1
後主劉禪
The Later Lord: Liu Shan.
2
建興元年夏，臧柯太守朱褒擁郡反。 〈《魏氏春秋》曰：初，益州從事常房行部，聞褒將有異志，收其主簿案問，殺之。 褒怒，攻殺房，誣以謀反。 諸葛亮誅房諸子，徙其四弟於越雋，欲以安之。 褒猶不悛改，遂以郡叛應雍闓。 臣松之案：以為房為褒所誣，執政所宜澄察，安有妄殺不辜以悅姦慝？ 斯殆妄矣！〉 先是，益州郡有大姓雍闓反，流太守張裔於吳，據郡不賓，越巂夷王高定亦背叛。 是歲，立皇后張氏。 遣尚書 （郎） 鄧芝固好於吳，吳王孫權與蜀和親使聘，是歲通好。
That summer of 223, Zhu Bao, prefect of Zangke, rose in revolt and took the commandery for himself. 〈The Wei Annals of Spring and Autumn record that earlier, Yizhou staff officer Chang Fang, on circuit duty, heard Zhu Bao was turning disloyal; he arrested Zhu's chief clerk for questioning and had him executed. Zhu Bao struck back: he killed Chang Fang and then framed him for treason. Zhuge Liang put Chang Fang's sons to death, banished four of his younger brothers to Yuexi, and meant the gesture as a conciliatory signal. Zhu Bao refused to mend his ways and soon threw in his lot with Yong Kai, rebelling at the head of the commandery. Pei Songzhi argues that Chang Fang was framed by Zhu Bao and that the court should have sorted truth from falsehood instead of executing innocents to appease a traitor. That account is almost certainly wrong.〉 Even before that, the great clan leader Yong Kai had risen in Yizhou commandery, shipped Prefect Zhang Yi off to Wu, refused allegiance while holding the territory, and Gao Ding, king of the Yuexi tribes, had joined the revolt. The same year he took Lady Zhang as empress. The court dispatched a Director of the Secretariat The transmitted text inserts the character lang, marking him as a Gentleman of the Secretariat. Deng Zhi was dispatched to shore up ties with Wu; Sun Quan of Wu and Shu exchanged marriage overtures and embassies, and that year the two courts formally made peace.
3
三年春，務農殖谷，閉關息民。
In the spring of 225 the court pushed farming and grain stores, sealed the frontier passes, and gave the realm a respite from levies and campaigns.
4
三年春三月，丞相亮南征四郡，四郡皆平。 改益州郡為建寧郡，分建寧、永昌郡為雲南郡，又分建寧、臧柯為興古郡。 十二月，亮還成都。
That March of 225 Zhuge Liang led the southern expedition; the four rebel commanderies were brought to heel. Yizhou commandery was renamed Jianning; land was carved out of Jianning and Yongchang to create Yunnan commandery, and another slice of Jianning plus Zangke became Xinggu commandery. Zhuge Liang was back in Chengdu by the twelfth month.
5
四年春，都護李嚴自永安還住江州，築大城。 〈今巴郡故城是。〉
In the spring of 226 Li Yan left Yong'an for Jiangzhou, where he raised a major fortified city. 〈The site is the old Ba commandery city wall.〉
6
五年春，丞相亮出屯漢中，營沔北陽平石馬。 〈諸葛亮集載禪三月下詔曰：「朕聞天地之道，福仁而禍淫； 善積者昌，惡積者喪，古今常數也。 是以湯、武脩德而王，桀、紂極暴而亡。 曩者漢祚中微，網漏兇慝，董卓造難，震盪京畿。 曹操階禍，竊執天衡，殘剝海內，懷無君之心。 子丕孤豎，敢尋亂階，盜據神器，更姓改物，世濟其凶。 當此之時，皇極幽昧，天下無主，則我帝命隕越於下。 昭烈皇帝體明叡之德，光演文武，應乾坤之運，出身平難，經營四方，人鬼同謀，百姓與能。 兆民欣戴。 奉順符讖，建位易號，丕承天序，補弊興衰，存复祖業，誕膺皇綱，不墜於地。 萬國未定，早世遐殂。 朕以幼衝，繼統鴻基，未習保傅之訓，而嬰祖宗之重。 六合壅否，社稷不建，永惟所以，念在匡救，光載前緒，未有攸濟，朕甚懼焉。 是以夙興夜寐，不敢自逸，每從菲薄以益國用，勸分務穡以阜民財，授方任能以參其聽，斷私降意以養將士。 欲奮劍長驅，指討凶逆，硃旗未舉，而丕复隕喪，斯所謂不燃我薪而自焚也。 殘類餘醜，又支天禍，恣睢河、洛，阻兵未弭。 諸葛丞相弘毅忠壯，忘身憂國，先帝託以天下，以勗朕躬。 今授之以旄鉞之重，付之以專命之權，統領步騎二十萬眾，董督元戎，龔行天罰，除患寧亂，克復舊都，在此行也。 昔項籍總一強眾，跨州兼土，所務者大，然卒敗垓下，死於東城，宗族如焚，為笑千載，皆不以義，陵上虐下故也。 今賊效尤，天人所怨，奉時宜速，庶憑炎精祖宗威靈相助之福，所向必克。 吳王孫權同卹災患，潛軍合謀，掎角其後。 涼州諸國王各遣月支、康居胡侯支富、康植等二十餘人詣受節度，大軍北出，便欲率將兵馬，奮戈先驅。 天命既集，人事又至，師貞勢並，必無敵矣。 夫王者之兵，有徵無戰，尊而且義，莫敢抗也，故鳴條之役，軍不血刃，牧野之師，商人倒戈。 今旍麾首路，其所經至，亦不欲窮兵極武。 有能棄邪從正，簞食壺漿以迎王師者，國有常典，封寵大小，各有品限。 及魏之宗族、支葉、中外，有能規利害、審逆順之數，來詣降者，皆原除之。 昔輔果絕親於智氏，而蒙全宗之福，微子去殷，項伯歸漢，皆受茅土之慶。 此前世之明驗也。 若其迷沈不反，將助亂人，不式王命，戮及妻孥，罔有攸赦。 廣宣恩威，貸其元帥，吊其殘民。 他如詔書律令，丞相其露布天下，使稱朕意焉。」〉
In the spring of 227 Zhuge Liang moved his headquarters to Hanzhong and threw up positions north of the Han River at Yangping and Shima. 〈The collected papers of Zhuge Liang preserve an edict Liu Shan issued that March. It begins: "Heaven and earth bless the humane and punish the wanton; Those who heap up goodness thrive; those who heap up evil are destroyed—that has been the rule in every age. Tang of Shang and King Wu won the throne by moral cultivation; Jie and Zhou lost it through brutality pushed to the limit. When the Han house faltered, the law slackened and villains slipped through; Dong Zhuo's coup convulsed the capital. Cao Cao climbed in on the chaos, seized the levers of state, ravaged the realm, and nursed treason against his sovereign. His son Cao Pi, a callow upstart, followed that rebel path, usurped the throne, changed the dynasty's name and emblems, and his line has fed on violence ever since. The pole star went dark; the empire had no true ruler, and the Mandate of Heaven seemed to slip from our grasp. Emperor Zhaolie—my father—bore brilliant, discerning virtue, gave full scope to civil and military talent, moved with heaven's turning, rose from nothing to still the turmoil, and won the allegiance of spirits and commoners alike. The people embraced him gladly. Heeding portent and prophecy, he founded our house, took a new reign title, took up heaven's succession, righted a broken age, restored our forebears' work, and caught the imperial net before it could strike the dust. The realm was still unsettled when he was taken from us too soon. I was a child when I inherited this vast charge; I had not finished the lessons tutors give a crown prince, yet I was already yoked to the weight of the ancestral shrines. The world is choked in disorder; the altars stand insecure. I search constantly for a way to rescue the state, to brighten my father's legacy, and I have found no bridge across—this terrifies me. So I rise before dawn and sleep late, deny myself ease, stint the palace to swell the treasury, urge the people to farm and share surplus grain, put the able in office and listen to their counsel, and set aside private whim to feed the army. I meant to draw the sword and march north against the usurpers, but before our crimson banners left the pass Cao Pi died—he needed no fuel from us; he burned himself out. What is left of that brood still struts between the Yellow and Luo, propped up by fresh misfortune in Wei, and their spears have not been laid down. Chancellor Zhuge Liang is steadfast, loyal, and bold; he sets self aside for the state. My father left the realm in his hands to brace my own weakness. I therefore give him the grand marshal's insignia, plenipotentiary command, two hundred thousand foot and horse under his banner, and charge him to carry out heaven's sentence: wipe out the rebels, still the chaos, and win back the old capital—this expedition must do it. Xiang Yu once commanded a mighty host and held half the empire, yet he fell at Gaixia, died at Dongcheng, and his clan went up like kindling—a jest for every age—because he trampled right order and tyrannized those below him. Today's rebels copy that folly; heaven and the people alike curse them. The moment calls for speed. With the fiery virtue of Han and the spirits of our forebears at our back, every blow must tell. King Sun Quan of Wu shares our grief at this evil; his troops stand ready in secret, and we will pinch the enemy from two sides. Kings of the Liangzhou frontier have sent over twenty nobles—Yuezhi and Sogdian lords among them—to take orders from us; when our host marches north they will spur ahead at the van with lance and shield. Heaven's mandate is gathering; the human moment has come; our cause is just and our strength massed—no one can stand against us. A true king's host goes forth to chastise, not to brawl; it is august and in the right, so none dare face it—at Mingtiao no blade was wet; at Muye the Shang warriors dropped their weapons of their own accord. Where our standards lead, I have no wish to wage war to the last extremity. Those who leave wrong for right and meet our army with food and drink will find rank and fief spelled out in the statutes, great or small according to merit. Any member of the Cao clan, near kin or distant, who reads the tide of fortune and comes over to us will be pardoned outright. Fu Guo broke with the Zhi and saved his whole line; Weizi left Shang; Xiang Bo went over to Han—all were enfeoffed with land. History has already written the lesson in plain characters. Whoever clings to delusion, abets the rebels, and defies this decree will die with wife and children—there will be no mercy. Spread both kindness and terror: spare their generals where you can, and pity the common folk caught in the middle. All other details follow statute and edict: let the Chancellor publish this abroad until every corner of the realm knows my mind."〉"
7
六年春，亮出攻祁山，不克。 冬，復出散關，圍陳倉，糧盡退。 魏將王雙率軍追亮，亮與戰，破之，斬雙，還漢中。
In the spring of 228 Zhuge Liang struck at Qishan but failed to take it. That winter he came out through Sanguan again, laid siege to Chencang, and pulled back when his grain ran out. The Wei commander Wang Shuang gave chase; Zhuge Liang turned on him, broke his force, killed Wang Shuang, and withdrew to Hanzhong.
8
七年春，亮遣陳式攻武都、陰平，遂克定二郡。 冬，亮徙從府營於南山下原上，築漢、樂二城。 是歲，孫權稱帝，與蜀約盟，共交分天下。
In the spring of 229 Zhuge Liang sent Chen Shi against Wudu and Yinping; both commanderies fell. That winter he shifted his headquarters camp onto the plateau south of the Qinling crest and raised the twin fortresses of Hanzhong city and Lecheng. The same year Sun Quan took the imperial title; he and Shu renewed their treaty and formally split their spheres in the Chinese world.
9
八年秋，魏使司馬懿由西城，張郺由子午，曹真由斜谷， 〈斜，余奢反。〉 欲攻漢中。 丞相亮待之於城固、赤坂，大雨道絕，真等皆還。 是歲，魏延破魏雍州剌史郭淮於陽溪。 徙魯王永為甘陵王，梁王理為安平王，皆以魯、梁在吳分界故也。
In the autumn of 230 Wei launched a three-pronged move on Hanzhong: Sima Yi through Xicheng, Zhang He through the Ziwu defile, and Cao Zhen up the Xie Valley, 〈Commentary gloss: the graph xie is read with the yu-she fanqie.〉 intending to overrun Hanzhong. Zhuge Liang blocked them at Chenggu and Chipo; torrential rains washed out the roads, and Cao Zhen's columns had to turn back. The same year Wei Yan routed Yongzhou inspector Guo Huai for Wei at Yangxi. Prince Yong of Lu was redesignated prince of Ganling and Prince Li of Liang became prince of Pingan, since Lu and Liang lay in territory allotted to Wu.
10
九年春二月，亮復出軍圍祁山，始以木牛運。 魏司馬懿、張郺救祁山。 夏六月，亮糧盡退軍，郺追至青封，與亮交戰，被箭死。 秋八月，都護李嚴廢徙梓潼郡。 〈《漢晉春秋》曰：冬十月，江陽至江州有鳥從江南飛渡江北，不能達，墮水死者以千數。〉
In the second month of 231 Zhuge Liang marched on Qishan again, this time supplying the army with his wooden-ox carts. Sima Yi and Zhang He of Wei raced to lift the siege at Qishan. By the sixth month Zhuge Liang had exhausted his grain and fell back; Zhang He pressed him to Qingfeng, joined battle, and was killed by an arrow. That August Li Yan was stripped of office and exiled to Zitong. 〈The Han–Jin Annals of Spring and Autumn record that in the tenth month flocks tried to fly from the south bank of the Yangzi toward Jiangzhou; thousands dropped into the river and drowned.〉
11
十年，亮休士勸農於黃沙，作流馬木牛畢，教兵講武。
In 232 Zhuge Liang rested his troops and promoted farming at Huangsha, finished building his 'flowing horse' supply carts to complement the wooden oxen, and put the army through maneuvers.
12
十一年冬，亮使諸軍運米，集於斜谷口，治斜谷邸閣。 是歲，南夷劉冑反，將軍馬忠破平之。
In the winter of 233 he had every column haul grain to the mouth of the Xie Valley and built granaries and relay stations there. The same year the southern chieftain Liu Zhou rose; Ma Zhong crushed the revolt.
13
十二年春二月，亮由斜谷出，始以流馬運。 秋八月，亮卒渭濱。 征西大將軍魏延與丞相長史楊儀爭權不和，舉兵相攻，延敗走。 斬延首，儀率諸軍還成都。 大赦。 以左將軍吳壹為車騎將軍，假節督漢中。 以丞相留府長史蔣琬為尚書令，總統國事。
In the second month of 234 Zhuge Liang debouched from the Xie Valley, this time using the flowing-horse carts for logistics. He died that eighth month by the Wei River in the field. Wei Yan, general who conquers the west, and Yang Yi, chief clerk of the chancellery, fell out over authority, drew swords on each other, and Wei Yan broke and ran. Wei Yan was beheaded; Yang Yi brought the armies back to Chengdu. A general amnesty was declared. Wu Yi, general of the left, was promoted to general of chariots and cavalry, given the imperial baton, and put in charge of Hanzhong. Jiang Wan, chief clerk of Zhuge Liang's rear office, became director of the secretariat and took overall direction of government.
14
十三年春正月，中軍師楊儀廢徙漢嘉郡。 夏四月，進蔣琬位為大將軍。
In the first month of 235 Yang Yi was stripped of rank and banished to Hanjia. That April Jiang Wan was promoted to grand general.
15
十四年夏四月，後主至湔， 〈臣松之案：湔，縣名也，屬蜀郡，音翦。〉 登觀坂，看汶水之流，旬日還成都。 徙武都氐王苻健及氐民四百餘戶於成都。
In the fourth month of 236 the Later Lord traveled to Jian, 〈Pei Songzhi notes that Jian is a county in Shu commandery, read like jian (scissors).〉 climbed Observation Hill to watch the Min River, stayed about ten days, and returned to Chengdu. More than four hundred Di households under their king Fu Jian were resettled from Wudu into Chengdu.
16
十五年夏六月，皇后張氏薨。
Empress Zhang died in the sixth month of 237.
17
延熙元年春正月，立皇后張氏。 大赦，攻元。 立子睿為太子，子瑤為安定王。 冬十一月，大將軍蔣琬出屯漢中。
In the first month of 238 he took another Lady Zhang as empress. He proclaimed a general amnesty and changed the era name to Yanxi. He named his son Liu Rui crown prince and enfeoffed Liu Yao as prince of Anding. That November Grand General Jiang Wan moved his headquarters to Hanzhong.
18
二年春三月，進蔣琬位為大司馬。
In the third month of 239 Jiang Wan was promoted to grand marshal.
19
三年春，使越巂太守張嶷平定越巂郡。
In the spring of 240 he sent Zhang Ni, prefect of Yuexi, to bring the commandery fully under control.
20
四年冬十月，尚書令費禕至漢中，與蔣琬咨論事計，歲盡還。 五年春正月，監軍姜維督偏軍，自漢中還屯涪縣。
In the tenth month of 241 Fei Yi went to Hanzhong to confer with Jiang Wan on policy and was back before the year closed. In the first month of 242 Jiang Wei, as army supervisor, led a detached column from Hanzhong down to garrison Fu.
21
六年冬十月，大司馬蔣琬自還漢中，住涪。 十一月，大赦。 以尚書令費禕為大將軍。
In the tenth month of 243 Grand Marshal Jiang Wan left Hanzhong and established himself at Fu. November brought another general amnesty. Fei Yi was promoted from director of the secretariat to grand general.
22
七年閏月，魏大將軍曹爽、夏侯玄等向漢中，鎮北大將軍王平拒興勢圍，大將軍費禕督諸軍往赴救，魏軍退。 夏四月，安平王理卒。 秋九月，禕還成都。
In the intercalary month of 244 Cao Shuang and Xiahou Xuan of Wei drove on Hanzhong; Wang Ping, general who guards the north, held the Xingshi rampart; Grand General Fei Yi led the relief host; the Wei forces withdrew. Prince Li of Pingan died that fourth month. Fei Yi was back in Chengdu by the ninth month.
23
八年秋八月，皇太后薨。 十二月，大將軍費禕至漢中，行圍守。
The eighth month of 245 brought news that the empress dowager had died. That December Fei Yi reached Hanzhong to oversee the ring of frontier garrisons.
24
九年夏六月，費禕還成都。 秋，大赦。 冬十一月，大司馬蔣琬卒。 〈《魏略》曰：琬卒，禪乃自攝國事。〉
Fei Yi was back in Chengdu by the sixth month of 246. Autumn brought a general amnesty. Grand Marshal Jiang Wan died that November. 〈The Wei Summary says that when Jiang Wan died, Liu Shan personally assumed direction of government.〉
25
十年，涼州胡王白虎文、治無戴等率眾降，衛將軍姜維迎逆安撫，居之於繁縣。 是歲，汶山平康夷反，維往討，破平之。
In 247 the Qiang chieftains Bai Huwen and Zhi Wudai of Liangzhou brought their followers in; Jiang Wei, guard general, received them kindly and resettled the people at Fan. The same year the Pingkang tribesmen of Wenshan rose; Jiang Wei marched against them and crushed the revolt.
26
十一年夏五月，大將軍費禕出屯漢中。 秋，涪陵屬國民夷反，車騎將軍鄧芝往討，皆破平之。
In the fifth month of 248 Grand General Fei Yi moved his headquarters to Hanzhong. That autumn the mixed Chinese and tribal population of the Fuling dependency revolted; Deng Zhi, general of chariots and cavalry, led the punitive force and stamped it out.
27
十二年春正月，魏誅大將軍曹爽等，右將軍夏侯霸來降。 夏四月，大赦。 秋，衛將軍姜維出攻雍州，不克而還。 將軍句安、李韶降魏。
In the first month of 249 Wei put Cao Shuang and his faction to death; Xiahou Ba, general of the right, crossed over to Shu. A general amnesty was declared that fourth month. That autumn Jiang Wei struck into Yongzhou but could not break the Wei lines and withdrew. The generals Gou An and Li Shao went over to Wei.
28
十三年，姜維復出西平，不克而還。
In 250 Jiang Wei marched on Xiping again without success.
29
十四年夏，大將軍費禕還成都。 冬，復北駐漢壽。 大赦。
Grand General Fei Yi came home to Chengdu that summer of 251. That winter he moved his headquarters north again to Hanshou. Another general amnesty was issued.
30
十五年，吳王孫權薨。 立子琮為西河王。
Sun Quan of Wu died in 252. He enfeoffed his son Liu Cong as prince of Xihe.
31
十六年春正月，大將軍費禕為魏降人郭?所殺於漢壽。 夏四月，衛將軍姜維復率眾圍南安，不克而還。
In the first month of 253 Grand General Fei Yi was assassinated at Hanshou by Guo Xun, a Wei defector. That April Jiang Wei besieged Nan'an again but could not take it.
32
十七年春正月，姜維還成都。 大赦。 夏六月，維復率眾出隴西。 冬，拔狄道、 （河間） [河關]、臨洮三縣民，居於綿竹、繁縣。
Jiang Wei was in Chengdu by the first month of 254. The court proclaimed a general amnesty. That June Jiang Wei drove another campaign into Longxi. That winter he seized Didao, The transmitted text adds the gloss Hejian for the place name. He took the people of Didao, [Heguan], and Lintao—three counties in all—and resettled them at Mianzhu and Fan.
33
十八年春，姜維還成都。 夏，復率諸軍出狄道，與魏雍州剌史王經戰於洮西，大破之。 經退保狄道城，維卻住鍾題。
In the spring of 255 Jiang Wei returned to Chengdu. That summer he marched on Didao again, met Wang Jing, Yongzhou inspector for Wei, west of the Tao River, and shattered his army. Wang Jing fell back into Didao; Jiang Wei halted his advance at Zhongti.
34
十九年春，進姜維位為大將軍，督戎馬，與鎮西將軍胡濟期會上邽，濟失誓不至。 秋八月，維為魏大將軍鄧艾所破於上邽。 維退軍還成都。 是歲，立子瓚為新平王。 大赦。
In the spring of 256 Jiang Wei was promoted to grand general and took command of the field armies; he and Hu Ji, general who guards the west, had agreed to meet at Shanggui, but Hu Ji never came. That eighth month Deng Ai, grand general of Wei, defeated him at Shanggui. Jiang Wei pulled the army back to Chengdu. The same year he made his son Liu Zan prince of Xinping. A general amnesty followed.
35
二十年，聞魏大將軍諸葛誕據壽春以叛，姜維復率眾出駱谷，至芒水。 是歲大赦。
In 257, when word came that Zhuge Dan of Wei had risen at Shouchun, Jiang Wei drove through the Lu Valley again and reached Mangshui. The year closed with a general amnesty.
36
景耀元年，姜維還成都。 史官言景星見，於是大赦，改年。 宦人黃皓始專政。 吳大將軍孫琳廢其主亮，立琅邪王休。
In 258 Jiang Wei was back in Chengdu. Court astronomers reported an auspicious jing star; the throne ordered a general amnesty and adopted the reign title Jingyao. The eunuch Huang Hao began to dominate the court. In Wu, Grand General Sun Lin deposed Sun Liang and set Sun Xiu, prince of Langye, on the throne.
37
二年夏六月，立子諶為北地王，恂為新興王，虔為上黨王。
In the sixth month of 259 he enfeoffed Liu Chen as prince of Beidi, Liu Xun as prince of Xinxing, and Liu Qian as prince of Shangdang.
38
三年秋九月，追諡故將軍關羽、張飛、馬超、龐統、黃忠。
That ninth month of 260 posthumous honors were conferred on Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Pang Tong, and Huang Zhong.
39
四年春三月，追諡故將軍趙雲。 冬十月，大赦。
In the third month of 261 Zhao Yun received a posthumous canonization. October brought another general amnesty.
40
五年春正月，西河王琮卒。 是歲，姜維復率眾出侯和，為鄧艾所破，還住沓中。
Prince Liu Cong of Xihe died in the first month of 263. The same year Jiang Wei tried another sortie at Hehe; Deng Ai broke him, and he fell back to garrison Tazhong.
41
六年夏，魏大興徒從眾，命征西將軍鄧艾、鎮西將軍鍾會、雍州剌史諸葛緒數道並攻。 於是遣左右車騎將軍張翼、廖化、輔國大將軍董厥等拒之。 大赦。 改元為炎興。 冬，鄧艾破衛將軍諸葛瞻於綿竹。 用光祿大夫譙周策，降於艾，奉書曰：
That summer of 263 Wei mobilized a huge host and ordered Deng Ai, Zhong Hui, and Yongzhou inspector Zhuge Xu to advance on several columns. Shu sent Zhang Yi and Liao Hua, generals of chariots and cavalry left and right, and Dong Jue, assistant grand general for state support, to hold the line. A general amnesty was declared. The era name was changed to Yanxing. That winter Deng Ai shattered Zhuge Zhan, guard general, at Mianzhu. On the advice of Qiao Zhou, grandee of the imperial household, he capitulated to Deng Ai and sent this letter:
42
限分江、漢，遇值深遠，階緣蜀土，斗絕一隅，干運犯冒，漸苒歷載，遂與京畿攸隔萬里。 每惟黃初中，文皇帝命虎牙將軍鮮于輔，宣溫密之詔，申三好之恩，開示門戶，大義炳然，而否德闇弱，竊貪遣緒，俯仰累紀，未率大教。 天威既震，人鬼歸能之數，怖駭王師，神武所次，敢不革面，順以從命！ 輒敕群帥投戈釋甲，官府帑藏一無所毀。 百姓布野，餘糧棲畝，以俟後來之惠，全元元之命。 伏惟大魏布德施化，宰輔伊、周，含覆藏疾。 謹遣私署侍中張紹、光祿大夫譙周、駙馬都尉鄧良奉繼印綬，請命告誠，敬輸忠款，存亡敕賜，惟所裁之。 輿櫬在近，不復縷陳。
The Yangzi and Han have long cut us off from the heartland; fate set us on this remote plateau of Shu, a pocket realm hemmed by mountains. Year after year we have pressed our luck, until we stand ten thousand li from the imperial precincts. I still recall how in the Huangchu era Emperor Wen of Wei sent General Xianyu Fu with a gracious, confidential message offering peace on three counts and holding the door open to us. The moral case was luminous, yet I—small in virtue and dull of wit—clung to my father's legacy, bobbing through the years without answering that higher teaching. Now that heavenly majesty has struck and every sign—human and spectral—points to submission, I tremble before your invincible host. Wherever it halts, how could I refuse to turn about and obey? I have ordered every commander to stack arms and shed armor; no government office or state store is to be touched. The people remain in their fields; grain still stands in the furrows, waiting for your mercy so their humble lives may be spared. Great Wei spreads civilizing virtue; its ministers rival the ancient worthies Yi Yin and the Duke of Zhou; its mercy covers even the flawed. I therefore send my acting palace attendant Zhang Shao, grandee of the household Qiao Zhou, and chief groom Deng Liang with the seals of state to beg for terms and declare our good faith. Life or death rests in your judgment alone. My coffin awaits me just outside the wall; I need not belabor the point.
43
是日，北地王諶傷國之亡，先殺妻子，次以自殺。 〈《漢晉春秋》曰：後主將從譙周之策，北地王諶怒曰：「若理窮力屈，禍敗必及，便當父子君臣背城一戰，同死社稷，以見先帝可也。」 後主不納，遂送璽緩。 是日，諶哭於昭烈之廟，先殺妻子，而後自殺，左右無不為涕泣者。〉 紹、良與艾相遇於雒縣。 艾得書，大喜，即報書， 〈王隱《蜀記》曰：艾報書云：「王綱失道，群英並起，龍戰虎爭，終歸真主，此蓋天命去就之道也。 自古聖帝，爰逮漢、魏，受命而王者，莫不在乎中土。 河出圖，洛出書，聖人則之，以興洪業，其不由此，未有不顛覆者也。 隗囂憑隴而亡，公孫述據蜀而滅，此皆前世覆車之鑑也。 聖上明哲，宰相忠賢，將比隆黃軒，侔功往代。 銜命來徵，思聞嘉響，果煩來使，告以德音，此非人事，豈天啟哉！ 昔微子歸周，實為上賓，君子豹變，義存大易，來辭謙衝，以禮輿櫬，皆前哲歸命之典也。 全國為上，破國次之，自非通明智達，何以見王者之義乎！」 禪又遣太常張峻、益州別駕汝超受節度，遣太僕蔣顯有命敕姜維。 又遣尚書郎李虎送士民簿，領戶二十八萬，男女口九十四萬，帶甲將士十萬二千，吏四萬人，米四十餘萬斛，金銀各二千斤，錦綺採絹各二十萬匹，餘物稱此。〉 遣紹良先還。 艾至城北，後主興櫬自縛，詣軍壘門。 艾解縛焚櫬，延請相見。 〈《晉諸公贊》曰：劉禪乘騾車詣艾，不具亡國之禮。〉 因承製拜後主為驃騎將軍。 諸圍守悉被後主敕，然後降下。 艾使後主止其故宮，身往造焉。 資嚴未發，明年春正月，艾見收。 鍾會自涪至成都作亂。 會既死，蜀中軍眾鈔略，死喪狼籍，數日乃安集。
That same day Liu Chen, prince of Beidi, unable to bear the fall of the kingdom, slew his wife and children and then took his own life. 〈The Han–Jin Annals of Spring and Autumn say that as the Later Lord prepared to adopt Qiao Zhou's counsel, Prince Liu Chen of Beidi burst out: "If argument and force are both spent and ruin is upon us, then let father and son, ruler and minister, make one last stand with our backs to the city wall and perish with the altars—that would be fit company for my father in the other world." The Later Lord would not hear him and sent off the seals of abdication instead. He wept before Emperor Zhaolie's shrine, killed his family, and then himself; every attendant wept.〉 Zhang Shao and Deng Liang met Deng Ai at Luo county. Deng Ai read the letter with delight and at once drafted a reply. 〈Wang Yin's Records of Shu preserve Deng Ai's answer: "When the imperial order falters, heroes rise like spring weeds; dragon and tiger wrestle until the true sovereign wins—that is simply heaven handing the mandate from one house to another. From the sage-kings of old through Han and Wei, every house that truly received the mandate held the Central Plain. The Yellow River yielded its chart and the Luo its writing; the sage took them as models to build a great realm. Ignore that pattern, and ruin follows. Wei Xiao clung to the Long passes and fell; Gongsun Shu barricaded Shu and was wiped out—history has already painted that warning in blood. Our sage emperor is lucid and wise, his ministers loyal and able; their work will rival the golden age of the Yellow Emperor and match the finest dynasties of old. I came west on imperial order hoping for good news; your envoys have brought a noble message—such timing is more than human contrivance; heaven itself has opened the way! When Weizi went over to Zhou he was honored as a guest of state; the Book of Changes praises the gentleman's timely transformation. Your humble words and offer of the funeral cart match every ancient precedent for yielding to heaven. To save the whole realm is best; to shatter it is second best—without breadth of mind, who could grasp the true king's magnanimity?" Meanwhile Liu Shan sent Minister Zhang Jun and aide Ru Chao to take orders from Deng Ai, and Grand Coachman Jiang Xian with an edict for Jiang Wei to stand down. He also sent Secretariat gentleman Li Hu with the census: 280,000 households, 940,000 persons, 102,000 troops under arms, 40,000 officials, more than 4.1 million hu of grain, two thousand jin each of gold and silver, two hundred thousand bolts each of brocade and fine silks—other stores were in proportion.〉 Zhang Shao and Deng Liang were sent back ahead of the main party. When Deng Ai reached the north wall of Chengdu, the Later Lord came out with a coffin on a cart, his hands bound behind him, and presented himself at the camp gate. Deng Ai cut his bonds, burned the bier, and received him as a guest. 〈The Jin Eulogies of the Dukes say Liu Shan drove a mule cart to Deng Ai and omitted the full ritual of a conquered sovereign.〉 Acting on interim authority he named the Later Lord general who gallops like the piebald horse. Every ring of Shu garrisons received the Later Lord's order before laying down arms. Deng Ai let him remain in his old palace and went in person to call on him. Before the victory bounty could be sent out, Deng Ai was arrested in the first month of the following spring. Zhong Hui marched from Fu to Chengdu and there raised a mutiny. After Zhong Hui's death Shu became a chaos of looting and corpses in the streets; order took several days to return.
44
後主舉家東遷，既至洛陽，策命之曰：
The Later Lord took his household east to Luoyang, where he received this patent of appointment:
45
惟景元五年三月丁亥，皇帝臨軒，使太常嘉命劉禪為安樂縣公。 於戲，其進聽朕命！ 蓋統天載物，以咸寧為大，光宅天下，以時雍為盛。 故孕育群生者，君人之道也，乃順承天者，坤元之義也。 上下交暢，然後萬物協和，庶類獲乿。 乃者漢氏失統，六合震擾。 我太祖承運龍興，弘濟八極，是用應天順民，撫有區夏。 於時乃考因群傑虎爭，九服不靜，乘間阻遠，保據庸蜀，遂使西隅殊封，方外壅隔。 自是以來，干戈不戢，元元之民，不得保安其性，幾將五紀。 朕永惟祖考遺志，思在綏緝四海，率土同軌，故爰整六師，耀威梁、益。 公恢崇德度，深秉大正，不憚屈身委質，以愛民全國為貴，降心回慮，應機豹變，覆信思順，以享左右無疆之休，豈不遠歟！ 朕嘉與君公長饗顯祿，用考咨前訓，開國胙土，率遵舊典，錫茲玄牡，苴以白茅，永為魏藩輔，往欽哉！ 公其只服朕命，克廣德心，以終乃顯烈。
On the dinghai day of the third month, 264, the Wei emperor held court and charged the minister of ceremonies to invest Liu Shan as duke of Anle county. Hearken, then, and receive Our word! He who spans heaven and bears the myriad creatures counts universal peace as his greatest end; he who lights the world esteems the harmony of the seasons as his highest glory. To cherish and nourish all life is the way of the true king; to bow before heaven's turning is the virtue Earth itself shows in the Classic of Changes. When high and low move in concord, the myriad things thrive and every kind of creature finds its nurture. Long ago the Han lost the thread of rule and the realm shook with rebellion. Our dynastic founder caught heaven's mandate like a rising dragon, brought peace to the farthest corner, answered both heaven and the people, and took the Central States in hand. In those years of warlords your father seized the chance to hold the Ba–Shu fastness; the west became a separate realm and the frontier stayed closed for generations. Ever since, arms have seldom been sheathed and the common folk have known no lasting peace—nearly sixty years. We have long pondered our forebears' charge to quiet the four seas and bring every road onto one track; hence We arrayed the six hosts and showed Our majesty in Liang and Yi. You, Duke, have shown high principle and true rectitude; you did not scorn to humble yourself and yield the realm to spare your people. You read the moment, changed like the leopard in the Changes, chose good faith and submission, and so win unbounded blessing on every side—could any reward be more fitting? We delight to let you, Duke, feast on rank and stipend for years to come, take counsel from the ancient models, found your fief with clods of sacred earth, and follow every precedent of investiture: here is the black sacrificial bull, bundled in white rushes—be forever a bulwark of Wei. Go, and receive it with reverence! Honor this charge, let your virtuous intent broaden ever further, and bring your noble service to its fitting close.
46
評曰：後主任賢相則為循理之君，惑閹堅則為昏暗之後，傳曰‘素絲無常，唯所染之’，信矣哉！ 禮，國君繼體，逾年改元，而章武之三年，則革稱建興，考之古義，體理為違。 又國不置史，注記無官，是以行事多遺，災異靡書。 諸葛亮雖達於為政，凡此之類，猶有未周焉。 然經載十二而年名不易，軍旅屢興而赦不妄下，不亦卓乎！ 自亮沒後，茲制漸虧，優劣著矣。 〈《華陽國志》曰：丞相亮時，有言公惜赦者，亮答曰：“治世以大德，不以小惠，故匡衡、吳漢不原為赦。 先帝亦言吾周旋陳元方、鄭康成間，每見啟告，治亂之道悉矣，曾不語赦也。 若劉景升、季玉父子，歲歲赦宥，何益於治！” 臣松之以為‘赦不妄下’，誠為可稱，至於‘年名不易’，猶所未達。 案建武、建安之號，皆久而不改，未聞前史以為美談。 ‘經載十二’，蓋何足雲？ 豈別有他意，求之未至乎！ 亮歿後，延熙之號，數盈二十，‘茲制漸虧’，事又不然也。〉
Chen Shou's judgment runs thus: with good chancellors at his side the Later Lord kept to the right path; once palace eunuchs swayed him he sank into folly. The adage holds: white silk shows whatever dip it meets—his reign proved it true. Ritual expects a new ruler to wait a full year before changing the era name, yet in the third year of Zhangwu he switched to Jianxing—set against classical usage, that was irregular. Nor did Shu maintain court historians or a diary office, so much of what happened went unrecorded and portents were never logged. Zhuge Liang was a master of administration, yet even he left gaps like these unfilled. For a full dozen years he left the era name untouched and refused to buy popularity with blanket pardons—few could match that discipline. After his death the old discipline frayed, and the contrast could not have been clearer. 〈The Huayang Records relate that when someone complained Zhuge Liang granted amnesties too rarely, he answered: Good government rests on broad moral sway, not petty indulgence—Kuang Heng and Wu Han likewise refused to make a habit of pardons. My father used to say that in his talks with Chen Ji and Zheng Xuan every question of order and chaos was covered, yet neither man ever urged him to declare an amnesty. Look at Liu Biao and the two Liu Zhangs, who pardoned year after year—what good did it do their realm? Pei Songzhi adds that sparing amnesties deserves praise, but the praise for never changing the era name leaves him puzzled. The Han used Jianwu and Wei used Jian'an for many years without fuss—no chronicler ever called that a special virtue. And what is so marvelous about a mere twelve-year span? Unless Chen Shou meant something subtler that I have failed to grasp? After Zhuge Liang died, the Yanxi era ran on for more than twenty years, so the claim that institutions steadily crumbled does not quite fit either.〉