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皇甫謐
Biography: Huangfu Mi.
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皇甫謐,字士安,幼名靜,安定朝那人,漢太尉嵩之曾孫也。 出叔父,徙居新安。 年二十,不好學,遊蕩無度,或以為癡。 嘗得瓜果,輒進所叔母任氏。 任氏曰:「《孝經》云:『三牲之養,猶為不孝。』 汝今年餘二十,目不存教,心不入道,無以慰我。」 因歎曰:「昔孟母三徙以成仁,曾父烹豕以存教,豈我居不卜鄰,教有所闕,何爾魯鈍之甚也! 修身篤學,自汝得之,于我何有!」 因對之流涕。 謐乃感激,就鄉人席坦受書,勤力不怠。 居貧,躬自稼穡,帶經而農,遂博綜典籍百家之言。 沈靜寡欲,始有高尚之志,以著述為務,自號玄晏先生。 著《禮樂》、《聖真》之論。 後得風痹疾,猶手不輟卷。
Huangfu Mi, whose courtesy name was Shi'an and childhood name Jing, came from Chaona in Anding; he was the great-grandson of Huangfu Song, who had served the Han as Grand Commandant. He was posthumously transferred to his uncle's line and the family relocated to Xin'an. By twenty he still scorned books, drifted without purpose, and people took him for a simpleton. Whenever he had fruit, he would bring it first to his adoptive aunt, Lady Ren. Lady Ren told him: "The Classic of Filial Piety says that even serving one's parents the finest triple sacrifice can still fall short of true filial piety. You are already past twenty, yet you pay no heed to teaching and your heart is not in the Way; that gives me no comfort." She sighed and went on: "Meng Ke's mother moved house three times to shape his character; Zeng Shen's father kept his word over a pig to teach honesty. Have I failed to pick our neighbors, or failed you as a teacher, that you should be so stubbornly slow? Moral self-cultivation and serious study are yours to earn—what credit would they bring me?" With that she wept in front of him. Moved by her words, he studied under his townsman Xi Tan and applied himself without letting up. Poor as he was, he worked the fields himself, classics tucked in his belt, until he had mastered the standard works and the writings of every school. Reserved and detached from ambition, he turned to scholarship as his life's work and took the sobriquet Master Xuanyan ('Dark Tranquility'). He wrote discourses on ritual and music and on sagehood and truth. Even after he fell ill with arthritic numbness, he never set his books aside.
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或勸謐修名廣交,謐以為「非聖人孰能兼存出處,居田里之中亦可以樂堯、舜之道,何必崇接世利,事官鞅掌,然後為名乎」。 作《玄守論》以答之,曰:或謂謐曰:「富貴人之所欲,貧賤人之所惡,何故委形待於窮而不變乎?且道之所貴者,理世也;人之所美者,及時也。先生年邁齒變,饑寒不贍,轉死溝壑,其誰知乎?」 謐曰:「人之所至惜者,命也; 道之所必全者,形也; 性形所不可犯者,疾病也。 若擾全道以損性命,安得去貧賤存所欲哉? 吾聞食人之祿者懷人之憂,形強猶不堪,況吾之弱疾乎! 且貧者士之常,賤者道之實,處常得實,沒齒不憂,孰與富貴擾神耗精者乎! 又生為人所不知,死為人所不惜,至矣! 喑聾之徒,天下之有道者也。 夫一人死而天下號者,以為損也; 一人生而四海笑者,以為益也。 然則號笑非益死損生也。 是以至道不損,至德不益。 何哉? 體足也。 如回天下之念以追損生之禍,運四海之心以廣非益之病,豈道德之至乎! 夫唯無損,則至堅矣; 夫唯無益,則至厚矣。 堅故終不損,厚故終不薄。 苟能體堅厚之實,居不薄之真,立乎損益之外,遊乎形骸之表,則我道全矣。」
When others pressed him to network and seek fame, Mi replied, "Unless one is a sage, who can preserve both public service and withdrawal? In the countryside one can still delight in the Way of Yao and Shun. Why must one seek worldly profit and busy oneself in office before gaining a name?" He wrote "On Abiding in Mystery" in reply. It begins with someone asking Mi, "Wealth and rank are what people desire, poverty and lowliness what they hate. Why commit your body to hardship and refuse to change? The Way is prized because it orders the age; people admire seizing the right moment. Sir, you are old, hungry, and cold, and may die in a ditch. Who will ever know?" Mi replied, "What people most cherish is life; what the Way must keep whole is the body; what nature and body cannot withstand is illness. If one disturbs the whole Way and injures nature and life, how can one escape poverty and lowliness while preserving what one desires? I have heard that one who eats another man's stipend bears that man's anxieties; even a strong body can hardly bear this, much less my weak and sick one. Poverty is the scholar's normal condition, and lowliness is the substance of the Way; to live in what is normal and gain what is real until the end of one's teeth is free of worry. How is that like wealth and rank, which disturb the spirit and exhaust the essence? Moreover, to live unknown by others and die unlamented by others is the utmost. The mute and deaf are those under Heaven who possess the Way. When one man dies and all under Heaven wails, people call that a loss; when one man lives and the four seas smile, people call that a gain. Yet wailing and smiling do not make death a gain or life a loss. Therefore the highest Way is not diminished, and the highest virtue is not increased. Why is this? Because its substance is complete. If one turns the thoughts of all under Heaven toward chasing the calamity of losing life, and moves the hearts of the four seas to enlarge the sickness of what is no gain, how could that be the height of Way and virtue? Only what has no loss is supremely firm; only what has no gain is supremely substantial. Because it is firm, in the end it is not diminished; because it is substantial, in the end it is not thinned. If one can embody the reality of firmness and substance, dwell in the truth that is not thinned, stand outside loss and gain, and roam beyond bodily form, then my Way is whole."
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遂不仕。 耽玩典籍,忘寢與食,時人謂之「書淫」。 或有箴其過篤,將損耗精神。 謐曰:「朝聞道,夕死可矣,況命之修短分定懸天乎!」
He therefore never entered government service. He lost himself in texts to the point of skipping meals and sleep, and his contemporaries nicknamed him a "book lecher." Friends warned that such obsession would ruin his health. He answered: "If I could hear the truth in the morning, I could die content that evening—and lifespan is heaven's decision anyway."
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叔父有子既冠,謐年四十喪所生後母,遂還本宗。
Once his uncle had an heir of age, and Mi turned forty, he buried the stepmother who had raised him and reverted to his natural father's line.
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城陽太守梁柳,謐從姑子也,當之官,人勸謐餞之。 謐曰:「柳為布衣時過吾,吾送迎不出門,食不過鹽菜,貧者不以酒肉為禮。 今作郡而送之,是貴城陽太守而賤梁柳,豈中古人之道,是非吾心所安也。」
Liang Liu of Chengyang commandery—Mi's cousin once removed—was leaving for his appointment, and neighbors wanted Mi to host a send-off banquet. Mi replied: "When Liang Liu was still a commoner and called on me, I never stepped outside my door for him and we ate nothing finer than pickles—modest households do not toast one another with meat and wine. To fuss over him now that he wears an official's sash would honor the title of governor while slighting the man Liang Liu himself—that is not how the old worthies behaved, and it would not sit right with me."
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時魏郡召上計掾,舉孝廉; 景元初,相國辟,皆不行。 其後鄉親勸令應命,謐為《釋勸論》以通志焉。 其辭曰:相國晉王辟餘等三十七人,及泰始登禪,同命之士莫不畢至,皆拜騎都尉,或賜爵關內侯,進奉朝請,禮如侍臣。 唯余疾困,不及國寵。 宗人父兄及我僚類,咸以為天下大慶,萬姓賴之,雖未成禮,不宜安寢,縱其疾篤,猶當致身。 余唯古今明王之制,事無巨細,斷之以情,實力不堪,豈慢也哉! 乃伏枕而歎曰:「夫進者,身之榮也; 退者,命之實也。 設余不疾,執高箕山,尚當容之,況餘實篤! 故堯、舜之世,士或收跡林澤,或過門不敢入。 咎繇之徒兩遂其願者,遇時也。 故朝貴致功之臣,野美全志之士。 彼獨何人哉! 今聖帝龍興,配名前哲,仁道不遠,斯亦然乎! 客或以常言見逼,或以逆世為慮。 餘謂上有寬明之主,下必有聽意之人,天網恢恢,至否一也,何尤於出處哉!」遂究賓主之論,以解難者,名曰《釋勸》。 客曰:「蓋聞天以懸象致明,地以含通吐靈。 故黃鐘次序,律呂分形。 是以春華髮萼,夏繁其實,秋風逐暑,冬冰乃結。 人道以之,應機乃發。 三材連利,明若符契。 故士或同升於唐朝,或先覺於有莘,或通夢以感主,或釋釣於渭濱,或叩角以幹齊,或解褐以相秦,或冒謗以安鄭,或乘駟以救屯,或班荊以求友,或借術于黃神。 故能電飛景拔,超次邁倫,騰高聲以奮遠,抗宇宙之清音。 由此觀之,進德貴乎及時,何故屈此而不伸? 今子以英茂之才,游精於六藝之府,散意於眾妙之門者有年矣。 既遭皇禪之朝,又投祿利之際,委聖明之主,偶知己之會,時清道真,可以沖邁,此真吾生濯發雲漢、鴻漸之秋也。 韜光逐藪,含章未曜,龍潛九泉,堅焉執高,棄通道之遠由,守介人之局操,無乃乖於道之趣乎? 且吾聞招搖昏回則天位正,五教班敘則人理定。 如今王命切至,委慮有司,上招迕主之累,下致駭眾之疑。 達者貴同,何必獨異? 群賢可從,何必守意? 方今同命並臻,饑不待餐,振藻皇塗,咸秩天官。 子獨棲遲衡門,放形世表,遜遁丘園,不睨華好,惠不加人,行不合道,身嬰大疢,性命難保。 若其羲和促轡,大火西穨,臨川恨晚,將復何階! 夫貴陰賤璧,聖所約也; 顛倒衣裳,明所箴也。 子其鑒先哲之洪范,副聖朝之虛心,沖靈翼于雲路,浴天池以濯鱗,排閶闔,步玉岑,登紫闥,侍北辰,翻然景曜,雜遝英塵。 輔唐、虞之主,化堯舜、之人,宣刑錯之政,配殷、周之臣,銘功景鐘,參敘彝倫,存則鼎食,亡為貴臣,不亦茂哉! 而忽金白之輝曜,忘青紫之班瞵,辭容服之光粲,抱弊褐之終年,無乃勤乎!」主人笑而應之曰:「籲! 若賓可謂習外觀之暉暉,未睹幽人之仿佛也; 見俗人之不容,未喻聖皇之兼愛也; 循方圓於規矩,未知大形之無外也。 故曰,天玄而清,地靜而甯,含羅萬類,旁薄群生,寄身聖世,托道之靈。 若夫春以陽散,冬以陰凝,泰液含光,元氣混蒸,眾品仰化,誕制殊征。 故進者享天祿,處者安丘陵。 是以寒暑相推,四宿代中,陰陽不治,運化無窮,自然分定,兩克厥中。 二物俱靈,是謂大同; 彼此無怨,是謂至通。 若乃衰周之末,貴詐賤誠,牽於權力,以利要榮。 故蘇子出而六主合,張儀入而橫勢成,廉頗存而趙重,樂毅去而燕輕,公叔沒而魏敗,孫臏刖而齊寧,蠡種親而越霸,屈子疏而楚傾。 是以君無常籍,臣無定名,損義放誠,一虛一盈。 故馮以彈劍感主,女有反賜之說,項奮拔山之力,蒯陳鼎足之勢,東郭劫于田榮,顏闔恥於見逼。 斯皆棄禮喪真,苟榮朝夕之急者也,豈道化之本與! 若乃聖帝之創化也,參德乎三皇,齊風乎虞、夏,欲溫溫而和暢,不欲察察而明切也; 欲混混若玄流,不欲蕩蕩而名發也; 欲索索而條解,不欲契契而繩結也; 欲芒芒而無垠際,不欲區區而分別也; 欲暗然而內章,不欲示白若冰雪也; 欲醇醇而任德,不欲瑣瑣而執法也。 是以見機者以動成,好遁者無所迫。 故曰,一明一昧,得道之概; 一弛一張,合禮之方; 一浮一沈,兼得其真。 故上有勞謙之愛,下有不名之臣; 朝有聘賢之禮,野有遁竄之人。 是以支伯以幽疾距唐,李老寄跡於西鄰,顏氏安陋以成名,原思娛道於至貧,榮期以三樂感尼父,黔婁定諡於布衾,幹木偃息以存魏,荊、萊志邁于江岑,君平因蓍以道著,四皓潛德於洛濱,鄭真躬耕以致譽,幼安發令乎今人。 皆持難奪之節,執不回之意,遭拔俗之主,全彼人之志。 故有獨定之計者,不借謀於眾人; 守不動之安者,不假慮於群賓。 故能棄外親之華,通內道之真,去顯顯之明路,入昧昧之埃塵,宛轉萬情之形表,排托虛寂以寄身,居無事之宅,交釋利之人。 輕若鴻毛,重若泥沈,損之不得,測之愈深。 真吾徒之師表,餘迫疾而不能及者也。 子議吾失宿而駭眾,吾亦怪子較論而不折中也。 夫才不周用,眾所斥也; 寢疾彌年,朝所棄也。 是以胥克之廢,丘明列焉; 伯牛有疾,孔子斯歎。 若黃帝創制於九經,岐伯剖腹以蠲腸,扁鵲造虢而屍起,文摯徇命于齊王,醫和顯術于秦、晉,倉公發秘於漢皇,華佗存精於獨識,仲景垂妙于定方。 徒恨生不逢乎若人,故乞命訴乎明王。 求絕編於天錄,亮我躬之辛苦,冀微誠之降霜,故俟罪而窮處。」 其後武帝頻下詔敦逼不已,謐上疏自稱草莽臣曰:「臣以尪弊,迷於道趣,因疾抽簪,散發林阜,人綱不閑,鳥獸為群。 陛下披榛采蘭,並收蒿艾。 是以皋陶振褐,不仁者遠。 臣惟頑蒙,備食晉粟,猶識唐人擊壤之樂,宜赴京城,稱壽闕外。 而小人無良,致災速禍,久嬰篤疾,軀半不仁,右腳偏小,十有九載。 又服寒食藥,違錯節度,辛苦荼毒,於今七年。 隆冬裸袒食冰,當暑煩悶,加以咳逆,或若溫虐,或類傷寒,浮氣流腫,四肢酸重。 於今困劣,救命呼噏,父兄見出,妻息長訣。 仰迫天威,扶輿就道,所苦加焉,不任進路,委身待罪,伏枕歎息。 臣聞《韶》《衛》不並奏,《雅》《鄭》不兼禦,故郤子入周,禍延王叔; 虞丘稱賢,樊姬掩口。 君子小人,禮不同器,況臣糠䵃,糅之彫胡? 庸夫錦衣,不稱其服也。 竊聞同命之士,咸以畢到,唯臣疾疢,抱釁床蓐,雖貪明時,懼斃命路隅。 設臣不疾,已遭堯、舜之世,執志箕山,猶當容之。 臣聞上有明聖之主,下有輸實之臣; 上有在寬之政,下有委情之人。 唯陛下留神垂恕,更旌瑰俊,索隱于傅岩,收釣於渭濱,無令泥滓久濁清流。」 謐辭切言至,遂見聽許。
Wei commandery appointed him accounts clerk and nominated him for the Filial and Incorrupt examination; Early in Jingyuan the chief minister tried to hire him as well, but he refused every summons. When neighbors pressed him to accept office, he wrote his "Disquisition Explaining Persuasion" to spell out his resolve. Its text says: When the Prime Minister, the Prince of Jin, summoned thirty-seven of us and then ascended through abdication in Taishi, everyone who had shared the summons arrived. They were all made Cavalier Commandants, some received the rank of marquis within the passes, and they were admitted to court attendance with the rites of attendants. Only I was trapped by illness and could not reach the state's favor. My clansmen, elders, and colleagues all said that this was a great celebration for all under Heaven, on which the people depended; even if the rites were not yet complete, I should not sleep peacefully, and though my illness was grave, I should still present myself. I thought that in the institutions of enlightened kings ancient and modern, affairs great and small are judged by circumstances. If my actual strength could not bear it, how was that arrogance? Lying on my pillow, I sighed, "Advancement is the glory of the body; withdrawal is the reality of one's allotment. Even if I were not ill, if I clung to the height of Mount Ji, it should still be tolerated; how much more when I am truly gravely ill. Thus in the ages of Yao and Shun, some gentlemen withdrew their tracks to forests and marshes, and some passed the gate and dared not enter. That Gaoyao and his kind could both fulfill their wishes was because they met the right age. Thus the court honored ministers who brought achievements, while the fields admired gentlemen who preserved their intent. What kind of men were they alone? Now that the sage emperor has risen like a dragon and matches the former worthies in name, the humane Way is not far off; is this not also so? Some guests press me with ordinary arguments, and some worry that I am opposing the age. I say that when above there is a generous and enlightened ruler, below there must be people who listen to intent; Heaven's net is vast, and arrival or obstruction is one. Why should service or withdrawal be blamed?" He then fully developed a dialogue of guest and host to answer the objections, naming it Explaining Persuasion. The guest said, "I have heard that Heaven brings forth brightness by hanging up the celestial patterns, and Earth gives out numinous things by containing and pervading. Therefore the Yellow Bell gives sequence, and the pitch-pipes divide their forms. Thus spring blossoms open their calyxes, summer makes their fruit abundant, autumn winds drive out heat, and winter ice then forms. The human Way follows this: it responds to the moment and then acts. The three powers are joined in benefit, as clear as matched tallies. Thus gentlemen sometimes rose together at the Tangchao, Tang's court, awakened first at Youxin, reached a ruler through dreams, left off fishing at Weibin on the Wei bank, knocked on an ox-horn to seek service in Qi, shed homespun to minister in Qin, braved slander to settle Zheng, rode a team to rescue danger, spread brambles to seek friendship, or borrowed arts from the Yellow Spirit. Thus they could fly like lightning and rise like shadows, leap beyond rank and surpass their peers, lift a high reputation to strive afar, and raise a clear sound through the universe. Viewed from this, advancing virtue values meeting the time. Why bend this talent and not extend it? Now you, sir, with brilliant and abundant talent, have for years roamed your essence through the storehouse of the Six Arts and let your mind wander at the gate of the many mysteries. You have met the court of imperial abdication, arrived at a moment of stipend and advantage, entrusted yourself to a sage and enlightened ruler, and encountered a meeting with one who knows you. The age is clear and the Way true; you can soar upward. This is truly the season for washing your hair in the Milky Way and advancing like a wild goose. To hide your light and chase the marshes, hold pattern within and not shine, let a dragon sink into the nine springs, stubbornly cling to height, abandon the distant route of the open Way, and keep the cramped conduct of an isolated man: does this not go against the direction of the Way? Moreover, I have heard that when the Dipper turns in the dark, Heaven's stations are corrected, and when the five teachings are ranked in order, human principle is settled. Now the royal command has urgently arrived and concern has been entrusted to the offices; above, you incur the burden of defying the ruler, and below, you cause the suspicion of frightening the crowd. Those who understand value concord. Why insist on being uniquely different? The many worthies can be followed. Why insist on keeping your own intent? Now those summoned with you have all arrived, hungry yet not waiting to eat, displaying their literary colors on the imperial road and all taking rank in Heaven's offices. You alone linger at a barred gate, release your body beyond the world, withdraw to hills and gardens, refuse to glance at splendor, give no benefit to others, act out of accord with the Way, and have a body entangled in great illness, so that your life is hard to preserve. If Xi and He hasten the reins and Great Fire declines westward, when you face the river and regret lateness, what steps will remain? Valuing shade more than a jade disk is what the sages set down; putting robe and skirt upside down is what the enlightened warned against. You should take the great models of former philosophers as your mirror, answer the open mind of the sage court, lift your numinous wings to the cloud-road, bathe in the heavenly pool and wash your scales, push open the Gate of Heaven, step on jade peaks, ascend the purple gate, attend the Northern Pole, and suddenly shine with the bright dust of the talented. Assist a ruler of Tang and Yu, transform the people of Yao and Shun, proclaim a government in which punishments are set aside, stand with the ministers of Yin and Zhou, engrave your merit on the great bell, join in ordering the constant relations; alive, you will dine from tripods, and dead, you will be an honored minister. Would that not be splendid? Yet you neglect the brightness of gold and white, forget the gleam of blue and purple rank, decline the radiance of ceremonial dress, and embrace worn homespun to the end of your years. Is that not toil?" The host laughed and answered, "Ah! Guest, you may be said to be used to the glitter of outward appearances but not yet to have glimpsed the faint form of the hidden man; you see that vulgar people do not tolerate him, but have not understood the all-embracing love of the sage sovereign; you follow square and circle by compass and carpenter's square, but do not yet know that the great form has no outside. Therefore it is said: Heaven is dark and clear; Earth is still and peaceful. They contain and net the ten thousand kinds, spread broadly over living things, lodge the body in a sage age, and entrust it to the numen of the Way. As for spring dispersing through yang and winter congealing through yin, the Great Fluid containing light and primal qi steaming in mixture, the many kinds look up to transformation and are born with different signs. Thus those who advance enjoy Heaven's stipend, and those who remain at home are at peace in hills and mounds. Therefore cold and heat push each other on, the four lodges take turns at the center, yin and yang are not governed by force, movement and transformation are without end, natural allotment is fixed, and both sides attain their mean. When the two things are both numinous, this is called great sameness; when neither side resents the other, this is called perfect pervasion. At the end of declining Zhou, deceit was valued and sincerity despised; men were pulled by power and force, and sought glory through profit. Thus when Master Su emerged, six rulers allied; when Zhang Yi entered, the horizontal strategy formed; when Lian Po remained, Zhao was weighty; when Yue Yi left, Yan was light; when Gongsun Shu died, Wei was defeated; when Sun Bin was mutilated, Qi became secure; when Fan Li and Wen Zhong were trusted, Yue became hegemon; and when Qu Yuan was estranged, Chu collapsed. Therefore rulers had no constant register and ministers no fixed name; they damaged rightness and abandoned sincerity, now empty and now full. Thus Feng moved his lord by strumming his sword; the woman had the saying about returning the gift; Xiang Yu exerted strength to uproot mountains; Kuai Tong set out the tripod balance; Dongguo was coerced by Tian Rong; and Yan He was ashamed to be pressured. All these abandoned ritual and lost truth, seeking only the urgent glory of a morning or evening. How could they be the root of transformation by the Way? As for the sage emperor's founding transformation, his virtue joins the Three Sovereigns and his teaching equals Yu and Xia. He wants warmth and harmonious ease, not sharp clarity and cutting brightness; he wants a deep, blended flow, not broad display with names thrust forward; he wants things loosely untied and ordered, not tightly knotted by cords; he wants vastness without border or edge, not cramped distinctions; he wants dark inward pattern, not displayed whiteness like ice and snow; he wants rich simplicity that relies on virtue, not petty strictness that clings to law. Therefore those who see the moment complete things by action, while those who love withdrawal are not forced. Thus it is said: one bright and one dim is the outline of attaining the Way; one relaxed and one taut is the method of according with ritual; one floating and one sinking together obtain their truth. Therefore above there is love that honors humility, and below there are ministers who are not named; at court there are rites for inviting worthies, and in the fields there are people who withdraw and hide. Thus Zhi Bo rejected Tang because of hidden illness; Old Li lodged his traces in the western neighbor; Yan Hui became famous by resting content in poverty; Yuan Xian delighted in the Way amid utmost poverty; Rong Qiqi moved Confucius with his three joys; Qian Lou fixed his posthumous name under a cloth coverlet; Gan Mu preserved Wei by lying at ease; Jing and Lai set their aims beyond river peaks; Junping made the Way known through milfoil; the Four Graybeards hid their virtue by the Luo; Zheng Zhen won praise by personally farming; and You'an gave a model to people today. All held integrity that could not be taken from them, kept an intention that would not turn back, encountered rulers who rose above the vulgar, and preserved those men's aims. Therefore one who has a plan fixed alone does not borrow counsel from the crowd; one who keeps unmoving peace does not rely on the worries of many guests. Thus he can abandon the splendor of outward attachment, reach the truth of the inner Way, leave the obvious bright road, enter the dim dust, turn beyond the forms of ten thousand feelings, entrust himself to emptiness and stillness, dwell in the house of non-activity, and associate with people who release profit. Light as a swan's feather, heavy as sinking mud: diminish him and you cannot; measure him and he grows deeper. Such men are truly models for our company; pressed by illness, I cannot reach them. You argue that I miss my station and alarm the crowd; I also wonder that your comparisons do not strike the mean. Talent not fit for general use is rejected by the crowd; one bedridden with illness for years is abandoned by the court. Thus Xu Ke's disablement was recorded by Qiuming; when Boniu had illness, Confucius sighed over him. If the Yellow Emperor established institutions in the Nine Classics, Qi Bo opened the belly to cleanse the intestines, Bian Que arrived in Guo and made a corpse rise, Wenzhi risked his life with the king of Qi, Physician He displayed his art in Qin and Jin, Cang Gong revealed secrets to the Han emperor, Hua Tuo preserved subtlety in solitary understanding, and Zhongjing left marvels in fixed prescriptions, I only regret that I was not born to encounter such men, and so I beg for life and appeal to the enlightened king. I ask that my broken register be removed from Heaven's rolls, that the hardship of my body be understood, and that my slight sincerity bring down frost; therefore I await guilt and remain in impoverished seclusion." Afterward Emperor Wu repeatedly issued edicts and pressed him without cease. Mi submitted a memorial, calling himself "your servant of the grasses and thickets," saying, "Because I am weak and worn, confused about the direction of the Way, I used illness as cause to pull out my hairpin, let my hair loose among forests and hills, ignored the human bonds, and kept company with birds and beasts. Your Majesty clears the thorns for orchids yet gathers humble mugwort as well. Thus like Gao Yao of old in plain robes, you drive the vicious away. I am dull and untrained, yet even while eating Jin grain I remember the innocent delight of the ancient earth-clod song—I ought to rush to the capital and present my blessings below your gate. Yet this worthless body has invited sickness: for nineteen years I have suffered paralysis down one side and wasting of the right foot. Cold-food elixirs, wrongly dosed, have tormented me without cease these seven years. Deep winter finds me naked and chewing ice; midsummer brings feverish oppression, coughing attacks that mimic malaria or typhoid, watery swelling, and leaden limbs. I am reduced to gasping for breath while kin abandon me and my wife and children prepare their final goodbyes. Yielding to imperial pressure I would drag myself onto the road, yet the journey would only worsen my pain; I cannot travel—I throw myself on your mercy and sigh upon my pillow. As Shao and Wei were never played together, nor courtly airs mixed with Zheng tunes, the Xi heir's entry into Zhou spelled doom even for royal uncles. When Yuqiu was hailed as a sage minister, Lady Fan of Chu hid a smile behind her sleeve. Nobles and commoners were never served from the same bowl; how much less fit am I, mere bran, to be tossed with polished grain? Silk on a dullard never sits right. Others summoned with me have reported for duty; I alone lie sick on my couch—however much I cherish your reign, I would only collapse on the road. Even if I were well, in an age as benign as Yao and Shun's a recluse who clung to Mount Ji would still deserve indulgence. Where the throne shines bright, ministers speak plain truth; where policy stays generous, subjects may lay bare their hearts. Please, Your Majesty, attend to this and extend forgiveness; further honor rare talents, seek hidden men at Fu Rock, gather the angler on the Wei bank, and do not let mud and sediment long foul the clear stream." His memorial was urgent and heartfelt, and the throne granted his excuse.
8
歲餘,又舉賢良方正,並不起。 自表就帝借書,帝送一車書與之。 謐雖羸疾,而披閱不怠。 初服寒食散,而性與之忤,每委頓不倫,嘗悲恚,叩刃欲自殺,叔母諫之而止。
A year later he was nominated again as Worthy and Upright but still refused to serve. He petitioned the throne for library loans and received an entire cart of texts. Frail as he was, he never tired of reading. Cold-food elixirs disagreed with his constitution: fits left him half dead with rage; once he seized a blade to end his life until his aunt talked him down.
9
濟陰太守蜀人文立,表以命士有贄為煩,請絕其禮幣,詔從之。 謐聞而歎曰:「亡國之大夫不可與圖存,而以革歷代之制,其可乎! 夫『束帛戔戔』,《易》之明義,玄纁之贄,自古之舊也。 故孔子稱夙夜強學以待問,席上之珍以待聘。 士於是乎三揖乃進,明致之難也; 一讓而退,明去之易也。 若殷湯之于伊尹,文王之于太公,或身即莘野,或就載以歸,唯恐禮之不重,豈吝其煩費哉! 且一禮不備,貞女恥之,況命士乎! 孔子曰:『賜也,爾愛其羊,我愛其禮。』 棄之如何? 政之失賢,於此乎在矣。」
Wen Li, governor of Jiyin, petitioned to scrap presentation gifts for appointed scholars, and the court agreed. Huangfu Mi sighed: "Ministers of a fallen regime are poor counselors—yet does that justify junking age-old courtesy gifts? The Book of Changes celebrates stacked silks; dark-red presents are an immemorial custom. Confucius urged scholars to master learning day and night and keep their talents like treasures spread for a worthy summons. Three deferential bows before stepping forward showed how hard it was to earn an invitation; one courteous refusal and withdrawal showed how easily honor could be declined. King Tang visited Yi Yin in the wilds; King Wen fetched the Grand Duke in his carriage—they strained every ritual courtesy and never grudged the cost. A modest maiden blushes if any courtesy is omitted—how much more a sworn scholar! Confucius told Zigong: you fret over the sheep; I care about the ritual." What happens when we throw such traditions away? This is how states lose their best men."
10
咸甯初,又詔曰:「男子皇甫謐沈靜履素,守學好古,與流俗異趣,其以謐為太子中庶子。」 謐固辭篤疾。 帝初雖不奪其志,尋復發詔徵為議郎,又召補著作郎。 司隸校尉劉毅請為功曹,並不應。 著論為葬送之制,名曰《篤終》,曰: 玄晏先生以為存亡天地之定制,人理之必至也。 故禮六十而制壽,至於九十,各有等差,防終以素,豈流俗之多忌者哉! 吾年雖未制壽,然嬰疢彌紀,仍遭喪難,神氣損劣,困頓數矣。 常懼夭隕不期,慮終無素,是以略陳至懷。 夫人之所貪者,生也; 所惡者,死也。 雖貪,不得越期; 雖惡,不可逃遁。 人之死也,精歇形散,魂無不之,故氣屬於天; 寄命終盡,窮體反真,故屍藏於地。 是以神不存體,則與氣升降; 屍不久寄,與地合形。 形神不隔,天地之性也; 屍與土並,反真之理也。 今生不能保七尺之軀,死何故隔一棺之土? 然則衣衾所以穢屍,棺槨所以隔真,故桓司馬石槨不如速朽; 季孫璵璠比之暴骸; 文公厚葬,《春秋》以為華元不臣; 楊王孫親土,《漢書》以為賢于秦始皇。 如今魂必有知,則人鬼異制,黃泉之親,死多於生,必將備其器物,用待亡者。 今若以存況終,非即靈之意也。 如其無知,則空奪生用,損之無益,而啟奸心,是招露形之禍,增亡者之毒也。 夫葬者,藏也,藏也者,欲人之不得見也。 而大為棺槨,備贈存物,無異于埋金路隅而書表於上也。 雖甚愚之人,必將笑之。 豐財厚葬以啟奸心,或剖破棺槨,或牽曳形骸,或剝臂捋金環,或捫腸求珠玉。 焚如之形,不痛於是? 自古及今,未有不死之人,又無不發之墓也。 故張釋之曰:「使其中有欲,雖固南山猶有隙;使其中無欲,雖無石槨,又何戚焉!」 斯言達矣,吾之師也。 夫贈終加厚,非厚死也,生者自為也。 遂生意于無益,棄死者之所屬,知者所不行也。 《易》稱「古之葬者,衣之以薪,葬之中野,不封不樹」。 是以死得歸真,亡不損生。 故吾欲朝死夕葬,夕死朝葬,不設棺槨,不加纏斂,不修沐浴,不造新服,殯唅之物,一皆絕之。 吾本欲露形入坑,以身親土,或恐人情染俗來久,頓革理難,今故觕為之制,奢不石槨,儉不露形。 氣絕之後,便即時服,幅巾故衣,以遽除裹屍,麻約二頭,置屍床上。 擇不毛之地,穿坑深十尺,長一丈五尺,廣六尺,坑訖,舉床就坑,去床下屍。 平生之物,皆無自隨,唯齎《孝經》一卷,示不忘孝道。 遽除之外,便以親土。 土與地平,還其故草,使生其上,無種樹木、削除,使生跡無處,自求不知。 不見可欲,則奸不生心,終始無怵惕,千載不慮患。 形骸與后土同體,魂爽與元氣合靈,真篤愛之至也。 若亡有前後,不得移祔。 祔葬自周公來,非古制也。 舜葬蒼梧,二妃不從,以為一定,何必周禮。 無問師工,無信卜筮,無拘俗言,無張神坐,無十五日朝夕上食。 禮不墓祭,但月朔于家設席以祭,百日而止。 臨必昏明,不得以夜。 制服常居,不得墓次。 夫古不崇墓,智也。 今之封樹,愚也。 若不從此,是戮屍地下,死而重傷。 魂而有靈,則冤悲沒世,長為恨鬼。 王孫之子,可以為誡。 死誓難違,幸無改焉! 而竟不仕。 太康三年卒,時年六十八。 子童靈、方回等遵其遺命。
Early in Xianning, another edict said: "The gentleman Huangfu Mi is calm, quiet, and plain in conduct, keeps to learning and loves antiquity, and his aims differ from vulgar currents. Let Mi be made Palace Attendant to the heir apparent." He pleaded grave illness and refused. The emperor first respected his wishes but soon summoned him as Gentleman Consultant and Editorial Director. Liu Yi, the metropolitan inspector, wanted him as clerk of records—again he declined. He wrote a treatise on funeral practice titled "Steadfast at the End." It says: Master Xuanyan held that life and death are fixed ordinances of Heaven and Earth, and the necessary end of human principle. Therefore the rites prepare for longevity at sixty and continue to ninety, each with graded distinctions; guarding the end with plainness is not the many taboos of vulgar custom. Although my age has not yet reached the point for arranging longevity rites, I have suffered illness for a full twelve years, repeatedly met bereavement and hardship, and my spirit and vital force are damaged and weak; I have been brought low many times. I have often feared an unexpected early fall and worried that my end would have no prior arrangement, so I briefly set forth my deepest intent. What people cling to is life; what they hate is death. Yet though one clings to it, one cannot pass beyond one's allotted term; though one hates it, one cannot flee away. When a person dies, essence comes to rest and form disperses; the soul goes everywhere, and so the qi belongs to Heaven. When the lodged life has ended and the exhausted body returns to truth, the corpse is stored in Earth. Thus when the spirit no longer remains in the body, it rises and falls with qi; when the corpse is no longer lodged for long, its form joins the earth. That form and spirit not be separated is the nature of Heaven and Earth; that the corpse be together with soil is the principle of returning to truth. If in life one cannot preserve a seven-foot body, why after death should one be separated from the soil by a coffin? Thus clothing and coverlets only foul the corpse, and coffin and outer coffin only separate it from truth. For this reason Huan Sima's stone outer coffin was not as good as quick decay; Ji Sun's jade ornaments were compared to exposing the bones; when Wen Gong was buried extravagantly, the Chunqiu, the Spring and Autumn, judged Hua Yuan an unworthy minister; and because Yang Wangsun returned directly to the soil, the Book of Han judged him wiser than the First Emperor of Qin. If the soul must have awareness, then humans and ghosts have different institutions; kin in the Yellow Springs are more numerous dead than alive, and must already have prepared vessels and goods with which to receive the deceased. If now one treats the end by analogy with the living, this does not accord with the intention of the spirit. If the dead have no awareness, then one merely steals resources from the living, causes loss without benefit, and opens wicked hearts; this invites the calamity of exposed bodies and increases the harm done to the dead. Burial means hiding; to hide means wishing people not to see. But to make great coffins and outer coffins and fully provide gifts and living goods is no different from burying gold by the roadside and writing a marker above it. Even the most foolish person would surely laugh at it. Rich goods and lavish burial open wicked hearts: some split coffins and outer coffins, some drag the body, some strip arms to pull off gold bracelets, and some grope through intestines in search of pearls and jade. Could the burned and ravaged body suffer anything more painful than this? From antiquity to now there has never been a person who does not die, and there is no tomb that will never be opened. Therefore Zhang Shizhi said, "If there is something desired inside it, then even if it is as solid as the Southern Mountain, there will still be a crack; if there is nothing desired inside it, then even without a stone outer coffin, what is there to grieve over?" These words are penetrating; they are my teacher. To make farewell gifts increasingly lavish is not treating the dead generously; it is something the living do for themselves. To let intentions grow around what has no benefit and abandon what belongs to the dead is not something the wise do. The Changes says, "In ancient burials, they clothed the dead in firewood and buried them in the open fields, without mound or trees." Thus the dead returned to truth, and death did not injure the living. Therefore I wish that if I die in the morning I be buried that evening, and if I die in the evening I be buried the next morning; no coffin or outer coffin should be set up, no wrapping or shrouding added, no washing performed, no new clothes made, and all goods for lying-in-state or mouth-jade abolished. I originally wished to enter the pit with my body exposed and let my body touch the soil; but fearing that human feelings have long been dyed by custom and sudden reform would be difficult in principle, I now make a rough rule: its extravagance does not reach a stone outer coffin, and its frugality does not expose the body. After my breath ceases, dress me immediately in a plain kerchief and old clothes, wrap the corpse with a coarse cover, tie both ends with hemp, and place it on a corpse-bed. Choose barren ground and dig a pit ten feet deep, one zhang and five feet long, and six feet wide; when the pit is finished, carry the bed to the pit and lower the corpse from the bed. None of my lifetime possessions should accompany me; bring only one scroll of the Classic of Filial Piety, to show that I did not forget the Way of filial piety. Apart from the coarse covering, let me touch the soil. Make the soil level with the ground, return the old grasses so they grow above it, plant no trees and clear away nothing, so that the trace of growth has no marked place and by itself seeks to be unknown. If nothing desirable is seen, wickedness will not arise in the heart; from beginning to end there will be no fear, and for a thousand years there will be no worry over calamity. The body and bones will share substance with the Queen Earth; the bright soul will join its spirit with primal qi. This is the utmost of true and deep love. If deaths occur at different times, there must be no moving for joint burial. Joint burial has come down from the Duke of Zhou; it is not an ancient institution. Shun was buried at Cangwu and his two consorts did not follow him; take this as fixed. Why must one follow the Zhou rites? Do not ask ritual masters or artisans, do not trust divination by turtle or milfoil, do not be bound by vulgar sayings, do not set up a spirit seat, and do not offer food morning and evening for fifteen days. Ritual does not sacrifice at the tomb; merely set a mat at home and sacrifice on the first day of the month, stopping after a hundred days. Condolence visits must be at dusk or dawn, not at night. Wear mourning garments in ordinary residence; do not stay beside the tomb. In antiquity people did not exalt tombs; this was wisdom. Today's mounds and trees are folly. If these instructions are not followed, this is to mutilate my corpse underground and wound me again after death. If the soul has spirit, then its grievance and sorrow will last forever, and it will long remain a resentful ghost. The sons of Wangsun may serve as a warning. A deathbed oath is hard to violate; I hope there will be no alteration! In the end, he never took office. He died in the third year of Taikang, at sixty-eight. His sons Tongling and Fang Hui carried out his last wishes.
11
謐所著詩賦誄頌論難甚多,又撰《帝王世紀》、《年曆》、《高士》、《逸士》、《列女》等傳、《玄晏春秋》,並重於世。 門人摯虞、張軌、牛綜、席純,皆為晉名臣。
Mi wrote many poems, fu, laments, hymns, essays, and debates; he also compiled the Diwang Shiji, Calendars, biographies of Lofty Gentlemen, Retired Gentlemen, and Exemplary Women, and the Xuanyan Chunqiu, all of which were valued in his age. Among his pupils Zhi Yu, Zhang Gui, Niu Zong, and Xi Chun rose to distinction under the Jin.
13
子方回
His son Fang Hui.
14
=方回少遵父操,兼有文才。 永嘉初,博士征,不起。 避亂荊州,閉戶閒居,未嘗入城府。 蠶而後衣,耕而後食,先人後己,尊賢愛物,南土人士咸崇敬之。 刺史陶侃禮之甚厚。 侃每造之,著素士服,望門輒下而進。 王敦遣從弟暠代侃,遷侃為廣州。 侃將詣敦,方回諫曰:「吾聞敵國滅,功臣亡。 足下新破杜弢,功莫與二,欲無危,其可得乎!」 侃不從而行。 敦果欲殺侃,賴周訪獲免。 暠既至荊州,大失物情,百姓叛暠迎杜弢。 暠大行誅戮以立威,以方回為侃所敬,責其不來詣己,乃收而斬之。 荊土華夷,莫不流涕。
Fang Hui followed his father's austere example from youth and showed literary gifts of his own. When Yongjia opened he was called to the academy doctorate but would not go. He fled the turmoil to Jingzhou, kept to his home, and never set foot in the regional seat. He spun before he dressed, tilled before he ate, put others first, honored talent and cherished life—southerners held him in universal esteem. Governor Tao Kan showed him exceptional respect. Whenever Tao Kan called, he dressed as a simple scholar, dismounted at the gate, and walked in. Wang Dun posted his cousin Wang Hao to supplant Tao Kan and moved Kan south to Guangzhou. As Tao Kan prepared to visit Wang Dun, Fang Hui warned: "They say when the rival realm falls, its champions are next. You have just crushed Du Tao—no one rivals your fame—do you really expect to stay safe?" Tao Kan ignored him and went anyway. Wang Dun nearly had him killed; only Zhou Fang's intervention saved him. Once Wang Hao took Jingzhou he forfeited popular support; people rose against him and sided with Du Tao. Wang Hao tried to terrify the region with executions; resenting Fang Hui's prestige—Tao Kan still revered him—he arrested Hui for refusing a personal audience and put him to death. Chinese and tribal peoples across Jing mourned him.
15
摯虞
Biography: Zhi Yu.
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摯虞,字仲洽,京兆長安人也。 父模,魏太僕卿。 虞少事皇甫謐,才學通博,著述不倦。 郡檄主簿。 虞嘗以死生有命,富貴在天。 天之所祐者義也,人之所助者信也。 履信思順,所以延福,違此而行,所以速禍。 然道長世短,禍福舛錯,怵迫之徒,不知所守,蕩而積憤,或迷或放。 故借之以身,假之以事,先陳處世不遇之難,遂棄彝倫,輕舉遠遊,以極常人罔惑之情,而後引之以正,反之以義,推神明之應於視聽之表,崇否泰之運于智力之外,以明天任命之不可違,故作《思遊賦》。 其辭曰:有軒轅之遐胄兮,氏仲任之洪裔。 敷華穎於末葉兮,晞靈根於上世。 准乾坤以斡度兮,儀陰陽以定制。 匪時運其焉行兮,乘太虛而搖曳。 戴朗月之高冠兮,綴太白之明璜。 制文霓以為衣兮,襲采雲以為裳。 要華電之煜爚兮,珮玉衡之琳琅。 明景日以鑒形兮,信煥曜而重光。 至美詭好於凡觀兮,修稀合而靡呈。 燕石緹襲以華國兮,和璞遙棄于南荊。 夏像韜塵於市北兮,瓶罍抗方於兩楹。 鸞皇耿介而偏棲兮,蘭桂背時而獨榮。 關寒暑以練真兮,豈改容而爽情。 感昆吾之易越兮,懷暉光之速暮。 羨一稔而三春兮,尚含英以容豫。 悼曜靈之靡暇兮,限天晷之有度。 聆鳴蜩之號節兮,恐隕葉於凝露。 希前軌而增騖兮,眷後塵而旋顧。 往者倏忽而不逮兮,來者冥昧而未著。 二儀泊焉其無央兮,四節環轉而靡窮。 星鳥逝而時反兮,夕景潛而且融。 景三后之在天兮,歎聖哲之永終。 諒道修而命微兮,孰舍盈而戢沖。 握隋珠與蕙若兮,時莫悅而未遑。 彼未遑其何恤兮,懼獨美之有傷。 蹇委深而投奧兮,庶芬藻之不彰。 芳處幽而彌馨兮,寶在夜而愈光。 逼區內之迫脅兮,思攄翼乎八荒。 望雲階之崇壯兮,願輕舉而高翔。 造庖犧以問象兮,辨吉繇于姬文。 將遠遊于太初兮,鑒形魄之未分。 四靈儼而為衛兮,六氣紛以成群。 驂白獸于商風兮,禦蒼龍于景雲。 簡廝徒於靈圉兮,從馮夷而問津。 召陵陽于遊溪兮,旌王子于柏人。 前祝融以掌燧兮,殿玄冥以掩塵。 形飄飄而遂遐兮,氣亹癖而愈新。 挹玉膏於萊嵎兮,掇紫英於瀛濱。 揖太昊以假憩兮,聽賦政於三春。 洪范翕而復張兮,百卉隕而更震。 睇玉女之紛彯兮,執懿筐於扶木。 覽玄象之韡曄兮,仍騰躍乎陽穀。 吸朝霞以療饑兮,降廩泉而濯足。 將縱轡以逍遙兮,恨東極之路促。 詔纖阿而右回兮,覿硃明之赫戲。 蒞群神于夏庭兮,回蒼梧而結知。 纚焦明以承旂兮,駔天馬而高馳。 讒羲和於丹丘兮,誚倒景之亂儀。 尋凱風而南暨兮,謝太陽於炎離。 戚溽暑之陶郁兮,余安能乎留斯! 聞碧雞之長晨兮,吾將往乎西遊。 奧浮鷁于弱水兮,泊舳艫兮中流。 苟精粹之攸存兮,誠沈羽以泛舟。 軼望舒以陵厲兮,羌神漂而氣浮。 訊碩老于金室兮,采舊聞于前修。 譏淪陰于危山兮,問王母於椒丘。 觀玄烏之參趾兮,會根壹之神籌。 擾毚兔於月窟兮,詰姮娥於蓐收。 爰攬轡而旋驅兮,訪北叟之倚伏。 乘增冰而遂濟兮,淩固陰之所滀。 探龜蛇於幽穴兮,瞰罔養之潛育。 哂倏忽之躁狂兮,喪中黃於耳目,偭燭龍而遊衍兮,窮大明于北陸。 攀招搖而上躋兮,忽蹈廓而淩虛。 登閶闔而遺眷兮,頫玄黃於地輿。 召黔雷以先導兮,覲天帝於清都。 觀渾儀以寓目兮,拊造化之大爐。 爰辨惑於上皇兮,稽吉凶之元符。 唐則天而民咨兮,癸亂常而感虞。 孔揮涕於西狩兮,臧考祥于婁句。 蹠肆暴而保乂兮,顏履仁而夙徂。 何否泰之靡所兮,眩榮辱之不圖? 運可期兮不可思,道可知兮不可為。 求之者勞兮欲之者惑,信天任命兮理乃自得。 且也四位為匠,乾巛為均。 散而為物,結而為人。 陽降陰升,一替一興。 流而為川,滯而為陵。 禍不可攘,福不可征。 其否兮有豫,其泰兮有數。 成形兮未察,靈像兮巳固。 承明訓以發蒙兮,審性命之靡求。 將澄神而守一兮,奚飄飄而遐遊! 斐陳辭以告退兮,主悖惘而永歎。 惟升降之不仍兮,詠別易而會難。 願大饗以致好兮,盍息駕於一飧。 會司儀于有始兮,延嘉賓于九乾。 陳鈞天之廣樂兮,展萬舞之至歡。 枉矢鑠其在手兮,狼弧翾其斯彎。 睨翟犬於帝側兮,殪熊羆於靈軒。 爾乃清道夙蹕,載輪修祖。 班命授號,轙輈整旅。 兆司郁以郕路兮,萬靈森而陳庭。 豐隆軒其警眾兮,鉤陳帥以屬兵。 堪輿竦而進時兮,文昌肅以司行。 抗蚩尤之修旃兮,建雄虹之采旌。 乘雲車電鞭之扶輿委移兮,駕應龍青虯之容裔陸離。 俯游光逸景倏爍徽霍兮,仰流旌垂旄焱攸扡纚。 前湛湛而攝進兮,後僸而方馳。 且啟行于重陽兮,奄稅駕乎少儀。 跨列缺兮規乾巛,揮玉關兮出天門。 涉漢津兮望昆侖,經赤霄兮臨玄根。 觀品物兮終復魂,形已消兮氣猶存。 眺懸舟之離離兮,懷舊都之藹藹。 仍繁榮而督引兮,將遄降而速邁。 華雲依霏而翼衡兮,日月炫晃而映蓋。 蹈煙煴兮辭天衢,心闣𦐇兮識故居。 路遂遒兮情欣欣,奄忽歸兮反常閭。 修中和兮崇彝倫,大道繇兮味琴書。 樂自然兮識窮達,澹無思兮心恆娛。 舉賢良,與夏侯湛等十七人策為下第,拜中郎。 武帝詔曰:「省諸賢良答策,雖所言殊塗,皆明于王義,有益政道。 欲詳覽其對,究觀賢士大夫用心。」 因詔諸賢良方正直言,會東堂策問,曰:「頃日食正陽,水旱為災,將何所修,以變大眚? 及法令有不宜於今,為公私所患苦者,皆何事? 凡平世在於得才,得才者亦借耳目以聽察。 若有文武器能有益於時務而未見申敘者,各舉其人。 及有負俗謗議,宜先洗濯者,亦各言之。」 虞對曰:「臣聞古之聖明,原始以要終,體本以正末。 故憂法度之不當,而不憂人物之失所; 憂人物之失所,而不憂災害之流行。 誠以法得於此,則物理於彼; 人和於下,則災消於上。 其有日月之眚,水旱之災,則反聽內視,求其所由,遠觀諸物,近驗諸身。 耳目聽察,豈或有蔽其聰明者乎? 動心出令,豈或有傾其常正者乎? 大官大職,豈或有授非其人者乎? 賞罰黜陟,豈或有不得其所者乎? 河濱山岩,豈或有懷道釣築而未感於夢兆者乎? 方外遐裔,豈或有命世傑出而未蒙膏澤者乎? 推此類也,以求其故,詢事考言,以盡其實,則天人之情可得而見,咎征之至可得而救也。 若推之於物則無忤,求之於身則無尤,萬物理順,內外咸宜,祝史正辭,言不負誠,而日月錯行,夭癘不戒,此則陰陽之事,非吉凶所在也。 期運度數,自然之分,固非人事所能供禦,其亦振廩散滯,貶食省用而已矣。 是故誠遇期運,則雖陶唐、殷湯有所不變; 苟非期運,則宋、衛之君,諸侯之相,猶能有感。 唯陛下審其所由,以盡其理,則天下幸甚。 臣生長蓽門,不逮異物,雖有賢才,所未接識,不敢瞽言妄舉,無以疇答聖問。」 擢為太子舍人,除聞喜令。
Zhi Yu, styled Zhongqia, came from Chang'an in the Jingzhao capital district. His father Zhi Mo had been Wei Minister of the Imperial Stud. As a young man he studied under Huangfu Mi, mastered wide learning, and wrote indefatigably. The commandery drafted him chief clerk. Zhi Yu held that life span and fate are fixed, rank and wealth heaven-sent. Heaven blesses those who live rightly; men rally to those who keep faith. Integrity and prudence lengthen fortune; their opposite hastens disaster. Yet the path is long while life is brief; fortune and disaster tangle; anxious souls lose their bearings, drift, and stockpile resentment—some grow deluded, others reckless. So he used his own story and imagined journeys—first sketching the bitterness of unappreciated scholars who abandon duty for restless travel, mapping ordinary confusion, then steering readers back toward righteousness, arguing that divine response lies beyond the senses and fortune beyond clever plans, all to show heaven's decree cannot be resisted; hence his "Rhapsody on Roaming Thought." The fu begins: There was a distant descendant of Xuanyuan, a great scion of the Zhongren clan. He spread flower and tassel in the last leaves, and looked back toward numinous roots in the ancient age. He took Heaven and Earth as standard to turn the measures, and modeled yin and yang to fix institutions. It was not the movement of the age that made him go; he rode the Great Void and drifted. He wore a high cap of bright moonlight, and strung bright jade from Great White. He fashioned patterned rainbows as his robe and layered colored clouds as his skirt. He belted flashing splendor of lightning and wore the jade balance ringing with gems. He used the bright sun to mirror his form; truly he blazed and doubled the light. Utmost beauty and strange loveliness are beyond common sight; rare perfection is seldom displayed. Yan stones are wrapped in red and used to adorn the state, while the He jade is cast far away in southern Jing. The Xia image is hidden in dust north of the market, while jars and wine vessels stand squarely between the pillars. Luan and phoenix, upright and aloof, perch apart; orchid and cassia, out of season, bloom alone. They pass through cold and heat to refine truth; how could they change appearance and betray feeling? He felt how Kunwu was easily surpassed and brooded that radiance quickly reaches dusk. He envied one harvest through three springs, still holding blossoms in leisurely grace. He mourned that the shining spirit has no leisure, bounded by the measured shadow of Heaven. Hearing the cicada cry the season, he feared falling leaves beneath congealing dew. He longed for the tracks ahead and hastened more, yet looked back with care at the dust behind. What has gone is sudden and cannot be reached; what is coming is dark and not yet manifest. The two powers lie vast without limit; the four seasons turn in a ring without end. The starry Bird departs and returns with the season; evening light sinks away and melts. He looked up to the Three Sovereigns in Heaven and sighed that sages and philosophers end forever. Indeed the Way is long and fate is slight; who can abandon fullness and restrain emptiness? Holding the Sui pearl and fragrant angelica, he found the age neither pleased nor ready. If they are not ready, why grieve over it? He feared only that solitary beauty might be harmed. Halting, he cast himself into depth and mystery, hoping his fragrant pattern would not be displayed. Fragrance grows sweeter in seclusion; a jewel shines more brightly in night. Pressed by constraint within the realm, he thought to spread wings across the eight wilds. Seeing the lofty grandeur of cloud stairs, he wished to rise lightly and soar high. He went to Paoxi to ask about images, and distinguished auspicious judgments with Ji Wen. He would travel far into the Great Beginning, seeing form and soul before they divided. The four numinous creatures stood solemnly as guards, and the six qi gathered in clustered confusion. He yoked white beasts to the autumn wind and drove blue dragons through bright clouds. He selected servants from the numinous stables and followed Feng Yi to ask for the ford. He summoned Lingyang at Wandering Stream and signaled the prince at Bairen. Zhurong went before to hold the fire-drill, and Xuanming guarded the rear to cover the dust. His form drifted and went far; his qi moved on and grew ever new. He scooped jade essence at Laiyu and plucked purple blossoms on the shore of Ying. He bowed to Taihao and briefly rested, listening as government was assigned to the three springs. The Great Plan closed and opened again; the hundred plants fell and trembled anew. He gazed at jade maidens fluttering thickly, holding fine baskets by the Fusang tree. He viewed the dark images in brilliant splendor and then leapt upward in Yanggu. He sucked morning rosy clouds to cure hunger and descended to Lin Spring to wash his feet. He was about to loosen the reins and roam free, but regretted that the eastern limit's road was short. He ordered Xian'e to turn right and saw Zhuming blazing bright. He visited the assembled spirits in the summer court, turned to Cangwu, and formed acquaintance. He lined up Jiaoming birds to hold the banners and drove heavenly horses galloping high. He complained of Xi and He at Red Hill and reproached the inverted shadow for confusing the rites. Following the warm south wind, he reached the south and took leave of the sun at fiery Li. Grieved by the steaming heat and oppressive damp, he asked, how could I remain here? Hearing of the long dawn at Blue Rooster, I will go westward in travel. He floated ornate boats on the Weak Water and moored prow and stern in the midstream. If pure essence is where one remains, then even sinking feathers can float a boat. He overtook Wangshu and rose fiercely; his spirit drifted and his qi floated. He questioned the great elders in the golden chamber and gathered old learning from former cultivators. He criticized the sunken yin at Perilous Mountain and asked the Queen Mother at Pepper Hill. He observed the three-toed dark bird and joined Genyi's numinous tallies. He stirred the crafty hare in the moon cave and questioned Chang'e at Rushou. Then he gathered the reins and wheeled the carriage, visiting the northern elder about reversal and fortune. He rode layered ice and crossed, climbing over what hardened yin had stored up. He sought turtle and snake in dark caves and looked down on hidden nourishment secretly growing. He laughed at the frenzy of Shu and Hu, who lost central yellow through ears and eyes; turning from Zhulong, he wandered on and exhausted the great brightness in the northern land. He climbed Zhaoyao and ascended, suddenly treading vastness and mounting the void. He climbed the Gate of Heaven and left longing behind, looking down on black and yellow in the carriage of earth. He summoned Qianlei to guide him ahead and visited the Heavenly Thearch in the Pure Capital. He gazed upon the armillary sphere and laid his hand on the great furnace of creation. There he resolved doubts before the High Sovereign and examined the primal tokens of fortune and misfortune. Tang modeled himself on Heaven and the people sighed; Gui disordered the constant norms and moved Yu to concern. Confucius wiped tears at the western hunt, and Zang examined omens at Louju. Zhi indulged violence and yet preserved himself; Yan practiced humanity and died early. Why do obstruction and peace have no fixed place, and why are glory and disgrace dazzling beyond prediction? Fortune can be awaited but not thought into being; the Way can be known but not forced. Those who seek it labor; those who desire it are deluded. Trust Heaven and accept fate, and principle is obtained of itself. Moreover, the four positions are craftsmen, and Qian and Kun are the potter's wheel. Scattered, they become things; gathered, they become humans. Yang descends and yin rises; one falls and one flourishes. Flowing, it becomes rivers; stopping, it becomes hills. Disaster cannot be pushed away, and blessing cannot be summoned. Its obstruction has preparation; its peace has number. Before formed shape can be examined, the numinous image is already fixed. Receiving bright instruction to open ignorance, he examined nature and fate and found nothing to seek. He would clarify the spirit and guard the One; why drift about in distant wandering? With patterned words he declared his withdrawal; the host was bewildered and sighed long. Thinking that rising and descending do not follow one another, he sang that parting is easy and meeting hard. Wishing to offer a great feast and express goodwill, why not rest the carriage for one meal? He met the master of ceremony at the place of beginning and invited honored guests from the nine heavens. He arrayed the broad music of Juntian and displayed the perfect joy of the myriad dances. The bent arrow shone in his hand, and the Wolf Bow fluttered as it was drawn. He glanced at Di dogs by the Thearch's side and felled bears and brown bears by the numinous carriage. Thereupon the road was cleared and early passage barred; the wheels were loaded and the ancestral rite performed. Commands were distributed and titles granted; yoke and pole were set and the procession ordered. Zhaosi Yu completed the road, and ten thousand spirits stood thickly arrayed in the court. Fenglong raised the carriage and warned the multitude; Gouchen led and assembled the troops. Kanyu rose and advanced the season; Wenchang solemnly oversaw the journey. They raised Chiyou's long banner and set up the colored standard of the mighty rainbow. He rode a cloud carriage with lightning whip, rolling and swaying, and yoked responsive dragons and blue qiulong, flowing and dazzling. Below, wandering light and fleeing shadows flashed and flared; above, streaming banners and hanging yak-tails blazed and trailed. Ahead was deep and gleaming as they advanced in order; behind was hushed as they were just galloping. They set out at Double Yang and suddenly halted the team at Shaoyi. He crossed Lieque and measured Qian and Kun, waved at the jade pass, and went out through Heaven's gate. He crossed the ford of the Milky Way and gazed toward Kunlun, passed through red clouds and approached the dark root. He watched all things finally return their souls; form had vanished, but qi still remained. He looked toward the hanging boats, bright and arrayed, and cherished the old capital, dense and distant. Following luxuriant splendor, he urged the guides on, about to descend swiftly and hasten away. Flowered clouds clustered and drifted, winging the crossbar; sun and moon dazzled and reflected on the canopy. He trod smoky vapor and left Heaven's thoroughfare; his heart opened wide and recognized the old dwelling. The road then grew firm and his feelings joyful; suddenly he returned to his ordinary gate. He cultivated central harmony and honored constant relations; following the Great Way, he savored zither and books. He delighted in naturalness and understood poverty and success; calm and without striving thought, his heart was always at ease. He was recommended as Worthy and Good; together with Xiahou Zhan and seventeen others, his policy answer was graded in the lower class, and he was appointed gentleman. Emperor Wu issued an edict: "I have examined the policy answers of the Worthy and Good men. Although what they said followed different paths, all were clear about royal principle and beneficial to governance. I wish to study their answers in detail and fully observe the intentions of these worthy scholar-officials." He then ordered the Worthy and Good, Upright and Straight-speaking candidates to assemble in the Eastern Hall for policy questions, saying: "Recently the sun was eclipsed at zhengyang, and floods and droughts have brought disaster. What should be cultivated to transform this great calamity? Which laws today harm both state and subject alike? Stable rule rests on finding the right men, and rulers must keep eyes and ears open. Anyone who knows officials whose skills could serve the realm must put their names forward. As for anyone burdened by public slander who ought first to be cleansed, each of you should also speak of him." Zhi Yu answered: "I have heard that the sages of antiquity traced beginnings in order to grasp endings and embodied the root in order to correct the branches. They worried first about bad law, not misplaced personnel; then about mismatched appointments, not random natural catastrophes. When statutes align below, heaven's pattern rights itself above; harmony in the realm dissolves omens in the sky. When heaven sends eclipse or flood, a ruler searches policy and conscience alike. Has anything dulled your ears or eyes? Have decrees strayed from steady principle? Have high posts gone to unworthy men? Have rewards and punishments missed their mark? Have recluses whose virtue should move heaven gone unnoticed? Have frontier talents lacked your nurturing rain? Ask such questions honestly and heaven's intent becomes legible; omens can then be answered with reform. If this is extended to things, there is no violation; if it is sought in oneself, there is no fault. The principles of the myriad things are orderly, inner and outer are both appropriate, the invocators and scribes correct their words, and speech does not betray sincerity. Yet if the sun and moon move awry and untimely pestilence gives no warning, then this belongs to the affairs of yin and yang and is not where good or bad fortune lies. Calendar fate lies beyond men; all we can do is open granaries, tighten belts, and ease suffering. When heaven fixes a season of doom, even Yao and Tang could not shift it; yet outside such doom minor sovereigns could still move heaven by virtue. Probe causes this thoroughly and the empire profits. I was born and raised behind a brushwood gate and have not encountered extraordinary men. Though worthy talents surely exist, I have not met or known them, and I dare not speak blindly or nominate rashly; I have no means to answer Your sagely question." He rose to crown prince's gentleman and magistrate of Wenxi.
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時天子留心政道,又吳寇新平,天下乂安,上《太康頌》以美晉德。 其辭曰:
While the emperor focused on good rule and Wu had just surrendered, he offered his Taikang ode praising the Jin. The ode begins:
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:於休上古,人之資始。 四隩咸宅,萬國同軌。 有漢不競,喪亂靡紀。 畿服外叛,侯衛內圮。 天難既降,時惟鞠凶。 龍戰獸爭,分裂遐邦。 備僭岷蜀,度逆海東。 權乃緣間,割據三江。 明明上帝,臨下有赫。 乃宣皇威,致天之辟。 奮武遼隧,罪人斯獲。 撫定朝鮮,奄征韓、貊。 文既應期,席捲梁、益。 元憝委命,九夷重譯。 邛、冉、哀牢,是焉底績。 我皇之登,二國既平。 靡適不懷,以育群生。 吳乃負固,放命南冥。 聲教未暨,弗及王靈。 皇震其威,赫如雷霆。 截彼江、沔,荊、舒以清。 邈矣聖皇,參乾兩離。 陶化以正,取亂以奇。 耀武六旬,輿徒不疲。 飲至數實,幹旄無虧。 洋洋四海,率禮和樂。 穆穆宮廟,歌雍詠鑠。 光天之下,莫匪帝略。 窮發反景,承正受朔。 龍馬騤騤,風于華陽。 弓矢橐服,干戈戢藏。 嚴嚴南金,業業餘皇。 雄劍班朝,造舟為梁。 聖明有造,實代天工。 天地不違,黎元時邕。 三務斯協,用底厥庸。 既遠其跡,將明其蹤。 喬山惟嶽,望帝之封。 猗歟聖帝,胡不封哉!
Glory to deepest antiquity—source of every blessing. All quarters settled; every kingdom rode one axle-track. Later Han faltered; chaos erased every statute. Heartlands rose in revolt; palace guards crumbled within. Heaven's scourge arrived; the age reeked of cruelty. Warlords tore the provinces like beasts at war. Liu Bei seized Shu beyond Min; enemies sailed the eastern sea. Sun Quan exploited the breach and held the Yangzi triple fork. August Heaven glares from above. Our martial emperor wielded awe and heaven's sentence. His hosts thundered along Liaosui and seized the guilty. He settled Korea and marched against Han and Mo. When civil virtue matched the hour, Liang and Yi rolled up like mats. The arch rebel yielded his mandate; nine Yi peoples reached court through relay interpreters. Southwestern Qiong, Ran, and Ailao bowed to his achievement. When our emperor mounted the throne, both rival realms had fallen. None beyond reach refused him; he fed every life. Wu still hugged its rivers and flouted edicts in the southern dark. Civilizing teaching had not touched them; royal majesty stalled. The emperor's wrath crashed like thunder. He severed Jiang and Han until Jing and Shu ran clear. Lofty the sage king—spanning heaven's pivot like paired trigrams. He shaped order through candor and seized chaos by stratagem. Sixty days of campaigning wearied neither wagons nor men. Victory wine flowed; banners flew spotless. Across four seas all tread ritual and song. Temples echo with hymns of praise. Under radiant heaven none escape his design. Even distant tribes facing polar gloom accept his calendar. Dragon-steeds stamp; winds sigh along Huayang. Bows rest in cases; shields and spears gather dust. Southern bells ring from towering fleets. Keen swords line the hall; pontoon bridges span the waves. The sage's creation rivals heaven's workmanship. Heaven and earth assent; commoners thrive in step. The three prime duties align; his merit closes perfect. His footprints fade yet blaze plain on stone. Mount Qiao towers—mark of Emperor Shun's mound. O sage liege—why withhold your mound!
19
以母憂解職。 久之,召補尚書郎。
He left office to mourn his mother. Much later he returned as a secretary at the imperial secretariat.
20
將作大匠陳勰掘地得古尺,尚書奏:「今尺長於古尺,宜以古為正。」 潘嶽以為慣用已久,不宜復改。 虞駁曰:「昔聖人有以見天下之賾而擬其形容,象物制器,以存時用。 故參天兩地,以正算數之紀; 依律計分,以定長短之度。 其作之也有則,故用之也有征。 考步兩儀,則天地無所隱其情; 准正三辰,則懸象無所容其謬; 施之金石,則音韻和諧; 措之規矩,則器用合宜。 一本不差而萬物皆正,及其差也,事皆反是。 今尺長於古尺幾於半寸,樂府用之,律呂不合; 史官用之,曆象失占; 醫署用之,孔穴乖錯。 此三者,度量之所由生,得失之所取征,皆絓閡而不得通,故宜改今而從古也。 唐、虞之制,同律度量衡,仲尼之訓,謹權審度。 今兩尺並用,不可謂之同; 知失而行,不可謂之謹。 不同不謹,是謂謬法,非所以軌物垂則,示人之極。 凡物有多而易改,亦有少而難變,亦有改而致煩,有變而之簡。 度量是人所常用,而長短非人所戀惜,是多而易改者也。 正失於得,反邪于正,一時之變,永世無二,是變而之簡者也。 憲章成式,不失舊物,季末苟合之制,異端雜亂之用,當以時厘改,貞夫一者也。 臣以為宜如所奏。」 又表論封禪,見《禮志》。
When Chief Architect Chen Xie dug in the earth and obtained an ancient foot-rule, the Secretariat memorialized: "The present chi is longer than the ancient chi; the ancient one should be taken as correct." Pan Yue protested that generations had used the longer chi. Zhi Yu refuted this: "In the past, when the sages saw the profundities of the realm, they modeled their forms and appearances and fashioned implements after things in order to preserve timely use. They paired heaven's three lights with earth's two forces to anchor mathematics; they tied length to pitch-pipe fractions. Design followed rule, so use matched proof. Align sun and moon and heaven hides nothing; true the three celestial markers and stars cannot lie; strike bells and stones and pitch locks; lay compass and square and every vessel fits. One true gauge orders all; error inverts everything. Today's chi overshoots the old by half an inch—music falls out of tune; historians lose celestial forecasts; physicians miss every point. Music, calendar, and medicine all ride on measure—each now jams—so we must revert to the ancient chi. Yao and Shun unified pitch, length, volume, and weight; Confucius urged careful scales. Two rulers at once cannot mean unity; knowing error yet marching on is not caution; Neither unified nor careful is false law—no model for the realm. Some reforms stir trouble; others simplify. Everyone uses yardsticks daily yet hardly fetishizes a chi—easy to fix. Righting wrong measures once sets generations straight—that is simple reform. Guard true precedent; sweep away Late Han shortcuts and odd usages until only one measure remains. Your servant believes it is proper to follow the memorial." His essay on the Feng and Shan rites appears in the Treatise on Rites.
21
虞以漢末喪亂,譜傳多亡失,雖其子孫不能言其先祖,撰《族姓昭穆》十卷,上疏進之,以為足以備物致用,廣多聞之益。 以定品違法,為司徒所劾,詔原之。
Because in the disorder at the end of Han many genealogies and transmissions had been lost, so that even descendants could not speak of their ancestors, Zhi Yu compiled ten fascicles of Zuxing Zhaomu, "Clan Surnames and Generational Order," and submitted them with a memorial, considering them enough to prepare things for use and broaden the benefit of wide learning. The minister of education impeached him for irregular promotions; the emperor pardoned him.
22
時太廟初建,詔普增位一等。 後以主者承詔失旨,改除之。 虞上表曰:「臣聞昔之聖明,不愛千乘之國而惜桐葉之信,所以重至尊之命而達于萬國之誠也。 前《乙巳赦書》,遠稱先帝遺惠餘澤,普增位一等,以酬四海欣戴之心。 驛書班下,被於遠近,莫不鳥騰魚躍,喜蒙德澤。 今一旦更以主者思文不審,收既往之詔,奪已澍之施,臣之愚心竊以為不可。」 詔從之。
When the imperial temple opened, an edict promoted every official one rank. Bureaucrats botched the order and the bonus rank was rescinded. Zhi Yu submitted a memorial: "I have heard that the ancient sages did not begrudge a state of a thousand chariots yet treasured the trust of the paulownia leaf; by this they honored the supreme command and conveyed sincerity to the myriad states. The prior Yisi edict credited the late emperor's grace and raised every rank to reward loyal hearts. Courier notices raced everywhere; subjects danced like fish and birds under fresh rain. Now, all at once, because the responsible office considered the wording carelessly, it would withdraw a past edict and take back favors already poured forth. In my foolish heart, I privately believe this is impermissible." The emperor accepted his protest.
23
元康中,遷吳王友。 時荀顗撰《新禮》,使虞討論得失而後施行。 元皇后崩,杜預奏:「諒暗之制,乃自上古,是以高宗無服喪之文,而唯文稱不言。 漢文限三十六日。 魏氏以降,既虞為節。 皇太子與國為體,理宜釋服,卒哭便除。」 虞答預書曰:「唐稱遏密,殷雲諒暗,各舉事以為名,非既葬有殊降。 周室以來,謂之喪服。 喪服者,以服表喪。 今帝者一日萬機,太子監撫之重,以宜奪禮,葬訖除服,變制通理,垂典將來,何必附之于古,使老儒致爭哉!」 皇太孫尚薨,有司奏「御服齊衰期」。 詔令博士議。 虞曰:「太子生,舉以成人之禮,則殤理除矣。 太孫亦體君傳重,由位成而服全,非以年也。」 從之。 虞又議玉輅、兩社事,見《輿服志》。
Under Yuankang he became companion to the Prince of Wu. Xun Yi drafted new ritual statutes and had Zhi Yu vet them before promulgation. When Empress Yuan died, Du Yu memorialized: "The institution of silent mourning comes from high antiquity; therefore there is no text saying Gaozong wore mourning, and the documents only say that he did not speak. Han Wendi capped mourning at thirty-six days. Since Wei, mourning ended after the Yu sacrifice. The crown prince shares substance with the state. By principle, he should set aside mourning garments and remove them after the final weeping." Zhi Yu answered Du Yu in a letter: "Tang spoke of stopping music, and Yin spoke of silent mourning. Each used an event as its name; it was not that after burial there was some separate reduction. Since Zhou people simply called these mourning garments. Mourning dress visibly signals grief. Now the emperor has ten thousand affairs in a single day, and the heir apparent bears the weight of oversight and care. It is proper to curtail ritual, remove mourning after burial, alter the rule to accord with principle, and hand down a precedent for the future. Why must one attach it to antiquity and make old scholars argue!" When the imperial grandson Shang died, the responsible office memorialized: "The imperial mourning garments should be zicui for one year." The court ordered academic officials to debate it. Zhi Yu said: "When the heir apparent was born, he was raised according to the rites for an adult, so the principle for those who die young is removed. The imperial grandson likewise embodied the ruler and transmitted the great charge; because his position was complete, the mourning garments were complete, not because of his age." The court adopted his reasoning. His memorials on the jade carriage and paired soil altars appear in the Treatise on Carriages and Robes.
24
後曆秘書監、衛尉卿,從惠帝幸長安。 及東軍來迎,百官奔散,遂流離鄠、杜之間,轉入南山中,糧絕饑甚,拾橡實而食之。 後得還洛,曆光祿勳、太常卿。 時懷帝親郊。 自元康以來,不親郊祀,禮儀弛廢。 虞考正舊典,法物粲然。 及洛京荒亂,盜竊縱橫,人饑相食。 虞素清貧,遂以餒卒。
He later directed the imperial library and commanded the guards, accompanying Emperor Hui west to Chang'an. When eastern relief arrived the court scattered; he wandered between Hu and Du and fled into the Zhongnan hills, starving until he gathered acorns to eat. Later he was able to return to Luoyang, serving successively as Guangluxun and Taichang Qing. Emperor Huai personally performed the suburban sacrifice. Since Yuankang no emperor had personally worshipped heaven—outer ritual had collapsed. Zhi Yu restored the old liturgy so vessels and banners gleamed in proper array. Luoyang's collapse unleashed thieves and cannibal famine. Always poor and honest, he died of starvation.
25
虞撰《文章志》四卷,注解《三輔決錄》,又撰古文章,類聚區分為三十卷,名曰《流別集》,各為之論,辭理愜當,為世所重。
He left a four-scroll literary gazetteer, glosses on the Sanfu judgments, and thirty fascicles of categorized ancient prose called Collected Genres with critical essays—widely admired.
26
虞善觀玄象,嘗謂友人曰:「今天下方亂,避難之國,其唯涼土乎!」 性愛士人,有表薦者,恆為其辭。 東平太叔廣樞機清辯,廣談,虞不能對; 虞筆,廣不能答; 更相嗤笑,紛然於世雲。
Zhi Yu was skilled at observing the dark celestial signs; he once told a friend: "The realm is about to fall into chaos. Among states for avoiding disaster, surely only the land of Liang will serve!" He loved nurturing scholars and habitually ghost-wrote recommendations. Taishu Guang of Dongping sparkled in oral debate—Zhi Yu could not match him live; when Zhi Yu wrote, Guang could not respond; They traded barbs until Luoyang buzzed with gossip.
27
束晳
Biography: Shu Xi.
28
束晳,字廣微,陽平元城人,漢太子太傅疏廣之後也。 王莽末,廣曾孫孟達避難,自東海徙居沙鹿山南,因去疏之足,遂改姓焉。 祖混,隴西太守。 父龕,馮翊太守,並有名譽。 晳博學多聞,與兄璆俱知名。 少游國學,或問博士曹志曰:「當今好學者誰乎?」 志曰:「陽平束廣微好學不倦,人莫及也。」 還鄉里,察孝廉,舉茂才,皆不就。 璆娶石鑒從女,棄之,鑒以為憾,諷州郡公府不得辟,故晳等久不得調。
Shu Xi, styled Guangwei, came from Yuancheng in Yangping and descended from Shu Guang, tutor to the Han heir. When Wang Mang fell, Guang's descendant Mengda fled east to Mount Shalu and shortened the surname Shu by dropping its foot radical. His grandfather Shu Hun governed Longxi. His father Shu Kan governed Fengyi—both father and grandfather were renowned. Shu Xi read widely; he and his brother Qiu shared fame. In youth he attended the Guoxue, the imperial academy. Someone asked Boshi Cao Zhi, an Erudite: "Among today's students, who loves learning?" Cao Zhi said: "Shu Guangwei of Yangping loves learning without weariness; no one can match him." Home callers nominated him Filial and Flourishing Talent—he declined both. His brother divorced Shi Jian's niece; Shi Jian blocked both brothers from office until grudges faded.
29
太康中,郡界大旱,晳為邑人請雨,三日而雨注,眾謂晳誠感,為作歌曰:「束先生,通神明,請天三日甘雨零。 我黍以育,我稷以生。 何以疇之? 報束長生。」 晳與衛恆厚善,聞恆遇禍,自本郡赴喪。
During Taikang, there was a great drought in the commandery. Shu Xi prayed for rain on behalf of the townspeople, and after three days rain poured down. The people said Xi had moved Heaven by sincerity and made a song: "Master Shu, who understands spirits bright, asked Heaven, and after three days sweet rain fell. Our sorghum grows; our millet thrives. How shall we repay him? We repay Master Changsheng." Close to Wei Heng, he raced from home to mourn Heng's murder.
30
嘗為《勸農》及《餅》諸賦,文頗鄙俗,時人薄之。 而性沈退,不慕榮利,作《玄居釋》以擬《客難》,其辭曰:
His fu on farming and cakes sounded coarse—contemporaries sneered. Yet he spurned rank and fashioned his Explanation of Dwelling in Mystery after the Guest's Difficulty:
31
束晳閒居,門人並侍。 方下帷深譚,隱几而咍,含毫散藻,考撰同異,在側者進而問之曰:「蓋聞道尚變通,達者無窮。 世亂則救其紛,時泰則扶其隆。 振天維以贊百務,熙帝載而鼓皇風。 生則率土樂其存,死則宇內哀其終。 是以君子屈己伸道,不恥幹時。 上國有不索何獲之言,《周易》著躍以求進之辭。 莘老負金鉉以陳烹割之說,齊客當康衢而詠《白水》之詩。 今先生耽道修藝,嶷然山峙,潛朗通微,洽覽深識,夜兼忘寐之勤,晝騁鑽玄之思,曠年累稔,不墮其志。 鱗翼成而愈伏,術業優而不試。 乃欲闔櫝辭價,泥蟠深處,永戢琳琅之耀,匿首窮魚之渚,當唐年而慕長沮,邦有道而反甯武。 識彼迷此,愚竊不取。
Shu Xi lived in quiet retirement surrounded by disciples. As he lowered the curtain for deep discussion, leaned on the armrest and laughed, held his brush and scattered literary brilliance, and examined and compiled agreements and differences, those beside him came forward and asked: "We have heard that the Way values adaptation and that those who understand it are inexhaustible. Rescue chaos when the age tangles; uphold greatness when peace reigns. Hold up heaven's warp for every task; brighten the monarch's merit and fan imperial virtue abroad. Alive, the realm rejoices with him; dead, every shore mourns. So worthies bend pride to advance the Way and seize office without shame. The heartland says seek or starve; the Zhou yi praises those who leap toward duty. Shun's cook preached over cauldrons; a Qi pilgrim sang White Water in the highway. Yet you bury yourself in learning like a silent peak—years of sleepless reading—never yielding. Fully fledged, you burrow deeper; mastery ripe, you refuse trial. You would bury treasure like fish in drying pools—longing for Chang Ju even under Tang's golden rule. Honoring their folly wins no praise from me.
32
若乃士以援登,進必待求,附勢之黨橫擢,則林藪之彥不抽,丹墀步紈誇之童,東野遺白顛之叟。 盍亦因數都而事博陸,憑鷁首以涉洪流,蹈翠雲以駭逸龍,振光耀以驚沈鰌。 徒屈蟠于陷井,眄天路而不遊,學既積而身困,夫何為乎秘丘。
Scholars rise through patrons—when climbers glut court, hermits starve while silk youths parade and gray scholars rot outside. Better borrow Bo Lu's tide—rise on floods and startle dragons. Why lie in wells studying heaven yet waste away?
33
且歲不我與,時若奔駟,有來無反,難得易失。 先生不知盱豫之讖悔遲,而忘夫朋盍之義務疾,亦豈能登海湄而抑東流之水,臨虞泉而招西歸之日? 徒以曲畏為梏,儒學自桎,囚大道於環堵,苦形骸於蓬室。 豈若托身權戚,憑勢假力,擇棲芳林,飛不待翼,夕宿七娥之房,朝享五鼎之食,匡三正則太階平,贊五教而玉繩直。 孰若茹藿餐蔬,終身自匿哉!」
Years gallop—gain once, lose forever. Hesitation invites regret; no man dams east tides or recalls western sun. Do not chain the Way to hovel dread. Compare patronage—palace nights, tripod feasts—against fasting alone? Or gnaw greens forever in hiding?"
34
束子曰:「居! 吾將導爾以君子之道,諭爾以出處之事。 爾其明受餘訊,謹聽餘志。
Shu Xi answered: "Sit. Let me teach the gentleman's path of serving or hiding. Hear me out carefully.
35
昔元一既啟,兩儀肇立,離光夜隱,望舒晝戢,羽族翔林,蟩蛁赴濕,物從性之所安,士樂志之所執,或背豐榮以岩棲,或排蘭闥而求入,在野者龍逸,在朝者鳳集。 雖其軌跡不同,而道無貴賤,必安其業,交不相羨,稷、契奮庸以宣道,巢、由洗耳以避禪,同垂不朽之稱,俱入賢者之流。 參名比譽,誰劣誰優? 何必貪與二八為群,而恥為七人之疇乎! 且道睽而通,士不同趣,吾竊綴處者之末行,未敢聞子之高喻,將忽蒲輪而不眄,夫何權戚之雲附哉!
Since chaos split into yin and yang, creatures and sages alike seek fit dwelling—some flee court, some embrace it. Office and reclusion differ outwardly yet share worth—Yi Yin and Duke Ji served; Chao Fu and Xu You fled—and both became paragons. Compare them fairly—who falls short? Why envy the Eight Neighbors yet scorn the Seven Sages? Paths fork—call me late hermit if you will—I ignore wagons of summons and scorn power brokers.
36
昔周、漢中衰,時難自托,福兆既開,患端亦作,朝游巍峨之宮,夕墜崢嶸之壑,晝笑夜歎,晨華暮落,忠不足以衛己,禍不可以預度,是士諱登朝而競赴林薄。 或毀名自汙,或不食其祿,比從政於匣笥之龜,譬官者於郊廟之犢,公孫泣涕而辭相,楊雄抗論於赤族。
In the past, when Zhou and Han declined midway, the age was difficult and men could not entrust themselves to it. Once signs of blessing opened, sources of trouble also arose: in the morning one roamed the lofty palace, by evening one fell into a jagged ravine; by day one laughed and at night sighed, flourishing in the morning and falling by dusk. Loyalty was not enough to protect oneself, and disaster could not be predicted. Therefore gentlemen avoided going up to court and competed to hasten into the forests. Men smeared themselves or refused grain—office seemed boxed turtles or sacrificial calves—ministers wept or debated unto death.
37
今大晉熙隆,六合寧靜。 蜂蠆止毒,熊羆輟猛,五刑勿用,八紘備整,主無驕肆之怒,臣無犛纓之請,上下相安,率禮從道。 朝養觸邪之獸,庭有指佞之草,禍戮可以忠逃,寵祿可以順保。
Today Jin rules calm seas. Weapons sleep; punishments idle—throne and ministers trust each other. Palace beasts sniff evil; magical grass marks flattery—loyalty earns life.
38
且夫進無險懼,而惟寂之務者,率其性也。 兩可俱是,而舍彼趣此者,從其志也。 蓋無為可以解天下之紛,澹泊可以救國家之急,當位者事有所窮,陳策者言有不入,翟璜不能回西鄰之寇,平、勃不能正如意之立,幹木臥而秦師退,四皓起而戚姬泣。 夫如是何舍何執,何去何就? 謂山岑之林為芳,穀底之莽為臭。 守分任性,唯天所授,鳥不假甲於龜,魚不借足於獸,何必笑孤竹之貧而羨齊景之富! 恥布衣以肆志,甯文裘而拖繡。 且能約其躬,則儋石之畜以豐; 苟肆其欲,則海陵之積不足; 存道德者,則匹夫之身可榮; 忘大倫者,則萬乘之主猶辱。 將研六籍以訓世,守寂泊以鎮俗,偶鄭老於海隅,匹嚴叟於僻蜀。 且世乙太虛為輿,玄爐為肆,神游莫競之林,心存無營之室,榮利不擾其覺,殷憂不幹其寐,捐誇者之所貪,收躁務之所棄,雉聖籍之荒蕪,總群言之一至。 全素履於丘園,背纓緌而長逸,請子課吾業於千載,無聽吾言於今日也。」
Risk-free promotion suits some temperaments. When both paths serve, choose passion. Withdrawal can steady crises: Zhai Huang failed to stop western raids; Chen Ping and Zhou Bo could not place Liu Ruyi; yet Duanmu Ke merely stayed home and Qin fled; four graybeards emerged and Lady Qi wept fate. So what stays fixed? Mountain air smells sweet; swamps reek. Each creature uses heaven's gift—why mock the poor or envy kings? Rather coarse robe with purpose than silk without. Restrain appetite—a peck fills you; indulge—Hailing stores empty. Virtue glorifies a commoner; sin disgraces emperors. I study the six classics to teach the world; couple Zheng on the coast with Yan in Shu. Ride emptiness as cart; wander mind in silent rooms—spurn fame's trash; harvest truth's scraps. Keep straw shoes in hills—judge me later—not today."
39
張華見而奇之。 石鑒卒,王戎乃辟璆。 華召晳為掾,又為司空、下邳王晃所辟。 華為司空,復以為賊曹屬。
Zhang Hua marveled at the piece. After Shi Jian died Wang Rong finally called Shu Qiu. Zhang Hua took Shu Xi as aide; Prince Huang of Xiapi also summoned him. When Hua, Zhang Hua, became Sikong, Minister of Works, he again made Shu Xi a subordinate clerk in the bandit-suppression office.
40
時欲廣農,晳上議曰: 伏見詔書,以倉廩不實,關右饑窮,欲大興田農,以蕃嘉穀,此誠有虞戒大禹盡力之謂。 然農穰可致,所由者三:一曰天時不諐,二曰地利無失,三曰人力咸用。 若必春無霡霂之潤,秋繁滂沱之患,水旱失中,雩禳有請。 雖使羲和平秩,后稷親農,理疆甽于原隰,勤藨蓘于中田,猶不足以致倉庾盈億之積也。 然地利可以計生,人力可以課致,詔書之旨,亦將欲盡此理乎? 今天下千城,人多遊食,廢業占空,無田課之實。 較計九州,數過萬計。 可申嚴此防,令鑒司精察,一人失課,負及郡縣,此人力之可致也。 又州司十郡,土狹人繁,三魏尤甚,而豬羊馬牧,布其境內,宜悉破廢,以供無業。 業少之人,雖頗割徙,在者猶多,田諸菀牧,不樂曠野,貪在人間。 故謂北土不宜畜牧,此誠不然。 案古今之語,以為馬之所生,實在冀北,大賈牂羊,取之清渤,放豕之歌,起于钜鹿,是其效也。 可悉徙諸牧,以充其地,使馬牛豬羊齕草于空虛之田,遊食之人受業於賦給之賜,此地利之可致者也。 昔騅駓在坰,史克所以頌魯僖; 卻馬務田,老氏所以稱有道,豈利之所以會哉? 又如汲郡之吳澤,良田數千頃,濘水停洿,人不墾植。 聞其國人,皆謂通泄之功不足為難,舄鹵成原,其利甚重。 而豪強大族,惜其魚捕之饒,構說官長,終於不破。 此亦穀口之謠,載在史篇。 謂宜復下郡縣,以詳當今之計。 荊、揚、兗、豫,污泥之土,渠塢之宜,必多此類,最是不待天時而豐年可獲者也。 以其雲雨生於畚臿,多稌生於決泄,不必望朝隮而黃潦臻,禜山川而霖雨息。 是故兩周爭東西之流,史起惜漳渠之浸,明地利之重也。 宜詔四州刺史,使謹按以聞。 又昔魏氏徙三郡人在陽平頓丘界,今者繁盛,合五六千家。 二郡田地逼狹,謂可徙還西州,以充邊土,賜其十年之復,以慰重遷之情。 一舉兩得,外實內寬,增廣窮人之業,以辟西郊之田,此又農事之大益也。 轉佐著作郎,撰《晉書·帝紀》、十《志》,遷轉博士,著作如故。
When the court wanted to expand agriculture, Shu Xi submitted a proposal: I have humbly seen the edict saying that the granaries are not full and the region west of the passes is hungry and poor, and that You wish greatly to promote farming in order to multiply good grain. This is truly what the Yu ruler meant when he warned Yu the Great to exert all his strength. Yet abundant harvests can be brought about through three causes: first, Heaven's seasons must not go awry; second, the advantages of the land must not be lost; third, human labor must all be used. If spring lacks soaking rain, autumn suffers repeated downpours, flood and drought lose the mean, and prayers for rain and sacrifice are required, then even if Xi and He regulated the seasons and Hou Ji personally farmed, ordering boundaries and furrows on highlands and lowlands and diligently weeding and hoeing the central fields, it would still not be enough to fill granaries by the hundred millions. But the advantages of the land can be produced by planning, and human labor can be achieved by assessment. Is this not also the principle the edict intends to exhaust? Now across the many cities of the realm, many people eat idly, abandon occupations, occupy empty registers, and have no real field assessments. When calculated across the nine provinces, their number exceeds the tens of thousands. This guard should be made strict: let the inspecting offices examine closely, and if one person misses his assessment, responsibility should reach the commandery and county. This is how human labor can be achieved. Moreover, in the ten commanderies under the province, the land is narrow and the people numerous, especially in the Three Wei, yet pig, sheep, and horse pastures are spread throughout their territory. They should all be abolished and supplied to those without occupations. Even if some people with little occupation are divided off and moved, many remain; they till gardens and pastures, dislike open country, and covet being among settled communities. Thus to say that the northern lands are unsuitable for herding is truly incorrect. According to sayings ancient and modern, the place where horses are born is truly north of Ji; great merchants obtained ewes from Qing and Bohai; and the song of releasing pigs arose in Julu. These are the proofs. All the pastures can be shifted to fill that land, letting horses, cattle, pigs, and sheep graze on empty fields while idle eaters receive occupations through allotments and grants. This is how the advantages of the land can be achieved. In former times, piebald and dark horses in the outskirts were why Shi Ke praised Duke Xi of Lu; sending away horses and attending to fields was why Master Lao called a ruler possessed of the Way. Is this not where benefit comes together? Again, at Wu Marsh in Ji commandery, there are several thousand qing of good fields, but muddy water lies stagnant and people do not cultivate them. I hear that the local people all say the work of opening drains is not difficult, and that turning saline wetland into plains would bring very great benefit. Yet powerful families prize the abundance of fishing there, fabricate arguments for officials, and in the end prevent the work from being opened. This too is like the song of Gukou, recorded in the histories. I believe the matter should again be sent down to the commanderies and counties, to examine the plan appropriate to the present. In Jing, Yang, Yan, and Yu, muddy lands and places suited to canals and dikes must often be like this; these are precisely harvests that can be obtained without waiting on Heaven's seasons. For their clouds and rain arise from baskets and spades, and their abundant rice grows from cutting channels and draining water; one need not look for morning rainbows before yellow floodwater arrives, or sacrifice to mountains and rivers before long rains cease. Thus the two Zhou contended over eastern and western flows, and Shi Qi valued the irrigation of the Zhang canal, showing the importance of land advantage. An edict should be sent to the inspectors of the four provinces, ordering them to investigate carefully and report. Moreover, in the past the Wei moved people from three commanderies into the Yangping and Dunqiu region, and now they flourish, numbering five or six thousand households. The fields of the two commanderies are cramped; I think they can be moved back to the western province to fill the borderlands, and granted ten years of tax exemption to comfort them for being moved again. One action would gain two benefits: the exterior would be filled and the interior loosened, the occupations of poor people enlarged, and the western fields opened. This too would be a great benefit to agriculture. He was then transferred to assistant gentleman of composition, where he compiled the imperial annals and ten treatises for the Book of Jin; later he became erudite while continuing his historiographic work.
41
初,太康二年,汲郡人不准盜發魏襄王墓,或言安釐王塚,得竹書數十車。 其《紀年》十三篇,記夏以來至周幽王為犬戎所滅,以事接之,三家分,仍述魏事至安釐王之二十年。 蓋魏國之史書,大略與《春秋》皆多相應。 其中經傳大異,則雲夏年多殷; 益幹啟位,啟殺之; 太甲殺伊尹; 文丁殺季曆; 自周受命,至穆王百年,非穆王壽百歲也; 幽王既亡,有共伯和者攝行天子事,非二相共和也。 其《易經》二篇,與《周易》上下經同。 《易繇陰陽卦》二篇,與《周易》略同,《繇辭》則異。 《卦下易經》一篇,似《說卦》而異。 《公孫段》二篇,公孫段與邵陟論《易》。 《國語》三篇,言楚、晉事。 《名》三篇,似《禮記》,又似《爾雅》《論語》。 《師春》一篇,書《左傳》諸卜筮,「師春」似是造書者姓名也。 《瑣語》十一篇,諸國卜夢妖怪相書也。 《梁丘藏》一篇,先敘魏之世數,次言丘藏金玉事。 《繳書》二篇,論弋射法。 《生封》一篇,帝王所封。 《大曆》二篇,鄒子談天類也。 《穆天子傳》五篇,言周穆王遊行四海,見帝台、西王母。 《圖詩》一篇,畫贊之屬也。 又雜書十九篇:《周食田法》,《周書》,《論楚事》,《周穆王美人盛姬死事》。 大凡七十五篇,七篇簡書折壞,不識名題。 塚中又得銅劍一枚,長二尺五寸。 漆書皆科斗字。 初發塚者燒策照取寶物,及官收之,多燼簡斷劄,文既殘缺,不復詮次。 武帝以其書付秘書校綴次第,尋考指歸,而以今文寫之。 晳在著作,得觀竹書,隨疑分釋,皆有義證。 遷尚書郎。
Earlier, in the second year of Taikang, Bu Zhun of Ji commandery broke into the tomb of King Xiang of Wei, though some said it was King Anli's tomb, and recovered dozens of cartloads of bamboo texts. The thirteen-scroll Bamboo Annals run from Xia through Western Zhou's fall, then carry Wei down to 299 BCE. These were probably historical writings of the state of Wei, and in broad outline they mostly corresponded with the Chunqiu. It claims Xia recorded more years than Shang; Yi seized Qi's throne and Qi killed him; Tai Jia executed Yi Yin; Wen Ding killed Ji Li; A century from Zhou's Mandate to Mu does not mean King Mu reached one hundred; After King You fell, the Earl of Gong named He ruled as regent—not the joint stewardship of two Zhou ministers that later gloss became "harmony." Its two scrolls of the Yijing were the same as the upper and lower texts of the Zhouyi. The yin-yang line scrolls echo the Zhou yi with variant line statements. A single scroll of sub-hexagram Changes resembles the Shuo Gua with differences. Two scrolls on Gongsun Duan debate the Changes with Shao Zhi. Three scrolls of state conversations cover Chu and Jin. Three scrolls of "Names" read like the Record of Rites, Erya, and Analects. The "Shi Chun" scroll lists Zuo divinations; the title may record an author's name. Eleven scrolls of petty talk collect omens and dreams from many states. The Liangqiu Zang scroll counts Wei generations then catalogs buried treasure. Two scrolls on knot-shooting arts. One scroll of living enfeoffments. Two scrolls of macro-calendars akin to Zou Yan's astronomy. Five scrolls of King Mu's travels among seas and holy peaks. One scroll of picture poems like engraved encomia. There were also nineteen miscellaneous writings: Zhou Shitian fa, Zhoushu, Lun Chushi, and the account of the death of King Mu of Zhou's beauty Sheng Ji. Seventy-five pieces survived; seven bundles shattered unreadable. One bronze sword measured two and a half feet. Every lacquer text showed tadpole seal forms. Looters burned bundles for treasure; imperial clerks found charred scraps impossible to order. Emperor Wu tasked the secretariat to reorder and transcribe into clerical script. Editing at the palace, Shu Xi glossed every doubtful passage. Promoted to gentleman of the secretariat.
42
武帝嘗問摯虞三日曲水之義,虞對曰:「漢章帝時,平原徐肇以三月初生三女,至三日俱亡,村人以為怪,乃招攜之水濱洗祓,遂因水以泛觴,其義起此。」 帝曰:「必如所談,便非好事。」 晳進曰:「虞小生,不足以知,臣請言之。 昔周公成洛邑,因流水以泛酒,故逸詩云『羽觴隨波』。 又秦昭王以三日置酒河曲,見金人奉水心之劍,曰:『令君制有西夏。』 乃霸諸侯,因此立為曲水。 二漢相緣,皆為盛集。」 帝大悅,賜晳金五十斤。
Emperor Wu once asked Zhi Yu about the meaning of the third-day winding-water rite. Yu replied: "In the time of Emperor Zhang of Han, Xu Zhao of Pingyuan had three daughters born at the beginning of the third month; by the third day they had all died. The villagers thought this strange, gathered at the riverside to wash away defilement, and then floated cups on the water. Its meaning began from this." The emperor said: "If it is truly as you say, then it was no happy affair." Shu Xi came forward and said: "Yu is a young man and cannot know enough. Your servant asks to explain it. Duke Zhou floated cups when founding Luoyang—matching lost poems. King Zhao of Qin held a third-day river banquet and dreamed river gods gifting swords. That feast founded the winding-water ritual. The two Han dynasties continued the practice, and all made it a splendid gathering." Delighted, he gave Shu Xi fifty jin of gold.
43
時有人于嵩高山下得竹簡一枚,上兩行科斗書,傳以相示,莫有知者。 司空張華以問晳,晳曰:「此漢明帝顯節陵中策文也。」 檢驗果然,時人伏其博識。
Hikers at Songshan found tadpole-writing slips nobody could decipher. Minister of Works Zhang Hua asked Shu Xi about it, and Xi said: "This is policy text from Emperor Ming of Han's Xianjie tomb." Checks proved him right—scholars hailed his learning.
44
趙王倫為相國,請為記室。 晳辭疾罷歸,教授門徒。 年四十卒,元城市裏為之廢業,門生故人立碑墓側。
Prince Sima Lun summoned him private secretary. Shu Xi pleaded sickness, retired to teach. His death at forty closed Yuan markets; friends carved his monument.
45
晳才學博通,所著《三魏人士傳》,《七代通記》、《晉書·紀》、《志》,遇亂亡失。 其《五經通論》、《發蒙記》、《補亡詩》、文集數十篇,行於世雲。
Shu Xi was broadly learned and fully versed in talent and scholarship; the San Wei renshi zhuan, Qidai tongji, Jinshu annals, and Jinshu treatises that he wrote were lost in the disorder. His Five Classics synthesis, primer, supplement poems, and essays survived in tens of scrolls.
46
王接
Biography: Wang Jie.
47
王接,字祖遊,河東猗氏人,漢京兆尹尊十世孫也。 父蔚,世修儒史之學。 魏中領軍曹羲作《至公論》,蔚善之,而著《至機論》,辭義甚美。 官至夏陽侯相。 接幼喪父,哀毀過禮,鄉親皆歎曰:「王氏有子哉!」 渤海劉原為河東太守,好奇,以旌才為務。 同郡馮收試經為郎,七十餘,薦接于原曰:「夫驊騮不總轡,則非造父之肆; 明月不流光,則非隋侯之掌。 伏惟明府苞黃中之德,耀重離之明,求賢與能,小無遺錯,是以鄙老思獻所知。 竊見處士王接,岐嶷俊異,十三而孤,居喪盡禮,學過目而知,義觸類而長,斯玉鉉之妙味,經世之徽猷也。 不患玄黎之不啟,竊樂春英之及時。」 原即禮命,接不受。 原乃呼見曰:「君欲慕肥遁之高邪?」 對曰:「接薄祜,少孤而無兄弟,母老疾篤,故無心為吏。」 及母終,柴毀骨立,居墓次積年,備覽眾書,多出異義。 性簡率,不修俗操,鄉里大族多不能善之,唯裴頠雅知焉。 平陽太守柳澹、散騎侍郎裴遐、尚書僕射鄧攸皆與接友善。 後為郡主簿,迎太守溫宇,宇奇之,轉功曹史。 州辟部平陽從事。 時泰山羊亮為平陽太守,薦之于司隸校尉王堪,出補都官從事。
Wang Jie, styled Zuyou, came from Yishi in Hedong—descended from Han Governor Wang Zun. His father Wang Wei taught classics and history. Cao Xi's essay inspired Wang Wei's counterpiece. He became Xiayang county administrator. Jie lost his father when young, and his grief harmed him beyond ritual. The neighbors all sighed: "The Wang clan has a son indeed!" Liu Yuan of Bohai became governor of Hedong; he loved the extraordinary and made honoring talent his duty. His fellow commanderyman Feng Shou passed the classics examination and became a gentleman when he was over seventy. He recommended Jie to Liu Yuan, saying: "If a Hualiu horse is not gathered under the reins, it is not in Zaofu's stable; hidden gems need patrons. He urged Liu Yuan to hire Wang Jie. He praised Jie's orphan brilliance. I do not worry that the dark dawn will not open; I privately rejoice that spring blossoms arrive in time." Liu Yuan invited him—Jie refused. Liu Yuan then summoned him and said: "Do you wish to emulate the height of withdrawing in fat reclusion?" He replied: "My fortune is meager. I was orphaned young and have no brothers; my mother is old and gravely ill, and therefore I have no heart for office." After her death he lived by the mound emaciated, disputing classical readings. Blunt honesty offended magnates; only Pei Yi befriended him. Liu Dan, governor of Pingyang, Pei Xia, Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, and Deng You, Director of the Secretariat, were all friendly with Wang Jie. As chief clerk to Governor Wen Yu he earned promotion. Provincial office took him on. At the time Yang Liang of Taishan was governor of Pingyang. He recommended Wang Jie to Wang Kan, Commandant of the Capital District, and Jie went out to fill the post of duguan aide.
48
永甯初,舉秀才。 友人滎陽潘滔遺接書曰:「摯虞、卞玄仁並謂足下應和鼎味,可無以應秀才行。」 接報書曰:「今世道交喪,將遂剝亂,而識智之士鉗口韜筆,禍敗日深,如火之燎原,其可救乎? 非榮斯行,欲極陳所見,冀有覺悟耳。」 是歲,三王義舉,惠帝復阼,以國有大慶,天下秀孝一皆不試,接以為恨。 除中郎,補征虜將軍司馬。
Yongning brought his Flourishing Talent nomination. His friend Pan Tao of Yingyang sent Jie a letter: "Zhi Yu and Bian Xuanren both say that you should harmonize the flavors in the tripod; you cannot have no response to the nomination as Flourishing Talent." Jie replied in a letter: "Now the Way of the age is being lost, and stripping chaos is about to follow, while men of knowledge and wisdom clamp their mouths and hide their brushes. Disasters deepen day by day, like fire burning across a plain. How can this be rescued? This journey is not for glory; I wish to state fully what I see, hoping there may be awakening." Amnesty skipped examinations—Jie resented missing his chance. He became aide to the northern expedition marshal.
49
蕩陰之役,侍中嵇紹為亂兵所害,接議曰:「夫謀人之軍,軍敗則死之; 謀人之國,國危則亡之,古之道也。 蕩陰之役,百官奔北,唯嵇紹守職以遇不道,可謂臣矣,又可稱痛矣。 今山東方欲大舉,宜明高節,以號令天下。 依《春秋》褒三累之義,加紹致命之賞,則遐邇向風,莫敢不肅矣。」 朝廷從之。
At the Battle of Dangyin, Attendant-in-Ordinary Ji Shao was killed by rebel troops. Jie argued: "One who plans another man's army dies when the army is defeated; Those who steer another man's throne answer with their lives when calamity comes—that maxim closed his plea. He praised Ji Shao's martyr loyalty. He urged honoring martyrs to inspire north China. If, following the Chunqiu principle of praising through three layers of accumulation, Ji Shao is granted the reward for giving his life, then near and far will turn toward the custom, and none will dare fail in reverence." Court accepted.
50
河間王顒欲遷駕長安,與關東乖異,以接成都王佐,難之,表轉臨汾公相國。 及東海王越率諸候討顒,尚書令王堪統行台,上請接補尚書殿中郎,未至而卒,年三十九。
He resisted Yong's Chang'an move and earned transfer. Wang Kan summoned him but he died at thirty-nine.
51
接學雖博通,特精《禮》《傳》。 常謂《左氏》辭義贍富,自是一家書,不主為經發。 《公羊》附經立傳,經所不書,傳不妄起,于文為儉,通經為長。 任城何休訓釋甚詳,而黜周王魯,大體乖硋,且志通《公羊》而往往還為《公羊》疾病。 接乃更注《公羊春秋》,多有新義。 時秘書丞衛恆考正汲塚書,未訖而遭難。 佐著作郎束皙述而成之,事多證異義。 時東萊太守陳留王庭堅難之,亦有證據。 皙又釋難,而庭堅已亡。 散騎侍郎潘滔謂接曰:「卿才學理議,足解二子之紛,可試論之。」 接遂詳其得失。 摯虞、謝衡皆博物多聞,咸以為允當。 又撰《列女後傳》七十二人,雜論議、詩賦、碑頌、駁難十餘萬言,喪亂盡失。
He specialized in ritual and Zuo. He treated Zuo as independent history. He preferred Gongyang's disciplined ties to the canon. He Xiu of Rencheng gave very detailed explanations, but his demotion of Zhou and treating Lu as king broadly conflicted with the text; moreover, though his aim was to explicate the Gongyang, he often instead became a disease of the Gongyang. He wrote new Gongyang commentary. Wei Heng's Ji collation halted by death. Shu Xi finished with disputed readings. At the time Wang Tingjian of Chenliu, governor of Donglai, challenged it, and he too had evidence. Shu Xi answered after Tingjian died. Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Pan Tao told Wang Jie: "Your talent, learning, principle, and argument are enough to resolve the dispute between the two men; you may try to discuss it." Wang Jie weighed both sides. Experts approved. He also compiled a Houzhuan to the Lienu, the Exemplary Women, for seventy-two women, together with miscellaneous discussions, poems and fu, stele inscriptions and hymns, and refutations and difficult arguments totaling more than one hundred thousand words; all were lost in the disorder.
52
長子愆期,流寓江南,緣父本意,更注《公羊》,又集《列女後傳》云。
His son carried on Gongyang work in exile.
53
【史評】
Section: historians' verdict.
54
史臣曰:皇甫謐素履幽貞,閒居養疾,留情筆削,敦悅丘墳,軒冕未足為榮,貧賤不以為恥,確乎不拔,斯固有晉之高人者歟! 洎乎《篤終》立論,薄葬昭儉,既戒奢于季氏,亦無取于王孫,可謂達存亡之機矣。 摯虞、束皙等並詳覽載籍,多識舊章,奏議可觀,文詞雅贍,可謂博聞之士也。 或攝官延閣,裁成言事之書; 或蒞政秩宗,參定禋郊之禮。 虞既厄於從理,皙乃年位不充,天之報施,何其爽也! 王接才調秀出,見賞知音,惜其夭枉,未申驥足,嗟夫!
The editors praise Huangfu Mi as Jin's supreme recluse scholar. They commend his funeral essay balancing thrift. Zhi Yu and Shu Xi mastered classical precedent—eloquent memorialists rightly famed as polymaths. Some staffed the imperial library and drafted state papers. Others directed worship and fixed suburban ritual. Zhi Yu died thwarted; Shu Xi died young—heaven seemed unjust. Wang Jie won admirers yet died before his prime.
55
贊曰:士安好逸,棲心蓬蓽。 屬意文雅,忘懷榮秩。 遺制可稱,養生乖術。 摯虞博聞,廣微絕群。 財成禮度,刊緝遺文。 魏篇式序,漢冊斯分。 祖遊後出,亦播清芬。
Verse praise: Huangfu Mi sought calm in a humble hut. He lavished care on letters and forgot titles. His funeral tract shines though regimen proved fatal. Zhi Yu was encyclopedic; Shu Guangwei stood apart. They framed ritual and collated relic texts. They sequenced Wei slips and sorted Han archives. Wang Zuyou followed—another sweet reputation.