1
明元皇帝七男。 杜密皇后生世祖太武皇帝。 大慕容夫人生樂平戾王丕。 安定殤王彌闕母氏。 慕容夫人生樂安宣王範。 尹夫人生永昌莊王健。 建寧王崇、新興王俊二王，並闕母氏。
Emperor Mingyuan had seven sons. Empress Dowager Du bore Shizu Emperor Taiwu. Lady Da Murong bore Prince Pi of Leping, who received the posthumous title Ill-Fated King. Prince Mi of Anding, posthumously styled the Early-Deceased King, is of unknown maternity. Lady Murong bore Prince Fan of Le'an, who received the posthumous title Proclaiming King. Lady Yin bore Prince Jian of Yongchang, who received the posthumous title Magnificent King. The Princes Chong of Jianning and Jun of Xinxing both have unrecorded mothers.
2
樂平王丕，少有才幹，為世所稱。 太宗以丕長，愛其器度，特優異之。 泰常七年封，拜車騎大將軍。 後督河西、高平諸軍討南秦王楊難當，軍至略陽，禁令齊肅，所過無私，百姓爭致牛酒。 難當懼，還仇池。 而諸將議曰，若不誅豪帥，軍還之後，必聚而為寇。 又以大眾遠出，不有所掠，則無以充軍實，賞將士。 將從之。 時中書侍郎高允參丕軍事，諫曰：「今若誅之，是傷其向化之心，恐大軍一還，為亂必速。」 丕以為然，於是綏懷初附，秋毫無犯。 初，馮弘之奔高麗，世祖詔遣送之，高麗不遣，世祖怒，將討之。 丕上疏，以為和龍新定，宜優復之，使廣修農殖，以饒軍實，然後進圖，可一舉而滅。 帝納之，乃止。 後坐劉潔事，以憂薨。 事在 〈潔傳〉。 諡曰戾王。
Pi, Prince of Leping, had talent and ability from youth and was praised by his generation. Because Pi was the eldest, Taizong admired his bearing and treated him with special favor. In the seventh year of Taichang he was enfeoffed and appointed Grand General of Chariots and Cavalry. Later he commanded the armies of Hexi and Gaoping against Yang Nandang, Prince of Southern Qin. When the army reached Lueyang, discipline was strict and orderly; wherever it passed there was no private plunder, and the people competed to bring cattle and wine. Nandang was afraid and returned to Chouchi. The generals argued, "If we do not execute the powerful leaders, then after the army returns they will surely gather and become bandits." They also reasoned that since the great army had come far, if nothing were seized there would be no way to fill the army stores and reward the soldiers. Pi was about to follow this advice. At the time Secretariat Attendant Gao Yun was participating in Pi's military affairs. He remonstrated, "If we execute them now, this will wound their will to submit to transformation. I fear that once the great army returns, rebellion will come quickly." Pi considered this right, and so he soothed and embraced those newly attached, without violating so much as an autumn hair. Earlier, when Feng Hong fled to Goguryeo, Shizu ordered that he be sent back. Goguryeo did not send him, and Shizu was angry and intended to attack. Pi submitted a memorial arguing that Helong had only recently been pacified and should be generously relieved so that farming and planting could be widely restored and military supplies made abundant; only afterward should plans advance, when Goguryeo could be destroyed in one stroke. The emperor accepted this and stopped. Later, implicated in Liu Jie's affair, Pi died of anxiety. The affair is recorded in Jie's biography. His posthumous title was Prince Li.
3
子拔，襲爵。 後坐事賜死，國除。
His son Ba inherited the title. Later he was condemned for a crime and ordered to take his own life, and the fief was abolished.
4
丕之薨及日者董道秀之死也，高允遂著筮論曰：「昔明元末起白臺，其高二十餘丈，樂平王嘗夢登其上，四望無所見。 王以問日者董道秀，筮之曰：『大吉。』 王默而有喜色。 後事發，王遂憂死，而道秀棄市。 道秀若推六爻以對王曰：『易稱「亢龍有悔」，窮高曰亢，高而無民，不為善也。』 夫如是，則上寧於王，下保於己，福祿方至，豈有禍哉？ 今舍於本而從其末，咎釁之至不亦宜乎！」
When Prince Pi died and the diviner Dong Daoxiu was put to death, Gao Yun wrote a treatise on divination, saying: "Near the end of Emperor Mingyuan's reign a White Terrace was built, more than twenty zhang tall. The Prince of Leping once dreamed that he climbed it and gazed in every direction, yet saw nothing at all. The prince consulted the diviner Dong Daoxiu, who cast the hexagram and declared, 'Great good fortune.' The prince said nothing, yet his face showed delight. When the matter later came to light, the prince died of anxiety, and Daoxiu was executed in the public marketplace. Had Daoxiu worked through the six lines and answered the prince, saying, 'The Changes says, "The arrogant dragon will have cause for regret." To press height to the limit is arrogance; to stand aloft without the people beneath one is no blessing,' then above he would have reassured the prince, and below he would have kept himself safe; fortune and rank would have followed — how could calamity have come of it? But as it was, he abandoned the root and clung to the branch — was it not only fitting that guilt and disaster should overtake them?"
5
安定王彌，泰常七年封。 太宗討滑臺，留守京師。 薨，諡殤王。 無子，國除。
Prince Mi of Anding was enfeoffed in the seventh year of the Taichang era. When Emperor Taizong marched against Huatai, he stayed behind to guard the capital. He died and was given the posthumous title Early-Deceased King. He left no sons, and the fief was abolished.
6
樂安王範，泰常七年封。 雅性沉厚，寬和仁恕。 世祖以長安形勝之地，非範莫可任者，乃拜範都督五州諸軍事、衞大將軍、開府儀同三司、長安鎮都大將，高選才能，以為僚佐。 範謙恭惠下，推心撫納，百姓稱之。 時秦土新罹寇賊，流亡者相繼，範請崇易簡之治，帝納之。 於是遂寬徭，與人休息。 後劉潔之謀，範聞而不告。 事發，因疾暴薨。
Fan, Prince of Le'an, was enfeoffed in the seventh year of Taichang. His natural character was deep and generous, broad, mild, humane, and forgiving. Shizu considered Chang'an a strategically commanding place and believed no one but Fan could be entrusted with it. He therefore appointed Fan commander of military affairs in five provinces, Grand General of the Guards, with an opened office and protocol equal to the Three Excellencies, and grand general of Chang'an Garrison, selecting able men of high quality to serve as his staff. Fan was modest and respectful, kind to those below him, and received and soothed people with open sincerity; the common people praised him. At the time the Qin lands had newly suffered bandits and rebels, and refugees followed one after another. Fan requested that rule there honor ease and simplicity, and the emperor accepted it. Thereupon corvée was relaxed, and the people were allowed to rest. Later, when Liu Jie plotted, Fan heard of it but did not report it. When the affair came to light, he suddenly died from illness.
7
長子良。 世祖未有子，嘗曰：「兄弟之子猶子也。」 親撫養之。 長而壯勇多知，常參軍國大計。 高宗時，襲王。 拜長安鎮都大將、雍州刺史，為內都大官。 薨，諡曰簡王。
His eldest son was Liang. Shizu had not yet fathered a son and once said, "A brother's son is as good as one's own." He raised Liang himself with fatherly care. When he came of age he was strong, courageous, and well informed, and he regularly joined in deliberations on matters of state and war. Under Emperor Gaozong he inherited the princedom. He was appointed Grand General of the Chang'an Garrison, Inspector of Yong Province, and Director of the Inner Capital. He died and was given the posthumous title Simple King.
8
永昌王健，泰常七年封。 健姿貌魁壯，善弓馬，達兵法，所在征戰，常有大功。 才藝比陳留桓王，而智略過之。 從世祖破赫連昌，遂西略至木根山。 討和龍，健別攻拔建德。 後平叛胡白龍餘黨于西河。 世祖襲蠕蠕，越涿邪山。 車駕還，詔健殿後，蠕蠕萬騎追之，健與數十騎擊之，矢不虛發，所中皆應弦而斃，遂退。 威震漠北。 尋從平涼州，健功居多。 又討破禿髮保周，自殺，傳首京師； 復降沮渠無諱。 無疾薨，諡曰莊王。
Jian, Prince of Yongchang, was enfeoffed in the seventh year of Taichang. Jian was imposing and robust in appearance, skilled with bow and horse, and expert in military methods; wherever he campaigned, he regularly won great merit. In talent and skill he was comparable to Prince Huan of Chenliu, while in wisdom and strategy he surpassed him. He followed Shizu in defeating Helian Chang and then campaigned west as far as Mugen Mountain. During the campaign against Helong, Jian separately attacked and took Jiande. Later he pacified the remaining followers of the rebel Hu Bailong in Xihe. When Shizu made a surprise attack on the Rouran, he crossed Zhuoxie Mountain. As the imperial carriage returned, an edict ordered Jian to guard the rear. Ten thousand Rouran cavalry pursued, and Jian struck them with several dozen riders. Not one arrow was loosed in vain; whoever he hit fell dead at the string, and the pursuers withdrew. His awe shook the north of the desert. Soon afterward he followed in pacifying Liangzhou, and Jian's merit was the greatest. He also attacked and defeated Tufa Baozhou, who killed himself, and Jian sent his head to the capital; he then brought Juqu Wuhui to surrender. He died without illness and received the posthumous title Prince Zhuang.
9
子仁，襲。 仁亦驍勇，有父風，世祖奇之。 後與濮陽王閭若文謀為不軌，發覺，賜死，國除。
His son Ren inherited the title. Ren was likewise fierce and brave, with his father's bearing, and Shizu took special notice of him. Later he conspired in treason with Lü Ruowen, Prince of Puyang; when the plot was uncovered he was ordered to take his own life, and the fief was abolished.
10
建寧王崇，泰常七年封，拜輔國將軍。 從討北虜有功。 高宗時，封崇子麗濟南王。 後與京兆王杜元寶謀逆，父子並賜死。
Prince Chong of Jianning was enfeoffed in the seventh year of Taichang and appointed General Who Assists the State. He took part in campaigns against the northern foes and won distinction. Under Emperor Gaozong, Chong's son Li was enfeoffed as Prince of Jinan. Later he plotted rebellion with Du Yuanbao, Prince of Jingzhao; father and son were both ordered to take their own lives.
11
新興王俊，泰常七年封，拜鎮東大將軍。 少善騎射，多才藝。 坐法，削爵為公。 俊好酒色，多越法度。 又以母先遇罪死，而己被貶削，恒懷怨望，頗有悖心。 後事發，賜死，國除。
Prince Jun of Xinxing was enfeoffed in the seventh year of Taichang and appointed Grand General Who Guards the East. From boyhood he excelled at riding and archery and had many accomplishments. Convicted under the law, he was stripped of his princely rank and reduced to duke. Jun was devoted to wine and women and often overstepped the bounds of law. His mother had earlier been condemned and executed, and he himself had been demoted and stripped of rank; he nursed a lasting grievance and came to harbor rebellious intent. When the matter later came to light he was ordered to take his own life, and the fief was abolished.
12
論曰：樂平、樂安俱以將領自效，竟以憂迫而逝，驗克終之為鮮。 莊王才力智謀，一時之傑，與夫建寧、新興，不同日也。
The appraisal says: Leping and Le'an both proved themselves as commanders, yet in the end died under anxiety and pressure, showing how rare it is to come to a good end. Prince Zhuang, in talent, strength, wisdom, and strategy, was an outstanding man of his age; he cannot be spoken of in the same breath as Jianning and Xinxing.
13
校勘記
Collation Notes
14
魏書卷十七諸本目錄此卷注「闕」，百衲本、汲本、局本卷末有宋人校語云：「魏收書明元六王列傳亡。」 殿本考證云：「魏收書亡，後人所補。」 按此卷以北史卷一六明元六王傳補，間有溢出字句，當出於高氏小史。
The tables of contents in various editions of the Book of Wei mark this volume as deficient. At the end of the Baibaina, Ji, and Ju editions a Song-dynasty collation note reads: "Wei Shou's original biography of Emperor Mingyuan's six princes is lost." The Dian edition's textual verification states: "Wei Shou's text is lost; this was supplied by later hands." This volume was restored from the biography of Emperor Mingyuan's six princes in juan 16 of the History of the Northern Dynasties; occasional stray phrases appear that likely come from the Xiaoshi compiled by the Gao family.