1
羊祜杜預 〈（杜錫）〉
The biographies are of Yang Hu and Du Yu. (Du Xi)〉
2
羊祜，字叔子，泰山南城人也。 世吏二千石，至祜九世，並以清德聞。 祖續，仕漢南陽太守。 父道，上党太守。 祜，蔡邕外孫，景獻皇后同產弟。 祜年十二喪父，孝思過禮，事叔父耽甚謹。 嘗游汶水之濱，遇父老謂之曰：「孺子有好相，年未六十，必建大功於天下。」 既而去，莫知所在。 及長，博學能屬文，身長七尺三寸，美鬚眉，善談論。 郡將夏侯威異之，以兄霸之子妻之。 舉上計吏，州四辟從事、秀才，五府交命，皆不就。 太原郭奕見之曰：「此今日之顏子也。」 與王沈俱被曹爽辟。 沈勸就征，祜曰：「委質事人，復何容易。」 及爽敗，沈以故吏免，因謂祜曰：「常識卿前語。」 祜曰：「此非始慮所及。」 其先識不伐如此。
Yang Hu, whose courtesy name was Shuzi, came from Nancheng in Taishan commandery. Nine generations of his forebears had held rank at two thousand piculs, and the whole line was known for spotless reputation. His grandfather Yang Xu had been grand administrator of Nanyang under the Han. His father Yang Dao served as grand administrator of Shangdang. Yang Hu was Cai Yong’s grandson on the distaff side and the uterine younger brother of Empress Jingxian. When he was twelve his father died; he mourned with a grief beyond what ritual required and waited on his uncle Dan with scrupulous deference. Walking once beside the Wen, he met an old man who told him, “You have the bearing of a man who will win great fame in the realm before his sixtieth year.” With that the stranger vanished, and no one ever learned where he had gone. As an adult he was widely read and a capable writer, stood seven feet three inches tall, wore a fine beard and brows, and spoke with uncommon ease. The local commander Xiahou Wei, impressed by him, married him to a daughter of Xiahou Ba. He was nominated chief clerk for the capital accounts, summoned four times by the province for staff posts and as “flourishing talent,” and courted by five high offices—yet he refused every call. Guo Yi of Taiyuan exclaimed on meeting him, “He is the Yan Hui of our age.” He and Wang Shen were both recruited into Cao Shuang’s service. Wang Shen urged him to take the post; Yang Hu answered, “Once you bind yourself to a lord, leaving his service is never a light matter.” When Cao Shuang fell, Wang Shen was cashiered as a former retainer and said, “Your warning has proved true.” Yang Hu replied, “That outcome lay outside anything I could have foreseen.” Such was his prescience—and his reluctance to boast of it.
3
夏侯霸之降蜀也，姻親多告絕，祜獨安其室，恩禮有加焉。 尋遭母憂，長兄發又卒，毀慕寢頓十餘年，以道素自居，恂恂若儒者。
After Xiahou Ba fled to Shu, most relatives cut ties with his family; Yang Hu alone kept his household calm and treated them with added kindness. He then lost his mother, and his elder brother Fa died as well; for over a decade he was crushed by mourning, lived plainly, and carried himself with the modesty of a classicist.
4
文帝為大將軍，辟祜，未就，公車徵拜中書侍郎，俄遷給事中、黃門郎。 時高貴鄉公好屬文，在位者多獻詩賦，汝南和逌以忤意見斥，祜在其間，不得而親疏，有識尚焉。 陳留王立，賜爵關中侯，邑百戶。 以少帝不願為侍臣，求出補吏，徙秘書監。 及五等建，封钜平子，邑六百戶。 鐘會有寵而忌，祜亦憚之。 及會誅，拜相國從事中郎，與荀勖共掌機密。 遷中領軍，悉統宿衛，入直殿中，執兵之耍，事兼內外。
While Sima Zhao held the title of grand general, Yang Hu declined appointment; an imperial coach then summoned him as palace attendant of the Secretariat, and he was soon raised to palace attendant and gentleman at the yellow gates. Cao Mao loved to write; courtiers showered him with verse. He You of Runan was cast aside for displeasing him, while Yang Hu kept a careful neutrality that men of judgment respected. When Cao Huan acceded as king of Chenliu, Yang Hu received the rank of marquis within the passes with a fief of one hundred households. Unwilling to serve as an inner-court attendant to the young emperor, he asked for a provincial post and was moved to supervisor of the palace library secretariat. When the five-grade nobility was instituted, he was made baron of Juping with six hundred taxable households. Zhong Hui was powerful, suspicious, and dangerous; Yang Hu was wary of him as well. After Zhong Hui’s execution he became a vice director in the minister of state’s bureau and, with Xun Xu, managed confidential state business. As central army commander he took charge of all palace guards, attended the throne in the halls, held the levers of armed force, and bore responsibility both at court and in the field.
5
武帝受禪，以佐命之勳，進號中軍將軍，加散騎常侍，改封郡公，邑三千戶。 固讓封不受，乃進本爵為侯，置郎中令，備九官之職，加夫人印綬。 泰始初，詔曰：「夫總齊機衡，允厘六職，朝政之本也。 祜執德清劭，忠亮純茂，經緯文武，謇謇正直，雖處腹心之任，而不總樞機之重，非垂拱無為委任責成之意也。 其以祜為尚書右僕射、衛將軍，給本營兵。」 時王佑、賈充、裴秀皆前朝名望，祜每讓，不處其右。
When Sima Yan took the throne, Yang Hu was promoted to central army general for his founding service, given the concurrent title of cavalier attendant-in-ordinary, raised to commandery duke, and granted three thousand households. He steadfastly refused the ducal patent, so his old rank was raised to marquis instead, with an overseer of the heir apparent’s household, the full complement of nine high offices, and formal seals for his wife. Early in the Taishi era an edict declared that to harmonize the machinery of government and set the six ministries in good order was the foundation of the court. Yang Hu’s character is lucid and weighty, his loyalty plain, his talents span civil and military affairs, and his integrity is outspoken; yet though he stands at the emperor’s side he does not hold the chief levers of power—hardly the model of ruling by trust and leaving execution to able ministers. Appoint him right vice director of the secretariat, general who guards the army, and leave him his original camp command. Wang You, Jia Chong, and Pei Xiu were luminaries of the old Wei administration; Yang Hu habitually deferred to them and never ranked himself their superior.
6
帝將有滅吳之志，以祜為都督荊州諸軍事、假節，散騎常侍、衛將軍如故。 祜率營兵出鎮南夏，開設庠序，綏懷遠近，甚得江漢之心。 與吳人開布大信，降者欲去皆聽之。 時長吏喪官，後人惡之，多毀壞舊府，祜以死生有命，非由居室，書下征鎮，普加禁斷。 吳石城守去襄陽七百餘里，每為邊害，祜患之，竟以詭計令吳罷守。 於是戍邏減半，分以墾田八百餘頃，大獲其利。 祜之始至也，軍無百日之糧，及至季年，有十年之積。 詔罷江北都督，置南中郎將，以所統諸軍在漢東江夏者皆以益祜。 在軍常輕裘緩帶，身不被甲，鈴閤之下，侍衛者不過十數人，而頗以畋漁廢政。 嘗欲夜出，軍司徐胤執棨當營門曰：「將軍都督萬里，安可輕脫！ 將軍之安危，亦國家之安危也。 胤今日若死，此門乃開耳。」 祜改容謝之，此後稀出矣。
Determined to conquer Wu, the emperor named him military commander of all Jingzhou forces with credential staff; he kept his old titles of cavalier attendant-in-ordinary and general who guards the army. He marched his troops to the southern frontier, founded schools, and won the trust of both nearby settlers and distant peoples along the Han and Yangzi. He dealt with the Wu population in open good faith and let defectors go home if they wished. Magistrates who followed dead predecessors often demolished their offices out of superstition; Yang Hu argued that life and death were fated, not fixed by buildings, and issued orders up and down the front forbidding the practice. Wu’s garrison at Stone City, more than seven hundred li from Xiangyang, was a standing menace; Yang Hu worried at it until a ruse persuaded Wu to withdraw the garrison. Patrols were cut by half and the saved labor opened more than eight hundred qing of farmland to great profit. On his arrival the army lacked a hundred days’ provisions; by his last year the granaries held a decade’s supply. The court abolished the commander north of the river, created a south household general, and folded the Han’eastern and Jiangxia units into Yang Hu’s command. In camp he dressed lightly, went unarmored, and kept fewer than a dozen guards at his headquarters, while hunting and fishing sometimes drew him from paperwork. One night he tried to leave camp; the army director Xu Yin barred the gate with a halberd and said, “You command the whole frontier—how dare you wander off on a whim? Your safety is the empire’s safety. This gate opens when you step over my dead body.” Yang Hu flushed, apologized, and seldom went out alone after that.
7
後加車騎將軍，開府如三司之儀。 祜上表固讓曰：
He was later promoted to chariot-and-cavalry general with the full ceremonial establishment of the three dukes. He memorialized in firm refusal, writing:
8
臣伏聞恩詔，拔臣使同台司。 臣自出身以來，適十數年，受任外內，每極顯重之任。 常以智力不可頓進，恩寵不可久謬，夙夜戰悚，以榮為憂。 臣聞古人之言，德未為人所服而受高爵，則使才臣不進； 功未為人所歸而荷厚祿，則使勞臣不勸。 今臣身托外戚，事連運會，誡在過寵，不患見遺。 而猥降發中之詔，加非次之榮。 臣有何功可以堪之，何心可以安之。 身辱高位，傾覆尋至，願守先人弊廬，豈可得哉！ 違命誠忤天威，曲從即復若此。 蓋聞古人申于見知，大臣之節，不可則止。 臣雖小人，敢緣所蒙，念存斯義。
“I have received the edict elevating me to rank with the three great offices.” “In the dozen years since I first served I have been given post after post of the highest responsibility, at court and in the field.” “I have always known that talent cannot be rushed nor imperial favor indefinitely presumed; I have lain awake fearing that very distinction.” “The ancients said: reward high rank before the realm acknowledges your virtue, and true talent stops coming forward.” “Pay rich emoluments before the realm credits your deeds, and diligent officers lose heart.” “I am an imperial in-law riding a lucky moment; I am already overfavored and hardly risk being forgotten.” “Yet now an inner-court edict heaps on me honors out of turn.” “What deed of mine could justify this, what conscience could quietly accept it?” “High place without desert brings ruin; I would rather live in my forebears’ mean cottage—yet even that modest wish is denied me!” “Refusal offends the throne; compliance still leaves me in this impossible bind.” “The old model is to give one’s utmost to a ruler who understands you, and to withdraw when the way is blocked.” “Small man though I am, I dare cling to that principle because of what I owe the state.”
9
今天下自服化以來，方漸八年，雖側席求賢，不遺幽賤，然臣不爾推有德，達有功，使聖聽知勝臣者多，未達者不少。 假令有遺德於版築之下，有隱才于屠釣之間，而朝議用臣不以為非，臣處之不以為愧，所失豈不大哉！ 臣忝竊雖久，未若今日兼文武之極寵，等宰輔之高位也。 且臣雖所見者狹，據今光祿大夫李憙執節高亮，在公正色； 光祿大夫魯芝潔身寡欲，和而不同； 光祿大夫李胤清亮簡素，立身在朝，皆服事華髮，以禮終始。
“Eight years have passed since the new order began; though Your Majesty seeks talent in every corner, I have still not lifted up the worthy or brought forward men of proven merit, so that many who excel me remain unknown to your ears.” “Were there a sage laboring among masons or a genius selling meat by the river, and the court still thought me the right choice while I felt no shame—think what the realm would lose!” “I have long held unworthy office, but never have I combined such civil and military honors with rank beside the chief ministers.” “Moreover, limited though my view is, Grandee Li Xi stands for stern integrity in open court; Grandee Lu Zhi lives sparingly, agrees without flattering; Grandee Li Yin is lucid, frugal, and upright; all three have grown gray in service and kept ritual to the end.
10
雖歷位外內之寵，不異寒賤之家，而猶未蒙此選，臣更越之，何以塞天下之望，少益日月！ 是以誓心守節，無苟進之志。 今道路行通，方隅多事，乞留前恩，使臣得速還屯。 不爾留連，必于外虞有闕。 匹夫之志，有不可奪。
“Though honored at court and in camp they live no better than poor households, none has been singled out like this—how much less should I, who surpass none of them, answer the world’s hopes or add luster to your reign!” “Therefore I have resolved to keep my integrity and refuse rank gained by improper paths.” “The roads are open again and the frontiers are restless; I beg you to honor your earlier favor and let me hurry back to my command.” “Otherwise my delay here will surely weaken the outer defenses.” “Even a commoner’s settled purpose cannot be wrested away.”
11
不聽。
The throne refused his plea.
12
及還鎮，吳西陵督步闡舉城來降。 吳將陸抗攻之甚急，詔祜迎闡。 祜率兵五萬出江陵，遣荊州刺史楊肇攻抗，不克，闡竟為抗所擒。 有司奏：「祜所統八萬餘人，賊眾不過三萬。 祜頓兵江陵，使賊備得設。 乃遣楊肇偏軍入險，兵少糧懸，軍人挫衄。 背違詔命，無大臣節。 可免官，以侯就第。」 竟坐貶為平南將軍，而免楊肇為庶人。
Back at his post, he saw Bu Chan, Wu’s commander at Xiling, surrender the city to Jin. Lu Kang pressed the siege hard; an edict told Yang Hu to march to relieve Bu Chan. Yang Hu took fifty thousand men from Jiangling and sent Inspector Yang Zhao against Lu Kang; Zhao failed, and Bu Chan fell to Lu Kang in the end. Censors wrote: “Yang Hu had more than eighty thousand men; the enemy fewer than thirty thousand. He sat at Jiangling and let the foe finish their dispositions. He then pushed Yang Zhao’s column into difficult ground with too few men and precarious supplies, and the army was beaten. He disobeyed imperial strategy and failed the standard of a chief minister. Strip him of office and send him home as a commoner marquis.” In the end Yang Hu was demoted to general who pacifies the south and Yang Zhao reduced to commoner status.
13
祜以孟獻營武牢而鄭人懼，晏弱城東陽而萊子服，乃進據險耍，開建五城，收膏腴之地，奪吳人之資，石城以西，盡為晉有。 自是前後降者不絕，乃增修德信，以懷柔初附，慨然有吞併之心。 每與吳人交兵，克日方戰，不為掩襲之計。 將帥有欲進譎詐之策者，輒飲以醇酒，使不得言。 人有略吳二兒為俘者，祜遣送還其家。 後吳將夏詳、邵顗等來降，二兒之父亦率其屬與俱。 吳將陳尚、潘景來寇，祜追斬之，美其死節而厚加殯斂。 景、尚子弟迎喪，祜以禮遣還。 吳將鄧香掠夏口，祜募生縛香，既至，宥之。 香感其恩甚，率部曲而降。 祜出軍行吳境，刈穀為糧，皆計所侵，送絹償之。 每會眾江沔游獵，常止晉地。 若禽獸先為吳人所傷而為晉兵所得者，皆封還之。 於是吳人翕然悅服，稱為羊公，不之名也。
Reasoning from Meng Xian’s camp at Wulao, which terrified Zheng, and Yan Ruo’s fort at Dongyang, which broke Lai, he seized key terrain, raised five strongpoints, took rich farmland, and deprived Wu of resources until everything west of Stone City belonged to Jin. Defections then flowed without cease; he doubled down on good faith toward new subjects and began to contemplate full conquest. Whenever he fought Wu troops he fixed a battle day in advance and refused sneak attacks. If a subordinate proposed a ruse, Yang Hu plied him with strong wine until the idea went unspoken. When two Wu boys were taken prisoner, he sent them home. Later, when Wu generals Xia Xiang and Shao Yi defected, those boys’ fathers came over with their men as well. Chen Shang and Pan Jing raided his lines; he hunted them down and killed them, then honored their loyalty with a full burial. Their sons came for the bodies; he saw them off with ritual courtesy. Wu’s Deng Xiang raided Xiakou; Yang Hu offered a reward for his capture alive, then released him when he was brought in. Grateful for the mercy, Deng Xiang brought his entire command over to Jin. When his army requisitioned grain in Wu lands, he reckoned the amount and paid silk in compensation. Mass hunts along the Han always stayed on Jin soil. Game first hit by Wu hunters but picked up by his men was wrapped and sent back across the line. Wu’s soldiers and farmers came to admire him as “Lord Yang,” using a title instead of his given name.
14
祜與陸抗相對，使命交通，抗稱祜之德量，雖樂毅、諸葛孔明不能過也。 抗嘗病，祜饋之藥，抗服之無疑心。 人多諫抗，抗曰：「羊祜豈鴆人者！」 時談以為華元、子反復見於今日。 抗每告其戍曰：「彼專為德，我專為暴，是不戰而自服也。 各保分界而已，無求細利。」 孫皓聞二境交和，以詰抗。 抗曰：「一邑一鄉，不可以無信義，況大國乎！ 臣不如此，正是彰其德，於祜無傷也。」
Facing Lu Kang across the border, he exchanged envoys; Lu Kang said his moral stature outshone even Yue Yi or Zhuge Liang. When Lu Kang fell ill, Yang Hu sent him medicine; Lu Kang drank it without doubting treachery. His officers warned Lu Kang, who replied, "Yang Hu is no poisoner." Contemporaries said their courtesy recalled Hua Yuan and the Chu commander Zifan. Lu Kang told his men, "The Jin side cultivates virtue while we rely on force, so they can win hearts without fighting. He ordered each command to guard its own line and avoid risky skirmishes for small gain." When Sun Hao learned the frontiers had grown almost cordial, he called Lu Kang to account. Lu Kang answered, "A village cannot live without trust, let alone a kingdom. By behaving generously I only highlight his integrity; I do not injure Yang Hu."
15
祜貞愨無私，疾惡邪佞，旬勖、馮紞之徒甚忌之。 從甥王衍嘗詣祜陳事，辭甚俊辨，祜不然之，衍拂衣而起。 祜顧謂賓客曰：「王夷甫方以盛名處大位，然敗俗傷化，必此人也。」 步闡之役，祜以軍法將斬王戎，故戎、衍並憾之，每言論多毀祜。 時人為之語曰：「二王當國，羊公無德。」
Yang Hu was upright and disdained flatterers; Xun Xu and Feng Yi therefore bore him a grudge. His nephew Wang Yan once came to argue a point with brilliant rhetoric; Yang Hu disagreed, and Wang Yan stormed off. Turning to his guests Yang Hu said, "Wang Yan will ride fame to high office—and he will be the man who corrupts public morals." During the Bu Chan campaign Yang Hu had nearly executed Wang Rong by martial law, so Wang Rong and Wang Yan slandered him at every turn. A popular jingle ran, "With the Wangs in power, good Duke Yang has no virtue left."
16
咸甯初，除征南大將軍、開府儀同三司，得專辟召。 初，祐以伐吳必藉上流之勢。 又時吳有童謠曰：「阿童復阿童，銜刀浮渡江。 不畏岸上獸，但畏水中龍。」 祜聞之曰：「此必水軍有功，但當思應其名者耳。」 會益州刺史王濬徵為大司農，祜知其可任，濬又小字阿童，因表留浚監益州諸軍事，加龍驤將軍，密令修舟楫，為順流之計。
Early in the Xianning era he became general who conquers the south with a grand marshal's establishment matching the three dukes, and sole power to recruit officers. Yang Hu had long believed a conquest of Wu required pressure from upstream. A Wu children's song ran, "A-tong, again A-tong, knife in teeth, floats across the river. Fear not the beasts on shore—fear the dragon in the water." Yang Hu said, "That points to a naval hero; we need only find the man the nickname fits." Wang Jun of Yizhou was recalled to the capital as minister of agriculture; Yang Hu knew his talent and that his pet name was A-tong, so he kept Wang Jun in the west as area commander with the title general who soars like a dragon and secretly had him build a river fleet.
17
祜繕甲訓卒，廣為戎備。 至是上疏曰：
He repaired arms, drilled troops, and expanded frontier preparations. He then memorialized the throne as follows.
18
先帝順天應時，西平巴蜀，南和吳會，海內得以休息，兆庶有樂安之心。 而吳復背信，使邊事更興。 夫期運雖天所授，而功業必由人而成，不一大舉掃滅，則眾役無時得安。 亦所以隆先帝之勳，成無為之化也。 故堯有丹水之伐，舜有三苗之征，咸以寧靜宇宙，戢兵和眾者也。 蜀平之時，天下皆謂吳當並亡，自此來十三年，是謂一周，平定之期復在今日矣。 議者常言吳楚有道後服，無禮先強，此乃謂侯之時耳。 當今一統，不得與古同諭。
The late emperor moved with the times: he subdued Ba–Shu in the west, made peace with Wu and Yue in the south, and gave the realm a respite so the people could breathe. Wu broke faith again, and the frontier flared up once more. Heaven sets the timing, but men must finish the work; without one decisive campaign to destroy Wu, endless mobilizations will never end. Victory would crown your father's enterprise and bring the realm the quiet of true non-interference. Yao fought at Dan, Shun punished the Three Miao: both used force once to still the world and put arms away for good. When Shu fell, all expected Wu to follow; thirteen years have passed—a full cycle—and the hour to finish Wu is again at hand. The old saying that Wu and Chu yield last when virtue rules and turn fierce when it does not described the age of rival feudatories, not a unified empire. Under a single throne the old parallel no longer holds.
19
夫適道之論，皆未應權，是故謀之雖多，而決之欲獨。 凡以險阻得存者，謂所敵者同，力足自固。 苟其輕重不齊，強弱異勢，則智士不能謀，而險阻不可保也。 蜀之為國，非不險也，高山尋雲霓，深谷肆無景，束馬懸車，然後得濟，皆言一夫荷戟，千人莫當。 及進兵之日，曾無籓籬之限，斬將搴旗，伏屍數萬，乘勝席捲，徑至成都，漢中諸城，皆鳥棲而不敢出。 非皆無戰心，誠力不足相抗。 至劉禪降服，諸營堡者索然俱散。 今江淮之難，不過劍閣； 山川之險，不過岷漢； 孫皓之暴，侈于劉禪； 吳人之困，甚于巴蜀。 而大晉兵眾，多於前世； 資儲器械，盛於往時； 今不于此平吳，而更阻兵相守，征夫苦役，日尋干戈，經歷盛衰，不可長久，宜當時定，以一四海。
High-minded theories miss practical needs; many voices argue, yet one ruler must decide. Mountain defenses help only when the enemy is comparable and your own force can hold. When strength is uneven, no genius of strategy and no cliff will save a state. Shu was famously impassable—cloud-capped peaks, lightless ravines, roads that needed roped carts—yet legend said one halberdier could hold a thousand. Yet when we marched, no fence held us back: we cut down commanders, seized flags, left tens of thousands dead, swept straight to Chengdu, and every Hanzhong fort hid like a bird in a roost. It was not cowardice; they were overmatched. The moment Liu Shan yielded, Shu’s strongpoints collapsed. The Yangzi–Huai line is no tougher than Jianmen Pass. Its mountains and rivers are no worse than the Min and Han gorges. Sun Hao is more vicious than Liu Shan was. The Wu populace is more exhausted than Ba–Shu ever was. Jin fields larger armies than the Wei ever did. Our stores and matériel surpass earlier campaigns. Delay means endless mobilizations and skittish garrisons; prosperity and decay cannot alternate forever—we should settle Wu now and bind the four seas under one rule.
20
今若引梁益之兵水陸俱下，荊楚之眾進臨江陵，平南、豫州，直指夏口，徐、揚、青、兗並向秣陵，鼓旆以疑之，多方以誤之，以一隅之吳，當天下之眾，勢分形散，所備皆急，巴漢奇兵出其空虛，一處傾壞，則上下震盪。 吳緣江為國，無有內外，東西數千里，以籓籬自持，所敵者大，無有寧息。 孫皓孫恣情任意，與下多忌，名臣重將不復自信，是以孫秀之徒皆畏逼而至。 將疑於朝，士困於野，無有保世之計，一定之心。 平常之日，猶懷去就，兵臨之際，必有應者，終不能齊力致死，已可知也。 其俗急速，不能持久，弓弩戟盾不如中國，唯有水戰是其所便。 一入其境，則長江非復所固，還保城池，則去長入短。 而官軍懸進，人有致節之志，吳人戰於其內，有憑城之心。 如此，軍不逾時，克可必矣。
Send Liang and Yi downriver by land and sea, push Jing and Chu against Jiangling, aim Pacifies-the-South and Yu at Xiakou, march Xu, Yang, Qing, and Yan on Moling, feint on every front, then thrust from Ba and Han into the gaps—Wu cannot cover a thousand leagues of river; one rupture will shatter the whole. Wu is a ribbon along the river, east to west for thousands of li, with no strategic depth; it braces like a palisade against a continent-wide foe and never rests. Sun Hao indulges himself, doubts his best men, and has driven officers such as Sun Xiu to defect in terror. Commanders second-guess the throne while troops waste in the mud; no one has a long-term plan or settled allegiance. Even in quiet times they weigh defection; under invasion they will break ranks—they cannot mount a unanimous fight to the death. They are impetuous, ill suited to long wars, and weaker than our infantry arms—river fighting is their sole advantage. Once we are ashore, the great river stops protecting them; if they hide in towns, they trade mobility for siege. Our men march with elated purpose; Wu's soldiers fight at home behind ramparts—each side plays to a different strength. Under these conditions the war need not linger; success is certain.
21
帝深納之。
The emperor embraced his analysis.
22
會秦涼屢敗，祜復表曰：「吳平則胡自定，但當速濟大功耳。」 而議者多不同，祜歎曰：「天下不如意，恆十居七八，故有當斷不斷。 天與不取，豈非更事者恨于後時哉！」
While Qin and Liang kept losing, Yang Hu wrote again: "Crush Wu and the steppe troubles cure themselves—only strike the decisive blow at once." The court still hesitated; Yang Hu sighed that most plans miscarry because rulers shrink from the moment to act. Heaven hands you victory; to refuse it is to invite the regret of every statesman who came too late."
23
其後，詔以泰山之南武陽、牟、南城、梁父、平陽五縣為南城郡，封祜為南城侯，置相，與郡公同。 祜讓曰：「昔張良請受留萬戶，漢祖不奪其志。 臣受钜平於先帝，敢辱重爵，以速官謗！」 固執不拜，帝許之。 祜每被登進，常守沖退，至心素著，故特見申於分列之外。 是以名德遠播，朝野具瞻，搢紳僉議，當居台輔。 帝方有兼併之志，仗祜以東南之任，故寢之。 祜曆職二朝，任典樞要，政事損益，皆諮訪焉，勢利之求，無所關與。 其嘉謀讜議，皆焚其草，故世莫聞。 凡所進達，人皆不知所由。 或謂祜慎密太過者，祜曰：「是何言歟！ 夫入則造膝，出則詭辭，君臣不密之誡，吾惟懼其不及。 不能舉賢取異，豈得不愧知人之難哉！ 且拜爵公朝，謝恩私門，吾所不取。」
The court later carved five Taishan counties into Nancheng commandery and made Yang Hu marquis of Nancheng with ducal privileges. Yang Hu refused: "Zhang Liang asked only for ten thousand households at Liu, and Gaozu respected his modesty. I received Juping from the late emperor; I cannot accept a grander patent and invite scandal." He stood his ground until the emperor let the matter drop. Each promotion found him pleading modesty; his transparent sincerity won him unusual indulgence. His reputation filled court and capital; the elite expected him to join the chief ministers. The emperor still needed him on the southeastern front, so he shelved the promotion. He steered two reigns at the center of power, shaped every major decision, and never traded policy for private gain. He burned drafts of his best counsel, leaving no paper trail. Men he advanced seldom learned they owed their posts to him. When told he was too secretive, he exclaimed, "What nonsense! Close counsel in private and guarded words in public are what loyal ministers owe; I worry only that I fall short. If I fail to lift able men, I shame the art of knowing others. I will not take titles in the audience hall and pay my debts of favor in some minister's doorway."
24
祜女夫嘗勸祜「有所營置，令有歸戴者，可不美乎？」 祜默然不應，退告諸子曰：「此可謂知其一不知其二。 人臣樹私則背公，是大惑也。 汝宜識吾此意。」 嘗與從弟琇書曰：「既定邊事，當角巾東路，歸故里，為容棺之墟。 以白士而居重位，何能不以盛滿受責乎！ 疏廣是吾師也。」
His son-in-law urged him to build a faction so clients would owe him gratitude. Yang Hu said nothing, then told his sons, "That man knows half the truth. Ministers who chase private networks betray the state—that is folly. Remember what I mean." He wrote his cousin Yang Xiu, "When the frontier is quiet I mean to retire eastward in scholar's scarf and choose a burial mound in my homeland. A man of white cloth in a great office cannot escape blame when fortune crests. Shu Guang is the man I take as my model."
25
祜樂山水，每風景，必造峴山，置酒言詠，終日不倦。 嘗慨然歎息，顧謂從事中郎鄒湛等曰：「自有宇宙，便有此山。 由來賢達勝士，登此遠望，如我與卿者多矣！ 皆湮滅無聞，使人悲傷。 如百歲後有知，魂魄猶應登此也。」 湛曰：「公德冠四海，道嗣前哲，令聞令望，必與此山俱傳。 至若湛輩，乃當如公言耳。」
He loved landscape; on fine days he climbed Mount Xian, poured wine, and talked poetry until dusk. Once he sighed to Zou Zhan and the rest, "This peak has stood since the world began. How many sages climbed here, looked out like us, and vanished? They are forgotten, and that grieves me. If consciousness survives the grave, my ghost should climb here still." Zou Zhan replied, "Your virtue fills the realm, your teaching follows the ancients; your name will outlive this mountain. Men like me will be forgotten, just as you say."
26
祜當討吳賊功，將進爵土，乞以賜舅子蔡襲。 詔封襲關內侯，邑三百戶。
When honors for the Wu campaign were due, he asked that the patent go to his nephew Cai Xi. The court made Cai Xi a marquis within the passes with three hundred households.
27
會吳人寇弋陽、江夏，略戶口，詔遣侍臣移書詰祐不追討之意，並欲移州復舊之宜。 祜曰：「江夏去襄陽八百里，比知賊問，賊去亦已經日矣。 步軍方往，安能救之哉！ 勞師以免責，恐非事宜也。 昔魏武帝置都督，類皆與州相近，以兵勢好合惡離。 疆埸之間，一彼一此，慎守而已，古之善教也。 若輒徙州，賊出無常，亦未知州之所宜據也。」 使者不能詰。
When Wu raided Yiyang and Jiangxia and abducted people, the court messenger pressed Yang Hu on his failure to pursue and on relocating the provincial headquarters. Yang Hu answered, "Jiangxia lies eight hundred li from Xiangyang; news arrives a day after the enemy has left. Foot columns cannot arrive in time to help. To march troops to exhaustion merely to satisfy critics would be worse policy. Cao Cao placed area commanders beside their provinces because armies fight best when concentrated. Frontiers shift; steady garrisoning is the ancient lesson. Hasty relocation would leave us guessing where to anchor command when raids strike at random." The envoy had no reply.
28
祜寢疾，求入朝。 既至洛陽，會景獻宮車在殯，哀慟至篤。 中詔申諭，扶疾引見，命乘輦入殿，無下拜，甚見優禮。 及侍坐，面陳伐吳之計。 帝以其病，不宜常入，遣中書令張華問其籌策。 祜曰：「今主上有禪代之美，而功德未著。 吳人虐政已甚，可不戰而克。 混一六合，以興文教，則主齊堯舜，臣同稷契，為百代之盛軌。 如舍之，若孫皓不幸而沒，吳人更立令主，雖百萬之眾，長江未可而越也，將為後患乎！」 華深贊成其計。 祜謂華曰：「成吾志者，子也。」 帝欲使祜臥護諸將，祜曰：「取吳不必須臣自行，但既平之後，當勞聖慮耳。 功名之際，臣所不敢居。 若事了，當有所付授，願審擇其人。」
Yang Hu grew ill and begged to visit Luoyang. He arrived while Empress Jingxian lay in state and mourned her with devastating grief. Imperial messages comforted him; he was carried in to audience in a litter and excused from prostrations—a rare mark of favor. At audience he laid out the Wu campaign in person. Because of his health the emperor sent Zhang Hua of the secretariat to consult him instead. Yang Hu told Zhang Hua, "The throne rests on a peaceful transfer, but dazzling deeds still await. Wu is so misgoverned that it can fall without a hard fight. Unite the realm, revive rites and learning, and sovereign and minister will match the worthies of antiquity—an example for all ages. Delay the campaign, and if Sun Hao dies and Wu crowns a competent ruler, even a million troops may never cross the Yangzi—you will leave a lasting enemy at your back." Zhang Hua wholeheartedly agreed. Yang Hu told him, "You will finish what I began." The emperor wanted him to direct operations from bed; Yang Hu said, "You need not send me to take Wu, but once Wu falls Your Majesty must govern it with care. I do not claim the glory of that victory. When the war ends, appoint a worthy successor and choose him with care."
29
疾漸篤，乃舉杜預自代。 尋卒，時年五十八。 帝素服哭之，甚哀。 是日大寒，帝涕淚沾須鬢，皆為冰焉。 南州人征市日聞祜喪，莫不號慟，罷市，巷哭者聲相接。 吳守邊將士亦為之泣。 其仁千所感如此。 賜以東園秘器，朝服一襲，錢三十萬，布百匹。 詔曰：「征南大將軍南城侯祜，蹈德沖素，思心清遠。 始在內職，值登大命，乃心篤誠，左右王事，入綜機密，出統方嶽。 當終顯烈，永輔朕躬，而奄忽殂隕，悼之傷懷。 其追贈侍中、太傅，持節如故。」
As his condition worsened, he nominated Du Yu as his replacement. He died shortly after, aged fifty-eight. The emperor came in white and wept for him with deep sorrow. It was a freezing day, and his tears iced his whiskers. When southerners at the fair heard the news, they shut their stalls and filled the streets with mourning. Even Wu's frontier soldiers shed tears for him. Such was the power of his benevolence. The court gave him a state coffin set, a court dress, three hundred thousand coins, and a hundred bolts of cloth. The edict read: "Yang Hu, general who conquers the south and marquis of Nancheng, walked a path of plain virtue and limpid purpose. From the founding of your reign he served at the center and on the march, guarding policy within and armies without. He should have long supported the throne, yet death took him; We mourn with a wounded heart. Posthumously name him palace attendant and grand tutor, with his old insignia restored."
30
祜立身清儉，被服率素，祿俸所資，皆以贍給九族，賞賜軍士，家無餘財。 遺令不得以南城侯印入柩。 從弟琇等述祜素志，求葬于先人墓次。 帝不許，賜去城十里外近陵葬地一頃，諡曰成。 祜喪既引，帝于大司馬門南臨送。 祜甥齊王攸表祜妻不以侯斂之意，帝乃詔曰：「祜固讓歷年，志不可奪。 身沒讓存，遺操益厲，此夷叔所以稱賢，季子所以全節也。 今聽復本封，以彰高美。」
He lived simply, spent his pay on kin and troops, and left no private fortune. He ordered that the marquis's seal not be buried with him. His kinsman Yang Xiu relayed his wish to lie near the family tombs. The throne gave him a plot by the imperial cemetery and the posthumous name "Accomplished." The emperor watched the procession pass from south of the grand marshal's gate. Sima You explained that Yang Hu's widow wanted a humble burial; the court answered that Yang Hu had refused honors for a lifetime. His modesty outlives him, like the ancient recluses whose names honor renunciation. The throne therefore restored his old patent to honor his character.
31
初，文帝崩，祜謂傅玄曰：「三年之喪，雖貴遂服，自天子達； 而漢文除之，毀禮傷義，常以歎息。 今主上天縱至孝，有曾閔之性，雖奪其服，實行喪禮。 喪禮實行，除服何為邪！ 若因此革漢魏之薄，而興先王之法，以敦風俗，垂美百代，不亦善乎！」 玄曰：「漢文以末世淺薄，不能行國君之喪，故因而除之。 除之數百年，一旦復古，難行也。」 祜曰：「不能使天下如禮，且使主上遂服，不猶善乎！」 玄曰：「主上不除而天下除，此為但有有父子，無復君臣，三綱之道虧矣。」 祜乃止。
When Sima Zhao died, Yang Hu told Fu Xuan that even emperors should keep the three-year rites. Emperor Wen of Han had shortened mourning, to the lasting harm of propriety. The current sovereign is deeply filial; though court ritual was curtailed, he still mourned in substance. When the heart keeps mourning, what good is doffing the sackcloth alone? Restore ancient mourning and you reform two dynasties of slack practice and teach the realm for generations. Fu Xuan replied that Han Wendi had cut the rites because his times were chaotic. Centuries of practice cannot be overturned overnight. Yang Hu answered that even partial restoration—letting the emperor mourn fully—would help. Fu Xuan warned that asymmetrical mourning would break the hierarchy of loyalty. Yang Hu let the matter rest.
32
祜所著文章及為《老子傳》並行於世。 襄陽百姓于峴山祜平生遊憩之所建碑立廟，歲時饗祭焉。 望其碑者莫不流涕，杜預因名為墮淚碑。 荊州人為祜諱名，屋室皆以門為稱，改戶曹為辭曹焉。
His writings and his treatise on the Laozi were widely read. At Mount Xian, where he had strolled and feasted, the folk built a shrine and made offerings each year. Travelers wept at the inscription, so Du Yu dubbed it the stele that draws tears. To avoid his name they replaced one homophone character and renamed an entire bureau.
33
祜開府累年，謙讓不辟士，始有所命，會卒，不得除署。 故參佐劉儈、趙寅、劉彌、孫勃等箋詣預曰：
For years he held grand-marshal privileges yet recruited no large staff; his first four nominees arrived only after his death. His former aides wrote jointly to Du Yu:
34
昔以謬選，忝備官屬，各得與前征南大將軍祜參同庶事。 祜執德沖虛，操尚清遠，德高而體卑，位優而行恭。 前膺顯命，來撫南夏，既有三司之儀，復加大將軍之號。 雖居其位，不行其制。 至今海內渴佇，群俊望風。 涉其門者，貪夫反廉，懦夫立志，雖夷惠之操，無以尚也。 自鎮此境，政化被乎江漢，潛謀遠計，辟國開疆，諸所規摹，皆有軌量。 志存公家，以死勤事，始辟四掾，未至而隕。 夫舉賢報國，台輔之遠任也； 搜揚側陋，亦台輔之宿心也； 中道而廢，亦台輔之私恨也。 履謙積稔，晚節不遂，此遠近所以為之感痛者也。 昔召伯所憩，愛流甘棠； 宣子所游，封殖其樹。 夫思其人，尚及其樹，況生存所辟之士，便當隨例放棄者乎！ 乞蒙列上，得依已至掾屬。
"We were lucky enough to serve under the late general who conquered the south." He combined lofty virtue with modest manners and honored rank with courteous conduct. He bore both ministerial rank and supreme military title in the south. Yet he never exploited the full privileges of his station. The realm still looks to him with longing. His presence turned the grasping toward integrity and the timid toward courage. His government civilized the middle Yangzi and his strategy expanded the frontier. He died in harness just as he began to name a staff. To recommend talent is the first duty of the highest ministers; to seek men in humble places is their constant care; to see the work cut short is their lasting regret. His years of modesty ended unfinished, and all who knew him grieve. Men still cherish the pear tree where the Duke of Shao paused; they tend the trees where Zhao Xuanzi strolled. If posterity honors mere trees, surely we must not abandon the aides he chose. We ask the court to confirm the appointments he had begun.
35
預表曰：「祜雖開府而不備僚屬，引謙之至，宜見顯明。 及扶疾辟士，未到而沒，家無胤嗣，官無命士，此方之望，隱憂載懷。 夫篤終追遠，人德歸厚，漢祖不惜四千戶之封，以慰趙子弟心。 請議之。」 詔不許。
Du Yu wrote that Yang Hu's empty grand office proved his extraordinary modesty. He died without sons and without installed deputies, leaving the region anxious. The Han founder ennobled Zhao's heirs to comfort loyal dead; we should do the like. He asked the ministers to deliberate. The throne said no.
36
祜卒二歲而吳平，群臣上壽，帝執爵流涕曰：「此羊太傅之功也。」 因以克定之功，策告祜廟，仍依蕭何故事，封其夫人。 策曰：
Two years later Wu surrendered; raising a cup, the emperor wept that the victory was Yang Hu's gift. He announced the triumph at Yang Hu's temple and, following Xiao He's example, honored the widow. The enfeoffment edict declared:
37
皇帝使謁者杜宏告故侍中、太傅钜平成侯祜：昔吳為不恭，負險稱號，郊境不辟，多歷年所。 祜受任南夏，思靜其難，外揚王化，內經廟略，著德推誠，江漢歸心，舉有成資，謀有全策。 昊天不吊，所志不卒，朕用悼恨於厥心。 乃班命群帥，致天之討，兵不逾時，一征而滅，疇昔之規，若合符契。 夫賞不失勞，國有彝典，宜增啟土宇，以崇前命，而重違公高讓之素。 今封夫人夏侯氏萬歲鄉君，食邑五千戶，又賜帛萬匹，穀萬斛。
The emperor tells Yang Hu's spirit that Wu had long defied the throne and blocked the frontier. Yang Hu pacified the south, won the river country, and laid the full plan that later generals executed. Heaven took him before the work was done, and the emperor mourns that loss. The subsequent campaign ended Wu in a single stroke, exactly as he had foreseen. The law demands reward, yet the court must also honor his lifelong refusals of fief. Lady Xiahou becomes lady of Wansui village with five thousand households, plus silk and grain.
38
祜年五歲，時令乳母取所弄金環。 乳母曰：「汝先無此物。」 祜即詣鄰人李氏東垣桑樹中探得之。 主人驚曰：「此吾亡兒所失物也，云何持去！」 乳母具言之，李氏悲惋。 時人異之，謂李氏子則祜之前身也。 又有善相墓者，言祜祖墓所有帝王氣，若鑿之則無後，祜遂鑿之。 相者見曰「猶出折臂三公」，而祜竟墮馬折臂，位至公而無子。
At five he asked his nurse for a gold ring he liked to play with. She said he had never owned one. He led her to a mulberry by the Li family's wall and pulled the ring from the tree. The owner cried that it was his dead son's lost toy. The nurse explained, and the Lis wept. Onlookers said the dead boy's soul had passed into Yang Hu. A geomancer warned that his grandfather's grave bore imperial omens but would cost him heirs; Yang Hu had the mound cut down anyway. The seer then predicted a "three duke with a broken arm"; Yang Hu broke his arm in a fall, reached the highest rank, and died sonless.
39
帝以祜兄子暨為嗣，暨以父沒不得為人後。 帝又令暨弟伊為祜後，又不奉詔。 帝怒，並收免之。 太康二年，以伊弟篇為钜平侯，奉祜嗣。 篇曆官清慎，有私牛於官舍產犢，及遷而留之，位至散騎常侍，早卒。
The court first named his nephew Yang Ji heir, but Ji could not leave a living father. Younger brother Yang Yi also declined. The emperor jailed and cashiered them both. In 281 he named Yang Pian marquis of Juping to carry the line. Yang Pian was an honest official who left a newborn calf in the public barn when he moved on; he died young as a cavalier attendant.
40
孝武太元中，封祜兄玄孫之子法興為钜平侯，邑五千戶。 以桓玄党誅，國除。 尚書祠部郎荀伯子上表訟之曰：「臣聞咎繇亡嗣，臧文以為深歎； 伯氏奪邑，管仲所以稱仁。 功高可百世不泯，濫賞無得崇朝。 故太傅、钜平侯羊祜明德通賢，國之宗主，勳參佐命，功成平吳，而後嗣闕然，烝嘗莫寄。 漢以蕭何元功，故絕世輒繼，愚謂钜平封宜同酂國。 故太尉廣陵公准黨翼賊倫，禍加淮南，因逆為利，竊饗大邦。 值西朝政刑失裁，中興因而不奪。 今王道維新，豈可不大判臧否，謂廣陵國宜在削除。 故太保衛瓘本爵菑陽縣公，既被橫害，乃進茅土，始贈蘭陵，又轉江夏。 中朝名臣，多非理終，瓘功德無殊，而獨受偏賞，謂宜罷其郡封，復邑菑陽，則與奪有倫，善惡分矣。」 竟寢不報。
Under Emperor Xiaowu, a distant descendant named Faxing received the Juping title with five thousand households. Huan Xuan's faction brought his execution and the loss of the fief. Xun Bozi wrote: "When Gao Yao died without an heir, good officials mourned; when the Bo family forfeited its lands, Guan Zhong was still called humane. Great merit outlives generations; unjust grants do not survive a morning's scrutiny. Yang Hu, chief architect of the conquest, has no descendants to tend his shrine. Han revived Xiao He's house; Juping deserves the same perpetual care. He Zhun of Guangling aided Sima Lun's rebellion yet kept a grand princedom. Western Jin let him keep it; the eastern court inherited that mistake. Under the renewed Jin order, that stolen fief should be struck down. Wei Guan was first ennobled at Ziyang, then promoted after his murder to Lanling and Jiangxia. Other loyal ministers died as he did without such windfalls; strip the extra titles and restore Ziyang to mark justice." The court filed the petition and never answered.
41
祜前母，孔融女，生兄發，官至都督淮北護軍。 初，發與祜同母兄承俱得病，祜母度不能兩存，乃專心養發，故得濟，而承竟死。
Yang Hu's natural mother was Kong Rong's daughter; his full brother Yang Fa became commander north of the Huai. When Yang Fa and his brother Yang Cheng fell ill together, their mother nursed only Fa and Cheng died.
42
發長子倫，高陽相。 倫弟暨，陽平太守。 暨弟伊，初為車騎賈充掾，後曆平南將軍、都督江北諸軍事，鎮宛，為張昌所殺，追贈鎮南將軍。 祜伯父秘，官至京兆太守。 子祉，魏郡太守。 秘孫亮，字長玄，有才能，多計數。 與之交者，必偽盡款誠，人皆謂得其心，而殊非其實也。 初為太傅楊駿參軍，時京兆多盜竊。 駿欲更重其法，盜百錢加大辟，請官屬會議，亮曰：「昔楚江乙母失布，以為盜由令尹。 公若無欲，盜宜自止，何重法為？」 駿慚而止。 累轉大鴻臚。 時惠帝在長安，亮與關東連謀，內不自安，奔於并州，為劉元海所害。 亮弟陶，為徐州刺史。
Yang Fa's eldest son Yang Lun served as chancellor of Gaoyang. His brother Yang Ji was grand administrator of Yangping. Yang Yi began under Jia Chong, became general who pacifies the south, commanded the north bank from Wan, and died fighting Zhang Chong; the court posthumously named him general who guards the south. Yang Hu's uncle Yang Mi rose to grand administrator of the capital area. Yang Mi's son Yang Zhi governed Wei commandery. Yang Liang, style Changxuan, was clever and calculating. He feigned warm friendship until everyone thought he was sincere; almost none saw through him. He first served Yang Jun while theft plagued the capital district. Yang Jun proposed death for stealing a hundred coins; Yang Liang cited the old story of Jiang Yi's mother blaming the chief minister for her lost cloth. If superiors stay clean," he said, "thieves quit of their own accord—severity is not the cure." Yang Jun dropped the proposal. Yang Liang eventually became grand herald. When Emperor Hui sat in Chang'an, Yang Liang conspired with the eastern lords, fled to Bingzhou, and died at Liu Yuan's hands. His brother Yang Tao became inspector of Xuzhou.
43
杜預，字元凱，京兆杜陵人也。 祖畿，魏尚書僕射。 父恕，幽州刺史。 預博學多通，明於興廢之道，常言：「德不可以企及，立功立言可庶幾也。」 初，其父與宣帝不相能，遂以幽死，故預久不得調。 文帝嗣立，預尚帝妹高陸公主，起家拜尚書郎，襲祖爵豐樂亭侯。 在職四年，轉參相府軍事。 鐘會伐蜀，以預為鎮西長史。 及會反，僚佐並遇害，唯預以智獲免，增邑千一百五十戶。
Du Yu, style Yuankai, came from Duling near the capital. His grandfather Du Ji had been Wei vice director of the secretariat. His father Du Shu had governed Youzhou. Du Yu read widely and liked to say that while perfect virtue might elude him, he could still hope to win fame by deeds or writings. His father had quarreled with Sima Yi and died in disgrace at Youzhou, so Du Yu languished without office for years. When Sima Zhao came to power, Du Yu married the princess of Gaolu, entered as a secretariat gentleman, and inherited the Fengle precinct marquisate. Four years later he joined the minister of state's staff. Zhong Hui made him chief clerk for the western campaign. When Zhong Hui mutinied, Du Yu alone escaped and was rewarded with added households.
44
與車騎將軍賈充等定律令，既成，預為之注解，乃奏之曰：「法者，蓋繩墨之斷例，非窮理盡性之書也。 故文約而例直，聽省而禁簡。 例直易見，禁簡難犯。 易見則人知所避，難犯則幾于刑厝。 刑之本在於簡直，故必審名分。 審名分者，必忍小理。 古之刑書，銘之鐘鼎，鑄之金石，所以遠塞異端，使無淫巧也。 今所注皆綱羅法意，格之以名分。 使用之者執名例以審趣舍，伸繩墨之直，去析薪之理也。」 詔班於天下。
With Jia Chong he codified Jin law and wrote: "Statutes are plumb-line precedents, not treatises on metaphysics. Good code is brief, its rules plain, easy to hear in court and simple to enforce. Plain rules are easy to follow; few prohibitions are hard to break. Clarity keeps men from error; simplicity nearly empties the jails. Punishment rests on clarity and fairness, which demand careful definitions of status. Defining roles forces judges to tolerate minor hair-splitting. Ancient laws were cast on bronze to stop clever evasion. His commentary nets the spirit of each statute and ties it to social rank. Users can match cases to named rules like a carpenter snapping a straight line." The throne ordered the code published empire-wide.
45
泰始中，守河南尹。 預以京師王化之始，自近及遠，凡所施論，務崇大體。 受詔為黜陟之課，其略曰：
During Taishi he acted as governor of Henan. He treated the capital as the model for the realm and kept policy broad-minded. Commissioned to design official evaluations, he wrote:
46
臣聞上古之政，因循自然，虛己委誠，而信順之道應，神感心通，而天下之理得。 逮至淳樸漸散，彰美顯惡，設官分職，以頒爵祿，弘宣六典，以詳考察。 然猶倚明哲之輔，建忠貞之司，使名不得越功而獨美，功不得後名而獨隱，皆疇咨博詢，敷納以言。 及至末世，不能紀遠而求於密微，疑諸心而信耳目，疑耳目而信簡書。 簡書愈繁，官方愈偽，法令滋章，巧飾彌多。 昔漢之刺史，亦歲終奏事，不制算課，而清濁粗舉。 魏氏考課，即京房之遺意，其文可謂至密。 然由於累細以違其體，故歷代不能通也。 豈若申唐堯之舊，去密就簡，則簡而易從也。 夫宣盡物理，神而明之，存乎其人。 去人而任法，則以傷理。 今科舉優劣，莫若委任達官，各考所統。 在官一年以後，每歲言優者一人為上第，劣者一人為下第，因計偕以名聞。 如此六載，主者總集采案，其六歲處優舉者超用之，六歲處劣舉者奏免之，其優多劣少者敘用之，劣多優少者左遷之。 今考課之品，所對不鈞，誠有難易。 若以難取優，以易而否，主者固當准量輕重，微加降殺，不足復曲以法盡也。 《己丑詔書》以考課難成，聽通薦例。 薦例之理，即亦取於風聲。 六年頓薦，黜陟無漸，又非古者三考之意也。 今每歲一考，則積優以成陟，累劣以取黜。 以士君子之心相處，未有官故六年六黜清能，六進否劣者也。 監司將亦隨而彈之。 若令上下公相容過，此為清議大頹，亦無取於黜陟也。
"In high antiquity rulers trusted nature, emptied themselves, and the realm fell into step without coercion." Later ages invented offices, ranks, and the six canons to grade conduct. Even then wise ministers cross-checked fame against real achievement. Decadent states mistrusted judgment and trusted paper instead. Paperwork bred hypocrisy and ever thicker law codes. Han inspectors reported annually without numeric scorecards yet spotted honest and corrupt officers. Wei's rosters imitated Jing Fang's minute forms. Their detail defeated their purpose and never worked cleanly. Better to revive Yao-era simplicity than chase microscopic grades. Real judgment still depends on living ministers, not forms. Law without judgment warps right principle. Let senior ministers grade their own jurisdictions. Each year each chief would nominate one best and one worst subordinate for the throne. Six years of records would decide promotion, demotion, or lateral moves. Posts differ in difficulty, so ratings cannot be mechanically equal. The bureau must adjust scores for hard and easy assignments. The recent Jimao edict allowed blanket recommendations when numeric grading stalled. Recommendations still rest on hearsay about character. Six-year blocks without yearly steps abandon the classical three-review rhythm. Annual review lets excellence compound and failure show clearly. No decent administration would yearly shame six good men and promote six knaves. Censors would impeach any chief who tried it. Mutual cover would kill honest appraisal and defeat the whole system.
47
司隸校尉石鑒以宿憾奏預，免職。 時虜寇隴石，以預為安西軍司，給兵三百人，騎百匹。 到長安，更除秦州刺史，領東羌校尉、輕車將軍、假節。 屬虜兵強盛，石鑒時為安西將軍，使預出兵擊之。 預以虜乘勝馬肥，而官軍懸乏，宜並力大運，須春進討，陳五不可、四不須。 鑒大怒，復奏預擅飾城門官舍，稽乏軍興，遣御史檻車征詣廷尉。 以預尚主，在八議，以侯贖論，。 其後隴右之事卒如預策。
Shi Jian used a private feud to cashier him. When the frontier flared, Du Yu became staff director on the western command with a token force. At Chang'an he added Qinzhou, Qiang colonel, and light chariot general with staff. Shi Jian, commanding the west, ordered him to attack at once. Du Yu argued the enemy was strong and Jin armies drained: mass supplies, wait for spring, and listed five reasons not to march and four wastes if they did. Shi Jian accused him of embezzling fortifications funds and delaying logistics; a censor hauled him toward the capital in a cage cart. As an imperial son-in-law he qualified for the eight commutation rules and ransomed his sentence with his marquis rank. Events on the Longyou frontier proved him right.
48
是時朝廷皆以預明於籌略，會匈奴帥劉猛舉兵反，自并州西及河東、平陽，詔預以散侯定計省闥，俄拜度支尚書。 預乃奏立藉田，建安邊，論處軍國之要。 又作人排新器，興常平倉，定穀價，較鹽運，制課調，內以利國外以救邊者五十餘條，皆納焉。 石鑒自軍還，論功不實，為預所糾，遂相仇恨，言論喧嘩，並坐免官，以侯兼本職。 數年，復拜度支尚書。
The court valued his strategy; when Liu Meng rebelled across Bingzhou, Du Yu advised from the palace, then became minister of finance. He proposed the ceremonial field, border garrisons, and fiscal-military reforms. He patented new smelters, granaries, price controls, salt logistics, and tax rules—over fifty measures the throne accepted. When Shi Jian falsified battle honors, Du Yu exposed him; both were briefly stripped of ministerial titles but kept their marquisates. He soon returned as minister of finance.
49
元皇后梓宮將遷于峻陽陵。 舊制，既葬，帝及群臣即吉。 尚書奏，皇太子亦宜釋服。 預議「皇太子宜復古典，以諒闇終制」，從之。
Empress Yuan's catafalque was bound for Junyang tomb. Custom said court could doff mourning right after burial. The secretariat said the crown prince should likewise end mourning. Du Yu argued the heir must keep classical seclusion; the court agreed.
50
預以時曆差舛，不應晷度，奏上《二元乾度曆》，行於世。 預又以孟津渡險，有覆沒之患，請建河橋于富平津。 議者以為殷周所都，曆聖賢而不作者，必不可立故也。 預曰：「『造舟為梁』，則河橋之謂也。」 及橋成，帝從百僚臨會，舉觴屬預曰：「非君，此橋不立也。」 對曰：「非陛下之明，臣亦不得施其微巧。」 周廟欹器，至漢東京猶在御坐。 漢末喪亂，不復存，形制遂絕。 預創意造成，奏上之，帝甚嘉歎焉。 咸寧四年秋，大霖雨，蝗蟲起。 預上疏多陳農要，事在《食貨志》。 預在內七年，損益萬機，不可勝數，朝野稱美，號曰「杜武庫」，言其無所不有也。
He fixed calendar drift with his Dual-Origin Qian-Du system, which went into use. He urged a bridge at Fuping ford to end Mengjin ferry wrecks. Critics said sages had avoided bridging the Yellow River at the old capitals. Du Yu quoted the Odes: "Boats for a bridge" meant a span was possible. When it stood, the emperor toasted him before the court. Du Yu credited the emperor's support. The Zhou temple's warning goblet survived until Later Han. Warlords destroyed it and the design was lost. Du Yu reconstructed the goblet and impressed the throne. In 278 autumn floods and locusts struck. His long memorial on farming appears in the treatise on food and money. Seven years at court won him the nickname "Du Armory" for seeming to stock every solution.
51
時帝密有滅吳之計，而朝議多違，唯預、羊祜、張華與帝意合。 祜病，舉預自代，因以本官假節行平東將軍，領征南軍司。 及祜卒，拜鎮南大將軍、都督荊州諸軍事，給追鋒車，第二駙馬。 預既至鎮，繕甲兵，耀威武，乃簡精銳，襲吳西陵督張政，大破之，以功增封三百六十五戶。 政，吳之名將也，據要害之地，恥以無備取敗，不以所喪之實告于孫皓。 預欲間吳邊將，乃表還其所獲之眾於皓。 皓果召政，遣武昌監劉憲代之。 故大軍臨至，使其將帥移易，以成傾蕩之勢。
While the court dithered on Wu, only Du Yu, Yang Hu, and Zhang Hua backed the emperor. Yang Hu's dying recommendation made Du Yu acting general who pacifies the east and chief of staff for the southern command. After Yang Hu's death Du Yu became general who guards the south in Jingzhou with pursuit chariot and double team of post horses. He drilled the army, smashed Wu's Xiling commander Zhang Zheng, and earned three hundred sixty-five added households. Zhang Zheng, a Wu star, hid the scale of his defeat from Sun Hao. Du Yu returned prisoners to Sun Hao to make the court doubt Zhang Zheng. Sun Hao recalled Zhang Zheng and sent Liu Xian to Xiling. On the eve of invasion Du Yu had already forced Wu to replace its best frontier general.
52
預處分既定，乃啟請伐吳之期。 帝報待明年方欲大舉，預表陳至計曰：
With dispositions ready, he asked the date for the Wu campaign. The emperor wanted to wait a year; Du Yu sent a forceful counter-memorial:
53
自閏月以來，賊但敕嚴，下無兵上。 以理勢推之，賊之窮計，力不兩完，必先護上流，勤保夏口以東，以延視息，無緣多兵西上，空其國都。 而陛下過聽，便用委棄大計，縱敵患生。 此誠國之遠圖，使舉而有敗，勿舉可也。 事為之制，務從完牢。 若或有成，則開太平之基； 不成，不過費損日月之間，何惜而不一試之！ 若當須後年，天時人事不得如常，臣恐其更難也。 陛下宿議，分命臣等隨界分進，其所禁持，東西同符，萬安之舉，未有傾敗之慮。 臣心實了，不敢以曖昧之見自取後累。 惟陛下察之。
"Since the leap month the enemy has barked orders but sent no reinforcements upstream." Logic says Wu must hug the upper Yangzi and eastern Xiakou, not strip the capital to reinforce upstream. Delay only lets Your Majesty abandon the grand design and feed a future enemy. It is the kind of gamble statesmanship requires—if it failed, you could regret having tried. Plan for the worst and lock in every advantage first. Victory lays the cornerstone of lasting peace; failure costs only a season—why shrink from one trial? Wait a year and weather, supplies, and morale may all turn worse. Your synchronized multi-prong attack is the safe, approved strategy. I speak plainly because I will not hide behind vague advice. I beg you to weigh these points.
54
預旬月之中又上表曰：
A month later he wrote again:
55
羊祜與朝臣多不同，不先博畫而密與陛下共施此計，故益令多異。 凡事當以利害相較，今此舉十有八九利，其一二止於無功耳。 其言破敗之形亦不可得，直是計不出已，功不在身，各恥其前言，故守之也。 自頃朝廷事無大小，異意鋒起，雖人心不同，亦由恃恩不慮後難，故輕相同異也。 昔漢宣帝議趙充國所上，事效之後，詰責諸議者，皆叩頭而謝，以塞異端也。 自秋已來，討賊之形頗露。 若今中止，孫皓怖而生計，或徙都武昌，更完修江南諸城，遠其居人，城不可攻，野無所掠，積大船于夏口，則明年之計或無所及。
Yang Hu bypassed broad debate and worked the plan privately with you—that is why ministers still balk. Nine chances in ten favor attack; the tenth is merely stalemate. Critics fear being proved wrong and having no credit if the war succeeds. Courtiers bicker because favor blinds them to long-term risk. Xuandi silenced Zhao Chongguo's critics once facts proved them wrong. Since autumn our buildup has tipped our hand. Pause now and Hao can fortify Wuchang, deepen southern defenses, clear the countryside, and mass a fleet at Xiakou—then 280 may be too late.
56
時帝與中書令張華圍棋，而預表適至。 華推枰斂手曰：「陛下聖明神武，朝野清晏，國富兵強，號令如一，吳主荒淫驕虐，誅殺賢能，當今討之，可不勞而定。 帝乃許之。
The emperor was playing go with Zhang Hua when Du Yu's memorial arrived. Zhang Hua swept the stones aside and urged immediate war: Jin is strong and united, Sun Hao vile—victory will come easily. The emperor agreed.
57
預乙太康元年正月，陳兵於江陵，遣參軍樊顯、尹林、鄧圭、襄陽太守周奇等率眾循江西上，授以節度，旬日之間，累克城邑，皆如預策焉。 又遣牙門管定、周旨、伍巢等率奇兵八百，泛舟夜渡，以襲樂鄉，多張旗幟，起火巴山，出於要害之地，以奪賊心。 吳都督孫歆震恐，與伍延書曰：「北來諸軍，乃飛渡江也。」 吳之男女降者萬餘口，旨、巢等伏兵樂鄉城外。 歆遣軍出拒王浚，大敗而還。 旨等發伏兵，隨歆軍而入，歆不覺，直至帳下，虜歆而還。 故軍中為之謠曰：「以計代戰一當萬。」 於是進逼江陵。 吳督將伍延偽請降而列兵登陴，預攻克之。 既平上流，於是沅湘以南，至於交廣，吳之州郡皆望風歸命，奉送印綬，預仗節稱詔而綏撫之。 凡所斬及生獲吳都督、監軍十四，牙門、郡守百二十餘人。 又因兵威，徙將士屯戍之家以實江北，南郡故地各樹之長吏，荊土肅然，吳人赴者如歸矣。
In January 280 Du Yu massed at Jiangling, sent columns upriver under Fan Xian, Yin Lin, Deng Gui, and Zhou Qi, and took town after town within ten days as planned. Eight hundred commandos slipped upstream by night, feinted at Le Township with fires and flags, and seized key ground. Sun Xin wrote Wu Yan that Jin troops seemed to fly over the Yangzi. Over ten thousand Wu commoners surrendered while Zhou Zhi and Wu Chao lay in wait outside Le Township. Sun Xin sallied against Wang Jun and limped back beaten. The ambushers rode Sun Xin's column into camp and took him alive in his own quarters. Soldiers sang that Du Yu's wits did the work of ten thousand spears. They then closed on Jiangling. Wu Yan pretended to yield while holding the walls; Du Yu stormed the city. South of the lakes every Wu prefecture surrendered; Du Yu proclaimed amnesty under his staff. He killed or captured fourteen top Wu commanders and more than one hundred twenty lesser officers. He resettled garrison families north of the river, appointed magistrates in old Nan commandery, and made defectors feel at home.
58
王浚先列上得孫歆頭，預後生送歆，洛中以為大笑。 時眾軍會議，或曰：「百年之寇，未可盡克。 今向暑，水潦方降，疾疫將起，宜俟來冬，更為大舉。」 預曰：「昔樂毅藉濟西一戰以並強齊，今兵威已振，譬如破竹，數節之後，皆迎刃而解，無復著手處也。」 遂指授群帥，徑造秣陵。 所過城邑，莫不束手。 議者乃以書謝之。
Wang Jun claimed Sun Xin's head while Du Yu shipped the living man—Luoyang laughed at the contradiction. Some generals argued the old Wu foe could not fall in one campaign. Summer floods and plague, they said, meant waiting until winter. Du Yu cited Yue Yi and likened Wu to bamboo: once the first joints split, the rest tear free. He ordered the hosts straight toward Moling. City after city capitulated without a fight. The doubters wrote apologies.
59
孫皓既平，振旅凱入，以功進爵當陽縣侯，增邑並前九千六百戶，封子耽為亭侯，千戶，賜絹八千匹。
For conquering Wu he became marquis of Dangyang with 9,600 households, ennobled his son, and took eight thousand bolts of silk.
60
初，攻江陵，吳人知預病癭，憚其智計，以瓠系狗頸示之，每大樹似癭，輒斫使白，題曰：「杜預頸。」 及城平，盡捕殺之。
Defenders mocked his goiter by hanging gourds on dogs and whitewashing burls as "Du Yu's neck." After the fall he executed every mocker.
61
預既還鎮，累陳家世吏職，武非其功，請退。 不許。
He asked to retire, claiming his lineage was civil, not military. The court refused.
62
預以天下雖安，忘戰必危，勤于講武，修立泮宮，江漢懷德，化被萬里。 攻破山夷，錯置屯營，分據要害之地，以固維持之勢。 又修邵信臣遺跡，激用滍淯諸水以浸原田萬餘頃，分疆刊石，使有定分，公私同利。 眾庶賴之，號曰「杜父」。 舊水道唯沔漢達江陵千數百里，北無通路。 又巴丘湖，沅湘之會，表裏山川，實為險固，荊蠻之所恃也。 預乃開楊口，起夏水達巴陵千餘里，內瀉長江之險，外通零桂之漕。 南土歌之曰：「後世無叛由杜翁，孰識智名與勇功。」 預公家之事，知無不為。 凡所興造，必考度始終，鮮有敗事。 或譏其意碎者，預曰：「禹稷之功，期於濟世，所庶幾也。」
He kept drilling troops, built schools, and civilized the middle Yangzi. He crushed hill bandits and dotted the frontier with forts on choke points. He revived Han-era irrigation, marked field boundaries in stone, and enriched both state and farmers. People called him Father Du. Only the Han connected to Jiangling; there was no northern channel. Baqiu, where Yuan meets Xiang, was a natural fortress for southern tribes. He cut the Yangkou canal over a thousand li to Baoling, draining the inner Yangzi hazard and opening supply to the far south. A southern song credited later peace to Du Yu and his blend of wit and valor. In public business he left nothing undone. Every project he planned start to finish and rarely failed. When called petty he answered that Yu the Great and Hou Ji also sweated small details to save the age.
63
預好為後世名，常言「高岸為谷，深谷為陵」，刻石為二碑，紀其勳績，一沈萬山之下，一立峴山之上，曰：「焉知此後不為陵谷乎！」
He set twin steles—one sunk in a river, one on Mount Xian—joking that landscapes might swap before his fame faded.
64
預身不跨馬，射不穿劄，而每任大事，輒居將率之列。 結交接物，恭而有禮，問無所隱，誨人不倦，敏於事而慎於言。 既立功之後，從容無事，乃耽思經籍，為《春秋左氏經傳集解》。 又參考眾家譜第，謂之《釋例》。 又作《盟會圖》、《春秋長曆》，備成一家之學，比老乃成。 又撰《女記贊》。 當時論者謂預文義質直，世人未之重，唯秘書監摯虞賞之，曰：「左丘明本為《春秋》作傳，而《左傳》遂自孤行，《釋例》本為《傳》設，而所發明何但《左傳》，故亦孤行。」 時王濟解相馬，又甚愛之，而和嶠頗聚斂，預常稱「濟有馬癖，嶠有錢癖」。 武帝聞之，謂預曰：「卿有何癖？」 對曰：「臣有《左傳》癖。」
He could neither ride nor shoot yet held supreme field command. He was courteous, patient, discreet in speech, and tireless in counsel. In retirement from campaigning he wrote the monumental Zuo commentary. He compiled genealogical notes as the Shili. He added atlas and chronology, finishing his "one school" of scholarship late in life. He wrote appraisals of notable women. Zhi Yu alone compared his work to Zuo Qiuming's independent fame. He quipped that Wang Ji loved horses and He Qiao loved cash. The emperor asked Du Yu what his obsession was. Du Yu answered, "The Zuo Tradition."
65
預在鎮，數餉遺洛中貴要。 或問其故，預曰：「吾但恐為害，不求益也。」
From Jingzhou he regularly sent presents to Luoyang grandees. He said he paid tribute to avoid malice, not to buy favor.
66
預初在荊州，因宴集，醉臥齋中。 外人聞嘔吐聲，竊窺於戶，止見一大蛇垂頭而吐。 聞者異之。 其後徵為司隸校尉，加位特進，行次鄧縣而卒，時年六十三。 帝甚嗟悼，追贈征南大將軍、開府儀同三司，諡曰成。 預先為遺令曰：「古不合葬，明於終始之理，同於無有也。 中古聖人改而合之，蓋以別合無在，更緣生以示教也。 自此以來，大人君子或合或否，未能知生，安能知死，故各以己意所欲也。 吾往為台郎，嘗以公事使過密縣之邢山。 山上有塚，問耕父，云是鄭大夫祭仲，或云子產之塚也，遂率從者祭而觀焉。 其造塚居山之頂，四望周達，連山體南北之正而邪東北，向新鄭城，意不忘本也。 其隧道唯塞其後而空其前，不填之，示藏無珍寶，不取於重深也。 山多美石不用，必集洧水自然之石以為塚藏，貴不勞工巧，而此石不入世用也。 君子尚其有情，小人無利可動，曆千載無毀，儉之致也。 吾去春入朝，因郭氏喪亡，緣陪陵舊義，自表營洛陽城東首陽之南為將來兆域。 而所得地中有小山，上無舊塚。 其高顯雖未足比邢山，然東奉二陵，西瞻宮闕，南觀伊洛，北望夷叔，曠然遠覽，情之所安也。 故遂表樹開道，為一定之制，至時皆用洛水圓石，開遂道南向，儀制取法于鄭大夫，欲以儉自完耳。 棺器小斂之事，皆當稱此。」 子孫一以遵之。 子錫嗣。
Once in Jingzhou he drank himself to sleep in his study. Guests heard retching and peeked in to see a huge snake heaving as if sick. The story spread as a marvel. Recalled as metropolitan commandant with eminent standing, he died at Deng county aged sixty-three. The court mourned him as general who conquers the south, grand marshal, posthumously "Accomplished." His will began: antiquity kept spouses apart in death to honor finality. Later sages combined graves to teach continuity of family. Since then wise men have chosen either path, unsure of the beyond. As a young courtier he had visited Mount Xing in Mi county on duty. Locals said the mound was Zhai Zhong or Zichan; he sacrificed there. The tomb sat on the peak facing the Zheng capital obliquely—a sign of remembering one's roots. The burial tunnel was left open in front to show there was no treasure. He used plain river rock so grave robbers would find nothing worth stealing. Simplicity preserved the tomb for ages. He had already bought a plot south of Shouyang east of Luoyang for his grave. The plot held a bare knoll. It overlooked the eastern tombs, the palace, the rivers, and the shrines of Boyi and Shuqi. He laid out a simple tunnel southward on the Zheng model, to be built with round Luo stones. He ordered coffin fittings to stay equally plain. His descendants were to obey the will to the letter. His son Du Xi succeeded him.
67
錫字世嘏。 少有盛名，起家長沙王乂文學，累遷太子中舍人。 性亮直忠烈，屢諫湣懷太子，言辭懇切，太子患之。 後置針著錫常所坐處氈中，刺之流血。 他日，太子問錫：「向著何事？」 錫對：「醉不知。」 太子詰之曰：「君喜責人，何自作過也。」 後轉衛將軍長史。 趙王倫篡位，以為治書御史。 孫秀求交於錫，而錫拒之，秀雖銜之，憚其名高，不敢害也。 惠帝反政，遷吏部郎、城陽太守，不拜，仍遷尚書左丞。 年四十八卒，贈散騎常侍。 子乂嗣，在《外戚傳》。
Du Xi, style Shigu, won early fame, served Prince Sima Yi of Changsha as scholar, and became a gentleman in the heir's household. He bluntly lectured Crown Prince Yu, who resented him. The prince hid needles in his seat mat and drew blood. Later the heir asked what had happened. Du Xi claimed drunken forgetfulness. The prince sneered that he loved blaming others yet feigned innocence. He was then moved to staff the general who guards the army. Under Sima Lun's usurpation he became supervising secretary. The favorite Sun Xiu courted him and he snubbed the man; Sun nursed a grudge but dared not touch so famous a critic. After Sima Zhong regained power, Du Xi was offered posts as personnel gentleman and Chengyang governor, declined, and became left assistant at the secretariat. He died at forty-eight; the court gave him the posthumous title of cavalier attendant-in-ordinary. His son Du Yi carried the line and has his own biography among the imperial affines.
68
【評贊】
Section heading: critical appraisal and verse eulogy.
69
史臣曰：泰始之際，人祇呈貺，羊公起平吳之策，其見天地之心焉。 昔齊有黔夫，燕人祭北門之鬼； 趙有李牧，秦王罷東並之勢。 桑枝不競，瓜潤空慚。 垂大信于南服，傾吳人於漢渚，江衢如砥，繈袂同歸。 而在乎成功弗居，幅巾窮巷，落落焉其有風飆者也。 杜預不有生知，用之則習，振長策而攻取，兼儒風而轉戰。 孔門稱四，則仰止其三； 《春秋》有五，而獨擅其一，不其優歟！ 夫三年之喪，云無貴賤。 輕纖奪於在位，可以興嗟； 既葬釋于儲君，何其斯酷。 徇以苟合，不求其正，以當代之元良，為諸侯之庶子，檀弓習於變禮者也，杜預其有焉。
The historian writes that in the Taishi era heaven and earth seemed to offer their mandate when Yang Hu framed the conquest of Wu. Qi had its Qian Fu, whom even Yan's men honored at the border; Zhao had Li Mu, who once stopped Qin's eastward roll. Where his virtue spread, rivalry thinned and petty envy looked vain. His good faith drew the south until the Yangzi ran like a highway and Wu families flocked to Jin. He refused to clutch glory and would have retired to a scholar's scarf in a mean alley—such was his high bearing. Du Yu learned mastery in office: he wielded strategy in war and carried Confucian learning onto the field. The Master's four virtues found three mirrored in him; among the five traditions of the Spring and Autumn he owned one entire school—rare excellence indeed. The three-year rite should know no rank; when shallow fashion strips it from ministers, one sighs; to end mourning for the crown prince right after burial is cruelly abrupt. Du Yu helped bend mourning so the heir was treated like a lesser son—just the sort of ritual twist Tan Gong warns against.
70
贊曰：漢池西險，吳江左回。 羊公恩信，百萬歸來。 昔之誓旅，懷經罕素。 元凱文場，稱為武庫。
The verse runs: Han's western rampart, Wu's eastern bend; Lord Yang's kindness brought a million souls home to Jin. Ancient hosts swore fealty; few matched his blend of book and sword. Yuankai in scholarship earned the name "the armory."