1
辛毗楊阜高堂隆
Xin Pi, Yang Fu, and Gaotang Long.
2
辛毗字佐治,潁川陽翟人也。 其先建武中,自隴西東遷。 毗隨兄評從袁紹。 太祖爲司空,辟毗,毗不得應命。 及袁尚攻兄譚於平原,譚使毗詣太祖求和。 〈《英雄記》曰:譚、尚戰於外門,譚軍敗奔北。 郭圖說譚曰:「今將軍國小兵少,糧匱勢弱,顯甫之來,久則不敵。 愚以爲可呼曹公來擊顯甫。 曹公至,必先攻鄴,顯甫還救。 將軍引兵而西,自鄴以北皆可虜得。 若顯甫軍破,其兵奔亡,又可斂取以拒曹公。 曹公遠僑而來,糧餉不繼,必自逃去。 比此之際,趙國以北皆我之有,亦足與曹公爲對矣。 不然,不諧。」 譚始不納,後遂從之。 問圖:「誰可使?」 圖荅:「辛佐治可。」 譚遂遣毗詣太祖。〉 太祖將征荊州,次于西平。 毗見太祖致譚意,太祖大恱。 後數日,更欲先平荊州,使譚、尚自相弊。 他日置酒,毗望太祖色,知有變,以語郭嘉。 嘉白太祖,太祖謂毗曰:「譚可信? 尚必可克不?」 毗對曰:「明公無問信與詐也,直當論其勢耳。 袁氏本兄弟相伐,非謂他人能閒其間,乃謂天下可定於己也。 今一旦求救於明公,此可知也。 顯甫見顯思困而不能取,此力竭也。 兵革敗於外,謀臣誅於內,兄弟讒鬩,國分爲二; 連年戰伐,而介冑生蟣蝨,加以旱蝗,饑饉並臻,國無囷倉,行無裹糧,天災應於上,人事困於下,民無愚智,皆知土崩瓦解,此乃天亡尚之時也。 兵法稱有石城湯池帶甲百萬而無粟者,不能守也。 今往攻鄴,尚不還救,即不能自守。 還救,即譚踵其後。 以明公之威,應困窮之敵,擊疲弊之寇,無異迅風之振秋葉矣。 天以袁尚與明公,明公不取而伐荊州。 荊州豐樂,國未有釁。 仲虺有言:『取亂侮亡。』 方今二袁不務遠略而內相圖,可謂亂矣; 居者無食,行者無糧,可謂亡矣。 朝不謀夕,民命靡繼,而不綏之,欲待他年; 他年或登,又自知亡而改脩厥德,失所以用兵之要矣。 今因其請救而撫之,利莫大焉。 且四方之寇,莫大於河北; 河北平,則六軍盛而天下震。」 太祖曰:「善。」 乃許譚平,次于黎陽。 明年攻鄴,克之,表毗爲議郎。
Xin Pi, whose courtesy name was Zuozhi, came from Yangdi in Yingchuan. During the Jianwu reign, his forebears had migrated eastward out of Longxi. Xin Pi followed his elder brother Xin Ping into Yuan Shao's service. When Cao Cao held the post of Minister of Works, he called Xin Pi to office, but Xin Pi was unable to accept the appointment. When Yuan Shang besieged his older brother Yuan Tan at Pingyuan, Tan dispatched Xin Pi to Cao Cao to sue for peace. 〈The Record of Heroes relates that Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang fought at the outer gate, Tan's force was routed, and he fled north. Guo Tu urged Yuan Tan: "Your domain is small, your soldiers few, your grain is running out, and your position is weak. When Shang arrives in force, a drawn-out fight will not favor you. I would call Lord Cao in to strike Shang while you still can. Once Cao Cao arrives, he will move on Ye first, and Shang will have to double back to relieve the city. You march west with your army, and everything north of Ye falls within your grasp. If Shang's host is shattered, his men will scatter, and you can round them up and turn them against Cao Cao. Cao Cao is campaigning far from home; his supply lines will not hold, and he will withdraw of his own accord. When that moment comes, everything north of Zhao will be yours, and you will be strong enough to face Cao Cao on even terms. Otherwise the plan will not work." Tan refused at first, but in the end he adopted the advice. He asked Guo Tu, "Whom can we send? Guo Tu replied, "Xin Zuozhi is the man for it." Tan thereupon sent Xin Pi to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was on the point of marching against Jingzhou and had encamped at Xiping. When Xin Pi laid out Tan's proposal before Cao Cao, Cao Cao was delighted. A few days later he again favored striking Jingzhou first and letting Tan and Shang wear one another down. At a later banquet Xin Pi read a shift in Cao Cao's mood, sensed that the plan was changing, and spoke of it to Guo Jia. Guo Jia relayed this to Cao Cao, who asked Xin Pi, "Can we trust Tan? And can Shang really be defeated?" Xin Pi answered, "You need not trouble yourself with whether he is sincere. Consider only how the balance of power lies. The Yuans are tearing one another apart as brothers; they do not imagine outsiders can drive a wedge between them—they imagine they can settle the empire on their own. That they should now beg you for help in a single day tells you all you need to know. Shang has Tan cornered yet cannot finish him—that is exhaustion of military strength. Their armies have met defeat in the field, their strategists have been put to death at court, the brothers turn on each other, and the domain is cut in two; Year after year of campaigning has left lice breeding in the soldiers' mail; drought and locusts have piled on, and famine stalks the land. Granaries stand empty, and men march without rations in their packs. Portents of calamity gather above while human affairs founder below. High and low alike see the edifice crumbling—this is the moment Heaven has marked for Shang's fall. The military classics say that stone ramparts and moats like seething cauldrons, even with a million armored men, cannot be held if there is no grain. Strike Ye now: if Shang does not turn back to relieve it, he cannot hold the city on his own. If he does turn back, Tan will be on his heels. With your prestige, falling on an enemy already cornered and a host already spent, you will scatter them like a gale stripping the autumn woods. Heaven has handed you Yuan Shang on favorable terms, yet you would ignore him and march on Jingzhou instead. Jingzhou is rich and at peace, and you have no quarrel with its lords. Zhong Hui put it thus: 'Seize the moment when a rival is in turmoil; press the attack when he is on the verge of collapse. The two Yuans neglect long-range strategy and scheme against each other at home—that is what 'chaos' means; those who stay starve, and those who march have no grain—that is what 'perishing' means. They cannot plan from dawn to dusk; the people's lives hang by a thread. If you do not rescue them now and put off action for some later year, they may rally, realize their peril, and mend their rule—then you will have missed the whole point of wielding an army. To answer their plea for aid and bring them under your wing now is the greatest opportunity you could ask for. Among the powers that threaten you from every side, none outweighs what lies north of the Yellow River; pacify the north, and the imperial host will stand at full strength while the realm trembles at your approach." Cao Cao said, "Well said." He agreed to make peace with Tan and moved his camp to Liyang. The following year he took Ye by storm and recommended Xin Pi for appointment as a Gentleman Consultant.
3
乆之,太祖遣都護曹洪平下辯,使毗與曹休參之,令曰:「昔高祖貪財好色,而良、平匡其過失。 今佐治、文烈憂不輕矣。」 軍還,爲丞相長史。
Some time later Cao Cao sent Chief Protector Cao Hong to reduce Xiabian and attached Xin Pi and Cao Xiu to the expedition with these instructions: "The Han founder loved wealth and women, yet Zhang Liang and Chen Ping set his missteps right. Zuozhi and Wenlie now bear a heavy burden of care." When the force returned, Xin Pi was appointed chief clerk of the chancellery.
4
文帝踐阼,遷侍中,賜爵關內侯。 時議改正朔。 毗以魏氏遵舜、禹之統,應天順民; 至於湯、武,以戰伐定天下,乃改正朔。 孔子曰「行夏之時」,左氏傳曰「夏數爲得天正」,何必期於相反。 帝善而從之。
When Emperor Wen took the throne, Xin Pi rose to palace attendant and received the rank of secondary marquis within the passes. The court was debating a change to the calendar's inaugural month. Xin Pi argued that the Wei house had inherited the legitimate line of Shun and Yu and had answered both Heaven and the people; Tang of Shang and King Wu won the realm by arms and only then altered the calendar. Confucius said, 'I would follow the calendar of the Xia,' and the Zuo commentary calls the Xia reckoning 'the count that accords with Heaven's true month'—there is no need to insist on reversing it. The emperor approved the argument and dropped the proposal.
5
帝欲徙冀州士家十萬戶實河南。 時連蝗民饑,群司以爲不可,而帝意甚盛。 毗與朝臣俱求見,帝知其欲諫,作色以見之,皆莫敢言。 毗曰:「陛下欲徙士家,其計安出:」帝曰:「卿謂我徙之非邪?」 毗曰:「誠以爲非也。」 帝曰:「吾不與卿共議也。」 毗曰:「陛下不以臣不肖,置之左右,廁之謀議之官,安得不與臣議邪! 臣所言非私,乃社稷之慮也,安得怒臣!」 帝不荅,起入內; 毗隨而引其裾,帝遂奮衣不還,良乆乃出,曰:「佐治,卿持我何太急邪?」 毗曰:「今徙,旣失民心,又無以食也。」 帝遂徙其半。 嘗從帝射雉,帝曰:「射雉樂哉!」 毗曰:「於陛下甚樂,而於羣下甚苦。」 帝默然,後遂爲之稀出。
The emperor proposed resettling a hundred thousand garrison households from Ji Province south into the Henan heartland. Locusts had come in waves and the people were starving; every ministry advised against the move, but the emperor's resolve only hardened. Xin Pi went in with the senior ministers to seek an audience. Foreseeing a remonstrance, the emperor received them with a dark countenance, and no one dared speak. Xin Pi said, "If you mean to uproot the garrison families, what is the rationale?" The emperor shot back, "You think the resettlement is a mistake?" Xin Pi replied, "I believe it is." The emperor said, "Then I have nothing further to discuss with you." Xin Pi answered, "You appointed me to your side despite my mediocrity and gave me a seat among your advisers—how can you refuse to hear me out? I speak not for myself but for the altars of state—surely that is no cause for anger!" The emperor made no reply, rose, and withdrew to the inner chambers; Xin Pi followed, seized the hem of his robe, and the emperor shook him off and stayed away a long while before reappearing. "Zuozhi," he said, "why are you tugging at me so fiercely?" Xin Pi said, "If you press the move now, you forfeit the people's trust and leave them nothing to eat." In the end the emperor relocated only half the households he had first intended. On an outing when he accompanied the emperor pheasant hunting, the emperor exclaimed, "There is real sport in this!" Xin Pi replied, "It is pleasure for Your Majesty, but torment for your ministers." The emperor fell silent, and afterward he seldom went out on such hunts again.
6
上軍大將軍曹真征朱然于江陵,毗行軍師。 還,封廣平亭侯。 帝欲大興軍征吳,毗諫曰:「吳、楚之民,險而難禦,道隆後服,道洿先叛,自古患之,非徒今也。 今陛下祚有海內,夫不賔者,其能乆乎? 昔尉佗稱帝,子陽僭號,歷年未幾,或臣或誅。 何則,違逆之道不乆全,而大德無所不服也。 方今天下新定,土廣民稀。 夫廟筭而後出軍,猶臨事而懼,況今廟筭有闕而欲用之,臣誠未見其利也。 先帝屢起銳師,臨江而旋。 今六軍不增於故,而復循之,此未易也。 今日之計,莫若脩范蠡之養民,法管仲之寄政,則充國之屯田,明仲尼之懷遠; 十年之中,彊壯未老,童齓勝戰,兆民知義,將士思奮,然後用之,則役不再舉矣。」 帝曰:「如卿意,更當以虜遺子孫邪?」 毗對曰:「昔周文王以紂遺武王,惟知時也。 苟時未可,容得已乎!」 帝竟伐吳,至江而還。
When Senior General Cao Zhen led a punitive expedition against Zhu Ran at Jiangling, Xin Pi served as army adviser on the campaign. On his return he was enfeoffed as village marquis of Guangping. When the emperor planned a major mobilization against Wu, Xin Pi remonstrated: "The peoples of Wu and Chu are stubborn and hard to govern: when the moral tone of government is high they are slow to submit, and when it falters they are the first to rebel. That has been the worry of every age, not ours alone. Your Majesty now holds the realm entire—how long can any who withhold allegiance hold out? Zhao Tuo once declared himself emperor, Gongsun Shu styled himself a sovereign, yet within a few years both had been brought to heel or destroyed. Rebellion cannot long endure, and where true great virtue holds sway nothing remains unsubdued. The empire is only lately pacified; territory is vast and population thin. Even when every detail has been weighed in council before troops march, a wise commander still meets each turn of events with caution—and now the plan itself is incomplete. I frankly see no advantage in pressing ahead. The late emperor more than once led picked hosts to the Yangzi only to wheel about without forcing a crossing. The imperial army is no stronger than it was then; to repeat the same attempt will not be easy. The better course today is to nurture the people as Fan Li did, to administer border counties as Guan Zhong advised, to open garrison farms after Zhao Chongguo's example, and to win distant peoples as Confucius taught; within ten years your prime cohorts will still be in their prime, your youths will have come of fighting age, the common people will understand where duty lies, and officers and men will burn to prove themselves. Then you may commit them to war and need not repeat the mobilization." The emperor said, "By your reasoning, am I to leave the foe for my sons and grandsons to deal with?" Xin Pi answered, "King Wen of Zhou left King Zhou of Shang for King Wu to overthrow—because he knew the hour had not yet come. When the times forbid action, what choice have you but to wait?" The emperor went ahead with the campaign against Wu in any case, marched to the river, and turned back.
7
明帝即位,進封潁鄉侯,邑三百戶。 時中書監劉放、令孫資見信於主,制斷時政,大臣莫不交好,而毗不與往來。 毗子敞諫曰:「今劉、孫用事,衆皆影附,大人宜小降意,和光同塵; 不然必有謗言。」 毗正色曰:「主上雖未稱聦明,不爲闇劣。 吾之立身,自有本未。 就與劉、孫不平,不過令吾不作三公而已,何危害之有? 焉有大丈夫欲爲公而毀其高節者邪?」 宂從僕射畢軌表言:「尚書僕射王思精勤舊吏,忠亮計略不如辛毗,毗宜代思。」 帝以訪放、資,放、資對曰:「陛下用思者,誠欲取其効力,不貴虛名也。 毗實亮直,然性剛而專,聖慮所當深察也。」 遂不用。 出爲衞尉。
When Emperor Ming came to the throne, Xin Pi was promoted to village marquis of Ying with a fief of three hundred households. Liu Fang, the supervisor of the secretariat, and Sun Zi, its director, enjoyed the sovereign's full confidence and shaped every decision of the day, so that every senior minister courted their favor—everyone except Xin Pi, who kept his distance. His son Xin Chang urged him, "Liu and Sun now hold the levers of power, and the whole court shadows their every step. You should bend your pride a little and blend your light with the dust of the world; otherwise slander will find you." Xin Pi answered sternly, "The sovereign may not yet be accounted a sage, but he is no fool. I have my own principles in how I comport myself. Even if Liu and Sun take against me, the worst they can do is keep me from the rank of one of the Three Dukes—what real harm is that? What sort of man would sell his integrity for a minister's chair?" Concurrent Deputy Director (pushe) Bi Gui submitted a memorial stating that Vice Director of the Secretariat Wang Si is a diligent veteran official, that in loyalty and planning he does not match Xin Pi, and that Xin Pi ought to replace Si." The emperor consulted Liu Fang and Sun Zi, who replied, "Your Majesty appointed Wang Si because you wanted practical service from him, not a hollow reputation. Xin Pi is candid and upright, but his temper is rigid and his manner uncompromising—Your Majesty should weigh that carefully." The recommendation was not adopted. He left court to serve as commandant of the guards.
8
帝方脩殿舍,百姓勞役,毗上疏曰:「竊聞諸葛亮講武治兵,而孫權巿馬遼東,量其意指,似欲相左右。 備豫不虞,古之善政,而今者宮室大興,加連年穀麥不收。 詩云:『民亦勞止,迄可小康,惠此中國,以綏四方。』 唯陛下爲社稷計。」 帝報曰:「二虜未滅而治宮室,直諫者立名之時也。 夫王者之都,當及民勞兼辦,使後世無所復增,是蕭何爲漢規摹之略也。 今卿爲魏重臣,亦宜解其大歸。」 帝又欲平北芒,令於其上作臺觀,則見孟津。 毗諫曰:「天地之性,高高下下,今而反之,旣非其理; 加以損費人功,民不堪役。 且若九河盈溢,洪水爲害,而丘陵皆夷,將何以禦之?」 帝乃止。 〈《魏略》曰:諸葛亮圍祁山,不克,引退。 張郃追之,爲流矢所中死。 帝惜郃,臨朝而歎曰:「蜀未平而郃死,將若之何!」 司空陳羣曰:「郃誠良將,國所依也。」 毗心以爲郃雖可惜,然已死,不當內弱主意,而示外以不大也。 乃持羣曰:「陳公,是何言歟! 當建安之末,天下不可一日無武皇帝也,及委國祚,而文皇帝受命,黃初之世,亦謂不可無文皇帝也,及委棄天下,而陛下龍興。 今國內所少,豈張郃乎?」 陳羣曰:「亦誠如辛毗言。」 帝笑曰:「陳公可謂善變矣。」 臣松之以爲擬人必於其倫,取譬宜引其類,故君子於其言,無所苟而已矣。 毗欲弘廣主意,當舉若張遼之疇,安有於一將之死而可以祖宗爲譬哉? 非所宜言,莫過於茲,進違其類,退似諂佞,佐治剛正之體,不宜有此。 《魏略》旣已難信,習氏又從而載之,竊謂斯人受誣不少。〉
The emperor was raising palace halls while the people staggered under forced labor. Xin Pi presented a memorial: "I hear that Zhuge Liang is training his army and that Sun Quan is purchasing horses in Liaodong. From the drift of their designs, they appear ready to move in tandem against us. Readiness against the unexpected was the mark of wise rule in olden days, yet today construction soars while the harvests have failed year after year. The Book of Odes says, "The people are worn out; grant them a measure of ease; cherish the heartland, and the four quarters will be soothed." I beg Your Majesty to act for the sake of the altars of state." The emperor answered, "The two rebel powers still stand while I raise palaces—this is the very moment when blunt counsel earns a man his reputation. A king's capital should be finished while the people can still bear the burden, leaving posterity nothing essential to add—that was the grand layout Xiao He drew for the Han. You are a pillar of Wei; you should grasp the larger design as well." He also proposed leveling the Mang Hills north of Luoyang and erecting terraces there to command a view of the ford at Mengjin. Xin Pi objected: "Heaven and earth set heights and hollows as they are; to turn that order upside down offends their pattern; and to squander labor on top of that would crush the people under corvée duty. If the great rivers burst their banks and the hills have been shaved flat, what will hold the flood back?" The emperor abandoned the project. 〈The Brief Account of Wei relates that Zhuge Liang besieged Qishan, failed to reduce it, and pulled back. Zhang He pursued the retreat and was killed by a stray arrow. The emperor grieved for Zhang He and lamented at court, "Shu is still unconquered, and now Zhang He is gone—what can we do?" Minister of Works Chen Qun said, "Zhang He was an outstanding commander on whom the state relied." Xin Pi thought the loss of Zhang He grievous, but the dead cannot be recalled; it would be wrong to sap the sovereign's resolve in court or to advertise weakness to the enemy. He seized Chen Qun by the arm and said, "Lord Chen, what sort of talk is this? At the close of the Jian-an years the empire could not for a day do without Emperor Wu; when the mandate passed on, Emperor Wen took the throne, and in the Huangchu era men said the realm could not do without Emperor Wen; when he left the world to Your Majesty, you rose as the dragon successor. Tell me, is Zhang He the one thing our realm now lacks?" Chen Qun said, "Xin Pi speaks the truth." The emperor smiled and said, "Lord Chen, you change your tune nimbly." Pei Songzhi comments: When likening people to others, one must stay within their station; when choosing a figure of speech, one should stay within the same category. A gentleman does not speak lightly, and that is all. If Xin Pi meant to steady the emperor's mind, he should have named living champions such as Zhang Liao; the death of a single general is no occasion to invoke the founding emperors as parallels. Nothing could be more out of place; pushed forward it breaks category, drawn back it smacks of sycophancy—this is not what we expect of Xin Pi's blunt integrity. The Brief Account of Wei is already suspect, and the Xi family repeated the tale; I believe Xin Pi has been much maligned.
9
青龍二年,諸葛亮率衆出渭南。 先是,大將軍司馬宣王數請與亮戰,明帝終不聽。 是歲恐不能禁,乃以毗爲大將軍軍師,使持節; 六軍皆肅,準毗節度,莫敢犯違。 〈《魏略》曰:宣王數數欲進攻,毗禁不聽。 宣王雖能行意,而每屈於毗。〉 亮卒,復還爲衞尉。 薨,謚曰肅侯。 子敞嗣,咸熈中爲河內太守。 〈《世語》曰:敞字泰雍,官至衞尉。 毗女憲英,適太常泰山羊耽,外孫夏侯湛爲其傳曰:「憲英聦明有才鑒。 初文帝與陳思王爭爲太子,旣而文帝得立,抱毗頸而喜曰:『辛君知我喜不?』 毗以告憲英,憲英歎曰:『太子代君主宗廟社稷者也。 代君不可以不戚,主國不可以不懼,宜戚而喜,何以能乆? 魏其不昌乎!』 弟敞爲大將軍曹爽參軍。 司馬宣王將誅爽,因爽出,閉城門。 大將軍司馬魯芝將爽府兵,犯門斬關,出城門赴爽,來呼敞俱去。 敞懼,問憲英曰:『天子在外,太傅閉城門,人云將不利國家,於事可得爾乎?』 憲英曰:『天下有不可知,然以吾度之,太傅殆不得不爾! 明皇帝臨崩,把太傅臂,以後事付之,此言猶在朝士之耳。 且曹爽與太傅俱受寄託之任,而獨專權勢,行以驕奢,於王室不忠,於人道不直,此舉不過以誅曹爽耳。』 敞曰:『然則事就乎?』 憲英曰:『得無殆就! 爽之才非太傅之偶也。』 敞曰:『然則敞可以無出乎?』 憲英曰:『安可以不出。 職守,人之大義也。 凡人在難,猶或卹之; 爲人執鞭而棄其事,不祥,不可也。 且爲人死,爲人任,親昵之職也,從衆而已。』 敞遂出。 宣王果誅爽。 事定之後,敞歎曰:『吾不謀於姊,幾不獲於義。』 逮鍾會爲鎮西將軍,憲英謂從子羊祜曰:『鍾士季何故西出?』 祜曰:『將爲滅蜀也。』 憲英曰:『會在事縱恣,非持乆處下之道,吾畏其有他志也。』 祜曰:『季母勿多言。』 其後會請子琇爲參軍,憲英憂曰:『他日見鍾會之出,吾爲國憂之矣。 今日難至吾家,此國之大事,必不得止也。』 琇固請司馬文王,文王不聽。 憲英語琇曰:『行矣,戒之! 古之君子,入則致孝於親,出則致節於國,在職思其所司,在義思其所立,不遺父母憂患而已。 軍旅之間,可以濟者,其惟仁恕乎! 汝其慎之!』 琇竟以全身。 憲英年至七十有九,泰始五年卒。」〉
In Qinglong 2 (234), Zhuge Liang marched his army to the south bank of the Wei. Earlier, Grand General Sima Yi had repeatedly asked leave to give battle, but Emperor Ming had always refused. Fearing he could no longer hold Sima Yi in check that year, the court named Xin Pi army adviser to the grand general and gave him the staff of authority; the six hosts stood in awe and accepted Xin Pi's orders; no one dared disobey. 〈The Brief Account of Wei says Sima Yi repeatedly pressed for an offensive, but Xin Pi forbade it and would not yield. Though Sima Yi could act on his own judgment, he repeatedly bowed to Xin Pi's restraint. After Zhuge Liang's death Xin Pi resumed his post as commandant of the guards. He died and received the posthumous title Marquis Su ("the Stern"). His son Xin Chang inherited the title and later served as administrator of Henan during the Xianxi era. 〈The Contemporary Tales says Xin Chang, courtesy name Taiyong, rose to the post of commandant of the guards. Xin Pi's daughter Xianying married Yang Dan of Taishan, the minister of ceremonies; her grandson Xiahou Zhan composed her biography, saying, "Xianying was clever and discerning. When Emperor Wen was still heir apparent and vied with Cao Zhi, the Prince of Chen, Wen eventually won the succession. He threw his arms around Xin Pi's neck and cried, "Lord Xin, can you guess how happy I am?" Xin Pi repeated this to Xianying, who sighed and said, "The heir takes the ruler's place before the ancestral shrines and the altars of state. To step into a father's place ought to bring sorrow, and to shoulder the realm ought to bring dread. If he is elated instead, how long can such a reign last? Wei will not prosper under him!" Her younger brother Xin Chang served as an adviser on the staff of Grand General Cao Shuang. When Sima Yi moved to purge Cao Shuang, he waited until Shuang had left the city and then sealed the gates. Lu Zhi, the major general under the grand general, led Cao Shuang's household troops, cut through the barricades, burst out of the city to reach Shuang, and urged Xin Chang to ride with him. Xin Chang was frightened and asked Xianying, "The emperor is outside the walls, the grand tutor has shut the gates, and rumor says the state is in peril—can things really be as bad as that?" She answered, "The world holds mysteries we cannot fathom, yet in my judgment the grand tutor had no choice but to act. On his deathbed Emperor Ming seized the grand tutor's arm and entrusted him with the succession; every minister still remembers that charge. Cao Shuang received the same regency as the grand tutor, yet he hoarded power, lived in arrogance and luxury, betrayed the house of Wei, and broke faith with common decency. This coup aims only at removing Cao Shuang." Xin Chang asked, "Then will the affair succeed?" She said, "It may well succeed. Cao Shuang is no match for the grand tutor." Xin Chang asked, "Then may I stay home?" She replied, "How could you stay away? Office and duty are the first obligations of a gentleman. Even common folk in distress deserve compassion; to take a post and then desert it when danger comes is ill-omened and wrong. To risk one's life for a lord and answer for his fate is the duty of a trusted officer—go with the rest." Xin Chang rode out. Sima Yi did execute Cao Shuang. When the dust settled, Xin Chang sighed, "Had I not asked my sister, I would nearly have failed in my duty." Later, when Zhong Hui was named general who guards the west, Xianying asked her nephew Yang Hu, "Why is Zhong Hui marching west?" Yang Hu said, "To conquer Shu." She said, "Zhong Hui indulges his whims in office; he is not a man who will long submit to another. I fear he harbors designs of his own." Yang Hu said, "Aunt, say no more." When Zhong Hui later asked Xin Xiu to join his staff as an adviser, Xianying said in alarm, "The day I saw Zhong Hui ride west I feared for the realm; today the trouble has reached our own door. This is a matter of state, and you cannot refuse." Xin Xiu pleaded with Sima Zhao, who would not release him. Xianying told him, "You must go—guard yourself well. The gentlemen of old showed filial devotion at home and integrity abroad; in office they pondered their duty, in crisis they weighed what was right, and they strove never to bring grief upon their parents. In the camp and on the battlefield, only kindness and restraint can save you. Mark my words and be careful." Xin Xiu followed her counsel and survived with his life. Xianying lived to seventy-nine and died in the fifth year of Taishi (269)."〉"
10
楊阜字義山,天水冀人也。 〈《魏略》曰:阜少與同郡尹奉次曾、趙昂偉章俱發名,偉章、次曾與阜俱爲涼州從事。〉 以州從事爲牧韋端使詣許,拜安定長史。 阜還,關右諸將問袁、曹勝敗孰在,阜曰:「袁公寬而不斷,好謀而少決; 不斷則無威,少決則失後事,今雖彊,終不能成大業。 曹公有雄才遠略,決機無疑,法一而兵精,能用度外之人,所任各盡其力,必能濟大事者也。」 長史非其好,遂去官。 而端徵爲太僕,其子康代爲刺史,辟阜爲別駕。 察孝廉,辟丞相府,州表留參軍事。
Yang Fu, courtesy name Yishan, was a native of Ji in Tianshui commandery. 〈The Brief Account of Wei says that in his youth Yang Fu won a local reputation alongside Yin Feng (courtesy Ciceng) and Zhao Ang (courtesy Weizhang) of the same commandery; Zhao and Yin served with Yang Fu as staff officers in Liangzhou. While serving on the provincial staff he was dispatched by Governor Wei Duan to the capital at Xu and was appointed chief clerk of Anding. On his return the generals beyond the pass asked whether Yuan Shao or Cao Cao would prevail. Yang Fu said, "Yuan Shao is magnanimous but cannot decide, fond of counsel but slow to commit; indecision saps authority, and hesitation loses the moment. He may look strong now, yet he will never finish the great work. Lord Cao has heroic gifts and long vision, seizes his chances without wavering, keeps the law uniform and his soldiers sharp, and can use unusual men so that each gives his utmost. He is the man who will achieve the great enterprise." The chief clerk's post did not suit him, so he resigned. Wei Duan was then recalled to serve as grand coachman, and his son Wei Kang succeeded him as provincial inspector, who appointed Yang Fu as attendant clerk. Nominated as filial and incorrupt, he was called to the chancellor's headquarters, but the province petitioned to keep him on its military staff.
11
馬超之戰敗渭南也,走保諸戎。 太祖追至安定,而蘇伯反河閒,將引軍東還。 阜時奉使,言於太祖曰:「超有信、布之勇,甚得羌、胡心,西州畏之。 若大軍還,不嚴爲之備,隴上諸郡非國家之有也。」 太祖善之,而軍還倉卒,爲備不周。 超率諸戎渠帥以擊隴上郡縣,隴上郡縣皆應之,惟冀城奉州郡以固守。 超盡兼隴右之衆,而張魯又遣大將楊昂以助之,凡萬餘人,攻城。 阜率國士大夫及宗族子弟勝兵者千餘人,使從弟岳於城上作偃月營,與超接戰,自正月至八月拒守而救兵不至。 州遣別駕閻溫循水潛出求救,爲超所殺,於是刺史、太守失色,始有降超之計。 阜流涕諫曰:「阜等率父兄子弟以義相勵,有死無二; 田單之守,不固於此也。 棄垂成之功,陷不義之名,阜以死守之。」 遂號哭。 刺史、太守卒遣人請和,開城門迎超。 超入,拘岳於冀,使楊昂殺刺史、太守。
After Ma Chao was routed south of the Wei, he fled west among the Qiang and Rong tribes. Cao Cao pressed the pursuit to Anding, but Su Bo rose in revolt in Hejian, and he prepared to march the army back east. Yang Fu, then away on assignment, warned Cao Cao, "Ma Chao has the dash of Han Xin and Ying Bu; the Qiang and Hu rally to him, and the west trembles at his name. If the main force withdraws without leaving strong precautions, the commanderies along the Long plateau will no longer be ours." Cao Cao saw the point, but the withdrawal was hurried and the dispositions were incomplete. Ma Chao led the tribal chiefs against the Long counties, which rose for him one after another; only Ji city, loyal to the provincial and commandery authorities, held out. Ma Chao absorbed every force west of the Long frontier, while Zhang Lu sent his general Yang Ang with reinforcements—more than ten thousand men in all—to storm the walls. Yang Fu rallied over a thousand gentlemen, officials, and kinsmen fit to bear arms, had his cousin Yang Yue throw up a crescent-shaped redoubt on the battlements, and traded blows with Ma Chao from the first month to the eighth, yet no relief column came. The province sent its attendant clerk Yan Wen to slip out along the river for help; Ma Chao caught and killed him. The inspector and the administrator then turned pale and began to speak of yielding the city. Yang Fu wept and remonstrated, "We have brought fathers, brothers, and sons together under the banner of duty; we are resolved to die rather than turn traitor; even Tian Dan's defense of Jimo was no tighter than ours. To throw away a victory within reach and earn the name of traitors—I will defend this wall with my life." The defenders broke into loud weeping. In the end the inspector and the administrator sent envoys to sue for terms, opened the gates, and admitted Ma Chao. Ma Chao entered the city, held Yang Fu's cousin Yang Yue hostage in Ji, and had Yang Ang execute the inspector and the administrator.
12
阜內有報超之志,而未得其便。 頃之,阜以喪妻求葬假。 阜外兄姜叙屯歷城。 阜少長叙家,見叙母及叙,說前在冀中時事,歔欷悲甚。 叙曰:「何爲乃爾?」 阜曰:「守城不能完,君亡不能死,亦何面目以視息於天下! 馬超背父叛君,虐殺州將,豈獨阜之憂責,一州士大夫皆蒙其恥。 君擁兵專制而無討賊心,此趙盾所以書殺君也。 超彊而無義,多釁易圖耳。」 叙母慨然,勑叙從阜計。 計定,外與鄉人姜隱、趙昂、尹奉、姚瓊、孔信、武都人李俊、王靈結謀,定討超約,使從弟謨至冀語岳,并結安定梁寬、南安趙衢、龐恭等。 約誓旣明,十七年九月,與叙起兵於鹵城。 超聞阜等兵起,自將出。 而衢、寬等解岳,閉冀城門,討超妻子。 超襲歷城,得叙母。 叙母罵之曰:「汝背父之逆子,殺君之桀賊,天地豈乆容汝,而不早死,敢以面目視人乎!」 超怒,殺之。 阜與超戰,身被五創,宗族昆弟死者七人。 超遂南奔張魯。
Within himself Yang Fu burned to avenge Ma Chao, but he had not yet found his chance. Soon afterward he asked leave of absence to bury his wife. Yang Fu's maternal cousin Jiang Xu was encamped at Licheng. Yang Fu had been raised in Jiang Xu's home as a boy. When he saw Xu and Xu's mother, he told them what had happened during the siege of Ji and broke down in tears. Jiang Xu asked, "Why this outpouring?" Yang Fu said, "I held the walls yet could not save them; our lord fell yet I did not die at his side—how dare I show my face in the world? Ma Chao cast off his father and rebelled against his sovereign, butchered our commanders—this is not my private shame alone; every man of honor in Liangzhou bears the stain. You command an army and do as you please, yet you will not move against the traitor—the Chroniclers blamed Zhao Dun for regicide for less than this. Ma Chao is fierce but faithless; his misrule gives us openings we can exploit." Jiang Xu's mother, stirred to indignation, bade her son follow Yang Fu's design. Once the plot was set, they conspired in secret with Jiang Yin, Zhao Ang, Yin Feng, Yao Qiong, and Kong Xin of their home district, with Li Jun and Wang Ling of Wudu, swore to destroy Ma Chao, sent Yang Fu's cousin Yang Mo into Ji to warn Yang Yue, and won over Liang Kuan of Anding, Zhao Qu of Nan'an, and Pang Gong. The oath was sworn, and in the ninth month of Jian-an 17 (212) they rose with Jiang Xu at Lucheng. When Ma Chao learned of the uprising, he marched out in person. Zhao Qu and Liang Kuan meanwhile freed Yang Yue, sealed the gates of Ji, and turned on Ma Chao's family. Ma Chao struck Licheng and seized Jiang Xu's mother. She cursed him: "Rebel son who turned on his father, butcher who murdered his lord—does Heaven intend to shelter you forever? Why were you not struck down long ago? How dare you look honest men in the eye?" Ma Chao in his fury put her to death. Yang Fu fought Ma Chao in person, took five wounds, and lost seven kinsmen in the battle. Ma Chao then fled south into Zhang Lu's protection.
13
隴右平定,太祖封討超之功,侯者十一人,賜阜爵關內侯。 阜讓曰:「阜君存無扞難之功,君亡無死節之効,於義當絀,於法當誅; 超又不死,無宜苟荷爵祿。」 太祖報曰:「君與羣賢共建大功,西土之人以爲美談。 子貢辭賞,仲尼謂之止善。 君其剖心以順國命。 姜叙之母,勸叙早發,明智乃爾,雖楊敞之妻蓋不過此。 賢哉,賢哉! 良史記錄,必不墜於地矣。」 〈皇甫謐《列女傳》曰:姜叙母者,天水姜伯弈之母也。 建安中,馬超攻冀,害涼州刺史韋康,州人悽然,莫不感憤。 叙爲撫夷將軍,擁兵屯歷。 叙姑子楊阜,故爲康從事,同等十餘人,皆略屬超,陰相結爲康報仇,未有閒。 會阜妻死,辭超寧歸西,因過至歷,候叙母,說康被害及冀中之難,相對泣良乆。 姜叙舉室感悲,叙母曰:「咄! 伯弈,韋使君遇難,豈一州之恥,亦汝之負,豈獨義山哉? 汝無顧我,事淹變生。 人誰不死? 死國,忠義之大者。 但當速發,我自爲汝當之,不以餘年累汝也。」 因勑叙與阜參議,許諾,分人使語鄉里尹奉、趙昂及安定梁寬等,令叙先舉兵叛超,超怒,必自來擊叙,寬等因從後閉門。 約誓以定,叙遂進兵入鹵,昂、奉守祁山。 超聞,果自出擊叙,寬等從後閉冀門,超失據。 過鹵,叙守鹵。 超因進至歷,歷中見超往,以爲叙軍還。 又傳聞超以走奔漢中,故歷無備。 及超入歷,執叙母,母怒罵超。 超被罵大怒,即殺叙母及其子,燒城而去。 阜等以狀聞,太祖甚嘉之,手令襃揚,語如本傳。 臣松之案:謐稱阜爲叙姑子,而本傳云叙爲阜外兄,與今名內外爲不同。 謐又載趙昂妻曰:趙昂妻異者,故益州刺史天水趙偉璋妻,王氏女也。 昂爲羌道令,留異在西。 會同郡梁雙反,攻破西城,害異兩男。 異女英,年六歲,獨與異在城中。 異見兩男已死,又恐爲雙所侵,引刀欲自刎,顧英而歎曰:「身死爾棄,當誰恃哉! 吾聞西施蒙不絜之服,則人掩鼻,況我貌非西施乎?」 乃以溷糞涅麻而被之,尠食瘠形,自春至冬。 雙與州郡和,異竟以是免難。 昂遣吏迎之,未至三十里,止謂英曰:「婦人無符信保傅,則不出房闈。 昭姜沈流,伯姬待燒,每讀其傳,心壯其節。 今吾遭亂不能死,將何以復見諸姑? 所以偷生不死,惟憐汝耳。 今官舍已近,吾去汝死矣。」 遂飲毒藥而絕。 時適有解毒藥良湯,撅口灌之,良乆迺蘇。 建安中,昂轉參軍事,徙居冀。 會馬超攻冀,異躬著布韝,佐昂守備,又悉脫所佩環、黼黻以賞戰士。 及超攻急,城中饑困,刺史韋康素仁,愍吏民傷殘,欲與超和。 昂諫不聽,歸以語異,異曰:「君有爭臣,大夫有專利之義; 專不爲非也。 焉知救兵不到關隴哉? 當共勉卒高勳,全節致死,不可從也。」 比昂還,康與超和。 超遂背約害康,又劫昂,質其嫡子月於南鄭。 欲要昂以爲己用,然心未甚信。 超妻楊聞異節行,請與讌終日。 異欲信昂於超以濟其謀,謂楊曰:「昔管仲入齊,立九合之功; 由余適秦,穆公成霸。 方今社稷初定,治亂在於得人,涼州士馬,迺可與中夏爭鋒,不可不詳也。」 楊深感之,以爲忠於己,遂與異重相接結。 昂所以得信於超,全功免禍者,異之力也。 及昂與楊阜等結謀討超,告異曰:「吾謀如是,事必萬全,當柰月何?」 異厲聲應曰:「忠義立於身,雪君父之大恥,喪元不足爲重,況一子哉? 夫項託、顏淵,豈復百年,貴義存耳。」 昂曰:「善。」 遂共閉門逐超,超奔漢中,從張魯得兵還。 異復與昂保祁山,爲超所圍,三十日救兵到,乃解。 超卒殺異子月。 凡自冀城之難,至于祁山,昂出九奇,異輒參焉。〉
After the Long frontier was secured, Cao Cao enfeoffed eleven men for their part in crushing Ma Chao and awarded Yang Fu the rank of secondary marquis within the passes. Yang Fu demurred: "While my lord lived I did not save him from disaster; when he fell I did not die with him—by every rule of honor I deserve demotion, by every statute I deserve execution; and Ma Chao still lives—I have no right to accept rank and emolument without shame." Cao Cao answered, "You and your comrades won a signal victory; the west still tells the story with admiration. When Zi Gong refused a reward, Confucius said he had blocked the way of virtue. Open your heart and accept what the state offers you. Jiang Xu's mother spurred her son to strike first; such clear-sightedness—even the wife of Yang Chang could not surpass it. How worthy, how worthy! A careful historian will not let such deeds be forgotten." 〈Huangfu Mi's Exemplary Women relates that Jiang Xu's mother was the mother of Jiang Boyi of Tianshui. During the Jian-an years Ma Chao stormed Ji and slew Inspector Wei Kang of Liangzhou, leaving the province in grief and fury. Jiang Xu held the title of general who pacifies the Yi and camped his force at Li. Yang Fu, Jiang Xu's cousin by marriage, had formerly served on Wei Kang's staff; a dozen or so of his colleagues were likewise forced to submit to Ma Chao while secretly plotting vengeance, but they could find no opportunity. When Yang Fu's wife died, he begged Ma Chao for leave to carry her west for burial, stopped at Licheng to call on Jiang Xu's mother, and told her how Wei Kang had been slain and Ji thrown into chaos; mother and son wept together for a long while. The whole Jiang household was in tears. The old woman cried, "Enough! Boyi, Inspector Wei's murder shames all Liangzhou and falls on your shoulders as much as on Yishan's. Do not linger for my sake—delay will only breed new danger. Every man must die sometime. To die for one's country is the highest act of loyalty. Strike at once. I will answer for whatever follows—I will not chain your last years to my old age." She then told Jiang Xu to take counsel with Yang Fu. They agreed, sent word to Yin Feng, Zhao Ang, Liang Kuan of Anding, and the rest, and arranged for Jiang Xu to rebel first so that Ma Chao, in his rage, would march against Licheng in person, while Liang Kuan and his party would seal the gates of Ji behind him. Once the oath was sworn, Jiang Xu marched into Lucheng while Zhao Ang and Yin Feng held Qishan. Ma Chao heard the news and led his host against Jiang Xu as planned; Liang Kuan and the others shut the gates of Ji behind him, leaving Ma Chao without a base. Ma Chao passed through Lucheng, where Jiang Xu stood ready. He pressed on to Licheng. The townsfolk, seeing Ma Chao's banners, mistook them for Jiang Xu's column returning. Rumors also claimed that Ma Chao had fled to Hanzhong, so Licheng lowered its guard. When Ma Chao entered the town he seized Jiang Xu's mother, who reviled him to his face. Stung by her curses, he slew her and her son, fired the town, and withdrew. Yang Fu and his allies reported these deeds to Cao Cao, who praised them warmly and issued a personal decree of commendation, as recorded in the main text. Pei Songzhi notes that Huangfu Mi calls Yang Fu Jiang Xu's cousin by marriage, whereas the principal biography makes Jiang Xu Yang Fu's maternal cousin—the relationship is described differently. Huangfu Mi further records Zhao Ang's wife: Lady Yi, of the Wang clan, was the wife of Zhao Weizhang of Tianshui, the former inspector of Yi Province. Zhao Ang served as magistrate of Qiangdao, leaving his wife Yi in the west. When Liang Shuang of the same commandery revolted, stormed Xicheng, and slew Lady Yi's two sons, six-year-old Ying alone remained in the city with her mother. Lady Yi, seeing both sons dead and fearing rape at Liang Shuang's hands, drew a knife to end her life, then looked at Ying and sighed, "If I die I leave you helpless— I have read that when Xi Shi wore foul clothing passersby hid their noses—and I am no beauty like Xi Shi." She smeared herself with filth from the privy and wrapped her body in rough hemp, ate sparingly, and wasted away from spring until winter. When Liang Shuang made peace with the authorities, Lady Yi survived the ordeal. Zhao Ang sent a clerk to escort them home. Thirty li short of the city she halted and told Ying, "A woman without credentials or a chaperone does not step beyond her inner rooms. The Zhao maiden who sank into the river, the princess Bo Ji who stayed to burn—whenever I read their tales my spirit rises at their resolve. Now I have lived through rebellion without dying—how can I face my husband's kinswomen? The only reason I clung to life was pity for you. The yamen is close now. I leave you and mean to die." She swallowed poison. Someone forced an antidote down her throat, and after a long while she stirred again. During the Jian-an years Zhao Ang was posted to military staff and moved his household to Ji. When Ma Chao besieged Ji, Lady Yi donned plain armlets and helped Zhao Ang hold the walls, stripping off her jewelry and silks to reward the defenders. As the siege tightened and hunger gripped the city, the kindly Inspector Wei Kang, grieving for his battered people, wished to treat with Ma Chao. Zhao Ang's remonstrance went unheeded. When he told his wife, she said, "A ruler should heed outspoken ministers, and a minister may act without waiting for orders when duty demands it; to seize the initiative is not wrongdoing. Who can say relief will never reach the Long frontier? We must steel ourselves to win glory and die for the cause—we cannot consent to surrender." Before Zhao Ang could return, Wei Kang had already capitulated to Ma Chao. Ma Chao broke faith, murdered Wei Kang, seized Zhao Ang, and held his heir Yue hostage at Nan'zheng. He meant to employ Zhao Ang but still did not trust him fully. Ma Chao's wife Lady Yang, hearing of Lady Yi's virtue, asked to spend a day feasting with her. Lady Yi meant to win Ma Chao's confidence in Zhao Ang and further their plot. She told Lady Yang, "When Guan Zhong entered Qi he forged the league of nine hegemons; when You Yu went west, Duke Mu of Qin rose to supremacy. The dynasty is only now taking shape, and order depends on winning the right men. Liangzhou's cavalry can match the heartland—this is not a detail you can afford to overlook." Lady Yang was moved, believed Lady Yi spoke for her own good, and grew intimate with her. It was Lady Yi's doing that Zhao Ang won Ma Chao's trust and escaped harm while the plot matured. When Zhao Ang and Yang Fu prepared to strike Ma Chao, he confided in Lady Yi, "The plan is sound, but what of our son Yue?" She answered sharply, "Honor is built in one's own breast. To avenge our lord and master matters more than my life—what is one child? Xiang Tuo and Yan Yuan did not live a century; what endures is the righteousness they left behind." Zhao Ang said, "Well spoken." They barred the gates, drove Ma Chao out, and he fled to Hanzhong, where Zhang Lu gave him troops for a counterattack. Lady Yi joined Zhao Ang in defending Qishan; Ma Chao besieged them thirty days until relief broke the siege. Ma Chao later executed their son Yue. From the fall of Ji to the stand at Qishan, Zhao Ang devised nine stratagems, and Lady Yi had a hand in each.
14
太祖征漢中,以阜爲益州刺史。 還,拜金城太守,未發,轉武都太守。 郡濵蜀漢,阜請依龔遂故事,安之而已。 會劉備遣張飛、馬超等從沮道趣下辯,而氐雷定等七部萬餘落反應之。 太祖遣都護曹洪禦超等,超等退還。 洪置酒大會,令女倡著羅縠之衣,蹋鼓,一坐皆笑。 阜厲聲責洪曰:「男女之別,國之大節,何有於廣坐之中裸女人形體! 雖桀、紂之亂,不甚於此。」 遂奮衣辭出。 洪立罷女樂,請阜還坐,肅然憚焉。
When Cao Cao marched on Hanzhong he named Yang Fu inspector of Yi Province. On his return he was named administrator of Jincheng, but before he could take up the post he was shifted to Wudu. The commandery lay on the border of Shu; Yang Fu asked leave to follow Gong Sui's example and soothe the people without needless severity. Liu Bei dispatched Zhang Fei and Ma Chao along the Ju valley toward Xiabian, and Lei Ding of the Di with seven tribes of more than ten thousand tents rose in support. Cao Cao sent Chief Protector Cao Hong to check Ma Chao, who then drew back. Cao Hong gave a victory feast and had singing girls dance in sheer silk before the drum while the guests roared with laughter. Yang Fu rebuked him sharply: "The separation of the sexes is a pillar of public decency—how dare you parade women's bodies before a hall full of men? Even the debauchery of Jie and Zhou went no further than this." He threw down his napkin and walked out. Cao Hong dismissed the musicians, begged Yang Fu back to his place, and afterward treated him with wary respect.
15
及劉備取漢中以逼下辯,太祖以武都孤遠,欲移之,恐吏民戀土。 阜威信素著,前後徙民、氐,使居京兆、扶風、天水界者萬餘戶,徙郡小槐里,百姓襁負而隨之。 爲政舉大綱而已,下不忍欺也。 文帝問侍中劉曄等:「武都太守何如人也?」 皆稱阜有公輔之節。 未及用,會帝崩。 在郡十餘年,徵拜城門校尉。
When Liu Bei seized Hanzhong to threaten Xiabian, Cao Cao considered Wudu too remote and planned to evacuate the commandery, yet feared the people would not wish to leave their land. Yang Fu's prestige had long stood high; he had already resettled more than ten thousand households of commoners and Di between Jingzhao, Fufeng, and Tianshui, and when he shifted the seat to minor Huaili the people shouldered their children and followed without demur. He governed by broad principles alone, and his subordinates would not dream of deceiving him. Emperor Wen asked his attendants Liu Ye and the rest, "What sort of man is the administrator of Wudu?" Every one of them said Yang Fu had the stature of a man who could serve as chief minister. He was not promoted in time: Emperor Wen passed away first. He spent over a decade in Wudu, then was recalled and named colonel of the city gates.
16
阜常見明帝著𧛕,被縹綾半裦袖,阜問帝曰:「此於禮何法服也?」 帝默然不荅,自是不法服不以見阜。
Yang Fu once found Emperor Ming in a cap and a short pale-silk jacket and asked, "What canonical garment is this by the rites?" The emperor gave no reply, and thereafter he never received Yang Fu unless he was properly robed.
17
遷將作大匠。 時初治宮室,發美女以充後庭,數出入弋獵。 秋,大雨震電,多殺鳥雀。 阜上疏曰:「臣聞明主在上,羣下盡辭。 堯、舜聖德,求非索諫; 大禹勤功,務卑宮室; 成湯遭旱,歸咎責己; 周文刑於寡妻,以御家邦; 漢文躬行節儉,身衣弋綈:此皆能昭令問,貽厥孫謀者也。 伏惟陛下奉武皇帝開拓之大業,守文皇帝克終之元緒,誠宜思齊往古聖賢之善治,總觀季世放盪之惡政。 所謂善治者,務儉約、重民力也; 所謂惡政者,從心恣欲,觸情而發也。 惟陛下稽古世代之初所以明赫,及季世所以衰弱至于泯滅,近覽漢末之變,足以動心誡懼矣。 曩使桓、靈不廢高祖之法,文、景之恭儉,太祖雖有神武,於何所施其能邪? 而陛下何由處斯尊哉? 今吳、蜀未定,軍旅在外,願陛下動則三思,慮而後行,重慎出入,以往鑒來,言之若輕,成敗甚重。 頃者天雨,又多卒暴雷電非常,至殺鳥雀。 天地神明,以王者爲子也,政有不當,則見災譴。 克己內訟,聖人所記。 惟陛下慮患無形之外,慎萌纖微之初,法漢孝文出惠帝美人,令得自嫁; 頃所調送小女,遠聞不令,宜爲後圖。 諸所繕治,務從約節。 書曰:『九族旣睦,恊和萬國。』 事思厥宜,以從中道,精心計謀,省息費用。 吳、蜀以定,爾乃上安下樂,九親熈熈。 如此以往,祖考心歡,堯舜其猶病諸。 今宜開大信於天下,以安衆庶,以示遠人。」 時雍丘王植怨於不齒,藩國至親,法禁峻密,故阜又陳九族之義焉。 詔報曰:「閒得密表,先陳往古明王聖主,以諷闇政,切至之辭,款誠篤實。 退思補過,將順匡救,備至悉矣。 覽思苦言,吾甚嘉之。」
He rose to the post of court architect. Palace construction had just begun, the inner apartments were being filled with selected women, and the emperor often rode out on the chase. That autumn storms broke, lightning flashed, and countless small birds were killed. Yang Fu presented a memorial: "I have read that when a wise ruler holds the throne, his officials leave nothing unsaid. Yao and Shun in their holiness invited criticism and welcomed frank advice; the Great Yu earned merit through labor and disdained lofty palaces; Tang of Shang faced drought and blamed his own rule; King Wen taught restraint to his wives and so brought order to clan and kingdom; Emperor Wen of Han lived plainly and dressed in homespun—all these rulers won renown and left their heirs a pattern worth following. You inherit the realm Martial Emperor carved out and the order Civil Emperor perfected; you should measure yourself against the sage-kings of antiquity and take warning from every decadent late reign. Good government means austerity and respect for the people's labor; bad government means indulging every impulse of the heart. Trace how each house shone at its dawn and guttered at its dusk; ponder the Han collapse—it should freeze the blood. Had Emperors Huan and Ling not torn down Gaozu's statutes and Wen and Jing's frugality, our martial founder, for all his genius, would have had no opening to act. On what foundation, then, would you sit on the throne today? Wu and Shu still stand unconquered and our hosts are abroad. May every move you make be thrice weighed; look before you leap; guard each coming and going; let past mistakes instruct the future—speech is easy, but the stakes are immense. Of late the skies have poured rain and unleashed freakish thunderbolts that have struck down birds in flocks. Heaven and earth treat the king as a son; when policy goes wrong, they answer with portents and scourges. Self-scrutiny and inward reckoning are what the sages enjoin. Guard against unseen peril and crush mischief at the bud; follow Han Emperor Wen, who freed Hui's palace ladies to find husbands of their own; and as for the little girls recently impressed into service, distant rumor says the levy was cruel—you should think ahead for them as well. Let every new work be done with the utmost frugality. The Book of Documents says, "Harmonize the nine kin, and the myriad regions will be at peace." Weigh each policy for fitness, keep to the golden mean, scheme with a clear mind, and spare the treasury. Once Wu and Shu are subdued, ruler and people will be at ease and the royal kin will thrive in concord. Continue in this spirit and the shades of your forebears will rejoice—though even Yao and Shun would call that standard almost too high to meet. Now is the time to broadcast steadfast faith across the empire, steady the common folk, and show distant lands that you mean peace." At the same time Prince Cao Zhi of Yongqiu smarted at his exclusion from power; the imperial clansmen were bone of the ruler's bone, yet they labored under suffocating restrictions—so Yang Fu enlarged on the duty of harmony within the nine branches of kin. The throne answered, "Your sealed memorial rehearses the sage-kings of old to reproach present failings; your words bite to the bone and your loyalty is plain. You withdraw to mend what is wrong, you would guide and save—the thoroughness of your care leaves nothing out. I have weighed your hard counsel and approve it with all my heart."
18
後遷少府。 是時大司馬曹真伐蜀,遇雨不進。 阜上疏曰:「昔文王有赤烏之符,而猶日仄不暇食; 武王白魚入舟,君臣變色。 而動得吉瑞,猶尚憂懼,況有災異而不戰竦者哉? 今吳、蜀未平,而天屢降變,陛下宜深有以專精應荅,側席而坐,思示遠以德,綏邇以儉。 閒者諸軍始進,便有天雨之患,稽閡山險,以積日矣。 轉運之勞,擔負之苦,所費以多,若有不繼,必違本圖。 傳曰:『見可而進,知難而退,軍之善政也。』 徒使六軍困於山谷之間,進無所略,退又不得,非主兵之道也。 武王還師,殷卒以亡,知天期也。 今年凶民饑,宜發明詔損膳減服,技巧珍玩之物,皆可罷之。 昔邵信臣爲少府於無事之世,而奏罷浮食; 今者軍用不足,益宜節度。」 帝即召諸軍還。
He was later advanced to minister of the less treasury. Grand Marshal Cao Zhen was then leading an expedition against Shu but had bogged down in the rains. Yang Fu wrote, "King Wen received the red-bird portent, yet the sun was past the meridian before he could eat; when King Wu saw the white fish leap into the barge, he and his ministers blanched. Even good omens left them anxious—how much more, when Heaven sends warnings, ought we not stand aghast? Wu and Shu still defy us while omens pile up; you should answer with single-minded awe, hold court as if the mat were uneven, draw the far lands with virtue, and comfort your own people with restraint. No sooner did the hosts move than storms penned them in the passes, and they have been stuck there day after day. The cost in carts and bearers mounts hourly; if the line breaks, the whole design fails. The military maxim runs, "Strike when the moment favors you, retire when the terrain forbids—that is sound command." To trap the imperial army between cliffs with no ground to win and no road to retreat is no way to lead soldiers. King Wu turned his legions about and Yin collapsed of its own accord—he had read Heaven's timetable aright. The year is inauspicious and the people are starving; proclaim a public order to reduce court fare and dress and to scrap ingenious luxuries. In an age without crises Shao Xinchen pruned useless offices from the less treasury; now that the army strains the treasury, economy is twice as urgent." The emperor at once ordered all columns home.
19
後詔大議政治之不便於民者,阜議以爲:「致治在於任賢,興國在於務農。 若舍賢而任所私,此忘治之甚者也。 廣開宮館,高爲臺榭,以妨民務,此害農之甚者也。 百工不敦其器,而競作奇巧,以合上欲,此傷本之甚者也。 孔子曰:『苛政甚於猛虎。』 今守功文俗之吏,爲政不通治體,苟好煩苛,此亂民之甚者也。 當今之急,宜去四甚,並詔公卿郡國,舉賢良方正敦樸之士而選用之,此亦求賢之一端也。」
An edict later invited debate on burdensome policies; Yang Fu held that "good rule rests on choosing able men, and a strong realm rests on farming. To spurn talent and elevate favorites is the gravest neglect of governance. To multiply palaces and pavilions at the expense of peasant labor is the gravest wound to agriculture. When artisans abandon useful craft to chase novelties for the court, the foundations of the realm are undermined. Confucius said, "Cruel rule is worse than a tiger." Petty officials who cling to paperwork, never grasp how government should work, and delight in nagging regulations are the worst plague on the commoners. Urgent business is to strike these four evils and command the nobles and provinces to nominate honest, plain-spoken talent—that too is a road to worthy ministers."
20
阜又上疏欲省宮人諸不見幸者,乃召御府吏問後宮人數。 吏守舊令,對曰:「禁密,不得宣露。」 阜怒,杖吏一百,數之曰:「國家不與九卿爲密,反與小吏爲密乎?」 帝聞而愈敬憚阜。
Yang Fu again asked to release neglected palace ladies and sent for the wardrobe clerk to learn the size of the harem. The clerk cited the standing rule: "The figure is classified; I cannot reveal it." Yang Fu had him flogged a hundred blows and shouted, "Are state secrets withheld from the Nine Ministers yet whispered to underlings?" Emperor Ming, hearing the story, only esteemed Yang Fu the more—and feared his tongue.
21
帝愛女淑,未期而夭,帝痛之甚,追封平原公主,立廟洛陽,葬於南陵。 將自臨送,阜上疏曰:「文皇帝、武宣皇后崩,陛下皆不送葬,所以重社稷、備不虞也。 何至孩抱之赤子而可送葬也哉?」 帝不從。
His favorite daughter Shu died in infancy; in his grief he posthumously titled her Princess of Pingyuan, raised a shrine in Luoyang, and laid her to rest at Nanling. As he prepared to follow the cortège, Yang Fu wrote, "You stayed away from the funerals of Emperor Wen and Empress Dowager Bian to shield the altars of state and leave no opening to danger. Would you now hazard the succession for a child still in blankets?" The emperor would not listen.
22
帝旣新作許宮,又營洛陽宮殿觀閣。 阜上疏曰:「堯尚茅茨而萬國安其居,禹卑宮室而天下樂其業; 及至殷、周,或堂崇三尺,度以九筵耳。 古之聖帝明王,未有極宮室之高麗以彫弊百姓之財力者也。 桀作琁室、象廊,紂爲傾宮、鹿臺,以喪其社稷,楚靈以築章華而身受其禍; 秦始皇作阿房而殃及其子,天下叛之,二世而滅。 夫不度萬民之力,以從耳目之欲,未有不亡者也。 陛下當以堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武爲法則,夏桀、殷紂、楚靈、秦皇爲深誡。 高高在上,實監后德。 慎守天位,以承祖考,巍巍大業,猶恐失之。 不夙夜敬止,允恭卹民,而乃自暇自逸,惟宮臺是侈是飾,必有顛覆危亡之禍。 易曰:『豐其屋,蔀其家,闚其戶,閴其無人。』 王者以天下爲家,言豐屋之禍,至於家無人也。 方今二虜合從,謀危宗廟,十萬之軍,東西奔赴,邊境無一日之娛; 農夫廢業,民有饑色。 陛下不以是爲憂,而營作宮室,無有已時。 使國亡而臣可以獨存,臣又不言也; 〈臣松之以爲忠至之道,以亡己爲理。 是以匡救其惡,不爲身計。 而阜表云「使國亡而臣可以獨存,臣又不言也」,此則發憤爲己,豈爲國哉? 斯言也,豈不傷讜烈之義,爲一表之病乎!〉 君作元首,臣爲股肱,存亡一體,得失同之。 孝經曰:『天子有爭臣七人,雖無道不失其天下。』 臣雖駑怯,敢忘爭臣之義? 言不切至,不足以感寤陛下。 陛下不察臣言,恐皇祖烈考之祚,將墜于地。 使臣身死有補萬一,則死之日,猶生之年也。 謹叩棺沐浴,伏俟重誅。」 奏御,天子感其忠言,手筆詔荅。 每朝廷會議,阜常侃然以天下爲己任。 數諫爭,不聽,乃屢乞遜位,未許。 會卒,家無餘財。 孫豹嗣。
He had just finished the Xu palace and was already raising new towers in Luoyang. Yang Fu wrote, "Yao lived under thatch and the world kept house in peace; Yu kept his halls low and all men gladly toiled; under Yin and Zhou the grand hall stood three feet high and nine mats across—no more. No wise founder ever beggared his people to pile up marble and gold. Jie raised the Jade Chamber and Ivory Gallery; Zhou built the Leaning Tower and Deer Terrace and lost the throne; King Ling of Chu built Zhanghua and perished by it. Qin Shihuang piled up Epang and ruin reached his son—the empire rebelled and the line ended in two generations. No ruler who spends the people without measure to please his senses has long endured. Take Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu as your pattern and Jie, Zhou, King Ling, and the First Emperor as your mirror. Heaven on high truly watches the virtue of kings. Guard the Mandate handed down by your forebears—this great enterprise can still be lost. If you neglect dawn-to-dusk vigilance, fail in compassion for the people, and idle while palaces climb ever higher, you court ruin. The Book of Changes reads, "He roofs his hall too high, blinds his household, peers through the gate, and meets silence—no one within." The Son of Heaven owns the realm as his house; the verse means that vainglorious building ends in desolation. The two enemy states league against us; armies of a hundred thousand race along the frontiers without pause; the plow lies idle and the people wear famine on their faces. Yet you fret not over that, but pour labor into endless palaces. If the dynasty could fall while I alone might outlive it, I could not hold my peace; 〈Pei Songzhi comments: the path of perfect loyalty is to forget the self— one corrects the ruler's faults without reckoning personal cost. Yet the sentence "If the realm could fall while I survived, I would not stay silent" reads like private pique, not devotion to the altars." Such wording jars with fearless integrity and mars an otherwise splendid memorial."〉 The ruler is the head, the ministers the limbs—we live or perish together, prosper or fail as one. The Classic of Filial Piety says, "Give the Son of Heaven seven ministers who dare remonstrate, and he will not lose the realm though he stray from the Way." Though I am slow and faint-hearted, would I forget the office of a remonstrating minister? Unless the words wound, they will not rouse you. If you brush this aside, the mandate won by your august forebears may crumble to dust. If my death could help the throne one jot, I would count the day of execution as a day of life. I have bathed and stand ready at my coffin, awaiting sentence." The emperor read it and was stirred; he answered with a brush-written rescript. At every court conference Yang Fu spoke as though the fate of the empire rested on him alone. He remonstrated again and again, and when he was ignored he asked to retire—yet the throne would not release him. He died leaving no hoarded wealth. His grandson Yang Bao inherited the fief.
23
高堂隆
Gaotang Long.
24
高堂隆字升平,泰山平陽人,魯高堂生後也。 少爲諸生,泰山太守薛悌命爲督郵。 郡督軍與悌爭論,名悌而呵之。 隆按劒叱督軍曰:「昔魯定見侮,仲尼歷階; 趙彈秦箏,相如進缶。 臨臣名君,義之所討也。」 督軍失色,悌驚起止之。 後去吏,避地濟南。
Gaotang Long, courtesy name Shengping, came from Pingyang in Taishan and traced his line to the classical master Gaotang Sheng of Lu. As a young scholar he was named chief of postal stations by Xue Ti, the Taishan administrator. The commandery's army supervisor quarreled with Xue Ti, addressed him by his private name, and shouted him down. Gaotang Long seized his sword and cried, "When Duke Ding of Lu was slighted, Confucius sprang up the hall steps; when the King of Zhao strummed the Qin zither, Lin Xiang Ru stepped forward with the clay drum. For an underling to bandy his lord's personal name is a crime against duty." The supervisor turned pale; Xue Ti leapt up to restrain Long. He later resigned and fled to Jinan for safety.
25
建安十八年,太祖召爲丞相軍議掾,後爲歷城侯徽文學,轉爲相。 徽遭太祖喪,不哀,反游獵馳騁; 隆以義正諫,甚得輔導之節。 黃初中,爲堂陽長,以選爲平原王傅。 王即尊位,是爲明帝。 以隆爲給事中、博士、駙馬都尉。 帝初踐阼,羣臣或以爲宜響會,隆曰:「唐、虞有遏密之哀,高宗有不言之思,是以至德雍熈,光于四海。」 以爲不宜爲會,帝敬納之。 遷陳留太守。 犢民酉牧,年七十餘,有至行,舉爲計曹掾; 帝嘉之,特除郎中以顯焉。 徵隆爲散騎常侍,賜爵關內侯。 〈《魏略》曰:太史上漢歷不及天時,因更推步弦望朔晦,爲太和歷。 帝以隆學問優深,於天文又精,乃詔使隆與尚書郎楊偉、太史待詔駱祿參共推校。 偉、祿是太史,隆故據舊歷更相劾奏,紛紜數歲,偉稱祿得日蝕而月晦不盡,隆不得日蝕而月晦盡,詔從太史。 隆所爭雖不得,而遠近猶知其精微也。〉
In Jian-an 18 (213) Cao Cao named him a staff adviser to the chancellor, then tutor in letters to Cao Hui, Marquis of Licheng, and finally chancellor of that princely household. Cao Hui showed no grief at Cao Cao's death but rode out to hunt; Gaotang Long rebuked him on grounds of duty and comported himself as a true mentor should. During Huangchu he served as magistrate of Tangyang and was then chosen as tutor to the Prince of Pingyuan. When the prince took the throne he became Emperor Ming. Gaotang Long received appointments as palace attendant, erudite, and commandant of convoy for the princesses' consorts. At the beginning of the reign some courtiers urged a public celebration; Gaotang Long said, "The sage-kings Tang and Yu mourned in silence; Gaozong of Shang spoke not for three years—thus their perfect virtue shone and filled the realm." He argued against the feast, and the emperor agreed. He was raised to administrator of Chenliu. A local man named You Mu, past seventy and famed for virtue, was nominated clerk of the accounts bureau; the emperor commended the choice and specially named him a gentleman of the interior. Gaotang Long was recalled to serve as regular attendant of the household gentlemen and given the rank of secondary marquis within the passes. 〈The Brief Account of Wei states that the grand clerk found the Han calendar out of step with Heaven and recomputed lunations to draft the Taihe calendar. Since Gaotang Long's scholarship ran deep and he excelled at astronomy, the court paired him with Yang Wei of the secretariat and the astrologer Luo Lu to cross-check the new system. Yang Wei and Luo Lu belonged to the astrological bureau, while Gaotang Long defended the older tables; they traded memorials of accusation for years. Wei argued that Lu predicted eclipses but misjudged the darkness of month-end, whereas Long missed eclipses yet matched month-end darkness—the throne ruled in favor of the bureau. Gaotang Long lost the debate, yet everyone acknowledged his mathematical finesse.
26
青龍中,大治殿舍,西取長安大鍾。 隆上疏曰; 「昔周景王不儀刑文、武之明德,忽公旦之聖制,旣鑄大錢,又作大鍾,單穆公諫而弗聽,泠州鳩對而弗從,遂迷不反,周德以衰,良史記焉,以爲永鑒。 然今之小人,好說秦、漢之奢靡以盪聖心,求取亡國不度之器,勞役費損,以傷德政,非所以興禮樂之和,保神明之休也。」 是日,帝幸上方,隆與卞蘭從。 帝以隆表授蘭,使難隆曰:「興衰在政,樂何爲也? 化之不明,豈鍾之罪?」 隆曰:「夫禮樂者,爲治之大本也。 故簫韶九成,鳳皇來儀,雷鼓六變,天神以降,政是以平,刑是以錯,和之至也。 新聲發響,商辛以隕,大鍾旣鑄,周景以弊,存亡之機,恒由斯作,安在廢興之不階也? 君舉必書,古之道也,作而不法,何以示後? 聖王樂聞其闕,故有箴規之道; 忠臣願竭其節,故有匪躬之義也。」 帝稱善。
During Qinglong the court raised vast halls and sent west for the great bell that had hung at Chang'an. Gaotang Long presented a memorial: "King Jing of Zhou spurned the shining examples of Wen and Wu, ignored the Duke of Zhou's institutions, minted giant coins, and hung a giant bell; Duke Shan remonstrated in vain, Leng Zhoujiu spoke to no avail, and the king wandered ever deeper into folly until Zhou power waned—the scribes set that tale before posterity as a warning. Petty flatterers now retail Qin and Han excess to sway you, bidding you fetch tokens of fallen dynasties without thought of measure, bleeding the people to wound good government—such is no path to ritual harmony or the gods' blessing." That very day the emperor toured the imperial workshops; Gaotang Long accompanied him with Bian Lan. The emperor gave Bian Lan Gaotang Long's memorial and told him to press the point: "Order rests with policy—what has a bell to do with it? If moral suasion fails, can you blame a bronze?" Gaotang Long answered, "Rites and music are the taproot of governance. When the nine sections of Shao were played, phoenixes came to dance; when the thunder drum rolled through six changes, the gods descended—thus punishments fell idle and the realm was tuned to perfection. Novel music undid King Zhou of Shang; the giant bell undid King Jing of Zhou—fortune and ruin turn on such choices; do you imagine dynastic fate has no rungs? The scribes record a sovereign's every act; to act outside the norm is to leave posterity no pattern. Sage kings welcome word of their failings and keep advisers at hand; loyal ministers burn to give their utmost and forget private safety for the throne." The emperor conceded the point.
27
遷侍中,猶領太史令。 崇華殿災,詔問隆:「此何咎? 於禮,寧有祈禳之義乎?」 隆對曰:
He rose to palace attendant and kept concurrent charge as grand clerk. When Chonghua Hall burned, the emperor asked Gaotang Long, "What reproof does this carry? Does ritual allow us to pray it away?" Gaotang Long answered:
28
夫災變之發,皆所以明教誡也,惟率禮脩德,可以勝之。 易傳曰:『上不儉,下不節,孽火燒其室。』 又曰:『君高其臺,天火爲災。』 此人君苟飾宮室,不知百姓空竭,故天應之以旱,火從高殿起也。 上天降鑒,故譴告陛下; 陛下宜增崇人道,以荅天意。 昔太戊有桑穀生於朝,武丁有雊雉登於鼎,皆聞災恐懼,側身脩德,三年之後,遠夷朝貢,故號曰中宗、高宗。 此則前代之明鑒也。 今案舊占,災火之發,皆以臺榭宮室爲誡。 然今宮室之所以充廣者,實由宮人猥多之故。 宜簡擇留其淑懿,如周之制,罷省其餘。 此則祖乙之所以訓高宗,高宗之所以享遠號也。 詔問隆:「吾聞漢武帝時,栢梁災,而大起宮殿以厭之,其義云何?」 隆對曰:「臣聞西京栢梁旣災,越巫陳方,建章是經,以厭火祥; 乃夷越之巫所爲,非聖賢之明訓也。 五行志曰:『栢梁災,其後有江充巫蠱也,衞太子事。』 如志之言,越巫建章無所厭也。 孔子曰:『災者脩類應行,精祲相感,以戒人君。』 是以聖主覩災責躬,退而脩德,以消復之。 今宜罷散民役。 宮室之制,務從約節,內足以待風雨,外足以講禮儀。 清埽所災之處,不敢於此有所立作,萐莆、嘉禾必生此地,以報陛下虔恭之德。 豈可疲民之力,竭民之財! 實非所以致符瑞而懷遠人也。
Heaven sends warnings to teach the throne; only ritual conduct and moral cultivation can answer them. The tradition on the Changes reads, "When those aloft waste and those below spend, a curse of fire consumes the hall." It adds, "When the king piles his towers high, Heaven answers with flame." The gloss means a king who decks out palaces while the people are drained will meet drought from Heaven and fire that starts in the loftiest roof. Heaven lowers its bright mirror and so warns Your Majesty; you should magnify humane rule to match its intent. Taiwu of Shang saw freak mulberry in the courtyard; Wuding saw a shrieking pheasant on the tripod—both trembled, mended their ways, and within three years distant peoples paid tribute, earning the titles Middle and High Ancestor. They are plain mirrors from antiquity. Old divination books agree that such fires warn against terraces and halls. The reason your halls have swollen is the swarm of palace women. Winnow the inner court, keep the virtuous as Zhou did, and send the surplus away. This is how Zu Yi instructed Gaozong, and how Gaozong won his far-reaching title. The throne then asked, "When Emperor Wu's Bailiang Terrace burned, he built still grander palaces to ward off the omen—what sense had that?" Gaotang Long said, "When the western capital's Bailiang burned, southern shamans peddled a rite and the Weaving Palaces went up to counter the fire omen; that was barbarian sorcery, not the teaching of the sages. The Han Treatise on the Five Phases records that after the Bailiang blaze came Jiang Chong's witch-hunt and the ruin of Crown Prince Wei." By that account the shamans' new halls averted nothing. Confucius said, "Disasters match deeds; subtle forces answer one another to warn the ruler." Thus the sage king, seeing a portent, blames himself, retires to mend his virtue, and turns the omen aside. Now dismiss the people's forced labor gangs. Let halls be modest—roof enough for wind and rain, courtyard enough for rites. Clear the scorched earth and build nothing new there; lucky grain and auspicious sha-pu will sprout to answer your reverence. You cannot beggar strength and treasure out of the people! That is no way to draw omens of grace or win distant peoples.
29
帝遂復崇華殿,時郡國有九龍見,故改曰九龍殿。
The emperor rebuilt Chonghua anyway; because nine dragons were reported in the provinces he renamed it the Hall of Nine Dragons.
30
陵霄闕始構,有鵲巢其上,帝以問隆,對曰:「詩云『惟鵲有巢,惟鳩居之』。 今興宮室,起陵霄闕,而鵲巢之,此宮室未成身不得居之象也。 天意若曰,宮室未成,將有他姓制御之,斯乃上天之戒也。 夫天道無親,惟與善人,不可不深防,不可不深慮。 夏、商之季,皆繼體也,不欽承上天之明命,惟讒諂是從,廢德適欲,故其亡也忽焉。 太戊、武丁,覩災竦懼,祗承天戒,故其興也勃焉。 今若休罷百役,儉以足用,增崇德政,動遵帝則,除普天之所患,興兆民之所利,三王可四,五帝可六,豈惟殷宗轉禍爲福而已哉! 臣備腹心,苟可以繁祉聖躬,安存社稷,臣雖灰身破族,猶生之年也。 豈憚忤逆之災,而令陛下不聞至言乎?」 於是帝改容動色。
When carpenters began the Lingxiao watchtower, magpies nested on the timbers. Gaotang Long quoted the Odes: "The magpie builds the nest; the dove takes it. You raise towers to the clouds, yet birds claim them first—a sign that the halls are unfinished and no Son of Heaven yet owns them. Heaven seems to warn that the palace is not yours to finish—that another house will seize the throne. Heaven is impartial and helps only the virtuous—ponder that with care. The last kings of Xia and Shang were lawful heirs who spurned Heaven's charge, heeded flatterers, and abandoned virtue for lust—so they fell overnight. Taiwu and Wuding trembled at omens and answered Heaven—so they rose with equal speed. End the levies, live within your means, lift good rule, walk as the Five Emperors walked, lift the people's burdens and grant their wishes, and you could outshine the Three Kings and match six emperors—far more than copying Shang's escape from disaster! I am close to your heart: if my death could heap blessings on you and steady the state, I would count annihilation of my kin a living year. Would I shrink from offending you and leave you deaf to honest counsel?" The emperor's face changed and he took the words to heart.
31
是歲,有星孛于大辰。 隆上疏曰:「凡帝王徙都立邑,皆先定天地社稷之位,敬恭以奉之。 將營宮室,則宗廟爲先,廄庫爲次,居室爲後。 今圜丘、方澤、南北郊、明堂、社稷,神位未定,宗廟之制又未如禮,而崇飾居室,士民失業。 外人咸云宮人之用,與興戎軍國之費,所盡略齊。 民不堪命,皆有怨怒。 書曰『天聦明自我民聦明,天明畏自我民明威』,輿人作頌,則嚮以五福,民怒吁嗟,則威以六極,言天之賞罰,隨民言,順民心也。 是以臨政務在安民爲先,然後稽古之化,格于上下,自古及今,未嘗不然也。 夫采椽卑宮,唐、虞、大禹之所以垂皇風也; 玉臺瓊室,夏癸、商辛之所以犯昊天也。 今之宮室,實違禮度,乃更建立九龍,華飾過前。 天彗章灼,始起於房心,犯帝坐而干紫微,此乃皇天子愛陛下,是以發教戒之象,始卒皆於尊位,殷勤鄭重,欲必覺寤陛下; 斯乃慈父懇切之訓,宜崇孝子祗聳之禮,以率先天下,以昭示後昆,不宜有忽,以重天怒。」
That year a comet blazed in the Fang and Heart mansions. Gaotang Long wrote, "Kings who shift capitals first set the sites of Heaven, Earth, and the soil-and-grain shrines and serve them with awe. When they build, the ancestral temple comes first, granaries and stables second, living quarters last. Today those sacred sites stand unsettled, the temple system still breaks ritual, yet you gild private halls while nobles and peasants lose their trades. Gossip says the inner court costs as much as the army. The people cannot endure the levies and nurse anger. The Book of Documents says Heaven hears through the people's ears and sees through their eyes—when they sing praise Heaven sends the five blessings, when they sigh in wrath Heaven sends the six extremes. Rule must settle the people first, then borrow ancient models to touch every rank—so it has always been. Timber rafters and low roofs are how Yao, Shun, and Yu left their royal style; jade towers and jeweled halls are how Jie and Zhou offended Heaven. Your halls already break the rites, yet you outdo them with the Nine Dragons. The comet rose in Fang and Heart, crossed the throne stars, and brushed Ziwei—Heaven cherishes you and marks the throne again and again, pressing you to wake. It is a father's stern lesson; answer with a son's awe, lead the realm by example, and teach posterity—do not slight it and rouse Heaven twice."
32
時軍國多事,用法深重。 隆上疏曰:「夫拓跡垂統,必俟聖明,輔世匡治,亦須良佐,用能庶績其凝而品物康乂也。 夫移風易俗,宣明道化,使四表同風,回首面內,德教光熈,九服慕義,固非俗吏之所能也。 今有司務糾刑書,不本大道,是以刑用而不措,俗弊而不敦。 宜崇禮樂,班叙明堂,脩三雍、大射、養老,營建郊廟,尊儒士,舉逸民,表章制度,改正朔,易服色,布愷悌,尚儉素,然後備禮封禪,歸功天地,使雅頌之聲盈于六合,緝熈之化混于後嗣。 斯蓋至治之美事,不朽之貴業也。 然九域之內,可揖讓而治,尚何憂哉! 不正其本而救其末,譬猶棼絲,非政理也。 可命羣公卿士通儒,造具其事,以爲典式。」 隆又以爲改正朔,易服色,殊徽號,異器械,自古帝王所以神明其政,變民耳目,故三春稱王,明三統也。 於是敷演舊章,奏而改焉。 帝從其議,改青龍五年春三月爲景初元年孟夏四月,服色尚黃,犧牲用白,從地正也。
Military crises multiplied and punishments grew harsh. Gaotang Long wrote, "Founding a line and handing down rule waits on a sage; steadying the age needs good ministers—only then do the myriad offices settle and the realm find peace. To change custom, spread the moral way, draw the four seas to one temper, and make distant lands face inward—no petty clerk can do that. Today yamen nitpick statutes and ignore the great Way—so punishments never end and manners never mend. Exalt rites and music, order the Bright Hall, restore the three academies, the great archery feast, and the care of the aged, build suburban shrines, honor literati, call forth hidden talent, proclaim institutions, fix the calendar, change court dress, spread mercy, prize simplicity—then you may mount feng and shan and offer merit to Heaven and Earth until song fills the realm and a gentle transformation reaches your heirs. That is the crown of good rule and an immortal achievement. Then the nine provinces may be governed with ease—what trouble remains? To ignore the root and trim the branches is to snarl the skein of rule. Bid the high ministers and great scholars draft the program and set it as law." Gaotang Long also urged changing the inaugural month, court colors, emblems, and ritual gear—the means by which sage kings made rule numinous and renewed the people's sight and hearing—so that the three "springs" of the calendar display the three legitimate lines. He laid out the classical precedents, submitted them, and the court adopted the changes. The emperor accepted: Qinglong 5, month 3, became Jingchu 1, month 4 of summer; court dress favored yellow, sacrifices used white victims, following the "earth" reckoning of the calendar.
33
遷光祿勳。 帝愈增崇宮殿,彫飾觀閣,鑿太行之石英,采穀城之文石,起景陽山於芳林之園,建昭陽殿於太極之北,鑄作黃龍鳳皇奇偉之獸,飾金墉、陵雲臺、陵霄闕。 百役繁興,作者萬數,公卿以下至于學生,莫不展力,帝乃躬自握土以率之。 而遼東不朝。 悼皇后崩。 天作淫雨,冀州水出,漂沒民物。 隆上疏切諫曰:
He rose to supervisor of the imperial household. Emperor Ming piled on palaces: quartz from Taihang, figured marble from Gucheng, an artificial Jingyang hill in Fragrant Grove Park, Zhaoyang Hall north of the main hall, gilded bronze dragons and phoenixes, and fresh ornament for the Metal Rampart, Lingyun Tower, and Lingxiao Gate. Labor gangs swelled to tens of thousands; nobles, officials, even students were pressed into the dirt; the emperor took a spade himself to set the pace. Meanwhile Liaodong withheld tribute. The empress dowager Dao passed away. Heaven sent ceaseless rain; Ji Province flooded and washed away lives and property. Gaotang Long laid before the throne a blunt memorial:
34
蓋「天地之大德曰生,聖人之大寶曰位; 何以守位? 曰仁; 何以聚人? 曰財」。 然則士民者,乃國家之鎮也; 穀帛者,乃士民之命也。 穀帛非造化不育,非人力不成。 是以帝耕以勸農,后桑以成服,所以昭事上帝,告虔報施也。 昔在伊唐,世值陽九厄運之會,洪水滔天,使鯀治之,績用不成,乃舉文命,隨山刊木,前後歷年二十二載。 災眚之甚,莫過於彼,力役之興,莫久於此,堯、舜君臣,南面而已。 禹敷九州,庶士庸勳,各有等差,君子小人,物有服章。 今無若時之急,而使公卿大夫並與厮徒共供事役,聞之四夷,非嘉聲也,垂之竹帛,非令名也。 是以有國有家者,近取諸身,遠取諸物,嫗煦養育,故稱「愷悌君子,民之父母」。 今上下勞役,疾病凶荒,耕稼者寡,饑饉荐臻,無以卒歲; 宜加愍卹,以救其困。
He quoted the Changes: "The great virtue of Heaven and Earth is life; the great treasure of the sage is his position; How does he guard that position? The answer is, "With benevolence; How does he gather the people? The answer is, "With wealth." The gentry and the people are the ballast of the state; grain and silk are the lifeblood of the people. Neither grain nor silk grows without Heaven's nurture nor ripens without human toil. So the Son of Heaven breaks clod to urge the harvest and the empress tends silkworms to supply robes—showing service to Heaven and gratitude for its bounty. In high antiquity, under Yao of Tang, the age met the ninefold flood; waters covered the sky; Gun failed to dam them; Shun raised Yu, who tracked the ranges and hewed timber—twenty-two years in all before the work was done. No disaster matched that flood, no corvée ran longer—yet Yao and Shun, king and ministers, faced south and issued orders, nothing more. When Yu divided the nine provinces, every officer earned a rank, high and low each had his insignia. Today we face no such crisis, yet we yoke nobles to the same gangs as convicts—foreigners will hear no praise of it, historians will inscribe no glory. True kings nurture the people as parents, drawing lessons from near and far—hence the Odes call them "gentle and kind, fathers and mothers to the folk." Today corvée crushes high and low, plague and dearth spread, fields lie idle, famine returns each season, and families cannot see the year out; add mercy and relief to save them.
35
臣觀在昔書籍所載,天人之際,未有不應也。 是以古先哲王,畏上天之明命,循陰陽之逆順,矜矜業業,惟恐有違。 然後治道用興,德與神符,災異旣發,懼而脩政,未有不延期流祚者也。 爰及末葉,闇君荒主,不崇先王之令軌,不納正士之直言,以遂其情志,恬忽變戒,未有不尋踐禍難,至於顛覆者也。
Every record of Heaven and humanity shows they answer each other. The sage-kings feared Heaven's mandate, followed the seasons, and trod softly lest they stray. Then good order rose, virtue matched the gods, and when portents came they mended their ways—none failed to win long reigns. Later tyrants spurned ancient models, spurned honest counsel, chased whim, shrugged at omens—and every one soon fell.
36
天道旣著,請以人道論之。 夫六情五性,同在於人,嗜欲廉貞,各居其一。 及其動也,交爭于心。 欲彊質弱,則縱濫不禁; 精誠不制,則放溢無極。 夫情之所在,非好則美,而美好之集,非人力不成,非穀帛不立。 情苟無極,則人不堪其勞,物不充其求。 勞求並至,將起禍亂。 故不割情,無以相供。 仲尼云:「人無遠慮,必有近憂。」 由此觀之,禮義之制,非苟拘分,將以遠害而興治也。
Heaven's lesson is plain; hear the human side as well. Six passions and five temperaments share one breast; desire and purity vie for a seat. When they stir, they war within the mind. If appetite outmuscles restraint, excess runs wild; if earnest intent does not rein it, dissipation knows no bound. The heart craves beauty, yet beauty costs labor and grain, not wishes alone. If passion knows no limit, men break under the work and the world cannot feed the greed. When labor and greed collide, rebellion follows. Trim desire or nothing can be supplied. Confucius said, "He who plans no afar will mourn at his door." Rites exist not to nag petty rules but to forestall ruin and build order.
37
今吳、蜀二賊,非徒白地小虜、聚邑之寇,乃據險乘流,跨有士衆,僭號稱帝,欲與中國爭衡。 今若有人來告,權、備並脩德政,復履清儉,輕省租賦,不治玩好,動咨耆賢,事遵禮度。 陛下聞之,豈不惕然惡其如此,以爲難卒討滅,而爲國憂乎? 若使告者曰,彼二賊並爲無道,崇侈無度,役其士民,重其徵賦,下不堪命,吁嗟日甚。 陛下聞之,豈不勃然忿其困我無辜之民,而欲速加之誅,其次,豈不幸彼疲弊而取之不難乎? 苟如此,則可易心而度,事義之數亦不遠矣。
Wu and Shu are no bandit gangs: they hold river defiles, command armies, style themselves emperors, and aim at the heartland. Picture a messenger saying Sun Quan and Liu Bei had turned frugal, cut taxes, spurned luxuries, and heeded elders— would you not blanch and dread them as a lasting peril to the realm? Suppose instead he said they wallowed in excess, drove their people, and doubled taxes until the folk groaned without end— would you not burn to avenge your innocent subjects and then smile that weary foes are easy prey? Weigh the two tales and the right policy is plain.
38
且秦始皇不築道德之基,而築阿房之宮,不憂蕭墻之變,而脩長城之役。 當其君臣爲此計也,亦欲立萬世之業,使子孫長有天下,豈意一朝匹夫大呼,而天下傾覆哉? 故臣以爲使先代之君知其所行必將至於敗,則弗爲之矣。 是以亡國之主自謂不亡,然後至於亡; 賢聖之君自謂將亡,然後至於不亡。 昔漢文帝稱爲賢主,躬行約儉,惠下養民,而賈誼方之,以爲天下倒縣,可爲痛哭者一,可爲流涕者二,可爲長歎息者三。 況今天下彫弊,民無儋石之儲,國無終年之畜,外有彊敵,六軍暴邊,內興土功,州郡騷動,若有寇警,則臣懼版築之士不能投命虜庭矣。
Qin Shihuang raised Epang, not virtue; he feared not court intrigue but built the Long Wall. They meant to found an eternal line—who dreamed one cry would topple Qin? Had ancient kings foreseen ruin, they would never have begun. Doomed kings always thought themselves safe until they fell; wise kings always acted as if ruin were near—and so escaped it. Han Wendi was praised as wise, lived plainly, and loved the people—yet Jia Yi said the empire hung inverted, with one cause to weep for, two to mourn, three to sigh over. Today the land is stripped, homes hold no peck of grain, the treasury no year's store; enemies press the frontiers while palaces rise inland—if war comes, your bricklayers cannot march to meet it.
39
又,將吏奉祿,稍見折減,方之於昔,五分居一; 諸受休者又絕廩賜,不應輸者今皆出半:此爲官入兼多於舊,其所出與參少於昔。 而度支經用,更每不足,牛肉小賦,前後相繼。 反而推之,凡此諸費,必有所在。 且夫祿賜穀帛,人主所以惠養吏民而爲之司命者也,若今有廢,是奪其命矣。 旣得之而又失之,此生怨之府也。 周禮,天府掌九伐之則以給九式之用,入有其分,出有其所,不相干乘而用各足。 各足之後,乃以式貢之餘,供王玩好。 又上用財,必考于司會。 〈會音膾。〉 今陛下所與共坐廊廟治天下者,非三司九列,則臺閣近臣,皆腹心造膝,宜在無諱。 若見豐省而不敢以告,從命奔走,惟恐不勝,是則具臣,非鯁輔也。 昔李斯教秦二世曰:「爲人主而不恣睢,命之曰天下桎梏。」 二世用之,秦國以覆,斯亦滅族。 是以史遷議其不正諫,而爲世誡。
Officers' pay has been pared to a fifth of what it was; furloughed men lost their rations, and former tax exemptions now pay half—revenue rises while what reaches troops shrinks. Still the budget runs short and petty beef taxes multiply. Every coin must be going somewhere. Stipends are the breath of officials and people; to cut them is to strangle life. To give bounty and then snatch it back breeds hatred. The Zhou treasury matched nine incomes to nine outlays so none crossed another. Only after needs were met did surplus fund the king's pleasures. The king's spending passed review by the comptroller. 〈A gloss indicates the word is read kuai, referring to the comptroller's office.〉 Those who share your council are the Nine Ministers or your closest attendants—men who should speak freely. If they see waste yet stay mute, they are seat-fillers, not true counsellors. Li Si told Qin Ershi, "A king who does not indulge his whims wears the cangue of empire." Ershi listened, Qin fell, and Li Si's kin perished with him. Sima Qian condemned him for crooked counsel to warn posterity.
40
書奏,帝覽焉,謂中書監、令曰:「觀隆此奏,使朕懼哉!」
The emperor read it and told Liu Fang and Sun Zi, "This memorial frightens me."
41
隆疾篤,口占上疏曰:
Gaotang Long, dying, dictated a final memorial:
42
曾子有疾,孟敬子問之。 曾子曰:「鳥之將死,其鳴也哀; 人之將死,其言也善。」 臣寢疾病,有增無損,常懼奄忽,忠款不昭。 臣之丹誠,豈惟曾子,願陛下少垂省覽! 渙然改往事之過謬,勃然興來事之淵塞,使神人嚮應,殊方慕義,四靈效珍,玉衡曜精,則三王可邁,五帝可越,非徒繼體守文而已也。
When Master Zeng lay sick, Meng Jingzi visited him. Zengzi said, "A dying bird's call is sad; a dying man's words are true." I lie abed worse each day and fear I may die tonight with my loyalty untold. My heart is no less honest than Zengzi's—deign to read. Cast off old mistakes, seize new beginnings, until gods and men answer, distant lands admire you, prodigies appear, and the Dipper shines bright—then you outrun the Three Kings and Five Emperors, far more than "keeping the text."
43
臣常疾世主莫不思紹堯、舜、湯、武之治,而蹈踵桀、紂、幽、厲之跡,莫不蚩笑季世惑亂亡國之主,而不登踐虞、夏、殷、周之軌。 悲夫! 以若所爲,求若所致,猶緣木求魚,煎水作冰,其不可得,明矣。 尋觀三代之有天下也,聖賢相承,歷載數百,尺土莫非其有,一民莫非其臣,萬國咸寧,九有有截; 鹿臺之金,巨橋之粟,無所用之,仍舊南面,夫何爲哉! 然癸、辛之徒,恃其旅力,知足以拒諫,才足以飾非,諂諛是尚,臺觀是崇,淫樂是好,倡優是說,作靡靡之樂,安濮上之音。 上天不蠲,眷然回顧,宗國爲墟,下夷于隷,紂縣白旗,桀放鳴條; 天子之尊,湯、武有之,豈伊異人,皆明王之胄也。 且當六國之時,天下殷熾,秦旣兼之,不脩聖道,乃構阿房之宮,築長城之守,矜夸中國,威服百蠻,天下震竦,道路以目; 自謂本枝百葉,永垂洪暉,豈寤二世而滅,社稷崩圮哉? 近漢孝武乘文、景之福,外攘夷狄,內興宮殿,十餘年間,天下嚻然。 乃信越巫,懟天遷怒,起建章之宮,千門萬戶,卒致江充妖蠱之變,至於宮室乖離,父子相殘,殃咎之毒,禍流數世。
Rulers always swear to match Yao, Shun, Tang, and Wu, yet walk the path of Jie and Zhou; they mock fallen tyrants yet refuse the ruts of the true sage-kings. Alas! Seeking glory by such means is fishing in a tree or making ice from steam—it cannot work. Under the three dynasties sages handed power through centuries; every clod was theirs, every subject loyal, the nine regions trim; Deer Terrace gold and Giant Bridge grain went unused—yet they faced south in ease. Jie and Zhou trusted brute force, rejected advice, masked fault, flattered favorites, piled towers, drowned in music and players, spun decadent airs from Pu. Heaven withdrew favor; capitals turned to dust; kings fell to slaves—Zhou died on the white standard, Jie died in exile; yet Tang and Wu took the throne—men of the same royal blood. When Qin united the rich Warring States it built Epang and the Wall, swaggered within China, terrified the tribes, until men dared only whisper. They dreamed their line would branch forever—who foresaw the second reign's crash? Han Wudi spent Wen and Jing's surplus on barbarian wars and palace mania until the empire seethed within ten years. He then trusted southern shamans, raised Weaving Palaces, and brought Jiang Chong's witch-hunt—palaces turned battlefield, father killed son, and the curse lasted generations.
44
臣觀黃初之際,天兆其戒,異類之鳥,育長燕巢,口爪胷赤,此魏室之大異也,宜防鷹揚之臣於蕭牆之內。 可選諸王,使君國典兵,往往棊跱,鎮撫皇畿,翼亮帝室。 昔周之東遷,晉、鄭是依,漢呂之亂,實賴朱虛,斯蓋前代之明鑒。 夫皇天無親,惟德是輔。 民詠德政,則延期過歷,下有怨歎,掇錄授能。 由此觀之,天下之天下,非獨陛下之天下也。 臣百疾所鍾,氣力稍微,輒自輿出,歸還里舍,若遂沈淪,魂而有知,結草以報。
In Huangchu a freak chick was raised in a swallow's nest—red beak and breast—a dire omen for Wei: beware a strong minister inside the gate. Enfeoff princes with troops like chessmen ringing the capital to shield the throne. Zhou's eastern move leaned on Jin and Zheng; Han's Lü purge needed Liu Zhang—history's lesson. Heaven is impartial—it helps the virtuous alone. The people's praise lengthens a reign; their groans cost a throne. The empire belongs to the empire—not to you alone. Disease wastes me; I had myself borne home; if I die, my ghost will still tie grass in your debt.
45
詔曰:「生廉侔伯夷,直過史魚,執心堅白,謇謇匪躬,如何微疾未除,退身里舍? 昔邴吉以陰德,疾除而延壽; 貢禹以守節,疾篤而濟愈。 生其彊飯專精以自持。」 隆卒,遺令薄葬,歛以時服。 〈習鑿齒曰:高堂隆可謂忠臣矣。 君侈每思諫其惡,將死不忘憂社稷,正辭動於昏主,明戒驗於身後,謇諤足以勵物,德音沒而弥彰,可不謂忠且智乎! 詩云:「聽用我謀,庶無大悔。」 又曰:「曾是莫聽,大命以傾。」 其高堂隆之謂也。〉
The throne answered, "You rival Boyi in purity, surpass Shi Yu in bluntness—how can a passing illness send you home? Bing Ji's secret virtue cured him; Gong Yu's steadfastness healed his worst sickbed. Eat, gather your strength, and endure." Gaotang Long died, ordering a plain coffin and the clothes he wore. 〈Xi Zuochi says Gaotang Long was a true loyal minister. When the court turned extravagant he still rebuked vice; on his deathbed he still fretted for the state; his blunt words stirred a dull sovereign and proved true after he was gone—his voice rings louder in death. What is that if not loyalty and wisdom? The Classic of Poetry says, "Heed my counsel and you may escape deep regret." It also says, "They would not listen, and the great mandate collapsed." That is the man Gaotang Long was.
46
初,太和中,中護軍蔣濟上疏曰「宜遵古封禪」。 詔曰:「聞濟斯言,使吾汗出流足。」 事寢歷歲,後遂議脩之,使隆撰其禮儀。 帝聞隆沒,歎息曰:「天不欲成吾事,高堂生舍我亡也。」 子琛嗣爵。
At the beginning, in the Taihe era, Central Army Protector Jiang Ji submitted a memorial saying "One ought to follow antiquity in performing the feng and shan sacrifices." The emperor answered, "Jiang Ji's words set my feet sweating." The plan slept for years, then the court revived it and told Gaotang Long to draft the liturgy. When Gaotang Long died, the emperor mourned, "Heaven bars my rite—the man I needed is gone." His son Gaotang Chen inherited the fief.
47
始,景初中,帝以蘇林、秦靜等並老,恐無能傳業者。 乃詔曰:「昔先聖旣沒,而其遺言餘教,著於六藝。 六藝之文,禮又爲急,弗可斯須離者也。 末俗背本,所由來乆。 故閔子譏原伯之不學,荀卿醜秦世之坑儒,儒學旣廢,則風化曷由興哉? 方今宿生巨儒,並各年高,教訓之道,孰爲其繼? 昔伏生將老,漢文帝嗣以鼂錯; 穀梁寡疇,宣帝承以十郎。 其科郎吏高才解經義者三十人,從光祿勳隆、散騎常侍林、博士靜,分受四經三禮,主者具爲設課試之法。 夏侯勝有言:『士病不明經術,經術苟明,其取青紫如俯拾地芥耳。』 今學者有能究極經道,則爵祿榮寵,不期而至。 可不勉哉!」 數年,隆等皆卒,學者遂廢。
Early in Jingchu the emperor saw Su Lin, Qin Jing, and other masters aging and feared their learning would die with them. He issued an edict: "When the sages died, their teaching lived on in the Six Classics. Of those texts the Rites matter most—they cannot be neglected for an instant. Decadent habit has long turned from the root. Min Zi mocked sloth, Xun Qing cursed Qin's persecution of scholars—without Confucian study, how can manners revive? Our old masters are dying—who will teach the next generation? When Fu Sheng grew old, Wendi sent Chao Cuo to learn from him; when the Guliang commentary lacked heirs, Xuandi assigned ten scholars to master it. Pick thirty able clerks who know the canon to study under Gaotang Long, Su Lin, and Qin Jing in the Four Books and Three Rites, with formal curricula and exams. Xiahou Sheng said, "Scholars fail by not mastering the classics; master them and high office is yours for the picking." Today whoever masters the canon will win rank and honor unsought. Let them strive!" Within a few years Gaotang Long and the rest were dead, and the school project died with them.
48
初,任城棧潛,太祖世歷縣令, 〈潛字彥皇,見應璩《書林》。〉 嘗督守鄴城。 時文帝爲太子,耽樂田獵,晨出夜還。 潛諫曰:「王公設險以固其國,都城禁衞,用戒不虞。 大雅云:『宗子維城,無俾城壞。』 又曰:『猶之未遠,是用大簡。』 若逸于遊田,晨出昏歸,以一日從禽之娛,而忘無垠之釁,愚竊惑之。」 太子不恱,然自後游出差簡。 黃初中,文帝將立郭貴嬪爲皇后,潛上疏諫,語在 〈后妃傳〉。 明帝時,衆役並興,戚屬疏斥,潛上疏曰:
At the end of the main biographies comes Zhan Qian of Rencheng, who under Cao Cao served as a series of county magistrates 〈His courtesy name was Yanhuang, as Ying Qu's Forest of Letters records. He once commanded the defense of Ye. While the heir Cao Pi was addicted to the chase, riding out at dawn and back past dark, Zhan Qian warned him, "Walls and guards exist to secure the capital and guard against surprise. The Odes say, "The heir is the city wall—do not let it crumble." They add, "The fault is still near—so apply stern simplicity." To risk the realm for one day's sport baffles me." The heir was annoyed, but his hunts grew rarer afterward. In Huangchu, when Wen meant to raise Lady Guo to empress, Zhan Qian remonstrated; the text of his memorial stands in 〈the "Biographies of Empresses and Consorts."〉 Under Emperor Ming, as labor levies multiplied and imperial kin were sidelined, Zhan Qian wrote:
49
天生蒸民而樹之君,所以覆燾羣生,熈育兆庶,故方制四海匪爲天子,裂土分疆匪爲諸侯也。 始自三皇,爰曁唐、虞,咸以愽濟加于天下,醇德以洽,黎元賴之。 三王旣微,降逮于漢,治日益少,喪亂弘多,自時厥後,亦罔克乂。 太祖濬哲神武,芟除暴亂,克復王綱,以開帝業。 文帝受天明命,廓恢皇基,踐阼七載,每事未遑。 陛下聖德,纂承洪緒,宜崇晏晏,與民休息。 而方隅匪寧,征夫遠戍,有事海外,縣旌萬里,六軍騷動,水陸轉運,百姓舍業,日費千金。 大興殿舍,功作萬計,徂來之松,刊山窮谷,怪石珷玞,浮于河、淮,都圻之內,盡爲甸服,當供稾秸銍粟之調,而爲苑囿擇禽之府,盛林莽之穢,豐鹿兎之藪; 傷害農功,地繁茨棘,災疫流行,民物大潰,上減和氣,嘉禾不植。 臣聞文王作豐,經始勿亟,百姓子來,不日而成。 靈沼、靈囿,與民共之。 今宮觀崇侈,彫鏤極妙,忘有虞之總期,思殷辛之瓊室,禁地千里,舉足投網,麗擬阿房,役百乾谿,臣恐民力彫盡,下不堪命也。 昔秦據殽函以制六合,自以德高三皇,功兼五帝,欲號謚至萬葉,而二世顛覆,願爲黔首,由枝幹旣杌,本實先拔也。 蓋聖王之御世也,克明俊德,庸勳親親; 俊乂在官,則功業可隆,親親顯用,則安危同憂; 深根固本,並爲幹翼,雖歷盛衰,內外有輔。 昔成王幼沖,未能莅政,周、呂、召、畢,並在左右; 今旣無衞侯、康叔之監,分陝所任,又非旦、奭。 東宮未建,天下無副。 願陛下留心關塞,永保無極,則海內幸甚。
Heaven made the people and set rulers over them to shelter and feed them—the realm is not the emperor's private estate nor the fiefs the nobles' playthings alone. From the Three Sovereigns through Yao and Shun, kings aided all under Heaven with simple virtue, and the people leaned on them. The Three Kings waned; by Han order thinned and chaos thickened, and no later reign matched the sages. Cao Cao was wise and martial: he swept away rebels, restored the royal pattern, and founded your line. Emperor Wen took Heaven's mandate, widened the base, yet seven years on the throne left every task unfinished. You inherit his work in sage virtue—you should prize peace and let the people breathe. Yet the frontiers boil, armies camp overseas, fleets and carts drain the treasury, and commoners abandon their trades while costs mount daily. You raise halls without count, haul timber from Culai and stone down the rivers, turn the whole capital district—meant for grain tribute—into hunting parks thick with scrub and game pens; farms are ruined, thorns choke the soil, pestilence spreads, harmony flees the skies, and the lucky grain will not sprout. King Wen built Feng without haste, and the people flocked to finish it overnight. He shared his Spirit Pond and Park with the commoners. Today your towers outshine Shun's thrift and copy Zhou of Shang's jade halls; closed parks span a thousand li; splendor rivals Epang; labor outdoes King Ling's dry trench—I fear the people are spent and cannot obey. Qin held the passes, boasted past all sage-kings, dreamed eternal rule—yet the second reign collapsed, for the trunk was sawn through at the root. The sage king brightens virtue, rewards merit, cherishes kin; when worthies serve, glory rises; when kin share power, the house weathers storm together; deep roots and strong limbs brace the throne through rise and fall. King Cheng was a child, yet the Duke of Zhou, the Grand Duke, Shao, and Bi guarded him; today you have no such guardians, no second line like the Duke of Zhou and Shi. No heir apparent is named—the empire has no second pillar. Watch the frontiers, secure the succession, and the realm will count itself blessed.
50
後爲燕中尉,辭疾不就,卒。
He was later named marshal of Yan but pleaded illness, never took the post, and died.
51
【評】
Appraisal
52
評曰:辛毗、楊阜,剛亮公直,正諫匪躬,亞乎汲黯之高風焉。 高堂隆學業脩明,志在匡君,因變陳戒,發於懇誠,忠矣哉! 及至必改正朔,俾魏祖虞,所謂意過其通者歟!」
The historian concludes: Xin Pi and Yang Fu were blunt as Ji An, remonstrating at personal risk. Gaotang Long mastered the classics and served his ruler with portent and plea—loyal indeed. Yet his zeal to change the calendar and cast Wei as Yu's heir may have overshot good sense.”