← Back to 後漢書

卷七十一 皇甫嵩朱儁列傳

Volume 71: Biographies of Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun

Chapter 78 of 後漢書 · Book of Later Han
← Previous Chapter
Chapter 78
Next Chapter →
1
Huangfu Song.
2
[1]
Huangfu Song, styled Yizhen, came from Chaona in Anding Commandery and was nephew to General Who Crosses the Liao Huangfu Gui. His father, Huangfu Jie, had been Administrator of Yanmen. From boyhood he showed civil and martial ambition, loved letters, and drilled in bow and saddle. He was first recommended as Filial and Incorrupt and as Abundant Talent. [1] Grand Commandant Chen Fan and General-in-Chief Dou Wu repeatedly summoned him to office, yet he refused every appointment. Emperor Ling called him to the capital as a Court Gentleman Consultant and later promoted him to Administrator of Beidi.
3
[7] [8][9]使 西 [10]
Zhu Jun had already clashed with the rebel Bo Cai and lost; Song therefore moved up and secured Changshe. Bo Cai led a great host to surround the city. Song’s troops were few and his soldiers were all afraid, so he summoned his officers and said: ‘Warfare admits strange shifts; it does not lie in numbers alone. [7] These men have pitched their camps in the dry grass—they are vulnerable to wind and fire. If we wait for night and send flames through their lines, they will break in terror. Then we sortie from the gates and close every side—the feat Tian Dan once pulled off at Jimo can be ours." ’[8] That night the wind rose as if on cue. Song had every man bundle rushes and take position on the battlements; [9] elite squads slipped through the ring, lit the camps, and roared the alarm; bonfires flared along the wall in reply. Song crashed the drums and drove straight into their ranks. The Yellow Turbans scattered in chaos. At that moment Cao Cao arrived at the head of an imperial column; Song and Cao united with Zhu Jun, renewed the battle, and shattered the defenders, claiming tens of thousands of heads. The court invested Huangfu Song as Marquis of Duxiang. Song and Zhu Jun carried the pursuit into Runan and Chen, ran Bo Cai down at Yangdi, crushed Peng Tuo at Xihua, and broke both bands. [10] The surviving rebels capitulated or melted away, and three commanderies were declared quiet.
4
[11]
They pushed on to Cangting in Dong command, seized the Yellow Turban leader Bu Ji alive, and piled up over seven thousand heads. Northern Army general Lu Zhi and Eastern Army general Dong Zhuo had failed against Zhang Jiao and withdrawn; the throne now commanded Song to take up the offensive. Song met Zhang Liang—Zhang Jiao’s younger brother—near Guangzong. [11] Liang’s veterans were fierce and fresh, and Song could not break them. The following day he stood down, sealed the camps, and waited to see what the enemy would do. Once he sensed their guard slipping, he moved under cover of darkness, hit their camp at cockcrow, and hammered them until dusk. Liang fell; thirty thousand heads were counted; perhaps fifty thousand drowned in the river; thirty thousand supply carts went up in smoke; dependents were rounded up and prisoners numbered beyond reckoning. Zhang Jiao had died of sickness weeks before; Song’s men exhumed him, dishonored the corpse, and forwarded the head to Luoyang.
5
鹿 [12][13]
With Giant Deer prefect Guo Dian of Fengyi he struck Zhang Bao at Xiaquyang and struck off his head too. They harvested upwards of a hundred thousand heads and prisoners and raised a victory mound of skulls south of the walls. [12] He was named General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Left (the transmitted graph ‘chariot’ is likely a scribal slip for ‘general’), Governor of Ji, Marquis of Huaili with two counties as his fief, [13] totaling eight thousand households.
6
* () **[]*
With the rebellion crushed, the court adopted the new era name Zhongping. Song asked that Ji province’s grain levy be waived for a year to feed the hungry, and the emperor agreed. Folk sang: ‘Heaven’s disorder turns bazaars to wasteland; mothers lose sons and wives lose husbands—yet Huangfu gave us back a roof and a hearth.’ ’ Song warmed to his men and they loved him in return: at every halt he would not retire until the camp stood ready—only then did he take his own quarters. Not until every soldier had eaten would Huangfu Song sit down to his own meal. If an aide took a bribe, Song pressed silver and goods on him until shame overcame the man—some went so far as suicide.
7
After the Turbans fell, Song’s name terrified every quarter, but Luoyang slid deeper into disorder and the country starved. So Yan Zhong of Hanyang, who had been magistrate of Xindu, waylaid Song with a dangerous proposition:
8
[14] [15]
[14] ‘The moment that cannot be grasped twice is occasion; what comes at its hour yet allows no heel-turn is opportunity. Therefore the sage moves with the times; the wise man strikes when opportunity appears. Now you, General, have met a fortune rarely granted and tread upon an opening that easily alarms others; yet having stepped into fortune you do not seize it, and facing opportunity you do not act—how will you preserve your great name?" Song answered, ‘Explain yourself.’ Zhong continued: ‘Heaven is impartial—the crowd backs whoever shows strength. You took the axe in spring’s last month and sealed success before winter closed.’ [15] Your armies move like spirits; you plot once and need not plot twice; breaking the strong is easier than snapping dry wood; melting the hardened is swifter than boiling snow. Within the span of a month divine soldiers swept like lightning; corpses were piled and stone monuments carved; reports went south to the throne; awe and virtue shook the capital and your fame raced beyond the seas—not even the deeds of Tang or Wu tower above yours. Now you embody merit beyond any reward and bear the virtue of a towering man, yet you bow north to a mediocre lord—how can you hope for safety?" Song replied, ‘I serve the common weal day and night; disloyalty is far from my mind—why should I fear?’
9
[16] [17][18]使使 [19] [20][21] [22] [23]
‘That is not how power works,’ said Zhong. Formerly Han Xin could not bear to cast aside a single meal’s kindness and so threw away the enterprise of three parts; the keen sword was already at his throat before he uttered his bitter regrets—because the moment had slipped and his plans went awry. [16] Your emperor is weaker than Liu Bang or Xiang Yu ever were, while your grip exceeds Han Xin’s—a wave of your arm stirs storm; a shout could pass for thunder.’ [17] Shake off restraint, ride collapse when it comes; [18] shower favor on early allies and shock the hesitant with arms; rally Ji’s talent, march the levies of seven provinces; let urgent orders fly before you and the main host boom behind—cross the Zhang, water at Mengjin, put the eunuchs to the sword, and rinse away piled-up corruption. Children would strike for you and women march—need one speak of tiger troops borne on a hurricane?’ Once the enterprise has been completed and all under heaven has submitted, then call upon the Supreme Thearch, reveal the Mandate of Heaven, unite and equalize the six directions, face south and issue commands, transfer the precious vessels to the power that is about to rise, [19] and push the doomed Han down from where it has already fallen. This is truly the supreme meeting of divine opportunity and the fine moment when the wind has risen. Timber already rotten cannot be carved; a declining age is hard to assist. If you wish to prop up a court beyond aiding and carve wood already spoiled, it is like rolling a ball uphill or rowing straight into the wind—can anyone call that easy? Moreover the castrates pack the palace like hawkers [20]; edicts die on the steps while intimates hold the seal; no loyal minister lasts under a dim king; [21] rewards cannot match your fame and slanderers already slant their eyes—wait, and remorse arrives bare-handed.’ Song said, shaken, ‘Plots fit for upheaval do not suit ordinary times. Founding a grand achievement out of nothing—is that something a mediocre talent can accomplish? The Yellow Turbans were petty evil; the foe was no Qin or Xiang Yu; newly gathered bands scatter easily and cannot sustain a great undertaking. Moreover the people have not forgotten their ruler; Heaven does not bless rebellion. If I invent merit that cannot be hoped for and hasten disaster within days, how does that compare with committing loyalty to this court and preserving a minister’s integrity? Though slander may abound, at worst I would be dismissed and cast aside; I would still keep a fair name and die without decay. [22] I will not hear plots against the grain.’ Zhong saw he had lost Song and vanished. The received edition carries an annotator’s tag for note twenty-three at this point.
10
使
When Bian Zhang and Han Sui rose on the Long right, an edict the following spring sent Song back to hold Chang’an and shield the mausolea. They poured into the Three Adjuncts once more, and Song was told to take them in hand.
11
During the Zhang Jiao campaign his road ran through Ye; finding Attendant Zhao Zhong’s compound outrageously grand, he seized it by memorial. Attendant Zhang Rang privately demanded fifty million cash and was refused; both men bore a grudge and accused Song of wasting treasure on fruitless battles. In autumn they recalled him, lifted his credentials as General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Left, carved six thousand households from his fief, and reissued him as Marquis of Duxiang at two thousand households.
12
* () **[]*
In the fifth year of Zhongping, (Scribal slip: the name should be Liangzhou, not the unrelated Liang.) Rebels from Liangzhou under Wang Guo invested Chen Cang; Song was restored as General of the Left with Dong Zhuo as Forward General—each commanded twenty thousand to hold them off. Zhuo pressed for a forced march to lift the siege; Song refused. Zhuo said: ‘The wise do not lag behind the hour; the brave do not postpone resolution. If we rescue swiftly the city survives; if we do not the city perishes—the outcome of survival or ruin hangs on this." ’ Song said: ‘It is not so. To win a hundred battles a hundred times is not so good as defeating the enemy’s army without fighting. Therefore first make yourself unconquerable and await the enemy’s vulnerability. Being unconquerable lies with me; being vulnerable lies with them.
13
[24] [25]
They defend from weakness; we attack from strength.’ [24] Strength strikes from the ninth heaven; weakness sinks to the ninth abyss.’ [25] Chen Cang is tiny but its ramparts are tight—not the ‘ninth abyss’ of doomed defense.’ Wang Guo may be fierce, yet he spends his fury on a city we need not rescue—hardly the stance of strength raining blows from on high.’ Without that height the attacker bleeds; without that depth the garrison never yields.’ Wang Guo has stumbled onto ground that consumes attackers, while Chen Cang remains an iron nut—why exhaust our legions when patience buys total victory? What use is a reckless relief?’ Song held his ground.
14
* () **[]** () **[]* [26] [27]
For eighty days from winter into spring Wang Guo battered Chen Cang and gained no breach. His army frayed and slipped away of its own accord. Song marched after them. Zhuo said: ‘We cannot. The canon says: Never harry a foe driven desperate— (The variant reading is ‘press, harry’.) —nor chase a retreating mass— (The alternate reading is ‘pursue’.) —with further pressure. [26] If we pursue Guo now we press a retreating mass and drive cornered bandits. A cornered beast still fights; hornets and scorpions carry venom—[27] how much more a great multitude!"
15
使
’ Song said: ‘It is not so. Earlier I did not strike because I avoided their keen edge. We strike now precisely because we let their strength run down. Our target is a worn-out army, not men marching home in good order. Wang Guo’s men are on the run and have lost the stomach for battle. We hit chaos with discipline—these are not foe driven to the last ditch." He pressed the pursuit alone and told Dong Zhuo to hold the rear guard.
16
He routed them repeatedly, piled up over ten thousand heads, and Wang Guo bolted only to perish on the road. Dong Zhuo burned with humiliation and jealousy and never forgave Song.
17
使 [28] [29]使 西西
The following year Zhuo became Governor of Bing; the court told him to yield command to Song, and he defied the order. Song’s nephew Li [28], then with the army, urged Song: ‘Our dynasty has lost the reins and the realm hangs upside down; only you, sir, and Dong Zhuo can steady the tipping vessel. Now ill will is already tangled; the two of you cannot both endure. Zhuo received an edict to surrender his army yet memorialized to keep it—that is defiance of orders. Again, because the capital is dark with turmoil he hesitates to advance—this is harboring treachery. Moreover he is brutal and trusts no kin; officers and men do not cleave to him. Take the baton as commander-in-chief, invoke imperial dignity against him, show loyalty to the throne and rid the realm of a brute—that is work worthy of Duke Huan or Duke Wen.’ ’ Song said: ‘Though acting on one’s own authority is a crime, arbitrary execution also carries blame. [29] Better lay the evidence before the throne and let Luoyang judge.’ He sent up a full report. The emperor scolded Zhuo, who hated Song all the more. Once Zhuo held the government, in Chuping 1 he recalled Song as Colonel of the City Gates, meaning to murder him. As Song was about to depart, Chief Clerk Liang Yan urged him: ‘The house of Han is feeble; castrates threw court into chaos; though Zhuo slew them he did not devote loyalty to the state—instead he plundered the capital at will and deposed or enthroned as he pleased. Now if you answer the summons, at worst you court calamity, at best humiliation and bondage. Zhuo holds the east; the emperor flees west—meet him with thirty thousand veterans, proclaim a loyal crusade, rally every warlord: Yuan’s coalition pins Zhuo from the east, you from the west, and he is finished.’ Song declined the gamble and went to the capital. Ministers acting on Zhuo’s nod had Song thrown in jail and readied the headsman.
18
[30]
His son Jianshou, once friendly with Zhuo, escaped Chang’an for Luoyang and pleaded for his father’s life. Zhuo was mid-feast when Jianshou strode in, upbraided him on honor and duty, [30] and battered his brow on the flags until blood mixed with tears. Guests rose from their cushions, voices tangled in Song’s favor. Zhuo relented, pulled the youth to his own bench, and shared his cup.
19
使 [31] [32] [33]
He freed Song, restored him as Court Gentleman Consultant, and raised him to Palace Assistant Imperial Clerk. On Zhuo’s return to Chang’an the whole bureaucracy lined the highway to kowtow. Zhuo compelled every clerk from Palace Assistant down to bow—and humiliate—Song; [31] then he sneered, ‘Yizhen, have you learned to wear the harness yet?’ ’[32] Song forced a smile and mollified him; Zhuo’s temper cooled. [33] The manuscript preserves an editor’s tag at this juncture.
20
西 [34]祿
When Zhuo fell, Song became General Who Conquers the West, then General of Chariots and Cavalry. Autumn brought him the Grand Commandancy; winter brought a comet and summary dismissal. [34] He returned as Grand Household Minister and rose to Grand Master of Ceremonies. Before long Li Jue rose; Song died sick. The court gave him the posthumous rank of General of Agile Cavalry and ennobled one kinsman as a court gentleman.
21
[35]
Song was meticulous: over five hundred memorials that helped policy passed under his brush, each rough copy burned so gossip never saw them. He humbled himself before talent and kept his gate open past dusk. [35] Contemporaries sang his virtues and flocked to his door.
22
Jianshou won fame too; offered Palace Attendant, he refused and died in bed.
23
[36]
Zhu Jun, styled Gongwei, came from Shangyu in Kuaiji Commandery. Orphaned early, he was raised by a mother who peddled silk. He won notice for supporting her with filial care, clerked at the county office, prized honor over coin, and neighbors tipped their hats. When Zhou Gui of the same county took a capital appointment he borrowed a million from the county vault for travel gear; sudden dunning followed and his kin could not pay—Jun stole his mother’s silk to clear Zhou’s debt. [36] When she discovered the empty chest she scolded him furiously. ‘Small loss, large gain,’ he said; ‘start poor, end rich—that is how heaven balances accounts.’
24
簿
Magistrate Du Shang of Shanyang spotted the deed, praised him to Prefect Wei Yi, and Jun climbed the local ladder rung by rung. Prefect Yin Duan later made him chief clerk.
25
In Xiping 2 Yin Duan attacked bandit Xu Zhao, lost, and the province indicted him for public execution. Jun slipped to Luoyang in rags with a few hundred in gold, greased the memorial office, and had the charge softened to penal labor at the Left Arsenal. Yin Duan thanked fortune and never learned who bought his life; Jun kept silent forever.
26
調[37] 使
Prefect Xu Gui recommended him Filial and Incorrupt; two steps up he governed Lanling with such skill that the Donghai chancellor memorialized him. Meanwhile Jiao Province boiled with rebels and civil governors lacked steel to stop them. Liang Long of Jiao led ten thousand men alongside Nanhai prefect Kong Zhi and tore through the delta towns. Guanghe 1 named him Inspector of Jiao; he detoured home to raise household veterans and drafted militia—[37] five thousand in all—in two columns. On arrival he held his lines, sent scouts into each commandery to measure the enemy and broadcast imperial majesty, then marched with seven commanderies’ levies, struck Liang Long dead, and accepted tens of thousands of surrenders—a quiet province within weeks. The throne made him Marquis of Ducheng at fifteen hundred households, poured fifty catties of gold into his lap, and recalled him as Grandee Remonstrant.
27
西
As Turbans flared, ministers praised his gifts; he became General of the Household on the Right with imperial baton, paired with Huangfu Song on the left, and swept Yingchuan, Runan, and Chen clean. Song reported victory yet handed the glory to Jun, who gained Marquis of Xixiang and the title General Who Suppresses Bandits.
28
使
In Nanyang, Zhang Mancheng styled himself ‘Supernal Herald,’ slaughtered Prefect Chu Gong, and besieged Wan for months with tens of thousands.
29
[38] 西 退
Prefect Qin Jie slew Mancheng; the bands raised Zhao Hong until over a hundred thousand held the walls of Wan. Jun, Inspector Xu Qiu, and Qin Jie brought eighteen thousand to invest Zhao Hong from summer into autumn without a breach. The ministry urged his recall. Minister of Works Zhang Wen submitted a memorial: ‘Formerly Qin employed Bai Qi and Yan entrusted Yue Yi—both needed years before enemies yielded. [38] Jun proved himself in Yingchuan; his southern thrust is set—changing captains midstream invites defeat; give him time and hold him to outcome.’ Emperor Ling dropped the recall. Jun hammered the walls and struck Zhao Hong down. Lieutenant Han Zhong reopened Wan against him. Outnumbered, he ringed the city, piled siege mounds, drummed the southwest wall until every defender rushed thither, then led five thousand elites up the northeast parapet and poured inside. Han Zhong shrank into the inner citadel, begging terms with shaking voice. Major Zhang Chao, Xu Qiu, and Qin Jie voted to accept. Jun said: ‘War admits forms that look alike yet circumstances differ. In the age of Qin and Xiang Yu the people had no settled lord; therefore rewarding submission encouraged newcomers. Now within the seas there is unity; only the Yellow Turbans make rebellion—to welcome surrender does not encourage good, while crushing them suffices to punish evil. Grant terms now and every rebel learns to fight while winning and kneel while losing—you would nurse the next rising.’ He refused and pressed harder, yet the inner wall held.
30
忿 西 [39] 使祿[40]
Jun climbed the earth hill to observe, looked back at Zhang Chao and said: ‘I understand them now. The rebels now have their outer ring intact and their inner camp pressed tight; we refuse surrender yet grant no outlet—they therefore fight to the death. When ten thousand share one mind they cannot be withstood—how much more a hundred thousand! The butcher’s bill would choke heaven.’ Better lift the siege and combine troops inside the walls. When Han Zhong sees a gap he will sortie; outside the walls discipline breaks—that is when we cut him down.’ He drew the ring wide; Han Zhong charged out and Jun shattered him. The chase ran dozens of li and left ten thousand heads for the crows. Han Zhong capitulated. Qin Jie’s old grudge moved him to murder the prisoner. Survivors trembled, raised Sun Xia, and barricaded Wan anew. Jun stormed the walls again. Sun Xia bolted; Jun ran him to Mount Jing west of Xi'e and broke him a second time. [39] Another ten thousand heads fell and the rebellion dissolved. Next spring baton-bearing envoys named him General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Right; he brought the army home, took Grand Household Minister, gained five thousand extra households, became Marquis of Qiantang, [40] and received ‘Exceptional Merit’ precedence. Maternal mourning pulled him down; recall raised him Superintendent of the Imperial Clan, then Privy Treasurer, then Coachman.
31
[41]鹿[42] 便[43]
Behind the Turbans rose Black Mountain, Yellow Dragon, White Wave, Left School, Guo Daxian, Yu Digēn, Qing Niujiao, Zhang Baiqi, Liu Shi, Left-Zī Eight-Foot, Ping Han, Grand Clerk, Metropolitan Clerk Zai, [41] Thunder Duke, Drifting Cloud, Flying Swallow, White Sparrow, Yang Feng, Yu Du, Wulu, Big-Eye Li, Bai Rao, Gui Gu, Bitter-Shriek, [42]—hosts beyond numbering in the hills. [43] Loud shouters were ‘Thunder Duke,’ white horse riders ‘Zhang Baiqi,’ foot-quick men ‘Flying Swallow,’ bushy-bearded bands ‘Yu Digēn,’ wide-eyed chiefs ‘Big Eye’—every nickname had its tale. Major camps counted twenty or thirty thousand blades; minor ones six or seven thousand.
32
* () **[]*
Changshan’s Zhang Yan was lightning on his feet—troops dubbed him Flying Swallow. He bound his soldiers with loyalty and coordinated every hill stronghold from Zhongshan to Henei until their numbers mounted toward— (Critical note: graph should read ‘hundred,’ not ‘elder brother.’) They swelled past a million blades and earned the name Black Mountain rebels.
33
使使
Every district north of the great river burned while Luoyang mustered no answer. Zhang Yan sued for peace, won General Who Pacifies Crisis, superintended the northern hills, and kept yearly rights to recommend Filial-and-Incorrupt candidates and fiscal clerks.
34
祿
When Zhang Yan probed Henei and threatened the throne, Zhu Jun took that prefecture and repelled him with family retainers. Yuan Shao later crushed most of those bands—see his chapter. He rotated back through Grand Household Minister and Garrison Cavalry to City Gates colonel and Henan governor.
35
宿 使 西 使 使
Dong Zhuo ran the court; toward Jun the old warhorse he smiled in public and worried in private. As the eastern league grew, Zhuo summoned ministers again and again to debate moving west—Jun blocked every session. Zhuo hated the obstruction yet wanted Jun’s prestige, so he nominated him Coachman as nominal lieutenant. The imperial messenger offered the seal; Jun refused it. ‘Shift the court west,’ he said, ‘and you orphan every loyal heart while handing Shandong a banner—I see no wisdom there.’ The envoy pressed: ‘You were called to office yet resist; nobody consulted you on moving the capital yet you preach—why?’ ’ Jun said: ‘To serve as deputy to the Imperial Chancellor is beyond what this subject can bear; a plan to move the capital is not what pressing affairs require. Refusing what outmatches me and faulting what can wait—that is how a servant should speak.’ ‘Who spoke of the western move?’ asked the envoy. ‘No such edict has aired.’ ‘Chancellor Dong Zhuo told me himself,’ said Jun—that is my source.’
36
使
The envoys yielded; Zhuo dropped the deputy appointment.
37
使
When Zhuo marched through the passes he left Jun in Luoyang; Jun plotted with the eastern alliance as their man inside. Fearing Zhuo’s knives, he shed his seals and fled south into Jing. Zhuo named Yang Yi of Hongnong Henan governor to hold the eastern capital. Jun marched back on word of Yang Yi; the placeholder governor ran. Henan was stripped bare—Jun quartered at Zhongmou, mailed every governor, and begged levies against Zhuo. Tao Qian sent three thousand elites; other jurisdictions trickled aid until Tao petitioned Jun as acting General of Chariots and Cavalry. Zhuo countered by posting Li Jue and Guo Si with tens of thousands south of the Yellow River. Jun attacked and was shattered by Li and Guo. Knowing the odds, he hugged the barrier forts and advanced no farther.
38
[44][45] [46]
When Zhuo died and Li–Guo seized Chang’an, Jun remained at Zhongmou. Tao Qian deemed Jun a famed commander fit for great trust and, with regional strongmen, acclaimed him Grand Tutor, circulated summons to every governor, and vowed to crush Li Jue and welcome the emperor. They therefore submitted a memorial to Jun: ‘Inspector Tao Qian of Xu Province, former Inspector Zhou Gan of Yang Province, Chancellor Yinde of Langye, Chancellor Liu Kui of Donghai, [44] Chancellor Ji Lian of Pengcheng, Chancellor Kong Rong of Beihai, Chancellor Yuan Zhong of Pei, Administrator Ying Shao of Taishan, Administrator Xu Qiu of Runan, former Administrator Fu Qian of Jiujiang, Erudite Zheng Xuan, and others venture to address the acting General of Chariots and Cavalry and Governor of Henan at headquarters: [45] the state has already suffered Dong Zhuo and, doubly, the disaster of Li Jue and Guo Si; the young sovereign is held hostage, loyal men are broken, Chang’an is cut off and we know not whether it stands or falls. Therefore incumbent officials and gentry of insight are alike fearful, believing that unless a wise, enlightened, and heroic hegemon appears, who can settle such calamity! Since armies rose it has been three years; provinces and commanderies watch one another without daring a decisive blow, while wrangling private quarrels and doubting each other. Qian and the rest jointly consulted on ending the national crisis. All said: “You marry letters to arms; fate raised you; every gentleman cranes toward you.” So we steeled ourselves, chose shock troops for a drive on Xianyang, stocked six months’ grain, and pledged life and fortune to you as commander-in-chief.” Before plans matured Li Jue—on Zhou Zhong’s and Jia Xu’s counsel—summoned Jun to Chang’an. Jun’s officers feared the barrier and urged joining Tao Qian. Jun said: ‘When the lord summons his minister, propriety does not await the harnessing of horses—[46] how much less an imperial edict! Moreover Jue and Si are petty fellows; Fan Chou is a mediocrity; they harbor no grand designs and their strengths balance each other—crisis and mutiny are sure to arise. Exploit their cracks and Han may rise.’ He spurned Tao Qian, obeyed Li Jue, resumed the Coachmanship, and the eastern league dissolved.
39
Chuping 4 promoted him Grand Commandant over Zhou Zhong with Secretariat oversight. Next autumn an eclipse cost him his post; he became acting General of Agile Cavalry with baton to pacify the east. Before he marched Li Jue slew Fan Chou; Guo Si attacked Li Jue and Chang’an boiled—Jun stayed, took Minister of Agriculture, and never crossed the pass. Emperor Xian sent Jun with Yang Biao and a dozen ministers to coax Guo Si toward peace with Li Jue.
40
Guo Si refused and held Jun’s party hostage. Jun’s spine was steel; rage and shame struck him dead the same day.
41
His son Zhu Hao matched him in gifts and governed Yuzhang.
42
[47]滿 [48] [49] 祿[50][51] [52] [53]
The historian’s verdict: Song and Jun bore marshal-class minds when crisis handed them the axe. [47] Victory crowned them and awe filled the realm. [48] Yet when the boy emperor wandered and wolves held the capital—the hour Ye Gong cast his sleeve, the day Zhai Yi beat the drum—they heard Liang Yan and Shandong’s oaths yet clung to common scruples, forsook heaven-high deed, and stumbled into the tiger’s mouth for wise men to mock. [49] Did Heaven mean to stretch this night?’ How shallow courage proved when the road turned long!’ Earlier historian Hua Qiao of Pingyuan in Jin observed that his father, Grand Household Minister Hua Biao, [50] often said his grandfather, Wei Grand Commandant Hua Xin, [51] reported that men of the age praised Huangfu Song for not boasting: "in the battles of Ru and Yu he credited Zhu Jun; in the victory over Zhang Jiao he traced the root to Lu Zhi—gathering renown while folding his strategies, keeping nothing for himself. [52] Achievement and fame are what the age esteems most deeply. Refuse that prize and malice lacks teeth.’ To cross chaos like Song and finish with name and body whole—that jewel shines rare. So Yan Hui ranked ‘no boasting of virtue’ above every wish—sound craft for any life. [53] The commentary apparatus inserts note fifty-three at this point.
43
[54]* () **[]* [55] [56]
Encomium: Yellow Chaos broke—Song lifted the axe. Who recalled the columns yet seized no fief and claimed no praise? [54] Jun swept Chen and Ying, (variant graph yú ‘at/in’) and quieted the Yue marches. [55] Both bore imperial mandate—and both tripped on fate. [56] The stanza ends with commentary tag fifty-six.
44
Textual collation notes
45
Collation: "the Ji woodblock uses a different character for Jun in the chapter title."
46
A parallel text reads ‘wards’ where this one reads ‘cells.’
47
Yuan-era sources give a different graph for Zhang Liang’s name. Zizhi tongjian cites Jiuzhou on Zhang brothers’ order.
48
殿
Page 2310, line 11: Guangcheng. Note: "The palace edition writes the place name with a different final character; Comprehensive Mirror agrees with the palace form."
49
西殿
Page 2310, line 15: "Xuan Gate lies west of the Si River. Palace edition and Collected Explanations use a different first character for the river name." Hydronym: Hanshu’s Fan vs Shuijing’s Si.
50
殿
Palace text ‘strike’ for ‘bind captives.’
51
* () **[]*殿
Manuscript asterisk (phonetic gloss ěr) Emended per palace text to ‘then he tasted food.’ Note: "Wang Xianqian states that the personal-pronoun graph in the received line is the correct form."
52
The Ji imprint says ‘king’ at a point other editions read ‘ruler.’
53
* () **[]*
Line break: thirty-six (commanderies) ‘[bu].’ Collected Explanations cites Hui Dong: the word meaning commanderies should read sections; editors adopted his reading. The Dong Zhuo commentary agrees on Hui Dong’s reading.
54
* () **[]*
Asterisk (graph Liang) [Liang]zhou rebel Wang Guo besieged Chen Cang. Collected Explanations cites Hong Yisun: Lingdi ji writes ‘Liangzhou rebel Wang Guo’; the graph Liang here is erroneous. Emended.
55
* () **[]** () **[]*殿
Phrase begins ‘cornered foe do not’ + lacuna (Here the gloss intends the graph meaning press or harry.) Middle lacuna in paired prohibition (Here the gloss intends the graph meaning pursue.) Closing lacuna filled per Ji and palace texts. Note: The following text says ‘this is pressing a returning host and pursuing a cornered foe,’ showing it should read ‘do not pursue a cornered foe; do not press a returning host.’
56
Yuan texts record the nephew’s name with three different homophone spellings.
57
Wang Bu notes the comprehensive mirror version stresses disobedience; Hu Sanxing explains how each man’s act maps to that language.
58
Page 2307, line 15: ‘Song by nature was loving, cautious, and thoroughly diligent.’ Note: Kanwu states it should read ‘loving fear, diligent to the utmost.’
59
Imperial Readings preserves yet another spelling for Zhou’s personal name.
60
殿
The palace block prints a different graph for Prefect Chu’s name.
61
殿
Collation: palace text reads ‘already’ for ‘because’. Editors note those graphs could substitute for each other.
62
* () **[]*
Collation line breaks mid-name before emendation. (variant graph suggesting righteousness) deliberation] planned this dike.’ Kanwu argues the righteousness graph should read deliberation. Emended. Note: Imperial Readings 836 citing Qiantang ji reads ‘district deliberation officer Hua Xin’s clan was wealthy; therefore they deliberated on building this dike.’ Imperial Readings 74 citing Qiantang ji reads ‘formerly district deliberation officer Hua’s household Xin was wealthy; therefore they deliberated on building this dike.’ "The Imperial Readings quotations also contain errors, yet that righteousness should read deliberation admits no doubt."
63
··
Page 2310, line 14: ‘Green Ox Horn.’ Note: Commentary to Biography of Yuan Shao citing Jiuzhou Spring and Autumn and Wei Chronicle biography of Yuan Shao both write ‘Zhang Niujiao.’
64
·
Page 2310, line 14: ‘Left Beard Eight Feet.’ Note: Wei Chronicle biography of Zhang Yan, citing Zhang Fan’s Han ji, says ‘there were also Left School Guo Daxian, Left Beard Eight Feet—three divisions.’ Zhao reads Guo as Left School’s chief. Pan parses three separate aliases. Zhao’s partition: school band, Guo band, beard-and-eight band. Pan splits beard-chief from eight-feet epithet. Hu Sanxing sides with Pan’s compound reading.
65
Page 2310, line 15: ‘clerk zai.’ Note: Comprehensive Mirror writes ‘scaling the walls.’
66
Page 2310, line 15: ‘Yu Du.’ Ji edition writes ‘Gan Du.’ Note: Biography of Yuan Shao likewise writes ‘Gan Du’; Comprehensive Mirror writes ‘Yu Du.’
67
Page 2311, line 1: ‘Gui Gu.’ Note: Collected Explanations cites Hui Dong: Comprehensive Mirror writes ‘Sui Gu.’
68
殿
Page 2311, line 4: ‘clerk zai rendered scaling walls.’ Note: Ji edition writes ‘scaling zai’; palace edition writes ‘scaling cheng.’
69
* () **[]*殿
Line breaks before lacuna. (scribal elder graph) Palace text fills lacuna with million.
70
殿
Page 2312, line 2: ‘have not heard its plan.’ Note: The graph plan originally read punish; corrected directly per Ji and palace editions.
71
Page 2313, line 7: ‘the various provincial inspectors and superior commanderies together ranked with ministerial offices.’ Note: Kanwu argues inspectors ought to precede commanderies—how could superior commanderies appear—probably the original said inspectors together with commanderies ranked beneath ministerial headquarters.
72
Xu Han shu snippet on Zhu Jun’s early career.
73
‘Good’ may also be written ‘gentleman.’
74
Fan Ye fanqie on head-graph.
75
Fanqie double reading for banner.
76
"Moth is glossed yu-qi fan—that is the ant graph." Nickname referenced sheer swarm.
77
西
Geographic gloss for passes east of capital.
78
Sunzi states: ‘In general those who wage war join with the orthodox and prevail through the unorthodox. Sunzi on inexhaustible strangeness. Sunzi limits formations to zheng and qi. Closing Sunzi quotation."
79
穿
Intro to Jimo fire-cattle stratagem. Full Jimo cattle stratagem narrative. Cross-reference to Shiji.
80
Fanqie on torch reading. Explaining Graphs states: ‘bundled reeds set ablaze.’
81
西
Administrative note.
82
Song-era cartographic gloss.
83
Du Yu annotating Zuo Tradition says: ‘Heaping corpses and sealing earth atop them is called a victory mound.’
84
Huaili and Meiyang jurisdiction.
85
Gloss on presumptuous petition.
86
Laozi states: ‘Heaven’s way shows no partiality but constantly sides with the good.’ Change states: ‘human schemes and ghostly schemes—the hundred clans invest those who prove capable.’ Huainanzi states: ‘Whenever commanders are commissioned the ruler personally hands the axe and says: From here up to heaven the general commands it.’
87
使
Earlier Documents states Xiang Yu sent Wu She to persuade Han Xin; Xin said: ‘The king of Han stripped his coat for me and pushed his food to me—it would be ill-omened to betray him.’ Kuai Tong tripartite scheme. Han Xin’s refusal. When he later rebelled, Empress Lu’s men seized him; at the block he groaned that rejecting Kuai Tong’s counsel let a woman trap him—could anything be crueller proof of heaven’s mockery?
88
"The graph command-banner is the banner graph in antiquity—they interchange." Gloss Zhuo’s insult.
89
Fanqie for strike-graph. Definition.
90
Metaphor for imperial mandate.
91
Zuo Tradition: Han Xuanzi says ‘birds of a feather flock together like buyers in a market.’
92
Records of the Grand Historian: Fan Li says ‘under a towering name it is hard to dwell long.’
93
Attribution of prior couplet.
94
* () **[]*
Heroic Records states: ‘Liangzhou rebels Wang Guo and others rose, seized Bian Zhang as leader, united thirty-six— (commanderies graph) Thirty-six sections title. Bian Zhang’s death.
95
Attribution.
96
Sunzi states: ‘Those skilled in defense hide in the ninth layer of earth; those skilled in attack move in the ninth sphere of heaven.’ Maiden Xuan’s Three-Palace Battle Methods states: ‘The way of campaigning is heaven and earth’s treasure. Structure of cosmological grid. Calendrical placement. Lower grid placement. Promise of mastery."
97
Attribution.
98
Group attribution.
99
Fanqie on nephew’s surname.
100
Zuo Tradition states: ‘Reporting upward lacks awe; acting alone lacks filial piety.’
101
Gloss on rebuke sense.
102
Wind as indirect order.
103
Fanqie on draft-animal graph. Explaining Graphs states: ‘Pair oxen and ride horses.’ ‘Pair’ is the ancient graph for submit; northerners along the Yellow River still say this, reading bei.
104
Chronicle of Emperor Xian states: ‘At first Zhuo was Forward General and Song Left General; both campaigned against Bian Zhang and Han Sui and vied for supremacy. Zhuo taunts. Song deflects. Zhuo’s boast. Song’s riposte closing anecdote.
105
Alternative reason for Song’s removal.
106
Gloss on rapid promotion metaphor.
107
Zhou Gui debt gloss.
108
調調
Definition of family-host. Gloss on diao.
109
Bai Qi capsule biography opens. Early Bai Qi feat. Second campaign. Chu campaign. Deep Chu thrust. Yue Yi introduction. Yan conquest tally.
110
西
Geographic note on pursuit site.
111
* () **[]*
Qiantang is modern Hangzhou county. The Qiantang ji opens: "the district deliberation clerk Hua Xin— (variant righteousness graph) —planned this seawall after deliberation. They offered a thousand coins per hu of fill; within ten days laborers swarmed. Payments stopped short of completion; workers dumped their loads and walked off, leaving the berm piled high by default.’
112
"Jiuzhou Spring and Autumn writes Grand Clerk as Grand Flood and clerk zai as scaling the walls."
113
"Jiuzhou Spring and Autumn writes the syllable as qiú with fanqie cai-you."
114
Zuo cites the whiskered soldier’s taunt. ’ Du Yu’s commentary says: ‘Yu si describes a heavily bearded appearance.’
115
Fanqie note on personal name.
116
Citation header from Cai Zhi. ‘Provincial inspectors together with commanderies rank alongside ministerial headquarters—the phrase is “venture to address.”’
117
Analects states: ‘When the lord’s command summons one does not wait for the carriage to be yoked.’ Gloss on wait-graph.
118
Zuo Tradition states: ‘The great affairs of state lie in sacrifice and war. Sacrifice versus campaign ritual meats." Definition of shen meat. Erya states: ‘When undertaking great affairs and moving great hosts one must first conduct business at the altar of soil before departing—this is called yi.’
119
New Arrangements states: ‘Chu noble Gong Sheng Bai had already killed the chief minister and marshal and wished to enthrone Prince Min. Coercion scene. Prince Min’s refusal speech opens. Second parallel clause. Refusal to usurp. Murder for refusal. Restoration after coup." Gloss on sleeve metaphor. Zuo Tradition states: ‘When the Chu ruler heard it he cast aside his sleeve and rose. Zhai Yi reference. Odes states: ‘Array the hosts and announce the march.’ ’ Zheng Xuan’s commentary says: ‘Ju means proclaim.’
120
退
Gloss tying coalition to note. Documents praises ‘Yi Yin aligning with August Heaven.’ Analects states: ‘How can it compare to common men and women clutching petty good faith? ’ Zhuangzi states Confucius met Robber Zhi and withdrew saying: ‘I barely escaped the tiger’s jaws.’
121
Hua Qiao’s genealogical preface states: ‘Biao, courtesy name Weirong, was Xin’s son. Early office."
122
Wei Chronicle states: ‘Xin’s courtesy name was Ziyu.’
123
Idiom gloss on modesty.
124
Yan Hui’s humble vow.
125
Laozi states: ‘When merit is achieved do not dwell on it.’
126
* () **[]*
Cross-reference to Zhu Jun campaign. (particle graph) as] a grammatical particle—like the initial syllable in ‘Gou Wu.’
127
Gloss on stumble-graph in encomium.
← Previous Chapter
Back to Chapters
Next Chapter →