1
王艮 〈（高遜誌）〉 廖升 〈（魏冕鄒瑾龔泰）〉 周是修程本立黃觀王叔英 〈（林英）〉 黃鉞 〈（曾鳳韶）〉 王良陳思賢 〈（龍溪六生臺溫二樵）〉 程通 〈（黃希範葉惠仲黃彥清蔡運石允常）〉 高巍 〈（韓郁）〉 高賢寧王琎周縉牛景先 〈（程濟等。）〉
Wang Gen (Gao Xunzhi)]〉 Liao Sheng (Wei Mian, Zou Jin, and Gong Tai)]〉 Zhou Shixiu, Cheng Benli, Huang Guan, and Wang Shuying (Lin Ying)]〉 Huang Yue (Zeng Fengshao)]〉 Wang Liang and Chen Sixian (the six Longxi scholars, and the two woodcutters of Taizhou and Wenzhou)]〉 Cheng Tong (Huang Xifan, Ye Huizhong, Huang Yanqing, Cai Yun, and Shi Yunchang)]〉 Gao Wei (Han Yu)]〉 Gao Xianning, Wang Jin, Zhou Jin, and Niu Jingxian (Cheng Ji and others.)]〉
2
王艮，字敬止，吉水人。 建文二年進士。 對策第一。 貌寢，易以胡靖，即胡廣也。 艮次之，又次李貫。 三人皆同里，並授修撰，如洪武中故事，設文史館居之。 預修《太祖實錄》及《類要》、《時政記》諸書。 一時大著作皆綜理之。 數上書言時務。
Wang Gen, whose style was Jingzhi, came from Jishui. He became a metropolitan graduate in the second year of the Jianwen reign. His answers in the palace examination placed him first. Because his looks were plain, the top place was given to Hu Jing—better known as Hu Guang. Gen ranked second, with Li Guan third. All three were fellow townsmen and were appointed compilers together; following Hongwu precedent, a Literary and Historical Office was set up for them to live in. He helped compile the Veritable Records of Taizu, the Classified Essentials, the Record of Current Affairs, and other state books. For a time he oversaw every major literary project at court. He sent up many memorials on current affairs.
3
燕兵薄京城，艮與妻子訣曰：「食人之祿者，死人之事。 吾不可復生矣。」 解縉、吳溥與艮、靖比舍居。 城陷前一夕，皆集溥舍。 縉陳說大義，靖亦奮激慷慨，艮獨流涕不言。 三人去，溥子與弼尚幼，嘆曰：「胡叔能死，是大佳事。」 溥曰：「不然，獨王叔死耳。」 語未畢，隔墻聞靖呼：「外喧甚，謹視豚。」 溥顧與弼曰：「一豚尚不能舍，肯舍生乎？」 須臾艮舍哭，飲鴆死矣。 縉馳謁，成祖甚喜。 明日薦靖，召至，叩頭謝。 貫亦迎附。 後成祖出建文時群臣封事千余通，令縉等編閱。 事涉兵農、錢谷者留之，諸言語幹犯及他，一切皆焚毀。 因從容問貫、縉等曰：「爾等宜皆有之。」 眾未對，貫獨頓首曰：「臣實未嘗有也。」 成祖曰：「爾以無為美耶？ 食其祿，任其事，當國家危急，官近侍獨無一言可乎？ 朕特惡夫誘建文壞祖法亂政者耳。」 後貫遷中允，坐累，死獄中。 臨卒嘆曰：「吾愧王敬止矣。」
As the Yan forces neared the capital, Gen bade farewell to his wife and children, saying, "Whoever lives on another man's pay must die for his lord's sake. I cannot go on living. Xie Jin and Wu Pu lived next door to Gen and Jing. On the night before the city fell, they all met at Pu's home. Jin spoke fervently of duty; Jing too grew heated and bold, while Gen only wept and said nothing. After they left, Pu's young sons You and Bi sighed and said, "If Uncle Hu can die for the cause, that would be splendid." Pu replied, "No—only Uncle Wang will die." He had barely finished when they heard Jing shout through the wall, "It's very noisy outside—watch the pig closely." Pu turned to Bi and said, "A man who cannot part with one pig—will he part with his life?" Soon afterward wailing rose from Gen's house—he had taken poison and died. Jin rushed to present himself, and Chengzu was delighted. The next day Jin recommended Jing, who was summoned, came forward, and kowtowed in gratitude. Guan also came over to the new regime. Later Chengzu brought out more than a thousand sealed memorials from Jianwen's ministers and had Jin and others review them. Memorials on war, farming, and finance were kept; anything insulting or otherwise objectionable was burned. Then he asked Guan, Jin, and the others casually, "You must all have had such papers yourselves." No one answered until Guan alone kowtowed and said, "I truly never had any." Chengzu said, "You think having none is admirable? You took the pay and held the post—when the realm was in crisis, could a close attendant really have had nothing to say? I only hate those who led Jianwen to overturn ancestral law and throw the government into chaos. Later Guan was made Right Assistant Censor, but through implication in a case he died in prison. As he lay dying he sighed, "I am ashamed before Wang Jingzhi."
4
有高遜誌者，艮座主也，蕭縣人，寓嘉興。 幼嗜學，師貢師泰、周伯琦等。 文章典雅，成一家言。 征修《元史》，入翰林，累遷試吏部侍郎。 以事謫朐山。 建文初，召為太常少卿，與董倫同主會試。 得士自艮外，胡靖、吳溥、楊榮、金幼孜、楊溥、胡濙、顧佐等皆為名臣。 燕師入，存歿無可考。
There was Gao Xunzhi, Gen's chief examiner, from Xiaoxian, who lived in Jiaxing. As a boy he loved study and took Gong Shitai, Zhou Boqi, and others as his teachers. His prose was refined and distinctive, forming a school of his own. Called to help compile the History of Yuan, he entered the Hanlin and rose to Acting Vice Minister of Personnel. Because of a case he was banished to Qushan. Early in Jianwen he was recalled as Vice Minister of Rites and, with Dong Lun, ran the metropolitan examination. Besides Gen, those chosen included Hu Jing, Wu Pu, Yang Rong, Jin Youzi, Yang Pu, Hu Ying, and Gu Zuo—all later famous ministers. When the Yan forces entered the capital, whether he lived or died cannot be determined.
5
廖升，襄陽人。 不知其所以進，學行最知名，與方孝孺、王紳相友善。 洪武末，由左府斷事擢太常少卿。 建文初，修《太祖實錄》，董倫、王景為總裁官； 升與高遜誌為副總裁官； 李貫、王紳、胡子昭、楊士奇、羅恢、程本立為纂修官。 皆一時選。 燕師渡江，朝廷遣使請割地。 不許。 升聞而慟哭，與家人訣，自縊死。 殉難諸臣，升死最先。 其後陳瑛奏諸臣逆天命，效死建文君，請行追戮，亦首及升雲。
Liao Sheng came from Xiangyang. How he rose is unknown, but in learning and conduct he was the most celebrated, and he was close to Fang Xiaoru and Wang Shen. Late in Hongwu he was promoted from an adjudicator in the Left Secretariat to Vice Minister of Rites. Early in Jianwen, when the Veritable Records of Taizu were compiled, Dong Lun and Wang Jing were chief compilers; Sheng and Gao Xunzhi were deputy compilers; Li Guan, Wang Shen, Hu Zizhao, Yang Shiqi, Luo Hui, and Cheng Benli served as editors. All were the finest scholars of the day. When the Yan army crossed the Yangzi, the court sent envoys to sue for a territorial settlement. The request was refused. When Sheng heard this he wept bitterly, bade his family farewell, and hanged himself. Among the martyred ministers, Sheng was the first to die. Later Chen Ying memorialized that many ministers had defied Heaven's mandate and died for Jianwen, asking for posthumous punishment; Sheng's name headed the list.
6
時為瑛追論者，有魏冕等。 冕官御史。 燕兵犯闕，都督徐增壽徘徊殿廷，有異志。 冕率同官毆之，與大理丞鄒瑾大呼，請速加誅。 明日，宮中火起。 有勸冕降者，厲聲叱之。 遂自殺，瑾亦死。 瑾、冕皆永豐人。 其同里鄒樸，官秦府長史。 聞瑾死，憤甚，不食卒。 或曰即瑾子也。
Among those Chen Ying sought to punish posthumously were Wei Mian and others. Mian was a censor. When the Yan army stormed the palace, Regional Commander Xu Zengshou lingered in the hall, clearly harboring treacherous intent. Mian led his colleagues in beating him, and with Assistant Director of Justice Zou Jin shouted for his immediate execution. The next day the palace caught fire. When someone urged Mian to submit, he shouted him down. He then took his own life, and Jin died as well. Jin and Mian were both from Yongfeng. Their fellow townsman Zou Pu was Chief Secretary to the Prince of Qin. When he heard of Jin's death he was so enraged that he stopped eating and died. Some say he was Jin's son.
7
又都給事中龔泰，義烏人。 由鄉薦起家。 燕王入金川門，泰被縛，以非奸黨釋，不殺。 自投城下死。 泰嘗遊學宮，狂人擠之，溺池中幾死，弗校。 人服其量。
There was also Chief Supervising Secretary Gong Tai, from Yiwu. He entered office through provincial recommendation. When the Prince of Yan entered through the Jinchuan Gate, Tai was bound, but because he was not counted among the traitor faction he was released unharmed. He threw himself from the wall and died. Once at the school precinct a madman jostled him into a pool and he nearly drowned, yet he bore no grudge. People admired his forbearance.
8
是修外和內剛，誌操卓犖。 非其義，一介不茍得也。 嘗曰：「忠臣不計得失，故言無不直； 烈女不慮死生，故行無不果。」 嘗輯古今忠節事為《觀感錄》。 其學自經史百家，陰陽醫卜，靡不通究。 為文援筆立就而雅贍條達。 初與士奇、縉、靖及金幼孜、黃淮、胡儼約同死。 臨難，惟是修竟行其誌雲。
Shixiu was gentle in manner but steely within, with lofty resolve and outstanding integrity. He would not accept even the smallest gain that was not rightfully his. He once said, "A loyal minister does not weigh gain and loss, and so nothing he says is anything but straight; a woman of fierce integrity does not weigh life and death, and so nothing she does fails to be carried through. He compiled ancient and modern tales of loyalty and integrity into the Record of Stirred Feelings. His learning ranged from the classics and histories through the hundred schools to yin-yang lore, medicine, and divination—there was almost nothing he had not mastered. In writing he could take up the brush and finish at once, with elegance, fullness, and lucid order. At first he had pledged with Shiqi, Jin, Jing, Jin Youzi, Huang Huai, and Hu Yan to die together. When the crisis came, only Shixiu in the end kept his word.
9
程本立，字原道，崇德人。 先儒頤之後。 父德剛，負才氣不仕。 元將路成兵過皂林，暴掠。 德剛為陳利害。 成悅，戢其部眾。 俗奏，官之，辭去。 本立少有大誌，讀書不事章句。 洪武中，旌孝子，太祖嘗謂之曰：「學者爭務科舉，以窮經為名而無實學。 子質近厚，當誌聖賢之學。」 本立益自力。 聞金華朱克修得朱熹之傳於許謙，往從之遊。 舉明經、秀才。 除秦府引禮舍人，賜楮幣、鞍馬。 母憂去官，服除，補周府禮官，從王之開封。 二十年春進長史。 從王入覲。 坐累，謫雲南馬龍他郎甸長官司吏目。 留家大梁，攜一仆之任。 土酋施可伐煽百夷為亂，本立單騎入其巢，諭以禍福，諸酋鹹附。 未幾，復變。 西平侯沐英、布政使張紞知本立賢，屬行縣典兵事，且撫且禦。 自楚雄、姚安抵大理、永昌鶴慶、麗江。 山行野宿，往來綏輯凡九年，民夷安業。 三十一年奏計京師。 學士董倫、府尹向寶交薦之。 征入翰林，預修《太祖實錄》，遷右僉都御史。 俸入外，不通饋遺。 建文三年坐失陪祀，貶官，仍留纂修。 《實錄》成，出為江西副使。 未行，燕兵入，自縊死。
Cheng Benli, whose style was Yuandao, came from Chongde. He was descended from the Neo-Confucian master Cheng Yi. His father Degang was gifted and proud, and refused office. When the Yuan general Lu Cheng's troops passed through Zaolin, they plundered wildly. Degang laid out the costs and benefits for him. Cheng was pleased and reined in his men. The people petitioned for him to be given office, but he declined and withdrew. From youth Benli had great ambition; in his studies he did not chase mere textual glosses. In Hongwu he was honored as a filial son; Taizu once told him, "Scholars all chase the examinations, claiming exhaustive mastery of the classics while lacking real learning. Your character is solid; you should devote yourself to the learning of the sages. Benli redoubled his efforts. Hearing that Zhu Kexiu of Jinhua had received Zhu Xi's teaching from Xu Qian, he went to study with him. He was recommended as a Classicist and as a cultivated talent. He was made Guiding Ceremonial Attendant in the Prince of Qin's household and was given paper money and horses. He left office to mourn his mother; when mourning ended he was reassigned as a ritual officer to the Prince of Zhou and followed him to Kaifeng. In the spring of the twentieth year he was promoted to Chief Secretary. He accompanied the prince to court. Through implication in a case he was banished to a clerkship at the Malong Talang Chief's Office in Yunnan. He left his family in Daliang and took only one servant to his post. When the tribal chief Shi Kefa stirred the Yi peoples to revolt, Benli rode alone into their stronghold, warned them of the consequences, and all the chiefs submitted. Before long they rebelled again. Marquis of Xiping Mu Ying and Administration Commissioner Zhang Hong, recognizing Benli's ability, put him in charge of touring the counties and military affairs, pacifying while defending. From Chuxiong and Yao'an he ranged through Dali, Yongchang, Heqing, and Lijiang. Traveling through mountains and sleeping in the open, for nine years he went back and forth pacifying the region until both settlers and tribesmen lived in peace. In the thirty-first year he went to the capital for the annual review. Academician Dong Lun and Prefect Xiang Bao both recommended him. He was summoned to the Hanlin, helped compile the Veritable Records of Taizu, and was made Right Assistant Censor-in-Chief. Beyond his salary he accepted no gifts. In Jianwen year three he was demoted for missing a sacrificial ceremony but kept on with the compilation work. When the Veritable Records were finished, he was appointed Vice Commissioner of Jiangxi. Before he could take up the post, the Yan army entered the capital and he hanged himself.
10
黃觀，字伯瀾，一字尚賓，貴池人。 父贅許，從許姓。 受學於元待制黃冔。 冔死節，觀益自勵。 洪武中，貢入太學。 繪父母墓為圖，贍拜輒淚下。 二十四年，會試、廷試皆第一。 累官禮部右侍郎，乃奏復姓。 建文初，更官制，左、右侍中次尚書。 改觀右侍中，與方孝孺等並親用。 燕王舉兵，觀草制，諷其散軍歸藩，敕身謝罪，辭極詆斥。 四年奉詔募兵上遊，且督諸郡兵赴援。 至安慶，燕王已渡江入京師，下令暴左班文職奸臣罪狀，觀名在第六。 既而索國寶，不知所在，或言：「已付觀出收兵矣！」 命有司追捕，收其妻翁氏並二女給象奴。 奴索釵釧市酒肴，翁氏悉與之持去，急攜二女及家屬十人，投淮清橋下死。 觀聞金川門不守，嘆曰：「吾妻有誌節，必死。」 招魂，葬之江上。 命舟至羅剎磯，朝服東向拜，投湍急處死。
Huang Guan, styled Bolan and also Shangbin, came from Guichi. His father had married into the Xu family and bore the Xu surname. He studied under the Yuan Academician Huang Kan. When Kan died for principle, Guan drove himself harder still. In Hongwu he was recommended into the Imperial Academy. He painted his parents' graves into a picture, and whenever he looked at it in devotion he wept. In the twenty-fourth year he placed first in both the metropolitan and palace examinations. He rose to Right Vice Minister of Rites and then memorialized to restore his original surname. Early in Jianwen the official system was changed so that the Left and Right Chamberlains ranked just below the ministers. Guan was made Right Chamberlain and, with Fang Xiaoru and others, was used in the emperor's inner circle. When the Prince of Yan rebelled, Guan drafted the edict urging him to disband his army, return to his fief, and come in person to apologize, in language of fierce denunciation. In the fourth year he was ordered to raise troops upstream and to hurry the forces of the various prefectures to the rescue. When he reached Anqing, the Prince of Yan had already crossed the Yangzi and taken the capital; an order publicized the crimes of the civil traitors of the Left Shift, with Guan's name sixth on the list. Then the imperial seals were sought but could not be found; some said, "They were already entrusted to Guan when he went out to gather troops!" The authorities were ordered to pursue him; his wife Lady Weng and two daughters were seized and given to elephant keepers. The keepers demanded jewelry to buy wine and food; Lady Weng gave them everything, then hurried away with her two daughters and ten family members and drowned themselves beneath the Huaiqing Bridge. When Guan heard that the Jinchuan Gate had fallen, he sighed, "My wife has resolve and integrity; she is sure to die." He summoned her spirit and buried her by the river. He had a boat take him to Luosha Reef, dressed in court robes and bowed facing east, then threw himself into the swift current and died.
11
觀弟覯，先匿其幼子，逃他處。 或云覯妻畢氏孀居母家，遺腹生子，故黃氏有後於貴池。
Guan's younger brother Jian first hid his infant son and fled elsewhere. Some say Jian's wife Lady Bi lived as a widow in her mother's home, bore a posthumous son, and so the Huang line continued in Guichi.
12
初，觀妻投水時，嘔血石上，成小影，陰雨則見，相傳為大士像。 僧舁至庵中。 翁氏見夢曰：「我黃狀元妻也。」 比明，沃以水，影愈明，有愁慘狀。 後移至觀祠，名翁夫人血影石。 今尚存。
When Guan's wife drowned, she vomited blood onto a stone, leaving a small image that appeared in rainy weather; tradition held it to be an image of Guanyin. Monks carried it into a chapel. Lady Weng appeared in a dream and said, "I am the wife of the Huang zhuangyuan." By dawn, when water was poured on it, the image grew clearer, with a sorrowful, anguished look. Later it was moved to Guan's shrine and called the Blood-Shadow Stone of Lady Weng. It still survives today.
13
王叔英，字原采，黃巖人。 洪武中，與楊大中、葉見泰、方孝孺、林右並征至。 叔英固辭歸。 二十年以薦為仙居訓導，改德安教授。 遷漢陽知縣，多惠政。 歲旱，絕食以禱，立應。 建文時，召為翰林修撰。 上《資治八策》，曰：「務問學、謹好惡、辨邪正、納諫諍、審才否、慎刑罰、明利害、定法制」。 皆援證古今，可見之行事。 又曰：「太祖除奸剔穢，抑強鋤梗，如醫去病，如農去草。 去病急或傷體膚，去草嚴或傷禾稼。 病去則宜調燮其血氣，草去則宜培養其根苗。」 帝嘉納之。
Wang Shuying, whose style was Yuancai, came from Huangyan. In Hongwu he was summoned to court together with Yang Dazhong, Ye Jiantai, Fang Xiaoru, and Lin You. Shuying firmly declined and went home. In the twentieth year he was recommended as Instructor of Xianju and later made Professor of Dean. He was transferred to magistrate of Hanyang, where he enacted many benevolent policies. In a drought year he fasted in prayer, and rain came at once. Under Jianwen he was summoned as Hanlin Compiler. He submitted the Eight Policies for Ordering the Realm: "Pursue learning, be careful in likes and dislikes, distinguish right from wrong, accept remonstrance, judge talent fairly, be cautious in punishments, clarify benefit and harm, and fix laws and institutions." Each point was backed with examples from past and present that could be put into practice. He also wrote, "Taizu removed the treacherous and purged corruption, restrained the strong and uprooted the stubborn, like a physician removing disease or a farmer clearing weeds. Remove disease too hastily and you may harm the body; clear weeds too harshly and you may injure the crop. Once the disease is gone, regulate the body's vitality; once the weeds are gone, nourish the roots and shoots. The emperor praised and accepted it.
14
燕兵至淮，奉詔募兵。 行至廣德，京城不守。 會齊泰來奔，叔英謂泰貳心，欲執之。 泰告以故，乃相持慟哭，共圖後舉。 已，知事不可為，沐浴更衣冠，書絕命詞，藏衣裾間，自經於元妙觀銀杏樹下。 天臺道士盛希年葬之城西五里。 其詞曰：「人生穹壤間，忠孝貴克全。 嗟予事君父，自省多過愆。 有誌未及竟，奇疾忽見纏。 肥甘空在案，對之不下咽。 意者造化神，有命歸九泉。 嘗念夷與齊，餓死首陽巔。 周粟豈不佳，所見良獨偏。 高蹤渺難繼，偶爾無足傳。 千秋史官筆，慎勿稱希賢。」 又題其案曰：「生既已矣，未有補於當時。 死亦徒然，庶無慚於後世。」 燕王稱帝，陳瑛簿錄其家。 妻金氏自經死，二女下錦衣獄，赴井死。
When the Yan army reached the Huai, he was ordered to raise troops. When he reached Guangde, the capital had fallen. Qi Tai fled to join him; Shuying suspected treachery and meant to seize him. Tai explained what had happened; they embraced and wept, then planned what might still be done. Soon seeing that nothing more could be done, he bathed, changed his robes and cap, wrote his final testament, hid it in his garment, and hanged himself beneath the ginkgo at Yuanmiao Abbey. The Tiantai Daoist Sheng Xinian buried him five li west of the city. His testament read, "Born between heaven and earth, loyalty and filial piety are prized when fully achieved. Alas, in serving lord and father, I find many faults in myself. I had resolve not yet fulfilled when a strange affliction suddenly seized me. Rich food lay untouched on the table; I could not swallow it. Perhaps fate has decreed that my life return to the underworld. I have thought of Boyi and Shuqi, who starved on Mount Shouyang. Was Zhou grain not excellent? Yet their view alone was narrow. Their lofty example is remote and hard to follow; chance acts are not worth passing down. For a thousand years the historian's brush—be careful never to call me a rare sage. He also wrote on his desk, "In life I have done no good for the age. In death I can only hope not to be ashamed before posterity. When the Prince of Yan became emperor, Chen Ying inventoried his household. His wife Lady Jin hanged herself; his two daughters were sent to the Brocade-Clad Prison and drowned themselves in a well.
15
叔英與孝孺友善，以道義相切劘。 建文初，孝孺欲行井田。 叔英貽書曰：「凡人有才固難，能用其才尤難。 子房於漢高，能用其才者也； 賈誼於漢文，不能用其才者也。 子房察高帝可行而言，故高帝用之，一時受其利。 雖親如樊、酈，信如平、勃，任如蕭、曹，莫得間焉。 賈生不察而易言，且言之太過，故絳、灌之屬得以短之。 方今明良相值，千載一時。 但事有行於古，亦可行於今者，夏時周冕之類是也。 有行於古，不可行於今者，井田封建之類是也。 可行者行，則人之從之也易，而民樂其利。 難行而行，則從之也難，而民受其患。」 時井田雖不行，然孝孺卒用《周官》更易制度，無濟實事，為燕王藉口。 論者服叔英之識，而惜孝孺不能用其言也。
Shuying was close to Xiaoru, and they spurred one another on in righteousness. Early in Jianwen, Xiaoru wished to implement the well-field system. Shuying wrote to him, "For any man to have talent is hard enough; to use that talent well is harder still. Zifang with Gaozu of Han was one who could use his talent; Jia Yi with Emperor Wen of Han was one who could not use his. Zifang saw that Gaodi would act on good counsel and spoke accordingly; Gaodi used him and for a time profited from it. Though men as close as Fan Kuai and Li Shang, as trusted as Chen Ping and Zhou Bo, as relied upon as Xiao He and Cao Shen, none could come between them. Jia Yi spoke without reading the moment and spoke too boldly, so men like Zhou Bo and Guan Ying were able to attack him. Now a wise ruler and worthy minister meet—an occasion that comes once in a thousand years. Yet some policies worked in antiquity and can work today as well—such as Xia calendar and Zhou ceremonial caps. Others worked in antiquity but cannot work today—such as the well-field system and feudal enfeoffment. When feasible measures are adopted, people follow readily and the common folk enjoy the gain. When impracticable measures are forced through, compliance is hard and the people suffer for it." The well-field plan never took effect, yet Xiaoru still used the Offices of Zhou to overhaul institutions—doing nothing for practical governance while handing the Prince of Yan a pretext. Later commentators admired Shuying's judgment and lamented that Xiaoru would not heed his counsel.
16
時御史古田林英亦在廣德募兵，知事無濟，再拜自經。 妻宋氏下獄，亦自經死。
Meanwhile the investigating censor Lin Ying of Gutian was also in Guangde raising troops; seeing there was no hope, he bowed twice and hanged himself. His wife Lady Song was thrown into prison and hanged herself as well.
17
燕兵至江上，善受詔統兵勤王，以書招鉞。 鉞知事不濟，辭以營葬畢乃赴。 既而童俊果以鎮江降燕。 鉞聞國變，杜門不出。 明年以戶科左給事中召，半途自投於水。 以溺死聞，故其家得不坐。
When the Yan forces reached the Yangtze, Yao Shan received an edict to take command in the loyalist cause and wrote urging Yue to join him. Yue knew the cause was lost and pleaded that he could not come until he had finished the funeral arrangements. Before long Tong Jun did surrender Zhenjiang to the Yan forces. When Yue heard that the dynasty had changed, he shut his doors and would not go out. The following year he was summoned as Left Associate Censor of the Household Section; halfway to the capital he drowned himself. Because his death was reported as accidental drowning, his family escaped punishment.
18
曾鳳韶，廬陵人。 洪武末年進士。 建文初，嘗為監察御史。 燕王稱帝，以原官召，不赴。 又以侍郎召，知不可免，乃刺血書衣襟曰：「予生廬陵忠節之邦，素負剛鯁之腸。 讀書登進士第，仕宦至繡衣郎。 慨一死之得宜，可以含笑於地下，而不愧吾文天祥。」 囑妻李氏、子公望：「勿易我衣，即以此殮。」 遂自殺，年二十九。 李亦守節死。
Zeng Fengshao was a native of Luling. He passed the jinshi examination in the late Hongwu reign. Early in the Jianwen reign he had served as an investigating censor. When the Prince of Yan took the throne, he was recalled to his former post but refused to go. Summoned again as a vice minister, he knew he could not escape; he pricked his finger and wrote in blood on his collar: "I was born in Luling, homeland of loyalty and integrity, and have always carried an unyielding heart. Through study I won the jinshi degree and in office rose to the rank of embroidered-robe censor. I rejoice that death at the right moment is fitting—that I may go smiling to the shades without shaming our Wen Tianxiang. He told his wife Lady Li and his son Gongwang, "Do not change my clothes—bury me in them as they are." He then took his own life, aged twenty-nine. Lady Li also died upholding her integrity.
19
陳思賢，茂名人。 洪武末，為漳州教授，以忠孝大義勖諸生。 每部使者涖漳，參謁時必請曰：「聖躬安否？」 燕王登極詔至，慟哭曰：「明倫之義，正在今日。」 堅臥不迎詔。 率其徒吳性原、陳應宗、林玨、鄒君默、曾廷瑞、呂賢六人，即明倫堂為舊君位，哭臨如禮。 有司執之送京師，思賢及六生皆死。 六生皆龍溪人。 嘉靖中，提學副使邵銳立祠祀思賢，以六生侑食。
Chen Sixian was a native of Maoming. In the late Hongwu reign he served as professor at Zhangzhou, exhorting his students in loyalty, filial piety, and the great moral principles. Whenever the touring inspector came to Zhangzhou, at the audience he would always ask: "Is His Majesty in good health?" When the edict announcing the Prince of Yan's accession arrived, he wailed and said, "The bonds of human relations and righteousness are tested today." He lay abed and steadfastly refused to receive the edict. He led six disciples—Wu Xingyuan, Chen Yingzong, Lin Jue, Zou Junmo, Zeng Tingrui, and Lü Xian—to set up a mourning seat for the former emperor in the Hall of Bright Principles and weep according to ritual. The authorities arrested them and sent them to the capital; Sixian and all six students were executed. All six students were natives of Longxi. In the Jiajing reign the education vice commissioner Shao Rui built a shrine to Sixian, with the six students as attendant spirits in sacrifice.
20
又臺州有樵夫，日負薪入市，口不貳價。 聞燕王即帝位，慟哭投東湖死。 而溫州樂清亦有樵夫，聞京師陷，其鄉人卓侍郎敬死，號慟投於水。 二樵皆逸其名。
In Taizhou there was also a woodcutter who daily carried firewood to market and never haggled over the price. When he heard the Prince of Yan had taken the throne, he wailed and drowned himself in East Lake. In Yueqing, Wenzhou, there was another woodcutter who, hearing the capital had fallen and that Vice Minister Zhuo Jing of his home district had died, wailed and threw himself into the water. The names of both woodcutters are unknown.
21
程通，績溪人。 嘗上書太祖，乞除其祖戍籍。 詞甚哀，竟獲請。 已，授遼府紀善。 燕師起，從王泛海歸京師，上封事數千言，陳禦備策，進左長史。 永樂初，從王徙荊州。 有言其前上封事多指斥者。 械至，死於獄。 家屬戍邊。 並捕其友人徽州知府黃希範，論死，籍其家。
Cheng Tong was a native of Jixi. He once memorialized Taizu begging to remove his grandfather from frontier-guard registration. His plea was deeply moving, and in the end his request was granted. He was later appointed recorder of the Liao princedom. When the Yan forces rose, he followed the prince by sea to the capital and submitted a sealed memorial of several thousand characters on defense; he was promoted to left chief secretary. Early in the Yongle reign he followed the prince in relocation to Jingzhou. Someone reported that his earlier sealed memorial had been full of denunciation. He was shackled and brought to the capital, where he died in prison. His family was banished to frontier guard duty. His friend Huang Xifan, prefect of Huizhou, was also arrested, sentenced to death, and his household property confiscated.
22
葉惠仲，臨海人。 與兄夷仲並有文名，以知縣征修《太祖實錄》，遷知南昌府。 永樂元年，坐直書《靖難》事，族誅。
Ye Huizhong was a native of Linhai. He and his elder brother Yizhong were both renowned for letters; summoned as magistrate to help compile the Veritable Records of Taizu, he was later made prefect of Nanchang. In the first year of Yongle, for writing plainly about the Pacification of Difficulties, his entire clan was put to death.
23
黃彥清，歙人。 官國子博士，以名節自勵。 坐在梅殷軍中私謚建文帝，誅死。
Huang Yanqing was a native of She. He served as erudite of the National University and held himself to the highest standards of reputation and integrity. For privately conferring a posthumous title on the Jianwen Emperor while serving in Mei Yin's army, he was executed.
24
蔡運，南康人。 歷官四川參政。 勁直不諧於俗，罷歸。 復起知賓州，有惠政。 永樂初，亦追論奸黨死。
Cai Yun was a native of Nankang. He rose to administrative commissioner of Sichuan. Upright and uncompromising, ill at ease with worldly ways, he was dismissed and returned home. He was later reappointed magistrate of Binzhou, where his rule was benevolent. Early in Yongle he too was prosecuted as a traitor faction and put to death.
25
石允常，寧海人。 洪武二十七年進士。 官河南僉事，廉介有聲。 坐事謫常州同知。 建文末，帥兵防江。 軍潰，棄官去。 後追錄廢周藩事，系獄二年。 免死戍邊。
Shi Yunchang was a native of Ninghai. He passed the jinshi examination in the twenty-seventh year of Hongwu. He served as vice commissioner in Henan, famed for integrity and moral courage. After an offense he was demoted to vice prefect of Changzhou. Late in the Jianwen reign he led troops to defend the Yangtze line. When the army collapsed he abandoned his post and fled. Later he was prosecuted for his role in abolishing the Zhou princedom and imprisoned for two years. He was spared execution and banished to frontier guard duty.
26
高巍，遼州人，尚氣節，能文章。 母蕭氏有痼疾，巍左右侍奉，至老無少懈。 母死，蔬食廬墓三年。 洪武中，旌孝行，由太學生試前軍都督府左斷事。 疏墾河南、山東、北平荒田。 又條上抑末技、慎選舉、惜名器數事。 太祖嘉納之。 尋以決事不稱旨，當罪，減死戍貴州關索嶺。 特許弟侄代役，曰：「旌孝子也。」
Gao Wei was a native of Liaozhou who prized integrity and was skilled at writing. His mother Lady Xiao suffered a chronic illness; Wei attended her constantly until her old age without the slightest slackening. When she died he ate only vegetables and dwelt in a mourning hut by her tomb for three years. During the Hongwu reign his filial conduct was officially commended; as a Grand Academy student he was tested and appointed left adjudicator of the Forward Military Commission. He memorialized to reclaim wasteland in Henan, Shandong, and the northern Ping region. He also submitted proposals on curbing minor crafts, careful selection of officials, and treasuring titles of honor. Taizu praised and adopted his recommendations. Soon his judgments failed to please the throne; though liable to death, the sentence was reduced to banishment to guard Guan Suoling in Guizhou. He was specially allowed younger brothers and nephews to serve his term of exile, with the remark, "This honors a filial son."
27
及惠帝即位，上疏乞歸田裏。 未幾，遼州知州王欽應詔辟巍。 巍因赴吏部上書論時政。 用事者方義削諸王，獨巍與御史韓郁先後請加恩。 略曰：「高皇帝分封諸王，此之古制。 既皆過當，諸王又率多驕逸不法，違犯朝制。 不削，朝廷綱紀不立； 削之，則傷親親之恩。 賈誼曰：『欲天下治安，莫如眾建諸侯而少其力。』 今盍師其意，勿行晁錯削奪之謀，而效主父偃推恩之策。 在北諸王，子弟分封於南； 在南，子弟分封於北。 如此則藩王之權，不削而自削矣。 臣又願益隆親親之禮，歲時伏臘使人饋問。 賢者下詔褒賞之。 驕逸不法者，初犯容之，再犯赦之，三犯不改，則告太廟廢處之。 豈有不順服者哉！」 書奏，帝頷之。
When the Huaidi Emperor took the throne, he memorialized begging to return to his fields in the countryside. Before long Wang Qin, prefect of Liaozhou, answered the imperial call and recruited Wei. Wei therefore went to the Ministry of Personnel and submitted a memorial on current affairs. Those in power were then bent on curtailing the princes; Wei alone, with the investigating censor Han Yu, successively pleaded to show them greater favor. In summary he wrote: "The High Emperor enfeoffed the princes in accord with ancient precedent. The grants were all excessive, and the princes for the most part grew arrogant, dissolute, and lawless, violating court regulations. If they are not curtailed, the court's discipline cannot be upheld; yet if they are curtailed, the bonds of kinship are wounded. Jia Yi said, 'If you wish the realm to be secure, nothing is better than to multiply the feudal lords while diminishing their power. Why not follow his intent today—avoid Chao Cuo's policy of seizure and curtailment, and instead emulate Lord Father Yan's strategy of extending favor. For princes in the north, let sons and younger brothers be enfeoffed in the south; for those in the south, let sons and younger brothers be enfeoffed in the north. In this way princely power would diminish of itself without direct curtailment. Your subject also urges that the rites honoring kin be further elevated—at the winter solstice and grave-sweeping seasons send envoys with gifts to inquire after them. For the worthy, issue edicts of praise and reward. For the arrogant and lawless, tolerate the first offense, pardon the second; if after a third they still do not reform, report to the Imperial Ancestors' Temple and depose them. Would any then fail to submit!" When the memorial was presented, the Emperor nodded in approval.
28
已而燕兵起，命從李景隆出師參贊軍務。 巍復上書，言：「臣願使燕。 披忠膽，陳義禮，曉以禍福，感以親親之誼，令休兵歸藩。」 帝壯其言，許之。 巍至燕，自稱：
Before long the Yan forces rose; he was ordered to follow Li Jinglong on campaign as an aide in military affairs. Wei memorialized again, saying, "Your subject begs to be sent as envoy to Yan. I would lay bare my loyal heart, set forth righteousness and ritual, explain the blessings and calamities at stake, appeal to the bonds of kinship, and persuade him to cease arms and return to his princedom." The Emperor was stirred by his words and granted his request. When Wei reached Yan, he introduced himself:
29
國朝處士高巍再拜上書燕王殿下：太祖上賓，天子嗣位，布維新之政，天下愛戴，皆曰「內有聖明，外有藩翰，成、康之治，再見於今矣。」 不謂大王顯與朝廷絕，張三軍，抗六師，臣不知大王何意也。 今在朝諸臣，文者智輳，武者勇奮，執言仗義，以順討逆。 勝敗之機明於指掌。 皆云大王「藉口誅左班文臣，實則吳王濞故智，其心路人所共知。」 巍竊恐奸雄無賴，乘隙奮擊，萬一有失，大王得罪先帝矣。 今大王據北平，取密雲，下永平，襲雄縣，掩真定。 雖易若建瓴，然自兵興以來，業經數月，尚不能出蕞爾一隅地。 且大王所統將士，計不過三十萬。 以一國有限之眾應天下之師，亦易罷矣。 大王與天子義則君臣，親則骨肉，尚生離間。 況三十萬異姓之士能保其同心協力，效死於殿下乎？ 巍每念至此，未始不為大王灑泣流涕也。
Gao Wei, a scholar of the dynasty, again bows and memorializes to Your Highness the Prince of Yan: Taizu has ascended on high; the Son of Heaven has succeeded the throne and proclaimed renewing policies. The realm adores him, all saying, "Within there is a sage ruler, without there are princely bulwarks—the governance of the Cheng and Kang era is seen again in our day." I did not expect that Your Highness would openly break with the court, marshal three armies, and resist the imperial hosts. I do not know what Your Highness intends. Today the ministers at court cluster wisdom among the civil officials and summon courage among the military; they speak out for righteousness and take the side of legitimacy to punish rebellion. The odds of victory and defeat are as plain as what lies in the palm of one's hand. Everyone says of Your Highness, "You claim to be punishing the civil ministers of the left rank, but in truth you are replaying the old trick of King of Wu Liu Bi—and your intent is plain to any passerby on the road." I fear in secret that unscrupulous adventurers will seize the opening and strike hard; should anything go wrong, Your Highness will have wronged the Former Emperor. You now hold Beiping, have taken Miyun, descended on Yongping, raided Xiongxian, and pressed toward Zhending. Though each move may seem as easy as tipping a jar from a high roof, since the war began several months have passed and you still cannot break out of this paltry corner of territory. Moreover, the officers and men under Your Highness's command number no more than three hundred thousand in all. To pit the limited forces of a single principality against the armies of the whole realm is to invite exhaustion. Between Your Highness and the Son of Heaven, duty makes you ruler and subject and blood makes you kin—yet you have still bred estrangement. How much less can three hundred thousand men of other surnames be counted on to stand as one and die for Your Highness? Whenever I think of this, I cannot help but weep for Your Highness.
30
願大王信巍言：上表謝罪，再修親好。 朝廷鑒大王無他，必蒙寬宥。 太祖在天之靈亦安矣。 倘執迷不悟，舍千乘之尊，捐一國之富，恃小勝，忘大義，以寡抗眾，為僥幸不可成之悖事，巍不知大王所稅駕也。 況大喪未終，毒興師旅，其與泰伯、夷、齊求仁讓國之義不大逕庭乎？ 雖大王有肅清朝廷之心，天下不無篡奪嫡統之議。 即幸而不敗，謂大王何如人？
I beg Your Highness to heed my words: submit a memorial of repentance and restore the bonds of kinship. Once the court sees that Your Highness harbors no other design, you will surely be granted mercy. Taizu's spirit in Heaven will also be at rest. If you cling to error, cast aside the dignity of a great prince, squander a realm's wealth, trust in petty victories and forget the greater right, pit the few against the many, and pursue a reckless gamble that cannot succeed—I do not know where Your Highness's road will end. Moreover, while the great mourning is not yet complete you have venomously raised armies—how far is that from the spirit in which Taibo, Bo Yi, and Shu Qi sought humanity and yielded the realm? Even if Your Highness means only to purge the court, the realm will not lack talk of usurping the legitimate succession. Even if by good fortune you were not defeated, what sort of man would the world call Your Highness?
31
巍白髮書生，蜉蝣微命，性不畏死。 洪武十七年蒙太祖高皇帝旌臣孝行。 巍竊自負：既為孝子，當為忠臣。 死忠死孝，巍至願也。 如蒙賜死，獲見太祖在天之靈，巍亦可以無愧矣。
I am a white-haired scholar with a mayfly's span of life, and by nature I do not fear death. In the seventeenth year of the Hongwu era, Taizu the High Emperor commended my filial conduct. I privately took pride in this: having been a filial son, I ought to be a loyal minister. To die loyal and die filial—that is my deepest wish. If I am granted death and may behold Taizu's spirit in Heaven, I too can die without shame.
32
書數上，皆不報。
He sent several letters, but received no reply.
33
已而景隆兵敗，巍自拔南歸。 至臨邑，遇參政鐵鉉，相持痛哭。 奔濟南，誓死拒守，屢敗燕兵。 及京城破，巍自經死驛舍。 郁疏略曰：
When Jinglong's army was defeated, Wei broke free and made his way south. At Linyi he met the administering prefect Tie Xuan, and the two embraced and wept. He hurried to Jinan, swore to defend it unto death, and repeatedly defeated the Yan forces. When the capital fell, he hanged himself in a courier station. Gao Xianning's summary memorial read:
34
諸王親則太祖遺體，貴則孝康皇帝手足，尊則陛下叔父。 使二帝在天之靈，子孫為天子，而弟與子遭殘戮，其心安乎？ 臣每念至此，未嘗不流涕也。 此皆豎儒偏見，病藩封太重，疑慮太深，乃至此。 夫唇亡齒寒，人人自危。 周王既廢，湘王自焚，代府被摧，而齊臣又告王反矣。 為計者必曰：「兵不舉則禍必加」。 是朝廷執政激之使然。
The princes are, in kinship, the bodily legacy of Taizu; in rank, the brothers of Emperor Xiaokang; in honor, Your Majesty's uncles. If the spirits of the two emperors in Heaven saw their descendant enthroned as Son of Heaven while younger brothers and sons were slaughtered, could their hearts be at peace? Whenever your subject thinks of this, he cannot help but weep. All of this stems from the narrow prejudices of petty scholars who fault the enfeoffments as too weighty and suspicions as too deep, until matters have come to this pass. When the lips are gone the teeth grow cold—every man feels himself in peril. The Prince of Zhou was already deposed, the Prince of Xiang burned himself, the house of Dai was broken, and then a minister of Qi again reported that a prince had rebelled. Those who weighed their options were bound to say, "If we do not take up arms, disaster is sure to follow." It was the conduct of those who held power at court that drove them to this.
35
燕舉兵兩月矣，前後調兵不下五十余萬，而一矢無獲。 謂之國有謀臣可乎？ 經營既久，軍興輒乏，將不效謀，士不效力。 徒使中原無辜赤子困於轉輸，民不聊生，日甚一日。 九重之憂方深，而出入帷幄與國事者，方且揚揚自得。 彼其勸陛下削藩國者，果何心哉？ 諺曰：「親者割之不斷，疏者續之不堅。」 殊有理也。 陛下不察，不待十年，悔無及矣。
Yan has been at war for two months; more than five hundred thousand troops have been mobilized in all, yet not a single arrow has been won. Can this be called a realm that possesses wise counselors? The campaign has dragged on; whenever armies are raised supplies run short; generals do not put counsel into effect, and soldiers do not give their strength. It only leaves the innocent common people of the Central Plains exhausted by transport levies; the people cannot make a living, and each day grows worse than the last. Anxiety within the palace grows daily, yet those who move in and out of the inner councils and manage state affairs remain smug and pleased with themselves. Those who urged Your Majesty to weaken the princedoms—what were they truly after? A proverb says, "Kin you may cut but cannot sever; the distant you may join but cannot make firm." There is deep truth in that. If Your Majesty does not discern this, within ten years you will regret it when it is too late.
36
臣至愚，感恩至厚，不敢不言。 幸少垂洞鑒，興滅繼絕，釋代王之囚，封湘王之墓，還周王於京師，迎楚、蜀為周公。 俾各命世子持書勸燕，罷兵守藩，以慰宗廟之靈。 明詔天下，撥亂反正，篤厚親親，宗社幸甚。
Your subject is utterly foolish, but the grace shown him is profound, and he dares not remain silent. I beg Your Majesty to lend a little of your penetrating insight: restore the fallen and continue the cut off; release the Prince of Dai from prison, restore the tomb of the Prince of Xiang, return the Prince of Zhou to the capital, and welcome the Princes of Chu and Shu as Duke of Zhou did. Let each prince command his heir to carry letters urging Yan to lay down arms and guard his fief, so as to comfort the spirits of the ancestral temple. Issue a clear edict to the realm, set right the turmoil, and show sincere regard for kin—the altars of state would be greatly blessed.
37
不聽。 燕師渡江，郁棄官遁去，不知所終。
The emperor did not heed him. When the Yan army crossed the Yangzi, Gao Xianning abandoned his post and fled; no one knows his end.
38
王琎，字器之，日照人。 博通經史，尤長於《春秋》。 初為教授，坐事謫遠方。 洪武末，以賢能薦，授寧波知府。 夜四鼓即秉燭讀書，聲徹署外。 間詣學課諸生，諸生率四鼓起，誦習無敢懈。 毀境內淫祠，三皇祠亦在毀中，或以為疑。 琎曰：「不當祠而祠曰『淫』，不得祠而祠曰『瀆』。 惟天子得祭三皇，於士庶人無預，毀之何疑。」 自奉儉約，一日饌用魚羹，琎謂其妻曰：「若不憶吾啖草根時耶？」 命撤而埋之，人號「埋羹太守。」 燕師臨江，琎造舟艦謀勤王，為衛卒縛至京。 成祖問：「造舟何為？」 對曰：「欲泛海趨瓜洲，阻師南渡耳。」 帝亦不罪，放還裏，以壽終。
Wang Jin, styled Qizhi, was a native of Rizhao. He was broadly versed in the classics and histories and was especially accomplished in the Spring and Autumn Annals. At first he served as an instructor, but because of an offense was banished to a distant post. At the end of the Hongwu era he was recommended for worth and ability and appointed prefect of Ningbo. At the fourth watch each night he would take up a candle to read, and the sound of his voice carried beyond the yamen walls. He would sometimes go to the school to instruct the students, who all rose at the fourth watch to recite their lessons and dared not slacken. He demolished illicit shrines within his jurisdiction; the shrine to the Three Sovereigns was among those torn down, and some questioned this. Jin said, "To worship what ought not to be worshiped is licentious; to worship what one is not permitted to worship is profane. Only the Son of Heaven may sacrifice to the Three Sovereigns; scholars and commoners have no part in it—why hesitate to tear it down?" He lived frugally himself. One day fish broth was served at table, and Jin said to his wife, "Have you forgotten the days when I ate grass roots?" He ordered it cleared away and buried, and people nicknamed him the Grand Governor Who Buried the Broth." When the Yan army reached the Yangzi, Jin built warships to aid the loyalist cause and was bound by garrison troops and sent to the capital. Chengzu asked, "Why were you building boats?" He answered, "I meant to put to sea and make for Guazhou, to block your army's crossing south—that is all." The emperor did not punish him, released him to his home, and he died at a ripe old age.
39
周縉，字伯紳，武昌人。 以貢入太學，授永清典史，攝令事。 成祖舉兵，守令相率迎降。 永清地尤近，縉獨為守禦計。 已，度不可為，懷印南奔。 道聞母卒，歸終喪。 燕兵已迫，糾義旅勤王，聞京師不守，乃走匿。 吏部言：「前北平所屬州縣官朱寧等二百九十人，當皇上『靖難』，俱棄職逃亡。 宜置諸法。」 詔令入粟贖罪，遣戍興州。 有司遂捕縉，械送戍所。 居數歲，子代還，年八十而沒。 朱寧等皆無考。
Zhou Jin, styled Boshen, was a native of Wuchang. He entered the Imperial Academy as a tribute student and was appointed clerk of records at Yongqing, where he handled the magistrate's duties. When Chengzu raised his army, prefects and magistrates one after another went out to welcome him and surrender. Yongqing lay especially close to the front, and Jin alone made plans for defense. Soon seeing that resistance was impossible, he took the official seal and fled south. On the road he heard that his mother had died and returned home to complete the mourning rites. The Yan army was already pressing close; he rallied loyal volunteers to aid the throne, but when he heard that the capital had fallen he fled into hiding. The Ministry of Personnel reported, "Formerly, two hundred ninety officials of prefectures and counties under Beiping, including Zhu Ning, all abandoned their posts and fled when His Majesty carried out the Pacification Campaign. They should be punished according to law." An edict allowed them to redeem their guilt with grain payments and sent them to garrison duty at Xingzhou. The authorities then arrested Jin, put him in fetters, and sent him to the garrison. After several years his son took his place on the garrison roster and he returned home; he died at the age of eighty. Nothing further is recorded of Zhu Ning and the others.
40
牛景先，不知何許人。 官御史。 金川門開，易服宵遁，卒於杭州僧寺。 已而窮治齊、黃黨，籍其家。
Niu Jingxian was a man of unknown origin. He held the post of censor. When Jinchuan Gate was opened he changed his clothes and fled by night, and died in a Buddhist temple at Hangzhou. Later the authorities pursued the Qi and Huang factions to the end and confiscated their households.
41
燕兵之入，一夕朝臣縋城去者四十余人。 其姓名爵裏莫可得而考。 然世相傳，有程濟及河西傭、補鍋匠之屬。
When the Yan army entered the capital, more than forty court officials let themselves down from the city wall in a single night and fled. Their names, titles, and native places cannot be verified. Yet tradition has handed down the names of Cheng Ji, the hired hand from west of the river, the pot-mender, and others of that sort.
42
河西傭，不知何許人。 建文四年冬，披葛衣行乞金城市中。 已，至河西為傭於莊浪魯氏。 取直買羊裘，而以故葛衣覆其上，破縷縷不肯棄。 力作倦，輒自吟哦，或夜聞其哭聲。 久之，有京朝官至，識傭，欲與語，走南山避之。 或問京朝官：「傭何人？」 官亦不答。 在莊浪數年，病且死，呼主人屬曰：「我死勿殮。 西北風起，火我，勿埋我骨。」 魯家從其言。
The hired hand from west of the river was a man of unknown origin. In the winter of the fourth year of the Jianwen era he wore a hemp cloak and went begging through the streets of the capital. Later he went west of the river and hired himself out to the Lu family of Zhuanglang. He used his wages to buy a sheepskin coat but laid his old hemp cloak over it, and would not cast aside its ragged threads. When he grew weary from hard labor he would chant to himself, and at night people sometimes heard him weeping. After a long while a capital official came, recognized the hired hand, and wished to speak with him; he fled to the southern hills to avoid him. Someone asked the capital official, "Who is this hired hand?" The official would not answer. After several years at Zhuanglang he fell ill and, near death, called his employer and said, "When I die, do not prepare my body for burial. When the northwest wind rises, burn me—do not bury my bones." The Lu family did as he said.
43
補鍋匠者，常往來夔州、重慶間。 業補鍋，凡數年，川中人多識之。 一日，於夔州市遇一人，相顧愕然。 已，相持哭，共入山巖中，坐語竟日。 復相持哭，別去。 其人即馮翁也。 翁在夔以章句授童子，給衣食，能為古詩。 詩後題「馬二子」，或「馬公」，或「塞馬先生」。 後二人皆不知所終。
The pot-mender often traveled back and forth between Kuizhou and Chongqing. He plied the trade of pot-mending for several years, and many in Sichuan came to know him. One day in the Kuizhou market he met a man, and they stared at each other in shock. Then they embraced and wept, went into a mountain cave together, and talked all day. They embraced and wept again, then parted. The man was Old Feng. In Kuizhou Feng taught boys through classical exegesis, provided for their food and clothing, and wrote old-style poetry. He signed his poems "Ma Erzi," "Lord Ma," or "Master Sai Ma." In the end the fate of neither man was known.
44
又會稽有二隱者：一雲門僧，一若耶溪樵。 僧每泛舟賦詩，歸即焚之。 樵每於溪沙上以荻畫字，已，輒亂其沙。 人有疑之者，從後抱持觀之，則皆孤臣去國之詞也。
In Kuaiji there were also two recluses: a Yunmen monk and a woodcutter on the Ruoye Stream. The monk would row out and compose poetry, then burn it when he came home. The woodcutter would write on the stream sand with a reed, then always smear the sand away. When someone suspicious grabbed him from behind to read, every line was the lament of a loyal minister in exile.
45
時又有玉山樵者，居金華之東山，麻衣戴笠，終身不易。 嘗為王姓者題詩曰「宗人」，故疑其王姓雲。 雪庵和尚，人疑其為葉希賢，見《練子寧傳》。
There was also the Yushan woodcutter, who lived on Jinhua's eastern hill in hemp clothes and a bamboo hat and never changed them all his life. Once he inscribed a poem for a Wang as "kinsman," so people suspected he was a Wang as well. The monk Xue'an was thought by some to be Ye Xixian; see the biography of Lian Zining.
46
其後數十年，松陽王詔遊治平寺，於轉輪藏上得書一卷，載建文亡臣二十余人事跡。 楮墨斷爛，可識者僅九人。 梁田玉、梁良玉、梁良用、梁中節皆定海人，同族，同仕於朝。 田玉，官郎中，京師破，去為僧。 良玉，官中書舍人，變姓名，走海南，鬻書以老。 良用為舟師，死於水。 中節好《老子》、《太玄經》，為道士。 何申、宋和、郭節，俱不知何許人，同官中書。 申使蜀，至峽口聞變，嘔血，疽發背死。 和及節挾卜筮書走異域，客死。 何洲，海州人。 不知何官，亦去為卜者，客死。 郭良，官籍俱無考，與梁中節相約棄官為道士。 余十一人並失其姓名。 縉雲鄭僖紀其事，為《忠賢奇秘錄》，傳於世。
Decades later Wang Zhao of Songyang visited Zhiping Temple and found a scroll on the revolving sutra cabinet recording more than twenty Jianwen loyalists in exile. The paper and ink were decayed; only nine names could be made out. Liang Tianyu, Liang Liangyu, Liang Liangyong, and Liang Zhongjie were all from Dinghai, of one clan, and all served at court. Tianyu was a Director; when the capital fell he became a monk. Liangyu was a Secretariat Drafter; he changed his name, fled to Hainan, and lived out his years selling books. Liangyong was a boat master and drowned. Zhongjie loved the Laozi and the Classic of Supreme Mystery and became a Daoist priest. He Shen, Song He, and Guo Jie—all of unknown origin—were fellow Secretariat Drafters. Shen was sent to Shu; at the gorge he heard of the upheaval, vomited blood, and died of a back carbuncle. He and Jie fled abroad with divination texts and died in exile. He Zhou came from Haizhou. His office is unknown; he too became a diviner and died abroad. Guo Liang's office and origins cannot be verified; he and Liang Zhongjie agreed to abandon office and become Daoist priests. The names of the other eleven were lost. Zheng Xi of Jinyun recorded the affair in the Secret Record of Loyal Worthies, which circulated widely.
47
及萬歷時，江南又有《致身錄》，雲得之茅山道書中。 建文時，侍書吳江史仲彬所述，紀帝出亡後事甚具。 仲彬、程濟、葉希賢、牛景先皆從亡之臣。 又有廖平、金焦諸姓名，而雪庵和尚、補鍋匠等，具有姓名、官爵。 一時士大夫皆信之。 給事中歐陽調律上其書於朝，欲為請謚立祠。 然考仲彬實未嘗為侍書，《錄》蓋晚出，附會不足信。
By the Wanli era Jiangnan also had the Record of Devoted Lives, said to come from Daoist texts on Mount Mao. It was said to be by Shi Zhongbin of Wujiang, a Jianwen-era attendant secretary, and records the emperor's flight in great detail. Zhongbin, Cheng Ji, Ye Xixian, and Niu Jingxian were all ministers who followed the emperor into exile. It also named Liao Ping and Jin Jiao, while the monk Xue'an, the pot-mender, and others were given names and ranks. For a time scholar-officials all believed it. Supervising Secretary Ouyang Diaolu presented the book at court and sought posthumous titles and temples for them. Yet Zhongbin never actually served as attendant secretary; the Record was probably a late forgery and not to be trusted.
48
贊曰：靖難之役，朝臣多捐軀殉國。 若王艮以下諸人之從容就節，非大義素明者不能也。 高巍一介布衣，慷慨上書，請歸藩服。 其持論甚偉，又能超然遠引，晦跡自全，可稱奇士。 若夫行遯諸賢，雖其姓字雜出於諸家傳紀，未足征信，而忠義奇節，人多樂道之者。 《傳》曰：「與其過而去之，寧過而存之。」 亦足以扶植綱常，使懦夫有立誌也。
The eulogy says: In the Pacification campaign many court ministers gave their lives for the state. That men from Wang Gen onward could face death with such composure—only those steeped in the great principle could do so. Gao Wei was only a commoner, yet boldly memorialized asking the prince to return to his fief. His argument was bold, and he could also withdraw, hide his tracks, and preserve himself—a truly extraordinary man. As for the fugitive worthies, though their names appear scattered in various records and cannot be fully verified, people still love to tell of their loyal and heroic deeds. The Commentary says, "Better to err by preserving than to err by discarding. It is enough to uphold moral order and give timid men the will to stand firm.