Volume 103 Records 3: Liu Yao

劉曜

Biographical entry: Liu Yao.

劉曜，字永明，元海之族子也。少孤，見養於元海。幼而聰彗，有奇度。年八歲，從元海獵於西山，遇雨，止樹下，迅雷震樹，旁人莫不顛仆，曜神色自若。元海異之曰：「此吾家千里駒也，從兄為不亡矣！」身長九尺三寸，垂手過膝，生而眉白，目有赤光，須髯不過百餘根，而皆長五尺。性拓落高亮，與眾不群。讀書志於廣覽，不精思章句，善屬文，工草隸。雄武過人，鐵厚一寸，射而洞之，于時號為神射。尤好兵書，略皆暗誦。常輕侮吳、鄧，而自比樂毅、蕭、曹，時人莫之許也，惟聰每曰：「永明，世祖、魏武之流，何數公足道哉！」

Liu Yao, whose courtesy name was Yongming, was a clansman of Liu Yuan (Yuanhai). Orphaned young, he was raised by Liu Yuan. Even as a child he was quick-witted and possessed an uncommon breadth of mind. When he was eight he accompanied Liu Yuan on a hunt in the western hills; as rain forced them to shelter under a tree, a thunderbolt struck it, sending everyone else scrambling while Liu Yao remained perfectly composed. Liu Yuan exclaimed in wonder, “Here is the thousand-li steed of our clan—my kinsman’s line will not die out after all!” He stood nine feet three inches tall, with hands that reached below his knees; his eyebrows were white from birth and his eyes held a ruddy gleam; his beard counted fewer than a hundred hairs, yet each strand measured five feet. By temperament he was openhanded and high-minded, standing apart from ordinary men. He read for wide learning rather than hairsplitting textual analysis; he wrote well and excelled at cursive and clerical calligraphy. His martial prowess was extraordinary: he could send an arrow through an inch of iron, and men called him the divine bowman of his day. He especially devoured military treatises until he knew them virtually by heart. He habitually disparaged Wu Qi and Deng Yu while likening himself to Yue Yi, Xiao He, and Cao Cao—contemporaries dismissed the boast. Only Liu Cong would say, “Yongming belongs with Emperor Guangwu and Cao Cao; those others are not worth discussing.”

弱冠游於洛陽，坐事當誅，亡匿朝鮮，遇赦而歸。自以形質異眾，恐不容於世，隱跡管涔山，以琴書為事。嘗夜閒居，有二童子入跪曰：「管涔王使小臣奉謁趙皇帝，獻劍一口。」置前再拜而去。以燭視之，劍長二尺，光澤非常，赤玉為室，背上有銘曰：「神劍禦，除眾毒。」曜遂服之。劍隨四時而變為五色。

In his youth he sojourned in Luoyang; accused of a capital crime, he fled to Korea until an amnesty allowed him to come home. Believing his striking appearance would invite mistrust, he withdrew to Mount Guancen and devoted himself to music and books. One night, as he sat alone, two boys appeared, knelt, and said, “The lord of Mount Guancen sends us to greet the future emperor of Zhao and to offer this sword.” They set the blade before him, bowed twice, and vanished. By lamplight he saw a two-foot blade of unearthly sheen in a scabbard of red jade, inscribed with the words “divine blade to ward off every ill.” Liu Yao henceforth wore it at his side. The sword shifted through five hues with the turning seasons.

元海世頻曆顯職，後拜相國，都督中外諸軍事，鎮長安。靳准之難，自長安赴之。至於赤壁，太保呼延晏等自平陽奔之，與太傅朱紀、太尉范隆等上尊號。曜以僭即皇帝位，大赦境內，惟准一門不在赦例，改元光初。以朱紀領司徒，呼延晏領司空，範隆以下悉復本位。使征北劉雅、鎮北劉策次於汾陰，與石勒為掎角之勢。

Under Liu Yuan he rose through a series of high offices; he was later made chancellor of state, commander-in-chief of all armies within and without, and stationed at Chang’an. When Jin Zhun staged his coup, Liu Yao marched from Chang’an to answer the crisis. At Chibi he was joined by Grand Guardian Huyan Yan, who had fled Pingyang with others; together with Grand Tutor Zhu Ji, Grand Commandant Fan Long, and the rest they urged the imperial title upon him. Liu Yao then took the throne in his own right, proclaimed a general amnesty that expressly excluded Jin Zhun’s clan, and adopted the reign title Guangchu. He appointed Zhu Ji over the minister of education, Huyan Yan over public works, and returned Fan Long and subordinate officials to their former ranks. He stationed Liu Ya and Liu Ce at Fenyin, so that their forces and Shi Le’s hemmed Jin Zhun in from two sides.

靳准遣侍中卜泰降於勒，勒囚泰，送之曜。謂泰曰：「先帝末年，實亂大倫，群閹撓政，誅滅忠良，誠是義士匡討之秋。司空執心忠烈，行伊霍之權，拯濟塗炭，使朕及此，勳高古人，德格天地。朕方寧濟大艱，終不以非命及君子賢人。司空若執忠誠，早迎大駕者，政由靳氏，祭則寡人，以朕此意布之司空，宣之朝士。」泰還平陽，具宣曜旨。准自以殺曜母兄，沈吟未從。尋而喬泰、王騰、靳康、馬忠等殺准，推尚書令靳明為盟主，遣卜泰奉傳國六璽降於曜。曜大悅，謂泰曰：「使朕獲此神璽而成帝王者，子也。」石勒聞之，怒甚，增兵攻之。明戰累敗，遣使求救於曜，曜使劉雅、劉策等迎之。明率平陽士女萬五千歸於曜，曜命誅明，靳氏男女無少長皆殺之。使劉雅迎母胡氏喪於平陽，還葬粟邑，墓號陽陵，偽諡宣明皇太后。僭尊高祖父亮為景皇帝，曾祖父廣為獻皇帝，祖防懿皇帝，考曰宣成皇帝。徙都長安，起光世殿於前，紫光殿於後。立其妻羊氏為皇后，子熙為皇太子，封子襲為長樂王，闡太原王，沖淮南王，敞齊王，高魯王，徽楚王，征諸宗室皆進封郡王。繕宗廟、社稷、南北郊。以水承晉金行，國號曰趙。牲牡尚黑，旗幟尚玄，冒頓配天，元海配上帝，大赦境內殊死已下。

Jin Zhun sent Bu Tai to Shi Le to negotiate surrender; Shi Le held him captive and sent him on to Liu Yao. Liu Yao told him, “In the late emperor’s last years the proper moral order collapsed, eunuchs seized the government, and loyal ministers were slaughtered—the hour had come for men of honor to set things right. The minister of works acted with steadfast loyalty, wielded authority in the manner of Yi Yin and Huo Guang, and dragged the realm out of ruin so that we stand here today; his achievements tower over those of antiquity and his virtue reaches heaven and earth. We mean to heal this great calamity and will never permit innocent death to befall the virtuous. If he proves loyal and welcomes the court in good time, power may remain with the Jin house while ritual honors fall to us alone; convey this intent to him and to the officials.” Bu Tai returned to Pingyang and relayed Liu Yao’s message in full. Jin Zhun, having murdered Liu Yao’s mother and elder brother, hesitated and would not commit. Soon Qiao Tai, Wang Teng, Jin Kang, Ma Zhong, and others slew Jin Zhun, raised Jin Ming as leader, and sent Bu Tai with the six imperial seals to submit to Liu Yao. Liu Yao was overjoyed and told him, “You are the one through whom we gained these sacred seals and the throne.” When Shi Le heard the news, he flew into a rage and poured more troops into the assault. Jin Ming suffered repeated defeats and begged Liu Yao for aid; Liu Yao dispatched Liu Ya, Liu Ce, and others to escort him. Jin Ming brought fifteen thousand civilians from Pingyang to Liu Yao, who had him executed and put every member of the Jin clan to the sword, young and old alike. He sent Liu Ya to fetch his mother Lady Hu’s coffin from Pingyang for reburial at Suyi under the tomb name Yang Mausoleum, with the posthumous title Empress Dowager Xuanming. He posthumously ennobled his great-great-grandfather Liang as Emperor Jing, his great-grandfather Guang as Emperor Xian, his grandfather Fang as Emperor Yi, and his father as Emperor Xuancheng. He moved the capital to Chang’an and erected the Guangshi Hall in front and the Ziguang Hall behind the palace. He enthroned his wife Lady Yang as empress, named his son Xi crown prince, enfeoffed his son Xí as Prince of Changle, Chan as Prince of Taiyuan, Chong as Prince of Huainan, Chang as Prince of Qi, Gao as Prince of Lu, and Hui as Prince of Chu, while promoting other imperial kinsmen to princely rank. He restored the imperial ancestral temple, the altars of soil and grain, and the suburban sacrifice sites. Claiming the water phase to succeed the Jin’s metal, he named his dynasty Zhao. Sacrifices favored black victims, standards were dark; Modun was matched with Heaven and Liu Yuan with the Supreme God; a general amnesty swept the realm excepting capital crimes.

黃石屠各路松多起兵于新平、扶風，聚眾數千，附于南陽王保。保以其將楊曼為雍州刺史，王連為扶風太守，據陳倉；張顗為新平太守，周庸為安定太守，據陰密。松多下草壁，秦隴氐羌多歸之。曜遣其軍騎劉雅、平西劉厚攻楊曼于陳倉，二旬不克。曜率中外精銳以赴之，行次雍城，太史令弁廣明言於曜曰：「昨夜妖星犯月，師不宜行。」乃止。敕劉雅等攝圍固壘，以待大軍。

Lusong Duo, a Huangshi freeman, raised several thousand men in Xinping and Fufeng and threw in his lot with Sima Bao, the Prince of Nanyang. Sima Bao made his general Yang Man inspector of Yongzhou and Wang Lian administrator of Fufeng, and they held Chencang; while Zhang Yi and Zhou Yong took Xinping and Anding and garrisoned Yinmi. Lusong Duo moved down to Caobi, drawing many Di and Qiang clans from the Qin-Long region. Liu Yao sent Liu Ya and Liu Hou against Yang Man at Chencang, but after twenty days they still could not take the town. Liu Yao led his best troops forward but stopped at Yongcheng when director of astronomy Bian Guangming warned, “An ill omen crossed the moon last night—the army should not march.” He called the advance off. He instructed Liu Ya to tighten the siege and fortify the camps until the main host arrived.

地震，長安尤甚。時曜妻羊氏有殊寵，頗與政事，陰有餘之征也。

The earth trembled, Chang’an worst of all. Lady Yang enjoyed extraordinary favor and meddled in statecraft—a dark omen of feminine dominance.

三年，曜發雍，攻陳倉，曼、連謀曰：「諜者適還，云其五牛旗建，多言胡主自來，其鋒恐不可當也。吾糧廩既少，無以支久，若頓軍城下，圍人百日，不待兵刃而吾自滅，不如率見眾以一戰。如其勝也，關中不待檄而至；如其敗也，一等死，早晚無在。」遂盡眾背城而陣，為曜所敗，王連死之，楊曼奔于南氐。曜進攻草壁，又陷之，松多奔隴城，進陷安定。保懼，遷于桑城。氐羌悉從之。曜振旅歸於長安，署劉雅為大司徒。

In the third year Liu Yao marched from Yong against Chencang. Yang Man and Wang Lian conferred: scouts report the five-ox banner aloft and rumors that the Hu ruler leads in person—a foe we may not withstand. Our stores are low; we cannot endure a long siege. If we sit beneath the walls until starvation breaks us in a hundred days, we perish without a blow. Better meet them in open battle with every man we have. Win, and the passes will rally to us without a summons; lose, and we die all the same—whether sooner or later makes little difference.” They drew up every man with their backs to the wall; Liu Yao broke them, killing Wang Lian while Yang Man fled to the southern Di. Liu Yao took Caobi in turn; Lusong Duo bolted to Longcheng, and he pressed on to capture Anding. Sima Bao, panic-stricken, withdrew to Sangcheng. The Di and Qiang flocked after him. Liu Yao marched back to Chang’an in triumph and named Liu Ya grand minister of education.

晉將李矩襲金墉，克之。曜左中郎將宋始、振威宋恕降于石勒。署其大將軍、廣平王嶽為征東大將軍，鎮洛陽。會三軍疫甚，嶽遂屯澠池。石勒遣石生馳應宋始等，軍勢甚盛。曜將尹安、趙慎等以洛陽降生，嶽乃班師，鎮於陝城。

The Jin commander Li Ju surprised Jinyong and seized it. Liu Yao’s officers Song Shi and Song Shu went over to Shi Le. He made his general Liu Yue, Prince of Guangping, east-conquering commander-in-chief and stationed him at Luoyang. When plague ravaged the army, Liu Yue pulled back to Mianchi. Shi Le rushed Shi Sheng to support Song Shi; the column grew formidable. Yin An, Zhao Shen, and other Liu Yao commanders handed Luoyang to Shi Sheng, so Liu Yue withdrew and encamped at Shancheng.

西明門內大樹風吹折，經一宿，樹撥變為人形，發長一尺，鬚眉長三寸，皆黃白色，有斂手之狀，亦有兩腳著裙之形，惟無目鼻，每夜有聲，十日而生柯條，遂成大樹，枝葉甚茂。

A great tree inside the Ximing Gate was snapped by wind; by morning the splintered trunk had twisted into a human shape—a foot of hair, three inches of whiskers, parchment pale, arms folded as if in obeisance, legs sketched like a skirt, yet no eyes or nose. Sounds came from it each night; within ten days it sprouted again into a flourishing tree.

長水校尉尹車謀反，潛結巴酋徐庫彭，曜乃誅車，囚庫彭等五十餘人于阿房，將殺之。光祿大夫遊子遠固諫，曜不從。子遠叩頭流血，曜大怒，幽子遠而盡殺庫彭等，屍諸街巷之中十日，乃投之于水。於是巴氐盡叛，推巴歸善王句渠知為主，四山羌、氐、巴、羯應之者三十餘萬，關中大亂，城門晝閉。子遠又從獄表諫，曜怒甚，毀其表曰：「大荔奴不憂命在須臾，猶敢如此，嫌死晚邪？」叱左右速殺之。劉雅、朱紀、呼延晏等諫曰：「子遠幽而尚諫者，所謂忠於社稷，不知死之將至。陛下縱弗能用，奈何殺之！若子遠朝誅，臣等亦暮死，以彰陛下過差之咎。天下之人皆當去陛下蹈西海而死耳，陛下復與誰居乎！」曜意解，乃赦之。於是敕內外戒嚴，將親討渠知。子遠進曰：「陛下誠能納愚臣之計者，不勞大駕親動，一月之中可使清定。」曜曰：「卿試言之。」子遠曰：「彼匪有大志，希竊非望也，但逼于陛下峻綱耳。今死者不可追，莫若赦諸逆人之家老弱沒奚官者，使迭相撫育，聽其復業，大赦與之更始。彼生路既開，不降何待！若渠知自以罪重不即下者，願假臣弱兵五千，以為陛下梟之，不敢勞陛下之將帥也。不爾者，今賊黨既眾，彌川被穀，雖以天威臨之，恐非年歲可除。」曜大悅，以子遠為車騎大將軍、開府儀同三司、都督雍秦征討諸軍事。大赦境內。子遠次於雍城，降者十餘萬，進軍安定，氐羌悉下，惟句氏宗党五千餘家保存于陰密，進攻平之，遂振旅循隴右，陳安郊迎。

Colonel of Changshui Yin Che plotted revolt with the Ba chieftain Xu Kupeng; Liu Yao executed Yin Che and jailed Kupeng and more than fifty followers at Epang, intending to put them to death. You Ziyuan, a senior adviser, pleaded in vain. You Ziyuan battered his brow until it bled; Liu Yao, furious, threw him into prison, slaughtered Xu Kupeng’s party, left the corpses in the streets ten days, then cast them into the river. The Ba Di rose as one, acclaiming Ju Zhiqu, king of Guishan; more than three hundred thousand Qiang, Di, Ba, and Jie from the hills answered him. Guanzhong collapsed into chaos and the capital barred its gates even by day. From prison You Ziyuan sent another memorial; Liu Yao tore it up, shouting, “Slave of Dali, your life hangs by a thread and still you prate—is death too slow for you?” He barked at his guards to kill him at once. Liu Ya, Zhu Ji, and Huyan Yan urged him, “Imprisoned yet still advising the throne—that is devotion to the state, heedless of his own end. If you will not heed him, why murder him? Execute him at dawn and you may as well execute us at dusk, laying your harshness bare to the world. The realm will cast you off to perish by the western sea; then whom will you rule?” Liu Yao relented and spared him. He then proclaimed martial law throughout the court and prepared to lead the host against Ju Zhiqu himself. You Ziyuan urged, “Adopt this humble stratagem and your majesty need not ride to war; the region can be quiet within a month.” Liu Yao said, “Speak.” You Ziyuan said, “They nurse no grand design; they rebelled only because your laws fell too heavily on them. The dead cannot return; better release the women, children, and aged condemned to the palace workhouses, let kin care for one another, allow them to resume their farms, and declare a general amnesty that truly begins anew. Give them a road back to life and they will kneel without further fighting. If Ju Zhiqu still refuses out of pride, grant me five thousand light troops and I will deliver his head without troubling your captains. Otherwise their numbers choke every valley and ripen grain for war; not even imperial majesty will root them out in one season.” Delighted, Liu Yao named You Ziyuan chariot-and-cavalry commander-in-chief with privy seal authority equal to the three dukes, and gave him overall command of the Yong-Qin campaigns. He proclaimed an empire-wide amnesty. You Ziyuan halted at Yongcheng; within days more than a hundred thousand surrendered. He marched on Anding, where the Di and Qiang submitted. Only five thousand Ju households held out at Yinmi until he stormed them flat. He then wheeled his columns through Longyou, met by Chen An with full ceremony at the border.

先是，上郡氐羌十餘萬落保險不降，酋大虛除權渠自號秦王。子遠進師至其壁下，權渠率眾來距，五戰敗之。權渠恐，將降，其子伊余大言於眾曰：「往劉曜自來，猶無若我何，況此偏師而欲降之！」率勁卒五萬，晨壓壘門。左右勸戰，子遠曰：「吾聞伊餘之勇，當今無敵，士馬之強，復非其匹；又其父新敗，怒氣甚盛；且西戎剽勁，鋒銳不可擬也。不如緩之，使氣竭而擊之。」乃堅壁不戰。伊餘有驕色。子遠候其無備，夜，誓眾蓐食，晨，大風霧，子遠曰：「天贊我也！」躬先士卒，掃壁而出，遲明覆之，生擒伊餘，悉俘其眾。權渠大懼，被髮割面而降。子遠啟曜以權渠為征西將軍、西戎公，分徙伊余兄弟及其部落二十餘萬口于長安。西戎之中，權渠部最強，皆稟其命而為寇暴，權渠既降，莫不歸附。

Earlier, well over a hundred thousand Di and Qiang households in Shang commandery had held the ravines and styled their leader Xuchu Quanqu king of Qin. You Ziyuan drove to their fortifications; Xuchu Quanqu sallied out five times and lost five times. Quanqu prepared to yield, but his son Yiyu harangued the men: “When Liu Yao came in person he could not break us—what can this scratch force demand of our surrender!” He led fifty thousand veterans to the glacis at dawn. His officers clamored to attack. You Ziyuan said, “Yiyu’s valor is unmatched and his host outnumbers ours; his father has just been humbled and burns for revenge; western warriors strike like flame—our edge cannot meet theirs yet. Wait until their fury spends itself, then hit them.” He kept his men behind the walls and refused battle. Yiyu wore a look of triumph. You Ziyuan watched for slack discipline; by night he roused the troops and had them eat before dawn. Morning brought wind and thick mist. “Heaven fights for us!” he cried.” He led from the front, burst from the camp, and at first light overwhelmed them, taking Yiyu alive and rounding up his entire force. Terror-stricken, Xuchu Quanqu loosed his hair, gashed his face in submission, and yielded. You Ziyuan memorialized to have Xuchu Quanqu named west-conquering general and duke of the western Rong, then resettled Yiyu, his brothers, and more than two hundred thousand tribespeople in Chang’an. Of the western tribes Xuchu Quanqu’s band had been the strongest, raiding at his word; once he submitted, the rest came in without exception.

曜大悅，宴群臣於東堂，語及平生，泫然流涕，遂下書曰：「蓋褒德惟舊，聖-{后}-之所先；念惠錄孤，明王之恆典。是以世祖草創河北，而致封于嚴尤之孫；魏武勒兵梁宋，追慟於橋公之墓。前新贈大司徒、烈湣公崔岳，中書令曹恂，晉陽太守王忠，太子洗馬劉綏等，或識朕于童齔之中，或濟朕於艱窘之極，言念君子，實傷我心。《詩》不云乎：『中心藏之，何日忘之！』岳，漢昌之初雖有褒贈，屬否運之際，禮章莫備，今可贈嶽使持節、侍中、大司徒、遼東公，恂大司空、南郡公，綏左光祿大夫、平昌公，忠鎮軍將軍、安平侯，並加散騎常侍。但皆丘墓夷滅，申哀莫由，有司其速班訪嶽等子孫，授以茅土，稱朕意焉。」初，曜之亡，與曹恂奔于劉綏，綏匿之於舊匱，載送於忠，忠送之朝鮮。歲餘，饑窘，變姓名，客為縣卒。嶽為朝鮮令，見而異之，推問所由。曜叩頭自首，流涕求哀。嶽曰：「卿謂崔元嵩不如孫賓碩乎，何懼之甚也！今詔捕卿甚峻，百姓間不可保也。此縣幽僻，勢能相濟，縱有大急，不過解印綬與卿俱去耳。吾既門衰，無兄弟之累，身又薄祜，未有兒子，卿猶吾子弟也，勿為過憂。大丈夫處身立世，鳥獸投人，要欲濟之，而況君子乎！」給以衣服，資供書傳。曜遂從嶽，質通疑滯，恩顧甚厚。岳從容謂曜曰：「劉生姿宇神調，命世之才也！四海脫有微風搖之者，英雄之魁，卿其人矣。」曹恂雖於屯厄之中，事曜有君臣之禮，故皆德之。

Liu Yao was so pleased that he feasted his ministers in the eastern hall; as talk turned to his whole life he wept openly and then promulgated an edict: “To honor old virtue is the first duty of a wise sovereign; to remember kindness and care for the orphaned is the standing rule of enlightened kings. Thus Emperor Guangwu, founding his rule north of the Yellow River, still enfeoffed a descendant of Yan You; Cao Cao, the Wei Martial Emperor, campaigned through Liang and Song and mourned at the tomb of Duke Qiao. The late Cui Yue, posthumously grand minister of education and Duke Lie Min; Cao Xun, director of the secretariat; Wang Zhong, governor of Jinyang; Liu Sui, attendant to the heir apparent—some knew me as a child, others pulled me through utter destitution. To think of such men tears at my heart. As the Classic of Poetry says, “Treasured in the heart—when could I forget?” Though Cui Yue was honored early in the Han-Chang era, the rites were never completed in that troubled time. Let him now receive posthumously the titles credential bearer, palace attendant, grand minister of education, and duke of Liaodong; Cao Xun, grand minister of works and duke of Nan commandery; Liu Sui, left grand master of golden seal and duke of Pingchang; Wang Zhong, general who stabilizes the army and marquis of Anping—each additionally as supernumerary cavalry attendant. Yet their graves lie in ruins with no way to mourn them properly. Let officials quickly seek out the descendants of Cui Yue and the rest, invest them with fiefs, and so give voice to my gratitude.” In his flight Liu Yao had fled with Cao Xun to Liu Sui, who hid him in an old trunk, shipped him to Wang Zhong, and Wang Zhong sent him on to Korea. More than a year later, starving and desperate, he changed his name and hired himself out as a county runner. Cui Yue was magistrate of that Korean county; struck by the man’s bearing, he pressed him until the story came out. Liu Yao kowtowed, confessed all, and begged with tears. Cui Yue said, “Do you imagine Cui Yuansong less honorable than Sun Binshuo? Why such terror! The court’s warrant for you is ruthless; no common household can shield you. This district is remote—we can help each other. At worst I surrender my seal and flee with you. My own house is in decline and I have no brothers to burden me; heaven has granted me no sons. You are family to me—do not torment yourself with fear. A man who would make his way in the world aids even beasts that throw themselves on his mercy—how much more a fellow gentleman!” He gave Liu Yao clothing, books, and sustenance. Liu Yao stayed with Cui Yue, working through every doubt, and Cui Yue treated him with exceptional kindness. Cui Yue once said calmly, “This young Liu’s presence and spirit mark him as a man born to shape an age! If ever the realm stirs, he will stand first among heroes—and you are he.” Even when Cao Xun languished in adversity, he observed full court etiquette toward Liu Yao; both men earned lasting gratitude.

曜立太學于長樂宮東，小學于未央宮西，簡百姓年二十五已下十三已上，神志可教者千五百人，選朝賢宿儒明經篤學以教之。以中書監劉均領國子祭酒。置崇文祭酒，秩次國子。散騎侍郎董景道以明經擢為崇文祭酒。以遊子遠為大司徒。

Liu Yao founded an imperial academy east of Changle Palace and a primary school west of Weiyang, enrolling fifteen hundred common boys aged thirteen to twenty-five who showed aptitude, with veteran scholars of the classics appointed to instruct them. He put Liu Jun, supervisor of the secretariat, in charge of the directorate of education. He created the post of libationer for exalted letters, ranked just below the imperial academy. Dong Jingdao, a gentleman consultant distinguished for classical learning, was promoted to that new office. You Ziyuan was named grand minister of education.

曜命起酆明觀，立西宮，建陵霄台于滈池，又將於霸陵西南營壽陵。侍中喬豫、和苞上疏諫曰：「臣聞人主之興作也，必仰准乾象，俯順人時，是以衛文承亂亡之後，宗廟社稷流漂無所，而猶上候營室以構楚宮。彼其急也猶尚若茲，故能興康叔、武公之跡，以延九百之慶也。奉詔書將營酆明觀，市道芻蕘咸以非之，曰一觀之功可以平涼州矣。又奉敕旨復欲擬阿房而建西宮，模瓊台而起陵霄，此則費萬酆明，功億前役也。以此功費，亦可以吞吳蜀，翦齊魏矣。陛下何為于中興之日而蹤亡國之事！自古聖王，人誰無過！陛下此役，實為過舉。過貴在能改，終之實難。又伏聞敕旨將營建壽陵，周回四里，下深二十五丈，以銅為棺郭，黃金飾之，恐此功費非國內所能辦也。且臣聞堯葬谷林，市不改肆；顓頊葬廣陽，下不及泉。聖王之於終也如是。秦皇下錮三泉，周輪七里，身亡之後，毀不旋踵，暗主之於終也如此。向魋石槨，孔子以為不如速朽；王孫倮葬，識者嘉其矯世。自古無有不亡之國，不掘之墓，故聖王知厚葬之招害也，故不為之。臣子之于君父，陵墓豈不欲高廣如山嶽哉！但以保全始終，安固萬世為優耳。興亡奢儉，冏然於前，惟陛下覽之。」曜大悅，下書曰：「二侍中懇懇有古人之風烈矣，可謂社稷之臣也。非二君，朕安聞此言乎！以孝明於承平之世，四海無虞之日，尚納鐘離一言而罷北宮之役，況朕之暗眇，當今極弊，而可不敬從明誨乎！今敕悉停壽陵制度，一遵霸陵之法。《詩》不云乎：『無言不酬，無德不報。』其封豫安昌子，苞平輿子，並領諫議大夫。可敷告天下，使知區區之朝思聞過也。自今政法有不便於時，不利社稷者，其詣闕極言，勿有所諱。」省酆水囿以與貧戶。

Liu Yao ordered the Fengming Observatory built, a western palace raised, the Lingxiao Terrace erected by the Hao River, and a lavish mausoleum planned southwest of Bashan. Attendants Qiao Yu and He Bao memorialized: “A sovereign’s building projects must match heaven above and the season of men below. Even Duke Wen of Wey, after calamity had swept away temple and altars, still watched the Yingshi asterism before raising a palace at Chuqiu. Though pressed to the limit, he acted with such care that the lines of Kang Shu and Duke Wu flourished and the house enjoyed nearly a thousand years of fortune. When your order went out to build the Fengming Observatory, folk in the markets cried waste, saying the cost of one tower could have pacified Liangzhou. New commands now copy Epang for a western palace and the Jade Terrace for Lingxiao—works that would dwarf the observatory ten thousandfold and outstrip every past levy. For such sums you could conquer Wu and Shu and overrun Qi and Wei. Why, at the very moment of revival, tread the path of fallen dynasties? Even sage kings of old were not without error. This campaign of yours is plainly a misstep. The mark of virtue is to mend a fault; persisting to the bitter end is the hard part. We also hear you mean to dig a tomb four li around and twenty-five zhang deep, sheathe the coffin in copper and plate it with gold—expenses the realm simply cannot bear. Yao of antiquity slept in Gu Forest without disturbing the market stalls; Zhuanxu lay in Guangyang with earth barely covering him. Such was how sage kings treated death. The First Emperor of Qin sank shafts to the three subterranean streams and ringed seven li of mound; no sooner was he dead than the tomb was smashed. Thus foolish rulers end. Confucius preferred swift decay to the stone sarcophagus of Xiang Tui; Thoughtful men praised Wangsun Luo’s austere funeral for rebuking the vanity of the age. No realm lasts forever; no tomb escapes the spade. Sage kings knew opulent burials invite robbery and refused them. Subjects wish their sovereign’s mound as grand as a mountain— yet true filial piety means keeping the remains safe for ages to come. Splendor and ruin stand plain in history; we beg you to weigh them.” Liu Yao was delighted and replied: “You two speak with the blunt courage of antiquity—you are true servants of the altars of soil and grain. Without you I would never have heard such counsel! Emperor Xiaoming in a time of peace once heeded a single remonstrance from Zhong Li and halted the Northern Palace works; shall I, dull and ruling in extremity, refuse wise advice? I hereby scrap the planned mausoleum and adopt the frugal model of Emperor Wen’s tomb at Bashan. The Poetry says, “No gift goes unanswered, no kindness unrewarded.” I enfeoff Qiao Yu as viscount of Anchang and He Bao as viscount of Pingyu, both with the title grandee of remonstrance. Let the empire be told that this court hungers for reproof. Henceforth any policy harmful to the times or the state must be brought straight to the throne without reserve.” He also turned the imperial park by the Feng River over to the poor.

終南山崩，長安人劉終於崩所得白玉方一尺，有文字曰：「皇亡，皇亡，敗趙昌。井水竭，構五梁，咢酉小衰困囂喪。嗚呼！嗚呼！赤牛奮靷其盡乎！」時群臣咸賀，以為勒滅之征。曜大悅，齋七日而後受之於太廟，大赦境內，以終為奉瑞大夫。中書監劉均進曰：「臣聞國主山川，故山崩川竭，君為之不舉。終南，京師之鎮，國之所瞻，無故而崩，其凶焉可極言！昔三代之季，其災也如是。今朝臣皆言祥瑞，臣獨言非，誠上忤聖旨，下違眾議，然臣不達大理，竊所未同。何則？玉之于山石也，猶君之於臣下。山崩石壞，象國傾人亂。『皇亡，皇亡，敗趙昌者』，此言皇室將為趙所敗，趙因之而昌。今大趙都于秦雍，而勒跨全趙之地，趙昌之應，當在石勒，不在我也。『井水竭，構五梁』者，井謂東井，秦之分也，『五謂五車』，梁謂大梁，五車、大梁，趙之分也，此言秦將竭滅，以構成趙也。『咢』者，歲之次名作咢也，言歲馭作咢酉之年，當有敗軍殺將之事。『困』謂困敦，歲在子之年名，玄囂亦在天之次，言歲馭于子，國當喪亡。『赤牛奮靷』謂赤奮若，在醜之歲名也。『牛』謂牽牛，東北維之宿，醜之分也，言歲在醜當滅亡，盡無復遺也。此其誡悟蒸蒸，欲陛下勤修德化以禳之。縱為嘉祥，尚願陛下夕惕以答之。《書》曰：『雖休勿休。』願陛下追蹤周旦盟津之美，捐鄙虢公夢廟之凶，謹歸沐浴以待妖言之誅。」曜憮然改容。御史劾均狂言瞽說，誣罔祥瑞，請依大不敬論。曜曰：「此之災瑞，誠不可知，深戒朕之不德，朕收其忠惠多矣，何罪之有乎！」

Mount Zhongnan gave way, and a Chang’an commoner named Liu Zhong picked from the rubble a foot-square white tablet inscribed, “The throne falls, the throne falls; Zhao’s glory ends. The well runs dry, the five rafters rise; in the E-you year power wanes, in the Kun-dun cycle the state withers, and clamor ends in mourning. Alas! Alas again! The red ox strains at the traces—has the end come?” Courtiers hailed it as a sign that Shi Le would be destroyed. Liu Yao fasted seven days, installed the stone in the ancestral temple, proclaimed an amnesty, and named Liu Zhong bearer of auspicious portents. Liu Jun, supervisor of the secretariat, objected: “The mountains and rivers embody the state; when they fail, the ruler suspends music and feasting. Zhongnan is the buttress of the capital; for it to crumble without cause is calamity beyond words. The last days of the three ancient dynasties looked just like this. Today everyone cries auspice; I alone cry warning—defying your majesty and my colleagues alike, yet I cannot agree with them. Why? Jade cleaves from the mountain as the sovereign stands above his ministers. When peak and boulder shatter, it images a realm overturned and people in turmoil. The lines “The throne falls… Zhao’s glory ends” mean the ruling house will fall so that Zhao may rise. Our “great Zhao” rules from Qin and Yong, but Shi Le holds the heartland of Zhao; the omen of Zhao’s rise points to him, not to us. “The well runs dry, the five rafters rise” alludes to the asterism Eastern Well, the celestial seat of Qin, and to the Five Chariots and Great Liang, which belong to Zhao’s sky chart—it foretells Qin’s exhaustion and Zhao’s triumph. The character “E” marks a calendrical phase; in the E-you year armies will be broken and generals slain. “Kun” names the kui-dun year of the rat; Xuan Xiao likewise sits in the sky’s sequence; when the cycle comes to zi the state faces ruin. “The red ox strains” points to the chi-fen-ruo year of the ox. “Ox” is the Herd asterism in the northeast, the chou quarter; in the chou year nothing will survive. The inscription is a steaming, urgent warning: you must redouble virtuous rule to avert it. Even read as a blessing, you should stay wakeful nights and answer heaven with care. The Documents says, “Though the signs seem fair, do not trust them as fair.” I beg you to recall the virtue of the Duke of Zhou at Mengjin, spurn the ill omen of Duke Guo’s dream, bathe and purify yourself, and await punishment if my words prove false.” Liu Yao’s face fell. The imperial secretary indicted Liu Jun for mad slander that traduced a good omen and asked that he die for gross disrespect. Liu Yao replied, “Whether this stone bodes good or ill we cannot know; it surely rebukes my want of virtue. I have already gained more than enough from his honesty—how could he be guilty?”

曜親征氐羌，仇池楊難敵率眾來距，前鋒擊敗之，難敵退保仇池，仇池諸氐羌多降於曜。曜後復西討楊韜于南安，韜懼，與隴西太守梁勳等降於曜，皆封列侯。使侍中喬豫率甲士五千，遷韜等及隴右萬餘戶于長安。曜又進攻仇池。時曜寢疾，兼癘疫甚，議欲班師，恐難敵躡其後，乃以其尚書郎王獷為光國中郎將，使于仇池，以說難敵，難敵於是遣使稱籓。曜大悅，署難敵為使持節、侍中、假黃鉞、都督益甯南秦涼梁巴六州隴上西域諸軍事、上大將軍、益甯南秦三州牧、領護南氐校尉、甯羌中郎將、武都王，子弟為公侯列將二千石者十五人。

Liu Yao led a punitive expedition against the Di and Qiang. Yang Nan-di of Chouci marched to meet him but was routed by the van; he fell back on Chouci while most local Di and Qiang clans submitted to Liu Yao. Later Liu Yao struck west at Yang Tao in Nan’an. Yang Tao, terrified, surrendered with Liang Xun, administrator of Longxi, and others; all were enfeoffed as full marquises. He sent Qiao Yu with five thousand armored troops to relocate Yang Tao and more than ten thousand Longyou households to Chang’an. Liu Yao pressed the attack on Chouci. By then Liu Yao lay gravely ill while pestilence raged; his council urged retreat, yet he feared Yang Nan-di would strike his rear. He therefore named Wang Kuang, a secretary, middle general of the Radiant State and sent him to negotiate; Yang Nan-di then offered submission as a vassal. Liu Yao joyfully invested him with the yellow battle-axe, credentials, and palace rank, made him commander-in-chief over Yi, Ning, southern Qin, Liang, Ba, and the Long marches plus the Western Regions, supreme grand general, shepherd of three prefectures, protector-colonel of the southern Di, middle general of the Pacified Qiang, and prince of Wudu, while fifteen of his kinsmen received marquisates or colonelcies at the two-thousand-dan level.

陳安請朝，曜以疾篤不許。安怒，且以曜為死也，遂大掠而歸。曜疾甚篤，馬輿而還，使其將呼延實監輜重於後。陳安率精騎耍之於道。實奔戰無路，與長史魯憑俱沒于安。安囚實而謂之曰：「劉曜已死，子誰輔哉？孤當輿足下終定大業。」實叱安曰：「狗輩！汝荷人榮寵，處不疑之地，前背司馬保，今復如此。汝自視何如主上？憂汝不久梟首上邽通衢，何謂大業！可速殺我，懸我首於上邽東門，觀大軍之入城也。」安怒，遂殺之。以魯憑為參軍，又遣其弟集及將軍張明等率騎二萬追曜，曜衛軍呼延瑜逆戰，擊斬之，悉俘其眾。安懼，馳還上邽。曜至自南安。陳安使其將劉烈、趙罕襲汧城，拔之，西州氐羌悉從安。安士馬雄盛，眾十餘萬，自稱使持節、大都督、假黃鉞、大將軍、雍涼秦梁四州牧、涼王，以趙募為相國，領左長史。魯憑對安大哭曰：「吾不忍見陳安之死也。」安怒，命斬之。憑曰：「死自吾分，懸吾頭于秦州通衢，觀趙之斬陳安也。」遂殺之。曜聞憑死，悲慟曰：「賢人者，天下之望也。害賢人，是塞天下之情，夫承平之君猶不敢乖臣妾之心，況于四海乎！陳安今於招賢采哲之秋，而害君子，絕當時之望，吾知其無能為也。」

Chen An asked leave to visit the court; Liu Yao, deathly ill, refused. Chen An took offense, assumed Liu Yao was already dead, and marched home in a frenzy of looting. Liu Yao was too ill to ride and was carried back in a litter, leaving General Huyan Shi to guard the baggage train. Chen An intercepted him with picked horsemen along the route. Huyan Shi found every path blocked; he and his chief clerk Lu Ping fell into Chen An’s hands and died. Chen An threw him in chains and sneered, “Liu Yao is dead—who is left for you to serve? Stand with me and we will finish the great work together.” Huyan Shi roared back, “Cur! You basked in imperial favor and faced no suspicion; first you turned on Sima Bao, and now you repeat the treason. How do you measure against our sovereign? Soon your skull will spike the highway at Shanggui—what “great work” is yours? Kill me now, nail my head to the east gate of Shanggui, and watch your city fall to the imperial host.” Chen An, enraged, executed him. He appointed Lu Ping as staff adviser and sent his brother Chen Ji, Zhang Ming, and twenty thousand riders after Liu Yao. Huyan Yu, captain of the imperial guard, rode out, cut them down, and captured the entire column. Terror-stricken, Chen An raced back to Shanggui. Liu Yao returned alive from Nan’an. Chen An sent Liu Lie and Zhao Han to storm Qian and take it, and every Di and Qiang clan west of the capital rallied to him. His army swelled past a hundred thousand. Chen An styled himself king of Liang, credential bearer, grand commander, holder of the yellow battle-axe, general-in-chief, and governor of Yong, Liang, Qin, and Liang, with Zhao Mu as chancellor and senior clerk of the left. Lu Ping wailed at him, “I will not live to see your doom.” Chen An ordered him beheaded in fury. Lu Ping said, “My death is fate; hang my head on the high road of Qinzhou and watch Zhao execute Chen An.” They cut him down. When Liu Yao learned of Lu Ping’s death he mourned, “Men of worth are the hope of the realm. To murder such a man chokes the world’s goodwill; even emperors at peace fear to wound a concubine’s heart—what of the whole empire? Chen An, at the very hour when he should gather wise men, slays the virtuous and forfeits every expectation—I know he is finished.”

休屠王石武以桑城降，曜大悅，署武為使持節、都督秦州隴上雜夷諸軍事、平西大將軍、秦州刺史，封酒泉王。

The Xiutu prince Shi Wu surrendered Sangcheng. Delighted, Liu Yao named him west-pacifying commander-in-chief, governor of Qin, prince of Jiuquan, and gave him the yellow axe over the mixed tribes of the Long marches.

曜-{后}-羊氏死，偽諡獻文皇后。羊氏內有特寵，外參朝政，生曜三子熙、襲、闡。

Empress Yang died and received the posthumous title Empress Xianwen. Lady Yang enjoyed unrivaled favor within the palace and a voice in government; she bore Liu Yao three sons—Xi, Xí, and Chan.

曜始禁無官者不聽乘馬，祿八百石已上婦女乃得衣錦繡，自季秋農功畢，乃聽飲酒，非宗廟社稷之祭不得殺牛，犯者皆死。曜臨太學，引試學生之上第者拜郎中。

Liu Yao first barred commoners without rank from riding horses; only households salaried at eight hundred piculs or more might dress their women in brocade. Drinking was allowed only after the harvest; cattle could be slaughtered solely for state sacrifices, and any other kill meant death. He visited the academy, examined the highest-ranked students, and named them gentlemen of the palace.

武功男子蘇撫、陝男子伍長平並化為女子。石言於陝，若言勿東者。

In Wugong a man named Su Fu and in Shan a man named Wu Changping turned into women. At Shan a stone was said to speak, as though warning, “Do not march east.”

曜將葬其父及妻，親如粟邑以規度之。負土為墳，其下周回二里，作者繼以脂燭，怨呼之聲盈于道路。遊子遠諫曰：「臣聞聖主明王、忠臣孝子之于終葬也，棺足周身，槨足周棺，藏足周槨而已，不封不樹，為無窮這計。伏惟陛下聖慈幽被，神鑒洞遠，每以清儉恤下為先。社稷資儲為本。今二陵之費至以億計，計六萬夫百日作，所用六百萬功。二陵皆下錮三泉，上崇百尺，積石為山，增土為阜，發掘古塚以千百數，役夫呼嗟，氣塞天地，暴骸原野，哭聲盈衢，臣竊謂無益於先皇先-{后}-，而徒喪國之儲力。陛下脫仰尋堯舜之軌者，則功不盈百萬，費亦不過千計，下無怨骨，上無怨人，先帝先-{后}-有太山之安，陛下饗舜、禹、周公之美，惟陛下察焉。」曜不納，乃使其將劉岳等帥騎一萬，迎父及弟暉喪于太原。疫氣大行，死者十三四。上洛男子張盧死二十七日，有盜發其塚者，盧得蘇。曜葬其父，墓號永垣陵，葬妻羊氏，墓號顯平陵。大赦境內殊死巳下，賜人爵二級，孤老貧病不能自存者帛各有差。

Preparing to bury his father and empress, Liu Yao went in person to Suyi to lay out the works. Laborers shouldered earth until the barrow ran two li around, toiling by torchlight while groans of resentment filled the roads. You Ziyuan urged, “Sage kings and dutiful sons know burial needs only a coffin within a shell within a pit, without heaping earth or planting trees—planning for eternity. Your majesty is famed for compassion and frugality toward the people. The altars of soil and grain rest on the treasury. Yet these two tombs will cost hundreds of millions, needing sixty thousand laborers for a hundred days—six million man-days. Both sink shafts to the three streams and rear mounds a hundred feet high, piling stone into artificial hills and rifling countless old graves. The workers’ laments choke heaven; bones litter the fields and keening fills the highways. I say this profits neither your late father nor empress but bleeds the realm dry. Follow Yao and Shun’s example and the cost falls below a million, the toll below a thousand families, with no resentful dead above or below; your parents rest secure as Mount Tai while you earn a name beside Shun, Yu, and the Duke of Zhou. I beg you to consider this.” Liu Yao refused. He sent Liu Yue with ten thousand horsemen to fetch his father’s coffin and that of his brother Liu Hui from Taiyuan. Plague swept the army, killing three or four men in ten. Zhang Lu of Shangluo had been dead twenty-seven days when grave robbers opened his mound—and he sat up alive. Liu Yao interred his father in the Yongyuan tomb and Empress Yang in the Xianping tomb. He proclaimed a general amnesty short of capital crimes, raised commoners two degrees in rank, and distributed silk in graded amounts to widows, elders, and the destitute.

太甯元年，陳安攻曜征西劉貢于南安，休屠王石武自桑城將攻上邽，以解南安之圍。安聞之懼，馳歸上邽，遇于瓜田。武以眾寡不敵，奔保張春故壘。安引軍追武曰：「叛逆胡奴！要當生縛此奴，然後斬劉貢。」武閉壘距之。貢敗安後軍，俘斬萬餘。安馳還赴救，貢逆擊敗之。俄而武騎大至，安眾大潰，收騎八千，奔於隴城。貢乃留武督後眾，躬先士卒，戰輒敗之，遂圍安於隴城。

In the first year of the Taining era Chen An besieged Liu Gong, Liu Yao’s west-conquering general, at Nan’an. Shi Wu the Xiutu king marched from Sangcheng toward Shanggui to lift the pressure on Nan’an. Chen An, alarmed, galloped toward Shanggui and met him at Guatian. Outnumbered, Shi Wu fell back to Zhang Chun’s old fortress. Chen An pursued, shouting, “Rebel Hu dog! I will take you alive before I deal with Liu Gong.” Shi Wu barred the gates and held him off. Liu Gong crushed Chen An’s rear guard and killed or captured over ten thousand. Chen An wheeled about to save the day; Liu Gong intercepted him and broke his charge. Then Shi Wu’s cavalry arrived in force; Chen An’s army collapsed. He salvaged eight thousand riders and bolted for Longcheng. Liu Gong left Shi Wu with the rearguard, led the van himself, and drove Chen An back until he had him bottled up in Longcheng.

大雨霖，震曜父墓門屋，大風飄發其父寢堂于垣外五十餘步。曜避正殿，素服哭於東堂五日，使其鎮軍劉襲、太常梁胥等繕復之。松柏眾木植已成林，至是悉枯。署其大司馬劉雅為太宰，加劍履上殿，入朝不趨，贊拜不名，給千兵百騎，甲仗百人入殿，增班劍六十人，前後鼓吹各二部。

Torrential rains fell; lightning shattered the gatehouse of Liu Yao’s father’s tomb and a gale tore the memorial hall from its foundations and cast it fifty paces outside the wall. Liu Yao quit the main hall, wore undyed mourning in the eastern hall for five days, and told Liu Xi, captain of the guard, and Liang Xu, grand master of rites, to rebuild the shrine. The pines and cypresses planted there had grown into a wood; now they withered to the last tree. He promoted Liu Ya to grand tutor with the honors of wearing sword and shoes in the hall, walking slowly at court, and being hailed without his name, gave him a thousand guards, a hundred household cavalry, a hundred armored attendants in the palace, sixty escort swordsmen, and two bands of music before and behind.

曜親征陳安，圍安於隴城。安頻出挑戰，累擊敗之，斬獲八千餘級。右軍劉幹攻平襄，克之，隴上諸縣悉降。曲赦隴右殊死已下，惟陳安、趙募不在其例。安留楊伯支、姜沖兒等守隴城，帥騎數百突圍而出，欲引上邽、平襄之眾還解隴城之圍。安既出，知上邽被圍，平襄已敗，乃南走陝中。曜使其將軍平先、丘中伯率勁騎追安，頻戰敗之，俘斬四百餘級。安與壯士十餘騎於陝中格戰，安左手奮七尺大刀，右手執丈八蛇矛，近交則刀矛俱發，輒害五六；遠則雙帶鞬服，左右馳射而走。平先亦壯健絕人，勇捷如飛，與安搏戰，三交，奪其蛇矛而退。會日暮，雨甚，安棄馬，與左右五六人步逾山嶺，匿於溪澗。翌日尋之，遂不知所在。會連雨始霽，輔威呼延清尋其徑跡，斬安于澗曲。曜大悅。

Liu Yao took the field in person and invested Chen An in Longcheng. Chen An sallied again and again; each time Liu Yao threw him back, taking more than eight thousand heads. Liu Gan’s right wing stormed Pingxiang and every county on the Long plateau submitted. He offered a limited amnesty west of the Long passes—everyone but Chen An and Zhao Mu. Chen An left Yang Bozhi and Jiang Chong’er to hold Longcheng, broke out with a few hundred horsemen, and tried to rally the forces of Shanggui and Pingxiang to lift the siege. Learning that Shanggui was surrounded and Pingxiang lost, he fled south into the gorges of Shan. Liu Yao sent Ping Xian and Qiu Zhongbo with elite cavalry in pursuit, repeatedly defeated him, and killed or captured more than four hundred. With a dozen riders Chen An made a stand in the defiles, swinging a seven-foot saber in his left hand and an eighteen-foot serpent spear in his right; at close range blade and lance flashed together, felling five or six foes at a blow; at distance he slung paired quivers and shot from the saddle as he wheeled away. Ping Xian was himself a marvel of strength and speed; he closed with Chen Ant three passes, tore away the serpent spear, and broke off. Night fell and rain sheeted down; Chen An abandoned his mount and slipped into the hills with five or six followers, hiding in a ravine. Next day’s search found no trace. When the rains finally broke, Huyan Qing, general of auxiliary prestige, picked up his trail and slew Chen An in a creek bend. Liu Yao was elated.

安善於撫接，吉凶夷險與眾同之，及其死，隴上歌之曰：「隴上壯士有陳安，驅幹雖小腹中寬，愛養將士同心肝。䯀驄父馬鐵瑕鞍，七尺大刀奮如湍，丈八蛇矛左右盤，十蕩十決無當前。戰始三交失蛇矛，棄我䯀驄竄嚴幽，為我外援而懸頭。西流之水東流河，一去不還奈子何！」曜聞而嘉傷，命樂府歌之。

Chen An had a gift for winning men; he shared every fortune and hardship with his troops. After he died the people of Long sang: “On the Long plateau the hero was Chen An—slight of frame but broad of heart, who fed his soldiers like kin. His dapple sire bore iron-trimmed tack; his seven-foot blade flashed like a torrent, his eighteen-foot serpent spear danced right and left; ten charges, ten breakthroughs, and none could stand before him. Three passes into the fight he lost the spear, abandoned his dapple steed in the rocky dark—though he sought outside help they took his head. The western stream runs east into the river—gone, never to return—what can we do for you?” Liu Yao heard the dirge, was moved, and had the imperial musicians perform it.

楊伯支斬姜沖兒，以隴城降。宋亭斬趙募，以上邽降。徙秦州大姓楊、姜諸族二千餘戶于長安。氐羌悉下，並送質任。

Yang Bozhi killed Jiang Chong’er and surrendered Longcheng. Song Ting slew Zhao Mu and opened Shanggui. More than two thousand households of the Yang, Jiang, and other great clans of Qinzhou were relocated to Chang’an. The Di and Qiang capitulated and sent hostages.

時劉岳與涼州刺史張茂相持於河上，曜自隴長驅至西河，戎卒二十八萬五千，臨河列營，百餘里中，鐘鼓之聲沸河動地，自古軍旅之盛未有斯比。茂臨河諸戍皆望風奔退。揚聲欲百道俱渡，直至姑臧，涼州大怖，人無固志。諸將咸欲速濟，曜曰：「吾軍旅雖盛，不逾魏武之東也。畏威而來者，三有二焉。中軍宿衛已皆疲老，不可用也。張氏以吾新平陳安，師徒殷盛，以形聲言之，非彼五郡之眾所能抗也，必怖而歸命，受制稱籓，吾復何求！卿等試之，不出中旬，張茂之表不至者，吾為負卿矣。」茂懼，果遣使稱籓，獻馬一千五百匹，牛三千頭，羊十萬口，黃金三百八十斤，銀七百斤，女妓二十人，及諸珍寶珠玉、方域美貨不可勝紀。曜大悅，使其大鴻臚田崧署茂使持節、假黃鉞、侍中、都督涼南北秦梁益巴漢隴右西域雜夷匈奴諸軍事、太師、領大司馬、涼州牧、領西域大都護、護氐羌校尉、涼王。曜至自河西，遣胡元增其父及妻墓高九十尺。

While Liu Yue and Zhang Mao, governor of Liangzhou, glared at each other across the Yellow River, Liu Yao swept down from the Long road to Xihe with two hundred eighty-five thousand tribal troops. Camps lined the bank for a hundred li; drums and bells shook the water—never had a host marched in such pomp. Zhang Mao’s riverside posts fled at the rumor alone. Liu Yao boasted he would cross everywhere at once and march on Guzang; terror gripped Liangzhou and morale collapsed. His generals urged an immediate crossing. Liu Yao said, “This host, grand as it is, is no larger than Cao Cao’s eastern campaigns. Two men in three march only because they fear us. The palace guard is worn out and useless. Zhang Mao thinks us fresh from crushing Chen An and swollen with might; in plain sight his five commanderies cannot stand against us. He will panic, offer submission, and bend the knee—what more could I want? Wait: if by mid-month his petition of surrender has not come, blame me.” Zhang Mao, frightened, dispatched envoys with fifteen hundred horses, three thousand oxen, a hundred thousand sheep, three hundred eighty catties of gold, seven hundred of silver, twenty singing girls, and treasures beyond counting. Liu Yao charged his herald Tian Song to invest Zhang Mao with credentials, the yellow axe, and a vast bundle of military and civil titles—grand preceptor, grand minister of war, governor of Liang, protector-general of the Western Regions, colonel of the Di and Qiang, and king of Liang. Returning from the Hexi expedition, he sent Hu Yuan to raise his father’s and empress’s mounds ninety chi higher.

楊難敵以陳安既平，內懷危懼，奔於漢中。鎮西劉厚追擊之，獲其輜重千餘兩，士女六千餘人，還之仇池。曜以大鴻臚田崧為鎮南大將軍、益州刺史，鎮仇池，以劉嶽為侍中、都督中外諸軍事，進封中山王。

Yang Nan-di, terrified now that Chen An was gone, bolted for Hanzhong. Liu Hou, west-pacifying general, overtook him, seized more than a thousand cartloads of baggage and six thousand captives, and restored them to Chouci. He named Tian Song south-pacifying commander-in-chief and governor of Yi, stationed at Chouci, and made Liu Yue palace attendant and commander-in-chief of all armies, elevating him to prince of Zhongshan.

初，靳准之亂，曜世子胤沒于黑匿郁鞠部，至是，胤自言，郁鞠大驚，資給衣馬，遣子送之。曜對胤悲慟，嘉郁鞠忠款，署使持節、散騎常侍、忠義大將軍、左賢王。胤字義孫，美姿貌，善機對，年十歲，身長七尺五寸，眉鬢如畫。聰奇之，謂曜曰：「此兒神氣豈同義真乎！固當應為卿之塚嫡，卿可思文王廢伯邑考立武王之意也。」曜曰：「臣之籓國，僅能守祭祀便足矣，不可以亂長幼之倫也。」聰曰：「卿勳格天地，國兼百城，當世祚太師，受專征之任，五侯九伯得專征之者，卿之子孫，柰何言同諸籓國也！義真既不能遠追太伯高讓之風，吾不過為卿封之以一國。」義真，曜子儉之字也。於是封儉為臨海王，立胤為世子。胤雖少離屯難，流躓殊荒，而風骨俊茂，爽朗卓然；身長八尺三寸，發與身齊，多力善射，驍捷如風雲，曜因以重之，其朝臣亦屬意焉。曜於是顧謂群下曰：「義孫可謂歲寒而不凋，涅而不淄者矣。義光雖先已樹立，然沖幼儒謹，恐難乎為今世之儲貳也，懼非所以上固社稷，下愛義光。義孫年長明德，又先世子也，朕欲遠追周文，近蹤光武，使宗廟有太山之安，義光饗無疆之福，于諸卿意如何？」其太傅呼延晏等咸曰：「陛下遠擬周漢，為國家無窮之計，豈惟臣等賴之，實亦宗廟四海之慶。」左光祿卜泰、太子太保韓廣等進曰：「陛下若以廢立為是也，則不應降日月之明，垂訪群下。若以為疑也，固思聞臣等異同之言，竊以誠廢太子非也。何則？昔周文以未建之前，擇聖表而超樹之可也。光武緣母色而廢立，豈足為聖朝之模範！光武誠以東海篡統，何必不如明帝！皇子胤文武才略，神度弘遠，信獨絕一時，足以擬蹤周發；然太子孝友仁慈，志尚沖雅，亦足以堂負聖基，為承平之賢主。何況儲宮者，六合人神所系望也，不可輕以廢易。陛下誠實爾者，臣等有死而已，未敢奉詔。」曜默然。胤前泣曰：「慈父之于子也，當務存《屍鳩》之仁，何可替熙而立臣也！陛下謬恩乃爾者，臣請死於此，以明赤心。且陛下若愛忘其醜，以臣微堪指授，亦當能輔導義光，仰遵聖軌。」因歔欷流涕，悲感朝臣。曜亦以太子羊氏所生，羊有寵，哀之不忍廢，乃止。追諡前妻卜氏為元悼皇后，胤之母也。卜泰，胤之舅，曜嘉之，拜上光祿大夫、儀同三司、領太子太傅。封胤為永安王，署侍中、衛大將軍、都督二宮禁衛諸軍事、開府儀同三司、錄尚書事，領太子太傅，號曰皇子。命熙于胤盡家人之禮。

During Jin Zhun’s coup the heir Liu Yin had fallen among the tribes of Heini Yuju. Now he revealed himself; the chief, astonished, clothed and mounted him and sent his own son as escort. Liu Yao wept over his son and rewarded Yuju’s loyalty with credentials, the title of loyal and righteous commander-in-chief, and kingship of the left worthy horde. Liu Yin, courtesy Yisun, was handsome, quick of wit, stood seven feet five at age ten, and had brows and whiskers like ink paintings. Liu Cong exclaimed to Liu Yao, “The boy’s aura is nothing like Yizhen’s! He should be your true successor—remember how King Wen passed over Bo Yikao for King Wu.” Liu Yao replied, “My fief needs only someone to tend the sacrifices; I will not upset the order of age among my sons.” Liu Cong replied, “Your deeds span heaven and earth and your domain spans a hundred cities; you should rank as grand preceptor with plenary war powers, as did the ancient marquises who led their own campaigns—your heirs will inherit that authority. How can you compare yourself to an ordinary vassal? Since Yizhen cannot rival Taibo’s selfless abdication, I can at most enfeoff him with a single principality.” “Yizhen” was the courtesy name of Liu Yao’s son Liu Jian. He therefore created Liu Jian prince of Linhai and named Liu Yin heir apparent. Though Liu Yin had been lost in exile since boyhood, he grew tall in spirit—clear-eyed and striking. He stood eight feet three inches, hair sweeping to his shoulders, immensely strong and a superb archer, swift as a storm. Liu Yao doted on him, and the court looked to him as well. Liu Yao told his officials, “Yisun is like pine in winter or lacquer in dye—unbowed by hardship. Yiguang was named crown prince first, but he is still a timid child; I fear he cannot serve as heir in these times, to the peril of the realm and of his own welfare. Yisun is older, virtuous, and was always the designated successor. I mean to follow King Wen of Zhou and Emperor Guangwu of Han so the temple stands firm as Mount Tai and Yiguang enjoys lasting blessing—what say you?” Grand Tutor Huyan Yan and the rest answered, “By looking to Zhou and Han you secure the dynasty for ages—this gladdens not only your servants but all under heaven.” Bu Tai, Han Guang, and others stepped forward: “If the change were plainly just, you would not need to dim your own radiance by polling the court. If you still doubt, you must hear opposing views—and we hold that deposing the crown prince is wrong. Why? King Wen of Zhou could elevate a younger son before any heir was fixed, when heaven’s signs singled him out. Guangwu set aside an heir for a favorite’s son—hardly a precedent this court should follow! If Guangwu feared the prince of the Eastern Sea seizing the throne, that still does not prove the younger emperor outshone him! Prince Liu Yin’s civil and military gifts and far-reaching mind are unmatched; he could stand beside Fa of Zhou. Yet the crown prince is filial, gentle, and humane—quite able to uphold the sacred line and rule wisely in tranquil times. Moreover the heir apparent is the cynosure of gods and men—you must not lightly cast him aside. If you insist, we can only choose death—we cannot obey such an edict.” Liu Yao fell silent. Liu Yin came forward in tears: “A loving father should show the mercy praised in the ‘Cuckoo’ ode—how can you set aside Liu Xi for me! If this misplaced favor stands, let me die here and prove my loyalty. Even if you think me fit to advise, I can still counsel Yiguang and keep him to the royal way.” He broke down; the whole court wept with him. Liu Yao remembered that the crown prince was Lady Yang’s son and she still held his heart; he could not bear to cast the boy aside and dropped the plan. He posthumously honored his first consort Lady Bu, Liu Yin’s mother, as Empress Yuandao. Bu Tai, Liu Yin’s uncle, won praise and was named senior grand master with three-duke privileges and tutor to the heir. Liu Yin became prince of Yong’an, palace attendant, captain of the guard, commander of both palaces’ garrisons, recorder of affairs, and tutor to the heir, with full privy-seal honors, styled “imperial son.” He told Liu Xi to observe fraternal courtesy toward Liu Yin as if among common kin.

時有鳳皇將五子翔於故未央殿五日，悲鳴不食皆死。曜立-{后}-劉氏。

A phoenix leading five chicks circled the ruins of Weiyang Palace for five days, wailing and fasting until all six perished. Liu Yao enthroned Lady Liu as empress.

石勒將石他自雁門出上郡，襲安國將軍、北羌王盆句除，俘三千餘落，獲牛馬羊百餘萬而歸。曜大怒，投袂而起。是日次於渭城，遣劉嶽追之，曜次於富平，為嶽聲援。岳及石他戰於河濱，敗之，斬他及其甲士一千五百級，赴河死者五千餘人，悉收所虜，振旅而歸。

Shi Ta, Shi Le’s general, sortied from Yanmen into Shang commandery, fell upon Pen Juqu the northern Qiang king and stabilizing-the-state general, took more than three thousand camps, and drove home a million head of livestock. Liu Yao flung down his sleeve and sprang up in fury. He camped that night at Weicheng and sent Liu Yue in pursuit while he himself stopped at Fuping to back the operation. Liu Yue caught Shi Ta on the riverbank, broke him, and took fifteen hundred heads; five thousand drowned fleeing. He recovered every captive and marched home in good order.

楊難敵自漢中還襲仇池，克之，執田崧，立之於前。難敵左右叱崧令拜，崧瞋目叱之曰：「氐狗！安有天子牧伯而向賊拜乎！」難敵曰：「子岱，吾當與子終定大事。子謂劉氏可為盡忠，吾獨不可乎！」崧厲色大言曰：「若賊氐奴才，安敢欲希覬非分！吾寧為國家鬼，豈可為汝臣，何不速殺我！」顧排一人，取其劍，前刺難敵，不中，為難敵所殺。

Yang Nan-di swept back from Hanzhong, stormed Chouci, seized Tian Song, and hauled him before his seat. His guards ordered Tian Song to kneel. Tian Song glared and shouted, “Di dogs! Would an imperial governor kneel to rebels?” Yang Nan-di said, “Zi Dai, you and I should finish the great work together. You think the Liu can be loyal—am I less able?” Tian Song thundered, “You Di bandit, how dare you reach for what is not yours! I would sooner haunt the Jin as a ghost than serve you—kill me now!” He shouldered a guard aside, snatched his sword, and lunged at Yang Nan-di; missing, he was cut down.

曜遣劉岳攻石生於洛陽，配以近郡甲士五千，宿衛精卒一萬，濟自盟津。鎮東呼延謨率荊司之眾自崤澠而東。岳攻石勒盟津、石梁二戍，克之，斬獲五千餘級，進圍石生於金墉。石季龍率步騎四萬入自成皋關，岳陳兵以待之。戰于洛西，岳師敗績，岳中流矢，退保石梁。季龍遂塹柵列圍，遏絕內外。岳眾饑甚，殺馬食之。季龍又敗呼延謨，斬之。曜親率軍援岳，季龍率騎三萬來距。曜前軍劉黑大敗季龍將石聰於八特阪。曜次於金穀，夜無故大驚，軍中潰散，乃退如澠池。夜中又驚，士卒奔潰，遂歸長安。季龍執劉岳及其將王騰等八十餘人，並氐羌三千餘人，送于襄國，坑士卒一萬六千。曜至自澠池，素服郊哭，七日乃入城。

Liu Yao dispatched Liu Yue against Shi Sheng in Luoyang with five thousand troops from neighboring commanderies and ten thousand picked guards, crossing at Meng Ford. Huyan Mo, east-pacifying general, led the forces of Jing and Si east through the Xiao-Mian defiles. Liu Yue took the Mengjin and Shiliang forts, killing or capturing over five thousand, and closed in on Shi Sheng at Jinyong. Shi Hu brought forty thousand horse and foot through Chenggao Pass; Liu Yao drew up his line to meet him. West of Luoyang Liu Yue’s army was shattered; wounded by a stray shaft, he fell back to Shiliang. Shi Hu threw up trenches and stockades, sealing the pocket. Liu Yue’s men starved and butchered their horses for food. Shi Hu crushed Huyan Mo and took his head. Liu Yao marched to relieve Liu Yue; Shi Hu opposed him with thirty thousand riders. Liu Hei, Liu Yao’s van commander, routed Shi Cong at Bate Slope. Liu Yao camped at Jingu, but that night the host panicked without cause and melted away; he retreated toward Mianchi. The same terror struck the next night; the troops bolted, and Liu Yao fled all the way to Chang’an. Shi Hu captured Liu Yue, Wang Teng, and more than eighty other officers, plus three thousand Di and Qiang auxiliaries, and sent them to Xiangguo; sixteen thousand common soldiers were buried alive. Liu Yao returned from Mianchi in undyed mourning, keened seven days outside the walls, then entered the capital.

武功豕生犬，上邽馬生牛，及諸妖變不可勝記。曜命其公卿各舉博識直言之士一人，司马劉均舉參軍台產，曜親臨東堂，遣中黃門策問之。產極言其故，曜覽而嘉之，引見東堂，訪以政事。產流涕歔欷，具陳災變之禍，政化之闕，辭旨諒直，曜改容禮之，即拜博士祭酒、諫議大夫，領太史令。其後所言皆驗，曜彌重之，歲中三遷，歷位尚書、光祿大夫、太子少師，位特進。

At Wugang sows whelped pups; at Shanggui mares dropped calves—monstrous signs too many to list. Liu Yao told every minister to nominate a learned, outspoken scholar; Liu Jun named Tai Chan. The emperor received him in the eastern hall and questioned him through a eunuch examiner. Tai Chan laid out the causes in full; Liu Yao, impressed, brought him into the eastern hall for policy talks. Weeping, Tai Chan detailed how omens spelled peril and where government failed. Liu Yao rose to honor him, naming him libationer of the academy, grandee of remonstrance, and director of astronomy. His forecasts came true; within a year Liu Yao promoted him thrice to minister, grand master of golden seal, junior tutor to the heir, and specially advanced noble.

曜署劉胤為大司馬，進封南陽王，以漢陽諸郡十三為國；置單于台于渭城，拜大單于，置左右賢王已下，皆以胡、羯、鮮卑、氐、羌豪桀為之。

He made Liu Yin grand marshal and prince of Nanyang with a fief of thirteen Hanyang commanderies; at Weicheng he built the Shanyu platform, took the title of supreme Shanyu, and named left and right “worthy kings” and other offices, filling them with Hu, Jie, Xianbei, Di, and Qiang chiefs.

曜自還長安，憤恚發病，至是疾瘳，曲赦長安殊死已下。署其汝南王劉咸為太尉、錄尚書事，光祿大夫劉綏為大司徒，卜泰為大司空。

After his return to Chang’an, rage had sickened Liu Yao; now recovered, he proclaimed a limited amnesty in the capital. He named Liu Xian, prince of Runan, grand commandant and recorder of affairs; Liu Sui grand minister of education; Bu Tai minister of works.

曜妻劉氏疾甚，曜親省臨之，問其所欲言。劉泣曰：「妾叔父昶無子，妾少養于叔，恩撫甚隆，無以報德，願陛下貴之。妾叔皚女芳有德色，願備後宮。」曜許之。言終而死，偽諡獻烈皇后。以劉昶為使持節、侍中、大司徒、錄尚書事，進封河南郡公，封昶妻張氏為慈鄉君，立劉皚女芳為皇后，追念劉氏之言也。俄署驃騎劉述為大司徒，劉昶為太保。召公卿已下子弟有勇幹者為親禦郎，被甲乘鎧馬，動止自隨，以充折沖之任。尚書郝述、都水使者支當等固諫，曜大怒，鴆而殺之。

Lady Liu, the empress, lay dying; Liu Yao attended her bedside and asked her last requests. Weeping, she said, “My uncle Liu Chang has no heir; he raised me with overflowing kindness. I cannot repay him—please honor him, sire. His daughter Fang, my cousin, is virtuous and lovely—take her into the harem.” Liu Yao consented. She died as she finished; he gave her the posthumous name Empress Xianlie. Liu Chang became credential bearer, palace attendant, grand minister of education, and duke of Henan; Lady Zhang was lady of Cixiang; Fang was made empress to fulfill the dying empress’s plea. Soon Liu Shu replaced him as grand minister of education while Liu Chang became grand guardian. Sons of officials with martial talent were enrolled as imperial guardsmen in armor on barded horses, attending Liu Yao everywhere as a crack corps. Hao Shu, Zhi Dang, and others protested; Liu Yao, furious, had them poisoned.

咸和三年，夜夢三人金面丹脣，東向逡巡，不言而退，曜拜而履其跡。旦召公卿已下議之，朝臣咸賀以為吉祥，惟太史令任義進曰：「三者，曆運統之極也。東為震位，王者之始次也。金為兌位，物衰落也。脣丹不言，事之畢也。逡巡揖讓，退舍之道也。為之拜者，屈伏於人也。履跡而行，慎不出疆也。東井，秦分也。五車，趙分也。秦兵必暴起，亡主喪師，留敗趙地。遠至三年，近七百日，其應不遠。願陛下思而防之。」曜大懼，於是躬親二郊，飾繕神祠，望秩山川，靡不周及。大赦殊死已下，復百姓租稅之半。長安自春不雨，至於五月。

In the third Xianhe year Liu Yao dreamed of three golden-faced, vermilion-lipped figures pacing east in silence, then retreating; he bowed and stepped in their tracks. At dawn he asked his court; all hailed it as lucky save Grand Astrologer Ren Yi, who said, “Three marks the limit of a heavenly mandate. East is the Zhen trigram—the first station of kingship. Metal is Dui—the phase of decay. Red lips sealed mean the matter is finished. Hesitant courtesy is the etiquette of yielding ground. Your bow shows you yielding to another. Walking in their steps warns you not to overstep your realm. The Eastern Well asterism governs Qin. The Five Chariots govern Zhao. Qin’s hosts will strike: the sovereign will fall, the army perish, and Zhao’s soil will know defeat. At farthest three years, at nearest seven hundred days—the reckoning draws near. I beg you to reflect and prepare.” Liu Yao was terrified. He personally worshipped at the suburban altars, refurbished every shrine, and sacrificed to mountains and rivers without omission. He offered a general amnesty short of capital crimes and halved the people’s taxes. No rain fell on Chang’an from spring until the fifth month.

曜遣其武衛劉朗率騎三萬襲楊難敵于仇池，弗克，掠三千餘戶而歸。張駿聞曜軍為石氐所敗，乃去曜官號，復稱晉大將軍、涼州牧，遣金城太守張閬及枹罕護軍辛晏、將軍韓璞等率眾數萬人，自大夏攻掠秦州諸郡。曜遣劉胤率步騎四萬擊之，夾洮相持七十餘日。冠軍呼延那雞率親禦郎二千騎，絕其運路。胤濟師逼之，璞軍大潰，奔還涼州。胤追之，及于令居，斬級二萬。張閬、辛晏率眾數萬降於曜，皆拜將軍，封列侯。

He sent Liu Lang with thirty thousand riders against Yang Nan-di at Chouci; failing to win, Liu Lang seized three thousand households and withdrew. When Zhang Jun learned Liu Yao had lost to the Shi, he dropped Zhao’s titles, resumed the Jin rank of grand general and governor of Liang, and sent Zhang Lang, Xin Yan, Han Pu, and tens of thousands from Daxia to raid Qinzhou. Liu Yao countered with forty thousand men under Liu Yin; the armies glared at each other across the Tao for seventy days. Huyan Naji, champion general, took two thousand imperial guards and severed the enemy supply line. Liu Yin forced the crossing; Han Pu’s line broke and fled to Liangzhou. Liu Yin overtook them at Lingju and took twenty thousand heads. Zhang Lang and Xin Yan surrendered tens of thousands; Liu Yao made them generals and full marquises.

石勒遣石季龍率眾四萬，自軹關西入伐曜，河東應之者五十餘縣，進攻蒲阪。曜將東救蒲阪，懼張駿、楊難敵承虛襲長安，遣其河間王述發氐羌之眾屯于秦州。曜盡中外精銳水陸赴之，自衛關北濟。季龍懼，引師而退。追之，及于高候，大戰，敗之，斬其將軍石瞻，枕屍二百餘里，收其資仗億計。季龍奔於朝歌。曜遂濟自大陽，攻石生於金墉，決千金堨以灌之。曜不撫士眾，專與嬖臣飲博，左右或諫，曜怒，以為妖言，斬之。大風拔樹，昏霧四塞。聞季龍進據石門，續知勒自率大眾已濟，始議增滎陽戍，杜黃馬關。俄而洛水候者與勒前鋒交戰，擒羯，送之。曜問曰：「大胡自來邪？其眾大小復如何？」羯曰：「大胡自來，軍盛不可當也。」曜色變，使攝金墉之圍，陳於洛西，南北十餘里。曜少而淫酒，末年尤甚。勒至，曜將戰，飲酒數斗，常乘赤馬無故局頓，乃乘小馬。比出，復飲酒鬥餘。至於西陽門，捴陣就平，勒將石堪因而乘之，師遂大潰。曜昏醉奔退，馬陷石渠，墜於冰上，被瘡十餘，通中者三，為堪所執，送於勒所。曜曰：「石王！憶重門之盟不？」勒使徐光謂曜曰：「今日之事，天使其然，復云何邪！」幽曜于河南丞廨，使金瘡醫李永療之，歸於襄國。

Shi Le dispatched Shi Hu with forty thousand men west through Zhiguan against Liu Yao; more than fifty Hedong counties rose in support as the column advanced on Puban. Liu Yao meant to relieve Puban but feared Zhang Jun and Yang Nan-di would strike an empty Chang’an, so he ordered Prince Liu Shu of Hejian to rally Di and Qiang troops on Qinzhou. He threw every elite by river and road into the march, crossing north from Weiguan. Shi Hu pulled back in alarm. They overtook him at Gaohou, shattered his army, killed Shi Zhan, and left corpses stacked for two hundred li, seizing immeasurable arms and baggage. Shi Hu fled to Zhaoge. Liu Yao crossed at Dayang, besieged Shi Sheng at Jinyong, and broke the Qianjin dike to flood the walls. He ignored the troops, drinking and dicing with favorites; anyone who remonstrated he called a bearer of ill omen and executed. Gales tore up trees and fog choked the field. Learning that Shi Hu held Shimen and that Shi Le himself had crossed the river with the main army, he belatedly ordered reinforcements for Yingyang and sealed Huangma Pass. Scouts on the Luo clashed with Shi Le’s van, took a Jie prisoner, and brought him in. Liu Yao asked, “Has the great Khan come in person? How large is his force?” The prisoner said, “He leads in person, and his host is irresistible.” Liu Yao paled, raised the siege of Jinyong, and drew up a line ten li along the western bank. Liu Yao had been a drunkard since youth; in old age it was worse. On the day of battle he quaffed several dou before riding out; his red mount kept stumbling, so he switched to a pony. He swallowed another dou on the way to the field. At the Xiyang Gate he moved onto open ground; Shi Kan, Shi Le’s general, charged the formation and broke it utterly. Reeling drunk, Liu Yao fled until his horse foundered in a stone channel on the ice; a dozen wounds, three mortal, brought him down into Shi Kan’s hands and before Shi Le. Liu Yao cried, “King Shi! Do you remember our oath at Chongmen?” Shi Le had Xu Guang answer, “Today heaven decreed this—what use in talk?” He jailed Liu Yao in the Henan clerk’s compound, had the surgeon Li Yong bind his wounds, then sent him to Xiangguo.

曜瘡甚，勒載以馬輿，使李永與同載。北苑市三老孫機上禮求見曜，勒許之。機進酒於曜曰：「僕谷王，關右稱帝皇。當持重，保土疆。輕用兵，敗洛陽。祚運窮，天所亡。開大分，持一觴。」曜曰：「何以健邪！當為翁飲。」勒聞之，淒然改容曰：「亡國之人，足令老叟數之。」舍曜于襄國永豐小城，給其妓妾，嚴兵圍守。遣劉岳、劉震等乘馬，從男女，衣㡊以見曜，曜曰：「久謂卿等為灰土，石王仁厚，全宥至今，而我殺石他，負盟之甚。今日之禍，自其分耳。」留宴終日而去。勒諭曜與其太子熙書，令速降之，曜但敕熙：「與諸大臣匡維社稷，勿以吾易意也。」勒覽而惡之，後為勒所殺。

Liu Yao’s wounds festered; Shi Le carried him in a litter and seated Li Yong beside him. Sun Ji, an elder of the north market, begged an audience; Shi Le allowed it. Sun Ji raised a cup: “The Bugu king west of the passes was hailed as emperor. He should have held his ground and kept his borders. He squandered his armies and lost Luoyang. Heaven ended his mandate. The end is plain—drink this cup.” Liu Yao said, “Well sung! I will drink with you, elder.” Shi Le listened, face tightening: “A fallen sovereign lets an old man reckon his sins.” He lodged Liu Yao in the small Yongfeng compound at Xiangguo with entertainers but ringed him with guards. Liu Yue and Liu Zhen rode in, disguised in soft caps with their households. Liu Yao said, “I had given you up for dead; King Shi’s mercy kept you alive while I slew Shi Ta—my treachery was great. This ruin is my desert.” They feasted the day through and left. Shi Le told him to order Crown Prince Xi to yield; Liu Yao wrote only, “Stand with your ministers for the state; do not shift policy on my account.” Shi Le, reading this, had him murdered.

熙及劉胤、劉咸等議西保秦州，尚書胡勳曰：「今雖喪主，國尚全完，將士情一，未有離叛，可共並力距險，走未晚也。」胤不從，怒其沮眾，斬之，遂率百官奔於上邽，劉厚、劉策皆捐鎮奔之。關中擾亂，將軍蔣英、辛恕擁眾數十萬，據長安，遣使招勒，勒遣石生率洛陽之眾以赴之。胤及劉遵率眾數萬，自上邽將攻石生於長安，隴東、武都、安定、新平、北地、扶風、始平諸郡戎夏皆起兵應胤。胤次於仲橋，石生固守長安。勒使石季龍率騎二萬距胤，戰于義渠，為季龍所敗，死者五千餘人。胤奔上邽，季龍乘勝追戰，枕屍千里，上邽潰。季龍執其偽太子熙、南陽王劉胤並將相諸王等及其諸卿校公侯已下三千餘人，皆殺之。徙其台省文武、關東流人、秦雍大族九千餘人于襄國，又坑其王公等及五郡屠各五千餘人於洛陽。曜在位十年而敗。始，元海以懷帝永嘉四年僭位，至曜三世，凡二十有七載，以成帝咸和四年滅。

Liu Xi, Liu Yin, and Liu Xian planned to withdraw to Qinzhou. Hu Xun urged, “The emperor is gone but the realm holds, morale is firm—hold the passes together before you run.” Liu Yin refused, executed him for cowing the troops, and fled to Shanggui with the court; Liu Hou and Liu Ce abandoned their commands to join him. Generals Jiang Ying and Xin Shu seized Chang’an with a huge force and invited Shi Le, who sent Shi Sheng from Luoyang. Liu Yin and Liu Zun marched from Shanggui on Shi Sheng; every county from Longdong to Fufeng rose for them. Liu Yin camped at Zhongqiao while Shi Sheng held fast in Chang’an. Shi Hu met him at Yiqu with twenty thousand riders and broke him, leaving five thousand dead. Liu Yin raced back to Shanggui; Shi Hu chased him a thousand li of carnage and stormed the city. Shi Hu took the pretender Liu Xi, Prince Liu Yin of Nanyang, and three thousand nobles and officers and put them all to the sword. Nine thousand officials, eastern refugees, and great clans were shipped to Xiangguo; five thousand Tuge nobles were buried alive at Luoyang. Liu Yao reigned ten years before ruin. Liu Yuan had seized the throne in Yongjia 4 of Emperor Huai; three generations and twenty-seven years later Zhao fell in Xianhe 4 of Emperor Cheng.

【史評】

Historians’ commentary

史臣曰：彼戎狄者，人面獸心，見利則棄君親，臨財則忘仁義者也。投之遐遠，猶懼外侵，而處以封畿，窺我中釁。昔者幽-{后}-不綱，胡塵暗于戲水；襄王失御，戎馬生於關洛。至於算強弱，妙兵權，體興衰，知利害，于我中華未可量也。況元海人傑，必致青雲之上；許以殊才，不居庸劣之下。是以策馬鴻騫，乘機豹變，五部高嘯，一旦推雄，皇枝相害，未有與之爭衡者矣。伊秩啟興王之略，骨都論克定之秋，單于無北顧之懷，獫狁有南郊之祭，大哉天地，茲為不仁矣！若乃習以華風，溫乎雅度；兼其舊俗，則罕規模。雖復石勒稱籓，王彌效款，終為夷狄之邦，未辯君臣之位。至於不遠儒風，虛襟正直，則昔賢所謂並仁義而盜之者焉。

The historians wrote: The northern tribes wear human faces but beastly hearts—they forsake sovereign and family for gain and trample duty for gold. Banish them and they still threaten the frontier; nest them in the heartland and they watch for weakness. When Queen Bao Si unraveled the Zhou, barbarian dust dimmed the Yi River; when King Xiang lost control, war-horses bred within Guan and Luo. Yet in gauging power, wielding arms, and reading fortune they are not to be despised. Liu Yuan was a prodigy born to rise; given rare gifts, he would not languish among the mean. So he rode the tide like a soaring goose, transformed like the leopard in the Book of Changes; the five Xiongnu camps roared him to the fore while Jin princes cut one another down—none could match him. Ministers plotted founding rites, chiefs argued the hour of conquest; the Shanyu faced south while former foes offered suburban sacrifice—how vast heaven and earth, and how pitiless the turn! Those who took up Chinese polish and mild manners yet clung to steppe habit seldom matched the civil ideal. Even when Shi Le bowed as vassal and Wang Mi pledged fealty, they stayed alien realms without true ministerial order. Those who feigned Confucian respect while grasping power were, as sages said, robbers cloaked in virtue.

偽主斯亡，玄明篡嗣，樹恩戎旅，既總威權，關河開曩日之疆，士馬倍前人之氣。然則信不由中，自乖弘遠，貌之為美，處事難終。縱武窮兵，殘忠害謇，佞人方轡，並-{后}-載馳，閹豎類於回天，凝科逾於砲烙。遣豺狼之將，逐鷹犬之師，懸旌俯渭，分麾陷洛，鐵馬陵山，胡笳遵渚，粉忠貞於戎手，聚搢紳於京觀。先王井賦，乃眷維桑；舊都宮室，咸成茂草。墜露沾衣，行人灑淚。若乃上古敦龐，不親其子，功成高讓，歸諸有德。爰及三伐，乃用干戈，將以拯厥版蕩，恭膺天命。懿彼武王，殷之列辟，載旆乘時，興兵誓野，投焚既隕，可以絕言。而輕呂旁揮，彤弧三發，豈若響清蹕于常道之門，馳金車于山陽之館！故知黔首來蘇，居今愛古；白旗陳肆，古不如今。胡寇不仁，有同豺豕，役天子以行觴，驅乘輿以執蓋，庾瑉之淚既盡，辛賓加之以血。若乃有生之貴，處死為難，弘在三之義，忘七尺之重，主憂之恨，畢命同歸，自古篡奪，於斯為甚。是以災氣呈形，賊臣苞亂，政荒民散，可以危亡。劉聰竟得壽終，非不幸也。

When Liu Cong died, Liu Yao seized the line, curried the camps, and commanded such power that the old Qin-Jin borders reopened and his host doubled in arrogance. Yet his faith was hollow, his vision narrow; fair show could not carry policy through. He waged war to the limit, struck down honest men, and paired flatterers with favorites while eunuchs twisted the court and punishments grew crueler than the Shang’s bronze. Wolfish captains and houndlike columns swept the Wei, stormed Luoyang, trampled hills, and wailed on the rivers—loyalists crushed, scholars piled in corpse mounds. The ancient well-tax fields became the mulberry lanes they loved; the old capitals sank under wild grass. Dew soaked the traveler’s sleeve; every passerby wept. In high antiquity fathers did not coddle sons; merit won, they yielded to worthies— later ages took up arms to save chaos and answer heaven’s charge. King Wu of Zhou, vassal of Shang, marched with banners and oaths; when the fires of Yin died, judgment was sealed. Yet he swung the Qinglü halberd and shot thrice with the red bow—nothing like the solemn convoys at Changdao or the golden coach at Shanyang! The people welcome renewal and cherish old virtue; yet white flags in the square show today’s shame outdoes antiquity. Those Hu were beasts: they poured wine for captive emperors, made imperial carriages shade their feasts; Yu Min wept himself dry, Xin Bin bled for it. To prize life yet choose death for the threefold bonds, scorning mere flesh—dying with a grieving lord—never was usurpation crueller. So omens took form, rebels bred, rule failed and folk fled—ruin followed. Liu Cong died in his bed—hardly the worst fate.

曜則天資虓勇，運偶時艱，用兵則王翦之倫，好殺亦董公之亞。而承基丑類，或有可稱。子遠納忠，高旌暫偃；和苞獻直，酆明罷觀。而師之所處，荊棘生焉，自絕強籓，禍成勁敵。天之所厭，人事以之，駭戰士而宵奔，酌戎杯而不醒，有若假手，同乎拾芥。豈石氏之興歟，何不支之甚也！

Liu Yao was savage by nature, soldier in an evil age—general like Wang Jian, slaughterer near Dong Zhuo’s ilk. Yet rising from a flawed house, he had his merits. You Ziyuan’s counsel briefly stilled the war banners; He Bao’s remonstrance stopped the Fengming tower. Yet armies leave thorns; severing a mighty vassal bred a deadly enemy. Heaven’s curse and human folly met: troops fled by night while he drowned in drink—he fell as if heaven struck, swift as snatching weed-seed. Was it merely Shi’s fortune? No—his collapse was utter.

贊曰：惟皇不範，邇甸居穹。丹硃罕嗣，冒頓爭雄。胡旌揚月，朔馬騰風。埃塵淮浦，虓呼河宮。未央朝寂，謻門旦空。郭欽之慮，辛有知戎。

Encomium: The true king’s pattern was cast aside; barbarians camped on the heartland. Dan Zhu won no throne; Modun seized hegemony. Hu flags brushed the moon; steppe horses rode the gale. Dust cloaked Huai’s banks; tiger-cries rocked the river palaces. Weiyang fell silent at dawn; Yimen stood empty by daybreak. Guo Qin foretold the peril; Xin You knew the barbarians would come.

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