1
王羲之
Wang Xizhi
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王羲之，字逸少，司徒導之從子也。 祖正，尚書郎。 父曠，淮南太守。 元帝之過江也，曠首創其議。 羲之幼訥於言，人未之奇。 年十三，嘗謁周顗，顗察而異之。 時重牛心炙，坐客未啖，顗先割啖羲之，於是始知名。 及長，辯贍，以骨鯁稱，尤善隸書，為古今之冠，論者稱其筆勢，以為飄若浮雲，矯若驚龍。 深為從伯敦、導所器重。 時陳留阮裕有重名，為敦主簿。 敦嘗謂羲之曰：「汝是吾家佳子弟，當不減阮主簿。」 裕亦目羲之與王承、王悅為王氏三少。 時太尉郗鑒使門生求女婿于導，導令就東廂遍觀子弟。 門生歸，謂鑒曰：「王氏諸少並佳，然聞信至，咸自矜持。 惟一人在東床坦腹食，獨若不聞。」 鑒曰：「正此佳婿邪！」 訪之，乃羲之也，遂以女妻之。
Wang Xizhi, whose courtesy name was Yishao, was a nephew of Wang Dao, the Minister of Education. His grandfather Wang Zheng had served as a Gentleman of the Masters of Writing. His father Wang Kuang was the Administrator of Huainan commandery. When Emperor Yuan prepared to cross south of the Yangzi, Wang Kuang had been the first to advance the plan. As a boy Wang Xizhi was tongue-tied, and no one thought him extraordinary. At thirteen he paid a call on Zhou Yi, who sized him up and saw something uncommon in him. Ox-heart roast was then considered a great delicacy. Before the other guests had tasted it, Zhou Yi carved a portion and offered it to Wang Xizhi, and only then did the boy begin to make a name for himself. As an adult he grew fluent and forceful in debate and was admired for his uncompromising integrity. Above all he excelled at clerical script, standing unrivaled across the ages. Critics described the movement of his brush as drifting like wind-borne clouds and as swift and powerful as a dragon startled into flight. His uncles Wang Dun and Wang Dao thought the world of him. Ruan Yu of Chenliu enjoyed wide renown at the time and served as chief clerk to Wang Dun. Wang Dun once told him, "You are one of the best youths in our clan; you should prove a match for Clerk Ruan." For his part, Ruan Yu named Wang Xizhi, Wang Cheng, and Wang Yue the three outstanding younger men of the Wang family. Grand Commandant Xi Jian dispatched a disciple to ask Wang Dao for a son-in-law, and Wang Dao had the man go to the eastern wing and look over every young kinsman present. When the messenger returned he reported to Xi Jian, "The Wang youths are all impressive, but the moment they learned a matchmaker had arrived, each of them stiffened into his best behavior. Only one sat on the eastern couch with his shirt open, eating unconcernedly as though nothing had happened." Xi Jian said, "That is exactly the son-in-law I want." They asked who he was: it was Wang Xizhi, and Xi Jian gave him his daughter in marriage.
3
起家秘書郎，征西將軍庾亮請為參軍，累遷長史。 亮臨薨，上疏稱羲之清貴有鑒裁。 遷甯遠將軍、江州刺史。 羲之既少有美譽，朝廷公卿皆愛其才器，頻召為侍中、吏部尚書，皆不就。 復授護軍將軍，又推遷不拜。 揚州刺史殷浩素雅重之，勸使應命，乃遺羲之書曰：「悠悠者以足下出處足觀政之隆替，如吾等亦謂為然。 至如足下出處，正與隆替對，豈可以一世之存亡，必從足下從容之適？ 幸徐求眾心。 卿不時起，復可以求美政不？ 若豁然開懷，當知萬物之情也。」 羲之遂報書曰：「吾素自無廊廟志，直王丞相時果欲內吾，誓不許之，手跡猶存，由來尚矣，不於足下參政而方進退。 自兒娶女嫁，便懷尚子平之志，數與親知言之，非一日也。 若蒙驅使，關隴、巴蜀皆所不辭。 吾雖無專對之能，直謹守時命，宣國家威德，固當不同於凡使，必令遠近咸知朝廷留心於無外，此所益殊不同居護軍也。 漢末使太傅馬日磾慰撫關東，若不以吾輕微，無所為疑，宜及初冬以行，吾惟恭以待命。」
He first entered office as a Gentleman of the Palace Library. Yu Liang, the General Who Conquers the West, recruited him as an army adviser, and he rose step by step to chief clerk. On his deathbed Yu Liang memorialized the throne, commending Wang Xizhi for his integrity, high standing, and sound judgment. He was advanced to General Who Pacifies the Distance and appointed Inspector of Jiang province. Wang Xizhi had been celebrated since his early years, and the great officers at court prized his gifts; they called him repeatedly to serve as Palace Attendant and as Minister of Personnel, but he declined every appointment. He was offered the post of General Who Guards the Army and once more put it off without assuming the commission. Yin Hao, the Inspector of Yang province, had always held him in high regard and pressed him to accept. Yin wrote to Wang Xizhi: "Gossip holds that whether you serve or withdraw is itself a barometer of good or bad government—and people like me agree. Your choice to serve or stay out stands directly opposite the fortunes of the state. Surely the rise or fall of an entire era cannot hinge on your personal comfort and convenience. I hope you will move gradually and win the confidence of the people. If you refuse to take up office when the moment calls for it, how can you ever hope to see good government again? Once you open your mind, you will understand how the world truly feels." Wang Xizhi answered: "I have never aspired to high ministerial rank. When Chancellor Wang once tried to bring me into the administration, I swore I would not go—the letter he wrote me is still in my keeping, and my resolve has been clear for years. I am not only now, as you take power, deciding whether to step forward or back. Ever since my sons married and my daughters were given away, I have nursed the wish, like Shang Ziping of old, to leave public life; I have said as much to family and friends again and again, and not just yesterday. If I am ordered on a mission, I would not refuse even the road to Guanzhong, Longyou, or the Ba–Shu region. I may lack the eloquence of a seasoned negotiator, but if I simply obey the court's commission and make known its majesty and benevolence, I can still do more than the usual envoy: I would show every quarter that the throne cares for the world beyond our borders. That service would be far more useful than warming a seat as General Who Guards the Army. At the end of the Han the court sent Grand Tutor Ma Midi east of the passes on a mission of consolation. If my low rank does not disqualify me, and you have no misgivings, I should leave in early winter. I await your command with all deference."
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羲之既拜護軍，又苦求宣城郡，不許，乃以為右軍將軍、會稽內史。 時殷浩與桓溫不協，羲之以國家之安在於內外和，因以與浩書以戒之，浩不從。 及浩將北伐，羲之以為必敗，以書止之，言甚切至。 浩遂行果為姚襄所敗。 復圖再舉，又遺浩書曰：
Wang Xizhi did accept the post of General Who Guards the Army, then pleaded repeatedly for Xuancheng commandery. When that was denied, he was appointed General of the Right Army and internal administrator of Kuaiji. Yin Hao and Huan Wen were at odds. Wang Xizhi believed the realm could be secure only if court and frontier remained at peace, so he wrote to admonish Yin Hao, who paid no heed. When Yin Hao prepared a northern campaign, Wang Xizhi was convinced it would end in disaster and sent him a letter urging him to desist, in the frankest terms. Yin Hao went ahead anyway and was routed by Yao Xiang. When Yin plotted a second offensive, Wang Xizhi wrote to him again:
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知安西敗喪，公私惋怛，不能須臾去懷，以區區江左，所營綜如此，天下寒心，固以久矣，而加之敗喪，此可熟念。 往事豈復可追，顧思弘將來，令天下寄命有所，自隆中興之業。 政以道勝寬和為本，力爭武功，作非所當，因循所長，以固大業，想識其由來也。
The news of the defeat of the army under the General of the West has left everyone, official and commoner alike, heartsick; the sorrow will not lift. Our modest foothold south of the Yangzi has been governed to this pass; the empire has long been disheartened, and now this rout on top of everything—think hard about what that means. The past cannot be undone. Look instead to the future: give the people something solid to live for, and you will yourself enlarge the work of restoring the dynasty. Good rule rests on moral ascendancy and a calm, generous temper; to strain after military glory when the time is wrong is a mistake. Play to your strengths and shore up the great enterprise—you know this as well as I.
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自寇亂以來，處內外之任者，未有深謀遠慮，括囊至計，而疲竭根本，各從所志，竟無一功可論，一事可記，忠言嘉謀棄而莫用，遂令天下將有土崩之勢，何能不痛心悲慨也。 任其事者，豈得辭四海之責！ 追咎往事，亦何所復及，宜更虛己求賢，當與有識共之，不可復令忠允之言常屈於當權。 今軍破於外，資竭於內，保淮之志非復所及，莫過還保長江，都督將各復舊鎮，自長江以外，羈縻而已。 任國鈞者，引咎責躬，深自貶降以謝百姓。 更與朝賢思布平政，除其煩苛，省其賦役，與百姓更始。 庶可以允塞群望，救倒懸之急。
Since the rebellions began, those who have held office at court and on the borders have shown neither foresight nor a coherent strategy. They have drained the state's foundations while each pursued private aims, and not a single success or memorable deed has come of it. Sound counsel is thrown aside, and the empire now teeters toward collapse—how can we not feel bitter grief? Those who bear this burden cannot escape accountability to the whole realm. Recriminations over the past accomplish nothing. Humble yourself, seek out able men, and work with those who see clearly; do not let honest advice be silenced again by whoever happens to hold power. The field armies are shattered and the treasury is empty; we can no longer dream of holding the Huai line. The best we can do is fall back to the Yangzi, send each commander to his old post, and treat everything beyond the river as ground we merely influence at a distance. The chief ministers must own their faults, humble themselves, and make amends to the people. Then join the worthy men at court in planning honest administration: strip away oppressive regulations, lighten taxes and labor service, and give the common people a fresh start. Only thus can you answer what the country expects of you and ease the desperate straits we are in.
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使君起于布衣，任天下之重，尚德之舉，未能事事允稱。 當董統之任而敗喪至此，恐闔朝群賢未有與人分其謗者。 今亟修德補闕，廣延群賢，與之分任，尚未知獲濟所期。 若猶以前事為未工，故復求之於分外，宇宙雖廣，自容何所！ 知言不必用，或取怨執政，然當情慨所在，正自不能不盡懷極言。 若必親征，未達此旨，果行者，愚智所不解也。 願復與眾共之。
You began as a commoner and now shoulder the fate of the empire; even the best intentions cannot make every deed meet everyone's praise. Entrusted with supreme command, you have brought us to this disaster; I doubt anyone else at court will step forward to share the blame with you. Repair your moral standing at once, widen your circle of able advisers, and share power with them—only then might we see whether the situation can be saved. If you still think you have not failed and reach for still more beyond your proper role, the world is vast—yet where will you find room for yourself? I know blunt advice may not be heeded and may anger those who govern, but the heart's outrage leaves me no choice but to speak my mind completely. If you insist on taking the field in person without grasping this point, and actually go through with it, neither the dull nor the clever will understand your reasoning. I urge you to deliberate again with the assembly.
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復被州符，增運千石，征役兼至，皆以軍期，對之喪氣，罔知所厝。 自頃年割剝遺黎，刑徒竟路，殆同秦政，惟未加參夷之刑耳，恐勝廣之憂，無復日矣。
Fresh orders from the province demand another thousand shi of grain and simultaneous levies of labor, all on military deadlines. The people are demoralized and do not know where to turn. For years the remnant population has been bled white; shackled convicts choke the highways—policy almost as harsh as the Qin, short only of mass executions by kinship. I fear a Chen Sheng–style uprising may not be far off.
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又與會稽王箋陳浩不宜北伐，並論時事曰：
He also wrote to the Prince of Kuaiji arguing that Yin Hao must not launch another northern campaign, and commented on the state of the realm:
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古人恥其君不為堯舜，北面之道，豈不願尊其所事，比靈斯往代，況遇千載一時之運？ 顧智力屈于當年，何得不權輕重而處之也。 今雖有可欣之會，內求諸己，而所憂乃重於所欣。 《傳》云：「自非聖人，外甯必有內憂。」 今外不寧，內憂已深。 古之弘大業者，或不謀於眾，傾國以濟一時功者，亦往往而有之。 誠獨運之明足以邁眾，暫勞之弊終獲永逸者可也。 求之於今，可得擬議乎！
The ancients were ashamed to serve any ruler who fell short of Yao and Shun. As subjects we all wish to exalt our sovereign and rank him with the sage-kings of old—especially when fate offers a once-in-a-millennium chance. Yet talent and strength are limited in our own day; we have no choice but to weigh priorities carefully and act accordingly. Outwardly there may be cause for hope, but when I look within, what troubles me outweighs what encourages me. The Zuo Commentary says, "Unless one is a sage, outward calm always brings inner trouble." Our borders are not secure, and domestic troubles run deep. Great founders of old sometimes acted without consulting everyone, and rulers who staked the whole kingdom on a single gamble are hardly unknown. That can work only when one man's vision truly outshines all others and a spell of hardship buys lasting peace. Can you honestly say our present circumstances fit that pattern?
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夫廟算決勝，必宜審量彼我，萬全而後動。 功就之日，便當因其眾而即其實。 今功未可期，而遺黎殲盡，萬不餘一。 且千里饋糧，自古為難，況今轉運供繼，西輸許洛，北入黃河。 雖秦政之弊，未至於此，而十室之憂，便以交至。 今運無還期，徵求日重，以區區吳越經緯天下十分之九，不亡何待！ 而不度德量力，不弊不已，此封內所痛心歎悼而莫敢吐誠。
Victory decided in council demands a sober reckoning of enemy and self: move only when every advantage is secured. When success is won, you must match your forces to the real situation on the ground. We cannot count on victory, yet the people who survived the last disasters have been wiped out—hardly one in ten thousand remains. Supplying an army over a thousand li has always been difficult; today convoys must run west toward Xuchang and Luoyang and north to the Yellow River as well. Even the harshness of the Qin never pushed every village to this edge of despair, yet household after household now faces ruin at once. There is no end in sight to the convoys, and levies grow heavier by the day. Our small Wu–Yue region is asked to carry nine-tenths of the empire—if we are not destroyed, what are we waiting for? Still you refuse to measure your moral authority or material strength, and you will not stop until everything is broken—this is what every subject grieves in silence, too afraid to speak plainly.
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往者不可諫，來者猶可追，願殿下更垂三思，解而更張，令殷浩、荀羨還據合肥、廣陵，許昌、譙郡、梁、彭城諸軍皆還保淮，為不可勝之基，鬚根立勢舉，謀之未晚，此實當今策之上者。 若不行此，社稷之憂可計日而待。 安危之機，易於反掌，考之虛實，著於目前，願運獨斷之明，定之於一朝也。
The past cannot be undone, but the future can still be mended. I beg Your Highness to think three times more, change course, and pull Yin Hao and Xun Xian back to hold Hefei and Guangling while the troops at Xuchang, Qiao, Liang, and Pengcheng all withdraw to the Huai line. That would lay a foundation no enemy could easily overthrow; once our roots are firm and our posture secure, you may plan further—it will not be too late. This is the best policy open to us today. If you reject this course, the fall of the dynasty can be reckoned in days. The turn between survival and ruin is as quick as flipping a hand; the facts are plain before your eyes. I pray you use your own decisive judgment and settle the matter in a single stroke.
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地淺而言深，豈不知其未易。 然古人處閭閻行陣之間，尚或幹時謀國，評裁者不以為譏，況廁大臣末行，豈可默而不言哉！ 存亡所系，決在行之，不可復持疑後機，不定之於此，後欲悔之，亦無及也。
My rank is low and my words weighty—I know how unwelcome that can be. Yet men of old, though they stood only among common soldiers or in the marketplace, sometimes shaped the age and served the state, and thoughtful critics did not mock them. How much less may I, who sit even among the great officers, hold my tongue? Our survival hangs on action now. Hesitate past the moment, fail to decide here, and remorse will come too late.
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殿下德冠宇內，以公室輔朝，最可直道行之，致隆當年，而未允物望，受殊遇者所以寤寐長歎，實為殿下惜之。 國家之慮深矣，常恐伍員之憂不獨在昔，麋鹿之游將不止林藪而已。 願殿下暫廢虛遠之懷，以救倒懸之急，可謂以亡為存，轉禍為福，則宗廟之慶，四海有賴矣。
Your Highness's virtue is unmatched, and as prince of the blood you aid the throne—no one is better placed to follow the straight path and bring this era to greatness. Yet you have not matched what the world expects, and those of us who enjoy your special favor lie awake sighing, sorry on your account. The dangers before the state are grave. I fear Wu Zixu's warning is not confined to antiquity, and that deer will graze in our palace yards, not only in the wilds. Set aside lofty abstractions for a time and address the crisis that hangs us head down: that is how to snatch survival from ruin and turn peril into blessing. The imperial house would rejoice, and the realm would have something to lean on.
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時東土饑荒，羲之輒開倉振貸。 然朝廷賦役繁重，吳會憂甚，羲之每上疏爭之，事多見從。 又遺尚書僕射謝安書曰：
Famine struck the eastern regions, and Wang Xizhi opened the government granaries to feed the people. Yet the court's taxes and labor demands remained crushing, and the Wu–Kuaiji area suffered acutely. Wang Xizhi repeatedly memorialized against the policy, and the throne often took his advice. He also wrote to Xie An, the Vice Director of the Masters of Writing:
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頃所陳論，每蒙允納，所以令下小得蘇息，各安其業。 若不耳，此一郡久以蹈東海矣。
The points I have raised have usually won your approval, so that local directives give the people a little breathing room and let them stay at their work in peace. Without that, this commandery would long ago have followed Lu Zhonglian into the eastern sea—meaning revolt or mass flight.
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今事之大者未布，漕運是也。 吾意望朝廷可申下定期，委之所司，勿復催下，但當歲終考其殿最。 長吏尤殿，命檻車送詣天臺。 三縣不舉，二千石必免，或可左降，令在疆塞極難之地。
The greatest problem still unsettled is the grain transport system. I hope the court will set clear deadlines, leave execution to the responsible offices, stop sending down endless urgings, and judge officials only at year's end by their performance ratings. Any magistrate who ranks worst should be sent to the capital in a prison cart. If three districts fail their quotas, the local two-thousand-shi official must be removed—perhaps demoted and posted to some perilous frontier.
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又自吾到此，從事常有四五，兼以台司及都水御史行台文符如雨，倒錯違背，不復可知。 吾又瞑目循常推前，取重者及綱紀，輕者在五曹。 主者蒞事，未嘗得十日，吏民趨走，功費萬計。 卿方任其重，可徐尋所言。 江左平日，揚州一良刺史便足統之，況以群才而更不理，正由為法不一，牽制者眾，思簡而易從，便足以保守成業
Since I took this post I have had four or five assistants at a time, while edicts from the central ministries, the capital hydraulics office, and the touring censorates rain down—contradictory, confused, impossible to sort out. I shut my eyes, follow routine, and push papers along: weighty items go to the senior clerks, lighter ones to the five bureaus. No officer ever gets ten uninterrupted days on a task; clerks and commoners run themselves ragged, and the waste runs into the tens of thousands. You now shoulder heavy responsibility; please give these suggestions your careful attention. In normal times south of the Yangzi a single capable Inspector of Yang province was enough to keep order; with so many talented men under you, disorder persists only because regulations conflict and too many hands pull in different directions. Simplify the rules so they are easy to obey, and you can preserve what we have
19
倉督監耗盜官米，動以萬計，吾謂誅翦一人，其後便斷，而時意不同。 近檢校諸縣，無不皆爾。 余姚近十萬斛，重斂以資奸吏，令國用空乏，良可歎也。
Granary overseers embezzle tens of thousands of bushels of state grain. I argued that executing one ringleader would stop the rest, but opinion at court disagreed. A recent audit of the counties shows the same abuse everywhere. Yuyao alone is short nearly a hundred thousand hu because harsh exactions feed corrupt underlings and leave the treasury bare—a sorry state of affairs.
20
自軍興以來，征役及充運死亡叛散不反者眾，虛耗至此，而補代循常，所在凋困，莫知所出。 上命所差，上道多叛，則吏及叛者席捲同去。 又有常制，輒令其家及同伍課捕。 課捕不擒，家及同伍尋復亡叛。 百姓流亡，戶口日減，其源在此。 又有百工醫寺，死亡絕沒，家戶空盡，差代無所，上命不絕，事起成十年、十五年，彈舉獲罪無懈息而無益實事，何以堪之！ 謂自今諸死罪原輕者及五歲刑，可以充此，其減死者，可長充兵役，五歲者，可充雜工醫寺，皆令移其家以實都邑。 都邑既實，是政之本，又可絕其亡叛。 不移其家，逃亡之患復如初耳。 今除罪而充雜役，盡移其家，小人愚迷，或以為重於殺戮，可以絕奸。 刑名雖輕，懲肅實重，豈非適時之宜邪！
Since the wars began, huge numbers have died, deserted, or vanished on corvée and transport duty. The population is hollowed out, yet replacements are drafted on the old pattern; every district is exhausted and no one sees a way out. Men drafted by imperial order often desert the moment they set out; local clerks then flee together with the runaways, and whole districts are stripped bare. Standing rules then hold the man's family and his five-household mutual-responsibility group liable for hunting him down. When those roundups fail, the same families and neighbors soon desert in turn. The people scatter and the population registers shrink day by day—this is where the rot begins. The same plague hits artisans and monastic infirmaries: workers die out, families vanish, and there is no one left to fill the quotas—yet edicts keep coming. Cases drag on ten or fifteen years; denunciations and punishments never pause while nothing useful gets done. How long can we endure this? Henceforth, commute lighter capital cases and five-year sentences into these slots: spare the condemned from execution and assign them instead to lifelong military labor; assign five-year convicts to workshops and temple clinics—and move their entire households into the capital to thicken the population. A full capital is the foundation of sound rule, and it keeps those workers from running away. If their families are not relocated, we are right back to the old desertion problem. Replacing execution with penal service and resettling whole clans may strike common folk as harsher than killing, yet it can choke off corruption. The statute looks mild, but the deterrent is severe—precisely what the times require.
21
羲之雅好服食養性，不樂在京師，初渡浙江，便有終焉之志。 會稽有佳山水，名士多居之，謝安未仕時亦居焉。 孫綽、李充、許詢、支遁等皆以文義冠世，並築室東土，與羲之同好。 嘗與同志宴集于會稽山陰之蘭亭，羲之自為之序以申其志，曰：
Wang Xizhi cultivated his temperament with elixirs and regimen and disliked life at court; the first time he crossed the Zhe River he resolved to end his days in the south. Kuaiji boasted superb landscape, and celebrated gentlemen clustered there; Xie An had lived there too before he took office. Sun Chuo, Li Chong, Xu Xun, Zhi Dun, and their circle led the age in letters and learning; they all built homes in the eastern region and shared Wang Xizhi's tastes. He once joined kindred spirits for a banquet at the Orchid Pavilion south of Kuaiji and composed a preface to set out his feelings. It reads:
22
永和九年，歲在癸丑，暮春之初，會於會稽山陰之蘭亭，修禊事也。 群賢畢至，少長咸集。 此地有崇山峻嶺，茂林修竹，又有清流激湍，映帶左右，引以為流觴曲水，列坐其次。 雖無絲竹管弦之盛，一觴一詠，亦足以暢敘幽情。
In the ninth year of Yonghe, the cyclical year guichou, at the start of late spring, we met at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji, for the spring purification rite. Every eminent guest came, young and old alike. Here rise steep peaks and thick groves of bamboo; clear torrents whirl past on either hand. We channeled them into a winding stream for the floating-cup game and sat in order along its banks. Though we had no full orchestra, each cup of wine and each impromptu poem was enough to give voice to our deepest moods.
23
是日也，天朗氣清，惠風和暢，仰觀宇宙之大，俯察品類之盛，所以遊目騁懷，足以極視聽之娛，信可樂也。
That day the sky shone clear and a gentle breeze blew warm. Looking up, we saw the immensity of the heavens; looking down, the richness of every living thing. The eye wandered freely and the heart opened wide—sight and sound brought pure delight. It was happiness indeed.
24
夫人之相與，俯仰一世，或取諸懷抱，悟言一室之內，或因寄所托，放浪形骸之外。 雖趣舍萬殊，靜躁不同，當其欣於所遇，暫得於己，快然自足，不知老之將至。 及其所之既倦，情隨事遷，感慨系之矣。 向之所欣，俯仰之間，已為陳跡，猶不能不以之興懷。 況修短隨化，終期於盡。 古人云，死生亦大矣，豈不痛哉！
Men live out their lives in the turn of a head—some share confidences indoors, others give themselves to wandering beyond all bodily restraint, each according to his bent. Tastes differ—some restless, some still—but whenever a man meets what delights him and feels at one with the moment, he is content and forgets that age is closing in. When the old fascination fades and circumstances change, regret and longing inevitably follow. The joys we cherished moments ago are already behind us, yet we cannot keep our hearts from stirring at the thought. And whether life lasts long or short, it runs its course to the same end. The ancients said that death and life are the greatest of matters. Is that not cause for grief?
25
每覽昔人興感之由，若合一契，未嘗不臨文嗟悼，不能喻之於懷。 固知一死生為虛誕，齊彭殤為妄作，後之視今，亦猶今之視昔，悲夫！ 故列敘時人，錄其所述，雖世殊事異，所以興懷，其致一也。 後之覽者，亦將有感於斯文。
Whenever I read old writers on what moves them, it is as if we shared the same stamp; I always pause over their words in sorrow, yet the feeling is beyond words. I know well that to treat life and death as the same is a lie, and to equate the long-lived Peng Zu with a child dead young is sophistry. Future readers will look on our age as we look on the past—how bitter that thought is. So I list the men of today and preserve their poems: later ages will face other times and other cares, yet what moves the heart comes to the same thing. Readers who come after us may yet find something of themselves in these lines.
26
或以潘岳《金穀詩序》方其文，羲之比于石崇，聞而甚喜。
Some likened his piece to Pan Yue's preface to the Golden Valley poems and compared Wang Xizhi himself to Shi Chong; he was delighted to hear it.
27
性愛鵝，會稽有孤居姥養一鵝，善鳴，求市未能得，遂攜親友命駕就觀。 姥聞羲之將至，烹以待之，羲之嘆惜彌日。 又山陰有一道士，養好鵝，羲之往觀焉，意甚悅，固求市之。 道士云：「為寫《道德經》，當舉群相贈耳。」 羲之欣然寫畢，籠鵝而歸，甚以為樂。 其任率如此。 嘗詣門生家，見棐幾滑淨，因書之，真草相半。 後為其父誤刮去之，門生驚懊者累日。 又嘗在蕺山見一老姥，持六角竹扇賣之。 羲之書其扇，各為五字。 姥初有慍色。 因謂姥曰：「但言是王右軍書，以求百錢邪。」 姥如其言，人競買之。 他日，姥又持扇來，羲之笑而不答。 其書為世所重，皆此類也。 每自稱「我書比鐘繇，當抗行； 比張芝草，猶當雁行也」。 曾與人書云：「張芝臨池學書，池水盡黑，使人耽之若是，未必後之也。」 羲之書初不勝庾翼、郗愔，及其暮年方妙。 嘗以章草答庾亮，而翼深歎伏，因與羲之書云：「吾昔有伯英章草十紙，過江顛狽，遂乃亡失，常歎妙跡永絕。 忽見足下答家兄書，煥若神明，頓還舊觀。」
He adored geese. An old widow in Kuaiji kept one with a fine voice; he tried to buy it without success, so he brought friends and rode out to see it. When she heard he was coming she cooked the goose to entertain him; he mourned the loss the whole day through. A Daoist in Shanyin kept handsome geese. Wang Xizhi went to admire them, was charmed, and pressed to buy the flock. The priest said, "Copy the Dao De Jing for me, and the whole flock is yours." Wang Xizhi happily finished the copy, caged the birds, and went home in high spirits. Such was his spontaneous, unstudied manner. Once at a disciple's house he saw a polished lacquer table and wrote across it in half regular, half cursive script. The boy's father later scraped it off by mistake, and the disciple was beside himself with remorse for days. Another time, on Mount Ji, he met an old woman selling hexagonal bamboo fans. He brushed five characters on each fan. At first she looked annoyed. He told her, "Just say they were written by the General of the Right Army, and you can ask a hundred cash apiece." She did as he said, and buyers snatched them up. When she came back another day with more fans, he only smiled and declined. The world treasured his brush for reasons like these. He used to say, "Set my calligraphy beside Zhong Yao's and I can hold my own; set it beside Zhang Zhi's cursive, and I may still walk in the same rank." In a letter he wrote: "Zhang Zhi practiced so hard by the pond that the water turned black. Devote yourself like that and you need not rank behind him." In his youth Wang Xizhi's hand did not outshine Yu Yi or Xi Yin; only in old age did it become sublime. He once replied to Yu Liang in draft cursive; Yu Yi was awestruck and wrote to him: "I once owned ten sheets of Zhang Zhi's draft cursive, but lost them in the chaos of crossing the Yangzi. I thought such masterpieces were gone forever. Then I saw your answer to my brother—it shines like a work of the gods and brings that vision back in an instant."
28
時驃騎將軍王述少有名譽，與羲之齊名，而羲之甚輕之，由是情好不協。 述先為會稽，以母喪居郡境，羲之代述，止一吊，遂不重詣。 述每聞角聲，謂羲之當候己，輒灑掃而待之。 如此者累年，而羲之竟不顧，述深以為恨。 及述為揚州刺史，將就征，周行郡界，而不過羲之，臨發，一別而去。 先是，羲之常謂賓友曰：「懷祖正當作尚書耳，投老可得僕射。 更求會稽，便自邈然。」 及述蒙顯授，羲之恥為之下，遣使詣朝廷，求分會稽為越州。 行人失辭，大為時賢所笑。 既而內懷愧歎，謂其諸子曰：「吾不減懷祖，而位遇懸邈，當由汝等不及坦之故邪！」 述後檢察會稽郡，辯其刑政，主者疲于簡對。 羲之深恥之，遂稱病去郡，于父母墓前自誓曰：「維永和十一年三月癸卯朔，九日辛亥，小子羲之敢告二尊之靈。 羲之不天，夙遭閔凶，不蒙過庭之訓。 母兄鞠育，得漸庶幾，遂因人乏，蒙國寵榮。 進無忠孝之節，退違推賢之義，每仰詠老氏、周任之誡，常恐死亡無日，憂及宗祀，豈在微身而已！ 是用寤寐永歎，若墜深谷。 止足之分，定之於今。 謹以今月吉辰肆筵設席，稽顙歸誠，告誓先靈。 自今之後，敢渝此心，貪冒苟進，是有無尊之心而不子也。 子而不子，天地所不覆載，名教所不得容。 信誓之誠，有如皦日！」
General-in-Chief Who Inspires Awe Wang Shu had enjoyed some fame and was ranked with Wang Xizhi, but Xizhi despised him, and the two never got along. Wang Shu had governed Kuaiji and, mourning his mother, stayed within the commandery when Wang Xizhi succeeded him. Xizhi paid a single condolence call and never returned. Whenever Wang Shu heard a horn—thinking Xizhi might be coming—he swept his courtyard and waited. Years passed, and Wang Xizhi never came; Wang Shu nursed a deep grudge. When Wang Shu was appointed Inspector of Yang province, he toured the Kuaiji border on his way to take up the post but did not call on Xizhi; he paid one farewell visit only as he was leaving. Earlier Wang Xizhi had told friends, "Huai Zu might rise to Minister of the Masters of Writing; in his old age he could make Vice Director. As for Kuaiji again—that was beyond his reach." When Wang Shu won a lofty post, Wang Xizhi was humiliated at ranking beneath him and sent a messenger to court asking that Kuaiji be split off as a separate Yue province. The envoy bungled the plea and became a laughingstock among the eminent men of the day. Ashamed, he told his sons, "I am no less able than Huai Zu, yet our fortunes could not be more different—can it be because none of you measures up to his son Tan?" Later, as inspector, Wang Shu audited Kuaiji's legal and administrative records; the clerks were worn out answering his queries. Wang Xizhi was mortified. He pleaded illness, resigned his post, and swore before his parents' graves: "On the ninth day of the third month of the eleventh year of Yonghe, xinhai day, your son Xizhi reverently addresses the spirits of both my parents. Heaven denied me parents early; I never received the lessons a son should have at his father's knee. My mother and elder brother reared me until I amounted to something; when the state lacked men, I received undeserved honor. In office I showed neither loyalty nor filial devotion; in retirement I failed the duty to yield to better men. I ponder Laozi's and Zhou Ren's warnings and fear my end may come any day, bringing ruin on the lineage—not on my person alone. I sigh awake and asleep as though I were tumbling into a chasm. Today I fix the limit of what contentment requires. On this auspicious day I spread the ritual feast, bow my forehead to the ground, and in good faith declare my vow before you. If from this day I break my word and grasp for rank, I shall be a son who no longer honors his parents. Such a false son heaven and earth disown; the moral order cannot abide him. May this oath shine clear as the noon sun!"
29
羲之既去官，與東土人士盡山水之遊，弋釣為娛。 又與道士許邁共修服食，采藥石不遠千里，遍游東中諸郡，窮諸名山，泛滄海，歎曰：「我卒當以樂死。」 謝安嘗謂羲之曰：「中年以來，傷於哀樂，與親友別，輒作數日惡。」 羲之曰：「年在桑榆，自然至此。 頃正賴絲竹陶寫，恆恐兒輩覺，損其歡樂之趣。」 朝廷以其誓苦，亦不復征之。
After leaving office he roamed every scenic corner of the east with local friends, hunting and fishing for pleasure. With the Daoist Xu Mai he practiced dietetics and gathered herbs, traveling a thousand li without hesitation through the eastern commanderies and famous peaks, even putting out onto the sea, and sighed, "I shall end my days in bliss." Xie An once said to him, "Since middle age I am too easily moved; every parting from family or friends leaves me ill for days." Wang Xizhi replied, "At the sunset of life it comes of itself. Lately I rely on music to ease my mood, yet I dread my children noticing—it would spoil the pleasure." The court, respecting the sternness of his tomb-side vow, never called him back.
30
時劉惔為丹陽尹，許詢嘗就惔宿，床帷新麗，飲食豐甘。 詢曰：「若此保全，殊勝東山。」 惔曰：「卿若知吉凶由人，吾安得保此。」 羲之在坐，曰：「令巢許遇稷契，當無此言。」 二人並有愧色。
Liu Dan was governor of Danyang. Xu Xun once stayed the night: fresh curtains, rich food. Xu said, "If one could always live this safely, it would beat hiding on the Eastern Mountain." Liu replied, "If good and ill fortune were truly in our hands, I could not count on even this." Wang Xizhi, who was present, said, "Had hermits like Chao Fu and Xu You met ministers like Ji and Qi, they would not speak so." Both men colored with embarrassment.
31
初，羲之既優遊無事，與吏部郎謝萬書曰：
While Wang Xizhi lived at leisure, he wrote to Xie Wan, the Gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel:
32
古之辭世者或被髮陽狂，或汙身穢跡，可謂艱矣。 今僕坐而獲逸，遂其宿心，其為慶倖，豈非天賜！ 違天不祥。
Men who quit the world in old times let their hair run wild or feigned madness, smeared themselves with filth—how hard their path was. I sit at home and gain ease, fulfilling a lifelong wish—what luck; it feels like a gift from heaven. To spurn heaven's favor would be unwise.
33
頃東游還，修植桑果，今盛敷榮，率諸子，抱弱孫，游觀其間，有一味之甘，割而分之，以娛目前。 雖植德無殊邈，猶欲教養子孫以敦厚退讓。 或以輕薄，庶令舉策數馬，仿佛萬石之風。 君謂此何如？
Since my tour east I have tended mulberries and fruit; they flourish now. I lead my sons and carry little grandchildren through the orchards; if we find something sweet, we share it on the spot and take our joy from the moment. I am no towering moral example, yet I hope to teach the children honesty, generosity, and modesty. They may think me fussy, but I want them to learn to count the horses when they mount a carriage—something of the Wan-shi family's scrupulous style. What do you think of that?
34
比當與安石東遊山海，並行田視地利，頤養閒暇。 衣食之餘，欲與親知時共歡宴，雖不能興言高詠，銜杯引滿，語田里所行，故以為撫掌之資，其為得意，可勝言邪！ 常依陸賈、班嗣、楊王孫之處世，甚欲希風數子，老夫志願盡於此也。
Next I shall tour the coast and hills eastward with Anshi, inspect the fields with him, and nurse my health in quiet. Whenever we have more than we need for food and clothing, I want feasts with family and friends. We may not trade lofty verses, but we can drain our cups and talk of village life—that is enough to make us slap our knees with delight. Could words exhaust such contentment? I model myself on Lu Jia, Ban Si, and Yang Wangsun; I long to catch something of their spirit. An old man's wishes go no further.
35
萬後為豫州都督，又遺萬書誡之曰：「以君邁往不屑之韻，而俯同群辟，誠難為意也。 然所謂通識，正自當隨事行藏，乃為遠耳。 願君每與士之下者同，則盡善矣。 食不二味，居不重席，此復何有，而古人以為美談。 濟否所由。 實在積小以致高大，君其存之。」 萬不能用，果敗。
When Xie Wan later became commander in Yuzhou, Wang Xizhi wrote again to caution him: "A man of your proud, fastidious temper must find it bitter to bend among common colleagues. Yet true breadth of mind means knowing when to step forward and when to hold back—that is what makes a man far-sighted. I urge you to meet your subordinates on their own level; that would be best. To eat only one dish at a meal and use no double mat for sitting—what hardship is that? Yet the ancients praised it. Success and failure turn on such things. Great character is built from small habits—bear that in mind." Xie Wan ignored the advice and met defeat as predicted.
36
年五十九卒，贈金紫光祿大夫。 諸子遵父先旨，固讓不受。
He died at fifty-nine and was posthumously honored as Grand Master of the Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon. His sons, obeying his earlier wishes, firmly declined the enfeoffment.
37
子凝之
His son: Wang Ningzhi
38
有七子，知名者五人。 玄之早卒。 次凝之，亦工草隸，仕歷江州刺史、左將軍、會稽內史。 王氏世事張氏五斗米道，凝之彌篤。 孫恩之攻會稽，僚佐請為之備。 凝之不從，方入靖室請禱，出語諸將佐曰：「吾已請大道，許鬼兵相助，賊自破矣。」 既不設備，遂為孫所害。
He had seven sons, five of whom became well known. Wang Xuanzhi died young. Next came Wang Ningzhi, also adept at cursive and clerical script, who served as Inspector of Jiang province, General of the Left, and internal administrator of Kuaiji. For generations the Wang family had followed the Zhangs' Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, and Ningzhi was the most fervent believer yet. When Sun En besieged Kuaiji, his staff urged him to prepare a defense. Ningzhi refused. He shut himself in the oratory to pray, then told his officers, "I have petitioned the Great Dao; spirit troops will aid us, and the rebels will destroy themselves." He made no military preparations and was killed by Sun En.
39
子徽之
His son: Wang Huizhi
40
徽之字子猷。 性卓犖不羈，為大司馬桓溫參軍，蓬首散帶，不綜府事。 又為車騎桓沖騎兵參軍，沖問：「卿署何曹？」 對曰：「似是馬曹。」 又問：「管幾馬？」 曰：「不知馬，何由知數！」 又問：「馬比死多少？」 曰：「未知生，焉知死！」 嘗從沖行，值暴雨，徽之因下馬排入車中，謂曰：「公豈得獨擅一車！」 沖嘗謂徽之曰：「卿在府日久，比當相料理。」 徽之初不酬答，直高視，以手版柱頰云：「西山朝來致有爽氣耳。」
Wang Huizhi, courtesy name Ziyou He was proud and unbent by nature. As army adviser to Grand Marshal Huan Wen he went about unkempt, sash dangling, and ignored administrative duty. He later served as cavalry adviser to Huan Chong, the Cavalry-in-Attendant. Huan Chong asked, "Which section are you attached to?" He answered, "Something like the Horse Bureau, I suppose." How many mounts are under your charge?" I know nothing of horses—how should I know the count?" How many of the horses have died lately?" We do not yet understand life—how could we speak of death?" Once, riding with Huan Chong in a cloudburst, he climbed from his horse into the carriage and said, "You cannot hog the whole vehicle to yourself!" Huan Chong once told him, "You have been on staff a long time; it is time I found you real work." Huizhi made no answer. He gazed into the distance, propped his cheek on his memorandum tablet, and said only, "The Western Hills have been wonderfully crisp all morning."
41
時吳中一士大夫家有好竹，欲觀之，便出坐輿造竹下，諷嘯良久。 主人灑掃請坐，徽之不顧。 將出，主人乃閉門，徽之便以此賞之，盡歎而去。 嘗寄居空宅中，便令種竹。 或問其故，徽之但嘯詠，指竹曰：「何可一日無此君邪！」 嘗居山陰，夜雪初霽，月色清朗，四望皓然，獨酌酒詠左思《招隱詩》，忽憶戴逵。 逵時在剡，便夜乘小船詣之，經宿方至，造門不前而反。 人問其故，徽之曰：「本乘興而行，興盡而反，何必見安道邪！」 雅性放誕，好聲色，嘗夜與弟獻之共讀《高士傳贊》，獻之賞井丹高潔，徽之曰：「未若長卿慢世也。」 其傲達若此。 時人皆欽其才而穢其行。
A gentleman in Wu owned a superb bamboo grove. Huizhi rode straight there in an open chair, sat beneath the bamboos, and for a long while chanted and whistled. The host swept a place and asked him in; Huizhi ignored him. As he was leaving, the host slammed the gate; Huizhi admired him for it, praised him wholeheartedly, and went away. Lodging once in an empty house, he immediately had bamboo planted. When asked why, he only whistled, pointed at the plants, and said, "How could I spend a single day without this gentleman?" While living in Shanyin he saw snow stop one night under a clear moon until the world gleamed white. He drank alone and recited Zuo Si's 《Summoning the Recluse》, and suddenly thought of Dai Kui. Dai was in Shan county, so Huizhi took a boat by night; it took until the next morning to arrive, yet he turned back without crossing the threshold. Asked to explain, he said, "I went on a whim; when the mood was spent I came home—why did I need to see Andao?" He was dissolute and fond of pleasure. One night he and his brother Xianzhi read the 《Eulogies to High-Minded Men》. Xianzhi admired Jing Dan's purity; Huizhi said, "He cannot match Sima Xiangru's contempt for the world." Such was his proud unconventionality. His contemporaries honored his gifts but were revolted by his behavior.
42
後為黃門侍郎，棄官東歸，與獻之俱病篤，時有術人云：「人命應終，而有生人樂代者，則死者可生。」 徽之謂曰：「吾才位不如弟，請以餘年代之。」 術者曰：「代死者，以己年有餘，得以足亡者耳。 今君與弟算俱盡，何代也！」 未幾，獻之卒，徽之奔喪不哭，直上靈床坐，取獻之琴彈之，久而不調，歎曰：「嗚呼子敬，人琴俱亡！」 因頓絕。 先有背疾，遂潰裂，月餘亦卒。 子楨之。
He later served as a Palace Attendant, then quit and went east. He and Xianzhi both lay near death when a occultist said, "When a man's span is up, if another willingly trades his years, the dying man may live." Huizhi told him, "I am my brother's inferior in every way; take whatever years I have left and give them to him." The man replied, "Substitution works only when the donor's surplus of life can fill what the dead man lacked. You and your brother have both reached your allotted end—there is nothing to exchange!" Soon Xianzhi died. Huizhi hurried to the funeral but did not cry; he went straight to the bier, sat down, and took up Xianzhi's zither. The strings would not stay in tune. He cried, "O Zijing—the man is gone, and the instrument with him!" He broke off and fainted. An old abscess on his back broke open, and a little over a month later he too died. His son was Wang Zhenzhi.
43
徽之子楨之
The son of Wang Huizhi: Wang Zhenzhi
44
楨之字公幹，歷位侍中、大司馬長史。 桓玄為太尉，朝臣畢集，問楨之：「我何如君亡叔？」 在坐咸為氣咽。 楨之曰：「亡叔一時之標，公是千載之英。」 一坐皆悅。
Wang Zhenzhi, courtesy name Gonggan, rose to Palace Attendant and chief clerk to the Grand Marshal. When Huan Xuan became Grand Commandant, the whole court assembled. He asked Zhenzhi, "How do I compare with your late uncle?" Everyone present held his breath. Zhenzhi answered, "My uncle was the paragon of his age; you are a hero for the ages." The whole company was pleased.
45
子操之
His son: Wang Caozhi
46
操之字子重，曆侍中、尚書、豫章太守。
Wang Caozhi, courtesy name Zizhong, served as Palace Attendant, Minister, and Administrator of Yuzhang.
47
子獻之
His son: Wang Xianzhi
48
獻之字子敬。 少有盛名，而高邁不羈，雖閒居終日，容止不怠，風流為一時之冠。 年數歲，嘗觀門生樗蒱，曰：「南風不競。」 門生曰：「此郎亦管中窺豹，時見一斑。」 獻之怒曰：「遠慚荀奉倩，近愧劉真長。」 遂拂衣而去。 嘗與兄徽之、操之俱詣謝安，二兄多言俗事，獻之寒溫而已。 既出，客問安王氏兄弟優劣，安曰：「小者佳。」 客問其故，安曰：「吉人之辭寡，以其少言，故知之。」 嘗與徽之共在一室，忽然火發，徽之遽走，不遑取履。 獻之神色恬然，徐呼左右扶出。 夜臥齋中而有偷人入其室，盜物都盡。 獻之徐曰：「偷兒，氈青我家舊物，可特置之。」 群偷驚走。
Wang Xianzhi, courtesy name Zijing Celebrated from boyhood, he was proud and free-spirited. Even at leisure all day he never let his bearing slip, and for grace he had no peer in his time. Watching his father's disciples play chupu while still a child, he remarked, "The southern player is losing ground." A disciple said, "The boy is peering at a leopard through a bamboo tube—he catches only a single spot." Xianzhi flared: "Compared with Xun Can in the past or Liu Tan among our own circle, I am ashamed." He swept his sleeves aside and walked out. Once he went with Huizhi and Caozhi to visit Xie An. The elder brothers talked of trivial matters; Xianzhi offered only polite greetings. After they left, a guest asked which brother was superior. Xie An said, "The youngest." Asked why, he said, "Good men say little; his silence told me." Once he and Huizhi were in the same room when fire broke out. Huizhi bolted without stopping for his shoes. Xianzhi stayed perfectly calm and told his servants to help him out at leisure. One night thieves entered his study while he slept and stripped the room bare. Xianzhi said calmly, "Thieves—that dark felt mat is a family heirloom; kindly leave it." The robbers fled in panic.
49
工草隸，善丹青。 七八歲時學書，羲之密從後掣其筆不得，歎曰：「此兒後當復有大名。」 嘗書壁為方丈大字，羲之甚以為能，觀者數百人。 桓溫嘗使書扇，筆誤落，因畫作烏駁牸牛，甚妙。
He excelled at cursive and clerical script and was a fine painter. At seven or eight, while practicing calligraphy, his father tried to tug the brush from behind and could not. Wang Xizhi sighed, "This boy will make a great name for himself." He once brushed characters a full square foot high on a wall. His father was deeply impressed, and hundreds came to watch. Huan Wen once asked him to write on a fan. The brush slipped, so he turned the blot into a dappled black cow—brilliantly done.
50
起家州主簿、秘書郎，轉丞，以選尚新安公主。 嘗經吳郡，聞顧辟彊有名園。 先不相識，乘平肩輿徑入。 時辟彊方集賓友，而獻之遊歷既畢，傍若無人。 辟彊勃然數之曰：「傲主人，非禮也。 以貴驕士，非道也。 失是二者，不足齒之傖耳。」 便驅出門。 獻之傲如也，不以屑意。
He began as a provincial chief clerk and Gentleman of the Palace Library, became an aide, and by imperial selection married the Princess of Xin'an. Passing through Wu commandery, he heard that Gu Piqiang owned a celebrated garden. They were strangers, yet Xianzhi rode a plain sedan chair straight through the gate. Gu was entertaining guests. Xianzhi toured the grounds as if no one else were there. Gu exploded: "To insult your host breaks every rule of courtesy. To throw your rank at a scholar is not the Way. A man who fails on both counts is beneath contempt." He had him thrown out. Xianzhi remained loftily unconcerned.
51
謝安甚欽愛之，請為長史。 安進號衛將軍，復為長史。 太元中，新起太極殿，安欲使獻之題榜，以為萬代寶，而難言之，試謂曰：「魏時陵雲殿榜未題，而匠者誤釘之，不可下，乃使韋仲將懸橙書之。 比訖，須鬢盡白，裁餘氣息。 還語子弟，宜絕此法。」 獻之揣知其旨，正色曰：「仲將，魏之大臣，甯有此事！ 使其若此，有以知魏德之不長。」 安遂不之逼。 安又問曰：「君書何如君家尊？」 答曰：「故當不同。」 安曰：「外論不爾。」 答曰：「人那得知！」 尋除建威將軍、吳興太守，徵拜中書令。
Xie An admired him deeply and appointed him chief clerk. When Xie An was promoted to General Who Guards the Army, Xianzhi again served as his chief clerk. During the Taiyuan era the new Hall of the Supreme Ultimate was raised. Xie An wanted Xianzhi to write the hall plaque—a treasure for all time—but hesitated to ask outright. He began obliquely: "Under Wei, the Lingyun Hall plaque was nailed up before anyone had brushed the characters. When the board could not be removed, they had Wei Dan hoisted on a scaffold to write it. When he finished, his beard had gone white and he could barely breathe. He told his sons never to attempt such a thing again." Xianzhi saw the point and answered gravely, "Zhongjiang was a high minister of Wei—such a story cannot be true. If it were true, it would only show how shallow Wei virtue ran." Xie An dropped the matter. Xie An asked again, "How does your calligraphy compare with your father's?" He replied, "They are simply different." Xie An said, "Outsiders do not say so." He answered, "What do outsiders know of it?" Soon afterward he was named General Who Establishes Might and Administrator of Wuxing, then summoned as Palace Secretary.
52
未幾，獻之遇疾，家人為上章，道家法應首過，問其有何得失。 對曰：「不覺餘事，惟憶與郗家離婚。」 獻之前妻，郗曇女也。 俄而卒於官。 安僖皇后立，以後父追贈侍中、特進、光祿大夫、太宰，諡曰憲。 無子，以兄子靜之嗣，位至義興太守。 時議者以為羲之草隸，江左中朝莫有及者，獻之骨力遠不及父，而頗有媚趣。 桓玄雅愛其父子書，各為一帙，置左右以玩之。 始羲之所與共游者許邁。
Before long Xianzhi fell ill. His family filed a Daoist petition of confession and asked him what sins he needed to acknowledge. He said, "I recall nothing else but divorcing my wife from the Xi clan." Xianzhi's first wife had been a daughter of Xi Tan. He died in office shortly afterward. When Empress Anxi was installed, her father Wang Xianzhi was posthumously honored as Palace Attendant, Specially Advanced, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, and Grand Governor with the posthumous title "Xian." He had no sons; his nephew Wang Jingzhi became his heir and rose to Administrator of Yixing. Critics held that in cursive and clerical script Wang Xizhi had no rival south of the Yangzi or at the old capital; Xianzhi's stroke lacked his father's vigor but showed a seductive charm of its own. Huan Xuan treasured the brush of father and son; he kept a separate album of each at hand for his delight. Among those with whom Wang Xizhi first roamed the hills was Xu Mai.
53
附許邁
Appendix: Xu Mai
54
許邁，字叔玄，一名映，丹陽句容人也。 家世士族，而邁少恬靜，不慕仕進。 未弱冠，嘗造郭璞，璞為之筮，遇《泰》之《大畜》，其上六爻發。 璞謂曰：「君元吉自天，宜學升遐之道。」 時南海太守鮑靚隱跡潛遁，人莫之知。 邁乃往候之，探其至要。 父母尚存，未忍違親。 謂余杭懸霤山近延陵之茅山，是洞庭西門，潛通五嶽，陳安世、茅季偉常所遊處，於是立精舍於懸霤，而往來茅嶺之洞室，放絕世務，以尋仙館，朔望時節還家定省而已。 父母既終，乃遣婦孫氏還家，遂攜其同志遍游名山焉。
Xu Mai, whose courtesy name was Shuxuan and who was also known as Ying, came from Jurong in Danyang commandery. Though his clan belonged to the gentry, Mai was quiet and retiring from youth and cared nothing for an official career. Before his capping year he visited Guo Pu, who cast the yarrow for him and obtained the hexagram Tai changing to Da Chu, with the top line moving. Guo Pu told him, "Supreme good fortune reaches you from on high; you should pursue the path of transcendence." At that time Bao Jing, the Administrator of Nanhai, had vanished into reclusion and was unknown to the world. Mai sought him out and drew from him the heart of the teaching. His parents were still alive, and he could not bear to leave them. He held that Mount Xuansliu in Yuhang, near Mount Mao by Yanling, was the western portal of Dongting and linked invisibly to the Five Marchmounts—the ground where Chen Anshi and Mao Jiwei had roamed. There he built a hermitage and moved between the caves on Mao Ridge, turning his back on the world to seek the immortals' abodes, coming home only at the new and full moons to greet his parents. After his parents died, he sent his wife, née Sun, back to her family and set out with fellow seekers to wander every famous peak.
55
初采藥於桐廬縣之桓山，餌術涉三年，時欲斷穀。 以此山近人，不得專一，四面籓之，好道之徒欲相見者，登樓與語，以此為樂。 常服氣，一氣千餘息。 永和二年，移入臨安西山，登岩茹芝，眇爾自得，有終焉之志。 乃改名玄，字遠遊。 與婦書告別，又著詩十二首，論神仙之事焉。 羲之造之，未嘗不彌日忘歸，相與為世外之交。 玄遺羲之書云：「自山陰南至臨安，多有金堂玉室，仙人芝草，左元放之徒，漢末諸得道者皆在焉。」 羲之自為之傳，述靈異之跡甚多，不可詳記。 玄自後莫測所終，好道者皆謂之羽化矣。
He first gathered drugs on Mount Huan in Tonglu county, fed on atractylodes for three years, and tried to abstain from grain. Because the mountain lay too close to settlers for undisturbed practice, he fenced it on every side. Seekers who wished to see him were made to climb a tower and speak from there—an arrangement he found amusing. In breath meditation he would hold a single cycle through more than a thousand counts. In the second year of Yonghe he moved to the western hills of Lin'an, climbed the cliffs, fed on mushroom elixirs, and found a quiet joy; he resolved to end his days there. He took the name Xuan and the courtesy name Yuanyou. He sent his wife a letter of farewell and wrote twelve poems on the subject of transcendents. Whenever Wang Xizhi visited, the two would talk the whole day through; they were friends outside the common world. Xuan wrote to Wang Xizhi: "South from Shanyin to Lin'an lie halls of gold and chambers of jade, spirit herbs, and the company of Zuo Ci—all who attained the Way at the end of the Han are there." Wang Xizhi himself composed his biography, recording marvels too numerous to set down in full. After that no one knew his fate; adepts said he had ascended in feathered form.
56
贊曰：書契之興，肇乎中古，繩文鳥跡，不足可觀。 末代去朴歸華，舒箋點翰，爭相跨尚，競其工拙。 伯英臨池之妙，無復餘蹤； 師宜懸帳之奇，罕有遺跡。 逮乎鐘王以降，略可言焉。 鐘雖擅美一時，亦為回絕，論其盡善，或有所疑。 至於布纖濃，分疏密，霞舒雲卷，無所間然。 但其體則古而不今，字則長而逾制，語其大量，以此為瑕。 獻之雖有父風，殊非新巧。 觀其字勢疏瘦，如隆冬之枯樹； 覽其筆蹤拘束，若嚴家之餓隸。 其枯樹也，雖槎枿而無屈伸； 其餓隸也，則羈羸而不放縱。 兼斯二者，故翰墨之病歙！ 子雲近出，擅名江表，然僅得成書，無丈夫之氣，行行若縈春蚓，字字如綰秋蛇； 臥王濛於紙中，坐徐偃於筆下； 雖禿千兔之翰，聚無一毫之筋，窮萬谷之皮，斂無半分之骨； 以茲播美，非其濫名邪！ 此數子者，皆譽過其實。 所以詳察古今，研精篆素，盡善盡美，其惟王逸少乎！ 觀其點曳之工，裁成之妙，煙霏露結，狀若斷而還連； 鳳翥龍蟠，勢如斜而反直。 玩之不覺為倦，覽之莫識其端，心慕手追，此人而已。 其餘區區之類，何足論哉！
The historian's judgment runs: Writing arose in high antiquity from knotted cords and bird-track glyphs—scarcely worth our notice. Later ages turned from plainness to ornament: paper unrolled, brushes dipped, each school vying to outdo the rest in skill or clumsiness. Zhang Zhi's miracle at the pond survives only in legend; and Shi Yiguan's feat with the hanging curtain has left almost no authentic trace. Only from Zhong Yao and the Wangs onward can one speak with confidence. Zhong Yao dominated his age, head and shoulders above rivals, yet whether he achieved perfect excellence remains debatable. In laying fine and bold strokes, spacing tight and open lines, he moves like mist parting and clouds curling—without a false step. Yet his manner is archaic rather than contemporary, and his characters overlong for the rule—in the round, those are blemishes. Wang Xianzhi echoes his father but brings little fresh ingenuity. The structure of his hand is gaunt as a winter tree stripped bare; his strokes are cramped like a famished bondsman in a harsh master's house. That winter tree is a dead snag without spring or flex; that bondsman is haltered, wasted, never free to move. Both faults together make a sickness in the brush! Xiao Ziyun rose later and ruled the calligraphy of the south, yet he merely forms legible script without a man's vigor: each line wriggles like spring worms; each character knots like autumn snakes; it is Wang Meng stretched ill on the page, Xu Yan the hunchback crouching under the brush; though you wear out a forest of rabbit brushes, not a fiber of strength appears; though you stack hides from every valley, not half a splinter of bone remains; to praise such work is to inflate a hollow reputation! These men are all more famous than they deserve. Survey past and present, study every seal-script master on silk, and who attains full goodness and full beauty if not Wang Yishao? See the mastery of his dots and sweeps, the perfection of his composition: mist and dew congeal in forms that seem broken yet still flow together; phoenix poised, dragon coiled—energy that looks slanted yet stands upright. One could study it without tiring, yet never trace its limit; heart envies and hand follows—only this man. The rest are small fry—not worth a word!