Volume 91 Biographies 51: Xiao Yi

列傳第五十一孝義

Biography 51: Filial Piety and Righteousness

《易》曰：「立人之道，曰仁與義。」夫仁義者，合君親之至理，實忠孝之所資。雖義發因心，情非外感，然企及之旨，聖哲詒言。至於風漓化薄，禮違道喪，忠不樹國，孝亦愆家，而一世之民，權利相引；仕以勢招，榮非行立，乏翱翔之感，棄舍生之分；霜露未改，大痛已忘於心，名節不變，戎車遽為其首。斯並斬訓之理未弘，汲引之途多闕。若夫情發於天，行成乎己，損軀捨命，濟主安親，雖乘理暗至，匪由勸賞，而宰世之人，曾微誘激。乃至事隱閭閻，無聞視聽，故可以昭被圖篆，百不一焉。今采綴湮落，以備闕文云爾。

The Yi says: "The way to establish humanity is called benevolence and righteousness." Benevolence and righteousness embody the highest principle of serving ruler and parent; they are the very foundation of loyalty and filial piety. Though righteousness springs from the heart and feeling is not imposed from without, the aim to attain it has been handed down in the words of sages. When customs grow dissolute and moral influence runs thin, ritual is lost and the Way abandoned, loyalty no longer upholds the state and filial piety fails the family, while people of the age tug one another by power and profit; men take office because power beckons, honor is won without upright conduct, the spirit to rise above circumstance is gone, and the duty to lay down one's life is cast aside; before frost and dew have even changed on the grave, deep grief is already forgotten; though reputation and integrity go unchanged in name, the war chariot is suddenly put first. All this shows that the principle of stern moral instruction has not been widely applied, and the paths by which such conduct is drawn forth remain largely closed. Yet when feeling issues from Heaven itself and conduct is perfected in one's own person—when one sacrifices body and life to save a lord or secure a parent—such deeds may follow principle in quiet obscurity, not from reward or exhortation, yet those who govern the age have scarcely ever encouraged them. Often the deed stays hidden in lanes and alleys, never reaching ears or eyes, so those who can shine forth in the historical records are fewer than one in a hundred. Here I gather what has sunk into obscurity, to fill gaps in the record.

龔穎，遂寧人也。少好學，益州刺史毛璩辟為勸學從事。璩為譙縱所殺，故佐吏並逃亡，穎號哭奔赴，殯送以禮。縱後設宴延穎，不獲已而至。樂奏，穎流涕起曰：「北面事人，亡不能死，何忍聞舉樂，蹈跡逆亂乎！」縱大將譙道福引出，將斬之。道福母即穎姑，跣出救之，故得免。縱既僭號，備禮徵，又不至。乃收穎付獄，脅以兵刃，執志彌堅，終無回改。至於蜀平，遂不屈節。

Gong Ying was a native of Suining. As a youth he loved learning; Mao Qi, Inspector of Yi Province, appointed him Attendant for Encouraging Learning. When Mao Qi was killed by Qiao Zong, his former staff all fled; Ying alone wailed and rushed to the scene, conducting the funeral with full propriety. Later Zong gave a feast and invited Ying, who came only because he could not refuse. When the music began, Ying rose in tears and said, "I served him as my lord, yet when he died I could not die with him—how can I bear to hear music played and follow in the footsteps of rebellion!" Zong's chief general Qiao Daofu had him led out to be executed. Daofu's mother was Ying's aunt; she ran out barefoot to save him, and he was spared. After Zong had assumed a royal title, he summoned Ying with full ceremonial honors, but Ying again refused to come. Zong then had Ying imprisoned and threatened him at sword-point, but Ying's resolve only grew firmer and he never wavered. When Shu was pacified, he still would not bend his integrity.

其後刺史至，輒加辟引，歷府參軍，州別駕從事史。太祖元嘉二十四年，刺史陸征上表曰：「臣聞運纏明夷，則艱貞之節顯；時屬棟橈，則獨立之操彰。昔之元興，皇綱弛紊，譙縱乘釁，肆虐巴、庸，害殺前益州刺史毛璩，竊據蜀土，涪、岷士庶，怵迫受職。璩故吏襲穎，獨秉身貞白，抗志不撓，殯送舊君，哀敬盡禮，全操九載，不染偽朝。縱雖殘凶，猶重義概，遂延以旌命，劫以兵威。穎忠誠奮發，辭色方壯，雖桎梏在身，踐危愈信其節；白刃臨頸，見死不更其守。若王蠋之抗辭燕軍，同周苛之肆詈楚王，方之於穎，蔑以加焉。誠當今之忠壯，振古之遺烈。而名未登於王府，爵猶齒於鄉曹，斯實邊氓遠土，所為於邑。臣過叨恩私，宣風萬里，志存砥竭，有懷必聞，故率愚愨，舉其所知。追懼紕妄，伏增悚栗。」穎遂不被朝命，終於家。

Afterward each new inspector summoned him; he served as commandery staff adjutant and as Registrar and Attendant on the provincial staff. In the twenty-fourth year of Yuanjia, Inspector Lu Zheng submitted a memorial: "I have heard that when fate is darkened by adversity, the integrity of steadfast endurance stands forth; when the times are like a bent ridgepole, the conduct of standing alone is made plain; In the early Yuanxing era the imperial order collapsed; Qiao Zong seized the opportunity, ravaged Ba and Yong, killed the former Inspector of Yi Mao Qi, and seized Shu. The people of Fu and Min accepted office only under duress. Mao Qi's former clerk Gong Ying alone kept himself pure, held firm without yielding, mourned and buried his old lord with full ritual, preserved his integrity for nine years, and never stained himself with the usurper's court. Though Zong was cruel, he still valued Ying's spirit of righteousness and summoned him with honors while threatening him with arms. Ying's loyalty blazed forth; his words rang strong. Though in fetters and facing death, he only held his integrity the firmer; with a blade at his throat, he faced death without changing his resolve. Like Wang Shu defying the Yan army with his words, like Zhou Ke reviling the King of Chu—compared with Ying, none could surpass him. He is truly the loyal stalwart of our age, reviving the heroic legacy of antiquity. Yet his name has not been entered in the imperial registers, his rank still counted among village clerks—this is what troubles the people of a remote borderland. I have been favored beyond desert, charged to carry your instruction across ten thousand li; my will is to wear myself to the whetstone, and what moves my heart I must report. Therefore in my plain sincerity I present what I know. Reflecting on this, I fear I may be in error; prostrate, I am filled with dread. Ying was never given court appointment and died at home.

劉瑜，歷陽人也。七歲喪父，事母至孝。年五十二，又喪母，三年不進鹽酪，號泣晝夜不絕聲。勤身運力，以營葬事。服除後，二十餘年布衣蔬食，言輒流涕。常居墓側，未嘗暫違。太祖元嘉初，卒。

Liu Yu was a native of Liyang. He lost his father at seven and served his mother with utmost filial piety. At fifty-two he lost his mother again; for three years he took no salt or dairy, wailing day and night without pause. He labored with his own hands to arrange the funeral. After mourning ended he wore plain cloth and ate simple food for more than twenty years; whenever he spoke, tears would flow. He lived beside the tomb and never left it, even for a moment. He died early in the Yuanjia era.

賈恩，會稽諸暨人也。少有志行，為鄉曲所推重。元嘉三年，母亡，居喪過禮。未葬，為鄰火所逼，恩及妻桓氏號哭奔救，鄰近赴助，棺櫬得免。恩及桓俱見燒死。有司奏改其里為孝義里，蠲租布三世。追贈天水部顯親縣左尉。

Jia En was a native of Zhuji in Kuaiji commandery. In youth he showed resolve and integrity and was respected throughout his neighborhood. In the third year of Yuanjia his mother died; his mourning observances exceeded what ritual required. Before the burial a neighbor's fire threatened the coffin; En and his wife Lady Huan ran wailing to save it; neighbors rushed to help and the coffin was spared. En and Lady Huan both perished in the flames. The authorities memorialized to rename his hamlet Hamlet of Filial Righteousness and to remit rent and cloth levies for three generations. He was posthumously awarded the rank of Left Commandant of Xianqin County in Tianshui.

郭世道，會稽永興人也。生而失母，父更娶，世道事父及後母，孝道淳備。年十四，又喪父，居喪過禮，殆不勝喪。家貧，無產業，傭力以養繼母。婦生一男，夫妻共議曰：「勤身供養，力猶不足，若養此兒，則所費者大。」乃垂泣瘞之。母亡，負土成墳，親戚咸共賻助，微有所受。葬畢，傭賃倍還先直。服除後，哀戚思慕，終身如喪者，以為追遠之思，無時去心，故未嘗釋衣｛巾臽｝。仁厚之風，行於鄉黨，鄰村小大，莫有呼其名者。嘗與人共於山陰市貨物，誤得一千錢，當時不覺，分背方悟。請其伴求以此錢追還本主，伴大笑不答。世道以己錢充數送還之，錢主驚歎，以半直與世道，世道委之而去。元嘉四年，遣大使巡行天下，散騎常侍袁愉表其淳行，太祖嘉之，敕郡榜表閭門，蠲其稅調，改所居獨楓里為孝行焉。太守孟顗察孝廉，不就。

Guo Shidao was a native of Yongxing in Kuaiji. He lost his mother at birth; when his father remarried, Shidao served both father and stepmother with complete filial devotion. At fourteen he lost his father as well; his mourning exceeded ritual, and he nearly died of grief. The family was poor and owned nothing; he hired out his labor to support his stepmother. When his wife bore a son, they agreed: "We barely have strength enough to support our elders; raising this child would cost too much." Weeping, they buried the infant alive. When his mother died, he carried earth to build the mound himself; relatives offered funeral gifts, but he accepted only a little. After the burial he paid double the wages he owed and returned every advance he had taken. After formal mourning ended, his grief and longing never ceased; honoring the dead never left his heart, and he never laid aside his simple mourning dress. His benevolence was known throughout the village; in neighboring hamlets young and old alike never called him by his personal name. Once while selling goods with a partner in Shanyin market he took a thousand cash too many by mistake and did not notice until they had parted. He asked his companion to help return the money to its owner; the companion only laughed and refused. Shidao made up the sum from his own purse and returned it; the owner, astonished, offered him half as a reward, but Shidao left it and walked away. In the fourth year of Yuanjia a touring envoy reported his conduct; Yuan Yu, Attendant-in-Ordinary, memorialized his integrity; the emperor commended him, ordered a placard posted at his gate, remitted his taxes, and renamed Lone Maple Hamlet Hamlet of Filial Conduct. Grand Administrator Meng Yi nominated him as Filial and Incorrupt, but he declined.

子原平，字長泰，又稟至行，養親必己力。性閑木功，傭賃以給供養。性謙虛，每為人作匠，取散夫價。主人設食，原平自以家貧，父母不辦有肴味，唯飧鹽飯而已。若家或無食，則虛中竟日，義不獨飽；要須日暮作畢，受直歸家，於里中買糴，然後舉爨。父抱篤疾彌年，原平衣不解帶，口不嘗鹽菜者，跨積寒暑；又未嘗睡臥。父亡，哭踴慟絕，數日方蘇。以為奉終之義，情禮所畢，營壙凶功，不欲假人。本雖智巧，而不解作墓，乃訪邑中有營墓者，助人運力，經時展勤，久乃閑練。又自賣十夫，以供眾費。窀穸之事，儉而當禮，性無術學，因心自然。葬畢，詣所買主，執役無懈，與諸奴分務。每讓逸取勞，主人不忍使，每遣之，原平服勤，未曾暫替。所餘私夫，傭賃養母，有餘聚以自贖。本性智巧，既學構塚，尤善其事，每至吉歲，求者盈門。原平所赴，必自貧始，既取賤價，又以夫日助之。父喪既終，自起兩間小屋，以為祠堂。每至節歲烝嘗，於此數日中，哀思，絕飲粥。父服除後，不復食魚肉。於母前，示有所啖，在私室，未曾妄嘗。自此迄終，三十餘載。高陽許瑤之居在永興，罷建安郡丞還家，以綿一斤遺原平。原平不受，送而復反者前後數十。瑤之乃自往曰：「今歲過寒，而建安綿好，以此奉尊上下耳。」原平乃拜而受之。及母終，毀瘠彌甚，僅乃免喪。墓前有數十畝田，不屬原平，每至農月，耕者恆裸袒，原平不欲使人慢其墳墓，乃販質家資，貴買此田。三農之月，輒束帶垂泣，躬自耕墾。每出市賣物，人問幾錢，裁言其半，如此積時，邑人皆共識悉，輒加本價與之。彼此相讓，欲買者稍稍減價，要使微賤，然後取直。居宅下濕，繞宅為溝，以通淤水。宅上種少竹，春月夜有盜其筍者，原平偶起見之，盜者奔走墜溝。原平自以不能廣施，至使此人顛沛，乃於所植竹處溝上立小橋，令足通行，又采筍置籬外。鄰曲慚愧，無復取者。

His son Yuan Ping, styled Changtai, inherited the same supreme conduct and always supported his parents by his own labor alone. Skilled by nature at carpentry, he hired out his labor to provide for his parents. Modest by nature, whenever he worked as a craftsman for others he charged only a day laborer's wage. When employers offered him a meal, he would eat only plain salted rice, thinking that at home his parents could afford no delicacies. If the household sometimes had no food, he would go hungry all day rather than eat his fill while his parents went without; he waited until dusk when the day's work was done, took his wages home, bought grain in the village, and only then cooked the family meal. When his father lay gravely ill for a year, Ping never unfastened his belt or tasted seasoned food, through winter and summer alike; nor did he ever lie down to sleep. When his father died, he wept and stamped until he collapsed; several days passed before he revived. He held that the duty of laying a parent to rest must be fulfilled in person and would not entrust the burial to others. Though clever by nature, he did not know how to build a tomb; he found those in the district who did and helped them until, after long practice, he became skilled. He also sold himself into ten days' labor to pay the funeral costs. The burial was frugal yet proper; he had no formal training, only what his heart prompted. After the burial he went to the man who had bought his labor and worked without slack alongside the other servants. He always chose the harder tasks; his master, pitying him, tried to send him away, but Ping worked diligently and never took a break. With the days of labor that remained his own, he hired out work to support his mother and saved what he could to buy back his freedom. Clever by nature, once he had learned tomb-building he excelled at it; in auspicious years clients filled his gate. He always took the poorest clients first, charged the lowest price, and often added extra days of labor at no charge. When his father's mourning ended, he built two small rooms himself to serve as a shrine. At each seasonal offering he spent those days in grief and took no food or drink. After his father's mourning ended, he never again ate fish or meat. Before his mother he pretended to eat, but in private he never touched meat. He kept this up for more than thirty years, until his death. Xu Yaozhi of Gaoyang, living in Yongxing, had retired as Assistant Administrator of Jian'an and sent Ping a pound of cotton. Ping refused it; the gift was sent back and forth dozens of times. Yaozhi came in person and said, "This winter is bitterly cold, and Jian'an cotton is excellent—I offer this only for your parents' sake." Only then did Ping bow and accept it. When his mother died, his grief left him so wasted that he barely survived the mourning period. Several tens of mu before the tomb did not belong to him; each planting season the farmers worked stripped to the waist. Unwilling to let anyone treat his parents' grave with disrespect, he pawned his belongings and bought the land at a high price. In the farming months he would gird himself and weep as he plowed the land himself. Whenever he sold goods in market and was asked the price, he named only half. In time the townspeople all knew him and paid the full price anyway. Buyer and seller would bargain down the price until it was very low, and only then would he accept payment. His house stood on damp ground; he dug ditches around it to drain the water. He planted a few bamboo shoots by the house; one spring night a thief came for the young shoots. Ping happened to wake and see him; the thief fled and fell into the ditch. Ping blamed himself for not being generous enough to spare the thief such distress; he built a small bridge over the ditch by the bamboo and left shoots outside the fence for anyone to take. The neighbors were ashamed, and no one stole his bamboo again.

太祖崩，原平號哭致慟，日食麥料一枚，如此五日。人或問之曰：「誰非王民，何獨如此？」原平泣而答曰：「吾家見異先朝，蒙褒贊之賞，不能報恩，私心感慟耳。」又以種爪為業。世祖大明七年大旱，瓜瀆不復通船，縣官劉僧秀愍其窮老，下瀆水與之。原平曰：「普天大旱，百姓俱困，豈可減溉田之水，以通運瓜之船。」乃步從他道往錢唐貨賣。每行來，見人牽埭未過，輒迅楫助之；己自引船，不假旁力。若自船已渡，後人未及，常停住須待，以此為常。嘗於縣南郭鳳埭助人引船，遇有相鬥者，為吏所錄，聞者逃散，唯原平獨住。吏執以送縣，縣令新到，未相諳悉，將加嚴罰。原平解衣就罪，義無一言。左右小大咸稽顙請救，然後得免。由來不謁官長，自此以後，乃脩民敬。

When Emperor Wen died, Yuan Ping wailed in deepest grief, eating only one pellet of barley gruel a day for five days. Someone asked him, "We are all subjects of the throne—why grieve so much more than others?" Yuan Ping wept and answered, "My family received extraordinary favor from the previous reign and was honored with praise and reward. I have been unable to repay that debt, and the grief in my heart is overwhelming." He also made his living growing melons. In the seventh year of the Daming era, a severe drought left the Gua Sluice too shallow for boats. County official Liu Sengxiu, pitying Yuan Ping's poverty and age, released water from the sluice for his benefit. Yuan Ping said, "All the land is in drought and the people are suffering everywhere. How can I divert irrigation water just to float boats carrying my melons?" Instead he walked by another route to Qiantang to sell his melons. Whenever he traveled and saw people struggling to haul boats over a dam, he would quickly take up an oar to help; when it was his own boat, he pulled it himself and never asked others for help. If his boat had already crossed but others behind had not, he always stopped and waited for them. That was his custom. Once, while helping tow boats at Feng Dam south of the county seat, he came upon a fight. The clerks seized everyone involved; the others fled, but Yuan Ping alone stayed. The clerk seized him and sent him to the county office. The magistrate had just arrived and did not know him, and was about to punish him severely. Yuan Ping stripped to accept punishment and said not a word in his own defense. Everyone around him, high and low, kowtowed and pleaded for him, and only then was he released. He had never before called on his superiors, but from that time on he began paying the respects due to local officials.

太守王僧郎察教廉，不就。太守蔡興宗臨郡，深加貴異，以私米饋原平及山陰朱百年妻，教曰：「秩年之貺，著自國書，餼貧之典，有聞甲令。況高柴窮老，萊婦屯暮者哉。永興郭原平世稟孝德，洞業儲靈，深仁絕操，追風曠古，棲貞處約，華耇方嚴。山陰朱百年道終物表，妻孔耋齒孀居，窶迫殘日，欽風撫事，嗟慨滿懷。可以帳下米，各餉百斛。」原平固讓頻煩，誓死不受。人或問曰：「府君嘉君淳行，敏君貧老，故加此贍，豈宜必辭。」原平曰：「府君若以吾義行邪，則無一介之善，不可濫荷此賜。若以其貧老邪，耋齒甚多，屢空比室，非吾一人而已。」終不肯納。百年妻亦辭不受。

Prefect Wang Shilang inspected his conduct and recommended him as incorrupt, but he declined the appointment. When Prefect Cai Xingzong arrived in the commandery, he held Yuan Ping in high esteem and sent him private gifts of rice, as well as rice for Zhu Bainian's widow in Shanyin. His instruction read, "Gifts tied to rank and age are set down in the national statutes, and the practice of relieving the poor is established in the highest decrees. How much more, then, for men like Gaochai in poverty and old age, or the widow of Lai in her declining years! Guo Yuanping of Yongxing comes from generations of filial virtue, with inner depth and stored grace, profound benevolence and extraordinary integrity, a character that reaches back through the ages, dwelling in integrity and frugality even in honored old age. Zhu Bainian of Shanyin has passed beyond this world; his wife Kong, a widow in advanced age, lives in hardship through her last days. Thinking of their virtue moves me to sigh with full heart. You may draw from the prefectural granary and give each of them a hundred hu of rice." Yuan Ping refused again and again and swore he would rather die than accept. Someone asked him, "The prefect praises your pure conduct and pities your poverty and age, and so offers you this support. Why must you refuse?" Yuan Ping said, "If the prefect is rewarding my conduct, I have done nothing worthy of note and cannot accept such a gift unearned. If it is because I am poor and old, there are many others of advanced age with empty larders in every house nearby—not I alone." In the end he would not take it. Bainian's widow also refused to accept.

會稽貴重望計及望孝，盛族出身，不減秘、著。太宗泰始七年，興宗欲舉山陰孔仲智長子為望計，原平次息為望孝。仲智會土高門，原平一邦至行，欲以相敵。會太宗別敕用人，故二選並寢。泰豫元年，興宗徵還京師，表其殊行，宜舉拔顯選，以勸風俗。舉為太學博士。會興宗薨，事不行。明年，元徽元年，卒於家。原平少長交物，無忤辭於人，與其居處者數十年，未嘗見喜慍之色。三子一弟，並有門行。長子伯林，舉孝廉，次子靈馥，儒林祭酒，皆不就。

In Kuaiji the honorary posts of Wangji and Wangxiao were greatly prized, and candidates from eminent clans were held in esteem no less than those from secretarial and historiographical families. In the seventh year of the Taishi era, Cai Xingzong wished to nominate Kong Zhongzhi's eldest son of Shanyin for Wangji and Yuan Ping's second son for Wangxiao. Zhongzhi came from a great Kuaiji family, and Yuan Ping was the most exemplary man in the commandery; Xingzong wanted the two nominations to be equally matched. But the emperor issued a separate decree on appointments, and both nominations were set aside. In the first year of Taiyu, Xingzong was recalled to the capital and memorialized Yuan Ping's extraordinary conduct, urging that he be promoted to a distinguished post to encourage the people. Yuan Ping was recommended as an erudite of the Imperial Academy. But Xingzong died before the appointment could be made, and the matter came to nothing. The following year, the first year of Yuanhui, he died at home. From youth to old age Yuan Ping dealt with others without giving offense, and those who lived near him for decades never once saw joy or anger on his face. His three sons and one younger brother all upheld the family's reputation for virtue. His eldest son Bolin was recommended as filial and incorrupt, and his second son Lingfu was offered the post of Libationer of the Confucian Forest—but both declined.

嚴世期，會稽山陰人也。好施慕善，出自天然。同里張邁三人，妻各產子，時歲饑儉，慮不相存，欲棄而不舉。世期聞之，馳往拯救，分食解衣，以贍其乏，三子並得成長。同縣俞陽妻莊年九十，莊女蘭七十，並各老病，單孤無所依，世期衣飴之二十餘年，死並殯葬。宗親嚴弘、鄉人潘伯等十五人，荒年並餓死，露骸不收，世期買棺器殯埋，存育孩幼。山陰令何曼之表言之。元嘉四年，有司奏榜門曰：「義行嚴氏之閭」，復其身徭役，蠲租稅十年。

Yan Shiqi was a native of Shanyin in Kuaiji. He loved to give and admired goodness; it came naturally to him. Three brothers surnamed Zhang in his hamlet each had wives who gave birth; famine was severe that year, and fearing they could not keep their children alive, they meant to abandon the infants. When Shiqi heard of this, he rushed to intervene, sharing food and giving clothes to relieve their need, and all three children grew up. In the same county, Yu Yang's wife Zhuang was ninety and her daughter Lan was seventy; both were old and ill, alone with no one to depend on. Shiqi clothed and fed them for more than twenty years, and when they died he saw to their burial. Fifteen people, including his kinsman Yan Hong and his neighbor Pan Bo, starved to death in years of famine, their bodies left unburied. Shiqi bought coffins and buried them, and took in and raised the children who were left. The magistrate of Shanyin, He Manzhi, reported his deeds to the throne. In the fourth year of Yuanjia, the authorities memorialized that his gate be honored with the inscription "The Lane of the Yan Clan's Righteous Conduct," his corvée duties remitted, and his rent and taxes waived for ten years.

吳逵，吳興烏程人也。經荒饑饉，係以疾疫，父母兄弟嫂及群從小功之親，男女死者十三人。逵時病困，鄰里以葦席裹之，埋於村側。既而逵疾得瘳，親屬皆盡，唯逵夫妻獲全。家徒壁立，冬無被絝，晝則庸賃，夜則伐木燒磚，此誠無有懈倦。逵夜行遇虎，虎輒下道避之。期年中，成七墓，葬十三棺。鄰里嘉其志義，葬日悉出赴助，送終之事，亦儉而周禮。逵時逆取鄰人夫直，葬畢，眾悉以施之；逵一無所受，皆傭力報答焉。太守張崇之三加禮命，太守王韶之擢補功曹史，逵以門寒，固辭不就，舉為孝廉。

Wu Da was a native of Wucheng in Wuxing. After famine and plague swept the land, thirteen relatives died—his parents, brothers, sister-in-law, and other close kin of the lesser mourning grades, men and women together. Da himself lay gravely ill; the neighbors wrapped him in a reed mat and buried him at the edge of the village, thinking him dead. Before long Da recovered from his illness, but all his relatives were gone; only he and his wife survived. His home was utterly bare; in winter he had no quilt or trousers. By day he hired himself out for wages; by night he cut wood and fired bricks—and he never slackened. When Da walked at night and met a tiger, the tiger always left the path to avoid him. Within a year he had built seven tombs and buried thirteen coffins. The neighbors admired his devotion; on the burial days they all came to help, and though the funerals were frugal, every rite was properly observed. Da had borrowed his neighbors' wages in advance for the burials, and when the work was done they all offered the money to him; but he refused every penny and repaid them all with his own labor. Prefect Zhang Chongzhi repeatedly offered him official honors; Prefect Wang Shaozhi wished to appoint him clerk for merit—but Da, citing his humble origins, firmly declined. He was nevertheless recommended as filial and incorrupt.

潘綜，吳興烏程人也。孫恩之亂，妖黨攻破村邑，綜與父驃共走避賊。驃年老行遲，賊轉逼，驃語綜：「我不能去，汝走可脫，幸勿俱死。」驃困乏坐地，綜迎賊叩頭曰：「父年老，乞賜生命。」賊至，驃亦請賊曰：「兒年少，自能走，今為老子不走去。老子不惜死，乞活此兒。」賊因斫驃，綜抱父於腹下，賊斫綜頭面，凡四創，綜當時悶絕。有一賊從傍來，相謂曰：「卿欲舉大事，此兒以死救父，云何可殺。殺孝子不祥。」賊良久乃止，父子並得免。

Pan Zong was a native of Wucheng in Wuxing. During Sun En's rebellion, rebel bands overran the villages, and Zong fled with his father Biao to escape them. Biao was old and could not move quickly; the rebels were closing in. He said to Zong, "I cannot get away. You run—you may escape. Please do not die with me." Biao, exhausted, sank to the ground. Zong went to meet the rebels and kowtowed, saying, "My father is old—I beg you to spare his life." When the rebels arrived, Biao also pleaded with them: "My son is young and could escape, but he refuses to leave me behind. I do not begrudge my own death—please spare this boy." The rebels hacked at Biao; Zong shielded his father with his body. They slashed Zong's head and face four times, and he fainted on the spot. One rebel came up beside them and said to the others, "You mean to accomplish great things—this boy is ready to die for his father. How can you kill him? To kill a filial son brings ill fortune." After a long moment the rebels stopped, and father and son both survived.

綜鄉人秘書監丘繼祖、廷尉沈赤黔以綜異行，廉補左民令史，除遂昌長，歲滿還家。太守王韶之臨郡，發教曰：「前被符，孝廉之選，必審其人，雖四科難該，文質寡備，必能孝義邁俗，拔萃著聞者，便足以顯應明易攵，允將符旨。烏程潘綜守死孝道，全親濟難。烏程吳逵義行純至，列墳成行。咸精誠內淳，休聲外著，可並察孝廉，並列上州台，陳其行跡。」及將行，設祖道，贈以四言詩曰：

Zong's fellow townsman Qiu Jizu, Director of the Secretariat, and Shen Chiqian, Director of the Court of Justice, recognizing his extraordinary conduct, had him appointed clerk in the Left People Office. He later served as magistrate of Suichang, and when his term ended he returned home. When Prefect Wang Shaozhi arrived in the commandery, he issued an instruction: "We have received orders that candidates for filial and incorrupt office must be carefully vetted. Though few meet every standard of talent and character, anyone whose filial piety and righteousness clearly surpass ordinary men and whose reputation stands out is enough to fulfill the enlightened policy behind the decree and honor its intent. Pan Zong of Wucheng held fast to filial duty even unto death and saved his father in peril. Wu Da of Wucheng showed pure and perfect righteousness, burying his kin in a row of graves. Both are sincere within and renowned without. They should be nominated together as filial and incorrupt candidates, reported to the provincial authorities, and their deeds set forth in full." When they were about to leave, he held a farewell feast and presented them with a poem in four-character lines:

東寶惟金，南木有喬。發輝曾崖，竦幹重霄。美哉茲土，世載英髦。育翮幽林，養音九皋。其一

In the east, treasure is gold; in the south, trees grow tall. They shine from lofty cliffs; their towering trunks reach the heavens. How fine is this land—generation after generation it produces men of excellence. Wings are nurtured in hidden groves; voices are cultivated across the distant marshlands. I.

唐後明易攵，漢宗蒲輪。我皇降鑒，思樂懷人。群臣競薦，舊章惟新。余亦奚貢，曰義與仁。其二

After the age of Yao came enlightened rule; under the Han, worthies were summoned in chariots with wheels wrapped in rush. Our emperor looks down in judgment and delights in cherishing men of worth. Officials vie to recommend the worthy, and ancient institutions are renewed. What can I offer in turn? Righteousness and benevolence. II.

仁義伊在，惟吳惟潘。心積純孝，事著艱難。投死如歸，淑問若蘭。吳實履仁，心力偕單。固此苦節，易彼歲寒。霜雪雖厚，松柏丸丸。其三

Here stand benevolence and righteousness—in Wu and in Pan. Their hearts are steeped in pure filial devotion; their deeds were proved in hardship. They faced death as calmly as going home; their good repute is fragrant as orchid. Wu truly lived benevolence, giving all his heart and strength alone. Such steadfast integrity transforms the chill of hard times. Though frost and snow lie deep, pine and cypress stand firm and full. III.

人亦有言，無善不彰。二子徽猷，彌久彌芳。拔叢出類，景行朝陽。誰謂道遐，弘之則光。咨爾庶士，無然怠荒。其四

As the saying goes, no good deed goes unremarked. These two men's fine conduct grows more fragrant with time. Raised above the common crowd, their shining conduct faces the morning sun. Who says the Way is distant? Broaden it and it shines forth. Take heed, you common scholars—do not grow idle and neglect your duty. IV.

江革奉摯，慶祿是荷。姜詩入貢，漢朝咨嗟。勖哉行人，敬爾休嘉。俾是下國，照輝京華。其五

Jiang Ge carried his mother on his back; such is the honored burden of filial reward. Jiang Shi presented his tribute; the Han court marveled in admiration. Press on, you who go forth, and honor the fine virtue you bear. May this humble region send forth light to brighten the imperial capital. V.

伊餘朽駘，竊服懼盜。無能禮樂，豈暇聲教。順彼康夷，懿德是好。聊綴所懷，以贈二孝。其六

I am old and worn, and though I admire them, I fear to steal undeserved praise. Unskilled in rites and music, how could I presume to offer learned counsel? I can only follow their tranquil grace and honor their splendid virtue. I bind up these humble feelings and offer them to the two filial sons. VI.

元嘉四年，有司奏改其里為純孝里，蠲租布三世。

In the fourth year of Yuanjia, the authorities memorialized the court to rename his hamlet Pure Filial Hamlet and exempt his family from rent and cloth taxes for three generations.

張進之，永嘉安固人也。為郡大族。少有志行，歷郡五官主簿，永寧、安固二縣領校尉。家世富足，經荒年散其財，救贍鄉里，遂以貧罄，全濟者甚多。進之為太守王味之吏，味之有罪當見收，逃避投進之家，供奉經時，盡其誠力。以本村淺近，移入池溪，味之墮水沈沒，進之投水拯救，相與沈淪，危而得免。時劫掠充斥，每入村抄暴，至進之門，輒相約勒，不得侵犯，其信義所感如此。元嘉初，詔在所蠲其徭役。孫恩之亂，永嘉太守司馬逸之被害，妻子並死，兵寇之際，莫敢收藏。郡吏俞僉以家財買棺斂逸之等六喪，送致還都，葬畢乃歸鄉里。元嘉中，老病卒。

Zhang Jinzhi was a native of Angu in Yongjia commandery. His family was one of the commandery's great clans. In youth he showed resolve and integrity; he served as chief clerk of the commandery's Five Offices and as district commandant of Yongning and Angu counties. His family had long been wealthy, but in years of famine he gave away his fortune to feed his neighbors, leaving himself utterly destitute while saving a great many lives. Jinzhi had served as clerk to Prefect Wang Weizhi. When Weizhi was charged with a crime and faced arrest, he fled to Jinzhi's home. Jinzhi supported him for a long while and gave all he could. Because their village was too exposed, they moved to Chixi. Weizhi fell into the water and sank; Jinzhi plunged in after him. Both went under, but in the end they survived. In those days bandits ravaged the countryside, but whenever they came to Jinzhi's gate they agreed among themselves not to harm him—such was the power of his integrity. Early in the Yuanjia era, an edict exempted him from corvée labor wherever he lived. During Sun En's rebellion, Yongjia Prefect Sima Yizhi was killed along with his wife and children. In the chaos of war no one dared bury them. Commandery clerk Yu Qian spent his own money to buy coffins and bury Yizhi and five others, then sent the remains back to the capital. Only after the burials were complete did he return home. He died of old age and illness during the Yuanjia era.

王彭，盱眙直瀆人也。少喪母。元嘉初，父又喪亡，家貧力弱，無以營葬，兄弟二人，晝則傭力，夜則號感。鄉里並哀之，乃各出夫力助作磚。磚須水而天旱，穿井數十丈，泉不出；墓處去淮五里，荷檐遠汲，困而不周。彭號天自訴，如此積日。一旦大霧，霧歇，磚灶前忽生泉水，鄉鄰助之者，並嗟歎神異，縣邑近遠，悉往觀之。葬事既竟，水便自竭。元嘉九年，太守劉伯龍依事表言，改其里為通靈里，蠲租布三世。

Wang Peng was a native of Zhidu in Xuyi. He lost his mother in youth. Early in Yuanjia his father died as well. The family was poor and weak, with no means for a burial. The two brothers hired themselves out by day and grieved aloud through the night. The villagers took pity on them and each sent men to help make burial bricks. Bricks need water, but the land was drought-stricken; they dug a well tens of feet deep, yet no water appeared. The grave lay five li from the Huai River, and hauling water on shoulder poles from so far left them exhausted and short. Peng cried out to Heaven day after day in anguish. One morning a great fog rolled in, and when it lifted a spring suddenly welled up before the brick kiln. All who had helped marveled at the miracle, and people came from near and far throughout the county to see it. Once the burial was complete, the spring dried up on its own. In the ninth year of Yuanjia, Prefect Liu Bolong memorialized the court, and his hamlet was renamed Spirit-Responsive Hamlet with three generations exempt from rent and cloth taxes.

蔣恭，義興臨津人也。元嘉中，晉陵蔣崇平為劫見禽，云與恭妻弟吳晞張為侶。晞張先行不在，本村遇水，妻息五口避水移寄恭家，討錄晞張不獲，收恭及兄協付獄治罪。恭、協並款舍住晞張家口，而不知劫情。恭列晞張妻息是婦之親，親今有罪，恭身甘分，求遣兄協。協列協是戶主，延制所由，有罪之日，關協而已，救遣弟恭。兄弟二人，爭求受罪，郡縣不能判，依事上詳。州議之曰：「禮讓者以義為先，自厚者以利為上，末世俗薄，靡不自私。伏膺聖教，猶或不逮，況在野夫，未達誥訓，而能互發天倫之憂，甘受莫測之罪，若斯情義，實為殊特。蔑爾恭、協，而能行之，茲乃終古之所希，盛世之嘉事。二子乘舟，無以過此。豈宜拘執憲文，加以罪戮！且晞張封筒遠行，他界為劫，造釁自外，贓不還家，所寓村伍，容有不知，不合加罪。」勒縣遣之，還復民伍。乃除恭義成令，協義怡令。

Jiang Gong was a native of Linjin in Yixing. During the Yuanjia era, Jiang Chongping of Jinling was caught as a bandit and said he had acted with Gong's brother-in-law Wu Xizhang. Xizhang was away at the time. When flooding struck their village, his wife and five children took refuge in Gong's home. Unable to capture Xizhang, the authorities arrested Gong and his elder brother Xie and imprisoned them. Gong and Xie both admitted honestly that Xizhang's family had stayed with them, but said they knew nothing of the robbery. Gong declared that Xizhang's wife and children were his wife's relatives; since those kin were guilty, he would gladly accept punishment himself and asked that his elder brother Xie be released. Xie argued that as head of household he was responsible for taking them in; when guilt was incurred, only he should be implicated, and he asked that his younger brother Gong be released. The two brothers each insisted on taking the blame; the local authorities could not decide and reported the case upward. The province deliberated: "In courtesy and yielding, righteousness comes first; in self-advancement, profit comes first. In these shallow times, who does not act for himself? Even those who embrace the sage's teaching often fall short—how much more country folk who have never heard the court's edicts, yet can rouse such brotherly devotion and willingly face unknown punishment. Such loyalty is truly extraordinary. Humble men though Gong and Xie may be, that they could act thus is what all antiquity has rarely seen—a glory of a flourishing age. Like the two sons in the boat of old—nothing can surpass this. How can one cling to the letter of the law and punish men such as these! Moreover, Xizhang had left on a distant journey and committed robbery elsewhere; the crime originated outside, the loot never came home, and the village that sheltered his family could not have known—guilt should not be imputed." The province ordered the county to release them and restore them to the common register. Gong was then appointed Magistrate of Yicheng and Xie Magistrate of Yiyi.

徐耕，晉陵延陵人也。自令史除平原令。元嘉二十一年，大旱民饑，耕詣縣陳辭曰：「今年亢旱，禾稼不登。氓黎饑餒，采掇存命，聖上哀矜，已垂存拯。但饉罄來久，困殆者眾，米穀轉貴，糴索元所。方涉春夏，日月悠長，不有微救，永無濟理。不惟凡瑣，敢憂身外，《鹿鳴》之求，思同野草，氣類之感，能不傷心。民糴得少米，資供朝夕。志欲自竭，義存分飧，今以千斛，助官賑貸。此境連年不熟，今歲尤甚，晉陵境特為偏祐。此郡雖弊，猶有富室，承陂之家，處處而是，並皆保熟，所失蓋微。陳積之穀，皆有巨萬，旱之所弊，實鐘貧民，溫富之家，各有財寶。謂此等並宜助官，得過儉月，所損至輕，所濟甚重。今敢自勵，為勸造之端。實願掘水揚塵，崇益山海。」縣為言上。當時議者以耕比漢卜式，詔書褒美，酬以縣令。大明八年，東土饑旱，東海嚴成、東莞王道蓋各以穀五百斛助官賑恤。

Xu Geng was a native of Yanling in Jinling. He rose from clerk to become magistrate of Pingyuan. In the twenty-first year of Yuanjia, a great drought brought famine. Geng went to the county seat and petitioned: "This year the drought is severe and the crops have failed. The people are starving and scraping together whatever they can to survive. His Majesty has already shown pity and ordered relief. But hunger has persisted for so long that many are at the point of collapse; grain grows ever costlier and there is nowhere to buy it. Spring and summer stretch long before the harvest; without immediate aid, there will be no saving them. I do not speak of trifles alone, but of lives at stake. As in the "Deer Call," I feel for the people as for withered grass on the plain—how can the heart not break? The people can buy only a little rice to sustain themselves from day to day. I wish to give all I can, for righteousness lies in sharing one's food. I now offer a thousand hu to aid the county in relief. This region has failed to harvest for years, and this year is worst of all; Jinling has been hit especially hard. Though this commandery is poor, wealthy households remain; families along the dikes have kept their crops safe and would lose little. Those who store grain by the cartload have fortunes in the tens of thousands; drought strikes the poor hardest, while well-to-do families still have their wealth. I urge such families to assist the authorities through the lean months—the loss to them would be slight, the benefit to the people immense. I dare take the lead myself, hoping others will follow. I would scoop up water to raise dust, adding my mite to mountains and seas. The county forwarded his petition to the court. Contemporaries compared Geng to Bu Shi of Han; an imperial edict praised him and rewarded him with a magistracy. In the eighth year of Daming, famine and drought struck the eastern provinces; Yan Cheng of Donghai and Wang Daigai of Dongguan each contributed five hundred hu of grain to aid official relief.

孫法宗，吳興人也。父遇亂被害，屍骸不收，母兄並餓死。法宗年小流迸，至年十六，方得還。單身勤苦，霜行草宿，營辦棺槨，造立塚墓，葬送母兄，儉而有禮。以父喪不測，於部境之內，尋求枯骨，刺血以灌之，如此者十餘年不獲，乃縗絰。終身不娶，饋遺無所受。世祖初，揚州辟為文學從事，不就。

Sun Fazong was a native of Wuxing. His father was killed in the turmoil and his body was never recovered; his mother and elder brother both starved to death. Fazong fled as a child; only at sixteen was he able to return. He labored alone through hardship, sleeping in the open; he prepared coffins, built tombs, and buried his mother and brother—frugally but with full propriety. Because his father's death remained uncertain, he searched the district for bones, pricking his finger to drip blood upon them as a test—for more than ten years without success, he wore mourning garb throughout. He never married and refused all gifts offered to him. Early in Emperor Xiaowu's reign, Yang Province recruited him as Literary Adjunct, but he declined.

范叔孫，吳郡錢唐人也。少而仁厚，固窮濟急。同里范法先父母兄弟七人，同時疫死，唯餘法先，病又危篤，喪屍經月不收。叔孫悉備棺器，親為殯埋。又同里施淵夫疾病，父母死不殯；又同里范苗父子並亡；又同里危敬宗家口六人俱得病，二人喪沒，親鄰畏遠，莫敢營視。叔孫並殯葬，躬恤病者，並皆得全。鄉曲貴其義行，莫有呼其名者。世祖孝建初，除竟陵王國中軍將軍，不就。

Fan Shusun was a native of Qiantang in Wu commandery. From youth he was kind and generous, steadfast in helping the poor and those in crisis. In the same village, seven members of Fan Faxian's family—parents, brothers, and others—all died of plague at once; only Faxian survived, himself gravely ill, and the corpses lay unburied for a month. Shusun supplied coffins and personally saw to their burial. In the same village, Shi Yuanfu fell ill and his parents died without burial; In the same village, Fan Miao and his son both died; In the same village, six members of Wei Jingzong's household fell ill; two died, and neighbors were too afraid to come near. Shusun buried the dead and nursed the sick in every case, and all who survived were saved. The neighborhood honored his conduct so deeply that none ever called him by his personal name. Early in the Xiaojian era, he was appointed Central Army General of the Kingdom of Jingling, but he declined.

義興吳國夫，亦有義讓之美。人有竊其稻者，乃引還，為設酒食，以米送之。

Wu Guofu of Yixing likewise showed the virtue of magnanimous forbearance. When someone stole his rice, he brought the man back, set out food and wine, and sent him away with a gift of rice.

卜天與，吳興餘杭人也。父名祖，有勇幹，徐赤將為餘杭令，祖依隨之。赤將死，高祖聞其有幹力，召補隊主，從征伐，封關中侯，歷二縣令。天與善射，弓力兼倍，容貌嚴正，笑不解顏。太祖以其舊將子，便教皇子射。居累年，以白衣領東掖防關隊。元嘉二十七年，臧質救懸瓠，劉興祖守白石，並率所領隨之，虜退罷。遷領輦後第一隊，撫恤士卒，甚得眾心。二十九年，以為廣威將軍，領左細仗，兼帶營祿。

Bu Tianyu was a native of Yuhang in Wuxing. His father, named Zu, was a man of courage and ability; when Xu Chijiang served as magistrate of Yuhang, Zu followed him. After Chijiang's death, Emperor Wu heard of his ability and appointed him squad chief; he followed the campaigns, was enfeoffed as Marquis within the Passes, and served as magistrate of two counties. Tianyu was a master archer whose bow drew twice the usual weight; his bearing was stern, and he scarcely ever smiled. Emperor Wu, knowing him as the son of an old general, had him teach the princes archery. After many years of service, he held the post of Eastern Gate garrison defense squad leader while still a commoner. In the twenty-seventh year of Yuanjia, Zang Zhi relieved Xuancheng and Liu Xingzu held Baishi; Tianyu followed both campaigns, and when the enemy withdrew he was released from duty. He was transferred to lead the first squad of the imperial escort, treating his men with such care that he won their deep loyalty. In the twenty-ninth year he was made General of Broad Might, commanding the left fine guard and the camp stipends.

子伯宗，殿中將軍。太宗泰始初，領幢，擊南賊於赭圻，戰沒。伯宗弟伯興，官至前將軍、南平昌太守，直閣，領細仗主。順帝昇明元年，與袁粲同謀，伏誅。

His son Bozong served as Palace Guard General. Early in the Taishi era, he led the banner guard and fought the southern rebels at Zheqi, where he fell in battle. Bozong's younger brother Boxing rose to General of the Vanguard, Prefect of Nanpingchang, Direct Attendant, and chief of the fine guard. In the first year of the Shengming era of Emperor Shun, he joined Yuan Can in a plot and was executed.

天與弟天生，少為隊將，十人同火。屋後有一大坑，廣二丈餘，十人共跳之皆渡，唯天生墜坑。天生乃取實中苦竹，剡其端使利，交橫布坑內，更呼等類共跳，並畏懼不敢。天生曰：「我向已不渡，今者必墜此坑中。丈夫跳此不渡，亦何須活。」乃復跳之，往反十餘，曾無留礙，眾並嘆服。以兄死節，為世祖所留心，稍至西陽王子尚撫軍參軍，加龍驤將軍。隸沈慶之攻廣陵城，天生推車塞塹，率數百人先登西北角，徑至城上。賊為重柵斷攻道，苦戰移日，不拔，乃還。詔曰：「天生始受戎任，甫造寇壘，而投輪越塹，率果先騰，驍壯之氣，嘉歎無已。可且賜布千匹，以厲眾校。」大明末，為弋陽太守。太宗泰始初，與殷琰同逆，邊城令宿僧護起義討斬之。

Tianyu's younger brother Tiansheng, in youth a squad captain, shared barracks with nine other men. Behind their quarters was a pit more than two zhang wide; all ten leaped it and crossed—only Tiansheng fell in. Tiansheng cut bitter bamboo, sharpened the ends, and laid them crosswise in the pit, then called his comrades to jump again—they were all too afraid. Tiansheng said, "I failed to cross just now, so I am sure to fall into this pit again. If a man cannot cross this, what reason has he to live? Then he leaped again, back and forth more than ten times without a single stumble, and all marveled. Because his elder brother died a loyal death, Emperor Xiaowu took notice of him, and he eventually rose to Staff Officer to Prince Zishang of Xiyang, with the additional title General Who Rouses Dragons. Serving under Shen Qingzhi in the assault on Guangling, Tiansheng drove carts into the moat to fill it, then led several hundred men in the first scaling of the northwest corner and straight onto the ramparts. The rebels threw up heavy barricades that blocked the assault, and after a full day of fierce fighting they still could not break through, so they withdrew. An edict declared: "Tiansheng has only just taken up arms and reached the rebel fort, yet he already cast aside his cart to cross the moat and led the charge up the wall. Such fierce courage fills us with unending admiration. Let him be granted a thousand bolts of cloth for the present, to hearten the other commanders. At the end of the Daming era, he became Prefect of Yiyang. At the opening of the Taishi era under Emperor Ming, he joined Yin Yan in rebellion; Seng Hu, magistrate of Biancheng, raised loyal forces against them and executed him.

許昭先，義興人也。叔父肇之，坐事繫獄，七年不判。子侄二十許人，昭先家最貧薄，專獨料訴，無日在家。餉饋肇之，莫非珍新，家產既盡，賣宅以充之。肇之諸子倦怠，昭先無有懈息，如是七載。尚書沈演之嘉其操行，肇之事由此得釋。昭先舅夫妻並疫病死亡，家貧無以殯送，昭先賣衣物以營殯葬。舅子三人並幼，贍護皆得成長。昭先父母皆老病，家無僮役，竭力致養，甘旨必從，宗黨嘉其孝行。雍州刺史劉真道板為征虜參軍，昭先以親老不就。本邑補主簿，昭先以叔未仕，又固辭。元嘉初，西陽董陽五世同財，為鄉邑所美。會稽姚吟，事親至孝，孝建初，揚州辟文學從事，不就。

Xu Zhaoxian was a native of Yixing. His uncle Zhaozhi was imprisoned on a criminal charge and languished in jail for seven years without trial. There were some twenty sons and nephews in the family, but Zhaoxian's household was the poorest, so he alone pursued the case in court and was never home for a single day. Everything he sent to sustain Zhaozhi in prison was fresh and choice food; when the family fortune was gone, he sold their house to pay for it. Zhaozhi's own sons wearied of the effort, but Zhaoxian never slackened—for seven years straight. Shen Yanzhi, Director of the Palace Secretariat, commended his character, and on that account Zhaozhi was released. Zhaoxian's uncle and aunt both died in an epidemic; the family was too poor to bury them properly, so he sold his clothes to pay for their funeral. The uncle's three sons were still small children; Zhaoxian supported and cared for them until all three came of age. Both his parents were old and sick, and the household had no servants, yet he strained every effort to support them and always saw that delicacies were provided. Kinsmen and neighbors praised his filial devotion. Liu Zhendao, Inspector of Yong Province, appointed him staff officer to the General Who Punishes Barbarians, but Zhaoxian declined because his parents were elderly. The local district then offered him the post of chief clerk, but he firmly refused again because his uncle had not yet received an appointment. At the start of the Yuanjia era, Dong Yang of Xiyang, whose family had held property in common for five generations, was admired throughout the countryside. Yao Yin of Kuaiji was unfailingly filial toward his parents. At the opening of the Xiaojian era, Yang Province recruited him as literary attendant, but he declined.

余齊民，晉陵晉陵人也。少有孝行，為邑書吏。父殖，大明二年，在家病亡，家人以父病報之。信未至，齊民謂人曰：「比者肉痛心煩，有若割截，居常遑駭，必有異故。」信尋至，便歸，四百餘里，一日而至。至門，方詳父死，號踴慟絕，良久乃蘇。問母：「父所遺言。」母曰：「汝父臨終，恨不見汝。」曰：「相見何難。」於是號叫殯所，須臾便絕。州郡上言，有司奏曰：「收賢旌善，萬代無殊，心至自天，古今豈異。齊民至性由中，情非外感，淳情凝至，深心天徹，跪訊遺旨，一慟殞亡。雖跡異參、柴，而誠均丘、趙。方今聖務彪被，移革華夏，實乃風淳以禮，治本惟孝，靈祥歸應，其道先彰。齊民越自氓隸，行貫生品，旌閭表墓，允出在茲。」改其里為孝義里，蠲租布，賜其母穀百斛。

Yu Qimin was a native of Jinling county in Jinling commandery. From youth he was known for filial devotion and served as a district clerk. In the second year of Daming his father Zhi died of illness at home; the family sent word that his father was sick. Before the letter arrived, Qimin told those around him, "Lately my flesh has ached and my heart has burned, as though I were being cut apart. I have felt dread all the while—something terrible must have happened. The letter came soon after, and he set out at once, covering more than four hundred li in a single day. When he reached home he learned at last that his father was dead. He wailed and beat his breast until he collapsed in grief, and only after a long while did he come to. He asked his mother, "What were Father's last words? His mother said, "At the end your father grieved that he could not see you. He said, "What is so hard about seeing him? With that he cried out at the bier—and in an instant he was dead. The province and commandery reported the matter upward, and the responsible office memorialized: "To gather the worthy and honor goodness is a principle unchanged through the ages; when sincerity reaches from Heaven itself, how can past and present differ? Qimin's utmost nature sprang from within, not from outward prompting. Pure feeling condensed to its depth, and his heart pierced heaven itself. Kneeling, he asked after his father's last wishes—and in one convulsion of grief he died. Though his outward deeds differ from those of Zeng Shen and Gao Chai, his sincerity matches that of Zixia and the Zhao exemplars. Now the sage ruler's transforming work spreads far and wide, reshaping the Central Realm. Truly, custom is refined through ritual and the root of governance lies in filial piety; when auspicious signs answer in turn, this Way stands forth first of all. Qimin rose from humble commoners, yet his conduct touched every rank of the living. To honor his lane and mark his tomb is exactly what the occasion demands. His neighborhood was renamed the Lane of Filial Righteousness, grain rents and cloth levies were remitted, and his mother was granted a hundred hu of grain.

孫棘，彭城彭城人也。世祖大明五年，發三五丁，弟薩應充行，坐違期不至。依制，軍法，人身付獄。未及結竟，棘詣郡辭：「不忍令當一門之苦，乞以身代薩。」薩又辭列：「門戶不建，罪應至此，狂愚犯法，實是薩身，自應依法受戮。兄弟少孤，薩三歲失父，一生恃賴，唯在長兄；兄雖可垂愍，有何心處世。」太守張岱疑其不實，以棘、薩各置一處，語棘云：「已為諮詳，聽其相代。」棘顏色甚悅，答云：「得爾，旦則為不死。」又語薩，亦欣然曰：「死自分甘，但令兄免，薩有何恨！」棘妻許又寄語屬棘：「君當門戶，豈可委罪小郎。且大家臨亡，以小郎屬君，竟未妻娶，家道不立，君已有二兒，死復何恨。」岱依事表上，世祖詔曰：「棘、薩氓隸，節行可甄，特原罪。」州加辟命，並賜許帛二十匹。

Sun Ji was a native of Pengcheng county in Pengcheng commandery. In the fifth year of Daming under Emperor Xiaowu, when the rotating draft was called up, his younger brother Sa was liable for service but was punished for arriving past the deadline. Under the regulations of military law, he was turned over to the prison. Before the case could be settled, Ji went to the commandery and pleaded, "I cannot bear to see the whole household suffer. I beg to take Sa's place. Sa in turn submitted a plea: "Our household has no foundation yet, and the crime has rightly come to this. The fool who broke the law is Sa himself, and by law he alone should die. The brothers lost their father while still young. Sa was only three when their father died, and all his life he has depended on his elder brother alone. You may pity my brother, but if he lives on, what heart will he have left for this world? Prefect Zhang Dai doubted their sincerity, so he kept Ji and Sa apart and told Ji, "I have already reported the matter in full and will allow you to take each other's place. Ji's face brightened with joy, and he answered, "If that is granted, then I am as good as alive. When he told Sa as well, Sa also said gladly, "I accept death willingly—so long as my brother is spared, what regret can Sa have! Ji's wife Xu also sent word to him: "You are the pillar of this household. How can you leave the blame to your young brother-in-law? When your father-in-law lay dying he entrusted the boy to you. Sa is still unmarried and the family line is not yet secure, while you already have two sons. What regret would there be in your death? Zhang Dai reported the matter upward, and Emperor Xiaowu decreed, "Ji and Sa are humble commoners, yet their integrity and conduct deserve recognition. Their offense is specially pardoned. The province further appointed them to office and granted Xu twenty bolts of cloth.

先是，新蔡徐元妻許，年二十一，喪夫，子甄年三歲，父攬愍其年少，以更適同縣張買。許自誓不行，父逼載送買。許自經氣絕，家人奔赴，良久乃蘇。買知不可奪，夜送還攬。許歸徐氏，養元父季。元嘉中，年八十餘，卒。

Earlier, Xu, wife of Xu Yuan of Xincai, was twenty-one when her husband died, leaving a son Zhen aged three. Her father Lan, pitying her youth, arranged to remarry her to Zhang Mai of the same county. Xu vowed she would not go, but her father forced her into a cart and sent her to Zhang Mai. Xu hanged herself and lost consciousness. Her family rushed to her side, and only after a long while did she revive. Zhang Mai saw that her resolve could not be broken, and that night sent her back to her father. Xu returned to the Xu household and supported her late husband's father Ji. During the Yuanjia era she died at over eighty years of age.

太宗泰始二年，長城奚慶思殺同縣錢仲期。仲期子延慶屬役在都，聞父死，馳還，於庚浦埭逢慶思，手刃殺之，自繫烏程縣獄。吳興太守郗顒表不加罪，許之。

In the second year of the Taishi era under Emperor Ming, Xi Qingsi of Changcheng murdered Qian Zhongqi, a man of the same county. Zhongqi's son Yanqing was on corvée duty in the capital. When he heard of his father's death he raced home, met Qingsi at the Gengpu ferry, and killed him with his own hand, then surrendered himself to the jail of Wucheng county. Xi Yong, Prefect of Wu Xing, memorialized that no further punishment should be imposed, and the request was granted.

何子平，廬江灊人也。曾祖楷，晉侍中。祖友，會稽王道子驃騎諮議參軍。父子先，建安太守。子平世居會稽，少有志行，見稱於鄉曲。事母至孝。揚州辟從事史，月俸得白米，輒貨市粟麥。人或問曰：「所利無幾，何足為煩？」子平曰：「尊老在東，不辦常得生米，何心獨饗白粲。」每有贈鮮肴者，若不可寄致其家，則不肯受。

He Ziping was a native of Qian in Lujiang commandery. His great-grandfather Kai served as Palace Attendant under the Jin. His grandfather You was staff officer on the secretariat of Prince Daozi of Kuaiji, General of Agile Cavalry. His father Zixian was Prefect of Jian'an. Ziping's family had long lived in Kuaiji. From youth he showed purpose and integrity, and was praised in his neighborhood. He was unfailingly filial toward his mother. When Yang Province recruited him as attendant secretary, he always sold the white rice from his monthly salary and bought millet and wheat instead. Someone asked him, "The gain is trifling—why go to the trouble? Ziping replied, "My mother lives in the east and cannot always get unhulled grain. How could I bear to eat polished white rice by myself? Whenever he was given fresh delicacies, he refused the gift if it could not be sent on to his mother.

母本側庶，籍注失實，年未及養，而籍年已滿，便去職歸家。時鎮軍將軍顧覬之為州上綱，謂曰：「尊上年實未八十，親故所知。州中差有微祿，當啟相留。」子平曰：「公家正取信黃籍，籍年既至，便應扶侍私庭，何容以實年未滿，苟冒榮利。且歸養之願，又切微情。」覬之又勸令以母老求縣，子平曰：「實未及養，何假以希祿。」覬之益重之。既歸家，竭身運力，以給供養。

His mother had been a concubine, and the household register recorded her age incorrectly. She was not yet old enough in fact to qualify for his retirement to care for her, but on the register she was—so he resigned his post and went home. At the time Gu Yunzhi, General Who Pacifies the Army and chief provincial officer, said to him, "Your mother's true age is not yet eighty. Relatives and friends all know it. There is a modest salary here in the province, and I shall petition to keep you in office. Ziping said, "The state relies on the Yellow Register. Once the register says she is old enough, I ought to go home and serve her. How could I use her real age as an excuse to cling to rank and profit? Besides, my wish to return and care for her comes from the deepest private feeling. Gu Yunzhi urged him again to use his mother's age as grounds for seeking a county post. Ziping said, "She is truly not yet old enough. Why should I use that as a pretext to seek a salary? Gu Yunzhi respected him all the more. Once home, he spent himself in labor to provide for his mother.

元嘉三十年，元兇弑逆，安東將軍隨王誕入討，以為行參軍。子平以凶逆滅理，普天同奮，故廢己受職，事寧，自解。又除奉朝請，不就。末除吳郡海虞令，縣祿唯以養母一身，而妻子不犯一毫。人或疑其儉薄，子平曰：「希祿本在養親，不在為己。」問者慚而退。母喪去官，哀毀逾禮，每至哭踴，頓絕方蘇。值大明末，東士饑荒，繼以師旋，八年不得營葬，晝夜號絕擗踴，不闋俄頃，叫慕之音，常如袒括之日。冬不衣絮，暑避清涼，日以數合米為粥，不進鹽菜。所居屋敗，不蔽雨日，兄子伯興採伐茅竹，欲為葺治，子平不肯，曰：「我情事未申，天地一罪人耳，屋何宜覆。」蔡興宗為會稽太守，甚加旌賞。泰始六年，為營塚槨。子平居喪毀甚，困瘠逾久，及至免喪，支體殆不相屬。幼持操檢，敦厲名行，雖處暗室，如接大賓。學義堅明，處之以默，安貧守善，不求榮進，好退之士，彌以貴之。順帝昇明元年，卒，時年六十。

In the thirtieth year of Yuanjia the regicide Liu Shao murdered the emperor. Prince Dan of Sui, General Who Pacifies the East, marched to punish him and appointed Ziping traveling staff officer. Ziping felt that the traitor had overturned all moral order and that the whole realm had risen as one, so he set aside his own wishes and accepted the post. When the campaign ended, he resigned on his own. He was next appointed Court Gentleman for Attendance, but declined. He was finally appointed magistrate of Haichang in Wu commandery. He used his county salary only to support his mother, and neither his wife nor his children touched a penny of it. When some thought him miserly, Ziping said, "I sought office to support my mother, not myself. The questioner withdrew in shame. When his mother died he left office and mourned beyond all measure. Each time he wept and beat his breast he collapsed, only to revive again. At the end of the Daming era the eastern provinces suffered famine, and troop movements followed on its heels, so for eight years he could not bury her. Day and night he wailed until he fainted, beating his breast without a moment's pause, his cries of longing as raw as on the day he had bared his shoulder beside her coffin. In winter he wore no padded garments; in summer he shunned cool shade. Each day he ate only a few he of rice boiled into gruel, with neither salt nor vegetables. The house he lived in was falling in and gave no shelter from rain or sun. His nephew Boxing gathered thatch and bamboo to repair it, but Ziping refused, saying, "My filial duty is still unfulfilled. I am a guilty man before heaven and earth—why should my roof be mended? Cai Xingzong, Prefect of Kuaiji, greatly honored and rewarded him. In the sixth year of Taishi he had a tomb and inner coffin built for her. Ziping's mourning had wasted him severely. He grew ever more gaunt, and by the time mourning ended his limbs scarcely seemed to belong to the same body. From childhood he held himself to strict conduct and cultivated his reputation. Even alone in a private room he behaved as though receiving an honored guest. His learning in principle was firm and clear, and he met the world in quiet reserve. Content with poverty and steadfast in goodness, he sought no advancement, and men who valued withdrawal esteemed him all the more. In the first year of the Shengming era of Emperor Shun he died, aged sixty.

史臣曰：漢世士務治身，故忠孝成俗，至乎乘軒服冕，非此莫由。晉、宋以來，風衰義缺，刻身厲行，事薄膏腴。若夫孝立閨庭，忠被史策，多發溝畎之中，非出衣簪之下。以此而言聲教，不亦卿大夫之恥乎！

The historian writes: In Han times scholars devoted themselves to self-cultivation, and loyalty and filial piety became the common way of life. To ride in carriages and wear official regalia, there was no other path. Since Jin and Song, mores have decayed and righteousness grown thin. Those who mortify the flesh and discipline their conduct are scarce among the privileged. When filial piety flourishes within the household and loyalty earns a place in the histories, it often springs from humble ditches and fields—not from the ranks of robed officials. To speak of moral transformation on such grounds—is it not the shame of the ministerial class!

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