Volume 56 Biographies 26: Jiang Tong; Sun Chu

江統子虨、惇孫楚孫統、綽

Jiang Tong, with his sons Jiang Bin and Jiang Dun; Sun Chu, with his sons Sun Tong and Sun Chuo.

江統，字應元，陳留圉人也。祖蕤，以義行稱，為譙郡太守，封亢父男。父祚，南安太守。統靜默有遠志，時人為之語曰：「嶷然稀言江應元。」與鄉人蔡克俱知名。襲父爵，除山陰令。時關隴、屢為氐、羌所擾，孟觀西討，自擒氐帥齊萬年。統深惟四夷亂華，宜杜其萌，乃作《徙戎論》。其辭曰：

Jiang Tong, whose courtesy name was Yingyuan, came from Yu in Chenliu commandery. His grandfather Jiang Rui was celebrated for principled conduct, rose to governor of Qiao commandery, and received the noble title of Baron of Kangfu. His father Jiang Zuo served as governor of Nan'an. Jiang Tong was reserved in manner and nursed far-reaching ambitions; his contemporaries coined a saying: "Stately and sparing of words—that is Jiang Yingyuan." He and his townsman Cai Ke were celebrated together. He succeeded to his father's title and was appointed magistrate of Shanyin. At the time the Guanzhong and Longxi region was repeatedly harried by Di and Qiang forces; Meng Guan led a western expedition and personally took the Di leader Qi Wannian prisoner. Jiang Tong reflected deeply that when frontier peoples throw the Chinese heartland into turmoil, the evil must be cut off at the root; he therefore wrote his treatise "On Relocating the Rong." The text runs as follows:

夫夷蠻戎狄，謂之四夷，九服之制，地在要荒。《春秋》之義，內諸夏而外夷狄。以其言語不通，贄幣不同，法俗詭異，種類乖殊；或居絕域之外，山河之表，崎嶇川穀阻險之地，與中國壤斷土隔，不相侵涉，賦役不及，正朔不加，故曰「天子有道，守在四夷」。禹平九土，而西戎即敘。其性氣貪婪，凶悍不仁，四夷之中，戎狄為甚。弱則畏服，強則侵叛。雖有賢聖之世，大德之君，咸未能以通化率導，而以恩德柔懷也。當其強也，以殷之高宗而憊于鬼方，有周文王而患昆夷、獫狁，高祖困于白登，孝文軍於霸上。及其弱也，周公來九譯之貢，中宗納單于之朝，以元成之微，而猶四夷賓服。此其已然之效也。故匈奴求守邊塞，而侯應陳其不可，單于屈膝未央，望之議以不臣。是以有道之君牧夷狄也，惟以待之有備，禦之有常，雖稽顙執贄，而邊城不弛固守；為寇賊強暴，而兵甲不加遠征，期令境內獲安，疆埸不侵而已。

The eastern Yi, southern Man, western Rong, and northern Di are grouped as the "four barbarians"; under the classical scheme of the nine concentric domains, their territories fall in the outer rings of Yao and Huang. The Spring and Autumn Annals teach that the Chinese states are to be cherished within, while the barbarian peoples are to be kept outside. Their languages do not mesh, their ritual offerings differ, law and custom are alien, and their stocks are wholly unlike our own; some live beyond the rim of the known world, shielded by ranges and rivers, in broken terrain where gorges block the way, cut off from the Central Plains so that neither side trespasses on the other, where no tax or labor levy reaches them and the royal calendar is never imposed—hence the saying, "When the Son of Heaven holds the Way, his defense is entrusted to the four barbarians." When Yu brought peace to the nine provinces, the western Rong submitted of their own accord. They are greedy by temperament, brutal and lacking in human sympathy; among the four kinds of barbarians, the Rong and Di are the most intractable. Weak, they cringe and obey; strong, they raid and break faith. Even in ages graced with sages and under sovereigns of the highest moral stature, no one has ever truly civilized them through moral example alone, or bound them for long with kindness alone. At their strongest they wore down even King Wuding of Shang against Guifang, troubled King Wen of Zhou with the Kun barbarians and the Xianyun, trapped the Han founder at Baideng, and forced Emperor Wen to camp his host at Bashang. When they weakened, the Duke of Zhou received embassies that passed through nine rounds of translation; Emperor Xuan of Han welcomed the Shanyu to court; and even under the later emperors Yuan and Cheng, whose reigns lacked vigor, the four quarters still came as deferential guests. History has already shown how this works. That is why, when the Xiongnu asked to garrison the frontier for the Han, Hou Ying argued the plan down; and when the Shanyu knelt in homage at Weiyang Palace, Xiao Wangzhi counseled that he must not be accepted as a true subject. A true king, then, governs the barbarians by keeping them at arm's length and holding a standing defense: even when they press their foreheads to the dust and bear gifts, the garrisons on the frontier never stand down. If they turn to raiding, one does not launch endless punitive expeditions into the steppe; the aim is simply peace inside the realm and an unmolested border.

及至周室失統，諸侯專征，以大兼小，轉相殘滅，封疆不固，而利害異心。戎狄乘間，得入中國。或招誘安撫，以為己用。故申、繒之禍，顛覆宗周；襄公要秦，遽興姜戎。當春秋時，義渠、大荔居秦、晉之域，陸渾、陰戎處伊、洛之間，鄋瞞之屬害及濟東，侵入齊、宋，陵虐邢、衛，南夷與北狄交侵中國，不絕若線。齊桓攘之，存亡繼絕，北伐山戎，以開燕路。故仲尼稱管仲之力，嘉左衽之功。逮至春秋之末，戰國方盛，楚吞蠻氏，晉翦陸渾，趙武胡服，開榆中之地，秦雄咸陽，滅義渠之等。始皇之並天下也，南兼百越，北走匈奴，五嶺長城，戎卒億計。雖師役煩殷，寇賊橫暴，然一世之功，戎虜奔卻，當時中國無復四夷也。

Later the Zhou kings lost the reins, the regional lords took war into their own hands, great swallowed small in an endless chain of mutual destruction, frontiers ceased to hold, and each power pursued its own interest. The Rong and Di seized their opening and poured into the Chinese heartland. Some states courted them with blandishments and enrolled them as auxiliaries of their own. Hence the debacle at Shen and Zeng that toppled the house of Zhou; hence Duke Xiang of Jin's bargain with Qin and the sudden mobilization of the Jiang Rong. In the Spring and Autumn era the Yiqu and Dali peoples lodged inside Qin and Jin; the Luhun Rong and the Yin Rong camped between the Yi and Luo rivers; Souman and their kind ravaged the country east of the Ji, pushed into Qi and Song, and battered Xing and Wei; southern barbarians and northern Di took turns invading the Central States until the dynasty's life hung by a thread. Duke Huan of Qi drove them back, restored ruined states and revived broken successions, marched north against the Mountain Rong, and cleared the way into Yan. Confucius therefore praised Guan Zhong's achievement and spoke with approval of his having spared the Chinese the humiliation of "buttoning the lapel on the left." By the late Spring and Autumn period the Warring States were in full swing: Chu swallowed the Man tribes; Jin wiped out the Luhun Rong; King Wuling of Zhao adopted nomad dress and pushed into the Yuzhong frontier; Qin made Xianyang its seat of power and destroyed Yiqu and similar states. When the First Emperor united the realm, he absorbed the Hundred Yue in the south, drove the Xiongnu northward, threw the Five Ridges and the Long Wall across the landscape, and stationed countless frontier troops. Campaigns were endless and marauders still bold, yet in a single reign the northern tribes were thrown back and, for a time, the heartland knew no barbarian powers pressing in on four sides.

漢興而都長安，關中之郡號曰三輔，《禹貢》雍州，宗周豐、鎬之舊也。及至王莽之敗，赤眉因之，西都荒毀，百姓流亡。建武中，以馬援領隴西太守，討叛羌，徙其餘種于關中，居馮翊、河東空地，而與華人雜處。數歲之後，族類蕃息，既恃其肥強，且苦漢人侵之。永初之元，騎都尉王弘使西域，發調羌、氏，以為行衛。於是群羌奔駭，互相扇動，二州之戎，一時俱發，覆沒將守，屠破城邑。鄧騭之征，棄甲委兵，輿屍喪師，前後相繼，諸戎遂熾，至於南入蜀漢，東掠趙、魏，唐突軹關，侵及河內。及遣北軍中候硃寵將五營士于孟津距羌，十年之中，夷夏俱斃，任尚、馬賢僅乃克之。此所以為害深重、累年不定者，雖由禦者之無方，將非其才，亦豈不以寇發心腹，害起肘腋，疢篤難療，瘡大遲愈之故哉！自此之後，餘燼不盡，小有際會，輒復侵叛。馬賢忸忲，終於覆敗；段穎臨沖，自西徂樂。雍州之戎，常為國患，中世之寇，惟此為大。漢末之亂，關中殘滅。魏興之初，與蜀分隔，疆埸之戎，一彼一此。魏武皇帝令將軍夏侯妙才討叛氏阿貴、千萬等，後因拔棄漢中，遂徙武都之種于秦川，欲以弱寇強國，扞禦蜀虜。此蓋權宜之計，一時之勢，非所以為萬世之利也。今者當之，已受其弊矣。」

When the Han rose, it set its capital at Chang'an; the commanderies of Guanzhong were known as the Three Adjuncts—the Yongzhou of the Tribute of Yu, the ancient ground of the Western Zhou capitals Feng and Hao. Wang Mang's fall brought the Red Eyebrows in his wake; the western capital was left a ruin and the people scattered. Under Emperor Guangwu, Ma Yuan, as governor of Longxi, suppressed the rebel Qiang and resettled the surviving tribes inside the passes, on vacant land in Fengyi and Hedong, where they lived intermingled with Chinese subjects. Within a few years they had multiplied; grown fat and confident, they also smarted under every petty encroachment by Han settlers. In the first year of the Yongchu era, when Cavalry Commandant Wang Hong was dispatched to the Western Regions, the court levied Qiang and Di auxiliaries to escort him. The Qiang bands panicked, fanned one another into revolt, and the tribal forces of two provinces rose at once: they annihilated garrisons and magistrates and stormed walled towns. Deng Zhi's campaign ended in rout—armor thrown away, weapons abandoned, dead carried off in wagons, the army broken time and again—whereupon the tribes flared out of control, drove south into Shu and Han, raided east through Zhao and Wei, smashed past Zhiguan, and struck deep into Henei. When Zhu Chong of the Northern Army was sent with the Five Garrisons to hold the Qiang at Mengjin, a decade of fighting bled barbarian and Chinese alike dry before Ren Shang and Ma Xian finally broke the rebellion. The revolt cut so deep and dragged on so long not only because command was inept and the wrong men were given armies, but because the enemy had risen in the empire's vitals—disaster in one's own elbow and armpit is a grave illness slow to cure and a wide wound long in closing. After that the embers never died; the slightest opening brought fresh raids and defections. Ma Xian hesitated until his command collapsed in disaster; Duan Jiong took the offensive and campaigned from the western frontier deep into the heartland. The tribes of Yongzhou were a standing national affliction; among the mid-Han invasions none matched this one in scale. The chaos at the end of the Han left Guanzhong a wasteland. Early in the Wei dynasty, with Shu Han cut off to the south, the tribal peoples along the contested frontier shifted back and forth with every campaign. Cao Cao sent Xiahou Yuan against the rebel Di leaders Agui and Qianwan; later, when Wei abandoned Hanzhong, he resettled the Wudu Di on the Guanzhong plain, hoping to weaken the enemy, strengthen the state, and block Shu. That was an expedient for the moment, not a policy that could secure lasting good. We live with the consequences of that decision today, and we already feel the harm."

夫關中土沃物豐，厥田上上，加以涇、渭之流溉其舄鹵，鄭國、白渠灌浸相通，黍稷之饒，畝號一鐘，百姓謠詠其殷實，帝王之都每以為居，未聞戎狄宜在此土也。非我族類，其心必異，戎狄志態，不與華同。而因其衰弊，遷之畿服，士庶玩習，侮其輕弱，使其怨恨之氣毒於骨髓。至於蕃育眾盛，則坐生其心。以貪悍之性，挾憤怒之情，候隙乘便，輒為橫逆。而居封域之內，無障塞之隔，掩不備之人，收散野之積，故能為禍滋擾，暴害不測。此必然之勢，已驗之事也。當今之宜，宜及兵威方盛，眾事未罷，徙馮翊、北地、新平、安定界內諸羌，著先零、罕並、析支之地；徙扶風、始平、京兆之氐，出還隴右，著陰平、武都之界。廩其道路之糧，令足自致，各附本種，反其舊土，使屬國、撫夷就安集之。戎晉不雜，並得其所，上合往古即敘之義，下為盛世永久之規。縱有猾夏之心，風塵之警，則絕遠中國，隔閡山河，雖為寇暴，所害不廣。是以充國、子明能以數萬之眾制群羌之命，有征無戰，全軍獨克，雖有謀謨深計，廟勝遠圖，豈不以華夷異處，戎夏區別，要塞易守之故，得成其功也哉！

Guanzhong is rich soil in a top-grade belt: the Jing and Wei flush the salts from the fields, the Zheng and Bai canals weave irrigation across the plain, millet stands so thick that a single mu was said to yield a full zhong, and ballads celebrate its plenty. That is why dynasties make it their seat—never because barbarian herds belong there. They are not of our kin, and their hearts cannot be the same; the aims and temper of the Rong and Di are not those of the Chinese. Yet in their weakness we have moved them into the capital region, where gentry and commoners, grown used to them, treat them with contempt because they seem powerless—until resentment lodges like poison in the bone. When they have multiplied and grown strong, rebellious intent springs up of itself. Greedy and fierce by nature, nursing rage, they watch for any opening and turn at once to violence. Inside the Chinese heartland, with no mountain barriers between them and us, they can fall on an unwary populace and seize grain stored in the open; hence their ravages spread unpredictably. That is the logic of the situation, and history has already proved it. The proper course now is, while our armies are still strong and before other tasks swallow our attention, to move every Qiang community inside Fengyi, Beidi, Xinping, and Anding back onto the traditional Xianling, Hanbing, and Xizhi ranges west of the frontier; to send the Di of Fufeng, Shiping, and Jingzhao out to Longyou again, settling them along the Yinping and Wudu frontier; issue them grain for the march so they can reach home under their own power, let each band rejoin its own stock and return to its ancestral ground, and charge the dependent-state and frontier offices with settling them there. Rong and Chinese would no longer be intermingled; each would keep its proper place—honoring the ancient principle that barbarians who submit should be ordered without mixing, and giving the present age a lasting statute. Even if they harbor designs on the Chinese heartland or raise dust on the frontier, they would be far from the interior, blocked by ranges and rivers; raids could not reach deep. That is how Zhao Chongguo and Deng Ziming broke the Qiang hosts with a few ten thousand men, winning without full-scale battle and bringing the army home intact—less a miracle of strategy than the simple fact that Chinese and barbarian were separated, Rong and Xia kept apart, and the passes were easy to defend.

難者曰：方今關中之禍，暴兵二載，征戍之勞，老師十萬，水旱之害，薦饑累荒，疫癘之災，劄瘥夭昏。凶逆既戮，悔惡初附，且款且畏，咸懷危懼，百姓愁苦，異人同慮，望寧息之有期，若枯旱之思雨露，誠宜鎮之以安豫。而子方欲作役起徒，興功造事，使疲悴之眾，徙自猜之寇，以無穀之人，遷乏食之虜，恐勢盡力屈，緒業不卒，羌戎離散，心不可一，前害未及弭，而後變復橫出矣。

An objector said: "Guanzhong has just endured two years of war, a hundred thousand troops worn out on campaign, flood and drought in succession, famine upon famine, plague cutting people down in their prime. The rebels are dead; the newly submitted still waver between truce and terror; officials and commoners alike are exhausted and long for respite as parched earth longs for rain. Surely this is the time to soothe them, not stir them up." Yet you would press corvée on a broken people, march tribes who already distrust us, drive the hungry to move the starving—risking total exhaustion so the work never finishes, driving Qiang and Rong apart so they cannot be controlled together, leaving the old wounds open while fresh disasters break out.

答曰：羌戎狡猾，擅相號署，攻城野戰，傷害牧守，連兵聚眾，載離寒暑矣。而今異類瓦解，同種土崩，老幼系虜，丁壯降散，禽離獸迸，不能相一。子以此等為尚挾餘資，悔惡反善，懷我德惠而來柔附乎？將勢窮道盡，智力俱困，懼我兵誅以至於此乎？曰，無有餘力，勢窮道盡故也。然則我能制其短長之命，而令其進退由己矣。夫樂其業者不易事，安其居者無遷志。方其自疑危懼，畏怖促遽，故可制以兵威，使之左右無違也。迨其死亡散流，離逷未鳩，與關中之人，戶皆為仇，故可遐遷遠處，令其心不懷土也。夫聖賢之謀事也，為之於未有，理之於未亂，道不著而平，德不顯而成。其次則能轉禍為福，因敗為功，值困必濟，遇否能通。今子遭弊事之終而不圖更制之始，愛易轍之勤而得覆車之軌，何哉？且關中之人百餘萬口，率其少多，戎狄居半，處之與遷，必須口實。若有窮乏糝粒不繼者，故當傾關中之谷以全其生生之計，必無擠於溝壑而不為侵掠之害也。今我遷之，傳食而至，附其種族，自使相贍，而秦地之人得其半穀，此為濟行者以廩糧，遺居者以積倉，寬關中之逼，去盜賊之原，除旦夕之損，建終年之益。若憚暫舉之小勞，而忘永逸之弘策；惜日月之煩苦，而遺累世之寇敵，非所謂能開物成務，創業垂統，崇其拓跡，謀及子孫者也。

The reply ran: "The Qiang and Rong are cunning: they set up their own titles, storm towns and fight in the open, murder governors and commanders, and keep large hosts in the field year after year. Now their alliance has shattered like tiles; each tribe is crumbling on its own; the old and young are bound captives, the fighting men scattered or surrendered; they bolt like startled beasts and cannot act as one. Do you imagine they still hold hidden strength, that they repent and wish to return good for our kindness and come meekly to heel? Or are they simply at the end of their rope, wit and strength spent, terrified of the sword and driven to this pass? The answer: they have no reserve left; they are cornered. Then we hold their lives in our hands and may order their movements as we choose. Men who are happy in their trade do not welcome upheaval; men who are secure in their homes do not wish to move. While they still doubt and dread us, we can overawe them with force and they will not dare refuse. Later, when they are broken, scattered, not yet regrouped, and every household in Guanzhong counts them as enemies, we can march them far away so they will not cling to this soil. The sage acts before crisis shows, orders things before riot breaks out, and brings peace without fanfare and success without ostentation. Next best is to turn danger into gain, snatch victory from defeat, find a ford in every strait, and pass through every block. You would face the wreckage of a failed policy yet refuse to chart a new course—you shrink from the labor of changing course only to follow the cart into the same ditch. How is that wisdom?" Moreover Guanzhong holds more than a million souls, and barbarians may be half of them; whether we keep them or move them, they must be fed. If any lack even a handful of grain, we should empty the Guanzhong granaries to keep them alive; that way none are driven into the ditches to turn bandit and prey on others. Move them now: issue rations along the road, let each join its own kin so they feed one another, and the Chinese of Qin will keep half the grain they would have lost—feeding the marchers, leaving stores for those who stay, easing the crush in Guanzhong, cutting off the root of banditry, lifting today's crisis, and securing peace for years to come. To shrink from the brief pain of the move and forget the grand policy that buys lasting peace— to spare a few months of trouble and bequeath an enemy to posterity is not what is meant by mastering affairs, founding a line that will last, widening the realm's footprint, or planning for one's children and grandchildren.

并州之胡，本實匈奴桀惡之寇也。漢宣之世，凍餒殘破，國內五裂，後合為二，呼韓邪遂衰弱孤危，不能自存，依阻塞下，委質柔服。建武中，南單于復來降附，遂令入塞，居於漠南，數世之後，亦輒叛戾，故何熙、梁槿戎車屢征。中平中，以黃巾賊起，發調其兵，部眾不從，而殺羌渠。由是於彌扶羅求助於漢，以討其賊。仍值世喪亂，遂乘釁而作，鹵掠趙、魏，寇至河南。建安中，又使右賢王去卑誘質呼廚泉，聽其部落散居六郡。咸熙之際，以一部太強，分為三率。泰始之初，又增為四。於是劉猛內叛，連結外虜。近者郝散之變，發于穀遠。今五部之眾，戶至數萬，人口之盛，過於西戎。然其天性驍勇，弓馬便利，倍於氐、羌。若有不虞風塵之慮，則并州之域可為寒心。滎陽句驪本居遼東塞外，正始中，幽州刺史毋丘儉伐其叛者，徙其餘種。始徙之時，戶落百數，子孫孳息，今以千計，數世之後，必至殷熾。今百姓失職，猶或亡叛，犬馬肥充，則有噬齧，況于夷狄，能不為變！但顧其微弱勢力不陳耳。

The Hu of Bingzhou are, at root, the fierce core of the Xiongnu horsemen. Under Emperor Xuan of Han they were broken by cold and hunger and split into five hordes that later merged into two; Huhanye grew so weak he could not survive alone, clung to the frontier passes, and offered submission. In the Jianwu era the Southern Shanyu submitted again and was allowed inside the line to live south of the desert; within a few generations he was in revolt again, which is why He Xi and Liang Jin had to campaign so often. In the Zhongping era, when the Yellow Turbans rose, the court called out the Southern Xiongnu host; they refused the order and murdered their own chief, the Qiangqu. Yufuluo thereupon begged Han aid against the rebels. The realm then fell into chaos; he seized the moment, raided Zhao and Wei, and struck south of the Yellow River. During the Jian'an years the court had the Right Worthy King Quibi detain Shanyu Huchuquan and allowed the tribes to scatter across six commanderies. At the end of Wei, because one division had grown too strong, it was split into three commands. Early in the Taishi era the court raised that number to four. Then Liu Meng rebelled inside the border and allied with tribes beyond. More recently the mutiny of Hao San began in Guyuan. Today the five divisions number their households in the tens of thousands; their population outnumbers the western tribes. They are fiercer by nature and doubly more adept with bow and horse than the Di or Qiang. If alarm should rise on the frontier, the whole Bingzhou region will shudder. The Goguryeo clans settled at Xingyang had originally lived beyond the Liaodong frontier; during the Zhengshi era, Guqiu Jian, inspector of Youzhou, attacked their rebel bands and resettled the survivors inside China. At first there were only a few hundred households; generation on generation they have bred until they are counted in the thousands, and in a few more generations they will swell to enormous strength. Chinese commoners who have lost their livelihoods still sometimes flee or rise in revolt; when dogs and horses grow fat they turn to bite—how much more will alien peoples seize the moment to rebel! We only imagine them too weak for their strength to show—nothing more.

夫為邦者，患不在貧而在不均，憂不在寡而在不安。以四海之廣，士庶之富，豈須夷虜在內，然後取足哉！此等皆可申諭發遣，還其本域，慰彼羈旅懷土之思，釋我華夏纖介之憂。惠此中國，以綏四方，德施永世，于計為長。

He who governs a state should fear not poverty but inequality, not a small population but unrest. The realm is vast and our people numerous—do we really need barbarians living inside the border before we can prosper! Every such group may be clearly ordered home to its own country, easing their homesickness as wanderers and lifting from the Chinese heartland even the slightest gnawing fear. Bless the Central Plains and the four quarters will settle; a policy whose virtue endures for generations is, all things weighed, the soundest course.

帝不能用。未及十年，而夷狄亂華，時服其深識。

The emperor declined to act on the proposal. Within ten years the barbarians had thrown the Chinese world into chaos, and contemporaries conceded how far-sighted he had been.

遷中郎。選司以統叔父春為宜春令，統因上疏曰：「故事，父祖與官職同名，皆得改選，而未有身與官職同名，不在改選之例。臣以為父祖改選者，蓋為臣子開地，不為父祖之身也。而身名所加，亦施于臣子。佐吏系屬，朝夕從事，官位之號，發言所稱，若指實而語，則違經禮諱尊之義；若詭辭避回，則為廢官擅犯憲制。今以四海之廣，職位之眾，名號繁多，士人殷富，至使有受寵皇朝，出身宰牧，而令佐吏不得表其官稱，子孫不得言其位號，所以上嚴君父，下為臣子，體例不通。若易私名以避官職，則違《春秋》不奪人親之義。臣以為身名與官職同者，宜與觸父祖名為比，體例既全，於義為弘。」朝廷從之。

He was promoted to the rank of Central Gentleman. The Bureau of Appointments named Tong's uncle Jiang Chun magistrate of Yichun, whereupon Tong submitted a memorial: "By established rule, when a father or grandfather shares a name with an official title, he may be reassigned to another post, yet no precedent addresses the case in which the official himself bears the same name as his title and is excluded from reassignment. I believe reassignment when a father's or grandfather's name clashes with an office is meant to clear a path for his descendants, not chiefly to spare the elder himself. The burden of a taboo name falls on subordinates and heirs no less than on the man who holds the title. Aides are tied to their chief day and night; they must speak his official title aloud—yet to name it plainly breaks the canonical rule of avoiding the superior's name; to dodge with circumlocution is to nullify the dignity of the office and breach the written law. Today posts are countless and the gentry numerous; some who win honor at court and go out as governors find their clerks forbidden to utter their proper titles and their children forbidden to speak their ranks—so the ruler is honored above while the forms that bind lord and subject below are left incoherent. To change one's personal name to dodge an office would violate the Spring and Autumn Annals' principle that one must not strip another of the name his kin gave him. I hold that when a man's own name matches his title, the case should be treated like the ordinary taboo on a parent's name: the rule is then complete and the moral logic clearer." The court accepted his recommendation.

轉太子洗馬。在東宮累年，甚被親禮。太子頗闕朝覲，又奢費過度，多諸禁忌，統上書諫曰：

He was transferred to the post of groom for the heir apparent. He served for years in the Eastern Palace and was treated with exceptional favor. The heir apparent often neglected his court duties, spent lavishly, and surrounded himself with superstitious taboos; Jiang Tong therefore addressed a memorial of remonstrance:

臣聞古之為臣者，進思盡忠，退思補過，獻可替否，拾遺補闕。是以人主得以舉無失行，言無口過，德音發聞，揚名後世。臣等不逮，無能雲補，思竭愚誠，謹陳五事如左，惟蒙一省再省，少垂察納。

Ministers in antiquity strove in court to fulfill their loyalty, in retirement to mend their faults, offered what was sound and rejected what was not, and repaired every oversight in the ruler's conduct. Thus the sovereign could act without misstep, speak without indiscretion, let his virtuous fame be heard abroad, and leave a shining name to posterity. We are unequal to such a standard and cannot mend every fault, yet we wish to offer our utmost loyalty and therefore respectfully lay out five points below, begging Your Highness to read them once and again and to deign to accept what is sound.

其一曰，六行之義，以孝為首，虞舜之德，以孝為稱，故太子以朝夕視君膳為職，左右就養無方。文王之為世子，可謂篤於事親者也，故能擅三代之美，為百王之宗。自頃聖體屢有疾患，數闕朝侍，遠近觀聽者不能深知其故，以致疑惑。伏願殿下雖有微苦，可堪扶輿，則宜自力。《易》曰：「君子終日乾乾。」蓋自勉強不息之謂也。

First: among the six virtues filial piety comes first, and Shun of Yu was praised above all for filial devotion; it is the crown prince's duty to attend his father's meals morning and evening and to care for him tirelessly on every side. King Wen as crown prince showed the utmost devotion to his parents; hence he gathered up the finest virtue of the three dynasties and became the model for kings through the ages. Lately Your Majesty's health has often troubled you, so that court attendance has been irregular; those near and far who watch and listen do not know the true reasons and harbor doubts. We pray that whenever Your Highness can endure the carriage, however slight your discomfort, you will force yourself to attend. The Book of Changes says, "The gentleman is wary all day long." That is what is meant by ceaseless self-exertion.

其二曰，古之人君雖有聰明之姿，睿喆之質，必須輔弼之助，相導之功，故虞舜以五臣興，周文以四友隆。及成王之為太子也，則周、召為保傅，史佚昭文章，故能聞道早備，登崇大業，刑措不用，流聲洋溢。伏惟殿下天授逸才，聰鑒特達，臣謂猶宜時發聖令，宣揚德音，諮詢保傅，訪逮侍臣，覲見賓客，得令接盡，壅否之情沛然交泰，殿下之美煥然光明。如此，則高朗之風，扇於前人；弘範令軌，永為後式。

Second: even rulers gifted with native intelligence need tutors to guide them—Shun of Yu rose with the help of five ministers, King Wen of Zhou flourished with the four companions. When King Cheng was crown prince, the dukes of Zhou and Shao served as his guardians and tutors, and Shi Yi opened his eyes to letters; thus he learned the Way while young, mounted the great enterprise, left the punishments unused, and his fame spread everywhere. Your Highness's talents are heaven-given and your discernment keen; we would still urge you to issue edicts from time to time, let your virtuous intentions be heard, question your tutors and attendants, receive guests face to face, and let every obstruction between ruler and served dissolve in openness—so your luster may shine the brighter. Then your lofty openness will set a tone that reaches back to the finest examples of the past; your magnanimity will set a lasting pattern for those who come after.

其三曰，古之聖王莫不以儉為德，故堯稱采椽茅茨，禹稱卑宮惡服，漢文身衣弋綈，足履革舄，以身先物，政致太平，存為明王，沒見宗祀。及諸侯修之者，魯僖以躬儉節用，聲列《雅頌》；蚡冒以篳路藍縷，用張楚國。大夫修之者，文子相魯，妾不衣帛；晏嬰相齊，鹿裘不補，亦能匡君濟俗，興國隆家。庶人修之者，顏回以簞食瓢飲，揚其仁聲；原憲以蓬戶繩樞，邁其清德。此皆聖主明君賢臣智士之所履行也。故能懸名日月，永世不朽，蓋儉之福也。及到末世，以奢失之者，帝王則有瑤台瓊室，玉懷象箸，肴膳之珍則熊蹯豹胎，酒池肉林。諸侯為之者，至於丹楹刻桷，餼征百牢。大夫有瓊弁玉纓，庶人有擊鐘鼎食。亦罔不亡國喪宗，破家失身，醜名彰聞，以為後戒。竊聞後園鏤飾金銀，刻磨犀象，畫室之巧，課試日精。臣等以為今四海之廣，萬物之富，以今方古，不足為侈也。然上之所好，下必從之，是故居上者必慎其所好也。昔漢光武皇帝時，有獻千里馬及寶劍者，馬以駕鼓車，劍以賜騎士。世祖武皇帝有上雉頭裘者，即詔有司焚之都街。高世之主，不尚尤物，故能正天下之俗，刑四方之風。臣等以為畫室之功，可且減省，後園雜作，一皆罷遣，肅然清靜，優遊道德，則日新之美光于四海矣。

Third: the sage kings of old all made frugality their chief virtue—Yao with his unplaned rafters and thatched hall, Yu with his low palace and coarse dress, Emperor Wen of Han in black homespun and leather shoes, putting himself before his people and bringing about great peace, honored in life and enshrined after death. Among the feudal lords, Duke Xi of Lu won a place in the canonical Odes, in the Ya and Song sections, for personal thrift and careful spending; King Fenmao of Chu, riding a wicker cart in rags, laid the foundations of a powerful kingdom. Among great officers, Wenzi as minister of Lu would not let his concubines wear silk; Yan Ying as minister of Qi wore an unmended deer-hide cloak, yet he could correct his ruler, improve the customs, and bring glory to state and clan. Among commoners, Yan Hui with his basket of grain and gourd of water made his humane reputation known; Yuan Xian in his gate of woven brush and hinge of cord surpassed others in purity of character. These are examples set by enlightened sovereigns, worthy ministers, and wise men. Their names hang beside the sun and moon and never fade—such is the blessing of frugality. At a dynasty's end, those who lost all through extravagance built jade towers and carnelian halls, drank from jade cups with ivory chopsticks, feasted on bear paw and leopard fetus, and dug wine pools amid forests of hanging meat. Feudal lords painted their pillars red and carved their eaves, and sent a hundred oxen as fodder for a single army march. Great officers wore jade tassels on carnelian caps; commoners tolled bells and ate from tripods as if they were nobles. Not one failed to lose his state, destroy his line, ruin his house, and die in infamy—a warning to later ages. We hear that the rear garden is inlaid with gold and silver, that rhinoceros horn and ivory are carved and polished, and that painters compete daily in ever finer craft. We grant that the realm is wide and goods abundant, and by comparison with antiquity your splendor might still seem modest. Yet the people always imitate what their betters love; a ruler must therefore be wary of his tastes. When Emperor Guangwu of Han received a thousand-li horse and a treasured sword, he hitched the horse to a baggage cart and gave the sword to a common trooper. When someone offered Emperor Wu a cloak sewn from pheasant heads, he ordered it burned at once in the public street. Rulers who tower above their age do not hoard curiosities; thus they set the empire's customs aright and give the four quarters a model to follow. We ask that work on the painting galleries be curtailed for now, every superfluous project in the rear gardens stopped, and the palace kept solemn and still so that Your Highness may cultivate the Way in leisure—then the glory of daily renewal will reach the four seas.

其四曰，以天下而供一人，以百里而供諸侯，故王侯食藉而衣稅，公卿大夫受爵而資祿，莫有不贍者也。是以士農工商四業不雜。交易而退，以通有無者，庶人之業也。《周禮》三市，旦則百族，晝則商賈，夕則販夫販婦。買賤賣貴，販鬻菜果，收十百之盈，以救旦夕之命，故為庶人之貧賤者也。樊遲匹夫，請學為圃，仲尼不答；魯大夫臧文仲使妾織蒲，又譏其不仁；公儀子相魯，則拔其園葵，言食祿者不與貧賤之人爭利也。秦、漢以來，風俗轉薄，公侯之尊，莫不殖園圃之田，而收市井之利，漸冉相放，莫以為恥，乘以古道，誠可愧也。今西園賣葵菜、藍子、雞、面之屬，虧敗國體，貶損令問。

Fourth: the whole realm feeds the ruler and each hundred li feeds its lord; kings and marquises live on rent and tax, ministers on stipends tied to rank—none should want for enough. Hence the four orders—scholar, farmer, artisan, and merchant—were kept distinct. To exchange goods and retire, supplying mutual wants, was the commoner's trade. The Rites of Zhou speaks of three markets: at dawn the common clans trade, by day the merchants, at dusk the hawking men and women. They buy cheap and sell dear, peddle greens and fruit, and eke out a few cash to keep body and soul together—hence they rank as the humble sort. When Fan Chi, a mere commoner, asked to learn gardening, Confucius gave no answer; Zang Wenzhong of Lu had his concubines weave rush mats for sale and was judged harshly for it; Gongyi Xiu as minister of Lu tore up the mallows in his garden, declaring that an official who draws a stipend must not compete with the poor for petty gain. Since Qin and Han, morals have thinned until even the highest nobles plant market gardens and squeeze profit from the bazaar, each copying the next without shame—set against the ancient norm it is a disgrace. To peddle greens, indigo seed, chickens, and noodles from the Western Park injures the dignity of the state and blackens your good name.

其五曰，竊見禁土，令不得繕修牆壁，動正屋瓦。臣以為此既違典彝舊義，且以拘攣小忌而廢弘廓大道，宜可蠲除，於事為宜。

Fifth: we note that tabooed ground has been declared off limits so that none may mend walls or replace tiles on principal roofs. This runs against classical precedent and lets petty superstition block the broad highway of government; it should be abolished as the right course.

朝廷善之。

The court approved his advice.

後為博士、尚書郎，參大司馬、齊王冏軍事。冏驕荒將敗，統切諫，文多不載。遷廷尉正，每州郡疑獄，斷處從輕。成都王穎請為記室，多所箴諫。申論陸雲兄弟，辭甚切至。以母憂去職。服闋，為司徒左長史。東海王越為兗州牧，以統為別駕，委以州事，與統書曰：「昔王子師為豫州，未下車，辟荀慈明；下車，辟孔文舉。貴州人士有堪應此者不？」統舉高平郗鑒為賢良，陳留阮修為直言，濟北程收為方正，時以為知人。尋遷黃門侍郎、散騎常侍，領國子博士。永嘉四年，避難奔于成皋，病卒。凡所造賦頌表奏皆傳於後。二子：虨、惇。

He later served as an academician, a Gentleman of the Masters of Writing, and staff adviser on military affairs to Sima Jiong, the Prince of Qi and grand marshal. Jiong grew arrogant and dissolute on the eve of his ruin; Jiang Tong remonstrated bluntly—the memorials were many and are not preserved here. He rose to senior rectifier in the ministry of justice and, whenever a commandery sent up a doubtful case, always resolved it leniently. Prince Ying of Chengdu appointed him secretary and received many frank admonitions from him. He spoke out forcefully on behalf of Lu Yun and his brother, and his language was urgent in the extreme. He resigned to observe mourning for his mother. When the mourning period ended, he was appointed senior clerk on the left of the minister of education. When Sima Yue, Prince of the Eastern Sea, became governor of Yanzhou, he named Jiang Tong his aide-de-camp and entrusted him with the administration of the province, writing to him: "In old days Wang Yun, as governor of Yu Province, before his carriage even halted, appointed Xun Cai to office; after it halted, he appointed Kong Rong. Are there men in your province fit to answer that precedent?" Jiang Tong recommended Xi Jian of Gaoping as worthy and excellent, Ruan Xiu of Chenliu as candid critic, and Cheng Shou of Jibei as upright and incorrupt; contemporaries praised his eye for talent. Shortly afterward he was promoted to gentleman at the yellow gates, cavalier attendant-in-ordinary, and concurrent erudite of the imperial academy. In the fourth year of Yongjia he fled the turmoil to Chenggao, where he died of illness. The rhapsodies, eulogies, memorials, and petitions he wrote have all come down to later times. He had two sons, Jiang Bin and Jiang Dun.

虨字思玄，本州辟舉秀才，平南將軍溫嶠以為參軍。復為州別駕，辟司空郗鑒掾，除長山令。鑒又請為司馬，轉黃門郎。車騎將軍庾冰鎮江州，請為長史。冰薨，庾翼以為諮議參軍，俄而復補長史。翼薨，大將幹瓚作難，虨討平之。除尚書吏部郎，仍遷御史中丞、侍中、吏部尚書。永和中，代桓景為護軍將軍。出補會稽內史，加右軍將軍。代王彪之為尚書僕射。哀帝即位，疑周貴人名號所宜，虨議見《禮志》。帝欲於殿庭立鴻祀，又欲躬自藉田，虨並以為禮廢日久，儀注不存，中興以來所不行，謂宜停之。為僕射積年，簡文帝為相，每訪政事，虨多所補益，轉護軍將軍，領國子祭酒，卒官。子敳，曆琅邪內史、驃騎諮議。敳子恆，元熙中為西中郎長史。恆弟夷，尚書。

Jiang Bin, courtesy name Sixuan, was nominated as a cultivated talent by his home province and taken on as an army adviser by Wen Qiao, general who pacifies the south. He again served as provincial aide-de-camp, was summoned as a clerk to Xi Jian the minister of works, and was appointed magistrate of Changshan. Xi Jian later secured his appointment as marshal, after which he was transferred to gentleman at the yellow gates. When Yu Bing, general of chariots and cavalry, took command at Jiangzhou, he named Jiang Bin his chief clerk. After Yu Bing died, Yu Yi appointed him advising staff officer, and soon restored him to the post of chief clerk. When Yu Yi died, the general Gan Zan mutinied; Jiang Bin attacked him and restored order. He was appointed director of the personnel bureau of the masters of writing, then rose in succession to palace secretary, attendant-in-ordinary, and minister of the personnel bureau. During the Yonghe era he succeeded Huan Jing as general who guards the army. He left the capital to serve as interior governor of Kuaiji with the additional title of general of the right army. He succeeded Wang Biaozhi as vice director of the masters of writing. When Emperor Ai came to the throne, the court debated the proper titles for the Honored Lady Zhou; Jiang Bin's opinion is recorded in the Treatise on Rites. The emperor wished to institute the great archery sacrifice in the court hall and to plough the sacred field himself; Jiang Bin held that both ceremonies had long fallen out of use, that the rubrics were lost, and that neither had been performed since the restoration—he urged that the plans be dropped. He served for years as vice director while Emperor Jianwen held the premiership; whenever policy was discussed, Jiang Bin's contributions were substantial. He was then made general who guards the army and concurrent libationer of the imperial academy, and died in office. His son Jiang Yin served in turn as interior governor of Langye and advising officer to the general of swift cavalry. Yin's son Jiang Heng was chief clerk to the general of the western center during the Yuanxi era. Jiang Heng's younger brother Jiang Yi rose to the post of masters of writing.

惇字思悛，孝友淳粹，高節邁俗。性好學，儒玄並綜。每以為君子立行，應依禮而動，雖隱顯殊途，未有不傍禮教者也。若乃放達不羈，以肆縱為貴者，非但動違禮法，亦道之所棄也。乃著《通道崇檢論》，世咸稱之。蘇峻之亂，避地東陽山，太尉郗鑒檄為兗州治中，又辟太尉掾；康帝為司徒，亦辟焉；征西將軍庾亮請為儒林參軍；徵拜博士、著作郎，皆不就。邑裏宗其道，有事必諮而後行。東陽太守阮裕、長山令王濛，皆一時名士，並與惇遊處，深相欽重。養志二十餘年，永和九年卒，時年四十九，友朋相與刊石立頌，以表德美雲。

Jiang Dun, courtesy name Sisun, was devoted to his family, gentle and unspoiled in character, and carried a moral seriousness that set him apart from the common run. He loved study and mastered both Confucian learning and arcane philosophy. He held that a gentleman orders his conduct by ritual, whether in office or in retirement, and that no upright path strays from the teachings of propriety. Those who make a cult of wild abandon and count license as nobility violate not only decorum but the Way itself. He therefore wrote his treatise "On Penetrating the Way and Honoring Restraint," which won wide acclaim. When Su Jun rose in revolt, he took refuge on Mount Dongyang; Grand Commandant Xi Jian called him up as senior clerk of Yanzhou and then as clerk on the grand commandant's staff; Emperor Kang, as minister of education, summoned him as well; Yu Liang, general who conquers the west, offered him a post as adviser on scholarly affairs; He was summoned to serve as an academician and as editorial director, but he declined both appointments. His home district looked to him as a moral authority and would undertake nothing of weight without first seeking his counsel. Ruan Yu, governor of Dongyang, and Wang Meng, magistrate of Changshan, were leading men of the day; both befriended Jiang Dun and held him in the highest regard. He cultivated his aspirations in seclusion for more than twenty years and died in the ninth year of Yonghe at forty-nine; his friends joined to carve a stele in his honor and celebrate his virtue.

孫楚，字子荊，太原中都人也。祖資，魏驃騎將軍。父宏，南陽太守。楚才藻卓絕，爽邁不群，多所陵傲，缺鄉曲之譽。年四十餘，始參鎮東軍事。文帝遣符劭、孫郁使吳，將軍石苞令楚作書遺孫皓曰：

Sun Chu, whose courtesy name was Zijing, came from Zhongdu in Taiyuan commandery. His grandfather Sun Zi had been general of swift cavalry under Wei. His father Sun Hong served as governor of Nanyang. Sun Chu was brilliantly gifted and fiercely independent; he looked down on others and won little goodwill in his home district. Not until his forties did he take a staff post with the general who guards the east. When Emperor Wen sent Fu Shao and Sun Yu as envoys to Wu, General Shi Bao instructed Sun Chu to draft a letter to Sun Hao. It read:

蓋見機而作，《周易》所貴；小不事大，《春秋》所誅。此乃吉凶之萌兆，榮辱所由生也。是故許、鄭以銜璧全國，曹譚以無禮取滅。載藉既記其成敗，古今又著其愚智，不復廣引譬類，崇飾浮辭。苟以誇大為名，更喪忠告之實。今粗論事要，以相覺悟。

To read the moment and act upon it is what the Book of Changes esteems; for the small to refuse service to the great is what the Spring and Autumn Annals condemn. These are the first signs of fortune or ruin, the root of honor or disgrace. Hence the houses of Xu and Zheng saved their states whole by coming with jade tokens of submission, while Cao and Tan were wiped out for their arrogance. Histories already record how states rose and fell, and past and present show plainly which rulers were wise and which foolish; there is no need to pile up parallels or dress the matter in fine words. To seek only a grandiloquent name is to forfeit the substance of honest counsel. I shall therefore sketch the essentials of your situation in the hope of awakening you to the danger.

昔炎精幽昧，歷數將終，恆、靈失德，災釁並興，豺狼抗爪牙之毒，生靈罹塗炭之難。由是九州絕貫，王綱解紐，四海蕭條，非復漢有。太祖承運，神武應期，征討暴亂，克甯區夏；協建靈符，天命既集，遂廓弘基，奄有魏域。土則神州中嶽，器則九鼎猶存，世載淑美，重光相襲，故知四隩之攸同，帝者之壯觀也。昔公孫氏承藉父兄，世居東裔，擁帶燕胡，憑陵險遠，講武遊盤，不供職貢，內傲帝命，外通南國，乘桴滄海，交酬貨賄，葛越布於朔土，貂馬延于吳會；自以控弦十萬，奔走之力，信能右折燕、齊，左震扶桑，輮轢沙漠，南面稱王。宣王薄伐，猛銳長驅，師次遼陽，而城池不守；枹鼓暫鳴，而元凶折首。於是遠近疆埸，列郡大荒，收離聚散，大安其居，眾庶悅服，殊俗款附。自茲以降，九野清泰，東夷獻其樂器，肅慎貢其楛矢，曠世不羈，應化而至，巍巍蕩蕩，想所具聞也。

When the Han fire virtue guttered and the dynasty's mandate neared its end, under Emperors Huan and Ling misrule brought calamity on every side; rebels showed their fangs and the people were trampled as if in mud and fire. The nine regions were cut off from one another, imperial authority unraveled, and the realm lay waste—no longer the Han's domain. Our Grand Progenitor took up the mandate, his godlike might answered the times, and he crushed rebellion until the heartland was pacified; Heaven's omens aligned, the mandate was gathered in, and he widened the great foundation until he held all the territory of Wei. His realm spans the sacred central peak of the Chinese world; the nine tripods, token of sovereignty, are still in his care; generation after generation his house has piled virtue upon virtue—so the four quarters are one again, a spectacle fit for an emperor. The Gongsun house of Liaodong, inheriting power from father and brother, long held the eastern march, ringed themselves with Yan and Hu auxiliaries, trusted in distance and rugged terrain, drilled troops for sport, withheld tribute, defied the court within while trading with the south beyond the sea, shuttling bribes across the waves until Yue cloth filled the north and Wu sables reached the steppe; they fancied that a hundred thousand bowmen and swift cavalry could break Yan and Qi to the west, thunder against Fusang to the east, ride roughshod over the deserts, and face south as kings. King Xuan of Wei struck lightly but drove deep; his host reached Liaoyang, and their walls could not hold; the drums had hardly sounded when the rebel chief lost his head. Border counties far and near lay in ruin until the scattered were gathered home, the people given peace, common folk and barbarians alike gladly submitted. Since then the nine domains have known peace: eastern tribes have sent their instruments, the Sushen their arrow-shafts, and peoples long outside the pale have answered civilization and come in—all this, in its majesty, is surely known to you.

吳之先祖，起自荊、楚，遭時擾攘，潛播江表。劉備震懼，亦逃巴、岷。遂因山陵積石之固，三江五湖浩汗無涯，假氣遊魂，迄茲四紀。兩邦合從，東西唱和，互相扇動，距捍中國。自謂三分鼎足之勢，可與泰山共相終始也。相國晉王輔相帝室，文武桓桓，志厲秋霜，廟勝之算，應變無窮，獨見之鑒，與眾絕慮。主上欽明，委以萬機，長轡遠禦，妙略潛授，偏師同心，上下用力，陵威奮伐，罙入其阻，并敵一向，奪其膽氣。小戰江由，則成都自潰；曜兵劍閣，則姜維面縛。開地六千，領郡三十。兵不逾時，梁、益肅清，使竊號之雄，稽顙絳闕，球琳重錦，充於府庫。夫韓並魏徙，虢滅虞亡，此皆前鑒，後事之表。又南中呂興，深睹天命蟬蛻內附，願為臣妾。外失輔車脣齒之援，內有羽毛零落之漸，而徘徊危國，冀延日月，此由魏武侯卻指山河，自以為強，殊不知物有興亡，則所美非其地也。

The founders of Wu rose from the Jing-Chu country in an age of chaos and slipped their power across the Yangtze. Liu Bei broke in panic and fled into Ba and Min. They trusted in heaped stone and mountain barriers, in the boundless maze of the three rivers and five lakes, and clung to borrowed legitimacy like wandering ghosts for nearly half a century. The two kingdoms leagued east and west, echoing each other's defiance and stiffening one another against the Chinese heartland. They imagined a tripod of three legs that might stand as long as Mount Tai itself. The Jin king, as imperial chancellor, aids the throne; his civil and military officers are a formidable host, their resolution sharp as autumn frost; his plans win victory in the council hall and meet every shift of fortune; his foresight leaves ordinary counsel far behind. Our reverent sovereign has entrusted him with every thread of policy; he holds the long reins, issues secret orders, and moves detached columns as one body so that high and low strain together—his majesty advances, pierces their strongholds, strikes them on a single front, and breaks their nerve. A brief clash at Jiangyou, and Chengdu collapsed of its own accord; a display of arms at Sword Gate, and Jiang Wei came bound with his own hands. Six thousand square li of territory were opened and thirty commanderies brought under the flag. Before a year was out Liang and Yi were swept clean; the warlord who had usurped a royal title knocked his brow at the palace gate, and precious jades and brocades filled the Wei storehouses. When Han swallowed rival states and Wei shifted its capital, when Guo fell and Yu followed to ruin—these are lessons the histories have already written plain for later ages. Moreover Lü Xing in the south, reading Heaven's will aright, has cast off Shu like a cicada shell and submitted, begging to rank as a subject. You have lost the outer support that locked Shu and Wu like lips to teeth; within, your own wings are molting one by one; yet you linger in a doomed kingdom hoping to buy a few more days—like Marquis Wu of Wei boasting over his rivers and mountains, blind to the truth that power rises and falls and that what he prized was not truly his to keep.

方今百僚濟濟，俊乂盈朝，武臣猛將，折沖萬里，國富兵強，六軍精練，思復翰飛，飲馬南海。自頃國家整修器械，興造舟楫，簡習水戰，樓船萬艘，千里相望，刳木已來，舟車之用未有如今之殷盛者也。驍勇百萬，畜力待時。役不再舉，今日之師也。然主相眷眷未便電發者，猶以為愛人治國，道家所尚，崇城遂卑，文王退舍，故先開大信，喻以存亡，殷勤之指，往使所究也。若能審勢安危，自求多福，蹶然改容，祗承往錫，追慕南越，嬰齊入侍，北面稱臣，伏聽告策，則世祚江表，永為魏籓，豐功顯報，隆於今日矣。若猶侮慢，未順王命，然後謀力雲合，指麾從風，雍、梁二州，順流而東，青、徐戰士，列江而西，荊、揚兗、豫，爭驅八沖，征東甲卒，武步秣陵，爾乃王輿整駕，六戎徐征，羽校燭日，旌旗星流，龍游曜路，歌吹盈耳，士卒奔邁，其會如林，煙塵俱起，震天駭地，渴賞之士，鋒鏑爭先，忽然一旦，身首橫分，宗祀淪覆，取戒萬世，引領南望，良助寒心！夫療膏肓之疾者，必進苦口之藥；決狐疑之慮者，亦告逆耳之言。如其猶豫，迷而不反，恐俞附見其已死，扁鵲知其無功矣。勉思良圖，惟所去就。

Today the court teems with able men, fierce generals hold the enemy at bay a thousand miles away, the treasury is full and the six hosts are hardened for war, eager to spread their wings and water their horses in the southern sea. The state has lately refitted arms, built fleets, drilled river warfare, and launched myriads of tower ships that stretch in sight of one another for a thousand li—never since men first hollowed logs for boats have water and land transport been readied on such a scale. A million veterans stand by, hoarding their strength for the chosen hour. The next campaign will not need a second levy: the host is ready today. Yet ruler and chancellor have held back from striking like lightning because they prize the Daoist maxim of cherishing the people: as King Wen once raised his siege works high only to dismantle them and withdraw, they first offer you utmost good faith and send envoys to explain life and death—this is the burden our messengers bear. If you read the danger aright and choose the better fortune—if you change your bearing, accept past kindness, follow the example of Southern Yue when its king sent his heir to wait on the Han court, face north as a vassal, and bow to receive the edict—your line may keep the south of the river forever as Wei's bulwark, and your reward will tower above anything you enjoy today. If you cling to arrogance and defy the king's command, then every plan and weapon will mass like a cloud: Yong and Liang will sweep downriver to the east, Qing and Xu veterans line the western shore, hosts from Jing, Yang, Yan, and Yu thunder through every pass, and the eastern expedition's mail-clad ranks march on Moling until the imperial carriages form line, the six armies advance at a steady pace, pennons outshine the sun, banners stream like meteors, chariots roll like dragons in glittering files, and music fills the air—soldiers will rush to the rendezvous thick as a forest, dust will blot heaven and earth, every man hungry for reward will strain to be first at the spears, and in one morning your head may part from your body, your altars fall, and you become a warning for ages—stretch your neck toward the south and you will know enough to shudder! A disease in the vitals calls for bitter medicine; to cut through doubt one must speak unwelcome truth. If you hesitate still, lost past turning back, even Yu Fu will pronounce the corpse beyond saving and Bian Que will decline the case as hopeless. Think hard on a wise course and choose your path.

劭等至吳，不敢為通。

When Fu Shao and his party reached Wu, no one dared pass the letter to the throne.

楚後遷佐著作郎，復參石苞驃騎軍事。楚既負其材氣，頗侮易於苞，初至，長揖曰：「天子命我參卿軍事。」因此而嫌隙遂構。苞奏楚與吳人孫世山共訕毀時政，楚亦抗表自理，紛紜經年，事未判，又與鄉人郭奕忿爭。武帝雖不顯明其罪，然以少賤受責，遂湮廢積年。初，參軍不敬府主，楚既輕苞，遂制施敬，自楚始也。

Sun Chu was later promoted to assistant editorial director and again served on the staff of Shi Bao, general of swift cavalry. Confident in his gifts, Sun Chu treated Shi Bao with thinly veiled contempt; on his first day he made only a standing bow and said, "The Son of Heaven has ordered me to join your staff." From that moment bad blood grew between them. Shi Bao reported that Sun Chu had slandered the court together with a Wu man named Sun Shishan; Sun Chu answered with a memorial in his own defense; the wrangle dragged on a year without verdict, and he also fell into a bitter quarrel with his townsman Guo Yi. Emperor Wu never formally declared him guilty, yet because he had slighted his commander he was left in disgrace for years. Until then staff officers had not been required to defer to their commanders; because Sun Chu had insulted Shi Bao, a rule was laid down that they must show respect—a reform that began with Sun Chu.

征西將軍，扶風王駿與楚舊好，起為參軍。轉梁令，遷衛將軍司馬，時龍見武庫井中，群臣將上賀，楚上言曰：「頃聞武庫井中有二龍，群臣或有謂之禎祥而稱賀者，或有謂之非祥無所賀者，可謂楚既失之，而齊亦未為得也。夫龍或俯鱗潛於重泉，或仰攀雲漢遊乎蒼昊，而今蟠于坎井，同於蛙蝦者，豈獨管庫之士或有隱伏，廝役之賢沒于行伍？故龍見光景，有所感悟。願陛下赦小過，舉賢才，垂夢于傅岩，望想於渭濱，修學官，起淹滯，申命公卿，舉獨行君子可惇風厲俗者，又舉亮拔秀異之才可以撥煩理難矯世抗言者，無系世族，必先逸賤。夫戰勝攻取之勢，並兼混一之威，五伯之事，韓、白之功耳；至於制禮作樂，闡揚道化，甫是士人出筋力之秋也。伏願陛下擇狂夫之言。」

Sima Jun, the Prince of Fufeng and general who conquers the west, was an old friend of Sun Chu and had him brought out of retirement as an army adviser. He was transferred to magistrate of Liang and promoted to marshal to the guard general. When two dragons were seen in the arsenal well and the ministers prepared to congratulate the throne, Sun Chu submitted a memorial: "I have lately heard of two dragons in the arsenal well. Some ministers call it a good omen and would congratulate Your Majesty; others deny that it is auspicious and would not congratulate. One might say that Chu was wrong in its reading, but Qi was not entirely right either. Dragons may hide their scales in the deepest pools or climb the Milky Way in the open sky; to find them coiled in a well like frogs and mudfish—does this mean only that some clerk in the armory has hidden talent, or that worthy men of low station languish among the ranks? The dragon's appearance is a sign meant to stir reflection. I pray that Your Majesty will overlook petty faults, promote worthy men, dream as Wu Ding dreamed of a sage at Fu Rock, look as King Wen looked beside the Wei River, restore the schools, lift the blocked and forgotten, command the high ministers to recommend recluses whose conduct can improve the age, and men of outstanding talent who can cut through tangles, set chaos right, and speak truth to power—without confining the search to great families, and looking first among the humble and overlooked. The work of conquest and the glory of uniting the realm belong to the Five Hegemons and to captains like Han Xin and Bai Qi; but to set rites and music in order and spread the transforming power of the Way is the season in which men of learning must bend their strength. I beg Your Majesty to heed even the wild words of a humble subject."

惠帝初，為馮翊太守。元康三年卒。

Early in Emperor Hui's reign he became governor of Fufeng. He died in the third year of the Yuankang era.

初，楚與同郡王濟友善，濟為本州大中正，訪問銓邑人品狀，至楚，濟曰：「此人非卿所能目，吾自為之。」乃狀楚曰：「天才英博，亮拔不群。」楚少時欲隱居，謂濟曰：「當欲枕石漱流。」誤云「漱石枕流」。濟曰：「流非可枕，石非可漱。」楚曰：「所以枕流，欲洗其耳；所以漱石，欲厲其齒。」楚少所推服，惟雅敬濟。初，楚除婦服，作詩以示濟，濟曰：「未知文生於情，情生於文，覽之淒然，增伉儷之重。」

Sun Chu was on good terms with Wang Ji of his commandery. When Wang Ji served as grand rectifier for the province and was reviewing local character ratings, he came to Sun Chu and said, "This man is beyond your judgment; I shall write his evaluation myself." He therefore wrote of Sun Chu: "Heaven-given genius, heroic breadth, outstanding and peerless." In his youth Sun Chu wished to retire from the world and told Wang Ji, "I mean to use a rock for my pillow and rinse my mouth in a stream." He misspoke as "rinse my mouth with stone and pillow on the current." " Wang Ji replied, "You cannot pillow on a current, nor rinse your teeth with a stone." Sun Chu said, "I pillow on the current to wash my ears and I rinse with stone to sharpen my teeth." Sun Chu rarely looked up to anyone, but he honored Wang Ji deeply. When Sun Chu ended mourning for his wife, he showed Wang Ji a poem he had written. Wang Ji said, "I never knew whether feeling begets the words or the words beget the feeling; reading this, I am moved to sorrow and feel more deeply the bond of marriage."

三子：眾、洵、纂。眾及洵俱未仕而早終，惟纂子統、綽並知名。

He had three sons: Sun Zhong, Sun Xun, and Sun Zuan. Sun Zhong and Sun Xun died young without ever serving; only the sons of Sun Zuan, Sun Tong and Sun Chuo, won renown.

統字承公。幼與綽及從弟盛過江。誕任不羈，而善屬文，時人以為有楚風。征北將軍褚裒聞其名，命為參軍，辭不就，家於會稽。性好山水，乃求為鄞令，轉在吳寧。居職不留心碎務，縱意遊肆，名山勝川，靡不窮究。後為余姚令，卒。

Sun Tong, courtesy name Chenggong. In youth he crossed the Yangtze with Sun Chuo and his cousin Sun Sheng. He was wildly unconventional and a fine writer; his contemporaries thought he had his father's dash. Chu Pou, general who conquers the north, heard of him and offered him a staff post, but he declined and settled in Kuaiji. He loved landscape and therefore sought appointment as magistrate of Yin, then was transferred to Wuning. In office he spared no attention to petty paperwork but gave himself to wandering; there was hardly a famous peak or stream he did not explore to the end. He later became magistrate of Yuyao and died in that post.

子騰嗣，以博學著稱，位至廷尉。騰弟登，少善名理，注《老子》，行於世，仕至尚書郎，早終。

His son Sun Teng succeeded him, was known for wide scholarship, and rose to commandant of justice. Sun Teng's younger brother Sun Deng was adept in youth at logical disputation, wrote a commentary on the Laozi that circulated widely, reached the post of gentleman of the masters of writing, and died young.

纂子綽

Sun Chuo, son of Sun Zuan.

綽字興公。博學善屬文，少與高陽許詢俱有高尚之志。居於會稽，遊放山水，十有餘年，乃作《遂初賦》以致其意。嘗鄙山濤，而謂人曰：「山濤吾所不解，吏非吏，隱非隱，若以元禮門為龍津，則當點額暴鱗矣。」所居齋前種一株松，恆自守護，鄰人謂之曰：「樹子非不楚楚可憐，但恐永無棟樑日耳。」綽答曰：「楓柳雖復合抱，亦何所施邪！」綽與詢一時名流，或愛詢高邁，則鄙於綽，或愛綽才藻，而無取於詢。沙門支遁試問綽：「君何如許？」答曰：「高情遠致，弟子早已伏膺；然一詠一吟，許將北面矣。」絕重張衡、左思之賦，每云：「《三都》、《二京》，五經之鼓吹也。」嘗作《天臺山賦》，辭致甚工，初成，以示友人范榮期，云：「卿試擲地，當作金石聲也。」榮期曰：「恐此金石非中宮商。」然每至佳句，輒云：「應是我輩語。」除著作佐郎，襲爵長樂侯。」

Sun Chuo, whose courtesy name was Xinggong. He was widely read and a fine writer; in youth he and Xu Xun of Gaoyang shared a determination to live above vulgar ambition. He lived in Kuaiji for more than ten years, wandering among hills and streams, then wrote his rhapsody "On Finding Life's First Intent" to express his mind. He once spoke slightingly of Shan Tao, saying, "I cannot make sense of Shan Tao—neither fish nor fowl, neither in office nor out of it; if he took Li Ying's threshold for the dragon gate, he would be the carp that burned its brow and never leaped the torrent." Before his studio he planted a single pine and tended it himself. A neighbor told him, "The sapling is pretty enough, but I fear it will never see the day it serves as a beam." Sun Chuo replied, "Maples and willows may grow thick as an embrace—what good are they for timber!" Sun Chuo and Xu Xun were the leading lights of their day: some who admired Xu's lofty detachment looked down on Chuo, while others who prized Chuo's brilliance dismissed Xu. The monk Zhi Dun once asked Sun Chuo, "How do you rank beside Xu Xun?" He answered, "In depth of mind and reach of vision I have long bowed to him; yet in poetry and song he would face north to me as the lesser." He ranked the rhapsodies of Zhang Heng and Zuo Si above all others, declaring that the Three Capitals and Two Metropolises were the drum and fife that proclaimed the Five Classics." He once finished his "Rhapsody on Mount Tiantai," a piece of consummate craft, and showed it to his friend Fan Rongqi, saying, "Throw it on the ground—it should ring like bronze or stone." Fan Rongqi replied, "I fear this metal and stone is off key." Yet whenever he came to a fine line he would say, "That must be one of ours." He was appointed assistant editorial director and succeeded to the title of marquis of Changle."

綽性通率，好譏調。嘗與習鑿齒共行，綽在前，顧謂鑿齒曰：「沙之汰之，瓦石在後。」鑿齒曰：「簸之揚之，糠秕在前。」

Sun Chuo was blunt and outspoken and loved a sharp jest. Walking once with Xi Zuochi, Sun Chuo took the lead, looked back, and said, "When sand is sifted, the gravel falls to the rear." Xi Zuochi shot back, "When grain is winnowed, the chaff flies to the front."

征西將軍庾亮請為參軍，補章安令，徵拜太學博士，遷尚書郎。楊州刺史殷浩以為建威長史。會稽內史王羲之引為右軍長史。轉永嘉太守，遷散騎常侍，領著作郎。

Yu Liang, general who conquers the west, took him on as an army adviser; he was then named magistrate of Zhang'an, summoned as an erudite of the imperial academy, and promoted to gentleman of the masters of writing. Yin Hao, inspector of Yangzhou, appointed him senior clerk to the general who establishes might. Wang Xizhi, interior governor of Kuaiji, brought him in as chief clerk to the general of the right army. He was transferred to governor of Yongjia, then promoted to cavalier attendant-in-ordinary and concurrent editorial director.

時大司馬桓溫欲經緯中國，以河南粗平，將移都洛陽。朝廷畏溫，不敢為異，而北土蕭條，人情疑懼，雖並知不可，莫敢先諫。綽乃上疏曰：

Grand Marshal Huan Wen wished to reorder the realm; with the Henan region south of the Yellow River roughly pacified, he proposed moving the capital to Luoyang. The court feared Huan Wen and voiced no dissent, yet the north was a waste and the people were anxious; though everyone knew the scheme was folly, no one dared speak first. Sun Chu therefore addressed a memorial:

伏見征西大將軍臣溫表「便當躬率三軍，討除二寇，蕩滌河、渭，清灑舊京，然後神旂電舒，朝服濟江，反皇居於中土，正玉衡於天極。」斯超世之弘圖，千載之盛事。然臣之所懷，竊有未安，以為帝王之興，莫不藉地利人和以建功業，貴能以義平暴，因而撫之。懷湣不建，滄胥秦京，遂令胡戎交侵，神州絕綱，土崩之釁，誠由道喪。然中夏蕩蕩，一時橫流，百郡千城曾無完郛者，何哉？亦以地不可守，投奔有所故也。天祚未革，中宗龍飛，非惟信順協於天人而已，實賴萬里長江畫而守之耳。《易》稱「王公設險以守其國」，險之時義大矣哉！斯已然之明效也。今作勝談，自當任道而遺險；校實量分，不得不保小以固存。自喪亂已來六十餘年，蒼生殄滅，百不遺一，河洛丘、虛，函夏蕭條，井堙木刊，阡陌夷滅，生理茫茫，永無依歸。播流江表，已經數世，存者長子老孫，亡者丘隴成行。雖北風之思感其素心，目前之哀實為交切。若遷都旋軫之日，中舉五陵，即復緬成遐域。泰山之安既難以理保，烝烝之思豈不纏於聖心哉！

I have read the memorial of General Huan Wen, in which he writes that he will personally lead the three hosts, destroy the two rebels, scour the Yellow and Wei valleys and cleanse the old capital, then let the imperial banners sweep like lightning, cross the river in court regalia, restore the throne to the central plain, and set the celestial pivot aright." That would be a plan to tower above the age and a deed to shine for a thousand years. Yet in my heart something still troubles me: every founder of a dynasty has relied on favorable terrain and the support of the people to build his work, and has prized the use of justice to crush violence and then to comfort those he conquers. When Emperors Huai and Min could not hold the house, the capital fell to ruin and barbarian hosts overran one another; the bonds of the Chinese world snapped, and the landslide came because the moral order had collapsed. Yet the heartland was swept bare in a single flood; of hundreds of commanderies and thousands of towns scarcely one kept its walls whole—why was that? Because the land could no longer be defended and the people had to flee somewhere. Heaven's mandate had not yet passed from Jin; Emperor Yuan rose like a dragon—not only because trust and obedience ran with Heaven and men, but because he could draw the line of defense along the long Yangtze. The Book of Changes says that kings and dukes set natural barriers to defend their states—how great is the meaning of "peril" in its season! That lesson is already plain in our own experience. In fine rhetoric one may trust the Way and forget about terrain; yet when one weighs the facts, one must cling to what can be held if the state is to survive. More than sixty years have passed since the catastrophe; the common folk were slaughtered until fewer than one in a hundred remained; the Yellow and Luo valleys are heaped ruins, the heartland is empty, wells are choked and groves felled, field paths gone—there is no livelihood there and no home to return to. Those who fled south of the Yangtze have lived there for generations; the living have raised sons and grandsons, and the dead lie in ranked tombs. They still feel the north wind's pull in their hearts, yet the grief before their eyes cuts them to the quick. If the court wheels north and the capital moves, the imperial tombs at Wuling will at once lie beyond a distant frontier. The peace of Mount Tai would then be hard to guarantee by any policy, and the tender tie of filial grief could not fail to weigh on Your Majesty's heart!

溫今此舉，誠欲大覽始終，為國遠圖。向無山陵之急，亦未首決大謀，獨任天下之至難也。今發憤忘食，忠慨亮到，凡在有心，孰不致感！而百姓震駭，同懷危懼者，豈不以反舊之樂賒，而趣死之憂促哉！何者？植根于江外數十年矣，一朝拔之，頓驅踧於空荒之地，提挈萬里，逾險浮深，離墳墓，棄生業，富者無三年之糧，貧者無一餐之飯，田宅不可復售，舟車無從而得，舍安樂之國，適習亂之鄉，出必安之地，就累卵之危，將頓僕道塗，飄溺江川，僅有達者。夫國以人為本，疾寇所以為人，眾喪而寇除，亦安所取裁？此仁者所宜哀矜，國家所宜深慮也。自古今帝王之都，豈有常所，時隆則宅中而圖大，勢屈則遵養以待會。使德不可勝，家有三年之積，然後始可謀太平之事耳。今天時人事，有未至者矣，一朝欲一宇宙，無乃頓而難舉乎？

Huan Wen's present plan does aim to see the whole course through and to work a lasting good for the state. Had there been no crisis at the imperial tombs, he would not have pressed so bold a design or taken on alone the hardest task in the realm. Now he forgets his meals in loyal zeal, and every feeling heart is moved! Yet the people are terrified and share a single dread—because the joy of going home is still far off while the fear of marching to death is immediate! Why? They have set down roots south of the river for decades; to tear them up at a stroke and march them into a barren wilderness, dragging families a thousand miles over peril and deep water, leaving ancestral graves and livelihoods—the rich have not grain for three years, the poor not a meal in the pot; they cannot sell their lands or find carts and boats; they would leave a peaceful country for a land of chronic war, step from safety into danger piled as high as eggs, stumble and die on the road or drown in the rivers, and only a handful would arrive. The state exists for its people; we hate the invaders because they harm the people—if the people are destroyed while the invaders are cleared, what victory is left to measure? This is what a humane ruler must pity and what the court must weigh with the utmost care. Capitals have never been fixed for all time: when fortune is high the court sits in the center and plans on a grand scale; when power is weak it withdraws and bides its time for the right moment. Virtue must be more than a match for any foe, and every household must have three years' grain in store before one may speak of lasting peace. Heaven's timing and human readiness have not yet met; to try to set the whole world in order at a single stroke—is that not rash and beyond our strength?

臣之愚計，以為且可更遣一將有威名資實者，先鎮洛陽，於陵所築二壘以奉衛山陵，掃平梁、許，清一河南，運漕之路既通，然後盡力於開墾，廣田積穀，漸為徙者之資。如此，賊見亡征，勢必遠竄。如其迷逆不化，復欲送死者，南北諸軍風馳電赴，若身手之救痛癢，率然之應首尾，山陵既固，中夏小康。陛下且端委紫極，增修德政，躬行漢文簡樸之至，去小惠，節游費，審官人，練甲兵，以養士滅寇為先。十年行之，無使隳廢，則貧者殖其財，怯者充其勇，人知天德，赴死如歸，以此致政，猶運諸掌握。何故舍百勝之長理，舉天下而一擲哉！陛下春秋方富，溫克壯其猷，君臣相與，弘養德業，括囊元吉，豈不快乎！

My humble plan would be to send first a seasoned general of proven reputation to hold Luoyang, raise twin forts at the tomb precinct to guard the imperial graves, clear the Liang and Xu regions and pacify the south bank of the Yellow River, open the grain barges again, and only then push reclamation, widen the fields, and pile up grain as a fund for gradual resettlement. Then the enemy will read the signs of doom and scatter far away. If they cling to rebellion and court death again, the armies north and south can strike like wind and lightning, head and tail answering like hand to itch; the tombs will stand secure and the heartland will know a measure of peace. Meanwhile Your Majesty may sit serene on the throne, deepen virtuous rule, follow Emperor Wen of Han in plain living, cut petty largess and pleasure travel, scrutinize appointments, drill the hosts, and put the feeding of the army and the destruction of the enemy first. Pursue this for ten years without slackening, and the poor will grow rich, the timid grow brave, men will feel Heaven's kindness and go to death as gladly as home—then good government rests in the palm of your hand. Why abandon a strategy sure to win and stake the whole realm on a single throw! Your Majesty is in the prime of life and Huan Wen in the vigor of his plans; ruler and minister together can build virtue and hold fortune in the bag like the hexagram's great good—could anything be more welcome!

今溫唱高議，聖朝互同，臣以輕微，獨獻管見。出言之難，實在今日，而臣區區必聞天聽者，竊以無諱之朝，狂瞽進說，芻蕘之謀，聖賢所察，所以不勝至憂，觸冒幹陳。若陛下垂神，溫少留思，豈非屈於一人而允億兆之顧哉！如以幹忤罪大，欲加顯戮，使丹誠上達，退受刑誅，雖沒泉壤，屍且不朽。

Huan Wen has set forth his lofty proposal and the court echoes him; I alone, the least of your servants, offer the view through a narrow tube. To speak out is hardest at a moment like this, yet I must reach Your Majesty's ear because in an age that welcomes frank counsel even the blind may speak and sages weigh the woodcutter's plan—such is the depth of my fear that I risk offense to lay it bare. If Your Majesty will bend an ear and Huan Wen pause to reflect, would that not mean yielding a little to one man while granting the wish of millions! If my bluntness counts as a great crime and Your Majesty would have me executed openly, let this loyal heart first be heard; I will then withdraw and accept death, and though I sink into the earth my bones will not rot.

桓溫見綽表，不悅，曰：「致意興公，何不尋君《遂初賦》，知人家國事邪！」尋轉廷尉卿，領著作。綽少以文才垂稱，于時文士，綽為其冠。溫、王、郗、庾諸公之薨，必須綽為碑文，然後刊石焉。年五十八，卒。

Huan Wen read Sun Chuo's memorial without pleasure and said, "Give Xinggong my word: why does he not stick to his rhapsody On Finding Life's First Intent instead of prying into another man's statecraft!" Soon afterward Sun Chuo was made commandant of justice while retaining charge of the editorial office. Sun Chuo won fame early as a writer and stood at the head of the literary men of his day. When great men such as Huan Wen, Wang Dao, Xi Jian, and Yu Liang died, Sun Chuo had to draft the inscription before the stele could be cut. He died at fifty-eight.

子嗣，有綽風，文章相亞，位至中軍參軍，早亡。

His son Sun Si resembled his father in manner and ran him close as a writer; he rose to army adviser on the staff of the central army but died young.

史臣曰：江統風檢操行，良有可稱，陳留多士，斯為其冠。《徙戎》之論，實乃經國遠圖。然運距中衰，陵替有漸，假其言見用，恐速禍招怨，無救於將顛也。逮湣懷廢徙，冒禁拜辭，所謂命輕鴻毛，義貴熊掌。虨位隆端石，竭誠獻替。惇遺忽榮利，聿修天爵。雖出處異途，俱難兄弟矣。孫楚體英絢之姿，超然出類，見知武子，誠無愧色。覽其貽皓之書，諒曩代之佳筆也。而負才誕傲，蔑苞忿奕，違遜讓之道，肆陵憤之氣，丁年沈廢，諒自取矣。統、綽棣華秀髮，名顯中興，可謂無忝爾祖。統竟淪跡下邑，窮觀勝地，會其心焉。綽獻直論辭，都不懾元子，有匪躬之節，豈徒文雅而已哉！

The historians write: In demeanor and conduct Jiang Tong had much to commend, and among the many talents of Chenliu he stood first. His treatise on relocating the Rong was statesmanship of the longest view. Yet fate had set the dynasty on a slope of decline; had his advice been followed, it might only have hastened disaster and rancor and could not have saved the house as it tottered. When Princes Min and Huai were deposed and banished, he broke the ban to bid them farewell—life light as a goose feather, duty weighty as a bear's paw. Jiang Bin rose to the summit of the civil service and gave his utmost in counsel for the good of the throne. Jiang Dun turned his back on rank and gain and cultivated the nobility that Heaven grants. Though they took different paths in and out of office, both brothers were men hard to match. Sun Chu bore a brilliant presence and stood above the common run; that Wang Ji recognized him was no discredit to either man. To read his letter to Sun Hao is to see one of the finest pens of an earlier age. Yet he trusted his gifts to the point of arrogance, slighted Shi Bao and quarreled with Guo Yi, spurned modesty, and gave free rein to his haughty temper, so that he languished in his prime—he had himself to blame. Sun Tong and Sun Chuo, like flowering catalpa, won fame in the restoration and did no dishonor to their forebears. Sun Tong ended his days in a humble magistracy, roaming every famous landscape until his heart found rest. Sun Chuo set forth blunt remonstrance without flinching before Huan Wen and showed the integrity of a man who forgets himself for his lord—far more than mere literary grace!

贊曰：應元蹈義，子荊越俗。江寡悔尤，孫貽擯辱。統昆弟，江左馳聲。彬彬藻思，綽冠群英。

The encomium runs: Jiang Tong trod the path of duty; Sun Chu rose above the vulgar. The Jiangs knew few regrets; the Suns brought exile and shame on themselves. Sun Tong and his brothers won renown east of the Yangtze. In polished literary genius Sun Chuo stood first among the outstanding men of his time.

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