← Back to 晉書

卷三十五 列傳第五 陳騫 裴秀

Volume 35 Biographies 5: Chen Qian; Pei Xiu

Chapter 35 of 晉書 · Book of Jin
← Previous Chapter
Chapter 35
Next Chapter →
1
Chen Qian
2
Chen Qian came from Dongyang in Linhuai commandery. His father, Chen Jiao, had served Wei as Minister of Education. Though Jiao was born into the Liu family of Guangling, his mother's Chen relatives raised him, and he took their surname. Qian was reserved and thoughtful, with a gift for strategy. While Jiao headed the Department of State Affairs, Palace Attendant Liu Ye enjoyed Emperor Ming of Wei's favor and accused Jiao of wielding unchecked authority. Alarmed, Jiao sought Qian's advice. Qian replied, 'The sovereign is wise, and you stand among the great ministers. Even if you fall from favor, the worst that happens is that you are not enfeoffed as a duke.' The emperor's anger soon passed. Qian was still a youth when Xiahou Xuan slighted him; he never lost his composure, and Xuan came to respect him for it.
3
使
He rose from Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat to governor of Zhongshan and Anping, distinguishing himself in both posts. The court called him to be chief clerk and major under the minister of state and palace censor, then director of the Department of State Affairs, with a village marquisate at An'guo. During the Shu incursion into Longyou he led the expedition as acting general while holding his director's commission, routed the raiders, and withdrew. During Zhuge Dan's revolt he took the same minister's commission and served as acting General of the East. When Shouchun fell, he received the credentials of area commander north of the Huai and kept his eastern generalship, with his title raised to Marquis of Guangling. He moved on to command Yuzhou's armies and govern the province, still bearing the staff and his general's rank. His command shifted to the southland, then to Jingzhou as General Who Conquers the South, with a marquisate at Tan. After Sima Yan founded the Jin, Qian's founding service earned him the chariots-and-cavalry command, the ducal fief of Gaoping, posts as palace attendant and grand general, command of Yangzhou, and the ceremonial axe that marked supreme delegated authority. He seized Wu's Zhili fortress and dismantled the encampment at Tuzhong. An imperial grant raised Qian's nephew Xing to Marquis of Guanzhong.
4
At the opening of the Xianning reign he became Grand Commandant, then Grand Marshal. Qian then entered court and said to the emperor, "Hu Lie and Qian Hong are both brave but without strategy and are forceful in following their own judgment. They are not men fit to pacify the frontier and will become a disgrace to the state. I hope Your Majesty will examine this carefully." Hong was then governor of Yangzhou and would not follow Qian's directives. The ruler took their clash for mutual spite, recalled Hong, then almost immediately sent him west as governor of Liangzhou once more. Qian privately groaned, certain the policy would end badly. Both later shattered tribal alliances, fell to raids, and cost years of campaigning before the frontier steadied—only then did the court regret ignoring Qian.
5
退 輿殿 輿殿
From boyhood Qian bore slights lightly and governed effectively wherever he was posted. He stood with Jia Chong, Shi Bao, and Pei Xiu among the sovereign's closest advisers, but his political judgment exceeded theirs, as they themselves allowed. Repeated tours as a regional commander won him the confidence of scholar and commoner alike. At the summit of a minister's career and past the usual age of retirement, he longed to withdraw. In the third year of Xianning, he sought permission to return to Luoyang and yield his office, pleading age and infirmity. He was granted the robe with gun-dragon and coronet, and the edict said, "Qian has old virtue and founding merit, governs and orders the eastern Xia, and is about to broaden distant achievements by unifying Wu and Kuaiji. But his affliction has not been removed, and whenever he memorializes earnestly, we again burden him with current affairs. Now he is permitted to remain in the capital. The former Grand Commandant's office is to be made the Grand Marshal's office; two Libationers are to be added, and his tent staff, office cavalry, great carriages, and drums and pipes are all to be as before. A hundred personal troops, ten qing of kitchen fields, fifty mu of kitchen gardens, ten kitchen workers, and vessels and regular expenses are all to remain supplied to him. He is also to be given the imperial carriage litter, and when entering and leaving the palace halls he is to have drums and pipes added, following the precedent of Xiao He under the Han." Qian repeatedly claimed illness and declined his position. The edict said, "Qian practices virtue and discusses the Way; he is someone whom I consult. I am just now relying on his plans and counsels in order to broaden the many achievements, and he should attend to affairs at the proper time. A Cavalier Regular Attendant may be sent to explain my intent." Instead Qian retired to his house, prompting another round of messages from attendants pressing him to reopen his offices. At last his resignation stood: he was ranked above the three highest ministers like an imperial mentor, with chair, staff, freedom from court audience, a coach and four, and the title of Duke of Gaoping while living privately. As a dynastic founder now grown old, Qian received extraordinary deference from the throne. Ill health won him the privilege of a litter right up to the audience hall.
6
輿忿
He was not known for blunt remonstrance, but he spoke to the sovereign with something like insolence, yet before the heir apparent he became deferential, which contemporaries dismissed as sycophancy. When his brother Zhi feuded with nephew Yu and aired lurid tales about Qian's sons and daughters, Qian used a memorial to exile Zhi—earning widespread scorn.
7
輿=
In the second year of Yuankang, he died at eighty-one, laid out in princely robes, ennobled posthumously as Grand Tutor with the epithet "Martial." The sovereign mourned him at the Grand Marshal Gate, weeping over the bier as had been done for Grand Marshal Shi Bao. The marquisate passed to his son Yu.
8
輿
Yu
9
=輿 輿
Chen Yu, style Xianchu, rose through supernumerary gentleman and Luoyang magistrate to palace attendant, then led the left colonel's corps, ran the Ministry of Agriculture, and returned to the palace corps. A bitter break with his uncle cost him the capital and landed him in Henei as governor. He was no model of propriety, but he wielded real power. He died soon after; his heir Zhi (Hongxian) reached the post of supernumerary attendant. The line ran Zhi to Cui until Yongjia partisans murdered Cui; Emperor Xiaowu then restored the title through a great-grandson of Qian. When this successor died, cousin Haozhi inherited the fief. The Song founder's usurpation ended the house's noble title.
10
Pei Xiu
11
使
Pei Xiu, style Jiyan, hailed from Wenxi county in Hedong. His grandfather Mao once directed the Han Department of State Affairs. His father Qian held the same office under Wei. He was bookish and principled even as a boy, composing polished prose at eight. Uncle Wei attracted crowds of distinguished visitors. Before he was eleven, departing guests routinely paid their respects to young Xiu. Because Xiu's mother was a concubine of humble origin, Lady Xuan snubbed her and once made her wait on guests—yet visitors rose to honor the boy she bore. Xiu's mother said, "With lowliness like this, it must be because of the child." Once Lady Xuan grasped the point, the abuse stopped. People of the time made a saying about him: "Among the leaders of those who came later, there is Pei Xiu."
12
General Who Crosses the Liao Guanqiu Jian once recommended Xiu to Great General Cao Shuang, saying, "Born extraordinary and lofty, growing up he trod what was natural, was profound and still, guarded truth, and by nature entered the depths of the Way. He is broadly learned and strong in memory, and there is no writing he does not encompass. His filial piety and friendship are manifest in his village, and his high reputation is heard near and far. Truly he should assist bright plans, help harmonize the flavor of the tripod, aid and support the great office, and make flourishing transformation shine. He is not merely of the class of Ziqi and Gan Luo, but also contains the virtues of Yan, Ran, You, and Xia." Shuang took him on staff; Xiu succeeded to the Qingyang village fief and entered the palace corps. Shuang's fall stripped Xiu of rank as an affiliated official. He soon judged cases at court, then advised Sima Zhao as army major through the eastern and household commands, shaping both strategy and administration. He advanced to supernumerary palace attendant.
13
During the Zhuge Dan campaign he rode with Chen Tai and Zhong Hui on the field headquarters staff, shaping operational plans. Dan's defeat brought him the ministry, a Luyang district marquisate, and a thousand extra households. He helped seat the Duke of Changdao and earned a county marquisate, seven hundred added households, and the ministry of the left. Wei reform reached the legal organs in the first Xianxi years. While Xun Yi handled rites and Jia Chong the code, Xiu rewrote the bureaucracy. His scheme of five noble grades ennobled over six hundred officers from cavalry commander up. He himself became marquis of Jichuan—sixty square li and fourteen hundred households centered on the Gaoyuan canton.
14
祿 祿鹿
When Sima Zhao still hesitated over the succession, his eye rested on Prince You of Wuyang. Emperor Wu feared he would not be established and asked Xiu, "Do people have physiognomic signs or not?" He unveiled his own striking features for Xiu to read. Xiu later said to Emperor Wen, "The Central Pacification Army already has flourishing public hopes, and his heavenly appearance is like this; it certainly is not the appearance of a subject." That endorsement fixed Yan as heir. After Emperor Wu had taken the position of king, he appointed Pei Xiu Secretariat Director and Right Guanglu Grandee. Together with Censor-in-chief Wang Shen and General Who Guards Jia Chong, Pei Xiu opened an office, and he was additionally made Palace Attendant. At the Jin founding Xiu gained the left household grandee, the Julu ducal fief, and three thousand households.
15
使 使
At the time, Protector of the Army Who Pacifies Distant Places Hao Xu wrote to an old friend, "I am acquainted with Secretariat Director Pei Xiu and hope he will be of benefit." The responsible offices memorialized to dismiss Xiu from office, but the edict said, "Being unable to make others not add things to me is what even the ancients found difficult. Making connections over personnel affairs is Xu's crime; how could the Secretariat Director have prevented it? Let there be no inquiry into this." Li Xi then accused Liu Shang of grabbing state grain fields for Pei and demanded Pei's house arrest. The emperor refused: Pei's stewardship outweighed petty corruption; punish Shang instead and release Pei.
16
祿
After a long while, an edict said, "The responsibility of the Three Excellencies is to assist and proclaim the imperial standard and help complete the kingly affairs. Good government requires worthy occupants; hollow titles dishonor the dynasty. It singled out Pei—minister of state and left household grandee—for wisdom cultivated under the previous reign. The new emperor hailed Pei's aid as rivaling the ancient worthies Gaoyuan and Kai. He should assume the fitting office and embody his role so that every branch of government thrives. Appoint Pei Xiu Minister of Works."
17
輿
Trained in the classics and widely read, Xiu focused on administration; at the dynastic handover he controlled the channels of counsel, and his rulings never violated prescribed ritual. His duties under the earth ministry also concerned the "Tribute of Yu," whose topography had shifted across centuries. Later exegetes often forced contrived readings, obscuring the original geography. He sifted the classical text, omitted uncertain points, glossed every obsolete toponym, and submitted his eighteen-scroll "Yugong" atlas to the palace library. The preface begins: The establishment of maps and documents has a very ancient origin. From antiquity, setting up images and handing down institutions depended on their use. The Three Dynasties established the relevant office, and the state historians managed its duties. When the Han slaughtered Xianyang, Chancellor Xiao He collected all the maps and registers of Qin. Now the Imperial Library has neither the maps of antiquity nor what Xiao He obtained, but only the miscellaneous Han maps such as Yudi and Kuodi. None of them establishes scale ratios, nor do they examine and correct orientation and sighting; they also do not fully record famous mountains and great rivers. Although they have rough forms, none is precise and examined, and they cannot be relied on. Some contain roundabout and absurd statements from beyond the wilds, do not accord with actual facts, and have no value in meaning. When the Great Jin rose like a dragon, unified the six directions, and cleared the universe, it began with Yong and Shu and went deeply into their rugged terrain. Emperor Wen then ordered the responsible offices to compile and seek out maps of Wu and Shu. After the lands of Shu were settled, the distances of the regions, the danger or ease of mountains and rivers, and the bends or straights of campaign routes traversed by the Six Armies were checked against maps and records, and there was no discrepancy. Now, by examining above the mountains, seas, streams, plains, wetlands, embankments, and marshes of the Tribute of Yu, the ancient Nine Provinces, the present sixteen provinces, commanderies, kingdoms, counties, cities, borders, villages, corners, old names of ancient states and covenant sites, and water and land routes, I have made eighteen fascicles of maps. The essentials for making maps are six. The first is scale ratio, by which the measures of breadth and length are distinguished. The second is orientation and sighting, by which the forms of one place and another are corrected. The third is route distance, by which the numbers of the paths taken are fixed. The fourth is height and depth, the fifth is square and oblique, and the sixth is winding and straight. These three each adapt their standards according to the terrain and are used to compare differences between level and difficult ground. If there are map images but no scale ratios, there is no way to examine differences in distance. If there are scale ratios but no orientation and sighting, even if one gets it right in one corner, one will inevitably lose it in another direction. If there is orientation and sighting but no route distance, then when it is applied to lands cut off by mountains and seas, they cannot be connected with one another. If there is route distance but no comparison of height and depth, square and oblique, and winding and straight, then the numbers for direct routes will inevitably conflict with the reality of distance and lose the correctness of orientation and sighting. Therefore these six are cross-checked and examined. Thus the reality of distance is fixed by scale ratios; the reality of one place and another is fixed by route distance; and the reality of measures and numbers is fixed by calculations of height and depth, square and oblique, and winding and straight. Therefore even where there are barriers of steep mountains and great seas, remoteness of cut-off regions and different quarters, and causes of ascent, descent, irregularity, and curvature, all can be raised and fixed. Once the method of orientation and sighting is correct, then winding and straight, far and near have nowhere to hide their forms.
18
His protocols for audience and criminal policy became the templates the court routinely followed. Across four years at court he stood among the reign's most eminent statesmen. Abusing the cold-food elixir with chilled wine instead of warm killed him in Taishi year seven at forty-eight. The throne mourned: "The minister embodied learning and wisdom, shaped the founding enterprise, and built vast achievements. We expected fresh institutions from him; his death leaves us grief-stricken. The burial grant included ritual vessels, court dress, a full wardrobe, three hundred thousand coins, and a hundred bolts of silk. Posthumously he received the epithet Yuan."
19
使 使
He had planned to clarify the thirty-six directorates and devolve power to senior ministers but died before submitting the reform. His friends sorted his writings and found a draft memorial discussing the pacification of Wu. Its words said, "Sun Hao is cruel and tyrannical. If he does not meet a sagely and enlightened ruler who governs the age, annexes the weak, and attacks the benighted, and if descendants are left to him, then in the end he will be unable to become a subject. Times have obstruction and peace; this is not a situation of ten thousandfold security. Although I have already spoken repeatedly in the past, there has not yet been a completed decision. Now my illness is already severe and I will not rise; I respectfully submit this again as a corpse-like memorial. I hope Your Majesty will put it into use at the proper time together with the other measures." They forwarded the sealed memorial to the throne. The emperor answered: "We cannot shake our sorrow at losing the minister. His draft shows that even dying he thought only of the dynasty's welfare. Its words wound us anew; we will take counsel with the ministers immediately."
20
=
Early in Xianning he joined Shi Bao and other peers as a spirit recipient in the imperial temple. His sons were Pei Jun and Pei Yi. Jun inherited the fief, rose to supernumerary attendant, and died young. The dull illegitimate Jing received a minor Gaoyang village marquisate while the legitimate junior uncle Yi took the primary succession.
21
Pei Yi
22
=
Pei Yi, whose courtesy name was Yimin, Renowned while still young, he combined Classical breadth with long vision. When Palace Assistant Censor-in-chief Zhou Bi saw him, he sighed and said, "Wei is like an arsenal, with the five weapons crisscrossing; he is an outstanding man of the age." Jia Chong was the husband of Wei's mother's sister. He memorialized, "Xiu had merit in assisting the mandate, but unfortunately his legitimate eldest son died and left an orphan young and weak. Wei's talent and virtue are outstanding and flourishing, enough to raise and prosper the state succession." The court ordered Yi to succeed; he refused repeatedly yet had to accept. Taikang year two brought him tutor of the heir and promotion to supernumerary attendant. Under Emperor Hui he directed the imperial academy and still led the right guard.
23
駿駿 紿西西 駿 鹿
Once cousin Jing wore only commoner's garb, Yi narrated the clan's achievements until the court ennobled Jing at Gaoyang village. As Yang Jun fell, Liu Yu—Jun's colonel of the left—blocked the gate and demanded Sima Liang's whereabouts. Yi lied that he had seen the grand tutor leave west through the western portal in a plain cart." Where should I run?" Yu asked." Surrender to the Ministry of Justice," Yi replied. Yu obeyed, abandoned his post, and withdrew. Yi soon replaced Yu as colonel of the left, camped at Wanchun Gate. After Jun's purge Yi earned a Wuchang marquisate but begged to transfer it to Jing; the throne instead ennobled second son Gai. Yi insisted Jing deserved the Julu title per the late emperor's grace yet could not refuse the earlier mandate. He tried to give his own Wuchang prize to Jing. Because Gai had married into the imperial clan, the emperor refused. He rose again to palace attendant.
24
During the lull he urged rebuilding the academy and cutting stone classics. Once the heir finished lectures, courtiers sacrificed to Confucius, banqueted, and shot at targets with punctilious ritual. He tasked Xun Fan with casting bells and lithophones for suburban rites and ancestral music, honoring Xun Xu's unfinished plan. Besides encyclopedic scholarship he practiced medicine. Xun Xu's pitch reform uncovered an old foot-rule nearly a quarter shorter than contemporary measures. "Every balance and yardstick needs reform," he wrote. If wholesale change is impossible, start with the imperial dispensary's weights. Wrong measures betray Shennong and Qi Bo's pharmacological norms. Inconsistent dosages kill patients. Perhaps shorter modern lifespans stem from exactly these errors." The court ignored him. Yue Guang tried to win a xuanxue debate yet yielded silently before Yi's torrent. Contemporaries dubbed him the wilderness where discourse gathered.
25
宿 祿
To shield Crown Prince Yu against Empress Jia's spite, Yi demanded higher honors for Lady Xie and three thousand extra rear-guard troops, swelling the heir's garrison to ten thousand. He moved up to minister of state, kept his attendant post, and gained the household grandee title. Every promotion drew stacks of refusal memorials stuffed with historical warnings that chilled every reader.
26
退
Fearing Jia Nanfeng's misrule, he plotted with Zhang Hua and Jia Mo to replace her with Lady Xie. "The emperor never meant to depose her," Zhang and Jia replied; acting alone would anger him. The martial princes split into factions; forcing the issue might spring a trap that kills us without saving the realm." True enough," Yi conceded. Yet a reckless tyrant invites instant chaos—what then?" Stay close and lecture him on fortune and ruin," Zhang urged. While peace lasts we might survive." They dropped the plot. Yi besought Aunt Guangcheng daily to teach Nanfeng to honor the heir. Someone advised Wei, "Fortunately, with those inside and outside the central palace, you can speak fully. If ignored, resign on grounds of illness. Otherwise ten memorials will not spare you." Yi brooded yet never acted.
27
使
He became senior minister of the left while remaining attendant. Despite ties to Nanfeng, his prestige rested on merit; the realm dreaded losing him, not nepotism. The court tried to leave the entire Chancellery to him; refusals went unheard. "Replacing Jia Mo with me," he warned, "spotlights consort power. No maternal house survives forever by leaning on blood ties. Only Han Wen, Guangwu, and Ming avoided nepotism—and kept their dynasties secure. Like Shu Zhao rejecting improper feasts, I cannot obey irregular favors." He also memorialized, "Gao Yao counseled Yu, Yi Yin served as minister to Shang, Lu Wang aided Zhou, and Xiao He and Zhang Liang assisted Han; all spread merit and transformation, and their radiance reached the four extremes. Lesser heirs too relied on Gu Dan, Fu Yue, Zu Yi, and Fan Zhong during revivals. Elevating talent over pedigree produced golden ages. Later courts chased sentiment and stuffed offices with in-laws—hence chaos. Shu Guang once forbade crown-prince posts for maternal uncles—praised as ritual correctness. Even when talent matches, prefer distant kin to prove impartiality. The Han age did not employ Feng Yewang; this is that matter." Each memorial drew soothing replies begging him to stay.
28
At the time, Chen Zhun's son Kuang and Han Wei's son Song were both serving in the Eastern Palace. Wei remonstrated, saying, "The establishment of the Eastern Palace is to store up the imperial standard. Its companions must be seasoned worthies. Kuang and Song were mere boys ignorant of duty. The Eastern Palace is in substance the sign of early maturity, but now there is the sound of children attending there; this is not the broad principle by which to make distant custom shine forth." Yi and Zhang Hua fought bitterly against Minhuai's removal—the fuller story sits in Zhang's biography.
29
祿 退 仿
Yi despised how fashion praised He Yan and Ruan Ji for idle chatter that ignored ritual while they pocketed salaries and neglected duty. When it came to Wang Yan and his followers, their reputations were too great and their positions high and powerful, yet they did not entangle themselves in practical affairs. They then imitated one another, and custom and teaching declined. Pei Wei therefore wrote the Treatise on Honoring Being to explain this harm, saying: Gathering and blending the many roots is the Way that honors the ultimate. Being square or regular differs according to kind; this is the ordering of the many classes. Forms and appearances display distinctions; this is the substance of what has life. Transformation and response are interwoven; this is the source of the traces of principle. When things are ordered into classes and become kinds, what each receives is partial. What is partial cannot suffice by itself, and therefore depends on external resources. Thus what can be traced in life is what is called principle. What principle embodies is what is called being. What being requires is what is called resource. When resources have what they fit, this is what is called appropriateness. Choosing according to that appropriateness is what is called feeling or disposition. Once perception and intelligence have been granted, even if withdrawal and service are different activities and silence and speech are different paths, the reason one values life and preserves what is appropriate is one in disposition. The many principles coexist without harming one another, and therefore noble and base take shape. Loss and gain arise from what one engages, and therefore good and bad fortune show their signs. Therefore worthy men and gentlemen know that desires cannot be cut off, and that engagement with things has its proper meeting point. They observe going and returning, examine the mean, and settle affairs. Only by using the Way of Heaven, dividing the benefits of Earth, personally taking up one's strength and responsibilities, and laboring before enjoying can things be done. Dwell in humaneness and compliance, keep to reverence and frugality, lead with loyalty and trustworthiness, act with respect and yielding, let the will have no overflowing demands, and let affairs have no excessive use; only then can one succeed. Thus greatly establishing the standard, pacifying and ordering the multitude of living beings, instructing things and leaving models depend on this; this is the route by which the sages carried out government. If, however, excess, resistance, arrogance, and unrestrained conduct arise, danger and harm begin to sprout. Thus when desire spreads it hastens trouble; when feeling is indulgent resentments broaden; when one acts arbitrarily and willfully attacks arise; when one monopolizes benefit bandits are invited. This may be called losing life while trying to enrich life. The drifting sort of people were startled by troubles like these and sought out the causes from which hardship and contention arose. They observed that partial substance has defects, and saw the good in simplicity and reduction; they then expounded the doctrine that honors nonbeing and established the argument that devalues being. If being is devalued, then form must be externalized; if form is externalized, then institutions must be abandoned; if institutions are abandoned, then safeguards must be neglected; if safeguards are neglected, then ritual must be forgotten. If ritual institutions do not remain, there is nothing by which to govern. The multitude following those above is like water occupying a vessel. Therefore the feelings of the common people trust in what they are accustomed to. Once accustomed, their minds submit to their tasks; when their tasks are accepted, they call it naturally right. Therefore one who rules people must be careful about what he teaches, distributes all the affairs of government and punishments, divides dwellings among the hundred surnames, and assigns each of the four occupations. He can make those who receive commands be at ease without sternness, suddenly forget differences, and have no mind to shift. How much more is this true for one who occupies honor among the Three, holds feelings about what should be exalted, and treats them seriously as instruction. This is the step by which darkness or clarity proceeds, and it must be examined carefully. Overflowing desire may be reduced, but being cannot be cut off; excessive use may be regulated, but it cannot be said that there is nothing valuable. Those equipped for discourse deeply arrayed the causes of what has form and grandly praised the beauty of emptiness and nonbeing. The causes of forms and vessels have evidence; the meaning of emptiness and nonbeing is hard to check. Cleverly argued writings can delight, and words resembling images are enough to confuse, so the many listeners were dazzled and drowned in these completed doctrines. Although some had minds that differed from this, their words could not prevail; they yielded to what was familiar, and accordingly said that the principle of emptiness and nonbeing truly could not be covered over. When one sang out, others harmonized; many went forth and did not return. They then slighted the work of managing the age, devalued the use of achievements, elevated the occupation of drifting idly, and lowered worthies of canonical substance. What human feelings die for is especially name and profit. Thereupon those skilled in writing elaborated their words, and those slow of speech praised their intent, staining the multitude with it. Thus setting up words by relying on emptiness and nonbeing was called mysterious subtlety. Holding office without personally attending to one's responsibilities was called elegant remoteness. Supporting oneself while scattering one's integrity and conduct was called broad-minded freedom. Therefore the custom of whetting and disciplining oneself declined all the more. The unrestrained used this as their basis, sometimes violating the rituals of auspicious and inauspicious occasions, neglecting the outward signs of bearing and deportment, profaning and abandoning the order of elder and younger, and confusing and blurring the ranks of noble and base. The worst of them even reached naked exposure, forgot what was proper in speech and laughter, took lack of restraint as magnanimity, and gentlemanly conduct was further damaged. Laozi wrote the text of five thousand words, displayed and picked out the harms of filth and mixture, and selected and raised the meaning of stillness and unity, so that people could be released and level themselves. This accords with the meanings of Decrease, Modesty, Keeping Still, and Regulation in the Changes. But stillness, unity, and guarding the root do not mean emptiness and nonbeing. Decrease, Keeping Still, and the like are one way of the gentleman; they are not the way by which the Changes makes guarding root nonbeing its substance. Looking at Laozi's book, although it broadly passes through many things, it says, "Being is born from nonbeing," takes emptiness as its master, and partially establishes the words of one school. How could there be a sufficient reason for this? Once people have been born, they take preserving life as wholeness; the step to wholeness takes responding in accord as its task. If one savors what is near and thereby damages one's work, then the trouble of sinking and drowning arises. If one cherishes the branch and forgets the root, then the truth of heavenly principle is extinguished. Therefore what action engages is the meeting point of survival and ruin. Being is not merely being; in relation to nonbeing it is not nonbeing. In relation to nonbeing it is not nonbeing, and in relation to being it is not merely being. Therefore Laozi extended the harms of indulgence and diffusion, and wrote a text that honored nonbeing. He was about to cut off the overflowing errors he rejected, preserve the central measure of great goodness, gather back what had flowed away after going too far, and return clarity and correctness to the breast. It is fitting that he used nonbeing as his wording while his intent lay in making being whole; therefore his words say, "I consider writing insufficient." If it is like this, then this is a path on which something was lodged, the words of one side. If one says that the highest principle truly takes nonbeing as its ancestor, then this is partial and harms what is appropriate. Earlier worthies of penetrating understanding, because they were not stuck there, showed this in deep arguments. Only Ban Gu wrote objections, but they were not sufficient to break its appeal. Xunzi and Yang Xiong suppressed it in general outline, yet still partly allowed it. But the words of emptiness and nonbeing spread more widely day by day, and the many schools stirred one another up, each setting forth its theory. Above they reached creation and transformation, below they covered the ten thousand affairs; there was nothing in which they did not honor nonbeing, and what they preserved was all the same. Because feeling was made firm by the crowd, they then called every principle of being a low supplement to meaning and treated it as slight and contemptible. Debating human relations and the work of making the classics clear accordingly changed gates and marketplaces. Pei Wei therefore became alarmed and expressed what he held in mind, but attackers gathered in numbers. Some thought it was only words spoken for the moment. When guests happened to visit, all urged him to write an essay and pick out and list the proofs that emptiness and nonbeing were not sound. If he could not explain and correct each matter, then the meaning of the school of nonbeing could not be seized away. Pei Wei withdrew and thought about it. Although a gentleman lodges his feelings and does not seek display, when it comes to establishing words, it only lies in making the intent clear. Yet the age was long distant from the sages, and differences and agreements were tangled. If there were even a slight resemblance by which one could exalt and aid the former canons, support and clarify the great enterprise, and benefit the time, then one should worry only that one could not say it. How could one remain silent, or merely point to one corner and sketch what one preserved? Utter nonbeing has no means by which it can generate life; therefore what first produces life produces itself. If what produces itself must embody being, then if being is left behind, production is deficient. Since production takes being as its own allotment, emptiness and nonbeing are what being calls something left behind. Therefore nourishing being after it has transformed is not something the function of nonbeing can make whole. Ordering the multitude after it already exists is not something nonaction can follow through on. The mind is not an affair, yet regulating affairs must come from the mind; but one cannot, because regulating affairs is not itself an affair, call the mind nonbeing. The artisan is not the vessel, yet making vessels must require the artisan; but one cannot, because making vessels is not itself the vessel, say that the artisan is not being. Therefore if one wants to catch fish in the deep springs, it is not something lying still can obtain. If one wants to bring down birds from high walls, it is not something standing quietly with folded hands can swiftly accomplish. Examining the use of casting lines and bait is not something without knowledge can perceive. Seen from this, what assists being is all being. What benefit do emptiness and nonbeing have for the multitude of living beings that already exist?
30
The qingtan circle attacked his thesis from every side without refuting it. His unfinished "Treatise on Eloquence" surveyed classical debates but death cut it short.
31
Sima Lun curried Jia Nanfeng's favor while Yi and Zhang Hua blocked his offices, planting a deadly grudge. Lun used Jia's fall as cover to murder Yi at thirty-four while plotting a coup. Lun targeted Yi's sons Song and Gai next. Liang and Donghai princes cited Xiu's temple honors to spare the sons, exiling them to Liaodong instead. After Hui's restoration Yi won reinstatement, a proper reburial, and the posthumous name Cheng. The marquisate passed to Song in the central secretariat. Adopted heir Gai died beside Song when Chen Wu's refugee warriors slaughtered them.
33
Pei Kai—cousin to Pei Xiu
34
=
Pei Kai, whose courtesy name was Shuzé, Father Pei Wei governed Ji province for Wei. Celebrated before twenty, he mastered the Daoist classics alongside Wang Rong. Zhong Hui's referral brought him into Sima Zhao's bureau and the secretariat. Jia Chong's law revision named Kai specialist for codifying clauses. At court he read the new code aloud for imperial scrutiny. His exposition captivated the hall. Sima Yan made him staff adviser during the princely generalship. Sima Zhao asked Zhong Hui who should head personnel. "Pei Kai or Wang Rong," said Zhong Hui, "both fit." Kai received the appointment.
35
His aura and learning earned the nickname "jade man"—seeing him was likened to climbing a luminous jade peak. Palace corridors fell silent when he passed. An ill-omened slip "one" from the imperial divination silenced the court. Kai corrected his bearing, harmonized his voice and breath, and calmly advanced, saying, "I have heard that Heaven obtains the One and is clear, Earth obtains the One and is tranquil, and kings and lords obtain the One and become the rectitude of all under Heaven." The emperor brightened and the hall cheered. Promotions swept him through Henei, camp command, the right guard, and back to attendant.
36
The meritor Shi Chong avoided Kai on temperament. Sun Jishu's drunken arrogance at Chong's banquet nearly cost him his post. "You ply guests with reckless wine," Kai said, "then fault their manners—how absurd?" Chong relented.
37
宿便
Genial and conciliatory, he picked no quarrels. He freely accepted gifts from the mighty. By morning those luxuries reached the poor. Yan admired his new manor; Kai signed it over. He diverted a million coins yearly from those princely estates to aid relatives. "Redistribution follows Heaven," he replied. He shrugged at gossip and followed instinct. Together with Shan Tao and He Jiao, he held office with abundant virtue. The emperor once asked, "I respond to Heaven and follow the time, and within the seas there is a new beginning. In the voices of custom throughout the realm, what has been gained and what has been lost?" Kai replied, "Your Majesty has received the mandate, and the four seas follow your influence. The reason your virtue is not yet compared with Yao and Shun is only that the likes of Jia Chong are still at court. Just now you should draw in worthy men from all under Heaven and with them broaden the correct Way; you should not show people private favor." Ren Kai and Yu Chun echoed him until the emperor reassigned Chong as Guanzhong area commander. Chong betrothed his daughter to the crown prince, so the transfer was cancelled. Pacifying Wu opened seminars on governance. He lectured on antiquity's golden ages versus Han-Wei cycles. The throne approved and the assembly marveled.
38
駿駿 駿 駿
Zan's marriage to Jun's daughter strained Kai's contempt for Jun. Jun sidelined him as ceremonial tutor with nothing to do. Jun's purge dragged Kai toward execution. Sudden killings terrified Luoyang. He calmly penned letters while awaiting death. Fu Zhi intervened; Kai merely lost rank. Wei Guan and Sima Liang restored him as marquis of Linhai. He took the northern army colonelcy alongside attendant honors. Wei blamed Kai for stealing his command; Kai fled upward to the ministry.
39
輿
Marriage ties to both factions drove Kai toward Jingzhou—Wei's forged orders struck first. Wei sent killers after Kai for family links to his victims. He dodged patrols by hiding with Wang Hun and Liang's orphan. Wei fell and Kai joined Zhang Hua and Wang Rong at power's core.
40
駿 退 祿 祿
Diabetes-like thirst made central office unbearable. Wang Hun made a request on Kai's behalf, saying, "Kai received the grace of being promoted by the former emperor and again has received Your Majesty's favor and treatment; truly this is the autumn for exhausting his integrity. Yet Kai's nature does not compete with things. Formerly, when he was Regular Attendant, he sought to go out as Grand Administrator of Henei. Later, when he was Palace Attendant, he again sought to go out as Governor of Henan. When he was not on good terms with Yang Jun, he sought to become Chamberlain for the Palace Garrison. When he was transferred to the Eastern Palace, his rank was below those of his time and class, yet he was at ease in plain withdrawal. Those with understanding had means to see his mind. Kai is now worn down, and I am deeply worried about him. The office of Chamberlain for the Splendid Blessings is vacant, and I think he can be used there. Now Zhang Hua is in the Palace Secretariat, and Wang Rong is in the Department of State Affairs; they are enough to raise what fits. There is no need to make Kai enter again. Eminent ministers are not many, and he should be cared for and nourished, without violating his will, so as to seek his long-range benefit." The throne instead piled on Household Grandee and three-duke parity. When his illness became severe, the edict sent Yellow Gate Gentleman Wang Yan to inspect his illness. Kai turned his eyes back and gazed at him, saying, "In the end, we never came to know one another." Yan stood awed by that dying brilliance.
41
He discovered Yue Guang before fame. He once judged Xiahou Xuan, saying, "Grave and reverent, as if entering the ancestral temple, where one sees only vessels for ritual and music"; Zhong Hui, "as if viewing an arsenal thickly arrayed, where one sees only spears and halberds in front"; Fu Gu, "vast and soaring, with nothing he does not see"; and Shan Tao, "like climbing a mountain and looking down, deep and distant in quietness."
42
輿
Omens spoiled his grain—fists, blood, turnip seeds. He died the same year at fifty-five as Marquis Yuan. His sons were Yu, Zan, Xian, Li, and Xun.
43
輿
Pei Yu bore the style Zuming. He succeeded early, died as supernumerary gentleman Jian.
44
駿=
Guobao Zan awed onlookers from the palace secretariat. Wang Sui constantly shadowed Zan. Wang Rong wondered why Sui chased a host who never called." He need not notice me," Sui said, "I notice him." Jun's purge left Zan dead among the soldiers.
45
Pei Xian
46
=
Pei Xian, style Jingsi, Brilliant boy, he chased gallantry. He sobered into scholarship and stayed home. Xie Kun of Chen Commandery and Yu Ai of Yingchuan were both handsome young gentlemen. Seeing Xian, they considered him remarkable and said to one another, "Pei Xian is upright, bright, broad, and penetrating, understands opportunities, and knows the mandate. We do not know how he compares with his father; but as for being deep and broad, preserving plainness, and not letting worldly things entangle his mind, he probably surpasses him."
47
簿
He rose from tutor through Huangmen and personnel to attendant. Sima Yue sent him to Yuzhou as northern commander with staff. Wang Jun's mandate elevated him to minister. When Le crushed Jun, officials rushed to abase themselves—Xian and Xun Chuo stayed dignified. Le had long heard of his reputation, summoned him, and said to him, "Wang Jun was cruel and violent in Youzhou, and humans and spirits alike hated him. I respectfully carry out the heavenly constitution and rescue these common people; old dependents and captives are all rejoicing, and celebrations and thanks fill the roads. You two gentlemen join him in evil and are arrogant toward authority; sincerity and trust are cut off and blocked. To whom will the execution of Fangfeng return?" Xian's expression was composed, and he wept as he replied, "We have for generations borne Jin glory, and its grace and treatment have been deep and weighty. Wang Jun is fierce, coarse, and hostile to the correct, but he still is a surviving regional lord of Jin. Although I rejoice in sagely transformation, righteousness blocks my sincere heart. Moreover, when King Wu attacked Zhou, he marked the lane of Shang Rong; I have not heard that Shang Rong was placed among those who reversed their spears. If Your Enlightened Lordship does not wish to transform and encourage things by the Way, but must make governance through punishment and cruelty, then Fangfeng's execution is my allotment. I request to go before the responsible officers for punishment." He declined the post and withdrew. Shi Le honored him as a guest. Le inventoried Jun's corrupt circle—only Xian and Chuo owned books and handfuls of grain instead of piled gold. When Le heard of this, he said to his Chief Clerk Zhang Bin, "Their names are not empty. I do not rejoice at obtaining Youzhou; I rejoice at obtaining these two men." Le named him staff adviser and governor of Changle. When Later Zhao began court ritual, Xian and Wang Bo drafted ceremonies fit for emperors. Le made him grand counselor, then minister of education.
48
使 祿
Shi Hu later elevated him further. Yi and Gu inherited literary fame. Gu advised Shi Hu's heir as household tutor. The brothers drank, swaggered, and gossiped about peers. A stolen horse and Xing Yu's lie framed them before Duan Liao. Hu's planned Xianbei war lent credence to the forgery. Hu purged both sons and cashiered Xian. He returned as household grandee, minister, tutor, and duke of Anding.
49
He governed quietly without bustle while minds praised his virtue. Reputation alone won him ritual honor. He died under Shi rule; cousin Mai continued the line.
50
便 滿便
Pei Li and Pei Kang matched their fame. Kang's son Dun rose fast. As Xuzhou governor he delegated to Sima Ao. Ao's terror tactics—mass levies and capital punishment—ruled Xuzhou. Within three years the people cursed them. Donghai Wang Yue was Dun's brother-in-law. After Yue died Man Heng marched the levies east. Liu Yuan's vanguard reached Xiapi; officials fled harsh rule; Dun fled to Huaiyin and lost family to bandits. Ao pushed Dun toward Zhao Gu. Gu slew Dun's daughter—his own wife—after Dun's tearful plea.
51
使西
Younger brother Shao, style Daoqi. Under Yuan-di Shao served with Wang Dao as the prince's twin pillars. He died with Yue's army after tutor and Yangzhou commands. When Wang Dao became Minister of Works, after he had received the appointment, he sighed and said, "If Pei Daoqi and Liu Wangqiao were alive, I could not have ascended this position alone." Dao renamed a son to avoid clashing with Pei Kang's style.
52
簿
Chuo rose to palace gates and the Long River corps. Xia's qingtan equaled music in clarity. He once silenced a hall debating Guo Xiang. At Pacifying the East Zhou Fu's headquarters he played weiqi with companions. When Fu's major passed wine, Xia hesitated; drunk and furious, the man dragged him from the mat. He rose slowly, resumed his seat without changing color, and continued the game. His cool temper matched his metaphysics. Donghai heir Pi executed him.
53
Wei-Jin society paired eight Peis with eight Wangs like paired stars.
54
Section heading for editorial judgement.
55
The Jin historians compare worthy ministers to Zhou's host of talents and Han's knack for personnel. They hint Chen Qian embodied vain ministerial boasting. Pei Xiu led his generation. Pei Kai earned his reputation for enlightened clarity. They deserved Jin's esteem.
56
鹿
The verse praises timely union of talent and age. It salutes Chen Qian's steady grasp of power. It salutes Pei Xiu's effortless scholarship. It invokes myth and charts to praise Jin mapping. It closes by honoring Pei Yi's integrity.
← Previous Chapter
Back to Chapters
Next Chapter →