1
廢太子京兆王清河王廣平王汝南王
The Deposed Crown Prince; the Prince of Jingzhao; the Prince of Qinghe; the Prince of Guangping; the Prince of Runan
2
孝文皇帝七男。 林皇后生廢太子恂。 文昭皇后生宣武皇帝、廣平文穆王懷。 [2]袁貴人生京兆王愉。 羅夫人生清河文獻王懌、汝南文宣王悅。 鄭充華生皇子恌，未封，早夭。
Emperor Xiaowen had seven sons. The Lin Empress bore Xun, who would become the deposed crown prince. Empress Wen Zhao bore Emperor Xuanwu and Huai, Prince of Guangping. [2] Consort Yuan bore Yu, Prince of Jingzhao. Lady Luo bore Yi, Prince of Qinghe (posthumous Wenxian), and Yue, Prince of Runan (posthumous Wenzuan). Zheng Chonghua bore the prince Ti, who was never enfeoffed and died in infancy.
3
廢太子庶人恂，字元道。 生而母死，文明太后撫視之，常置左右。 年四歲，太皇太后親為立名恂，字元道，於是大赦。 [3]太和十七年七月癸丑，立恂為皇太子。 及冠恂於廟，高祖臨光極東堂，引恂入見，誡以冠義曰：「夫冠禮表之百代，所以正容體，齊顏色，順辭令。 容體正，顏色齊，辭令順； 故能正君臣，親父子，和長幼。 然母見必拜，兄弟必敬，責以成人之禮。 字汝元道，所寄不輕。 汝當尋名求義，以順吾旨。」 二十年，改字宣道。
The Deposed Crown Prince Xun, reduced to commoner rank, styled Yuandao. His mother died when he was born; Empress Dowager Wenming reared him and kept him constantly at her side. When he was four the Grand Empress Dowager herself named him Xun, styled Yuandao, and a general amnesty was declared. [3] In the seventh month of Taihe year 17, on the day guichou, Xun was installed as crown prince. When Xun was capped in the ancestral temple, Gaozu received him in the east hall of the Guangji Palace and taught him the meaning of the ceremony: "The capping rite stands for a hundred generations. It sets the body upright, aligns the face, and orders the tongue. When bearing is upright, the face composed, and words measured, then ruler and minister are set right, father and son brought near, and elder and younger brought into harmony. Yet he must bow when he sees his mother and show respect to his brothers, for he is now bound by the rites of adulthood. Your style is Ru Yuandao—what is laid upon you is no small thing. Seek the meaning in your name and walk in accord with my intent." In year 20 his style was changed to Xuandao.
4
遷洛，詔恂詣代都。 其進止儀禮，高祖皆為定。 及恂入辭，高祖曰：「今汝不應向代，但太師薨於恒壤，朕既居皇極之重，不容輕赴舅氏之喪，欲使汝展哀舅氏，拜汝母墓，一寫為子之情。 汝至彼，太師事畢後日，宜一拜山陵。 拜訖，汝族祖南安可一就問訊。 在途，當溫讀經籍。 今日親見吾也。」 [4]後高祖每歲征幸，恂常留守，主執廟祀。
When the court moved to Luoyang, Xun was ordered to go to the Dai capital. Gaozu prescribed every detail of his movements and ceremonial bearing. When Xun came to take leave Gaozu said, "You are not to turn toward Dai. The Grand Preceptor has died at Hengrang. I bear the weight of the throne and cannot lightly attend my uncle's mourning. Go and mourn for him in my stead, bow at your mother's tomb, and pour out there everything a son owes. When you arrive, wait one day after the Grand Preceptor's rites are done, then bow once at the imperial tombs. After that you may call once on your clan-grandfather, the Prince of Nan'an. On the road, read the classics with steady care. Today you see me face to face." [4] Thereafter, whenever Gaozu marched out each year, Xun stayed behind to guard the capital and preside over the ancestral rites.
5
恂不好書學，體貌肥大，深忌河洛暑熱，意每追樂北方。 中庶子高道悅數苦言致諫，恂甚銜之。 高祖幸崧岳，恂留守金墉，於西掖門內與左右謀，欲召牧馬輕騎奔代，手刃道悅於禁中。 領軍元儼勒門防遏，夜得寧靜。 厥明，尚書陸琇馳啟高祖於南，高祖聞之駭惋，外寢其事，仍至汴口而還。 引恂數罪，與咸陽王禧等親杖恂，又令禧等更代，百餘下，扶曳出外，不起者月餘。 拘於城西別館。 引見羣臣於清徽堂，議廢之。 司空、太子太傅穆亮，尚書僕射、少保李沖，並免冠稽首而謝。 高祖曰：「卿所謝者私也，我所議者國也。 古人有言，大義滅親。 今恂欲違父背尊，跨據恒朔。 天下未有無父國，何其包藏，心與身俱。 此小兒今日不滅，乃是國家之大禍，脫待我無後，恐有永嘉之亂。」 乃廢為庶人，置之河陽，以兵守之，服食所供，粗免飢寒而已。 恂在困躓，頗知咎悔，恒讀佛經，禮拜歸心於善。
Xun cared little for books. He was heavy of build and loathed the heat of the He-Luo basin; his heart always turned northward. His household steward Gao Daoyue admonished him again and again until Xun came to hate him. While Gaozu was at Mount Song, Xun held Jinyong. Inside the west side gate he plotted with his attendants to call up the horse-keepers' light cavalry and flee to Dai, and with his own hand killed Daoyue in the inner palace. The commandant of guards Yuan Yan barred the gates and held the night quiet. At dawn Director of Documents Lu Diu sent an urgent report south. Gaozu was shaken and grieved, but outwardly he hid the affair and still rode as far as Bian mouth before turning back. He recited Xun's crimes one by one. With the Prince of Xianyang Xi and others he personally beat him, then had them take turns until more than a hundred strokes were laid on. Xun was dragged out and could not rise for over a month. He was confined in a lodge apart, west of the city. Gaozu summoned the ministers to the Clear Emblem Hall to discuss deposing him. Director of Works and crown prince grand tutor Mu Liang, and vice director and junior tutor Li Chong, both removed their caps and kowtowed in apology. Gaozu said, "What you apologize for is a private matter. What I discuss is the state. The ancients said that great righteousness may destroy one's own kin. Xun now means to defy his father, abandon his rank, and seize the north at Heng and Shuo. There is no realm without a father. How deep is his treachery—heart and deed as one. If I do not destroy this boy today, he will be the state's great ruin. If I wait until I have no heir left, I fear another Yongjia upheaval." He was deposed to commoner rank and sent to Heyang under guard. Food and clothing were given only enough to keep hunger and cold at bay. In his fall Xun came partly to repent. He read Buddhist sutras, bowed, and turned his heart toward what was good.
6
高祖幸代，遂如長安。 中尉李彪承間密表，告恂復與左右謀逆。 高祖在長安，使中書侍郎邢巒與咸陽王禧，奉詔齎椒酒詣河陽，賜恂死，時年十五。 殮以粗棺常服，瘞於河陽城。 二十二年冬，御史臺令史龍文觀坐法當死，告廷尉，稱恂前被攝左右之日，有手書自理不知狀，而中尉李彪、侍御史賈尚寢不為聞。 賈坐繫廷尉。 時彪免歸，高祖在鄴，尚書表收彪赴洛，會赦，遂不窮其本末。 賈尚出繫，暴病數日死。
When Gaozu went to Dai he continued on to Chang'an. Commandant of palace guards Li Biao sent a secret memorial reporting that Xun was again plotting rebellion with his attendants. At Chang'an Gaozu sent palace secretariat attendant Xing Luan with the Prince of Xianyang Xi, bearing an edict and peppered wine to Heyang, and had Xun put to death. He was fifteen. He was laid in a plain coffin in ordinary dress and buried in Heyang. In the winter of year 22 the reviewing censor's clerk Long Wenguan, condemned to death for a legal offense, told the Court Commander that when Xun was seized his attendants had found a handwritten plea that he did not know what was afoot, yet Commandant Li Biao and attendant censor Jia Shang had buried the matter and never reported it. Jia was sentenced and held at the Court Commander's office. By then Biao had been dismissed and gone home. Gaozu was at Ye. The secretariat memorialized to arrest Biao and send him to Luoyang, but an amnesty intervened and the case was never pursued to its roots. Jia Shang was released from prison, fell suddenly ill, and died within days.
7
初，高祖將為恂娶司徒馮誕長女，以女幼，待年長。 先為娉彭城劉長文、滎陽鄭懿女為左右孺子，時恂年十三四。 高祖泛舟天淵池，謂郭祚、崔光、宋弁曰：「人生須自放，不可終朝讀書。 我欲使恂旦出省經傳，食後還內，晡時復出，日夕而罷。 卿等以為何如？」 光曰：「孔子稱：『血氣未定，戒之在色』，傳曰：『晝以訪事，夜以安身』。 太子以幼年涉學之日，不宜於正晝之時，捨書御內，又非所以安柔弱之體，固永年之命。」 高祖以光言為然，乃不令恂晝入內。 無子。
At first Gaozu meant to marry Xun to the eldest daughter of Minister of Works Feng Dan, but because the girl was young he waited until she grew. He first betrothed to him the daughters of Liu Changwen of Pengcheng and Zheng Yi of Xingyang as left and right concubines when Xun was thirteen or fourteen. Gaozu drifted a boat on the Tianyuan Pool and said to Guo Zuo, Cui Guang, and Song Bian, "A man must sometimes loosen the rein. He cannot read from dawn to dusk. I mean to have Xun go out each morning to study the classics, return at midday, go out again in the afternoon, and be done by evening. What do you think?" Cui Guang said, "Confucius warned, 'When blood and breath are unsettled, beware of desire.' The tradition says, 'By day attend to affairs; by night rest the body. The crown prince is still in his first years of study. He should not in broad daylight leave his books for the inner quarters—that is no way to guard a tender frame or secure a long life." Gaozu accepted Guang's counsel and would not let Xun enter the inner palace by day. He left no sons.
8
京兆王愉，字宣德。 太和二十一年封。 拜都督、徐州刺史，以彭城王中軍府長史盧陽烏兼長史，州事巨細，委之陽烏。 世宗初，為護軍將軍。 世宗留愛諸弟，愉等常出入宮掖，晨昏寢處，若家人焉。 世宗每日華林戲射，衣衫騎從，往來無間。 遷中書監。
Yu, Prince of Jingzhao, styled Xuande. He was enfeoffed in Taihe year 21. He was made commander-in-chief and governor of Xuzhou. Lu Yangwu, chief clerk of the Prince of Pengcheng's center-army office, served as acting chief clerk, and every detail of the province was left to him. At the start of Shizong's reign he was made guardian general of the army. Shizong doted on his younger brothers. Yu and the others moved freely through the palace quarters, sleeping and waking with him morning and evening like members of one household. Every day Shizong shot for sport in the Hualin Garden, and Yu rode with him in light dress, back and forth without pause. He was transferred to director of the secretariat.
9
世宗為納順皇后妹為妃，而不見禮答。 愉在徐州，納妾李氏，本姓楊，東郡人，夜聞其歌，悅之，遂被寵嬖。 罷州還京，欲進貴之，託右中郎將趙郡李恃顯為之養父，就之禮逆，產子寶月。 順皇后召李入宮，毀擊之，強令為尼於內，以子付妃養之。 歲餘，后父于勁，以后久無所誕，乃上表勸廣嬪侍。 因令后歸李於愉，舊愛更甚。
Shizong gave him the younger sister of Empress Shun as consort, but Yu never showed her proper courtesy. While Yu held Xuzhou he took a concubine, Lady Li—born Yang, from Dong commandery. He heard her sing one night, was delighted, and thereafter she held his favor. When he left office for the capital he wished to raise her standing. He had Right Gentleman of the Palace Li Shixian of Zhao commandery stand as her adoptive father, married her by that rite, and she bore Baoyue. Empress Shun summoned Li into the palace, struck and abused her, forced her to take the tonsure inside, and gave the child to the consort to raise. After more than a year the empress's father Yu Jin, seeing that she still bore no child, memorialized urging that secondary consorts attend the bed. The empress was made to return Li to Yu, and his old love burned hotter than before.
10
愉好文章，頗著詩賦。 時引才人宋世景、李神儁、祖瑩、邢晏、王遵業、張始均等共申宴喜，招四方儒學賓客嚴懷真等數十人，館而禮之。 所得穀帛，率多散施。 又崇信佛道，用度常至不接。 與弟廣平王懷頗相夸尚，競慕奢麗，貪縱不法。 於是世宗攝愉禁中推案，杖愉五十，出為冀州刺史。
Yu loved letters and wrote poetry and fu with some distinction. He often gathered men of talent—Song Shijing, Li Shenjun, Zu Ying, Xing Yan, Wang Zunye, Zhang Shiqi, and others—for feasts and delight, and hosted several dozen Confucian guests from across the realm, including Yan Huaizhen, treating them with full ceremony. Most of the grain and silk that came to him he gave away. He also devoted himself to Buddhism, and his expenses often outran his income. With his younger brother Huai, Prince of Guangping, he vied in display, each chasing extravagance, greedy and heedless of law. Shizong then had Yu seized in the inner palace, investigated him, gave him fifty strokes, and sent him out as governor of Ji.
11
始愉自以職求侍要，[5]既勢劣二弟，潛懷愧恨，頗見言色。 又以幸妾屢被頓辱，內外離抑。 及在州謀逆，愉遂殺長史羊靈引及司馬李遵，稱得清河王密疏，云高肇謀殺害主上。 於是遂為壇於信都之南，柴燎告天，即皇帝位。 赦天下，號建平元年，立李氏為皇后。 世宗詔尚書李平討愉。 愉出拒王師，頻敗，遂嬰城自守。 愉知事窮，攜李及四子數十騎出門，諸軍追之，見執以送。 詔徵赴京師，申以家人之訓。 愉每止宿亭傳，必攜李手，盡其私情。 雖鎖縶之中，飲食自若，略無愧懼之色。 至野王，愉語人曰：「雖主上慈深，不忍殺我，吾亦何面目見於至尊！」 於是歔欷流涕，絕氣而死，年二十一。 或云高肇令人殺之。 斂以小棺，瘞之。 諸子至洛，皆赦之。 後靈太后令愉之四子皆附屬籍，追封愉臨洮王。 子寶月襲。 乃改葬父母，追服三年。
At first Yu had believed his rank would win him a place near power; [5] finding himself weaker than his two younger brothers, he nursed secret shame and let it show in word and face. His favored concubine had been shamed again and again, and at court and at home he was isolated and pressed down. While he was in the province he rose in rebellion. Yu killed chief clerk Yang Lingyin and marshal Li Zun, claiming a secret letter from the Prince of Qinghe that Gao Zhao meant to murder the emperor. He built an altar south of Xindu, burned offerings and declared himself to Heaven, and took the imperial title on the spot. He proclaimed a general amnesty, adopted the era name Jianping year 1, and made Lady Li empress. Shizong ordered Director of Documents Li Ping to suppress Yu. Yu marched out against the imperial host, was beaten again and again, and finally shut himself in the city. Seeing all was lost, Yu took Li and four sons and rode out with a few dozen horsemen. The armies overtook him, seized him, and sent him in. An edict summoned him to the capital and admonished him as kin. At every post station Yu held Li by the hand and gave their private bond its full expression. Even in chains he ate and drank as before, showing hardly a trace of shame or fear. At Yewang Yu told those about him, "The emperor's mercy runs deep and he may spare my life—but what face have I left to show the throne?" He wept until his breath failed and he died. He was twenty-one. Some said Gao Zhao had him killed. He was laid in a small coffin and buried. When his sons reached Luoyang they were all pardoned. Later Empress Dowager Ling had Yu's four sons entered on the clan register and posthumously enfeoffed Yu as Prince of Lintao. His son Baoyue inherited the title. He reburied his parents and observed three years of mourning.
12
寶月弟寶炬，輕躁薄行，耽淫酒色。 孝莊時，特封南陽王。 從出帝沒於關西。 宇文黑獺害出帝，寶炬乃僭大號。
Baoyue's younger brother Baoju was rash and loose in conduct, given to wine and women. Under Emperor Xiaozhuang he was specially enfeoffed as Prince of Nanyang. He followed the Deposed Emperor west of the Pass and perished there. Yuwen Heituo slew the Deposed Emperor; Yuan Baoju then seized the imperial title.
13
清河王懌，字宣仁。 幼而敏惠，美姿貌，高祖愛之。 彭城王勰甚器異之，並曰：「此兒風神外偉，黃中內潤，若天假之年，比二南矣。」 博涉經史，兼綜羣言，有文才，善談理，寬仁容裕，喜怒不形於色。 太和二十一年封。 世宗初，拜侍中，轉尚書僕射。
Qinghe Wang Yi, styled Xuanren. As a boy he was clever and handsome, and Gaozu doted on him. Prince Pengcheng Xie prized him highly and said with others, "This child's bearing is outwardly grand and inwardly rich; given a full span of years he would rival the Two Souths." He mastered classics and histories, absorbed many traditions, wrote well, argued ably, and was magnanimous—joy and anger never showed on his face. He received his fief in Taihe year 21. When Shizong acceded he became palace attendant, then vice director of the masters of writing.
14
懌才長從政，明於斷決，割判眾務，甚有聲名。 司空高肇以帝舅寵任，既擅威權，謀去良宗，屢譖懌及愉等。 愉不勝其忿怒，遂舉逆冀州。 因愉之逆，又構殺勰。 懌恐不免。 肇又錄囚徒，以立私惠。 懌因侍宴酒酣，乃謂肇曰：「天子兄弟，詎有幾人，而炎炎不息。 昔王莽頭禿，亦藉渭陽之資，遂篡漢室，今君曲形見矣，恐復終成亂階。」 又言於世宗曰：「臣聞唯器與名，不可以假人。 是故季氏旅泰，宣尼以為深譏； 仲叔軒懸，丘明以為至誡。 諒以天尊地卑，君臣道別，宜杜漸防萌，無相僭越。 至於減膳錄囚，人君之事，今乃司徒行之，詎是人臣之義？ 且陛下修政教，解獄訟，則時雨可降，玉燭知和，何使明君失之於上，姦臣竊之於下。 長亂之基，於此在矣。」 世宗笑而不應。
Yi excelled in administration, decided cases with clarity, cut through piled business, and won wide renown. Gao Zhao, the emperor's uncle by marriage, already held unchecked power and sought to purge the princes, repeatedly denouncing Yi, Yu, and others. Yu, unable to endure the pressure, rebelled in Jizhou. He used Yu's revolt as pretext to frame and kill Xie as well. Yi feared he would not escape. Zhao again reviewed prisoners to curry private favor. When wine had deepened at a feast Yi told Zhao, "The emperor's brothers are few—why does your flame never die down? Wang Mang was bald yet rode empress-kin ties to seize the Han throne; your crooked shape is plain already—I fear you will be disorder's stair again." He also told Shizong, "I have heard that ritual vessels and titles must not be lent away. When the Ji clan overreached at Mount Tai, Confucius censured it deeply; when Zhongsun's house displayed lordly drums, Qiu Ming called it the gravest warning. Heaven is high and earth low; ruler and minister are separate—one must nip usurpation in the bud. Reducing meals and reviewing prisoners belong to the ruler; for the minister of works to do them—what subject's duty is that? If Your Majesty reforms rule and clears suits, timely rain and harmony follow—why let the wise ruler lose these above while traitors seize them below? The root of lasting disorder is here." Shizong smiled and made no reply.
15
肅宗初，遷太尉，侍中如故。 詔懌裁門下之事。 又典經義注。 時有沙門惠憐者，自云呪水飲人，能差諸病。 病人就之者，日有千數。 靈太后詔給衣食，事力優重，使於城西之南，治療百姓病。 懌表諫曰：「臣聞律深惑眾之科，禮絕妖淫之禁，皆所以大明居正，防遏姦邪。 昔在漢末，有張角者，亦以此術熒惑當時。 論其所行，與今不異。 遂能詃誘生人，致黃巾之禍，天下塗炭數十年間，角之由也。 昔新垣姦，不登於明堂； 五利僥，終嬰於顯戮。」 [6]
At Suzong's accession he was made grand marshal while remaining palace attendant. An edict put Gate-and-Chamber business in Yi's hands. He also directed classical annotation. A monk Huilian claimed his charmed water cured every illness. Sick people flocked to him by the thousand each day. Empress Dowager Ling fed and clothed him lavishly and set him to treat commoners' illnesses south of the western city. Yi remonstrated: "Law punishes deluding the people; rites forbid demonic excess—all to keep the throne upright and bar wickedness. At Han's end Zhang Jiao had used the same art to bewitch his age. His methods differ in no way from today's. He seduced the living and brought the Yellow Scarves; for decades the realm burned—that was Jiao. Of old the adulterer Xinyuan never reached the Bright Hall; Wuli the opportunist died by public execution." The text is deficient.
16
靈太后以懌肅宗懿叔，德先具瞻，委以朝政，事擬周霍。 懌竭力匡輔，以天下為己任。 領軍元叉，太后之妹夫也，恃寵驕盈。 懌裁之以法，每抑黜之，為叉所疾。 叉黨人通直郎宋維希叉旨，[7]告懌謀反，禁懌門下，訊問左右及朝貴，貴人分明，乃得雪釋焉。 懌以忠而獲謗，乃鳩集昔忠烈之士，為顯忠錄二十卷，以見意焉。
Empress Dowager Ling, seeing Yi as Xiaoming's honored uncle and a man all eyes followed, entrusted government to him on the model of Zhou Gong and Huo Qubing. Yi labored to steady the state and took the realm as his charge. Yuan Cha, the dowager's brother-in-law and commander of the guards, grew insolent on favor. Yi checked him with law and repeatedly humiliated him; Cha came to hate him. Cha's man Song Wei, eager to please, [7] accused Yi of treason; they sealed his staff and questioned attendants and nobles until the truth cleared him. Slandered though loyal, Yi compiled Records of Manifest Loyalty in twenty scrolls to declare his mind.
17
正光元年七月，叉與劉騰逼肅宗於顯陽殿，閉靈太后於後宮，囚懌於門下省，誣懌罪狀，遂害之，時年三十四。 朝野貴賤，知與不知，含悲喪氣，驚振遠近。 夷人在京及歸，聞懌之喪，為之劈面者數百人。 [8]
In the first year of Zhenguang, seventh month, Cha and Liu Teng seized Xiaoming in Xianyang Hall, walled the dowager in the rear palace, jailed Yi in the Gate and Chamber office, forged charges, and killed him at thirty-four. Court and countryside, knowing him or not, grieved until breath failed; shock rolled far and near. Barbarians in the capital and those returned, hearing of his death, lacerated their faces in mourning—several hundred men. The text is deficient.
18
廣平王懷。 〈闕〉 有魏諸王。 召入華林別館，禁其出入，令四門博士董徵，授以經傳。 世宗崩，乃得歸。
Guangping Wang Huai. 〈The text is deficient.〉 Among the princes of Wei, they were summoned to the Hualin Park lodge, confined from going abroad, and Four-Gate academician Dong Zheng taught them the classics. When Shizong died they were allowed home.
19
汝南王悅，好讀佛經，覽書史。 為性不倫，俶儻難測。 悅妃閭氏，即東海公之女也，生一子，不見禮答。 有崔延夏者，以左道與悅遊，合服仙藥松朮之屬。 時輕與出採芝，宿於城外小人之所。 遂斷酒肉粟稻，唯食麥飯。 又絕房中而更好男色。 輕忿妃妾，至加捶撻，同之婢使。 悅之出也，妃住於別第。 靈太后敕檢問之，引入，窮悅事故。 妃病杖伏床蓐，瘡尚未愈。 太后因悅之杖妃，乃下令禁斷。 令諸親王及三蕃，其有正妃疾患百日已上，皆遣奏聞。 若有猶行捶撻，就削封位。
Runan Wang Yue loved Buddhist sutras and historical books. His nature was erratic, rakish, and unpredictable. His consort Lady Lu, daughter of the Eastern Sea duke, bore a son yet won no courtesy. Cui Yanxia, a man of left-hand ways, joined Yue in taking immortality drugs of pine and atractylodes. He would slip out to gather fungi and sleep in hovels outside the walls. He renounced wine, meat, millet, and rice and ate only wheat gruel. He abandoned the bedchamber and favored men instead. He resented his women, beat them like servants, and treated them as maids. When Yue traveled his consort stayed in a separate house. Empress Dowager Ling ordered an inquiry; the consort was brought in and Yue's conduct fully examined. The consort, flogged sick, lay on her mat; the wounds had not healed. Because Yue had beaten her, the dowager forbade such abuse. She ordered every imperial prince and frontier prince: if a principal consort was ill beyond a hundred days, they must report it. Anyone who still beat her would lose fief and rank at once.
20
及清河王懌為元叉所害，悅了無讎恨之意，乃以桑落酒候伺之，盡其私佞。 叉大喜，以悅為侍中、太尉。 臨拜日，就懌子亶求懌服玩之物，不時稱旨。 乃召亶，杖之百下。 亶居廬未葬，形氣羸弱，暴加威撻，殆至不濟。 〈闕〉 仍呼阿兒，親自循撫。 〈闕〉 悅為大剉碓置於州門，[9]盜者便欲斬其手。 時人懼其無常，能行異事，姦偷畏之而暫息。
When Qinghe Wang Yi fell to Yuan Cha, Yue bore no grudge; he courted Cha with mulberry-fall wine and shameless flattery. Cha was delighted and made him palace attendant and grand marshal. On the day of appointment he asked Yi's son Chan for his father's robes and curios; Chan displeased him. He summoned Chan and beat him a hundred strokes. Chan still mourned unburied, frail in body—sudden blows nearly killed him. 〈The text is deficient.〉 He still called "Little son" and comforted him with his own hands. 〈The text is deficient.〉 Yue placed a great crushing mortar at the province gate; [9] thieves he would have their hands cut off at once. People feared his whims and strange punishments; theft briefly ceased.
21
及尒朱榮舉兵向洛。 既憶入間。 〈疑〉 俄而聞榮肆毒於河陰，遂南奔蕭衍。 衍立為魏主，號年更興。 衍遣其將軍王辯送置於境上，[10]以覬侵逼。
When Erzhu Rong marched on Luoyang, The text is corrupt; he may already have hoped to enter Luoyang. 〈Doubtful text; the transmitted line is corrupt.〉 Soon he heard Rong's massacre at Heyin and fled south to Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan set him up as Wei ruler under the reign title Gengxing. Xiao Yan sent Wang Bian to place him on the border [10] as a lever for invasion.
22
及齊獻武王既誅榮，以悅高祖子，宜承大業，乃令人示意。 悅既至，清狂如故，動為罪失，不可扶持，乃止。 出帝初，除大司馬。 卒。 [11]
After Duke Xianwu of Qi killed Rong, deeming Yue Gaozu's son fit for the throne, he sent word of his intent. Yue arrived as reckless as ever; his acts were crimes—he could not be enthroned, and they desisted. At the Deposed Emperor's accession he was made grand marshal. He died in office. The text is deficient.
23
校勘記
Textual notes
24
魏書卷二十二諸本目錄此卷注闕。 卷後當有宋人校語，傳本脫去。 殿本考證云：「魏收書闕，後人所補。」 檢傳文也是以北史卷一九孝文五王傳補，溢出字句，當出高氏小史。 北史五王傳也有殘缺，如廣平王懷傳只存三十五字，汝南王悅傳也多缺文，此傳亦同。
Every edition's table of contents marks Wei shu juan 22 as lacunose. 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 stray phrases, was patched from Beishi juan 19 (Xiaowen's Five Princes); overflow wording likely comes from the Gao clan Minor History. Beishi's Five Princes lives are also broken: Guangping Wang Huai's survives in thirty-five characters, Runan Wang Yue's is heavily lacunose—this life matches.
25
廣平文穆王懷卷一一出帝紀作「廣平武穆王」。 墓誌集釋元懷墓誌 〈圖版一九三〉 稱「諡曰武穆」。 集釋卷四歷據元悌 〈圖版一九四〉 、元誨 〈一九五〉 、元靈耀 〈一０九〉 、元夫人趙光 〈六四〉 諸墓誌及洛陽伽藍記卷二平等寺條、金石錄卷二一范陽王碑跋，證傳作「文穆」應是「武穆」之誤。
Guangping Wenmu Wang Huai: juan 11 of the Deposed Emperor's annals reads "Guangping Wumu Wang." Collected Epitaphs: epitaph of Yuan Huai 〈Plate 193〉 It gives the posthumous title Wumu. Collected Interpretations, juan 4, draws on Yuan Ti 〈Plate 194〉 and Yuan Hui 〈Plate 195〉 and Yuan Lingyao 〈folio 109〉 , Lady Zhao Guang 〈folio 64〉 Epitaphs, Luoyang's monastic record (Pingdeng Temple, juan 2), and Zhao Mingcheng's stele note (Record of Metal and Stone, juan 21, Fanyang Wang) show the life should read Wumu, not Wenmu.
26
常置左右年四歲太皇太后親為立名恂字元道於是大赦御覽卷一四八 〈七二三頁〉 「常置左右」下作「詔曰：『昔塗山有育，美名列於夏典； 任姒作配，昌發顯於周書。 故能輯熙丕緒，祚延八百。 自元子誕育，於今四載，而名表未孚於四方，茂實未昭於朝掖，非所以憲章遠猷，允光禮度者也。 太皇太后親發明旨，為之立名，依德協義，名恂字元道。 國祚永隆，儲貳有寄，無窮之兆，於是而始。』 乃大赦天下。」 這是魏書元恂傳原文。 此傳自「年四歲」至「於是大赦」，乃北史據此段文字簡括。
"Kept at his side; at four the Empress Dowager named him Xun, styled Yuandao; a great amnesty followed"—Imperial Overview, juan 148 〈folio 723〉 After "kept at his side" the text has: "Edict: 'In antiquity Yu of Mount Tu bore a name honored in the Xia canon; Ren and Si were paired, and Changfa blazed in the Zhou records. So they gathered glory for the great line and stretched the throne eight hundred years. Four years since the heir was born, yet his name is unknown abroad and his merit unseen at court—not the way to honor distant design and brighten ritual order. The Empress Dowager herself proclaimed his name in accord with virtue and rite: Xun, styled Yuandao. The realm's fortune stands firm; the heir is secured; endless blessing begins here.' " Then came amnesty for all under heaven. That is the Book of Wei's full wording in the biography of Yuan Xun. Northern History compresses this passage into the span from "at four years" to "great amnesty."
27
今日親見吾也通志卷八四下孝文六王傳「今」作「如」，疑是。
"Today you see me in person": Comprehensive Records 84b (Six Princes of Xiaowen) reads jin (today) as ru (as if)—likely corrupt.
28
自以職求侍要通志卷八四下作「自以職非親要」，疑是。
"Seeking key posts by office": Comprehensive Records 84b has "though the post is neither close nor vital"—probably wrong.
29
五利僥終嬰於顯戮殿本考證云：「載懌表諫，終於此句，文尚未了，定係殘缺。」 通志卷八四下此句下有：「此事可為至鑒，靈太后深納之。」 按表文未完，並未提出如何處理辦法，所謂「深納之」者何指？ 知通志只是以意補上兩句，並非原文。 冊府卷二八八 〈三三九六頁〉 「五利僥」作「五利之詐」，又將此句和上「新垣 〈加『之』字〉 姦不登於明堂」移在表首，文義稍順，當亦以表文不完，意為改易，亦非原文。 此傳本出北史，北史此下脫文如何，已不可知。 檢通典卷一六有如下文字：孝明帝時，清河王懌以官人失序，上表曰：「孝文帝制出身之人，本以門品高下有恒。 若準資蔭，自公卿令僕之子，甲乙丙丁之族，上則散騎秘著，下逮御史長兼，皆條例昭然，文無虧沒。 自此或身非三事之子，解褐公府正佐； 地非甲乙之類，而得上宰行僚。 自茲以降，亦多乖舛。 且參軍事專，非出身之職，今必釋褐而居； 秘著本為起家之官，今或遷轉以至。 斯皆仰失先準，有違明令。 非所謂式遵遺範，奉順成規。 此雖官人之失，相循已久，然推其彌漫，抑亦有由。 何者？ 信一人之明，當九流之廣，必令該鑑氏族，辨照人倫，才識有限，固難審悉。 所以州置中正之官，清定門冑，品藻高卑，四海畫一，專尸衡石，任實不輕。 故自置中正以來，暨於太和之日，莫不高擬其人，妙盡茲選。 皆須名位重於鄉國，才德允於具瞻，然後可以品裁州郡，綜覈人物。 今之所置，多非其人，乞明為敕制，使官人選才，備依先旨，無令能否乖方，違才易務。 并革退中正，一依前軌。 庶清源有歸，流序允穆。」 靈太后詔依表施行而終不能用。 通典所載北魏詔令章奏一般即出魏書，如此文上面所引高祐、韓顯宗兩疏皆見本傳，則上引元懌表也必出魏書本傳原文。 北史於詔令章奏多刪去不錄，或節略。 此表可能不錄，但亦應記其事。 今此傳一無所見，疑「五利僥」云云下所脫不止諫優重惠憐表後段，并脫元懌上表論選舉事。
"Five gains that cheat fate end in public execution": Palace Edition textual notes say Yuan Yi's remonstrance stops here mid-sentence—the passage is incomplete. Comprehensive Records 84b adds after this line: "Let this be the sternest warning; the Empress Dowager took it deeply to heart." Note: the memorial breaks off without a remedy—what could "deeply accepted" mean? Those two lines in Comprehensive Records are editorial guesswork, not source text. Prime Tortoise, juan 288 〈folio 3396〉 Prime Tortoise reads "five benefits' fraud" for "five benefits, luck," and joins this line with the earlier "Xinyuan 〈with the particle zhi added〉 traitors shall not enter the Bright Hall," shifting both to the memorial's opening for smoother sense—another repair where the text was broken, not the original. The life ultimately comes from Northern History; what it omitted below is beyond recovery. Tongdian juan 16 preserves this: Under Xiaoming, Prince of Qinghe Yi, finding official ranks disordered, memorialized: "Xiaowen decreed that entrants by birth should rank by hereditary grade with fixed standing. By stipend and privilege, from sons of grandees down through the jia–ding grades, from scattered cavalry and secretaries to censors and senior adjutants—every rule was explicit and intact. Since then men not of the top three lineages have taken first office as regular aides in government bureaus; families below jia–yi rank have reached chief steward and traveling aides. Below that level violations multiplied. Military adjutant is a specialist post, not an entry rank—yet entrants now hold it at first appointment; secretary was a starter office, yet men are promoted into it. Each case abandons the old standard and breaches the clear decree. That is not "following the ancestral pattern and holding to settled rule." Though officials are to blame and the abuse is old, its spread also has a cause. What cause? One man's judgment cannot survey the nine streams of talent, weigh every clan, and judge every bond—capacity is finite and full review impossible. Hence each province had a rectifier to fix pedigree and rank, one standard for the realm, sole holder of the scales—a weighty charge. From the rectifier's founding through Taihe, appointees were always eminent and the choice meticulous. Only when name outweighed the district and talent satisfied all eyes could they grade provinces and weigh candidates. Today's appointees rarely qualify; I beg an edict that selection follow the original rule so merit and post never mismatch. Abolish the rectifier and return wholly to the old course. Then the clear spring will have its channel and ranks will run true. The Empress Dowager ordered the memorial enacted, but it was never carried out. Tongdian's Northern Wei edicts and memorials usually copy the Book of Wei; since Gao You's and Han Xianzong's papers above appear in their lives, Yuan Yi's table must be the Wei's original here. Northern History often drops or shortens edicts and memorials. This memorial may have been cut, but the event should have been noted. The life is silent on it; likely the lacuna after "five benefits, luck" swallowed not only the end of the remonstrance on favoring the lowly but Yuan Yi's entire memorial on appointments.
30
叉黨人通直郎宋維希叉旨諸本及北史卷一九「宋維」作「宗準愛」，通志卷八四下作「宋準」。 按卷一六京兆王黎附元叉傳稱：「叉遂令通直郎宋維告司染都尉韓文殊欲謀逆立懌。」 卷六０韓麒麟附韓子熙傳，子熙等上書為元懌辯白也說「宋維小子」云云。 宋維，附卷六三宋弁傳，傳中也記載此事。 這裏「宗準」顯為「宋維」之訛，鄭樵所見北史此傳「宋」尚未訛「宗」。 今改正。 「愛」字或是衍文，或「爰」字之訛，今刪。
Cha's factioner, direct-access gentleman Song Wei, did Cha's bidding. Editions and Northern History 19 have "Zong Zhun'ai" for "Song Wei"; Comprehensive Records 84b has "Song Zhun." Note: Yuan Cha's appended life (juan 16, Prince of Jingzhao Li) says Cha had Song Wei accuse Han Wenshu, director of dyeworks, of plotting to set Yi on the throne. Han Lin'ao's line (juan 60), son Xi's memorial clearing Yuan Yi, likewise calls him "the boy Song Wei." Song Wei appears under Song Bian (juan 63), which records the same incident. "Zong Zhun" is plainly "Song Wei"; Zheng Qiao's Northern History still read Song before the graph corrupted to Zong. Emended accordingly. "Ai" is likely intrusive or a miswrite of yuan—removed.
31
為之劈面者數百人殿本考證云：「劈面係剺面之訛。」 按通志正作「剺面」。
"Several hundred had their faces split for him": Palace Edition textual notes read split face (pi mian) as flay face (li mian). Comprehensive Records has the correct "flay face."
32
悅為大剉碓置於州門錢氏考異卷三八云：「此悅都督徐州時事，其上又有脫文。」 按卷九肅宗紀正光四年十二月稱：「以太尉、汝南王悅為太保、徐州刺史。」 通志卷一八四下此句上有「遷太保，出為徐州刺史」，當是據紀增。
"Yue placed a great pestle at the province gate": Qian's Textual Notes (juan 38) say this belongs to his Xuzhou command—text is missing above. Suzong annals (juan 9), Zhengguang 4 month 12: "Grand Mentor, Prince of Runan Yue, became Grand Tutor and Xuzhou governor." Comprehensive Records 184b inserts "made Grand Tutor, sent out as Xuzhou governor" above—likely from the annals.
33
衍遣其將軍王辯送置於境上諸本「王辯」作「王僧辯」。 按卷五八楊昱傳見梁將軍「王辯」，梁書卷三三羊侃傳作「王弁」，而本書卷一０孝莊帝紀也作「王僧辯」。 王辯又見卷九肅宗紀孝昌三年正月、卷二一下彭城王勰附元劭傳、卷七九鹿悆傳。 「僧」字乃後人妄加，今刪。 參卷一０校記[四]。
Yan sent general Wang Bian to deliver him to the border; editions expand the name to Wang Sengbian. Yang Yu's life (juan 58) names the Liang general Wang Bian; Liang shu 33 (Yang Kan) has Wang Bian; this book's Xiaozhuang annals (juan 10) read Wang Sengbian. Wang Bian also appears in Suzong annals (juan 9, Xiaochang 3 month 1), Yuan Shao's life under Prince Xie of Pengcheng (juan 21b), and Lu Yu (juan 79). Later scribes spuriously added seng (monk)—removed. See textual note [4] to juan 10.
34
出帝初除大司馬卒按卷一一出帝紀太昌元年十二月明記元悅被殺。 北史卷一九也說悅和前廢帝 〈廣陵王恭〉 並為孝武帝 〈即出帝〉 「前後害之」，本不誤。 此傳後半不出北史，但書「卒」，似善終，刪節失當。
"At Chu's accession he was made Grand Marshal and died": Chu annals (juan 1), Taichang 1 month 12, plainly record Yuan Yue was killed. Northern History 19 likewise says Yue and the Former Deposed Emperor 〈Prince of Guangling, Gong〉 were both killed by Emperor Xiaowu 〈i.e., Emperor Chu〉 "slain in succession"—the received text is correct. The life's latter half is not from Northern History, yet says only "died" as though he died in bed—an ill-chosen cut.