1
志第十六五行四
Treatise Sixteen: The Five Elements, Part Four.
2
地震山崩地陷大风拔树螟牛疫
This section records earthquakes, landslides, sinkholes, gales that tear up forests, rice-borer infestations, and murrain among cattle.
3
《五行传》曰「治宫室，饰台榭，内淫乱，犯亲戚，侮父兄，则稼穑不成。」 谓土失其性而为灾也。 又曰：「思心不容，是谓不圣。 厥咎□，厥罚恒风，厥极凶短折。 时则有脂夜之妖，时则有华孽，时则有牛祸，时则有心腹之疴，时则有黄眚、黄祥，惟金、水、木、火□土。」 华孽，刘歆传为蠃虫之孽，谓螟属也。
The "Treatise on the Five Elements" says: "When one builds palace halls, adorns terraces and pavilions, carries on debauchery within, offends kinsmen, and insults fathers and elder brothers, then sowing and reaping do not succeed." That is, the element of soil is corrupted and disaster follows. The same text adds that when deliberation is cramped and counsel shut out, the ruler fails the standard of "sagacity. The fault is muddled judgment; the matching scourge is ceaseless wind; the bitter end is untimely death in violence. Such ages bring uncanny night lights, freak blossoms, cattle plagues, diseases of the vitals, and yellow hauntings—while metal, water, wood, and fire encroach on earth." Liu Xin grouped these floral prodigies with "soft-bodied" vermin omens—in practice, the rice stem borer.
4
世祖建武二十二年九月，郡国四十二地震，南阳尤甚，地裂压杀人。 其后武谿蛮夷反，为寇害，至南郡，发荆州诸郡兵，遣武威将军刘尚击之，为夷所围，复发兵赴之，尚遂为所没。
Jianwu 22 (46 CE), ninth month: forty-two jurisdictions shook; Nanyang worst, with fissures that swallowed lives. Then the Wuxi tribes rose, raided south to Nanjun, and trapped Liu Shang's relief army—he and his men were wiped out.
5
章帝建初元年三月甲寅，山阳、东平地震。
Jianchu 1 (76 CE), third month, jiayin: tremors struck Shanyang and Dongping.
6
和帝永元四年六月丙辰，郡国十三地震。 《春秋汉含孳》曰：「女主盛，臣制命，则地动坼，畔震起，山崩沦。」 是时，窦太后摄政，兄窦宪专权，将以是受祸也。 后五日，诏收宪印绶，兄弟就国，逼迫皆自杀。 五年二月戊午，陇西地震。 懦说民安土者也，将大动，行大震。 九月，匈奴单于於除鞬叛，遣使发边郡兵讨之。 七年九月癸卯，京都地震。 儒说奄官无阳施，犹妇人也。 是时和帝与中常侍郑众谋夺窦氏权，德之，因任用之，及幸常侍蔡伦，二人始并用权。 九年三月庚辰，陇西地震。 闰月，塞外羌犯塞，杀略吏民，使征西将军刘尚击之。
Yongyuan 4 (92 CE), sixth month, bingchen: thirteen provinces quaked. The "Spring and Autumn Han hanzi" says: "When the female ruler flourishes and ministers dictate the mandate, then the earth moves and splits, revolt and quake arise, mountains collapse and sink." The Dou regency and Xian's monopoly on power were the moral fault behind the shock. Five days after: Xian's credentials were stripped; the brothers were sent to their domains and forced to kill themselves. Yongyuan 5, second month, wuwu: Longxi shook. Commentators read the omen as meaning that the folk, whose life is bound to the soil, foretell a major convulsion when the ground itself is about to shift. Ninth month: Shanyu Yuchujian turned rebel; border garrisons marched against him. Yongyuan 7 (95 CE), ninth month, guimao: Luoyang trembled. Scholars compared eunuchs to women: without "yang" generative force, they were a yin presence at court. He had conspired with Zheng Zhong to break the Dous, then raised Zhong and Cai Lun until both eunuchs shared the inner court's power. Yongyuan 9, third month, gengchen: another Longxi quake. Intercalary month: frontier Qiang raided inward; Liu Shang was ordered west.
7
安帝永初元年，郡国十八地震。 李固曰：「地者阴也，法当安静。 今乃越阴之职，专阳之政，故应以震动。」 是时，邓太后摄政专事，讫建光中，太后崩，安帝乃得制政，于是阴类并胜，西羌乱夏，连十余年。 二年，郡国十二地震。 三年十二月辛酉，郡国九地震。 四年三月癸巳，郡国四地震。 五年正月丙戌，郡国十地震。 七年正月壬寅，二月丙午，郡国十八地震。
Yongchu 1 (107 CE): eighteen jurisdictions reported tremors. Li Gu said: "Earth is yin; by principle it ought to be still. When yin usurps yang's role—women or ministers ruling in the emperor's stead—the ground answers with convulsions." Through her death in Jianguang, the Deng regency blocked An from rule; yin forces ran wild, and the Qiang war dragged on for over a decade. Yongchu 2: twelve provinces shook. Yongchu 3, twelfth month, xinyou: nine jurisdictions quaked. Yongchu 4, third month, guisi: four provinces felt the shock. Yongchu 5, first month, bingxu: ten commanderies shook. Yongchu 7: tremors on renyin in the first month and bingwu in the second—eighteen jurisdictions in all.
8
元初元年，郡国十五地震。 二年十一月庚申，郡国十地震。 三年二月，郡国十地震。 十一月癸卯，郡国九地震。 四年，郡国十三地震。 五年，郡国十四地震。 六年二月乙巳，京都、郡国四十二地震，或地坼裂，涌水，坏败城郭、民室屋，压杀人。 冬，郡国八地震。
Yuanchu 1 (114 CE): fifteen provinces reported earthquakes. Yuanchu 2, eleventh month, gengshen: ten jurisdictions. Yuanchu 3, second month: ten more. Yuanchu 3, eleventh month, guimao: nine commanderies. Yuanchu 4: thirteen provinces shook. Yuanchu 5: fourteen jurisdictions. Yuanchu 6, second month, yisi: Luoyang and forty-two commanderies convulsed—fissures opened, springs burst through, walls and homes collapsed, and many were buried alive. That winter eight more provinces trembled.
9
永宁元年，郡国二十三地震。
Yongning 1 (120 CE): twenty-three jurisdictions.
10
建光元年九月己丑，郡国三十五地震，或地坼裂，坏城郭室屋，压杀人。 是时，安帝不能明察，信宫人及阿母圣等谗言，破坏邓太后家，于是专听信圣及宦者，中常侍江京、樊丰等皆得用权。
Jianguang 1 (121 CE), ninth month, jichou: thirty-five commanderies; ground split, towns ruined, lives lost. An turned on the Dengs on whispered lies from Wang Sheng and the harem, then handed the realm to Jiang Jing, Fan Feng, and their fellow eunuchs.
11
延光元年七月癸卯，京都、郡国十三地震。 九月戊申，郡国二十七地震。 二年，京都、郡国三十二地震。 三年，京都、郡国二十三地震。 是时，以谗免太尉杨震，废太子。 四年十一月丁巳，京都、郡国十六地震。 时安帝既崩，阎太后摄政，兄弟阎显等并用事，遂斥安帝子。 更征诸国王子，未至，中黄门遂诛显兄弟。
Yanguang 1 (122 CE), seventh month, guimao: Luoyang and thirteen provinces shook. Ninth month, wushen: twenty-seven jurisdictions. Yanguang 2: the capital plus thirty-two commanderies quaked. Yanguang 3: Luoyang and twenty-three provinces. That was the year Yang Zhen was ousted on false charges and the crown prince cast down. Yanguang 4, eleventh month, dingsi: the capital and sixteen commanderies. After An's death the Yan brothers, behind their sister's screen, set aside An's own boy from the succession. They called other princes toward the capital, but eunuchs struck first and slaughtered the Yans before the boys arrived.
12
顺帝永建三年正月丙子，京都、汉阳地震。 汉阳屋坏杀人，地坼涌水出。 是时，顺帝阿母宋娥及中常侍张昉等用权。
Yongjian 3 (128 CE), first month, bingzi: Luoyang and Hanyang convulsed. Hanyang's buildings fell and crushed families; the soil gaped and water jetted from the cracks. Shun's wet nurse Song E and Zhang Fang were pulling the strings.
13
阳嘉二年四月己亥，京都地震，是时，爵号宋娥为山阳君。 四年十二月甲寅。 京都地震。
Yangjia 2 (133 CE), fourth month, jihai: Luoyang shook the month Song E was ennobled as Lady of Shanyang. Yangjia 4, twelfth month, jiayin—a date heading the next entry. The capital trembled.
14
永和二年四月丙申，京都地震。 是时宋娥构奸诬罔，五月事觉，收印绶，归田里。 十一月丁卯，京都地震。 是时，太尉王龚以中常侍张昉等专弄国权，欲奏诛之，时龚宗亲有以杨震行事谏之止云。 三年二月乙亥，京都、金城、陇西地震裂，城郭、室屋多坏，压杀人。 闰月己酉，京都地震。 十月，西羌二千余骑入金城塞，为凉州害。 四年三月乙亥，京都地震。 五年二月戍申，京都地震。
Yonghe 2 (137 CE), fourth month, bingshen: Luoyang quaked. Song's forged charges unraveled in the fifth month; she was stripped of rank and sent home. Eleventh month, dingmao: another shock under Luoyang. Wang Gong wanted the eunuchs dead for usurping authority, but kin talked him down with the memory of Yang Zhen's fatal stand. Yonghe 3, second month, yihai: Luoyang, Jincheng, and Longxi split open; walls and roofs fell and killed many. Intercalary month, jiyou: the capital shook again. Tenth month: two thousand Qiang riders poured through Jincheng to ravage Liangzhou. Yonghe 4, third month, yihai: Luoyang trembled. Yonghe 5, second month, wushen: Luoyang shook again.
15
建康元年正月，凉州部郡六地震。 从去年九月以来至四月，凡百八十地震，山谷坼裂，坏败城寺，伤害人、物。 三月，护羌校尉赵冲为叛胡所杀。 九月丙午，京都地震。 是时，顺帝崩，梁太后摄政，欲为顺帝作陵，制度奢广，多坏吏民冢。 尚书栾巴谏事，太后怒。 癸卯，诏书收巴下狱，欲杀之。 丙午，地震，于是太后乃出巴，免为庶人。
Jiankang 1 (144 CE), first month: six Liangzhou commanderies shook. In seven months one hundred eighty shocks cracked the northwest—gorges split, monasteries and towns crumbled. Third month: Zhao Chong died at the hands of rebel tribesmen. Ninth month, bingwu: Luoyang quaked. The Liang dowager was leveling tombs wholesale to build Shun a grand tomb. Luan Ba protested; she flew into a rage. On guimao she had him jailed to be executed. When the earth shook on bingwu she freed him and reduced him to commoner status.
16
桓帝建和元年四月庚寅，京都地震。 九月丁卯，京都地震。 是时，梁太后摄政，兄冀持权。 至和平元年，太后崩，然冀犹秉政专事，至延熹二年，乃诛灭。 三年九月己卯，地震，庚寅又震。
Jianhe 1 (147 CE), fourth month, gengyin: Luoyang trembled. Ninth month, dingmao: another shock. Liang Ji dominated the court behind his sister's regency. She died in Heping 1, but Ji clung to power until Yanxi 2, when he and his clan were destroyed. Yonghe 3, ninth month: the earth shook on jimao and again on gengyin.
17
元嘉元年十一月辛巳，京都地震。 二年正月丙辰，京都地震。 十月乙亥，京都地震。
Yuanjia 1 (151 CE), eleventh month, xinsi: Luoyang shook. Yuanjia 2, first month, bingchen: another. Tenth month, yihai: the capital quaked.
18
永兴二年二月癸卯，京都地震。
Yongxing 2 (154 CE), second month, guimao: Luoyang trembled.
19
永寿二年十二月，京都地震。
Yongshou 2 (156 CE), twelfth month: capital shock.
20
延熹四年，京都、右扶风、凉州地震。 五年五月乙亥，京都地震。 是时，桓帝与中常侍单超等谋诛除梁冀，听之，并使用事专权。 又邓皇后本小人，性行无恒，苟有颜色，立以为后，后卒坐执左道废，以忧死。 八年九月丁未，京都地震。
Yanxi 4 (161 CE): tremors from Luoyang west to Youfufeng and Liangzhou. Yanxi 5, fifth month, yihai: the capital. Huan and Shan Chao had just brought down Liang Ji; the eunuchs now ran everything. Empress Deng had been elevated for her face alone; she ended on charges of witchcraft, stripped of rank, and broken-hearted. Yanxi 8, ninth month, dingwei: Luoyang shook.
21
灵帝建宁四年二月癸卯，地震。 是时，中常侍曹节、王甫等皆专权。
Jianning 4 (171 CE), second month, guimao: tremor. Cao Jie, Wang Fu, and their circle held the levers of state.
22
熹平二年六月，地震。 六年十月辛丑，地震。
Xiping 2 (173 CE), sixth month: earthquake. Xiping 6, tenth month, xinchou: tremor.
23
光和元年二月辛未，地震。 四月丙辰，地震。 灵帝时宦者专恣。 二年三月，京兆地震。 三年自秋至明年春，酒泉表氏地八十余动，涌水出，城中官寺民舍皆顿。 县易处，更筑城郭。
Guanghe 1 (178 CE), second month, xinwei: quake. Fourth month, bingchen: another shock. Under Ling the palace attendants did as they pleased. Guanghe 2, third month: Jingzhao trembled. Guanghe 3–4: Bishi in Jiuquan shook over eighty times from autumn to spring; springs burst through the streets and every structure slumped. The county seat was moved and new walls raised.
24
献帝初平二年六月丙戌，地震。
Chuping 2 (191 CE), sixth month, bingxu: the ground shook.
25
兴平元年六月丁丑，地震。
Xingping 1 (194 CE), sixth month, dingchou: the ground shook.
26
和帝永元元年七月，会稽南山崩。 会稽，南方大名山也。 京房《易传》曰：「山崩，阴乘阳，弱胜强也。」 刘尚以为山阳，君也； 水阴，民也； 君道崩坏，百姓失所也。 刘歆以为崩犹弛也。 是时，窦太后摄政，兄窦宪专权。 七年七月，赵国易阳地裂。 京房《易传》曰：「地裂者，臣下分离，不肯相从也。」 是时，南单于众乖离，汉军追讨。 十二年夏，闰四月戊辰，南郡秭归山高四百丈崩，填溪，杀百余人。 明年冬，巫蛮夷反，遣使募荆州吏民万余人击之。
Yongyuan 1 (89 CE), seventh month: a peak south of Kuaiji gave way. The Kuaiji range was one of the great southern massifs. Jing Fang's "Tradition of the Changes" says: "When mountains collapse, yin rides atop yang; the weak conquers the strong." Liu Shang glossed the mountain as the sovereign. Water stood for yin, the common folk. When the ruler's course breaks, the people lose their homes. Liu Xin compared a mountain fall to foundations giving way. Again the Dou regency: the dowager and Xian held the Han court in their hands. Seventh month, seventh year: the soil cracked at Yiyang in Zhao. Jing Fang's "Tradition of the Changes" says: "When the ground splits, ministers and subordinates separate and refuse to follow one another." The Southern Xiongnu host had fractured; imperial troops were in pursuit. Yongyuan 12 (100 CE), intercalary fourth month, wuchen: a four-hundred-zhang cliff at Zigui sheared off, blocked a gorge, and buried over a hundred souls. Next winter the Wushan tribes rose; the court drafted ten thousand Jingzhou men to fight them.
27
元兴元年五月癸酉，右扶风雍地裂。 是后西羌大寇凉州。
Yuanxing 1 (105 CE), fifth month, guiyou: the ground split at Yong in right Fufeng. Then the Western Qiang poured into Liangzhou.
28
殇帝延平元年五月壬辰，河东垣山崩。 是时，邓太后专政。 秋八月，殇帝崩。
Yanping 1 (106 CE), fifth month, renchen: Mount Yuan in Hedong fell. The Deng regency still ruled. That autumn, eighth month, the infant emperor died.
29
安帝永初元年六月丁巳，河东杨地陷。 东西百四十步，南北百二十步，深三丈五尺。 六年六月壬辰，豫章员谿原山崩，各六十三所。
Yongchu 1, sixth month, dingsi: a sinkhole opened at Yang in Hedong. It measured 140 by 120 paces and sank nearly forty feet. Yongchu 6, sixth month, renchen: sixty-three slides scarred the Yuanxi highlands in Yuzhang.
30
元初元年三月己卯，日南地坼，长百八十二里。 其后三年正月，苍梧、郁林、合浦盗贼群起，劫掠吏民。 二年六月，河南雒阳新城地裂。
Yuanchu 1 (114 CE), third month, jimao: a rift 182 li long tore Rinan commandery. Three years on, coastal Guangxi erupted in banditry. Yuanchu 2, sixth month: another fissure at Luoyang's Xincheng district.
31
延光二年七月，丹阳山崩四十七所。 三年六月庚午，巴都阆中山崩。 四年十月丙午，蜀郡越巂山崩，杀四百余人。 丙午，天子会日也。 是时，阎太后摄政。 其十一月，中黄门孙程等杀江京，立顺帝，诛阎后兄弟，明年，阎后崩。
Yanguang 2 (123 CE), seventh month: forty-seven landslides in Danyang. Yanguang 3, sixth month, gengwu: Mount Langzhong in Ba gave way. Yanguang 4, tenth month, bingwu: a Yuexi peak in Shu buried four hundred souls. The almanac marks bingwu as an imperial audience day—doubly ominous. The Yan empress dowager was regent. Eleventh month: eunuchs led by Sun Cheng murdered Jiang Jing, raised Shun, and wiped out the Yans; the dowager followed her kin to the grave the next year.
32
顺帝阳嘉二年六月丁丑，雒阳宣德亭地坼，长八十五丈，近郊地。 时，李固时策，以为「阴类专恣，将有分离之象，所以附郊城者，是上帝示象以诫陛下也。」 是时宋娥及中常侍各用权分争，后中常侍张逵、蘧政与大将军梁商争权，为商作飞语，欲陷之。
Yangjia 2 (133 CE), sixth month, dingchou: an eighty-five-zhang crack opened at the Xuande pavilion by the southern suburb. At that time Li Gu offered a policy memorial, holding that "yin categories act wantonly and there will be signs of separation; that it attaches to the suburban wall means High Heaven is displaying an image to warn Your Majesty." Song E and the eunuchs feuded; Zhang Kui and Qu Zheng then tried to frame Liang Shang with whisper campaigns.
33
桓帝建和元年四月，郡国六地裂，水涌出，井溢，坏寺屋，杀人。 时，梁太后摄政，兄冀枉杀李固、杜乔。 三年，郡国五山崩。
Jianhe 1 (147 CE), fourth month: six jurisdictions split open—springs burst, wells boiled over, buildings fell, and lives were lost. Liang Ji, behind his sister's regency, had murdered Li Gu and Du Qiao. Jianhe 3: five provinces reported landslides.
34
和平元年七月，广汉梓潼山崩。
Heping 1 (150 CE), seventh month: Zitong mountain in Guanghan fell.
35
永兴二年六月，东海朐山崩。 冬十二月，泰山、琅邪盗贼群起。
Yongxing 2 (154 CE), sixth month: Mount Qu in Donghai gave way. That winter brigandage flared across Taishan and Langye.
36
永寿三年七月，河东地裂。 时，梁皇后兄冀秉政，桓帝欲自由，内患之。
Yongshou 3 (157 CE), seventh month: Hedong fissured. Liang Ji still choked the court while Huan schemed to shake free.
37
延熹元年七月乙巳，左冯翊云阳地裂。 三年五月甲戌，汉中山崩。 是时上宠恣中常侍单超等。 四年六月庚子，泰山、博尤来山判解。 八年六月丙辰，缑氏地裂。
Yanxi 1 (158 CE), seventh month, yisi: Yunyang in left Fengyi cracked. Yanxi 3, fifth month, jiaxu: Mount Han in the Hanzhong march collapsed. Huan was showering favor on Shan Chao and his fellow eunuchs. Yanxi 4, sixth month, gengzi: Tai Mountain and the Youlai ridge near Bo town sundered. Yanxi 8, sixth month, bingchen: the soil gaped at Goushi.
38
永康元年五月丙午，雒阳高平永寿亭、上党泫氏地各裂。 是时，朝臣患中常侍王甫等专恣。 冬，桓帝崩。 明年，窦氏等欲诛常侍、黄山，不果，更为所诛。
Yongkang 1 (167 CE), fifth month, bingwu: twin fissures—one at the Yongshou pavilion in Luoyang, one at Xuanshi in Shangdang. Ministers fretted over Wang Fu's unchecked eunuch faction. That winter Huan died. Next year Dou Wu's coup against the regular attendants failed; the plotters were slaughtered instead. Manuscripts disagree on a single word in the source line, but every version describes the same reversal.
39
灵帝建宁四年五月，河东地裂十二处，裂合长十里百七十步，广者三十余步，深不见底。
Jianning 4, fifth month: Hedong opened twelve parallel chasms—over eleven li end to end, thirty paces across at the widest, depth lost in shadow.
40
和帝永元五年五月戊寅，南阳大风，拔树木。
Yongyuan 5 (93 CE), fifth month, wuyin: a gale tore up Nanyang's forests.
41
安帝永初元年，大风拔树。 是时，邓太后摄政，以清河王子年少，号精耳，故立之，是为安帝。 不立皇太子胜，以为安帝贤，必当德邓氏也； 后安帝亲谗，废免邓氏，令郡具迫切，死者八九人，家至破坏。 此为□也。 是后西羌亦大乱凉州十有余年。 二年六月，京都及郡国四十大风拔树。 三年五月癸酉，京都大风，拔南郊道梓树九十六枚。 七年八月丙寅，京都大风拔树。
Yongchu 1: gales ripped trees from the earth. The Deng dowager enthroned the young Qinghe prince, praising his precocity; he became Emperor An. She bypassed Prince Sheng, betting that An would reward the Dengs for the throne. An later swallowed lies about the Dengs, purged them savagely, and left eight or nine dead—whole houses destroyed. That was the retribution the text marks. (One character is missing in the received text.) Then the Qiang war convulsed Liangzhou for another decade. Yongchu 2, sixth month: forty jurisdictions lost trees to wind. Yongchu 3, fifth month, guiyou: a wind sheared ninety-six catalpas from the processional avenue to the southern altar. Yongchu 7, eighth month, bingyin: Luoyang gales again.
42
元初二年二月癸亥，京都大风拔树。 六年夏四月，沛国、勃海大风，拔树三万余枚。
Yuanchu 2, second month, guihai: capital windthrow. Yuanchu 4, summer: Pei and Bohai counted thirty thousand trees down.
43
延光二年三月丙申，河东、颍川大风拔树。 六月壬午，郡国十一大风拔树。 是时，安帝亲谗，曲直不分。
Yanguang 2, third month, bingshen: Hedong and Yingchuan gales. Sixth month, renwu: eleven provinces in a single storm. An could no longer tell truth from slander.
44
三年，京都及郡国三十六大风拔树。
Yanguang 3: thirty-six jurisdictions plus the capital.
45
灵帝建宁二年四月癸巳，京都大风雨雹，拔郊道树十围已上百余枚。 其后晨迎气黄郊，道于雒水西桥，逢暴风雨，道卤簿车或发盖，百官沾濡，还，不至郊； 使有司行礼。 迎气西郊，亦壹如此。
Jianning 2, fourth month, guisi: wind, rain, and hail snapped over a hundred massive trees lining the sacred way. Later, at the yellow-suburb rite at dawn, a squall struck the Luo's west bridge—umbrella-chariots lost their hoods, ministers were soaked, and the cortège turned back without finishing the ceremony. The court had ministers complete the ritual by proxy. The western-suburb ceremony failed the same way.
46
中平五年六月丙寅，大风拔树。
Zhongping 5 (188 CE), sixth month, bingyin: another windthrow.
47
献帝初平四年六月，右扶风大风，发屋拔木。
Chuping 4 (193 CE), sixth month: west of the capital, gales stripped roofs and timber.
48
中兴以来，脂夜之妖无录者。
After Guangwu restored the Han, the annals list no more "midnight grease" omens.
49
章帝七八年间，郡县大螟伤稼，语在《鲁恭传》，而纪不录也。 是时，章帝用窦皇后谗，害宋、梁二贵人，废皇太子。
Zhang's mid-reign saw caterpillar plagues—Lu Gong's memoir treats them, though the basic annals omit the entry. Zhang believed Dou's lies, destroyed the Song and Liang ladies, and cast down the crown prince.
50
灵帝熹平四年六月，弘农，三辅螟虫为害。 是时，灵帝用中常侍曹节等谗言，禁锢海内清英之士，谓之党人。
Xiping 4 (175 CE), sixth month: borers devoured the capital region's grain. Ling let Cao Jie brand the honest scholars as "partisans" and hunt them down.
51
中平二年七月，三辅螟虫为害。
Zhongping 2 (185 CE), seventh month: the borers returned to the capital districts.
52
明帝永平十八年，牛疫死。 是岁，遣窦固等征西域，置都护、戊己校尉。 固等适还而西域叛，杀都护陈睦、戊己校尉关宠。 于是大怒，欲复发兴讨，会秋明帝崩，是思心不容也。
Yongping 18 (75 CE): murrain wiped out the herds. The same year Dou Gu marched west and the court posted a protector-general and Wuji colonels. No sooner had the army withdrawn than the west rebelled—Chen Mu and Guan Chong fell. Ming meant to strike again but died that autumn—Heaven cutting short a ruler who would not listen.
53
章帝建初四年冬，京都牛大疫。 是时，窦皇后以宋贵人子为太子，宠幸，令人求伺贵人过隙，以谗毁之。 章帝不知窦太后不善，厥咎□也。 或曰，是年六月马太后崩，士功非时兴故也。
Jianchu 4 (79 CE), winter: cattle plague struck the capital herds. Empress Dou's son sat as heir; she set agents to sniff out Lady Song's slips and ruin her with lies. Zhang never saw Dou's malice—the moral fault named in the text. (One character missing.) Another gloss ties the plague to Ma's death that sixth month and the untimely corvée her tomb demanded.