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夏侯湛
Xiahou Zhan
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夏侯湛，字孝若，譙國譙人也。 祖威，魏兗州刺史。 父莊，淮南太守。 湛幼有盛才，文章宏富，善構新詞，而美容觀，與潘岳友善，每行止同輿接茵，京都謂之「連璧」。
Xiahou Zhan, courtesy name Xiaoruo, came from Qiao in the Qiao commandery. His grandfather Wei had served as Yanzhou inspector under the Wei. His father Zhuang was governor of Huainan. As a boy he showed exceptional literary gifts—prolific, inventive diction—and striking good looks. He and Pan Yue were close friends who rode together so often that their carriage cushions touched, and people in Luoyang spoke of them as a matched pair of flawless jades.
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少為太尉掾。 泰始中，舉賢良，對策中第，拜郎中，累年不調，乃作《抵疑》以自廣。 其辭曰：
While young he was a secretary on the Grand Commandant's staff. During Taishi he was recommended as "worthy and good," passed the palace examination, and was made a gentleman-attendant, yet for years he was passed over for promotion; he wrote "Resisting Doubt" to set out his own case and lift his spirits. The piece begins:
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當路子有疑夏侯湛者而謂之曰：「吾聞有其才而不遇者，時也； 有其時而不遇者，命也。 吾子童幼而岐立，弱冠而著德，少而流聲，長而垂名。 拔萃始立，而登宰相之朝； 揮翼初儀，而受卿尹之舉。 蕩典籍之華，談先王之言。 入閶闔，躡丹墀，染彤管，吐洪煇，幹當世之務，觸人主之威，有效矣。 而官不過散郎，舉不過賢良。 鳳棲五期，龍蟠六年，英耀禿落，羽儀摧殘。 而獨雍容藝文，蕩駘儒林，志不轟著述之業，口不釋《雅》《頌》之音，徒費情而耗力，勞神而苦心，此術亦以薄矣。 而終莫之辯，宜吾子之陸沈也。 且以言乎才，則吾子優矣。 以言乎時，則子之所與二三公者，義則骨肉之固，交則明道之觀也。 富於德，貴於官，其所發明，雖叩牛操築之客，傭賃拘關之隸，負俗懷譏之士，猶將登為大夫，顯為卿尹。 于何有寶咳唾之音，愛錙銖之力？ 向若垂一鱗，回一翼，令吾子攀其飛騰之勢，掛其羽翼之末，猶奮迅于雲霄之際，騰驤於四極之外。 今乃金口玉音，漠然沈默。 使吾子棲遲窮巷，守此困極，心有窮志，貌有饑色。 吝江河之流，不以濯舟船之畔； 惜東壁之光，不以寓貧婦之目。 抑非二三公之蔽賢也，實吾子之拙惑也。」
A traveler who doubted Xiahou Zhan's choices said to him: "They say talent without recognition is a matter of timing; timing without a patron is fate. You showed uncommon promise as a child, a settled reputation at your capping, an early name that only grew weightier with the years. The moment you rose above your peers you stood in the chancellor's court; at your first formal appearance you were already put forward for high ministerial office. You drew on the brilliance of the classics and spoke in the idiom of the ancient kings. You passed through the palace gates, climbed the vermilion steps, took up the red brush, and spoke with real force on state business before the throne—and it mattered. Yet your rank never rose above a junior gentleman, and your highest nomination was still only "worthy and good." Five terms the phoenix has sat idle, six years the dragon has stayed coiled—your luster has faded and your official dignity worn thin. Yet you linger among books and scholars, never committing yourself to a major literary enterprise, always murmuring the Odes—spending heart and breath on work that leaves you thinner for it. No one sets the record straight; small wonder you feel buried alive. As for sheer ability, you are clearly the better man. As for your connections, the high ministers you know are kin by obligation and allies in the pursuit of principle. Men of their wealth in virtue and rank would raise a cattle-broker or a hod-carrier, a hired gate-guard, even a man the world mocks, to ministerial office if they chose. Why would they hoard a cough or grudge the slightest lift of a finger for you? Had they dropped you a single scale or tipped a wing your way—had you caught even the tailwind of their ascent—you would already be soaring beyond the horizon. Instead their august words fall silent. They leave you moldering in a back alley, trapped in want, your ambitions stunted and hunger written on your face. They begrudge the Yangzi and Yellow River a cupful to rinse a skiff; they hoard the scrap of light from the east wall and will not let a poor widow read by it. This is not your patrons hiding talent from the throne; you have simply misread the situation."
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夏侯子曰：「噫！ 湛也幸，有過，人必知之矣。 吾子所以褒飾之太矣。 斟酌之喻，非小丑之所堪也。 然過承古人之誨，抑因數大夫之忝在弊室也，敢布其腹心，豈能隱-{几}-以覽其概乎！」
Xiahou Zhan replied: "Ah— I am lucky: when I err, everyone hears of it at once. You have praised me far beyond what I deserve. That image of careful pouring from vessel to vessel is more than a nobody like me can live up to. Still, I have the old masters' teaching to answer to, and you gentlemen honor my poor roof; I owe you my inmost thoughts—how could I lounge at my desk and give you only the gist?"
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客曰：「敢祗以聽。」
The guest said, "I listen with respect."
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夏侯子曰：「吾聞先大夫孔聖之言：『德之不修，學之不講，聞義不能徙，不善不能改，是吾憂也。』 四德具而名位不至者，非吾任也。 是以君子求諸己，小人求諸人。 僕也承門戶之業，受過庭之訓，是以得接冠帶之末，充乎士大夫之列，頗窺《六經》之文，覽百家之學。 弱年而入公朝，蒙蔽而當顯舉，進不能拔群出萃，卻不能抗排當世，志則乍顯乍昧，文則乍幽乍蔚。 知之者則謂之欲逍遙以養生，不知之者則謂之欲遑遑以求達，此皆未是僕之所匱也。
Xiahou Zhan said: "Confucius taught: 'Neglect of virtue, neglect of study, failure to follow what is right, failure to mend what is wrong—these are what worry me.' If the four virtues are whole in me and still rank does not follow, that is no fault I need answer for. The gentleman looks inward; the small man blames everyone else. I inherited my family's tradition and my father's lessons, earned a modest place among officials, and have read something of the classics and the philosophers. I entered government young, ignorant yet loudly recommended; I neither rose to the top nor cut a path against the powerful—my ambitions flickered, my writing by turns obscure and brilliant. Some took me for a man seeking ease and long life; others for one frantic for promotion—neither guess touches what I lack.
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僕又聞，世有道，則士無所執其節； 黜陟明，則下不在量其力。 是以當舉而不辭，入朝而酬問。 僕，東野之鄙人，頑直之陋生也。 不識當世之便，不達朝廷之情，不能倚靡容悅，出入崎傾，逐巧點妍，嘔喁辯佞。 隨群班之次，伏簡墨之後。 當此之時，若失水之魚，喪家之狗，行不勝衣，言不出口，安能干當世之務，觸人主之威，適足以露狂簡而增塵垢。 縱使心有至言，言有偏直，此委巷之誠，非朝廷之欲也。
I have also heard that when the realm is well ordered, a scholar need not cling to showy integrity; when promotions and demotions are fair, subordinates do not have to calculate their own leverage. So one accepts nomination without fuss and answers plainly when summoned to court. I am a rustic from the eastern countryside—stubborn, plain, and rough-edged. I do not read the temper of the times or the mood at court; I cannot sway and smile, zigzag through doors, chase clever graces, or wheedle with honeyed flattery. I keep my place in the ranks and hide behind paperwork. Then I am a fish gasping on the bank, a masterless hound—too weak to bear my robes, too timid to speak; to meddle in policy or face the emperor would only advertise my crudity and heap shame on me. Even if I harbored the truest counsel, my blunt alley-way honesty is not what the court wants to hear.
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今天子以茂德臨天下，以八方六合為四境，海內無虞，萬國玄靜，九夷之從王化，猶洪聲之收清響； 黎苗之樂函夏，若遊形之招惠景。 鄉曲之徒，一介之士，曾諷《急就》、習甲子者，皆奮筆揚文，議制論道。 出草苗，起林藪，御青瑣，入金墉者，無日不有。 充三台之寺，盈中書之閣。 有司不能竟其文，當年不能編其籍，此執政之所厭聞也。 若乃群公百辟，卿士常伯，被硃佩紫，耀金帶白，坐而論道者，又充路盈寢，黃幄玉階之內，飽其尺牘矣。 若僕之言，皆糞土之說，消磨灰爛，垢辱招穢，適可充衛士之爨，盈掃除之器。 譬猶投盈寸之膠，而欲使江海易色； 燒一羽之毛，而欲令大爐增勢。 若燎原之煙，彌天之雲，噓之不益其熱，翕之不減其氣。 今子見僕入朝暫對，便欲坐望高位，吐言數百，謂陵嶒一世，何吾子之失評也！ 僕固脂車以須放，秣馬以待卻，反耕於枳落，歸志乎渦瀨，從容乎農夫，優遊乎卒歲矣。
Our emperor rules in full virtue; the realm is one borderland of peace. The seas are calm, the states at rest, and the outer tribes yield to civilization as a great note swallows a faint echo; the common people delight in the heartland as shadows and sunlight play over open ground. Village hacks who have memorized primers and stem-branch cycles all wave brushes and hold forth on policy and principle. Every day someone climbs from obscurity through the palace gate into the golden-walled precincts. They pack the Three Departments and crowd the Secretariat shelves. No office can finish their papers, no year catalog their petitions—exactly the flood of words that weary those in charge. As for the great lords in vermillion and purple, gold seals at their belts, discoursing from their seats—they already choke the roads and halls; under the imperial canopy they are glutted with memorials. If anything I say is mere dirt, ash, and filth, it might stoke a sentry's stove or fill a dustpan—nothing more. It would be like flinging an inch of glue into the sea and expecting the tides to change hue; or singeing a single feather to heat the imperial smelter. Like prairie smoke or storm clouds, neither a puff nor a gasp will add or subtract from their force. Because I once attended court and spoke a few hundred lines, you imagine I expect a high post and tower over the age—your measure of me is wildly off! I have greased my cart for the road home, fed my horses for the ride back; I mean to plow my thorn-hedge plot, live by the river shoals, keep company with farmers, and idle out my years.
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古者天子畫土以封群后，群后受國以臨其邦，懸大賞以樂其成，列九伐以討其違，興衰相形，安危相傾。 故在位者以求賢為務，受任者以進才為急。 今也則九州為一家，萬國為百郡，政有常道，法有恆訓，因循而禮樂自定，揖讓而天下大順。 夫道學之貴遊，閭邑之搢紳，皆高門之子，世臣之胤，弘風長譽，推成而進，悠悠者皆天下之彥也。 諷詁訓，傳《詩》《書》，講儒墨，說玄虛，僕皆不如也。 二三公之簡僕於凡庸之肆，顯僕於細猥之中，則為功也重矣； 時而清談，則為親也周矣。 且古之君子，不知士，則不明不安。 是以居逸而思危，對食而肴乾。 今也則否。 居位者以善身為靜，以寡交為慎，以弱斷為重，以怯言為信。 不知士者無公誹，不得士者不私愧。 彼在位者皆稷、契、咎、益、伊、呂、周、召之倫，叔豹、仲熊之儔，稽古則逾黃、唐，經緯則越虞、夏，蔑昆吾之功，嗤桓文之勳，抵㧙管仲，蹉雹晏嬰。 其遠則欲升鼎湖，近則欲超太平。 方將保保重嗇神，獨善其身，玄白沖虛，仡爾養真。 雖力挾太山，將不舉一羽； 揚波萬里，將不濯一鱗。 咳唾成珠玉，揮袂出風雲。 豈肯䠥鄙事，取才進人，此又吾子之失言也。 子獨不聞夫神人乎！ 噏風飲露，不食五穀。 登太清，游山嶽，靡芝草，弄白玉。 不因而獨備，無假而自足。 不與人路同嗜欲，不與世務齊榮辱。 故能入無窮之門，享不死之年。 以此言之，何待進賢！」
Anciently the Son of Heaven carved the land for feudal lords; lords took their states and faced their rivals with great rewards for success and the nine punitive expeditions for rebellion—rise and fall, safety and danger, watched each other across a tilted scale. So rulers hunted talent urgently, and appointees pushed able men forward as fast as they could. Today the nine regions are one family, the old "ten thousand states" a grid of commanderies; statutes run in fixed grooves, so ritual and music need only be carried on, and the realm falls into line with a bow and a step back. The salon wits and local gentry are sons of great houses and hereditary lines who trade fame and lift one another up—every one of them counts as an ornament of the age. In glossing texts, expounding the Odes and Documents, debating Ru and Mohist doctrine, or spinning abstruse Daoist talk, I am outclassed. If those ministers picked me from the common market and set me up among the petty men, they have already done me a great honor; when they now and then admit me to pure conversation, their kindness could hardly go further. Besides, a gentleman of old who failed to know his men lacked both insight and peace of mind. So even in comfort they remembered peril, and at a full table they still tasted the dried meat of austerity. That is not how it is today. Men in power call self-preservation "composure," few friendships "prudence," indecision "gravitas," and cowed silence "integrity." Ignoring talent draws no public rebuke; missing a good man stirs no private shame. They fancy themselves another Ji, Xie, Gao, Yi, Yi Yin, Lü Wang, the Duke of Zhou or Shao—another Shubao or Zhongxiong; next to them the Yellow Emperor and Tang look provincial, Yu and Xia out of date; Kun Wu's feats seem small, Huan and Wen laughable, Guan Zhong fit for censure, Yan Ying ripe for blame. In their dreams they would ride to Dinghu with the immortals; awake, they pretend to have already passed beyond the reign of Great Peace. They mean to hoard breath and spirit, polish the self alone, dissolve into misty void, and there—aloof—nurture their "true" essence. Though strong enough to hug Mount Tai, they would not lift one down feather; though they churn waves for ten thousand li, they would not wet a single fish scale. Their cough becomes pearls, their sleeve-flick summons wind and cloud. Would they stoop to vulgar errands or lift another man into office? Here again, sir, you have spoken amiss. Have you never heard of the spirit-immortal? He breathes wind and sips dew; grain never passes his lips. He climbs into the clear empyrean, wanders the peaks, gathers magic fungus, toys with white jade. He needs no precedent to be whole, no crutch to be complete. He does not share the crowd's appetites or tally glory and shame as the world does. So he passes through the gate of the inexhaustible and tastes life without end. On that showing, why should he bother to "promote the worthy" at all!"
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客曰：「聖人有言曰：『邦有道，貧且賤焉，恥也。』 今子值有道之世，當太平之會，不攘袂奮氣，發謀出奇。 使鳴鶴受和，好爵見縻。 抑乃沈身郎署，約志勤卑，不亦羸哉！ 且伊尹之干成湯，甯戚之迕桓公，或投己鼎俎，或庸身飯牛，明廢興之機，歌《白水》之流，德入殷王，義感齊侯。 故伊尹起庖廚而登阿衡，甯戚出車下而階大夫。 外無微介，內無請謁，矯身擢手，徑躡名位。 吾子亦何不慕賢以自厲，希古以慷慨乎！」
The guest said: "The Master said, 'When the state is well ordered, poverty and low status are a disgrace. You live under an enlightened government, in an age of peace—yet you will not roll up your sleeves, rouse your mettle, or put forward a striking plan. So that the crane's call wins a response and the fine office comes with the red cord of summons. Instead you bury yourself in a clerk's cubicle and bind your ambition to petty drudgery—is that not a wretched waste! Yi Yin importuned Cheng Tang from the kitchen; Ning Qi caught Duke Huan's ear while tending cattle—one stepped into the cauldron, one hired out as a herdsman; they read the hinge of rise and fall, Yi sang "White Water" and his virtue won the Yin king, Ning's steadfastness moved the Qi ruler. So Yi Yin stepped from the stove to Grand Mentor; Ning Qi climbed from under the cart to ministerial rank. No patron's whisper outside, no private plea inside—they squared their shoulders and walked straight into fame and office. Why not take the worthy as your mirror and the ancients as your spur!"
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夏侯子曰：「嗚呼！ 是何言歟！ 富與貴是人之所欲，非僕之所惡也。 夫幹將之劍，陸斷狗馬，水截蛟龍，而钅公刀不能入泥。 騏驥驊騮之乘，一日而致千里，而駑蹇不能邁畝。 百煉之監，別鬚眉之數，而壁土不見泰山。 鴻鵠一舉，橫四海之區，出青雲之外，而尺鷃不陵桑榆。 此利鈍之覺，優劣之決也，夫欲進其身者，不過千萬乘，而僕以上朝堂，答世問，不過顯所知。 僕以竭心思，盡才學，意無雅正可准，論無片言可采，是以頓於鄙劣而莫之能起也。 以此言之，僕何為其不自衒哉！ 子不嫌僕德之不劭，而疑其位之不到，是猶反鏡而索照，登木而下釣，僕未以此為不肖也。
Xiahou Zhan said: "Ah— What sort of talk is that! Wealth and rank are what most men want; I do not despise them. Gan Jiang's blade hews beasts on land and serpents in the deeps, yet a soft lead knife cannot cut mud—the tool must fit the task. A team of noble steeds may cover a thousand miles in a day; a broken-down nag cannot leave its furrow. A mirror burnished a hundred times counts every hair; a mud wall never glimpses Mount Tai. The swan in one flight crosses the world and pierces the clouds; a sparrow never clears the backyard elms. Sharp and dull, better and worse—there is no mistaking the difference. Ambition may open a thousand doors; I only go to court and answer what I am asked. I have strained every thought and talent, yet nothing I say meets the standard and not one line is quotable—so I stay where I am. On that showing, I am hardly hiding my light. You fault not my character but my lack of promotion—as useless as holding a mirror backward or fishing from a tree. I do not call that a fair test.
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若乃伊尹負鼎以干湯，呂尚隱游以徼文，傅說操築以寤主，甯戚擊角以要君，此非僕所能也。 莊周駘蕩以放言，君平賣卜以自賢，接輿陽狂以蔽身，梅福棄家以求仙，此又非僕之所安也。 若乃季劄抗節於延陵，楊雄覃思于《太玄》，伯玉和柔於人懷，柳惠三絀於士官，僕雖不敏，竊頗仿佛其清塵。」
Yi Yin at the kitchen, Lü Wang in disguise, Fu Yue with his adze, Ning Qi on the ox-cart—these stratagems are beyond me. Zhuangzi's rambling, Yan Junping's stall, Jieyu's feigned madness, Mei Fu's flight to the hills—none of that is my path. Jizi at Yanling, Yang Xiong and his Taixuan, Boyu's gentleness, Liuxia Hui's three dismissals—I am dull, yet I would tread faintly in their footprints."
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後選補太子舍人，轉尚書郎，出為野王令。 以䘏隱為急，而緩於公調。 政清務閑，優遊多暇，乃作《昆弟誥》。 其辭曰：
He was later made attendant to the crown prince, then a Masters-of-Writing gentleman, then magistrate of Yewang. He put succoring the hidden poor first and eased the burden of routine exactions. With a quiet yamen and ample time, he wrote the "Admonition to My Brothers." The text begins:
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惟正月才生魄，湛若曰：「咨爾弟淳、琬、瑫、謨、總、瞻：古人有言，『孝乎惟孝，友于兄弟。』 『死喪之戚，兄弟孔懷。』 又曰，『周之有至德也，莫如兄弟。』 於戲！ 古之載於訓籍，傳於《詩》《書》者，厥乃不思，不可不行。 爾其專乃心，一乃聽，砥礪乃性，以聽我之格言。」 淳等拜手稽首。
In the first month's early waxing phase, Zhan said: "You, my brothers Chun, Wan, Tao, Mo, Zong, and Zhan—the old text runs, "Be filial at home and brotherly abroad. When death strikes, brothers cling to one another." The Documents praise the house of Zhou: nothing surpassed their brotherly virtue." Alas! What the classics and the Odes and Documents teach must be pondered and lived. Fix your minds, listen as one, temper your characters, and heed these words." Chun and the others bowed low and assented.
16
湛若曰：「嗚呼！ 惟我皇乃祖滕公，肇厘厥德厥功，以左右漢祖，弘濟於嗣君，用垂祚於後。 世世增敷前軌，濟其好行美德。 明允相繼，冠冕胥及。 以逮于皇曾祖湣侯，寅亮魏祖，用康乂厥世，遂啟土宇，以大綜厥勳於家。 我皇祖穆侯，崇厥基以允厘顯志，用恢闡我令業。 維我後府君侯，祗服哲命，欽明文思，以熙柔我家道，丕隆我先緒。 欽若稽古訓，用敷訓典籍，乃綜其微言。 嗚呼！ 自三墳、五典、八索、九丘，圖緯六藝，及百家眾流，罔不探賾索隱，鉤深致遠。 《洪範》九疇，彝倫攸敘。 乃命世立言，越用繼尼父之大業，斯文在茲。 且九齡而我王母薛妃登遐，我後孝思罔極，惟以奉于穆侯之繼室蔡姬，以致其子道。 蔡姬登遐，隘于穆侯之命，厥禮乃不得成，用不祔于祖姑。 惟乃用騁其永慕，厥乃以疾辭位，用遜於厥家，布衣席稿，以終於三載。 厥乃古訓無文，我後丕孝其心，用假於厥制，以穆于世父使君侯。 惟伯後聰明睿智，奕世載德，用慈友于我後。 我惟烝烝是虔，罔不克承厥誨，用增茂我敦篤，以播休美於一世，厥乃可不遵。 惟我用夙夜匪懈，日鑽其道，而仰之彌高，鑽之彌堅，我用欲罷不敢。 豈唯予躬是懼，實令跡是奉。 厥乃晝分而食，夜分而寢。 豈唯令跡是畏，實爾猶是儀。 嗚呼，予其敬哉！ 俞！ 予聞之，周之有至德，有婦人焉。 我母氏羊姬，宣慈愷悌，明粹篤誠，以撫訓群子。 厥乃我齔齒，則受厥教於書學，不遑惟寧。 敦《詩》《書》禮樂，孳孳弗倦。 我有識惟與汝服厥誨，惟仁義惟孝友是尚，憂深思遠，祗以防於微。 翳義形於色，厚愛平恕，以濟其寬裕。 用緝和我七子，訓諧我五妹。 惟我兄弟姊妹束修慎行，用不辱於冠帶，實母氏是憑。 予其為政蕞爾，惟母氏仁之不行是戚，予其望色思寬。 獄之不情，教之不泰是訓，予其納戒思詳。 嗚呼！ 惟母氏信著於不言，行感於神明。 若夫恭事于蔡姬，敦穆於九族，乃高於古之人。 古之人厥乃千里承師，矧我惟父惟母世德之餘烈，服膺之弗可及，景仰之弗可階。 汝其念哉！ 俾群弟天祚于我家，俾爾咸休明是履。 淳英哉文明柔順，琬乃沈毅篤固，惟瑫厥清粹平理，謨茂哉儁哲寅亮，總其弘肅簡雅，瞻乃純鑠惠和。 惟我蒙蔽，極否於義訓。 嗟爾六弟，汝其滋義洗心，以補予之尤。 予乃亦不敢忘汝之闕。 嗚呼！ 小子瞻，汝其見予之長於仁，未見予之長於義也。」
Zhan continued: "Ah— Our great forebear the Lord of Teng first built the virtue and deeds that aided the Han founder and steadied his heirs, blessing every generation since. Each generation widened the path and deepened the family's good name. Clear judgment passed from father to son; court rank followed in due order. Down to our great-grandfather Marquis Min, who served the Wei founder with loyal light and brought order to his times, the family won its fief and heaped up lasting merit. Our grandfather Marquis Mu, true to that base, widened and clarified our patrimony. Our late father, Lord of the household, received his charge in reverence—grave, clear, learned, and thoughtful—and so softened the household rule and raised high what those before him had woven. He followed ancient teaching, spread instruction through the texts, and mastered their finest sayings. Alas! From the oldest archives through the apocrypha, the Six Classics, and every school, he plumbed the depths and ranged the farthest reaches of learning. The nine fields of the "Great Plan" set human relations in order. He was a voice for his generation and carried on the Master's work—here the thread of civilization rested. When he was nine, our grandmother Consort Xue died; our father's grief was boundless, and he discharged his duty as a son only by honoring Marquis Mu's second consort, Lady Cai. Lady Cai's obsequies were cut short by Marquis Mu's instructions, so she could not be laid with the chief ancestress. He resigned on plea of illness, yielded place at home, wore hemp and slept on straw, and kept mourning three full years. Where the classics were silent, our father's filial heart found a rule of its own and marked his reverence for our uncle, the honored guardian. That uncle, clear-sighted and wise, bore virtue down the generations and befriended our father in kindness. I have tried to be utterly reverent, to take every lesson, and so to thicken my earnestness and win a good name—can we fail to follow that example? Day and night I drill the Way; the more I gaze, the loftier it grows, the harder I press, the denser it feels—I would rest, yet dare not. It is not myself alone I fear to shame—I must live up to the path you trod. So I take my meal at midday and sleep at midnight. It is not your example alone I dread—I take you as my mirror. I shall be reverent indeed! Yes. They say the Zhou house owed part of its supreme virtue to a woman's power. My mother Lady Yang was kind, clear, and utterly sincere, and she raised and taught us all. From childhood I had no leisure—only her lessons in letters and learning. She pressed the Odes, Documents, ritual, and music on us without weariness. Once I could understand, I learned with you to put benevolence, righteousness, filial piety, and brotherhood first, to think ahead, and to guard reverently against the smallest slip. Righteousness showed in her face; with deep love and even temper she made us broad-minded. She harmonized us seven brothers and brought our five younger sisters into tune. That we brothers and sisters kept our conduct careful and never shamed the family girdle was her doing alone. My own petty duties leave our mother's benevolence unfinished; I study her kindly look and reach for mercy. When justice lacks human feeling or teaching falls short, I take that as my warning and search every detail. Alas! Our mother's faith needed no words; her deeds stirred the spirits. His reverent care for Lady Cai and harmony among the nine branches of kin rose above the ancients. Men of old crossed a thousand li for a teacher; we have only the afterglow of our parents' virtue—too high to embrace, too steep to climb. Remember this. May Heaven bless this house through you; may you all walk in clear virtue. Chun combines brilliance with gentleness; Wan is grave and firm; Tao is lucid and fair; Mo is keen and wise; Zong is stately and spare; Zhan is clear, mild, and harmonious. I alone remain dull and have failed the moral teaching. You six—rinse your hearts in duty and make good my shortcomings. Nor shall I forget where you still fall short. Alas! Little brother Zhan, you praise my kindness but not my sense of justice."
17
瞻曰：「俞！ 以如何？」 湛若曰：「我之肇於總角，以逮於弱冠，暨於今之二毛，受學於先載，納誨于嚴父慈母。 予其敬忌於厥身，而匡予之纖介，翼予之小疵，使予有過未曾不知，予知之逌改，惟衝子是賴。 予親于心，愛於中，敬於貌。 厥乃口無擇言，柔惠且直，廉而不劌，肅而不厲，厥其成予哉。 用集我父母之訓，庶明厲翼，邇可遠在茲。」 瞻拜手稽首曰：「俞！」 湛曰：「都！ 在修身，在愛人。」 瞻曰：「籲！ 惟聖其難之。」 湛曰：「都！ 厥不行惟難，厥行惟易。」
Zhan replied: "Agreed. What should we do next?" From boyhood through my capping to these streaks at my temples I have studied the old texts and obeyed a strict father and loving mother. I will guard myself in awe; correct my slightest fault, cover my smallest flaw, so I never miss my errors—and when I see them, mend them at once. On that I depend on you. I love you inwardly and show respect outwardly. If your speech stays measured—gentle yet honest, sharp without cruelty, grave without harshness—you will make me whole. So we gather our parents' teaching, make it clear, and lend it force—near and far meet in that." Zhan bowed and said, "Yes." Zhan said, "Good. The root is self-cultivation; the branch is loving others." Zhan cried, "Oh— Even for the sage it is hard." Zhan said, "Good. Not doing it is the hard part; doing it, once begun, is easy."
18
淳曰：「俞！ 明而昧，崇而卑，沖而恆，顯而賢，同而疑，厲而柔，和而矜。」 湛曰：「俞！ 乃言厥有道。」 淳曰：「俞！ 祗服訓。」 湛曰：「來！ 琬，汝亦昌言。」 琬曰：「俞！ 身不及於人，不敢墮於勤，厥故維新。」 湛曰：「俞！ 瑫亦昌言。」 瑫曰：「俞！ 滋敬於己，不滋敬於己，惟敬乃恃，無忘有恥。」 湛曰：「俞！ 謨亦昌言。」 謨曰：「俞！ 無忘于不可不虞，形貌以心，訪心于虞。」 湛曰：「俞！ 總亦昌言。」 總曰：「俞！ 若憂厥憂以休。」 湛曰：「俞！ 瞻亦昌言。」 瞻曰：「俞！ 復外惟內，取諸內，不忘諸外。」 湛曰：「俞！ 休哉」淳等拜手稽首，湛亦拜手稽首。 乃歌曰：「明德復哉，家道休哉，世祚悠哉，百祿周哉！」 又作歌曰：「訊德恭哉，訓翼從哉，內外康哉！」 皆拜曰：「欽哉！」
Chun said, "Yes. To shine yet stay humble, to aim high yet keep low, to surge yet hold steady, to show talent yet stay worthy, to agree yet question, to be strict yet gentle, to harmonize yet stand firm." Zhan said, "Well said. You have spoken to the point." Chun said, "Yes. I accept the teaching with reverence." Zhan said, "Speak, Wan—your turn." Wan said, "Yes. I am not their equal, so I dare not slacken—that is how I make myself new." Zhan said, "Good. Tao—speak." Tao said, "Yes. Store up respect within, not merely on the surface; lean on reverence alone, and never lose a sense of shame." Zhan said, "Good. Mo—speak." Mo said, "Yes. Never neglect what may happen; read the face, but test the heart, and think ahead." Zhan said, "Well said. Zong—speak your mind." Yes," said Zong. Share the family's cares and you will find peace." Well said," Zhan replied. Zhan—you too, speak." Agreed," said Zhan. Look inward for your standard, yet never neglect duty to those outside." Good," said Zhan. "How fine!" Chun and the others bowed low, and Zhan bowed with them. They sang: "Bright virtue returns; harmony rules the house; blessings stretch on; grace surrounds us." A second verse ran: "Probe virtue with awe; let teaching lift you; within and without, all is calm." All cried, "We receive it with awe!"
19
居邑累年，朝野多歎其屈。 除中書侍郎，出補南陽相。 遷太子僕，未就命，而武帝崩。 惠帝即位，以為散騎常侍。 元康初，卒，年四十九。 著論三十餘篇，別為一家之言。
Years passed in that post while everyone said he deserved better. He became a palace-secretariat gentleman, then went out as governor of Nanyang. He was named crown prince's coachman, but before he could assume office Emperor Wu died. Under Emperor Hui he was appointed a regular cavalier attendant. He died early in Yuankang, at forty-nine. He left over thirty essays that form a distinctive body of thought.
20
初，湛作《周詩》成，以示潘岳。 岳曰：「此文非徒溫雅，乃別見孝弟之性。」 岳因此遂作《家風詩》。
When he finished his "Zhou Odes" and showed the draft to Pan Yue, Pan Yue said, "This is not merely refined—it lays bare true filial feeling and brotherly love." Pan Yue then wrote his own "Family-Style Ode" in response.
21
湛族為盛門，性頗豪侈，侯服玉食，窮滋極珍。 及將沒，遺命小棺薄斂，不修封樹。 論者謂湛雖生不砥礪名節，死則儉約令終，是深達存亡之理。
The Xiahous were a magnate clan, and Zhan lived in swaggering luxury—lordly robes, exquisite food, the rarest pleasures money could buy. Facing death, he ordered a plain coffin, modest burial, and no mound or marker trees. Commentators held that though he had not been austere in life, his spare end showed he understood how life and death should be ordered.
23
弟淳
His brother Chun
24
=淳，字孝沖。 亦有文藻，與湛俱知名。 官至弋陽太守。 遭中原傾覆，子侄多沒胡寇，唯息承渡江。
Chun, courtesy name Xiaochong, He too was a noted writer and shared Zhan's fame. He rose to be governor of Yiyang. When the north collapsed, most of his sons and nephews died at barbarian hands; only his heir Cheng escaped south.
26
淳子承
Chun's son Cheng
27
=承，字文子。 參安東軍事，稍遷南平太守。 太興末，王敦舉兵內向，承與梁州刺史甘卓、巴東監軍柳純、宜都太守譚該等，並露檄遠近，列敦罪狀。 會甘卓懷疑不進，王師敗績，敦悉誅滅異己者，收承，欲殺之，承外兄王暠苦請得免。 尋為散騎常侍。
Cheng, courtesy name Wenzi, He joined the eastern-guard army staff and later became governor of Nanping. Late in Taixing, Wang Dun turned his army toward the capital; Cheng, Liangzhou governor Gan Zhuo, Ba-East intendant Liu Chun, Yidu governor Tan Gai, and others published a joint proclamation denouncing Dun. Gan Zhuo wavered and never marched; the loyalists lost. Wang Dun slaughtered dissenters, seized Cheng, and would have executed him had not his cousin Wang Hao begged until his life was spared. He was soon made a regular cavalier attendant.
28
潘岳
Pan Yue
29
潘岳，字安仁，滎陽中牟人也。 祖瑾，安平太守。 父芘，琅邪內史。 岳少以才穎見稱，鄉邑號為奇童，謂終賈之儔也。 早辟司空太尉府，舉秀才。
Pan Yue, courtesy name Anren, came from Zhongmou in Xingyang commandery. His grandfather Jin governed Anping. His father Pi was Langye interior secretary. As a boy he was hailed as a prodigy—neighbors compared him to young Zhong You or Jia Yi. He was soon called to the minister of works and grand commandant's bureaus and recommended as a "flourishing talent" examinee.
30
泰始中，武帝躬耕藉田，岳作賦以美其事，曰：
During Taishi, when Emperor Wu ceremonially plowed the imperial field, Yue wrote a rhapsody to celebrate it. It opens:
31
伊晉之四年正月丁未，皇帝親率群後藉於千畝之甸，禮也。 於是乃使甸師清畿，野廬掃路，封人壝宮，掌舍設枑。 青壇郁其嶽立兮，翠幕黕以雲布。 結崇基之靈阯兮，啟四塗之廣阼。 沃野墳腴，膏壤平砥。 清洛濁渠，引流激水。 遐阡繩直，邇陌如矢。 蔥犗服於縹軛兮，紺轅綴於黛耜。 儼儲駕于廛左兮，俟萬乘之躬履。 百僚先置，位以職分，自上下下，具惟命臣。 襲春服之萋萋兮，接游車之轔轔。 微風生於輕幰兮，纖埃起乎硃輪。 森奉璋以階列兮，望皇軒而肅震。 若湛露之晞朝陽兮，眾星之拱北辰也。
In the fourth year of Jin, first month, day dingwei, the Son of Heaven led the nobles to plow the ritual thousand-mu plot—exactly as the canon prescribes. Field officers cleared the inner suburbs, road crews swept the way, wardens fenced the resting hall, and ushers set the barriers. The green altar loomed like a peak; blue canopies billowed like clouds. They bound the sacred base and opened broad approaches on every side. The soil was deep, rich, and level as a grindstone. Clear Luo waters and silty channels fed sluices that leapt with the flow. Distant furrows ran ruler-straight; nearby ridges shot like arrows. Brindled oxen filled azure yokes; ink-blue shafts carried jade-bright plow blades. The imperial train waited west of the hamlet for the great chariot's tread. The hundred bureaus stood ranked by duty, high to low, every man a servant of the decree. Spring court dress hung thick as grass; touring wheels rumbled in line. Breeze stirred gauze curtains; red wheels kicked up a haze of dust. Lines of bearers lifted jade regalia on the steps and trembled before the royal dais. Like dew lifting toward the sun, like stars wheeling round the Pole Star.
32
於是前驅魚麗，屬車鱗萃，閶闔洞啟，參途方駟，常伯陪乘，太僕執轡。 后妃獻穜稑之種，司農撰播殖之器，挈壺掌升降之節，宮正設門閭之蹕。 天子乃御玉輦，廕華蓋，沖牙錚鎗，綃紈綷糸蔡。 金根照耀以烱晃兮，龍驥騰驤而沛艾。 表硃玄於離坎兮，飛青縞於震兌。 中黃曄以發輝兮，方彩紛其繁會。 五路嗚鑾，九旗揚旆，瓊鈒入蘂，雲罕晻藹。 簫管嘲以啾嘈兮，鼓鼙硡以砰蓋，筍虡嶷以軒翥兮，洪鐘越乎區外。 震震填填，塵霧連天，以幸乎藉田。 蟬冕熲以灼灼兮，碧色肅其芊芊。 似夜光之剖荊璞兮，若茂松之依山顛也。
Outriders fanned in fish-scale order, follow-cars massed like fish scales; the great gate swung wide, three tracks filled with four-in-hand teams; the chief attendant rode escort while the coachman gripped the reins. Consorts brought seed of two ripenings; the minister of agriculture chose plows and drills; the water-clock master kept the cadence; the gate marshal cleared the alleys. The emperor mounted the jade litter under a flowered canopy; jade teeth on the harness rang; gauze and damask flashed together. The gold-decked chariot blazed; dragonlike steeds tossed their flowing manes. Red and black banners answered south and north; green and white streamers leapt east and west. The inner guard flared with borrowed light; square emblems crowded in brilliant confusion. Five routes chimed with bells; nine standards flew; jade halberds sank like stamens; cloud banners dimmed the sky. Flutes skirled, drums thundered; bronze frames reared; the great bell rolled beyond the enclosure. The earth shook, dust veiled the sky, as the train moved toward the ritual field. Gold-trimmed cicada hats flashed; green silks rose in solemn ranks. Like a pearl cut from Chu jade, like pines crowning a ridge.
33
於是我皇乃降靈壇，撫御耦，遊場染屨，洪縻在手。 三推而舍，庶人終畝。 貴賤以班，或五或九。 于斯時也，居靡都鄙，人無華裔，長幼雜遝以交集，士女頒斌而咸戾。 被褐振裾，垂髫總髻，躡踵側肩，掎裳連襼。 黃塵為之四合兮，陽光為之潛翳。 動容發音而觀者，莫不抃舞乎康衢，謳吟乎聖世。 情欣樂乎昏作兮，慮盡力乎樹藝。 靡誰督而常勤兮，莫之課而自厲。 躬先勞而悅使兮，豈嚴刑而猛制哉！
Then our ruler stepped from the altar, took the sacred plow, stained his shoes in the furrow, the long rein in his hands. Three ceremonial furrows and he yielded the handle; the people finished the plot. Nobles and commoners took turns by rank—some five furrows, some nine. For that moment there was no town or country, no Hu or Han; young and old pressed together, men and women mingled in one throng. Rustics tugged brown coats, children in tufts and coils, heels on heels, shoulders jammed, hems hooked together. Yellow dust walled them round; sunlight drowned in haze. Every onlooker who found voice clapped along the highways or sang under the sage reign. Their hearts sang at dawn labor; their minds bent every strength to the seedbed. No overseer was needed—they worked on; no tally was set—they drove themselves. Because the ruler first bent his own back, the people gladly obeyed—this was no work of cruel law or savage rule.
34
有邑老田父，或進而稱曰：「蓋損益隨時，理有常然。 高以下為基，人以食為天。 正其末者端其本，善其後者慎其先。 夫九土之宜弗任，四業之務不壹，野有菜蔬之色，朝乏代耕之秩。 無儲蓄以虞災，徒望歲以自必。 三代之衰，皆此物也。 今聖上昧旦丕顯，夕惕若栗，圖匱于豐，防儉於逸，欽哉欽哉，惟穀之恤。 展三時之弘務，致倉廩於盈溢，固堯、湯之用心，而存救之要術也。」 若乃廟祧有事，祝宗諏日，簠簋普淖，則此之自實，縮鬯蕭茅，又於是乎出。 黍稷馨香，旨酒嘉栗。 宜其時和年登，而神降之吉也。 古人有言曰：「聖人之德，無以加於孝乎！」 夫孝者，天之性、人之所由靈也。 昔者明王以孝治天下，其或繼之者，鮮哉希矣！ 逮我皇晉，實光斯道，儀刑孚于萬國，愛敬盡于祖考。 故躬稼以供粢盛，所以致孝也； 勸穡以足百姓，所以固本也。 能本而孝，盛德大業至矣哉！ 此一役也，二美顯焉，不亦遠乎，不亦重平！ 敢作頌曰：
An old farmer stepped forward: "Times change, and policy must change with them—that is the constant rule. Lofty rule rests on the lowly soil; for the people, grain is heaven itself. Straight twigs need straight roots; a good harvest begins with careful sowing. When land is ill used and the four callings neglected, the fields go weedy and the court lacks grain for its stipends. With no granaries against famine, men stake everything on a single year's crop. The fall of the three ancient dynasties came from just such neglect. Our sage rises before dawn and sleeps in fear, stocking against want in plenty and guarding thrift in ease—reverent, reverent, mindful of the grain. He drives the work of three seasons until the bins brim—truly the mind of Yao and Tang, the true art of keeping the realm fed." When the shrines need sacrifice, priests pick the day, vessels gleam with pure grain—this field supplies them; the bundled herbs and fragrant stalks rise from the same soil. Millet steams sweet; wine and chestnuts are fine. No wonder seasons stay mild, crops ripen, and the gods send down good omens. The ancients said, "Nothing tops filial piety among the sage's virtues!" Filial piety is heaven-born in us and the root of human conscience. Wise kings once ruled through filial piety; few who came after matched them—few indeed! Our great Jin has widened that path: its example sways every state, and love and awe reach every ancestor. He plows himself to fill the grain vessels—this is filial devotion; he urges tillage so the people are fed—this is securing the root. Root and filial piety together—here is a virtue and an enterprise beyond measure! One rite, a double glory—could anything be grander or more momentous? He ends with a hymn:
35
「思樂甸畿，薄采其芳。 大君戾止，言藉其農。 其農三推，萬國以祗。 耨我公田，遂及我私。 我簠斯盛，我簋斯齊。 我倉如陵，我庾如坻。 念茲在茲，永言孝思。 人力普存，祝史正辭。 神只攸歆，逸豫無期。 一人有慶，兆民賴之。」
"Gladly I walk the royal field's edge and pluck its sweet scent. The sovereign has come to speak of the sacred plowing. Three ritual furrows, and every land bows in awe. We tend the lord's field, then our own plots. Our square vessels overflow; our round vessels stand matched. Our granaries mound like hills, our outdoor bins like islets. Hold this ever in mind—endless filial remembrance. Every hand is ready; priests and scribes frame faultless prayers. The gods accept the offering; joy knows no bound. One man's blessing becomes the people's stay."
36
岳才名冠世，為眾所疾，遂棲遲十年。 出為河陽令，負其才而鬱鬱不得志。 時尚書僕射山濤、領吏部王濟、裴楷等並為帝所親遇，岳內非之，乃題閣道為謠曰：「閣道東，有大牛。 王濟鞅，裴楷鞧，和嶠刺促不得休。」
Pan Yue's fame outshone his peers, so jealousy kept him ten years in the cold. Sent out as Heyang magistrate, he nursed his gifts in gloomy frustration. Shan Tao, Wang Ji of the personnel bureau, Pei Kai, and others basked in imperial favor; Yue seethed and chalked a lampoon on the corridor wall: "East of the walk there stands a great ox. Wang Ji pulls the right strap, Pei Kai the left, and He Jiao jabs it on without pause."
37
轉懷令。 時以逆旅逐末廢農，姦淫亡命，多所依湊，敗亂法度，敕當除之。 十里一官樆，使老小貧戶守之，又差吏掌主，依客舍收錢。 岳議曰：
He was moved to magistrate of Huai. Court opinion blamed travel inns for drawing men from the fields, harboring criminals, and breaking the law, and ordered them shut. The plan was a state-run lodge every ten li, staffed by poor families and clerks who would collect fees like innkeepers. Yue submitted a memorial:
38
「謹案：逆旅，久矣其所由來也。 行者賴以頓止，居者薄收其直，交易貿遷，各得其所。 官無役賦，因人成利，惠加百姓而公無末費。 語曰：『許由辭帝堯之命，而舍於逆旅。』 《外傳》曰：『晉陽處父過甯，舍於逆旅。』 魏武皇帝亦以為宜，其詩曰：『逆旅整設，以通商賈。』 然則自堯到今，未有不得客舍之法。 唯商鞅尤之，固非聖世之所言也。 方今四海會同，九服納貢，八方翼翼，公私滿路。 近畿輻輳，客舍亦稠。 冬有溫廬，夏有涼廕，芻秣成行，器用取給。 疲牛必投，乘涼近進，發槅寫鞍，皆有所憩。
"Inns have existed since antiquity—consider the record: Travelers need a roof; keepers earn a modest charge; goods and people both find a place. The treasury levies no special tax; the people gain convenience at almost no public cost. Tradition says Xu You refused Yao's throne and still slept at a roadside inn. The Outer Commentary notes Yang Chufu of Jin stayed at an inn in Ning. Cao Cao approved the same, and sang in verse of inns opened for merchants. From high antiquity to now, no sage ever banned a traveler shelter. Only the harsh Legalist Shang Yang attacked them—hardly a model for our times. Today the realm is one; tribute flows in; traffic packs the roads. Around the capital, inns crowd as thick as wheels at a fair. Winter rooms are warm, summer porches cool; fodder and gear wait in rows for any need. Tired oxen find a stall; riders loosen tack and rest in the shade.
39
又諸劫盜皆起於迥絕，止乎人眾。 十里蕭條，則奸軌生心； 連陌接館，則寇情震懾。 且聞聲有救，已發有追，不救有罪，不追有戮，禁暴捕亡，恆有司存。 凡此皆客舍之益，而官樆之所乏也。 又行者貪路，告糴炊爨，皆以昏晨。 盛夏晝熱，又兼星夜，既限早閉，不及樆門。 或避晚關，迸逐路隅，祇是慢藏誨盜之原。 苟以客舍多敗法教，官守棘樆，獨復何人？ 彼河橋、孟津，解券輸錢，高第督察，數入校出，品郎兩岸相檢，猶懼或失之。 故懸以祿利，許以功報。 今賤吏疲人，獨專樆稅，管開閉之權，藉不校之勢，此道路之蠹，奸利所殖也。 率歷代之舊俗，獲行留之歡心，使客舍灑掃，以待征旅擇家而息，豈非眾庶顒顒之望。」
Bandits strike lonely stretches, not busy streets. Ten li of emptiness breeds thieves; linked inns along the road scare them off. Hear a cry and help must come; raise the alarm and pursuit follows—clerks who fail face punishment; catching thieves is their constant duty. These are the good inns do—what a state booth cannot match. Travelers press on at dawn and dusk for grain and a hot meal. Midsummer heat forces night marches; if gates close early, men never reach the official lodge. Shut out at dusk, they huddle by the roadside—exactly the "careless hoarding invites theft" the Classic warns against. If inns corrupt morals, do thorn-walled government sheds run themselves? At Hetao and Meng Ford tolls are paid under sharp-eyed inspectors who still fear smuggling. Hence salaries and bribes are offered to keep men honest. Yet petty clerks would monopolize gate fees and arbitrary power—that is the rot in the system. Keep the old custom, please traveler and townsman alike, let inns welcome the road-weary—surely that is what the people long for."
40
請曹列上，朝廷從之。
The ministries forwarded his plea and the court agreed.
41
岳頻宰二邑，勤於政績。 調補尚書度支郎，遷廷尉評，以公事免。 楊駿輔政，高選吏佐，引岳為太傅主簿。 駿誅，除名。 初，譙人公孫宏少孤貧，客田于河陽，善鼓琴，頗能屬文。 岳之為河陽令，愛其才藝，待之甚厚。 至是，宏為楚王瑋長史，專殺生之政。 時駿綱紀皆當從坐，同署主簿硃振已就戮。 岳其夕取急在外，宏言之瑋，謂之假吏，故得免。 未幾，選為長安令，作《西征賦》，述所經人物山水，文清旨詣，辭多不錄。 征補博士，未召，以母疾輒去，官免。 尋為著作郎，轉散騎侍郎，遷給事黃門侍郎。
Twice he governed counties and proved a tireless administrator. He became a revenue clerk in the secretariat, then a court evaluator, then lost office over an official matter. When Yang Jun dominated the court, he recruited Yue as secretary to the grand tutor. Yang Jun's fall stripped Yue from the register. A Qiao man, Gongsun Hong, orphaned and poor, had farmed for hire at Heyang; he played the zither and could write. As Heyang magistrate, Yue admired his gifts and treated him generously. Hong was now chief clerk to Prince Wei of Chu, with power over life and death. Yang Jun's whole secretariat faced execution; secretary Zhu Zhen was already dead. Yue had taken emergency leave that night; Hong told the prince he was only a hired hand, so he escaped. Soon he was Chang'an magistrate and wrote the "Rhapsody on the Western March," tracing people and places in limpid prose—too long to quote here. Called to be a court erudite, he bolted home for his mother before taking office and was cashiered. He was soon a compiler, then a palace gentleman, then a serving gentleman within the yellow gates.
42
岳性輕躁，趨世利，與石崇等諂事賈謐，每候其出，與崇輒望塵而拜。 構湣懷之文，岳之辭也。 謐二十四友，岳為其首。 謐《晉書》限斷，亦岳之辭也。 其母數誚之曰：「爾當知足，而幹沒不已乎？」 而岳終不能改。
Pan Yue was flighty and greedy; with Shi Chong he toadied to Jia Mi, bowing in the dust whenever Mi's carriage passed. The memorial attacking Crown Prince Minhuai was Yue's pen. Pan Yue headed Jia Mi's "twenty-four friends" salon. The chronological cutoff for the official Jin History was also his draft. His mother often rebuked him: "When will you know enough and stop chasing gain?" He never mended his ways.
43
既仕宦不達，乃作《閒居賦》曰：
Blocked in office, he wrote the "Rhapsody on Living at Leisure"—it begins:
44
岳讀《汲黯傳》至司馬安四至九卿，而良史書之，題以巧宦之目，未曾不慨然廢書而歎也。 曰：嗟乎！ 巧誠有之，拙亦宜然。 顧常以為士之生也，非至聖無軌微妙玄通者，則必立功立事，效當年之用。 是以資忠履信以進德，修辭立誠以居業。 僕少竊鄉曲之譽，忝司空太尉之命，所奉之主，即太宰魯武公其人也。 舉秀才為郎。 逮事世祖武皇帝，為河陽、懷令，尚書郎，廷尉評。 今天子諒暗之際，領太傅主簿。 府主誅，除名為民。 俄而復官，除長安令。 遷博士，未召拜，親疾輒去，官免。 自弱冠涉於知命之年，八徙官而一進階，再免，一除名，一不拜職，遷者三而已矣。 雖通塞有遇，抑亦拙之效也。 昔通人和長輿之論餘也，固曰「拙於用多」。 稱多者，吾豈敢； 言拙，則信而有征。 方今俊乂在官，百工惟時，拙者可以絕意乎寵榮之事矣。 太夫人在堂，有羸老之疾，尚何能違膝下色養，而屑屑從斗筲之役？ 於是覽止足之分，庶浮雲之志，築室種樹，逍遙自得。 池沼足以漁釣，舂稅足以代耕。 灌園鬻蔬，供朝夕之膳； 牧羊酤酪，俟伏臘之費。 孝乎惟孝，友于兄弟，此亦拙者之為政也。 乃作《閒居賦》以歌事遂情焉。 其辭曰：
Reading Ji An's biography, he came to Sima An, who rose four times to the nine ministers yet earned the historian's label "clever courtier"—each time he slammed the book and sighed. He cried, "Ah— The clever path is real—but the clumsy one suits me. Unless a man is a trackless sage, he should build deeds that serve his age. So he stores loyalty and trust to grow in virtue, and polishes honest words to anchor his work. In youth I won local praise and entered the minister of works and grand commandant's service under the grand tutor, Duke Wu of Lu. Recommended as "flourishing talent," I became a gentleman-attendant. I served Emperor Wu as Heyang and Huai magistrate, secretariat gentleman, and court evaluator. When the present emperor mourned his father, I was chief clerk to the grand tutor. The grand tutor's execution turned me back into a commoner. Soon I was reinstated as Chang'an magistrate. Promoted to erudite, I again left for a parent's illness before investiture and was removed. From my capping to my fiftieth year I changed post eight times for one rank gained—two dismissals, one expunging, one refused call—only three moves were real advances. Luck and ill luck played their part, but clumsiness left its mark. He Changyu once judged me "clumsy at juggling many posts." The "many offices" jibe I dare not own; the "clumsy" label fits all too well. While able men fill the ranks, a clumsy fellow may give up chasing honors. My mother still lives, frail with age—how could I leave her side for mean office? So I took the lesson of "enough," embraced the heart that scorns rank as floating clouds, built a house, planted trees, and lived at ease. My ponds yield fish; my mill toll buys grain like a gentleman's field. I water the garden and sell greens for daily meals; I herd sheep and sell curd for seasonal sacrifices. "Be filial, be brotherly"—even a clumsy man can govern his little plot that way. Hence this "Rhapsody on Living at Leisure" to voice contentment. It opens:
45
遨墳素之長圃，步先哲之高衢。 雖吾顏之雲厚，猶內愧于寧蘧。 有道餘不仕，無道吾不愚。 何巧智之不足，而拙艱之有餘也！ 於是退而閒居，於洛之涘。 身齊逸民，名綴下士。 背京溯伊，面郊後市。 浮梁黝以逕度，靈台傑其高峙。 窺天文之秘奧，睹人事之終始。 其西則有元戎禁營，玄幕綠徽，溪子巨黍，異絭同歸，砲石雷駭，激矢虻飛，以先啟行，耀我皇威。 其東則有明堂辟雍，清穆敞閑，環林縈映，圓海回泉，聿追孝以嚴父，宗文考以配天，祗聖敬以明順，養更老以崇年。 若乃背冬涉春，陰謝陽施，天子有事于柴燎，以郊祖而展義，張鈞天之廣樂，備千乘之萬騎，服棖棖以齊玄，管啾啾而並吹，煌煌乎，隱隱乎，茲禮容之壯觀，而王制之巨麗也。 兩學齊列，雙宇如一，右延國胄，左納良逸。 祁祁生徒，濟濟儒術，或升之堂，或入之室。 教無常師，道在則是。 故髦士投紱，名王懷璽，訓若風行，應猶草靡。 此裏仁所以為美，孟母所以三徙也。
I wander the grove of bamboo books and tread the sages' high road. Shameless as I seem, I blush before Ning Wu and Qu Boyu. With the Way in power I stay out; without it I am no fool. Not that wit fails me—only that awkward endurance is my surplus. So I withdrew to idle on the Luo's bank. In person I rank with recluses; in name I trail the humblest scholars. I left the capital, faced the river with the market at my back. A dark span crosses straight; the observatory tower rears on high. There I read the sky's secrets and watch the turns of human fate. West lie the imperial camps—black tents, green banners, great crossbows whose bolts leap like hornets, stone engines that thunder—first line of the throne's terror. East stand the Bright Hall and ring hall—open, bright, moat and grove wheeling round—where the Son of Heaven pairs ancestors with Heaven, honors the aged, and displays the great rites. When winter yields to spring and the emperor mounts the southern altar with cosmic music, a thousand chariots, ten thousand riders, black robes aligned, pipes shrilling—then you see the pageant of the royal sacrifice in all its splendor. Twin halls mirror each other: the crown princes' school on one side, the academy for common talent on the other. Students crowd the steps; some sit in the outer hall, some in the master's inner room. No fixed master is needed—whoever holds the Way may teach. So men of talent lay down office and kings treasure their seals; teaching spreads like wind, and men bend like grass. Hence Confucius praised living among the good, and Mencius's mother changed homes three times.
46
爰定我居，築室穿池，長楊映沼，芳枳樹樆，遊鱗瀺灂，菡萏敷披，竹木蓊藹，靈果參差。 張公大穀之梨，梁侯烏椑之柿，周文弱枝之棗，房陵硃仲之李，靡不畢植。 三桃表櫻胡之別，二奈耀丹白之色，石榴蒲桃之珍，磊落蔓延乎其側。 梅杏鬱棣之屬，繁榮藻麗之飾，華實照爛，言所不能極也。 菜則蔥韭蒜芋，青筍紫薑，堇薺甘旨，蓼荾芬芳，蘘荷依陰，時藿向陽，綠葵含露，白薤負霜。
I chose a site, raised a house, and opened a pond—willows mirrored in water, hedges of thorn, darting fish, lotus in bloom, thick bamboo and fruit trees of every kind. Pears from Lord Zhang's orchard, Liang's ink-dark persimmons, Wen's weak-branch dates, Fangling plums—I planted them all. Three peach strains, two kinds of crabapple, pomegranates and grapes—heaped and trailing along the walks. Plums, apricots, and pear thickets—blossom and fruit so bright no words can exhaust them. The kitchen garden yields scallions, leeks, garlic, taro, shoots, ginger, wild greens, mallows glistening with dew, frost-sweet scallions—more than a list can hold.
47
於是凜秋暑退，熙春寒往，微雨新晴，六合清朗。 太夫人乃御版輿，升輕軒，遠覽王畿，近周家園，體以行和，藥以勞宣，常膳載加，舊痾有痊。 於是席長筵，列孫子柳垂廕，車結軌，陸摘紫房，水掛赬鯉，或宴于林，或禊於汜。 昆弟斑白，兒童稚齒，稱萬壽以獻觴，咸一懼而一喜。 壽觴舉，慈顏和，浮杯樂飲，絲竹駢羅，頓足起舞，抗音高歌，人生安樂，孰知其他。 退求已而自省，信用薄而才劣。 奉周任之格言，敢陳力而就列。 幾陋身之不保，而奚擬乎明哲，仰眾妙而絕思，終優遊以養拙。
When autumn heat lifts and spring chill goes, after a soft rain the whole sky clears. Then my mother rides the litter, tours the capital bounds and our garden, her limbs loosened by the ride, her diet aided, old ills eased. We spread a banquet under willows, tether the carts, pick fruit on the bank, hook carp from the stream—feasting in the wood or purifying by the waters. Gray brothers and small children raise cups for her long life—each moved by joy and awe. Cups circle, her smile warms, music rises, they dance and sing—what more could mortal life ask? Looking inward, I find my credit slight and my gifts small. I take Zhou Ren's adage: I offer what strength I have and keep my rank. I barely keep body and soul—how match the wise? I shut ambition and idle out my days in blunt contentment.
48
初，芘為琅邪內史，孫秀為小史給岳，而狡黠自喜。 岳惡其為人，數撻辱之，秀常銜忿。 及趙王倫輔政，秀為中書令。 岳於省內謂秀曰：「孫令猶憶疇昔周旋不？」 答曰：「中心藏之，何日忘之！」 岳於是自知不免。 俄而秀遂誣岳及石崇、歐陽建謀奉淮南王允、齊王冏為亂，誅之，夷三族。 岳將詣市，與母別曰：「負阿母！」 初被收，俱不相知，石崇已送在市，岳後至，崇謂之曰：「安仁，卿亦復爾邪！」 岳曰：「可謂白首同所歸。」 岳《金穀詩》云：「投分寄石友，白首同所歸。」 乃成其讖。 岳母及兄侍御史釋、弟燕令豹、司徒掾據、據弟詵，兄弟之子，己出之女，無長幼一時被害，唯釋子伯武逃難得免。 而豹女與其母相抱號呼不可解，會詔原之。
When Pan Pi governed Langye, Sun Xiu served Pan Yue as a petty clerk, cunning and smug. Yue despised him and often had him beaten; Sun nursed a grudge. When Prince Zhao of Qi took power, Sun Xiu rose to director of the secretariat. Yue met him in office: "Do you remember our old days together?" Sun answered, "It has never left my heart." Then Yue knew he was a dead man. Soon Sun accused Yue, Shi Chong, and Ouyang Jian of plotting with Princes Huainan and Qi; all were killed and their kin to the third degree wiped out. On the way to execution he told his mother, "I have failed you." At first neither knew the other's fate. Shi Chong was already at the block when Yue arrived. Chong said, "Anren—you too?" Yue answered, "White-haired friends meet one last homecoming." His Golden Valley poem read, "I trusted a friend like stone—we would age together." The lines became his own epitaph. His mother, brothers Shi and Bao, nephews Ju and Shen, sons and married daughters—everyone died together; only nephew Bowu escaped. Bao's daughter clung to her mother until an edict spared them.
49
岳美姿儀，辭藻絕麗，尤善為哀誄之文。 少時常挾彈出洛陽道，婦人遇之者，皆聯手縈繞，投之以果，遂滿車而歸。 時張載甚醜，每行，小兒以瓦石擲之，委頓而反。
Pan Yue was famously handsome and wrote peerless elegies. As a young man he walked Luoyang with a sling; women ringed him and pelted him with fruit until his cart was full. Zhang Zai was so plain that street boys stoned him home.
51
從子尼
His nephew Pan Ni
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=岳從子尼。 尼字正叔。 祖勖，漢東海相。 父滿，平原內史。 並以學行稱。 尼少有清才，與岳俱以文章見知。 性靜退不競，唯以勤學著述為事。 著《安身論》以明所守，其辭曰：
Pan Ni, Pan Yue's nephew, Ni, courtesy name Zhengshu, His grandfather Xu was Han chancellor of Donghai. His father Man was Pingyuan interior secretary. Both were known for scholarship and character. Young Ni showed literary talent and shared Yue's reputation. He was retiring by nature and cared only for study and books. He wrote "On Settling the Self" to state his creed. It begins:
53
蓋崇德莫大乎安身，安身莫尚乎存正，存正莫重乎無私，無私莫深乎寡欲。 是以君子安其身而後動，易其心而後語，定其交而後求，篤其志而後行。 然則動者，吉凶之端也； 語者，榮辱之主也； 求者，利病之幾也； 行者，安危之決也。 故君子不妄動也，動必適其道； 不徒語也，語必經於理； 不苟求也，求必造於義； 不虛行也，行必由於正。 夫然，用能免或系之凶，享自天之祐。 故身不安則殆，言不從則悖，交不審則惑，行不篤則危。 四者行乎中，則憂患接乎外矣。 憂患之接，必生於自私，而興於有欲。 自私者不能成其私，有欲者不能濟其欲，理之至也。 欲苟不濟，能無爭乎？ 私苟不從，能無伐乎？ 人人自私，家家有欲，眾欲並爭，群私交伐。 爭，則亂之萌也； 伐，則怨之府也。 怨亂既構，危害及之，得不懼乎？
Nothing crowns virtue like a settled life; nothing settles life like holding the mean; nothing holds the mean like selflessness; nothing frees selflessness like curbing desire. So the gentleman acts only after his person is secure, speaks after his mind is calm, seeks friends after ties are chosen, moves after his will is set. Movement is where fortune turns; speech steers honor or shame; desire sets gain or loss; Deed is where safety or ruin is settled. The wise move only when the Way allows. He speaks only when reason runs through his words. He seeks only what righteousness permits. He acts only from an upright heart. So he escapes the snares of fate and wins Heaven's blessing. An unsettled self courts danger; careless talk breeds strife; blind friendship confuses; unsteady deeds invite ruin. Let those four slip and trouble comes from every side. Trouble always starts in selfish want. Selfish men never secure their ends; greedy men never satisfy their greed—that is nature's law. Unfilled desire breeds quarrel; thwarted selfishness breeds boasting. When every man and every house is greedy, wants collide and egos clash. Strife is chaos's seed; boasting is hatred's storehouse. Once hate and disorder rise, ruin follows—should you not fear?
54
然棄本要末之徒，知進忘退之士，莫不飾才銳智，抽鋒擢穎，傾側乎勢利之交，馳騁乎當塗之務。 朝有彈冠之朋，野有結綬之友，党與熾于前，榮名扇其後。 握權，則赴者鱗集； 失寵，則散者瓦解； 求利，則托刎頸之歡； 爭路，則構刻骨之隙。 於是浮偽波騰，曲辯雲沸，寒暑殊聲，朝夕異價，駑蹇希奔放之跡，鉛刀競一割之用。 至於愛惡相攻，與奪交戰，誹謗噂𠴲，毀譽縱橫，君子務能，小人伐技，風穨於上，俗弊於下。 禍結而恨爭也不強，患至而悔伐之未辯，大者傾國喪家，次則覆身滅祀。 其故何邪？ 豈不始於私欲而終於爭伐哉？
Yet men who chase the trivial, who press ahead and never retreat, all hone clever wits, flash their edges, crawl to the powerful, and race for place. Court cliques dust one another's caps; country allies knot sashes—cabals blaze ahead, fame trails behind. Hold power and suitors swarm; lose favor and they scatter like smashed tiles. For gain they swear brotherhood; for place they carve hatreds to the bone. Then hypocrisy foams, sophistry steams, prices shift morning to night, nags dream of racing, dull blades itch for one slash. Love and hate cross, rumor wars with praise—gentlemen flaunt skill, small men trade boasts; high example fades, low habit rots. Disaster strikes and still they wish they had fought harder; ruin comes and still they wish they had boasted more—great men lose kingdoms, lesser men lose life and line. Why? Because they begin in selfish desire and end in strife and swagger.
55
君子則不然。 知自私之害公也，然後外其身； 知有欲之傷德也，故遠絕榮利； 知爭競之遘災也，故犯而不校； 知好伐之招怨也，故有功而不德。 安身而不為私，故身正而私全； 慎言而不適欲，故言濟而欲從； 定交而不求益，故交立而益厚； 謹行而不求名，故行成而名美。 止則立乎無私之域，行則由乎不爭之塗，必將通天下之理，而濟萬物之性。 天下猶我，故與天下同其欲； 己猶萬物，故與萬物同其利。
The gentleman does otherwise. Seeing selfishness hurt the common good, he forgets self. Seeing desire stain virtue, he flees fame and gain. Seeing strife bring ruin, he bears slights without repaying them. Seeing boastfulness breed hate, he hides his deeds. He rests without self-seeking, so he stays whole. He speaks without indulging appetite, so words help and wants stay tame. He makes friends without hunting profit, so friendship holds and blessings deepen. He walks carefully without chasing a name, so his name grows fair. Still, he stands beyond self; in motion he shuns strife—so he reads the world and helps every nature. He treats the realm as himself and shares its wants; himself as one thing among many and shares their good.
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夫能保其安者，非謂崇生生之厚而耽逸豫之樂也，不忘危而已。 有期進者，非謂窮貴寵之榮而藉名位之重也，不忘退而已。 存其治者，非謂嚴刑政之威而明司察之禁也，不忘亂而已。 故寢蓬室，隱陋巷，披短褐，茹藜藿，環堵而居，易衣而出，苟存乎道，非不安也。 雖坐華殿，載文軒，服黼繡，御方丈，重門而處，成列而行，不得與之齊榮。 用天時，分地利，甘布衣，安藪澤，沾體塗足，耕而後食，苟崇乎德，非不進也。 雖居高位，饗重祿，執權衡，握機秘，功蓋當時，勢侔人主，不得與之比逸。 遺意慮，沒才智，忘肝膽，棄形器，貌若無能，志若不及，苟正乎心，非不治也。 雖繁計策，廣術藝，審刑名，峻法制，文辯流離，論議絕世，不得與之爭功。 故安也者，安乎道者也。 進也者，進乎德者也。 治也者，治乎心者也。 未有安身而不能保國家，進德而不能處富貴，治心而不能治萬物者也。
Peace is not soft cushions—it is never forgetting peril. Advance is not hugging rank—it is never forgetting when to step back. Order is not cruel law—it is never forgetting how chaos begins. A thatched room, coarse coat, wild greens, a single ring of wall—if the Way lives there, that is peace. Palace halls and brocade feasts cannot buy the same honor. He who times the sky, tends the soil, wears cloth, works mud to the skin, and eats from his plow honors virtue—that is true advance. High office, fat salary, state secrets, fame like the emperor's—none of it matches his ease. He looks dull and slow-witted yet keeps a straight heart—that is true order. Clever plots, sharp laws, glib debate cannot match his true merit. Peace means resting in the Way; advance means growing in virtue. True order begins in the heart. Settle yourself and you keep house and state; deepen virtue and you hold wealth and rank; rule the heart and the world follows.
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然思危所以求安，慮退所以能進，懼亂所以保治，戒亡所以獲存也。 若乃弱志虛心，曠神遠致，徙倚乎不拔之根，浮游乎無垠之外，不自貴於物而物宗焉，不自重於人而人敬焉。 可親而不可慢也，可尊而不可遠也。 親之如不足，天下莫之能狎也； 舉之如易勝，而當世莫之能困也。 達則濟其道而不榮也，窮則善其身而不悶也，用則立於上而非爭也，舍則藏於下而非讓也。 夫榮之所不能動者，則辱之所不能加也； 利之所不能勸者，則害之所不能嬰也。 譽之所不能益者，則毀之所不能損也。
Fear danger to stay safe, plan retreat to advance, dread chaos to keep peace, remember ruin to survive. Empty ambition, widen the spirit, cling to what cannot be moved, drift beyond the edge—without self-importance the world defers, without self-weight the crowd reveres. He may be approached but not slighted, revered but not held at arm's length. Treat him as inexhaustible and no one takes him lightly; lift him as if he were easy to match and still no rival can corner him. In success he spreads the Way without boasting; in failure he cultivates self without bitterness; in office he rises without strife; in retirement he withdraws without show. What honor cannot sway, shame cannot stain; what gain cannot tempt, injury cannot reach. What flattery cannot inflate, malice cannot deflate.
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今之學者誠能釋自私之心，塞有欲之求，杜交爭之原，去矜伐之態，動則行乎至通之路，靜則入乎大順之門，泰則翔乎寥廓之宇，否則淪乎渾冥之泉，邪氣不能幹其度，外物不能擾其神，哀樂不能蕩其守，死生不能易其真，而以造化為工匠，天地為陶鈞，名位為糟粕，勢利為埃塵，治其內而不飾其外，求諸己而不假諸人，忠肅以奉上，愛敬以事親，可以御一體，可以牧萬民，可以處富貴，可以安賤貧，經盛衰而不改，則庶幾乎能安身矣。
Let a man shed selfishness, choke off greedy seeking, shut the door to party strife, drop swaggering pride—moving, he walks the open way; still, he enters perfect peace; in fortune he rides the void; in trouble he sinks to the silent deep. Vice cannot reach him, things cannot rattle him, joy and grief cannot sway him, life and death cannot alter his truth. He lets nature shape him like clay on a wheel, treats titles as refuse and power as dust, polishes the inner self, asks nothing of others, serves the throne with awe and his parents with love—then he can steer his own body, lead the people, dwell rich or poor, and never lose his footing—that is a settled life.
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初應州辟，後以父老，辭位致養。 太康中，舉秀才，為太常博士。 歷高陸令、淮南王允鎮東參軍。 元康初，拜太子舍人，上《釋奠頌》。 其辭曰：
He first took a provincial post, then resigned to care for an aging father. Under Taikang he passed as "flourishing talent" and became a grand cult erudite. He was Gaolu magistrate, then staff to Prince Huainan as eastern guardian. Early in Yuankang he became crown prince attendant and offered the "Hymn for the School Offering." The text reads:
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元康元年冬十二月，上以皇太子富於春秋，而人道之始莫先於孝悌，初命講《孝經》於崇正殿。 實應天縱生知之量，微言奧義，發自聖問，業終而體達。 三年春閏月，將有事於上庠，釋奠于先師，禮也。 越二十四日丙申，侍祠者既齊，輿駕次於太學。 太傅在前，少傅在後，恂恂乎弘保訓之道； 宮臣畢從，三率備衛，濟濟乎肅翼贊之敬。 乃掃壇為殿，懸幕為宮。 夫子位於西序，顏回侍於北墉。 宗伯掌禮，司儀辯位。 二學儒官，搢紳先生之徒，垂纓佩玉，規行矩步者，皆端委而陪於堂下，以待執事之命。 設樽篚於兩楹之間，陳罍洗於阼階之左。 几筵既布，鐘懸既列，我後乃躬拜俯之勤，資在三之義。 謙光之美彌劭，闕里之教克崇，穆穆焉，邕邕焉，真先王之徽典，不刊之美業，允不可替已。 於是牲饋之事既終，享獻之禮已畢，釋玄衣，御春服，馳齋禁，反故式。 天子乃命內外群司，百辟卿士，蕃王三事，至於學徒國子，咸來觀禮，我後皆延而與之燕。 金石簫管之音，八佾六代之舞，鏗鏘闛閤，般辟俯仰，可以澄神滌欲，移風易俗者，罔不畢奏。 抑淫哇，屏《鄭》《衛》，遠佞邪，釋巧辯。 是日也，人無愚智，路無遠邇，離鄉越國，扶老攜幼，不期而俱萃。 皆延頸以視，傾耳以聽，希道慕業，洗心革志，想洙、泗之風，歌來蘇之惠。 然後知居室之善，著應乎千里之外； 不言之化，洋溢於九有之內。 於熙乎若典，固皇代之壯觀，萬載之一會也。 尼昔忝禮官，嘗聞俎豆。 今廁末列，親睹盛美，瀸漬徽猷，沐浴芳潤，不知手舞口詠，竊作頌一篇。 義近辭陋，不足測盛德之形容，光聖明之遐度。 其辭曰：
Yuankang I, winter's twelfth month: because the heir-apparent was young and filial piety is the root of conduct, the throne first ordered the Filial Classic expounded in Chongzheng Hall. Heaven's genius spoke; subtle meanings rose from the sovereign's questions, and when the lecture closed the listeners had understood. In the third year, intercalary spring month, the court prepared the upper-school rite, the "displaced" offering to Confucius. On day bingshen, the twenty-fourth, after the fast, the imperial train halted at the National University. Grand tutor ahead, junior tutor behind, both grave with the heir's instruction; palace staff followed and the three guards stood in splendor to show their reverence. They swept the terrace into a hall and hung curtains like a palace. Confucius sat west; Yan Hui attended on the north wall. The minister of rites directed the service; ushers fixed each place. Two-school scholars and belted masters, jade at the waist, paced in measured steps below the hall awaiting orders. Wine vessels stood between the pillars; jars and basins waited on the east stair. Tables set and bells ranked, the emperor bowed with the toil proper to one who honors the three elders. His modest radiance deepened; the Master's teaching shone again—solemn, harmonious, the unchanging model of the kings. When sacrifice ended they shed black robes for spring dress, lifted fast rules, and returned to daily form. The emperor bade every office, lord, and student attend, then hosted them all at banquet. Bronze, stone, strings, and the eight-row dances of six ages—everything that could cleanse the soul and mend the manners was played. Lewd airs were banned, Zheng and Wei music shut out, sycophancy silenced. That day fool and sage, near and far, crossed counties, old and young, and gathered unbidden. They craned necks and strained ears, longing for the Way, hearts washed, minds turned toward the breeze of Zhu and Si and the song of deliverance. Then they felt how virtue in the chamber reaches a thousand li. Silent teaching flooded the nine provinces. Radiant as a classic—this spectacle of our dynasty, a once-in-an-age gathering. I once served among ritualists and knew the offerings. Now, last in the ranks, I saw this splendor, bathed in its grace, and could not help but hymn it. My words are poor and cannot compass such virtue or such light. The hymn says:
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三元迭運，五德代微。 黃精既亢，素靈乃暉。 有皇承天，造我晉畿。 祚以大寶，登以龍飛。 宣基誕命，景熙遐緒，三分自文，受終惟武。 席捲要蠻，蕩定荒阻； 道濟群生，化流率土。 後帝承哉，丕隆曾構。 奄有萬方，光宅宇宙。
Heaven's cycles turn; the five phases rise and fade. When earth's yellow power waned, metal's white spirit dawned. Our emperor received the mandate and founded the house of Jin. He took the great seal and mounted the dragon throne. He laid the base and proclaimed the charge; glory followed ancient lines; tripartite order echoed King Wen, the final victory echoed King Wu. He rolled up the border tribes and cleared the wilderness; his Way carried every creature; his teaching soaked the realm. The heir received that charge and raised it higher. He held the realm and lit the cosmos.
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篤生上嗣，繼期挺秀。 聖敬日躋，浚哲閎茂。 留精儒術，敦閱古訓。 遵道讓齒，降心下問。 鋪以金聲，光以玉潤。 如日之升，如乾之運。 乃延台保，乃命學臣。 聖容穆穆，侍講訚訚。 抽演微言，啟發道真。 探幽窮賾，溫故知新。 講業既終，精義既研。 崇聖重師，卜日告奠。 陳其三牢，引其四縣。 既戒既式，乃盥乃薦。
He sired the crown prince, timely and brilliant. Sacred awe deepened daily; his wit grew vast. He poured mind into scholarship and pored over old texts. He honored the Way, deferred to age, and bowed to ask his teachers. His teaching chimed like bronze, gleamed like jade. He rose like the sun, turned like heaven's first hexagram. He called the tutors and commanded the academicians. His face was grave; his tutors spoke with care. They drew out subtle meanings and opened the truth of the Way. They plumbed the dark, reviewed the old, and grasped the new. When the lecture closed, its essence was clear. Honoring the sage and teachers, they set a day for the school offering. Three sacrificial beasts stood ready; four sets of bells hung. After warning and rites, they washed hands and presented.
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恂恂孔聖，百王攸希。 亹亹顏生，好學無違。 曰皇儲后，體神合幾。 兆吉先見，知來洞微。 濟濟二宮，藹藹庶僚。 俊乂鱗萃，髦士盈朝。 如彼和肆，莫匪瓊瑤； 如彼儀鳳，樂我《雲》《韶》。 瓊瑤誰剖？ 四門洞開； 《雲》《韶》奚樂？ 神人允諧。 蟬冕耀庭。 細珮振階。 德以謙光，仁以恩懷。 我酒惟清，我肴惟馨。 舞以六代，歌以九成。
Solemn Confucius, model for a hundred kings. Diligent Yan Hui, never straying from study. They say the heir joins spirit to the subtle pivot. Good omens come first; he foresees what is hidden. The two palaces throng; officials crowd. Able men pack the court like scales on a fish. Like a jeweler's row—every stone a gem; like the phoenix dance—delighting in the Cloud and Shao hymns. Who carves such jade? The four gates stand wide; what joy in Cloud and Shao? Spirits and men are one in harmony. Gold-trimmed hats flash in the yard. Jade pendants chime on the stairs. Modesty spreads his light; kindness wins every heart. The wine runs clear; the dishes smell sweet. They dance the six dances; they sing the ninefold hymn.
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莘莘胄子，祁祁學生。 洗心自百，觀國之榮。 學猶蒔苗，化若偃草。 博我以文，弘我以道。 萬邦蟬蛻，矧乃俊造。 鑽蚌瑩珠，剖石摛藻。 絲匪玄黃，水罔方圓。 引之斯流，染之斯鮮。 若金受範，若埴在甄。 上好如雲，下效如川。
Heirs and students crowd in ranks. Hearts washed clean, they gaze on the state's splendor. Learning tends the mind like seedlings; teaching bends it like wind on grass. Texts widen us; the Way lifts us. All the land sheds its dull shell—above all these chosen youths. They drill shell for pearl, split rock for jade. Silk takes dye without strife; water takes shape without quarrel. Pull it and it runs; dip it and it shines. Like bronze in the mold, like clay on the wheel. The ruler's taste is cloud; the people's habit is stream.
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昔在周興，王化之始。 曰文曰武，時惟世子。 今我皇儲，齊聖通理。 緝熙重光，于穆不已。 于穆伊何？ 思文哲後。 媚茲一人，實副元首。 孝洽家邦，光照九有。 純嘏自晉，永世昌阜。 微微下臣，過充近侍。 猥躡風雲，鸞龍是廁。 身澡芳流，目玩盛事。 竭誠作頌，祗詠聖志。
When Zhou rose, royal teaching began. They were Wen and Wu—then too it was the heir. Our crown prince matches the sages and grasps principle. His glory redoubles—solemn, endless. Solemn—what does that mean? It means a wise heir who carries culture. He endears himself to the One above—true second to the sovereign. Filial love orders home and realm; its light fills the nine provinces. Blessing flows from Jin; prosperity will not end. I, least of men, stray too near the throne. I stumble among phoenixes and dragons—unworthy company. I bathe in this fragrance and feast my eyes. I offer this hymn, praising the sacred purpose.
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出為宛令，在任寬而不縱，恤隱勤政，厲公平而遺人事。 入補尚書郎，俄轉著作郎。 為《乘輿箴》，其辭曰：
As Wan magistrate he was kind but firm, aided the poor, worked hard for justice, and shunned private pulls. He returned to the secretariat, then became a compiler. He wrote the "Admonition to the Throne" (using the carriage as metonym). It begins:
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《易》稱「有天地然後有人倫，有父子然後有君臣」。 傳曰：「大者天地，其次君臣。」 然君臣父子之道，天地人倫之本，未有以先之者也。 故天生蒸人而樹之君，使司牧之，將以導群生之性，而理萬物之情。 豈以寵一人之身，極無量之欲，如斯而已哉！ 夫古之為君者，無欲而至公，故有茅茨土階之儉； 而後之為君，有欲而自利，故有瑤台瓊室之侈。 無欲者，天下共推之； 有欲者，天下共爭之。 推之之極，雖禪代猶脫屣； 爭之之極，雖劫殺而不避。 故曰「天下非一人之天下，乃天下之天下」，安可求而得，辭而已者乎！
The Zhou Changes says, "Heaven and earth precede the human order; father and son precede ruler and minister." The classics add, "Next to heaven and earth come ruler and minister." Those bonds root heaven, earth, and mankind—nothing stands before them. Heaven breeds the people and sets a ruler to herd them—guiding their natures and ordering their passions. Surely not merely to pamper one body and feed bottomless want! Ancient kings, selfless and desireless, lived under thatch on packed earth; later kings, selfish and grasping, built jade towers and jeweled halls. The selfless ruler the world lifts up; the greedy ruler the world tears down. Lifted to the peak, abdication feels easy as kicking off a shoe; pressed to the limit, men seize thrones without flinching. So the text says, "The realm is not one man's realm"—it cannot be seized or shrugged off at will!
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夫修諸己而化諸人，出乎邇而見乎遠者，言行之謂也。 故人主所患，莫甚於不知其過； 而所美，莫美于好聞其過。 若有君於此，而曰予必無過，唯其言而莫之違，斯孔子所謂其庶幾乎一言而喪國者也。 蓋君子之過，如日月之蝕：過也，人皆見之，更也，人皆仰之。 雖以堯、舜、湯、武之盛，必有誹謗之木，敢諫之鼓，盤杅之銘，無諱之史，所以閑其邪僻而納諸正道，其自維持如此之備。 故箴規之興，將以救過補闕，然猶依違諷喻，使言之者無罪，聞之者足以自誡。 先儒既援古義，舉內外之殊，而高祖亦序六官，論成敗之要，義正辭約，又盡善矣。 自《虞人箴》以至於《百官》，非唯規其所司，誠欲人主斟酌其得失焉。 《春秋傳》曰「命百官箴王闕」，則亦天子之事也。
To polish the self and teach others, to start near and reach far—that is word and deed. A ruler's worst fear is not knowing his faults; his best trait is loving to hear them named. A king who says, "I never err—obey my word" is the man Confucius warned might lose a realm in a single sentence. A gentleman's slips are like eclipses—all see the blot, all watch the return. Even Yao, Shun, Tang, and Wu set up complaint boards, remonstrance drums, and blunt scribes—to catch error early. Admonition exists to patch gaps—spoken obliquely so none is blamed yet all take warning. Earlier writers drew classical parallels; Han Gaozu too framed six offices and weighed success and failure—brief and right. From the Forester's piece to the Hundred Officials, each urged the throne to weigh profit and loss. Zuo says the king bade every office warn him of his faults—that is royal business too.
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尼以為王者膺受命之期，當神器之運，總萬機而撫四海，簡群才而審所授，孜孜於得人，汲汲于聞過，雖廷爭面折，猶將祈請而求焉。 至於箴規，諫之順者，曷為獨闕之哉？ 是以不量其學陋思淺，因負擔之餘，嘗試撰而述之。 不敢斥至尊之號，故以「乘輿」目篇。 蓋帝王之事至大，而古今之變至眾，文繁而義詭，意局而辭野，將欲希企前賢，仿佛崇軌，譬猶丘坻之望華岱，恆星之系日月也，其不逮明矣。 頌曰：
Ni held that a king in his mandate must mind every duty, choose men with care, thirst for counsel—even brawling remonstrance should be welcomed. If gentle admonition is the easy path of remonstrance, why forbid it? So, poor scholar though I am, I drafted this after my humble duties. Daring not name the emperor outright, I titled it "The Imperial Carriage." Kingship is vast, history tangled; to match the ancients would be a molehill staring at Mount Hua—clearly beyond me. The closing hymn runs:
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元元遂初，芒芒太始。 清濁同流，玄黃錯歭。 上下弗形，尊卑靡紀。 赫胥悠哉，大庭尚矣。 皇極啟建，兩儀既分。 彝倫需永序，萬邦已紛。 國事明王，家奉嚴君。 各有攸尊，德用不勤。 羲、農已降，暨于夏、殷。 或禪或傳，乃質乃文。
The people return to first origins; chaos was vast at the beginning of time. Mud and clear water mixed; dark and bright were still tangled. No up or down, no rank among men. Herxu and Dianting ages are lost in mist. The cosmic axis formed; yin and yang split. Human relations needed lasting order; the myriad states grew tangled. States revere their king; houses honor their fathers. Each knows its lord—virtue need not be forced. From Xi and Nong through Xia and Yin, some abdicated, some inherited—plain or cultured rule.
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太上無名，下知有之。 仁義不存，而人歸孝慈。 無為無執，何欲何思。 忠信之薄，禮刑實滋。 既譽既畏，以侮以欺。 作誓作盟，而人始叛疑。 煌煌四海，藹藹萬乘，菲誓焉憑？ 左輔右弼，前疑後丞。 一日萬機，業業兢兢。 夫出其言善，則千里是應； 而莫餘違，亦喪邦有征。 樞機之動，式以廢興。 殷監不遠，若之何勿懲！
The highest way had no name; the people only knew a ruler existed. Before rites and duty were taught, folk were still filial and kind. Without striving or clutching—who needed schemes? When trust thinned, ritual and law multiplied. Men flattered from fear—and lied. Oaths and leagues bred doubt and revolt. Empires wide, chariots many—what trust without sworn faith? Left helper, right aide, guides fore and aft— ten thousand decisions a day, each weighed with care. Speak good and the realm answers; say "none may oppose me" and the state is lost. A ruler's pivot sets rise or fall. Yin's lesson is near—take warning!
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且厚味臘毒，豐屋生災。 辛作琁室，而夏興瑤台。 糟丘酒池，象箸玉杯。 厥肴伊何？ 龍肝豹胎。 惟此哲婦，職為亂階。 殷用喪師，夏亦不恢。 是以帝堯在位，茅茨不翦。 周文日昃，昧旦丕顯。 夫德輶如毛，而或舉之者鮮。 故《濩》有慚德，《武》未盡善。 下世道衰，末俗化淺。 耽樂逸游，荒淫沈湎。 不式古訓，而好是佞辯； 不遵王路，而覆車是踐。 成敗之效，載在先典。 匪唯陵夷，厥世用殄。 故曰樹君如之何？ 將人是司牧。 視之猶傷，而知其寒燠。 故能撫之斯柔，而敦之斯睦； 無遠不懷，靡思不服。 夫豈厭縱一人，而玩其耳目； 內迷聲色，外荒弛逐； 不修政事，而終於顛覆？
Rich food is slow poison; tall halls invite ruin. Zhou Xin built the Xuan tower; Xia Jie still raised jade decks. Dreg hills, wine pools, ivory chopsticks, jade cups— what dishes were served? Dragon liver, leopard fawn. That "wise" woman stirred up disorder her trade. Yin lost its army; Xia never recovered. So Yao lived under uncut thatch; King Wen toiled past dusk yet rose before dawn. Virtue weighs less than down—few can lift it. So the Hu dance shamed its makers; the Wu dance was never called perfect. Later ages decayed; shallow habits spread. Men drowned in pleasure, hunt, and wine. They spurned the classics yet loved clever talk; they left the king's highway to follow wrecked wheels. Success and failure stand written in the old books. Not only did they decline—their lines were cut off. So we ask: what does it mean to set a ruler? It means making him herd the people. See them as hurt and learn their cold and heat; soothe them and they soften, feed them and they grow kin; none far fails to cleave, none thinking fails to yield. This is not indulging one man's ears and eyes, lost within to music and faces, lost without to chase and sport, neglecting rule, and ending in ruin?
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昔唐氏授舜，舜亦命禹。 受終納祖，丕承天序。 放桀惟湯，克殷伊武。 故禪代非一姓，社稷無常主。 四嶽三塗，九州之阻。 彭蠡、洞庭，殷商之旅。 虞夏之隆，非由尺土。 而紂之百克，卒於絕緒。 故王者無親，唯在擇人。 傾蓋惟舊，白首乃新。 望由釣夫，伊起有莘。 負鼎鼓刀，而謀合聖神。 夫豈借官左右，而取介近臣。 蓋有國有家者，莫雲我聰，或此面從； 莫謂我智，聽受未易。 甘言美疾，鮮不為累。 由夷逃寵，遠於脫屣。 奈何人主，位極則侈？
Tang yielded to Shun; Shun charged Yu; each received the mandate and carried heaven's order. Tang banished Jie; Yi and Wu conquered Yin. Thrones pass beyond one clan; no house owns the state forever. Four peaks and three defiles fence the nine domains; Pengli and Dongting swallowed Yin-Shang armies. Yu and Xia rose not by hoarding land; Zhou won a hundred battles yet lost the thread. So kings have no favorites—only good choices matter. Some meet as strangers yet grow old as friends; Wang hailed a fisherman; Yi Yin came from Youxin; cauldron on back, cleaver in hand—yet they matched the sages. They did not rise through palace flunkeys or body servants. Rulers, never say "I hear well" while you only nod along; never say "I am wise"—listening is the harder half. Honeyed words and hidden sickness rarely spare a man. Xu You and Bo Yi fled honors faster than kicking off shoes. Why do rulers, at the peak of power, turn extravagant?
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知人則哲，惟帝所難。 唐朝既泰，四族作奸。 周室既隆，而管、蔡不虔。 匪我二聖，孰弭斯患？ 若九德咸受，俊乂在官，君非臣莫治，臣非君莫安。 故《書》美康哉，而《易》貴金蘭。 有皇司國，敢告納言。
Knowing men is wisdom—hardest for the throne. When Yao's house was at peace, four clans still rebelled; when Zhou flourished, Guan and Cai still turned traitor. Without those two sages, who would have quelled them? When nine virtues fill the court, ruler needs ministers and ministers need ruler. So the Documents praises harmony, the Changes values sworn fellowship. The ruler of the land sends this to his intake officer.
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及趙王倫篡位，孫秀專政，忠良之士皆罹禍酷。 尼遂疾篤，取假拜掃墳墓。 聞齊王冏起義，乃赴許昌。 冏引為參軍，與謀時務，兼管書記。 事平，封安昌公。 歷黃門侍郎、散騎常侍、侍中、秘書監。 永興末，為中書令。 時三王戰爭，皇家多故，尼職居顯要，從容而已。 雖憂虞不及，而備嘗艱難。 永嘉中，遷太常卿。 洛陽將沒，攜家屬東出成皋，欲還鄉里。 道遇賊，不得前，病卒於塢壁，年六十餘。
When Zhao seized power and Sun Xiu ruled, good men died horribly. Ni feigned grave illness and begged leave to tend tombs. Learning Prince Jiong of Qi had risen, he raced to Xuchang. Jiong made him staff officer for policy and secretary. After victory he was enfeoffed duke of Anchang. He rose through yellow-gate attendant, cavalier attendant, palace attendant, to library director. Late in Yongxing he headed the palace secretariat. While three princes warred and the dynasty tottered, he held high office yet stayed calm. He never panicked, yet knew every hardship. Under Yongjia he became grand master of ceremonies. As Luoyang fell he led kin east from Chenggao toward home. Bandits blocked him; he fell ill in a walled post and died past sixty.
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張載
Zhang Zai
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張載，字孟陽，安平人也。 父收，蜀郡太守。 載性閒雅，博學有文章。 太康初，至蜀省父，道經劍閣。 載以蜀人恃險好亂，因著銘以作誡曰：
Zhang Zai, courtesy name Mengyang, came from Anping. His father Shou governed Shu. He was refined, learned, and literary. Early in Taikang he visited his father in Shu by way of Jian Pass. Knowing Shu men trusted the defiles and loved revolt, he carved an inscription of warning:
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岩岩梁山，積石峨峨。 遠屬荊、衡，近綴岷、嶓。 南通邛、僰，北達褒斜。 狹過彭、碣，高逾嵩、華。 惟蜀之門，作固作鎮。 是曰劍閣，壁立千仞。 窮地之險，極路之峻。 世濁則逆，道清斯順。 閉由往漢，開自有晉。 秦得百二，併吞諸侯。 齊得十二，田生獻籌。 矧茲狹隘，土之外區。 一人荷戟，萬夫趦趄。 形勝之地，非親勿居。 昔在武侯，中流而喜。 河山之固，見屈吳起。 洞庭孟門，二國不祀。 興實由德，險亦難恃。 自古及今，天命不易。 憑阻作昏，鮮不敗績。 公孫既沒，劉氏銜壁。 覆車之軌，無或重跡。 勒銘山阿，敢告梁益。
Towering Liang Mountain, heaped with stone, far it ties to Jing and Heng, near it clasps Min and Bo. South to Qiong and Bo, north to Bao and Xie. Narrower than Peng and Jie, higher than Song and Hua. This is Shu gate—fortress and lock. Called Jian Pass—cliffs a thousand ren high. Earth's sharpest danger, the road's steepest pitch. In dark times it blocks the loyal; when the Way is clear it opens. Han closed it; Jin opened it. Qin held the "two percent" choke and swallowed the states. Qi held twelve passes; Tian Sheng offered his plan. This pass is narrower still—outer rim of the basin. One spearman on the cliff and ten thousand hesitate. Such ground is kin to kin alone. Once Zhuge Liang rejoiced midstream, yet firm hills yielded to Wu Qi's eye. Dongting and Meng Gate saw two states lose sacrifice. Rise is virtue's work; cliffs alone cannot save. Heaven's charge does not change, old or new. Rebels who trust defiles seldom escape ruin. Gongsun fell; the Liu house came with jade to yield. Let no second wheel trace the overturned cart. I carve this for Liang and Yi to read.
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益州刺史張敏見而奇之，乃表上其文，武帝遣使鐫之於劍閣山焉。
Yi governor Zhang Min admired it, forwarded it to the throne, and Emperor Wu had it cut into Jian Pass cliff.
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載又為《榷論》曰：
He also wrote the "Weigh-Beam Discourse"—it argues:
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夫賢人君子將立天下之功，成天下之名，非遇其時，曷由致之哉！ 故嘗試論之：殷湯無鳴條之事，則伊尹，有莘之匹夫也； 周武無牧野之陣，則呂牙，渭濱之釣翁也。 若茲之類，不可勝紀。 蓋聲發回應，形動影從，時平則才伏，世亂則奇用，豈不信歟！ 設使秦、莽修三王之法，時致隆平，則漢祖，泗上之健吏； 光武，舂陵之俠客耳，況乎附麗者哉！ 故當其有事也，則足非千里，不入於輿； 刃非斬鴻，不韜於鞘。 是以駑蹇望風而退，頑鈍未試而廢。 及其無事也，則牛驥共牢，利鈍齊列，而無長塗犀革以決之，此離硃與瞽者同眼之說也。 處守平之世，而欲建殊常之勳，居太平之際，而吐違俗之謀，此猶卻步而登山，鬻章甫於越也。 漢文帝見李廣而歎曰：「惜子不遇，當高帝時，萬戶侯豈足道哉！」 故智無所運其籌，勇無所奮其氣，則勇怯一也； 才無所騁其能，辯無所展其說，則頑慧均也。 是以吳榜越船，不能無水而浮； 青虯赤螭，不能無雲而飛。 故和璧之在荊山，隋珠之潛重川，非遇其人，焉有連城之價，照車之名乎！ 青骹繁霜，縶於籠中，何以效其撮東郭於韝下也？ 白猨玄豹，藏於欞檻，何以知其接垂條於千仞也？ 孱夫與烏獲訟力，非龍文赤鼎，無以明之； 蓋聶政與荊卿爭勇，非強秦之威，孰能辨之？ 故餓夫庸隸，抱關屠釣之倫，一旦而都卿相之位，建金石之號者，或有懷顏、孟之術，抱伊、管之略，沒世而不齒者，此言有事之世易為功，無為之時難為名也。 若斯湮滅而不稱，曾不足以多說。
Great men need the right age to win fame and deed. Without Mingtiao, Yi Yin stays a Youxin commoner; without Muye, Lü Wang remains a Wei-bank angler. Examples fill the histories. Sound calls echo; calm hides talent, chaos calls genius forth. Had Qin and Wang Mang kept sage law and peace, Liu Bang would have stayed a Si river clerk, Guangwu a Chunling bravo—let alone lesser hangers-on. In crisis, no lame nag enters the chariot; blades that cannot hew swans stay sheathed. Nags shrink; dull steel never leaves the rack. In peace ox and steed share a stall, sharp and dull look alike—like sharp-eyed Li sharing sight with the blind. Seeking glory in calm is like walking backward up a hill or selling court caps in Yue. Han Wendi told Li Guang, "Had you served Gaozu, a wan-house fief would be nothing." Without crisis, wit and courage look the same; without trial, dull and clever seem twins. Wu boats need water; azure dragons need clouds. Jade in Jing hills, pearls in deep water—without a connoisseur, no price of linked cities. A greyhound caged cannot show its chase at Dongguo; a gibbon caged cannot show its leap from a thousand-ren bough. A weakling cannot match Wu Huo without the ritual cauldron to prove it; Nie Zheng cannot best Jing Ke without Qin's terror to frame the test. Humble men who leap to high office may know Yan-Ying's arts yet die unknown—merit is easy in chaos, fame hard in peace. Silent failures need little ink.
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況夫庸庸之徒，少有不得意者，則自以為枉伏。 莫不飾小辯、立小善以偶時，結朋黨、聚虛譽以驅俗。 進之無補于時，退之無損於化。 而世主相與雷同齊口，吹而煦之，豈不哀哉！ 今士循常習故，規行矩步，積階級，累閥閱，碌碌然以取世資。 若夫魁梧俊傑，卓躒俶儻之徒，直將伏死嶔岑之下，安能與步驟共爭道里乎！ 至如軒冕黻班之士，苟不能匡化輔政，佐時益世，而徒俯仰取容，要榮求利，厚自封之資，豐私家之積，此沐猴而冠耳，尚焉足道哉！
Mediocrities who miss one step cry injustice. They polish small talk, fake small virtues, build cliques, chase empty fame. They neither help the age forward nor mend manners by leaving. Yet rulers hum the same tune and fan them—pitiful! Today scholars climb the ladder rung by rung, piling pedigree, chasing credentials. Great spirits die on crags—how can they race clerks for promotion? High hats who cannot govern yet scrape for favor are monkeys in caps—beneath mention.
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載又為《蒙汜賦》，司隸校尉傅玄見而嗟歎，以車迎之，言談盡日，為之延譽，遂知名。 起家佐著作郎，出補肥鄉令。 復為著作郎，轉太子中舍人，遷樂安相、弘農太守。 長沙王乂請為記室督。 拜中書侍郎，復領著作。 載見世方亂，無復進仕意，遂稱疾篤告歸，卒於家。
His Mengsi rhapsody won Fu Xuan's praise; Fu rode out to meet him and made his name. He began as assistant compiler, then Feixiang magistrate. He returned to compiler, then heir's attendant, then Le'an administrator and Hongnong governor. Prince Yi of Changsha made him chief recorder. He became a palace-secretariat gentleman and again led compilation. Seeing chaos, he quit ambition, feigned illness, went home, and died there.
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弟協
His brother Xie
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=協字景陽，少有俊才，與載齊名。 辟公府掾，轉秘書郎，補華陰令、征北大將軍從事中郎，遷中書侍郎。 轉河間內史，在郡清簡寡欲。
Xie, courtesy name Jingyang, showed early genius and shared Zai's fame. He served the duke's office, the secretariat, as Huayin magistrate, northern army staff, then palace-secretariat gentleman. As Hejian interior secretary he ruled plainly and wanted little.
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于時天下已亂，所在寇盜，協遂棄絕人事，屏居草澤，守道不競，以屬詠自娛。 擬諸文士作《七命》。 其辭曰：
When the realm fell to chaos, he quit the world, hid in the wilds, kept the Way, and wrote for solace. He imitated earlier writers in a "Seven Summons". It begins:
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沖漠公子，含華隱曜，嘉遯龍蟠，超世高蹈，游心於浩然，玩志乎眾妙，絕景乎大荒之遐阻，吞響乎幽山之窮奧。 於是徇華大夫聞而造焉。 乃整雲輅，驂飛黃，越奔沙，輾流霜，陵扶搖之風，躡堅冰之津，旌拂霄崿，軌出蒼垠，天清泠而無霞，野曠朗而無塵，臨重岫而攬轡，顧石室而回輪。 遂適沖漠公子之所居。 其居也，崢嶸幽藹，蕭瑟虛玄，溟海渾濩湧其後，嶰谷㟹嶆張其前，尋竹竦莖廕其壑，百籟群鳴籠其山，沖飆發而回日，飛礫起而灑天。 於是登絕巘，逆長風，陳辨惑之辭，命公子于岩中。 曰：「蓋聞聖人不卷道而背時，智士不遺身而匿跡，生必耀華名於玉牒，沒則勒鴻伐于金冊。 今公子違世陸沈，避地獨竄，有生之歡滅，資父之義廢。 愁洽百年，苦溢千載，何異促鱗之遊汀濘，短羽之棲翳薈！ 今將榮子以天人之大寶，悅子以縱性之至娛，窮地而游，中天而居，傾四海之歡，殫九州之腴，鑽屈穀之瓠，解疏屬之拘，子欲之乎？」 公子曰：大夫不遺，來萃荒外，雖在不敏，敬聽嘉話。」
A recluse of hidden brilliance, aloof beyond the age, mind roaming the infinite, voice swallowed in silent hills, a worldly doctor heard and came to call. He yoked a cloud coach, flew yellow steeds over frost and ice, climbed wind and cliff, and wheeled before the recluse's cave. He arrived at the recluse's door. Towering mist, booming gorges, sea at his back, bamboo-choked ravines, wind that spins the sun—such was his home. The doctor scaled the peak and called into the rock. He said, "Sages do not flee the age; wise men do not hide their gifts—they inscribe life and death on bronze and jade. Yet you hide from the world, kill life's joy, and shun a son's duty. You stew in grief like fish in a puddle, birds in a thicket. I offer you heaven's joys, earth's feasts, every pleasure—will you take them?" The recluse bowed: "I am dull, yet I hear you."
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大夫曰：「寒山之桐，出自太冥，含黃鐘以吐幹，據蒼岑而孤生。 既乃瓊巘層崚，金岸崥崹，右當風谷，左臨雲溪，上無陵虛之巢，下無蹠實之蹊，搖刖峻挺，茗邈嶕嶢，晞三春之溢露，溯九秋之鳴飆，零雪寫其根，霏霜封其條，木既繁而後綠，草未素而先凋。 於是構雲梯，陟崢嶸，翦蕤賓之陽柯，剖大呂之陰莖。 營匠斫其樸，伶倫均其聲。 器舉樂奏，促調高張，音朗號鐘，韻清繞梁。 追逸響於八風，采奇律於歸昌，啟中黃之妙宮，發蓐收之變商。 若乃龍火西頹，暄氣初收，飛霜迎節，高風送秋，羈旅懷土之徒，流宕百罹之儔，撫促柱則酸鼻，揮危弦則涕流。 若乃追清哇，赴嚴節，奏《淥水》，吐《白雪》，激楚回，流風結，悲蓂莢之朝落，悼望舒之夕缺。 煢嫠為之擗摽，孀老為之嗚咽，王子拂纓而傾耳，六馬噓天而仰秣。 此蓋音曲之至妙，子豈能從我而聽之乎？」 公子曰：「餘病未能也。」
The Cold Mountain paulownia, root in darkness, trunk tuned to the yellow bell, grows where wind and cloud meet, frost and snow scour it, yet it yields the finest timber. They raise ladders, cut the perfect bough, craftsmen shape it, Ling Lun tunes it, and its voice rings bright as the great bell. It catches the eight winds' echoes, wakes autumn tones, and moves exiles to tears when autumn comes. It plays Lü Shui and White Snow, winds Chu airs, laments blossom and moon. Widows weep; princes lean to listen; horses lift their heads at the sound. Such is music's peak—will you hear it?" I am not equal to it yet."
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大夫曰：「蘭宮秘宇，雕堂綺櫳，雲屏爛旰，瓊壁青蔥，應門八襲，琁台九重，表以百常之闕，圜以萬雉之墉。 爾乃嶢榭迎風，秀出中天，翠觀岑青，彤閣霞連，長翼臨雲，飛陛陵山，望玉繩而結極，承倒景而開軒。 赬素煥爛，枌栱嵯峨，陰虯負簷，陽馬承阿。 錯以瑤英，鏤以金華，方疏含秀，圓井吐葩。 重殿疊起，交綺對榥。 幽堂晝密，明室夜朗。 焦冥飛而風生，尺蠖動而成響。 若乃目厭常玩，體倦帷幄，攜公子而雙游，時娛觀于林麓。 登翠阜，臨丹谷，華草錦繁，飛采星燭，陽葉春青，陰條秋綠，華實代新，承意恣觀。 仰折神虈，俯采朝蘭，訴惠風于蘅薄，眷椒塗於瑤壇。 爾乃浮三翼，戲中沚，潛鰓駭，驚翰起，沈絲結，飛矰理，掛歸翮於赤霄之表，出華鱗於紫潭之裏。 然後縱棹隨風，弭楫乘波，吹孤竹，撫雲和，川客唱淮南之曲，榜人奏《采菱》之歌。 歌曰：『乘鷁舟兮為水嬉，臨芳洲兮拔靈芝。』 樂以忘戚，游以卒時，窮夜為日，畢歲為期。 此蓋宴居之浩麗，子豈能從我而處之乎？」 公子曰：「餘病未能也。」
He speaks of orchid halls, ninefold towers, jade walls, cloud screens— galleries in the wind, stairs in the clouds, stars for beams. Painted brackets, carved dragons, sun and shadow play. Jade inlay, gold flowers, round wells of color. Hall upon hall, silk upon silk. Dark rooms at noon, bright rooms at night. Tiny creatures stir and echo fills the hall. When eyes tire of halls, he leads you to the green hills. Spring green and autumn gold, fruit and flower in turn. They gather herbs, breathe wind on spice paths. They boat, fish, hook birds and gleaming fish. They drift, pipe and zither, singing river songs. Their song runs, "Boat on the stream, pluck orchids on the isle." Music drowns care; they turn night to day. Such is palace leisure—will you live there?" Not yet,"
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大夫曰：「若乃白商素節，月既授衣，天凝地閉，風厲霜飛，柔條夕勁，密葉晨稀，將因氣以效殺，臨金郊而講師。 爾乃列輕武，整戎剛，建雲髦，啟雄芒。 駕紅陽之飛燕，驂唐公之驌驦，屯羽隊于外林，縱輕翼於中荒。 爾乃張修罠，布飛羅，陵黃岑，掛青巒，畫長壑以為限，帶流溪以為關。 既乃內無疏蹊，外無漏跡，叩鉦散校，舉麾贊獲，彀金機，馳鳴鏑，翦剛豪，落勁翮，連騎競騖，駢武齊轍，翕忽揮霍，雲回風烈，聲動響飛，形移影發，舉戈林聳，揮鋒電滅，仰傾雲巢，俯殫地穴。 乃有圓文之豜，斑題之豵，彭鬣風生，怒目電瞛，口咬霜刃，足撥飛鋒，齀林蹶石，扣跋幽叢。 於是飛、黃奮銳，賁、育逞伎。 蹙封狶，㩌馮豕，拉甝虪，挫獬㐌，鉤爪摧，踞牙擺。 瀾漫狼藉，傾榛倒壑，隕胔掛山，僵踣掩澤，藪為毛林，隰為丹薄。 於是徹圍頓網，卷旆收鳶，虞人數獸，林衡計鮮； 論最犒勤，息馬韜弦； 肴駟連鑣，酒駕方軒，千鐘電釂，萬燧星繁，陵阜沾流膏，溪谷厭芳煙。 歡極樂殫，回節而旋。 此亦畋游之壯觀，子豈能從我而為之乎？」 公子曰：「余病未能也。」
When frost comes they drill troops on the autumn field, line light horse, bare steel, yoke swift steeds, mass archers in the wood, spread nets ridge to stream, Beaters seal every gap; gongs and banners drive the ring; triggers snap, bolts scream; riders charge as one; spears bristle like a wood, blades flash like lightning; nests tumble from the cliffs and dens are emptied below—blood and feather streak every slope. Boars charge with tusk and bristle. Champions like Feihuang and ancient braves show their art. They fell every beast—tusks snap, claws break, carcasses pile like forests, marshes run red. They tally game, pack nets, reward the brave, rest the horses, feast with wine and fire until hills drip fat. Joy peaks; they turn for home. Such is the hunt—will you ride with me?" Not yet,"
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大夫曰：「楚之陽劍，歐冶所營，邪溪之鋌，赤山之精，銷逾羊頭，鍱越鍛成。 乃煉乃鑠，萬辟千灌。 豐隆奮椎，飛廉扇炭，神器化成，陽文陰漫。 既乃流綺星連，浮采豔發，光如散電，質如耀雪，霜鍔水凝，冰刃露潔，形冠豪曹，名珍巨闕，指鄭則三軍白首，麾晉則千里流血。 豈徒水截蛟鴻，陸灑奔駟，斷浮翮以為工，絕重甲而稱利雲爾而已哉！ 若其靈寶，則舒辟無方，奇鋒異模，形震薛燭，光駭風胡，價兼三鄉，聲貴二都，或馳名傾秦，或夜飛去吳。 是以功冠萬載，威曜無窮，揮之者無前，擁之者身雄，可以從服九國，橫制八戎，爪牙景附，函夏承風。 此蓋希世之神兵，子豈能從我而服之乎？」 公子曰：「餘病未能也。」
The Yang sword of Chu, Ou Ye's forge— hammered ten thousand times, gods fan the fire till blade and mark are born. Its flash is lightning, its edge is ice—famed as Juque, deadly as legend. More than river dragons or armored lines—it ends armies. Spirit blades like Juque startle connoisseurs, topple states. Such swords command the realm. Will you wear such a blade?" Not yet,"
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大夫曰：「天驥之駿，逸態超越，稟氣靈川，受精皎月，眸瞷黑照，玄采紺發，沫如揮紅，汗如振血，秦青不能識其眾尺，方堙不能睹其若滅。 爾乃巾雲軒，踐朝霧，赴春衢，整秋御，虯踴螭騰，麟超龍翥，望山載奔，視林載赴。 氣盛怒發，星飛電駭，志陵九州，勢越四海。 影不及形，塵不暇起，浮箭未移，再踐千里。 爾乃逾天根，越地隔，過汗漫之所下游，躡章、亥之所未跡，陽烏為之頓羽，誇父為之投策。 斯蓋天下之俊乘，子豈能從我而御之乎？」 公子曰：「餘病未能也。」
The doctor praised heaven's coursers—gait beyond compare, bred on spirit streams and moonlight, eyes like black glass, flanks blue-sheened, foam flung red as blood, sweat shaken like gore—so swift neither Qin Qing nor Fang Yin could measure their stride or glimpse them before they vanished. They harness the cloud coach, race through mist and season, leap like dragons and unicorns, and charge at every hill and wood. Their spirit spans the world. Dust lags behind; twice the clock ticks and they have run a thousand li. They outrun myth—sunbirds fold wing, Kuafu drops his staff. Will you drive such horses?" Not yet,"
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大夫曰：「大梁之黍，瓊山之禾，唐、稷播其根，農帝嘗其華。 爾乃六禽殊珍，四膳異肴，窮海之錯，極陸之毛，伊公爨鼎，庖丁揮刀。 味重九沸，和兼勺藥，晨鳧露鵠，霜鵽黃雀，圓案星亂，方丈華錯。 封熊之蹯，翰音之蹠，燕髀猩脣，髦殘象白，靈川之龜，萊黃之鮐，丹穴之鷚，玄豹之胎，燀以秋橙，酤以春梅，接以商王之箸，承以帝辛之懷。 范公之鱗，出自九溪，赬尾丹腮，紫翼青鬐。 爾乃命支離，飛霜鍔，紅肌綺散，素膚雪落，婁子之豪不能廁其細，秋蟬之翼不足擬其薄。 繁肴既闋，亦有嘉羞。 商山之果，漢皋之楱，析龍眼之房，剖椰子之殼。 芳旨萬選，承意代奏。 乃有荊南烏程、豫北竹葉，浮蟣星沸，飛華萍接，玄石嘗其味，儀氏進其法，傾罍一朝，可以流湎千日，單醪投川，可使三軍告捷。 斯人神之所歆羨，觀聽之所煒曄也，子豈能強起而御之乎？」 公子曰：「耽爽口之饌，甘臘毒之味，服腐腸之藥，御亡國之器，雖子大夫之所榮，顧亦吾人之所畏，餘病未能也。」
Fine grain from Daliang and Qiong hills— six meats, four dishes, Yi Yin at the pot, Ding at the knife, ninefold broth, rare birds, platters like stars, bear paw, ape lip, turtle, fowl—sauces of orange and plum, great fish from the nine streams, sliced so fine hair and wing seem coarse. After the meats come sweets, Shangshan fruit, Hanga hazel, longan and coconut, a thousand savors as you wish. Jing wine, Yu brew—one cup can drown a thousand days. Gods crave such wine—will you drink?" The recluse said, "Your feasts are poison and your steeds ruin—Laozi warned against such; I decline."
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大夫曰：「蓋有晉之融皇風也，金華啟征，大人有作，繼明代照，配天光宅。 其吉德也，隆于姬公之處岐； 其垂仁也，富乎有殷之在亳。 南箕之風不能暢其化，離畢之雲無以豐其澤。 皇道昭煥，帝載緝熙。 導氣以樂，宣德以詩，教清乎雲官之世，政穆乎鳥紀之時。 玉猷四塞，函夏謐靜，丹冥投鋒，青徼釋警，卻馬于糞車之轅，銘德於昆吾之鼎。 群萌反素，時文載郁，耕父推畔，漁豎讓陸，樵夫恥危冠之飾，輿台笑短後之服。 六合時雍，巍巍蕩蕩，玄髫巷歌，黃髮擊壤，解羲皇之繩，錯陶唐之象。 若乃華裔之夷，流荒之貊，語不傳於輶軒，地未被乎正朔，莫不駿奔稽顙，委質重譯。 于時昆蚑感惠，無思不擾。 苑戲九尾之禽，囿棲三足之鳥，鳴鳳在林，夥于黃帝之園； 有龍游川，盈于孔甲之沼。 萬物煙煴，天地交泰，義懷靡內，化感無外，林無被褐，山無韋帶。 皆象刻於百工，兆發乎靈蔡，搢紳濟濟，軒冕藹藹，功與造化爭流，德與二儀比大。」 言未終，公子蹶然而興曰：「鄙夫固陋，守茲狂狷。 蓋理有毀之，而爭寶之訟解； 言有怒之，而齊王之疾痊。 向子誘我以聾耳之樂，棲我以蔀家之屋，田遊馳蕩，利刃駿足，既老氏之攸戒，非吾人之所欲，故靡得而應子。 至聞皇風載韙，時聖道醇，舉實為秋，摛藻為春，下有可封之人，上有大哉之君，餘雖不敏，請從後塵。」
But when Jin's royal wind blows, the sage king rises, his virtue tops the Duke of Zhou at Qi, his mercy outdoes Shang at Bo. No wind or cloud can exhaust his grace. The royal way blazes; the emperor's course shines. He teaches with music and odes like the age of perfect officers. The realm is still; spears are cast aside; virtue is cast in bronze. Farmers and fishers yield place; even servants scorn vain fashion. Children sing; elders play; the world returns to simple antiquity. Even unmapped tribes come to offer tribute. Every creature feels his kindness. Nine-tailed birds sport; phoenixes crowd like at Huangdi's park; dragons fill the pools. Heaven and earth meet in harmony; none lack coat or belt. Craftsmen carve omens; ministers throng; merit rivals creation. The recluse leapt up: "I was coarse and stubborn, yet when truth breaks pride, even jade feuds end; when words sting, even kings mend their ways. You tempted me with noise, hunt, and speed—Laozi forbade that, so I refused. Hearing of a sage age—true talent raised, great ruler above—I beg to follow your dust."
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世以為工。
His contemporaries judged the piece a masterpiece.
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永嘉初，復徵為黃門侍郎，托疾不就，終於家。
Early in Yongjia he was recalled to the yellow gates but feigned illness and died at home.
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協弟亢
His brother Kang
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=亢字季陽。 才藻不逮二昆，亦有屬綴，又解音樂伎術。 時人謂載、協、亢、陸機、雲曰：「二陸」「三張」。 中興初過江，拜散騎侍郎。 秘書監荀崧舉亢領佐著作郎，出補烏程令，入為散騎常侍，復領佐著作。 述《曆贊》一篇，見《律曆志》。
Kang, courtesy name Jiyang, He was less gifted than his brothers yet could still write and knew music and craft. Contemporaries grouped Zai, Xie, and Kang with Lu Ji and Lu Yun as the "Three Zhang" and "Two Lu." When the court moved south he crossed the river and became a cavalier attendant. Xun Song had him assist the compilers, then sent him out as Wucheng magistrate; he returned as cavalier attendant and again helped compile. He wrote a "Calendar Hymn" preserved in the treatise on harmonics.
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〈【評贊】〉
〈Historians' appraisal.〉
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史臣曰：孝若掞蔚春華，時標麗藻。 睹其《抵疑》詮理，本窮通於自天； 作誥敷文，流英聲於孝悌，旨深致遠，殊有大雅之風烈焉。 安仁思緒雲騫，詞鋒景煥，前史儔于賈誼，先達方之士衡。 賈論政范，源王化之幽賾； 潘著哀詞，貫人靈之情性。 機文喻海，韞蓬山而育蕪； 岳藻如江，濯美錦而增絢。 混三家以通校，為二賢之亞匹矣。 然其挾彈盈果，拜塵趨貴，蔑棄倚門之訓，乾沒不逞之間，斯才也而有斯行也，天之所賦，何其駁歟！ 正叔含咀藝文，履危居正，安其身而後動，契其心而後言，著論究人道之綱，裁箴懸乘輿之鑒，可謂玉質而金相者矣。 孟陽鏤石之文，見奇于張敏； 《蒙汜》之詠，取重于傅玄，為名流之所挹，亦當代之文宗矣。 景陽摛光王府，棣萼相輝。 洎乎二陸入洛，三張減價。 考核遺文，非徒語也。
The historians say Xiahou Zhan's prose bloomed like spring flowers— his "Resisting Doubt" grounds success and failure in heaven and character; his "Admonition to Brothers" carries filial sound with depth worthy of the great odes. Pan Yue's mind raced; critics likened him to Jia Yi and Lu Ji. Jia Yi's essays plumbed statecraft; Pan Yue's elegies pierced the human heart. Lu Ji's prose was an ocean hiding Penglai amid weeds; Pan Yue's lines were a river rinsing brocade brighter. Taken together, the three brothers nearly match the pair of masters named above. Yet the same Pan Yue who charmed Luoyang bowed to Jia Mi's dust, scorned his mother's teaching, and chased power—talent and conduct so at odds show heaven's uneven hand. Pan Ni walked danger upright, wrote on the human way, and held a mirror to the throne—jade nature, bronze voice. Zhang Zai's cliff inscription won Zhang Min's wonder; his Mengsi rhapsody won Fu Xuan—he was a voice of the age. Zhang Xie shone at court beside a brilliant brother. When the two Lu arrived, the three Zhangs' star dimmed—a judgment the texts bear out. The surviving essays prove the point.
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贊曰：湛稱弄翰，縟彩雕煥。 才高位卑，往哲攸歎。 岳實含章，藻思抑揚。 趨權冒勢，終亦罹殃。 尼標雅性，夙聞詞令。 載協飛芳，棣華增映。
The hymn says: Zhan wielded a gorgeous brush— great gifts, small office, as wise men mourned. Yue bore true pattern in shifting lines, yet chased power and died for it. Ni kept a clear nature and a measured tongue. Zai and Xie shared a family's light—brothers doubling each other's shine.