Yan Shi Jia Xun (顏氏家訓) · Volume 3

自古明王聖帝猶湏勤學況凢庶乎此事遍於經史吾亦不能鄭重聊舉近世切要以終窹汝耳士大夫子弟數嵗已上莫不被教多者或至禮傳少者不失詩論及至冠婚體性稍定因此天機倍須訓誘有志尚者遂能磨礪以就素業無履立者自茲墮慢便為凢人人生在世防當有業農民則計量耕稼商賈則計論貨賄工巧則致精器用伎藝則深思法術武夫則慣習弓馬文士則講議經書多見士大夫恥涉農商羞務工伎射既不能穿札筆則才記姓名飽食醉酒忽忽無事以此銷日以此終年或因家世餘緒得一階半級便謂為足安能自苦及有吉防大事議論得失然張口如坐雲霧公私宴集談古賦詩塞黙低頭欠伸而已有識傍觀代其入地何惜數年勤學長受一生愧辱哉梁朝全盛之時貴遊子弟多無學術至於諺雲上車不落則著作體中何如則秘書無不薰衣剃面傅粉施朱駕長簷車躡髙齒屐坐碁子方褥憑斑絲隠嚢列器玩於左右從容出入望若神仙明經求第則顧人答策三九公防則假手賦詩當爾之時亦快士也及離亂之後朝市遷革銓衡選舉非復曩者之親當路秉權不見昔時之黨求諸身而無所得施之世而無所用披褐而喪珠失皮而露質兀若枯木泊若窮流孤獨戎馬之間轉死溝之際當爾之時誠駑材也有學藝者觸地而安自荒亂已來諸見俘虜雖百世小人知讀論語孝經者尚為人師雖千載冠冕不曉書記者莫不耕田養馬以此觀之安可不自勉耶若能常保數百卷書千載終不為小人也夫明六經之指涉百家之書縱不能增益德行敦厲風俗猶為一藝得以自資父兄不可常依鄉國不可常保一旦流離無人庇廕當自求諸身耳諺曰積財千萬不如薄伎在身伎之易習而可貴者無過讀書也世人不問愚智皆欲識人之多見事之廣而不肯讀書是猶求飽而懶營饌欲暖而惰裁衣也夫讀書之人自羲農已來宇宙之下凢識幾人凢見幾事生民之成敗好惡固不足論天地所不能藏鬼神所不能隠也有客難主人曰吾見強弩長防誅罪安民以取公侯者有矣文義習史匡時冨國以取卿相者有矣學備古今才兼文武身無祿位妻子飢寒者不可勝數安足貴學乎主人對曰夫命之窮達猶金玉木石也修以學藝猶磨瑩雕刻也金玉之磨瑩自美其鑛璞木石之叚塊自醜其雕刻安可言木石之雕刻乃勝金玉之鑛璞哉不得以有學之貧賤比於無學之冨貴也且負甲為兵咋筆為吏身死名滅者如牛毛角立傑出者如芝草握素披黃吟道詠德苦辛無益者如日蝕逸樂名利者幾秋荼豈得同年而語矣且又聞之生而知之者上學而知之者次所以學者欲其多智明達耳必有天才防群出類為將則闇與孫武吳起同術執政則懸得管仲子產之教雖未讀書吾亦謂之學矣今子即不能然不師古之蹤跡猶防被而臥耳人見隣裡親戚有佳快者使子弟慕而學之不知使學古人何其蔽也哉世人但知跨馬被甲長弰強弓便雲我能為將不知明乎天道辨乎地利比量逆順鑑達興亡之玅也但知承上接下積財聚谷便雲我能為相不知敬鬼事神移風易俗調節隂陽薦舉賢聖之至也但知私財不入公事夙辦便雲我能治民不知誠已刑物執轡如組反風滅火化鴟為鳳之術也但知抱令守律早刑晩舎便雲我能平獄不知同轅觀罪分劍追財假言而奸露不問而情得之察也爰及農商工賈廝役奴釣魚屠肉飯牛牧羊皆有先達可為師表博學求之無不利於事也夫所以讀書學問本欲開心明目利於行耳未知養親者欲其觀古人之先意承顔怡聲下氣不憚劬勞以致甘腝惕然慙懼起而行之也未知事君者欲其觀古人之守軄無侵見危授命不忘誠諫以利社稷惻然自念思欲效之也素驕奢者欲其觀古人之恭儉節用卑以自牧禮為教本敬者身基瞿然自失斂容抑志也素鄙恡者欲其觀古人之貴義輕財少私寡慾忌盈惡滿賙窮防匱赧然悔恥積而能散也素暴悍者欲其觀古人之小心黜巳齒舌存含垢藏疾尊賢容眾薾然沮喪若不勝衣也素怯懦者欲觀古人之達生委命強毅正直立言必信求福不囘勃然奮厲不可恐懾也厯茲以往百行皆然縱不能淳去泰去甚學之所知施無不達世人讀書者但能言之不能行之忠孝無聞仁義不足加以斷一條訟不必得其理宰千戸縣不必理其民問其造屋不必知楣橫而梲竪也問其為田不必知稷早而黍遲也吟嘯談謔諷詠辭賦事既優閒材增迃誕軍國經綸略無施用故為武人俗吏所共嗤詆良由是乎夫學者所以求益爾見人讀數十卷書便自髙大凌忽長者輕慢同列人疾之如讐敵惡之如鴟梟如此以學自損不如無學也古之學者為己以補不足也今之學者為人但能說之也古之學者為人行道以利世也今之學者為己修身以求進也夫學者猶種樹也春玩其華秋登其實講論文章春華也修身利行秋實也人生小防精神専利長成已後思慮散逸固須早教勿失機也吾七嵗時誦靈光殿賦至於今日十年一理猶不遺忘二十之外所誦經書一月廢置便至荒無矣然人有坎防失於盛年猶當晩學不可自棄孔子云五十以學易可以無大過矣魏武袁遺老而彌篤此皆少學而至老不倦也曾子七十乃學名聞天下荀卿五十始來遊學猶為碩儒公孫四十餘方讀春秋以此遂登丞相朱雲亦四十始學易論語皇甫謐二十始授孝經論語皆終成大儒此並早迷而晩窹也世人婚冠未學便稱遲暮因循面牆亦為愚爾防而學者如日出之光老而學者如秉燭夜行猶賢乎暝目而無見者也學之興廢隨世輕重漢時賢俊皆以一經聖人之道上明天時下該人事用此致卿相者多矣末俗已來不復爾空守章句但誦師言施之世務殆無一可故士大夫子弟皆以博涉為貴不肯専儒梁朝皇孫已下總丱之年必先入學觀其志尚出身已後便從文吏略無卒業者冠冕為此者則有何劉瓛明山賓周舍朱異周正賀琛賀革蕭子政劉縚等兼通文史不徒講説也洛陽亦聞崔浩張偉劉芳鄴下又見邢子才四儒者雖好經術亦以才博擅名如此諸賢故為上品以外率多田裡閒人音辭鄙陋風操蚩拙相與専固無所堪能問一言輒酬數百責其指歸或無要防鄴下諺雲博士買驢書劵三紙未有驢字使汝以此為師令人氣塞孔子曰學也祿在其中矣今勤無益之事恐非業也夫聖人之書所以設教但明練經文粗通注義常使言行有得亦足為人何必仲尼居即須兩紙防義燕寢講堂亦復何在以此得勝寧有益乎光隂可惜譬諸逝水當博覽機要以濟功業必能兼美吾無間焉俗間儒士不涉群書經緯之外義防而已吾初入鄴與博陵崔文彥交遊嘗說王粲集中難鄭尚書事崔轉為諸儒道之始將發口懸見排蹙雲文集止有詩賦銘誄豈當論經書事乎且先儒之中未聞有王粲也崔笑而退竟不以粲集示之魏收之在議曹與諸博士議宗廟事引據漢書博士笑曰未聞漢書得證經術魏便忿怒都不復言取韋成傳擲之而起博士一夜共披尋之達明乃來謝曰不謂成如此學也夫老莊之書葢全真養性不肎以物累己也故藏名柱石終蹈流沙匿跡漆園卒辭楚相此任縱之徒耳何晏王弼祖述宗遞相誇尚景附草靡皆以農黃之化在乎巳身周孔之業棄之度外而平叔以黨曹爽見誅觸死權之網也輔嗣以多笑人被疾陷好勝之穽也山巨源以蓄積取譏背多藏厚亡之文也夏侯以才望被戮無支離擁腫之鑑也荀奉倩喪妻神傷而卒非鼓缶之情也王夷甫悼子悲不自勝異東門之達也嵇叔夜排俗取禍豈和光同塵之流也郭子以傾動權勢寧後身外已之風也阮嗣宗沈酒荒迷乖畏途相誡之譬也謝防輿贓賄黜削違棄其餘魚之防也彼諸人者並其領袖宗所歸其餘桎梏塵滓之中顛仆名利之下者豈可備言乎直取其清談雅論剖析微賓主往復娛心恱耳非濟世成俗之要也洎於梁世茲風復闡莊老周易總謂三武皇簡文躬自講論周正奉贊大猷化行都邑學徒千餘實為盛美元帝在江荊間復所愛習召置學生親為教授廢寢忘食以夜繼朝至乃倦劇愁憤輙以講自釋吾時頗預末筵親承音指性既頑魯亦所不好雲齊孝昭帝侍婁太后疾容色顦顇服膳減損徐之才為灸兩穴帝握拳代痛爪入掌心血流滿手後既痊癒帝尋疾崩遺詔恨不見太后山陵之事其天性至孝如彼不識忌諱如此良由無學所為若見古人之譏欲母早死而悲哭之則不發此言也孝為百行之首猶須學以修飾之況餘事乎梁元帝嘗為吾說昔在會稽年始十二便已好學時又患疥手不得拳膝不得屈閒齋張葛幃避蠅獨坐銀甌貯山隂甜酒時復進之以自寛痛率意自讀史書一日二十卷既未師受或不識一字或不解一語要自重之不知厭倦帝子之尊童稚之逸尚能如此況其庶士冀以自達者哉古人勤學有握錐投斧照雪聚螢鋤則帶經牧則編簡亦為勤篤梁世彭城劉綺交州刺史勃之孫早孤家貧燈燭難辦常買荻尺寸折之燃明夜讀孝元初出會稽精選寮寀綺以才華為國常侍兼記室殊防禮遇終於金紫光祿義陽朱詹世居江陵後出都好學家貧無資累日不防乃時吞紙以實腹寒無氈被抱犬而臥犬亦飢虛起行盜食呼之不至哀聲動隣猶不廢業卒成學士官至鎮南錄事叅軍為孝元所禮此乃不可為之事亦是勤學之一人東莞臧逢世年二十餘欲讀班固漢書苦假借不久乃就姊夫劉緩乞丐客刺書翰紙末手冩一本軍府服其志尚卒以漢書聞齊有宦者內叅田鵬鸞本蠻人也年十四五初為閽寺便知好學懷袖握書曉夕諷誦所居卑末使役苦辛時伺閒隙周章詢請每坐文林館氣喘汗流問書之外不暇他語及覩古人節義之事未嘗不感激沈吟久之吾甚憐愛倍加開奬後被賞遇賜名敬宣位至侍中開府後主之奔青州遣其西出叅伺動靜為周軍所獲問齊王何在紿雲已去計當出境疑其不信歐捶服之每折一支辭色愈厲竟斷四體而卒蠻夷童丱猶能以學成忠齊之將相比敬宣之奴不若也鄴平之後見徙入闗思魯嘗謂吾曰朝無祿位家無積財當肆筋力以申供養每被課篤勤勞經史未知為子可得安乎吾命之曰子當以養為心父當以學為教使汝棄學狥財豐吾衣食食之安得甘衣之安得暖若務先王之道紹家世之業藜縕褐我自欲之書曰好問則裕禮雲獨學而無友則孤陋而寡聞葢須切磋相起明也見有閉門讀書師心自是稠人廣坐謬誤羞慙者多矣糓梁傳稱公子友與莒拏相搏左右呼曰孟勞孟勞者魯之寳刀名亦見廣雅近在齊時有姜仲嶽謂公子左右姓孟名勞多力之人為國所寳與吾苦諍時清河郡守邢峙當世碩儒助吾證之赧然而伏又三輔決録雲靈帝殿柱題曰堂堂乎張京兆田郎葢引論語偶以四言目京兆人田鳳也有一才士乃言時張京兆及田郎二人皆堂堂耳聞吾此説初大驚駭其後尋愧悔焉江南有一權貴讀誤本蜀都賦註解蹲鴟芋也乃為羊字人饋羊肉答書云捐惠蹲鴟舉朝驚駭不解事義久後尋跡方知如此元氏之世在洛京時有一才學重臣新得史記音而頗紕繆誤反顓頊字頊當為許録反錯作許縁反遂一一謂言從來謬音専旭當音専翾耳此人先有髙名翕然信行朞年之後更有碩儒苦相究討方知誤焉漢書王莾贊雲紫色防聲餘分閏位謂以偽亂真爾昔吾嘗共人談書言及王莾形狀有一俊士自許史學名價甚髙乃雲王莾非直鴟目虎吻亦紫色蛙聲又禮樂志雲給太官挏馬酒李竒注以馬乳為酒也揰挏乃成二字並從手揰【都抒反】挏【達孔反】此謂撞搗挺挏之今為酪酒亦然向學士又以為種桐時太官釀馬酒乃熟其孤陋遂至於此太山羊肅亦稱學問讀潘岳賦周文弱枝之棗為杖策之杖世本容成造厯以厯為碓磨之磨談說制文援引古音必須眼學勿信耳受江南閭里間士大夫或不學問羞為鄙樸道聴塗說強事飾辭呼徵質為周鄭謂霍亂為博陸上荊州必稱峽西下楊都言去海郡言食則餬口道錢則孔方問移則楚丘論婚則宴爾及王則無不仲宣語劉則無不公幹凢有一二百件傳相祖述尋問莫知源由施安時復失於莊生有乘時鵲起之說故謝朓詩曰鵲起登吳臺吾有一親表作七夕詩云今夜吳臺鵲亦共往填河羅浮山記雲望平地樹如薺故戴髙詩云長安樹如薺又鄴下有一人詠樹詩云遙望長安薺又嘗見謂矜誕為夸毗呼髙年為冨有春秋皆耳學之過也夫文字者墳籍根本世之學徒多不曉字讀五經者是徐邈而非許慎習賦誦者信褚詮而忽呂忱明史記者専皮鄒而廢篆籕學漢書者恱應蘇而畧蒼雅不知書音是其枝葉小學乃其宗系至見服防張揖音義則貴之得通俗廣雅而不屑一手之中向背如此況異代各人乎【世人皆以通俗文為服防造未知非服防而輕之猶謂是服防而輕之故此論從俗也】夫學者貴能博聞也郡國山川官位姓族衣服飲食器皿制度皆欲根尋得其原本至於文字忽不經懷己身姓名多或乖舛縱得不誤亦未知所由近世有人為子制名兄弟皆山傍立字而有名峙者兄弟皆木傍立字而有名機者兄弟皆水傍立字而有名凝者名儒碩學此例甚多若有知吾之鐘不調一何可笑吾嘗從齊王幸幷州自井陘闗入上艾縣東數十里有獵閭村後百官受馬糧在晉陽東百餘里亢仇城側並不識二所本是何地博求古今皆未能曉及檢字林韻集乃知獵閭是舊防餘聚【防音獵也】亢仇舊是防防亭【上音武安反下音仇】悉屬上艾時太原王邵欲撰鄉邑記注因此二名聞之大喜吾初讀莊子螝二首韓非子曰防有螝者一身兩口爭食相齕遂相殺也茫然不識此字何音逢人輒問了無解者案爾雅諸書蠶蛹名螝【音潰】又非二首兩口貪害之物後見古今字譜此亦古之虺字積年凝滯豁然霧解嘗遊趙州見栢人城北有一小水土人亦不知名後讀城西門徐整碑雲洦流東指眾皆不識吾案說文此字古魄字也洦淺水貌此水漢來本無名矣直以淺貌目之或當即以洦為名乎世中書翰多稱勿勿相承如此不知所由或有妄言此忽忽之殘缺耳案說文勿者州里所建之旗也象其柄及三遊之形所以趣民事故忽遽者稱為勿勿吾在益州與數人同坐初晴日明見地上小光問左右此是何物有一蜀竪就視荅雲是豆逼耳相顧愕然不知所謂命取將來乃小豆也窮訪蜀土呼粒為逼時莫之解吾雲三蒼說文此字白下為皆訓粒通俗文音方力反眾皆歡悟愍楚友壻竇如同從河州來得一青鳥馴養愛翫舉族呼之為鶡吾曰鶡出上黨數曾見之色並黃黑無駁雜也故陳思王鶡賦雲黃之勁羽試檢說文鳻【音分】雀佀鶡而青出羌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Since antiquity even enlightened kings and sage emperors had to study diligently; how much more ordinary people? This matter is found throughout the classics and histories, and I cannot go through every instance solemnly; I will merely cite what is essential from recent times to rouse you. Every son of a scholar-official receives an education from some age or other; at the most they get as far as the Rites and the Commentaries, at the least they do not miss the Songs and the Analects. By the time of capping and marriage their nature has settled somewhat, and so their innate gifts need still more guidance. Those with ambition can be honed into men of accomplished plain learning; those without principle grow slack from then on and become ordinary. In life in the world [a rare character lost] everyone must have a calling: farmers reckon plowing and planting, merchants discuss goods and wealth, craftsmen perfect their tools, artisans ponder their methods, warriors practice bow and horse, and literati expound the classics. One often sees scholar-officials ashamed to touch farming or trade and too proud to work at crafts; they cannot shoot an arrow through armor plates, and their brush barely writes their own names; they eat their fill, get drunk, and idle about in a daze, spending their days and years that way. Some, by the leftover prestige of their family, obtain a rank or half a rank and consider it enough; why should they trouble themselves? When there are great matters of good or ill fortune [a rare character lost] and judgments of gain and loss are to be argued, they open their mouths as if sitting in clouds and mist; at public and private banquets, when people discuss antiquity and compose poems, they just sit in silence, heads bowed, yawning. Perceptive onlookers feel there is no place for them to hide from the shame on his behalf. Why begrudge a few years of diligent study, only to suffer shame and disgrace for a lifetime? In the heyday of the Liang dynasty, the sons of the noble and idle mostly had no learning at all, so that a saying went: “Step down from the carriage without falling and you can be an Author; ask ‘How is your health?’ and you can be a Palace Librarian.” Every one of them perfumed their clothes, shaved their faces, powdered and rouged, drove long-awninged carriages, trod in high-heeled clogs, sat on square mats embroidered with chessboard patterns, leaned on cushions of mottled silk, set out curios and playthings on either side, and strolled in and out so that they looked like immortals. When they sought a place by examination in the classics they hired others to answer the questions, and for the “three nines” [a rare character lost] they borrowed another's hand to compose poems; in those days they were counted as pleasant fellows. Then, after the upheaval and disorder, when the court and the market were overturned, the selection of officials was no longer by the old kinship, and those who held power at the top no longer included the old cronies; seeking within themselves they found nothing, and applied to the world they were of no use; wearing coarse clothing they had lost their pearl, stripped of their skin they showed their bare substance, dull as withered wood and shallow as a dried-up stream, alone amid the war horses, tossed about until they died in ditches [a rare character lost]. At that time they were truly inferior material. Those who had some learning and skill could settle anywhere. Since the chaos and ruin began, among the captives I have seen, even those from a hundred generations of commoners who knew how to read the Analects and the Classic of Filial Piety could still become teachers of others; even those from a thousand years of caps and robes who knew nothing of writing all ended up plowing fields and tending horses. Seen this way, how can one not urge oneself on? If one can always keep several hundred scrolls of books, then for a thousand years one will not become a petty person. Understand the meaning of the Six Classics and range through the books of the hundred schools; even if this cannot add to one's virtue or strengthen social customs, it is at least one skill by which one can support oneself. Fathers and elder brothers cannot always be relied on, and one's home country cannot always be kept; once you are adrift and have no one to shelter you, you must look to yourself. The proverb says: a thousand strings of cash piled up are not worth a slender skill in your own person. Among skills that are easy to learn and valuable, none surpasses reading. People of the world, wise or foolish, all want to know many people and see many things, yet are unwilling to read; this is like wanting to be full but being too lazy to cook, or wanting to be warm but being too lazy to cut cloth. One who reads books, from the time of Fuxi and Shennong to everything under the heavens, how many people has he come to know and how many events has he seen! The successes, failures, likes, and dislikes of the common people are of course not worth discussing, but what heaven and earth cannot conceal and what ghosts and spirits cannot hide are all there. A guest challenged the host, saying: I have seen those who obtained the rank of duke or marquis by drawing the strong crossbow and long [a rare character lost] to execute criminals and pacify the people, and those who obtained the rank of minister or chancellor by writing and studying history to set the age right and enrich the state; those who are complete in learning ancient and modern and combine talent for both letters and arms, yet have no salary or position and whose wives and children go hungry and cold, are beyond counting; how is reading worth valuing? The host replied: The poverty or success of one's fate is like gold, jade, wood, and stone; cultivating oneself through learning and skill is like polishing and carving. When gold and jade are polished, they are by nature finer than the raw ore; when wood and stone are cut into pieces, they are by nature uglier than carved ones. How could one say that carved wood and stone surpass the raw ore of gold and jade? One may not compare the poverty of one with learning to the wealth and rank of one without it. Moreover, among those who put on armor to be soldiers or take up the brush to be clerks, those who die and are forgotten are as many as the hairs on an ox, while those who stand out are like the divine fungus; among those who hold the plain silk and the yellow scrolls and chant of the Way and virtue, those who toil in vain are as rare as an eclipse of the sun, while those who enjoy ease, fame, and profit are like the autumn sow-thistle; how can they be spoken of in the same year? Furthermore I have heard: those born knowing are the highest, and those who learn and then know come next. So the purpose of learning is to make one wiser and clearer. If someone has natural talent [a rare character lost] that stands out above the crowd, who as a general would secretly follow the same methods as Sun Wu and Wu Qi, and in government would hold up the teachings of Guan Zhong and Zichan, then although he has not read books, I too would call him learned. Now since you cannot be like that, and do not model yourselves on the traces of the ancients, you are still like [a rare character lost] lying covered up. People see something fine and pleasant in a neighbor or relative and make their sons and younger brothers admire and learn from it, yet do not know to make them learn from the ancients; how blind this is! The people of the world know only to mount a horse, put on armor, and carry a long-tipped and powerful bow, and say “I can be a general,” without knowing the subtlety of understanding the Way of Heaven, discerning the advantages of terrain, weighing what goes with and what goes against, and perceiving rise and fall. They know only how to receive from above and pass to those below, and to accumulate wealth and store up grain, and say “I can be a chancellor,” without knowing the heights of revering ghosts and serving spirits, changing customs, harmonizing yin and yang, and recommending the worthy and the sage. They know only that private wealth must not come in and public business must be done early, and say “I can govern the people,” without knowing the arts of making oneself sincere in order to set a pattern for others, holding the reins like a woven ribbon, turning back the wind to put out a fire, and transforming owls into phoenixes. They know only to hold to the decree and keep the statute, to punish early and pardon late, and say “I can settle lawsuits,” without knowing the discernment of observing guilt from sharing one carriage shaft, dividing a sword to chase down property, exposing treachery through a false statement, and obtaining the facts without questioning. And so on to farmers, merchants, craftsmen, traders, menials, and slaves [a rare character lost], fishing, butchering, feeding oxen, and herding sheep: all have earlier masters who can serve as models, and seeking broad learning from them is without exception useful for the matter at hand. So reading and learning are meant to open the mind and brighten the eyes for the benefit of conduct. For one who does not yet know how to care for his parents, have him look at how the ancients anticipated their parents' wishes and obeyed their expressions, with gentle voices and lowered breath, not fearing toil to provide sweet and soft food, so that he is stirred with shame and fear and rises to act; for one who does not yet know how to serve his ruler, have him look at how the ancients kept to their posts without encroaching, gave their lives in the face of danger, and never forgot to admonish sincerely for the benefit of the state, so that he is moved to think of imitating them; for one who has always been arrogant and extravagant, have him look at how the ancients were respectful and thrifty, humbled themselves to tend their character, took ritual as the root of teaching and reverence as the foundation of the person, so that he is startled and loses his composure, composing his face and curbing his will; for one who has always been mean and stingy, have him look at how the ancients valued righteousness and made light of wealth, had little selfishness and few desires, shunned fullness and hated surplus, and relieved the poor [a rare character lost] and needy, so that he blushes with shame and regret and learns to accumulate yet disperse; for one who has always been violent and fierce, have him look at how the ancients were small-minded and demoted themselves, how the teeth [a rare character lost] are gone while the tongue remains, how they bore insults and hid their faults, honored the worthy and tolerated the multitude, so that he is crestfallen as if unable to bear his own clothes; for one who has always been timid and cowardly, have him look at how the ancients understood life and entrusted themselves to fate, were strong, resolute, and upright, had to be true to what they said, and sought blessing without turning aside, so that he is fired up and cannot be intimidated. From this on, a hundred conducts are all like this; even if he cannot become simple, he can drop what is excessive and extreme, and what he knows from learning will apply everywhere. Among people of the world who read books, some can only talk about it and cannot do it, with no word of loyalty or filial piety and a lack of benevolence and righteousness; moreover, to settle a lawsuit need not mean he gets the right of it, to govern a county of a thousand households need not mean he manages its people, ask him about building a house and he need not know that the lintel is horizontal and the short pillar upright, ask him about farming fields and he need not know that millet is early and sorghum is late; they chant, whistle, banter, and recite verse and rhapsody, the matter being leisurely while their talent grows wild and impractical, and they have not the slightest use for the planning of army and state, and that is why they are mocked and slandered by soldiers and vulgar clerks alike; the reason is truly this. Learning is meant for gaining benefit. When a person sees that he has read a few dozen scrolls and becomes proud, bullying his elders and slighting his peers, so that people hate him like an enemy and loathe him like an owl, such a person damages himself by learning, and he would be better off without learning. The learners of old studied for themselves, to make up what they lacked; the learners of today study for others, and can only talk. The learners of old studied for others, practicing the Way to benefit the world; the learners of today study for themselves, cultivating themselves to seek advancement. A learner is like one planting a tree: in spring he enjoys its blossoms, in autumn he climbs up to gather its fruit; discussing and writing essays are the spring blossoms, and cultivating oneself and benefiting conduct is the autumn fruit. When a person is young [a rare character lost] his spirit is concentrated, but after he has grown up his thoughts scatter, so he must be taught early and not miss the time. When I was seven I recited the Rhapsody on the Hall of Numinous Light, and even today, going over it once in ten years, I do not forget it; the classics I recited after twenty, if I set them aside for a month, would be overgrown with neglect. Yet when a person has stumbled [a rare character lost] and lost his prime, he should still study late and not give himself up. Confucius said that studying the Changes at fifty one can avoid great errors. Wei Wu and Yuan Yi grew more devoted in old age; these are cases of those who studied when young and did not tire into old age. Zengzi began to study at seventy and was famous throughout the world; Xun Qing began to travel and study at fifty and still became a great scholar; Gongsun [a rare character lost] read the Spring and Autumn Annals only after forty and so rose to be chancellor; Zhu Yun also began at forty to study the Changes and the Analects; Huangfu Mi began at twenty to be taught the Classic of Filial Piety and the Analects; all became great scholars in the end. These were all cases of being confused early and awakening late. People of the world who have not studied by the time of marriage and capping say it is already evening, and, procrastinating and facing the wall, they too are foolish [a rare character lost]. One who learns when young is like the light of the rising sun; one who learns in old age is like walking by candlelight at night, and still better than closing one's eyes and seeing nothing. The rise and fall of learning follows the weight the age gives it. In the Han dynasty the worthy and the outstanding all mastered a single classic [a rare character lost]. The Way of the sages above illuminates the seasons of heaven and below covers human affairs, and many have reached the rank of minister or chancellor through it. From the degenerate age on this is no longer so: people hold empty to the chapters and verses and merely recite their teachers' words, and applied to worldly affairs almost none of it is useful, so the sons of scholar-officials all value breadth and are unwilling to specialize in Confucianism. In the Liang dynasty, from the imperial grandsons on down, in the years of their childhood tufts they must first enter school, and one can see their ambitions; after taking up their careers they follow literary clerkship, and almost none finishes the course. Those among the high officials who did so include He [a rare character lost], Liu Xiao, Ming Shanbin, Zhou She, Zhu Yi, Zhou [a rare character lost]zheng, He Chen, He Ge, Xiao Zizheng, Liu Tao, and others, who were versed in both literature and history and did not merely lecture. In Luoyang I have also heard of Cui Hao, Zhang Wei, and Liu Fang, and in Ye I saw Xing Zicai; these four Confucians, though fond of the classical arts, also made their names for breadth of talent. Such worthies are naturally of the first class; beyond them most are idle men of the fields, with vulgar speech, clumsy manners, each obstinate in his own way and good for nothing; ask them one sentence and they answer with several hundred, yet demand the gist and perhaps there is no point [a rare character lost]. In Ye there is a saying: “The scholar bought a donkey, and the deed filled three sheets of paper without the word ‘donkey’ in it.” If you were to take such a man as your teacher, it would choke you with exasperation. Confucius said that in learning, a salary lies within it. Now if one exerts himself in useless things, I fear it is not the proper occupation. The books of the sages were set up to teach; one only needs to understand the text of the classics thoroughly and roughly grasp the commentaries and meanings, so that one's words and deeds always have something to show for it, and that is enough to be a person. Why must “Zhongni was at leisure” require two sheets of paper [a rare character lost] on the meaning, and where indeed are the “resting chamber” and the “lecture hall”? What benefit is there in winning by this? Time is precious, like flowing water; you should read widely in the essentials to help your achievements. If one can be fine in both, I have nothing more to say. The common Confucian scholars do not look into the various books and are limited to what lies outside the classics and their apocrypha [a rare character lost]. When I first entered Ye, I associated with Cui Wenyan of Boling, and once said that in the Collected Works of Wang Can there is the matter of Wang Can's criticism of Zheng [a rare character lost] on the Book of Documents. Cui passed it on to the various Confucians, but just as he was about to open his mouth he was shouted down: “A collection of writings only contains poems, rhapsodies, inscriptions, and eulogies; what business does it have discussing the classics? Besides, among the former Confucians we have never heard of Wang Can.” Cui laughed and withdrew, and in the end did not show them the Collected Works of Wang Can. When Wei Shou was in the Deliberation Office discussing matters of the ancestral temple with the various erudites, he cited the Book of Han, and the erudites laughed and said they had never heard that the Book of Han could prove the classical arts. Wei grew angry, said nothing more, took the Biography of Wei [a rare character lost]cheng, threw it down, and rose. The erudites all searched through it that night, and in the morning came to apologize: “We never imagined that Wei [a rare character lost]cheng was so learned.” The books of Laozi and Zhuangzi in general aim at keeping the true and nourishing one's nature, unwilling to let things burden oneself; thus Laozi hid his name as a Keeper of the Pillar yet in the end walked into the shifting sands, and Zhuangzi concealed his tracks in the Lacquer Garden and finally declined the post of chancellor of Chu; these were people who followed their own course. He Yan and Wang Bi took them as their ancestors and elaborated [a rare character lost], boasting of and honoring one another, with followers sticking like shadows and bending like grass, all supposing that the transformation of Shennong and Huangdi lay in their own persons and discarding the work of Zhou and Confucius. Yet He Pingshu was executed for belonging to the faction of Cao Shuang and ran into the net of death-dealing power; Wang Fusi was struck by illness for often laughing at others and fell into the pit of the love of winning; Shan Juyuan was mocked for hoarding and went against the text that says much storing brings heavy loss; Xiahou [a rare character lost] was killed for his talent and reputation and had no lesson of the useless crooked and gnarled tree; Xun Fengqian died of grief at the loss of his wife, which was not the feeling of one who beats a pot; Wang Yifu was unable to bear his grief over his son, unlike the detachment of the Eastern Gate; Ji Shuye was brought disaster by flouting custom, how was he one who softens his light and joins the dust; Guo Zi[a rare character lost] was swayed by power and influence, where was the attitude of putting oneself behind and the self outside; Ruan Sizong sank in wine and was lost in confusion, which went against the metaphor of warning one another about the perilous road; Xie [a rare character lost]yu was dismissed for taking bribes, abandoning the [a rare character lost] of the leftover fish. Those people were themselves leaders [a rare character lost] to whom the schools looked; as for the rest, those bound in fetters in the dust and dregs and toppled beneath fame and profit, how could I list them all? They merely took from them their pure talk and elegant discussion, their dissecting [a rare character lost] and analyzing of subtle points, host and guest going back and forth to please the mind and delight the ear, which is not the essential for rescuing the world and shaping customs. When the Liang era came this trend was revived; the Zhuangzi, the Laozi, and the Changes were together called the Three [a rare character lost]; Emperor Wu and Emperor Jianwen personally lectured on them, and Zhou [a rare character lost]zheng assisted the great plan; its influence ran through the capital and towns, with over a thousand students, truly a splendid time. Emperor Yuan between Jiangling and Jingzhou also loved and practiced it, summoned and established students and personally taught them, forgetting sleep and food, carrying night into morning, and when weary or sorrowful or angry he would relieve himself through lecturing. At that time I took a place rather at the end of the seats and received his teaching in person, but as I was dull by nature, I did not love it. When Emperor Xiaozhao of Qi attended the illness of Empress Dowager Lou, his face was haggard and his food and drink were reduced. Xu Zhicai applied moxibustion to two points for her, and the emperor clenched his fist to bear the pain in her stead, his nails going into his palm and blood filling his hand. When the Empress Dowager recovered, the emperor soon fell ill and died, and his last edict regretted that he would not see the matter of the Empress Dowager's mountain tomb. His nature was so filial as that, yet he did not know taboos to this extent; truly this was due to lack of learning. If he had seen the ancients' mockery of one who wept wishing his mother would die early, he would not have uttered such words. Filial piety is the head of a hundred conducts, yet it still needs to be polished by learning; how much more the rest? Emperor Yuan of Liang once told me: In former days at Kuaiji when I was only twelve I already loved learning, and at the time I also had scabies, my hand could not make a fist and my knees could not bend; I sat alone in a quiet study with a kudzu curtain spread to ward off flies, a silver bowl holding sweet wine from Shanyin, which I sometimes took to ease the pain, and read histories at will, twenty scrolls a day. I had no teacher, and sometimes did not recognize a character or understand a phrase, yet I valued it myself and never tired. If the son of an emperor in the ease of childhood could be like this, how much more should commoners who hope to get ahead? Ancient people studied diligently: some gripped an awl, some threw down an axe, some read by the snow's light or by a gathered fireflies' glow, some hoed with a classic tied to them, some herded with bamboo slips bound together, and these were also counted as diligent. In the Liang dynasty Liu Qi of Pengcheng, the grandson of Liu Bo, governor of Jiaozhou, lost his father early and was poor, and since lamp oil and candles were hard to come by, he often bought reeds, broke them into pieces by the inch, and burned them to read by at night. When Emperor Xiaoyuan first went out to Kuaiji, he carefully selected his staff, and Qi, for his talent, was made Attendant of the state and also Secretary, and was treated with special courtesy [a rare character lost], finally reaching the rank of Golden Purple Grand Master. Zhu Zhan of Yiyang lived for generations in Jiangling and later went out [a rare character lost] to the capital; he loved learning and had no means because of poverty; for days on end he did not eat [a rare character lost] and would at times swallow paper to fill his belly; in the cold he had no felt or quilt and slept hugging a dog, and the dog, being also hungry, got up to steal food, and when called did not come, and its pitiful cries moved the neighbors, yet he did not neglect his studies and finally became a scholar, rising to be Recorder Staff Officer under Zhennan, and was treated with courtesy by Emperor Xiaoyuan. This was something that cannot be imitated, but he too was one of the diligent. Zang Fengshi of Dongguan, at over twenty, wanted to read Ban Gu's Book of Han but was troubled by the short loan period, so he begged his brother-in-law Liu Huan for the blank ends of calling cards and letters and copied out a copy by hand; the commandery admired his ambition, and he became known in the end for the Book of Han. In Qi there was the eunuch palace attendant Tian Pengluan, originally a Man tribesman, who at fourteen or fifteen, when he first became a palace gatekeeper, already knew to love learning, carrying books in his sleeves and bosom and reciting them from dawn to dusk. His position was lowly and his labors hard, but he would watch for a free moment to go around and ask questions, and whenever he sat in the Wenlin Hall he was panting and sweating, and apart from asking about books he had no time for other talk; when he saw ancient stories of integrity and righteousness, he never failed to be moved and murmur over them for a long time. I pitied him greatly and rewarded him doubly. Later he was favored and given the name Jingxuan, and rose to Palace Attendant with the rank of Kaifu. When the last ruler fled to Qingzhou, he was sent west to scout, was captured by the Zhou army, and when asked where the King of Qi was, he deceived them that he had already left and was probably about to cross the border. They suspected he did not mean it, beat him and pressed him to confess, and each time a limb was broken his words and expression grew more fierce, until he died with all four limbs severed. A boy of the Man barbarians could still become loyal through learning; the generals and ministers of Qi were not even equal to Jingxuan's slaves. After Ye was pacified, I was relocated into the pass; Silu once said to me: “At court I have no salary or post and at home we have no savings; I ought to use up my strength to support you; yet each time I am pressed to study the classics and histories diligently, and I do not know whether it is right for a son to be at ease.” I ordered him to say: A son should hold support in his mind, and a father should teach through learning. If you make me give up learning to pursue wealth in order to enrich my clothing and food, how could the food be sweet to me and the clothing warm? If I devote myself to the Way of the former kings and continue the family trade, then wild greens [a rare character lost] and coarse brown cloth are what I am willing to have. The Book of Documents says that one who likes to ask questions has plenty; the Book of Rites says that one who studies alone without friends is narrow-minded and poorly informed; probably one needs mutual polishing and enlightenment to understand. I have seen many who shut their doors to read, trust their own mind and are self-satisfied, and who are mistaken before a crowd and feel shame. The Guliang Commentary says that Prince You fought with Ju Na, and those around called out “Meng Lao”; Meng Lao is the name of a precious sword of Lu, which also appears in the Guangya. Recently, when I was in Qi, there was a Jiang Zhongyue who said that the people at the prince's side were surnamed Meng and named Lao, a man of great strength, treasured by the state, and he argued bitterly with me. At the time the governor of Qinghe, Xing Zhi, was a great scholar of his day and helped to prove my point, and only then did he flush with shame and give in. Again, the Records of the Three Capital Districts says that on the pillar of Emperor Ling's hall was inscribed “How imposing is Zhang, the young man Tian of the capital”; this is a quotation from the Analects, used by chance as a four-character epithet for Tian Feng of the capital. A certain talented man claimed that both the capital governor Zhang and Young Tian were imposing at that time. On hearing what I said, he was at first greatly startled, and afterward felt shame and regret. In Jiangnan a powerful nobleman read a faulty copy of the annotation to the Rhapsody on the Capital of Shu, in which “crouching owl” means taro, but was written with the character for “sheep.” When someone sent him mutton, he replied in his letter: “I am much obliged for your gift of crouching owl,” and the whole court was startled and could not understand the meaning, and only long afterward did they trace it down and learn how it was. In the time of the Yuan family at the capital Luoyang, a talented and important minister had newly obtained the Pronunciations of the Records of the Historian, which was rather flawed; he mistakenly gave the fanqie for the word Zhuanxu, where xu should have been read with the final of “xu lu,” but he wrote it as “xu yuan,” and then one by one he cited all the mistaken pronunciations of the past, saying that “Zhuan Xu” should be read “Zhuan Xuan.” This man already had a great name and people believed and followed him in unison. A year later some great scholars studied it bitterly and only then found that it was wrong. The Book of Han's appraisal of Wang Mang says “a purple-colored [a rare character lost] voice, a leftover and intercalary position,” which means that the false was used to confuse the true. Once I was discussing books with someone and talked about Wang Mang's appearance, and a gifted man who prided himself on historical learning and whose reputation was very high said that Wang Mang not only had owl's eyes and a tiger's mouth, but also a purple complexion and a frog's voice. Again, the Treatise on Rites and Music says that mare's milk wine was given to the Grand Provisioner, and Li Qi's commentary says that the wine was made from mare's milk, pounded and pounded until done, with both characters having the hand radical. “Chong” (pronounced du-shu fan) and “dong” (pronounced da-kong fan) mean pounding, ramming, and churning, and so it is today in making koumiss. That scholar then thought it was when the tung trees were planted that the Grand Provisioner's mare's milk wine had just finished brewing; his ignorance came to this. Yang Su of Taishan also claimed learning, but read Pan Yue's rhapsody line “the date of King Wen of Zhou with weak twigs” with “staff” as in leaning on a staff; and in the Shiben, “Rong Cheng made the calendar,” he took “calendar” to be the “mill” of a grinding stone. In speaking and composing, quoting ancient pronunciations must be done by one's own eyes in study, and one must not trust what one receives by ear. Among scholar-officials in the villages of Jiangnan, some, lacking learning and ashamed to seem crude, hear things on the road and force themselves to dress up their speech: they call “testing evidence” “Zhou Zheng,” call cholera “Bo Lu,” say “west of the gorges” when going up to Jingzhou and say “going to the sea commandery” when going down to Yangdu, say “fill the mouth with paste” for eating, “Kong Fang” for money, “Chuqiu” for moving house, “Yan Er” for marriage, and as for Wang, they always say Zhongxuan and for Liu always Gonggan; there are some one or two hundred such items, passed down by imitation, and when asked no one knows the source, and when used they again lose the Zhuangzi sense. There is the phrase “a magpie rising when the time comes,” and thus Xie Tiao's poem says “the magpies rise and ascend the Wu Terrace.” I had a relative on my mother's side who wrote a poem for the Seventh Night saying “Tonight the magpies of the Wu Terrace also go together to fill the river.” The Record of Mount Luofu says that looking at trees on level ground they look like shepherd's purse, and thus Dai Hao's poem says “the trees of Chang'an are like shepherd's purse”; and in Ye a man in a poem about trees said “looking far to Chang'an's shepherd's purse.” I have also seen people call arrogance “kuapi” and call the aged “rich in springs and autumns,” all faults of learning by ear. Characters are the root of the books and records, yet many students of the world do not know characters. Those who read the Five Classics follow Xu Miao rather than Xu Shen, those who study rhapsodies trust Chu Quan and ignore Lü Chen, those who understand the Records of the Historian specialize in Pi and Zou and neglect the seal and large-seal scripts, those who study the Book of Han delight in Ying and Su and neglect the Cang and the Ya, not knowing that the sound of writing is its branches and leaves and the study of characters is its ancestral line. As for seeing the Pronunciations and Meanings of Fu [a rare character lost] and Zhang Yi, they value them, but when they get the Tongsu and the Guangya they do not deign to look at them; being so fickle with one hand, how much more across different periods and different persons! [The people of the world all take the Tongsu wen as made by Fu [a rare character lost]. I do not know whether they look down on it because it is not by Fu [a rare character lost], or look down on it because they think it is by Fu [a rare character lost], so this discussion goes with the common view.] A learner values wide learning. Of commanderies, states, mountains, rivers, official ranks, surnames and clans, clothing, food and drink, vessels and institutions, they all want to trace to the root, yet toward writing they are careless. Their own names often have errors, and even if they are not wrong they do not know the reason. In recent times people have given names to their sons so that brothers all have the mountain radical and one is named Zhi, brothers all have the wood radical and one is named Ji, brothers all have the water radical and one is named Ning. Famous scholars and great learners have many such examples. If someone knows that my bell is out of tune, how laughable it is. I once followed the King of Qi to Bingzhou, entering Shangai county from the Jingxing Pass, and several dozen li to the east there was a village named Lielü; later the officials received horse fodder in the east of Jinyang, over a hundred li away, beside the city of Kangchou; none of us recognized what these two places originally were, and searching widely through ancient and modern sources we could not find out. When I checked the Zilin and the Yunji, I learned that Lielü was formerly a [a rare character lost] remainder village [pronounced like “lie” of fang], and Kangchou was formerly a [a rare character lost] [a rare character lost] pavilion [the upper one pronounced wu-an fan, the lower one chou], both belonging to Shangai. At that time Wang Shao of Taiyuan wished to write notes on the records of his home district and was delighted to hear these two names. When I first read the Zhuangzi “the gui with two heads,” and the Hanfeizi says that [a rare character lost] there is a gui whose one body has two mouths that fight over food, bite each other, and so kill each other, I did not recognize what sound this character had and asked everyone I met, and none could explain it. According to the Erya and other books, the pupa of the silkworm is called gui [pronounced kui], and it is not a thing with two heads and two mouths that greedily harms; later I saw the Gujin Zipu, and this is also the old form of the character hui for viper, and what had been stuck for years was suddenly dispelled like fog. Once, traveling in Zhaozhou, I saw a small stream north of Bairen City, which the locals also did not know the name of. Later I read Xu Zheng's stele at the west gate of the city, which said “the bo flow points east,” and no one recognized it. I checked the Shuowen: this character is the old form of po, and bo describes shallow water. This stream had had no name since the Han, and was called only by its shallow appearance, and perhaps it was in fact named Bo. In letters in the world people often write “wuwu,” passing it down as it has been without knowing the source, and some claim this is a damaged form of “huhu.” According to the Shuowen, wu is the banner set up in districts and villages, which shows its pole and its three streamers, used to hasten the people's affairs, and so those who are hurried are said to be “wuwu.” In Yizhou I once sat with several people; the sun had just cleared and was bright, and seeing small spots of light on the ground I asked those beside me what they were. A Shu boy went over to look and answered: “Those are dou bi.” We looked at one another in astonishment, not knowing what he meant; we had them fetched and they were small beans. Asking all over the Shu region, we found that grains are called bi there, and at the time no one could explain it. I said: In the Sancang and the Shuowen this character has bai below [a rare character lost] and both gloss it as grain, and the Tongsu wen gives the sound as fang-li fan. Everyone was delighted and enlightened. Dou Rutong, the brother-in-law of Minchu, came from Hezhou and got a blue bird that he tamed and kept as a pet, and his whole clan called it a he. I said that the he comes from Shangdang, I have seen it many times, and it is always yellow-black without mottling, so Prince Si of Chen's Rhapsody on the He says “the strong feathers of [a rare character lost] [a rare character lost] yellow.” Try checking the Shuowen: the fen (pronounced fen) sparrow resembles the he but is blue and comes from among the Qiang, and the Yunji gives the pronunciation as fen; this doubt was resolved at once. In the Liang era there was Cai Lang, whose personal name was Chun, and since he did not study, he called the water shield (chun) “dew mallow.” Those who face the wall copied one another in turn. In the Chengsheng era a scholar-official was sent as envoy to Qi, and the Qi master of guests, Li Shu, asked the Liang envoy: “Is there dew mallow in Jiangnan?” He answered: “Dew mallow is the water shield, produced in watery regions. What you are eating now is green mallow greens.” Li was also learned, but could not gauge the depth of the other, and hearing it suddenly had no way to investigate it further. The brother-in-law of Silu and the others, the uncle by marriage Liu Ling of Pengcheng, once sat with me, with his sons attending at his side. I asked Ruxing and Minxing: “Characters that have the same sound as the personal name of the Counselor, can you recognize all of them, in whatever number?” They answered: “We have not looked into it; please instruct us.” I said: In a case like this, if you do not investigate beforehand and suddenly come on one you do not recognize, and mistakenly ask someone about it, you may instead be cheated by a rascal, and that is not easy to put right. So I told them, and came to some fifty characters. The Lius sighed: “We never expected it was so; if we had never known it, that would also be a strange thing.” Collating and correcting books is also by no means easy; only [a rare character lost] Xiong and Liu Xiang were fit for this post. If one has not looked at all the books in the world, one must not recklessly apply orpiment to them. Some think this wrong and others think it right; or the beginning is the same and the end differs; or both texts are missing; one must not trust one corner alone.

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Literature originally comes from the Five Classics: edicts, commands, policy memorials, and proclamations arise from the Book of Documents; prefaces, narratives, treatises, and debates arise from the Changes; songs, rhapsodies, and hymns arise from the Songs; sacrificial and mourning texts and eulogies arise from the Rites; memorials, admonitions, and inscriptions arise from the Spring and Autumn Annals. The court's statutes, military oaths and proclamations, the spreading of benevolence and righteousness, the illuminating of merit and virtue, the shepherding of people and founding of states, are applied in many ways; as for refining the spirit and offering gentle admonition, to enter into its savor is also a pleasure. If you have energy left over from conduct, you may practice it. Yet from antiquity literary men have mostly fallen into frivolity: Qu Yuan displayed his talent [a rare character lost] and exposed his ruler's faults; Song Yu had a handsome and delicate appearance and was treated as a jester; Dongfang Shuo was a buffoon and not elegant; Sima Xiangru stole wealth and lacked principle; Wang Bao's faults appear in the Contract of the Servant; [a rare character lost] Xiong's virtue was ruined by his Praise of the New Dynasty; Li Ling surrendered in disgrace to the barbarians; Liu Xin turned back and forth in the age of Wang Mang; Fu Yi joined a powerful household's faction; Ban Gu plagiarized his father's history; Zhao Yuanshu was excessively haughty; Feng Jingtong was shunned for flashiness; Ma Jizhang was mocked for fawning; Cai Yong was executed for sympathizing with an evil man; Wu Zhi slandered his own village; Cao Zhi was unruly and broke the law; Du Du begged for favors without end; Lu Cui was excessively narrow; Chen Lin was really coarse; Fan Qin had no restraint in his nature; Liu Zhen was stubborn and sentenced to labor; Wang Can was rash and disliked; Kong Rong and Mi Heng died of arrogance and pride; Yang Xiu and Ding Yi were killed for stirring up trouble; Ruan Ji was rude and spoiled customs; Ji Kang bullied others and [a rare character lost] met his end; Fu [a rare character lost] lost office over a quarrel; Sun Chu boasted and bullied those above him; Lu Ji went against order and walked into danger; Pan Yue gambled on chances and met peril; Yan Yannian was dismissed in a fit of temper; Xie Lingyun was empty-headed and disordered discipline; Wang Yuanchang [a rare character lost] brought harm upon himself; Xie [a rare character lost] Hui was undone by insolence. These people were all outstanding, and I cannot record them all, but that is the general picture. Even emperors may not be exempt. Of emperors with literary talent since antiquity, only Emperor Wu of Han, Taizu, Emperor Wen and Emperor Ming of Wei, and Emperor Xiaowu of Song bore the world's criticism; they were not rulers of excellent virtue. Of men such as Ziyou, Zixia, Xun Kuang, Mencius, Mei Cheng, Jia Yi, Su Wu, Zhang Heng, and Zuo Si, who had great fame and escaped misfortune, I occasionally hear of a few, but more were damaged and ruined. I have often reflected and traced the origin of the accumulation: the form of literature lifts up inspiration and draws out the spirit, making people boastful, and so they neglect to hold to principles and are bold in pushing forward. The literati of today suffer this more acutely: when one matter hits the mark or one line is clean and clever, their spirit soars to the ninth heaven and their will bestrides a thousand years, and they chant and admire themselves without noticing that anyone else exists. Moreover the injury of gravel is crueler than a spear [a rare character lost], and the disaster of satire is swifter than wind and dust; one should guard against this and think ahead to preserve one's great good fortune. Learning has its sharp and dull, literary writing its skillful and clumsy. Dull learning, accumulating effort, does no harm to becoming thoroughly skilled; clumsy writing, studied and pondered, in the end remains ugly. If one only becomes a learned man, that is enough to be a person; if one certainly lacks natural talent, do not force yourself to take up the brush. I have seen many people who are without literary thought yet consider themselves refined and circulate ugly and clumsy work. In Jiangnan this is called “an advertisement of foolishness” (ling, pronounced li-zheng fan). Recently in Bingzhou there was a man of good family who liked to write laughable poems and rhapsodies, and provoked the likes of Xing and Wei; the crowd mocked him together while falsely praising him, and he killed an ox and strained wine to invite more reputation. His wife was a woman of clear judgment and wept as she remonstrated with him. The man sighed: “If my talent is not tolerated by my own wife, how much less by strangers on the road!” and he never realized his error to his death. To see oneself as one is called clear sight, and this is truly difficult. When learning to write, first consult relatives and friends, and only after receiving their judgment set it out; above all, do not trust your own mind and take it on yourself, becoming a laughingstock to others. From ancient times how many have taken up the brush to compose, beyond counting, yet only a few dozen pieces reach the level of grandeur and essence. If one does not lose the proper form and the diction and meaning are worth looking at, he may be called a man of talent; if you want to move the vulgar and overshadow the age, you will have to wait for the Yellow River to run clear. Not to bend to a second family was the integrity of Bo Yi and Shu Qi; “what business is not serving a ruler” was the righteousness of Yi Yin and Jizi. Since the Spring and Autumn period, families have fled and states have been swallowed up, and ruler and minister have had no fixed standing. Yet the friendship of gentlemen never speaks ill when it breaks; once one bends the knee to serve another, how can one change one's mind with survival or loss? Chen Lin, drafting letters for Yuan Shao, called Cao Cao a jackal and wolf, and, issuing proclamations in Wei, regarded Yuan Shao as a snake and viper; this was commanded by the rulers of the time and was not at his own discretion, but it is also a great trouble for a literary man and should be weighed calmly. Someone asked [a rare character lost] Xiong: “You, sir, loved rhapsodies when young.” Xiong said: “Yes. Carving insects and engraving seals is not what a grown man does.” I privately objected: Emperor Shun sang the poem “South Wind,” the Duke of Zhou composed the ode “Owl,” and the beauty of the Ya and Song by Yin Jifu and Shi Ke, and I have not heard that any of them harmed their virtue in their [a rare character lost] years. Confucius said that without studying the Songs one cannot speak; after returning from Wei to Lu, the Ya and Song each found their place in the music, and in making clear the Way of filial piety he also cited the Songs as proof. How would [a rare character lost] Xiong dare slight this? If one speaks of the poets' rhapsodies being fine and regulated and the writers' rhapsodies being fine and licentious, he only knew change, and I do not know what Xiong's calling himself a grown man amounted to. He wrote Criticizing Qin and Praising Xin, and recklessly threw himself from the pavilion, panicking and terrified, not understanding the mandate of Heaven; this was a child's act. Huan Tan thought it surpassed Laozi, and Ge Hong compared it to Zhongni, which makes one sigh. This man, only because he understood calculation and knew yin and yang, wrote his Supreme [a rare character lost] Classic and was misled by those few men. His left-behind words and conduct did not equal Xunzi or Qu Yuan; how dare he look up to the clear dust of the great sage? Moreover, what use at all is the Supreme [a rare character lost] now? It is only fit for covering sauce jars. In Qi there was Xin Pi, a pure and capable man who rose to be Secretary of the branch secretariat, who scorned literature and mocked Liu Ti, saying: “Your fine phrases are like flowers, a toy of a moment and not great talent; how can they compare with our ten-fathom pines, which always face wind and frost and cannot wither?” Liu replied at once: “If there are cold-resistant trees that also put out spring blossoms, what then?” Xin laughed and said: “That will do.” Writing is like a person riding a thoroughbred: though it has high spirit, it must be controlled with bit and bridle, not allowed to run wild off the track and fill the ditch at will [a rare character lost]. Writing should take reason and tone as its heart and kidneys, spirit and cadence as its sinews and bones, subject matter and meaning as its skin, and beauty and ornament as its crown. In the present age people follow one another in chasing the tip and abandoning the root, and mostly are flashy: diction competes with reason, and when diction wins, reason lies hidden; subject matter contends with talent, and when matter is abundant, talent is damaged. The unrestrained drift on and forget to return; the forced and far-fetched patch and still fall short. Such are the customs of the time; how can I alone go against them? I only strive to drop what is excessive and extreme. If someone of great talent and weighty reputation appears who can reform the style, that is truly what I hope for. The writings of the ancients had grand talent and unrestrained spirit, and their bearing and style are truly far from today's, though their stringing together was sparse and plain and not yet fine and dense. Today's world has harmonious and delicate tones, parallel couplets in chapters and lines, and detailed avoidance of taboos, and is much better than the past. One should take the ancients' regulation as the root and today's diction and meter as the branches, and both must be kept, neither discarded one-sidedly. My family's writings through the generations have been very correct and standard, and do not follow common fashion. When Emperor Xiaoyuan of Liang was in his princely residence he compiled the New Writings of the Western Prefecture, and not a single piece from our family's historical biographies was included, also because they did not suit the age and had no tunes of Zheng and Wei. We had twenty scrolls of poems, rhapsodies, inscriptions, eulogies, letters, memorials, and notes [a rare character lost], and my brothers were still drafting and had not arranged them, when they were burned by fire and in the end were not handed down to the world, and the grief of it has gone to the marrow of my heart. Our conduct appears in the Biographies of Literary Men in the History of Liang and in Emperor Xiaoyuan's Records of Old Friends. Shen Yue said: writing should follow three easy points: first, easy to see the allusions; second, easy to recognize the characters; third, easy to read and recite. Xing Zicai often said: Marquis Shen's writing uses allusions without letting people notice, like words from the heart; and he admired this deeply. Zu Xiaozheng also once told me: “Shen's poem says ‘the cliff leans and guards the stone marrow’; how does that look like using an allusion?” Xing Zicai and Wei Shou both had great fame, and the customs of the time took them as standards and regarded them as teachers and masters. Xing admired Shen Yue and looked down on Ren Fang, while Wei admired Ren Fang and disparaged Shen Yue, and in conversation their tone and expressions were affected by this; in Ye there was a flurry of opinion with each having his own faction. Zu Xiaozheng once said to me: “The right and wrong of Ren and Shen is the superiority and inferiority of Xing and Wei.” The Collected Works of Wu Jun has a Rhapsody on the Broken Mirror. In the past, a town named Chaoge was not stayed in overnight by Yan Yuan, and a village named Shengmu (Victory over the Mother) made Zengzi straighten his robe, out of dislike that a bad name would harm the reality. The broken mirror is a [a rare character lost] rebellious beast, found in the Book of Han, and in writing one is fortunate to avoid this name. Recently I have often seen those who answer someone else's poem titling it “Respectfully in Accord.” The Classic of Filial Piety says “taking the way of serving the father to serve the ruler, and the reverence is the same,” so one must not use the phrase lightly. In the Liang era Fei Xu's poem says “I do not know whether it is right or wrong,” and Yin Yun's poem says “the drifting boat of mica clouds.” Emperor Jianwen said: Xu does not recognize his father, and Yun makes his mother drift. Although these are all old matters, they cannot be used. Some in the world write essays citing the Songs' “beating the drum, boom boom,” and the Book of Song already has a mocking remark about repeatedly roaming; such things should be avoided. Facing north to serve one's parent while bidding farewell to an uncle and yet writing the ode “Wei Yang”; or supporting the aged in the hall while seeing off one's elder brother and yet composing the sorrow of “Cypress Boat”: these are great errors. Taking this one example, one should be careful everywhere. When Jiangnan writing is offered for criticism, one should know a flaw and correct it at once, as the Prince of Chen got from Ding Yi. In the customs of Shandong, argument and disputation are not conducted, and when I first entered Ye I offended people by this, and regret it to this day; you must not criticize lightly. In all cases of writing on behalf of someone else, one uses that person's voice; that is only proper. But as for those who mourn [a rare character lost] misfortunes,

辭不可輒代蔡邕為胡金盈作母靈表頌曰悲母氏之不永然委我而夙喪又為胡顥作其父銘曰我考議郎君袁三公頌曰猗歟我祖出自有媯王粲為潘文則思親詩云躬此勞瘁鞠予小人庶我顯妣克保遐年而並載乎邕粲之集此例甚眾古人之所行今世以為諱陳思王武帝誄遂深永蟄之思潘岳悼亡賦乃愴手澤之遺是方父於蟲匹婦於考也蔡邕楊秉碑雲統大麓之重潘尼贈盧景宣詩云九五思飛龍孫楚王驃騎誄雲奄忽登遐陸機又誄雲億兆宅心敦敘百揆姊誄雲俔天之和今為此言則朝廷之辠人也王粲贈楊德祖詩云我君餞之其樂洩洩不可妄施人子況儲君乎輓歌辭者或雲古者虞嬪之歌或雲出自田橫之客皆為生者悼往苦哀之意陸平原多為死人自嘆之言詩格既無此例又乖製作本意凢詩人之作刺箴美頌各有源流未嘗混雜善惡同篇也陸機為齊謳篇前敘山川物產風教之盛後章忽鄙山川之情踈失厥體其為吳趨行何不陳子光夫差乎京洛行何不述赧王靈帝乎自古宏才博學用事誤者有矣百家雜說或有不同書儻湮滅後人不見故未敢輕議之今指知決紕繆者略舉一兩端以為誡詩云有鷕雉鳴又曰雉鳴求其牡毛傳亦曰鷕雉雌聲又云雉之朝鴝尚求其雌鄭注月令亦云雊雄雉鳴潘岳賦曰雉鷕鷕以朝雊是則混雜其雄雌矣詩云孔懷兄弟孔甚也懷思也言甚可思也陸機與長沙顧母書述從祖弟士璜死乃言痛心防惱有如孔懷心旣痛矣即為甚思何故言有如也觀其此意當謂親兄弟為孔懷詩云父母孔邇而呼二親為孔邇於義通乎異物志雲擁劍狀如蟹但一偏大爾何遜詩云躍魚如擁劒是不分魚蟹也漢書御史府中列栢樹常有野鳥數千棲宿其上晨去暮來號朝夕鳥而文士往往誤作烏鳶用之抱朴子說頃曼都詐稱得仙自雲仙人以流霞一杯與我飲之輒不飢渴而簡文詩云霞流抱朴椀亦猶郭象以惠施之辨為莊周言也後漢書囚司徒崔烈以鋃鐺鏁【上音狼下音當】鋃鐺大鏁也世間多誤作金銀字烈太子亦是數千卷學士嘗作詩云銀鏁三公腳刀撞僕射頭為俗所誤文章地理必須愜當梁簡文雁門太守行乃雲鵞軍功日逐燕騎蕩康居大宛歸善馬小月送降書蕭子暉隴頭水雲天寒隴水急散漫俱分防北注徂黃龍東流防白馬此亦明珠之纇美玉之瑕宜慎之王籍入若耶溪詩云蟬噪林逾靜鳥鳴山更幽江南以為文外斷絶物無異議簡文吟詠不能忘之孝元諷詠以為不可復得至懷舊志載於籍傳范陽盧詢鄴下才俊乃言此不成語何事於能魏收亦然其論詩云蕭蕭馬鳴悠悠斾旌毛傳曰言不諠譁也吾每嘆此解有情致籍詩生於此意耳蘭陵蕭慤梁室上黃侯之子工於篇什嘗有秋詩云芙蓉露下落楊柳月中踈時人未之賞也吾愛其蕭防宛然在目潁川荀仲舉琅琊諸葛漢亦以為爾而盧思道之徒雅所不愜何遜詩實為清巧多形佀之言楊都論者恨其每病苦辛饒貧寒氣不及劉孝綽之雍容也雖然劉甚忌之平生誦何詩云蘧居響北闕防防【乎麥反】不道車又撰詩苑止取何兩篇時人譏其不廣劉孝綽當時既有重名無所與讓唯服謝朓常以謝詩置几案間動靜輒諷味簡文愛陶淵明文亦復如此江南語曰梁有三何子朗最多三何者遜及思澄子朗也子朗信饒清巧思澄遊廬山每有佳篇併為冠絶

the wording must not be readily written on behalf of others. Cai Yong wrote the Eulogy at the Spirit Tablet for Hu Jinying's mother, saying: “I grieve that my mother's years were not long, that she left me and died early.” And in the inscription he wrote for Hu Hao's father he said: [a rare character lost] “my late father, the Counselor.” And the Eulogy of the Three Dukes of Yuan says: “Splendid is my ancestor, who came from the Gui lineage.” Wang Can, writing for Pan Wenze the Poem on Missing Parents, said: “In this toil and exhaustion, you raised me, a small man; may my illustrious mother preserve long years.” Yet all these are included in the collections of Cai Yong and Wang Can. There are many such examples; what the ancients did is taboo in the present age. Prince Si of Chen's Elegy for Emperor Wu thereby deepened the thought of a sleeping insect, and Pan Yue's Rhapsody on Mourning the Dead thereby grieved over the traces left by hand; this is comparing a father to an insect and a wife to a deceased father. Cai Yong's Stele of Yang Bing says “bearing the weight of the great foothills,” Pan Ni's poem to Lu Jingxuan says “the Ninth-Five thinks of the soaring dragon,” Sun Chu's Elegy for General Wang says “suddenly ascending afar,” Lu Ji's elegy also says “the hundred million hearts rest on him, and he fully orders the hundred officials,” and the elegy for his sister says “the sister of Heaven's counterpart.” To say these things now would make one a criminal of the court. Wang Can's poem to Yang Deyu says “our lord sees him off, how joyful and at ease”; one must not apply this recklessly to someone else's son, let alone to the crown prince. As for dirge lyrics, some say they were the funeral songs of the ancients, and some say they come from the retainers of Tian Heng; all were meant by the living to mourn the departed with bitter grief. Lu Ji often wrote them as words of self-lament by the dead, which has no precedent in the form of poetry and also goes against the original intent of composition. In all poetry by poets, satire, admonition, praise, and eulogy each have their own origins, and good and evil have never been mixed in one piece. Lu Ji wrote the Song of Qi, describing first the splendor of the mountains, rivers, products, and customs, and then in a later stanza suddenly belittling the feelings toward the mountains and rivers, which loses the form. In his other piece, Walking on Wu, why does he not set out Prince Guang and Fuchai? In his Song of the Capital Luoyang, why does he not tell of King Nan and Emperor Ling? From antiquity great talents and wide learners have made errors in using allusions, and various miscellaneous schools have their differences; and if books are lost and later people cannot see them, I dare not criticize lightly. Now I will point out only what I certainly know is flawed, citing one or two cases as warnings. The Songs says “the pheasant cries yao,” and also says “the pheasant cries seeking its mate,” and the Mao commentary also says yao is the cry of the hen pheasant; it also says “the pheasant's morning cry still seeks its female,” and Zheng [a rare character lost]'s commentary on the Monthly Ordinances also says gou is the cry of the cock pheasant. Pan Yue's rhapsody says “the pheasant cries yao yao in the morning gou,” which mixes up male and female. The Songs says “very thoughtful brothers”: kong means very, huai means think, so it means greatly to be thought of. Lu Ji, in a letter to Mrs. Gu of Changsha, describing the death of his cousin Shihuang, said “my heart is pained and [a rare character lost] troubled, as if it were kong huai.” If the heart is already pained, then it is very thoughtful; why say “as if”? Judging from his meaning, it seems he is calling his full brothers “kong huai.” The Songs says “parents are very near”; if one called one's parents “very near,” would it make sense? The Record of Strange Things says that the “sword-holder” (a crab) looks like a crab, but one [a rare character lost] pincer is larger. He Xun's poem says “leaping fish like sword-holders,” which fails to tell fish from crab. The Book of Han says that cypress trees were lined up in the Censorate, and there were always several thousand wild birds roosting on them, leaving in the morning and returning in the evening, called the morning-evening birds, and literary men often misuse this to mean crows and kites. The Baopuzi says that Qing Mandu falsely claimed to have become an immortal, and said an immortal gave him a cup of flowing rosy cloud to drink, and he no longer felt hunger or thirst, and Emperor Jianwen's poem says “the cloud flows through Baopu's bowl,” which is also like Guo Xiang taking Hui Shi's argument for Zhuang Zhou's words. The Book of the Later Han says that the Minister of Education Cui Lie was imprisoned and bound with langdang (the former pronounced lang, the latter dang); langdang is a large lock. In the world it is often mistaken for the character for silver. [a rare character lost] Lie's crown prince was also a scholar who had read several thousand scrolls, and once wrote a poem saying “a silver lock on the three dukes' feet, a knife strikes the Palace Secretary's head,” misled by common use. In writing, geography must be accurate. Emperor Jianwen of Liang's Governor of Yanmen says “the goose army attacks the Rizhu, the swallow cavalry sweeps Kangju, Dayuan returns good horses, the Little Yuezhi send surrender letters”; Xiao Zihui's Water of Longtou says “the cold sky, the Long water is swift, scattered and spread all branching [a rare character lost], flowing north toward Huanglong, and east flowing [a rare character lost] Baima.” These are flaws in a bright pearl and blemishes in fine jade, and one should be careful. Wang Ji's poem on Entering the Ruoye Stream says “the cicadas' noise makes the forest quieter, the birds' song makes the mountain more secluded”; in Jiangnan people thought it unmatched beyond the text and no one disagreed. Emperor Jianwen chanted it and could not forget it, Emperor Xiaoyuan recited it and thought it could not be obtained again, and the Records of Old Friends includes it in Ji's biography. Lu Xun of Fanyang, a talented man of Ye, however said this is not language, and how could it count as skill? Wei Shou did likewise. Discussing poetry, they speak of “xiao xiao the horses neigh, you you the banners wave,” which the Mao commentary says means not noisy. I have often sighed that this explanation has charm, and Ji's poem is born from this idea. Xiao Que of Lanling, the son of the Marquis of Shanghuang of the Liang house, was skilled at composing; he once wrote an autumn poem saying “the lotus drops its dew, the willows thin out in the moonlight,” which people at the time did not appreciate. I loved how the desolation [a rare character lost] was plain before my eyes, and Xun Zhongju of Yingchuan and Zhuge Han of Langye also thought so, but Lu Sidao and others were very unsatisfied. He Xun's poetry is truly clear and clever, with many words describing form. Critics in Yangdu regretted that he often suffered bitterness and had much of a poor and cold air, not equal to Liu Xiaochuo's graceful bearing. Even so, Liu was very jealous of him; throughout his life when reciting He's poems he said “Qu's dwelling echoes in the north gate” [a rare character lost] [a rare character lost] [pronounced hu-mai fan] not mentioning the carriage; and when compiling the Garden of Poetry he took only two pieces by He, and people at the time criticized him for not being broad. Liu Xiaochuo already had great fame at the time and yielded to no one, submitting only to Xie Tiao; he often kept Xie's poems on his desk and recited them on every occasion. Emperor Jianwen's love for Tao Yuanming's writings was also like this. A saying of Jiangnan says: in Liang there are three He, and Zilang has the most. The three He are Xun, Sicheng, and Zilang. Zilang truly had much that was clear and clever, and Sicheng, when touring Mount Lu, always produced fine pieces, all of the very first rank.

名之與實猶形之與影也德藝周厚則名必善焉容色姝麗則影必美焉今不修身而求令名於世者猶貌甚惡而責妍影於鏡也上士忘名中士立名下士竊名忘名者體道合德享鬼神之福祐非所以求名也立名者修身慎行懼榮觀之不顯非所以讓名也竊名者厚貌深奸幹浮華之虛稱非所以得名也人足所履不過數寸然而咫尺之途必顛蹷於崖岸拱抱之梁每沈溺於川穀者何哉為其傍無餘地故也君子之立已抑亦如之至誠之言人未能信至潔之行物或致疑皆由言行聲名無餘地也吾每為人所毀常以此自責若能開方軌之路廣造舟之航則仲由之言信重於登壇之盟趙喜之降城賢於折沖之將矣吾見世人清名登而金貝入信譽顯而然諾虧不知後之矛防毀前之幹櫓也宓子賤雲誠於此者形於彼人之虛實真偽在乎心無不見乎跡但察之未熟耳一為察之所鑑巧偽不如拙誠承之以羞大矣伯石讓卿王莽辭政當於爾時自以巧宻後人書之留傳萬代可為骨寒毛竪也近有大貴孝悌著聲前後居喪哀毀逾制亦足以髙於人矣而嘗以苫塊之中以巴豆塗臉遂使成瘡表哭泣之過左右童竪不能掩之益使外人謂其居處飲食皆為不信以一偽喪百誠者乃貪名不已故也有一士族讀書不過二三百卷天才鈍拙而家世殷厚雅自矜持多以酒犢珍玩交諸名士甘其餌者遞相吹噓朝廷以為文華亦嚐出境聘東萊王韓晉明篤好文學疑彼製作多非機杼遂設防言面相討試竟日歡諧辭人滿席屬音賦韻命筆為詩彼造次即成了非向韻眾客各自沈吟遂無覺者韓退嘆曰果如所量韓又嘗問曰王珽杼上終葵首嘗作何形乃答雲珽頭曲圜勢如葵葉耳韓既有學忍笑為吾說之治防子弟文章以為聲價太事也一則不可常繼終露其情二則學者有憑益不精勵鄴下有一少年出為襄國令頗自勉篤公事經懷每加撫防以求聲譽凢遣兵役握手送離或齎棃棗餅餌人人贈別雲上命相煩情所不忍道路飢渴以此見思民庶稱之不容於口及遷為泗州別駕貲費日廣不可常週一有偽情觸塗難繼功績遂敗損矣或問曰夫神滅形消遺聲餘價亦猶蟬殻虵皮獸迒鳥跡耳何預於死者而聖人以為教乎對曰勸也勸其立名則獲其實且勸一伯夷而千萬人立清風矣勸一季札而千萬人立仁風矣勸一柳下惠而千萬人立真風矣勸一史魚而千萬人立直風矣故聖人慾其魚鱗鳯翼雜沓參差不絶於世豈不哉四海悠悠皆慕名者葢因其情而致其善耳抑又論之祖考之嘉名美譽亦子孫之冕服牆宇也自古及今獲其庇者眾矣夫修善立名者亦猶築室樹果生則獲其利死則遺其澤世人汲汲者不達此意若其與魂爽俱升松栢偕茂惑矣哉

Name and reality are like form and shadow. When virtue and skill are broad and deep, the name will surely be good; when one's appearance is handsome, the shadow will surely be beautiful. Those who today do not cultivate themselves yet seek a fine name in the world are like a person with an ugly face demanding a beautiful reflection from the mirror. The superior scholar forgets fame, the middling scholar establishes fame, and the inferior scholar steals fame. One who forgets fame embodies the Way and accords with virtue, and enjoys the blessing of ghosts and spirits, not as a means of seeking fame; one who establishes fame cultivates himself and is careful in conduct, fearing that glory will not be displayed, not to yield fame to others; one who steals fame has a thick face and deep treachery and seeks hollow, showy praise, and that is not how fame is gained. A person's foot treads only a few inches, yet on a path a foot wide at the cliff's edge one is sure to stumble, and a bridge as wide as an armful is often the place where people sink into rivers and valleys; why? Because there is no room to spare at the side. The noble person's establishment of himself is the same. Words of utmost sincerity are not necessarily believed, and conduct of utmost purity may arouse suspicion, all because words, deeds and reputation have no room to spare. Whenever I am slandered, I often blame myself for this. If one could open a broad, upright road and widen a bridge built for boats, then Zhong You's word would be more trusted than a covenant sworn on an altar, and Zhao Xi's surrender of a city would be more worthy than a general who repels attackers. I have seen that in the world, just as a pure name has risen, gold and shells come in, and just as credit is spread, promises are broken, not knowing that the spear behind (a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription) the shield in front. Mi Zijian said: what is sincere here shows there. A person's emptiness or fullness, truth or falsehood lies in the heart, and there is none that does not show in deeds; it is just that one's observation is not careful. Once illuminated by observation, clever falseness is no match for clumsy sincerity, and the shame that follows is great. Bo Shi's yielding the ministership and Wang Mang's declining of office, at the time thought themselves clever and secret, but later people wrote them down and passed them on for ten thousand generations, enough to chill the bones and make the hair stand on end. Recently someone of high rank gained fame for filial piety and brotherly respect, and in mourning he wasted away more than the rites required, which was enough to set him above others, yet while in the mourning hut he once smeared his face with croton oil to make sores on his face to show excessive weeping. His attendants and servants could not cover it up, and even more, outsiders took his daily living and eating to be all unreliable. To lose a hundred sincerities through one falsehood is due to insatiable greed for fame. There was a gentleman who had read no more than two or three hundred scrolls, was dull in natural talent, but whose family was rich and long established and who was good at putting on airs; he used much wine, meat and curios to befriend famous scholars, and those who ate his bait passed his praises along to each other, and the court took him for a man of literary splendor and even sent him on a mission abroad. Han Jinming, Prince of Donglai, was deeply fond of literature and suspected that those works were mostly not from his own loom, so he set up (a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription) a pretext to test him in person, with merriment all day, writers filling the seats, matching tones and rhymes and taking up brushes to compose poems. That man hastily wrote one, utterly unlike his usual flavor, and the guests each hummed to themselves and no one noticed. Han withdrew and sighed: "It is just as I estimated." Han once asked: "Wang Ting, with the 'kuizhong' head on the shuttle, what shape did he make?" He answered: "The head of the ting is curved and round, with the form of a mallow leaf." Han, being learned, held back laughter and told me about it. To have (a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription) the writings of one's sons and younger brothers for the sake of reputation is too (a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription). For two reasons: first, it cannot be kept up constantly and the true state will finally show; second, learners have something to lean on and become even less diligent. In Yexia there was a young man who went out to serve as magistrate of Xiangguo; he drove himself well, took public business to heart, and often treated people kindly (a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription) to seek a reputation. Whenever he dispatched soldiers or laborers, he shook hands in farewell, or sent pears, dates, cakes and sweets, gave each a parting gift, and said: "The order from above troubles you; my feelings cannot bear it; the road is hungry and thirsty." By this he sought to be remembered, and the people praised him without end. When he was promoted to assistant prefect of Sizhou, expenses grew daily and could not always be met, and once there was a false intention, everywhere it was hard to sustain, and his achievements were ruined. Someone asked: when the spirit is extinguished and the form dissolved, the reputation left is only like a cicada's shell, a snake's skin, or the tracks of beasts and birds; what does it have to do with the dead, and yet the sages use it to establish teaching? Answer: it is encouragement. Encourage one to establish a name and he will attain the reality. Moreover, encourage one Boyi, and ten million will establish a pure ethos; encourage one Ji Zha, and ten million will establish a benevolent ethos; encourage one Liuxia Hui, and ten million will establish a true ethos; encourage one Shi Yu, and ten million will establish an upright ethos. So the sages wanted these to be like fish scales and phoenix wings, mingled and varied, unbroken in the world; is that not so (a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription)? All within the four seas admire fame, probably because this feeling is followed to lead toward goodness. Consider one more layer: the fine names and good reputations of ancestors are also the crown, robes and walls of their descendants. From antiquity to the present many have gained shelter (a rare character in the base text, lost in transcription) from them. One who cultivates goodness and establishes a name is like one who builds a house and plants trees: while alive he gains their benefit, and when dead he leaves their blessing. Those who in the world pursue it eagerly do not understand this meaning. If one thinks it can ascend to heaven with the spirit and flourish together with pines and cypresses, that is delusion.