Volume 33: Wang Sengru; Zhang Shuai; Liu Xiaochuo

梁書卷第三十三列傳第二十七

Book of Liang, Volume 33, Biography 27

王僧孺張率劉孝綽王筠

Wang Sengru, Zhang Shuai, Liu Xiaochuo, and Wang Yun

王僧孺字僧孺，東海郯人，魏衛將軍肅八世孫。曾祖雅，晉左光祿大夫、儀同三司。祖准，宋司徒左長史。

Wang Sengru, whose courtesy name was Sengru, came from Tan in Donghai and was the eighth-generation descendant of Su, a General of the Guard under Wei. His great-grandfather Ya had served the Jin as Left Grand Master of Splendid Happiness and as Companionship Equal to the Three Excellencies. His grandfather Zhun had been Left Chief Clerk to the Song Minister over the Masses.

僧孺年五歲，讀《孝經》，問授者此書所載述，曰：「論忠孝二事。」僧孺曰：「若爾，常願讀之。」六歲能屬文，旣長好學。家貧，常傭書以養母，所寫旣畢，諷誦亦通。

When Sengru was five, he was reading the Classic of Filial Piety and asked his teacher what the book was about. The teacher said, "It treats loyalty and filial piety." Sengru replied, "If that is the case, I shall always want to read it." By six he could compose prose, and as he grew older he became devoted to study. The family was poor, so he often hired himself out as a copyist to support his mother; once he had finished copying a text, he could recite it from memory as well.

仕齊，起家王國左常侍、太學博士。尚書僕射王晏深相賞好。晏爲丹陽尹，召補郡功曹，使僧孺撰《東宮新記》。遷大司馬豫章王行參軍，又兼太學博士。司徒竟陵王子良開西邸招文學，僧孺亦遊焉。文惠太子聞其名，召入東宮，直崇明殿。欲擬爲宮僚，文惠薨，不果。時王晏子德元出爲晉安郡，以僧孺補郡丞，除候官令。建武初，有詔舉士，揚州刺史始安王遙光表薦秘書丞王暕及僧孺曰：「前候官令東海王僧孺，年三十五，理尚棲約，思致悟敏，旣筆耕爲養，亦傭書成學。至乃照螢映雪，編蒲緝柳，先言往行，人物雅俗，甘泉遺儀，南宮故事，畫地成圖，抵掌可述；豈直鼮鼠有必對之辯，竹書無落簡之謬，訪對不休，質疑斯在。」除尚書儀曹郎，遷治書侍御史，出爲錢唐令。初，僧孺與樂安任昉遇竟陵王西邸，以文學友會，及是將之縣，昉贈詩，其略曰：「惟子見知，惟余知子。觀行視言，要終猶始。敬之重之，如蘭如芷。形應影隨，曩行今止。百行之首，立人斯著。子之有之，誰毀誰譽。修名旣立，老至何遽。誰其執鞭，吾爲子御。劉《略》班《藝》，虞《志》荀《錄》，伊昔有懷，交相欣勗。下帷無倦，升高有屬。嘉爾晨燈，惜余夜燭。」其爲士友推重如此。

He took office under the Qi, beginning as Left Regular Attendant in a princely establishment and as Erudite of the Imperial University. Wang Yan, Vice Director of the Masters of Writing, took a strong liking to him. When Yan became Prefect of Danyang, he appointed Sengru Commandery Merit Officer and commissioned him to compile the New Records of the Eastern Palace. He was promoted to Acting Adjutant on the staff of the Prince of Yuzhang, Grand Marshal, while retaining a concurrent post as university erudite. Zixiang, Prince of Jingling and Minister over the Masses, opened a Western Lodge for literary men, and Sengru joined the circle as well. When Crown Prince Wenhuì heard of him, he summoned Sengru to the Eastern Palace and assigned him duty at Chongming Hall. He was slated to become a palace aide, but Crown Prince Wenhuì died before the appointment could be made. When Wang Yan's son Deyuan took up the Jin'an commandery, he appointed Sengru commandery aide and later had him made magistrate of Houguan. Early in the Jianwu reign an edict called for recommended scholars. Yao Guang, Prince of Shi'an and Yangzhou inspector, recommended Secretariat Aide Wang Sui and Sengru in a memorial: "The former magistrate of Houguan, Wang Sengru of Donghai, is thirty-five. His mind favors simplicity and restraint, and his intellect is sharp and nimble. He has supported his family by writing and built his learning by copying books. He has studied by firefly light and by snow-reflected glow, woven sedge mats and plaited willow slips; he can discourse on past conduct and on men both refined and common, on the rites preserved from Sweet Springs and the precedents of the Southern Palace; he can sketch a map on the ground and explain it with a gesture; and he is no less ready than the proverbial flying squirrel with its unerring retorts, nor less careful than the keeper of bamboo documents who never drops a slip. His exchanges in inquiry never flag, and his answers to hard questions are always at hand." He was made Gentleman of the Ceremonial Section in the Masters of Writing, promoted to Attending Censor of Investigative Documents, and then sent out as magistrate of Qiantang. Earlier Sengru and Ren Fang of Le'an had met at the Prince of Jingling's Western Lodge and become literary friends. When Sengru was leaving for his county post, Fang gave him a farewell poem that begins: "You alone have known me; I alone have known you. Judge conduct and weigh words: the end must match the beginning. Honor him and esteem him, as one would orchid or iris. Body answers shadow; the journey we once shared now halts. It stands first among the hundred virtues by which a man is made. You possess it—who could slander you, who could praise you into something else? Your good name is already established—why should old age arrive so quickly? Who will hold the whip? I shall be your driver. Liu's Summary, Ban's Treatise on the Arts, Yu's Records, Xun's Register—in days past we shared these ambitions and urged each other on with mutual delight. Study behind lowered curtains without weariness; as you rise, there will be one to follow you. I praise your lamp at dawn and grieve that my candle must burn alone at night." Such was the esteem in which his fellow scholars held him.

天監初，除臨川王後軍記室參軍，待詔文德省。尋出爲南海太守。郡常有高涼生口及海舶每歲數至，外國賈人以通貨易。舊時州郡以半價就市，又買而卽賣，其利數倍，歷政以爲常。僧孺乃歎曰：「昔人爲蜀部長史，終身無蜀物，吾欲遺子孫者，不在越裝。」並無所取。視事朞月，有詔徵還，郡民道俗六百人詣闕請留，不許。旣至，拜中書郎、領著作，復直文德省，撰《中表簿》及《起居注》。遷尚書左丞，領著作如故。俄除遊擊將軍，兼御史中丞。僧孺幼貧，其母鬻紗布以自業，嘗攜僧孺至市，道遇中丞鹵簿，驅迫溝中。及是拜日，引騶清道，悲感不自勝。尋以公事降爲雲騎將軍，兼職如故，頃之卽真。是時高祖制《春景明志詩》五百字，敕在朝之人沈約已下同作，高祖以僧孺詩爲工。遷少府卿，出監吳郡。還除尚書吏部郎，參大選，請謁不行。

Early in the Tianjian reign he was made Recorder on the staff of the Prince of Linchuan's rear army and served as an edict-awaiting scribe in the Wende Office. Before long he was sent out as administrator of Nanhai. Each year the commandery regularly received captives from Gaoliang and several ocean-going vessels, and foreign merchants came to trade their goods. Formerly the prefectural and commandery offices would buy at half price in the market, then resell at once for several times the profit, and successive administrations had treated this as normal practice. Sengru sighed and said, "In antiquity a man served as chief clerk of the Shu region and through his whole life kept no goods from Shu. What I wish to leave my descendants is not to be found among the treasures of Yue." He took none of it for himself. After a month in office an edict recalled him to court. Six hundred lay and clerical residents of the commandery went to the capital to ask that he be retained, but the request was denied. On his arrival he was made Gentleman of the Palace Secretariat and placed in charge of the Bureau of Compilation. He again served in the Wende Office and compiled the Register of Central Genealogies and the Daily Records. He was promoted to Left Assistant Director of the Masters of Writing while continuing to head the Bureau of Compilation as before. Soon afterward he was made General of Mobile Strikes and concurrently appointed Imperial Censor. Sengru had grown up poor. His mother sold gauze and cloth for a living and once took him to market. On the road they met the escort of an imperial censor, whose attendants forced them into a ditch. On the day he received this appointment he had outriders clear the road before him and was overcome with emotion he could not contain. Soon afterward, because of an official matter, he was demoted to General of Cloud Cavalry while retaining his concurrent posts; before long he received full confirmation in the rank. At that time Emperor Wu composed a five-hundred-character poem, "Spring Scenery and Clarified Intent," and ordered those at court, from Shen Yue on down, to compose matching pieces. The emperor judged Sengru's poem the finest. He was promoted to Director of the Palace Provisionery and sent out to oversee Wu commandery. On his return he was made Gentleman of the Personnel Section and took part in the major appointments. He refused to entertain private solicitations.

出爲仁威南康王長史，行府、州、國事。王典簽湯道愍暱於王，用事府內，僧孺每裁抑之，道愍遂謗訟僧孺，逮詣南司。奉箋辭府曰：「下官不能避溺山隅，而正冠李下，旣貽疵辱，方致徽繩，解籙收簪，且歸初服。竊以董生偉器，止相驕王；賈子上才，爰傅卑土。下官生年有值，謬仰清塵，假翼西雍，竊步東閣，多慚袨服，取亂長裾，高榻相望，直居坐右，長階如畫，獨在僚端。借其從容之詞，假以寬和之色，恩禮遠過申、白，榮望多厠應、徐。厚德難逢，小人易說。方謂離腸隕首，不足以報一言；露膽披誠，何能以酬屢顧。寧謂罻羅裁舉，微禽先落；閶闔始吹，細草仍墜。一辭九畹，方去五雲。縱天網是漏，聖恩可恃，亦復孰寄心骸，何施眉目。方當橫潭亂海，就魚鱉而爲羣；披榛捫樹，從虺蛇而相伍。豈復仰聽金聲，式瞻玉色。顧步高軒，悲如霰委；踟躕下席，淚若綆縻。」

He was sent out as chief clerk to Renwei, Prince of Nankang, and administered the affairs of the princely establishment, the prefecture, and the fief. The prince's Master of Documents, Tang Daomin, was on intimate terms with the prince and controlled affairs within the establishment. Sengru repeatedly curbed him, so Daomin slandered and prosecuted him, and Sengru was seized and brought before the Southern Tribunal. He submitted a memorial resigning from the establishment: "Your servant could not avoid drowning in a mountain pool yet still straighten his cap under a plum tree. Having already brought disgrace upon himself, he now faces the binding cord. I surrender my register, lay aside my official pin, and return for now to my former dress. I reflect that Dong Zhongshu, a man of great capacity, served only as tutor to a proud prince; and Jia Yi, a man of outstanding talent, was made tutor to a prince of humble standing. Your servant, born in a fortunate age, wrongly aspired to follow in your wake, borrowed wings in the Western Yong, and stole a place in the Eastern Pavilion. Often ashamed in full dress and trailing the long hem of court, he sat on duty at the high couch to your right and alone at the head of the painted steps among the staff. By your easy words and your mild, gracious bearing, the favor shown me far surpassed what Shen Buhai or Gongsun Bai received, and the honor I hoped for often rivaled that of Ying Qu and Xu Gan. Deep virtue is hard to encounter; petty men are easy to sway. I had thought that to tear out my entrails and give up my life would not suffice to repay a single word of yours; to bare my heart and lay open my sincerity—how could that repay your repeated regard? Who would have thought that when the fine net was cast, the smallest bird would fall first; that when the Gate of Heaven had only begun to stir, the tender grass would already be struck down? With one farewell to the orchid beds of the palace, I am only now departing the five-colored clouds. Even if Heaven's net has gaps and your sage grace may still be trusted, to whom can I now entrust body and heart, and before whom can I show my face? I am about to wander through muddied pools and churned seas and take my place among fish and turtles; push through brambles, grope along the trees, and keep company with adders and serpents. How can I again look up to hear your golden voice or gaze upon your jade countenance? As I turn back from your high hall, grief falls like hail; and as I linger below your seat, my tears bind me like a tangled cord."

僧孺坐免官，久之不調。友人廬江何炯猶爲王府記室，乃致書於炯，以見其意。曰：

Sengru was dismissed from office on this charge and went for a long time without a new appointment. His friend He Jiong of Lujiang was still serving as a princely recorder, and Sengru wrote to him to express what he felt. It reads:

近別之後，將隔暄寒，思子爲勞，未能忘弭。昔李叟入秦，梁生適越，猶懷悵恨，且或吟謠；況歧路之日，將離嚴網，辭無可憐，罪有不測。蓋畫地刻木，昔人所惡，叢棘旣累，於何可聞，所以握手戀戀，離別珍重。弟愛同鄒季，淫淫承睫，吾猶復抗手分背，羞學婦人。素鐘肇節，金飆戒序，起居無恙，動靜履宜。子雲筆札，元瑜書記，信用旣然，可樂爲甚。且使目明，能祛首疾。甚善甚善。

Since our recent parting we shall be separated by many seasons of warmth and cold. Thoughts of you weary me, and I cannot put them aside. In former times, when the old man of Li went into Qin and the man of Liang went to Yue, they still felt regret and sometimes even composed verses; how much more now, on a day of parting roads, when I am about to leave the strict net of the law—my words win no pity, and my offense admits no reckoning. To draw on the ground or carve in wood was what men of old detested. Now that the thicket of thorns has closed in, how can one be heard? That is why we clasp hands with lingering affection and part with mutual regard. You, my younger friend, love as Zou Ji did, with tears brimming to your lashes. I still raise my hand and turn away, ashamed to behave like a woman. The white bell marks the season's beginning, and the golden wind warns that the year is turning. May your daily life be free of illness, and may your comings and goings keep to what is proper. Ziyun's letters and Yuanqu's records—since trust between us is already established, how welcome they would be. They would brighten the eyes and could even relieve the pain in one's head. Excellent, excellent.

吾無昔人之才而有其病，癲眩屢動，消渴頻增。委化任期，故不復呼醫飲藥。但恨一旦離大辱，蹈明科，去皎皎而非自汙，抱鬱結而無誰告。丁年蓄積，與此銷亡，徒竊高價厚名，橫叨公器人爵，智能無所報，筋力未之酬，所以悲至撫膺，泣盡而繼之以血。

I lack the talent of the men of old but share their infirmities: dizzy spells strike again and again, and my wasting thirst grows ever worse. I leave transformation to fate and no longer call for physicians or take medicine. I only regret that in a single day I fell from great honor into clear statute, left the bright path though I did not stain myself, and now hold knotted grief with no one to whom I can tell it. The store of my prime years has vanished with this. I have only stolen a lofty reputation and thick renown and presumptuously received public office and human rank. My intelligence has had nowhere to repay your grace, and my strength has had no chance to requite it. That is why grief drives me to clutch my breast, until tears are exhausted and blood follows.

顧惟不肖，文質無所底，蓋困於衣食，迫於饑寒，依隱易農，所志不過鐘庾。久爲尺板鬥食之吏，以從皁衣黑綬之役，非有奇才絕學，雄略高謨，吐一言可以匡俗振民，動一議可以固邦興國。全璧歸趙，飛矢救燕，偃息籓魏，甘臥安郢，腦日逐，髓月支，擁十萬而橫行，提五千而深入，將能執圭裂壤，功勒景鐘，錦繡爲衣，朱丹被轂，斯大丈夫之志，非吾曹之所能及已。直以章句小才，蟲篆末藝，含吐緗縹之上，翩躚樽俎之側，委曲同之針縷，繁碎譬之米鹽，孰致顯榮，何能至到。加性疏澀，拙於進取，未嘗去來許、史，遨遊梁、竇，俯首脅肩，先意承旨。是以三葉靡遘，不與運幷，十年未徙，孰非能薄。及除舊佈新，清晷方旦，抱樂銜圖，訟謳有主，而猶限一吏于岑石，隔千里於泉亭，不得奉板中涓，預衣裳之會，提戈後勁，厠龍豹之謀。及其投劾歸來，恩均舊隸，升文石，登玉陛，一見而降顏色，再睹而接話言，非藉左右之容，無勞羣公之助。又非同席共研之夙逢，笥餌卮酒之早識，一旦陪武帳，仰文陛，備聃、佚之柱下，充嚴、朱之席上，入班九棘，出專千里，據操撮之雄官，參人倫之顯職，雖古之爵人不次，取士無名，未有躡影追風，奔驟之若此者也。

Looking back on my lack of talent, I had no foundation in learning or substance. I was trapped by food and clothing and pressed by hunger and cold, leaning on seclusion and turning to farming; my ambition went no farther than filling a granary measure. For years I was a petty clerk living on a peck of grain, serving in black robes with black ribbons. I had no wondrous talent or supreme learning, no heroic strategy or lofty design, no word that could correct custom and revive the people, no proposal that could secure the state and raise the realm. To return the jade intact to Zhao, to shoot the flying arrow that saves Yan, to rest at ease in the fiefs of Wei, to sleep content in the peace of Ying, to give one's brains to the Rong of Riyue and one's marrow to the Yuezhi, to lead a hundred thousand in unchecked advance or five thousand in a deep strike, to hold the jade tablet and carve up the realm, to inscribe one's merit on the Bell of Splendor, to wear brocade and paint one's wheel hubs cinnabar red—that is the ambition of a true hero, not something men like us can attain. I had only the petty talent of exegetical glosses and the lowest skill of seal script—speaking above silk-bound books, fluttering beside wine and meat, intricate as needlework, trivial as rice and salt. Who could win manifest glory by such means, and how could one reach the heights? Moreover my nature is blunt and awkward at advancement. I never paid court to the houses of Xu and Shi or kept company with Liang Ji and Dou Xian, bowing my head and hunching my shoulders to anticipate their wishes. That is why for three generations I met no opportunity and did not rise with the times; ten years passed without promotion—who could say my ability was not slight? When the old order was swept away and the new spread forth, when the clear dawn had broken and men embraced music and held the charts, when songs of praise had found their lord—I was still confined as a petty clerk at Censhi, separated by a thousand li at Quan Pavilion, unable to present the memorial board as palace attendant, to take part in the robe-and-cap assembly, to bear spear as rear striking force, or to join the counsels of dragon and leopard. When I submitted my resignation and returned, your favor matched that shown old retainers. I ascended the patterned stone and climbed the jade steps; on one meeting your countenance softened, on a second you received my words—without relying on attendants at your side or the help of the assembled lords. Nor was it like an old friendship of shared mat and joint study, or an early acquaintance over basket delicacies and cup wine. In a single day I attended the martial canopy and looked up at the patterned steps, stood ready like Laozi and Zhuangzi below the pillar, took a place on the mat with Yan Guang and Zhu Yun, entered the ranks of the nine thorns, went out to govern a thousand li, held a heroic office that grasped the balance, and took part in the manifest duties of human relations. Though in antiquity men were ennobled out of order and scholars taken without renown, never was there a rush like treading shadow and chasing wind.

蓋基薄牆高，途遙力躓，傾蹶必然，顛匐可俟。竟以福過災生，人指鬼瞰，將均宥器，有驗傾卮，是以不能早從曲影，遂乃取疑邪徑。故司隸懍懍，思得應弦，譬縣廚之獸，如離繳之鳥，將充庖鼎，以餌鷹鸇。雖事異鑽皮，文非刺骨，猶復因茲舌杪，成此筆端，上可以投畀北方，次可以論輸左校，變爲丹赭，充彼舂薪。幸聖主留善貸之德，紆好生之施，解網祝禽，下車泣罪，愍茲■詬，憐其觳觫，加肉朽胔，布葉枯株，輟薪止火，得不銷爛。所謂還魂鬥極，追氣泰山，止復除名爲民，幅巾家巷，此五十年之後，人君之賜焉。木石感陰陽，犬馬識厚薄，員首方足，孰不戴天？而竊自有悲者，蓋士無賢不肖，在朝見嫉；女無美惡，入宮見妬。家貧，無苞苴可以事朋類，惡其鄉原，恥彼戚施，何以從人，何以徇物？外無奔走之友，內乏強近之親。是以構市之徒，隨相媒糵。及一朝捐棄，以快怨者之心，吁可悲矣。

The foundation was thin and the wall high, the road long and my strength faltering—collapse was inevitable, and a fall could be foreseen. In the end, because blessing had exceeded its measure, disaster arose. Men pointed at me and ghosts glared down. The leveling of the pardoning vessel was proved by the overturned cup. That is why I could not early follow the bent shadow and so took a doubtful, crooked path. Therefore the Metropolitan Commandant was stern and severe, eager to catch me as an arrow answers the string—like a beast hung in the kitchen or a bird that has left the bowstring, about to fill the cauldron and become bait for hawk and kite. Though the matter differed from boring through hide and the text was not bone-piercing, still through the tip of the tongue it became this at the brush's end: at worst I could be cast out to the north; next I could be sentenced and sent to the Left School; turned cinnabar red, I would fill their pounding firewood. Fortunately the sage lord retained the virtue of granting good pardons and extended the favor of cherishing life: he released the net and prayed over the bird, descended from his carriage and wept over guilt, pitied this abuse and favored my trembling fright, added flesh to a rotting carcass and spread leaves on a withered stump, stopped the firewood and halted the fire, so that I was not consumed to ruin. This is what is called returning the soul at the Dipper's pole and pursuing breath to Mount Tai: I was only struck from the register and made a commoner, wearing plain cloth in the lanes of home—that, after fifty years, is the ruler's gift. Wood and stone respond to yin and yang; dogs and horses know gratitude and neglect; every living being with round head and square foot—who does not bear Heaven on his head? Yet I privately grieve over this: whether a gentleman is worthy or not, once he enters court he meets jealousy; whether a woman is fair or plain, once she enters the palace she meets envy. My family is poor and I have no gifts with which to court my circle of friends. I detest those smooth village worthies and am ashamed of those hunchbacked flatterers—how could I follow others, how could I court the world? Outside I have no friends to run errands for me; within I lack powerful relatives close at hand. Therefore the men who trade in slander follow one another in brewing malice. When in a single morning I was cast aside to satisfy those who bore resentment—ah, how lamentable!

蓋先貴後賤，古富今貧，季倫所以發此哀音，雍門所以和其悲曲。又迫以嚴秋殺氣，具物多悲，長夜輾轉，百憂俱至。況復霜銷草色，風搖樹影。寒蟲夕叫，合輕重而同悲；秋葉晚傷，雜黃紫而俱墜。蜘蛛絡幕，熠耀爭飛，故無車轍馬聲，何聞鳴雞吠犬。俯眉事妻子，舉手謝賓遊。方與飛走爲鄰，永用蓬蒿自沒。愾其長息，忽不覺生之爲重。素無一廛之田，而有數口之累。豈曰匏而不食，方當長爲傭保，糊口寄身，溘死溝渠，以實螻蟻。悲夫！豈復得與二三士友，抱接膝之歡，履足差肩，摛綺縠之清文，談希微之道德。唯吳馮之遇夏馥，范式之值孔嵩，愍其留賃，憐此行乞耳。儻不以垢累，時存寸札，則雖先犬馬，猶松喬焉。去矣何生，高樹芳烈。裁書代面，筆淚俱下。

It is that one is first honored and later humbled, once rich and now poor—this is why Shi Jilun uttered this mournful tone and why Yongmen harmonized this sorrowful tune. Moreover I am pressed by the stern breath of autumn, when all things are full of sorrow. Through the long night I toss and turn as a hundred griefs arrive together. How much more when frost wears away the green of the grass and wind shakes the shadows of the trees. Cold insects cry at evening, joining great and small in the same grief; autumn leaves wounded late in the year, mingling yellow and purple as they all fall. Spiders web the curtain; fireflies dart and vie in flight—so there is no sound of carriage tracks or horses, and how could one hear crowing cocks or barking dogs? I lower my brows to serve wife and children and raise my hand to bid farewell to visiting friends. I am about to make my neighbors of things that fly and run and shall forever bury myself in the wild weeds. Sighing with long breaths, I suddenly no longer feel that life is weighty. I have never had even a single homestead's field, yet I bear the burden of several mouths to feed. Can one say I am a gourd that does not eat? I am about to spend my life as a hired hand, earning my mouthful where I can and lodging where I may—dying suddenly in ditch and channel to feed the ants. Alas! How could I again share with two or three scholar friends the joy of knees touching in embrace, walking shoulder to shoulder, composing pure writings in brocade and gauze, and discoursing on the subtle Way? Only as Wu Feng met Xia Fu or Fan Shi encountered Kong Song—pitying my retained lodging and favoring this beggar on the road. If you are not burdened by my disgrace and occasionally send a brief note, then though I go before dogs and horses I would still be like the immortals Song and Qiao. I go—what life remains? Raise high your fragrant virtue. I cut this letter to stand for my face; brush and tears fall together.

久之，起爲安西安成王參軍，累遷鎮右始興王中記室，北中郎南康王諮議參軍，入直西省，知撰譜事。普通三年，卒，時年五十八。

After a long interval he was recalled as adjutant to Anxi, Prince of Ancheng, and was successively promoted to middle recorder on the staff of Zhenyou, Prince of Shixing, consultant on the staff of the Northern Commandant and Prince of Nankang, entered duty in the Western Office, and was placed in charge of compiling genealogies. In the third year of the Putong era he died, at the age of fifty-eight.

僧孺好墳籍，聚書至萬餘卷，率多異本，與沈約、任昉家書相埒。少篤志精力，於書無所不睹。其文麗逸，多用新事，人所未見者，世重其富。僧孺集《十八州譜》七百一十卷，《百家譜集》十五卷，《東南譜集抄》十卷，文集三十卷，《兩臺彈事》不入集內爲五卷，及《東宮新記》，並行於世。

Sengru loved ancient texts and amassed more than ten thousand scrolls, mostly rare editions, rivaling the family libraries of Shen Yue and Ren Fang. From youth he was devoted in will and energy, and there was no book he did not read. His writings were beautiful and elegant, often drawing on fresh allusions others had not seen, and the age prized their richness. Sengru compiled the Genealogies of the Eighteen Provinces in seven hundred ten scrolls, the Collected Genealogies of the Hundred Clans in fifteen scrolls, the Extracted Genealogies of the Southeast in ten scrolls, a literary collection in thirty scrolls, the Memorials of the Two Offices in five scrolls not included in the collection, and the New Records of the Eastern Palace—all of which circulated in his day.

張率字士簡，吳郡吳人。祖永，宋右光祿大夫。父瑰，齊世顯貴，歸老鄉邑，天監初，授右光祿，加給事中。

Zhang Shuai, whose courtesy name was Shijian, came from Wu in Wu commandery. His grandfather Yong had served the Song as Right Grand Master of Splendid Happiness. His father Gui had been eminent under the Qi, retired to his home district in old age, and at the beginning of the Tianjian reign was appointed Right Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with the additional title of Attendant Within the Yellow Gates.

率年十二，能屬文，常日限爲詩一篇，稍進作賦頌，至年十六，向二千許首。齊始安王蕭遙光爲揚州，召迎主簿，不就。起家著作佐郎。建武三年，舉秀才，除太子舍人。與同郡陸倕幼相友狎，常同載詣左衛將軍沈約，適值任昉在焉，約乃謂昉曰：「此二子後進才秀，皆南金也，卿可與定交。」由此與昉友善。遷尚書殿中郎。出爲西中郎南康王功曹史，以疾不就。久之，除太子洗馬。高祖霸府建，引爲相國主簿。天監初，臨川王已下並置友、學。以率爲鄱陽王友，遷司徒謝朏掾，直文德待詔省。敕使抄乙部書，又使撰婦人事二十餘條，勒成百卷。使工書人琅邪王深、吳郡范懷約、褚洵等繕寫，以給後宮。率又爲《待詔賦》奏之，甚見稱賞。手敕答曰：「省賦殊佳。相如工而不敏，枚皋速而不工，卿可謂兼二子于金馬矣。」又侍宴賦詩，高祖乃別賜率詩曰：「東南有才子，故能服官政。余雖慚古昔，得人今爲盛。」率奉詔往返數首。其年，遷秘書丞，引見玉衡殿。高祖曰：「秘書丞天下清官，東南胄望未有爲之者，今以相處，足爲卿譽。」其恩遇如此。

At twelve Shuai could compose literary pieces and regularly set himself a daily quota of one poem. Gradually he advanced to fu and eulogies, and by sixteen had produced nearly two thousand pieces. When Xiao Yao Guang, Prince of Shi'an of Qi, held Yangzhou, he summoned Shuai as reception chief clerk, but Shuai declined. He began his career as Assistant Gentleman of the Composition Office. In the third year of the Jianwu reign he was recommended as a Cultivated Talent and appointed Crown Prince Attendant. With Lu Yan of the same commandery he had been close friends from childhood. They often rode together to visit Shen Yue, General of the Left Guard, and happened to find Ren Fang there. Yue said to Fang, "These two young men are talented newcomers, both southern gold—you should befriend them." From this he became friends with Fang. He was promoted to Palace Gentleman of the Masters of Writing. He was sent out as merit officer secretary to the Western Commandant and Prince of Nankang but did not take up the post because of illness. After a long interval he was appointed Crown Prince Groom. When Emperor Wu established his hegemon's office, Shuai was brought in as chief clerk to the chancellor. Early in the Tianjian reign the Prince of Linchuan and the other princes were all given literary friends and scholars. Shuai was made literary friend to the Prince of Poyang, transferred to be aide to Xie Tiao, Minister over the Masses, and served on duty in the Wende Office awaiting edicts. He was ordered to copy books of the second category and also to compile more than twenty items on women's affairs, which were edited into a hundred scrolls. He had skilled calligraphers Wang Shen of Langye, Fan Huaiyue of Wu commandery, Chu Xun, and others copy them out for the rear palace. Shuai also composed a "Fu on Awaiting Edicts" and presented it; he was greatly praised and rewarded. An imperial autograph reply said, "I have reviewed the fu and it is exceptionally fine. Sima Xiangru was skilled but not quick; Mei Gao was quick but not skilled—you may be said to combine the two men at the Golden Horse Gate." At another banquet he composed poetry in attendance, and Emperor Wu separately bestowed a poem on Shuai that reads: "In the southeast there is a talented man, and therefore he can attend to official government. Though I am ashamed before antiquity, in gaining men the present is flourishing." Shuai received the edict and returned several poems in reply. That year he was promoted to Secretariat Aide and summoned to audience in Yuhéng Hall. Emperor Wu said, "The Secretariat Aide is the purest office under Heaven; no eminent southeastern house had yet held it. Now in placing you there, it is enough for your reputation." Such was the favor shown him.

四年三月，禊飲華光殿。其日，河南國獻舞馬，詔率賦之，曰：

In the third month of the fourth year there was a purification feast in Huaguang Hall. On that day the state of Henan presented dancing horses, and an edict ordered Shuai to compose a fu on them. It begins:

臣聞「天用莫如龍，地用莫如馬。」故《禮》稱驪騵，《詩》誦騮駱。先景遺風之美，世所得聞；吐圖騰光之異，有時而出。洎我大梁，光有區夏，廣運自中，員照無外，日入之所，浮琛委贄，風被之域，越險效珍，軨服烏號之駿，騊駼豢龍之名。而河南又獻赤龍駒，有奇貌絕足，能拜善舞。天子異之，使臣作賦，曰：

Your servant has heard, "For Heaven's use nothing is like the dragon; for Earth's use nothing is like the horse." Therefore the Rites speak of black and piebald horses, and the Odes chant bay and white-limbed steeds. The beauty of the legacy left by former splendor is what the age has been able to hear; the marvel of spitting forth charts and soaring light appears only at certain times. Down to our Great Liang, whose radiance covers the central realm, whose broad movement proceeds from the center and whose full illumination leaves nothing outside it: where the sun sets, floating jade and piled tribute arrive; where the wind reaches, men cross peril to offer treasures. Carriages are harnessed to the swiftness of Wuhào, and the fame of Taotu and dragon-rearing is practiced. Moreover Henan again presented a crimson dragon colt with a strange appearance and surpassing hooves, able to bow and skilled at dancing. The Son of Heaven marveled at it and had your servant compose a fu, which says:

維梁受命四載，元符旣臻，協律之事具舉，膠庠之教必陳，檀輿之用已偃，玉輅之御方巡。考帝文而率通，披皇圖以大觀。慶惟道而必先，靈匪聖其誰贊。見河龍之瑞唐，矚天馬之禎漢。旣叶符而比德，且同條而共貫。詢國美於斯今，邁皇王於曩昔。散大明以燭幽，揚義聲而遠斥。固施之於不窮，諒無所乎朝夕。並承流以請吏，咸向風而率職。納奇貢於絕區，致龍媒於殊域。伊況古而赤文，爰在茲而硃翼。旣效德於炎運，亦表祥於尚色。資皎月而載生，祖河房而挺授。種北唐之絕類，嗣西宛之鴻胄。稟妙足而逸倫，有殊姿而特茂。善環旋于薺夏，知蹈颻于金奏。超六種于周閑，逾八品於漢廄。伊自然之有質，寧改觀於肥瘦。豈徒服皁而養安，與進駕以馳驟。爾其挾尺縣鑿之辨，附蟬伏兎之別，十形五觀之姿，三毛八肉之勢，臣何得而稱焉，固已詳於前制。

It is now the fourth year since Liang received the Mandate; the primordial talisman has already arrived. Affairs of harmonizing the pitch pipes are fully undertaken, the instruction of the glued school must be displayed, the use of the sandalwood carriage has already ceased, and the jade chariot's progress is just setting out on tour. Examining the emperor's writings and leading through them, he spreads the imperial charts for a great survey. Rejoicing in the Way and putting it first—the numinous: if not the sage, who could praise it? He sees the river dragon's omen in Tang and gazes on the heavenly horse's auspice in Han. Already matching the talisman and comparing in virtue, moreover sharing the same strand and running through together. Inquiring into the state's beauty in this present age, it surpasses the imperial kings of former times. It spreads great brightness to illumine the dark and raises the voice of righteousness to drive off the distant. Firmly applied without end, surely it has no limit in morning or evening. All receive the current and request officials; all turn to the wind and lead their duties. They bring in strange tribute from the farthest regions and present dragon steeds from exotic lands. This one resembles antiquity in its crimson markings and is here now with vermilion wings. It has already shown virtue in the fiery age and also displayed auspice in the honored color. Drawing on the bright moon for its birth, it takes the River House as ancestor and stands upright in bestowal. It is the unique kind of North Tang and heir to the great bloodline of Western Wan. Endowed with marvelous hooves and transcending its kind, it has a special form and exceptional vigor. It is skilled at circling in the manner of Ji and Xia and knows how to tread the rhythm in golden music. It surpasses the six kinds in the Zhou stables and exceeds the eight grades in the Han mangers. It has nature's substance—how could one change one's view because of fat or thin? How could it merely wear black and be kept at ease, rather than join the advancing carriage and gallop? As for its grasp of foot-rule and hanging-chisel distinctions, cicada-attachment and crouching-rabbit differences, the forms of the ten shapes and five views, and the pattern of three hairs and eight fleshes—how could your servant describe them? They are already detailed in former regulations.

徒觀其神爽，視其豪異，軼跨野而忽逾輪，齊秀麒而並末駟。貶代盤而陋小華，越定單而少天驥。信無等於漏面，孰有取於決鼻。可以迹章、亥之所未游，逾禹、益之所未至。將不得而屈指，亦何暇以理轡。若跡遍而忘反，非我皇之所事。方潤色于前古，邈深文而儲思。

One need only observe its spirited clarity and look on its heroic strangeness: it leaps across the wild and suddenly passes the wheel, matches the fine qilin and runs abreast with the rear team of four. It demotes Dai Pan and makes Xiaohua seem base; it surpasses Ding Dan and leaves few heavenly steeds. Truly it has no equal to Loumian; who would choose Juébi? It can tread where Zhang and Hai never traveled and go beyond where Yu and Yi never arrived. One will not be able to count them on the fingers, and how would there be leisure to manage the reins? If tracks spread everywhere and one forgets to return, that is not what our emperor undertakes. He is just now polishing the writings of former antiquity and storing thought in distant, profound texts.

旣而機事多暇，青春未移。時惟上巳，美景在斯。遵鎬飲之故實，陳洛宴之舊儀。漕伊川而分派，引激水以回池。集國良於民俊，列樹茂於皇枝。紛高冠以連衽，鏘鳴玉而肩隨。清輦道於上林，肅華臺之金座。望發色於綠苞，佇流芬於紫裹。聽磬寔之畢舉，聆《韶》、《夏》之咸播。承六奏之旣闋，及九變之已成。均儀禽於唐序，同舞獸於虞庭。懷夏後之九代，想陳王之紫騂。乃命涓人，效良駿，經周衛，入鉤陳。言右牽之已來，寧執樸而後進。旣傾首於律同，又蹀足於鼓振。擢龍首，回鹿軀，睨兩鏡，蹙雙鳧。旣就場而雅拜，時赴曲而徐趨。敏躁中於促節，捷繁外於驚桴。騏行驥動，虎發龍驤；雀躍燕集，鵠引鳧翔。妍七盤之綽約，陵九劍之抑揚。豈借儀於褕袂，寧假器於髦皇。婉脊投頌，俯膺合雅。露沫歕紅，沾汗流赭。乃卻走於集靈，馴惠養於豊夏。鬱風雷之壯心，思展足於南野。

Then, as state affairs left much leisure, spring's green had not yet shifted. The season was the shangsi festival; beautiful scenery was here. Following the old practice of the drinking at Hao, he displayed the former rites of the Luo banquet. He channeled the Yi River and divided its branches, drawing rushing water to make a winding pool. He gathered the state's worthies among the people's excellence and arrayed flourishing trees along the imperial branches. High caps mingled with linked hems; sounding jade chimed as shoulders followed one another. The clear carriage path led through the Upper Park; the golden seat of Splendid Terrace was made solemn. One looked for color breaking from green buds and waited for flowing fragrance in purple wrappings. One listened as the stone chimes were fully raised and heard Shao and Xia played together throughout. When the six movements had finished and the nine variations were complete, they matched the ceremonial birds of the Tang hall and the beast-dances of the court of Yu. One recalled the nine generations of the Xia kings and the purple bay steed of King Chen. Then he ordered a palace groom to fetch fine horses, passing through Zhou and Wei to bring them into the Gouchen enclosure. The right-hand groom was announced as arrived, yet the horse would take the halter and advance only at its own pace. It bowed its head in time with the unified pitch and paced its hooves to the throbbing drums. It lifted a dragon-like head, wheeled a deer-like body, glanced sidelong as at twin mirrors, and drew its legs together like paired mandarin ducks. It entered the arena with a graceful bow and, keeping to the melody, moved forward in measured steps. Within the rapid beats it was nimble and restless; outwardly, at each startling stroke of the drum, its movements grew swift and intricate. Its gait was qilin-like, its motion thoroughbred-like—tiger unleashed, dragon rearing; sparrow leaping, swallow alighting, swan leading, mandarin duck soaring. It outshone the supple grace of the seven-plate dance and surpassed the rising and falling cadences of the nine-sword dance. It needed no borrowed elegance from swaying sleeves, nor any borrowed artifice from the dancer Mao Huang. With supple back it answered the hymn, and bowing its chest it kept time with the elegant air. Foam flecked red at its lips, and sweat ran ochre down its flanks. Then it withdrew to Jiling, where it was gently broken and kept through the summer. Its heart swelled like wind and thunder, longing to stretch its legs across the southern fields.

若彼符瑞之富，可以臻介丘而昭卒業，搢紳羣后，誠希末光，天子深穆爲度，未之訪也。何則？進讓殊事，豈非帝者之彌文哉。今四衛外封，五岳內郡，宜弘下禪之規，增上封之訓，背清都而日行，指雲郊而玄運。將絕塵而弭轍，類飛鳥與駏驢。總三才而驅騖，按五御而超攄。翳卿雲於華蓋，翼條風於屬車。無逸御於玉軫，不泛駕於金輿。飾中岳之絕軌，營奉高之舊墟。訓厚況於人神，弘施育於黎獻。垂景炎於長世，集繁祉於斯萬，在庸臣之方剛，有從軍之大願。必自茲而展采，將同畀於庖煇。悼長卿之遺書，憫周南之留恨。

With such abundance of auspicious signs, one might ascend Mount Tai to proclaim the completed work, and officials and feudal lords would indeed crave even a reflected share of its glory; yet the Son of Heaven, grave and restrained in his conduct, had not yet been approached about it. Why was that? To press forward and to yield are different matters—is this not the very refinement befitting an emperor? Now that the four guard regions lay beyond the frontier and the Five Peaks stood within the inner commanderies, it was fitting to broaden the rites of ceding the throne below and enrich the teachings of the feng sacrifice above, leaving the pure capital behind by day and turning toward the cloud-wreathed suburbs in solemn procession. The carriage would leave the dust behind and halt its tracks, swift as a flying bird beside a zebra. Gathering heaven, earth, and humanity in one galloping drive, he would guide the five imperial horses and surge beyond all bounds. Auspicious clouds would shade the imperial canopy, and gentle winds would wing the train of attendant carriages. There would be no reckless handling of the jade axles, no overtaxing of the golden chariot. He would adorn the sacred paths of Mount Song and restore the ancient altar at Fenggao. His instruction would deepen blessings for both men and gods, and his bounty would broadly nourish the people. His blazing glory would shine through long ages and gather abundant blessings for the myriad people; as for this humble servant, still firm in his prime, I harbor the great wish to follow the imperial host. Surely from that moment I would display my talents and share in the offerings rising from the sacrificial hearth. I grieve for Sima Xiangru's testament left unfinished and pity the sorrow Zhou Nan could not lay to rest.

時與到洽、周興嗣同奉詔爲賦，高祖以率及興嗣爲工。

At that time he, together with Dao Qia and Zhou Xingsi, received an edict to compose rhapsodies; Emperor Gaozu judged Shuai and Xingsi the finest craftsmen among them.

其年，父憂去職。其父侍妓數十人，善謳者有色貌，邑子儀曹郎顧玩之求娉焉，謳者不願，遂出家爲尼。嘗因齋會率宅，玩之乃飛書言與率姦，南司以事奏聞，高祖惜其才，寢其奏，然猶致世論焉。

That year he resigned his post to observe mourning for his father. His father kept several dozen courtesans; among them a singer of exceptional beauty caught the eye of a fellow townsman, Gu Wanzhi, an aide in the Bureau of Rites, who sought her hand in marriage. She refused, and in the end took the tonsure and became a nun. On one occasion a fasting assembly was held at Shu's home, and Wanzhi sent an urgent letter accusing Shu of adultery with the singer. The Southern Office reported the matter to the throne; Emperor Gaozu, cherishing Shu's talent, shelved the memorial, but the affair still stirred public gossip.

服闋後，久之不仕。七年，敕召出，除中權建安王中記室參軍，預長名問訊，不限日。俄有敕直壽光省，治丙丁部書抄。八年，晉安王戍石頭，以率爲雲麾中記室。王遷南兗州，轉宣毅諮議參軍，並兼記室。王還都，率除中書侍郎。十三年，王爲荊州，復以率爲宣惠諮議，領江陵令。王爲江州，以諮議領記室，出監豫章、臨川郡。率在府十年，恩禮甚篤。

After his mourning period ended, he went a long time without taking up office again. In the seventh year an edict summoned him back to service, appointing him Middle Recorder on the staff of the Prince of Jian'an under Central Authority; he was included in changming inquiries with no fixed term. Before long an edict posted him directly to the Shouguang Office to compile copies from the bing and ding sections of the archives. In the eighth year, when the Prince of Jin'an took up the garrison at Stone City, Shu was appointed Middle Recorder on his Cloud Banner staff. When the prince moved to South Yanzhou, Shu was transferred to Consultative Military Attendant under the Xuanyi command and also retained his post as recorder. When the prince returned to the capital, Shu was appointed Gentleman of the Central Secretariat. In the thirteenth year, when the prince took up his post in Jingzhou, Shu was again appointed Consultative Attendant under the Xuanhui command and concurrently served as magistrate of Jiangling. When the prince moved to Jiangzhou, Shu served as consultative attender and chief recorder, and was sent out to supervise the commanderies of Yuzhang and Linchuan. Shu served on the prince's staff for ten years, and the favor and courtesy shown him were exceptionally warm.

率嗜酒，事事寬恕，于家務尤忘懷。在新安，遣家僮載米三千石還吳宅，旣至，遂秏太半。率問其故，答曰：「雀鼠秏也。」率笑而言曰：「壯哉雀鼠。」竟不研問。少好屬文，而《七略》及《藝文志》所載詩賦，今亡其文者，並補作之。所著《文衡》十五卷，文集三十卷，行於世。子長公嗣。

Shu was fond of wine, forgiving in all things, and especially heedless of household affairs. While stationed in Xin'an, he sent a household servant to transport three thousand shi of rice back to his home in Wu; by the time it arrived, more than half was gone. Shu asked what had happened, and the servant replied, "Sparrows and mice ate it." Shu laughed and said, "What formidable sparrows and mice!" In the end he never pursued the matter. From youth he loved to write, and for every poem and rhapsody listed in the Qilüe and the Yiwen zhi whose text was now lost, he composed a replacement. His Literary Balance in fifteen scrolls and his collected works in thirty scrolls circulated widely. His son Chang inherited the ducal title.

劉孝綽字孝綽，彭城人，本名冉。祖勔，宋司空忠昭公。父繪，齊大司馬霸府從事中郎。

Liu Xiaochuo, styled Xiaochuo, came from Pengcheng; his original given name was Ran. His grandfather Xun was Minister of Works under the Song and was posthumously ennobled as Duke Zhongzhao. His father Hui served as Attendant Gentleman on the staff of the Qi Grand Marshal.

孝綽幼聰敏，七歲能屬文。舅齊中書郎王融深賞異之，常與同載適親友，號曰神童。融每言曰：「天下文章，若無我當歸阿士。」阿士，孝綽小字也。繪，齊世掌詔誥。孝綽年未志學，繪常使代草之。父黨沈約、任昉、范雲等聞其名，並命駕先造焉，昉尤相賞好。范雲年長繪十餘歲，其子孝才與孝綽年並十四五，及雲遇孝綽，便申伯季，乃命孝才拜之。天監初，起家著作佐郎，爲《歸沐詩》以贈任昉，昉報章曰：「彼美洛陽子，投我懷秋作。詎慰耋嗟人，徒深老夫託。直史兼褒貶，轄司專疾惡。九折多美疹，匪報庶良藥。子其崇鋒穎，春耕勵秋獲。」其爲名流所重如此。

Xiaochuo was bright as a child and could write polished prose by the age of seven. His maternal uncle Wang Rong, a Gentleman of the Central Secretariat under Qi, admired him greatly and often took him along in his carriage to visit friends and kin, calling him a prodigy. Rong often said, "Of all the writers under heaven, if not for me the crown would belong to A-shi." A-shi was Xiaochuo's childhood name. During the Qi, Hui was in charge of drafting imperial edicts and proclamations. Before Xiaochuo had even reached the age of formal study, Hui regularly had him draft the documents instead. His father's friends Shen Yue, Ren Fang, Fan Yun, and others heard of him and all came calling before anyone else; Ren Fang in particular admired and befriended him. Fan Yun was more than ten years Hui's senior; his son Xiaocai and Xiaochuo were both fourteen or fifteen. When Yun met Xiaochuo, he immediately proposed a bond of elder and younger brother and had Xiaocai bow to him. At the start of the Tianjian era he entered service as Associate Archivist and wrote "Poem on Returning to Bathe" as a gift for Ren Fang; Fang replied with a poem that began, "That fair gentleman of Luoyang sends me verses steeped in autumn feeling. Can such lines truly comfort an old man given to lament? They only deepen the trust this old man places in you. A faithful historian both praises and condemns, and the office that governs him especially despises wickedness. Many a winding path leaves fine traces; even silence, perhaps, may prove the better remedy. Honor your sharp gifts, plow in spring, and strive for the autumn yield." Such was the esteem in which leading men held him.

遷太子舍人，俄以本官兼尚書水部郎，奉啓陳謝，手敕答曰：「美錦未可便制，簿領亦宜稍習。」頃之卽真。高祖雅好蟲篆，時因宴幸，命沈約、任昉等言志賦詩，孝綽亦見引。嘗侍宴，於坐爲詩七首，高祖覽其文，篇篇嗟賞，由是朝野改觀焉。

He was promoted to Attendant of the Crown Prince and soon added the concurrent post of Gentleman of the Water Section in the Ministry of Works. When he submitted a memorial declining the appointment, the Emperor answered in his own hand, "Fine brocade cannot be woven all at once; you should also gain some familiarity with paperwork." Before long he received the regular appointment. Emperor Gaozu had a refined taste for ancient seal script, and during banquets and imperial outings he would summon Shen Yue, Ren Fang, and others to speak their minds and compose poetry and rhapsodies; Xiaochuo was invited as well. On one banquet occasion he composed seven poems on the spot; the Emperor read each one with admiration, and from that day both court and countryside revised their opinion of him.

尋有敕知青、北徐、南徐三州事，出爲平南安成王記室，隨府之鎮。尋補太子洗馬，遷尚書金部侍郎，復爲太子洗馬，掌東宮管記。出爲上虞令，遷除秘書丞。高祖謂舍人周捨曰：「第一官當用第一人。」故以孝綽居此職。公事免。尋復除秘書丞，出爲鎮南安成王諮議，入以事免。起爲安西記室，累遷安西驃騎諮議參軍，敕權知司徒右長史事，遷太府卿、太子僕，復掌東宮管記。時昭明太子好士愛文，孝綽與陳郡殷芸、吳郡陸倕、琅邪王筠、彭城到洽等，同見賓禮。太子起樂賢堂，乃使畫工先圖孝綽焉。太子文章繁富，羣才咸欲撰錄，太子獨使孝綽集而序之。遷員外散騎常侍，兼廷尉卿，頃之卽真。

Soon an edict put him in charge of affairs in Qingzhou and the northern and southern Xu prefectures; he then went out as recorder to the Prince of Pingnan, Prince of Ancheng, and accompanied the prince to his post. He was soon appointed supplemental Crown Prince Groom, then promoted to Vice Minister of the Gold Section, and afterward returned to the post of Crown Prince Groom, where he managed the Eastern Palace records. He served as magistrate of Shangyu, then was promoted to Assistant Director of the Secretariat. Emperor Gaozu told Attendant Zhou She, "The foremost office ought to go to the foremost man." For that reason Xiaochuo was given the post. He was dismissed for an official offense. He was soon reappointed Assistant Director of the Secretariat, then sent out as consultative attender to the Prince of Zhennan, Prince of Ancheng; when he returned to court he was dismissed because of the affair. He was recalled as recorder on the Anxi staff, rose through successive posts to Consultative Military Attendant under the Anxi Cavalry General, was by edict temporarily placed in charge of the Right Chief Clerk of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, then promoted to Grand Steward and Crown Prince Steward, and again took charge of the Eastern Palace records. At that time Crown Prince Zhaoming loved men of talent and cherished literature; Xiaochuo, together with Yin Yun of Chen, Lu Chuo of Wu, Wang Jun of Langya, Dao Qia of Pengcheng, and others, all received the same honored treatment as guests. When the crown prince built the Hall of Delighting in Worthies, he had the painters depict Xiaochuo there first. The crown prince's literary output was vast, and many talented men wished to compile it, but the crown prince entrusted that task to Xiaochuo alone, who collected the pieces and wrote the preface. He was promoted to Supernumerary Regular Cavalry Attendant with concurrent appointment as Minister of Justice, and soon received the regular post.

初，孝綽與到洽友善，同遊東宮。孝綽自以才優於洽，每於宴坐，嗤鄙其文，洽銜之。及孝綽爲廷尉卿，攜妾入官府，其母猶停私宅。洽尋爲御史中丞，遣令史案其事，遂劾奏之，云：「攜少妹於華省，棄老母於下宅。」高祖爲隱其惡，改「妹」爲「姝」。坐免官。孝綽諸弟，時隨籓皆在荊、雍，乃與書論共洽不平者十事，其辭皆鄙到氏。又寫別本封呈東宮，昭明太子命焚之，不開視也。

At first Xiaochuo and Dao Qia were on friendly terms and frequented the Eastern Palace together. Xiaochuo believed himself more gifted than Qia and, at every banquet, openly scorned his writing; Qia took deep offense. When Xiaochuo became Minister of Justice, he brought a concubine into his official quarters while his mother remained in their private residence. Qia was soon appointed Censor-in-Chief, sent a clerk to investigate, and impeached him with the charge, "He brings a young woman into the imperial offices while leaving his aged mother in a humble dwelling." To conceal the scandal, Emperor Gaozu altered the word for "younger sister" to the word for "concubine." He was dismissed from office on that charge. Xiaochuo's younger brothers were then serving with princes in Jing and Yong; he wrote them a letter listing ten grievances they held against Qia, and every line disparaged the Dao family. He also made a separate copy, sealed it, and sent it to the Eastern Palace; Crown Prince Zhaoming ordered it burned unread.

時世祖出爲荊州，至鎮，與孝綽書曰：「君屏居多暇，差得肆意典墳，吟詠情性，比復稀數古人，不以委約而能不伎癢；且虞卿、史遷由斯而作，想摛屬之興，益當不少。洛地紙貴，京師名動，彼此一時，何其盛也。近在道務閑，微得點翰，雖無紀行之作，頗有懷舊之篇。至此已來，衆諸屑役。小生之詆，恐取辱於廬江；遮道之姦，慮興謀於從事。方且褰帷自厲，求瘼不休，筆墨之功，曾何暇豫。至於心乎愛矣，未嘗有歇，思樂惠音，清風靡聞。譬夫夢想溫玉，饑渴明珠，雖愧卞、隨，猶爲好事。新有所制，想能示之。勿等清慮，徒虛其請。無由賞悉，遣此代懷。數路計行，遲還芳札。」孝綽答曰：「伏承自辭皇邑，爰至荊臺，未勞刺舉，且摛高麗。近雖預觀尺錦，而不睹全玉。昔臨淄詞賦，悉與楊脩，未殫寶笥，顧慚先哲。渚宮舊俗，朝衣多故，李固之薦二邦，徐珍之奏七邑，威懷之道，兼而有之。當欲使金石流功，恥用翰墨垂迹。雖乖知二，偶達聖心。爰自退居素裏，卻掃窮閈，比楊倫之不出，譬張摯之杜門。昔趙卿窮愁，肆言得失；漢臣鬱志，廣敘盛衰。彼此一時，擬非其匹。竊以文豹何辜，以文爲罪。由此而談，又何容易。故韜翰吮墨，多歷寒暑，旣闕子幼南山之歌，又微敬通渭水之賦，無以自同獻笑，少酬褒誘。且才乖體物，不擬作於玄根；事殊宿諾，寧貽懼於硃亥。顧己反躬，載懷累息。但瞻言漢廣，邈若天涯，區區一心，分宵九逝。殿下降情白屋，存問相尋，食椹懷音，矧伊人矣。」

At that time Prince Shiyizu had been sent to Jingzhou, and upon reaching his post he wrote to Xiaochuo: "Retired at home, you have ample leisure to roam freely among the classics and give voice to your temperament. Of late you have seldom measured yourself against the ancients—not because restraint keeps you from scratching the writer's itch; After all, men like Yu Qing and Sima Qian were born of just such impulses; surely your urge to write has only grown stronger. Paper grew costly in Luoyang and your name resounded in the capital—you and your peers each had your hour; what a glorious season that was! Lately, on the road, my duties have been lighter and I have managed a little writing; though I have produced no travel chronicle, I have composed several pieces steeped in nostalgia. Since my arrival here, I have been buried in a swarm of petty tasks. Were I to send you the scribblings of a minor talent, I would fear the disgrace Ruan Ji brought upon himself at Lujiang; and were I to waylay you with them, I would worry about provoking the sort of plot a staff officer might hatch. For now I am raising the curtain of office to spur myself on, seeking out the people's woes without pause; how could I possibly find leisure for literary work? Yet in my heart affection never ceases; I long to hear your gracious words, but no word from you has reached me. It is like dreaming of warm jade or thirsting for a luminous pearl—though I cannot compare with Bian He or Sui He, I am still eager for such treasures. You must have written something new—surely you can share it with me. Do not keep me waiting while you deliberate; do not let my request come to nothing. Unable to convey my full appreciation, I send this letter to stand in for what is in my heart. I reckon the distance by every road and await the late return of your gracious reply." Xiaochuo replied: "I humbly hear that since you left the imperial capital for the Jingzhou post, without need of censure you have already produced work of rare brilliance. Though I have lately glimpsed a fragment of your brocade, I have not yet seen the whole jade. In old days at Linzi the prince's rhapsodies all went to Yang Xiu, yet that treasure chest was hardly emptied—I only feel shame when I think of those greater men of the past. At Zhugong the old custom was that many court robes meant much to attend to—Li Gu recommended two commanderies and Xu Zhen reported on seven districts; your way combines both stern authority and gentle care. You surely wish your deeds to be inscribed in metal and stone, and are reluctant to win fame through mere letters. Although I fall short of grasping your dual aims, by chance I have hit upon your noble purpose. Since I withdrew to live simply behind closed doors, I have been like Yang Lun who never left home, like Zhang Zhi who barred his gate. In old times Zhao Qi, crushed by adversity, wrote freely about right and wrong; the Han minister Ban Gu, his ambitions thwarted, wrote at length of dynastic rise and fall. They were men of another age; I am no fit comparison to them. I fear the patterned leopard is blameless—yet writing has become my crime. Speaking from this, how could it be easy? So I have kept brush and ink hidden through many seasons; I lack both Liu Chen's "Southern Mountain" and Ban Gu's Wei River rhapsody—how could I compare with those who bring delight, or repay your praise and encouragement? Moreover my talent ill suits descriptive composition; I dare not attempt works like Xuan Gen's; My case is not like an old pledge kept at all costs; I would rather not share the fate of Zhu Zhihai. Looking inward upon myself, my heart is full of sigh upon sigh. Yet when I think of you the distance is like the far side of the Han River—though my heart is small, it crosses nine deaths in a single night. Your Highness has honored a humble dwelling with your affection and sent repeated inquiries; if even eating mulberries makes one remember a voice, how much more should I cherish you!"

孝綽免職後，高祖數使僕射徐勉宣旨慰撫之，每朝宴常引與焉。及高祖爲《籍田詩》，又使勉先示孝綽。時奉詔作者數十人，高祖以孝綽尤工，卽日有敕，起爲西中郎湘東王諮議。啓謝曰：「臣不能銜珠避顛，傾柯衛足，以茲疏幸，與物多忤。兼逢匿怨之友，遂居司隸之官，交構是非，用成萋斐。日月昭回，俯明枉直。獄書每御，輒鑒蔣濟之冤；炙發見明，非關陳正之辯。遂漏斯密網，免彼嚴棘，得使還同士伍，比屋唐民，生死肉骨，豈侔其施。臣誠無識，孰不戴天。疏遠畝隴，絕望高闕，而降其接引，優以旨喻，於臣微物，足爲榮隕。況剛條落葉，忽沾雲露；周行所置，復齒盛流。但雕朽杇糞，徒成延獎；捕影系風，終無效答。」又啓謝東宮曰：「臣聞之，先聖以『衆惡之，必察焉；衆好之，必察焉』。豈非孤特則積毀所歸，比周則積譽斯信？知好惡之間，必待明鑒。故晏嬰再爲阿宰，而前毀後譽。後譽出於阿意，前毀由於直道。是以一犬所噬，旨酒貿其甘酸；一手所搖，嘉樹變其生死。又鄒陽有言，士無賢愚，入朝見嫉。至若臧文之下展季，靳尚之放靈均，絳侯之排賈生，平津之陷主父，自茲厥後，其徒實繁。曲筆短辭，不暇殫述，寸管所窺，常由切齒。殿下誨道觀書，俯同好學，前載枉直，備該神覽。臣昔因立侍，親承緒言，飄風貝錦，譬彼讒慝，聖旨殷勤，深以爲歎。臣資愚履直，不能杜漸防微，曾未幾何，逢訧罹難。雖吹毛洗垢，在朝而同嗟；而嚴文峻法，肆姦其必奏。不顧賣友，志欲要君，自非上帝運超己之光，昭陵陽之虐，舞文虛謗，不取信於宸明，在縲嬰纆，幸得蠲於庸暗。裁下免黜之書，仍頒朝會之旨。小人未識通方，縶馬懸車，息絕朝覲。方願滅影銷聲，遂移林穀。不悟天聽罔已，造次必彰，不以距違見疵，復使引籍雲陛。降寬和之色，垂布帛之言，形之千載，所蒙已厚；況乃恩等特召，榮同起家，望古自惟，彌覺多忝。但未渝丹石，永藏輪軌，相彼工言，構茲媒諓。且款冬而生，已凋柯葉，空延德澤，無謝陽春。」

After Xiaochuo was dismissed, Emperor Gaozu repeatedly sent Vice Director Xu Mian with imperial messages of consolation, and at court banquets he was regularly invited to join the company. When Emperor Gaozu wrote the "Field-Cultivation Poem," he again had Mian show the draft to Xiaochuo first. Dozens were then composing on imperial command; Emperor Gaozu judged Xiaochuo the finest craftsman, and that very day issued an edict restoring him as Consultant to the Prince of Xiangdong, Western Palace Lieutenant. He memorialized his thanks: "Your servant cannot hold a pearl to ward off calamity or tilt the branch to shelter his feet; because of this blunt good fortune, I have often clashed with others. I also fell in with friends who nursed hidden grudges; when I held the Censorate post, they twisted truth and falsehood until slander took root. Sun and moon wheel through the sky, and from above wrong and right are made plain. Whenever prison reports reached the throne, Your Majesty saw through the injustice done to Jiang Ji; innocence was proved by burning hair—not through Chen Zheng's eloquence. Thus I slipped through the fine net and escaped harsh punishment, returning to live among common soldiers like neighbors in the age of Tang—restoring life to the dead and flesh to bone; how could such grace be matched? Your servant is truly without understanding—who would not feel bound to Heaven for such mercy? Though I was far from the fields and had despaired of the high palace, Your Majesty lowered yourself to guide me and favored me with gracious counsel—for this petty creature, that alone would be honor enough to die for. How much more when stiff branches that had shed their leaves suddenly receive cloud and dew; among the ranks of office I again take my place among the great and flourishing. But I am rotten wood smeared with dung—any extended praise is wasted on me; chasing shadows and tethering wind—in the end I can offer no worthy reply." He also memorialized his thanks to the Eastern Palace: "Your servant has heard the ancient sages say, 'When the multitude hates a man, examine him; when the multitude loves a man, examine him.'" Is it not that standing alone draws accumulated slander, while banding together wins accumulated praise? Between liking and disliking, clear judgment is indispensable. That is why Yan Ying, twice magistrate of a small town, was slandered at first and praised afterward. Later praise came from pleasing others; earlier slander came from walking the straight path. Thus one dog's bite can spoil the sweetness and sourness of fine wine; one hand's shake can decide whether a fine tree lives or dies. Zou Yang also said that whether a scholar is worthy or foolish, once he enters court he meets jealousy. Think of Zang Wen driving down Huiliu Ji, Jin Shang banishing Qu Yuan, the Marquis of Jiang excluding Jia Yi, and Gongsun Hong trapping Zhufu Yan—since then their kind has been truly numerous. With a bent brush and brief words I cannot tell the whole story; what this inch of brush has glimpsed often makes me gnash my teeth. Your Highness teaches the Way and reads widely, sharing the love of learning; past records of wrong and right are fully comprehended in your clear sight. Your servant once stood in attendance and heard Your Highness's own words on how 'the wind blows and brocade patterns appear'—a likeness of slander and malice; the earnest imperial intent moved me deeply. Your servant is foolish by nature yet walks a straight path; I could not stop trouble at its first stir—before long I met conflict and disaster. Though the court picked at hairs and washed stains and sighed together; strict documents and harsh law still required that those who indulged evil be reported. They cared nothing for betraying friends and sought only to corner their lord—had Heaven's Lord not looked beyond himself, exposed Zhao Yang's cruelty, and seen through the empty slander woven into legal documents, I would have remained in bonds and fetters; by fortune I was spared by mediocre blindness. You had just issued the dismissal edict, yet still sent word summoning me to court. This petty man did not know how to adapt; I hitched my horse and hung up my carriage and ceased attending court. I then wished to vanish without trace and retire to forest and valley. I did not realize Heaven's ear is never absent and that haste always shows itself—you did not fault me for refusing, but again had my name entered at the cloud steps of court. You showed a generous and harmonious countenance and bestowed words gentle as cloth and silk—grace to be recorded for a thousand ages, already more than I deserve; How much more when the favor equals a special summons and the glory equals rising from humble beginnings—looking to antiquity and examining myself, I feel only more unworthy. Yet though my loyal heart is unchanged and forever hidden in wheel-tracks, those skilled in words weave this slander against me. Moreover I am like a plant that blooms in winter, its branches and leaves already withered—I vainly receive your virtue's dew and cannot repay the spring sun."

後爲太子僕，母憂去職。服闋，除安西湘東王諮議參軍，遷黃門侍郎，尚書吏部郎，坐受人絹一束，爲餉者所訟，左遷信威臨賀王長史。頃之，遷秘書監。大同五年，卒官，時年五十九。

Later he was appointed Crown Prince Steward; when his mother died he left office to mourn. When mourning ended he was appointed Consultative Officer on the staff of the Prince of Xiangdong, General Who Pacifies the West; he was promoted to Palace Attendant and then Director of the Personnel Section, but for accepting a bundle of silk he was impeached by the donor and demoted to Chief Secretary to the Prince of Linhe, Prince of Xixin. Before long he was transferred to Director of the Secretariat. In the fifth year of Datong he died in office, at the age of fifty-nine.

孝綽少有盛名，而仗氣負才，多所陵忽，有不合意，極言詆訾。領軍臧盾、太府卿沈僧杲等，並被時遇，孝綽尤輕之。每於朝集會同處，公卿間無所與語，反呼騶卒訪道途間事，由此多忤於物。

Xiaochuo won great fame early, but he relied on his spirit and pride in his talent, often looking down on others; when displeased he spoke in the harshest terms of slander. General-in-Chief Zang Dun, Grand Storekeeper Shen Senggao, and others all enjoyed the favor of the times, but Xiaochuo especially looked down on them. At every court assembly he spoke with none of the ministers, but instead called grooms over to ask about road conditions—thereby often offending people.

孝綽辭藻爲後進所宗，世重其文，每作一篇，朝成暮遍，好事者咸諷誦傳寫，流聞絕域。文集數十萬言，行於世。

Xiaochuo's literary style was revered by the younger generation; the world prized his writings, and each piece finished in the morning circulated by evening; enthusiasts recited and copied them until they spread to distant lands. His collected works run to several hundred thousand words and circulate widely.

孝綽兄弟及羣從諸子侄，當時有七十人，並能屬文，近古未之有也。其三妹適琅邪王叔英、吳郡張嵊、東海徐悱，並有才學；悱妻文尤清拔。悱，僕射徐勉子，爲晉安郡，卒，喪還京師，妻爲祭文，辭甚悽愴。勉本欲爲哀文，旣睹此文，於是閣筆。

Xiaochuo's brothers and all the sons and nephews of his clan numbered seventy at the time, all able to compose writing—unprecedented in recent times. His three younger sisters married Wang Shuying of Langya, Zhang Sheng of Wu commandery, and Xu Ti of Donghai—all were accomplished in letters; Xu Ti's wife wrote with especial clarity and force. Xu Ti, son of Vice Director Xu Mian, served as prefect of Jin'an; when he died and his coffin returned to the capital, his wife composed a sacrificial text of extraordinary pathos. Mian had originally intended to write a lament himself, but once he read this text he put down his brush.

孝綽子諒，字求信。少好學，有文才，尤博悉晉代故事，時人號曰「皮裏晉書」。歷官著作佐郎，太子舍人，王府主簿，功曹史，中城王記室參軍。

Xiaochuo's son Liang, courtesy name Qiuxin. From youth he loved learning and had literary talent; he was especially steeped in Jin-dynasty anecdotes, and people of the time called him "the Jin History in a skin wrapper." He served as Assistant Gentleman of the Compilation Bureau, Crown Prince Attendant, prince's household chief clerk, merit officer, and recorder-attendant to the Prince of Zhongcheng.

王筠字元禮，一字德柔，琅邪臨沂人。祖僧虔，齊司空簡穆公。父楫，太中大夫。

Wang Yun, courtesy name Yuanli and also styled Derou, was a native of Linyi in Langya. His grandfather Sengqian was Duke Jianmu, Minister of Works of Qi. His father Ji served as Grand Master of Palace Counsel.

筠幼警寤，七歲能屬文。年十六，爲《芍藥賦》，甚美。及長，清靜好學，與從兄泰齊名。陳郡謝覽，覽弟舉，亦有重譽，時人爲之語曰：「謝有覽舉，王有養炬。」炬是泰，養卽筠，並小字也。

Yun was precocious from childhood; at seven he could already compose writing. At sixteen he wrote "Peony Fu," a work of great beauty. When grown he was quiet and fond of learning, and was equally famous with his cousin Tai. Xie Lan of Chen commandery and his younger brother Ju also enjoyed great repute, and people of the time said: "The Xies have Lan and Ju; the Wangs have Yang and Ju." Ju was Tai's childhood name and Yang was Yun's—they were both pet names.

起家中軍臨川王行參軍，遷太子舍人，除尚書殿中郎。王氏過江以來，未有居郎署者，或勸逡巡不就，筠曰：「陸平原東南之秀，王文度獨步江東，吾得比蹤昔人，何所多恨。」乃欣然就職。尚書令沈約，當世辭宗，每見筠文，咨嗟吟詠，以爲不逮也。嘗謂筠：「昔蔡伯喈見王仲宣稱曰：『王公之孫也，吾家書籍，悉當相與。』僕雖不敏，請附斯言。自謝朓諸賢零落已後，平生意好，殆將都絕，不謂疲暮，復逢於君。」約於郊居宅造閣齋，筠爲草木十詠，書之於壁，皆直寫文詞，不加篇題。約謂人云：「此詩指物呈形，無假題署。」約制《郊居賦》，構思積時，猶未都畢，乃要筠示其草，筠讀至「雌霓連蜷」，約撫掌欣抃曰：「僕嘗恐人呼爲霓。」次至「墜石磓星」，及「冰懸坎而帶坻」。筠皆擊節稱讚。約曰：「知音者希，真賞殆絕，所以相要，政在此數句耳。」筠又嘗爲詩呈約，卽報書云：「覽所示詩，實爲麗則，聲和被紙，光影盈字。夔、牙接響，顧有餘慚；孔翠羣翔，豈不多愧。古情拙目，每佇新奇，爛然總至，權輿已盡。會昌昭發，蘭揮玉振，克諧之義，寧比笙簧。思力所該，一至乎此，嘆服吟研，周流忘念。昔時幼壯，頗愛斯文，含咀之間，倏焉疲暮。不及後進，誠非一人，擅美推能，實歸吾子。遲比閑日，清覯乃申。」筠爲文能壓強韻，每公宴並作，辭必妍美。約常從容啓高祖曰：「晚來名家，唯見王筠獨步。」

He began his career as Acting Aide on the staff of the Prince of Linchuan, Central Army Commander; he was transferred to Crown Prince Attendant and then appointed Director of the Palace Section in the Ministry of Works. Since the Wang clan crossed the Yangzi, none had held a Secretariat post; some urged him to hesitate and decline; Yun said: "Lu Ji was the finest talent of the southeast; Wang Huizhi walked alone in Jiangdong—I may compare my footsteps with men of old; what is there to regret?" Thereupon he gladly took up the post. Director Shen Yue, the literary patriarch of the age, whenever he saw Yun's writings would sigh in admiration and chant them aloud, thinking himself not Yun's equal. Once he said to Yun: "When Cai Yong met Wang Can he said: 'He is a grandson of the Wang house; all the books in my home shall be shared with him. Though I am not clever, I ask to attach myself to those words. Since Xie Tiao and the other worthies passed away, the friends of my heart are nearly all gone; I did not expect, in weary old age, to meet you again." Yue built a pavilion study at his suburban residence; Yun composed Ten Odes on Plants and wrote them on the walls, copying the text directly without adding titles. Yue told people: "These poems present things in their own form without needing titles." Yue was composing "Suburban Residence Fu"; he had been accumulating ideas for a long time and it was still unfinished, so he asked Yun to show him the draft; when Yun read to "the female rainbow coiled," Yue clapped his hands in delight and said: "I once feared people would read it as ni." Then to "fallen stones pounding stars" and "ice hanging in the pit and girding the islet." Yun beat time with his hand and praised each passage. Yue said: "Connoisseurs are few and true appreciation nearly gone—that is why I asked you here, for these few lines alone." Yun once sent Yue a poem; Yue replied at once: "Reading the poem you showed me, I find it truly beautiful and correct—its harmonies ring against the page and light seems to spill from every character. Like Kui and Boya echoing in reply, I still feel more shame than pride; When peacocks and kingfishers flock together in flight, how could I not feel deeply ashamed? Old habit dulls the eye, yet each time I wait for something new, splendor arrives in full—until even the first stirrings are exhausted. Brilliance meets and shines forth; orchids sway and jade chimes ring—such perfect harmony cannot be compared with mere pipes and reeds. The reach of your thought and power extends to this height; I sigh in admiration, chant and study your lines, and lose myself in them entirely. In my youth and prime I loved this kind of writing; but while I was still savoring it, old age came upon me all at once. That I cannot match the younger generation is not mine alone to say; to monopolize beauty and recommend talent truly belongs to you, my lord. Let us wait for a free day, and then meet face to face at leisure." Yun could compose even under the hardest rhyme schemes; at every public banquet where they wrote together, his language was invariably beautiful. Yue often said calmly to Emperor Gaozu: "Among the great literary houses of recent times, I see only Wang Yun standing alone."

累遷太子洗馬，中舍人，並掌東宮管記。昭明太子愛文學士，常與筠及劉孝綽、陸倕、到洽、殷芸等游宴玄圃，太子獨執筠袖撫孝綽肩而言曰：「所謂左把浮丘袖，右拍洪崖肩。」其見重如此。筠又與殷芸以方雅見禮焉。出爲丹陽尹丞、北中郎諮議參軍，遷中書郎。奉敕制《開善寺寶誌大師碑文》，詞甚麗逸。又敕撰《中書表奏》三十卷，及所上賦頌，都爲一集。俄兼寧遠湘東王長史，行府、國、郡事。除太子家令，復掌管記。

He rose through the ranks to Crown Prince Groom and Palace Attendant, and concurrently managed the Eastern Palace records. Crown Prince Zhaoming loved literary scholars and often feasted with Yun, Liu Xiaochuo, Lu Chi, Dao Qia, Yin Yun, and others in the Mystic Garden; the Crown Prince alone took Yun by the sleeve and Xiaochuo by the shoulder and said: "This is what people mean by 'grasping Fuqiu's sleeve with the left hand and patting Hongya's shoulder with the right.' Such was the esteem in which he was held. Yun and Yin Yun were also honored for their refined and upright bearing. He served outside the capital as Assistant Magistrate of Danyang and Consultation Aide on the staff of the Northern General of the Guard, then was transferred to Secretariat Gentleman. By imperial command he composed the memorial stele inscription for Master Baozhi of Kaishan Temple, in language of exceptional beauty and grace. He was also ordered to compile thirty volumes of Secretariat memorials and petitions, together with the fu and hymns he had submitted, all gathered into one collection. Soon he was also made Chief Administrator to the Prince of Xiangdong, General of Ningyuan, and handled the affairs of the princely establishment, fief, and commandery. He was appointed Crown Prince Household Commandant and again took charge of the records.

普通元年，以母憂去職。筠有孝性，毀瘠過禮，服闋後，疾廢久之。六年，除尚書吏部郎，遷太子中庶子，領羽林監，又改領步兵。中大通二年，遷司徒左長史。三年，昭明太子薨，敕爲哀策文，復見嗟賞。尋出爲貞威將軍、臨海太守，在郡被訟，不調累年。大同初，起爲雲麾豫章王長史，遷秘書監。五年，除太府卿。明年，遷度支尚書。中大同元年，出爲明威將軍、永嘉太守，以疾固辭，徙爲光祿大夫，俄遷雲騎將軍、司徒左長史。太清二年，侯景寇逼，筠時不入城。明年，太宗卽位，爲太子詹事。筠舊宅先爲賊所焚，乃寓居國子祭酒蕭子雲宅，夜忽有盜攻之，驚懼墜井卒，時年六十九。家人十餘人同遇害。

In the first year of Putong he left office to mourn his mother. Yun was deeply filial; his grief emaciated him beyond what ritual required, and after the mourning period ended he remained ill and incapacitated for a long time. In the sixth year he was appointed Director of Personnel in the Ministry of Works, then transferred to Crown Prince Household Vice-Administrator; he headed the Palace Guard Directorate and later the Footsoldiers as well. In the second year of Zhongdatong he was transferred to Left Chief Administrator of the Minister over the Masses. In the third year Crown Prince Zhaoming died; by edict Yun composed the lament eulogy and was once again admired with sighs of praise. Soon he was sent out as General of Upright Might and Prefect of Linhai; lawsuits were brought against him in the commandery, and for many years he did not respond to summons. Early in Datong he was recalled as Chief Administrator to the Prince of Yuzhang, Cloud-Banner General, and then transferred to Director of the Secretariat. In the fifth year he was appointed Minister Steward. The following year he was transferred to Minister of Revenue. In the first year of Zhongdatong he was sent out as Bright Might General and Prefect of Yongjia, but firmly declined on grounds of illness; he was reassigned as Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, and soon transferred to Cloud Cavalry General and Left Chief Administrator of the Minister over the Masses. In the second year of Taiqing, when Hou Jing pressed his attack, Yun did not enter the city. The following year, when Emperor Taizong took the throne, Yun was made Crown Prince Household Mentor. Yun's old residence had already been burned by bandits, so he lodged in the home of Xiao Ziyun, Director of the Imperial University; robbers attacked one night, and in terror he fell into a well and died at the age of sixty-nine. More than ten members of his household were killed as well.

筠狀貌寢小，長不滿六尺。性弘厚，不以藝能高人，而少擅才名，與劉孝綽見重當世。其自序曰：「餘少好書，老而彌篤。雖偶見瞥觀，皆卽疏記，後重省覽，歡興彌深，習與性成，不覺筆倦。自年十三四，齊建武二年乙亥至梁大同六年，四十載矣。幼年讀《五經》，皆七八十遍。愛《左氏春秋》，吟諷常爲口實，廣略去取，凡三過五抄。餘經及《周官》、《儀禮》、《國語》、《爾雅》、《山海經》、《本草》並再抄。子史諸集皆一遍。未嘗倩人假手，並躬自抄錄，大小百餘卷。不足傳之好事，蓋以備遺忘而已。」又與諸兒書論家世集云：「史傳稱安平崔氏及汝南應氏，並累世有文才，所以范蔚宗云崔氏『世擅雕龍』。然不過父子兩三世耳；非有七葉之中，名德重光，爵位相繼，人人有集，如吾門世者也。沈少傅約語人云：『吾少好百家之言，身爲四代之史，自開闢已來，未有爵位蟬聯，文才相繼，如王氏之盛者也。』汝等仰觀堂構，思各努力。」筠自撰其文章，以一官爲一集，自洗馬、中書、中庶子、吏部、左佐、臨海、太府各十卷，《尚書》三十卷，凡一百卷，行於世。

Yun was slight in build and stood less than six chi tall. He was generous by nature and never looked down on others because of his literary gifts, yet from youth he excelled in talent and fame and, together with Liu Xiaochuo, was highly regarded in his time. In his self-preface he wrote: "From youth I loved books, and in old age my devotion has only deepened. Even when I only glanced at something in passing, I would jot it down at once; when I read those notes again later, my pleasure only deepened—habit had become second nature, and I never noticed my hand growing tired. From the age of thirteen or fourteen, from the yihai year, the second year of Jianwu under Qi, to the sixth year of Datong under Liang—that is forty years. In childhood I read each of the Five Classics seventy or eighty times. I loved the Zuo Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals and often recited it aloud; I made abridged and expanded selections from it, reading it through three times and copying it five times. The other classics, together with the Rites of Zhou, Ceremonial Rites, Discourses of the States, Erya, Classic of Mountains and Seas, and Materia Medica, I copied twice each. Histories, philosophical works, and collected writings I read once each. I never asked anyone else to copy for me; I copied everything myself, more than a hundred scrolls in all. These copies are not worth passing on to collectors; I made them only to guard against forgetting." He also wrote to his sons about the family's literary collections: "Historical records say that the Cui clan of Anping and the Ying clan of Runan both produced literary talent for generations; that is why Fan Ye said of the Cui clan, 'For generations they monopolized the carving of dragons. Yet that amounted to no more than two or three generations of fathers and sons; They did not have, across seven generations, fame and virtue renewed in succession, offices passed from father to son, and every man with a collected work, as our house has. Junior Mentor Shen Yue once said: "From youth I loved the teachings of the hundred schools; I have served as historian through four dynasties; since the beginning of history there has never been such unbroken succession of rank and literary talent as in the flourishing of the Wang clan." Look up at the hall our forebears built, and strive each in your own way." Yun compiled his own writings into collections named for each office he had held: ten volumes each for his terms as Groom, Secretariat Gentleman, Vice-Administrator, Personnel Director, Left Assistant, Prefect of Linhai, and Minister Steward, plus thirty volumes of Ministry of Works memorials—a hundred volumes in all, which circulated in the world.

史臣陳吏部尚書姚察曰：王僧孺之巨學，劉孝綽之詞藻，主非不好也，才非不用也，其拾青紫，取極貴，何難哉！而孝綽不拘言行，自躓身名，徒鬱抑當年，非不遇也。 [1]

The historian Yao Cha, Minister of Personnel, writes: Wang Sengru's vast learning and Liu Xiaochuo's literary brilliance—their lord did not fail to appreciate them, nor were their talents left unused; for men like them to take purple and blue robes and reach the highest honors should have been easy! Yet Xiaochuo would not restrain his words or conduct; he brought ruin on his own reputation and spent his best years in frustration—it was not that he lacked opportunity. Editorial footnote marker in the source text.

全文以中華書局、一九七三年五月版《梁書》爲本校。

The full text of this chapter is collated against the Zhonghua Shuju edition of the Book of Liang, May 1973.

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