1
列傳第六十八列女○阿鄰妻李寶信妻韓慶民妻雷婦師氏康住住李文妻李英妻相琪妻阿魯真撒合輦妻許古妻馮妙真蒲察氏烏古論氏素蘭妻忙哥妻尹氏白氏聶孝女仲德妻寶符李氏張鳳奴
Biographies 68 — Exemplary Women: The Wife of A Lin; The Wife of Li Baoxin; The Wife of Han Qingmin; Lei Fu, née Shi; Kang Zhuzhu; The Wife of Li Wen; The Wife of Li Ying; The Wife of Xiang Qi; A Luzhen; The Wife of Sahe Nian; The Wife of Xu Gu; Feng Miaozhen; Lady Pucha; Lady Wugulun; The Wife of Su Lan; The Wife of Mang Ge; Lady Yin; Lady Bai; Nie Xiaonü; The Wife of Zhong De; Lady Li of Baofu; Zhang Fengnu
2
漢成帝時，劉向始述三代賢妃淑女，及淫泆奢僭、興亡盛衰之所由，匯分類別，號《列女傳》，因以諷諫。 范曄始載之漢史。 古者女子生十年有女師，漸長，有麻枲絲繭之事，有祭祀助奠之事； 既嫁，職在中饋而已，故以無非無儀為賢。 若乃嫠居寡處，患難顛沛，是皆婦人之不幸也。 一遇不幸，卓然能自樹立，有烈丈夫之風，是以君子異之。
Under Emperor Cheng of Han, Liu Xiang first compiled accounts of worthy consorts and virtuous ladies from the Three Dynasties, together with the causes of licentious excess, extravagance, and usurpation—and of dynastic rise and fall—arranged by category in the Biographies of Exemplary Women as a work of moral admonition. Fan Ye was the first to include such accounts in the History of Han. In antiquity a girl of ten was given a female tutor; as she grew she was taught hemp and ramie work, silk and cocoon-reeling, and how to assist at sacrifices and offerings; and once married her sphere was the household alone, so that freedom from fault and impropriety was held the mark of a virtuous wife. Widowhood, solitude, hardship, and sudden ruin are misfortunes that befall any woman. Yet when misfortune strikes and a woman can still stand firm with the mettle of a resolute man, gentlemen mark her as extraordinary.
3
阿鄰妻
The Wife of A Lin
4
阿鄰妻沙裏質者，金源郡王銀術可之妹。 天輔六年，黃龍府叛卒攻鈔旁近部族。 是時，阿鄰從軍，沙裏質糾集附近居民得男女五百人，樹營柵為保守計。 賊千余來攻，沙裏質以氈為甲，以裳為旗，男夫授甲，婦女鼓噪，沙裏質仗劍督戰，凡三日賊去。 皇統二年，論功封金源郡夫人。 大定間，以其孫藥師為謀克。
The wife of A Lin, Shali Zhi, was a younger sister of Yanshuke, Prince of Jinyuan Commandery. In the sixth year of Tianfu (1118), mutineers from Huanglong Prefecture raided the neighboring tribes around Chao. A Lin was away on campaign; Shali Zhi rallied five hundred local men and women, threw up palisades, and prepared to hold out. When more than a thousand raiders attacked, she improvised armor from felt and banners from skirts, armed the men, set the women to shouting, and herself took sword in hand to direct the fight; after three days the enemy withdrew. In the second year of Huangtong (1142) she was enfeoffed as Lady of Jinyuan Commandery in recognition of her service. During the Dading era (1161–1189) her grandson Yaoshi was appointed a mouke.
5
李寶信妻
The Wife of Li Baoxin
6
李寶信妻王氏。 寶信為義豐縣令，張覺以平州叛，王氏陷賊中。 賊欲逼室之，王氏罵賊，賊怒遂支解之。 大定十二年，贈「貞烈縣君」。
The wife of Li Baoxin was a woman of the Wang clan. Baoxin was magistrate of Yifeng County. When Zhang Jue rebelled at Ping Prefecture, Lady Wang was captured by the rebels. The rebels tried to take her by force; she cursed them, and in their fury they dismembered her. In the twelfth year of Dading (1172) she was posthumously granted the title Chaste and Steadfast County Lady.
7
韓慶民妻
The Wife of Han Qingmin
8
韓慶民妻者，不知何許人，亦不知其姓氏。 慶民事遼為宜州節度使。 天會中，攻破宜州，慶民不屈而死，以其妻配將士，其妻誓死不從，遂自殺。 世宗讀《太宗實錄》，見慶民夫婦事，歎曰：「如此節操，可謂難矣。」
The wife of Han Qingmin was a woman of unknown origin and unknown surname. Qingmin had served the Liao as military commissioner of Yi Prefecture. During the Tianhui era (1115–1135), when Yi Prefecture fell, Qingmin refused to submit and was put to death; his wife was assigned to the troops, but she swore she would die rather than obey and took her own life. When Emperor Shizong read the Veritable Records of Taizong and came upon their story, he sighed and said, "Constancy such as this is truly rare."
9
雷婦師氏
Lei Fu, née Shi
10
雷婦師氏，夫亡，孝養舅姑。 姑病，刲臂肉飼之，姑即愈。 舅姑既歿。 兄師逵與夫侄規其財產，乃偽立謀證致之官，欲必嫁之。 縣官不能辨曲直，師氏畏逼，乃投縣署井中死。 詔有司祭其墓，賜諡曰「節」。
Lei Fu, née Shi, lost her husband and devoted herself to caring for her parents-in-law. When her mother-in-law fell ill, she cut flesh from her own arm to feed her, and the elder woman recovered. After her parents-in-law had both died, her elder brother Shi Kui and her husband's nephew schemed for her property, forged evidence of conspiracy, and hauled her before the magistrate to force her into another marriage. The magistrate could not tell right from wrong; cornered and afraid, Lady Shi threw herself into the county well and died. The court ordered sacrifices at her tomb and granted her the posthumous name Chaste.
11
康住住
Kang Zhuzhu
12
康住住，鄜州人。 夫早亡，服闋，父取之歸家，許嚴沂為妻。 康氏誓死弗聽，欲還夫家不可得，乃投崖而死。 詔有司致祭其墓。
Kang Zhuzhu was from Fu Prefecture. Her husband died young; when her mourning ended her father took her home and betrothed her to Yan Yi. Lady Kang swore she would die rather than consent; unable to return to her husband's household, she leapt from a cliff to her death. The court ordered official sacrifices at her tomb.
13
李文妻
The Wife of Li Wen
14
李文妻史氏，同州白水人。 夫亡，服闋，誓死弗嫁。 父強取之歸，許邑人姚乙為妻。 史氏不聽，姚訴之官，被逮，遂自縊死。 詔有司致祭其墓。
The wife of Li Wen, née Shi, was from Baishui in Tong Prefecture. After her husband's death and the end of mourning, she swore she would die rather than marry again. Her father forced her home and betrothed her to a local man, Yao Yi. Lady Shi refused; Yao brought suit, she was arrested, and she hanged herself. The court ordered official sacrifices at her tomb.
15
李英妻
The Wife of Li Ying
16
李英妻張氏。 英初為監察禦史，在中都，張居濰州。 貞祐元年冬，大元兵取濰州，入其家，張氏盡以所有財物與之。 既而，令張氏上馬，張曰：「我盡以物與汝，猶不見贖邪？」 答曰「汝品官妻，當複為夫人。」 張曰：「我死則為李氏鬼。 頓坐不起，遂見殺。 追封隴西郡夫人，諡「莊潔」。 英仕至御史中丞，有傳。
The wife of Li Ying was a woman of the Zhang clan. Ying first served as investigating censor at the Central Capital while Zhang remained at Wei Prefecture. In the winter of the first year of Zhenyou (1213), Mongol forces took Wei Prefecture, entered her home, and Lady Zhang surrendered everything she owned. Then they ordered her to mount a horse. She said, "I have given you everything I own—is that still not enough to let me go?" They replied, "You are a ranked official's wife—you will be a lady again." Zhang said, "In death I shall be a ghost of the Li household. She sat down and would not rise, and they killed her. She was posthumously enfeoffed as Lady of Longxi Commandery with the posthumous name Solemn and Chaste. Ying rose to censor-in-chief; he has a separate biography.
17
相琪妻
The Wife of Xiang Qi
18
相琪妻欒氏，有姿色。 琪為萊州掖縣司吏。 貞祐三年八月，紅祆賊陷掖縣，琪與欒氏及子俱為所得。 賊見欒悅之，殺琪及其子而誘欒。 欒奮起以頭觸賊而僕，罵曰：「我豈為犬彘所汙者哉。」 賊怒，殺之。 追封西河縣君，諡「莊潔」。
The wife of Xiang Qi, née Luan, was a woman of striking beauty. Qi was a clerk in Ye County, Laizhou. In the eighth month of the third year of Zhenyou (1215), Red Hatchet rebels seized Ye County; Qi, Lady Luan, and their son were all taken. Taken with Luan's looks, the rebels killed Qi and their son and tried to win her over. Luan sprang up, butted a rebel to the ground, and cried, "Would I let dogs and swine defile me!" Enraged, they killed her. She was posthumously enfeoffed as County Lady of Xihe with the posthumous name Solemn and Chaste.
19
阿魯真
A Luzhen
20
撒合輦妻
The Wife of Sahe Nian
21
獨吉氏，平章政事千家奴之女，護衛銀術可妹也。 自幼動有禮法，及適內族撒合輦。 閨門肅如。 撒合輦為中京留守，大兵圍之，撒合輦疽發背不能軍，獨吉氏度城必破，謂撒合輦曰：「公本無功能，徒以宗室故嘗在禁近，以至提點近侍局，同判睦親府，今又為留守外路第一等官，受國家恩最厚。 今大兵臨城，公不幸病，不能戰禦，設若城破，公當率精銳奪門而出，攜一子走京師。 不能則獨赴京師，又不能，戰而死猶可報國，幸無以我為慮。」 撒合輦出巡城，獨吉氏乃取平日衣服妝具玩好布之臥榻，資貨悉散之家人，豔妝盛服過於平日，且戒女使曰：「我死則扶置榻上，以衾覆面，四圍舉火焚之。 無使兵見吾面。」 言訖，閉門自經而死。 家人如言，臥屍榻上，以衾覆之。 撒合輦從外室，家人告以夫人之死，撒合輦拊榻曰：「夫人不辱我，我肯辱朝廷乎！」 因命焚之。 年三十有六。 少頃，城破，撒合輦率死士欲奪門出，不果，投壕水死，有傳。
Lady Duji was a daughter of Grand Councilor Qianjianu and younger sister of the guardsman Yanshuke. From childhood she was noted for propriety; she married Sahe Nian of the imperial clan. Their household was run with strict decorum. Sahe Nian was defender of the Central Capital when the main enemy army laid siege. A carbuncle on his back left him unable to take the field. Lady Duji saw that the city would fall and told him, "You never had great talent; you rose only as a member of the imperial clan—first near the throne as director of the Bureau of Palace Attendants and associate administrator of the Office of Imperial Kin, and now as defender, the highest post on the frontier circuits. The state has favored you beyond measure. The enemy is at the walls, and you are too ill to fight. If the city falls, lead your best troops through the gate, take one son, and make for the capital. If you cannot manage that, go to the capital alone; if you cannot do even that, die fighting and you may still repay the state. Do not worry about me." While Sahe Nian went out to inspect the walls, Lady Duji spread her everyday clothes, cosmetics, and treasures on the couch, gave her valuables to the household, dressed more richly than ever, and told her maids, "When I die, lay me on the couch, cover my face with a quilt, and burn me on all sides. Let no soldier see my face." With that she shut the door and hanged herself. The household did as she had said, laid her on the couch, and covered her face. When Sahe Nian returned, they told him she was dead. He struck the couch and cried, "My wife did not shame me—shall I shame the court!" He ordered the fire lit. She was thirty-six. Soon the city fell. Sahe Nian led a band of men who tried to fight their way out but failed, then threw himself into the moat and drowned. He has a separate biography.
22
許古妻
The Wife of Xu Gu
23
許古妻劉氏，定海軍節度使仲洙之女也。 貞祐初，古挈家僑居蒲城，從留劉氏母子于蒲，仕於朝。 既而，兵圍蒲，劉謂二女曰：「汝父在朝，而兵勢如此，事不可保。 若城破被驅，一為所汙奈何？ 不若俱死以自全。」 已而，攻城益急，於是劉氏與二女相繼自盡。 有司以聞於朝，四年五月，追封劉氏為郡君，諡曰「貞潔」，其長女諡曰「定薑」，次「肅薑」，以其事付史館。
The wife of Xu Gu, née Liu, was a daughter of Zhongzhu, military commissioner of the Dinghai Army. Early in Zhenyou, Gu moved his household to Pucheng, left Lady Liu and their sons there, and took office at court. When troops besieged Pu, Liu told her two daughters, "Your father is at court, but with the army pressing us like this, nothing is safe. If the city falls and we are driven away, what if we are violated? Better that we all die and keep our honor intact." The assault grew fiercer, and Lady Liu and her two daughters took their lives one after another. Officials reported the matter to court. In the fifth month of the fourth year, Lady Liu was posthumously enfeoffed as Commandery Lady with the name Chaste and Pure; her elder daughter received the posthumous name Dingjiang and the younger Suojiang; the Historiography Office was ordered to record the affair.
24
馮妙真
Feng Miaozhen
25
馮妙真，刑部尚書延登之女也。 生十有八年，適進士張綎。 興定五年，綎為洛川主簿。 大元兵破葭州、綏德，遂入鄜延。 鄜人震恐具守備，守臣以西路輸芻粟不時至，檄慥詣平涼督之。 時延登為平涼行省員外郎，綎欲偕妙真以往，妙真辭曰：「舅姑老矣。 雖有叔姒，妾能安乎。 子行，妾留奉養。」 十一月，洛川破，妙真從舅姑匿窟室，兵索得之。 妙真泣與舅姑訣曰：「婦生不辰，不得終執箕帚，義不從辱。」 即攜三子赴井死。 縣人從而死者數十人。 明年春，綎發井得屍，殯於縣之東郭外。 死時年二十四。
Feng Miaozhen was a daughter of Yandeng, Minister of Justice. At eighteen she married the jinshi Zhang Chao. In the fifth year of Xingding (1221) Chao was registrar of Luochuan. Mongol forces took Jia Prefecture and Suide and advanced into the Yan-Yan region. The people of Fu were terrified and made ready to defend the city. Because fodder for the western route was late, the defending official ordered Chao to Pingliang to hurry the supplies. Yandeng was then associate administrator of the Pingliang Branch Secretariat. Chao wanted Miaozhen to go with him, but she refused: "My parents-in-law are old. Though there is an aunt-in-law, how could I be at ease leaving them? You go, my lord; I will stay to care for them." In the eleventh month Luochuan fell. Miaozhen hid with her parents-in-law in a cave, but soldiers found them. Weeping, she took leave of them: "I was born under an unlucky star and cannot serve you to the end; I will not submit to shame." She took her three sons and threw herself into a well. Several dozen people in the county followed her example and died. The following spring Chao opened the well, recovered the bodies, and buried them outside the eastern gate of the county seat. She was twenty-four.
26
蒲察氏
Lady Pucha
27
蒲察氏，字明秀，鄜州帥訥申之女，完顏長樂之妻也。 哀宗遷歸德，以長樂為總領，將兵扈從。 將行，屬蒲察氏曰：「無他言，夫人慎毋辱此身。」 明秀曰：「君第致身事上，無以妾為念。 妾必不辱。」 長樂一子在幼，出妻柴氏所生也，明秀撫育如己出。 崔立之變，驅從官妻子于省中，人自閱之。 蒲察氏聞，以幼子付婢僕，且與之金幣，親具衣棺祭物，與家人訣曰：「崔立不道，強人妻女，兵在城下，吾何所逃，惟一死不負吾夫耳。 汝等惟善養幼子。」 遂自縊而死，欣然若不以死為難者。 時年二十七。
Lady Pucha, styled Mingxiu, was a daughter of Neshen, military commander of Fu Prefecture, and the wife of Wanyan Changle. When Emperor Aizong moved the court to Guide, Changle was appointed chief commander and led troops in the imperial escort. Before he left, he told Lady Pucha, "I will say nothing more—only take care not to bring shame upon yourself." Mingxiu replied, "Devote yourself to the sovereign; do not worry about me. I shall not disgrace myself." Changle had a young son by his former wife, Lady Chai; Mingxiu raised him as her own. During Cui Li's mutiny, the wives and children of court officials were herded into the provincial compound so that each man could pick among them. When she heard, she entrusted her young son to the servants with gold and coins, prepared her own burial garments and offerings, and bade her household farewell: "Cui Li is a villain who seizes men's wives and daughters; with the enemy at the walls I have nowhere to flee. Only by dying can I keep faith with my husband. See only that you raise the boy well." She then hanged herself, serene as though death were no hardship at all. She was twenty-seven.
28
烏古論氏
Lady Wugulun
29
烏古論氏，伯祥之妹，臨洮總管陀滿胡土門之妻也。 伯祥朝貴中聲譽藉甚，胡土門死王事。 崔立之變，衣冠家婦女多為所汙，烏古論氏謂家人曰：「吾夫不辱朝廷，我敢辱吾兄及吾夫乎。」 即自縊。 一婢從死。
Lady Wugulun was a younger sister of Boxiang and the wife of Tuoman Hutumen, superintendent of Lintao. Boxiang enjoyed great renown among the court elite; Hutumen died in the service of the state. During Cui Li's mutiny many women of respectable families were violated. Lady Wugulun told her household, "My husband did not shame the court—how could I shame my brother and my husband?" She hanged herself at once. One maid died with her.
30
素蘭妻
The Wife of Su Lan
31
參政完顏素蘭妻，亡其姓氏。 當崔立之變，謂所親曰：「吾夫有天下重名，吾豈肯隨眾陷身以辱吾夫乎。 今日一死固當，但不可無名而死，亦不可離吾家而死。」 即自縊於室。
The wife of Grand Councilor Wanyan Su Lan is a woman whose surname is not recorded. When Cui Li's mutiny broke out, she told those close to her, "My husband's name stands high throughout the realm—how could I follow the crowd into ruin and shame him? To die today is only right, but I must not die without honor, nor die outside my own home." She hanged herself in her chamber.
32
忙哥妻
The Wife of Mang Ge
33
溫特罕氏，夫完顏忙哥，五朵山宣差提控回裏不之子也，系出蕭王。 忙哥叔父益都，節度秦州，為大元兵所攻，適病不能軍，忙哥為提控，獨當一面。 兵退而益都死，忙哥以城守功世襲謀克，收充奉禦。 及崔立之變，忙哥義不受辱，與其妻訣。 妻曰：「君能為國家死，我不能為君死乎。」 一婢曰：「主死，婢將安歸。」 是日，夫婦以一繩同縊，婢從之。
Lady Wentehan was married to Wanyan Mang Ge, son of the commissioner Huilibu of Wuduo Mountain and a descendant of Prince Xiao. Mang Ge's uncle Yidu, military commissioner of Qin Prefecture, was attacked by Mongol forces; when illness left him unable to command, Mang Ge as titikong held the line alone. After the enemy withdrew Yidu died; for his defense of the city Mang Ge inherited the rank of mouke and was appointed a palace attendant. When Cui Li's mutiny erupted, Mang Ge refused to submit to shame and bade his wife farewell. His wife said, "If you can die for the state, cannot I die for you?" A maid said, "When my master dies, where shall I go?" That day husband and wife hanged themselves together on one rope, and the maid followed.
34
尹氏，完顏豬兒之妻也。 豬兒系出蕭王，天興二年正月從哀宗為南面元帥，戰死黃陵岡。 其妻金源郡夫人聞豬兒死，聚家資焚之，遂自縊，年三十一。 豬兒贈官，弟長住即日詔補護衛。
Lady Yin was the wife of Wanyan Zhuer. Zhuer was of the line of Prince Xiao; in the first month of the second year of Tianxing (1233) he followed Emperor Aizong as southern-route grand marshal and was killed at Huangling Mound. His wife, Lady of Jinyuan Commandery, on hearing of his death gathered the family wealth, burned it, and hanged herself. She was thirty-one. Zhuer was granted posthumous honors; his younger brother Changzhu was appointed a guardsman the same day.
35
聶孝女
Nie Xiaonü
36
聶孝女，字舜英，尚書左右司員外郎天驥之長女也。 年二十三，適進士張伯豪。 伯豪卒，歸父母家。 及哀宗遷歸德，天驥留汴。 崔立劫殺宰相，天驥被創甚，日夜悲泣，恨不即死。 舜英謁醫救療百方，至刲其股雜他肉以進，而天驥竟死。 時京城圍久食盡，閭巷間有嫁妻易一飽者，重以崔立之變，剽奪暴淩，無複人理。 舜英頗讀書知義理，自以年尚少艾，夫既亡，父又死非命，比為兵所汙，何若從吾父于地下乎。 葬其父之明日，絕脰而死。 一時士女賢之，有為泣下者。 其家以舜英合葬張伯豪之墓。
Nie Xiaonü, styled Shunying, was the eldest daughter of Tianji, associate administrator of the Left and Right Offices of the Secretariat. At twenty-three she married the jinshi Zhang Bohao. When Bohao died she returned to her parents' home. When Emperor Aizong moved to Guide, Tianji remained in Bian (Kaifeng). Cui Li seized and murdered the chief councilor; Tianji was gravely wounded, wept day and night, and wished only that he might die. Shunying sought every physician and remedy, even cutting flesh from her thigh and mixing it with other meat for him to eat, but Tianji died all the same. The capital had been besieged so long that food was gone; in the streets men sold their wives for a single meal. With Cui Li's mutiny came plunder and violence until human decency itself seemed lost. Shunying was well read and understood moral principle. Still young and fair, with her husband dead and her father killed violently, she thought it better to join her father in the grave than to be violated by soldiers. The day after her father's burial she broke her own neck and died. Men and women of the day praised her virtue; some wept at her story. Her family buried her beside Zhang Bohao.
37
仲德妻
The Wife of Zhong De
38
完顏仲德妻，不知其族氏。 崔立之變，妻自毀其容服，攜妾及二子紿以采蔬，自汴走蔡。 蔡被圍，丁男皆乘城拒守，謂仲德曰：「事勢若此，丈夫能為國出力，婦人獨不能耶！」 率諸命婦自作一軍，親運矢石於城下，城中婦女爭出繼之。 城破自盡。
The wife of Wanyan Zhong De is a woman whose clan and surname are not recorded. During Cui Li's mutiny she disfigured her face and clothing, took a concubine and her two sons, disguised herself as a vegetable gatherer, and fled from Bian to Cai. When Cai was besieged and every able man manned the walls, she told Zhong De, "Matters stand as they do—if men can serve the state, why cannot women?" She rallied the noble wives into a corps of their own, hauled arrows and stones to the foot of the wall herself, and women throughout the city rushed out to join her. When the city fell she took her own life.
39
寶符李氏
Lady Li of Baofu
40
哀宗寶符李氏，國亡從後妃北遷，至宣德州，居摩訶院，日夕寢處佛殿中，作幡旆。 會當赴龍庭，將發，即於佛像前自縊死，且自書門紙曰：「寶符禦侍此處身故。」 後人至其處，見其遺跡，憐而哀之。
Lady Li of Baofu, an attendant of Emperor Aizong, followed the imperial consorts north after the fall of the state. At Xuande Prefecture she lived in the Mahā Monastery, slept in the Buddha hall by day and night, and made Buddhist banners. When the time came to go to the khan's court and she was about to set out, she hanged herself before the Buddha image and wrote on the door, "Baofu, imperial attendant, died here." Those who came afterward saw what she had left and mourned her with pity.
41
張鳳奴
Zhang Fengnu
42
天興元年，北兵攻城，矢石之際忽見一女子呼於城下曰：「我倡女張鳳奴也，許州破被俘至此。 彼軍不日去矣，諸君努力為國堅守，無為所欺也。」 言竟，投濠而死。 朝廷遣使馳祭於西門。
In the first year of Tianxing (1232), as northern troops assaulted the walls amid a hail of arrows and stones, a woman suddenly called out from below: "I am the courtesan Zhang Fengnu; when Xu Prefecture fell I was captured and brought here. Their army will leave before long. Hold the city for your country and do not be deceived." When she had finished speaking, she threw herself into the moat and died. The court sent an envoy to offer sacrifice at the West Gate.
43
正大、天興之際，婦人節義可知者特數人耳。 鳳奴之事別史錄之。 蓋亦有所激雲。
Between the Zhengda and Tianxing eras, only a handful of women whose constancy is known can be named. Fengnu's story is recorded in another history. Perhaps she too had been stirred by what she had seen.