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卷23 衛操 莫含 劉庫仁

Volume 23: Wei Cao, Mo Han, Liu Kuren

Chapter 28 of 魏書 · Book of Wei
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Chapter 28
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1
Biographies of Wei Cao, Mo Han, and Liu Kuren
2
使
Wei Cao, whose style was Deyuan, came from Dai. As a young man he lived by the code of the knight-errant and showed both talent and strategic mind. Jin's General Who Pacifies the North, Wei Guan, appointed Cao gate officer and often sent him on missions to the Dai state, where Cao gradually built ties of his own. When the founding ancestor passed away, Cao came home with his nephew Xiong and a dozen-odd kinsmen and neighbors, among them Ji Dan, and urged the Huan and Mu emperors to welcome Jin subjects. From then on Jin adherents grew steadily in number. Emperor Huan approved and named him chief minister, charging him with the affairs of the realm. When Liu Yuan and Shi Le threw the north into rebellion, he pressed Emperor Huan to stand with the house of Jin. Sima Teng of the Eastern Garrison command, hearing this, praised the policy and memorialized the throne to grant Cao further military rank. He rose in stages to Right General and was enfeoffed as Marquis of Dingxiang.
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[1] 西 西 使 使
After Emperor Huan's death, Cao set up a monument south of Da Hang and [1], to hymn his achievements, began: "The Wei are offspring of the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan." Of the Huan and Mu emperors it reads: "Their renown rides beyond the frontier; peoples of nine interpreters bow to them. In ruling the realm and commanding the people, their majesty and law ran everywhere. Their name shone among the Chinese lineages and matched the light of highest spirit. Deep in wisdom, far in counsel, they sounded the dark and touched the farthest light; in rule they were lucid and decisive, and in fortune's turns they read the truth of each case. Their grace was the spring sun; their sternness, autumn frost. The mighty did not crush the meek; they sheltered orphans and the forsaken. The Way they taught was humane action; they changed hearts without the lash. No traitor or thief walked the land; along the roads people sang their praise. From west to east their influence shifted like formless change. Where their arms pointed, no foe dared meet them in the field. To the south they upheld the imperial house; to the north they brought the Dingling to heel. They called and taught the six Di peoples, and all returned in good faith. Outdoing the past and unmatched thereafter, they brought this triumph into being. They served the Jin sovereign and held the marches against invasion. The imperial house knew many calamities; the net of heaven hung loose. With heroic hearts they aided from afar and would not abandon Jin in its ruin. Each year they struck down rebellion; traitors and bandits prowled like wolves. In the first year of Yong'an, the cycle stood at jiazi. The rebel clique still defied the throne; east and west, foes crouched like wolves. They dared harry the Son of Heaven; war flared up time after time. Trusting their numbers, they rampaged and abused officers and men. Ye and Luoyang split in discord; they forsook their own to court strangers. Then they called in savage allies: the Tuge and the Xiongnu. Liu Yuan the renegade joined their faction and shouted with one voice. They dared strike into Bing and slaughter the innocent. Devastation spread like trampled fields; towns were heaped into rubble. For a thousand li blades crossed; a long serpent of war choked the highways. Jin's mandate answered heaven; its counsel opened sound designs. Sima Teng of the Eastern Garrison command—Bearer of the Staff, General Who Pacifies the North, Inspector of Bing, Protector of the Xiongnu—was a genius without peer, his designs reaching beyond the horizon. Disaster piled upon disaster; he feared the altars of Jin would fall. He meant to march out with his host, but the northern Xianyun raged fierce. He forged expedients and strange counsel to break the siege of calamity. He sought aid from beyond the court, but no minister at court would answer. Alone he weighed the heights and fixed the plan of alliance. Then he charged the outer state to bring its armies in as a reserve within. He chose the able and picked knights and named them bearers of this charge. He dispatched Staff Officer Hu Lun, gate officer Zhonghang Jia, Marquis of Yiyang Ting Wei Mo, Marquis of Xieyi Ting Wei Jian, and others to race the imperial summons to Jinyang."
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Again of the Huan and Mu emperors: "Their hearts clung to the imperial pole. The two Wei ministers stood as paired wings to lift the throne. Cao laid out plans in letters; Xiong flamed in deeds of war. Ordered to council, they debated with fire in their speech. Of old Duke Huan of Qi had aided the throne, and his merit shone in the annals of Zhou. His fame filled the records; rewards and gifts were heaped upon him. The great army wheeled into motion; glory gathered as though spirits had convened. They mustered a million men, promising victory within a day. Brothers bound in one oath, they settled victory in the war council of the temple. With drums and battle-cry they marched south and smoothed away danger and hardship."
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西 [2]
It adds: when the two emperors took the field, "their words matched like split tally-sticks. They received each other in close trust; faith and duty never wavered. They swore alliance east of the Fen and cut the oath in vermilion on stone. To serve forever; to guard the bond at the end as at the beginning. The sworn pact set the generals marching; picked warriors rode in the van. Southward they relieved Nie; eastward they broke the siege of Shouyang. Cities that had sunk into darkness burned bright again. Taiyuan, Xihe, Leping, and Shangdang were suddenly ravaged; the dead lay in crossed heaps of bone. Jie raiders ran riot; six commanderies were laid waste. Evil men answered one another in crowds; their plot aimed at the throne room itself. At a light signal of banners the Jie hosts shattered and fell. Ten thousand horsemen were sent ahead to the banks of the Qi and Zhang. Ye shook apart and collapsed; the traitors fled in rout. The army held the southern commanderies; their bright spears pointed at the Taihang. They shielded the realm within and without and stilled the four quarters. Their will was to spend their last strength upholding the Son of Heaven. Loyalty and forbearance lit the age; stirred from without, they drove the foe back as well. [2] Then they flaunted their arms, rallied the columns, and marched home. The road was long and strange; their going and coming spanned a year. Not a hair of the people was harmed; folk praised them on every tongue. They searched the loaded annals from antiquity to their own day. Never had they read of a border people racing inward to save an imperial crisis. They left their homes and grieved for the realm, trading peril for peace. Only the lord's far sight—in hardship he still held authority. He answered heaven and followed the people; grace and virtue had long been proclaimed. He made peace with the Rong and stilled the north; the realm in peril lived again."
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Again of Emperor Huan's rule: "He preserved the dying line and continued what had been severed. The far marches leaned on him; the throne endured unbroken. Golden tortoise insignia, reed-pipes and drums, light carriages and marks of special honor. Looking back through two dynasties, none shared his rank. Bing province sighed in praise; the northern lands felt his glory. Each gave his whole heart, eager to lift his noble name. They carved stone to record his deeds; painted images kept his likeness. Sacrifice never ceased; victims were set before him in feast. His fame was handed down forever; in death no shade of him was lost. He endures undying; his glory stretches through ages beyond counting."
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Early in the Huangxing era, Duan Rong of Yanmen, assistant administrator of Yong province, unearthed this stele at Da Hang. The writing is not elegant, but the events deserve record, and so they are set down here in the biography.
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Both Emperor Huan and Emperor Mu treated Cao with high ceremonial honor. He died in the third year of Emperor Mu. Those who had first entered the state with Cao among his kinsmen and neighbors included Wei Qin, Marquis of Anle Ting; Wei Chong and Wei Qing were both enfeoffed as Marquises of Du Ting; Wei Ni and Duan Fan held the rank of General of Trust and Righteousness and were Marquises of Du Ting; Wang Fa was made General Who Establishes Martial Might and Marquis of Du Ting; Fan Ban held the rank of General Who Breaks the Enemy and Marquis of Guangwu; Jia Qing was General Who Establishes Martial and Marquis of Shangluo; Jia Xun held commandery marquis rank; Li Yi was enfeoffed Marquis of Guanzhong; Guo Ru held the title Marquis Within the Passes. Each had received rank and title from Emperor Huan's commendations. After the Six Xiu disaster, most survivors fled south with Ren Ziyun, Liu Kun's designated heir. Wei Xiong, Ji Dan, Mo Han, and others are all named on the monument.
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Xiong styled himself Shiyuan and Dan Shiya; both were bold, resourceful men who had served as provincial aides under the Jin. When they entered the realm with Wei Cao, Emperor Huan was impressed by their strength and made them generals; they fought at his side on campaign after campaign and won a towering reputation. When Emperor Huan marched to the rescue, he reported their deeds to the Jin court and secured general's commissions for them all. Xiong piled victory on victory until he rose to Left General and Marquis of Yunzhong. Dan likewise became famous for martial feats; by the close of Emperor Huan's reign he held General of Faith and Righteousness and Marquis of Loufan. Early in Emperor Mu's reign both were again given weighty trust. After Wei Cao's death they served together as the left and right hands of government.
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便 使
The Six Xiu revolt threw the realm into chaos; old settlers and new allies eyed one another with suspicion and killed in waves. The crowd rallied to Xiong and Dan; they planned a southern flight and told the assembly, "We hear the old faction hates how fiercely the newcomers fight and intends to wipe them out. Unless we act now, our line will end." Jin subjects and Wuhuan alike were terrified and cried, "We live or die with these two generals." Then Xiong and Dan, with Ren Ziyun, Liu Kun's heir, led tens of thousands of Wuhuan and Jin followers into open revolt. Liu Kun was overjoyed at the news and raced to Pingcheng with a few hundred horsemen to welcome and settle them. Just then Shi Le struck Liu Kun at Le'ping; the prefect Han Ju begged Liu Kun for relief. Liu Kun, now reinforced by Xiong and Dan's troops, meant to hurl that fresh strength against Shi Le and destroy him. Xiong and Dan urged caution: "These men are hungry, exhausted rebels—not yet fit to throw into battle. Rest them, watch for an opening, then strike." Liu Kun refused. He sent Xiong and Dan against Le while he held Guangmu to back them. Shi Le met them with light cavalry; Dan was routed and fled north with a thousand riders into Dai. Le sent Kong Chang in pursuit to finish him off.
11
Mo Han came from Fanzhi in Yanmen. His family had traded for generations and piled up wealth beyond counting. When Liu Kun governed Bingzhou he took Han on as an aide. Han lived near the border and often traveled into the Tuoba realm. Emperor Mu admired his ability and treated him generously. When he became Prince of Dai he formed a full court and asked Liu Kun to send Han to him. Liu Kun sent him, but Han's heart was not in the move. Liu Kun reasoned with him: "Barbarian armies now cover the sky and are snuffing out the Chinese realms; the people wander homeless, the roads are heaped with dead, and our emperor languishes in the hands of savage captors. Only this province still stands amid the barbarian tide; that I survive at all on my meager merit is because the Prince of Dai upholds me. I have poured out my person and my wealth, sent my eldest son away as hostage, and staked everything on crushing the remnant enemy and avenging the realm's disgrace. You are a man of loyalty; this is the hour to act on it. How can you cling to a petty tie of service and forget the far greater good of stepping forward? To enter and become the prince's trusted confidant is not only my wish—it is what our whole province depends on." Han at last entered Dai and joined the government. Later Liu Kun relocated five counties' people south of the Xing Mountains; Han's family alone stayed behind. Emperor Mu held him in the highest regard and kept him at the heart of military and civil strategy. He died holding Left General and Marquis of Guanzhong. His old house stood south of the Sanggan River; people still call the place Mo Han's Rampart—or, in a corrupted pronunciation, Mo Hui City.
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His son Xian won renown in his own day. Under Emperor Zhaocheng he became Left Palace Attendant.
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使
Xian's son Ti was likewise a man of counsel. Taizu sent Ti with General Wang Jian and a three-wing army against Murong Bao's Guangning prefect Liu Kangqi and took his head. Kangqi's tribes were resettled at Pingcheng. Bao's Shanggu prefect Lin deserted his commandery and fled; Taizu pursued him; Ti was made grand general and took a separate eastern road. For his merit he was enfeoffed Marquis of Dongwan. Back at the capital he often shared the emperor's table with Li Li. Li was punished for disrespect at court; Ti was demoted as well, to administrator of Jiyang. Later Taizu planned to expand the palace quarter, surveyed dozens of li around Pingcheng, and meant to imitate Ye, Luoyang, and Chang'an; millions of timbers were hauled in. Ti's mechanical ingenuity won him summons to oversee the work. He was called in to debate the right scale and design of the build. After long attendance Ti grew careless in his duties and was put to death.
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西西 西
Ti's younger brother Yun loved books and excelled at the bow. Under Taizu he ran the Selection Bureau and later became palace attendant. For merit he was enfeoffed Marquis of Ande. He rose to Commandant of Cavalry and sat in on every major counsel of war and state. When Shizu took Helian Chang, he ordered Yun and Prince Su of Changshan to hold Tongwan. He was raised to Duke of Anding and General Who Pacifies the West, then to Grand General Who Guards the West. The Hexi had only just been absorbed and loyalties were still divided; Yun soothed old subjects and new until each settled where he belonged. He died in the Shenju era and was posthumously titled Duke Reverent.
15
Liu Kuren, whose original name was Meigen, belonged to the house of Liu Hu and was also called Lo Chui. As a young man he was open-handed and bold, with a strategist's mind. His mother was born a princess of Emperor Pingwen's house. Emperor Zhaocheng married him to another royal clanswoman and made him southern grandee.
16
西
In Jianguo year 39 Emperor Zhaocheng died suddenly before Taizu could be enthroned; Fu Jian made Liu Kuren General Who Commands the River and Marquis Within the Passes and set him with Wei Chen to divide and govern the tribal following. West of the river fell to Wei Chen; east of the river to Liu Kuren. Then Empress Dowager Xianming brought Taizu and the Wei and Qin princes from the Helan tribe to live under Kuren's protection. Liu Kuren served him with unwavering loyalty, never shifting with fortune's turns; he gathered the scattered and won them with grace, and his trustworthiness was plain to all.
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西 西 西
Fu Jian promoted him to General of Guangwu and granted the insignia of banner, canopy, drums, and parasol, with ceremony equal to a feudal lord. Wei Chen was ranked beneath Liu Kuren. Wei Chen flew into rage, murdered Fu Jian's administrator of Wuyuan, rebelled, and struck Liu Kuren's western lands. Liu Kuren counterattacked, broke Wei Chen, and chased him more than a thousand li beyond Yin Mountain, seizing his family and absorbing his entire following. He marched west against the Kudi, captured vast herds, relocated the tribe, and planted them along the Sanggan. Fu Jian gave Liu Kuren's wife the surname Gongsun and loaded her with gifts. Liu Kuren went again to Fu Jian's court and was raised to General Who Quells Might.
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駿
When Murong Chui besieged Fu Pi at Ye and sent Ping Gui against Fu Jian's Youzhou inspector Wang Yong at Ji, Liu Kuren—still loyal to the titles Fu Jian had given him—sent his brother-in-law Gongsun Xi with three thousand horse to help Yong rout Gui and massacre more than five thousand of Gui's men who had surrendered. Riding the victory he drove deep, seized Tangcheng, and locked horns with Chui's son Lin. When Liu Kuren heard Xi had crushed Gui, he gathered a great army to relieve Fu Pi. He called up the forces of Yanmen, Shanggu, and Dai and camped at Fanzhi. Earlier Murong Wen and others, slated for resettlement in Chang'an, had taken refuge with Liu Kuren's tribe and longed to go east again but saw no way. On this campaign they saw how little love the levy inspired; Wen and his party struck by night, leading men of three commanderies against Liu Kuren. Liu Kuren hid in the stable; Wen seized him and killed him. They mounted his best horse and fled to Murong Chui. Gongsun Xi, hearing of the revolt, abandoned Tangcheng and fled to the Dingling.
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[3]
Liu Kuren's younger brother Juan stepped in to govern the tribes. Jiefu, grandee of the White Division, rebelled, [3] and Juan lacked the force to crush him. He called in Fu Jian's Bingzhou inspector Zhang Hao, who defeated Jiefu. Juan next routed the Helan at Shanwu and struck the Rouran sub-chief Feiwo at Yiqin Mountain, taking hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep. Juan's second son Luo Chen was quick-witted and full of counsel; he told Juan, "Our armies have known no defeat—but the sickness is within. We should deal with it now." Juan asked, "Who?" He answered, "Cousin Xian is ruthless. His revolt is only a matter of time." Juan paid no heed. Later, when the herds were moved to Niuchuan, Liu Kuren's son Xian murdered Juan and usurped his place. Luo Chen fled to Taizu; the fuller account stands in the biography of the empresses' kin.
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Xian, whose birth name was Choufa, after killing Juan and seizing rule plotted treason as well; that story is told in Taizu's annals. When Taizu was enthroned, Xian fled south from Shanwu toward Mayi.
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使 使
Nuzhen, a kinsman of the line, brought his following in to submit. His elder brother Jian had long lived among the Helan. Now Nuzhen asked to call Jian in and turn the tribe over to him. Taizu, approving the act, allowed it. When Jian took command, he felt himself long beholden to He Ne and sent his brother Qujin with a gift of a golden horse. He Ne's brother Ran'gan told him, "I have been generous to you two; now that you lead a division, you should come over to my side." Qujin put the matter to Nuzhen. Nuzhen replied, "Our father was the state's man; our house has served with loyalty for generations. I meant to keep our name whole, and that is why I yielded the tribe. Now you act shamefully and would turn traitor with a double heart." He killed Jian and Qujin on the spot. Ran'gan, hearing his brother had been killed, led cavalry against him; Nuzhen in alarm moved his people to seek refuge with Taizu. Taizu rode out to meet him and sent envoys to rebuke Ran'gan and make him stop. Nuzhen, moved by the grace shown him, offered his younger sister to the inner palace, and Taizu took her.
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西
Later Taizu attacked Liu Xian at Mayi, chased him to Mize, and broke him completely. Wei Chen was on good terms with Murong Chui and sent him three thousand horses; Chui sent Murong Liang to meet the herd. Liu Xian smashed Liang's force and drove off the horses. Chui in fury sent his son Lin and his brother's son Kai to punish him; Xian fled into the western hills of Mayi. Lin pressed him with light horse until he took refuge with Murong Yong at Changzi. His whole following submitted to Lin, and Lin moved them to Zhongshan. Liu Xian's brother Kang'ai is treated in the Empresses' biography.
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[4]
The historiographer writes: Under the Founding Ancestor and Emperors Huan and Mu, the royal work had barely begun and moral influence had not yet spread. Cao and Han threw themselves into the hurrying age of war and carved out a place of merit and renown, [4] — true men of purpose and sight. The Liu Kuren brothers took loyalty for their heart and did not shift between rise and fall; the pure constancy they kept looked far ahead — yet both died before their time. What a loss!
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Textual notes
25
Wei Cao set up a stele south of Dahang city. In Qian's Textual Notes, juan 38, we read that this chapter preserves his inscription in full, yet the historiographers mangled the record and the authentic text was lost. The opening line runs, 'Scion of the Yellow Emperor of Wei.' At that date there was no Wei designation yet; by sense it should read 'of the Xianbei Tuoba clan.' The stone was raised for Yiyi and must have named the Jin-bestowed offices and both Yiyi and Yilu; calling them 'the two emperors Huan and Mu' is another historiographer's change."
26
"Outward campaigns also repelled": Northern History juan 20, this life, has dong (campaign) for xun (merit). Note: "outward merit also repelled" means merit in repelling foreign trouble; the stele's closing "merit that repelled the great scourge" is the same idea. Xun (merit) appears to be right.
27
西
"The Bai tribe's great chief Jiefo rebelled": editions read bai (Bai) as yue (say). Cefu, juan 352 〈folio 4180〉 has "Bai." Note: Annalistic Preface, juan 1, Liwei year 39: "Fourth month, summer sacrifice to Heaven; every division's chief came to assist — only the Bai tribe's great chief held back and did not attend. Yilu year 3 also says "the Bai tribe's great chief rebelled and entered Xihe." Yue is a corruption; emended per Cefu.
28
殿
"Carved out a place of merit and renown": editions omit ming (fame). Palace Edition textual notes: "After gong (merit), Northern History 〈juan 20〉 has ming; that text should stand. Note: "merit and fame" pairs with "hurrying" above; the word ming dropped here and is restored from the Northern History.
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