1
薛廷珪，其先河東人也。 父逢，咸通中為秘書監，以才名著於時。 廷珪，中和年在西川登進士第，累曆台省。 〈（《舊唐書》：大順初，累遷司勳員外郎、知制誥。）〉 乾寧中，為中書舍人。 駕在華州，改散騎常侍，尋請致仕，客遊蜀川。 昭宗遷洛陽，征為禮部侍郎。 〈（《舊唐書》：光化中，復為中書舍人，遷邢部、吏部二侍郎，權知禮部貢舉，拜尚書左丞。）〉 時柳璨屠害朝士，衣冠畢罹其毒，廷珪以居常退讓獲全。 〈（《新唐書》：朱全忠兼四鎮，廷珪以官告使至汴，客將先見，諷其拜。 廷珪佯不曉，曰：「吾何德，敢受令公拜乎！」 及見，卒不肯加禮。）〉 入梁為禮部尚書。 莊宗平定河南，以廷珪年老，除太子少師致仕。 〈（《通鑒》：廷珪與李琪嘗為太祖冊禮使。）〉 同光三年九月卒。 贈右僕射。 所著《鳳閣詞書》十卷、《克家志》五卷，並行於世。 初，廷珪父逢，著《鑿混沌》、《真珠簾》等賦，大為時人所稱。 廷珪既壯，亦著賦數十篇，同為一集，故目曰《克家志》。
Xue Tinggui came of a Hedong family. His father Feng served as Director of the Palace Library under Emperor Yizong and was widely celebrated for his gifts as a writer. Tinggui earned his jinshi degree in Sichuan during the Zhonghe era and rose through a series of central-government posts. (According to the Old Book of Tang, in early Dashun he was promoted in succession to Vice Director in the Bureau of Merit and commissioner for drafting imperial edicts.)〉 During the Qianning era he served as a drafting secretary in the Secretariat. While the court was at Huazhou he was made Honorary Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, then soon asked to retire and lived for a time as a guest in Sichuan. When Emperor Zhaozong relocated to Luoyang, Tinggui was recalled and appointed Vice Minister of Rites. (The Old Book of Tang adds that in the Guanghua era he again became a Secretariat drafting secretary, rose to vice minister of punishments and of personnel, temporarily supervised the civil-service examinations for the Ministry of Rites, and was appointed left vice director of the Department of State Affairs.)〉 When Liu Can was butchering court officials, the entire official class fell victim to him; Tinggui alone escaped harm through his habitual modesty and restraint. (The New Book of Tang records that when Zhu Quanzhong held four military circuits at once, Tinggui came to Bian as the bearer of his commission of office. A host officer received him first and suggested obliquely that he should bow. Tinggui feigned not to understand and said, "What merit have I that I should accept a bow from Your Lordship!" When they met face to face, he still refused to offer the courtesy.)〉 Under the Liang he became Minister of Rites. After Zhuangzong pacified Henan, Tinggui was granted retirement as Mentor of the Heir Apparent on account of his advanced age. (The Zizhi Tongjian notes that Tinggui and Li Qi had once served together as ritual commissioners for Taizu's investiture.)〉 He died in the ninth month of Tongguang 3 (925). He was posthumously ennobled as Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. His works Phoenix Pavilion Literary Writings, in ten fascicles, and Record of Honoring the Family, in five fascicles, both circulated widely. Tinggui's father Feng had earlier written celebrated rhapsodies such as Boring Through Chaos and Pearl Curtain that won wide praise in their day. When Tinggui came of age he too wrote several dozen rhapsodies and collected them in one volume, which he titled Record of Honoring the Family.
2
崔沂， 〈（《新唐書·宰相世係表》：沂，字德潤。）〉 大中時宰相魏公鉉之幼子也。 兄沆，廣明初亦為宰輔。 沂舉進士第，曆監察、補闕。 昭宗時，累遷至員外郎、知制誥。 性抗厲守道，而文藻非優，嘗與同舍顏蕘、錢珝俱秉筆，見蕘、珝贍速，草制數十，無妨譚笑，而沂自愧。 翌日，謁國相訴曰：「沂疏淺，不足以供詞翰之職。」 相輔然之，移為諫議大夫。 入梁，為御史司憲，糾繆繩違，不避豪右。 開平中，金吾街使寇彥卿入朝，過天津橋，市民梁現者不時回避，前導伍伯捽之，投石欄以致斃。 彥卿自前白於梁祖，梁祖命通事舍人趙可封宣諭，令出私財與死者之家，以贖其罪。 沂奏劾曰：「彥卿位是人臣，無專殺之理。 況天津橋御路之要，正對端門，當車駕出入之途，非街使震怒之所。 況梁現不時回避，其過止於鞭笞。 捽首投驅，深乖朝憲，請論之以法。」 梁祖惜彥卿，令沂以過失論，沂引鬥競律，以怙勢力為罪首，下手者減一等。 又鬥毆條，不鬥故毆傷人者，加傷罪一等。 沂表入，責授彥卿遊擊將軍、左衛中郎將。 沂剛正守法，人士多之。 遷左司侍郎，改太常卿，轉禮部尚書。 貞明中，帶本官充西京副留守。 時張全義留守、天下兵馬副元帥、河南尹、判六軍諸衛事、守太尉、中書令、魏王，名位之重，冠絕中外。 沂至府，客將白以副留守合行廷禮，沂曰：「張公官位至重，然尚帶府尹之名，不知副留守見尹之儀何如？」 全義知之，遽引見沂，勞曰：「彼此有禮，俱老矣，勿相勞煩。」 莊宗興復唐室，復用為左丞，判吏部尚書銓選司，坐累謫石州司馬。 明宗即位，召還，復為左丞。 以衰疾告老，授太子少保致仕。 卒於龍門之別墅，時年七十餘。 贈太子少傅。
Cui Yi, (The New Book of Tang's tables of chief ministers give his style name as Derun.)〉 He was the youngest son of Wei Gongxuan, Duke of Wei, who had served as chief councilor under Emperor Xuanzong. His elder brother Hong likewise reached the chief ministership early in the Guangming era. Yi passed the jinshi examination and served in succession as investigating censor and remonstrance official. Under Emperor Zhaozong he rose in stages to outer-court director and drafting commissioner. Firm and principled by nature, he was not a gifted stylist. Once, drafting edicts alongside colleagues Yan Rao and Qian Pei, he watched them turn out dozens of documents with ease, chatting and laughing all the while, and was mortified by his own slowness. The next day he called on the chief minister and said, "I am too shallow a writer to hold a drafting post." The minister concurred and moved him to the post of grand censor. Under the Liang he headed the Censorate, correcting abuses and enforcing the law without fear of the powerful. During Kaiping, Jinwu street commissioner Kou Yanqing came to court and crossed Tianjin Bridge. A townsman named Liang Xian failed to clear the way in time; Kou's escort guards seized him and hurled him against a stone railing, killing him. Yanqing reported the matter himself to the Liang founder, who ordered palace usher Zhao Kefeng to announce that Yanqing should pay compensation from his private funds to the victim's family in lieu of punishment. Yi submitted an impeachment memorial: "Yanqing is a subject of the throne and has no right to kill on his own authority. Moreover Tianjin Bridge lies on the main imperial thoroughfare, directly before the Gate of Propriety, on the very path the imperial carriage takes; it is no place for a street commissioner to vent his anger. As for Liang Xian's failure to clear the way in time, the offense warranted no more than a beating. To seize a man and dash him to death so flagrantly violates the statutes; I ask that he be prosecuted according to law." The Liang founder was reluctant to punish Yanqing and told Yi to treat the case as negligence. Yi cited the statute on brawling, naming abuse of power as the principal offense and reducing the penalty by one degree for those who carried out the act. He also invoked the article on assault: anyone who, without a prior fight, deliberately beats and injures another has the injury charge increased by one degree. When Yi's memorial was received, Yanqing was demoted to general of the patrol and middle general of the Left Guard. Yi's stern integrity in upholding the law won him wide admiration among the official class. He was promoted to vice director of the left secretariat, then made director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and later minister of rites. During Zhenming he served as deputy protector-general of the Western Capital while retaining his ministerial title. Zhang Quanyi then held the posts of protector-general, deputy commander-in-chief of all forces, prefect of Henan, controller of the six armies and all guards, acting grand preceptor, grand secretariat director, and Prince of Wei — titles whose weight surpassed every other figure at court or in the provinces. When Yi arrived at headquarters, a staff officer told him that as deputy protector he was expected to perform court ceremony. Yi replied, "Lord Zhang's rank is immense, yet he still holds the title of prefect — I am not sure what protocol a deputy protector should follow in meeting a prefect?" Quanyi heard of this, summoned Yi at once, and said kindly, "Let us observe courtesy between equals — we are both old men; spare each other the formalities." When Zhuangzong restored the Tang, Yi was again appointed left vice director and placed in charge of the Ministry of Personnel's selection bureau; he was later demoted to defender of Shizhou on accumulated charges. When Mingzong came to the throne, Yi was recalled and restored as left vice director. Citing age and illness, he petitioned to retire and was granted the post of junior mentor of the heir apparent with retirement honors. He died at his villa in Longmen at over seventy years of age. He was posthumously ennobled as junior tutor of the heir apparent.
3
劉嶽，字昭輔。 其先遼東襄平人，元魏平定遼東，徙家於代，隨孝文遷洛，遂為洛陽人。 八代祖民部尚書渝國公政會，武德時功臣。 祖符，蔡州刺史。 父珪，洪洞縣令。 符有子八人，皆登進士第。 珪之母弟瑰、玕，異母弟崇夷、崇龜、崇望、崇魯、崇謨。 崇龜，乾寧中廣南節度使； 崇望，乾寧中宰相； 崇魯、崇謨、崇夷，並曆朝省。 嶽少孤，亦進士擢第，曆戶部巡官、鄭縣簿、直史館，轉左拾遺、侍御史。 梁貞明初，召入翰林為學士。 嶽為文敏速，尤善談諧，在職累遷戶部侍郎，在翰林十二年。 莊宗入汴，隨例貶均州司馬，尋丁母憂，許自貶所奔喪，服闋，授太子詹事。 明宗即位，曆兵部吏部侍郎、秘書監、太常卿。 卒年五十六。 贈吏部尚書。 嶽文學之外，通於典禮。 天成中，奉詔撰《新書儀》一部，文約而理當，今行於世。
Liu Yue, whose style was Zhaofu. His forebears came from Xiangping in Liaodong. When the Northern Wei pacified the northeast the family was moved to Dai; they followed Emperor Xiaowen to Luoyang and became Luoyang natives. Eight generations back stood Zhenghui, minister of the household and Duke of Yu, a founding merit-holder of the Wude era. His grandfather Fu had been prefect of Cai. His father Gui served as magistrate of Hongtong County. Fu had eight sons, every one of whom passed the jinshi examination. The father Gui's full brothers were Kui and Gan; his half-brothers were Chongyi, Chonggui, Chongwang, Chonglu, and Chongmo. Chonggui served as military commissioner of Guangnan during Qianning; Chongwang was chief minister in the same era; Chonglu, Chongmo, and Chongyi all held posts in the central ministries. Orphaned young, Yue also earned his jinshi degree and served in succession as a touring official in the Ministry of Revenue, registrar of Zheng County, and direct historian in the History Office, then as left remonstrance official and attending censor. Early in Liang Zhenming he was summoned to the Hanlin Academy as an academician. Yue wrote with quick facility and had a gift for witty conversation. He rose to vice minister of revenue and spent twelve years in the Hanlin. When Zhuangzong took Bian, Yue was demoted under the usual purge to defender of Junzhou. He soon entered mourning for his mother and was allowed to leave his post of exile for the funeral; when the mourning ended he was appointed grand mentor of the heir apparent. Under Mingzong he served in succession as vice minister of war, vice minister of personnel, director of the Palace Library, and director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. He died at fifty-six. He was posthumously ennobled as minister of personnel. Apart from his literary gifts, Yue was deeply versed in ritual protocol. During Tiancheng he was ordered to compile the New Book of Ritual — concise in wording and sound in principle — which remains in use today.
4
子溫叟，仕至御史中丞。 〈（《國老談苑》云：劉溫叟方正守道，以名教為己任。 幼孤，事母以孝聞，其母甚賢。 初為翰林學士，私庭拜母，母即命二婢箱擎公服、金帶，置於階下，謂溫叟曰：「此汝父長興中入翰林時所賜也。 自先君子薨背以來，嘗懼家門替墜，今汝能自致青雲，繼父之職，可服之無愧矣！」 因欷歔掩泣。 溫叟伏地號慟，退就別寢，素衣蔬食，追慕數日，然後服之，士大夫以為得禮。）〉
His son Wensou rose to censor-in-chief. (The Statesmen's Garden of Talk records that Liu Wensou was upright and principled, holding himself to the standards of proper conduct. Orphaned in childhood, he was famed for filial devotion to his mother, who was a woman of exceptional virtue. When he first became a Hanlin academician, he bowed to his mother in their private courtyard. She at once had two maidservants bring out chests holding official robes and a gold belt and set them on the steps, saying, "These were granted when your father entered the Hanlin in the Changxing era. Since your father's death I have feared our house would fall into decline. Now you have risen on your own merits to succeed to his post — wear them without shame!" With that she sighed and wept, covering her face. Wensou prostrated himself and wailed aloud, then withdrew to another room, dressed in plain clothes and ate simple fare, and mourned his father for several days before putting on the robes. Men of cultivation held this to be proper ritual.)〉
5
封舜卿， 〈（案：原本有闕文。 據《新唐書·宰相世係表》，封氏世居渤海蓚縣。 舜卿，字讚聖，父敖，字碩夫，戶部尚書、渤海縣男。 《唐書》有傳。）〉 仕梁，為禮部侍郎，知貢舉。 開平三年，奉使幽州，以門生鄭致雍從行，復命之日，又與致雍同受命入翰林為學士。 致雍有俊才，舜卿雖有文辭，才思拙澀，及試五題，不勝困弊，因托致雍秉筆，當時譏者以為座主辱門生。 〈（案：以下有闕文。）〉 莊宗同光已來，累曆清顯。 封氏自太和以來，世居兩製，以文筆稱於時。 舜卿從子渭， 〈（《世係表》：渭，字希叟。）〉 昭宗遷洛時，為翰林學士，舜卿為中書舍人，叔侄對掌內外製。
Feng Shunqing, (The received text is defective here. According to the New Book of Tang's tables of chief ministers, the Feng clan had long resided in Raoyang County in Bohai. Shunqing's style was Zansheng. His father Ao, style Shuofu, had been minister of revenue and Baron of Bohai County. The Book of Tang contains his biography.)〉 Under the Liang he served as vice minister of rites and supervised the civil-service examinations. In Kaiping 3 (909) he was sent on a mission to Youzhou with his protégé Zheng Zhiyong as companion. On the day he reported back, both men were appointed Hanlin academicians. Zhiyong was brilliantly gifted. Shunqing had literary polish but slow, labored invention; when tested on five topics he was overwhelmed and asked Zhiyong to draft for him — contemporaries mocked it as a patron disgracing his protégé. (The text is defective from this point.)〉 From Zhuangzong's Tongguang era onward he held a series of high, prestigious posts. Since the Taihe era the Feng family had for generations held the two chief drafting posts and were famed for their literary skill. Shunqing's nephew Wei, (The genealogical tables give his style as Xisou.)〉 When Emperor Zhaozong moved to Luoyang, Wei was a Hanlin academician while Shunqing was a Secretariat drafting secretary — uncle and nephew together controlled inner and outer edict drafting.
6
從子翹，於梁貞明中亦為翰林學士。 天成中，為給事中，因轉對上言，以星辰合度，風雨應時，請御前香一合，帝親爇一炷，餘令於塔廟中焚之，貴表精至。 議者以翹時推名族，出朝苑，登瑣闈，甚有岩廊之望，而忽有此請，乃近諸妖佞耳，物望由是減之。 〈（案：以下殘闕。）〉
His nephew Qiao likewise became a Hanlin academician during Liang Zhenming. During Tiancheng he served as supervising censor. In a rotating audience he reported that the heavens and seasons were in harmony and asked for incense before the throne. The emperor burned one stick himself and had the rest offered at pagodas and temples — a gesture of rare devotion. Critics said Qiao, a man of eminent lineage who had risen from the Hanlin to high office with every prospect of reaching the chief councils, had suddenly made a request fit for sorcerers and sycophants — and his reputation never recovered. (The text is defective from this point.)〉
7
竇夢徵，同州人。 少苦心為文，登進士第，曆校書郎，自拾遺召入翰林，充學士。 梁貞明中，加兩浙錢鏐元帥之命。 夢徵以鏐無功於中原，兵柄不宜虛授，其言切直。 梁末帝以觸時忌，左授外任。 〈（《玉堂閑話》：竇以錢公無功於本朝，僻在一方，坐邀恩澤，不稱是命，乃抱麻哭於朝。 翌日，竇謫掾於東州。）〉 有頃，復召為學士。 及莊宗入汴，夢徵以例貶沂州，居嘗感梁末帝舊恩，因為《祭故君文》云：「嗚呼！ 四海九州，天回眷命，一女二夫，人之不幸。 當革故以鼎新，若金銷而火盛，必然之理，夫何足競」云。 秉筆者皆許之，尋量移宿州。 天成初，遷中書舍人，復入為翰林學士、工部侍郎。 卒，贈禮部尚書。 〈（《玉堂閑話》：竇失意被謫，嘗鬱鬱不樂，曾夢有人謂曰：「君無自苦，不久當復故職。 然將來慎勿為丞相，苟有是命，當萬計避之。」 其後竇復居禁職。 有頃，遷工部侍郎。 竇忽憶夢中所言，深惡其事。 然已受命，不能遜避，未幾果卒。）〉 夢徵隨計之秋，文稱甚高，尤長於箋啟，編為十卷，目曰《東堂集》，行於世。
Dou Mengzheng was a native of Tongzhou. He devoted himself to letters from youth, passed the jinshi examination, served as proofreader, and was summoned from the remonstrance post into the Hanlin as an academician. During Liang Zhenming the court issued an edict making Qian Liu of the two Zhe circuits grand marshal. Mengzheng argued that Liu had done nothing for the central realm and that military command should not be handed out lightly. His memorial was blunt and uncompromising. The Last Liang Emperor, offended by his candor, demoted him to a provincial post. (Jade Hall Idle Talk records that Dou argued Lord Qian had done nothing for the dynasty yet sat in a remote corner receiving favors unearned by merit. Deeming the commission unfitting, he embraced the mourning hemp and wept in open court. The next day Dou was banished to serve as an aide in an eastern prefecture.)〉 Before long he was recalled as a Hanlin academician. When Zhuangzong took Bian, Mengzheng was demoted under the usual purge to Yizhou. Grateful still for the Last Liang Emperor's past kindness, he wrote A Eulogy for the Former Lord, which begins: "Alas! Across the realm Heaven has shifted its mandate — like one woman with two husbands, a thing no loyal subject can bear without grief. When the old must give way to the new, as metal melts in a raging fire — such is necessity; what is there to struggle against?" and so forth. Fellow writers praised the piece, and he was soon transferred on reduced penalty to Suzhou. Early in Tiancheng he was made a Secretariat drafting secretary, then again entered the Hanlin and rose to vice minister of works. He died and was posthumously ennobled as minister of rites. (Jade Hall Idle Talk adds that Dou, disheartened in exile, grew despondent. In a dream someone told him, "Do not torment yourself — you will soon return to your former post. But hereafter beware of becoming chief minister. If such an appointment should come, avoid it by every means you can." He later returned to a palace post. Before long he was promoted to vice minister of works. Dou suddenly remembered the dream and dreaded what it foretold. Yet he had already accepted the appointment and could not refuse. Before long he died, just as the dream had warned.)〉 At the time of his civil-service examination his writing won high praise. He excelled especially at letters and memorials, which were collected in ten fascicles as Eastern Hall Collection and circulated widely.
8
李保殷，河南洛陽人也。 昭宗朝，自處士除太子正字，改錢塘縣尉。 浙東帥董昌辟為推官，調補河府兵曹參軍，曆長水令、《毛詩》博士，累官至太常少卿、端王傅。 入為大理卿，撰《刑律總要》十二卷； 與兵部侍郎郗殷象論刑法事。 左降房州司馬。 同光初，授殿中監，以其素有明法律之譽，拜大理卿； 未滿秩，屬為人所製。 保殷曰：「人之多辟，無自立辟。」 乃謝病以歸，卒於洛陽。
Li Baoyin was a native of Luoyang in Henan. Under Emperor Zhaozong he rose from recluse scholar to proofreader of the heir apparent, then became magistrate of Qiantang County. Dong Chang, military commissioner of eastern Zhe, recruited him as investigating officer. He was transferred to a staff post in the He prefecture, served as magistrate of Changshui and doctor of the Mao Odes, and rose to director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and tutor to the Prince of Duan. He entered the capital as director of the Court of Judicial Review and compiled Essentials of Penal Statutes in twelve fascicles; and discussed penal law with Vice Minister of War Xi Yinxiang. He was demoted to defender of Fangzhou. Early in Tongguang he was made director of the palace domestic service and, on his long-standing reputation for legal expertise, was appointed director of judicial review; but before his term ended he was framed by enemies. Baoyin said, "When the world is full of crime, do not make yourself a criminal." He pleaded illness and retired to Luoyang, where he died.
9
孔邈，文宣王四十一代孫。 身長七尺餘，神氣溫厚。 登進士第，曆校書郎、萬年尉，充集賢校理，為諫議大夫，以年老致仕。 〈（案：《孔邈傳》，原本殘闕。 考《冊府元龜》云：乾寧五年，登進士第，除校書郎。 崔遠在中書，奏為萬年尉，充集賢校理，以親舅獨孤損方在廊廟，避嫌不赴職。）〉
Kong Miao was a forty-first-generation descendant of Confucius. He stood over seven chi tall, with a warm and dignified bearing. He passed the jinshi examination and served in succession as proofreader, defender of Wannian district, and collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies before becoming grand censor and retiring on account of age. (The received Biography of Kong Miao is defective. The Prime Tortoise of the Archives of the Realm records that in Qianning 5 (898) he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed proofreader. Cui Yuan, then in the Secretariat, recommended him as defender of Wannian and collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, but Miao declined the posts because his maternal uncle Dugu Sun was serving in the chief councils and he wished to avoid suspicion.)〉
10
張文寶，昭宗朝諫議大夫顗之子也。 文寶初，依河中朱友謙為從事。 莊宗即位於魏州，以文寶知制誥，曆中書舍人、刑部侍郎、左散騎常侍、知貢舉，遷吏部侍郎。 文寶性雅淡稽古。 長興初，奉使浙中，泛海船壞，水工以小舟救，文寶與副使吏部郎中張絢信風至淮南界，偽吳楊溥禮待甚至，兼厚遺錢幣、食物。 文寶受其食物，反其錢幣，吳人善之，送文寶等復至杭州宣國命，還青州，卒。
Zhang Wenbao was the son of Grand Censor Yi, who had served under Emperor Zhaozong. Early in his career Wenbao served on the staff of Zhu Youqian in Hezhong. When Zhuangzong took the throne at Weizhou, Wenbao was made drafting commissioner and rose through the posts of Secretariat drafting secretary, vice minister of punishments, left honorary cavalier attendant-in-ordinary, and examination supervisor before becoming vice minister of personnel. Wenbao was refined, reserved, and devoted to classical learning. Early in Changxing, on a mission to Zhe, his ship was wrecked at sea and sailors rescued him and his party in small boats. Wenbao and his deputy, Personnel Bureau director Zhang Xuan, drifted on the wind to the Huainan border, where Yang Pu of Wu received them with exceptional courtesy and lavished money and provisions on them. Wenbao accepted the food but returned the money, which won the Wu people's admiration. They escorted him back to Hangzhou to deliver the imperial commission, then he returned to Qingzhou and died.
11
子吉，嗣位邑宰。
His son Ji succeeded to his father's district magistracy.
12
劉讚，魏州人也。 幼有文性。 父比，為令錄，誨以詩書，夏月令服青襦單衫。 比每肉食，別置蔬食以飯讚，謂之曰：「肉食，君之祿也。 爾欲食肉，當苦心文藝，自可致之，吾祿不可分也。」 由是讚及冠有文辭，年三十餘登進士第。 魏州節度使羅紹威署巡官，罷歸京師，依開封尹劉鄩。 久之，租庸使趙岩表為巡官，累遷至戶部員外郎，職如故。 莊宗入汴，租庸副使孔謙以讚里人，表為鹽鐵判官。 天成中，曆知制誥、中書舍人。 與學士竇夢徵同年登第，鄰居友善，夢徵卒，讚與同年楊凝式緦麻為位而哭，其家無嫡長，與視喪事，恤其孀稚，人士稱之。 改御史中丞、刑部侍郎。
Liu Zan was a native of Weizhou. He showed literary promise from childhood. His father Bi was a county recorder who taught him the classics and, in summer, made him wear only a plain blue jacket and single-layer shirt. Whenever Bi ate meat he set vegetables before Zan and said, "Meat is an official's perquisite. If you want meat, earn it through your own literary merit. I cannot share my salary with you." Zan grew into a polished writer and passed the jinshi examination in his thirties. Luo Shaowei, military commissioner of Weizhou, appointed him touring officer. When that post ended he went to the capital and attached himself to Kaifeng prefect Liu Yan. Eventually Grain-Tax Commissioner Zhao Yan recommended him as touring officer, and he rose to outer-court director in the Ministry of Revenue while keeping the same duties. When Zhuangzong took Bian, Deputy Grain-Tax Commissioner Kong Qian, a fellow townsman, recommended Zan as salt and iron commissioner. During Tiancheng he served in succession as drafting commissioner and Secretariat drafting secretary. He had passed the jinshi in the same year as Hanlin academician Dou Mengzheng, and they were friendly neighbors. When Mengzheng died, Zan and his year-mate Yang Ningshi donned hemp mourning and wept at the bier. The family had no eldest son, so Zan helped manage the funeral and cared for the widow and children — conduct widely praised. He was made censor-in-chief and vice minister of punishments.
13
讚性雍和，與物無忤，居官畏慎，人若以私幹之，雖權豪不能移其操。 未幾，改秘書監，兼秦王傅。 〈（《冊府元龜》：秦王為元帥，秦王府判官、太子詹事王居敏與讚鄉曲之舊，以秦王盛年自恣，須朝中選端士納誨，冀其稟畏，乃奏薦讚焉。）〉 讚節概貞素，忽聞其命，掩泣固辭，竟不能止。 〈（案《通鑒》：瓚自以左遷，泣訴，不得免。 胡三省注云：唐制，六部侍郎除吏部之外，餘皆從四品下； 王傅從三品。 然六部侍郎為向用，王傅為左遷，以職事有閑劇之不同也。 當是時，從榮地居儲副，則秦王傅不可以閑官。 言蓋以從榮輕佻峻急，恐豫其禍，故求脫耳。）〉 時秦王參佐，皆新進小生，動多輕脫，每稱頌秦王功德，阿意順旨，隻奉談笑，惟讚從容諷議，必獻嘉言。 秦王常接見賓僚及遊客，於酒筵之中，悉令秉筆賦詩。 〈（《冊府元龜》：時從榮溺於篇章，凡門客及通謁遊士，必坐於客次，自出題目，令賦一章，然後接見。）〉 讚為師傅，亦與諸客混，然容狀不悅。 秦王知其意，自是戒典客，讚至勿通，令每月一度至衙。 〈（《言行龜鑒》載：劉讚諫秦王曰：「殿下宜以孝敬為職，浮華非所尚也。」 秦王不悅，戒閽者後弗引進。）〉 讚既官係王府，不敢朝參，不通慶吊，但閉關喑嗚而已，及秦王得罪，或言讚止於朝降，而讚已服麻衣備驢乘在門矣。 聞其言曰：「豈有國君之嗣，一旦舉室塗地，而賓佐朝降，得免死，幸也。」 俄而台史示敕，長流嵐州，即時赴貶所。 在嵐州逾年，清泰二年春，詔歸田里。 妻紇幹氏塗中卒，讚比羸瘠，慟哭殆絕，因之亦病，行及石會關而卒，時年六十餘。
Zan was gentle and easy in manner, careful in office, and immovable in principle — even the powerful could not sway him with private appeals. Before long he was made director of the Palace Library and tutor to the Prince of Qin. (The Prime Tortoise records that when the Prince of Qin was grand marshal, Wang Jumin, judge of the Qin princely mansion and grand mentor of the heir apparent, an old fellow townsman of Zan, recommended him because the young prince was self-indulgent and needed upright court scholars to admonish him.)〉 A man of plain integrity, Zan wept and firmly declined when he heard of the appointment, but could not refuse it. (The Zizhi Tongjian records that Zan regarded the appointment as a demotion, wept and pleaded, and could not be excused. Hu Sanxing notes that under Tang regulations, vice ministers of the six ministries except Personnel were junior fourth rank; while princely tutors were junior third rank. Yet a vice ministry post was a stepping stone to higher office, while a princely tutorship was effectively a demotion, because the duties differed in prestige and influence. At that time Congrong held the position of heir apparent, so the Prince of Qin's tutor was no sinecure. The comment suggests Zan feared Congrong's rash and violent character and sought to escape before disaster struck.)〉 The prince's staff were young upstarts, frivolous and eager to flatter. They praised his virtues and joined his revels — only Zan spoke with measured admonition and offered sound counsel. The prince often entertained guests and wandering scholars at banquets and required everyone present to compose poetry on the spot. (The Prime Tortoise adds that Congrong was obsessed with verse. Every retainer and visiting scholar had to wait in the antechamber, compose a poem on a topic the prince set, and only then be received.)〉 As tutor, Zan was lumped in with the other guests, and his displeasure showed on his face. The prince understood his feelings and ordered the gatekeeper never to admit him except for one monthly visit to the princely headquarters. (The Mirror of Words and Conduct records that Zan admonished the prince: "Your Highness should devote yourself to filial piety and duty. Frivolity is not becoming." The prince took offense and ordered the gatekeepers never to admit him again.)〉 Bound to the princely household, Zan stopped attending court or paying social calls and lived in seclusion. When the prince fell, some expected Zan merely to accept demotion — but he had already donned hemp mourning and had a donkey waiting at his gate. Hearing this he said, "When an imperial prince's entire household is destroyed overnight, how can his staff merely accept demotion and call themselves fortunate to escape death?" Soon the censorate edict arrived banishing him to Lanzhou, and he set out at once. After more than a year in Lanzhou, in spring of Qingtai 2 (935) an edict allowed him to return home. His wife Lady Heganshi died on the journey. Already frail, Zan wept until he nearly perished, fell ill himself, and died at Shihui Pass at over sixty years of age.
14
史臣曰：自唐祚橫流，衣冠掃地，苟無端士，孰恢素風。 如廷珪之文學，崔沂之剛正，劉嶽之典禮，舜卿之掌誥，洎夢徵而下，皆蔚有貞規，無虧懿範，固可以為搢紳之圭表，聳朝廷之羽儀，以之垂名，夫何不韙。
The historiographer writes: Once the Tang mandate ran awry and the scholar-official class was laid waste, only upright men could restore the old standards. Men such as Tinggui in letters, Yi in integrity, Yue in ritual, Shunqing in edict drafting, and from Mengzheng downward all upheld steadfast standards without blemish on their reputations. They may serve as models for the official class and ornaments of the court. To leave such names to posterity — what could be more fitting?