Volume 23 Biographies 4: Chu Yuan, Yuan Dicheng, Xu Si, Wang Jian

南齊書卷二十三‧列傳第四

Book of the Southern Qi, Volume 23 — Biographies 4

褚淵字彥回，河南陽翟人也。祖秀之，宋太常。父湛之，驃騎將軍，尚宋武帝女始安哀公主。

Chu Yuan, styled Yanhui, was a man of Yangdi in Henan. His grandfather Xiuzhi had been Grand Master of Ceremonies under the Song. His father Zhanzhi was General of Rapid Cavalry and had married Princess Shi'an Aihui, a daughter of Emperor Wu of Song.

淵少有世譽，復尚文帝女南郡獻公主，姑姪二世相繼。拜駙馬都尉，除著作佐郎，太子舍人，太宰參軍，太子洗馬，祕書丞。湛之卒，淵推財與弟，唯取書數千卷。襲爵都鄉侯。歷中書郎，司徒右長史，吏部郎。宋明帝卽位，加領太子屯騎校尉，不受。遷侍中，知東宮事。轉吏部尚書，尋領太子右衞率，固辭。司徒建安王休仁南討義嘉賊，屯鵲尾，遣淵詣軍，選將帥以下勳階得自專決。事平，加驍騎將軍。

Yuan was esteemed from youth. He also married Princess Xian of Nan commandery, a daughter of Emperor Wen—so that an aunt and a niece, two generations of imperial daughters, married into the clan one after the other. He was named equerry-in-ordinary, then served in turn as assistant in the Imperial Library, attendant of the heir apparent, staff officer on the grand minister's staff, steward of the heir apparent, and secretary in the palace secretariat. When Zhanzhi died, Yuan pushed the family estate to his younger brother and kept only a few thousand scrolls of books. He inherited the title of Marquis of Duxiang township. He served as gentleman of the secretariat, right chief clerk of the ministry of service, and director of personnel. When Emperor Ming of Song came to the throne, Yuan was additionally offered colonel of the heir apparent's encampment of rapid cavalry; he refused. He was made palace attendant and put in charge of Eastern Palace affairs. He became director of personnel and was soon offered the additional post of right commander of the heir apparent's guard; he declined firmly. Prince Jian'an Xiu Ren marched south against the Yijia faction, encamped at Magpie Tail, and sent Yuan to the army with power from commanders on down to fix merit ranks as he saw fit. When the campaign ended he was given the additional title general of rapid cavalry.

薛安都以徐州叛，虜頻寇淮、泗，遣淵慰勞北討衆軍。淵還啓帝言：「盱眙以西，戎備單寡，宜更配衣。汝陰、荊亭竝已圍逼，安豐又已不守，壽春衆力止足自保，若使遊騎擾壽陽，則江外危迫，歷陽、瓜步、鍾離、義陽皆須實力重戍，選有幹用者處之。」帝在藩，與淵以夙素相善，及卽位，深相委寄，事皆見從。改封雩都縣伯，邑五百戶。轉侍中，領右衞將軍，尋遷散騎常侍，丹陽尹。出爲吳興太守，常侍如故，增秩千石，固辭增秩。

Xue Andu rebelled in Xu province; the barbarians harried Huai and Si without cease; Yuan was sent to comfort and inspect the northern expeditionary forces. On his return he memorialized the throne: 「West of Xuyi the frontier posts are few and weak; fresh clothing issues are needed. Ruyin and Jingting are both under siege; Anfeng is already lost; Shouchun has strength only to defend itself. If roaming cavalry trouble Shouyang, the south bank will be hard pressed. Liyang, Guabu, Zhongli, and Yiyang all need real troops in strong garrisons—choose men of ability and station them there.」 While the emperor was still a prince he and Yuan had been old friends; once he reigned he leaned on Yuan in everything, and Yuan's word was always taken. His fief was changed to Marquis of Yudu, five hundred households. He was made palace attendant and commander of the right guard, then soon after attendant cavalier at large and intendant of Danyang. He went out as administrator of Wuxing, retaining his regular attendance, with a raise of one thousand shi in salary—and firmly declined the raise.

明帝疾甚，馳使召淵，付以後事。帝謀誅建安王休仁，淵固諫，不納。復爲吏部尚書，領常侍、衞尉如故，不受，乃授右僕射，衞尉如故。淵以母年高羸疾，晨昏須養，固辭衞尉，不許。

When Emperor Ming was near death he sent a fast courier to summon Yuan and entrusted him with what was to come. The emperor planned to kill Prince Jian'an Xiu Ren; Yuan remonstrated hard but could not turn him. He was again named director of personnel with regular attendance and commandant of the guard as before, but declined; he was then given vice director of the masters of writing, commandant of the guard unchanged. Yuan said his mother was old and failing and needed him morning and night, and firmly declined the guard commandancy—but the court would not release him.

明帝崩，遺詔以爲中書令、護軍將軍，加散騎常侍，與尚書令袁粲受顧命，輔幼主。淵同心共理庶事，當奢侈之後，務弘儉約，百姓賴之。接引賔客，未嘗驕倦。王道隆、阮佃夫用事，姧賂公行，淵不能禁也。

When Emperor Ming died, the death edict made him director of the secretariat and protector of the army, with additional attendant cavalier at large, sharing the regency with Director Yuan Can to assist the young emperor. Yuan governed in concert with Can; after years of excess he pressed for thrift, and the people leaned on him. He welcomed guests and never showed arrogance or fatigue. Wang Daolong and Ruan Tianfu held the reins; graft ran openly in the streets—and Yuan could not check it.

遭庶母郭氏喪，有至性，數日中，毀頓不可復識。朞年不盥櫛，惟泣淚處乃見其本質焉。詔斷哭，禁弔客。葬畢，起爲中軍將軍，本官如故。

When his stepmother Lady Guo died his grief was absolute; for days he was so broken one could no longer know his face. For a full year he neither bathed nor combed his hair; only where tears had washed his skin could one see him as he was. An edict cut off public mourning; condolence callers were forbidden. After the burial he returned to office as general of the central army, his other posts unchanged.

元徽二年，桂陽王休範反，淵與衞將軍袁粲入衞宮省，鎮集衆心。淵初爲丹陽，與從弟炤同載出，道逢太祖，淵舉手指太祖車謂炤曰：「此非常人也。」出爲吳興，太祖餉物別，淵又謂之曰：「此人材貌非常，將來不可測也。」及顧命之際，引太祖豫焉。

In Yuanhui year 2 Prince Guiyang Xiu Fan rose in rebellion; Yuan and General of the Guard Yuan Can entered the palace precincts to steady the court. Earlier, while Yuan was intendant of Danyang, he rode out with his cousin Zhuo in one carriage and met the Grand Ancestor on the road; Yuan lifted his hand toward the Grand Ancestor's carriage and said to Zhuo, 「That is no ordinary man.」 When Yuan went out to Wuxing, the Grand Ancestor sent him gifts set apart from the usual; Yuan said again, 「This man's talent and bearing are out of the common run; no one can tell how far he will go.」 At the moment of the regency he brought the Grand Ancestor into the council.

太祖旣平桂陽，遷中領軍，領南兖州，增戶邑。太祖固讓，與淵及衞軍袁粲書曰：「下官常人，志不及遠。隨運推斥，妄踐非涯，才輕任重，夙宵冰惕。近值國危，含氣同奮，況在下官，寧吝身命。履冒鋒炭，報效恒理，而褒嘉之典，偏見甄沐，貴登端戎，秩加爵土，瞻言霄衢，魂神震墜。下官奉上以誠，率性無矯，前後忝荷，未嘗固讓。至若今授，特深恇迫。寔以銜恩先旨，義兼陵闕，識蔽防萌，宗戚構禍，引誚歸咎，旣已靦顏，乃復乘災求幸，藉亂取貴，斯實國家之恥，非臣子所忍也。且榮不可濫，寵不可昧，乞蠲中候，請停增邑，庶保止足，輸效淮湄。如使伐匈奴，凱歸反旆，以此受爵，不復固辭矣。」淵、粲荅曰：「來告颖亮，敬挹無已。謙貶居心，深承非飾，此誠此旨，久著言外，況復造席舒衿，迂翰緒意，推情顧己，信足書紳。但今之所宜商搉，必以輕重相推。世惟多難，事屬雕弊，四維恇擾，邊氓未安，國家費廣，府藏須備，北狄侵邊，憂虞交切。宇內含識，尚爲天下危心，相與共荷任寄若此，當可稍脩廉退不？求之懷抱，實謂不可。了其不可，理無固執。且勍寇窮凶，勢過原燎，釁逆倉卒，終古未聞，常時懼惑，當慮先定，結壘新亭，枕戈待敵，斷決之策，寔有由然。鋒鏑初交，元惡送首，總律制奇，判於此舉。裂邑萬戶，登爵槐鼎，亦何足少酬勳勞，粗塞物聽。今以近侍禁旅，進昇中候，乘平隨牒，取此非叨。濟、河昔所履牧，鎮軍秩不逾本，詳校階序，愧在未優，就加沖損，特虧朝制。奉職數載，同舟無幾，劉領軍峻節霜明，臨危不顧，音迹未晞，奄成今古，迷途失偶，慟不及悲。戎謨內寄，恒務倍急，秉操辭榮，將復誰委？誠惟軍柄所期，自增茂圭社，誓貫朝廷，匹夫里語，尚欲信厚，君令必行，逡巡何路。凡位居物首，功在衆先，進退之宜，當與衆共。苟殉獨善，何以處物。受不自私，彌見至公。表裏詳究，無而後可。想體殊常，深思然納。」太祖乃受命。

After the Grand Ancestor pacified Guiyang he was made central commander of the guards and given South Yan province, with an enlarged fief. The Grand Ancestor declined firmly and wrote to Yuan and to Yuan Can, General of the Guard: 「I am a common man; my aims do not reach far. Fortune shoved me upward and I rashly stepped past my measure; my talent is slight for a heavy charge, and morning and night I shiver as on ice. Lately the realm was in peril and men held their breath and fought as one; how much less could I, your subordinate, begrudge my own life? I walked through fire and steel; to repay service is the constant law—yet the honors of praise fall all on me alone: raised to command the army's van, rank added and fief enlarged. When I look toward heaven's road my soul shudders and falls. I serve my superiors in sincerity and follow my nature without artifice; time after time I have accepted favor and never once held out in refusal. But this present grant presses on me with a shame all its own. Truly I bear grace from your former charge, and duty binds me even at the tombs of the kings; my sight was dim and I did not check the first sprout—imperial kinsmen brewed calamity and I drew reproach on myself. Already shamed in the face, I would again ride calamity to seek fortune and borrow chaos for rank—that is the nation's disgrace, not what a subject can endure. Glory must not be piled high, favor must not be taken in the dark: I beg release from central command, and ask that the fief increase be stopped, that I may rest in sufficiency and serve on the Huai. If we are to strike the northern foe and return with victory banners reversed, then to take rank on that score—I will not refuse again.」 Yuan and Can answered: 「Your words are keen and clear; we receive them with unending respect. Humility lives in your heart—we know well this is no ornament; this mind and this aim have long been plain beyond speech. How much more now, when you spread your mat and open your collar, when you set down the brush and lay out your meaning—we weigh your feeling against ourselves, and trust enough to inscribe on silk. Yet what must be weighed now is surely how weight is set against weight. These are years of unending trouble; the realm is worn to the bone; the four pillars of rule shake; the border people have no rest; the state's costs run deep and the treasury must be kept full; the northern enemy probes the marches; worry presses from every quarter. Every man of sense under heaven still holds his breath for the realm; carrying a trust such as this together—how could one still stand apart in humble withdrawal? Search the heart, and the answer is plain: it cannot be. Once that is understood, obstinacy has no ground to stand on. And the rebel was fierce to the end; his power spread like fire across dry grass; treachery sprung in a day was unheard of in all former ages. At any other time fear might have frozen you—but then one had to fix the outcome first. To build walls at Xinting, to sleep on your weapons and wait for the enemy: the policy that broke the deadlock had reason enough behind it. At the first clash of steel the arch-rebel lost his head; command and stratagem met in that one blow. A fief of ten thousand households and a seat among the great offices—what is that, set against such labor? It barely answers what the world expects to hear. To rise from the inner guard by the throne to Palace Attendant, in a time when calm follows the edict—that is no stolen honor. The districts of Ji and He you once held in trust; the army command does not outrank what you bore before; set the grades side by side and you are not pampered; to press for more denial would wound the court's order itself. These years in office we were few who rode the same boat. General Liu's stern honor shone bright as frost; when danger came he did not turn inward. His voice is not yet cold on the air, yet already he belongs to yesterday. Grief has lost its companion on a road without signposts; sorrow cannot catch up with the loss. War is planned within these walls; the charge grows heavier by the day. If the man who holds the seal refuses honor—who is left to take it up? What the sword asks for is plain: more glory for your house, an oath that binds the court. Even villagers keep their word in full; when the lord commands, where is the path of delay? Who stands first among men, whose merit leads the host—the way forward and back is never a private road. If you sought only your own goodness, how would you stand among others? To accept without grasping is the clearest sign of true impartiality. We have weighed this inward and outward; only when nothing stands against it may it stand. We trust you will see how extraordinary the moment is, and after deep thought, consent. The Grand Ancestor thereupon accepted the commission.

其年，淵加尚書令、侍中，給班劔二十人，固讓令。三年，進爵爲侯，增邑千戶。服闋，改授中書監，侍中、護軍如故，給鼓吹一部。明年，淵後嫡母吳郡公主薨，毀瘠如初。葬畢，詔攝職，固辭。又以朞祭禮及，表解職，並不許。

That year Yuan was additionally made director of the masters of writing and palace attendant, granted twenty ceremonial swords as escort; he firmly declined the directorship. In year 3 he was advanced to marquis and his fief increased by a thousand households. When mourning ended he was made palace secretary supervisor; palace attendant and protector of the army stood as before; he was granted a suite of ceremonial horns and drums. The next year Yuan's stepmother, the Princess of Wu commandery, died; his wasting grief matched the first bereavement. When burial was finished, an edict ordered him back to office; he firmly declined. He also memorialized to resign when the first-anniversary rites fell due; both requests were denied.

蒼梧酷暴稍甚，太祖與淵及袁粲言世事，粲曰：「主上幼年微過易改，伊、霍之事，非季代所行，縱使功成，亦終無全地。」淵默然，歸心太祖。及廢蒼梧，羣公集議，袁粲、劉秉旣不受任，淵曰：「非蕭公無以了此。」手取書授太祖。太祖曰：「相與不肯，我安得辭！」事乃定。順帝立，改號衞將軍、開府儀同三司，侍中如故。甲仗五十人入殿。

Cangwu's cruelty grew sharper; the Grand Ancestor spoke with Yuan and Yuan Can about affairs of state; Can said: 「The sovereign is young; small faults are easy to mend; deeds like Yi Yin and Huo Guang belong to a fallen age—even if they succeeded, in the end there would be no safe footing for you.」 Yuan was silent; his heart turned to the Grand Ancestor. When Cangwu was deposed the lords assembled in counsel; Yuan Can and Liu Bing had already refused office; Yuan said: 「Without Duke Xiao this cannot be brought to an end.」 He took the document in hand and gave it to the Grand Ancestor. The Grand Ancestor said: 「When you all refuse, how can I decline!」 The matter was thereby settled. When Emperor Shun was enthroned, Yuan was made general of the guard, bearer of the staff equal to the Three Excellencies; palace attendant unchanged. Fifty suit-armed attendants entered the palace hall with him.

沈攸之事起，袁粲懷貳，太祖召淵謀議，淵曰：「西夏釁難，事必無成；公當先備其內耳。」太祖密爲其備。事平，進中書監、司空，本官如故。

When Shen Youzhi's affair arose, Yuan Can wavered in his loyalty; the Grand Ancestor summoned Yuan for counsel; Yuan said: 「The western rising is bound to fail; Your Grace ought to secure the house within first.」 The Grand Ancestor secretly made the preparations. When the affair was settled, Yuan was advanced to palace secretary supervisor and minister of works; his original offices stood as before.

淵美儀貌，善容止，俯仰進退，咸有風則。每朝會，百僚遠國使莫不延首目送之。宋明帝嘗歎曰：「褚淵能遲行緩步，便持此得宰相矣。」尋加尚書令，本官如故。二年，重申前命爲司徒，又固讓。

Yuan had fine looks and bearing, skilled in demeanor; in bowing, rising, advancing, and retiring, all had proper style. At every court session the hundred officials and envoys from distant states alike craned their necks and watched him go. Emperor Ming of Song once sighed: 「Chu Yuan can walk slowly and with measured steps—with that alone he could win the chancellorship.」 Soon he was additionally made director of the masters of writing; his original offices stood as before. In year 2 the former appointment as minister of works was offered again; he again firmly declined.

是年虜動，上欲發王公已下無官者爲軍，淵諫以爲無益實用，空致擾動，上乃止。朝廷機事，多與諮謀，每見從納，禮遇甚重。上大宴集，酒後謂羣臣曰：「卿等竝宋時公卿，亦當不言我應得天子。」王儉等未及答，淵斂板曰：「陛下不得言臣不早識龍顏。」上笑曰：「吾有愧文叔，知公爲朱祜久矣。」

That year the northerners stirred; the sovereign wished to mobilize princes, dukes, and every man without office into the ranks; Yuan remonstrated that it would serve no real end and would only stir pointless unrest; the sovereign then stopped. On weighty affairs of state the court often sought his counsel; his advice was usually followed; the honor shown him was very great. At a great court banquet, after wine the sovereign said to the ministers: 「You were all ministers of Song—surely you must also think I ought to have become Son of Heaven.」 Wang Jian and the rest had not yet answered when Yuan clasped his tablet and said: 「Your Majesty must not say your subject failed to recognize the imperial countenance early.」 The sovereign laughed and said: 「I am ashamed before Guangwu—that I knew you were Zhu You long ago.」

淵涉獵談議，善彈琵琶。世祖在東宮，賜淵金鏤柄銀柱琵琶。性和雅有器度，不妄舉動，宅嘗失火，煙焰甚逼，左右驚擾，淵神色怡然，索轝來徐去。輕薄子頗以名節譏之，以淵眼多白精，謂之「白虹貫日」，言爲宋氏亡徵也。

Yuan ranged widely in talk and debate, and excelled at the pipa. When Shizu was crown prince at the Eastern Palace he bestowed on Yuan a pipa with gold-inlaid handle and silver pillars. His nature was gentle and measured, never rash; when fire once pressed close on his residence, those beside him panicked; Yuan's face stayed calm; he called for his carriage and left at leisure. Frivolous men often mocked his sense of propriety; because his eyes showed much white they called it 「white rainbow piercing the sun」 and said it was an omen of Song's fall.

太祖崩，遺詔以淵爲錄尚書事。江左以來，無單拜錄者，有司疑立優策。尚書王儉議，以爲「見居本官，別拜錄，推理應有策書，而舊事不載。中朝以來，三公王侯，則優策竝設，官品第二，策而不優。優者褒美，策者兼明委寄。尚書職居天官，政化之本，尚書令品雖第三，拜必有策。錄尚書品秩不見，而總任彌重，前代多與本官同拜，故不別有策。卽事緣情，不容均之凡僚，宜有策書，用申隆寄。旣異王侯，不假優文」。從之。尋增淵班劔爲三十人，五日一朝。

When the Founding Emperor died, his testamentary edict named Yuan Recorder of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing. No one south of the Yangtze had ever received Recorder as a sole appointment; the relevant offices were unsure whether a laudatory edict was required. Wang Jian of the Masters of Writing argued: 「He still holds his present post yet is separately invested as Recorder; by right there should be a commissioning edict, but precedent does not say so. Since the central court, Three Dukes and princes received laudatory and commissioning edicts together; second-rank ministers received commissioning edicts without laudatory texts. The laudatory text praises merit; the commissioning edict states the charge entrusted. The Masters of Writing are Heaven's bureau and the root of rule; though the Director is only third rank, appointment always brings a commissioning edict. The Recorder's rank is nowhere listed, yet his burden is greater; past ages usually invested him together with his standing office, and so issued no separate edict. Given the office and the man, he cannot be lumped with ordinary officials; a commissioning edict is needed to proclaim the weight of the trust— and as he is no prince or marquis, no laudatory text is called for.」 The court approved. Soon Yuan's train of ceremonial halberds was raised to thirty; he came to court every five days.

頃之寢疾。上相星連有變，淵憂之，表遜位。又因王儉及侍中王晏口陳於世祖，世祖不許。又啓曰：「臣顧惟凡薄，福過災生，未能以正情自安，遠慚彥輔。旣內懷耿介，便覺晷刻難推。叨職未久，首歲便嬰疾篤，爾來沈痼，頻經危殆，彌深憂震。陛下曲存遲回，或謂僉議同異，此出於留慈每過，愛欲其榮。臣年四十有八，叨忝若此，以疾陳遜，豈駭聽察。總錄之任，江左罕授，上隣亞台，升降蓋微。今受祿弗辭，退絀斯願，於臣名器，非曰貶少，萬物耳目，皎然共見，寧足仰延聖慮，稍垂矜惜。臣若內飾廉譽，外循謙後，此則憲書行劾，刑綱是肅。臣赤誠不能行，亦幽明所不宥。區區寸心，歸啓以實。自吝寸陰，寔願方倍堯世。昔王弘固請，乃於司徒爲衞將軍，宋氏行之不疑，當時物無異議，以臣方之，曾何足說。伏願恢闡宏猷，賜開亭造，則臣死之日，猶生之年。」乃改授司空，領驃騎將軍，侍中、錄尚書如故。

Before long he fell gravely ill. The Superior Minister star showed linked disturbances; troubled, Yuan memorialized to yield his post. He also had Wang Jian and Palace Attendant Wang Yan plead in person before Shizu; Shizu refused. He wrote again: 「Your servant knows himself common and slight—favor has outstripped desert and trouble follows; I cannot quiet my heart in truth and am ashamed before worthy counselors. Outward duty sits ill on an inward stiffness; hour by hour drags. I have not long held office; in the first year I was stricken gravely ill; since then lingering sickness, again and again at death's door, and dread only deepens. Your Majesty has indulged my delay, or some will say the councils are divided—but this is only excess of kindness, love wishing me honor I do not merit. At forty-eight, with honors heaped on me, to plead illness and withdraw—would that shock your ears? The overall Recordership is rarely granted in our age; its holder stands next to the Secretariat itself, and between rise and fall there is little distance. To keep the stipend and refuse to step down, to choke off this request—for my name and rank that is no real demotion; every eye under heaven sees it plain. Why should it draw your concern or the least pity? If I papered myself with a show of integrity while playing at humility, the statutes would impeach me and the law would tighten its net. My naked heart cannot do that; neither the living nor the dead would forgive it. In this inch of heart I lay the truth before you. Grudging every inch of daylight, I would only wish to serve twice the years of Yao's age. Wang Hong once pressed his plea and was made Defender-General under the Minister of Works; the Song court granted it without a murmur. Set beside me, what is my case worth speaking of? I beg you to widen your great design and grant me leave; then the day I die would still count as a day I lived. 」He was then reassigned Minister of Works, retaining Supernal General, Palace Attendant, and Recorder as before.

上遣侍中王晏黃門郎王秀之問疾。薨，家無餘財，負債至數十萬。詔曰：「司徒奄至薨逝，痛怛慟懷，比雖尪瘵，便力出臨哭。給東園祕器，朝服一具，衣一襲，錢二十萬，布二百疋，蠟二百斤。」

The emperor sent Palace Attendant Wang Yan and Yellow Gate Gentleman Wang Xiuzhi to ask after his health. He died; the family left no surplus, and debts ran into the hundreds of thousands. An edict read, 「The Minister of Works has suddenly died; grief wounds the heart. Though lately I have been ill and frail, I went myself to mourn at his bier. Grant eastern-garden funerary coffinware, one set of court robes, one suit of garments, two hundred thousand in cash, two hundred bolts of cloth, and two hundred jin of wax.」

時司空掾屬以淵未拜，疑應爲吏敬不？王儉議：「依《禮》，婦在塗，聞夫家喪，改服而入。今掾屬雖未服勤，而吏節稟於天朝，宜申禮敬。」司徒府史又以淵旣解職，而未恭後授，府猶應上服以不？儉又議：「依中朝士孫德祖從樂陵遷爲陳留，未入境，卒，樂陵郡吏依見君之服，陳留迎吏依娶女有吉日齊衰弔，司徒府宜依居官制服。」

The Minister of Works' aides and clerks, because Yuan had not yet formally accepted the new post, debated whether they owed him the mourning due a serving master. Wang Jian ruled: 「The Rites say that if a wife is still on the road when she learns of death in her husband's house, she changes her dress and enters mourning— these clerks have not yet entered active service, yet their obligations as officers come from the throne; they should observe full ritual mourning. 」The Minister of Works' clerks asked further: Yuan had resigned his post but had not yet been invested in the successor office—should the bureau still wear mourning? Wang Jian ruled again: 「In the central court era, when Sun Dezhi was transferring from Leling to Chenliu and died before crossing the border, Leling's clerks mourned him as their serving lord, while Chenliu's welcoming clerks wore only the abbreviated qi mourning of a betrothal condolence. The Minister of Works' house should mourn as for an officer still in office.」

又詔曰：「夫褒德所以紀民，慎終所以歸厚。前王盛典，咸必由之。故侍中、司徒、錄尚書事、新除司空、領驃騎將軍、南康公淵，履道秉哲，鑒識弘曠。爰初弱齡，清風夙舉。登庸應務，具瞻允集。孝友著於家邦，忠貞彰於亮采。佐命先朝，經綸王化，契闊屯夷，綢繆終始。總錄機衡，四門惟穆，諒以同規往古，式範來今。謙光彌遠，屢陳降挹，權從高旨，用虧大猷。將登上列，永翼聲教。天不憖遺，奄焉薨逝，朕用震慟于厥心。其贈公太宰，侍中、錄尚書、公如故。給節，加羽葆鼓吹，增班劔爲六十人。葬送之禮，悉依宋太保王弘故事。謚曰文簡。」先是庶姓三公轜車，未有定格。王儉議官品第一，皆加幢絡，自淵始也。又詔淵妻宋故巴西主埏隧蹔啓，宜贈南康郡公夫人。

Another edict said, 「To honor the worthy is to teach the people; to care for the dead is to repay the living. Every great king's canon rested on this. The late Palace Attendant, Minister of Works, Recorder of the Affairs of the Masters of Writing, newly appointed Minister of Works, Supernal General, Duke of Nankang—Yuan—walked the Way and held wisdom; his discernment was broad and far. From youth a pure reputation rose early. Called to office, he answered every charge; all eyes settled on him with trust. At home filial love shone; in service loyalty stood clear in bright conduct. He assisted the former throne and wove the age's governance, through reversals and hardship, bound to its course from first to last. As overall Recorder he steadied the pivots of state; the four gates were calm. He matched the ancients and set a measure for ages to come. His humility ran ever deeper; again and again he asked to be lowered, and the throne, bending to his request, let a great design fall short. He was on the verge of higher honors, to wing the court's teachings for long years— when Heaven, not sparing him, took him suddenly. We are shaken to the core. Posthumously enfeoff him as Duke and Grand Preceptor; let Palace Attendant, Recorder, and ducal rank stand as before. Grant the credentials of office, add feather-canopy band and drum-and-pipe escort, and raise his ceremonial halberds to sixty. Funeral and escort rites followed in full the precedent set for Song Grand Tutor Wang Hong. His posthumous name was Wenjian. 」 Until then, the open carriages of commoner-born Three Dukes had never had a fixed standard. Wang Jian held that every first-rank minister should bear canopy tassels on his carriage; the custom began with Yuan. Another edict: Yuan's wife, once Princess of Brazil under Song, had briefly opened the tomb; she was to receive the title Lady of the Duke of Nankang Commandery.

蓁字茂緒。永明中，解褐爲員外郎，出爲義興太守。八年，改封巴東郡侯。明年，表讓封還賁子霽，詔許之。建武末，爲太子詹事，度支尚書，領軍將軍。永元元年，卒，贈太常，謚穆。淵弟澄。

Chen, styled Maoxu. Under Yongming he first took office as an outer attendant, then went out as Administrator of Yixing. In the eighth year he was re-enfeoffed as Marquis of Badong Commandery. The following year he asked to surrender the fief and restore it to Ji, son of his elder brother Ben; the throne granted it. Late in Jianwu he was Crown Prince Household Mentor, Minister of Revenue, and Defender-in-Chief. In Yongyuan 1 he died; the court posthumously made him Minister of Ceremonies and gave him the posthumous name Mu. Yuan's younger brother Cheng.

淵弟澄

Yuan's younger brother Cheng

時東陽徐嗣，醫術妙。有一傖父冷病積年，重茵累褥，牀下設鑪火，猶不差。嗣爲作治，盛冬月，令傖父髁身坐石，啓以百瓶水，從頭自灌。初與數十瓶，寒戰垂死，其子弟相守垂泣，嗣令滿數。得七八十瓶後，舉體出氣如雲蒸，嗣令徹牀去被，明日立能起行，云此大熱病也。又春月出南籬門戲，聞笪屋中有呻吟聲，嗣曰：「此病甚重，更二日不治，必死。」乃往視。一姥稱舉體痛，而處處有黑無數，嗣還煮升餘湯送令服之，姥服竟，痛愈甚，跳投牀者無數，須臾，所處皆拔出長寸許，乃以膏塗諸瘡口，三日而復，云此名釘疽也。事驗甚多，過於澄矣。

At that time Xu Si of Dongyang was a physician of rare skill. A northern settler had lain for years with a chronic cold ailment, buried under quilt upon quilt with a brazier beneath the bed, and still found no relief. Si took the case. In the depth of winter he had the man sit bare on stone, broke open a hundred bottles of water, and poured them over his head. After the first few dozen bottles he shook as though dying; his kin wept at his side, but Si insisted on the full measure. At seventy or eighty bottles steam rolled off his body; Si had bed and covers taken away, and by the next day the man could stand and walk—this, Si said, was a raging heat illness. Another spring day he strolled out by the South Hedge Gate and heard groaning from a mat-walled hut. Si said, 「The case is grave; without treatment within two days, the man will die. 」 He went in to see. An old woman complained of pain throughout her body and countless black spots. Si returned, brewed more than a sheng of medicine, and sent it for her to drink. When the draught was done the pain sharpened; she flung herself on the bed again and again; then every spot drew out to over an inch. He salved the wounds, and in three days she was well—he called the disease nail carbuncle. His cures were many and proved, and he outdid Cheng.

王儉字仲寶，琅琊臨沂人也。祖曇首，宋右光祿。父僧綽，金紫光祿大夫。儉生而僧綽遇害，爲叔父僧虔所養。數歲，襲爵豫章侯，拜受茅土，流涕嗚咽。

Wang Jian, styled Zhongbao, came from Langye, Linyi. His grandfather Tanshou had been Song Right Director of the Imperial Household. His father Sengchuo was Household Minister with the Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon. Jian was born after Sengchuo was killed and was raised by his uncle Sengqian. Still a child, he inherited the marquisate of Yuzhang; at the rite of receiving the fief soil he wept aloud.

幼有神彩，專心篤學，手不釋卷。丹陽尹袁粲聞其名，言之於明帝，尚陽羨公主，拜駙馬都尉。帝以儉嫡母武康公主同太初巫蠱事，不可以爲婦姑，欲開塚離葬，儉因人自陳，密以死請，故事不行。

As a boy he was bright and striking; he studied with single-minded devotion and never let his books leave his hand. Yuan Can, Administrator of Danyang, heard of him and commended him to Emperor Ming; he married Princess Yangxian and was appointed Commandant of the Horse Guards. The emperor, because Jian's stepmother Princess Wukang had been caught up in the Taichu witchcraft scandal and could not face the princess as a mother-in-law, wished to open the tomb for separate burial. Jian had an intermediary plead for him and secretly offered his life in petition—the court did not act on it.

解褐祕書郎，太子舍人，超遷祕書丞。上表求校墳籍，依《七略》撰《七志》四十卷，上表獻之，表辭甚典。又撰定《元徽四部書目》。母憂，服闋爲司徒右長史。《晉令》，公府長史著朝服，宋大明以來著朱衣。儉上言宜復舊，時議不許。

He first served as Secretary, then Crown Prince Attendant, and was promoted at a stroke to Secretary Director. He asked leave to collate the tomb archives; following the Seven Summaries he compiled the Seven Records in forty juan and presented them with a memorial whose prose was finely classical. He also compiled the Yuankui Four-Part Bibliography. When his mourning ended he became Right Chief Clerk of the Secretariat. Jin law required a ducal chief clerk to wear court dress; since Song's Daming reign they had worn vermillion robes instead. Jian argued the old custom should return; the court refused.

蒼梧暴虐，儉憂懼，告袁粲求出，引晉新安主婿王獻之爲吳興例，補義興太守。還爲黃門郎，轉吏部郎。昇明二年，遷長兼侍中，以父終此職，固讓。

When Emperor Cangwu grew cruel, Jian was afraid; he told Yuan Can he wished to leave the capital, citing how Wang Xianzhi, the Prince of Xin'an's son-in-law, had gone out to Wu in Jin times, and was posted as Administrator of Yixing. He came back as Gentleman at the Yellow Gate, then moved to Director of the Ministry of Personnel. In Shengming 2 he was made Chief Clerk while also Attendant-in-Ordinary; his father had died in that post, and he firmly refused.

上壞宋明帝紫極殿，以材柱起宣陽門。儉與褚淵及叔父僧虔連名上表諫曰：「臣聞德者身之基，儉者德之輿。春臺將立，晉卿秉議，北宮肇構，漢臣盡規。彼二君者，或列國常侯，或守文中主，尚使諫諍在義卽悅，況陛下聖哲應期，臣等職司隆重，敢藉前誥，竊乃有心。陛下登庸宰物，節省之教旣昭，龍袞琁極，簡約之訓彌遠。乾華外構，采椽不斲，紫極故材，爲宣陽門，臣等未譬也。夫移心疾於股肱，非良醫之美；畏影迹而馳騖，豈靜處之方？且又三農在日，千畛咸事，輟望歲之勤，興土木之役，非所以宣昭大猷，光示遐邇。若以門居宮南，重陽所屬，年月稍久，漸就淪胥，自可隨宜脩理而合度，改作之煩，於是乎息。所啓謬合，請付外施行。」上手詔酬納。宋世外六門設竹籬，是年初，有發白虎樽者，言「白門三重門，竹籬穿不完」。上感其言，改立都墻。儉又諫，上答曰：「吾欲令後世無以加也。」朝廷初基，制度草創，儉識舊事，問無不答。上歎曰：「《詩》云：『維嶽降神，生甫及申。』今亦天爲我生儉也。」

The emperor tore down Emperor Ming of Song's Hall of Purple Apex and used its timbers to build the Xuanyang Gate. Jian, Chu Yuan, and his uncle Sengqian submitted a joint memorial of remonstrance: 「We have heard that virtue is the body's foundation and frugality the carriage in which virtue rides. When the Spring Terrace was to be raised, ministers of Jin spoke their minds; when the Northern Palace was first built, Han officials all laid down their rule. Those two rulers were only a feudal lord among states or a sovereign who held the middle course, yet frank counsel in the name of right still won their assent—how much more under Your Majesty, sage and timely, when we bear grave office: we dare take the admonitions of old and lay bare our hearts. Your Majesty has taken the throne to govern all beneath Heaven; the teaching of thrift is already proclaimed, yet dragon robes and jade regalia make the lesson of simplicity seem to recede ever further. Without, the Qianhua is newly raised and its rafters left unshaped, yet timber from the old Purple Apex is turned into the Xuanyang Gate—we cannot make sense of it. To shift the sickness of the heart onto arms and legs is not what a good physician does; to fear one's shadow and run in panic is not the way to abide in quiet. Moreover the three cultivations are in their season and every furrow has its work; to set aside the toil that waits on the year's grain and launch a work of earth and timber is not how to proclaim the great design to the distant and the near. If the gate lies south of the palace in the domain of the Double Ninth, and with the years it has slowly decayed, it may be repaired as occasion requires and to proper measure—then the burden of rebuilding will end. What we submit may be mistaken, yet we believe it accords with right; we beg that it be sent out for action. 」The emperor then issued an edict thanking him and taking his counsel. In Song times bamboo fences stood outside the capital's six palace gates. Early that year someone broke open a White Tiger wine jar and read the omen: 「The White Gate's triple gates—the bamboo fences will never pierce through.」 Moved by the prophecy, the emperor rebuilt the capital walls. Jian remonstrated again. The emperor answered, 「I mean for posterity to have nothing left to add. 」The dynasty was still laying its foundations and its rites were only half formed; Jian knew the old precedents and answered every question put to him. The emperor sighed and said, 「The Odes has it: 'From the great mountain came down a spirit, and bore Fu and Shen. 」Now Heaven has born Jian for me as well.」'

其年，儉固請解選，表曰：「臣遠尋終古，近察身事，邀恩幸藉，未見其倫。何者？子房之遇漢后，公達之逢魏君，史籍以爲美談，君子稱其高義。二臣才堪王佐，理非曲私，兩主專杖威武，有傷寬裕，豈與庸流之人，憑含弘之澤者，同年而語哉？預在有心，胡寧無感。如使傾宗殞元，有益塵露，猶當畢志驅馳，仰詶萬一，豈容稍在形飾，以徇常事。九流任要，風猷所先，玉石朱素，由斯而定。臣亦不謂文案之間都無微解，至於品裁臧否，特所未閑。雖存自勗，識不副意，兼竊而任，彼此俱壅，專情本官，庶幾髣彿。且前代掌選，未必其在代來，何爲於今，非臣不可。傾心奉國，匪復退讓之與，預同休戚，寧俟位任爲親。陛下若不以此理賜期，豈仰望於殊眷。頻冒嚴威，分甘尤戾。」見許。加侍中，固讓，復散騎常侍。

That year Jian firmly asked to lay down the charge of selection and submitted a memorial: 「Your subject, looking far into antiquity and near at my own life, has been showered with grace and favor beyond any parallel I can name. How so? Zhang Liang's service to the Empress of Han, Sima Yi's bond with the Wei sovereign—the histories treat these as fine tales, and gentlemen praise their lofty integrity. Those two ministers had talent fit to aid a throne and were not partial by nature; yet both rulers leaned only on awe and force, wounding magnanimity—how can they be named in one breath with men of the common run who live on an emperor's inclusive grace? Having taken part in your purpose of heart, how could I not be stirred? If overturning my house and giving my life could profit the state no more than dust or dew, I would still spend myself to the end and repay you one part in ten thousand—how could I linger in outward show for the sake of routine office? Among the nine currents of office, the keys to appointment come first in shaping conduct; jade and stone, cinnabar and plain—all are sorted by that charge. Your subject does not claim to have no grasp at all of paperwork; but to judge merit and blame is what I truly do not know. Though I press myself on, my understanding cannot keep pace with my will; holding two posts at once, both are choked; if I gave my heart only to my chief office, I might barely manage. Moreover those who held selection in former ages were not always men of the reigning house—why, in our day, must it be your subject and no one else? I give my heart to serving the state—that is not a matter of yielding office after office; sharing fortune and peril, why should closeness wait on title and post? If Your Majesty will not grant this, how could I still look to extraordinary favor? Again and again I have braved your stern regard; I willingly bear the heavier blame. 」His request was granted. He was named Palace Attendant; he firmly declined and remained Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary.

上曲宴羣臣數人，各使效伎藝，褚淵彈琵琶，王僧虔彈琴，沈文季歌《子夜》，張敬兒舞，王敬則拍張。儉曰：「臣無所解，唯知誦書。」因跪上前誦相如《封禪書》。上笑曰：「此盛德之事，吾何以堪之。」後上使陸澄誦《孝經》，自「仲尼居」而起。儉曰：「澄所謂博而寡要，臣請誦之。」乃誦「《君子之事上》」章。上曰：「善！張子布更覺非奇也。」

The emperor gave an informal banquet for several ministers and had each show a talent: Chu Yuan played pipa, Wang Sengqian the zither, Shen Wenji sang 「Ziye,」 Zhang Jinger danced, and Wang Jingze beat the drum. Jian said, 「Your subject has no art—only the recitation of books. 」He knelt before the throne and recited Sima Xiangru's 「Letter on the Feng and Shan Sacrifices.」 The emperor laughed and said, 「That is an affair of supreme virtue—how could I bear it? 」Later the emperor had Lu Cheng recite the Classic of Filial Piety, starting from the passage 「Zhong Ni dwelt.」 Jian said, 「What Cheng recites is wide but thin at the core—allow your subject to recite instead. 」He then recited the chapter 「The Gentleman's Service to His Sovereign.」 The emperor said, 「Excellent! Zhang Zibu seems even less remarkable by comparison.」

尋以本官領太子詹事，加兵二百人。上崩，遺詔以儉爲侍中、尚書令、鎮軍將軍。世祖卽位，給班劔二十人。永明元年，進號衞軍將軍，參掌選事。二年，領國子祭酒、丹陽尹，本官如故。給鼓吹一部。三年，領國子祭酒。叔父僧虔亡，儉表解職，不許。又領太子少傅，本州中正，解丹陽尹。舊太子敬二傅同，至是朝議接少傅以賔友之禮。

Soon he held his existing office while also serving as Supervisor of the Heir Apparent's Household, with two hundred additional guards. When the emperor died, his testamentary edict named Jian Palace Attendant, Director of the Secretariat, and General Who Stabilizes the Army. When Emperor Wu took the throne, he was granted twenty ceremonial halberds. In Yongming 1 he was advanced to General of the Guard and shared charge of selection. In year 2 he also served as National University Chancellor and Governor of Danyang, while keeping his other offices. He was granted a full set of ceremonial drums and pipes. In year 3 he again served as National University Chancellor. When his uncle Sengqian died, Jian asked to leave office and was refused. He also became Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent and chief rating officer for his home province, and resigned as Governor of Danyang. Formerly the heir had honored both tutors alike; now the court ruled that the Junior Tutor should be received with the rites due a guest and friend.

是歲，省總明觀，於儉宅開學士館，悉以四部書充儉家，又詔儉以家爲府。四年，以本官領吏部。儉長禮學，諳究朝儀，每博議，證引先儒，罕有其例。八坐丞郎，無能異者。令史諮事，賔客滿席，儉應接銓序，傍無留滯。十日一還學，監試諸生，巾卷在庭，劔衞令史儀容甚盛。作解散髻，斜插幘簪，朝野慕之，相與放效。儉常謂人曰：「江左風流宰相，唯有謝安。」蓋自比也。世祖深委仗之，士流選用，奏無不可。

That year the Zongming Observatory was abolished. At Jian's mansion they opened a Scholars' Lodge and filled his house with books from all four divisions; the court also ordered that his home serve as an official bureau. In year 4 he kept his existing posts while also directing the Ministry of Personnel. Jian had long mastered ritual learning and knew court ceremony through and through. In every broad deliberation he cited the early Confucians—few could offer a parallel. Among the clerks and directors of the Eight Seats, none could dispute him. When clerks came for consultation and guests packed the hall, Jian received them in proper sequence and left no one waiting. Every ten days he returned to the academy to oversee the students' examinations. Caps and scrolls filled the courtyard; sword guards and clerks made a splendid show. He wore a loose, undone topknot with his kerchief pin thrust in at a slant; court and countryside admired him and copied the style. Jian often told people, 「Of the great cultivated ministers who graced the south of the Yangtze, only Xie An stands apart.」 He was largely measuring himself against that standard. Emperor Shizu relied on him utterly; for every choice among the leading families, whatever he submitted was approved.

五年，卽本號開府儀同三司，固讓。六年，重申前命。先是詔儉三日一還朝，尚書令史出外諮事，上以往來煩數，復詔儉還尚書下省，月聽十日出外。儉啓求解選，不許。七年，乃上表曰：「臣比年辭選，具簡天明，款言彰於侍接，丹誠布於朝野，物議不以爲非，聖心未垂矜納。臣聞知慧不如明時，求之微躬，實允斯義。妄庸之人，沈浮無取，命偶休泰，遂踐康衢。秋葉辭條，不假風飆之力；太陽躋景，無俟螢爝之暉。晦往明來，五德遞運，聖不獨治，八元亮采。臣逢其時，而叨其位，常總端右，亟管銓衡。事涉兩朝，歲綿一紀。盛年已老，孫孺巾冠。人物徂遷，逝者將半。三考無聞，九流寂寞。能官之詠，輟響於當時；《大車》之刺，方興於來日。若夫珥貂衣袞之貴，四輔六教之華，誠知匪服，職務差簡，端揆雖重，猶可勉勵。至於品藻之任，尤懼其阻。夙宵罄竭，屢試無庸。歲月之久，近世罕比。非唯悔吝在身，故乃惟塵及國。方今多士盈朝，羣才競爽，選衆而授，古亦何人。冒陳微翰，必希天照。至敬無文，不敢煩黷。」見許。改領中書監，參掌選事。

In the fifth year he was offered his current rank—Equal in Office to the Three Excellencies with an open bureau—and firmly refused. In the sixth year the court renewed the earlier appointment. An edict had once required Jian at court every three days, with clerks of the Masters of Writing going out to consult him. Finding the traffic too heavy, the emperor ordered him back to the lower offices of the Masters of Writing, with ten days allowed outside each month. Jian asked in a memorial to be released from personnel selection; the throne refused. In the seventh year he at last wrote: 「These years I have begged to leave selection—my case set plain before Heaven, honest words in audience, loyal heart known through court and country. No one faults me, yet Your Majesty has not yet shown pity and assent. I have heard that wisdom cannot match a bright age; to look for it in one small man like me truly fits the saying. A shallow man, drifting without worth, by luck met a golden age and walked the wide road. Autumn leaves fall from the branch without waiting on the gale; the sun climbs to noon without borrowing a firefly's light. Dark yields to bright; the five virtues turn in season. The sage does not govern alone—the eight worthies bring forth their light. I met that hour and yet hold this place, always at the head of the court, again and again at the scales of appointment. My service spans two reigns; the years run a full cycle. My prime has turned old; grandsons and granddaughters wear their caps. Men and things shift away; half the known world is already gone. Three rounds of assessment win no praise; the nine currents stand empty. The song of able ministers has fallen silent in our time; the sting of "Great Chariot" is rising for the days ahead. As for the rank of finned cap and dragon robe, the glory of the four pillars and six ministries—I know I am unfit, those tasks are lighter, and though the head of state is heavy, one might still try. But the work of judging men and ranks—that above all I fear I choke. Night and day I spend myself; again and again I am tried, and again found wanting. So long in the post—in recent memory there is no like case. Shame is not mine alone; dust settles on the realm as well. Today the court overflows with talent; men compete in brilliance. To pick from the crowd and entrust office—who in old times was equal to that? I dare offer this poor letter, trusting in Heaven's light. The deepest reverence needs no flourish; I dare not weary you further. 」 The request was granted. He was shifted to Supervisor of the Masters of Writing, still sharing charge of selection.

其年疾，上親臨視，薨，年三十八。吏部尚書王晏啓及儉喪，上答曰：「儉年德富盛，志用方隆，豈意暴疾，不展救護，便爲異世，奄忽如此，痛酷彌深。其契闊艱運，義重常懷，言尋悲切，不能自勝。痛矣奈何！往矣奈何！」詔衞軍文武及臺所兵仗可悉停待葬。

That year he sickened; the emperor came in person to his bedside. He died at thirty-eight. Wang Yan, Minister of Personnel, wrote on Jian's death. The emperor answered: 「Jian's years and virtue stood at their height, his will and work just ascending—who could have thought a sudden sickness, with no room for cure, would cast him so quickly into another world? The pain cuts unbearably deep. His shared trials through hard times, the weight of right feeling I always bore—to speak of it is grief I cannot hold in. Pain—what can be done! Gone—what can be done! 」 An edict ordered all civil and military staff of the Guard General and all arms of the central offices to stand idle until the burial.

又詔曰：「慎終追遠，列代通規，褒德紀勳，彌峻恒策。故侍中、中書令、太子少傅、領國子祭酒、衞軍將軍、開府儀同三司南昌公儉，體道秉哲，風宇淵曠。肇自弱齡，清猷自遠。登朝應務，民望斯屬。草昧皇基，協隆鼎祚；宏謨盛烈，載銘彝篆。及贊朕躬，徽績光茂。忠圖令範，造次必彰。四門允穆，百揆時序。宗臣之重，情寄兼常。方正位論道，永釐袞職，弼茲景化，以贊隆平。天不憖遺，奄焉薨逝，朕用震慟于厥心。可追贈太尉，侍中、中書監、公如故。給節，加羽葆鼓吹，增班劔爲六十人。葬禮依故太宰文簡公褚淵故事。冢墓材官營辦。謚文憲公。」

Another edict said: 「To tend the dead and honor the distant is the rule of every dynasty; to praise virtue and record merit is the policy that grows only stricter. The late Palace Attendant, Director of the Masters of Writing, Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent, Chancellor of the Imperial University, Guard General, Equal in Office to the Three Excellencies with open bureau, Duke of Nanchang Jian—he held the Way and wisdom, his presence deep and wide. From boyhood his clear purpose reached far. When he entered court and bore office, the people's hopes turned to him. In the rough founding of the throne he helped lift the royal mandate; great plans and shining deeds, cut into the ritual bronze. When he aided Our person, his fine merit blazed. Loyal design and worthy example—in every act they showed. The four gates stood in peace; the hundred offices kept their seasons. As a great minister of the clan, his bond joined house and realm. He was to stand upright and speak the Way, forever set the royal robe straight, brace this bright age, and help the time of peace and plenty. Heaven was unkind; suddenly he was gone. We are shaken with grief in Our heart. Let him be granted posthumously: Grand Commandant, Palace Attendant, Supervisor of the Masters of Writing, duke as before. Give insignia, add feather-canopy band and drums, raise his guard of honor swords to sixty. The funeral follows the precedent of the late Grand Preceptor, Duke Wenjian Chu Yuan. The tomb and grave shall be built by the engineering troops. His posthumous title was Duke Wenxian.」

儉寡嗜慾，唯以經國爲務，車服塵素，家無遺財。手筆典裁，爲當時所重。少撰《古今喪服集記》幷文集，並行於世。今上受禪，下詔爲儉立碑，降爵爲侯，千戶。

Jian lived sparely, with few wants, and gave himself only to governing the realm. His carriage and robes were plain; when he died the house held no spare wealth. What he wrote with his own hand—memorials and literary pieces—was prized throughout his age. While young he compiled the Collection of Mourning Garments, Ancient and Modern, and a collected literary works; both were in wide circulation. When the present emperor took the Mandate, he issued an edict to raise a stele for Jian, lowered the enfeoffment to marquis, and granted a thousand households.

儉弟遜，昇明中，爲丹陽丞，告劉秉事，不蒙封賞。建元初，爲晉陵太守，有怨言，儉慮爲禍，因褚淵啓聞。中丞陸澄依事舉奏。詔曰：「儉門世載德，竭誠佐命，特降刑書，宥遜以遠。」徙永嘉郡，道伏誅。

Jian's younger brother Xun, in the Shengming period, was assistant magistrate of Danyang. He informed on Liu Bing's plot and won neither fief nor reward. Early in Jianyuan he was Administrator of Jinling and let fall bitter words. Jian feared he would bring ruin and had Chu Yuan lay the matter before the throne. Vice Censor Lu Cheng impeached him on the facts of the case. An edict said: 「Jian's house has carried virtue for generations and given the throne his whole loyalty; we therefore temper the sentence of law and spare Xun by banishment to a distant place. 」He was sent to Yongjia commandery and was put to death on the way.

史臣曰：褚淵、袁粲，俱受宋明帝顧託，粲旣死節於宋氏，而淵逢興運，世之非責淵者衆矣。臣請論之：夫湯、武之迹，異乎堯、舜，伊、呂之心，亦非稷、契。降此風規，未足爲證也。自金、張世族，袁、楊鼎貴，委質服義，皆由漢氏，膏腴見重，事起於斯。魏氏君臨，年祚短促，服褐前代，宦成後朝。晉氏登庸，與之從事，名雖魏臣，實爲晉有，故主位雖改，臣任如初。自是世祿之盛，習爲舊準，羽儀所隆，人懷羨慕，君臣之節，徒致虛名。貴仕素資，皆由門慶，平流進取，坐至公卿，則知殉國之感無因，保家之念宜切。市朝亟革，寵貴方來，陵闕雖殊，顧眄如一。中行、智伯，未有異遇。褚淵當泰始初運，清塗已顯，數年之閒，不患無位，旣以民望而見引，亦隨民望而去之。夫爵祿旣輕，有國常選，恩非己獨，責人以死，斯故人主之所同謬，世情之過差也。

The historian writes: Chu Yuan and Yuan Can both received Emperor Ming of Song's deathbed charge. Can died in loyalty to the Song house; Yuan met the rising fortune—and the world has been quick to blame him. Let me argue the point: Tang and Wu walked a different path from Yao and Shun; the hearts of Yi Yin and Tai Gong were not those of Hou Ji and Qi. To judge by that lower measure of conduct is no fair ground for blame. From the Jin and Zhang lines, the Yuan and Yang houses at the summit of rank—each pledged service and loyalty under the Han; fertile estates were prized, and the custom took root there. When Wei held the throne its years were few; men still wore the brown of the former house even as they finished their careers under the court that followed. When Jin took the throne they went on in its service; on paper they were Wei's ministers, in truth they were Jin's men—so though the ruler changed, the minister's post stayed the same. Hereditary wealth became the fixed pattern; men coveted whatever the panoply exalted—loyalty between lord and minister was loyalty in name only. Rank came from pedigree; riding the ordinary tide of promotion, men took their seats among the Three Dukes without stir—so zeal to die for the state had no foothold, and guarding the clan should have weighed more. Thrones turned over fast; new favor and new dignity arrived—though dynastic tombs and palaces changed, the look cast backward was the same. Even Zhonghang and Zhibo would have found no special treatment. Chu Yuan at the rise of Taishi was already on a bright track; within a few years he need not fear lacking a post—lifted by public renown, he also left as public renown turned. When titles and stipends weigh little and the realm chooses by rule, when the grace is not his alone yet men are asked to die for it—that is a mistake rulers commonly make and a bias the age runs to.

贊曰：猗歟褚公，德素內充。民譽不爽，家稱克隆。從容佐世，貽議匪躬。文憲濟濟，輔相之體。稱述霸王，綱維典禮。期寄兩朝，綢繆宮陛。 [1]

In praise: O Lord Chu, how great! Plain virtue brimmed within. Popular esteem never faltered; the house was held to flourish. With ease he aided his times; blame he drew did not stop at his person alone. Cultured and law-giving, stately and full—the mold of a chief counselor. He set forth the model of sage rule; he held the threads of ritual and statute. Entrusted through two reigns, intimate at the palace threshold. [1] Endnote marker.

全文以中華書局、一九七二年一月版《南齊書》爲本校。

The entire text has been collated against the Zhonghua Shuju edition of the Book of Southern Qi (January 1972).

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