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卷四十八 吳書三 三嗣主傳

Volume 48: Book of Wu 3 - Biographies of the three heirs

Chapter 48 of 三國志 · Records of the Three Kingdoms
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Chapter 48
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1
Sun Liang, whose courtesy name was Ziming, was Sun Quan's youngest son. Sun Quan was growing old, and Liang was his youngest child, so the emperor watched over him with particular care. His elder sister, Princess Quan, had earlier turned Sun Quan against Crown Prince He and He’s mother, and she lived in fear of the consequences. Playing to the emperor’s mood, she sought allies early: she kept praising Quan Shang’s daughter and pressed for the girl to be married to Liang. In the thirteenth year of Chiwu, Crown Prince He was removed from succession; Sun Quan then named Liang heir apparent and took a woman of the Quan family as his principal consort.
2
That summer, in the first year of Taiyuan, Sun Liang’s mother, Lady Pan, was raised to empress. In winter, as Sun Quan lay gravely ill, he called in Grand General Zhuge Ke to serve as tutor to the heir, named Teng Yin, the governor of Kuaiji, as grand master of ceremonies, and ordered both men to support the young crown prince under imperial mandate. The next year, in the fourth month, Sun Quan passed away. The crown prince took the throne, issued a general amnesty, and declared a new reign title. In the calendar of Wei, the year was the fourth of Jiaping.
3
使西 使 殿 殿
That intercalary month, Zhuge Ke became grand mentor to the emperor, Teng Yin was named general of the guard while retaining direction of the Secretariat, Senior General Lü Dai was raised to grand marshal, every serving civil and military officer received promotions and awards, and redundant posts were upgraded. In winter, the tenth month, Grand Mentor Zhuge Ke marched his army to the Chaohu region, 〈Note on pronunciation: “Chao” (Lake Chao) uses the fanqie spelling zu-liao.〉 built up Dongxing, and stationed General Quan Duan in the west fort and Commandant Liu Lüe in the east. The new moon of the twelfth month fell on bingshen, a day of howling wind, thunder, and lightning. Wei committed seventy thousand troops under Zhuge Dan, Hu Zun, and others to invest Dongxing, while Wang Chang struck Nan commandery and Guanqiu Jian advanced on Wuchang. On jiayin, Zhuge Ke led a large force to engage the invaders. By wuwu the Wu host had closed on Dongxing, and in the fighting that followed they routed the Wei army, slaying generals such as Han Zong and Huan Jia. That same month, amid thunder and rain, lightning struck the Duan Gate at Wuchang; workmen rebuilt the Duan Gate, and then the inner palace hall was hit as well. 〈Commentator’s note: In the tenth year of Chiwu the court ordered Wuchang palace timber and tiles carried south to repair the capital at Jianye—yet Wuchang still had its Duan Gate and inner halls. The Records of Wu adds that Zhuge Ke planned to shift the seat of government and therefore raised a new palace complex at Wuchang. The structures lightning burned were the ones Zhuge Ke had just erected.〉
4
退 殿
In the second year, on bingyin in the first month of spring, Sun Liang invested Lady Quan as empress and declared a general amnesty. On gengwu the Wei forces under Wang Chang broke off and withdrew. In the second month the army marched back from Dongxing, and the court lavished titles and prizes on those who had fought. In the third month Zhuge Ke took the field against Wei. That summer, in the fourth month, they laid siege to Xincheng, but plague swept the camps and killed more than half the troops. In the eighth month of autumn Zhuge Ke withdrew his army. In winter, the tenth month, the court held a grand banquet. Sun Jun, general of the military guard, sprang an ambush in the audience hall and cut down Zhuge Ke. The emperor proclaimed a general amnesty. Sun Jun was appointed chancellor and invested as marquis of Fuchun. In the eleventh month five enormous birds were sighted at Chunshen, and the court took it as an omen—next year the reign title was changed.
5
The first year of Wufeng brought severe summer flooding. That autumn Marquis Ying of Wu conspired to murder Sun Jun; the plot was uncovered, and Ying took his own life. In winter, the eleventh month, a comet blazed across the sky between the Dipper and Ox asterisms. 〈According to the Jiangbiao zhuan, barnyard grass in Jiaozhi that year turned into rice stalks.〉
6
西 使 使 使
In the second year, the first month of spring, Wei’s east-pacifying general Guanqiu Jian and forward general Wen Qin led the Huainan armies west and clashed with court troops at Lejia. On renchen in the intercalary month, Sun Jun marched with Chief General Lü Ju and General of the Left Liu Zan toward Shouchun, but when they reached Dongxing word arrived that Wen Qin’s rebellion had already collapsed. On renyin the Wu army pressed on to Tuogao; Wen Qin presented himself to Sun Jun and capitulated, and tens of thousands of refugees from southern Huainan fled across the border into Wu. Zhuge Dan of Wei occupied Shouchun, so Sun Jun turned his army homeward. In the second month Wu troops met Wei general Cao Zhen at Gaoting; Zhen was routed in the engagement. At Gubei, Zhuge Dan’s subordinate Jiang Ban crushed Liu Zan; Zan and officers such as Sun Leng and Jiang Xiu were killed. In the third month the court ordered south-pacifying general Zhu Yi to strike Anfeng, but the attack failed. That autumn, in the seventh month, Sun Yi, Zhang Yi, Lin Xun, and others conspired to assassinate Sun Jun; the plot leaked. Yi committed suicide, while Xun and his accomplices were executed. On Mount Lili in Yangxian a boulder toppled upright without human aid—another heaven-sent portent. The court put Commandant of the Guard Feng Chao in charge of fortifying Guangling, named General Wu Rang governor of Guangling, and transferred Liu Lüe to Donghai as governor. A severe drought gripped the realm that year. In the twelfth month work began on the state ancestral shrine. Feng Chao was appointed overseer of armies for Xuzhou, but famine stalked the countryside and the garrison troops mutinied in anger.
7
使使 使
Spring of the first year of Taiping. 〈The Wu calendar notes that in the first month the court dedicated a shrine to Sun Quan as founding emperor and styled it the Taizu temple.〉 The new moon of the second month brought a disastrous fire at Jianye. Sun Jun adopted the strategy proposed by north-conquering grand general Wen Qin and prepared a strike against Wei. In August he sent Wen Qin ahead with Chief General Lü Ju, Chariots Commander Liu Zuan, South-Pacifying General Zhu Yi, and Forward General Tang Zi: their column marched from Jiangdu into the Huai and Si valleys. On dinghai in the ninth month Sun Jun died. His cousin Sun Lin, a lieutenant general, won appointment as palace attendant and military-guard commander with authority over every army at court and in the provinces; Lü Ju’s expedition was recalled. When Lü Ju learned that Sun Lin had stepped into Sun Jun’s place, he exploded with rage. On jichou Grand Marshal Lü Dai passed away. On renchen Venus trespassed across the Southern Dipper—a troubling omen. Lü Ju, Wen Qin, Tang Zi, and their allies jointly memorialized to make Teng Yin chancellor; Sun Lin refused. On guimao the emperor reassigned Teng Yin as grand marshal, ordering him to replace the late Lü Dai at Wuchang. Lü Ju marched his army homeward intent on bringing Sun Lin down. Sun Lin sent couriers bearing edicts to Wen Qin, Tang Zi, and the rest, commanding them to arrest Lü Ju. On dingwei in winter, the tenth month, Sun Xian, Ding Feng, Shi Kuan, and their river fleet blocked Lü Ju at Jiangdu while General Liu Cheng led infantry and cavalry against Teng Yin. Teng Yin’s forces were crushed and wiped out. On jiyou the court declared an amnesty and adopted a new reign title. On xinhai Lü Ju was taken prisoner at Xinzhou. That November Sun Lin received the grand generalcy, the imperial baton, and the marquisate of Yongkang. Sun Xian and Wang Dun conspired to assassinate Sun Lin; the plot leaked. Lin executed Wang Dun and forced Xian to kill himself. In the twelfth month courtier-of-the-fifth-rank Diao Xuan was dispatched west to inform Shu of Wu’s internal crisis.
8
西 殿 西使 使
In the second year, on jiayin in the second month of spring, torrential rain fell amid thunder and lightning. The next day, yimao, snow fell and an icy cold gripped the capital. The court carved out Xiangdong and Hengyang commanderies from eastern and western Changsha, designated eastern Kuaiji as Linhai, and eastern Yuzhang as Linchuan. That summer, in the fourth month, Sun Liang took his seat in the main palace hall, ordered a general amnesty, and began to rule in his own right. Sun Liang repeatedly challenged Sun Lin’s memorials, and he drafted every youth between fifteen and eighteen from military households—more than three thousand in all—then picked the sons of senior generals who were young and vigorous to lead them. Sun Liang declared, “I founded this corps so we could mature side by side.” Each day he drilled the boys in the imperial park. 〈The court diary records that Sun Liang often visited the Secretariat to read his father’s old orders. Turning to his attendants he asked, “My father issued special instructions whenever he pleased. Now the grand general handles everything—am I reduced to nothing but stamping documents?” Later, while Sun Liang was dining on green plums in the Western Park, he sent a eunuch to the palace treasury for honeyed plums. The jar contained rat droppings. When the keeper was summoned, he kowtowed in terror. The emperor asked him, “Did that eunuch beg honey from you?” The keeper replied, “He asked, but I dared not hand it over.” The eunuch denied wrongdoing. Attendants-in-waiting Diao Xuan and Zhang Bin urged, “Their stories conflict—commit both men to the interrogators.” Sun Liang answered, “There is nothing obscure here.” He had the pellet split: the interior was dry. Sun Liang laughed and told Diao Xuan and Zhang Bin, “Had the pellet stewed in the honey, both core and shell would be sodden. The shell is damp while the core stays dry—the eunuch planted it.” The eunuch confessed on the spot, and every courtier present shivered with admiration. The Jiangbiao zhuan offers another version: Sun Liang sent a eunuch with a lidded silver bowl to the treasury to draw the Jiaozhi tribute of sugarcane molasses. The eunuch, nursing a grudge, dropped rat droppings into the sweet jar and denounced the keeper for carelessness. Sun Liang had the jar brought in and asked, “It was sealed and covered—there should be no droppings inside. Has that eunuch been nursing a grievance against you?” The keeper kowtowed and said, “He once demanded palace rush mats, but the inventory is fixed—I refused.” Sun Liang said, “That explains it.” Further questioning forced the eunuch to confess everything. Sun Liang had him shaved, flogged on the spot, and expelled to menial service outside the palace. Pei Songzhi remarks that even fresh pellets would be damp throughout. Had the eunuch used fresh droppings, Sun Liang could not have proved the trick; only because the pellet was dry did the emperor’s insight prevail. Even so, Pei Songzhi judges the Jiangbiao zhuan more credible than this passage from the court diary.〉
9
使 使
In the fifth month Wei’s east-conquering grand general Zhuge Dan locked Huainan’s armies inside Shouchun, dispatched Zhu Cheng to swear allegiance with a memorial, and sent his son Zhuge Jing, Chief Clerk Wu Gang, and junior officers’ sons as hostages. In June Wu detached thirty thousand troops under Wen Qin, Tang Zi, and Quan Duan to break the siege for Zhuge Dan. Zhu Yi marched from Hulin against Xiakou, whose commander Sun Yi defected to Wei. That July Sun Lin marched toward Shouchun and camped at Huoli. After Zhu Yi linked up from Xiakou, Lin named him vanguard commander; together with Ding Feng he committed fifty thousand picked troops to raise the siege. In August southern Kuaiji rose in revolt and slew the local commandant. Riots broke out in Poyang and Xindu; Chief Justice Ding Mi, Colonel of the Infantry Zheng Zhou, and General Zhongli Mu led punitive columns. When Zhu Yi fell back for lack of supplies, Sun Lin flew into a rage: on the new moon of the ninth month, jisi, he had Zhu Yi executed at Huoli. On xinwei Sun Lin marched from Huoli back to Jianye. On jiashen the court declared a general amnesty. In the eleventh month Quan Wei and Quan Yi, sons of Quan Xu, escorted their mother across the border into Wei. In the twelfth month Quan Duan, Quan Yi, and their companions slipped out of besieged Shouchun to surrender to Sima Zhao.
10
In the third year, the first month of spring, Zhuge Dan executed Wen Qin. In March Sima Zhao captured Shouchun; Zhuge Dan and his household fell fighting, while every officer and soldier capitulated. That autumn, in the seventh month, the former Prince of Qi, Sun Fen, was invested as marquis of Zhang’an. Imperial orders went out for every province and commandery to supply palace lumber. From August onward leaden skies hung over the land with no rain for well over forty days. Sun Liang, chafing under Sun Lin’s arrogance, conspired with Grand Master of Ceremonies Quan Shang and General Liu Cheng to kill him. On wuwu in the ninth month Sun Lin seized Quan Shang at sword point, sent his brother Sun En to cut down Liu Cheng outside the Azure Dragon Gate, called the high ministers to the palace gate, and stripped Sun Liang of the throne, reducing him to prince of Kuaiji at age sixteen.
11
殿
On jiawu in the eleventh month the wind veered and backed erratically, and impenetrable fog blanketed the capital for days on end. Sun Lin’s clan held five marquisates and controlled the inner garrison, eclipsing the throne. The sovereign humored every demand, and the family grew ever more brazen. Fearing a coup, Sun Xiu showered the Lin clan with honors and largesse. On bingshen an edict declared: “The grand general proved his loyalty by framing the strategy that saved the altars of state. Every minister at court and in the provinces endorsed his design, and together they earned lasting merit. When Huo Guang settled the Han succession, the entire bureaucracy stood united—nothing has exceeded that feat. Review at once every official who took part in the temple deliberations and, following precedent, expedite the promotions they are owed.” On wuxu another edict ran: “Because the grand general’s military portfolio is overwhelming, appoint General of the Guard and Imperial Counselor Sun En as palace attendant so he may share the civil-military brief with the grand general.” On renzi the emperor proclaimed: “Households where three or five members shoulder overlapping corvée duties—fathers in the capital, sons posted as county clerks after paying grain quotas, then dragooned again whenever troops march—are left with no one to mind the farm. I pity them deeply. For such families, let fathers or elder brothers designate one member to stay home, waive that person’s grain levy, and exempt him from campaign duty.” The edict added: “Every officer who attended my reception at Yongchang pavilion is promoted one rank.” Soon afterward Sun Xiu learned of Sun Lin’s conspiracy and began conferring in secret with Zhang Bu. At the year-end la ceremony on wuchen in the twelfth month, while nobles mounted the dais to offer New Year felicitations, Sun Xiu signaled his guards: Sun Lin was seized on the spot and beheaded that day. On jisi an edict praised Left General Zhang Bu for destroying the traitors, named him commander of the central army, invested his brother Zhang Dun as village marquis of Du with a guard of three hundred, and appointed Zhang Dun’s brother Zhang Xun as a colonel.
12
祿 使
An edict proclaimed: “The founders of old put schools first, using education to guide the realm, shape character, and cultivate talent for the age. Since the Jianxing era upheavals have multiplied; officials and commoners chase whatever task lies before them, abandoning fundamentals for expedients and ignoring the old paths. When a court esteems the wrong things, morals wither and customs rot. Therefore revive the ancient model: appoint academy directors, institute chairs for the Five Classics, select candidates by examination, grant them generous stipends, and require every promising son of official or military families to enroll. Hold yearly examinations, rank the students, and promote the deserving with office and gifts. Let those who watch take pride in such honors, and let those who hear burn to join them. Thus we strengthen royal influence and lift the customs of the land.”
13
使 使 便
In the second year, the first month of spring, lightning split the sky. In the third month the posts of the Nine Ministers were finally filled. The edict read: “Unworthy as I am, I bear the mandate above the nobles; day and night I tremble on this throne, sleepless and fasting. I mean to beat swords into books and let civilization flourish. But such an endeavor rests on a prosperous people, and prosperity begins with tillage and silk. Guan Zhong said: ‘Full granaries teach ritual; ample clothing and food teach honor and shame.” If one man leaves the plow, another goes hungry; if one woman leaves the loom, another shivers. Hunger and cold together will always drive people to lawlessness. Lately commandery folk and garrison troops alike have quit the fields to ply the Yangzi as traders. Prime paddy lies fallow, granaries dwindle, and the realm will never know peace on such a course. Exorbitant rent and meager returns have forced them off the land! I will therefore expand agriculture, cut taxes, apportion service by strength, survey every acre, balance the burden between state and farm, and ensure each household can feed itself. When people can live by the plow, they will honor life and shun crime—only then may punishments grow rare and morals recover. With loyal ministers devoting themselves to this task, we may not reach the utopia of high antiquity overnight, but we can hope to match the mild reign of Han Wendi. Success will bring honor to throne and subject alike; failure invites decay and humiliation for us all—this is no time for complacency. Ministers and Masters of Writing: meet, debate, and bring me practical measures. The plowing and sericulture season is here; delay is impossible. Once your plans are ready, put them into effect without fail—that will satisfy me.”
14
西 使
In the third year of Yong'an, the third month of spring, Xiling reported the apparition of a red crow. That autumn the court followed Commandant Yan Mi’s plan and built the Puli reservoir. Kuaiji rang with rumors that Sun Liang would regain the throne, while his own attendants accused him of employing wizards to utter imprecations against the court. The judiciary memorialized the charges; Sun Liang was stripped to marquis of Houguan and banished to his domain. He died by his own hand en route, and the guards who escorted him were tried for their negligence. 〈The Records of Wu adds that some believed Sun Xiu murdered him with poisoned wine. During Jin’s Taikang era, former Wu chamberlain Dai Yong of Danyang recovered Sun Liang’s remains and interred them at Laixiang.〉 Southern Kuaiji became Jian’an commandery, and a new Jianping commandery was split off from Yidu. 〈The court diary notes that a huge bronze ding was recovered that year in Jiande county.〉
15
𩅦 𩅦𩅦 𩃙𩃙𧟨𧟨 𠅬𠅬 使 祿 使 使調
In the fifth year of Yong'an, the second month of spring, fire destroyed the north tower of the White Tiger Gate. That July word came from Shixin that a yellow dragon had appeared. On renwu in August torrential rains and lightning swept the capital; springs burst their banks. On yiyou Sun Xiu invested Lady Zhu as empress. On wuzi he named his heir apparent—whose childhood name uses an uncommon character pronounced like wan “inlet”—and declared a general amnesty. 〈The Records of Wu preserves Sun Xiu’s edict: “We receive personal names to tell one person from another; at adulthood we take courtesy names because the childhood name is too intimate for public use. Rites teach that a boy’s name should be hard to speak casually yet easy to substitute in taboo; at fifty men answer to Elder or Second Brother, and ancient usage often required only one graph. Modern families vie for ornate paired names that their sons cannot live up to—like a blind man styled “Bright”—and I have always found it absurd. Some names come from teachers, friends, or elders; some men coin their own. Names from teachers pass muster; fathers and brothers should still defer to others; choosing one’s own is rank vanity. I therefore assign names to my four sons: the heir bears a given graph pronounced like the wan in húshuǐ wān'ào, and a courtesy graph pronounced like the qi in qìjīn “to this day”; the second prince’s given graph matches the gong in sìgōng; his courtesy graph follows the xie of xuán xié shǒu; another son’s given graph rhymes with mang “wild growth”; his courtesy graph sounds like the ju in jǔ wù “to lift a thing”; the youngest son’s given graph echoes bāo in bāoyī; his courtesy graph echoes yǒng in yǒu suǒ yǒng chí. None of these characters appear in everyday usage, so I have pieced them together from classical fragments. Scripts evolve with the needs of the age; because these coinages are deliberately mismatched and each courtesy graph stands alone, taboo avoidance should be simpler—publish this edict so every commandery understands.” Your servant Songzhi considers that the tradition states: “Names are used to regulate meanings; meanings emerge through ritual; ritual embodies governance; governance rectifies the people. When policy succeeds, the people obey; tamper with it and chaos follows.” Those are not idle words. Sun Xiu wanted taboo-proof names, yet plenty of ordinary graphs would serve; instead he minted grotesque characters and barbarous sounds, spurning every classical precedent and inviting generations of ridicule—how bizarre! His tomb was still fresh when his family was annihilated. Shifu of Jin’s warning was thus proved true.〉 In winter, the tenth month, Sun Xiu appointed General of the Guard Puyang Xing chancellor, Chief Justice Ding Mi and Superintendent of the Palace Meng Zong as left and right imperial counselors. Sun Xiu owed debts of gratitude to Puyang Xing and Left General Zhang Bu, so he handed them real power: Zhang Bu ran the inner palace, Puyang Xing the armies and administration. Sun Xiu devoured the canon and meant to master every school of thought, yet he adored pheasant hunts: spring and summer found him riding out at dawn and galloping home by torchlight—only those outings pulled him from his desk. Sun Xiu wanted Erudite Libationer Wei Yao and Doctor Sheng Chong to lecture at court—both men were famously blunt. Zhang Bu feared they would serve beside the throne, expose his secrets, and break his monopoly, so he invented excuses to block them. Sun Xiu answered, “I have read widely enough among the classics—my studies are already ample; from wise sovereigns to ruined tyrants, loyal ministers to turncoats, every rise and fall is familiar to me. When Wei Yao arrives I merely wish to discuss texts with him—not to enroll as his pupil. Even if I did sit at his feet, what harm would follow? You only fear Wei Yao might speak of corruption among your faction and therefore bar him from court. I already know every intrigue in this palace—I need no tutor to explain treason to me. Books threaten nothing; your objections spring from private anxiety alone.” Zhang Bu kowtowed, thanked the emperor, rehearsed his excuses, and pleaded that debates might distract the administration. Sun Xiu answered, “The danger with scholarship is indifference, not enthusiasm. Reading violates no law; you call it improper only because I pressed the point. Statecraft and scholarship follow different channels—they need not clash. I never thought a chief minister would obstruct his sovereign’s studies—this I cannot accept.” Zhang Bu threw himself on the floor; Sun Xiu said, “I only meant to clear the air—why such theater? Your loyalty is famous from the capital to the frontier. The devotion that raised me to this throne is the devotion everyone still sees in you. The Songs warn: ‘Every deed begins well; few finish well. Perseverance is the hardest virtue—see this loyalty through to the end.” While Sun Xiu was still heir, Zhang Bu commanded his household guards and enjoyed absolute trust. After the enthronement the emperor showered him with favor until Zhang monopolized power and behaved with gross impunity. Conscious of his own shortcomings, Zhang lived in terror that Wei Yao and Sheng Chong would expose him—hence his obsessive obstruction. Sun Xiu saw through the stratagem yet could not bring himself to punish his old ally; fearing Zhang would bolt, he yielded—ending the lecture program and barring Sheng Chong from court. That year Wu dispatched an imperial inspector to Jiaozhi to levy peacocks and hogs for the palace menagerie. 〈Pei Songzhi remarks that “battle-inspector” was a Wu bureaucratic title—Yangzhou city still has a lane named for it.〉
16
西 使 使使
In the sixth year of Yong’an, the fourth month of summer, Quanling reported a yellow dragon sighting. In May commandery clerks led by Lü Xing rose in Jiaozhi and murdered Administrator Sun Xu. Sun Xu had already drafted over a thousand artisans to Jianye; when another inspector arrived to seize more labor, Lü Xing seized the moment to incite soldiers, settlers, and tribal peoples alike. In winter, the tenth month, Shu sent envoys begging aid as Wei invaded. On guiwei fire swept the Shitou fortress at Jianye, consuming a hundred eighty zhang of the southwest wall. On jiashen Wu hurled Grand General Ding Feng at Wei’s Shouchun, sent Liu Ping south to plan joint movements with Shi Ji, and ordered General Ding Feng (not the grand general) and Sun Yi up the Han—all feints to distract Wei from Shu. The expeditions ended once word reached Jianye that Liu Shan had surrendered. Having killed Sun Xu, Lü Xing dispatched ambassadors to Wei requesting a governor and garrison support. Chancellor Puyang Xing proposed drafting ten thousand colonists into the army. The court carved Tianmen commandery out of Wuling. 〈The court diary records prodigies that year: an azure dragon at Changsha, white swallows at Cihu, red sparrows at Yuzhang.〉
17
西 使 使西退 𩅦 𩅦 殿
The seventh year opened with a general amnesty in the first month of spring. In February Lu Kang, Bu Xie, Liu Ping, and Jianping governor Sheng Man invested Badong, pinning down Shu’s commander Luo Xian. That April Wei coastal commander Wang Zhi sailed into Gouzhang, kidnapping Magistrate Shang Lin and over two hundred civilians. General Sun Yue intercepted a second craft and took thirty prisoners. In July pirates sacked Haiyan and slew Salt Commissioner Luo Xiu. Palace Secretary Liu Chuan was ordered to raise troops in Luling. Zhang Jie of Yuzhang led more than ten thousand rebels. Hu Lie’s twenty-thousand-man column struck Xiling to rescue Luo Xian, forcing Lu Kang to lift the siege. The court once more split Jiaozhou, carving Guangzhou from its territory. On renwu the emperor declared a general amnesty. On guiwei Sun Xiu died, 〈The Jiangbiao zhuan records that Sun Xiu lost speech to illness and scribbled a summons for Chancellor Puyang Xing, then had the crown prince bow to him. Clutching Puyang Xing’s arm, Sun Xiu gestured toward the heir—passing the boy into his care.〉 He was thirty sui; posterity honors him as Emperor Jing. 〈Ge Hong’s Baopuzi tells how, under Emperor Jing, Guangling garrison troops looted ancient tombs for timber to patch the walls—scores of graves were violated. They broke into an immense vault with stacked chambers, hinged doors, chariot-wide ramps, and ceilings high enough for mounted riders. Dozens of life-size bronze attendants in vermilion robes flanked the catafalque; labels carved into the rear wall styled them palace generals, gentleman attendants, or palace stewards. The splendor matched a royal burial. When they shattered the inner coffin they found a corpse with silvered hair, robes still brilliant, flesh uncannily lifelike. An inch-thick layer of mica lined the coffin, the body resting on thirty white jade bi disks. The soldiers hauled the cadaver out and propped it against the vault wall. A winter-melon-shaped jade a foot long slipped from the corpse’s breast and clattered to the floor. Lumps of gold the size of jujubes plugged ears and nostrils—proof, claimed Ge Hong, that elixirs had preserved the bones.〉
18
西
Sun Hao (courtesy Yuanzong), grandson of Sun Quan and son of Crown Prince He, also bore the childhood names Pengzu and Haozong. Sun Xiu invested him as marquis of Wucheng and packed him off to his estate. A West Lake diviner named Jing Yang read prodigious greatness in Sun Hao’s face; the prince hugged the prophecy to himself. Sun Xiu’s death found Shu extinguished, Jiaozhi in revolt, and the court desperate for an adult sovereign. Wan Yu, once magistrate of Wucheng and Sun Hao’s friend, praised him to Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu as decisive as Prince Huan of Changsha, devoted to study, and respectful of law. Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu lobbied Empress Dowager Zhu to adopt Sun Hao as heir. She replied, “I am only a widow—what do I know of statecraft? Choose whichever prince preserves Wu and the ancestral shrines.” They rode north and enthroned Sun Hao—aged twenty-three. He proclaimed a new reign title and granted amnesty. On Wei’s calendar the year was the first of Xianxi.
19
His second year opened with a general amnesty. Right Chancellor Wan Yu took post at Bazhou. That summer, the sixth month, ground broke on the Palace of Manifest Brightness, 〈In the third year of Jin’s Taikang era 〈According to the Terrestrial Record〉 Wu already possessed Sun Quan’s three-hundred-zhang Grand Inception Palace. Sun Hao’s Radiant Illumination Palace spanned five hundred zhang per side. Later writers renamed it “Manifest Brightness” to avoid Jin dynastic taboos. The court diary places it east of the Grand Inception Palace. The Jiangbiao zhuan adds that officials below two-thousand-shi rank were forced into the hills to supervise lumbering. Garrisons were demolished to expand royal parks; artificial peaks and belvederes rose in ostentatious excess at a cost counted in hundreds of millions. Lu Kai protested in vain.〉 That winter, the twelfth month, Sun Hao moved his court into the new palace. The same year saw Ancheng commandery carved from Yuzhang, Luling, and Changsha.
20
In the third year, the second month of spring, Ding Gu and Meng Ren rose from imperial counselors to minister of education and minister of works. 〈The Book of Wu recounts Ding Gu’s dream of a pine sprouting from his belly—‘pine,’ he said, parses as ‘eighteen duke’—would he reach duke rank in eighteen years?” Time vindicated the dream.〉 That September Sun Hao rode to East Pass while Ding Feng advanced on Hefei. The same year Liu Jun and Xiu Ze invaded Jiaozhi but Jin’s Mao Jiong crushed them; both commanders fell and the survivors straggled back to Hepu.
21
The first year of Jianheng opened with Sun Hao naming his son Jin heir apparent and investing younger princes as kings of Huaiyang and Dongping. In winter, the tenth month, he changed the reign title and declared amnesty. Left Chancellor Lu Kai died in the eleventh month. Yu Si, Xue Xu, and Tao Huang drove inland from Jingzhou while Li Xu and Xu Cun sailed from Jian’an; both columns aimed at Hepu for the reconquest of Jiaozhi.
22
殿退
Spring of the second year of Jianheng. Wan Yu returned to the capital. When the Jian’an sea lane proved impassable, Li Xu executed his pilot Feng Fei and withdrew. In March a catastrophic fire consumed ten thousand homes and killed seven hundred souls. Grand Marshal of the Left Shi Ji died that April. Palace colonel He Ding charged Chamberlain Li Xu with murdering Feng Fei without cause and abandoning the expedition without orders.” Li Xu and Xu Cun were put to death together with their households. That September He Ding marched five thousand men upstream to Xiakou on a hunting junket. Regional commander Sun Xiu defected to Jin. A general amnesty closed the year.
23
使 西 便 滿 使 使 使 使 使 祿 西
On the last day of the first month of the third year Sun Hao marched the capital army toward Huali, dragging along his mother and concubines until Overseer Hua He’s protests turned him back. 〈The Jiangbiao zhuan narrates how Diao Xuan brought back from Shu dialogues between Sima Hui and Liu Yi on destiny and cosmic cycles. Diao forged a gloss predicting yellow banners and purple canopies in the southeast—the realm would fall to a lord of Jing or Yang.” Defectors from the north added a Shouchun nursery rhyme: ‘The Wu emperor shall ascend.’” Sun Hao crowed, “Heaven calls me west.” He packed his mother, empress, heir, and thousands of ladies onto carts, climbed the Niuzhu road toward Wei, boasting that Luoyang would welcome his green imperial canopy. Blizzards swallowed the roads; armored soldiers had to haul each wagon with hundred-man teams, and frostbite stalked the column. The rank and file muttered that at the first sight of the enemy they would mutiny.” Sun Hao turned the procession homeward.〉 That year Tao Huang and Yu Si stormed Jiaozhi, executed Jin’s garrison commanders, and restored Jiuzhen and Rinan to Wu. 〈The Han–Jin Annals states: At first Huo Yi dispatched Yang Ji, Mao Jiong, and others to garrison, and swore with them: “If bandits surround the city and [you] surrender before a hundred days, family members will be executed; Hold out beyond a hundred days and any blame falls on the inspector alone.” Yang Ji ran out of grain before the hundred-day mark and sued Tao Huang for terms. Huang refused capitulation yet sent rice so they could keep fighting. Wu officers protested, but Huang argued that Huo Yi was dead, relief impossible; starving them out would yield a blameless surrender, pacify Wu’s soldiers, and show mercy toward Jin—why rush?” When supplies vanished and no Jin column appeared, Huang accepted their surrender. The Huayang guozhi identifies Yang Ji as a native of Qianwei. Mao Jiong came from Jianning. Starvation halved the garrison until Wang Yue opened the gates; Tao Huang’s troops seized Yang Ji and Mao Jiong and clapped them in chains. Sun Hao sent Yang Ji toward Jianye under guard; at Hepu he coughed blood and died. The Jin court posthumously named him inspector of Jiaozhi. Earlier Mao Jiong had killed Wu’s vanguard commander Xiu Ze in battle. Tao Huang wished to spare Mao Jiong for his valor. Xiu Ze’s son Xiu Yun insisted on execution; Mao Jiong refused to bend to Tao Huang; enraged, Wu officers bound him and screamed, “Jin bandit!” Mao Jiong roared back, “Wu curs—which side are the traitors?” They disemboweled him alive; Xiu Yun carved out his organs, snarling, “Still playing rebel?” Mao Jiong kept cursing: “I would strike at Sun Hao himself—your father was only a carrion hound!” Then they took his head. Emperor Wu of Jin mourned the deed and ordered Mao Jiong’s eldest son to inherit his title while raising his three younger sons to village marquis within the passes. Pei Songzhi notes that this diverges from the Han–Jin Annals account.〉 The court proclaimed amnesty and split Xinchang commandery from Jiaozhi. Wu columns crushed Fuyan and annexed its territory as Wuping commandery. Fan Shen, commander at Wuchang, became grand commandant. Right Grand Marshal Ding Feng died, as did Minister of Works Meng Ren. 〈The Records of Wu records Meng Ren, courtesy Gongwu, of Jiangxia—originally named Zong, altered to avoid Sun Hao’s taboo. He studied in his youth under Li Su of Nanyang. His mother sewed an oversized quilt so the boy could share it with indigent classmates—poverty need not bar fellowship.” Meng Ren studied day and night until Li Su pronounced him ministerial timber.” He began as a clerk under Zhu Ju, keeping his mother inside camp regulations. Frustrated ambition and a leaking roof drove him to tears before his mother; she answered, “Work harder—why weep?” Zhu Ju noticed his diligence and named him marshal of the salt pools. He netted fish to pickle for his mother; she returned the jars, saying, “A fisheries officer cannot mail pickles home—people will talk.” Promotion followed to magistrate of Wu county. Officials could not bring kin to post; Meng Ren shipped every seasonal delicacy to his mother and ate only after she did. Learning of her death he threw away his seal in defiance of regulation—the tale appears in Sun Quan’s memoir. The court commuted his capital offense and restored him—clear favor. The Chu gazetteer adds that Zong’s mother craved bamboo shoots as winter approached. When no shoots yet pierced the snow, Zong’s lament in the bamboo grove reportedly forced sprouts from the earth—all hailed his filial power. He rose through the palace secretariat to one of the three dukes.〉 Western Park reported assembled phoenixes, prompting a new reign title the following year.
24
使
In the third month of spring in the second year of Tian Ce, Lu Kang became grand marshal. Minister of Education Ding Gu died. That autumn Huaiyang became the kingdom of Lu, Dongping became Qi, and nine more princes received domains—eleven royal households in all, each with three thousand guards. The court proclaimed a general amnesty. Sun Hao’s concubines sent agents to loot the markets; market commandant Chen Sheng, a longtime favorite, dared to arrest them under statute. Enraged, Sun Hao invented new charges, sawed through Chen Sheng’s neck, and hurled the corpse from the Siwang lookout. Grand Commandant Fan Shen died the same year.
25
𠴲 使 使
In the third year Kuaiji buzzed with prophecy that Sun Fen would seize the throne. Linhai governor Xi Xi wrote Kuaiji governor Guo Dan letters attacking court policy. Guo Dan forwarded Xi’s sedition but suppressed the prophecy and shipped Xi to Jian’an shipyards. 〈The Kuaiji Shao lineage 〈House Tradition〉 records:〉 names Shao Chou, courtesy Wenbo, Guo Dan’s chief clerk. When Guo Dan was arrested he panicked, unable to clear his name. Shao Chou spoke up: “Let me answer for myself—your lordship need not fear.” He surrendered to the prefectural jail, confessing that he had urged silence on the prophecy—the fault was his, not Guo Dan’s. Even after reading Shao Chou’s confession Sun Hao’s rage burned hot. Fearing Guo Dan would still die, Shao Chou killed himself to prove the governor’s innocence. His deathbed petition read: “I, a rustic borderer raised by family privilege above my peers, reached the court’s right hand yet never spread the royal beneficence or brought blessing to the people. Sedition now stalks the realm; village gossip about omens is harmless chatter though every lane repeats it. The mandate is sacred; I loathed recording vulgar rumors on silk and hoped silence would starve the scandal. Therefore I persuaded Prefect Guo to bury the memorial rather than stir panic. Blame this fool alone. I welcome execution so long as Heaven judges Guo Dan innocent.” Officials found the testament on his corpse; Sun Hao spared Guo Dan execution and shipped him to Jian’an shipyards. Shao Chou was forty when he died. Sun Hao ordered portrait sacrifices to Shao Chou in every shrine.〉 He Zhi marched to arrest Xi Xi, who mobilized private armies and blocked the coast road. Xi’s own retainers slew him and carried his head to Jianye; three generations of his kin were executed. That July twenty-five inspectors scoured every province for runaways and traitors. Grand Marshal Lu Kang died. Since the reign-title change plague had ravaged Wu year after year. The court carved Guilin commandery out of Yulin.
26
The first year of Tian Ce opened when Wu commandery unearthed an inscribed silver tally—Sun Hao answered with amnesty and yet another reign title.
27
The first summer of Tianji saw Xikou commander Sun Shen raiding into Jiangxia and Runan, burning hamlets and looting farmers. The groom Zhang Xu had climbed to chief censor by informing on colleagues; exposed that year, he was executed. 〈His father, a Shanyin clerk, once memorialized: 'If my son becomes chief censor, do not punish me for his crimes.'” Sun Hao agreed. Zhang Xu impeached twenty colleagues at will; factions exchanged accusations faster than verdicts. Denunciation led straight to jail; judges pocketed silver and ignored justice. Commoners stood paralyzed by terror. Zhang Xu hoarded thirty concubines and murdered at whim until exposure doomed father and son to death by tearing.〉
28
That July Sun Hao invested eleven more kingdoms—Chengji, Xuanwei, and others—each with three thousand guards, and proclaimed amnesty.
29
西西
The third year of Tianji brought Guo Ma's rebellion in the south. Guo Ma had commanded retainers for Hepu governor Xiu Yun. When Xiu Yun moved to Guilin but fell ill at Guangzhou, he sent Guo Ma ahead with five hundred men to pacify the tribes. Xiu Yun's death meant splitting his veterans—hereditary soldiers who refused dispersal. Sun Hao's census drove Guo Ma, He Dian, Wang Zu, Wu Shu, and Yin Xing to incite mutiny and murder Guangzhou commander Yu Shou. Guo Ma dubbed himself governor-general of Jiao and Guang; Yin Xing claimed Guangzhou; Wu Shu claimed Nanhai. He Dian struck Cangwu while Wang Zu struck Shixing. 〈The Han–Jin Annals recalls a prophecy: 'Wu falls when southern armies rise; the ruin comes through the house of Gongsun.'” Sun Hao banished every official or soldier surnamed Gongsun to Guangzhou, far from the Yangzi. When he heard Ma had rebelled, he was greatly frightened and said: “This is Heaven destroying us.”〉 In August Zhang Ti became chancellor and Niuzhu commander He Zhi minister of education. Chamberlain Teng Xun was slated for minister of works but rerouted south as Guangzhou shepherd with ten thousand men—only to stall against Wang Zu at Shixing. Guo Ma slew Liu Lüe of Nanhai and drove off Inspector Xu Qi. Sun Hao ordered Tao Jun west from Xuling with seven thousand men while Tao Huang mobilized Jiaozhi, Hepu, and Yulin—the pincers meant to crush Guo Ma.
30
A freak vegetable dubbed “ghost-eye” sprouted against Huang Gou's date tree—over a yard tall with a thick stalk. Another mutant vine—“mai vegetable”—rose at Wu Ping's door, loquat-shaped with emerald leaves. Court librarians styled the weeds auspicious fungus and named Huang Gou and Wu Ping petty chamberlains with silver seals.
31
Winter brought Jin's seven-pronged invasion: Sima You on Tu, Wang Hun and Zhou Jun on Niuzhu, Wang Rong on Wuchang, Hu Fen on Xiakou, Du Yu on Jiangling, Wang Jun and Tang Bin sailing downstream, Jia Chong coordinating the whole. Tao Jun froze at Wuchang when reports described the scale of the Jin host.
32
使
Sun Hao forced every banquet guest into drunken stupors. Ten sober eunuchs stood witness, cataloguing slips of shame. When cups emptied, they denounced every bleary misstep—awkward glances, sloppy phrases. Major slips earned torture; minor slips still counted as guilt. Thousands of concubines filled the harem, yet press-gangs still hunted beauties. He flooded palace corridors to drown girls who displeased him. Others he flayed or blinded for sport. The odious favorite Cen Hun climbed to the highest ministerial rank and drenched Wu in forced labor until the realm groaned. Court and countryside alike withdrew loyalty from Sun Hao: tyranny had exhausted every ounce of patience. 〈After the conquest of Wu, Yu Jin questioned Li Ren: ‘Did Sun Hao really flay faces and sever feet?’” Ren said: “Those who reported exaggerated. The drowned ruler attracts every slander—mud sticks downstream. Even if true, nothing Sun Hao did should surprise anyone. Antiquity knew amputation and tattoo—Wu cruelties hardly invented torture. A sovereign punishes crime—that is not atrocity but sovereignty. Victims resent executioners; rewarded lackeys sing praise—human nature.” ‘Did Sun Hao gouge every sidelong glance?’” Ren said: “Neither has this matter truth—the transmitters erred. The Classic of Rites prescribes downcast eyes toward superiors—eyes above the brow spell arrogance. Low eyes mean fear; wandering eyes mean treason. Court etiquette regulates every glance—how dare commoners eye a throne? Defiant eyes violate ritual. Disrespect cascades into treason and the headsman’s block. Even had Sun Hao gouged rebels—would law complain?” Yu Jin approved Li Ren’s sophistry—Pei Songzhi omits the rest.〉
33
退 西 使 退 使 西 便 退使 便 使 便
The fourth year opened with eleven new royal investitures and amnesty. Wang Jun and Tang Bin shattered every Wu line without resistance. Du Yu slew Wu Yan at Jiangling; Wang Hun routed Zhang Ti and Shen Ying—victory everywhere. 〈Gan Bao describes Zhang Ti’s thirty thousand troops trapping Zhang Qiao’s seven thousand at Yanghe Bridge behind raised palisades. Wu deputy military counselor Zhuge Jing wished to slaughter them; Ti said: “With a strong enemy ahead, one ought not first attend to small matters; Slaying capitulators brings ill luck.’” Jing said: “These men, because relief troops had not arrived and their strength was slight, therefore temporarily feigned surrender to delay us—they did not come to submit lying prostrate. Massacre would steel Wu morale. Leave them alive and they stab our rear.’” Zhang Ti spared Qiao and marched on. Wu drew up against Jin’s Zhang Han and Zhou Jun. Shen Ying’s five thousand ‘green scarf’ shock troops shattered Jin lines until Huainan veterans stood immovable. Retreat turned to rout; Zhang Qiao struck from the rear at Ban Bridge—Zhang Ti fell captive with Sun Zhen and Shen Ying. The Xiangyang Ji praises Zhang Ti’s early brilliance under Sun Xiu. When Wei attacked Shu, Wu men asked Ti: “Since the Sima clan seized power, great disasters have recurred one after another; although intelligence and strength are abundant, the hundred surnames do not submit. Wei drains itself conquering Shu—how can it endure? Fuchai won Qi yet lost Wu—foreign wars neglect the root.’” Ti said: “It is not so. Cao Cao conquered through terror, not love. Wei emperors burned resources on palaces and paranoia until the realm despised them. The Simas repealed Wei excess and won lasting loyalty. Huainan rose thrice yet Jin held firm; regicide barely rippled—the Simas wield supreme skill. Jin’s foundation is iron—Wu cannot rely on Wei chaos. Shu rots from within—eunuchs and futile wars. Strike Shu while chaos reigns—victory follows. Failure costs little; caution gains nothing. When rivals triumph on our frontier, Wu suffers.” Wu mocked Zhang Ti—yet Shu fell exactly as he predicted. Sun Hao ordered Zhang Ti, Shen Ying, and Zhuge Jing across the river with thirty thousand. At Niuzhu, Shen Ying said: “Jin has long trained a navy in Shu; now it raises the whole state in great expedition—ten thousand li acting together—it must send all Yizhou’s host floating downstream. Wu’s upstream posts lie leaderless—boys hold commands. Jin ships will surround us. Mass reserves for one clash. Win once and the west stabilizes; we retake lost towns later. Attack now and one defeat ends Wu.’” Ti said: “Wu’s impending doom—wise and foolish alike know it—not only today. Wait upstream and Jin surrounds us—panic kills armies. Strike first across the river. Lose and we die for Wu—honor intact. Win and pursue shattered Jin—momentum carries us north. Your timidity leaves us kneeling slaves—never soldiers.’” They crossed—and Wu shattered. Zhuge Jing fled but returned for Zhang Ti—‘Destiny dwarfs one man—why die?’” Ti with tears hanging said: “Zhongsi—today is my day to die. Your father raised me—I owe Wu a martyr’s death. Now I repay the state—where would I run? Let me go.’” Zhuge Jing released him—moments later Jin spears found Zhang Ti. Later critics mocked Zhang Ti’s compromises. The In Search of the Supernatural states: Liu Rong of Songyang in Linhai followed Ti to Yang prefecture—Rong died sick in the boat two days; at the time the army had already gone ashore—there was none who buried him—suddenly he cried loudly: “They bind the military counselor! They seize the commander!’” The corpse sat up screaming. People asked him; Rong said: “At the Gate of the Northern Dipper in Heaven I saw men binding Zhang Ti—I was greatly shocked in mind—unconsciously I cried loudly—saying ‘Why bind Military Counselor Zhang? Spectral guards drove him back to life. He woke trembling, voice raw.” Zhang Ti fell that same day. Liu Rong survived until Emperor Yuan of Jin.〉
34
殿 殿
Third-month bingyin: hundreds of Sun Hao’s guards demanded Cen Hun’s head—the emperor yielded. 〈Gan Bao records guards crying that Jin approached while Wu refused to fight.’” Sun Hao asked why.” ‘Blame Cen Hun.’” Sun Hao muttered, ‘Then sacrifice Cen Hun to the people.’” ‘Yes!’ roared the guards.” They seized Cen Hun. Sun Hao’s countermand arrived too late—Cen Hun was dead.〉
35
祿使 使 退 西 使
Wuchen: Tao Jun promised twenty thousand men on large ships could crush Jin.” Sun Hao gave Tao Jun supreme naval command. By dawn the fleet had deserted. Wang Jun sailed nearer while Sima You and Wang Hun closed both flanks. Hao employed Superintendent of the Palace Xue Ying, Palace Secretariat Director Hu Chong, and others’ plan—separately dispatching envoys presenting letters to Jun, You, and Hun: “Formerly the Han house lost alignment—the nine provinces split—our predecessors seized the moment to occupy Jiangnan—thereupon divided by mountains and rivers—estranged from Wei. Great Jin’s virtue floods the realm. We clung to ignorance. Your armies terrify every shore. We offer seals and hostages—spare the people.’” 〈The Jiangbiao zhuan carries Hao’s letter as defeat neared to his maternal uncle He Zhi: “Formerly the great emperor by divine martial strategy raised three thousand troops—carved out Jiangnan—rolled up Jiao and Guang—opened vast foundations—intending fortune for ten thousand generations. I inherited ruin through incompetence. Mistook calamity for blessing—south rebels rage. Jin surrounds us—Zhang Ti lost half my army. Shame consumes me. Tao Jun reports collapse west of Wuchang. We lose not from hunger but mutiny. Can soldiers fight when hearts flee? The fault is mine alone. Heaven’s omens turned grim above while men groaned below; the kingdom stood like a pile of eggs, Wu’s line was finished—how utterly boxed in. Heaven did not doom Wu—I brought it on myself. Buried in the yellow soil, what face would I have to meet the four rulers who came before? Press on with bold counsel and send word swiftly by letter.” Sun Hao wrote again to his officials: "My lack of virtue disgraces the succession I inherited. Years on the throne brought cruel rule and left the people in misery until they turned to a righteous conqueror; altars fell and shrines stood empty—my shame is mountain-high, and death cannot repay it. I seized a throne my talents never deserved—small wit, coarse nature, yet I bore a king’s burden—exactly the ‘broken cauldron’ the Classic of Changes warns against and the butt of the poets’ mockery. From the day I entered the palace I have been gravely ill at heart; judgment failed me again and again, and affairs slid into ruin. Mean creatures at court bred cruelty; poison spread everywhere, and the faithful were destroyed. I stayed blind while flatterers walled me in; I betrayed you all, and it is too late now—like water spilled from a bowl. Great Jin now rules the realm and strains to raise able men—this is the very season for talent to show its mettle. Guan Zhong had been Huan’s bitter enemy yet served him well; Zhang Liang and Chen Ping left Chu for Han—turning from chaos to good government is not treason. Do not let the change of dynasty shake your purpose. Cherish one another, honor rest and dignity, and meet every duty with love and respect. I have nothing left to say—I lay down my brush.」"〉"
36
【Appraisal】
37
宿 使
The appraisal: Sun Liang was a boy without good ministers to guide him; losing his throne unfinished was inevitable. Sun Xiu favored old favorites like Puyang Xing and Zhang Bu—he never promoted real talent or changed course; zeal for books could not save a realm already falling apart. He also ensured the deposed Sun Liang died unnaturally—brotherly duty meant nothing to him. Sun Hao’s arbitrary cruelty killed or banished countless people. Every official lived in terror, hoping only to survive the day. Astrologers and sorcerers competed to invent lucky signs—as if that were the urgent thing. Even Shun and Yu, saints who worked the fields, bound their ministers by oath—‘Correct me when I stray’—and bowed to blunt counsel as if always falling short. Sun Hao was brutal and stubborn: he executed honest advisers, promoted toadies, tormented the people, and pursued every excess—he deserved to die at the waist for what he did to his subjects. Yet he was spared by edict and honored as a surrendered ruler—what boundless kindness, what richer mercy could there be?
38
洿
〈Sun Sheng argues that rulers exist to shepherd the people and must harmonize with heaven and earth and shelter every creature. When a ruler indulges cruelty, heaven strikes him down, ends his line, strips his throne, and treats him as a tyrant worth executing. That is why Tang and Wu could raise the axe without being called rebels. Gaozu of Han drew his sword and no one accused him of betraying his duty. Why? Because those rulers were enemies of all under heaven, rejected by men and gods alike. Sun Hao was a fugitive villain crueler than Jie and Zhou; even exposing his head and razing his shrines could hardly appease his victims—yet Jin clothed him in honors. Is that how one carries out heaven’s judgment or consoles the people? Thus usurpation goes unpunished and brutality learns no lesson. The Classic of Poetry says: ‘Throw those slanderers to the wolves.’ If mere slander earns that fate, what of usurpation and tyranny? When Jin’s banners swept like lightning and armies stood at his false court, he sued for mercy only after every hope was gone—his guilt was plain and the mercy owed a cornered foe could no longer apply; such ‘expediency’ wins nothing.〉
39
羿 輿 使 西 西 西 駿 歿 西 貿 輿 西 使 西沿 西西
"〈Lu Ji composed the Discourse Distinguishing Wu’s Fall—speaking of why Wu perished—its upper scroll says: Anciently the Han house lost the reins—treacherous ministers stole the mandate—disaster rooted in the capital region—poison spread within the realm—the imperial net slackened in disorder—the royal house thus sank. Heroes rose like swarming bees; armies of righteousness gathered as Emperor Wu of Wu swept down from Jingnan like lightning—bold plans everywhere, loyalty and courage unmatched. His majesty shook mighty foes; battle brought severed heads from the enemy; he cleansed the ancestral shrine and offered solemn sacrifices to the imperial ancestor. Generals rose like clouds and armies like storms; war bands swept in and champions gathered. All claimed righteousness, yet many nursed treachery, clung to chaos, or lacked discipline—feeding rebels—nowhere were loyalty and martial honor clearer than under Wu. When Emperor Wu died, the Prince Huan of Changsha stood forth—a genius for his times. Still in his twenties he shone; he called old loyalists to his side and laid out his design with them. His host drove east: few men broke many lines; cities fell without stubborn defenders, battles ended before blades could meet. He crushed rebels and won allegiance until the land beyond the Yangzi was still; he drilled law and armies until awe spread. He honored men of renown with Zhang Zhao foremost, and champion warriors with Zhou Yu at their head. Both men were brilliant, versatile, and wise; like drew to like, and east of the Yangzi filled with talent. He meant to march north into the heartland, punish traitors, wheel the imperial carriage onto the high road, restore the throne to the palace, take the emperor in hand to command the lords, and set the realm right. His chariots were drawn up and rivals watched in fear, but the great work was unfinished—he died in his prime. Then came our Emperor Da—wise heir who followed great examples, shaped policy from precedent, spread law from ancient ways, and layered firm purpose and thrift upon them. He sought counsel from the able, loved strategy and decisive judgment, and silk invitations ran from wild retreats to busy streets. Heroes answered his call like echoes; men of purpose flocked to his light; uncommon talents converged and fierce soldiers stood thick as a wood. Zhang Zhao became tutor; Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, Lu Su, Lu Meng, and their kind served as his inner council abroad and his arms at home; Gan Ning, Ling Tong, Cheng Pu, He Qi, Zhu Huan, and Zhu Ran displayed martial terror; Han Dang, Pan Zhang, Huang Gai, Jiang Qin, and Zhou Tai showed raw strength; Culture had Zhuge Jin, Zhang Cheng, and Bu Zhi; administration Gu Yong, Pan Jun, Lu Fan, and Lu Dai; bold spirits Yu Fan, Lu Ji, Zhang Wen, and Zhang Dun; envoys Zhao Zi and Shen Heng; diviners Wu Fan and Zhao Da; Dong Xi and Chen Wu died for their ruler; Luo Tong and Liu Ji forced counsel to fix mistakes—every design sound, every choice sound. Thus Wu carved out its mountains and rivers, held Jing and Wu, and matched strength against the world. Wei once rode victory with armies in the millions—boats from the Deng fortifications, troops from south of the Han, countless oars streaming downstream like dragons, crack cavalry sweeping the plain, ministers packed in council and generals aligned—they meant to swallow the Yangzi bank and unite the world. Yet Zhou Yu led Wu’s contingent against them at Red Cliffs; Wei broke and fled, banners scattered, barely escaping with their lives. The Han king too proclaimed kingship, marched Ba and Han’s men through crisis, strung camps for a thousand li, burned to avenge Guan Yu’s defeat, and aimed to retake the lands west of Xiang. Our Lu Xun broke him at Xiling and shattered his army; hemmed in, he escaped only to die at Yong’an. Then came Ruxu, the strike at Linchuan, and the slaughter at Dongguan—not a single wheel came back. Both rivals lost heart and supplies while Wu watched and seized the advantage—Wei sued for peace, Shu begged a treaty—Wu rose to imperial rank and stood as a third power. Westward they carved Shu’s borderlands; northward they split the Huai and Han; eastward they embraced the Baiyue; southward they gathered the southern tribes. They refined the rites of eight ages and the music of the ancient kings, reported to Heaven, and bowed to the feudal lords. Fierce captains and hardened troops lined the Yangzi with halberd and spear, ready to strike at the first squall. Ministers offered counsel above while farmers, artisans, and traders flourished below; civilization reached alien peoples and custom spread to the frontiers. A single envoy could pacify distant lands; tribute horses neighed at the frontier stalls and pearls glowed in the palace—treasures streamed in and curiosities answered the call; light carts raced to the southern wilds while siege engines fell silent on the northern steppe; commoners knew no war and horses were not saddled before dawn—the imperial enterprise stood secure. After Emperor Da died, a boy took the throne and villains ran rampant. Emperor Jing restored his father’s laws and governed without grave fault—a worthy keeper of the founder’s pattern. Down to the eve of surrender, models of virtue still lived among aged ministers. Lu Kang filled the court with civil and military excellence; Lu Kai remonstrated bluntly as chief minister; Shi Ji and Fan Shen commanded respect; Ding Feng and Zhongli Fei were famed as warriors; Meng Zong and Ding Gu rose to high office; Lou Xuan and He Shao handled state secrets—the sovereign was weak, but capable arms still served him. In the final years those ministers died; commoners lost heart and the house showed cracks in its foundations; Wu’s mandate faded and Jin’s armies struck—troops melted at the first clash, people fled to the towns; walls offered no hedge, terrain no trench—there were no Gongshu ladders, no Zhi Bo floods, no Chu-style sieges, no Yan ranks west of the Ji—within days the altars fell. What could loyal rage or martyred heroes salvage then? Cao and Liu had fine generals and armies no smaller than before; offense and defense followed the same logic and the rivers and mountains were unchanged—yet fortune reversed. Why do outcomes invert so strangely between ages? Because customs differed and the talent entrusted to rule differed." 」The lower scroll reads: ‘When the three realms stood as kings, Wei held the Central Plain, Shu Min and Yi, Wu Jing and Yang plus Jiao and Guang. The Caos aided China yet ruled with crushing cruelty—the people hated them. Liu Bei hid weakness behind clever stratagems—his deeds were slight and his realm crude. Sun Ce laid Wu’s foundations by arms and Sun Quan perfected them with virtue—clear-sighted, magnanimous, and far-seeing. He hunted talent as if always behind; he cherished the people like children; he received scholars with perfect courtesy and poured sincere kindness on the worthy. He pulled Lü Meng from the ranks and spotted Pan Jun among prisoners. He trusted men with open heart and did not fret over being fooled; he matched office to ability and never feared a minister’s power. He showed deference like a groom to magnify Lu Xun’s authority; he placed the palace guard in Zhou Yu’s hands to complete his campaigns. He kept palaces plain and meals spare so heroes could be richly rewarded; he opened his heart and humbled himself to hear every strategist. Lu Su pledged loyalty after a single audience; Shi Xie crossed danger to serve. He honored Zhang Zhao and gave up the chase; he prized Zhuge Jin’s counsel and put aside pleasure; he heeded Lu Xun and swept away cruel laws; he admired Liu Ji and swore the three-cup oath; he waited breathless at Lü Meng’s sickbed; he denied himself delicacies to raise Ling Tong’s orphans; he praised Lu Su on the altar and dismissed slander so Zhuge Jin’s integrity stood unquestioned. Loyal men poured out counsel and bold spirits gave their all—great policy tolerates no pettiness. Posts filled quickly while lesser tasks still waited. When he first made Jianye his capital, ministers asked for full imperial ceremony; he refused, saying, ‘What would the empire think of me? Palaces and regalia stayed plainly humble. By mid-reign heaven and men had found their roles and institutions were patched—culture fell short of antiquity, yet the tools to govern body and people were enough. Its territory spanned tens of thousands of li with a million armored men—rich soil, trained people, ample wealth, sharp weapons; sea to the east, mountains to the west, the Yangzi as spine and peaks as belt—no kingdom was ever better favored. Had middling talent held it by the Way and good men governed with skill—honoring old laws, caring for the people, keeping settled strategy and strong barriers—it could have lasted ages without fear of ruin. Some say Wu and Shu were lips and teeth—Shu’s fall doomed Wu. Shu was only an ally on the flank; Wu’s fate did not hang on Shu alone. Why? Their frontier stacked mountain on mountain—no corridor wide enough for chariot trains; rivers ran narrow and fast—terrifying chop blocked passage. A million elite troops could march only a thousand abreast; a thousand li of hulls still put fewer than a hundred ships in the van. That is why Lu Kang compared Liu Shan’s invasion to striking a long snake—the geometry of the threat demanded it. When Shu first fell, ministers quarreled—some proposed damming the Yangzi with stone, others deploying engines against whatever came. The emperor polled the court and asked Lu Kang, who answered that the four great rivers vent heaven’s breath and cannot be dammed; engines both sides might wield, but if Shu gave up its strengths and yielded ground, fighting would shift to Jing and Yang for mastery of the water—Heaven would favor Wu—and he would hold the Gorges and wait for prey. When Bu Chan rebelled, he sheltered behind walls to invite powerful enemies and showered gold on the southern tribes to win them. Jin’s armies rose like storm clouds—flags flew midstream, forts rose on every shoal, choke points were sealed to bar Wu’s westward thrust while Ba and Han fleets swept downriver. Lu Kang took thirty thousand men, seized the Dongkeng heights northward, dug deep moats and raised walls, and rested his blades to gather strength. The traitors cowered awaiting death and dared not seek escape north; the main enemy broke at night and lost half its force. Lu Kang detached five thousand veterans to block the western fleet—east and west triumphed together and captives numbered in the tens of thousands. So the wise man’s plan proved true—could such counsel lie? Afterward beacons seldom flared and the frontier knew little fear. When Lu Kang died, plots multiplied; Wu’s weakness alarmed every neighboring host. The Taikang expedition fielded fewer men than earlier campaigns; the Guangzhou rising hurt less than past crises—yet the state fell and temples burned. Alas! Good men gone—the realm withers—was it not exactly so? The Classic of Changes praises Tang and Wu for reform that matched Heaven; Yang Xiong adds that order appears only when chaos peaks—both describe rulers riding the moment. The proverb ranks terrain above timing; the Changes tells lords to fortify defenses—a kingdom holds by its barriers. Yet harmony outweighs terrain and virtue outweighs walls—defenses succeed only through human hearts. Wu rose because Heaven, earth, and humanity aligned—what Xun Qing meant by ‘harmonizing the three. At its fall Wu trusted only cliffs and currents—abandoning two-thirds of what sustains a state. Four provinces still held multitudes, Jiangnan still bred heroes, mountains stayed defensible, arms stayed sharp, precedents lay ready—why ruin instead of renewal? Those who wielded these advantages squandered them. Ancient kings grasped lasting policy and judged fate’s ledger—they humbled themselves to reassure the people, nurtured kindness for harmony, stayed open to recruit genius, and ruled gently to win hearts. When times were calm, the common people rejoiced with their ruler; when danger came, every household bore the wound alongside him. Shared joy erases peril; Shared peril leaves hardship nothing to dread. That is how rulers kept altars and borders secure—never tasting the ‘ripe wheat’ lament for Yin nor the ‘millet thick’ grief for Zhou.」"〉"
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