Volume 70 Biographies 40: Ying Zhan; Gan Zhuo; Deng Qian; Bian Kun

應詹字思遠，汝南南頓人，魏侍中璩之孫也。詹幼孤，爲祖母所養。年十餘歲，祖母又終，居喪毀頓，杖而後起，遂以孝聞。家富於財，年又稚弱，乃請族人共居，委以資產，情若至親，世以此異焉。弱冠知名，性質素弘雅，物雖犯而弗之校，以學藝文章稱。司徒何劭見之曰：「君子哉若人！」

Ying Zhan, whose courtesy name was Siyuan, came from Nandun in Runan; he was the grandson of Ying Qu, who had served Wei as Palace Attendant. He lost his parents while still a boy and was brought up by his grandmother. After his grandmother died when he was just past ten, he mourned until his body gave way and he needed a walking stick to stand; word of his filial piety spread. The family was wealthy, but he was still a child; he asked his kinsmen to share one roof with him and handed his assets into their care, treating them as his nearest kin—an act that struck people of the time as extraordinary. After his capping he won a reputation; he was steady, broad-minded, and elegant by temperament, slow to take offense when others crossed him, and admired for his scholarship, arts, and writing. When Situ He Shao met him, he exclaimed, “Here is a true gentleman.”

初辟公府，爲太子舍人。趙王倫以爲征東長史。倫誅，坐免。成都王穎辟爲掾。時驃騎從事中郎諸葛玫委長沙王乂奔鄴，盛稱乂之非。玫浮躁有才辯，臨漳人士無不詣之。詹與玫有舊，歎曰：「諸葛仁林何與樂毅之相詭乎！」卒不見之。玫聞甚愧。鎮南大將軍劉弘，詹之祖舅也，請爲長史，謂之曰：「君器識弘深，後當代老子於荊南矣。」仍委以軍政。弘著績漢南，詹之力也。遷南平太守。

He first received appointment from the general administration and served as Gentleman Attendant of the heir apparent. Sima Lun, Prince of Zhao, named him senior clerk on the staff of the eastward expedition. After Sima Lun was put to death, Ying Zhan was stripped of office by association. Sima Ying, Prince of Chengdu, recruited him to his secretariat. At the time Zhuge Mei, who served as clerk on the dashing cavalry general’s staff, had left Prince Sima Yi of Changsha for Ye and was loudly blackening Yi’s name. Zhuge Mei was volatile yet eloquent, and everyone of standing around Linzhang beat a path to his door. Zhan had known Zhuge Mei for years and sighed, “How can Zhuge Renlin diverge so wildly from the conduct of Yue Yi!” He never went to see him. When Zhuge Mei heard, he was mortified. Liu Hong, General Who Guards the South and Zhan’s grandfather on his mother’s side, invited him as senior clerk and told him, “Your talent and judgment run deep; in time you will succeed me in holding the Jing southlands.” He then placed military affairs in his hands. Liu Hong’s record of achievement in the southern Han basin owed much to Ying Zhan’s exertions. He rose to become administrator of Nanping commandery.

王澄爲荊州，假詹督南平、天門、武陵三郡軍事。及洛陽傾覆，詹攘袂流涕，勸澄赴援。澄使詹爲檄，詹下筆便成，辭義壯烈，見者慷慨，然竟不能從也。天門、武陵谿蠻並反，詹討降之。時政令不一，諸蠻怨望，並謀背叛。詹召蠻酋，破銅券與盟，由是懷詹，數郡無虞。其後天下大亂，詹境獨全。百姓歌之曰：「亂離既普，殆爲灰朽。僥倖之運，賴茲應后。歲寒不凋，孤境獨守。拯我塗炭，惠隆丘阜。潤同江海，恩猶父母。」鎮南將軍山簡復假詹督五郡軍事。會蜀賊杜疇作亂，來攻詹郡，力戰摧之。尋與陶侃破杜弢於長沙，賊中金寶溢目，詹一無所取，唯收圖書，莫不歎之。元帝假詹建武將軍，王敦又上詹監巴東五郡軍事，賜爵潁陽鄉侯。陳人王沖擁眾荊州，素服詹名，迎爲刺史。詹以沖等無賴，棄還南平，沖亦不怨。其得人情如此。遷益州刺史，領巴東監軍。詹之出郡也，士庶攀車號泣，若戀所生。

Wang Cheng, as governor of Jingzhou, temporarily assigned Zhan to supervise military affairs in Nanping, Tianmen, and Wuling. When the capital collapsed, Zhan wept openly, sleeves pushed back, and pressed Wang Cheng to march to relieve it. Wang Cheng told him to compose a call to arms; the piece flowed from his brush, fierce and stirring, and moved every reader—yet Wang Cheng still refused to move. The “ravine” peoples of Tianmen and Wuling rose together; Zhan campaigned against them and forced their surrender. Government edicts clashed, the tribes grew resentful, and they conspired to rebel. He summoned their headmen, split a bronze tally, and bound them by oath; they came to trust him, and a swath of commanderies stayed calm. As the empire slid into chaos, the region he oversaw alone stayed whole. The people sang: “Chaos has spread far and wide; we were almost ash and rot. Yet fortune lets us lean on Lord Ying. Through the bitter season we do not fade; this lone frontier still stands. He pulls us from ruin; his kindness looms like hills. His bounty floods like the sea; his grace feels parental.” General Who Guards the South Shan Jian likewise put him in temporary charge of five commanderies’ forces. When the Shu rebel Du Chou rose and struck his jurisdiction, Zhan fought fiercely and broke the attack. He soon joined Tao Kan in crushing Du Tao at Changsha. Treasure glittered everywhere in the captured camp, but Zhan took only charts and books, and onlookers marveled. Emperor Yuan appointed him acting General Who Establishes Might; Wang Dun also nominated him to supervise the five eastern Ba commanderies and enfeoffed him as village marquis of Yingyang. Wang Chong of Chen, leading a body of men in Jingzhou, had always respected Zhan’s reputation and offered him the governorship. Zhan judged Chong and his followers disreputable adventurers and returned to Nanping; Wang Chong did not resent it. That was how deeply he commanded people’s regard. He advanced to inspector of Yi province while continuing as army supervisor in eastern Ba. As he left the district, scholars and townsfolk seized his cart and wept as though losing their own parents.

俄拜後軍將軍。詹上疏陳便宜，曰：「先王設官，使君有常尊，臣有定卑，上無苟且之志，下無覬覦之心。下至亡秦，罷侯置守，本替末陵，綱紀廢絕。漢興，雖未能興復舊典，猶雜建侯守，故能享年享世，殆參古跡。今大荒之後，制度改創，宜因斯會，釐正憲則，先舉盛德元功以爲封首，則聖世之化比隆唐虞矣。」又曰：「性相近，習相遠，訓導之風，宜慎所好。魏正始之間，蔚爲文林。元康以來，賤經尚道，以玄虛宏放爲夷達，以儒術清儉爲鄙俗。永嘉之弊，未必不由此也。今雖有儒官，教養未備，非所以長育人材，納之軌物也。宜修辟雍，崇明教義，先令國子受訓，然後皇儲親臨釋奠，則普天尚德，率土知方矣。」元帝雅重其才，深納之。

Shortly after he was named General of the Rear Guard. He presented a memorial on practical reform: “The ancient kings set up offices so the sovereign kept constant authority and ministers a clear chain of command—no slack ambition above, no grasping ambition below. By the fallen Qin, feudal lords were swept away for commandery magistrates; foundations and branches were inverted and good order collapsed. When Han rose it could not wholly revive the classical order, yet it still mixed fiefs with local governors, which is why it enjoyed long reigns almost matching antiquity. After the great ruin we must refashion institutions; this is the time to align the laws, beginning by investing men of towering virtue and signal merit—then our age could stand beside the eras of Tang and Yu.” He added: “Natures are alike; habits set people apart. In moral education we must watch what we cultivate. In Wei’s Zhengshi era letters bloomed into a whole grove of talent. From Yuankang on, classics were spurned for abstruse Daoism; idle transcendence passed for sophistication, while Confucian rigor seemed coarse. The Yongjia disaster surely owed something to that fashion. Today’s Confucian posts lack real schooling; they cannot nurture talent or keep men within bounds. Rebuild the ritual academy, lift the sages’ doctrine, drill the imperial students first, then have the heir apparent preside at the ceremonial libation—so the world esteems virtue and every quarter knows its duty.” Emperor Yuan prized his ability and took his counsel to heart.

頃之，出補吳國內史，以公事免。鎮北將軍劉隗出鎮，以詹爲軍司。加散騎常侍，累遷光祿勳。詹以王敦專制自樹，故優游諷詠，無所標明。及敦作逆，明帝問詹計將安出。詹厲然慷慨曰：「陛下宜奮赫斯之威，臣等當得負戈前驅，庶憑宗廟之靈，有征無戰。如其不然，王室必危。」帝以詹爲都督前鋒軍事、護軍將軍、假節，都督朱雀橋南。賊從竹格渡江，詹與建威將軍趙胤等擊敗之，斬賊率杜發，梟首數千級。賊平，封觀陽縣侯，食邑一千六百戶，賜絹五千匹。上疏讓曰：「臣聞開國承家，光啟土宇，唯令德元功乃宜封錫。臣雖忝當一隊，策無微略，勞不汗馬。猥以疏賤，倫亞親密，暫廁被練，列勤司勳。乞迴謬恩，聽其所守。」不許。

Soon he went out as interior minister of the princedom of Wu and was dismissed over a routine affair. When Liu Kui, General Who Guards the North, departed for his post, he named Zhan director of his army. He also received the title of cavalier attendant-in-ordinary and eventually became minister of the imperial clan. With Wang Dun wielding unchecked power, Zhan kept his own counsel, drifting through poetry and song without airing a public position. When Wang Dun rebelled, Emperor Ming asked Zhan what to do. Zhan answered sharply: “You must summon the decisive wrath of a Son of Heaven; we will bear spears in the van, and with the aid of the ancestral spirits we may yet win without a fight. If not, the house of Jin will be in grave danger.” The emperor named him commander of the forward army, General Who Guards the Army, gave him the credential staff, and assigned him the defense south of the Zhuque Bridge. The rebels forded at Bamboo Lattice; Zhan and Zhao Yin, General Who Establishes Might, smashed them, beheading their chief Du Fa and piling up thousands of heads. After the victory he was made marquis of Guanyang with sixteen hundred taxable households and five thousand rolls of silk. He begged off in a memorial: “I have heard that fiefs belong only to men of shining virtue and supreme merit. I have merely commanded a unit; I offered no clever strategy and did not exhaust myself in the saddle. I am lowborn and remote from court, yet I was classed with the inner circle; I briefly wore armor and was listed among those commended to the ministry of merit. I ask you to withdraw this undeserved grace and let me keep only what my station warrants.” The throne refused.

遷使持節、都督江州諸軍事、平南將軍、江州刺史。詹將行，上疏曰：

He advanced to bearer of the credential staff, area commander for Jiang province, General Who Pacifies the South, and inspector of Jiang province. On the eve of his departure he presented a memorial:

夫欲用天下之智力者，莫若使天下信之也。商鞅移木，豈禮也哉？有由而然。自經荒弊，綱紀穨陵，清直之風既澆，糟秕之俗猶在，誠宜濯以滄浪之流，漉以吞舟之網，則幽顯明別，於變時雍矣。

To harness the wit and labor of the empire, nothing works better than earning its trust. Shang Yang’s pole-moving trick was hardly orthodox ritual—yet it had its purpose. It answered a real need. After years of ruin the statutes lie in ruins: integrity has thinned while slack habits linger. Wash them in the Canglang’s current and sift them with a net meant for leviathans—then dark and light will sort themselves and the realm will turn toward peace.

弘濟茲務，在乎官人。今南北雜錯，屬託者無保負之累，而輕舉所知，此博采所以未精，職理所以多闕。今凡有所用，宜隨其能否而與舉主同乎褒貶，則人有慎舉之恭，官無廢職之吝。昔冀缺有功，胥臣蒙先茅之賞；子玉敗軍，子文受蔿賈之責。古既有之，今亦宜然。漢朝使刺史行部，乘傳奏事，猶恐不足以辨彰幽明，弘宣政道，故復有繡衣直指。今之艱弊，過於往昔，宜分遣黃、散若中書郎等循行天下，觀採得失，舉善彈違，斷截苟且，則人不敢爲非矣。漢宣帝時，二千石有居職修明者，則入爲公卿；其不稱職免官者，皆還爲平人。懲勸必行，故歷世長久。中間以來，遷不足競，免不足懼。或有進而失意，退而得分。蒞官雖美，當以素論降替；在職實劣，直以舊望登敘。校游談爲多少，不以實事爲先後。以此責成，臣未見其兆也。今宜峻左降舊制，可二千石免官，三年乃得敘用，長史六年，戶口折半，道里倍之。此法必明，使天下知官難得而易失，必人慎其職，朝無惰官矣。都督可課佃二十頃，州十頃，郡五頃，縣三頃。皆取文武吏醫卜，不得撓亂百姓。三臺九府，中外諸軍，有可減損，皆令附農。市息末伎，道無游人，不過一熟，豐穰可必。然後重居職之俸，使祿足以代耕。

Carrying this through depends on appointing the right men. North and south are mixed; patrons risk nothing when their picks fail, yet freely tout acquaintances—so wide search still yields mediocrity and posts stay mismatched. Tie every appointment to the sponsor’s own record of praise or blame, and recommenders will tread carefully while no post sits idle. Long ago, when Ji Que earned distinction, Xu Chen shared the honor of the first pennant; when Ziyu lost his army, Ziwen took Wei Jia’s rebuke. The ancients set this pattern; we should follow it now. Han’s provincial inspectors toured by relay yet still worried they could not lay bare truth from falsehood or broadcast policy—hence the silk-clad special envoys. Our troubles are worse; we should send out yellow-gate and scattered cavalry attendants, or secretariat gentlemen, to circuit the empire, gather what works and what fails, lift the worthy and strike the corrupt, and end shoddy shortcuts—so no one dares misconduct. When Emperor Xuan of Han found a two-thousand-picul magistrate diligent in office, he moved him straight into the highest council; those who failed were cashiered back to private life. Because incentives and sanctions were real, the dynasty lasted. Later ages made promotion hardly worth chasing and demotion hardly worth dreading. Some rise and still fall from grace; others step down yet profit. Even a handsome appointment should be lowered when general opinion turns; men who plainly fail in post climb the ladder on stale prestige alone. People count reputations for clever chatter rather than real performance. Expect good government from that, and I see no portent of it. Tighten the classical demotion code: make a cashiered two-thousand-picul magistrate wait three years before reuse, a chief clerk six, cut registered households by half, and double the distance rule. Spell that out so everyone knows rank is scarce and fragile; officers will guard their posts and the court will shed slackers. Let area commanders farm twenty qing of allotted fields, prefects ten, magistrates of commanderies five, county magistrates three. Man them solely with civil clerks, doctors, and soothsayers—never press ordinary households. Every office from the three platforms and nine ministries down to central and field armies should trim superfluous posts and put freed hands to farming. Still the markets’ petty trades until the roads hold no drifters; one good season will bring plenty. Then raise salaries for substantive posts so emoluments truly replace tilling the soil.

頃大事之後，遐邇皆想宏略，而寂然未副，宜早振綱領，肅起群望。

After the great convulsion everyone expects bold leadership, yet little has changed; pull the reins tight now to answer that hope.

時王敦新平，人情未安，詹撫而懷之，莫不得其歡心，百姓賴之。

Wang Dun had only just been defeated; nerves were raw. Zhan soothed and won every heart, and the people leaned on him.

疾篤，與陶侃書曰：「每憶密計，自沔入湘，頡頏繾綣，齊好斷金。子南我東，忽然一紀，其間事故，何所不有。足下建功嶠南，旋鎮舊楚。吾承乏幸會，來忝此州，圖與足下進共竭節本朝，報恩幼主，退以申尋平生，纏綿舊好。豈悟時不我與，長即幽冥，永言莫從，能不慨悵！今神州未夷，四方多難，足下年德並隆，功名俱盛，宜務建洪範，雖休勿休，至公至平，至謙至順，即自天祐之，吉無不利。人之將死，其言也善，足下察吾此誠。」以咸和六年卒，[1]時年五十三。冊贈鎮南大將軍、儀同三司，諡曰烈，祠以太牢。子玄嗣，位至散騎侍郎。玄弟誕，有器榦，歷六郡太守、龍驤將軍，追贈冀州刺史。

As his sickness worsened he wrote Tao Kan: “Each time I remember our hidden strategy, driving from the Han bend into the Xiang, rising side by side yet clinging like lovers, our accord was strong enough to cut metal. You have been in the southern theater, I in the east; twelve years have slipped by, and between us everything imaginable has happened. You built your merit south of the ranges, then swung back to hold the Chu heartland. I stumbled into this governorship and crossed into your province hoping we could serve the throne side by side, repay the boy emperor’s trust, and in quieter days pick up the friendship we began long ago. Yet time turned against us: I am slipping into the shades and can no longer reach you—how could I not ache with regret? The Central Plain is still in turmoil. You are at the peak of age, virtue, name, and deed; you should live out the Great Plan—never slacken though the moment seems calm; hold to perfect equity, humility, and deference, and Heaven will shelter you with unbroken good fortune. A dying man’s words are meant kindly—please read my heart in them.” He died in 331, the sixth year of Xianhe, aged fifty-three. The court issued a patent posthumously naming him General Who Guards the South with three-offices protocol, styled him “Stalwart,” and offered him the great beast sacrifice. His heir Ying Xuan rose to gentleman cavalier attendant-in-ordinary. His brother Ying Dan was capable and forceful, served as magistrate over six commanderies and as General Who Inspires Might, and was posthumously named inspector of Ji.

初，京兆韋泓喪亂之際，親屬遇饑疫並盡，客遊洛陽，素聞詹名，遂依託之。詹與分甘共苦，情若弟兄。遂隨從積年，爲營伉儷，置居宅，并薦之於元帝曰：「自遭喪亂，人士易操，至乃任運固窮，耿介守節者尟矣。伏見議郎韋泓，年三十八，字元量，執心清沖，才識備濟，躬耕隴畝，不煩人役，靜默居常，不豫政事。昔年流移，來在詹境，經寇喪資，一身特立，短褐不掩形，菜蔬不充朝，而抗志彌厲，不遊非類。顏回稱不改其樂，泓有其分。明公輔亮皇室，恢維宇宙，四門開闢，英彥鳧藻，收春華於京輦，採秋實於巖藪。而泓抱璞荊山，未剖和璧。若蒙銓召，付以列曹，必能協隆鼎味，緝熙庶績者也。」帝即辟之。自後位至少府卿。既受詹生成之惠，詹卒，遂製朋友之服，哭止宿草，追趙氏祀程嬰、杵臼之義，祭詹終身。

Earlier, Wei Hong of Jingzhao had seen his whole family die in famine and plague; stranded in Luoyang he had heard of Ying Zhan and threw in his lot with him. Zhan shared every hardship with him as though they were brothers. For years Hong followed him; Zhan found him a wife, a house, and urged him on the emperor: “Since the collapse, men change their colors; those who accept poverty and keep their integrity intact are rare. I present Consultant Wei Hong, thirty-eight, style Yuanliang—clear in purpose, ample in ability, tills his own fields, keeps to himself, and never meddles in politics. He fled into my jurisdiction, was robbed of everything, yet stands alone in a coat too short to cover him, on a diet of greens, his resolve only harder, keeping clear of the wrong crowd. Yan Hui spoke of joy unchanged by poverty; Hong has earned the same praise. You steady the throne and set the cosmos aright; the gates are open and talent swarms in—you gather spring blossoms at court and autumn fruit from the wilds. Yet Hong still clutches his jade on Mount Jing, the flawless stone uncut. If you call him into a ministry, he will season the state’s stew and bring luster to every task.” The emperor summoned him at once. He eventually became junior minister of the palace. Zhan had raised him like a second birth; when Zhan died he wore a friend’s mourning, wept the full year at the grave, and for life afterward offered sacrifice, modeling himself on Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu.

甘卓字季思，丹楊人，秦丞相茂之後也。曾祖寧，爲吳將。祖述，仕吳爲尚書。父昌，太子太傅。吳平，卓退居自守。郡命主簿、功曹，察孝廉，州舉秀才，爲吳王常侍。討石冰，以功賜爵都亭侯。東海王越引爲參軍，出補離狐令。卓見天下大亂，棄官東歸，前至歷陽，與陳敏相遇。敏甚悅，共圖縱橫之計，遂爲其子景娶卓女，共相結託。會周玘唱義，密使錢廣攻敏弟昶，敏遣卓討廣，頓朱雀橋南。會廣殺昶，玘告丹楊太守顧榮共邀說卓。卓素敬服榮，且以昶死懷懼，良久乃從之。遂詐疾迎女，斷橋，收船南岸，共滅敏，傳首于京都。

Gan Zhuo, style Jisi, came from Danyang and traced his line to Gan Mao, Qin’s chancellor. His great-grandfather Gan Ning had been a Wu general. His grandfather Gan Shu served Wu as palace secretary. His father Gan Chang was junior tutor to the heir apparent. After Wu fell, Zhuo retired and lived quietly. The commandery named him chief clerk and merit assessor; he earned filial-incorrupt recommendation, the province put him forward as cultivated talent, and he became attendant to the prince of Wu. For his part in crushing Shi Bing he received the village marquisate of Duting. Sima Yue of the East Sea enlisted him as adviser and sent him out as magistrate of Lihu. Seeing chaos everywhere, he quit his post and headed east; at Liyang he ran into Chen Min. Chen Min was delighted; they laid plans to play the powers against each other, Chen Min married Zhuo’s daughter to his son Chen Jing, and the two families hitched their fortunes together. When Zhou Qi raised loyal troops and secretly sent Qian Guang against Chen Min’s brother Chang, Chen Min ordered Zhuo to attack Qian Guang and camped south of the Zhuque Bridge. When Qian Guang killed Chang, Zhou Qi told Gu Rong, grand administrator of Danyang, to help win Zhuo over. Zhuo respected Gu Rong deeply and, with Chang dead, was afraid; only after long hesitation did he agree. He pretended illness to fetch his daughter home, cut the bridge, massed boats on the south bank, joined in destroying Chen Min, and sent the rebel’s head to the capital.

元帝初渡江，授卓前鋒都督、揚威將軍、歷陽內史。其後討周馥，征杜弢，屢經苦戰，多所擒獲。以前後功，進爵南鄉侯，拜豫章太守。尋遷湘州刺史，將軍如故。復進爵于湖侯。

When Emperor Yuan first crossed the river, he made Zhuo vanguard commander, General Who Displays Might, and interior minister of Liyang. Later he fought Zhou Fu and Du Tao, endured bitter fighting, and took many prisoners. For successive victories he was promoted to marquis of Nanxiang and grand administrator of Yuzhang. He soon moved to inspector of Xiang while keeping his generalcy. His marquisate was advanced again to Yuhu.

中興初，以邊寇未靜，學校陵遲，特聽不試孝廉，而秀才猶依舊策試。卓上疏以爲：「答問損益，當須博通古今，明達政體，必求諸墳索，乃堪其舉。臣所忝州往遭寇亂，學校久替，人士流播，不得比之餘州。策試之由，當藉學功，謂宜同孝廉例，申與期限。」疏奏，朝議不許。卓於是精加隱括，備禮舉桂陽谷儉爲秀才。儉辭不獲命，州厚禮遣之。諸州秀才聞當考試，皆憚不行，惟儉一人到臺，遂不復策試。儉恥其州少士，乃表求試，以高第除中郎。

Early in the Eastern Jin revival, border raiders kept schools disrupted, so filial-incorrupt nominees were excused from exams while cultivated talents still faced the written policy test. Zhuo argued in a memorial that policy essays demand wide learning and political sense, and only men grounded in the classics should sit for them. My province has been ravaged; its schools are ruined and its scholars scattered—it cannot match other regions. Testing should wait on real schooling; grant cultivated talents the same extension already given filial-incorrupt nominees.” The court debated his plea and refused it. Zhuo combed his commandery with care, observed every courtesy, and nominated Gu Jian of Guiyang as cultivated talent. Gu Jian tried to decline but could not; the province lavished gifts and dispatched him. Word of the exam frightened every province’s nominees away—only Gu Jian appeared at the ministry, so the court dropped the test entirely. Ashamed of his province’s thin bench, Gu Jian begged to sit the exam, scored at the top, and was named a gentleman of the palace.

儉少有志行，寒苦自立，博涉經史。于時南土凋荒，經籍道息，儉不能遠求師友，唯在家研精。雖所得實深，未有名譽，又恥衒耀取達，遂歸，終身不仕，卒于家。

Gu Jian had resolve even as a youth; he pulled himself up in poverty and read widely in classics and histories. The south was barren and books scarce; he could not travel for teachers and had to grind away alone at home. His learning ran deep yet brought no fame, and he scorned self-advertisement; he went home, never served, and died there.

卓尋遷安南將軍、梁州刺史、假節、督沔北諸軍，鎮襄陽。卓外柔內剛，爲政簡惠，善於綏撫，估稅悉除，市無二價。州境所有魚池，先恒責稅，卓不收其利，皆給貧民，西土稱爲惠政。

Zhuo was soon raised to General Who Pacifies the South, inspector of Liang, with staff of authority over the forces north of the Han, based at Xiangyang. He seemed soft outside but was steel within; his rule was lean and kind, superb at pacification—he abolished market surcharges so a single price prevailed everywhere. Fishponds once taxed for revenue he threw open to the poor, and the west hailed it as merciful rule.

王敦稱兵，遣使告卓。卓乃僞許，而心不同之。及敦升舟，而卓不赴，使參軍孫雙詣武昌諫止敦。敦聞雙言，大驚曰：「甘侯前與吾語云何，而更有異！正當慮吾危朝廷邪？吾今下唯除姦凶耳。卿還言之，事濟當以甘侯作公。」雙還報卓，卓不能決。或說卓且僞許敦，待敦至都而討之。卓曰：「昔陳敏之亂，吾亦先從後圖，而論者謂懼逼而謀之。雖吾情本不爾，而事實有似，心恒愧之。今若復爾，誰能明我！」時湘州刺史譙王承遣主簿鄧騫說卓曰：「劉大連雖乘權寵，非有害於天下也。大將軍以其私憾稱兵象魏，雖託討亂之名，實失天下之望，此忠臣義士匡救之時也。昔魯連匹夫，猶懷蹈海之志，況受任方伯，位同體國者乎！今若因天人之心，唱桓文之舉，杖大順以掃逆節，擁義兵以勤王室，斯千載之運，不可失也。」卓笑曰：「桓文之事，豈吾所能。至於盡力國難，乃其心也。當共詳思之。」參軍李梁說卓曰：「昔隗囂亂隴右，竇融保河西以歸光武，今日之事，有似於此。將軍有重名於天下，但當推亡固存，坐而待之。使大將軍勝，方當崇將軍以方面之重；如其不勝，朝廷必以將軍代之。何憂不富貴，而釋此廟勝，決存亡於一戰邪！」騫謂梁曰：「光武創業，中國未平，故隗囂斷隴右，竇融兼河西，各據一方，鼎足之勢，故得文服天子，從容顧望。及海內已定，君臣正位，終於隴右傾覆，河西入朝。何則？向之文服，義所不容也。今將軍之於本朝，非竇融之喻也。襄陽之於大府，非河西之固也。且人臣之義，安忍國難而不陳力，何以北面於天子邪！使大將軍平劉隗，還武昌，增石城之守，絕荊湘之粟，將軍安歸乎？勢在人手，而曰我處廟勝，未之聞也。」卓尚持疑未決，騫又謂卓曰：「今既不義舉，又不承大將軍檄，此必至之禍，愚智所見也。且議者之所難，以彼強我弱，是不量虛實者也。今大將軍兵不過萬餘，其留者不能五千，而將軍見眾既倍之矣。將軍威名天下所聞也，此府精銳，戰勝之兵也。擁強眾，藉威名，杖節而行，豈王含所能御哉！溯流之眾，勢不自救，將軍之舉武昌，若摧枯拉朽，何所顧慮乎！武昌既定，據其軍實，鎮撫二州，施惠士卒，使還者如歸，此呂蒙所以克敵也。如是，大將軍可不戰而自潰。今釋必勝之策，安坐以待危亡，不可言知計矣。願將軍熟慮之。」

When Wang Dun rebelled he sent word to Gan Zhuo. Zhuo pretended assent while inwardly refusing. When Wang Dun’s fleet sailed, Zhuo stayed away and sent adviser Sun Shuang to Wuchang to block him. Wang Dun was stunned: “What did Lord Gan promise me earlier, that he should shift so? Does he think I mean to harm the throne? I am coming downriver solely to purge traitors. Go back and say that when this is done Lord Gan will be made a duke.” Sun Shuang reported back, but Zhuo still could not choose a side. Some said: feign obedience, then ambush Wang Dun once he reaches the capital. Zhuo said, “During Chen Min’s revolt I first went along and only later turned—people said I moved from fear. My motives were not that base, yet it looked the same, and the memory shames me. If I repeat that performance, who will believe my good faith?” Meanwhile Prince Sima Cheng of Qiao, inspector of Xiang, sent Deng Qian to argue: “Liu Kui may cling to favor, but he does not injure the state. The grand general marches on a private vendetta; though he calls it a punitive campaign, he has lost the world’s trust—this is the moment for loyal men to act. Lu Zhonglian was only a private man yet would drown for principle—how much more a regional commander whose fate is the dynasty’s! Seize heaven and earth’s mood, take up the mantle of Duke Huan and Duke Wen, march under the great mandate to crush treason, and rally loyal armies for the throne—a chance like this comes once in an age.” Gan Zhuo smiled: “The achievements of Huan and Wen are beyond me. Still, to throw my whole strength into the kingdom’s crisis—that I mean to do. We must think this through together.” His adviser Li Liang said, “Wei Xiao once tore Longyou apart while Dou Rong held Hexi for Guangwu—today resembles that. You are famous everywhere; let the losing side fall and the winning rise while you wait. If the grand general wins, he will ennoble you with a great border command; if he loses, the court will put you in his place. Why trade a sure path to wealth for one desperate battle?” Deng Qian retorted: “When Guangwu began, the heartland was still unsettled, so Wei Xiao blocked Longyou and Dou Rong held Hexi—each corner of a tripod could bow from afar and watch the wind. Once the empire was fixed and ruler and ministers stood straight, Longyou fell and Hexi came in. Why? Because feigned submission could not forever satisfy duty. You are no Dou Rong toward this court. Xiangyang is not the fortress Hexi was. How can a minister watch the throne in danger and offer nothing, then claim to face the emperor? If Wang Dun beats Liu Kui, returns to Wuchang, fortifies Stone City, and chokes off Jing and Xiang grain, where will you run? Power sits in his hands while you talk of winning in council—I have never heard such folly.” Zhuo still wavered; Deng Qian pressed him: “Neither marching nor answering the summons means certain ruin—any fool sees it. They say he is strong and we weak because they misread the balance. Wang Dun has barely ten thousand men, fewer than five thousand left behind, while you command more than twice that host. Your name shakes the empire, and these are the capital’s picked veterans. March with your doubled army, your reputation, and the imperial staff—Wang Han cannot hold you. His upstream relief cannot save him; you would crush Wuchang like dead wood—why flinch? Take Wuchang, seize its arsenals, calm two provinces, reward the ranks, and men will flock home—that was Lü Meng’s winning move. Then Wang Dun may fall without a fight. To abandon a winning plan and sit waiting for doom is not wisdom. Think on it carefully, general.”

時敦以卓不至，慮在後爲變，遣參軍樂道融苦要卓俱下。道融本欲背敦，因說卓襲之，語在融傳。卓既素不欲從敦，得道融說，遂決曰：「吾本意也。」乃與巴東監軍柳純、南平太守夏侯承、宜都太守譚該等十餘人，俱露檄遠近，陳敦肆逆，率所統致討。遣參軍司馬讚、孫雙奉表詣臺，參軍羅英至廣州，與陶侃剋期，參軍鄧騫、虞沖至長沙，令譙王承堅守。征西將軍戴若思在江西，先得卓書，表上之，臺內皆稱萬歲。武昌大驚，傳卓軍至，人皆奔散。詔書遷卓爲鎮南大將軍、侍中、都督荊梁二州諸軍事、荊州牧，梁州刺史如故，陶侃得卓信，即遣參軍高寶率兵下。

Because Zhuo had not joined him, Wang Dun feared trouble from the rear and sent Yue Daorong to drag Gan Zhuo downriver with the fleet. Yue Daorong meant to turn on Wang Dun and urged Gan Zhuo to hit him first—the full story is in Daorong’s biography. Zhuo had long resisted Wang Dun; Daorong’s words settled him: “That has been my mind all along.” He then joined Liu Chun, Xiahou Cheng, Tan Gai, and a dozen others in publishing a manifesto denouncing Wang Dun’s treason and marched every unit he commanded against him. He dispatched Sima Zan and Sun Shuang to court with a memorial, Luo Ying to Guangzhou to synchronize with Tao Kan, and Deng Qian and Yu Chong to Changsha to tell Prince Sima Cheng to stand fast. Dai Ruosi, west-conquering general on the Jiangxi front, got Zhuo’s letter first, forwarded it to court, and the whole capital erupted in cheers. Panic swept Wuchang when word spread that Gan Zhuo’s host was coming; the city emptied in terror. Imperial orders raised Zhuo to General Who Guards the South, palace attendant, area commander for Jing and Liang, and shepherd of Jing while he kept Liang inspector; Tao Kan, reading Zhuo’s letter, immediately sent Gao Bao downriver with troops.

卓雖懷義正，而性不果毅，且年老多疑，計慮猶豫，軍次豬口，累旬不前。敦大懼，遣卓兄子行參軍卬求和，謝卓曰：「君此自是臣節，不相責也。吾家計急，不得不爾。想便旋軍襄陽，當更結好。」時王師敗績，敦求臺騶虞幡駐卓。卓聞周顗、戴若思遇害，流涕謂卬曰：「吾之所憂，正謂今日。每得朝廷人書，常以胡寇爲先，不悟忽有蕭牆之禍。且使聖上元吉，太子無恙，吾臨敦上流，亦未敢便危社稷。吾適徑據武昌，敦勢逼，必劫天子以絕四海之望。不如還襄陽，更思後圖。」即命旋軍。都尉秦康說卓曰：「今分兵取敦不難，但斷彭澤，上下不得相赴，自然離散，可一戰擒也。將軍既有忠節，中道而廢，更爲敗軍將，恐將軍之下亦各便求西還，不可得守也。」卓不能從。樂道融亦日夜勸卓速下。卓性先寬和，忽便強塞，徑還襄陽，意氣騷擾，舉動失常，自照鏡不見其頭，視庭樹而頭在樹上，心甚惡之。其家金櫃鳴，聲似槌鏡，清而悲。巫云：「金櫃將離，是以悲鳴。」主簿何無忌及家人皆勸令自警。卓轉更很愎，聞諫輒怒。方散兵使大佃，而不爲備。功曹榮建固諫，不納。襄陽太守周慮等密承敦意，知卓無備，詐言湖中多魚，勸卓遣左右皆捕魚，乃襲害卓于寢，傳首于敦。四子散騎郎蕃等皆被害。太寧中，追贈驃騎將軍，諡曰敬。

Zhuo meant well but lacked nerve; age had made him suspicious, and his army lingered at Zhukou for weeks without moving. Wang Dun panicked and sent Gan Ang, Zhuo’s nephew and acting adviser, to apologize: “Your stance is what a loyal minister would take—I do not reproach you. My clan was cornered; I had no choice. I hope you will wheel back to Xiangyang so we can mend ties.” By then the imperial army had lost; Wang Dun demanded a palace escort with the Yu banner to stop Gan Zhuo. Learning that Zhou Yi and Dai Ruosi had been executed, Zhuo wept to Gan Ang, “This is exactly what I dreaded. Court letters always warned of barbarians on the frontier; I never thought the blow would come from inside the palace. As long as the emperor and crown prince are safe, even pinning Wang Dun from upstream I would not lightly imperil the state. If I seize Wuchang outright, Wang Dun will be cornered and will surely seize the emperor to break the world’s faith. Better to withdraw to Xiangyang and plan another move.” He ordered an immediate retreat. Qin Kang urged him: “Split your force and cut Pengze; isolate Wang Dun’s upper and lower camps and you can shatter him in one stroke. You have already pledged loyalty; to stop halfway makes you a beaten commander, and your men will scatter homeward—you cannot hold them.” Zhuo would not listen. Yue Daorong pressed him night and day to march downriver. Once easygoing, he turned obstinate, bolted for Xiangyang, grew feverish and erratic, saw his head vanish from the glass, then spotted it among the garden trees—a horror that preyed on him. A bronze chest in his house rang like a hammer on bronze, bright and mournful. A diviner said, “The coffer knows it will leave—hence the keening.” His chief clerk He Wuji and the family begged him to beware. He only grew more stubborn and raged at every warning. He stood his army down to giant reclamation projects and dropped all guard. Rong Jian, his merit clerk, pleaded in vain. Zhou Lü of Xiangyang, secretly loyal to Wang Dun, knew Zhuo was undefended; he claimed the lake teemed with fish, sent Zhuo’s guards off fishing, then murdered Zhuo in his chamber and shipped the head to Wang Dun. His four sons, Fan and the rest, all died with him. During Taining he was posthumously named General Who Inspires Might with the style “Reverent.”

鄧騫字長真，長沙人。少有志氣，爲鄉鄰所重。常推誠行己，能以正直全於多難之時。刺史譙王承命爲主簿，便說甘卓。卓留爲參軍，欲與同行，以母老辭卓而反。

Deng Qian, style Changzhen, came from Changsha. Even young he aimed high and won his neighbors’ respect. He lived candidly and kept his integrity through repeated crises. Inspector Prince Sima Cheng named him chief clerk and sent him to sway Gan Zhuo. Zhuo kept him on staff and wanted him along the march; Qian pleaded an aged mother and went home instead.

承爲魏乂所敗，以虞悝兄弟爲承黨，乂盡誅之，而求騫甚急。鄉人皆爲之懼，騫笑曰：「欲用我耳。彼新得州，多殺忠良，是其求賢之時，豈以行人爲罪！」乃往詣乂。乂喜曰：「君所謂古之解揚也。」以爲別駕。

When Sima Cheng lost to Wei Yi, the Yu Kui brothers died as Cheng’s partisans, and Wei Yi hunted Deng Qian fiercely. Villagers trembled for him; he smiled, “They want my service. They just seized the province and have slaughtered loyal men—this is when they crave talent; they will not punish a messenger!” He walked straight into Wei Yi’s camp. Wei Yi beamed: “You are a Jie Yang for our age.” He named him aide-de-camp.

騫有節操忠信，兼識量弘遠，善與人交，久而益敬。太尉庾亮稱之，以爲長者。歷武陵、始興太守，遷大司農，卒於官。

Deng Qian was loyal, steady, and far-sighted; his friendships deepened into reverence over time. Grand commandant Yu Liang hailed him as an elder statesman in spirit. He governed Wuling and Shixing, became minister of agriculture, and died in harness.

卞壼字望之，濟陰冤句人也。祖統，琅邪內史。父粹，以清辯鑒察稱。兄弟六人並登宰府，世稱「卞氏六龍，玄仁無雙」。玄仁，粹字也。弟裒，嘗忤其郡將。郡將怒訐其門內之私，粹遂以不訓見譏議，陵遲積年。惠帝初，爲尚書郎。楊駿執政，人多附會，而粹正直不阿。及駿誅，超拜右丞，封成陽子，稍遷至右軍將軍。張華之誅，粹以華婿免官。齊王冏輔政，爲侍中、中書令，進爵爲公。及長沙王乂專權，粹立朝正色，乂忌而害之。初，粹如廁，見物若兩眼，俄而難作。

Bian Kun, style Wangzhi, was a man of Yuanju in Jiyin. His grandfather Bian Tong had been interior minister of Langya. His father Bian Cui was celebrated for lucid argument and sharp discernment. Six brothers reached high ministry together; contemporaries called them the six dragons of the Bian house, with none the equal of Xuaren. “Xuaren” was Bian Cui’s courtesy name. His brother Bian Pou once crossed the regional commander. The commander retaliated with gossip about the Bian household, so Cui was faulted for lax family discipline and languished for years. When Emperor Hui took the throne he entered the palace secretariat as a gentleman. While Yang Jun dominated the court, flatterers swarmed him; Bian Cui stayed straight and aloof. After Yang Jun fell, Cui vaulted to right secretariat aide, village marquis of Chengyang, and eventually General of the Right Army. When Zhang Hua died, Cui lost his post as Zhang’s son-in-law. Under Prince Sima Jiong of Qi he served as palace attendant and palace secretary and was raised to a ducal fief. When Prince Sima Yi of Changsha seized power, Cui faced court with icy dignity; Yi envied him and had him killed. Once, relieving himself, Cui saw what looked like two eyes in the dark; soon after came his death.

壼弱冠有名譽司、兗二州。齊王冏辟皆不就。遇家禍，還鄉里。永嘉中，除著作郎，襲父爵。征東將軍周馥請爲從事中郎，不就。遭本州傾覆，東依妻兄徐州刺史裴盾。盾以壼行廣陵相。

By his capping year Kun’s name was known across Si and Yan provinces. Prince Sima Jiong repeatedly summoned him; he never took office. After the slaughter of his kin he withdrew to his home district. During Yongjia he became gentleman editor and succeeded to his father’s title. Zhou Fu, east-conquering general, wanted him as attendant clerk; he refused. When Jiyin fell he fled east to his brother-in-law Pei Dun, inspector of Xu province. Pei Dun made him acting grand administrator of Guangling.

元帝鎮建鄴，召爲從事中郎，委以選舉，甚見親杖。出爲明帝東中郎長史。遭繼母憂，既葬，起復舊職，累辭不就。元帝遣中使敦逼，壼牋自陳曰：

Emperor Yuan at Jianye named him attendant clerk, handed him appointments, and leaned on him heavily. He later became senior clerk to the heir apparent’s eastern-center army—the future Emperor Ming. When his stepmother died he buried her, then was recalled to his old posts but declined again and again. The emperor sent eunuchs to insist; Kun answered with a personal note:

壼天性狷狹，不能和俗，退以情事，欲畢志家門。亡父往爲中書令，時壼蒙大例，望門見辟，信其所執，得不祗就。門戶遇禍，迸竄易名，得存視息，私志有素。加嬰極難，流寄蘭陵，爲苟晞所召，恐見逼迫，依下邳裴盾，又見假授，思暫之郡，規得託身。尋蒙見召，爲從事中郎，豈曰貪榮，直欲自致，規暫恭命，行當乞退。屬華軼之難，不敢自陳。軼既梟懸，壼亦嬰病，具自歸聞，未蒙恕遣。世子北征，選寵顯望，復以無施，忝充元佐。榮則榮矣，實非素懷。顧以命重人輕，不敢辭憚。聞西臺召壼爲尚書郎，實欲因此以避賢路，未及陳誠，奄丁窮罰。

“I am stiff-necked and cannot swim with the crowd; I meant to retire and live out my days at home. When my late father was palace secretary I was swept up in the usual summons to serve; I trusted my principles and refused the honor. Our house was ruined; I fled under an alias and barely survived—my mind was set long ago. I was a child in chaos, drifted to Lanling, was dragooned by Gou Xi, fled to Pei Dun at Xiapi, took a temporary post only to find shelter. When you called me attendant clerk it was not ambition—I meant to obey briefly, then resign. Then Hua Yi’s rebellion broke; I dared not speak plainly. After Hua Yi’s head hung on the wall I fell ill, reported in full, and still was refused compassionate leave. When the heir apparent campaigned north he picked men of rank; though I had no merit I was shamed by serving as chief aide. The honor glittered, but it was never what I wanted. The duty was grave and I too small to refuse out of cowardice. I heard the western administration wanted me as palace gentleman—my chance to step aside for better men—then sudden mourning struck.

壼年九歲，爲先母弟表所見孤背。十二，蒙亡母張所見覆育。壼以陋賤，不能榮親，家產屢空，養道多闕，存無歡娛，終不備禮，拊心永恨，五內抽割。於公無效如彼，私情艱苦如此，實無情顏昧冒榮進。若廢壼一人，江北便有傾危之慮，壼居事之日功績以隆者，誠不得私其身。今東中郎岐嶷自然，神明日茂，軍司馬、諸參佐並以明德宣力王事，壼之去留，曾無損益。賀循、謝端、顧景、丁琛、傅晞等皆荷恩命，高枕家門。壼委質二府，漸冉五載，考效則不能已彰，論心則頻累恭順，柰何哀孤之日不見愍恕哉！

At nine I was orphaned and abandoned by my uncle Biao on my mother’s side. At twelve my late mother, Lady Zhang, sheltered and raised me. I was too poor to honor my parents; our goods ran out, mourning rites went unfulfilled, and grief still tears my vitals. I have failed the state so little yet my private grief runs so deep—I cannot shamelessly chase rank. If you remove me the north shore may totter; while I served my work did swell—I could not favor myself. The eastern-center heir is bright and growing wiser daily; his marshal and staff all serve with clear virtue—my presence or absence changes nothing. He Xun, Xie Duan, Gu Jing, Ding Chen, Fu Xi, and the like already enjoy imperial favor at home. I have served two offices five years—little glory, much obedience—yet in my orphan’s mourning you grant no mercy!”

帝以其辭苦，不奪其志。

The emperor, moved by his bitter plea, let him keep his resolve.

服闋，爲世子師。壼前後居師佐之任，盡匡輔之節，一府貴而憚焉。中興建，補太子中庶子，轉散騎常侍，侍講東宮。遷太子詹事，以公事免。尋復職，轉御史中丞。忠於事上，權貴屏跡。

After mourning ended he became tutor to the heir apparent. As tutor and chief aide he gave full measure of candid counsel; the whole princely household stood in awe. At the founding of Eastern Jin he became junior mentor to the heir apparent, then cavalier attendant-in-ordinary, lecturing in the eastern palace. He rose to mentor to the heir apparent, then was dismissed over a bureaucratic affair. He was soon reinstated and made imperial censor-in-chief. He served the throne with loyalty; the mighty gave him a wide berth.

時淮南小中正王式繼母，前夫終，更適式父。式父終，喪服訖，議還前夫家。前夫家亦有繼子，奉養至終，遂合葬於前夫。式自云：「父臨終，母求去，父許諾。」於是制出母齊衰期。壼奏曰：「就如式父臨終許諾，必也正名，依禮爲無所據。若夫有命，須顯七出之責，當存時棄之，無緣以絕義之妻留家制服。若式父臨困謬亂，使去留自由者，此必爲相要以非禮，則存亡無所得從，式宜正之以禮。魏顆父命不從其亂，陳乾昔欲以二婢子殉，其子以非禮不從，春秋、禮記善之。並以妾媵，猶正以禮，況其母乎！式母於夫，生事奉終，非爲既絕之妻。夫亡制服，不爲無義之婦。自云守節，非爲更嫁。離絕之斷，在夫沒之後。夫之既沒，是其從子之日，而式以爲出母，此母以子出也。致使存無所容居，沒無所託也。寄命於他人之門，埋尸於無名之冢。若式父亡後，母尋沒於式家，必不以爲出母明矣。許諾之命一耳，以爲母于同居之時，至沒前子之門而不以爲母，此爲制離絕於二居，裁出否於意斷。離絕之斷，非式而誰！假使二門之子皆此母之生，母戀前子，求去求絕，非禮於後家，還反又非禮於前門，去不可去，還不可還，則爲無寄之人也。式必內盡匡諫，外極防閑，不絕明矣。何至守不移於至親，略情禮於假繼乎！繼母如母，聖人之教。式爲國士，閨門之內犯禮違義，開闢未有，於父則無追亡之善，於母則無孝敬之道，存則去留自由，亡則合葬路人，可謂生事不以禮，死葬不以禮者也。虧損世教，不可以居人倫詮正之任。案侍中、司徒、臨潁公組敷宣五教，實在任人，而含容違禮，曾不貶黜；揚州大中正、侍中、平望亭侯曄，[2]淮南大中正、散騎侍郎弘，顯執邦論，朝野取信，曾不能率禮正違，崇孝敬之教，並爲不勝其任。請以見事免組、曄、弘官，大鴻臚削爵土，廷尉結罪。」疏奏，詔特原組等，式付鄉邑清議，廢棄終身。壼遷吏部尚書。王含之難，加中軍將軍。含滅，以功封建興縣公，尋遷領軍將軍。

The minor Huainan rectifier Wang Shi had a stepmother who, after her first husband died, married Wang Shi’s father. When Wang Shi’s father died and mourning ended, officials debated sending her back to her first husband’s house. That household too had a foster son who had supported her through life, so she was buried with her first spouse. Wang Shi claimed that on his father’s deathbed his stepmother asked to leave and his father agreed. The court then ruled one year of zīcuī mourning for a divorced mother. Bian Kun answered: “Even if the deathbed promise were true, it has no footing in canonical ritual once names are set straight. If a husband truly repudiated a wife, the “seven outs” must be explicit; she should have left while he lived—there is no warrant to lodge a severed wife at home and mourn her like a mother. If a dying man rambled and let her come and go at whim, that was an illicit private bargain; neither living nor dead can answer for it, and Wang Shi should have corrected it with ritual. Wei Ke ignored a muddled paternal order; Chen Qianxi’s son refused to bury living attendants with his father—both cases are praised in the classics. They upheld ritual even for concubines—how much more for a mother! Wang Shi’s stepmother served her husband to the grave; she was never a “divorced” wife. She donned widow’s weeds for him; she was no faithless woman. She calls herself chaste, not seeking remarriage. Repudiation applies only after the husband is gone. After the husband died she rightly followed her son; calling her “divorced” is the son casting out his mother. Alive, she has no place to stand; dead, no resting place. She must beg another household for shelter and sleep in an unmarked grave. Had she died in Wang Shi’s home right after his father, no one would call her “divorced.” One promise cannot make her a mother in one house yet a stranger at her elder son’s gate—that invents a split household and lets whim rule “divorce.” If anyone broke the tie, it was Wang Shi himself! Imagine sons in both houses by one mother who loves the first set and wants out—she wrongs the second family by leaving and the first by returning; trapped both ways, she belongs nowhere. Wang Shi owed her fierce remonstrance and strict guard—never a rupture. How guard strangers’ feelings yet stint ritual toward the woman who raised him! The sages teach: a stepmother is a mother. A “stateworthy” who shames his inner chambers, fails his father’s memory, dishonors his mother, lets her wander alive and lie with strangers dead, breaks every rule of service to the living and dead. He corrupts public morals and cannot judge others’ conduct. Zu Xian, Situ and duke of Linying, should spread the five bonds yet swallowed this breach without demotion; Ye [2], grand rectifier of Yangzhou, and Hong of Huainan, who shape national opinion, failed to enforce ritual or exalt filial duty—they too are unfit. Dismiss Zu, Ye, and Hong, strip the grand herald of fief, and let the commandant of justice assign penalties.” The throne pardoned the high ministers but handed Wang Shi to local “pure discussion” and barred him for life. Bian Kun became minister of personnel. When Wang Han rebelled he was named general of the central army as well. After Han fell he was made duke of Jianxing for merit, then general who commands the army.

明帝不豫，領尚書令，與王導等俱受顧命輔幼主。復拜右將軍，加給事中、尚書令。帝崩，成帝即位，群臣進璽，司徒王導以疾不至。壼正色於朝曰：「王公豈社稷之臣邪！大行在殯，嗣皇未立，寧是人臣辭疾之時！」導聞之，乃輿疾而至。皇太后臨朝，壼與庾亮對直省中，共參機要。時召南陽樂謨爲郡中正，潁川庾怡爲廷尉評。謨、怡各稱父命不就。壼奏曰：「人無非父而生，職無非事而立。有父必有命，居職必有悔。有家各私其子，此爲王者無人，職不軌物，官不立政。如此則先聖之言廢，五教之訓塞，君臣之道散，上下之化替矣。樂廣以平夷稱，庾珉以忠篤顯，受寵聖世，身非己有，況及後嗣而可專哉！所居之職若順夫群心，則戰戍者之父母皆當以命子，不以處也。若順謨父之意，則人皆不爲郡中正，人倫廢矣。順怡父之意，人皆不爲獄官，則刑辟息矣。凡如是者，其可聽歟？若不可聽，何以許謨、怡之得稱父命乎！此爲謨以名父子可以虧法，怡是親戚可以自專。以此二塗服人示世，臣所未悟也。宜一切班下，不得以私廢公。絕其表疏，以爲永制。」朝議以爲然。謨、怡不得已，各居所職。是時王導稱疾不朝，而私送車騎將軍郗鑒，壼奏以導虧法從私，無大臣之節。御史中丞鍾雅阿撓王典，不加準繩，並請免官。雖事寢不行，舉朝震肅。壼斷裁切直，不畏強禦，皆此類也。

As Emperor Ming sickened, Kun took palace secretary alongside Wang Dao and others in the regency for the boy emperor. He was named again General of the Right, plus attendant-within-palace and palace secretary. At Cheng’s accession the ministers brought the jade seal; Wang Dao, claiming illness, stayed away. Bian Kun snapped at court, “Is Minister Wang no longer a pillar of the state? The late emperor lies in state, the heir is not yet enthroned—this is no hour for ministers to feign sickness!” Wang Dao heard, had himself carried in, and appeared. Under the empress dowager’s regency he and Yu Liang stood alternate duty in the secretariat and steered policy. The court called Yue Mo of Nanyang as commandery rectifier and Yu Yi of Yingchuan as judicial reviewer. Both men refused, pleading paternal orders. Bian Kun wrote: “Every man has a father; every post carries duty. Fathers give commands; offices bring second thoughts. If every clan favors only its own, the king has no servants, posts lose their grip, and policy collapses. Then the sages’ teaching dies, the five bonds clog, ministerial duty frays, and order from top to bottom unravels. Yue Guang and Yu Min were honored servants of the state, not masters of their own persons—much less may their sons treat public posts as heirlooms! If whim rules, every soldier’s parents could forbid service. Let Yue Mo’s father decide and no one will be a rectifier—society unravels. Let Yu Yi’s father decide and no one will judge cases—justice stops. Can we allow that? If not, how can we let them hide behind “father’s orders”? That would let a famous son break law and a kinsman rule himself. Those two precedents would teach the empire the wrong lesson. Issue a blanket rule: no private excuse may void public duty. Bar such petitions forever.” Court debate agreed. Yue Mo and Yu Yi had to serve. Wang Dao skipped court to bid Xi Jian farewell in private; Bian Kun impeached him for putting favor above law. Censor-in-chief Zhong Ya twisted the code and never censured him—Kun demanded both be cashiered. The plea stalled, yet the whole bureaucracy trembled straight. His rulings were blunt and fearless—always thus.

壼榦實當官，以褒貶爲己任，勤於吏事，欲軌正督世，不肯苟同時好。然性不弘裕，才不副意，故爲諸名士所少，而無卓爾優譽。明帝深器之，於諸大臣而最任職。阮孚每謂之曰：「卿恒無閑泰，常如含瓦石，不亦勞乎？」壼曰：「諸君以道德恢弘，風流相尚，執鄙吝者，非壼而誰！」時貴游子弟多慕王澄、謝鯤爲達，壼厲色於朝曰：「悖禮傷教，罪莫斯甚！中朝傾覆，實由於此。」欲奏推之。王導、庾亮不從，乃止，然而聞者莫不折節。時王導以勳德輔政，成帝每幸其宅，嘗拜導婦曹氏。侍中孔坦密表不宜拜。 [3]導聞之曰：「王茂弘駑痾耳，若卞望之之巖巖，刁玄亮之察察，戴若思之峰岠，當敢爾邪！」壼廉潔儉素，居甚貧約。息當婚，詔特賜錢五十萬，固辭不受。後患面創，累乞解職。

He ran office with iron diligence, lived for moral judgment, toiled over paperwork, meant to straighten the age, and spurned fashionable compromise. He was narrow rather than magnanimous, and his gifts fell short of his zeal—so the great wits patronized him and he won no sparkling fame. Emperor Ming valued him above the rest and piled real work on him. Ruan Fu teased him: “You never rest easy, always as if chewing gravel—is that not exhausting?” Kun answered: “You parade broad virtue and breezy grace; if someone must play the pinchpenny, it is I.” When young lords aped Wang Cheng and Xie Kun’s “transcendence,” he thundered in court: “Nothing fouls the teaching of ritual more! That very fashion capsized the western capital.” He prepared impeachments. Wang Dao and Yu Liang blocked him, yet everyone who heard checked himself. Emperor Cheng used to visit Wang Dao’s home and bow to Lady Cao, Wang’s wife. Kong Tan secretly said the emperor should not bow. [3] Wang Dao sniffed: “I am a worn-out nag; had Bian Kun stood rock-hard, Diao Xie razor-keen, Dai Ruosi like a cliff—would anyone have dared?” Bian Kun lived chaste, spare, and poor. For his son’s wedding the court sent fifty thousand strings; he refused outright. A facial ulcer later drove him to beg off his posts repeatedly.

拜光祿大夫，加散騎常侍。時庾亮將徵蘇峻，言於朝曰：「峻狼子野心，終必爲亂。今日徵之，縱不順命，爲禍猶淺。若復經年，爲惡滋蔓，不可復制。此是朝錯勸漢景帝早削七國事也。」當時議者無以易之。壼固爭，謂亮曰：「峻擁強兵，多藏無賴，且逼近京邑，路不終朝，一旦有變，易爲蹉跌。宜深思遠慮，恐未可倉卒。」亮不納。壼知必敗，與平南將軍溫嶠書曰：「元規召峻意定，懷此於邑。溫生足下，柰此事何！吾今所慮，是國之大事。且峻已出狂意，而召之更速，必縱其群惡以向朝廷。朝廷威力誠桓桓，交須接鋒履刃，尚不知便可即擒不？王公亦同此情。吾與之爭甚懇切，不能如之何。本出足下爲外藩任，而今恨出足下在外。若卿在內俱諫，必當相從。今內外戒嚴，四方有備，峻凶狂必無所至耳，恐不能使無傷，如何？」壼司馬任台勸壼宜畜良馬，以備不虞。壼笑曰：「以順逆論之，理無不濟。若萬一不然，豈須馬哉！」峻果稱兵。壼復爲尚書令、右將軍、領右衛將軍，餘官如故。

He was named palace grandee with cavalier attendant-in-ordinary added. Yu Liang told court he would recall Su Jun: “Jun is wolf-hearted and will rebel. Call him in now; even if he balks, the damage stays small. Let him grow a few more years and he cannot be stopped. It is Chao Cuo urging Han Jingdi to clip the seven kingdoms early.” No one in debate could gainsay him. Bian Kun fought him: “Jun commands strong troops and ruffians, sits a dawn march from the capital—any surprise could trip us. Think long and hard—this cannot be rushed.” Yu Liang would not listen. Knowing disaster loomed, he wrote Wen Qiao: “Yu Liang’s plan to recall Su Jun is fixed—I ache with worry. Wen Qiao, my friend—what can we do? This is the fate of the realm. Jun already rages; hurrying the summons will loose his villains on the capital. Our army looks mighty, yet blade must meet blade—who says we seize him at a stroke? Wang Dao feels the same dread. I pleaded with him bitterly and could not move him. We posted you on the frontier; now I rue that you are far away. Had you been in the capital to join the remonstrance, he might have yielded. Now defenses ring the city—Jun may not break in, yet bloodshed seems unavoidable—what then?” His marshal Ren Tai begged him to stable good horses for flight. Bian Kun smiled: “Right should conquer wrong—no need to doubt. If heaven betrays us, horses would not save us anyway!” Su Jun rose in arms. He resumed palace secretary, General of the Right, and right guard general.

峻至東陵口，詔以壼都督大桁東諸軍事、假節，復加領軍將軍、給事中。壼率郭默、趙胤等與峻大戰於西陵，爲峻所破。壼與鍾雅皆退還，死傷者以千數。壼、雅並還節，詣闕謝罪。峻進攻青溪，壼與諸軍距擊，不能禁。賊放火燒宮寺，六軍敗績。壼時發背創，猶未合，力疾而戰，率厲散眾及左右吏數百人，攻賊麾下，苦戰，遂死之，時年四十八。二子眕、盱見父沒，相隨赴賊，同時見害。

When Jun reached Dongling Ford, orders made Bian Kun area commander east of the great pontoon, gave him the staff, and added command of the guards. He led Guo Mo, Zhao Yin, and others against Su Jun at Xiling—and lost. Bian Kun and Zhong Ya fell back with thousands dead or wounded. Both men returned their staffs and went to the gate to confess failure. Su Jun drove on Qingxi; Bian Kun’s coalition could not hold him. Rebel torches caught the palace compounds; the six armies collapsed. Though a back ulcer still festered, he fought on, rallied hundreds of clerks and stragglers, struck Su Jun’s standard, and died in the melée at forty-eight. His sons Zhen and Xu, seeing him fall, charged the rebels together and died beside him.

峻平，朝議贈壼左光祿大夫，加散騎常侍。尚書郎弘訥議以爲「死事之臣古今所重，卞令忠貞之節，當書于竹帛。今之追贈，實未副眾望，謂宜加鼎司之號，以旌忠烈之勳。」司徒王導見議，進贈驃騎將軍，加侍中。訥重議曰：「夫事親莫大於孝，事君莫尚於忠。唯孝也，故能盡敬竭誠；唯忠也，故能見危授命。此在三之大節，臣子之極行也。案壼委質三朝，盡規翼亮，遭世險難，存亡以之。受顧託之重，居端右之任，擁衛至尊，則有保傅之恩；正色在朝，則有匪躬之節。賊峻造逆，戮力致討，身當矢旝，再對賊鋒，父子并命，可謂破家爲國，守死勤事。昔許男疾終，猶蒙二等之贈，況壼伏節國難者乎！夫賞疑從重，況在不疑！謂可上準許穆，下同嵇紹，則允合典謨，克厭眾望。」於是改贈壼侍中、驃騎將軍、開府儀同三司，諡曰忠貞，祠以太牢。贈世子眕散騎侍郎，眕弟盱奉車都尉。眕母裴氏撫二子尸哭曰：「父爲忠臣，汝爲孝子，夫何恨乎！」徵士翟湯聞之歎曰：「父死於君，子死於父，忠孝之道，萃于一門。」眕子誕嗣。

After Su Jun fell the court voted him posthumous palace grandee on the left plus cavalier attendant-in-ordinary. Hong Ne urged: “Men who die for the state deserve lasting fame; Bian Kun’s steadfastness belongs on the record. The current honors fall short; add a three-duke rank to mark his martyrdom.” Wang Dao read the debate and raised the award to General Who Inspires Might with palace attendant. Hong Ne pressed again: “Filial piety tops family duty; loyalty tops service to the throne. Filial devotion yields full reverence; loyalty alone makes men die when danger calls. These are the pillars of the three bonds, the crown of minister and son alike. Bian Kun served three reigns with full remonstrance; he staked life and fortune on a dark time. He bore the regent’s charge at the summit of state and shielded the emperor like a tutor; in court he showed the stern selflessness of a true minister. Against Su Jun he threw his whole house into the fight, took arrows at the van twice, and fell with both sons—utter ruin for the throne’s sake. Even Xu’s lord won second-rank honors on a sickbed—how much more Bian Kun who died for the realm! When merit is plain, reward should be generous—here doubt does not exist! Match the high precedent of Xu Mu and the lower of Ji Shao—then rites and public hope align.” The court reissued patent: palace attendant, General Who Inspires Might, three-offices mansion, styled “Loyal and True,” with the great sacrifice. His son Zhen received posthumous gentleman cavalier; the younger Xu became carriage colonel. Lady Pei clasped her dead sons: “Your father died loyal; you died filial—what room for grief?” Recluse Zhai Tang sighed: “Father for sovereign, sons for father—loyalty and filial piety met in one door.” Dan, Zhen’s son, inherited the line.

咸康六年，成帝追思壼，下詔曰：「壼立朝忠恪，喪身兇寇，所封懸遠，租秩薄少，妻息不贍，以爲慨然！可給實口廩。」其後盜發壼墓，尸僵，鬢髮蒼白，面如生，兩手悉拳，爪甲穿達手背。安帝詔給錢十萬，以修塋兆。

In 340 Emperor Cheng remembered Bian Kun: “He served with utter loyalty and fell to rebels; his fief lies far, income thin, and his widow and children lack support—we grieve! Grant his household state grain by the mouth.” Later tomb raiders broke in: his body lay rigid, hair white, face lifelike, fists clenched until nails pierced the backs of his hands. Emperor An allotted a hundred thousand cash to restore the grave.

壼第三子瞻，位至廣州刺史。瞻弟眈，尚書郎。

His third son Bian Zhan became inspector of Guang. Zhan’s brother Dan served as palace gentleman.

從父兄敦

His paternal cousin Bian Dun.

敦字仲仁。父俊，清真有檢識，以名理著稱。其鄉人郤詵恃才陵傲俊兄弟，俊等亦以門盛輕詵，相視如讎。詵以楊駿故吏被繫，俊時爲尚書郎，案其獄，詵懼不免，俊平心斷決正之，詵卒以免，而猶不悛。後爲左丞，復奏陷卞氏。俊歷位汝南相、廷尉卿。

Bian Dun, style Zhongren. His father Bian Jun was upright, discriminating, and celebrated for principled debate. Xi Shen bullied the Bian brothers with his talent; they despised him in turn for his lesser house, and the two camps glared like foes. Xi Shen, Yang Jun’s old clerk, was jailed; Bian Jun as palace gentleman tried the case fairly and freed him, yet Xi Shen never mended his ways. Later as left aide he tried again to destroy the Bians by memorial. Bian Jun became Runan chancellor and commandant of justice.

敦弱冠仕州郡，辟司空府，稍遷太子舍人、尚書郎，朝士多稱之。東海王越聞，召以爲主簿。王彌逼洛，敦及胡毋輔之勸越擊王彌，而王衍、潘滔共執不聽，敦庭爭苦至，眾咸壯之。出補汝南內史。元帝之爲鎮東，請爲軍諮祭酒，不就。征南將軍山簡以爲司馬。尋而王如、杜曾相繼爲亂，簡乃使敦監沔北七郡軍事、振威將軍、領江夏相，戍夏口。敦攻討沔中皆平。既而杜弢寇湘中，加敦征討大都督。伐弢有功，賜爵安陵亭侯。鎮東大將軍王敦請爲軍司。

After his capping he served locally, entered the works directorate, rose to heir’s attendant and palace gentleman, and won wide praise at court. Sima Yue of the East Sea made him chief clerk. As Wang Mi threatened Luoyang, Dun and Hu Wuzhi begged Sima Yue to attack; Wang Yan and Pan Tao blocked the plan while Dun shouted himself hoarse in open court—the crowd admired his nerve. He went out as interior minister of Runan. Emperor Yuan as east-general wanted him as army libationer; he declined. Shan Jian named him marshal. When Wang Ru and Du Zeng revolted, Shan Jian put him over seven northern Han commanderies as General Who Rouses Might and Jiangxia administrator, based at Xiakou. He cleared the Han basin by force. When Du Tao struck Xiang, he became grand commander of suppression. Crushing Du Tao won him the village marquisate of Anling. Wang Dun, east-guarding general, recruited him as army director.

中興建，拜太子左衛率。時石勒侵逼淮泗，帝備求良將可以式遏邊境者，公卿舉敦，除征虜將軍、徐州刺史，鎮泗口。及勒寇彭城，敦自度力不能支，與征北將軍王邃退保盱眙，賊勢遂張，淮北諸郡多爲所陷，竟以畏懦貶秩三等，爲鷹揚將軍。徵拜大司農。王敦表爲征虜將軍、都督石頭軍事。明帝之討王敦也，以爲鎮南將軍、假節。事平，更拜尚書，以功封益陽侯。徙光祿勳，出爲都督安南將軍、湘州刺史、假節。尋進征南將軍，固辭不拜。

At Eastern Jin’s founding he became colonel of the heir’s left guard. As Shi Le threatened Huai and Si, the court picked Bian Dun for General Who Conquers Captives and Xu inspector at Sikou. He judged he could not hold Pengcheng, retreated with Wang Sui to Xuyi, lost the Huai north, and was stripped three ranks for cowardice to General Who Displays Might. He was recalled as minister of agriculture. Wang Dun nominated him to command Stone Citadel as General Who Conquers Captives. During Emperor Ming’s war on Wang Dun he received the southern guard generalcy with staff. After peace he became palace secretary and marquis of Yiyang for merit. He moved to minister of the imperial clan, then area commander as General Who Pacifies the South and Xiang inspector with staff. A promotion to south-conquering general followed; he refused it flatly.

蘇峻反，溫嶠、庾亮移檄征鎮同赴京師。敦擁兵不下，又不給軍糧，唯遣督護荀璲領數百人隨大軍而已。時朝野莫不怪歎，獨陶侃亦切齒忿之。 [4]峻平，侃奏敦阻軍顧望，不赴國難，無大臣之節，請檻車收付廷尉。丞相王導以喪亂之後宜加寬宥，轉安南將軍、廣州刺史。病不之職。徵爲光祿大夫，領少府。敦既不討蘇峻，常懷愧恥，名論自此虧矣。尋以憂卒，追贈本官，加散騎常侍，諡曰敬。子滔嗣。

Su Jun’s revolt brought joint summons from Wen Qiao and Yu Liang to every garrison. Bian Dun kept his army idle, sent no grain, and detached a few hundred men under Xun Sui to trail the main force. Court and country gasped; Tao Kan alone ground his teeth in fury. [4] After Su Jun fell, Tao Kan impeached Bian Dun for holding back his host, watching from the fence, and shirking the crisis—unworthy of a great minister—and demanded the caged cart. Wang Dao, favoring mercy after the chaos, banished him to Guang as General Who Pacifies the South instead. Sickness stopped him from going south. He was recalled palace grandee with junior palace minister added. For sitting out Su Jun’s revolt he lived in shame and his name never recovered. He died soon after, broken; the court restored his titles, added cavalier attendant-in-ordinary, and styled him “Reverent.” His heir Bian Tao carried the line.

劉超字世瑜，琅邪臨沂人，漢城陽景王章之後也。章七世孫封臨沂縣慈鄉侯，子孫因家焉。父和，爲琅邪國上軍將軍。超少有志尚，爲縣小吏，稍遷琅邪國記室掾。以忠謹清慎爲元帝所拔，恒親侍左右，遂從渡江，轉安東府舍人，專掌文檄。相府建，又爲舍人。于時天下擾亂，伐叛討貳，超自以職在近密，而書跡與帝手筆相類，乃絕不與人交書。時出休沐，閉門不通賓客，由是漸得親密。以左右勤勞，賜爵原鄉亭侯，食邑七百戶，轉行參軍。

Liu Chao, style Shiyu, came from Linyi in Langya and traced descent from Liu Zhang, the Han Prince Jing of Chengyang. Seven generations on, a branch received the Cixiang marquisate in Linyi and settled there. His father Liu He commanded the princely army of Langya. Liu Chao rose from county clerk to Langya’s recorder. Emperor Yuan prized his loyalty and caution, kept him at his side across the river, made him attendant at the east-peace headquarters, and put all papers in his hands. When the chancellor’s office opened he stayed on as attendant. With the empire at war and his hand like the emperor’s script, he refused all private correspondence. On leave he barred his gate to visitors and so grew still closer to the throne. For tireless service he received the Yuanxiang village marquisate, seven hundred households, and acting staff adviser.

中興建，爲中書舍人，拜騎都尉、奉朝請。時臺閣初建，庶績未康，超職典文翰，而畏慎靜密，彌見親待。加以處身清苦，衣不重帛，家無儋石之儲。每帝所賜，皆固辭曰：「凡陋小臣，橫竊賞賜，無德而祿，殃咎足懼。」帝嘉之，不奪其志。尋出補句容令，推誠於物，爲百姓所懷。常年賦稅，主者常自四出結評百姓家貲。至超，但作大函，邨別付之，使各自書家產，投函中訖，送還縣。百姓依實投上，課輸所入，有踰常年。入爲中書通事郎。以父憂去官。既葬，屬王敦稱兵，詔超復職，又領安東上將軍。尋六軍敗散，唯超案兵直衛，帝感之，遣歸終喪禮。及錢鳳構禍，超招合義士，從明帝征鳳。事平，以功封零陵伯。超家貧，妻子不贍，帝手詔褒之，賜以魚米，超辭不受。超後須純色牛，市不可得，啟買官外廄牛，詔便以賜之。出爲義興太守。未幾，徵拜中書侍郎。拜受往還，朝廷莫有知者。會帝崩，穆后臨朝，遷射聲校尉。時軍校無兵，義興人多義隨超，因統其眾以宿衛，號爲「君子營」。咸和初，遭母憂去官，衰服不離身，朝夕號泣，朔望輒步至墓所，哀感路人。

At the Restoration he entered the secretariat as gentleman, cavalry captain, and gentleman at court. As ministries took shape his writing office stayed discreet and won deeper trust. He lived sparely—no doubled silks, no granary stores. Imperial gifts he refused: “A petty clerk who steals reward without merit courts calamity.” The emperor praised him and let him decline. As magistrate of Jurong he dealt honestly with people and won their hearts. Yearly tax clerks used to fan out to inventory every household’s goods. Liu Chao instead dropped a sealed chest in each hamlet and let families declare their own holdings. Honest returns poured in, and revenue beat ordinary years. He returned to the secretariat as general-affairs gentleman. Father’s death took him home for mourning. Before mourning ended Wang Dun rebelled; an edict recalled him and attached him to the heir’s eastern supreme army. When the six armies broke, only Liu Chao held the palace guard; the moved emperor sent him back to finish mourning. When Qian Feng struck, he rallied loyalists for Emperor Ming’s campaign. Peace won him the earldom of Lingling. His family starved though he was now an earl; the emperor sent fish and rice by personal edict, yet he refused. When he needed a solid-colored ox and the market had none, the throne gave him one from the imperial herd. He governed Yixing as grand administrator. Soon he was recalled as secretariat gentleman. He took the post in such secrecy that the court never noticed the round trip. The emperor died; under Empress Dowager Mu he became colonel of the sound-shooting guard. That corps had no soldiers, so Yixing volunteers who loved him formed the “gentlemen’s camp” for palace duty. Early in Xianhe he mourned his mother to resignation, never doffed sackcloth, wept day and night, and walked each month to her grave until travelers wept with him.

及蘇峻謀逆，超代趙胤爲左衛將軍。時京邑大亂，朝士多遣家人入東避難。義興故吏欲迎超家，而超不聽，盡以妻孥入處宮內。及王師敗績，王導以超爲右衛將軍，親侍成帝。屬太后崩，軍衛禮章損闕，超躬率將士奉營山陵。峻遷車駕石頭，時天大雨，道路沈陷，超與侍中鍾雅步侍左右，賊給馬不肯騎，而悲哀慷慨。峻聞之，甚不平，然未敢加害，而以其所親信許方等補司馬督、殿中監，外託宿衛，內實防禦超等。時饑饉米貴，峻等問遺，一無所受，繾綣朝夕，臣節愈恭。帝時年八歲，雖幽厄之中，超猶啟授孝經、論語。溫嶠等至，峻猜忌朝士，而超爲帝所親遇，疑之尤甚。後王導出奔，超與懷德令匡術、建康令管旆等密謀，將欲奉帝而出。未及期，事泄，峻使任讓將兵入收超及鍾雅。 [5]帝抱持悲泣曰：「還我侍中、右衛！」任讓不奉詔，因害之。及峻平，任讓與陶侃有舊，侃欲特不誅之，乃請於帝。帝曰：「讓是殺我侍中、右衛者，不可宥。」由是遂誅讓。及超將改葬，帝痛念之不已，詔遷高顯近地葬之，使出入得瞻望其墓。追贈衛尉，諡曰忠。

When Su Jun rebelled, Liu Chao succeeded Zhao Yin as general of the left guard. As the capital collapsed, courtiers shipped kin eastward for safety. Yixing old staff offered to shelter his family; he refused and moved wife and children inside the palace walls. After the imperial rout Wang Dao named him right guard to stay at the boy emperor’s side. When the empress dowager died and rites frayed, he led the guard to tend her tomb himself. Su Jun dragged the court to Stone Citadel through pouring rain and ruined roads; Liu Chao and Zhong Ya walked beside the boy emperor, refused rebel horses, and wept with rage. Su Jun fumed yet dared not strike; he packed the palace guard with men like Xu Fang—nominally on watch, really watching Liu Chao. Famine made rice gold; Su Jun’s bribes they refused, clinging to the emperor night and day with tighter loyalty. The emperor was only eight, yet Liu Chao taught him the Classic of Filial Piety and the Analects even in captivity. After Wen Qiao came, Su Jun doubly distrusted Liu Chao for his closeness to the emperor. Wang Dao fled; Liu Chao, Kuang Shu of Huaide, Guan Pei of Jiankang, and others plotted to smuggle the emperor out. The plot leaked; Ren Rang’s troops seized Liu Chao and Zhong Ya. [5] The boy emperor clung to them, sobbing, “Give me back my attendants!” Ren Rang ignored the plea and murdered them. After Su Jun fell, Tao Kan—old friend of Ren Rang—begged to spare him. Emperor Cheng answered: “Ren Rang killed my ministers—he cannot live.” Ren Rang died on the order. Reburying Liu Chao, the emperor moved the tomb to a lofty nearby hill so he could see it coming and going. The court named him minister of the guards posthumously, styled “Loyal.”

超天性謙慎，歷事三帝，恒在機密，並蒙親遇，而不敢因寵驕諂，故士人皆安而敬之。

Liu Chao served three emperors in the inner chancery, won constant favor, yet never turned proud or sycophantic—so peers trusted and honored him.

子訥嗣，謹飭有石慶之風，歷中書侍郎、下邳內史。訥子享，亦清慎，爲散騎郎。

His heir Liu Ne was as scrupulous as Shi Qing’s sons, rising to secretariat gentleman and Xiapi interior minister. Ne’s son Liu Xiang stayed sober and spare as gentleman cavalier.

鍾雅字彥冑，潁川長社人也。父曅，公府掾，早終。雅少孤，好學有才志，舉四行，除汝陽令，入爲佐著作郎。母憂去官，服闋復職。東海王越請爲參軍，遷尚書郎。

Zhong Ya, style Yanzhou, came from Changshe in Yingchuan. His father Zhong Ye served the princely administration and died young. Orphaned young, he loved books, passed the four-conduct recommendation, governed Ruyang, then joined the editorial office. Mother’s death took him home; when mourning ended he returned. Sima Yue made him adviser, then palace gentleman.

避亂東渡，元帝以爲丞相記室參軍，遷臨淮內史、振威將軍。頃之，徵拜散騎侍郎，轉尚書右丞。時有事於太廟，雅奏曰：「陛下繼承世數，於京兆府君爲玄孫，而今祝文稱曾孫，恐此因循之失，宜見改正。又禮，祖之昆弟，從祖父也。景皇帝自以功德爲世宗，不以伯祖而登廟，亦宜除伯祖之文。」詔曰：「禮，事宗廟，自曾孫已下皆稱曾孫，此非因循之失也。義取於重孫，可歷世共其名，無所改也。稱伯祖不安，如所奏。」轉北軍中候。大將軍王敦請爲從事中郎，補宣城內史。錢鳳作逆，加廣武將軍，率眾屯青弋。時廣德縣人周玘爲鳳起兵攻雅，雅退據涇縣，收合士庶，討玘，斬之。鳳平，徵拜尚書左丞。

He fled east and became Yuan’s chancellor recorder, then Linhuai interior minister and General Who Rouses Might. Soon he was cavalier attendant-in-ordinary, then right secretariat aide. During a grand temple rite he noted the prayer called the emperor “great-grandson” to the spirit of Sima Fang when the true degree was great-great-grandson—he asked a fix. Ritual also names a grandfather’s elder brother correctly. Emperor Jing became lineage Shizong on merit, not as grand-uncle—so that phrase should go.” The throne answered: “Ritual calls every generation below ‘great-grandson’ at the altar—that is not a copyist’s error. The term stacks generations; leave it. The ‘grand-uncle’ line is wrong—remove it as you say.” He moved to colonel of the northern armies. Wang Dun named him staff aide and Xuancheng interior minister. When Qian Feng rose he added the title General Who Displays Martiality and camped at Qingyi. A local Zhou Qi struck for Qian Feng; Zhong Ya fell back to Jing, rallied townsmen, killed Zhou Qi. After Qian Feng fell he became left secretariat aide.

明帝崩，遷御史中丞。時國喪未期，而尚書梅陶私奏女妓，雅劾奏曰：「臣聞放勛之殂，八音遏密，雖在凡庶，猶能三載。自茲以來，歷代所同。肅祖明皇帝崩背萬國，當期來月。聖主縞素，泣血臨朝，百僚慘愴，動無歡容。陶無大臣忠慕之節，家庭侈靡，聲妓紛葩，絲竹之音，流聞衢路，宜加放黜，以整王憲。請下司徒，論正清議。」穆后臨朝，特原不問。雅直法繩違，百僚皆憚之。

Emperor Ming’s death raised him to censor-in-chief. While Ming’s mourning was unfinished, Mei Tao sent singing girls; Zhong Ya impeached: “When Yao died even commoners silenced music for three years. Every dynasty has done the same. Our late Emperor Ming has left the world; his first anniversary nears. The court wears hemp and tears; no face shows joy. Mei Tao shows no minister’s grief—his house rings with music; banish him to mend the statute. Send the case to the Situ for “pure discussion” censure.” Empress Dowager Mu pardoned Mei Tao. Zhong Ya enforced the code; every minister feared him.

北中郎將劉遐卒，遐部曲作亂，詔郭默討之，以雅監征討軍事、假節。事平，拜驍騎將軍。

When Liu Xia’s bodyguard mutinied, Guo Mo marched under Zhong Ya’s staff command. Peace made him General Who Dashes the Enemy.

蘇峻之難，詔雅爲前鋒監軍、假節，領精勇千人以距峻。雅以兵少，不敢擊，退還。拜侍中。尋王師敗績，雅與劉超並侍衛天子。或謂雅曰：「見可而進，知難而退，古之道也。君性亮直，必不容於寇讎，何不隨時之宜而坐待其斃。」雅曰：「國亂不能匡，君危不能濟，各遜遁以求免，吾懼董狐執簡而至矣。」庾亮臨去，顧謂雅曰：「後事深以相委。」雅曰：「棟折榱崩，誰之責也？」亮曰：「今日之事，不容復言，卿當期剋復之效耳。」雅曰：「想足下不愧荀林父耳。」及峻逼遷車駕幸石頭，雅、超流涕步從。明年，並爲賊所害。賊平，追贈光祿勳。其後以家貧，詔賜布帛百匹。子誕，位至中軍參軍，早卒。

Su Jun’s revolt made him vanguard supervisor with a thousand picked men. He dared not attack with so few and fell back. He was named palace attendant. When the army broke, he and Liu Chao stayed with the emperor. A friend urged him: “Advance when you can, retreat when you must—that was the ancients’ way. You are too straight for rebels—why not slip away and wait them out?” Zhong Ya answered: “If I flee while the throne totters, Dong Hu will write my shame in his chronicle.” Yu Liang, leaving, turned: “I leave what follows to you.” Zhong Ya shot back: “When the roof falls, whose fault is that?” Yu Liang said: “No more blame talk—you must win restoration.” Zhong Ya: “See that you do not disgrace Xun Linfu.” When Su Jun marched the court to Stone Citadel, the two walked behind weeping. The next year the rebels killed them both. After the victory he was posthumously named minister of the imperial clan. Later edicts sent a hundred bolts of silk for his poverty. His son Zhong Dan became central army adviser and died young.

【史評】

Section title: Historians’ appraisal

史臣曰：應詹行業聿修，文史足用，入居列位，則嘉謀屢陳；出撫藩條，則惠政斯洽。甘卓伐暴寧亂，庸績克宣，作鎮扞城，威略具舉。及兇渠犯順，志在勤王。既而人撓其謀，天奪其鑒，疑留不斷，自取誅夷。卞壼束帶立朝，以匡正爲己任；褰裳衛主，蹈忠義以成名。遂使臣死於君，子死於父，惟忠與孝，萃其一門。古稱社稷之臣，忠貞之謂矣。劉超勤肅奉上，鍾雅正直當官。屬巨猾滔天，幼君危逼，乃崎嶇寇難，契闊艱虞，匪石爲心，寒松比操，貞軌皆沒，亮跡雙升。雖高赫在難彌恭，荀息繼之以死，方之二子，曾何足云！

The annalists write: Ying Zhan refined conduct and letters; in central office his counsel flowed; in the provinces his rule ran kind and clear. Gan Zhuo crushed rebels and held the frontier with equal parts force and guile. When traitors faced the throne he meant to save it. Men blocked him, Heaven dimmed his sight; his wavering bought his death. Bian Kun belted his robe and meant to straighten the court; he hitched his robe and died for loyalty’s name. Father and sons died for sovereign and parent alike—loyalty and filial piety in one gate. They are what antiquity meant by “pillars of the state.” Liu Chao served with tireless care; Zhong Ya held office straight. Under a usurper’s flood they clung to a boy emperor, hearts like ice-pines, and rose in martyrdom together. Gao He’s reverence in danger and Xun Xi’s suicide scarcely match these two.

贊曰：卓臨南服，詹蒞西州。 [6]政刑克舉，威惠兼修。應嗟運促，甘斃疑留。望之徇義，處死爲易。惟子惟臣，名節斯寄。鍾劉入仕，忠貞攸履。竭其股肱，繼之以死。

The hymn says: Zhuo held the south, Ying Zhan the west. [6] Law ran clear, kindness and terror paired. Ying Zhan’s life ran short; Gan Zhuo died of hesitation. Bian Kun chose righteousness; death came as ease. Son and minister hung all on name and duty. Zhong Ya and Liu Chao walked the path of loyalty. They gave sinew and bone to the throne, then gave life.

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