1
嗚呼，五代之亂極矣，《傳》所謂「天地閉，賢人隱」之時歟！ 當此之時，臣弒其君，子弒其父，而搢紳之士安其祿而立其朝，充然無復廉恥之色者皆是也。 吾以謂自古忠臣義士多出於亂世，而怪當時可道者何少也，豈果無其人哉？ 雖曰干戈興，學校廢，而禮義衰，風俗隳壞，至於如此，然自古天下未嘗無人也，吾意必有潔身自負之士，嫉世遠去而不可見者。 自古材賢有韞於中而不見於外，或窮居陋巷，委身草莽，雖顏子之行，不遇仲尼而名不彰，況世變多故，而君子道消之時乎！ 吾又以謂必有負材能，修節義，而沈淪於下，泯沒而無聞者。 求之傳記，而亂世崩離，文字殘缺，不可復得，然僅得者四五人而已。
Alas—the Five Dynasties’ chaos reached its height. Was this not the age the Records call “Heaven and Earth shut, worthy men in hiding”? Ministers murdered lords, sons murdered fathers, yet officials took salary and stood in court without a trace of shame. Loyal ministers and righteous men usually rise in chaotic ages—yet how few in that time were worth naming. Were there truly none? War rose, schools fell, ritual decayed, custom collapsed—yet the world has never lacked men. Surely some of clean conduct scorned the age and withdrew beyond sight. Talent often hides within and never shows without—men in poor lanes, lost in the wild. Even Yan Hui’s virtue needed Confucius to be known; how much more when the gentleman’s Way was fading in constant turmoil! Surely too were men of talent and integrity who sank below and died unheard. Records of that collapse are broken; little can be recovered. I find only four or five men.
2
處乎山林而群麋鹿，雖不足以為中道，然與其食人之祿，俯首而包羞，孰若無愧於心，放身而自得，吾得二人焉，曰鄭遨、張薦明。 勢利不屈其心，去就不違其義，吾得一人焉，曰石昂。 茍利於君，以忠獲罪，而何必自明，有至死而不言者，此古之義士也，吾得一人焉，曰程福赟。 五代之亂，君不君，臣不臣，父不父，子不子，至於兄弟、夫婦人倫之際，無不大壞，而天理幾乎其滅矣。 於此之時，能以孝悌自修於一鄉，而風行於天下者，猶或有之，然其事跡不著，而無可紀次，獨其名氏或因見於書者，吾亦不敢沒，而其略可錄者，吾得一人焉，曰李自倫。 作《一行傳》。
Living among deer in the hills is not the Mean—but better than eating another’s salary, bowing in shame. I find two such men: Zheng Ao and Zhang Jianming. Profit and power never bent him; leaving or staying never broke his code—I find one: Shi Ang. Serving the lord brought punishment for loyalty—yet he never cleared himself, dying silent: an ancient righteous man. I find one: Cheng Fuyun. In the Five Dynasties’ chaos, lord, minister, father, son—all bonds broke; even between brothers and spouses human ties collapsed, and Heaven’s principle nearly died. Some may still have practiced filial piety in one village until the realm felt it—but their deeds are thin, their names only scattered in documents. Of what can be sketched I find one: Li Zilun. Hence I wrote the “Biographies of Recluses.”
3
鄭遨 〈（張薦明附）〉
Zheng Ao (Zhang Jianming appended)〉
4
鄭遨，字雲叟，滑州白馬人也。 唐明宗祖廟諱遨，故世行其字。 遨少好學，敏於文辭。 唐昭宗時，舉進士不中，見天下已亂，有拂衣遠去之意，欲攜其妻、子與俱隱，其妻不從，遨及入少室山為道士。 其妻數以書勸遨還家，輒投之於火，後聞其妻、子卒，一慟而止。 遨與李振故善，振後事梁貴顯，欲以祿遨，遨不顧，後振得罪南竄，遨徒步千里往省之，由是聞者益高其行。 其後，遨聞華山有五粒松，脂淪入地，千歲化為藥，能去三屍，因徙居華陰，欲求之。 與道士李道殷、羅隱之友善，世目以為三高士。 遨種田，隱之賣藥以自給，道殷有釣魚術，鉤而不餌，又能化石為金，遨嘗驗其信然，而不之求也。 節度使劉遂凝數以寶貨遺之，遨一不受。 唐明宗時以左拾遺、晉高祖時以諫議大夫召之，皆不起，即賜號為逍遙先生。 天福四年卒，年七十四。
Zheng Ao, courtesy name Yunsong, was from Baima in Huazhou. Mingzong’s ancestral taboo forbade the character ao, so the world used his courtesy name. In youth he loved learning and wrote with ease. Under Zhaozong he failed the jinshi; seeing chaos, he wished to flee with wife and children—his wife refused; he entered Mount Shaoshi as a Daoist. His wife wrote again and again; he burned each letter; when he heard she and the children were dead, he grieved once and stopped. He had been close to Li Zhen; when Zhen rose high in Liang and offered him office, Ao refused; when Zhen was disgraced and fled south, Ao walked a thousand li to see him—and his fame grew. He heard Mount Hua’s five-kernel pines oozed resin that, buried a thousand years, became medicine to expel the three corpses; he moved to Huayin to seek it. He befriended the Daoist Li Daoyin and Luo Yin; the age called them the Three High Recluses. Ao farmed; Yin sold herbs; Daoyin fished with hook but no bait and could turn stone to gold—Ao proved it true yet never asked. Governor Liu Suining sent treasures repeatedly; Ao refused every gift. Mingzong summoned him as Left Reminder, Gaozu as Censor—he refused both and was named Master Free Wanderer. He died in the fourth Tianfu year, aged seventy-four.
5
遨之節高矣，遭亂世不汙於榮利，至棄妻、子不顧而去，豈非與世自絕而篤愛其身者歟？ 然遨好飲酒弈棋，時時為詩章落人間，人間多寫以縑素，相贈遺以為寶，至或圖寫其形，玩於屋壁，其跡雖遠而其名愈彰，與乎石門、荷之徒異矣。
Ao’s integrity was high; in chaos he scorned rank and gain—even abandoning wife and children. Did he not cut himself off from the world to keep himself whole? Yet he loved wine and chess, and poems reached the world; people copied them on silk as treasures and painted him on walls—far in the hills, yet more famous than recluses like those of Shimen and He.
6
與遨同時張薦明者，燕人也。 少以儒學遊河朔，後去為道士，通老子、莊周之說。 高祖召見，問「道家可以治國乎？」 對曰：「道也者，妙萬物而為言，得其極者，屍居衽席之間可以治天地也。」 高祖大其言，延入內殿講《道德經》，拜以為師。 薦明聞宮中奉時鼓，曰：「陛下聞鼓乎？ 其聲一而已。 五音十二律，鼓無一焉，然和之者鼓也。 夫一，萬事之本也，能守一者可以治天下。」 高祖善之，賜號通玄先生，後不知其所終。
His contemporary Zhang Jianming was from Yan. Young he studied Confucianism in Hebei; later he became a Daoist versed in Laozi and Zhuangzi. Gaozu summoned him and asked, “Can Daoism govern the state? He replied, “The Dao accounts for all things in speech; at its utmost one governs Heaven and Earth while lying between mat and coverlet.” Gaozu prized his words, drew him into the inner hall to lecture on the Daodejing, and honored him as teacher. Hearing the palace drum for the seasons, Jianming said, “Does Your Majesty hear the drum? Its sound is one. Of five tones and twelve pipes the drum holds not one—yet harmony depends on the drum. The One is the root of all things; whoever keeps the One can govern the realm. Gaozu approved and named him Master Penetrating Mystery; later his end is unknown.
7
石昂，青州臨淄人也。 家有書數千卷，喜延四方之士，士無遠近，多就昂學問，食其門下者或累歲，昂未嘗有怠色。 而昂不求仕進。 節度使符習高基行，召以為臨淄令。 習入朝京師，監軍楊彥朗知留後事，昂以公事至府上謁，贊者以彥朗諱「石」，更其姓曰「右」。 昂趨於庭，仰責彥朗曰：「內侍奈何以私害公！ 昂姓『石』，非『右』也。」 彥朗大怒，拂衣起去，昂即趨出。 解官還於家，語其子曰：「吾本不欲仕亂世，果為刑人所辱，子孫其以我為戒！」
Shi Ang was from Linzi in Qingzhou. His house held thousands of books; scholars came from far and near; some stayed years at his gate—he never showed weariness. He never sought office. Governor Fu Xi, admiring his conduct, made him magistrate of Linzi. Xi went to court; Yang Yanlang held the command as regent; Ang came on public business; the usher, because Yanlang tabooed “stone,” changed his surname to “right.” Ang strode into court and rebuked Yanlang: “How can a eunuch harm the public for private spite! My surname is Shi, not Right. Yanlang in rage swept out; Ang fled at once. He resigned and told his sons, “I never wished to serve chaos—yet a criminal shamed me; take me as your warning!”
8
昂父亦好學，平生不喜拂說，父死，昂於柩前誦《尚書》，曰：「此吾先人之所欲聞也。」 禁其家不可以佛事汙吾先人。
His father too loved learning and hated flattery; at the bier Ang recited the Documents: “This is what my father wished to hear. He forbade Buddhist rites that would defile his father.
9
程福赟
Cheng Fuyun
10
程福赟者，不知其世家。 為人沈厚寡言而有勇。 少為軍卒，以戰功累遷洺州團練使。 晉出帝時，為奉國右廂都指揮使。 開運中，契丹入寇，出帝北征，奉國軍士乘間夜縱火焚營，欲因以為亂，福赟身自救火被傷，火滅而亂者不得發。 福赟以為契丹且大至，而天子在軍，京師虛空，不宜以小故動搖人聽，因匿其事不以聞。 軍將李殷位次福赟下，利其去而代之，因誣福赟與亂者同謀，不然何以不奏。 出帝下福赟獄，人皆以為冤，福赟終不自辨以見殺。
Cheng Fuyun’s lineage is unknown. He was deep, quiet, and brave. He began as a common soldier and rose by battle merit to regent of Luozhou. Under Emperor Chu of Jin he commanded the Fengguo right wing. In the Kaiyun era, with Chu marching north against the Khitans, Fengguo troops set the camp ablaze by night to mutiny; Fuyun fought the fire himself, was wounded, and quelled the plot. He believed the Khitans would come in force while the emperor was in the field and the capital empty—a small fire should not panic the army; he hid the affair and did not report it. Li Yin, junior to him, coveted his post and accused him of joining the mutineers—otherwise why hide it from court? Chu imprisoned him; all called it unjust; Fuyun never defended himself and was executed.
11
李自倫
Li Zilun
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李自倫者，深州人也。 天福四年正月，尚書戶部奏：「深州司功參軍李自倫六世同居，奉敕準格。 按格，孝義旌表，必先加按驗，孝者復其終身，義門仍加旌表。 得本州審到鄉老程言等稱，自倫高祖訓，訓生粲，粲生則，則生忠，忠生自倫，自倫生光厚，六世同居不妄。」 敕以所居飛鳧鄉為孝義鄉，匡聖裏為仁和裏，準式旌表門閭。 九月丙子，戶部復奏：「前登州義門王仲昭六世同居，其旌表有聽事、步欄，前列屏，樹烏頭正門，閥閱一丈二尺，烏頭二柱端冒以瓦桶，築雙闕一丈，在烏頭之南三丈七尺，夾樹槐柳，十有五步，請如之。」 敕曰：「此故事也，令式無之。 其量地之宜，高其外門，門安綽楔，左右建臺，高一丈二尺，廣狹方正稱焉，圬以白而赤其四角，使不孝不義者見之，可以悛心而易行焉。」
Li Zilun was from Shenzhou. In Tianfu’s fourth year, first month, the Ministry of Revenue reported: “Li Zilun of Shenzhou, six generations under one roof—per statute and edict. By statute, filial piety must be verified first; the filial are exempt for life, and righteous households receive further honors. The prefecture verified through elders Cheng Yan and others: from great-grandfather Xun through Can, Ze, Zhong, Zilun, to Guanghou—six generations, no falsehood. An edict renamed their village Village of Filial Piety, their lane Lane of Humaneness, and honored their gate by statute. In the ninth month the Ministry cited Wang Zhongzhao of Dengzhou, another six-generation household, whose gate had hall, screen, black-headed pillars, memorial tablet, twin towers, and planted trees—and asked that Zilun’s gate match. The edict said, “That is old precedent; the current code has no such rule. Measure the ground, raise the outer gate, set the threshold, build left and right platforms one zhang two chi high, plaster them white and redden the corners—so the unfilial and unrighteous may see and repent.”