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傅玄
Fu Xuan
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傅玄，字休奕，北地泥陽人也。 祖燮，漢漢陽太守。 父幹，魏扶風太守。 玄少孤貧，博學善屬文，解鐘律。 性剛勁亮直，不能容人之短。 郡上計吏再舉孝廉，太尉辟，皆不就。 州舉秀才，除郎中，與東海繆施俱以時譽選入著作，撰集《魏書》。 後參安東、衛軍軍事，轉溫令，再遷弘農太守，領典農校尉。 所居稱職，數上書陳便宜，多所匡正。 五等建，封鶉觚男。 武帝為晉王，以玄為散騎常侍。 及受禪，進爵為子，加附馬都尉。
Fu Xuan, whose courtesy name was Xiuyi, came from Niyang in Beidi commandery. His grandfather, Fu Xie, had served the Han as prefect of Hanyang. His father, Fu Gan, was prefect of Fufeng under the Wei. Orphaned and poor in his youth, Fu Xuan nevertheless read widely, wrote well, and had a firm grasp of bells and musical temperament. He was by nature stern, outspoken, and upright, and he had little patience for other men's faults. The commandery's clerk on capital duty twice nominated him as filially pious and incorrupt, and the grand commandant summoned him to office, but he declined every time. The province then recommended him as an outstanding scholar, and he received appointment as a gentleman of the palace. Together with Mou Shi of Donghai he was chosen, on the strength of his reputation, for the historiography office, where he helped compile the History of Wei. He later served on the staffs of the generals who maintained the east and who guarded the army, became magistrate of Wen, rose twice to governor of Hongnong, and held the concurrent post of colonel director of agriculture. In every post he earned a reputation for competence; he sent up memorial after memorial on practical reforms, and much of what he urged was put right. When the five-tier nobility was instituted, he was enfeoffed as baron of Chungu. While Emperor Wu was still king of Jin, he appointed Fu Xuan cavalier attendant-in-ordinary. After the abdication, Fu Xuan's noble rank was raised to viscount, and he was also given the title of chief commandant of attached cavalry.
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帝初即位，廣納直言，開不諱之路，玄及散騎常侍皇甫陶共掌諫職。 玄上疏曰：「臣聞先王之臨天下也，明其大教，長其義節。 道化隆于上，清議行於下，上下相奉，人懷義心。 亡秦蕩滅先王之制，以法術相禦，而義心亡矣。 近者魏武好法術，而天下貴刑名； 魏文慕通達，而天下賤守節。 其後綱維不攝，而虛無放誕之論盈於朝野，使天下無復清議，而亡秦之病復發於今。 陛下聖德，龍興受禪，弘堯、舜之化，開正直之路，體夏禹之至儉，綜殷周之典文，臣詠歎而已，將又奚言！ 惟未舉清遠有禮之臣，以敦風節； 未退虛鄙，以懲不恪，臣是以猶敢有言。」 詔報曰：「舉清遠有禮之臣者，此尤今之要也。」 乃使玄草詔進之。 玄復上疏曰：
At the beginning of the reign the emperor welcomed blunt counsel and declared that nothing was off limits for remonstrance; Fu Xuan and the cavalier attendant-in-ordinary Huangfu Tao were jointly charged with that advisory role. Fu Xuan presented a memorial that began: "I have heard that when the kings of old faced the realm, they made plain the great moral teaching and nurtured a sense of duty and integrity. The transforming power of the Way flourished at court, while honest public opinion held sway in the countryside; high and low reinforced each other, and every man carried a sense of what was right. The fallen Qin had torn down the institutions of the earlier kings, governed by legalist tricks and coercive technique, and in the process destroyed the moral conscience of the people. In our own day Emperor Wu of Wei doted on legalist methods, and the empire learned to prize harsh law and clever nomenclature over everything else. Emperor Wen admired worldly sophistication, and the world came to despise men who clung stubbornly to principle. Discipline then collapsed, empty speculation and reckless talk flooded court and country, honest opinion fell silent, and the moral sickness that had destroyed Qin has broken out again in our time. Your Majesty has risen with dragon virtue to accept the abdication; you have widened the influence of Yao and Shun, opened a path for the upright, embodied the frugality of Yu of Xia, and drawn together the classical learning of Yin and Zhou. I could do nothing but sing your praise—what more is left for me to say? Only this remains: you have not yet raised up ministers who combine purity, depth, and ritual decorum, men who could give backbone to public conduct; nor have you cleared away the hollow and the mean to punish slackness—and for that reason I still presume to speak." The court answered with an edict: "Promoting men who are pure, serious, and observant of ritual is precisely what the age most urgently needs." He thereupon told Fu Xuan to draft an edict carrying the policy forward. Fu Xuan submitted another memorial:
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書奏，帝下詔曰：「二常侍懇懇於所論，可謂乃心欲佐益時事者也。 而主者率以常制裁之，豈得不使發憤耶！ 二常侍所論，或舉其大較而未備其條目，亦可便令作之，然後主者八坐廣共研精。 凡關言於人主，人臣之所至難。 而人主若不能虛心聽納，自古忠臣直士之所慷慨，至使杜口結舌。 每念於此，未嘗不歎息也。 故前詔敢有直言，勿有所距，庶幾得以發懞補過，獲保高位。 苟言有偏善，情在忠益，雖文辭有謬誤，言語有失得，皆當曠然恕之。 古人猶不拒誹謗，況皆善意在可採錄乎！ 近者孔晁、綦毋龢皆案以輕慢之罪，所以皆原，欲使四海知區區之朝無諱言之忌也。」 俄遷侍中。
When the memorial reached him, the emperor issued an edict: "The two attendant cavaliers have argued their case with real conviction; they clearly mean to put their hearts into improving the business of government. Yet the bureaus keep folding everything back into routine paperwork—no wonder honest men boil with frustration! What the two cavaliers propose may state the broad outline without filling in every clause; let them draft a fuller version, then have the responsible ministers and the eight senior seats work through the details together. Speaking truth to the sovereign is the hardest thing a subject can do. If the ruler will not listen with an open mind, loyal ministers have always grown desperate and ended by holding their tongues altogether. Whenever I think of it, I cannot help but sigh. That is why my earlier edict invited blunt speech and forbade anyone to block it—I hoped ignorance might be aired, faults corrected, and high office kept secure. Whenever a remark contains even a partial good point and the speaker means loyalty and the public good, I should overlook clumsy wording or slips of the tongue and forgive him outright. The ancients did not even refuse bitter criticism; how much less should I reject advice offered in good faith and worth taking down! Not long ago Kong Chao and Qi Wu He were charged with disrespect; I pardoned them both so that the empire would see this court has no fear of plain speaking." Soon afterward Fu Xuan was promoted to palace attendant.
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初，玄進皇甫陶，及入而抵，玄以事與陶爭，言喧嘩，為有司所奏，二人竟坐免官。 ，以為御史中丞。 時頗有水旱之災，玄復上疏曰：
Earlier, Fu Xuan had recommended Huangfu Tao, but once Tao took office the two men fell out; they quarreled loudly over policy until the authorities impeached them, and both were stripped of their posts. He was appointed metropolitan censor, though the preceding words are lost in the received text. Floods and droughts were then plaguing the realm, and Fu Xuan again addressed a memorial to the throne:
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詔曰：「得所陳便宜，言農事得失及水官興廢，又安邊禦胡政事寬猛之宜，申省周備，一二具之，此誠為國大本，當今急務也。 如所論皆善，深知乃心，廣思諸宜，動靜以聞也。」
The emperor replied by edict: "Your practical proposals on the successes and failures of agriculture, on which water offices to keep or abolish, and on how to balance severity and leniency in securing the frontier against the Hu are set out with admirable clarity. These are indeed fundamental matters for the state and pressing tasks for today. If everything you argue is sound, know that I understand your intent; think through every suitable measure and keep me informed as circumstances change."
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五年，遷太僕。 時比年不登，羌胡擾邊，詔公卿會議。 玄應對所問，陳事切直，雖不盡施行，而常見優容。 轉司隸校尉。
In the fifth year of the reign he was promoted to grand coachman. Harvests had failed year after year, Qiang and Hu raiders harried the frontier, and the court ordered the high ministers to convene for deliberation. Fu Xuan answered every question put to him with blunt, searching analysis; not all of his advice was adopted, but the throne regularly treated him with patience and favor. He was then transferred to the post of colonel director of retainers.
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獻皇后崩于弘訓宮，設喪位。 舊制，司隸於端門外坐，在諸卿上，絕席。 其入殿，按本品秩在諸卿下，以次坐，不絕席。 而謁者以弘訓宮為殿內，制玄位在卿下。 玄恚怒，厲聲色而責謁者。 謁者妄稱尚書所處，玄對百僚而罵尚書以下。 御史中丞庾純奏玄不敬，玄又自表不以實，坐免官。 然玄天性峻急，不能有所容； 每有奏劾，或值日暮，捧白簡，整簪帶，竦踴不寐，坐而待旦。 於是貴遊懾伏，臺閣生風。 尋卒于家，時年六十二，諡曰剛。
Empress Xian died in Hongxun Palace, and mourning stations were arranged for the rites. By established precedent the colonel director of retainers took his seat outside the Duan Gate above the other ministers, on a separate mat that marked his precedence. When he entered the main hall, his nominal rank placed him below the ministers in order of seating, without the privilege of a separate mat. The ushers treated Hongxun Palace as part of the inner palace and therefore assigned Fu Xuan a place below the ministers. Fu Xuan flared with rage and berated the ushers in a harsh voice. The ushers falsely claimed the secretariat had fixed the seating; Fu Xuan then reviled the secretariat and everyone below it in full view of the court. Metropolitan censor Yu Chun impeached him for disrespect; Fu Xuan's own written defense was deemed untruthful, and he was dismissed from office. By nature Fu Xuan was harsh and impatient, and he made allowance for no one. Whenever he prepared an impeachment, even if night was falling, he would take up his white indictment tablet, straighten cap and sash, sit bolt upright without sleep, and wait for dawn. The great families trembled into submission, and a new austerity swept through the bureaus. He died at home not long afterward, aged sixty-two, with the posthumous name Gang, "the unyielding."
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玄少時避難於河內，專心誦學，後雖顯貴，而著述不廢。 撰論經國九流及三史故事，評斷得失，各為區例，名為《傅子》，為內、外、中篇，凡有四部、六錄，合百四十首，數十萬言，並文集百餘卷行於世。 玄初作內篇成，子咸以示司空王沈。 沈與玄書曰：「省足下所著書，言富理濟，經綸政體，存重儒教，足以塞楊、墨之流遁，齊孫、孟于往代。 每開卷，未嘗不歎息也。 『不見賈生，自以過之，乃今不及』，信矣！」
In his youth he had fled trouble to Henei and given himself entirely to study; even after he rose to high rank he never set scholarship aside. He wrote treatises on statecraft and the nine schools of thought, drew lessons from the three histories, weighed right and wrong, and arranged his conclusions by topic in a work called the Fu zi, divided into inner, outer, and middle books—four sections, six registers, one hundred forty chapters and several hundred thousand characters—together with a literary collection of more than a hundred fascicles that circulated widely. When Fu Xuan had finished the first part of the inner books, his son Fu Xian showed the manuscript to Wang Chen, the minister of works. Wang Chen wrote to Fu Xuan: "I have read what you have written; the language is ample and the argument sound. In ordering the body politic you give due weight to Confucian teaching—enough to shut the door on the evasions of Yang Zhu and Mozi and to set Sunzi and Mencius on a par with the best of antiquity. Whenever I open the manuscript I find myself sighing in admiration. As the saying goes, 'Before I met Jia Yi I thought I surpassed him; now I see I do not measure up'—how true that is!"
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其後追封清泉侯。 子咸嗣。
He was later given the posthumous title of marquis of Qingquan. His son Fu Xian inherited the title.
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子咸
Fu Xian
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=咸字長虞，剛簡有大節。 風格峻整，識性明悟，疾惡如仇，推賢樂善，常慕季文子、仲山甫之志。 好屬文論，雖綺麗不足，而言成規鑒。 潁川庾純常歎曰：「長虞之文近乎詩人之作矣！」
Fu Xian, courtesy name Changyu, was austere and plain-spoken and showed unbending integrity in great matters. His bearing was severe and composed, his judgment lucid; he hated wickedness as he would a personal enemy, lifted up the worthy, and delighted in the good, and he modeled himself on the aspirations of Ji Wenzi and Zhong Shanfu of old. He loved to write essays and memorials; they lacked ornamental brilliance, but every piece offered clear standards and sober judgment. Yu Chun of Yingchuan used to exclaim, "Changyu's prose is almost what we call poetry!"
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咸甯初，襲父爵，拜太子洗馬，累遷尚書右丞。 出為冀州刺史，繼母杜氏不肯隨咸之官，自表解職。 三旬之間，遷司徒左長史。 時帝留心政事，詔訪朝臣政之損益。 咸上言曰：「陛下處至尊之位，而修布衣之事，親覽萬機，勞心日昃。 在昔帝王，躬自菲薄，以利天下，未有逾陛下也。 然泰始開元以暨於今，十有五年矣。 而軍國未豐，百姓不贍，一歲不登便有菜色者，誠由官眾事殷，復除猥濫，蠶食者多而親農者少也。 臣以頑疏，謬忝近職，每見聖詔以百姓饑饉為慮，無能雲補，伏用慚恧，敢不自竭，以對天問。 舊都督有四，今並監軍，乃盈於十。 夏禹敷土，分為九州，今之刺史，幾向一倍。 戶口比漢十分之一，而置郡縣更多。 空校牙門，無益宿衛，而虛立軍府，動有百數。 五等諸侯，復坐置官屬。 諸所寵給，皆生於百姓。 一夫不農，有受其饑，今之不農，不可勝計。 縱使五稼普收，僅足相接； 暫有災患，便不繼贍。 以為當今之急，先並官省事，靜事息役，上下用心，惟農是務也。」
Early in the Xianning era he inherited his father's noble rank, was appointed tutor to the heir apparent, and rose through several posts to right assistant in the secretariat. When he was sent out as inspector of Ji, his stepmother, Lady Du, refused to accompany him to his post, so he asked to resign. Within thirty days he was promoted to senior clerk on the left of the minister of education. The emperor was then intent on government and issued an edict asking the ministers what in current policy helped or harmed the realm. Fu Xian began by saying that although Your Majesty sits on the highest throne, you take on a commoner's workload, personally handling every thread of government from dawn until the sun is low in the west. Among the emperors of old who wore austerity on their own backs for the good of the realm, none has outdone you. Yet fifteen years have passed since the Taishi era began. The army and the treasury are still poor, the people still lack reserves: a single bad harvest puts hunger in their faces. The reason is plain—too many officials, too many tasks, tax relief handed out indiscriminately, endless petty predators on the countryside, and too few hands actually at the plow. I am a dull man unworthy of a place near the throne, yet whenever I read your edicts' anguish over the people's hunger I burn with shame that I have offered no help worth mentioning; I can only pour out what little I know in answer to your question. There used to be four regional commanders; with army supervisors added in, the number is now well over ten. Great Yu mapped the realm into nine provinces; we now maintain nearly twice as many provincial inspectors. Registered households are barely a tenth of what they were under the Han, yet we have more commanderies and counties than ever. Idle posts clutter headquarters gates without strengthening the night watch, while empty army bureaus are opened by the hundred. The nobles of the five ranks sit in office while piling up personal staffs. Every one of those salaries is wrung from the common people. If one man leaves the plow, someone goes hungry; today the number of men not farming is beyond counting. Even if every crop ripened well, the harvest would barely meet consumption; the slightest disaster breaks the chain of supply. I therefore believe the first task is to merge offices, cut redundant business, quiet lawsuits, and lighten corvée so that high and low alike bend their efforts to farming alone.
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咸在位多所執正。 豫州大中正夏侯駿上言，魯國小中正、司空司馬孔毓，四移病所，不能接賓，求以尚書郎曹馥代毓，旬日復上毓為中正。 司徒三卻，駿故據正。 咸以駿與奪惟意，乃奏免駿大中正。 司徒魏舒，駿之姻屬，屢卻不署，咸據正甚苦。 舒終不從，咸遂獨上。 舒奏咸激訕不直，詔轉咸為車騎司馬。
In office Fu Xian repeatedly stood his ground on points of principle. Xiahou Jun, the grand rectifier for Yu province, reported that Kong Yu—minor rectifier for Lu and a staff major under the minister of works—had changed his sick-leave residence four times and could not receive visitors; he asked that Cao Fu, a gentleman of the secretariat, replace Kong Yu, then ten days later submitted Kong Yu's name again for the rectifier's post. The minister of education rejected the nomination three times, but Xiahou Jun stubbornly insisted he was right. Fu Xian held that Xiahou Jun was making appointments and dismissals on whim, and memorialized to remove him as grand rectifier. The minister of education, Wei Shu—related to Xiahou Jun by marriage—repeatedly refused to countersign; Fu Xian pressed his case with bitter persistence. Wei Shu still would not yield, so Fu Xian submitted his memorial alone. Wei Shu then accused Fu Xian of provocation and slander; the court transferred Fu Xian to the post of marshal in the chariots-and-cavalry command.
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咸以世俗奢侈，又上書曰：「臣以為穀帛難生，而用之不節，無緣不匱。 故先王之化天下，食肉衣帛，皆有其制。 竊謂奢侈之費，甚於天災。 古者堯有茅茨，今之百姓競豐其屋。 古者臣無玉食，今之賈豎皆厭粱肉。 古者后妃乃有殊飾，今之婢妾被服綾羅。 古者大夫乃不徒行，今之賤隸乘輕驅肥。 古者人稠地狹而有儲蓄，由於節也； 今者土廣人稀而患不足，由於奢也。 欲時之儉，當詰其奢； 奢不見詰，轉相高尚。 昔毛玠為吏部尚書，時無敢好衣美食者。 魏武帝歎曰：『孤之法不如毛尚書。』 令使諸部用心，各如毛玠，風俗之移，在不難矣。」 又議移縣獄於郡及二社應立，朝廷從之。 遷尚書左丞。
Distressed by the luxury of the age, Fu Xian sent up another memorial: "Grain and silk are hard to come by; if we spend them without restraint, they cannot fail to run short. The kings of old who civilized the realm laid down clear rules even for such things as eating meat and wearing silk. I would add that the waste of extravagance does more harm than flood or drought. In Yao’s day the ruler lived under a thatched roof; today ordinary families compete to build ever grander houses. Once, ministers did not dine off jade vessels; today even petty traders grow weary of the finest grain and meat. Ornaments once reserved for queens and consorts now wrap maids and concubines in damask and gauze. Grandees alone once rode rather than walked; today the meanest servants clip along in light carriages behind sleek horses. When population pressed on narrow land, people still saved—because they lived frugally; Now the realm is wide and thinly peopled, yet we fret over want—because we have grown extravagant. If you want the age to be thrifty, you must call its extravagance to account; if extravagance goes unchallenged, people only egg one another on toward finer taste. When Mao Jie headed the ministry of appointments, for a while no one dared flaunt fine dress or rich food. Cao Cao sighed, “My statutes do not match Director Mao’s standards.” If every bureau could apply itself as Mao Jie did, changing the temper of the times would not be hard." He also urged moving county jails to the commandery level and founding the paired altars of soil and grain; the court agreed. He was promoted to left assistant director in the secretariat.
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惠帝即位，楊駿輔政。 咸言於駿曰：「事與世變，禮隨時宜，諒暗之不行尚矣。 由世道彌薄，權不可假，故雖斬焉在疚，而躬覽萬機也。 逮至漢文，以天下體大，服重難久，遂制既葬而除。 世祖武皇帝雖大孝蒸蒸，亦從時釋服，制心喪三年，至於萬機之事，則有不遑。 今聖上欲委政於公，諒暗自居，此雖謙讓之心，而天下未以為善。 天下未以為善者，以億兆顒顒，戴仰宸極，聽於冢宰，懼天光有蔽。 人心既已若此，而明公處之固未為易也。 竊謂山陵之事既畢，明公當思隆替之宜。 周公聖人，猶不免謗。 以此推之，周公之任既未易而處，況聖上春秋非成王之年乎！ 得意忘言，言未易盡。 苟明公有以察其悾款，言豈在多。」 時司隸荀愷從兄喪，自表赴哀，詔聽之而未下，愷乃造駿。 咸因奏曰：「死喪之戚，兄弟孔懷。 同堂亡隕，方在信宿，聖恩矜憫，聽使臨喪。 詔未下而便以行造，急諂媚之敬，無友于之情。 宜加顯貶，以隆風教。」 帝以駿管朝政，有詔不問，駿甚憚之。 咸復與駿箋諷切之，駿意稍折，漸以不平。 由是欲出為京兆、弘農太守，駿甥李斌說駿，不宜斥出正人，乃止。 駿弟濟素與咸善，與咸書曰：「江海之流混混，故能成其深廣也。 天下大器，非可稍了，而相觀每事欲了。 生子癡，了官事，官事未易了也。 了事正作癡，復為快耳！ 左丞總司天臺，維正八坐，此未易居。 以君盡性而處未易居之任，益不易也。 想慮破頭，故具有白。」 咸答曰：「衛公-{云}-酒色之殺人，此甚於作直。 坐酒色死，人不為悔。 逆畏以直致禍，此由心不直正，欲以苟且為明哲耳！ 自古以直致禍者，當自矯枉過直，或不忠允，欲以亢厲為聲，故致忿耳。 安有空空為忠益，而當見疾乎！」 居無何，駿誅。 咸轉為太子中庶子，遷御史中丞。
When Emperor Hui came to the throne, Yang Jun directed the government as regent. Fu Xian said to Yang Jun: “Circumstances change with the times, and ritual must suit the moment; it has been clear for ages that the old palace mourning cannot be kept unchanged. The moral climate has thinned, and supreme authority cannot be handed off; that is why even a ruler in the deepest mourning still has to take up the myriad affairs of state himself. Emperor Wen of Han, seeing the realm too vast for prolonged heavy mourning, decreed that mourning dress end with the burial. Emperor Wu, our dynastic founder, was deeply filial, yet he too laid aside formal mourning when the times required it, keeping a three-year grief in his heart while knowing he could not neglect the myriad tasks of rule. The reigning emperor wishes to leave government in your hands while he withdraws in mourning; that may show modest intent, but the empire does not read it as wise. People look up to the throne alone; if they hear that only the chief minister decides policy, they fear the sovereign’s light will be hidden. Hearts are already uneasy; for you, sir, the position cannot be an easy one. Once the imperial burial is over, you must weigh what will strengthen the state and what will weaken it. Even the Duke of Zhou, a sage, could not escape slander. If the Duke of Zhou’s burden was hard to bear, how much harder when our emperor is not a child like King Cheng of old! When the point is taken, words may cease; yet words can never say everything. If you can see the earnest loyalty behind my bluntness, I need not say more.” Meanwhile Xun Kai, the colonel director of retainers, had petitioned to mourn a deceased cousin; the throne had granted leave but the edict had not yet been issued when Kai went to Yang Jun’s house. Fu Xian seized on this and memorialized: “The grief of death strikes brothers most keenly. A cousin has just died; barely two nights have passed. The court in its mercy would let him attend the rites. To hurry to a private visit before the edict appears is eager flattery, not the affection due between brothers. He should be publicly demoted to uphold public morals.” The emperor, because Yang Jun ran the government, ordered the charge dropped; Jun nonetheless came to fear Fu Xian deeply. Fu Xian wrote again to needle Yang Jun; Jun yielded a little on the surface but grew quietly resentful. Jun then planned to send Fu Xian out as governor of Jingzhao or Hongnong, but Li Bin, Jun’s nephew, argued that an upright man should not be banished from the capital, and Jun dropped the idea. Yang Ji, Jun’s younger brother, who was friendly with Fu Xian, wrote: “Rivers and seas run broad and muddy, and that is how they grow deep and wide. The empire is no trifle to be ticked off in pieces, yet you try to finish every matter at a glance. The proverb runs, “Raise a dull son, leave him office work”—office work is never really finished. To “finish” business is to play the fool, yet people call that clever! The left assistant steers the high ministries and keeps the eight senior seats in line—that is no easy seat. For a man of your uncompromising nature to hold such a post is harder still. I worry until my head aches, so I spell it all out here.” Fu Xian answered: “Lord Wei says wine and lust kill more surely than blunt honesty. Men die of drink and lust without a twinge of regret. To shun disaster by silence shows a heart that is not straight—it is cowardice dressed up as wisdom. Those who court ruin by bluntness usually overcorrect, or lack true loyalty, or play the martyr for fame—and so they earn resentment. Would plain loyalty for the public good alone earn hatred?” Soon afterward Yang Jun was executed. Fu Xian was moved to palace attendant to the heir apparent, then promoted to metropolitan censor.
18
時太宰、汝南王亮輔政，咸致書曰：
When the grand preceptor, the king of Runan, Sima Liang, directed policy, Fu Xian wrote to him:
19
咸復以亮輔政專權，又諫曰：「楊駿有震主之威，委任親戚，此天下所以喧嘩。 今之處重，宜反此失。 謂宜靜默頤神，有大得失，乃維持之； 自非大事，一皆抑遣。 比四造詣，及經過尊門，冠蓋車馬，填塞街衢，此之翕習，既宜弭息。 又夏侯長容奉使為先帝請命，祈禱無感，先帝崩背，宜自咎責，而自求請命之勞，而公以為少府。 私竊之論，雲長容則公之姻，故至於此。 一犬吠形，群犬吠聲，懼於群吠，遂至叵聽也。 咸之為人，不能面從而有後言。 嘗觸楊駿，幾為身禍； 況于殿下，而當有惜！ 往從駕，殿下見語：『卿不識韓非逆鱗之言耶，而欻摩天子逆鱗！』 自知所陳，誠𬱃𬱃觸猛獸之須耳。 所以敢言，庶殿下當識其不勝區區。 前摩天子逆鱗，欲以盡忠； 今觸猛獸之須，非欲為惡，必將以此見恕。」 亮不納。 長容者，夏侯駿也。
Fu Xian, seeing that Sima Liang monopolized power as regent, remonstrated again: “Yang Jun’s authority overshadowed the throne and he packed office with kin—that is why the realm erupted in protest. Men who hold great power now should undo that mistake. You should stay quiet, husband your strength, and intervene only on great issues of right and wrong; everything short of that should be checked and turned aside. Four times lately I have called on you, and each time your gate was choked with carriages and riders; this ostentatious traffic ought to stop. Moreover Xiahou Changrong was sent to pray for the late emperor’s life; the prayers failed; when the emperor died he should have blamed himself, yet he boasted of his mission’s hardship, and you, sir, made him minister of the household. Whispered opinion says Changrong is your kinsman by marriage, which explains the appointment. One dog barks at a shadow and the pack joins in; fear that chorus and rumor becomes unbearable. I am not the sort to nod assent to your face and murmur behind your back. I once crossed Yang Jun and nearly lost my life; how much less would I hold back with you, Your Highness! Once, when I attended you on an outing, you said, “Have you not read Han Fei on the ruler’s ‘reverse scales’—yet you keep brushing the emperor’s!” I knew my words were timidly tugging the tiger’s whiskers. I speak because I hope you will see how much earnest loyalty compels me. When I pressed the late emperor it was to exhaust my loyalty; now I tug the tiger’s whiskers not from malice but in the trust that you will forgive me.” Sima Liang ignored the advice. “Changrong” is the style name of Xiahou Jun.
20
會丙寅，詔群僚舉郡縣之職以補內官。 咸復上書曰：
On a bingyin day the court ordered officials to nominate local posts to fill vacancies at the capital. Fu Xian again addressed a memorial:
21
咸再為本郡中正，遭繼母憂去官。 頃之，起以議郎，長兼司隸校尉。 咸前後固辭，不聽，敕使者就拜，咸復送還印綬。 公車不通，催使攝職。 咸以身無兄弟，喪祭無主，重自陳乞，乃使於官舍設靈坐。 咸又上表曰：「臣既駑弱，不勝重任。 加在哀疚，假息日闋，陛下過意，授非所堪。 披露丹款，歸窮上聞，謬詔既往，終然無改。 臣雖不能滅身以全禮教，義無靦然，虛忝隆寵。 前受嚴詔，視事之日，私心自誓，隕越為報。 以貨賂流行，所宜深絕，切敕都官，以此為先。 而經彌日月，未有所得。 斯由陛下有以獎厲，慮於愚戇，將必死系，故自掩檢以避其鋒耳。 在職有日，既無赫然之舉，又不應弦垂翅，人誰復憚？ 故光祿大夫劉毅為司隸，聲震內外，遠近清肅。 非徒毅有王臣匪躬之節，亦由所奏見從，威風得伸也。」 詔曰：「但當思必應繩中理，威風日伸，何獨劉毅！」
Fu Xian twice served as grand rectifier for his home commandery; he resigned to mourn his stepmother. Soon he was recalled as a gentleman consultant and acting colonel director of retainers. He declined repeatedly; the court ignored him, sent envoys to invest him in office, and he returned the seal and ribbon again. The petition channel was blocked while the court pressed him to assume the post. Because he had no brothers to preside over the rites, he pleaded again at length and was allowed to set up a mourning altar in his official quarters. He submitted another memorial: “I am a dull, feeble man unfit for a heavy charge. Grief has worn me down day by day; Your Majesty overestimates me and gives me duties I cannot sustain. I have laid my heart bare and sent my plea to the throne; mistaken edicts went out and nothing was changed. Though I cannot die to vindicate ritual, I cannot in good conscience accept empty honors. When I took office under your stern order I swore I would give my life in return. Bribery was rampant and had to be stopped; I ordered the capital bureaus to strike at it first. Months have passed and nothing has come of it. Your Majesty’s rewards encourage them to think that blunt honesty ends in prison or death, so they hide and lie low to dodge the blow. I have done nothing dramatic, nor have I broken anyone’s power; why should anyone fear me? When Liu Yi held this post, his name shook the capital and the regions grew orderly. It was not only Liu Yi’s selfless integrity—the throne also backed his memorials, so his authority could bite.” The edict answered: “See that every case you measure against principle; your authority will grow daily—why cite Liu Yi alone?”
22
時朝廷寬弛，豪右放恣，交私請托，朝野溷淆。 咸奏免河南尹澹、左將軍倩、廷尉高光、兼河南尹何攀等，京都肅然，貴戚懾伏。 咸以「聖人久于其道，天下化成。 是以唐、虞三載考績，九年黜陟。 其在《周禮》，三年大比。 孔子亦云，『三年有成』。 而中間以來，長吏到官，未幾便遷，百姓困于無定，吏卒疲於送迎」。 時僕射王戎兼吏部，咸奏：「戎備位臺輔，兼掌選舉，不能謐靜風俗，以凝庶績，至令人心傾動，開張浮競。 中郎李重、李義不相匡正。 請免戎等官。」 詔曰：「政道之本，誠宜久於其職，咸奏是也。 戎職在論道，吾所崇委，其解禁止。」 御史中丞解結以咸劾戎為違典制，越局侵官，干非其分，奏免咸官。 詔亦不許。
The court had grown lax; great families traded private favors until court and countryside were a blur. Fu Xian impeached the governor of Henan (surnamed Dan), the general of the left (surnamed Qian), the commandant of justice Gao Guang, and the concurrent governor of Henan He Pan; the capital grew orderly and the great houses trembled. Fu Xian quoted: “When the sage long pursues his course, the realm is shaped by it. Thus under Tang and Yu officials were graded every three years and promoted or demoted over nine. The Rites of Zhou prescribes a great review every three years. Confucius too said, “Give three years and there will be results.” Yet of late magistrates are shuffled after a short stay; the people suffer endless instability, and runners collapse escorting one chief after another.” Vice-director Wang Rong then ran the ministry of appointments; Fu Xian charged: “Rong sits among the chief ministers and holds appointments, yet he cannot steady custom or settle administration; hearts waver and empty rivalry spreads. The gentleman-attendants Li Chong and Li Yi never correct him. I ask that Wang Rong and his like be removed from office.” The edict said: “Long tenure is the root of good government; Fu Xian is right. Wang Rong’s duty is to counsel on the Way, which I value; lift the restrictions on him.” Metropolitan censor Xie Jie argued that impeaching Wang Rong broke the rules, overstepped Fu Xian’s charge, and meddled beyond his rank; he asked that Fu Xian be dismissed. The throne again refused.
23
咸上事以為「按令，御史中丞督司百僚。 皇太子以下，其在行馬內，有違法憲者皆彈糾之。 雖在行馬外，而監司不糾，亦得奏之。 如令之文，行馬之內有違法憲，謂禁防之事耳。 宮內禁防，外司不得而行，故專施中丞。 今道路橋梁不修，鬥訟屠沽不絕，如此之比，中丞推責州坐，即今所謂行馬內語施於禁防。 既雲中丞督司百僚矣，何復說行馬之內乎！ 既雲百僚，而不得復說行馬之內者，內外眾官謂之百僚，則通內外矣。 司隸所以不復說行馬內外者，禁防之事已於中丞說之故也。 中丞、司隸俱糾皇太子以下，則共對司內外矣，不為中丞專司內百僚，司隸專司外百僚。 自有中丞、司隸以來，更互奏內外眾官，惟所糾得無內外之限也。 而結一旦橫挫臣，臣前所以不羅縷者，冀因結奏得從私願也。 今既所願不從，而敕雲但為過耳，非所不及也，以此見原。 臣忝司直之任，宜當正己率人，若其有過，不敢受原，是以申陳其愚。 司隸與中丞俱共糾皇太子以下，則從皇太子以下無所不糾也。 得糾皇太子而不得糾尚書，臣之暗塞既所未譬。 皇太子為在行馬之內邪，皇太子在行馬之內而得糾之，尚書在行馬之內而不得糾，無有此理。 此理灼然，而結以此挫臣。 臣可無恨耳，其於觀聽，無乃有怪邪！ 臣識石公前在殿上脫衣，為司隸荀愷所奏，先帝不以為非，于時莫謂侵官； 今臣裁糾尚書，而當有罪乎？」 咸累自上稱引故事，條理灼然，朝廷無以易之。
Fu Xian argued in a memorial: "By statute the metropolitan censor supervises every official at court. Everyone from the crown prince downward who breaks the law inside the imperial patrol corridor falls under his impeachment. Even outside that corridor, if the regional inspectors fail to act, he may still memorialize against them. The statute’s wording ties the corridor to palace security alone. Inner-palace security is closed to outside bureaus, which is why the metropolitan censor alone holds that beat. Neglected roads, endless lawsuits, unruly markets—the censor blames the province, yet people now stretch the phrase ‘inside the corridor’ to cover such civic ills. If the censor already oversees all officials, why narrow him again to the corridor? The ‘hundred officials’ means everyone at court and in the provinces—inside and outside together. The colonel director omits the corridor because the censor’s statute already covers palace security. Censor and colonel both impeach from the crown prince down; they share inner and outer duty—it is not a split between two separate rosters. Since both offices were created they have taken turns impeaching officials everywhere, with no hard line between inner and outer. Xie Jie suddenly blocked me; I had not argued every clause because I hoped his memorial would win me the ruling I sought. Now my request is denied, yet the edict calls it a mere excess—not something beyond my duty—and forgives me on that ground. I hold the post of censor-in-chief: I must set the example. If I was wrong I should not be excused, so I lay out my reasoning bluntly. If censor and colonel both impeach from the crown prince downward, nothing below that rank lies outside their reach. I may impeach the heir yet not the secretariat director—this blind spot I cannot understand. Is the heir inside the corridor or not? If the heir inside may be impeached but the secretariat director inside may not, that rule does not exist. The logic is obvious, yet Xie Jie used it to block me. I can swallow the insult—but will not the world find it absurd? I recall when Lord Shi stripped in the hall and Xun Kai impeached him—the late emperor approved, and no one cried ‘overreach.’ Am I now to be punished for impeaching only the secretariat director?" Fu Xian piled precedent on precedent until the case was airtight and the court could not refute him.
24
吳郡顧榮常與親故書曰：「傅長虞為司隸，勁直忠果，劾按驚人。 雖非周才，偏亮可貴也。」 卒官，時年五十六，詔贈司隸校尉，朝服一具、衣一襲、錢二十萬，諡曰貞。 有三子：敷、晞、纂。 長子敷嗣。
Gu Rong of Wu often wrote to friends that Fu Xian as colonel director was fierce, loyal, and fearless—his indictments shook the capital. He was not a universal genius, but his moral brilliance was rare." He died in office at fifty-six. The court posthumously restored his colonel’s title, gave court dress, a suit, two hundred thousand cash, and the posthumous name Zhen, ‘the steadfast. He left three sons: Fu, Xi, and Zuan. The eldest son, Fu, inherited his title.
25
敷字穎根，清靜有道，素解屬文。 除太子舍人，轉尚書郎、太傅參軍，皆不起。 永嘉之亂，避地會稽，元帝引為鎮東從事中郎。 素有贏疾，頻見敦喻，辭不獲免，輿病到職。 數月卒，時年四十六。 晞亦有才思，為上虞令，甚有政績，卒于司徒西曹屬。
Fu, courtesy name Yingen, was serene, reclusive, and a gifted writer. He was named attendant to the heir apparent, then secretary and staff officer to the grand tutor, but declined each post. When Yongjia brought chaos he fled to Kuaiji; Prince Langya (later Yuan-di) summoned him as aide on the staff of the general who guards the east. Chronic illness had long wasted him; though he begged off, he could not refuse and arrived in a sickbed litter to take office. Within months he was dead at forty-six. Xi was also clever and thoughtful; as magistrate of Shangyu he earned praise for good rule, and died as an aide in the minister of education’s western bureau.
26
傅祗
Fu Zhi
27
祗字子莊。 父嘏，魏太常。 祗性至孝，早知名，以才識明練稱。 武帝始建東宮，起家太子舍人，累遷散騎黃門郎，賜爵關內侯，食邑三百戶。 母憂去職。 及葬母，詔給太常五等吉凶導從。 其後諸卿夫人葬給導從，自此始也。 服終，為滎陽太守。 自魏黃初大水之後，河濟泛溢，鄧艾嘗著《濟河論》，開石門而通之，至是復浸壞。 祗乃造沈萊堰，至今兗、豫無水患，百姓為立碑頌焉。 尋表兼廷尉，遷常侍、左軍將軍。
Fu Zhi, courtesy name Zizhuang. His father, Fu Gu, had been grand master of ceremonies under the Wei. Deeply filial and famous early, he was admired for shrewd, seasoned ability. When Emperor Wu of Jin founded the heir’s palace, Fu Zhi left mourning to become an heir’s attendant, rose to cavalier attendant and gentleman at the yellow gate, and received a secondary marquisate within the passes with three hundred households. He resigned to mourn his mother. For her burial the court ordered the grand master of ceremonies to supply the full five-grade funeral escort. Later, when ministers’ wives were buried, they too received such escorts—the practice began with him. When mourning ended he became governor of Xingyang. After Wei’s Huangchu flood the Yellow and Ji had burst their banks; Deng Ai’s treatise and the stone sluice he opened had long held the waters—by now the works had failed again. Fu Zhi built the Shen and Lai embankments; Yan and Yu have been free of floods since, and the people raised a stele in his honor. Soon he added the post of commandant of justice, then became a regular attendant and general of the left army.
28
及帝崩，梓宮在殯，而太傅楊駿輔政，欲悅眾心，議普進封爵。 祗與駿書曰：「未有帝王始崩，臣下論功者也。」 駿不從。 入為侍中。 時將誅駿，而駿不之知。 祗侍駿坐，而雲龍門閉，內外不通。 祗請與尚書武茂聽國家消息，揖而下階。 茂猶坐，祗顧曰：「君非天子臣邪！ 今內外隔絕，不知國家所在，何得安坐！」 茂乃驚起。 駿既伏誅，裴楷息瓚，駿之婿也，為亂兵所害。 尚書左僕射荀愷與楷不平，因奏楷是駿親，收付廷尉。 祗證楷無罪，有詔赦之。 時又收駿官屬，祗復啟曰：「昔魯芝為曹爽司馬，斬關出赴爽，宣帝義之，尚遷青州刺史。 駿之僚佐不可加罰。」 詔又赦之。 祗多所維正皆如此。
While the emperor’s coffin still lay in mourning, Grand Tutor Yang Jun ran the government and proposed blanket promotions to buy popularity. Fu Zhi wrote to Yang Jun, ‘No worthy court has ever handed out rewards for “merit” the moment an emperor dies.’" Jun ignored him. He was summoned to palace attendant. The coup against Jun was already set, yet Jun knew nothing. Fu Zhi was sitting with Jun when word came that the Dragon Gate was sealed and the palace cut off from the city. Fu Zhi asked to go with Wu Mao of the secretariat to learn the court’s fate, bowed, and stepped down from the hall. Wu Mao remained seated; Fu Zhi turned and cried, ‘Are you not a minister of the throne?’ ‘Inside and outside are sealed—we do not even know where the sovereign is—how can you sit at ease?’" Wu Mao leapt up in alarm. When Jun fell, Pei Kai’s son Pei Zan—Jun’s son-in-law—was cut down by mutinous troops. Left vice-director Xun Kai, who hated Pei Kai, memorialized that Kai was Jun’s intimate and had him arrested for the commandant of justice. Fu Zhi testified that Pei Kai was innocent, and an edict freed him. When Jun’s staff were rounded up, Fu Zhi cited Lu Zhi, who broke out to join Cao Shuang yet was honored by Emperor Xuan with a Qingzhou post. Yang Jun’s aides should not be punished further." Another edict pardoned them. Time and again Fu Zhi steadied justice in this way.
29
除河南尹，未拜，遷司隸校尉。 以討楊駿勳，當封郡公八千戶，固讓，減半，降封靈川縣公，千八百戶，餘二千二百戶封少子暢為武鄉亭侯。 又以本封賜兄子雋為東明亭侯。
He was named governor of Henan but before taking office was made colonel director of retainers. For crushing Yang Jun he merited a commandery-duke’s fief of eight thousand households; he refused until the court halved it to a district duke of Lingchuan with eighteen hundred households and enfeoffed his youngest son Chang as village marquis of Wuxiang with the remainder. From his original grant he also made his nephew Jun village marquis of Dongming.
30
楚王瑋之矯詔也，祗以聞奏稽留，免官。 期年，遷光祿勳，復以公事免。 氐人齊萬年舉兵反，以祗為行安西軍司，加常侍，率安西將軍夏侯駿討平之。 遷衛尉，以風疾遜位，就拜常侍，食卿祿秩，賜錢及床帳等。 尋加光祿大夫，門施行馬。 及趙王倫輔政，以為中書監，常侍如故，以鎮眾心。 祗辭之以疾，倫遣御史輿祗就職。 王戎、陳准等相與言曰：「傅公在事，吾屬無憂矣。」 其為物所倚信如此。
When Prince Chu, Sima Wei, forged an edict, Fu Zhi was dismissed for slow reporting. A year later he became grand master of splendid horses, then was removed again over a public affair. When the Di leader Qi Wannian rebelled, Fu Zhi served as acting chief of staff for the Army of the West with concurrent regular attendant, accompanying General Who Pacifies the West Xiahou Jun to crush the revolt. Promoted commandant of the guards, he resigned with a palsy, was kept as regular attendant on ministerial salary, and given cash, bedding, and the like. Soon he added the title grand counsellor of splendid horses and was allowed the mounted patrol barrier at his gate. When Prince Zhao, Sima Lun, took charge, he made Fu Zhi overseer of the secretariat, still a regular attendant, to calm public opinion. Fu Zhi pleaded illness; Lun sent a censor with a litter to force him to his desk. Wang Rong and Chen Zhun said to each other, ‘With Lord Fu at the helm we need not worry.’" Such was the trust men placed in him.
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倫篡，又為右光祿、開府，加侍中。 惠帝還宮，祗以經受偽職請退，不許。 初，倫之篡也，孫秀與義陽王威等十餘人預撰儀式禪文。 及倫敗，齊王冏收侍中劉逵、常侍騶捷、杜育、黃門郎陸機、右丞周導、王尊等付廷尉。 以禪文出中書，復議處祗罪，會赦得原。 後以禪文草本非祗所撰，於是詔復光祿大夫。 子宣，尚弘農公主。
When Lun seized the throne, Fu Zhi became right grand master of splendid horses with independent establishment and added palace attendant. After Emperor Hui returned, Fu Zhi asked to resign for having served the usurper; the court refused. When Lun first usurped, Sun Xiu, Prince Yiyang Sima Wei, and a dozen others had drafted the abdication liturgy and text. When Lun fell, Prince Qi Sima Jiong arrested Liu Dai, Zou Jie, Du Yu, Lu Ji, Zhou Dao, Wang Zun, and others for the commandant of justice. Because the abdication edict had issued from the secretariat, some wanted Fu Zhi punished, but a general amnesty spared him. Later it was shown the draft was not his hand, and an edict restored him as grand counsellor of splendid horses. His son Fu Xuan married the princess of Hongnong.
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尋遷太子少傅，上章遜位還第。 及成都王穎為太傅，復以祗為少傅，加侍中。 懷帝即位，遷光祿大夫、侍中，未拜，加右僕射、中書監。 時太傅東海王越輔政，祗既居端右，每宣君臣謙光之道，由此上下雍穆。 祗明達國體，朝廷制度多所經綜。 曆左光祿、開府，行太子太傅，侍中如故。 疾篤遜位，不許。 遷司徒，以足疾，詔版輿上殿，不拜。
Soon he became junior tutor to the heir apparent, then begged leave to retire home. When Prince Chengdu Sima Ying became grand tutor, he again named Fu Zhi junior tutor with added palace attendant. Under Emperor Huai he rose to grand counsellor of splendid horses and palace attendant, then—before the first appointment took effect—added right vice-director and overseer of the secretariat. While Grand Tutor Prince Donghai Sima Yue governed, Fu Zhi as senior minister on the right preached mutual deference between sovereign and ministers, and court relations grew calm. He grasped how the state should run and had shaped many of its institutions. He passed through left grand master of splendid horses with independent establishment, acting grand tutor to the heir apparent, still a palace attendant. Gravely ill, he asked to retire; the court refused. Raised to minister of education, he was carried in a litter to court because of his feet and excused from bowing.
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大將軍苟晞表請遷都，使祗出詣河陰，修理舟楫，為水行之備。 及洛陽陷沒，遂共建行台，推祗為盟主，以司徒、持節、大都督諸軍事傳檄四方。 遣子宣將公主與尚書令和郁赴告方伯征義兵，祗自屯盟津小城，宣弟暢行河陰令，以待宣。 祗以暴疾薨，時年六十九。 祗自以義誠不終，力疾手筆敕厲其二子宣、暢，辭旨深切，覽者莫不感激慷慨。 祗著文章駁論十餘萬言。
General Gou Xi proposed moving the capital and sent Fu Zhi to Heyin to ready boats for a river retreat. When Luoyang fell, the exiles set up a mobile command, chose Fu Zhi as their head, and issued calls in his name as minister of education, credential-bearing supreme commander. He sent Fu Xuan with the princess and He Yu, the director of the secretariat, to rally regional lords while he himself held the small fort at Meng Ford; his younger son Chang served as magistrate of Heyin to cover the crossing. Fu Zhi died of a sudden illness at sixty-nine. Believing his duty of loyalty unfinished, he dragged himself from his sickbed to write a fierce testament for Xuan and Chang; every reader was moved to tears. He left more than a hundred thousand characters of essays and polemics.
34
宣字世弘。 年六歲喪繼母，哭泣如成人，中表異之。 及長，好學，趙王倫以為相國掾、尚書郎、太子中舍人，遷司徒西曹掾。 去職，累遷為秘書丞、驃騎從事中郎。 惠帝至自長安，以宣為左丞，不就，遷黃門郎。 懷帝即位，轉吏部郎，又為御史中丞。 卒年四十九，無子，以暢子沖為嗣。
Fu Xuan, courtesy name Shihong. At six he lost his stepmother and wept like a grown man; kinsfolk marveled. As an adult he loved books; Prince Zhao Lun made him aide to the minister of state, secretary, heir’s gentleman, then aide in the minister of education’s western bureau. After resigning he rose to secretary’s aide and staff officer to the general who gallops to battle. When Emperor Hui returned from Chang’an, Fu Xuan was named left aide but declined, then was made gentleman at the yellow gate. Under Emperor Huai he became a gentleman in the ministry of personnel, then metropolitan censor again. He died at forty-nine without a son, so his brother Chang’s son Chong inherited the line.
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暢字世道。 年五歲，父友見而戲之，解暢衣，取其金環與侍者，暢不之惜，以此賞之。 年未弱冠，甚有重名。 以選入侍講東宮，為秘書丞。 尋沒于石勒，勒以為大將軍右司馬。 諳識朝儀，恆居機密，勒甚重之。 作《晉諸公敘贊》二十二卷，又為《公卿故事》九卷。 卒。 子詠，過江為交州刺史、太子右率。
Fu Chang, courtesy name Shidao. When he was five, a friend of his father teased him, stripped off his coat, and gave his gold ring to a servant; the boy showed no resentment, and adults praised his composure. Before he came of age he was already famous. Chosen for the heir’s lecture staff, he became an assistant in the palace library. He soon fell into Shi Le’s hands; Le appointed him senior clerk on the right for the grand general. Expert in court ritual and privy to every secret plan, he won Shi Le’s deep respect. He wrote the Appraisal Narratives of Jin Lords in twenty-two scrolls and the Stories of Dukes and Ministers in nine. He died. His son Fu Yong crossed south to serve as inspector of Jiaozhou and commander of the heir’s right guard.
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【史評】
Section heading: editors’ appraisal.
37
史臣曰：武帝覽觀四方，平章百姓，永言啟沃，任切爭臣。 傅玄體強直之姿，懷匪躬之操，抗辭正色，補闕弼違，諤諤當朝，不忝其職者矣。 及乎位居三獨，彈擊是司，遂能使台閣生風，貴戚斂手。 雖前代鮑、葛，何以加之！ 然而惟此褊心，乏弘雅之度，驟聞競爽，為物議所譏，惜哉！ 古人取戒于韋弦，良有以也。 長虞風格凝峻，弗墜家聲。 及其納諫汝南，獻書臨晉，居諒直之地，有先見之明矣。 傅祗名父之子，早樹風猷，崎嶇危亂之朝，匡救君臣之際，卒能保全祿位，可謂有道存焉。
The historians write: Emperor Wu surveyed the realm and weighed the welfare of the people; longing for frank counsel, he charged his remonstrating ministers with a heavy trust. Fu Xuan was rigid and upright, selfless in devotion, spoke his mind with stern dignity, and strove to mend faults at court—he did honor to his office. Once he held one of the three independent censorial posts and wielded the power of impeachment, the ministries stiffened with discipline and the great families pulled in their claws. Even Han’s Bao Xuan and Ge Ying would not have surpassed him. Yet his narrow temper lacked easy magnanimity; quick to bristle at rivals, he earned public ridicule—a pity. The ancients took both the soft leather and the tight bowstring as their teachers—how true that remains. Fu Xian’s manner was grave and austere; he did not shame his father’s name. When he pressed his advice on the king of Runan and sent his memorials from the Linjin command, he stood in the place of blunt loyalty and showed real foresight. Fu Zhi, son of a famous minister, showed his quality early; through a time of coups and chaos he steadied sovereign and subject and kept his honor and salary—clearly the Way lived in him.
38
贊曰：鶉觚貞諒，實惟朝望。 志厲強直，性乖夷曠。 長虞剛簡，無虧風尚。 子莊才識，爰膺袞職。 忠績未申，泉途遽逼。=
The encomium reads: The baron of Chungu, steadfast and true, was indeed the court’s moral backbone. His will was fierce and upright; his temper turned away from easy-going tolerance. Fu Xian’s stern simplicity never betrayed the family’s standards. Fu Zhi, styled Zizhuang, matched talent to insight and shouldered the highest offices. His loyal service was cut short; the road to the grave came all too soon.