1
王審知，字信通，光州固始人也。 父恁，世為農。 兄潮，為縣史。 唐末群盜起，壽州人王緒攻陷固始，緒聞潮兄弟材勇，召置軍中，以潮為軍校。 是時，蔡州秦宗權方募士以益兵，乃以緒為光州刺史，召其兵會擊黃巢。 緒遲留不行，宗權發兵攻緒。 緒率眾南奔，所至剽掠，自南康入臨汀，陷漳浦，有眾數萬。 緒性猜忌，部將有材能者，多因事殺之，潮頗自懼。 軍次南安，潮說其前鋒將曰：「吾屬棄墳墓、妻子而為盜者，為緒所脅爾，豈其本心哉！ 今緒雄猜，將吏之材能者必死，吾屬不自保朝夕，況欲圖成事哉！」 前鋒將大悟，與潮相持而泣。 乃選壯士數十人，伏篁竹間，伺緒至，躍出擒之，囚之軍中。 緒後自殺。
Wang Shenzhi, whose style name was Xintong, came from Gushi in Guang Prefecture. His father Ren's family had farmed for generations. His elder brother Chao held the post of county clerk. When the Tang dynasty was collapsing and rebels swarmed the realm, a man from Shou Prefecture named Wang Xu seized Gushi. Hearing of the Chao brothers' courage and ability, Xu enrolled them in his forces and appointed Chao a company commander. Qin Zongquan of Cai Prefecture was then recruiting soldiers to swell his ranks. He named Xu governor of Guang Prefecture and called on his troops to march with him against Huang Chao. Xu lingered and refused to move, so Zongquan sent an army against him. Xu fled south with his host, looting every district they passed through. They marched from Nankang into Linting, took Zhangpu, and mustered a force of tens of thousands. Xu was suspicious by temperament and routinely found excuses to kill capable subordinates. Chao began to fear for his life. When the army encamped at Nan'an, Chao addressed the vanguard commander: "We left our ancestors' graves and our families behind to live as outlaws only because Xu forced us—surely that was never what we wanted! Xu is brutal and mistrustful now; any officer with talent is as good as dead. We cannot count on living from one day to the next, much less hope to achieve anything lasting!" The vanguard commander was deeply moved; he and Chao clung to each other and wept. They chose several dozen strong men, concealed them in a bamboo thicket, and when Xu arrived sprang out to seize him and hold him prisoner in the camp. Xu later took his own life.
2
審知為人狀兒雄偉，隆準方口，常乘白馬，軍中號「白馬三郎」。 乾寧四年，潮卒，審知代立。 唐以福州為威武軍，拜審知節度使，累遷同中書門下平章事，封瑯琊王。 唐亡，梁太祖加拜審知中書令，封閩王，升福州為大都督府。 是時，楊行密據有江淮，審知歲遣使泛海，自登、萊朝貢於梁，使者入海，覆溺常十三四。
Shenzhi was a man of imposing build, with a prominent nose and square jaw. He habitually rode a white horse, and the troops nicknamed him the Third Son on the White Horse. In the fourth year of the Qianning era, Chao died and Shenzhi took his place as leader. The Tang court organized Fuzhou as the Weiwu military circuit and appointed Shenzhi its governor. He rose through successive promotions to Grand Councilor and was enfeoffed as Prince of Langya. After the Tang fell, the Liang founding emperor invested Shenzhi as Director of the Secretariat and King of Min, and raised Fuzhou to the status of a metropolitan prefecture. Yang Xingmi then controlled the lower Yangtze, so Shenzhi sent annual missions by sea from Deng and Lai to pay tribute to the Liang. Roughly three or four envoys in ten were lost when their ships foundered at sea.
3
審知雖起盜賊，而為人儉約，好禮下士。 王淡，唐相溥之子； 楊沂，唐相涉從弟； 徐寅，唐時知名進士，皆依審知仕宦。 又建學四門，以教閩士之秀者。 招來海中蠻夷商賈。 海上黃崎，波濤為陰，一夕風雨雷電震擊，開以為港，閩人以為審知德政所致，號為甘棠港。
Though Shenzhi had begun as a rebel, in office he lived simply, honored ritual, and treated men of learning with respect. Wang Dan, son of the Tang chancellor Wang Pu; Yang Yi, a cousin of the Tang chancellor Yang She; and Xu Yin, a celebrated Tang jinshi—all took service under Shenzhi. He also established a Four Gates Academy to educate the most promising scholars of Min. He drew overseas merchants from the southern seas to trade in his ports. At Huangqi on the coast, treacherous seas had long blocked the approach. One night a storm of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning tore open a channel that became a harbor. The people of Min credited Shenzhi's benevolent rule and called it Sweet Pear Harbor.
4
審知同光三年卒，年六十四，謚曰忠懿。 子延翰立。
Shenzhi died in the third year of Tongguang at the age of sixty-four. He was given the posthumous title Loyal and Cultivated. His son Yanhan took the throne.
5
延翰字子逸，審知長子也。 同光四年，唐拜延翰節度使。 是歲，莊宗遇弒，中國多故，延翰乃取司馬遷《史記》閩越王無諸傳示其將吏曰：「閩，自古王國也，吾今不王，何待之有？」 於是軍府將吏上書勸進。 十月，延翰建國稱王，而猶稟唐正朔。
Yanhan, whose style name was Ziyi, was Shenzhi's eldest son. In the fourth year of Tongguang the Tang court appointed Yanhan military governor of the circuit. That year Emperor Zhuangzong was murdered and the empire fell into disorder. Yanhan produced from Sima Qian's Records the biography of Wuzhu, king of ancient Minyue, and showed it to his commanders and officials, saying, "Min has been a kingdom since antiquity. If I do not claim kingship now, how long should I wait?" His generals and staff then submitted a joint memorial urging him to take the throne. In the tenth month Yanhan founded his kingdom and proclaimed himself king, while still observing the Tang reign era in official documents.
6
延翰為人長大，美皙如玉，其妻崔氏陋而淫，延翰不能制。 審知喪未期，徹其几筵，又多選良家子為妾。 崔氏性妒，良家子之美者，輒幽之別室，系以大械，刻木為人手以擊頰，又以鐵錐刺之，一歲中死者八十四人。 崔氏後病，見以為祟而卒。
Yanhan was tall and handsome, with skin fair as jade. His wife Lady Cui was homely and unchaste, and he could not restrain her. Before his father's mourning year was out he cleared away the mourning furnishings and took numerous daughters of respectable families as concubines. Lady Cui was fiercely jealous. Whenever a concubine from a respectable family was beautiful, Cui locked her in a side room, bound her in heavy irons, had a wooden hand carved to slap her face, and stabbed her with iron spikes. Within a single year eighty-four women died at her hands. Lady Cui later fell ill, believed she was haunted by their spirits, and died.
7
審知養子建州刺史延稟，本姓周氏，自審知時與延翰不葉。 延翰立，以其弟延鈞為泉州刺史，延鈞怒。 二人因謀作亂。 十二月，延稟、延鈞皆以兵入，執延翰殺之。 而延鈞立，更名鏻。
Shenzhi's adopted son Yanbin, governor of Jianzhou, had been born a Zhou. He and Yanhan had been at odds since Shenzhi's day. After Yanhan came to power he appointed his younger brother Yanjun prefect of Quanzhou, a slight that enraged Yanjun. The two of them then conspired to rebel. In the twelfth month Yanbin and Yanjun marched in with their armies, seized Yanhan, and put him to death. Yanjun then assumed rule and changed his personal name to Lin.
8
鏻，審知次子也。 唐即拜鏻節度使，累加檢校太師、中書令，封閩王。 初，延稟與鏻之謀殺延翰也，延稟之兵先至，已執延翰而殺之，膽日鏻兵始至，延稟自以養子，推鏻而立之。 延稟還建州，鏻餞於郊，延稟臨訣謂鏻曰：「善繼先誌，毋煩老兄復來！」 鏻銜之。 長興二年，延稟率兵擊鏻，攻其西門，使其子繼雄轉海攻其南門，鏻遣王仁達拒之。 仁達伏甲舟中，偽立白幟請降，繼雄信之，登舟，伏兵發，刺殺之，梟其首西門，其兵見之皆潰去，延稟見執。 鏻誚之曰：「予不能繼先誌，果煩老兄復來！」 延廩不能對，遂殺之。 延稟子繼升守建州，聞敗，奔於錢塘。
Lin was Shenzhi's second son. The Tang court promptly appointed Lin military governor and successively honored him with the honorary titles Grand Preceptor and Director of the Secretariat, enfeoffing him as King of Min. When Yanbin and Lin had plotted to kill Yanhan, Yanbin's forces arrived first and had already seized and executed him. Lin's troops came only the following day. As an adopted son, Yanbin deferred and set Lin on the throne. Yanbin returned to Jianzhou, and Lin escorted him to the outskirts of the city. At their farewell Yanbin told him, "Uphold our forefathers' legacy—and do not make your elder brother march here again!" Lin nursed a grudge over the remark. In the second year of Changxing, Yanbin marched against Lin, assaulting the western gate while his son Jixiong sailed around to attack the southern gate. Lin sent Wang Renda to meet them. Renda concealed armored men aboard his vessels and hoisted white flags in a feigned surrender. Jixiong believed him, came aboard, and the hidden soldiers leaped out and killed him. Renda displayed Jixiong's head at the western gate; at the sight his army broke and fled. Yanbin was taken prisoner. Lin taunted him: "So I failed to uphold our forefathers' legacy, and your elder brother really did have to come again!" Yanbin had no answer and was executed on the spot. Yanbin's son Jisheng was defending Jianzhou. When he heard of the defeat he fled to Qiantang.
9
鏻好鬼神、道家之說，道士陳守元以左道見信，建寶皇宮以居之。 守元謂鏻曰：「寶皇命王少避其位，後當為六十年天子。」 鏻欣然遜位，命其子繼鵬權主府事。 既而復位，遣守元問寶皇：「六十年後將安歸？」 守元傳寶皇語曰：「六十年後，當為大羅仙人。」 鏻乃即皇帝位，受冊於寶皇，以黃龍見真封宅，改元為龍啟，國號閩。 追謚審知為昭武孝皇帝，廟號太祖，立五廟，置百官，以福州為長樂府。 而閩地狹，國用不足，以中軍使薛文傑為國計使。 文傑多察民間陰事，致富人以罪，而籍沒其貲以佐用，閩人皆怨。 又薦妖巫徐彥，曰：「陛下左右多奸臣，不質諸鬼神，將為亂。」 鏻使彥視鬼於宮中。
Lin was devoted to spirits and Daoist lore. The Daoist Chen Shouyuan won his confidence through occult practices, and Lin built the Precious Imperial Palace for him to live in. Shouyuan told Lin, "The Precious Emperor orders you to step aside for a time. Afterward you will reign as Son of Heaven for sixty years." Delighted, Lin abdicated and put his son Jipeng in charge of government affairs. He soon took the throne back and sent Shouyuan to inquire of the Precious Emperor, "Where shall I go when the sixty years are done?" Shouyuan brought back the answer: "After sixty years you will become an immortal of the Great Canopy Heaven." Lin thereupon declared himself emperor, received his mandate from the Precious Emperor, took up residence in the Yellow Dragon Manifest Truth palace, adopted the era name Dragon Inception, and proclaimed the state of Min. He posthumously honored Shenzhi as Emperor Zhaowu the Filial, with the temple name Taizu, established five ancestral temples, appointed a full court, and renamed Fuzhou the Changle metropolitan prefecture. Min's territory was small and revenues scarce, so he appointed the Central Army Commissioner Xue Wenjie national revenue commissioner. Wenjie pried into private affairs throughout the realm, framed wealthy families on trumped-up charges, and confiscated their goods to fill the treasury. The people of Min hated him. He also recommended the sorcerer Xu Yan, saying, "Your Majesty is surrounded by traitors. Unless you test them through spirits, rebellion will follow." Lin ordered Yan to divine for ghosts within the palace.
10
文傑與內樞密使吳英有隙，英病在告，文傑謂英曰：「上以公居近密，而屢以疾告，將罷公。」 英曰：「奈何？」 文傑因教英曰：「即上遣人問公疾，當言『頭痛而已，無他苦也。』」 英以為然。 明日，諷鏻使巫視英疾，巫言：「入北廟，見英為崇順王所訊，曰：『汝何敢謀反？』 以金槌擊其首。」 鏻以語文傑，文傑曰：「未可信也，宜問其疾如何。」 鏻遣人問之，英曰：「頭痛。」 鏻以為然，即以英下獄，命文傑劾之，英自誣伏，見殺。 英嘗主閩兵，得其軍士心，軍士聞英死，皆怒。 是歲，吳人攻建州，鏻遣其將王延宗救之，兵士在道不肯進，曰：「得文傑乃進。」 鏻惜之不與，其子繼鵬請與之以紓難，乃以檻車送文傑軍中。 文傑善數術，自占云：「過三日可無患。」 送者聞之，疾馳二日而至，軍士踴躍，磔文傑於市，閩人爭以瓦石投之，臠食立盡。 明日，鏻使者至，赦之，已不及。 初，文傑為鏻造檻車，以謂古制疏闊，乃更其制，令上下通，中以鐵芒內向，動輒觸之，既成，首被其毒。
Wenjie bore a grudge against the Inner Palace Military Affairs Commissioner Wu Ying. While Ying was on sick leave Wenjie told him, "The emperor thinks that because you hold a post at court you ought not keep pleading illness. He means to remove you." Ying asked, "What can I do?" Wenjie coached him: "When the emperor sends someone to ask after your health, say only, 'A headache—nothing more serious than that. Ying agreed that this was wise counsel.' The next day he persuaded Lin to have the sorcerer divine Ying's illness. The sorcerer reported, "In the northern temple I saw Ying questioned by King Chongshun, who demanded, 'How dare you plot rebellion? He struck his head with a golden mallet." Lin told Wenjie what the sorcerer had said. Wenjie replied, "That alone proves nothing. Ask what his illness actually is." Lin sent an envoy to Ying, who answered, "A headache." Lin took this as confirmation, threw Ying into prison, and ordered Wenjie to prosecute him. Ying confessed to the fabricated charge and was executed. Ying had once commanded the Min armies and won the soldiers' loyalty. When the troops learned of his death they were furious. That year the Wu attacked Jianzhou. Lin sent his general Wang Yancong to relieve the city, but the troops on the march refused to go forward, crying, "Hand over Wenjie, then we march!" Lin was loath to surrender him. His son Jipeng urged that Wenjie be given up to avert disaster, and Wenjie was sent to the army in a prison cart. Wenjie was skilled in divination and cast his own fortune, saying, "In three days I shall be safe." Hearing this, the escorts spurred their horses and reached the army in two days instead of three. The soldiers erupted in joy, dismembered Wenjie in the marketplace, and the people of Min pelted his body with tiles and stones until every scrap of flesh was gone. The next day Lin's messenger arrived with an order of pardon, but it was too late. Wenjie had once designed a prison cart for Lin, finding the old model too loose. He redesigned it with open top and bottom and inward-pointing iron spikes so that any movement drew blood. When it was finished he became its first victim.
11
龍啟三年，改元永和。 王仁達為鏻殺延稟有功，而典親兵，鏻心忌之，嘗問仁達曰：「趙高指鹿為馬，以愚二世，果有之邪？」 仁達曰：「秦二世愚，故高指鹿為馬，非高能愚二世也。 今陛下聰明，朝廷官不滿百，起居動靜，陛下皆知之，敢有作威福者，族滅之而已。」 鏻慚，賜與金帛慰安之。 退而謂人曰：「仁達智略，在吾世可用，不可遺後世患。」 卒誣以罪殺之。
In the third year of Dragon Inception he adopted the era name Eternal Harmony. Wang Renda had distinguished himself by killing Yanbin and now commanded the imperial guard. Lin grew jealous and once asked him, "Did Zhao Gao really point to a deer and call it a horse to deceive the Second Emperor?" Renda replied, "The Second Emperor of Qin was a fool, which is why Gao could call a deer a horse. Gao did not make the emperor foolish—the emperor was already foolish. Your Majesty is intelligent, the court has fewer than a hundred officials, and you know every movement at court. Anyone who dared abuse his power could simply be exterminated along with his clan." Lin was abashed and rewarded him with gold and silk to reassure him. Afterward he told his attendants, "Renda's talent is useful while I live, but he must not be left as a threat to my heirs." In the end he fabricated charges and had him executed.
12
鏻妻早卒，繼室金氏賢而不見答。 審知婢金鳳，姓陳氏，鏻嬖之，遂立以為後。 初，鏻有嬖吏歸守明者，以色見倖，號歸郎，鏻後得風疾，陳氏與歸郎奸。 又有百工院使李可殷，因歸郎以通陳氏。 鏻命錦工作九龍帳，國人歌曰：「誰謂九龍帳，惟貯一歸郎！」
Lin's first wife died young. His second wife, Lady Jin, was virtuous but went unloved. Golden Phoenix, a maid of Shenzhi's from the Chen clan, became Lin's favorite and was raised to empress. Lin once kept a favorite clerk named Gui Shouming, who won his affection by his beauty and was nicknamed Lord Gui. After Lin fell ill with paralysis, Empress Chen and Lord Gui became lovers. Li Keyin, commissioner of the Hundred Crafts Bureau, also gained access to the empress through Lord Gui. Lin ordered the brocade workshops to weave a Nine Dragons canopy. The people sang, "They call it the Nine Dragons canopy, but it holds only Lord Gui!"
13
鏻婢春燕有色，其子繼鵬蒸之，鏻已病，繼鵬因陳氏以求春燕，鏻怏怏與之。 其次子繼韜怒，謀殺繼鵬，繼鵬懼，與皇城使李仿圖之。 是歲十月，鏻饗軍於大酺殿，坐中昏然，言見延稟來，仿以為鏻病已甚，乃令壯士先殺李可殷於家。 明日晨朝，鏻無恙，問仿殺可殷何罪，仿懼而出，與繼鵬率皇城衛士而入。 鏻聞鼓噪聲，走匿九龍帳中，衛士刺之不殂，宮人不忍其苦，為絕之。 繼韜及陳後、歸郎皆為仿所殺。 鏻立十年見殺，謚曰惠皇帝，廟號太宗。
Spring Swallow, a maid in Lin's household, was beautiful. His son Jipeng took her as a concubine. Already gravely ill, Lin yielded her to Jipeng at Empress Chen's urging, though he did so with bitter reluctance. His second son Jitao, enraged, plotted to kill Jipeng. Jipeng, in fear, conspired with the Imperial City Commissioner Li Fang. In the tenth month of that year Lin feasted his troops in the Great Revelry Hall. Midway through the banquet he fell into a stupor and cried that Yanbin had come for him. Fang judged Lin's illness beyond recovery and sent bravos to kill Li Keyin at his home. The next morning Lin appeared at court unharmed and demanded to know what crime had justified Keyin's murder. Fang fled in terror and, with Jipeng, led the Imperial City guards into the palace. Hearing the uproar, Lin fled into the Nine Dragons canopy. The guards stabbed him but failed to kill him outright, and the palace women, unable to bear his agony, finished him off. Jitao, Empress Chen, and Lord Gui were all killed by Fang. Lin had ruled ten years when he was murdered. He was posthumously titled Emperor Hui, with the temple name Taizong.
14
繼鵬，鏻長子也。 既立，更名昶，改元通文，以李仿判六軍諸衛事。 仿有弒君之罪，既立昶，而心常自疑，多養死士以為備。 昶患之，因大享軍，伏甲擒仿殺之，梟其首於市。 仿部曲千人叛，燒啟聖門，奪仿首，奔於錢塘。
Jipeng was Lin's eldest son. On taking the throne he changed his personal name to Chang, adopted the era name Pervading Culture, and appointed Li Fang commander of the Six Armies and palace guards. Fang had murdered his sovereign. Even after Chang's enthronement he lived in constant fear and maintained a large corps of devoted fighters as insurance. Chang feared Fang's power. At a grand military feast he concealed armed men, seized Fang, and executed him, then displayed his head in the marketplace. A thousand of Fang's personal troops mutinied, burned the Gate of Enlightened Sagacity, recovered their commander's head, and fled to Qiantang.
15
晉天福二年，昶遣使朝貢京師，高祖遣散騎常侍盧損冊昶閩王，拜其子繼恭臨海郡王。 損至閩，昶稱疾不見，令繼恭主之。 又遣中書舍人劉乙勞損於館，乙衣冠偉然，騶僮甚盛。 他日損遇乙於途，布衣芒屩而已，損使人誚之曰：「鳳閣舍人，何偪下之甚也！」 乙羞愧，以手掩面而走。 昶聞之，怒損侵辱之，損還，昶無所答。 而其子繼恭遣其佐鄭元弼隨損至京師貢方物，致書晉大臣，述昶意求以敵國禮相往來。 高祖怒其不遜，下詔暴其罪，歸其貢物不納。 兵部員外郎李知損上書請籍沒其物而禁錮使者，於是以元弼下獄。 獄具引見，元弼俯伏曰：「昶，夷貊之君，不知禮義，陛下方示大信，以來遠人，臣將命無狀，願伏斧钅質，以贖昶罪。」 高祖乃赦元弼，遣歸。
In the second year of Tianfu, Chang sent tribute envoys to the Jin capital. Emperor Gaozu dispatched Lu Sun, Regular Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry, to invest Chang as King of Min and appoint his son Jigong Prince of Linhai. When Sun arrived in Min, Chang pleaded illness and refused an audience, leaving Jigong to receive him. He also sent Secretariat Drafter Liu Yi to entertain Sun at the guesthouse. Yi appeared in magnificent dress with an imposing retinue of grooms and servants. Another day Sun met Yi on the road dressed in plain cloth and straw sandals. Sun sent a man to taunt him: "Phoenix Pavilion drafter, how far you have lowered yourself!" Mortified, Yi covered his face and fled. Chang was furious that Sun had humiliated his envoy. Sun returned home, and Chang offered no response to the court. Meanwhile his son Jigong sent aide Zheng Yuanbi to accompany Sun to the capital with tribute goods and a letter to Jin ministers asking that Min and Jin exchange embassies as equal states. Gaozu was enraged by this insolence. He issued an edict listing their offenses and returned their tribute unaccepted. Li Zhisun, Vice Director of the Ministry of War, memorialized asking that the goods be confiscated and the envoys imprisoned. Yuanbi was thrown into jail. When the case was concluded Yuanbi was brought before the throne. He prostrated himself and said, "Chang is a barbarian ruler who knows nothing of propriety. Your Majesty is showing great faith to draw distant peoples to your court. I have failed in my mission and beg to accept the axe in Chang's stead." Gaozu pardoned Yuanbi and sent him home.
16
昶亦好巫，拜道士譚紫霄為正一先生，又拜陳守元為天師，而妖人林興以巫見幸，事無大小，興輒以寶皇語命之而後行。 守元教昶起三清臺三層，以黃金數千斤鑄寶皇及元始天尊、太上老君像，日焚龍腦、薰陸諸香數斤，作樂於臺下，晝夜聲不輟，雲如此可求大還丹。 三年夏，虹見其宮中，林興傳神言：「此宗室將為亂之兆也。」 乃命興率壯士殺審知子延武、延望及其子五人。 後興事敗，亦被殺。 而昶愈惑亂，立父婢春燕為淑妃，後立以為皇后。 又遣醫人陳究以空名堂牒賣官。
Chang also dabbled in sorcery, naming the Daoist Tan Zixiao Lord of Orthodox Unity and Chen Shouyuan Celestial Master. The sorcerer Lin Xing won his favor, and no matter great or small was undertaken until Xing pronounced the Precious Emperor's command. Shouyuan persuaded Chang to erect a three-tiered Terrace of the Three Pure Ones and cast statues of the Precious Emperor, the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, and the Supreme Lord Lao from thousands of jin of gold. Each day several jin of dragon-brain, spikenard, and other incense were burned while music played below the terrace without cease, day and night, on the promise that the Great Reverted Elixir could be obtained this way. In the summer of the third year a rainbow appeared in the palace. Lin Xing relayed a spirit message: "This is an omen that the imperial clan will rebel." He ordered Xing to lead bravos to kill Shenzhi's sons Yanwu and Yanwang along with five of their sons. When Xing's plot collapsed he too was executed. Chang grew only more erratic. He made his father's maid Spring Swallow a Pure Consort and later elevated her to empress. He also had the physician Chen Jiu sell offices using blank appointment documents.
17
昶弟繼嚴判六軍諸衛事，昶疑而罷之，代以季弟繼鏞，而募勇士為宸衛都以自衛，其賜予給賞，獨厚於他軍。 控鶴都將連重遇、拱宸都將朱文進，皆以此怒激其軍。 是歲夏，術者言昶宮中當有災，昶徙南宮避災，而宮中火，昶疑重遇軍士縱火。 內學士陳郯素以便佞為昶所親信，昶以火事語之，郯反以告重遇。 重遇懼，夜率衛士縱火焚南宮，昶挾愛姬、子弟、黃門衛士斬關而出，宿於野次。 重遇迎延義立之。 延義令其子繼業率兵襲昶，及之； 射殺數人，昶知不免，擲弓於地，繼業執而殺之，及其妻、子皆死無遺類。 延義立，謚昶曰康宗。
Chang's brother Jiyan commanded the Six Armies and palace guards. Chang suspected him, removed him, and replaced him with his youngest brother Jiyong. He then recruited stalwart men into an Imperial Guard Command for his personal protection and lavished on them rewards richer than those given any other unit. The Crane-Control commander Lian Chongyu and the Arch-Palace commander Zhu Wenjin incited their troops to fury over this favoritism. That summer diviners warned of disaster in the palace. Chang moved to the Southern Palace to escape it, but fire broke out anyway. Chang suspected soldiers under Chongyu of arson. The Inner Academician Chen Tan had long won Chang's trust through flattery. Chang confided his suspicions about the fire to Tan, who promptly warned Chongyu. Terrified, Chongyu led his guards that night to burn the Southern Palace. Chang fled with his favorite consorts, sons, and eunuch guards, cutting his way through the gates to camp in the open countryside. Chongyu welcomed Yanyi and set him on the throne. Yanyi sent his son Jiye with troops to pursue Chang and overtook him. Several of Chang's party were shot down. Seeing escape was impossible, Chang threw down his bow. Jiye seized him and killed him, and his wife and sons were slaughtered to the last person. With Yanyi enthroned, Chang was posthumously titled Sovereign Kang.
18
延義，審知少子也。 既立，更名曦，遣使者朝貢於晉，改元永隆。 鑄大鐵錢，以一當十。 曦自昶世倔強難制，昶相王倓每抑折之，曦亦憚倓，不敢有所發。 新羅遣使聘閩以寶劍，昶舉以示倓曰：「此將何為？」 倓曰：「不忠不孝者，斬之。」 曦居旁色變。 曦既立，而新羅復獻劍，曦思倓前言，而倓已死，命發冢戮其屍，倓面如生，血流被體。
Yanyi was Shenzhi's youngest son. On taking power he changed his personal name to Xi, sent tribute envoys to Jin, and adopted the era name Eternal Ascent. He cast large iron coins, each reckoned as ten ordinary coins. Xi had been unruly and defiant even under Chang. Chang's chancellor Wang Tan had repeatedly reined him in, and Xi feared Tan enough to keep his resentment hidden. Silla sent envoys to Min bearing a precious sword. Chang held it up for Tan and asked, "What do you suppose this is for?" Tan replied, "To behead the disloyal and unfilial." Xi, standing nearby, turned pale. After Xi took the throne Silla sent another sword. Remembering Tan's earlier remark, and learning Tan was dead, Xi ordered his tomb opened and his corpse flogged. Tan's face looked as if he were alive, and blood streamed over his body.
19
泉州刺史余廷英嘗矯曦命掠取良家子，曦怒，召下御史劾之。 廷英進買宴錢千萬，曦曰：「皇后土貢何在？」 廷英又獻皇后錢千萬，乃得不劾。 曦嘗嫁女，朝士有不賀者笞之。 御史中丞劉贊坐不糾舉，將加笞，諫議大夫鄭元弼切諫，曦謂元弼曰：「卿何如魏鄭公，乃敢強諫！」 元弼曰：「陛下似唐太宗，臣為魏鄭公可矣。」 曦喜，乃釋贊不笞。
Quanzhou prefect Yu Tingying had forged Xi's orders to seize daughters of respectable families. Xi was furious and ordered the censors to prosecute him. Tingying offered ten million cash to buy his way out of prosecution. Xi demanded, "Where is the empress's tribute?" Tingying paid another ten million for the empress and was spared prosecution. When Xi married off a daughter, any court official who failed to offer congratulations was flogged. Censor-in-Chief Liu Zan was charged with failing to impeach the offenders and was about to be flogged. Remonstrance Counselor Zheng Yuanbi protested sharply. Xi told him, "What makes you think you are Duke Wei of Zheng that you dare remonstrate so boldly?" Yuanbi replied, "If Your Majesty resembles Emperor Taizong of Tang, then I may well play the part of Duke Wei of Zheng." Xi was amused and spared Zan the flogging.
20
曦弟延政為建州節度使，封富沙王，自曦立，不葉，數舉兵相攻，曦由此惡其宗室，多以事誅之。 諫議大夫黃峻舁櫬詣朝堂極諫，曦怒，貶峻漳州司戶參軍。 校書郎陳光逸上書疏曦過惡五十餘事，曦命衛士鞭之百而不死，以繩系頸，掛於木，久而乃絕。 國計使陳匡范增算商之法以獻，曦曰：「匡範人中寶也。」 已而歲入不登其數，乃借於民以足之，匡範以憂死。 其後知其借於民也，剖棺斷屍，棄之水中。
Xi's brother Yanzheng, military governor of Jianzhou and Prince of Fusha, had been at odds with him since Xi's enthronement and repeatedly marched against him. Xi came to hate his own clan and executed many kinsmen on one pretext or another. Remonstrance Counselor Huang Jun carried his own coffin into court and remonstrated to the limit. Xi was enraged and demoted him to registrar in Zhangzhou. Proofreader Chen Guangyi submitted a memorial listing more than fifty of Xi's crimes. Xi ordered guards to flog him a hundred strokes without killing him, then bound a rope around his neck and hung him from a tree until he finally died. National Revenue Commissioner Chen Kuangfan proposed heavier merchant taxes. Xi declared, "Kuangfan is a treasure among men." When annual revenue still fell short, officials borrowed from the people to make up the deficit. Kuangfan died of anxiety. When Xi later learned the deficit had been covered by forced loans from the people, he had Kuangfan's coffin opened, the corpse dismembered, and the remains thrown into the river.
21
曦性既淫虐，而妻李氏悍而酗酒，賢妃尚氏有色而寵。 李仁遇，曦甥也，以色嬖之，用以為相。 曦常為牛飲，群臣侍酒，醉而不勝，有訴及私棄酒者輒殺之。 諸子繼柔棄酒，並殺其贊者一人。 連重遇殺昶，懼為國人所討，與朱文進連姻以自固。 曦心疑之，常以語誚重遇等，重遇等流涕自辨。 李氏妒尚妃之寵，欲圖曦而立其子亞澄，乃使人謂重遇等曰：「上心不平於二公，奈何？」 重遇等懼。 六年三月，曦出遊，醉歸，重遇等遣壯士拉於馬上而殺之，謚曰景宗。
Xi was by nature lewd and cruel. His wife Lady Li was fierce and a heavy drinker, while the Worthy Consort Lady Shang was beautiful and held his favor. Li Renyu, Xi's nephew, won favor through his beauty and was made chancellor. Xi often held drinking contests in which ministers had to keep pace. Anyone who became too drunk to continue, or was reported to have secretly discarded wine, was executed on the spot. When his son Jirou poured away wine, Xi also executed one of the attendants who had urged him to drink. Lian Chongyu, who had killed Chang, feared popular retribution and cemented his position by marrying into Zhu Wenjin's family. Xi grew suspicious of them and often taunted Chongyu and his allies, who wept as they protested their loyalty. Lady Li, jealous of Worthy Consort Shang, plotted to overthrow Xi and install her son Yacheng. She sent word to Chongyu and his allies: "The emperor's heart has turned against you—what will you do?" Chongyu and his men were terrified. In the third month of the sixth year Xi went out on an excursion and returned drunk. Chongyu and his allies sent bravos to pull him onto a horse and kill him. He was posthumously titled Sovereign Jing.
22
延政，審知子也。 曦立，為淫虐，延政數貽書諫之。 曦怒，遣杜建崇監其軍，延政逐之，曦乃舉兵攻延政，為延政所敗。 延政乃以建州建國稱殷，改元天德。
Yanzheng was a son of Shenzhi. After Xi took the throne and ruled with cruelty and debauchery, Yanzheng repeatedly sent letters of remonstrance. Xi was furious and sent Du Jianchong to supervise Yanzheng's army. Yanzheng expelled him, and when Xi marched against him he was defeated. Yanzheng then founded the state of Yin at Jianzhou and adopted the era name Heavenly Virtue.
23
是時，南唐李景聞閩亂，發兵攻之，延政遣其從子繼昌守福州，而南唐兵方急攻延政，福州將李仁達謂其徒曰：「唐兵攻建州，富沙王不能自保，其能有此土也？」 乃擒繼昌殺之。 欲自立，懼眾不附，以雪峰寺僧卓儼明示眾曰：「此非常人也。」 被以袞冕，率諸將吏北面而臣之。 已而又殺儼明，乃自立，送款於李景，景以仁達為威武軍節度使，更其名曰弘義。 而景兵攻破建州，遷延政族於金陵，封鄱陽王。 是歲，景保大四年也。
Li Jing of Southern Tang, hearing of chaos in Min, sent an army to attack. Yanzheng sent his nephew Jichang to hold Fuzhou. While Tang forces pressed Yanzheng hard, Fuzhou general Li Renda told his men, "Tang troops are attacking Jianzhou. The Prince of Fusha cannot even save himself—how can he hold this land?" He seized Jichang and killed him. Wishing to rule himself but fearing the troops would not follow him, he presented the monk Zhuo Yanming of Xuefeng Temple to the crowd, declaring, "This is no ordinary man." They dressed him in imperial robes and led the generals and officials to bow to him as their sovereign. Soon he killed Yanming as well and ruled in his own name. He submitted to Li Jing, who appointed him military governor of the Weiwu Army and changed his name to Hongyi. Tang forces then captured Jianzhou, moved Yanzheng's clan to Jinling, and enfeoffed him as Prince of Poyang. This occurred in the fourth year of Jing's Baoda era.
24
留從效聞延政降唐，執王繼勛送於金陵，李景以泉州為清源軍，以從效為節度使。 景已破延政，遣人召李仁達入朝，仁達不從，遂降於吳越。 而留從效亦逐景守兵，據泉、漳二州，景猶封從效晉江王。 周世宗時，從效遣牙將蔡仲興為商人，間道至京師，求置邸內屬。 是時，世宗與李景畫江為界，遂不納，從效仍臣於南唐。 其後事具國史。
When Liu Congxiao learned Yanzheng had surrendered to Tang, he seized Wang Jixun and sent him to Jinling. Li Jing organized Quanzhou as the Qingyuan military circuit and appointed Congxiao its governor. After defeating Yanzheng, Jing summoned Li Renda to court. Renda refused and submitted to Wuyue instead. Liu Congxiao also expelled Tang garrisons and held Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. Jing still enfeoffed him as Prince of Jinjiang. During the reign of Emperor Shizong of Zhou, Congxiao sent general Cai Zhongxing disguised as a merchant along a secret route to the capital to request a diplomatic lodge and recognition as a Zhou dependency. Shizong had just drawn the Yangtze as his boundary with Li Jing and declined the request. Congxiao remained a vassal of Southern Tang. Later events are recorded in full in the dynastic histories.