turned his drafts into a “Repelling Raiders” essay. Commentary: He sent forty chapters of “linked pearl” memorials against eunuch rule; the palace suppressed them.
156
靈帝初，復遭黨錮十餘歲。 中平元年，四方兵起，詔選故刺史、二千石有文武才用者，征岐拜議郎。 車騎將軍張溫西征關中，請補長史，別屯安定。 大將軍何進舉為敦煌太守，行至襄武，[一]岐與新除諸郡太守數人俱為賊邊章等所執。
Under Emperor Ling he endured another decade of partisan blacklisting. In 184 the court recalled veteran governors with talent; Zhao Qi was named a Court Gentleman. Zhang Wen’s western expedition took Zhao Qi as chief clerk with a separate camp at Anding. En route to Dunhuang at Xiangwu he was captured with other new governors by Bian Zhang’s rebels.
157
賊欲脅以為帥，岐詭辭得免，展轉還長安。 [二]注[一]縣名，屬隴西郡。
He talked his way out of leading the rebels and limped back to Chang’an. Commentary: Note two cites note one: Xiangwu was a county in Longxi.
158
注[二]決錄注曰「岐還至陳倉，復遇亂兵，裸身得免，在草中十二日不食」也。
Commentary: A gloss adds that he later fled naked through mutiny at Cangcao and fasted twelve days in the weeds.
159
及獻帝西都，復拜議郎，稍遷太僕。 及李傕專政，使太傅馬日磾撫慰天下，以岐為副。 日磾行至洛陽，表別遣岐宣揚國命，所到郡縣，百姓皆喜曰：「今日乃復見使者車騎。」
After the move west with Emperor Xian he rose again to Court Gentleman and then Grand Coachman. Li Jue sent Ma Midi on a goodwill tour of the empire with Zhao Qi as second. Ma Midi asked Zhao Qi to carry the imperial voice east; villagers rejoiced to see a Han envoy’s chariot again.
160
是時袁紹、曹操與公孫瓚爭冀州，紹及操聞岐至，皆自將兵數百里奉迎，岐深陳天子恩德，宜罷兵安人之道，又移書公孫瓚，為言利害。 紹等各引兵去，皆與岐期會洛陽，奉迎車駕。 岐南到陳留，得篤疾，經涉二年，期者遂不至。
Yuan Shao and Cao Cao rode hundreds of li to meet him; he preached the emperor’s mercy, urged disarmament, and wrote Gongsun Zan on the folly of civil war. They pulled back their hosts and promised to rally in Luoyang for the emperor’s return. He fell desperately ill at Chenliu for two years, and the Luoyang rendezvous never happened.
161
興平元年，詔書征岐，會帝當還洛陽，先遣□將軍董承修理宮室。 岐謂承曰：「今海內分崩，唯有荊州境廣地勝，西通巴蜀，南當交址，年谷獨登，兵人差全。
In 194 the court summoned him while General Dong Cheng was ordered to refurbish the Luoyang palaces for the emperor’s return. He told Dong Cheng that only Liu Biao’s Jingzhou still had grain, defensible ground, and links to Shu.
162
岐雖迫大命，猶志報國家，欲自乘牛車，南說劉表，可使其身自將兵來□朝廷，與將軍並心同力，共□王室。 此安上救人之策也。 」承即表遣岐使荊州，督租糧。 岐至，劉表即遣兵詣洛陽助修宮室，軍資委輸，前後不絕。 時孫嵩亦寓於表，表不為禮，岐乃稱嵩素行篤烈，因共上為青州刺史。 岐以老病，遂留荊州。
Though dying, he offered to ride an ox cart south to persuade Liu Biao to march to Luoyang and join Dong Cheng in upholding the throne. That was his plan to save the dynasty.” Dong Cheng memorialized the mission and put him in charge of shipping grain. Liu Biao sent troops and endless supplies to rebuild Luoyang. When Liu Biao snubbed Sun Song, Zhao Qi praised Sun’s integrity and won him the Qingzhou inspectorship. Age and illness kept Zhao Qi in Jingzhou.
163
曹操時為司空，舉以自代。 光祿勳桓典、少府孔融上書薦之，於是就拜岐為太常。 年九十餘，建安六年卒。 先自為壽藏，[一]圖季札、子產、晏嬰、叔向四像居賓位，又自畫其像居主位，皆為讚頌。 □其子曰：「我死之日，墓中聚沙為默，布簟白衣，散發其上，覆以單被，即日便下，下訖便掩。 」岐多所述作，蓋孟子章句、三輔決錄傳於時。 [二]注[一]壽藏謂塚壙也。 稱壽者，取其久遠之意也。 猶如壽宮、壽器之類。 頤在今荊州古郢城中也。
Cao Cao, then Minister of Works, nominated him as his successor. Huan Dian and Kong Rong seconded the call, and he became Grand Master of Ceremonies. He died in 201, aged over ninety. He designed his own tomb with portraits of four ancient worthies as “guests” and himself as host, each with a verse. He instructed his son: simple sand floor, white robe, loose hair, one cover—same-day burial, then seal the vault.” His Mengzi commentary and Records of the Three Adjuncts long circulated among scholars. Commentary: “Longevity crypt” means the grave chamber prepared in life. The word “longevity” wishes long endurance for the site. The same usage appears in other “longevity” tomb terms. Commentary: His tomb lay in the old Ying capital in Hubei.
164
注[二]決錄序曰：「三輔者，本雍州之地，世世徙公卿吏二千石及高貲，皆以陪諸陵。 五方之俗雜會，非一國之風，不但繫於詩秦、豳也。 其為士好高尚義，貴於名行。 其俗失則趣埶進權，唯利是視。 余以不才，生於西土，耳能聽而聞故老之言，目能視*[而]*見衣冠之疇，心能識而觀其賢愚。 常以玄冬，夢黃發之士，姓玄名明，字子真，與余寤言，言必有中，善否之閒，無所依違，命操筆者書之。 近從建武以來，暨於斯今，其人既亡，行乃可書，玉石朱紫，由此定矣，故謂之決錄矣。」
Commentary: The Sanfu jue lu preface describes the forced settlement of elite families around the Han tombs. The region blended customs from every quarter, not merely the Qin and Bin airs of the Classic of Poetry. Local gentlemen prized lofty principle and reputation. When morals failed, men chased connections and profit. The author says he grew up hearing elders and watching the capital’s elite. He records dreams of a sage named Xuan Ming dictating true judgments he set down in winter. From Guangwu to his own day he fixed reputations in writing—hence the title Jue lu (“Decisive Record”).”
165
贊曰：吳翁溫愛，義干剛烈。 [一]延、史字人，風和恩結。 梁使顯刑，誣黨潛絕。 子幹兼姿，逢掖臨師。 [二]邠卿出疆，專出朝威。 [三]注[一]謂以義干梁冀爭李固也。
The verse praises Wu You’s gentle speech and brave remonstrance. Yan Du and Shi Bi won men by kindness. Shi Bi’s defiance of Liang Ji’s agents broke the partisan round-up. Lu Zhi (“Zigan”) brought both dignity and learning to Ma Rong’s lecture hall. Zhao Qi crossed the line of personal safety to speak for the Han in Dong Zhuo’s hall. Commentary: The first gloss still refers to Wu You’s protest to Liang Ji over Li Gu.
166
注[二]禮記孔子曰：「丘少居魯，衣逢掖之衣。 」鄭玄注曰：「逢猶大也。 為大掖之衣，此君子有道蓺者所衣也。 」相承本作縫，義亦通。
Commentary: The Liji cites Confucius on the wide-sleeved robe of Lu scholars. Zheng Xuan glosses feng as “large.” It was the gown of cultivated gentlemen.” Some manuscripts write a homophone for “sew”; both readings work.
167
注[三]疆，界也。 左傳曰：「大夫出疆，苟利社稷，專之可也。」
Commentary: Jiang means a border or limit. The Zuo Tradition authorizes ministers abroad to act for the altars’ good.
168
校勘記
Editorial collation (notes on textual variants) follows.
169
二０九九頁七行常牧豕於長垣澤中按：集解引惠棟說，謂袁紀作「長羅澤」。 水經注雲圈稱言長垣縣有羅亭，故長羅縣也，後漢並長垣。 有長羅澤，季英牧豕處。
Collation: Hui Dong notes the Yuan ji reads “Changluo marsh” instead of “Changyuan marsh.” The Shui jing zhu identifies the place with the old Changluo county seat. The marsh where Wu You kept pigs is thus identified as Changluo.
170
二０九九頁一二行裴氏廣* (川) **[州]*記據殿本考證改。
Collation note on Pei’s Guang— (chuan) —emended to Guangzhou ji per the palace edition’s collation.
171
二一００頁一行桂陽甲騎九真都龐按：集解引沉欽韓說，謂水經注「甲騎」作「騎田」，「都龐」作「部龍」。 又按：汲本「都龐」作「都寵」。
Collation: Shen Qinhan cites the Shui jing zhu’s variant place names. The Ji manuscript writes “Dulong.”
172
二一００頁一四行及* (祀) **[犯]*軷據殿本改。 按：殿本考證謂「犯」字監本誤「祀」，據周禮大馭文改正。
Collation: “and”— (si) —“cross the ba”—emended per the palace edition. The error si for fan is corrected from the Zhou li.
173
二一００頁一五行*[犯]*軷* (祀) *者據殿本改。
Collation: fragment on “crossing the ba”— (si) —emended per the palace edition.
174
二一００頁一五行以*[菩]*芻棘□為神主據刊誤補，與周禮鄭注合。
Collation: restores straw/thorn wording to match Zheng Xuan.
175
二一０一頁六行觀過斯知人矣按：殿本「人」作「仁」，疑後人據論語改。 錢大昕謂古書仁人二字多通用，然以「人」義為長。
Collation: Dian ben’s “benevolence” for “man” may be a late change from the Analects. Qian Daxin argues both graphs interchange but “man” fits better.
176
二一０一頁七行安丘男子毋丘長按：「毋」原斗「母」，逕據殿本改正。
Collation: corrects 母 to 毋 for the surname Wuqiu.
177
二一０一頁一０行明府雖加哀鄉汲本、殿本「鄉」作「矜」。 按：段注說文作「鄉」，雲□矛令聲。
Collation: Ji and Dian read “pity” instead of “xiang.” Duan Yucun’s Shuowen note keeps “xiang.”
178
二一０二頁一行年二十二按：殿本作「年三十二」。
Collation: Dian ben gives thirty-two instead of twenty-two.
179
二一０三頁一行延篤字叔堅按：集解引汪文臺說，謂御覽四百五十二引謝承書，雲「字叔固」。
Collation: Xie Cheng may give Shugu instead of Shujian.
180
二一０三頁一行旬日能諷之按：殿本「諷」下有「誦」字。
Collation: Dian ben adds “chant” after “recite.”
181
二一０三頁七行嗟乎延生按：「乎」原作「呼」，逕據汲本、殿本改。
Collation: restores 乎 for a miswritten 呼.
182
二一０三頁一一行南平陽故城*[在]*今兗州鄒縣據汲本、殿本補。
Collation: supplies missing “lies” per Ji and Dian.
183
二一０五頁一行其為仁之本與按：集解引錢大昕說，謂葛本「仁」作「人」，今本論語作「仁」，初學記友悌部、御覽人事部引論語俱作「人」，與有子先言「其為人也孝弟」，後言「其為人之本」，首尾相應，亦當以「人」為長也。
Collation: Qian Daxin argues the older Analects text read “man” not “benevolence.”
184
二一０六頁一０行坐於客堂按：集解引沉欽韓說，謂「客」一本作「容」，是也。 隱蔽自障者皆謂之容。 堂前有屏蔽之設，故曰容堂。
Collation: “guest” may be “screened hall” (rong). Commentators gloss rong as screened privacy. Hence “hall of screens.”
185
二一０八頁一三行悉條諸生聚斂奸吏按：殿本考證謂「生」字疑衍。
Collation: Dian suspects a superfluous “students.”
186
二一０九頁一行桓帝弟渤海王悝何焯校本改「渤」為「勃」。 按：下文皆作「勃」，故何氏改為一律。
Collation: He Zhuo normalizes the spelling of Bohai to match the rest of the chapter. The following text uses the 勃 form consistently.
187
二一一０頁三行伍被勸淮南* (子) **[王]*謀反誅也據汲本、殿本改。
Collation: Huainan— (zi) —heir—emended per Ji and Dian.
188
二一一一頁五行* (奉) **[俸]*音扶用反據汲本、殿本改，與正文合。
Collation: marginal note— (feng) —salary—emended to match the received text.
189
二一一一頁八行生乃說以它事謁弼按：刊誤謂案文「說」字當作「詭」，謂詭譎也。
Collation: Kanwu argues shui should read gui (“deceive”).
190
二一一一頁一０行侯覽大怨按：殿本「怨」作「怒」。
Collation: Dian uses “anger” instead of “grudge.”
191
二一一二頁八行洪字子林按：殿本「林」作「休」。
Collation: Dian gives Zixiu instead of Zilin.
192
二一一二頁一四行似夫儒者汲本、殿本「儒」作「懦」。 按：說文儒，柔也。 儒有懦弱義，非斗字。
Collation: Ji and Dian read “timid” rather than “Ru.” The Shuowen glosses ru as “soft.” The sense “soft/timid” is intentional, not a scribal error.
193
二一一三頁三行聞活千人者有封*[子]*孫據殿本補。
Collation: Dian supplies “descendants” in the quotation.
194
二一一三頁三行*[後]*世其興乎據汲本、殿本補。
Collation: Ji and Dian supply “later” in the quotation.
195
二一一六頁二行發起□謬按：集解引惠棟說，謂「□謬」疑「紕繆」之訛。
Collation: Hui Dong emends a garbled phrase to pimi.
196
二一一六頁三行無力供繕*[寫]*上據汲本、殿本補。
Collation: Ji and Dian supply “to present” in Lu Zhi’s memorial.
197
二一一七頁一二行攘服災咎汲本、殿本「攘」作「禳」。 按：攘禳通。
Collation: Ji and Dian read the exorcistic character 禳 rather than 攘. Commentary: The characters for “seize” and “ritual expulsion” are used interchangeably in this note.
198
二一一八頁一行朓者月行速在日前按：「日」原斗「目」，逕據汲本、殿本改正。
Collation: corrects a miswritten “eye” to “sun” in the gloss on tiao.
199
二一一八頁一行君舒緩則臣* (嬌) **[驕]*慢據汲本、殿本改。
Collation: continuation of Liu Xiang’s line—when the ruler slackens, ministers— The marginal gloss marks an alternate character for the word rendered “arrogant” in the line above. —“arrogant”—emended per Ji and Dian editions.
200
二一一八頁七行後以王甫程阿所構按：「甫」原斗「封」，逕據汲本、殿本改正。
Collation: restores Wang Fu’s name from a miswritten “seal.”
201
二一一九頁六行今先害*[之]*刊誤謂案文少「之」字，不成文理。 又集解引惠棟說，謂先賢傳云「今先害之」。 今據補。
Collation: Kanwu notes the object “him” is missing in the quotation. Hui Dong cites a fuller text of the Xianxian zhuan. The edition supplies “him” accordingly.
202
二一二一頁五行趙岐字邠卿按：此傳「岐」字原本皆作「歧」，汲本同。 王先謙謂殿本「歧」作「岐」，古書通作，以「岐」為是。 今一律依殿本改為「岐」。
Collation: early editions wrote the homophone “歧” for Zhao Qi’s name. Wang Xianqian prefers the standard graph 岐 used in the palace edition. The text is normalized to 岐 per the Dian ben.
203
二一二一頁七行年三十餘有重疾按：御覽五百一引「三十餘」作「四十餘」。
Collation: Yu lan gives forty rather than thirty sui.
204
二一二五頁一行目能視*[而]*見衣冠之疇據汲本補。
Collation: Ji ben supplies the conjunction “and” in Zhao Qi’s preface.
205
二一二五頁一行常以玄冬夢黃發之士集解引惠棟說，謂據御覽三百九十九卷引「玄冬」下有「修夜思而未之得也忽然而寢」十二字，「夢」下有「此」字。 今按：御覽「士」作「叟」。
Collation: Hui Dong cites a longer Yu lan quotation with extra lines before the dream. Collation: Yu lan reads “old man” instead of “gentleman.”
206
二一二五頁一行字子真按：惠棟謂御覽引「字」下有「曰」字。
Collation: Hui Dong notes Yu lan inserts “said” after the courtesy name.