2
Yuan Shu, styled Yangyuan, came from Yangxia in Chen commandery and was the youngest son of Danyang Governor Bao. Even as a small child he showed spirit; his uncle Zhan told the household, "This is no ordinary boy." By his teens he had won the admiration of his uncle-by-marriage Wang Hong. He skipped narrow exegetical study yet ranged widely across learning; he loved to write, in a forceful and brilliant style, and debated with eloquent skill. The province made him chief clerk and offered him posts as assistant in the writing office and attendant of the heir apparent, but he declined them all. Prince of Pengcheng Yikang appointed him libationer of the Minister of Works. Yikang cared little for letters; though he treated Shu with outward courtesy, inwardly he kept his distance. Liu Zhan, a maternal cousin, wanted Shu at his side, but Shu would not oblige; they fell out sharply, and Shu was dismissed after a long illness. He was made right-army chief clerk to Prince of Hengyang Yiji, then promoted to groom of the heir apparent, but a foot ailment kept him from taking office. Prince of Linchuan Yiqing, a great lover of literature, asked for him as consultation officer. Soon after he became western attendant of the left in the Ministry of Works. He served as administrator of Xuancheng, returned as gentleman of the secretariat, and left office to mourn his mother. After mourning he became palace aide to the heir apparent.
3
In the twenty-sixth year of Yuanjia he was made gentleman of the ministry of personnel. That autumn, as a great northern campaign was launched, Shu said calmly at court: "Now is the time to ring the bells at Mount Song, sweep Zhao and Wei, and inspect the jade at Mount Dai. I meet an age that comes once in a millennium and wish to present a treatise on the feng and shan rites." Emperor Wen laughed and said, "A deed of supreme virtue—how could I be worthy of that?" He went out as chief clerk of the pacification of the north to Prince of Shixing and administrator of Southern Donghai. When Shu first arrived, Jun received him and said, "I never expected my uncle to condescend to serve as my aide." Shu replied, "The court sent me precisely to lend luster to your princely house." He returned as director of the censorate. The northern enemy pushed south as far as Guabu; Emperor Wen had officials debate defense, and Shu submitted a memorial:
4
臣聞函車之獸，離山必斃； 絕波之鱗，宕流則枯。 羯寇遺醜，趨致畿甸，蟻萃螽集，聞已崩殪。 天險岩曠，地限深遐，故全魏戢其圖，盛晉輟其議，情屈力殫，氣挫勇竭，諒不虞於來臨，本無怵於能濟矣。 乃者燮定攜遠，阻違授律，由將有弛拙，故士少鬥志。 圍潰之眾，匪寇傾淪，攻制之師，空自班散，濟西勁騎，急戰蹴旅，淮上訓卒，簡備靡旗。 是由綏整寡衷，戎昭多昧，遂使栲潞入患，泉伊來擾，紛殄姬風，泯毒禹績，騰書有渭陰之迫，懸烽均咸陽之警。 然而切揣虛實，伏匿先彰，校索伎能，譎詭既顯。 綿地千里，彌行阻深，表裏躓硋，後先介逼。 舍陵衍之習，競湍沙之利。 今虹見萍生，土膏泉動，津陸陷溢，痁禍洊興，芻稿已單，米粟莫系，水宇衿帶，進必傾殞，河隘扁固，退亦墮滅。 所謂棲烏於烈火之上，養魚于叢棘之中。
I have heard that beasts carried in covered carts die once they leave the mountains; fish that ride the waves wither when the current fails. The Jie remnant has rushed to the capital region; swarming like ants and locusts, they are said already to be collapsing. Heaven's barriers are vast, earth's limits remote—so Wei folded its plans and Jin stayed its hand; will bent, strength spent, spirit broken, courage exhausted; they never expected our coming and never feared we could prevail. Yet lately, in pacifying the distant, we blocked and violated the laws of war—the generals grew lax, the troops lost heart. Besieged masses were not crushed by the foe; attacking armies scattered on their own; Ji's strong cavalry fought in haste and trampled their ranks; Huai trainees were lightly armed and lost their banners. Command was poorly harmonized, military discipline dim; Gaolu brought disaster, Quanyi harassed; Ji customs scattered, Yu's legacy poisoned; dispatches pressed Wei's north, beacons matched Xianyang's alarm. Yet probing substance and void, their hiding was revealed; testing skill, their deceits were exposed. A thousand li of territory, yet march is blocked and deep; inside and outside they stumble, front and rear press tight. They abandon level hills and compete for rushing sands. Now rainbows appear, duckweed sprouts, clay oozes, springs stir; fords flood, plague returns; fodder gone, grain untied—waters belt the land: advance means ruin, rivers narrow: retreat means doom. This is nesting birds over fire and raising fish in thorns.
5
或謂損緩江右，寬繕淮內。 竊謂拯扼閩城，舊史為允，棄遠涼士，前言稱非。 限此要荒，猶弗委割。 況聯被京國，咫尺神甸，數州摧掃，列邑殲痍，山淵反覆，草木塗地。 今丘賦千乘，井算萬集，肩摩倍于長安，締袂百於臨淄，什一而籍，實慊氓願，履畝以稅，既協農和。 戶競戰心，人含銳志，皆欲贏糧請奮，釋緯乘城。 謂宜懸金鑄印，要壯果之士，重幣甘辭，招摧決之將，舉薦板築之下，抽登臺皁之間，賞之以焚書，報之以相爵，俄而昭才賀闕，異能間至。
Some say ease the Yang's right bank and relax Huai defenses. I hold that saving Min city is approved in old histories, but abandoning distant borderlands was called wrong before. Even that remote frontier they would not cast away. How much more when the capital lies linked, the sacred domain within reach—provinces swept bare, cities ruined, land overturned, grass and trees painted with dead. Now hill taxes field a thousand chariots, wells reckon ten thousand households; shoulders crowd beyond Chang'an, sleeves press beyond Linzi; one-tenth levies answer the people, mu taxation suits the harvest. Households compete in war spirit; men hold sharp resolve—all wish to carry grain and fight, cast off looms and man the walls. Hang gold and cast seals for fierce men; heavy gifts and sweet words for the resolute; draw talent from the lowly and the clerks; reward with burned books, repay with rank—soon talent and skill will arrive.
6
戎貪而無謀，肆而不整，迷乎向背之次，謬於合散之宜，犯軍志之極害，觸兵家之甚諱。 鹹畜憤矣，僉策戰矣，稱願影從，謠言緡命。 宜選敢悍數千，騖行潛掩，偃旗裹甲，鉗馬銜枚，檜稽而起，晨壓未陣，旌噪亂舉，火鼓四臨，使景不暇移，塵不及起，無不禽鎩獸讋，冰解霧散，掃洗哨類，漂鹵浮山。 如有決罦漏網，逡窠逗穴，命淮、汝戈船，遏其還徑，兗部勁卒，梗其歸塗。 必剪元雄，懸首麾下，乃將只輪不反，戰轊無旋矣。 於是信臣騰威，武士繕力，緹組接陰，鞞柝聯響。
They are greedy without plan, rampant without order, lost in advance and retreat, wrong in gathering and scattering, touching the army's worst harm and the strategist's greatest taboo. All store anger; all draw battle plans; they beg to follow, rumor binds their lives. Choose thousands of daring men, ride swift and strike hidden, lower banners, wrap armor, muzzle horses, gag mouths; rise at dawn and press the unformed camp; chaos, fire, drums on four sides—they cannot move; all will be seized, ice melt, scouts swept, captives heaped like mountains. If any escape the net, order Huai and Ru boats to block return and Yan's crack troops to choke the homeward road. Surely the chief will be cut down, head hung beneath the banners; not a wheel will return. Then loyal ministers rise in might, warriors sharpen strength, patrol cords link, watch-rattles sound in turn.
7
若其偽遁羸張，出沒無際，楚言漢旆，顯默如神，固已日月蔽虧，川穀蕩貿。 負塞殘孽，阻山燼黨，收險竊命，憑城借土，則當因威席捲，乘機芟剿。 泗、汴秀士，星流電燭，徐、阜嚴兵，雨湊雲集，蹶亂桑溪之北，搖潰浣海以南，絕其心根，勿使能植，銜索之枯，幾何不蠹。 是由涸澤而漁，焚林而狩，若浚風之亻舞輕籜，杲日之拂浮霜。 既而尉洽荷掠之餘，望吊網悲之鬼。 然後天行樞運，猋舉煙升，青蓋西巡，翠華東幸，經啟州野，滌一軫策，俾高闕再勒，燕然後銘。 方乃奠山沉河，創禮輯策，闡耀炎、昊之遺則，貫軼商、夏之舊文。
If they feign retreat, appear and vanish without bound, Chu speech and Han banners, manifest and hidden like spirits—sun and moon eclipsed, valleys overturned. Remnants holding passes and hills, stealing life behind walls—then roll up power and cut them down at once. Si and Bian's fine men stream like stars; Xu and Fu's troops gather like clouds; trample north of Sangxi, shake south of Huanghai; cut the root so nothing grows—the bound dry tree cannot fail to rot. Thus drain the marsh to fish, burn the forest to hunt—like keen wind on bamboo, like bright sun on frost. Then comfort those left from the net's sweep and mourn the ghosts caught in sorrow. Then heaven's pivot turns, whirlwinds rise; the green canopy tours west, emerald banner east; provinces opened, wild lands cleansed at one rein-turn—the high tower carved again, Yanran inscribed after. Then mountains laid, rivers sunk, ritual made, registers compiled, blazing Yan and Hao's legacy, threading Shang and Xia's old texts.
8
Now the masses are brave but generals timid—long peace piled high, ease for years; towns lack alarm, homes lack war toil, drill rites wanting, muster adornment thin, and recommending talent may not yet have ripened. If the state chooses deeply from districts, bears utmost secrets, traces the far—one whose clarity shines, excellence declares itself, sincerity moves rain, spirit awes Fei and Ben, knowledge exhausts Ju and Qi, judges fortune and loss, harmonizes hearts, knows dull and keen, lays plans on cinnabar steps, raises counsel on green rush, persuades the throne and quiets plain speech—he could settle the people and save disaster. Then pull him above the over-favored, raise him above honored kin, give distinct banners and glorious stipends, going out with sole praise without awaiting orders. Lower the mat and bend the knee, as Guangwu requested; set up the altar and grant rites, as Huaiyin was invested. Surely there will be sworn alliance's merit and stealing the tally's swiftness.
9
Barbarians are violent; inner and outer scorn them; first attachments split without order—bewitch with might and profit and they fall apart; leaders in submission crumble themselves. Now old canons are glossed, land sprinkled with tassels, the hidden scattered, fierce heads cut down. This is the dim wishing for light, the lame wishing to walk—move and the meeting comes swift, work ends and feeling follows. Seizing Jin lay in keen sight; preserving Zheng in good spies—use counter-schemes, muddy their ears, strike rise and fall, probe suspicion, brush dislike, muddy with joint command, bait with carved lands. Exhaust the brush, unfold rhetoric's edge—debate shakes stout walls, a feather leans stony towns. Surely the storehouse collapses, trunk splits like tile—Yan and Yue regret each other, Xiang and Fan grow doubt.
10
Or few words, deep merit, near affairs, wide response—Qi lord returned carriage, Zhao lord restored lord, all cart and recitation's ways, full able service. I have been fortunate to leave the inner forbidden, wander heart in this bright age, grace with body, favor with years, yet have nothing to meet flourishing fortune and adorn great law. Now spent arrows lie on the road; the scorpion's sting has not ceased—I dare think cool thoughts and slightly repay broad grace. Yet command lacks brilliance; without helmet no result—I have seen frontier discussions, dependency plans, Zhong and Chao's words, Du and Geng's policy—all say classics' thorns still lack highest calculation, beacon respect barely reaches lower strategy. Ashamed of timid wood, wisdom not gathering subtlety—I dare reveal dull views, without meeting bright selection.
11
Shu loved grand exaggeration and was often mocked by contemporaries. Prince of Shixing Jun once sent thirty thousand cash to Shu; after one night he sent to recover it, claiming a messenger's error, intending to tease him. Shu wrote to Jun: "Director Yuan ventures to lodge a letter with the upper state's palace steward. Recently you wrongly sent a spring levy upon my poor district. My district respectfully attends and dares not be double-minded. I fear it is not suburban gift or audience resource, and did not expect the king's grace—therefore confusion. I did not think that within the day a note would arrive through your attendants to take it back, thinking relay error and hastening the first gift. How could a dependent minister of meager learning not doubt? Moreover former records say that within seven years one giving and one taking—even a righteous man might fault it. How much more within a ten-day span—how sudden this gain and loss. I fear feudal lords may observe the great state's government through this. Therefore I dare lay bare my heart. My poor house polishes integrity; I love straightness and, because I am not crooked, am known poor throughout the realm. Would anyone blind sigh over gold? With meager tribute I bind horses and send jade first to await command. Only the steward may decide."
12
遷太子左衛率。 元兇將為弑逆，其夜淑在直，二更許，呼淑及蕭斌等流涕謂曰：「主上信讒，將見罪廢。 內省無過，不能受枉。 明旦便當行大事，望相與戮力。」 淑及斌並曰：「自古無此，願加善思。」 劭怒變色，左右皆動。 斌懼，乃曰：「臣昔忝伏事，常思效節，況憂迫如此，輒當竭身奉令。」 淑叱之曰：「卿便謂殿下真有是邪？ 殿下幼時嘗患風，或是疾動耳。」 劭愈怒，因問曰：「事當克不？」 淑曰：「居不疑之地，何患不克。 但既克之後，為天地之所不容，大禍亦旋至耳。 願急息之。」 劭左右引淑衣曰：「此是何事，而可言罷。」 因賜淑等袴褶，又就主衣取錦，截三尺為一段，又中破，分斌、淑及左右，使以縛袴。 淑出還省，繞牀行，至四更乃寢。 劭將出，已與蕭斌同載，呼淑甚急，淑眠終不起。 劭停車奉化門，催之相續。 徐起至車後，劭使登車，又辭不上。 劭因命左右：「與手刃。」 見殺於奉化門外，時年四十六。 劭即位，追贈太常，賜賵甚厚。
He was made general of the left guard of the heir apparent. When the Traitor Prince was about to commit regicide, Shu was on duty that night; about the second watch Shao called Shu and Xiao Bin, weeping: "The emperor trusts slander; I am about to be charged and deposed. Looking within I have no fault and cannot accept injustice. Tomorrow I must act; I hope you will strive with me." Shu and Bin both said, "Since antiquity there has never been this; please think again." Shao's face changed in anger; those around stirred. Bin in fear said, "I once served you and thought to repay with loyalty; pressed so, I will obey." Shu rebuked him, "Do you think His Highness truly intends this? His Highness in youth suffered wind ailment; perhaps the illness stirs again." Shao grew angrier and asked, "Will it succeed or not?" Shu said, "In a position without doubt, why fear failure? But once you succeed, heaven and earth will not contain you; great disaster will swiftly come. I beg you to stop at once." Shao's attendants tugged Shu's sleeve: "What business is this, that you may speak and then stop?" Then he gave Shu and the others military trousers; he took brocade from the wardrobe, cut three-foot lengths, halved them, and divided them among Bin, Shu, and the attendants to bind their trousers. Shu returned to his quarters, paced around his bed, and slept only at the fourth watch. When Shao was about to go out with Xiao Bin, he called urgently for Shu; Shu slept on and did not rise. Shao stopped at Fenghua Gate and urged him again and again. Shu slowly came behind the carriage; Shao ordered him up, and again he refused. Shao ordered those around him, "Cut him down." He was killed outside Fenghua Gate at the age of forty-six. When Shao took the throne he posthumously made him director of ceremonies with lavish funeral goods.
13
世祖即位，使顏延之為詔曰：「夫輕道重義，亟聞其教；世弊國危，希遇其人。自非達義之至，識正之深者，孰能抗心衞主，遺身固節者哉。故太子左衞率淑，文辯優洽，秉尚貞慤。當要逼之切，意色不橈，厲辭道逆，氣震凶黨。虐刃交至，取斃不移。古之懷忠隕難，未云出其右者。興言嗟悼，無廢乎心。宜在加禮，永旌宋有臣焉。可贈侍中、太尉，諡曰忠憲公。」 又詔曰：「袁淑以身殉義，忠烈邈古。遺孤在疚，特所矜懷。可厚加賜卹，以慰存亡。」 淑及徐湛之、江湛、王僧綽、卜天與四家，於是長給稟祿。 文集傳於世。 子幾、敳、稜、凝、標。 敳，世祖步兵校尉。 凝，太宗世禦史中丞，出為晉陵太守。 太宗初與四方同反，兵敗歸降，以補劉湛冠軍府主簿。 淑諸子並早卒。
When Emperor Xiaowu took the throne, he had Yan Yanzhi draft an edict: "When the Way is slighted and righteousness weighed heavily, the teaching has long been heard; in an age of decay and a state in peril, such a person is rarely met. Unless one has reached the utmost in grasping righteousness and depth in knowing what is correct, who could brace the heart to guard his lord, leave the body, and hold fast to integrity? Former Left Guard General of the Heir Apparent Shu was eloquent and thorough and upheld pure sincerity. When coercion pressed hardest, his expression did not bend; with stern words he denounced rebellion, and his spirit shook the vicious faction. Cruel blades fell together, yet he met death without wavering. Among the loyal who fell in disaster in antiquity, none are said to surpass him. At these words we sigh and mourn, and our hearts cannot be unmoved. He deserves added honors, eternally displaying that Song had such a minister. He may be posthumously awarded Palace Attendant and Grand Commandant, with the posthumous title Duke of Loyal Integrity." Another edict said: "Yuan Shu gave his body for righteousness; his loyal valor reaches antiquity. Bereaved orphans mourn him—this touches us deeply. Let generous funeral gifts be added to console the living and the dead." The four households of Shu, Xu Zhizhi, Jiang Zhan, Wang Sengchuo, and Bu Tianyu thereafter received permanent stipends. His collected works circulated widely. His sons were Ji, Ai, Leng, Ning, and Biao. Ai was commandant of the footsoldiers under Emperor Xiaowu. Ning was director of the censorate under the Taizong Emperor and went out as administrator of Jinling. In Taizong's first year he rebelled with the four quarters; defeated, he surrendered and was made chief clerk in Liu Zhan's champion army. All Shu's sons died young.
14
史臣曰：天長地久，人道則異於斯。 蕣華朝露，未足以言也。 其間夭遽，曾何足云。 宜任心去留，不以存沒嬰心。 徒以靈化悠遠，生不再來，雖天行路險，而未之斯遇，謂七尺常存，百年可保也。 所以據洪圖而輕天下，吝寸陰而敗尺璧。 若乃義重乎生，空炳前誥，投軀殉主，世罕其人。 若無陽源之節，丹青何貴焉爾！
The historian says: Heaven is long and earth enduring, yet the human way differs. Hibiscus in morning dew is not enough to speak of. Sudden early death among them—how can it be worth mentioning? Let the heart go or stay; do not let life and death trouble the mind. Because spirit is far and life does not return, though heaven's road is perilous one has not met it, one thinks the body will always remain and a hundred years can be kept. Therefore one holds great design lightly, grudges an inch of shadow and loses a foot of jade. If righteousness outweighs life, it shines in former edicts; to die for one's lord is rare in the world. Without Yangyuan's integrity, how would vermillion and green be prized!