1
李華李華，字遐叔，趙州贊皇人。 曾祖太沖，名冠宗族間，鄕人語曰：「太沖無兄。」 太宗時，擢祠部郎中。
Li Hua, courtesy name Xiashu, was a native of Zanhuang in Zhao Prefecture. His great-grandfather Taichong was foremost in reputation within the clan; neighbors used to say, "Among brothers, none ranks above Taichong. During the reign of Emperor Taizong, he was promoted to Director in the Ministry of Rites.
2
華少曠達，外若坦蕩，内謹重，尚然許，毎慕汲黯爲人。 累中進士、宏辭科。 天寶十一載，遷監察御史。 宰相楊國忠支婭所在橫猾，華出使，劾按不橈，州縣肅然。 爲權幸見疾，徙右補闕。 安祿山反，上誅守之策，皆留不服。
In his youth Hua was free-spirited and open-minded: outwardly he seemed easygoing, yet inwardly he was careful and earnest. He admired Ran Kui and Xu You and always took Ji An as his model. He passed both the jinshi examination and the hongci literary examination. In the eleventh year of the Tianbao era (752), he was appointed Investigating Censor. Wherever the collateral branches of Chief Minister Yang Guozhong's family were posted, they acted with domineering violence and guile. When Hua went out on inspection tours, he investigated them without yielding, and the prefectures and counties became orderly at once. Those in power came to resent him, and he was transferred to the post of Right Remonstrator. When An Lushan rose in rebellion, he submitted plans for defending the realm to the emperor, but every proposal was filed away and left unimplemented.
3
玄宗入蜀，百官解竄，華母在鄴，欲間行輦母以逃，爲盜所得，偽署鳳閣舍人。 賊平，貶杭州司戸參軍。 華自傷踐危亂，不能完節，又不能安親，欲終養而母亡，遂屛居江南。 上元中，以左補闕、司封員外郎召之。 華喟然曰：「烏有隳節危親，欲荷天子寵乎？」 稱疾不拜。 李峴領選江南，表置幕府，擢檢校吏部員外郎。 苦風痹，去官，客隱山陽，勒子弟力農，安於窮槁。 晩事浮圖法，不甚著書，惟天下士大夫家傳、墓版及州縣碑頌，時時齎金帛往請，乃強爲應。 大暦初，卒。
When Emperor Xuanzong fled into Shu, the officials scattered in panic. Hua's mother was at Ye, and he tried to slip away on foot to escort her to safety, but was seized by bandits and given a false appointment as Gentleman Attendant at the Phoenix Pavilion. After the rebellion was suppressed, he was demoted to Registrar in Hangzhou. Hua grieved that he had lived through chaos without preserving his integrity and had failed to keep his mother safe. He had hoped to support her in her old age, but she died, and he withdrew to live in seclusion in the south. During the Shangyuan era, he was summoned back as Left Remonstrator and Outer Member of the Ministry of Rites. Hua sighed and said, "How could someone who has compromised his integrity and put his family in peril still hope to accept the emperor's favor? He pleaded illness and refused the appointment. When Li Xian oversaw official selection in the south, he recommended Hua for his staff and promoted him to Acting Outer Member of the Ministry of Personnel. Tormented by rheumatism, he resigned his post, lived as a guest-recluse at Shanyang, urged his sons and nephews to work the fields, and was content in poverty. In his later years he devoted himself to Buddhism and wrote little. Only when scholars from across the realm came with gold and silk to request family histories, tomb inscriptions, or local commemorative steles would he reluctantly oblige. He died early in the Dali era.
4
初，華作《含元殿賦》成，以示蕭穎士，穎士曰：「《景福》之上，《靈光》之下。」 華文辭綿麗，少宏傑氣，穎士健爽自肆，時謂不及穎士，而華自疑過之。 因著《吊古戰塲文》，極思研扌隺，已成，汙爲故書，雜置梵書之庋。 它日，與穎士讀之，稱工，華問：「今誰可及？」 穎士曰：「君加精思，便能至矣。」 華愕然而服。
When Hua first completed his "Rhapsody on the Hall of Universal Origin" and showed it to Xiao Yingshi, Yingshi said, "It ranks above the Jingfu Rhapsody but below the Lingguang Rhapsody. Hua's writing was lush and refined but lacked bold grandeur, whereas Yingshi was vigorous, forthright, and unrestrained. People of the time said Hua did not equal Yingshi, yet Hua himself suspected he was the better writer. He therefore wrote his "Elegy for an Ancient Battlefield," refining it with the utmost care. When it was finished, he stained the manuscript to make it look ancient and slipped it among the shelves of Buddhist scriptures. On another day he read it with Yingshi, who praised its craftsmanship. Hua asked, "Who alive today could equal it? Yingshi replied, "If you refine your thinking a little more, you can reach that level yourself." Hua was startled—and convinced.
5
華愛獎士類，名隨以重，若獨孤及、韓雲卿、韓會、李紓、柳識、崔祐甫、皇甫冉、謝良弼、硃巨川，後至執政顯官。 華觸禍銜悔，及爲元德秀、權皋銘、《四皓贊》，稱道深婉，讀者憐其志。
Hua loved to encourage talented men, and his reputation grew accordingly. Men such as Dugu Ji, Han Yunqing, Han Hui, Li Shu, Liu Shi, Cui Youfu, Huangfu Ran, Xie Liangbi, and Zhu Juchuan later rose to high office. After meeting disaster and living with regret, the inscriptions he wrote for Yuan Dexiu and Quan Gao and his "Encomium on the Four Hoary Heads" were deep and subtle in praise; readers pitied the spirit behind them.
6
宗子翰，從子觀，皆有名。 子翰翰擢進士第，調衞尉。 天寶末，房琯、韋陟倶薦爲史官，宰相不肯擬。 翰所善張巡死節睢陽，人媢其功，以爲降賊，肅宗未及知。 翰傳巡功狀，表上之，曰：
His clansman Han and his nephew Guan were both well known. Han passed the jinshi examination and was appointed to the Court of the Imperial Stud. Near the end of the Tianbao era, Fang Guan and Wei Zhi both recommended him for a historiographer post, but the chief minister refused to draft the appointment. Zhang Xun, whom Han admired, had died defending Suiyang to the last, yet envious men denied his achievement and claimed he had surrendered to the rebels—a charge Emperor Suzong had not yet had the chance to refute. Han drew up an account of Zhang Xun's achievements and submitted it in a memorial, saying:
7
「臣聞聖主褒死難之士，養死事之孤，或親推轜車，或追建邑封，厚死以慰生，撫存以答亡，君不遺於臣，臣亦不背其君也。 自逆胡構亂，據雒陽，引幽、朔以呑河南，故御史中丞、贈揚州大都督張巡，忠誼奮發，率烏合，守雍丘，潰賊心腹。 及魯炅棄甲宛、葉，哥舒翰敗績潼關，賊送盜神器，鴟峙二京，南臨漢、江，西逼岐、雍，群帥列城，望風出奔，巡守孤城不爲卻。 賊欲繞出巡後以擾江淮，巡退軍睢陽，扼東南咽領。 自春訖冬，大戰數十，小戰數百，以弱制強，出奇無窮，殺馘凶醜凡十余萬，賊不敢越睢陽取江淮，江淮以完，巡之力也。 城孤糧盡，外救不至，猶奮羸起病，摧鋒陷堅，三軍啖膚而食，知死不叛。 城陷見執，卒無橈詞，慢叱凶徒，精貫白日，雖古忠烈無以加焉。
"Your servant has heard that a sage ruler honors those who die in hardship and cares for the orphans of men who died in his service—sometimes personally attending the funeral cart, sometimes granting posthumous fiefs. He enriches the dead to comfort the living and cherishes the living to answer the dead. When the ruler does not abandon his minister, the minister does not betray his ruler. Since the rebel chieftain raised rebellion, seized Luoyang, and drew the armies of You and Shuo to overrun Henan, Zhang Xun—formerly Vice Censor-in-Chief, posthumously honored as Grand Governor of Yangzhou—rose in loyal fervor, led a hastily gathered force, held Yongqiu, and struck at the rebels' heartland. When Lu Ling threw away his armor at Wan and Ye and Geshu Han was routed at Tong Pass, the rebels pressed forward to seize the imperial regalia, perched like owls over the two capitals, threatened the Han and Yangtze to the south and Qi and Yong to the west, and commanders in walled cities fled at the mere rumor of their approach—yet Zhang Xun held his isolated city and would not retreat. The rebels wished to slip behind Zhang Xun to ravage the Jiang-Huai region, so he withdrew his army to Suiyang and blocked the strategic throat of the southeast. From spring through winter he fought dozens of major engagements and hundreds of lesser ones, used the weak to overcome the strong, and deployed endless stratagems, killing more than a hundred thousand of the enemy. The rebels dared not pass Suiyang to seize the Jiang-Huai, and the Jiang-Huai remained intact—this was Zhang Xun's achievement. When the city stood alone and provisions were gone, with no relief from outside, he still roused the weak and sick to fight, smashed enemy lines and stormed fortifications; the whole army ate human flesh yet knew they faced death and would not defect. When the city fell he was captured, yet to the end he would not yield in word, calmly reviled his captors, and his spirit shone like the sun at noon—no loyal martyr of antiquity could surpass him.
8
「議者罪巡以食人，愚巡以守死，臣竊痛之。 夫忠者，臣之教； 恕者，法之情。 巡握節而死，非虧教也； 析骸以爨，非本情也。 《春秋》以功覆過，《書》赦過宥刑，在《易》遏惡揚善，爲國者録用棄瑕。 今者乃欲議巡之罪，是廢教絀節，不以功掩過，不以刑恕情，善可遏，惡可揚，瑕録而用棄，非所以獎人倫，明勸戒也。 且祿山背德，大臣將相比肩從賊，巡官不朝，宴不坐，無一伍之士，一節之權，徒奮身死節，以動義旅，不謂忠乎？ 以數千卒橫挫賊鋒，若無巡則無睢陽，無睢陽則無江淮。 有如賊因江淮之資，兵廣而財積，根結盤據，西向以拒，雖終殲滅，其曠日持久必矣。 今陝、鄢一戰，犬羊駭北，王師震其西，巡扼其東，此天使巡舉江淮以待陛下，師至而巡死，不謂功乎？ 古者列國侵伐，猶分災救患，諸將同受國恩，奉辭伐罪，巡固守亦待外援，援不至而食盡，食盡而及人，則巡之情可求矣。 假巡守城之初，已計食人，損數百衆以全天下，臣尚謂功過相掩，況非素志乎？ 夫子制《春秋》，明褒貶，齊桓公將封禪，略不書； 晉文公召王河陽，書而諱之。 巡蒼黃之罪，輕於僭禪； 興復之功，重於糾合。
"Critics condemn Zhang Xun for cannibalism; fools condemn him for dying at his post. Your servant is deeply grieved by this. Loyalty is what a minister is taught; forgiveness is the spirit of the law. Zhang Xun died grasping his tally of office—he did not fail in loyalty; splitting corpses for fuel was not his original intent. The Spring and Autumn Annals cover faults with merit; the Documents pardon faults and spare punishment; the Changes teach that one should check evil and exalt good; rulers of states record merit and set aside flaws. To debate Zhang Xun's crimes now would be to abandon the teaching of loyalty and diminish integrity—not to cover faults with merit, not to temper punishment with mercy, to let good be suppressed and evil exalted, to record flaws and discard merit. That is no way to encourage proper conduct or make clear what should be rewarded and what condemned. Moreover, Lushan betrayed his sovereign, while great ministers and generals lined up to follow the rebels. Zhang Xun held no court office, sat at no imperial banquet, commanded not even a squad of soldiers nor wielded a tally of authority—he merely threw himself into death for the sake of integrity to stir the righteous armies. Is this not loyalty? With only a few thousand men he blocked the rebels' advance at the spearpoint; without Zhang Xun there would have been no Suiyang, and without Suiyang there would have been no Jiang-Huai. Had the rebels drawn on the resources of the Jiang-Huai, with vast armies and accumulated wealth, their power rooted deep and spread wide, and turned west to resist the throne, even if they were eventually destroyed, the war would surely have dragged on far longer. At the battles of Shan and Yan the rebels fled north in terror; the imperial army struck them in the west while Zhang Xun blocked them in the east. Was this not Heaven's design—that Zhang Xun should hold the Jiang-Huai until Your Majesty's armies arrived? The armies came, and Zhang Xun died. Is this not merit? In antiquity, when feudal states made war on one another, they still shared one another's disasters and relieved one another's distress. The generals alike received the state's favor and bore the mandate to punish crime. Zhang Xun held his ground and likewise awaited outside relief; relief did not come, provisions ran out, and only then did men become food—under such circumstances his plight can be understood. Even if, at the very start of the siege, Zhang Xun had deliberately planned to cannibalize his troops and sacrifice several hundred lives to save the realm, your servant would still say merit and fault would offset each other—how much more so when cannibalism was never his intent? Confucius compiled the Spring and Autumn Annals to make clear praise and blame. When Duke Huan of Qi was about to perform the Feng and Shan sacrifices, the Annals barely mention it; when Duke Wen of Jin summoned the Zhou king to Heyang, the Annals record it yet veil the offense. Zhang Xun's desperate offense is lighter than usurping the Feng and Shan rites; his merit in restoring the dynasty outweighs the offense of summoning the king.
9
「今巡子亞夫雖得官，不免饑寒，江淮既巡所保，戸口充完，宜割百戸俾食其子。 且強死爲厲，有所歸則不爲災。 巡身首分裂，將士骸骼不掩，宜於睢陽相擇髙原，起大塚，招魂而葬，旌善之義也。 臣少與巡遊，哀巡死難，不睹休明，唯令名其榮祿也。 若不時紀録，日月浸悠，或掩而不傳，或傳而不實，巡生死不遇，誠可悲悼。 謹撰傳一篇，昧死上，儻得列于史官，死骨不朽。」
"Zhang Xun's son Yafu, though he holds an office, still suffers hunger and cold. The Jiang-Huai was what Zhang Xun preserved, and its households remain intact; a hundred households should be set aside to support his son. Moreover, those who die violently may become vengeful spirits; when they have a proper resting place they do not bring calamity. Zhang Xun's body was torn apart, and the bones of his officers and soldiers lie unburied. On high ground near Suiyang a great tomb should be raised, their souls summoned and laid to rest—this is how the good should be honored. Your servant traveled with Zhang Xun in his youth and grieves that he died in hardship without living to see the restoration of peace. I ask only that his good name receive honor and reward. If his deeds are not recorded in time, as the months and years pass his story may be buried and lost, or passed on in distorted form. That Zhang Xun should meet such neglect in life and death is truly lamentable. Your servant respectfully submits this biography, risking death in doing so. If it may be entered in the official histories, his bones though dead will not perish."
10
帝繇是感悟，而巡大節白于世，義士多之。
The emperor was moved by this, Zhang Xun's great integrity was made clear to the world, and men of principle praised him widely.
11
翰累遷左補闕、翰林學士。 大暦中，病免，客陽翟，卒。
Han rose through the ranks to Left Remonstrator and Academician of the Hanlin. During the Dali era he resigned because of illness, lived as a guest at Yangzhai, and died there.
12
翰爲文精密而思遲，常從令皇甫曾求音樂，思涸則奏之，神逸乃屬文。 族弟紓，自有傳。 從子觀觀，字元賓。 貞元中，舉進士、宏辭，連中，授太子校書郎。 卒，年二十九。 觀屬文，不襲沿前人，時謂與韓愈相上下。 及觀少夭，而愈後文益工，議者以觀文未極，愈老不休，故卒擅名。 陸希聲以爲「觀尚辭，故辭勝理； 愈尚質，故理勝辭。 雖愈窮老，終不能加觀之辭； 觀後愈死，亦不能逮愈之質」雲。 孟浩然孟浩然，字浩然，襄州襄陽人。 少好節義，喜振人患難，隱鹿門山。 年四十，乃游京師。 嘗於太學賦詩，一座嗟伏，無敢抗。 張九齡、王維雅稱道之。 維私邀入内署，俄而玄宗至，浩然匿床下，維以實對，帝喜曰：「朕聞其人而未見也，何懼而匿？」 詔浩然出。 帝問其詩，浩然再拜，自誦所爲，至「不才明主棄」之句，帝曰：「卿不求仕，而朕未嘗棄卿，奈何誣我？」 因放還。 採訪使韓朝宗約浩然偕至京師，欲薦諸朝。 會故人至，劇飲歡甚，或曰：「君與韓公有期。」 浩然叱曰：「業已飲，遑恤他！」 卒不赴。 朝宗怒，辭行，浩然不悔也。 張九齡爲荊州，辟置於府，府罷。 開元末，病疽背卒。
Han's prose was meticulous but came slowly. He often had his cousin Huangfu Zeng play music for him: when his thoughts ran dry, Zeng would perform, and only when his spirit was eased would he write. His clansman Li Shu has a separate biography. His nephew Guan, courtesy name Yuanbin. During the Zhenyuan era he passed both the jinshi and hongci examinations in succession and was appointed Collator in the Heir Apparent's Household. He died at the age of twenty-nine. Guan wrote without imitating earlier models, and people of the time said he was Han Yu's equal. Guan died young, while Han Yu's writing grew ever more accomplished with age. Critics held that Guan's art had not reached its peak, whereas Yu kept writing without cease into old age, and so in the end Han Yu alone won lasting fame. Lu Xisheng remarked, "Guan prized rhetoric, so his rhetoric surpassed his reasoning; Han Yu prized substance, so his reasoning surpassed his rhetoric. Even when Han Yu grew old and poor, he could never surpass Guan's rhetoric; and after Guan died, Han Yu could not match Guan's substance either," he said. Meng Haoran, who used his given name Haoran as his courtesy name, was a native of Xiangyang in Xiang Prefecture. In his youth he loved integrity and righteousness, delighted in helping others in distress, and lived in seclusion on Mount Lumen. Only at the age of forty did he travel to the capital. Once, when he composed a poem at the Imperial Academy, the whole assembly sighed in admiration, and none dared to compete with him. Zhang Jiuling and Wang Wei spoke highly of him. Wang Wei once invited him privately into the inner offices of the palace. Soon Emperor Xuanzong arrived. Haoran hid under the bed. Wang Wei told the truth, and the emperor said with pleasure, "We have heard of this man but never met him—why should he fear and hide? He ordered Haoran to come out. The emperor asked to hear his poetry. Haoran bowed twice and recited his own works. When he reached the line "Untalented, the enlightened ruler casts me aside," the emperor said, "You never sought office, and We never cast you aside—why do you slander Us?" He therefore sent him home. The Investigating Commissioner Han Chaozong arranged for Haoran to travel with him to the capital, intending to recommend him at court. An old friend arrived, and they drank together in high spirits. Someone said, "You have an appointment with Master Han. Haoran snapped, "We are already drinking—why should I trouble myself with anything else!" In the end he did not go. Chaozong was furious and left; Haoran felt no regret. When Zhang Jiuling served as prefect of Jingzhou, he recruited Haoran to his staff; when that office ended, Haoran left service as well. Near the end of the Kaiyuan era he died of a carbuncle on his back.
13
後樊澤爲節度使，時浩然墓庳壞，符載以牋叩澤曰：「故處士孟浩然，文質傑美，殞落歳久，門裔陵遲，丘隴頽沒，永懷若人，行路慨然。 前公欲更築大墓，闔州搢紳，聞風竦動。 而今外迫軍旅，内勞賓客，牽耗歳時，或有未遑。 誠令好事者乘而有之，負公夙志矣。」 澤乃更爲刻碑鳳林山南，封寵其墓。
Later, when Fan Ze served as military commissioner, Meng Haoran's tomb had sunk and fallen into ruin. Fu Zai wrote to Fan Ze, saying, "The late Recluse Meng Haoran was outstanding in both talent and character. He has been gone many years, his descendants have declined, and his grave mound has crumbled. All who cherish his memory, even passersby on the road, sigh at the sight. Your Excellency once wished to rebuild a grand tomb for him, and the gentry of the entire prefecture were stirred at the news. Yet now you are pressed by military affairs from without and wearied by guests from within, and the years slip away in constant demands—perhaps there has been no time. If enthusiasts should seize the opportunity and take the task upon themselves, that would betray the purpose Your Excellency has long cherished. Fan Ze then had a stele carved on the south slope of Mount Fenglin and restored and honored the tomb.
14
初，王維過郢州，畫浩然像于刺史亭，因曰浩然亭。 咸通中，刺史鄭諴謂賢者名不可斥，更署曰孟亭。
Earlier, when Wang Wei passed through Ying Prefecture, he painted Haoran's portrait in the prefect's pavilion, which was therefore called the Haoran Pavilion. During the Xiantong era, Prefect Zheng Yin held that a worthy man's name should not be pushed aside, and renamed it the Meng Pavilion.
15
開元、天寶間，同知名者王昌齡、崔顥，皆位不顯。 附王昌齡昌齡，字少伯，江甯人。 第進士，補秘書郎。 又中宏辭，遷汜水尉。 不護細行，貶龍標尉。 以世亂還鄕里，爲刺史閭丘曉所殺。 張鎬按軍河南，兵大集，曉最後期，將戮之，辭曰：「有親，乞貸餘命。」 鎬曰：「王昌齡之親，欲與誰養？」 曉默然。
During the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras, Wang Changling and Cui Hao were equally famous, yet neither rose to prominent office. Supplement: Wang Changling, courtesy name Shaobo, was a native of Jiangning. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed to the Secretariat. He also passed the hongci literary examination and was promoted to Assistant Magistrate of Sishui. Because he did not restrain his minor indiscretions, he was demoted to Assistant Magistrate of Longbiao. When the realm fell into chaos he returned home, where he was killed by the prefect Luqiu Xiao. When Zhang Hao inspected the army in Henan, the troops assembled in force. Xiao was the last to arrive and was about to be executed; he pleaded, "I have family who depend on me—please spare my life. Hao replied, "Wang Changling's dependents—who will support them now?" Xiao said nothing.
16
昌齡工詩，緒密而思淸，時謂王江寧云。 附崔顥崔顥者，亦擢進士第，有文無行。 好蒱博，嗜酒。 娶妻惟擇美者，俄又棄之，凡四五娶。 終司勳員外郎。 初，李邕聞其名，虚舍邀之，顥至獻詩，首章曰：「十五嫁王昌。」 邕叱曰：「小兒無禮！」 不與接而去。 劉太眞劉太眞，宣州人。 善屬文，師蘭陵蕭穎士。 舉髙第進士。 淮南陳少遊表爲掌書記，嘗以少遊擬桓、文，爲義士所訾。 興元初，爲河東宣慰賑給使，累遷刑部侍郎。 德宗以天下平，貞元四年九月，詔群臣宴曲江，自爲詩，敕宰相擇文人賡和。 李泌等請群臣皆和，帝自第之，乙太眞、李紓等爲上，鮑防、于邵等次之，張濛等爲下。 與擇者四十一人，惟泌、李晟、馬燧三宰相無所差次。 遷禮部，掌貢士，多取大臣貴近子弟，坐貶信州刺史，卒。 邵説邵説，相州安陽人。 已擢進士第，未調，陷史思明。 逮朝義敗，歸郭子儀，子儀愛其才，留幕府。 遷累長安令、秘書少監。 大暦末，上言：「天道三十年一小變，六十年一大變。 祿山、思明之難，出入二紀，多難漸平，向之亂，今將變而之治。 宜建徽號，承天意。 而方謁郊廟、大赦各一，誠恐雲雨之施未普，鬱結之氣未除。 願因此時修享獻、款郊廟、褒有德、録賢人，與天下更始，振災益壽之術也。」 不聽。
Changling excelled at poetry; his verse was tightly woven and his thought lucid. People of the time called him "Wang of Jiangning." Supplement: Cui Hao also passed the jinshi examination, but though he had literary talent he lacked moral restraint. He was addicted to gambling and fond of wine. He chose wives only for their beauty, then soon cast them aside; he married four or five times in all. He ended his career as Outer Member of the Bureau of Merit. When Li Yong first heard of his reputation, he cleared out his house to receive him. Hao came and presented a poem whose first line ran, "At fifteen I married Wang Chang. Yong shouted, "You impudent whelp!" He refused to see him and turned him out. Liu Taizhen was a native of Xuan Prefecture. He was skilled at literary composition and studied under Xiao Yingshi of Lanling. He passed the jinshi examination with the highest honors. Chen Shaoyou of Huainan recommended him as chief recorder on his staff. Taizhen once compared Shaoyou to Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin, and men of integrity censured him for it. At the beginning of the Xingyuan era he served as relief commissioner for Hedong and was promoted in stages to Vice Minister of Justice. When Emperor Dezong considered the realm at peace, in the ninth month of the fourth year of Zhenyuan he ordered the court to feast at Qujiang, composed a poem himself, and commanded the chief ministers to select literary men to compose matching verses. Li Mi and others asked that all the officials compose matching poems. The emperor personally ranked them, placing Taizhen, Li Shu, and others in the top tier; Bao Fang, Yu Shao, and others in the second; and Zhang Meng and others in the lowest. Of the forty-one men chosen for ranking, only the three chief ministers Mi, Li Sheng, and Ma Sui were given no separate grade. He was transferred to the Ministry of Rites to oversee the civil examinations, but admitted too many sons and relatives of high ministers and the imperial kin. For this he was demoted to Prefect of Xin Prefecture, where he died. Shao Shuo was a native of Anyang in Xiang Prefecture. He had already passed the jinshi examination but had not yet received an appointment when he fell into the hands of Shi Siming. When Shi Chaoyi was defeated, he went over to Guo Ziyi, who admired his talent and kept him on his staff. Through successive promotions he rose to Magistrate of Chang'an and Deputy Director of the Secretariat. Near the end of the Dali era he submitted a memorial: "Heaven's Way undergoes a small transformation every thirty years and a great transformation every sixty years. The disasters of An Lushan and Shi Siming have spanned nearly two twelve-year cycles. As the many calamities gradually subside, the age of disorder is now turning toward order. An auspicious reign title should be established to accord with Heaven's will. Yet there has been only one visit to the suburban altars and one general amnesty. I truly fear that Heaven's rain of grace has not been widely bestowed and the air of pent-up resentment has not yet been dispelled. I ask that at this time proper sacrifices be performed, the suburban altars be reverently approached, the virtuous be honored, and worthy men be recorded, so that the realm may begin anew with the people and the means of dispelling disaster and prolonging life may be restored. The emperor did not heed the proposal.
17
德宗立，擢吏部侍郎。 説因自陳：「家本儒，先祖長白山人貞一，以武后革命，終身不肯仕。 先臣殿中侍御史瓊之，逮事玄宗。 臣十六即孤，長育母手，天寶中始仕。 會喪，客河北，祿山亂，喪紀當終，臣不褫衰絰又再期，懼終不免，陰走洺、魏。 慶緒遁保西城，搜脅儒者爲己用，以兵迫臣，遂陷醜逆。 俄而史思明順附，欲間道歸北闕下，肅宗拜臣左金吾衞騎曹參軍，許留思明所。 會烏承恩事，路絶，不得歸。 朝義之敗，欲固守河陽，臣知回紇利野戰，陰勸其行，以破賊計。 朝義已走，臣西歸獻狀，先帝詔翰林索臣所上言，與王伷偕召。 先帝謂誠節白著，故擢伷侍御史，臣爲殿中侍御史，使者宣旨制詔盡言其狀，則疇昔本末，先帝知之。 今又擢以不次，雖自天斷，尚恐受謗輿人，傷陛下之明。 今吏員未乏而調者多，益以功優，准平格以判留，人去者十七，彼且鼓讒説以投疑於上，此臣所大懼也。」 因薦戸部郎中蕭定、司農卿庾准自代，不許。
When Emperor Dezong ascended the throne, Shuo was promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel. Shuo therefore presented his own account: "My family was originally Confucian. My ancestor Zhenyī of Changbai Mountain, because of Empress Wu's usurpation, refused to serve for his entire life. My late father Qiongzhī, a Palace Attendant Censor, served Emperor Xuanzong. I was orphaned at sixteen and was raised by my mother; I first entered office during the Tianbao era. While I was in mourning and staying in Hebei, Lushan's rebellion broke out. My mourning period should have ended, yet I did not lay aside my mourning garments for another full cycle, fearing I could not escape, and secretly fled toward Ming and Wei. When Shi Qingxu fled to hold Xicheng, he searched out and coerced scholars into his service, pressed me with troops, and so I fell among the foul rebels. Soon afterward Shi Siming submitted to the court. Wishing to return by a secret route to the northern capital, I was appointed by Emperor Suzong as Cavalry Commandant in the Left Jinwu Guard, with permission to remain in Siming's territory. When the Wu Chengen affair occurred, the route was cut off and I could not return. When Chaoyi was defeated and wished to hold firm at Heyang, knowing the Uyghurs excelled at field battle, I secretly urged them to march out and thereby break the rebels' plan. After Chaoyi had fled, I returned west and submitted my account. The late emperor ordered the Hanlin Academy to retrieve my memorials and summoned me together with Wang Zhou. The late emperor considered our loyalty evident and therefore promoted Zhou to Attendant Censor and me to Palace Attendant Censor. The envoy proclaimed the edict and imperial decree fully stating our circumstances, so from first to last the late emperor knew my story. Now I am again promoted out of turn. Though the decision comes from Heaven, I still fear slander from the common people and injury to Your Majesty's clear judgment. The bureaus are not short of personnel, yet many await assignment. Adding merit promotion and allowing retention by ordinary grade, seventeen men will be passed over—they will surely stir up slander to cast suspicion on Your Majesty. This is what I greatly fear. He therefore recommended Bureau Director Xiao Ding and Minister of Revenue Yu Zhun to replace him, but the request was denied.
18
説在職以才顯，或言且執政，金吾將軍裴儆謂柳載曰：「説事賊爲劇官，掌其兵，大小百戰，掠名家子爲奴婢不可計，得宥死而無厚顏，乃崇第産，附貴幸。 欲以相邦，其能久乎！」 建中三年逐嚴郢，説與郢善，微諷硃泚訟其冤，爲草奏，貶歸州刺史，卒。 于邵于邵字相門，其先自代來，爲京兆萬年人。 天寶末，第進士，以書判超絶，補崇文校書郎。 繇比部郎中爲道州刺史，未行，徙巴州。 會歳饑，部獠亂，薄城下。 邵勵兵拒戰，且遣使諭曉，獠丐降，邵儒服出，賊見皆拜，即引去。 節度使李抱玉以聞，遷梓州，辭疾不拜，授兵部郎中。 崔寧帥蜀，表爲度支副使。 俄以諫議大夫知制誥，進禮部侍郎，朝有大典冊，必出其手。 爲三司使，治薛邕獄，失德宗旨，貶桂州長史。 復爲太子賓客，與宰相陸贄不平，出杭州刺史。 久疾求告，貶衢州別駕，徙江州。 卒，年八十一。
While in office Shuo's talent made him conspicuous, and some said he would soon hold power. General of the Jinwu Guard Pei Jun said to Liu Zai: "Shuo served the rebels in a major post, commanded their troops, fought a hundred battles great and small, and carried off sons of noble families as slaves and maidservants beyond reckoning. Having been spared death, he shows no shame—instead he builds grand mansions and attaches himself to the powerful and favored. And now they would make him chief minister—can he last long? In the third year of Jianzhong, when Yan Ying was driven out, Shuo was on good terms with Ying and subtly prompted Zhu Ci to plead his injustice. He drafted the memorial, was demoted to Prefect of Gui Prefecture, and died. Yu Shao, courtesy name Xiangmen, was descended from a family that had come from Dai and was registered as a native of Wannian in Jingzhao. At the end of the Tianbao era he passed the jinshi examination. For his outstanding performance in the document-judgment test he was appointed Proofreader in the Chongwen Institute. From Bureau Director in the Ministry of Revenue he was appointed Prefect of Dao Prefecture, but before he took up the post he was transferred to Ba Prefecture. There happened to be famine, and the tribal people of the prefecture rebelled and pressed close under the city walls. Shao encouraged his troops to resist and also sent envoys to persuade them. The tribesmen begged to surrender. Shao went out in Confucian robes; when the rebels saw him they all bowed and withdrew at once. The military commissioner Li Baoyu reported this. Shao was transferred to Zizhou but declined the appointment on grounds of illness and was given the post of Bureau Director in the Ministry of War. When Cui Ning commanded Shu, Shao was recommended as Deputy Commissioner of Revenue. Soon he served as Drafting Officer with the title Remonstrance Counselor and was promoted to Vice Minister of Rites. Whenever the court had great ceremonies or edicts, they invariably came from his hand. Serving as Commissioner of the Three Offices, he investigated the case of Xue Yong and failed to grasp the emperor's intent. He was demoted to Chief Administrator of Gui Prefecture. He was again made Advisor to the Crown Prince, but was on bad terms with Chief Minister Lu Zan and was sent out as Prefect of Hang Prefecture. After a long illness he requested leave and was demoted to Vice Prefect of Qu Prefecture, then transferred to Jiang Prefecture. He died at the age of eighty-one.
19
邵孝悌有行，晩塗益修絜。 樊澤始舉賢良，邵望見，曰：「將相材也。」 崔元翰舉進士，年五十矣，邵以其文擢異等，曰：「後當司詔令。」 已而皆然。 獨孤授舉博學宏辭，吏部考當乙，邵覆之，置甲科，人咨其公。 崔元翰崔元翰名鵬，以字行。 父良佐，與齊國公日用從昆弟也。 擢明經甲科，補湖城主簿，以母喪，遂不仕。 治詩、易、書、春秋，譔演範、忘象、渾天等論數十篇。 隱共北白鹿山之陽。 卒，門人共謚曰貞文孝父。
Shao was filial, respectful, and upright in conduct; in his later years he became still more strict in self-cultivation. When Fan Ze first submitted to the xiangliang examination, Shao saw him from afar and said, "Here is material for a minister or general. When Cui Yuanhan took the jinshi examination at the age of fifty, Shao ranked his essays in the highest class and said, "Later he will draft imperial edicts." In time both proved true. When Dugu Shou submitted to the boxue hongci examination, the Ministry of Personnel graded him second class. Shao reviewed the result and placed him in first class, and people praised his fairness. Cui Yuanhan's given name was Peng; he went by his courtesy name. His father Liangzuo was a cousin of the Duke of Qi, Riyong. He passed the mingjing examination in first class and was appointed Chief Clerk of Hucheng, but upon his mother's death he ceased holding office. He studied the Odes, Changes, Documents, and Spring and Autumn Annals, and composed dozens of treatises such as "Expounding the Model," "Forgetting Images," and "On the Armillary Sphere." He lived in seclusion on the southern slope of White Deer Mountain at Gongbei. When he died, his disciples jointly gave him the posthumous title "Loyal, Literary, Filial Father."
20
元翰舉進士、博學宏辭、賢良方正，皆異等。 義成李勉表在幕府，馬燧更表爲太原掌書記。 召拜禮部員外郎。 竇參秉政，引知制誥。 其訓辭温厚，有典誥風。 然性剛褊，不能取容於時，孤特自恃。 掌誥凡再期，不遷，罷爲比部郎中，時已七十餘，卒。
Yuanhan passed the jinshi, boxue hongci, and xiangliang examinations—all in the highest class. Li Mian of Yicheng recommended him for his staff, and Ma Sui again recommended him as chief recorder at Taiyuan. He was summoned and appointed Outer Member of the Ministry of Rites. When Dou Can held power, he brought Yuanhan in as Drafting Officer. His directive prose was warm and generous, with the tone of classical edicts. Yet his nature was stern and narrow; he could not yield to win favor in his time and relied on his solitary integrity. He held the drafting post for two full terms without promotion, was dismissed to Bureau Director in the Ministry of Revenue, was already over seventy, and died.
21
其好學老不倦，用思精緻，馳騁班固、蔡邕間以自名家。 怨陸贄、李充，乃附裴延齡，延齡表鉤校京兆妄費，持吏甚急，而充等自無過，訖不能傅致以罪云。 于公異于公異，蘇州呉人。 進士擢第，李晟表爲招討府掌書記。 朱泚平，露布於德宗曰：「臣既肅淸宮禁，祗奉寢園，鍾𥲤不移，廟貌如故。」 帝覽泣下，曰：「誰爲之辭？」 或以公異對，帝咨歎一再。 始，公異與陸贄故有隙，時贄在翰林，聞不喜。 世多言公異不能事後母，既仕不歸省。 及贄當政，乃奏其狀，詔賜孝經，罷歸田里。 盧邁坐舉非其人，奪俸兩月。 時中書舍人髙郢，嘗薦御史元敦義，及公異被譴，郢亦劾敦義無美行，詔免敦義官。 公異繇是不自振而卒。 李益李益，故宰相揆族子，於詩尤所長。 貞元末，名與宗人賀相埒。 毎一篇成，樂工爭以賂求取之，被聲歌，供奉天子。 至征人、早行等篇，天下皆施之圖繪。
He loved learning and never tired of it in old age. His thought was refined and meticulous, and he ranged between Ban Gu and Cai Yong to make a name for himself. Harbouring resentment against Lu Zan and Li Chong, he attached himself to Pei Yanling. Yanling memorialized to audit wasteful spending in the capital and pressed officials very harshly, yet Chong and the others were without fault—in the end no crime could be attached to them. Yu Gongyi was a native of Wu in Suzhou. He passed the jinshi examination, and Li Sheng recommended him as chief recorder on the Pacification Staff. When Zhu Ci was pacified, the victory bulletin to Emperor Dezong read: "Your subject has already cleared and purified the palace precincts and reverently tended the imperial tombs; bells and drums remain unmoved, and the temple halls are as before. When the emperor read it, he wept and said, "Who wrote these words?" Some answered that it was Gongyi, and the emperor sighed in admiration again and again. From the first Gongyi and Lu Zan had an old rift. At the time Zan was in the Hanlin Academy, and on hearing this he was displeased. Many said that Gongyi failed to treat his stepmother properly and, once in office, did not return home to visit his family. When Zan came to power, he memorialized about his conduct. An edict bestowed the Classic of Filial Piety upon him and dismissed him to return home. Lu Mai was punished for recommending an unworthy man and had his salary withheld for two months. At the time the Drafting Officer Gao Ying had once recommended Attendant Censor Yuan Dunyi. When Gongyi was censured, Ying also impeached Dunyi for lacking fine conduct, and an edict removed Dunyi from office. Gongyi therefore never recovered his standing and died. Li Yi was a clansman of the former chief minister Li Kui and was especially skilled in poetry. At the end of the Zhenyuan era his fame was on a par with that of his clansman He. Whenever he finished a poem, musicians competed to bribe him for copies. Set to music, his poems were performed for the emperor. Such pieces as "Conscript" and "Early Departure" were illustrated throughout the realm.
22
少癡而忌克，防閑妻妾苛嚴，世謂妬爲「李益疾」。 同輩行稍稍進顯，益獨不調，鬱鬱去。 游燕，劉濟辟置幕府，進爲營田副使。 嘗與濟詩，語怨望。 憲宗雅知名，召爲祕書少監、集不能堪，諫官因暴幽州時怨望語，詔降秩。 俄復舊官，累遷集賢殿學士。 自負才，凌藉士，右散騎常侍。 大和初，以禮部尚書致仕，卒。
Even as a young man he was both simple-minded and fiercely jealous; he kept such harsh watch over his wives and concubines that people of the day nicknamed jealousy "Li Yi's disease." His contemporaries gradually rose to prominence one after another, but Yi alone failed to secure an appointment and departed in gloomy frustration. While traveling in Yan territory, Liu Ji recruited him to his staff; he was promoted to Deputy Commissioner of Garrison Fields. On one occasion, in poems exchanged with Liu Ji, he expressed bitter resentment. Emperor Xianzong, who had long admired his literary renown, summoned Li Yi to serve as Vice Director of the Secretariat, but Yi could not endure the post. Remonstrating officials then made public the resentful language he had used while at Youzhou, and an edict lowered his rank. Shortly afterward his former rank was restored, and he rose through successive appointments to Academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. Conceited about his gifts, he looked down on and humiliated other scholars; he eventually served as Right Regular Companion. In the early Dahe era he retired from office as Minister of Rites and died.
23
時又有太子庶子李益同在朝，故世言「文章李益」以辨云。 盧綸盧綸字允言，河中蒲人。 避天寶亂，客鄱陽。 大暦初，數舉進士不入第。 元載取綸文以進，補閿鄕尉。 累遷監察御史，輒稱疾去。 坐與王縉善，久不調。 渾瑊鎭河中，辟元帥判官，累遷檢校戸部郎中。 嘗朝京師，是時，舅韋渠牟得幸德宗，表其才，召見禁中，帝有所作，輒使賡和。 異日問渠牟：「盧綸、李益何在？」 答曰：「綸從渾瑊在河中。」 驛召之，會卒。
At the same time another Li Yi, Vice Director of the Crown Prince's Household, was also at court; and so people of the day distinguished them by calling the poet "Li Yi the literary man." Lu Lun, courtesy name Yunyan, was a native of Pu in Hezhong circuit. During the Tianbao rebellion he fled south and lived as a guest in Poyang. In the early Dali era he sat for the jinshi examination several times but never passed. Yuan Zai forwarded samples of Lun's writing to the throne, and Lun was appointed Assistant Magistrate of Wen Township. He rose through successive posts to Censor, but soon claimed illness and resigned. Because of his friendship with Wang Jin, he went for a long stretch without receiving any appointment. When Hun Jian commanded Hezhong, Lun joined his staff as a military judge and was promoted over time to Acting Director in the Ministry of Revenue. On one visit to the capital, his maternal uncle Wei Qumou, who then enjoyed Emperor Dezong's favor, recommended his talent to the throne. Summoned to an audience within the palace, Lun was whenever the emperor composed a poem, always assigned to compose a matching verse. Another day the emperor asked Wei Qumou, "Where are Lu Lun and Li Yi? He replied, "Lun is with Hun Jian in Hezhong." A courier was sent to summon him at once, but Lun died before he could arrive.
24
綸與吉中孚、韓翃、錢起、司空曙、苗發、崔峒、耿湋、夏侯審、李端皆能詩齊名，號「大暦十才子」。 憲宗詔中書舍人張仲素訪集遺文。 文宗尤愛其詩，問宰相：「綸文章幾何？ 亦有子否？」 李德裕對：「綸四子：簡能、簡辭、弘止、簡求，皆擢進士第，在臺閣。」 帝遣中人悉索家笥，得詩五百篇以聞。 附吉中孚中孚，鄱陽人。 官戸部侍郎。 附韓翃翃字君平，南陽人。 侯希逸表佐淄靑幕府，府罷，十年不出。 李勉在宣武，復辟之。 俄以駕部郎中知制誥。 時有兩韓翃，其一爲刺史，宰相請孰與，德宗曰：「與詩人韓翃。」 終中書舍人。 附錢起起，呉興人。 天寶中舉進士，與郎士元齊名，時語曰：「前有沈、宋，後有錢、郎。」 終考功郎中。 附司空曙曙字文初，廣平人。 從韋臯於劍南，終虞部郎中。 附苗發發，晉卿子，終都官員外郎。 峒終右補闕，湋右拾遺，審侍御史。 附李端端，趙州人。 始，郭曖尚昇平公主，主賢明有才思，尤招納士，故端等多從曖游。 曖嘗進官，大集客，端賦詩最工，錢起曰：「素爲之，請賦起姓。」 端立獻一章，又工於前，客乃服，主賜帛百。 後移疾江南，終杭州司馬。 歐陽詹歐陽詹字行周，泉州晉江人。 其先皆爲本州州佐、縣令。 閩越地肥衍，有山泉禽魚，雖能通文書吏事，不肯北宦。 及常袞罷宰相爲觀察使，始擇縣鄕秀民能文辭者，與爲賓主鈞禮，觀游饗集必與，里人矜耀，故其俗稍相勸仕。 初，詹與羅山甫同隱潘湖，往見袞，袞奇之。 辭歸，泛舟飲餞。 舉進士，與韓愈、李觀、李絳、崔羣、王涯、馮宿、庾承宣聯第，皆天下選，時稱「龍虎榜」。 閩人第進士，自詹始。
Lun, together with Ji Zhongfu, Han Hong, Qian Qi, Sikong Shu, Miao Fa, Cui Tong, Geng Wei, Xiahou Shen, and Li Duan, all won equal renown for poetry and were known as "the Ten Talented Literati of the Dali Era." Emperor Xianzong ordered the Palace Draftsman Zhang Zhongsu to collect his surviving writings. Emperor Wenzong was especially fond of his poetry and asked the chief ministers, "How many of Lun's literary works survive? Did he also leave sons? Li Deyu answered, "Lun had four sons—Jianneng, Jianci, Hongzhi, and Jianqiu—all of whom passed the jinshi examination and serve in the central administration." The emperor sent palace eunuchs to search the family chests thoroughly; five hundred poems were found and presented to the throne. Appended biography: Ji Zhongfu, a native of Poyang. He served as Vice Minister of Revenue. Appended biography: Han Hong, courtesy name Junping, a native of Nanyang. Hou Xiyi recommended him for a post on the Ziqing military staff; when that headquarters was disbanded, Han did not take office again for ten years. When Li Mian took command at Xuanyu Wu, he recruited Han again. Soon afterward he was appointed Director in the Department of Carriages and entrusted with drafting imperial edicts. At the time two men named Han Hong were in government service, one of them a prefect; when the chief ministers asked which man should receive the appointment, Emperor Dezong said, "Give it to Han Hong the poet. He eventually rose to Palace Draftsman. Appended biography: Qian Qi, a native of Wuxing. During the Tianbao era he passed the jinshi examination and shared equal renown with Lang Shiyuan; people of the day said, "Before there were Shen and Song; afterward there are Qian and Lang. He ended his career as Director in the Ministry of Personnel. Appended biography: Sikong Shu, courtesy name Wenchu, a native of Guangping. He served under Wei Gao in Jiannan and eventually became Director in the Ministry of Works. Appended biography: Miao Fa, son of Miao Jinqing; he ended as Outer Adjunct in the Ministry of Justice. Cui Tong ended as Right Supplementation Reminder, Geng Wei as Right Admonition Reminder, and Xiahou Shen as Aide Censor. Appended biography: Li Duan, a native of Zhao Prefecture. Early in his career, Guo Ai had married Princess Shengping, who was intelligent and talented and especially fond of gathering scholars about her; and so Duan and the others often kept company with Ai. On one occasion when Ai went to court and gathered a large company of guests, Duan's poem was judged the finest; Qian Qi said, "I have always been the one to compose on these occasions—now please compose on my surname, Qi. Duan at once rose and presented a new poem, finer still than the first; the guests were convinced, and the princess rewarded him with a hundred bolts of silk. Later he retired to Jiangnan on grounds of illness and eventually died as Military Adjunct of Hang Prefecture. Ouyang Zhan, courtesy name Xingzhou, was a native of Jinjiang in Quan Prefecture. His ancestors had all served as prefectural aides and county magistrates in Quanzhou. Min and Yue was fertile country rich in mountain springs, wild birds, and fish; though its people could manage documents and official business, they were reluctant to seek appointment in the north. When Chang Gun left the chief ministership to become Surveillance Commissioner, he began selecting talented local men skilled in letters, treating them as equals in guest-and-host ceremony, and always including them in his tours, banquets, and gatherings. Villagers took pride in this, and the local custom gradually began to encourage men to seek office. Early on Zhan and Luo Shanfu lived in seclusion together at Pan Lake; when they called on Chang Gun, he was struck by Zhan's talent. When they took their leave, Chang Gun saw them off with a boat excursion and a parting feast. He passed the jinshi examination in the same year as Han Yu, Li Guan, Li Jiang, Cui Qun, Wang Ya, Feng Su, and Yu ChengXuan—a cohort of men chosen from across the empire, known in its day as the "Dragon-and-Tiger Register." Zhan was the first native of Fujian ever to pass the jinshi examination.
25
詹事父母孝，與朋友信義。 其文章切深，回復明辯。 與愈友善。 詹先爲國子監四門助教，率其徒伏闕下，舉愈博士。 卒，年四十餘。 崔羣哭之甚，愈爲詹哀辭，自書以遺羣。 初，徐晦舉進士不中，詹數稱之，明年髙第，仕爲福建觀察使。 語及詹，必流涕。 從子秬從子秬，字降之，亦工爲文。 陸洿自右拾遺除司勳郎中，棄官隱呉中，詔召之，既在道，秬遺書讓出處之遽，洿不至，還．秬名益聞。
In serving his parents he was filial; in friendship he was loyal and true. His essays were incisive and profound, layered and lucid in argument. He and Han Yu were close friends. While serving as Four Gates Assistant Instructor at the Directorate of Education, Zhan led his students in kneeling before the palace gate to recommend Han Yu for the doctorate. He died in his early forties. Cui Qun mourned him deeply; Han Yu composed a dirge for Zhan, copied it out in his own hand, and sent it to Qun. Xu Hui had first failed the jinshi examination, but Zhan repeatedly praised him; the following year Xu placed at the top of the list, and eventually became Surveillance Commissioner of Fujian. Whenever he spoke of Zhan, he wept. Nephew: Ouyang Ju, courtesy name Jiangzhi, was also skilled as a writer. When Lu Hu was promoted from Right Admonition Reminder to Director in the Ministry of Personnel, he resigned and went into seclusion in the Wu region; an edict summoned him back, but while he was already en route Ju sent a letter reproaching him for the precipitous manner of his return to office. Hu never arrived; he turned back—and Ju's reputation rose higher still.
26
開成中，擢進士第，而里人蕭本妄言與貞獻太后近屬，恩寵赫然，秬恥之。 會澤潞劉從諫表秬在幕府，秬爲辯質本之偽，本終得罪。 其子稹拒命，秬方休假還家，稹表斥損時政，或言秬爲之，詔流崖州，賜死。 臨刑，色不橈，爲書徧謝故人，自誌墓，人皆憐之。 李賀李賀字長吉，系出鄭王後。 七歳能辭章，韓愈、皇甫湜始聞未信，過其家，使賀賦詩，援筆輒就如素構，自目曰髙軒過，二人大驚，自是有名。 爲人纖瘦，通眉，長指爪，能疾書。 毎旦日出，騎弱馬，從小奚奴，背古錦囊，遇所得，書投囊中。 未始先立題然後爲詩，如它人牽合程課者。 及暮歸，足成之。 非大醉、弔喪日率如此。 過亦不甚省。 母使婢探囊中，見所書多，即怒曰：「是兒要嘔出心乃已耳。」 以父名晉肅，不肯舉進士，愈爲作諱辨，然卒亦不就舉。
During the Kaicheng era he passed the jinshi examination, but a fellow townsman named Xiao Ben falsely claimed close kinship with Empress Zhenxian and basked in conspicuous imperial favor—a spectacle that filled Ju with shame. When Liu Congjian of Zelu reported that Ju was serving on his staff, Ju exposed the falsity of Ben's claim; Ben was eventually punished. When Liu Congjian's son Zhen rebelled against imperial orders, Ju happened to be home on leave; Zhen submitted memorials attacking current policy, and some claimed Ju had written them. An edict exiled Ju to Yazhou and commanded that he be granted death. At the hour of execution his bearing did not falter; he wrote letters of farewell to old friends throughout and composed his own tomb inscription—and all who knew of it mourned him. Li He, courtesy name Changji, was descended from the line of the Prince of Zheng. At the age of seven he could already compose polished prose; when Han Yu and Huangfu Shi first heard of this they did not believe it, so they called at his home and asked the boy to compose a poem on the spot. He took up the brush and finished at once, as though the verses had been fully formed in his mind beforehand; he titled the poem "A Lofty Carriage Passes By." The two men were astonished, and from that day his fame was made. He was slight and gaunt in build, with conjoined eyebrows and long fingernails, and wrote with exceptional speed. Each morning at sunrise he would ride a weary horse with a young servant boy trailing behind, an old brocade satchel on his back; whenever inspiration struck, he would scribble the lines and toss them into the bag. He never composed to a set topic in advance, as others did when bending their work to examination assignments. Only when he returned home at dusk would he polish the scraps into finished poems. On every day but those of heavy drinking or funeral attendance, his routine was always the same. Even then he rarely looked back over what he had written. His mother ordered a maid to search the pouch; when she found it overflowing with drafts, the mother cried out in anger, "This boy will not rest until he has vomited up his very heart! Because his father's name was Jinsu, he would not sit for the jinshi examination; Han Yu wrote a memorial on his behalf arguing that the name taboo should not apply, but He never took the examination in the end.
27
辭尚奇詭，所得皆驚邁，絶去翰墨畦逕，當時無能效者。 樂府數十篇，雲韶諸工皆合之絃管。 爲協律郎，卒，年二十七。 與游者權璩、楊敬之、王恭元，毎譔著，時爲所取去。 賀亦早世，故其詩歌世傳者鮮焉。 呉武陵呉武陵，信州人。 元和初，擢進士第。 淮西呉少陽聞其才，遣客鄭平邀之，將待以賓友，武陵不答。 俄而少陽子元濟叛，武陵遺以書，自稱東呉王孫，曰：
His language favored the strange and uncanny; his effects were startling and singular; he broke entirely from ordinary literary conventions, and none of his contemporaries could match him. Several dozen of his yuefu poems were set to music by the performers of the Cloud Harmony ensemble. He served as Coordinator of Musical Harmony and died at the age of twenty-seven. His companions included Quan Xu, Yang Jingzhi, and Wang Gongyuan, who often made off with his freshly written pieces before he could keep them. He too died young, and so few of his poems survive in circulation. Wu Wuling, a native of Xin Prefecture. In the early Yuanhe era he passed the jinshi examination. Wu Shaoyang of Huai West, hearing of his talent, sent a client named Zheng Ping to invite him, intending to honor him as an honored guest—but Wuling gave no answer. Soon afterward Shaoyang's son Yuanji rose in rebellion; Wuling sent him a letter, styling himself a descendant of the kings of Eastern Wu, which read:
28
「夫勢有不必得，事有不必疑，徒取暴逆之名，而殄物敗俗，不可謂智； 一日亡破，平生親愛連頭就戮，不可謂仁； 支屬繁衍，因縁磨滅，先魂傷餒，不可謂孝； 數百里之内，拘若檻，常疑死於左右手，低回姑息，不可謂明。 且三皇以來，數千萬載，何有勃理亂常而能自畢者哉？ 貞元時，德宗以函容御天下，河北諸鎭專地不臣，朝廷資以爵號，桀黠者自謂得計，以反爲利，於是楊惠琳、劉闢、李錡、盧從史等又亂。 皇帝即位，赫然命偏師討之，盡伏其辜，所謂時也。
"A position is not always there for the taking, and a course of action is not always as doubtful as you think. To win only the name of a violent rebel while laying waste to goods and corrupting society—this cannot be called wisdom; When in a single day your house is destroyed, your closest kin and friends will fall one after another beneath the executioner's blade—this cannot be called benevolence; Your extended clan is large and flourishing, yet through your act it will be ground to extinction; the shades of your ancestors will go hungry and wounded in the grave—this cannot be called filial piety; Within a radius of hundreds of li you will be penned up like a prisoner, always fearing death at the very hand that sustains you—hesitating, temporizing, indulging your fears. This cannot be called clarity. Since the age of the Three Sovereigns, across tens of millions of years, who has ever violently overturned the natural order and still met a peaceful end? In the Zhenyuan era Emperor Dezong governed with forbearance; the military prefectures of Hebei held their territories and refused submission, while the court kept awarding them titles and offices. The shrewdest among them decided that rebellion paid—and so Yang Huilin, Liu Pi, Li Qi, Lu Congshi, and others rose in revolt again. When our emperor took the throne, he boldly dispatched punitive columns against them, and every culprit was brought to justice. This, sir, is what we call the right moment.
29
「日者，張太尉厭垣捍之勤，謝易、定爲國老，田尚書知慮絶俗，又以魏博來歸，幽、檀、滄、景皆爲信臣，然而與足下者，獨齊、趙耳。 夫齊安可爲恃哉？ 徐壓其首，梁薄其翼，魏斮其脛，滑鍼其腹，淮南承其衝，分兵不足相救，全舉則曹、魯、東平非其有也。 彼何苦而自棄哉？ 若趙則固子耳。 前日，主上以澤潞爲之導，既斥從史，姑赦罪，復爵祿之，天下之人欲討者十八，無何，殘丞相御史，朝廷以足下故，未加斧鉞也。 然則中山搏城之險，太原乘井陘之隘，燕徇樂壽，邢扼臨城，淸河絶其南，弓髙斷其北，孤雛腐鼠，求責不暇，又曷以救人哉？ 二鎭不敢動亦明矣，足下何待而窮處邪？
"Not long ago Marshal Zhang grew weary of the endless burden of border defense; the old commanders of Yicheng and Dingzhou were honored as statesmen emeriti; Minister Tian's wisdom was matchless; Weibo has submitted again; Youzhou, Tanzhou, Cangzhou, and Jingzhou are all held by loyal commanders. Of all your potential allies, only Qi and Zhao remain. But how can you rely on Qi at all? Xuzhou presses on its head, Liangzhou thins its wings, Weibo hews at its shins, Huazhou pierces its belly, and Huainan stands ready to take the full shock of its fall. Divided forces cannot rescue one another; and if Qi commits everything it has, it will lose Cao, Lu, and Dongping besides. Why would they suffer so only to destroy themselves? As for Zhao—it is merely your own son's domain, nothing more. Recently the emperor looked to Zelu as the model: Lu Congshi was removed, but for the time being his crimes were pardoned and his rank and stipend restored. Eighteen parts in ten of all who dwell under heaven wish to see you punished; yet after you maimed the chief minister and the censor, the court has still held back the axe and halberd—for your sake alone. Zhongshan will hold its walled strongholds at all costs; Taiyuan will seal the Jingxing Pass; Yan will march on Leshou; Xingzhou will choke the crossing at Lincheng; Qinghe will sever your southern routes and Gonggao your northern ones. You will be a helpless wretch with enemies pressing in from every side—barely able to answer for yourself, let alone rescue anyone else. It is plain enough that neither of those two commands will stir on your behalf. What, then, are you still waiting for in this desperate corner?
30
「昔僕之師裴道明嘗言：『唐家二百載有中興主，當其時，佷傲者盡滅，河、湟之地復矣。』 今天子英武任賢，同符太宗，寬仁厚物，有玄宗之度，罰無貸罪，賞無遺功。 諸侯豢齊、趙以稔其釁，帥築室礪兵，進窺房、蔡，屯田繼漕，前鋒扼喉，後陣撫背，左排右掖，其幾何而不踣邪？
"My former teacher Pei Daoming once said: 'Through its two hundred years the Tang will produce an emperor of restoration. When he arrives, every arrogant rebel will be destroyed and the lands of the Yellow and Huang Rivers will return to the realm. Our emperor today is brave and martial, delights in appointing worthy men—he matches Emperor Taizong in talent and Emperor Xuanzong in magnanimity. He pardons no guilt in punishment and leaves no merit unrewarded. The imperial commanders are fattening Qi and Zhao until rebellion ripens, building fortifications and sharpening arms, pressing toward Fang and Cai. They sow garrison fields and keep the grain boats moving—the vanguard at your throat, the rear columns at your back, forces closing in from every side. How long before you collapse?
31
「足下勿謂部曲勿我欺，人心與足下一也。 足下反天子，人亦欲反足下。 易地而論，則嬰兇橫之命，不若奉大君官守矣。 枕戈持矛，死不得地，不若坐兼爵命而保胤嗣矣。 足下苟能挺知幾之烈，莫若發一介，籍士馬土疆，歸之有司。 上以覆載之仁，必保納足下，滌垢洗瑕，以倡四海，將校官屬不失寵且貴。 何哉？ 爲國者不以纖惡蓋大善也。 且貳而伐，服而捨，寵榮可厚，骨肉可保，何獨不爲哉？
"Do not suppose your men would never turn on you. Their hearts work just like yours. If you rebel against the emperor, your men will want to rebel against you. Put yourself in your men's place: clinging to a brutal tyrant's orders is less attractive than holding legitimate office under the emperor. Sleeping with a spear for a pillow and dying without even ground for burial—surely that is worse than keeping your titles and safeguarding your heirs in peace. If you have the courage to read the turning point, send a single envoy—register your soldiers, horses, and territory, and deliver them to the imperial authorities. The emperor's mercy is as wide as heaven and earth. He will surely accept you, wash away your stains, and hold you up as an example to the empire. Your officers and staff will keep their honors and rank. Why? A state does not allow small faults to eclipse great merits. The dynasty punishes rebels but spares those who submit. Honors can be heaped upon you; your family can be kept safe. Why would you alone refuse?
32
「三州至狹也，萬國至廣也，力不相侔，判然可知。 假使官軍百敗，而行陣未嘗乏，足下一敗則成禽矣。 夫一壯士不能當十夫者，以其左右前後咸敵也，矧以一卒欲當百人哉！ 昏迷不返，諸侯之師集城下，環壘刳塹，灌以流潦，主將怨攜，士卒崩離，田儋、呂興發於肘腋。 屍不得裹，宗不得祀，臣僕以爲誡，子孫所不祖，生爲暗愎之人。 沒爲幽憂之鬼，何其痛哉！」
"Your three prefectures are tiny; the empire is vast. The disparity in power is obvious. Even if the imperial army lost a hundred battles, its ranks would never run dry—but one defeat for you and you are finished. A single brave man cannot hold off ten because enemies surround him on every side—so how could one soldier stand against a hundred? If you persist in your delusion, the allied armies will ring your walls, trench your ramparts, and flood your defenses. Your commander will turn against you, your troops will break and flee, and mutiny will burst out at your very side—as Tian Dan and Lu Xing once did. Your corpse will go unshrouded and your ancestors unhonored. Servants will point to you as a warning; your descendants will not claim you. You will live as a man of blind stubbornness. In death you will become a restless ghost in the dark—what agony!"
33
元濟得書不悟。
Yuanji received the letter but took no heed.
34
會裴度東討，而韓愈爲司馬，武陵勸愈爲度謀：「取中官常所不快者爲監軍，歸素所快者於内，爲吾地以傾諸侯，出帛百萬以給士大夫，則孰不爲丞相之人？ 然後分三大將環賊而屯，明斥候，牛酒髙會，潛以實期授瀕蔡諸將，而以三期紿賊，令辯士持尺書劫元濟及將士約降，彼無所竄謀矣。」 時度部分已定，故不見用。 元濟未破數月，武陵自硤石望東南，氣如旗鼓矛楯，皆顛倒橫斜。 少選，黃白氣出西北，盤蜿相交。 武陵告愈曰：「今西北王師所在，氣黃白，喜象也。 敗氣爲賊，日直木，舉其盈數，不閲六十日，賊必亡。 夫天見其祥，宜脩事應之。 且洄曲守將急緩不可使，呉城賊將趙曄詐而輕，若以兵誘之，伏以待，一舉可奪其城，則右臂斷矣。」 武陵之奇譎類如此。
When Pei Du marched east and Han Yu served as his chief of staff, Wuling urged Han to counsel Du: "Appoint eunuchs the emperor dislikes as army supervisors, recall his favorites to the inner palace, carve out a base from which to topple the military governors, and distribute a million bolts of silk among the literati—then who would not be the chief minister's man? Then station three great generals in a ring around the rebels, set out clear pickets, hold lavish feasts—and secretly give the commanders on the Cai frontier the real date of attack while telling the rebels it will come in three months. Send skilled negotiators with letters pressing Yuanji and his men to surrender, and they will have nowhere left to run or scheme." By then Du's battle plan was already fixed, so the scheme was not used. Months before Yuanji fell, Wuling looked southeast from Xiashi and saw vapors shaped like banners, drums, spears, and shields—all tilted and awry. Shortly afterward yellow and white vapors rose from the northwest, twisting and interweaving. Wuling told Han Yu: "The imperial army lies to the northwest, and the vapors there are yellow and white—an omen of victory. The losing vapors belong to the rebels. Today the day-stem is wood; count out the full cycle and the rebels will fall within sixty days. Heaven has shown its sign—you should act to meet it. The garrison commander at Huiqu is unreliable in crisis or calm alike; the rebel Zhao Ye at Wucheng is cunning and rash. Lure him out, lay an ambush, and you can take the city in a single stroke—cutting off their right arm." Wuling's stratagems were all as ingenious and unorthodox as this.
35
長慶初，竇易直以戸部侍郎判度支，表武陵主鹽北邊。 易直以不職，薄其遇。 會表置和糴貯備使，擇郎中爲之。 武陵諫曰：「今縁邊膏壤，鞠爲榛𣏌，父母妻子不相活。 前在朔方，度支米價四十，而無踰月積，皆先取商人，而後求牒還都受錢。 脱有寇薄城，不三旬便當餓死，何所取財而云和糴哉？ 天下不治，病權不歸有司也。 鹽鐵、度支一戸部郎事，今三分其務，吏萬員，財賦日蹙。 西北邊院官，皆御史、員外郎爲之。 始命若責可信，今又加使權其務，是御史、員外久於事，返不可信也。 今更旬月，又將以郎中之爲不可信。 即更時歳，明公之爲，亦又不可信。 上下相阻，一國交疑，誰爲可信者？ 況一使之建，胥徒走卒殆百輩，督責騰呼，數千里爲不寧。 誠欲邊隅完實，獨募浮民，徙罪人，發沃土，何必加使而增吏也？」 易直不納。
In the early Changqing era Dou Yizhi, serving as Vice Minister of Revenue with oversight of the Finance Commission, recommended Wuling to administer salt on the northern frontier. Yizhi cut his salary for poor performance. When a memorial proposed creating a Commissioner for Harmonious Purchase and Reserve Storage, a bureau director was selected for the office. Wuling remonstrated: "On the frontier the rich soil has turned to wasteland; families cannot even keep themselves alive. At Shuofang the Finance Commission paid forty cash per bushel of rice, yet never kept a month's supply on hand—it always requisitioned grain from merchants first and only later sent documents to the capital for reimbursement. If raiders threaten the walls, the garrison will starve within a month. Where is the grain for this so-called harmonious purchase? When the realm falls into disorder, the root cause is that power no longer rests with the proper agencies. Salt, iron, and fiscal affairs were once the work of a single Household Ministry director. Now the duties are divided three ways, the bureaucracy swells to ten thousand officers, and revenue grows tighter every day. Northwestern frontier offices are all staffed by censors and vice directors. At first those appointments seemed reliable; now you add commissioners with special authority over the same duties—meaning the censors and vice directors who have managed these affairs for years are suddenly not to be trusted. Wait another month or two and bureau directors will be deemed untrustworthy as well. Give it another year and even your own judgment will be called into question. Superiors and subordinates block one another; the whole court grows mutual suspicion—who, then, can be trusted? Worse, each new commissioner brings nearly a hundred runners and clerks in his train; their demands and shouting disturb the frontier for thousands of li. If you truly want strong border defenses, recruit landless settlers, relocate convicts, and cultivate fertile ground—why add commissioners and swell the bureaucracy?" Yizhi did not heed the advice.
36
久之，入爲太學博士。 大和初，禮部侍郎崔郾試進士東都，公卿咸祖道長樂，武陵最後至，謂郾曰：「君方爲天子求奇材，敢獻所益。」 因出袖中書搢笏，郾讀之，乃杜牧所賦阿房宮，辭既警拔，而武陵音吐鴻暢，坐客大驚。 武陵請曰：「牧方試有司，請以第一人處之。」 郾謝已得其人。 至第五，郾未對，武陵勃然曰：「不爾，宜以賦見還。」 郾曰：「如教。」 牧果異等。 後出爲韶州刺史，以贓貶潘州司戸參軍，卒。
After some time he was recalled to the capital as Erudite of the Grand Academy. In the early Dahe era Vice Minister of Rites Cui Yan held the metropolitan examination in the eastern capital. High officials lined the road at Changle to see him off. Wuling arrived last and said to Yan: "You are selecting extraordinary talent for the emperor—I have something to contribute." He drew a scroll from his sleeve and handed it over. Yan read it—it was Du Mu's Ode to the Epang Palace. The prose was dazzling, and Wuling recited it in a ringing voice that astonished everyone present. Wuling pressed him: "Du Mu is sitting the examination now—rank him first." Yan replied that he had already chosen his top candidate. At the fifth-place ranking Yan still had not responded. Wuling flushed with anger: "If you will not, then return the essay." Yan said: "As you say." Du Mu indeed received the highest honors. Later he served as prefect of Shaozhou; convicted of embezzlement he was demoted to registrar of Panzhou, where he died.
37
初，柳宗元謫永州，而武陵亦坐事流永州，宗元賢其人。 及爲柳州刺史，武陵北還，大爲裴度器遇。 毎言宗元無子，説度曰：「西原蠻未平，柳州與賊犬牙，宜用武人以代宗元，使得優游江湖。」 又遺工部侍郎孟簡書曰：「古稱一世三十年，子厚之斥十二年，殆半世矣。 霆砰電射，天怒也，不能終朝。 聖人在上，安有畢世而怒人臣邪？ 且程、劉、二韓皆已拔拭，或處大州劇職，獨子厚與猿鳥爲伍，誠恐霧露所嬰，則柳氏無後矣。」 度未及用，而宗元死。 始，李愬節度唐、鄧，武陵薦李景儉、王湘健智沈敏，可表以自副，時號知人。 李商隱李商隱字義山，懷州河内人。 或言英國公世勣之裔孫。 令狐楚帥河陽，奇其文，使與諸子游。 楚徙天平、宣武，皆表署巡官，歳具資裝使隨計。 開成二年，髙鍇知貢舉，令狐綯雅善鍇，譽甚力，故擢進士第。 調弘農尉，以活獄忤觀察使孫簡，將罷去，會姚合代簡，諭使還官。 又試拔萃，中選。
When Liu Zongyuan was banished to Yongzhou, Wuling was exiled there for his own offense; Zongyuan admired him. When Zongyuan became prefect of Liuzhou, Wuling returned north and won Pei Du's high regard. He often noted that Zongyuan had no son and urged Du: "The western plain tribes are still unsettled; Liuzhou interlocks with rebel territory like interlocking teeth—a military man should replace Zongyuan so he can live out his days in peace by the rivers and lakes." He also wrote Vice Minister of Works Meng Jian: "The ancients called thirty years one generation. Zihou has been in exile twelve years—nearly half a lifetime. Thunder crashes and lightning strikes—the wrath of heaven—but it cannot rage all morning. With a sage on the throne, would heaven's anger against one minister last an entire lifetime? Cheng, Liu, and the two Hans have all been restored—some to great prefectures and heavy offices—while Zihou alone keeps company with apes and birds. I fear disease will take him, and the Liu line will end." Du had not yet acted on the plea when Zongyuan died. Earlier, when Li Su commanded Tang and Deng, Wuling recommended Li Jingjian and Wang Xiangjian as men of deep intelligence and quick judgment, worthy to serve as his deputies; at the time he was praised as a judge of talent. Li Shangyin, courtesy name Yishan, was a native of Henei in Huai Prefecture. Some held that he was a descendant of Li Shiji, Duke Ying of the state. When Linghu Chu governed Heyang he admired Li's literary talent and had him study alongside his sons. When Chu transferred to Tianping and then Xuanwu, he repeatedly appointed Li as a staff touring official and each year supplied travel expenses for the metropolitan examination. In the second year of Kaicheng, Gao Xia oversaw the examination. Linghu Tao was on close terms with Gao and pressed Li's case vigorously, and Li passed the metropolitan examination. He was posted as registrar of Hongnong; when he spared prisoners from execution he offended Observation Commissioner Sun Jian and was nearly removed—but when Yao He replaced Jian, he persuaded Li to stay in office. He then passed the special selection examination.
38
王茂元鎭河陽，愛其才，表掌書記，以子妻之，得侍御史。 茂元善李德裕，而牛、李黨人蚩謫商隱，以爲詭薄無行，共排笮之。 茂元死，來游京師，久不調，更依桂管觀察使鄭亞府爲判官。 亞謫循州，商隱從之，凡三年乃歸。 亞亦德裕所善，綯以爲忘家恩，放利偸合，謝不通。 京兆尹盧弘止表爲府參軍，典牋奏。 綯當國，商隱歸窮自解，綯憾不置。 弘止鎭徐州，表爲掌書記。 久之，還朝，復干綯，乃補太學博士。 柳仲郢節度劍南東川，辟判官，檢校工部員外郎。 府罷，客滎陽，卒。
Wang Maoyuan governed Heyang, admired his talent, appointed him chief secretary, married his daughter to him, and secured him the post of attending censor. Maoyuan was allied with Li Deyu, but the Niu-Li faction slandered Shangyin as deceitful and unprincipled and united to drive him out. After Maoyuan died he went to the capital seeking office; long unemployed, he joined the staff of Guiguan Observation Commissioner Zheng Ya as judge. When Ya was banished to Xunzhou, Shangyin followed him and did not return for three years. Ya was also a Deyu ally; Tao judged Shangyin to have forgotten Linghu family kindness and to have chased profit by switching sides, and broke off contact with him. Capital Prefect Lu Hongzhi appointed him army adjutant in charge of memorial drafts. When Tao came to power Shangyin wrote a humble letter of self-defense; Tao resented him and would not let the matter drop. When Hongzhi governed Xuzhou he appointed Shangyin chief secretary. After some time he returned to court, petitioned Tao again, and was finally appointed Erudite of the Grand Academy. Liu Zhongyi, military governor of Jiannan East Circuit, recruited him as judge with the acting title of vice director in the Ministry of Works. When that post ended he stayed on as a guest at Xingyang, where he died.
39
商隱初爲文瑰邁奇古，及在令狐楚府，楚本工章奏，因授其學。 商隱儷偶長短，而繁縟過之。 時温庭筠、段成式倶用是相夸，號「三十六體」。 薛逢薛逢字陶臣，蒲州河東人。 會昌初，擢進士第。 崔鉉鎭河中，表在幕府。 鉉復宰相，引爲萬年尉。 直弘文館。 歴侍御史、尚書郎。 持論鯁切，以謀略髙自標顯。
At first Shangyin wrote in a lofty, archaic style of singular strangeness; in Linghu Chu's service he learned the craft of polished memorial prose, for Chu was a master of that form. Shangyin's parallel prose, in long and short forms, surpassed his teacher's in ornate complexity. At the time Wen Tingyun and Duan Chengshi traded boasts in this manner, calling their manner the "Thirty-Six Styles." Xue Feng, courtesy name Taochen, was a native of Hedong in Pu Prefecture. In the early Huichang era he passed the metropolitan examination. When Cui Xuan governed Hedong he appointed Feng to his staff. When Cui returned to the chief ministership he brought Feng in as captain of Wannian District. He served on direct appointment in the Hongwen Institute. He rose through the posts of attending censor and secretariat director. His opinions were blunt and incisive; he held himself aloft as a man of strategy and design.
40
初，與彭城劉瑑交，瑑文辭出逢數人下，常易之。 瑑稍親近，逢不得意，遂相忿恨。 會瑑當國，有薦逢知制誥者，瑑猥言：「先朝以兩省官給事、舍人先治州縣，乃得除，逢未試州。」 執不可。 乃出爲巴州刺史。 而楊收、王鐸同牒署第，收輔政，逢有詩微辭譏訕，收銜之，復斥蓬、二州刺史。 收罷，以太常少卿召還，歴給事中。 鐸爲宰相，逢又以詩訾鐸，鐸怒，中外亦鄙逢褊躁，故不見齒。 遷祕書監，卒。
He first befriended Liu Zuan of Pengcheng, whose literary skill he ranked several notches below his own, and he often looked down on him. When Zuan grew somewhat close, Feng grew dissatisfied, and mutual resentment followed. When Zuan came to power someone recommended Feng for drafting edicts. Zuan demeaningly objected: "Under former emperors, officials of the two secretariats had to serve in prefectural and district posts before appointment as drafting or remonstrance attendant—Feng has never held a prefectural post." He held firm and refused. Feng was instead sent out as prefect of Bazhou. Yang Shou and Wang Duo had passed the examination in the same year; when Shou came to power Feng wrote a poem with veiled mockery. Shou nursed a grudge and had him demoted again—to prefect of Pengzhou and Ezhou. When Yang Shou fell from power, Feng was recalled as Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and later served as Drafting Attendant. When Wang Duo became chief minister, Feng again attacked him in verse. Duo was furious, and court and country alike scorned Feng's narrowness and impetuosity, so he was never fully accepted among his peers. He was promoted to Director of the Palace Library and died in office.
41
子廷珪，進士及第。 大順初，以司勳員外郎知制誥，遷中書舍人。 從昭宗次華州，引拜左散騎常侍，稱疾免，客成都。 光化中，復爲舍人，累尚書左丞。 朱全忠兼四鎭，廷珪以官告使至汴，客將先見，諷其拜，廷珪佯不曉，曰：「吾何德，敢受令公拜乎？」 及見，卒不肯加禮。 李頻李頻字德新，睦州壽昌人。 少秀悟，逮長，廬西山，多所記覽。 其屬辭，於詩尤長。 與里人方干善。 給事中姚合名爲詩，士多歸重，頻走千里丐其品，合大加奬挹，以女妻之。
His son Tinggui passed the metropolitan examination. Early in the Dashun era he served as outer member of the Ministry of War with charge of drafting edicts, then rose to Attendant Drafting at the Secretariat. When Emperor Zhaozong halted at Hua Prefecture, Tinggui was appointed Left Regular Attendant of the Cavalry, pleaded illness to resign, and lived as a guest at Chengdu. During the Guanghua era he again became Attendant Drafting and eventually rose to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. When Zhu Quanzhong held four military circuits at once, Tinggui arrived at Bian as bearer of the commission patent. A staff officer received him first and hinted that he should bow. Tinggui feigned incomprehension and said, "What virtue have I that I should dare receive Lord Zhu's bow? When they met, he still refused to offer the expected courtesy. Li Pin, courtesy name Dexin, was a native of Shouchang in Mu Prefecture. Clever and quick-witted as a youth, he later built a hut on West Mountain and read widely. In literary composition he excelled above all in poetry. He was close to his fellow townsman Fang Gan. Drafting Attendant Yao He was famed for poetry, and scholars deferred to him. Pin traveled a thousand li to seek his judgment; He praised him highly and gave him his daughter in marriage.
42
大中八年，擢進士第，調祕書郎，爲南陵主簿。 判入等，再遷武功令。 於是畿民多籍神策軍，吏以其橫，類假借，不敢繩以法。 頻至，有神策士尚君慶，逋賦六年不送，睅然出入閭里。 頻密擿比伍與競，君慶叩縣廷質，頻即械送獄，盡條宿惡，請於尹殺之，督所負無少貸。 豪猾大驚，屛息奉法，縣大治。 有六門堰者，廞廢百五十年，方歳饑，頻發官廥庸民浚渠，按故道廝水溉田，穀以大稔。 懿宗嘉之，賜緋衣、銀魚。 俄擢侍御史，守法不阿徇，遷累都官員外郎。 表丐建州刺史。 既至，以禮法治下，更布條教。 時朝政亂，盜興，相椎奪，而建賴頻以安。 卒官下，喪歸，父老相與扶柩，葬永樂州，爲立廟梨山，歳祠之。 天下亂，盜發其冢，壽昌人隨加封掩云。 呉融呉融字子華，越州山陰人。 祖翥，有名大中時，觀察府召以署吏，不應，帥髙其概，言諸朝，賜號文簡先生。
In the eighth year of the Dazhong era (854) he passed the metropolitan examination, was appointed Secretary, and served as chief clerk of Nanling. Rated in the top grade on evaluation, he was twice promoted and appointed magistrate of Wugong. Many residents of the capital region had registered under the Shence Army, and because those soldiers acted with impunity, officials often made concessions to them and dared not enforce the law. When Pin took office, a Shence soldier named Shang Junqing had owed taxes for six years without paying and swaggered through the lanes with brazen impunity. Pin secretly urged the mutual-responsibility groups to press the case. Junqing came to the county court to dispute the matter; Pin immediately had him shackled and sent to prison, listed all his past offenses, and asked the metropolitan magistrate to execute him, collecting every penny owed without remission. The powerful and unscrupulous were terrified into obedience, and the county was brought to excellent order. The Six Gates Weir had lain abandoned for a hundred and fifty years. During a famine Pin opened the official granaries and hired laborers to dredge the canal, restored the old watercourse to irrigate the fields, and the harvest was abundant. Emperor Yizong commended him and bestowed crimson robes and a silver fish tally. Soon he was promoted to Attending Censor, upheld the law without favoritism, and rose to Outer Member of the Ministry of Justice. He petitioned to be appointed prefect of Jianzhou. Once there, he governed through ritual and law and issued new regulations. Court governance was chaotic, banditry flourished, and rivals seized one another's territory, yet Jian remained secure thanks to Pin. He died in office. When his coffin was borne home, the elders together supported the bier. He was buried in Yongle Prefecture, and a temple was built for him on Pear Mountain, where he was honored with annual sacrifices. When the empire fell into chaos, bandits opened his tomb, and the people of Shouchang promptly resealed it. Wu Rong, courtesy name Zihua, was a native of Shanyin in Yue Prefecture. His grandfather Zhu was renowned in the Dazhong era. The observation commission summoned him to serve as a clerk, but he refused. The governor admired his integrity, recommended him at court, and the throne granted him the title Master Wenjian.
43
融學自力，富辭調。 龍紀初，及進士第。 韋昭度討蜀，表掌書記，遷累侍御史。 坐累去官，流浪荊南，依成汭。 久之，召爲左補闕，以禮部郎中爲翰林學士，拜中書舍人。 昭宗反正，御南闕，臣稱賀，融最先至。 于時左右歡駭，帝有指授，疊十許稿，融跪作詔，少選成，語當意詳，帝咨賞良厚。 進戸部侍郎。 鳳翔劫遷，融不克從，去客閿鄕。 俄召還翰林，遷承旨，卒官。
Rong studied through his own effort and was richly gifted in literary expression. Early in the Longji era he passed the metropolitan examination. When Wei Zhaodu campaigned against Shu, he appointed Rong chief recorder on his staff, and Rong rose to Attending Censor. After an entangling offense cost him his post, he wandered in Jingnan and found refuge with Cheng Rui. After a long interval he was summoned as Left Remonstrator, entered the Hanlin as academician while holding the post of Director in the Ministry of Rites, and was appointed Attendant Drafting at the Secretariat. When Emperor Zhaozong was restored to the throne and appeared at the southern gate, the ministers offered congratulations, and Rong was the first to arrive. The courtiers were overjoyed and astonished. The emperor gave instructions, and more than ten drafts were prepared. Rong knelt and composed the edict; in a short while it was finished, its language fitting the intent and full in detail. The emperor praised and rewarded him generously. He was promoted to Vice Minister of Revenue. When the Fengxiang faction seized the emperor and forced his removal, Rong could not follow and withdrew to lodge as a guest at Wen Township. Soon he was recalled to the Hanlin, promoted to Chief Academician, and died in office.