1
高季興,字貽孫,陜州硤石人也。 本名季昌,及後唐莊宗即位,避其廟諱改焉。 幼隸於汴之賈人李七郎,梁祖以李七郎為子,賜姓,名友讓。 梁祖嘗見季興於仆隸中,其耳面稍異,命友讓養之為子。 梁祖以季興為牙將,漸能騎射。 唐天復中,昭宗在岐下,梁祖圍鳳翔日久,眾議欲班師,獨季興諫止之,語在《梁祖紀》中。 既而竟迎昭宗歸京,以季興為迎鑾毅勇功臣、檢校大司空、行宋州刺史。 從梁祖平青州,改知宿州事,遷潁州防禦使,梁祖令復姓高氏,擢為荊南兵馬留後。 荊州自唐乾符之後,兵火互集,井邑不完,季興招輯離散,流民歸復,梁祖嘉之,乃授節鉞。 梁開平中,破雷彥恭於朗州,加平章事。 荊南舊無外壘,季興始城之,遂厚斂於民,招聚亡命,自後僭臣於吳、蜀,梁氏稍不能制焉,因就封渤海王。 嘗攻襄州,為孔所敗。
Gao Jixing, whose courtesy name was Yisun, came from Xiashi in Shanzhou. He had originally been named Jichang, but when Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang acceded to the throne he changed his name to avoid the imperial temple taboo. As a boy he served under Li Qilang, a merchant of Bian; the Liang founder adopted Li Qilang as a son, bestowed a surname on him, and gave him the name Yourang. The Liang founder once noticed Jixing among the household servants—his ears and facial features were slightly unusual—and ordered Yourang to bring him up as his own son. The Liang founder appointed Jixing to the guard corps, and he gradually became adept at horsemanship and archery. During the Tang Tianfu period, while Emperor Zhaozong was at Qizhou, the Liang founder had long besieged Fengxiang; when many urged a withdrawal, Jixing alone dissuaded him—the story is recorded in the 《Annals of the Liang Founder》. In the end the court brought Emperor Zhaozong back to the capital, and Jixing was rewarded with the title of meritorious minister of the imperial escort, honorary Grand Minister of Works, and acting prefect of Songzhou. After accompanying the Liang founder in the pacification of Qingzhou, he was reassigned to administer Suzhou, then promoted to defender of Yingzhou; the Liang founder had him resume the surname Gao and appointed him military intendant of Jingnan. Jingzhou had been ravaged by war ever since the Tang Qianfu years, its towns left in ruins; Jixing rallied the displaced and brought the refugee population back, and the Liang founder, pleased with his work, invested him with full military authority. During the Liang Kaiping period he defeated Lei Yingong at Langzhou and was given the title of Grand Councillor. Jingnan had never had outer fortifications until Jixing built city walls; he then levied heavy taxes, gathered desperadoes, and afterward acted as a rival vassal to Wu and Shu while the Liang court gradually lost control—whereupon he accepted enfeoffment as Prince of Bohai. He once attacked Xiangzhou but was defeated by Kong Xun.
2
及莊宗定天下,季興來朝於洛陽,加兼中書令,時論多請留之,郭崇韜以方推信義於華夏,請放歸藩,季興促程而去。 至襄州,酒酣,謂孔曰:「是行有二錯:來朝一錯,放回二錯。」 洎至荊南,謂賓佐曰:「新主百戰方得河南,對勛臣誇手抄《春秋》; 又豎手指云:『我於指頭上得天下。』 如此則功在一人,臣佐何有! 且遊獵旬日不回,中外之情,其何以堪,吾高枕無憂矣。」 乃增築西面羅城,備禦敵之具。 時梁朝舊軍多為季興所誘,由是兵眾漸多,跋扈之志堅矣。 明年,冊拜南平王。 魏王繼岌平蜀,盡選其寶貨浮江而下,船至峽口,會莊宗遇禍,季興盡邀取之。 明宗即位,復請夔、峽為屬郡,初俞其請,後朝廷除刺史,季興上言,稱已令子弟權知郡事,請不除刺史。 不臣之狀既形,詔削奪其官爵。 天成初,命西方鄴興師收復三州,又遣襄州節度使劉訓總兵圍荊南,以問其罪,屬霖潦,班師。 三年冬,季興病腳氣而卒。 其子從誨嗣立,累表謝罪,請修職貢。 由是復季興官爵,謚曰武信。
Once Emperor Zhuangzong had unified the empire, Jixing traveled to Luoyang to pay homage and was further appointed Vice Director of the Secretariat; many at court argued that he should be held, but Guo Chongtao urged that, having only just begun to promote faith and righteousness across the realm, the throne should let him return to his post—so Jixing hurried home. At Xiangzhou, when the wine had gone to his head, he said to Kong Xun, "This trip involved two blunders: paying court was the first blunder, and being sent back was the second." After he reached Jingnan he told his advisers, "The new emperor won the Central Plains only after countless battles, yet he boasts to his meritorious ministers that he copied the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》 by hand; and he holds up a finger and says, 'I won the empire on the tip of this finger. If that is so, all the credit belongs to him alone—what is left for his ministers! And he goes hunting for days on end without returning—how can the court and the realm endure it? I can sleep soundly from now on." He then extended the western outer rampart and stockpiled weapons and supplies to repel invaders. Many veterans of the former Liang armies were lured into his service, so his forces steadily grew and his ambition to defy the throne hardened. The following year he was invested as Prince of Nanping. When Prince of Wei Jiji conquered Shu, he loaded its treasures onto boats bound downriver; at the gorge mouth Zhuangzong met his death, and Jixing seized the entire convoy. After Emperor Mingzong acceded, Jixing again asked that Kuizhou and Xiazhou be placed under his jurisdiction; the court initially agreed, but when it later named official prefects he protested that his sons were already administering those districts and begged that no outside appointees be sent. When his rebellious conduct became unmistakable, an edict stripped him of rank and title. Early in the Tiancheng era the court ordered Fang Ye to recover the three prefectures and sent Liu Xun, military commissioner of Xiangzhou, to besiege Jingnan and punish his rebellion; relentless rains forced a withdrawal. In the winter of the third year Jixing died of gout. His son Conghui succeeded him and sent repeated memorials confessing fault and asking to resume tribute and service. The court thereupon restored Jixing's offices and titles and gave him the posthumous name Wuxin, Martial and Faithful.
3
從誨,初仕梁,歷殿前控鶴都頭、鞍轡庫副使、左軍巡使、如京使、左千牛大將軍、荊南衙內都指揮使,領濠州刺史,改歸州刺史,累官至檢校太傅。 初,季興之將叛也,從誨常泣諫之,季興不從。 天成三年冬,季興薨,從誨乃上表謝罪,復修職貢。 明宗嘉之,尋命起復,授荊南節度使、兼待中。 長興三年,加檢校太尉。 應順中,封南平王。 清泰初,加檢校太師。 晉天福中,加守中書令。 六年,襄州安從進反,王師攻討,從誨饋軍食以助焉,詔書褒美,尋加守尚書令,從誨上章固讓,朝廷遣使敦勉,竟不受其命。 時有術士言從誨年命有厄,宜退避寵祿故也。 及契丹入汴,漢高祖起義於太原,間道遣使奉貢,密有祈請,言俟車駕定河、汴,願賜郢州為屬郡,漢祖依違之。 及入汴,從誨致貢,求踐前言,漢高祖不從。 從誨怒,率州兵攻郢州,旬日,為刺史尹實所敗,自是朝貢不至。 從誨東通於吳,西通於蜀,皆利其供軍財貨而已。 末年,以鎮星在翼、軫之分,乃釋羅紈,衣布素,飲食節儉,以禳災咎。 尋令人祈托襄州安審琦,請歸朝待罪,朝廷亦開納之。 漢乾祐元年冬十一月,以疾薨於位。 詔贈尚書令,謚曰文獻。
Conghui began his career under the Liang, rising through posts from commander of the Palace Crane Guards and deputy of the saddlery office to patrol commissioner, capital envoy, Thousand-Ox general, and overall commander of the Jingnan headquarters, with concurrent appointments as prefect of Haozhou and then Guizhou, until he reached the honorary rank of Grand Mentor. When Jixing was on the verge of rebellion, Conghui often pleaded with tears, but Jixing refused to heed him. In the winter of Tiancheng 3, after Jixing's death, Conghui submitted a memorial of repentance and restored regular tribute. Emperor Mingzong approved and soon recalled him from mourning to appoint him military commissioner of Jingnan and concurrent Palace Attendant. In Changxing 3 he was promoted to honorary Grand Commandant. During the Yingshun era he was enfeoffed as Prince of Nanping. Early in the Qingtai era he was made honorary Grand Preceptor. During the Later Jin Tianfu era he was appointed acting Director of the Secretariat. In the sixth year, when An Congjin rebelled at Xiangzhou, Conghui sent provisions to support the imperial campaign; the throne praised him in edict and soon offered him acting Director of the Department of State Affairs, but he firmly declined; though envoys pressed him, he never accepted. A diviner had warned that calamity threatened his lifespan and that he should step back from high office—hence his refusal. When the Khitans seized Bian, as Emperor Gaozu of Later Han rose at Taiyuan, Conghui sent tribute by a back route with a secret plea: once the throne secured the Yellow River and Bian regions, he asked that Yingzhou be granted as his dependency—the Han founder wavered. After Gaozu entered Bian, Conghui sent tribute again and demanded the promised grant; Gaozu refused. Enraged, Conghui led his troops against Yingzhou; within ten days Yin Shi, the prefect, routed him, and thereafter he sent no more tribute. He dealt with Wu in the east and Shu in the west solely for the profit of their military goods and tribute. In his last years, with Saturn in the Wings and Chariot asterisms, he gave up silk, wore plain cloth, and ate frugally to ward off misfortune. He soon asked An Shenqi of Xiangzhou to intercede for his return to court to await judgment, and the throne showed itself willing to receive him. In the eleventh month of winter, Qianyou 1 of Later Han, he died in office of illness. An edict posthumously made him Director of the Department of State Affairs and gave him the posthumous name Wenxian, Literary and Offering.
4
子保融嗣,位至荊南節度使、守太傅、中書令,封南平王。 皇朝建隆元年秋卒。 謚曰貞懿。
His son Baorong succeeded him, rising to military commissioner of Jingnan, acting Grand Preceptor, Director of the Secretariat, and Prince of Nanping. He died in the autumn of the first year of Jianlong of the Song. He was given the posthumous name Zhenyi, Chaste and Virtuous.
5
其諸將之倚任者,則有王保義。 保義本姓劉,名去非,幽州人。 少為縣吏,粗暴無行,習騎射,敢鬥擊。 劉仁恭之子守奇善射,惟去非許以為能。 守奇以兄守光奪父位,亡入契丹,又自契丹奔太原,去非皆從之。 莊宗之伐燕也,守奇從周德威引軍前進,師次涿州,刺史姜行敢登陴固守,去非呼行敢曰:「河東小劉郎領軍來為父除兇,爾何敢拒!」 守奇免胄勞之,行敢遙拜,即開門迎降。 德威害其功,密告莊宗,言守奇心不可保。 莊宗召守奇還計事,行次土門,去非說守奇曰:「公不施寸兵下涿郡,周公以得非己力,必有如簧之間,太原不宜往也。 公家於梁,素有君臣之分,宜往依之,介福萬全矣。」 守奇乃奔梁,梁以守奇為滄州留後,以去非為河陽行軍司馬。 時謝彥章移去非為郢州刺史。 及莊宗平河、洛,去非乃棄郡歸高季興,為行軍司馬,仍改易姓名。 自是季興父子倚為腹心,凡守藩規畫,出兵方略,言必從之。 乾祐元年夏,高從誨奏為武泰軍節度留後,依前荊南行軍司馬,加檢校太尉。 後卒於江陵。
Among the generals he relied on was Wang Baoyi. Baoyi was born Liu Qufei, a native of Youzhou. As a youth he served as a county clerk, was violent and unrestrained, trained in horsemanship and archery, and was fearless in combat. Liu Shouqi, son of Liu Rengong, was a fine archer, and only Qufei would concede his skill. When Shouqi's brother Shouguang usurped their father's throne, Shouqi fled to the Khitans and later from there to Taiyuan, and Qufei followed him throughout. During Zhuangzong's campaign against Yan, Shouqi marched with Zhou Dewei; at Zhuozhou the prefect Jiang Xinggan manned the walls; Qufei shouted, "The young Liu of Hedong comes to avenge his father—how dare you resist!" Shouqi doffed his helmet in greeting; Xinggan bowed from the wall and opened the gates in surrender. Jealous of the credit, Dewei secretly told Zhuangzong that Shouqi's loyalty could not be trusted. Zhuangzong recalled Shouqi for consultation; at Tumen Pass Qufei urged him, "You took Zhuo without a fight, yet Zhou Dewei will resent that the credit was not his—slander will follow; you should not go to Taiyuan. Your house has long owed allegiance to Liang; go to them and you will be utterly safe." Shouqi fled to Liang, which made him military intendant of Cangzhou and Qufei campaigning marshal of Heyang. Xie Yanzhang then reassigned Qufei as prefect of Yingzhou. When Zhuangzong conquered the Central Plains, Qufei abandoned his post, joined Gao Jixing as campaigning marshal, and changed his name. Thereafter the Gao father and son treated him as their closest adviser; on every matter of governance and military strategy they followed his counsel. In the summer of Qianyou 1, Gao Conghui had him appointed military intendant of the Wutai Army while retaining his post as Jingnan campaigning marshal, with the honorary rank of Grand Commandant. He later died at Jiangling.
6
保勖,季興之幼子也。 鐘愛尤甚,季興在世時,或因事盛怒,左右不敢竊視,惟保勖一見,季興則怒自解,故荊人目之為「萬事休」。 皇朝建隆四年春卒。 是歲,荊門之地不為高氏所有,則「萬事休」之言,蓋先兆也。 〈(《五代史補》:高季興,本陵州陜人。 為太祖裨將,出為郢州防禦使。 時荊南成汭征鄂州,不利而卒,太祖命季興為荊南留後。 到未幾,會武陵土豪雷彥恭作亂,季興破之,遂以功授荊南節鉞。 莊宗定天下,季興首入覲,因拜中書令,封南平王。 初,季興嘗從梁太祖出征,引軍早發,至逆旅,未曉,有嫗秉燭迎門,具禮甚厚。 季興疑而問之,對曰:「妾適夢有人叩關,呼曰:『速起,速起,有裂土王來。』 及起,盥嗽畢,秉燭開門,而君子奄至,得非所謂王者耶? 所以不敢褻慢爾。」 季興喜,及來荊南,竟至封王。 高從誨,季興之庶子而處長,為性寬厚,雖士大夫不如也。 天成中,季興叛,從誨力諫之,不從。 及季興卒,朝廷知從誨忠,使嗣,亦封南平王。 初,季興之事梁也,每行軍,常以愛姬張氏自隨。 一旦軍敗,攜之而竄,遇夜,誤入深澗中。 時張氏方妊行遲,季興恐為所累,俟其寢酣,以劍刺岸邊,而壓殺之,然後馳去。 既而岸欲崩,張氏且驚起,呼季興曰:「妾適夢大山崩而壓妾身,有神人披金甲執戈以手托之,遂免。」 季興聞之,謂必生貴子,遂挈之行,後生從誨。 梁震,蜀郡人。 有才略,登第後寓江陵,高季興素聞其名,欲任為判官。 震恥之,然難於拒,恐禍及,因謂季興曰:「本山野鄙夫也,非有意於爵祿,若公不以孤陋,令陪軍中末議,但白衣從事可矣。」 季興奇而許之,自是震出入門下,稱前進士而已。 同光中,莊宗得天下,季興懼而入覲,時幕客皆贊成,震獨以為不可,謂季興曰:「大王本梁朝,與今上世稱仇敵,血戰二十年,卒為今上所滅,神器大寶雖歸其手,恐余怒未息,觀其舊將,得無加害之心,宜深慮焉。」 季興不從。 及至,莊宗果欲留之,樞密郭崇韜切諫,以為不可:「天下既定,四方諸侯雖相繼稱慶,然不過子弟與將吏耳,惟季興而躬自入覲,可謂尊獎王室者也。 禮待不聞加等,反欲留縶之,何以來遠臣? 恐此事一行,則天下解體矣。」 莊宗遂令季興歸。 行已浹旬,莊宗易慮,遽以詔命襄州節度劉訓伺便囚之。 而季興至襄州,就館而心動,謂吏曰:「吾方寸擾亂,得非朝廷使人追而殺吾耶! 梁先輩之言中矣,與其住而生,不若去而死。」 遂棄輜重,與部曲趫健者數百人南走。 至鳳林關,已昏黑,於是斬關而去。 既而是夜三更,向之急遞果至襄州,劉訓料其去遠,不可追而止。 自是季興怨憤,以兵襲取復州之監利、玉沙二縣,命震草奏,請以江為界。 震又曰:「不可,若然則師必至矣,非大王之利也。」 季興怒,卒使為之。 既而奏發,未幾,朝廷遣夏魯奇、房知溫等領兵來伐。 季興登城望之,見其兵少,喜,欲開城出戰,震復諫曰:「大王何不思之甚耶! 且朝廷禮樂征伐之所自出,兵雖小而勢實大,加以四方諸侯各以相吞噬為誌,但恨未見得其便耳。 若大王不幸,或得一戰勝,則朝廷征兵於四方,其誰不欲仗順而起,以取大王之土地耶! 如此則社稷休矣。 為大王計者,莫若致書於主帥,且以牛酒為獻,然後上表自劾,如此則庶幾可保矣。 不然,則非仆之所知也。」 季興從之,果班師。 震之裨贊,皆此類也。 洎季興卒,子從誨繼立,震以從誨生於富貴,恐相知不深,遂辭居於龍山別業,自號處士。 從誨見召,皆跨黃牛直抵廳事前下,呼從誨不以官閥,但郎君而已。 末年尤好篇詠,與僧齊已友善,貽之詩曰:「陳琳筆硯甘前席,角裏煙霞憶共眠。」 蓋以寫其高尚之趣也。)〉
Baoxu was Jixing's youngest son. Jixing doted on him above all; when Jixing flew into a rage his attendants dared not look up, yet a single sight of Baoxu would calm him—so the people of Jing nicknamed the boy "All Affairs Cease." He died in the spring of Jianlong 4 of the Song. That same year the Gao lost Jingmen—so the nickname "All Affairs Cease" had been a prophecy. (From the 《Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties》: Gao Jixing was originally from Shan in Lingzhou. He served the Liang founder as a staff general and was posted as defender of Yingzhou. When Cheng Yun of Jingnan campaigned against Ezhou, met defeat, and died, the Liang founder appointed Jixing military intendant of Jingnan. Soon after he arrived, the Wuling magnate Lei Yingong rebelled; Jixing crushed him and was invested with full authority over Jingnan. When Zhuangzong unified the empire, Jixing was the first regional ruler to pay court, and was made Director of the Secretariat and Prince of Nanping. Once, marching with the Liang founder, Jixing led his men out before dawn; at an inn an old woman met him at the door with a candle and treated him with extraordinary respect. Puzzled, Jixing asked why; she said, "I dreamed someone knocked at the gate shouting, 'Get up, get up—a king who will carve out his own realm is coming. I rose, rinsed my mouth, lit a candle, and opened the door—and here you are. Are you not that king? That is why I dared not receive you casually." Delighted, Jixing later came to Jingnan and was indeed enfeoffed as a prince. Gao Conghui was Jixing's son by a concubine but the eldest by age; he was so generous and mild that even literati could not match him. During Tiancheng, when Jixing rebelled, Conghui argued fiercely against it, but Jixing would not listen. After Jixing's death the court, knowing Conghui's loyalty, let him succeed and again enfeoffed him as Prince of Nanping. In his early days serving Liang, Jixing always took his favorite concubine Lady Zhang on campaign. Once, after a defeat, he fled with her and, in the dark, blundered into a deep gorge. Lady Zhang was pregnant and could not keep pace; fearing she would slow him, Jixing waited until she slept, brought down the bank with his sword to crush her, and rode off. As the bank gave way she woke and cried to Jixing, "I dreamed a mountain fell on me, but a god in golden armor held it up with his spear and I was spared." Hearing this, he decided she would bear a noble son, took her with him, and she later bore Conghui. Liang Zhen was from Shu Commandery. Talented and capable, he settled at Jiangling after passing the civil examinations; Gao Jixing, who had long heard of him, wished to make him chief administrator. Ashamed yet afraid to refuse outright, Zhen told Jixing, "I am only a rustic with no ambition for office; if you will have me, let me join your councils in plain dress as a private adviser—that is enough." Jixing, impressed, agreed; thereafter Zhen attended him, calling himself simply a former jinshi. During Tongguang, when Zhuangzong unified the realm, a fearful Jixing went to court; his staff all urged him on, but Zhen alone objected: "You were a Liang man—the new emperor's hereditary enemy. After twenty years of war he destroyed you. Though the throne is his, his old generals may still wish you harm. Think carefully." Jixing would not heed him. When he arrived, Zhuangzong did intend to detain him, but Guo Chongtao of the Privy Council argued fiercely against it: "The realm is settled. Other lords sent sons and officers to congratulate; only Jixing came in person—an act of honor to the throne. You have not treated him with exceptional honor, yet you would imprison him—who will come from afar after that? If you do this, the empire will disintegrate." Zhuangzong then let Jixing go home. Ten days into his journey Zhuangzong changed his mind and ordered Liu Xun, military commissioner of Xiangzhou, to seize him at the first opportunity. When Jixing reached Xiangzhou and entered his lodging his heart misgave him; he told an attendant, "My mind is in turmoil—has the court sent men to pursue and kill me! Liang Zhen was right: better to flee and risk death than to remain and be killed." He abandoned his baggage train and fled south with several hundred of his fastest troops. At Fenglin Pass, already in darkness, he cut his way through the gate and escaped. That night at the third watch the urgent order reached Xiangzhou; Liu Xun judged that Jixing was too far ahead to catch and gave up the pursuit. Thereafter, nursing his grievance, Jixing seized Jianli and Yusha in Fuzhou by force and had Zhen draft a memorial asking that the Yangzi be made the border. Zhen objected again: "You must not—if you do, the imperial army will come, and that will not serve you." Jixing was furious but made him draft it anyway. The memorial was sent; soon the court dispatched Xia Luqi, Fang Zhiwen, and others to attack him. Jixing climbed the wall, saw how few they were, and wanted to sally out; Zhen remonstrated again: "My lord, have you thought this through? The court is the source of all authority; though their force looks small, its power is vast. Every regional lord wants to swallow his neighbors and only waits for an opening. If you should win a battle, the court will summon armies from every direction—who would not rise to seize your territory in the name of loyalty! Your domain would be finished. The wisest course is to write the commander, send cattle and wine as gifts, and submit a memorial of self-reproach—you may yet save yourself. Otherwise I cannot say what will become of you." Jixing took his advice, and the imperial army withdrew. Zhen's counsel was always of this sort. When Jixing died and Conghui succeeded, Zhen, fearing that a man born to privilege would not know him well, retired to his estate on Long Mountain and called himself a recluse. When summoned, he rode a yellow ox to the hall door and addressed Conghui not by title but simply as "young master." In his last years he loved poetry; befriending the monk Qiji, he sent him a verse: "Chen Lin's brush gladly took the front seat; Jiao Li's clouds recall our shared rest." Thus he expressed his refined tastes.) )〉
7
馬殷,字霸圖,許州鄢陵人也。 少為木工,及蔡賊秦宗權作亂,始應募從軍。 初,隨孫儒渡淮,陷廣陵。 及儒敗於宣州,殷隨別將劉建峰過江西,連陷洪、鄂、潭、桂等州,建峰盡有湖南之地,遂自為潭帥。 頃之,建峰為部下所殺,潭人推行軍司馬張佶為帥。 時殷方統兵攻邵州,佶曰:「吾才不及馬殷。」 即牒殷付以軍府事。 殷自邵州旋軍,犒勞將士,誅害建峰者數十人,自為留後。 久之,朝廷命為湖南節度使,遂有潭、衡七州之地。 唐天復中,楊行密急攻江夏,杜洪求援於荊南,成汭舉舟師援之。 時澧朗節度使雷彥恭乘汭出師,襲取荊州,載其寶貨,焚毀州城而去。 彥恭東連行密,斷江、嶺行商之路,殷與高季興合勢攻彥恭於澧朗。 數年,擒之,盡有其地,及以張佶為朗州節度使,由是兵力雄盛。
Ma Yin, whose courtesy name was Batu, came from Yanling in Xuzhou. As a youth he worked as a carpenter; when Qin Zongquan of Cai rebelled, he enlisted. He first followed Sun Ru across the Huai and took Guangling. After Sun Ru's defeat at Xuanzhou, Yin followed Liu Jianfeng into Jiangxi, capturing Hong, E, Tan, Gui, and other prefectures; when Jianfeng held all Hunan he made himself commander of Tan. Soon Jianfeng was killed by his own men, and the people of Tan elevated campaigning marshal Zhang Ji. Yin was then besieging Shaozhou; Ji said, "I am no match for Ma Yin." He immediately transferred command of the headquarters to Yin. Yin marched back from Shaozhou, rewarded his troops, executed dozens of Jianfeng's killers, and made himself military intendant. Eventually the court appointed him military commissioner of Hunan, giving him seven prefectures including Tan and Heng. During the Tang Tianfu era, as Yang Xingmi besieged Jiangxia, Du Hong sought aid from Jingnan and Cheng Yun sent a fleet to help. Lei Yingong, military commissioner of Li and Lang, seized the moment to raid Jingzhou, loot its treasures, burn the city, and withdraw. Yingong allied with Xingmi in the east and blocked trade along the Yangzi and mountain routes; Yin and Gao Jixing combined forces to attack him in Li and Lang. Within a few years they captured him and took his territory, appointing Zhang Ji military commissioner of Langzhou; their power grew formidable.
8
初,殷微時,隱隱見神人侍側,因默記其形像。 及貴,因謁衡山廟,睹廟中神人塑像,宛如微時所見者。 則知人之貴者,必有陰物護之,豈偶然哉!
In his humble youth Yin had dimly seen a spirit attendant at his side and memorized its features. After he rose to power he visited the Heng Mountain temple and found the deity's statue identical to what he had seen long before. Surely those destined for greatness are guarded by unseen powers—this was no accident!
9
希範,晉天福中,授江南諸道都統,又加天策上將軍。 谿州洞蠻彭士愁寇辰、澧二州,希範討平之。 士愁以五州乞盟,乃銘於銅柱。 希範自言漢伏波將軍援之後,故鑄銅柱以繼之。 〈(案:此傳有闕文,《馬希廣》、《希萼傳》全篇俱佚。 《五代史補》:高郁為武穆王謀臣,莊宗素聞其名,及有天下,且欲離間之。 會武穆王使其子希範入覲,莊宗以希範年少易激發,因其敷奏敏速,乃拊其背曰:「國人皆言馬家社稷必為高郁所取,今有子如此,高郁安得取此耶!」 希範居常嫉郁,忽聞莊宗言,深以為然。 及歸,告武穆請誅之,武穆笑曰:「主上爭戰得天下,能用機數,以郁資吾霸業,故欲間之耳! 若梁朝罷王彥章兵權也。 蓋遭此計,必至破滅,今汝誅郁,正落其彀中,慎勿言也。」 希範以武穆不決,禍在朝夕,因使誣告郁謀反而族滅之。 自是軍中之政,往往失序,識者痛之。 初,郁與武穆俱起行陣,郁貪且僭,常以所居之井不甚清澈,思所以澄汰之,乃用銀葉護其四方,自內至外皆然,謂之「拓裏」,其奉養過差,皆此類也,故莊宗得以媒蘗。 自後陰晦中見郁,後竟為所患爾。
During Later Jin Tianfu, Xifan was made overall commander of the Jiangnan circuits and Grand General of the Heavenly Stratagem. Peng Shichou, a tribal leader of Xizhou, raided Chen and Li; Xifan defeated him. Shichou surrendered five prefectures to sue for peace, and the terms were inscribed on a bronze pillar. Xifan claimed descent from the Han general Ma Yuan and cast a bronze pillar to emulate his precedent. (Note: this biography is defective; the biographies of 《Ma Xiguang》 and 《Ma Xi'e》 are entirely lost. From the Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties: Gao Yu was strategist to Prince Wumu; Zhuangzong had long heard of him and, once he ruled the realm, sought to drive a wedge between them. When Prince Wumu sent Xifan to court, Zhuangzong—finding the youth quick-witted and easily provoked—clapped his back and said, "Everyone says the Ma domain will fall to Gao Yu—but with a son like this, how could Yu seize it!" Xifan, who had long resented Yu, took the emperor's words to heart. On returning he urged Wumu to execute Yu; Wumu laughed and said, "The emperor won the realm by war and knows stratagems—he uses Yu to support our power and wants to divide us! It is like when the Liang court stripped Wang Yanzhang of command. Whoever falls for this plot is ruined; if you kill Yu now you walk into the trap—say nothing of it." Thinking Wumu indecisive and disaster imminent, Xifan had Yu falsely accused of treason and his entire clan executed. Thereafter military affairs often fell into disorder, to the grief of the wise. Yu had risen with Wumu from the ranks but grew greedy and arrogant; dissatisfied with his well water, he lined it with silver leaves inside and out in what he called "tuoli"—extravagances of this sort gave Zhuangzong material for slander. Afterward he saw Yu's ghost in the gloom and was ultimately haunted by him.
10
馬希範,武穆之嫡子,性奢侈,嗣位未幾,乞依故事置天策府僚屬,於是擢從事有才行者,有若都統判官李鐸、靜江府節度判官潘玘、武安軍節度判官拓拔坦、都統掌書記李臯、鎮南節度判官李莊、昭順軍節度判官徐收、澧州觀察判官彭繼英、江南觀察判官廖圖、昭順軍觀察判官徐中雅、靜江府掌書記鄧懿文、武平軍節度掌書記李松年、鎮南軍節度掌書記衛嚴、昭順軍觀察支使彭繼勛、武平軍節度推官蕭銖、桂管觀察推官何仲舉、武安軍節度巡官孟元暉、容管節度推官劉昭禹等十八人,並為學士。 其餘列校,自袁友恭、張少敵等各以次授任。 莫不大興土木,以建興府庭,其最為壯麗者即有九龍、金華等殿。 殿之成也,用丹砂塗其壁,凡用數十萬斤石,每僚吏謁見,將升殿,但覺丹砂之氣,藹然襲人,其費用也皆此類。 初,教令既下,主者以丹砂非卒致之物,相顧憂色。 居無何,東境山崩,湧出丹砂,委積如丘陵,於是收而用之。 契丹南侵,聞其事,以為希範非常人,遽使冊為尚父。 希範得冊,以為契丹推奉,欣然當之矣。
Ma Xifan, Wumu's legitimate son, was extravagant; soon after succeeding he asked to establish a Heavenly Stratagem Bureau on the old model and appointed eighteen able staff members—including Li Duo, Pan Qi, Tuoba Tan, Li Gao, He Zhongju, and Liu Zhaoyu—as academicians. Other commanders, from Yuan Yougong and Zhang Shaodi down, received appointments in turn. All launched vast construction projects for the capital; the grandest were the Nine Dragons and Golden Splendor halls. The completed halls were coated with cinnabar using hundreds of thousands of jin of ore; officials ascending for audience were met by thick fumes of cinnabar—such was the scale of his extravagance. When the order was first issued, the supervisors despaired, for cinnabar could not be procured overnight. Soon a mountain in the east collapsed, spewing cinnabar in heaps like hills, and they gathered it for use. When the Khitans invaded the south and heard of this, they judged Xifan extraordinary and promptly invested him as Imperial Father. Xifan, taking this as Khitan endorsement, gladly accepted the title.
11
丁思僅素有才略,為馬氏騎將。 以希範受契丹冊命,深恥之,因謂希範曰:「今朝廷失守,正忠臣義士奮發之時,使馳檄四方,引軍直趨京師,驅契丹,天子反正,然後凱還,如此則齊桓、晉文不足數矣。 時不可失,願大王急圖之。」 希範本無遠略,加以興作府署未畢,不忍棄去,遂寢思僅之謀。 思僅不勝其憤,謂所親曰:「古人疾沒世而名不稱,今遭逢擾攘,不能立功於天下,反顧戀數間屋子乎! 誠可痛也。」 自是思僅常怏怏。
Ding Sijin was a talented cavalry commander of the Ma house. He was deeply shamed that Xifan accepted Khitan investiture and urged him: "The throne is lost—this is the hour for loyal men to act: proclaim to the realm, march on the capital, drive out the Khitans, restore the emperor, and return in triumph—you would surpass Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin. The moment will not wait—my lord, act at once." Xifan lacked long-range vision and could not bear to abandon his unfinished palaces—he set the plan aside. Sijin, unable to contain his rage, told his intimates, "The ancients feared dying without renown; in this chaos we cannot serve the realm yet cling to a few rooms of a palace! It is heartbreaking." From then on Sijin brooded in discontent.
12
文昭王夫人彭氏,封秦國夫人,常往城北報恩寺燒香。 時僧魁謂之長老,問曰:「夫人誰家婦女?」 彭氏大怒,索檐子疾驅而歸,文昭驚曰:「何歸之速也?」 夫人曰:「今日好沒興,被個老禿賊問妾是誰家婦女,且大凡婦女皆不善之辭,安得對妾而發!」 文昭笑曰:「此所謂禪機也,夫人宜答弟子是彭家女,馬家婦,是則通其理矣,何怒之有乎!」 夫人素負才智,恥不能對,乃曰:「如此則妾所謂無見性也。」 於是慚赧數日。
Lady Peng, consort of Prince Wenzhao and enfeoffed as Lady of Qin, often went to Bao'en Temple north of the city to burn incense. The monk Kui, called the elder, asked, "Madam, whose wife are you?" Furious, Lady Peng called for her sedan and rushed home; Wenzhao asked in alarm, "Why so soon?" She said, "What ill luck—a bald old monk asked whose wife I was! Such words are unlucky for any woman—how dare he say them to me!" Wenzhao laughed: "That was a Chan teaching—you should have answered, 'I am a Peng daughter and Ma wife.' That would have met his point—why be angry?" Intelligent as she was, she was ashamed of her failure and said, "Then I showed no insight at all." She blushed for days afterward.
13
何仲舉,營道人。 美姿容,年十三,俊邁絕倫。 時家貧,輸稅不及限,李臯為營道令,怒之,乃荷項系獄,將槚楚焉。 或有言於臯曰:「此子雖丱,能為詩,往往間立成,希明府一察之。」 臯聞,遽召而問曰:「知汝有文,且速敏,今日之事,若能文不加點,為一篇以自述,吾當貸汝。」 仲舉援筆而成,曰:「似玉來投獄,拋家去就枷。 可憐兩片木,夾卻一枝花。」 臯大驚,因自為脫枷,延上廳與之抗禮,自是仲舉始銳意就學。 天成中入洛,時秦王為河南尹,尤重士,仲舉與張杭、江文蔚俱遊其門。 及其東薦也,公舉數百人,獨以仲舉為擅場,仲舉因獻詩曰:「碧雲章句才離手,紫府神仙盡點頭。」 秦王大悅,稱賞不已,故一舉上第。 及歸,遇文昭馬氏承制,依唐太宗故事,於天策府置十八學士,以臯為學士之首,且執政柄,而仲舉自以出於臯之門下,雖策名中朝,事臯未嘗暫懈,臯感悅,遂加引用。 未幾,與之同列,及出,又為全、衡二州刺史。 先是,湖南尤多詩人,其最顯者有沈彬、廖凝、劉昭禹、尚顏、齊己、虛中之徒,而仲舉在諸公間尤為輕淺,惟李臯獨推許之,往往對眾吟《秋日晚望詩》曰:「樹迎高鳥歸深野,雲傍斜陽過遠山。」 以足扣地,嘆曰:「何仲舉乃詩家之高逸者也,諸官見取舍,其餘奴嶽,乃間氣爾。」 故仲舉感臯之見知,卒能自奮,至於名節,亦終始無玷,論者以臯有知人之鑒。
He Zhongju was from Yingdao. Handsome and at thirteen already exceptionally gifted, his family was too poor to pay taxes on time; Magistrate Li Gao, enraged, had him shackled and imprisoned for beating. Someone told Gao, "Though young, this boy composes poetry on the spot—please examine him." Gao summoned him and said, "I know you are clever with words; if you can write a self-account without revision, I will spare you." Zhongju wrote at once: "Like jade cast into prison, leaving home for the stocks. Pitiable—two boards clamping a single blossom." Amazed, Gao removed the shackles himself, received him in the hall as an equal, and from then on Zhongju devoted himself to study. During Tiancheng he went to Luoyang, where the Prince of Qin, military commissioner of Henan, prized scholars; Zhongju associated with Zhang Hang and Jiang Wenwei at his court. At the metropolitan examination hundreds competed, but Zhongju alone dominated; he presented a verse: "Azure-cloud lines just leave the hand, purple-palace immortals all nod approval." The prince was delighted and praised him endlessly; Zhongju passed at the top of his class. On returning he found Prince Wenzhao of Ma following Tang Taizong's precedent in appointing eighteen Heavenly Stratagem academicians, with Gao at their head and in power; though Zhongju had passed the central examinations, he never ceased serving Gao, who was moved and promoted him. Soon he stood as Gao's equal in rank and later served as prefect of Quan and Heng. Hunan had many poets—Shen Bin, Liao Ning, Liu Zhaoyu, Qiji, and others—and Zhongju was thought the shallowest; only Li Gao praised him, often reciting before company his "Autumn Evening View": "Trees welcome birds to the deep wilds; clouds drift past distant hills in the slanting sun." He stamped the floor and sighed, "He Zhongju is poetry's true recluse—you officials may judge as you will; the rest are mere hillocks of talent." Grateful for Gao's recognition, Zhongju applied himself and preserved his integrity to the end; critics credited Gao with true discernment.
14
歐陽彬,衡山人。 世為縣吏,至彬特好學,工於詞賦。 馬氏之有湖南也,彬將希其用,乃攜所著詣府,求見之禮,必先通名紙。 有掌客吏,眾謂樊知客,好賄,陰使人謂彬曰:「足下之來,非徒然也,實欲顯族致身,而不以一物為貺,其可乎?」 彬恥以賄進,竟不與。 既而樊氏怒,擲名紙於地曰:「豈吏人之子欲幹謁王侯耶!」 彬深恨之,因退而為詩曰:「無錢將乞樊知客,名紙生毛不為通。」 因而落魄街市,歌姬酒徒,無所不狎。 有歌人瑞卿者,慕其才,遂延於家。 瑞卿能歌,每歲武穆王生辰,必歌於筵上。 時湖南自舊管七郡外,又加武陵、嶽陽,是九州,彬作《九州歌》以授瑞卿,至時使歌之,實欲感動武穆。 既而竟不問,彬嘆曰:「天下分裂之際,廝徒負養皆能自奮,我貧而至此耶!」 計無所出,思欲竄入鄰道,但未有所向。 居無何,聞西蜀圖綱將發,彬遂謀入蜀,且私謂瑞卿曰:「吾以幹謁不遂,居於汝家,未嘗有倦色,其可輕棄乎! 然士以功名為不朽,不於此時圖之,恐貽後悔。 今吾他適,庶幾有成,勿以為念。」 瑞卿曰:「君於妾不可謂之無情,然一旦不以妾自滯,割愛而去,得非功名之將至耶! 妾誠異之,家財約數緡,雖不豐,願分為半,以資路途。」 彬亦不讓,因以瑞卿所贈盡賂綱吏,求為駕船仆夫,綱吏許之。 既至蜀,遂獻《獨鯉朝天賦》,蜀主大悅,擢居清要。 其後官至尚書左丞相,出為夔州節度使。 既領夔州,武穆王已薨,其子希範繼立,因致書於希範,敘疇昔入蜀之由,仍以衡山宗族為讬。 希範得書大慚,彬之親友悉免其賦役,下令搜訪草澤,由是士無賢不肖參謁,皆延客之,因彬所致也。 彬雅有風儀,其為文辭近而理真,聞之者雖不知書,亦釋然曉之,竟以此遇。
Ouyang Bin was from Hengshan. His family had served as county clerks for generations, but Bin loved learning and excelled at poetry. When the Ma clan held Hunan, Bin hoped for employment, brought his writings to headquarters, and sought an audience—which required a calling card. The reception officer, known as Guest-Officer Fan, loved bribes; someone secretly told Bin, "You come seeking advancement—can you offer nothing?" Ashamed to buy his way in, Bin refused. Fan flung the card down in anger: "Does a clerk's son think he can solicit princes!" Deeply resentful, Bin wrote: "Without money one begs Guest-Officer Fan; the calling card grows mold and will not pass." He drifted through the streets, consorting with singers and drunkards. The singer Ruiqing, admiring his talent, took him into her home. Ruiqing sang each year at Prince Wumu's birthday banquet. By then Hunan comprised nine prefectures—the seven it had long held, plus Wuling and Yueyang. Bin wrote the 《Song of the Nine Prefectures》 for Ruiqing to perform on the appointed day, hoping in truth to stir Prince Wumu's sympathy. Ma Yin never responded. Bin sighed: "When the empire is torn apart, even servants and hangers-on can lift themselves up—am I so poor that I have sunk to this!" He saw no way forward and thought of slipping into a neighboring circuit, though he did not yet know where to go. Not long after, he learned that a tribute convoy for Western Shu was setting out and decided to go to Shu. He told Ruiqing privately: "My bid for patronage failed, yet I lived in your house without ever showing fatigue—would you abandon me so easily! A gentleman's immortality lies in achievement and renown. If I do not seize this moment, I may regret it forever. I am leaving now. Perhaps I will succeed—do not worry about me." Ruiqing said: "You have not been heartless toward me. Yet now you refuse to let love detain you and go—surely glory is near! I am amazed. Our savings come to only a few strings of cash—not much, but I will give you half for the road." Bin accepted without protest, used everything Ruiqing gave him to bribe the convoy officer, and asked to serve as a boat hand and porter. The officer agreed. On reaching Shu he presented the 《Rhapsody of the Lone Carp Turning toward Heaven》. The Shu ruler was delighted and placed him in an important office. He later became Left Grand Councillor of the Secretariat and was appointed military governor of Kuizhou. By the time he took office in Kuizhou, Prince Wumu was dead and his son Xifan had succeeded. Bin wrote to Xifan, explaining why he had once gone to Shu and asking him to look after his kinsmen at Hengshan. Ashamed after reading the letter, Xifan exempted all of Bin's relatives and friends from taxes and labor service and ordered a search for hidden talent. From then on every scholar who came to court, worthy or not, was welcomed as a guest—all because of Bin. Bin had natural grace. His writing was plain but sound in reasoning, so that even the illiterate understood him at once. He rose to success through that gift.
15
戴偃,金陵人。 能為詩,尤好規諷。 唐末罹亂,遊湘中,值馬氏有國,至文昭王以公子得位,尤好奢侈,起天策府,構九龍、金華等殿,土木之工,斤斧之聲,晝夜不絕。 偃非之,自稱玄黃子,著《漁父詩》百篇以獻,欲譏諷之,故其句有:「才把咽喉吞世界,蓋因奢侈致危亡。」 又曰:「若須拋卻便拋卻,莫待風高更水深。」 文昭覽之怒,一旦謂賓佐曰:「戴偃何如人?」 時賓佐不測,以偃為文昭所重,或對曰:「偃詩人,章句深為流輩所推許,方今在貧悴,大王哀之,置之髯參短簿之間足矣。」 文昭曰:「數日前獻吾詩,想其為人,大抵務以漁鈞自娛爾,宜賜碧湘湖,便以遂其性,亦優賢之道也。」 即日使遷居湖上,乃潛戒公私不得與之往還。 自是偃窮餓日至,無以為計,乃謂妻曰:「與汝結髮,已生一男一女,今度不惟擠於溝壑,亦恐首領不得完全,宜分兒遁去,庶幾可免,不然旦夕死矣。」 於是舉骰子與妻子約曰:「彩多得兒,彩少得女。」 乃攜女,相與慟哭而別。 偃將奔嶺南,至永州,會文昭薨乃止,其後不知所終。 李臯與弟節俱在湖南幕下,節亦有文學。 同光初,馬氏武穆王授湖南諸道都統,詔賜戰馬數百匹,臯為謝表,百餘字後,思意艱澀。 時節在側,臯顧謂之曰:「嘗聞馬有旋風之隊,如何得一事為對?」 節曰:「馬即有旋風隊,軍亦有偃月營,何患耶?」 臯欣然下筆云:「尋當偃月之營,擺作旋風之隊。」 表遂成,論者以此對最為親切。
Dai Yan came from Jinling. He wrote poetry and was especially fond of satirical admonition. When the Tang dynasty collapsed he wandered through the Xiang region, where the Ma clan had founded a kingdom. Prince Wenzhao, a young heir who had taken the throne, loved luxury above all. He established the Heavenly Strategies Office and built halls such as Nine Dragons and Golden Splendor; the ring of axes and hammers from construction never stopped, day or night. Yan disapproved. Calling himself the Master of Dark and Yellow, he wrote a hundred 《Fisherman's Poems》 and presented them as satire. One line ran: "Barely swallowing the world down one's throat—extravagance is what brings ruin." Another read: "If you mean to cast it off, cast it off now—do not wait until the wind rises and the water runs deep." Wenzhao read them and was furious. One day he asked his staff: "What sort of man is Dai Yan?" The staff could not read his mood and assumed Yan was in favor. Someone answered: "Yan is a poet whose verses his peers greatly admire. He is poor and wretched now; if Your Highness would show mercy, a minor post among the clerks would be enough." Wenzhao said: "He sent me poems a few days ago. From the look of him, he mainly wants to fish for his own amusement. Grant him Bixiang Lake and let him have his way—that too is how one honors talent." That same day Yan was moved to the lakeshore. Wenzhao secretly forbade officials and commoners alike from having any contact with him. From then on Yan grew hungrier by the day. At his wit's end he told his wife: "We have been married and have a son and a daughter. I expect we will not only be cast into a ditch, but our heads may not stay on our shoulders. We should split up with the children and flee—perhaps some of us may survive. Otherwise we die any day now." He rolled dice with his wife and agreed: "High roll takes the boy, low roll takes the girl." He took the girl, and they parted in tears. Yan was heading for Lingnan when he reached Yongzhou and learned of Wenzhao's death, so he stopped. After that, no one knows what became of him. Li Gao and his younger brother Jie both served on the Hunan staff, and Jie was also a man of letters. Early in the Tongguang era Prince Wumu of the Ma clan was made overall commander of Hunan's circuits and received several hundred war horses by imperial decree. Gao drafted the letter of thanks, but after a hundred-odd characters his phrasing grew stiff and awkward. Jie was at his side. Gao turned to him and said: "I have heard of horses arrayed in whirlwind squadrons—what phrase can I pair with that?" Jie said: "If horses have whirlwind squadrons, armies have crescent-moon camps—what is the problem?" Gao wrote with pleasure: "Soon the crescent-moon camp will be drawn up and deployed as whirlwind squadrons." The memorial was complete, and critics judged this couplet the most apt of all.
16
僧洪道,不知何許人。 通內外學,道行尤高,大為時人所重。 天福中,居於衡州石羊鎮山谷中。 馬氏文昭王之嗣位也,聞其名,召於府,使於報慈寺住持。 洪不應命,文昭堅欲致之,督責州縣,憂懼,計無所出,率五七十人拱擁入州。 洪道知之,乃引徒弟數輩轉徙入深山中,得一巖,遂且止息。 然離舊居抵於山巖下,則眾鳥千萬和鳴而隨之,州縣雖失其蹤,或有相謂曰:「且深山之中,眾鳥何故而鳴,又聲韻優逸,得非和尚在彼耶?」 試尋,果得之於巖所。 父老再拜曰:「和尚佛之徒也,佛不遺眾生願,大王崇重,要與和尚相見,輒不應召,竄入山林,於是和尚即得計矣,而州縣與鄉村得無勞擾,而和尚忍不為之開慈憫耶!」 洪道於是始點頭曰:「如此則吾為汝行矣。」 及至府,文昭以國師待之。 未幾,堅乞歸山,文昭知不可留,乃許焉。 其後竟不知所終。 初,洪道之入巖也,見一虎在穴乳二子,徒弟大駭,洪道叱曰:「無懼,彼當移去。」 言訖,虎銜二子趨出穴,至行之所感也如此。
The monk Hongdao was a man of unknown origin. He mastered both secular and Buddhist learning, his conduct was exceptionally lofty, and he was greatly respected. During the Tianfu era he lived in the mountain valleys of Shiyang Town in Hengzhou. When Prince Wenzhao of the Ma clan succeeded to the throne, he heard of Hongdao's fame, summoned him to court, and wanted him to serve as abbot of Baoci Temple. Hong refused the summons. Wenzhao insisted on bringing him in and pressed the local officials. Anxious and at a loss, the elders led fifty or seventy men and escorted him into the prefectural city. When Hongdao learned of this, he took several disciples and moved deeper into the mountains, found a cave, and stopped there for the time being. From the time he left his old dwelling until he reached the cliff, countless birds sang in harmony and followed him. Though the officials lost his trail, some said to one another: "In the deep mountains, why are so many birds singing so beautifully—could the master be there?" They searched and indeed found him at the cave. The elders bowed twice and said: "Master, you are a follower of the Buddha, and the Buddha does not abandon the wishes of the living. The king honors you and wishes to see you, yet you refuse the summons and flee into the mountains. You may get your way—but will the officials and villages not be harassed without end? Can you not show them compassion!" Hongdao nodded at last and said: "If that is how it is, then I will go for your sake." When he arrived at court, Wenzhao received him as National Preceptor. Before long he begged earnestly to return to the mountains. Wenzhao knew he could not be kept and consented. After that, no one knows what became of him. When Hongdao first entered the cave he saw a tigress nursing two cubs there. His disciples were terrified. Hongdao rebuked them: "Do not be afraid—they will leave." As soon as he finished speaking, the tiger took the two cubs in its mouth and hurried from the cave. Such was the power of his conduct.
17
馬希範卒,判官李臯以希範同母弟希廣為天策府都尉,撫禦尤非所長,大校張少敵憂之,建議請立希廣庶兄武陵帥希萼,且曰:「希萼處長負氣,觀其所為,必不為都尉之下,加之在武陵,九溪蠻通好,往來甚歡,若不得立,必引蠻軍為亂,幸為思之。」 李臯忽怒曰:「汝輩何知? 且先大王為都尉,俱為嫡嗣,不立之,卻用老婢兒可乎?」 少敵曰:「國家之事,不可拘以一途,變而能通,所以國長久也。 何嫡庶之雲乎? 若明公必立都尉,當妙設方略以制武陵,使帖然不動乃可,不然則社稷去矣!」 臯愈怒,竟不從少敵之謀。 少敵度無可奈何,遂辭不出。 未幾,希萼果以武陵反,引洞溪蠻數路齊進,遂之長沙,縊希廣於郊外,而支解李臯,自是湖南大亂,未逾年而國滅,一如少敵之言。
When Ma Xifan died, the administrator Li Gao made Xifan's younger uterine brother Xiguang Grand Marshal of the Heavenly Strategies Office, though governing was far from his strength. Senior commander Zhang Shaodi was alarmed and urged that Xiguang's elder half-brother Xie, military commissioner at Wuling, be enthroned instead. He said: "Xie is the elder and proud. He will never serve under the Grand Marshal. At Wuling he is on close terms with the Jiuxi tribes. If he is passed over, he will surely bring barbarian armies to revolt. Please think this through." Li Gao burst out angrily: "What do you people know? The late king was also Grand Marshal, and both were sons of the principal wife. Is it acceptable not to install him and instead put a son of an old maidservant on the throne?" Shaodi said: "State affairs cannot be tied to a single rule. Adaptation is what keeps a kingdom alive. What talk of legitimate versus illegitimate birth? If you insist on enthroning the Grand Marshal, you must devise a shrewd plan to control Wuling and keep him quiet. Otherwise the kingdom is lost!" Gao grew even angrier and refused Shaodi's advice. Shaodi saw there was nothing to be done and withdrew from public life. Before long Xie rebelled from Wuling, leading Dongxi tribesmen in several columns against Changsha. He strangled Xiguang outside the city and had Li Gao torn limb from limb. Hunan plunged into chaos, and within a year the kingdom was destroyed—exactly as Shaodi had warned.
18
初希萼之來也,希廣以全軍付親校許可瓊,使遂擊之。 可瓊睹希萼眾盛,恐懼,夜送旗鼓乞降,希萼大喜,於是兼可瓊之眾長驅而至。 希廣素奉佛,聞之,計無所出。 乃被緇衣引群僧念『寶勝如來』,謂之禳災。 頃之,府廨火起,人忽紛擾,猶念誦之聲未輟,其戇如此。 少敵憂之,良有以也。 先是,城中街道尚種槐,其柳即無十一二,至是內外一變皆種柳,無復槐矣。 又居人夜間好織草鞋,似槌芒之聲,聞於郊野,俄有童謠云:「湖南城郭好長街,竟栽柳樹不栽槐。 百姓奔竄無一事,只是槌芒織草鞋。」 人無長少,皆誦之。 未幾國亂,百姓奔竄,死於溝壑者十有八九,至是,議者始悟。 蓋長街者,通內外之路也; 槐者,皆言懷也; 不裁槐,蓋兄弟不睦,以至國亡,失孔懷之義也。 草鞋者,遠行所用,蓋百姓遠行奔竄之象也。 馬希萼既立,不治國事,數與僚吏縱酒為樂。 有小吏謝廷擇者,本帳下廝養,有容貌,希萼素寵嬖之,每筵會,皆命廷擇預坐,諸官甚有在下者。 於是眾怒,往往偶語曰:「此輩舊制有燕會,唯用兵守門,以防他虞,今與我等齊列,何辱之甚耶?」 其弟希崇因眾怒咄咄,與其黨竊發,擒希萼囚之於衡陽,又自立。 未數日,江南遣袁州刺史邊鎬乘其亂領兵來伐,希崇度不能敵,遂降。
When Xie first marched on Changsha, Xiguang gave the entire army to his trusted officer Xu Keqiong and ordered him to strike immediately. Keqiong saw how large Xie's army was, panicked, and by night sent flags and drums to surrender. Xie was delighted and, adding Keqiong's troops to his own, marched straight on. Xiguang had always been devoted to Buddhism. On hearing the news he could think of nothing to do. He put on monastic robes, gathered monks, and had them chant the name of Treasure-Victory Tathagata, calling it a rite to avert disaster. Before long fire broke out in the government offices and people panicked, yet the chanting never stopped. Such was his folly. Shaodi had had good reason to worry. Earlier the city streets had been lined mostly with locust trees; willows were scarce. Now inside and outside the city alike had switched to willows, and the locusts were gone. Residents also took to weaving straw sandals at night, and the sound of beating hemp carried into the countryside. Soon a children's rhyme spread: "Hunan's streets run long and fine—all plant willows, none plant locust. The people flee in panic with nothing to do but beat hemp and weave straw sandals." Everyone, young and old, chanted it. Before long the kingdom collapsed. The people fled, and eight or nine out of ten died in ditches and gullies. Only then did those who had heard the rhyme understand. The long avenues signified the roads linking the inner and outer city; locust trees stood for cherishing one another; not planting locust trees foretold discord among brothers, the fall of the kingdom, and the loss of true brotherly love. Straw sandals were for long journeys—a sign that the people would flee far from home. Once enthroned, Ma Xie neglected government and often drank and made merry with his officials. A minor clerk named Xie Tingze had been a household servant. Handsome and favored by Xie, he was seated at every banquet while many senior officials sat below him. The officials were furious and whispered among themselves: "By old custom servants only guarded the gates at banquets. Now they sit with us—what an outrage!" His younger brother Xichong, exploiting the general anger, rose secretly with his faction, seized Xie, imprisoned him at Hengyang, and declared himself ruler. Within days Jiangnan sent Yuanzhou prefect Bian Hao to invade while the kingdom was in turmoil. Xichong knew he could not resist and surrendered.
19
先是,長沙重謠云:「鞭打焉,走不暇。」 未幾,果為邊鎬所滅。 初,鎬嘗為僧,以覘湖南,尤善弄鈸,每侵晨必弄鈸行乞,遇城往往擲起鈸以度門之高下。 及來湖南,士庶頗有識之者。 廖氏虔州贛縣人。 有子三人:伯曰圖,仲曰偃,季曰凝。 圖、凝皆有詩名,偃趨蹻勇絕倫,由是豪橫,遂為鄉里所憚。 江南命功臣鐘章為虔州刺史,深嫉之,於是圖與凝等議曰:「觀章所為,但欲滅吾族矣,若戀土不去,禍且及矣。」 於是領其族暨部等三千餘人,具鎧仗號令而後行,章不敢逐,遂奔湖南。
Earlier a solemn rhyme in Changsha ran: "The lash strikes—no time to flee." Before long the kingdom was indeed destroyed by Bian Hao. Bian had once served as a monk spy in Hunan and was especially skilled at playing cymbals. Every dawn he played cymbals while begging, and at city gates he would toss them up to measure how high the gates were. When he returned to Hunan, many people recognized him. The Liao family came from Gan County in Qianzhou. They had three sons: the eldest, Tu; the second, Yan; the youngest, Ning. Tu and Ning were both known as poets. Yan was swift and fearless beyond compare, grew domineering, and came to be feared throughout the countryside. Jiangnan appointed the meritorious official Zhong Zhang as prefect of Qianzhou, and he hated them deeply. Tu and Ning discussed the matter: "From Zhang's conduct, he means to destroy our clan. If we cling to our land, disaster will follow." They then led more than three thousand clansmen and followers, fully armed and in good order. Zhang did not dare pursue them, and they fled to Hunan.
20
時武穆王在位,見其眾盛,恐難制,欲盡誅之。 或者曰:「大王姓馬,而廖來歸,廖者料也。 馬得料其勢必肥,實國家大興之兆,其可殺之乎!」 武穆喜,遂善待。 仍制下以凝為永州刺史,圖為行軍司馬,偃為天策府列校,仍賜莊宅於衡山,自稱逸人。 偃能於馬上挺身而立,取濕衣振奮而服之,以示輕捷。 荊南高季興次子,忘其名,管親軍雲猛都,謂之雲猛郎君。 聞偃名,因兩境交兵,請與偃鬥。 偃欣然而往,雲猛能用槍,見偃瘦小,心輕之,馳騎而刺偃,垂及之,偃佯落馬,雲猛勢未及止,偃自後奮戈一擊墮地,因生擒之。 自是其名愈振。 故武穆王終世不為鄰境所輕者,偃之力焉。 至其子希範嗣位,九溪蠻叛,命偃率兵討之,為流矢所傷,死於蠻中。 兇訃至,希範使人報其母張氏。 張氏不哭,謂其使曰:「為妾謝大王,舉家三百餘口,受王分食解衣之賜,雖盡死未足以上報,況一子乎! 望大王勿以為念。」 希範聞而嘆曰:「廖氏有此母,欲不興其可得乎!」 於是厚加存恤,仍遣使召凝,任為從事。 至希範薨,國亂,為江南所滅,遂遷金陵。 唐主授以水部員外郎。 為洪州連昌縣令。 未幾,又遷江州團練使。 凝為人不羈,好詼諧,嘗覽裴說《經杜工部墓詩》曰:「擬鑿孤墳破,重教大雅生。」 因曰:「如此,裴說乃劫墳賊耳。」 聞者笑之。 在江川,盛暑,嘗患體燥,乃以一大桶盛冷水,坐於其間,或至終日。 雖賓友謁見,出露其首與之談笑,其簡率如此。 先是,凝嘗夢人以印授之,拜捧之際,其印缺其一角,凝不能測。 及授江州之命,始悟曰:「印缺一角,蓋偏裨之象也。 團練副使,不亦宜乎!」 時人異之。)〉
Prince Wumu was then on the throne. Seeing how large their force was, he feared they would be hard to control and wanted to kill them all. Someone said: "Your surname is Ma, and the Liao have come to submit. Liao sounds like fodder. A horse given fodder is sure to grow strong—it is a great omen of the kingdom's rise. How can you kill them!" Prince Wumu was delighted and treated them generously. He appointed Ning prefect of Yongzhou, Tu army march commander, and Yan a column commander of the Heavenly Strategies Office, and granted them estates at Hengshan. Yan styled himself a recluse. Yan could stand upright on horseback, shake out a wet coat, and put it on to show his agility. The second son of Gao Jixing of Jingnan—his name is forgotten—commanded the personal army unit Yunmeng and was known as Young Master Yunmeng. He had heard of Yan's reputation, and when the two states clashed he asked for a duel with him. Yan went gladly. Young Master Yunmeng was skilled with the spear. Seeing Yan small and slight, he despised him, spurred forward, and thrust at him. Just as the point was about to reach him, Yan feigned a fall from his horse. Yunmeng could not check his charge; Yan struck from behind with a halberd, knocked him to the ground, and took him alive. From then on his fame grew even greater. It was thanks to Yan that Prince Wumu was never looked down upon by neighboring states throughout his reign. When his son Xifan succeeded, the Jiuxi tribes rebelled. Xifan ordered Yan to lead troops against them. Yan was struck by a stray arrow and died in the barbarian lands. When news of his death in battle arrived, Xifan sent a messenger to inform his mother, Lady Zhang. Lady Zhang did not weep. She told the messenger: "Please thank the king for me. Our family of more than three hundred souls has received his bounty of food and clothing. Even if we all died we could not repay him—what is one son! I hope Your Majesty will not trouble yourself on our account. When Xifan heard this, he sighed and said, "With a mother like this in the Liao clan, how could they fail to prosper!" He then showered them with generous care and relief, sent envoys to summon Ning, and appointed him a staff officer. When Xifan died, the kingdom collapsed into chaos and was overrun by Jiangnan, and Ning relocated to Jinling. The Tang ruler appointed him Vice Director of the Ministry of Works. He served as magistrate of Lianchang County in Hongzhou. Before long he was transferred again, becoming military training commissioner of Jiangzhou. Ning was free-spirited and loved banter. Once, reading Pei Shuo's 《Poem on Passing Du Gongbu's Tomb》, he came to the line: "I mean to break open that lonely tomb and bring great poetry back to life. He remarked, "By that logic, Pei Shuo is nothing but a tomb robber." Those who heard laughed. While in Jiangzhou, during a sweltering summer, he once suffered from the heat and had a great tub filled with cold water; he would sit in it, sometimes for an entire day. Even when guests came to visit, he would merely poke his head out to chat and laugh with them—so unconventional was he. Earlier Ning had dreamed that someone handed him a seal; as he bowed to receive it, he noticed one corner was chipped away, and he could not discern what it meant. When the Jiangzhou appointment arrived, he at last understood. "The chipped corner on the seal," he said, "must symbolize a deputy command. Deputy military training commissioner—what could be more apt! People of the time found it remarkable. )〉
21
劉言,本朗州之牙將也。 初,馬氏舉族為江南所俘,朗州無帥,眾乃推列校馬光惠為武平軍留後,光惠署言為副使。 既而光惠耽荒僭侈,軍情不附,遂行廢黜,以言代光惠為留後。 時周廣順二年秋也。 言既立,北則遣使奉表於周太祖,東亦上章於江南李景,求正授旄鉞,景未之許。 時邊鎬據湖南,潛遣人賫金帛說誘武陵谿洞諸蠻,欲合勢以攻朗州。 會李景降偽詔,征言赴金陵,言懼,不從偽命,以其年冬十月三日,與其節度副使王進逵、行軍司馬何敬真、都指揮使周行逢等同領舟師以襲潭州。 九日,攻拔益陽寨,殺淮軍數千人。 十三日,至潭州城下。 是夕,邊鎬領其部眾棄城東走,進逵、敬真遂入據其城。 言乃遣牙將張崇嗣奉表於周太祖,且言潭州兵戈之後,焚燒殆盡,乞移使府於朗州,從之。 詔升朗州為大都督府,在潭州之上。
Liu Yan had originally been a garrison officer in Langzhou. When the entire Ma clan was captured by Jiangnan and Langzhou was left without a commander, the troops promoted the officer Ma Guanghui to acting military governor of the Wuping Army, and Guanghui appointed Yan his deputy. Before long Guanghui sank into idleness and extravagance, the army lost faith in him, and he was deposed; Yan replaced him as acting governor. This was autumn of the second year of Guangshun under the Zhou. Once Yan had taken power, he sent envoys north to submit a memorial to Emperor Taizu of Zhou and east to petition Li Jing of Jiangnan for formal investiture with full military authority; Jing refused. Bian Hao held Hunan and secretly sent men with gold and silk to win over the stream-cave tribes of Wuling, hoping to combine forces and attack Langzhou. When Li Jing issued a forged edict summoning Yan to Jinling, Yan feared the trap and refused. On the third day of the tenth month that winter, he joined his deputy commissioner Wang Jinkui, chief of staff He Jingzhen, and commander-in-chief Zhou Xingfeng in leading a fleet against Tanzhou. On the ninth they captured the Yiyang stockade and killed several thousand Huai troops. On the thirteenth they reached the walls of Tanzhou. That evening Bian Hao abandoned the city and fled east with his troops; Jinkui and Jingzhen entered and took possession of it. Yan dispatched the officer Zhang Congsi to submit a memorial to Emperor Taizu of Zhou, explaining that Tanzhou had been nearly burned to ashes in the fighting and begging to move the headquarters to Langzhou; the request was granted. An edict promoted Langzhou to a grand protectorate, ranking above Tanzhou.
22
廣順三年春正月,制以言為檢校太師、同平章事、朗州大都督,充武平軍節度使,制置武安、靜江等軍事; 又以王進逵為武安軍節度使,何敬真為靜江軍節度使,並檢校太尉; 以周行逢領集州刺史,充武安軍節度行軍司馬。 未幾,言遣何敬真帥軍南擊廣賊,敬真失律,奔歸潭州,為王進逵所殺。 其年秋,進逵奏:「劉言與淮賊通連,差指揮使鄭交部領兵士,欲並當道,鄭交為軍眾所執,奔入武陵,劉言尋為諸軍所廢,臣已至朗州安撫訖。」 周太祖詔劉言宜勒歸私第,委王進逵取便安置。 言尋遇害,朝廷乃正授進逵朗州節制。
In the first month of spring in the third year of Guangshun, Yan was appointed Honorary Grand Preceptor, Co-Governor, Grand Protector of Langzhou, Military Governor of the Wuping Army, with authority over military affairs in Wu'an, Jingjiang, and related commands; Wang Jinkui was made military governor of the Wu'an Army and He Jingzhen military governor of the Jingjiang Army, both with the honorary title Grand Guardian; Zhou Xingfeng was made prefect of Jizhou and chief of staff of the Wu'an military command. Before long Yan sent He Jingzhen south to attack Guang bandits; Jingzhen lost control of his troops, fled back to Tanzhou, and was killed by Wang Jinkui. That autumn Jinkui memorialized: "Liu Yan has been in contact with the Huai bandits. He dispatched Commander Zheng Jiao with troops intending to seize control of our route. Zheng Jiao was seized by the soldiers and fled into Wuling. Liu Yan was soon deposed by the armies. I have already reached Langzhou and restored order. Emperor Taizu of Zhou ordered Liu Yan to retire to his private residence and entrusted Wang Jinkui to settle him as he saw fit. Before long Yan was murdered, and the court formally invested Jinkui with control of Langzhou.
23
顯德元年秋,制以武安軍節度副使周行逢為鄂州節度使,權知潭州軍府事,加檢校太尉。 三年春正月,世宗將伐淮甸,詔進逵率兵入江南界。 二月,進逵準詔而行,仍遣部將潘叔嗣領兵五千為先鋒。 行及鄂州界,叔嗣回戈以襲朗州。 進逵聞之,倍道先入武陵,叔嗣遽攻其城,進逵敗,為叔嗣所殺。 遣人詣潭州請周行逢至朗州,斬叔嗣於市。 其年秋七月,制以行逢為朗州大都督,充武平軍節度使,加兼侍中。 自是潭、朗之地,遂為行逢所有。 皇朝建隆初,就加中書令。 四年,行逢卒,三軍立其子保權為帥。 未幾,朗軍亂,求救於朝廷。 及王師平定荊、湖,保權入朝,由是湖湘之地盡為王土矣。
In autumn of the first year of Xiande, Zhou Xingfeng, deputy military governor of the Wu'an Army, was made military governor of Ezhou, provisional administrator of Tanzhou headquarters, and granted the honorary title Grand Guardian. In the first month of spring in the third year, as Emperor Shizong prepared to campaign against the Huai region, Jinkui was ordered to lead troops into Jiangnan territory. In the second month Jinkui set out as ordered and dispatched his officer Pan Shusi with five thousand men as vanguard. When they reached the border of Ezhou, Shusi turned his troops about and struck Langzhou. On hearing this Jinkui raced ahead by forced marches into Wuling, but Shusi promptly assaulted the city. Jinkui was defeated and killed by Shusi. He sent someone to Tanzhou to summon Zhou Xingfeng to Langzhou and had Shusi executed in the market. In the seventh month that autumn Xingfeng was appointed Grand Protector of Langzhou and Military Governor of the Wuping Army, with the additional title of Palace Attendant. From then on the lands of Tan and Lang came entirely under Xingfeng's control. At the beginning of Jianlong under the Imperial Song he was further given the title of Director of the Secretariat. In the fourth year Xingfeng died, and the three armies installed his son Baoquan as commander. Before long the Lang army mutinied and begged the court for aid. When the imperial army pacified Jing and Hu, Baoquan presented himself at court, and the lands of Hunan and Hubei became entirely territory of the throne.
24
錢镠,杭州臨安縣人。 少拳勇,喜任俠,以解仇報怨為事。 唐乾符中,事於潛鎮將董昌為部校。 屬天下喪亂,黃巢寇嶺表,江、淮之盜賊群聚,大者攻州郡,小者剽閭裏,董昌聚眾,恣橫於杭、越之間,杭州八縣,每縣召募千人為一都,時謂之「杭州八都」,以遏黃巢之沖要。 時有劉漢宏者,聚徒據越州,自稱節度使,攻收鄰郡; 潤州牙將薛朗逐其節度使周寶,自稱留後。 唐僖宗在蜀,詔董昌討伐,昌以軍政委镠,率八都之士進攻越州,誅漢宏,回戈攻潤州,擒薛朗。 江、浙平,董昌為浙東節度使、越州刺史,表镠代己為杭州刺史。
Qian Liu came from Lin'an County in Hangzhou. In youth he was bold in combat, delighted in chivalry, and made settling scores his business. During the Tang Qianfu era he served the Yuqian garrison commander Dong Chang as a company officer. As the realm fell into chaos, Huang Chao raided the south; bandits along the Yangzi and Huai gathered in groups—large bands attacking prefectures and counties, small ones plundering villages. Dong Chang gathered troops and rampaged between Hang and Yue. In Hangzhou's eight counties, each county recruited a thousand men as one company; the time called them the "Eight Companies of Hangzhou," to block Huang Chao's vital route. At the time one Liu Hanhong gathered followers, seized Yuezhou, styled himself military governor, and attacked neighboring prefectures; the garrison officer Xue Lang of Runzhou drove out its military governor Zhou Bao and styled himself acting governor. Emperor Xizong of Tang was in Shu and ordered Dong Chang to campaign against them; Chang entrusted military affairs to Liu, led the Eight Companies against Yuezhou, executed Hanhong, turned his blades on Runzhou, and captured Xue Lang. When Jiang and Zhe were pacified, Dong Chang became military governor of Zhedong and prefect of Yuezhou, and memorialized that Liu replace him as prefect of Hangzhou.
25
唐景福中,朝廷以李钅延為浙江西道鎮海軍節度使。 時孫儒、楊行密交亂,淮海煙塵數千里,镠常率師以為防捍,孫儒據宣州,不敢侵江、浙,由是镠勛名日著。 久之,李钅延終不至治所,朝廷以镠為鎮海軍節度,仍移潤州軍額於杭州為治所,又立威勝軍於越州,董昌為節度使。 昌漸驕貴,自言身應符讖,又為妖人王百藝所誑,僭稱尊號,乃於越州自稱羅平國王,年號大聖,偽命镠為兩浙都將。 镠不受命,以狀聞,唐昭宗命镠討昌。 乾寧四年,镠率浙西將士破越州,擒昌以獻,朝廷嘉其功,賜镠鐵券,又除宰臣王溥為威勝軍節度使。 而兩浙士庶拜章,請以镠兼杭、越二鎮,朝廷不能制,因而授之,改威勝軍為鎮東,镠乃兼鎮海、鎮東兩藩節制。 镠既兼兩鎮,精兵三萬,而楊行密連歲興戎,攻蘇、湖、潤等州,欲兼並兩浙,累為镠所敗,亦為行密侵盜數州,而镠所部止一十三州而已。 天復中,镠大將許再思、徐綰叛,引宣州節度使田頵謀襲杭州。 田頵等率師掩至城下,镠激厲軍士,一戰敗之,生擒徐綰,田頵遁走。
During the Tang Jingfu era the court appointed Li Qian military governor of the Zhenhai Army in Zhejiang West Circuit. Sun Ru and Yang Xingmi were locked in mutual turmoil, and battle smoke covered the Huai and sea region for thousands of li. Liu often led troops in defense; Sun Ru held Xuanzhou and dared not invade Jiang and Zhe, and Liu's fame for merit grew daily. After a long time Li Qian never reached his headquarters; the court appointed Liu military governor of the Zhenhai Army, moved the Runzhou military designation to Hangzhou as headquarters, and established the Weisheng Army at Yuezhou with Dong Chang as military governor. Chang gradually grew proud and exalted; he claimed his person matched prophetic signs and was further deceived by the sorcerer Wang Baiyi into usurping a royal title. At Yuezhou he styled himself King of the Luoping State, with the era name Dasheng, and falsely ordered Liu to be commander-in-chief of the Two Zhes. Liu refused the order, reported the situation, and Emperor Zhaozong of Tang ordered Liu to campaign against Chang. In the fourth year of Qianning Liu led the officers and soldiers of western Zhe to break Yuezhou, captured Chang and presented him to the court; the court praised his merit, granted Liu an iron certificate, and appointed the chief minister Wang Pu military governor of the Weisheng Army. The gentry and commoners of the Two Zhes submitted memorials asking that Liu hold both Hang and Yue commands; the court could not restrain them and therefore granted it, changed the Weisheng Army to Zhendong, and Liu then held command over both the Zhenhai and Zhendong circuits. Once Liu held both commands he had thirty thousand elite troops; yet Yang Xingmi raised arms year after year, attacking Suzhou, Huzhou, Runzhou, and other prefectures, wishing to annex the Two Zhes. He was repeatedly defeated by Liu, but also seized several prefectures from Liu—Liu's domain amounted to only thirteen prefectures. In the Tianfu era Liu's great generals Xu Zaisi and Xu Wan rebelled, bringing in Tian Yun, military governor of Xuanzhou, to plot a raid on Hangzhou. Tian Yun and others led troops in a surprise attack to the foot of the walls; Liu roused his soldiers, defeated them in one battle, captured Xu Wan alive, and Tian Yun fled.
26
镠於臨安故裏興造第舍,窮極壯麗,歲時遊於里中,車徒雄盛,萬夫羅列。 其父寬每聞镠至,走竄避之,镠即徒步訪寬,請言其故。 寬曰:「吾家世田漁為事,未嘗有貴達如此,爾今為十三州主,三面受敵,與人爭利,恐禍及吾家,所以不忍見汝。」 镠泣謝之。
Liu built mansions in his old home district of Lin'an, extravagantly magnificent; at the seasons he toured the village with a grand procession of chariots and attendants, ten thousand men arrayed in ranks. His father Kuan, whenever he heard Liu was coming, would flee and hide; Liu then went on foot to visit Kuan and asked the reason. Kuan said, "Our family for generations has made its living by farming and fishing; never has anyone risen to such eminence. You are now master of thirteen prefectures, beset on three sides, contending with others for profit—I fear calamity will reach our house, and so I cannot bear to see you. Liu wept and apologized.
27
镠於唐昭宗朝,位至太師、中書令、本郡王,食邑二萬戶。 梁祖革命,以镠為尚父、吳越國王。 梁末帝時,加諸道兵馬元帥。 同光中,為天下兵馬都元帥、尚父、守尚書令,封吳越國王,賜玉冊、金印。 初,莊宗至洛陽,镠厚陳貢奉,求為國王,及玉冊詔下,有司詳議,群臣咸言:「玉簡金字,惟至尊一人,錢镠人臣,不可。 又本朝己來,除四夷遠藩,羈縻冊拜,或有國王之號,而九州之內亦無此事。」 郭崇韜尤不容其僭,而樞密承旨段徊,奸幸用事,能移崇韜之意,曲為镠陳情,崇韜黽勉從之。 镠乃以鎮海、鎮東軍節度使名目授其子元瓘,自稱吳越國王,命所居曰宮殿,府署曰朝廷,其參佐稱臣,僭大朝百僚之號,但不改年號而已。 偽行制冊,加封爵於新羅、渤海,海中夷落亦皆遣使行封冊焉。
Under Emperor Zhaozong of Tang Liu rose to Grand Preceptor, Director of the Secretariat, and Prince of his home commandery, with a fief of twenty thousand households. When the Liang founder changed the dynasty, Liu was made Sire Father and King of Wuyue. Under the Last Emperor of Liang he was further given the title Marshal of All Armies of the Circuits. In the Tongguang era he became Grand Marshal of All Armies Under Heaven, Sire Father, and Acting Director of the Secretariat; he was enfeoffed as King of Wuyue and granted a jade register and gold seal. When Emperor Zhuangzong reached Luoyang, Liu lavishly presented tribute and sought to be made king. When the jade-register edict was issued, the responsible offices deliberated in detail, and the ministers all said, "The golden characters on the jade slips belong to the supreme sovereign alone; Qian Liu is a subject—this cannot be. Moreover, since this dynasty began, apart from distant tribes and far frontiers where investiture was granted in the manner of loose control, there might be the title of king—but within the Nine Provinces there has never been such a thing. Guo Chongtao especially would not tolerate the usurpation, but Duan Huai, chief drafter of the Bureau of Military Affairs, a favorite who held power, was able to shift Chongtao's mind and plead Liu's case at length; Chongtao reluctantly assented. Liu then granted the titles of Military Governor of the Zhenhai and Zhendong Armies to his son Yuan Guan, styled himself King of Wuyue, called his residence a palace and his headquarters a court, had his aides address him as minister, and usurped the titles of the great court's officials—only he did not change the era name. He falsely issued edicts of investiture, granting titles to Silla and Bohai, and also sent envoys to perform investiture among the tribal settlements of the sea.
28
竊念臣父天下兵馬都元帥、吳越國王臣镠,爰自乾符之歲,便立功勞; 至於天復之初,已封茅土。 兩殄稽山之僭偽,頻叨鳳詔之褒崇,賜鐵券而礪嶽帶河,藏清廟而銘鐘鏤鼎。 歷事列聖,竭誠累朝,罄臣節以無虧,荷君恩而益重。 楚茅吳柚,常居群後之先; 赤豹黃羆,不在諸方之後。 雲臺寫像,盟府書勛,戮力本朝,一心體國。 常戒臣兄弟曰:「汝等諸子,須記斯言:老父起自諸都,早平多難,素推忠勇,實效辛勤,遂蒙聖主之疇庸,獲忝真主之列壤,恒積滿盈之懼,豫懷燕翼之憂。 蓋以恩禮殊尤,寵榮亢極,名品既逾於五等,春秋將及於八旬,不諱之談,爾當靜聽。 而況手殲妖亂,親睹興亡,豈宜自為厲階,更尋覆轍。 老身猶健,且作國王之呼; 嗣子承家,但守藩臣之分。」 臣等鯉庭灑袂,雁序書紳,中心藏之,敬聞命矣。
I respectfully reflect that my father, Grand Marshal of All Armies Under Heaven and King of Wuyue, subject Liu, from the year of Qianfu onward established merit and toil; by the beginning of Tianfu he had already received a fief. Twice he extinguished the usurpation at Mount Ji, repeatedly received the phoenix edicts of praise and elevation, was granted an iron certificate binding his merit as enduring as mountains and rivers, and had his honors stored in the Clear Temple and inscribed on bells and cauldrons. Serving successive sovereigns through many reigns, he exhausted his loyalty without failing in duty, and bore the emperor's grace ever more heavily. With Chu hemp and Wu citrus, he always stood ahead among the vassals; with red leopards and yellow bears, he was not behind the other regions. His portrait was painted at the Cloud Platform, his merit recorded in the League Office; he exerted his strength for the dynasty and devoted his heart to the state. He often admonished us brothers, saying, "You sons must remember these words: your old father rose from the various companies, early pacified many troubles, was always praised for loyalty and courage, and truly rendered hard service; thus he received the sage sovereign's selection for merit and was honored with a fief from the true lord. I constantly harbor fear of fullness and overflow, and forebode the worry of sheltering posterity. Because favor and ritual were exceptionally great and glory reached its height, rank and title already exceeded the five grades, and my years approach eighty, this unreserved talk—you must listen quietly. Moreover, having with my own hands destroyed demonic rebellion and witnessed rise and fall with my own eyes, how could I make myself a source of disaster and again follow a path to ruin? This old body is still hale; let me for now accept the title of king; the heir who inherits the house should only keep to the station of a frontier vassal. We brothers, with tears in the carp courtyard and the geese order written on our sashes, hid it in our hearts and respectfully received the command.
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頃以濟陰歸邸,梁苑稱尊,所在英雄,遞相仿斅,互起投龜之詬,皆興逐鹿之謀。 惟臣父王,未嘗隨例。 從微至著,悉蒙天子之絲綸; 啟土封王,自守諸侯之土宇。 乙酉歲,伏蒙莊宗皇帝遙降玉冊、金印,恩加曲阜營丘,顯自大朝,來封小國,遂有強名之改補,實無幹紀之包藏。 兼使人徐筠等進貢之時,禮儀有失,尚蒙赦宥,未置典刑,敢不投杖責躬,負荊請罪。 且爽為臣之禮,誠乖事上之儀,夙夜包羞,寢食俱廢,捧詔而神魂戰栗,拜章而芒刺交並。
Recently, when the lord returned to his seat at Jiyin and claimed supremacy in the Liang garden, heroes everywhere imitated one another in turn, each raising the reproach of casting the tortoise, all stirring schemes to contend for the realm. Only my father the king never followed the example. From obscurity to eminence, he wholly received the Son of Heaven's silk edicts; opening land and receiving enfeoffment as king, he kept to a vassal's territory. In the yiyou year we respectfully received from afar Emperor Zhuangzong's descent of the jade register and gold seal, grace added like Qufu and Yingqiu, clearly from the great court coming to enfeoff our small state; there was thus a change and supplement of a strong title, but in truth no harboring of rebellion against the statutes. Moreover, when our envoy Xu Yun and others presented tribute, there were lapses in ritual; we still received pardon and were not subjected to statutory punishment—how could we not cast aside our staffs to blame ourselves and come bearing thorns to beg forgiveness? Moreover, having failed in the rites of a subject and truly departed from the protocol of serving superiors, day and night we are wrapped in shame, sleep and food both abandoned; receiving the edict our spirits tremble, submitting memorials thorns pierce us on every side.
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伏以皇帝陛下,浚哲文思,含宏光大,智周萬物,日辟四方,既容能改之非,許降自新之恕,將功補過,舍短從長,矧茲近代相持,豈足深機遠料。 且臣本道,與淮南雖連疆畛,久結仇讎,交惡尋盟,十翻九覆,縱敵已逾於三紀,弭兵才僅於數年,諒非唇齒之邦,真謂腹心之疾。 今奉詔書責問,合陳本末端由,布在眾多,寧煩覼縷,彼既人而無禮,此亦和而不同。 近知侵軼荊門,乖張事大,儻王師之問罪,願率眾以齊攻,必致先登,庶觀後效。 橫秋雕鶚,只待指呼; 躍匣蛟龍,誓平讎隙。 今則訓齊樓櫓,淬礪戈鋋,決副天威,冀明臣節。 伏以臣父王镠,已於泛海,繼有飛章。 陳父子之丹誠,高懸皎日; 展君臣之大義,上指圓穹。 其將修貢賦於梯航,混車書而表率,如虧奉職,自有陰誅。 今春已具表章,未蒙便賜俞允,地遠而經年方達,天高而瀝懇難通。 伏乞聖慈,曲行明命。 淩霜益翠,始知松柏之心; 異日成功,方顯忠貞之節。 臣元瓘等無任感激祈恩戰懼依投之至。 謹遣急腳,間道奉絹表陳乞奏謝以聞。 明宗嘉之,乃降制復授镠天下兵馬都元帥、尚父、吳越國王。 未幾,又詔賜上表不名。 〈(《五代會要》載長興二年四月詔曰:周榮呂望,有尚父之稱; 漢重蕭何,有不名之禮。 錢珝冠公侯之位,統吳越之封,宜示異恩,俾當縟禮,其錢珝宜賜不名。)〉
I respectfully consider that Your Majesty the Emperor is deep in wisdom and literary thought, broad and magnanimous, knowing all things and daily opening the four quarters; having already allowed faults that can be corrected and granted pardon for renewal, weighing merit against faults and setting aside the short for the long—how much less should recent rivalries be grounds for deep suspicion and distant calculation. Moreover, our circuit, though it shares a border with Huainan, has long been bound in enmity; hostility alternates with alliance, ten times overturned and nine times reversed; letting the enemy go has already exceeded three reigns, and ceasing arms has lasted only a few years—it is surely not a lip-and-teeth state, but truly a disease of the heart and vitals. Now that we have received your edict of inquiry and reproof, we ought to set forth the full origin and end of the matter; the account is already spread among many records and need not weary you with exhaustive detail—they are men without propriety, while we, for our part, seek harmony yet stand apart from them. We have recently learned of their encroachment and raids on Jingmen—conduct perverse toward the throne. If the imperial army should call them to account, we wish to lead our forces in a joint attack and will surely strive to be first over the walls, that Your Majesty may witness our future service. Like autumn eagles poised on the wing, we wait only for your command; Like dragons leaping from their sheath, we vow to settle this feud. We are now drilling siege towers and rams, sharpening spears and blades, resolved to support the imperial might and hoping thereby to make our loyalty as subjects plain. I respectfully note that my father, King Liu, has already crossed the sea to court and has since sent urgent memorials. They affirmed father-and-son devotion, bright as the sun in the sky; displaying the great bond between sovereign and subject, pointing upward to the dome of Heaven. We shall continue to send tribute by ship and overland routes, unify chariots and script as your exemplar; should we fail in our duty, Heaven's hidden punishment will come of itself. This spring we already submitted our memorial in full, yet have not promptly received your approval; our land is distant and a full year passes before it arrives, Heaven is high and our earnest pleas are hard to convey. We humbly beg Your sacred grace to grant us your clear command. Enduring frost they grow greener still—thus the steadfast heart of pine and cypress is known; only when success comes on another day will our loyal fidelity be fully revealed. Your subjects Yuanguan and others are overcome with gratitude, praying for grace, trembling in awe, and bound in utmost devotion. We respectfully dispatch a swift courier by secret route to present this silk memorial, stating our petition and expressing our thanks for your attention. Mingzong approved this and issued an edict reappointing Liu as Commander-in-Chief of All Armed Forces Under Heaven, Imperial Sire-Father, and King of Wuyue. Before long, another edict granted him the privilege of not being named when submitting memorials. (The 《Institutional Essentials of the Five Dynasties》 records an edict of the fourth month of the second year of Changxing saying: Zhou had Rong and Lü Wang, who bore the title Imperial Sire-Father; Han honored Xiao He with the ritual of not being named. Qian Xu holds the rank of duke or marquis and rules the Wuyue fief; exceptional favor should be shown and the full ceremonial granted—Qian Xu should be granted the privilege of not being named.)〉
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镠在杭州垂四十年,窮奢極貴。 錢塘江舊日海潮逼州城,镠大庀工徒,鑿石填江,又平江中羅剎石,悉起臺榭,廣郡郭周三十里,邑屋之繁會,江山之雕麗,實江南之勝概也,镠學書,好吟詠。 江東有羅隱者,有詩名,聞於海內,依镠為參佐。 镠嘗與隱唱和,隱好譏諷,嘗戲為詩,言镠微時騎牛操挺事,镠亦怡然不怒,其通恕也如此。 镠雖季年荒恣,然自唐朝,於梁室,莊宗中興已來,每來揚帆越海,貢奉無闕,故中朝亦以此善之。
Liu resided in Hangzhou for nearly forty years, living in the utmost luxury and splendor. In former days the sea tide of the Qiantang River pressed upon the prefectural city; Liu mustered a great force of laborers, carved stone to fill the river, and leveled the Luocha Rock in midstream, raising towers and pavilions everywhere and expanding the city walls for thirty li around—the throng of houses and the carved splendor of river and hills were truly the finest sights of Jiangnan. Liu studied calligraphy and loved to compose and recite poetry. In Jiangdong there was Luo Yin, famed for poetry and known throughout the realm, who served Liu as a staff adviser. Liu once exchanged verses with Yin; Yin loved satire and once playfully composed a poem about Liu riding an ox and wielding a staff in his humble days—Liu remained placid and unangered. His indulgence and forbearance were such as this. Though Liu in his later years was wasteful and unrestrained, from the Tang dynasty through the Liang and since Zhuangzong's restoration, whenever ships sailed across the sea tribute was never lacking; the central court therefore held this in his favor.
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镠以長興三年三月二十八日薨,年八十一。 制曰:「故天下兵馬都元帥、尚父、吳越國王錢镠,累朝元老,當代勛賢,位已極於人臣,名素高於簡冊。 贈典既無其官爵,易名宜示其優崇,宜令所司定謚,以王禮葬,仍賜神道碑。」 謚曰武肅。 镠初事董昌,時年甫壯室,性尚剛烈。 時有儒士謁於主帥,已進刺矣,見镠稍怠,镠怒,投之羅剎江,及典謁者將召,镠詐云:「客已拂衣去矣。」 及為帥時,有人獻詩云:「一條江水檻前流。」 镠不悅,以為譏己,尋害之。 迨於晚歲,方愛人下士,留心理道,數十年間,時甚歸美。 镠尤恃崇盛,分兩浙為數鎮,其節制署而後奏。 左右前後皆兒孫甥侄,軒陛服飾,比於王者,兩浙裏俗咸曰「海龍王」。 梁開平中,浙民上言,請為镠立生祠,梁太祖許之,令翰林學士李琪撰生祠堂碑以賜之,至今蒸黎饗之,子孫保之,斯亦近代之名王也。
Liu died on the twenty-eighth day of the third month of the third year of Changxing, at age eighty-one. An edict said: "The late Commander-in-Chief of All Armed Forces Under Heaven, Imperial Sire-Father, and King of Wuyue, Qian Liu, was an elder statesman of successive reigns and a meritorious worthy of his age; his rank had already reached the summit among subjects, and his name had long stood high in the historical records. Since there is no posthumous office or rank to confer, a change of name should show exceptional honor; the appropriate offices should determine his posthumous title, bury him with royal rites, and grant a spirit-way stele." His posthumous title was Wusu. When Liu first served Dong Chang, he was just entering manhood and his nature was fierce and unyielding. Once a scholar came to call on the commander-in-chief; he had already presented his card, but when he saw Liu he grew somewhat negligent. Liu in anger threw him into the Luocha River. When the usher was about to summon him, Liu falsely said, "The guest has already brushed his robes and departed." When he became commander, someone presented a poem saying, "A single stretch of river flows before the balustrade." Liu was displeased, took it as a satire on himself, and soon had the man killed. Only in his later years did he come to cherish men and honor scholars, devoting himself to the Way; for several decades the age greatly praised him. Liu especially relied on his grandeur and prosperity, dividing the Two Zhes into several prefectures and appointing their military commissioners first, reporting afterward. On his left and right, before and behind, were all sons, grandsons, nephews, and cousins; the halls and steps, dress and adornment, rivaled those of a king. Throughout the Two Zhes the common people all called him "Sea Dragon King." In the Kaiping era of Liang, the people of Zhe petitioned to erect a living shrine to Liu; Emperor Taizu of Liang approved it and ordered Hanlin Academician Li Qi to compose the shrine stele and bestow it. To this day the common people offer sacrifice there and his descendants preserve it—thus he was also a famed king of recent times.
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元瓘,镠第五子也。 起家為鹽鐵發運巡官,表授尚書金部朗中,賜金紫。 天復中,本州裨校許再思等為亂,構宣州節度使田頵,頵領兵奄至,镠擊敗再思,與頵通和。 頵要盟於镠,镠遍召諸子問之曰:「誰能為吾為田氏之婿者?」 例有難色,時元瓘年十六,進曰:「惟大王之命。」 由是就親於宣州。 唐天祐初,承制累遷檢校尚書左僕射、內衙都指揮使,數年之間,伐叛禦寇,大著勛績。 梁貞明四年夏,镠大舉伐吳,以元瓘為水戰諸軍都指揮使。 戰棹抵東洲,吳人以舟師拒戰,元瓘為火筏順風揚灰以岔之,白晝如霧,吳師迷方,遂敗之,擒軍使彭彥章並軍校七十餘人,得戰艦四百隻。 吳人知不可校,通好於镠,以功奏授鎮海軍節度副使、檢校司徒。 梁末,遷清海軍節度使、檢校太傅、同平章事。 後唐同光初,加檢校太師、兼中書令、鎮東等軍節度觀察處置等使。 時镠自為天下兵馬都元帥、尚父、守尚書令、吳越國王,及镠為太師致仕,元瓘累貢章疏,乞復舊號,唐明宗許之。 镠既年高,欲立嗣,召諸子使各論功,請讓於元瓘。 及镠病篤,召將吏謂之曰:「余病不起,兒皆愚懦,恐不能為爾帥。 與爾輩決矣,帥當自擇。」 將吏號泣言曰:「大令公有軍功,多賢行仁孝,已領兩鎮,王何苦言及此!」 镠曰:「此渠定堪否?」 曰:「眾等願奉賢帥。」 即出符鑰數篚於前,謂元瓘曰:「三軍言爾可奉,領取此。」 镠薨,遂襲父位。
Yuanguan was Liu's fifth son. He began his career as an inspector of the Salt and Iron Transport Office; by memorial he was appointed Director of the Ministry of Revenue's Gold Department and granted the gold seal and purple robe. In the Tianfu era, the local adjutants Xu Zaisi and others rebelled, colluding with Xuancheng Military Commissioner Tian Yun; Yun led troops in a sudden arrival. Liu defeated Zaisi and made peace with Yun. Yun demanded a marriage alliance with Liu; Liu summoned all his sons and asked, "Who among you can become my son-in-law to the Tian clan?" As a rule they showed reluctance, but Yuanguan, then sixteen, stepped forward and said, "I await only the Great King's command." Thereupon he went to Xuancheng to marry. At the beginning of Tianyou of Tang, by imperial order he was repeatedly promoted to Acting Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and Commander of the Inner Palace Guard; within a few years, suppressing rebels and repelling invaders, he achieved great merit. In the summer of the fourth year of Zhenming of Liang, Liu launched a major campaign against Wu and appointed Yuanguan Commander of All Naval Forces. The battle fleet reached Dongzhou; the Wu sent a naval force to resist. Yuanguan built fire rafts and, riding the wind, scattered ash to blind them; by day it was like fog, the Wu army lost its bearings, and he defeated them, capturing Army Commissioner Peng Yanzhang along with more than seventy officers and taking four hundred warships. The Wu knew they could not contend and made peace with Liu; for his merit he was memorialized and appointed Deputy Military Commissioner of Zhenhai Army and Acting Minister of Education. At the end of Liang he was transferred to Military Commissioner of Qinghai Army, Acting Grand Tutor, and Co-Director of the Secretariat-Chancellery. At the beginning of Tongguang of Later Tang he was further made Acting Grand Preceptor, Concurrent Director of the Secretariat, and Military Commissioner, Observation Commissioner, and Disposition Commissioner of Zhendong and other armies. At that time Liu himself was Commander-in-Chief of All Armed Forces Under Heaven, Imperial Sire-Father, Acting Director of the Secretariat, and King of Wuyue; when Liu retired as Grand Preceptor, Yuanguan repeatedly submitted memorials begging restoration of the former titles, and Tang Mingzong granted this. Liu, now advanced in years, wished to establish a successor; he summoned his sons to each recount their merits and asked that the succession be yielded to Yuanguan. When Liu's illness grew grave, he summoned his generals and officials and said, "My illness will not improve; my sons are all foolish and weak—I fear they cannot be your commander. I have decided this with you all—the commander should be chosen by yourselves." The generals and officials wept aloud and said, "The Heir Apparent has military merit, many worthy deeds, and filial piety; he already commands two prefectures—Great King, why speak of this!" Liu said, "Is he truly fit or not?" They said, "We all wish to serve the worthy commander." He then brought out several baskets of seals and keys before them and said to Yuanguan, "The three armies say you are fit to lead—take these." When Liu died, Yuanguan succeeded to his father's position.
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唐長興四年,遣將作監李纮起復元瓘官爵,又命戶部侍郎張文寶授兼尚書令。 清泰初,封吳王。 二年,封越王。 天福元年,賜金印。 三年,封吳越國王。 五年,加天下兵馬元帥。 六年,授天下兵馬都元帥。 其年夏有疾,秋府署災,焚之一空,乃移於他所,其焰皆隨而發焉,元瓘因驚悸發狂,以是歲八月二十四日薨,年五十五歲。 謚曰文穆。 元瓘幼聰敏,長於撫馭,臨戎十五年,決事神速,為軍民所附,然奢僭營造,甚於其父,故有回祿之災焉。 元瓘有詩千篇,編其尤者三百篇,命曰《錦樓集》,浙中人士皆傳之。 子佐為嗣。
In the fourth year of Changxing of Tang, the Director of the Directorate for Palace Buildings Li Hong was sent to restore Yuanguan's offices and rank from mourning, and Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue Zhang Wenbao was ordered to invest him as Concurrent Director of the Secretariat. At the beginning of Qingtai he was enfeoffed as King of Wu. In the second year he was enfeoffed as King of Yue. In the first year of Tianfu he was granted a gold seal. In the third year he was enfeoffed as King of Wuyue. In the fifth year he was made Commander-in-Chief of All Armed Forces Under Heaven. In the sixth year he was invested as Supreme Commander-in-Chief of All Armed Forces Under Heaven. That summer he fell ill; in autumn the government offices caught fire and were burned to nothing. When they were moved elsewhere, the flames followed and broke out again. Yuanguan, shaken and terrified, went mad; on the twenty-fourth day of the eighth month of that year he died, at age fifty-five. His posthumous title was Wenmu. Yuanguan was clever from youth and skilled in winning men; for fifteen years in command he decided affairs with swift decisiveness and was beloved by soldiers and civilians alike. Yet his extravagant presumption in construction exceeded even his father's, and therefore he suffered the calamity of Huilu. Yuanguan composed a thousand poems; he selected the finest three hundred and titled the collection the 《Jade Tower Collection》; scholars throughout Zhe all circulated it. His son Zuo succeeded him.
35
佐,字元祐,元瓘薨,遂襲其位。 晉天福末,制授檢校太師、兼中書令、吳越王,仍篆玉為冊以賜之。 前代玉冊,冊夷王有之,偽梁時欲厚於镠,首為式例,故因而不改。 俄授開府儀同三司、守太尉。 時以建安為淮寇所攻,授東南面兵馬都元帥,佐尋遣舟師進討,淮入大敗,以功加守太師。 漢高祖入汴,佐首獻琛飐,表率東道,漢祖嘉之,授諸道兵馬都元帥。 佐居列土凡七年,境內豐阜,祖父三世皆為元帥,時以為榮。 漢初,以疾卒於位,謚曰忠獻。 佐幼好書,性溫恭,能為五七言詩,凡官屬遇雪月佳景,必同宴賞,由此士人歸心。 其班品亦有丞相已下名籍,而祿給甚薄,罕能自濟,每朝廷降吏,則去其偽官,或與會則公府助以仆馬,處事齷齪,多如此類。 然航海所入,歲貢百萬,王人一至,所遺至廣,故朝廷寵之,為群藩之冠。 佐有子昱,年五歲,未任庶務,乃以其弟倧襲位。
Zuo, courtesy name Yuanyou, when Yuanguan died succeeded to his position. At the end of Tianfu of Jin, by edict he was made Acting Grand Preceptor, Concurrent Director of the Secretariat, and King of Wuyue; a jade tablet was carved into a patent of investiture and bestowed on him. Jade patents of investiture in former ages had been granted to barbarian kings; in the false Liang they wished to honor Liu richly and first established this as a precedent, so it was retained unchanged. Soon he was made Grand Preceptor of the Palace with the Ceremonial of Three Departments and Acting Grand Commandant. At that time Jian'an was being attacked by Huai bandits; he was made Commander-in-Chief of Southeastern Armed Forces. Zuo soon sent a naval force to advance and attack; the Huai invaders were greatly defeated, and for his merit he was further made Acting Grand Preceptor. When Emperor Gaozu of Han entered Bian, Zuo was first to present precious tribute, setting an example for the eastern circuits; Emperor Gaozu commended this and made him Commander-in-Chief of All Armed Forces of the Circuits. Zuo ruled his domain for seven years in all; within his borders prosperity was abundant, and grandfather, father, and son for three generations had all been commanders-in-chief—the age regarded this as glory. At the beginning of Han he died in office from illness; his posthumous title was Zhongxian. Zuo from youth loved books; his nature was mild and courteous, and he could compose five- and seven-character verse. Whenever his officials encountered fine scenes of snow or moonlight, he always shared banquets and appreciation—thereby winning the hearts of scholars. His official ranks also had rosters from Chancellor downward, but salaries were very meager and few could support themselves. Whenever the court sent down officials, their false titles were removed; if they attended gatherings the public office would assist with servants and horses—affairs were handled in petty, cramped ways, mostly of this sort. Yet what came in by sea amounted to a million in annual tribute; whenever envoys of the king arrived, the gifts given were exceedingly broad—therefore the court favored him, and he stood at the head of all the feudatories. Zuo had a son Yu, five years old and not yet fit for ordinary affairs; therefore his younger brother Zong succeeded to the position.
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倧,性明敏嚴毅,未立時,常以佐性寬善,疑掌兵權者難制,及代佐為帥,以禮法繩下,宿將舊勛,不甚優禮。 大將胡進思頗不平之,乃密與親軍謀去倧。 漢祖入汴之歲,十二月,進思率甲士三百大噪,突入衙署,倧闔戶以拒之,左右與之格鬥,盡為進思所殺,遂遷倧於別館,以甲士送,幽於衣錦軍,立倧異母弟俶為帥。 其年夏四月,進思疽發背而卒,越人快之,以為陰靈之誅逆也。
Zong's nature was bright, keen, stern, and resolute. Before he was established he had often thought that because Zuo's nature was lenient and good, those who held military power would be hard to control; when he replaced Zuo as commander he restrained subordinates with ritual and law, and did not greatly honor veteran generals and old merit. The great general Hu Jinsi was quite discontent with this and secretly plotted with his personal troops to remove Zong. In the year Emperor Gaozu of Han entered Bian, in the twelfth month Jinsi led three hundred armored soldiers in a great uproar and burst into the government offices. Zong shut the doors to resist; his attendants fought with them and were all killed by Jinsi. He then moved Zong to a separate lodge, sent armored soldiers to escort him, and imprisoned him in the Yijin Army, establishing Zong's younger half-brother Chu as commander. That summer in the fourth month Jinsi died of a carbuncle on his back; the people of Yue rejoiced, taking it as the hidden spirits' punishment of a traitor.
37
俶,元瓘之子,倧之異母弟也。 倧既為軍校所幽,時俶為溫州刺史,眾以無帥,遂迎立之,時漢乾祐元年正月十五日也。 其年八月,始授檢校太師、兼中書令,充鎮海鎮東等軍節度使、東南面兵馬都元帥。 周廣順中,累官至守尚書令、中書令、吳越國王。 皇朝建隆初,復加天下兵馬大元帥,其後事具皇朝日曆。 〈(《五代史補》:錢珝封吳越國王後,大興府署,版築斤斧之聲晝夜不絕,士卒怨嗟。 或有中夜潛用白土大書於門曰:「沒了期,侵早起,抵暮歸。」 珝一見欣然,遽命書吏亦以白土書數字於其側曰:「沒了期,春衣才罷又冬衣。」 時人以為神輔,自是怨嗟頓息矣。 僧昭者,通於術數,居兩浙,大為錢塘錢珝所禮,謂之國師。 一旦謁珝,有宮中小兒嬉於側,墜下錢數十文,珝見,謂之曰:「速收,慮人恐踏破汝錢。」 昭師笑曰:「汝錢欲踏破,須是牛即可。」 珝喜,以為社稷堅牢之義。 後至曾孫俶,舉族入朝,因而國除。 俶年屬醜為牛,可謂牛踏錢而破矣。 錢珝末年患雙目,有醫人不知所從來,自雲累世醫內外障眼,其術皆善於用針,無不效者。 珝聞,召而使觀之,醫人曰:「可治,然大王非常人,患殆天與之,若醫,是違天地也,恐無益於壽,幸思之。」 珝曰:「吾起自行伍,跨有方面,富貴足矣,但得兩眼見物,為鬼不亦快乎!」 既而下手,莫不應手豁然。 珝喜,所賜動以萬計,醫人皆辭不受。 明年,珝卒。 僧契盈,閩中人。 通內外學,性尤敏速。 廣順初,遊戲錢塘。 一旦,陪吳越王遊碧浪亭,時潮水初滿,舟楫輻輳,望之不見其首尾,王喜曰:「吳越地去京師三千餘里,而誰知一水之利有如此耶!」 契盈對曰:「可謂三千里外一條水,十二時中兩度潮。」 時人謂之佳對。 時江南未通,兩浙貢賦自海路而至青州,故云三千里也。)〉
Chu was Yuanguan's son and Zong's younger half-brother. After Zong was imprisoned by the military officers, Chu was at that time Prefect of Wenzhou; since there was no commander, the multitude welcomed and established him—this was the fifteenth day of the first month of the first year of Ganyou of Han. That August he was first invested as Acting Grand Preceptor and Concurrent Director of the Secretariat, serving as Military Commissioner of Zhenhai, Zhendong, and other armies and Commander-in-Chief of Southeastern Armed Forces. In Guangshun of Zhou he rose through offices to Acting Director of the Secretariat, Director of the Secretariat, and King of Wuyue. At the beginning of Jianlong of the Imperial Dynasty he was again made Grand Commander-in-Chief of All Armed Forces Under Heaven; his subsequent affairs are fully recorded in the Imperial Dynasty calendar. (The 《Supplement to the History of the Five Dynasties》: After Qian Xu was enfeoffed as King of Wuyue, he greatly expanded the government offices; the sounds of ramming earth and wielding axes never ceased day or night, and the soldiers grumbled. Some at midnight secretly used white earth to write large characters on a gate saying, "No end to it—rise early at dawn, return only at dusk." Xu, on seeing it, was pleased and immediately ordered a clerk also to write several characters in white earth beside it saying, "No end to it—spring clothes just finished, then winter clothes again." The people of the age regarded this as divine assistance; from then on the grumbling suddenly ceased. There was a monk named Zhao, versed in numerology and divination, who lived in the Two Zhes and was greatly honored by Qian Xu of Qiantang, who called him State Preceptor. One day he came to call on Xu; a small boy from the palace was playing at the side and dropped several dozen cash. Xu saw this and said to him, "Quick, pick them up—I fear someone may step on and break your money." Master Zhao laughed and said, "If you want that money crushed, you'll need an ox." Chu was delighted and took this as a sign that the realm would endure. Eventually his great-grandson Chu led the entire clan to court, and the kingdom was absorbed. Chu was born in the year of the ox—so the ox did indeed tread the Qian domain underfoot. In his last years Qian Chu went blind in both eyes; a physician of unknown origin appeared, claiming generations of skill in treating cataracts and other eye ailments with needles that never failed. Chu summoned him; the physician said, "I can treat this, but you are no ordinary man—this ailment may be Heaven's gift. To cure it would defy Heaven and may not prolong your life. Think carefully." Chu replied, "I rose from the ranks to rule a region—I've had wealth and honor enough; let me see again—even as a ghost I would be content!" The physician treated him, and his sight cleared immediately. Delighted, Chu offered rewards in the tens of thousands, but the physician refused them all. The following year Chu died. The monk Qiying was from Fujian. He mastered secular and Buddhist learning and was exceptionally quick-witted. Early in the Guangshun era he visited Qiantang. One day he accompanied the King of Wuyue to Bilang Pavilion as the tide reached full flood; boats packed the water as far as eye could see. The king exclaimed, "Wuyue lies three thousand li from the capital—who knew a single waterway could hold such power!" Qiying replied, "Three thousand li away, one river; twice each day, the tide." Contemporaries hailed it as a perfect couplet. Jiangnan was not yet linked by land; the two Zhe regions sent tribute by sea to Qingzhou—hence the three thousand li.) )〉
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史臣曰:自唐末亂離,海內分割,荊、湖、江、浙,各據一方,翼子貽孫,多歷年所。 夫如是者何也? 蓋值諸夏多艱,王風不競故也。 洎皇宋之撫運也,因朗、陵之肇亂,命王師以遄征,一矢不亡,二方俱服。 遂使瑤琨筿簜,鹹遵作貢之文; 江、漢、雎、章,盡鼓朝宗之浪。 夫如是者何也? 蓋屬大統有歸,人寰允洽故也。 惟錢氏之守杭、越,逾八十年,蓋事大勤王之節,與荊楚、湖湘不侔矣。
The historian writes: From the chaos at the end of Tang the realm split apart; Jingnan, Hunan, the Yangzi delta, and Zhejiang each held its own territory, passing power from generation to generation for decades. Why was this so? Because the heartland faced endless hardship and imperial authority could not prevail. When the Song received Heaven's mandate, rebellion at Lang and Ling brought the imperial army in swift campaign; not an arrow was wasted, and both regions submitted. Jade, bamboo, and fine reeds all alike fulfilled their tribute obligations; the Yangzi, Han, Ju, and Zhang all surged with the tide of loyalty to the throne. Why was this so? Because the great mandate had found its rightful heir and the realm was united in peace. Only the Qian clan's hold on Hangzhou and Yue lasted more than eighty years—for their loyalty to the throne and dutiful service to the dynasty set them apart from Jing-Chu and Hunan.