Volume 102 Biographies 27: Cen Wenben and grandson: Xi, nephew: Zhang Qian, Yu Shinan, Li Baiyao and son: An Qi, Chu Liangfu: Li Xuandao, Yao Silian and grandson: Ting, Linghu Defen Deng Shilong, Li Yanshou Linghu Huan

__FORCETOC__岑文本岑文本，字景仁，鄧州棘陽人。祖善方，後梁吏部尚書，更家江陵。父之象，仕隋為邯鄲令，坐為人訟，不得申。文本年十四，詣司隸理冤，辨對哀暢無所詘。眾屬目，命作《蓮華賦》，文成，合臺嗟賞，遂得直。

Cen Wenben, whose courtesy name was Jingren, came from Jiyang in Deng Prefecture. His grandfather Shanfang had been Minister of Personnel under the Later Liang and resettled the family at Jiangling. His father Zhixiang served the Sui as magistrate of Handan but was sued by another party and could not vindicate himself. At fourteen Wenben went to the Censorate to plead his father's case and argued with such moving eloquence that no one could refute him. All eyes were on him when he was told to write a "Rhapsody on the Lotus"; when he finished, the whole censorate marveled, and his father was cleared.

性沈敏，有姿儀，善文辭，多所貫綜。郡舉秀才，不應。蕭銑僭號，召為中書侍郎，主文記。河間王孝恭平荊州，其下欲掠奪，文本說孝恭曰：「自隋無道，四海救死，延頸以望真主。蕭氏君臣決策歸命者，意欲去危就安。大王誠縱兵剽系，恐江、嶺以南，向化心沮，狼顧麕驚。不如厚撫荊州，勸未附，陳天子厚惠，誰非王人？」孝恭善之，遽下令止侵略，署文本別駕。從擊輔公祏，典檄符。進署行臺考功郎中。

Deep and quick by temperament, he had a striking presence, wrote well, and had wide learning. When the commandery nominated him as xiucai, he declined. After Xiao Xian declared himself ruler, Wenben was called up as Vice Director of the Secretariat to handle official papers. When Prince of Hejian Li Xiaogong took Jingzhou, his men wanted to loot. Wenben urged him: "Since the Sui lost the Mandate, the empire has been desperate for survival, all looking to a true sovereign. The Xiao court submitted because they wanted to escape peril and find security. If you let your soldiers pillage and seize prisoners, the lands south of the Yangzi and the Ling ranges may lose faith in the new order and panic like beasts at bay. Better to win Jingzhou with kindness, rally those still uncommitted, and proclaim the emperor's bounty—who would not then be your sovereign's people?" Xiaogong agreed, at once forbade looting, and made Wenben Vice Prefect. He accompanied the attack on Fu Gongshi and managed military proclamations. He was then made Director of Personnel Evaluation on the campaign staff.

貞觀元年，除秘書郎，兼直中書省。太宗既藉田，又元日朝群臣，文本奏《藉田》、《三元頌》二篇，文致華贍。李靖復薦於帝，擢中書舍人。時顏師古為侍郎，自武德以來，詔誥或大事皆所草定。及得文本，號善職，而敏速過之。或策令叢遽，敕吏六七人泚筆待，分口占授，成無遺意。師古以譴罷，溫彥博為請帝曰：「師古練時事，長於文誥，人少逮者，幸得復用。」帝曰：「朕自舉一人，公毋憂。」乃授文本侍郎，專典機要。封江陵縣子。是時，魏王泰有寵，侈第舍，冠諸王。文本上疏，勸崇節儉，陳嫡庶分，宜有抑損。帝善之，賜帛三百段。

In Zhenguan 1 he became a palace librarian and also served on duty at the Secretariat. After Taizong performed the sacred plowing and held the New Year audience, Wenben presented "Ode on the Ploughing Rite" and "Ode on the Three First Days," both written in rich, polished prose. Li Jing recommended him again to the throne, and he was raised to Secretariat Drafting Attendant. Yan Shigu was then Vice Director and had drafted imperial edicts and major state papers since the Wude era. Once Wenben joined them, he was praised as outstanding in duty and even faster than Shigu. When edicts piled up, he had six or seven clerks ready with brushes and dictated in turn, losing nothing of what he meant to say. After Shigu was dismissed, Wen Yanbo asked the emperor: "Shigu knows the times and writes edicts superbly—few can equal him; please bring him back." The emperor replied: "I have already found my man—you need not worry." He then made Wenben Vice Director with exclusive charge of state secrets. He was enfeoffed as Viscount of Jiangling. Prince of Wei Li Tai was then in favor, with mansions more lavish than any other prince's. Wenben memorialized urging thrift and explaining the proper limits between heir and younger sons, arguing that the prince should show restraint. The emperor approved and rewarded him with three hundred bolts of silk.

逾年為令，從伐遼東，事一委倚，至糧漕最目、甲兵凡要、料配差序，籌不廢手，由是神用頓耗，容止不常。帝憂曰：「文本今與我同行，恐不與同返矣！」至幽州暴病，帝臨視流涕。卒，年五十一。是夕，帝聞夜嚴，曰：「文本死，所不忍聞。」命罷之。贈侍中、廣州都督，諡曰憲，陪葬昭陵。

The following year he became Chief Minister and joined the Liaodong campaign with sole charge of affairs, from grain shipments to arms tallies and supply allocations; he never stopped calculating, and his strength failed until his manner grew unsteady. The emperor said anxiously: "Wenben is with me on this march—I doubt he will come back with me." At Youzhou he fell gravely ill; the emperor visited him in tears. He died at the age of fifty-one. That night, hearing the night watch, the emperor said: "Wenben is dead—I cannot bear to hear that sound." He ordered the drums silenced. Posthumously he was made Palace Attendant and Military Commissioner of Guangzhou, with the posthumous name Xian, and buried beside Zhaoling.

始，文本貴，常自以興孤生，居處卑，室無茵褥幃帟。事母以孝顯，撫弟侄篤恩義。生平故人，雖羈賤必鈞禮。帝每稱其忠謹：「吾親之信之」。晉王為皇太子，大臣多兼宮官，帝欲文本兼攝，辭曰：「臣守一職，猶懼其盈，不願希恩東宮，請一心以事陛下。」帝乃止，但詔五日一參東宮。每進見，太子答拜。始為中書令，有憂色，母問之，答曰：「非勳非舊，責重位高，所以憂也。」有來慶者，輒曰：「今日受吊不受賀。」或勸其營產業，文本歎曰：「吾漢南一布衣，徒步入關，所望不過秘書郎、縣令耳。今無汗馬勞，以文墨位宰相，奉稍已重，尚何殖產業邪？」故口未嘗言家事。既任職久，賚錫豐饒，皆令弟文昭主之。文昭任校書郎，多交輕薄，帝不悅，謂文本曰：「卿弟多過，朕將出之。」文本曰：「臣少孤，母所鐘念者弟也，不欲離左右。今若外出，母必憂，無此弟，是無老母也！」泣下嗚咽。帝湣其意，召文昭讓敕，卒無過。孫羲。從子長倩。孫羲羲，字伯華，第進士，累遷太常博士。坐伯父長倩貶郴州司法參軍。遷金壇令。時弟仲翔為長洲令，仲休為溧水令，皆有治績。宰相宗楚客語本道巡察御史：「毋遺江東三岑。」乃薦羲為汜水令。武后令宰相舉為員外郎者，韋嗣立薦羲，且言惟長倩為累，久不進。后曰：「羲誠材，何諉之拘？」即拜天官員外郎。於是，坐親廢者皆得援而進矣。俄為中書舍人。中宗時，武三思用事，敬暉欲上表削諸武封王者，眾畏三思，不敢為草，獨羲為之，詞誼勁切，由是下遷秘書少監。進吏部侍郎。時崔湜、鄭愔及大理少卿李元恭分掌選，皆以賄聞，獨羲勁廉，為時議嘉仰。帝崩，詔擢右散騎常侍、同中書門下三呂。睿宗立，罷為陝州刺史，再遷戶部尚書。景雲初，復召同三品，進侍中，封南陽郡公。初，節湣太子之難，冉祖雍誣帝及太平公主連謀，賴羲與蕭至忠保護得免，羲監脩《中宗實錄》，自著其事。帝見之，賞歎，賜物三百段、良馬一匹，下詔褒美。

Even after he rose high, Wenben still thought of himself as an orphan who had made his way up; his home stayed modest, without fine bedding or hangings. He was famed for filial care of his mother and treated his brothers and nephews with steadfast affection. Old friends, however poor or humble, always received his full respect. The emperor often said of his loyalty: "I hold him close and trust him completely." When the Prince of Jin became heir, many ministers doubled as palace tutors; the emperor wanted Wenben to do the same, but he refused: "One office already fills my measure—I do not seek favor at the Eastern Palace and ask only to serve Your Majesty alone." The emperor agreed but ordered him to visit the Eastern Palace every five days. Each time he came, the heir returned his bow in full courtesy. When he first became Chief Minister he looked worried; asked by his mother, he said: "I have neither merit nor seniority, yet bear a heavy burden at the top—that is why I worry." To well-wishers he said: "Today you should offer condolences, not congratulations." Urged to amass wealth, he sighed: "I was a plain man south of the Han who walked into the capital hoping only to be a clerk or county magistrate. Now, without battlefield merit, I sit as chancellor by my pen alone; my stipend is already rich—why pile up estates?" He never spoke of family business. In long service the court's gifts piled up, and he put his younger brother Wenzhao in charge of them all. Wenzhao was a proofreader and kept company with wastrels; the emperor told Wenben: "Your brother has gone too far—I mean to post him elsewhere." Wenben replied: "I lost my father early; my mother dotes on my brother and cannot bear to have him far away. Send him away and she will grieve; without him it is as though I had no mother left!" He wept aloud. Moved, the emperor summoned Wenzhao and rebuked him by decree; in the end no further fault was found. His grandson Xi. His nephew Zhang Qian. Xi, courtesy name Bohua, took his jinshi degree and rose to Erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When his uncle Zhang Qian fell, Xi was demoted to legal assistant at Chenzhou. He was later made magistrate of Jintan. His brothers Zhongxiang and Zhongxiu were magistrates of Changzhou and Lishui, both with fine records. Chief Minister Zong Chuke told the circuit inspector: "Do not miss the three Cens of the lower Yangzi." Xi was recommended as magistrate of Sishui. When Empress Wu asked ministers to nominate vice directors, Wei Silizhi named Xi, noting that only Zhang Qian's fall had long blocked his rise. The empress said: "Xi is plainly able—why hide behind such excuses?" He was immediately made Vice Director of Personnel. From then on, officials held back by kinfolk's disgrace could advance again. Soon he became a Secretariat drafting attendant. Under Zhongzong, Wu Sansi dominated court; Jing Hui wanted a memorial to strip the Wu princes of royal rank, but none dared draft it except Xi, whose language was fierce—and he was demoted to deputy director of the Secretariat. He was then made Vice Minister of Personnel. Cui Shi, Zheng Yin, and Li Yuanong then shared appointments and were notorious for graft; Xi alone was upright and won wide praise. At the emperor's death an edict raised him to Right Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary and made him a joint minister of the Secretariat-Chancellery. When Ruizong succeeded, Xi was sent out as prefect of Shaanzhou, then made Minister of Revenue. Early in Jingyun he was recalled to the Third Rank, made Palace Attendant, and enfeoffed Duke of Nanyang. During the crisis over Prince Jiemin, Ran Zuyong accused the emperor and Princess Taiping of conspiracy; Xi and Xiao Zhizhong shielded them. When Xi oversaw the Veritable Records of Zhongzong, he set down the episode himself. The emperor read it with admiration, gave him three hundred lengths of goods and a fine horse, and issued a commendatory edict.

時羲兄獻為國子司業，仲翔陝州刺史，仲休商州刺史，兄弟子侄在清要者數十人。羲歎曰：「物極則反，可以懼矣！」然不能抑退。坐豫太平公主謀誅，籍其家。從子長倩長倩，少孤，為文本鞠愛。永淳中，累官至兵部侍郎、同中書門下平章事。垂拱初，自夏官尚書遷內史，知夏官事。俄拜文昌右相，封鄧國公。武后擅位，喜符瑞事，群臣爭言之。長倩懼，間亦開陳，請改皇嗣為武氏，且為周家儲貳。后順許，賜實封戶五百，加特進、輔國大將軍。鳳閣舍人張嘉福、洛州民王慶之建請以武承嗣為皇太子，長倩謂皇嗣在東宮，不宜更立，與格輔元不署，奏請切責嘉福等。和州浮屠上《大雲經》，著革命事，后喜，始詔天下立大雲寺。長倩爭不可，繇是與諸武忤，罷為武威道行軍大總管，征吐蕃。未至，召還，下獄。來俊臣脅誣長倩與輔元、歐陽通數十族謀反，斬於市，五子同賜死，發暴先墓。睿宗立，追復官爵，備禮改葬。附格輔元輔元者，汴州俊儀人。父處仁，仕隋為剡丞，與同郡王孝逸、繁師玄、靖君亮、鄭祖咸、鄭師善、李行簡、盧協皆有名，號「陳留八俊」。輔元擢明經，累遷殿中侍御史，歷御史中丞、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。既持承嗣不可，遂及誅。子遵，亦舉明經第，為太常寺太祝，亡命匿中牟十餘年。神龍初，訴父冤，擢累贊善大夫。

Xian was then vice director of the Directorate of Education; Zhongxiang and Zhongxiu were prefects of Shaanzhou and Shangzhou; dozens of brothers, sons, and nephews held choice posts. Xi sighed: "When fortune peaks it turns—this should frighten us!" Yet he could not hold his kin back. For complicity in Princess Taiping's plot he was executed and his property seized. Nephew Zhang Qian was orphaned young and raised with deep affection by Wenben. By the Yongchun era he had risen to Vice Minister of War and Grand Councilor. Early in Chuigong he became Inner Scribe from Minister of War, still overseeing military affairs. Soon he was made Right Chancellor and enfeoffed Duke of Deng. After Wu seized power she delighted in auspicious omens, and ministers rushed to report them. Fearful, Zhang Qian sometimes urged changing the heir to a Wu prince as Zhou successor. The empress agreed, gave him five hundred taxable households, and added the titles Supernumerary Grand Master and Grand General Who Assists the State. When Zhang Jiafu and the Luozhou commoner Wang Qingzhi urged making Wu Chengsi heir, Zhang Qian argued the heir already sat in the Eastern Palace; he and Ge Fuyuan refused to sign and asked that the petitioners be punished. A Hezhou monk presented the Mahāmegha Sūtra on dynastic revolution; delighted, the empress ordered Mahāmegha temples built throughout the realm. Zhang Qian objected, offended the Wu clan, was dismissed as Grand Commander of the Wuwei campaign against Tibet. Before he reached his post he was recalled and imprisoned. Lai Junchen framed Zhang Qian, Fuyuan, Ouyang Tong, and dozens of families for treason; they were executed in public, five sons died with them, and their ancestors' graves were violated. When Ruizong succeeded, Zhang Qian's rank was restored and he was reburied with full honors. Appendix: Ge Fuyuan came from Junyi in Bian Prefecture. His father Churen was a Shan county aide under the Sui; with seven fellow natives he was famed as one of the "Eight Worthies of Chenliu." Fuyuan passed the classics examination, became a palace censor, then Censor-in-Chief and Grand Councilor. For opposing Chengsi as heir he was executed. His son Zun also passed the classics exam and served as a temple invoker; he fled and hid in Zhongmou for over ten years. Early in Shenlong he pleaded his father's innocence and was made attendant to the heir.

輔無兄希元，洛州司法參軍，同章懷太子注范曄《後漢書》者。虞世南虞世南，越州餘姚人。出繼叔陳中書侍郎寄之後，故字伯施。性沉靜寡欲，與兄世基同受學于吳顧野王餘十年，精思不懈，至累旬不盥櫛。文章婉縟，慕僕射徐陵，陵自以類己，由是有名。陳天嘉中，父荔卒，世南毀不勝喪。文帝高荔行，知二子皆博學，遣使至其家護視，召為建安王法曹參軍。時寄陷於陳寶應，世南雖服除，仍衣布飯蔬；寄還，乃釋布啖肉。至德初，除西陽王友。陳滅，與世基入隋。世基辭章清勁過世南，而贍博不及也，俱名重當時，故議者方晉二陸。煬帝為晉王，與秦王俊交辟之。大業中，累至秘書郎。煬帝雖愛其才，然疾峭正，弗甚用，為七品十年不徙。世基佞敏得君，日貴盛，妻妾被服擬王者，而世南躬貧約，一不改。宇文化及已弑帝，間殺世基，而世南抱持號訴請代，不能得，自是哀毀骨立。從至聊城，為竇建德所獲，署黃門侍郎。秦王滅建德，引為府參軍，轉記室，遷太子中舍人。王踐祚，拜員外散騎侍郎、弘文館學士。時世南已衰老，屢乞骸骨，不聽，遷太子右庶子，固辭改秘書監，封永興縣子。世南貌儒謹，外若不勝衣，而中抗烈，論議持正。太宗嘗曰：「朕與世南商略古今，有一言失，未嘗不悵恨，其懇誠乃如此！」

Fuyuan's elder brother Xiyuan was a Luozhou legal aide who helped Crown Prince Zhanghuai annotate Fan Ye's History of Later Han. Yu Shinan came from Yuyao in Yue Prefecture. He was adopted as heir to his uncle Ji, a Chen secretariat vice director, and took the courtesy name Boshi. Quiet and sparing in his wants by temperament, he and his older brother Shiji trained under Gu Yewang of Wu for over a decade, applying himself so steadily that he would sometimes go ten days without bathing or combing his hair. His prose was graceful and richly wrought. He admired the Deputy Director Xu Ling, who in turn saw a kindred spirit in him, and on that account his reputation spread. During Chen's Tianchen reign, his father Li passed away, and Shinan was overwhelmed by grief. Emperor Wen admired Li's character and, knowing both sons were deeply learned, sent officials to look after the household and appointed Shinan Legal Affairs Attendant to the Prince of Jian'an. Ji was then held captive by Chen Baoying, and though Shinan had finished mourning, he continued to wear plain cloth and eat simple fare; only after Ji came home did he set aside his mourning garb and resume eating meat. In the early Zhide period he was made Companion to the Prince of Xiyang. After the fall of Chen, he and Shiji entered Sui service. Shiji wrote with a clarity and force that surpassed Shinan's, though he lacked his breadth of erudition; both men enjoyed great renown, and commentators likened them to the two Lu brothers of the Jin. While still Prince of Jin, Emperor Yang—and later the Prince of Qin, Jun—both recruited him to serve. During the Daye reign he eventually rose to the post of Secretary Gentleman. The emperor valued his talent but disliked his stern integrity and kept him at arm's length; he held seventh-rank office for ten years without promotion. Shiji flourished through sycophantic cleverness, his household growing daily more lavish until even his wives and concubines dressed like royalty, while Shinan kept to his own frugal ways without the slightest change. When Yuwen Huaji had murdered the emperor and then put Shiji to death, Shinan clung to his brother's body, wailing and begging to die in his stead—but in vain. After that he wasted away with grief until he was little more than skin and bone. He followed the court to Liaocheng, where Dou Jiande seized him and appointed him Gentleman at the Yellow Gate. After the Prince of Qin defeated Jiande, he took Shinan onto his staff as adjutant, then made him chief secretary and later Palace Attendant to the heir apparent. When the prince took the throne, Shinan was made Outer Attendant Gentleman for Dispersing the Cavalry and a scholar of the Hongwen Library. By then Shinan was growing old and repeatedly asked to retire, but the emperor refused. Offered the post of Right Vice Tutor to the heir apparent, he firmly declined and was instead made Director of the Palace Library and enfeoffed as Viscount of Yongxing County. Shinan looked the picture of scholarly modesty—so slight that his robes seemed too heavy for him—yet inwardly he was steely and unyielding, always arguing the straight path in counsel. Emperor Taizong once remarked, "When Shinan and I discuss history together, a single ill-chosen word from me leaves me full of regret—that is how earnestly sincere he is!"

貞觀八年，進封縣公。會隴右山崩，大蛇屢見，山東及江、淮大水，帝憂之，以問世南，對曰：「春秋時，梁山崩，晉侯召伯宗問焉。伯宗曰：'國主山川，故山崩川竭，君為之不舉，降服，乘縵，徹樂，出次，祝幣以禮焉。 '梁山，晉所主也，晉侯從之，故得無害。漢文帝元年，齊、楚地二十九山同日崩，水大出，詔郡國無來貢，施惠天下，遠近洽穆，亦不為災。後漢靈帝時，青蛇見御坐。晉惠帝時，大蛇長三百步，見齊地，經市入廟。蛇宜在草野，而入市，此所以為怪耳。今蛇見山澤，適其所居。又山東淫雨，江、淮大水，恐有冤獄枉系，宜省錄累囚，庶幾或當天意。」帝然之，於是遣使賑饑民，申挺獄訟，多所原赦。後星孛虛、危，歷氐，餘百日，帝訪群臣。世南曰：「昔齊景公時，彗見，公問晏嬰，嬰曰：‘公穿池沼畏不深，起臺榭畏不高，行刑罰畏不重，是以天見彗為戒耳。 ’景公懼而修德，後十六日而滅。臣願陛下勿以功高而自矜，勿以太平久而自驕，慎終於初，彗雖見，猶未足憂。」帝曰：「誠然，吾良無景公之過，但年十八舉義兵，二十四平天下，未三十即大位，自謂三王以來，撥亂之主莫吾若，故負而矜之，輕天下士。上天見變，其為是乎？秦始皇劃除六國，隋煬帝有四海之富，卒以驕敗，吾何得不戒邪？」

In the eighth year of Zhenguan he was promoted to County Duke. When landslides struck Longyou, great serpents appeared again and again, and Shandong together with the Jiang and Huai regions were ravaged by flood, the emperor grew anxious and asked Shinan what it meant. He answered, "During the Spring and Autumn period, Mount Liang collapsed, and the Marquis of Jin summoned Bo Zong for counsel. Bo Zong replied, "The ruler is lord of the land's mountains and rivers; when they collapse or run dry, he should suspend ceremonies, wear mourning garb, ride in an unadorned carriage, ban music, move to a temporary lodging, and offer ritual prayers and gifts." Mount Liang lay within Jin's domain; the marquis followed this counsel and escaped harm. In the first year of Emperor Wen of Han, twenty-nine mountains in Qi and Chu collapsed on the same day amid massive flooding. He ordered the commanderies and kingdoms to withhold tribute and extended benefactions throughout the realm; harmony prevailed near and far, and no disaster followed. Under Emperor Ling of Later Han, a green serpent appeared on the imperial throne. Under Emperor Hui of Jin, a serpent three hundred paces long appeared in Qi, passed through the marketplace, and entered a temple. Serpents belong in the wild, not the marketplace—that is why it was regarded as an omen. Today's serpents have been seen in mountains and marshes, exactly where they belong. As for the torrential rains in Shandong and the flooding along the Jiang and Huai, I suspect there may be wrongfully held prisoners in the jails. Your Majesty should review pending cases and release those unjustly confined—perhaps that would answer Heaven's warning. The emperor agreed. He sent officials to relieve the famine-stricken, reopened judicial review, and granted many pardons. Later a comet appeared in the constellations Xu and Wei, traversed Di, and remained visible for more than a hundred days, prompting the emperor to seek counsel from his ministers. Shinan said, "When Duke Jing of Qi saw a comet, he asked Yan Ying, who replied, 'Your Majesty digs ponds yet fears they are not deep enough, builds towers yet fears they are not tall enough, and punishes yet fears the penalties are not severe enough—that is why Heaven has sent a comet as a warning. The duke was frightened and mended morally; sixteen days later the comet disappeared. I pray Your Majesty will not grow complacent over past victories nor grow proud because peace has lasted so long. Guard the end as carefully as the beginning, and even if the comet appears, there is little cause for alarm.' The emperor said, "That is true. I am not guilty of Duke Jing's excesses—but I raised the army of righteousness at eighteen, brought the realm to peace at twenty-four, and took the throne before thirty. I told myself that since the Three Sage Kings no ruler who quelled chaos had matched me, and so I grew proud and looked down on the empire's men of talent. Has Heaven sent this sign for that very reason? Qin Shihuang conquered the six states, and Sui Emperor Yang possessed the riches of the four seas—yet both were ruined by arrogance. How can I fail to take warning?"

高祖崩，詔山陵一準漢長陵故事，厚送終禮，於是程役峻暴，人力告弊。世南諫曰：

After Gaozu's death, an edict decreed that his mausoleum follow the model of Han's Changling with lavish funeral honors. The construction grew brutally intense, and laborers were pushed to exhaustion. Shinan memorialized in protest:

古帝王所以薄葬者，非不欲崇大光顯以榮其親，然高墳厚隴，寶具珍物，適所以累之也。聖人深思遠慮，安於菲薄，為長久計。昔漢成帝造延、昌二陵，劉向上書曰：「孝文居霸陵，悽愴悲懷，顧謂群臣曰：'嗟乎！以北山石為槨，用糸甯絮斮陳漆其間，豈可動哉？ '張釋之曰：'使其中有可欲，雖錮南山猶有隙；使無可欲，雖無石槨，又何戚焉？ '夫死者無終極，而國家有廢興。孝文寤焉，遂以薄葬。」

Ancient emperors practiced modest burial not because they lacked desire to honor their forebears with grandeur, but because towering mounds, thick earthworks, and heaps of treasure only burden the dead. The sages looked far ahead and were content with simplicity, planning for lasting security. When Emperor Cheng of Han built the Yan and Chang tombs, Liu Xiang submitted a memorial citing how Emperor Xiaowen, standing at Baling, was moved to grief and told his ministers, 'Alas! Were we to seal the tomb with stone from the northern mountains, packing ramie between the layers and lacquering them—who could ever break in? Zhang Shizhi replied, 'If there is something inside worth coveting, even a tomb sealed with Mount South would not be secure; but if there is nothing to tempt a thief, even without a stone coffin, what is there to fear? Death is endless, but dynasties rise and fall. Emperor Xiaowen took the lesson to heart and chose a modest burial."

又漢法，人君在位，三分天下貢賦之一以入山陵。武帝歷年長久，比葬，方中不復容物。霍光暗於大體，奢侈過度，其後赤眉入長安，破茂陵取物，猶不能盡。無故聚斂，為盜之用，甚無謂也。

Under Han law, one-third of the empire's tribute revenue during a reign was set aside for the royal tomb. Emperor Wu reigned so long that by his burial the central chamber could hold no more treasure. Huo Guang failed to grasp the larger principle and permitted excess beyond measure; later the Red Eyebrows sacked Chang'an, broke open Maoling, and plundered it for days without exhausting its hoard. To hoard treasure for no purpose but to supply robbers is folly indeed.

魏文帝為壽陵，作終制曰：「堯葬壽陵，因山為體，無封樹、寢殿、園邑，棺槨足以藏骨，衣衾足以朽肉。吾營此不食之地，欲使易代之後不知其處。無藏金銀銅鐵，一以瓦器。喪亂以來，漢氏諸陵無不發者，至乃燒取玉匣金縷，骸骨並盡，乃不重痛哉！若違詔妄有變改，吾為戮屍地下，死而重死，不忠不孝，使魂而有知，將不福汝。以為永制，藏之宗廟。」魏文此制，可謂達於事矣。

When Emperor Wen of Wei built Shouling, he issued a final ordinance: "Yao was buried at Shouling, using the mountain itself as the tomb—without earthen mounds, planted trees, sacrificial halls, or estate parks. Coffins need only hold the bones; garments need only wrap the flesh until it returns to dust. I am choosing uncultivated ground so that after dynasties change no one will know where I lie. Let there be no gold, silver, copper, or iron—only pottery. Since the years of chaos, not one Han imperial tomb has escaped looting; some were burned open for jade caskets and gold-thread shrouds until even the bones were destroyed—is that not grief upon grief? If you disobey this testament and alter my burial, I shall suffer a second death beneath the earth—disloyal and unfilial—and if my spirit knows, it will bring you no blessing. He established this as a permanent rule and deposited the text in the ancestral temple. Emperor Wen of Wei's ordinance shows true grasp of the matter.

陛下之德，堯、舜所不逮，而俯與秦、漢君同為奢泰，此臣所以尤戚也。今為丘隴如此，其中雖不藏珍寶，後世豈及信乎？臣愚以為霸陵因山不起墳，自然高顯。今所卜地勢即平，宜依周制為三仞之墳，明器一不得用金銀銅鐵，事訖刻石陵左，以明示大小高下之式，一藏宗廟，為子孫萬世法，豈不美乎！

Your Majesty's virtue surpasses even Yao and Shun, yet you would emulate the Qin and Han emperors in lavish excess—this is what grieves me most deeply. If the tomb is built on this scale, who in later ages will believe it holds no treasure? I humbly suggest following Baling's example: rely on the mountain itself rather than raising an artificial mound, and the site will stand noble and visible of its own accord. The chosen site is level ground; follow Zhou custom with a mound three ren high. Let no grave goods be made of gold, silver, copper, or iron. When the work is finished, carve the dimensions on a stone set to the tomb's left, keep one copy in the ancestral temple, and make it a model for all generations—would that not be wise and fitting?

書奏，未報。又上疏曰：「漢家即位之初，便營陵墓，近者十餘歲，遠者五十年。今以數月之程，課數十年之事，其於人力不亦勞矣。漢家大郡，戶至五十萬，今人眾不逮往時，而功役一之，此臣所以致疑也。」時議者頗言宜奉遺詔，於是稍稍裁抑。

He submitted the memorial, but received no answer. He submitted another memorial: "The Han emperors began building their tombs at the very start of their reigns—sometimes taking more than ten years, sometimes as long as fifty. To compress decades of work into a few months' schedule—is that not an exhausting imposition on labor? Han-era great commanderies held as many as five hundred thousand households, whereas our population today falls far short—yet the labor demands are unchanged. That is what troubles me. Court opinion largely favored honoring the late emperor's testament, and the project was gradually scaled back.

帝嘗作宮體詩，使賡和。世南曰：「聖作誠工，然體非雅正。上之所好，下必有甚者，臣恐此詩一傳，天下風靡。不敢奉詔。」帝曰：「朕試卿耳！」賜帛五十匹。帝數出畋獵，世南以為言，皆蒙嘉納。嘗命寫《列女傳》于屏風，于時無本，世南暗疏之，無一字謬。帝每稱其五絕：一曰德行，二曰忠直，三曰博學，四曰文詞，五曰書翰。世南始學書于浮屠智永，究其法，為世秘愛。

The emperor once wrote palace-style poetry and asked Shinan to compose a matching verse. Shinan replied, "Your composition is indeed accomplished, but the style is not the upright elegance befitting the throne. What the ruler loves, his subjects will surely take to extremes. I fear that once this poem circulates, the whole realm will follow the fashion. I dare not comply with the command. The emperor said, "I was only testing you! He rewarded Shinan with fifty bolts of silk. Whenever the emperor went hunting, Shinan remonstrated and each time won gracious acceptance. Once ordered to inscribe the 《Biographies of Exemplary Women》 on a screen when no copy was at hand, Shinan wrote it out from memory without a single error. The emperor often praised five supreme gifts in him: moral character, loyal forthrightness, broad erudition, literary mastery, and calligraphy. Shinan first studied calligraphy under the monk Zhiyong, mastered his methods, and was treasured throughout the world.

十二年，致仕，授銀青光祿大夫，弘文館學士如故，祿賜防閤視京官職事者。卒，年八十一，詔陪葬昭陵，贈禮部尚書，諡曰文懿。帝手詔魏王泰曰：「世南於我猶一體，拾遺補闕，無日忘之，蓋當代名臣，人倫准的。今其云亡，石渠、東觀中無復人矣！」後帝為詩一篇，述古興亡，既而歎曰：「鐘子期死，伯牙不復鼓琴。朕此詩將何所示邪？」敕起居郎褚遂良即其靈坐焚之。後數歲，夢進讜言若平生，翌日，下制厚恤其家。

In the twelfth year he retired, received the title Silver Radiance Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, retained his Hongwen Library scholar post, and was granted salary, perquisites, and household guards equal to an active capital official. He died at eighty-one. An edict granted him burial near Zhaoling, posthumously made him Minister of Rites, and gave him the posthumous name Wenci. The emperor wrote personally to Prince Wei Tai: "Shinan has been to me as my own body—day after day reminding me of what I miss and correcting what is flawed. He was the great minister of our age and the moral measure of the court. Now that he is gone, there is no one left in the halls of learning! Later the emperor composed a poem on the rise and fall of empires, then sighed, "When Zhong Ziqi died, Bo Ya never played the zither again. To whom can I now show this poem?" He ordered the diary officer Chu Suiliang to burn the poem immediately before Shinan's spirit seat. Years later he dreamed that Shinan offered frank counsel as in life; the next day he issued an edict granting generous relief to the family.

子昶，終工部侍郎。李百藥李百藥，字重規，定州安平人。隋內史令德林子也。幼多病，祖母趙以「百藥」名之。七歲能屬文，父友陸乂等共讀徐陵文，有「刈琅邪之稻」之語，歎不得其事。百藥進曰：「《春秋》'鄅子藉稻'，杜預謂在琅邪。」客大驚，號奇童。引廕補三衛長。乃性疏侻，喜劇飲。開皇初，授太子通事舍人，兼學士。被讒，輒謝病去。十九年，召見仁壽宮，襲父爵安平公。僕射楊素、吏部尚書牛弘愛其才，署禮部員外郎。奉詔定五禮、律令、陰陽書。

His son Chang rose to serve as Vice Minister of Works. Li Baiyao, style name Chonggui, was a native of Anping in Dingzhou. He was the son of Li Delin, Inner Secretariat Director under the Sui. As a child he was frequently ill, and his grandmother Zhao gave him the name Baiyao—"Hundred Medicines." At seven he could already compose essays. When his father's friends Lu Yi and others were reading Xu Ling and came upon the phrase "reaping the rice of Langye," they lamented that they could not identify the allusion. Baiyao spoke up: "In the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》, the line 'the Earl of Yu borrowed rice'—Du Yu locates the event in Langye. The guests were astonished and hailed him a prodigy. Through hereditary privilege he was appointed Chief of the Three Guards. By nature he was loose and free-spirited, and fond of heavy drinking. In the early Kaihuang era he was made Protocol Attendant to the heir apparent and concurrently a palace scholar. When slandered, he promptly resigned on grounds of illness. In the nineteenth year he was received at Renshou Palace and succeeded to his father's dukedom of Anping. Vice Director Yang Su and Minister of Personnel Niu Hong admired his gifts and made him Vice-Director in the Ministry of Rites. On imperial commission he helped fix the Five Rites, the laws and ordinances, and treatises on yin and yang.

初，以疾去舍人也，煬帝在揚州，召不赴，銜之。及即位，奪爵，為桂州司馬。官廢，還鄉里。大業九年，戍會稽，管崇亂，城守有功，帝顧其名謂虞世基曰：「是子故在，宜斥醜處。」乃授建安郡丞。至烏程，江都難作，沈法興、李子通、杜伏威更相滅，百藥轉側寇亂中，數被偽署，危得不死。會高祖遣使招伏威，百藥勸朝京師，既至曆陽，中悔，欲殺之，飲以石灰酒，因大利，瀕死，既而宿病皆愈。伏威詒書輔公祏使殺之，為王雄誕保護得免。公祏反，授吏部侍郎。或謂帝：「百藥與同反。」帝大怒。及平，得伏威所與公祏書，乃解，猶貶涇州司戶。

Earlier he had left his post as palace attendant, pleading illness; when Emperor Yang was at Yangzhou and summoned him, he refused to come, and the emperor never forgave it. Once Yang took the throne, Baiyao lost his noble rank and was appointed marshal of Guizhou. After his post was abolished, he went home. In the ninth year of Daye, while on garrison duty at Kuaiji, he held the city with distinction when Guan Chong rose in rebellion. The emperor noticed his name and told Yu Shiji, "That man is still around -- he ought to be packed off to some miserable backwater." Baiyao was then made assistant prefect of Jian'an. By the time he reached Wucheng, catastrophe had struck Jiangdu; Shen Faxing, Li Zitong, and Du Fuwei were destroying one another in turn. Baiyao was thrown from side to side in the turmoil, repeatedly pressed into bogus offices, and only narrowly kept his life. When the Founding Emperor sent envoys to win over Du Fuwei, Baiyao persuaded him to go to the capital. At Liyang Fuwei changed his mind and tried to kill him, forcing him to drink lime wine; the purge nearly killed him, yet afterward every old illness left him. Fuwei wrote under false pretenses to Fu Gongzuo ordering Baiyao's death, yet Wang Xiongshen shielded him and he escaped. When Gongzuo rose in rebellion, Baiyao was made Vice-Director of the Ministry of Personnel. Someone told the emperor, "Baiyao rebelled along with him." The emperor flew into a rage. Once order was restored and Fuwei's letters to Gongzuo were found, the charge was dropped, though he was still demoted to registrar of Jing Prefecture.

太宗至涇州，召與語，悅之。貞觀元年，拜中書舍人，封安平縣男。明年，除禮部侍郎。時議裂土與子弟功臣，百藥上《封建論》，理據詳切，帝納其言而止。四年，授太子右庶子。太子數戲媟無度，乃作《贊道賦》以諷。它日，帝曰：「朕見卿賦，述古儲貳事，勸勵甚詳，向任卿，固所望耳！」賜彩三百段。遷散騎常侍，進左庶子、宗正卿，爵為子。久之，固乞致仕。帝嘗與偕賦《帝京篇》，歎其工，手詔曰：「卿何身老而才之壯，齒宿而意之新乎？」卒，年八十四，諡曰康。

When the Prince of Qin reached Jing Prefecture, he called Baiyao in to talk and took a liking to him. In the first year of Zhenguan he became a drafting secretary and was enfeoffed as Baron of Anping County. The following year he was appointed Vice-Director of the Ministry of Rites. When the court debated carving out domains for princes and meritorious ministers, Baiyao submitted his 《Discourse on Enfeoffment》, argued the case with precision, and the emperor took his advice and abandoned the idea. In the fourth year he was made Right Attendant to the heir apparent. Because the heir apparent kept carousing without restraint, Baiyao wrote the 《Rhapsody Praising the Way》 to admonish him. On another day the emperor said, "I have read your rhapsody on the crown princes of old; the counsel is thorough, and putting you in that post was exactly what I wanted." He rewarded him with three hundred bolts of colored silk. He was moved to Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary, promoted to Left Attendant and Director of the Imperial Clan, and his title was raised to viscount. After some years he repeatedly asked to retire. The emperor once wrote the 《Imperial Capital》 poems with him, marveled at his skill, and wrote in his own hand, "How is it that your body is old yet your talent still strong, your years many yet your mind still new?" He died at eighty-four and was posthumously titled Kang.

百藥，名臣子，才行世顯，為天下推重。侍父母喪還鄉，徒跣數千里。服雖除，容貌臒瘠者累年。好獎薦後進，得俸祿與親黨共之。翰藻沈鬱，詩尤其所長，樵廝皆能諷之。所撰《齊史》行于時。子安期子安期。安期亦七歲屬文。父貶桂州，遇盜，將加以刃，安期跪泣請代，盜哀釋之。貞觀初，為符璽郎。累除主客員外郎。高宗即位，遷中書舍人、司列少常伯，數豫決國事。帝屢責侍臣以不能進賢，眾不敢對。安期進曰：「邑十室且有忠信，天下至廣，不為無賢。比見公卿有所薦進，皆劾為朋黨，滯抑者未申，而主薦者已訾，所以人人爭噤默以避囂謗。若陛下忘其親仇，曠然受之，惟才是用，塞讒毀路，其誰敢不竭忠以聞上乎？」帝納之。尋檢校東臺侍郎、同東西臺三品，出為荊州大都督府長史。卒，諡曰烈。

Baiyao was the son of a famous minister; his character and ability shone in his age, and the world held him in high regard. When he went home to mourn his parents, he walked barefoot for thousands of li. Even after mourning ended, he stayed gaunt and haggard for years. He loved to encourage younger men and shared his salary with relatives and friends. His prose was dense and weighty, and poetry was his special gift; even woodcutters and servants could chant his lines. The 《History of Qi》 he compiled was widely read in his day. His son Anqi. Anqi, too, could write at seven. When his father was exiled to Guizhou they met bandits about to kill him; Anqi knelt and wept, begging to die in his stead, and the robbers took pity and let them go. Early in Zhenguan he served as master of seals and charters. He rose through several posts to Vice-Director of the Ministry of Rites for Guest Affairs. When Emperor Gaozong took the throne, he became a drafting secretary and Junior Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and often helped decide state affairs. The emperor often rebuked his attendants for failing to recommend talent, and no one dared answer. Anqi spoke up: "Even in a hamlet of ten houses there are loyal and trustworthy men; the realm is vast -- it cannot be without worthies. Lately whenever ministers have recommended someone, critics cry faction; the blocked man has not yet been cleared while the recommender is already attacked, so everyone keeps silent to escape uproar and slander. If Your Majesty would forget private likes and dislikes, accept recommendations openly, use men only for their ability, and shut the road to slander, who would not give his utmost loyalty in speaking to the throne?" The emperor accepted his advice. Soon he was acting Vice-Director of the Eastern Chancellery with third-rank standing in both chancelleries, then sent out as chief administrator of the Jingzhou grand defense command. He died and was posthumously titled Lie.

自德林至安期，三世掌制誥，孫羲仲，又為中書舍人。褚亮褚亮，字希明，杭州錢塘人。曾祖湮，父玠，皆有名梁、陳間。亮少警敏，博見圖史，一經目輒志於心。年十八，詣陳僕射徐陵，陵與語，異之。後主召見，使賦詩，江總諸詞人在席，皆服其工。累遷為尚書殿中侍郎。入隋，為東宮學士，遷太常博士。煬帝議改宗廟之制，亮請依古七廟，而太祖、高祖各一殿，法周文、武二祧，與始祖而三，餘則分室而祭，始祖二祧，不從迭毀。未及行，坐與楊玄感善，煬帝矜己嫉才，因是亦貶西海司戶。時博士潘徽貶威定主簿，亮與俱至隴山。徽死，為斂瘞，人皆義之。

From Delin through Anqi, three generations drafted imperial edicts; the grandson Xizhong also served as drafting secretary. Chu Liang, courtesy name Ximing, was a native of Qiantang in Hangzhou. His great-grandfather Yan and his father Jie were both well known in the Liang and Chen eras. From youth Liang was sharp and quick; he had wide knowledge of maps and histories, and whatever he read once lodged in his mind. At eighteen he visited Xu Ling, Vice Director of Chen; after speaking with him, Ling found him remarkable. The Last Lord summoned him and had him compose a poem; Jiang Zong and the other poets present all marveled at his skill. Through successive promotions he became Palace Attendant in the Ministry of Works. Under Sui he became an Eastern Palace academician and later was transferred to erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When Emperor Yang debated changing the ancestral temple system, Liang argued for the ancient seven-temple plan: separate halls for the Founding Ancestor and High Ancestor, following the Zhou model of King Wen and King Wu as two distant temples together with the Founding Ancestor as three; the rest would be worshipped in separate chambers, and those three would not be subject to successive removal. Before the plan could be carried out, his friendship with Yang Xuangan gave cause for punishment; Emperor Yang was vain and jealous of ability, and so Liang was also demoted to registrar of Xihai. At the time the erudite Pan Hui was demoted to chief clerk of Weiding, and Liang went with him to Longshan. When Hui died, Liang gathered and buried him, and people praised his righteousness.

後為薛舉黃門侍郎。舉滅，秦王謂曰：「寡人受命而來，嘉於得賢。公久事無道君，得無勞乎？」亮頓首曰：「舉不知天命，抗王師，今十萬眾兵加其頸，大王釋不誅，豈獨亮蒙更生邪？」王悅，賜乘馬、帛二百段，即授王府文學。高祖獵，親格虎，亮懇愊致諫，帝禮納其言。王每征伐，亮在軍中，嘗預秘謀，有裨輔之益。貞觀中累遷散騎常侍，封陽翟縣侯，老於家。

Later he served Xue Ju as Vice-Director of the Yellow Gate. When Ju fell, the Prince of Qin told him, "I have received Heaven's mandate in coming here, and I rejoice at finding worthy men. You long served a ruler without the Way -- are you not worn out?" Liang bowed to the ground and said, "Ju did not know Heaven's mandate and resisted the royal army; now a hundred thousand troops hold blades to his neck, yet Your Highness spared him. Would I alone not owe my life to you?" The prince was pleased, gave him a riding horse and two hundred bolts of silk, and at once made him literary scholar of the princely household. When the Founding Emperor went hunting and personally grappled with a tiger, Liang remonstrated with earnest sincerity, and the emperor respectfully took his advice. On every campaign the prince undertook, Liang was in the army, often privy to secret plans, and proved a real help. During Zhenguan he rose to Regular Attendant-in-Ordinary, was enfeoffed as Marquis of Yangdi County, and lived out his years at home.

太宗征遼，子遂良從，詔亮曰：「疇日師旅，卿未嘗不在中，今朕薄伐，君已老。俯仰歲月，且三十載，眷言及此，我勞如何！今以遂良行，想君不惜一子於朕耳。善居加食。」帝頓首謝。及寢疾，帝遣醫、中使候問踵相逮。卒，年八十八，贈太常卿，陪葬昭陵，諡曰康。遂良自有傳。

When Emperor Taizong marched against Liaodong and his son Suiliang went with him, he sent an edict to Liang: "In past campaigns you were always at the center; now that I make this expedition, you are already old. Looking back across nearly thirty years, when I speak of this, how weary I feel! Now that Suiliang goes with me, I trust you will not begrudge one son to me. Take good care of yourself and eat well." Liang prostrated himself in gratitude. When he fell ill in bed, the emperor sent physicians and palace envoys whose inquiries came one after another. He died at eighty-eight, was posthumously made Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, buried with honors at Zhaoling, and given the posthumous title Kang. Suiliang has a separate biography.

初，武德四年，太宗為天策上將軍，寇亂稍平，乃鄉儒，宮城西作文學館，收聘賢才，於是下教，以大行臺司勳郎中杜如晦、記室考功郎中房玄齡及于志寧、軍諮祭酒蘇世長、天策府記室薛收、文學褚亮姚思廉、太學博士陸德明孔穎達、主簿李玄道、天策倉曹參軍事李守素、王府記室參軍事虞世南、參軍事蔡允恭顏相時、著作郎攝記室許敬宗薛元敬、太學助教蓋文達、軍諮典簽蘇勖，並以本官為學士。七年，收卒，復召東虞州錄事參軍劉孝孫補之。凡分三番遞宿於閤下，悉給珍膳。每暇日，訪以政事，討論墳籍，榷略前載，無常禮之間。命閻立本圖像，使亮為之贊，題名字爵裏，號「十八學士」，藏之書府，以章禮賢之重。方是時，在選中者，天下所慕問，謂之「登瀛洲」。附劉孝孫劉孝孫者，荊州人。祖貞，周石臺太守。孝孫少知名。大業末，為王世充弟杞王辯行臺郎中。辯降，眾引去，獨孝孫攀援號慟，送於郊。貞觀六年，遷著作佐郎、吳王友。歷諮議參軍。遷太子洗馬，未拜，卒。附李玄道李玄道者，本隴西人。世居鄭州。仕隋為齊王府屬。李密據洛口，署記室。密敗，為王世充所執，眾懼不能寐，獨玄道曰：「死生有命，憂能了乎？」寢甚安。及見世充，辭色不撓，釋縛，為著作佐郎。東都平，為秦王府主簿。貞觀初，累遷給事中，姑臧縣男。出為幽州長史，佐都督王君廓，專持府事。君廓不法，每以義裁糾之。嘗遺玄道婢，乃良家子為所掠，遣去不納，由是始隙。君廓入朝，玄道寓書房玄齡，玄齡本甥也。君廓發其書，不識草字，疑以謀己，遂反。坐是流巂州，未幾，擢常州刺史，風績清簡，下詔褒美，賜繒帛。久之，致仕，加銀青光祿大夫，以祿歸第，卒。附李守素李守素者，趙州人。王世充平，召署天策府倉曹參軍，通氏姓學，世號「肉譜」。虞世南與論人物，始言江左、山東，尚相酬對；至北地，則笑而不答，歎曰：「肉譜定可畏。」許敬宗曰：「倉曹此名，豈雅目邪？宜有以更之。」世南曰：「昔任彥升通經，時稱'五經笥'，今以倉曹為'人物志'，可乎？」時渭州刺史李淹亦明譜學，守素所論，惟淹能抗之。姚思廉姚思廉，本名簡，以字行，陳吏部尚書察之子。陳亡，察自吳興遷京兆，遂為萬年人。思廉少受《漢書》於察，盡傳其業。寡嗜欲，惟一於學，未嘗問家人生貲。

Early on, in the fourth year of Wude, the Prince of Qin held the title Grand General of Heavenly Strategy; as rebellion was partly subdued, he gathered Confucian scholars, built a Literature Hall west of the palace city, and recruited worthy men. He then issued an order naming Du Ruhui, Director of Meritorious Service in the Grand Secretariat; Fang Xuanling, Evaluation Director in the Secretariat; Yu Zhining; Su Shichang, Military Advisory Inspector; Xue Shou, Recorder of the Heavenly Strategy Office; the literary scholars Chu Liang and Yao Silian; the Imperial Academy erudites Lu Deming and Kong Yingda; chief clerk Li Xuandao; Li Shousu, storage clerk of the Heavenly Strategy Office; Yu Shinan, recording secretary of the princely establishment; staff members Cai Yungong and Yan Xiangshi; Xu Chongzong and Xue Yuanjing, Director of the Office of Compilation acting as recorder; Gai Wenda, assistant instructor of the Imperial Academy; and Su Xu, military advisory registrar -- all as academicians while keeping their original posts. In the seventh year, after Shou died, Liu Xiaosun, recording officer of Dongyu Prefecture, was recalled to replace him. They were divided into three shifts to lodge in rotation beneath the pavilion, and all were given fine meals. On free days he questioned them about government, debated the classics, and sifted former records, without the stiffness of ordinary court ritual. He had Yan Liben paint their portraits, Liang write the encomia, and their names, titles, and residences inscribed; the group was called the "Eighteen Academicians," kept in the library to show how highly he valued honoring talent. At that time those selected were the envy of the empire, and the post was called "Ascending to Yingzhou." Appended biography: Liu Xiaosun was a native of Jingzhou. His grandfather Zhen served as administrator of Shitai under Northern Zhou. Xiaosun was known even in youth. Near the end of Daye he served as director of the field secretariat for Bian, Prince of Qi, Wang Shichong's younger brother. When Bian surrendered, the others pulled away, but Xiaosun alone clung to him, wailing, and saw him off to the suburbs. In the sixth year of Zhenguan he became assistant director of the Office of Compilation and companion to the Prince of Wu. He later served as advisory staff member. He was appointed groom of the heir apparent but died before taking up the post. Appended biography: Li Xuandao was originally from Longxi. His family had long lived in Zhengzhou. Under Sui he served as an aide in the household of the Prince of Qi. When Li Mi held Luokou, Xuandao was made his recorder. When Mi fell, Xuandao was taken by Wang Shichong; the others were too afraid to sleep, but Xuandao alone said, "Life and death are fated -- can worry settle anything?" He slept soundly. When he was brought before Shichong, his words and bearing did not falter; Shichong freed him and made him assistant director of the Office of Compilation. After the Eastern Capital was pacified, he became chief clerk of the Prince of Qin's household. Early in Zhenguan he rose to supervising censor and was enfeoffed as Baron of Guzang County. He was sent out as chief administrator of You Prefecture, assisting Area Commander Wang Junkuo and running the command's affairs himself. Junkuo broke the law, and Xuandao repeatedly corrected him on grounds of principle. Once Junkuo sent Xuandao a maidservant who turned out to be a good family's daughter he had seized; Xuandao sent her back and refused the gift, and from that their breach began. When Junkuo went to court, Xuandao was staying with Fang Xuanling, who was his nephew. Junkuo opened the letter, could not decipher the cursive hand, suspected a plot against him, and rose in rebellion. For this Xuandao was banished to Juan Prefecture; soon after he was promoted to prefect of Changzhou, where his rule was clear and spare; the throne issued a decree of praise and granted him silk. In time he retired, was made Silver Gleaming Grand Master for Splendid Happiness, went home on his stipend, and died. Appendix: Li Shousu. Li Shousu came from Zhao Prefecture. After Wang Shichong was subdued, Li was summoned and made warehouse clerk in the Celestial Stratagem Office; expert in clan and surname lore, his age called him the "Meat Genealogy." Yu Shinan debated men of talent with him; when they began with the Jiangzuo and Shandong regions, they could still hold their own in exchange; but when the talk turned to the north, Shousu only laughed and kept silent; Shinan sighed and said, "The Meat Genealogy is truly formidable." Xu Jingzong said, "This nickname for the warehouse clerk -- is it a refined one? Surely something better ought to replace it." Shinan said, "In olden days Ren Yansheng mastered the classics and was called the 'Casket of the Five Classics'; might we call the warehouse clerk the 'Record of Persons' -- would that serve?" At that time Li Yan, prefect of Wei Prefecture, was also learned in genealogy; of Shousu's arguments, only Yan could stand against him. Yao Silian. Yao Silian, whose original name was Jian, went by his courtesy name; he was the son of Yao Cha, Minister of Personnel under Chen. When Chen fell, Cha moved from Wuxing to the capital district and became a man of Wannian. Silian studied the 《Book of Han》 under Cha in his youth and wholly inherited his father's craft. He cared little for pleasure, gave himself wholly to study, and never once asked after his family's means.

仕陳會稽王主簿。入隋，為漢王府參軍事，以父喪免。服除，補河間郡司法書佐。初，察在陳，嘗脩梁、陳二史，未就，死，以屬思廉，故思廉表父遺言，有詔聽續。煬帝又詔與起居舍人崔祖浚脩《區宇圖志》。遷代王侍讀。高祖定京師，府僚皆奔亡，獨思廉侍王，兵將升殿，思廉厲聲曰：「唐公起義，本安王室，若等不宜無禮于王。」眾眙卻，布列階下。帝義之，聽扶王至順陽閤，泣辭去。觀者歎曰：「仁者有勇，謂此人乎！」俄授秦王府文學。王討徐圓朗，嘗語隋事，慨然歎曰：「姚思廉蒙素刃以明大節，古所難者。」時思廉在洛陽，遣使遺物三百段，致書曰：「景想節義，故有是贈。」

Under Chen he served as chief clerk to the Prince of Kuaiji. Under Sui he became military adjutant in the household of the Prince of Han and was dismissed when his father died. After his mourning period ended, he was posted as legal clerk of Hejian Commandery. Earlier, while serving Chen, Cha had begun the histories of Liang and Chen but died before finishing; he left the work to Silian, who memorialized his father's dying wish, and an edict allowed him to continue. Emperor Yang also ordered him and diarist Cui Zujun to compile the 《Gazetteer of the Realm》. He was transferred to serve as reader to the Prince of Dai. When Gaozu took the capital, every member of the princely household fled except Silian, who stayed with the prince. As soldiers were about to enter the hall, Silian cried out, "The Duke of Tang took up arms to restore the throne; you must not treat the prince with disrespect." The soldiers stared, fell back, and formed ranks below the steps. The Emperor admired his loyalty, allowed him to escort the prince to Shunyang Pavilion, and left in tears. Those who watched sighed and said, "The benevolent can also be brave -- they must have meant this man!" Soon afterward he was made literary instructor in the Prince of Qin's household. When the prince campaigned against Xu Yuanlang, he once spoke of Sui times and sighed, "Yao Silian faced the naked blade to prove his great integrity -- a thing rarely seen in olden days." Silian was then in Luoyang; the prince sent an envoy with three hundred bolts of goods and a letter saying, "I have long admired your integrity, and so send this gift" .

王為皇太子，遷洗馬。即位，改著作郎、弘文館學士。詔與魏征共撰《梁》、《陳書》，思廉采謝炅、顧野王等諸家言，推究綜括，為梁、陳二家史，以卒父業。賜雜彩五百段，加通直散騎常侍。以籓邸恩，凡政事得失，許密以聞，思廉亦展盡無所諱。帝幸九成宮，思廉以為「離宮游幸是秦皇、漢武事，非堯、舜、禹、湯所為」。帝諭曰：「朕嘗苦氣疾，熱即頓劇，豈為遊賞者乎？」賜帛五十匹，拜散騎常侍、豐城縣男。卒，贈太常卿，諡曰康，陪葬昭陵。

When the prince became heir apparent, Silian was made his cavalry escort. When he took the throne, Silian became director of the Office of Compilation and a scholar of the Hongwen Hall. An edict ordered him and Wei Zheng to compile the 《Book of Liang》 and 《Book of Chen》; Silian drew on Xie Huan, Gu Yewang, and other sources, sifted and synthesized them into the two histories, and so finished his father's work. He received five hundred bolts of variegated silk and was promoted to general gentleman of comprehensive directness and regular cavalry. Because of his old ties to the princely household, he was allowed to report privately on the rights and wrongs of policy, and Silian held nothing back. When the emperor visited Jiucheng Palace, Silian argued that "pleasure tours to detached palaces were the ways of Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi, not of Yao, Shun, Yu, and Tang." The emperor replied, "I have long suffered from qi illness; when the heat comes on it turns severe -- do you think I am doing this for pleasure?" He was given fifty bolts of silk and appointed regular cavalry attendant and Baron of Fengcheng County. He died, was posthumously made Minister of Imperial Sacrifices, given the posthumous name Kang, and buried at Zhaoling.

孫璹。

He had a grandson named Shu.

贊曰：隋煬帝失德，高祖總豪英，興北方，鼓行入關，舉京師，轟若震霆。思廉以諸生侍孱王，奮然陳大義，挫虓虎而奪之氣，勇夫悍心，褫駭自卻，不敢加無禮於其君。誠使有國家者舉不失義，天下其何以抗之哉？宜太宗之尊表云。

The eulogy says: Sui Emperor Yang lost the Way; Gaozu gathered heroes, rose in the north, marched with drums through the passes, took the capital, and shook the realm like thunder. Silian, a mere scholar attending a weak prince, boldly proclaimed the greater duty, broke the fierce tiger's spirit, and left hardened warriors shaken and retreating, unable to offer insult to their lord. If rulers truly never failed in righteousness, how could the realm stand against them? Small wonder Taizong honored him so, as the inscription records.

璹字令璋，少孤，撫昆媦友愛。力學，才辯掞邁。永徽中，舉明經第，補太子宮門郎。以論撰勞，進秘書郎。稍遷中書舍人，封吳興縣男。武后時，擢夏官侍郎。坐從弟敬節叛，貶桂州長史。后方以符瑞自神，璹取山川草樹名有「武」字者，以為上應國姓，裒類以聞。后大悅，拜檢校天官侍郎，擢文昌左丞、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。永徽後，左右史唯對仗承旨，仗下謀議不得聞。璹以帝王謨訓不可闕紀，請仗下所言軍國政要，責宰相自撰，號《時政記》，以授史官。從之。時政有記自璹始。坐事，降司賓少卿。延載初，拜納言，有司以璹族犯法，不可為侍臣者，璹曰：「王敦犯順，導典樞機；嵇康被戮，紹以忠死。是能為累乎？」后曰：「此朕意，卿無恤浮言。」

Shu, courtesy name Lingzhang, lost his parents young and raised his brothers and sisters with tender care. He studied tirelessly, and his talent and eloquence surpassed his peers. During Yonghui he passed the Mingjing examination and became gate officer in the heir apparent's palace. For his work on historical compilation he was promoted to secretary. He rose to drafting secretary and was enfeoffed as Baron of Wuxing County. Under Empress Wu he was promoted to vice minister of the Summer Office. When his cousin Jingjie rebelled, he was demoted to chief administrator of Gui Prefecture. Later, as the empress sought to prove her divinity through omens, Shu collected names of mountains, rivers, plants, and trees containing the character "Wu," took them as heaven's answer to the dynastic surname, sorted them by kind, and reported them. The empress was delighted; he was made acting vice minister of the Celestial Office, then promoted to left assistant of the Department of Literary Glory and co-drafter with concurrent duty in the Phoenix Pavilion and Crane Terrace. After Yonghui the left and right historians heard the emperor's will only during formal audience; deliberations off the dais went unrecorded. Shu argued that the ruler's counsels must not be left unrecorded and asked that military and state matters discussed off the dais be written up by the chancellor himself under the title 《Records of Current Governance》 and given to the historiographers. The court approved his proposal. The keeping of records of current governance began with Shu. After an offense he was demoted to vice director of the Office of Reception. At the start of Yanzai he was made chief speaker; the relevant offices argued that because members of Shu's clan had broken the law he could not serve at court; Shu said, "Wang Dun rebelled, yet Wang Dao held the secretariat; Ji Kang was put to death, yet Shan Tao remained loyal unto death. Can kinship truly be held against a man?" The empress said, "This is my wish; pay no heed to idle talk." .

證聖初，加秋官尚書。明堂火，后欲避正殿，應天變。璹奏：「此人火，非天災也。昔宣榭火，周世延；建章焚，漢業昌。且彌勒成佛，七寶臺須臾散壞。聖人之道，隨物示化，況明堂布政之宮，非宗廟，不宜避正殿，貶常禮。」左拾遺劉承慶曰：「明堂所以宗祀，為天所焚，當側身思過，振除前犯。」璹挾前語以傾后意。后乃更御端門，大酺，燕群臣，與相娛樂，遂造天樞著己功德，命璹為使，董督之。功費浩廣，見金不足，乃斂天下農器並鑄。以功賜爵一級。后封嵩山，詔璹總知儀注，為封禪副使。更造明堂，又以使護作，加銀青光祿大夫。大食使者獻師子，璹曰：「是獸非肉不食，自碎葉至都，所費廣矣。陛下鷹犬且不蓄，而厚資養猛獸哉！」有詔大食停獻。時九鼎成，后欲用黃金塗之。璹奏：「鼎者，神器，貴質樸，不待外飾。臣觀其上先有五采雜昈，豈待塗金為符曜耶？」后乃止。

At the start of Zhensheng he was given the additional title minister of the Autumn Office. When the Bright Hall burned, the empress wished to leave the main hall to answer heaven's warning. Shu memorialized, "This fire was set by men, not sent by heaven. When Xuanshe burned, the Zhou endured; when Jianzhang burned, Han flourished. And when Maitreya attained buddhahood, the jeweled terrace fell apart in a moment. The sage's way transforms with circumstance; moreover the Bright Hall is a hall of government, not an ancestral temple -- one should not leave the main hall and set aside ordinary rites." Left Reminder Liu Chengqing said, "The Bright Hall is where the ruler worships his ancestors; burned by heaven, he should examine himself, repent, and cast off past faults." Shu used his earlier argument to turn the empress's mind. The empress then held court at Duangate instead, gave a great feast, and entertained her ministers; she next had the Celestial Pivot cast to proclaim her merit and appointed Shu commissioner to supervise the work. The project was vast and costly; when gold proved insufficient, she collected farming tools from across the empire and had them cast together. In recognition of the work, he received one step in noble rank. When the empress performed the fengshan rite at Mount Song, an edict made Shu general overseer of protocol and deputy commissioner for the rite. When the Bright Hall was rebuilt, he again served as commissioner supervising the work and was made Silver Gleaming Grand Master for Splendid Happiness. Envoys from Dashi presented a lion; Shu said, "This beast eats nothing but meat; from Suyab to the capital the expense is enormous. Your Majesty keeps neither hawks nor hounds -- yet would lavishly feed a savage beast!" An edict ordered Dashi to stop sending such tribute. When the Nine Cauldrons were finished, the empress wished to coat them with gold. Shu memorialized, "Cauldrons are sacred vessels; their value lies in plain substance, not outward adornment. Your subject sees that they already bear five-colored mottling -- must gold be added to make them signs of glory?" The empress then abandoned the plan.

契丹李盡忠盜塞，副梁王武三思為榆關道安撫使。坐累，下遷益州長史。始，蜀吏貪暴，璹擿發之，無所容貸。后聞，降璽詔慰勞，因謂左右曰：「為二千石清其身者易，使吏盡清者難，唯璹為兼之。」新都丞硃待辟坐贓應死，待辟所厚浮屠理中謀殺璹，據劍南。有密告后者，詔璹窮按。璹深探其獄，跡疑似皆捕逮，株黨牽聯數千人。獄具，后遣洛州長史宋玄爽、御史中丞霍獻可覆視，無所翻，坐沒入五十餘族，知反流徙者什八以上，道路冤噪。監察御史袁恕己劾奏璹獄不平，有詔勿治。召拜地官、冬官二尚書。久之，致仕。卒，年七十四，遺令薄葬。贈越州都督，諡曰成。孫珽弟珽。珽篤學有立志，擢明經。歷六州刺史，政皆有績，數被褒賜，累封宣城郡公。遷太子詹事，兼左庶子。時節湣太子稍失道，珽凡四上書諫。

When the Khitan Li Jinzhong raided the frontier, Shu served as deputy to the Prince of Liang Wu Sansi, pacification commissioner of the Yuguan circuit. Because of the affair he was demoted to chief administrator of Yi Prefecture. At first the officials of Shu were greedy and brutal; Shu exposed them and showed no mercy. When the empress heard of it, she sent an imperial edict of praise and told those around her, "For a two-thousand-dan official to keep himself clean is easy; to make every subordinate clean is hard -- only Shu has done both." Zhu Daibi, assistant magistrate of Xindu, had embezzled funds and deserved death; a monk named Lizhong whom he had patronized plotted to kill Shu and seize control of the Sword South. Someone secretly reported the plot to the empress, and an edict ordered Shu to investigate it to the end. Shu pressed the case relentlessly; anyone even remotely implicated was arrested, and clan ties and associations swept up several thousand people. When the case was closed, the empress sent Luoyang chief administrator Song Xuanshuang and censor-in-chief Huo Xianke to review it; nothing was overturned; more than fifty clans were confiscated and banished, and well over eight in ten of those exiled knew themselves innocent; the roads rang with cries of injustice. Supervising censor Yuan Shuji impeached Shu for an unjust case, but an edict ordered that the matter not be pursued. He was summoned and appointed concurrently minister of the Earth Office and minister of the Winter Office. In time he retired. He died at seventy-four and left instructions for a plain burial. He was posthumously made area commander of Yue Prefecture and given the posthumous name Cheng. His younger brother was Ting. Ting studied with devotion and strong purpose and passed the Mingjing examination. He served as prefect of six prefectures, governing well in each; he was repeatedly praised and rewarded, and was eventually enfeoffed as Duke of Xuancheng Commandery. He was appointed Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent, concurrently serving as Left Subordinate to the Heir Apparent. At that time Crown Prince Jiemin was gradually straying from proper conduct, and Ting submitted four memorials admonishing him.

其一曰：「臣聞賈誼稱『選天下端士，使與太子居處出入，故太子見正事，聞正言，行正道，左右前後皆正人也。夫習與正人居，不能無正；習與不正人居，不能無不正。教得而左右正，則太子正；太子正，天下定矣』。伏見內置作坊，諸工伎得入宮闈之內、禁衛之所，或言語內出，或事狀外通，小人無知，因為詐偽，有玷盛德。臣望悉出宮內造作付所司。」

The first read: "Your subject has heard Jia Yi say, 'Choose upright men from throughout the realm to live with the Heir Apparent, going out and coming in with him—so that the Heir Apparent sees what is right, hears what is right, and acts rightly, with upright men on every side. For those who habitually keep company with upright men cannot fail to become upright; and those who habitually keep company with unupright men cannot fail to become unupright. If he is well taught and those around him are upright, the Heir Apparent will be upright; and if the Heir Apparent is upright, the realm will be secure.' I humbly observe that workshops have been set up within the palace, allowing artisans to enter the inner quarters and guarded precincts—some passing word from inside outward, some relaying affairs from within to the outside. Ignorant petty men take advantage of this to commit fraud, tarnishing your exalted virtue. I ask that all palace manufacture be moved outside and assigned to the proper offices."

其二曰：「漢文帝身弋綈，足草舄。齊高帝闌檻用銅者，皆易以鐵。經侯帶玉具劍、環佩以過魏太子，太子不視。經侯曰：『魏國亦有寶乎？』太子曰：『主信臣忠，魏之寶也。』經侯委劍佩去，杜門不出。夫聖賢以簡素為貴，皇王以菲薄為德，惟殿下留心恭儉，損省玩好，以訓天下。」

The second read: "Emperor Wen of Han wore plain summer silk himself and straw sandals on his feet. Gaodi of Qi replaced every bronze balustrade with iron. The Earl of Jing passed the Wei Heir Apparent wearing a sword with jade fittings and ring pendants; the Heir Apparent did not even glance at him. The Earl of Jing asked, 'Does Wei possess any treasures?' The Heir Apparent replied, 'When the ruler is trusted and ministers are loyal—that is Wei's treasure. The Earl of Jing cast aside his sword and pendants and left; he shut his door and never ventured out again. Sages and worthies prize simplicity; emperors and kings take frugality as virtue. I pray Your Highness attend to reverence and thrift, curtail luxury and amusements, and thereby teach the realm."

其三曰：「前世東宮門閤，往來皆有簿籍。殿下時有所須，唯門司宣令，奸偽乘之，因緣增損。近呂升之乃代署宣敕，賴殿下糾發其奸。以後墨令及覆事，並請內印畫署，冀免詐繆。」

The third read: "In former times, all traffic through the Eastern Palace gate office was recorded in ledgers. When Your Highness required something, only the gate officer should issue the order—but fraudsters seized the opportunity to inflate or reduce orders at will. Recently Lu Shengzhi took it upon himself to sign and issue edicts in Your Highness's name; only thanks to Your Highness exposing his fraud was the matter brought to light. Henceforth, for all written orders and reply reports, I ask that Your Highness affix your personal seal and signature, so as to prevent fraud and error."

其四曰：「聖人不專其德，賢智必有所師。今司經無學士，供奉無侍讀。宜視膳時奏請其人，俾奉講勸。夫經所以立行修身，史所以諳識成敗，斯急務也。」太子雖稱善，不能用其言。及敗，索宮中，得珽諫書，中宗嘉歎。時宮臣皆得罪，獨珽擢右散騎常侍，遷秘書監。睿宗立，拜戶部尚書。所歷定州刺史、尚書官，皆與璹相繼云。卒，年七十四。

The fourth read: "Even sages do not rely on virtue alone; the worthy and wise must have teachers. At present the Office of the Classics has no academicians, and the Supply Service has no Lecturers-in-Attendance. At mealtimes Your Highness should request suitable men to attend, that they may lecture and offer counsel. The Classics teach how to conduct oneself and cultivate character; history teaches how to recognize success and failure—these are urgent priorities." The Heir Apparent praised the advice but did not act on it. When the prince's plot failed, a search of the palace turned up Ting's memorials of admonition; Emperor Zhongzong praised them with admiration. When the other palace officials were all punished, Ting alone was promoted to Right Regular Attendant of the Cavalry and appointed Director of the Secretariat. When Ruizong ascended the throne, he was appointed Minister of Revenue. The posts he had held—Prefect of Dingzhou and various ministerial offices—were subsequently filled in succession by Shu, it is said. He died at the age of seventy-four.

始，曾祖察嘗撰《漢書訓纂》，而後之注《漢書》者，多竊取其義為己說，珽著《紹訓》以發明舊義云。令狐德棻令狐德棻，宜州華原人。父熙，隋鴻臚卿。其先乃燉煌右姓。德棻博貫文史。大業末，為藥城長，屬亂，不就官。淮安王神通據太平宮起兵，立總管府，署德棻府記室。高祖入關，引直大丞相府記室。武德初，為起居舍人，遷秘書丞。帝嘗問：「丈夫冠，婦人髻，比高大，何邪？」德棻對曰：「冠髻在首，君之象也。晉之將亡，君弱臣強，故江左士女，衣小而裳大。宋武帝受命，君德尊嚴，衣裳隨亦變改。此近事驗也。」帝然之。

Earlier, his great-grandfather Cha had compiled 《Instruction and Compilation for the Book of Han》; later annotators of 《the Book of Han》 often appropriated his ideas as their own. Ting wrote 《Continuing the Instruction》 to clarify the original meanings, it is said. Linghu Defen was a native of Huayuan in Yizhou. His father Xi served the Sui as Chief Minister for Dependencies. His family was a prominent clan of Dunhuang. Defen was thoroughly versed in literature and history. At the end of the Daye reign he was appointed magistrate of Yaocheng, but when chaos erupted he declined to serve. When Prince of Huai'an Li Shentong seized the Taiping Palace and raised an army, establishing a chief directorate, he appointed Defen as its secretariat officer. When Gaozu entered the Pass, he was summoned to serve as secretariat officer in the Grand Chancellor's Office. At the beginning of the Wude reign he was appointed Attendant of Daily Records, then promoted to Assistant Director of the Secretariat. The Emperor once asked, "Men wear caps and women wear coiffures—yet the coiffure stands higher. Why is that?" Defen replied, "The cap and coiffure sit upon the head—they symbolize the ruler. When the Jin dynasty was near collapse, rulers were weak and ministers strong; thus in the lands south of the Yangzi, men's and women's upper garments grew small while their lower garments grew large. When Emperor Wu of Song received the Mandate, royal authority was restored—and fashions changed accordingly. Recent history confirms this." The Emperor agreed.

方是時，大亂後，經藉亡散，秘書湮缺，德棻始請帝重購求天下遺書，置吏稱錄。不數年，圖典略備。又建言：「近代無正史，梁、陳、齊文籍猶可據，至周、隋事多脫損。今耳目尚相及，史有所馮；一易世，事皆汩暗，無所掇拾。陛下受禪于隋，隋承周，二祖功業多在周，今不論次，各為一王史，則先烈世庸不光明，後無傳焉。」帝謂然。於是詔中書令蕭瑀、給事中王敬業、著作郎殷聞禮主魏，中書令封德彝、舍人顏師古主隋，大理卿崔善為、中書舍人孔紹安、太子洗馬蕭德言主梁，太子詹事裴矩、吏部郎中祖孝孫，秘書丞魏征主齊，秘書監竇璡、給事中歐陽詢、文學姚思廉主陳，侍中陳叔達、大史令庾儉及德棻主周。整振論譔，多歷年不能就，罷之。

At that time, after the great upheaval, classical texts had been lost and scattered and the imperial archives lay in ruins. Defen was the first to ask the Emperor to purchase lost books throughout the realm at generous prices, appointing clerks to catalog them. Within a few years, the archives were largely restored. He further memorialized the throne: "In recent times we lack official histories. Records of the Liang, Chen, and Qi still survive, but much of Zhou and Sui history has been lost or damaged. Witnesses to these events still live among us, and history still has sources to draw upon; but once another generation passes, these affairs will sink into obscurity, with nothing left to recover. Your Majesty received the throne from the Sui, which in turn succeeded the Zhou—the achievements of both founding houses lay chiefly in the Zhou era. If we fail to compile these in proper sequence, treating each as a separate dynastic history, the deeds of our forebears will go unrecorded and posterity will be left without a heritage." The Emperor agreed. Thereupon the Emperor issued an edict appointing Grand Counselor Xiao Yu, Supervising Secretary Wang Jingye, and Compilation Officer Yin Wenli to compile the Wei history; Grand Counselor Feng Deyi and Attendant Yan Shigu for the Sui history; Chief Judge Cui Shanwei, Secretariat Attendant Kong Shao'an, and Groom of the Heir Apparent Xiao Deyan for the Liang history; Grand Mentor Pei Ju, Bureau Director Zu Xiaosun, and Secretariat Assistant Wei Zheng for the Qi history; Director of the Secretariat Dou Jin, Supervising Secretary Ouyang Xun, and Literary Scholar Yao Silian for the Chen history; and Vice Censor Chen Shuda, Grand Astrologer Yu Jian, and Defen for the Zhou history. The project was organized and drafting commenced, but after many years remained unfinished and was abandoned.

貞觀三年，復詔撰定。議者以魏有魏收、魏澹二家，書為已詳，惟五家史當立。德棻更與秘書郎岑文本、殿中侍御史崔仁師次周史，中書舍人李百藥次齊史，著作郎姚思廉次梁、陳二史，秘書監魏征次隋史，左僕射房玄齡總監。脩撰之原，自德棻發之，書成，賜絹四百匹。遷禮部侍郎，兼修國史。累進爵彭城縣子。轉太子右庶子。太子承乾廢，坐除名為民。召拜雅州刺史，又坐事免。會修晉家史，房玄齡奏起之。預柬凡十有八人，德棻為先進，故類例多所諏定。除秘書少監。

In the third year of Zhenguan, the Emperor again ordered the histories compiled. Those deliberating held that Wei was already well covered by the histories of Wei Shou and Wei Dan; only the histories of the other five dynasties needed to be written. Defen worked with Secretariat Officer Cen Wenben and Palace Censor Cui Renshi on the Zhou history; Secretariat Attendant Li Baiyao on the Qi history; Compilation Officer Yao Silian on the Liang and Chen histories; Director of the Secretariat Wei Zheng on the Sui history; Left Vice Director Fang Xuanling served as chief supervisor. Defen had originated the project; when the histories were completed, he was rewarded with four hundred bolts of silk. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites, concurrently overseeing revision of the National History. He was eventually ennobled as Viscount of Pengcheng County. He was appointed Right Subordinate to the Heir Apparent. When Crown Prince Chengqian was deposed, he was stripped of rank and reduced to commoner status. He was later recalled and appointed Prefect of Yazhou, but was again dismissed for an offense. When work began on the Jin history, Fang Xuanling memorialized to have him reinstated. Eighteen scholars were selected for the project; as the senior member, Defen largely determined its categories and precedents. He was made Deputy Director of the Secretariat.

永徽初，復為禮部侍郎、弘文館學士，監修國史，遷太常卿。高宗嘗召宰相及弘文學士坐中華殿，問：「何脩而王？若而霸？又當孰先？」德棻曰：「王任德，霸任刑。夏、殷、周純用德而王，秦專刑而霸，至漢雜用之，魏、晉以降，王霸兩失。若用之，王為先，而莫難焉。」帝曰：「今茲何為而要？」對曰：「古者為政，清心簡事為本。今天下無虞，年谷豐衍，惟薄賦斂、省征役為要。」又問禹、湯、桀、紂所以興亡，對曰：「《傳》稱：『禹、湯罪己，其興也勃焉；桀、紂罪人，其亡也忽焉。』然二主惑嬖色，戮諫者，造砲烙之刑，此所以亡也。」帝悅，厚賜以答其言。遷國子祭酒、崇賢館學士，爵為公。以金紫光祿大夫致仕。卒，年八十四，諡曰憲。

At the beginning of the Yonghui reign he again served as Vice Minister of Rites and Academician of the Hongwen Library, overseeing revision of the National History, and was then appointed Minister of Rites. Emperor Gaozong once summoned the chief ministers and Hongwen academicians to the Zhonghua Hall and asked, "What path leads to kingship? What path leads to hegemony? And which should take precedence?" Defen replied, "Kingship rests on virtue; hegemony rests on punishment. Xia, Yin, and Zhou ruled through virtue alone; Qin achieved hegemony through punishment alone; Han mixed the two approaches; from Wei and Jin onward, the realm lost both true kingship and true hegemony. If both are to be used, kingship must come first—and nothing is harder to achieve." The Emperor asked, "What is most essential for governance today?" He replied, "In antiquity, good governance rested on a clear mind and simplified administration. Now the realm is at peace and harvests are plentiful—the priority should be reducing taxes and lightening corvée." He then asked why Yu, Tang, Jie, and Zhou had risen and fallen. Defen replied, "《The Commentary》 says, 'Yu and Tang blamed themselves, and their rise was swift; Jie and Zhou blamed others, and their fall was sudden. Yet these two rulers were seduced by favorites, executed those who remonstrated with them, and invented the burning-pillar torture—this is why they fell." The Emperor was pleased and richly rewarded him. He was appointed Rector of the Directorate of Education and Academician of the Chongxian Library, with the rank of duke. He retired bearing the title Grand Master of Golden Light and Purple Radiance. He died at the age of eighty-four and was posthumously titled Xian.

時又有鄧世隆、顧胤、李延壽、李仁實皆以史學稱當世。鄧世隆鄧世隆者，相州人。隋大業末，王世充兄子太戍河陽，引為賓客。秦王攻洛陽，遺書諭太，世隆報書誇慢。洛陽平，亡命，變姓名，號隱玄先生，棲白鹿山。貞觀初，召授國子主簿，與崔仁師、慕容善行、劉顗、庾安禮、敬播俱為修史學士。世隆內負罪，居不聊。太宗遣房玄齡諭曰：「爾為太作書，各忠其主耳。我為天子，尚甘心匹夫邪？毋有後疑！」改著作佐郎，歷衛尉丞。初，帝以武功定天下，晚始向學，多屬文賦詩，天格贍麗，意悟沖邁。十三年，世隆上疏，請加集錄，帝謙不許。終著作郎。顧胤顧胤，蘇州吳人。父覽，仕隋秘書學士。胤，永徽中累遷起居郎，兼脩國史，以撰《太宗實錄》勞，加朝散大夫、弘文館學士。論次國史，加朝請大夫，封餘杭縣男。終司文郎中。子琮，武后時為天官侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。卒，后曰：「琮不幸，令雖不舉哀，然朕以股肱，特廢視事一日。」李延壽李延壽者，世居相州。貞觀中，累補太子典膳丞、崇賢館學士。以脩撰勞，轉御史臺主簿，兼直國史。初，延壽父太師，多識前世舊事，常以宋、齊、梁、陳、齊、周、隋天下參隔，南方謂北為「索虜」，北方指南為「島夷」。其史于本國詳，佗國略，往往訾美失傳，思所以改正，擬《春秋》編年，刊究南北事，未成而歿。

At that time Deng Shilong, Gu Yin, Li Yanshou, and Li Renshi were also renowned for historical scholarship. Deng Shilong was a native of Xiangzhou. At the end of the Sui, Wang Shichong's nephew Tai was garrisoned at Heyang and took him on as a retainer. When the Prince of Qin besieged Luoyang, he sent Tai a letter of exhortation; Shilong drafted Tai's reply in boastful, insolent terms. When Luoyang fell, he fled, changed his name, styled himself Master Yinxuan, and withdrew to Mount Bailu. At the beginning of the Zhenguan reign he was summoned and appointed Principal Clerk of the Directorate of Education, serving alongside Cui Renshi, Murong Shanxing, Liu Yi, Yu Anli, and Jing Bo as an Academician for Historical Revision. Shilong felt guilty at heart and lived in unease. Taizong sent Fang Xuanling to reassure him: "You wrote that letter for Tai—each man was merely loyal to his own master. I am Emperor—would I hold a grudge against a humble subject? Have no further misgivings!" He was appointed Assistant Compilation Officer and later served as Vice Commandant of the Guard. Early on the Emperor had conquered the realm by force of arms and turned to learning only later. He often commissioned others to compose prose and poetry; his literary taste was rich and ornate, his vision lofty and bold. In the thirteenth year Shilong submitted a memorial requesting that the Emperor's writings be collected and published; the Emperor declined out of modesty. He died serving as Compilation Officer. Gu Yin was a native of Wu in Suzhou. His father Lan served the Sui as a Secretariat academician. During Yonghui Yin rose through posts to Diary Officer while also revising the National History. For compiling the 《Veritable Records of Taizong》 he was promoted to Gentleman Consultant for Miscellaneous Services and made an Academician of the Hongwen Institute. For organizing the National History he was promoted to Gentleman Consultant for Ceremonies and enfeoffed Viscount of Yuhang County. He died serving as Compilation Officer. His son Cong served under Empress Wu as Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel and a Grand Chancellor of Tongfeng Pavilion and Luantai. When he died the Empress said: "Cong has met with misfortune. Although the law does not require mourning, as one of my closest ministers I shall suspend court for one day." Li Yanshou came from a family long established in Xiangzhou. During Zhenguan he held successive posts as Vice Director of Food Service for the Heir Apparent and Academician of the Chongxian Institute. For his work on historical compilation he was moved to Principal Clerk of the Censorate with concurrent duty on the National History. Early on Yanshou's father Taishi, who knew a great deal about earlier times, observed that under the Song, Northern and Southern Qi, Liang, Chen, Northern Zhou, and Sui the realm had been split: southerners called northerners "Suolu" and northerners called southerners "Daoyi." Each state's histories were detailed at home and sketchy abroad, so moral judgment was often distorted or lost. He wished to set this right by following the chronicle style of the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》 in treating north and south together, but died before the work was finished.

延壽既數與論譔，所見益廣，乃追終先志。本魏登國元年，盡隋義寧二年，作本紀十二、列傳八十八，謂之《北史》；本宋永初元年，盡陳禎明三年，作本紀十、列傳七十，謂之《南史》。凡八代，合二書百八十篇，上之。其書頗有條理，刪落釀辭，過本書遠甚。時人見年少位下，不甚稱其書。遷符璽郎，兼脩國史，卒。

Having often discussed the project with his father, Yanshou's view widened and he set out to fulfill his father's aim. From Northern Wei's first year of Dengguo through Sui's second year of Yining he produced twelve annals and eighty-eight biographies, entitled the 《History of the North》; From Liu Song's first year of Yongchu through Chen's third year of Zhenming he wrote ten annals and seventy biographies, entitled the 《History of the South》. Covering eight dynasties in two works of 180 chapters, he submitted them to the throne. The work was well organized, stripped of florid phrasing, and far superior to the source histories. Contemporaries, noting his youth and low rank, did not much acclaim the work. He was promoted to Seal Officer while continuing to revise the National History, and died in office.

嘗撰《太宗政典》，調露中，高宗觀之，咨美直筆，賜其家帛五十段，藏副秘閣，仍別錄以賜皇太子云。李仁實李仁實，魏州頓丘人。官至左史。著《格論》、《通曆》等書，行于時。令狐峘峘，德棻五世孫。天寶末，及進士第。遇祿山亂，去隱南山豹林穀。楊綰微時，數從之遊，而峘博學有口辯。綰為禮部侍郎，脩國史，薦峘，自華原尉拜右拾遺，兼史職。累遷起居舍人。撰《玄宗實錄》，屬《起居注》亡散，峘裒掇詔策，備一朝之遺。自開元、天寶間名臣事多漏略，拙於取棄，不稱良史。大曆中，以刑部員外郎判南曹。遷司封郎中，知制誥，兼史館脩撰。德宗立，詔元陵制度務極優厚，當竭帑藏奉用度。峘諫曰：「臣伏讀漢劉向論山陵之誡，良史咨欷。何者？聖賢勤儉，不作無益。昔舜葬蒼梧，弗變其肆；禹葬會稽，不改其列；周武葬畢陌，無丘壟處；漢文葬霸陵，不起山墳。禹非不忠，啟非不順，周公非不悌，景帝非不孝，其奉君親，皆以儉觳為無窮計。宋文公厚葬，《春秋》書華元為不臣；桓魋為石槨，夫子以為不如速朽。由是觀之，有德者葬薄，無德者葬厚，章章可見。陛下仁孝切於聖心，然尊親之義貴合於禮。先帝遺詔，送終之制，一用儉約，不得以金銀緣飾。陛下奉先志，無違物，若務優厚，是咈顧命，盩經誼，臣竊懼之。今赦令甫下，諸條未出，望速詔有司從遺制便。」詔答曰：「朕頃議山陵，荒哀迷謬，以違先旨。卿引據典禮，非唯中朕之失，亦使朕不遺君親於患。敢不聞義而從，奉以終始？雖古遺直，何以加焉！」

He had also compiled the 《Political Institutions of Taizong》. In the Tiaolu era Gaozong read it, praised its honest record, and rewarded his family with fifty bolts of silk. A copy was kept in the Secret Archive and another was made for the Crown Prince. Li Renshi was a native of Dunqiu in Weizhou. He rose to Left Historiographer. He wrote the 《Treatise on Standards》, the 《Comprehensive Calendar》, and other works that circulated widely in his day. Linghu Tan was a fifth-generation descendant of Linghu Defen. At the end of the Tianbao era he passed the jinshi examinations. When the An Lushan rebellion broke out he withdrew to Baolin Valley in the Zhongnan Mountains. Yang Guan often visited him when still unknown; Tan was erudite and eloquent. When Guan became Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites and was revising the National History, he recommended Tan, who was promoted from magistrate of Huayuan to Right Reminder with a concurrent post in the historiography office. He was promoted to Diary Officer of the Secretariat. When compiling the 《Veritable Records of Emperor Xuanzong》 he found the Diary Notes lost and scattered, so Tan pieced together edicts and proclamations to preserve what remained of the reign. Accounts of prominent ministers of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras were often omitted; his selection was clumsy and the work hardly merits a good historian's name. During the Dali era he served as Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice overseeing the Southern Bureau. He was promoted to Director of the Seals Section, drafted imperial edicts, and served concurrently as a compiler in the Historiography Institute. When Dezong ascended the throne, an edict ordered that the late emperor's mausoleum be built with the utmost splendor, drawing freely on the treasury. Tan remonstrated: "I have read Liu Xiang of Han on the warning about tombs, and good historians have mournfully sighed over it. Why is that? Sages and worthies are frugal and do nothing useless. Shun was buried at Cangwu without disturbing the marketplace; Yu was buried at Kuaiji without changing the ranks of farmers at plough; King Wu of Zhou was buried at Bimo with neither mound nor tumulus; Emperor Wen of Han was buried at Baling without raising a hill tomb. It was not that Yu lacked loyalty, Qi lacked obedient succession, the Duke of Zhou lacked brotherly duty, or Emperor Jing lacked filial piety—they honored lord and parent by making frugality their enduring principle. Duke Wen of Song was given a lavish burial, and the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》 marks Hua Yuan as disloyal; When Huan Tui had a stone sarcophagus made, the Master said it would be better to rot away quickly. From this it is plain that the virtuous are buried simply and the unvirtuous extravagantly. Your Majesty's filial devotion is sincere, yet honoring one's parents should accord with ritual propriety. The late emperor's testament prescribed frugal funeral arrangements and forbade gold and silver ornament. Your Majesty has honored his wishes; to pursue extravagance would disobey his dying command and violate ritual propriety, which deeply concerns me. The amnesty has just been issued and detailed regulations not yet promulgated; I beg that officials be ordered at once to follow the testament." The emperor replied: "In my recent deliberations on the mausoleum, grief led me astray and I violated my father's intent. You invoked precedent and ritual—not only correcting my error but keeping me from bringing harm upon my father even in death. How could I fail to heed your counsel and follow it to the end? Even the most forthright remonstrators of old could not surpass this!"

峘在吏部，因尚書劉晏力。時楊炎為侍郎，故峘內德晏，至分闕，以善闕奉晏，惡闕與炎，炎心不平。建中初，峘為禮部侍郎，炎執政，不為憾。炎出故宰相杜鴻漸門下，其子封求弘文生，以托峘，峘謝使者曰：「得公手署，峘得以識。」炎不疑，署送之。峘即日奏言：「宰相迫臣以私，從之負陛下，不從則害臣。」帝以詰炎，炎具道所以然。帝怒曰：「此奸人，無可奈何！」欲殺之，炎苦救解，乃貶衡州別駕。遷刺史。李泌執政，召拜太子右庶子，復為脩撰。

While in the Ministry of Personnel Tan relied on the support of Director Liu Yan. Yang Yan was then a vice director; Tan secretly favored Liu Yan, and when choosing appointees he gave the best posts to Yan and the worst to Yang Yan, who resented it. Early in Jianzhong Tan became Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites; although Yang Yan was in power, he bore no grudge. Yang Yan had studied under the former chancellor Du Hongjian; his son Feng sought admission as a Hongwen Institute student and asked Tan to help. Tan told the messenger: "With a note in your own hand I can verify the request." Yang Yan suspected nothing and signed and sent it. That day Tan memorialized: "The Chancellor pressured me with a private favor—if I complied I would betray Your Majesty, if I refused he would destroy me." The emperor questioned Yang Yan, who explained the whole affair. The emperor said in anger: "This scoundrel is beyond remedy!" He wanted Tan executed; Yang Yan pleaded hard for him and Tan was demoted instead to Vice Prefect of Hengzhou. He was later made regional prefect. When Li Bi took power Tan was recalled as Right Vice Supervisor of the Heir Apparent and again made a historical compiler.

性愎且介，人人與為怨。孔述睿同脩史，峘忿細故，數侵之，述睿長者，無所校。貞元五年，坐守衡州冒前刺史戶口為己最，竇參素惡之，貶吉州別駕，稍遷刺史。齊映為江西觀察使，按部及州。峘輕映後出先至宰相，今雖屬刺史，自挾所以過映者，至迎謁，頗怏怏。以語其妻，妻曰：「君自視何如人，以白頭走小生前。君不以比見映，雖黜死，我無憾。」映至，峘入謁，從容步進，不襪首屬戎器，映以為恨。去至府，擿峘舉奏前刺史過失無狀，不宜按部，貶衢州別駕。刺史田敦，峘門生也，與峘昧生平，至是迎拜，分俸半以賙給之。在衢十年，順宗立，以秘書少監召，未至，卒。

Obstinate and uncompromising by nature, he made an enemy of nearly everyone. Collaborating on the history with Kong Shurui, Tan picked quarrels over trifles and harried him repeatedly; Shurui, a man of forbearance, never took offense. In Zhenyuan 5 he was found to have credited himself with the prior prefect of Hengzhou's household register figures; Dou Can, who disliked him, had him demoted to Vice Prefect of Jizhou, then gradually promoted to prefect. Qi Ying, as Jiangxi Observation Commissioner, toured his jurisdiction and reached Tan's prefecture. Tan looked down on Qi Ying as a junior who had reached the chancellorship before him; though now Ying's subordinate as prefect, Tan counted on past grievances and showed evident displeasure when going to greet him. He told his wife, who said: "Consider what sort of man you are—to go cringing before a man young enough to be your son while your hair is white! If you refuse to demean yourself before him, even if you are demoted or die, I shall have no regrets." When Qi Ying arrived Tan paid his respects but strolled in casually without proper cap and girded weapons; Ying took this as a deliberate insult. At headquarters Qi Ying charged Tan with groundlessly impeaching his predecessor and deemed him unfit to receive an inspection tour, and had him demoted to Vice Prefect of Quzhou. The prefect Tian Dun had been Tan's student though they had never met; he now came to welcome him and gave him half his salary for support. After ten years at Quzhou he was summoned as Vice Director of the Secretariat when Emperor Shunzong ascended the throne, but died before he could take up the post.

初，受詔撰《代宗實錄》，未就，會貶，詔聽在外成書。元和中，其子太僕丞丕獻之。以勞贈工部尚書。

Upon receiving orders to compile the 《Veritable Records of Emperor Daizong》, he was demoted before finishing; the court allowed him to complete the work in exile. In the Yuanhe era his son Pi, Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud, presented it to the throne. For this service Tan was posthumously made Minister of Works.

贊曰：「文本才猷，世南鯁諤，百藥之持論，亮、思廉之邃雅，德棻之辭章，皆治世華采，而淟汩于隋，光明于唐，何哉？蓋天下未嘗無賢，以不用亡；不必多賢，以見用興。夫典章圖史，有國者尤急，所以考存亡成敗，陳諸前而為之戒。方天下初定，德棻首發其議，而後唐之文物粲然，誠知治之本歟！

The encomium reads: "The talents of Wenben, Shinan's blunt honesty, Baiyao's principled arguments, the depth and grace of Liang and Silian, Defen's literary brilliance—all are adornments of good government; yet they were sullied under the Sui and shone under the Tang. Why? Perhaps the world never lacks worthy men—they are lost when not employed; nor does it take many; a state flourishes when they are put to use. Canon law, maps, and history are especially vital to any state, for by them one weighs rise and fall and sets warnings before one's eyes. When the empire was first pacified, Defen was first to urge this, and thereafter Tang's cultural splendor unfolded—a true insight into the foundation of rule!

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