1
朱娥張氏彭列女郝節娥朱氏崔氏趙氏丁氏項氏王氏二婦徐氏榮氏何氏董氏譚氏劉氏張氏師氏陳堂前節婦廖氏劉當可母曾氏婦王袤妻塗端友妻詹氏女劉生妻謝泌妻謝枋得妻王貞婦趙淮妾譚氏婦吳中孚妻呂仲洙女林老女童氏女韓氏女王氏婦劉仝子妻 〈（毛惜惜附）〉
Zhu E, Zhang Shi, Peng Lienu, Hao Jiee, Zhu Shi, Cui Shi, Zhao Shi, Ding Shi, Xiang Shi, the two Wang wives, Xu Shi, Rong Shi, He Shi, Dong Shi, Tan Shi, Liu Shi, Zhang Shi, Shi Shi, Chen Tangqian, the chaste widow Liao, Liu Dangke's mother, the Zeng clanswoman, Wang Mao's wife, Tu Duanyou's wife, the Zhan family's daughter, Liu Sheng's wife, Xie Bi's wife, Xie Fangde's wife, the chaste widow Wang, Zhao Huai's concubine, the Tan clanswoman, Wu Zhongfu's wife, Lu Zhongzhu's daughter, old woman Lin, the Tong family's daughter, the Han family's daughter, the Wang clanswoman, and Liu Tongzi's wife (with Mao Xixi appended)
2
古者天子親耕，教男子力作，皇后親蠶，教女子治生。 王道之本，風俗之原，固有在矣。 男有塾師，女有師氏，國有其官，家有其訓，然而詩書所稱男女之賢，尚可數也。 世道既降，教典非古，男子之誌四方，猶可隆師親友以為善； 女子生長環堵之中，能著美行垂於汗青，豈易得哉。 故曆代所傳列女，何可棄也？ 考宋舊史得列女若幹人，作《列女傳》。
In ancient times the emperor himself plowed the fields to teach men the value of hard work, while the empress personally tended silkworms to teach women how to manage the household economy. The foundations of righteous rule and the roots of social custom have always rested on such teachings. Men had schoolmasters and women had instructresses; the state had its officials and families their household rules—yet even in the classics the number of truly exemplary men and women can still be counted on one's fingers. As the world declined and educational standards fell away from antiquity, a man who traveled far could still seek out worthy teachers and friends to cultivate virtue; for a woman raised within the confines of the home to achieve conduct worthy of the historical record—how rare is that? How then could the exemplary women handed down through the ages ever be set aside? Searching the old Song histories, I found a number of such women and have composed the 《Biographies of Exemplary Women》.
3
朱娥者，越州上虞朱回女也。 母早亡，養於祖媼。 娥十歲，裏中朱顏與媼競，持刀欲殺媼，一家驚潰，獨娥號呼突前，擁蔽其媼，手挽顏衣，以身下墜顏刀，曰：“寧殺我，毋殺媼也。 ”媼以娥故得脫。 娥連被數十刀，猶手挽顏衣不釋，顏忿恚，斷其喉以死。 事聞，賜其家粟帛。 其後，會稽令董皆為娥立像於曹娥廟，歲時配享焉。
Zhu E was the daughter of Zhu Hui of Shangyu in Yuezhou. Her mother died when she was young, and she was raised by her grandmother. When E was ten, a neighbor named Zhu Yan quarreled with her grandmother and drew a knife to kill her. The whole household fled in panic, but E alone cried out and rushed forward, shielding her grandmother, clutching Yan's robe and throwing herself beneath his blade. 'Kill me instead,' she cried, 'but spare Grandmother!' Thanks to E, her grandmother escaped. E was struck dozens of times yet still would not let go of Yan's robe. Enraged, Yan cut her throat and killed her. When word reached the court, her family was granted grain and silk. Later, Dong Jie, magistrate of Kuaiji, erected a statue of her in the Cao E Temple, where she received sacrifices at the seasonal festivals.
4
張氏，鄂州江夏民婦。 裏惡少謝師乞過其家，持刀逼欲與為亂，曰：“從我則全，不從則死。 ”張大罵曰：“庸奴！ 可死，不可它也。 ”至以刃斷其喉，猶能走，擒師乞，以告鄰人。 既死，朝廷聞之，詔封旌德縣君，表墳曰“列女之墓”，賜酒帛，令郡縣致奠。
Zhang Shi was a commoner's wife from Jiangxia in Ezhou. A neighborhood ruffian named Xie Shiji passed her home, drew a knife, and tried to force himself on her. 'Do as I say and you live,' he said; 'refuse and you die.' Zhang cursed him loudly: 'Worthless cur! I can die, but I will never yield to you.' He slashed her throat, yet she still managed to run, seize Shiji, and turn him over to the neighbors. After her death the court learned of her deed and enfeoffed her posthumously as Lady of Jingde County, marked her tomb 'Tomb of an Exemplary Woman,' granted wine and silk, and ordered the local officials to perform sacrifices.
5
彭列女，生洪州分寧農家。 從父泰入山伐薪，父遇虎，將不脫，女拔刀斫虎，奪其父而還。 事聞，詔賜粟帛，敕州縣歲時存問。
Peng Lienu was born into a farming family in Fenning, Hongzhou. Her uncle Tai went into the mountains to gather firewood when her father encountered a tiger and could not escape. The girl drew a knife, hacked at the tiger, rescued her father, and brought him home. When word reached the court, she was granted grain and silk, and the local officials were ordered to visit her family at the seasonal festivals.
6
郝節娥，嘉州娼家女。 生五歲，母娼苦貧，賣於洪雅良家為養女。 始笄，母奪而歸，欲令世其娼，娥不樂娼，日逼之，娥曰：“少育良家，習織作組紃之事，又輒精巧，粗可以給母朝夕，欲求此身使終為良，可乎？ ”母益怒，且箠且罵。
Hao Jiee was born into a courtesan's household in Jiazhou. At the age of five, her mother, struggling in poverty, sold her to a respectable family in Hongya to be raised as their daughter. When she came of age, her mother took her back, intending to pass on the courtesan's trade. E refused. Day after day her mother pressed her, until E said: 'I was raised from childhood in a respectable home and learned weaving and needlework, at which I am quite skilled—enough at least to provide for your daily needs. Cannot I keep this body respectable to the end?' Her mother only grew angrier, beating and cursing her in turn.
7
洪雅春時為蠶叢祠，娼與邑少年期，因蠶叢具酒邀娥。 娼與娥徐往，娥見少年，倉皇驚走，母挽捽不使去。 不得已留坐中，時時顧酒食輒唾，強飲之，則嘔噦滿地，少年卒不得侵淩。 暮歸，過雞鳴渡，娥度他日必不可脫，陽渴求飲，自投於江以死。 鄉人謂之“節娥”雲。
Each spring Hongya held sacrifices to the Silkworm God. The courtesan arranged a meeting with the young men of the town and, using the festival as a pretext, prepared wine and invited E. Mother and daughter went together. When E saw the young men she fled in panic, but her mother seized her and would not let her go. Forced to stay, she spat on every dish and cup set before her, and when made to drink she vomited all over the floor. In the end the young men could not lay a hand on her. Returning at dusk, they passed Jiming Ford. E knew she could not escape forever; feigning thirst she asked for water and threw herself into the river. The people of the district called her 'Chaste E.'
8
朱氏，開封民婦也。 家貧，賣巾屨簪珥以給其夫。 夫日與俠少飲博，不以家為事，犯法徒武昌。 父母欲奪而嫁之，朱曰：“何迫我如是耶？ ”其夫將行，一夕自經死，且曰：“及吾夫未去，使知我不為不義屈也。 ”吳充時為開封府判官，作《阿朱詩》以道其事。
Zhu Shi was a commoner's wife in Kaifeng. The family was poor, and she sold kerchiefs, shoes, hairpins, and earrings to support her husband. Her husband spent his days drinking and gambling with ruffians, neglected the household, broke the law, and was exiled to Wuchang. Her parents wished to take her back and marry her to another man. Zhu said: 'Why do you press me so?' On the eve of her husband's departure she hanged herself, leaving word: 'Before my husband leaves, let him know that I would never submit to what is unrighteous.' Wu Chong, then an assistant magistrate in Kaifeng, composed the 《Poem on Ah-Zhu》 to commemorate her story.
9
崔氏，合淝包繶妻。 繶，樞密副使拯之子，早亡，惟一稚兒。 拯夫婦意崔不能守也，使左右嚐其心。 崔蓬垢涕泣出堂下，見拯曰：“翁，天下名公也。 婦得齒賤獲，執瀚滌之事幸矣，況敢汙家乎！ 生為包婦，死為包鬼，誓無它也。”
Cui Shi was the wife of Bao Ji of Hefei. Ji was the son of Bao Zheng, Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs. He died young, leaving only one infant son. Zheng and his wife doubted that Cui could remain faithful and sent attendants to test her resolve. Cui came out below the hall, disheveled and weeping, and said to Zheng: 'Father-in-law, you are a renowned statesman of the realm. Your daughter-in-law ranks no higher than the meanest servant—fortunate only to perform menial chores—how could I dare bring shame upon this house! Alive I am a Bao wife; dead I shall be a Bao ghost—I swear there shall be no other.'
10
其後，稚兒亦卒。 母呂自荊州來，誘崔欲嫁其族人，因謂曰：“喪夫守子，子死孰守？ ”崔曰：“昔之留也，非以子也，舅姑故也。 今舅歿，姑老矣，將舍而去乎？ ”呂怒，詛罵曰：“我寧死此，決不獨歸，須爾同往也。 ”崔泣曰：“母遠來，義不當使母獨還。 然到荊州儻以不義見迫，必絕於尺組之下，願以屍還包氏。 ”遂偕去。 母見其誓必死，卒還包氏。
Later the infant son also died. Her mother-in-law Lü came from Jingzhou and tried to persuade Cui to marry one of her own clansmen, saying: 'You mourned your husband and guarded your son—but your son is dead. What is left to guard?' Cui replied: 'When I stayed before, it was not suited for my son—it was for my parents-in-law.' Now my father-in-law is dead and my mother-in-law is old—shall I abandon her and go? Lü grew angry and cursed her: 'I would rather die here than return alone—you must come with me.' Cui wept and said: 'Mother has come from far away—it would not be right to let you return alone. But if in Jingzhou I am forced to what is unrighteous, I shall end my life by the cord and ask that my body be returned to the Bao clan.' They then set out together. Seeing that her oath meant she would surely die, her mother-in-law in the end sent her back to the Bao household.
11
趙氏，貝州人。 父嚐舉學究。 王則反，聞趙氏有殊色，使人劫致之，欲納為妻。 趙日號哭慢罵求死，賊愛其色不殺，多使人守之。 趙知不脫，乃紿曰：“必欲妻我，宜擇日以禮聘。 ”賊信之，使歸其家。 家人懼其自殞，得禍於賊，益使人守視。 賊具聘帛，盛輿從來迎。 趙與家人訣曰：“吾不復歸此矣。 ”問其故，答曰：“豈有為賊汙辱至此，而尚有生理乎！ ”家人曰：“汝忍不為家族計？ ”趙曰：“第亡患。 ”遂涕泣登輿而去。 至州廨，舉簾視之，已自縊輿中死矣。 尚書屯田員外郎張寅有《趙女詩》。
Zhao Shi was from Beizhou. Her father had once passed the licentiate examination. When Wang Ze rebelled, he heard that Zhao Shi was exceptionally beautiful, sent men to seize her, and wished to take her as his wife. Zhao wailed and cursed day after day, begging for death. The rebels, captivated by her beauty, would not kill her but set many guards over her. Knowing she could not escape, Zhao deceived them: 'If you must marry me, choose an auspicious day and betroth me with proper ceremony.' The rebels believed her and sent her home. Her family, fearing she would kill herself and bring the rebels' wrath upon them, set even more guards to watch her. The rebels prepared betrothal gifts and came in grand procession with sedan chairs to fetch her. Zhao bade her family farewell: 'I shall not return here again.' When they asked why, she answered: 'How could one defiled by rebels to this degree still wish to live!' Her family said: 'Can you bear not to think of the family?' Zhao said: 'Do not worry.' Weeping, she mounted the sedan chair and departed. When they reached the prefectural offices and lifted the curtain, she had already hanged herself in the sedan chair. Zhang Yin, Outer Gentleman of the Ministry of Revenue's Field Office, composed the 《Poem on the Zhao Girl》.
12
張晉卿妻丁氏，鄭州新鄭人，參知政事度五世孫也。 靖康中，與晉卿避金兵於大隗山。 金兵入山，為所得，挾之鞍上。 丁自投於地，戟手大罵，連呼曰：“我死即死耳，誓不受辱於爾輩。 ”復挾上馬，再三罵不已。 卒乃忿然舉梃縱擊，遂死杖下。
Ding Shi, wife of Zhang Jinqing, was from Xinzheng in Zhengzhou and a fifth-generation descendant of the Vice Councilor Du. During the Jingkang crisis she and Jinqing fled the Jin troops to Mount Dawei. Jin troops entered the mountain, seized her, and placed her upon a saddle. Ding threw herself to the ground, pointed her finger, and cursed them loudly: 'If I must die, then let me die—I swear I shall never suffer disgrace at your hands!' They seized her back onto the horse, but she cursed them again and again without cease. At last, enraged, they beat her with clubs until she died.
13
項氏，吉州吉水人。 居永昌裏，適同裏孫氏。 宣和七年，為裏胥所逮，至中途欲侵淩之，項引刀自刺而死。 郡以聞，詔贈孺人，旌表其廬。
Xiang Shi was from Jishui in Jizhou. She lived on Yongchang Lane and married a man of the Sun clan on the same lane. In the seventh year of Xuanhe she was seized by the lane headman, who tried to molest her on the way. Xiang drew a knife and stabbed herself to death. The prefecture reported her deed; the court posthumously granted her the title of Lady and marked her home with a commemorative tablet.
14
王氏二婦，汝州人。 建炎初，金人至汝州，二婦為所掠，擁置舟中，遂投漢江以死。 屍皆浮出不壞，人為收葬之城外江上，為雙塚以表之。
The two Wang wives were from Ruzhou. At the beginning of the Jianyan era the Jin reached Ruzhou. The two wives were seized and crowded into a boat, whereupon they threw themselves into the Han River. Their bodies floated up uncorrupted; the people buried them on the riverbank outside the city and erected twin mounds to commemorate them.
15
徐氏，和州人。 閎中女也，適同郡張弼。 建炎三年春，金人犯惟揚，官軍望風奔潰，多肆虜掠，執徐欲汙之。 徐瞋目大罵曰：“朝廷蓄汝輩以備緩急，今敵犯行在，既不能赴難，又乘時為盜，我恨一女子不能引劍斷汝頭，以快眾憤，肯為汝辱以苟活耶！ 第速殺我。 ”賊慚恚，以刃刺殺之，投江中而去。
Xu Shi was from Hezhou. She was the daughter of Hongzhong and married Zhang Bi of the same prefecture. In the spring of the third year of Jianyan the Jin invaded Huaiyang. Government troops fled at the mere sight of them, and many took to plundering. They seized Xu and tried to violate her. Xu glared and cursed them: 'The court nurtured you for times of emergency—yet when the enemy threatens the imperial residence you cannot rush to its defense and instead take to robbery! I regret that as a mere woman I cannot draw a sword and cut off your heads to satisfy the people's wrath—do you think I would submit to your disgrace merely to cling to life!' Just kill me quickly. Ashamed and enraged, the bandits stabbed her to death and cast her body into the river.
16
榮氏，薿女弟也。 自幼如成人，讀《論語》、《孝經》，能通大義，事父母孝。 歸將作監主簿馬元穎。 建炎二年，賊張遇寇儀真，榮與其姑及二女走惟揚，姑素羸，榮扶掖不忍舍。 俄賊至，脅之不從，賊殺其女，脅之益急，榮厲聲詬罵，遂遇害。
Rong Shi was the younger sister of Rong. From childhood she was precocious; she read the 《Analects》 and 《Classic of Filial Piety》, grasped their essential teachings, and served her parents with devotion. She married Ma Yuanying, Registrar of the Directorate of Palace Buildings. In the second year of Jianyan the bandit Zhang Yu raided Yizhen. Rong fled with her mother-in-law and two daughters toward Huaiyang. Her mother-in-law had always been frail, and Rong supported her, unwilling to leave her behind. Soon the bandits arrived. She refused their demands; they killed her daughters and pressed her harder. Rong cursed them in a fierce voice and was killed.
17
何氏，吳人。 吳永年之妻也。 建炎四年春，金兵道三吳，官兵遁去，城中人死者五十餘萬。 永年與其姊及其妻何奉母而逃。 母老，待挾持而行，卒為賊所得，將縶其姊及何，何紿謂賊曰：“諸君何不武耶！ 婦人東西惟命爾。 ”賊信之。 行次水濱，謂其夫曰：“我不負君。 ”遂投於河，其姊繼之。
He Shi was from Wu. She was the wife of Wu Yongnian. In the spring of the fourth year of Jianyan Jin troops passed through the Three Wu regions. Government troops fled, and more than five hundred thousand people in the cities perished. Yongnian fled with his elder sister and his wife He, supporting their mother as they went. Her mother was elderly and had to be helped along; in the end they were seized by bandits, who were about to bind her elder sister and He. He deceived the bandits: "Why are you so unmanly! A woman goes where you command—that is all." The bandits believed her. When they reached the riverbank she said to her husband: "I shall not fail you." She threw herself into the river, and her elder sister followed.
18
董氏，沂州滕縣人，許適劉氏子。 建炎元年，盜李昱攻剽滕縣，悅其色，欲亂之，誘諭再三，曰：“汝不我從，當剉汝萬段。 ”女終不屈，遂斷其首。 劉氏子聞女死狀，大慟曰：“列女也。 ”葬之，為立祠。
Dong Shi was from Teng County in Yizhou and was betrothed to a son of the Liu clan. In the first year of Jianyan the bandit Li Yu raided Teng County. Captivated by her beauty, he tried to violate her, tempting and threatening her again and again: "Follow me or I shall cut you into ten thousand pieces." She refused to the end, and he cut off her head. The Liu clansman, hearing how she died, wailed and said: "A true exemplary woman." He buried her and built a shrine in her honor.
19
三年春，盜馬進掠臨淮縣，王宣要其妻曹氏避之，曹曰：“我聞婦人死不出閨房。 ”賊至，宣避之，曹堅臥不起。 眾賊劫持之，大罵不屈，為所害。
In the spring of the third year the bandit Ma Jin raided Linhuai County. Wang Xuan asked his wife Cao to flee with him, but Cao said: "I have heard that a virtuous woman does not leave her chamber even in death." When the bandits arrived, Xuan fled, but Cao lay firm in bed and would not rise. The bandits seized her; she cursed them without yielding and was killed.
20
四年，盜祝友聚眾於滁州龔家城，掠人為糧。 東安縣民丁國兵者及其妻為友所掠，妻泣曰：“丁氏族流亡已盡，乞存夫以續其祀。 ”賊遂釋夫而害之。
In the fourth year the bandit Zhu You gathered followers at the Gong family fort in Chuzhou and seized people for food. Ding Guobing of Dong'an County and his wife were seized by You. His wife wept: "The Ding clan's exiles are already gone—please spare my husband to continue the family line." The bandits released the husband and killed her.
21
同時，叛卒楊寇南劍州，道出小常村，掠一民婦，欲與亂，婦毅然誓死不受汙，遂遇害，棄屍道傍。 賊退，人為收瘞。 屍所枕藉處，跡宛然不滅。 每雨則幹，睛則濕，則削去即復見。 覆以他土，其跡愈明。
At the same time the mutineer Yang Kou passed through Nanjian Prefecture via Xiaochang Village, seized a commoner's wife, and tried to violate her. She swore to die rather than be defiled, was killed, and her body was cast beside the road. When the bandits retreated, the people buried her. Where her body had lain, the imprint on the ground remained distinct and undiminished. When it rained the mark dried; when the sky cleared it grew damp again—and if scraped away, it reappeared. If covered with other earth, the imprint grew even clearer.
22
譚氏，英州真陽縣人，曲江村士人吳琪妻也。 紹興五年，英州饑，觀音山盜起，攻剽鄉落。 琪竄去，譚不能俱，與其女被執。 譚有姿色，盜欲妻之，譚怒罵曰：“爾輩賊也。 我良家女，豈若偶耶？ ”賊度無可奈何，害之。
Tan Shi was from Zhenyang County in Yingzhou and the wife of the village scholar Wu Qi of Qujiang. In the fifth year of Shaoxing Yingzhou suffered famine and bandits rose on Guanyin Mountain, raiding the countryside. Qi fled; Tan could not accompany him and was seized together with her daughter. Tan was beautiful; the bandits wished to marry her. She cursed them: "You are bandits. I am a respectable family's daughter—how could I wed you?" Seeing there was nothing to be done, the bandits killed her.
23
同時，有南雄李科妻謝氏，保昌故村人。 囚於虔盜中，數日，有欲犯之，謝唾其面目：“寧萬段我，不汝徇也。 ”盜怒，剉之而去。
At the same time there was Xie Shi, wife of Li Ke of Nanxiong, from the old village of Baochang. Held captive among the bandits of Qian for several days, when some tried to violate her, Xie spat in their faces: "Cut me into ten thousand pieces—I will never submit to you." Enraged, the bandits dismembered her and left.
24
劉氏，海州朐山人，適同裏陳公緒。 紹興末，金人犯山東，郡縣震響，公緒倡義來歸，偶劉歸寧，倉卒不得與偕，惟挈其子庚以行，宋授以八品官，後累功至正使。 劉留北方，音問不通。 或語之曰：“人言‘貴易交，富易妻’。 今陳已貴，必他娶矣，盍改適？ ”曰：“吾知守吾誌而已，皇恤乎他？ ”公緒亦不他娶。 子庚浸長，輒思念涕泣，傾家貲，結任俠，奔走淮甸，險阻備嚐。 如是者十餘年，遂得迎母以歸。 劉在北二十五年，嚐緯蕭以自給。
Liu Shi was from Qushan in Haizhou and married Chen Gongxu of the same neighborhood. Near the end of the Shaoxing era the Jin invaded Shandong and the region was in turmoil. Gongxu raised a loyal force and submitted to the Song. Liu happened to be visiting her parents and could not leave with him in the haste—he took only their son Geng. The Song granted him an eighth-rank post; through accumulated merit he later rose to Regular Commissioner. Liu remained in the north; no word could reach her. Some told her: "People say that when a man grows noble his friendships change, and when he grows rich he changes his wife." "Chen is now eminent—he must have remarried. Why not marry again?" She said: "I know only to keep my resolve—why should I fear anything else?" Gongxu likewise never remarried. As Geng grew older he often thought of her and wept; he spent the family fortune, joined with bold adventurers, and traveled the Huai region through every hardship and danger. After more than ten years of this, he was finally able to bring his mother home. Liu had been in the north for twenty-five years, weaving rush mats to support herself.
25
張氏，羅江士人女。 其母楊氏寡居。 一日，親黨有婚會，母女偕往，其典庫雍乙者從行。 既就坐，乙先歸。 會罷，楊氏歸，則乙死於庫，莫知殺者主名。 提點成都府路刑獄張文饒疑楊有私，懼為人知，殺乙以滅口，遂命石泉軍劾治。 楊言與女同榻，實無他。 遂逮其女，考掠無實。 吏乃掘地為坑，縛母於其內，旁列熾火，間以水沃之，絕而復蘇者屢，辭終不服。 一日，女謂獄吏曰：“我不勝苦毒，將死矣，願一見母而絕。 ”吏憐而許之。 既見，謂母曰：“母以清潔聞，奈何受此汙辱。 寧死箠楚，不可自誣。 女今死，死將訟冤於天。 ”言終而絕。 於是石泉連三日地大震，有聲如雷，天雨雪，屋瓦皆落，邦人震恐。
Zhang Shi was the daughter of a scholar of Luojiang. Her mother Yang Shi lived as a widow. One day kinsmen held a wedding feast; mother and daughter went together, accompanied by Yong Yi, the storehouse keeper. Once they were seated, Yi returned home first. When the feast ended, Yang returned to find Yi dead in the storehouse, with no knowing who had killed him. Zhang Wenrao, Commissioner of Judicial Review for the Chengdu Circuit, suspected Yang of a secret affair and, fearing exposure, of killing Yi to silence him; he ordered Shiquan to investigate. Yang said she and her daughter shared a bed and there was truly nothing else. They then seized the daughter; torture yielded no confession. The clerks dug a pit, bound the mother inside, set fires blazing beside her, and intermittently poured water on her; she died and revived repeatedly, yet never confessed. One day the daughter told the prison clerk: "I cannot bear this torture and am about to die; let me see my mother once more." The clerk pitied her and agreed. When she saw her mother she said: "You are known for your purity—how can you suffer this disgrace? Better die under the rod than falsely confess. I die now, and in death I shall plead my grievance before Heaven." With these words she died. Then Shiquan suffered great earthquakes for three days, thunderous sounds, rain mixed with snow, and falling roof tiles; the people were terrified.
26
勘官李誌寧疑其獄，夕具衣冠禱於天。 俄假寐坐廳事，恍有猿墜前，驚寤，呼吏卒索之，不見。 誌寧自念夢兆：“非殺人者袁姓乎？ ”有門卒忽言張氏饋食之夫曰袁大，明日袁至，使吏執之，曰：“殺人者汝也。 ”袁色動，遽曰：“吾憐之久矣，願就死。 ”問之，云：“適盜庫金，會雍歸，遂殺之。 ”楊乃得免。 時女死才數日也。 獄上，郡榜其所居曰孝感坊。
The investigating official Li Zhiyuan doubted the case; that evening he dressed in full regalia and prayed to Heaven. Soon, dozing in the hall, he seemed to see an ape fall before him; startled awake, he called his men to search, but found nothing. Zhiyuan reflected on the dream: "Is not the killer surnamed Yuan?" A gate guard suddenly said the man who brought food to the Zhang household was called Yuan the Elder. The next day Yuan arrived; Li had him seized and said: "You are the killer." Yuan's expression changed; he quickly said: "I have long pitied her—I am willing to die." Under questioning he said: "I was stealing gold from the storehouse when Yong returned, so I killed him." Yang was thereby exonerated. The girl had been dead only a few days. When the case was reported, the prefecture posted a placard at her dwelling naming it the Lane of Filial Response.
27
師氏，彭州永豐人。 父驥，政和二年省試第一。 宣和中，為右正言十餘日，凡七八疏，論權幸及廉訪使者之害而去。 女適範世雍子孝純。 建炎初，還蜀，至唐州方城縣，會賊朱顯終掠方城，孝純先被害，賊執師氏欲強之，許以不死。 師罵曰：“我中朝言官女，豈可受賊辱！ 吾夫已死，宜速殺我。 ”賊知不可屈，遂害之。
Shi Shi was from Yongfeng in Pengzhou. Her father Ji ranked first in the provincial examination of the second year of Zhenghe. During the Xuanhe era he served as Right Remonstrator for more than ten days, submitting seven or eight memorials criticizing powerful favorites and investigation commissioners before leaving office. The daughter married Xiao Chun, son of Fan Shiyong. At the beginning of Jianyan they returned to Shu. Reaching Fangcheng County in Tangzhou, they encountered the bandit Zhu Xianzhong raiding the county. Xiao Chun was killed first; the bandits seized Shi and tried to force her, promising she would not die. Shi cursed them: "I am the daughter of a remonstrating official of the central court—how could I suffer disgrace at bandits' hands! My husband is already dead—kill me quickly." Knowing she could not be bent, the bandits killed her.
28
陳堂前，漢州雒縣王氏女。 節操行義，為鄉人所敬，但呼曰“堂前”，猶私家尊其母也。 堂前年十八，歸同郡陳安節，歲餘夫卒，僅有一子。 舅姑無生事，堂前斂泣告曰：“人之有子，在奉親克家爾。 今已無可奈何，婦願幹蠱，如子在日。 ”舅姑曰：“若然，吾子不亡矣。 ”既葬其夫，事親治家有法，舅姑安之。 子日新，年稍長，延名儒訓導，既冠，入太學，年三十卒。 二孫曰綱曰紱，鹹篤學有聞。
Chen Tangqian was the daughter of the Wang clan of Luoxian in Hanzhou. Her chastity, conduct, and righteousness won the respect of the district; people simply called her "Tangqian," as families respectfully address a mother. Tangqian was eighteen when she married Chen Anjie of the same prefecture; after little more than a year her husband died, leaving only one son. Her parents-in-law had no means of support; Tangqian, holding back tears, said: "The purpose of having sons is to serve parents and sustain the household. That is no longer possible; your daughter-in-law wishes to manage affairs as though your son were still alive." Her parents-in-law said: "If so, our son is not dead." After burying her husband, she managed the household by proper methods and put her parents-in-law at ease. Her son Rixin, as he grew, was placed under renowned scholars; after coming of age he entered the Imperial College and died at thirty. Two grandsons, Gang and Fu, were both earnest scholars of renown.
29
初，堂前歸陳，夫之妹尚幼，堂前教育之，及笄，以厚禮嫁遣。 舅姑亡，妹求分財產，堂前盡遺室中所有，無靳色。 不五年，妹所得財為夫所罄，乃歸悔。 堂前為買田置屋，撫育諸甥無異己子。 親屬有貧窶不能自存者，收養婚嫁至三四十人，自後宗族無慮百數。 裏有故家甘氏，貧而質其季女於酒家，堂前出金贖之，俾有所歸。 子孫遵其遺訓，五世同居，並以孝友儒業著聞。 乾道九年，詔旌表其門閭雲。
When Tangqian first married into the Chen family, her husband's younger sister was still young; Tangqian educated her and, when she came of age, sent her off with generous marriage rites. When her parents-in-law died, the younger sister sought a division of property; Tangqian gave her everything in the house without hesitation. Within five years her husband had exhausted the property, and she returned in regret. Tangqian bought fields and a house for her and reared her nephews no differently from her own sons. Kinsmen too poor to support themselves—she took in, provided for, and married off as many as thirty or forty; afterward the clan numbered nearly a hundred. In the lane was an old family, the Gans, so poor they had pawned their youngest daughter to a wine shop; Tangqian paid gold to redeem her and gave her a proper home. Descendants followed her teachings; for five generations they lived together, renowned for filial devotion, friendship, and Confucian learning. In the ninth year of Qiandao an edict marked her gate and lane with commendation.
30
廖氏，臨江軍貢士歐陽希文之妻也。 紹興三年春，盜起建昌，號“白氈笠”，過臨江，希文與妻共挾其母傅走山中，為賊所追。 廖以身蔽姑，使希文負之逃。 賊執廖氏，廖正色叱之。 賊知不可屈，揮刃斷其耳與臂，廖猶謂賊曰：“爾輩叛逆至此，我即死，爾輩亦不久屠戮。 ”語絕而仆。 鄉人義而葬之，號“廖節婦墓”。
Liao Shi was the wife of Ouyang Xiwen, a presented scholar of Linjiang. In the spring of the third year of Shaoxing bandits rose in Jianchang, calling themselves "White Felt Hats." Passing through Linjiang, Xiwen and his wife escorted their mother Fu into the mountains and were pursued by bandits. Liao shielded her mother-in-law with her body and had Xiwen carry her and flee. The bandits seized Liao; she sternly rebuked them. Knowing she could not be bent, the bandits cut off her ear and arm. Liao still told them: "You rebels have come to this—though I die, you too shall soon be slaughtered." With these words she collapsed. Moved by her righteousness, the villagers buried her and called it the Tomb of the Chaste Wife Liao.
31
是年，盜彭友犯吉州龍泉，李生妻梁氏義不受辱，赴水而死。
That same year the bandit Peng You raised Longquan in Jizhou; Li Sheng's wife Liang Shi, choosing righteousness over disgrace, drowned herself in the river.
32
王氏，利州路提舉常平司幹辦公事劉當可之母也。 紹定三年，就養興元。 大元兵破蜀，提刑龐授檄當可詣行司議事。 當可捧檄白母，王氏毅然勉之曰：“汝食君祿，豈可辭難。 ”當可行，大元軍屠興元，王氏義不辱，大罵投江而死。 其婦杜氏及婢仆五人，鹹及於難。 當可聞變，奔赴江滸，得母喪以歸。 詔贈和義郡太夫人。
Wang Shi was the mother of Liu Dangke, Clerk of the Ever-Normal Granary Commission of Lizhou Circuit. In the third year of Shaoding she went to Xingyuan to live under her son's support. When the Yuan army conquered Shu, Judicial Commissioner Pang Shou dispatched Liu Dangke to the mobile headquarters for consultation. Dangke received the dispatch and told his mother; Wang Shi resolutely urged him: 'You draw the ruler's salary—how can you shrink from hardship?' Dangke set out; the Yuan army massacred Xingyuan. Wang Shi, choosing death over disgrace, cursed them and threw herself into the river. His daughter-in-law Du Shi and five maidservants all perished in the calamity. Hearing of the disaster, Dangke rushed to the riverbank, recovered his mother's body, and brought it home. An edict posthumously granted her the title of Grand Lady of Heyi Commandery.
33
曾氏婦晏，汀州寧化人。 夫死，守幼子不嫁。 紹定間，寇破寧化縣，令佐俱逃，將樂縣宰黃垺令土豪王萬全、王倫結約諸砦以拒賊，晏首助兵給糧，多所殺獲。 賊忿其敗，結集愈眾，諸砦不能禦，晏乃依黃牛山傍，自為一砦。
Yan, wife of the Zeng clan, was from Ninghua in Tingzhou. When her husband died, she guarded her young son and never remarried. During the Shaoding era bandits overran Ninghua County; officials all fled. Huang Kun, magistrate of Jiangle, organized local strongmen Wang Wanquan and Wang Lun to rally the stockades against the bandits; Yan was foremost in supplying troops and grain, and many enemies were killed or captured. Enraged at their defeats, the bandits gathered in greater numbers and the stockades could not hold. Yan then established her own stockade on Yellow Ox Mountain.
34
一日，賊遣數十人來索婦女金帛，晏召其田丁諭曰：“汝曹衣食我家，賊求婦女，意實在我。 汝念主母，各當用命，不勝即殺我。 ”因解首飾悉與田丁，田丁感激思奮。 晏自捶鼓，使諸婢鳴金，以作其勇。 賊復退敗。 鄰鄉知其可依，挈家依黃牛山避難者甚眾。 有不能自給者，晏悉以家糧助之。 於是聚眾日廣，復與倫、萬全共措置，析黃牛山為五砦，選少壯為義丁，有急則互相應援以為犄角，賊屢攻弗克。 所活老幼數萬人。
One day the bandits sent dozens of men to demand women and valuables. Yan summoned her tenant farmers and said: 'You live at my household's expense; when they demand women, their target is really me. Think of your mistress—fight with all your strength; if you cannot win, then kill me.' She removed her jewelry and gave it all to them; grateful, they resolved to fight fiercely. Yan herself beat the drum while her maidservants struck gongs to rouse their courage. The bandits were driven back in defeat again. Neighboring districts, knowing they could rely on her, brought their families in great numbers to seek refuge on Yellow Ox Mountain. Those who could not support themselves she aided with household grain. The gathered multitude grew daily; joining with Lun and Wanquan, she divided Yellow Ox Mountain into five stockades, selected the young and strong as militia, and organized mutual reinforcement; the bandits attacked repeatedly without success. She preserved tens of thousands of old and young.
35
知南劍州陳韡遣人遺以金帛，晏悉散給其下； 又遺楮幣以勞五砦之義丁，且借補其子，名其砦曰萬安。 事聞，詔特封晏為恭人，仍賜冠帔，其子特與補承信郎。
Chen Wei, prefect of Nanjian, sent gold and silks; Yan distributed them all to her followers; he also sent paper currency to reward the militia of the five stockades and provisionally appointed her son, naming her stockade Ever-Peace. When word reached the court, an edict enfeoffed Yan as Lady with cap and sash, and specially appointed her son Gentleman for Trust.
36
王袤妻趙氏，饒州樂平人。 建炎中，袤監上高酒稅，金兵犯筠，袤棄官逃去，趙從之行。 遇金人，縛以去，係袤夫婦於劉氏門，而入剽掠劉室。 趙宛轉解縛，並解袤，謂袤曰：“君速去。 ”俄而金人出，問袤安往，趙他指以誤之。 金人追之不得，怒趙欺己，殺之。 袤方伏叢薄間，望之悲痛，歸刻趙像以葬。 袤後仕至孝順監鎮。
Zhao Shi, wife of Wang Mao, was from Leping in Raozhou. During Jianyan Wang Mao supervised the wine tax at Shanggao; when Jin troops invaded Yun, he abandoned his post and fled, Zhao accompanying him. They encountered Jin troops, who seized them, tied the couple at the Liu family gate, and entered to plunder the Liu household. Zhao worked free of her bonds and freed Mao as well, telling him: 'Husband, flee quickly.' Soon the Jin emerged and asked where Mao had gone; Zhao pointed elsewhere to deceive them. Unable to catch him, the Jin grew angry at her deception and killed her. Mao hid in the thickets, watching in grief; he returned, carved her likeness, and buried it. Mao later rose to Supervisor of the Xiaoshun Garrison.
37
塗端友妻陳氏，撫州臨川人。 紹興九年，盜起，被驅入黃山寺，賊逼之不從，以刃加其頸，叱曰：“汝輩鼠竊，命若蜉蝣，我良家子，義豈爾辱！ 縱殺我，官兵即至，爾其免乎？ ”賊知不可屈，乃幽之屋壁。 居數日，族黨有得釋者，鹹齎金帛以贖其孥。 賊引端友妻令婦。 曰：“吾聞貞女不出閨閣，今吾被驅至此，何面目登塗氏堂！ ”復罵賊不絕，竟死之。
Chen Shi, wife of Tu Duanyou, was from Linchuan in Fuzhou. In the ninth year of Shaoxing bandits rose and drove her into Huangshan Temple. They pressed her and she would not yield; they placed a blade to her neck and shouted: 'You are mere rat thieves—your lives are like mayflies; I am a respectable family's daughter—how could I suffer your disgrace! Even if you kill me, government troops will soon arrive—will you not then escape?' Knowing she could not be bent, the bandits imprisoned her within a wall. After several days, kinsmen who gained release brought gold and silks to ransom their families. The bandits brought Duanyou's wife to meet her. She said: 'I have heard that chaste women do not leave the inner quarters—now that I am driven here, what face have I to enter the Tu clan's hall! She cursed the bandits without cease until they killed her.
38
詹氏女，蕪湖人。 紹興初，年十七，淮寇號“一窠蜂”倏破縣，女歎曰：“父子無俱生理，我計決矣。 ”頃之賊至，欲殺其父兄，女趨而前拜曰：“妾雖窶陋，願執巾帚以事將軍，贖父兄命。 不然，父子並命，無益也。 ”賊釋父兄縛，女麾手使亟去：“無顧我，我得侍將軍，何所憾哉。 ”遂隨賊。 行數里，過市東橋，躍身入水死。 賊相顧駭歎而去。
The daughter of the Zhan clan was from Wuhu. At the beginning of Shaoxing, when she was seventeen, Huai bandits calling themselves 'One Nest of Bees' suddenly overran the county. The girl sighed: 'Father and son cannot both survive—I have made my decision.' Soon the bandits arrived, intending to kill her father and elder brother. The girl hurried forward and bowed: 'Though I am plain, I am willing to serve you as handmaid and ransom my father and brother's lives. Otherwise they will both die—to no purpose.' The bandits released her father and brother. She waved them away: 'Flee quickly—do not look back. Now that I may serve you, what regret have I?' She then followed the bandits. After traveling several li they passed the east bridge of the market; she leaped into the water and died. The bandits looked at one another in startled admiration and departed.
39
劉生妻歐陽氏，吉州安福人。 生居新樂鄉，以事出，惡少來欲侵淩之，歐陽不受辱而死。 邑人劉寬作詩以吊之，時紹興十年也。
Ouyang Shi, wife of Liu Sheng, was from Anfu in Jizhou. Sheng lived in Xinle Township. When he went out on business, ruffians came to molest her; Ouyang refused to suffer disgrace and died. Liu Kuan of the district composed a poem to mourn her, in the tenth year of Shaoxing.
40
同縣有朱雲孫妻劉氏，姑病，雲孫刲股肉作糜以進而愈。 姑復病，劉亦刲股以進，又愈。 尚書謝諤為賦《孝婦詩》。
In the same county, Liu Shi, wife of Zhu Yunsun, when her mother-in-law fell ill, Yunsun cut flesh from his thigh to make gruel for her and she recovered. When her mother-in-law fell ill again, Liu also cut flesh from her thigh and presented it, and she recovered again. Minister Xie E composed the Poem on the Filial Wife for them.
41
謝泌妻侯氏，南豐人。 始笄，家貧，事姑孝謹。 盜起，焚裏舍殺人，遠近逃避。 姑疾篤不能去，侯號泣姑側。 盜逼之，侯曰：“寧死不從。 ”盜刃之，仆溝中。 賊退，漸蘇，見一篋在側，發之皆金珠，族婦以為己物，侯悉歸之，婦分其一以謝，侯辭曰：“非我有，不願也。 ”後夫與姑俱亡，子幼，父母欲更嫁之，侯曰：“兒以賤婦人，得歸隱居賢者之門已幸矣，忍去而使謝氏無後乎？ 寧貧以養其子，雖餓死亦命也。”
Hou Shi, wife of Xie Bi, was from Nanfeng. When she came of age the family was poor; she served her mother-in-law with filial devotion. Bandits rose, burning houses and killing people; neighbors fled in all directions. Her mother-in-law was gravely ill and could not flee; Hou wept at her side. The bandits pressed her; Hou said: 'I would rather die than submit.' The bandits stabbed her and she fell into a ditch. When the bandits retreated she gradually revived and found a box of gold and pearls beside her. A clanswoman claimed it as her own; Hou returned it all. When the woman offered her a share in thanks, Hou declined: 'It is not mine—I do not want it.' Later her husband and mother-in-law both died, leaving a young son; her parents wished to remarry her. Hou said: 'Through a lowly woman's body my son was fortunate to enter a worthy household—how could I leave and leave the Xie clan without posterity? I would rather remain poor and rear my son—even if I starve, that is my fate.'
42
同縣有樂氏女，父以鬻果為業。 紹定二年，盜入境，其父買舟挈家走建昌。 盜掠其舟，將逼二女，俱不從，一赴水死，一見殺。
In the same county was the daughter of the Yue clan; her father sold fruit for a living. In the second year of Shaoding bandits entered the district; her father bought a boat and took the family fleeing to Jianchang. Bandits seized their boat and tried to force the two daughters; both refused—one drowned herself, the other was killed.
43
謝枋得妻李氏，饒州安仁人也。 色美而慧，通女訓諸書。 嫁枋得，事舅姑、奉祭、待賓皆有禮。 枋得起兵守安仁，兵敗逃入閩中。 武萬戶以枋得豪傑，恐其扇變，購捕之，根及其家人。 李氏攜二子匿貴溪山荊棘中，采草木而食。 至元十四年冬，信兵蹤跡至山中，令曰：“苟不獲李氏，屠而墟！ ”李聞之，曰：“豈可以我故累人，吾出，事塞矣。 ”遂就俘。 明年，徙囚建康。 或指李言曰：“明當沒入矣。 ”李聞之，撫二子，淒然而泣。 左右曰：“雖沒入，將不失為官人妻，何泣也？ ”李曰：“吾豈可嫁二夫耶！ ”顧謂二子曰：“若幸生還，善事吾姑，吾不得終養矣。 ”是夕，解裙帶自經獄中死。
Li Shi, wife of Xie Fangde, was from Anren in Raozhou. Beautiful and intelligent, she mastered women's teachings and various books. Married to Fangde, she observed all propriety in serving her parents-in-law, conducting sacrifices, and receiving guests. Fangde raised troops to defend Anren; defeated, he fled into Fujian. Commander Wu, judging Fangde a heroic figure and fearing he might incite rebellion, offered a reward for his capture and hunted down his entire family. Li took her two sons and hid in the brambles of Guixi Mountain, gathering wild plants for food. In the winter of the fourteenth year of Zhiyuan, Xin troops tracked them to the mountain with the order: 'If Li is not captured, slaughter everyone and leave the place a ruin! Hearing this, Li said: 'How can I bring disaster on others because of me—if I surrender, the matter will end.' She then surrendered. The next year the prisoners were moved to Jiankang. Someone pointed at Li and said: 'Tomorrow she will be confiscated.' Hearing this, Li embraced her two sons and wept. Those beside her said: 'Even if confiscated, you will still become an official's wife—why weep?' Li said: 'How could I marry a second husband!' She told her sons: 'If you survive, serve your grandmother well—I can no longer care for her.' That evening she removed her skirt sash and hanged herself in prison.
44
枋得母桂氏尤賢達，自枋得逋播，婦與孫幽遠方，處之泰然，無一怨語。 人問之，曰：“義所當然也。 ”人稱為賢母雲。
Fangde's mother, Lady Gui, was especially worthy; from the time he became a fugitive, his wife and grandsons dwelt far away, yet she bore it calmly without complaint. When people asked her, she said: 'It is what righteousness demands.' People called her the Worthy Mother.
45
王貞婦，夫家臨海人也。 德祐二年冬，大元兵入浙東，婦與其舅、姑、夫皆被執。 既而舅、姑與夫皆死，主將見婦皙美，欲內之，婦號慟欲自殺，為奪挽不得死。 夜令俘囚婦人雜守之。 婦乃陽謂主將曰：“若以吾為妻妾者，欲令終身善事主君也。 吾舅、姑與夫死，而我不為之衰，是不天也。 不天之人，若將焉用之！ 願請為服期，即惟命。 苟不聽我，我終死耳，不能為若妻也。 ”主將恐其誠死，許之，然防守益嚴。
The chaste widow Wang—her husband's family were natives of Linhai. In the winter of the second year of Deyou, Yuan troops entered eastern Zhe; she, her father-in-law, mother-in-law, and husband were all seized. Later her in-laws and husband all died; the commander, seeing her fair, wished to take her. She wailed and tried to kill herself, but they restrained her. At night he ordered captive women to guard her. She then feigned to the commander: 'If you take me as wife or concubine, you wish me to serve you faithfully for life. My in-laws and husband are dead, yet I do not mourn them—that would defy Heaven. A person who defies Heaven—of what use would I be to you! Allow me a mourning period, and then I am at your command. If you will not heed me, I shall die and cannot be your wife.' Fearing she would truly die, the commander consented, yet tightened the guard.
46
明年春，師還，挈行至嵊青楓嶺，下臨絕壑。 婦待守者少懈，齧指出血，書字山石上，南望慟哭，自投崖下而死。 後其血皆漬入石間，盡化為石。 天且陰雨，即墳起如始書時。 至治中，朝廷旌之曰“貞婦”，郡守立石祠嶺上，易名曰清風嶺。
The next spring the army returned, marching her to Qingfeng Ridge in Sheng, overlooking a sheer ravine. When the guards slackened, she bit her finger until blood flowed, wrote on the cliff stone, gazed south and wailed, and threw herself from the cliff. Later her blood seeped into the stone and turned wholly to stone. When rain was about to fall, the writing on her tomb appeared as when first inscribed. During the Zhizhi era the court commended her as 'Chaste Wife'; the prefect erected a stone shrine on the ridge and renamed it Clear Wind Ridge.
47
趙淮妾，長沙人也，逸其姓名。 德祐中，從淮戍銀樹埧。 淮兵敗，俱執至瓜州。 元帥阿術使淮招李庭芝，淮陽諾，至揚城下，乃大呼曰：“李庭芝，男子死耳，毋降也。 ”元帥怒，殺之，棄其屍江濱。 妾俘一軍校帳中，乃解衣中金遺其左右，且告之曰：“妾夙事趙運使，今其死不葬，妾誠不能忘情。 願因公言使掩埋之，當終身事相公無憾矣。 ”軍校憐其言，使數兵輿如江上。 妾聚薪焚淮骨置瓦缶中，自抱持，操小舟至急流，仰天慟哭，躍水而死。
The concubine of Zhao Huai was from Changsha; her personal name is lost. During Deyou she followed the Huai garrison at Yingshu Ford. The Huai army was defeated; all were seized and taken to Guazhou. Marshal A Shu had Huai summon Li Tingzhi. Huai feigned agreement and, reaching Yang City, shouted: 'Li Tingzhi—a man should die rather than surrender!' Enraged, the marshal killed him and cast his body on the riverbank. Held captive in a military officer's tent, she removed gold from her garments and gave it to his attendants, saying: 'I long served Commissioner Zhao; now that he lies unburied, I cannot forget him.' Please ask your lord to have him buried; then I will serve you for life without regret.' Pitying her words, the officer sent soldiers with a litter to the river. She gathered firewood, burned Huai's bones, placed them in a jar, embraced it, poled a small boat to the rapids, wailed to heaven, and leaped into the water.
48
譚氏婦趙，吉州永新人。 至元十四年，江南既內附，永新復嬰城自守。 天兵破城，趙氏抱嬰兒隨其舅、姑同匿邑校中，為悍卒所獲，殺其舅、姑，執趙欲汙之，不可，臨之以刃曰：“從我則生，不從則死。 ”趙罵曰：“吾舅死於汝，吾姑又死於汝，吾與其不義而生，寧從吾舅、姑以死耳。 ”遂與嬰兒同遇害。 血漬於禮殿兩楹之間，入磚為婦人與嬰兒狀，久而宛然如新。 或訝之，磨以沙石不滅，又段以熾炭，其狀益顯。
Zhao, wife of the Tan clanswoman, was from Yongxin in Jizhou. In the fourteenth year of Zhiyuan, after the south had submitted, Yongxin again held its walls and resisted. Yuan troops took the city. Zhao, holding her infant, hid with her uncle and mother-in-law in the district school but was seized by brutal soldiers who killed her uncle and mother-in-law. They seized Zhao and tried to violate her; she refused. They threatened her with blades: 'Follow me and live; refuse and die.' Zhao cursed: 'My uncle died by your hand, my mother-in-law by your hand—I would rather die with them than live in unrighteousness.' She and her infant were killed together. Blood stained the two pillars of the ritual hall; soaking into the brick it formed the shapes of a woman and infant, remaining fresh for a long time. When people were startled, grinding with sand and stone could not efface it; heating with blazing charcoal made the image even clearer.
49
吳中孚妻，隆興之進賢人，少寡。 景定元年，兵亂，攜孤女自沈於縣之染步，曰：“義不辱吾夫。”
The wife of Wu Zhongfu was from Jinxian in Longxing and became a widow while young. In the first year of Jingding, amid military turmoil, she took her orphaned daughter and drowned herself at Ranbu, saying: 'I will not disgrace my husband.'
50
呂仲洙女，名良子，泉州晉江人。 父得疾瀕殆，女焚香祝天，請以身代，刲股為粥以進。 時夜中，群鵲繞屋飛噪，仰視空中，大星燁煜如月者三。 越翼日，父瘳。 女弟細良亦相從拜禱，良子卻之，細良恚曰：“豈姊能之，兒不能耶！ ”守真德秀嘉之，表其居曰“懿孝”。
The daughter of Lu Zhongzhu, named Liangzi, was from Jinjiang in Quanzhou. Her father fell gravely ill; the girl burned incense and prayed to Heaven to substitute her own body, cut flesh from her thigh to make gruel, and presented it. Deep in the night magpies circled the house crying; looking up, three great stars blazed bright as the moon. The next day her father recovered. Her younger sister Xiliang also wished to join in prayer; Liangzi refused, and Xiliang said angrily: 'If my sister can do it, why cannot I!' Prefect Zhen Dexiu praised them and marked their dwelling 'Exemplary Filial Piety.'
51
林老女，永春人，及笄未婚。 紹定三年夏，寇犯邑，入山避之。 猝遇寇，欲汙之，不從。 度不得脫，紿曰：“有金帛埋於家，盍同取之？ ”甫入門，大呼曰：“吾寧死於家，決不辱吾身。 ”賊怒殺之，越三日麵如生。
Old woman Lin was from Yongchun and came of age unmarried. In the summer of the third year of Shaoding bandits invaded the district; she fled into the mountains. She suddenly encountered bandits who tried to violate her; she refused. Knowing she could not escape, she deceived them: 'I have gold and silk buried at home—come fetch it with me.' Just inside the gate she shouted: 'I would rather die at home than disgrace myself.' The bandits killed her in anger; three days later her face was as in life.
52
童八娜，鄞之通遠鄉建奧人。 虎銜其大母，女手拽虎尾，祈以身代。 虎為釋其大母，銜女以去。 始，林栗侍親官其地，嚐目睹之。 已而為守，以聞於朝，祠祀之。
Tong Bana was from Jian'ao in Tongyuan Township, Yin. A tiger seized her grandmother; the girl grasped its tail and begged to take her grandmother's place. The tiger released her grandmother and carried off the girl. Lin Li, then attending his parents in office there, once witnessed it himself. Later, as prefect, he reported it to the court and she received temple sacrifice.
53
韓氏女，字希孟，巴陵人，或曰丞相琦之裔。 少明慧，知讀書。 開慶元年，大元兵至嶽陽，女年十有八，為卒所掠，將挾以獻其主將。 女知必不免，竟赴水死。 越三日得其屍，於練裙帶有詩曰：“我質本瑚璉，宗廟供頻蘩。 一朝嬰禍難，失身戎馬間。 寧當血刃死，不作衽席完。 漢上有王猛，江南無謝安。 長號赴洪流，激烈摧心肝。”
The daughter of the Han clan, styled Ximeng, was from Baling—some say a descendant of Chancellor Han Qi. Young, bright and clever, she could read books. In the first year of Kaiqing the Yuan army reached Yueyang; the girl was eighteen when soldiers seized her to present to their commander. Knowing she could not escape, she threw herself into the water. Three days later they recovered her body; on her silk skirt was a poem: 'My substance was ritual jade, meant for the ancestral temple's offerings. One morning calamity struck, and I was lost among war-horses. Better to die by the blade than be made whole on the marriage bed. On the Han there is a Wang Meng; in Jiangnan there is no Xie An. With long wailing I rush to the mighty torrent, shattering heart and liver.'
54
王氏婦梁，臨川人。 歸夫家才數月，會大元兵至，一夕，與夫約曰：“吾遇兵必死，義不受汙辱。 若後娶，當告我。 ”頃之，夫婦被掠。 有軍千戶強使從己，婦紿曰：“夫在，伉儷之情有所不忍，乞歸之而後可。 ”千戶以所得金帛與其夫而歸之，並與一矢，以卻後兵。 約行十餘里，千戶即之，婦拒且罵曰：“斫頭奴！ 吾與夫誓，天地鬼神寔臨之，此身寧死不可得也。 ”因奮搏之，乃被殺。 有同掠脫歸者道其事。 越數年，夫以無嗣謀更娶，議輒不諧，因告其故妻，夜夢妻曰：“我死後生某氏家，今十歲矣。 後七年，當復為君婦。 ”明日遣人聘之，一言而合。 詢其生，與婦死年月同雲。
Liang, wife of the Wang clanswoman, was from Linchuan. She had been married only a few months when the Yuan army arrived. One evening she told her husband: 'If soldiers come I must die—I will not suffer disgrace.' If you remarry, you must tell me.' Soon they were seized together. A chiliarch tried to take her; she deceived him: 'My husband is here—I cannot bear to leave him; let me return to him first.' The chiliarch gave the gold and silks to her husband and sent her back, also giving an arrow to ward off pursuers. After about ten li the chiliarch caught up; she resisted and cursed: 'Head-chopping slave!' I swore with my husband before Heaven and earth—this body would rather die than yield. She struggled fiercely and was killed. A fellow captive who escaped reported what had happened. Years later, childless, he planned to remarry but could not agree on a match, so he told his wife's story. That night he dreamed she said: 'After my death I was reborn in a certain clan; I am now ten.' In seven more years I shall again be your wife. The next day he sent a betrothal party; with one word all was settled. Her birth year and month matched the wife's death.
55
劉仝子妻林氏，福州福清人。 其父公遇，知名士。 仝子為福建招撫使起義兵，事見《林同傳》。 仝子亡命自經死，有司執其妻具反狀，林叱曰：“林、劉二族，世為宋臣，欲以忠義報國，事不成，天也，何為反乎！ 汝知去歲有以血書壁而死者乎？ 是吾兄也。 吾與兄，忠義之心則一也，死且求治汝於地下，可生為汝等淩辱耶！ ”遂遇害。
Lin Shi, wife of Liu Tongzi, was from Fuqing in Fuzhou. Her father Gongyu was a renowned scholar. Tongzi, as Fujian Pacification Commissioner, raised loyal troops—see the Biography of Lin Tong. Tongzi hanged himself as a fugitive; authorities seized his wife to compile evidence of rebellion. Lin rebuked them: 'The Lin and Liu clans have been Song subjects for generations, wishing to serve with loyalty; we failed—that is Heaven's will; why call it rebellion! Do you know who last year wrote in blood on the wall and died?' That was my elder brother. My brother and I share one heart of loyalty; dead, I shall still seek justice from you underground—how could I live to suffer your abuse! She was then killed.
56
毛惜惜者，高郵妓女也。 端平二年，別將榮全率眾據城以畔，製置使遣人以武翼郎招之。 全偽降，欲殺使者，方與同黨王安等宴飲，惜惜恥於供給，安斥責之，惜惜曰：“初謂太尉降，為太尉更生賀。 今乃閉門不納使者，縱酒不法，乃畔逆耳。 妾雖賤妓，不能事畔臣。 ”全怒，遂殺之。 越三日，李虎破關，禽全斬之，並其妻子及王安以下預畔者百有餘人悉傅以法。
Mao Xixi was a courtesan of Gaoyou. In the second year of Duanping Vice General Rong Quan rebelled and held the city; the Commissioner sent a Martial Wing Gentleman to summon him. Quan feigned surrender, planning to kill the envoy. As he feasted with Wang An and others, Xixi was shamed at serving them. An scolded her; she said: 'At first I thought the Grand Marshal had surrendered and came to congratulate his rebirth. Now you shut the gates against the envoy and drink lawlessly—you are rebels.' Though I am a lowly courtesan, I cannot serve rebels. Enraged, Quan killed her. Three days later Li Hu broke the pass, captured Quan and beheaded him, together with his wife, children, Wang An, and more than a hundred rebels—all executed by law.