← Back to 三國志

卷五十七 吳書十二 虞陸張駱陸吾朱傳

Volume 57: Book of Wu 12 - Biographies of Yu, Lu, Zhang, Luo, Lu, Wu, and Zhu

Chapter 57 of 三國志 · Records of the Three Kingdoms
← Previous Chapter
Chapter 57
Next Chapter →
1
广 "" 使 使
Yu Fan, styled Zhongxiang, came from Yuyao in Kuaiji. 〈The Book of Wu records that as a young man Yu Fan loved scholarship and carried himself with uncommon elevation. When he was twelve, a visitor called on his brother but snubbed Yu Fan; Fan sent a letter after him: "They say amber ignores rotten mustard and a lodestone spurns a crooked needle—a slight delivered and unnoticed sits ill with neither party." The guest read the note with admiration, and Fan's reputation began from that hour.〉 The Administrator Wang Lang named him Clerk of Merit. While Sun Ce was marching on Kuaiji, Yu Fan was in mourning for his father; he appeared at the yamen gate in sackcloth. Wang Lang meant to comfort him, but Fan stripped the mourning garb, went inside, and urged Lang to withdraw rather than face Ce. Lang would not follow his counsel. He fought and was routed, then fled by ship onto the open sea. Fan stayed with the column as escort until they reached Houguan in the eastern circuit; the county magistrate barred the gates until Fan talked him round and won them entry. 〈The Book of Wu adds that Fan first meant to see Wang Lang safely to Guangling, but Lang trusted an inscription attributed to Wang Fangping—Hasten and summon me; the Southern Peak calls—and turned his course southward instead. At Houguan he planned to bolt for Jiaozhou; Fan warned him: That text is nonsense—there is no Southern Marchmount in Jiaozhou; what harbor could such a sign point to? Lang gave up the idea. Lang told him: "You have an old mother at home—you should go back." 〈Yu Fan's separate biography says Wang Lang dispatched him to Yuzhang's Hua Xin to plan raising loyal troops. Before he reached Yuzhang he learned Sun Ce was bearing down on Kuaiji and wheeled about. His father had just died, yet as an accredited envoy he would not detour home; he marched nights until he caught Wang Lang at Houguan. Lang released him to return, and only then could Fan observe the funeral rites. The main narrative, however, claims that when Ce approached, Fan appeared at the yamen in mourning bands urging Lang to yield—quite another story.〉 Once Fan was back, Sun Ce restored him as Clerk of Merit and courted him as an equal. He called at Fan's house himself. 〈The Jiangbiao zhuan records Ce's letter: "What we face now we shoulder together—do not imagine I would handle you like any county clerk."〉
2
" """ 便 便 寿 便使 便 使 怀
Sun Ce loved the chase; Fan warned him: "You have welded stray levies and loose adherents into men who will die for you—Emperor Gao of Han never drew such fealty." Yet these disguised outings leave escorts no chance to secure a perimeter, and your staff pay the price again and again. A ruler without dignity commands no respect—think of the dragon mistaken for a fish and caught by Yu Ju, or the white serpent that Liu Ji cut down when it roamed unchecked. I beg a moment's attention. Ce answered: "True enough—but sometimes brooding leaves me restless at my desk; like Bi Chen sketching the design of a new age, I ride to clear my head." 〈The Book of Wu tells how Ce, campaigning against the mountain Yue, executed their chiefs and sent his men fanning out after the remnant—while he alone, mounted, ran into Yu Fan on a forest trail. Fan asked where his escort was; Ce replied, "All out hunting bandits." Fan exclaimed, "This is reckless!" He made Ce dismount: The grass is tall—if something strikes, you cannot wheel the horse in time. Lead it by the bridle and go on foot with bow ready. Fan handled a spear well and asked to lead. On open ground he urged Ce back into the saddle. Ce said, "And you have no mount—what then?" Fan answered: "On foot I cover two hundred li a day—since these campaigns began none of your runners has matched me. Spur your horse as you will; I will keep up at an easy stride." On the highway they found a signal drummer; Ce seized the horn and blew the rally himself. His units knew the call and poured in; wheeling together they brought three commanderies to heel. The Jiangbiao zhuan relates that after striking Huang Zu, Ce meant to swing through and seize Yuzhang; he called Fan aside: Hua Ziyu counts for something in reputation, but he is not my equal. Word is his materiel is thin; if he will not open the gates and yield, the first roll of drum and gong will mean bloodshed. Go before me and speak my mind plainly. Fan took his orders, rode straight to the seat, and asked leave to dress in a plain jacket and hemp kerchief for an audience with (the opposing side) Facing Hua Xin he asked, "Measured against our late Administrator Wang here, whose name carries farther across the realm—yours or his?" Xin admitted, "I fall short." Fan pressed: How stand Yuzhang's grain stores? Are arms and armor fit? Do soldiers and civilians match ours in fight? Again Xin said they did not. Fan continued: The General Who Punishes Rebels outthinks his generation and moves armies like spirits—you watched him drive off Liu the Yangzhou Inspector; you know how he pacified our southern commandery. To cling to an isolated wall when your stores already fail the tally is folly—delay until tomorrow and remorse will arrive too late. The host is camped at Jiaoqiu; I ride back now—if by noon tomorrow no surrender comes, consider our conference ended. Fan had hardly gone when Xin appeared at dawn beyond the walls and sent officers to greet Sun Ce. With Yuzhang taken, Ce withdrew to Wu, feasted the army, and parcelled rewards by merit. He told Fan: Twice I visited Shouchun and met Ma Midi; central-plain scholars assured me the east bred talent but sighed that our book learning ran shallow and our debate lacked polish. I was not convinced they were right. You are learned and widely read; I meant to send you once to Xu to match wits with court scholars and silence the sneering boys of the interior. You declined, so I dispatched Zigang instead; I doubt Zigang can tie those youngsters' tongues. Fan replied: "I am treasure kept under your roof; parade me abroad and some court might keep me—you would lose an arm. That is why I stayed." Ce laughed: "Fair enough." He went on: "Campaigning keeps me from headquarters—stay again as my Xiao He in Clerk of Merit guise and hold Kuaiji for me." Three days later he sent Fan home to the commandery. Pei Songzhi remarks that neither Wang nor Hua, in that chaotic hour, could truly have stood against such razor-edged force. Hua Xin's moral stature exceeded Wang Lang's, yet the Jiangbiao zhuan quotes Fan asking whose renown matched Wang's—that line is mistaken. Wang fought while Hua yielded chiefly because Sun Ce was new, obscure, and thinly manned—Wang could afford resistance then; was that martial superiority? Once Ce's power swelled past answering, Hua gauged his odds and quit—not necessarily because Zhongxiang's rhetoric swayed him. Had their situations been reversed, Hua would have stood siege while Wang sued for peace. The Wu calendar quotes Fan telling Xin: "Word reaches even our coast that you and Administrator Wang were paired as luminaries of the interior—we gaze upward though we stand far east." Xin answered, "I am no match for Wang of Kuaiji." Fan asked further how Yuzhang's elite troops compared with Kuaiji's. The reply: "Much weaker." Fan said, Calling yourself beneath Wang of Kuaiji is gracious modesty; but admitting your troops fall short of Kuaiji's—that rings true. He sketched Sun Ce's singular gifts and uncanny generalship until Xin conceded he would yield. Fan withdrew; Xin sent officers to welcome Ce. The sources diverge; this reading carries the stronger claim.〉 Fan was then appointed magistrate of Fuchun.
3
" " 使 退 使
At Ce's death every chief official meant to ride to the mourning hall; Fan warned that hill folk in neighboring counties might turn traitor if the towns were left empty. They stayed in place and observed the rites in mourning dress. Other counties copied the measure and kept the peace. 〈The Book of Wu records Ce's death and Sun Quan's assumption of command. Sun Gao, General Who Fixes Martial Might and Ce's elder male-line cousin, camped at Wucheng, drilled officers and men, and aimed to wrest Kuaiji. Kuaiji manned its walls pending the heir's word and sent envoys to reason with Gao. The Kuaiji dianlu preserves Fan's appeal to Gao: Our General Who Punishes Rebels left life unfinished. Authority now rests with the nominated heir; this commandery's officers and I have chained the gates—if we must spend every life in one dawn to shield him from you, weigh that, sir. Gao drew off. Pei Songzhi observes that both texts place Fan still as Clerk of Merit at Ce's death—at odds with this main biography.〉 The province later nominated him Flourishing Talent; Han summoned him as palace attendant; Cao Cao as Minister of Works called him up—Fan refused every appointment. 〈The Book of Wu says that on hearing Cao Cao's summons Fan muttered, Would Robber Zhi smear a decent house with stolen coin? He therefore refused the summons outright.〉
4
" """
Fan corresponded with Kong Rong, Minister of the Household, and sent his commentary on the Changes. Rong answered: "As Yanling ordered music, so you order the Changes—the southeast's glory is not mere Kuaiji bamboo." You read sky-signs and weather-turn, trace fortune's roots until they tally heaven—work worthy of one who sounds the depths of fate. Zhang Hong, eastern Kuaiji commandant, added in his own letter: "Critics have nicked Yu Zhongxiang; polish only brightens a pledged jewel—it cannot diminish him."
5
西 使" " ""
Sun Quan named him Commandant of Cavalry. Fan importuned Quan until the sovereign's patience frayed. Ill-suited to fashion, he drew slander and was sentenced to exile in Jing county, Danyang. Plotting against Guan Yu, Lü Meng feigned sickness back in Jianye; knowing Fan practiced medicine, he asked Fan along—partly to win Fan's release from banishment. When Meng marched west at full strength, Mi Fang, Nan commandery's administrator, opened the gates. Before occupying the walled city Meng staged music on a river shoal. Fan told Meng: "Only General Mi stands wholly with us—can you trust every soul inside? Seize the granary keys and gate bars now." Meng obeyed at once. A concealed scheme stirred inside the walls; Fan's counsel kept it stillborn. After Guan Yu's defeat Quan had Fan cast yarrow: hexagram Constraint with a moving fifth line toward Approach. Fan declared, "Within two days his neck will part." Events matched his reading exactly. Quan said, "You fall short of Fuxi—but you may rank with Dongfang Shuo."
6
" "
The Wei general Yu Jin, taken by Guan Yu and held inside the walls, was freed when Sun Quan arrived; Quan asked for an audience. Another day Quan rode with Jin beside him; Fan barked, "You who yielded as a prisoner—how dare you ride stirrup to stirrup with our sovereign!" Fan raised his whip to lash Jin; Quan shouted him down. Later, at a banquet aboard a tower ship, Jin wept at the music; Fan snapped, "Tears to win sympathy—is that the game?" Quan flushed with resentment. 〈The Book of Wu records that after peace with Wei Sun Quan meant to return Jin north; Fan argued again: Jin broke hosts counted in myriads, then lived on as a prisoner instead of dying honorably. Wei trains for war as routine—Jin will not buy what you hope. Sending him home costs little, yet it frees a bandit; better strike off his head before the host as a warning to any minister who keeps two masters. Quan would not hear of it. As the courtiers escorted Jin away, Fan told him, "Do not mistake silence for emptiness—Wu simply ignored my advice." Jin loathed Fan yet praised him unstintingly; Wei Wendi kept an empty cushion set for Fan at court.
7
"? "" "" "
Once Sun Quan had taken the title King of Wu, a banquet drew toward its close. Quan himself circulated the cup; Fan sprawled on the floor pretending drunkenness and refused it. When Quan passed on, Fan sat bolt upright. Quan erupted, sword in hand; every guest froze in terror. Only Minister of Agriculture Liu Ji sprang up, caught Quan by the arms, and pleaded: "If you execute a good man after the third toast, who will believe Fan deserved it? You drew the realm by sheltering talent—would you scrap that renown in a single dawn?" Quan snarled, "Cao Cao murdered Kong Rong—what is one Yu Fan to me?" Ji answered, "Cao Cao struck down scholars lightly and the world condemned him." You pattern yourself on Yao and Shun—how dare you measure yourself against him? Fan lived because of it. Quan then commanded his attendants never again to carry out death sentences uttered in wine.
8
" " " " " " 退 齿
Fan was rowing when he met Mi Fang; Fang's crew demanded Fan clear the channel—the herald shouted, "Make way for the general!" Fan roared back, "Faithless to lord and ally—what right have you to the title of general?" You surrendered two cities yet parade the rank—is that fitting? Fang slammed his shutters and gave way in haste. Later Fan drove past Fang's camp gate; the guards barred it and blocked his carriage. Fan thundered, Gates that should stay shut stand wide— gates that should admit you slam shut— does any of this follow rule or sense? Fang colored with shame when he heard. Blunt by temper and often rash with wine, Fan wore Quan's patience thin. Discussing transcendents with Zhang Zhao, Fan jabbed a finger at Zhao: "Every sage you cite lies under earth—yet you prattle of immortals!" Old resentments crested; Quan banished Fan to Jiaozhou. Even in exile he lectured without tiring; hundreds sat at his feet. 〈Yu Fan's separate biography records that once Quan took the imperial title, Fan memorialized: Your Majesty unites enlightened sage virtue with the filial patterns of Shun and Yu; the mandate's turn has come; you aid Heaven in nurturing all below. To uphold the charge handed down from Ce—your servant alone could leap for joy. Cut off by crime and exile, I lack stairs to offer congratulations; I gaze toward the throne—half joy, half grief. I weigh myself: my life weighs less than a sparrow's, my nature thinner than a silk thread; my guilt admits only death—yet boundless Heaven spared me nine years; though I deserve the block, life was granted again and again, and I linger still. I am past sixty: shame and anger consume me; I am a ruin of a man, hair white and teeth gone—still breathing yet mourning the tomb I shall never quit the frontier to see the court's splendor or the imperial equipage; I hear only rumor of hymns and festival drums—doomed to end my bones by the ocean's rim. Grief chokes me, yet your ascent floods me with joy until guilt itself fades. He wrote gloss-commentaries on the Laozi, the Analects, and the Discourses of the States that have circulated ever since.
9
鹿 西 怀 使
〈Yu Fan's separate biography says that when he first finished his Changes commentary he submitted: Among the roots of the Six Classics none outweigh yin and yang; Fuxi therefore hung Heaven's patterns aloft, fixed the eight trigrams, and from shifting lines spun out sixty-four hexagrams to speak with the gods and sort the ten thousand things. My great-grandfather Guang, once prefect of Lingling, mastered the Meng Changes in youth; my great-great-grandfather Cheng, once magistrate of Pingyu, carried the tradition forward; my grandfather Feng refined it furthest. My late father Xin, once prefect of Rinan, studied under Feng and kept the earliest exemplars; five generations have handed the craft to me. Earlier exegetes lectured widely but lingered on petty glosses; secret readings drifted from the text itself. I came of age in chaos and learned the canon between drumbeats and saddlebows; trusting my teachers, I anchor every note in the received text. Commandery clerk Chen Tao dreamed I met a Daoist with loose hair and deerskin cloak who laid out the six lines, plucked three for me to drink; I asked to drain them all. The adept answered that Heaven's Changes need only three lines. Surely fate meant me to grasp the canon! Every commentary I read wallowed in convention; wherever sense missed truth I rewrote until it squared with the classic. Confucius said, When the Creative's ninefold yang moves, the realm finds order. The sage faces south as the trigram Clarity dictates—that is how the Son of Heaven aligns yin and yang and draws auspicious omens. I enclose a clean copy and beg indulgence for presumption. Fan submitted again: No classic rivals the Changes. Since Han began, brilliant men who tackled the book have offered thin commentary. Under Emperor Ling Xun Xu of Yingchuan passed for an Changes master; I have his gloss—it bests pedants—yet his reading of "friends in the southwest, loss in the northeast" flips sense entirely. Confucius marveled, Who grasps change knows the work of spirits! —praising the Great Expansion's four emblems—yet opening a chapter with that line is absurd. Nan commandery's Ma Rong, for all his reputation, still trails Xun Xu. Confucius said you may study together yet not share the Way—was he not right? Beihai's Zheng Xuan and Nanyang's Song Zhong both annotated the text; Song lags Zheng slightly, yet neither found the doorway—unfit for public teaching. He added a catalogue of Zheng Xuan's mistakes on the Documents: The Duke of Zhou framed rites to separate superior from inferior; Confucius said lord and minister precede order, and order precedes ritual—exalting the ruler and humbling ministers is ritual's backbone. On the Testamentary Charge passage where Kang Wang holds the mao ornament, Zheng mistook an archaic "moon" graph for "same," copied it wrong, never corrected it, and glossed the mao as a drinking cup; when King Cheng lay dying against the bench he misread ritual face-washing as laundering garments, gratuitously rewriting "tao" as "zhuo" to suit the error; in large seal script the character guan should be read liu; ancient "liu" and "guan" were one graph—yet Zheng glossed it as "dark"; Banish the San Miao north: bei is the old graph for divide, yet Zheng glosses it as north as if north meant separate. Such readings strain credulity. The Jade Office says the Son of Heaven grasps the mao to meet lords—Zheng turns it into a goblet; the royal face-wash becomes laundering robes; the seal-script guan he reads as gloom. That tramples the maxim to admit ignorance. These three points demand correction by the academicians. Ma Rong likewise reads "same" as universal unity; received texts add "metal" and write "bronze"; his gloss on the secondary seal still misses the mark yet edges ahead of Zheng. Left unsettled after my death, later scholars may guess yet stay silent out of false modesty. Across Zheng's Five Classics I count one hundred sixty-seven grave violations—they cannot stand. To let this reach schools and sons' sons shames me. Exiled southward he wrote, "My stiff spine and graceless bones offended the throne; I shall rot on this shore with none to talk to living and only blowflies for mourners dead—yet one true friend under Heaven would acquit my regret." He soothed himself with the canon, hung divinations on the hexagrams, and read good or ill from them. Song Zhong's reading of Zheng erred often; Fan framed new rules and wrote works to untangle Yang and Song. Pei Songzhi remarks that Fan's equation of the seal graphs guan and liu strikes him as sound. Hence surnames such as Liu, Liu, Liao, and Liu share that script by phonetic loan—not the cyclical stem-branch mao, though the graphs look alike. The Hanshu essay on Wang Mang's "mao metal blade" takes mao as the stem-branch character—a confusion I cannot fully untangle here. Common usage confuses them—hence Fan's warning. Xun Xu is the alternate name of Xun Shuang.
10
便 使 谿使 使 使
Ding Lan of Shanyin and Xu Ling of Taimo—petty clerks or men the world had never heard of—won Yu Fan's friendship at a glance and rose to renown. 〈The Kuaiji dianlu notes Ding Lan, styled Xiaolian: orphaned at eight from a poor house, he kept scrupulous conduct, gave his inheritance to a cousin, and earned fame for yielding. He rose to Clerk of Merit and acting magistrate of Shiping. Refined, punctilious, and austere, he admitted no casual callers. Sun Quan esteemed him highly but died before promoting him; Quan grieved deeply and honored his kin. His son Gu, styled Zijian—born Mi—renamed Gu to avoid Teng Mi's name. Kan Ze peered into his cradle and declared, "This boy will reach the highest councils." Gu lost his father young and kept his mother in poverty yet filial ease; he sheltered a helpless cousin as his own. Fan wrote a fellow official: Ding Zijian is depth and virtue embodied; he raises the family hall without leaving kindling in the field—that is true grace. Among sons of good stock none shines like him. He climbed to high office—Left Imperial Clerk under Sun Xiu, Minister of Education once Sun Hao ruled. When Hao turned vicious, Gu joined Lu Kai and Meng Zong in loyal anxiety; he died at seventy-six. His son Mi, styled Qinyuan, served Jin as Inspector of Liangzhou. Grandson Tan became Household Grandee. ◎ Xu Ling, styled Yuanda, distinguished himself over three magistracies and became prefect of Lingling. The court meant to give him ministerial rank; Fan wrote, "Yuanda gains honors Shuxiang never saw in Jin." Such was the regard he commanded. After Ling died, creditors preyed on his bondservants and fields; Luo Tong sued for his family and won Sun Quan's nod to match Ding Lan's precedent. His son Ping, styled Boxian, was a prodigy Yu Fan doted on and praised aloud. Zhuge Ke, campaigning in Danyang, valued Ping's weight of character and took him as aide, then raised him to command Wu's left wing—where Ping won every rank and file heart. Ke had once slighted Ping as a mere clerk; as chief minister he kept him at even greater distance. Ke's son Jian ran into Ping's troops; Ping sent him on, only for another column to take him. He showed two estranged wives a generosity warmer than ritual required. His integrity ran thick and true—every deed of this stamp.〉 He spent a dozen years in the far south and died at seventy. 〈The Book of Wu says exile never dimmed Fan's patriotism—he pressed for action in Wuxi, dismissed Liaodong fealty across broken seas, and warned that trading treasure for horses helped nobody. He drafted advice for Lü Dai, heard nothing back, fell victim to slander, and was shifted deeper into Cangwu. The Jiangbiao zhuan tells how failed Liaodong fleets moved Quan to cite Zhao Jianzi: flatterers cannot rival one honest Zhou She. Yu Fan's blunt candor makes him Wu's Zhou She. With Fan at court that folly would never have sailed. He ordered Jiaozhou questioned at once—if Fan lived, send a ship to bring him home; if he had died, return the coffin and ennoble his sons. Fan was already gone.〉
11
宿西 怀 退 姿 驿宿 簿簿 簿 姿 怀 姿
His bones went to the family plot; wife and children were free to return. 〈The Kuaiji dianlu names Zhu Yu of Shanyin, a Sun Liang-era clerk who invented over a thousand variant characters by analogy. He rose from gate clerk in the yamen. At the morning feast Puyang Xing recalled how earlier prefects had polled scholars—through Zhu of Yingchuan, Han of Wu, and Wang Jingxing—and admitted he had never seen Yu Fan's celebrated answer. He confessed he had hungered after that lore—could the clerk supply it? Yu answered that he had memorized Fan's reply. Fan remembered how Administrator Wang, newly elevated, once asked him: 'Jade comes from Kun peaks and pearls from the southern sea—every quarter hoards its gems." Travelers praise your commandery's worthies—too distant from Luoyang to perfume the capital, yet rich in men. You love old learning—can you name them? Fan answered: 'Kuaiji mirrors Oxherd above and Lesser Yang below—sea east, lakes west, limitless south, Zhe River north—the ground Yu chose when he rallied his lords." Its hills and tides breed loyalty street by street—even women rise to renown. Wang smiled and pressed for names. Fan begged leave to stay recent. He cited Dong Dan of Gouzhang—filial, wilderness-haunted, beast-taming avenger whose tale shook the empire. Chen Xiao turned robbers into neighbors and adopted a cart-pushing crone—Yang Xiong among many sang his praise. Prefect Zheng faced bullies without flinching. Zhongli Yi governed Lu with mercy so deep it entered proverb. He ranged from Chen Gong to Wang Chong—Han historians carved their names; Zhao Ye and Wang Chong plumbed heaven and earth on the page. Qimu Jun saved Jiaozhi and refused a noble stake. Three Meng Yings in a row chose death over dishonor. Liang Hong, Si Xun, and Zheng Yun quit posts rather than stain their term. Wu Long of Yuyao held the bandit portfolio when Mo Hou rose in Mao. Ren Guang and Huang Ta bought their lord's life with their skin. Wang Xiu died so his lord might live—posterity remembers. Wei Shaoying of the Eight Worthies chose the realm over hearth. Yang Qiao refused an imperial princess on grounds of sickness. Zhu Gong united loyal armies when the Han flag frayed. Cao E leaped after her drowned father—the stone by the bank still tells it. Wang answered that Chaofu and Taibo already crowned Kuaiji's fame. Fan replied that older marvels waited if Wang wished. King Yi of Yue fled abdication into a cave—hardly less stubborn than Taibo. Taibo was an outsider in Wu by birth. Count Yu the exile—his grave lies in this soil too. Huang Gong hid from Qin and Han alike yet surfaced when the heir needed him. Yan Zun defied Wang Mang, bowed only to Guangwu, and would not kneel. Their deeds fill annals—not rumor like Chaofu lore. Wang laughed—fine speech. None but Yu could have voiced it. The prefect had never heard the catalogue. Puyang Xing pressed: who ranked beneath Fan's heroes? Yu bowed to virtue—how could he forget? He named Chen Ye—spotless recluse of the Han collapse whose fame crossed provinces—therefore (Huan Wen) Text variants name Huan Wen or Huan Wenlin as the man who wrote—posterity ranked Chen Ye with the Three Lofty Ones. Yu Fan and Luo Tong stood for wit and blunt loyalty. Kan Ze tutored the heir in classical breadth. He Qi's campaigns wrote themselves into Wu history. Wu Fan read heaven like an open book. Ren Yi and Yu Xiang lit the era with brush and edict. Among recluses (Deng) Lu Xu died to ransom a guilty brother. Si Dun, Qi Geng, and Fan Zheng walked to the block for fathers' crimes. Among women—Liu Zhu of Songyang and another of Yongning (Qu Su) Zhai Su (or Qu Su in some manuscripts) stands with widows who chose death over shame when steel crossed their path. Living memory still holds these tales. The prefect murmured that Wu held the empire's best. He asked when Qin turned Wu-Yue into Kuaiji seated at Wu. When did Han kings yield again to a direct prefect? Yu traced Liu Jia's kingship, Ying Bu's murder, Liu Pi's crown. Jing's fourth year broke Pi and restored a Wu seat. Yuanding erased Eastern Yue and folded its lands under Kuaiji's eastern command. Yangshuo moved the yamen to Yin, then Gouzhang under raid. Yongjian split Zhe's north into Wu and brought Kuaiji home to Shanyin. One hundred twenty-nine years had passed since that resettlement. The prefect applauded the chronology. The dialogue fell in Wu Taiping 3, dingchou. Zhu Yu rose to Dongguan director, Qinghe by patent, and palace consultant—master of omens and letters.〉
12
使 退 退 齿
Yu Fan fathered eleven sons. Fourth-born Si stood tallest—promoted from Selection clerk to mounted attendant, then died leading troops against Fuyan. 〈The Kuaiji dianlu says Si, styled Shihong, was Nanhai-born and came home at sixteen when his father died. Sun Lin cast the boy emperor aside for Prince Langye's Sun Xiu. Lin meant to seize the palace before Xiu arrived; the bureaucrats could only nod, pale. Si told Lin he played Yi Yin to the realm—why panic the court by rushing the harem? Entering the palace early would shake faith and stain his fame. Lin sulked yet crowned Xiu. Xiu kept Si, He Shao, Wang Fan, and Xue Ying as close attendants. Fuyan won him Jiaozhou, the Champion baton, and Yuyan marquisate—then death.〉 Younger brother Zhong governed Yidu. 〈The Kuaiji dianlu gives Zhong as Fan's fifth son, styled Shifang. Zhong spotted Lu Ji as a boy and Wei Qian before fame—both climbed high. He bonded with clerk-born Wang Qi—Qi held Yidu first, Zhong followed. Yu Zhong died defending Yidao beside Lu Yan and Lu Jing when Jin breached the walls. His son Tan styled Si'ao. The Jinyang qiu calls Tan reserved yet steel inside—soft-spoken but unbending. Under Jin he reached Defender-in-Chief and won posthumous ministerial glory.〉 Yu Song served as Colonel of Agile Cavalry. He rose to Commandant of Justice and prefect of Xiangdong and Hejian; 〈The Kuaiji dianlu names Song as Fan's sixth son, styled Shilong. Ascetic and punctilious in Wu, he became Hejian chancellor under Jin; Prince Su honored his reputation. He insisted on lifting talent from hedgerows and hovels. Wang Qi argued great names imply genius; Song answered his kinsman Cha that patronage chases winners and shuns unknowns—a vice worth mourning. He trimmed funeral feasts to wine and grain when Bing died, and kin copied him.〉 Bing rose to ministerial rank and governed Jiyin. 〈The Kuaiji dianlu records Bing, Fan's eighth son, styled Shiwen. Wu valued his wit at the Yellow Gates and jumped him to palace minister. Facing invasion Bing surrendered credentials above Wuchang before yielding. At Jiyin he humbled bullies and shielded commoners—justice visible on the street.〉
13
" " " ' ' "
Lu Ji, styled Gongji, hailed from Wu commandery. His father Kang governed Lujiang in Han's twilight. 〈Xie Cheng's Hou Hanshu says Kang, styled Jining, earned a Flourishing Talent nomination for filial conduct. When Li Su fell to the law Kang bore his body home, mourned fully, then rose through three prefectures to Lujiang.〉 Ji met Yuan Shu in Jiujiang at age six. Shu offered oranges; six-year-old Ji hid three in his sleeve until they spilled at leave-taking—Shu teased him about stealing fruit. Ji knelt and said he meant them for his mother. Shu stared in delight. At Ce's council on conquering the realm, boy Ji barked from the lowest seat that Guan Zhong unified Qi without war. He quoted Confucius—win strangers with culture, not steel. He pleaded his youth yet insisted glorifying arms unsettled him. The elders listened slack-jawed.
14
" "" " 广使怀姿 怀
Strapping and encyclopedic, he mastered stars, calendars, and mathematics. Yu Fan and Pang Tong, his elders in fame, counted Ji friend. Quan named him memorial clerk until blunt honesty exiled him to Yulin with rank and two thousand soldiers. Lame and bookish, generalship never suited him. Camp life never stopped his brush—his cosmograph and Change commentary survive. Knowing the hour of death he drafted his lament—a scholar's epitaph for a Han heart broken on the Ling frontier. He prophesied reunification within sixty years he would not live to witness. He died at thirty-two. Hong commanded southern Kuaiji; Rui led the Long River corps. 〈His Yulin daughter Yusheng wed Zhang Bai, Zhang Wen's brother. Yao Xin petitioned that Tang-Yu governance honored worthy women as much as loyal men. Such praise steadies custom for men and women alike. Classic exemplars—Wang Zhuo's lane, the Lu aunt's gate—prove the point. The memorial names Yusheng, Lu Ji's girl—betrothed at thirteen to Zhang Bai. Three months into marriage Bai died afar in family disaster. She refused every suitor, nursed Bai's sisters through ruin, and buried him—Wu's matrons took note. The memorial cites Lu dirges and Qi's weeping widow—honor needs a title. Yao begged the throne to name Yusheng Righteous Aunt and shame faint hearts.〉
15
" "" "" " " "
Zhang Wen, styled Huishu, came from Wu. Father Yun, famed for patronage, clerked Quan's eastern bureau. Yun died young. Wen cultivated character and looked every inch a leader. Quan asked the court Wen's peer. Grand Minister of Agriculture (the character si completing the title) Liu Ji replied that Wen ranked with Quan Cong. Gu Yong cut in—Ji hardly knew Wen yet. Wen has no peer now. Quan cried that Yun's ghost might rest. At Yan audience his eloquence staggered the hall; Quan bowed deeper. Zhang Zhao whispered trust at parting. He climbed to Selection minister and heir tutor—Quan's favorite.
16
使 " 便 "" "
At thirty-two he crossed to Shu as Establishing Righteousness general. Quan feared Kongming would misunderstand Wu's tie to Wei— Therefore he pressed Wen to accept the embassy. Once Yue rebels fell he planned wide pact with Shu. Envoys carry charge, not scripts. Wen apologized for lacking Zhang Lao's fame or Zichan's tongue. Yet Zhuge Liang would read Wu's sky-covering favor and harbor no suspicion. At Chengdu he mounted the stair with memorial in hand:
17
姿耀 使使 便
He opened by praising Shang Gaozong and boy King Cheng—tottering thrones steadied by sage regents. He hailed the Shu emperor's wit and bench of stars that drew the realm. Wu pled fatigue on every front yet stretched envoys to affirm alliance. He prayed Shu would not scorn Wu's courtesy. From the moment your servant (entered) crossed the frontier into your suburbs every kindness fell until humble awe shook me like panic. He respectfully enclosed his prince's sealed dispatch.
18
使
Shu honored his gifts. Home again Quan posted him to muster Yuzhang troops—work cut short.
19
宿
Quan envied Wen's Shu praise and towering name—Ji Yan's purge gave cover. Ji Yan—another Wu man Wen promoted to Selection minister. Yan meant to cleanse the clerk corps with ruthless rankings. He shattered careers—demoting most clerks and drafting bottom feeders into camp duty. Grudges mounted; poison memos flew. Rumor branded Yan and Xu Biao partisan. Both men suicide under interrogation. Wen's letters to them damned him. Quan clapped him in jail and proclaimed:
20
退 便宿 便 退
Quan raged that Wen betrayed trust lavished on him. He recalled hiring Ji Yan despite kin guilt to test the man. Yan's colors showed soon enough. Wen wagered life on Ji Yan's roster—every lift and fall answered to Wen alone; allies wore honor while outsiders faced forged scandal. Quan reminded granting Wen halberd command to rush home reserves. Instead Wen petitioned Yuzhang bandit hunts Quan funded. Five thousand picked troops followed his banner. When Pi marched east Quan ordered Wen ready. Wen hid his host in hills and ignored mobilization. Pi retired without battle—luck alone. Quan lumped in Yin Li's Shu missions as Wen's foreign intrigue. Yin Li should have reclaimed his old desk; Wen parked him in Household affairs—a patronage seat. He promised Jia Yuan the censorate and Jiang Kang Jia's chair—trading palace favors for faction. Given that bent mind, no intrigue seemed beneath him. Quan spared him execution—sent him home as a scrub clerk. Wen keeps his head—that passes for mercy.
21
Luo Tong petitioned for Wen:
22
殿 退 宿宿 使 使覿 使 使使 使 姿 殿 ?忿 宿
He hailed Quan's divine patronage of scholars. Many owed Quan favor; Wen owed most. Wen squandered favor—the thought pains Tong. As eyewitness he lays out truth. Young, dazzled by fame, Wen trafficked in reputations—that stirred envy. Envy drove out Jia Yi despite Han Wendi's wisdom—slander works that way. Why? Malice ran deep; rumor wore silk gloves. Confucius knew rulers mishear—fame lies and lasts. Wen lacked warrior fame yet outshone Wu in letters and debate. Talent scarce and fault overstated. Mercy would crown Quan's reign. Yan rose through Zhu Zhi and public notice—not a palace villain. Court bonds outweigh private friendship. If Wu tolerated Yan, Wen's letters were harmless. Court lifted Yan; Wen only mirrored. Wen's bandit hunt aimed to draft grit into the ranks. Plans tangled; results lagged boasts. He matched Xu Yan's levy numbers. Troop quality matched precedent. He hit the autumn timeline despite hurry. Praising Yin Li on embassy matched ritual allowance. Private intrigue differs from accredited talk. Mandated envoys may trade courtesy. Confucius allowed private audiences abroad. Jizi chatted at Zhou feasts—canonical parallel. Envoys mirror kings. Wen's praise advertised Wu's bench. At the Song league Zhao Wenzi touted Jin's minister Sui to Chu's Qu Jian—a classic compliment. Chu's Sun Wei praised Zuo Shi before Zhao Yang in Jin. Annals applaud such praise—not treason. Wen's clash with Wang Jing proved impartial zeal. If Wen snubbed mighty Jing he hardly horse-traded two petty clerks. Wen browbeat idle Jia Yuan—hardly courting him. Plotters would not bother with Yuan. Charges fail fact and gossip. One man atop a layered palace cannot alone sound every heart beyond the four seas or master every thread of policy—so he must weigh counsel from below and widen what his ears can hear. Accusers and defender both sound patriotic. Quan can weigh bent from true. Tong claims no kinship—only duty like ancient advisors. Their example forces Tong's memo. The plea serves Wu—not Wen's skin.
23
Quan ignored him.
24
退使使
Six years on Wen died sick. Brothers Zhi and Bai fell with him. 〈Yu Jun called Wen flashy fuel for ruin. Kongming doubted until Wen fell—then praised Yu Jun. Liang judged Wen too harsh a moralist. Pei cites Zhuangzi—fame devoured Wen. Sages warned against hunger for name. Far-sighted men therefore bury themselves from acclaim—never letting renown outrun virtue or blossom eclipse kernel—and though few can wrap treasure in sackcloth and flee praise entirely, those who flash talent across an age while topping every tongue abandon the low-profile Way; that temper cannot hold long. Wen did opposite—fall followed. Quan hated Wen's renown while Tong crowned him peerless—oil on flame. Like pouring lard on bonfire. Wen's fall dragged three married sisters. One sister poisoned herself rather than remarry Ding. Wu canonized her—village murals sang her.〉
25
忿 使 ! 使
Luo Tong, styled Gongxu, from Wushang. Father Jun reached Chen chancellor. Yuan Shu killed him. 〈Jun—styled Xiaoyuan—rose from clerk to Chen. Jun shielded Chen when Shu seized imperial style. Chen flourished under his care. Shu's starving host begged Chen grain. Jun refused the tyrant. Shu assassinated him.〉 At eight he quit stepfather Hua Xin for Kuaiji. He rode off without looking—mother wept. Charioteer said: "Your mother still stands there." Tong said: "I wish not increase mother's longing—therefore do not look back." He honored his stepmother strictly. Famine years saw him fast for neighbors. His widowed sister pressed why he starved. Tong said: "Gentlemen lack even chaff coarse grain—what heart have I to feast alone!" Sister said: "If truly so—why not tell me—and bitter yourself thus?" She fed him from private bins—mother approved—fame spread.
26
使
At twenty he governed ten thousand Wucheng households. Quan made him Clerk of Merit and Fu's son-in-law. He rushed fault reports overnight. He asked Quan to toast ministers one by one. Probe hardship—win loyalty. Quan listened. He led three thousand picked bowmen. He inherited Ling Tong's column.
27
Plague and drafts gutted the south—Tong wrote:
28
調 殿 殿 殿
Realm needs land, awe, virtue, heirs. All six roots feed from the people. Classic bonds lord and folk. Ruler and ruled need each other. War, tax, plague emptied Wu's farms of young men. Draft terror chains folk to home like fear of dying. Caretakers ship sons first. Rich buy exemptions until broke. Bold ones flee to bandits. When households are drained and voices rise in distress, fields lie idle, poverty bites, and life loses savor—bellies grow desperate, wicked intent stirs, and desertion spreads. Common folk too poor to feed newborns abandoned infants. Frontier colonists dumped babies too. Heaven sends life while parents end it—such slaughter twists cosmic balance. Wu faces endless wars yet loses breeders—no dynasty survives that. People are the hull—still water floats the ship; chop the waves and it founders. Magistrates chase quotas, not mercy—betraying your humane rule. Administration and folkways rot—collapse looms. Heal before terminal ruin—spare thought for hollow counties and starved farms. To serve thus would immortalize Tong’s death.
29
Quan took the memorial to heart.
30
使 便
Yidu victory beside Lu Xun won him stars. He repelled Cao Ren’s raid at Ruxu and held the ford. Scores of sound memorials go uncopied here. He condemned mercenary drafts corrupting morals—Quan yielded after debate. He died at thirty-six in Huangwu 7.
31
广 " "
Lu Mao, styled Zizhang—Lu Xun’s brother. Scholarly and loyal from youth. Northerners of slender means sought his door. They lodged with Mao— 〈Yuan Di’s grandson chronicled their crossing south.〉 Mao shared crust and honey alike. He buried Xu Yuan’s orphans and raised cousin Ji’s children. He refused every summons. Ji Yan ranked clerks harshly. He aired secret sins to shame men. Mao urged mercy—sages magnify good and forgive folly. Wu needed Han-style inclusion—not Ru appraisal purity. Better emulate Confucius and Guo Tai than Ru gossip. Yan ignored him and fell.
32
忿
Jiahe draft brought him to Selection minister. Quan’s Liaodong fury drew Mao’s plea:
33
使滿西使 忿 忿 使 使
Barbarians merit loose reins—not permanent rule. Yuan is a seaside savage in human mask. Wu bought Liaodong horses—not virtue. Coastal arrogance is ordinary. Han lost fortunes and lives hunting frontier awe. A royal Liaodong crossing unsettles the court. Why? Wei waits for Wu to bare its flank. Horse-buying aimed at urgent need—not vanity. Invading Liaodong pleases Wei—not Wu. War trades exhaustion for advantage. Beachheads split armies three ways—few combat-ready. Foot columns hauling grain face mounted raids. If Yuan keeps ties north—Wu moves—they close ranks. If isolated he flees—hard to finish. Delay invites Wei and hill rebels alike.
34
Quan hesitated. Mao wrote again:
35
Classical wars followed domestic peace. Mid-Chaos demands rooted defense—not distant adventures. Even flush Han Wendi cautioned against Nan-Yue. Wei still threatens—Yuan can wait. Stand down hosts—plan Liaodong later.
36
Quan read twice and cancelled the march.
37
Mao alone doubted Min’s hype—proved right. He died Chiwu 2. Son Xi ran Selection under Hao. 〈Xi entered Jin as attendant. Grandson Ye rose to chariot general with Three Ducal parity. Younger brother Wan styled Shiyao. Wan reached Minister of Works—posthumous Grand Commandant.〉
38
簿
Wu Can from Wucheng. 〈A Gucheng matron foretold ministerial bones.〉 Sun He spotted genius in a clerk. He rose Qu’a aide to chief clerk with renown. From nothing he matched Lu Xun’s chorus. Quan made him registrar, Shanyin magistrate, then supervisor.
39
" "
Huangwu 1 he fought Cao Xiu at Dongkou. Gale wrecked the fleet—Wei seized hulls while Wu sailors clubbed drowning comrades away. Can and Yuan ordered rescue despite risk. Can swore share the sinking. Desperation forbids desertion. They saved over a hundred.
40
" " 使
He coaxed recluse Xie Tan with dragon-phoenix metaphor. He campaigned Yue with Lü Dai then tutored the heir. He demanded Prince Ba leave court and ban Yang Zhu. He briefed Lu Xun who memorialized in chorus. Ba and Zhu framed him to death.
41
姿
Zhu Ju styled Zifan from Wu commandery. Handsome, strong, sharp in dispute. Huangwu opened with palace posts. Ji Yan meant to purge corrupt clerks. Ju urged merit-forgiveness—not purge—in unstable times. Yan refused and fell.
42
祿
Quan named Ju heir to Lü Meng’s dual genius. Huanglong saw him wed princess and take left general. Generous to a fault—always broke. Jiahe minted 500-cash coins. Clerk died under Lü Yi’s rods—Ju gave him rich burial. Yi claimed Ju buried clerk to hide theft. Ju lay on straw pleading ignorance. Liu Zhu exposed Wang Sui—Quan saw Ju framed. Yi fell; Zhu won reward.
43
Chiwu 9 made him agile cavalry general. He defended the crown prince unto death— 〈Tongyu cites Ju’s warning—the heir is the root. Li Ji and Jiang Chong lessons. Even a repentant hall cannot recall dead heir.〉 Quan banished him Xindu assistant. Sun Hong whispered poison into a dying Quan's ear and forged an order—Ju never reached his post; they forced him to die at fifty-seven. Sun Liang restored both sons to commands; Princess Quan framed them and both perished. Yong'an auditors remembered old service—Xuan took the Yunyang title and a princess bride. Under Hao he climbed to agile cavalry command.
44
Appraisal
45
Chen Shou calls Fan a classical blunt loyalist ill-suited to a fallen age—yet Quan's inability to shelter him betrays a petty court. Lu Ji stood to Yang Xiong's Taixuan as Confucius to Zuo Qiu or Laozi to Zhuang Zhou—a peer interpreter. Temple-grade talent parked on a Ling frontier—what misuse of a man! Zhang Wen blazed with letters but lacked political guardrails—and paid for it. Luo Tong framed the grand moral case with knife-edge clarity—against Quan's deaf door. Lu Mao's loyal counsel earned gentlemen's praise. Wu Can and Zhu Ju died for doing right—grief on grief.
← Previous Chapter
Back to Chapters
Next Chapter →