1
王劭王劭字君懋，太原晉陽人也。 父松年，齊通直散騎侍郎。 劭少沈默，好讀書。 弱冠，齊尚書僕射魏收辟參開府軍事，累遷太子舍人，待詔文林館。 時祖孝徵、魏收、陽休之等嘗論古事，有所遺忘，討閱不能得，因呼劭問之。 劭具論所出，取書驗之，一無舛誤。 自是大為時人所許，稱其博物。 後遷中書舍人。 齊滅，入周，不得調。
Wang Shao, whose style name was Junmao, came from Jinyang in Taiyuan. His father Songnian had served the Northern Qi as a Tongzhi Attendant Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary. As a youth Shao was quiet and reserved and devoted himself to reading. At twenty he was recruited by the Northern Qi Minister of the Works Wei Shou as staff on the opening of the government, rose through several posts to Crown Prince Attendant, and served as a writer awaiting orders at the Wulin Hall. Zu Xiaozheng, Wei Shou, Yang Xiuzhi, and others often discussed antiquity; when some point slipped their memory and searching the texts failed to recover it, they would summon Shao and put the question to him. Shao would cite each passage in full; when they checked against the books, not a single citation proved wrong. Thereafter contemporaries held him in high regard and praised his encyclopedic learning. He was later promoted to Attendant of the Central Secretariat. After the fall of Qi he entered Zhou service but received no posting.
2
高祖受禪，授著作佐郎。 以母憂去職，在家著齊書。 時制禁私撰史，為內史侍郎李元操所奏。 上怒，遣使收其書，覽而悅之。 於是起為員外散騎侍郎，修起居注。 劭以古有鑽燧改火之義，近代廢絕，於是上表請變火，曰：「臣謹案周官，四時變火，以救時疾。 明火不數變，時疾必興。 聖人作法，豈徒然也！ 在晉時，有以洛陽火渡江者，代代事之，相續不滅，火色變青。 昔師曠食飯，云是勞薪所爨。 晉平公使視之，果然車輞。 今溫酒及炙肉，用石炭、柴火、竹火、草火、麻荄火，氣味各不同。 以此推之，新火舊火，理應有異。 伏願遠遵先聖，於五時取五木以變火，用功甚少，救益方大。 縱使百姓習久，未能頓同，尚食內厨及東宮諸主食厨，不可不依古法。」 上從之。 劭又言上有龍顏戴干之表，指示羣臣。 上大悅，賜物數百段。 拜著作郎。 劭上表言符命曰：
When Emperor Gaozu took the throne, Shao was appointed Assistant Gentleman of the Writings. He left office to observe mourning for his mother and at home wrote a history of Qi. Private historical writing was then forbidden by statute, and Internal History Vice Minister Li Yuancao reported him. The emperor was angry and sent men to confiscate the manuscript, but on reading it he was delighted. He was then recalled as Supernumerary Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary and put in charge of the imperial diary. Shao noted that antiquity prescribed drilling new fire and changing the hearth fire each season, a practice long since abandoned in recent times, and submitted a memorial asking that the rite be restored: 'Your servant finds in the Offices of Zhou that fire was changed in each of the four seasons to ward off seasonal illness. When the hearth fire is not renewed in season, epidemic illness is sure to follow. The sages did not establish such rites for nothing! In Jin times someone carried the fire of Luoyang across the Yangzi; for generations the household tended it without interruption until the flame turned blue. Long ago, when the musician Shi Kuang tasted his rice, he declared it had been cooked with overworked firewood. Duke Ping of Jin sent men to investigate and found it was indeed a carriage wheel rim. Today, when wine is warmed or meat broiled over coal, wood, bamboo, grass, or hemp-stalk fires, each fuel imparts a distinct flavor. From this one may infer that new fire and old fire ought by nature to differ. Your servant humbly asks that the court follow the ancient sages and, in each of the five seasons, kindle fire from the prescribed five woods—the labor would be slight, the benefit to public health immense. Even if the people, long habituated to the old ways, could not change all at once, the imperial kitchens and every chief kitchen of the Eastern Palace should still observe the ancient rule.' The emperor approved the proposal. Shao also declared that the emperor bore the dragon countenance and the physiognomic mark of 'bearing the shield on the back,' and pointed these out to the assembled ministers. The emperor was delighted and rewarded him with several hundred bolts of silk and other goods. He was appointed Gentleman of the Writings. Shao submitted a memorial on portents and the Mandate of Heaven, which read:
3
:昔周保定二年，歲在壬午，五月五日，青州黃河變清，十里鏡澈，齊氏以為己瑞，改元曰河清。 是月，至尊以大興公始作隋州刺史，歷年二十，隋果大興。 臣謹案易坤靈圖曰：「聖人受命，瑞先見於河。 河者最濁，未能清也。」 竊以靈貺休祥，理無虛發，河清啟聖，實屬大隋。 午為鶉火，以明火德，仲夏火王，亦明火德。 月五日五，合天數地數，既得受命之辰，允當先見之兆。
In the second year of Northern Zhou's Baoding reign, a renwu year, on the fifth day of the fifth month the Yellow River in Qing Province ran clear for ten li like polished bronze; the Qi court took this as its own omen and changed the era name to Heqing ('River Clear'). That same month His Majesty, then Duke of Daxing, first took office as governor of Sui Province; twenty years later the house of Sui rose to greatness as the omen foretold. Your servant finds in the Kun Spirit Chart of the Changes: 'When the sage receives the Mandate, the omen appears first in the river. The river is the murkiest of waters and cannot of itself become clear.' Such numinous blessings do not appear without cause; the clearing of the river heralded a sage, and that sage was in truth the house of Sui. The day wu belongs to the Quail Fire asterism and thus manifests the Fire Virtue; midsummer is the season when Fire reigns, again manifesting the Fire Virtue. The fifth month on the fifth day unites Heaven's number and Earth's number; having already fixed the moment of receiving the Mandate, it was only fitting that the omen should appear beforehand.
4
:開皇初，邵州人楊令悊近河，得青石圖一，紫石圖一，皆隱起成文，有至尊名，下云：「八方天心。」 永州又得石圖，剖為兩段，有楊樹之形，黃根紫葉。 汝水得神龜，腹下有文曰：「天卜楊興。」 安邑掘地，得古鐵版，文曰：「皇始天年，賚楊鐵券，王興。」 同州得石龜，文曰：「天子延千年，大吉。」 臣以前之三石，不異龍圖。 何以用石？ 石鐵久固，義與上名符合。 龜腹七字，何以著龜？ 龜亦久固，兼是神靈之物。 孔子歎河不出圖，洛不出書，今於大隋聖世，圖書屢出。
Early in the Kaihuang reign, Yang Lingti of Shao Prefecture found by the river a green stone chart and a purple stone chart, each bearing raised inscriptions including the Supreme One's name and the words 'Eight directions, Heaven's heart.' Yong Prefecture also produced a stone chart split in two, shaped like a poplar with yellow roots and purple leaves. At the Ru River a divine turtle appeared with characters on its belly reading 'Heaven divines: the house of Yang shall rise.' At Anyi diggers unearthed an ancient iron plate inscribed 'Imperial beginning, Heaven's year—grant Yang the iron tally: the king shall rise.' Tong Prefecture yielded a stone turtle inscribed 'The Son of Heaven shall endure a thousand years—great good fortune.' Your servant holds that these three stone omens are no different from the dragon chart of old. Why were stone omens chosen? Stone and iron are enduring and firm, matching the meaning of the Supreme One's name. Why were the seven characters inscribed on a turtle's belly? The turtle too is long-lived and firm, and besides is a numinous creature. Confucius lamented that the river yielded no chart and the Luo no book; yet in the sacred age of Great Sui such charts and books appear again and again.
5
:建德六年，亳州大周村有龍鬬，白者勝，黑者死。 大象元年夏，熒陽汴水北有龍鬬，初見白氣屬天，自東方歷陽武而來。 及至，白龍也，長十許丈。 有黑龍乘雲而至，兩相薄，乍合乍離，自午至申，白龍升天，黑龍墜地。 謹案：龍，君象也。 前鬬於亳州周村者，蓋象至尊以龍鬬之歲為亳州總管，遂代周有天下。 後鬬於熒陽者，「熒」字三火，明火德之盛也。 白龍從東方來，歷陽武者，蓋象至尊將登帝位，從東第入自崇陽門也。 西北升天者，當乾位天門。 坤靈圖曰：「聖人殺龍。」 龍不可得而殺，皆盛氣也。 又曰：「泰姓商名宮，黃色，長八尺，六十世，河龍以正月辰見，白龍與五黑龍鬬，白龍陵，故泰人有命。」 謹案：此言皆為大隋而發也。 聖人殺龍者，前後龍死是也。 姓商者，皇家於五姓為商也。 名宮者，武元皇帝諱於五聲為宮。 黃色者，隋色尚黃。 長八尺者，武元皇帝身長八尺。 河龍以正月辰見者，泰正月卦，龍見之所，於京師為辰地。 白龍與黑龍鬬者，亳州熒陽龍鬬是也。 勝龍所以白者，楊姓納音為商，至尊又辛酉歲生，位皆在西方，西方色白也。 死龍所以黑者，周色黑。 所以稱五者，周閔、明、武、宣、靖凡五帝。 趙、陳、代、越、滕五王，一時伏法，亦當五數。 白龍陵者，陵猶勝也。 鄭玄說：「陵當為除。」 凡鬬能去敵曰除。 臣以泰人有命者，泰之為言通也，大也，明其人道通德大，有天命也。 乾鑿度曰：「泰表戴干。」 鄭玄注云：「表者，人形體之彰識也。 干，盾也。 泰人之表戴干。」 臣伏見至尊有戴干之表，益知泰人之表不爽毫釐。 坤靈圖所云，字字皆驗。 緯書又稱「漢四百年」，終如其言，則知六十世亦必然矣。 昔宗周卜世三十，今則倍之。
In the sixth year of Jiande, at Dazhou Village in Bozhou two dragons fought; the white dragon won and the black dragon died. In the summer of the first year of Daxiang, north of the Bian River at Yingyang, dragons fought again; at first white vapor rose to the sky, advancing from the east through Yangwu. When it drew near, it proved to be a white dragon some ten zhang in length. A black dragon came on clouds to meet it; the two closed and broke apart from noon until mid-afternoon, when the white dragon rose into heaven and the black dragon fell to earth. Your servant notes: the dragon is the image of the ruler. The earlier fight at Zhou Village in Bozhou surely foreshadowed that His Majesty, in the very year of the dragon fight, was governor-general of Bozhou and would thereafter supplant Zhou and win the realm. The later fight at Yingyang: the character ying contains three 'fire' elements, plainly manifesting the fullness of the Fire Virtue. The white dragon coming from the east through Yangwu surely images His Majesty's ascent to the throne, entering from the eastern residence through the Chongyang Gate. Its ascent to the northwest corresponds to the Qian trigram—the Gate of Heaven. The Kun Spirit Chart says: 'The sage slays the dragon.' Dragons cannot truly be killed; both are manifestations of flourishing cosmic force. It also says: 'Tai: surname Shang, personal name Gong, yellow in color, eight chi in stature, sixty generations; the river dragon appears in the first month at the chen hour; the white dragon battles five black dragons and prevails—thus the Tai people receive the Mandate.' Your servant finds that every phrase was uttered for the house of Sui. 'The sage slays the dragon' refers to the deaths of the dragons in both encounters. 'Surname Shang' means that among the five tones the imperial clan corresponds to Shang. 'Name Gong' means that Emperor Wuyuan's taboo name falls under the gong pitch of the five tones. 'Yellow' means that Sui honors the yellow color. 'Eight chi in stature' refers to Emperor Wuyuan, who stood eight chi tall. 'The river dragon appears in the first month at chen'—Tai is the hexagram of the first month, and the place of the dragon's appearance in the capital corresponds to the chen direction. 'The white dragon battles the black dragon' refers to the fights at Bozhou and Yingyang. The victorious dragon was white because the Yang clan's received tone is shang, His Majesty was born in a xinyou year, and both stand in the west, whose color is white. The defeated dragon was black because Zhou honored black. The 'five' refers to the five Zhou emperors Min, Ming, Wu, Xuan, and Jing. The five princes of Zhao, Chen, Dai, Yue, and Teng were executed together—again matching the number five. 'The white dragon ling'—ling means to overcome. Zheng Xuan explained that ling should be read as chu ('to remove').' In combat, to drive off the foe is called chu. Your servant holds that 'the Tai people have the mandate' means that tai signifies penetration and greatness—His Majesty's human way is penetrating and his virtue vast, and Heaven's mandate is his. The Qian Aperture Measure says: 'The mark of the Tai people bears the shield on the back.' Zheng Xuan glossed it: 'Biao is the visible mark on the human body. Gan means shield. The mark of the Tai people bears the shield on the back.' Your servant has seen that His Majesty bears this mark, and knows thereby that the prophecy of the Tai people's mark is exact to the finest detail. Every word of the Kun Spirit Chart has been fulfilled. The apocryphal texts also foretold 'four hundred years for Han,' and that came to pass; thus sixty generations for Sui is likewise assured. The Zhou of old divined thirty generations for their house; Sui's span will be twice that.
6
:稽覽圖云：「太平時，陰陽和合，風雨咸同，海內不偏，地有阻險，故風有遲疾。 雖太平之政，猶有不能均同，唯平均乃不鳴條，故欲風於亳。 亳者，陳留也。」 謹案：此言蓋明至尊者為陳留公世子，亳州總管，遂受天命，海內均同，不偏不黨，以成太平之風化也。 在大統十六年，武元皇帝改封陳留公。 是時齊國有祕記云：「天王陳留入并州。」 齊王高洋為是誅陳留王彭樂。 其後武元皇帝果將兵入并州。 周武帝時，望氣者云亳州有天子氣，於是殺亳州刺史紇豆陵恭，至尊代為之。 又陳留老子祠有枯柏，世傳云老子將度世，云待枯柏生東南枝廻指，當有聖人出，吾道復行。 至齊，枯柏從下生枝，東南上指。 夜有三童子相與歌曰：「老子廟前古枯樹，東南狀如傘，聖主從此去。」 及至尊牧亳州，親至祠樹之下。 自是柏枝廻抱，其枯枝，漸指西北，道教果行。 校考眾事，太平主出於亳州陳留之地，皆如所言。
The Examination Chart says: 'In the age of Great Peace yin and yang are in harmony, wind and rain fall alike throughout the realm, and no region is favored over another; yet where terrain is rugged, winds naturally vary in speed. Even under perfect government some places cannot be made uniform; only when all is balanced do the branches cease to rustle—hence the prophecy desires wind at Bo. Bo is Chenliu.' Your servant finds that this passage shows His Majesty, as heir of the Duke of Chenliu and as governor-general of Bozhou, received Heaven's mandate and brought the realm into even harmony without partiality, fulfilling the prophecy of Great Peace. In the sixteenth year of Datong, Emperor Wuyuan was enfeoffed as Duke of Chenliu. At that time a secret prophecy in Qi read: 'The Heavenly King of Chenliu will enter Bing Province.' For this reason Qi King Gao Yang executed Peng Le, Prince of Chenliu. Later Emperor Wuyuan did indeed lead an army into Bing Province. Under Emperor Wu of Zhou, geomancers reported the qi of an emperor at Bozhou; the Zhou court then executed Bozhou Inspector Hedouling Gong, and His Majesty was appointed in his place. At the Laozi shrine in Chenliu stood a withered cypress; tradition held that when Laozi was about to leave the world he said that when the tree put forth a southeast branch turning back, a sage would appear and the Way would flourish again. Under the Qi dynasty the withered cypress sprouted new branches from its base, turning toward the southeast. One night three boys were heard singing: 'Before Laozi's temple stands an ancient withered tree, its southeast branches like an umbrella—the sage lord will go forth from here.' When His Majesty governed Bozhou he came in person to the tree at the shrine. Thereafter the branches curled back upon themselves and the withered limbs slowly turned toward the northwest, and the Daoist teaching did indeed flourish. When one compares these events, the lord of Great Peace arising from Bozhou and Chenliu fulfilled every word of the prophecy.
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:稽覽圖又云：「治道得，則陰物變為陽物。」 鄭玄注云：「葱變為韭亦是。」 謹案：自六年以來，遠近山石，多變為玉。 石為陰，玉為陽。 又左衞園中葱皆變為韭。
The Examination Chart also says: 'When governance is perfected, yin substances transform into yang substances.' Zheng Xuan glossed this: 'Scallions turning into leeks is an example.' Your servant notes that since the sixth year, jade has appeared in stones throughout the realm, near and far. Stone belongs to yin; jade belongs to yang. In the Left Guard's garden, moreover, every scallion had changed into chives.
8
上覽之大悅，賜物五百段。
When the emperor read the report he was delighted and rewarded him with five hundred bolts of goods.
9
未幾，劭復上書曰：
Not long afterward Shao submitted another memorial:
10
:易乾鑿度曰：「隨上六，拘係之，乃從維之，王用享于西山。 隨者二月卦，陽德施行，藩決難解，萬物隨陽而出。 故上六欲九五拘係之，維持之，明被陽化而陰隨從之也。」 易稽覽圖：「坤六月，有子女，任政，一年，傳為復。 五月貧之從東北來立，大起土邑，西北地動星墜，陽衞。 屯十一月神人從中山出，趙地動。 北方三十日，千里馬數至。」 謹案：凡此易緯所言，皆是大隋符命。 隨者二月之卦，明大隋以二月即皇帝位也。 陽德施行者，明楊氏之德教施行於天下也。 藩決難解者，明當時藩鄣皆是通決，險難皆解散也。 萬物隨陽而出者，明天地間萬物盡隨楊氏而出見也。 上六欲九五拘係之者，五為王，六為宗廟，明宗廟神靈欲令登九五之位，帝王拘民以禮，係民以義也。 「拘民以禮」，「係民以義」，此二句亦是乾鑿度之言。 維持之者，明能以綱維持正天下也。 被陽化而欲陰隨之者，明陰類被服楊氏之風化，莫不隨從。 陰謂臣下也。 王用享于西山者，蓋明至尊常以歲二月幸西山仁壽宮也。 凡四稱隨，三稱陽，欲美隋楊，丁寧之至也。 坤六月者，坤位在未，六月建未，言至尊以六月生也。 有子女任政者，言樂平公主是皇帝子女，而為周后，任理內政也。 一年傳為復者，復是坤之一世卦，陽氣初起，言周宣帝崩後一年，傳位與楊氏也。 五月貧之從東北來立者，「貧之」當為「真人」，字之誤也。 言周宣帝以五月崩，真人革命，當在此時。 至尊謙讓而逆天意，故踰年乃立。 昔為定州總管，在京師東北，本而言之，故曰真人從東北來立。 大起土邑者，大起即大興，言營大興城邑也。 西北地動星墜者，蓋天意去周授隋，故變動也。 陽衞者，言楊氏得天衞助。 屯十一月神人從中山出者，此卦動而大亨作，故至尊以十一月被授亳州總管，將從中山而出也。 趙地動者，中山為趙地，以神人將去，故變動也。 北方三十日者，蓋至尊從北方將往亳州之時，停留三十日也。 千里馬者，蓋至尊舊所乘騧騮馬也。 屯卦震下坎上，震於馬作足，坎於馬為美脊，是故騧騮馬脊有肉鞍，行則先作弄四足也。 數至者，言曆數至也。
The Qian Aperture Measure reads: 'On the top line of Sui: restrain and bind it, then follow and sustain it—the king performs sacrifice at Mount Xi. Sui is the hexagram of the second month, when yang virtue goes forth; frontier barriers fall open, hardships dissolve, and the myriad things rise with the yang. The top line therefore seeks the fifth line to restrain, bind, and uphold it—meaning that yin, once transformed by yang, follows in obedience. The Examination Chart states: 'Under Kun in the sixth month, a child holds power; after one year, authority passes to Fu. In the fifth month the True Man arrives from the northeast to take the throne; great earthen cities are raised; the northwest quakes and stars fall; Yang stands guard. Under Zhun in the eleventh month, a divine man comes forth from Zhongshan, and the land of Zhao trembles. For thirty days in the north, horses capable of a thousand li arrive again and again.' Your servant finds that every passage in these Changes apocrypha prophesies the mandate of Great Sui. Because Sui is the hexagram of the second month, it shows that Great Sui took the throne in that month. Yang virtue goes forth reveals that the Yang family's moral teaching spread across the empire. Barriers fall open and hardships dissolve means that frontier strongholds were thrown open and every peril was dispelled. The myriad things rise with the yang signifies that everything under heaven came forth in the train of the Yang. When the top line seeks the fifth line to restrain and bind it—five being the sovereign, six the ancestral temple—it means the temple spirits wished him to mount the throne; the emperor holds the people with ritual and binds them with righteousness. The lines restrain the people with ritual and bind the people with righteousness likewise come from the Qian Aperture Measure. Sustain it shows that he could govern the realm uprightly through firm moral bonds. Transformed by yang, yin follows means that all yin things accepted the Yang family's civilizing influence and submitted without exception. By yin is meant the officials below the throne. The king sacrifices at Mount Xi surely indicates that His Majesty each year in the second month visited the Renshou Palace on Mount Xi. Four times the text says Sui and three times Yang—as if repeating the names of Sui and Yang again and again in the most earnest praise. Kun in the sixth month places Kun in the wei position, and the sixth month is keyed to wei—showing that His Majesty was born in the sixth month. A child holds power refers to Princess Leping, the emperor's own daughter, who became Empress of Zhou and governed the inner court. After one year, authority passes to Fu—Fu being Kun's generational hexagram, when yang first stirs—means that one year after Emperor Xuan of Zhou's death the throne passed to the Yang. In the line In the fifth month, Pinzhi comes from the northeast to take the throne, Pinzhi is a mistaken writing for True Man. The meaning is that when Emperor Xuan of Zhou died in the fifth month, the True Man's revolution ought to have begun then. His Majesty, out of humility, deferred against Heaven's will and therefore did not ascend the throne until a full year had passed. Since he had once served as commander of Dingzhou, northeast of the capital, the text in its original sense says that the True Man came from the northeast to take the throne. Great earthworks for cities—Daqi stands for Daxing—refers to the building of the great city of Daxing. The northwest quakes and stars fall shows Heaven casting off Zhou and bestowing the mandate upon Sui, hence the upheavals. Yang guards means the Yang received the protection of Heaven's celestial guard. Under Zhun in the eleventh month, a divine man comes from Zhongshan—the hexagram moves and great fortune arises—so in the eleventh month His Majesty was made commander of Bozhou and was about to go forth from Zhongshan. The land of Zhao trembles because Zhongshan lies in Zhao; as the divine man was leaving, the earth shook. Thirty days in the north means that when His Majesty traveled south from the north toward Bozhou, he halted there for thirty days. Horses of a thousand li refers to the piebald stallion His Majesty once rode. In Zhun, Zhen lies below and Kan above; Zhen governs a horse's stamping feet, Kan its noble back—hence the piebald's spine bore a fleshy saddle, and when it moved it first danced on all four hooves. Arrive again and again means that the destined number of years had come due.
11
:河圖帝通紀曰：「形瑞出，變矩衡。 赤應隨，協靈皇。」 河圖皇參持曰：「皇辟出，承元訖。 道無為，治率。 被遂矩，戲作術。 開皇色，握神日。 投輔提，象不絕。 立皇後，翼不格。 道終始，德優劣。 帝任政，河曲出。 協輔嬉，爛可述。」 謹案：凡此河圖所言，亦是大隋符命。 形瑞出、變矩衡者，矩，法也，衡，北斗星名，所謂璿璣玉衡者也。 大隋受命，形兆之瑞始出，天象則為之變動。 北斗主天之法度，故曰矩衡。 易緯「伏戲矩衡神」，鄭玄注亦以為法玉衡之神。 與此河圖矩衡義同。 赤應隋者，言赤帝降精，感應而生隋也。 故隋以火德為赤帝天子。 協靈皇者，協，合也，言大隋德合上靈天皇大帝也。 又年號開皇，與靈寶經之開皇年相合，故曰協靈皇。 皇辟出者，皇，大也，辟，君也，大君出，蓋謂至尊受命出為天子也。 承元訖者，言承周天元終訖之運也。 道無為、治率者，治下脫一字，言大道無為，治定天下率從。 被遂矩、戲作術者，矩，法也。 昔遂皇握機矩，伏戲作八卦之術，言大隋被服三皇之法術也。 遂皇機矩，語見易緯。 開皇色者，言開皇年易服色也。 握神日者，握持羣神，明照如日也。 又開皇以來日漸長，亦其義。 投輔提者，言投授政事於輔佐，使之提挈也。 象不絕者，法象不廢絕也。 立皇後、翼不格者，格，至也，言本立太子以為皇家後嗣，而其輔翼之人不能至於善也。 道終始、德優劣者，言前東宮道終而德劣，今皇太子道始而德優也。 帝任政、河曲出者，言皇帝親任政事，而邵州河濱得石圖也。 協輔嬉、爛可述者，協，合也，嬉，興也，言羣臣合心輔佐，以興政治，爛然可紀述也。 所以於皇參持、帝通紀二篇陳大隋符命者，明皇道帝德，盡在隋也。
The River Chart's Emperor Communication Record declares: 'Portents take shape; the square and the balance are transformed. Crimson answers Sui; accord with the Spirit Emperor. The River Chart's Imperial Canopy Holder reads: 'The great sovereign comes forth; he succeeds when the Primordial Cycle ends. The Way is effortless; rule guides all beneath Heaven. Invested with Sui's measure; devising the sacred arts in sport. The hue of Kaihuang; holding fast to the divine sun. Power is handed to ministers to bear up; the patterns of rule never cease. An heir is installed; yet those who should support him fall short. One Way closes, another opens; virtue knows both decline and renewal. The emperor himself takes up rule; a chart emerges from the river's bend. Ministers unite in glad service; glory bright enough to be sung.' Your servant finds that everything written in these River Charts likewise prophesies the mandate of Great Sui. Portents take shape and the square and balance change—ju means law, heng is a star of the Northern Dipper, the so-called Xuanji Jade Balance. When Great Sui received Heaven's mandate, earthly omens first appeared and the heavens altered their signs in response. Because the Northern Dipper presides over Heaven's standards, the text calls them ju and heng. In the Changes apocrypha, Fuxi's square-and-balance spirit—Zheng Xuan's commentary likewise interprets it as the spirit of law and the jade balance. That meaning matches ju and heng in this River Chart passage. Crimson answers Sui means the Red Emperor sent down his essence and, through that resonance, Sui arose. Hence Sui claimed the virtue of fire and became the Son of Heaven of the Red Emperor. Accord with the Spirit Emperor—xie means harmony—shows that Great Sui's virtue aligned with the Great Spirit Heavenly Emperor. The reign title Kaihuang also matches the Kaihuang year in the Lingbao Scripture, which is why the text speaks of accord with the Spirit Emperor. The great sovereign comes forth—huang means great, pi means lord—and thus the great lord appears, meaning that His Majesty received the mandate and rose as Son of Heaven. He succeeds when the Primordial Cycle ends means he inherited the fortune that closed Zhou's cosmic cycle. In The Way is effortless; rule guides all beneath Heaven, one character is missing after rule; the sense is that the Great Way acts without striving, and once order is settled the realm follows obediently. Invested with Sui's measure; devising the sacred arts in sport—here ju again means law. Long ago Suí Huang held the pivot of measure, and Fuxi devised the art of the Eight Trigrams—showing that Great Sui inherited the laws and arts of the Three Sovereigns. The phrase Suí Huang's pivot-square appears in the Changes apocrypha. The hue of Kaihuang means that in the Kaihuang reign the court changed its ceremonial colors. Holding fast to the divine sun means commanding all spirits and shining upon the world like the sun. Since the Kaihuang era the days have grown longer—another sign contained in the same line. Power is handed to ministers to bear up means that affairs of state are entrusted to counselors who lift and carry them. The patterns of rule never cease means that the institutions of law were not allowed to perish. An heir is installed; yet those who should support him fall short—ge means to attain—and refers to the crown prince being made imperial successor while his helpers failed to reach their duty. One Way closes, another opens; virtue knows both decline and renewal means the former heir's path had ended in flawed virtue, whereas the present crown prince's path is just beginning in superior virtue. The emperor himself takes up rule; a chart emerges from the river's bend refers to the emperor's personal involvement in government and the stone chart found on the Shaozhou riverbank. Ministers unite in glad service; glory bright enough to be sung—xie means harmony, xi means flourishing—showing that the officials worked as one to raise up government in a splendor fit to be recorded. Your servant sets forth Great Sui's mandate in the Imperial Canopy Holder and Emperor Communication Record precisely to show that the imperial Way and sovereign virtue now dwell wholly in Sui.
12
上大悅，以劭為至誠，寵錫日隆。
The emperor was delighted, judged Shao utterly sincere, and heaped ever greater favor upon him.
13
時有人於黃鳳泉浴，得二白石，頗有文理，遂附致其文以為字，復言有諸物象而上奏曰：「其大玉有日月星辰，八卦五岳，及二麟雙鳳，青龍朱雀，騶𩦢玄武，各當其方位。 又有五行、十日、十二辰之名，凡二十七字。 又有『天門地戶人門鬼門閉』九字。 又有却非及二鳥，其鳥皆人面，則抱朴子所謂『千秋萬歲』也。 其小玉亦有五嶽、却非、虯、犀之象。 二玉俱有仙人玉女乘雲控鶴之象。 別有異狀諸神，不可盡識，蓋是風伯、雨師、山精、海若之類。 又有天皇大帝、皇帝及四帝坐，鉤陳、北斗、三公、天將軍、土司空、老人、天倉、南河、北河、五星、二十八宿，凡四十五官。 諸字本無行伍，然往往偶對。 於大玉則有皇帝姓名，並臨南面，與日字正鼎足。 復有老人星，蓋明南面象日而長壽也。 皇后二字在西，上有月形，蓋明象月也。 於次玉則皇帝名與九千字次比，兩『楊』字與『萬年』字次比，『隋』與『吉』字正並，蓋明長久吉慶也。」 劭復廻互其字，作詩二百八十篇奏之。 上以為誠，賜帛千匹。 劭於是採民間歌謠，引圖書讖緯，依約符命，捃摭佛經，撰為皇隋靈感誌，合三十卷，奏之。 上令宣示天下，劭集諸州朝集使，洗手焚香，閉目而讀之，曲折其聲，有如歌詠。 經涉旬朔，徧而後罷。 上益喜，賞賜優洽。
About that time a man bathing at Huangfeng Spring found two white stones marked with clear patterns. Treating the markings as written characters, he described the images they formed and memorialized the throne: The larger stone bears the sun, moon, and stars, the Eight Trigrams and Five Sacred Peaks, two qilin and paired phoenixes, the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, zouyu, and Black Tortoise, each in its proper place. It also shows the names of the Five Phases, the ten heavenly stems, and the twelve earthly branches—twenty-seven characters in all. There are nine more characters: Heaven Gate, Earth Gate, Human Gate, Ghost Gate, Closed. There are also Quefei and two birds with human faces—the very Thousand Autumns, Ten Thousand Years described in the Baopuzi. The smaller stone likewise bears the Five Peaks, Quefei, hornless dragons, and rhinoceroses. On both stones appear immortals and jade maidens riding clouds and guiding cranes. Other strange divine forms appear too numerous to name—likely the Wind Lord, Rain Master, mountain spirits, Sea Ruo, and their kind. There are also the Great Heavenly Emperor, the Emperor, and the Four Emperors enthroned; Gouchen, the Northern Dipper, the Three Dukes, the Heavenly General, Tu Sikong, the Old Man, the Heavenly Granary, the South River, the North River, the Five Planets, and the Twenty-eight Mansions—forty-five celestial offices in all. The characters had no fixed arrangement, yet they often fell naturally into matching pairs. On the larger stone the emperor's personal and family names both face south, forming a tripod with the character for sun. The Old Man Star appears as well, showing that to face south is to resemble the sun and to promise long life. The two characters for empress stand in the west beneath the form of the moon, showing her likeness to the moon. On the smaller stone the emperor's name stands beside the nine-thousand character; both instances of Yang pair with ten thousand years, and Sui aligns directly with auspicious—signs of enduring good fortune. Shao then rearranged the characters in every possible combination, wrote two hundred and eighty poems, and presented them to the throne. The emperor accepted the work as genuine and rewarded him with a thousand bolts of silk. Shao thereupon collected popular ballads, drew upon charts, classics, prophecies, and apocrypha, matched them to signs of the mandate, gathered passages from Buddhist scriptures, and compiled the Imperial Sui Records of Spiritual Responsiveness in thirty scrolls, which he submitted to the throne. The emperor commanded that it be read aloud throughout the empire. Shao gathered the provincial tribute envoys, had them wash their hands, burn incense, close their eyes, and chant the text in a swaying, songlike voice. The recitation continued for more than ten days, until every region had heard it, and only then ceased. The emperor's pleasure only grew, and his rewards were lavish.
14
仁壽中，文獻皇后崩，劭復上言曰：「佛說人應生天上，及上品上生無量壽國之時，天佛放大光明，以香花妓樂來迎之。 如來以明星出時入涅槃。 伏惟大行皇后聖德仁慈，福善禎符，備諸祕記，皆云是妙善菩薩。 臣謹案：八月二十二日，仁壽宮內再雨金銀之花。 二十三日，大寶殿後夜有神光。 二十四日卯時，永安宮北有自然種種音樂，震滿虛空。 至夜五更中，奄然如寐，便即升遐，與經文所說，事皆符驗。 臣又以愚意思之，皇后遷化，不在仁壽、大興宮者，蓋避至尊常居正處也。 在永安宮者，象京師之永安門，平生所出入也。 后升遐後二日，苑內夜有鍾聲三百餘處，此則生天之應顯然也。」 上覽而且悲且喜。
During the Renshou reign, Empress Wenxian passed away. Shao submitted another memorial: The Buddha teaches that when the worthy are reborn in heaven—and above all when they attain the highest grade of birth in the Land of Infinite Life—the Buddhas of heaven blaze with great light and come to receive them with incense, flowers, and celestial music. The Tathagata entered nirvana at the hour when the morning star rose. I humbly reflect that the late empress possessed sacred and merciful virtue, blessed with fortune and prophetic warrant; every secret scripture declares her to have been the Bodhisattva Miaoshan. Your servant respectfully submits that on the twenty-second day of the eighth month, flowers of gold and silver fell once more inside Renshou Palace. On the twenty-third, a supernatural light appeared at night behind the Hall of Great Treasure. On the twenty-fourth at dawn, north of Yong'an Palace, music of every kind arose spontaneously, thundering through the empty heavens. By the fifth watch of the night she suddenly sank as if into sleep and at once departed this life—everything accorded with the scriptures, and each sign was fulfilled. Your servant further reflects in my simple-minded way that the empress did not pass away at Renshou or Daxing Palace because she wished to avoid the sovereign's own principal residence. Her presence at Yong'an Palace symbolized Yong'an Gate of the capital, the gate through which she had passed all her life. Two nights after the empress's death, bell sounds were heard at more than three hundred places in the palace grounds—a clear sign that she had been reborn in heaven. When the emperor read the memorial, he was at once sorrowful and glad.
15
時蜀王秀以罪廢，上顧謂劭曰：「嗟乎！ 吾有五子，三子不才。」 劭進曰：「自古聖帝明王，皆不能移不肖之子。 黃帝有二十五子，同姓者二，餘各異德。 堯十子，舜九子，皆不肖。 夏有五觀，周有三監。」 上然其言。 其後上夢欲上高山而不能得，崔彭捧脚，李盛扶肘得上，因謂彭曰：「死生當與爾俱。」 劭曰：「此夢大吉。 上高山者，明高崇大安，永如山也。 彭猶彭祖，李猶李老，二人扶侍，實為長壽之徵。」 上聞之，喜見容色。 其年，上崩。 未幾，崔彭亦卒。
At that time Prince Xiu of Shu had been stripped of his title for his crimes, and the emperor turned to Shao and said, "Alas! I have five sons, and three of them are worthless. Shao stepped forward and said, "Since antiquity even sage emperors and enlightened kings have been unable to reform unworthy sons. The Yellow Emperor had twenty-five sons, but only two bore his surname; the rest each possessed a different virtue. Yao had ten sons and Shun nine sons, and all were unworthy. Xia had the Five Guan, and Zhou had the Three Overseers. The emperor accepted what he said. Later the emperor dreamed that he wished to climb a high mountain but could not; Cui Peng held his feet and Li Sheng supported his arms until he reached the summit, and he then said to Peng, "In life and death I shall be with you. Shao said, "This dream is exceedingly auspicious. To climb a high mountain means lofty stature, great peace, and endurance firm as a mountain. Peng recalls Peng Zu, and Li recalls Old Master Li; that two such men supported him is truly a sign of long life. When the emperor heard this, delight showed plainly on his face. That same year the emperor died. Before long Cui Peng died as well.
16
煬帝嗣位，漢王諒作亂，帝不忍加誅。 劭上書曰：「臣聞黃帝滅炎，蓋云母弟，周公誅管，信亦天倫。 叔向戮叔魚，仲尼謂之遺直，石碏殺石厚，丘明以為大義。 此皆經籍明文，帝王常法。 今陛下置此逆賊，度越前聖，含弘寬大，未有以謝天下。 謹案賊諒毒被生民者也。 是知古者同德則同姓，異德則異姓，故黃帝有二十五子，其得姓者十有四人，唯青陽、夷鼓，與黃帝同為姬姓。 諒既自絕，請改其氏。」 劭以此求媚，帝依違不從。 遷祕書少監，數載，卒官。
When Emperor Yang succeeded to the throne, Prince Liang of Han rose in rebellion, but the emperor could not bring himself to execute him. Shao submitted a memorial saying, "Your servant has heard that when the Yellow Emperor destroyed Yan, it is said the man was his younger uterine brother, and when the Duke of Zhou executed Guan, that too was a matter of blood kinship. Shu Xiang put Shu Yu to death, and Confucius called this the uprightness handed down in his family; Shi Que killed Shi Hou, and Zuo Qiuming judged it a deed of great righteousness. These are all explicit passages in the classics—the constant practice of emperors and kings. Now Your Majesty has left this rebel unpunished, surpassing the sages of old in clemency and breadth of mind, yet offering the realm no sufficient account. Your servant respectfully submits that the rebel Liang spread poison and harm among the people. From this we know that in antiquity those of the same virtue shared a surname and those of different virtue took different surnames; of the Yellow Emperor's twenty-five sons, fourteen received surnames, and only Qingyang and Yigu shared the Ji surname with the Yellow Emperor. Since Liang has cut himself off from his house, I ask that his surname be changed. Shao was currying favor in this way, but the emperor hesitated and did not follow his advice. He was transferred to Vice Director of the Secretariat and, after several years, died in that post.
17
劭在著作，將二十年，專典國史，撰隋書八十卷。 多錄口勑，又採迂怪不經之語及委巷之言，以類相從，為其題目，辭義繁雜，無足稱者，遂使隋代文武名臣列將善惡之迹，堙沒無聞。 初撰齊誌，為編年體，二十卷，復為齊書紀傳一百卷，及平賊記三卷。 或文詞鄙野，或不軌不物，駭人視聽，大為有識所嗤鄙。 然其採擿經史謬誤，為讀書記三十卷，時人服其精博。 爰自志學，暨乎暮齒，篤好經史，遺落世事。 用思既專，性頗怳忽，每至對食，閉目凝思，盤中之肉，輒為僕從所噉。 劭弗之覺，唯責肉少，數罰厨人。 厨人以情白劭，劭依前閉目，伺而獲之，厨人方免笞辱。 其專固如此。 袁充袁充字德符，本陳郡陽夏人也。 其後寓居丹陽。 祖昂，父君正，俱為梁侍中。 充少警悟，年十餘歲，其父黨至門，時冬初，充尚衣葛衫。 客戲充曰：「袁郎子絺兮𥿭兮，淒其以風。」 充應聲答曰：「唯絺與𥿭，服之無斁。」 以是大見嗟賞。 仕陳，年十七，為秘書郎。 歷太子舍人、晉安王文學、吏部侍郎、散騎常侍。
Shao served in the Writing Office for nearly twenty years, chiefly overseeing the national history, and compiled eighty volumes of the Book of Sui. He copied down many oral edicts and gathered outlandish, unorthodox tales and back-alley gossip, sorting them by category under various titles; the language was tangled and worthless, so that the deeds, good and ill, of Sui's civil and military ministers and generals were buried without a hearing. He first compiled the Chronicle of Qi in annalistic form in twenty volumes, then a Qi history in annal-biography form in one hundred volumes, as well as three volumes of the Record of Pacifying Rebels. Some of his writing was coarse and vulgar, some of it irregular and outlandish, shocking to eye and ear, and widely scorned by men of discernment. Yet in gathering and correcting errors in the classics and histories he compiled thirty volumes of Reading Notes, and men of his time admired his precision and breadth. From youth to old age he devoted himself tirelessly to the classics and histories and paid little heed to worldly affairs. His mind was so wholly absorbed and his temperament so absent that whenever he sat down to eat, he would close his eyes in deep thought, and the meat on his plate would be eaten by his attendants. Shao never noticed, but only complained that there was too little meat and repeatedly punished the cooks. The cooks told him what was happening; Shao closed his eyes as before, waited, and caught them in the act, and only then were the cooks spared a beating. Such was the obstinate fixity of his concentration. Yuan Chong, styled Defu, was originally a native of Yangxia in Chen Commandery. Later he settled in Danyang. His grandfather Ang and his father Junzheng had both served as Liang Attendants-in-Chief. Chong was quick-witted from boyhood; when he was little more than ten, a friend of his father's came to visit. It was early winter, yet Chong was still wearing a thin hemp shirt. The guest teased him, quoting the Odes: "Young Master Yuan, in fine and coarse linen—how chill the wind blows. Chong answered at once, "Only fine and coarse linen—to wear them and never grow weary." For this he won great admiration. He entered Chen service and at seventeen was appointed Secretary Gentleman. He served in succession as Crown Prince Attendant, Literary Companion to the Prince of Jin'an, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Regular Attendant of the Cavalry-in-Ordinary.
18
及陳滅歸國，歷蒙、鄜二州司馬。 充性好道術，頗解占候，由是領太史令。 時上將廢皇太子，正窮治東宮官屬，充見上雅信符應，因希旨進曰：「比觀玄象，皇太子當廢。」 上然之。 充復表奏，隋興已後，日影漸長，曰：「開皇元年，冬至日影一丈二尺七寸二分，自爾漸短。 至十七年，冬至影一丈二尺六寸三分。 四年冬至，在洛陽測影，一丈二尺八寸八分。 二年，夏至影一尺四寸八分，自爾漸短。 至十六年，夏至影一尺四寸五分。 周官以土圭之法正日影，日至之影尺有五寸。 鄭玄云：『冬至之影一丈三尺。』 今十六年夏至之影，短於舊影五分，十七年冬至之影，短於舊影三寸七分。 日去極近則影短而日長，去極遠則影長而日短，行內道則去極近，外道則去極遠。 堯典云：『日短星昴，以正仲冬。』 據昴星昏中，則知堯時仲冬，日在須女十度。 以曆數推之，開皇已來冬至，日在斗十一度，與唐堯之代去極並近。 謹案春秋元命包云：『日月出內道，琁璣得常，天帝崇靈，聖王祖功。』 京房別對曰：『太平日行上道，升平行次道，霸世行下道。』 伏惟大隋啟運，上感乾元，影短日長，振古未之有也。」 上大悅，告天下。 將作役功，因加程課，丁匠苦之。
After Chen fell and he returned to the new dynasty, he served successively as Regional Administrator in Meng and Fu provinces. Chong loved the arts of the Way and was well versed in divination and celestial portents; for this reason he was appointed Director of the Imperial Observatory. At that time the emperor was about to depose the crown prince and was rigorously investigating the officials of the Eastern Palace; seeing that the emperor placed great faith in omens and portents, Chong sought to please him and said, "In recent observations of the celestial signs, the crown prince should be deposed. The emperor accepted this." Chong submitted another memorial stating that since the rise of Sui the solar shadow had gradually lengthened, saying, "In the first year of Kaihuang the winter-solstice shadow was one zhang, two chi, seven cun, and two fen; from then on it gradually shortened. By the seventeenth year the winter-solstice shadow was one zhang, two chi, six cun, and three fen. On the winter solstice of the fourth year, when the shadow was measured at Luoyang, it was one zhang, two chi, eight cun, and eight fen. In the second year the summer-solstice shadow was one chi, four cun, and eight fen; from then on it gradually shortened. By the sixteenth year the summer-solstice shadow was one chi, four cun, and five fen. The Offices of Zhou uses the earth-gnomon method to fix the solar shadow; at the solstice the shadow should be one chi and five cun. Zheng Xuan said, "The winter-solstice shadow is one zhang and three chi. Now the summer-solstice shadow of the sixteenth year is five fen shorter than the old standard, and the winter-solstice shadow of the seventeenth year is three cun and seven fen shorter than the old standard. When the sun is near the pole the shadow is short and the day is long; when it is far from the pole the shadow is long and the day is short; on the inner path it draws near the pole, and on the outer path it draws far from it. The Canon of Yao says, "The days are short and the star Mao culminates at dusk—thus midwinter is fixed. From the dusk culmination of Mao we know that at Yao's midwinter the sun stood at the tenth degree of Maid. By calendrical calculation, from Kaihuang onward the sun at winter solstice has stood at the eleventh degree of Dipper—like the age of Tang Yao, equally near the pole. Your servant respectfully cites the Spring and Autumn Yuanming Bao: "When sun and moon emerge on the inner path, the jade pivots keep their regular course, the Heavenly Emperor exalts the numinous, and sage kings honor the merit of their ancestors. Jing Fang's separate response says, "In an age of Great Peace the sun travels the upper path; in an age of ascending peace the middle path; in an age of hegemony the lower path. Great Sui has opened its destiny, stirred by the primordial power of Heaven—short shadows and long days, a thing unheard of since antiquity. The emperor was greatly pleased and proclaimed this to the empire. When the Directorate of Palace Construction increased labor quotas on the conscripted craftsmen, the corvée workers were driven to misery.
19
仁壽初，充言上本命與陰陽律呂合者六十餘條而奏之，因上表曰：「皇帝載誕之初，非止神光瑞氣，嘉祥應感，至於本命行年，生月生日，並與天地日月、陰陽律呂運轉相符，表裏合會。 此誕聖之異，寶曆之元。 今與物更新，改年仁壽，歲月日子，還共誕聖之時並同，明合天地之心，得仁壽之理。 故知洪基長算，永永無窮。」 上大悅，賞賜優崇，儕輩莫之比。
Early in the Renshou era, Chong reported more than sixty correspondences between the emperor's natal destiny and the yin-yang pitch-pipes, and submitted a memorial saying, "From the moment of the emperor's birth there were not only divine light and auspicious qi, felicitous omens and responsive signs, but even his natal year, birth month, and birth day all matched the revolutions of heaven and earth, sun and moon, yin and yang, and the pitch-pipes, inner and outer in perfect accord. This is the marvel of a sage's birth and the foundation of an imperial age. Now, as all things are renewed and the reign title is changed to Renshou, the year, month, day, and hour again coincide with the time of the sage's birth, clearly matching the mind of Heaven and Earth and attaining the principle of benevolence and long life. Thus we know that the great foundation will endure for a long span, forever without end. The emperor was greatly pleased, and the rewards and honors he received were beyond comparison among his peers.
20
仁壽四年甲子歲，煬帝初即位，充及太史丞高智寶奏言：「去歲冬至，日影逾長，今歲皇帝即位，與堯受命年合。 昔唐堯受命四十九年，到上元第一紀甲子，天正十一月庚戌冬至，陛下即位，其年即當上元第一紀甲子，天正十一月庚戌冬至，正與唐堯同。 自放勳以來，凡經八上元，其間緜代，未有仁壽甲子之合。 謹案：第一紀甲子，太一在一宮，天目居武德，陰陽曆數並得符同。 唐堯丙辰生，丙子年受命，止合三五，未若己丑甲子，支干並當六合。 允一元三統之期，合五紀九章之會，共帝堯同其數，與皇唐比其蹤。 信所謂皇哉唐哉，唐哉皇哉者矣。」 仍諷齊王暕率百官拜表奉賀。 其後熒惑守太微者數旬，于時繕治宮室，征役繁重，充上表稱「陛下修德，熒惑退舍」。 百僚畢賀。 帝大喜，前後賞賜將萬計。 時軍國多務，充候帝意欲有所為，便奏稱天文見象，須有改作，以是取媚於上。
In the jiazi year of the fourth year of Renshou, when Emperor Yang first took the throne, Chong and Observatory Vice Director Gao Zhibao submitted a memorial saying, "Last winter solstice the solar shadow grew longer, and this year, when the emperor acceded, matches the year in which Yao received the mandate. Formerly Tang Yao received the mandate in his forty-ninth year; at the first jiazi of the first Upper Origin cycle, in the heavenly first month on the gengxu day at winter solstice—Your Majesty acceded in that very year, which is exactly the first jiazi of the first Upper Origin cycle, in the heavenly first month on the gengxu day at winter solstice, precisely the same as Tang Yao. Since the time of Fangxun, eight Upper Origins have passed, and through all the long ages none has matched the conjunction of Renshou and jiazi. Your servant respectfully submits that in the first cycle's jiazi, Great One stands in the first palace and Celestial Eye dwells in Wude, and the numbers of yin and yang and of the calendar all correspond. Tang Yao was born in a bingchen year and received the mandate in a bingzi year, matching only the three-five pattern, unlike jichou and jiazi, whose stem-branch combinations both fall perfectly within the six harmonies. This fulfills the term of one origin and three sequences and matches the convergence of five eras and nine chapters, sharing Emperor Yao's numbers and comparable to the august traces of Tang. Truly this is what is meant by "How glorious is Tang! How glorious is Tang!" He also prompted Prince Yang of Qi to lead the hundred officials in submitting a congratulatory memorial. Thereafter Mars lingered in Taiwei for several tens of days; at the time palace construction was underway and conscription was heavy, yet Chong submitted a memorial saying, "Your Majesty cultivates virtue, and Mars has withdrawn from its station." All the officials congratulated him. The emperor was greatly pleased, and rewards given before and after totaled nearly ten thousand items. At that time military and state affairs were pressing; Chong watched the emperor's intentions, and whenever the emperor wished to act, he would submit that celestial signs required some change—thus currying favor with the throne.
21
大業六年，遷內史舍人。 從征遼東，拜朝請大夫、秘書少監。 其後天下亂，帝初罹雁門之厄，又盜賊益起，帝心不自安。 充復假託天文，上表陳嘉瑞，以媚於上曰：
In the sixth year of Daye he was promoted to Drafter of the Palace Secretariat. On the campaign against Liaodong he was appointed Grand Master for Closing Audience and Vice Director of the Secretariat. Thereafter the empire fell into disorder; the emperor first suffered the crisis at Yanmen, and bandits rose in ever greater numbers, so that his mind was no longer at ease. Chong again fabricated celestial signs and submitted a memorial presenting auspicious portents to flatter the emperor, saying:
22
:臣聞皇天輔德，皇天福謙，七政斯齊，三辰告應。 伏惟陛下握錄圖而馭黔首，提萬善而化八紘，以百姓為心，匪以一人受慶，先天罔違所欲，後天必奉其時。 是以初膺寶曆，正當上元之紀，乾之初九，又與天命符會。 斯則聖人冥契，故能動合天經。 謹按去年已來，玄象星瑞，毫釐無爽，謹錄尤異，上天降祥、破突厥等狀七事。
Your servant has heard that August Heaven aids the virtuous and blesses the humble, that the seven regulators stand in harmony and the three luminaries proclaim their response. Your Majesty grasps the register of fate and governs the black-haired people, uplifts all goodness and transforms the eight directions, taking the common people to heart rather than seeking fortune for himself alone; what is desired beforehand is never thwarted by Heaven, and what comes afterward is always offered up in season. Thus, when you first received the imperial succession, it fell exactly in the cycle of the Upper Origin and in Qian's initial nine line, again matching Heaven's mandate. This is the sage's secret accord with Heaven, and therefore his actions match Heaven's constant way. Your servant respectfully submits that since last year the celestial signs and stellar portents have not deviated by a hair's breadth; your servant respectfully records the most extraordinary among them, seven matters including Heaven sending down blessings and the destruction of the Turks.
23
:其一，去八月二十八日夜，大流星如斗，出王良北，正落突厥營，聲如崩牆。 其二，八月二十九日夜，復有大流星如斗，出羽林，向北流，正當北方。 依占，頻二夜流星墜賊所，賊必敗散。 其三，九月四日夜，頻有兩星大如斗，出北斗魁，向東北流。 依占，北斗主殺伐，賊必敗。 其四，歲星主福德，頻行京、都二處分野。 依占，國家之福。 其五，七月內，熒惑守羽林，九月七日已退舍。 依占，不出三日，賊必敗散。 其六，去年十一月二十日夜，有流星赤如火，從東北向西南，落賊帥盧明月營，破其橦車。 其七，十二月十五日夜，通漢鎮北有赤氣亘北方，突厥將亡之應也。 依勘城錄，河南洛陽並當甲子，與乾元初九爻及上元甲子符合。 此是福地，永無所慮。 旋觀往政，側聞前古，彼則異時間出，今則一朝總萃。 豈非天贊有道，助殲兇孽，方清九夷於東獩，沉五狄於北溟，告成岱岳，無為汾水。
First: on the night of the twenty-eighth of the eighth month last year, a great meteor as large as the Dipper emerged north of Wang Liang and fell directly on the Turk camp, with a sound like a collapsing wall. Second: on the night of the twenty-ninth of the eighth month, again a great meteor as large as the Dipper emerged from Yulin, flowed northward, and headed straight toward the north. According to divination, when meteors fall on the enemy's position on two successive nights, the enemy will surely be defeated and scattered. Third: on the night of the fourth of the ninth month, two stars as large as the Dipper repeatedly emerged from the handle of the Northern Dipper and flowed toward the northeast. According to divination, the Northern Dipper governs killing and punishment, so the enemy will surely be defeated. Fourth: Jupiter governs fortune and virtue and has repeatedly passed through the territorial allotments of Jing and Du. According to divination, this is a blessing for the state. Fifth: within the seventh month Mars lingered in Yulin, and by the seventh day of the ninth month it had withdrawn from its station. According to divination, within three days the enemy will surely be defeated and scattered. Sixth: on the night of the twentieth of the eleventh month last year, a meteor red as fire passed from northeast to southwest and fell on the camp of the rebel chief Lu Mingyue, smashing his battering engines. Seventh: on the night of the fifteenth of the twelfth month, north of Tonghan Fort a red vapor stretched across the north—a sign that the Turks are about to perish. According to the Kan Cheng Lu, Henan and Luoyang both fall under jiazi, matching the initial nine line of Qian and the jiazi of the Upper Origin. These are lands of good fortune, forever without cause for alarm. Looking back at past reigns and what one hears of antiquity, omens then appeared at separate times, but now they have all gathered in a single morning. Is this not Heaven aiding the Way, helping to destroy the wicked rebels, about to pacify the nine Yi in the eastern wilds and sink the five Di in the northern sea, proclaim success at Mount Tai, and rule in non-action as at the Fen River?
24
書奏，帝大悅，超拜秘書令，親待逾昵。 帝每欲征討，充皆預知之，乃假託星象，奬成帝意，在位者皆切患之。 宇文化及殺逆之際，并誅充，時年七十五。 【論】史臣曰：王劭爰自幼童，迄乎白首，好學不倦，究極羣書。 搢紳洽聞之士，無不推其博物。 雅好著述，久在史官，既撰齊書，兼修隋典。 好詭怪之說，尚委巷之談，文詞鄙穢，體統繁雜。 直愧南、董，才無遷、固，徒煩翰墨，不足觀採。 袁充少在江左，初以警悟見稱，委質隋朝，更以玄象自命。 並要求時幸，干進務入。 劭經營符瑞，雜以妖訛，充變動星占，謬增晷影。 厚誣天道，亂常侮眾，刑茲勿捨，其在斯乎！ 且劭為河朔清流，充乃江南望族，乾沒榮利，得不以道，頹其家聲，良可歎息。
When the memorial was submitted, the emperor was greatly pleased, promoted him out of turn to Director of the Secretariat, and treated him with ever greater intimacy. Whenever the emperor wished to launch a campaign, Chong always knew it beforehand and would fabricate stellar signs to encourage the emperor's intent, to the bitter resentment of those in office. At the time of Yuwen Huaji's regicide, Chong was executed as well; he was seventy-five. [Commentary] The historiographer says: From boyhood to white-haired old age, Wang Shao loved learning without weariness and pursued books to their utmost limits. Among the gentry and the widely informed, none failed to praise his encyclopedic learning. He loved writing, long served as a historiographer, compiled the Book of Qi, and also worked on the Sui records. He favored strange and monstrous tales and back-alley gossip; his language was coarse and foul, and his structure tangled and chaotic. He falls far short of the integrity of Dong Hu and the southern annalists, and his talent does not reach Sima Qian and Ban Gu; he merely wasted ink and is not worth consulting. Yuan Chong in his youth lived in the Jiangzuo region and was first praised for quick wit; once he submitted to Sui, he styled himself a master of celestial signs. Both sought the favor of their age and schemed for advancement. Shao trafficked in portents and omens, mixing in delusion and falsehood; Chong manipulated star divination and falsely inflated gnomon shadows. They grossly deceived Heaven's Way, disturbed the constant order, and mocked the people—the punishment that should not be spared surely falls upon them here! Moreover, Shao was a pure-stream gentleman of the Yellow River north and Chong a leading clan of the Jiangnan region; both grasped glory and profit by unrighteous means and brought their family names to ruin—a matter truly lamentable.