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卷20 文成五王

Volume 20: Emperor Wencheng's Five Princes

Chapter 24 of 魏書 · Book of Wei
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Chapter 24
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1
The Princes of Anle, Guangchuan, Qi commandery, Hejian, and Anfeng
2
Changle, Prince of Anle, was made Prince of Changchang in Huangxing year 4 and later transferred to Anle. Changle was sober and steady in temperament; Xianzu prized and favored him. In the first year of Chenming he became Grand Commandant and went out as Dingzhou inspector. He lashed powerful clans and shamed the gentry; many broke the law under him, and he was widely hated. Commoners went to the capital to accuse him of misconduct. Gaozu had him beaten thirty strokes with the staff. His greed and brutality only deepened, until crimes brought him summoned to the capital. Later he plotted treason with Inner-Steward Chief Yi Sihu; when it was exposed he was ordered to take his own life at home. He was buried with princely honors and given the posthumous name Li (Fierce).
3
使 [3]
His son Quan, styled Souxian, succeeded to the title. Early in Shizong's reign he became Liangzhou inspector. In his province he was corrupt; office went to the highest bidder. He was later transferred to the Dingzhou inspectorate. When Prince Yu of Jingzhao rose in rebellion, Yu spread false word of a dynastic crisis. Northern border provinces suspected trouble at court and sent agents to watch Quan. Quan reported the facts in full, and the provinces and garrisons calmed. Yu fled to Xindu; Quan, Li Ping, Gao Zhi, and others besieged him from four sides and set fires;[3] Yu broke through the gate and escaped. Soon he was palace attendant; for being first to report the rebellion he was also made left vice director of the Masters of Writing. He died and was posthumously titled Wukang.
4
His son Jian, styled Changwen, succeeded. He was later made Xiangzhou inspector and grand commander of the northern campaign against Ge Rong. He still held the right vice directorship, the northern route mobile office, and the directorship of the Masters of Writing, and with Commissioner Pei Yan relieved Xindu. Jian was a mediocrity and his brothers violent; when the realm fell into chaos they plotted rebellion and went over to Ge Rong. Commissioner Yuan Ziyin and Pei Yan jointly besieged Jian; his head was sent to Luoyang, and an edict stripped the clan of the surname Yuan. At Emperor Zhuang's accession the clan was allowed to resume its original name; Jian's princely title was specially restored and he was posthumously made Minister of Works.
5
Jian's younger brother Binzhi, styled Zishuang. Treacherous and without principle, he joined Jian's rebellion; when it failed he fled to Ge Rong. After Ge Rong's fall he was able to return. Under Emperor Chu he was made Prince of Yingchuan commandery and given the emperor's innermost trust. When the emperor entered the Pass, Binzhi fled to Xiao Yan; he later returned to Chang'an.
6
Lue, Prince of Guangchuan, received his fief in Yanxing year 2. He served as grand director of the inner palace; bright and keen by nature, he won a name for fairness in trials. He died in Taihe year 4 and was posthumously titled Zhuang.
7
[4]
His son Xie, styled Zhonghe, succeeded. He died in Taihe year 19. An edict read: "The imperial house has suffered too many losses; my cousin Xie is gone, and grief cuts so deep I cannot master it. In antiquity great ministers were mourned with three personal visits—a rite reserved for the Three Excellencies and above. Ministers and offices below them were expected to attend in due measure. Since Han times the rite has largely fallen away. I mean to follow the ancient canon and let compassion follow feeling; though rank demands restraint, private pain will not ease. I would have princes in the closest mourning circle pay three visits, those in the great-achievement circle two, and those in lesser or finest mourning one. Prince Guangchuan stands to me in the great-achievement circle; I shall certainly mourn him twice. By two visits I mean: on the day of the great encoffment to come in person and exhaust grief, and after the mourning garments are complete to return in finest hemp and offer condolence. Condolence in finest hemp after encoffment is plainly required; but is a visit at the great encoffment itself fitting? Should one comfort the bier at the first mourning, or exhaust grief only when the coffin is closed? Whether early or late is better—choose the mean." Cui Guang and Song Bian of the Yellow Gate, Liu Fang, regular attendant of direct transmission, Li Yuankai, master of ceremonies lower grandee, Gao Cong, secretariat attendant, and others replied:[4] "Three visits are an ancient rite, yet from Han through Wei few have practiced it. Your Majesty is supremely sagely and benevolent and means to follow the former track; your will is true mourning, your heart the same as one dwelling in the mourning hut. We hold that if the closest kin pay three visits, great-achievement kin should pay two. At the beginning of mourning grief is at its height; since feeling has already bent rank, the first visit should fall at the beginning of mourning. As for the visit at the great encoffment, we bow to Your Majesty's intent." An edict said: "Since Wei and Jin, emperors have rarely mourned in person; for ministerial kin they wept in the Eastern Hall instead. When the Grand Marshal, Prince of Anding, died I visited him in person and still received condolences in the Eastern Hall; for today's rite, should I weep there again?" Guang and the others replied: "The Eastern Hall weeping existed because the emperor did not visit in person. Now Your Majesty will comfort the bier in person and the ministers will follow your carriage—we hold there should be no second weeping." An edict said: "For the Grand Marshal, kin of the highest rank, the Eastern Hall is required; but Guangchuan is a prince's son and still young in years and station—deliberate as you see fit; I raise no objection." On the eve of Xie's great encoffment Gaozu came in plain white and deep mourning, wept, entered the chamber, was overcome, comforted the corpse, and withdrew. The relevant office reported: the Princess of Guangchuan died in the Dai capital; it was unclear whether the newly honored dead should follow the humbler old, or the humbler old should be brought to the newly honored. An edict said: "For families who moved to Luoyang, from now on all may rest their bones on Mount Mang; none may bury in the old Dai tombs. If the husband was buried first in the north and the wife dies in the south, the wife follows the husband and should return to Dai for burial; if one wishes to move the father's grave to the mother's side, that may also be done. If the wife's tomb lies in Dai and the husband dies in Luoyang, rank may not draw the lofty down to the humble; if one wishes to move the mother to the father, that should be allowed; separate burial may also be chosen. If the case falls outside these limits and the mourner is in Dai, burial on either side is at choice. Where registers remain in Heng and Yan but office and person are in Jing and Luo, staying or leaving is likewise at choice. Those attached to other provinces may each decide for themselves." An edict posthumously made Xie General of Martial Guard and gave him the posthumous name Gang. At the burial Gaozu attended in person to see him off.
8
[5]
His son Lingdao succeeded. He died and was posthumously titled Prince Dao. The text is deficient.
9
Chen, styled Tanbao, was clever even as a child; Gaozu doted on him. Under Shizong he became Dingzhou inspector. Chen's consort was Shizong's niece by marriage, the younger sister of Empress Gao. Chen leaned on court and family ties and took endless bribes; his greed had no bottom. On his return Empress Dowager Ling issued an edict: "In Dingzhou Chen took everything but the Zhongshan Palace itself—how can he be used again?" He was thereupon dismissed and kept at home. When Suzong first took up his studies, Chen presented a gilt-letter Classic of Filial Piety. With no other path forward he became Liu Teng's adopted son and paid him bribes in gold and jewels beyond counting. Teng spoke for him again and again until he won the directorship of the Court for the Imperial Clan and went out as Qinzhou inspector. In his province he amassed wealth while the people groaned. When the Di of Eastern Yi and Southern Qin rebelled, an edict named him to a mobile office and kept him as commissioner while he resumed the provincial post. Greedy and brutal by nature, he now held army and province together and took without end; the people suffered worse than from wolves. He marched against the Di and Qiang and was shattered; a thousand soldiers died and he fled with the remnant. Backed by Liu Teng within, he feared nothing until the chief commandant impeached him; an amnesty spared his life but he was stripped of rank and made a commoner. His princely title was soon restored; later, campaigning against Xianyu Xiuli, he was defeated and lost office and title. Later, campaigning against the Hu of Fen and Jin and the Shu, he died on campaign; his princely title was posthumously restored.
10
Meng, Prince of Anfeng, styled Jilie. In Taihe year 5 he received his fief and was made palace attendant. He went out as grand general of Helong garrison and Yingzhou inspector. Meng was broad, benevolent, bold, and resolute, with real martial presence; the frontier peoples both feared and loved him. He died in his province. He was posthumously made Grand Commandant and given the posthumous name Kuang.
11
His son Yanming succeeded. Under Shizong he was made grand master of the palace. Early in Yanzhang, in a year of great famine, Yanming spent his household wealth to save several dozen guests and support their families as well. At Suzong's accession he became Yuzhou inspector with a strong record of governance and rose to attendant of the yellow gate.
12
Yanming had read widely and wrote well; he collected more than ten thousand scrolls of maps and books. He was by nature frugal and did not amass property. He, Prince of Zhongshan Xi, and his younger brother Prince of Linhuai Yu were among those whose learning and reputation shone across the age. He lacked Xi and Yu's easy brilliance, but in scholarship and sober depth he outpaced them. Soon he was made palace attendant. He was ordered with Palace Attendant Cui Guang to draft court dress rules. He later served concurrently as right vice director of the Masters of Writing. His wide learning earned him charge of epigraphic and bell-cauldron matters.
13
宿
When Yuan Faseng rebelled, he was named eastern-route mobile secretariat and grand commander of Xuzhou, with command of all armies, and marched with Prince of Linhuai Yu, Minister Li Xian, and others against Faseng. Xiao Yan posted his Prince of Yuzhang, Zong, to hold Xuzhou. Having once governed Xu with a strong popular name, he called back the old land and won submission from far and near. When Zong surrendered, Yanming pressed the pursuit, recovered the southeast as far as Suyu, and withdrew. He was made commander-in-chief and inspector of Xuzhou. War had repeatedly ravaged the region; he gathered old and new inhabitants until every household had its livelihood and the people clung to him.
14
Under Emperor Zhuang he served concurrently as director of the Masters of Writing and grand marshal. When Yuan Hao took Luoyang, Yanming was entrusted with his cause and held Heqiao with an army. Hao's fall sent him south to Xiao Yan with his family; he died in Jiangnan. Late in Zhuangdi's reign his coffin came home. When the Deposed Emperor came to the throne he was posthumously titled grand mentor, his princedom left as before, with the temple name Prince Wenzuan. He left more than three hundred poems, fu, hymns, inscriptions, and dirges, compiled Summaries of the Five Classics and Separate Meanings of the Odes and Rites, and annotated the Chronological Record of Emperors and Kings and the Biographies of Transcendents. He also summoned Xin Du Fang of Hejian, a master of mathematics, to his library. His nine chapters and twelve diagrams on music through the ages, and nine chapters on instrument measures with Fang's separate commentary, all circulated.
15
Textual notes
16
殿
Every Wei shu juan 20 table of contents marks this scroll "lacuna"; Song collation notes after the scroll are missing from transmitted copies. The Palace Edition notes: "Wei Shou's text is missing; later hands supplied this." The received text, save a few phrases, matches Beishi juan 19 (Wenzong's Five Princes).
17
"Empress Xiaoyuan bore Emperor Xianwen": in juan 13 she is posthumous "Empress Yuan" only; juan 83 upper, Li Jun of the maternal kin, 〈supplement〉 and the juan 89 supplement on the cruel official Li Hongzhi likewise say only "Empress Yuan"; only Muzhi jishi, epitaph of Yuan Hao's consort Lady Li Yuanchiang, 〈plate 183〉 titles her "Empress Yuangong," yet no "Xiaoyuan" title appears; "Xiao" likely corrupts "Li."
18
"Quan, Li Ping, Gao Zhi, and others attacked and burned from four sides": Zhang Senkai's Beishi collation reads "Biography of Gao Zhao 〈Wei shu juan 83 lower (supplied from Beishi juan 80)〉 The text reads the plant-graph Zhi where the multiply-graph Zhi is meant. Note: Gao Zhi as Jizhou inspector "led provincial troops to defeat Yuan Yu with merit as detached commander"—clearly this Gao Zhi with the multiply graph. Homophones in names were common then, but here the plant-graph Zhi is clearly wrong.
19
"Secretariat attendant Gao Cong and others submitted": editions read Cong as Min (clever graph). Beishi juan 19 (Wenzong Five Princes); Cefu juan 580 〈folio 6957〉 have "Cong." Note: juan 68 (Gao Cong) has him promoted from secretariat doctor to attendant in Taihe; no "Gao Min" then existed—Min is corrupt and the text is emended.
20
"Son Lingdao inherited, died, titled Prince Dao": Muzhi jishi, epitaph of Yuan Huan 〈plate 161, no. 2〉 reads Lingzun for Lingdao; dao here is a near-graph corruption of zun. "Prince Dao" appears as "Prince Ai" on epitaphs; posthumous titles often diverge from histories and from stone to stone—not necessarily a biographical error.
21
"Son You, courtesy name Bosou": Muzhi jishi, epitaph of Yuan You reads shou as yuan; shou is likely corrupt.
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