1
2
大義重於至聞自日人。 [2]慕之者蓋希，行之者實寡。 至於輕生蹈節，臨難如歸，殺身成仁，死而無悔，自非耿介苦心之人，鬱怏激氣之士，亦何能若斯。 僉列之傳，名節義云。
That great righteousness outweighs renown has been understood since antiquity, though the opening line is corrupt in the received text. Few indeed admire it, and still fewer put it into practice. To treat life lightly for the sake of integrity, to meet peril as though going home, to give one's life to fulfill humaneness and die without regret—only a man of unbending, anguished resolve, or one whose spirit burns with thwarted passion, could do such things. They are gathered here in a single collective biography devoted to fame, integrity, and righteousness.
3
于簡，字什門，代人也。 太宗時為謁者，使喻馮跋。 及至和龍，住外舍不入，使人謂跋曰：「大魏皇帝有詔，須馮主出受，然後敢入。」 跋使人牽逼令入，見跋不拜，跋令人按其項。 什門曰：「馮主拜受詔，吾自以賓主致敬，何須苦見逼也！」 與跋往復，聲氣厲然，初不撓屈。 既而跋止什門。 什門於羣眾之中，回身背跋，被袴後襠以辱之。 既見拘留，隨身衣裳敗壞略盡，蟣虱被體。 跋遺以衣服，什門拒而不受。 和龍人皆歎曰：「雖古烈士，無以過也！」 歷二十四年，[3]後馮文通上表稱臣，乃送什門歸。 拜治書侍御史。 世祖下詔曰：「什門奉使和龍，值狂豎肆虐，勇志壯厲，不為屈節，雖昔蘇武何以加之。」 賜羊千口、帛千匹，進為上大夫，策告宗廟，頒示天下，咸使聞也。
Yu Jian, whose courtesy name was Shenmen, came from Dai. Under Emperor Mingyuan he served as usher and was dispatched to deliver the court's message to Feng Ba. On reaching Helong he stayed in an outer lodge and refused to go in, sending word to Feng Ba: "The emperor of Great Wei has issued an edict. Your lordship must come out to receive it; only then may I enter." Feng Ba's men seized and hustled him inside. When he saw Feng Ba he would not bow, and Feng Ba ordered someone to press down on his neck. Shenmen said, "When my lord of Feng bows to receive the edict, I will offer the respect proper between host and guest. Why torment me like this?" He and Feng Ba argued back and forth, his tone fierce throughout, and he never once gave way. In the end Feng Ba held Shenmen prisoner. Before the assembled crowd Shenmen turned his back on Feng Ba, pulled on his trousers with the seat to the front, and presented his backside to insult him. Once he was held captive, the clothes he wore were nearly destroyed, and his body was covered with lice. Feng Ba sent him clothing, but Shenmen refused to take it. The people of Helong all marveled: "Even the heroes of antiquity could not have done better!" Twenty-four years passed. When Feng Wentong at last submitted a memorial professing vassalage, Shenmen was sent back. He was appointed attendant imperial censor. Emperor Taiwu issued an edict: "Shenmen served as envoy at Helong when a reckless usurper ran riot. His courage and resolve were magnificent, and he would not bend his integrity. Not even Su Wu of old could have done more." He was given a thousand sheep and a thousand bolts of silk, promoted to senior grand master, and the court reported the honor to the ancestral temple and proclaimed it throughout the realm.
4
Duan Jin was a man of unknown origin. Early in Emperor Taiwu's reign he served as garrison commander of Baidao. The Rouran khan Datan raided across the border, besieged him, and when resistance failed took him prisoner. Jin shouted back and reviled them at the top of his voice, and the enemy killed him. Emperor Taiwu mourned him and posthumously appointed him General Who Pacifies the North, enfeoffing him as Marquis of Xianmei with the posthumous name Zhuang.
5
Shi Wende came from Puban in Hezhong and was known for upright conduct. Early in the Zhenjun period the county magistrate Huang Xuan died in office. Xuan was poor and without near kin. Wende's grandfather Miao buried him at his own expense, wore mourning for three years, and supported Xuan's wife for more than twenty years. When she in turn died, he again donned mourning garb, encoffined her, and buried her beside her husband, observing every rite without lapse. From Miao down through Wende, whenever a provincial inspector or county magistrate died in office, the family wore mourning and saw the body off. Five generations lived under one roof, and the household was harmonious throughout.
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Liang province also reported that Zhao Ling'an, Meng Lanqiang, and others of Baishi county in Tianshui had lived together for four generations, their conduct famed throughout the region. An edict ordered commemorative placards posted at each of their gates.
7
Ji Gu came from Liangcheng in Dong commandery. He served as staff officer of Yan province. The provincial inspector Li Shi was arrested for an offense, and officials and commoners alike escorted him as far as the river. Shi's son Xian had just been born and was barely a month old. Shi cried out before the crowd: "What manner of men were Cheng Ying and Gongsun Chujiu!" Ji Gu replied, "Past and present are not so different." He slipped away at once without a backward glance, went straight into the city, entered Shi's wife's inner quarters, took the infant Xian in his arms, and hid him away. When the search party came for Xian's kin, a maid had just given birth to a boy, and the mother handed over the maid's child in his stead. The ruse was soon discovered. Gu fled with Xian and did not return until a general amnesty was proclaimed. Gu raised Xian to his teens, and the boy always addressed Gu and his wife as Father and Mother Gu. Later, when Gao You became inspector of Yan province, he admired Gu's loyalty and appointed him chief clerk.
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Wang Xuanwei came from Beishan in Hengnong commandery. When Emperor Xianwen died, Xuanwei built a grass hut outside the prefectural gate, wore hemp mourning dress, lived on vegetables and gruel, and wept and stamped in grief without cease. The provincial inspector Gou Tui reported the matter to the throne. The court ordered an inquiry. Xuanwei replied: "The late emperor ruled all lands; his kindness reached every living soul, and all who draw breath depended on him. I cannot contain my grief and longing. I feel this in my heart but do not know the proper forms of mourning." The edict asked whether he wished to submit any request and allowed him to set it out in a memorial. Xuanwei said, "Hearing the late emperor's name I can only wail. I take it that subject and son are alike in this, and I have nothing to ask of the throne." On the hundredth day he spent his entire family fortune to provide a vegetarian feast for four hundred people. On the anniversary of the emperor's death he again provided offerings for a hundred monks. When the period of full mourning ended, the court sent a set of white silk trousers and jacket, released him from mourning dress, and ordered the province to record his exceptional conduct. Lou Ti came from Dai. Under Emperor Xianwen he served as an inner palace guard of the third rank. When the emperor died suddenly, Lou Ti said to those around him, "Our sage lord has departed—why should I go on living?" He drew the dagger at his belt and stabbed himself, coming near death. Empress Dowager Wenming issued an edict granting him two hundred bolts of silk.
9
At that time two men of the Chile tribe, Zhi Bayin and his elder brother Diyu, were sentenced to death for stealing and eating government horses. Bayin falsely confessed to the killing himself, while his brother insisted that the younger man had not done it. The two brothers each claimed guilt, and the court could not decide between their accounts. Emperor Xiaowen issued an edict pardoning them both.
10
Liu Kehou was a man of unknown origin. By nature he was fierce and unyielding. During the Taihe period he served in the rear guard of Xuzhou, fought to the death, was overwhelmed by superior numbers, and was taken prisoner. He glared and reviled them without cease, would never yield, and the enemy killed him. Emperor Xiaowen posthumously appointed him General Who Establishes Loyalty, inspector of Ping province, and Marquis of Shangyong, and granted a thousand bolts of silk and a thousand hu of grain.
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朱長生及于提，並代人也。 高祖時，以長生為員外散騎常侍，與提俱使高車。 至其庭，高車主阿伏至羅責長生等拜，長生拒之曰：「我天子使，安肯拜下土諸侯！」 阿伏至羅乃不以禮待。 長生以金銀寶器奉之，至羅既受獻，長生曰：「為臣內附，宜盡臣禮，何得口云再拜而實不拜！」 呼出帳，命眾中拜。 阿伏至羅慚其臣下，大怒曰：「帳中何不教我拜，而辱我於大眾！」 奪長生等獻物，囚之叢石之中，兵脅之曰：「汝能為我臣則活，如其不降，殺汝！」 長生與于提瞋目厲聲責之曰：「豈有天子使人拜汝夷，我寧為魏鬼，不為汝臣！」 至羅彌怒，絕其飲食。 從行者三十人皆降，至羅乃給以肉酪，惟長生與提不從，乃各分徙之。 積三歲，乃得還。 高祖以長生等守節遠同蘇武，甚嘉之，拜長生河內太守，于提隴西太守，並賜爵五等男。 從者皆為令長。
Zhu Changsheng and Yu Ti were both men of Dai. Under Emperor Xiaowen, Changsheng was appointed supernumerary attendant cavalier attendant-in-ordinary and, together with Yu Ti, was sent on embassy to the Gaoche. At the Gaoche court their ruler Avuzhiluo demanded that Changsheng and his party bow. Changsheng refused: "I am an envoy of the Son of Heaven. How could I bow to a petty frontier lord?" Avuzhiluo then refused them proper ceremonial treatment. Changsheng presented gold, silver, and precious vessels as tribute. Once Avuzhiluo had accepted them, Changsheng said, "As a subject who has submitted to the court, you ought to perform a subject's obeisance. How can you say you will bow twice and then not bow at all?" He summoned Avuzhiluo outside the tent and ordered him to bow before the assembled company. Ashamed before his followers, Avuzhiluo flew into a rage: "Why did you not have me bow inside the tent, but humiliate me before the whole assembly?" He confiscated their tribute gifts and imprisoned them among the rocks. Armed men threatened them: "Become my subjects and you shall live. Refuse, and you die." Changsheng and Yu Ti glared and shouted their rebuke: "Shall an envoy of the Son of Heaven bow to you barbarians? I would rather be a ghost of Wei than your subject!" Avuzhiluo's fury only grew, and he cut off their food and drink. All thirty of their attendants submitted, and Avuzhiluo gave them meat and curds. Only Changsheng and Yu Ti refused, so he had them separated and sent to different places of exile. Three years passed before they were able to return. Emperor Xiaowen held that in keeping their integrity Changsheng and his companions rivaled Su Wu of old, and he greatly honored them. Changsheng was appointed administrator of Henei, Yu Ti administrator of Longxi, and both were enfeoffed as fifth-rank barons. Their attendants were all appointed district magistrates.
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Ma Balong came from Wuqiang in Wuyi commandery. He held wealth lightly and prized righteousness. When his friend Yin Lingzhe, magistrate of Wusui county, died on campaign, Balong hurried to the scene at once, carried the body home on his back, buried him at his own expense, and wore the coarsest grade of mourning. He raised the orphan left behind with the same devotion he would have shown his own child. The province and commandery reported his conduct, and an edict ordered a commemorative placard posted at his gate.
14
Men Wen'ai came from Shanyang in Ji commandery. Orphaned early, he supported his uncle and aunt with filial devotion and was famed for it. His uncle died, and before that mourning was complete his aunt died as well. Wen'ai observed mourning for six years, his grief so consuming that he was wasted to bone. His fellow townsman Wei Zhongxian and others jointly commended his filial devotion.
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Chao Qing came from Liaodong. His grandfather Hui had served as inspector of Ji province and Duke of Yingchuan. Qing inherited his grandfather's rank, which by regulation was reduced one step to marquis. He served as garrison commander of Liangcheng. When Xiao Yan besieged the city and supplies ran out, the fortress fell. Qing held to his integrity and refused to yield, and the enemy killed him. Emperor Xuanwu honored him posthumously as administrator of Leling with the posthumous name Zhong. His son Rongbin inherited the title. Liu Houran came from Yu province. A local man named Bai Zaosheng killed the provincial inspector Sima Yue, seized the southern part of the city, and rose in rebellion. Yue's son Fei fled for his life to Liu Houran. Though the rebels raised the bounty on his head and tortured him severely, Houran never betrayed the boy, and Fei was spared. When order was restored, the authorities reported his conduct and asked that he be struck from the prefectural rolls and given a minor county post; the court approved.
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Shi Zuxing came from Jiumen in Changshan commandery. When Grand Administrator Tian Wenbiao, Magistrate He Zhen, and others died in office, Zuxing gave more than two hundred bolts of silk from his own household to see to their burials. The province and commandery reported his conduct. Emperor Xiaowen praised him, raised his noble rank by two steps, and enfeoffed him as Shangzao. He was later appointed magistrate of Ningling, where he died. Li Shao, Minister of Personnel, memorialized Zuxing's loyalty and asked that a posthumous title be granted to encourage others. Empress Dowager Ling ordered that it be done as he proposed. The court granted him the posthumous name Gong.
17
Shao Hongzhe came from Juyang in Shanggu commandery. Magistrate Fan Daorong had earlier surrendered from Qucheng and been relieved of his post.[5] A fellow townsman, Xu Kongming, lodged a false complaint at the capital that Daorong had no merit, and Daorong was dismissed and struck from the register. Destitute and far from home, he could not manage on his own. Hongzhe, moved by righteous indignation, went to the capital in Daorong's stead and laid out the rights and wrongs of the case. Through winter and summer he endured the hardship without complaint, until Daorong's name was cleared at last. When the northern garrisons rose in revolt, Daorong was utterly alone, with nowhere to turn. Hongzhe's elder brother Bochuan again led their fellow townspeople to receive Daorong and escort him safely to You province. Deeply moved by their loyalty, Daorong petitioned the provincial authorities to report their conduct. An edict ordered placards posted at their hamlets throughout the provinces.
18
Wang Rongshi came from Guantao in Yangping commandery. He served as garrison commander of Sancheng and held the title Baron of Fangcheng. When Xiao Yan besieged the fortress and resistance failed, seeing that all could not be saved, he burned the treasury first and then killed his wife and concubines. When the city fell, he and his deputy Deng Yuanxing and others were killed for refusing to yield. Emperor Suzong issued an edict praising their loyalty, promoted Rongshi's rank to marquis, and posthumously appointed him inspector of Qi province; Yuanxing was enfeoffed as a founding viscount and posthumously appointed inspector of Luo province.
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Hu Xiaohu came from Heyin in Henan commandery. Even in youth he had a warrior's spirit. At the end of the Zhenguang period he commanded troops at Jinshou. During the Xiaochang period Xiao Yan's generals Fan Wenchì and others raided the border. Bing Qiu, inspector of Yi province, sent his chief clerk He An to hold Xiaojian, and Wenchì laid siege. Qiu ordered Xiaohu and the army commander Cui Zhenbao to march out and resist. Wenchì ambushed Xiaohu and Zhenbao and took them both prisoner. Before Xiaojian fell, Wenchì brought Zhenbao to the wall and had him call to He An: "The southern army is strong and northern relief will not come. Why not surrender and win wealth and rank?" He An ordered his men to shoot at them, and the enemy withdrew. They forced Xiaohu to speak with He An again. Xiaohu cried out to him: "My camp was unprepared and the enemy took me. Their troops are nothing to fear. Hold the fortress with all your strength. The Wei field headquarters in Liang province has already dispatched reinforcements—they are here." [6] The enemy beat him with blades before he could finish, and killed him. The whole army marveled at his courage and mourned his death. The enemy soon broke and fled, and eleven of their officers, including Xiao Shicheng and Chen Wenxu, were captured. Field commander Wei Zijian admired his spirit and petitioned to exchange the captive Shicheng for his body. The remains were recovered and buried with honor.
20
Sun Daodeng came from Lü county in Pengcheng commandery. Early in the Yong'an period he was taken prisoner by Xiao Yan's general Wei Xiu and others. Bound and marched at sword-point through distant hamlets, he was forced to urge the countryside to surrender. Daodeng shouted at the top of his voice: "Stand firm! The enemy can do nothing!" The enemy killed him on the spot.
21
When Jing province was besieged, field commander Zong Ling'en sent four envoys, including Zong Nü, into the city to rally the defenders. An enemy general seized them, paraded them along the walls, and ordered them to change their message. They shouted: "The imperial army is almost here. Hold firm and do not surrender!" In fury the enemy disemboweled each of them and then cut off their heads. Both provinces reported their loyalty. Daodeng and the others were granted fifth-rank commandery posts and fifth-rank viscountcies, with permission for their sons and brothers to inherit. The court sent envoys to their home districts to perform mourning rites.
22
Li Ji came from Anping in Boling commandery. Seven generations lived together under one roof, sharing property across twenty-two branches and one hundred ninety-eight souls. Old and young alike were numerous, their household famed for ritual propriety, and whenever work arose the younger members vied to take the lead. The countryside marveled at them, and a commemorative placard was posted at their gate.
23
Zhang Anzu came from Heyang. He inherited the hereditary title Marquis of Shanbei. At that time a certain Yuan Chenggui, formerly magistrate of Heyang, was poor and on his way to the Ministry to seek an appointment when bitter cold killed him by the roadside. He left a young son; the body lay in the lane with no one to provide a coffin or burial. Anzu mourned him with full rites, bought wood and built the coffin with his own hands, and saw to a complete burial. Court and countryside alike praised his conduct. The Ministry reported the matter, and a commemorative placard was posted at his gate. Wang Lü came from Mi in Beihai commandery. Several generations lived together under one roof, a household of a hundred souls. Liu Yexing of Taishan lived together for four generations; Gai Jun of Lu commandery for six. All shared property, and their households were harmonious. Their neighbors held them in awe and admiration. The authorities reported their conduct, and commemorative placards were posted at each of their gates.
24
The historian writes: Yu Shenmen and his companions—some faced peril without flinching and met death as though going home; others went into danger as onto level ground, wherever righteousness called. At their grandest they brought glory to the state and honor to their clans; at the least they harmed themselves to benefit others. Their great deeds therefore vie in splendor with rivers and seas; the integrity they embodied flourishes alongside pine and cypress. All this came of living the path they chose: though their bodies perished, their names endure. Surely it was not for nothing.
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校勘記
Collation notes
26
Weishu, juan 87: various editions' tables of contents mark this chapter as "deficient"; Song-dynasty collation notes are appended at the end. 〈Entered under textual verification in the Palace Edition〉 It states: "Wei Shou's 'Integrity and Righteousness' biography is lost." The preface here differs from that in Beishi, juan 85, and must have been abridged from the original. Of the biographies, only Yu Shenmen's is somewhat fuller than in the Beishi; Wang Xuanwei's includes edict language not found there; others differ by a word or two at most. On the whole they match the Beishi almost entirely. These men's deeds were in themselves slight; the original text must have been very brief. Most of this chapter matches the Beishi verbatim, perhaps because both drew on excerpts copied directly from the Weishu rather than because the Beishi was used to fill gaps.
27
大義重於至聞自日人殿本考證云：「首九字訛舛，不可推尋。」
On "Great righteousness outweighs the utmost fame, since the day of men": the Palace Edition notes that the first nine characters are corrupt and cannot be reconstructed.
28
"Twenty-four years passed": Zizhi tongjian, juan 122 〈p. 3853〉 records Yu Shenmen's return to Wei in the eleventh year of Yuanjia 〈Northern Wei Yanhe year 3 (434〉, reading "twenty-four" as "twenty-one." Kaoyi notes: "The Later Wei annals 〈juan 3〉 first year of Shenrui 〈414〉 In the eighth month Yu Shenmen was sent to summon Feng Ba; by this year twenty-one years had elapsed. If it were twenty-four years, that would place the return in Taiyan year 3, but the Feng state fell in Taiyan year 2." The biography says that "Feng Wentong submitted a memorial declaring himself a subject, and only then was Shenmen sent home." Shizu annals, juan 4A, Yanhe third year, third month, records that "Wentong sent Master of Writing Gao Yong to submit a memorial declaring himself a vassal"; hence the Zizhi tongjian places the return in that year. "Twenty-four" is probably a mistake for "twenty-one."
29
河中蒲坂人也北史卷八五石文德傳「河中蒲坂」作「中山蒲陰」。 按蒲坂自來屬河東郡，魏也無「河中」郡名。 卷一０六上地形志上定州北平郡有蒲陰縣，北平郡乃孝昌二年分中山置。 若非「中」為「東」字之訛，則「河中蒲坂」為「中山蒲陰」之訛。
"A man of Puban in Hezhong": Beishi, juan 85, Shi Wende biography, reads "Puban in Hezhong" as "Puyin in Zhongshan." Puban has always belonged to Hedong commandery; Northern Wei had no commandery called "Hezhong." Geography treatise, juan 106A, lists Puyin county in Beiping commandery, Dingzhou; Beiping was carved from Zhongshan in Xiaochang year 2. Unless "zhong" is a corruption of "dong," "Puban in Hezhong" is a corruption of "Puyin in Zhongshan."
30
On "Magistrate Fan Daorong submitted from Qucheng": various editions read qu as shun; Beishi, juan 85, Shao Hongzhe biography, has ju. Cefu yuangui, juan 138 〈p. 1666〉, juan 803 〈p. 9548〉 Both read "qu." The affair of "Qucheng's surrender in allegiance" appears in Shizong annals, juan 8, Yongping fourth year, fourth month; Lu Yuan with appended biography of Lu Chang, juan 47; and the biography of Xiao Yan, juan 98. The place name "Qucheng" is also written "Qushan." Both "shun" and "ju" are corruptions of "qu"; the text is emended accordingly.