1
仲尼稱《易》有君子之道四焉，曰「卜筮者尚其占」。 佔也者，先王所以定禍福，決嫌疑，幽贊於神明，遂知來物者也。 若夫陰陽推步之學，往往見於墳記矣。 然神經怪牒、玉策金繩，關扃於明靈之府、封縢於瑤壇之上者，靡得而窺也。 至乃《河》、《洛》之文，龜龍之圖，箕子之術，師曠之書，緯候之部，鈐決之符，皆所以探抽冥賾、參驗人區，時有可聞者焉。 其流又有風角、遁甲、七政、元氣、六日七分、逢佔、日者、挺專、須臾、孤虛之術，乃望雲省氣，推處祥妖，時亦有以效於事也。 而斯道隱遠，玄奧難原，故聖人不語怪神，罕言性命。 或開末而抑其端，或曲辭以章其義，所謂「民可使由之，不可使知之」。
Confucius said that the Changes has four aspects of the way of the superior man, and among them he said, 'Those who divine by tortoise shell and milfoil esteem its prognostications.' Divination was how the ancient kings fixed fortune against misfortune, cut through uncertainty, drew hidden aid from the gods, and so discerned what lay ahead. The yin-yang arts and astronomical computation already turn up again and again in those old grave records. The spirit texts and marvel registers, the jade slips bound with golden cord, locked away in the courts of the numinous and sealed on high altars, remain beyond anyone's sight. Then there are the River and Luo documents, the tortoise-and-dragon diagrams, Jizi's methods, Shi Kuang's writings, apocryphal weft-books, and talismanic slips—all tools to sound the hidden depths and test them against the human world, and occasionally something credible surfaces. The tradition also spawned wind-angle, Dunjia, the seven governors, original breath, six-day-seven-part reckoning, encounter divination, day-selectors, the ting-zhuan and shunyu methods, orphan-and-void calculation—ways of reading the sky and qi to trace good or ill omens—and sometimes they really seemed to work. But the way runs dark and far off, too abstruse to pin down, which is why the sage kept silent about ghosts and marvels and seldom spoke of fate or human nature. Some opened the branch ends while restraining the root, others used tortuous wording to display the meaning—what is called 'The people may be made to follow it, but may not be made to understand it.'
2
漢自武帝頗好方術，天下懷協道藝之士，莫不負策抵掌，順風而屆焉。 後王莽矯用符命，及光武尤信讖言，士之赴趣時宜者，皆騁馳穿鑿，爭談之也。 故王梁、孫咸，名應圖籙，越登槐鼎之任； 鄭興、賈逵，以附同稱顯； 恆譚、尹敏，以乖忤淪敗。 自是習為內學，尚奇文，貴異數，不乏於時矣。 是以通儒碩生，忿其奸妄不經，奏議慷慨，以為宜見藏擯。 子長亦云：「觀陰陽之書，使人拘而多忌。」 蓋為此也。
Under the Han, once Emperor Wu took a strong interest in esoteric techniques, every adept who hoarded a trick or two shouldered his satchel and hurried to court, eager to catch the imperial breeze. Wang Mang then twisted the chenwei oracles to his ends, and Emperor Guangwu believed the apocrypha with unusual fervor, so opportunists raced to wrench texts into shape and outdid one another in expounding them. So Wang Liang and Sun Xian, whose names matched prophetic slips, vaulted into the highest ministerial seats overnight; Zheng Xing and Jia Kui climbed to prominence by swimming with the tide; Huan Tan and Yin Min were ruined because they stood athwart it. After that the fashion was to call them 'inner classics,' to dote on bizarre writings and rare numerologies, and the age never lacked for either. Learned men, furious at the fraud and want of canonical grounding, petitioned in blunt anger that the lot be locked away and cast aside. Zi Chang also said, 'Reading the books of yin and yang makes one cramped and full of taboos.' He had this very abuse in mind.
3
夫物之所偏，未能無蔽。 雖云大道，其硋或同。 若乃《詩》之失愚，《書》之失誣。 然則數術之失，至於詭俗乎？ 如令溫柔敦厚而不愚，斯深於《詩》者也； 疏通知遠而不誣，斯深於《書》者也； 極數知變而不詭俗，斯深於數術者也。 故曰：「苟非其人，道不虛行。」 意者多迷其統，取遣頗偏，甚有雖流宕過誕亦失也。
Whatever doctrine tilts too far inevitably blinds itself somewhere. Even the highest teaching can trip over the same obstacles. The Odes, they say, err toward naïveté; the Documents err toward exaggeration. If so, do the number arts stray until they simply cozen the crowd? To be tender, honest, and still not naive is to have mastered the Odes; to be lucid, far-reaching, and still not mendacious is to have mastered the Documents; and to push calculation to its limits, grasp change, and never pander to superstition is to have mastered the technical arts. Hence the adage: "without the right man, the Way does not move of itself." Most enthusiasts lose the whole in the parts, pick their evidence with bias, and some grow so wild in speculation that they miss the truth altogether.
4
中世張衡為陰陽之宗，郎顗咎徵最密，餘亦班班名家焉。 其徒亦有雅才偉德，未必體極藝能。 今蓋糾其推變尤長，可以弘補時事，因合表之云。
At mid-Han Zhang Heng led the yin-yang field, Lang Yi was tightest on omen interpretation, and others glittered each in a niche. Their disciples included men of real culture and character who never reached the summit of technique. Here I single out those whose predictive skill did most for the age and list them together.
5
任文公
Ren Wengong
6
任文公，巴郡閬中人也。 父文孫，明曉天官風角秘要。 文公少修父術，州辟從事。 哀帝時，有言越巂太守欲反，刺史大懼，遣文公等五從事檢行郡界，潛伺虛實。 共止傳舍，時，暴風卒至，文公遽趣白諸從事促去，當有逆變來害人者，因起駕速驅。 諸從事未能自發，郡果使兵殺之，文公獨得免。
Ren Wengong came from Langzhong in Ba commandery. His father Ren Wensun knew the astrological canons and the wind-angle art inside out. The son trained in his father's science and the province appointed him a retainer. Under Emperor Ai a rumor spread that the Yuexi governor meant to rise; the terrified inspector dispatched Wengong and five colleagues to scout the frontier. They were sharing a relay inn when a gale struck; Wengong shouted that a deadly revolt was brewing and they must flee at once, then leaped into his cart and bolted. His companions hesitated until troops from the commandery cut them down; only Wengong got away.
7
後為治中從事。 時，天大旱，白刺史曰：「五月一日，當有大水。 其變已至，不可防救，宜令吏人豫為其備。」 刺史不聽，文公獨儲大船。 百姓或聞，頗有為防者。 到其日旱烈，文公急命促載，使白刺史，刺史笑之。 日將中，天北雲起，須臾大雨，至晡時，湔水湧起十餘丈，突壞廬舍，所害數千人。 文公遂以佔術馳名。 辟司空掾。 平帝即位，稱疾歸家。
He was later promoted to retainer in the headquarters bureau. During a severe drought he warned the inspector, 'On the first of the fifth month a flood will break. The signs are already here; nothing can hold it back—have every clerk and household prepare now.' The inspector scoffed, but Wengong quietly laid in big boats. Word spread, and many people took precautions. The sun beat down as he predicted; he pressed people to load up and again warned the inspector, who only laughed. Near noon clouds piled up from the north, rain burst forth, and by mid-afternoon the Jian River had risen thirty feet, sweeping away homes and drowning thousands. From that day his mantic skill was famous. The Minister of Works gave him a clerkship. When Emperor Ping ascended the throne he pleaded illness and went home.
8
王莽篡後，文公推數，知當大亂，乃課家人負物百斤，環舍趨走，日數十，時人莫知其故。 後兵寇並起，其逃亡者少能自脫，惟文公大小負糧捷步，悉得完免。 遂奔子公山，十餘年不被兵革。
After Wang Mang seized power he foresaw turmoil and made his family shoulder hundred-jin packs and trot laps around the compound daily while neighbors wondered what game he was playing. When war and pillage followed, refugees rarely survived, yet his whole clan, laden with grain, outran danger and escaped intact. They withdrew to Mount Zigong and lived a dozen years without seeing a blade.
9
公孫述時，蜀武擔石折。 文公曰：「噫！ 西州智士死，我乃當之。」 自是常會聚子孫，設酒食。 後三月果卒。 故益部為之語曰：「任文公，智無雙。」
Under Gongsun Shu the martial stone at Wudan in Shu snapped. Wengong murmured, 'Ah— when the western realm's best minds perish, the reckoning falls on me.' After that he kept calling his descendants together for feasts. Three months later he was dead. Yizhou folk coined the line, 'Ren Wengong—no mind matches his.'
10
郭憲字子橫，汝南宋人也。 少師事東海王仲子。 時，王莽為大司馬，召仲子。 仲子欲往。 憲諫曰：「禮有來學，無有往教之義。 今君賤道畏貴，竊所不取。」 仲子曰：「王公至重，不敢違之。」 憲曰：「今正臨講業，且當訖事。」 仲子從之，日晏乃往。 莽問：「君來何遲？」 仲子具以憲言對，莽陰奇之。 及後篡位，拜憲郎中，賜以衣服。 憲受衣焚之，逃於東海之濱。 莽深忿恚，討逐不知所在。
Guo Xian, styled Ziheng, hailed from Song in Runan. As a boy he took the eastern sea scholar Wang Zhongzi as his master. Wang Mang, then Grand Marshal, summoned Zhongzi. The master meant to obey. Guo Xian objected: 'Propriety allows pupils to come to the teacher, not great men to drag the teacher to them. To demean the Way and cower before rank is something I cannot stomach.' Zhongzi replied, 'The minister's summons is not to be refused.' Guo Xian said, 'We are mid-lecture; let us finish the lesson first.' Zhongzi agreed and arrived only at dusk. Mang asked, 'Why have you come so late?' Zhongzi repeated Guo Xian's words, and Mang quietly marked the young man. After usurping the throne Mang named him a palace gentleman and sent robes as gifts. Guo Xian took the silks, burned them, and fled to the eastern seaboard. Mang raged and hunted him without success.
11
八年，車駕西征隗囂。 憲諫曰：「天下初定，車駕未可以動。」 憲乃當車拔佩刀以斷車靷。 帝不從，遂上隴。 其後潁川兵起，乃回駕而還。 帝歎曰：「恨不用子橫之言。」
In the eighth year of Jianwu the emperor marched west against Wei Xiao. Xian remonstrated, saying, 'The realm has only just been settled; the imperial carriage ought not to move.' He planted himself before the team, drew his belt knife, and cut the traces. The emperor ignored him and climbed Long Mountain. When Yingchuan rose in revolt he had to wheel about and ride back. The emperor sighed, saying, 'I regret I did not use Ziheng's words.'
12
時，匈奴數犯塞，帝患之，乃召百僚廷議。 憲以為天下疲敝，不宜動眾。 諫爭不合，乃伏地稱眩瞀，不復言。 帝令兩郎扶下殿，憲亦不拜。 帝曰：「常聞『關東觥觥郭子橫』，竟不虛也。」 憲遂以病辭退，卒於家。
As the Xiongnu kept raiding the passes, he called a full court to debate a response. Guo Xian argued the country was too spent for another campaign. When he lost the argument he dropped flat, feigned vertigo, and fell silent. Two attendants were told to haul him off the dais, yet he refused even a curt bow. The emperor remarked, 'They say east of the pass Guo Ziheng fears nothing—true enough.' Guo Xian then retired citing illness and died at home.
13
許楊字偉君，汝南平輿人也。 少好術數。 王莽輔政，召為郎，稍遷酒泉都尉。 及莽篡位，楊乃變姓名為巫醫，逃匿它界。 莽敗，方還鄉里。
Xu Yang, styled Weijun, came from Pingyu in Runan. From boyhood he loved numerology and technique. Wang Mang, as regent, called him to court as a gentleman and later promoted him to Jiuquan commandant. When Mang seized the throne Xu Yang changed his name, posed as a witch-doctor, and hid in another province. After Mang fell he came home.
14
汝南舊有鴻郤陂，成帝時，丞相翟方進奏毀敗之。 建武中，太守鄧晨欲修復其功。 聞楊曉水脈，召與議之。 楊曰：「昔成帝用方進之言，尋而自夢上天，天帝怒曰：『何故敗我濯龍淵？』 是後民失其利，多致飢困。 時有謠歌曰：『敗我陂者翟子威，飴我大豆，亨我芋魁。 反乎覆，陂當復。』 昔大禹決江疏河，以利天下。 明府今興立廢業，富國安民，童謠之言，將有徵於此。 誠願以死效力。」 晨大悅，因署楊為都水掾，使典其事。 楊因高下形勢，起塘四百餘里，數年乃立。 百姓得其便，累歲大稔。
Runan once held the great Hongxi marsh until Chancellor Zhai Fangjin persuaded Emperor Cheng to drain it. Early in Jianwu Governor Deng Chen wanted to rebuild the works. Learning that Xu Yang read water patterns, Deng Chen called him in to plan. Xu Yang said, 'Emperor Cheng listened to Zhai Fangjin and soon dreamed he had ascended to heaven, where the High God demanded, “Why ruin my Dragon Pool? The people lost the lake and starved in droves. A rhyme ran: Zhai Ziwei wrecked our dyke, fed us beans, stewed our taro. Turn and turn again—the marsh must return.' Great Yu cut channels for the rivers to benefit the world. If you revive this drowned work to enrich the commandery and feed the people, the old children's song will prove true at last. I am willing to stake my life on the task.' Deng Chen delightedly named him clerk of waterworks and put him in charge. Xu Yang traced the terrain and threw up four hundred li of embankment; the job took years. The farmers prospered and harvests turned fat year on year.
15
初，豪右大姓因緣陂役，競欲辜較在所，楊一無聽，遂共譖楊受取賕賂。 晨遂收楊下獄，而械輒自解。 獄吏恐，遽白晨。 晨驚曰：「果濫矣。 太守聞忠信可以感靈，今其效乎！」 即夜出楊，遣歸。 時天大陰晦，道中若有火光照之，時人異焉。 後以病卒。 晨於都宮為楊起廟，圖畫形像，百姓思其功績，皆祭祀之。
At first the great clans tried to rig the corvée; Xu Yang blocked every squeeze play, so they joined in accusing him of taking bribes. Deng Chen jailed Xu Yang, but the manacles kept falling open on their own. The terrified wardens ran to Deng Chen. Deng Chen exclaimed, 'The charge was unjust. They say loyalty can touch the gods—here is the proof!' That night he freed Xu Yang and sent him home. The heavens were black as ink, yet a glow lit his path like a torch, and onlookers took it for a wonder. He later died of an illness. Deng Chen built him a shrine in the metropolitan temple and hung his portrait; grateful folk kept his altars busy.
16
高獲字敬公，汝南新息人也。 為人尼首方面。 少游學京師，與光武有舊。 師事司徒歐陽歙。 歙下獄當斷，獲冠鐵冠，帶鈇鑕，詣闕請歙。 帝雖不赦，而引見之。 謂曰：「敬公，朕欲用子為吏，宜改常性。」 獲對曰：「臣受性於父母，不可改之於陛下。」 出便辭去。
Gao Huo, styled Jinggong, came from Xinxi in Runan. He was built like a man with a sloping forehead and a square jaw. As a young scholar in the capital he had known Emperor Guangwu long before. He studied under Ouyang Xi, the minister over the masses. When Ouyang Xi was jailed and sentenced to die, Gao Huo put on an iron cap, buckled on the felon's axe and fetters, and pleaded at the palace gate. The emperor refused the pardon but still granted him an audience. He told him, 'Jinggong, I mean to give you office; you must mend your stubborn ways.' Gao Huo answered, 'What my parents gave me in temperament no edict can reshape.' He bowed out and left without looking back.
17
三公爭辟，不應。 後太守鮑昱請獲，既至門，令主簿就迎，主簿但使騎吏迎之，獲聞之，即去。 昱遣追請獲，獲顧曰：「府君但為主簿所欺，不足與談。」 遂不留。 時郡境大旱。 獲素善天文，曉遁甲，能役使鬼神。 昱自往問何以致雨，獲曰：「急罷三部督郵，明府當自北出，到三十里亭，雨可致也。」 昱從之，果得大雨。 每行縣，輒軾其閭。 獲遂遠遁江南，卒於石城。 石城人思之，共為立祠。
All three dukes tried to recruit him; he ignored every offer. Governor Bao Yu later invited him in, yet at the door the chief clerk sent only outriders instead of greeting him in person; Gao Huo turned on his heel. Bao Yu sent runners to fetch him back; Gao Huo called over his shoulder, 'Your honor is hoodwinked by a clerk—not worth my time.' He never set foot inside. A killing drought gripped the commandery. Gao Huo read the stars, knew Dunjia, and was said to command spirits. Bao Yu rode out to ask the rite for rain. Gao Huo said, 'Dismiss your three touring supervisors at once, then ride north yourself to the thirty-li post station—that will draw the storm.' Bao Yu obeyed, and the heavens opened. Whenever Bao Yu inspected the counties he lifted the carriage bar in salute as he passed Gao Huo's lane. Gao Huo withdrew deep into the southland and died at Shicheng. The people of Shicheng missed him and raised a temple in his honor.
18
王喬者，河東人也。 顯宗世，為葉令。 喬有神術，每月朔望，常自縣詣臺朝。 帝怪其來數，而不見車騎，密令太史伺望之。 言其臨至，輒有雙鳧從東南飛來。 於是候鳧至，舉羅張之，但得一隻舄焉。 乃詔上方𧭉視，則四年中所賜尚書官屬履也。 每當朝時，葉門下鼓不擊自鳴，聞於京師。 後天下玉棺於堂前，吏人推排，終不搖動。 喬曰：「天帝獨召我邪？」 乃沐浴服飾寢其中，蓋便立覆。 宿昔葬於城東，土自成墳。 其夕，縣中牛皆流汗喘乏，而人無知者。 百姓乃為立廟，號葉君祠。 牧守每班錄，皆先謁拜之。 吏人祈禱，無不如應。 若有違犯，亦立能為祟。 帝乃迎取其鼓，置都亭下，略無復聲焉。 或云此即古仙人王子喬也。
Wang Qiao came from Hedong. Under Emperor Ming he served as magistrate of Ye. He possessed uncanny skills: every new and full moon he traveled from Ye to the capital for court without fail. The court wondered how he arrived so often yet never with a train, so the emperor told the grand astrologer to spy on him. They reported that each time he neared the capital two wild ducks flew in from the southeast. When the birds appeared the watchers cast a net and snared only one slipper. The palace workshops identified it as footwear given four years before to attendants of the minister of education. On court days the gate drum at Ye would roll without a hand touching it, and the capital could hear it. Then a jade sarcophagus appeared before the yamen; clerks heaved together but could not shift it. Wang Qiao asked, 'Does Heaven call for me alone?' He bathed, robed himself, lay inside, and the lid dropped straight shut. By morning he lay buried east of the walls, a mound rising as if shaped by unseen hands. That same night every ox in the county streamed sweat and heaved for breath, though no one understood why. The people raised a temple and hailed him as Lord Ye. Each new governor, roster in hand, bowed at his shrine before doing anything else. Petitions from clerks and commoners were answered every time. Break his rules and he would lash back as a vengeful ghost. The emperor seized the drum and hung it under the capital post station, after which it barely spoke again. Some identify him with the immortal Wang Ziqiao of old.
19
謝夷吾
Xie Yiwu
20
謝夷吾字堯卿，會稽山陰人也。 少為郡吏，學風角佔候。 太守第五倫擢為督郵。 時，烏程長有臧釁，倫使收案其罪。 夷吾到縣，無所驗，但望閣伏哭而還。 一縣驚怪，不知所為。 及還，白倫曰：「竊以佔候，知長當死。 近三十日，遠不過六十日，遊魂假息，非刑所加，故不收之。」 倫聽其言，至月餘，果有驛馬齎長印綬，上言暴卒。 倫以此益禮信之。
Xie Yiwu, styled Yaoqing, came from Shanyin in Kuaiji. He began as a commandery clerk and trained in wind-angle and portent lore. Governor Diwu Lun raised him to supervising clerk. The magistrate of Wucheng was rumored corrupt; Diwu Lun ordered Xie Yiwu to arrest and examine him. Xie Yiwu reached the county, proved nothing in court, faced the gate tower, wept prostrate, and rode back. The whole county was baffled. Back at headquarters he told Diwu Lun, 'My divination shows the magistrate is dying. Within thirty days at soonest, sixty at latest; his soul already wanders—no law can touch him—so I made no arrest.' Diwu Lun waited; a month later couriers arrived with the dead man's seal and word of a sudden death. From then on Diwu Lun honored him the more.
21
舉孝廉，為壽張令，稍遷荊州刺史，遷鉅鹿太守。 所在愛育人物，有善績。 及倫作司徒，令班固為文薦夷吾曰：
Filial-incorrupt recommendation won him Shouzhang magistracy, then promotion to Jing inspector and Julu governor. Everywhere he nurtured the people and left a fine record. When Diwu Lun became minister of education he told Ban Gu to draft a memorial praising Xie Yiwu:
22
臣聞堯登稷、契，政隆太平； 舜用皋陶，政致雍熙、殷、周雖有高宗、昌、發之君，猶賴傅說、呂望之策，故能克崇其業，允協大中。 竊見鉅鹿太守會稽謝夷吾，出自東州，厥土塗泥，而英姿挺特，奇偉秀出。 才兼四科，行包九德，仁足濟時，知周萬物。 加以少膺儒雅，韜含六籍，推考星度，綜校圖錄，探賾聖秘，觀變曆徵，佔天知地，與神合契，據其道德，以經王務。 昔為陪隸，與臣從事，奮忠毅之操，躬史魚之節，董臣嚴綱，勗臣懦弱，得以免戾，實賴厥勳。 及其應選作宰，惠敷百里，降福彌異，流化若神，爰牧荊州，威行邦國。 奉法作政，有周、召之風； 居儉履約，紹公儀之操。 尋功簡能，為外臺之表； 聽聲察實，為九伯之冠。 遷守鉅鹿，政合時雍。 德量績謀，有伊、呂、管、晏之任； 闡弘道奧，同史蘇、京房之倫。 雖密勿在公，而身出心隱，不殉名以求譽，不馳鶩以要寵，念存遜遁，演志箕山。 方之古賢，實有倫序； 采之於今，超焉絕俗。 誠社稷之元龜，大漢之棟甍。 宜當拔擢，使登鼎司。 上令三辰順軌於歷象，下使五品咸訓於嘉時，必致休徵克昌之慶，非徒循法奉職而已。 臣以頑駑，器非其疇，屍祿負乘，夕惕若厲。 願乞骸骨，更授夷吾，上以光七曜之明，下以厭率土之望，庶令微臣塞咎免悔。
Your servant has heard that when Yao raised Ji and Xie, peace spread across the realm; Shun used Gao Yao and harmony followed. Yin and Zhou boasted kings like Gaozong, Wen, and Wu, yet even they leaned on Fu Yue and Lü Wang—only thus could they magnify their work and hit the great mean. Your servant has watched Julu Governor Xie Yiwu of Kuaiji: though he springs from the eastern mudflats, his mien is heroic, his talent towering. He unites the four classes of talent, walks the nine virtues, has benevolence enough to save the times, and knowledge wide as creation. Trained in the classics, he stores the Six Books, tracks the constellations, collates apocrypha, probes the sages' arcana, reads omens in the calendar, knows heaven and earth, moves in tune with the gods, and steers statecraft by virtue. Once my underling, he showed the grit of Zhong and Yu and the blunt honor of Shi Yu, tightened my slack rule and steeled my cowardice, and saved me from fault—that merit is mine to repay. As magistrate his grace soaked a hundred li, blessings fell strangely, his teaching seemed divine; as Jing inspector his majesty ran the whole province. His government has the Duke of Zhou's discipline and the Duke of Shao's clarity; living spare and keeping faith, he matches Gongyi Xiu. In weighing merit and talent he is the outer court's paragon; in testing rumor against fact he leads the nine regional inspectors. As Julu governor his rule matched the season of harmony. In moral breadth and policy depth he rivals Yi Yin, Lü Wang, Guan Zhong, and Yan Ying; in opening the Way's depths he ranks with Shi Su and Jing Fang. Though he slaves for the state, his mind stays hidden; he trades neither fame nor favor for ambition, and his heart already wanders toward Mount Ji's reclusion. Set beside the ancients he holds his rank; measured against our own age he stands clean above the crowd. He is the tortoise-oracle of the state, the roof-tree of Han. He should be lifted into the three highest seats. Above he would set sun, moon, and stars to their tracks; below he would school the five ranks in a golden age—more than a dutiful clerk, he would summon the omens of a golden peace. Your servant is a dull nag, unfit for the yoke, fat on unearned pay and riding above his station, and quakes each night like a man on a cliff. Let me yield my bones and yield the post to Yiwu—above to light the seven governors, below to quiet the empire—so this fool may dodge blame and regret.
23
後以行春乘柴車，從兩史，冀州刺史上其儀序失中，有損國典，左轉下邳令。 豫克死日，如期果卒。 敕其子曰：「漢末當亂，必有發掘露骸之禍。」 使懸棺下葬，墓不起墳。
Later, riding a rough cart with two clerks on his spring rounds, the Ji inspector impeached his retinue as a breach of ritual; he was busted down to magistrate of Xiapi. He foretold his own death and died exactly on schedule. He warned his sons, 'When Han falls, tombs will be opened and bones left in the sun.' He told them to bury him in a suspended coffin and leave no mound.
24
時，博士勃海郭鳳亦好圖讖，善說災異，吉凶占應。 先自知死期，豫令弟子市棺斂具，至其日而終。
About the same time Bohai academician Guo Feng doted on chenwei charts and read disasters and lucky signs. He too knew his last day, sent disciples to buy a coffin beforehand, and died on the dot.
25
楊由字哀侯，蜀郡成都人也，少習《易》，並七政、元氣、風雲佔候。 為郡文學掾。 時，有大雀夜集於庫樓上，太守廉範以問由。 由對曰：「此佔郡內當有小兵，然不為害。」 後二十餘日，廣柔縣蠻夷反，殺傷長吏，郡發庫兵擊之。 又有風吹削哺，太守以問由。 由對曰：「方當有薦木實者，其色黃赤。」 頃之，五官掾獻橘數包。
Yang You, styled Aihou, of Chengdu in Shu, studied the Changes, the seven governors, original breath, and weather omens. He served as the commandery's educational aide. A huge sparrow roosted one night on the arsenal tower; Governor Lian Fan asked Yang You what it meant. Yang You said, 'It marks petty fighting inside the commandery, nothing serious.' Twenty days later Guangrou's barbarians rose, cut down officers, and the commandery unlocked the arsenal to fight them off. Wind next blew carved feeding boards about; the governor again consulted Yang You. He answered, 'Someone will soon bring fruit—yellow-red in color.' Soon a clerk of the five bureaus offered several sacks of oranges.
26
由嘗從人飲，敕御者曰：「酒若三行，便宜嚴駕。」 既而趣去。 後主人舍有鬥相殺者，人請問何以知之。 由曰：「向社中木上有鳩鬥，此兵賊之像也。」 其言多驗。 著書十餘篇，名曰《其平》。 終於家。
Once at a banquet Yang You told his driver, 'After the third round, hitch the horses tight.' He left in haste before the feast ended. A brawl broke out in the host's house and men died; guests asked how he had foreseen it. Yang You said, 'I saw doves brawling on the tree over the village shrine—a sign of armed strife.' Again and again his readings came true. He left a dozen essays collected under the title Qi Ping. He died at home.
27
李南字孝山，丹陽句容人也。 少篤學，明於風角。 和帝永元中，太守馬棱坐盜賊事被徵，當詣廷尉，吏民不寧，南特通謁賀。 棱意有恨，謂曰：「太守不德，今當即罪，而君反相賀邪？」 南曰：「旦有善風，明日中時，應有吉問，故來稱慶。」 旦日，棱延望景晏，以為無徵； 至晡，乃有驛使齎詔書原停棱事。 南問其遲留之狀。 使者曰：「向度宛陵浦裡斻，馬踠足，是以不得速。」 棱乃服焉。 後舉有道，辟公府，病不行，終於家。
Li Nan, styled Xiaoshan, came from Jurong in Danyang. He studied hard in youth and mastered the wind-angle art. Under Emperor He, when Governor Ma Ling was called to the capital on a banditry charge, the commandery panicked—only Li Nan asked for an audience to congratulate him. Ma Ling took offense and said, 'I am disgraced—why do you offer joy?' Li Nan replied, 'The wind at dawn was favorable; by noon tomorrow good word will arrive—that is why I came to rejoice.' Next morning Ma Ling watched the sky until noon and saw no sign; only in mid-afternoon did a post rider gallop up with an edict dropping the case. Li Nan asked why he was late. The messenger said, 'Just now when crossing the Wanling inlet at Puli, my horse sprained its foot, and therefore I could not be swift.' Ma Ling conceded Li Nan had been right. Recommended for the 'conduct of the Way' and called to the high minister's bureau, he pleaded sickness and stayed home until he died.
28
南女亦曉家術，為由拳縣人妻。 晨詣爨室，卒有暴風，婦便上堂從姑求歸，辭其二親。 姑不許，乃跪而泣曰：「家世傳術，疾風卒起，先吹灶突及井，此禍為婦女主爨者，妾將亡之應。」 因著其亡日。 乃聽還家，如期病卒。
Li Nan's daughter knew the family divinations; she had married into Youquan county. One dawn at the kitchen a gale struck; she ran to the hall and begged leave to go home to her parents. The mother-in-law refused; kneeling, she wept, 'Our family reads omens: a sudden gale that hits the chimney and well first marks the cook's doom—I am the one who will die.' She named the very day she would die. They sent her home, and she fell ill and died exactly as she foretold.
29
李郃字孟節，漢中南鄭人也。 父頡，以儒學稱，官至博士。 郃襲父業，游太學，通《五經》。 善《河》、《洛》風星，外質樸，人莫之識。 縣召署幕門候吏。
Li He, styled Mengjie, came from Nanzheng in Hanzhong. His father Li Jie was a noted classicist who reached the doctorate. He followed his father's scholarship, entered the Imperial Academy, and mastered the Five Classics. He knew the River-Luo charts and stellar winds, yet seemed so plain that nobody noticed him. The county put him on duty as watchman at the camp gate.
30
和帝即位，分遣使者，皆微服單行，各至州縣，觀采風謠。 使者二人當到益部，投郃候舍。 時，夏夕露坐，郃因仰觀，問曰：「二君發京師時，寧知朝廷遣二使邪？」 二人默然，驚相視曰：「不聞也。」 問何以知之。 郃指星示云：「有二使星向益州分野，故知之耳。」
Emperor He sent secret inspectors in plain clothes, each riding alone to hear folk songs and rumor. Two of them were bound for Yi and put up at Li He's guardhouse. At the time, on a summer evening sitting in the dew, He therefore looked up at the sky and asked, 'When you two gentlemen set out from the capital, did you know the court had dispatched two envoys?' The two were silent, then looked at each other in alarm and said, 'We did not hear of it.' They asked how he could tell. He traced two 'envoy' stars sliding toward Yi's celestial field—that was his proof.
31
後三年，其使者一人拜漢中太守，郃猶為吏。 太守奇其隱德，召署戶曹史。 時，大將軍竇憲納妻，天下郡國皆有禮慶，郡亦遣使。 郃進諫曰：「竇將軍椒房之親，不修禮德，而專權驕恣，危亡之禍可翹足而待。 願明府一心王室，勿與交通。」 太守固遣之，郃不能止。 請求自行，許之。 郃遂所在留遲，以觀其變。 行至扶風，而憲就國自殺，支黨悉伏其誅。 凡交通憲者，皆為免官，唯漢中太守不豫焉。
Three years later one of those men became governor of Hanzhong while Li He remained a petty clerk. The new governor, struck by his quiet gifts, made him clerk of the households bureau. When Dou Xian married, every province sent gifts; Hanzhong prepared a messenger too. Li He warned, 'Dou Xian is imperial in-law yet flouts virtue and bullies the realm—his fall is a toe's length away. He begged the governor to cleave to the throne and send no gift.' The governor insisted; Li He could not block him. He asked to carry the gift himself and was allowed. He dawdled at every stop to see what would happen. By the time he reached Fufeng, Dou Xian had been sent to his fief and forced to suicide; his clique was wiped out. Everyone who had courted Dou Xian lost his post—except the Hanzhong governor.
32
郃歲中舉孝廉，五遷尚書令，又拜太常。 元初四年，代袁敞為司空，數陳得失，有忠臣節。 在位四年，坐請託事免。
That same year Li He won filial-incorrupt rank, climbed five steps to director of the secretariat, then became minister of cults. In Yuanchu 4 he succeeded Yuan Chang as minister of works and spoke bluntly on policy like a true loyalist. Four years later he fell on a favor-seeking charge.
33
安帝崩，北鄉侯立，復為司徒。 及北鄉侯病，郃陰與少府河南陶範、步兵校尉趙直謀立順帝，會孫程等事先成，故郃功不顯。 明年，坐吏民疾病，仍有災異，賜策免。 將作大匠翟酺上郃「潛圖大計，以安社稷」，於是錄陰謀之功，封郃涉都侯，辭讓不受。 年八十餘，卒於家。 門人上黨馮冑獨制服，心喪三年，時人異之。
When Emperor An died and the Beixiang marquis mounted the throne, Li He returned as minister of education. When the boy emperor sickened, Li He conspired with Tao Fan and Zhao Zhi to enthrone Emperor Shun, but eunuch Sun Cheng moved first, so his plot never surfaced. Next year plague and omens cost him his seal under an imperial rebuke. The master of works Zhai Pu memorialized that He 'secretly framed a great plan to secure the altars of soil and grain,' and therefore his merit in the hidden plot was recorded and He was enfeoffed marquis of Shedu, but he declined and would not accept. He died at home in his eighties. Only his pupil Feng Zhou of Shangdang wore mourning three years—an act the age found remarkable.
34
冑字世威，奉世之後也。 常慕周伯況、閔仲叔之為人，隱處山澤，不應徵辟。
Feng Zhou, styled Shiwei, descended from Feng Shishi. He modeled himself on Zhou Bokuang and Min Zhongshu, living hidden in the hills and ignoring every call to office.
35
郃子固，已見前傳。 弟子歷，字季子。 清白有節，博學善交，與鄭玄、陳紀等相結。 為新城長，政貴無為。 亦好方術。 時，天下旱，縣界特雨。 官至奉車都尉。
His son Li Gu appears in an earlier chapter. A disciple, Li, styled Jizi. He was incorrupt, learned, and befriended men like Zheng Xuan and Chen Ji. As magistrate of Xincheng he ruled by doing little. He too dabbled in esoteric technique. While the empire baked in drought, his county alone caught rain. He rose to chief commandant for the imperial carriage.
36
段翳字元章，廣漢新都人也。 習《易經》，明風角。 時有就其學者，雖未至，必豫知其姓名。 嘗告守津吏曰：「某日當有諸生二人，荷擔問翳舍處者，幸為告之。」 後竟如其言。 又有一生來學，積年，自謂略究要術，辭歸鄉里。 翳為合膏藥，並以簡書封於筒中，告生曰：「有急發視之。」 生到葭萌，與吏爭度，津吏楇破從者頭。 生開筒得書，言到葭萌，與吏鬥頭破者，以此膏裹之。 生用其言，創者即愈。 生嘆服，乃還卒業。 翳遂隱居竄跡，終於家。
Duan Yi, styled Yuanzhang, came from Xindu in Guanghan. He studied the Changes and the wind-angle art. Pupils who had not yet arrived found their names already on his lips. He once told the ferry-clerk on guard, 'On such-and-such a day there will be two students carrying loads who will ask where Yi's house is—be so good as to tell them.' It happened just as he said. Another pupil studied years, thought he had the gist, and left for home. Duan Yi gave him salve and a sealed bamboo slip, saying, 'Open only in crisis.' At Jiameng he fought the ferryman, who clubbed his servant's head open. Inside the tube the slip said that at Jiameng a clerk would crack someone's skull and this salve would heal it. He applied the paste and the wound closed overnight. Awestruck, the student went back to finish the course. Duan Yi then vanished into reclusion and died at home.
37
廖扶字文起，汝南平輿人也。 習《韓詩》、《歐陽尚書》，教授常數百人。 父為北地太守，永初中，坐羌沒郡下獄死。 扶感父以法喪身，憚為吏。 及服終而歎曰：「老子有言：『名與身孰親？』 吾豈為名乎！」 遂絕志世外。 專精經典，尤明天文、讖緯，風角、推步之術。 州郡公府辟召，皆不應。 就問災異，亦無所對。
Liao Fu, styled Wenqi, came from Pingyu in Runan. He taught the Han Odes and Ouyang Documents to hundreds of students. His father governed Beidi and died in prison after the Qiang overran the commandery in Yongchu. Liao Fu shrank from office after seeing the law kill his father. When mourning was ended he sighed, saying, 'Laozi has a saying, "Fame and the person—which is dearer? Surely I will not chase reputation!' He renounced the world of ambition. He plunged into the canon, mastering stars, apocrypha, wind-angle, and calendars. He ignored every summons from province or capital. Even when asked for omens he stayed silent.
38
扶逆知歲荒，乃聚谷數千斛，悉用給宗族姻親，又斂葬遭疫死亡不能自收者。 常居先人塚側，未曾入城市。 太守謁煥，先為諸生，從扶學。 後臨郡，未到，先遣吏修門人之禮，又欲擢扶子弟，固不肯，當時人因號為北郭先生。 年八十，終於家。
Foreseeing famine, he stored grain for clan and in-laws and buried plague victims who had no one to tend them. He lived by the family graves and never went to town. Governor Ye Huan had once been his pupil. Ye Huan, before taking his post, sent a man to honor him as teacher and tried to promote his sons; Liao Fu refused and was nicknamed the Sage beyond the north wall. He died at home at eighty.
39
二子，孟舉、偉舉，並知名。
His sons Mengju and Weiju both won renown.
40
折像字伯式，廣漢雒人也。 其先張江者，封折侯，曾孫國為鬱林太守，徙廣漢，因封氏焉。 國生像。
She Xiang, styled Boshi, came from Luo in Guanghan. An ancestor, Zhang Jiang, was marquis of Zhe; a descendant governed Yulin, moved to Guanghan, and adopted the fief name She as surname. She Guo fathered She Xiang.
41
國有資財二億，家僮八百人。 像幼有仁心，不殺昆蟲，不折萌牙。 能通《京氏易》，好黃、老言。 及國卒，感多藏厚亡之義，乃散金帛資產，周施親疏。 或諫像曰：「君三男兩女，孫息盈前，當增益產業，何為坐自殫竭乎？」 像曰：「昔斗子文有言：『我乃逃禍，非避富也。』 吾門戶殖財日久，盈滿之咎，道家所忌。 今世將衰，子又不才。 不仁而富，謂之不幸。 牆隙而高，其崩必疾也。」 智者聞之，咸服焉。
She Guo owned two hundred million cash and eight hundred retainers. Even as a boy She Xiang spared insects and never snapped young shoots. He mastered Jing Fang's Changes and loved Huang-Lao philosophy. When his father died he remembered that great hoards invite great loss and gave away gold, silk, and land to kin near and far. Someone remonstrated with Xiang, saying, 'You have three sons and two daughters, and grandchildren throng before you—you ought to increase your estate; why sit and exhaust yourself?' He quoted Dou Ziwen: 'I shed wealth to dodge disaster, not because I scorn riches. Our house has been rich too long; Daoists warn that excess invites ruin. The age is turning and my sons lack talent. Wealth without virtue is the worst misfortune. A high wall built on a crack must fall fast.' Thoughtful listeners took his point and conceded he was right.
42
自知亡日，召賓客九族飲食辭訣，忽然而終。 時年八十四。 家無餘資，諸子衰劣如其言云。
He foreknew his last day, feasted kin and friends in farewell, and slipped away as if in a breath. He was eighty-four years old. The estate was bare, and his sons turned out as dull as he had warned.
43
樊英字季齊，南陽魯陽人也。 少受業三輔，習《京氏易》，兼明《五經》。 又善風角、星算，《河》、《洛》七緯，推步災異。 隱於壺山之陽，受業者四方而至。 州郡前後禮請，不應； 公卿舉賢良方正、有道，皆不行。
Fan Ying, styled Jiqi, came from Luyang in Nanyang. He trained in the capital region, mastered Jing Fang's Changes, and knew the Five Classics. He read wind omens, stars, River-Luo lore, the seven weft apocrypha, and disaster math. He lived south of Mount Hu and drew pupils from every direction. Provincial and commandery posts courted him in vain; high ministers nominated him as worthy and as a man of the Way, yet he never took office.
44
嘗有暴風從西方起，英謂學者曰：「成都市火甚盛。」 因含水西向漱之，乃令記其日時。 客後有從蜀都來，云「是日大火，有黑雲卒從東起，須臾大雨，火遂得滅。」 於是天下稱其術藝。
When a gale blew from the west he told his class, 'Chengdu's market is burning hard.' He rinsed his mouth westward with water and had them note the time. ' Later a guest came from Shu capital and said, 'That day there was a great fire; suddenly a black cloud rose from the east, and in a moment there was heavy rain, so the fire was then able to be extinguished.' All under heaven marveled at his skill.
45
永建二年，順帝策書備禮，玄纁徵之，复固辭疾篤。 乃詔切責郡縣，駕載上道。 英不得已，到京，稱疾不肯起。 乃強輿入殿，猶不以禮屈。 帝怒，謂英曰：「朕能生君，能殺君； 能貴君，能賤君； 能富君，能貧君。 君何以慢朕命？」 英曰：「臣受命於天。 生盡其命，天也； 死不得其命，亦天也。 陛下焉能生臣，焉能殺臣！ 臣見暴君如見仇讎，立其朝猶不肯，可得而貴乎？ 雖在布衣之列，環堵之中，晏然自得，不易萬乘之尊，又可得而賤乎？ 陛下焉能貴臣，焉能賤臣！ 臣非禮之祿，雖萬鍾不受； 若申其志，雖簞食不厭也。 陛下焉能富臣，焉能貧臣！」 帝不能屈，而敬其名，使出就太醫養疾，月致羊、酒。
In Yongjian 2 Emperor Shun summoned him with full honors; Fan Ying pleaded grave illness again. The court rebuked local officials and had him carted to the capital. Fan Ying yielded, arrived, and stayed abed feigning sickness. They carried him into the hall on a litter; he still refused court etiquette. The emperor thundered, 'I can spare or end you; raise you high or cast you low; make you rich or strip you bare. Why defy an emperor?' Fan Ying answered, 'My life comes from Heaven. Live your full span—that is Heaven; die before your time—that too is Heaven. So how can you grant me life or deal me death? I would sooner face a tyrant as an enemy than bow in his court—can you truly honor me? Give me a hovel and plain clothes and I am content—I would not swap that for the throne—can you humble me? So how can you honor or shame me? Unrighteous stipends, even ten thousand zhong, I reject; feed my purpose and a bowl of gruel satisfies me. So how can you enrich or ruin me?' The emperor could not break him, yet prized his name, sent him to the imperial physicians, and monthly supplied mutton and wine.
46
至四年三月，天子乃為英設壇席，令公車令導，尚書奉引，賜几杖，待以師傅之禮，延問得失。 英不敢辭，拜五官中郎將。 數月，英稱疾篤，詔以為光祿大夫，賜告歸。 令在所送谷千斛，常以八月致牛一頭，酒三斛； 如有不幸，祠以中牢。 英辭位不受，有詔譬旨，勿聽。
In the third month of the fourth year the emperor staged a dais for Fan Ying, had coaches and secretaries escort him, gave him a seat and cane, honored him like a teacher, and asked his counsel on state affairs. Fan Ying bowed and accepted rank as supernumerary gentleman of the household. Months later he pleaded worse health; the court named him grand counselor of the palace and let him go home. His district was told to send a thousand hu of grain yearly, each eighth month an ox and three hu of wine; and if he died, to sacrifice with the middle offering. He tried to refuse the title; the emperor insisted he keep it.
47
英初被詔命，僉以為必不降志，及後應對，又無奇謨深策，談者以為失望。 初，河南張楷與英俱徵，既而謂英曰：「天下有二道，出與處也。 吾前以子之出，能輔是君也，濟斯人也。 而子始以不訾之身，怒萬乘之主； 及其享受爵祿，又不聞匡救之術，進退無所據矣。」
At first everyone expected Fan Ying to defy the throne; when he took office without brilliant policy, chatter called him a letdown. Henan's Zhang Kai, summoned with him, later said, 'There are two paths—serve or withdraw. I thought you went to aid the ruler and save the people. Instead you, a man beyond price, first enraged the Son of Heaven; then took salary without offering bold counsel—your stance makes no sense.'
48
英既善術，朝廷每有災異，詔輒下問變復之效，所言多驗。
Fan Ying's arts were real: whenever omens struck, the court asked him how to set the cosmos right, and he was usually right.
49
初，英著《易章句》，世名樊氏學，以圖緯教授。 潁川陳寔，少從英學。 嘗有疾，妻遣婢拜問，英下床答拜。 寔怪而問之。 英曰：「妻，齊也。 共奉祭祀，禮無不答。」 其恭謹若是。 年七十餘，卒於家。
He wrote Fan's Commentary on the Changes and taught with charts and apocrypha. Chen Shi of Yingchuan studied under him as a boy. Once ill, he rose from bed to return a maid's courtesy sent by Chen Shi's wife. Chen Shi asked why. Fan Ying said, 'A wife is partner, not servant. We share the ancestral rites—propriety demands I answer her messenger.' Such was his punctilious courtesy. He died at home in his seventies.
50
孫陵，靈帝時以諂事宦人為司徒。
Sun Ling flattered the palace eunuchs under Emperor Ling and rose to minister of education.
51
陳郡郤巡，學傳英業，官至侍中。
Xi Xun of Chen carried on Fan Ying's teaching and reached palace attendant.
52
論曰：漢世之所謂名士者，其風流可知矣。 雖弛張趣舍，時有未純，於刻情修容，依倚道藝，以就其聲價，非所能通物方，弘時務也。 及徵樊英、楊厚，朝廷若待神明，至，竟無他異。 英名最高，毀最甚。 李固、硃穆等，以為處士純盜虛名，無益於用，故其所以然也。 然而後進希之以成名，世主禮之以得眾，原其無用亦所以為用，則其有用或歸於無用矣。 何以言之？ 夫煥乎文章，時或乖用； 本乎禮樂，適末或疏。 及其陶搢紳，藻心性，使由之而不知者，豈非道邈用表，乖之數跡乎？ 而或者忽不踐之地，賒無用之功，至乃誚噪遠術，賤斥國華，以為力詐可以救淪敝，文律足以致寧平，智盡於猜察，道足於法令，雖濟萬世，其將與夷狄同也。 孟軻有言曰：「以夏變夷，不聞變夷於夏。」 況有未濟者乎！
The historian remarks: the Han fashion for 'famous scholars' tells its own tale. Some tightened or loosened their principles, trimmed their manners, and traded on technique for fame, yet few could grasp the world or serve the times. Fan Ying and Yang Hou were awaited like gods; when they came they offered no marvels. Fan Ying's reputation stood tallest—and drew the bitterest mockery. Li Gu and Zhu Mu judged such hermits mere hoarders of hollow renown, useless on the job—and so it looked. Still, juniors aped them for renown and rulers courted them for crowds; their very uselessness became a political tool, until usefulness and uselessness traded places. How shall we put this? Brilliant writing can still be misapplied; Ritual and music anchor the root, yet the twigs may run wild. When doctrine refines the elite yet they follow blindly, has not the Way grown so thin its use is only veneer—a hair's miss from the mark? Worse are those who scorn high learning, mock statecraft, and trust only force, statutes, and suspicion—such men may save a day but will civilize no better than barbarians. Mencius said, 'Use civilization to transform barbarism, not the reverse.' —and how much less when the task is unfinished!'