1
元德秀
Yuan Dexiu
2
元德秀，字紫芝，河南河南人。 質厚少緣飾。 少孤，事母孝，舉進士，不忍去左右，自負母入京師。 既擢第，母亡，廬墓側，食不鹽酪，藉無茵席。 服除，以窶困調南和尉，有惠政。 黜陟使以聞，擢補龍武軍錄事參軍。
Yuan Dexiu, whose style was Zizhi, came from Henan in Henan Commandery. He was plain and solid in character, with little taste for ornament. Orphaned in youth, he served his mother with deep filial devotion. After passing the jinshi examination, he could not bear to leave her and carried her on his back all the way to the capital. Once he had passed the examination, his mother died. He lived in a hut beside her grave, ate no salt or dairy, and slept on straw without even a mat. When his mourning ended, poverty led to his appointment as magistrate of Nanhe, where his benevolent rule won wide praise. The touring inspector reported his conduct to the throne, and he was promoted to recorder of the Longwu Army.
3
德秀不及親在而娶，不肯婚，人以為不可絕嗣，答曰：「兄有子，先人得祀，吾何娶為？」 初，兄子繈褓喪親，無資得乳媼，德秀自乳之，數日湩流，能食乃止。 既長，將為娶，家苦貧，乃求為魯山令。 前此墮車足傷，不能趨拜，太守待以客禮。 有盜系獄，會虎為暴，盜請格虎自贖，許之。 吏白：「彼詭計，且亡去，無乃為累乎？」 德秀曰：「許之矣，不可負約。 即有累，吾當坐，不及餘人。」 明日，盜屍虎還，舉縣嗟嘆。
Dexiu had never married while his parents lived, and he now refused to wed at all. People urged that he must not let the line die out, but he answered: "My elder brother has a son; our ancestors will still receive offerings—why should I take a wife? Earlier, his brother's infant son had lost both parents and the family could not afford a wet nurse, so Dexiu nursed the child himself until milk came; only when the boy could eat solid food did he stop. When the boy grew up and a marriage had to be arranged, the household was desperately poor, so Dexiu sought appointment as magistrate of Lushan. He had earlier fallen from a cart and injured his foot, so he could not perform the quick bow; the prefect therefore received him with the courtesy due a guest. A thief was in custody when tigers began ravaging the district; the man asked to slay a tiger in exchange for his freedom, and Dexiu consented. An officer warned him: "That is only a ruse—he will run off, and we shall be blamed for it. Dexiu replied: "I have already promised him; I cannot break my word. If blame falls, I alone shall answer for it—not the rest of you." The next day the thief returned with the tiger's body, and the whole county marveled.
4
玄宗在東都，酺五鳳樓下，命三百里縣令、刺史各以聲樂集。 是時頗言帝且第勝負，加賞黜。 河內太守輦優伎數百，被錦繡，或作犀象，瑰譎光麗。 德秀惟樂工數十人，聯袂歌《於蒍於》。 《於蒍於》者，德秀所為歌也。 帝聞，異之，嘆曰：「賢人之言哉！」 謂宰相曰：「河內人其塗炭乎？」 乃黜太守，德秀益知名。
While Emperor Xuanzong was at the eastern capital, he held a grand feast beneath the Hall of Five Phoenixes and summoned magistrates and prefects from three hundred li around, each to present his district's music. Rumor had it that the emperor would rank the performances and reward or dismiss officials accordingly. The prefect of Henei paraded several hundred performers clad in brocade, some dressed as rhinoceroses and elephants, all bizarre and dazzling. Dexiu brought only a few dozen musicians, who sang arm in arm his song "Yu xian yu." "Yu xian yu" was a song of his own composition. The emperor heard it, marveled, and cried: "These are the words of a worthy man! He said to his chief ministers: "Are the people of Henei being ground to ashes?" He dismissed the prefect, and Dexiu's fame spread still further.
5
所得奉祿，悉衣食人之孤遺者。 歲滿，笥余一縑，駕柴車去。 愛陸渾佳山水，乃定居。 不為墻垣扃鑰，家無仆妾。 歲饑，日或不爨。 嗜酒，陶然彈琴以自娛。 人以酒肴從之，不問賢鄙為酣飫。 是時程休、邢宇、宇弟宙、張茂之、李、族子丹叔、惟嶽、喬潭、楊拯、房垂、柳識皆號門弟子。 德秀善文辭，作《蹇士賦》以自況。 房琯每見德秀，嘆息曰：「見紫芝眉宇，使人名利之心都盡。」 蘇源明常語人曰：「吾不幸生衰俗，所不恥者，識元紫芝也。」
Every penny of his salary went to clothe and feed orphans and the destitute. When his term ended, only one bolt of silk remained in his box; he left in a firewood cart. He loved the fine landscape of Luhun and made his home there. He put up no walls or locks, and kept neither servants nor concubines. In famine years he sometimes went whole days without lighting a fire. He loved wine and would play the zither in tranquil delight to amuse himself. Whoever brought him food and drink, worthy or base, he would feast with them until all were satisfied. At that time Cheng Xiu, Xing Yu, Yu's younger brother Zhou, Zhang Mao-zhi, Li Shi, his clansmen Dan-shu and Wei-yue, Qiao Tan, Yang Zheng, Fang Chui, and Liu Shi were all known as his disciples. Dexiu excelled at letters and wrote "The Lame Gentleman Fu" to portray himself. Whenever Fang Guan met Dexiu he would sigh and say: "A glimpse of Zizhi's countenance makes every craving for fame and gain disappear. Su Yuanming often told others: "Unhappy am I to have been born in a decadent age; the one thing I am not ashamed of is having known Yuan Zizhi."
6
天寶十三載卒，家惟枕履簞瓢而已。 潭時為陸渾尉，庀其葬。 族弟結哭之慟，或曰：「子哭過哀，禮歟？」 結曰：「若知禮之過，而不知情之至。 大夫弱無固，性無專，老無在，死無余，人情所耽溺、喜愛、可惡者，大夫無之。 生六十年未嘗識女色、視錦繡，未嘗求足，而茍辭、佚色，未嘗有十畝之地、十尺之舍、十歲之僮，未嘗完布帛而衣，具五味之餐。 吾哀之，以戒荒淫貪佞、綺紈粱肉之徒耳。」
He died in the thirteenth year of Tianbao, leaving his household with nothing but pillows, shoes, baskets, and gourds. Tan, then magistrate of Luhun, arranged his funeral. His younger clansman Yuan Jie mourned him with piercing grief. Someone said: "Your grief exceeds propriety—is this in accord with ritual? Jie replied: "If you know that ritual can be excessive, you do not yet know how deep feeling can run. The Master had no weakness of will in youth, no stubbornness of temperament, no clinging in old age, and no surplus at death. Whatever human feeling drowns in, loves, or hates—he had none of it. Sixty years he lived without ever knowing women, without ever looking on brocade, without ever seeking more than enough—yet he would readily turn aside fine words and alluring faces. He never owned ten mu of land, ten feet of dwelling, or a boy of ten years' service; he never wore whole cloth, and never ate a meal with all five flavors. I mourn him to warn those given to dissipation, greed, flattery, brocade silks, and rich meat."
7
李華兄事德秀，而友蕭穎士、劉迅。 及卒，華謚曰文行先生。 天下高其行，不名，謂之元魯山。 華於是作《三賢論》。 或問所長，華曰：「德秀誌當以道紀天下，迅當以《六經》諧人心，穎士當以中古易今世。 德秀欲齊愚智，迅感一物不得其正，穎士呼吸折節而獲重祿，不易一刻之安易，於孔子之門，皆達者歟！ 使德秀據師保之位，瞻形容，乃見其仁。 迅被卿佐服，居賓友，謀治亂根源，參乎元精，乃見其妙。 穎士若百煉之剛，不可屈，使當廢興去就、一生一死間，而後見其節。 德秀以為王者作樂崇德，天人之極致，而辭章不稱，是無樂也，於是作《破陣樂辭》以訂商、周。 迅世史官，述《禮》、《易》、《書》、《春秋》、《詩》為《古五說》，條貫源流，備古今之變。 穎士尤罪子長不編年而為列傳，後世因之，非典訓也。 自《春秋》三家後，非訓齊生人不錄。 然各有病，元病酒，劉病賞物，蕭病貶惡太亟、獎能太重。 若取其節，皆可為人師也。」 世謂篤論。
Li Hua honored Dexiu as an elder brother and befriended Xiao Yingshi and Liu Xun. When he died, Hua gave him the posthumous title Master of Literary Conduct. The empire revered his conduct and would not speak his personal name, calling him Yuan of Mount Lu instead. Hua thereupon wrote "An Essay on Three Worthies." When asked what each excelled at, Hua said: "Dexiu aimed to order the empire by the Way; Xun aimed to harmonize men's hearts with the Six Classics; Yingshi aimed to replace the present age with the middle antiquity. Dexiu wished to level the foolish and the wise; Xun was stirred whenever a single thing fell short of its proper place; Yingshi would bend and bow with every breath to win heavy rewards, unwilling to trade a moment's ease—yet are all of these adept men within Confucius's gate? Place Dexiu in the post of tutor and protector and look upon his face—then you see his humanity. Let Xun wear the robes of a chief minister's aide, dwell among guests and friends, and deliberate the roots of order and chaos while communing with the primordial essence—then you see his subtlety. Let Yingshi be steel tempered a hundred times, impossible to bend; set him at the turning point between a dynasty's rise and fall, between life and death—then you see his integrity. Dexiu held that when kings made music to exalt virtue, that was the utmost of Heaven and man, yet unworthy words made it as though there were no music at all; he therefore composed lyrics for "Breaking the Battle Array" to correct the music of Shang and Zhou. Xun, a historian of his age, set forth the Ritual, Changes, Documents, Annals, and Odes in "The Ancient Five Expositions," threading origins and developments and encompassing change from antiquity to the present. Yingshi especially faulted Master Zichang for arranging annals by year but writing biographical accounts instead, which later generations followed—this was not canonical teaching. After the three schools of the Spring and Autumn, he recorded only those who had received instruction in Qi. Yet each had a flaw: Yuan's was wine; Liu's was cherishing possessions; Xiao's was condemning evil too harshly and praising talent too lavishly. If you take their integrity alone, each could serve as another's teacher. His contemporaries called this a sincere and weighty judgment.
8
休，字士美，廣平人。 宇字紹宗，宙字次宗，河間人。 茂之，字季豐，南陽人。 字伯高，丹叔字南誠，惟嶽字謨道，趙人。 潭字源，梁人。 垂，字翼明，清河人。 拯，字齊物，隋觀王雄後，舉進士，終右驍衛騎曹參軍。 擢制科，遷南華令。 大水，他縣饑，人至相屬，為具{衍食}鬻，及去，糗糧送之，吏為立碑。 安祿山亂，客清河，為乞師平原太守顏真卿，一郡獲全。 歷廬州刺史。 拯與名最著，潭、識以文傳後。
Cheng Xiu, styled Shimei, was from Guangping. Xing Yu, styled Shaozong, and his younger brother Zhou, styled Cizong, were from Hejian. Zhang Mao-zhi, styled Jifeng, was from Nanyang. Li Shi, styled Bogao; his clansmen Dan-shu, styled Nancheng, and Wei-yue, styled Modao, were from Zhao. Qiao Tan, styled Yuan, was from Liang. Fang Chui, styled Yiming, was from Qinghe. Yang Zheng, styled Qiwu, a descendant of Sui's Prince of Guan Xiong, passed the jinshi examination and ended his career as cavalry retainer of the Right Martial Guards. Liu Shi passed the special examination and was appointed magistrate of Nanhua. When great floods struck and neighboring counties starved, refugees came in an unbroken stream; he prepared thin gruel for them to buy, and when they departed he sent them off with dry provisions; the clerks erected a stele in his honor. During An Lushan's rebellion he stayed in Qinghe and begged Yan Zhenqing, prefect of Pingyuan, for troops, thereby preserving an entire commandery. He later served as prefect of Luzhou. Zheng and Chui were most renowned; Tan and Shi handed their fame down through literature.
9
權臯，字士繇，秦州略陽人，徙潤州丹徒，晉安丘公翼十二世孫。 父倕與席豫、蘇源明以藝文相友，終羽林軍參軍。
Quan Gao, styled Shiyao, was born in Lueyang, Qinzhou, and later moved to Dantu in Runzhou; he was the twelfth-generation descendant of Duke Anqiu Yi of the Jin dynasty. His father Kun befriended Xi Yu and Su Yuanming through their shared love of letters and ended his career as retainer of the Feathered Forest.
10
臯擢進士第，為臨清尉，安祿山籍其名，表為薊尉，署幕府。 臯度祿山且叛，以其猜虐不可諫，欲行，慮禍及親。 天寶十四載，使獻俘京師，還過福昌尉仲謨。 謨妻，臯妹也，密約以疾召之，謨來，臯陽喑，直視謨而瞑。 謨為盡哀，自含斂之。 臯逸去，人無知者。 吏以詔書還臯母，母謂實死，慟哭感行路，故祿山不之虞，歸其母。 臯潛候於淇門，奉侍晝夜南奔，客臨淮，為驛亭保以诇北方。 既度江而祿山反，天下聞其名，爭取以為屬。 高適表試大理評事、淮南采訪判官。
Gao passed the jinshi examination and served as magistrate of Linqing; An Lushan registered his name, appointed him magistrate of Ji, and assigned him to his secretariat. Gao saw that Lushan would soon rebel and that his suspicious cruelty made remonstrance useless; he wished to flee but feared his family would suffer for it. In the fourteenth year of Tianbao he was sent to present captives in the capital; on his return he passed through Fuchang, where the magistrate was Zhongmo. Zhongmo's wife was Gao's younger sister; they secretly agreed to summon him on pretext of illness. When Zhongmo arrived, Gao feigned muteness, stared directly at him, and closed his eyes. Zhongmo mourned him with full ritual grief and personally performed the encoffining. Gao slipped away unnoticed. The clerks returned the imperial edict to Gao's mother; believing he had truly died, she wept so bitterly that passersby were moved to tears; Lushan therefore suspected nothing and sent his mother home. Gao lay in wait at Qi Gate, attending his mother day and night as they fled south; they stopped at Huaiyin, where he secured the relay station to spy on movements in the north. Once they had crossed the Yangzi, Lushan rebelled; all under heaven heard Gao's name and vied to claim him as their man. Gao Shi recommended him for trial appointment as judge of the Grand Court and as investigation commissioner of Huainan.
11
永王舉兵，脅士大夫，臯詭姓名以免。 玄宗在蜀聞之，拜監察御史，會母喪，得風痺疾，客洪州，南北梗否，逾年詔命不至。 有中人過州，頗求取無厭，南昌令王遘欲按之，謀於臯。 臯良久不答，泣曰：「今何由致天子使，而遽欲治之！」 掩面去。 遘悟，厚謝。 浙西節度使顏真卿表為行軍司馬，召拜起居舍人，固辭。 嘗曰：「吾潔身亂世，以全吾誌，欲持是受名邪？」 李季卿為江淮黜陟使，列其高行，以著作郎召，不就。
When the Prince of Yong raised troops and coerced scholar-officials into his service, Gao concealed his identity under a false name to escape. Emperor Xuanzong, then in Shu, heard of this and appointed him investigating censor; but his mother died, he contracted paralysis from wind-damp, and lodged in Hongzhou while north and south were cut off; more than a year passed without an imperial order reaching him. A palace envoy passed through the province and demanded bribes without end; Wang Sui, magistrate of Nanchang, wished to prosecute him and sought Gao's counsel. Gao was silent a long while, then wept and said: "How can we now summon an envoy of the Son of Heaven—and you would rush to punish him! He covered his face and walked away. Sui understood and thanked him profusely. Yan Zhenqing, military governor of Zhexi, recommended him as marching sima; he was summoned as attendant of the heir apparent but firmly declined. He once said: "I have kept myself pure through an age of chaos to preserve my purpose—would I now accept office merely to win a reputation? Li Jiqing, touring inspector of Jiang-Huai, commended his lofty conduct and summoned him as compiler of the Palace Library, but he would not accept.
12
自中原亂，士人率度江，李華、柳識、韓洄、王定皆仰臯節，與友善。 洄、定常評臯可為宰輔、師保； 華亦以為分天下善惡，一人而已。 卒，年四十六，洄等制服行哭，詔贈秘書少監。 元和中，謚為貞孝。 子德輿，至宰相，別傳。
After the central plains fell into chaos, scholar-officials mostly fled south across the Yangzi; Li Hua, Liu Shi, Han Hui, and Wang Ding all revered Gao's integrity and became his friends. Hui and Ding often said that Gao was fit to serve as chief minister and royal tutor. Hua also held that to divide the empire's good and evil required only this one man. He died at forty-six; Hui and the others wore mourning and followed the funeral procession weeping; an edict posthumously appointed him vice director of the Palace Library. In the Yuanhe era he was given the posthumous title Upright and Filial. His son Deyu rose to grand councilor and is treated in a separate biography.
13
甄濟，字孟成，定州無極人。 叔父為幽、涼二州都督，家衛州，宗屬以伉俠相矜。 濟少孤，獨好學，以文雅稱。 居青巖山十餘年，遠近伏其仁，環山不敢畋漁。 采訪使苗晉卿表之，諸府五辟，詔十至，堅臥不起。
Zhen Ji, styled Mengcheng, was from Wuji in Dingzhou. His uncle had served as military governor of You and Liang; the family lived in Weizhou, and the clan prided itself on bold chivalry. Orphaned in youth, he devoted himself to learning and was known for refined scholarship. He lived on Mount Qingyan for more than ten years; people near and far revered his humanity, and for miles around the mountain no one dared hunt or fish. Investigation commissioner Miao Jinqing recommended him; five prefectures invited him; imperial edicts arrived ten times, yet he steadfastly refused to leave his bed.
14
天寶十載，以左拾遺召，未至而安祿山入朝，求濟於玄宗，授范陽掌書記。 祿山至衛，使太守鄭遵意致謁山中，濟不得已為起，祿山下拜鈞禮。 居府中，論議正直。 久之，察祿山有反謀，不可諫。 濟素善衛令齊玘，因謁歸，具告以誠。 密置羊血左右，至夜，若歐血狀，陽不支，舁歸舊廬。 祿山反，使蔡希德封刀召之，曰：「即不起，斷其頭見我。」 濟色不動，左手書曰：「不可以行。」 使者持刀趨前，濟引頸待之，希德歔欷嗟嘆，止刀，以實病告。 後慶緒復使強輿至東都安國觀。 會廣平王平東都，濟詣軍門上謁泣涕，王為感動。 肅宗詔館之三司署，使汙賊官羅拜，以愧其心。 授秘書郎，或言太薄，更拜太子舍人。
In the tenth year of Tianbao he was summoned as left reminder, but before he arrived An Lushan came to court and asked Xuanzong for Ji, who appointed him secretary of Fan-yang. When Lushan reached Wei, he sent Prefect Zheng Zunyi to call on him in the mountains; Ji had no choice but to rise, and Lushan bowed to him with the ceremony due an equal. While living at headquarters, his counsel was forthright and upright. In time he saw that Lushan was plotting rebellion and that remonstrance would be useless. Ji had long been on good terms with Wei magistrate Qi Qi; he paid his respects and returned home, telling Qi the whole truth. He secretly placed sheep's blood nearby; at night he feigned vomiting blood, pretended to collapse, and was carried back to his old dwelling. When Lushan rebelled he sent Cai Xide with a sealed blade to summon him, saying: "If you still refuse to come, cut off his head and bring it to me. Ji's expression never changed; with his left hand he wrote: "I cannot go." The envoy rushed forward with his blade; Ji stretched out his neck to receive it. Xide sighed and wept, lowered the blade, and reported that Ji was truly ill. Later Qingxu again had him forcibly carried in a litter to the Anguo Abbey in the eastern capital. When the Prince of Guangping recaptured the eastern capital, Ji went to the camp gate in tears to pay his respects, and the prince was deeply moved. Emperor Suzong ordered him lodged in the offices of the Three Departments and had corrupted officials bow before him in ranks to shame them. He was appointed secretary gentleman; some said the rank was too low, so he was further appointed attendant of the heir apparent.
15
來瑱辟為陜西襄陽參謀，拜禮部員外郎。 宜城楚昭王廟坎地廣九十畝，濟立墅其左。 瑱死，屏居七年。 大歷初，江西節度使魏少遊表為著作郎，兼侍御史，卒。
Lai Tian recruited him as staff officer for Xiangyang in Shanxi, and he was appointed vice director of the Ministry of Rites. Beside the temple of King Zhao of Chu at Yicheng lay sunken ground ninety mu in extent; Ji built a villa to the left of it. When Tian died, he lived in seclusion for seven years. In the early Dali era, Jiangxi military governor Wei Shaoyou recommended him as compiler of the Palace Library and concurrently investigating censor; he then died.
16
濟生子，因其官字曰禮闈、曰憲臺。 而禮闈死，憲臺更名逢，幼而孤。 及長，耕宜城野，自力讀書，不謁州縣。 歲饑，節用以給親裏； 大穰，則振其餘於鄉黨貧狹者。 朋友有緩急，輒出家貲周贍，以義聞。
Ji had sons whom he named after his offices: one he called Liwai, one Xiantai. Liwai died; Xiantai changed his name to Feng and was orphaned while still young. When he grew up he farmed the fields around Yicheng, studied by his own labor, and never called on prefectural or county officials. In famine years he economized to supply his kin and neighbors; when harvests were abundant he distributed the surplus among the poor of the village. When friends were in need he would bring out family wealth to help them, and became known for his righteousness.
17
逢常以父名不得在國史，欲詣京師自言。 元和中，袁滋表濟節行與權臯同科，宜載國史。 有詔贈濟秘書少監。 而逢與元稹善，稹移書於史館修撰韓愈曰：「濟棄去祿山，及其反，有名號，又逼致之，執不起，卒不汙其名。 夫辨所從於居易之時，堅其操於利仁之世，而猶選懦者之所不為，蓋怫人之心難，而害己之避深也。 至天下大亂，死忠者不必顯，從亂者不必誅，而眷眷本朝，甘心白刃，難矣哉！ 若甄生，弁冕不加其身，祿食不進其口，直布衣一男子耳。 及亂，則延頸受刃，分死不回，不以不必顯而廢忠，不以不必誅而從亂。 在古與今，蓋百一焉。」 愈答曰：「逢能行身，幸於方州大臣，以標目其先人事，載之天下耳目，徹之天子，追爵其父第四品，赫然驚人，逢與其父俱當得書矣。」 由是父子俱顯名。
Feng often grieved that his father's name was absent from the national histories and wished to go to the capital to plead his case. In the Yuanhe era Yuan Zi memorialized that Ji's integrity equaled Quan Gao's and that he should be recorded in the national history. An edict posthumously appointed Ji vice director of the Palace Library. Feng was friendly with Yuan Zhen; Zhen wrote to Han Yu at the History Office, saying: "Ji left Lushan's service; when Lushan rebelled he bore an office title, and though they forced him to come he would not rise and never stained his name. To choose whom to follow when principle is easy to abandon, and to hold fast to one's integrity in an age that favors profit and kindness—this is what the timid dare not do, for it offends men's hearts and the harm one avoids for oneself runs deep. When the empire falls into great chaos, those who die loyal need not be honored, and those who follow rebellion need not be punished—yet to cling to the native dynasty and willingly face the blade is hard indeed! As for Master Zhen, cap and robes never touched his person, salary and food never entered his mouth—he was only a man in plain cloth. When chaos came he stretched out his neck to receive the blade and would not turn back; he did not abandon loyalty because fame was uncertain, nor follow rebellion because punishment was uncertain. In antiquity and in the present, such men are perhaps one in a hundred. Yu replied: "Feng acted in his own person; fortunate in a regional grandee, he brought his forebear's deeds before the empire's eyes and reached the Son of Heaven; his father was posthumously enfeoffed at the fourth rank, startling all men. Both Feng and his father deserve to be written." Thus father and son both won lasting fame."
18
陽城，字亢宗，定州北平人，徙陜州夏縣，世為官族。 資好學，貧不能得書，求為吏，隸集賢院，竊院書讀之，晝夜不出戶，六年，無所不通。 及進士第，乃去隱中條山，與弟堦、域常易衣出。 年長，不肯娶，謂弟曰：「吾與若孤煢相育，既娶則間外姓，雖共處而益疏，我不忍。」 弟義之，亦不娶，遂終身。
Yang Cheng, styled Kangzong, was from Beiping in Dingzhou and later moved to Xia County in Shanzhou; his family had served as officials for generations. Though he loved learning, poverty kept him from books; he sought work as a clerk at the Hall of Assembled Worthies, stole books from the hall to read, and for six years never left his door until he had mastered everything. After passing the jinshi he withdrew to Mount Zhongtiao, often changing clothes with his younger brothers Jie and Yu when they went out. As he grew older he refused to marry and told his brothers: "You and I have raised one another in lonely orphanhood; once we marry, outsiders come between us; though we live together we grow apart—I cannot bear it. His brothers agreed and likewise never married, remaining so all their lives.
19
城謙恭簡素，遇人長幼如一。 遠近慕其行，來學者跡接於道。 閭里有爭訟，不詣官而詣城決之。 有盜其樹者，城遇之，慮其恥，退自匿。 嘗絕糧，遣奴求米，奴以米易酒，醉臥於路。 城怪其故，與弟迎之，奴未醒，乃負以歸。 及覺，痛咎謝，城曰：「寒而飲，何責焉？」 寡妹依城居，其子四十餘，癡不知人，城常負以出入。 始，妹之夫客死遠方，城與弟行千里，負其柩歸葬。 歲饑，屏跡不過鄰裏，屑榆為粥，講論不輟。 有奴都兒化其德，亦方介自約。 或哀其餒，與之食，不納。 後致糠核數杯，乃受。 山東節度府聞城義者，發使遺五百縑，戒使者不令返。 城固辭，使者委而去，城置之未嘗發。 會里人鄭俶欲葬親，貸於人無得，城知其然，舉縑與之。 俶既葬，還曰：「蒙君子之施，願為奴以償德。」 城曰：「吾子非也，能同我為學乎？」 俶泣謝，即教以書，俶不能業，城更徙遠阜，使顓其習。 學如初，慚，縊而死。 城驚且哭，厚自咎，為服緦麻瘞之。
Cheng was modest, respectful, and plain; toward people old and young he was always the same. Near and far admired his conduct, and learners' footprints lined the road unbroken. When neighbors quarreled they did not go to the magistrate but came to Cheng for judgment. When someone stole his trees, Cheng met him but, fearing to shame him, withdrew and hid. Once he ran out of grain and sent a slave to fetch rice; the slave traded the rice for wine and lay drunk in the road. Cheng wondered at the delay and went with his brother to meet him; the slave had not yet awakened, so they carried him home on their backs. When the slave awoke he reproached himself bitterly; Cheng said: "You drank because you were cold—what fault is that? A widowed younger sister lived with Cheng; her son was past forty, feeble-minded and knowing no one, yet Cheng often carried him when he went out. At first her husband had died far from home; Cheng and his brother traveled a thousand li and carried the coffin home for burial. In famine years he would not even cross to neighboring lanes, ground elm bark into porridge, and never ceased his lectures. A slave named Du'er was transformed by his virtue and likewise held himself to strict restraint. When some pitied his hunger and offered him food, he would not accept. Later they brought a few cups of chaff and grain; only then did he accept. The eastern circuit headquarters heard of Cheng's righteousness and sent an envoy with five hundred bolts of silk, ordering him not to return. Cheng firmly declined; the envoy left the silk and departed; Cheng set it aside and never opened it. When his neighbor Zheng Chu wished to bury his kin but could borrow from no one, Cheng, knowing this, gave him all the silk. After the burial Chu returned and said: "I have received the gentleman's kindness and wish to become your slave to repay it. Cheng said: "You are not that sort of man—will you study together with me?" Chu wept and thanked him; Cheng taught him to write. When Chu could not master it, Cheng moved him to a remote hill and had him focus on his studies. His progress was still as before; ashamed, he hanged himself. Cheng was startled and wept, blamed himself deeply, wore mourning hemp, and buried him.
20
陜虢觀察使李泌數禮餉，城受之。 泌欲辟致之府，不起，乃薦諸朝，詔以著作佐郎召，並賜緋魚。 泌使參軍事韓傑奉詔至其家，城封還詔，自稱「多病老憊，不堪奔奉，惟哀憐」。 泌不敢強。 及為宰相，又言之德宗，於是召拜右諫議大夫，遣長安尉楊寧賫束帛詣其家。 城褐衣到闕下辭讓，帝遣中人持緋衣衣之，召見，賜帛五十匹。
Li Mi, observation commissioner of Shan-Guo, often sent him gifts of food, which Cheng accepted. Mi wished to summon him to headquarters but he would not go; Mi then recommended him to court, and an edict summoned him as assistant compiler, bestowing crimson robe and fish tally. Mi sent staff officer Han Jie to deliver the edict to his home; Cheng sealed and returned the edict, writing: "Much ill and old exhaustion—I cannot hasten to serve; only beg compassion." Mi did not dare press him. When Mi became chief minister he again spoke of Cheng to Emperor Dezong; Cheng was then summoned as right remonstrator, and Chang'an magistrate Yang Ning was sent with silks to his home. Cheng came to court in brown clothes to decline; the emperor sent a eunuch to clothe him in crimson and summoned him, bestowing fifty bolts of silk.
21
初，城未起，縉紳想見風采。 既興草茅，處諫諍官，士以為且死職，天下益憚之。 及受命，它諫官論事苛細紛紛，帝厭苦，而城浸聞得失且熟，猶未肯言。 韓愈作《爭臣論》譏切之，城不屑。 方與二弟延賓客，日夜劇飲。 客欲諫止者，城揣知其情，強飲客，客辭，即自引滿，客不得已。 與酬酢，或醉，仆席上，城或先醉臥客懷中，不能聽客語，無得關言。 常以木枕布衾質錢，人重其賢，爭售之。 每約二弟：「吾所俸入，而可度月食米幾何，薪菜鹽幾錢，先具之，余送酒家，無留也。」 服用無贏副，客或稱其佳可愛，輒喜，舉授之。 有陳萇者，候其得俸，常往稱錢之美，月有獲焉。 居位八年，人不能窺其際。
Before Cheng left seclusion, the gentry longed to see his bearing. Once raised from humble seclusion to remonstrator, scholars thought he would die in his post, and the empire feared him all the more. After he took office, other remonstrators debated petty details until the emperor grew weary; Cheng gradually heard all gains and losses and knew them well, yet still would not speak. Han Yu wrote "On Remonstrating Ministers" to rebuke him sharply; Cheng paid it no heed. He was then entertaining guests with his two younger brothers, drinking heavily day and night. When guests wished to remonstrate, Cheng guessed their intent and forced them to drink; when they declined he filled his own cup until they had no choice. They drank in turn; some fell drunk on the mat; Cheng sometimes grew drunk first and lay in a guest's lap, unable to hear their words, so none could intervene. He often pawned his wooden pillow and cloth quilt; people prized his virtue and vied to buy them. He often told his brothers: "From my salary, figure how much rice we need for a month, how much for fuel, vegetables, and salt—prepare that first; send the rest to the wine shop and keep none. He kept no spare clothing; when guests praised something he wore, he would gladly give it away. There was a Chen Chang who, whenever Cheng received his salary, would come praising the beauty of the cash and each month gained something from him. He held office eight years, and no one could fathom his inner mind.
22
及裴延齡誣逐陸贄、張滂、李充等，帝怒甚，無敢言。 城聞，曰：「吾諫官，不可令天子殺無罪大臣。」 乃約拾遺王仲舒守延英閣上疏極論延齡罪，慷慨引誼，申直贄等，累日不止。 聞者寒懼，城愈勵。 帝大怒，召宰相抵城罪。 順宗方為皇太子，為開救，良久得免，敕宰相諭遣。 然帝意不已，欲遂相延齡。 城顯語曰：「延齡為相，吾當取白麻壞之，哭於廷。」 帝不相延齡，城力也。 坐是下遷國子司業。 引諸生告之曰：「凡學者，所以學為忠與孝也。 諸生有久不省親者乎？」 明日謁城還養者二十輩，有三年不歸侍者，斥之。 簡孝秀德行升堂上，沈酗不率教者皆罷。 躬講經籍，生徒斤斤皆有法度。
When Pei Yanling falsely drove out Lu Zan, Zhang Pang, Li Chong, and others, the emperor was furious beyond measure and none dared speak. When Cheng heard this he said: "I am a remonstrator—I cannot let the Son of Heaven kill guiltless chief ministers. He then joined reminder Wang Zhongshu in guarding the Yanying Pavilion to submit a memorial fiercely denouncing Yanling's crimes, speaking with passionate righteousness and defending Zan and the others, for days without cease. Hearers shivered in fear, yet Cheng pressed all the harder. The emperor was greatly enraged and summoned the chief ministers to reproach Cheng. Shunzong was then heir apparent and interceded; after a long while Cheng was spared; the emperor ordered the chief ministers to admonish and dismiss him. Yet the emperor's intent was not finished; he still wished to make Yanling chief minister. Cheng said openly: "If Yanling becomes chief minister, I shall seize the white hemp edict of appointment, tear it, and weep in the court. The emperor did not make Yanling chief minister—Cheng's force accomplished it. For this he was demoted to vice director of the Directorate of Education. He gathered the students and told them: "All who study do so to learn loyalty and filial piety. Are there students who have long failed to visit their parents? The next day twenty came to Cheng to return home and care for their parents; those who had not attended their parents for three years he expelled. He selected the filial, worthy, and well-conducted to ascend to the hall; those sunk in drink and disobedient to teaching were all dismissed. He personally lectured on the classics, and the students were all orderly and within rule.
23
薛約者，狂而直，言事得罪，謫連州。 吏捕跡，得之城家。 城坐吏於門，引約飲食訖，步至都外與別。 帝惡城黨有罪，出為道州刺史，太學諸生何蕃、季償、王魯卿、李讜等二百人頓首闕下，請留城。 柳宗元聞之，遺蕃等書曰：「詔出陽公道州，仆聞悒然。 幸生不諱之代，不能論列大體，聞下執事，還陽公之南也。 今諸生愛慕陽公德，懇悃乞留，輒用撫手喜甚。 昔李膺、嵇康時，太學生徒仰闕執訴，仆謂訖千百年不可復見，乃在今日，誠諸生見賜甚厚，將亦陽公漸漬導訓所致乎！ 噫！ 公有博厚恢大之德，並容善偽，來者不拒。 有狂惑小生，依托門下，飛文陳愚。 論者以為陽公過於納汙，無人師道。 仲尼吾黨狂狷，南郭獻譏； 曾參徒七十二人，致禍負芻； 孟軻館齊，從者竊屨。 彼聖賢猶不免，如之何其拒人也？ 俞、扁之門，不拒病夫； 繩墨之側，不拒枉材； 師儒之席，不拒曲士。 且陽公在朝，四方聞風，貪冒茍進邪薄之夫沮其志，雖微師尹之位，而人實瞻望焉。 與其化一州，其功遠近可量哉！ 諸生之言，非獨為己也，於國甚宜。」 蕃等守闕下數日，為吏遮抑不得上。 既行，皆泣涕，立石紀德。
Xue Yue was wild and blunt; remonstrating on affairs he gave offense and was demoted to Lianzhou. Officers pursued his tracks and found him at Cheng's house. Cheng seated the officer at the gate, saw Yue finish eating and drinking, then walked with him outside the capital to bid farewell. The emperor hated that Cheng harbored a guilty man and sent him out as prefect of Daozhou; more than two hundred Imperial University students—He Fan, Ji Chang, Wang Luqing, Li Dan, and others—knelt at the palace gate begging that Cheng be kept. Liu Zongyuan heard of this and sent Fan and the others a letter saying: "An edict has sent Master Yang to Daozhou; on hearing it I am deeply grieved. Fortunate to live in an age without taboo, I cannot set forth the larger pattern; I hear that your office is sending Master Yang back south. Now the students love Master Yang's virtue and earnestly beg that he be kept; I clap my hands in great joy. In the days of Li Ying and Ji Kang, university students looked up to the palace gate and pleaded their case; I thought that after a thousand years one would never see this again—yet here it is today. The students have shown me great kindness; is this not also the gradual teaching of Master Yang! Alas! The Master has broad and expansive virtue, embracing both the worthy and the unworthy, and does not turn away those who come. There is a wild and deluded young man who clings to his gate and sends reckless letters full of folly. Critics say Master Yang accepts the unworthy too readily and lacks the way of a true teacher. Confucius had the wild and the narrow among his followers; Nan Guo offered mockery; Zeng Shen had seventy-two disciples and brought disaster carrying straw; Mencius lodged in Qi and a follower stole shoes. Even those sages could not avoid such things—how then can one reject people? At the gates of Bian Que and Chunyu Yi they did not reject the sick; Beside the carpenter's line they did not reject crooked timber; At the teacher's mat they did not reject the twisted scholar. Moreover, while Master Yang is at court, all four quarters hear his influence; greedy and base men who advance by evil ways would be checked in their intent; though he lacks a chief minister's rank, men truly look up to him. To transform a whole prefecture—how far might that achievement reach! The students' words are not for themselves alone; they are very fitting for the state. Fan and the others waited at the palace gate for several days but were held back by officers and could not get through. When he departed, all wept; they erected a stone to record his virtue.
24
至道州，治民如治家，宜罰罰之，宜賞賞之，不以簿書介意。 月俸取足則已，官收其餘。 日炊米二斛，魚一大，置甌杓道上，人共食之。 州產侏儒，歲貢諸朝，城哀其生離，無所進。 帝使求之，城奏曰：「州民盡短，若以貢，不知何者可供。」 自是罷。 州人感之，以「陽」名子。 前刺史坐罪下獄，吏有幸於刺史者，拾不法事告城，欲自脫，城輒搒殺之。 賦稅不時，觀察使數誚責。 州當上考功第，城自署曰：「撫字心勞，追科政拙，考下下。」 觀察府遣判官督賦，至州，怪城不迎，以問吏，吏曰：「刺史以為有罪，自囚於獄。」 判官驚，馳入，謁城曰：「使君何罪？ 我奉命來候安否耳。」 留數日，城不敢歸，仆門闔，寢館外以待命。 判官遽辭去。 府復遣官來按舉，義不欲行，乃載妻子中道逃去。 順宗立，召還城，而城已卒，年七十，贈左散騎常侍，賜其家錢二十萬，官護喪歸葬。
At Daozhou he governed the people as he would his own household: whom he should punish he punished, whom he should reward he rewarded, without troubling himself over documents and registers. He took only enough from his monthly salary and let the office keep the rest. Each day he cooked two hu of rice and one large fish, set bowls and ladles on the road, and all shared the meal. The prefecture produced dwarfs sent yearly as tribute to court; Cheng grieved that they were torn from home and had nowhere to go. The emperor ordered them sought; Cheng memorialized: "The people of this prefecture are all short; if tribute is required, I do not know who can be supplied. From this the practice ceased. The people were moved and named their sons Yang. The former prefect had been imprisoned for a crime; a clerk favored by the prefect picked out unlawful matters to report against Cheng, wishing to save himself; Cheng had him beaten to death. Taxes were not paid on time and the observation commissioner repeatedly rebuked him. The prefecture should have ranked highest in merit evaluation; Cheng wrote on his own report: "My heart labored in nurturing the people, my policy in pursuing collections was clumsy—grade: lowest. The observation office sent an aide to supervise tax collection; arriving at the prefecture he wondered that Cheng did not come to meet him and asked the clerks; they said: "The prefect thinks himself guilty and has imprisoned himself in jail. The aide was startled, rushed in, and paid respects to Cheng, saying: "What crime has the prefect committed? I am ordered only to inquire after your well-being." He stayed several days; Cheng dared not return home, lay prostrate at the gate, and slept outside the guest quarters awaiting orders. The aide hurriedly took his leave. The office again sent an officer to investigate; unwilling in principle to go, he loaded wife and children and fled midway. When Shunzong ascended the throne he summoned Cheng back, but Cheng had already died at seventy; he was posthumously appointed left regular cavalryman, his household was given two hundred thousand cash, and officials escorted the coffin home for burial.
25
蕃，和州人。 事父母孝。 學太學，歲一歸，父母不許。 間二歲乃歸，復不許。 凡五歲，慨然以親且老，不自安，揖諸生去，乃共閉蕃空舍中，眾共狀蕃義行，白城請留。 會城罷，亦止。 初，朱泚反，諸生將從亂，蕃正色叱不聽，故六館士無受汙者。 蕃居太學二十年，有死喪無歸者，皆身為治喪。 償，魯人。 魯卿，第進士，有名。
Fan was from Hezhou. He served his parents with filial devotion. Studying at the Imperial University, he returned once a year but his parents would not permit it. Only after two years did he return, and again they would not permit it. After five years he sighed that his parents were growing old and he could not be at ease; he bowed to the students and left; they shut Fan in an empty room; all jointly petitioned his righteous conduct and asked Cheng to keep him. When Cheng was dismissed, this also ceased. When Zhu Ci rebelled, the students were about to follow the rebellion; Fan sternly rebuked them until they desisted, so none of the six halls' scholars were defiled. Fan dwelt at the Imperial University twenty years; when any died with no kin to return the body, he personally arranged the funeral. Ji Chang was from Lu. Wang Luqing passed the jinshi and was renowned.
26
司空圖
Sikong Tu
27
司空圖，字表聖，河中虞鄉人。 父輿，有風幹。 當大中時，盧弘正管鹽鐵，表為安邑兩池榷鹽使。 先是，法疏闊，吏輕觸禁，輿為立約數十條，莫不以為宜。 以勞再遷戶部郎中。
Sikong Tu, styled Biaosheng, was from Yuxiang in Hezhong. His father Yu had presence and force of character. In the Dazhong era, when Lu Hongzheng managed the salt monopoly, he recommended Yu as commissioner of the monopoly salt at the two pools of Anyi. Earlier the laws had been loose and clerks lightly violated prohibitions; Yu established several dozen articles of agreement, and all held them fitting. For his service he was twice promoted to director in the Ministry of Revenue.
28
圖，咸通末擢進士，禮部侍郎王凝特所獎待，俄而凝坐法貶商州，圖感知己，往從之。 凝起拜宣歙觀察使，乃辟置幕府。 召為殿中侍御史，不忍去凝府，臺劾，左遷光祿寺主簿，分司東都。 盧攜以故宰相居洛，嘉圖節，常與遊。 攜還朝，過陜虢，屬於觀察使盧渥曰：「司空御史，高士也。」 渥即表為僚佐。 會攜復執政，召拜禮部員外郎，尋遷郎中。
Tu passed the jinshi at the end of Xiantong; Vice Director of Rites Wang Ning especially prized him; soon Ning was demoted to Shangzhou for a legal offense and Tu, moved by gratitude, went to follow him. When Ning was raised and appointed observation commissioner of Xuan and She, he recruited Tu to his staff. He was summoned as attending censor but could not bear to leave Ning's headquarters; the censorate impeached him and he was demoted to master of records in the Court of Imperial Entertainments, serving at the eastern capital. Lu Xie, a former chief minister living in Luoyang, admired Tu's integrity and often kept his company. When Xie returned to court, passing through Shan and Guo, he said to observation commissioner Lu Wo: "Censor Sikong is a lofty gentleman. Wo thereupon recommended him as staff officer. When Xie again held power he summoned Tu as vice director of the Ministry of Rites, soon promoting him to director.
29
黃巢陷長安，將奔，不得前。 圖弟有奴段章者，陷賊，執圖手曰：「我所主張將軍喜下士，可往見之，無虛死溝中。」 圖不肯往，章泣下。 遂奔咸陽，間關至河中。 僖宗次鳳翔，即行在拜知制誥，遷中書舍人。 後狩寶雞，不獲從，又還河中。 龍紀初，復拜舊官，以疾解。 景福中，拜諫議大夫，不赴。 後再以戶部侍郎召，身謝闕下，數日即引去。 昭宗在華，召拜兵部侍郎，以足疾固自乞。 會遷洛陽，柳璨希賊臣意，誅天下才望，助喪王室，詔圖入朝，圖陽墮笏，趣意野耄。 璨知無意於世，乃聽還。
When Huang Chao took Chang'an, Tu wished to flee but could not get through. Tu's younger brother had a slave named Duan Zhang who had fallen to the rebels; he seized Tu's hand and said: "The master I serve delights in receiving gentlemen—go see him; do not die uselessly in a ditch. Tu would not go; Zhang wept. He then fled to Xianyang and, by perilous paths, reached Hezhong. Emperor Xizong halted at Fengxiang as temporary capital and immediately appointed Tu drafting secretary, then promoted him to attendant of the Secretariat. Later when the emperor hunted at Baoji, Tu could not follow and returned to Hezhong. At the beginning of Longji he was again appointed to his former office but resigned on grounds of illness. In the Jingfu era he was appointed remonstrator but did not go. Later he was again summoned as vice director of the Ministry of Revenue; he came in person to decline at the palace gate and within days withdrew. When Emperor Zhaozong was at Hua he summoned Tu as vice director of the Ministry of War; on grounds of foot ailment he firmly begged off. When the court moved to Luoyang, Liu Can, hoping to please the wicked ministers, slaughtered the empire's talent to aid the ruined royal house; an edict summoned Tu to court; Tu pretended to drop his tablet and affected the manner of a rustic old man. Can knew he had no intent toward the world and let him return.
30
圖本居中條山王官谷，有先人田，遂隱不出。 作亭觀素室，悉圖唐興節士文人，名亭曰休休，作文以見誌曰：「休，美也，既休而美具。 故量才，一宜休； 揣分，二宜休； 耄而聵，三宜休； 又少也惰，長也率，老也迂，三者非濟時用，則又宜休。」 因自目為耐辱居士。 其言詭激不常，以免當時禍災雲。 豫為冢棺，遇勝日，引客坐壙中賦詩，酌酒裴回。 客或難之，圖曰：「君何不廣邪？ 生死一致，吾寧暫遊此中哉！」 每歲時，祠禱鼓舞，圖與閭里耆老相樂。 王重榮父子雅重之，數饋遺，弗受。 嘗為作碑，贈絹數千，圖置虞鄉市，人得取之，一日盡。 時寇盜所過殘暴，獨不入王官谷，士人依以避難。
Tu had long dwelt at Wangguan Valley on Mount Zhongtiao, with ancestral fields, and so hid himself and did not emerge. He built a plain pavilion and lodge, painting all the Tang's men of integrity and literary men; he named the pavilion Xiuxiu and wrote a text to show his aim: "Xiu means beautiful; once at rest, beauty is complete. Therefore to measure talent—first reason to rest; to gauge one's portion—second reason to rest; old and deaf—third reason to rest; and again, in youth I was lazy, in maturity I was careless, in age I am obstinate—these three are not useful in aiding the age, so again one should rest. He therefore styled himself the Recluse Who Endures Insult. His words were eccentric and sharp, not constant, to escape the calamities of the time, it is said. He prepared his tomb and coffin in advance; on fine days he would lead guests to sit in the burial pit, compose poetry, and pour wine while pacing about. When guests objected, Tu said: "Why not broaden your view? Life and death are one; would I not rather wander awhile in this place! Each year at the seasons he offered prayers with drum and dance; Tu rejoiced together with the elders of the village. Wang Chongrong, father and son, esteemed him highly and often sent gifts, which he would not accept. Once when he wrote a stele for them they gave him several thousand bolts of silk; Tu placed them in the market at Yuxiang for anyone to take, and in one day they were gone. When bandits passed through they were brutal everywhere, yet they did not enter Wangguan Valley; scholars relied on it to escape harm.
31
朱全忠已篡，召為禮部尚書，不起。 哀帝弒，圖聞，不食而卒，年七十二。 圖無子，以甥為嗣，嘗為御史所劾，昭宗不責也。
After Zhu Quanzhong had usurped power he summoned Tu as director of the Ministry of Rites, but Tu would not rise. When Emperor Ai was murdered, Tu heard of it, stopped eating, and died at seventy-two. Tu had no sons and made a nephew his heir; once he was impeached by a censor but Emperor Zhaozong did not punish him.
32
贊曰：節誼為天下大閑，士不可不勉。 觀臯、濟不汙賊，據忠自完，而亂臣為沮計。 天下士知大分所在，故傾朝復支。 不有君子，果能國乎？ 德秀以德，城以鯁峭，圖知命，其志凜凜與秋霜爭嚴，真丈夫哉！
The commentator says: Integrity and righteousness are the great standard of the empire; scholars cannot but strive for them. Consider how Gao and Ji were not defiled by rebels, holding to loyalty to preserve themselves, while rebellious ministers devised schemes to thwart them. Scholars throughout the empire knew where the greater duty lay, and so the court was restored and supported. Without gentlemen, can the state indeed stand? Dexiu by virtue, Cheng by blunt integrity, Tu by knowing fate—their aims contended with autumn frost in severity; true men indeed!