1
山濤
Shan Tao
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山濤，字巨源，河內懷人也。 父曜，宛句令。 濤早孤，居貧，少有器量，介然不群。 性好《莊》《老》，每隱身自晦。 與嵇康、呂安善，後遇阮籍，便為竹林之交，著忘言之契。 康後坐事，臨誅，謂子紹曰：「巨源在，汝不孤矣。」
Shan Tao, courtesy name Juyuan, came from Huai in Henei commandery. His father Shan Yao had been magistrate of Yuanju. Orphaned young and poor, he showed unusual breadth of character and stood apart from ordinary men. He loved Zhuangzi and Laozi and kept deliberately out of the spotlight. He befriended Xi Kang and Lu An, then Ruan Ji, forming the Bamboo Grove circle bound by understanding deeper than words. When Xi Kang faced execution for his crimes, he told his son Xi Shao, "As long as Juyuan lives, you will not stand alone."
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濤年四十，始為郡主簿、功曹、上計掾。 舉孝廉，州辟部河南從事。 與石鑒共宿，濤夜起蹴鑒曰：「今為何等時而眠邪！ 知太傅臥何意？」 鑒曰：「宰相三不朝，與尺一令歸第，卿何慮也！」 濤曰：「咄！ 石生無事馬蹄間邪！」 投傳而去。 未二年，果有曹爽之事，遂隱身不交世務。
At forty he took his first posts—chief clerk, merit officer, and accounting clerk for the commandery. Recommended as filial and incorrupt, he was summoned to serve as staff supervisor for Henan. Sharing lodgings with Shi Jian, Shan Tao woke him with a kick: "How can you sleep at a time like this? Do you know why the grand tutor lies idle?" Shi Jian replied, "The chief minister has skipped three audiences and received an edict to go home—what is there to fret about?" Shan Tao snapped, "Nonsense! Master Shi, have you nothing better to do than idle between the horses' hooves?" He threw down his travel permit and left. Within two years Cao Shuang fell; Shan Tao withdrew from public life.
4
與宣穆後有中表親，是以見景帝。 帝曰：「呂望欲仕邪？」 命司隸舉秀才，除郎中。 轉驃騎將軍王昶從事中郎。 久之，拜趙國相，遷尚書吏部郎。 文帝與濤書曰：「足下在事清明，雅操邁時。 念多所乏，今致錢二十萬、穀二百斛。」 魏帝嘗賜景帝春服，帝以賜濤。 又以母老，並賜藜杖一枚。
Kinship with Empress Dowager Xuanmu brought him to Emperor Jing's notice. The emperor asked, "Do you wish to serve like Lü Wang?" He ordered Shan Tao recommended as a cultivated talent and appointed gentleman of the palace. He became aide-de-camp to General of Agile Cavalry Wang Chang. After long service he became chancellor of Zhao state, then Personnel secretary in the Masters of Writing. Prince Wen of Wei wrote: "In office you are lucid and upright; your conduct towers above your contemporaries. Knowing your wants are many, I send two hundred thousand cash and two hundred hu of grain." When the Wei emperor gave Prince Jing spring robes, he passed them on to Shan Tao. Because his mother was aged, he also received a goosefoot staff of honor.
5
晚與尚書和逌交，又與鐘會、裴秀並申款昵。 以二人居勢爭權，濤平心處中，各得其所，而俱無恨焉。 遷大將軍從事中郎。 鐘會作亂於蜀，而文帝將西征。 時魏氏諸王公並在鄴，帝謂濤曰：「西偏吾自了之，後事深以委卿。」 以本官行軍司馬，給親兵五百人，鎮鄴。
Later he grew close to vice director He You and formed warm ties with Zhong Hui and Pei Xiu. When Zhong Hui and Pei Xiu jockeyed for power, Shan Tao stayed even-handed so both felt satisfied and neither bore a grudge. He was promoted aide-de-camp to the grand general. When Zhong Hui rebelled in Shu, Prince Wen prepared a western campaign. With Wei princes gathered at Ye, Prince Wen told Shan Tao, "I shall handle the west myself; I leave what follows chiefly to you." Shan Tao served as army marshal in his existing rank with five hundred household guards to secure Ye.
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咸熙初，封新遝子。 轉相國左長史，典統別營。 時帝以濤鄉閭宿望，命太子拜之。 帝以齊王攸繼景帝后，素又重攸，嘗問裴秀曰：「大將軍開建未遂，吾但承奉後事耳。 故立攸，將歸功於兄，何如？」 秀以為不可，又以問濤。 濤對曰：「廢長立少，違禮不祥。 國之安危，恆必由之。」 太子位於是乃定。 太子親拜謝濤。 及武帝受禪，以濤守大鴻臚，護送陳留王詣鄴。 泰始初，加奉車都尉，進爵新遝伯。
Early in the Xianxi era he was enfeoffed as baron of Xintao. He became senior clerk on the left under the minister of state and commanded a separate camp. Because Shan Tao enjoyed renown in his home region, the prince ordered the heir apparent to bow to him. Because Prince You of Qi stood in Emperor Jing's line and the prince favored him, Sima Zhao once asked Pei Xiu, "The grand foundation is unfinished; I only carry on what follows. What if I establish You as heir and credit my elder brother?" Pei Xiu opposed the idea, so he turned to Shan Tao. Shan Tao answered, "Setting aside the elder for the younger breaks ritual and invites ill fortune. A state's rise or fall often hinges on such choices." The heir apparent's place was settled. The heir apparent bowed to Shan Tao in gratitude. When Emperor Wu accepted the abdication, Shan Tao served as acting grand herald escorting the Chenliu king to Ye. Early in Taishi he received the title commandant of carriage attendants and advanced to earl of Xintao.
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及羊祜執政，時人欲危裴秀，濤正色保持之。 由是失權臣意，出為冀州刺史，加甯遠將軍。 冀州俗薄，無相推轂。 濤甄拔隱屈，搜訪賢才，旌命三十餘人，皆顯名當時。 人懷慕尚，風俗頗革。 轉北中郎將，督鄴城守事。 入為侍中，遷尚書。 以母老辭職，詔曰：「君雖乃心在於色養，然職有上下，旦夕不廢醫藥，且當割情，以隆在公。」 濤心求退，表疏數十上，久乃見聽。 除議郎，帝以濤清儉無以供養，特給日契，加賜床帳茵褥。 禮秩崇重，時莫為比。
When Yang Hu directed the government and others threatened Pei Xiu, Shan Tao defended him sternly. That cost him powerful men's favor; he became governor of Ji Province with title general who pacifies the distance. Ji customs were mean-spirited; men seldom recommended others. Shan Tao elevated the obscure, sought out talent, and summoned over thirty men who soon rose to prominence. People admired him and local habits improved. He became north army general-in-chief directing Ye's defenses. He entered court as palace attendant and joined the Masters of Writing. He resigned to care for his aged mother. The edict replied: "Though filial devotion moves you, offices have ranks; attend her with medicine morning and night, yet curb private feeling to serve the state." Shan Tao still wished to retire and filed dozens of petitions before approval came. Named gentleman consultant, he was too poor to support his mother; the emperor granted daily provisions plus couch hangings and bedding. No contemporary matched the honors paid him.
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後除太常卿，以疾不就。 會遭母喪，歸鄉里。 濤年逾耳順，居喪過禮，負土成墳，手植松柏。 詔曰：「吾所共致化者，官人之職是也。 方今風欲陵遲，人心進動，宜崇明好惡，鎮以退讓。 山太常雖尚居諒闇，情在難奪，方今務殷，何得遂其志邪！ 其以濤為吏部尚書。」 濤辭以喪病，章表懇切。 會元皇后崩，遂扶興還洛。 逼迫詔命，自力就職。 前後選舉，周遍內外，而並得其才。
Offered the court of sacrifices he declined on grounds of illness. When his mother died he returned home. Past sixty, he exceeded mourning propriety—carrying earth for her tomb and planting pines with his own hands. An edict declared: "Ordering appointments is how We transform the realm. Customs slide and ambition runs wild; We must clarify right and wrong and steady men through yielding. Though Minister Shan still mourns and grief grips him, urgent business forbids indulging his wishes! Appoint Shan Tao minister of Personnel." Shan Tao pleaded mourning and illness in earnest memorials. When Empress Yuan died he rode the litter back to Luoyang. Edicts pressed him until he took office under his own power. His successive selections, reaching every corner of government, matched talent to post.
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咸甯初，轉太子少傅，加散騎常侍； 除尚書僕射，加侍中，領吏部。 固辭以老疾，上表陳情。 章表數十上，久不攝職，為左丞白褒所奏。 帝曰：「濤以病自聞，但不聽之耳。 使濤坐執銓衡則可，何必上下邪！ 不得有所問。」 濤不自安，表謝曰：「古之王道，正直而已。 陛下不可以一老臣為加曲私，臣亦何必屢陳日月。 乞如所表，以章典刑。」 帝再手詔曰：「白褒奏君甚妄，所以不即推，直不喜凶赫耳。 君之明度，豈當介意邪！ 便當攝職，令斷章表也。」 濤志必欲退，因發從弟婦喪，輒還外舍。 詔曰：「山僕射近日暫出，遂以微苦未還，豈吾側席之意。 其遣丞掾奉詔諭旨，若體力故未平康者，便以輿車輿還寺舍。」 濤辭不獲已，乃起視事。
Early in Xianning he became junior tutor to the heir with cavalier attendant-in-ordinary; He was named vice director of the Masters of Writing and palace attendant while supervising Personnel. He firmly pleaded age and illness in memorials. After dozens of memorials he still avoided duties until assistant director Bai Bao impeached him. The emperor said, "Shan Tao reported illness; I simply did not grant leave. Let him oversee appointments seated—why insist he rise for every detail! Do not pursue the matter further." Uneasy, Shan Tao thanked the throne: "The ancient kings governed through straightforward integrity alone. Your Majesty must not bend law for one old minister; neither must I weary you with endless petitions. Grant my request and uphold the statutes." The emperor wrote again: "Bai Bao's charge was absurd; I did not investigate only to avoid ugly publicity. A man of your discernment should not dwell on it! Resume your duties and cease these memorials." Determined to quit, he seized his cousin's wife's funeral as pretext and moved out. An edict said: "The vice director left briefly for slight illness and has not returned—is that what I intend by leaving his mat empty? Send clerks with my words: if he remains unwell, carry him back to office in a litter." Unable to refuse further, he returned to duty.
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濤再居選職十有餘年，每一官缺，輒啟擬數人，詔旨有所向，然後顯奏，隨帝意所欲為先。 故帝之所用，或非舉首，眾情不察，以濤輕重任意。 或譖之於帝，故帝手詔戒濤曰：「夫用人惟才，不遺疏遠單賤，天下便化矣。」 而濤行之自若，一年之後眾情乃寢。 濤所奏甄拔人物，各為題目，時稱《山公啟事》。
Shan Tao directed personnel for over a decade; for each vacancy he proposed several names, learned the emperor's preference, then formally recommended whoever the emperor favored first. Appointments sometimes skipped Shan Tao's top pick; unaware critics accused him of arbitrary favoritism. Slander reached the emperor, who wrote: "Employ men on merit alone, ignoring humble origins, and the realm will follow." Shan Tao continued unchanged; within a year the gossip died. His nomination memorials, each headed by topic, became known as "Lord Shan's Official Posts."
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濤中立於朝，晚值後黨專權，不欲任楊氏，多有諷諫，帝雖悟而不能改。 後以年衰疾篤，上疏告退曰：「臣年垂八十，救命旦夕，若有毫末之益，豈遺力于聖時，迫以老耄，不復任事。 今四海休息，天下思化，從而靜之，百姓自正。 但當崇風尚教以敦之耳，陛下亦復何事。 臣耳目聾瞑，不能自勵。 君臣父子，其間無文，是以直陳愚情，乞聽所請。」 乃免冠徒跣，上還印綬。 詔曰：「天下事廣，加吳土初平，凡百草創，當共盡意化之。 君不深識往心而以小疾求退，豈所望於君邪！ 朕猶側席，未得垂拱，君亦何得高尚其事乎！ 當崇至公，勿復為虛飾之煩。」 濤苦表請退，詔又不許。 尚書令衛瓘奏：「濤以微苦，久不視職。 手詔頻煩，猶未順旨。 參議以為無專節之尚，違在公之義。 若實沈篤，亦不宜居位。 可免濤官。」 中詔瓘曰：「濤以德素為朝之望，而常深退讓，至於懇切。 故比有詔，欲必奪其志，以匡輔不逮。 主者既不思明詔旨，而反深加詆案。 虧崇賢之風，以重吾不德，何以示遠近邪！」 濤不得已，又起視事。
Shan Tao stayed neutral; late in life the empress's faction dominated and he resisted empowering the Yangs, often remonstrating—the emperor understood yet could not change course. Age and grave illness moved him to resign: "Near eighty, I await death daily; were any strength left I would spare none for your reign, but senility bars further service. The realm rests; people crave moral sway—calm them and commoners order themselves. You need only champion teaching by example—little else remains for Your Majesty to do. My eyes and ears fail—I cannot rouse myself. Between lord and minister, father and son, ritual yields to truth—I speak plainly and beg consent." He doffed cap and shoes and returned his seals. The edict answered: "Affairs are vast and Wu newly pacified; everything must be built—we must labor together to civilize it. You ignore my earlier intent and plead minor illness—is that what I expect of you! I still leave your mat empty—I cannot rule effortlessly—how may you pose as lofty recluse! Serve the greater good and spare Us hollow gestures." His bitter pleas again failed. Director Wei Guan reported: "Shan Tao cites minor illness and long neglects duty. Imperial rescripts arrived again and again, yet he still refused to obey. The advisory officials argued that he fell short of the virtue singled out for honor and betrayed the duty of impartial service to the state. Even if he were genuinely and gravely ill, he should still not hold office. Shan Tao should be removed from his post." …" An interim edict instructed Wei Guan: "Shan Tao is esteemed for his plain virtue and is the mainstay of the court, yet he constantly insists on retiring—most earnestly so. Hence repeated edicts have sought to override his determination so that he may assist me where my abilities do not reach. Those responsible have ignored the clear meaning of the edicts and instead piled accusations on him. This undermines the spirit of honoring the worthy and compounds my lack of virtue—how am I to show myself to the realm! Left no choice, Shan Tao resumed his duties.
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太康初，遷右僕射，加光祿大夫，侍中、掌選如故。 濤以老疾固辭，手詔曰：「君以道德為世模表，況自先帝識君遠意。 吾將倚君以穆風俗，何乃欲舍遠朝政，獨高其志耶！ 吾之至懷故不足以喻乎，何來言至懇切也。 且當以時自力，深副至望。 君不降志，朕不安席。」 濤又上表固讓，不許。
Early in the Taikang era he was promoted to Right Vice Director and granted the title Grand Master of Splendid Carriage; he remained attendant-in-ordinary and in charge of appointments as before. Shan Tao firmly resigned on grounds of age and infirmity; a handwritten edict replied: "You exemplify moral excellence for the world, and the late emperor already grasped your long-term aims. I depend on you to bring harmony to customs—why would you abandon court affairs and pride yourself on lofty withdrawal? Surely my deepest regard cannot be put across—why do you speak with such desperate earnestness? You must meantime rally your strength and fully live up to what I expect of you. Unless you set aside this resolve, I cannot rest easy. Shan Tao submitted another memorial firmly declining; permission was refused.
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吳平之後，帝詔天下罷軍役，示海內大安，州郡悉去兵，大郡置武吏百人，小郡五十人。 帝嘗講武于宣武場，濤時有疾，詔乘步輦從。 因與盧欽論用兵之本，以為不宜去州郡武備，其論甚精。 于時咸以濤不學孫、吳，而暗與之合。 帝稱之曰：「天下名言也。」 而不能用。 及永寧之後，屢有變難，寇賊猋起，郡國皆以無備不能制，天下遂以大亂，如濤言焉。
After Wu fell, the emperor ordered the empire to stand down levies and signals that all within the seas were at peace; provinces and commanderies stripped their garrisons—larger commanderies kept a hundred military clerks, smaller ones fifty. When the emperor once held military exercises at Xuanwu Field, Shan Tao was ill and was ordered to follow in a sedan chair. Shan Tao then discussed the fundamentals of warfare with Lu Qin and argued that local military readiness should not be dismantled; his reasoning was acute. Everyone assumed Shan Tao had not studied Sunzi and Wuzi, yet his views tacitly matched theirs. The emperor declared, "That is a maxim for the whole realm." Yet he did not put it into practice. After the Yongning era, turmoil broke out again and again; bandits sprang up like a whirlwind, and provinces could not cope through lack of preparation—the realm descended into great chaos, just as Shan Tao had warned.
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後拜司徒，濤復固讓。」 詔曰：「郡年耆德茂，朝之碩老，是以授君台輔之位。 而遠崇克讓，至於反覆，良用於邑。 君當終始朝政，翼輔朕躬。」 濤又表曰：「臣事天朝三十餘年，卒無毫釐以崇大化。 陛下私臣無已，猥授三司。 臣聞德薄位高，力少任重，上有折足之凶，下有廟門之咎，願陛下垂累世之恩，乞臣骸骨。 詔曰：「君翼贊朝政，保乂皇家，匡佐之勳，朕所倚賴。 司徒之職，實掌幫教，故用敬授，以答群望。 豈宜沖讓以自抑損邪！」 已敕斷章表，使者乃臥加章綬。 濤曰：「垂沒之人，豈可汙官府乎！」 輿疾歸家。 乙薨，時年七十九，詔賜東園秘器、朝服一具、衣一襲、錢五十萬、布百匹，以供喪事，策贈司徒，蜜印紫綬，侍中貂蟬，新遝伯蜜印青硃綬，祭乙太牢，諡曰康。 將葬，賜錢四十萬、布百匹。 左長史範晷等上言：「濤舊第屋十間，子孫不相容。」 帝為之立室。
He was later appointed Minister of Education; Shan Tao again firmly declined." …" The edict read: "You are advanced in years and rich in virtue—the seniormost elder of the court—and therefore we confer on you a seat among the highest ministers. Yet you insist from afar on humble refusal to the point of repetition—I am deeply pained. You must see court affairs through from beginning to end and support me as my wing and aide. Shan Tao submitted another memorial: "I have served the dynasty for more than thirty years and have not advanced the great civilizing work by the slightest measure. Your Majesty showers favor on me without limit and has undeservedly placed me among the Three Dukes. They say thin virtue with high rank and little strength with heavy duty brings the omen of a broken tripod leg and blame at the ancestral gate—I beg Your Majesty, in kindness accumulated over generations, to let me retire my bones. The edict replied: "You steady the court, safeguard the house of Jin, and your service as pillar is what I depend on. The Minister of Education truly oversees moral instruction; this appointment honors you and answers what everyone expects. How can it be right to yield in modesty and sell yourself short? Memorials had already been ordered stopped; the envoy then placed the seal and ribbons on him while he lay abed. Shan Tao said, "A dying man cannot soil the offices of government!" He was carried home ill. Shan Tao died at seventy-nine. The court granted burial gifts from the imperial workshop, a court robe, a suit of clothes, five hundred thousand cash, and a hundred bolts of cloth for the funeral; he was posthumously honored as Minister of Education with the seal and purple ribbons of that office, the regalia of attendant-in-ordinary, and the barony seal of Xinta with blue and vermilion ribbons; a grand sacrifice was offered, and his posthumous name was Kang. When the burial approached, the court granted another four hundred thousand cash and a hundred bolts of cloth. Left chief clerk Fan Gui and others reported: "Shan Tao's former house has only ten rooms; his children and grandchildren cannot fit." The emperor had a residence built for them.
15
初，濤布衣家貧，謂妻韓氏曰：「忍饑寒，我後當作三公，但不知卿堪公夫人不耳！」 及居榮貴，貞慎儉約，雖爵同千乘，而無嬪媵。 祿賜俸秩，散之親故。
Long ago, when Shan Tao was a commoner and poor, he told his wife Lady Han, "Bear with hunger and cold—I will rise to the Three Dukes one day; only I do not know whether you can be a duchess!" Once he enjoyed honor and wealth, he remained chaste, careful, and frugal; though his rank matched that of a lord of a thousand chariots, he kept no concubines. He distributed salaries, gifts, and stipends among kinsmen and old friends.
16
初，陳郡袁毅嘗為鬲令，貪濁而賂遺公卿，以求虛譽，亦遺濤絲百斤，濤不欲異于時，受而藏於閣上。 後毅事露，檻車送廷尉，凡所以賂，皆見推檢。 濤乃取絲付吏，積年塵埃，印封如初。
Once Yuan Yi of Chen commandery, as magistrate of Ge, was corrupt and sent bribes to high officials to win hollow praise; he also sent Shan Tao a hundred jin of silk. Shan Tao did not wish to seem out of step with his contemporaries, so he accepted it and stowed it in his loft. When Yuan Yi's crimes came to light, he was carted to the Minister of Justice, and every bribe was traced and investigated. Shan Tao then handed the silk to the clerks; years of dust lay on it, and the seals were intact as on the day they arrived.
17
濤飲酒至八斗方醉，帝欲試之，乃以酒八斗飲濤，而密益其酒，濤極本量而止。 有五子：該、淳、允、謨、簡。
Shan Tao could drink eight dou of wine before becoming drunk. The emperor wished to test him and gave him eight dou—but secretly added more. Shan Tao stopped when he reached his natural limit. He had five sons: Gai, Chun, Yun, Mo, and Jian.
18
該字伯倫，嗣父爵，仕至并州刺史、太子左率，贈長水校尉。 該子瑋字彥祖，翊軍校尉，次子世回，吏部郎、散騎常侍。
Shan Gai, courtesy name Bolun, inherited his father's noble rank and rose to regional inspector of Bingzhou and left commandant to the crown prince; posthumously he was awarded chief of Changshui. Shan Gai's son Shan Wei, courtesy name Yanzu, was Colonel Who Assists the Army; his second son, Shihui, served as a gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel and regular attendant on palace affairs.
19
淳字子玄，不仕，允字叔真，奉車都尉，並少尪病，形甚短小，而聰敏過人。 武帝聞而欲見之，濤不敢辭，以問於允。 允自以尪陋，不肯行。 濤以為勝己，乃表曰：「臣二子尪病，宜絕人事，不敢受詔。」
Shan Chun, courtesy name Zixuan, did not take office. Shan Yun, courtesy name Shuzhen, was commandant of the imperial chariots. Both were frail and sickly from youth, very short in stature, yet clever beyond ordinary men. Emperor Wu heard of them and wished to meet them; Shan Tao did not dare refuse and put the question to Shan Yun. Shan Yun considered himself too frail and unsightly to go. Shan Tao felt Yun surpassed himself and therefore memorialized: "My two sons are chronically ill and ought to be cut off from worldly affairs; I dare not accept the summons."
20
謨字季長，明惠有才智，官至司空掾。
Shan Mo, courtesy name Jichang, was bright, keen, and talented; he rose to aide in the Minister of Works bureau.
22
子簡
His son was Shan Jian.
23
=簡字季倫。 性溫雅，有父風，年二十餘，濤不之知也。 簡歎曰：「吾年幾三十，而不為家公所知！」 後與譙國嵇紹、沛郡劉謨、弘農楊准齊名。 初為太子舍人，累遷太子庶子、黃門郎，出為青州刺史。 徵拜侍中，頃之，轉尚書。 曆鎮軍將軍、荊州刺史，領南蠻校尉，不行，復拜尚書。 光熙初，轉吏部尚書。 永嘉初，出為雍州刺史、鎮西將軍。 徵為尚書左僕射，領吏部。
Shan Jian, courtesy name Jilun. He was mild and refined and took after his father, yet past twenty his father still did not recognize his quality. Shan Jian sighed, "I am almost thirty, and my father still does not know me!" Later he ranked with Xi Shao of Qiao, Liu Mo of Pei, and Yang Zhun of Hongnong. He began as attendant to the crown prince, rose through junior mentor to the heir and gentleman at the Yellow Gate, then left the capital as regional inspector of Qingzhou. He was summoned and appointed attendant-in-ordinary; soon afterward he moved to the Ministry. He served as General Who Garrisons the Army and regional inspector of Jingzhou and held the concurrent title Colonel of the Southern Man but did not take up the post; he was again appointed to the Ministry. Early in the Guangxi era he became Minister of Personnel. Early in the Yongjia era he went out as regional inspector of Yongzhou and General Who Guards the West. He was summoned as Left Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel and headed that bureau.
24
簡欲令朝臣各舉所知，以廣得才之路。 上疏曰：「臣以為自古興替，實在官人； 苟得其才，則無物不理。 《書》言：'知人則哲，惟帝難之。 '唐、虞之盛，元愷登庸； 周室之隆，濟濟多士。 秦、漢已來，風雅漸喪。 至於後漢，女君臨朝，尊官大位，出於阿保，斯亂之始也。 是以郭泰、許劭之倫，明清議於草野； 陳蕃、李固之徒，守忠節於朝廷。 然後君臣名節，古今遺典，可得而言。 自初平之元，訖于建安之末，三十年中，萬姓流散，死亡略盡，斯亂之極也。 世祖武皇帝應天順人，受禪于魏，泰始之初，躬親萬機，佐命之臣，咸皆率職。 時黃門侍郎王恂、庾純始於太極東堂聽政，評尚書奏事，多論刑獄，不論選舉。 臣以為不先所難，而辨其所易。 陛下初臨萬國，人思盡誠，每於聽政之日，命公卿大臣先議選舉，各言所見後進俊才、鄉邑尤異、才堪任用者，皆以名奏，主者隨缺先敘。 是爵人於朝，與眾共之之義也。」 朝廷從之。
Shan Jian wished court officials each to recommend men they knew so as to widen the path to finding talent. He submitted a memorial: "I hold that rise and fall since antiquity truly hinge on the appointment of officials; if the right men are chosen, nothing will go untended. The Documents says, 'To know men is to be wise—even for the sovereign this is hard.' In the glory of Tang and Yu the Eight Yuan and Eight Kai rose to office; in Zhou's greatness the host of officers stood in ordered ranks. From Qin and Han onward, that cultivated tone was gradually lost. By Later Han, women ruled from behind the screen; high rank came from nursemaids—that was the beginning of the disorder. Thus men like Guo Tai and Xu Shao upheld pure judgment in the countryside; Chen Fan, Li Gu, and their kind kept loyal integrity at court. Only then could ruler and minister, name and integrity, and the legacy of past and present be spoken of with clarity. From the first year of Chuping to the end of Jian'an, thirty years of wandering and scattering for the common people—death took nearly all—that was chaos at its worst. Emperor Wu, our Shizu, answered Heaven and the people, received the abdication from Wei; at the outset of Taishi he personally attended to every matter of state, and the ministers who had aided the founding mandate each fulfilled his office. When Gentlemen of the Yellow Gates Wang Xun and Yu Chun first heard governance at the east hall of the Great Ultimate and reviewed Ministerial memorials, they mostly debated punishments and lawsuits, not appointments. I submit that they did not tackle what is hard first while debating what is easy. Your Majesty has newly assumed rule over all lands; men wish to give their utmost loyalty. On each day you hear governance, order the great ministers first to discuss appointments: let each name promising youths he has seen, local men of unusual talent fit for service—their names should all be memorialized, and the officials in charge should rank them by vacancy. That is the meaning of granting rank in open court and sharing the decision with all. The court adopted his proposal.
25
，出為征南將軍、都督荊、湘、交、廣四州諸軍事、假節，鎮襄陽。 于時四方寇亂，天下分崩，王威不振，朝野危懼。 簡優遊卒歲，唯酒是耽。 諸習氏，荊土豪族，有佳園池，簡每出嬉遊，多之池上，置酒輒醉，名之曰高陽池。 時有童兒歌曰：「山公出何許，往至高陽池。 日夕倒載歸，酩酊無所知。 時時能騎馬，倒著白接䍦。 舉鞭問葛疆：何如并州兒？」 疆家在并州，簡愛將也。
He was then posted out as General Who Conquers the South, area commander for military affairs in Jing, Xiang, Jiao, and Guang with credential authority, and garrisoned Xiangyang. Banditry raged on every side; the realm was breaking apart; royal authority faltered; court and countryside lived in fear. Shan Jian idled away the years and drowned himself in wine alone. The Xi clan were a powerful local lineage in Jingzhou with handsome gardens and ponds; whenever Shan Jian went out for pleasure he often spent his time at their pool, set out wine, grew drunk, and called it the Gaoyang Pool. At the time a children's song ran: "Where does Lord Shan go—off to the Gaoyang Pool. Evening comes and he rides home backward, blind drunk, knowing nothing. Sometimes he can still ride, his white gauze cap on backward. He lifts his whip and asks Ge Jiang: how do I stack up against a lad from Bingzhou? Ge Jiang's family was from Bingzhou; he was a favorite general of Shan Jian.
26
尋加督寧、益軍事。 時劉聰入寇，京師危逼。 簡遣督護王萬率師赴難，次於涅陽，為宛城賊王如所破，遂嬰城自守。 及洛陽陷沒，簡又為賊嚴嶷所逼，乃遷于夏口。 招納流亡，江、漢歸附。 時華軼以江州作難，或勸簡討之。 簡曰：「與彥夏舊友，為之惆悵。 簡豈利人之機，以為功伐乎！」 其篤厚如此。 時樂府伶人避難，多奔沔漢，宴會之日，僚佐或勸奏之。 簡曰：「社稷傾覆，不能匡救，有晉之罪人也，何作樂之有！」 因流涕慷慨，坐者咸愧焉。 年六十卒，追贈征南大將軍、儀同三司。 子遐。
He was soon additionally charged with military affairs in Ning and Yi. When Liu Cong invaded, the capital was in acute peril. Shan Jian sent protector Wang Wan with troops to the rescue; they halted at Neyang and were defeated by the Wancheng bandit Wang Ru, whereupon they walled themselves in on the defensive. When Luoyang fell, Shan Jian was again pressed by the bandit Yan Yi and therefore withdrew to Xiakou. He gathered refugees; the Yangtze and Han regions rallied to him. When Hua Yi raised trouble from Jiangzhou, some urged Shan Jian to campaign against him. Shan Jian said, "Yanxia and I are old friends; I grieve for him. Would I seize another man's disaster for my own glory!" Such was the depth of his loyalty and generosity. Musicians from the Bureau of Music had fled the turmoil and gathered along the Mian and Han; at a feast his staff urged him to have them play. Shan Jian said, "The altars lie in ruins and we could not save them—we are Jin's guilty men—what business have we with music!" He wept with bitter passion; everyone present felt ashamed. He died at sixty and was posthumously honored as Grand General Who Conquers the South with ceremonial parity to the Three Dukes. His son was Shan Xia.
28
簡子遐
Shan Jian's son Shan Xia
29
=遐字彥林，為余姚令。 時江左初基，法禁寬弛，豪族多挾藏戶口，以為私附。 遐繩以峻法，到縣八旬，出口萬餘。 縣人虞喜以藏戶當棄市，遐欲繩喜。 諸豪強莫不切齒於遐，言于執事，以喜有高節，不宜屈辱。 又以遐輒造縣舍，遂陷其罪。 遐與會稽內史何充箋：「乞留百日，窮翦捕逃，退而就罪，無恨也。」 充申理，不能得。 竟坐免官。 後為東陽太守，為政嚴猛。 康帝詔曰：「東陽頃來竟囚，每多入重。 豈郡多罪人，將捶楚所求，莫能自固邪！」 遐處之自若，郡境肅然。 卒於官。
Shan Xia, courtesy name Yanlin, served as magistrate of Yuyao. The southeast had only lately been organized; statutes were lax, and powerful families hid households from the registers as private dependents. Shan Xia enforced the law strictly; within eighty days of his arrival he had brought more than ten thousand persons back onto the tax rolls. The county resident Yu Xi faced execution in the marketplace for concealing households; Shan Xia meant to prosecute him to the letter. The local magnates gnashed their teeth at Shan Xia and lobbied the authorities, arguing that Yu Xi was a man of high principle and ought not be humiliated. They also accused Shan Xia of unauthorized construction at the county offices and used it to pin crimes on him. Shan Xia wrote to He Chong, interior steward of Kuaiji: "Grant me a hundred days to finish rooting out fugitives; then I will submit to judgment with no regrets." He Chong pleaded his case but failed. In the end Shan Xia was dismissed from office. He later became grand warden of Dongyang and ruled with severity and force. Emperor Kang issued an edict: "Of late in Dongyang trials end with prisoners—far too many sentenced harshly. Does the commandery truly harbor so many criminals, or do the rods demand confessions until no one can hold firm?" Shan Xia carried on unruffled, and the commandery stayed orderly. He died in office.
30
史臣曰：若夫居官以潔其務，欲以啟天下之方，事親以終其身，將以勸天下之俗，非山公之具美，其孰能與於此者哉！ 自東京喪亂，吏曹湮滅，西園有三公之錢，蒲陶有一州之任，貪饕方駕，寺署斯滿。 時移三代，世曆九王，拜謝私庭，此焉成俗。 若乃餘風稍殄，理或可言。 委以銓綜，則群情自抑； 通乎魚水，則專用生疑。 將矯前失，歸諸後正，惠絕臣名，恩馳天口，世稱《山公啟事》者，豈斯之謂歟！ 若盧子家之前代何足算也。
The historians write: To hold office and keep one's charge pure, hoping to set the pattern for the realm; to serve one's parents to the end of one's days, hoping to improve custom throughout the land—without Duke Shan's full measure of excellence, who could have risen to that! After the eastern capital fell into chaos the personnel offices collapsed; the Western Park traded in Three Ducal appointments, grape-wine bought a whole province's charge; greed ran riot and every office swelled with hangers-on. Dynasties rose and fell; nine kings passed in succession; gratitude was offered in private halls until it became the norm. Only when those lingering abuses fade might principle again have something to say. Entrust him with appointments and rival ambitions quiet themselves; when ruler and minister grow as close as fish and water, sole reliance breeds suspicion. Seeking to mend past failings and restore later rectitude, kindness shed ministerial faction and favor flowed straight from the throne—when the age praises Duke Shan's memorials on appointments, is this not what they mean! How can earlier ages such as Lu Zijia's even compare.
31
王戎
Wang Rong
32
王戎，字濬沖，琅邪臨沂人也。 祖雄，幽州刺史。 父渾，涼州刺史、貞陵亭侯。 戎幼而穎悟，神彩秀徹。 視日不眩，裴楷見而目之曰：「戎眼燦燦，如岩下電。」 年六七歲，于宣武場觀戲，猛獸在檻中虓吼震地，眾皆奔走，戎獨立不動，神色自若。 魏明帝於閣上見而奇之。 又嘗與群兒嬉於道側，見李樹多實，等輩兢趣之，戎獨不往。 或問其故，其曰：「樹在道邊而多子，必苦李也。」 取之信然。
Wang Rong, courtesy name Junchong, was a native of Linyi in Langye. His grandfather Wang Xiong had been regional inspector of Youzhou. His father Wang Hun was regional inspector of Liangzhou and marquis of Zhenling precinct. From boyhood Wang Rong was quick and perceptive, his spirit bright and lucid. He could stare at the sun without squinting. Pei Kai looked him over and said, "Rong's eyes shine like lightning under a cliff." At six or seven he watched a show at Xuanwu Field: a fierce beast roared in its cage until the earth shook; the crowd fled, but Wang Rong stood unmoved, perfectly composed. Emperor Ming of Wei watched from a gallery and marveled at him. Once he played by the roadside with other boys beside a plum tree heavy with fruit; they scrambled for the plums, but Wang Rong did not go. Asked why, he said, "A tree by the road still laden with fruit must bear bitter plums." They tried him—and he was right.
33
阮籍與渾為友。 戎年十五，隨渾在郎舍。 戎少籍二十歲，而籍與之交。 籍每適渾，俄頃輒去，過視戎，良久然後出。 謂渾曰：「濬沖清賞，非卿倫也。 共卿言，不如共阿戎談。」 及渾卒於涼州，故吏賻贈數百萬，戎辭而不受，由是顯名。 為人短小，任率不修威儀，善發談端，賞其要會。 朝賢嘗上巳禊洛，或問王濟曰：「昨游有何言談？」 濟曰：「張華善說《史》《漢》； 裴頠論前言往行，袞袞可聽； 王戎談子房、季劄之間，超然玄著。」 其為識鑒者所賞如此。
Ruan Ji was a friend of Wang Hun. At fifteen Wang Rong stayed with Wang Hun in the gentlemen's quarters. Wang Rong was twenty years younger than Ruan Ji, yet Ji befriended him. Whenever Ji came to see Wang Hun, he would leave almost at once, cross over to visit Wang Rong, and stay a long time before emerging. He told Wang Hun, "Junchong's refined discernment is not in your class. Talking with you does not match talking with young Rong." When Wang Hun died in Liangzhou, former subordinates offered several million in condolence gifts; Wang Rong refused them all and thereby became famous. He was short of stature, frank and casual about dignity, skilled at opening a conversation and hitting its vital point. Leading courtiers once held the River purification rite on the third day of the third month; someone asked Wang Ji, "What was discussed on yesterday's outing?" Wang Ji replied, "Zhang Hua discourses well on the Records and the Han; Pei Yi holds forth on deeds of old in an endless stream worth hearing; Wang Rong speaks of Zifang and Jizha with a detachment that is darkly luminous." Men of judgment esteemed him in this way.
34
戎嘗與阮籍飲，時兗州刺史劉昶字公榮在坐，籍以酒少，酌不及昶，昶無恨色。 戎異之，他日問籍曰：「彼何如人也？」 答曰：「勝公榮，不可不與飲； 若減公榮，則不敢不共飲； 惟公榮可不與飲。」 戎每與籍為竹林之遊，戎嘗後至。 籍曰：「俗物已復來敗人意。」 戎笑曰：「卿輩意亦復易敗耳！
Wang Rong once drank with Ruan Ji while Liu Chang of Yanzhou, courtesy Gongrong, was present; wine ran short and Ji did not pour for Liu, who showed no resentment. Wang Rong wondered at this and later asked Ji, "What manner of man is he?" Ji answered, "Better than Gongrong—you cannot refuse him wine; if worse than Gongrong—you dare not refuse to drink with him; only Gongrong may be left without wine." Whenever Wang Rong joined Ruan Ji on their Bamboo Grove outings, Wang Rong tended to arrive late. Ji said, "The vulgar creature has come again to spoil our mood. Wang Rong laughed, "Your moods are easily spoiled too!
35
鐘會伐蜀，過與戎別，問計將安出。 戎曰：「道家有言，'為而不恃'，非成功難，保之難也。」 及會敗，議者以為知言。
When Zhong Hui campaigned against Shu, he stopped to bid Wang Rong farewell and asked what stratagem the commander should pursue. Wang Rong said, "The Daoists teach: 'Act but do not presume on it.' Success is not the hard part—holding it is." When Zhong Hui fell, commentators called his words prescient.
36
襲父爵，辟相國掾，曆吏部黃門郎、散騎常侍、河東太守、荊州刺史，坐遣吏修園宅，應免官，詔以贖論。 遷豫州刺史，加建威將軍，受詔伐吳。 戎遣參軍羅尚、劉喬領前鋒，進攻武昌，吳將楊雍、孫述、江夏太守劉朗各率眾詣戎降。 戎督大軍臨江，吳牙門將孟泰以蘄春、邾二縣降。 吳平，進爵安豐侯，增邑六千戶，賜絹六千匹。
He inherited his father's noble rank and was summoned aide to the minister; he served as gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel and of the Yellow Gate, regular attendant on palace affairs, grand warden of Hedong, and regional inspector of Jingzhou. For sending clerks to renovate his garden estate he should have been dismissed, but an edict judged the matter redeemable by fine. He was promoted to regional inspector of Yu and General Who Establishes Might and received orders to campaign against Wu. Wang Rong sent aides Luo Shang and Liu Qiao with the vanguard to advance on Wuchang; Wu generals Yang Yong and Sun Shu and Jiangxia grand warden Liu Lang each brought their troops to surrender to him. Wang Rong led the main army to the Yangtze; Wu gate general Meng Tai surrendered the counties of Qichun and Zhu. After Wu was pacified he was advanced to marquis of Anfeng with six thousand added households and six thousand bolts of silk.
37
戎渡江，綏慰新附，宣揚威惠。 吳光祿勳石偉方直，不容皓朝，稱疾歸家。 戎嘉其清節，表薦之。 詔拜偉為議郎，以二千石祿終其身。 荊土悅服。 徵為侍中。 南郡太守劉肇賂戎筒中細布五十端，為司隸所糾，以知而未納，故得不坐，然議者尤之。 帝謂朝臣曰：「戎之為行，豈懷私苟得，正當不欲為異耳！」 帝雖以是言釋之，然為清慎者所鄙，由是損名。
Wang Rong crossed the Yangtze, soothed the newly submitted, and broadcast awe and kindness. Wu Supernumerary Grand Master Shi Wei was upright and could not abide Sun Hao's court; he pleaded illness and returned home. Wang Rong admired his integrity and recommended him in a memorial. The court appointed Shi Wei gentleman consultant with a two-thousand-shi stipend for life. The people of Jingzhou were pleased and submitted. He was summoned as attendant-in-ordinary. Nan commandery grand warden Liu Zhao slipped fifty bolts of fine cloth into Wang Rong's tube as a bribe; the metropolitan investigator impeached him, but because Wang had known of it yet not accepted it, he escaped punishment—though critics still condemned him. The emperor told the ministers, "In his conduct Wang Rong does not scheme for private gain—he simply wishes not to seem odd!" Although the emperor thus excused him, men who prized purity despised him, and his reputation suffered.
38
戎在職雖無殊能，而庶績修理。 後遷光祿勳、吏部尚書，以母憂去職。 性至孝，不拘禮制，飲酒食肉，或觀弈棋，而容貌毀悴，杖然後起。 裴頠往吊之，謂人曰：「若使一慟能傷人，濬沖不免滅性之譏也。」 時和嶠亦居父喪，以禮法自持，量米而食，哀毀不逾於戎。 帝謂劉毅曰：「和嶠毀頓過禮，使人憂之。」 毅曰：「嶠雖寢苫食粥，乃生孝耳。 至於王戎，所謂死孝，陛下當先憂之。」 戎先有吐疾，居喪增甚。 帝遣醫療之，並賜藥物，又斷賓客。
Wang Rong showed no outstanding talent in office, yet routine administration stayed in good order. He later rose to Supernumerary Grand Master and Minister of Personnel, then left office for his mother's mourning. He was deeply filial yet ignored ritual propriety: he drank and ate meat and sometimes watched weiqi, yet his looks wasted away until he needed a staff to rise. Pei Yi went to condole and said, "If a single burst of grief could wound a man, Junchong could not escape the charge of destroying his nature." At the same time He Qiao observed mourning for his father with strict ritual discipline, measuring his rice; yet his grief did not exceed Wang Rong's. The emperor said to Liu Yi, "He Qiao's exhaustion exceeds the rites and worries me." Liu Yi replied, "He Qiao sleeps on straw and eats gruel—that is the filial piety of the living. As for Wang Rong, this is filial grief unto death—Your Majesty should worry for him first." Wang Rong had long suffered vomiting; mourning made it far worse. The emperor sent physicians and medicines and barred visitors.
39
楊駿執政，拜太子太傅。 駿誅之後，東安公繇專斷刑賞，威震外內。 戎誡繇曰：「大事之後，宜深遠之。」 繇不從，果得罪。 轉中書令，加光祿大夫，給恩信五十人。 遷尚書左僕射，領吏部。
When Yang Jun dominated the government, Wang Rong was appointed grand tutor to the crown prince. After Yang Jun was executed, Duke Sima Yao of Dong'an monopolized punishments and rewards and awed court and countryside. Wang Rong warned Yao, "After a great upheaval one should keep one's distance." Yao did not listen and soon fell afoul of the regime. Wang Rong was transferred to palace secretary, granted Grand Master of Splendid Carriage, and fifty attendant guards. He rose to Left Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel and headed that bureau.
40
戎始為甲午制，凡選舉皆先治百姓，然後授用。 司隸傅咸奏戎，曰：「《書》稱『三載考績，三考黜陟幽明』。 今內外群官，居職未期而戎奏還，既未定其優劣，且送故迎新，相望道路，巧詐由生，傷農害政。 戎不仰依堯舜典謨，而驅動浮華，虧敗風俗，非徒無益，乃有大損。 宜免戎官，以敦風俗。」 戎與賈、郭通親，竟得不坐。 尋轉司徒。 以王政將圮，苟媚取容，屬湣懷太子之廢，竟無一言匡諫。
Wang Rong introduced the jiawu rotation for appointments: candidates had to govern commoners first before receiving substantive posts. Metropolitan Commandant Fu Xian memorialized against Wang Rong: "The Documents says: 'Examine merit every three years; after three rounds demote the dim and promote the bright. Now officials throughout the realm have not served a full term before Wang Rong memorializes their recall; their merits are unsettled, farewells and welcomes crowd the roads, deceit flourishes, farming suffers, and government is harmed. Instead of resting on the models of Yao and Shun, Wang Rong stirs empty fashion and corrupts morals—not merely without profit but with grave harm. Wang Rong should be removed from office to shore up public conduct." Wang Rong was closely tied by marriage to the Jia and Guo clans and in the end escaped punishment. He was soon transferred to Minister of Education. Seeing royal rule about to collapse, he flattered only to stay safe; when Crown Prince Minhuai was deposed he offered not a word of counsel.
41
裴頠，戎之婿也，頠誅，戎坐免官。 齊王冏起義，孫秀祿戎於城內，趙王倫子欲取戎為軍司。 博士王繇曰：「濬沖譎詐多端，安肯為少年用？」 乃止。 惠帝反宮，以戎為尚書令。 既而河間王顒遣使就說成都王穎，將誅齊王冏。 檄書至，冏謂戎曰：「孫秀作逆，天子幽逼。 孤糾合義兵，掃除元惡，臣子之節，信著神明。 二王聽讒，造構大難，當賴忠謀，以和不協。 卿其善為我籌之。」 戎曰：「公首舉義眾，匡定大業，開闢以來，未始有也。 然論功報嘗，不及有勞，朝野失望，人懷貳志。 今二王帶甲百萬，其鋒不可當，若以王就第，不失故爵。 委權崇讓，此求安之計也。」 冏謀臣葛旟怒曰：「漢魏以來，王公就第，甯有得保妻子乎！ 議者可斬。」 於是百官震悚，戎偽藥發墮廁，得不及禍。
Pei Yi was Wang Rong's son-in-law; when Yi was executed, Wang Rong was dismissed as an accessory. When Prince Sima Jiong of Qi rose in arms, Sun Xiu had Wang Rong detained in the city; the son of Prince Sima Lun of Zhao wished to take Wang Rong as army director. Erudite Wang Yao said, "Junchong is wily and treacherous—why would he serve a stripling?" The plan was dropped. When Emperor Hui returned to the palace, Wang Rong was made Minister Head. Prince Sima Yong of Hejian then sent envoys to sway Prince Sima Ying of Chengdu—together they would strike down Prince Sima Jiong of Qi. When the proclamation arrived, Jiong told Wang Rong, "Sun Xiu rebelled and the Son of Heaven is trapped. I have rallied loyal troops to purge the arch-villain; a subject's duty stands clear before gods and men. The two princes heed slander and have stirred great peril; we must rely on loyal counsel to mend the breach. Think carefully for me how to proceed. Wang Rong replied, "You first raised loyal armies and secured the great enterprise—such a feat is unheard of since creation began. Yet in handing out rewards you slighted those who toiled; court and countryside are disappointed and hearts turn elsewhere. The two princes now command a million armored men and their spearheads cannot be stopped; if you retire to your mansion as a nobleman, you keep your old rank. Yield power and stress humility—that is how to seek safety. Jiong's adviser Ge Yu snapped, "Since Han and Wei, when a prince retires to his mansion, has anyone ever kept wife and children safe? Whoever argues thus deserves execution." The officials were terrified; Wang Rong feigned a drug fit and fell into a privy, escaping disaster.
42
戎以晉室方亂，慕蘧伯玉之為人，與時舒卷，無蹇諤之節。 自經典選，未嘗進寒素，退虛名，但與時浮沈，戶調門選而已。 尋拜司徒，雖位總鼎司，而委事僚采。 間乘小馬，從便門而出遊，見者不知其三公也。 故吏多至大官，道路相遇輒避之。 性好興利，廣收八方園田水碓，周遍天下。 積實聚錢，不知紀極，每自執牙籌，晝夜算計，恆若不足。 而又儉嗇，不自奉養，天下人謂之膏肓之疾。 女適裴頠，貸錢數萬，久而未還。 女後歸寧，戎色不悅，女遽還直，然後乃歡。 從子將婚，戎遺其一單衣，婚訖而更責取。 家有好李，常出貨之，恐人得種，恆鑽其核。 以此獲譏於世。
With the house of Jin in turmoil, Wang Rong modeled Qu Boyu—expanding and contracting with the times—and showed none of the blunt integrity of a remonstrator. Once he oversaw selection, he never promoted men of humble origin or dismissed empty reputations; he merely drifted with fashion and let household registers and gate politics decide. Soon appointed Minister of Education, he held the highest office yet left affairs to his staff. He sometimes rode a pony out through a side gate; onlookers did not know he was one of the Three Dukes. Many former subordinates rose to high rank; when they met him on the road they stepped aside. He loved turning a profit and bought gardens, farms, and water mills across the realm until they spread everywhere. He piled up grain and cash beyond reckoning, tally rod in hand, figuring night and day as if it were never enough. Yet he was miserly toward himself; people called it an incurable sickness of the vitals. His daughter married Pei Yi and borrowed tens of thousands in cash, which went unpaid for a long time. When she visited home, Wang Rong looked displeased until she hurriedly repaid the debt—only then was he glad. When a nephew married, Wang Rong gave him a single-layer robe—then demanded it back after the wedding. The household had fine plums they sold; fearing buyers would plant the pits, they always drilled them through. For this he was mocked throughout his age.
43
其後從帝北伐，王師敗績于蕩陰，戎復詣鄴，隨帝還洛陽。 車駕之西遷也，戎出奔於郟。 在危難之間，親接鋒刃，談笑自若，未嘗有懼容。 時召親賓，歡娛永日。 ，薨於郟縣，時年七十二，諡曰元。
Later he accompanied the emperor on the northern campaign; after the royal army was routed at Dangyin, Wang Rong went again to Ye and followed the emperor back to Luoyang. When the imperial train moved west, Wang Rong fled to Jia. Amid peril he stood blade to blade, chatting and laughing as if nothing were wrong—never showing fear. He still summoned kin and guests for daylong revelry. He died in Jia county at seventy-two and received the posthumous name Yuan.
44
戎有人倫鑒識，嘗目山濤如璞玉渾金，人皆欽其寶，莫知名其器； 王衍神姿高徹，如瑤林瓊樹，自然是風塵表物。 謂裴頠拙於用長，荀勖工於用短，陳道寧𦃩𦃩如束長竿。 族弟敦有高名，戎惡之。 敦每候戎，輒托疾不見。 敦後果為逆亂。 其鑒嘗先見如此。 嘗經黃公酒壚下過，顧謂後車客曰：「吾昔與嵇叔夜、阮嗣宗酣暢于此，竹林之遊亦預其末。 自嵇、阮雲亡，吾便為時之所羈絏。 今日視之雖近，邈若山河！」 初，孫秀為琅邪郡吏，求品於鄉議。 戎從弟衍將不許，戎勸品之。 及秀得志，朝士有宿怨者皆被誅，而戎、衍獲濟焉。
Wang Rong could judge human character; he once likened Shan Tao to uncut jade or unsmelted gold—everyone prized the treasure yet few grasped its nature; Wang Yan's bearing was luminous as jade groves and gem trees—a creature utterly above the common dust. He said Pei Yi misused his strengths, Xun Xu turned weaknesses to skill, and Chen Daoning stood stiff as a bundle of long poles. His clansman Wang Dun enjoyed great fame; Wang Rong detested him. Whenever Wang Dun came calling, Wang Rong pleaded illness and refused to see him. Wang Dun later rebelled—just as Wang Rong had foreseen. Such was the foresight of his judgment. Passing the Yellow Duke's tavern, he turned to the guests in the rear cart: "Long ago Xi Shuye, Ruan Sizong, and I drank our fill here; I joined the Bamboo Grove gatherings at the last. Since Xi and Ruan passed away, the times have bound me hand and foot. Today it seems so close—yet distant as mountains and rivers!" Earlier, when Sun Xiu was a clerk in Langye commandery, he sought a rating from local appraisal. Wang Rong's cousin Wang Yan was inclined to refuse; Wang Rong urged that Sun be rated. When Sun Xiu rose to power, courtiers he had long resented were killed—yet Wang Rong and Wang Yan survived.
45
子萬，有美名。 少而大肥，戎令食穅，而肥愈甚。 年十九卒。 有庶子興，戎所不齒。 以從弟陽平太守愔子為嗣。
His son Wang Wan enjoyed a fine reputation. From youth he was very fat; Wang Rong put him on bran, yet he grew fatter still. He died at nineteen. He had a bastard son, Xing, whom Wang Rong would not acknowledge. He named his cousin's son—the heir of Yangping grand warden Wang Yin—as successor.
47
從弟衍
His cousin was Wang Yan.
48
=衍字夷甫，神情明秀，風姿詳雅。 總角嘗造山濤，濤嗟歎良久，既去，目而送之曰：「何物老嫗，生甯馨兒！ 然誤天下蒼生者，未必非此人也。」 父乂，為平北將軍，常有公事，使行人列上，不時報。 衍年十四，時在京師，造僕射羊祜，申陳事狀，辭甚清辯。 祜名德貴重，而衍幼年無屈下之色，眾咸異之。 楊駿欲以女妻焉，衍恥之，遂陽狂自免。 武帝聞其名，問戎曰：「夷甫當世誰比？」 戎曰：「未見其比，當從古人中求之。」
Wang Yan, courtesy name Yifu, had a bright, refined spirit and composed, graceful bearing. As a boy he visited Shan Tao, who sighed long after he left and watched him go, saying, "What kind of old woman bore such a splendid child! Yet the man who may doom the common people could well be this same boy." His father Wang Yi was General Who Pacifies the North; routine paperwork went through couriers and often went unanswered. At fourteen, while in the capital, Wang Yan called on Vice Director Yang Hu, laid out the case, and spoke with exceptional clarity. Yang Hu was eminent in name and virtue, yet the boy showed no subservience—all marveled. Yang Jun wished to marry his daughter to him; Wang Yan thought it shameful and feigned madness to escape. Emperor Wu heard his fame and asked Wang Rong, "Whom in our day compares to Yifu?" Wang Rong replied, "I see no peer for him among the living—look among the ancients."
49
，詔舉奇才可以安邊者，衍初好論從橫之術，故尚書盧欽舉為遼東太守。 不就，於是口不論世事，唯雅詠玄虛而已。 嘗因宴集，為族人所怒，舉樏擲其面。 衍初無言，引王導共載而去。 然心不能平，在車中攬鏡自照，謂導曰：「爾看吾目光乃在牛背上矣。」 父卒于北平，送故甚厚，為親識之所借貸，因以舍之。 數年之間，家資罄盡，出就洛城西田園而居焉。 後為太子舍人，還尚書郎。 出補元城令，終日清談，而縣務亦理。 入為中庶子、黃門侍郎。
An edict called for unusual talent to secure the frontier; Wang Yan had favored vertical-and-horizontal strategems, so Minister Lu Qin nominated him for grand warden of Liaodong. He declined and thereafter spoke no more of worldly affairs—only recited abstruse mysteries in refined tones. Once at a clan feast someone grew angry and hurled a fruit tray at his face. Wang Yan said nothing; he took Wang Dao into his carriage and drove off. Yet his heart roiled; in the carriage he seized a mirror and told Dao, "See how my gaze has sunk to an ox's back." His father died in Beiping; condolence gifts were lavish, but kin and friends borrowed them away until nothing remained. Within a few years the household was stripped bare; he moved to farms and gardens west of Luoyang. He later served as attendant to the crown prince and gentleman of the Ministry. Posted as magistrate of Yuancheng, he pure-talked all day yet the county ran in order. He entered court as junior mentor to the heir and gentleman attendant at the Yellow Gate.
50
魏正始中，何晏、王弼等祖述《老》《莊》，立論以為：「天地萬物皆以無為本。 無也者，開物成務，無往不存者也。 陰陽恃以化生，萬物恃以成形，賢者恃以成德，不肖恃以免身。 故無之為用，無爵而貴矣。」 衍甚重之。 惟裴頠以為非，著論以譏之，而衍處之自若。 衍既有盛才美貌，明悟若神，常自比子貢。 兼聲名藉甚，傾動當世。 妙善玄言，唯談《老》《莊》為事。 每捉玉柄麈尾，與手同色。 義理有所不安，隨即改更，世號「口中雌黃。」 朝野翕然，謂之「一世龍門」矣。 累居顯職，後進之士，莫不景慕放效。 選舉登朝，皆以為稱首。 矜高浮誕，遂成風俗焉。 衍嘗喪幼子，山簡吊之。 衍悲不自勝，簡曰：「孩抱中物，何至於此！」 衍曰：「聖人忘情，最下不及於情。 然則情之所鐘，正在我輩。」 簡服其言，更為之慟。
During Wei Zhengshi, He Yan and Wang Bi followed Laozi and Zhuangzi and argued that heaven, earth, and the myriad things take nonbeing as their root. Nonbeing opens creatures and completes tasks; nowhere is it absent. Yin and yang depend on it to transform; the myriad things depend on it to take shape; the worthy depend on it for virtue; the unworthy depend on it to save their skins. Thus in the utility of nonbeing lies nobility without rank. Wang Yan prized this doctrine highly. Only Pei Yi rejected it and wrote to mock the idea; Wang Yan remained unruffled. Blessed with towering talent and handsome looks, lucid as a spirit, Wang Yan likened himself to Zigong. His renown ran riot and swayed the age. He excelled at arcane discourse and spoke only of Laozi and Zhuangzi. He habitually held a jade-handled yak-tail fly-whisk the same hue as his hand. When a point disquieted him he revised it on the spot—the age dubbed him "orpiment on the tongue." Court and countryside agreed and called him "the Dragon Gate of his generation." He rose through lofty posts; younger men all modeled themselves on him. Those chosen for office and summoned to court ranked him first. Arrogance and hollow boasting became the fashion. When Wang Yan lost a young son, Shan Jian condoled with him. Wang Yan could not contain his grief. Shan Jian said, "A babe in arms—why such sorrow!" Wang Yan replied, "The sage transcends emotion; the lowest never rise to it. Yet where feeling gathers deepest is precisely among men like us. Shan Jian accepted his words and wept again for him.
51
衍妻郭氏，賈后之親，藉中宮之勢，剛愎貪戾，聚斂無厭，好干預人事，衍患之而不能禁。 時有鄉人幽州刺史李陽，京師大俠也，郭氏素憚也。 衍謂郭曰：「非但我言卿不可，李陽亦謂不可。」 郭氏為之小損。 衍疾郭之貪鄙，故口未嘗言錢。 郭欲試之，令婢以錢繞床，使不得行。 衍晨起見錢，謂婢曰：「舉阿堵物卻！」 其措意如此。
Wang Yan's wife was of the Guo clan, kin to Empress Jia; leaning on the empress's power she was obstinate, greedy, and cruel, amassing wealth without limit and meddling in affairs—Wang Yan worried but could not stop her. A townsman of theirs, Li Yang of Youzhou, was a famous bravo in the capital; Lady Guo had always feared him. Wang Yan told her, "It is not I alone who forbid you—Li Yang forbids it too." After that the Guo household moderated somewhat. Wang Yan despised her greed and vulgarity and never uttered the word "money." She tested him by having maids ring his couch with coins so he could not pass. When Wang Yan woke and saw the coins, he told the maid, "Take those blasted things away!" Such was the stance he struck.
52
後曆北軍中候、中領軍、尚書令。 女為湣懷太子妃，太子為賈后所誣，衍懼禍，自表離婚。 賈后既廢，有司奏衍，曰：「衍與司徒梁王肜書，寫呈皇太子手與妃及衍書，陳見誣見狀。 肜等伏讀，辭旨懇惻。 衍備位大臣，應以議責也。 太子被誣得罪，衍不能守死善道，即求離婚。 得太子手書，隱蔽不出。 志在苟免，無忠蹇之操。 宜加顯責，以厲臣節。 可禁錮終身。」 從之。
He later served as inspector of the Northern Army, central commandant, and Minister Head. His daughter was consort to Crown Prince Minhuai; when the heir was framed by Empress Jia, Wang Yan feared implication and petitioned for divorce. After Empress Jia was deposed, officials impeached Wang Yan: "In letters to Minister Sima Rong of Liang he transcribed the Crown Prince's letters to his consort and to Wang Yan that explained how he had been framed. Sima Rong and others bowed as they read; the tone was desperate and sincere. Wang Yan holds high office and should answer for his choices in debate. When the heir was slandered and condemned, Wang Yan failed to hold firm to duty unto death and sought divorce at once. When he received the Crown Prince's own letter, he hid it and did not reveal it. His aim was mere survival—there was no steadfast loyalty. He should be openly censured to stiffen ministerial integrity. Let him be barred from office for life." The court agreed.
53
衍素輕趙王倫之為人。 及倫篡位，衍陽狂斫婢以自免。 及倫誅，拜河南尹，轉尚書，又為中書令。 時齊王乂有匡復之功，而專權自恣，公卿皆為之拜，衍獨長揖焉。 以病去官。 成都王穎以衍為中軍師，累遷尚書僕射，領吏部，後拜尚書令、司空、司徒。 衍雖居宰輔之重，不以經國為念，而思自全之計。 說東海王越曰：「中國已亂，當賴方伯，宜得文武兼資以任之。」 乃以弟澄為荊州，族弟敦為青州。 因謂澄、敦曰：「荊州有江、漢之固，青州有負海之險，卿二人在外，而吾留此，足以為三窟矣。」 識者鄙之。
Wang Yan had always despised Prince Sima Lun of Zhao. When Lun seized the throne, Wang Yan feigned madness and hacked at a maid to save himself. After Lun fell he became governor of Henan, then Minister, then palace secretary. Prince Sima Yi then held cred for restoring the throne yet wielded power recklessly; high officials all bowed to him—only Wang Yan offered a standing bow with folded hands. He resigned citing illness. Prince Sima Ying of Chengdu named him director of the central army; he rose to Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel and headed that bureau, later Minister Head, Minister of Works, and Minister of Education. Though Wang Yan stood among the chief ministers, he thought not of governing the realm but only of saving himself. He urged Prince Sima Yue of Donghai: "The heartland is in chaos; we must rely on regional governors—choose men who combine civil and military gifts." He therefore assigned his brother Wang Cheng to Jingzhou and his cousin Wang Dun to Qingzhou. He told Cheng and Dun, "Jingzhou holds the Yangtze and Han; Qingzhou backs on the sea—you two hold the perimeter while I stay here—enough for three bolt-holes." Men of judgment despised him for it.
54
及石勒、王彌寇京師，以衍都督征討諸軍事、持節、假黃鉞以距之。 衍使前將軍曹武、左衛將軍王景等擊賊，退之，獲其輜重。 遷太尉，尚書令如故。 封武陵侯，辭封不受。 時洛陽危逼，多欲遷都以避其難，而衍獨賣車牛以安眾心。
When Shi Le and Wang Mi threatened Luoyang, Wang Yan was named area commander for punitive campaigns with full credentials and ceremonial axe to oppose them. Wang Yan sent Forward General Cao Wu and Left Guard Wang Jing against the raiders, drove them back, and captured their baggage train. He was promoted to Grand Commandant while remaining Minister Head. He was enfeoffed marquis of Wuling but declined the patent. Luoyang was under siege and many wished to move the capital; Wang Yan alone sold carts and oxes to steady morale.
55
越之討苟晞也，衍以太尉為太傅軍司。 及越薨，眾共推為元帥。 衍以賊寇鋒起，懼不敢當。 辭曰：「吾少無宦情，隨牒推移，遂至於此。 今日之事，安可以非才處之。」 俄而舉軍為石勒所破，勒呼王公，與之相見，問衍以晉故。 衍為陳禍敗之由，雲計不在己。 勒甚悅之，與語移日。 衍自說少不豫事，欲求自免，因勸勒稱尊號。 勒怒曰：「君名蓋四海，身居重任，少壯登朝，至於白首，何得言不豫世事邪！ 破壞天下，正是君罪。」 使左右扶出。 謂其党孔萇曰：「吾行天下多矣，未嘗見如此人，當可活不？」 萇曰：「彼晉之三公，必不為我盡力，又何足貴乎！」 勒曰：「要不可加以鋒刃也。」 使人夜排牆填殺之。 衍將死，顧而言曰：「嗚呼！ 吾曹雖不如古人，向若不祖尚浮虛，戮力以匡天下，猶可不至今日。」 時年五十六。
When Yue campaigned against Gou Xi, Wang Yan served as army director to the grand tutor as Grand Commandant. After Yue died the host wished to make Wang Yan supreme commander. Raiders sprang up on every side and Wang Yan feared to accept command. He declined: "I never burned for office; I drifted with appointments until I landed here. Today's crisis is no place for an untalented man." Soon the whole army fell to Shi Le; Le summoned the great lords to meet him and questioned Wang Yan about Jin's decline. Wang Yan laid out why calamity came and said the designs were not his own. Le was pleased and talked with him from dawn to dusk. Wang Yan insisted he had never meddled in policy and begged to live; he urged Le to take the throne. Le snarled, "Your fame fills the realm; you bear heavy office from youth to white hair—how dare you say you took no part in affairs! Ruining the empire is your crime." He had attendants lead Wang Yan away. He said to his follower Kong Chang, "I have traveled the realm—never seen such a man—should he live?" Kong Chang replied, "Those Jin Three Dukes will never serve us—why spare him?" Le said, "Still, we must not run him through." That night he had men push a wall over him and crush him to death. As he faced death Wang Yan turned and cried, "Alas! We may fall short of the ancients, yet had we not honored hollow vanity and had joined to save the realm, we might not have come to this." He was fifty-six.
56
衍俊秀有令望，希心玄遠，未嘗語利。 王敦過江，常稱之曰：「夷甫處眾中，如珠玉在瓦石間。」 顧愷之作畫贊，亦稱衍岩岩清峙，壁立千仞。 其為人所尚如此。
Handsome and esteemed, Wang Yan aspired to the transcendent and never spoke of gain. After Wang Dun crossed south he often said, "Yifu among the crowd is pearls and jade among tiles and stone." Gu Kaizhi's portrait encomium likewise praised Wang Yan as sheer cliffs rising a thousand ren. Such was the esteem he commanded.
57
子玄，字眉子，少慕簡曠，亦有俊才，與衛玠齊名。 荀籓用為陳留太守，屯尉氏。 玄素名家，有豪氣，荒弊之時，人情不附，將赴祖逖，為盜所害焉。
His son Wang Xuan, courtesy name Meizi, loved simplicity and freedom in youth and had rare talent; he ranked with Wei Jie. Xun Fan appointed him grand warden of Chenliu, stationed at Weishi. Of eminent stock and bold temper, in those ruined times support fled; headed to join Zu Ti he was killed by bandits.
59
衍弟澄
His brother was Wang Cheng.
60
=澄字平子。 生而警悟，雖未能言，見人舉動，便識其意。 衍妻郭性貪鄙，欲令婢路上擔糞。 澄年十四，諫郭以為不可。 郭大怒，謂澄曰：「昔夫人臨終，以小郎屬新婦，不以新婦屬小郎。」 因捉其衣裾，將杖之。 澄爭得脫，逾窗而走。
Wang Cheng, courtesy name Pingzi. Alert from birth, before he could speak he read people's movements and grasped their intent. Wang Yan's wife Guo was greedy and base; she wanted maids to haul dung along the road. At fourteen Wang Cheng remonstrated with Lady Guo that it would not do. Lady Guo raged and told him, "When your mother lay dying she entrusted you to me—not me to you." She seized his robe and meant to beat him. Wang Cheng broke free and fled out the window.
61
衍有重名于世，時人許以人倫之鑒。 尤重澄及王敦、庾敳，嘗為天下人士目曰：「阿平第一，子嵩第二，處仲第三。」 澄嘗謂衍曰：「兄形似道，而神鋒太俊。」 衍曰：「誠不如卿落落穆穆然也。」 澄由是顯名。 有經澄所題目者，衍不復有言，輒云「已經平子矣」。
Wang Yan enjoyed towering fame; contemporaries acknowledged him as judge of character. He prized Wang Cheng, Wang Dun, and Yu Kai above all; he once ranked notables: "A-Ping first, Zisong second, Zhongzhong third." Wang Cheng once told Wang Yan, "You resemble the Dao in form, yet your spirit edge is too sharp." Wang Yan replied, "I truly cannot match your spacious calm." Wang Cheng rose to fame from this. When someone had passed Wang Cheng's judgment, Wang Yan said nothing more—only, "Pingzi has spoken."
62
少曆顯位，累遷成都王穎從事中郎。 穎嬖豎孟玖譖殺陸機兄弟，天下切齒。 澄發玖私奸，勸穎殺玖，穎乃誅之，士庶莫不稱善。 及穎敗，東海王越請為司空長史。 以迎大駕勳，封南鄉侯。 遷建威將軍、雍州刺史，不之職。 時王敦、謝鯤、庾敳、阮修皆為衍所親善，號為四友，而亦與澄狎，又有光逸、胡毋輔之等亦豫焉。 酣宴縱誕，窮歡極娛。
He rose early through high posts to aide-de-camp to Prince Sima Ying of Chengdu. Ying's favorite Meng Jiu slandered the Lu brothers to their deaths—the realm gnashed its teeth. Wang Cheng exposed Meng's secret crimes and urged Ying to kill him; Ying did so, and all praised it. After Ying fell, Prince Sima Yue of Donghai named him chief clerk to the Minister of Works. For escorting the imperial train he was enfeoffed marquis of Nanxiang. He was promoted General Who Establishes Might and regional inspector of Yongzhou but did not take up the post. Wang Dun, Xie Kun, Yu Kai, and Ruan Xiu were Wang Yan's intimates, styled the Four Friends; they were also close to Wang Cheng, with Guang Yi, Hu Wuzhizi, and others joining in. They feasted and caroused without restraint, reveling to the utmost.
63
惠帝末，衍白越以澄為荊州刺史、持節、都督，領南蠻校尉，敦為青州。 衍因問以方略，敦曰：「當臨事制變，不可豫論。」 澄辭義鋒出，算略無方，一坐嗟服。 澄將之鎮，送者傾朝。 澄見樹上鵲巢，便脫衣上樹，探而弄之，神氣蕭然，傍若無人。 劉琨謂澄曰：「卿形雖散朗，而內實動俠，以此處世，難得其死。」 澄默然不答。
Late in Emperor Hui's reign Wang Yan asked Yue to appoint Wang Cheng regional inspector of Jingzhou with credentials and area command plus Colonel of the Southern Man, and Wang Dun to Qingzhou. Wang Yan asked their strategy; Wang Dun said, "Respond as events demand—do not plan ahead." Wang Cheng's reply flashed with wit and stratagem beyond reckoning; the whole company sighed in admiration. When Wang Cheng left for his post the entire court turned out to see him off. Seeing a magpie nest in a tree, he stripped, climbed up, and toyed with it, utterly at ease as if alone. Liu Kun told him, "You seem open and free but inside you ride restless courage—with such conduct you will be hard put to die well." Wang Cheng said nothing.
64
澄既至鎮，日夜縱酒，不親庶事，雖寇戎急務，亦不以在懷。 擢順陽人郭舒於寒悴之中，以為別駕，委以州府。 時京師危逼，澄率眾軍，將赴國難，而飄風折其節柱。 會王如寇襄陽，澄前鋒至宜城，遣使詣山簡，為如党嚴嶷所獲。 嶷偽使人從襄陽來而問之曰：「襄陽拔未？」 答云：「昨旦破城，已獲山簡。」 乃陰緩澄使，令得亡去。 澄聞襄陽陷，以為信然，散眾而還。 既而恥之，托糧運不贍，委罪長史蔣俊而斬之，竟不能進。 巴蜀流人散在荊、湘者，與土人忿爭，遂殺縣令，屯聚樂鄉。 澄使成都內史王機討之。 賊請降，澄偽許之，既而襲之於寵洲，以其妻子為賞，沈八千餘人于江中。 於是益、梁流人四五萬家一時俱反，推杜弢為主，，南破零桂，東掠武昌，敗王機于巴陵。 澄亦無憂懼之意，但與機日夜縱酒，投壺博戲，數十局俱起。 殺富人李才，取其家資以賜郭舒。 南平太守應詹驟諫，不納。 於是上下離心，內外怨叛。 澄望實雖損，猶傲然自得。 後出軍擊杜弢，次於作塘。 山簡參軍王沖叛於豫州，自稱荊州刺史。 澄懼，使杜蕤守江陵。 澄遷於孱陵，尋奔遝中。 郭舒諫曰：「使君臨州，雖無異政，未失眾心。 今西收華容向義之兵，足以擒此小丑，奈何自棄。」 澄不能從。
Once at his post Wang Cheng drank day and night and ignored routine business—even urgent defense matters left him unmoved. He raised Guo Shu of Shunyang from poverty and cold to aide and entrusted him with the provincial offices. When the capital was imperiled Wang Cheng led troops to the rescue, but a gale snapped his standard pole. As Wang Ru struck Xiangyang, Wang Cheng's vanguard reached Yicheng; envoys to Shan Jian were seized by Yan Yi, Wang Ru's ally. Yan Yi planted a fake messenger from Xiangyang who asked, "Has Xiangyang fallen?" The reply: "It fell this morning—Shan Jian is taken." Yan Yi quietly let Wang Cheng's envoy slip away. Hearing Xiangyang had fallen, Wang Cheng believed it and dismissed his army. Ashamed afterward, he blamed lack of supplies, pinned fault on chief clerk Jiang Jun, executed him, and never advanced. Ba–Shu refugees scattered through Jing and Xiang quarreled with locals, slew a county magistrate, and massed at Lexiang. Wang Cheng ordered Wang Ji, interior steward of Chengdu, to attack them. The rebels asked to yield; Wang Cheng feigned consent, then ambushed them at Chong Isle, seized their families as spoil, and drowned more than eight thousand in the river. Then forty or fifty thousand refugee households in Yi and Liang rose together, made Du Tao their chief, smashed Ling and Gui in the south, raided Wuchang in the east, and defeated Wang Ji at Baling. Wang Cheng showed no alarm; he and Wang Ji drank day and night, played pitch-pot and gambling games, round after round. He slew the rich man Li Cai, seized his assets, and gave them to Guo Shu. Nanping grand warden Ying Zhan remonstrated again and again; Wang Cheng ignored him. High and low turned against him; inside and outside grew bitter and mutinous. Though his reputation suffered, Wang Cheng remained smugly pleased with himself. Later he marched against Du Tao and halted at Zuotang. Shan Jian's aide Wang Chong rebelled in Yuzhou and proclaimed himself regional inspector of Jingzhou. Wang Cheng grew afraid and posted Du Rui to defend Jiangling. Wang Cheng withdrew to Chanling, then fled into the interior. Guo Shu remonstrated: "Since you took this province you have done nothing remarkable, yet you have not lost the people's hearts. Gather loyal troops west at Huarong and you can seize this petty villain—why abandon yourself?" Wang Cheng would not listen.
65
初，澄命武陵諸郡同討杜弢，天門太守扈瑰次於益陽。 武陵內史武察為其郡夷所害，瑰以孤軍引還。 澄怒，以杜曾代瑰。 夷袁遂，瑰故吏也，托為瑰報仇，遂舉兵逐曾，自稱平晉將軍。 澄使司馬毌丘邈討之，為遂所敗。 會元帝征澄為軍諮祭酒，於是赴召。
Earlier Wang Cheng had ordered the Wuling commanderies jointly to strike Du Tao; Tianmen grand warden Hu Gui camped at Yiyang. Wuling interior steward Wu Cha was killed by tribal people of his commandery; Gui withdrew his isolated force. Wang Cheng was furious and replaced Gui with Du Zeng. Yuan Sui of the tribes, once Gui's subordinate, claimed to avenge Gui, raised troops against Du Zeng, and styled himself General Who Pacifies Jin. Wang Cheng sent aide Guanqiu Miao against him but was defeated by Yuan Sui. When Emperor Yuan summoned Wang Cheng as army advisory libationer, he answered the call.
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時王敦為江州，鎮豫章，澄過詣敦。 澄夙有盛名，出於敦右，士庶莫不傾慕之。 兼勇力絕人，素為敦所憚，澄猶以舊意侮敦。 敦益忿怒，請澄入宿，陰欲殺之。 而澄左右有二十絕人，持鐵馬鞭為衛，澄手嘗捉玉枕以自防，故敦未之得發。 後敦賜澄左右酒，皆醉，借玉枕觀之。 因下床而謂澄曰：「何與杜弢通信？」 澄曰：「事自可驗。」 敦欲入內，澄手引敦衣，至於絕帶。 乃登于梁，因罵敦曰：「行事如此，殃將及焉。」 敦令力士路戎搤殺之，時年四十四，載屍還其家。 劉琨聞澄之死，歎曰：「澄自取之。」 及敦平，澄故吏佐著作郎桓稚上表理澄，請加贈諡。 詔復澄本官，諡曰憲。 長子詹，早卒。 次子徽，右軍司馬。
Wang Dun held Jiangzhou from Yuzhang; Wang Cheng stopped to visit him. Wang Cheng had long enjoyed fame above Wang Dun; scholars and commoners alike admired him. His courage and strength were unmatched; Wang Dun had always feared him—yet Wang Cheng still slighted Dun as of old. Wang Dun grew furious; he invited Wang Cheng to stay overnight and meant secretly to kill him. Twenty formidable guards flanked Wang Cheng with iron riding crops; he kept a jade pillow ready—so Dun could not strike. Later Wang Dun plied the guards with wine until drunk and borrowed the jade pillow to inspect. He rose and said to Wang Cheng, "Why do you traffic with Du Tao?" Wang Cheng replied, "The facts can be checked." When Dun tried to go inside, Wang Cheng seized his robe until the sash tore. He climbed onto a roof beam and shouted at Dun, "Act like this and calamity will find you." Wang Dun ordered the strongman Lu Rong to throttle him; he was forty-four. The body was sent home. Hearing of Wang Cheng's death, Liu Kun sighed, "He brought it on himself." After Wang Dun fell, Wang Cheng's former aide Huan Zhi presented a memorial to clear him and sought posthumous honors. An edict restored his former offices with posthumous name Xian. His eldest son Zhan died young. His second son Hui was aide on the right wing command.
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郭舒
Guo Shu
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=郭舒，字稚行。 幼請其母從師，歲餘便歸，粗識大義。 鄉人少府范晷、宗人武陵太守郭景，咸稱舒當為後來之秀，終成國器。 始為領軍校尉，坐擅放司馬彪，系廷尉，世多義之。 刺史夏侯含辟為西曹，轉主簿。 含坐事，舒自系理含，事得釋。 刺史宗岱命為治中，喪母去職。 劉弘牧荊州，引為治中。 弘卒，舒率將士推弘子璠為主，討逆賊郭勱。 滅之，保全一州。
Guo Shu, courtesy name Zhihang. As a boy he begged his mother to let him study with a teacher; after a year he returned with a rough grasp of principle. His townsman Fan Gui of the Chamberlain's office and kinsman Guo Jing, grand warden of Wuling, declared Guo Shu would be a rising star and in time a pillar of state. He began as colonel of the guards; for releasing Sima Bao without orders he was held by the Minister of Justice—many praised his integrity. Regional inspector Xiahou Han summoned him to the western bureau; he moved to chief clerk. When Han faced charges, Guo Shu turned himself in alongside Han and cleared the matter. Regional inspector Zong Dai named him aide; he left office for his mother's mourning. Liu Hong governed Jingzhou and brought him in as aide. When Liu Hong died, Guo Shu led the troops to install Hong's son Fan as leader and campaigned against the rebel Guo Mo. They destroyed Guo Mo and saved the province.
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王澄聞其名，引為別駕。 澄終日酣飲，不以眾務在意，舒常切諫之。 及天下大亂，又勸澄修德養威，保完州境。 澄以為亂自京都起，非復一州所能匡禦，雖不能從，然重其忠亮。 荊土士人宗庾廞嘗因酒忤澄，澄怒，叱左右棒廞。 舒厲色謂左右曰：「使君過醉，汝輩何敢妄動！」 澄恚曰：「別駕狂邪，誑言我醉！」 因遣掐其鼻，灸其眉頭，舒跪而受之。 澄意少釋，而廞遂得免。
Wang Cheng heard his reputation and appointed him aide. Wang Cheng drank all day and ignored affairs; Guo Shu often remonstrated sharply. When the realm collapsed he urged Wang Cheng to cultivate virtue and authority and secure the province. Wang Cheng held that turmoil began in the capital and no single province could stem it; though he did not follow the advice, he respected Guo Shu's loyalty. The Jingzhou gentleman Yu Jin slighted Wang Cheng when drunk; Cheng raged and ordered attendants to beat Jin. Guo Shu sternly told the guards, "The governor is dead drunk—how dare you stir recklessly!" Wang Cheng snapped, "Is the aide mad—lying that I am drunk!" He had Guo Shu's nose pinched and brow branded; Guo Shu knelt and endured it. Wang Cheng's anger eased and Yu Jin escaped punishment.
71
澄之奔敗也，以舒領南郡。 澄又欲將舒東下，舒曰：「舒為萬里紀綱，不能匡正，令使君奔亡，不忍渡江。」 乃留屯沌口，采穭湖澤以自給。 鄉人盜食舒牛，事覺，來謝。 舒曰：「卿饑，所以食牛耳，餘肉可共啖之。」 世以此服其弘量。
When Wang Cheng fled in defeat he put Guo Shu in charge of Nan commandery. Wang Cheng wished to take Guo Shu east; Guo Shu said, "I held office across this vast region yet failed to set things right and let my lord flee—I cannot bear to cross the river." He stayed encamped at Tun mouth and gathered wild grain from lakes and marshes to feed himself. A townsman stole and ate Guo Shu's ox; discovered, he came to apologize. Guo Shu said, "You were hungry—that is why you ate the ox; share the rest." The age admired his magnanimity.
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舒少與杜曾厚，曾嘗召之，不往，曾銜之。 至是，澄又轉舒為順陽太守，曾密遣兵襲舒，遁逃得免。
Guo Shu had been close to Du Zeng in youth; when summoned he did not go, and Du Zeng resented him. Then Wang Cheng transferred Guo Shu to grand warden of Shunyang; Du Zeng secretly attacked him, but Guo Shu fled and survived.
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王敦召為參軍，轉從事中郎。 襄陽都督周訪卒，敦遣舒監襄陽軍。 甘卓至，乃還。 朝廷征舒為右丞，敦留不遣。 敦謀為逆，舒諫不從，使守武昌。 荊州別駕宗澹忌舒才能，數譖之于王暠。 暠疑舒與甘卓同謀，密以白敦，敦不受。 高官督護繆坦嘗請武昌城西地為營，太守樂凱言於敦曰：「百姓久買此地，種菜自贍，不宜奪之。」 敦大怒曰：「王處仲不來江湖，當有武昌地不，而人云是我地邪！」 凱懼，不敢言。 舒曰：「公聽舒一言。」 敦曰：「平子以卿病狂，故掐鼻灸眉頭，舊疢復發邪！」 舒曰：「古之狂也直，周昌、汲黯、硃雲不狂也。 昔堯立誹謗之木，舜置敢諫之鼓，然後事無枉縱。 公為勝堯、舜邪？ 乃逆折舒，使不得言。 何與古人相遠！」 敦曰：「卿欲何言？」 舒曰：「繆坦可謂小人，疑誤視聽，奪人私地，以強陵弱。 晏子稱：君曰其可，臣獻其否，以成其可。 是以舒等不敢不言。」 敦即使還地，眾咸壯之。 敦重舒公亮，給賜轉豐，數詣其家。 表為梁州刺史。 病卒。
Wang Dun summoned him as aide and promoted him aide-de-camp. When Xiangyang commander Zhou Fang died, Wang Dun sent Guo Shu to oversee the army. When Gan Zhuo arrived he returned. The court summoned Guo Shu as right aide; Wang Dun kept him back. Wang Dun plotted rebellion; Guo Shu remonstrated in vain and was posted to defend Wuchang. Jingzhou aide Zong Dan envied Guo Shu's ability and repeatedly slandered him to Wang Hao. Wang Hao suspected Guo Shu conspired with Gan Zhuo and secretly informed Wang Dun, who dismissed it. Senior protector Miu Tan sought land west of Wuchang for a camp; grand warden Yue Kai told Wang Dun, "Commoners long ago bought this plot for vegetables—do not seize it." Wang Dun roared, "If Wang Zhongzhong had never gone south, would there be no Wuchang land—and people say it is mine!" Yue Kai was afraid and fell silent. Guo Shu said, "Hear one word from me." Wang Dun said, "Pingzi thought you mad—that nose-pinching and brow-branding—is the old rash breaking out again?" Guo Shu replied, "The madness of old was blunt honesty—Zhou Chang, Ji An, and Zhu Yun were not mad. Yao set up the complaint post and Shun the remonstrance drum—then affairs went without injustice. Do you surpass Yao and Shun? He cut Guo Shu off and would not let him speak. How far from the ancients!" Wang Dun said, "What do you wish to say?" Guo Shu said, "Miu Tan is a petty man who clouds judgment, seizes private land, and bullies the weak with strength. Yanzi said: when the lord says yes the minister offers no—to perfect the yes. Thus Guo Shu and others dare not stay silent." Wang Dun returned the land at once; everyone admired Guo Shu's courage. Wang Dun prized Guo Shu's integrity, enriched his stipends, and often visited his home. He recommended Guo Shu as regional inspector of Liangzhou. He died of illness.
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樂廣
Yue Guang
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樂廣，字彥輔，南陽淯陽人也。 父方，參魏征西將軍夏侯玄軍事。 廣時年八歲，玄常見廣在路，因呼與語，還謂方曰：「向見廣神姿郎徹，當為名士。 卿家雖貧，可令專學，必能興卿門戶也。」 方早卒。 廣孤貧，僑居山陽，寒素為業，人無知者。 性沖約，有遠識，寡嗜欲，與物無競。 尤善談論，每以約言析理，以厭人之心，其所不知，默如也。 裴楷嘗引廣共談，自夕申旦，雅相欽挹，歎曰：「我所不如也。」 王戎為荊州刺史，聞廣為夏侯玄所嘗，乃舉為秀才。 楷又薦廣于賈充，遂辟太尉掾，轉太子舍人。 尚書令衛瓘，朝之耆舊，逮與魏正始中諸名士談論，見廣而奇之，曰：「自昔諸賢既沒，常恐微言將絕，而今乃復聞斯言於君矣。」 命諸子造焉，曰：「此人之水鏡，見之瑩然，若披雲霧而睹青天也。」 王衍自言：「與人語甚簡至，及見廣，便覺己之煩。」 其為識者所歎美如此。
Yue Guang, courtesy name Yanfu, was a native of Yuyang in Nanyang. His father Yue Fang served on the staff of Wei General Who Conquers the West Xiahou Xuan. Yue Guang was eight when Xiahou Xuan saw him on the road, called him over, and later told Yue Fang, "Your boy's spirit is lucid and bright—he will be a leading gentleman. Though your house is poor, let him devote himself to learning—he will surely raise your family." Yue Fang died young. Orphaned and poor, Yue Guang lodged in Shanyang and worked at humble weaving—no one knew him. He was modest and sparing, far-sighted, with few desires and no quarrel with the world. He excelled at discourse, unraveling principles in few words that laid doubts to rest; where he did not know, he stayed silent. Pei Kai once drew Yue Guang into conversation from dusk till dawn and esteemed him deeply, sighing, "I cannot match him." When Wang Rong governed Jingzhou he heard Xiahou Xuan had praised Guang and recommended him as floruit scholar. Pei Kai also recommended Guang to Jia Chong; he was summoned aide to the minister and became attendant to the crown prince. Minister Head Wei Guan, elder of the court, had debated the famous men of Wei Zhengshi; seeing Guang he marveled and said, "Since those worthies passed I feared subtle teaching would die—yet I hear it again from you." He told his sons to call on him: "He is a mirror still as water—meeting him gleams like parting clouds to see blue sky." Wang Yan said of himself, "I speak plainly with others—yet beside Guang I feel myself verbose." Men of discernment praised him in these terms.
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出補元城令，遷中書侍郎，轉太子中庶子，累遷侍中、河南尹。 廣善清言而不長於筆，將讓尹，請潘嶽為表。 嶽曰：「當得君意。」 廣乃作二百句語，述己之志。 嶽因取次比，便成名筆。 時人咸云：「若廣不假嶽之筆，嶽不取廣之旨，無以成斯美也。」
Posted magistrate of Yuancheng, he rose to gentleman of the palace secretariat, junior mentor to the heir, then attendant-in-ordinary and governor of Henan. Guang excelled at pure talk but not writing; yielding the governorship he asked Pan Yue to draft the memorial. Pan Yue said, "I must grasp your meaning." Yue Guang drafted two hundred phrases laying out his intent. Pan Yue arranged them in order and produced a celebrated piece. People said, "Without Guang borrowing Pan's pen or Pan taking Guang's gist this perfection could not exist."
77
嘗有親客，久闊不復來，廣問其故，答曰：「前在坐，蒙賜酒，方欲飲，見杯中有蛇，意甚惡之，既飲而疾。」 于時河南聽事壁上有角，漆畫作蛇，廣意杯中蛇即角影也。 復置酒於前處，謂客曰：「酒中復有所見不？」 答曰：「所見如初。」 廣乃告其所以，客豁然意解，沈屙頓愈。 衛玠總角時，嘗問廣夢，廣雲是想。 玠曰：「神形所不接而夢，豈是想邪！」 廣曰：「因也。」 玠思之經月不得，遂以成疾。 廣聞故，命駕為剖析之，玠病即愈。 廣歎曰：「此賢胸中當必無膏肓之疾！」
A kinsman guest stayed away; asked why, he said, "Last time at your feast I raised wine and saw a snake in the cup—I loathed it and fell ill after drinking." On the Henan audience hall wall a horn was lacquered like a snake; Guang reckoned the snake in the cup was its shadow. He set wine in the same spot and asked, "Do you still see anything in the cup?" The guest said, "Just as before." Guang explained the cause; the guest's burden lifted and his chronic ailment vanished. As a boy Wei Jie asked Guang about dreams; Guang said they arise from thoughts. Wei Jie said, "Spirit and body never meet—how can it be mere thought!" Guang replied, "It is causal conditioning." Wei Jie brooded a month without grasping it and fell ill. Hearing why, Guang rode to explain it and Wei Jie recovered. Guang sighed, "This worthy's breast surely harbors no incurable sickness!"
78
廣所在為政，無當時功譽，然每去職，遺愛為人所思。 凡所論人，必先稱其所長，則所短不言而自見矣。 人有過，先盡弘恕，然後善惡自彰矣。 廣與王衍俱宅心事外，名重于時。 故天下言風流者，謂王、樂為稱首焉。
Wherever Guang ruled he won no flashy praise, yet each time he left office lingering kindness won remembrance. Discussing anyone he praised strengths first—faults then showed without words. Facing faults he forgave generously—good and evil then declared themselves. Guang and Wang Yan both kept hearts beyond worldly things and towered in fame. Those who spoke of elegance ranked Wang and Yue first.
79
少與弘農楊准相善。 准之二子曰喬曰髦，皆知名於世。 准使先詣裴頠，頠性弘方，愛喬有高韻。 謂准曰：「喬當及卿，髦少減也。」 又使詣廣，廣性清淳，愛髦有神檢。 謂准曰：「喬自及卿，然髦亦清出。」 准笑曰：「我二兒之優劣，乃裴、樂之優劣也。」 論者以為喬雖有高韻，而神檢不足，樂為得之矣。
In youth he was close to Yang Zhun of Hongnong. Zhun's sons Qiao and Mao both won renown. Zhun sent them first to Pei Yi, whose generous integrity drew him to Qiao's lofty tone. He told Zhun, "Qiao will match you; Mao falls a little short." He sent them to Guang, whose purity drew him to Mao's disciplined spirit. He told Zhun, "Qiao reaches you on his own—yet Mao shines with clarity." Zhun laughed, "My sons' merits mirror Pei's and Yue's judgments." Critics held Qiao had lofty tone but lacked discipline—Yue had seen true merit.
80
是時王澄、胡毋輔之等，皆亦任放為達，或至裸體者。 廣聞而笑曰：「名教內自有樂地，何必乃爾！」 其居才愛物，動有理中，皆此類也。 值世道多虞，朝章紊亂，清己中立，任誠保素而已。 時人莫有見其際焉。
Wang Cheng, Hu Wuzhizi, and others deemed abandon and license transcendence—some went naked. Guang laughed and said, "Within moral teaching lies its own joy—why go to such lengths!" His handling of talent and things stayed within reason—always thus. With the age perilous and statutes in chaos he kept himself clear and neutral—trusted sincerity and held plain integrity. None could see his limits.
81
先是河南官舍多妖怪，前尹多不敢處正寢，廣居之不疑。 嘗外戶自閉，左右皆驚，廣獨自若。 顧見牆有孔，使人掘牆，得狸而殺之，其怪亦絕。
Henan offices were haunted; former governors feared the main chamber—Guang slept there untroubled. Once the outer gate shut itself; attendants panicked—Guang stayed calm. Seeing a hole he had the wall dug out—a civet was killed and the haunting ceased.
82
湣懷太子之廢也，詔故臣不得辭送，眾官不勝憤歎，皆冒禁拜辭。 司隸校尉滿奮敕河南中部收縛拜者送獄，廣即便解遣。 眾人代廣危懼。 孫琰說賈謐曰：「前以太子罪惡，有斯廢黜，其臣不懼嚴詔，冒罪而送。 今若系之，是彰太子之善，不如釋去。」 謐然其言，廣故得不坐。
When Crown Prince Minhuai was deposed an edict forbade former ministers to bid farewell; officials, bitter with rage, braved the ban to bow farewell. Metropolitan Commandant Man Fen ordered Henan to jail those who bowed; Guang freed them at once. Others feared for Guang. Sun Yan urged Jia Mi: "The heir was deposed for guilt—yet his ministers braved edicts and crime to see him off. To jail them now would glorify the heir—better release them." Mi agreed; Guang escaped punishment.
83
遷吏部尚書左僕射，後東安王繇當為僕射，轉廣為右僕射，領吏部，代王戎為尚書令，始戎薦廣，而終踐其位，時人美之。
He rose Left Vice Director of Personnel; when Duke Sima Yao of Dong'an took that post Guang moved Right Vice Director and headed Personnel, replacing Wang Rong as Minister Head—Rong had first recommended Guang, who now filled his seat—people admired it.
84
成都王穎，廣之婿也，及與長沙王乂遘難，而廣既處朝望，群小讒謗之。 乂以問廣，廣神色不變，徐答曰：「廣豈以五男易一女。」 乂猶以為疑，廣竟以憂卒。 荀籓聞廣之不免也，為之流涕。 三子：凱、肇、謨。
Prince Sima Ying of Chengdu was Guang's son-in-law; when he clashed with Prince Sima Yi of Changsha, petty men slandered Guang, who stood high at court. Yi questioned Guang; Guang's manner held steady as he replied, "Would I trade five sons for one daughter?" Yi still doubted; Guang died of grief. Xun Fan wept hearing Guang could not escape death. He had three sons: Kai, Zhao, and Mo.
85
凱字弘緒，大司馬齊王掾，參驃騎軍事。 肇字弘茂，太傅東海王掾。 洛陽陷，兄弟相攜南渡江。 謨字弘範，征虜將軍、吳郡內史。
Yue Kai, courtesy name Hongxu, was aide to the Prince of Qi as grand marshal and served on the swift-cavalry staff. Yue Zhao, courtesy name Hongmao, was aide to Prince Sima Yue of Donghai as grand tutor. When Luoyang fell the brothers crossed south together. Yue Mo, courtesy name Hongfan, was General Who Conquers Captives and interior steward of Wu commandery.
86
史評
Historians' appraisal
87
史臣曰：漢相清靜，見機於曠務； 周史清虛，不嫌於屍祿。 豈台揆之任，有異于常班者歟！ 濬沖善發談端，夷甫仰希方外，登槐庭之顯列，顧漆圓而高視。 彼既憑虛，朝章已亂。 戎則取容於世，旁委貨財； 衍則自保其身，甯論宗稷？ 及三方構亂，六戎藉手，犬羊之侶，鋒鏑如雲。 夷甫區區焉，佞彼凶渠，以求容貸，頹牆之隕，猶有禮也。 平子肆情傲物，對鏡難堪，終失厥生，自貽伊敗。 且夫衣服表容，珪璋範德，聲移宮羽，采照山華，布武有章，立言成訓。 澄之箕踞，不已甚矣。 若乃解衵登枝，裸形捫鵲，以此為達，謂之高致，輕薄是效，風流詎及。 道睽將聖，事乖跰指，操情獨往，自夭其生者焉。 昔晏嬰哭莊公之屍，樂令解湣懷之客，豈聞伯夷之風歟，懦夫能立志者也。
The historians write: Han ministers kept quiet and saw opportunity in duties left broad; Zhou clerks stayed pure and did not spurn hollow stipends. Can seats among the highest ministers differ from ordinary posts! Junchong opened talk; Yifu aspired beyond the world—mounted high at court yet gazed loftily on Zhuangzi's garden. They rode on emptiness—court rule fell into chaos. Wang Rong sought approval from the age and piled up wealth; Wang Yan saved himself alone—why speak of altars and grain? When three fronts rebelled and barbarians lent their hands—dog-and-goat allies—arrowheads clouded the sky. Petty Yifu flattered brutal chiefs for mercy—the ruin of a wall still keeps ritual. Pingzi indulged pride—could not bear his mirror—lost his life and brought defeat on himself. Garments display bearing; jade models virtue; tones shift keys; splendor lights hills—martial order forms patterns; words become teaching. Cheng's sprawling squat—was that not excess. Stripping to climb trees and fondling magpies naked—calling that transcendence and lofty style—aping frivolity—how is it elegance. Dao parts from sageness—acts betray bare stepping—feelings ride alone—and life cuts itself short. Yan Ying wept over Duke Zhuang's corpse; Commander Le freed Minhuai's guests—have they not heard Boyi's wind—cowards may yet resolve.
88
贊曰：晉家求士，乃構仙台，陵雲切漢，山叟知材。 濬沖居鼎，談優務劣。 夷甫兩顧，退求三穴。 神亂當年，忠乖曩列。 平子陵侮，多於用拙。 樂令披雲，高天澄澈。
The encomium runs: Jin raised scholars—built a terrace to heaven—clouds scrape the Han—mountain men knew timber. Junchong held the cauldron—fine talk, poor deeds. Yifu looked both ways—then sought three bolt-holes. Spirits tangled the age—loyalty turned from former ranks. Pingzi insulted others—his cleverness became clumsiness. Commander Le parted the clouds—the high sky ran clear.