1
澄少好學，博覽無所不知，行坐眠食，手不釋卷。 宋泰始初，為尚書殿中郎，議皇后諱班下應依舊稱姓。 左丞徐爰案司馬孚議皇后不稱姓，春秋逆王后于齊，並不言姓。 澄以意立議，坐免官，白衣領職。
Lu Cheng loved study from boyhood and read so widely that he seemed to know everything. Whether he was walking, sitting, asleep, or at table, he never put his books down. In the early Taishi reign of Song he was made acting registrar in the Secretariat and argued that taboo lists for the empress should continue to give her surname as before. Left Vice Director Xu Yuan invoked Sima Fu's argument that an empress should not be named by surname, pointing out that when the Spring and Autumn Annals records the queen's journey to Qi, it never mentions her surname. Cheng pressed his own view and was stripped of office for it, though he kept performing his duties in plain dress without rank.
2
郎官舊坐杖，有名無實，澄在官積前後罰凡至千數。 後兼左丞。
Corporal punishment was nominally prescribed for secretariat officers but almost never applied; Cheng, in office, actually ordered beatings hundreds and even thousands of times. He later held the Left Vice Director post as well.
3
泰始六年，詔皇太子朝服袞冕九章，澄與儀曹郎丘仲起議：「服冕以朝，實著經文，秦除六冕，漢明還備。 魏、晉以來，不欲令臣下服袞冕，故位公者加侍官。 今皇太子禮絕群後，宜遵聖王盛典，革近代之制。」 累遷御史中丞。
In the sixth year of Taishi the crown prince was ordered to wear court dress with dragon robe and nine emblems. Cheng and Qiu Zhongqi of the protocol office argued: "Wearing the dragon robe at court is plainly set out in the classics; Qin abolished the six caps, and Emperor Ming of Han restored them. Since Wei and Jin, rulers had not wanted subjects to wear dragon robes, so men of ducal rank were given attendant offices instead. The crown prince's ritual standing now surpasses everyone else's; he should follow the great ceremonies of the sage-kings and set aside recent practice." He rose in due course to censor-in-chief of the inspectorate.
4
儉答曰：「易體微遠，實貫群籍，豈可專據小王便為該備，依舊存鄭，高同來說。 元凱注傳，超邁前儒，谷梁小書，無俟兩注。 存麋略範，率由舊式。 凡此諸議，並同雅論。 疑孝經非鄭所注，僕以此書明百行之首，實人倫所先，七略、藝文並陳之六藝，不與蒼頡、凡將之流也。 鄭注虛實，前代不嫌，意謂可安，仍舊立置。」
Jian answered: "The Changes is subtle and far-reaching and truly underlies all the classics; we cannot treat Wang Bi's commentary alone as sufficient. Keep Zheng Xuan's as before and give it equal standing with the later schools. Du Yu's commentary and tradition outstrip the earlier Confucians; the Guliang is a minor classic and needs no second commentary. Keep the Mao school's Brief Exemplar and adhere to the established form. On all these points I agree with your refined view. I doubt that the Classic of Filial Piety was annotated by Zheng Xuan. I take this book to illuminate the foremost of the hundred practices and to stand first in human relations; both the Qilue and the Yiwen place it among the Six Classics, not with primers such as the Cangjie or Fanjiang. Whether Zheng's commentary is genuine is disputed, but earlier ages did not mind; I believe it can rest undisturbed and should remain established as before."
5
儉自以博聞多識，讀書過澄。 澄謂曰：「僕少來無事，唯以讀書為業； 且年位已高。 令君少便鞅掌王務，雖復一覽便諳，然見卷軸未必多僕。」 儉集學士何憲等盛自商略，澄待儉語畢，然後談所遺漏數百十條，皆儉所未睹。 儉乃嘆服。 儉在尚書省出巾箱几案雜服飾，令學士隸事事多者與之，人人各得一兩物。 澄後來，更出諸人所不知事，復各數條，並舊物奪將去。
Jian took himself for erudite and believed he had read more than Cheng. Cheng told him: "Since youth I have had nothing to do but read; and my years and rank are already advanced. You have managed state affairs since you were young; though you grasp things at a glance, I doubt you have seen as many scrolls as I have." Jian gathered the academicians He Xian and others and held forth at length. Cheng waited until he had finished, then raised several hundred omissions Jian had never noticed. Jian could only sigh in admiration. At the Secretariat Jian brought out scarf-boxes, desk pieces, and assorted ornaments and had the academicians name as many as they could; each man took away one or two. Cheng arrived afterward, named several more items no one else knew, and took back the things the others had already claimed.
6
轉散騎常侍，秘書監，吳郡中正，光祿大夫，加給事中，尋領國子祭酒。 竟陵王子良得古器，小口方腹，而底平可容七八升，以問澄。 澄曰：「此名服匿，單于以與蘇武。」 子良詳視器底有字，彷佛可識，如澄所言。
He became regular attendant of the scattered cavalry, director of the secretariat library, rectifier for Wu commandery, and grand master for splendid happiness, with an additional appointment as palace attendant, and soon headed the imperial university as libationer. Prince Ziliang of Jingling acquired an ancient vessel with a narrow mouth, square belly, and flat base holding seven or eight sheng, and asked Cheng what it was. Cheng said: "This is called a fu-ni; the Chanyu gave one to Su Wu." Ziliang looked closely at the base and found characters faintly legible, exactly as Cheng had said.
7
隆昌元年，以老疾，轉光祿大夫，加散騎常侍，未拜，卒，諡靜子。
In the first year of Longchang, owing to age and illness, he was made grand master for splendid happiness with an additional appointment as regular attendant of the scattered cavalry; before he could assume office he died, and was given the posthumous name Jingzi.
8
澄當世稱為碩學，讀易三年不解文義，欲撰宋書竟不成。 王儉戲之曰：「陸公，書廚也。」 家多墳籍，人所罕見，撰地理書及雜傳，死後乃出。
Cheng was hailed in his day as a great scholar, yet read the Changes for three years without understanding it and tried to write a history of Song but never finished. Wang Jian teased him: "Master Lu is a walking bookcase." His house held many rare books others seldom saw; he wrote a geographical work and miscellaneous biographies that appeared only after his death.
9
澄弟鮮，得罪宋世，當死。 澄于路見舍人王道隆叩頭流血，以此見原。 揚州主簿顧測以兩奴就鮮質錢，鮮死，子暉誣為買券。 澄為中丞，測遂為澄所抑，世以此少之。
Cheng's younger brother Xian had offended the Song court and was condemned to die. On the road Cheng met palace attendant Wang Daolong and knocked his head until it bled; by this Xian was spared. Yangzhou registrar Gu Ce had pledged two slaves to Xian as security for a loan; after Xian died, his son Hui falsely claimed they had been sold outright. When Cheng became censor-in-chief, Ce was thwarted by him, and contemporaries thought somewhat less of Cheng for it.
10
陸慧曉
Lu Huxiao
11
陸慧曉字叔明，吳郡吳人，晉太尉玩之玄孫也。 自玩至慧曉祖萬載，世為侍中，皆有名行。 慧曉伯父仲元，又為侍中，時人方之金、張二族。
Lu Huxiao, style Shuming, was from Wu in Wu commandery, the great-great-grandson of Jin grand commandant Wan. From Wan down to Huxiao's grandfather Wanzai, the family had held the palace attendant post for generations, each man noted for character and conduct. Huxiao's uncle Zhongyuan also served as palace attendant; people of the day ranked the Lu with the Jin and Zhang clans.
12
父子真，仕宋為海陵太守。 時中書舍人秋當見幸，家在海陵，假還葬父，子真不與相聞。 當請發人修橋，又以妨農不許。 彭城王義康聞而賞之。 王僧達貴公子孫，以才傲物，為吳郡太守，入昌門曰：「彼有人焉。 顧琛一公兩掾，英英門戶； 陸子真五世內侍，我之流亞。」 子真自臨海太守眼疾歸，為中散大夫，卒。
His father Zizhen served Song as governor of Hailing. The secretariat attendant Qiu Dang was then in favor; his family was in Hailing, and he took leave to bury his father, but Zizhen would not deal with him. Dang asked for laborers to repair a bridge, but Zizhen refused on the ground that it would interfere with the harvest. Prince Pengcheng Yikang heard of it and praised him. Wang Sengda, a nobleman's son, was gifted and arrogant. As governor of Wu commandery he entered Chang Gate and said: "There are men of note over there. Gu Chen is one duke and two aides—a splendid house; Lu Zizhen has five generations of inner attendants—men of my own rank." Zizhen came back from Linhai because of eye trouble, was made master of the palace for scattered cavalry, and died.
13
慧曉清介正立，不雜交遊，同郡張緒稱之曰：「江東裴、樂也。」 初應州郡辟，舉秀才，曆諸府行參軍，以母老還家侍養，十餘年不仕。
Huxiao was upright and austere and kept to himself; Zhang Xu of the same commandery called him "the Pei and Yue of the lower Yangtze." He first answered provincial summons, was nominated cultivated talent, and served as traveling aide in several offices; when his mother grew old he went home to care for her and held no office for more than ten years.
14
齊高帝輔政，除為尚書殿中郎。 鄰族來相賀，慧曉舉酒曰：「陸慧曉年踰三十，婦父領選，始作尚書郎，卿輩乃復以為慶邪？」
When Emperor Gao of Qi was regent, Huxiao was made acting registrar in the Secretariat. Neighbors came to congratulate him. Huxiao raised his cup and said: "Lu Huxiao is past thirty; his father-in-law runs personnel selection, and I am only now made a secretariat officer—do you really mean to celebrate this?"
15
高帝表禁奢侈，慧曉撰答詔草，為帝所賞，引為太傅東合祭酒。 齊建元初，遷太子洗馬。 廬江何點常稱「慧曉心如照鏡，遇形觸物，無不朗然。 王思遠恒如懷冰，暑月亦有霜氣」。 當時以為實錄。
The emperor memorialized to forbid extravagance; Huxiao drafted the reply edict, won the throne's praise, and was made libationer of the grand tutor's eastern pavilion. At the opening of Jianyuan he was made groom of the heir apparent. He Dian of Lujiang often said: "Huxiao's mind is like a bright mirror; whatever he meets, nothing stays obscure. Wang Siyuan is always as if holding ice—even in midsummer he seems frosted." People of the day took this for the plain truth.
16
慧曉與張融並宅，其間有池，池上有二株楊柳。 點歎曰：「此池便是醴泉，此木便是交讓。」 及武陵王曄守會稽，上為精選僚吏，以慧曉為征虜功曹，與府參軍沛國劉璡同從述職。 璡清介士也，行至吳，謂人曰：「吾聞張融與慧曉並宅，其間有水，此必有異味。」 故命駕往酌而飲之。 曰：「飲此水，則鄙吝之萌盡矣。」
Huxiao and Zhang Rong lived on adjoining estates with a pond between them and two willows above the water. He sighed and said: "This pond is the Sweet Spring itself; these trees are the Hand-over Trees." When Prince Wuling Ye governed Kuaiji, the court carefully chose his staff, made Huxiao merit officer of the punitive campaign against the barbarians, and he took up his post together with the prince's aide Liu Qin of Pei. Qin was an upright man. When he reached Wu he said: "I hear Zhang Rong and Huxiao live side by side with water between them; it must have a special savor." So he had his carriage brought, went to draw from it, and drank. He said: "Drink this water and every trace of meanness is gone."
17
何點薦慧曉于豫章王嶷，補司空掾，加以恩禮。 累遷安西諮議、領冠軍錄事參軍。
He Dian recommended Huxiao to Prince Yuzhang Ye, who made him aide to the minister of works and treated him with special favor. He rose in due course to adviser of the pacification of the west and concurrently recorder under the champion general.
18
武帝第三子廬陵王子卿為南豫州刺史，帝稱其小名謂司徒竟陵王子良曰：「烏熊癡如熊，不得天下第一人為行事，無以壓一州。」 既而曰：「吾思得人矣。」 乃使慧曉為長史、行事。 別帝，問曰：「卿何以輔持廬陵？」 答曰：「靜以修身，儉以養性。 靜則人不擾，儉則人不煩。」 上大悅。
The emperor's third son, Prince Ziqing of Luling, was made governor of southern Yuzhou. The emperor used his childhood name and told minister of works Prince Ziliang of Jingling: "Black Bear is dull as a bear; unless the foremost man in the realm runs affairs for him, he cannot hold down a province." Then he said: "I believe I have found the man." He then made Huxiao chief clerk with authority to act. When he took leave of the emperor, the throne asked: "How will you support Luling?" He answered: "Through stillness to cultivate the person, through frugality to nurture the nature. When there is stillness, people are not disturbed; when there is frugality, people are not wearied." The emperor was greatly pleased.
19
後為司徒右長史。 時陳郡謝朏為左長史，府公竟陵王子良謂王融曰：「我府前世誰比？」 融曰：「明公二上佐，天下英奇，古來少見其比。」 子良西邸抄書，令慧曉參知其事。
He later became right chief clerk under the minister of works. Xie Tiao of Chen commandery was then left chief clerk. Prince Ziliang of Jingling asked Wang Rong: "To whom in former ages can my household be compared?" Rong said: "Your Grace's two chief aides are the finest men under heaven; seldom in antiquity has their like been seen." Ziliang had books copied at his western lodge and put Huxiao in charge of the work.
20
建武初，除西中郎長史，行事、內史如故。 俄征黃門郎，未拜，遷吏部郎。 尚書令王晏選門生補內外要局，慧曉為用數人而止。 晏恨之。 送女妓一人，欲與申好，慧曉不納。 吏曹都令史曆政來諮執選事，慧曉任己獨行，未嘗與語。 帝遣主書單景雋謂曰：「都令史諳悉舊貫，可共參懷。」 慧曉謂景雋曰：「六十之年，不復能諮都令史為吏部郎也。 上若謂身不堪，便當拂衣而退。」 帝甚憚之。 後欲用為侍中，以形短小乃止。 出為晉安王鎮北司馬、征北長史、東海太守，行府州事。 入為五兵尚書，行揚州事。 崔慧景事平，領右軍將軍。 出監南徐州。 朝議又欲以為侍中，王亮曰：「濟、河須人，今且就朝廷借之，以鎮南兗州。」 王瑩、王志皆曰：「侍中彌須英華，方鎮猶應有選者。」 亮曰：「角其二者，則貂璫緩，拒寇切。 當今朝廷甚弱，宜從切者。」 乃以為輔國將軍、南兗州刺史，加督。 至鎮，俄爾以疾歸。 卒，贈太常。
At the opening of Jianwu he was made chief clerk of the western central guard, retaining his authority to act and his post as interior governor. Soon he was summoned as gentleman of the yellow gate; before he could assume office he was made director of the ministry of personnel. Minister of works Wang Yan chose his disciples to fill important posts inside and outside the court; Huxiao appointed only a few and stopped. Yan resented him. He sent a female entertainer, wishing to establish friendly ties; Huxiao would not accept her. Chief clerk of the personnel bureau Li Zheng came to consult on selections; Huxiao acted on his own authority and never spoke with him. The emperor sent chief secretary Shan Jingjun to say: "The chief clerk knows the old precedents well; you may consult with him." Huxiao told Jingjun: "At sixty I can no longer consult the chief clerk in order to serve as director of personnel. If Your Majesty thinks me unfit, I shall shake out my robes and withdraw." The emperor feared him greatly. Later they wished to make him palace attendant, but stopped because he was short in stature. He went out as pacification of the north major under Prince Jin'an, chief clerk of the northern campaign, and governor of Donghai, with authority over the princely establishment and the province. He returned to court as minister of the five armies and acted for Yangzhou. After Cui Huijing's affair was settled, he concurrently held the post of general of the right army. He went out to oversee southern Xuzhou. Court discussion again favored making him palace attendant. Wang Liang said: "Ji and He need men; for now let us borrow him from the court to secure southern Yanzhou." Wang Ying and Wang Zhi both said: "The palace attendant post especially requires brilliance; for a frontier command there should still be a choice." Liang said: "Weigh the two: the court cap and scepter can wait, but repelling the enemy is urgent. The court today is very weak; we should follow what is urgent." He was therefore made assisting-state general and governor of southern Yanzhou with supervisory powers. When he reached his post he soon returned home on account of illness. He died and was posthumously made minister of ceremonies.
21
三子：僚、任、倕並有美名，時人謂之三陸。 初授慧曉兗州，三子依次第各作一讓表，辭並雅麗，時人歎伏。
His three sons—Liao, Ren, and Chui—all had fine reputations; people of the day called them the Three Lus. When Huxiao was first appointed to Yanzhou, the three sons in turn each drafted a memorial declining the honor; the language was elegant throughout, and contemporaries sighed in admiration.
22
僚學涉子史，長於微言。 美姿容，鬚眉如畫。 位西昌侯長史、蜀郡太守。
Liao read widely in the Masters and histories and had a gift for subtle argument. He was handsome, with beard and brows as finely drawn as in a portrait. He served as chief administrator to the Marquis of Xichang and as governor of Shu commandery.
23
倕字佐公，少勤學，善屬文。 於宅內起兩茅屋，杜絕往來，晝夜讀書，如此者數歲。 所讀一遍，必誦於口。 嘗借人漢書，失五行志四卷，乃暗寫還之，略無遺脫。 幼為外祖張岱所異。 岱嘗謂諸子曰：「此兒，汝家陽元也。」 十七，舉本州秀才。 刺史竟陵王子良開西邸，延英俊，倕預焉。
Chui, styled Zuogong, studied hard from boyhood and wrote with real skill. He built two thatched huts in his courtyard, shut out all callers, and read day and night like this for years. Whatever he read through once, he recited aloud from memory. Once he borrowed a Book of Han and lost four scrolls of the Treatise on the Five Phases; he secretly copied them out from memory and returned the book, scarcely a word missing. As a boy he struck his maternal grandfather Zhang Dai as extraordinary. Dai once told his sons, "This boy is the yang force of your house." At seventeen he was nominated as a provincial talent. When the inspector, Prince Ziliang of Jingling, opened his Western Residence and gathered brilliant men, Chui was invited.
24
梁天監初，為右軍安成王主簿，與樂安任昉友，為感知己賦以贈昉，昉因此名以報之。 及昉為中丞，簪裾輻湊，預其燕者，殷芸、到溉、劉苞、劉孺、劉顯、劉孝綽及倕而已，號曰：「龍門之遊。」 雖貴公子孫不得預也。 遷臨川王東曹掾。
In the early Tianjian reign of Liang he was secretary to Prince Ancheng of the Right Army, became friends with Ren Fang of Le'an, and wrote an "Ode on Sensing a True Friend" for him; Fang answered with a piece named in his turn. When Fang became censor-in-chief, officials thronged about him; only Yin Yun, Dao Gai, Liu Bao, Liu Ru, Liu Xian, Liu Xiaochuo, and Chui were admitted to his gatherings—they called themselves the "Gatherings at Dragon Gate." Even sons of the highest families were not admitted. He was made eastern bureau aide to the Prince of Linchuan.
25
梁武帝雅愛倕才，乃敕撰新漏刻銘，其文甚美。 遷太子中舍人，又詔為石闕銘，敕褒美之，賜絹三十匹。 累遷太常卿，卒。 子纘早慧，七歲通經，為童子郎，卒。 次緬，有似於倕，一看殆不能別。
Emperor Wu of Liang admired Chui's talent and ordered him to write an inscription for the new water clock; the piece was superb. He rose to attendant-in-ordinary to the crown prince, then was ordered to write an inscription for the stone gate-tower; the throne praised the work and gave him thirty bolts of silk. He rose in due course to minister of ceremonies and died. His son Zuan was brilliant early; at seven he knew the classics, was made a youth attendant, and died. Next came Mian, who looked so like Chui that at a glance one could hardly tell them apart.
26
繕字士繻，倕兄子也。 父任，御史中丞。 繕幼有志尚，以雅正知名。 梁承聖中，為中書侍郎，掌東宮管記。 魏平江陵，繕微服遁還建鄴。
Shan, styled Shirui, was Chui's nephew. His father Ren had been censor-in-chief of the inspectorate. Shan had high aspirations from youth and was known for refined integrity. In the Chengsheng era of Liang he was vice director of the Secretariat and kept the crown prince's records. When Wei captured Jiangling, Shan slipped away in plain dress and made his way back to Jiankang.
27
後復拜御史中丞，猶以父所終，固辭，不許，乃權換廨宇，徙以居之。 太建中，曆度支尚書，侍中，太子詹事，尚書右僕射。 尋遷左僕射，參掌選事。 別敕與徐陵等七人參議政事。 卒，贈特進，諡曰安子。 以繕東宮舊臣，特賜祖奠。
Later he was again made censor-in-chief, but since his father had died in that post he firmly declined; when the court would not hear of it, he arranged a temporary swap of offices and moved into his father's old quarters. In the Taijian era he served in turn as minister of revenue, palace attendant, grand tutor of the crown prince, and right vice director of the Secretariat. He was soon made left vice director and helped manage personnel selection. By special edict he joined Xu Ling and six others in deliberating state affairs. He died and was posthumously made special grand master with the posthumous name Anzi. Because Shan had been an old crown prince official, the court specially granted him an ancestral funeral ceremony.
28
繕子辯慧，年數歲，詔引入殿內，進止有父風，宣帝因賜名辯慧字敬仁。
Shan's son, only a few years old, was summoned into the palace by edict; his bearing recalled his father's, and Emperor Xuan therefore gave him the name Bianhui and the style Jingren.
29
繕兄子見賢亦方雅，位少府卿，卒。
Shan's nephew Jianxian was likewise upright and refined; he rose to minister steward and died.
30
閑字遐業，慧曉兄子也。 有風概，與人交不苟合，少為同郡張緒所知。 仕至揚州別駕。 齊明帝崩，閑謂所親人曰：「宮車晏駕，百司將聽塚宰。 主王地重才弱，必不能振，難將至矣。」 乃感心疾，不復預州事。
Xian, styled Xiaye, was Huxiao's nephew. He had real force of character, would not make friends lightly, and in youth won the notice of Zhang Xu of the same commandery. He rose in office to vice governor of Yangzhou. When Emperor Ming of Qi died, Xian told those close to him, "The emperor is gone; the hundred offices will now look to the regent. The young prince holds heavy power but has little strength; he will never set things right—trouble is coming." He then feigned heart sickness and withdrew from prefectural business.
31
永元末，刺史始安王遙光據東府作亂，或勸去之。 閑曰：「吾為人吏，何可逃死。」 台軍攻陷城，閑以綱佐被收，至杜姥宅，尚書令徐孝嗣啟閑不預逆謀。 未及報，徐世標命殺之。 閑四子：厥、絳、完、襄也。 絳字魏卿，時隨閑，抱頸求代死，不獲，遂以身蔽刀刃，行刑者俱害之。
At the end of Yongyuan the governor, Prince Yao Guang of Shi'an, seized the Eastern Residence and rebelled; some urged Xian to flee. Xian said, "I am another man's officer—how can I run from death?" When the imperial army took the city, Xian was seized as a subordinate aide and taken to Old Woman Du's house; Chief Minister Xu Xiaosi reported that Xian had taken no part in the plot. Before the reply arrived, Xu Shibiao ordered him executed. Xian had four sons: Jue, Jiang, Wan, and Xiang. Jiang, styled Weiqing, was with Xian at the time; he threw his arms around his father's neck and begged to die in his stead, and when this was refused he covered him with his body—so the executioners killed them both.
32
厥字韓卿，少有風概，好屬文。 齊永明九年，詔百官舉士，同郡司徒左西曹掾顧暠之表薦厥，州舉秀才。
Jue, styled Hanqing, had force of character from youth and loved to write. In the ninth year of Yongming of Qi the throne ordered officials to recommend talent; Gu Huozhi, western bureau aide on the left of the minister of works in the same commandery, memorialized in Jue's favor, and the province nominated him as a talent.
33
時盛為文章，吳興沈約、陳郡謝朓、琅邪王融以氣類相推轂，汝南周顒善識聲韻。 約等文皆用宮商，將平上去入四聲，以此制韻，有平頭、上尾、蜂腰、鶴膝。 五字之中，音韻悉異，兩句之內，角征不同，不可增減。 世呼為「永明體」。 沈約宋書謝靈運傳後又論其事，厥與約書曰：
Literary composition was then at its height; Shen Yue of Wuxing, Xie Tiao of Chen commandery, and Wang Rong of Langya urged one another on as kindred spirits, and Zhou Yong of Runan had a keen ear for tone and rhyme. Yue and the others wrote with gong-shang tonal patterning, arranging the four tones—level, rising, departing, and entering—to govern rhyme, with faults called flat-head, upper-tail, wasp-waist, and crane-knee. Within five characters every tone had to differ; within two lines jue and zhi could not match; not a word could be added or dropped. People of the age called this the "Yongming style." After Shen Yue discussed the matter in his Song Shu biography of Xie Lingyun, Jue wrote to him:
34
范詹事自序：「性別宮商，識清濁，特能適輕重，濟艱難。 古今文人多不全了斯處，縱有會此者，不必從根本中來。」 尚書亦云：「自靈均以來，此秘未睹。 或暗與理合，匪由思至。 張、蔡、曹、王曾無先覺，潘、陸、顏、謝去之彌遠。」 大旨欲「宮商相變，低昂舛節，若前有浮聲，則後須切響，一簡之內，音韻盡殊，兩句之中，輕重悉異」。 辭既美矣，理又善焉； 但觀歷代眾賢似不都闇此處，而云：「此秘未睹」，近於誣乎。 案范云：「不從根本中來」，尚書云：「匪由思至」，斯則揣情謬于玄黃，擿句著其音律也。 范又云：「時有會此者」，尚書云：「或闇與理合」。 則美詠清謳，有辭章調韻者，雖有差謬，亦有會合。 推此以往，可得而言。 夫思有合離，前哲同所不免，文有開塞，即事不得無之。 子建所以好人譏彈，士衡所以遺恨終篇。 既曰遺恨，非盡美之作。 理可詆訶，君子執其詆訶，便謂合理為闇，豈如指其合理，而寄詆訶為遺恨邪。
Minister of the Household Fan writes in his preface, "By nature I distinguish gong from shang and clear from muddy tones, and I am especially able to balance weight and ease difficulty. Most writers ancient and modern never fully grasp this; even those who sometimes hit upon it need not have reached it from the root." The Minister of Rites also says, "Since Qu Yuan, this secret has never been seen. Some dimly accord with principle, not because thought led them there. Zhang, Cai, Cao, and Wang never saw it first; Pan, Lu, Yan, and Xie fell ever farther away. The gist was that "gong and shang must alternate, pitch must rise and fall in counterpoint; if the first line carries a floating tone, the next must answer with a sharp one; within a single line every tone must differ, and within two lines every stress must differ." The language was already fine, and the principle sound as well; but looking at the worthy writers of every age, they hardly seem wholly blind to this—so to say "this secret has never been seen" comes close to slander, does it not? Fan says, "not from the root"; the Minister of Rites says, "not because thought brought one there"—that is to misread feeling in cosmic terms and to pick out lines only to show off their tonal pattern. Fan also says, "sometimes one hits upon it"; the Minister of Rites says, "sometimes one dimly accords with principle." Then in fine songs and clear lyrics, wherever phrasing and rhyme meet, even with faults there are also points of accord. Push the argument further and the case can be stated plainly. Thought has its unions and partings, which even the sages of old could not escape; writing has its openings and blockages, which no work can lack. That is why Cao Zijian drew mockery from others, and why Lu Shiheng ended a piece with regret. If a work ends in regret, it is not a wholly perfect piece. Principle may be faulted; if a gentleman seizes on the fault and then calls what was sound obscure, how is that like pointing to what was sound and treating the fault as regret?
35
自魏文屬論，深以清濁為言，劉楨奏書，大明體勢之致。 齟齬妥怗之談，操末續巔之說，興玄黃於律呂，比五色之相宣。 苟此秘未睹，茲論為何所指邪？ 愚謂前英已早識宮征，但未屈曲指的，若今論所申。 至於掩瑕藏疾，合少謬多，則臨淄所云：「人之著述，不能無病。」 者也。 非知之而不改，謂不改則不知，斯曹、陸又稱「竭情多悔，不可力強。」 者也。 今許以有病有悔為言，則必自知無悔無病之地。 引其不了不合為闇，何獨誣其一合一了之明乎？ 意者亦質文時異，今古好殊，將急在情物，而緩於章句。 情物，文之所急，美惡猶且相半； 章句，意之所緩，故合少而謬多。 義兼於斯，必非不知明矣。 長門、上林，殆非一家之賦，洛神、池雁，便成二體之作。 孟堅精正，詠史無虧於東主，平子恢富，羽獵不累於憑虛。 王粲初征，他文未能稱是，楊修敏捷，暑賦彌日不獻。 率意寡尤，則事促乎一日，翳翳愈伏，而理賒于七步。 一人之思，遲速天懸，一家之文，工拙壤隔，何獨宮商律呂必責其如一邪？ 論者乃可言未窮其致，不得言曾無先覺也。 約答曰：
From Cao Pi's essay onward, clear and muddy tones were deeply discussed; Liu Zhen's memorial clearly set forth the force of form and momentum. Talk of jarring fit and smooth accord, discourse tying root to crown, raising dark and yellow in the pitch-pipes, comparing them to the harmony of the five colors— if this secret had never been seen, what were those discussions about? I think the earlier masters already knew jue and zhi long ago, but simply did not bend every detail to point it out as explicitly as your discussion does. As for hiding flaws and concealing faults, with few fits and many errors—that is what the man of Linzi said: "In human writing there can be no work without faults." That is what he meant. It is not that they knew and would not change; not to change is not to know—that is what Cao and Lu also meant by "pour out feeling and regret is plentiful; it cannot be forced by strength." That is what they meant. If one now speaks of faults and regrets, one must already know the ground where there is no regret and no fault. To cite what was incomplete or unfitting as obscurity—why slander only their one point of accord, their one point of mastery? I suspect substance and ornament differ by age and ancient and modern tastes diverge; the urgent concern was feeling and object, while phrasing was treated lightly. Feeling and object are what writing urgently seeks, and beauty and ugliness are still half and half; phrasing is what meaning treats lightly, hence few fits and many errors. When meaning embraces both, they surely were not ignorant. Changmen and Shanglin are scarcely the work of one hand; Luoshen and Chiyan became two different styles. Ban Mengjian was precise and upright, and his Historical Odes in no way fell short of the eastern patron; Zhang Pingzi was grand and rich, and his Hunting Rhapsody does not lag behind On the Void. Wang Can's First Journey—his other pieces could not match it; Yang Xiu was quick-witted, yet his Summer Rhapsody took days and was never submitted. Write freely with few faults and the work is done in a day; grow ever more obscure and hidden and the reasoning stretches to seven paces. One person's thought may be swift or slow as heaven and earth apart; one family's writings may be skilled or clumsy worlds apart—why demand that gong-shang pitch-pipes alone be uniform? Critics may say the reach has not been fully exhausted, but they may not say there was never prior insight. Yue replied:
36
宮商之聲有五，文字之別累萬。 以累萬之繁，配五聲之約，高下低昂，非思力所學，又非止若斯而已。 十字之文，顛倒相配，字不過十，巧曆已不能盡，何況復過於此者乎？ 靈均以來，未經用之於懷抱，固無從得其髣佛矣。 若斯之妙，而聖人不尚，何耶？ 此蓋曲折聲韻之巧，無當於訓義，非聖哲玄言之所急也，是以子雲譬之「雕蟲篆刻」，云：「壯夫不為」。 自古辭人豈不知宮羽之殊、商征之別。 雖知五音之異，而其中參差變動，所昧實多，故鄙意所謂「此秘未睹。」 者也。 以此而推，則知前世文士，便未悟此處。 若以文章之音韻，同弦管之聲曲，美惡妍蚩，不得頓相乖反，譬猶子野操曲，安得忽有闡緩失調之聲。 以洛神比陳思他賦，有似異手之作，故知天機啟，則律呂自調，六情滯，則音律頓舛也。 士衡雖云煥若縟錦，寧有濯色江波，其中復有一片是衛文之服。 此則陸生之言，即復不盡者矣。 韻與不韻，復有精粗，輪扁不能言之，老夫亦不盡辯此。 約論四聲，妙有詮辯，而諸賦亦往往與聲韻乖。
The sounds of gong and shang are five; the distinctions among written characters number in the tens of thousands. To match tens of thousands of complexities to the restraint of five tones—high, low, light, and heavy—is not something thought alone can master, and that is not all. In a text of ten characters, reversed and paired, there are no more than ten characters; even a clever reckoner cannot exhaust the combinations—how much less when there are more? Since Qu Yuan, no one has truly applied it in his own breast, so there is no way even to catch its likeness. If the art is so marvelous, yet the sages did not esteem it—why? This is because the subtlety of bent tonal pattern has no bearing on doctrinal meaning; it is not what sages and philosophers urgently seek in profound discourse—therefore Yang Ziyun compared it to "carving insects and seal script" and said, "A full-grown man does not do it." Writers of old—did they not know gong from yu, shang from zhi? Though one knows the five tones differ, the shifting gradations within them remain much obscure—hence my humble view that "this secret has never been seen." That is what I meant. Push this reasoning onward and one sees that writers of earlier ages simply had not grasped this point. If the tonal pattern of literary composition is the same as the sound and melody of lute and pipe, then beauty and ugliness, fair and foul, cannot suddenly turn contrary—just as when Ziye plays a tune, how could there suddenly be a slow, off-key note? Compare Goddess of Luo with Prince Si of Chen's other rhapsodies and they seem the work of different hands—when natural talent awakens, pitch and tone fall into place by themselves; when the six emotions stall, rhythm and rhyme suddenly go wrong. Lu Shiheng said writing should be 'brilliant as brocade,' yet could brocade washed in river waves still contain a scrap of Duke Wen of Wei's shabby garment? That is what Mr. Lu said—and even that does not exhaust the point. Rhyme and non-rhyme also have finer and coarser grades; Lun Bian could not put his craft into words, and this old man cannot fully debate the matter either. Shen Yue's discourse on the four tones is finely argued, yet the various rhapsodies also often clash with sound and rhyme.
37
時有王斌者，不知何許人。 著《四聲論》行于時。 斌初為道人，博涉經籍，雅有才辯，善屬文，能唱導而不修容儀。 嘗弊衣於瓦官寺聽雲法師講成實論，無復坐處，唯僧正慧超尚空席，斌直坐其側。 慧超不能平，乃罵曰：「那得此道人，祿蔌似隊父唐突人。」 因命驅之。 斌笑曰：「既有敘勳僧正，何為無隊父道人。」 不為動。 而撫機問難，辭理清舉，四座皆屬目。 後還俗，以詩樂自樂，人莫能名之。
At the time there was a Wang Bin, and no one knew where he came from. He wrote the Discourse on the Four Tones, which circulated at the time. Bin had first been a Daoist monk. He read widely in the classics, was naturally gifted in debate, wrote well, and could preach and lead others, but paid no attention to dress or deportment. Once, dressed in ragged clothes, he went to Waguan Temple to hear Master Yun lecture on the Satyasiddhi Treatise. Every seat was taken except one beside Abbot Huichao, and Bin simply sat down next to him. Huichao could not bear it and cursed him: "What is this monk doing here? Ragged as Duifu, he rudely offends people." He then ordered him thrown out. Bin smiled and said: "If there is an abbot who records merit, why should there not be a rough-shod monk too?" He did not budge. Then he joined the discussion and pressed hard questions; his language was clear and polished, and everyone in the hall watched him. Later he returned to lay life and amused himself with poetry and music; no one could quite classify his talent.
38
永元元年，始安王遙光反，厥父閑被誅，厥坐系尚方。 尋有赦，厥感慟而卒，年二十八。 文集行於世。
In the first year of Yongyuan the Prince of Shi'an, Yaoguang, rebelled. Jue's father Xian was executed, and Jue was imprisoned in the imperial workshops. An amnesty soon followed, but Jue died of grief, aged twenty-eight. His collected writings circulated in his day.
39
時有會稽虞炎以文學與沈約俱為文惠太子所遇，意眄殊常，官至驍騎將軍。
At the time Yu Yan of Kuaiji, noted for literary talent, together with Shen Yue enjoyed extraordinary favor from Crown Prince Wen Hui and rose to General of the Valiant Cavalry.
40
襄字師卿，厥第四弟也。 本名衰字趙卿，有奏事者誤字為襄，梁武帝乃改為襄字師卿。
Xiang, styled Shiqing, was Jue's fourth younger brother. His original name was Shuai, styled Zhaoqing, but a memorialist mistakenly wrote the character as Xiang, so Emperor Wu of Liang changed it to Xiang, styled Shiqing.
41
天監三年，都官尚書范岫表薦襄，起家著作佐郎。 後昭明太子統聞襄業行，啟武帝引與遊處。 自廬陵王記室除太子洗馬，遷中舍人，並掌管記。 出為揚州中從事，以父終此官，固辭。 武帝不許，聽與府司馬換廨居之。
In the third year of Tianjian, Fan Xiu, minister of justice, memorialized recommending Xiang, and he began his career as editorial aide. Later Crown Prince Zhaoming, Tong, heard of Xiang's conduct and learning and asked Emperor Wu to bring him into his company. From secretary to the Prince of Luling he was appointed crown prince's groom, then promoted to palace aide; in both posts he managed the diary. He was sent out as acting inspector of Yangzhou, but because his father had died in that post he firmly declined. The emperor refused, but allowed him to swap offices with the prefectural aide and live in that residence instead.
42
昭明太子敬耆老，襄母年將八十，與蕭琛、傅昭、陸杲每月常遣存問，加賜珍羞衣服。 襄母常卒患心痛，醫方須三升粟漿。 時冬月，日又逼暮，求索無所，忽有老人詣門貨漿量如方劑。 始欲酬直，無何失之，時以襄孝感所致。
Crown Prince Zhaoming honored the aged. Xiang's mother was nearly eighty, and together with Xiao Chen, Fu Zhao, and Lu Gao he sent monthly inquiries and gifts of delicacies and clothing. Xiang's mother often suffered sudden heart pain, and the prescription called for three sheng of millet gruel. It was winter and nearly dusk; they searched everywhere without success. Then an old man came to the door selling exactly the amount prescribed. They were about to pay him when he vanished. People at the time attributed it to Xiang's filial devotion.
43
後為太子家令，復掌管記，母憂去職。 襄年已五十，毀頓過禮，太子憂之，日遣使誡喻。
Later he became the crown prince's household steward and again managed the diary, but left office when his mother died. Xiang was already fifty and mourned so severely that he exceeded ritual propriety. The crown prince worried and sent messengers every day to admonish him.
44
又有彭、李二家，先因忿爭，遂相誣告。 襄引入內室，不加責誚，但和言解喻之。 二人感恩，深自悔咎。 乃為設酒食令其盡歡，酒罷同載而還，因相親厚。 人又歌曰：「陸君政，無怨家。 鬥既罷，讎共車。」 在政六年，郡中大寧。 郡人李睍等四百二十人詣闕拜表，陳襄德化，求於郡立碑，降敕許之。 又表乞留襄，襄固乞還。
There were also the Peng and Li families, who had quarreled in anger and then brought false accusations against each other. Xiang brought them into an inner room, did not rebuke them, and gently reasoned with them. The two men were grateful and deeply repented. He then set out wine and food for them to enjoy together; when the drinking was over they rode back in the same carriage and became close friends. People also sang: "Under Lord Lu's rule there are no feuding families. When the quarrel ends, enemies ride in the same carriage." He governed for six years, and the commandery was greatly at peace. Four hundred and twenty commandery residents, including Li Ming, went to court with a memorial praising Xiang's virtuous rule and asking that a stele be erected in the commandery; the throne granted it. They also memorialized asking that Xiang be kept on, but Xiang firmly asked to return home.
45
襄弱冠遭家禍，釋服猶若居憂，終身蔬食布衣，不聽音樂，口不言殺害五十年。 侯景平，元帝贈侍中，追封余干縣侯。
Xiang suffered family disaster at capping age. After mourning ended he still lived as though in grief; all his life he ate plain food and wore coarse cloth, would not listen to music, and for fifty years never spoke of killing. After Hou Jing was suppressed, Emperor Yuan posthumously made him palace attendant and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Yugan County.
46
陸雲公
Lu Yungong
47
雲公字子龍，襄兄完子也。 完位甯遠長史、琅邪彭城二郡丞。
Yungong, styled Zilong, was the son of Xiang's elder brother Wan. Wan served as chief clerk of Ningyuan and as magistrate of both Langya and Pengcheng commanderies.
48
雲公五歲誦論語、毛詩，九歲讀漢書，略能記憶。 從祖倕與沛國劉顯質問十事，雲公對無所失，顯歎異之。 及長，好學，有才思，為平西湘東王繹行參軍。 雲公先制太伯廟碑，吳興太守張纘罷郡經途，讀其文歎曰：「今之蔡伯喈也。」 纘至都掌選，言之武帝，召為尚書儀曹郎，入直壽光省，以本官知著作郎事。 累遷中書黃門郎，兼掌著作。
At five Yungong could recite the Analects and Mao's Odes; at nine he read the Book of Han and could largely remember it. His father's cousin Wei and Liu Xian of Pei tested him with ten questions; Yungong missed none, and Xian marveled at him. When grown he loved learning, had literary talent, and served as traveling aide to Prince Xiao Yi of Xiangdong, general who pacifies the west. Yungong had earlier composed the Taibo Temple stele. Zhang Zuan, administrator of Wuxing, read it while passing through after leaving office and sighed: "This is today's Cai Yong." When Zhang reached the capital and took charge of appointments, he told the emperor, who summoned Yungong as secretariat protocol officer. Yungong entered duty at the Shouguang Bureau and concurrently handled the editorial director's affairs. He rose through the ranks to secretariat yellow gate officer and concurrently managed editorial work.
49
雲公善弈碁，嘗夜侍坐，武冠觸燭火。 帝笑謂曰：「燭燒卿貂。」 帝將用為侍中，故以此戲之。 時天泉池新制鯿魚舟，形闊而短，帝暇日常泛此舟，朝中唯引太常劉之遴、國子祭酒到溉、右衛朱異，雲公時年位尚輕亦預焉。
Yungong was skilled at go. Once, while attending the emperor at night, his martial cap touched the candle flame. The emperor smiled and said: "The candle is burning your marten fur." The emperor was about to appoint him palace attendant, and so joked with him in this way. At the time a new bream-shaped boat, broad and short, had been built at Tianquan Pool, and in his leisure the emperor often sailed it. At court he invited only Director of Ceremonies Liu Zhilin, director of the National University Dao Gai, and Right Guard Zhu Yi; though still young in years and rank, Yungong was also included.
50
太清元年卒，張纘時為湘州，與雲公叔襄兄晏子書曰：「都信至，承賢兄子賢弟黃門殞逝，非唯貴門喪寶，實有識同悲。」 其為士流稱重如此。
He died in the first year of Taiqing. Zhang Zuan was then in Xiangzhou and wrote to Lu Yan, Yungong's uncle and Xiang's elder brother, saying: "Mail from the capital has arrived. I learn that your worthy elder brother's worthy younger brother, the yellow gate officer, has died—not only has your noble house lost a treasure, but all who knew him mourn together." Such was the esteem in which he was held among gentlemen.
51
雲公從父兄才子，亦有才名，位太子中庶子、廷尉，與雲公並有文集行於世。
Yungong's paternal cousin Caizi also had a literary reputation. He served as crown prince's household steward and commandant of justice, and he and Yungong both had collected writings in circulation.
52
雲公子瓊字伯玉，幼聰慧，有思理。 六歲為五言詩，頗有詞采。 大同末，雲公受梁武帝詔校定碁品，到溉、朱異以下並集。 瓊時年八歲，於客前覆局，由是都下號曰神童。 異言之武帝，召見，瓊風神警亮，進退詳審，帝甚異之。
Yungong's son Qiong, styled Boyu, was clever from childhood and had thoughtful judgment. At six he wrote pentasyllabic poems with real literary grace. Near the end of Datong, Yungong received an edict from Emperor Wu of Liang to revise go rankings, and Dao Gai, Zhu Yi, and others all gathered. Qiong was then eight. Before the guests he reconstructed the whole board from memory, and thereafter the capital called him a prodigy. Zhu Yi told the emperor, who summoned Qiong. His bearing was alert and bright, his manners careful and measured, and the emperor was greatly impressed.
53
十一，丁父憂，毀瘠有至性，從祖襄歎曰：「此兒必荷門基，所謂一不為少。」 及侯景作逆，攜母避地於縣之西鄉，勤苦讀書，晝夜無怠，遂博學善屬文。
At eleven he entered mourning for his father and grew so emaciated with grief that his sincerity was unmistakable. His father's cousin Xiang sighed: "This boy will surely sustain the house—as they say, one is not too few." When Hou Jing rebelled, he fled with his mother to the western district of the county, studied hard day and night without rest, and became broadly learned and skilled at writing.
54
陳天嘉中，以文學累遷尚書殿中郎。 瓊素有令名，深為陳文帝所賞。 及討周迪、陳寶應等，都官符及諸大手筆，並中敕付瓊。 遷新安王文學，掌東宮管記。
During the Tianjia era of Chen he rose through literary talent to secretariat acting registrar. Qiong had long enjoyed a fine reputation and was deeply valued by Emperor Wen of Chen. When the court campaigned against Zhou Di, Chen Baoying, and others, all capital proclamations and major state documents were entrusted to Qiong by imperial order. He was transferred to literary aide to the Prince of Xin'an and managed the eastern palace diary.
55
及宣帝為司徒，妙簡僚佐，吏部尚書徐陵薦瓊于宣帝，言瓊「識具優敏，文史足用，進居郎署，歲月過淹，左西掾缺，允膺茲選，雖階次小踰，其屈滯已積」。 乃除司徒左西掾。 尋兼通直散騎常侍，聘齊。
When Emperor Xuan became minister of works and carefully selected aides, Minister of Personnel Xu Ling recommended Qiong to him, saying: "Qiong is quick and discerning, fully adequate in history and letters. He entered the secretariat long ago and has waited too long. The left western aide post is vacant and he truly deserves the appointment. Though his rank would be slightly above precedent, his long stagnation has already piled up." He was then appointed left western aide of the minister of works. Soon he also served as regular attendant of the general-in-chief of expeditious cavalry and went as envoy to Northern Qi.
56
太建中為給事黃門侍郎，轉中庶子，領大著作，撰國史。 後主即位，直中書省，掌詔誥。 至德元年，除度支尚書，參選事，掌誥詔，並判廷尉、建康二獄事。 初，瓊父雲公奉梁武敕撰嘉瑞記，瓊述其旨而續焉，自永定訖於至德，勒成一家之言。 遷吏部尚書，著作如故。 瓊詳練譜牒，雅有識鑒。 先是吏部尚書宗元饒卒，尚書右僕射袁憲舉瓊，宣帝未之用，至是居之，號為稱職。
In the Taijian era he became supervising secretary and yellow gate officer, then household steward, concurrently headed the grand editorial office, and compiled the national history. When the later lord acceded, he entered duty at the secretariat and managed edicts and proclamations. In the first year of Zhide he was appointed minister of revenue, participated in selection affairs, managed grand proclamations, and concurrently judged cases for the commandant of justice and the two prisons of Jiankang. Earlier Qiong's father Yungong, by edict of Emperor Wu of Liang, had compiled a Record of Auspicious Omens. Qiong followed his intent and continued it from Yongding through Zhide, completing a unified work. He was transferred to minister of personnel while keeping his editorial duties. Qiong was thoroughly versed in genealogical registers and had excellent discernment. When Minister of Personnel Zong Yuanrao had earlier died, Vice Director Yuan Xian recommended Qiong, but Emperor Xuan had not yet appointed him. Now that he held the post, he was said to be fully adequate to it.
57
瓊性謙儉，不自封植，雖位望日隆，而執志逾下。 園池室宇，無所改作，車馬衣服，不尚鮮華，四時祿俸，皆散之宗族，家無餘財。 暮年深懷止足，思避權要，恒謝疾不視事。
Qiong was modest and frugal by nature and did not promote himself. Though rank and reputation rose daily, his resolve grew ever humbler. He altered none of his gardens, ponds, or dwellings; he did not favor splendid carriages, horses, or clothes; he gave his seasonal salary to the clan, and his household had no surplus wealth. In his later years he deeply embraced knowing when to stop. Wishing to avoid power and influence, he constantly pleaded illness and declined to attend to business.
58
俄丁母憂。 初瓊之侍東宮，母隨在官舍，及喪還鄉，詔加賻贈，後主自製志銘，朝野榮之。 瓊哀慕過毀，以至德四年卒。 有集二十卷行於世。
Soon he entered mourning for his mother. When Qiong first served the eastern palace, his mother lived with him in the official residence. When she died and he returned home, the throne added funeral gifts; the later lord himself composed the epitaph, and court and country honored him for it. Qiong mourned so excessively that he died in the fourth year of Zhide. A collection in twenty fascicles circulated in his day.
59
陸從典
Lu Congdian
60
子從典，字由儀，幼聰敏。 年八歲，讀沈約集，見回文研銘，援筆擬之，便有佳致。 十二作柳賦，其詞甚美。 從父瑜特所賞愛。 及瑜將終，命家中墳籍皆付之，從典乃集瑜文為十卷，仍制集序，其文甚工。
Congdian, styled Youyi, was clever from childhood. At eight he read Shen Yue's collected works, saw a palindrome inscription on an inkstone, took up the brush to imitate it, and at once produced a fine piece. At twelve he wrote a Willow Rhapsody of very fine wording. His father's cousin Yu especially prized and loved him. When Yu was near death he entrusted all the family's books and writings to him. Congdian then collected Yu's writings into ten fascicles and also wrote a preface to the collection in very polished prose.
61
從典篤好學業，博涉群書，位太子洗馬、司徒左西掾。 陳亡入隋，位著作佐郎。 尚書右僕射楊素奏從典續司馬遷史記迄于隋，其書未就，坐弟受漢王諒職免。 後卒於南陽縣主簿。
Congdian devotedly loved scholarship, read widely, and served as crown prince's groom and left western aide of the minister of works. After Chen fell he entered Sui and served as editorial aide. Vice Director Yang Su memorialized that Congdian continue Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian down to Sui. The book was not finished, and he was dismissed because his younger brother accepted office under Prince Liang of Han. He later died while serving as chief secretary of Nanyang County.
62
琰字溫玉，瓊之從父弟也。 父令公，梁中軍宣城王記室參軍。
Yan, styled Wenyu, was Qiong's paternal cousin. His father Linggong was secretary to the Prince of Xuancheng, general of the central army, under Liang.
63
琰幼孤，好學，有志操，州舉秀才。 累遷宣惠始興王外兵參軍，直嘉德殿學士。 陳文帝聽覽餘暇，頗留心史籍，以琰博學，善占誦，引置左右。 嘗使制刀銘，琰援筆即成，無所點竄，帝嗟賞久之，賜衣一襲。 俄兼通直散騎常侍，副琅邪王厚聘齊，至鄴而厚卒，琰為使主。 時年二十餘，風氣韶亮，占對閑敏，齊士大夫甚傾心焉。 太建初，為武陵王明威府功曹史，兼東宮管記。 丁母憂去官，卒。 至德二年，追贈司農卿。
Yan was orphaned young, loved learning, had firm character, and was nominated as a provincial talent. He rose through successive appointments to external military aide to the Prince of Shixing, entitled Xuanhui, and scholar on duty at the Jiade Hall. In his spare moments from governing, Emperor Wen of Chen took a keen interest in historical records. Finding Yan broadly learned and gifted at recitation from memory, he kept him close at hand. Once the emperor asked him to compose an inscription for a knife. Yan took up the brush and finished at once without changing a word. The emperor admired him at length and gave him a suit of clothes. Soon he also served as regular attendant of the general-in-chief of expeditious cavalry and accompanied Hou, Prince of Langye, on a goodwill mission to Northern Qi. When they reached Ye, Hou died, and Yan became chief envoy. He was then just over twenty, graceful and bright in bearing, quick and polished in audience and reply, and the gentry of Qi were deeply drawn to him. At the beginning of the Taijian era he served as staff officer in the household of the Prince of Wuling, entitled Mingwei, and concurrently as eastern palace diary keeper. When his mother died he resigned office and soon died. In the second year of Zhide he was posthumously enfeoffed as minister of agriculture.
64
琰寡欲，鮮矜競，遊心經籍，晏如也。 所制文筆，多不存本，後主求其遺文，撰成二卷。
Yan wanted little and contended little; his heart rested in the classics, and he was perfectly at ease. Most of the writings he composed did not survive in the original drafts. The later lord sought out his remaining texts and had them compiled into two scrolls.
65
弟瑜字幹玉，少篤學，美詞藻，州舉秀才。 再遷軍師晉安王外兵參軍，東宮學士。 兄琰時為管記，並以才學娛侍左右，時人比之二應。
His younger brother Yu, styled Ganyu, devoted himself to learning from youth, had fine literary talent, and was nominated as a provincial talent. After a second promotion he became external military aide to the Prince of Jin'an, military adviser, and eastern palace scholar. His elder brother Yan was then diary keeper. Both entertained the heir with their learning, and contemporaries compared them to the two Yings.
66
太建中，累遷太子洗馬，中舍人。 瑜聰敏強記，常受莊、老于汝南周弘正，學成實論于僧滔法師，並通大旨。 時皇太子好學，欲博覽群書，以子集繁多，命瑜抄撰，未就而卒。 太子為之流涕，親制祭文，仍與詹事江總論述其美，詞甚傷切。 至德二年，追贈光祿卿。 有集十卷。 瑜有從父兄玠，從父弟琛。 玠字潤玉，梁大匠卿晏子之子也。 弘雅有識度，好學能屬文。 後主在東宮，徵為管記，仍兼中舍人。 尋以疾失明。 將還鄉里，太子解衣贈之，為之流涕。 太建八年卒，至德二年，追贈少府卿。 有集十卷。
In the Taijian era he rose in succession to palace groom of the heir apparent and palace attendant of the heir apparent. Yu was quick-witted with a strong memory. He regularly studied Zhuangzi and Laozi under Zhou Hongzheng of Runan and the Treatise on the Completion of Truth under Master Sen Tao, mastering the main principles of both. At that time the crown prince loved learning and wished to read widely, but the collected writings were too numerous, so he ordered Yu to copy and compile them. The work was not finished before Yu died. The crown prince wept for him, personally composed a sacrificial text, and together with household steward Jiang Zong discussed his virtues in language deeply mournful. In the second year of Zhide he was posthumously enfeoffed as director of the imperial household. He left collected writings in ten scrolls. Yu had a paternal cousin Jie and a younger paternal cousin Chen. Jie, styled Runyu, was the son of Yan, director of imperial construction. He was refined and discerning, loved learning, and could compose prose. When the later lord was in the eastern palace, Jie was summoned as diary keeper and concurrently served as palace attendant of the heir apparent. Before long illness left him blind. When he was about to return home, the crown prince removed his own garment and gave it to him, weeping as he did so. He died in the eighth year of Taijian. In the second year of Zhide he was posthumously enfeoffed as director of the palace revenues. He left collected writings in ten scrolls.
67
琛字潔玉，宣毅臨川王長史丘公之子也。 少警俊，事後母以孝聞。 後主嗣位，為給事黃門侍郎、中書舍人，參掌機密。 琛性頗疏，坐漏泄禁中語，詔賜死。
Chen, styled Jieyu, was the son of Qiugong, chief clerk to the Prince of Linchuan, entitled Xuanyi. From youth he was sharp and talented and was known for filial devotion to his stepmother. When the later lord succeeded to the throne, Chen became supervising secretary and yellow gate officer and secretariat drafter, participating in confidential affairs. Chen's character was rather careless. For leaking palace secrets he was sentenced to death by edict.
68
陸杲字明霞，吳郡吳人也。 祖徽字休猷，宋補建康令，清平無私，為文帝所善。 元嘉十五年，除平越中郎將、廣州刺史，加督，清名亞王鎮之，為士庶所愛詠。 二十三年，為益州刺史，亦加督，恤隱有方，威惠兼著，寇盜靜息，人物殷阜，蜀土安之。 卒於官，身亡之日，家無餘財，文帝甚痛惜之，諡曰簡子。 父叡，揚州中從事。
Lu Gao, styled Mingxia, was from Wu in Wu commandery. His grandfather Hui, styled Xiuyou, served in Song as acting magistrate of Jiankang. Upright and impartial, he was favored by Emperor Wen. In the fifteenth year of Yuanjia he was appointed general of the suppression of Yue and governor of Guangzhou with supervisory powers. His clean reputation was second only to Wang Zhenzhi's, and gentry and commoners alike praised him in song. In the twenty-third year he became governor of Yizhou, also with supervisory powers. He cared for the distressed with method, authority and kindness were both manifest, bandits were stilled, people and goods flourished, and the land of Shu was at peace. He died in office. On the day of his death his household had no surplus wealth. Emperor Wen deeply mourned him and gave him the posthumous title Marquis Jian. His father Rui served as assistant director of Yangzhou.
69
杲少好學，工書畫，舅張融有高名，杲風韻舉止頗類，時稱曰。 「無對日下，唯舅與甥」。 為尚書殿中曹郎，拜日，八坐丞郎並到上省交禮，而杲至晚，不及時刻，坐免官。 後為司徒從事中郎。 梁台建，為相國西曹掾。
Lu Gao loved learning from youth and was skilled at calligraphy and painting. His maternal uncle Zhang Rong had a lofty reputation, and Lu Gao's bearing and carriage were much alike. People at the time said, "Under the sun there is no peer—only uncle and nephew." He served as acting registrar in the secretariat's central office. On the day of his appointment all the chief ministers and their assistant directors came to the upper secretariat to exchange courtesies, but Lu Gao arrived late and missed the appointed hour, and for this he was dismissed from office. Later he served as aide to the minister of works. When the Liang regime was established, he became western aide in the chancellor's office.
70
天監五年，位御史中丞。 性婞直，無所顧望。 時山陰令虞肩在任贓汙數百萬，杲奏收劾之。 中書舍人黃睦之以肩事托杲，杲不答。 梁武聞之以問杲，杲答曰：「有之。」 帝曰：「識睦之不？」 答曰：「臣不識其人。」 時睦之在禦側，上指示曰：「此人是也。」 杲謂曰：「君小人，何敢以罪人屬南司。」 睦之失色。 領軍將軍張稷是杲從舅，杲嘗以公事彈稷，稷因侍宴訴帝曰：「陸杲是臣親通，小事彈臣不貸。」 帝曰：「杲職司其事，卿何得為嫌。」 杲在台，號不畏強禦。
In the fifth year of Tianjian he held the post of imperial censor. His nature was upright and unyielding, and he looked to no one for favor. At that time Yu Jian, magistrate of Shanyin, had embezzled several million while in office. Lu Gao memorialized to have him arrested and impeached. Secretariat drafter Huang Muzhi asked Lu Gao to intervene in Jian's case, but Lu Gao did not reply. When Emperor Wu of Liang heard of it he questioned Lu Gao, who answered, "So it is." The emperor said, "Do you know Muzhi or not?" He answered, "I do not know the man." At that time Muzhi was at the emperor's side. The throne pointed and said, "This is the man." Lu Gao said to him, "You are a petty man—how dare you ask the censorate to take up a criminal case for you?" Muzhi turned pale. General of the garrison Zhang Ji was Lu Gao's maternal uncle. Lu Gao once impeached Ji on official business, and Ji, while attending a banquet, complained to the emperor: "Lu Gao is my close relative by marriage, yet for a trifling matter he impeached me without mercy." The emperor said, "Lu Gao's duty is to handle such matters—how can you take offense?" At the censorate Lu Gao was known as one who did not fear the powerful.
71
為義興太守，在郡寬惠，為下所稱。 曆左戶尚書，太常卿。 出為臨川內史，將發，辭武帝，於坐通啟，求募部曲。 帝問何不付所由呈聞。 杲答所由不為受。 帝頗怪之，以其臨路不咎問。 後入為金紫光祿大夫、特進。 卒，諡質子。 杲素信佛法，持戒甚精，著沙門傳三十卷。
He served as grand administrator of Yixing. In the commandery he was generous and kind, and those below praised him. He successively held the posts of minister of the left household and director of the imperial ancestral temple. He went out as interior administrator of Linchuan. As he was about to depart he took leave of Emperor Wu and, while seated, submitted an open petition requesting permission to recruit personal retainers. The emperor asked why he had not submitted it through the responsible office for formal review. Lu Gao answered that the responsible office would not accept it. The emperor was rather displeased, but because Lu Gao was already on the road he did not pursue the matter. Later he returned to court as grand master with gold seal and purple ribbon with special advancement. He died and was given the posthumous title Marquis Zhi. Lu Gao had long believed in Buddhism, kept the precepts with great strictness, and wrote Biographies of Monks in thirty scrolls.
72
弟煦，學涉有思理，位太子家令，撰晉書未就。 又著陸史十五卷，陸氏驪泉志一卷，並行于時。
His younger brother Xu was broadly learned and thoughtful, held the post of household steward to the crown prince, and wrote a History of Jin that was not completed. He also wrote History of the Lu in fifteen scrolls and Record of Lichuan in one scroll, both of which circulated at the time.
73
子罩字洞元，少篤學，多所該覽，善屬文。 簡文居蕃，為記室參軍，撰帝集序。 稍遷太子中庶子，掌管記，禮遇甚厚。 大同七年，以母老求去，公卿以下祖道於征虜亭，皇太子賜黃金五十斤，時人方之疏廣。 母終，後位終光祿卿。
His son Zhao, styled Dongyuan, devoted himself to learning from youth, read widely in many fields, and was skilled at composition. When Jianwen held a princely fief, Zhao served as recorder on his staff and wrote the preface to the prince's collected writings. He was gradually promoted to household steward of the heir apparent and diary keeper, and was treated with great favor. In the seventh year of Datong he asked to leave office because his mother was old. Officials from the three highest ranks down saw him off at the Zhenglu Pavilion, and the crown prince bestowed fifty catties of gold. People of the time compared him to Shu Guang. After his mother died, he later held the post of grand master for splendid happiness until his end.
74
初，簡文在雍州，撰法寶聯璧，罩與群賢並抄掇區分者數歲。 中大通六年而書成，命湘東王為序。 其作者有侍中國子祭酒南蘭陵蕭子顯等三十人，以比王象、劉邵之皇覽焉。
Earlier, when Jianwen was at Yongzhou, he compiled Linked Pearls of the Dharma Treasure. Zhao together with the assembled worthies copied, selected, and arranged the material for several years. In the sixth year of Zhongdatong the book was completed, and the throne ordered the Prince of Xiangdong to write the preface. Its authors included palace attendant and director of the imperial university Xiao Zixian of Nan Lanling and thirty others, and it was compared to the Imperial Overview of Wang Xiang and Liu Shao.
75
論曰：陸澄學稱博古，而用不合今。 夫幹將見重于時，貴其所以立斷，于事未能周務，書廚得所譏矣。 叔明持身有檢，殆為人望，雅道相傳，可謂載德者也。 杲諒直見稱，罩文以取達，亦足美乎。 舊陸徽著傳，事蹟蓋寡，今以附孫杲上云。
The judgment says: Lu Cheng's learning was praised as ancient and broad, yet its application did not suit the present age. When a Ganjiang sword is valued in its time, what is prized is its power to cut decisively; if in affairs it cannot handle every task thoroughly, the epithet "library cupboard" finds its target. Shuming kept himself in check and was nearly a man others looked up to. Refined tradition passed down through him—one may call him a bearer of virtue. Lu Gao was praised for honest uprightness; Zhao attained advancement through letters—are these also worthy of praise? Formerly Lu Hui had a biography, but the record of his deeds is rather sparse; it is now appended above his grandson Lu Gao, thus.