1
王敬則陳顯達
Wang Jingze, Chen Xianda
2
王敬則，晉陵南沙人也。 母為女巫，生敬則而胞衣紫色，謂人曰：「此兒有鼓角相。」 敬則年長，兩腋下生乳各長數寸。 夢騎五色師子。 年二十餘，善拍張。 補刀戟左右。 景和使敬則跳刀，高與白虎幢等，如此五六，接無不中。 補俠轂隊主，領細鎧左右。 與壽寂之同斃景和。 明帝卽位，以為直閤將軍。 坐捉刀入殿啟事，系尚方十餘日，乃復直閤。 除奮武將軍，封重安縣子，邑三百五十戶。 敬則少時于草中射獵，有虫如烏豆集其身，擿去乃脫，其處皆流血。 敬則惡之，詣道士卜，道士曰：「不須憂，此封侯之瑞也。」 敬則聞之喜，故出都自效，至是如言。
Wang Jingze was a man of Nan'sha in Jinling. His mother was a shamaness; when Jingze was born the afterbirth was purple, and she said to those about her: 「This child bears the mark of drums and horns. 」As he grew, a nipple several inches long sprouted under each armpit. He dreamed he rode a lion of five colors. By his twenties he was master of the hand-drum. He was posted among the saber-and-halberd guards. Under Emperor Jinghe he was made to dance the leaping blade to the height of the White Tiger standard; five or six passes in a row, and not one miss. He was named chief of the valiant cavalry company and led attendants in fine mail. He and Shou Jizhi together killed Emperor Jinghe. When Emperor Ming came to the throne, Jingze was made colonel of the direct gate. He had once drawn a blade to enter the hall on business and was held at the imperial workshop for ten-odd days before returning to the direct gate post. He was named general who exerts martial might and made viscount of Chong'an, fief of three hundred fifty households. As a youth he hunted in the tall grass; insects like black beans swarmed on him, and only when he picked them off did they leave—each place wept blood. The sight revolted him; he sought out a Daoist, who said: 「Have no fear—this is an omen of enfeoffment. 」Jingze took heart, left the capital to win merit, and now saw the words fulfilled.
3
泰始初，以敬則為龍驤將軍、軍主，隨寧朔將軍劉懷珍征壽春。 殷琰遣將劉從築四壘於死虎，懷珍遣敬則以千人繞後，直出橫塘，賊衆驚退。 除奉朝請，出補曁陽令。
At the opening of Taishi he was named general of the flying dragon and army commander and marched with Liu Huaizhen, general of pacifying the north, against Shouchun. Yin Yan sent Liu Cong to raise four forts at Dead Tiger; Huaizhen sent Jingze with a thousand men around the rear, straight through Hengtang, and the rebels broke in panic. He was made attendant at court and sent out as magistrate of Jiyang.
4
敬則初出都，至陸主山下，宗侶十餘船同發，敬則船獨不進，乃令弟入水推之，見一烏漆棺。 敬則曰：「爾非凡器。 若是吉善，使船速進。 吾富貴，當改葬爾。」 船須臾去。 敬則旣入縣，收此棺葬之。
On his first departure from the capital he came to Mount Luzhu; a dozen clan boats cast off together, but his would not move until his brother went into the water to push—and there lay a lacquered coffin. Jingze said: 「You are no common thing. If you mean us well, let the boat fly forward. Should I rise, I will bury you again in honor. 」At once the boat surged ahead. After he took the county seat he retrieved the coffin and buried it properly.
5
軍荒之後，縣有一部劫逃紫山中為民患，敬則遣人致意劫帥，可悉出首，當相申論。 治下廟神甚酷烈，百姓信之，敬則引神為誓，必不相負。 劫帥旣出，敬則于廟中設會，於座收縛，曰：「吾先啟神，若負誓，還神十牛。 今不違誓。」 卽殺十牛解神，幷斬諸劫，百姓悅之。 遷員外郎。
When the wars had laid the district waste, one band of robbers hid on Mount Zi and preyed on the people; Jingze sent word to their chief that if they surrendered together he would treat with them fairly. A local temple god was feared as harsh, and the people believed in it; Jingze swore before the god that he would not break faith. When the chief came in, Jingze gave a feast in the shrine and had his men seize the band at table, saying: 「I told the god already—if I break my vow, I owe ten oxen. Today I keep my word. 」He slaughtered ten oxen for the god, beheaded every brigand, and the people rejoiced. He was moved to outside section member.
6
元徽二年，隨太祖拒桂陽賊於新亭，敬則與羽林監陳顯達、寧朔將軍高道慶乘舸<舟習>於江中迎戰，大破賊水軍，焚其舟艦。 事寧，帶南泰山太守，右俠轂主，轉越騎校尉，安成王車騎參軍。
In Yuanhui year two he followed the Grand Ancestor against the Guiyang rebels at Xinting; Jingze, Chen Xianda of the feathered forest, and Gao Daoqing, general of pacifying the north, took light craft on the river to meet the fight, routed the rebel navy, and burned their fleet. After peace he held south Taishan as administrator, led the right valiant cavalry, then became commandant of the Yue cavalry and an aide on the Prince of Ancheng's staff.
7
蒼梧王狂虐，左右不自保，敬則以太祖有威名，歸誠奉事。 每下直，輒往領府。 夜著青衣，扶匐道路，為太祖聽察蒼梧去來。 太祖命敬則於殿內伺機，未有定日。 旣而楊玉夫等危急殞帝，敬則時在家，玉夫將首投敬則，敬則馳詣太祖。 太祖慮蒼梧所誑，不開門。 敬則於門外大呼曰：「是敬則耳。」 門猶不開。 乃於牆上投進其首，太祖索水洗視，視竟，乃戎服出。
The Prince of Cangwu was violent and cruel, and his attendants lived in fear. Jingze saw the Grand Ancestor's weight in the realm and gave him his loyalty. Each time he left the palace watch he went straight to headquarters. By night he wore plain blue, crawled the streets, and spied out Cangwu's movements for the Grand Ancestor. The Grand Ancestor told Jingze to wait inside the hall for the moment to act, though no day was set. Soon Yang Yufu and his fellows, driven to extremity, slew the emperor; Jingze was at home when Yufu meant to throw him the head—Jingze rode at once to the Grand Ancestor. The Grand Ancestor feared a ruse from Cangwu and kept the gate shut. Jingze cried at the gate: 「It is Jingze! 」The gate stayed closed. He hurled the head over the wall; the Grand Ancestor called for water, washed it, and looked—then at last he armed and came out.
8
沈攸之事起，進敬則號冠軍將軍。 太祖入守朝堂，袁粲起兵夕，領軍劉韞、直閤將軍卜伯興等於宮內相應，戒嚴將發。 敬則開關掩襲，皆殺之。 殿內竊發盡平，敬則之力也。 遷右衛將軍，常侍如故。 增封為二千五百戶，尋又加五百戶。 又封敬則子元遷為東鄉侯，邑三百七十戶。 齊臺建，為中領軍。
When Shen Youzhi rebelled, Jingze was promoted to general of the champions. The Grand Ancestor went in to hold the audience hall; on the night Yuan Can rose, Liu Yun the commander, Bu Boxing of the direct gate, and others were to answer from inside the palace—the guard was called and they were ready to strike. Jingze threw open the gate and fell on them by surprise; every one was cut down. The hidden rising in the hall was crushed to the last man—Jingze's work. He was shifted to general of the right guard, regular attendant as before. His fief rose to two thousand five hundred households, and before long five hundred more were added. His son Yuanqian was enfeoffed as marquis of Dongxiang, fief of three hundred seventy households. When the Qi court was founded, he was made colonel of the central army.
9
太祖將受禪，材官薦易太極殿柱，從帝欲避土，不肯出宮遜位。 明日，當臨軒，帝又逃宮內。 敬則將轝入迎帝，啟譬令出。 帝拍敬則手曰：「必無過慮，當餉輔國十萬錢。」
As the Founder prepared to take the mandate, carpenters proposed new pillars for the Hall of Supreme Pole. The abdicating emperor, seeking to dodge the omen of earth, refused to quit the palace and yield. The next day, when he was due at the audience hall, the emperor bolted back into the inner quarters. Jingze drove a carriage in to fetch the emperor and pleaded with him until he came out. The emperor took Jingze's hand and said: 「You fret too much. I shall give the Assistant State a hundred thousand cash.」
10
建元元年，出為使持節、散騎常侍、都督南兖兖徐青冀五州軍事、平北將軍、南兖州刺史，封尋陽郡公，邑三千戶。 加敬則妻懷氏爵為尋陽國夫人。 二年，進號安北將軍。 虜寇淮、泗，敬則恐，委鎮還都，百姓皆驚散奔走，上以其功臣，不問，以為都官尚書、撫軍。
In the first year of Jianyuan he was sent out with the staff, as regular attendant of the scattered riders, overseer of Southern Yan, Yan, Xu, Qing, and Ji, General Who Pacifies the North, and governor of Southern Yan, and enfeoffed Duke of Xunyang with three thousand households. Jingze's wife, of the Huai clan, was raised to Lady of the Xunyang state. In the second year he was promoted to General Who Pacifies the North. When the enemy struck the Huai and Si, Jingze in fear left his command and fled to the capital; the countryside broke and ran. As a founding servant he went unscathed and was named minister of state offices and pacifier of the army.
11
尋遷使持節、散騎常侍、安東將軍、吳興太守。 郡舊多剽掠，有十數歲小兒於路取遺物，殺之以徇，自此道不拾遺，郡無劫盜。 又錄得一偷，召其親屬於前鞭之，令偷身長掃街路，久之乃令偷舉舊偷自代，諸偷恐為其所識，皆逃走，境內以清。 出行，從市過，見屠肉栟，嘆曰：「吳興昔無此栟，是我少時在此所作也。」
He was soon shifted to bearer of the staff, regular attendant of the scattered riders, General Who Pacifies the East, and administrator of Wuxing. Robbery had long plagued the commandery. He executed boys of ten or so who picked up lost goods on the road as a public warning; thereafter no one touched what was not his, and brigandage ceased. He caught another thief, had his family flogged before him, and set the ringleader to sweep the streets for a long while before forcing him to name his fellows. The gang, afraid of being identified, scattered, and the district grew quiet. Passing the market on tour he saw a butcher's rack and sighed: 「Wuxing never had these in the old days. I built that one as a young man here.」
12
遷護軍將軍，常侍如故，以家為府。 三年，以改葬去職，詔贈敬則母尋陽公國太夫人。 改授侍中、撫軍將軍。 太祖遺詔敬則以本官領丹陽尹。 尋遷為使持節、散騎常侍、都督會稽東陽新安臨海永嘉五郡軍事、鎮東將軍、會稽太守。 永明二年，給鼓吹一部。
He was made General Who Protects the Army, still regular attendant, and kept his household as his headquarters. In the third year he resigned to rebury the dead; the throne ennobled his mother Grand Lady of the Xunyang ducal state. He was reassigned palace attendant and pacifier of the army. In his death edict the Founder left Jingze in his present rank and added magistrate of Danyang. He was soon made bearer of the staff, regular attendant of the scattered riders, overseer of Kuaiji, Dongyang, Xin'an, Linhai, and Yongjia, General Who Guards the East, and administrator of Kuaiji. In Yongming 2 he was given one suite of drums and pipes.
13
會土邊帶湖海，民丁無士庶皆保塘役，敬則以功力有餘，悉評斂為錢，送臺庫以為便宜，上許之。 竟陵王子良啟曰：
Kuaiji lies along lakes and sea, and every household, gentle or common, owed embankment labor. Jingze, seeing surplus effort, levied it all in coin and forwarded it to the central treasury as a savings to the state. The throne agreed. Prince Zi Liang of Jingling wrote:
14
伏尋三吳內地，國之關輔，百度所資。 民庶凋流，日有困殆，蠶農罕獲，飢寒尤甚，富者稍增其饒，貧者轉鍾其弊，可為痛心，難以辭盡。 頃錢貴物賤，殆欲兼倍，凡在觸類，莫不如茲。 稼穡難劬，斛直數十，機杼勤苦，匹裁三百。 所以然者，實亦有由。 年常歲調，旣有定期，僮恤所上，咸是見直。 東間錢多剪鑿，鮮復完者，公家所受，必須員大，以兩代一，困於所貿，鞭捶質系，益致無聊。
I submit that the Three Wu heartland is the realm's hinge, the wellspring of every levy. The people drift toward ruin; silk and grain rarely prosper; hunger and cold are worst. The wealthy grow fatter while the poor bear a heavier yoke—grievous beyond telling. Lately money has grown scarce and goods cheap, nearly twofold; the same wound runs through every trade. Farmers toil bitterly yet a bushel sells for tens; weavers labor hard yet a bolt earns only three hundred. There are real causes for this. Yearly taxes fall on fixed dates, and every corvée and relief payment is reckoned at present rates. Eastern coin is mostly clipped and filed, rarely whole, yet the state demands full weight and takes two for one. Beaten and pawned to meet the exchange, people are driven past endurance.
15
臣昔忝會稽，粗閒物俗，塘丁所上，本不入官。 良由陂湖宜壅，橋路須通，均夫訂直，民自為用。 若甲分毀壞，則年一脩改； 若乙限堅完，則終歲無役。 今郡通課此直，悉以還臺，租賦之外，更生一調。 致令塘路崩蕪，湖源泄散，害民損政，實此為劇。
When I served in Kuaiji I learned the local ways: embankment dues never entered the treasury. Dikes and lakes had to be raised, bridges and roads kept clear; labor was shared, rates fixed, and the people spent it on their own needs. If one stretch failed, it was mended once a year; if another stood sound, no labor was levied that year. Now the commandery taxes this sum everywhere and sends it all to the capital, so beyond rent and land tax the people pay yet again. Dikes and roads fall in ruin and lakeheads run dry—harm to the people and damage to rule, and this levy is the chief cause.
16
建元初，狡虜遊魂，軍用殷廣。 浙東五郡，丁稅一千，乃有質賣妻兒，以充此限，道路愁窮，不可聞見。 所逋尚多，收上事絕，臣登具啟聞，卽蒙蠲原。 而此年租課，三分逋一，明知徒足擾民，實自弊國。 愚謂塘丁一條，宜還復舊，在所逋郵卹，優量原除。 凡應受錢，不限大小，仍令在所，折市布帛。 若民有雜物，是軍國所須者，聽隨價准直，不必一應送錢。 于公不虧其用，在私實荷其渥。
Early in Jianyuan the northern foe still haunted the borders and military costs swelled. In Zhedong's five commanderies the household tax ran to a thousand; families pawned wives and children to pay. The wretchedness along the roads is more than one can bear to tell. Arrears remained heavy and collection had stopped; I laid the facts before the throne and was granted remission at once. Yet this year's rent is still one third unpaid. It plainly harasses the people and in truth enfeebles the realm. I urge that embankment labor be restored to the old rule and local arrears reviewed and generously remitted. All cash payments, large or small, should be collected locally and swapped for market cloth. If households hold goods the army and state require, let them be taken at fair value; coin need not be demanded every time. The treasury loses nothing it needs, and in private life the people feel real relief.
17
昔晉氏初遷，江左草創，絹布所直，十倍於今，賦調多少，因時增減。 永初中，官布一匹，直錢一千，而民間所輸，聽為九百。 漸及元嘉，物價轉賤，私貨則束直六千，官受則匹准五百，所以每欲優民，必為降落。 今入官好布，匹堪百餘，其四民所送，猶依舊制。 昔為刻上，今為刻下，氓庶空儉，豈不由之！
When the Jin first crossed the river and the southeast was new, silk and cloth cost ten times what they do now; tax quotas shifted with the age. Early in Yongchu a bolt of official cloth was reckoned at a thousand cash, yet private payment was accepted at nine hundred. By Yuanjia goods had cheapened again: private bundles sold for six thousand while the state valued a bolt at five hundred—each time the court meant to ease the people, it cut the quota. Today good cloth taken by the state is worth barely a hundred a bolt, yet the people still pay under the old scale. Once the state scraped them from above; now it scrapes them from below—the people are bled dry. What else could hollow them out?
18
救民拯弊，莫過減賦。 時和歲稔，尚爾虛乏，儻值水旱，寧可熟念。 且西京熾強，實基三輔，東都全固，實賴三河，歷代所同，古今一揆。 石頭以外，裁足自供府州，方山以東，深關朝廷根本。 夫股肱要重，不可不卹。 宜蒙寬政，少加優養。 略其目前小利，取其長久大益，無患民貲不殷，國材不阜也。 宗臣重寄，咸云利國，竊如愚管，未見可安。
To rescue the people and lift their distress, nothing surpasses lighter taxes. Even in peaceful, fertile years they are destitute; if flood or drought should come, the thought is unbearable. The western capital grew strong on the three auxiliaries; the eastern capital held fast on the three rivers—alike in every dynasty, one measure for all time. West of Shitou the land barely feeds the prefectures; east of Fangshan lies the deep root of the throne. The eastern provinces are the arms and legs of the state—they cannot be left to wither. They deserve mild governance and a little deliberate relief. Sacrifice the small profit before your eyes for the large benefit down the years, and you need not fear that the people will not grow rich or the treasury full. The great ministers entrusted with weighty affairs all call it good for the realm; by my poor lights I see no safety in it.
19
上不納。
The throne would not hear of it.
20
三年，進號征東將軍。 宋廣州刺史王翼之子妾路氏，剛暴，數殺婢，翼之子法明告敬則，敬則付山陰獄殺之。 路氏家訴，為有司所奏，山陰令劉岱坐棄市刑。 敬則入朝，上謂敬則曰：「人命至重，是誰下意殺之？ 都不啟聞！」 敬則曰：「是臣愚意。 臣知何物科法，見背後有節，便言應得殺人。」 劉岱亦引罪，上乃赦之。 敬則免官，以公領郡。
In the third year his title rose to General Who Pacifies the East. Lady Lu, concubine of Wang Yi—Guangzhou inspector under Song—was savage and had killed servant girls again and again. Yi's son Faming appealed to Jingze, who sent her to the Shanyin prison and had her executed. The Lu kin brought suit; the responsible offices reported the matter, and Liu Dai, magistrate of Shanyin, was condemned to public execution. Jingze appeared at court. The emperor said to him: 「A human life is the gravest matter under heaven—who set his mind on taking hers? And you never breathed a word of it to me! 」Jingze said: 「That was my own witless idea. I know nothing of the code in such cases; I saw cause behind the deed and judged that she deserved death. 」Liu Dai confessed guilt as well, and in the end the emperor spared them both. Jingze was stripped of his post yet still held the commandery under his noble rank.
21
明年，遷侍中、中軍將軍。 尋與王儉俱卽本號開府儀同三司，儉旣固讓，敬則亦不卽受。 七年，出為使持節、散騎常侍、都督豫州郢州之西陽司州之汝南二郡軍事、征西大將軍、豫州刺史，開府如故。 進號驃騎。 十一年，遷司空，常侍如故。 世祖崩，遺詔改加侍中。 高宗輔政，密有廢立意，隆昌元年，出敬則為使持節、都督會稽東陽臨海永嘉新安五郡軍事、會稽太守，本官如故，海陵王立，進位太尉。
The following year he became Attendant-in-Ordinary and General of the Central Army. Before long he and Wang Jian were both offered Open Pacification, Equal in Honor to the Three Dukes, on their present ranks. Jian refused outright; Jingze too held back from accepting. In the seventh year he went out bearing the staff as Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary, overall commander of Xiyang in Ying and Runan in Si, General Who Pacifies the West, and Inspector of Yu, his grand headquarters unchanged. He was raised to Rapid Cavalry General. In the eleventh year he became Minister of Works, still holding his attendant rank. At Shizu's death the deathbed edict added Attendant-in-Ordinary to his honors. Gaozong governed as regent and quietly nursed a plan to unseat the ruler. In Longchang 1, Jingze was posted out with the staff as commander of Kuaiji, Dongyang, Linhai, Yongjia, and Xin'an and as Administrator of Kuaiji, his other ranks as before. When the Prince of Hailing took the throne, Jingze was promoted to Grand Commandant.
22
敬則名位雖達，不以富貴自遇，危拱傍遑，略不嚐坐，接士庶皆吳語，而殷勤周悉。 初為散騎使虜，於北館種楊柳，後員外郎虞長耀北使還，敬則問：「我昔種楊柳樹，今若大小？」 長耀曰：「虜中以為甘棠。」 敬則笑而不答。
For all his fame and height of office, Jingze did not live as a rich man: he stood with folded hands, uneasy on his feet, and rarely took a seat. Gentry and common folk alike he addressed in the Wu dialect, yet his attentions were warm and exacting to the last detail. In his first embassy north as Cavalier Attendant he had planted a willow at the northern guesthouse. Years later Yu Changyao came back from the north, and Jingze asked him: 「That willow I set in the ground—how tall has it grown? 」Changyao said: 「On the northern side they honor it like the Duke of Shao's beloved tree. 」Jingze smiled and said nothing.
23
世祖御座賦詩，敬則執紙曰：「臣幾落此奴度內。」 世祖問：「此何言？」 敬則曰：「臣若知書，不過作尚書都令史耳，那得今日？」 敬則雖不大識書，而性甚警黠，臨州郡，令省事讀辭，下教判決，皆不失理。
Once, as Shizu composed poetry at the throne, Jingze took the sheet and said: 「I came within a hair of this slave's compass. 」Shizu asked: 「What do you mean by that? 」Jingze said: 「If I had been a scholar, I would have ended a chief clerk in the Secretariat at best—never the place I hold now. 」Jingze was no great reader, yet his wit was keen. In the provinces he had aides read petitions aloud, then drafted his own orders and verdicts—and none of them strayed from reason.
24
明帝卽位，進大司馬，增邑千戶。 臺使拜授日，雨大洪注，敬則文武皆失色，一客在傍曰：「公由來如此，昔拜丹陽吳興時亦然。」 敬則大悅，曰：「我宿命應得雨。」 乃列羽儀，備朝服，道引出聽事拜受，意猶不自得，吐舌久之，至事竟。
At Mingdi's accession he was made Grand Marshal and his fief grew by a thousand households. The day the imperial messenger arrived to invest him, the skies opened in a flood; Jingze's civil and military officers lost color. A guest beside him said: 「You have always been like this, my lord—it was the same when you took Danyang and Wuxing. 」Jingze was delighted and said: 「Rain is written into my destiny. 」He lined up his guard of honor, donned full court robes, and with music marched out to the audience hall to take the seal—yet he could not settle his mind, his tongue lolling for a long while before the ceremony ended.
25
帝旣多殺害，敬則自以高、武舊臣，心懷憂恐。 帝雖外厚其禮，而內相疑備，數訪問敬則飲食體干堪宜，聞其衰老，且以居內地，故得少安。 三年中，遣蕭坦之將齋仗五百人，行武進陵。 敬則諸子在都，憂怖無計。 上知之，遣敬則世子仲雄入東安慰之。 仲雄善彈琴，當時新絕。 江左有蔡邕焦尾琴，在主衣庫，上敕五日一給仲雄。 仲雄於御前鼓琴作《懊儂曲歌》曰：「常嘆負情儂，郎今果行許！」 帝愈猜愧。
The emperor had already shed much blood; Jingze, a veteran of the Gao and Wu reigns, lived in growing dread. Outwardly the throne showered him with honor; inwardly it watched and doubted him, sending again and again to ask whether his meals and his body still held firm. Word that he was growing old, and that he sat in the inner provinces, let him breathe a little easier for a time. In the third year Xiao Tanzhi was dispatched with five hundred ritual guards on a progress to the Wujin imperial tombs. Jingze's sons in the capital were stricken with fear and could see no way out. When the emperor learned of their panic he sent Jingze's eldest son Zhongxiong east to reassure them. Zhongxiong played the zither with a gift none could match in his generation. South of the river lay Cai Yong's famous scorched-tail zither, housed in the wardrobe treasury; the emperor commanded that it be given to Zhongxiong every fifth day. Zhongxiong played before the emperor and sang the 「Song of Regretful Nong」: 「So long I mourned your broken faith—and now, my lord, you go through with it indeed! 」The emperor's suspicion and shame only deepened.
26
永泰元年，帝疾，屢經危殆。 以張瑰為平東將軍、吳郡太守，置兵佐，密防敬則。 內外傳言當有異處分。 敬則聞之，竊曰：「東今有誰？ 秖是欲平我耳！」 諸子怖懼，第五子幼隆遣正員將軍徐嶽密以情告徐州行事謝朓為計，若同者，當往報敬則。 朓執嶽馳啟之。 敬則城局參軍徐庶家在京口，其子密以報庶，庶以告敬則五官王公林。 公林，敬則族子，常所委信。 公林勸敬則急送啟賜兒死，單舟星夜還都。 敬則令司馬張思祖草啟，旣而曰：「若爾，諸郎在都，要應有信，且忍一夕。」 其夜，呼僚佐文武樗蒲賭錢，謂衆曰：「卿諸人慾令我作何計？」 莫敢先答。 防閤丁興懷曰：「官只應作耳。」 敬則不作聲。 明旦，召山陰令王詢、臺侍御史鍾離祖願，敬則橫刀跂坐，問詢等「發丁可得幾人？ 傳庫見有幾錢物？」 詢答「縣丁卒不可上」。 祖願稱「傳物多未輸入」。 敬則怒，將出斬之。 王公林又諫敬則曰：「官是事皆可悔，惟此事不可悔！ 官詎不更思！」 敬則唾其面曰：「小子！ 我作事，何關汝小子！」 乃起兵。
In Yongtai 1 the emperor sickened and more than once stood at the edge of death. Zhang Gui was named General Who Pacifies the East and Administrator of Wu, with troops and staff assigned to watch Jingze covertly. Court and countryside alike whispered that some drastic step was at hand. Jingze heard the talk and said under his breath: 「Who in the east is left to fear? They mean to finish me—that is all! 」His sons were beside themselves with fear. The fifth, Youlong, sent the regular general Xu Yue in secret to Xie Tiao, who was administering Xu Province, to lay bare the plot and seek his word; if Tiao sided with them, he would carry word back to Jingze. Tiao seized Yue and raced to the capital with a full disclosure. Xu Shu, a staff officer on Jingze's city bureau, had kin in Jingkou; Shu's son sent word to him in secret, and Shu told Jingze's Five-Offices aide Wang Gonglin. Gonglin was Jingze's kinsman, a man he had long trusted with his affairs. Gonglin pressed him to rush a memorial begging the throne to execute his sons, then row back alone by night in a single boat. Jingze had his chief of staff Zhang Sinzu draft the memorial, then said, 「If I did that, word would reach my sons in the capital—let it wait one night. 」That night he called his civil and military staff to gamble at cockalorum for cash and asked the room, 「What plan do you want from me? 」No one dared speak first. Chamberlain Ding Xinghuai said, 「My lord should simply rise. 」Jingze said nothing. At dawn he summoned Shanyin magistrate Wang Xun and court attendant censor Zhongli Zuyuan. Jingze sat sword across his knees, legs sprawled, and asked them, 「How many corvée men can you raise? How much coin and goods sit in the transit storehouse? 」Xun said, 「The county levies cannot be mustered. Zuyuan said, 「Most of what is stored has not yet been delivered in. 」Jingze flew into a rage and was about to have them dragged out and killed. Wang Gonglin pleaded again: 「My lord, anything may still be undone—only this cannot be undone! Will my lord not think again! 」Jingze spat in his face and cried, 「Pup! When I move, what is that to you, whelp! 」Then he took up arms.
27
上詔曰：「謝朓啟事騰徐嶽列如右。 王敬則稟質凶猾，本謝人綱。 直以宋季多艱，頗有膂力之用，驅獎所至，遂升榮顯。 皇運肇基，預聞末議，功非匡國，賞實震主。 爵冠執圭，身登衣袞，固以《風雅》作刺，縉紳側目。 而溪谷易盈，鴟梟難改，猜心內駭，丑辭外布。 永明之朝，履霜有漸，隆昌之世，堅冰將著，從容附會，朕有力焉。 及景歷惟新，推誠盡禮，中使相望，軒冕成陰。 乃嫌跡愈興，禍圖茲構，收合亡命，結黨聚群，外候邊警，內伺國隙。 元遷兄弟，中萃淵藪，奸契潛通，將謀竊發。 朓卽姻家，嶽又邑子，取據匪他，昭然以信。 方、邵之美未聞，韓、彭之釁已積。 此而可容，孰寄刑典！ 便可卽遣收掩，肅明國憲。 大辟所加，其父子而已； 凡諸詿誤，一從蕩滌。」 收敬則子員外郎世雄、記室參軍季哲、太子洗馬幼隆、太子舍人少安等，於宅殺之。 長子黃門郎元遷，為寧朔將軍，領千人於徐州擊虜，敕徐州刺史徐玄慶殺之。
The emperor's edict read: 「Xie Tiao's memorial exposing Xu Yue is set forth at right. Wang Jingze is vicious and slippery by nature; he began as a bondsman of the Xie house. Only because the late Song years were hard did his brute strength find use; driven and rewarded wherever he went, he climbed to glory. When the dynasty was first founded he had a hand in the last counsels; his merit did not steady the state, yet his rewards outshone the throne itself. He bore a noble's tablet and wore the court robes of state; the Book of Odes might have written him as a warning—the gentry watched him sidelong. Yet ravines fill fast and the owl and kite do not mend; suspicion gnawed within, foul rumor ran without. Under Yongming, frost crept in by degrees; under Longchang, hard ice was forming—yet he eased along and made his peace, and I had my share in it. When Jingli renewed the reign, I met him with open heart and full rite; palace envoys followed one on another until his coaches and caps made a shade. Then his suspicious tracks deepened and his plot for ruin took shape; he gathered fugitives, knotted factions, watched the frontiers for alarm and the state for a crack. Yuanyuan and his brothers were the deep pool at the center; treasonous ties ran through them in secret; he was on the verge of a stolen rising. Tiao is kin by marriage, Yue a man of his home town—the proof is no other, plain and to be trusted. We have not heard of Fang and Shao's loyalty, yet Han and Peng's guilt is already heaped high. If this may stand, upon whom shall the law rest! Let him be seized at once and the national statutes made sharp and clear. Death by the highest law falls on father and sons alone; all who were drawn in by mistake shall be cleared in one sweep. 」They seized Jingze's sons—gentleman-in-attendance Shixiong, staff officer Jizhe, household groom Youlong, crown prince's attendant Shao'an, and the rest—and killed them in their houses. His eldest, Yuanyuan, gentleman at the Yellow Gate, was general who pacifies the north, leading a thousand men against the barbarians at Xuzhou; the edict ordered Xuzhou inspector Xu Xuanqing to kill him.
28
敬則招集配衣，二三日便發，欲劫前中書令何胤還為尚書令，長史王弄璋、司馬張思祖止之。 乃率實甲萬人過浙江，謂思祖曰：「應須作檄。」 思祖曰：「公今自還朝，何用作此。」 敬則乃止。
Jingze gathered men and gear and marched within two or three days. He meant to seize the former director of the secretariat He Yin and make him director again; chief clerk Wang Nongzhang and chief of staff Zhang Sinzu held him back. He then led ten thousand men in real armor across the Zhe and told Sinzu, 「We must issue a proclamation. 」Sinzu said, 「My lord is going back to court of your own will—why write this? 」Jingze let the matter drop.
29
朝廷遣輔國將軍前軍司馬左興盛、後軍將軍直閤將軍崔恭祖、輔國將軍劉山陽、龍驤將軍直閤將軍馬軍主胡松三千餘人，築壘于曲阿長岡，右僕射沈文季為持節都督，屯湖頭，備京口路。
The court sent augmenting-the-state general and vanguard army marshal Zuo Xingsheng, rear army general and palace gate general Cui Gongzu, augmenting-the-state general Liu Shanyang, and dragon-charger general, palace gate general, and cavalry commandant Hu Song—more than three thousand in all—to build works on the long ridge at Qu'e. Vice director Shen Wenji held the staff as commissioner with full powers and camped at Hutou to guard the Jingkou road.
30
敬則以舊將舉事，百姓擔篙荷鍤隨逐之，十餘万衆。 至晉陵，南沙人范脩化殺縣令公上延孫以應之。 敬則至武進陵口，慟哭乘肩輿而前。 遇興盛、山陽二砦，儘力攻之。 興盛使軍人遙告敬則曰：「公兒死已盡，公持許底作？」 官軍不敵欲退，而圍不開，各死戰。 胡松領馬軍突其後，白丁無器仗，皆驚散，敬則軍大敗。 敬則索馬，再上不得上，興盛軍容袁文曠斬之，傳首。 是時上疾已篤，敬則倉卒東起，朝廷震懼。 東昏侯在東宮，議欲叛，使人上屋望，見征虜亭失火，謂敬則至，急裝欲走。 有告敬則者，敬則曰：「檀公三十六策，走是上計。 汝父子唯應急走耳。」 敬則之來，聲勢甚盛，裁少日而敗，時年七十餘。
Jingze rose as a famous old commander; common folk shouldered poles and spades and followed—more than a hundred thousand. At Jinling, Fan Xiuhua of Nansha killed the magistrate Gongshang Yansun to join him. Jingze came to the pass by the Wujin tombs, wept aloud, and went on in a shoulder litter. He struck the two camps of Xingsheng and Shanyang with all he had. Xingsheng had men shout across to Jingze, 「Your sons are all dead—what are you still holding to? 」The government host could not stand and meant to pull back, but the ring would not open—both sides fought to the death. Hu Song drove the horse troops into their rear; unarmed levies broke in terror—Jingze's force collapsed. Jingze called for a horse and could not get back into the saddle. Xingsheng's army majordomo Yuan Wenkuan cut him down and sent his head. The emperor was already near death; Jingze had risen in haste in the east, and the court shook with fear. The marquis of Eastern Darkness at the Eastern Palace talked of rebelling; he sent men onto the roof to look, saw fire at the Zhengfu Pavilion, took it for Jingze's arrival, and rushed to dress and run. When word reached Jingze, he said: 「Among Duke Tan's thirty-six stratagems, running is the best of all. You and your son had best run for your lives—now.」 」Jingze had marched east in thunder and numbers, yet within days he was undone; he was past seventy.
31
封左興盛新吳縣男，崔恭祖遂興縣男，劉山陽湘陰縣男，胡松沙陽縣男，各四百戶，賞平敬則也。 又贈公上延孫為射聲校尉。
Zuo Xingsheng was made baron of Xinwu, Cui Gongzu baron of Suixing, Liu Shanyang baron of Xiangyin, and Hu Song baron of Shayang—four hundred households each—as reward for putting down Jingze. Gong Shangyansun was also given posthumous rank as colonel of the archers who shoot by sound.
32
陳顯達，南彭城人也。 宋孝武世，為張永前軍幢主。 景和中，以勞歷使使。 泰始初，以軍主隸徐州刺史劉懷珍北征，累至東海王板行參軍，員外郎。 泰始四年，封彭澤縣子，邑三百戶。 歷馬頭、義陽二郡太守，羽林監，濮陽太守。
Chen Xianda came from Nan Pengcheng commandery. Under Emperor Xiaowu of Song he was chief of the forward pennons on Zhang Yong's staff. In the Jinghe years his service won him repeated turns as envoy. When Taishi opened he marched north as an army commander under Xu inspector Liu Huaizhen, and in time reached acting staff officer to the Prince of Donghai and outer-office gentleman. In Taishi year four he was made viscount of Pengze at three hundred households. He governed Matou and Yiyang in succession, held the feathered-forest inspectorship, and became administrator of Puyang.
33
隸太祖討桂陽賊於新亭壘，劉勔大桁敗，賊進杜姥宅。 及休範死，太祖欲還衛宮城，或諫太祖曰：「桂陽雖死，賊黨猶熾，人情難固，不可輕動。」 太祖乃止。 遣顯達率司空參軍高敬祖自查浦渡淮緣石頭北道入承明門，屯東堂。 宮中恐動，得顯達至，乃稍定。 顯達出杜姥宅，大戰破賊。 矢中左眼，拔箭而鏃不出，地黃村潘嫗善禁，先以釘釘柱，嫗禹步作氣，釘卽時出，乃禁顯達目中鏃出之。 封豐城縣侯，邑千戶。 轉游擊將軍。
He followed the Grand Ancestor against the Guiyang rebels at Xinting; Liu Qin's great bridge army was smashed, and the enemy drove into Old Woman Du's quarter. After Xiufan fell, the Grand Ancestor meant to fall back and hold the palace; an adviser urged him: 「Guiyang is dead, but his party still runs hot—the mood is brittle. Do not stir yet. 」The Grand Ancestor held his ground. He sent Xianda with Gao Jingzu of the works staff to cross the Huai at Zhapu, take the northern road past Stone Hill into Chenming Gate, and camp in the Eastern Hall. The palace was near panic; Xianda's arrival steadied it a little. Xianda sallied from Old Woman Du's quarter and in heavy fighting routed the rebels. A shaft struck his left eye; he drew it, but the head stayed fast. In Dihuang village old Pan knew forbidden arts: she drove a nail into a post, paced the Yu stride, breathed power into it, and the nail leapt free—then she charmed the head from Xianda's eye. He was made marquis of Fengcheng at one thousand households. He was moved to general of raiding cavalry.
34
尋為使持節、督廣交越三州湘州之廣興軍事、輔國將軍、平越中郎將、廣州刺史，進號冠軍。 沈攸之事起，顯達遣軍援臺。 長史到遁、司馬諸葛導謂顯達曰：「沈攸之擁衆百万，勝負之勢未可知。 不如保境蓄衆，分遣信驛，密通彼此。」 顯達於座手斬之，遣表疏歸心太祖。 進使持節、左將軍。 軍至巴丘，而沈攸之平。 除散騎常侍、左衛將軍，轉前將軍、太祖太尉左司馬。 齊臺建，為散騎常侍，左衛將軍，領衛尉。 太祖卽位，遷中護軍，增邑千六百戶，轉護軍將軍。 顯達啟讓，上答曰：「朝廷爵人以序。 卿忠發萬里，信誓如期，雖屠城殄國之勳，無以相加。 此而不賞，典章何在！ 若必未宜爾，吾終不妄授。 於卿數士，意同家人，豈止於君臣邪？ 過明，與王、李俱祗召也。」 上卽位後，御膳不宰牲，顯達上熊烝一盤，上卽以充飯。
Soon he bore the staff as commander of Guang, Jiao, and Yue and of Xiang's Guangxing, general who assists the state and central commandant pacifying the Yue, and governor of Guang—with his style raised to Champion. When Shen Youzhi rebelled, Xianda marched troops to the capital's aid. Chief clerk Dao Dun and aide Zhuge Dao told him: 「Shen Youzhi fields a million men—the outcome is anyone's guess. Hold your province, hoard your men, and post secret riders to keep touch with both camps. 」Xianda cut them down where they sat and sent a memorial binding his loyalty to the Grand Ancestor. His rank rose to bearer of the staff and general of the left. His column reached Baqiu; Shen Youzhi was already broken. He was named attendant cavalier-in-ordinary and general of the left guard, then general of the van and left chief of staff to the Grand Ancestor in his grand commandant's camp. At the founding of the Qi regime he was attendant cavalier-in-ordinary and general of the left guard, and also commandant of the palace guard. When the Grand Ancestor ascended, Xianda became central protector of the army, gained one thousand six hundred more households on his fief, and was made protector-general of the army. Xianda asked to stand down; the emperor replied: 「The court grants rank in its proper order. You pledged yourself from ten thousand li away and kept faith to the hour—even merit that razes cities and ends kingdoms could not stand above it. Reward less than this, and what becomes of law and precedent! If you still judge it unfit, I will not bestow it lightly. For you and a handful like you my heart is kin, not courtier alone—how could it be only lord and minister? At dawn tomorrow you, Wang, and Li are all to present yourselves. 」Once enthroned, the emperor would have no beast killed for his table; Xianda sent up a plate of steamed bear, and he took it for his meal.
35
建元二年，虜寇壽陽，淮南江北百姓搔動。 上以顯達為使持節、散騎常侍、都督南兖兖徐青冀五州諸軍事、平北將軍、南兖州刺史。 之鎮，虜退。 上敕顯達曰：「虜經破散後，當無復犯關理。 但國家邊防，自應過存備豫。 宋元嘉二十七年後，江夏王作南兖，徙鎮盱眙，沈司空亦以孝建初鎮彼，政當以淮上要於廣陵耳。 卿謂前代此處分云何？ 今僉議皆云卿應據彼地，吾未能決。 乃當以擾動文武為勞。 若是公計，不得憚之。」 事竟不行。
In Jianyuan year two the northern enemy struck Shouyang; north and south of the Huai in Huainan the people quaked. The emperor named him bearer of the staff and attendant cavalier-in-ordinary, commander of Southern Yan, Yan, Xu, Qing, and Ji, general who pacifies the north, and governor of Southern Yan. He took up his command; the enemy fell back. The emperor instructed Xianda: 「Once broken and scattered, the northerners should have no cause to test the passes again. Still, the frontier must be held in more than name. Since Song's Yuanjia year twenty-seven the Prince of Jiangxia held Southern Yan and shifted his seat to Chuyang; Minister of Works Shen garrisoned there too at the opening of Xiaojian—the Huai frontier, not Guangling, was the hinge. How do you read what earlier reigns did with this command? Now every voice in council says you should take that ground, and I have not settled it. It would only weary court and camp alike. If that is your firm advice, I cannot flinch from it.」 」In the end nothing was done.
36
遷都督益寧二州軍事、安西將軍、益州刺史，領宋寧太守，持節、常侍如故。 世祖卽位，進號鎮西。 益部山險，多不賓服。 大度村獠，前後刺史不能制，顯達遣使責其租賧，獠帥曰：「兩眼刺史尚不敢調我！」 遂殺其使。 顯達分部將吏，聲將出獵，夜往襲之，男女無少長皆斬之。 自此山夷震服。 廣漢賊司馬龍駒據郡反，顯達又討平之。
He was moved to commander of Yi and Ning, general who pacifies the west, and governor of Yi, still holding Songning as administrator, with staff and attendant rank unchanged. When Shizu ascended, Xianda's style rose to general who guards the west. In Yibu the mountains were sheer and treacherous, and many tribes would not bow. At Daidu village the Liao had defied every inspector for years. Xianda sent men to collect rent and tribute. The Liao chief said, 「Even a Two-Eyes Governor never dared lean on me! 」Then they killed the envoys. Xianda split his command, cried a hunt, and fell on them by night—man, woman, child, none spared the blade. After that the mountain tribes submitted in awe. At Guanghan the rebel Sima Longju seized the commandery and rose; Xianda put him down again.
37
永明二年，徵為侍中、護軍將軍。 顯達累任在外，經太祖之憂，及見世祖，流涕悲咽，上亦泣，心甚嘉之。
In Yongming year two he was called in as palace attendant and general of the protecting army. Xianda had long held posts abroad and lived through the Grand Ancestor's mourning; when he met Emperor Wu at last he wept until he could not speak, and the emperor wept with him—the throne was deeply moved.
38
五年，荒人桓天生自稱桓玄宗族，與雍、司二州界蠻虜相扇動，據南陽故城。 上遣顯達假節，率征虜將軍戴僧靜等水軍向宛、葉，雍、司衆軍受顯達節度。 天生率虜衆萬餘人攻舞陰，舞陰戍主輔國將軍殷公愍擊殺其副張麒麟，天生被瘡退走。 仍以顯達為使持節、散騎常持、都督雍梁南北秦郢州之竟陵司州之隨郡軍事、鎮北將軍，領寧蠻校尉、雍州刺史。 顯達進據舞陽城，遣僧靜等先進，與天生及虜再戰，大破之，官軍還。 數月，天生復出攻舞陰，殷公愍破之，天生還竄荒中，遂城、平氏、白土三城賊稍稍降散。
In year five the wild man Huan Tiansheng claimed descent from Huan Xuan, roused the tribal bands on the Yong and Si frontiers, and seized old Nanyang. The emperor gave Xianda the staff and sent him with Dai Sengjing, general who conquers the barbarians, and the river fleet toward Wan and Ye; every host of Yong and Si answered to him. Tiansheng led ten thousand-odd tribesmen against Wuyin; the garrison chief Yin Gongmin, general who assists the state, cut down his lieutenant Zhang Qilin, and Tiansheng, wounded, ran. Xianda received the staff, was made regular attendant of the scattered riders and overall commander of Yong, Liang, North and South Qin, Jingling in Ying, and Sui in Si, general who pacifies the north, colonel pacifying the barbarians, and inspector of Yong. Xianda moved up and took Wuyang, sent Sengjing forward, met Tiansheng and the tribes twice, broke them utterly, and the government host drew back. Within months Tiansheng struck Wuyin again; Yin Gongmin routed him and he fled into the wilds; rebels at Suicheng, Pingshi, and Baitu slowly surrendered and melted away.
39
八年，進號征北將軍。 其年，仍遷侍中、鎮軍將軍，尋加中領軍。 出為使持節、散騎常侍、都督江州諸軍事、征南大將軍、江州刺史，給鼓吹一部。 顯達謙厚有智計，自以人微位重，每遷官，常有愧懼之色。 有子十餘人，誡之曰：「我本志不及此，汝等勿以富貴陵人！」 家旣豪富，諸子與王敬則諸兒，竝精車牛，麗服飾。 當世快牛稱陳世子青，王三郎烏，呂文顯折角，江瞿曇白鼻。 顯達謂其子曰：「麈尾扇是王謝家物，汝不須捉此自逐。」
In year eight he was raised to general who conquers the north. That year he was shifted to palace attendant and general who guards the army, and soon made central army commander as well. He went out with the staff as regular attendant of the scattered riders, overall commander of Jiangzhou, general who conquers the south, and inspector of Jiangzhou, with one suite of martial music. Xianda was modest, thick, and shrewd; a man of humble roots in a heavy office, he showed shame and dread at every new seal. He had more than ten sons and warned them, 「My heart never aimed this high—do not bully the world with your riches! 」The house was already wealthy; his sons and Wang Jingze's sons alike drove matched cattle and wore bright gear. The age's swiftest oxen were Chen the Heir's Blue, Wang Third-Son Crow, Lu Wenxian Bent-Horn, and Jiang Qutan White-Nose. Xianda told his sons, 「Deer-tail fans are Wang and Xie playthings—you need not chase that fashion yourselves.」
40
十一年秋，虜動，詔屯樊城。 世祖遺詔，卽本號開府儀同三司。 隆昌元年，遷侍中、車騎將軍，開府如故，置兵佐。 豫廢鬱林之勳，延興元年，為司空，進爵公，增邑千戶，甲仗五十人入殿。 高宗卽位，進太尉，侍中如故，改封鄱陽郡公，邑三千戶，加兵二百人，給油絡車。 建武二年，虜攻徐、司，詔顯達出頓，往來新亭白下，以為聲勢。
In the eleventh year, autumn, the northern enemy stirred; he was ordered to hold Fancheng. Emperor Wu's deathbed edict left him at his present rank with opening-palace parity of the three excellencies. In Longchang year one he became palace attendant and general of the flying cavalry, his opening palace unchanged, with a full military staff. For helping cast down Yulin, in Yanxing year one he was made minister of works, raised to duke, given a thousand added households, and fifty armed guards in the hall. When Gaozong took the throne, Xianda was made grand commandant, palace attendant as before, re-enfeoffed duke of Poyang with three thousand households, two hundred added guards, and an oil-mesh carriage. In Jianwu year two the northern enemy struck Xu and Si; Xianda was sent out to hold the line, moving between Xinting and Baixia to swell the show of force.
41
上欲悉除高、武諸孫，微言問顯達，答曰：「此等豈足介慮。」 上乃止。 顯達建武世心懷不安，深自貶匿，車乘朽故，導從鹵簿，皆用羸小，不過十數人。 侍宴，酒後啟上曰：「臣年已老，富貴已足，唯少枕枕死，特就陛下乞之。」 上失色曰：「公醉矣。」 以年禮告退，不許。
The emperor meant to wipe out every descendant of the Gao and Wu houses and sounded Xianda, who said, 「That lot is hardly worth a worry. 」The emperor let the plan drop. Under Jianwu Xianda lived in dread and hid himself low—rotting carriages, escorts and insignia all the weakest men, never a dozen in all. At a court feast, drunk, he told the throne, 「I am old and have wealth enough; only a pillow-death still eludes me—and I come now to beg it of Your Majesty. 」The emperor went pale and said, 「You are drunk. 」He asked leave on grounds of age; it was refused.
42
永元元年，顯達督平北將軍崔慧景衆軍四萬，圍南鄉堺馬圈城，去襄陽三百里，攻之四十日。 虜食盡，啖死人肉及樹皮。 外圍旣急，虜突走，斬獲千計。 官軍競取城中絹，不復窮追。 顯達入據其城，遣軍主庄丘黑進取南鄉縣，故順陽郡治也。 虜主元宏自領十餘萬騎奄至，顯達引軍渡水西據鷹子山築城，人情沮敗。 虜兵甚急，軍主崔恭祖、胡松以烏布幔盛顯達，數人擔之，逕道從分磧山出均水口，臺軍緣道奔退，死者三万餘人。 左軍將張千戰死，追贈游擊將軍。 顯達素有威名，著於蠻虜，至是大損喪焉。 御史中丞范岫奏免顯達官，朝議優詔答曰：「昔衛、霍出塞，往往無功，馮、鄧入關，有時虧喪。 況公規謨肅舉，期寄兼深、見可知難，無損威略。 方振遠圖，廓清朔土。 雖執憲有常，非所得議。」 顯達表解職，不許，求降號，又不許。
In Yongyuan year one Xianda directed Cui Huijing, general who pacifies the north, and forty thousand men to ring the horse-pen city on the Nanxiang border, three hundred li from Xiangyang; the siege ran forty days. The enemy's grain gave out; they ate the dead and gnawed bark. The ring closed tight; the enemy burst out—slain and taken ran to the thousands. Government troops fought over the city's silk and would not chase further. Xianda entered and held the city, sent the army commander Zhuangqiu Hei to take Nanxiang county, the old seat of Shunyang commandery. The northern ruler Yuan Hong came in person with a hundred thousand-odd horsemen; Xianda pulled his host west of the water to Eagle-Kite Hill and walled it, but hearts broke. The enemy pressed hot; army commanders Cui Gongzu and Hu Song swathed Xianda in a black-cloth canopy and had a few men carry him by a back path over Split-Ridge Hill to Jun mouth; the capital host fled along the road—more than thirty thousand dead. Left army officer Zhang Qian fell in the fight; posthumously he was made general of the rapid attack. Xianda's dread name had long run among the tribes; now it was grievously broken. Censor-in-chief Fan Xiu asked that Xianda be stripped of office; the court answered with a gentle edict: 「In old days Wei Qing and Huo Qubing went beyond the passes and often won nothing; Feng Yi and Deng Yu entered the passes and sometimes met ruin. How much more for you, whose counsel is grave and whose charge from the throne runs deep—when hardship shows plain upon the field, your prestige is not lessened. Now is the hour to shake the far design and sweep the northern soil clean. Though the law has its course, this is not a matter for such debate. 」Xianda memorialized to quit; it was refused. He asked to lower his rank; that too was refused.
43
以顯達為都督江州軍事、江州刺史，鎮盆城，持節本官如故。 初，王敬則事起，始安王遙光啟明帝慮顯達為變，欲追軍還，事尋平，乃寢。 顯達亦懷危怖。 及東昏立，彌不樂還京師，得此授，甚喜。 尋加領征南大將軍，給三望車。
Xianda was made overall commander of Jiangzhou, inspector of Jiangzhou, garrisoned at Pen city, with the staff and his other offices unchanged. When Wang Jingze first rose, the Prince of Shian Yao Guang warned Mingdi that Xianda might turn and urged the army recalled; the affair soon settled and the plan was dropped. Xianda, too, lived in fear and dread. When Donghun ascended, he was even less eager to go back to the capital; this new posting delighted him. Before long he was also made General Who Campaigns South in concurrent command, with the gift of a three-peacock carriage.
44
顯達聞京師大相殺戮，又知徐孝嗣等皆死，傳聞當遣兵襲江州，顯達懼禍，十一月十五日，舉兵。 令長史庾弘遠、司馬徐虎龍與朝貴書曰：
Xianda heard that the capital was awash in killing, that Xu Xiaosi and his circle were dead, and that an army might be sent against Jiangzhou. Dreading ruin, on the fifteenth day of the eleventh month he rose in arms. He had Chief Clerk Yu Hongyuan and Marshal Xu Hulong address a letter to the great men of court:
45
諸君足下：我太祖高皇帝叡哲自天，超人作聖，屬彼宋季，綱紀自頓，應禪從民，遘此基業。 世祖武皇帝昭略通遠，克纂洪嗣，四關罷嶮，三河靜塵。 鬱林海陵，頓孤負荷。 明帝英聖，紹建中興。 至乎後主，行悖三才，琴橫凷席，繡積麻筵，淫犯先宮，穢興閨闥，皇陛為市廛之所，雕房起征戰之門。 任非華尚，寵必寒廝。
「Gentlemen: Our founding Grandfather, the High Emperor, was wise beyond measure, heaven-touched, raised above common men to sagehood. When the Song line failed and its order crumbled, he took the abdication the people offered and won this foundation. Our Ancestor, the Martial Emperor, saw far and grasped wide; he took up the great succession, stilled the four frontier passes, and laid the dust of the three rivers. At Yulin and Hailing the throne stood suddenly orphaned, the weight on one pair of shoulders. Emperor Ming was heroic and bright, and raised the mid-dynasty revival. As for the present lord, his ways overturn the three powers: the zither laid across the upended mat, brocade piled on the hemp feast, lust that violated the former palace, filth that rose in the inner quarters—the imperial steps turned marketplace, the carved chambers opened as gates of war. Office went not to the finest men; favor fell only on kitchen drudges from the cold hearth.
46
江僕射兄弟，忠言屬薦，正諫繁興，覆族之誅，於斯而至。 故乃犴噬之刑，四剽於海路，家門之釁，一起於中都。 蕭、劉二領軍，竝升御座，共稟遺詔，宗戚之苦，諒不足談，《渭陽》之悲，何辜至此。 徐司空歷葉忠榮，清簡流世，匡翼之功未著，傾宗之罰已彰。 沈僕射年在懸車，將念机杖，歡歌園藪，絕影朝門，忽招陵上之罰，何萬古之傷哉！ 遂使紫臺之路，絕縉紳之儔； 纓組之閤，罷金、張之胤。 悲哉！ 蟬冕為賤寵之服，嗚呼！ 皇陛列劫豎之坐。
Vice-Director Jiang and his brothers spoke loyalty again and again, remonstrance without end—and at last came the sentence that wiped out their house. So the cage-and-devour punishments ran to the four corners of the sea-roads, and the ruin of a house began first in the central capital. Army Commanders-in-Chief Xiao and Liu were both forced to the imperial seat and made to receive the deathbed edict together—the anguish of the imperial kin scarcely bears telling; the grief of the Wei Yang ode—what guilt brought them here? Minister of Works Xu bore loyal honor through generations, a pure name in his age; his power to brace the throne had not yet shown when the sentence that overturned his clan was already plain. Vice-Director Shen had reached the age to hang up the chariot, to take staff and cane and sing in garden and marsh, leaving no shadow at the court gate—yet suddenly he met the mound's punishment. What wound for ten thousand ages! So the road to the Purple Terrace was cut off from girdled nobles; the hall of tasseled cords saw the line of Jin and Zhang end. Alas! The cicada crown became the garb of base favor—alas! On the imperial steps stood the seats of robber-thralls.
47
且天人同怨，乾象變錯，往歲三州流血，今者五地自動。 昔漢池異色，胥王因之見廢； 吳郡暫震，步生以為奸幸。 況事隆于往怪，釁倍於前虐，此而未廢，孰不可興？
Heaven and men share one wrath; the sky-signs turn awry. Three provinces bled in years past; five lands quake of themselves this year. Of old, when the Han pool changed color, the Prince of Jin was cast aside for it; when Wu commandery trembled for a season, Bu Sheng read it as the doing of a treacherous favorite. How much more when the matter outdoes the marvels of old and the guilt doubles the tyranny before—if this is not cast down, what may not be raised up?
48
王僕射、王領軍、崔護軍，中維簡正，逆念剖心。 蕭衛尉、蔡詹事、沈左衛，各負良家，共傷時嶮。 先朝遺舊，志在名節，同列丹書，要同義舉。 建安殿下秀德沖遠，寔允神器。 昏明之舉，往聖流言。 今忝役戎驅，亟請乞路。 須京塵一靜，西迎大駕，歌舞太平，不亦佳哉！ 裴豫州宿遣誠言，久懷慷慨，計其勁兵，已登淮路； 申司州志節堅明，分見迎合，總勒偏率，殿我而進； 蕭雍州、房僧寄竝已纂邁，旌鼓將及； 南兖州司馬崔恭祖壯烈超群，嘉驛屢至，佇聽烽諜，共成唇齒； 荊郢行事蕭、張二賢，莫不案劍餐風，橫戈待節。 關畿蕃守之儔，孰非義侶！
Vice-Director Wang, Army Commander Wang, and Protector-General Cui hold the center with upright simplicity, their contrary will laid open as a heart split in two. Chamberlain Xiao, Household Steward Cai, and Left Guards General Shen each spring from good houses and together grieve the age's peril. Survivors of the former court set their hearts on name and integrity; they share one red-scroll pledge and mean to rise together in righteousness. His Highness of Jian'an bears refined virtue, lofty and far-seen—truly fit for the sacred vessel. The deed that sorts dark from bright—former sages left it in their teachings. Now, shamed by war and forced march, I urgently beg a clear road. When the capital's dust is stilled I shall meet the great carriage in the west and sing and dance in peace—is that not fine? Pei of Yuzhou has long sent words of sincere intent and kept a generous heart; I reckon his crack troops are already on the Huai road. Shen of Sizhou has will and integrity firm and bright; his officers meet us in division, gather irregular forces, and screen my rear as we advance; Xiao of Yongzhou and Fang Sengji have both already taken up the succession; their banners and drums are nearly here; Sima Cui Gongzu of Southern Yanzhou is fierce beyond the common run; good dispatches come again and again—we wait on the beacon reports and will be lip to tooth; The acting officers of Jing and Ying, the two worthies Xiao and Zhang, all lay hand to sword, sup the wind, level spear, and wait the moment. Among the frontier guards of the passes and marches—who is not a comrade in the righteous cause!
49
我太尉公體道合聖，杖德脩文，神武橫於七伐，雄略震於九綱。 是乃從彼英序，還抗社稷。 本欲鳴笳細錫，無勞戈刃； 但忠黨有心，節義難遣。 信次之間，森然十萬。 飛旍咽于九派，列艦迷於三川，此蓋捧海澆螢，烈火消凍耳。 吾子其擇善而從之，無令竹帛空為後人笑也。
Our Grand Preceptor joins the Way with sageness in his person, upholds virtue and cultivates letters; divine martial prowess spans the seven campaigns, heroic strategy shakes the nine principles. So he follows that glorious order and comes back to hold the altars. I had meant only to sound the reed-pipe and grant fine gifts, without calling on blade or spear; but the loyal party has its will, and the dictates of integrity cannot be sent away. Between one credence camp and the next, ranks stand close at a hundred thousand. Flying banners choke the nine branches; lined warships blur the three rivers—this is only cupping the sea to douse a firefly, a fierce blaze to melt frost. You gentlemen must choose what is good and follow it; do not let bamboo and silk stand empty for later men to laugh.
50
朝廷遣後軍將軍胡松、驍騎將軍李叔獻水軍據梁山； 左衛將軍左興盛假節，加征虜將軍，督前鋒軍事，屯新亭； 輔國將軍驍騎將軍徐世摽領兵屯杜姥宅。 顯達率衆數千人發尋陽，與胡松戰於採石，大破之，京邑震恐。 十二月十三日，顯達至新林築城壘，左興盛率衆軍為拒戰之計。 其夜，顯達多置屯火于岸側，潛軍渡取石頭北上襲宮城，遇風失曉，十四日平旦，數千人登落星崗。 新亭軍望火，謂顯達猶在，旣而奔歸赴救，屯城南。 宮掖大駭，閉門守備。 顯達馬槊從步軍數百人，于西州前與臺軍戰，再合，大勝，手殺數人，槊折，官軍繼至，顯達不能抗，退走至西州烏榜村，為騎官趙潭注槊刺落馬，斬之於籬側，血涌湔籬，似淳于伯之被刑也。 時年七十二。 顯達在江州，遇疾不治，尋而自差，意甚不悅。 是冬連大雪，梟首於朱雀，而雪不集之。 諸子皆伏誅。
The court dispatched Rear Army General Hu Song and Raiding Cavalry General Li Shuxian with a water host to hold Liangshan; Left Guards General Zuo Xingsheng held the staff in commission, was further named General Who Subdues the Enemy, supervised vanguard affairs, and camped at Xinting; Assistant-State General and Raiding Cavalry General Xu Shibiao led troops to camp at Du Lao's residence. Xianda led several thousand men out of Xunyang and fought Hu Song at Caishi, breaking him utterly; the capital shook with fear. On the thirteenth day of the twelfth month Xianda came to Xinlin and built ramparts and stockades; Zuo Xingsheng led the host to lay plans of defense. That night Xianda lined the bank with beacon fires, slipped troops across to seize Shitou, and drove north to strike the palace; wind and mist cost them the hour—at dawn on the fourteenth several thousand men stood on Falling Star Ridge. The Xinting force saw the blaze and took Xianda to be still in camp; they wheeled back to the rescue and pitched south of the walls. The inner palace panicked; gates were barred and the guard stood to arms. Xianda on horseback with lance led a few hundred foot; before Xizhou he met the capital host twice and broke them, killing several men himself until the lance snapped; fresh government troops poured in and he could not stand; he fell back to Wubang hamlet west of Xizhou, where cavalry officer Zhao Tan thrust him from the saddle with his lance and cut off his head by a hedge—blood surged and sluiced the fence like Chunyu Bo at the block. He was seventy-two. While Xianda held Jiangzhou he took ill and would not call a physician; he mended of himself, yet the omen sat ill with him. That winter snow fell again and again; his head was spiked at the Vermilion Bird Gate, and the snow would not lie on it. His sons were all put to death.
51
史臣曰：光武功臣所以能終其身名者，非唯不任職事，亦以繼奉明、章，心尊正嫡，君安乎上，臣習乎下。 王、陳拔迹奮飛，則建元、永明之運； 身極鼎將，則建武、永元之朝。 勳非往時，位踰昔等，禮授雖重，情分不交。 加以主猜政亂，危亡慮及，舉手扞頭，人思自免。 干戈旣用，誠淪犯上之跡。 敵國起於同舟，況又疏於此者也？
The historian writes: Guangwu's fighting men kept skin and fame to the grave not only because they left office, but because they served Ming and Zhang in turn, bowed to the rightful heir, the throne rested easy above and the court below knew its place. Wang and Chen clawed up from nothing—that was Jianyuan and Yongming; when they topped the realm as chief ministers—that was Jianwu and Yongyuan. Merit no longer matched the old days, rank outran old peers; rites and gifts weighed heavy, yet feeling never met. Add a suspicious throne and a broken polity, ruin in every mind—hands went to heads, each man scheming only his own escape. Once arms were drawn, they truly walked the path of striking above. Enemies spring from the same boat—how much more when kinship was thin as this?
52
贊曰：糾糾敬則，臨難不惑。 功成殿寢，誅我蝥賊。 顯達孤根，應義南蕃。 威揚寵盛，鼎食高門。 王虧河、兖，陳挫襄、樊。
In praise: Upright Jingze, unshaken in the crisis. Triumph won within the palace halls, the great pest cut down. Xianda, rootless and alone, took up the cause in the southern command. Glory abroad, favor at flood, tripod-fed in the highest houses. Wang broke on the He and Yan; Chen bent at Xiang and Fan.
53
全文以中華書局、一九七二年一月版《南齊書》為本校。
The entire text has been collated against the Zhonghua Shuju edition of the Book of Southern Qi (January 1972).