1
汉承战国余烈，多豪猾之民。 其并兼者则陵横邦邑，桀健者则雄张闾里。 且宰守旷远，户口殷大。 故临民之职，专事威断，族灭奸轨，先行后闻。 肆情刚烈，成其不桡之威。 违众用己，表其难测之智。 至于重文横入，为穷怒之所迁及者，亦何可胜言。 故乃积骸满{穴井}，漂血十里。 致温舒有虎冠之吏，延年受屠伯之名，岂虚也哉！ 若其揣挫强伤，摧勒公卿，碎裂头脑而不顾，亦为壮也。
The Han took over a world still marked by the Warring States, and among its people were many who were bold, ruthless, and cunning. The powerful swallowed weaker neighbors and rode roughshod over whole districts; the violent and the able made themselves masters of every lane and ward. Moreover, the officials set over the people held sway across vast distances, and the population within their registers was immense. So those who held authority over common folk leaned on terror and arbitrary judgment: they wiped out entire families for alleged villainy, struck first, and asked permission only later. They indulged their own harshness and forged a reputation for inflexible terror. They brushed aside consensus, trusted only themselves, and cultivated an air of inscrutable cunning. When the law was stretched to trap the innocent and men were swept up by fury run past all bounds, the toll became literally beyond words. Corpses were heaped until the burial pits overflowed, and blood ran in streams for miles. So it was that Wang Wenshu produced underlings called “tiger-hatted” enforcers, and Yan Nian won the nickname “the butcher’s broker”—and those reputations were no idle tales. There were also men who humbled the powerful, humiliated grandees, and split skulls without flinching—acts the age could only call bold.
2
自中兴以后，科网稍密，吏人之严害者，方于前世省矣。 而阉人亲娅，侵虐天下。 至使阳球磔王甫之尸，张俭剖曹节之墓。 若此之类，虽厌快众愤，亦云酷矣！ 俭知名，故附《党人篇》。
After the restoration, the legal net drew a little tighter, and clerks notorious for savagery were somewhat less common than in former times. Yet eunuchs and their in-laws ran rampant and tyrannized the empire. Matters went so far that Yang Qiu had Wang Fu’s corpse torn apart, and Zhang Jian broke open the tomb of Cao Jie. Such deeds may have gratified popular rage, but they were cruelty all the same. Because Zhang Jian was already a celebrated figure, his story is attached to the chapter on the partisan prohibition.
3
董宣字少平，陈留圉人也。 初为司徒侯霸所辟，举高第，累迁北海相。 到官，以大姓公孙丹为五官掾。 丹新造居宅，而卜工以为当有死者，丹乃令其子杀道行人，置尸舍内，以塞其咎。 宣知，即收丹父子杀之。 丹宗族亲党三十余人，操兵诣府，称冤叫号。 宣以丹前附王莽、虑交通海贼，乃悉收系剧狱，使门下书佐水丘岑尽杀之。 青州以其多滥，奏宣考岑，宣坐征诣廷尉。 在狱，晨夜讽诵，无忧色。 及当出刑，官属具馔送之，宣乃厉色曰：“董宣生平未曾食人之食，况死乎！ ”升车而去。 时，同刑九人，次应及宣，光武驰使驺骑特原宣刑，且令还狱。 遣使者诘宣多杀无辜，宣具以状对，言水丘岑受臣旨意，罪不由之，愿杀臣活岑。 使者以闻，有诏左转宣怀令，令青州勿案岑罪。 岑官至司隶校尉。
Dong Xuan, whose courtesy name was Shaoping, came from Yu in Chenliu commandery. He was first recommended by Minister of Education Hou Ba, placed first in the high-ranking group, and eventually promoted step by step to Prefect of Beihai. On arriving he named the powerful local magnate Gongsun Dan as his aide for the five offices. Gongsun Dan had just finished a new house when the geomancer declared that a death was fated to occur there; Dan then told his son to murder a traveler, leave the body in the building, and so “answer” the omen. When Dong Xuan found out, he immediately seized Gongsun Dan and his sons and executed them. Over thirty members of Gongsun Dan’s lineage and their allies armed themselves, marched to the yamen, and loudly protested their innocence. Dong Xuan, recalling that Gongsun Dan had once served Wang Mang and fearing he might be in league with pirates, jailed the lot in the prison for capital cases and ordered his clerk Shuiqiu Cen to slaughter them all. The provincial authorities of Qingzhou, judging the bloodshed excessive, reported Dong Xuan and had him and Shuiqiu Cen tortured for confession; Dong Xuan was consequently cited to the capital commandant of justice. In his cell he chanted the classics day and night and never lost his composure. When his execution drew near, his staff set out a parting feast; Dong Xuan said sharply, “Dong Xuan has never eaten at another’s expense in his life—least of all on the way to his death! With that he climbed into the cart and rode away. Nine others were condemned with him, and when the roll call would next have fallen on Dong Xuan, Emperor Guangwu sent relay riders at a gallop to commute his sentence and had him sent back to jail. An imperial messenger was sent to upbraid him for slaughtering the guiltless; Dong Xuan laid out the whole affair, declared that Shuiqiu Cen had merely obeyed his commands, that the blame lay with himself, not with Cen, and begged to die so that Cen might live. The messenger relayed his words; an edict followed, demoting Dong Xuan to magistrate of Huai county and forbidding Qingzhou to pursue charges against Shuiqiu Cen. Shuiqiu Cen eventually rose to become colonel director of retainers.
4
后江夏有剧贼夏喜等寇乱郡境，以宣为江夏太守。 到界，移书曰：“朝廷以太守能禽奸贼，故辱斯任。 今勒兵界首，檄到，幸思自安之宜。 ”喜等闻，惧，即归降散。 外戚阴氏为郡都尉，宣轻慢之，坐免。
Later, when outlaws like Xia Xi threw Jiangxia into chaos, the court named Dong Xuan prefect of the commandery. At the frontier he issued a circular: “The court thinks its prefect can catch traitorous bandits, which is why I have been given this post. I have now massed troops on the border; when you read this order, consider carefully how you may keep yourselves safe.” When Xia Xi and his fellows heard this, panic overtook them; they surrendered at once and scattered. A kinsman of the Yin consort clan served as commandant; Dong Xuan treated him with contempt and lost his post as a result.
5
后特征为洛阳令。 时湖阳公主苍头白日杀人，因匿主家，吏不能得。 及主出行，而以奴骖乘，宣于夏门亭候之，乃驻车叩马，以刀画地，大言数主之失，叱奴下车，因格杀之。 主即还宫诉帝，帝大怒，召宣，欲箠杀之。 宣叩头曰：“愿乞一言而死。 ”帝曰：“欲何言？ ”宣曰：“陛下圣德中兴，而从奴杀良人，将何以理天下乎？ 臣不须箠，请得自杀。 ”即以头击楹，流血被面。 帝令小黄门持之，使宣叩头谢主，宣不从，强使顿之，宣两手据地，终不肯俯。 主曰：“文叔为白衣时，臧主匿死，吏不敢至门。 今为天子，威不能行一令乎？ ”帝笑曰：“天子不与白衣同。 ”困敕强项令出。 赐钱三十万，宣悉以班诸吏。 由是搏击豪强，莫不震栗。 京师号为“卧虎”。 歌之曰：“枹鼓不鸣董少平。”
He was later specially called to office as magistrate of Luoyang. At that time a household slave of the Princess of Huyang had murdered someone in daylight and then taken refuge in her mansion, beyond the clerks’ reach. When she rode out with the killer as her side attendant, Dong Xuan ambushed her at the Summer Gate watchpost, halted her team, seized the bridle, traced lines on the earth with his blade while shouting her misdeeds aloud, forced the slave from the cart, and beat him to death on the spot. She hurried to the palace to denounce him; the emperor flew into a rage, summoned Dong Xuan, and meant to club him to death. Dong Xuan kowtowed and said, “Grant me one word before I die.” The emperor asked, “What is it?” Dong Xuan replied, “Your Majesty’s sagely power brought the house back from ruin; if a slave may slaughter the guiltless, how are you to govern all under Heaven?” “I need no beating from you; let me kill myself.” He then dashed his head against a column until his face ran with blood. The emperor told a young eunuch to hold him back and ordered Dong Xuan to bow in apology to the princess; he would not. They tried to press his head down, but he planted both hands on the floor and never lowered his brow. The princess cried, “When Wenshu was still a commoner, he concealed fugitives for me, and no bailiff dared knock at my door. Now that he is Son of Heaven, can his power not reach a single county magistrate?” The emperor smiled and said, “The Son of Heaven is not a commoner.” He then told the “stubborn-necked magistrate” to withdraw. He awarded three hundred thousand cash; Dong Xuan handed every coin to his subordinates. After that, whenever he moved against the powerful, they quaked with fear. The capital dubbed him the “crouching tiger.” A ditty ran: “You never hear the drum while Dong Shaoping is in charge.”
6
在县五年。 年七十四，卒于官。 诏遣使者临视，唯见布被覆尸，妻子对哭，有大麦数斛、敝车一乘。 帝伤之，曰：“董宣廉洁，死乃知之！ ”以宣尝为二千石，赐艾绶，葬以大夫礼。 拜子并为郎中，后官至齐相。
He served five years in that county. He died in harness at the age of seventy-four. The court sent an inspector to his home; all they saw was a hemp sheet over the body, his wife and children weeping beside it, a few measures of barley, and a single rickety cart. The emperor was stricken and said, “Dong Xuan was honest—I learned it only when he was gone! Because Dong Xuan had once borne rank at two thousand piculs, he was given the mottled ribbon and buried with ceremonies fit for a high minister. His son Dong Bing was made a gentleman of the palace and eventually became prefect of Qi.
7
樊晔字仲华，南阳新野人也。 与光武少游旧。 建武初，征为侍御史，迁河东都尉，引见云台。 初，光武微时，尝以事拘于新野，晔为市吏，餽饵一笥，帝德之不忘，仍赐晔御食，及乘舆服物。 因戏之曰：“一笥饵得都尉，何如？ ”晔顿首辞谢。 及至郡，诛讨大姓马適匡等。 盗贼清，吏人畏之。 数年，迁杨州牧，教民耕田种树理家之术。 视事十余年，坐法左转积长。
Fan Ye, courtesy name Zhonghua, hailed from Xinye in Nanyang commandery. In his younger days he had been Guangwu’s companion on the road. Early in the Jianwu reign he was called up as attendant censor, advanced to commandant of Hedong, and received an audience in the Cloud Terrace. Long before, when Guangwu was still unknown, he had been held at Xinye over some matter; Fan Ye, then a market inspector, sent a hamper of food, and the emperor cherished the deed ever after, later presenting him with dishes from the palace kitchen and clothing from the imperial wardrobe. He joked, “One hamper of snacks bought you a commandant’s commission—fair trade?” Fan Ye kowtowed and demurred. On reaching his post he wiped out powerful houses such as that of Ma Shi Kuang. Robbery ceased, and both officials and townsfolk stood in awe of him. After some years he became governor of Yang province and instructed the populace in farming, arboriculture, and household economy. He governed for over a decade, then ran afoul of the statutes and was reduced to chief of Ji canton.
8
隗嚣灭后，陇右不安，乃拜晔为天水太守。 政严猛，好申、韩法、善恶立断。 人有犯其禁者，率不生出狱，吏人及羌胡畏之。 道不拾遗。 行旅至夜，聚衣装道傍，曰“以付樊公”。 凉州为之歌曰：“游子常苦贫，力子天所富。 宁见乳虎穴，不入冀府寺。 大笑期必死，忿怒或见置。 嗟我樊府君，安可再遭值！ ”视事十四年，卒官。
When Wei Ao had been crushed and the Longyou frontier was still restless, Fan Ye was named prefect of Tianshui. His rule was fierce; he loved the legalism of Shen Buhai and Han Fei and judged guilt or innocence on the spot. Those who broke his bans rarely emerged from jail alive; officials, townsfolk, Qiang, and Hu alike dreaded him. Lost goods were left untouched in the street. Wayfarers arriving after dark heaped their packs beside the road, saying, “This is for Lord Fan to guard.” A song in Liang province ran: “The roamer knows bitter want; the toiling man is Heaven’s rich.” “Better face a tigress in her lair than walk into Fan’s headquarters in Ji.” “If he laughs loud, you are dead for certain; if he glares in fury, you might still be spared.” “Alas, our prefect Lord Fan—would that we never crossed your path again!” He served fourteen years and died in office.
9
永平中，显宗追思晔在天水时政能，以为后人莫之及，诏赐家钱百万。 子融，有俊才，好黄、老，不肯为吏。
During Yongping, Emperor Ming looked back on Fan Ye’s record at Tianshui, decided no successor had equaled him, and ordered a million cash sent to his household. His son Fan Rong was brilliantly gifted, devoted to Huang-Lao thought, and refused a career in government.
10
李章字第公，河内怀人也。 五世二千石。 章习《严氏春秋》，经明教授，历州郡吏。 光武为大司马，平定河北，召章置江曹属，数从征伐。
Li Zhang, courtesy name Digong, came from Huai in Henei commandery. For five generations his forebears had borne rank at two thousand piculs. Li Zhang studied the Yan school’s Gongyang commentary, excelled in the canon, instructed disciples, and worked his way through posts in various provinces and commanderies. While Guangwu served as grand marshal and was bringing Hebei to heel, he called Li Zhang to his staff in charge of river works, and Zhang rode with him on many expeditions.
11
光武即位，拜阳平令。 时赵、魏豪右往往屯聚，清河大姓赵纲遂于县界起坞壁，缮甲兵，为在所害。 章到，乃设飨会，而延谒纲。 纲带文剑，被羽衣，从士百余人来到。 章与对宴饮，有顷，手剑斩纲，伏兵亦悉杀其从者，因驰诣坞壁，掩击破之，吏人遂安。
After Guangwu mounted the throne, Li Zhang became magistrate of Yangping. In those days magnates of Zhao and Wei commonly mustered private forces, and Zhao Gang, a powerful clan of Qinghe, threw up a fortified stockade on the county line, outfitted troops, and terrorized the countryside. Li Zhang’s first move was to host a feast and politely summon Zhao Gang. Zhao Gang came with a patterned sword, a feathered robe, and over a hundred armed retainers. Li Zhang drank with him awhile, then suddenly drew his blade and struck off Zhao Gang’s head while hidden troops cut down every follower; he raced to the fort, stormed it flat, and peace returned to the district.
12
迁千乘太守，坐诛斩盗贼过滥，征下狱免。 岁中拜侍御史，出为琅邪太守。 时北海安丘大姓夏长思等反，遂囚太守处兴，而据营陵城。 章闻，即发兵千人，驰往击之。 掾史止章曰：“二千石行不得出界，兵不得擅发。 ”章按剑怒曰：“逆虏无状，囚劫郡守，此何可忍！ 若坐讨贼而死，吾不恨也。 ”遂引兵安丘城下，募勇敢烧城门，与长思战，斩之，获三百余级，得牛马五百余头而还。 兴归郡，以状上帝，悉以所得班劳吏士。 后坐度人田不实征，以章有功，但司冠论。 月余免刑，归。 复征，会病卒。
He was raised to prefect of Qiansheng, then cited for excessive slaughter in suppressing bandits, jailed, and stripped of office. The same year he became attendant censor and was posted as prefect of Langye. Then the magnates of Anqiu in Beihai—Xia Changsi and his confederates—rose in revolt, jailed Prefect Chu Xing, and occupied Yingling. Li Zhang heard the news, immediately mobilized a thousand men, and rode to strike them. His aides warned him, “A prefect may not cross his border, and you have no orders to call out soldiers.” Li Zhang clutched his sword and roared, “Rebels have kidnapped the governor—how can I stand by? If I die putting down outlaws, I will not regret it.” He led his force to Anqiu, enlisted daredevils to torch the gates, fought Xia Changsi, cut off his head, claimed over three hundred enemy heads, and drove home five hundred-odd cattle and horses. When Chu Xing was back in his yamen, he memorialized the whole affair; the emperor had every prize shared out to reward the officers and men. He was later found guilty of misreporting land surveys used for taxation, but on account of Li Zhang’s past service the court merely handed him over to the Minister of Justice for judgment instead of harsher punishment. A little over a month later he was released from torture and sent home. The court called him back to office, yet he sickened and died before he could take up the post.
13
周䊸字文通，下邳徐人也。 为人刻削少恩，好韩非之术。 少为廷尉史。
Zhou Xu, courtesy name Wentong, was a native of Xu in Xiapi. He was cutting and seldom merciful, and he delighted in Han Fei’s brand of statecraft. He began his career as a clerk under the commandant of justice.
14
永平中，补南行唐长。 到官，晓吏人曰：“朝廷不以长不肖，使牧黎民，而性仇猾吏，志除豪贼，且勿相试！ ”遂杀县中尤无状者数十人，吏人大震。 过博平令。 收考奸臧，无出狱者。 以威名迁齐相，亦颇严酷，专任刑法，而善为辞案条教，为州内所则。 后坐杀无辜，复左转博平令。
During the Yongping reign he was posted as chief of Nanxingtang canton. On arrival he told his staff and the populace: “The throne did not give me this magistracy for my mediocrity, to care for the common folk; I loathe slippery underlings and mean to destroy powerful criminals—so do not try my patience!” With that he put several dozen of the county’s worst offenders to death, and everyone in the yamen quaked. He went on to serve as magistrate of Boping. He jailed and tortured corrupt criminals until not one emerged from custody alive. His fearsome reputation won him promotion to chancellor of Qi; he was likewise severe, leaning entirely on the criminal code, yet he was a master of written charges and regulations that the whole province imitated. He was later stripped of rank for slaughtering the guiltless and sent back down to magistrate of Boping.
15
建初中，为勃海太守。 每敕令到郡，辄隐闭不出，先遣使属县尽决刑罪，乃出诏书。 坐征诣廷尉，免归。
During Jianchu he was named prefect of Bohai commandery. Whenever an imperial order arrived, he would seal it away, send runners through every county to clear the jails of condemned men, and only then let the edict be read aloud. He was cited to the capital commandant of justice, removed from office, and returned to private life.
16
䊸廉洁无资，常筑□以自给，肃宗闻而怜之，复以为郎，再迁召陵侯相。 廷掾惮䊸严明，欲损其威，乃晨取死人断手足，立寺门。 䊸闻，便往至死人边。 若与死人共语状。 阴察视口眼有稻芒，乃密问守门人曰：“悉谁载藁入城者？ ”门者对：“唯有廷掾耳。 ”又问铃下：“外颇有疑令与死人语者不？ ”对曰：“廷掾疑君。 ”乃收廷掾考问，具服“不杀人，取道边死人。 ”后人莫敢欺者。
Zhou Xu was honest but poor, and he often molded sun-dried bricks to feed himself, the damaged text of the chapter leaving the exact word unreadable; Emperor Zhang took pity, restored him as a gentleman of the court, and twice advanced him to chancellor of the Zhaoling marquis’s estate. The commandery aide, terrified of Xu’s strictness, tried to humiliate him by planting a mutilated corpse at the courthouse gate before daybreak. Hearing of the stunt, Xu walked directly to the body. He behaved as though he were speaking with the dead man. Peering closely, he noticed rice awns in the corpse’s mouth and eyes; he whispered to the gatekeeper, “Exactly who has been hauling hay through this gate?” The gateman said, “Only the commandery aide.” He asked his escort, “Do many people out there think I am chatting with a corpse?” They answered, “The commandery aide thinks so.” He seized the aide and pressed him until he admitted, “I killed no one—I dragged in a body from the roadside.” From then on no one tried to fool him again.
17
征拜洛阳令。 下车，先问大姓名主，吏数闾里豪强以对，䊸厉声怒曰：“本问贵戚若马、窦等辈，岂能知此卖菜佣乎？ ”于是部吏望风旨，争以激切为事。 贵戚跼蹐，京师肃清。 皇后弟黄门郎窦笃从宫中归，夜至止奸亭，亭长霍延遮止笃，笃苍头与争，延遂拔剑拟笃，而肆詈恣口。 笃以表闻。 诏召司隶校尉、河南尹诣尚书谴问，遣剑戟士收䊸送廷尉诏狱。 数日贳出。 帝知䊸奉法疾奸，不事贵戚，然苛惨失中，数为有司所奏，八年，遂免官。
The court called him up as magistrate of Luoyang. On his first day he demanded the names of the truly powerful houses; his clerks offered petty neighborhood thugs; Xu roared, “I meant great in-laws like the Ma and Dou clans—do you think I waste my time on cabbage sellers?” His subordinates took the hint and competed to outdo one another in severity. Consort kinsmen walked on tiptoe, and the capital fell quiet. Dou Du, the queen’s brother and a yellow-gate gentleman, was riding home from the palace after dark when post chief Huo Yan stopped him at the “Halt Debauchery” watch; a slave scuffled with the guards, Huo Yan drew steel on Dou Du himself, and reviled him without restraint. Dou Du reported the incident to the emperor. The emperor ordered both the colonel director of retainers and the governor of Henan hauled before the secretariat for a scolding, then sent armored guards to arrest Zhou Xu and throw him into the commandant’s imperial jail. After a few days he was bailed out. The court knew Zhou Xu enforced the statutes and despised corruption, and that he bowed to no palace favorite, yet his savagery overshot decency and censors impeached him again and again; in the eighth year of the reign he was dismissed for good.
18
后为御史中丞。 和帝即位，太傅邓彪奏䊸在任过酷，不宜典司京辇。 免归田里。 后窦氏贵盛，笃兄弟秉权，睚眦宿怨，无不僵仆。 䊸自谓无全，乃柴门自守，以待其祸。 然笃等以䊸公正，而怨隙有素，遂不敢害。
He later rose to palace assistant imperial clerk. At Emperor He’s accession, Grand Tutor Deng Biao argued that Zhou Xu’s tenure had been too bloody for him to police the capital region. He was stripped of rank and sent back to his farm. Later the Dou family dominated the government, and Dou Du’s brothers settled every petty score with a corpse. Zhou Xu gave up hope of survival, bolted his gate, and waited for the blow to fall. Yet Dou Du and his kin, knowing Zhou Xu’s rectitude and their own long-standing debt to him, never dared touch him.
19
永元五年，复征为御史中丞。 诸窦虽诛，而夏阳侯□犹尚在朝。 䊸疾之，乃上疏曰：“臣联臧文仲之事君也，见有礼于君者，事之如孝子之养父母，见无礼于君者，诛之如鹰鹯之逐鸟雀。 案夏阳侯□，本出轻薄，志在邪僻，学无经术，而妄构讲舍，外招儒徒，实会奸桀。 轻忽天威，侮慢王室，又造作巡狩封禅上书，惑众不道，当伏诛戮，而主者营私，不为国计。 夫涓流虽寡，浸成江河； 爝火虽微，卒能燎野，履霜有渐，可不惩革？ 宜寻吕产专窃之乱，永惟王莽篡逆之祸，上安社稷之计，下解万夫之惑。 ”会瑰归国，䊸迁司隶校尉。
In Yongyuan five he was recalled as palace assistant imperial clerk. The Dou faction had been cut down, but the Marquis of Xiayang □ (the name is lost in the manuscript) still held a post at court. Zhou Xu loathed the man and wrote: “I have read how Zang Wenzhong served his ruler—he honored the respectful as a son cares for his parents, and struck down the disrespectful as a hawk strikes small birds. Look at the Marquis of Xiayang □: born of mean families, bent on wickedness, unread in the canon, he throws up lecture halls, recruits scholars as a screen, and secretly collects ruffians. He mocks celestial authority, affronts the Liu house, and circulates forged petitions about imperial progresses and feng-shan rites to confuse the people—conduct that deserves death—while officials shield him for private gain instead of serving the realm.” A thin rill, given time, swells into a river; a brand’s flame, however small, can yet scorch the plain; we walk on frost by slow degrees—will you not cut this evil short?” Recall the turmoil when Lü Chan monopolized power, remember Wang Mang’s usurpation, steady the altars on high, and quiet the fears of the common people below.” About then Marquis Gui returned to his estate, and Zhou Xu was shifted to colonel director of retainers.
20
六年夏，旱，车驾自幸洛阳录囚徒，二人被掠生虫，坐左转骑都尉。 七年，迁将作大匠。 九年，卒于官。
That summer’s drought brought the emperor in person to Luoyang to inspect convicts; two prisoners bore worm-eaten wounds from torture, and Zhou Xu was demoted to chief commandant of cavalry for it. The next year he became court architect. He died in harness in the ninth year.
21
黄昌字圣真，会稽余姚人也。 本出孤微。 居近学官，数见诸生修庠序之礼，因好之，遂就经学。 又晓习文法，仕郡为决曹。 刺史行部，见昌，甚奇之，辟从事。
Huang Chang, courtesy name Shengzhen, hailed from Yuyao in Kuaiji commandery. His family had been poor and obscure. He lived beside the county school, watched the students rehearse academy etiquette, fell in love with scholarship, and took up the classics. He learned statutes and precedents and became the commandery’s clerk of decisions. An inspecting censor spotted him on tour, was deeply impressed, and took him on as an aide.
22
后拜宛令，政尚严猛，好发奸伏。 人有盗其车盖者，昌初无所言，后乃密遣亲客至门下贼曹家掩取得之，悉收其家，一时杀戮。 大姓战惧，皆称神明。
He was later named magistrate of Wan, ruled with a heavy hand, and delighted in digging up concealed wrongdoing. A thief stole his carriage umbrella; Huang Chang said nothing at first, then had confederates raid the chief constable’s house where the loot was hidden, seized the entire family, and executed them all in one sweep. Powerful houses shook with fear and hailed him as uncannily perceptive.
23
朝廷举能，迁蜀郡太守。 先太守李根年老多悖政，百姓侵冤。 及昌到，吏人讼者七百余人，悉为断理，莫不得所。 密捕盗帅一人，胁使条诸县强暴之人姓名居处，乃分遣掩讨，无有遗脱。 宿恶大奸，皆奔走他境。
Recommended for administrative talent, he rose to prefect of Shu. His predecessor Li Gen was aged and incompetent, and the people had piled up grievances. When Huang Chang arrived, over seven hundred plaintiffs waited at the yamen; he judged every suit until each party walked away satisfied. He captured a bandit chief in secret, forced him to write out every strong-arm man in the commandery with his address, then launched simultaneous roundups so that none slipped away. Career criminals and arch-villains bolted for neighboring provinces.
24
初，昌为州书佐，其妇归宁于家，遇贼被获，遂流转入蜀为人妻。 妻子犯事，乃诣昌自讼。 昌疑母不为蜀人，因问所由。 对曰：“妾本会稽余姚戴次公女，州书佐黄昌妻也。 妾尝归家，为贼所略，遂至于此。 ”昌惊，呼前谓曰：“何以识黄昌邪？ ”对曰：“昌左足心有黑子，常自言当为二千石。 ”昌乃出足示之。 因相持悲泣，还为夫妇。
Long before, while Huang Chang was still a commandery clerk, his wife went home to her parents, was taken by raiders, drifted south into Shu, and married another man. When a son from that marriage fell afoul of the law, she presented herself before Huang Chang to plead the case herself. Huang Chang suspected she was not Shu-born and questioned her background. She said, “I am Dai Cigong’s daughter from Yuyao in Kuaiji—I was once the wife of your clerk Huang Chang.” “On a visit home I was carried off by brigands and eventually sold here.” Huang Chang started, drew her near, and asked, “How could you know Huang Chang?” She answered, “He has a black mole on the sole of his left foot and used to say he was fated for two-thousand-dan rank.” He pulled off his boot and showed her the sole. They fell weeping into each other’s arms and remarried.
25
视事四年，征，再迁陈相。 县人彭氏旧豪纵，造起大舍，高楼临道。 昌每出行县，彭氏妇人辄升楼而观。 昌不喜，遂敕收付狱，案杀之。
Four years into his tenure he was recalled to court and twice promoted to chancellor of Chen. The Peng family, old bullies of the county, raised a mansion whose upper gallery overlooked the highway. Whenever Huang Chang toured the district, the Peng women climbed that gallery to stare down at him. The display angered him; he had the women arrested, tried, and put to death.
26
又迁为河内太守，又再迁颍川太守。 永和五年，征拜将作大匠。 汉安元年，进补大司农，左转太中大夫，卒于官。
He moved on to prefect of Henei, then was raised again to prefect of Yingchuan. In Yonghe five the court named him court architect. Han’an one saw him promoted to minister of agriculture, then reduced to grand palace counselor, in which post he died.
27
阳球字方正，渔阳泉州人也。 家世大姓冠盖。 球能击剑，习弓马。 性严厉，好申、韩之学。 郡吏有辱其母者，球结少年数十人，杀吏，灭其家，由是知名。 初举孝廉，补尚书侍郎，闲达故事，其章奏处议，常为台阁所崇信。 出为高唐令，以严苛过理，郡守收举，会赦见原。
Yang Qiu, courtesy name Fangzheng, came from Quanzhou in Yuyang commandery. His clan had long ranked among the great houses whose coaches filled the roads. He was skilled with the sword and the bow from horseback. His temper ran severe, and he favored the legalism of Shen Buhai and Han Fei. A commandery clerk had slighted his mother; Yang Qiu rounded up scores of young braves, murdered the man, and exterminated his household—deeds that made his name. Recommended as filially pious and incorrupt, he entered the Masters of Writing as a gentleman, mastered administrative precedent, and won steady confidence for his memorials and opinions. As magistrate of Gaotang he exceeded all bounds of harshness; the prefect had him arrested, though a general amnesty eventually cleared him.
28
辟司徒刘宠府，举高第。 九江山贼起，连月不解。 三府上球有理奸才，拜九江太守。 球到，设方略，凶贼殄破，收郡中奸吏尽杀之。
He joined Grand Minister of Education Liu Chong’s staff and placed first in the high-ranking cohort. Outlaws erupted in Jiujiang and defied suppression for months on end. The three highest bureaus reported that Yang Qiu had a gift for crushing crime, and the throne made him prefect of Jiujiang. He drew up a strategy, annihilated the rebel bands, then rounded up every corrupt clerk in the commandery and executed the lot.
29
迁平原相。 出教曰：“相前莅高唐，志埽奸鄙，遂为贵郡所见枉举。 昔桓公释管仲射钩之仇，高祖赦季布逃亡之罪。 虽以不德，敢忘前义。 况君臣分定，而可怀宿者哉！ 今一蠲往愆，期诸来效。 若受教之后而不改奸状者，不得复有所容矣。 ”郡中咸畏服焉。 时，天下大旱，司空张颢条奏长吏苛酷贪污者，皆罢免之。 球坐严苦，征诣廷尉，当免官。 灵帝以球九江时有功，拜议郎。
He was next promoted to chancellor of Pingyuan. He published an order: “When last I governed Gaotang I meant to scour out wickedness, and your honorable commandery repaid me with a trumped-up impeachment.” “Duke Huan of Qi forgave Guan Zhong’s arrow at his belt hook; Gaozu spared Ji Bu the fugitive’s guilt.” “Though I am a lesser man, I would not forget such magnanimity.” “Besides, lord and minister each have a part—who should nurse ancient grudges?” “Henceforth I cancel old scores and expect new loyalty from you.” “Anyone who keeps his criminal habits after this warning will find no mercy left.” The whole commandery stood in awe and obeyed. An empire-wide drought struck; Minister of Works Zhang Hao filed charges against magistrates who were brutal or venal, and every one named was removed. Yang Qiu’s harshness brought him before the commandant of justice, where the verdict should have stripped him of rank. Emperor Ling remembered his service in Jiujiang and instead named him gentleman consultant.
30
迁将作大匠，坐事论。 顷之，拜尚书令。 奏罢鸿都文学，曰：
He rose to court architect, then ran afoul of the law and was convicted. Soon afterward he became prefect of the Masters of Writing. He petitioned to shut down the Hongdu academy, writing:
31
伏承有诏敕中尚方为鸿都文学乐松、江览等三十二人图象立赞，以劝学者。 臣闻《传》曰：“君举必书。 书而不法，后嗣何观！ ”案松、览等皆出于微蔑，斗筲小人，依凭世戚，附托权豪，俯眉承睫，微进明时。 或献赋一篇，或鸟篆盈简，而位升郎中，形图丹青。 亦有笔不点牍，辞不辩心，假手请字，妖伪百品，莫不被蒙殊恩，蝉蜕滓浊。 是以有识掩口，天下嗟叹。 臣闻图象之设，以昭劝戒，欲令人君动鉴得失。 未闻竖子小人，诈作文颂，而可妄窃天官，垂象图素者也。 今太学、东观足以宣明圣化。 愿罢鸿都之选，以消天下之谤。
“I learn by edict that the inner workshop is to paint likenesses with encomia for thirty-two Hongdu writers including Yue Song and Jiang Lan, the better to spur learning.” The Zhuan puts it plainly: “The ruler’s every act is entered in the record.” If what is written is lawless, what are later generations to make of it? “Song, Lan, and their like rose from utter obscurity—small men who hitched themselves to palace kin and great clans, cringed and flattered, and inched upward in a time that called for clarity.” Some offered one fu, or a page of ornamental seal script, and won a gentleman’s post and a portrait in the gallery. Others could not compose a line, hired ghostwriters, and traded in every kind of humbug, yet each shed the mud like a cicada and walked away showered with grace. Thoughtful men clapped hands to their lips while the empire groaned. Portraits were meant to teach by example, pricking the sovereign’s conscience with models of right and wrong. I never heard that boys and charlatans, fawning in forged verse, might steal high office and hang their faces on the wall. The Imperial Academy and the Eastern Lodge already broadcast the sage’s transforming influence. I ask that the Hongdu appointments be ended and the empire’s gossip silenced.
32
书奏不省。
The throne filed his paper away without action.
33
时，中常侍王甫、曹节等奸虐弄权，扇动外内，球尝拊髀发愤曰：“若阳球作司隶，此曹子安得容乎？ ”光和二年，迁为司隶校尉。 王甫休沐里舍，球诣阙谢恩，奏收甫及中常侍淳于登、袁赦、封{曰羽}、中黄门刘毅、小黄门庞训、硃禹、齐盛等，及子弟为守令者，奸猾纵恣，罪合灭族。 太尉段颎谄附佞幸，宜并诛戮。 于是悉收甫、颎等送洛阳狱，及甫子永乐少府萌、沛相吉。 球自临考甫等，五毒备极。 萌谓球曰：“父子既当伏诛，少以楚毒假借老父。”。 球曰：“若罪恶无状，死不灭责，乃欲求假借邪？ ”萌乃骂曰：“尔前奉事吾父子如奴，如敢反汝主乎！ 今日困吾，行自及也！ ”球使以土窒萌口，箠朴交至，父子悉死杖下。 颎亦自杀。 乃僵磔甫尸于夏城门，大署榜曰“贼臣王甫”。 尽没入财产，妻、子皆徙比景。
The eunuch attendants Wang Fu and Cao Jie ran wild; Yang Qiu once struck his thigh and swore, “Give me the colonel’s baton and this rabble would not last a day!” In Guanghe two he became colonel director of retainers. Wang Fu was on leave at his villa; Yang Qiu thanked the emperor at court, then filed charges to seize Wang Fu, the attendants Chunyu Deng, Yuan She, Feng (his given name is damaged in the manuscripts), Liu Yi, Pang Training, Zhu Yu, Qi Sheng, and every kinsman serving as a local magistrate—men whose crimes called for wiping out whole clans. Grand Commandant Duan Jiong had curried favor with the clique and should die with them. They seized Wang Fu, Duan Jiong, and their confederates for the Luoyang jail, including Wang Fu’s son Wang Meng, chamberlain for the palace revenues at Yongle, and the chancellor of Pei, Wang Ji. Yang Qiu himself examined Wang Fu’s party and applied the full fivefold torments. Wang Meng begged, “We are doomed—only spare my old father the worst of the Chu rack.” Yang Qiu replied, “Your guilt is unspeakable; not even death pays the score—do you still beg indulgence?” Wang Meng snarled, “You used to serve my father and me like a house slave—how dare you bite the hand that fed you!” “You have me trapped today, but your own turn comes next!” Yang Qiu ordered Meng’s mouth packed with mud; the beaters fell on them until father and son perished under the clubs. Duan Jiong killed himself. Wang Fu’s corpse was dismembered and displayed at the Summer Gate under a placard: “The traitor minister Wang Fu.” Their goods went to the treasury and their families were exiled to Bijin on the southern sea.
34
球既诛甫，复欲以次表曹节等，乃敕中都官从事曰：“且先去大猾，当次案豪右。 ”权门闻之，莫不屏气。 诸奢饰之物，皆各缄滕，不敢陈设。 京师畏震。
With Wang Fu gone, Yang Qiu meant to impeach Cao Jie next; he told his chief clerk, “Cut down the chief monsters first; then we take the great clans.” The great houses heard and held their breath. Ornaments of every kind were boxed and hidden; no one flaunted wealth. Luoyang shook with dread.
35
时，顺帝虞贵人葬，百官会丧还，曹节见磔甫尸道次，慨然抆泪曰：“我曹自可相食，何宜使犬舐其汁乎？ ”语诸常侍，今且俱入，勿过里舍也。 节直入省，白帝曰：“阳球故酷暴吏，前三府奏当免官，以九江微功，复见擢用。 愆过之人，好为妄作，不宜使在司隶，以骋毒虐。 ”帝乃徙球为卫尉。 时，球出谒陵，节敕尚书令召拜，不得稽留尺一。 球被召急，因求见帝，叩头曰：“臣无清高之行，横蒙鹰犬之任。 前虽纠诛王甫、段颎、盖简落狐狸，未足宣示天下。 愿假臣一月，必令豺狼鸱枭，各服其辜。 ”叩头流血。 殿上呵叱曰：“卫尉扞诏邪！ ”至于再三，乃受拜。
At Lady Yu’s funeral the courtiers passed Wang Fu’s remains; Cao Jie wept with rage and said, “We eunuchs may tear each other apart, but we must not become carrion for curs.” He warned his fellow attendants, “We go straight into the palace together—no one detours home to his villa.” Cao Jie burst in on the emperor: “Yang Qiu was a savage underling; the three bureaus voted to cashier him, then a tiny deed at Jiujiang bought him back.” A man who piles up offenses delights in mischief; he cannot hold the colonel’s rod without turning it into torture. The emperor moved Yang Qiu to commandant of the guards. While Yang Qiu was away at the mausoleums, Cao Jie forced the prefect of the Masters of Writing to issue his transfer instantly, brooking no delay. Yang Qiu raced back, forced his way to audience, and kowtowed: “I am no saint, yet you made me your bird of prey.” “Killing Wang Fu and Duan Jiong only swept aside a handful of foxes; the realm has not yet seen the full reckoning I promised.” “Give me one more month and I will bring every jackal and kite to book.” He beat his head on the floor until blood ran. Voices from the steps roared, “Does the commandant of the guards reject the imperial command?” Three times they thundered the order before he took the seal.
36
其冬，司徒刘郃与球议收案张让、曹节，节等知之，共诬白郃等。 语已见《陈球传》。 遂收球送洛阳狱，诛死，妻、子徙边。
That winter Minister of Education Liu He and Yang Qiu planned to seize Zhang Rang and Cao Jie; the eunuchs struck first with forged accusations. The story is told in full in the biography of Chen Qiu. Yang Qiu was thrown into the Luoyang jail, executed, and his family driven to the border.
37
王吉者，陈留浚仪人，中常侍甫之养子也。 甫在《宦者传》。 吉少好诵读书传，喜名声，而性残忍。 以父秉权宠，年二十余，为沛相。 晓达政事，能断察疑狱，发起奸伏，多出众议。 课使郡内各举奸吏豪人诸常有微过酒肉为臧者，虽数十年犹如贬弃，注其名籍。 专选剽悍吏，击断非法。 若有生子不养，即斩其父母，合土棘埋之。 凡杀人皆磔尸车上，随其罪目。 宣示属县。 夏月腐烂，则以绳连其骨，周遍一郡乃止，见者骇惧。 视事五年，凡杀万余人。 其余惨毒刺刻，不可胜数。 郡中惴恐，莫敢自保。 及阳球奏甫，乃就收执，死于洛阳狱。
Wang Ji of Junyi in Chenliu was the adopted son of the attendant Wang Fu. Wang Fu’s life is recorded among the palace attendants. Wang Ji loved books and fame from boyhood, but his heart was pitiless. His father’s influence won him, before thirty, the chancellorship of Pei. He knew the machinery of government, settled hard cases, dug out concealed guilt, and routinely outshone other men’s advice. He made every county report venal clerks and magnates, even those who long ago had taken a jug of wine as a bribe, and struck their names from office as though the crime were fresh. He picked the most brutal bailiffs and had them kill beyond the statutes. Parents who refused to raise a newborn were beheaded and heaped in a pit with thorns. Each murderer’s body was torn apart on a cart, labeled with his crimes. The carts toured every county as a warning. When summer heat rotted the flesh, he threaded the skeletons on cords and dragged them through the commandery until onlookers fainted with fear. Five years in office cost over ten thousand lives. The other atrocities beggar enumeration. The whole region lived in dread, sure that no one was safe. Yang Qiu’s indictment of Wang Fu finally landed Wang Ji in the Luoyang jail, where he died.
38
论曰：古者郭□，善恶易分。 至于画衣冠，异服色，而莫之犯。 叔世偷薄，上下相蒙，德义不足以相洽，化导不能以惩违，遂乃严刑痛杀，随而绳之，致刻深之吏，以暴理奸，倚疾邪之公直，济忍苛之虐情。 汉世所谓酷能者，盖有闻也。 皆以敢捍精敏，巧附文理，风行霜烈，威誉喧赫。 与夫断断守道之吏，何工否之殊乎！ 故严君蚩黄霸之术，密人笑卓茂之政，猛既穷矣，而犹或未胜。 然硃邑不以笞辱加物，袁安未尝鞫人臧罪，而猾恶自禁，人不敢犯。 何者？ 以为威辟既用，而苟免这行兴； 仁信道孚，故感被之情著。 苟免者威隙则奸起，感被者人亡而思存。 由一邦以言天下，则刑讼繁措，可得而求乎！
The historian comments: In high antiquity the ward system—here the text reads Guo □—kept virtue and vice plain to see. Later ages marked criminals by dress and insignia, and the law scarcely needed blood. When the age turned mean, ruler and ruled lied to each other, moral suasion failed, and only the rack remained; “capable” cruel officials mistook brutality for justice and called their spite zeal. Such were the Han’s famous “ruthless talents.” They were fearless, sharp, masters of legal wording, swift as a gale, loud as thunder. What a distance lies between such men and the official who simply holds fast to the right! So Yan Gongyan sneered at Huang Ba’s soft ways, and Mi county mocked Zhuo Mao’s kindness—yet even the harshest rule could not win the day. Zhu Yi never flogged a man for show, Yuan An never extorted confessions of graft, yet villains held their tongues and the people kept the peace. Why? When terror is the tool, men scramble only to slip through the cracks; when kindness and truth are trusted, gratitude takes root. Men who obey only the lash plot the moment the lash lifts; men who are moved by grace remember their lord when he is dust. Judge the whole empire by one county, and you can tally the cost in trials and torments.
39
赞曰：大道既往，刑礼为薄。 斯人斯矣，机诈萌作。 去杀由仁，济宽非虐。 末暴虽胜，崇本或略。
The hymn runs: The great Way gone, law and ritual wear thin. Such men arise, and deceit sprouts with them. Sparing life begins in humaneness; tempering severity is not softness. Brutal methods may score a quick gain, yet the deeper root of respect is easily forgotten.