1
Wang Fan, courtesy name Yongyuan, came from Lujiang commandery. He was widely read and well informed, and equally at home with astronomy, mathematics, and the technical arts. He began as a gentleman clerk in the secretariat, then resigned his post. When Sun Xiu took the throne, Wang Fan, He Shao, Xue Ying, and Yu Si were all named attendants at ease and regular palace attendants, each with the additional title chief commandant of carriage escort. Public opinion ranked them among the court's clearest spirits. Sent on embassy to Shu, he won high praise there; on his return he was named supervisor of the army at Xiakou.
2
Early in Sun Hao's reign. He was recalled to court as regular attendant, serving alongside Wan Yu. Wan Yu was an old friend of the emperor, and shallow courtiers, nursing slights, whispered that Wang Fan looked down on him. Chen Sheng, aide in the secretariat and Sun Hao's favorite, kept whispering slander against Wang Fan. Wang Fan carried himself with stiff dignity and would not truckle or read every twitch of the imperial brow; He sometimes crossed the emperor, and rebuke piled up against him.
3
甘露二年，丁忠使晉還，皓大會群臣，蕃沉醉頓伏。 皓疑而不悅，舉蕃出外。 頃之請還，酒亦不解。 蕃性有威嚴，行止自若，皓大怒，呵左右於殿下斬之。 衛將軍滕牧、征西將軍留平請，不能得。 〈江表传曰：皓用巫史之言，谓建业宫不利，乃西巡武昌，仍有迁都之意，恐群臣不从，乃大请会，赐将吏。 问蕃“射不主皮，为力不同科，其义云何”？ 蕃思惟未答，即於殿上斩蕃。 出登来山，使亲近将 （跳） 蕃首，作虎跳狼争咋齧之，头皆碎坏，欲以示威，使众不敢犯也。 此与本传不同。 吴录曰：皓每於会，因酒酣，辄令侍臣嘲谑公卿，以为笑乐。 万彧既为左丞相，蕃嘲彧曰：“鱼潜於渊，出水煦沫。 何则？ 物有本性，不可横处非分也。 彧出自谿谷，羊质虎皮，虚受光赫之宠，跨越三九之位，犬马犹能识养，将何以报厚施乎！” 彧曰：“唐虞之朝无谬举之才，造父之门无驽蹇之质，蕃上诬明选，下讪桢幹，何伤於日月，適多见其不知量耳。” 臣松之按本传云丁忠使晋还，皓为大会，於会中杀蕃，检忠从北还在此年之春，彧时尚未为丞相，至秋乃为相耳。 吴录所言为乖互不同。〉
In the second year of Ganlu (266), when Ding Zhong returned from his mission to Jin, Sun Hao feasted the whole court; Wang Fan drank himself insensible and slumped forward. Sun Hao took offense at his condition and had him carried from the hall. He soon asked to come back in, still far from sober. Wang Fan bore himself with unbending dignity; Sun Hao flew into a rage and ordered his guards to cut him down below the steps. General Teng Mu and General Liu Ping begged for his life, but Sun Hao would not listen. 〈The Jiangbiao zhuan relates that Sun Hao, heeding sorcerers who called the Jianye palace ill-omened, moved west to Wuchang while planning a full change of capital; fearing opposition, he summoned a grand banquet for officers and showered them with gifts. He asked Wang Fan what the Analects meant by "In archery, piercing the hide is not the point; strength differs by rank." Before Wang Fan could answer, Sun Hao had him executed on the spot. He went out to Mount Lai and ordered his attendants to take —toss— They took Wang Fan's head and staged tiger leaps and wolf bites until the skull was pulp, hoping to cow the assembly into silence. This version disagrees with the main biography. The Wu lu notes that at feasts, once the wine flowed, Sun Hao habitually made his attendants ridicule the high ministers for sport. After Wan Yu became left chancellor, Wang Fan needled him: "Fish belong in the deep; Why is that? Every creature has its proper place—you cannot usurp a station that is not yours. You crawled from a backwater yet wear a tiger's pelt: you soak up glory and vault over ranks you never earned. Even dogs and horses know gratitude—how will you repay such bounty?" Wan Yu retorted: Under Yao and Shun no fool was promoted; at Zaofu's stable no cripple nags were kept. Wang Fan slanders the civil service above and mocks the state's timber below—he does not scratch the sun and moon; he only shows how little he knows his own measure. Pei Songzhi observes that the main text places Wang Fan's death at Ding Zhong's return feast in the spring of that year, when Wan Yu was not yet chancellor—he became chancellor only in autumn. The Wu lu account therefore conflicts with the standard biography.
4
Lu Kai memorialized: Wang Fan is the inner integrity and clear judgment of the court—Wu's pillar, your Long Pang. He served Emperor Jing as a candid advisor and won that emperor's open admiration. Yet you resented his blunt speech, executed him in open court, and left his body unburied—the whole court grieves, every thoughtful man mourns. Such was Lu Kai's grief for Wang Fan. Wang Fan died at thirty-nine; Sun Hao banished his kin to Guangzhou. His brothers Wang Zhu and Wang Yan were both promising men; when Guo Ma rose in revolt they refused to serve him and were put to death.
5
Lou Xuan, courtesy name Chengxian, came from Qi in Pei commandery. Under Sun Xiu he served as censor of agriculture. When Sun Hao took the throne, Lou Xuan joined Wang Fan, Guo Chuo, and Wan Yu as attendants at ease and regular palace attendants, then served as grand administrator of Kuaiji and grand minister of agriculture. By old practice, posts inside the forbidden precinct had always gone to favorites. Wan Yu argued that intimate inner offices should employ good men, so Sun Hao ordered the offices to seek loyal and incorrupt gentlemen and chose Lou Xuan as Colonel Garrisoning the Forbidden Interior below the palace, in charge of affairs within the halls. Ranking with the nine ministers, Lou Xuan carried the blade as an imperial guard, corrected himself and led the others, acted according to law, and answered sharply and directly. He repeatedly crossed Hao’s wishes and gradually drew blame and anger. Later a informer claimed he had stopped in the road with He Shao, whispered and laughed, and mocked policy; an edict condemned him and he was banished to Guangzhou.
7
Governing a state, in my humble view, is like running a household. Overseers of the countryside must be honest and reliable. You also need one man to hold the threads and set the net in order. The Analects says of Shun that he 'ruled without acting'—only sat south in correct dignity. That means the right men held office, so the ruler could rest easy. The realm is still unsettled; every matter, great or small, crosses your desk and drains your spirit. You study the classics, pursue the arts, and cultivate qi—you need quiet space for reflection and breath of purity to match Heaven. Among all officials none matches Lou Xuan for steady hands on heavy work. Lou Xuan is incorrupt, loyal, and devoted—the court admires his integrity above all. Purity steadies the mind; loyalty walks the straight road—Lou Xuan will not waver. Pardon his past errors, restore him to high office, and demand results. Appoint the worthy to fit posts and you may approach Shun's ease of rule.
8
Sun Hao, resenting Lou Xuan's reputation, again transferred Lou Xuan and his son Lou Ju, handing them to General Zhang Yi in Jiaozhi with orders to prove themselves in battle, while secretly instructing Zhang Yi to kill them. Lou Ju died of illness on reaching Jiaozhi. Lou Xuan alone followed Zhang Yi against rebels, sword in hand, wading on foot; whenever he met Zhang Yi he bowed deeply, and Zhang could not bring himself to strike. When Zhang Yi died suddenly, Lou Xuan prepared his body for burial and found the secret order in the baggage; he returned and took his own life. 〈The Jiangbiao zhuan says Sun Hao sent Zhang Yi after Lou Xuan with poison; Zhang, honoring Lou as a worthy, hesitated to announce the edict; Lou guessed the truth and told him, "Tell me plainly—I do not cling to life." He drank the poison at once. Pei Songzhi doubts that so principled a man would suddenly bow repeatedly to Zhang Yi and stain his honor. Nor would a hundred bows avert a plot already sprung. The Jiangbiao zhuan version is the more plausible.
9
He Shao, courtesy name Xingbo, was a native of Shanyin in Kuaiji 〈The Book of Wu identifies him as He Qi's grandson and He Jing's son.〉 When Sun Xiu took the throne he rose from gentleman of the palace to attendant at ease and regular palace attendant, then became grand administrator of Wu. Under Sun Hao he became left army supervisor, then director of the secretariat, while serving as grand tutor to the heir apparent.
10
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Ancient sage kings knew the realm from the inner palace because they employed worthy men. You should walk the Way, honor the throne, lift up the worthy, and set the government aright. In recent years the court has been a tangle of true and false talent, offices stand empty inside and out, and neither civil nor military posts are reliably filled. Sycophants twist imperial power while good men are cast aside and loyal officers ruined. Upright men blunt their edges while mediocrities anticipate every whim. Men mouth inverted judgments and clever heresies until clear streams run foul and loyal tongues fall silent. You sit aloft in a hundredfold palace; your word runs like wind, your command like shadow; you hear only flatterers and will think the realm already at peace. What troubles my heart I dare not withhold.
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A rising king loves to hear his faults; a doomed king loves praise. Faults heard shrink and fortune grows; praise heard swells and calamity nears. The ancients yielded to bring forward talent and took the throne as riding rotten wood beside a tiger's tail. You silence candor with cruel law, exile good men who remonstrate, chase gossip, and drown in favorites' whispers. Gaozong dreamed his ministers; you forget yours and toss them aside. Wang Fan was fit to be your pillar—you slew him for a drunken slip. Ge Xi, an elder statesman, misspoke while drunk—rites forgive what follows three cups—yet you called it lese-majesty, forced strong wine on him, and he died of poison. Officials now count leaving office as luck and staying home as blessing—no way to preserve the dynasty or spread moral rule.
13
又何定本趨走小人，僕隸之下，身無錙銖之行，能無鷹犬之用，而陛下愛其佞媚，假其威柄，使定恃寵放恣，自擅威福，口正國議，手弄天機，上虧日月之明，下塞君子之路。 夫小人求人，必進奸利，定間妄興事役，發江邊戍兵以驅麋鹿，結置山陵，芟夷林莽，殫其九野之獸，聚於重圍之內，上無益時之分，下有損耗之費。 而兵士疲於運送，人力竭於驅逐，老弱饑凍，大小怨歎。 臣竊觀天變，自比年以來陰陽錯謬，四時逆節，日食地震； 中夏隕霜，參之典籍，皆陰氣陵陽，小人弄勢之所致也。 臣嘗覽書傳，驗諸行事，災祥之應，所為寒慄。 昔高宗修己以消鼎雉之異，宋景崇德以退熒惑之變。 願陛下上懼皇天譴告之誚，下追二君攘災之道，遠覽前代任賢之功，近寤今日謬授之失，清澄朝位，旌敘俊乂，放退佞邪，抑奪奸勢。 如是之輩，一匆復用，廣延淹滯，容受直辭，祗承乾指，敬奉先業，則大化光敷，天人望塞也。
He Ding was a runner beneath slaves, without a shred of merit—yet you dote on his flattery, hand him power, let him twist state policy and block the path of good men. He Ding wastes troops hunting game, strips the hills, pens every beast—no gain to the state, only ruinous cost. Soldiers stagger under corvée, the people starve and curse. Heaven's omens grow strange—yin and yang reversed, seasons awry, eclipses and quakes; frost in midsummer—all signs that yin bullies yang while petty men twist power. History shows such omens always presage ruin—it chills the blood. Gaozong and Duke Jing of Song averted Heaven's wrath by virtue. Fear Heaven's warnings, follow those ancient models, purge the court of crooks, and curb corrupt power. If men of that sort are not employed again, broadly advance the long-stagnant, accept blunt speech, reverently follow Heaven's direction, and honor the former enterprise, then great transformation will spread and Heaven and men will have their hopes fulfilled.
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《傳》曰：‘國之興也，視民如赤子。 其亡也，以民為草芥。 ’陛下昔韜神光，潛德東夏，以聖哲茂姿，龍飛應天，四海延頸，八方拭目，以成康之化必隆於旦夕也。 自登位以來，法禁轉苛，賦調益繁。 中宮內豎，分佈州郡，橫興事役，競造奸利。 百姓罹杼軸之困，黎民罷無已之求，老幼饑寒，家戶萊色，而所在長吏，迫畏罪負，嚴法峻刑，苦民求辦。 是以人力不堪，家戶離散，呼嗟之聲，感傷和氣。 又江邊戍兵，遠當以拓土廣境，近當以守界備難，宜特優育，以待有事，而征發賦調，煙至雲集，衣不全裋褐，食不瞻朝夕，出當鋒鏑之難，入抱無聊之戚。 是以父子相棄，叛者成行。 願陛下寬賦除煩，振恤窮乏，省諸不急，蕩禁約法，則海內樂業，大化普洽。 夫民者國之本，食者民之命也，今國無一年之儲。 家無經月之畜，而後宮之中坐食者萬有餘人。 內有離曠之怨，外有損耗之費。 使庫廩空於無用，士民饑於糟糠。
The Zuo Tradition says, "When a state is rising, it cherishes the people as infants; a dying state treats them as chaff. " When you lived in the east the realm looked for a Cheng-Kang age the moment you mounted the throne. Instead, laws grew crueler and taxes heavier. Eunuchs fan out through the provinces, inventing projects and lining their pockets. The people groan under endless taxes; families go hungry and gray-faced while magistrates, terrified of blame, torture them with harsh law to meet quotas. Families break apart and wails of despair sour the very air. The Yangzi garrisons need rest to guard the frontier, yet levies swarm like clouds; men lack decent clothes or two meals a day, die on the line, and return to empty homes. Fathers and sons desert each other and deserters line the roads. Ease taxes, aid the poor, scrap needless projects, and simplify the code—then the realm may live in peace. The people are the root; grain is their life—yet the treasury holds less than a year's grain. Families lack a month's savings while over ten thousand idlers feast in the harem. Within the palace women pine in neglect; without, the treasury bleeds. Granaries drain for no good while the people starve on chaff.
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又北敵注目，伺國盛衰，陛下不恃己之威德； 而怙敵之不來，忽四海之困窮，而輕虜之不為難，誠非長策廟勝之要也。 昔大皇帝勤身苦體，創基南夏，割據江山，拓士萬里，雖承天贊，實由人力也。 餘慶遺祚，至於陛下，陛下宜勉崇德器，以光前烈。 愛民養士，保全先軌，何可忽顯祖之功勤，輕難得之大業。 忘天下之不振，替興衰之巨變哉?臣聞否泰無常，吉兇由人，長江限不可久恃，苟我不守，一葦可航也。 昔秦建皇帝之號，據殽函之阻，德化不修，法政苛酷，毒流生民，忠臣杜口，是以一夫大呼，社稷傾覆。 近劉氏據三關之險，守重山之固，可謂金城石室，萬世之業，任授失賢，一朝喪沒，君臣系頸，共為羈僕。 此當世之明鑒，目前之炯戒也。 願陛下遠考前事，近覽世變，豐基強本，割情從道，則成康之治興，而聖祖之祚隆矣。
The northern enemy watches our strength; you do not trust your own virtue; you bank on their staying away, ignore the empire's misery, and assume they will never strike—no recipe for lasting victory. The Grand Emperor built Wu with his own sweat though Heaven smiled on him. His legacy rests with you—honor his virtue and magnify his deeds. Cherish the people and the scholar-officials; do not squander what he won with such pain. Will you forget the realm's peril? Fortune turns; the Yangzi is no eternal shield—fail to hold it and a reed boat suffices to cross. Qin held the passes yet fell to one cry of revolt when law turned cruel and loyal tongues fell silent. Liu Shan held impregnable Shu yet lost everything in a day when wrong men held office—ruler and ministers bound like slaves. That is the mirror of our age and a warning in plain sight. Study past and present, strengthen the foundations, rule by principle, not whim—then you may revive a Cheng-Kang age and honor your ancestor's line.
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書奏，皓深恨之。 邵奉公貞正，親近所憚。 乃共譖邵與樓玄謗毀國事，俱被詰責。 玄見送南州，邵原復職。 後邵中惡風，口不能言，去職數月，皓疑其托疾，收付酒藏，掠考千所，邵卒無一語，竟見殺害，家屬徙臨海。 並下詔誅玄子孫，是歲天冊元年也，邵年四十九。 〈邵子循，字彦先。 虞预晋书曰：循丁家祸，流放海滨，吴平，还乡里。 节操高厉，童齔不群，言行举动，必以礼让。 好学博闻，尤善三礼。 举秀子，除阳羡、武康令。 顾荣、陆机、陆云表荐循曰：“伏见吴兴武康令贺循德量邃茂，才鉴清远，服膺道素，风操凝峻，历践三城，刑政肃穆，守职下县，编名凡萃，出自新邦，朝无知己，恪居遐外，志不自营，年时倏忽，而邈无阶绪，实州党愚智所为怅然。 臣等并以凡才，累授饰进，被服恩泽，忝豫朝末，知良士后时，而守局无言，惧有蔽贤之咎，是以不胜愚管，谨冒死表闻。” 久之，召为太子舍人。 石冰破扬州，循亦合众，事平，杜门不出。 陈敏作乱，以循为丹杨内史，循称疾固辞，敏不敢逼。 于时江东豪右无不受敏爵位，惟循与同郡硃诞不挂贼网。 后除吴国内史，不就。 元皇帝为镇东将军，请循为军司马，帝为晋王，以循为中书令，固让不受，转太常，领太子太傅。 时朝廷初建，动有疑议，宗庙制度皆循所定，朝野谘询，为一时儒宗。 年六十，太兴二年卒。 追赠司空，谥曰穆。 循诸所著论，并传於世。 子隰，临海太守。〉
Sun Hao read the memorial and nursed a deep grudge. He Shao was incorrupt and upright—the emperor's favorites feared him. They framed He Shao and Lou Xuan for defaming the state; both were censured. Lou Xuan went south while He Shao was briefly restored. He Shao fell mute with a stroke; Sun Hao called it shamming, jailed him in the wine office, tortured him endlessly—He never spoke and was murdered; his kin were banished to Linhai. The same year Sun Hao ordered Lou Xuan's descendants executed; it was the first year of Tiance; He Shao was forty-nine. 〈His son He Xun, courtesy name Yanxian, Yu Yu's Jin History says He Xun suffered family ruin, was exiled to the coast, and returned home when Wu fell. High-minded from childhood, he stood apart from other boys and was always courteous in word and deed. He loved books and excelled in the three ritual classics. Recommended as a flourishing talent, he became magistrate of Yangxian and Wukang. Gu Rong, Lu Ji, and Lu Yun jointly memorialized: "We humbly see that He Xun of Wukang combines depth of character with clarity of judgment, lives by the plain Way, and has governed three counties with a stern hand. A man of a newly conquered land without patrons at court, he languishes in a minor post while years slip away—the whole province grieves to see talent wasted. We are mediocre men already favored at court; to stay silent while a worthy languishes would be to hide talent from you—we therefore risk death to speak." After long delay he was named attendant to the heir apparent. When Shi Bing ravaged Yangzhou, He Xun raised troops; when peace returned he shut his gates and would not show himself. Chen Min tried to name him interior administrator of Danyang; He Xun pleaded illness and Chen Min dared not press him. While every great clan in Jiangdong took Chen Min's commissions, only He Xun and his townsman Zhu Dan refused the rebel's snare. He was later offered interior administrator of Wu but declined. When Sima Rui was general who guards the east he asked He Xun to be his army marshal; as Prince of Jin he offered the secretariat—He Xun refused—and made him grand master of ceremonies and grand tutor to the heir apparent instead. In the new Jin court he settled every disputed ritual and became the age's leading Confucian authority. He died at sixty in the second year of Taixing (319). He was posthumously named minister of works with the posthumous epithet Mu. His essays survive in his collected works. His son He Xi became grand administrator of Linhai.
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Wei Yao, courtesy name Hongsi, came from Yunyang in Wu commandery. Pei Songzhi notes: Wei Yao was originally named Zhao; historians changed it to Yao to avoid the Jin taboo. He loved learning and prose, rose from chancellor's aide to magistrate of Xi'an, then gentleman of the secretariat and palace attendant to the heir apparent. Cai Ying shared the heir's household and loved weiqi. Crown Prince He judged it a waste and asked Wei Yao to write against it. Wei Yao wrote:
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The gentleman hates to reach year's end without achievement or age without a good name—hence the saying, "Study as if you could never catch up, and still fear to fall behind." So the worthies of old mourned passing years and sharpened body and mind—like Ning Yue or Dong Zhongshu—wading deep into the classics. Even King Wen and the Duke of Zhou toiled past sunset to build Zhou's fame—how can lesser men slacken? Every great name rests on relentless effort—Bu Shi from the plow, Huang Ba from a jail cell—until glory crowns their constancy. Shanfu labored night and day; Wu Han never left the yamen—were they idle?
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今世之人多不務經術，好玩博奕，廢事棄業，忘寢與食，窮日盡明，繼以脂燭。 當其臨局交爭，雌雄未決，專精銳意，心勞體倦，人事曠而不修，賓旅闕而不接，雖有太牢之饌，《韶》、《夏》之樂，不暇存也。 至或賭及衣物，徙棋易行，廉恥之意弛，而忿戾之色發，然其所志不出一枰之上，所務不過方罫之間，勝敵無封爵之賞，獲地無兼土之實，技非六藝，用非經國。 立身者不階其術，徵選者不由其道。 求之於戰陳，則非孫、吳之倫也。 考之於道藝，則非孔氏之門也； 以變詐為務，則非忠信之士也； 以劫殺為名，則非仁者之意也； 而空妨日廢業，終無補益。 是何異設木而擊之，置石而投之哉！ 且君子之居室也勤身以致養，其在朝也竭命以納忠，臨事且猶旰食，而何博奕之足耽？ 夫然，故孝友之行立，貞純之名彰也。
Today men shun the classics for weiqi, skip meals and work, and play by candlelight. At the board they ignore guests, state, even feasts and court music. They wager clothes, lose temper, and win neither rank nor land—the skill is not among the six arts nor fit to rule a state. Office seekers do not rise by the board; selectors do not test it. It is no art of war like that of Sun and Wu. It is not Confucian learning; it breeds cunning, not loyalty; it teaches rapacity, not benevolence; yet it wastes days to no profit. What better than beating a stake or throwing stones? The gentleman toils at home and serves in court—how can games deserve addiction? Then filial duty shines and a clean name endures.
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方今大吳受命，海內未平，聖朝乾乾，務在得人，勇略之士則受熊虎之任，儒雅之徒則處龍鳳之署，百行兼苞，文武並騖，博選良才，旌簡髦俊。 設程式之科，垂金爵之賞，誠千載之嘉會，百世之良遇也，當世之士，宜勉思至道，愛功惜力，以佐明時，使名書史籍，勳在盟府，乃君子之上務，當今之先急也。
Wu must win worthy men—warriors for tiger posts, scholars for phoenix halls—choose widely and lift the best. Open exams and rich rewards—then scholars should bend their minds to the Way, win fame in the histories, and aid the throne—that is the true calling.
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One wooden board—how does it weigh against a border fief? Three hundred stones against command of ten thousand—imperial robes and bell music outweigh any game. Turn that zeal to the classics and you approach Yan Hui and Min Ziqian; turn it to strategy and you think like Zhang Liang and Chen Ping; turn it to trade and you grow rich as Yi Dun; turn it to archery and chariotry and you train commanders. Do this and honor nears while vulgarity recedes.
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After Prince He's deposition Wei Yao became gentleman attendant at the yellow gates. When Sun Liang took the throne, Zhuge Ke as regent recommended Yao as grand astrologer to compile the Book of Wu; Hua He, Xue Ying, and others all took part. When Sun Xiu acceded, Yao became gentleman of the secretariat and libationer of the erudits. Sun Xiu ordered him to collate the imperial library on Liu Xiang's model. He wished Wei Yao to lecture the throne, but Zhang Bu, the favorite general, blocked it, fearing a scholar would lecture Sun Xiu on moral history. Sun Xiu came to hate Zhang Bu—the story is told in Sun Xiu's biography. Wei Yao never took the lecturer's post.
23
孫皓即位，封高陵亭侯，遷中書僕射，職省，為侍中，常領左國史。 時所在承指數言瑞應。 皓以問曜，曜答曰：“此人家筐篋中物耳。” 又皓欲為父和作紀，曜執以和不登帝位，宜名為傳。 如是者非一，漸見責怒。 曜益憂懼，自陳衰老，求去侍、史二官，乞欲成所造書，以從業別有所付，皓終不聽。 時有疾病，醫藥監護，持之愈急。 皓每饗宴，無不竟日，坐席無能否率以七升為限，雖不悉入口，皆澆灌取盡。 曜素飲酒不過二升，初見禮異時，常為裁減，或密賜茶荈以當酒，至於寵衰，更見逼強，輒以為罪。 又於酒後使侍臣難折公卿，以嘲弄侵克發摘私短以為歡。 時有衍過，或誤犯皓諱，輒見收縛，至於誅戮。 曜以為外相毀傷，內長尤恨，使不濟濟，非佳事也，故但示難問經義言論而已。 皓以為不承用詔命，意不忠盡，遂積前後嫌忿，收曜付獄，是歲鳳皇二年也。
Sun Hao enfeoffed him at Gaoling, made him vice director of the secretariat, then attendant within and left state historian. Every district reported bogus omens to please the throne. Sun Hao asked; Wei Yao answered, Those are trinkets any household could fake. Sun Hao wanted annals for his father Prince He; Wei Yao insisted on a mere biography because He never ruled. He crossed the emperor again and again and drew mounting wrath. He pleaded age and asked to resign as historian and finish his books—Sun Hao refused. When he fell ill, Sun Hao hemmed him in with doctors and guards. Sun Hao's feasts ran all day with a seven-sheng quota for every guest, poured down whether drunk or not. Wei Yao could barely drink two sheng; at first Sun Hao cut his ration or slipped him tea, then forced the full cup and called refusal a crime. After wine Sun Hao made attendants bait ministers, mock them, and expose private faults for sport. A slip of tongue or a taboo word meant arrest and often death. Wei Yao offered dry textual debate instead of public humiliation, thinking shame no way to run a court. Sun Hao called that disloyalty, piled old grudges, and jailed him in the second year of Fenghuang (273).
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囚荷恩見哀，無與為比，曾無芒氂有以上報，孤辱恩寵，自陷極罪。 念當灰滅。 長棄黃泉，愚情慺慺，竊有所懷，貪令上聞。 囚昔見世間有古歷注，其所記載既多虛無，在書籍者亦復錯謬。 囚尋按傳記，考合異同，採摭耳目所及。 以作《洞紀》，紀自庖犧，至於秦、漢，凡為三卷，當起黃武以來，別作一卷，事尚未成。 又見劉熙所作《釋名》，信多佳者，然物類眾多，難得詳究。 故時有得失，而爵位之事，又有非是。 愚以官爵，今之所急，不宜乘誤。 囚自忘至微，又作《官職訓》及《辯釋名》各一卷，欲表上之。 新寫始畢，會以無狀，幽囚特命，泯沒之日，恨不上聞。 謹以先死列狀，乞上言秘府，於外料取，呈內以聞。 迫懼淺蔽，不合天聽，抱怖雀息，乞垂哀省。
Your prisoner has received undeserved grace and repaid nothing; he has shamed your kindness and earned death. He expects to be dust and ashes, forever lost under the yellow springs—yet he begs one last hearing for what weighs on his heart. In old calendar glosses I found much that was fanciful or plainly wrong. I combed histories, compared variants, and set down what I could verify. I wrote the Tong ji in three scrolls from Paoxi through Qin and Han, and planned a fourth from Huangwu—unfinished. Liu Xi's Shi ming has many fine entries, yet the categories are vast and hard to perfect. Some glosses are wrong, especially on offices and titles. Titles are too vital to leave uncorrected. I therefore drafted the Guanzhi xun and Bian Shi ming, one scroll each, for your archives. The fair copy was barely done when I was jailed—now I may die without laying it before you. I beg you send this to the secretariat and have the texts fetched from my lodgings. I tremble at troubling your ears—yet I beg a moment's mercy.
26
Sun Hao thought the smudged manuscripts a new crime and questioned him again. Yao answered: "Your servant composed this book intending to present it; fearing errors, I proofread it again and again and did not notice the smudges. Questioned, I shiver in terror, my voice stammers; respectfully I add words and knock my head five hundred times, beating myself with both hands." Hua He then sent a string of memorials for Wei Yao:
27
Wei Yao’s fortune met a rare age, and he received special pity and recognition. Because of his Confucian learning, he was allowed to join the historians, serve inside as a sable-cicada attendant, and answer the Son of Heaven’s questions. The sage court was humane and earnest, careful at the end and mindful of the distant past; when the spirits were welcomed, the ruler wept and gave Wei Yao his charge. He was slow to grasp your intent. He failed to hymn your Shun-like virtue—yet among field officials none knows the classics like Wei Yao. Han Wudi spared Sima Qian so the Records could be finished—Li Ling's fall did not cost the historian his life. Wei Yao is Wu's Sima Qian. I have seen bright omens fore and aft. Heaven answers the throne—the day of unification cannot be far.
28
When peace comes you must reform rites and music as kings of old did—let scholars take the classics as your guide. Wei Yao could be another Shusun Tong for this dynasty. The Book of Wu has a skeleton but lacks full narrative and appraisal. Ban Gu's Han shu towers over the Han ji of Liu Zhen, Liu Yi, and others—the latter's biographies are poor stuff. The Wu history must last a millennium—without a talent like Wei Yao it cannot be perfected. I am too dull for the task myself.
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曜年已七十，餘數無幾，乞赦其一等之罪，為終身徒，使成書業，水足傳未，垂之百世。 謹通進表，叩頭百下。
He is seventy—commute his death to lifelong penal labor so he may finish the histories. I kowtow one hundred times as I send this plea.
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Hua He, courtesy name Yongxian, came from Wujin in Wu commandery. He began as magistrate of Shangyu and agricultural commandant, then entered the secret archive and rose to secretariat aide. When Wei conquered Shu, Hua He rushed to the palace gate and submitted a memorial: "Lately I heard the enemy host swarm toward the western border; the west is rugged and perilous—I thought there would be no danger. then Lu Kang's dispatch came: Chengdu has fallen, ruler and ministers scattered, the dynasty lost. Wei once fell to the Di yet Duke Huan of Qi saved it; Shu is too far to save—we lose a shield state and a tributary—I, a mere clerk, tremble for Wu. You are merciful—this news must wound you. I cannot bear my anxious grief and respectfully submit this memorial to be heard."
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誼曰復數年間，諸王方剛，漢之傅相稱疾罷歸，欲以此為治，雖堯、舜不能安。 今大敵據九州之地，有大半之眾，習攻戰之餘術，乘戎刀之舊勢，欲與中國爭相吞之計，其猶楚漢勢不兩立，非徒漢之諸王淮南，濟北而已。 誼之所欲痛哭，比今為緩，抱火臥薪之喻，於今而急。 大皇帝覽前代之如彼，察今勢之如此，故廣開農桑之業，積不訾之儲，恤民重役，務養戰士，是以大小感恩，各思竭命。 斯運未至，早棄萬國，自是之後，強臣專政，上詭天時，下違從議，忘安存之本，邀一時之利，數興軍旅，傾竭府藏，兵勞民困，無時獲安。 今之存者乃創夷之遺眾，哀苦之餘及耳。 遂使軍盜空匱，倉廩不實，布帛之賜，寒暑不周，重以失業，家戶不贍。 而北積穀養民，專心向東，無復他警。 蜀為西藩，土地險固，加承先主統御之術，謂其守禦足以長久，不圖一朝奄至傾覆！ 唇亡齒寒，古人所懼。 交州諸郡，國之南土，交阯、九真二郡已沒，日南孤危，存亡難保，合浦以北，民皆搖動。 因連避役，多有離叛，而備戍減少，威鎮轉輕，常恐呼吸復有變故。 昔海虜窺窬東縣，多得離民，地習海行，狃於往年，鈔盜無日，今胸背有嫌，首尾多難，乃國朝之厄會也。 誠宜住建立之役，先備豫之計，勉墾殖之業，為饑乏之救。 惟恐農時將過，東作向晚，有事之日，整嚴未辦。 若捨此急，盡力功作，卒有風塵不虞之變。 當委版築之役，應烽燧之急，驅怨苦之眾，赴自刃之難，此乃大敵所因為資也。 如但固守，曠日持久，則軍糧必乏，不待接刃，而戰士已困矣。
Jia Yi said that within a few more years the princes would be in their prime and Han's tutors and chancellors would retire claiming illness—if one tried to govern thus, even Yao and Shun could not keep the peace. Our foe holds most of China, veteran in war—this is no mere Huainan revolt; it is a Chu-Han duel for survival. What made Jia Yi weep is graver today; we truly sleep on kindling. The Grand Emperor stocked grain, eased corvée, and trained troops—so every man gave his all. Since his death strongmen have misruled, wasted the treasury, and left army and people spent. The survivors are war's cripples and grief's dregs. Granaries are bare, stipends miss the seasons, and jobless homes cannot feed themselves. Meanwhile Wei piles grain and eyes only the east. We thought Shu a permanent shield—yet it fell overnight. Lips gone, teeth freeze—the old warning. The commanderies of Jiao Province are the state's southern territory. Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen have already fallen, Rinan stands isolated and endangered, its survival hard to protect, and north of Hepu the people are all wavering. Corvée dodgers rebel while garrisons shrink—I fear the next breath may bring revolt. Sea raiders once fed on our coasts; now we are vulnerable fore and aft—the state meets ill fortune. Stop palace work, prepare defense, open fields, feed the hungry. I fear spring work will pass before we are ready for war. Pour all strength into building and a surprise strike will find you naked. You would drop trowels for beacons and march a bitter mob with bare blades—exactly what the foe hopes for. Pure defense exhausts grain before a sword is crossed.
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昔太戊之時，桑谷生庭，懼而修德，怪消殷興。 熒惑守心，宋以為災，景公下從瞽史之言，而熒惑退捨，景公延年。 夫修德於身而感異類，言發於口通神明。 臣以愚蔽，誤忝近署，不能冀宣仁澤以感靈祗，仰慚俯愧，無所投處。 退伏思惟，榮惑桑谷之異，天示二主，至如他余錙介之妖； 近是門庭小神所為，驗之天地，無有他變，而征樣符瑞前後屢臻，明珠既覿，白雀繼見，萬億之祚，實靈所挺。 以九域為宅，天下為家，不與編戶之民轉徙同也。 又今之宮室，先帝所營。 卜土立基，非為不祥。 又楊市土地與宮連接，若大功畢竟，輿駕遷住，門行之神，皆當轉移，猶恐長，久未必勝舊。 屢遷不少，留則有嫌，此乃愚臣所以夙夜為憂灼也。 臣省《月令》，季夏之月，不可以興土功，不可以會諸侯，不可以起兵動眾，舉大事必有大殃。 今雖諸侯不會，諸侯之軍與會無異。 六月戊己，土行正王，既不可犯，加又農月，時不可失。 昔魯隱公夏城中丘，《春秋》書之，垂為後戒。 今築宮為長世之洪基，而犯天地之大禁，襲《春秋》之所書，廢敬授之上務，臣以愚管，竊所未安。
King Taiwu of Yin saw mulberry and grain sprout in his hall, grew virtuous, and prospered. Song's Duke Jing averted Mars at the heart by heeding a blind clerk and lived longer. Virtue moves prodigies; sincere words reach the gods. I hold a petty post yet cannot spread your grace—I am ashamed above and below. I ponder how Heaven warned Yin and Song— —while petty omens are gate-spirits; yet bright pearls and white sparrows show Heaven still favors your line. The throne is not a commoner's shifting hut. These halls were built by the late emperor. The site was divined—it is not ill-omened. New Yang-market wings may not outshine the old halls. Move often and court blame; stay and court blame—hence my nightly worry. The Yueling forbids summer building and mass levies—great works bring great ill. Your labor levies match the tabooed 'host assembly.' Summer's earth-king phase plus harvest season must not be wasted. The Spring and Autumn blames Duke Yin for midsummer wall work. To raise a 'lasting' palace now breaks heaven's summer taboo and scorns the sage's calendar—I cannot approve.
36
又恐所召離民，或有不至，討之則廢役興事，不討則日月滋慢。 若悉並到，大眾聚會，希無疾病。 且人心安則念善，苦則怨叛。 江南精兵，北土所難，欲以十卒當東一人。 天下未定，深可憂惜之。 如此宮成，死叛五千，則北軍之眾更增五萬，著到萬人，則倍益十萬，病者有死亡之損，叛者傳不善之語，此乃大敵所以歡喜也。 今當角力中原，以定強弱，正於際會。 彼益我損，加以勞困，此乃雄夫智士所以深憂。
Forced laborers may flee—punish them and work stops; ignore flight and deadlines slip. Mass the people and sickness follows. Ease breeds loyalty; toil breeds revolt. Ten southern veterans match one northern soldier— —yet the realm is unsettled; every soldier counts. Lose five thousand builders and you swell the enemy fifty thousand; lose ten thousand and you double his host—death and desertion become his cheer. We must contest the Central Plain at the decisive moment. Their gain, our loss, plus exhaustion—wise heads fear this.
37
The ancients said no three years' grain means no state—even in peace they prepared. How much worse when the foe is strong and you forget the plow and granary. Floods have drowned the fields; what remains needs the hoe. Magistrates, dreading your deadline, scour the hills for timber and abandon the crop. Families are weak and their plots thin. Drought or flood will then yield nothing. Granaries must feed armies and idle mouths when crisis comes. If above and below are exhausted and canal transport fails while the northern enemy violates the border, even if Zhou and Shao were born again and Liang and Ping returned, they could not plan for Your Majesty—this is clear. The bright lord has loyal ministers—I risk your wrath to say so.
38
Sun Hao ignored the memorial. He was later named director of the Eastern Institute and right state historian, and tried to decline. Sun Hao replied: "I have received the memorial. The Eastern Institute is the house of Confucian learning; it ought to lecture and collate texts and settle doubtful points—in Han times only famed scholars bore that office. You beg to select another outstanding worthy. I am told you are steeped in the classics and love ritual and poetry— Fly your brush, outshine Yang Xiong, Ban Gu, Zhang Heng, and Cai Yong in serving the age—do not be modest and belittle yourself; strive to fulfill your post and stride past the ancients—no more fuss."
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今冠虜充斥，征伐未已，居無積年之儲，出無敵之畜，此乃有國者所宣深憂也。 夫財谷所生，皆出於民，趨時務農，國之上急。 而都下諸官，所掌別異，各自下調，不計民力，輒與近期。 長吏畏罪，晝夜催民，委捨佃事，遑赴會日，定送到都，或蘊積不用，而徒使百姓消力失時。 到秋收月，督其限入，奪其播殖之時，而責定送其今年之稅，如有逋懸，則籍沒財物，故家戶貧困，衣食不足。 宜暫息眾役，專心農桑。 古人稱一夫不耕，或受其饑。 一女不織，或受其寒。 是以先王治國，惟農是務。 軍興以來，已向百栽，農人廢南畝之務，女工停機杼之業。 推此揆之，則蔬食而長饑，薄衣而履冰者，固不少矣。 臣聞主之所求於民者二，民之所望於主者三。 二謂求其為己勞也，求其為己死也。 三謂譏者能食之，勞者能息之，有功者能賞之。 民以致其二事而主失其三望者，則怨心生而功不建，今帑藏不實，民勞役猥，主之二求已備，民之三望未報。 且饑者不待美饌而後飽，寒者不俟狐貉而後溫，為味者口之奇，文繡者身之飾也。 今事多而役繁，民貧而俗奢，百工作無用之器，婦人為綺靡之飾，不勤麻枲，並鄉黼黻，轉相倣傚，恥獨無有。 兵民之家，猶復遂俗，內無儋石之儲，而出有綾綺之服，至於富賈商販之家，重以金銀，奢恣尤甚。 天下未平，百姓不贍，宜一生民之原，豐谷帛之業。 而棄功於浮華之巧，妨日於侈靡之事，上無尊卑等級之差，下有耗財物力之損。 今吏士之家，少無子女，多者三四，少者一二，通令戶有一女，十萬家則十萬人，人織績一歲一束，則十萬束矣。 使四疆之內同心戮力，數年之間，布帛必積。 恣民五色，惟所服用，但禁綺繡無益之飾。 且美貌者不待華采以祟好，艷姿者不待文綺以致愛，五采之飾，足以麗矣。 若極粉黛，窮盛服，未必無醜婦。 廢華采，去文繡，未必無美人也。 若實如論，有之無益廢之無損者，何愛而不斬禁以充府藏之急乎？ 此救乏之上務，富國之本業也，使管、晏復生，無以易此。 漢之文、景，承平繼統，天下已定，四方無虞，猶以雕文之妨農事，錦繡之害女紅，開富國之利，杜饑寒之本。 況今六台分乖； 豺狼充路； 兵不離疆； 甲不解帶。 而可以不廣生財之原，充府藏之積哉？
Helmets crowd the borders, war never stops, and we keep neither long-term grain nor a war chest—any ruler should tremble at that. Wealth and grain spring from the people; timely farming is the state's first duty. Yet each capital bureau issues its own quotas without regard for peasant strength or realistic deadlines. Magistrates, fearing punishment, drive farmers from the fields to meet arbitrary deadlines while grain rots unused in the capital. In harvest month they demand tax while forbidding sowing; default means confiscation—so families starve. Suspend corvée and put every hand to tillage and silk. They said one idle husband means hunger for someone. One idle loom means someone goes cold. So the kings of old put farming first. A century of war has idled plowmen and stilled shuttles. Many already live on greens yet starve and wear thin cloth on ice. The ruler asks two things of the people; the people ask three of him. Those two are labor and life. The three are food for the hungry, rest for the weary, reward for merit. You take their toil and blood yet give no food, rest, or reward—resentment rises and nothing is built. The hungry need no banquet; the cold need no fur coat—spices and embroidery are luxuries, not needs. Yet multitudes chase useless crafts and silken finery, shunning hemp until every lane apes brocade. Even poor soldiers' wives wear silk while cupboards stay empty; merchants heap gold and outdo all in waste. The realm is still at war—nurture the people's root and pile up grain and cloth. Chasing glitter wastes days and erases rank; high and low alike drain coin and strength. If every household with daughters put one girl to the loom, a hundred thousand bolts a year would follow. Let the four quarters weave together and silks will fill the storehouses within a few years. Let commoners dye what they need—only ban useless brocade. Beauty needs no brocade; five hues of plain weave suffice for grace. Heaps of rouge and robes do not banish ugliness. Strip the paint and brocade—beauty does not vanish. If finery neither helps nor harms to lose, why not forbid it to fill urgent granaries? This is the highest task of relieving want and the root enterprise of enriching the state; were Guan and Yan born again, they could not change this. Han Wendi and Jingdi, though the realm was at peace, still banned luxuries that hurt farm and loom to stock the treasury and stop cold and hunger. How much worse now that the realm is split— jackals block the roads, weapons never leave the frontier, armor never comes off— —can you refuse to widen the sources of wealth and fill the granaries?
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I, Hua He, a petty clerk, am mere dust and weeds, ordinary and mean. —yet your favor raised me from the mire. I shed the mud like a cicada's shell and entered the purple court. I bask in the purple portals' light; the green door is my stay. I sip clear dew and ride the royal wind. I have repaid no mote of your grace yet bear a mountain of fault. You bore my stains and piled favor on favor. A worthless man gained honor and a cramped life was eased. I would repay you beyond measure—only Heaven can witness. Your mercy rains down and forgives my worst faults. You shame me by ordering this draft to soak a fool's wit. I dare not refuse yet fear instant death for failure. I obey though my soul flees and only the shell remains.
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【評】
Appraisal
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The appraisal states: Xue Ying said, "Wang Fan's caliber was rare and his learning wide; Lou Xuan was incorrupt and lucid; He Shao set his will high and pure, and his handling of topics was clear and essential. Wei Yao loved antiquity, read everything, and could write history. " Hu Chong thought, "Lou Xuan, He Shao, and Wang Fan were in one stroke pure and subtle, with nothing to choose among them; if one must be ranked, Xuan should come first, Shao second. and thought Hua He's fu surpassed Wei Yao's though his state papers did not. " I see Hua He as a loyal minister for his many sound plans. Yet in such a treacherous age fame drew a violent death—survival alone would have been luck.