1
古之宦者皆出於刑人，刑余不可列於士庶，故掌宮寺之事，謂之「婦寺」焉。 東漢以來，宦者養子以繼世。 唐世，繼者皆為閹人，其初進也，性多巧慧便僻、善固恩寵，及其得志，黨比糾結不可制。 東漢以宦者亡，唐又甚焉。 世儒論宦者之害，如毒藥猛虎之不可拯也。 金法置近侍局，嘗與政事，而宦者少與焉。 惟海陵時有梁珫，章宗時有梁道、李新喜幹政，二君為所誤多矣。 世傳梁道勸章宗納李妃後宮，金史不載梁道始末，弗得而論次之。 惟宋珪、潘守恆頗能諷諫宣、哀，時有裨益，蓋傭之佼佼、鐵之錚錚者也。 作《宦者傳》。
In ancient times every eunuch was drawn from the ranks of criminals. Once mutilated by penal law, a man could no longer stand among scholars or the common people, and so he was put in charge of palace affairs — hence the term "palace women attendants." From the Eastern Han dynasty on, eunuchs adopted sons to carry on their family lines. Under the Tang, every successor was a castrated man. On first entering court they were apt to be clever, pliant, and devious, expert at holding imperial favor; once they rose to power, their factions knotted together beyond restraint. The Eastern Han fell to ruin through eunuchs, and the Tang suffered even worse. Scholars of the age described the harm done by eunuchs as beyond remedy — like poison or a ravening tiger. Jin institutions set up the Imperial Attendants Bureau, which at times handled state affairs, yet eunuchs seldom had a role in it. Only under Emperor Hailing did Liang Chong, and under Emperor Zhangzong did Liang Dao and Li Xinxi, meddle in government — and both sovereigns were led badly astray. Tradition holds that Liang Dao persuaded Zhangzong to take Consort Li into the harem, but the History of Jin does not record Liang Dao's full story, so his career cannot be set out here in proper sequence. Only Song Gui and Pan Shouheng could remonstrate with Emperors Xuanzong and Aizong with real effect, and at times they did genuine good — the finest among servants, ringing true as tempered iron. Hence these biographies of eunuchs.
2
梁珫，本大抃家奴，隨元妃入宮，以閹豎事海陵。 珫性便佞，善迎合，特見寵信，舊制，宦者惟掌掖廷宮闈之事。 天德三年，始以王光道為內藏庫使，衛愈、梁安仁皆以宦官領內藏。 海陵謂光道等曰：「人言宦者不可用，朕以為不然。 後唐莊宗委張承業以軍，竟立大功，此中豈無人乎。 卿等宜悉此意。 帑藏之物皆出民力，費十致一，當糾察奸弊，犯者必罰無赦。」 宦者始與政事，而珫委任尤甚，累官近侍局使。 及營建南京宮室，海陵數數使珫往視工役。 是時，一殿之費已不可勝計，珫或言其未善，即盡撒去。 雖丞相張浩亦曲意事之，與之均禮。
Liang Chong had been a bondservant in the household of Daban. He entered the palace with the primary consort and served Emperor Hailing as a eunuch attendant. Chong was smooth and obsequious by nature, adept at currying favor, and won exceptional trust. By longstanding custom eunuchs had managed only the inner palace and the women's quarters. In the third year of Tiande (1151), Wang Guangdao became the first director of the Inner Treasury; Wei Yu and Liang Anren were also eunuchs put in charge of the imperial storehouses. Hailing told Guangdao and the others, "People say eunuchs should never be used. I disagree. Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang entrusted Zhang Chengye with his armies, and Zhang won great merit in the end. Surely capable men can be found among them as well. You must take this to heart. Everything in the treasury comes from the people's labor — ten parts spent for every one received. Root out fraud and abuse; anyone who offends will be punished without mercy." From then on eunuchs entered state affairs, and Chong was entrusted above all the rest, eventually rising to director of the Imperial Attendants Bureau. When the Southern Capital palace was under construction, Hailing sent Chong again and again to inspect the work. By then the cost of a single hall was beyond counting. If Chong said the work was not good enough, the whole structure was torn down at once. Even Chief Councillor Zhang Hao humored him and treated him as an equal in rank.
3
海陵欲伐宋，珫因極言宋劉貴妃絕色傾國。 海陵大喜，及南征將行，命縣君高師姑兒貯衾褥之新潔者俟得劉貴妃用之。 議者言珫與宋通謀，勸帝伐宋，征天下兵以疲弊中國。
When Hailing planned to attack the Song, Chong lavished praise on Consort Liu of Song, declaring her beauty unmatched and enough to topple a kingdom. Hailing was delighted. As the southern campaign was about to begin, he ordered the county lady Gao Shigu'er to lay aside fresh, clean bedding for the day when Consort Liu would be his. Some charged that Chong was in league with the Song: he had urged the emperor to invade so that armies raised across the empire would wear China down.
4
海陵至和州，聞珫與宋人交通有狀，謂珫曰：「聞汝與宋國交通，傳泄事情。 汝本奴隸，朕拔擢至此，乃敢爾耶。 若至江南詢得實跡，殺汝亦未晚也。」 又謂校書郎田與信曰：「爾面目亦可疑，必與珫同謀者。」 皆命執於軍中。 海陵遇弑，珫、與信皆為亂軍所殺。
When Hailing reached He Prefecture he learned that Chong's traffic with the Song was well founded. He said to Chong, "I hear you have been dealing with the Song and leaking our affairs. You were a slave. I raised you to this height — and you dare do this? If inquiry south of the Yangzi confirms it, your execution will not come a day too soon." He told the proofreader Tian Yuxin, "Your face is suspicious too. You must be Chong's accomplice." Both were ordered seized in the camp. When Hailing was assassinated, Chong and Yuxin were both killed by the mutinous soldiers.
5
宋珪，本名乞奴，燕人也。 為內侍殿頭。 宣宗嘗以元夕欲觀燈戲，命乞奴監作，乞奴誶語雲：「社稷棄之中都，南京作燈戲有何看耶。」 宣宗微聞之，杖之二十，既而悔之，有旨宣諭。
Song Gui, born Qinu, was from the Yan region. He served as head attendant in the inner palace. On one Lantern Festival Emperor Xuanzong wished to watch lantern plays and ordered Qinu to oversee them. Qinu swore aloud: "The realm was abandoned at the Central Capital — what is there to watch in lantern plays at the Southern Capital?" Xuanzong caught wind of it and had him beaten twenty strokes, then regretted it and sent an edict of reassurance.
6
哀宗放鷂後苑，鷂逸去，敕近侍追訪之，市中一農民臂此鷂，近侍不敢言宮中所逸者，百方索之，農民不與，與之物直，僅乃得。 事聞，哀宗欲送其人於有司，乞奴從旁諫曰：「貴畜賤人，豈可宣示四方。」 哀宗惡其大訐，又仗之，尋亦悔，賜物慰遣之。
Emperor Aizong released a hawk in the rear park and it escaped. He ordered attendants to find it. In the market a farmer had the bird on his arm. The attendants dared not say it was the palace hawk; they tried every approach, but the farmer would not yield until they paid him its price — and only then did they get it back. When the matter was reported, Aizong meant to hand the farmer over to the authorities. Qinu remonstrated at his side: "To prize a bird and slight a man — how can we show that to the world?" Aizong disliked the blunt rebuke and had him beaten again. Soon he regretted that as well and sent gifts to comfort him.
7
及哀宗至歸德，馬軍元帥蒲察官奴為變，殺左丞李蹊、參政石盞女魯歡以下從官三百餘人。 倉皇之際，哀宗不得已，以官奴權參知政事，既為所制，含恨欲誅之未能也。 及官奴往亳州，珪陰與奉禦吾古孫愛實、納蘭忔答，護衛女奚烈完出、范陳僧、王山兒等謀誅之。 官奴自亳還，哀宗禦臨漪亭，召參政張天綱及官奴議事。 官奴入見，珪等即從旁殺之，及其党阿裏合、白進、習顯。 及蔡城破，哀宗自縊于幽蘭軒，珪與完顏斜烈、焦春和等皆從死。
When Aizong reached Guide, the cavalry marshal Pucha Guannu rose in mutiny and killed Left Vice Councillor Li Xi, Participating Councillor Shizhan Nuluhuan, and more than three hundred officials in their train. In the crisis Aizong had no choice but to make Guannu acting participating councillor. Once he was under Guannu's control, he nursed hatred and wished to kill him but could not. When Guannu went to Bo Prefecture, Gui secretly joined the palace attendant Wugusun Aishi, Nalan Geda, the guardswoman Xilie Wanchu, Fan Chenseng, Wang Shan'er, and others in a plot to kill him. When Guannu returned from Bo, Aizong held audience at the Yi Pavilion and summoned Participating Councillor Zhang Tiangang and Guannu to discuss affairs. As Guannu entered for audience, Gui and the others struck him down on the spot, along with his followers Alihe, Bai Jin, and Xi Xian. When Cai city fell, Aizong hanged himself in the Youlan Pavilion. Gui, Wanyan Xielie, Jiao Chunhe, and others died with him.
8
潘守恆
Pan Shouheng
9
有潘守恆者亦內侍也，素稱知書，南遷後規益甚多。 及哀宗自蒲城走歸德，道次民家，守恆進櫛，曰：「願陛下還宮之日無忘此草廬中，更加儉素，以濟大業。」 上聞其言，淒惋咨嗟久之。
There was also Pan Shouheng, an inner attendant long known for learning. After the court moved south, his counsel proved of great benefit again and again. When Aizong fled from Pucheng toward Guide and lodged at a farmer's house along the road, Shouheng brought him a comb and said, "When Your Majesty returns to the palace, do not forget this thatched hut. Be still more frugal and plain, that the great enterprise may yet be saved." The emperor heard him and mourned and sighed for a long while.
10
太史公敘九流，述《日者》、《龜策》、《扁鵲倉公列傳》。 劉歆校中秘書，以術數、方伎載之《七略》。 後世史官作《方伎傳》，蓋祖其意焉。 或曰《素問》、《內經》言天道消長、氣運贏縮，假醫術，托岐黃，以傳其秘奧耳。 秦人至以《周易》列之卜筮，斯豈易言哉！ 第古之為術，以吉凶導人而為善，後世術者，或以休咎導人為不善，古之為醫，以活人為功，後世醫者，或因以為利而誤殺人。 故為政於天下，雖方伎之事，亦必慎其所職掌，而務旌別其賢否焉。 金世，如武禎、武亢之信而不誣，劉完素、張元素之治療通變，學其術者皆師尊之，不可不記雲。
Grand Historian Sima Qian surveyed the Nine Schools and wrote the biographies of day-diviners, tortoise-and-yarrow specialists, and the physicians Bian Que and Lord Cang. Liu Xin collated the imperial library and placed numerology and the technical arts in his Seven Summaries. Later historians wrote biographies of technical masters in the same spirit. Some hold that the Plain Questions and Inner Canon really speak of Heaven's waxing and waning and the ebb and flow of cosmic breath, using medicine and the names of Qi Bo and the Yellow Emperor only as vehicles for hidden doctrine. The Qin even filed the Book of Changes under divination — such matters are not lightly judged! In antiquity practitioners of the arts used omens to steer people toward good; later ones sometimes used fortune and misfortune to lead them astray. Ancient physicians measured their merit by lives saved; later ones sometimes chased profit and killed by mistake. Whoever governs the realm must therefore be careful even over technical arts, distinguishing clearly between the worthy and the unworthy. Under the Jin, men such as Wu Zhen and Wu Kang proved trustworthy and true, while Liu Wansu and Zhang Yuansu were masters of adaptive treatment. All who learned from them revered them as teachers — and they must be recorded.
11
劉完素
Liu Wansu
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劉完素，字守真，河間人。 嘗遇異人陳先生，以酒飲守真，大醉，及寤洞達醫術，若有授之者。 乃撰《運氣要旨論》、《精要宣明論》，慮庸醫或出妄說，又著《素問玄機原病式》，特舉二百八十八字，注二萬餘言。 然好用涼劑，以降心火、益腎水為主。 自號「通元處士」雲。
Liu Wansu, styled Shouzhen, was from Hejian. He once met a remarkable man, Master Chen, who plied him with wine until he was deeply drunk. When he woke, he understood medicine completely, as though it had been handed to him. He wrote Essentials of Circulating Qi and Clarifying the Essentials of the Subtle, fearing that mediocre physicians might spread reckless theories. He also wrote Patterns of Disease from the Mysterious Mechanism of the Plain Questions, taking two hundred eighty-eight key characters and adding more than twenty thousand words of commentary. He favored cooling medicines above all, chiefly to reduce heart fire and strengthen kidney water. He took for himself the sobriquet "Hermit Who Penetrates the Origin."
13
張從正
Zhang Congzheng
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張從正，字子和，睢州考城人。 精於醫，貫穿《難》、《素》之學，其法宗劉守真，用藥多寒涼，然起疾救死多取效。 古醫書有《汗下吐法》，亦有不當汗者汗之則死，不當下者下之則死，不當吐者吐之則死，各有經絡脈理，世傳黃帝、岐伯所為書也。 從正用之最精，號「張子和汗下吐法」。 妄庸淺術習其方劑，不知察脈原病，往往殺人，此庸醫所以失其傳之過也。 其所著有「六門、二法」之目，存於世雲。
Zhang Congzheng, styled Zihe, was from Kaocheng in Sui Prefecture. A master physician, he had fully mastered the Difficult Classic and Plain Questions. His method followed Liu Shouzhen, and his prescriptions were mostly cooling, yet he often saved the gravely ill. Ancient medical texts teach the methods of sweating, purging, and emesis — yet the wrong patient sweated, purged, or vomited will die. Each case has its proper channels and pulse logic. Tradition attributes these books to the Yellow Emperor and Qi Bo. Congzheng wielded them with supreme skill and was known for "Master Zihe's method of sweating, purging, and emesis." Mediocre practitioners copied his formulas without learning to read the pulse or trace disease to its root, and often killed their patients. That is how the art was lost in the hands of poor physicians. His works under the titles "Six Gates" and "Two Methods" still survive.
15
李慶嗣
Li Qingsi
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李慶嗣，洺人。 少舉進士不第，棄而學醫，讀《素問》諸書，洞曉其義。 天德間，歲大疫，廣平尤甚，貧者往往闔門臥病。 廣嗣攜藥與米分遺之，全活者眾。 慶嗣年八十餘，無疾而終。 所著《傷寒纂類》四卷、《改證活人書》三卷、《傷寒論》三卷、《針經》一卷，傳於世。
Li Qingsi was from Mo. He failed the jinshi examination in his youth, turned to medicine instead, and read the Plain Questions and related texts until he understood them through and through. During the Tiande era a great epidemic struck; Guangping suffered worst of all, and poor families often saw every member fall ill at once. Qingsi went about distributing medicine and rice, and saved a great many lives. Qingsi lived past eighty and died without illness. His Collected Categories of Cold Damage (four juan), Revised Evidence for the Book That Saves Lives (three juan), Treatise on Cold Damage (three juan), and Classic of Acupuncture (one juan) survive to this day.
17
紀天錫
Ji Tianxi
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紀天錫，字齊卿，泰安人。 早棄進士業，學醫，精於其技，遂以醫名世。 集注《難經》五卷，大定十五年上其書，授醫學博士。
Ji Tianxi, styled Qiqing, was from Tai'an. He abandoned the path to jinshi early, took up medicine, mastered the art, and won fame as a physician. He compiled a five-juan commentary on the Difficult Classic. In the fifteenth year of Dading (1175) he presented it to the throne and was appointed erudite of medicine.
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張元素
Zhang Yuansu
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張元素，字潔古，易州人。 八歲試童子舉。 二十七試經義進士，犯廟諱下第。 乃去學醫，無所知名，夜夢有人用大斧長鑿鑿心開竅，納書數卷於其中，自是洞徹其術。 河間劉完素病傷寒八日，頭痛脈緊，嘔逆不食，不和所為。 元素往候，完素面壁不顧，元素曰：「何見待之卑如此哉。」 既為診脈，謂之曰脈病云云，曰：「然。」 「初服某藥，用某味乎？」 曰：「然。」 元素曰：「子誤矣。 某味性寒，下降走太陰，陽亡汗不能出。 今脈如此，當服某藥則效矣。」 完素大服，如其言遂愈，元素自此顯名。 平素治病不用古方，其說曰：「運氣不齊，古今異軌，古方新病不相能也。」 自為家法雲。
Zhang Yuansu, styled Jiegu, was from Yizhou. At eight he sat for the childhood licentiate examination. At twenty-seven he took the jinshi examination in classical exegesis but failed for violating imperial name taboo. He turned to medicine without any reputation at first. One night he dreamed that a man opened his breast with a great axe and long chisel and placed several scrolls inside. From that night he understood the art completely. Liu Wansu of Hejian had been ill with cold damage for eight days — headache, a tight pulse, vomiting, and no appetite — and did not know what to do. Yuansu went to call on him. Wansu turned to the wall and ignored him. Yuansu said, "Why do you treat me with such contempt?" After taking his pulse he described the condition in detail. Wansu said, "Yes." "Did you first take such-and-such medicine, using such-and-such ingredient?" "Yes," he said." Yuansu said, "You are wrong. That ingredient is cold in nature. It drives downward into greater yin, yang is depleted, and sweat cannot break forth. With the pulse as it is now, you should take such-and-such medicine and you will recover." Wansu was deeply impressed. He followed the prescription and recovered, and from that day Yuansu's name spread. In practice he never used ancient formulas. His doctrine ran: "Circulating qi is never uniform; antiquity and the present follow different paths. Ancient formulas cannot meet new diseases." That became his school of medicine.
21
馬貴中
Ma Guizhong
22
馬貴中，天德中，為司天提點。 與校書郎高守元奏天象災異忤旨，海陵皆杖之，黜貴中為大同府判官。 久之，遷司天監。 正隆三年三月辛酉朔，日當食。 是日，候之不食，海陵謂貴中曰：「自今凡遇日食皆面奏，不須頒示內外。」
During the Tiande era Ma Guizhong served as supervisor of the Directorate of Astronomy. He and the proofreader Gao Shouyuan memorialized on celestial omens and disasters in a way that displeased the emperor. Hailing had them both beaten and demoted Guizhong to assistant magistrate of Datong Prefecture. In time he was promoted to director of the Directorate of Astronomy. In the third year of Zhenglong, on the new-moon day xinyou in the third month, a solar eclipse was due. That day they waited, but the sun was not eclipsed. Hailing told Guizhong, "From now on, whenever an eclipse is due, report to me in person. Do not issue proclamations inside and outside the court."
23
海陵伐宋，問曰：「朕欲自將伐宋，天道何如？」 貴中對曰：「去年十月甲戌，熒惑順入太微，至屏星，留、退、西出。 《占書》，熒惑常以十月入太微庭，受制出伺無道之國。 十二月，太白晝見經天，占為兵喪、為不臣、為更主，又主有兵兵罷、無兵兵起。」 鎮戎軍地震大風，海陵以問，貴中對曰：「伏陰逼陽，所以震也。」 又問曰：「當震，大風何也？」 對曰：「土失其性則地震，風為號令，人君命令嚴急，則有烈風及物之災。」 六年二月甲辰朔，日有暈珥戴背，海陵問：「近日天道何如？」 貴中對曰：「前年八月二十九日，太白入太微右掖門，九月二日，至端門，九日，至左掖門出，並曆左右執法。 太微為天子南宮，太白兵將之象，其占，兵入天子之廷。」 海陵曰：「今將征伐而兵將出入太微，正其事也。」 貴中又曰； 「當端門而出，其占為受制，曆左右執法為受事，此當有出使者，或為兵，或為賊。」 海陵曰：「兵興之際，小盜固不能無也。」 及被害於揚州，貴中之言皆驗。
When Hailing prepared to attack the Song, he asked, "I mean to lead the campaign against Song myself. What do the heavens portend?" Guizhong answered, "Last year, in the tenth month on the jiaxu day, Mars entered the Supreme Palace in direct motion, reached Screen Star, halted, retreated, and emerged to the west. Prognostication texts say Mars often enters the court of the Supreme Palace in the tenth month, is constrained, emerges, and watches for states that have lost the Way. In the twelfth month Venus was seen in daylight crossing the heavens. The omens signify war and mourning, disloyal ministers, and change of ruler; they also mean that where armies exist they will disband, and where none exist they will arise." At Zhenrong Army post there was an earthquake and a great wind. Hailing asked about it, and Guizhong replied, "Hidden yin presses upon yang — that is why the earth quakes." He asked again, "If the earth quakes, why is there a great wind?" He answered, "When earth loses its proper nature, the ground quakes. Wind is command. When a ruler's orders grow harsh and urgent, fierce winds strike and disaster reaches all things." In the sixth year, on the new-moon day jiachen in the second month, the sun showed halos, aureoles, caps, and backs. Hailing asked, "What have the heavens shown of late?" Guizhong answered, "The year before last, on the twenty-ninth day of the eighth month, Venus entered the right side gate of the Supreme Palace. On the second day of the ninth month it reached the central gate; on the ninth it passed out through the left side gate, traversing the left and right law-enforcers throughout. The Supreme Palace is the sovereign's southern palace. Venus is the sign of armies and generals. The omen reads: armies enter the Son of Heaven's court." Hailing said, "I am about to campaign, and armies and generals passing in and out of the Supreme Palace — that suits the occasion exactly." Guizhong added, "When it passed out at the central gate, the omen was one of constraint. Passing the left and right law-enforcers means receiving commissions. Envoys will go forth — whether as armies or as rebels." Hailing said, "When armies march, petty bandits are bound to appear." When he was killed at Yangzhou, every word of Guizhong's proved true.
24
大定八年，世宗擊球于常武殿，貴中上疏諫曰：「陛下為天下主，守宗廟社稷之重，圍獵擊球皆危事也。 前日皇太子墜馬，可以為戒，臣願一切罷之。」 上曰：「祖宗以武定天下，豈以承平遽忘之邪。 皇統嘗罷此事，當時之人皆以為非，朕所親見，故示天下以習武耳。」
In the eighth year of Dading (1168), Emperor Shizong played cuju at the Ever Martial Hall. Guizhong submitted a memorial of remonstrance: "Your Majesty is lord of all under Heaven, charged with the ancestral temples and the altars of soil and grain. Hunting and cuju are dangerous pursuits. The crown prince fell from his horse the other day. Let that be a warning. Your servant begs that all such pastimes be abandoned." The emperor said, "Our ancestors settled the realm by force of arms. How could we forget that now, in a time of peace? Under Huangtong this practice was once abandoned, and everyone at the time thought it a mistake. I saw it myself. I keep these exercises only to show the realm that we still train for war."
25
十年十一月，皇太子生日，世宗宴百官於東宮。 上飲歡甚，貴中被酒，前跪欲言事，錯亂失次，上不之罪，但令扶出。
In the eleventh month of the tenth year, on the crown prince's birthday, Shizong gave a feast for the officials at the Eastern Palace. The emperor drank freely. Guizhong, drunk, knelt forward to speak on some matter, grew confused, and lost all decorum. The emperor did not punish him but had him helped out.
26
武禎，宿州臨渙人。 祖官太史，靖康後業農，後畫界屬金。 禎深數學。 貞祐間，行樞密院僕散安貞聞其名，召至徐州，以上客禮之，每出師必資焉。 其占如響。 正大初，征至汴京，待詔東華門。 其友王鉉問禎曰：「朝廷若問國祚修短，子何以對？」 禎曰：「當以實告之，但更言周過其曆，秦不及期，亦在修德耳。」 時久旱祈禱不應，朝廷為憂，禎忽謂鉉曰：「足下今日早歸，恐為雨阻。」 鉉曰：「萬里無雲，赤日如此，安得有雨？」 禎笑曰：「若是，則天不誠也。 天何嘗不誠。」 既而東南有雲氣，須臾蔽天，平地雨注二尺，眾皆驚歎。 尋除司天臺管勾。
Wu Zhen was from Linhuan in Suzhou. His grandfather had served as grand astrologer. After the Jingkang disaster the family turned to farming, and when boundaries were redrawn their land fell under Jin rule. Zhen was deeply versed in numerology and divination. During Zhenyou, Pusan Anzhen of the acting Bureau of Military Affairs heard of him, summoned him to Xuzhou, and treated him as an honored guest. On every campaign he consulted him. His prognostications proved as sure as an echo. At the beginning of Zhengda he was summoned to Bianjing and waited at the Donghua Gate for imperial orders. His friend Wang Xuan asked Zhen, "If the court asks how long the dynasty will endure, what will you say?" Zhen said, "I must speak the truth — but add that Zhou outlasted its allotted span while Qin fell short of its term. In the end it comes down to cultivating virtue." There had been a long drought and prayers had brought no rain; the court was deeply worried. Zhen suddenly told Xuan, "Go home early today — I fear the rain may block your way." Xuan said, "Not a cloud for a thousand li, and the sun blazing down — how could there be rain?" Zhen laughed. "If that were so, Heaven would not be sincere. When has Heaven ever been insincere?" Soon clouds rose in the southeast. In a moment they blotted out the sky, and two feet of rain fell on level ground. Everyone marveled. Soon after he was appointed registrar of the Directorate of Astronomy.
27
子亢
His son Kang
28
子亢，寡言笑，不妄交。 嘗與一學生終日相對，握籌布畫，目炯炯若有所營，見者莫測也。 哀宗至蔡州，右丞完顏仲德薦其術。 召至，屏人與語，大悅，除司天長行，賞賚甚厚。 上書曰：「比者有星變于周、楚之分，彗星起於大角西，掃軫之左軸，蓋除舊佈新之象。」 又言：「鄭、楚、週三分野當赤地千里，兵凶大起，王者不可居也。」 又曰：「蔡城有兵喪之兆，楚有亡國之征，三軍苦戰於西垣前後有日矣。 城壁傾頹，內無見糧，外無應兵，君臣數盡之年也。」 聞者悚然奪氣，哀宗惟嗟歎良久，不以此罪。 性頗倨傲，朝士以此非之。
His son Kang spoke little, laughed little, and made friends cautiously. He once sat facing a student all day, counting rods in hand and charts spread before him, eyes bright as though plotting some design. No one who saw him could guess his purpose. When Emperor Aizong reached Cai Prefecture, Right Vice Councillor Wanyan Zhongde recommended his arts. Kang was summoned. The emperor dismissed his attendants and spoke with him alone, was greatly pleased, appointed him senior director of astronomy, and lavished rewards upon him. He submitted a memorial: "Of late stars have changed in the Zhou and Chu divisions. A comet rose west of Great Horn and swept the left axle of Chariot — a sign of casting off the old and setting up the new." He also said, "The Zheng, Chu, and Zhou divisions will see a thousand li laid waste. War and disaster will rise on every side. No king can remain there." He added, "Cai city bears omens of war and mourning. Chu shows the signs of a dying state. Our three armies have fought bitterly before the western wall for days. The walls are crumbling. Within there is no grain to be seen; without, no army will come to our aid. This is the year when sovereign and ministers reach the end of their allotted span." Those who heard him were stricken and lost heart. Aizong only sighed for a long while and did not punish him. He was rather arrogant by nature, and court officials criticized him for it.
29
天興二年九月，蔡州被圍，亢奏曰：「十二月三日必攻城。」 及期果然。 末帝問曰：「解圍當在何日？」 對曰：「明年正月十三日，城下無一人一騎矣。」 帝不知其由，乃喜圍解有期，日但密計糧草，使可給至其日不闕者。 明年甲午正月十日，蔡州破，十三日，大元兵退。 是日，亢赴水死雲。
In the ninth month of the second year of Tianxing, when Cai Prefecture was under siege, Kang memorialized, "On the third day of the twelfth month the enemy will attack the city." When the day came, it happened exactly as he had said. The Last Emperor asked, "When will the siege be lifted?" He answered, "On the thirteenth day of the first month next year there will not be a single man or horse beneath the walls." The emperor did not grasp his meaning and rejoiced that relief would come on a fixed day. Each day he secretly calculated grain and fodder so that supplies would last until then. The next year, on the tenth day of the first month in the jiawu cycle, Cai Prefecture fell. On the thirteenth day the armies of the Great Yuan withdrew. On that day Kang drowned himself.
30
李懋，不知何許人。 有異術。 正大間，遊京兆，行省完顏合達愛其術，與俱至汴京，薦于哀宗。 遣近侍密問國運否泰，言無忌避。 居之繁台寺，朝士日走問之，或能道隱事及吉凶之變，人以為神。 帝惡其言太泄，遣使者殺之。 使者乃持酒肴入寺，懋出迎，笑曰：「是矣。」 使者曰：「何謂也？」 懋曰：「我數當盡今日，尚複何言。」 遂索酒，痛飲就死。
Li Mao — no one knows where he came from. He possessed extraordinary arts. During Zhengda he traveled in the Jingzhao region. The regional commander Wanyan Hedai admired his arts, accompanied him to Bianjing, and recommended him to Emperor Aizong. The emperor sent a close attendant to ask him privately whether the dynasty would rise or fall. He spoke without reserve. He lodged Mao at Fantai Temple. Court officials flocked to him daily. He could speak of hidden affairs and coming fortune or disaster, and people took him for a god. The emperor disliked his indiscreet speech and sent an envoy to kill him. The envoy entered the temple with wine and food. Mao came out to meet him, smiled, and said, "So it has come." The envoy said, "What do you mean?" Mao said, "My allotted span ends today. What more is there to say?" He asked for wine, drank deeply, and died.
31
胡德新
Hu Dexin
32
胡德新，河北士族也。 寓居南陽，往來宛、葉間，嗜酒落魄不羈，言禍福有奇驗。 正大七年夏，與燕人王鉉邂逅於葉縣村落中。 與鉉初不相識，坐中謬以兵官對，胡曰：「此公在吾法中當登科甲，何以謂之兵官。」 眾愕然，遂以實告。 二人相得甚歡，即命家人具雞酒以待，酒酣、舉大白相屬曰：「君此去事業甚遠，不必置問。 某有所見，久不敢對人言，今欲告子。」 遂邀至野田，密謂曰：「某自去年來，行宛、葉道中，見往來者十且八九有死氣。 今春至陳、許間，見其人亦有大半當死者。 若吾目可用，則時事可知矣。」 鉉驚問應驗遲速，曰：「不過歲月間耳，某亦不逃此厄，請密志之。」 明年，大元兵由金、房入，取峭石灘渡漢，所過廬舍蕭然，胡亦舉家及難，其精驗如此。
Hu Dexin came from a gentry family of Hebei. He lived in Nanyang and traveled between Wan and Ye. He loved wine, lived freely, and paid little heed to convention. When he spoke of fortune and misfortune, his words proved uncannily true. In the summer of the seventh year of Zhengda he met by chance Wang Xuan of Yan in a village of Ye County. They did not know each other at first. Someone at the gathering mistook Wang for a military officer. Hu said, "By my art this gentleman should win the highest civil honors. Why call him a soldier?" The company was astonished and told him the truth. The two took to each other at once. Hu ordered chicken and wine prepared. When the wine had warmed him, he raised a full cup and pledged Wang: "Your career from here will go far — there is no need to ask about it. I have seen something I have long dared not tell anyone. Now I wish to tell you." He led Wang into the open fields and said in secret, "Since last year, traveling the roads between Wan and Ye, I have seen that eight or nine of every ten passersby bear the air of death. This spring, in the region between Chen and Xu, I saw that more than half of the people there were likewise marked for death. If my eyes can be trusted, the times are plain to see." Wang asked in alarm how soon this would come to pass. Hu said, "No more than a year. I shall not escape this calamity either. Please keep this secret." The next year the armies of the Great Yuan entered through Jin and Fang, crossed the Han at Qiaoshi Ford, and laid waste to every dwelling in their path. Hu's whole household perished as well. Such was the uncanny truth of his art.