1
伶官○羅衣輕
Music Officials ○ Luo Yiqing
2
伶，官之微者也。 《五代史》列鏡新磨於《傳》，是必有所取矣。 遼之伶官當時固多，然能因詼諧示諫，以消未形之亂，惟羅衣輕耳。 孔子曰：「君子不以人廢言。」 是宜傳。
Court entertainers ranked among the lowest offices in the hierarchy. The History of the Five Dynasties devoted a full biography to the entertainer Jing Xinmo, which shows that such figures could merit historical notice. The Liao court had many entertainers, but only Luo Yiqing turned humor into counsel and defused brewing crises before they broke out. Confucius said, "A gentleman does not dismiss a saying merely because of who said it." For that reason he deserves a place in the annals.
3
羅衣輕，不知其鄉里。 滑稽通變，一時諧謔，多所規諷。 興宗敗於李元昊也，單騎突出，幾不得脫。 先是，元昊獲遼人，輒劓其鼻，有奔北者惟恐追及。 故羅衣輕止之曰：「且觀鼻在否？」 上怒，以毳索系帳後，將殺之。 太子笑曰：「打諢底不是黃幡綽！」 羅衣輕應聲曰：「行兵底亦不是唐太宗！」 上聞而釋之。 上嘗與太弟重元狎昵，宴酣，許以千秋萬歲後傳位。 重元喜甚，驕縱不法。 又因雙陸，賭以居民城邑。 帝屢不競，前後已償數城。 重元既恃梁孝王之寵，又多鄭叔段之過，朝臣無敢言者，道路以目。 一日復博，羅衣輕指其局曰：「雙陸休癡，和你都輸去也！」 帝始悟，不復戲。 清寧間，以疾卒。
Luo Yiqing's place of origin is not recorded. Quick-witted and adaptable, he was the leading comic at court and often couched admonition in playful speech. After Emperor Xingzong's defeat at the hands of Li Yuanhao of Western Xia, he fled the field alone and nearly failed to get away. Before this, Yuanhao had captured Liao soldiers and routinely mutilated their noses, so men fleeing homeward lived in terror of being overtaken. Luo Yiqing therefore halted him and quipped, "Let us first check whether your nose is still in place." The emperor flew into a rage, bound him with a fur cord behind the tent, and prepared to put him to death. The crown prince laughed and said, "The fellow cracking jokes is no Huang Fanchuo!" Luo Yiqing shot back at once, "And the one commanding the army is no Emperor Taizong of Tang either!" Hearing this, the emperor set him free. The emperor had grown overly familiar with his younger brother Chongyuan; deep in wine at a banquet, he promised to abdicate in his favor in the distant future. Chongyuan was elated and became arrogant and unrestrained. They also played backgammon, wagering whole towns and their populations. The emperor lost again and again and had already forfeited several cities. Chongyuan enjoyed favor comparable to Prince Xiao of Liang under Emperor Wen of Han and repeated the overreaching of Duke Zhuang's brother Shuduan; no minister dared remonstrate, and travelers only dared signal their alarm with their eyes. One day they were at the board again; Luo Yiqing pointed at the game and said, "Enough of this backgammon folly—you are going to lose everything to him!" The emperor finally took the point and gave up the game. He died of illness during the Qingning period.
4
◎宦官○王繼恩趙安仁
◎ Eunuch Officials ○ Wang Jien and Zhao Anren
5
《周禮》，寺人掌中門之禁。 至巷伯詩列於《雅》，勃貂功著於晉，雖忠於所事，而非其職矣。 漢、唐中世，竊權蠹政，有不忍言者，是皆寵遇之過。 遼宦者二人，其賢不肖皆可為後世鑒，故傳焉。
The Rites of Zhou assign palace stewards to guard the inner gates. Later the "Palace Steward" ode entered the Greater Odes, and Bo Diao won fame in Jin—loyal to their masters, perhaps, but already acting outside their proper charge. In the middle Han and Tang periods eunuchs seized power and poisoned government, producing scandals too grim to relate in full—all the result of excessive favor. Liao produced two eunuchs whose conduct, good and bad, can instruct posterity; that is why they are recorded here.
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王繼恩，棣州人。 睿智皇后南征，繼恩被俘。 初，皇后以公私所獲十歲已下兒容貌可觀者近百人，載赴涼陘，並使閹為豎，繼恩在焉。 聰慧，通書及遼語。 擢內謁者、內侍左廂押班。 聖宗親政，累遷尚衣庫使、左承宣、監門衛大將軍、靈州觀察使、內庫都提點。 繼恩好清談，不喜權利，每得賜賚，市書至萬卷，載以自隨，誦讀不倦。 每宋使來聘，繼恩多充宣賜使。 後不知所終。
Wang Jien came from Dizhou. When Empress Ruizhi marched south, Jien was taken prisoner. Earlier the empress had gathered nearly a hundred children under ten, handsome boys taken in raids and by other means, sent them to Liangjin, and had them all castrated as palace attendants; Jien was one of them. Clever and quick to learn, he mastered written Chinese and the Khitan language. He rose to Inner Attendant and chief steward of the left wing of the inner palace. After Emperor Shengzong assumed personal rule, Jien was promoted in succession to Director of the Imperial Wardrobe, Left Commissioner of Announcement, Grand General of the Gate Guards, Military Commissioner of Lingzhou, and Chief Intendant of the Inner Treasury. Jien loved scholarly talk and cared nothing for power or gain; whenever he received rewards he bought books by the thousands, carried them wherever he went, and read without cease. Whenever Song envoys arrived on diplomatic missions, Jien was often appointed to distribute imperial gifts. What became of him afterward is not recorded.
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趙安仁，字小喜，深州樂壽人，自幼被俘。 統和中，為黃門令、秦晉國王府祗候。 王薨，授內侍省押班、禦院通進。 開泰八年，與李勝哥謀奔南土，為遊兵所擒。 初，仁德皇后與欽哀有隙，欽哀密令安仁伺皇后動靜，無不知者。 仁德皇后威權既重，安仁懼禍，復謀亡歸。 仁德欲誅之，欽哀以言營救。 聖宗曰：「小喜言父母兄弟俱在南朝，每一念，神魂隕越。 今為思親，冒死而亡，亦孝子用心，實可憐憫。」 赦之。 重熙初，欽哀攝政，欲廢帝，立少子重元。 帝與安仁謀，遷太后慶州守陵，授安仁左承宣、監門衛大將軍，充契丹漢人渤海內侍都知，兼都提點。 會上思太后，親馭奉迎，太后責曰：」汝負萬死，我嘗營救。 不望汝報，何為離間我母子耶！」 安仁無答。 後不知所終。
Zhao Anren, whose style was Xiaoxi, came from Leshou in Shenzhou and had been taken captive as a boy. During the Tonghe reign he served as Yellow Gate Commandant and attendant at the mansion of the Prince of Qin and Jin. After the prince's death he was appointed chief steward of the Inner Attendant Service and courier of the Imperial Park. In the eighth year of Kaitai he plotted with Li Shengge to escape south and was caught by patrol troops. Earlier Empress Rende and Empress Dowager Qintian were estranged; Qintian secretly set Anren to spy on the empress's every move, and nothing escaped him. When Empress Rende's power grew formidable, Anren feared for his life and again plotted to escape south. Rende sought to have him executed, but Qintian interceded for him. Emperor Shengzong said, "Xiaoxi reports that his parents and brothers all remain in the Song realm; the mere thought of them overwhelms his spirit. Now, moved by love for his family, he risked death to flee. That is the heart of a filial son and truly calls for compassion." He was pardoned. Early in the Chongxi era Empress Dowager Qintian served as regent, sought to depose the emperor, and planned to enthrone her younger son Chongyuan. The emperor conspired with Anren, sent the empress dowager to Qingzhou to tend the imperial tombs, and appointed Anren Left Commissioner of Announcement and Grand General of the Gate Guards, making him superintendent of Khitan, Han, and Bohai inner attendants and chief intendant as well. When the emperor missed his mother and went in person to escort her back, the empress dowager reproached him: "You deserved death a thousand times over, yet I once saved your life." I asked for no reward—why have you driven us mother and son apart!" Anren had nothing to say. What became of him afterward is not recorded.
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論曰：名器所以礪天下，非賢而有功則不可授，況宦者乎！ 繼恩為內謁者，安仁為黃門令，似矣，何至溺於私愛，而授以觀察使、大將軍耶？ 《易》曰：「負且乘，致寇至。」 此安仁所以不克有終，繼恩幸而免歟？
Commentary: Honorary titles and insignia exist to sharpen the realm's virtue; they must not be granted without merit and worthiness—and least of all to eunuchs. Jien as Inner Attendant and Anren as Yellow Gate Commandant would have been fitting enough—how could private affection run so deep that they were made military commissioners and grand generals? The Book of Changes says, "He carries a burden yet rides in a carriage—bandits will come upon him." Is this not why Anren failed to end well, while Jien was fortunate enough to escape a similar fate?