Volume 36 Biographies 6: Wei Guan; Zhang Hua

衛瓘〈（子恆恆子璪璪弟玠）〉張華〈（子禕、韙）〉劉卞

Wei Guan Descendants: Wei Heng; Wei Zao, son of Heng; Wei Jie, younger brother of Zao.)〉 Zhang Hua Sons: Zhang Yi and Zhang Wei.)〉 Liu Bian

鄧艾、鐘會之伐蜀也，瓘以本官持節監艾、會軍事，行鎮西軍司，給兵千人。蜀既平，艾輒承制封拜。會陰懷異志，因艾專擅，密與瓘俱奏其狀。詔使檻車徵之，會遣瓘先收艾。會以瓘兵少，欲令艾殺瓘，因加艾罪。瓘知欲危己，然不可得而距，乃夜至成都，檄艾所統諸將，稱詔收艾，其餘一無所問。若來赴官軍，爵賞如先；敢有不出，誅及三族。比至雞鳴，悉來赴瓘，唯艾帳內在焉。平旦開門，瓘乘使者車，徑入至成都殿前。艾臥未起，父子俱被執。艾諸將圖欲劫艾，整仗趣瓘營。瓘輕出迎之，偽作表草，將申明艾事，諸將信之而止。俄而會至，乃悉請諸將胡烈等，因執之，囚益州解舍，遂發兵反。於是士卒思歸，內外騷動，人情憂懼。會留瓘謀議，乃書版云「欲殺胡烈等」，舉以示瓘，瓘不許，因相疑貳。瓘如廁，見胡烈故給使，使宣語三軍，言會反。會逼瓘定議，經宿不眠，各橫刀膝上。在外諸軍已潛欲攻會。瓘既不出，未敢先發。會使瓘慰勞諸軍。瓘心欲去，且堅其意，曰：「卿三軍主，宜自行。」會曰：「卿監司，且先行，吾當後出。」瓘便下殿。會悔遣之，使呼瓘。瓘辭眩疾動，詐僕地。比出閣，數十信追之。瓘至外解，服鹽湯，大吐。瓘素羸，便似困篤。會遣所親人及醫視之，皆言不起，會由是無所憚。及暮，門閉，瓘作檄宣告諸軍。諸軍並已唱義，陵旦共攻會。會率左右距戰，諸將擊敗之，唯帳下數百人隨會繞殿而走，盡殺之。瓘於是部分諸將，群情肅然。鄧艾本營將士復追破檻車出艾，還向成都。瓘自以與會共陷艾，懼為變，又欲專誅會之功，乃遣護軍田續至綿竹，夜襲艾於三造亭，斬艾及其子忠。初，艾之入江由也，以續不進，將斬之，既而赦焉。及瓘遣續，謂之曰：「可以報江由之辱矣。」

During Deng Ai and Zhong Hui's conquest of Shu, Wei Guan kept his existing post, carried the imperial insignia, and oversaw both men's armies as acting army supervisor for the western command; the court gave him a thousand soldiers. Once Shu had surrendered, Deng Ai began handing out titles and posts on his own authority as if the throne had authorized him. Zhong Hui nursed treason in secret; seeing Deng Ai act like a law unto himself, he slipped Wei Guan a joint memorial denouncing him. The emperor ordered both men brought back in prisoner carts; Zhong Hui sent Wei Guan ahead to arrest Deng Ai first. Zhong Hui thought Wei Guan's escort was small enough that Deng Ai might cut him down—then he could pile another charge on Ai's head. Wei Guan saw the trap but could not openly refuse. He reached Chengdu by night, sent orders to every general under Deng Ai that an edict demanded Ai's arrest, and promised to leave everyone else untouched. Those who rally to the imperial forces will keep their former ranks and rewards; anyone who holds back will face execution to the third degree of kin. By cockcrow every unit had reported to Wei Guan—only Deng Ai and his staff stayed inside the tent. At daybreak the gates opened; Wei Guan rode the imperial courier's carriage straight to the steps of the Chengdu palace hall. Deng Ai was still in bed; father and son were taken together. Deng Ai's officers plotted a rescue: they formed ranks and marched on Wei Guan's camp. Wei Guan rode out alone to meet them, waved a fake draft memorial promising to clear Deng Ai's name, and the generals believed him and stood down. Zhong Hui soon arrived, invited every general—including Hu Lie—into a hall, seized them all, locked them in the Yizhou hostel, and then openly rebelled. The troops wanted to go home, camp and city alike were in turmoil, and fear spread everywhere. Zhong Hui kept Wei Guan to plot with him, scribbled on a tablet that he meant to execute Hu Lie and the others, and held it up; Guan refused, and the two men began to mistrust each other. Wei Guan slipped out to the privy, found Hu Lie's old servant, and sent him through the camps shouting that Zhong Hui had turned traitor. Zhong Hui pressed him for a decision; they sat up all night with swords across their knees. The troops outside were already poised to attack Zhong Hui. They held back because Wei Guan had not yet come out. Zhong Hui ordered Wei Guan to go reassure the armies. Wei Guan meant to escape and played along: 'You command the whole army—you should go yourself.' Zhong Hui replied: 'You are the imperial overseer—you go first; I will follow.' Wei Guan walked straight off the dais. Zhong Hui immediately regretted letting him leave and sent runners to call him back. Wei Guan claimed vertigo, staggered, and collapsed on purpose. Before he cleared the gatehouse, dozens of messengers were chasing him. At the outer quarters he drank salt water and threw up violently. He had always been slight of frame; now he looked at death's door. Zhong Hui sent his confidants and doctors; they all swore Guan would not rise again, so Hui relaxed his guard. At nightfall the gates shut; Wei Guan drafted a call to arms and sent it to every unit. Every formation had pledged loyalty to the throne; at dawn they stormed Zhong Hui together. Zhong Hui fought with his bodyguard but the loyal generals broke him; he fled around the hall with a few hundred followers until every one of them was cut down. Wei Guan redeployed the commanders and order returned at once. Deng Ai's old troops smashed open the prison cart, freed him, and marched back toward Chengdu. Wei Guan knew he had helped Zhong Hui ruin Deng Ai and feared Ai might turn on him; he also wanted sole credit for crushing Hui. He sent the protector Tian Xu to Mianzhu to ambush Deng Ai at Sanzaoting by night and kill him together with his son Deng Zhong. Years before, when Deng Ai pushed through Jiangyou, Tian Xu had hung back; Ai nearly executed him but relented. When Wei Guan dispatched Tian Xu he said, 'Now you can settle the score for Jiangyou.'

事平，朝議封瓘。瓘以克蜀之功，羣帥之力，二將跋扈，自取滅亡，雖運智謀，而無搴旗之效，固讓不受。除使持節、都督關中諸軍事、鎮西將軍，尋遷都督徐州諸軍事、鎮東將軍，增封菑陽侯，以余爵封弟實開陽亭侯。泰始初，轉征東將軍，進爵為公，都督青州諸軍事、青州刺史，加征東大將軍、青州牧。所在皆有政績。除征北大將軍、都督幽州諸軍事、幽州刺史、護烏桓校尉。至鎮，表立平州，後兼督之。于時幽並東有務桓，西有力微，並為邊害。瓘離間二虜，遂致嫌隙，於是務桓降而力微以憂死。朝廷嘉其功，賜一子亭侯。瓘乞以封弟，未受命而卒，子密受封為亭侯。瓘六男無爵，悉讓二弟，遠近稱之。累求入朝，既至，武帝善遇之，俄使旋鎮。咸甯初，徵拜尚書令，加侍中。性嚴整，以法禦下，視尚書若參佐，尚書郎若掾屬。瓘學問深博，明習文藝，與尚書郎敦煌索靖俱善草書，時人號為「一台二妙」。漢末張芝亦善草書，論者謂「瓘得伯英筋，靖得伯英肉」。太康初，遷司空，侍中、令如故。為政清簡，甚得朝野聲譽。武帝敕瓘第四子宣尚繁昌公主。瓘自以諸生之胄，婚對微素，抗表固辭，不許。又領太子少傅，加千兵百騎鼓吹之府。以日蝕，瓘與太尉汝南王亮、司徒魏舒俱遜位，帝不聽。

Once order was restored, the court debated how to reward Wei Guan. Wei Guan argued that Shu fell through many commanders' efforts, that Deng Ai and Zhong Hui had swaggered to their own ruin, and that his own tricks had never planted the victory banners—so he refused every prize. They made him credential-bearing inspector of Guanzhong armies as General Who Guards the West, then moved him to command Xuzhou as General Who Guards the East, raised his fief to Marquis of Ziyang, and used the leftover noble rank to make his brother Wei Shi village marquis of Kaiyang. Early in Taishi he became General Who Conquers the East and duke, commanding Qingzhou troops as inspector, then added the titles Grand General Who Conquers the East and shepherd of Qingzhou. Every post he held earned a reputation for good government. He was named Grand General Who Conquers the North, inspector of Youzhou and colonel of the Wuhuan guards. On taking command he memorialized to carve out Pingzhou from the frontier and later oversaw it himself. East of Youzhou and Bingzhou stood Wuhuan chieftain Wu Huan; westward lay the powerful Li Wei—both plagued the border. Wei Guan set the two powers against each other until they turned on one another; Wu Huan surrendered and Li Wei wasted away and died. The court praised his service and offered one son a village marquisate. Wei Guan asked to transfer the title to a brother but died before the edict arrived; his son Wei Mi received the village marquisate instead. None of his six sons held titles, yet he kept passing honors to two younger brothers—people everywhere admired him for it. He begged repeatedly for an audience in Luoyang; Emperor Wu welcomed him warmly but almost at once sent him back to the frontier. Early in Xianning he was summoned to head the Secretariat with the added title attendant-in-ordinary. He was rigid and rule-bound, ran his staff by the statute book, treated the ministry like a headquarters office, and its gentlemen like clerks. Wei Guan was deeply learned and polished in letters; he and the Dunhuang gentleman Suo Jing were masters of cursive hand—contemporaries dubbed them 'the pair of wonders on the terrace.' Late Han master Zhang Zhi had owned the cursive tradition; critics said Wei Guan inherited his sinews and Suo Jing his flesh. Early in Taikang he became Minister of Works while keeping his posts as attendant-in-ordinary and director. His administration stayed lean and transparent, and court and countryside alike praised him. Emperor Wu matched Wei Guan's fourth son, Wei Xuan, with Princess Fanchang. Wei Guan protested that his house was only scholar gentry and far beneath an imperial princess; he memorialized again and again until the throne overruled him. He also served as junior tutor to the crown prince, with a thousand household guards, a hundred mounted escorts, and a full drum-and-bugle guard at his bureau. After a solar eclipse Wei Guan joined Grand Commandant Prince Sima Liang of Runan and Minister Wei Shu in offering to resign; the emperor refused.

瓘以魏立九品，是權時之制，非經通之道，宜復古鄉舉裏選。與太尉亮等上疏曰：「昔聖王崇賢，舉善而教，用使朝廷德讓，野無邪行。誠以閭伍之政，足以相檢，詢事考言，必得其善，人知名不可虛求，故還修其身。是以崇賢而俗益穆，黜惡而行彌篤。斯則鄉舉裏選者，先王之令典也。自茲以降，此法陵遲。魏氏承顛覆之運，起喪亂之後，人士流移，考詳無地，故立九品之制，粗且為一時選用之本耳。其始造也，鄉邑清議，不拘爵位，褒貶所加，足為勸勵，猶有鄉論餘風。中間漸染，遂計資定品，使天下觀望，唯以居位為貴，人棄德而忽道業，爭多少於錐刀之末，傷損風俗，其弊不細。今九域同規，大化方始，臣等以為宜皆蕩除末法，一擬古制，以土斷，定自公卿以下，皆以所居為正，無復懸客遠屬異土者。如此，則同鄉鄰伍，皆為邑裏，郡縣之宰，即以居長，盡除中正九品之制，使舉善進才，各由鄉論。然則下敬其上，人安其教，俗與政俱清，化與法並濟。人知善否之教，不在交遊，即華競自息，各求於己矣。今除九品，則宜准古制，使朝臣共相舉任，於出才之路既博，且可以厲進賢之公心，核在位之明暗，誠令典也。」武帝善之，而卒不能改。

Wei Guan argued that the nine-rank system was a wartime stopgap, not a lasting way to choose men, and urged a return to village and neighborhood recommendations. He and Grand Commandant Sima Liang memorialized: 'Ancient sage-kings exalted the worthy, lifted the good, and taught the realm, so the court shone with deference and the countryside knew no evil. Village organization was enough to keep people honest: ask what they had done, test what they said, and the worthy emerged. No one could fake a name, so every man polished his own conduct. Revere the worthy and the customs grow calm; drive out the wicked and conduct turns steadfast. Village and neighborhood selection was the great law of the former kings. Afterward the method crumbled. The Wei state rose amid collapse: families were scattered, no one could be vetted at home, so the nine ranks were a rough makeshift for that age alone. At first local opinion still mattered more than pedigree; praise and blame meant something, and something of the old village scrutiny survived. Gradually rank became a tally of pedigree; the empire learned to chase titles alone, forget virtue, haggle over petty advantage, and morale corroded—the harm was immense. The realm is reuniting and great renewal begins—we urge wiping away these decadent rules and anchoring everyone to the ancient model: register people where they live, from the highest minister to the meanest clerk, and end hollow domiciles in distant commanderies. Then every neighborhood becomes a true community, magistrates work with the heads of residence, the rectifiers and nine ranks vanish, and good men rise through local opinion again. Inferiors would honor superiors, people would trust instruction, morals and policy would both clarify, and culture would march with law. Once everyone sees character is not won by networking, empty rivalry dies and each man looks to himself. Scrap the nine ranks and follow antiquity: let ministers recommend one another openly. Talent will find many paths, the throne can spur honest promotion, and measure who shines or fails in office—that would be a worthy statute.' Emperor Wu praised the plan yet never carried it out.

惠帝之為太子也，朝臣咸謂純質，不能親政事。瓘每欲陳啟廢之，而未敢發。後會宴陵雲臺，瓘託醉，因跪帝床前曰：「臣欲有所啟。」帝曰：「公所言何耶？」瓘欲言而止者三，因以手撫床曰：「此座可惜！」帝意乃悟，因謬曰：「公真大醉耶？」瓘於此不復有言。賈后由是怨瓘。

When Crown Prince Zhong was named heir, officials whispered that he was too simple to rule. Wei Guan often meant to memorialize for his removal but held his tongue. Later, at a banquet on Lingyun Terrace, Wei Guan feigned drunkenness, knelt by the emperor's couch, and said, 'I must speak.' The emperor asked, 'What is it, Minister?' Wei Guan started and stopped three times, then stroked the couch and cried, 'What a waste of this seat!' The emperor caught his meaning and covered with a laugh: 'You are truly drunk, are you not?' Wei Guan said nothing more. Empress Jia nursed a grudge from that day on.

宣尚公主，數有酒色之過。楊駿素與瓘不平，駿復欲自專權重，宣若離婚，瓘必遜位，於是遂與黃門等毀之，諷帝奪宣公主。瓘慚懼，告老遜立。乃下詔曰：「司空瓘年未致仕，而遜讓歷年，欲及神志未衰，以果本情，至真之風，實感吾心。今聽其所執，進位太保，以公就第。給親兵百人，置長史、司馬、從事中郎掾屬；及大車、官騎、麾蓋、鼓吹諸威儀，一如舊典。給廚田十頃、園五十畝、錢百萬、絹五百匹；床帳簟褥，主者務令優備，以稱吾崇賢之意焉。」有司又奏收宣付廷尉，免瓘位，詔不許。帝后知黃門虛構，欲還復主，而宣疾亡。

Wei Xuan, now the imperial son-in-law, kept slipping into drink and dissipation. Regent Yang Jun loathed Wei Guan and meant to rule alone: divorce the princess from Wei Xuan and Guan would resign. Jun enlisted the eunuchs to slander the family until the emperor agreed to take back Princess Fanchang. Humiliated and frightened, Wei Guan pleaded age and offered to step down. An edict answered: 'Minister Wei Guan is not yet of retiring age, yet year after year he begs to withdraw while his mind is still sound—such steadfast sincerity moves Us deeply. We grant his wish: promote him to Grand Guardian and let the duke retire to his estate. He keeps a hundred household guards plus chief clerk, adjutant, and secretarial staff; along with carriages, mounted escorts, banners, parasols, and the full drum-and-pipe escort prescribed by precedent. Grant ten qing of income land, fifty mu of garden, a million cash, and five hundred bolts of silk; bedding and mats must be of the finest weave to match Our respect for worthy ministers.' The ministries pressed again to jail Wei Xuan and strip Wei Guan of office; the emperor refused. When the throne learned the eunuchs had lied, it meant to restore the princess to Wei Xuan—but Wei Xuan had already died.

初，杜預聞瓘殺鄧艾，言於眾曰：「伯玉其不免乎！身為名士，位居總帥，既無德音，又不御下以正，是小人而乘君子之器，當何以堪其責乎？」瓘聞之，不俟駕而謝。終如預言。初，瓘家人炊飯，墮地盡化為螺，歲餘而及禍。太保主簿劉繇等冒難收瓘而葬之。

Long before, when Du Yu learned that Wei Guan had arranged Deng Ai's murder, he told everyone, "Boyu will not escape judgment for this. He enjoys the reputation of a leading scholar and commands whole armies, yet he leaves no virtuous word and rules his men without justice—a petty man wielding a nobleman's charge. How can he answer for that?" Wei Guan heard the verdict and went straight to Du Yu's door without waiting for his carriage. Events unfolded exactly as Du Yu had said. Once, rice Wei Guan's servants had steamed spilled and turned into snails on the floor; little more than a year later disaster struck the clan. Chief clerk Liu Yao of the Grand Guardian's office and others risked their lives to recover Wei Guan's body and bury it.

初，瓘為司空，時帳下督榮晦有罪，瓘斥遣之。及難作，隨兵討瓘，故子孫皆及於禍。

Years earlier, while Wei Guan headed the Ministry of Works, his tent-commander Rong Hui broke the law and Guan expelled him. When violence erupted Rong Hui marched with the assassins; that is why Wei Guan's sons and grandsons perished.

楚王瑋之伏誅也，瓘女與國臣書曰：「先公名諡未顯，無異凡人，每怪一國蔑然無言。《春秋》之失，其咎安在？悲憤感慨，故以示意。」於是繇等執黃幡，撾登聞鼓，上言曰：「初，矯詔者至，公承詔當免，即便奉送章綬，雖有兵仗，不施一刃，重敕出第，單車從命。如矯詔之文唯免公官，右軍以下即承詐偽，違其本文，輒戮宰輔，不復表上，橫收公子孫輒皆行刑，賊害大臣父子九人。伏見詔書『為楚王所誑誤，非本同謀者皆弛遣』。如書之旨，謂裏舍人被驅逼齎白杖者耳。律，受教殺人，不得免死。況乎手害功臣，賊殺忠良，雖云非謀，理所不赦。今元惡雖誅，殺賊猶存。臣懼有司未詳事實，或有縱漏，不加精盡，使公父子仇賊不滅，冤魂永恨，訴於穹蒼，酷痛之臣，悲於明世。臣等身被創痍，殯斂始訖。謹條瓘前在司空時，帳下給使榮晦無情被黜，知瓘家人數、小孫名字。晦後轉給右軍，其夜晦在門外揚聲大呼，宣詔免公還第。及門開，晦前到中門，復讀所齎偽詔，手取公章綬貂蟬，催公出第。晦按次錄瓘家口及其子孫，皆兵仗將送，著東亭道北圍守，一時之間，便皆斬斫。害公子孫，實由於晦。及將人劫盜府庫，皆晦所為。考晦一人，眾奸皆出。乞驗盡情偽，加以族誅。」詔從之。

After Prince Sima Wei fell, Wei Guan's daughter wrote the ministers: "My father still lacks a proper posthumous honor—he might as well be any commoner—and I cannot understand how the court stays mute. Where lies the blind spot that even the Spring and Autumn chroniclers condemned? Grief and anger compel me to speak." Liu Yao and his companions then raised yellow pennants, struck the petition drum, and declared: "When the forged edict arrived, the duke accepted dismissal at once, surrendered every seal and ribbon, kept his guards sheathed, and obeyed repeated orders to quit his mansion—riding out alone in a cart. The forgery removed only his offices, yet everyone below the Army of the Right treated it as genuine, ignored its wording, slaughtered chief ministers without memorializing upward, dragged away the duke's sons and grandsons, and butchered them—nine lives among the empire's most honored houses. We have seen the edict that anyone tricked by Prince Chu who was not a true conspirator should go free." That language targets only the lane runners forced to carry white staves. Statute says anyone who kills on orders still dies for it. How much less men who personally butchered honored ministers and loyal servants—even if they were not conspirators, justice cannot spare them. The chief villain is dead, yet his killers walk free. We fear officials have not traced every fact and may let murderers slip away: then the duke's killers would never be punished, their ghosts would cry to Heaven forever, and loyal servants would ache under an enlightened reign. We ourselves bear wounds from that night; the funeral rites have barely ended. Consider Rong Hui: Wei Guan cashiered him from the Ministry of Works staff, yet he knew every member of the household and each child's name. He later joined the Army of the Right; that night he stood outside the gate bellowing the forged edict that dismissed the duke. When the doors opened he strode to the middle courtyard, reread the sham edict, stripped the duke of seals, ribbons, and court insignia, and drove him from the house. Rong Hui then listed every dependent and child, marched them under guard to the stockade north of East Pavilion Road, and within moments cut them all down. Rong Hui alone slaughtered the duke's line. He also led the looting of the treasury. Question Rong Hui and every crime surfaces. We beg the throne to try him fully and execute his whole clan." The emperor approved.

朝廷以瓘舉門無辜受禍，乃追瓘伐蜀勳，封蘭陵郡公、增邑三千戶，諡曰成，贈假黃鉞。

Because Wei Guan's whole house had died innocent, the court posthumously credited his Shu campaign, made him Duke of Lanling with three thousand extra households, styled him "Accomplished," and awarded the ceremonial yellow axe.

恆字巨山，少辟司空齊王府，轉太子舍人、尚書郎、秘書丞、太子庶子、黃門郎。

Wei Heng, courtesy Jushan, first served the Prince of Qi's ministry staff, then rose through heir-apparent attendant, secretariat posts, vice-director of the Palace Library, junior tutor to the heir, and gentleman of the Yellow Gate.

恆善草隸書，為《四體書勢》曰：

He excelled at cursive and clerical hands and wrote the Essay on the Four Scripts:

昔在黃帝，創制造物。有沮誦、倉頡者，始作書契，以代結繩，蓋睹鳥跡以興思也。因而遂滋，則謂之字，有六義焉。一曰指事，上、下是也。二曰象形，日、月是也。三曰形聲，江、河是也。四曰會意，武、信是也。五曰轉注，老、考是也。六曰假借，令、長是也。夫指事者，在上為上，在下為下。象形者，日滿月虧，效其形也。形聲者，以類為形，配以聲也。會意者，止戈為武，人言為信也。轉注者，以老壽考也。假借者，數言同字，其聲雖異，文意一也。自黃帝至三代，其文不改。及秦用篆書，焚燒先典，而古文絕矣。漢武時，魯恭王壞孔子宅，得《尚書》、《春秋》、《論語》、《孝經》。時人以不復知有古文，謂之科斗書。漢世秘藏，希得見之。魏初傳古文者，出於邯鄲淳。恆祖敬侯寫淳《尚書》，後以示淳，而淳不別。至正始中，立三字石經，轉失淳法，因科斗之名，遂效其形。太康元年，汲縣人盜發魏襄王塚，得策書十餘萬言。案敬侯所書，猶有仿佛。古書亦有數種，其一卷論楚事者最為工妙。恆竊悅之，故竭愚思，以贊其美，愧不足廁前賢之作，冀以存古人之象焉。古無別名，謂之字勢云。

In the age of the Yellow Emperor the world first took shape through invention. Scribes Ju Song and Cang Jie invented writing to replace knot records—inspiration came from watching birds' tracks in the sand. The symbols multiplied into what we call characters, governed by six principles. First, indicative compounds—examples are "above" and "below." Second, pictographs—sun and moon illustrate it. Third, phonetic compounds—take "river" and "Ho." Fourth, merged senses—"martial" and "trust" show how parts combine. Fifth, reciprocal glosses—"old" and "aged" interchange meanings. Sixth, loan characters—magistrate and elder borrow the same graphs for new sounds. Indicatives simply point: a stroke above means "up," below means "down." Pictographs mimic the thing itself—the full sun, the waning moon. Phono-semantics pair a semantic classifier with a phonetic hint. Merged meanings join radicals: halting spears yields "martial"; person plus speech yields "trust." Reciprocal glosses pivot around a shared root such as "old" and "examined elder." Loan usage lets one graph serve several words whose sounds differ but whose written form stays fixed. From the Yellow Emperor through the Three Dynasties the ancient script stayed stable. Then Qin imposed seal script, burned the classics, and the old graphs vanished. Under Han Wudi the prince of Lu razed an old Kong mansion and found the Documents, the Spring and Autumn Annals, the Analects, and the Classic of Filial Piety. Having forgotten the ancient forms, contemporaries nicknamed the text "tadpole script." Han libraries hoarded them; few eyes ever saw the originals. Early Wei traced its paleography to Handan Chun. Wei Heng's grandfather, Marquis Jing, copied Chun's Documents version and later showed it to Chun himself—who could not tell it from his own exemplar. During Zhengshi the court carved three-graph stone classics but drifted from Chun's standard; people kept the nickname "tadpole" and carved strokes that merely looked like tadpoles. In the first year of Taikang tomb robbers in Ji county opened King Xiang of Wei's grave and pulled out more than a hundred thousand words of bamboo texts. Compared with Marquis Jing's copies, they still looked alike. Several bundles surfaced; the scroll on Chu affairs shows the finest brushwork. I cherish these traces and spend what wit I have to praise them, ashamed to rank beside older masters yet hoping to preserve something of antiquity's shapes. The ancients had no separate term—they simply spoke of the "configuration of the characters."

「黃帝之史，沮誦、倉頡，眺彼鳥跡，始作書契。紀綱萬事，垂法立制，帝典用宣，質文著世。爰暨暴秦，滔天作戾，大道既泯，古文亦滅。魏文好古，世傳丘墳，歷代莫發，真偽靡分。大晉開元，弘道敷訓，天垂其象，地耀其文。其文乃耀，粲矣其章，因聲會意，類物有方：日處君而盈其度，月執臣而虧其旁，雲委蛇而上布，星離離以舒光；禾卉苯䔿以垂穎，山嶽峨嵯而連岡；蟲跂跂其若動，鳥似飛而未揚。觀其錯筆綴墨，用心精專。勢和體均，發止無間。或守正循檢，矩折規旋。或方員靡則，因事制權。其曲如弓，其直如弦。矯然特出，若龍騰於川。森爾下頹，若雨墜於天。或引筆奮力，若鴻雁高飛，邈邈翩翩。或縱肆阿那，若流蘇懸羽，靡靡綿綿。是故遠而望之，若翔風厲水，清波漪漣。就而察之，有若自然。信黃唐之遺跡，為六藝之範先。籀篆蓋其子孫，隸草乃其曾玄。睹物象以致思，非言辭之可宣。」

"The Yellow Emperor's clerks Ju Song and Cang Jie watched birds' footprints and first carved true writing. They ordered the myriad affairs, fixed laws and ritual, spread the sovereign's canon, and let substance and ornament instruct the world. Then ruthless Qin drowned heaven in cruelty: the great Dao vanished and ancient script perished with it. Wei antiquarians treasured old texts said to sleep in burial mounds, yet generations never opened them—nobody could tell authentic from fake. Great Jin now opens an era, spreads the teaching, lets Heaven display omens and Earth shine with pattern. Those graphs blaze—radiant chapters—phonetic and semantic at once: the sun stands regent and fills its disk; the moon serves as minister and thins at the rim; clouds coil upward; stars scatter their light; grain sprays heavy ears; mountains pile ridge on ridge; insects seem poised to twitch; birds hover short of flight. Watch how brush meets ink—every stroke driven by utter focus. Momentum balances the form; motion starts and stops without seam. Some strokes stand square on the guideline; compasses turn and squares fold. Others bend round and square as each shape demands. Curves flex like bow limbs; straight lines hum like bowstrings. Suddenly a stroke rears like dragons vaulting a river. Then dense drops plunge like rain sheeting from the sky. Some lifts surge like wild geese climbing, wide and wheeling. Others drift soft as knotted tassels and hanging plumes, endlessly fine. Step back: it is wind skimming water, bright ripples widening ring on ring. Step close: every line feels utterly spontaneous. These are the footprints of high antiquity and the forebear of the Six Classics. Zhou and seal scripts descend as children; clerical and cursive hands are the distant great-grandchildren. They summon images beyond speech—no tongue can exhaust them."

昔周宣王時，史籀始著《大篆》十五篇，或與古同，或與古異，世謂之籀書者也。及平王東遷，諸侯力政，家殊國異，而文字乖形。秦始皇帝初兼天下。丞相李斯乃奏益之，罷不合秦文者，斯作《倉頡篇》，中車府令趙高作《爰曆篇》，太史令胡毋敬作《博學篇》，皆取史籀大篆，或頗省改，所謂小篆者。或曰，下土人程邈為衙獄吏，得罪始皇，幽繫雲陽十年，從獄中作大篆，少者增益，多者損減，方者使員，員者使方，奏之始皇。始皇善之，出以為御史，使定書。或曰，邈所定乃隸字也。自秦壞古文，有八體，一曰大篆，二曰小篆，三曰刻符，四曰蟲書，五曰摹印，六曰署書，七曰殳書，八曰隸書。王莽時，使司空甄豐校文字部，改定古文，復有六書。一曰古文，孔氏壁中書也。二曰奇字，即古文而異者也。三曰篆書，秦篆書也。四曰佐書，即隸書也。五曰繆篆，所以摹印也。六曰鳥書，所以書幡信也。及許慎撰《說文》，用篆書為正，以為體例，最可得而論也。秦時李斯號為二篆，諸山及銅人銘皆斯書也。漢建初中，扶風曹喜少異於斯，而亦稱善。邯鄲淳師焉，略究其妙，韋誕師淳而不及也。太和中，誕為武都太守，以能書，留補侍中，魏氏寶器銘題皆誕書也。漢末又有蔡邕，采斯喜之法，為古今雜形，然精密閑理不如淳也。

Under King Xuan of Zhou the scribe Zhou wrote fifteen chapters of large seal script—some graphs match older forms, some differ—hence the style called Zhou script. After King Ping moved east, warlords carved up the realm: every state wrote its own way and characters drifted apart. Then the First Emperor united the empire. Chancellor Li Si standardized the graphs, dropped anything that defied Qin usage, and compiled the Cang Jie primer; Zhao Gao of the chariot office wrote Yuanli; Grand Historian Hu Wujing wrote Boxue—all trimming Zhou's large seal into what we call small seal. Others tell of Cheng Miao, a county clerk who angered the First Emperor and spent ten years in Yunyang prison, refashioning large seal—adding strokes where they were few, shaving them where many, squaring rounds and rounding squares—then presenting the result. The emperor approved, freed him, named him an imperial clerk, and charged him with fixing the script. Some say Cheng Miao's version became the clerical hand. Once Qin shattered old seal traditions eight styles appeared: large seal, small seal, engraved tallies, insect motifs, seal impressions, heading labels, halberd inscriptions, and clerical script. Wang Mang had Minister Zhen Feng collate the lexicons and redefine ancient graphs, producing six categories. First, ancient script—the texts from Confucius's wall. Second, odd graphs—archaic forms that diverge slightly. Third, seal script—the Qin court standard. Fourth, auxiliary script—meaning clerical. Fifth, twisted seal—used for chops and seals. Sixth, bird script—for banners and credentials. When Xu Shen compiled the Shuowen he took seal forms as authoritative—still the clearest framework for discussion. Under Qin, Li Si was hailed as the twin-master of seal styles; every sacred peak inscription and bronze giant bore his brush. During Eastern Han's Jianchu era Cao Xi of Fufeng tweaked Li Si's manner yet still ranked among the finest. Handan Chun studied under him and grasped the essence; Wei Dan studied Chun yet never quite matched him. During Taihe, Wei Dan governed Wudu but his calligraphy kept him at court as attendant-in-ordinary; every Wei ritual bronze carries his lettering. Late Han added Cai Yong, blending Li Si and Cao Xi into hybrid forms—yet his discipline never matched Handan Chun's polish.

邕作《篆勢》曰：「鳥遺跡，皇頡循。聖作則，制斯文。體有六，篆為真。形要妙，巧入神，或龜文鍼列，櫛比龍鱗；紓體放尾，長短復身；頹若黍稷之垂穎，蘊若蟲蛇之焚縕；揚波振撆，鷹歭鳥震；延頸脅翼，勢似陵雲。或輕筆內投，微本濃末，若絕若連；似水露綠絲，凝垂下端；從者如懸，衡者如編；杳杪邪趣，不方不員；若行若飛，跂歉胗胗。遠而望之，象鴻鵠羣游，駱驛遷延；迫而視之，端際不可得見。指捴不可勝原。研桑不能數其詰屈，離婁不能睹其郤間，般倕揖讓而辭巧，籀誦拱手而韜翰。處篇籍之首目，粲斌斌其可觀。摛華豔於紈素，為學藝之範先。喜文德之弘懿，慍作者之莫刊。思字體之俯仰，舉大略而論旃。」

Cai Yong's Essay on Seal Momentum begins: "Birds left their tracks; the sage Cang Jie followed. Sages set the pattern and gave the world its script. Among the six styles seal script is the authentic form. The shapes are subtle, the craft almost divine: some lines line up like tortoise shell cracks or dragon scales in even rows; strokes stretch and tails flare, long strokes doubling back on themselves; they hang like grain ears heavy with seed, coil like serpents knotted in smoke; waves leap and splinters fly; hawks hover while lesser birds quiver; necks crane and wings fold tight as if climbing through clouds. Some strokes dart inward, faint at first touch yet ink-heavy at the tip, snapping apart yet still tied together; like dew-beaded silk threads pooling at the hem; verticals hang like pendants, horizontals weave like cords; distant tips slant off at odd angles, neither square nor round; they seem to walk or fly, to tiptoe and to peck like sparrows. From a distance they look like wild geese gliding in long files; Up close you cannot find where a stroke truly ends. No hand can chart every source. The accountants Yan and Sang cannot tally every twist; sharp-eyed Li Lou cannot spy the gaps; master artisans Pan and Chui bow away from such skill; even Historian Zhou would fold his brush in awe. It crowns every classic—radiant, patterned, fit to be studied. It scatters splendor across white silk and stands first among cultured arts. I delight in how literary virtue flowers here, yet resent that no carver can fix it in stone. So I ponder each stroke's rise and fall and offer this broad sketch."

秦既用篆，奏事繁多，篆字難成，即令隸人佐書，曰隸字。漢因行之，獨符、印璽、幡信、題署用篆。隸書者，篆之捷也。上谷王次仲始作楷法。至靈帝好書，時多能者，而師宜官為最，大則一字徑丈，小則方寸千言，甚矜其能。或時不持錢詣酒家飲，因書其壁，顧觀者以酬酒，討錢足而滅之。每書輒削而焚其柎。梁鵠乃益為版而飲之酒，候其醉而竊其柎。鵠卒以書至選部尚書。宜官後為袁術將，今钜鹿宋子有《耿球碑》，是術所立，其書甚工，云是宜官也。梁鵠奔劉表，魏武帝破荊州，募求鵠。鵠之為選部也，魏武欲為洛陽令，而以為北部尉，故懼而自縛詣門，署軍假司馬；在秘書以勤書自效，是以今者多有鵠手跡。魏武帝懸著帳中，及以釘壁玩之，以為勝宜官。今宮殿題署多是鵠篆。鵠宜為大字，邯鄲淳宜為小字。鵠謂淳得次仲法，然鵠之用筆盡其勢矣。鵠弟子毛弘教于秘書，今八分皆弘法也。漢末有左子邑，小與淳鵠不同，然亦有名。

Qin still wrote everything in seal script, but the paperwork swelled and seal too slow, so copyists were told to use the quick clerkly hand—hence "clerical" script. Han kept the practice for documents, reserving seal script for tallies, chops, banners, and public signage. Clerical writing is the shortcut to seal. Wang Cizhong of Shanggu first set down the standard model. Emperor Ling loved calligraphy, and many excelled, but Shi Yiguan stood first: he could write a single character a fathom wide or pack a thousand into an inch, and he flaunted the skill. He would walk into a tavern penniless, cover a wall with characters, let the crowd pay his tab in exchange for the show, then erase the work once the wine was paid for. After every performance he planed the wall and burned the templates so no copy survived. Liang Hu set up extra panels, plied him with wine, and when he was drunk stole the rubbings. Liang Hu rode that skill to the directorship of the Selection Bureau. Yiguan later served Yuan Shu; the Geng Qiu stele at Songzi in Julu, raised by Shu, is thought to be his work and is superbly cut. Liang Hu fled to Liu Biao; when Cao Cao took Jingzhou he put a price on finding him. Later, while Liang Hu oversaw appointments, Cao Cao had petitioned for the Luoyang magistracy but was offered only the northern district captaincy—so he appeared bound at Liang's gate and accepted an acting staff-major posting. He earned his keep in the Palace Library by copying documents, which is why so many of his autographs survive. Cao Cao pinned Liang Hu's sheets inside his tent and on palace walls, judging them finer than Shi Yiguan's. Most palace plaques today still show Liang Hu's seal hand. Liang Hu owned large characters; Handan Chun owned small ones. Liang Hu conceded that Chun had Wang Cizhong's method, yet his own brush exploited every ounce of momentum. His pupil Mao Hong taught in the Library—today's eight-stroke clerical style follows Mao Hong. Late Han also produced Zuo Ziyi—his small script diverged slightly from Chun and Hu but earned renown.

魏初有鍾胡二家為行書法，俱學之于劉德升，而鍾氏小異，然亦各有巧，今大行於世云。作《隸勢》曰：「鳥跡之變，乃惟佐隸。蠲彼繁文，崇此簡易。厥用既弘，體象有度。煥若星陳，鬱若雲布。其大徑尋，細不容發。隨事從宜，靡有常制。或穹隆恢廓，或櫛比針列，或砥平繩直，或蜿蜒膠戾，或長邪角趣，或規旋矩折。修短相副，異體同勢。奮筆輕舉，離而不絕。纖波濃點，錯落其間，若鍾虡設張，庭燎盡煙，嶄巖𡽱嵯，高下屬連。似崇臺重宇，增雲冠山。遠而望之，若飛龍在天；近而察之，心亂目眩。奇姿譎詭，不可勝原。研桑所不能計，宰賜所不能言。何草篆之足算，而斯文之未宣。豈體大之難睹，將秘奧之不傳？聊俯仰而詳觀，舉大較而論旃。」

Early Wei saw Zhong Yao and Hu Zhao define running script; both studied under Liu Desheng, Zhong's manner diverged a little, yet each had its genius—the style now dominates the realm. He titled his essay Clerical Momentum: "Bird tracks evolved into the clerks' assisting hand. It sheds ornate seal curls for blunt simplicity. Once everywhere adopted, its shapes obey fixed measures. Bright as constellations ranged; lush as clouds piled layer on layer. The boldest strokes span eight feet; the finest wedge a hair's breadth. Each composition bends to need—no rigid mould. Some swell dome-high or march like comb teeth; some flatten like whetstones or stretch ruler-straight; others rear like coiling dragons or slash diagonally; still others pivot square on square. Long and short answer each other—different bodies sharing one rhythm. The brush lifts lightly—strokes part yet never quite sever. Ripples and ink dots scatter like ritual bells deployed, courtyard torches veiled in smoke, jagged cliffs stacked high and low in linked ranks. They resemble tiered towers heaped with rooflines, clouds banking atop a ridge. From afar they look like dragons wheeling in the sky; Up close they dizzy the eye and stagger the mind. Their queer shapes outrun every catalogue. Not even Yan and Sang could tally them; Zai Gong and Zigong could not put them into words. Why dwell on counting seal or draft strokes when this mighty script still waits for praise? Is its grandeur too vast to see, or its secrets too deep to pass down? Here I lift and lower my gaze to study it and sketch the broad outline."

漢興而有草書，不知作者姓名。至章帝時，齊相杜度號善作篇。後有崔瑗、崔寔，亦皆稱工，杜氏殺字甚安，而書體微瘦。崔氏甚得筆勢，而結字小疏。弘農張伯英者，因而轉精甚巧。凡家之衣帛，必書而後練之。臨池學書，池水盡黑。下筆必為楷則，號匆匆不暇草書，寸紙不見遺，至今世尤寶其書，韋仲將謂之草聖。伯英弟文舒者，次伯英。又有姜孟穎、梁孔達，田彥和及韋仲將之徒，皆伯英弟子，有名于世，然殊不及文舒也。羅叔景、趙元嗣者，與伯英並時，見稱於西州，而矜巧自與，眾頗惑之。故英自稱「上比崔杜不足，下方羅趙有餘。」河間張超亦有名，然雖與崔氏同州，不如伯英之得其法也。

Cursive appeared with the Han, though nobody remembers who invented it. Under Emperor Zhang, Qi minister Du Du earned fame for entire compositions in draft script. Later came Cui Yuan and his nephew Cui Shi—both masters. Du's dots sat calmly but his frames ran lean. The Cuis wielded thrilling strokes yet spaced their characters a touch loosely. Then Zhang Boying of Hongnong refined the art into something finer still. His household bolted every roll of silk—practice writing on it before dyeing. He practiced beside the pond until the water turned ink-black. Every stroke stayed within canonical bounds—people mocked "too busy for real cursive"—yet not an inch of paper survived unused. Posterity treasures him; Wei Zhongjiang hailed him as sage of cursive. His younger brother Zhang Chang, courtesy Wenshu, ranked just behind him. Disciples such as Jiang Mengying, Liang Kongda, Tian Yanhe, and Wei Zhongjiang won reputations but none approached Wenshu. Luo Shujing and Zhao Yuansi worked alongside Boying and enjoyed acclaim in the west, yet their flashy tricks confused casual viewers. Boying boasted: "Measured against Cui Yuan and Du Du I fall short; stacked beside Luo and Zhao I still have plenty to spare." Zhang Chao of Hejian also earned renown, yet though he hailed from the same province as the Cuis he never mastered the method like Boying.

崔瑗作《草書勢》曰：「書契之興，始自頡皇。寫彼鳥跡，以定文章，爰暨末葉，典籍彌繁。時之多僻，政之多權。官事荒蕪，剿其墨翰。惟作佐隸，舊字是刪。草書之法，蓋又簡略。應時諭指，用於卒迫。兼功並用，愛日省力。純儉之變，豈必古式。觀其法象，俯仰有儀。方不中矩，員不副規；抑左揚右，望之若崎。竦企鳥歭，志大飛移。狡獸暴駭，將奔未馳。或𪑜𪐴點𪑮，狀似連珠，絕而不離；畜怒怫鬱，放逸生奇。或淩邃惴慄，若據槁臨危；旁點邪附，似蜩螗挶枝。絕筆收勢，餘綖糾結，若杜伯揵毒緣巇，螣蛇赴穴，頭沒尾垂。是故遠而望之，漼焉若沮岑崩崖；就而察之，一畫不可移。機微要妙，臨時從宜。略舉大較，仿佛若斯。」

Cui Yuan's Essay on Cursive Momentum begins: "Writing began with the sage Cang Jie. He traced bird tracks to fix the script, and down the ages books only multiplied. The age grew crooked; policy veered with every crisis. Dust piled on public desks, so men grabbed brush and ink to keep up. Clerks simplified old graphs to move faster. Cursive pared the forms again. It answers the moment, suits sudden emergencies. It saves labor and rescues precious hours. Thrifty change need not obey antique models. Watch its images rise and fall with ritual poise. Squares avoid the square; circles cheat the compass; The left stroke bows while the right soars—seen head-on they resemble sheer ridges. Forms stand like cranes poised for flight, ready to vault skyward. They start like beasts shocked midstride—not yet launched into their run. Some knots heap ink beads like strings of pearls—split yet still tethered; pent rage suddenly bursts into wildest flourish. Some hang sheer as a man gripping deadwood above a cliff; secondary dots cling like cicadas hugging twigs. When the brush lifts, trailing ligatures knot tight—like Du Bo drawing a poisoned shaft along a cliff edge, or a serpent diving head-first into its hole with tail still dangling. From a distance it falls away like a sodden ridge calving into mist; Up close not one stroke may shift. Minute cues steer each flourish according to need. This rough sketch only hints at its likeness."

及瓘為楚王瑋所構，恆聞變，以何劭，嫂之父也，從牆孔中詣之，以問消息。劭知而不告。恆還經廚下，收人正食，因而遇害。後贈長水校尉，諡蘭陵貞世子。二子：璪、玠。

Hearing crisis break out, Wei Heng slipped through a breach in the wall to reach He Shao—his sister-in-law's father—and press him for news. He Shao kept silent. Wei Heng doubled back past the kitchen where guards were eating and was cut down on the spot. The court later awarded him colonel of Changshui posthumously and styled him the Loyal Heir of Lanling. He left two sons: Wei Zao and Wei Jie.

子璪、玠

Sons: Wei Zao and Wei Jie.

璪字仲寶，襲瓘爵。後東海王越以蘭陵益其國，改封江夏郡公，邑八千五百戶。懷帝即位，為散騎侍郎。永嘉五年，沒于劉聰。元帝以瓘玄孫崇嗣。

Wei Zao, courtesy Zhongbao, inherited his father's title. Prince Sima Yue of Donghai folded Lanling into his own domain and re-enfeoffed the house as Duke of Jiangxia with eighty-five hundred households. When Emperor Huai took the throne he served as gentleman attendant at leisure. In the fifth year of Yongjia he fell captive to Liu Cong. Emperor Yuan installed Wei Chong, a descendant of Wei Guan, as heir to the line.

玠字叔寶，年五歲，風神秀異。祖父瓘曰：「此兒有異于眾，顧吾年老，不見其成長耳！」總角乘羊車入市，見者皆以為玉人，觀之者傾都。驃騎將軍王濟，玠之舅也，俊爽有風姿，每見玠，輒歎曰：「珠玉在側，覺我形穢。」又嘗語人曰：「與玠同遊，冏若明珠之在側，朗然照人。」及長，好言玄理。其後多病體羸，母恆禁其語。遇有勝日，親友時請一言，無不咨嗟，以為入微。琅邪王澄有高名，少所推服，每聞玠言，輒歎息絕倒。故時人為之語曰：「衛玠談道，平子絕倒。」澄及王玄、王濟並有盛名，皆出玠下，世云「王家三子，不如衛家一兒。」玠妻父樂廣，有海內重名，議者以為「婦公冰清，女婿玉潤。」

Wei Jie, courtesy Shubao, was barely five when his spirit and bearing already marked him as extraordinary. His grandfather Wei Guan said, "This boy is unlike anyone else—yet I am old and will not live to see him grown." Still a boy he rode a lamb cart through the market; onlookers mistook him for a jade statue and throngs emptied the ward to stare. General Wang Ji—Wei Jie's uncle—was himself striking, yet whenever he saw his nephew he groaned, "With pearls and jade beside me I feel utterly coarse." He told others, "Walking with Jie is like carrying luminous pearls—they light everyone nearby." When he matured he loved Pure Conversation metaphysics. Illness wasted him, so his mother kept forbidding him to lecture. On rare good days kinsmen coaxed a single sentence from him; every listener sighed that he had touched the marrow of the mystery. Wang Cheng of Langye seldom praised anyone, yet each time he heard Wei Jie speak he gasped and collapsed in admiration. Wits rhymed, "When Wei Jie talks doctrine, Wang Cheng topples over." Cheng, Wang Xuan, and Wang Ji shared glittering reputations yet stood beneath Wei Jie; folk said, "Three Wang sons cannot rival one Wei boy." Jie's father-in-law Yue Guang commanded empire-wide renown; critics called them "ice-pure father-in-law, jade-smooth son-in-law."

闢命屢至，皆不就。久之，為太傅西閣祭酒，拜太子洗馬。璪為散騎侍郎，內侍懷帝。玠以天下大亂，欲移家南行。母曰：「我不能舍仲寶去也。」玠啟諭深至，為門戶大計，母涕泣從之。臨別，玠謂兄曰：「在三之義，人之所重。今可謂致身之日，兄其勉之。」乃扶輿母轉至江夏。

Official summons poured in; he declined every one. Eventually he accepted libationer at Grand Tutor Yang Jun's western pavilion, then groom to the heir apparent. Wei Zao served Emperor Huai as gentleman attendant at leisure inside the palace. With the realm collapsing, Wei Jie resolved to move his household south. His mother protested, "I cannot leave Zhongbao behind." Wei Jie pleaded with family survival at stake until she wept and agreed. At farewell Wei Jie told his brother, "The threefold duty binding lord, father, and teacher is everything we honor. Today is the day you devote yourself fully—brother, strive with all you have." Then he escorted his mother by litter onward to Jiangxia.

玠妻先亡。征南將軍山簡見之，甚相欽重。簡曰：「昔戴叔鸞嫁女，唯賢是與，不問貴賤，況衛氏權貴門戶令望之人乎！」於是以女妻焉。遂進豫章，是時大將軍王敦鎮豫章，長史謝鯤先雅重玠，相見欣然，言論彌日。敦謂鯤曰：「昔王輔嗣吐金聲於中朝，此子復玉振于江表，微言之緒，絕而復續。不意永嘉之末，復聞正始之音，何平叔若在，當復絕倒。」玠嘗以人有不及，可以情恕；非意相干，可以理遣，故終身不見喜慍之容。

Wei Jie's first wife had died. General Shan Jian of the southern expedition admired him deeply. Shan said, "Long ago Dai Shuluan married his daughter solely on talent, heedless of rank—how much more so for a Wei son who heads a house of such prestige!" He married his daughter to Wei Jie. They pressed on to Yuzhang, where Grand General Wang Dun was stationed; Chief Clerk Xie Kun, who had long admired Wei Jie, welcomed him gladly and talked for days on end. Wang Dun told Xie Kun, "Wang Bi once rang like golden bells at Luoyang; this youth now answers like jade chimes south of the river—the thread of Pure Conversation snaps back to life. Who expected, after Yongjia's ruin, to hear again the voice of Zhengshi? Were He Yan still alive he would faint away once more." Wei Jie believed shortcomings deserve sympathetic forgiveness; unintended slights deserve calm reasoning—so his face never showed sudden joy or anger.

以王敦豪爽不群，而好居物上，恐非國之忠臣，求向建鄴。京師人士聞其姿容，觀者如堵。玠勞疾遂甚，永嘉六年卒，時年二十七，時人謂玠被看殺。葬於南昌。謝鯤哭之慟，人問曰：「子有何恤而致斯哀？」答曰：「棟樑折矣，不覺哀耳。」咸和中，改塋于江寧。丞相王導教曰：「衛洗馬明當改葬。此君風流名士，海內所瞻，可修薄祭，以敦舊好。」後劉惔、謝尚共論中朝人士，或問：「杜乂可方衛洗馬不？」尚曰：「安得相比，其間可容數人。」惔又云：「杜乂膚清，叔寶神清。」其為有識者所重若此。于時中興名士，唯王承及玠為當時第一云。

Because Wang Dun's swagger sat ill with him—always grasping the upper hand—Wei Jie doubted he would prove a loyal servant of the state and asked leave to reach Jianye. Capital sophisticates had heard of his looks; the crowds who came to stare packed wall-tight. His fragile health collapsed under the strain; he died in the sixth year of Yongjia at twenty-seven—people said Wei Jie was literally watched to death. They buried him at Nanchang. Xie Kun mourned wildly; someone asked what loss could wound him so deeply. He answered, "A ridgebeam just snapped—how could I not grieve?" During Xianhe his tomb was moved to Jiangning. Chancellor Wang Dao ordered, "The heir-apparent groom Wei Jie will be reburied tomorrow. He was a paragon admired across the empire—offer a modest offering to honor old ties." Later Liu Tan and Xie Shang ranked western Jin luminaries; someone asked whether Du Yi could compare with Groom Wei. Xie Shang replied, "There is no comparison—you could slip several men between them." Liu Tan added, "Du Yi has crystalline skin; Shubao has crystalline spirit." Such was the regard thoughtful men paid him. Among Restoration-era talents only Wang Cheng and Wei Jie ranked first.

恆族弟展字道舒，歷尚書郎、南陽太守。永嘉中，為江州刺史，累遷晉王大理。詔有考子證父，或鞭父母問子所在，展以為恐傷正教，並奏除之。中興建，為廷尉，上疏宜復肉刑，語在《刑法志》。卒，贈光祿大夫。

Wei Heng's kinsman Wei Zhan, courtesy Daoshu, served as secretariat gentleman and prefect of Nanyang. During Yongjia he governed Jiangzhou and rose to minister of justice for the Jin prince. Edicts had forced sons to inform on fathers and even whipped parents to locate sons; Wei Zhan argued this corroded moral instruction and had both practices struck. After the Restoration he became Minister of Justice and memorialized for restoring corporal punishment—the text sits in the Treatise on Punishments. He died and received posthumous appointment as minister of palace supplies.

張華，字茂先，范陽方城人也。父平，魏漁陽郡守。華少孤貧，自牧羊，同郡盧欽見而器之。鄉人劉放亦奇其才，以女妻焉。華學業優博，辭藻溫麗，朗贍多通，圖緯方伎之書莫不詳覽。少自修謹，造次必以禮度。勇於赴義，篤于周急。器識弘曠，時人罕能測之。初未知名，著《鷦鷯賦》以自寄。其詞曰：

Zhang Hua, courtesy Maoxian, came from Fangcheng in Fanyang. His father Zhang Ping had been governor of Yuyang under Wei. Zhang Hua was poor and fatherless, herding his own sheep, until his townsman Lu Qin spotted his promise. Liu Fang of the same district likewise prized his talent and married him to his daughter. Zhang Hua's learning was deep, his phrasing warm and elegant, his mind clear and encyclopedic; he pored over cosmographs, prophecies, and every technical treatise. From youth he guarded his conduct; even in panic he kept ritual bounds. He rushed to justice and spent himself helping the desperate. His capacity and foresight were immense—contemporaries seldom plumbed him. Before his name circulated he wrote the Wren Rhapsody to speak for himself. It reads:

何造化之多端，播群形于萬類。惟鷦鷯之微禽，亦攝生而受氣，育翩翾之陋體，無玄黃以自貴；毛無施於器用，肉不登乎俎味。鷹鸇過猶戢翼，尚何懼于{罒童}罻！翳薈蒙籠，是焉遊集。飛不飄揚，翔不翕集。其居易容，其求易給；巢林不過一枝，每食不過數粒。棲無所滯。遊無所盤；匪陋荊棘，匪榮茝蘭。動翼而逸，投足而安。委命順理，與物無患。伊茲禽之無知，而處身之似智。不懷寶以賈害，不飾表以招累。靜守性而不矜，動因循而簡易。任自然以為資，無誘慕於世偽。雕鶡介其觜距，鵠鷺軼於雲際，鶤雞竄於幽險，孔翠生乎遐裔，彼晨鳧與歸雁，又矯翼而增逝，咸美羽而豐肌，故無罪而皆斃；徒銜蘆以避繳，終為戮於此世。蒼鷹鷙而受絏，鸚鵡慧而入籠，屈猛志以服養，塊幽縶於九重；變音聲以順旨，思摧翮而為庸。戀鍾岱之林野，慕隴坻之高松。雖蒙幸于於日，未若疇昔之從容。海鳥爰居，避風而至；條支巨爵，逾嶺自致；提挈萬里，飄颻逼畏。夫惟體大妨物，而形瑰足偉也。陰陽陶烝，萬品一區。巨細舛錯，種繁類殊。鷦冥巢於蚊睫，大鵬彌乎天隅，將以上方不足而下比有餘。普天壤而遐觀，吾又安知大小之所如。

Creation works by countless turns, scattering myriad shapes among the ten thousand things. Even the tiny wren receives life and breath; its shabby fluttering frame wears no royal colors to boast with; its feathers serve no craft and its flesh never reaches the sacrificial board. Kites and goshawks bank away with folded wings—why should it dread the fowler's net? It nests where scrub grows tangled and dense. Its flight never billows nor swoops in thundering flocks. Its home is easy to furnish and its needs easy to meet; one branch suffices for its nest; a few grains fill each meal. It never lingers where it roosts. It wanders without plotting a circuit; It neither hugs coarse brambles nor vaunts sweet orchids. A flap carries it free; wherever it lights it rests secure. It leaves fate to pattern and quarrels with nothing. Tiny creature without human wit, yet its conduct seems wise. It hoards no glitter that buys disaster and flaunts no plumage that courts ruin. Still, it keeps its nature without pride; active, it follows the simple path. It trusts spontaneity for sustenance and envies none of the world's sham prizes. Armored hawks sharpen talons; swans and herons tower above the clouds; golden pheasants hide in precarious crags; kingfishers glitter on distant shores; wild ducks and migrant geese wheel skyward—all glorious plumes and meaty breasts—yet each dies guiltless; even carrying reeds to dodge bowstrings cannot save them from this slaughtering world. Green goshawks fierce yet wear jesses; clever parrots enter cages—fierce wills bent to feed men, pent in deepest prisons; they twist song to suit masters and would snap their wings to stay useless pets. They pine for Zhong and Tai forests and sigh for tall pines on Long Ridge. Daily favor cannot match old freedom. The seabird Yuanju fled storms to shore; Tiaozhi's giant thrushes crossed ranges as tribute; borne ten thousand li in cages, trembling with dread. Great bodies obstruct the world; strange shapes excite awe. Yin and yang forge everything in one crucible. Giants and mites tangle together—species beyond counting. A wren could nest on a gnat's lash while the giant roc spans heaven's edge—proof that what heaven lacks below still overflows with life. I survey the breadth of heaven and earth—how am I to say what is truly great or small?

陳留阮籍見之，歎曰：「王佐之才也！」由是聲名始著。郡守鮮于嗣薦華為太常博士。盧欽言之于文帝，轉河南尹丞，未拜，除佐著作郎。頃之，遷長史，兼中書郎。朝議表奏，多見施用，遂即真。晉受禪，拜黃門侍郎，封關內侯。

When Ruan Ji of Chenliu saw him, he sighed and said, "Here is the makings of a kingmaker!" From that moment his name began to spread. Prefect Xianyu Si recommended Zhang Hua for the post of erudite of the Chamberlain for Ceremonials. Lu Qin spoke of him to Emperor Wen; Zhang Hua was slated for assistant magistrate under the Henan Intendant but before taking office was named assistant editorial director instead. Soon he rose to chief clerk and concurrently served as palace attendant secretary. Court deliberations and memorials were largely put into practice, and he received full substantive appointment. When the Jin accepted the abdication, he was made gentleman attendant at the Yellow Gates and enfeoffed as marquis within the passes.

華強記默識，四海之內，若指諸掌。武帝嘗問漢宮室制度及建章千門萬戶，華應對如流，聽者忘倦，畫地成圖，左右屬目。帝甚異之，時人比之子產。數歲，拜中書令，後加散騎常侍。遭母憂，哀毀過禮，中詔勉勵，逼令攝事。

Zhang Hua's memory was prodigious—within the realm he could lay out affairs as if tracing them on his palm. Emperor Wu once quizzed him on Han palace layouts and Jianzhang Palace's countless gates; Zhang Hua answered without hesitation, holding his audience spellbound; he sketched plans in the dust while everyone watched rapt. The emperor marveled at him; contemporaries likened him to Zichan of Zheng. A few years later he became director of the palace secretariat and was soon given the concurrent title of regular attendant cavalry. When his mother died he mourned so fiercely that he wasted beyond ritual bounds; an edict from the inner palace urged him on and pressed him back to office.

初，帝潛與羊祜謀伐吳，而群臣多以為不可，唯華贊成其計。其後，祜疾篤，帝遣華詣祜，問以伐吳之計，語在《祜傳》。及將大舉，以華為度支尚書，乃量計運漕，決定廟算。眾軍既進，而未有克獲，賈充等奏誅華以謝天下。帝曰：「此是吾意，華但與吾同耳。」時大臣皆以為未可輕進，華獨堅執，以為必克。及吳滅，詔曰：「尚書、關內侯張華，前與故太傅羊祜共創大計，遂典掌軍事，部分諸方，算定權略，運籌決勝，有謀謨之勳。其進封為廣武縣侯，增邑萬戶，封子一人為亭侯，千五百戶，賜絹萬匹。」

Early on Emperor Wu had secretly planned the Wu campaign with Yang Hu, while most ministers opposed it—only Zhang Hua endorsed the strategy. Later, when Yang Hu lay dying, the emperor sent Zhang Hua to consult him on the Wu campaign; the account appears in Yang Hu's biography. When the great offensive loomed, Zhang Hua was put in charge of revenue and logistics; he calculated supply lines and grain transport and fixed the grand strategy at court. The armies had marched yet scored no breakthrough; Jia Chong and others demanded Zhang Hua's execution as a gesture of atonement to the realm. The emperor said, "This was my decision—Zhang Hua simply agreed with me." Meanwhile senior ministers argued against rushing the advance; Zhang Hua alone held fast that Wu would fall. When Wu fell, an edict declared: "Minister Zhang Hua, Marquis within the Passes, once joined the late Grand Tutor Yang Hu in devising the grand design; he then directed military affairs, coordinated the fronts, weighed strategy, and planned victory at headquarters—meritorious counsel indeed. Promote him to Marquis of Guangwu County, add ten thousand households to his fief, enfeoff one son as village marquis with fifteen hundred households, and grant ten thousand bolts of silk."

華名重一世，眾所推服，晉史及儀禮憲章並屬於華，多所損益。當時詔誥皆所草定，聲譽益盛，有台輔之望焉。而荀勖自以大族，恃帝恩深，憎疾之，每伺間隙，欲出華外鎮。會帝問華：「誰可託寄後事者？」對曰：「明德至親，莫如齊王攸。」既非上意所在，微為忤旨，間言遂行。乃出華為持節、都督幽州諸軍事、領護烏桓校尉、安北將軍。撫納新舊，戎夏懷之。東夷馬韓、新彌諸國依山帶海，去州四千餘里，歷世未附者二十餘國，並遣使朝獻。於是遠夷賓服，四境無虞，頻歲豐稔，士馬強盛。

Zhang Hua's stature dominated his age; everyone deferred to him. The Jin court histories and ritual codes alike passed through his hands, with countless revisions. Imperial edicts of the day were drafted in his hand; his fame swelled until men looked to him as a future chief minister. Yet Xun Xu, swaggering as scion of a great house and secure in imperial favor, loathed Zhang Hua and watched for every chance to post him away from the capital. Once Emperor Wu asked Zhang Hua, "Whom can I trust with what comes after me?" He answered, "Among those of shining virtue and closest blood, none rivals Prince Sima You of Qi." That was not what the emperor wished to hear—a subtle breach of imperial intent—and calumny soon found its opening. Zhang Hua was therefore posted as commander of Youzhou with imperial insignia, concurrently colonel-protector of the Wuhuan and general who pacifies the north. He won over old allies and new subjects alike; barbarian and Han peoples alike embraced him. The Mahan and Xinmi peoples of the eastern Yi, coastal and mountainous, lay over four thousand li from the province; more than twenty lands that had never submitted through the ages now sent envoys with tribute. The distant tribes submitted; the frontiers stayed quiet; harvests ran rich year after year; troops and mounts grew formidable.

朝議欲徵華入相，又欲進號儀同。初，華毀徵士馮恢於帝，紞即恢之弟也，深有寵於帝。紞嘗侍帝，從容論魏晉事，因曰；「臣竊謂鍾會之釁，頗由太祖。」帝變色曰：「卿何言邪！」紞免冠謝曰；「臣愚冗瞽言，罪應萬死。然臣微意，猶有可申。」帝曰：「何以言之」紞曰：「臣以為善禦者必識六轡盈縮之勢，善政者必審官方控帶之宜，故仲由以兼人被抑，冉求以退弱被進，漢高八王以寵過夷滅，光武諸將由抑損克終。非上有仁暴之殊，下有愚智之異，蓋抑揚與奪使之然耳。鍾會才見有限，而太祖誇獎太過，嘉其謀猷，盛其名器，居以重勢，委以大兵，故使會自謂算無遺策，功在不賞，輈張跋扈，遂構凶逆耳。向令太祖錄其小能，節以大禮，抑之以權勢，納之以軌則，則亂心無由而生，亂事無由而成矣。」帝曰：「然。」紞稽首曰：「陛下既已然微臣之言，宜思堅冰之漸，無使如會之徒復致覆喪。」帝曰：「當今豈有如會者乎？」紞曰：「東方朔有言『談何容易』，《易》曰：『臣不密則失身』。」帝乃屏左右曰：「卿極言之。」紞曰：「陛下謀謨之臣，著大功於天下，海內莫不聞知，據方鎮總戎馬之任者，皆在陛下聖慮矣。」帝默然。頃之，徵華為太常。以太廟屋棟折，免官。遂終帝之世，以列侯朝見。

The court debated recalling Zhang Hua as chief minister and advancing his rank to ceremony equal to the Three Dukes. Earlier Zhang Hua had maligned the summoned scholar Feng Hui to the throne; Feng Dan was Feng Hui's younger brother and stood high in imperial favor. Feng Dan once attended the emperor and, speaking calmly of Wei and Jin history, went on to say: "Your servant ventures that Zhong Hui's rebellion owed much to Emperor Taizu of Wei." The emperor's face darkened. "What are you saying?" Feng Dan doffed his cap and apologized: "Your servant spoke rash nonsense and deserves death ten thousand times over. Yet there is still a thread of meaning your servant may unfold." The emperor asked how he meant it. Feng Dan replied: "A skilled charioteer reads slack and taut in the reins; a wise ruler gauges how offices balance power. Hence Zhong You was checked for being too capable, Ran Qiu promoted for seeming modest; Liu Bang's princes were ruined by indulgence, Guangwu's generals survived because he kept them humble. It was not a matter of benevolent versus cruel rulers or foolish versus wise subjects—promotion, demotion, reward, and seizure shaped the outcome. Zhong Hui's gifts were modest, yet Emperor Taizu flattered him, praised his schemes, heaped titles on him, seated him in vast authority, and handed him whole armies—until Zhong Hui believed his plans infallible and his deeds beyond reward; he swelled with arrogance and turned traitor. Had Taizu acknowledged only Zhong Hui's modest talents, curbed him with ritual, checked him with authority, and bound him with rules, neither rebellious intent nor rebellion itself could have taken shape." The emperor said, "So it is." Feng Dan kowtowed. "Since Your Majesty accepts your servant's words, ponder how thick ice forms drop by drop—do not let another Zhong Hui bring ruin again." The emperor asked, "Is there anyone today like Zhong Hui?" Feng Dan answered, "Dongfang Shuo warned that speaking out is no simple matter; the Book of Changes says, 'If a minister is not discreet, he loses his life.'" The emperor dismissed his attendants. "Speak plainly." Feng Dan said, "Your counselors who shaped the realm's greatest deeds are known to every corner of the empire—those who command the provinces and armies already weigh on Your Majesty's mind." The emperor fell silent. Soon afterward Zhang Hua was recalled as Chamberlain for Ceremonials. When a roof beam of the Grand Ancestral Temple snapped, he lost his post. For the rest of Emperor Wu's reign he attended court only as a full marquis.

惠帝即位，以華為太子少傅，與王戎、裴楷、和嶠俱以德望為楊駿所忌，皆不與朝政。及駿誅後，將廢皇太后，會群臣於朝堂，議者皆承望風旨，以為《春秋》絕文姜，今太后自絕于宗廟，亦宜廢黜。」惟華議以為「夫婦之道，父不能得之於子，子不能得之于父，皇太后非得罪于先帝者也。今黨其所親，為不母於聖世，宜依漢廢趙太后為孝成后故事，貶太后之號，還稱武皇后，居異宮，以全貴終之恩」。不從，遂廢太后為庶人。

Emperor Hui named Zhang Hua junior tutor to the heir apparent; together with Wang Rong, Pei Kai, and He Jiao—men whose reputations drew Yang Jun's jealousy—they were shut out of state affairs. After Yang Jun fell, ministers gathered in the hall to strip the empress dowager of title; eager to read the emperor's mood, they cited how the Spring and Autumn Annals severed ties with Wen Jiang—the dowager, they said, had cast off the ancestral temples and likewise deserved deposition. Only Zhang Hua argued that "between husband and wife, neither parent nor child may dictate the bond—the empress dowager committed no offense against the late emperor. She favored her own clan and failed as a mother in this enlightened age; follow the Han precedent that reduced Empress Zhao to Empress Dowager Xiaocheng—strip her dowager title, restore her as Empress Wu, house her apart, and grant her a dignified death." The court rejected his plea and reduced the empress dowager to commoner status.

楚王瑋受密詔殺太宰汝南王亮、太保衛瓘等，內外兵擾，朝廷大恐，計無所出。華白帝以「瑋矯詔擅害二公，將士倉卒，謂是國家意，故從之耳。今可遣騶虞幡使外軍解嚴，理必風靡。」上從之，瑋兵果敗。及瑋誅，華以首謀有功，拜右光祿大夫、開府儀同三司、侍中、中書監，金章紫綬。固辭開府。

Prince Sima Wei of Chu, acting on a secret edict, slew Grand Steward Prince Sima Liang of Runan, Grand Guardian Wei Guan, and others; armies rioted inside and outside the palace; the court panicked and could find no policy. Zhang Hua told the emperor that Wei had forged the edict and murdered the two dukes on his own authority; troops had obeyed in haste, believing it imperial policy. Dispatch the zouyu banner to stand down the outer armies—they will scatter like wind before it. The emperor agreed, and Wei's forces collapsed. After Wei's execution Zhang Hua was credited with the decisive counsel and named senior household grandee of the right, general-in-chief with ceremony equal to the Three Dukes, palace attendant, and director of the palace secretariat, with golden seal and purple ribbon. He steadfastly declined the general-in-chief opening-office privilege.

賈謐與后共謀，以華庶族，儒雅有籌略，進無逼上之嫌，退為眾望所依，欲倚以朝綱，訪以政事。疑而未決，以問裴頠，頠素重華，深贊其事。華遂盡忠匡輔，彌縫補闕，雖當暗主虐後之朝，而海內晏然，華之功也。華懼后族之盛，作《女史箴》以為諷。賈后雖凶妒，而知敬重華。久之，論前後忠勳，進封壯武郡公。華十餘讓，中詔敦譬，乃受。數年，代下邳王晃為司空，領著作。

Jia Mi and Empress Jia conspired to lean on Zhang Hua—a man of humble pedigree yet scholarly polish and strategic sense who posed no threat to the throne yet commanded universal respect—as the backbone of government and advisor on policy. Still hesitant, they consulted Pei Wei, who had long revered Zhang Hua and urged the plan wholeheartedly. Zhang Hua served with utter loyalty, patching every breach; even under a dim sovereign and vicious empress the realm stayed calm—credit belongs to him. Wary of the empress's clan, Zhang Hua wrote "Admonitions for the Palace Women" as veiled counsel. For all her cruelty and jealousy, Empress Jia still respected Zhang Hua. After weighing his loyal service past and present, the court promoted him to Duke of Zhuangwu Commandery. Zhang Hua declined more than ten times until inner-court edicts pressed him to yield. A few years later he succeeded Prince Sima Huang of Xiapi as minister of works while directing the historiography office.

及賈后謀廢太子，左衛率劉卞甚為太子所信遇，每會宴，卞必預焉。屢見賈謐驕傲，太子恨之，形於言色，謐亦不能平。卞以賈后謀問華，華曰：「不聞。」卞曰：「卞以寒悴，自須昌小吏受公成拔，以至今日。士感知己，是以盡言，而公更有疑于卞邪！」華曰：「假令有此，君欲如何？」卞曰：「東宮俊乂如林，四率精兵萬人。公居阿衡之任，若得公命，皇太子因朝入錄尚書事，廢賈后於金墉城，兩黃門力耳。」華曰：「今天子當陽，太子，人子也，吾又不受阿衡之命，忽相與行此，是無其君父，而以不孝示天下也。雖能有成，猶不免罪，況權戚滿朝，威柄不一，而可以安乎！」及帝會群臣於式乾殿，出太子手書，遍示群臣，莫敢有言者。惟華諫曰；「此國之大禍。自漢武以來，每廢黜正嫡，恆至喪亂。且國家有天下日淺，願陛下詳之。」尚書左僕射裴頠以為宜先檢校傳書者，又請比校太子手書，不然，恐有詐妄。賈后乃內出太子素啟事十餘紙，眾人比視，亦無敢言非者，議至日西不決，后知華等意堅，因表乞免為庶人，帝乃可其奏。

When Empress Jia plotted to remove the heir apparent, Liu Bian, commander of the left guard and a man the heir deeply trusted, attended every banquet. Time and again he watched Jia Mi's arrogance fuel the heir's resentment, plain on the prince's face, while Mi simmered with his own grievance. Liu Bian asked Zhang Hua about the empress's plot; Zhang Hua replied, "I have heard nothing." Liu Bian said, "I rose from a cold-handed clerk in Xuchang through your patronage to where I stand today. A gentleman repays one who knows him—I speak plainly—yet you still mistrust me?" Zhang Hua asked, "Suppose it were true—what would you do?" Liu Bian answered, "The heir's residence teems with talent; the four guard commands field ten thousand crack troops. You stand as chief minister—give the word and the heir can enter court to oversee the Masters of Writing, lock Empress Jia in Jinyong Fortress; two palace attendants could manage it." Zhang Hua replied, "The emperor holds the sun throne; the heir is a son like any other; I hold no Yi Yin mandate—move rashly and we abandon sovereign and father alike and proclaim our unfilial shame to the world. Even success would leave guilt on our heads—how much less when powerful in-laws choke the court and authority splinters everywhere?" When Emperor Hui gathered his ministers at Shiqiang Hall and produced the heir's handwriting for all to see, none dared speak. Only Zhang Hua objected: "This court courts catastrophe. Since Emperor Wu of Han, every deposition of the legitimate heir has ended in ruin. Our dynasty's grip on the realm is still fresh—think carefully, Your Majesty." Pei Wei, left vice-director of the Masters of Writing, urged them first to question whoever carried the letters and to compare them with the heir's genuine script—otherwise forgery might slip through. Empress Jia produced more than ten pages of the heir's routine memorials from the women's quarters; no one dared call them false. Debate dragged until sunset without resolution. Seeing Zhang Hua's resolve, the empress memorialized to reduce the heir to commoner status, and the emperor approved.

初，趙王倫為鎮西將軍，撓亂關中，氐羌反叛，乃以梁王肜代之。或說華曰：「趙王貪昧，信用孫秀，所在為亂，而秀變詐，奸人之雄。今可遣梁王斬秀，刈趙之半，以謝關右，不亦可乎！」華從之，肜許諾。秀友人辛冉從西來，言於肜曰：「氐羌自反，非秀之為。」故得免死。倫既還，諂事賈后，因求錄尚書事，後又求尚書令。華與裴頠皆固執不可，由是致怨，倫、秀疾華如仇。武庫火，華懼因此變作，列兵固守，然後救之，故累代之寶及漢高斬蛇劍、王莽頭、孔子屐等盡焚焉。時華見劍穿屋而飛，莫知所向。

Earlier Prince Sima Lun of Zhao had served as general who guards the west and thrown Guanzhong into turmoil until the Di and Qiang rose; Prince Sima Tong of Liang replaced him. Someone urged Zhang Hua: "Prince Lun is grasping and trusts Sun Xiu, who sows chaos wherever he goes—a slippery schemer among villains. Send Prince Tong to execute Xiu, cripple Lun's faction, and appease the western marches—why not?" Zhang Hua agreed, and Tong promised. Sun Xiu's friend Xin Ran arrived from the west and told Tong the Di and Qiang had risen on their own—not Xiu's plot. Thus Xiu escaped execution. After Lun returned he curried favor with Empress Jia, demanding oversight of the Masters of Writing and later the director's seat. Zhang Hua and Pei Wei blocked him both times; Lun and Sun Xiu came to hate Zhang Hua as a mortal foe. When the imperial armory caught fire Zhang Hua feared a coup; he ringed it with troops before fighting the blaze, so treasures of many dynasties—including Liu Bang's snake sword, Wang Mang's pickled head, and Confucius's wooden shoes—burned away. Witnesses swore they saw a sword burst through the roof and fly off—none knew where it landed.

初，華所封壯武郡有桑化為柏，識者以為不詳。又華第舍及監省數有妖怪。少子韙以中台星坼，勸華遜位。華不從，曰；「天道玄遠，惟修德以應之耳。不如靜以待之，以俟天命。」及倫、秀將廢賈后，秀使司馬雅夜告華曰：「今社稷將危，趙王欲與公共匡朝廷，為霸者之事。」華知秀等必成篡奪，乃距之。雅怒曰：「刃將加頸，而吐言如此！」不顧而出。華方晝臥，忽夢見屋壞，覺而惡之。是夜難作，詐稱詔召華，遂與裴頠俱被收。華將死，謂張林曰：「卿欲害忠臣耶？」林稱詔詰曰：「卿為宰相，任天下事，太子之廢，不能死節，何也」華曰：「式乾之議，臣諫事具存，非不諫也。」林曰：「諫若不從，何不去位？」華不能答。須臾，使者至曰：「詔斬公。」華曰：「臣先帝老臣，中心如丹。臣不愛死，懼王室之難，禍不可測也。」遂害之于前殿馬道南，夷三族，朝野莫不悲痛之。時年六十九。

Earlier, in Zhang Hua's Zhuangwu fief mulberries turned to cypress—those versed in omens called it ill-starred. Strange apparitions kept plaguing Zhang Hua's residence and his ministry offices. His youngest son Zhang Wei, citing the split of the Central Terrace star, urged him to resign. Zhang Hua refused and said: "Heaven's purposes lie beyond our grasp—we answer them only by cultivating virtue. Better stay calm and wait out heaven's decree." When Lun and Sun Xiu prepared to depose Empress Jia, Xiu sent Sima Ya by night to Zhang Hua: "The altars are tottering; Prince Zhao wishes to join you in restoring the court and acting as the strongman who sets things right." Zhang Hua knew Xiu meant usurpation and turned him down cold." Ya snapped, "The blade is at your throat—yet this is what you say!" He stalked out without a backward glance. Zhang Hua was napping at midday when he dreamed his roof collapsed; he woke with foreboding. That night the coup struck; forged edicts summoned Zhang Hua, and he and Pei Wei were arrested together. As death closed in Zhang Hua asked Zhang Lin, "Do you mean to murder a loyal servant of the throne?" Zhang Lin brandished an edict and demanded: "You were chief minister charged with the realm—why did you not die for principle when the heir was cast aside?" Zhang Hua answered, "Every word I spoke against it at Shiqiang Hall is on record—I did remonstrate." Lin shot back, "If they ignored your counsel, why did you not resign?" Zhang Hua had no reply. Moments later a messenger arrived: "The edict orders your execution." Zhang Hua said, "I am an old servant of the late emperor; my heart burns red as cinnabar. I do not cling to life—I fear what calamities may yet strike the royal house." They cut him down south of the carriage lane before the front hall and wiped out three generations of his kin; court and countryside mourned. He was sixty-nine.

華性好人物，誘進不倦，至於窮賤候門之士有一介之善者，便咨嗟稱詠，為之延譽。雅愛書籍，身死之日，家無餘財，惟有文史溢於機篋。嘗徙居，載書三十乘。秘書監摯虞撰定官書，皆資華之本以取正焉。天下奇秘，世所稀有者，悉在華所。由是博物洽聞，世無與比。

Zhang Hua delighted in nurturing talent and never tired of lifting others; even a penniless scholar waiting at his gate who showed the slightest merit drew his praise and public endorsement. He adored books; when he died his house held no spare coin—only histories and belles-lettres bursting from his trunks. When he moved house once, thirty cartloads carried nothing but books. When Director Zhi Yu of the Palace Library collated the official canon, he used Zhang Hua's editions as the authoritative text. Every rare curiosity in the realm seemed to end up in Zhang Hua's library. Hence his erudition was unmatched in his time.

惠帝中，人有得鳥毛三丈，以示華。華見，慘然曰：「此謂海鳧毛也，出則天下亂矣。」陸機嘗餉華鮓，于時賓客滿座，華發器，便曰：「此龍肉也。」眾未之信，華曰：「試以苦酒濯之，必有異。」既而五色光起。機還問鮓主，果云：「園中茅積下得一白魚，質狀殊常，以作鮓，過美，故以相獻。」武庫封閉甚密，其中忽有雉雊。華曰：「此必蛇化為雉也。」開視，雉側果有蛇蛻焉。吳郡臨平岸崩，出一石鼓，槌之無聲。帝以問華，華曰：「可取蜀中桐材，刻為魚形，扣之則鳴矣。」於是如其言，果聲聞數里。

During Emperor Hui's reign someone brought Zhang Hua a bird feather thrice ten feet long. Zhang Hua turned pale. "That is the feather of the sea drake—when it appears the realm falls into chaos." Lu Ji once sent Zhang Hua cured fish; when guests packed the hall Zhang Hua lifted the lid and declared, "This is dragon flesh." No one believed him until Zhang Hua said, "Rinse it in vinegar—something strange will happen." A moment later five-colored light flared up. Lu Ji questioned the donor and learned that under a straw stack in the garden they had found a white fish of odd shape, too fine for ordinary fare—hence the gift." Though the armory was sealed tight, a pheasant suddenly crowed inside. Zhang Hua said, "A snake must have turned into that bird." They opened the doors and found a shed snakeskin beside the bird. When the bank at Linping in Wu commandery gave way, a stone drum emerged that rang silent when struck. The emperor consulted Zhang Hua, who said, "Carve Shu paulownia into the shape of a fish and strike it—the drum will sing." They did as he said and the tone carried for miles.

初，吳之未滅也，斗牛之間常有紫氣，道術者皆以吳方強盛，未可圖也，惟華以為不然。及吳平之後，紫氣愈明。華聞豫章人雷煥妙達緯象，乃要煥宿，屏人曰：「可共尋天文，知將來吉凶。」因登樓仰觀，煥曰：「僕察之久矣，惟斗牛之間頗有異氣。」華曰：「是何祥也？」煥曰：「寶劍之精，上徹於天耳。」華曰：「君言得之。吾少時有相者言，吾年出六十，位登三事，當得寶劍佩之。斯言豈效與！」因問曰：「在何郡？」煥曰：「在豫章豐城。」華曰：「欲屈君為宰，密共尋之，可乎？」煥許之。華大喜，即補煥為豐城令。煥到縣，掘獄屋基，入地四丈餘，得一石函，光氣非常，中有雙劍，並刻題，一曰龍泉，一曰太阿。其夕，斗牛間氣不復見焉。煥以南昌西山北巖下土以拭劍，光芒豔發。大盆盛水，置劍其上，視之者精芒炫目。遣使送一劍並土與華，留一自佩。或謂煥曰：「得兩送一，張公豈可欺乎？」煥曰：「本朝將亂，張公當受其禍。此劍當繫徐君墓樹耳。靈異之物，終當化去，不永為人服也。」華得劍，寶愛之，常置坐側。華以南昌土不如華陰赤土，報煥書曰：「詳觀劍文，乃干將也，莫邪何復不至？雖然，天生神物，終當合耳。」因以華陰土一斤致煥。煥更以拭劍，倍益精明。華誅，失劍所在。煥卒，子華為州從事，持劍行經延平津，劍忽於腰間躍出墮水，使人沒水取之，不見劍，但見兩龍各長數丈，蟠縈有文章，沒者懼而反。須臾光彩照水，波浪驚沸，於是失劍。華歎曰：「先君化去之言，張公終合之論，此其驗乎！」華之博物多此類，不可詳載焉。

Before Wu fell, a purple vapor lingered between the Dipper and the Ox; every augur blamed Wu's strength—only Zhang Hua disagreed. After Wu surrendered the glow burned brighter still. Hearing that Lei Huan of Yuzhang read the heavens with uncanny skill, Zhang Hua invited him to stay the night, dismissed the servants, and said, "Let us study the sky together and learn what lies ahead." From the tower Lei Huan said, "I have watched a long time—something strange rides between the Dipper and the Ox." Zhang Hua asked what omen it foretold." Huan answered, "It is the aura of a storied blade reaching up to heaven." Zhang Hua said, "You have named it. A fortune-teller once told me that past sixty and risen to the Three High Offices I would gird such a sword. Can his prophecy finally prove true?" Zhang Hua pressed, "In which commandery does it lie?" At Fengcheng in Yuzhang." Zhang Hua asked him to take the magistracy there so they could hunt for it together." Lei Huan agreed. Delighted, Zhang Hua had Lei Huan appointed magistrate of Fengcheng. At Fengcheng Lei Huan dug beneath the jail four yards down and found a stone coffer blazing with light; inside lay twin swords inscribed Longquan and Tai'e. That night the aura between the Dipper and Ox vanished. He polished them with clay from the northern cliff of West Mountain outside Nanchang until they blazed. Set in a basin of water, their glare dazzled the eye. He sent Zhang Hua one sword with a packet of clay and kept the other. Someone protested, "You found two blades but sent only one—do you cheat Duke Zhang?" Huan replied, "This dynasty verges on chaos—Zhang Gong will bear the blow. This sword belongs hung on the tomb tree of the lord of Xu—as in the old tale. Such numinous things slip away in time; they are not meant to serve mortals forever." Zhang Hua treasured the blade and kept it at his side. Finding Nanchang clay inferior to Huayin's red soil, Zhang Hua wrote Lei Huan: "The inscription marks this as Gan Jiang—why has Mo Ye not appeared? Still, heaven-forged wonders must reunite in the end." He sent Lei Huan a pound of Huayin clay. Lei Huan polished again—twice the brilliance. When Zhang Hua died the sword vanished. After Lei Huan died his son Hua, a provincial clerk, carried the sword past Yanping Ford; it leapt from his belt into the river. Divers found no blade—only two patterned dragons many yards long coiling underwater and fled back in terror. Light sheeted the waves until they boiled—then the sword was gone. Young Hua sighed, "My father's words about transformation and Duke Zhang's prophecy of reunion—here is the proof!" Tales of Zhang Hua's learning fill volumes—only a sample appears here.

後倫、秀伏誅，齊王冏輔政，摯虞致箋於冏曰：「間于張華沒後入中書省，得華先帝時答詔本草。先帝問華可以輔政持重付以後事者，華答：「明德至親，莫如先王，宜留以為社稷之鎮。」其忠良之謀，款誠之言，信於幽冥，沒而後彰，與苟且隨時者不可同世而論也。議者有責華以湣懷太子之事不抗節廷爭。當此之時，諫者必得違命之死。先聖之教，死而無益者，不以責人。故晏嬰，齊之正卿，不死崔杼之難；季劄，吳之宗臣，不爭逆順之理。理盡而無所施者，固聖教之所不責也。」冏於是奏曰：「臣聞興微繼絕，聖王之高政；貶惡嘉善，《春秋》之美義。是以武王封比干之墓，表商容之閭，誠幽明之故有以相通也。孫秀逆亂，滅佐命之國，誅骨鯁之臣，以斫喪王室；肆其虐戾，功臣之後，多見泯滅。張華、裴頠各以見憚取誅于時，解系、解結同以羔羊並被其害，歐陽建等無罪而死，百姓憐之。今陛下更日月之光，布維新之命，然此等諸族未蒙恩理。昔欒郤降在皁隸，而《春秋》傳其違；幽王絕功臣之後，棄賢者子孫，而詩人以為刺。臣備忝在職，思納愚誠。若合聖意，可令群官通議。」議者各有所執，而多稱其冤。壯武國臣竺道又詣長沙王，求復華爵位，依違者久之。

After Lun and Xiu fell, Prince Sima Jiong of Qi ruled as regent; Zhi Yu wrote him: "While sorting the palace secretariat after Zhang Hua's death I found his draft reply to the late emperor. Asked whom to trust after his death Zhang Hua answered: "None shines so virtuous and close as the Former Prince of Qi—keep him to anchor the altars." Those loyal, earnest counsels ring true even beyond the grave—revealed only after his death—far above the temporizers who trim every sail. Critics fault Zhang Hua for not defying the throne over Crown Prince Minhuai. In that hour any remonstrator faced death for defiance. The sages never fault men for dying to no purpose. Yan Ying, chief minister of Qi, did not die in Cui Zhu's coup; Ji Zha, Wu's pillar of state, would not argue treason and loyalty once principle was exhausted. When duty leaves no room to act, the sages impose no blame." Jiong memorialized: "I have heard that restoring fallen houses is the mark of a sage king; punishing evil and rewarding good is the Spring and Autumn Annals' finest lesson. King Wu honored Bi Gan's grave and marked Shang Rong's lane—proof that living and dead may yet speak to one another. Sun Xiu's revolt toppled states that had aided the founding and slew ministers of backbone, hacking at the royal house; unleashing cruelty until lines of merit ministers were all but wiped out. Zhang Hua and Pei Wei died because others feared them; Xie Xi and Xie Jie perished like sacrificial lambs; Ouyang Jian and others fell though guiltless—the people mourned them all. Your Majesty's radiance renews the realm, yet these families have received no redress. When the Luan and Xi houses fell to bondsmen, the Spring and Autumn chronicled the injustice; King You cast off lines of worthy ministers and singers turned it into satire. Humble as I am in office, I beg leave to speak plainly. If this finds favor, command the ministers to debate it openly." Opinion divided, though most called it an injustice. Zhu Dao of Zhuangwu petitioned Prince Sima Yi of Changsha to restore Zhang Hua's titles; the court wavered for years.

太安二年，詔曰：「夫愛惡相攻，佞邪醜正，自古而有。故司空、壯武公華竭其忠貞，思翼朝政，謀謨之勳，每事賴之。前以華弼濟之功，宜同封建，而華固讓至於八九，深陳大制不可得爾，終有顛敗危辱之慮，辭義懇誠，足勸遠近。華之至心，誓於神明。華以伐吳之勳，受爵於先帝。後封既非國體，又不宜以小功逾前大賞，華之見害，俱以奸逆圖亂，濫被枉賊。其復華侍中、中書監、司空、公、廣武侯及所沒財物與印綬符策，遣使弔祭之。」

In the second year of Tai'an an edict declared: "Love and hate clash; slanderers smear the upright—it has always been so. Late Minister of Works Duke Zhuangwu Zhang Hua gave his full loyalty, steadied the court, and earned trust on every measure. He deserved princely rank for steadying the state yet refused eight or nine times, warning that the old feudal order could not return without catastrophe—his plea was so earnest it moved the realm. His devotion was sworn before the spirits. The late emperor ennobled him for conquering Wu. Later titles broke precedent and small favors could not outweigh his earlier deeds; villains murdered him on charges of treason—sheer injustice. Restore his posts—palace attendant, director of the palace secretariat, minister of works, Duke of Zhuangwu, Marquis of Guangwu—and return confiscated goods, seals, and credentials; send envoys to mourn him."

初，陸機兄弟志氣高爽，自以吳之名家，初入洛，不推中國人士，見華一面如舊，欽華德範，如師資之禮焉。華誅後，作誄，又為《詠德賦》以悼之。

When Lu Ji and his brother first reached Luoyang, flush with pride as scions of a Wu great house, they looked askance at northern scholars—yet one meeting with Zhang Hua felt like reunion with an old friend; they revered his moral stature as pupils honor a master. After Zhang Hua's execution Lu Ji wrote a dirge and an "Ode on Virtue" in lament.

華著《博物志》十篇，及文章並行於世。二子：禕、韙。

Zhang Hua wrote ten chapters of Records of Broad Learning; his essays circulated widely. He had two sons: Zhang Yi and Zhang Wei.

子禕、韙

Sons: Zhang Yi and Zhang Wei.

禕字彥仲，好學，謙敬有父風，歷位散騎常侍。韙儒博，曉天文，散騎侍郎。同時遇害。禕子輿，字公安，襲華爵。避難過江，辟丞相掾、太子舍人。

Zhang Yi, courtesy Yanzhong, loved books and carried his father's modesty, rising to regular attendant cavalry. Zhang Wei was broadly learned in the classics and astronomy and served as gentleman attendant cavalry. Both perished in the same purge. Zhang Yi's son Zhang Yu, courtesy Gong'an, inherited his grandfather's title. Fleeing south across the Yangzi he became aide to the minister-in-chief and gentleman attendant of the heir apparent.

劉卞，字叔龍，東平須昌人也。本兵家子，質直少言。少為縣小吏，功曹夜醉如廁，使卞執燭，不從，功曹銜之，以他事補亭子。有祖秀才者，于亭中與刺史箋，久不成，卞教之數言，卓犖有大致。秀才謂縣令曰：「卞，公府掾之精者，卿云何以為亭子？」令即召為門下史，百事疏簡，不能周密。令問卞：「能學不？」答曰：「願之。」即使就學。無幾，卞兄為太子長兵，即死，兵例須代，功曹請以卞代兄役。令曰：「祖秀才有言。」遂不聽。卞後從令至洛，得入太學，試《經》為台四品吏。訪問令寫黃紙一鹿車，卞曰：「劉卞非為人寫黃紙者也。」訪問知怒，言於中正，退為尚書令吏。或謂卞曰：「君才簡略，堪大不堪小，不如作守舍人。」卞從其言。

Liu Bian, courtesy Shulong, was a native of Xuchang in Dongping commandery. Born to a military household, he was blunt and sparing of speech. As a young county clerk he refused to hold a candle for the drunken merit officer at night; the officer nursed a grudge and reassigned him to watch a roadside pavilion on a pretext. A holder of the xiucai degree named Zu drafted a letter to the inspector in the pavilion but stalled; Liu Bian offered a few sentences that gave it striking force. Zu told the magistrate, "Liu Bian is clerk material for the high offices—why waste him on a pavilion?" The magistrate made him gate clerk, but he handled affairs loosely and lacked polish. The magistrate asked whether he would study. Liu Bian said he would gladly try." He was sent to school. Soon his elder brother, a long-service guardsman for the heir apparent, died; regulations required a replacement and the merit officer asked Liu Bian to fill in. The magistrate cited Zu's earlier praise." The request was refused. Liu Bian followed the magistrate to Luoyang, entered the imperial academy, passed the Classics examination, and became a fourth-rank clerk at headquarters. An investigator ordered him to copy a cartload of yellow paper; Liu Bian replied, "I am no copyist for hire." The investigator complained to the impartial judge and demoted him to clerk under the director of the Masters of Writing. Someone advised him, "Your gifts suit great affairs, not petty chores—better serve as palace warder." Liu Bian took the advice.

後為吏部令史，遷齊王攸司空主簿，轉太常丞、司徒左西曹掾、尚書郎，所曆皆稱職。累遷散騎侍郎，除并州刺史，入為左衛率，知賈后廢太子之謀，甚憂之。以計幹張華而不見用，益以不平。賈后親黨微服聽察外間，頗聞卞言，乃遷卞為輕車將軍、雍州刺史，卞知言泄，恐為賈后所誅，乃飲藥卒。初，卞之并州，昔同時為須昌小吏者十餘人祖餞之，其一人輕卞，卞遣扶出之，人以此少之。

He rose from clerk in the Ministry of Personnel to chief clerk under Prince Sima You of Qi as minister of works, then chamberlain aide, west-bureau clerk under the minister of education, and gentleman of the Masters of Writing—each post suited him. Promoted to gentleman attendant cavalry, then governor of Bingzhou, then commander of the left guard for the heir—learning of Empress Jia's plot to remove the heir he grew deeply anxious. His appeals to Zhang Hua went nowhere and his resentment deepened. Empress Jia's agents in disguise overheard him; they promoted him to general of light chariots and governor of Yongzhou as a banishment—realizing his warning had leaked and fearing execution, he drank poison. When Liu Bian left for Bingzhou a dozen former Xuchang clerks held a farewell; one mocked him and Liu Bian had him dragged out—onlookers thought him petty.

史臣曰：夫忠為令德，學乃國華，譬眾星之有禮義，人倫之有冠冕也。衛瓘撫武帝之床，張華距趙倫之命，進諫則伯玉居多，臨危則茂先為美。遵乎險轍，理有可言：昏亂方凝，則事睽其趣；松筠無改，則死勝於生，固以赴蹈為期，而不辭乎傾覆者也。俱陷淫網，同嗟承劍，邦家殄瘁，不亦傷哉！

The historians wrote: Loyalty is the finest virtue, learning the state's brightest ornament—like ritual among the stars or the crown of human relations. Wei Guan steadied Emperor Wu's couch while Zhang Hua defied Prince Zhao Lun's orders—Boyu led in loyal counsel, Maoxian shone when danger loomed. On perilous roads principle still speaks: when darkness thickens, affairs lose their course; yet where pine and bamboo stand unbent, death outshines life—those who march toward the flame do not flinch at ruin. Both were caught in wanton snares and fell to the blade together—the realm laid waste. How tragic!

贊曰：賢人委質，道映陵寒。屍祿觀敗，吾生未安。衛以賈滅，張由趙殘。忠於亂世，自古為難。

The encomium runs: Worthies pledged their lives; their Way gleams through bitter winters. Others drew pay like corpses and watched ruin—no peace for our age. Wei fell to the Jia clan; Zhang was broken by Prince Zhao. Loyalty in a time of chaos has never been easy.

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