1
劉昶蕭寶夤蕭正表
Liu Chang, Xiao Baoyin, and Xiao Zhengbiao
2
劉昶，字休道，義隆第九子也。 義隆時，封義陽王。 兄駿以為征北將軍、徐州刺史、開府。 及駿子子業立，昏狂肆暴，害其親屬，疑昶有異志。 昶聞甚懼，遣典籤虞法生表求入朝，[1]以觀其意。 子業曰：「義陽與太宰謀反，我欲討之，今知求還，甚善。」 又屢詰法生：「義陽謀事，汝何故不啟？」 法生懼禍，走歸彭城。 昶欲襲建康，諸郡並不受命。 和平六年，遂委母妻，攜妾吳氏作丈夫服，結義從六十餘人，間行來降。 在路多叛，隨昶至者二十許人。
Liu Chang, styled Xiudao, was the ninth son of Emperor Wen of Song (Yilong). During Yilong's reign he was created Prince of Yiyang. His brother Jun appointed him General Who Pacifies the North, regional inspector of Xuzhou, and commander of an independent staff. When Jun's son Ziye succeeded, that mad and brutal ruler slaughtered his own kin and came to suspect that Chang harbored other designs. Chang was terrified when he heard this and sent his chief clerk Yu Fasheng to request permission to come to court, hoping to gauge the emperor's intentions. Ziye said, "The Prince of Yiyang is conspiring with the Grand Guardian to rebel. I was about to move against him, but now that he asks to return, so much the better." He also pressed Fasheng again and again: "The Prince of Yiyang is plotting treason—why did you never tell me?" Fasheng, fearing for his life, fled back to Pengcheng. Chang tried to march on Jiankang, but not a single commandery would follow his command. In the sixth year of Heping (468), he abandoned his mother and wife, had his concubine Lady Wu dress as a man, gathered more than sixty sworn companions, and slipped away to surrender to the north. Many deserted along the way; only some twenty men reached the north with Chang.
3
昶雖學不淵洽，略覽子史，前後表啟，皆其自製。 朝廷嘉重之，尚武邑公主，拜侍中、征南將軍、駙馬都尉，封丹陽王。 歲餘而公主薨，更尚建興長公主。
Chang was not deeply learned, but he had browsed histories and composed all his own memorials and petitions. The court held him in high esteem, gave him Princess Wuyi in marriage, and made him Palace Attendant, General Who Conquers the South, Commandant of the Imperial Son-in-Law's Household, and Prince of Danyang. A little over a year later the princess died, and he married Princess Chang of Jianxing.
4
昶好犬馬，愛武事，入國歷紀，猶布衣皂冠，同凶素之服。 然呵詈童僕，音雜夷夏。 雖在公坐，諸王每侮弄之，或戾手齧臂，至於痛傷，笑呼之聲，聞于御聽。 高祖每優假之，不以怪問。 至於陳奏本國事故，語及征役，則能斂容涕泗，悲動左右。 而天性褊躁，喜怒不恒，每至威忿，楚朴特苦，引待南士，禮多不足，緣此人懷畏避。
Chang loved horses and hounds and delighted in arms; for years after entering Wei he still wore plain cloth and a black cap, as if in mourning. Yet he abused his pages in a tongue that mixed barbarian speech with Chinese. Even at court the princes would mock and torment him—twisting his hands, biting his arms until he bled—and their laughter carried to the throne. Gaozu always indulged him and never questioned the odd behavior. When he spoke of his lost kingdom or of conscription and levies, he would compose himself and weep until all around him were moved. By nature he was touchy and quick-tempered; in fits of rage he beat servants cruelly with the rod. Though he gathered southern émigrés, he often slighted them, and many kept their distance out of fear.
5
太和初，轉內都坐大官。 及蕭道成殺劉準，時遣諸將南伐，詔昶曰：「卿識機體運，先覺而來。 卿宗廟不復血食，朕聞斯問，矜忿兼懷。 今遣大將軍率南州甲卒，以伐逆竪，克蕩兇醜，翦除民害。 氛穢既清，即胙卿江南之土，以興蕃業。」 乃以本將軍與諸將同行。 路經徐州，哭拜其母舊堂，哀感從者。 乃遍循故居，處處隕涕，左右亦莫不辛酸。 及至軍所，將欲臨陳，四面拜諸將士，自陳家國滅亡，蒙朝廷慈覆，辭理切至，聲氣激揚，涕泗橫流，三軍咸為感歎。 後昶恐雨水方降，表請還師，從之。 又加儀同三司，領儀曹尚書。 於時改革朝儀，詔昶與蔣少遊專主其事。 昶條上舊式，略不遺忘。
Early in the Taihe era he was made Grand Supervisor of the Inner Palace Provisioners. When Xiao Daocheng murdered Liu Zhun, the court sent generals south on campaign. The edict to Chang read, "You read the times and came before it was too late. Your ancestral temples stand empty of offerings. When We heard of it, pity and wrath filled Our heart alike. We now send the Grand General at the head of southern armies to crush the rebel, sweep away the wicked, and rid the people of their scourge. When the land is pacified, We shall enfeoff you with the south and restore your house to its former glory. He was then confirmed in his former rank as general and marched with the other commanders. On the march through Xuzhou he wept and bowed at his mother's old hall until all who followed him were moved. He walked through every old home, weeping at each turn, until even his attendants could not keep back their tears. When the army was about to engage, he bowed to the troops on every side, telling how his kingdom had fallen and how the court had sheltered him. His words were piercing, his voice fierce, tears streaming down his face, and the whole army sighed with him. Later Chang, fearing the rains, asked to withdraw the army, and the request was granted. He was further given rank equal to the Three Ducal Ministers and appointed Minister of the Armies of Rites. Court ritual was then being reformed, and Chang and Jiang Shaoyou were put solely in charge of the work. Chang submitted the old forms point by point, forgetting scarcely a detail.
6
高祖引見於宣文堂，昶啟曰：「臣本國不造，私有虐政，不能廢昏立德，扶定傾危，萬里奔波，投蔭皇闕，仰賴天慈，以存首領。 然大耻未雪，痛愧纏心。 屬逢陛下釐校之始，願垂曲恩，處臣邊戍，招集遺人，以雪私耻。 雖死之日，猶若生年。」 悲泣良久。 高祖曰：「卿投誠累紀，本邦湮滅，王者未能恤難矜災，良以為愧。 出蕃之日，請別當處分。」 後以昶女為鄉君。
Gaozu received him in the Xuanculture Hall. Chang said, "My country was ruined by a tyrant. I could not remove the wicked and set the throne right, but fled a thousand leagues to seek shelter under your gate, trusting your mercy to spare my life. Yet my great shame is still unavenged, and remorse gnaws at me. Now that Your Majesty is putting the realm in order, I beg you to post me on the frontier, let me gather our scattered people, and redeem my private shame. Even on the day I die, it will be as though I were born anew. He wept for a long time. Gaozu said, "You have served us faithfully for years while your homeland perished. That We could not sooner relieve your suffering is a source of shame to Us. When the day comes for you to take up your post on the frontier, ask Us then for a separate assignment. Later his daughter was ennobled as Village Lady.
7
高祖臨宣文堂，見武興王楊集始。 既而引集始入宴，詔昶曰：「集始邊方之酋，不足以當諸侯之禮，但王者不遺小國之臣，況此蕃垂之主，故勞公卿於此。」 昶對曰：「陛下道化光被，自北而南，故巴漢之雄，遠覲天闕。 臣猥瞻盛禮，實忻嘉遇。」 高祖曰：「武興、宕昌，於禮容並不閑備，向見集始，觀其舉動，有賢於彌承。」 昶對曰：「陛下惠洽普天，澤流無外，武興蕞爾，豈不食椹懷音。」
Gaozu held audience in the Xuanwen Hall with Yang Jishi, King of Wuxing. He then brought Jishi in to feast and told Chang, "Jishi is a frontier chieftain, not truly fit for the rites of a feudal lord. Yet a king does not scorn the envoys of small states, still less a border king such as this, and so We have troubled you ministers to receive him. Chang replied, "Your transforming virtue shines from north to south, and so the chiefs of Ba and Han journey far to behold the imperial court. I am unworthy to witness such ceremony, yet I rejoice at this gracious occasion. Gaozu said, "The kings of Wuxing and Dangchang are both unversed in court ritual. Watching Jishi just now, I find him more capable than Micheng. Chang replied, "Your grace fills the realm and flows beyond its borders. How could petty Wuxing fail to remember your kindness."
8
又為中書監。 開建五等，封昶齊郡開國公，加宋王之號。 十七年春，高祖臨經武殿，大議南伐，語及劉、蕭篡奪之事，昶每悲泣不已。 因奏曰：「臣本朝淪喪，艱毒備罹，冀恃國靈，釋臣私耻。」 頓首拜謝。 高祖亦為之流涕，禮之彌崇。 蕭賾雍州刺史曹虎之詐降也，詔昶以兵出義陽，無功而還。
He was also appointed Director of the Secretariat. When the five feudal ranks were instituted, Chang was created Duke of Qi with a founding fief and given the title Prince of Song. In spring of the seventeenth year Gaozu held council in the Jingwu Hall on the southern expedition; whenever the Liu and Xiao usurpations were mentioned, Chang wept without end. He memorialized, "My dynasty is ruined and I have suffered every torment. I pray to lean on the state's might to wipe away my private shame. He kowtowed in gratitude. Gaozu wept as well and treated him with still greater honor. When Cao Huzhi, Governor of Yongzhou under Xiao Ze, pretended to surrender, Chang was sent against Yiyang but returned without success.
9
十八年，除使持節、都督吳越楚彭城諸軍事、大將軍，固辭，詔不許，又賜布千匹。 及發，高祖親餞之，命百僚賦詩贈昶，又以其文集一部賜昶。 高祖因以所製文筆示之，謂昶曰：「時契勝殘，事鍾文業，雖則不學，欲罷不能。 脫思一見，故以相示。 雖無足味，聊復為笑耳。」 其重昶如是。 自昶之背彭城，至是久矣。 其昔齋宇山池，並尚存立，昶更修繕，還處其中。 不能綏邊懷物，撫接義故，而閨門喧猥，內外姦雜，前民舊吏，莫不慨歎焉。 豫營墓於彭城西南，與三公主同塋而異穴。 發石累之，墳崩，壓殺十餘人。 後復移改，為公私費害。
In the eighteenth year he was appointed Grand General with full credentials and command over the Wu, Yue, Chu, and Pengcheng theaters. He declined firmly, but the emperor would not hear of it and gave him a thousand bolts of cloth besides. When he marched, Gaozu himself gave him a farewell feast, ordered the court to compose parting poems, and presented him with a volume of his own writings. Gaozu showed him some pieces he had written and said, "The times call for ending violence and building culture. Though I am no scholar, I cannot lay down the brush. If you care to read them, I offer them for your view. They are hardly worth reading, but may amuse you for a moment. Such was the esteem in which he held Chang. Long years had passed since Chang fled Pengcheng. His old halls, gardens, and ponds still stood; Chang repaired them and moved back in. He failed to win hearts on the frontier or treat old friends well; his household was disorderly and licentious within and without, and former subjects and retainers lamented it. He prepared a tomb southwest of Pengcheng to share a mound but not a chamber with the Third Princess. While stone was being quarried and piled, the mound collapsed and killed more than ten workers. The site was moved again later, to the cost of public funds and private grief.
10
高祖南討，昶候駕於行宮，高祖遣侍中迎勞之。 昶討蕭昭業司州，雖屢破賊軍，而義陽拒守不克，昶乃班師。 十九年，高祖在彭城，昶至入見。 昶曰：「臣奉敕專征，剋殄兇醜，徒勞士馬，久淹歲時，有損威靈，伏聽斧鉞。」 高祖曰：「朕之此行，本無攻守之意，正欲伐罪弔民，宣威布德，二事既暢，不失本圖，朕亦無克而還，豈但卿也。」
On Gaozu's southern campaign Chang waited on him at the traveling palace, and Gaozu sent a Palace Attendant to greet and console him. Chang attacked Sizhou under Xiao Zhaoye. Though he won several battles, Yiyang held firm and he withdrew. In the nineteenth year Gaozu was at Pengcheng; Chang came to audience. Chang said, "I was ordered on campaign to destroy the enemy, yet I have only wasted men and horses and dragged on for months, shaming your arms. I submit to your judgment. Gaozu said, "This expedition was never meant for conquest alone. We came to punish the guilty, comfort the people, and spread virtue. Having done that, We are content to withdraw without victory—and not you alone."
11
十月，昶朝于京師。 高祖臨光極堂大選。 高祖曰：「朝因月旦，欲評魏典。 夫典者，為國大綱，治民之柄。 君能好典則國治，不能則國亂。 我國家昔在恒代，隨時制作，非通世之長典。 故自夏及秋，親議條制。 或言唯能是寄，不必拘門，朕以為不爾。 何者？ 當今之世，仰祖質朴，清濁同流，混齊一等，君子小人名品無別，此殊為不可。 我今八族以上，士人品第有九，九品之外，小人之官，復有七等。 若苟有其人，可起家為三公。 正恐賢才難得，不可止為一人，渾我典制。 故令班鏡九流，清一朝軌，使千載之後，我得髣像唐虞，卿等依俙元、凱。」 昶對曰：「陛下光宅中區，惟新朝典，刊正九流，為不朽之法，豈唯髣像唐虞，固以有高三代。」 高祖曰：「國家本來有一事可慨。 可慨者何？ 恒無公言得失。 今卿等各盡其心。 人君患不能納羣下之諫，為臣患不能盡忠於主。 朕今舉一人，如有不可，卿等盡言其失； 若有才能而朕所不識者，宜各舉所知。 朕當虛己延納。 若能如此，能舉則受賞，不言則有罪。」
In the tenth month Chang came to court at the capital. Gaozu held the great selection at the Guangji Hall. Gaozu said, "On this first of the month the court will review the Wei statutes. A code is the great framework of a state and the instrument by which the people are governed. If a ruler honors the code, the realm is well ordered; if not, it falls into chaos. When our state was still at Hengdai we made laws for the moment, not a code meant to last for all time. From summer through autumn I have personally debated every article. Some say office should go only to talent and not be bound by family rank. I do not agree. Why? In our day, when men invoke the plain ways of old, noble and base are mingled in one stream and gentleman and commoner stand undistinguished. That cannot stand. For the eight great clans and above I have set nine grades of gentry rank; below the ninth grade, offices for commoners have seven further ranks. If the man truly exists, he may rise from nothing to one of the Three Ducal Ministers. I fear only that worthy men are rare and that the code must not be bent for one man's sake alone. Therefore I set ranks to mirror the nine currents and clarify the court's standards, so that a thousand years hence we may resemble the age of Yao and Shun, and you may take Yuan and Kai as your models. Chang replied, "Your Majesty has brought order to the realm and renewed our institutions, fixing the nine ranks into law that will not perish. You do not merely resemble Yao and Shun—you surpass the Three Dynasties." Gaozu said, "There is one thing about this state that has always grieved me. What is it? There has never been frank discussion of what is right and wrong. Today I ask each of you to speak your mind fully. A ruler's fault is failing to heed counsel; a minister's fault is failing to speak honestly to his lord. I will now propose one man for office. If he is unfit, speak freely of his faults; and if you know able men I have not heard of, each should name whom you know. I will receive your words with an open mind. If you do so, those who speak up will be rewarded; those who stay silent will be punished."
12
昶適子承緒，主所生也。 少而尫疾。 尚高祖妹彭城長公主，為駙馬都尉。 先昶卒，贈員外常侍。
Chang's heir Chengxu was born to his concubine rather than his principal wife. From childhood he was frail and sickly. He married Gaozu's sister, Princess Chang of Pengcheng, and was made Commandant of the Imperial Son-in-Law's Household. He died before Chang and was posthumously given the title Regular Attendant Outside the Number.
13
長子文遠，次輝，字重昌，並皆疏狂，昶深慮不能守其爵封。 然輝猶小，未多罪過，乃以為世子，襲封。 正始初，尚蘭陵長公主，世宗第二姊也。 拜員外常侍。 公主頗嚴妬，輝嘗私幸主侍婢有身，主笞殺之。 剖其孕子，節解，以草裝實婢腹，裸以示輝。 輝遂忿憾，疏薄公主。 公主姊因入聽講，言其故於靈太后，太后敕清河王懌窮其事。 懌與高陽王雍、廣平王懷奏其不和之狀，無可為夫婦之理，請離婚，削除封位。 太后從之。 公主在宮周歲，高陽王及劉騰等皆為言於太后。 太后慮其不改，未許之，雍等屢請不已，聽復舊義。 太后流涕送公主，誡令謹護。 正光初，輝又私淫張陳二氏女。 公主更不檢惡，主姑陳留公主共相扇奬，遂與輝復致忿爭。 輝推主墮床，手脚毆蹈，主遂傷胎，輝懼罪逃逸。 靈太后召清河王懌決其事，二家女髠笞付宮，兄弟皆坐鞭刑，徙配敦煌為兵。 公主因傷致薨，太后親臨慟哭，舉哀太極東堂，出葬城西，太后親送數里，盡哀而還。 謂侍中崔光曰：「向哭所以過哀者，追念公主為輝頓辱非一，乃不關言，能為隱忍，古今寧有此！ 此所以痛之。」 後執輝於河內之溫縣，幽于司州，將加死刑，會赦得免。 三年，復其官爵，遷征虜將軍、中散大夫。 四年，輝卒，家遂衰頓，無復可紀。
His eldest son was Wenyuan and his second Hui, courtesy name Chongchang. Both were reckless and unrestrained, and Liu Chang worried they would be unable to hold their rank and fief. Hui was still young, however, and had not yet committed many wrongs, so he was made heir and inherited the fief. Early in the Zhengshi era he married the Princess of Lanling, Emperor Xuanwu's second elder sister. He was appointed Regular Attendant Outside the Body. The princess was fiercely jealous. When Hui secretly slept with her waiting maid and the maid became pregnant, the princess beat her to death. She cut out the unborn child, dismembered it, stuffed straw into the maid's belly, and displayed the naked corpse to Hui. Hui nursed bitter resentment and grew cold toward his wife. Her elder sister, attending lectures at court, told Empress Dowager Ling what had happened. The empress dowager ordered Prince Yi of Qinghe to investigate to the bottom. Yi, Prince Yong of Gaoyang, and Prince Huai of Guangping reported their bitter strife, arguing that they could no longer live as husband and wife, and asked for divorce and the stripping of Hui's titles. The empress dowager agreed. After the princess had spent a year in the palace, Prince Yong of Gaoyang, Liu Teng, and others all pleaded her case to the empress dowager. The empress dowager feared they would not reform and at first refused. Yong and the others persisted, however, until she allowed the marriage to be restored. Weeping, the empress dowager sent the princess back and warned her to be careful and restrained. Early in the Zhengguang era, Hui again secretly slept with daughters of the Zhang and Chen families. The princess no longer tried to restrain him. Her aunt, the Princess of Chenliu, encouraged the affair, and she and Hui quarreled again in anger. Hui threw the princess from the bed and trampled her hands and feet. She miscarried, and fearing punishment Hui fled. Empress Dowager Ling summoned Prince Yi of Qinghe to judge the matter. The Zhang and Chen daughters were shaved and flogged at court; their brothers were whipped and exiled to Dunhuang as soldiers. The princess died of her injuries. The empress dowager came in person to mourn and weep, and mourning was held at the eastern hall of the Supreme Ultimate. She was buried outside the western wall; the empress dowager escorted the procession for several li and returned only when her grief was exhausted. She said to Palace Attendant Cui Guang, "I wept so bitterly just now because I recalled how the princess suffered repeated insults from Hui yet never complained and endured in silence. When was there ever such a thing in all history! That is why I grieve for her so." Later Hui was captured at Wen in Henei and held in Si Province, where he was sentenced to death; an amnesty spared him. Three years later his rank and title were restored, and he was made General Who Conquers the Barbarians and Regular Attendant. The following year Hui died, and the family fell into decline, with nothing further worth recording.
14
文遠，歷步兵校尉、前將軍。 景明初，為統軍。 在壽春，坐謀殺刺史王肅以壽春叛，事發伏法。
Wenyuan served as Commandant of Footsoldiers and then General of the Vanguard. Early in the Jingming era he was made an area commander. While at Shouyang he plotted to murder Inspector Wang Su and rebel with the city. When the plot was discovered he was executed.
15
有通直郎劉武英者，太和十九年從淮南內附，自云劉裕弟長沙景王道憐之曾孫，賜爵建寧子，司徒外兵參軍，稍轉步兵校尉、游擊將軍，卒于河內太守。 而昶不以為族親也。
A Direct Attendant-in-Ordinary named Liu Wuying came north from Huainan in Taihe year 19, claiming to be a great-grandson of Prince Jing of Changsha, Liu Yu's younger brother. He was enfeoffed as Baron of Jianning, served as Outer Troops Aide under the Minister of Education, rose to Commandant of Footsoldiers and General Who Rogues, and died while serving as Administrator of Henei. Liu Chang did not acknowledge him as a relative.
16
蕭寶夤，字智亮，蕭鸞第六子，寶卷母弟也。 鸞之竊位，封寶夤建安王。 寶卷立，以為車騎將軍、開府，領石頭戍軍事。 寶卷昏狂，其直後劉靈運等謀奉寶夤，密遣報寶夤，寶夤許之。 遂迎寶夤率石頭文武向其臺城，稱警蹕，百姓隨從者數百人。 會日暮，城門閉，乃燒三尚及建業城，城上射殺數人，眾乃奔散。 寶夤棄車步走，部尉執送之，自列為人所逼，寶卷亦不罪責也。 寶卷弟寶融僭立，以寶夤為衞將軍、南徐州刺史，改封鄱陽王。
Xiao Baoyin, courtesy name Zhiliang, was the sixth son of Xiao Luan and the younger brother of Emperor Baojuan's mother. When Luan seized the throne he enfeoffed Baoyin as Prince of Jian'an. When Baojuan acceded he was made General of Chariots and Cavalry with an opening office and put in charge of the Shitou garrison. Baojuan was deranged. His personal guard Liu Lingyun and others plotted to put Baoyin on the throne and secretly sent word to him; Baoyin agreed. They then brought Baoyin out, leading Shitou's civil and military officials toward the palace and proclaiming an imperial progress, with several hundred civilians following. By dusk the gates were closed. They burned the Three Shang offices and Jiankang's outer wall; defenders on the wall shot several people dead, and the crowd scattered. Baoyin abandoned his carriage and fled on foot. A district captain caught and returned him. He claimed he had been coerced, and Baojuan did not punish him. When Baojuan's younger brother Baorong seized the throne, he made Baoyin General of the Guard and Inspector of Southern Xuzhou and changed his title to Prince of Poyang.
17
蕭衍既克建業，殺其兄弟，將害寶夤，以兵守之，未至嚴急。 其家閹人顏文智與左右麻拱、黃神密計，穿牆夜出寶夤。 具小船於江岸，脫本衣服，著烏布襦，腰繫千許錢，潛赴江畔，躡屩徒步，脚無全皮。 防守者至明追之，寶夤假為釣者，隨流上下十餘里，追者不疑，待散，乃度西岸。 遂委命投華文榮。 文榮與其從子天龍、惠連等三人，棄家將寶夤遁匿山澗，賃驢乘之，晝伏宵行，景明二年至壽春之東城戍。 戍主杜元倫推檢，知實蕭氏子也，以禮延待，馳告揚州刺史、任城王澄，澄以車馬侍衞迎之。 時年十六，徒步憔悴，見者以為掠賣生口也。 澄待以客禮。 乃請喪居斬衰之服，[3]澄遣人曉示情禮，以喪兄之制，給其齊衰，寶夤從命。 澄率官僚赴弔，寶夤居處有禮，不飲酒食肉，輟笑簡言，一同極哀之節。 壽春多其故義，皆受慰唁，唯不見夏侯一族，以夏侯同蕭衍故也。 改日造澄，澄深器重之。
After Xiao Yan captured Jiankang and killed the Xiao princes, he planned to kill Baoyin too and placed guards around him, though the confinement was not yet severe. His household eunuch Yan Wenzhi, together with attendants Ma Gong and Huang Shen, plotted secretly, broke through a wall at night, and brought Baoyin out. They had a small boat waiting on the bank. They stripped his court robes and dressed him in a black cloth jacket, tied a thousand-odd cash at his waist, and stole to the river. He walked in sandals until no skin on his feet remained whole. At dawn the guards gave chase. Baoyin played the fisherman, drifting up and down the river for more than ten li until the pursuers passed him by, then crossed to the west bank. He then entrusted his life to Hua Wenrong. Wenrong, with his nephews Tianlong and Huilian and three others, abandoned their families and hid Baoyin in mountain ravines. They rode hired donkeys, marched by night and lay hidden by day, and in Jingming year 2 reached Shouyang's eastern garrison. Garrison chief Du Yuanlun investigated and confirmed he was a true son of the Xiao house. He received him with ceremony and sent urgent word to Yang Province Inspector Prince Cheng of Rencheng, who came with carriage, horses, and escort to welcome him. He was sixteen, on foot and haggard; onlookers took him for a kidnapped slave being sold. Cheng treated him as an honored guest. He asked to wear the deepest mourning for a slain sovereign. Cheng sent men to explain proper ritual and gave him the second-degree hemp mourning prescribed for a slain elder brother; Baoyin obeyed. Cheng led the officials to mourn. Baoyin conducted himself with full propriety: no wine or meat, no laughter, speech kept brief — all in the deepest mourning. Many of his old associates in Shouyang came to offer condolences, and he received them all — except the Xiahou clan, who were connected to Xiao Yan. On another day he called on Cheng, who came to prize him deeply.
18
景明三年閏四月，詔曰：「蕭寶夤深識機運，歸誠有道，冒險履屯，投命絳闕，微子、陳韓亦曷以過也。 [4]可遣羽林監、領主書劉桃符詣彼迎接。 其資生所須之物，及衣冠、車馬、在京邸館，付尚書悉令豫備。」 及至京師，世宗禮之甚重。 伏訴闕下，請兵南伐，雖遇暴風大雨，終不暫移。
In the intercalary fourth month of Jingming year 3 an edict said, "Xiao Baoyin has read the times aright, returned in loyalty to the righteous path, braved danger through hardship, and offered his life at the imperial gate — not even Weizi or Chen Han could have done more. Dispatch Feathered Forest Supervisor and Chief of Palace Scribes Liu Taofu to go and escort him here. Let the Masters of Writing prepare in advance everything he will need for daily life, as well as robes, carriage, horses, and quarters in the capital. When he reached the capital, Emperor Xuanwu received him with great honor. He prostrated himself at the palace gate, begging for troops to campaign south, and though storms struck he never stirred.
19
是年冬，蕭衍江州刺史陳伯之與其長史褚冑等自壽春歸降，[5]請軍立效。 世宗以寶夤誠懇及伯之所陳，時不可失，四年二月，乃引八座門下入議部分之方。 四月，除使持節、都督東揚南徐兗三州諸軍事、鎮東將軍、東揚州刺史、[6]丹陽郡開國公、齊王，配兵一萬，令且據東城，待秋冬大舉。 寶夤明當拜命，其夜慟哭。 至晨，備禮策授，賜車馬什物，給虎賁五百人，事從豐厚，猶不及劉昶之優隆也。 又任其募天下壯勇，得數千人。 以文智三人等為積弩將軍，文榮等三人為強弩將軍，並為軍主。 寶夤雖少羇流，而志性雅重，過期猶絕酒肉，慘形悴色，蔬食粗衣，未嘗嬉笑。 及被命當南伐，貴要多相憑託，門庭賓客若市，書記相尋，寶夤接對報復，不失其理。
That winter Liang's Jiangzhou Inspector Chen Bozhi and his chief clerk Chu Zhou surrendered from Shouyang, asking to lead troops for the Wei cause. Emperor Xuanwu judged that Baoyin's earnestness and Chen Bozhi's offer made delay impossible. In the second month of year 4 he summoned the Eight Dignitaries and palace ministers to plan the campaign. In the fourth month he was appointed Commissioner with credentials, commander of the armies of Eastern Yang, Southern Xu, and Yan, General Who Pacifies the East, Inspector of Eastern Yang, Duke of Danyang and Prince of Qi, with ten thousand troops. He was ordered to hold the eastern wall until the major autumn campaign. The night before he was to receive his appointment, Baoyin wept bitterly. At dawn he received full investiture with rich gifts, five hundred tiger guards, and every mark of favor — yet still less than the extraordinary honors shown Liu Chang. He was also allowed to recruit brave men throughout the realm and gathered several thousand. Yan Wenzhi and three others were made generals of powerful crossbows; Hua Wenrong and three others generals of strong crossbows — all as army commanders. Though young and long in exile, Baoyin was grave and refined by nature. Past the mourning period he still abstained from wine and meat, ate plain food, wore coarse clothes, and never laughed. When ordered south, the powerful crowded his gate like a market. Letters piled up, yet he answered each without losing propriety.
20
正始元年三月，寶夤行達汝陰，東城已陷，遂停壽春之栖賢寺。 值賊將姜慶真內侵，士民響附，圍逼壽春，遂據外郭。 寶夤躬貫甲冑，率下擊之，自四更交戰，至明日申時，賊旅彌盛。 寶夤以眾寡無援，退入金城。 又出相國東門，率眾力戰，始破走之。 當寶夤壽春之戰，勇冠諸軍，聞見者莫不壯之。 七月，還京師，改封梁郡開國公，食邑八百戶。
In the third month of Zhengshi year 1 Baoyin reached Ruyin. The eastern wall had already fallen, so he halted at the Qixian Temple in Shouyang. Rebel general Jiang Qingzhen invaded from within. Local officers and people rallied to him, besieged Shouyang, and seized the outer city. Baoyin donned armor himself and led his men into battle from the fourth watch until midafternoon the next day, but the rebel force only grew stronger. Outnumbered and without relief, Baoyin withdrew into the inner citadel. He sallied out through the eastern gate of the Xiangguo quarter, fought hard, and at last routed the enemy. In the battle at Shouyang, Baoyin's courage topped every army; all who witnessed it were stirred. In the seventh month he returned to the capital and was re-enfeoffed as Duke of Liang Commandery with a fief of eight hundred households.
21
及中山王英南伐，寶夤又表求征。 乃為使持節、鎮東將軍、別將以繼英，配羽林、虎賁五百人。 與英頻破衍軍，乘勝遂攻鍾離。 淮水汎溢，寶夤與英狼狽引退，士卒死沒者十四五。 有司奏寶夤守東橋不固，軍敗由之，處以極法。 詔曰：「寶夤因難投誠，宜加矜貸，可恕死，免官削爵還第。」
When Prince Ying of Zhongshan marched south, Baoyin again petitioned to join the campaign. He was made Commissioner with credentials, General Who Pacifies the East, and detached commander under Ying, with five hundred Feathered Forest and tiger guards. With Ying he repeatedly defeated Liang forces and pressed the attack on Zhongli. The Huai flooded. Baoyin and Ying retreated in disorder; four or five soldiers in ten drowned or died. The offices reported that Baoyin had failed to hold the eastern bridge, causing the defeat, and recommended the death penalty. An edict said, "Baoyin came to us in adversity; he deserves mercy. Spare his life, strip his office and title, and send him home."
22
尋尚南陽長公主，賜帛一千匹，并給禮具。 公主有婦德，事寶夤盡肅雍之禮，雖好合積年，而敬事不替。 寶夤每入室，公主必立以待之，相遇如賓，自非太妃疾篤，未曾歸休。 寶夤器性溫順，自處以禮，奉敬公主，內外諧穆，清河王懌親而重之。
He soon married the Princess of Nanyang. He was granted a thousand bolts of silk and full wedding provisions. The princess was virtuous as a wife and observed every mark of respectful harmony toward Baoyin. Though they had been married for years, her dutiful devotion never slackened. Whenever Baoyin entered her room the princess stood to greet him; they treated each other like guests. Unless the queen dowager was gravely ill, he never retired early. Gentle and compliant by nature, Baoyin conducted himself with ritual propriety and revered the princess. Household and court were at peace, and Prince Yi of Qinghe, as a kinsman, prized him.
23
永平四年，盧昶克蕭衍朐山戍，以琅邪戍主傅文驥守之。 衍遣師攻文驥，盧昶督眾軍救之，詔寶夤為使持節、假安南將軍、別將，長驅往赴，受盧昶節度。 賜帛三百匹，世宗於東堂餞之。 詔曰：「蕭衍送死，連兵再離寒暑，卿忠規內挺，孝誠外亮，必欲鞭尸吳墓，戮衍江陰，故授卿以總統之任，仗卿以克捷之規，宜其勉歟？」 寶夤對曰：「讎耻未復，枕戈俟旦，雖無申包之志，敢忘伍胥之心。 今仰仗神謀，俯厲將帥，誓必拉彼姦勁，以清王略。 聖澤下臨，不勝悲荷。」 因泣涕橫流，哽咽良久。 於後，盧昶軍敗，唯寶夤全師而歸。
In Yongping year 4 Lu Chang captured Liang's Zhushan garrison and put Langye garrison chief Fu Wenji in charge of its defense. Xiao Yan sent troops against Wenji. Lu Chang led the relief force, and Baoyin was ordered as Commissioner with credentials, acting General Who Pacifies the South, and detached commander to ride hard to the rescue under Lu Chang's command. He was granted three hundred bolts of silk, and Emperor Xuanwu gave him a farewell feast in the eastern hall. An edict said, "Xiao Yan is courting destruction. His armies have been in the field through two seasons. Your loyalty burns within and your filial devotion shines without; you surely mean to whip the corpse at the Wu tomb and slay Yan south of the Yangtze. I therefore entrust you with overall command and rely on you for victory. Strive on!" Baoyin answered, "My shame is not yet avenged; I sleep on my spear awaiting dawn. Though I lack Shen Baoxu's resolve, I dare not forget Wu Zixu's hatred. Now, relying on your wise strategy and spurring my commanders onward, I swear to crush that villain's power and restore the imperial design. Your grace overwhelms me; I am overcome with grateful sorrow." He then wept freely and choked with emotion for a long while. Later Lu Chang's army was defeated, but Baoyin returned with his force intact.
24
延昌初，除安東將軍、瀛州刺史，復其齊王。 四年，遷撫軍將軍、冀州刺史。 及大乘賊起，寶夤遣軍討之，頻為賊破。 臺軍至，乃滅之。 靈太后臨朝，還京師。
Early in the Yanchang era he was made General Who Pacifies the East and Inspector of Ying Province, and his title as Prince of Qi was restored. In the fourth year he was transferred to General Who Pacifies the Army and Inspector of Ji Province. When the Mahayana rebels rose, Baoyin sent troops against them but was repeatedly defeated. When the imperial army arrived, the rebels were destroyed. When Empress Dowager Ling held court, he returned to the capital.
25
蕭衍遣其將康絢於浮山堰淮以灌揚徐。 除寶夤使持節、都督東討諸軍事、鎮東將軍以討之。 尋復封梁郡開國公，寄食濟州之濮陽。 熙平初，賊堰既成，淮水濫溢，將為揚徐之患，寶夤於堰上流，更鑿新渠，引注淮澤，水乃小減。 乃遣輕車將軍劉智文、虎威將軍劉延宗率壯士千餘，夜渡淮，燒其竹木營聚，破賊三壘，殺獲數千人，斬其直閤將軍王升明而還，火數日不滅。 衍將垣孟孫、張僧副等水軍三千，渡淮，北攻統軍呂叵。 寶夤遣府司馬元達、統軍魏續年等赴擊，破之，孟孫等奔退。 乃授左光祿大夫、殿中尚書。 寶夤又遣軍主周恭叔率壯士數百，夜渡淮南，焚賊徐州刺史張豹子等十一營，賊眾驚擾，自殺害者甚眾。 寶夤還京師，又除使持節、散騎常侍、都督荊□東洛三州諸軍事、衞將軍、荊州刺史。 不行，復為殿中尚書。
Xiao Yan sent his general Kang Xuan to build a dam on the Huai at Mount Fu in order to flood Yang and Xu. Baoyin was appointed Commissioner with credentials, commander of the eastern punitive armies, and General Who Pacifies the East to counter the threat. He was soon re-enfeoffed as Duke of Liang Commandery, with his sustenance fief at Puyang in Ji Province. Early in the Xiping era the dam was finished and the Huai flooded, threatening Yang and Xu. Baoyin dug a new canal upstream of the dam to divert water into the Huai marshes, and the flood subsided somewhat. He sent General of Light Chariots Liu Zhiwen and General of Tiger Might Liu Yanzong with more than a thousand stalwarts to cross the Huai by night, burn the enemy's bamboo-and-timber camps, storm three fortifications, kill and capture thousands, behead Direct Gate General Wang Shengming, and return. The fires burned for days. Liang generals Yuan Mengsun and Zhang Sengfu crossed the Huai with three thousand river troops and attacked area commander Lu Po from the north. Baoyin sent his prefectural marshal Yuanda, area commander Wei Bunian, and others against them, routed the enemy, and Mengsun and his men fled. He was then made Left Grand Master of Splendor and Director Within the Palace. Baoyin again sent detachment commander Zhou Gongshu with several hundred stalwarts to cross the Huai by night and burn eleven camps belonging to the rebel Inspector of Xuzhou Zhang Baozi and others. The rebel troops panicked, and many took their own lives. When Baoyin returned to the capital he was again appointed Commissioner with credentials, Ordinary Cavalry Attendant, area commander of military affairs for Jing□, Dongluo, and the third province, Guard General, and Inspector of Jing Province. He did not take up the post and was again made Director Within the Palace.
26
寶夤之在淮堰，蕭衍手書與寶夤曰：「謝齊建安王寶夤。 亡兄長沙宣武王，昔投漢中，值北寇華陽，地絕一隅，內無素畜，外絕繼援，守危疏勒，計踰田單，卒能全土破敵，以弱為強。 使至之日，君臣動色，左右相賀，齊明帝每念此功，未嘗不輟箸咨嗟。 及至張永、崔慧景事，大將覆軍於外，小將懷貳於內，事危累卵，勢過綴旒。 亡兄忠勇奮發，旋師大峴，重圍累日，一鼓魚潰，克定慧景，功踰桓文。 亡弟衞尉，兄弟勠力，盡心內外。 大勳不報，翻罹荼酷，百口幽執，禍害相尋。 朕於齊明帝，外有龕敵之力，內盡帷幄之誠，日自三省，曾無寸咎，遠身邊外，亦復不免。 遂遣劉山陽輕舟西上，來見掩襲。 時危事迫，勢不得已。 所以誓眾樊鄧，會踰孟津，本欲翦除梅虫兒、茹法珍等，以雪冤酷，拔濟親屬，反身素里。 屬張稷、王珍國已建大事，寶晊、子晉屢動危機，迫樂推之心，應上天之命，事不獲已，豈其始願。 所以自有天下，絕棄房室，斷除滋味，正欲使四海見其本心耳。 勿謂今日之位，是為可重，朕之視此，曾不如一芥。 雖復崆峒之蹤難追，汾陽之志何遠。 而今立此堰，卿當未達本意。 朕於昆蟲，猶不欲殺，亦何急爭無用之地，戰蒼生之命也！ 正為李繼伯在壽陽，侵犯邊境，歲月滋甚。 或攻小城小戍，或掠一村一里。 若小相酬答，終無寧日，邊邑爭桑，吳楚連禍。 所以每抑鎮戍，不與校計。 繼伯既得如此，濫竊彌多。 今修此堰，止欲以報繼伯侵盜之役，既非大舉，所以不復文移北土。 卿幼有倜儻之心，早懷縱橫之氣。 往日卿於石頭舉事，雖不克捷，亦丈夫也。 今止河洛，真其時矣。 雖然，為卿計者，莫若行率此眾，襲據彭城，別當遣軍以相影援。 得捷之後，便遣卿兄子屏侍送卿國廟、并卿室家及諸姪從。 若方欲還北，更設奇計，恐機事一差，難重復集，勿為韓信，受困野鷄。」 寶夤表送其書，陳其忿毒之意。 朝廷為之報答。
While Baoyin was at the Huai embankment, Xiao Yan wrote him a personal letter that began: "To Prince Jian'an of Qi, Baoyin. My late elder brother, Prince Xuanwu of Changsha, once withdrew to Hanzhong when northerners raided Huayang. Cornered on a scrap of land with no stores within and no relief from without, he held on as precariously as Kashgar and schemed more boldly than Tian Dan, yet in the end preserved his territory, routed the enemy, and turned weakness into strength. When the envoy arrived, court and emperor alike were moved; those around them exchanged congratulations. Whenever Emperor Ming of Qi recalled the feat, he would set down his chopsticks and sigh. Then came the crises of Zhang Yong and Cui Huijing: a senior commander destroyed abroad, junior officers wavering at home—the realm balanced like a stack of eggs, the throne more precarious than a crown on a loose knot. My late brother rallied with loyal courage, wheeled his army at Great Xian, broke a prolonged siege at a single drumbeat, and crushed Huijing—an achievement surpassing even Duke Huan and Duke Wen. My late younger brother, the Guard Commandant, and I joined forces and gave our all at court and in the field. Great service went unrewarded; instead our house suffered cruel persecution— a hundred kin imprisoned, disaster heaped upon disaster. Toward Emperor Ming of Qi I gave him every outward strength against his foes and every inward counsel in his councils. I examined myself thrice daily and was without fault, yet even when I kept far from court I could not escape harm. He then sent Liu Shanyang upriver in light boats to seize and strike at me. The hour was desperate and left me no choice. So I rallied the hosts at Fan and Deng and crossed beyond Meng Ford, intending to cut down Mei Chong'er, Ru Fazhen, and their ilk, avenge our wrongs, rescue our kin, and return home. Once Zhang Ji and Wang Zhenguo had already set the great deed in motion, and Baozhi and Zijin repeatedly pushed the crisis forward, I was driven by those who wished to elevate me and answered what seemed Heaven's command. The throne was not what I had first sought. That is why, since taking the throne, I have forsaken my household and renounced delicacies—so that all under heaven might see my true heart. Do not imagine that the throne today is something weighty; to me it is worth less than a mustard seed. Though one cannot recover the abdication of the Yellow Emperor on Mount Kongtong, how distant is the renunciation of Guo Ziyi of Fenyang? Yet in building this embankment now, you have perhaps not yet understood my true intent. I would not willingly kill even an insect—why then rush to fight over worthless ground and wager the lives of the people! It is only because Li Jibo at Shouyang has been encroaching on the frontier, and the raids grow worse month by month. One day he strikes a minor fort, the next he plunders a hamlet or village. If we traded blow for petty blow, peace would never come; frontier towns would quarrel over mulberry groves, and Wu and Chu would share one endless disaster. So I repeatedly held the frontier garrisons back and refused to answer in kind. Once Jibo saw he could go this far, his depredations only multiplied. I am building this embankment only to answer Jibo's raids and plunder. It is no full-scale war, which is why I have not sent formal dispatches to the north. You have been bold and unbounded since youth, and long carried the temper of a strategist. When you raised your banner at Shitou in days past you did not prevail, yet even so you showed yourself a man. The He and Luo region lies open now—truly the moment is yours. Still, your best course is to lead these troops at once, strike, and seize Pengcheng; I will send another force to support you from afar. Once you prevail, I will send your brother's son Ping Shi to escort your ancestral temple, your household, and your nephews to join you. If you mean to turn north again and try some new scheme, one missed chance may never return—do not become another Han Xin, caught like a bird in the wild-cock snare. Baoyin forwarded the letter in a memorial, denouncing its spiteful tone. The court drafted a reply on his behalf.
27
寶夤志存雪復，屢請居邊。 神龜中，出為都督徐南兗二州諸軍事、車騎將軍、徐州刺史。 乃起學館於清東，朔望引見土姓子弟，接以恩顏，與論經義，勤於政治，吏民愛之。 凡在三州，皆著名稱。
Baoyin burned to avenge his wrongs and repeatedly asked to serve on the frontier. During the Shengui era he was sent out as area commander of military affairs for Xu and Southern Yan, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Inspector of Xuzhou. He founded a school east of Qing and, on the first and fifteenth of each month, received local gentry's sons with warm courtesy and debated the classics with them. Diligent in administration, he won the affection of officials and commoners alike. In each of the three provinces where he served, he won renown.
28
正光二年，徵為車騎大將軍、尚書左僕射。 善於吏職，甚有聲名。 四年，上表曰：
In the second year of Zhengguang he was recalled as General of Chariots and Cavalry and Left Vice Minister of the Secretariat. He was skilled in administration and widely respected. In the fourth year he submitted a memorial that read:
29
臣聞堯典有黜陟之文，周書有考績之法，雖其源難得而尋，然條流抑亦可知矣。 大較在于官人用才，審於所莅； 練迹校名，驗於虛實。 豈不以臧否得之餘論，優劣著於歷試者乎？ 既聲窮於月旦，品定於黃紙，用效於名輩，事彰於臺閤，則賞罰之途，差有商準； 用捨之宜，非無依據。 雖復勇進忘退之儔，奔競於市里； 過分亡涯之請，馳騖於多門； 猶且顧其聲第，慎其與奪。 器分定於下，爵位懸於上，不可妄叨故也。
I have heard that the Canon of Yao sets out rules for promotion and demotion, and the Documents of Zhou lay down methods for assessing performance. Though their origins are obscure, their principles can still be discerned. In essence it comes down to appointing men for their talents and judging them by the offices they hold; refining their records, testing their reputations, and verifying deed against claim. Are not merit and fault settled only after repeated scrutiny, and rank and failure decided only after repeated trial? Once monthly appraisals have exhausted a man's reputation, yellow-edict ranks have fixed his grade, peers have tested his results, and the Secretariat has recorded his deeds, reward and punishment at least have some measure; and appointment and removal are not wholly arbitrary. Even those who push forward relentlessly and scramble in the streets, and those whose demands know no limit and who petition at every door, still watch their standing and rank and weigh what may be granted or withdrawn. Office and rank are defined below and titles suspended above; one must not seize them unworthily.
30
今竊見考功之典，所懷未喻，敢竭無隱，試陳萬一。 何者？ 竊惟文武之名，在人之極地； 德行之稱，為生之最首。 忠貞之美，立朝之譽，仁義之號，處身之端，自非職惟九官，任當四岳，授曰爾諧，讓稱俞往，將何以克厭大名，允茲令問。 自比已來，官罔高卑，人無貴賤，皆飾辭假說，用相褒舉。 涇渭同波，薰猶共器，求者不能量其多少，與者不復覈其是非。 遂使冠履相貿，名與實爽，謂之考功，事同汎陟，紛紛漫漫，焉可勝言。
Yet in the examination system as I have observed it, the intent escapes me. Allow me to speak plainly and offer what little I can. Why is this? I believe that the titles of civil and military merit mark the highest ground a man can stand on; and the name for virtue and conduct is the first honor in life. Loyalty, public honor, benevolence, and upright conduct are not titles one can truly bear unless one holds one of the great offices of state and is appointed with the gravity due a chief minister. How then can every man claim such names and deserve such praise? In recent times, high and low, noble and base alike polish phrases and trade flattery, praising one another without end. Clear and foul run in one stream, fragrant and foul sit in one bowl; those who seek favor cannot tell how much is offered, and those who grant it no longer ask what is true. Cap and sandal change places; name and fact part company. What is called examination of merit becomes mere blanket promotion—confusion beyond telling.
31
又在京之官，積年一考。 其中或所事之主遷移數四，或所奉之君身名廢絕，或具僚離索，或同事凋零，雖當時文簿，記其殿最，日久月深，駁落都盡，人有去留，誰復掌其勤墮？ 或停休積稔，或分隔數千，累年之後，方求追訪聲迹，立其考第。 無不苟相悅附，共為脣齒，飾垢掩疵，妄加丹素，趣令得階而已，無所顧惜。 賢達君子，未免斯患； 中庸已降，夫復何論。 官以求成，身以請立，上下相蒙，莫斯為甚。
In the capital, moreover, officials are reviewed only once every few years. Some served several masters in succession; some served lords who fell and vanished; colleagues dispersed or died. Though records once noted each man's grade, the papers decayed with time, and as men came and went, who still tracked who had worked and who had slacked? Some were idle for years on end, or separated by thousands of li; only after many years did anyone try to reconstruct reputations and set examination ranks. None failed to flatter one another, cover faults, paint mediocrity as brilliance, and seek promotion by any means, without scruple. Even worthy and principled men are not spared; for the mediocre and worse, what need even to speak? Posts were sought by fraud and careers built on falsehood; superiors and subordinates deceived one another—and nothing went deeper.
32
又勤恤人隱，咸歸守令，厥任非輕，所責實重。 然及其考課，悉以六載為程，既而限滿代還，復經六年而敍。 是則歲周十二，始得一階。 於東西兩省、文武閑職、公府散佐、無事冗官，或數旬方應一直，或朔望止於暫朝，及其考日，更得四年為限。 是則一紀之中，便登三級。 彼以實勞劇任，而遷貴之路至難； 此以散位虛名，而升陟之方甚易。 何內外之相懸，令厚薄之如是！
Again, the people's hidden grievances are entrusted to prefects and magistrates—a burden neither light nor nominal. Yet when they are reviewed, the cycle is six years; when a term ends and they are replaced, another six years pass before rank advances. Twelve years must pass before they gain a single step in rank. Yet in the two capital provinces, in idle civil and military posts, in staff and sinecure offices, some report for duty only once in many weeks and attend court briefly at the new and full moon; when review comes, their term is only four years. In a single twelve-year span they may rise three ranks. Those who bear real labor and heavy responsibility find the path to honor all but closed; while those with hollow titles and empty posts find promotion easy. What a gulf between inside and outside; what a skew between burden and reward!
33
又聞之，聖人大寶曰位，何以守位曰仁。 孟子亦曰：仁義忠信天爵也，公卿大夫人爵也。 古之人修其天爵而人爵從之。 故雖文質異時，污隆殊世，莫不寶茲名器，不以假人。 是以賞罰之柄，恒自持也。 至乃周之藹藹，五叔無官； 漢之察察，館陶徒請。 豈不重骨肉、私親親？ 誠以賞罰一差，則無以懲勸； 至公暫替，則覬覦相欺。 故至慎至惜，殷勤若此。 況乎親非胏腑，才乖秀逸； 或充單介之使，始無汗馬之勞； 或說興利之規，終慚十一之潤。 皆虛張無功，妄指贏益，坐獲數階之官，藉成通顯之貴。 於是巧詐萌生，偽辯鋒出，役萬慮以求榮，開百方而逐利。 握樞秉鈞者，亦知其若斯，[7]但抑之則其流已注，引之則有何紀極。
I have also heard that the sage's greatest treasure is office, and that what preserves office is benevolence. Mencius also said: 'Benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and good faith are Heaven's nobility; the ranks of duke, minister, and grandee are man's nobility.' The ancients cultivated Heaven's nobility, and human rank followed of itself. So though ages differ in culture and fortune, none failed to treat these titles as treasures and refuse to lend them lightly. Thus the power to reward and punish remained firmly in the ruler's own hand. Even in flourishing Zhou the five royal uncles held no office; and in austere Han even the Prince of Guantao's petition was denied. Was this not because rulers cherished kin? Yes—but also because one skew in reward and punishment destroys all incentive; and when perfect fairness wavers, envy and deceit follow. Hence the utmost caution, the utmost restraint. How much more when the beneficiary is no close kinsman and talent falls short of distinction; when some serve a minor embassy without ever sweating over campaign or horse; when others propose profit schemes yet cannot show even a tenth part's return. All inflate hollow merit, claim false profit, collect rank after rank, and ride borrowed glory to prominence. Then deceit flourished, sophistry sharpened, and men deployed every scheme for honor and every path to profit. Those who hold power know this as well, [7] yet to dam the flood is already too late, and to let it run is to lose all bounds.
34
夫琴瑟在於必和，更張求其適調。 去者既不可追，來者猶或宜改。 按周官太宰之職：歲終，則令官府各正所司，受其會計，聽其致事，而詔於王； 三歲，則大計羣吏之治而誅賞之。 愚謂：今可粗依其準，見居官者，每歲終，本曹皆明辨在官日月，具覈才行能否，審其實用而注其上下，游辭宕說，無一取焉。 列上尚書，覆其合否。 如有紕謬，即正而罰之，不得方復推詰委否，容其進退。 既定其優劣，善惡交分。 庸短下第，黜凡以明法； 幹務忠清，甄能以記賞。 總而奏之。 經奏之後，考功曹別書於黃紙、油帛。 一通則本曹尚書與令、僕印署，留於門下； 一通則以侍中、黃門印署，掌在尚書。 嚴加緘密，不得開視，考績之日，然後對共裁量。 如此，則少存實錄，薄止姦回。 其內外考格，裁非庸管，乞求博議，以為畫一。 若殊謀異策，事關廢興，遐邇所談，物無異議者，自可臨時斟酌，匪拘恒例。 至如援流引比之訴，貪榮求級之請，如不限以關鍵，肆其傍通，則蔓草難除，涓流遂積，穢我彝章，撓茲大典。 謂宜明加禁斷，以全至治，開返本之路，杜澆弊之門。 如斯，則吉士盈朝，薪槱載煥矣。
As zither and lute must be tuned together, so strings must be reset to find the right pitch. The past cannot be recovered, but what lies ahead may still be amended. The Offices of Zhou charge the Grand Minister: at year's end he orders each office to correct its administration, submit accounts, report its business, and lay all before the king; and every three years he reviews all officials' governance and metes out punishment and reward. I propose that we follow that model in broad outline: each year every bureau should record clearly how long each official has served, assess ability and conduct without flattery, judge real performance, and mark each man high or low—accepting no glib excuse. Submit the lists to the Secretariat for verification. Where there is error, correct it and punish it; do not again defer judgment, shift responsibility, and let offenders slip away. Once rank and merit are fixed, the worthy and unworthy stand clearly apart. Place the mediocre and deficient at the bottom of the list, dismiss the unremarkable to make the law plain; For those who serve with loyalty and integrity, select merit and record rewards. Compile the whole and submit it as a memorial. After the memorial is submitted, the Merit Evaluation Bureau records separate copies on yellow paper and oiled silk. One copy is sealed by the bureau's Secretary together with the Minister and Vice-Minister of the Secretariat and kept at the Gate Department; The other is sealed by the Attendant-in-Ordinary and the Yellow Gate Director and held by the Secretariat. Both are sealed strictly and must not be opened beforehand; only on evaluation day are they brought out and weighed together. In this way truth would be better preserved and fraud somewhat contained. The standards for internal and external evaluation are no petty matter; I beg wide deliberation to establish one uniform rule. Where a singular plan or strategy bears on the fate of the state, and men near and far discuss it without dissent, the court may weigh it at the moment and need not be bound by fixed precedent. But appeals that cite stray precedents and petitions driven by greed for rank—if not held in check, allowed to slip through side doors—will spread like weeds, accumulate drop by drop, and defile our statutes and undermine this great institution. I hold that these should be plainly forbidden, to preserve good order, reopen the path to fundamentals, and shut the door to decay. Then good men would fill the court, and worth would blaze like bundled kindling.
35
詔付外博議，以為永式，竟無所定。
An edict sent the proposal out for broad discussion as a permanent rule, but in the end nothing was settled.
36
時蕭衍弟子西豐侯正德來降，寶夤表曰：
At that time Xiao Yan's nephew, the Marquis of Xifeng, Zhengde, came over in surrender. Baoyin submitted a memorial saying:
37
伏見揚州表，蕭正德自云避禍，遠投宸掖，背父叛君，駭議眾口，深心指趣，厥情難測。
I have read the Yangzhou report. Xiao Zhengde claims he fled calamity and came from afar to the imperial court. He betrayed his father and turned against his lord—men everywhere are appalled. His deeper motives and inclinations are impossible to read.
38
臣聞立身行道，始於事親，終於事君。 故君親盡之以恒敬，嚴父兼之以博愛。 斯人倫之所先，王教之盛典。 三千之罪，莫大於不孝。 毀則藏姦，常刑靡赦。 所以晉恭獲謗，無所逃死； 衞伋受誣，二子繼沒。 親命匪棄，國孰無父？ 況今封豕尚存，長蛇未滅，偷生江表，自安毒酖。 而正德居猶子之親，竊通侯之貴，父榮於國，子爵於家，履霜弗聞，去就先結。 隔絕山淮，溫凊永盡，定省長違，報復何日？ 以此為心，心可知矣。
I have heard that to stand upright in the world and walk the Way one begins by serving one's parents and ends by serving one's ruler. Hence one serves ruler and parents with unchanging reverence, and honors a stern father with encompassing love. This comes first among human relations and stands among the crowning rites of royal teaching. Of the three thousand offenses, none is greater than unfilial conduct. Those who destroy filial duty conceal treachery, and ordinary punishments know no pardon for them. This is why Duke Gong of Jin, though slandered, could not escape death; and why Wei Ji, though falsely accused, saw both his sons die in turn. If a father's charge is not cast aside, in what realm is there no father? And now the great enemy still lives and the long serpent is not yet destroyed, while he clings to life south of the Yangtze and rests easy in a cup of poison. Yet Zhengde holds the standing of an heir-son, enjoys a stolen marquisate, sees his father honored by the state and himself ennobled at home, never felt the frost underfoot, and had already decided where to go and where to stay. Mountains and the Huai stand between them; he can no longer warm or cool his father's bed, no longer attend him morning and evening—when will he repay what he owes? Take this as the measure of his heart, and his heart is plain enough.
39
皇朝綿基累葉，恩均四海，自北徂南，要荒仰澤，能言革化，無思不韙。 賁玉帛於丘園，標忠孝以納賞； 築藳街于伊洛，集華裔其歸心。 被髮鐻身之酋，屈膝而請吏； 交趾文身之渠，款關而効質。 至如正德，宜甄義以致貶。 昔越栖會稽，賴宰嚭以獲立； 漢困彭宋，實丁公而獲免。 吳項已平，二臣即法。 豈不錄其情哉？ 欲明責以示後。 況遺君忽父，狼子是心，既不親親，安能親人。 中間變詐，或有萬等。 伏惟陛下聖敬自天，欽光纂歷，昭德塞違，以臨羣后，脫苞此凶醜，置之列位，百官是象，其何誅焉！
Our dynasty's foundations run through many generations; its grace reaches the four seas. From north to south, the farthest frontiers look up to its bounty; speech itself is remade by its transforming power, and no loyal thought falls out of accord. Men bring jade and silk from their garden retreats and are rewarded for loyalty and filial piety; reed-hut lanes are built at Yi and Luo, and Chinese exiles of every branch return with loyal hearts. Chiefs with loose hair and pierced bodies kneel and ask to be made subjects; and tattooed chieftains of Jiaozhi knock at the gates and present themselves as hostages. A man like Zhengde ought to be judged by principle and held up for censure. Long ago Yue held to Kuaiji and owed its survival to Grand Administrator Pi; the Han was besieged at Pengcheng and Song and was saved through Duke Ding. Yet once Wu and Xiang were pacified, both men were brought to justice. Did the court fail to weigh their circumstances? It wished to make responsibility plain for those who come after. All the more when he abandons his ruler and neglects his father: his heart is the heart of a wolf cub. If he will not love his own kin, how can he love anyone else? In the mean time his shifts and deceits may take ten thousand forms. Your Majesty's sacred reverence comes from Heaven; you inherit the mandate with sober glory, display virtue and hold back wrongdoing, and rule over all the lords. If you now wrap up this wicked man and set him among the ranks—when all officials look to him as an example—how then can guilt be punished?
40
臣釁結禍深，痛纏肝髓，日暮途遙，復報無日，豈區區於一豎哉？ 但才雖庸近，職居獻替，愚衷寸抱，敢不申陳。 伏願聖慈少垂察覽，訪議槐棘，論其是非。 使秋霜春露，施之有在； 相鼠攸刺，遄死有歸。 無令申伋受笑於苟存，曾閔淪名於盛世。
My guilt runs deep and disaster clings to me; grief coils through my liver and marrow. The day is late and the road is long; the day of repayment may never come. Surely this is not a matter of one contemptible man alone! Yet though my ability is humble and my post only one of remonstrance, the thought in my heart cannot be held back, and I dare not fail to speak. I humbly beg Your sage compassion to look into this, to consult the court at the locust-and-thorn gate, and judge right from wrong. Let autumn frost and spring dew—the rites owed to the dead and the living—be rightly observed; let the scorn of "Look at the Rat" strike home, and let swift death find its proper end. Do not let Shen Ji become a laughingstock for clinging to life, nor Zeng Min lose his good name in an age of sage rule.
41
正德既至京師，朝廷待之尤薄。 歲餘，還叛。
After Zhengde reached the capital, the court treated him with unusual coldness. After a little more than a year, he went back and rebelled.
42
五年，蕭衍遣其將裴邃、虞鴻等率眾寇揚州，詔寶夤為使持節、散騎常侍、車騎大將軍、都督徐州東道諸軍事，率諸將討之。 既而揚州刺史長孫稚大破邃軍，斬鴻，賊遂奔退。
In the fifth year, Xiao Yan sent his generals Pei Sui, Yu Hong, and others to invade Yangzhou with an army. An edict made Baoyin Envoy Holding the Staff, Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Scattered Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Commander of all military affairs on the Eastern Route of Xuzhou, charging him to lead the generals against them. Soon afterward the Yangzhou Inspector Changsun Zhi routed Pei Sui's army, killed Yu Hong, and the enemy fled.
43
初，秦州城人薛珍、劉慶、杜遷等反，執刺史李彥，推莫折大提為首，自稱秦王。 大提尋死，其第四子念生竊號天子，改年曰天建，置立官僚，以息阿胡為太子，其兄阿倪為西河王，弟天生為高陽王，伯珍為東郡王，安保為平陽王。 遣天生率眾出隴東，攻沒汧城，仍陷岐州，執元志、裴芬之等，遂寇雍州，屯於黑水。 朝廷甚憂之，乃除寶夤開府、西道行臺，率所部東行將統，為大都督西征。 肅宗幸明堂，因以餞之。
Earlier, the townspeople of Qinzhou—Xue Zhen, Liu Qing, Du Qian, and others—rose in revolt, seized Inspector Li Yan, and set up Moqi Dati as their leader, who proclaimed himself King of Qin. Dati soon died. His fourth son Niansheng seized the title of Son of Heaven, changed the era name to Tianjian, established a full bureaucracy, made Xi Ahu crown prince, his elder brother Ani King of Xihe, his younger brother Tiansheng King of Gaoyang, Bozhen King of Dongjun, and Anbao King of Pingyang. He sent Tiansheng to lead an army east out of Long, stormed and took Qian city, then seized Qizhou, captured Yuan Zhi, Pei Fenzhi, and others, and pressed on against Yongzhou, encamping at Heishui. The court was deeply alarmed and appointed Baoyin Opener of a Headquarters and head of the Western Route Executive, putting him in command of his forces marching east as Grand Commander of the Western Expedition. Emperor Suzong visited the Bright Hall and there saw him off.
44
寶夤與大都督崔延伯擊天生，大破之，斬獲十餘萬。 追奔至于小隴，軍人採掠，遂致稽留，不速追討，隴路復塞。 仍進討高平賊帥万俟醜奴於安定，更有負捷。 時有天水人呂伯度兄弟，始共念生同逆，後與兄眾保於顯親，聚眾討念生，戰敗，降於胡琛。 琛以伯度為大都督、秦王，資其士馬，還征秦州，大敗念生將杜粲於成紀，又破其金城王莫折普賢於水洛城，[8]遂至顯親。 念生率眾，身自拒戰，又大奔敗。 伯度乃背胡琛，襲琛將劉拔，破走之，遣其兄子忻和率騎東引國軍。 念生事迫，乃詐降於寶夤。 朝廷喜伯度立義之功，授撫軍將軍、涇州刺史、平秦郡開國公，食邑三千戶。 而大都督元脩義、高聿，停軍隴口，久不西進。 念生復反，伯度終為醜奴所殺。 故賊勢更甚，寶夤不能制。 孝昌二年四月，除寶夤侍中、驃騎大將軍、儀同三司、假大將軍、尚書令，給後部鼓吹，增封千戶。 寶夤初自黑水，終至平涼，與賊相對，數年攻擊，賊亦憚之，關中保全，寶夤之力矣。
Baoyin and the Grand Commander Cui Yanbo attacked Tiansheng and crushed him, killing and capturing more than a hundred thousand men. The pursuit carried as far as Xiao Long, but the troops turned to looting, which slowed them down; failing to press the pursuit, the routes through Long were blocked once more. They then moved against the Gaoping bandit chief Wanqi Chunu at Anding and won further victories. At that time the Tianshui brothers Lü Bodu and his kin had first rebelled alongside Niansheng, then withdrew with their elder brother Zhong to hold Xianqin, rallied men against Niansheng, were defeated, and surrendered to Hu Chen. Chen made Bodu Grand Commander and King of Qin, supplied him with troops and horses, and sent him back against Qinzhou. He routed Niansheng's general Du Can at Chenji, then defeated his King of Jincheng, Moqi Puxian, at Shuilo city, [8] and advanced as far as Xianqin. Niansheng led his army out to resist in person and was routed once again. Bodu then turned on Hu Chen, attacked Chen's general Liu Ba and drove him off, and sent his nephew Xinhe east with cavalry to guide the imperial army. Hard pressed, Niansheng pretended to surrender to Baoyin. The court delighted in Bodu's loyal service and made him General Who Pacifies the Army, Inspector of Jingzhou, and Duke of Pingqian Commandery with a fief of three thousand households. But the Grand Commanders Yuan Xiuyi and Gao Yu halted at Longkou and for a long time failed to advance west. Niansheng rebelled again, and Bodu was ultimately killed by Chunu. The rebels' power therefore grew still worse, and Baoyin could not bring them under control. In the fourth month of the second year of Xiaochang, Baoyin was made Palace Attendant, General of Swift Cavalry, Merit Equal to the Three Excellencies, Acting Great General, and Minister Director of the Left, granted imperial music for his guard, and given an additional fief of one thousand households. From his first stand at Heishui to his long campaign as far as Pingliang, he faced the rebels year after year; they feared him too, and Guanzhong was preserved—this was Baoyin's achievement.
45
三年正月，除司空公。 出師既久，兵將疲弊，是月大敗，還雍州。 仍停長安，收聚離散。 有司處寶夤死罪，詔恕為民。 四月，除使持節、都督雍涇岐南豳四州諸軍事、征西將軍、雍州刺史、假車騎大將軍、開府、西討大都督，自關以西，皆受節度。 九年，念生為其常山王杜粲所殺，合門皆盡。 粲據州請降於寶夤。 十月，除散騎常侍、車騎將軍、尚書令，復其舊封。
In the first month of the third year he was appointed Minister of Works. His campaign had dragged on too long; troops and commanders were worn out. That month he suffered a crushing defeat and withdrew to Yongzhou. He halted at Chang'an and gathered his scattered forces. The judicial offices sentenced Baoyin to death, but an edict pardoned him and reduced him to commoner status. In the fourth month he was reappointed Envoy Holding the Staff, Commander of all military affairs in Yong, Jing, Qi, and Southern Bin, General Who Campaigns West, Inspector of Yongzhou, Acting General of Chariots and Cavalry, Opener of a Headquarters, and Grand Commander of the Western Punitive Campaign, with all forces west of the Pass under his command. In the ninth year Niansheng was killed by his King of Changshan, Du Can, and his entire household was wiped out. Du Can held the province and offered surrender to Baoyin. In the tenth month he was made Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Scattered Cavalry, General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Minister Director of the Left, and his old fief was restored.
46
是時，山東、關西，寇賊充斥，王師屢北，人情沮喪。 寶夤自以出軍累年，糜費尤廣，一旦覆敗，慮見猜責，內不自安。 朝廷頗亦疑阻，乃遣御史中尉酈道元為關中大使。 寶夤謂密欲取己，彌以憂懼。 而長安輕薄之徒，因相說動。 道元行達陰盤驛，寶夤密遣其將郭子恢等攻而殺之，詐收道元尸，表言白賊所害。 又殺都督、南平王仲冏。 是月，遂反，僭舉大號，赦其部內，稱隆緒元年，立百官。 乃遣郭子恢東寇潼關，行臺張始榮圍華州刺史崔襲。 詔尚書僕射行臺長孫稚討之。 時北地人毛鴻賓與其兄遐糾率鄉義，將討寶夤。 寶夤遣其大將軍盧祖遷等擊遐，為遐所殺。 又遣其將侯終德往攻遐。 會子恢為官軍所敗，長孫稚又遣子子彥破始榮於華州，終德因此勢挫，還圖寶夤。 軍至白門，寶夤始覺，與終德交戰，戰敗，攜公主及其少子與部下百餘騎，從後門出走，渡渭橋，投於寧夷巴張宕昌、劉興周舍。 尋奔醜奴，醜奴以寶夤為太傅。
At that time bandits filled the eastern provinces and the west; the imperial army suffered defeat after defeat, and morale collapsed. Baoyin knew he had campaigned for years at enormous cost and had now suffered sudden ruin; he feared suspicion and blame and could not rest easy. The court too grew suspicious, and sent the Supervising Censor Li Daoyuan to Guanzhong as imperial envoy. Baoyin took this to mean they meant secretly to seize him, and his fear only grew. Meanwhile the idle and reckless men of Chang'an egged one another on. When Daoyuan reached Yinpan Post on his journey, Baoyin secretly sent his generals Guo Zihui and others to attack and kill him, seized his body under false pretenses, and memorialized that he had been killed by White Bandits. He also killed the Commander, Prince of Nanping, Zhongjiong. That same month he rebelled, proclaimed himself emperor, granted amnesty within his domains, adopted the era name Longxu, year one, and established a full bureaucracy. He sent Guo Zihui east against Tong Pass, while the Executive Zhang Shirong besieged Cui Xi, the Inspector of Huazhou. An edict ordered the Minister Secretary and Executive Changsun Zhi to put him down. At that time Mao Hongbin of Beidi and his elder brother Xia rallied local loyalists to move against Baoyin. Baoyin sent his Great General Lu Zuqian and others against Xia, and they were killed by him. He then sent his general Hou Zhongde to attack Xia. Just then Zihui was defeated by the imperial army, and Changsun Zhi sent his son Ziyan to rout Shirong at Huazhou. Zhongde's force was broken, and he turned to plot against Baoyin. When the army reached White Gate, Baoyin finally realized what was happening. He fought Zhongde and was defeated, then fled with the princess, his youngest son, and a little over a hundred horsemen through the rear gate, crossed Wei Bridge, and took refuge with the Ningyi Ba chiefs Zhang Danchang and Liu Xingzhou. He soon fled to Chunu, who made him Grand Tutor.
47
永安三年，都督尒朱天光遣賀拔岳等破醜奴於安定，追擒醜奴、寶夤，並送京師。 詔置閶闔門外都街之中，京師士女，聚共觀視，凡經三日。 吏部尚書李神儁、黃門侍郎高道穆並與寶夤素舊，二人相與左右，言於莊帝，云「其逆亦事在前朝」，冀得赦免。 會應詔王道習時自外至，莊帝問道習在外所聞。 道習曰：「唯聞陛下欲不殺蕭寶夤。」 帝問其故。 道習曰：「人云：李尚書、高黃門與寶夤周款，並居得言之地，必能全之。」 道習因曰：「若謂寶夤逆在前朝，便將恕之。 寶夤敗於長安，走為醜奴太傅，豈非陛下御曆之日？ 賊臣不翦，法欲安施？」 帝然其言，乃於太僕駞牛署賜死。 寶夤之將死，神儁攜酒就之以敍舊故，因對之下泣。 而寶夤夷然自持，了不憂懼，唯稱「推天委命，恨不終臣節」而已。 公主攜男女就寶夤訣別，慟哭極哀。 寶夤死，色貌不改。 寶夤有三子，皆公主所生，而並凡劣。
In the third year of Yong'an the Commander Erzhu Tianguang sent Heba Yue and others to defeat Chunu at Anding, pursued and captured both Chunu and Baoyin, and sent them to the capital. An edict had them placed in the main street outside Changhe Gate, and for three days the men and women of the capital gathered to watch. Li Shenjun, Minister of Personnel, and Gao Daomu, Vice Director of the Yellow Gate, were both old friends of Baoyin. The two sided with him and told Emperor Zhuang, "His rebellion belongs to the affairs of the previous reign as well," hoping he might be pardoned. Just then Wang Daoxi, summoned by edict, arrived from outside the palace, and Emperor Zhuang asked what he had heard beyond the gates. Daoxi said, "I have only heard that Your Majesty does not intend to execute Xiao Baoyin." The Emperor asked why. Daoxi said, "People say Minister Li and Vice Director of the Yellow Gate Gao are on close terms with Baoyin. Both hold posts where they can speak freely, and will surely save him. Daoxi went on, "If Baoyin's rebellion is treated as a matter of the previous reign, then he will be pardoned. Yet Baoyin was defeated at Chang'an and fled to become Chunu's Grand Tutor—was that not after Your Majesty had already ascended the throne? If a traitorous minister is not cut down, how can the law be upheld?" The Emperor agreed and ordered Baoyin granted death by poison at the Chief of Palace Transportation's Camel Office. As Baoyin was about to die, Shenjun brought wine to renew their old friendship and wept before him. Baoyin, however, remained calm and composed, without fear or distress, saying only, "I defer to Heaven and accept my fate. I regret only that I could not remain a loyal minister to the end." The princess brought her children to Baoyin for a final farewell, weeping in deepest grief. When Baoyin died, his face did not change. Baoyin had three sons, all born to the princess, and all were undistinguished.
48
長子烈，復尚肅宗妹建德公主，拜駙馬都尉。 寶夤反，伏法。
The eldest son, Lie, again married Emperor Suzong's younger sister, Princess Jian'de, and was appointed Commandant of the Imperial Son-in-Law. When Baoyin rebelled, Lie was executed by law.
49
次子權，與少子凱射戲，凱矢激中之而死。 凱仕至司徒左長史。 凱妻，長孫稚女也，輕薄無禮，公主數加罪責。 凱竊銜恨，妻復惑說之。 天平中，凱遂遣奴害公主。 乃轘凱於東巿，妻梟首。 家遂殄滅。
The second son Quan and the youngest son Kai were shooting at targets for sport when Kai's arrow ricocheted and struck Quan, killing him. Kai rose to the post of Left Chief Clerk of the Minister of Education. Kai's wife was Changsun Zhi's daughter. She was frivolous and disrespectful, and the princess repeatedly rebuked and punished her. Kai secretly nursed resentment, and his wife further goaded him on. During the Tianping era, Kai sent a slave to kill the princess. Kai was then torn apart at the Eastern Market, and his wife's head was displayed on a pole. The family was thus wiped out.
50
寶夤兄寶卷子贊，字德文，本名綜，入國，寶夤改焉。 初，蕭衍滅寶卷，寶卷宮人吳氏始孕，匿而不言，衍仍納之，生贊，以為己子，封豫章王。 及長，學涉，有才思。 其母告之以實，贊晝則談謔如常，夜則銜悲泣涕，結客待士，恒有來奔之志。 為衍諸子深所猜疾，而衍甚愛寵之。
Baoyin's elder brother Baojuan had a son Zan, styled Dewen, originally named Zong; when he entered Wei, Baoyin changed his name. When Xiao Yan overthrew Baojuan, Baojuan's palace woman Lady Wu had just conceived. She hid the pregnancy and said nothing, yet Yan still took her in. She bore Zan, whom Yan treated as his own son and enfeoffed as Prince of Yuzhang. When he grew up, he was well read and gifted with literary talent. When his mother told him the truth, Zan joked and chatted by day as always, but at night he grieved and wept. He gathered followers and treated men of talent, always longing to flee north. Yan's sons deeply distrusted and resented him, yet Yan himself greatly loved and favored him.
51
有濟陰芮文寵、安定梁話，贊曲加禮接，乃割血自誓，布以腹心。 寵、話等既感其情義，敬相然諾。 值元法僧以彭城叛入蕭衍，衍命贊為南兗、徐二州刺史、都督江北諸軍事，鎮彭城。 於時，肅宗遣安豐王延明、臨淮王彧討之，贊便遣使密告誠款，與寵、話夜出，步投彧軍。 孝昌元年秋，屆于洛陽，陛見之後，就館舉哀，追服三載。 寶夤于時在關西，遣使觀察，聞其形貌，斂眉悲感。 朝廷賞賜豐渥，禮遇隆厚，授司空，封高平郡開國公、丹陽王，食邑七千戶。
There were Rui Wenchong of Jiyin and Liang Hua of Anding. Zan treated them with especial courtesy, cut his flesh to swear an oath, and laid bare his innermost heart. Moved by his loyalty and affection, Wenchong, Hua, and the others pledged themselves to him in earnest. When Yuan Faseng rebelled at Pengcheng and went over to Xiao Yan, Yan made Zan Inspector of Southern Yan and Xu, Commander of all military affairs north of the Yangtze, with his headquarters at Pengcheng. Emperor Suzong then sent the Prince of Anfeng, Yanming, and the Prince of Linhuai, Yu, against him. Zan secretly sent envoys to declare his loyalty, then slipped out by night with Wenchong and Hua on foot and joined Yu's army. In the autumn of the first year of Xiaochang he reached Luoyang. After audience with the throne he went to his lodging and mourned, observing three years of mourning retroactively. Baoyin was then in the west and sent an envoy to observe him. When he heard of Zan's appearance, he knit his brows in sorrow. The court rewarded him lavishly and treated him with great honor, appointing him Minister of Works, enfeoffing him as Duke of Gaoping Commandery and Prince of Danyang, with a fief of seven thousand households.
52
及寶夤反，贊惶怖，欲奔白鹿山，至河橋，為北中所執。 朝議明其不相干預，仍蒙慰勉。 建義初，隨尒朱榮赴晉陽，莊帝徵贊還洛。 轉司徒，遷太尉，尚帝姊壽陽長公主。 出為都督齊濟西兗三州諸軍事、驃騎大將軍、開府儀同三司、齊州刺史。 寶夤見擒，贊拜表請寶夤命。 尒朱兆入洛，為城民趙洛周所逐。 公主被錄還京，尒朱世隆欲相陵逼，公主守操被害。 贊既棄州為沙門，潛詣長白山，未幾，趣白鹿山。 至陽平，遇病而卒，時年三十一。
When Baoyin rebelled, Zan was terrified and tried to flee to Bailu Mountain. At He Bridge he was seized by the northern garrison. The court found that he had had no part in it and still treated him with reassurance and encouragement. At the beginning of Jianyi he followed Erzhu Rong to Jinyang, and Emperor Zhuang summoned Zan back to Luoyang. He was made Minister of Education, then Grand Commandant, and married the Emperor's elder sister, the Princess of Shouyang. He was sent out as Commander of all military affairs in Qi, Western Ji, and Yan, General of Swift Cavalry, Merit Equal to the Three Excellencies, and Inspector of Qi Province. When Baoyin was captured, Zan submitted a memorial begging for his life. When Erzhu Zhao entered Luoyang, Zan was driven off by the townsman Zhao Luozhou. The princess was seized and sent back to the capital. Erzhu Shilong tried to force himself upon her, and the princess, defending her virtue, was killed. Zan abandoned his province and became a monk, secretly making for Mount Changbai; before long he set out for Bailu Mountain. At Yangping he fell ill and died, aged thirty-one.
53
贊機辯，文義頗有可觀，而輕薄俶儻，猶見父之風尚。 普泰末，敕迎其喪至洛，遣黃門郎鹿悆護喪事，以王禮與公主合葬嵩山。 至元象初，吳人盜其喪還江東，蕭衍猶以為子，祔葬蕭氏墓焉。 贊江南有子，在國無後。
Zan was quick-witted and eloquent, and his writing was not without merit, yet he was frivolous and unrestrained—still showing his father's character. At the end of Putai an edict had his coffin brought to Luoyang. Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate Lu Yu was sent to oversee the funeral, and Zan was buried on Mount Song with princely rites beside the princess. By the beginning of Yuanxiang, men of Wu stole his coffin and took it back to Jiangdong. Xiao Yan still treated him as his son and buried him in the Xiao family tombs. Zan had a son in the south; in the north he left no descendants.
54
蕭正表，字公儀，蕭衍弟臨川王宣達子也。 正表長七尺九寸，眉目疏朗。 雖質貌豐美，而性理短闇。 衍以為封山縣開國侯，拜給事中，歷東宮洗馬、淮南晉安二郡太守。 轉輕車將軍、北徐州刺史，鎮鍾離。
Xiao Zhengbiao, styled Gongyi, was the son of Xiao Yan's younger brother, the Prince of Linchuan, Xuanda. Zhengbiao stood seven feet nine inches tall, with clear, handsome features. Though handsome and well favored, his mind was shallow and dull. Yan made him Marquis of Fengshan Commandery, appointed him Palace Attendant, and he served as Palace Groom of the Eastern Palace and Governor of Huainan and Jin'an. He was made General of the Light Chariots and Inspector of Northern Xuzhou, with his headquarters at Zhongli.
55
初，衍未有子，以正表兄正德為子，既而封為西豐侯。 正德私懷忿憾。 正光三年，背衍奔洛，朝廷以其人才庸劣，不加禮待。 尋逃歸，衍不之罪。 後封正德臨賀王。 衍末，復為散騎常侍、光祿大夫，知丹陽尹事。 侯景之將濟江也，知正德有恨於衍，密與交通，許推為主。 正德以船數十舫迎之。 景渡江，衍召正表入援。 正表率眾次廣陵，聞正德為侯景所推，仍託舫糧未集，磬桓不進。 景尋以正表為南兗州刺史，封南郡王。 正表既受景署，遂於歐陽立柵，斷衍援軍。 又欲遣其妾兄龔子明進攻廣陵。 衍南兗州刺史、南康王蕭會理遣前廣陵令劉瑗襲擊，破之。 正表狼狽失據，乃率輕騎，走還鍾離。
At first, before Yan had a son of his own, he adopted Zhengbiao's elder cousin Zhengde and later enfeoffed him as Marquis of Xifeng. Zhengde secretly nursed resentment. In the third year of Zhengguang he turned against Yan and fled to Luoyang. The court, judging his talent mediocre, did not treat him with courtesy. He soon escaped back south, and Yan did not punish him. Later Zhengde was enfeoffed as Prince of Linhe. Near the end of Yan's reign he again served as Attendant-in-Ordinary of the Scattered Cavalry, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, and acting Governor of Danyang. When Hou Jing was about to cross the Yangtze, knowing Zhengde resented Yan, he secretly contacted him and promised to make him ruler. Zhengde welcomed him with several dozen boats. When Jing crossed the river, Yan summoned Zhengbiao to reinforce him. Zhengbiao led his troops and halted at Guangling. Learning that Hou Jing had set up Zhengde, he pleaded that boat supplies were not yet ready and lingered without advancing. Jing soon made Zhengbiao Inspector of Southern Yan Province and enfeoffed him as Prince of Nan Commandery. Once Zhengbiao accepted Jing's commission, he built a palisade at Ouyang and cut off Yan's relief forces. He also planned to send his concubine's elder brother, Gong Ziming, to attack Guangling. Yan's Inspector of Southern Yan Province, the Prince of Nankang, Xiao Huili, sent the former Magistrate of Guangling, Liu Yuan, against him and routed him. Zhengbiao, disgraced and left without footing, fled with light cavalry back to Zhongli.
56
武定七年正月，仍送子為質，據州內屬。 徐州刺史高歸彥遣長史劉士榮馳赴之。 事定，正表入朝，以勳封蘭陵郡開國公、吳郡王，食邑五千戶。 尋除侍中、車騎將軍、特進、太子太保、開府儀同三司，賞賚豐厚。 其年冬薨，年四十二。 贈侍中、都督徐揚兗豫濟五州諸軍事、驃騎大將軍、司空公、徐州刺史，開國公、王並如故。 諡曰昭烈。 子廣壽。
In the first month of the seventh year of Wuding he again sent his son as hostage and submitted his province to the northern court. The Xuzhou Inspector Gao Guiyan sent Chief Clerk Liu Shirong to him at full speed. When matters were settled, Zhengbiao came to court and, for his service, was enfeoffed as Duke of Lanling Commandery and Prince of Wu Commandery, with a fief of five thousand households. He was soon made Palace Attendant, General of Chariots and Cavalry, Special Advance, Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, and Merit Equal to the Three Excellencies, with lavish rewards. He died that winter, aged forty-two. Posthumously he was granted Palace Attendant, Commander of all military affairs in Xu, Yang, Yan, Yu, and Ji, General of Swift Cavalry, Minister of Works, and Inspector of Xuzhou; his ducal and princely titles remained unchanged. His posthumous title was Zhaolie, "Illustrious and Fierce." His son was Guangshou.
57
史臣曰：劉昶猜疑懼禍，蕭夤亡破之餘，並潛骸竄影，委命上國。 俱稱曉了，咸當任遇，雖有枕戈之志，終無鞭墓之誠。 昶諸子尩疏，喪其家業。 寶夤背恩忘義，梟鏡其心。 此亦戎夷彯狡輕薄之常事也。 天重其罪，鬼覆其門，至於母子兄弟還相殲滅，抑是積惡之義云。 蕭贊臨邊脫身，晚去讎賊，寵祿頓臻，顛沛旋至，信吉凶之相倚也。 正表歸命，大享名族，亦以優哉。
The historiographer says: Liu Chang, suspicious and fearing disaster, and Xiao Baoyin, in the wreckage of defeat, both hid themselves and entrusted their lives to the northern court. Both were called clever and capable and both received office and favor. Though they kept the will to sleep with a spear at the pillow, in the end they lacked the resolve to avenge the dead at the grave. Chang's sons were weak and undistinguished, and lost the family estate. Baoyin betrayed grace and forgot righteousness; his heart was that of an owl before a mirror. This too is the common way of fierce, cunning, and frivolous frontier men. Heaven heaped guilt upon him; ghosts overturned his house. That mother, sons, and brothers in turn destroyed one another is the working out of accumulated evil. Xiao Zan slipped away at the frontier and broke with the enemy only late; honors came in a rush, and ruin followed at once—truly fortune and misfortune depend on each other. Zhengbiao submitted to the northern court and enjoyed great honors—a comfortable lot indeed.
58
校勘記
Collation Notes
59
遣典籤虞法生表求入朝宋書卷七二、南史卷一四晉熙王昶傳、通鑑卷一三０ 〈四０七八頁〉 「虞」並作「蘧」，疑「虞」字訛。
Sent dispatch clerk Yu Fasheng to submit a memorial requesting entry to court — Song Shu vol. 72, Nan Shi vol. 14 Biography of Jinxi Prince Liu Chang, Zizhi Tongjian vol. 130 〈Page 4078〉 Both read Qu instead of Yu; Yu is suspected to be a corrupt reading.
60
為兄弟之戒北史卷二九劉昶傳「戒」作「式」。 疑「戒」字訛。
As a warning to brothers — in Beishi vol. 29, Biography of Liu Chang, warning is written as pattern. Warning is suspected to be a corrupt reading.
61
乃請喪居斬衰之服北史卷二九蕭寶夤傳「居」作「君」，指蕭寶卷，疑「居」字訛。
Then requested mourning garments of the severest grade — in Beishi vol. 29, Biography of Xiao Baoyin, dwelling is written as lord, referring to Xiao Baojuan; dwelling is suspected to be a corrupt reading.
62
微子陳韓亦曷以過也李慈銘云：「『陳韓』本作『陳完』，以南宋避欽宗嫌名，於『陳』下注一『諱』字，遂誤為『韓』。」 按陳公子完奔齊，見左傳莊二十二年，李說疑是。 但卷七九成淹傳亦有「欲追縱陳韓」語，似指陳平、韓信背楚歸漢，今不改。
How could Weizi and Chen Han have gone too far? Li Ciming says: Chen Han was originally Chen Wan; in the Southern Song, to avoid the taboo name of Emperor Qinzong, a note reading taboo was placed below Chen, and it was mistakenly read as Han." According to the Zuo Zhuan, Duke Zhuang year 22, the son of the lord of Chen, Wan, fled to Qi; Li's explanation is probably correct. But vol. 79, Biography of Cheng Yan, also has the phrase wishing to pursue Chen Han, which seems to refer to Chen Ping and Han Xin turning from Chu to Han; the text is not changed here.
63
蕭衍江州刺史陳伯之與其長史褚冑等自壽春歸降北史卷二九百衲本同，汲本、殿本作「胃」。 按梁書卷二０陳伯之傳、通鑑卷一四五 〈四五二一頁〉 作「褚緭」，考異云：「魏書蕭寶夤傳作『褚胃』，今從梁書。」 則司馬光所見魏書作亦「胃」。 「緭」「胃」同音，「冑」當是「胃」之訛。
Xiao Yan's Inspector of Jiang Province Chen Bozhi and his Chief Clerk Chu Zhou and others surrendered from Shouyang — Beishi vol. 29, Baona edition agrees; Jiben and Dianben read stomach. According to Liang Shu vol. 20, Biography of Chen Bozhi, and Zizhi Tongjian vol. 145 〈Page 4521〉 It reads Chu Wei; Kaoyi says: The Wei Shu Biography of Xiao Baoyin reads Chu stomach; the text now follows Liang Shu." The Wei Shu text seen by Sima Guang also read stomach. Wei and stomach are homophones; Zhou is probably a corrupt form of stomach.
64
除使持節都督東揚南徐兗三州諸軍事鎮東將軍東揚州刺史諸本「揚州」上無「東」字，北史卷二九有。 按卷八世宗紀景明四年四月記蕭寶夤官也是「東揚州刺史」。 寶夤都督三州，「東揚」居首，照例首列所督為哪一州，即是此州刺史，且當時揚州刺史是任城王澄。 知脫「東」字無疑，今據北史補。
Appointed Envoy Holding the Staff, Commander of all military affairs in Eastern Yang, Southern Xu, and Yan, General Who Pacifies the East, and Inspector of Eastern Yang Province — in all editions Eastern is lacking before Yang Province; Beishi vol. 29 has it. The Annals of Emperor Shizong in juan 8 likewise records Xiao Baoyin's office in the fourth month of Jingming year 4 as Inspector of Eastern Yangzhou. Baoyin commanded three provinces, with Eastern Yang listed first. By convention the lead province is the one he governed as inspector—and at the time Yangzhou was held by Prince Cheng of Ren. The omission of "Eastern" is certain; the text is restored here from the History of the North.
65
亦知其若斯諸本「若」作「苦」，獨局本作「若」。 按作「苦」於文義不協，今從局本。
Also knowing that it was so: all editions read ku (bitter) for ruo (if/so); only the Ju edition preserves ruo. Reading ku (bitter) does not fit the sense; we follow the Ju edition.
66
又破其金城王莫折普賢於水洛城諸本「水」作「永」，冊府卷三五四 〈四二０一頁〉 作「水」。 按水洛口、水洛亭，見水經注卷一七渭水篇。 「永」字訛，今據改。
Again defeated Moqi Puxian, King of Jincheng, at Shuilo city—all editions read yong for shui (water); Cefu yuangui juan 354 〈p. 4201〉 reads shui (water). Shuilo Pass and Shuilo Pavilion appear in the Commentary on the Water Classic, juan 17, on the Wei River. Yong is a scribal error and is emended here accordingly.