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王 莽 傳 第 六 十 九 下

    四 年 五 月 , 莽 曰 : 「 保 成 師 友 祭 酒 唐 林 、 故 諫 議 祭酒 琅 邪 紀 逡 , 孝 弟 忠 恕 , 敬 上 愛 下 , 博 通 舊 聞 ,德 行 醇 備 , 至 於 黃 髮 , 靡 有 愆 失 。 其 封 林 為 建 德侯 , 逡 為 封 德 侯 , 位 皆 特 進 , 見 禮 如 三 公 。 賜 弟一 區 , 錢 三 百 萬 , 授 几 杖 焉 。 」    

六 月 , 更 授 諸 侯 茅 土 於 明 堂 , 曰 : 「 予 制 作 地 理, 建 封 五 等 , 考 之 經 藝 , 合 之 傳 記 , 通 於 義 理 。

論 之 思之 , 至 於 再 三 , 自 始 建 國 之 元 以 來 九 年 于 茲 , 乃 今 定 矣。 予 親 設 文 石 之 平 , 陳 菁 茅 四 色 之 土 , 欽 告 于 岱宗 泰 社 后 土 、 先 祖 先 妣 , 以 班 授 之 。 各 就 厥 國 ,養 牧 民 人 , 用 成 功 業 。 其 在 緣 邊 , 若 江 南 , 非 詔 所 召 ,遣 侍 于 帝 城 者 , 納 言 掌 貨 大 夫 且 調 都 內 故 錢 , 予 其 祿 ,公 歲 八 十 萬 , 侯 伯 四 十 萬 , 子 男 二 十 萬 。 」

然 復不 能 盡 得 。 莽 好 空 言 , 慕 古 法 , 多 封 爵 人 , 性 實 遴 嗇 , 託 以 地 理 未 定 , 故 且 先 賦 茅 土 , 用 慰 喜 封 者 。    

是 歲 , 復 明 六 筦 之 令 。 每 一 筦 下 , 為 設 科 條 防 禁, 犯 者 罪 至 死 , 吏 民 抵 罪 者 浸 眾 。

又 一 切 調 上 公 以 下 諸有 奴 婢 者 , 率 一 口 出 錢 三 千 六 百 , 天 下 愈 愁 , 盜 賊 起 。

納 言 馮 常 以 六 筦 諫 , 莽 大 怒 , 免 常 官 。

置 執 法 左 右 刺 姦。 選 用 能 吏 侯 霸 等 分 督 六 尉 、 六 隊 , 如 漢 刺 史 ,與 三 公 士 郡 一 人 從 事 。

臨 淮 瓜 田 儀 等 為 盜 賊 , 依 阻 會 稽 長 州 , 琅邪 女 子 呂 母 亦 起 。 初 , 呂 母 子 為 縣 吏 , 為 宰 所 冤 殺 。 母 散 家 財 , 以 酤 酒 買 兵 弩 , 陰 厚 貧 窮 少 年 ,得 百 餘 人 , 遂 攻 海 曲 縣 , 殺 其 宰 以 祭 子 墓 。 引 兵 入 海 ,其 眾 浸 多 , 後 皆 萬 數 。

    莽 遣 使 者 即 赦 盜 賊 , 還 言 「 盜 賊解 , 輒 復 合 。 問 其 故 , 皆 曰 愁 法 禁 煩 苛 , 不 得 舉 手 。 力作 所 得 , 不 足 以 給 貢 稅 。 閉 門 自 守 , 又 坐 鄰 伍 鑄 錢 挾 銅, 姦 吏 因 以 愁 民 。 民 窮 , 悉 起 為 盜 賊 。 」 莽 大 怒 , 免 之。

其 或 順 指 , 言 「 民 驕 黠 當 誅 」 , 及 言 「 時 運 適 然 , 且滅 不 久 」 , 莽 說 , 輒 遷 之 。

    是 歲 八 月 , 莽 親 之 南 郊 , 鑄 作 威 斗 。 威 斗 者 , 以五 石 銅 為 之 , 若 北 斗 , 長 二 尺 五 寸 , 欲 以 厭 勝 眾兵 。 既 成 , 令 司 命 負 之 , 莽 出 在 前 , 入 在 御 旁 。鑄 斗 日 , 大 寒 , 百 官 人 馬 有 凍 死 者 。    

五 年 正 月 朔 , 北 軍 南 門 災 。

以 大 司 馬 司 允 費 興 為 荊 州 牧 , 見 , 問 到 部 方 略 ,興 對 曰 : 「 荊 、 揚 之 民 率 依 阻 山 澤 , 以 漁 采 為 業 。 間 者 , 國 張 六 筦 , 稅 山 澤 , 妨 奪 民 之 利 , 連 年 久 旱 ,百 姓 飢 窮 , 故 為 盜 賊 。

興 到 部 , 欲 令 明 曉 告 盜 賊 歸 田 里, 假 貸 犁 牛 種 食 , 闊 其 租 賦 , 幾 可 以 解 釋安 集 。 」 莽 怒 , 免 興 官 。

        天 下 吏 以 不 得 奉 祿 , 並 為 姦 利 , 郡 尹 縣 宰 家 累 千金 。 莽 下 詔 曰 : 「 詳 考 始 建 國 二 年 胡 虜 猾 夏 以 來 , 諸 軍吏 及 緣 邊 吏 大 夫 以 上 為 姦 利 增 產 致 富 者 , 收 其 家 所 有 財產 五 分 之 四 , 以 助 邊 急 。 」 公 府 士 馳 傳 天 下 , 考 覆 貪 饕, 開 吏 告 其 將 , 奴 婢 告 其 主 , 幾 以 禁 姦 ,姦 愈 甚 。    

皇 孫 功 崇 公 宗 坐 自 畫 容 貌 , 被 服 天 子 衣 冠 , 刻 印三 : 一 曰 「 維 祉 冠 存 己 夏 處 南 山 臧 薄 冰 」 , 二 曰「 肅 聖 寶 繼 」 , 三 曰「 德 封 昌 圖 」 。

又 宗 舅 呂 寬 家 前 徙 合 浦 , 私 與 宗通 , 發 覺 按 驗 , 宗 自 殺 。

莽 曰 : 「 宗 屬 為 皇 孫 , 爵 為 上公 , 知 寬 等 叛 逆 族 類 , 而 與 交 通 ; 刻 銅 印 三 , 文 意 甚 害, 不 知 厭 足 , 窺 欲 非 望 。

春 秋 之 義 , 『 君 親 毋 將 , 將 而誅 焉 。 』 迷 惑 失 道 , 自 取 此 辜 , 烏 呼 哀 哉 !

宗 本名 會 宗 , 以 制 作 去 二 名 , 今 復 名 會 宗 。 貶 厥 爵 , 改 厥 號, 賜 諡 為 功 崇 繆 伯 , 以 諸 伯 之 禮 葬 于 故 同 穀 城 郡 。 」

宗 姊 妨 為 衛 將 軍 王 興 夫 人 , 祝 詛 姑 , 殺 婢 以 絕 口 。事 發 覺 , 莽 使 中 常 侍  惲 責 問 妨 , 并 以 責 興 , 皆自 殺 。

事 連 及 司 命 孔 仁 妻 , 亦 自 殺 。 仁 見 莽 免 冠 謝 , 莽使 尚 書 劾 仁 : 「 乘 乾 車 , 駕  馬 , 左 蒼 龍 , 右 白 虎 , 前朱 雀 , 後 玄 武 , 右 杖 威 節 , 左 負 威 斗 , 號 曰 赤 星 , 非 以驕 仁 , 乃 以 尊 新 室 之 威 命 也 。 仁 擅 免 天 文 冠 , 大 不 敬 。」 有 詔 勿 劾 , 更 易 新 冠 。 其 好 怪 如 此 。

    以 直 道 侯 王 涉 為 衛 將 軍 。 涉 者 , 曲 陽 侯 根 子 也 。根 , 成 帝 世 為 大 司 馬 , 薦 莽 自 代 , 莽 恩 之 , 以 為曲 陽 非 令 稱 , 乃 追 諡 根 曰 直 道 讓 公 , 涉 嗣 其 爵 。    

是 歲 , 赤 眉 力 子 都 、 樊 崇 等 以 饑 饉 相 聚 , 起 於 琅邪 , 轉 鈔 掠 , 眾 皆 萬 數 。 遣 使 者 發 郡 國 兵 擊 之 , 不 能 克。    

六 年 春 , 莽 見 盜 賊 多 , 乃 令 太 史 推 三 萬 六 千 歲 曆紀 , 六 歲 一 改 元 , 布 天 下 。

下 書 曰 : 「 紫 閣 圖 曰 『 太 一、 黃 帝 皆 僊 上 天 , 張 樂 崑 崙 虔 山 之 上 。 後 世 聖 主得 瑞 者 , 當 張 樂 秦 終 南 山 之 上 。 』

予 之 不 敏 , 奉行 未 明 , 乃 今 諭 矣 。 復 以 寧 始 將 軍 為 更 始 將 軍 , 以 順 符命 。 易 不 云 乎 ? 『 日 新 之 謂 盛 德 , 生 生 之 謂 易 。 』 予 其 饗 哉 ! 」 欲 以 誑 燿 百 姓 , 銷 解 盜 賊 。 眾 皆 笑 之 。    

初 獻 新 樂 於 明 堂 、 太 廟 。 群 臣 始 冠 麟 韋 之 弁 。 或 聞 其 樂 聲 , 曰 : 「 清 厲 而 哀 , 非 興 國 之 聲 也 。 」    

是 時 , 關 東 饑 旱 數 年 , 力 子 都 等 黨 眾 浸 多 。 更 始 將 軍 廉 丹 擊 益 州 不 能 克 , 徵 還 。 更 遣 復 位 後 大 司馬 護 軍 郭 興 、 庸 部 牧 李  擊 蠻 夷 若 豆 等 , 太 傅 犧 叔 士 孫喜 清 潔 江 湖 之 盜 賊 。 而 匈 奴 寇 邊 甚 。 莽 乃 大 募 天 下 丁 男及 死 罪 囚 、 吏 民 奴 , 名 曰 豬 突 豨 勇 , 以 為 銳 卒 。

一 切 稅天 下 吏 民 , 訾 三 十 取 一 , 縑 帛 皆 輸 長 安 。 令 公 卿 以 下 至郡 縣 黃 綬 皆 保 養 軍 馬 , 多 少 各 以 秩 為 差 。

又 博 募有 奇 技 術 可 以 攻 匈 奴 者 , 將 待 以 不 次 之 位 。 言 便 宜 者 以萬 數 : 或 言 能 度 水 不 用 舟 楫 , 連 馬 接 騎 , 濟 百 萬師 ; 或 言 不 持 斗 糧 , 服 食 藥 物 , 三 軍 不 飢 ;

或 言 能 飛 ,一 日 千 里 , 可 窺 匈 奴 。 莽 輒 試 之 , 取 大 鳥 翮 為 兩 翼 , 頭 與 身 皆 著 毛 , 通 引 環 紐 , 飛 數 百 步 墮 。

莽 知 其 不可 用 , 苟 欲 獲 其 名 , 皆 拜 為 理 軍 , 賜 以 車 馬 , 待 發 。

初 , 匈 奴 右 骨 都 侯 須 卜 當 , 其 妻 王 昭 君 女 也 , 嘗內 附 。 莽 遣 昭 君 兄 子 和 親 侯 王 歙 誘 呼 嘗 至 塞下 , 脅 將 詣 長 安 , 強 立 以 為 須 卜 善 于 後 安 公 。

始欲 誘 迎 當 , 大 司 馬 嚴 尤 諫 曰 : 「 當 在 匈 奴 右 部 , 兵 不 侵邊 , 單 于 動 靜 , 輒 語 中 國 , 此 方 面 之 大 助 也 。 于 今 迎 當置 長 安 槁 街 , 一 胡 人 耳 , 不 如 在 匈 奴 有 益 。 」 莽不 聽 。

既 得 當 , 欲 遣 尤 與 廉 丹 擊 匈 奴 , 皆 賜 姓 徵 氏 , 號二 徵 將 軍 , 當 誅 單 于 輿 而 立 當 代 之 。 出 車 城 西 橫廄 。

未 發 , 尤 素 有 智 略 , 非 莽 攻 伐 西 夷 , 數 諫 不 從 , 著古 名 將 樂 毅 、 白 起 不 用 之 意 及 言 邊 事 凡 三 篇 , 奏 以 風 諫莽 。 及 當 出 廷 議 , 尤 固 言 匈 奴 可 且 以 為 後 , 先 憂山 東 盜 賊 。

莽 大 怒 , 乃 策 尤 曰 : 「 視 事 四 年 , 蠻 夷 猾 夏不 能 遏 絕 , 寇 賊 姦 宄 不 能 殄 滅 , 不 畏 天 威 , 不 用 詔 命 ,貌 佷 自 臧 , 持 必 不 移 , 懷 執 異 心 , 非 沮 軍 議 。 未 忍 致 于 理 , 其 上 大 司 馬 武 建 伯 印 韍 , 歸 故郡 。 」 以 降 符 伯 董 忠 為 大 司 馬 。    

翼 平 連 率 田 況 奏 郡 縣 訾 民 不 實 , 莽 復 三 十稅 一 。 以 況 忠 言 憂 國 , 進 爵 為 伯 , 賜 錢 二 百 萬 。 眾 庶 皆詈 之 。

青 、 徐 民 多 棄 鄉 里 流 亡 , 老 弱 死 道 路 , 壯 者 入 賊中 。    

夙 夜 連 率 韓 博 上 言 : 「 有 奇 士 , 長 丈 , 大 十 圍 ,來 至 臣 府 , 曰 欲 奮 擊 胡 虜 。 自 謂 巨 毋 霸 , 出 於 蓬 萊 東 南, 五 城 西 北 昭 如 海 瀕 , 軺 車 不 能 載 , 三 馬 不 能 勝。 即 日 以 大 車 四 馬 , 建 虎 旗 , 載 霸 詣 闕 。 霸 臥 則 枕 鼓 ,以 鐵 箸 食。

此 皇 天 所 以 輔 新 室 也 。 願 陛 下 作 大 甲 高 車 ,賁 育 之 衣 , 遣 大 將 一 人 與 虎 賁 百 人 迎 之 於 道 。 京 師 門 戶不 容 者 , 開 高 大 之 , 以 視 百 蠻 , 鎮 安 天 下 。 」

博意 欲 以 風 莽 。 莽 聞 惡 之 , 留 霸 在 所 新 豐 ,更 其 姓 曰 巨 母 氏 , 謂 因 文 母 太 后 而 霸 王 符 也 。 徵博 下 獄 , 以 非 所 宜 言 , 棄 市 。    

明 年 改 元 曰 地 皇 , 從 三 萬 六 千 歲 曆 號 也 。    

地 皇 元 年 正 月 乙 未 , 赦 天 下 。 下 書 曰 : 「 方 出 軍行 師 , 敢 有 趨 讙 犯 法 者 , 輒 論 斬 , 毋 須 時 , 盡 歲止 。 」 於 是 春 夏 斬 人 都 市 , 百 姓 震 懼 , 道 路 以 目。    

二 月 壬 申 , 日 正 黑 。 莽 惡 之 , 下 書 曰 : 「 乃 者 日中 見 昧 , 陰 薄 陽 , 黑 氣 為 變 , 百 姓 莫 不 驚 怪 。 兆 域 大 將軍 王 匡 遣 吏 考 問 上 變 事 者 , 欲 蔽 上 之 明 , 是 以 適 見 于 天, 以 正 于 理 , 塞 大 異 焉 。 」    

莽 見 四 方 盜 賊 多 , 復 欲 厭 之 , 又 下 書 曰 :「 予 之 皇 初 祖 考 黃 帝 定 天 下 , 將 兵 為 上 將 軍 , 建 華 蓋 ,立 斗 獻 , 內 設 大 將 , 外 置 大 司 馬 五 人 , 大 將 軍 二十 五 人 , 偏 將 軍 百 二 十 五 人 , 裨 將 軍 千 二 百 五 十 人 , 校尉 萬 二 千 五 百 人 , 司 馬 三 萬 七 千 五 百 人 , 候 十 一 萬 二 千五 百 人 , 當 百 二 十 二 萬 五 千 人 , 士 吏 四 十 五 萬 人, 士 千 三 百 五 十 萬 人 , 應 協 於 易 『 弧 矢 之 利 , 以威 天 下 』 。 予 受 符 命 之 文 , 稽 前 人 , 將 條 備 焉 。」

於 是 置 前 後 左 右 中 大 司 馬 之 位 , 賜 諸 州 牧 號 為大 將 軍 , 郡 卒 正 、 連 帥 、 大 尹 為 偏 將 軍 , 屬 令 長 裨 將 軍, 縣 宰 為 校 尉 。 乘 傳 使 者 經 歷 郡 國 , 日 且 十 輩 ,倉 無 見 穀 以 給 , 傳 車 馬 不 能 足 , 賦 取 道 中 車 馬 ,取 辦 於 民 。    

七 月 , 大 風 毀 王 路 堂 。 復 下 書 曰 : 「 乃 壬 午 餔 時, 有 列 風 雷 雨 發 屋 折 木 之 變 , 予 甚 弁 焉 , 予 甚 栗焉 , 予 甚 恐 焉 。 伏 念 一 旬 , 迷 乃 解 矣 。

昔符 命 文 立 安 為 新 遷 王 , 臨 國 雒 陽 , 為 統 義 陽 王 。是 時 予 在 攝 假 , 謙 不 敢 當 , 而 以 為 公 。 其 後 金 匱 文 至 ,議 者 皆 曰 : 『 臨 國 雒 陽 為 統 , 謂 據 土 中 為 新 室 統 也 , 宜為 皇 太 子 。 』

自 此 後 , 臨 久 病 , 雖 瘳 不 平 , 朝 見 挈 茵 輿行 。 見 王 路 堂 者 , 張 於 西 廂 及 後 閣 更 衣 中 , 又 以 皇 后 被 疾 , 臨 且 去 本 就 舍 , 妃 妾 在 東 永 巷 。

壬 午 , 列 風 毀 王 路 西 廂 及 後 閣 更 衣 中 室 。 昭 寧 堂 池 東南 榆 樹 大 十 圍 , 東 僵 , 擊 東 閣 , 閣 即 東 永 巷 之 西 垣 也 。皆 破 折 瓦 壞 , 發 屋 拔 木 , 予 甚 驚 焉 。

又 候 官 奏 月 犯 心 前星 , 厥 有 占 , 予 甚 憂 之 。

伏 念 紫 閣 圖 文 , 太 一 、 黃 帝 皆得 瑞 以 僊 , 後 世 褒 主 當 登 終 南 山 。 所 謂 新 遷 王 者, 乃 太 一 新 遷 之 後 也 。 統 義 陽 王 乃 用 五 統 以 禮 義登 陽 上 遷 之 後 也 。

臨 有 兄 而 稱 太 子 , 名 不 正 。 宣 尼 公 曰: 『 名 不 正 , 則 言 不 順 , 至 於 刑 罰 不 中 , 民 無 錯 手 足 。』

惟 即 位 以 來 , 陰 陽 未 和 , 風 雨 不 時 , 數 遇 枯旱 蝗 螟 為 災 , 穀 稼 鮮 耗 , 百 姓 苦 飢 , 蠻 夷 猾 夏, 寇 賊 姦 宄 , 人 民 正 營 , 無 所 錯 手 足 。

深 惟 厥咎 , 在 名 不 正 焉 。 其 立 安 為 新 遷 王 , 臨 為 統 義 陽 王 , 幾以 保 全 二 子 , 子 孫 千 億 , 外 攘 四 夷 , 內 安 中 國焉 。 」

是 月 , 杜 陵 便 殿 乘 輿 虎 文 衣 廢 臧 在 室 匣 中 者 出 , 自 樹 立 外 堂 上 , 良 久 乃 委 地 。 吏 卒 見 者 以聞 , 莽 惡 之 , 下 書 曰 : 「 寶 黃 廝 赤 ,其 令 郎 從 官皆 衣 絳 。 」    

望 氣 為 數 者 多 言 有 土 功 象 , 莽 又 見 四 方 盜 賊 多 ,欲 視 為 自 安 能 建 萬 世 之 基 者 , 乃 下 書 曰 : 「 予 受命 遭 陽 九 之 厄 , 百 六 之 會 , 府 帑 空 虛 , 百 姓 匱 乏 , 宗 廟未 修 , 且 祫 祭 於 明 堂 太 廟 , 夙 夜 永 念 , 非 敢 寧 息 。 深 惟吉 昌 莫 良 於 今 年 , 予 乃 卜 波 水 之 北 , 郎 池 之 南 , 惟 玉 食。 予 又 卜 金 水 之 南 , 明 堂 之 西 , 亦 惟 玉 食 。 予 將新 築 焉 。 」 於 是 遂 營 長 安 城 南 , 提 封 百 頃 。

九 月 甲 申 , 莽 立 載 行 視 , 親 舉 築 三 下 。 司 徒 王 尋、 大 司 空 王 邑 持 節 , 及 侍 中 常 侍 執 法 杜 林 等 數 十 人 將 作。

崔 發 、 張 邯 說 莽 曰 : 「 德 盛 者 文 縟 , 宜崇 其 制 度 , 宣 視 海 內 , 且 令 萬 世 之 後 無 以 復 加 也。 」 莽 乃 博 徵 天 下 工 匠 諸 圖 畫 , 以 望 法 度 算 , 及 吏 民 以義 入 錢 穀 助 作 者 , 駱 驛 道 路 。

壞 徹 城 西 苑 中 建 章、 承 光 、 包 陽 、 大 臺 、 儲 元 宮 及 平 樂 、 當 路 、 陽 祿 館 ,凡 十 餘 所 , 取 其 材 瓦 , 以 起 九 廟 。 是 月 , 大 雨 六十 餘 日 。 令 民 入 米 六 百 斛 為 郎 , 其 郎 吏 增 秩 賜 爵 至 附 城。

九 廟 : 一 曰 黃 帝 太 初 祖 廟 , 二 曰 帝 虞 始 祖 昭 廟 , 三 曰陳 胡 王 統 祖 穆 廟 , 四 曰 齊 敬 王 世 祖 昭 廟 , 五 曰 濟 北 愍 王王 祖 穆 廟 , 凡 五 廟 不 墮 云 ; 六 曰 濟 南 伯 王 尊 禰昭 廟 , 七 曰 元 城 孺 王 尊 禰 穆 廟 , 八 曰 陽 平 頃 王 戚 禰 昭 廟, 九 曰 新 都 顯 王 戚 禰 穆 廟 。

殿 皆 重 屋 。 太 初 祖 廟 東 西 南北 各 四 十 丈 , 高 十 七 丈 , 餘 廟 半 之 。 為 銅 薄 櫨 , 飾 以 金 銀 琱 文 , 窮 極 百 工 之 巧 。 帶 高 增 下 , 功 費 數 百 鉅 萬 , 卒 徒 死 者 萬 數 。    

鉅 鹿 男 子 馬 適 求 等 謀 舉 燕 趙 兵 以 誅 莽 , 大司 空 士 王 丹 發 覺 以 聞 。 莽 遣 三 公 大 夫 逮 治 黨 與 , 連 及 郡 國 豪 傑 數 千 人 , 皆 誅 死 。 封 丹 為 輔 國 侯 。

自 莽 為 不 順 時 令 , 百 姓 怨 恨 , 莽 猶 安 之 , 又 下 書曰 : 「 惟 設 此 壹 切 之 法 以 來 , 常 安 六 鄉 巨 邑 之 都 , 枹 鼓稀 鳴 , 盜 賊 衰 少 , 百 姓 安 土 , 歲 以 有 年 , 此 乃 立權 之 力 也 。

    今 胡 虜 未 滅 誅 , 蠻 僰 未 絕 焚 , 江 湖 海 澤 麻 沸, 盜 賊 未 盡 破 殄 , 又 興 奉 宗 廟 社 稷 之 大 作 , 民 眾動 搖 。 今 復 壹 切 行 此 令 , 盡 二 年 止 之 , 以 全 元 元 , 救 愚姦 。 」    

是 歲 , 罷 大 小 錢 , 更 行 貨 布 , 長 二 寸 五 分 , 廣 一寸 , 直 貨 錢 二 十 五 。 貨 錢 徑 一 寸 , 重 五 銖 , 枚 直 一 。 兩品 並 行 。 敢 盜 鑄 錢 及 偏 行 布 貨 , 伍 人 知 不 發 舉 , 皆 沒 入為 官 奴 婢 。    

太 傅 平 晏 死 , 以 予 虞 唐 尊 為 太 傅 。 尊 曰 : 「 國 虛民 貧 , 咎 在 奢 泰 。 」 乃 身 短 衣 小 袖 , 乘 牝 馬 柴 車 , 藉 槁 , 瓦 器 , 又 以 歷 遺 公 卿 。 出 見 男 女不 異 路 者 , 尊 自 下 車 , 以 象 刑 赭 幡 汙 染 其 衣 。 莽聞 而 說 之 , 下 詔 申 敕 公 卿 思 與 厥 齊 。 封 尊為 平 化 侯 。    

是 時 , 南 郡 張 霸 、 江 夏 羊 牧 、 王 匡 等 起 雲 杜 綠 林, 號 曰 下 江 兵 , 眾 皆 萬 餘 人 。 武 功 中 水 鄉 民 三 舍墊 為 池 。

二 年 正 月 , 以 州 牧 位 三 公 , 刺 舉 怠 解 , 更置 牧 監 副 , 秩 元 士 , 冠 法 冠 , 行 事 如 漢 刺 史 。

是 月 , 莽 妻 死 , 諡 曰 孝 睦 皇 后 , 葬 渭 陵 長 壽 園 西, 令 永 侍 文 母 , 名 陵 曰 億 年 。

      初 莽 妻 以 莽 數 殺 其 子 , 涕泣 失 明 , 莽 令 太 子 臨 居 中 養 焉 。 莽 妻 旁 侍 者 原 碧 , 莽 幸之 。 後 臨 亦 通 焉 , 恐 事 泄 , 謀 共 殺 莽 。

臨 妻 愔 , 國 師 公女 , 能 為 星 , 語 臨 宮 中 且 有 白 衣 會 。 臨 喜 , 以 為所 謀 且 成 。 後 貶 為 統 義 陽 王 , 出 在 外 第 , 愈 憂 恐 。

會 莽妻 病 困 , 臨 予 書 曰 : 「 上 於 子 孫 至 嚴 , 前 長 孫 、 中 孫 年俱 三 十 而 死 。 今 臣 臨 復 適 三 十 , 誠 恐 一 旦 不 保 中室 , 則 不 知 死 命 所 在 ! 」

莽 侯 妻 疾 , 見 其 書 , 大怒 , 疑 臨 有 惡 意 , 不 令 得 會 喪 。 既 葬 , 收 原 碧 等 考 問 ,具 服 姦 、 謀 殺 狀 。 莽 欲 祕 之 , 使 殺 案 事 使 者 司 命 從 事 ,埋 獄 中 , 家 不 知 所 在 。 賜 臨 藥 , 臨 不 肯 飲 , 自 刺 死 。

使侍 中 票 騎 將 軍 同 說 侯 林 賜 魂 衣 璽 韍 。

策 書 曰 : 「符 命 文 立 臨 為 統 義 陽 王 , 此 言 新 室 即 位 三 萬 六 千 歲 後 ,為 臨 之 後 者 乃 當 龍 陽 而 起 。 前 過 聽 議 者 , 以 臨 為 太 子 ,有 烈 風 之 變 , 輒 順 符 命 , 立 為 統 義 陽 王 。

在 此 之 前 , 自此 之 後 , 不 作 信 順 , 弗 蒙 厥 佑 , 夭 年 隕 命 , 嗚 呼 哀 哉 !跡 行 賜 諡 , 諡 曰 繆 王 。 」

又 詔 國 師 公 : 「 臨 本 不 知 星 ,事 從 愔 起 。 」 愔 亦 自 殺 。    

是 月 , 新 遷 王 安 病 死 。

初 , 莽 為 侯 就 國 時 , 幸 侍者 增 秩 、 懷 能 、 開 明 。 懷 能 生 男 興 , 增 秩 生 男 匡 、 女 , 開 明 生 女 捷 , 皆 留 新 都 國 , 以 其 不 明 故 也 。

及安 疾 甚 , 莽 自 病 無 子 , 為 安 作 奏 , 使 上 言 : 「 興 等 母 雖微 賤 , 屬 猶 皇 子 , 不 可 以 棄 。 」 章 視 群 公 , 皆 曰: 「 安 友 于 兄 弟 , 宜 及 春 夏 加 封 爵 。 」 於 是 以 王車 遣 使 者 迎 興 等 , 封 興 為 功 脩 公 , 匡 為 功 建 公 ,  為 睦脩 任 , 捷 為 睦 逮 任 。

孫 公 明 公 壽 病 死 , 旬 月 四 喪 焉 。 莽壞 漢 孝 武 、 孝 昭 廟 , 分 葬 子 孫 其 中 。    

魏 成 大 尹 李 焉 與 卜 者 王 況 謀 , 況 謂 焉 曰 : 「 新 室即 位 以 來 , 民 田 奴 婢 不 得 賣 買 , 數 改 錢 貨 , 徵 發 煩 數 ,軍 旅 騷 動 , 四 夷 並 侵 , 百 姓 怨 恨 , 盜 賊 並 起 , 漢 家 當 復興 。 君 姓 李 , 李 音 徵 , 徵 火 也 , 當 為 漢 輔 。 」

因為 焉 作 讖 書 , 言 「 文 帝 發 忿 , 居 地 下 趣 軍 , 北 告 匈 奴 ,南 告 越 人 。 江 中 劉 信 , 執 敵 報 怨 , 復 續 古 先 , 四年 當 發 軍 。 江 湖 有 盜 , 自 稱 樊 王 , 姓 為 劉 氏 , 萬 人 成 行, 不 受 赦 令 , 欲 動 秦 、 雒 陽 。 十 一 年 當 相 攻 , 太白 揚 光 , 歲 星 入 東 井 , 其 號 當 行 。 」 又 言 莽 大 臣吉 凶 , 各 有 日 期 。 會 合 十 餘 萬 言 。

焉 令 吏 寫 其 書 , 吏 亡告 之 。 莽 遣 使 者 即 捕 焉 , 獄 治 皆 死 。

三 輔 盜 賊 麻 起 , 乃 置 捕 盜 都 尉 官 , 令 執 法謁 者 追 擊 長 安 中 , 建 鳴 鼓 攻 賊 幡 , 而 使 者 隨 其 後 。

遣 太師 犧 仲 景 尚 、 更 始 將 軍 護 軍 王 黨 將 兵 擊 青 、 徐 , 國 師 和仲 曹 放 助 郭 興 擊 句 町 。 轉 天 下 穀 幣 詣 西 河 、 五 原 、 朔 方、 漁 陽 , 每 一 郡 以 百 萬 數 , 欲 以 擊 匈 奴 。    

秋 , 隕 霜 殺 菽 , 關 東 大 饑 , 蝗 。    

民 犯 鑄 錢 , 伍 人 相 坐 , 沒 入 為 官 奴 婢 。 其 男 子 檻車 , 兒 女 子 步 , 以 鐵 鎖 琅 當 其 頸 , 傳 詣 鍾 官 , 以 十 萬 數。 到 者 易 其 夫 婦 , 愁 苦 死 者 什 六 七 。

孫 喜、 景 尚 、 曹 放 等 擊 賊 不 能 克 , 軍 師 放 縱 , 百 姓 重 困 。     莽 以 王 況 讖 言 荊 楚 當 興 , 李 氏 為 輔 , 欲 厭 之 , 乃 拜 侍 中 掌 牧 大 夫 李 棽 為 大 將 軍 、 揚 州 牧 , 賜 名 聖, 使 將 兵 奮 擊 。

上 谷 儲 夏 自 請 願 說 瓜 田 儀 , 莽 以 為 中 郎 ,使 出 儀 。 儀 文 降 , 未 出 而 死 。 莽 求 其 尸 葬之 , 為 起 冢 、 祠 室 , 諡 曰 瓜 寧 殤 男 , 幾 以 招 來 其 餘 , 然 無 肯 降 者 。    

閏 月 丙 辰 , 大 赦 天 下 , 天 下 大 服 民 私 服 在 詔 書 前亦 釋 除 。    

    郎 陽 成 脩 獻 符 命 , 言 繼 立 民 母 , 又 曰 : 「 黃 帝 以百 二 十 女 致 神 僊 。 」 莽 於 是 遣 中 散 大 夫 、 謁 者 各 四 十 五人 分 行 天 下 , 博 采 鄉 里 所 高 有 淑 女 者 上 名 。    

莽 夢 長 樂 宮 銅 人 五 枚 起 立 , 莽 惡 之 , 念 銅 人 銘 有「 皇 帝 初 兼 天 下 」 之 文 , 即 使 尚 方 工 鐫 滅 所 夢 銅 人 膺 文。

又 感 漢 高 廟 神 靈 , 遣 虎 賁 武 士 入 高 廟 ,拔 劍 四 面 提 擊 , 斧 壞 戶 牖 , 桃 湯 赭 鞭 鞭 灑屋 壁 , 令 輕 車 校 尉 居 其 中 , 又 令 中 軍 北 壘 居 高 寢。    

或 言 黃 帝 時 建 華 蓋 以 登 僊 , 莽 乃 造 華 蓋 九 重 , 高八 丈 一 尺 , 金 瑵 羽 葆 , 載 以 祕 機 四 輪 車 , 駕 六 馬 , 力 士 三 百 人 黃 衣 幘 , 車 上 人 擊 鼓 , 輓 者 皆 呼 「登 僊 」 。 莽 出 , 令 在 前 。 百 官 竊 言 「 此 似  車 , 非 僊 物也 。 」    

是 歲 , 南 郡 秦 豐 眾 且 萬 人 。 平 原 女 子 遲 昭 平 能 說經 博 以 八 投 , 亦 聚 數 千 人 在 河 阻 中。 莽 召 問 群 臣 禽 賊 方 略 , 皆 曰 : 「 此 天 囚 行 尸 , 命 在 漏刻 。 」

故 左 將 軍 公 孫 祿 徵 來 與 議 , 祿 曰 : 「 太 史令 宗 宣 典 星 曆 , 候 氣 變 , 以 凶 為 吉 , 亂 天 文 , 誤 朝 廷 。太 傅 平 化 侯 飾 虛 偽 以 媮 名 位 , 『 賊 夫 人 之 子 』 。 國 師 嘉 信 公 顛 倒 五 經 , 毀 師 法 , 令 學 士 疑 惑 。 明 學 男 張邯 、 地 理 侯 孫 陽 造 井 田 , 使 民 棄 土 業 。 犧 和 魯 匡 設 六 筦, 以 窮 工 商 。 說 符 侯 崔 發 阿 諛 取 容 , 令 下 情 不 上 通 。 宜誅 此 數 子 以 慰 天 下 ! 」

又 言 : 「 匈 奴 不 可 攻 , 當 與 和 親。 臣 恐 新 室 憂 不 在 匈 奴 , 而 在 封 域 之 中 也 。 」 莽 怒 , 使虎 賁 扶 祿 出 。

然 頗 采 其 言 , 左 遷 魯 匡 為 五 原 卒 正 , 以 百姓 怨 非 故 。 六 筦 非 匡 所 獨 造 , 莽 厭 眾 意 而 出 之 。    

初 , 四 方 皆 以 飢 寒 窮 愁 起 為 盜 賊 , 稍 稍 群 聚 , 常思 歲 熟 得 歸 鄉 里 。 眾 雖 萬 數 , 亶 稱 巨 人 、 從 事 、 三 老 、祭 酒 , 不 敢 略 有 城 邑 , 轉 掠 求 食 , 日 闋 而 已 。 諸 長 吏 牧 守 皆 自 亂 鬥 中 兵 而 死 , 賊 非 敢 欲 殺之 也 , 而 莽 終 不 諭 其 故 。

是 歲 , 大 司 馬 士 按 章 豫州 , 為 賊 所 獲 , 賊 送 付 縣 。 士 還 , 上 書 具 言 狀 。莽 大 怒 , 下 獄 以 為 誣 罔 。

因 下 書 責 七 公 曰 : 「 夫 吏 者 ,理 也 。 宣 德 明 恩 , 以 牧 養 民 , 仁 之 道 也 。 抑 強 督 姦 , 捕誅 盜 賊 , 義 之 節 也 。

今 則 不 然 。 盜 發 不 輒 得 , 至成 群 黨 , 遮 略 乘 傳 宰 士 。 士 得 脫 者 , 又 妄 自 言 『我 責 數 賊 「 何 故 為 是 ? 」 賊 曰 「 以 貧 窮 故 耳 」 。賊 護 出 我 。 』 今 俗 人 議 者 率 多 若 此 。

惟 貧 困 飢 寒 , 犯 法為 非 , 大 者 群 盜 , 小 者 偷 穴 , 不 過 二 科 , 今 乃 結謀 連 黨 以 千 百 數 , 是 逆 亂 之 大 者 , 豈 飢 寒 之 謂 邪 ?

七 公其 嚴 敕 卿 大 夫 、 卒 正 、 連 率 、 庶 尹 , 謹 牧 養 善 民 , 急 捕殄 盜 賊 。 有 不 同 心 并 力 , 疾 惡 黜 賊 , 而 妄 曰 飢 寒 所 為 ,輒 捕 繫 , 請 其 罪 。 」

於 是 群 下 愈 恐 , 莫 敢 言 賊 情 者 , 亦不 得 擅 發 兵 , 賊 由 是 遂 不 制 。

    唯 翼 平 連 率 田 況 素 果 敢 , 發 民 年 十 八 以 上 四 萬 餘人 , 授 以 庫 兵 , 與 刻 石 為 約 。 赤 糜 聞 之 , 不 敢 入 界 。 況 自 劾 奏 , 莽 讓 況 : 「 未 賜 虎 符 而 擅 發 兵 ,此 弄 兵 也 , 厥 罪 乏 興 。 以 況 自 詭 必 禽 滅 賊 , 故 且勿 治 。 」

後 況 自 請 出 界 擊 賊 , 所 嚮 皆 破 。 莽 以 璽書 令 況 領 青 、 徐 二 州 牧 事 。

況 上 言 : 「 盜 賊 始 發 , 其 原甚 微 , 非 部 吏 、 伍 人 所 能 禽 也 。 咎 在 長 吏 不 為 意 , 縣 欺其 郡 , 郡 欺 朝 廷 , 實 百 言 十 , 實 千 言 百 。 朝 廷 忽 略 , 不輒 督 責 , 遂 至 延 曼 連 州 , 乃 遣 將 率 , 多 發 使 者 ,傳 相 監 趣 。

郡 縣 力 事 上 官 , 應 塞 詰 對 , 共酒 食 , 具 資 用 , 以 救 斷 斬 , 不 給 復 憂 盜 賊 治 官 事。 將 率 又 不 能 躬 率 吏 士 , 戰 則 為 賊 所 破 , 吏 氣 寖傷 , 徒 費 百 姓 。

前 幸 蒙 赦 令 , 賊 欲 解 散 , 或 反遮 擊 , 恐 入 山 谷 轉 相 告 語 , 故 郡 縣 降 賊 , 皆 更 驚 駭 , 恐見 詐 滅 , 因 饑 饉 易 動 , 旬 日 之 間 更 十 餘 萬 人 , 此 盜 賊 所以 多 之 故 也 。

今 雒 陽 以 東 , 米 石 二 千 。 竊 見 詔 書 , 欲 遣太 師 、 更 始 將 軍 , 二 人 爪 牙 重 臣 , 多 從 人 眾 , 道 上 空 竭, 少 則 亡 以 威 視 遠 方 。

宜 急 選 牧 、 尹 以 下 , 明其 賞 罰 , 收 合 離 鄉 。 小 國 無 城 郭 者 , 徙 其 老 弱 置 大 城 中, 積 藏 穀 食 , 并 力 固 守 。 賊 來 攻 城 , 剛 不 能 下 , 所 過 無食 , 勢 不 得 群 聚 。 如 此 , 招 之 必 降 , 擊 之 則 滅 。

今 空 復多 出 將 率 , 郡 縣 苦 之 , 反 甚 於 賊 。 宜 盡 徵 還 乘 傳 諸 使 者, 以 休 息 郡 縣 。 委 任 臣 況 以 二 州 盜 賊 , 必 平 定 之 。 」

莽畏 惡 況 , 陰 為 發 代 , 遣 使 者 賜 況 璽 書 。 使 者 至 , 見 況 ,因 令 代 監 其 兵 。 況 隨 使 者 西 , 到 , 拜 為 師 尉 大 夫 。 況 去, 齊 地 遂 敗 。    

三 年 正 月 , 九 廟 蓋 構 成 , 納 神 主 。 莽 謁 見 , 大 駕乘 六 馬 , 以 五 采 毛 為 龍 文 衣 , 著 角 , 長 三 尺 。華蓋 車 , 元 戎 十 乘 在 前 。 因 賜 治 廟 者 司 徒 、 大 司 空 錢 各 千萬 , 侍 中 、 中 常 侍 以 下 皆 封 。 封 都 匠 仇 延 為 邯 淡 里 附 城。    

二 月 , 霸 橋 災 , 數 千 人 以 水 沃 救 , 不 滅 。 莽 惡 之, 下 書 曰 : 「 夫 三 皇 象 春 , 五 帝 象 夏 , 三 王 象 秋 , 五 伯象 冬 。 皇 王 , 德 運 也 ; 伯 者 , 繼 空 續 乏 以 成 曆 數 , 故 其道 駮 。

惟 常 安 御 道 多 以 所 近 為 名 。 乃 二 月 癸 巳 之夜 , 甲 午 之 辰 , 火 燒 霸 橋 , 從 東 方 西 行 , 至 甲 午 夕 , 橋盡 火 滅 。 大 司 空 行 視 考 問 , 或 云 寒 民 舍 居 橋 下 ,疑 以 火 自 燎 , 為 此 災 也 。

其 明 旦 即 乙 未 ,立 春 之 日 也 。 予 以 神 明 聖 祖 黃 虞 遺 統 受 命 , 至 于 地 皇 四年 為 十 五 年 。 正 以 三 年 終 冬 絕 滅 霸 駮 之 橋 , 欲 以 興 成 新室 統 壹 長 存 之 道 也 。

又 戒 此 橋 空 東 方 之 道 。 今 東 方 歲 荒民 飢 , 道 路 不 通 , 東 岳 太 師 亟 科 條 , 開 東 方 諸 倉, 賑 貸 窮 乏 , 以 施 仁 道 。 其 更 名 霸 館 為 長 存 館 , 霸 橋 為長 存 橋 。 」

是 月 , 赤 眉 殺 太 師 犧 仲 景 尚 。 關 東 人 相 食 。    

四 月 , 遣 太 師 王 匡 、 更 始 將 軍 廉 丹 東 , 祖都 門 外 , 天 大 雨 , 霑 衣 止 。 長 老 歎 曰 : 「 是 為 泣軍 ! 」

莽 曰 : 「 惟 陽 九 之 阨 , 與 害 氣 會 , 究 于 去 年 。 枯旱 霜 蝗 , 飢 饉 薦 臻 , 百 姓 困 乏 , 流 離 道 路 , 于 春尤 甚 , 予 甚 悼 之 。

今 使 東 嶽 太 師 特 進 褒 新 侯 開 東 方 諸 倉, 賑 貸 窮 乏 。太 師 公 所 不 過 道 , 分 遣 大 夫 謁 者 並 開 諸 倉, 以 全 元 元 。

太 師 公 因 與 廉 丹 大 使 五 威 司 命 位 右 大 司 馬更 始 將 軍 平 均 侯 之 兗 州 , 填 撫 所 掌 , 及 青 、 徐 故不 軌 盜 賊 未 盡 解 散 , 後 復 屯 聚 者 , 皆 清 潔 之 , 期 於 安 兆黎 矣 。 」

太 師 、 更 始 合 將 銳 士 十 餘 萬 人 , 所 過 放縱 。 東 方 為 之 語 曰 : 「 寧 逢 赤 眉 , 不 逢 太 師 ! 太 師 尚 可, 更 始 殺 我 ! 」 卒 如 田 況 之 言 。    

莽 又 多 遣 大 夫 謁 者 分 教 民 煮 草 木 為 酪 , 酪 不 可 食, 重 為 煩 費 。

莽 下 書 曰 : 「 惟 民 困 乏 , 雖 溥 開 諸倉 以 賑 贍 之 , 猶 恐 未 足 。 其 且 開 天 下 山 澤 之 防 ,諸 能 采 取 山 澤 之 物 而 順 月 令 者 , 其 恣 聽 之 , 勿 令 出 稅 。至 地 皇 三 十 年 如 故 , 是 王 光 上 戊 之 六 年 也 。

如 令豪 吏 猾 民 辜 而 攉 之 , 小 民 弗 蒙 , 非 予 意 也 。 易 不云 乎 ? 『 損 上 益 下 , 民 說 無 疆 。 』 書 云 : 『 言 之不 從 , 是 謂 不 艾 。 』 咨 虖 群 公 , 可 不 憂 哉 ! 」    

是 時 下 江 兵 盛 , 新 巿 朱 鮪 、 平 林 陳 牧 等 皆 復 聚 眾, 攻 擊 鄉 聚 。 莽 遣 司 命 大 將 軍 孔 仁 部 豫 州 , 納 言 大 將 軍嚴 尤 、 秩 宗 大 將 軍 陳 茂 擊 荊 州 , 各 從 吏 士 百 餘 人 , 乘 船從 渭 入 河 , 至 華 陰 乃 出 乘 傳 。

到 部 募 士 。 尤 謂 茂 曰 : 「遣 將 不 與 兵 符 , 必 先 請 而 後 動 , 是 猶 紲 韓 盧 而 責 之 獲 也。 」    

夏 , 蝗 從 東 方 來 , 蜚 蔽 天 , 至 長 安 , 入 未央 宮 , 緣 殿 閣 。 莽 發 吏 民 設 購 賞 捕 擊 。    

莽 以 天 下 穀 貴 , 欲 厭 之 , 為 大 倉 , 置 衛 交戟 , 名 曰 「 政 始 掖 門 」 。     流 民 入 關 者 數 十 萬 人 , 乃 置 養 贍 官 稟 食 之 。 使 者 監 領 , 與 小 吏 共 盜 其 稟 , 飢 死 者 十 七 八 。

先 是 ,莽 使 中 黃 門 王 業 領 長 安 巿 買 , 賤 取 於 民 , 民 甚 患 之 。 業以 省 費 為 功 , 賜 爵 附 城 。 莽 聞 城 中 飢 饉 , 以 問 業 。 業 曰: 「 皆 流 民 也 。 」 乃 巿 所 賣 粱  肉 羹 , 持 入 視 莽 , 曰 : 「 居 民 食 咸 如 此 。 」 莽 信 之 。    

冬 , 無 鹽 索 盧 恢 等 舉 兵 反 城 。 廉 丹 、 王 匡攻 拔 之 , 斬 首 萬 餘 級 。 莽 遣 中 郎 將 奉 璽 書 勞 丹 、 匡 , 進爵 為 公 , 封 吏 士 有 功 者 十 餘 人 。    

赤 眉 別 校 董 憲 等 眾 數 萬 人 在 梁 郡 , 王 匡 欲 進 擊 之, 廉 丹 以 為 新 拔 城 罷 勞 , 當 且 休 士 養 威 。 匡 不 聽, 引 兵 獨 進 , 丹 隨 之 。 合 戰 成 昌 , 兵 敗 , 匡 走 。丹 使 吏 持 其 印 韍 符 節 付 匡 曰 : 「 小 兒 可 走 , 吾 不 可 ! 」遂 止 , 戰 死 。 校 尉 汝 雲 、 王 隆 等 二 十 餘 人 別 鬥 , 聞 之 ,皆 曰 : 「 廉 公 已 死 , 吾 誰 為 生 ? 」 馳 奔 賊 , 皆 戰 死 。

莽 傷 之 , 下 書 曰 : 「 惟 公 多 擁 選 士 精 兵 , 眾 郡 駿 馬倉 穀 帑 藏 皆 得 自 調 , 忽 於 詔 策 , 離 其 威 節 , 騎 馬呵 譟 , 為 狂 刃 所 害 , 烏 呼 哀 哉 ! 賜 諡 曰 果 公 。 」

國 將 哀 章 謂 莽 曰 : 「 皇 祖 考 黃 帝 之 時 , 中 黃 直 為將 , 破 殺 蚩 尤 。 今 臣 居 中 黃 直 之 位 , 願 平 山 東 。 」 莽 遣章 馳 東 , 與 太 師 匡 并 力 。 又 遣 大 將 軍 陽 浚 守 敖 倉 , 司 徒王 尋 將 十 餘 萬 屯 雒 陽 填 南 宮 , 大 司 馬 董 忠 養 士 習射 中 軍 北 壘 , 大 司 空 王 邑 兼 三 公 之 職 。

    司 徒 尋 初 發 長 安, 宿 霸 昌 廄 , 亡 其 黃 鉞 。 尋 士 房 揚 素 狂 直 , 乃 哭曰 : 「 此 經 所 謂 『 喪 其 齊 斧 』 者 也 ! 」 自 劾 去 。莽 擊 殺 揚 。    

四 方 盜 賊 往 往 數 萬 人 攻 城 邑 , 殺 二 千 石 以 下 。 太師 王 匡 等 戰 數 不 利 。

莽 知 天 下 潰 畔 , 事 窮 計 迫 , 乃 議 遣風 俗 大 夫 司 國 憲 等 分 行 天 下 , 除 井 田 奴 婢 山 澤 六筦 之 禁 , 即 位 以 來 詔 令 不 便 於 民 者 皆 收 還 之 。

待 見 未 發, 會 世 祖 與 兄 齊 武 王 伯 升 、 宛 人 李 通 等 帥 舂 陵 子弟 數 千 人 , 招 致 新 巿 平 林 朱 鮪 、 陳 牧 等 合 攻 拔 棘 陽 。 是時 嚴 尤 、 陳 茂 破 下 江 兵 , 成 丹 、 王 常 等 數 千 人 別 走 , 入南 陽 界 。

    十 一 月 , 有 星 孛 于 張 , 東 南 行 , 五 日 不 見 。 莽 數召 問 太 史 令 宗 宣 , 諸 術 數 家 皆 繆 對 , 言 天 文 安 善 , 群 賊且 滅 。 莽 差 以 自 安 。    

四 年 正 月 , 漢 兵 得 下 江 王 常 等 以 為 助 兵 , 擊 前 隊大 夫 甄 阜 、 屬 正 梁 丘 賜 , 皆 斬 之 , 殺 其 眾 數 萬 人 。

初 ,京 師 聞 青 、 徐 賊 眾 數 十 萬 人 , 訖 無 文 號 旌 旗 表 識 , 咸 怪 異 之 。 好 事 者 竊 言 : 「 此 豈 如 古 三 皇 無 文 書 號 諡邪 ? 」

莽 亦 心 怪 , 以 問 群 臣 , 群 臣 莫 對 。 唯 嚴 尤曰 : 「 此 不 足 怪 也 。 自 黃 帝 、 湯 、 武 行 師 , 必 待 部 曲 旌旗 號 令 , 今 此 無 有 者 , 直 飢 寒 群 盜 , 犬 羊 相 聚 , 不 知 為之 耳 。 」 莽 大 說 , 群 臣 盡 服 。

及 後 漢 兵 劉 伯 升 起, 皆 稱 將 軍 , 攻 城 略 地 , 既 殺 甄 阜 , 移 書 稱 說 。 莽 聞 之憂 懼 。    

漢 兵 乘 勝 遂 圍 宛 城 。

初 , 世 祖 族 兄 聖 公 先 在 平 林兵 中 。 三 月 辛 巳 朔 , 平 林 、 新 巿 、 下 江 兵 將 王 常 、 朱 鮪等 共 立 聖 公 為 帝 , 改 年 為 更 始 元 年 , 拜 置 百 官 。

莽 聞 之愈 恐 。 欲 外 視 自 安 , 乃 染 其 須 髮 , 進 所 徵 天 下 淑女 杜 陵 史 氏 女 為 皇 后 , 聘 黃 金 三 萬 斤 , 車 馬 奴 婢 雜 帛 珍寶 以 巨 萬 計 。 莽 親 迎 於 前 殿 兩 階 間 , 成 同 牢 之 禮 于 上 西堂 。

備 和 嬪 、 美 御 、 和 人 三 , 位 視 公 ; 嬪 人 九 , 視 卿 ;美 人 二 十 七 , 視 大 夫 ; 御 人 八 十 一 , 視 元 士 : 凡 百 二 十人 , 皆 佩 印 韍 , 執 弓 韣 。

封 皇 后 父 諶 為 和 平 侯 ,拜 為 寧 始 將 軍 , 諶 子 二 人 皆 侍 中 。

是 日 , 大 風 發 屋 折 木。 群 臣 上 壽 曰 : 「 乃 庚 子 雨 水 灑 道 , 辛 丑 清 靚 無 塵 , 其 夕 穀 風 迅 疾 , 從 東 北 來 。 辛 丑 , 巽 之 宮 日也 。 巽 為 風 為 順 , 后 誼 明 , 母 道 得 , 溫 和 慈 惠 之 化 也 。易 曰 : 『 受 茲 介 福 , 于 其 王 母 。 』 禮 曰 : 『 承 天之 慶 , 萬 福 無 疆 。 』 諸 欲 依 廢 漢 火 劉 , 皆 沃 灌 雪除 , 殄 滅 無 餘 雜 矣 。 百 穀 豐 茂 , 庶 草 蕃 殖 , 元 元驩 喜 , 兆 民 賴 福 , 天 下 幸 甚 ! 」

莽 日 與 方 士 涿 郡 昭 君 等於 後 宮 考 驗 方 術 , 縱 淫 樂 焉 。

大 赦 天 下 , 然 猶 曰 : 「 故漢 氏 舂 陵 侯 群 子 劉 伯 升 與 其 族 人 婚 姻 黨 與 , 妄 流 言 惑 眾, 悖 畔 天 命 , 及 手 害 更 始 將 軍 廉 丹 、 前 隊 大 夫 甄 阜 、 屬正 梁 丘 賜 , 及 北 狄 胡 虜 逆 輿 泊 南 僰 虜 若 豆 、孟 遷 , 不 用 此 書 。 有 能 捕 得 此 人 者 , 皆 封 為 上 公, 食 邑 萬 戶 , 賜 寶 貨 五 千 萬 。 」    

又 詔 : 「 太 師 王 匡 、 國 將 哀 章 、 司 命 孔 仁 、 兗 州牧 壽 良 、 卒 正 王 閎 、 揚 州 牧 李 聖 亟 進 所 部 州 郡 兵 凡 三 十 萬 眾 , 迫 措 青 、 徐 盜 賊 。 納 言 將 軍 嚴 尤 、秩 宗 將 軍 陳 茂 、 車 騎 將 軍 王 巡 、 左 隊 大 夫 王 吳 亟 進 所 部州 郡 兵 凡 十 萬 眾 , 迫 措 前 隊 醜 虜 。 明 告 以 生 活 丹 青 之 信, 復 迷 惑 不 解 散 , 皆 并 力 合 擊 , 殄 滅 之 矣 !

大 司空 隆 新 公 , 宗 室 戚 屬 , 前 以 虎 牙 將 軍 東 指 則 反 虜 破 壞 ,西 擊 則 逆 賊 靡 碎 , 此 乃 新 室 威 寶 之 臣 也 。 如 黠 賊不 解 散 , 將 遣 大 司 空 將 百 萬 之 師 征 伐 劋 絕 之 矣 ! 」

遣 七 公 幹 士 隗 囂 等 七 十 二 人 分 下 赦 令 曉 諭 云 。 囂 等 既出 , 因 逃 亡 矣 。

四 月 , 世 祖 與 王 常 等 別 攻 潁 川 , 下 昆 陽 、 郾 、 定陵 。 莽 聞 之 愈 恐 , 遣 大 司 空 王 邑 馳 傳 之 雒 陽 , 與 司 徒 王 尋 發 眾 郡 兵 百 萬 , 號 曰 「 虎 牙 五 威 兵 」 ,平 定 山 東 。 得 顓 封 爵 , 政 決 於 邑 , 除 用 徵 諸 明 兵 法 六 十三 家 術 者 , 各 持 圖 書 , 受 器 械 , 備 軍 吏 。 傾 府 庫 以 遣 邑, 多 齎 珍 寶 猛 獸 , 欲 視 饒 富 , 用 怖 山 東 。

邑 至 雒陽 , 州 郡 各 選 精 兵 , 牧 守 自 將 , 定 會 者 四 十 二 萬 人 , 餘在 道 不 絕 , 車 甲 士 馬 之 盛 , 自 古 出 師 未 嘗 有 也 。    

六 月 , 邑 與 司 徒 尋 發 雒 陽 , 欲 至 宛 , 道 出 潁 川 ,過 昆 陽 。 昆 陽 時 已 降 漢 , 漢 兵 守 之 。 嚴 尤 、 陳 茂 與 二 公會 , 二 公 縱 兵 圍 昆 陽 。 嚴 尤 曰 : 「 稱 尊 號 者 在 宛 下 , 宜亟 進 。 彼 破 , 諸 城 自 定 矣 。 」 邑 曰 : 「 百 萬 之 師, 所 過 當 滅 , 今 屠 此 城 , 喋 血 而 進 , 前 歌 後 舞 ,顧 不 快 邪 ! 」 遂 圍 城 數 十 重 。

城 中 請 降 , 不 許 。 嚴 尤 又曰 : 「 『 歸 師 勿 遏 , 圍 城 為 之 闕 』 , 可 如 兵 法 ,使 得 逸 出 , 以 怖 宛 下 。 」 邑 又 不 聽 。

會 世 祖 悉 發 郾 、 定陵 兵 數 千 人 來 救 昆 陽 , 尋 、 邑 易 之 , 自 將 萬 餘 人行 陳 , 敕 諸 營 皆 按 部 毋 得 動 , 獨 迎 , 與 漢 兵 戰 ,不 利 。 大 軍 不 敢 擅 相 救 , 漢 兵 乘 勝 殺 尋 。 昆 陽 中 兵 出 並戰 , 邑 走 , 軍 亂 。 天 風 蜚 瓦 , 雨 如 注水 , 大 眾 崩 壞 號 謼 , 虎 豹 股 栗 , 士 卒 奔 走, 各 還 歸 其 郡 。 邑 獨 與 所 將 長 安 勇 敢 數 千 人 還 雒 陽 。 關中 聞 之 震 恐 , 盜 賊 並 起 。    

又 聞 漢 兵 言 , 莽 鴆 殺 孝 平 帝 。 莽 乃 會 公 卿 以 下 於王 路 堂 , 開 所 為 平 帝 請 命 金 縢 之 策 , 泣 以 視 群 臣 。

命 明 學 男 張 邯 稱 說 其 德 及 符 命 事 , 因 曰 : 「 易 言 : 『伏 戎 于 莽 , 升 其 高 陵 , 三 歲 不 興 。 』 『 莽 』 , 皇帝 之 名 。 『 升 』 謂 劉 伯 升 。 『 高 陵 』 謂 高 陵 侯 子 翟 義 也。 言 劉 升 、 翟 義 為 伏 戎 之 兵 於 新 皇 帝 世 , 猶 殄 滅 不 興 也。 」 群 臣 皆 稱 萬 歲 。

又 令 東 方 檻 車 傳 送 數 人 , 言 「 劉 伯升 等 皆 行 大 戮 」 。 臣 知 其 詐 也 。    

先 是 , 衛 將 軍 王 涉 素 養 道 士 西 門 君 惠 。 君 惠 好 天文 讖 記 , 為 涉 言 : 「 星 孛 掃 宮 室 , 劉 氏 當 復 興 , 國 師 公姓 名 是 也 。 」 涉 信 其 言 , 以 語 大 司 馬 董 忠 , 數 俱 至 國 師殿 中 廬 道 語 星 宿 , 國 師 不 應 。

後 涉 特 往 , 對 歆 涕泣 言 : 「 誠 欲 與 公 共 安 宗 族 , 奈 何 不 信 涉 也 ! 」歆 因 為 言 天 文 人 事 , 東 方 必 成 。

涉 曰 : 「 新 都 哀 侯 小 被病 , 功 顯 君 素 耆 酒 , 疑 帝 本 非 我 家 子 也 。 董 公 主 中 軍 精 兵 , 涉 領 宮 衛 , 伊 休 侯 主 殿 中 , 如 同 心 合謀 , 共 劫 持 帝 , 東 降 南 陽 天 子 , 可 以 全 宗 族 ; 不 者 , 俱夷 滅 矣 ! 」

伊 休 侯 者 , 歆 長 子 也 , 為 侍 中 五 官 中 郎 將 ,莽 素 愛 之 。 歆 怨 莽 殺 其 三 子 , 又 畏 大 禍 至 , 遂 與 涉 、 忠謀 , 欲 發 。

歆 曰 : 「 當 待 太 白 星 出 , 乃 可 。 」 忠 以 司 中大 贅 起 武 侯 孫 伋 亦 主 兵 , 復 與 伋 謀 。 伋 歸 家 , 顏 色 變 ,不 能 食 。 妻 怪 問 之 , 語 其 狀 。 妻 以 告 弟 雲 陽 陳 邯 , 邯 欲告 之 。 七 月 , 伋 與 邯 俱 告 , 莽 遣 使 者 分 召 忠 等 。

時 忠 方講 兵 都 肄 , 護 軍 王 咸 謂 忠 謀 久 不 發 , 恐 漏 泄 , 不如 遂 斬 使 者 , 勒 兵 入 。 忠 不 聽 , 遂 與 歆 、 涉 會 省 戶 下 。

莽 令  惲 責 問 , 皆 服 。 中 黃 門 各 拔 刃 將 忠 等 送 廬 , 忠 拔劍 欲 自 刎 , 侍 中 王 望 傳 言 大 司 馬 反 , 黃 門 持 劍 共 格 殺 之。 省 中 相 驚 傳 , 勒 兵 至 郎 署 , 皆 拔 刃 張 弩 。 更 始 將 軍 史諶 行 諸 署 , 告 郎 吏 曰 : 「 大 司 馬 有 狂 病 , 發 , 已誅 。 」 皆 令 弛 兵 。 莽 欲 以 厭 凶 , 使 虎 賁 以斬 馬 劍 挫 忠 , 盛 以 竹 器 , 傳 曰 「 反 虜 出 」 。

下 書赦 大 司 馬 官 屬 吏 士 為 忠 所 詿 誤 , 謀 反 未 發 覺 者 。 收 忠 宗族 , 以 醇 醯 毒 藥 、 尺 白 刃 叢 僰 并 一 坎 而 埋 之。

劉 歆 、 王 涉 皆 自 殺 。 莽 以 二 人 骨 肉 舊 臣 , 惡 其 內 潰 ,故 隱 其 誅 。 伊 休 侯 疊 又 以 素 謹 , 歆 訖 不 告 , 但 免 侍 中 中 郎 將 , 更 為 中 散 大 夫 。

後 日 殿 中 鉤 盾土 山 僊 人 掌 旁 有 白 頭 公 青 衣 , 郎 吏 見 者 私 謂 之國 師 公 。

衍 功 侯 喜 素 善 卦 , 莽 使 筮 之 , 曰 : 「 憂 兵 火 。」 莽 曰 : 「 小 兒 安 得 此 左 道 ? 是 乃 予 之 皇 祖 叔 父 子 僑 欲來 迎 我 也 。 」    

莽 軍 師 外 破 , 大 臣 內 畔 , 左 右 亡 所 信 , 不 能 復 遠念 郡 國 , 欲 謼 邑 與 計 議 。 崔 發 曰 : 「 邑 素 小 心 ,今 失 大 眾 而 徵 , 恐 其 執 節 引 決 , 宜 有 以 大 慰 其 意 。 」 於是 莽 遣 發 馳 傳 諭 邑 : 「 我 年 老 毋 適 子 , 欲傳 邑 以 天 下 。 敕 亡 得 謝 , 見 勿 復 道 。 」

邑 到 , 以 為 大 司馬 。 大 長 秋 張 邯 為 大 司 徒 , 崔 發 為 大 司 空 , 司 中 壽 容 苗訢 為 國 師 , 同 說 侯 林 為 衛 將 軍 。

莽 憂 懣 不 能 食 , 亶 飲 酒 , 啗 鰒 魚 。 讀 軍 書 倦 , 因 馮 几 寐 , 不 復 就枕 矣 。

性 好 時 日 小 數 , 及 事 迫 急 , 亶 為 厭 勝 。 遣使 壞 渭 陵 、 延 陵 園 門 罘 罳 , 曰 : 「 毋 使 民 復 思 也 。 」 又以 墨 洿 色 其 周 垣 。 號 將 至 曰 「 歲 宿 」 , 申 水 為 「助 將 軍 」 , 右 庚 「 刻 木 校 尉 」 , 前 丙 「 燿 金 都 尉 」 , 又曰 : 「 執 大 斧 , 伐 枯 木 ; 流 大 水 , 滅 發 火 。 」 如 此 屬 不可 勝 記 。    

秋 , 太 白 星 流 入 太 微 , 燭 地 如 月 光 。    

成 紀 隗 崔 兄 弟 共 劫 大 尹 李 育 , 以 兄 子 隗 囂為 大 將 軍 , 攻 殺 雍 州 牧 陳 慶 、 安 定 卒 正 王 旬 , 并 其 眾 ,移 書 郡 縣 , 數 莽 罪 惡 萬 於 桀 紂 。    

是 月 , 析 人 鄧 曄 、 于 匡 起 兵 南 鄉 百 餘 人 。時 析 宰 將 兵 數 千 屯 鄡 亭 , 備 武 關 。 曄 、 匡 謂 宰 曰: 「 劉 帝 已 立 , 君 何 不 知 命 也 ! 」 宰 請 降 , 盡 得 其 眾 。

曄 自 稱 輔 漢 左 將 軍 , 匡 右 將 軍 , 拔 析 、 丹 水 , 攻 武 關 ,都 尉 朱 萌 降 。 進 攻 右 隊 大 夫 宋 綱 , 殺 之 , 西 拔 湖 。

莽 愈 憂 , 不 知 所 出 。 崔 發 言 : 「 周 禮 及 春 秋 左 氏 , 國有 大 災 , 則 哭 以 厭 之 。 故 易 稱 『 先 號 咷 而 後 笑 』。 宜 呼 嗟 告 天 以 求 救 。 」

莽 自 知 敗 , 乃 率 群 臣 至南 郊 , 陳 其 符 命 本 末 , 仰 天 曰 : 「 皇 天 既 命 授 臣 莽 , 何不 殄 滅 眾 賊 ? 即 令 臣 莽 非 是 , 願 下 雷 霆 誅 臣 莽 ! 」 因 搏心 大 哭 , 氣 盡 , 伏 而 叩 頭 。

又 作 告 天 策 , 自 陳 功 勞 , 千餘 言 。 諸 生 小 民 會 旦 夕 哭 , 為 設 飧 粥 , 甚 悲 哀 及能 誦 策 文 者 除 以 為 郎 , 至 五 千 餘 人 。  惲 將 領 之 。    

莽 拜 將 軍 九 人 , 皆 以 虎 為 號 , 號 曰 「 九 虎 」 , 將北 軍 精 兵 數 萬 人 東 , 內 其 妻 子 宮 中 以 為 質 。

時 省 中 黃 金萬 斤 者 為 一 匱 , 尚 有 六 十 匱 , 黃 門 、 鉤 盾 、 臧 府 、 中 尚方 處 處 各 有 數 匱 。 長 樂 御 府 、 中 御 府 及 都 內 、 平 準 帑 藏錢 帛 珠 玉 財 物 甚 眾 , 莽 愈 愛 之 , 賜 九 虎 士 人 四 千錢 。 眾 重 怨 , 無 鬥 意 。

九 虎 至 華 陰 回 谿 , 距 隘 ,北 從 河 南 至 山 。 于 匡 持 數 千 弩 , 乘 堆 挑 戰 。鄧 曄 將 二 萬餘 人 從 閿 鄉 南 出 棗 街 、 作 姑 , 破 其 一 部 , 北 出 九虎 後 擊 之 。 六 虎 敗 走 。 史 熊 、 王 況 詣 闕 歸 死 , 莽 使 使 責死 者 安 在 , 皆 自 殺 ; 其 四 虎 亡 。 三 虎 郭 欽 、 陳 翬、 成 重 收 散 卒 , 保 京 師 倉 。

    鄧 曄 開 武 關 迎 漢 , 丞 相 司 直 李 松 將 二 千 餘 人 至 湖, 與 曄 等 共 攻 京 師 倉 。

未 下 。 曄 以 弘 農 掾 王 憲 為 校 尉 ,將 數 百 人 北 度 渭 , 入 左 馮 翊 界 , 降 城 略 地 。 李 松 遣 偏 將軍 韓 臣 等 徑 西 至 新 豐 , 與 莽 波 水 將 軍 戰 , 波 水 走 。

韓 臣等 追 奔 , 遂 至 長 門 宮 。 王 憲 北 至 頻 陽 , 所 過 迎 降 。 大 姓 櫟 陽 申 碭 、 下 邽 王 大 皆 率 眾 隨 憲 。 屬 縣 斄 嚴 春 、 茂 陵 董 喜 、 藍 田 王 孟 、 槐 里 汝 臣 、 盩 厔 王 扶 、 陽陵 嚴 本 、 杜 陵 屠 門 少 之 屬 , 眾 皆 數 千 人 , 假 號 稱漢 將 。

時 李 松 、 鄧 曄 以 為 京 師 小 小 倉 尚 未 可 下 , 何 況 長安 城 , 當 須 更 始 帝 大 兵 到 。 即 引 軍 至 華 陰 , 治 攻 具 。 而長 安 旁 兵 四 會 城 下 , 聞 天 水 隗 氏 兵 方 到 , 皆 爭 欲 先 入 城, 貪 立 大 功 鹵 掠 之 利 。    

莽 遣 使 者 分 赦 城 中 諸 獄 囚 徒 , 皆 授 兵 , 殺 豨 飲 其血 , 與 誓 曰 :「 有 不 為 新 室 者 , 社 鬼 記 之 ! 」 更 始 將 軍 史 諶 將 度 渭 橋, 皆 散 走 。 諶 空 還 。

眾 兵 發 掘 莽 妻 子 父 祖 冢 , 燒 其 棺 槨及 九 廟 、 明 堂 、 辟 雍 , 火 照 城 中 。

或 謂 莽 曰 : 「 城 門 卒, 東 方 人 , 不 可 信 。 」 莽 更 發 越 騎 士 為 衛 , 門 置 六 百 人, 各 一 校 尉 。

十 月 戊 申 朔 , 兵 從 宣 平 城 門 入 , 民 間 所 謂 都 門 也。 張 邯 行 城 門 , 逢 兵 見 殺 。 王 邑 、 王 林 、王 巡 、  惲 等 分 將 兵 距 擊 北 闕 下 。 漢 兵 貪 莽 封 力 戰 者 七百 餘 人 。會 日 暮 , 官 府 邸 第 盡 奔 亡 。

二 日 己 酉 ,城 中 少 年 朱 弟 、 張 魚 等 恐 見 鹵 掠 , 趨 讙 並 和 , 燒作 室 門 , 斧 敬 法 闥 , 謼 曰 : 「 反 虜 王 莽 , 何 不 出降 ? 」 火 及 掖 廷 承 明 , 黃 皇 室 主 所 居 也 。 莽 避 火宣 室 前 殿 , 火 輒 隨 之 。 宮 人 婦 女 謕 謼 曰 : 「 當 奈 何 ! 」

    時 莽 紺 袀 服 , 帶 璽 韍 , 持 虞 帝 匕 首 。 天 文 郎 桉 栻於 前 , 日 時 加 某 , 莽 旋 席 隨 斗 柄 而 坐 , 曰 : 「 天生 德 於 予 , 漢 兵 其 如 予 何 ! 」

莽 時 不 食 , 少 氣 困矣 。     三 日 庚 戌 , 晨 旦 明 , 群 臣 扶 掖 莽 , 自 前 殿 南 下 椒除 , 西 出 白 虎 門 , 和 新 公 王 揖 奉 車 待 門 外 。 莽 就車 , 之 漸 臺 , 欲 阻 池 水 , 猶 抱 持 符 命 、 威 斗 , 公 卿 大 夫、 侍 中 、 黃 門 郎 從 官 尚 千 餘 人 隨 之 。

王 邑 晝 夜 戰 , 罷 極, 士 死 傷 略 盡 , 馳 入 宮 , 間 關 至 漸 臺 , 見其 子 侍 中 睦 解 衣 冠 欲 逃 , 邑 叱 之 令 還 , 父 子 共 守 莽 。

軍人 入 殿 中 , 謼 曰 : 「 反 虜 王 莽 安 在 ? 」 有 美 人 出 房 曰 :「 在 漸 臺 。 」 眾 兵 追 之 , 圍 數 百 重 。 臺 上 亦 弓 弩 與 相 射, 稍 稍 落 去 。 矢 盡 , 無 以 復 射 , 短 兵 接 。 王 邑 父 平 、  惲 、 王 巡 戰 死 , 莽 入 室 。 下 餔 時 , 眾 兵 上 臺, 王 揖 、 趙 博 、 苗 訢 、 唐 尊 、 王 盛 、 中 常 侍 王 參 等 皆 死臺 上 。 商 人 杜 吳 殺 莽 , 取 其 綬 。 校 尉 東 海 公 賓 就 , 故 大行 治 禮 , 見 吳 問 綬 主 所 在 。 曰 : 「 室 中 西 北 陬 間。 」 就 識 , 斬 莽 首 。 軍 人 分 裂 莽 身 , 支 節 肌 骨 臠分 , 爭 相 殺 者 數 十 人 。 公 賓 就 持 莽 首 詣 王 憲 。

憲自 稱 漢 大 將 軍 , 城 中 兵 數 十 萬 皆 屬 焉 , 舍 東 宮 , 妻 莽 後 宮 , 乘 其 車 服 。    

六 日 癸 丑 , 李 松 、 鄧 曄 入 長 安 , 將 軍 趙 萌 、 申 屠建 亦 至 , 以 王 憲 得 璽 綬 不 輒 上 , 多 挾 宮 女 , 建 天 子 鼓 旗, 收 斬 之 。 傳 莽 首 詣 更 始 , 縣 宛 市 , 百 姓 共 提 擊 之 ,或 切 食 其 舌 。    

莽 揚 州 牧 李 聖 、 司 命 孔 仁 兵 敗 山 東 , 聖 格 死 , 仁將 其 眾 降 , 已 而 歎 曰 : 「 吾 聞 食 人 食 者 死 其 事 。 」 拔 劍自 刺 死 。 及 曹 部 監 杜 普 、 陳 定 大 尹 沈 意 、 九 江 連 率 賈 萌皆 守 郡 不 降 , 為 漢 兵 所 誅 。 賞 都 大 尹 王 欽 及 郭 欽 守 京 師倉 , 聞 莽 死 , 乃 降 , 更 始 義 之 , 皆 封 為 侯 。 太 師 王 匡 、國 將 哀 章 降 雒 陽 , 傳 詣 宛 , 斬 之 。

嚴 尤 、 陳 茂 敗 昆 陽 下, 走 至 沛 郡 譙 , 自 稱 漢 將 , 召 會 吏 民 。 尤 為 稱 說 王 莽 篡位 天 時 所 亡 聖 漢 復 興 狀 , 茂 伏 而 涕 泣 。 聞 故 漢 鍾 武 侯 劉聖 聚 眾 汝 南 稱 尊 號 , 尤 、 茂 降 之 。 以 尤 為 大 司 馬 , 茂 為丞 相 。 十 餘 日 敗 , 尤 、 茂 并 死 。

郡 縣 皆 舉 城 降 , 天 下 悉歸 漢 。    

初 , 申 屠 建 嘗 事 崔 發 為 詩 , 建 至 , 發 降 之。 後 復 稱 說 , 建 令 丞 相 劉 賜 斬 發 以 徇 。 史 諶 、 王延 、 王 林 、 王 吳 、 趙 閎 亦 降 , 復 見 殺 。

初 , 諸 假 號 兵 人人 望 封 侯 。 申 屠 建 既 斬 王 憲 , 又 揚 言 三 輔 黠 共 殺 其 主 。吏 民 惶 恐 , 屬 縣 屯 聚 , 建 等 不 能 下 , 馳 白 更 始 。    

二 年 二 月 , 更 始 到 長 安 , 下 詔 大 赦 , 非 王 莽 子 ,他 皆 除 其 罪 , 故 王 氏 宗 族 得 全 。 三 輔 悉 平 , 更 始 都 長 安, 居 長 樂 宮 。 府 藏 完 具 , 獨 未 央 宮 燒 攻 莽 三 日 , 死 則 案堵 復 故 。

更 始 至 , 歲 餘 政 教 不 行 。 明 年 夏 , 赤 眉 樊 崇 等眾 數 十 萬 人 入 關 , 立 劉 盆 子 , 稱 尊 號 , 攻 更 始 , 更 始 降之 。

赤 眉 遂 燒 長 安 宮 室 市 里 , 害 更 始 。 民 飢 餓 相 食 , 死者 數 十 萬 , 長 安 為 虛 , 城 中 無 人 行 。 宗 廟 園 陵 皆發 掘 , 唯 霸 陵 、 杜 陵 完 。

六 月 , 世 祖 即 位 , 然 後 宗 廟 社稷 復 立 , 天 下 艾 安 。    

贊 曰 : 王 莽 始 起 外 戚 , 折 節 力 行 , 以 要 名 譽 , 宗族 稱 孝 , 師 友 歸 仁 。

及 其 居 位 輔 政 , 成 、 哀 之 際 , 勤 勞國 家 , 直 道 而 行 , 動 見 稱 述 。 豈 所 謂 「 在 家 必 聞 , 在 國必 聞 」 , 「 色 取 仁 而 行 違 」 者 邪 ?

莽 既 不 仁 而 有佞 邪 之 材 , 又 乘 四 父 歷 世 之 權 , 遭 漢 中 微 , 國 統 三 絕 ,而 太 后 壽 考 為 之 宗 主 , 故 得 肆 其 姦 慝 , 以 成 篡 盜 之 禍 。 推 是 言 之 , 亦 天 時 , 非 人 力 之 致 矣 。

及 其 竊 位 南面 , 處 非 所 據 , 顛 覆 之 勢 險 於 桀 紂 , 而 莽 晏 然 自 以 黃 、虞 復 出 也 。 乃 始 恣 睢 , 奮 其 威 詐 , 滔 天 虐 民 , 窮凶 惡 極 , 毒 流 諸 夏 , 亂 延 蠻 貉 , 猶 未 足 逞 其 欲 焉。

是 以 四 海 之 內 , 囂 然 喪 其 樂 生 之 心 , 中 外 憤 怨, 遠 近 俱 發 , 城 池 不 守 , 支 體 分 裂 , 遂 令 天 下 城 邑 為 虛, 丘 壟 發 掘 , 害 遍 生 民 , 辜 及 朽 骨。

自 書 傳 所 載亂 臣 賊 子 無 道 之 人 , 考 其 禍 敗 , 未 有 如 莽 之 甚 者 也 。 昔秦 燔 詩 書 以 立 私 議 , 莽 誦 六 藝 以 文 姦 言 , 同 歸 誅塗 , 俱 用 滅 亡 , 皆 炕 龍 絕 氣 , 非 命 之 運 , 紫 色  聲, 餘 分 閏 位 , 聖 王 之 驅 除 云 爾 !

Translation and Notes: Part C

In [the period T'ien-feng], the fourth year, in the fifth month, [Wang] Mang said [in a message], "The Libationer for the Masters and Companions [to the Heir-apparent] Guarantor of His Perfection, T'ang Lin, and the former Libationer for the Remonstrants and Consultants, Chi Ch'ün, ([a man] from Lang-yeh [Commandery), have shown] filial devotion, brotherly respectfulness, loyalty, and reciprocity; they have been respectful to their superiors and have loved their inferiors; they have been extensively learned in ancient traditions; their upright characters have been excellent and perfect; and even to old age they have not committed any errors. Let [T'ang] Lin be enfeoffed as the Marquis Established Through Virtue and [let Chi] Ch'ün [be enfeoffed as] the Marquis Enfeoffed Through Virtue; the rank of both shall be a Specially Advanced and they shall be received in audience with rites like those of the three highest ministers. They are [each] to be granted one residence, 1 three million cash, and are to be given stools and canes."

In the sixth month, when [Wang Mang] changed [the rites, removing to] the Ming-t'ang the bestowal of earth [enveloped in] quitch grass to nobles [as a token of enfeoffment], he said [in a message], "I have instituted the geographical arrangements and have established and enfeoffed [nobles] in five grades. I have examined them by the canonical books and harmonized them with the written traditions [concerning the classics] and the records, and pervaded them by the principles of right relationships.

"I have discussed them and pondered over them again and again, from the beginning of the first [year] in [the period] Shih-chien-kuo down to the present, [which is] the ninth year. Now they have however been indeed fixed upon. I have myself established the [inclined] plane of ornamented stones, 2 I have arranged the three-ribbed quitch-grass and the four-colored earth, 3 and have respectfully given information [of the enfeoffments] to Mount T'ai, 4 to the Grand [Imperial] Mound Altar to the Gods of the Soils, to Sovereign Earth, to my deceased male and female ancestors, in order to publish and transmit [these classical practises. Let] each [noble] go to his state to care for and shepherd his common people in order to accomplish meritorious achievements. For those whose [estates] are on the borders or in Chiang-nan, except for those who are summoned by an imperial edict to be sent to wait upon [the Emperor] in the imperial capital, the Grandee in Charge of Goods [subordinate to] the Communicator shall temporarily collect the old [style] cash from the capital treasuries [in order to] pay them their allowances: to dukes, 800,000 [cash] per year; to marquises and earls, 400,000 [cash per year]; to viscounts and barons, 200,000 [cash per year]." 5

Yet even then they could not receive the full amount. [Wang] Mang loved bombastic speeches and admired ancient practises. He enfeoffed very many people as nobles, [but] in his nature he was in reality niggardly. He took as a pretext that the geographical arrangements had not yet been determined upon, hence temporarily in advance distributed clods with quitch-grass [in token of enfeoffment], using them to console and delight those whom he enfeoffed.

In this year, [Wang Mang] again published ordinances for the six controls. 6 For each control he established regulations to restrain violators [of the monopoly]; the penalties were as great as capital [punishment. Yet] the officials and common people who suffered for crime became increasingly 7 numerous.

He moreover temporarily made a levy [even] upon the highest class of the highest ministers [and those ranking] lower, that whoever possessed male or female slaves should pay a tax of 3600 cash per [slave], so that the empire became even more discontented and thieves and robbers arose. 8

When the Communicator, Feng Ch'ang, remonstrated against the six controls, [Wang] Mang became furious and dismissed [Feng] Ch'ang from office.

[Wang Mang] established Administrators of the Laws at [the Emperor's] Right and Left for the Extirpation of Wickedness, and selected for employment [in this office] capable officials, Hou Pa and others, dispersing them to supervise the six Commandants' [Commanderies] and the six Neighboring Commanderies, like the Inspectors of the Han [dynasty], with one Officer of the three highest ministers for a commandery as an Attendant official [to the Administrator of the Laws for the Extirpation of Wickedness].

Kua-t'ien Yi of Lin-huai [Commandery] and others became thieves and robbers, relying upon [the fastnesses in] Ch'ang-chou of K'uai-chi [Commandery]. Mother Lü, a woman of Lang-yeh [Commandery], also arose. Previously, Mother Lü's son had been an official of the county and had been killed on a false charge by its Ruler. His mother dispersed the wealth of her household on [the pretext] of dealing in liquor, by purchasing arms and crossbows, and privately treating poor youths liberally. When she had obtained more than a hundred men, she thereupon attacked the county-seat of Hai-ch'ü and killed its Ruler. She used [his corpse] as a sacrifice at the grave of her son. She led her troops into the sea. These bands gradually became greater. Later both [bandit bands] were numbered by the ten-thou-sands. 9

[Wang] Mang sent commissioners to go to and pardon the thieves and robbers. When [the commissioners] returned, they said, "Whenever the thieves and robbers disperse, they immediately reunite." When he asked them the reason for this [action], they all said, "They are grieved at the laws and prohibitions, which are vexatious and tyrannous, so that they can do nothing, and what they obtain by hard work is insufficient to pay the taxes, while if they close their doors in order to guard themselves, they are moreover sentenced because their group of five neighboring [families] might be casting cash or possessing copper. Wicked officials take advantage of that to afflict 10 these common people. When common people are improverished, they all arise and become thieves or robbers." [Wang] Mang [became] furious and dismissed them.

Some of them fell in with his ideas and said that the common people were perverse and crafty and ought to be executed and also said that the revolution of the seasons was opportune and [the robbers] would before long be annihilated, [whereupon Wang] Mang was pleased and immediately promoted them.

In this year, in the eighth month, [Wang] Mang in person went to the place for the suburban sacrifice at the south [of the Capital] to have the majestic tou [measures] cast. 11 For making the majestic tou [measures], five [colors of] minerals were used with bronze. 12 They were like the Northern Bushel [in shape], two feet five inches long. [Wang Mang] intended to use them to repress various military forces by incantations. When they were completed, he ordered the Directors of Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles] to carry them on their shoulders. When [Wang] Mang went out, they went before him; when he had entered [the palace], they waited upon him at his sides. 13 On the day that these tou [measures] were cast, there was a severe cold [spell], so that some men and horses of the various offices froze to death.

In the fifth year, the first month, on the first day of the month, there was a visitation [of fire] to the southern gate of the Northern Army [Encampment].

Fei Hsing, the Director of Confidence in the Commander-in-chief, was made the Shepherd of Ching Province. When he was asked at an audience what would be his plans of action when he reached his regional division, [Fei] Hsing replied, "The common people of Ching and Yang 14 [Provinces] generally take advantage of their mountains and marshes in making fishing and the picking [of wild fruits] their occupations. Recently the state has set up the six controls, which tax [the products of] the mountains and marshes and have interfered with and taken away the profits of the common people. For a long time in successive years there have been droughts, so that the people are hungry and impoverished. Hence they have become thieves or robbers.

"When I, Hsing, reach my regional division, I intend to order and to make it clearly known and inform the thieves and robbers that they should return to their homes and I will lend them oxen for plowing, seed, and food, and exempt them from the land and capitation-taxes. I hope that thereby I may be able to disperse and tranquillize them." [Wang] Mang became incensed [at this proposal] and dismissed [Fei] Hsing from his office.

Because the officials of the [whole] empire did not receive their salaries, they all did evil for profit. The personal property of [Grand] Governors of commanderies and Rulers of counties [amounted to] a thousand [catties of] gold. [Hence Wang] Mang issued an imperial edict which said, "Investigate carefully [the deeds of] the military officials and the officials of the borders, from the grandees and upwards, beginning with the second year of [the period] Shih-chien-kuo, when the northern barbarian (Hu) caitiffs troubled China. 15 If any, have done evil for profit, so that they have increased their property and have become rich, [let] four-fifths of the property in their families be taken and used to aid the distress of the borders." Officers from the highest ministers' yamens [rode] galloping quadrigae [all over] the empire, examining and investigating avaricious [persons]. They persuaded officials to inform on their generals, and male and female slaves to inform on their masters, hoping thereby to stop the evil, [but] the evil became very much more serious.

An Imperial Grandson, the Duke of Eminent Merits, [Wang] Tsung, was sentenced for having had a picture of himself painted, wearing the robes and bonnet of the Son of Heaven, and having had three seals engraved. One read, "Because of celestial blessings, my official hat is prepared and ready. In the summer [I] dwell in the Southern Mountains, where there is stored up thin ice." 16 The second read, "Revering the Sages and holding precious the heritage." 17 The third said, "[To be] enfeoffed because of virtue and made glorious by the [imperial] documents." 18

The household of [Wang] Tsung's maternal uncle Lü K'uan, which had previously been exiled to Ho-p'u [Commandery], had moreover privately communicated with [Wang] Tsung. When [this matter] became known, an examination was made and [Wang] Tsung committed suicide.

[Wang] Mang said, "[According to] his relationship, [Wang] Tsung was an Imperial Grandson; [according to] his noble rank, he was [among] the highest of the dukes. He knew that [Lü] K'uan and the others belonged to rebellious clan, but communicated with them. He had three bronze seals engraved whose inscriptions and intentions were extremely pernicious. He did not know how to be contented, and was watching for and desiring what he should not have hoped for.

"[According to] the principle in [the Kung-yang Commentary on] the Spring and Autumn, `A relative of the prince should not have had such an intention, [but] since he had that intention, he should have been executed,' 19 [Wang Tsung] was deluded and went astray, so that he brought this punishment upon himself. Alas! It is sad!"

[Wang] Tsung's personal name was originally Hui-tsung; according to the [imperial] institutions, he had done away with there being two words in his personal name [and used only Tsung as his name]. 20 He was now again named Hui-tsung, and his noble rank was degraded and his title was changed. He was granted the posthumous name of the Erring Earl of Eminent Merits, and was buried with the rites of an earl in his former t'ung in Ku-ch'eng Commandery.

[Wang] Tsung's elder sister, [Wang] Fang, who was the Lady (wife) of the General of the Guard, Wang Hsing(a), had made [magical] imprecations against her mother-in-law and had killed a slave-woman in order to stop up her mouth. The matter became known and [Wang] Mang sent the Regular Palace Attendant Tai Yün to interrogate [Wang] Fang under torture and also to flog [Wang] Hsing(a). Both committed suicide.

The matter also involved the wife of the Director of Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles], K'ung Jen. She also committed suicide. [When K'ung] Jen had audience with [Wang] Mang, and doffed his bonnet in acknowledging [his fault, Wang] Mang had a Master of Writing impeach [K'ung] Jen [saying that the fact of his] "having ridden in a heavenly chariot [drawn by] earthly mares, `having on his left the Azure Dragon [Standard], on his right the White Tiger [Standard], in front the Vermillion Bird 21 [Standard], and in his rear the Dark Warrior [Standard],' in his right hand grasping the majestic credentials and on his left [shoulder] bearing the majestic tou [measure], and being called the Red Planet, was not in order to make [K'ung] Jen proud, but to honor the majestic mandate of the Hsin house, [and yet K'ung] Jen has presumed to doff his astrological bonnet, which constitutes [the capital crime] of being extremely disrespectful." [Then] there was an imperial edict [ordering that K'ung Jen] should not be impeached and exchanging his bonnet for a new one. [Wang Mang's] love for marvels was like the foregoing.

The Marquis of the Straight Path, Wang Shê, was made the General of the Guard. [Wang] Shê was the son of the Marquis of Ch'ü-yang, [Wang] Ken. In the reign of Emperor Ch'eng, [Wang] Ken had been Commander-in-chief, and, [when he had been about to retire], he had recommended [Wang] Mang to take his place [as Commander-in-chief, 22 so that Wang] Mang was grateful to him. [The latter] had considered that Ch'ü-yang (crooked phallus) was not a good designation, so had posthumously [granted Wang] Ken the posthumous name, Duke Jang (Ceding) of the Straight Path. [Wang] Shê had inherited this noble title.

In this year, Li Tzu-tu, Fan Ch'ung, and others of the Red Eyebrows gathered together because of the famine and arose in Lang-yeh [Commandery]. They moved about and robbed. Their bands all numbered in the ten-thousands. [Wang Mang] sent commissioners to mobilize the troops of the commanderies and kingdoms to attack them, [but these troops] were unable to vanquish [the robber bands].

In this sixth year, in the spring, [Wang] Mang saw that the thieves and robbers were so many, hence ordered the Grand Astrologers to calculate a calendar for thirty-six thousand years, with one change of the year-period [every] six years, and to publish it to the empire.

[Wang Mang] issued a message, saying, "The Tzu-ko T'u23 says, `The Supreme One and the Yellow Lord both [became] immortals and [then] 24 ascended to heaven, [where they] made music on top of the K'un-lun and Ch'ien Mountains. 25 A sage lord who is of their later generations and is to secure auspicious presages is due [similarly] to have music made upon the top of the Chung-nan Mountains in [the state of] Ch'in.'

"Because of my lack of penetration, my performance of [Heaven's] commands has not been intelligent, yet now I have been informed [of the correct procedure]. I restore [a former title, changing] the General of a Peaceful Beginning to be the General of a New Beginning, in order to conform to the Mandate [of Heaven given through] portents. Does not the Book of Changes say, `The daily renewing [of nature] is what is called the flourishing of its virtue; its production of what is produced is what is called its change.' 26 May I receive [Heaven's protection]." He wished thereby to deceive and dazzle the people and to scatter and disperse the thieves and robbers, [but] the vulgar all laughed at him.

Previously when the music of the Hsin [House]had been offered in the Grand [Ancestral] Temple of the Ming-t'ang, when the courtiers had first worn the female unicorn-skin caps, 27 someone who heard the sound of this music said, "It is limpid and inspiring, but plaintive, 28 not the music that will make a state flourish."

At this time, east of [Han-ku] Pass there had been a famine and drought for several years, so that the partizan bands of Li Tzu-tu and the others became gradually larger. When the General of a New Beginning, Lien Tan, had attacked [the rebels] in Yi Province, he had not been able to vanquish them, hence he was summoned to return in order that someone might be sent in his place. He was [however] restored to his [former] position [as General of a New Beginning]. Afterwards when Kuo Hsing, [the Commissioner Over] the Army [subordinate to] the Commander-in-chief, and the Shepherd of the Yung Regional Division, Li Yeh, [were sent to] attack the barbarian Jo tou and others, and the Third Brother Hsi, Sun Hsi, a higher subordinate official of the Grand Tutor, [was sent to] purify the Yangtze valley 29 from thieves and robbers, and when moreover the Huns raided the borders very seriously, [Wang] Mang made a great solicitation of the empire's freemen together with those imprisoned for capital crimes and the slaves of the officials and common people. [Those who responded] were called "Boar braves who are porcupines rushing out," 30 and were considered as ardent troops.

[Wang Mang] temporarily taxed the officials and common people of the empire, taking one-thirtieth of their property. Their close-woven waterproof and other silks were all transported to Ch'ang-an. It was ordered that the ministers and those of lower [rank down] to the [officials] in the commanderies and counties who wore yellow seal-cords 31 should all guarantee 32 the rearing of horses for the army, the number of which [horses] should be proportionate to each [official's] rank.

[Wang Mang] also made a wide solicitation for those who possessed extraordinary skills that could be used to attack the Huns, [saying that] they would be treated [extraordinarily by being given a high] ranking [at once and] not be [promoted only] by degrees. Those who said that [their arts] would be advantageous were numbered by the ten-thousands. One said that he was able to cross streams without using boats or oars; that by joining horses and connecting their riders he could cause an army of a million to ford [rivers]. One said that without carrying a measure of grain and by taking drugs, the three [divisions of] an army would not become hungry.

One said that he was able to fly a thousand li in a day and so could spy out the Huns. [Wang] Mang immediately had him try out [his invention]. He took the quills of a large bird to make his two wings; on both his head and his body he stuck feathers. He connected them by pivots. 33 He flew several hundred double-paces [and then he] fell.

[Wang] Mang knew that these [people] could not be useful, [but] he merely wished to make use of their fame, so he installed them all as Directors of the Army and granted them chariots and horses while they waited [until the army should] set out.

Previously, the Hun Ku-tu Marquis of the West, Hsü-pu Tang, whose wife, [Lüan-ti Yün], was the daughter of Wang [Ch'iang] Chao-chün, had been attached to [the Chinese. Wang] Mang sent the Marquis of Peace and Alliance By Marriage, Wang Hsi(6), the son of [Wang Ch'iang] Chao-chün's elder brother, to allure and summon [Hsü-pu] Tang 34 to the foot of the barrier and by force made him go to Ch'ang-an, where he was compelled to be set up as the Shan(4)- Hsü-pu and the Duke of Future Peace. 35

[When Wang Mang] first wanted to allure and receive [Hsü-pu] Tang, the Commander-in-chief, Chuang Yu, had remonstrated, saying, "[Hsü-pu] Tang is in the western section of the Huns where his troops do not invade [the Chinese] borders. Whenever the Shan-Yü moves or remains quiet, he immediately [sends] word [of it] to China. [Thus] he is of the greatest assistance in this quarter. If now you receive [Hsü-pu] Tang and establish him on Kao Street 36 in Ch'ang-an, he will be merely an individual northern foreigner (Hu) and would not be as helpful as if he were among the Huns." [But Wang] Mang did not listen [to him.

When Wang Mang] had secured [Hsü-pu] Tang, he wanted to send [Chuang] Yu with Lien Tan to attack the Huns. He granted both of them the surname Cheng (to make a military expedition), entitling them the Two Generals Making a Military Expedition. They were required to execute the Shan-yu [Lüan-ti] Yü, and set up [Hsü-pu] Tang to take his place. They were to start out 37 from the Kuang Stables at the west of the city.

Before they started out, [since Chuang] Yu had usually had wise plans and had opposed [Wang] Mang's [project of] attacking the barbarians in the four [quarters], 38 and had remonstrated several times, but [his advice] had not been followed, he composed [a work] in altogether three fascicles, [dealing with] the conception that ancient famous generals, [such as] Yo Yi and Po Ch'i, were [eventually] not employed [by their lords] and also discussing matters [concerning the Chinese] borders, and memorialized [the book] in order to remonstrate with [Wang] Mang. When they were due to start out, in a conference at court, [Chuang] Yu said firmly that the Huns could be temporarily considered as secondary and that the most important concern [of the ruler] should be the thieves and robbers east of the mountains [of Kuang-chung]. 39

[Wang] Mang became furious and [wrote] a dismissal notice for [Chuang] Yu, which said, "You have overseen affairs to the fourth year, [but when] `the barbarians became troublesome to the Chinese,' you have not been able to stop or destroy them; when `robbers and brigands have caused disorder outside and inside [the government]', 40 you have not been able to extirpate them; you have not been awed by the majestic [mandate] of Heaven and have not carried out my mandates in imperial edicts. Your visage has been harsh, [yet] you have approved of yourself. You insist that what you think is right and never change. In your bosom you have cherished inclinations toward rebellion, so that you have condemned and ruined [my plans] in the deliberations on military [matters]. I cannot bear to apply the law to you. You shall deliver up your seals and aprons of the Commander-in-chief and of the Earl Establishing Military Power and return to your former commandery. [Let] the Earl Making Portents Descend, Tung Chung(1b), become the Commander-in-chief."

T'ien K'uang, the Leader of a Combination at Yi-p'ing [Commandery], memorialized that the commanderies and counties had not appraised the common people's [property] according to the facts, so [Wang] Mang again taxed [their property at the rate of] one-thirtieth. Because of [T'ien] K'uang's faithful words and his solicitude for the state, he was advanced in noble rank, made an earl, and granted two million cash. The mass of commoners all reviled him. 41

In Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces], many of the common people left their native villages and became vagrants. The aged and weak died on the roads, and the vigorous entered the robber [bands].

The Leader of a Combination at Su-yeh [Commandery], Han Po, sent a message to the emperor, saying, "There is a marvellous gentleman, ten feet tall and ten spans [in circumference], who came to your subject's yamen and said, `I am desirous with all my energy to attack the caitiff northern foreigners (Hu).' He calls himself Chü-wu Pa and comes from the shore of the Chao-ju Sea northwest of the five cities southeast of P'eng-lai. A small chariot is not able to bear him, and three horses are not able to transport him, so, on the same day, in a large quadriga with four horses, on which is erected a tiger flag, bearing [Chü-wu] Pa, [I have sent him] to go to the [palace] Portal. When [Chü-wu] Pa lies down, he pillows [his head] upon a drum. 42 He eats with iron chopsticks.

"This [man has been sent] by August Heaven as a means of assisting the House of Hsin. I wish that your Majesty would have a large cuirass made, with a high chariot and garments for a [Meng] Pen or a [Hsia] Yü, and send a generalissimo and a hundred of the [Gentlemen] As Rapid As Tigers to meet him on the road. The gates and doors in the imperial capital which will not admit him should be enlarged and made taller and larger, in order to show him to the barbarians and settle down the world."

[Han] Po's intention was that he wanted thereby to offer a hint to [Wang] Mang, 43 [but when Wang] Mang was informed of it, he disliked it and detained 6a [Chü-wu] Pa at the place where he was in Hsin-feng. He changed his surname to be Mr. Chü-mu (Chü's Mother), saying, "Because of the Empress Dowager the Mother of Culture there has been this portent [that Wang (Mang) Chü-(chün) should be] a lord protector (pa) and a [true] king." 44 [Wang Mang] summoned [Han] Po [to court], sent him to prison, and had him publicly executed, because he had said things that were not proper.

In the next year, the year-period was to be changed to Ti-huang, which was a title taken from the calendar for thirty-six thousand years. 45

In [the period] Ti-huang, the first year, in the first month, on [the day] yi-wei, an amnesty [was granted] to the empire. [Wang Mang] issued a message, saying, "At the time when the army is being sent out and the troops are being put into motion, those who presume to run and shout, violating the law, should immediately be judged and beheaded. It is not necessary [to wait for] the season [for executions, winter]. When the year is up, [this order] shall cease." Thereupon during the spring and summer people were beheaded in the market-places of the capitals; the people were terrified and afraid and `on the highroads and paths, they indicated their hatred [of Wang Mang] in their eyes.' 46

In the third 47 month, on [the day] jen-shen, in the center of the sun there was a blackness. 48 [Wang] Mang disliked it, and issued a message which said, "Recently, `in the sun an obscurity has appeared.' 49 The Yin [principle] is pressing upon the Yang [principle, and has produced] the grievous vicissitude of a black emanation. None of the people have failed to be startled by the marvel. The Generalissimo of the Northern City-wall [of Ch'ang-an], 50 Wang K'uang(1d), has sent an official to examine and question those who have presented [to the ruler] matters [concerning] grievous vicissitudes, [to examine] whether they intend to blind the throne's intelligence. For this reason, a reprobation has appeared in Heaven, in order that I might correct [matters by right] principlies, and stop these great prodigies."

When Wang] Mang saw that the thieves and robbers in the four quarters were many, he again wanted to repress them, and so again sent out a message, saying, "When my August Deceased Original Ancestor, the Yellow Lord, tranquillized the world, he led his troops as a First [Ranking] General and established the flowery baldachin and set up the Bushel Bowl [Standard]. 51 Within [the imperial court] I 52 establish a General-in-[chief]; outside [the court I also] establish five Commanders-in-chief, 25 Generalissimos, 125 Lieutenant Generals, 1250 Major Generals, 12,500 Colonels, 37,500 Majors, 112,500 Captains, 53 225,000 Centurions, 450,000 Petty Officers, and 13,500,000 soldiers, in order to respond to and accord with [the saying in] the Book of Changes, `[This gave] the benefit of bows and arrows, whereby they might [awe] the world by their majesty.' 54 I have obtained the writings of the mandate [of Heaven given through] portents and have examined [my enactments by the deeds] of earlier persons, since I desire that [my enactments] may be complete in detail."

Thereupon there were established the positions of Commander-in-chief at the Van, at the Rear, at the Left, at the Right, and at the Center. [Wang Mang] granted to the various Provincial Shepherds the title of Generalissimo; Directors of Confederations, 55 Leaders of Combinations, and Grand Governors of commanderies became Lieutenant Generals; Prefects and Chiefs of Associations [became] Major Generals; and Rulers of counties became Colonels. Almost ten [groups of] commissioners in riding quadrigae daily passed through the commanderies and kingdoms. The granaries had no grain ready for supplying [their needs] and the chariots and horses in the post-stations could not be sufficient [for these many messengers, so the officials] levied and seized chariots and horses on the roads and requisitioned supplies from the common people.

In the seventh month, a great wind damaged the Hall With the Royal Apartments, [so Wang Mang] again issued a message, saying, "Recently, on [the day] jen-wu, at the time for eating the afternoon meal, there was the grievous vicissitude of a strong wind, with thunder and rain, which unroofed houses and broke down trees. I was greatly excited. I was inspired with great fear. I was greatly terrified. I humbly reflected and after ten days the riddle was then solved. 56

"Previously, the words of a mandate [granted by] portents [said, `Wang] An(1a) should be set up as the Hsin-hsien 57 King [(the King, the Immortal of the Hsin House); Wang] Lin(1a) should have Lo-yang as his state and should be the T'ung-yi-yang King [the King Controlling-the-line in which Right-principles Shine]. 58 At that time, I was occupying [the post of] Regent and Acting [Emperor], so deferred and did not presume to [accept these titles], but made [my sons] Dukes. After that, there arrived the writing in the golden coffer. Those who discussed [these matters] all said, `[Wang] Lin(1a)'s state should be Lo-yang; to be t'ung means to occupy the center of the Earth, 59 to be [the continuer of] the dynastic line (t'ung) of the Hsin [House, (i.e., T'ung-yi-yang means to live in the center of the Earth and continue the dynastic line by which the right principles of the Hsin House shine)]. It is proper that he should be the Imperial Heir-apparent.'

"After this [time, Wang] Lin(1a) was ill for a long time, and, altho he recovered, he was not entirely well, so that when he appeared at court, he traveled borne suspended on a mattress. 60 When he came to an audience in the Hall With the Royal Apartments, he set up his bed in the Western Lateral Apartments together with the Central [Room] for Changing Garments in the Rear Pavilion. 61 Because moreover the Empress was ill, [Wang] Lin(1a) temporarily left his original [rooms] and went to her dwelling. His Crown Princess and concubines were in the Eastern Long Lane.

"[On the day] jen-wu, a strong wind did violence to the Western Lateral Apartments of [the Hall] With the Royal Apartments and the Central Room for Changing Garments in the Rear Pavilion; an elm tree, ten spans [or fathoms] in circumference, southeast of the pool at the Hall of Brilliant Peace, fell eastwards, striking the Eastern Pavilion. This Pavilion is the western wall of the Eastern Long Lane. All [these places] were destroyed. Tiles were broken, the roofs were taken off, and trees were uprooted. I was very much frightened.

"The Office for Watching [the Heavens] moreover memorialized that the Moon has invaded the front stars of [the constellation] Hsin, which has an interpretation. 62 I was very much worried by it.

"I humbly considered the writing in the Tzu-ko-t'u, `The Supreme One and the Yellow Lord both obtained auspicious presages and thereby became immortals, and among their later generations a magnificent lord [Wang Mang] is due to ascend the Chung-nan [lit., he comes to his end to the south] Mountains.' What is meant by the Hsin-hsien King is that he is a descendant of the Supreme One and of the Immortal of the Hsin [House] (Hsin-hsien). [What is meant by] the T'ung-yi-yang King is that he is a descendant of [the one] who uses the five dynastic principles (t'ung) 63 and by means of the rules of proper conduct (li) and moral principles (yi) mounts up to the sunny side (yang [the south]) and becomes an immortal.

"[Wang] Lin(1a) has an elder brother, but is called the Heir-apparent, so that his title is not correct. Duke Hsüan-ni [As Recompense for Perfection (of Pao-ch'eng), Confucius,] said, `If titles are not correct, then speech will not be in accordance with [reality,' and so on], even to `punishments will not be appropriate' and `the common people will not know how to move their hands or feet.' 64

"Verily, since I have ascended the throne, the Yin and Yang [principles] have not been harmonious, so that the wind and rain have not been timely, and [the country] has several times met withering drought, locusts and caterpillars, which became [calamitous] visitations. The harvests of grain have been sparse or lacking, so that the people have suffered from famine. `The barbarians have troubled the Chinese and robbers and brigands have caused disorder outside and inside [the government,' 65 so that] the common people are fearful and disturbed 66 and `do not know how to move a hand or foot.'

"I have pondered deeply that the blame for this [lies] in titles not being correct. Let [Wang] An(1a) be set up as the Hsin-hsien King and [Wang] Lin(1a) be the T'ung-yi-yang King. I hope that thereby I may protect and preserve my two sons, that my descendants [may be numbered] by the thousands and millions, and that, without [the country], the barbarians of the four [quarters] may be driven away and within [the country] the Central States may be pacified."

In this month, the imperial tiger-striped [grave]clothes [of Emperor Hsüan] in the Side Hall at the Tu Tomb, which had been set aside and stored in the coffers of the [inner] chamber, went out and planted themselves upright outside [the inner chamber] in the Hall above. 67 After a quite long time they however fell to the ground. The officers and soldiers who had seen them therefore reported it [to the throne. Wang] Mang disliked it and so issued a message which said, "For the precious [throne] there is yellow and for the servitors there is red. 68 Let it be ordered that the Gentlemen and the Imperial Retinue shall all wear carmine."

Many of those who watched the [cloudy] emanations and made divinations said that there were phenomena of some signal achievements [to be done by the virtue] of the Earth. [Wang] Mang moreover saw that the thieves and robbers in the four quarters were many and wanted to make it appear that he himself was tranquil and was able to be the founder [of a dynasty enduring for] ten thousand generations, so issued a message which said, "I have received the Mandate [of Heaven] and am meeting with the distresses of the nine dry years and the untoward occurrences in the 106 [years], 69 when the government treasuries are empty and the people are exhausted. The [imperial] ancestral temples have not yet been prepared, [hence] I have temporarily made common ancestral sacrifices in the Grand [Ancestral] Temple of the Ming-t'ang. Day and night I have reflected long and have not presumed to rest. I pondered deeply that no blessing or prosperity is better than that to be had in the present year. I then divined by the tortoise-shell [concerning the region] north of the Po River and south of the Lang Pool, and it was [divined as fit to produce] imperial sustenance. I also divined by the tortoise-shell [concerning the region] south of the Chin River and west of the Ming-t'ang, and it was also [divined as fit to produce] imperial sustenance. 70 I will now in person 71 [begin to] build." Thereupon he accordingly made plans [for buildings] south of the city of Ch'ang-an with a total acreage 72 of a hundred ch'ing.

In the ninth month, on [the day] chia-shen, standing in a chariot, [Wang] Mang went to inspect [the work], and in person began it by pounding three times [on the earth in the forms for walls]. The Minister Over the Masses, Wang Hsün3, and the Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi(5), bearing credentials, together with the Palace Attendant, Regular [Palace] 73 Attendant, and Upholder of the Laws, Tu Lin, and others, several tens of persons [in all], were to oversee the work.

Ts'ui Fa and Chang(2) Han spoke to [Wang] Mang, saying, "For those upon whom the virtue [of Heaven is bestowed] abundantly the ritual practises are elaborate. It would be proper to make the arrangements [of these temples] magnificent and to make [that fact] plainly known [to all] within [the four] seas, so as to bring it about that [even] after ten thousand generations, nothing in them should be changed around or despised." 74 Thereupon [Wang] Mang summoned widely the artisans of the empire, and plans were calculated by means of geometry. 75The officials and people who voluntarily paid cash or grain [into the government treasury] to assist the work, moreover came and went on the roads and highways without interruption. 76

[Wang Mang] tore down Chien-chang [Palace], Ch'eng-kuang [Palace], Pao-yang [Palace], Ch'üan-t'ai [Palace], 77 Ch'u-Yüan Palace, together with P'ing-lo [Lodge], Tang-lu [Lodge], and Yang-lu Lodge in [Shang-lin] Park west of the city [of Ch'ang-an], in all more than ten places, and took their materials and tiles to build the Nine [Ancestral] Temples. (In these months there was a great rain for more than sixty days.) It was ordered that common people who paid six hundred hu of grain might become Gentlemen, and that those who were Gentlemen or officials might be increased in rank or given a noble rank, [as high] as that of Sub-Vassal.

The first of the Nine [Ancestral] Temples was called the Temple to the Aboriginal Founder [of the Hsin Dynasty], the Yellow Lord; the second was called the Temple Facing South to the First Founder [of the Hsin Dynasty], the Lord, Yü [Shun]; the third was called the Temple Facing North to the Dynastic Founder [of the Hsin Dynasty], King Hu of Ch'en, [Kuei Man]; the fourth was called the Temple Facing South to the Epochal Founder [of the Hsin Dynasty], King Ching of Ch'i, [Ch'en Ching-chung]; the fifth was called the Temple Facing North to the Kingly Founder [of the Hsin Dynasty], King Min of Chi-po, [T'ien An]; (all [the foregoing] five temples were not to be discontinued [as succeeding generations of emperors included their immediate ancestors among the nine ancestors who are given separate fanes]); the sixth was called the Temple Facing South to the Honored Ancestor [of the Hsin Dynasty], King Po of Chi-nan, [Wang Sui]; the seventh was called, the Temple Facing North to the Honored Ancestor [of the Hsin Dynasty], King Ju of Yüan-ch'eng, [Wang Ho(4a)]; the eighth was called, the Temple Facing South to the Close Ancestor [of the reigning Hsin Emperor], King Ch'ing of Yang-p'ing, [Wang Chin]; and the ninth was called, the Temple Facing North to the Close Ancestor [of the Reigning Hsin Emperor], King Hsien of Hsin-tu(c), [Wang Wan].

The [main] halls [of these temples] were all many-storeyed buildings; 78 that in the Temple to the Aboriginal Founder, [the Yellow Lord], from east to west and from south to north, in each [direction] was four hundred feet [long] and one hundred seventy feet high. The other Temples were half [that size]. They had bronze brackets, 79 and were adorned with gold, silver, and carved tracery, which reached the limit of the workmen's skill. Because they sat 80 upon a high [place, the earth] around them was raised. The expense of the work was several ten thousand millions [of cash] and the conscripts and criminals who died [on this work] were numbered by the ten-thousands.

A man of Chü-lu [Commandery], Ma-shih Ch'iu, and others plotted to raise the troops of [the region comprised in the ancient feudal states of] Yen and Chao in order to execute [Wang] Mang. Wang Tan(a), an Officer to the Grand Minister of Works, discovered and reported it. [Wang] Mang sent some Grandees to the three highest ministers to apprehend and punish the cabal. Several thousand prominent persons in the commanderies and kingdoms were involved. All were executed. [Wang] Tan(a) was enfeoffed as the Marquis Supporting the State.

From the time that [Wang] Mang acted out of accord with the ordinances for the seasons, 81 the people hated him, [yet Wang] Mang [acted] as if he was undisturbed by that [hatred. So] he again issued a message, saying, "Verily, ever since these temporary laws have been established, in the capital, Ch'ang(2)-an, with its six districts and great city, the warning drums have rarely sounded and robbers and bandits have decreased and become few. The people are satisfied with their habitations and yearly there have been [good] harvests. The foregoing [circumstances have been due to] the strength [coming from] the establishment of my authority.

"[But] now the caitiff northern foreigners (Hu) have not yet been annihilated and executed, the southern and southwestern barbarians have not yet stopped burning [with rebellion], the Yangtze valley and the marshes of the sea-[coast] are boiling [with disturbance], 82 and the thieves and robbers have not yet been completely routed and exterminated. I have moreover taken in hand the great work of upholding the [imperial] ancestral temples and the altars to the gods of the soils and grains, so that the multitude of common people have been agitated. Now I again temporarily put these ordinances in effect, [but this practise] will stop with the end of the second year [of the period Ti-huang], in order that I may preserve the great multitude and save the ignorant and wicked."

In this year, the large and small cash were discontinued and in their place there were put into circulation currency spade money, which was two inches five fen in length, one inch broad, and was worth 25 currency cash. The currency cash were one inch in diameter, five shu in weight, each of which was worth one [cash]. 83 The two kinds [of money] were to circulate together. When anyone presumed to cast cash illicitly or only partly accepted the spade money as currency, [if any person] in a group of five [neighboring families] knew of it but did not discover and report it [to the authorities], all [of the five neighboring families were to have their property] confiscated 84 and to become government slaves or slave-women.

The Grand Tutor, P'ing Yen, died, and the My Forester, T'ang Tsun(b), was made the Grand Tutor. [T'ang] Tsun(b) said, "The state [treasury] is empty and the people are impoverished, the reason [for which is] prodigal extravagance." Consequently, he personally [wore] short clothes with small sleeves, rode on a chariot with stakes [and drawn by] mares, 85 slept upon a couch [made of] straw, [and ate from] tile dishes. He also used earthen dishes 86 to send [food] to the ministers. When he went out, if he met any men and women who did not travel separately on the roads, [T'ang] Tsun(b) himself would get down from his chariot and, in accordance with [the principle of inflicting] punishments by altering the clothing, he would defile and dye their garments, [using] an ochre-red cloth. 87 [When Wang] Mang heard of it, he was delighted with him, so issued an imperial edict instructing the ministers "to think of making themselves equal" with him, 88 and enfeoffed [T'ang] Tsunb as the Marquis Equalizing Culture.

At this time, Chang Pa(c) from Nan Commandery, Yang Mu and Wang K'uang1b from Chiang-hsia [Commandery], and others arose in the Lu-lin [Mountains] of Yün-tu [County] and called themselves Troops from the Lower Yangtze [Region]. Their bands were all of more than ten thousand men.

In the Chung-shui District of Wu-kung [County 89 ] three houses of the common people fell [in a subsidence of the earth and] became a pool.

In the second year, the first month, because the Provincial Shepherds had been given the rank of the three highest ministers, 90 and so had become remiss in inspecting and recommending [concerning matters in their provinces], Shepherds' Superintendents and Associate [Shepherds] were established in addition [to the Shepherds], with the rank of First Officers, who were to wear the Bonnet of the Law and whose duties were to be like those of the Han [dynasty's] Inspectors.

In this month, [Wang] Mang's wife died. Her posthumous name was the Filial and Harmonius Empress. She was buried west of the Ch'ang-shou Park at the Wei Tomb. It was ordered that she should forever attend upon the [Empress Dowager] the Mother of Culture [nee Wang]. The name of her tomb was called Yi-nien (a hundred thousand years).

Previously, because [Wang] Mang had more than once killed her sons, [Wang] Mang's wife had wept until she lost her sight, [so Wang] Mang had ordered his Heir-apparent, [Wang] Lin(1a), to live at the palace and care for her. An attendant to [Wang] Mang's wife was [named] Yüan-pi. [Wang] Mang had favored her and later [Wang] Lin(1a) also had relations with her. They were afraid that the matter would leak out, so plotted that they would together kill [Wang] Mang.

[Wang] Lin(1a)'s wife, [Liu] Yin(3), was the daughter of the State Master and Duke [Honoring the Hsin Dynasty, Liu Hsin(1a)]. She knew how to interpret the stars. 91 She told [Wang] Lin(1a) that soon there would be a meeting of [people wearing] plain clothes in the palace. 92 [Wang] Lin(1a) rejoiced, thinking that what he had planned would soon be achieved. Later he was degraded to be the T'ung-yi-yang King and went out [of the palace] to his residence outside. He was [then] all the more apprehensive.

It happened that when [Wang] Mang's wife became seriously ill, [Wang] Lin(1a) sent her a letter which said, "The Emperor has been extremely severe with his descendants. Previously when his sons, [Wang Yü] Chang-sun and [Wang Huob] Chung-sun, were each in their thirtieth [year], they were [put to] death. Now your servant Lin(1a) has in turn come upon his thirtieth [year, and so I] truly fear that if some morning I am no [longer] protected by you, the Empress, 93 I shall not know whether I shall die or live."

[When Wang] Mang was waiting upon his wife in her illness, he saw this letter and became greatly incensed, suspecting that [Wang] Lin(1a) had some evil purpose. [Consequently Wang Mang] did not permit [Wang Lin(1a)] to join in the mourning ceremonies. After [Wang Mang's wife] had been buried, [Wang Mang] had Yüan-pi and others arrested. They were examined and questioned, and they confessed everything about the adultery and the plans for [Wang Mang's] murder. [Wang] Mang wanted to have it kept secret, so sent to kill the commissioner [who had charge of] the case, who was an Attendant Officer of a Director of Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles], and had him buried in the jail, so that his family did not know where he was. [Wang Mang] granted poison to [Wang] Lin(1a), but [Wang] Lin(1a) was unwilling to drink it, so he stabbed himself and died.

[Wang Mang] had the Palace Attendant, the General of Agile Cavalry and the Marquis of Like Delight, [Wang] Lin(2), grant the ghost garments and the Kingly seal and apron [for the deceased]. 94

[Wang Mang's] funeral eulogy 95 [for Wang Lin(1a)] said, "[According to] the writing in the mandate [of Heaven given through] portents, [Wang] Lin(1a) should have been set up as the T'ung-yi-yang King. This [phrase] means that 36,000 years after the House of Hsin had taken the throne, one who is a descendant of [Wang] Lin(1a) is then due to rise up as the dragon sun. 96

"Previously, when I erroneously listened to those who discussed [this matter] and made [Wang] Lin(1a) my Heir-apparent, there was the grievous vicissitude of a violent wind, so I immediately obeyed the mandate [from Heaven given by] portents and set him up as the T'ung-yi-yang King. Previous to this [time] and after this [time], he did not act [in accordance with] sincerity and obedience and so did not receive any assistance from this [title], and at an untimely age his life was destroyed. Alas! How sad! [According to] his deeds and acts, I grant him a posthumous name; his posthumous name shall be King Miu (erring)."

There was also an imperial edict to the State Master and Duke, [Liu Hsin(1a), to the effect that Wang] Lin(1a) did not originally understand the stars; the matter arose from [Liu] Yin(3), [so Liu] Yin(3) also committed suicide.

In this month, the Hsin-hsien King, [Wang] An(1a), died of an illness.

Previously, [when Wang] Mang had been [a mere] marquis and had gone to his state, he had favored 97 [some] attendants, Tseng-chih, Huai-neng, and K'ai-ming. Huai-neng had given birth to a boy, [Wang] Hsing(b); Tseng-chih had given birth to a boy, [Wang] K'uang(1c), and a girl, [Wang] Yeh(6); and K'ai-ming had given birth to a girl, [Wang] Chieh(6). All had been detained at [Wang Mang's] state at Hsin-tu(c), for the reason that he did not want to make it known [that he had had relations with any women besides his wife].

When moreover [Wang] An(1a) had become seriously ill, [Wang] Mang was himself pained that he would have no sons [remaining, so] he wrote a memorial for [Wang] An(1a) and had him send it to the throne. It said, "Although the mothers of [Wang] Hsingb and the others are humble in status, yet in their relationship [to you, my father, these young people] are still your Imperial Sons and Daughters, and so should not be discarded." The document was shown to the various highest ministers and they all said that [Wang] An(1a) was "fraternally loving to his [half]-brothers and sisters," 98 so that it would be proper, when the spring or summer arrived, to give them enfeoffments and noble titles. Thereupon kingly chariots were sent with commissioners to go and bring [Wang] Hsingb and the others [to the court. Wang] Hsing(b) was enfeoffed as the Duke of Cultivated Merits, [Wang] K'uang(lc) as Duke of Established Merits, [Wang] Yeh(6) as Baroness of Cultivated Concord, and [Wang] Chieh(6) as Baroness of Attained Concord.

[Wang Mang's] grandson, the Duke of Brilliant Merits, 99 [Wang] Shou, became ill and died, so that within a full month [Wang Mang] had four funerals. 100 [Wang] Mang destroyed the Temples of [Emperors] Hsiao-wu and Hsiao-chao of the Han [dynasty] and buried his sons and grandsons separately among these [temples].

Li Yen, the Grand Governor of Wei-ch'eng [Commandery], had plotted with a diviner, Wang K'uang(4b). [Wang] K'uang(4b) had said to [Li] Yen, "Since the time that the House of Hsin took the throne, the cultivated fields and slaves of the common people were not allowed to be bought or sold, the cash and currencies have been changed several times, there have been numerous levies [of troops] and collections [of supplies], the armies have caused disturbances, the barbarians of the four [quarters] have simultaneously invaded, the people have cherished hatred [for Wang Mang], and thieves and robbers have simultaneously arisen [in various localities, so that] the Han dynasty is due to be restored. Your surname, sir, is Li. Li [rimes with] chih and [the note] chih is [equated with] fire. 101 You are due to become a coadjutor to the Han [Dynasty]."

Hence [Wang K'uang(4b)] composed a book of revelations for [Li] Yen. It said, "Emperor Wen has become indignant and is dwelling on the earth below where he is urging on armies: To the north, he has instructed the Huns and, to the south, he has instructed the people of Yüeh [to attack]. In the center of the Yangtze [region], Liu Hsin(4g) will sieze his enemy, [Wang Mang], revenge [the Han dynasty], and restore and continue the ancient [line; in] the fourth year he is due to set his army in motion. Among the rivers and lakes there will be a robber who will call himself a tributary king [of the Han dynasty], his family name will be Liu. Ten thousand men will form ranks and will not accept an ordinance of amnesty, [because they] intend to disturb [the region comprising the former feudal state of] Ch'in and [the region of] Lo-yang. By the eleventh year, they are due to attack. When Venus scatters its light and Jupiter enters [the constellation] Tung-ching, [Liu Hsin(4g)'s] commands are due to be obeyed." He also told of the good and evil fortunes of [Wang] Mang's great ministers, that each had his fated date. Altogether [the writing comprised] more than a hundred thousand words.

[Li] Yen ordered a minor official to write out this book, [but] the official fled and gave information of it, [so Wang] Mang sent a commissioner immediately to arrest [Li] Yen [and his confederates], imprison them, and punish them. They all died.

Robbers and bandits made trouble and arose in the three capital commanderies, 102 [so Wang Mang] established the office of the Chief Commandant Siezing Robbers and ordered the Upholders of the Laws and the Internuncios to pursue and attack [the robbers] within Ch'ang-an. He established the banner for "beating the drum and attacking" thieves, 103 with a commissioner following after it.

He sent Ching Shang, the Second Brother Hsi to the Grand Master, and Wang Tang, the Commissioner Over the Army to the General of a New Beginning, with troops, to attack [the rebels] in Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces, sent] Ts'ao Fang, the Second Brother Ho to the State Master, to assist Kuo Hsing in attacking Kou-t'ing, and had the empire's grain and currency transported to Hsi-ho, Wu-Yüan, So-fang, and Yü-yang commanderies, to each by the millions [of cash worth], with the intention of attacking the Huns.

In the autumn, a fall of frost killed the beans. There was a great famine and [a plague of] locusts east of [Han-ku] Pass.

When the common people violated [the law against] casting cash, the people of five neighboring families were sentenced together, [their property] was confiscated by [the government], and they were made government slaves and slave-women, their men [went with] carts having cages and the children and women [went] on foot. They had iron locks and chains on [the rings about] their necks. 104 [Such persons] were transported to the Office for Coinage by the hundred thousands. When they arrived, their husbands or wives were changed, and six or seven-tenths of them died of grief and suffering.

When Sun Hsi, 105 Ching Shang, Ts'ao Fang, and the others attacked the robbers, they could not vanquish them. Their armies were allowed to do as they pleased, so that the people were doubly distressed. Since Wang K'uang(4b)'s revelation had said that [the Han dynasty] is due to revive [in the region of the former state of] Ch'u in [Yü's province of] Ching, and that a Mr. Li would be the coadjutor [who brought about this revival, 106 Wang] Mang wanted to repress [this belief], so installed the Palace Attendant and Grandee in Charge of Pasturing [Sacrificial Animals], Li Shen, as Generalissimo and Shepherd of Yang Province, granted him the given name Sheng (sage), and sent him, leading troops, to attack [the bandits] with all his energy.

Ch'u Hsia, [a man] of Shang-ku [Commandery], in person begged [Wang Mang] that he wanted to persuade Kua-t'ien Yi [to surrender, so Wang] Mang made him a Gentleman-of-the-Household, and sent him to get [Kua-t'ien] Yi to leave [his banditry. Kua-t'ien] Yi wrote that he surrendered, but before he left [his banditry], he died. [Wang] Mang asked for his corpse, buried it, and built for him a grave-mound and a sacrificial temple, with the posthumous name, Baron Shang of Kua-ning. He hoped thereby to induce the other [bandits] to come [and surrender]. But none were willing to surrender. 107

In the intercalary month, on [the day] ping-ch'en, a general amnesty [was granted] to the empire. The heavy mouring of the empire [for Wang Mang's wife was done away with] and those common people who had been mourning for their own [relatives] previous to this written imperial edict were also freed [from their mourning].

A Gentleman, Yang-ch'eng Hsiu, presented a mandate [from Heaven by] a portent saying, "In succession to [Wang Mang's wife] a mother should be set up for the people, [i.e., an Empress]." He also said, "Because the Yellow Lord had 120 women, he became a supernatural immortal." [Wang] Mang hence sent Palace Grandees Without Specified Appointments and Internuncios, forty-five of each, by divisions, to inspect the empire and select widely from [families] that were esteemed highly in their native villages, who had "virtuous young ladies," 108 and send up their names [to the throne].

[Wang] Mang dreamed that five of the bronze [statues of] men in the Ch'ang-lo Palace arose and stood up. [Wang] Mang hated it, and reflected that in the inscription on the bronze [statues of] men, there were the words, "The August Emperor has first taken possession of the whole world." [Wang Mang] immediately sent workmen from the Master of Recipes to chisel out and destroy the writing on the breasts of the bronze [statues of] the men, about whom he had dreamt. 109

He was also excited against the supernatural spirits in the Han [dynasty's] Temple to [Emperor] Kao, 110 and sent [Gentlemen] As Rapid as Tigers and Men of War to enter the Temple of [Emperor] Kao, draw their swords, throw and strike in all directions, destroy its doors and windows with axes, whip the walls of the building with ochre-red whips 111 and sprinkle them with peach-water. He ordered a Chief Commandant of Light Chariots to dwell in its midst and also ordered the [Colonel of] the Northern Encampment of the Capital Army 112 to dwell in the funerary chamber of [Emperor] Kao.

Someone said, "At the time of the Yellow Lord, he established the flowery baldachin in order that he might mount up [to become] an immortal." So [Wang] Mang had made a flowery baldachin in nine layers, eighty-one feet tall, with a golden claw-tip and feather covering, and had it borne by a carriage with a hidden mechanism and four wheels 113 yoked to six horses and three hundred strong men with yellow clothes and [red] turbans. 114 On the carriage there was a man beating a drum. Those who pulled it all called out, "He will mount up to be an immortal." When [Wang] Mang went out, he ordered [this carriage] to go before him. The many officials [however] said secretly, "This is like a funeral cart, not a thing for an immortal." 115

In this year, the band of Ch'in Feng in Nan Commandery [numbered] almost ten thousand persons. Ch'ih Chao-p'ing, a woman of P'ing-Yüan [Commandery], was capable at explaining the Classic on the Playing Blocks, 116 using eight [blocks] to a throw. She also collected several thousand men in the difficult places of the [lower reaches of the Yellow] River. [Wang] Mang summoned and questioned his various courtiers about stratagems for capturing the bandits, and [the courtiers] all said, "These [people] are Heaven's [condemned] criminals and walking corpses. Their lives will [last] only an instant."

The former General of the Left, Kung-sun Lu, was summoned to come and participate in the deliberations. [Kung-sun] Lu said, "The Chief Grand Astrologer, Tsung Hsüan, has had charge of prognostications by the heavenly bodies, and of interpreting the mutations in the emanations [and weather]. He has called the baneful fortunate, has in a disorderly fashion [reported] the astrological [phenomena], and has misled the court. The Grand Tutor, the Marquis Equilizing Culture, [T'ang Tsun(b)], has covered [his faults] by false pretenses, so that he has been able to treat lightly [the duties of] his title and his position and `has done ill turns to other men's sons.' 117 The State Master, the Duke Honoring the Hsin [Dynasty, Liu Hsin(1a),] has overturned the five Classics, has done away with the traditions [about the classics handed down from generation to generation] by his teachers, and has caused his students to doubt and be misled. 118 The Baron of Brilliant Scholarship, Chang(2) Han, and the Marquis of Geographical Arrangements, Sun Yang, have instituted the ching [system] of cultivated fields, [thus] causing the common people to neglect their occupation [in cultivating] the earth. The Hsi-and-Ho, Lu K'uang, has set up the six monopolies and has thereby impoverished the artisans and merchants. The Marquis Delighting in Portents, Ts'ui Fa, has truckled and flattered in order to curry your favor and has brought it about that the feelings of inferiors have not been communicated to the throne. It would be proper to execute these several persons in order to calm the empire."

He also said, "The Huns should not be attacked, but peace and an alliance by marriage ought to be made with them. Your subject fears that the [proper] cause for the House of Hsin's anxiety does not lie with the Huns, but lies within the borders." [Wang] Mang became incensed and had a [Gentleman] As Rapid as Tigers assist [Kung-sun] Lu to leave.

Nevertheless [Wang Mang] adopted his ideas to a certain [extent]. He demoted Lu K'uang to be the Director of a Confederation at Wu-Yüan [Commandery], because the people hated and maligned him. [Although] the six monopolies had not been set up by [Lu] K'uang alone, [yet Wang] Mang [wanted to] satisfy the ideas of the crowd, so sent [Lu K'uang] out [of the court].

Previously, because the four quarters [of the country] had all [suffered from] famine and cold, [the people] were impoverished and troubled, and so had arisen and become thieves and robbers, until gradually crowds gathered. They constantly thought that if the harvest would be good, 119 they would be able to return to their native villages. Although their bands were numbered by the ten-thousands, [their leaders] only called themselves attendants upon great persons, Thrice Venerables, or Libationers. They did not presume to take or to possess cities or towns and went about foraging and seeking for merely what food they would use up daily. When various Chief Officials, Shepherds and Administrators all themselves fought with them in a disorderly manner, were wounded by weapons, and died, it was not because the bandits presumed to intend to kill them. 120 But [Wang] Mang to the end did not understand the purposes of these [bandits].

In this year, an Officer of the Commander-in-chief was in Yü Province, examining [into what had been reported in] a document, and was captured by the bandits, [whereupon] the bandits escorted and sent him to the county-seat. When the Officer returned and memorialized [his report], he wrote out the whole circumstance. Wang] Mang became greatly incensed, and sent him to prison because he considered [that the man] was falsifying [the situation] to deceive [his superiors].

Thereupon he issued a message reproving the seven highest ministers, which said, "Verily, to be an official [means] to bring about order. 121 To diffuse virtue and make favors manifest in order to shepherd the common people is the principle of benevolence. To repress the strong, control the wicked, and arrest and execute thieves and robbers are components of justice.

"Now however [the situation] has been otherwise. When thieves appeared, they were not immediately apprehended, so they were able to form cliques and intercept and kidnap Ruling Officers from [government] riding quadrigae. An Officer who succeeded in getting free from them moreover himself said senselessly, `I questioned and reprimanded the robbers, > [saying], "Why do you do this [robbing]?" and the robbers replied, "Merely because we are impoverished and in need." [Then] the robbers protected and sent me away. At present, vulgar people who discuss [banditry say that the bandits] for the most part are like these [ones].'

"I reflect [that, when people], out of distress from famine or cold violate the laws and do evil, the greater ones become groups of thieves and the lesser ones steal [by making] holes [in people's walls]. There are no more than these two kinds. But now they have conspired together and joined to form gangs of thousands and hundreds. This is the greatest disobedience and rebellion; how could it be spoken of as [due to] famine or cold?

"Let the seven highest ministers strictly order the High Ministers, Grandees, Directors of Confederations, Leaders of Combinations, and `the heads of offices' 122 carefully to shepherd the good common people and hurriedly arrest and exterminate the thieves and robbers. If there are any who do not, with one mind and with mutual assistance, hate and drive out the bandits, and, if they say unreasonably that [the bandits] have been caused by hunger or cold, they shall immediately be arrested and held in prison, and [the officials] shall beg [me to pass sentence upon] their crime."

Thereupon the numerous subordinates [of the ruler] feared all the more and none presumed to speak of the bandits' circumstances. They also were not permitted to mobilize troops unauthorizedly. Because of this, the bandits were not restrained.

Only the Leader of a Combination at Yi-p'ing [Commandery], T'ien K'uang, had for some time past dared to mobilize the common people who were in their eighteenth year and above, [to the number of] more than forty thousand persons, had furnished them arms from the arsenals, and had given them engraved stones as [signs of their] convenant. The Red Eyebrows had heard of it and had not presumed to enter his borders. [T'ien] K'uang impeached himself in a memorial, and [Wang] Mang reprimanded [T'ien] K'uang: "You have not been granted a tiger credential, 123 yet have unauthorizedly mobilized troops. This is playing with weapons. This crime is that of negligence in raising [troops]. 124 Because you, K'uang, have reproved yourself [and have said that you would] certainly capture and destroy the robbers, you are [however] temporarily not to be punished."

Later [T'ien] K'uang himself begged to go out of the boundaries [of his commandery] and attack the robbers, [saying that] those against whom he turned would all be routed. [Wang] Mang used a message [stamped] with the imperial seal to order [T'ien] K'uang to be put in charge of the affairs of the Shepherds in the two provinces of Ch'ing and Hsü.

[T'ien] K'uang [memorialized] the throne, saying, "Although when thieves and robbers first start out, in the beginning they are very unimportant, yet they cannot be captured by the divisional officers and [the organization of] people in groups of five. 125 The fault lies [in the fact that] the Chief Officials [of counties] do not give it a thought. The counties deceive the commanderies, and the commanderies deceive the [imperial] court. When in reality there are a hundred [robbers], they say ten; and when in reality there are a thousand, they say a hundred. Then the court is negligent and does not immediately supervise and punish 126 [the bandits], so that they even spread over adjoining provinces.

"When moreover generals and lieutenants are sent, and many commissioners are sent out continuously to supervise and urge each other on, [the officials of] the commanderies and counties serve their superior officials energetically, in answering and excusing themselves, in replying to questions, in offering wine and food, and in furnishing necessaries, in order to save themselves from being sentenced and beheaded, and so do not have [the time] again to think of the thieves or robbers or to perform their official business. The generals and lieutenants moreover are not able in person to lead their officers and soldiers, and so, when a battle [is fought, their troops] are routed by the bandits, their officers gradually [become] dispirited, and [the expedition] is merely an expense upon the people.

"When previously [the bandits] fortunately received an order of amnesty and the bandits wanted to disband and scatter, some [of them] on the contrary were prevented [from returning home] and were attacked, so from fear they entered the mountains and valleys, and in turn told the others [about it]. Hence the bandits in the commanderies and counties who had surrendered all changed [their attitudes] and became terrified, fearing that they would be destroyed by trickery. Because of the famine, they were easily moved, and within ten days there were again more than a hundred thousand men [in the bandit troops]. The foregoing is the reason that the thieves and robbers are so numerous.

"At present, east of Lo-yang, grain is two thousand [cash per] picul. Your humble servant has seen a written imperial edict that it is intended to send the Grand Master, [Wang K'uang(1a)], and the General of a New Beginning, [Lien Tan, to attack the bandits]. They are important courtiers who are your military assistants. If their crowds of followers are multiplied, [these followers] will become exhausted [from lack of food] on the way; whereas if [their followers are] reduced [in number, these ministers] will have no way of overawing the distant quarters [of the empire].

"It would be proper to select promptly Shepherds and Governors or those [ranking] below them, make plain the rewards and punishments that they [can deal out], and [have them] collect together those people from scattered villages and small states [of nobles] that have no city walls, transport their old and weak [persons], putting them inside the large cities, [then] collect and store foodstuffs and mutually assist in firmly guarding [these centers]. When the bandits come to attack the cities, they will then be unable to take them and [the places] by which they pass will have no food, so that their circumstances will not permit them to collect in bands. Under such [a situation], when they are summoned, they will certainly surrender, and when they are attacked, they will be annihilated.

"If now generals and lieutenants are vainly sent out in numbers, the commanderies and counties will suffer from them more severely than from the bandits. It would be proper to summon back all the commissioners in riding quadrigae in order to give rest to the commanderies and counties, and entrust to your servant K'uang the thieves and robbers of [these] two provinces, for I will certainly tranquillize them."

[Wang] Mang feared and dreaded [T'ien] K'uang, so secretly sent a substitute for him, and [also] sent a commissioner to grant [T'ien] K'uang a message with the imperial seal. When the commissioner arrived and had audience with [T'ien] K'uang, he thereupon ordered the substitute to superintend [T'ien K'uang's] troops. [T'ien] K'uang followed the commissioner westwards. When he reached [the court], he was installed as the Metropolis Commandant Grandee. When [T'ien] K'uang had left, the region of [the former feudal state of] Ch'i was thereupon lost [to the bandits].

In the third year, the first month, the roofing of the Nine [Ancestral] Temples was completed and the spirit tablets were installed. [When Wang] Mang [went] to be presented [to the divinities there, he rode] in the grand carriage of state, 127 to which were yoked six horses, [on which] were robes with dragon stripes made of vari-colored feathers, to which were affixed three-foot long horns. The carriage with a flowery baldachin and "ten large war chariots" 128went before him. Thereupon he granted to the Minister Over the Masses, [Wang Hsün(3)], and the Grand Minister of Works, [Wang Yi(5)], who had built the temples, to each ten million [cash]. The Palace Attendants, Regular Palace Attendants, and those of lower [rank] were all enfeoffed. He enfeoffed the Chief Workman, Ch'iu Yen, as the Sub-Vassal of Han-tan Hamlet.

In the third month, 129 there was a visitation [of fire] at the Pa [River] Bridge. Several thousand people sprinkled water to save it, [but the fire was] not [thereby] extinguished. [Wang] Mang hated it, so issued a message which said, "Verily, the three August Ones typify spring, the Five Lords typify summer, the three [dynasties of] Kings typify autumn, and the five Lords Protector typify winter. The virtues of the August Ones and the Kings followed [one another] in a cycle. The Lords Protector [including the Ch'in dynasty] succeeded [to the rule of the world in] the vacancy and continued in the gap [between the periods ruled by the elements wood and fire] 130 in order to complete the [full] number in a cycle; hence their ways were disorderly.

"Verily, in Ch'ang(2)-an most of the imperial highways have taken their names from recent [events]. 131 Recently in the third month, 132 in the night of [the day] kuei-szu and on the morning of [the day] chia-wu, fire burnt the Pa [River] Bridge from the eastern side going westwards. By the evening of [the day] chia-wu, the Bridge was completely destroyed by the fire. When the Grand Minister of Works, [Wang Yi(5)], went to inspect it, he examined and questioned [persons], and someone said that shivering people dwelt below the bridge, and he suspected that they warmed themselves by a fire, which became this visitation [of fire].

"The next day was [the day] yi-wei, which was the day of the vernal equinox. 133 [From the time that] I received the mandate [of Heaven] through the line of succession transmitted from the gods my sage ancestors, the Yellow [Lord] and Yü [Shun], down to the fourth year of [the period] Ti-huang, it will be the fifteenth year. Exactly at the end of winter in the third year [of the period Ti-huang], the bridge which is [named] Pa (`tyrannical' or `Lords Protector') and [therefore] disorderly has been broken and destroyed. [Heaven] thereby intends to prosper and perfect the way the House of Hsin is to be unified in control [of the country] and preserved for a long [time].

"This is also a warning [from Heaven in that the breaking of] this bridge has placed a gap in the highway to the eastern quarter [of the empire]. Now in the eastern quarter the harvest has been lacking, the common people are starving, and the highways and roads are impassible [because of bandits. The Chief of] the Eastern Sacred Peak and Grand Master, [Wang K'uang(1a)], shall promptly [make] regulations for opening the various granaries in the eastern quarter and giving or lending to the distressed [people, in order] to apply the principle of benevolence. 134 Let the name of the Pa Lodge be changed to be the Ch'ang-ts'un (Long-preserved) Lodge, and let the Pa [River] Bridge become the Ch'ang-ts'un Bridge."

In this month, the Red Eyebrows killed Ching Shang, the Second Brother Hsi to the Grand Master. East of the [Han-ku] Pass, people ate each other.

In the fourth month, [Wang Mang] sent the Grand Master, Wang K'uang(1a), and the General of a New Beginning, Lien Tan, eastwards. When, outside the Capital Gate, they were sacrificing to the gods of the roads, Heaven [sent] a great rain which dampened their clothes, 135 and the elders sighed and said, "This is because [Heaven] weeps for the army." 136

[Wang] Mang said, "Verily, the distresses of the nine dry years conjoined with disastrous emanations have come to a climax in the past years, when withering droughts, frosts, locusts, and famines came as previously, so that the people are miserably poor, and wander scattered along the roads. In this spring, [the calamity] is especially pitiable. I have been very much saddened by it.

"Now I am sending [the Chief of] the Eastern [Sacred] Peak and Grand Master, [Wang K'uang(1a)], who is a Specially Advanced and the Marquis as Recompense to [the House of] Hsin, to open the various granaries in the eastern quarter and give or lend to those in distress. On those highways along which the Grand Master and Highest Minister does not pass, he shall separately send a Grandee or Internuncio to open the granaries simultaneously, in other to preserve the great multitude.

"The Grand Master and Highest Minister, [Wang K'uang(1a)], shall thereupon, with the Chief Envoy and Director of Mandates from the Five Majestic [Principles], ranking as Commander-in-chief of the Right, the General of a New Beginning and Marquis of Equalization and Standards, Lien Tan, 137 go to Yen Province, to pacify [the region] of which he, [the Grand Master], is in charge. Moreover those who formerly have been lawless and the bandits in Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces] who have not yet completely dispersed or have later again assembled shall all be purified. I hope that thereby the myriad people may be pacified."

The Grand Master, [Wang K'uang(1a), and the General] of a New Beginning, [Lien Tan], together led more than a hundred thousand ardent soldiers, and wherever they went they did as they liked, so that the eastern quarter said about them,

"It would be better to meet the Red Eyebrows,
And not to meet the Grand Master.
The Grand Master can however [be endured],
[But the General of] a New Beginning would kill me."
[Thus] it was eventually as T'ien K'uang had said.

[Wang] Mang also sent out many Grandees and Internuncios by divisions to teach the common people to boil grasses and [parts of] trees to make a vegetable juice, 138 [but] the vegetable juice could not be eaten, and [the sending merely] made much trouble and expense.

[Wang] Mang issued a message which said, "Verily, the common people are miserably poor, so that although the granaries have been universally opened to give relief to them, I fear that nevertheless it will not be sufficient. Let the interdiction on the mountains and marshes of the empire be temporarily lifted, and let those who are able to take things from the mountains or marshes and [who do so] in accordance with the ordinances for [the various] months [of the year] be freely allowed to do so, and let them not be ordered to pay any taxes [for doing so]. In the thirtieth year [of the period] Ti-huang, [the restrictions shall be reapplied] as formerly. This [year] will be the sixth year of [the period] Wang-kuang-shang-mou. 139

"If powerful and unruly officials or common people have committed crime and monopolized the [mountains and marshes, so that] the uninfluential common people have not received [any advantages], this has not been my intention. Does not the Book of Changes say,

`When the superior's [privileges] are lessened and the inferior's are increased,
The common people are boundlessly delighted'? 140
The Book of History says that when speech is not practical, this means that there will not be order [in the state]. 141 Alas, that you, various highest ministers, should fail to be solicitous [concerning these matters]!"

At that time the Troops From the Lower Yangtze [Region] were powerful, and Chu Wei, [a man from] Hsin-shih, Ch'en Mu, [a man from] P'ing-lin, and others had all again collected bands and were attacking villages, 142 so [Wang] Mang sent the Director of Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles] and Generalissimo, K'ung Jen, [to be in charge of] the division, Yü Province, and the Communicator and Generalissimo, Chuang Yu, and the Arranger of the Ancestral Temples and Generalissimo, Ch'en Mou, to attack [the rebels] in Ching Province. Each one was followed by more than a hundred officers and soldiers. They rode in boats down the Wei [River] into the [Yellow] River to Hua-yin, then left [the boats and took] riding quadrigae.

When they reached their divisions, they solicited soldiers. [Chuang] Yu said to [Ch'en] Mou, "To send a general and not to give him the credentials [for levying] troops, so that he must first beg [the emperor] and then only can he make a move, is like tying up a Han(h) black hunting-dog 143 and yet demanding it to catch [game]."

In the summer, there was [a plague of] locusts which came from the eastern quarter. In flying they covered the sky. They came to Ch'ang-an, entered the Wei-yang Palace, and crawled in its Halls and Pavilions. [Wang] Mang sent out officials and common people and established bounties for those who seized and killed them.

Because the empire's grain was expensive, [Wang] Mang wanted to depress [its price]. 144 For the Great Granary he established a guard with joined lances and named them Supporters of the Smaller Gates to the Beginning of Public Authority. 145 The vagrant people who had entered the passes [of Kuan-chung numbered] several hundred thousand persons, so [Wang Mang] established an Office for Maintenance and Relief, to feed them. [But] the commissioners who supervised and had charge of [the matter], together with the minor officials, together stole their grain allowances, so that seven- or eighth-tenths of them died of hunger.

Previous to this [time, Wang] Mang had sent a Palace Attendant Within the Yellow Gate, Wang Yeh(5b), to have charge of buying at the Ch'ang-an markets, and he took things at a low price from the common people, so that the common people suffered severely from it. [Because Wang] Yeh(5b) had achieved the merit of having economized expenses, he had been granted the noble rank of Sub-Vassal. [When Wang] Mang heard that in the city there was a famine, he asked [Wang] Yeh(5b) about it, and [Wang] Yeh(5b) replied, "These all are vagrants." Then he brought some millet mush with meat and thick meat and vegetable soup which were being sold at the market, and showed them to [Wang] Mang, saying, "The food of all the resident commoners is like this," [and Wang] Mang believed him.

In the winter, So-lu Hui of Wu-yen and others raised troops and siezed their city. 146 Lien Tan and Wang K'uang(1a) attacked and took it by storm, cutting off more than ten thousand heads, [so Wang] Mang sent a General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Household, bearing a message with an imperial seal, to congratulate [Lien] Tan and [Wang] K'uang(1a). Their noble ranks were advanced and they became Dukes. More than ten of their officers and soldiers who had distinguished themselves were enfeoffed.

A detached Colonel of the Red Eyebrows, Tung Hsien(4a), and others, with a band of several ten-thousand men, were in Liang Commandery. Wang K'uang(1a) wanted to advance and attack them, [but] Lien Tan considered that [their own troops] had but newly taken a city by storm, so were utterly weary, and their men ought temporarily to be rested, in order to increase their prestige. [Wang] K'uang(1a) would not listen, so alone led his troops to advance, and [Lien] Tan followed after him. Battle was joined at Ch'eng-ch'ang. [The imperial] troops were defeated and [Wang] K'uang(1a) fled. [Lien] Tan sent an official bearing his seals, apron, and tally credentials, to give them to [Wang] K'uang(1a) and say, "You, boy, may flee, but I cannot." Thereupon he stayed and died fighting. 147 When his Colonels, Ju Yün, Wang Lung, and others, more than twenty persons [in all], who were fighting separately, heard of it, they all said, "Duke Lien is already dead. For whom should we live?" So they galloped rapidly at the bandits and all died fighting.

[Wang] Mang was afflicted by it, so issued a written message which said, "Verily, you, Duke, [Lien Tan], controlled many select gentlemen and picked troops. From all the fine horses, the grain in the storehouses, and the stores in the treasuries of the many commanderies, you might have made your own selection, but you cared not for documentary imperial edicts and separated yourself from the majestic credentials [of power]. Mounting a horse you shouted and [your followers] yelled and were killed by wild swords. Alas! How sad! I grant him the posthumous name of Duke Kuo (Intrepid)."

The State General, Ai Chang, spoke to [Wang] Mang, saying, "In the time of your August Deceased Original Ancestor, the Yellow Lord, when Chung-huang Chih was his General, he routed and killed Ch'ih-yu. Now your servant is occupying the post of Chung-huang Chih, and wishes to tranquillize [the region] east of the mountains." [Wang] Mang [accordingly] sent [Ai] Chang to gallop eastwards and join his forces with the Grand Master, [Wang] K'uang(1a). He also sent Generalissimo Yang Chün to guard the Ao Granary. The Minister Over the Masses, Wang Hsün(3), leading more than a hundred thousand [men], encamped at Lo-yang, where he garrisoned the Southern Palace. The Commander-in-chief, Tung Chung(1b), instructed soldiers and practiced archery in the Northern Encampment of the Capital Army. 148 The Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi(5), [was given] concurrently the duties of [all] the three highest ministers.

When the [Grand] Minister Over the Masses, [Wang] Hsün(3), first started out from Ch'ang-an and spent the night at the Pa-ch'ang Stables, he lost his yellow battle-axe. [Wang] Hsün(3)'s Officer, Fang Yang, was ordinarily impetuously outspoken, but he wept and said, "This is what the Classic means [when it says], `He has lost his sharp axe.' " 149 He accused himself [of the loss] and left [the army. Wang] Mang had [Fang] Yang killed with a battle-axe.

The thieves and robbers in the four quarters, [whose bands] frequently [numbered] several ten-thousands of men, attacked cities and towns, killing [officials ranking at] two thousand piculs and under. The Grand Master, Wang K'uang(1a), and others fought several battles, but unsuccessfully.

[Wang] Mang knew that the empire had got out of his control and rebelled, that matters were at a last extremity and some expedient was urgent, so he discussed sending the Grandee In Charge of Customs and Morals, Szu-kuo Hsien, and others, by divisions, to inspect the empire and to do away with the prohibitions against the ching [system of] cultivated fields, [private] slaves and slave-women, [free use of] mountains and marshes, and the [other] six monopolies, Wang Mang's Economic Measures to be Repealed and that all the imperial edicts and ordinances since [Wang Mang] had ascended the throne, which were inconvenient to the common people, should be recalled.

[While the messengers] awaited an audience, and had not yet been sent out, it happened that the [future] Epochal Founder, [Emperor Kuang-wu, Liu Hsiu(4a)]; with his elder brother, [Liu Yin(4a)] Po-sheng, [later] King Wu of Ch'i; Li T'ung, a man from Yüan; and others led several thousand followers from Ch'ung-ling and induced Chu Wei and Ch'en Mu from Hsin-shih and P'ing-lin, and others to come. Together they attacked and took Chi(5)-yang by storm. At this time Chuang Yu and Ch'en Mou routed the Troops from the Lower Yangtze [Region, under] Ch'eng Tan, Wang Ch'ang(2), and others, [to the number of] several thousand men, and they separately fled into the borders of Nan-yang [Commandery].

In the eleventh month, a comet appeared in [the constellation] Chang. It traveled southeastwards for five days and disappeared. 150 [Wang] Mang several times summoned and questioned his Chief Grand Astrologer, Tsung Hsüan, and various diviners. They all answered falsely, saying, "The astrological phenomena are peaceful and good, so that the many bandits will soon be destroyed." Thereupon [Wang] Mang [felt] a little more tranquil.

In the fourth year, the first month, the Han troops secured [the Troops from] the Lower Yangtze [under] 151 Wang Ch'ang and others, and made them auxiliary troops. They [together] attacked the Southern Neighboring Commandery Grandee, Chen Fou, and his Director of an Association, Liang-ch'iu Tz'u, and beheaded them both, killing several ten-thousands of their forces. 152

Previously, the imperial capital had heard that the bands of bandits from Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces] numbered several hundred-thousands of men, and yet that they had absolutely no written orders, banners, or marks of identification. [The people of the capital] all considered it a portentious prodigy and those who loved [strange] things 153 said furtively, "Are not they like the three ancient August Ones, who had no written messages or titles?"

[Wang] Mang also [considered] in his heart that it was wonderful and asked his various courtiers about it. None of the various courtiers answered, only Chuang Yu said, "This [circumstance] is not sufficient [to be considered] wonderful. From the time that the Yellow Lord, T'ang [the Successful] and [King] Wu led their armies, [armies] have always been provided with regiments, companies, 154 banners, and orders. These [people] who now do not have them are merely a crowd of thieves [produced by] hunger and cold, [like] dogs or sheep that have gathered together, who merely do not know how to formulate [such institutions." Wang] Mang was greatly pleased and the various courtiers acquiesced completely.

However later, when the Han troops [under] Liu [Yin(4a)] Po-sheng arose, [their leaders] all called [themselves] Generals. They attacked cities and overran territory. When they had killed Chen Fou, they sent letters about, giving an account of [Wang Mang's crimes. 155 When Wang] Mang heard of it, he was worried and fearful.

The Han troops took advantage of their victories and thereupon besieged the city of Yüan.

Formerly, [Liu Hsüan(2a)] Sheng-kung, a second cousin of the Epochal Founder, [Emperor Kuang-wu], had previously been among the P'ing-lin Troops, and, in the third month, on [the day] hsin-szun, the first day of the month, 156 the P'ing-lin and Hsin-shih [Troops] and the Troops from the Lower Yangtze [Region], led by Wang Ch'ang(2), Chu Wei, and others, together set up [Liu Hsüan(2a)] Sheng-kung as the Emperor. He changed the year-[period] to be the first year of [the period] Keng-shih and installed and established a bureaucracy.

When [Wang] Mang heard of it, he was all the more afraid. He wanted to show to the world that he himself was calm, so he dyed his beard and hair 157 and promoted the "virtuous young ladies" 158 whom he had summoned from the empire, setting up 159 a daughter of the Shih clan at Tu-ling as his Empress. He sent her [family] as betrothal presents 30,000 catties of actual gold, [together with] chariots and horses, slaves and slave-women, variegated silks, and precious things, which were valued by the hundred millions [of cash. 160 Wang] Mang in person welcomed her between the two stairs to the Front Hall and completed the ceremonies of the common [marriage] meal above in the Western Hall. 161

[The prescribed number of] Harmonious Ladies, Spouses, Beauties, and Attendants were all complete. The Harmonious Ladies were three [in number]; their rank was equal to that of the highest ministers. The Spouses were nine [in number; their rank] was equal to that of the high ministers. The Beauties were twenty-seven [in number; their rank] was equal to that of Grandees. The Attendants were eighty-one [in number; their rank] was equal to that of First Officers. Altogether there were a hundred twenty women. All wore seals with aprons at their girdles, and held bowcases. 162

[Wang Mang] enfeoffed [Shih] Shen, the father of the Empress, as Marquis of Harmony and Peace, and installed him as General of a Peaceful Beginning. [Shih] Shen's two sons were both [made] Palace Attendants.

On that day, a great wind blew [off] roofs and broke trees. When the many courtiers offered congratulations, they said, "Verily, on [the day] keng-tzu, rainwater sprinkled the highways, and on [the day] hsin-ch'ou, they were clean and pure, without any dust. That evening, the life-giving valley wind 163 blew swiftly and promptly from the northeast. hsin-ch'ou is the day of [the musical note] kung belonging to [the hexagram] sun. 164Sun [indicates] wind and [indicates] obedience. [Thus] the principles of an Empress are made plain and the way of motherhood is secured. [The whole is due to] the influence of your geniality and kindness. The Book of Changes says, `He will receive this great blessing from his [Queen], the Royal Mother [of the country].' 165 The [Yi-li] says, `May you receive Heaven's blessing and myriad happinesses without bounds.' 166 Those who intend to attach themselves to the abolished Han [dynasty], the Liu [clan, which depends upon the virtue of] fire, shall all be flooded, disappear like melting snow, and extirpated, without any remaining fragments. All the grains shall be bountiful and plants shall grow abundantly. The great multitude will be glad and rejoice and the myriad common people will have the blessings that come from being good, 167 so that the world will be greatly favored [because of you]."

[Wang] Mang was daily in the harem with persons versed in the magical arts, Chao-chün, from Cho Commandery, and others, testing magical and technical arts and giving himself up to lustful pleasures.

A general amnesty [was granted] to the empire. [Wang Mang] however said [in a message], "The descendants of the Marquises of Ch'ung-ling [under] the former Han dynasty, Liu [Yin(4a)] Po-sheng, with the members of his clan, his relatives by marriage, and his cabal, have falsely spread groundless rumors to delude the crowd into a treasonable rebellion against Heaven's mandate. They have by their own hands killed the General of a New Beginning, Lien Tan, the Southern Neighboring Commandery Grandee, Chen Fou, and his Director of an Association, Liang-ch'iu Tz'u. [To them], together with the northern barbarian caitiff, 168 the rebel [Lüan-ti] Yü, and the southwestern barbarian caitiffs Jo Tou and Meng Ch'ien, this message [of amnesty] shall not apply. Whoever are able to sieze these persons [Liu Yin(4a) Po-sheng, etc.], will all be enfeoffed among the highest ranking of the dukes, will be given the income of an estate of ten thousand households, and will be granted fifty million [cash] of the valuable currency."

There was also an imperial edict [saying], "The Grand Master, Wang K'uang(1a), the State General, Ai Chang, the Director of Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles], K'ung Jen, the Shepherd of Yen Province and Director of the Confederation at Shou-liang, Wang Hung, and the Shepherd of Yang Province, Li Sheng, shall quickly send forward the troops of the provinces and commanderies in the regional divisions which are their charge; altogether a force of three hundred thousand [men], in order to pursue and arrest the thieves and robbers in Ch'ing and Hsü [Provinces]. The Communicator and General, Chuang Yu, the Arranger of the Ancestral Temples and General, Ch'en Mou, the General of Chariots and Cavalry, Wang Hsün2, and the Eastern Neighboring Commandery Grandee, Wang Wu(2), shall quickly send forward the troops of the provinces and commanderies in the divisions which are in their charge, a force of altogether a hundred thousand men, to pursue and arrest the band of caitiffs in the Southern Neighboring Commandery, [Liu Yin(4a), Liu Hsiu(4a), etc.]. Inform them clearly with trustworthiness [like that of a painting done in] cinnabar and azurite, 169 that [if they surrender, they shall] live, [but] if they are again deluded and do not disperse, [these leaders] will all join forces, attack unitedly, and extirpate them.

"Previously, when the Grand Minister of Works, the Duke Prospering the Hsin [Dynasty, Wang Yi(5)], a relative and member of the imperial clan, as the Tiger Teeth General, went east and pointed [at them], rebellious caitiffs were routed and ruined; when he went west and attacked, seditious bandits were ground to powder. He is thus a majestic and precious minister of the Hsin House. If the crafty bandits do not disperse, I will send the Grand Minister of Works, leading an army of a million [men], to make a punitive military expedition [against them and] exterminate them."

[Wang Mang] sent Wei Ao, an Executive Officer of one of the Seven Highest Ministers, [Liu Hsin(1a)], and others, seventy-two persons [in all], by divisions, to issue the ordinance of amnesty and plainly instruct [the people. When Wei] Ao and the others had left [the court], availing [themselves of this opportunity], they escaped.

In the fourth month, the Epochal Founder, [Liu Hsiu(4a)], with Wang Ch'ang(2) and others, separately attacked Ying-ch'uan [Commandery] and caused K'un-yang, Yen, and Ting-ling to surrender. When [Wang] Mang head of it, he was all the more fearful, and sent the Grand Minister of Works, Wang Yi(5), riding a galloping quadriga, to go to Lo-yang, with the [Grand] Minister Over the Masses, Wang Hsün(3), to mobilize the troops of numerous commanderies, [to the number of] a million [men], calling them the Tiger Teeth [Troops and] the Troops of the Five Majestic [Principles], in order to tranquillize [the region] east of the [Kuan-chung] mountains. [Wang Yi5] was permitted on his own authority to raise [persons] to the nobility. [The power of] making final decisions concerning government [business was also given] to [Wang] Yi(5). [Wang Mang] appointed to office the [various] persons skilled in methods of the sixty-three schools of military arts whom he had summoned. 170 Each one bore his charts and writings, received military implements and armor, and acted as a military officer. [Wang Mang] emptied the government storehouses in order to send out [Wang] Yi(5) provided abundantly with precious things and wild beasts, with the purpose of showing the exceeding wealth [of the imperial forces,] in order to frighten [the region] east of the [Kuan-chung] mountains.

When [Wang] Yi(5) reached Lo-yang, the provinces and commanderies each selected their picked troops, led by their Shepherds and Administrators in person. Those for whom a rendezvous had been appointed [numbered] more than four hundred twenty thousand men and [marched] on the highways in a continuous [stream]. From the [most] ancient [times] that armies had set forth, [such] magnificence in chariots, armor, men, and horses had never before been [seen].

In the sixth month, [Wang] Yi(5) and the [Grand] Minister Over the Masses, [Wang] Hsün(3), started from Lo-yang, intending to go to Yüan. Their road went out of Ying-ch'uan [Commandery] past K'un-yang. At that time, K'un-yang had already surrendered to the Han [troops], and the Han troops were defending it. Chuang Yu and Ch'en Mou had joined [their troops] with [those of] the two highest ministers. When the two highest ministers [were about to] launch their troops to besiege K'un-yang, Chuang Yu said, "[The rebel] who has been called by the imperial title, [Liu Hsüan Sheng-kung], is below [the walls of] Yüan, [besieging it]. It would be proper to hasten and advance [to that place]. If he is routed, the various [other] cities will of their own accord be tranquillized." [Wang] Yi(5) replied, "Wherever an army of a million passes, it is due to annihilate [the enemy]. We will now massacre [the defenders of] this city, trample in blood, 171 and then advance [to Yüan]. The van will sing and the rear will dance; would not that be enjoyable?" 172 Thereupon they surrounded the city several tens [of men] deep.

[The defenders] in the city begged [for permission] to surrender [on terms], but [permission] was refused. Chuang Yu also said, " `When an army [wishes] to return [home], do not stop it; in besieging a city, [leave] an opening for them.' 173 In accordance with the Military Methods you might cause them to be permitted to escape and leave [the city], and thereby frighten [the attackers of] Yüan." 174 Again [Wang] Yi(5) would not listen.

It happened that when the Epochal Founder, [Liu Hsiu(4a)], mobilized all the troops in Yen and Ting-ling, to the number of several thousand men, and came to rescue [the defenders of] K'un-yang, [Wang] Hsün3 and [Wang] Yi(5) made light of it. They themselves led more than ten thousand men and reviewed their battle-array. They ordered that the various encampments should all to be retained and that the regiments [therein] should not to be permitted to move. [Then Wang Hsün3 and Wang Yi(5)] by themselves [went to] meet the Han troops. When they were not successful in battle, their great army did not presume on its own authority to rescue them. 175 The Han troops took advantage of their victory and killed [Wang] Hsün3. Simultaneously the [Han] troops inside K'un-yang came out and fought. [Wang] Yi(5) fled and the army was in confusion. A great 176 wind blew away tiles, and the rain was as if water were being poured down, so that the great band [of soldiers] collapsed in ruin. The shouting [made even] the tigers and leopards tremble with fear in their haunches. [Wang Mang's] soldiers fled hastily, each returning to his own commandery. [Wang] Yi(5), with only the several thousand brave and daring men from Ch'ang-an whom he commanded, returned to Lo-yang. When [the people] in Kuan-chung heard of it, they quaked with fear and thieves and robbers arose simultaneously.

Since it was moreover reported that the Han troops said that [Wang] Mang had murdered Emperor Hsiao-p'ing by poison, [Wang] Mang thereupon assembled, in the Hall With the Royal Apartments, the ministers and those [ranking] below and opened the metal-bound document in which he had begged [to substitute his own] life for that of Emperor P'ing. 177 He wept silently as he showed it to his various courtiers.

He commanded the Baron of Brilliant Scholarship, Chang(2) Han, to state and explain the virtue [of the power, earth, which brought] him, [Wang Mang, to the throne], together with the mandates [given him through] portents. Thereupon [Chang(2) Han] said, "The Book of Changes says,

`He hides his weapons in a thicket (mang),
Mounts (sheng) a high mound (kao-ling),
And in the third year he will not prosper.' 178
Mang is the personal name of the Emperor; sheng means Liu [Yin(4a)] Po-sheng; kao-ling means Chai Yi, the son of the Marquis of Kao-ling(b), [Chai Fang-chin]. It means that Liu [Yin Po]-sheng and Chai Yi will have troops with "hidden weapons in" [the reign of Wang "Mang"], 179 the Emperor of the Hsin [House], but yet will be extirpated and "will not prosper." 180 The courtiers all called out, "Long life!"

[Wang Mang] also ordered carriages with cages to transport several men from the eastern quarter [of the empire], saying that [these men] were Liu [Yin(4a)] Po-sheng and the others. All of them underwent the grand exposure [of their corpses. But] the common people 181 knew that it was false.

Previous to this, the General of the Guard, Wang Shê, had kept a gentleman versed in the ways of magic, 182 Hsi-men Chün-hui. [Hsi-men] Chün-hui loved astrology and prophetic accounts. He said to [Wang] Shê, "A comet has swept in the [Heavenly] Palace, 183 [hence] the Liu clan is due to be restored. [The next emperor] will have the surname and given name of the State Master and Highest Minister." 184 [Wang] Shê believed his words, and spoke of them to the Commander-in-chief, Tung Chung1b, who urged that they both go to the private apartments of the State Master, [Liu Hsin1a], in the [Palace] Hall and talk to him about the zodiacal constellation. [But] the State Master did not respond.

Later [Wang] Shê went alone to him. He wept silently before [Liu] Hsin(1a) and said, "I really wish with you, Duke, to bring peace to our clans. Alas, why will you not believe me, [Wang] Shê?" Thereupon [Liu] Hsin(1a) said to him that, [according to] the astrological phenomena and human affairs, [the insurgents] in the eastern quarter, were bound to succeed.

[Wang] Shê said, "Marquis Ai of Hsin-tu(c), [Wang Wan, Wang Mang's father], suffered from illness when he was young, and the Baronetess of Apparent Merits, [Wang Mang's mother], habitually loved wine. I suspect that the Emperor was not in his origin a child of my clan. 185 His excellency Tung [Chung(1b)] has charge of the picked troops in the Palace Encampments. I, [Wang] Shê, command the Palace Guard; the Marquis of Yi-and-Hsiu, [Liu Tieh], is in charge inside the [Palace] Hall. If we unitedly cooperate in the plot, together sieze the Emperor by force, and surrender to the Son of Heaven in Nan-yang [Commandery] to the east, [Liu Hsüan(2a) Sheng-kung, we] will be able to preserve our clans. If not, we will all be executed and our clans annihilated."

The Marquis of Yi-and-Hsiu, [Liu Tieh], was [Liu] Hsin(1a)'s eldest son. He was a Palace Attendant and General of the Fifth Rank Gentlemen-at-the Palace. [Wang] Mang habitually loved him, [but Liu] Hsin(1a) held a grudge [because Wang] Mang had killed three of his children, 186 and also feared that the great calamity [of execution] would come upon him. Consequently he plotted with [Wang] Shê and [Tung] Chung.

When they wanted to act, [Liu] Hsin(1a) said, "We must wait until [the planet] Venus appears, 187 and then only may we [act]." Because the Director of the Palace and Grand Keeper of the Robes, the Marquis Raising Military Power, Sun Chi, also controlled troops, [Tung] Chung(1b) also plotted with [Sun] Chi. When [Sun] Chi returned to his home, the color of his face had changed and he could not eat. When his wife marvelled and asked him about it, he told her the circumstances. His wife told it to her younger brother, Ch'en Han, a man from Yün-yang, and [Ch'en] Han wanted to give information about it. In the seventh month, [Sun] Chi and [Ch'en] Han together gave information [about the plot. Wang] Mang sent commissioners separately to summon [Tung] Chung(1b) and the others.

[Tung] Chung(1b) was just at that time teaching military [methods] at a grand review [of his troops]. His Commissioner Over the Army, Wang Hsien(2d), said to [Tung] Chung(1b), "Your plot has been made for some time but no action has been taken, so that I fear it has been divulged. It would be better immediately to behead the commissioner, take command of your troops, and enter [the Palace to carry out the plot." But Tung] Chung(1b) did not listen [to him], and consequently joined [Liu] Hsin(1a) and [Wang] Shê outside the gate of the inner [Palace] apartments.

[Wang] Mang ordered Tai Yün to interrogate them under torture, and all confessed. Palace Attendants Within the Yellow Gate, all with swords drawn, conducted [Tung] Chung(1b) and the others to an antechamber. [Tung] Chung(1b) drew his sword with the intention of cutting his own throat. A Palace Attendant, Wang Wang, reported that the Commander-in-chief, [Tung Chung(1b)], had rebelled. [The Palace Attendants Within] the Yellow Gate had drawn their swords, and jointly fought with and killed [Tung Chung1b. The people in] the inner [palace] apartments frightened one another by the report that troops under a command would arrive. [The Gentlemen] in the Gentlemen's quarters all drew their swords and cocked their crossbows. The General of a New Beginning, 188 Shih Shen, visited the various quarters and informed the Gentlemen and officials, saying, "The Commander-in-chief, [Tung Chung1b], had [a spell] of insanity come upon him; he has already been executed. All are ordered to unbend their weapons." [Wang] Mang wanted to repress any baneful influence, so had the [Gentlemen] As Rapid As Tigers use a sword for beheading horses 189 to cut off [Tung] Chung(1b)'s [head], put it in a bamboo vessel, and sent it about [the empire, with a label] saying, "A rebellious caitiff who has left [his office]."

[Wang Mang] issued a message of amnesty to the officers and soldiers belonging to the office of the Commander-in-chief, who had been led into error by [Tung] Chung(1b), had plotted to rebel, and had not yet been discovered. He had the clan and relatives of Tung Chung(1b) arrested, and buried them together in one pit with strong vinegar, poisonous drugs, foot[long] naked two-edged blades, 190 and a thicket of thorns. 191

Liu Hsin(1a) and Wang Shê both committed suicide. [Wang] Mang considered that [one] of these two persons was [of the same] flesh and blood [as himself and the other was] a minister [who had been in office] for a long [time, so,] because [Wang Mang] disliked [it to be known] that these [persons] within [the court] had been infected [with evil], he kept their execution secret. Because moreover the Marquis of Yi-and-Hsiu, [Liu] Tieh, had constantly been circumspect and [Liu] Hsin1a had finally not informed [Liu Tieh of the plot], he was merely dismissed [from his posts as] Palace Attendant and General of the Gentlemen-at-the-Palace, and was changed to be a Palace Grandee Without Specified Appointment.

A day later, in the [Palace] Hall, beside the palm [of the hand] of the immortal on the hill of earth [in the park under the charge of] the Intendant of the Imperial Palace Parks, 192 there was a white-headed old man in cerulean clothes. The Gentlemen and officials who saw it said privately that it was the State Master and Highest Minister, [Liu Hsin(1a)].

The Marquis of Vast Merit, [Wang] Hsi(3a), was usually good with the hexagrams, [so Wang] Mang had him to interpret its divination. He said, "One should be careful about weapons and fire." 193 [Wang] Mang replied, "How did you, boy, get this erroneous explanation? This is indeed my august ancestor's younger uncle, [Wang] Tzu-ch'iao, who has wanted to come and invite me [to become an immortal]."

When, outside [the court, Wang] Mang's armies had been routed and, inside [the court], his greatest ministers had rebelled, so that none of those about him could be trusted, he could no longer deliberate [with them] about matters at a distance in the commanderies and kingdoms. When he wanted to summon [Wang] Yi(5) and make plans with him, Ts'ui Fa said, "[Wang] Yi(5) is habitually cautious. Now that he has lost a large force, if he is summoned, I fear that he will grasp his credentials and commit suicide. It would be proper that you should in some great manner console his feelings." Thereupon [Wang] Mang sent [Ts'ui] Fa in a galloping quadriga with verbal instructions for [Wang] Yi5, [saying], "I am aged and have no 194 son by my legitimate wives. I wish to transmit the empire to you, Yi. It is ordered that you shall not need to beg pardon [for your defeat] and when I receive you in audience you shall not again speak [of the past]."

[When Wang] Yi(5) arrived, he was made the Commander-in-chief. The Grand Prolonger of Autumn, Chang(2) Han, became the Grand Minister Over the Masses. Ts'ui Fa became the Grand Minister of Works. The Director of the Palaces and Shelterer of Long Life, Miao Hsin, became the State Master. The Marquis of Like Delight, [Wang] Lin(2), became the General of the Guard.

[Wang] Mang was so distressed and worried that he could not eat. He only drank wine, ate shellfish, 195 and read books on military matters. When he was tired, he would rest [his head] upon his stool and sleep without again seeking his pillow.

By nature, [Wang Mang] loved the numerology of lucky times and days. 196 When moreover matters became urgent, he merely repressed them by incantations. He sent a commissioner to destroy the screening walls at the gates to the parks of the Wei Tomb and the Yen Tomb, saying, "Do not cause the common people to think of the Han [Dynasty] again." 197 He also used black to defile the color of their surrounding walls. 198 He entitled his generals, 199 "The general for whom [the planet] Jupiter rests in [the cyclical sign] shen and [the element] water is an assistant," 200 "the Colonel who honors [the cyclical sign] keng and injures [the element] wood," 201 and "the Chief Commandant who sets [the cyclical sign] ping in front and glorifies [the element] metal." 202 He also [gave titles] reading, "[The military leader] holding a great axe to chop down withered wood," [and, "The military leader] causing great waters to run, extinguishing any fire that has arisen." 203 The things of this sort [that he did and said are too many] to be recorded completely.

In the autumn, Venus moved into [the constellation] T'ai-wei, and lighted the earth like the light of the moon. 204

Wei Ts'ui and his elder brother, [Wei Yi, men from] Ch'eng-chi, together kidnapped the Grand Governor [of T'ien-shui Commandery], Li Yü(5a). They made their elder brother's son, Wei Ao, their General-in-chief, and attacked and killed the Shepherd of Yung Province, Ch'en Ch'ing, and the Director of a Confederation at An-ting [Commandery], Wang Hsün1, 205 and joined his force [with their own]. They sent a letter to the commanderies and counties enumerating [Wang] Mang's crimes and wickednesses, [saying that they were] ten thousand [times the number of those committed by] Chieh and Chou. 206

In this month, Teng Yeh and Yü K'uang, men from [the prefecture of] Hsi(5), raised troops at Nan-hsiang [to the number of] more than a hundred men. At that time, the Ruler of Hsi(5) led several thousand troops and garrisoned the Ch'iao Commune to defend the Wu Pass. [Teng] Yeh and [Yü] K'uang said to the Ruler, "An Emperor of the Liu [clan] has already been set up. Why do you, sir, not recognize the mandate [of Heaven]?" The Ruler [thereupon] begged [permission] to surrender, [and so Teng Yen and Yü K'uang] secured all of his band.

[Teng] Yeh called himself the General of the Left Supporting the Han [Dynasty] and [Yü] K'uang [called himself] the General of the Right [Supporting the Han Dynasty]. They took Hsi(5) and Tan-shui by storm. When they attacked the Wu Pass, the Chief Commandant [of the Pass], Chu Meng, surrendered. They advanced and attacked the Western Neighboring Commandery Grandee, Sung Kang, and killed him. Then they went west and took Hu(2) by storm.

[When Wang] Mang was all the more worried and did not know what to do, Ts'ui Fa said, "[According to] the Chou Offices and Mr. Tso's [Commentary on] the Spring and Autumn, whenever a state has a great visitation, [the ruler] should weep, in order to repress [the evil]. 207 Hence the Book of Changes says, `He at first wails and cries out, but later laughs.' 208 It would be proper to cry out and sigh, in giving information to Heaven, in order to seek for rescue."

[Wang] Mang himself knew that he would be defeated, but he led his courtiers to the Southern Place for the Suburban Sacrifice [to Heaven], set out his mandates [by means of] portents from first to last, looked up to Heaven, and said, "Since thou, August Heaven, hast given thy mandate to thy subject, Mang, why doest thou not immediately order extirpated the bands [of troops] and the robbers? But if thy servant Mang has done wrong, I wish that thou wouldst send down thy thunderbolt to execute thy servant Mang." Thereupon he struck his heart with his palm and wept loudly. When his breath was exhausted, he prostrated himself and knocked his head [upon the ground].

He also composed a document giving information to Heaven, setting out his own important achievements, in more than a thousand words. The various Masters and uninfluential common people met in the mornings and evenings to weep, and for them he established repasts of congee. Those who were [really] melancholy, together with those who were able to recite the words of his document, were made Gentlemen. 209 [They numbered] more than five thousand persons. Tai Yün led them.

[Wang] Mang installed nine persons as Generals, all of whom had "tiger" as their title. They were called the Nine Tiger [Generals]. They led several ten-thousand picked soldiers from the Northern Army and went eastwards. Their wives and children were taken into the palaces, to serve as hostages.

At this time, in the inner apartments [of the Wei-yang Palace], ten thousand catties of actual gold were put into one chest and there still remained sixty chests. 210 In each of [the offices] of the Yellow Gate and of the Intendant of Palace Parks in the storehouses, and [in the workshop of] the Empress's Master of Recipes, there were [also] several chests. In the Imperial Wardrobe at the Ch'ang-lo [Palace], the Empress's Wardrobe and the storehouses of the [Bureau of] Equalization and Standards in the capital 211 there was [in addition] very much cash, silk, pearls, jade, and valuables. [Wang] Mang became [even] more parsimonious with them, and granted [only] four thousand cash to each of the soldiers of the Nine Tiger [Generals]. 212 Their troops were greatly discontented, so that they had no intention of fighting.

The Nine Tiger [Generals] reached the Hui Gorge at Hua-yin and blocked the defiles to the north along the [Yellow] River and south to the mountains. Yü K'uang, with several thousand crossbow [men], mounted the [Feng-ling] mound to provoke a battle. Teng Yeh, leading more than twenty thousand men, went south from Wen-hsiang Highroad and came out of the Tsao-[hsiang] Highroad and the Tso-ku [River valley], routed one division [of soldiers], went north, came out behind the Nine Tiger [Generals], and attacked them. Six Tiger [Generals] were defeated and fled. [Of these six], Shih Hsiung and Wang K'uang(4a) came to the [Palace] portal [and asked for pardon and permission] to return home to die. 213 [Wang] Mang sent a messenger to reproach [them, saying], "How is it that those who should be dead are [still] alive?" so they both committed suicide. Four [defeated] Tiger [Generals] fled. Three Tiger [Generals], Kuo Ch'in(b), Ch'en Hui, and Ch'eng Chung, collected the scattered troops and took refuge in the Capital Granary.

Teng Yeh opened the Wu Pass and invited in Li Sung, the Han [dynasty's] Director of Service to the Lieutenant Chancellor. He led more than two thousand men and came to Hu(2). With [Teng] Yeh and the others, they together attacked the Capital Granary.

When it did not surrender, [Teng] Yeh made a Division Head of Hung-nung [Commandery], Wang Hsien(4), his Colonel. [The latter] led several hundred men north, crossed the Wei [River], and entered the territory of Tso-p'ing-yi [Commandery], making cities surrender and overrunning territory. Li Sung sent a Lieutenant General, Han Ch'en, and others, to go across westwards to Hsin-feng, where [Han Ch'en] fought a battle with [Wang] Mang's General of the Po River, [Tou Jung. The General of] the Po River fled. 214

Han Ch'en and the others pursued the fleeing [troops], and so they came to Ch'ang-men. 215 Wang Hsien(4) went north to P'in-yang, and wherever he passed, [the people came out] to welcome him and surrender. [People] of the powerful clans, Shen Tang of Yüeh-yang and Wang Ta of Hsia-kuei, both led their bands to follow [Wang] Hsien(4). From counties in [the capital commanderies], Chuang Ch'un from T'ai, Tung Hsi from Mou-ling, Wang Meng(4b) from Lan-t'ien, Ju Ch'en from Huai-li, Wang Fu(2b) from Chou-chih, Chuang Pen from Yang-ling, T'u-men Shao from Tu-ling, and the like, whose bands all [numbered] several thousand men, took titles and called themselves Generals of the Han [dynasty].

At this time, Li Sung and Teng Yeh considered that although the Capital Granary was a very small [place], if they had not yet been able to make it surrender, how much more [this would be the case with] the city of Ch'ang-an, so that it would be necessary for them to wait until the great army of the Keng-shih Emperor arrived [before attacking Ch'ang-an]. When they thereupon led their armies to Hua-yin to prepare implements for attacking [Ch'ang-an], troops from [places] neighboring Ch'ang-an however assembled from all quarters below the [Ch'ang-an] city walls. It was reported that the troops of the Wei clan from T'ien-shui [Commandery] 216 would presently arrive, so they all rivaled [one another], wanting to be the first to enter the city, for they were covetous of the profit [they would gain by] achieving the great glory [of executing Wang Mang] and from kidnapping and plundering [in the palaces].

[Wang] Mang sent commissioners separately to amnesty the convicts in the various prisons within the city and gave them all arms. [The commissioners had] some swine killed, and had [the former convicts] drink the blood [of the swine, thereby] making an oath with them, saying, "If there is anyone who is not for the House of Hsin, may the gods of the soils and the spirits remember it." The General of a New Beginning, Shih Shen, led them. They crossed the Wei [River] Bridge and all scattered and ran, [so that Shih] Shen returned empty[handed].

The bands of troops dug up the tomb-mounds of [Wang] Mang's wife, sons, father, and grandfather, and burnt their coffins and grave-vaults, together with his Nine [Ancestral] Temples, the Ming-t'ang, and the Pi-yung. The fire shone into the city.

Someone said to [Wang] Mang, "The soldiers at the city gates are people from the east, so that they cannot be trusted." [Wang] Mang [accordingly] changed them and mobilized men from the Picked Cavalry to be the guards [for the city gates], establishing one Colonel at each Gate with six hundred men.

In the tenth month, on [the day] mou-shen, the first day of the month, the troops entered by way of the Hsüan-p'ing City Gate, which among the common people is called the Capital Gate. Chang(2) Han was inspecting the city gates, happened upon the troops, and was killed. Wang Yi(5), Wang Lin(2), Wang Hsün(2), Tai Yün, and others separately led troops to resist the attack outside the Northern Portal [of the Palace]. The Han troops were ambitious for enfeoffment [in reward for killing Wang] Mang and more than seven hundred of them fought strenuously. When it happened that the sun went down, [the people in] the government yamens, the lodges [for the commanderies and kingdoms], and the residences [adjoining the Palace] had all run away and fled.

On the second day [of the month, the day] chi-yu, some young people from within the city [of Ch'ang-an], Chu Ti, Chang Yü(2), and others, who had feared that they would be kidnapped or robbed, and had shouted vehemently in response to [the invaders], set fire to the Artisans' Chamber Gate [an inner gate in the northwestern part of the Wei-yang Palace], and hacked open a side door of the [Hall] of Reverence for the Law, calling out,

"You rebellious caitiff, Wang Mang,
Why do you not come out and surrender?" 217
The fire reached to the Ch'eng-ming [Hall] in the Lateral Courts, where the Princess of the Yellow Imperial House dwelt. [Wang] Mang fled from the fire to the Hsüan Room, and the fire in the Front Hall immediately followed him. The Palace Maids and women wailed, saying, "What must we do?"

At that time [Wang] Mang had on uniformly purple garments, 218 was girded with his imperial seals and apron and held the Lord of Yü, [Shun's], dagger with a spoon on the end of its hilt; an Astrological Gentleman held a diviner's board before him, 219 and for the day and hour he added [the appropriate] layout [on the board. Wang] Mang had turned about his mat and sat according to [the position] of the handle to the [Heavenly] Bushel, saying, "Heaven begat the virtue that is in me. The Han troops--- what can they do to me?" 220

For some time, [Wang] Mang had not eaten, which had lessened his energy, so that he had become exhausted. On the morning of the third day [of the month, the day] keng-hsü, when it was light, a group of courtiers supported [Wang] Mang from the Front Hall southwards down the Zanthoxylum Stairs, and westwards out of the White Tiger Gate. The Duke of Peace to [the House of] Hsin, Wang Yi(6), had charge of the chariot and drove it outside the [Palace] Gate. [Wang] Mang went in the chariot to the Tower Bathed [by Water], intending to rely upon the water of the pond [as a magical defence], 221 and planning to hold in his arms the mandates [given through] portents and majestic tou-[measures]. The ministers, Grandees, Palace Attendants, [Attendants of] the Yellow Gate, Gentlemen, and Royal Retinue, who were still more than a thousand persons, followed him.

Wang Yi(5) had been fighting day and night and was extremely fatigued; when his men had almost all been killed or wounded, they galloped into the Palace and, by a difficult and roundabout route, reached the Tower Bathed [By Water. When Wang Yi(5)] saw his son, the Palace Attendant, [Wang] Mu, taking off his robes and bonnet, with the intention of escaping, [Wang] Yi(5) scolded him, ordering him to return, [so that the two], father and son, together defended [Wang] Mang.

When the men of the army entered the [Palace] Halls, they called out, "Where is the rebellious caitiff, Wang Mang?" and a Beauty came out of a room and said, "He is in the Tower Bathed [By Water]." The bands of soldiers pursued after him, and surrounded it several hundred deep. Those on the Tower also exchanged shots with them, using bows and crossbows, but gradually dropped out and left [off shooting]. When their arrows were exhausted, so that they had no way of returning shots, they met [the attackers] with their short weapons. Wang Yi(5) and his son, 222 [Wang Mu], Tai Yün, and Wang Hsün(2), died fighting, [whereupon Wang] Mang entered the room [on top of the Tower]. In the very late afternoon, 223 the bands of soldiers went up the tower. Wang Yi(6), Chao Po, Miao Hsin, T'ang Tsun(b), Wang Sheng, the Regular Palace Attendant Wang Ts'an, and others all died on top of the Tower. Tu Wu, 224a man from [the prefecture of] Shang, killed [Wang] Mang and took his [seals] 225 and cords. A Colonel from Tunghai [Commandery], Kung-pin Chiu, who had formerly been a [Gentleman] Dealing With the Rites, [a subordinate of] the Grand Messenger, saw [Tu] Wu and asked him where the owner of the seal-cords was. He replied, "In the room, in the northeast corner." [Kung-pin] Chiu recognized [Wang] Mang and cut off his head. 226 The men of the army cut [Wang] Mang's body to pieces. His members and his flesh and bones were sliced and divided. 227 "Those who killed each other in the struggle [to secure parts of Wang Mang's body numbered] several tens of persons." 228 Kung-pin Chiu bore [Wang] Mang's head to Wang Hsien(4).

[Wang] Hsien(4) called himself a Han Generalissimo and the troops in the city, [numbering] several hundred thousand [men], were all subordinate to him. He dwelt in the Eastern Palace, treated [the women in Wang] Mang's harem as his wives, rode in [Wang Mang's] carriages [and wore Wang Mang's] robes.

On the sixth day [of the month, the day] kuei-ch'ou, Li Sung and Teng Yeh entered Ch'ang-an. Generals Chao Meng and Shen-t'u Chien also arrived. Because Wang Hsien(4) had received the imperial seals and cords and had not immediately sent them [to the Keng-shih Emperor], had taken many of the women in the palace, and had set up the drums and flags of the Son of Heaven, he was arrested and beheaded [for aspiring to the throne. Wang] Mang's head was transmitted to the Keng-shih Emperorand was hung up in the market-place at Yüan. The people all together picked up [things] and threw them at it. Some cut out and ate his tongue.

The troops of [Wang] Mang's Shepherd of Yang 229 Province, Li Sheng, and of the Director of Mandates [from the Five Majestic Principles], K'ung Jen, were defeated east of [the Kuan-chung] mountains. [Li] Sheng fought and was killed. [K'ung] Jen led his band and surrendered. Afterwards, he sighed and said, "I have heard that he who eats another's food must die in his service," so he drew his sword, stabbed himself, and died. The Department Head and Superintendant of a Division, Tu P'u, the Grand Governor of Ch'en-ting [Commandery], Shen Yi, and the Leader of a Combination at Chiu-chiang [Commandery], Chia Meng, all moreover defended their commanderies, did not surrender, and were executed by the Han troops. When the Grand Governor of Shang-tu [Commandery], Wang Ch'in, and Kuo Ch'in(b), who were defending the Capital Granary, heard that [Wang] Mang was dead, they surrendered. The Keng-shih [Emperor] [considered them] as righteous, and enfeoffed them both as marquises. The Grand Master, Wang K'uang(1a), and the State General, Ai Chang, surrendered at Lo-yang. They were transported to Yüan, where they were beheaded.

After Chuang Yu and Ch'en Mou had been defeated below [the walls of] K'un-yang, they fled to Ch'iao in P'ei Commandery. They called themselves Han Generals and summoned and assembled officials and common people. [Chuang] Yu gave them an account, saying that Wang Mang had usurped the throne, that he would die at the time [allotted to him by] Heaven, and that the sage Han [dynasty] would revive again; [meanwhile Ch'en] Mou prostrated himself and wept. When they heard that the former Marquis of Chung-wu(b) [under] the Han [dynasty], Liu Sheng(5e), had collected a band in Ju-nan [Commandery] and was [going to be] entitled by the imperial title, [Chuang] Yu and [Ch'en] Mou surrendered to him. He made [Chuang] Yu his Commander-in-chief and [Ch'en] Mou his Lieutenant Chancellor. [After] more than ten days, he was defeated [by the Keng-shih Emperor's Generalissimo, Liu Hsin(4a), and Chuang] Yu and [Ch'en] Mou Dec. 230 both died.

The commanderies and counties all offered their cities [to the Keng-shih Emperor] and surrendered, so that the whole empire returned to the Han [dynasty]. Previously, Shen-t'u Chien had once served Ts'ui Fa [as a disciple, studying] the Book of Odes. When [Shen-t'u] Chien arrived, [Ts'ui] Fa surrendered to him, [but] later he again gave an [apologetic] account [of Wang Mang, 231 so Shen-t'u] Chien directed the Lieutenant Chancellor [of the Keng-shih Emperor], Liu Tz'u(4a), to behead [Ts'ui] Fa in order that he might accompany [his master, Wang Mang], in death. Shih Shen, Wang Yen(2), Wang Lin(2), Wang Wu(2), and Chao Hung also surrendered but nevertheless were killed.

Previously those soldiers who had taken titles every one hoped to be enfeoffed as a marquis, [but] because Shen-t'u Chien had beheaded Wang Hsien(4) and also spread about [a report] that treacherous [persons from] the three capital commanderies had together killed their lord, [Wang Mang], the officials and common people [of Ch'ang-an] became afraid and the counties subordinate [to Ch'ang-an] assembled [troops, hence Shen-t'u] Chien and the others were unable to make them surrender. He galloped and advised [the Keng-shih Emperor of the situation].

In [the period] Keng-shih, the second year, the second month, the Keng-shih [Emperor, Liu Hsüan(2a) Sheng-kung], reached Ch'ang-an. He issued an imperial edict [granting] a general amnesty, [stating that], except for the sons of Wang Mang, all others' crimes were expunged. Hence the [former imperial] Wang clan was able to be preserved and the three capital commanderies all became calm.

The Keng-shih [Emperor] made Ch'ang-an his capital and lived in Ch'ang-lo Palace. The government repositories were all intact. Only the Wei-yang Palace had been burnt. After [Wang] Mang [had been attacked] for three days and he had died, [the people of the capital commanderies] had lived peacefully in their homes and [everything] was as previously. 232

After the Keng-shih [Emperor] had arrived for a year and more, his governmental instructions were no [longer] obeyed. In the next year, in the summer, 233after the Red Eyebrows, 234 [led by] Fan Ch'ung and others, a band of several hundred thousand men, had entered through the passes, [Fan Ch'ung and others] set up Liu P'en-tzu, giving him the imperial title, and attacked the Keng-shih [Emperor]. The Keng-shih [Emperor] surrendered to them.

The Red Eyebrows thereupon burnt the palace-buildings, market-places, and wards in Ch'ang-an, and killed the Keng-shih [Emperor]. The common people starved and [even] ate others, so that the dead [numbered] several hundred thousand, Ch'ang-an became a waste, and inside the city walls there were no people going about. 235 The [imperial ancestral] temples, funerary parks, and tomb mounds were all dug up; only the Pa Tomb and the Tu Tomb were preserved intact.

236 In the sixth month, the Epochal Exemplar, [Emperor Kuang-wu], had ascended the throne, and thereafter the [imperial] ancestral temples and the mounds to the gods of the soils and grains were re-established [at Lo-yang], the empire was well governed and at peace.

In eulogy we say: Wang Mang first arose [because he was one of] the maternal relatives [of Emperor Ch'eng]. 237 He humbled himself and acted energetically, in order to seek for fame and reputation, so that his clan praised him as filial and his teachers and associates attributed benevolence to him. 238

When he occupied [a high] position and acted as [chief] assistant in the government, [during] the time in [the reigns of Emperors] Ch'eng and Ai, he toiled diligently for the state and "pursued a straightforward course," 239 [so that whenever he] acted, [his deeds] were reported in detail. Was he not [the sort of person] referred to [in the sayings, "Such a man] will certainly be heard of in his clan; he will certainly be heard of in his state," and "He assumes the appearance of benevolence, but his actions are contrary to it?" 240

Since [Wang] Mang did not [possess] benevolence, but had a talent for flattery and evil and also took advantage of the power his four uncles, [Wang Feng, Wang Yin, Wang Shang(1b), and Wang Ken, had exercised for] successive generations, 241 and [because] it happened that the Han [dynasty] became weak in the midst [of its period] and the dynastic succession was thrice broken, so that in her old age the Empress Dowager [nee Wang] became the mistress of the [imperial] clan, hence [Wang Mang] was able to give free rein to his viciousness and thereby to bring to pass the calamity of his usurpation [of the throne]. If we speak of [the situation by] investigating it from this [aspect], it was 242 a time [set by] Heaven and not brought about by human effort.

When he had stolen the throne and faced south, so that he occupied [a position which] he should not have seized, the influences 243 which would overthrow [such a person] were more dangerous [in his case than in the cases of] Chieh and Chou, yet [Wang] Mang was tranquil and considered himself a second appearance of the Yellow [Lord] and Yü [Shun]. Then for the first time he gave rein to his desires 244 and displayed his tyrannousness and deceitfulness, being scornfully [hypocritical] towards Heaven 245 and oppressive towards the common people, exhausting [the possibilities of] banefulness, and [attaining] the limit of evil. His poison diffused itself among all Chinese and [his power of causing] disorder [even] extended to the southern and northern barbarians, but this did not yet satisfy his desires.

For this reason, [all] within the four seas 246 murmured sadly and lost their joy in life. Within and outside [the country, people] were filled with resentment, [braves] far and near [the capital] all mobilized, his city-wall and moat was not defended, so that his members were cut to pieces. Thereupon he caused the cities and towns of the empire to become wastes, [while peoples'] grave mounds were [moreover] dug into, so that he injured all living people, and his crimes reached [even] to rotten bones.

Of the rebellious ministers and evil sons and of the unprincipled men who are recorded in books and records, if we investigate the calamities [they produced] and the ruin [they wrought], there have not been any as severe as [those produced by Wang] Mang. Anciently [the First Emperor of] the Ch'in [dynasty] burnt the Books of Odes and of History in order to establish his private proposals, while [Wang] Mang chanted the six canons in order to gloss over his wicked words. "They came to the same result but by different paths;" 247 both thereby [came to] destruction. 248 They were both "dragons [who had flown] too high" 249 and whose breath was cut off, which was not the destiny [originally bestowed upon them by Heaven's] decree. They were [like] a purple color 250 or a croaking sound, 251 or the leftover minutes [that are given] the place of an intercalation, 252which are driven out by a sage-king. 253

Notes

1. The Official ed. has erroneously emended 弟 to 第.

2. Pan Ku in his "Fu on the Western Capital" (HHS, Mem. 30 A: 12a), speaking the Front Hall in the Wei-yang Palace at Ch'ang-an, says, "On the left was the staircase and on the right was the [inclined] plane." This This statement is repeated in San-fu Huang-t'u 2: 3a. Li Hsien quotes Chih Yü's (fl. ca. 270-310) Chüeh-yi-yao-chu (lost) "The [inclined] plane with ornamented bricks paralleled [the staircase up to the Hall]." This inclined plane was probably for the imperial chariot. Since the Steps (on the right) were reserved for the Emperor, Wang Mang added a ramp made ornamented blocks, so that it might be possible to ride down from the hall in the with the Emperor's Apartments (the audience hall). Cf. the plan of a palace Hall in T'zu-Yüan, sub 寢.

3. The "three-ribbed rush, ching-mao 青茅" was used to envelop the clod of from the imperial mound altar of the gods of the soils used in enfeoffing nobles. rush is mentioned in Book of History, III, i, vii, 52 (Legge, p. 115; Mh I, 124). schneider, Botanicum Sinicum, no. 459, p. 279, finds it impossible to identify exactly. Kuan-tzu (iii cent. B.C.) 24: 6b, ch. 83, it is mentioned as growing between the and Huai Rivers.The Imperial mound altar of the gods of the soils contained five colors of soil; only four are mentioned. The Chi-chung Chou-shu (found in a tomb in 280-289 extant in Former Han times) 5: 8b-9a, ch. 48, says, "[The Duke of Chou] established great mound altar to the gods of the soils in the midst of the [Chou] state [capital at Its low ridge around the edge [probably enclosing a ribbon of water encircling the on the east was of cerulean earth, on the south was of red earth, on the west was of earth, on the north was of black earth, and in the center [the mound] was sprinkled yellow earth. When he was about to establish a noble, he dug into and took the earth from one side in that direction [in which the fief of the noble was to be located], enveloped it with yellow earth, and bound it with quitch-grass, using [the whole] for the earth [employed] in the enfeoffment. Hence [the recipient] said, `I have received my sliced [clod of] earth from the house of Chou.' " Since Wang Mang was following ancient practises, he undoubtedly followed this precedent.

4. This name for Mt. T'ai is taken from the Book of History II, i, iii 8 (Legge, p. 35).

5. Under the Han dynasty, each household in a noble estate paid 200 cash per year (91: 6a), hence the allowances of dukes were the same as those previously enfeoffed with estate of 4000 households; of marquises and earls, 2000 households; and of viscounts and barons, 1000 households.

6. Cf. 99 B: 12b.

7. For 浸, the Official ed. and the Southern Academy ed. read 寖; the Ching- ed. reads 濅.

8. The Sung Ch'i ed. asserts that before 起 there should be a 興.

9. At this point Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 38: 7a, b adds the names of other robber bands: Wang K'uang(1b) and Wang Feng(4a王鳳 from Hsin-shih [in the present central Hupeh; cf. HHS, An. 1 A: 3a]; Ma Wu 馬武in Nan-yang Commandery [cf. HHS, Mem. 12: 10a-12a]; Wang Ch'ang and Ch'eng Tan in Ying-ch'uan Commandery; Chang Pa of Nan Commandery; Yang Mu of Chiang-hsia Commandery, each of whose bands increased to be ten thousand in number; cf. Glossary sub vocibus.

10. Wang Nien-sun shows that anciently chou 愁 and 揫 were interchanged, and suggests reading the latter word here. But chou makes quite good sense.

11. Couvreur (Dict. Class., III ed., p. 915), followed by Stange, (p. 214, n. 1) says these tou 斗 were bronze tablets on which the Northern Bushel 北斗 (, i.e., the Dipper) was represented, but I cannot find any other authority for this statement. It quite true, as Stange remarks, that ancient Chinese tablets bearing a representation of Northern Bushel have come down to us, but that fact does not constitute any evidence that these articles were made by Wang Mang. The only description seems to be the one in the text. This account furthermore contains some details which indicate that the tou were measures rather than tablets. (1) It says they "were like the Northern 若北斗," not that they were inscribed with the Northern Bushel. T'ai-p'ing Yülan 765: 4b, in quoting this passage, moreover begins the above clause with the word 形, making it say, "Their shape was like the Northern Bushel." I take this to mean that they had handles, like Chinese tou measures. (2) Wang Mang ordered his Directors of Mandates to "bear them on their shoulders 負之." Tablets are carried in the hands worn at the girdle, not borne on the shoulders or back. (3) Their size, 2 ft. 5 in. (58 or 22(1/2) in. Eng. measure) is quite in accord with their being measures and containing a tou (cf. HFHD, I, 279). This length was then that of the utensil with its handle. its bowl was shallow, like the one dated 65 B.C. and pictured in Chin-shih-so, "ChiChin-shih-son," 3: 42a, its over-all length was just right to contain a tou. I therefore conclude that a ladle-like shape was much more probable than a tablet-like shape.The Northern Bushel (the Dipper) was among the most important of Chinese constellations. Near it is the Pole Star, where resides the Supreme One (T'ai-yi), the God who rules the universe. "The [Northern] Bushel is the chariot of the Lord [i.e., the Supreme One], whereby he moves around at the center [of the heavens], visits and controls the four quarters, separates the yin and yang, determines the four seasons, proportions [the influences of] the five powers [or elements], and gives information concerning the divisions [of time] and the revolutions [of the stars, thereby] fixing [epochs for all] records. All this depends upon the [Northern] Bushel" (SJ 27: 8 = Mh III, 342; cf. also HFHD 99 B: n. 21.1). This constellation is the vehicle whereby the supreme God his authority. The emperor of China, as the Son of Heaven, was the earthly deputy of this supreme God. The Heavenly Bushel accordingly represented, more than any other, the imperial authority. It was a god, to whom sacrifices were made at Yung (Mh III, 444, 491). In 112 B.C., Emperor Wu placed it on his supernatural standard, along with flying dragon to represent the Supreme One (Mh III, 493). "The southern [side] of the city-wall [of Ch'ang-an, built 194-190 B.C.] had the shape of the Southern Bushel and the northern [side] had the shape of the Northern Bushel, [in order that this city should be a proper habitation for an emperor]. This is [the reason that], down to the present, people call the capital of the [Former] Han [dynasty], `the Bushel City' " (San-fu Huang-t'u 1: 6a). When Wang Mang was besieged in his palace in A.D. 23, he sat in the direction occupied by the handle of the Bushel, turning about as this constellation turned in the heavens, by sympathy with it, securing its assistance (HS 99 C: 27a). These majestic tou-measures accordingly denoted this divinity, who would naturally exert his authority in behalf of the emperor on earth. By sympathy with the god, they would draw the god's attention to happenings in their vicinity and would exercise his power to assist and protect the emperor. Cf. also 99 B: 6b and n. 6.9.Nan-shih 33: 24a-b, sub Ho Ch'eng-t'ien, says, (this event is dated between 442 and 447), "Chang Yung was once digging the Hsüan-wu Lake [north of the Shou-tu Metropolis 首都市 i.e., present Nanking, Kiangsu, according to the Shina Redikai Chimei Yoran, p. 194a], when he happened upon an ancient tomb. Above the tomb he secured a bronze tou [measure] with handles. Emperor Wen [of the Sung Dynasty] asked the gentlemen of his court about it, and [Ho] Ch'eng-t'ien replied, `This is a majestic tou [measure] of the fallen Hsin [Dynasty. When any of his] three highest ministers died, Wang Mang always granted [such measures] to them: one for the outside of the tomb, and one for the inside of the tomb. At that time, the only one of his highest ministers who lived near the mouth of the Yangtze River [i.e., east of the present Nanking] was Chen Han, who became Grand Minister over the Masses. It must be [Chen] Han's tomb.'"Soon [Chang] Yung opened the tomb, and from inside it, he again secured a tou [measure], and also there was a stone with the inscription, `The tomb of the Grand Minister over the Masses, Chen Han.' "This account must however be mistaken. Shen Ch'in-han points out that Chen Han died in 12 A.D. His son, Chen Feng, was executed in 10 A.D., before these majestic tou-measures were made. When he died, Chen Han was moreover Commander-in-chief, not Grand Minister over the Masses. San-kuo-chih 5: 4b, sub the Empress nee Chen, who was a descendant of Chen Han, says that her home was in Wu-chi 無極 of Chung-shan Commandery, and T'ai-p'ing Huan-Yü Chi 60: 10b locates Chen Han's tomb and those of other members of the Chen clan 35 li southwest of Wu-chi, which place was located, according to Ta-ch'ing Yi-t'ung-chih 27: 5b, at the present place by the same name, in Honan.

12. Li Ch'i explains, "Mineral medicines of five colors, together with bronze [or copper] were used in making them," but Su Lin glosses, "Copper ore of five colors was used in melting [metal] for them." Yen Shih-ku adds that Li Ch'i is correct and that "It was like the process of making the present t'ou-shih 鍮石 [a gold-appearing copper-zinc alloy, made by smelting together two parts of copper with one part of smithsonite, the present `yellow copper']." Dr. Duyvendak remarks that the number five must refer to the five elements.

13. Wang Nien-sun says that this sentence originally read as it now is in T'ai-P'ing Yü-lan 486: 5a, i.e., with the word 則 after the 出 and the last clause reading 入則御旁. He says that people did not understand that 御 means "wait upon," so dropped out two words 則 and changed one word. Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 38: 6b and T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 765: 5a (with another difference, showing a poorer text) read as the text does here.

14. The Official and Southern Academy ed. emend 楊 to 揚.

15. A phrase from Book of History II, i, 20 (Legge, p. 44). This reference is to the events recorded on 99 B: 14b.

16. It is impossible to be sure about the translation of such brief and condensed expressions as these seal inscriptions. Wen Ying glosses, "Chih 社 [means] celestial favors and prosperity. `The hat is prepared and ready' [means that] he wished to succeed to [the imperial throne]." Ying Shao adds, " `In the summer to dwell in the Southern Mountains' [means] going to a shady and cool place. `To store up thin ice' also [means] thereby to avoid the heat."Stange (p. 216) translates, "O Glück, die Krone ruht auf mir. Im Sommer wohne im Nan-shan and ziehe mich nach Pao-ping zurück." He states that according to the commentary Pao-ping was the imperial summer residence. I have been unable to discover any evidence for this interpretation. Duyvendak understands, "[So long as] the Cap of Binding Celestial Blessings is preserved, [that is, so long as I possess it], [it is] already [like] living in the southern mountains and appreciating [even] thin ice." He explains, "That is, even as in extreme heat even thin ice is appreciated, so in this desperate enterprize even the mere possession of the imperial cap gives me courage." He takes wei 維, not as an exclamatory particle (as does Stange), but as meaning "to bind [the blessings] together," probably alluding to the wei-tou "the Great Bushel" [another name for the Northern Bushel constellation], which is an imperial emblem.I prefer however to take wei in its meaning of 以. Wen Ying does not interpret this word, so that he seems not to have thought it contained any substantial content and almost surely recognized it as an "empty" particle. The phrase "thin ice" comes from a famous line in Ode no. 196 (Legge, II, v, ii, 6, p. 335), and was commonly used to denote the way a true king should act, as if he were treading upon thin ice, i.e., carefully and circumspectly, from fear of Heaven. Then in the Southern Mountains, Wang Tsung was practising being emperor, by magically treading upon thin ice. This explanation however far from certain.

17. Ying Shao explains, "[Wang] Mang himself said that he had inherited descent from the Sage, Shun, and that he had been able to be respectful and to secure the Heavenly treasure, the tortoise, and thereby was set up [as emperor. Wang] Tsung wanted to be the successor to his line."Stange (p. 217) translates, "Wenn man ehrfürchtig gegen die Heiligkeit ist, werden die Kostbarkeiten [d.i. kostbare Schildkröte des Himmels] forterben." Duyvendak points out that the vague parallelism with the third seal inscription makes it necessary to take these four characters two by two. I have adopted his interpretation.

18. Su Lin explains, "[Wang] Tsung himself said that he would be enfeoffed [as emperor] thru his [magical?] virtue and so must advance to [this] glorious and brilliant [position] and receive the documents and registers of the empire."Stange (p. 217) translates, "Durch magische Wirkungskraft [mir] verliehenes strahlendes [d.i. kaiserliches] Siegel." Duyvendak interprets, "[Having the empire] conferred [upon me] by virtue, making glorious the Plans [reference to the zu-ko T'uT?]." I have followed Su Lin more closely.

19. A quotation from Kung-yang Commentary, Dk. Chuang, XXXII, vii, and Dk. Chao, I, i; 9: 5a and 22: 1b; in each of which cases it is applied to a person attempting to succeed to the throne by assassinating a ruler's son.

20. As a prospective Emperor, he had done away with his other personal name, just as Wang Mang had the Hun Shan-Yü, Lüan-ti Nan-chih-ya-szu change his personal name to Chih (99 A: 8b).

21. The Official ed. has emended 雀 to the more usual 鳥. But the Ching-yu ed. reads the former.The sentence in quotation marks is from Li-chi, I, i, v, 8 (Legge, I, 91; Couvreur, I, 55).Doffing the bonnet indicates resigning the office denoted by the bonnet.

22. Cf. HS 99 A: 2a.

23. Repeated search has failed to discover any listing of this book, either in the lists of books in the standard histories or the bibliography of the T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan. The Tsu-kung (lit. the Purple Palace) was the Chinese name for the circumpolar constellations, at the center of which was the Supreme One, the heavenly emperor. Tzu-ko T'u may then be translated, "The Plan of the Purple [Heavenly Imperial] Pavilion."

24. Wang Nien-sun says that after the 僊 there was originally the word 而, as it now is in the quotation of this passage in T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 16: 9b; and that this insertion improves the phrasing. (Repeated search has not discovered this passage in the Ch'u-hsueh Chi, contrary to what he says.)

25. The Mu T'ien-tzu Chuan (pos. iii cent.) 2: 1b (Cheng's trans. in JNChRAS., 64: [1933] 133) says, "On the lucky day hsin-yu, the Son of Heaven ascended a mount of K'un-lun [Mts.] and thereupon gazed upon the palace of the Yellow Lord."The Shan-hai Ching (prob. ii and i cent. B.C.) 2: 11a, locates the Yellow Lord Mt. Mi 峚. Shen Ch'in-han suggests that 處 is an error for Mi. T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 9b reads Ch'u 處.

26. Book of Changes, App. III, i, v, 28, 29, (Legge, p. 356).

27. Li Ch'i (fl. ca. 200) declares that these were "deerskin hats." Shuo-wen 10 A: 3b defines lin 麟 (usually translated `unicorn') as, "A large female deer." Lu Chi (261-303), in a note to Ode 11, "Lin-chih-chih," in Mao-shih Cheng-yi 1, iii: 7b (same as the shih-yin Mao-shih Chu-su), remarks, "At present, in the borders of Ping Province are lin, like deer in size, which are not the lin (unicorns) that are auspicious [from Heaven]." (From Shen Ch'in-han). Thus these caps were probably made of female deer skins from this later Ping Province; Wang Mang was probably glad to call them unicorn caps.

28. This "someone" might very likely have been Pan Chih, Pan Ku's grandfather, had been a high official and was living in retirement as a Gentleman at Emperor Ch'eng's tomb; cf. 100 A: 5b.The Official ed. emends 哀 (plaintive) to 衰 (enfeebling), seemingly without any authority.

29. Cf. Glossary sub Chiang-hu.

30. Fu Chien, in a note to 24 B: 26b, explains this phrase thus, "Hogs 豬 [also porcupines] by nature rush against men impetuously. Hence [Wang Mang] took them for a metaphor." Yen Shih-ku adds, "People in the eastern quarter [of the empire] called pigs 豕 hsi 豨. Another [explanation] is that hsi are pigs running."

31. HHS, Tr. 30: 15a, states that officials ranking at 400, 300, and 200 piculs yellow seal-cords. Cf. App. I, HS 24 B: 26b.

32. Yen Shih-ku, in a note to the parallel passage in 24 B: 26b, explains, "To means to promise that they will not die or be injured," i.e., to provide another animal case anything happened to these animals. Probably they also paid for rearing them.For these pastures, cf. HFHD, II 304, n. 2.8.

33. This is perhaps the earliest authentic account of human flight. He probably off from a height, so that a flight of several hundred yards was possible. B. Prehistory of Aviation, does not notice this incident.There were also other technical developments in Wang Mang's time; cf. the dissection in 99 B: 30b.

34. For 嘗, the Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed., and the Official ed. read 當, which I adopt.

35. According to HS 94 B: 21a = de Groot, Die Hunnen, p. 283, Hsü-pu Tang had been made Duke of Future Peace in A.D. 15, whereas he was made Shan-Yü after A.D. 18 (HS 94 B: 21b = de Groot ibid., 286), so that at this time only the Hun title was additionally conferred upon him.

36. On Kao Street was located the government lodge for barbarians, cf. 70: 10b and Glossary sub voce.

37. Wang Hsien-ch'ien suggests that 車 is probably a mistake for 軍. Chariots were then used only in military ceremonies; cavalry and footmen made up the army. Ch'u-ch'e is moreover the title of Book of Odes, #168; II, i, viii; Legge, p. 261, which ode is stated in the "Little Preface" (Legge, "Introduction," p. 64) to treat of "rewarding the returning troops," with the result that ch'u-ch'e has taken this meaning.

38. For 西 (west), the Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed., and the Official ed. read 四 (four); the former is not appropriate for an expedition against the Huns to the north.

39. A previous admonition by Chuang Yu, against the expedition planned in A.D. , showing how carefully Chinese generals planned matters, is to be found in 94 B: 19a, b = de Groot, Die Hunnen, 273-5.

40. The clauses in single quotation marks are a quotation from the Book of History II, I, v, 20 (Legge, p. 44); cf. also HFHD, II, 320, n. 8.3.

41. The Sung Ch'i ed. states that 詈 should be 駡, which suggestion looks very much like a "boner" on the part of an ignorant scholar, thus illustrating the spurious character of the Sung Ch'i ed. Cf. HFHD, P., "Editions of the History of the Former Han Dynasty."

42. The Sung Ch'i ed. notes that the Southern ed. (ca. x-xii cent.), instead of 鼓以, reads 數尺, "his pillow is several feet [high]," and that this reading is mistaken. In a to HHS, An. 1 A: 5a, Li Hsien (fl. 674-676) quotes this passage, reading as the text . (Reference from Ma Hsü-lun.)

43. The hint is conveyed in the man's name, which means literally, "Chü should not be a tyrant." Chü was the first word of Wang Mang's courtesy name and is used in Pan Ku's "Fu on Penetrating Obscurities" (100 A: 12a) to denote Wang Mang. Chin Shao , "The hint said, `It is not permitted to be a usurper and thief and become a tyrant!' "

44. Yen Shih-ku explains that "it means that the Mother of Culture sent this man to cause me to be a lord protector and king." Pa means both "tyrant" and "Lord Protector."

45. T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 78: 1a quotes Hsiang Chün's (fl. dur. 222-280) Shih-hsüeh Chi as saying, "When Heaven and Earth had been set up, there were twelve Heavenly Sovereigns 天皇, called T'ien-ling 天靈, who rule over 18,000 years. Because their virtue was wood, they ruled. ibid., 1b, quotes the same source, "The twelve Earthly Sovereigns 地皇 rule over 18,000 years." These two groups of gods seem to cover the 36,000 years referred to. (Reference from Su Yü.)

46. A famous phrase from Kuo-Yü 1: 4b, where the peoples' anger is directed against the tyrannous King Li, who was subsequently overthrown. In accordance with the "Ordinances for the Months," executions had previously been confined to the winter months.

47. The text reads "second month," but there was no jen-shen day in that month, and there seems to be no servicable emendation of the cyclical characters. Probably "two' was mistakenly written for "three," a common copyist's error.

48. Stange (p. 228) translates jih cheng 日正 as, "wurde die Sonne ganz (dunkel)." It might be, "At midday there was (a blackness)," to parallel jih-chung 中 below, which may be translated, "At midday (we saw a dusk)." While "midday" is the correct translation for jih-chung in the quotation from the Book of Changes, yet this line may have been used by Wang Mang without bothering about its exact meaning, just as from the Bible were frequently used as proof-texts with a quite different meaning from that in the original. Jih-chung furthermore need not necessarily mean "midday," cf. HS 27 Cb: 17b1, jih chung yang 央, "in the center of the sun." The important circumstance is the Pan Ku does not himself write jih chung , but jih cheng, and cheng "the center of a target." I conclude that Pan Ku writes exactly in his phrase jih cheng, meaning "the middle of the sun," and quotes Wang Mang as fitting to the situation a classical quotation by wresting it from its original meaning.A blackness at midday might be a solar eclipse, a heavy cloud, or a dust-storm. There was no eclipse at this time. Heavy clouds and dust-storms were so well-known that they would hardly have been considered "grievous vicissitudes." I cannot make the translations of Stange or the other one physically plausible. Large sun-spots are however visible to the naked eye at sunrise or sunset, when the sun's brilliance is dimmed. Such a sun-spot would cause as much consternation in ancient China as they did in Europe when Galileo first saw them. One had previously been noticed in 28 B.C. (HFHD II, 384, n. 5.6) and was called a "black emanation," like the present one.

49. A quotation from Book of Changes, Hex. 55, 3, with mei(s) 昧 instead of the mei(b) 沬 in the present text of that classic. Legge (p. 185) translates this sentence, "At midday he can see (the small) Mei star." But Cheng Hsüan, in his comment on the Book of Changes, gives the same interpretation of mei as that employed here.

50. I read po-ch'eng 北城 instead of the chao-Yü 兆域 in the text, at the suggestion of Liu Feng-shih (1041-1113). While chao-Yü ("Generalissimo of the Pomoerium for the Tumuli") is not impossible, as Stange points out (p. 228, n. 4), it is nevertheless unparalleled. Liu Feng-shih says it does not make sense. HS 99 C: 7a states that each Shepherd of a province was made a generalissimo. On 99 B: 28a, Lien Tan is said to have been General of the Southern City-wall [presumably of the imperial capital]. Since there was a Major (Szu-ma) in charge of each city-gate at Ch'ang-an (19 A: 22b), Wang Mang may well have considered that the dignity of the imperial capital required a generalissimo for each side of its city-wall.Liu Feng-shih points out that this Wang K'uang1d must have been a different from the Grand Master, Wang K'uang(1a), for Wang K'uang(1a) is always mentioned by highest title of Grand Master. This cannot also have been Wang K'uang1b, who later from obscurity in the Yangtze region, nor can it have been Wang K'uang(1c), a son of Wang Mang who was not publicly acknowledged or brought to the capital until A.D. 21 (99 C: 11b). It was most likely some other person by the same name.

51. Ts'ui Pao, in his Ku-chin-chu, ch. 1: A: 4b, states, "The Flowery Baldachin was created by the Yellow Lord. When he fought with Ch'ih-yu in the wastes of Cho-lu [a mountain located, according to the Ta-ch'ing Yi-t'ung Chih 39: 7a, southeast of the present Cho-lu, the Ch'ing dynasty's Pao-an, Chahar], a many-colored cloud emanation with golden branches and jade leaves constantly stopped above the Lord, having the likeness of the corolla to a flower. Hence he followed this pattern and created the Flowery Baldachin." This legendary account probably gives a description of the covering.Yen Shih-ku explains, "Hsi(1) 獻 is pronounced like hsi(2) 犧. It means the [constellation] K'uei of the [Northern] Bushel [the bowl of the Dipper, cf. 99 B: n. 21.1], together with [the constellation] Piao [the handle of the Dipper]. Its end is like a handle in shape." Here again the Bushel (cf. n. 2.4) is used as an imperial emblem and protection.

52. Stange (p. 229) makes the Yellow Lord the subject of this sentence, not Wang Mang. But sudden unannounced changes in the unexpressed subjects of verbs are by no means uncommon in Chinese. The Book of Changes was moreover not believed to have existed in the time of the Yellow Lord, so that he could not have been the subject of this sentence.

53. The Official ed. and the Southern Academy ed. write 侯 (marquis) for 候 (captain). The Ching-yu ed. reads the latter.

54. Book of Changes, III, ii, ii, 20 (Legge, p. 384). The passage says, "They bent wood by means of a string to make bows and sharpened sticks to make arrows; [this gave them] the benefit of bows and arrows, whereby they might [awe] the world by their majesty."

55. The Sung Ch'i ed. again "pulls a boner" in suggesting that 卒 should be emended to 率. Hereafter such notations will be neglected.

56. Yen Shih-ku points out that Wang Mang is alluding to the Book of History II, i, iii, 2 (Legge, p. 32), "[Shun] was received as the chief director [of the administration], and, amidst violent wind, thunder, and rain, he did not go astray." Cf. 99 A: n. 13.5.

57. For the pronunciation of 遷, cf. Glossary sub this title. This word and 僊 were interchanged. Li Tz'u-ming, 7: 16b, suggests that possibly the first word was always written in the HS and later changed to the second in most places but not all.

58. Yang 陽 is the opposite of "shadow," i.e., "light." Wang Mang renamed Lo-yang to be Yi-yang(b). Cf. also n. 11.5; Glossary sub this title.

59. Cf. HS 99 B: 23a. Wang Mang asserted he ruled by virtue of the element earth.

60. Han-chiu-yi B: 1b says, "The Empress and Favorite Beauties travel in imperial chariots; all others [of the harem] travel by being carried by four men holding up a mattress 以茵四人擧以行." Chin Shao quotes the above passage and remarks, "Could that have been the present sedan chair and it have been spread with a mattress?" Shih-ku replies that he is mistaken, "This [passage] says directly that he sat on top of mattress [or cushion] and had four men in pairs hold up the four corners of the mattress, and so traveled." Prof. Duyvendak suggests that this was some sort of a stretcher.

61. Chin Shao explains, "Keng yi shih 更衣中 means the name of the room (shih) and building to which one goes for changing one's robes at the time of court felicitations." Cf. also 97 A: 11b(4). The first two words of this phrase also mean "go to the toilet."Chou Shou-ch'ang suggests that the word (shih) 室 has dropped out at the end of this phrase; it is read in the comment and in the repetition of the phrase a few lines further on.

62. Hsin 心 was one of the names Wang Mang gave to his dynasty. The star in that constellation was moreover called the Heavenly King [Mh III, 343], so that portent meant that the Yin principle (the Moon, the principle of decay) was invading the Hsin dynasty's virtue. The moon passed within a degree of Antares in the early morning of Mar. 3, A.D. 20.

63. Referring here probably to the five powers, each of which was supposed to set up a dynasty.

64. Analects XIII, iii, 5, 6.

65. Book of History II, i, v, 20 (Legge, p. 44), again quoted.

66. Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 38: 12b emends 正 to 征 Yen Shih-ku interprets the phrase as meaning, "Fearful and not at peace." The subsequent quotation is from Analects XIII, iii, 6.

67. The Tu Tomb was that of Emperor Hsüan; cfGlossary. sub voce. For a similar incident, cf. 12: 3b.HHS, Tr. 30: 10b, says: "[The Gentlemen] As Rapid As Tigers and the all [wear] the dark yellow pheasant cap and tiger-striped unlined clothes. [The county of] Hsiang-yi yearly offers woven and completed tiger-striped [cloth]." Shen Ch'in- remarks that these garments were probably those used in the Emperor's funeral and had all been stored in the funerary chamber at his tomb.

68. Yellow was the color of earth, the power by virtue of which Wang Mang asserted he ruled; red was the color of fire, the power of the Han dynasty. He was earth (the Hsin dynasty's virtue) and degrading fire (the Han dynasty's virtue). Yellow was then used for the robes of higher officials and red for those of lower rank.

69. Cf. 99 B: n. 21.2.

70. These two sentences are in imitation of Book of History, V, xiii, 3 (Legge, p. 436f), where the Duke of Chou reports the divination concerning the location of the city he built, Lo. For the locations herein mentioned, cf. Glossary sub vocibus.Legge (op. cit.) follows the K'ung An-kuo interpretation of the shih in the foregoing passage; for shih Wang Mang uses the phrase Yü-shih 玉食, and Yen Shih-ku adopts the aforesaid interpretation in his comment to the present passage, stating that it means that the ink, smeared on the back of the tortoise-shell used in divination, was dried up by the heat, which was a favorable prognostication.K'ung Ying-ta, in a note to the Mao-shih Chu-su 4, i: 1b, quotes a gloss by Cheng Hsüan (127-200), to the above-mentioned passage of the Book of History, in which the latter paraphrases and explains this passage as follows: "On [the day] yi-mao, I, [the Duke of Chou], arrived at the [future] capital at the city of Lo and looked at the places which the Duke of Shao [had determined upon as a result of] divination by the tortoise-shell. They are all able to be permanent homes for the common people and will make them devote themselves to cultivating the fields, from which [they and the ruler may secure] food (shih)." The last sentence is Cheng Hsüan's paraphrase of the word shih in the text of the Book of History, hence he did not connect it with "ink" but with food.Chou-li 24: 13a (Biot, II, 79) sub the Chan-jen, says moreover, "Whenever [the Chan-jen] divines by the tortoise or by the stalks: for the prince, he divines by the form; for a grandee, he divines by the color; for a [low] official, he divines by the ink [Cheng Hsüan says that "ink 墨" means the width of the cracks in the tortoise-shell]; and when divines by the tortoise for [ordinary] persons, he divines by the cracks." Thus divination by "ink" was only for common officials, and would not be employed by an emperor such as Wang Mang.The phrase Yü-shih moreover occurs in the Book of History V, iv, 18. Legge (p. ) translates it "the revenues of the empire." Ma Jung (79-166) in a note to the quotation of that passage in SC 38: 15, declares, "Yü-shih is fine food 美食," and Cheng Hsüan adds, "Yü-shih is all [composed of] unusual delicacies 備珍美也." In the Shang-shu Chu-su 12: 9a, K'ung Ying-ta (574-648) quotes what were probably ancient notes to this passage of the HS, which Yen Shih-ku (581-645), a contemporary of his, omitted from his edition, because he disagreed with these interpretations: "Chang Yen [prob. iii cent.], in a note to the HS, says, `Yü-shih is unusual dainties 珍食.' Wei Chao [197-273] says, `The nobles have nothing but unusually fine food.' " Sun Hsing-yen (1743-1818) in his Shang-shu Ku-chin-wen Chu-su, in "Huang-ch'ing Ching-chieh" 752: 5a, concludes, "Yü-shih is as if it said good food 好食 . . . . Whenever in the Classics it says a woman or a color, the meaning is always that it is good 好." Hence Yü-shih denoted primarily the fine food of a prince, and secondarily land that was fit to produce such food. Cf. also Shang-shu Ku-chin-wen Chu-su, "Huang-ch'ing Ching-chieh" 759: 2a, b.

71. For 新, the Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed. and the Official ed. read 親.

72. The meaning of t'i-feng 提封 has been debated. The first word of this phrase also written 隄 and 堤. In a note to HS 23: 3a, Su Lin asserts that t'i is pronounced the same as ti(b) 秪 (the Ching-yu and the Official ed. read ch'i 祗 for ti(b) throughout) and "the people of the Ch'en-liu [Commandery] say that all its fields are its ti(b) 擧田為祗 ." Li Ch'i declares, "T'i is chü 擧, to chü all within four boundaries (feng) 擧四封之内." Yen Shih-ku adds that Li Ch'i is correct and Su Lin's pronunciation is erroneous. But Wang Nien-sun states that all the preceding explanations are mistaken, for the Kuang-ya(by Chang Yi, fl. dur. 227-232) asserts that t'i-feng is tu-fan 都凡, which Wang declares is like the present 大凡, "generally," and is merely another phrase with about the same pronunciation. Cf. also the discussion in the Tz'u-t'ung, I, 1104.But "generally" does not appear to express the full meaning of the phrase t'i-feng, for this phrase is invariably used referring to some area of land, which fact is excellently illustrated by Wang Nien-sun's examples. For t'i-feng, Karlgren, Grammata Serica, nos. 866n and 1197i, moreover gives the archaic and T'ang pronunciations d'ieg or tieg-piung and d'iei- or tiei-piwong, respectively, and for tu-fan, ibid., 45e and 625a), to-b'iwăm and tuo-biwom, respectively, so that the two phrases had different pronunciations. T'i-feng has moreover something to do with acreage. Cf. HS 23: 4a; 24 A: 7a; 65: 7a; HHS, Mem. 30 A: 11a.The crucial passage is HS 28 B ii: 49a, b, where the census totals of China are given, "The land is 9302 li [Han-chi (ii cent.) 30: 25a, reads 19,302 li] from east to west and 13,368 li from south to north, with a t'i-feng t'ien 田 of 145,136,405 ch'ing, of which 102,528,889 ch'ing are towns, dwellings, highways, roads, mountains, streams, forests, and marshes, all of which cannot be cultivated, and 32,290,947 ch'ing are cultivatable [but] not cultivated [omitting the second 可], and definitely cultivated t'ien of 8,270,536 ch'ing [Han-chi ibid., reads 8,270,567 ch'ing]." (Of the total, 2,026,023 ch'ing are omitted from the itemization.) In this passage, t'i-feng t'ien must mean "total acreage." In a note to Pan Ku's "Fu on the Western Capital" in Wen-hsüan (Szu-pu Ts'ung-k'an ed.) 1: 10a, Fu Tsan is moreover quoted as follows: "In my opinion, an old explanation says, `T'i is "to pick it all up." It means, "A grand total of its acreage" 提撮凡也言大擧頃畝也.' " Hence I have translated t'i-feng as "total acreage."

73. A second 中 has probably dropped out after the first one, since the full title requires it.

74. A reminiscence of Hsiao Ho's remark in HS 1 B: 12b (HFHD, I, 118).

75. Wang-(fa) 望 (法) is a term frequently employed in the Chou-pi Suan-ching (ii cent. B.C. to i cent. A.D.) and refers to the method of calculating heights by geometrical means. Cf. op. cit. A: 17b. (Biot, in Jour. Asiat., 1841, p. 601, translates wang as mesurer.)

76. 駱驛 and 絡繹 were interchanged; Yen Shih-ku explains the latter phrase. Cf. Tz'u-t'ung, II, 2614.

77. The "Kuang-han Wei Ts'ung-shu" and the "Lung-hsi Ching-han Tsung-shu" ed. of the San-fu Huang-t'u 5: 8b and 5: 6b respectively, in discussing the imperial temples, in quoting this passage, write ch'üan 犬 instead of ta 大. The "Szu-pu Ts'ung-k'an" anastatic reprint of a Yüan ed., 5: 6b and the 1792 "Han-Wei Ts'ung-shu" ed., 5: 7b, however read ta. The "Szu-pu Ts'ung-k'an" ed., 3: 6b moreover mentions a Ch'üan-t'ai Palace in the Shang-lin Park. This Palace is also mentioned in HS 45: 11b. Ta is here an error for ch'üan.

78. Shuo-wen 6 A: 5a defines 樓 as a ch'ung-wu 重屋 (a storeyed building). Chou-li 41: 15b, quoting the K'ao-kung Chi (Biot, II, 559) says, "The Yin dynasty had a ch'ung-wu" and Cheng Hsüan glosses, "The ch'ung-wu was the main hall 堂 of the King's Palace, like the Great [Imperial] Apartments. . . . Ch'ung-wu is a double [set of] rafters 複笮." Ancient Chinese important buildings seem generally to have had more than one story.

79. Yen Shih-ku explains, "Po-lu 薄櫨 are the brackets 枅 on top of pillars, [on which cross-pieces the beams are supported]."

80. Wang Nien-sun suggests emending tai 帶 to hsi 席. In HS 36: 25b(11) and 45: 3a(7), where the word hsi is used, Yen Shih-ku each time interprets hsi by "yin 因; it is as if one sat upon a mat (hsi)." In his interpretation of the present passage, he likewise interprets this tai by yin, so that his text of this passage must have read hsi. Wang Nien-sun remarks that in the li style, hsi is sometimes written ###, which is vulgarly written 廗 (Yen t'ieh Lun, 9: 7b6, ch. 52, writes it thus): by omission of the radical, tai was written.

81. Cf. HS 99 C: 6b.

82. Tz'u-t'ung, II, 1729, asserts that here ma 麻 is cursive for 糜. It then means "bubbling up like rice-gruel." From this passage, ma-fei has now become a set phrase.

83. "Currency spade-money 貨布" and "Currency cash 貨泉" were the names of Wang Mang's third coinage. Cf. App. I, HS 24 B: 26a.

84. The Sung Ch'i ed. states that the Shun-hua ed. (994-997) and the Ching ed. (probably the Ching-te Chien ed., 1004-1005) have the word 官 after the 入. The Ching-yu ed. does not have it and Chou Shou-ch'ang declares that this word should not be inserted.HS 24 B: 26a (q.v. in App. I) dates this order in 14 A.D., and adds that by the sixth year after, the people should not be any more allowed to possess the former large cash. In this "Memoir", Pan Ku is hence recording this order for the change in the currency on the date when the old currency was finally outlawed, rather than on the date when the new currency was authorized. Penalties for counterfeiting were at the same time lightened.

85. Yen Shih-ku says, "A chariot with stakes 柴車is a wattled chariot 棧車 [used by common soldiers]." It was despized by aristocrats and literati; Han-shih Wai-chuan 10: 9a, par. 11, says, "Coarse food and bad meat may be eaten; a jade for a horse and chariot with stakes may be ridden."Hu San-hsing adds, "While the Han dynasty flourished, those who rode on mares were prohibited and not allowed to gather together. If in the villages and lanes there was the same [custom, what was true about] the court and market-places can accordingly be inferred. [T'ang] Tsun belonged to the highest class of the highest ministers, yet he [a chariot drawn by] mares, which was in order to correct [the modernistic customs of] age." Cf. HS 24 A: 15b = Mh III, 545, and n. 4.This tabu on riding mares is probably connected with the very ancient Chinese that the mare was closely connected with the gods of the soils (shê). Book of Changes, App. I, ii, 3 (Legge, p. 214) says, "The mare is like the earth." Erkes (in T'oung Pao [1940], 58) argues that the Chinese Earth-goddess originally had the shape of a mare.

86. Li Tz'u-ming, op. cit. 7: 16b, suggests that li(1) 歴 should be li(2) ###. Where passage is repeated in HS 72: 25a, b, Fu Ch'ien explains li(1) as "earthenware dishes."

87. Ochre-red was the color of clothes used for condemned criminals. Yen explains that he soaked a strip of cloth with ochre-red liquid; cf. HFHD, II, 123-5.

88. A phrase from Analects IV, xvii, `When we see men of worth, we should think equalling them."

89. According to HS 28 Ai: 33b, Chung-shui District was in Mei-yang County. But the text of ch. 99 reads "Chung-shui District of Wu-kung." There were reasons that Wu-kung should have been enlarged. It bordered upon Mei-yang; in A.D. 6 it had produced a white stone portent, advising Wang Mang to take the throne. It had consequently been made the private estate of Wang Mang, and its name was changed to Han-kuang (the Han [dynasty's] brilliance); cf. 99 A: 26a. Under such circumstances it would naturally have been enlarged. Wang Mang later changed its name to Hsin-kuang (the Hsin [Dynasty's] brilliance), but probably kept the enlarged boundaries. Pan Ku is naming it, not by its name at the time of this incident, but, for clearness' sake, by its previous (and later) name.

90. Cf. 99 B: 24a.

91. Chou Shou-ch'ang points out that wei 為 here has the meaning of 治, and parallel passages from HHS, Mem. 32: 18b(8) and 33: 16b(9).

92. Chou Shou-ch'ang explains that in Han times the garments of those who did not have official position were called po-yi 白衣 (plain clothes), which phrase is found in HHS, Mem. 42: 10a(11). He states that Wang Lin(1a) was delighted because he thought "plain clothes" meant mourning clothes, i.e., mourning for Wang Mang, not knowing that it really meant that the common people would congregate in the palaces, an of the turmoil when Wang Mang would be defeated. Chin-shu, 12: 3a, declares that there is a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus, or of Saturn and Venus, there will be a meeting of people in plain clothes. There was a conjunction of Saturn and Venus on the evening of Feb. 13, A.D. 21.

93. Li Ch'i glosses, "Chung-shih 中室 [refers to Wang] Lin(1a)'s mother." Yen declares he is mistaken, but Chou Shou-ch'ang replies that Li Ch'i is correct, saying that in Wang Mang's time the female members of the imperial family were called shih instead of kung 宮 as previously. Before the time of Wang Mang, the Empress was called the Inner Palace (chung-kung; cf. Glossary, sub voce); here she is called the chung-shih, which has the same meaning as the former chung-kung.

94. Shuo-wen 8 A: 9b, sub jung 褮, defines it as "ghost garments (kuei-yi 鬼衣)"; Yü-p'ien 28: 3a (by Ku Yeh-wang, 519-581) defines hsüeh 袕 as ghost garments (kuei-yi)." (Shen Ch'in-han declares that kuei should probably be hun 魂, the word in the text here.) Chou-li 21: 9a, sub the Szu-fu (Biot, II, 12) states that at a grand mourning ceremony [for kings], the Szu-fu provides "the garments for making offerings 奠衣服," and Cheng Hsüan glosses, "The garments for making offerings are the present ghost garments (hun-yi), [which are put] upon the seat [prepared for the ghost of the deceased when sacrifices are made to him]. ibid. 21: 9b, 10a, sub the Shou-t'iao, (Biot, II, 14) says, "Those garments that remain are stored away. When they are about to offer sacrifices, for each [ancestor], his garments are given to the representative of the deceased." Cheng Hsüan glosses, "The garments that remain are those left over from the final enshrouding [of the deceased]." Thus the "ghost garments" were those used for enshrouding the corpses of kings, together with those remaining over after the enshrouding, which were preserved and later used by the representatives of the deceased at sacrifices made to him. (References from Shen Ch'in-han.)

95. The ts'e-shu 策書 was a special imperial document used at the appointment and death of vassal kings and the three highest ministers and at the dismissal of highest ministers for crime. At the death of vassal kings or of highest ministers in office, such a document contained a funeral eulogy and granted them a posthumous name. Special stationary, composed of tablets alternately two feet long (18 in. Eng. meas.) and one foot long, were used. (From Ts'ai Yung's Tu-tuan, quoted by E. Chavannes in "Les chinois avant le papier," Journal Asiatique, ser. X, vol. 5, 1905, pp. 24-25). Ying Shao, in a note translated on HFHD I, 318, n. 5.7, also mentions these documents. In that note I mistakenly followed Ch'ien Ta-hsin in denying the meaning of "funeral eulogy" to ts'e. It means "charter of appointment," "funeral eulogy," or "dismissal notice." The inclusion of the highest ministers with the vassal kings is probably a Later practise. It is not mentioned in HS 5: 5b, 6a.

96. A reference to Tso-chuan, Dk. Wen, IV, (Legge, p. 23814, 239b) "The Son of being the sun (yang)." This phrase probably explains the meaning of yang in the peculiar title given Wang Lin(1a); yang = t'ai-yang = the sun = the emperor.

97. Cf. 99 A: 3b.

98. A quotation from Book of History V, xxi, 1 (Legge, p. 535). In Han times, the term frequently used for a younger sister was nü-ti 女弟, so that ti could stand for both brothers and sisters.

99. The first 公 should be 功, to accord with the name of this dukedom.

100. Wang Mang's wife, his sons, Lin(la) and An(la), and Wang Shou.

101. The Official ed. correctly emends 者 to 音.Li 李 had the archaic and the T'ang pronunciations *liƏg, lji, while chih 徵 had the pronunciations *tƏig, ti; cf. Karlgren, Grammata Serica, #980a, 891a. Chih was the name of the fourth musical note. The Feng-su-t'ung (by Ying Shao, ca. 140-206), 6: , says, "I have carefully examined that Liu Hsinla's Book of Bells and Musical Pipes 鐘律書 [says], `Chih is a blessing (chih 祉). When things become large and numerous, it is a blessing (chih). [Among] the five powers or elements, [chih] is [equated with] fire; [among] the five social usages, it is [equated with] the rules of proper conduct (li); [and among] the five actions it is [equated with] looking. As a whole it is concerned "with [state] affairs." ' " The last phrase is a quotation from Li-chi XVII, I, 5 (Legge, II, 94; Couvreur, II, 48).

102. Cf. p. 364."Three capital commanderies" is here an anachronism, for Wang Mang established six such commanderies. But this was a set phrase for the region about Ch'ang-an and probably continued to be used, in spite of the change in their number.

103. A quotation from Analects XI, xvi, 2.

104. Shuo-wen, 14 A: 4a, says, "A lang-tang 鋃鐺 is a so (chain or lock) 鎖." Yes Shih ku says it is "a long chain (so)." But Wang Nien-sun points out that the lang-tang is here used as a verb. He thinks the so should be omitted, but Wang Hsien-ch'ien replies that the so is necessary. T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 644: 5a quotes this passage with the so; the Liu-tieh, the part by Po Chü-yi (772-846), 45: 22b, quotes it without the so. Where this passage is repeated in HS 24 B: 26b, so is used without the lang-tang. commonly wore iron collars in token of servitude. Cf. HFHD, I, 122, and n. 3. convicts were chained to the prison carts they dragged.

105. Chou Shou-ch'ang remarks that the Sung editions read hsi(1) for hsi(2) . The Official ed. 99 C: 12a accordingly reads hsi(1). But the Ching-yu ed. (1035), p. 15a, the HSP'ing-lin, (1581) p. 15a, the Chi-ku-ko ed. (1642), p. 9b, and HS 99 C: 4b all write hsi(2).

106. This prophecy seems to have become widespread; it is mentioned in HHS, An. 1 A: 2b(5.6) and Mem. 5: 1b(1).

107. Possibly they suspected that Kua-t'ien Yi had been done to death.

108. A phrase from Book of Odes, I, i, 1 (Legge p. 1).

109. These bronze statues had been cast in 221 B.C. by the First Emperor of the Dynasty; the inscription was his. In Han times they were set at the gate of the Ch'ang- Palace. For an account of these statues and their history, cf. Mh II, 134, n. 1. Shiratori, in Memoirs of the Toyo Bunko, no. 5 (1930), pp. 39-44, also has an account them, which must however be used with caution.

110. Probably because of the incident of the mad woman recounted in 99 B: . (Suggested by Chou Shou-ch'ang.)

111. The last clause is chiastic. The peach is supposed to have the property of expelling demons. Ochre-red is the color of condemned criminals' clothes. On the apotropaic use of peach-wood and its extract, cf. App. III, ad finem.

112. Wang Hsien-ch'en declares that chung 中 and po 北 have been interchanged here. Yen Shih-ku's note speaks of the "Northern Army." HS 19 A: 22b says that the Colonel of the Capital Encampment (Chung-lei Hsiao-wei 中壘校尉) had charge of the gates and the walls of the Northern Army's [Po-chün (軍) lei] encampment; cf. Glossary. sub voce. But this same phrase Chung-chün po-lei appears again on 99 C: 19a, where it can hardly be interpreted as referring to the Colonel of the Capital Encampment; it is quite possible that Wang Mang changed the name of the Northern Army to the Northern Encampment of the Capital Army, a quite logical name, and Yen Shih-ku refers to it by its previous , the Northern Army. This interpretation is confirmed by the phrase "the Capital Army Chung-chün" in 99 C: 23a. The term "Northern Army" is however used on 99 C: ; but that may merely be an anachronism. I do not therefore emend the text.

113. Fu Ch'ien explains, "The baldachin was 80 feet tall and on the shaft all [nine covers] pivot hinges, so that they could be raised and lowered, bent and straightened." Evidently it was an umbrella-like arrangement. Yen Shih-ku adds, "It says that the was hidden and from outside people could not see it." Bishop White mentions umbrella-like canopy top in the Han tombs at Lo-yang. Cf. his Tombs of Old Lo-yang, p. 37. Such umbrella tops are pictured on Han chariots in the Han grave sculptures.

114. Wang Nien-sun declares that the word 赤 has dropped out before the 幘, making it read, "Red turbans." T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan, 772: 9a, quoting this passage, says, "Wang Mang invented a chariot with four wheels drawn by 6 horses and 300 strong men with yellow garments and red turbans and yokes," and the HHS, Tr. 30: 11b, says, "Military officers regularly [wear] red turbans to make them awe-inspiring." Chu Yi-hsin (18461894) replies, "[Wang] Mang despised the Han [dynasty's] practises; I fear that he did not use red turbans. The [T'ai-p'ing] Yü-lan is insufficient evidence [for Wang Mang's usages]. The HHS Treatises moreover [contain] the Han dynasty's ." Nevertheless Wang Mang continued the use of red for his Gentlemen and retinue (99 C: 8b), so that the T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan's quotation is probably correct.

115. In a note to Chou-li 15: 12a (Biot, I, 349, n. 4), sub the Sui-shih, Cheng Hsüan says, "The funeral cart . . . has four wheels. It hugs the ground when it moves," and Kung-yen adds, "It is a cart with solid wheels [used as a hearse], which has two that pass through four wheels." Shen Ch'in-han explains, "This [carriage of Wang Mang's] also had four wheels, hence they said it was like a funeral cart."The magical means Wang Mang used to make himself an immortal are recounted is HS 25 B: 22b-23b.

116. Fu Ch'ien (ca. 125-195) glosses, "The Classic on the [Wei-ch'i] Playing Blocks(po-yi-ching 博弈經), which used eight sticks to throw." The present text reads ching-po, but Wang Nien-sun infers from the above gloss that Fu Ch'ien's text read po-ching, and suggests emending accordingly. Then the word yi was probably an interpolation in the gloss. Po-yi is mentioned in Analects XVII, xxii, whence this interpolation have come.Po (translated, "playing blocks") was an ancient game analogous to dice. Six sticks and twelve blocks were employed, half of them by each player. This variety of the seems to have used eight blocks. The classical accounts of this game (which is not clearly understood) are to be found in the notes to HS 64 A: 14a and HHS, Mem. 24: 9b. The Roman astragalen seems to have been a similar game; cf. H. Blümner, Die Romischen Privataltertümer, "Handbuch d. Klassische Altertums-Wissenschaft," 4 Bd., 2 Abteil, 2. Teil, 1911, pp. 412-419.

117. A quotation from Analects XI, xxiv, 2.

118. HS 27 Ba: 2b, 3a seems to explain this charge when it says that, concerning the doctrine of the five powers or elements, Hsia-hou Shih-ch'ang transmitted his explanation to Hsia-hou Sheng, he to Hsü Shang, and on to Liu Hsiang(4), whose account was similar to that of his predecessors; but Liu Hsin(1a)'s account was different. Thus Liu Hsin(1a) had changed the traditional explanation of portents, probably to favor Wang Mang, and is here criticized for having done so. An example of his interpretation is quoted in HS 27 Ba: 3b (trans. in W. Eberhard, Beiträge z. kosmolg. Spekulation Chinas, p. 22, par. 2) where it is declared to be incorrect.

119. The Southern Academy ed. and the Official ed. p. 13b change 熟 to 孰 to conform to the usual writing of this word in the HS. The Ching-yu ed. however reads the former.

120. This paragraph is very likely taken from the report of the Officer of the Commander-in-chief; cf. next paragraph.

121. Here Wang Mang is giving his own etymology for li 吏 (*liƏg, lji, Karlgren, Gram. Ser. #975g) by a pun with li 理 (also *li#g, lji ibid., #978d).

122. Cf. 99B: n. 23.1.

123. Cf. HFHD I, 245, and n. 2.

124. This passage is probably a quotation from Wang Mang's decree. For this crime, ef. HFHD, II, 392, n. 7.11.

125. Hu San-hsing explains that by "divisional officials" were meant the officials of a commandery division who were in charge of bandits, such as the commandery Department Head for Bandits, the county Commandant, and the Chiefs of Districts and Communes.

126. Tu-tsê 督責, "supervising [the acts of one's subordinates] and punishing [their delinquencies]" was a technical term from the Legalist School; cf. D. Bodde, China's First Unifier, p. 38 and n. 3, 205-6. While I agree with his interpretation, I prefer "punishing" instead of "holding responsible" as a translation of tsê. Szu-ma Cheng, in a note to SC 87: 28, interpets tsê as 責之以刑罰", punishing them by the [statutory] punishments."

127. For a description of the grand carriage of state, cf. HHS, Tr. 29: 11a-12b.

128. A line from Book of Odes #177, (Legge, II, iii, iii, 4, p. 283.)

129. The text reads "second month," but this date may be mistaken, for in that month there were no days such as those mentioned in the edict, according to the calendars of P. Hoang and Ch'en Yüan. Such days occurred only in the first and third months. Han-chi 30: 18b dates this fire in the intercalary [second?] month, but Hoang and Ch'en have no intercalary month in this year. The mention of the vernal equinox fixes the fire in March, but March 30 (julian) is much too late for the equinox (cf. n. 16.6). Possibly there was an intercalary second month in this year, instead of the preceding year, as Huang and Ch'en have it.

130. According to Liu Hsiang's theory of the succession of the five powers, by virtue of which successive dynasties ruled, between the period dominated by the powers wood (T'ai-hao, K'u, the Chou dynasty) and fire (Shen-nung, Yao, the Han dynasty), there was an intercalary period, during which there were disorderly rulers (Kung-kung, Chih, the Ch'in rulers); cf. n. 24.1; Ku Chieh-kang, Ku-shih-pien V, 452, diagram B.

131. Shui-ching-chu 19: 16b states that the Pa River "was anciently called the Tzu 滋 River. When Duke Mu of Ch'in [ruled 659-621 B.C.] was the Lord Protector (Pa), he changed the name of the Tzu River to be the Pa River, in order to exhibit his glory as a Lord Protector."

132. The text reads "second month," but this date may be mistaken, for in that month there were no days such as those mentioned in the edict, according to the calendars of P. Hoang and Ch'en Yüan. Such days occurred only in the first and third months. Han-chi 30: 18b dates this fire in the intercalary [second?] month, but Hoang and Ch'en have no intercalary month in this year. The mention of the vernal equinox fixes the fire in March, but March 30 (julian) is much too late for the equinox (cf. n. 16.6). Possibly there was an intercalary second month in this year, instead of the preceding year, as Huang and Ch'en have it.

133. The vernal equinox occurred at Ch'ang-an in the evening of March 22 (julian), eight days before this date. Wang Mang's astronomers would hardly be so much in error about such an event; Wang Mang probably post-dated the equinox for the sake of giving a favorable interpretation to the fire.

134. Prof. Duyvendak points out that "benevolence 仁" here is opposed to "pa (tyrannical)" in the preceding paragraph.

135. The Official ed. has emended 止 to 上; the other editions read the former. It may be a mistake for 裳.

136. T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 328: 7a quotes the Liu-t'ao (iv or v cent. B.C.; this passage is not in the present Liu-t'ao, but is quoted in its appendix of fragments, p. 15b) as saying, "When rain dampens their clothes, it means they will be favored [lit. wetted 潤] weapons; when it does not dampen them, it means that it weeps silently for the weapons. ibid. 11: 1b, 2a quotes Ts'ao Ts'ao's (155-220) Ping-shu Chi-yao as saying, "When a Generalissimo marches and the rain wets his clothes and bonnet, this means that he will spatter his weapons [with the enemy's blood] and that his army will secure felicitations. . . . If when a Generalissimo first marches, it rains but lightly, not dampening his clothes or bonnet, this means that Heaven weeps silently and that this general will have a great misfortune and his soldiers will be defeated and lost."Shen Ch'in-han accordingly remarks that the prognostications in this "Memoir" are different from those in the books on military affairs.

137. Wang Hsien-ch'ien suggests that the words "Lien Tan" should be transferred to come after the word hou (Marquis). According to 99 B: 29a, the General of a Peaceful Beginning (which title had been changed to General of a New Beginning, cf. 99 C: 4b) was in charge of the western provinces, not the east. The subject of the phrase "to and control the region of which he is in charge" must be "the Grand Master," who was in charge of the east (99 B: 2b, 29a). As a matter of fact, both these officials went this expedition (99 C: 17b). I accordingly transfer these two words, as does (p. 259).

138. In a note to HS 24 A: 21b, Fu Ch'ien says, "They boiled the fruits of trees. Someone says it was something like the present thistle cakes 餌朮." Ju Shun adds, "They made something like an almond drink (hsing-lo 杏酪)." Yen Shih-ku approves Ju Shun's interpretation. Chou Shou-ch'ang however objects that these things are scarce, and adds, "It was probably like in the present famine years when the common people cut up [the leaves and bark] of elm trees and made a gruel and take the juice of millet stalks to make soup, etc."Prof. Duyvendak has called my attention to the importance of this passage for the meaning of lo 酪, mentioning the occidental literature. Karlgren (Philology and Ancient China, p. 138) states that lo had the archaic pronunciation glak, which he uses as evidence for an ancient Turkish (Hunnish) stem, arak- or rak-, denoting kumyss or its forerunner, an alcoholic drink made of fermented milk, for which stem there is also good evidence in many modern Turkish dialects. Karlgren derives the English word "arrack," the Japanese sake, and cognate words in other languages from this stem word. (Cf. also his discussion of lo in Deutsche Literaturzeitung, 47 [1926], 1960-1962.)The relationship of this ancient Turkish stem rak- to the Chinese archaic glak, the present lo, is however not one of simple derivation, as Karlgren recognizes. The word lo was used by the Chinese with a more generalized meaning, seemingly before they became acquainted with kumyss. In ancient China, lo denoted three different kinds of drinks:First, Li-chi VII, i, 9; XVIII, ii, ii, 38; and XXI, ii, 5 (Legge, I, 369; II, 160, 222 [he twice mistranslates lo as "cream"]; Couvreur, I, 504; II, 176, 293; Karlgren admits the first of these chapters as written in the iv cent. B.C.) uses lo to denote some kind of a sour cereal drink, possibly a sour alcoholic drink or a vinegar (Karlgren, Grammata Serica, 766 p., defines it as "A kind of acid soy made of rice or millet," which statement may however be merely an over-literal translation of one Chinese glossator's description of a sour liquor). Lo is used with li 醴, in the phrase li-lo, which phrase is most naturally interpreted as "sweet and sour liquors." The aforesaid is the most ancient literary use of the word lo, and was its original meaning in Chinese literature.Secondly, the word undoubtedly denoted kumyss or some similar drink. Karlgren states that lo came to be used with this meaning because of the similarity in its ancient pronunciation and its first meaning with the ancient Turkish word from the stem rak- (archaic Chinese had no initial r- with the ending -ak). In 104 B.C., Emperor Wu established the office of Mare Milker (T'ung-ma 挏馬; HS 19 A: 13a), whose function, according to Ying Shao and Ju Shun, was to prepare a kind of kumyss. Shuo-wen 12 A: 6a, sub t'ung, defines it as "擁引" (lit. "grab and pull," easily understood as an attempt, in a language unfamiliar with herdsmen's vocabulary, to express the notion, "to milk"), and adds, "The Han [dynasty] had the office of Mare Milker, who made ma-chiu (馬酒, kumyss)." Possibly kumyss was introduced to the Chinese in the time of Emperor Wu, when intercourse with the Huns became more frequent. HS 22: 36b moreover quotes a memorial by K'ung Kuang and Ho Wu, dated 7 B.C., which mentions "seventy-two apprentices who furnish the Grand Provisioner with kumyss (t'ung-ma-chiu)," of whom seventy were dismissed (probably because kumyss was not a classical drink). This beverage, according to the glossators, was anciently made from goat's and cow's milk as well as mare's milk. The Shuo-wen does not list the word lo; it is however found in Shih-ming 4: 6b, ch. 13 (by Liu Hsi, ca. 200 A.D.), where it is interpreted as . The word lo is used with this meaning in the lament of Liu Hsi-chün, the Chinese Princess who became the Wu-sun Queen (in HS 96 B: 4a; written between 110 and 104 B.C.) and in Li Ling's letter to Su Wu (in Wen-hsüan 41: 2a = G. Margoulies, Le Kou-wen chinois , p. 94; possibly written 81 or 80 B.C.; but its authenticity is debated).There are various ancient Chinese names for this beverage: in addition to lo, ma-lo, ma-chiu, and t'ung-ma-chiu, there are ju 乳 -lo, lo-su 酥, and ti-hu (此字為"食"旁“氐“)餬 or (此字為“酉“旁“氐")醐(the last two names are found in a quotation from the T'ung-su-wen [by Fu Ch'ien, ca. 125-195] in TPYL 858: 1a [which chapter deals largely with kumyss and contains interesting quotations]). Of these names, the last, ti-hu (for which Karlgren, Gram. Ser., 590e and 49l, gives the archaic pronunciation tiƏr-g'o), seems a purely phonetic reproduction of a foreign name, for its component words in this phrase are otherwise meangingless.Thirdly, lo was used to denote a drink made from fruits, etc., such as the " drink (hsing-lo)" mentioned by Ju Shun in his gloss to the HS passage, and to denote gruel made from bark recommended by Wang Mang. On the above meanings, cf. the Tz'u-hai, sub lo. The P'ei-wen Yün-fu, sub lo and the other phrases mentioned here, contains many interesting quotations.lo was originally the name of a sour fermented liquor; when the Chinese came to know kumyss (which the glossators mention specifically as being sour), the Chinese naturally applied the native word for a sour fermented liquor to it, calling it lo. They likewise called other similar fermented beverages, such as those made from apricots and from bark, etc. lo. Whether this ancient word, glak, can be used as evidence for an ancient word with a similar pronunciation, is however not by any means sure, since there was anciently a quite different word meaning kumyss, tiƏr-g'o, which seems more likely to have been the phonetic reproduction of its foreign name. There is however also the possibility that the Chinese took their word for sour liquor, glak, from the ancient name for kumyss, but that hypothesis would push the Chinese knowledge of kumyss much farther back than the literary evidence carries us. (Cf. also A. Conrady, "Alte westöstliche Kulturwörter," in Berichte ü. d. Verhandl. d. Sächs. Akad. d. Wiss. zu Leipzig, Phil.-hist. Kl., v. 77 (1925), H. 3, pp. 9-10; W. Eberhard, "Çin de kimiz ve yoğurdum (Ueber die Herstellung von Kumys in China)" in Ülkü, Nov. 1940 [in Turkish].)

139. Meng K'ang states that this is "the name of [a year-period in] the calendar made by [Wang] Mang." Mou is equated with earth, the element by virtue of which Wang Mang declared he ruled. He had his Grand Astrologer prepare the titles of year-periods for 36,000 years, with one change of the year-period every six years (99 C: 4a), so that names had been invented for all these year-periods.Chavannes, Documents chinois découverts par Aurel Stein, p. 128 ff, no. 592, lists a tablet in which the date A.D. 20 is written with the ten words, Hsin Shih-chien-kuo Ti-huang-shang-mou, first year 新始建國地皇上戊元年." He also lists tablets with the date for A.D. 14 written, Shih-chien-kuo T'ien-feng, first year (nos. 307, 482) and for A.D. 17, Shih-chien-kuo T'ien-feng, fourth year (nos. 368, 369). Li-hsü 2: 1b (by Hung Kua, 1117-1184) lists a captain's bell with the date, "Hsin Shih-chien-kuo Ti-huang-shang-mou, second year." Yung-chai Sui-pi 6: 1a, b (by Hung Mai (1123-1202) says, "In the family of Han [Tien] Chuang-min [lived 815-893] there was a bronze tou [measure] with the inscription, `Hsin Shih-chiew-kuo T'ien-feng-shang-mou, sixth year.' In [the period] Shao-hsing [1131-1162], Kuo Ching-chou secured a bell with the inscription, `Hsin Shih-chien-kuo Ti-huang-shang-mou, second year.' " Lo Chen-Yü's Cheng-sung-t'ang Chi Ku-yi-wen 15: 2a lists a captain's bell with the inscription "a captain's bell 鉦, weighing six catties five taels, made in Hsin Shih-chien-kuo Ti-huang VI." Here is evidence that, in Wang Mang's time, "Hsin Shih-chien-kuo" or "Shih-chien-kuo" (i.e. "[the House of] Hsin [having for the] first [time] established its state") was prefixed to the two words distinguishing a year-period, and shang-mou, lit. "[the dynasty that] exalts [the stem] mou [i.e., the element earth]" was added at the end. Wang Mang began the sexagenary cycle with the term mou-tzu (99 B: 25b). The names of the reign-periods that are listed in the HS, T'ien-feng and Ti-huang, are then cursive forms of the full names found in these contemporary documents.

140. Book of Changes, App. I, ii, Hex. 42, 1 (Legge, p. 247; Wilhelm, II, 173.)

141. Wang Mang is alluding to Book of History V, iv, 6 "[The virtue of] speech is practicality" and "Practicality produces good government." (Reference from Yen Shih-ku.) Legge, pp. 326, 327 translated ts'ung 從 as "accordance with [the Way]." But the K'ung An-kuo gloss is, "This then can be followed (k'ots'ung)," with which Cheng Hsüan and Ma Jung agree. K'ung Ying-ta explains, "The second [activity] is speech, of which [the important circumstance] is that it can be used [in practise] k'o 用." [Shang-shu Chu-su 12: 4b.])

142. Cf. HHS, An. 1 A: 3a; Glossary sub Kuang-wu, Emperor.

143. Yen Shih-ku explains that han-lu 韓盧 was "the name of a dog in the ancient state of Han(h). A black color is called lu." This breed of dog is also mentioned in K'ung Ts'ung-tzu, ch. 17, sect. 8; 5: 20b.

144. HHS, An. 1 A: 21a states that, towards the end of Wang Mang's reign, when there were drouths and plagues of locusts, a hu of grain cost one catty of actual gold.

145. The establishment of this guard seems to indicate that there had been disturbances by hungry people outside the government granaries even at the imperial capital.

146. Yen Shih-ku explains fan(3)-ch'eng 反城 as "to sieze a city in order to [start] rebellion (fan3). It is also said that fan(3) is pronounced fan(1) 幡. When today are spoken of, they still say fan(1)-ch'eng."

147. HHS, Mem. 18 A: 6a (which may have been taken from Pan Ku's account of the Later Han dynasty's rise) states that when Lien Tan, on his way east, "had reached Ting-t'ao, [Wang] Mang had sent an imperial edict after [Lien] Tan, which said, "The granaries are exhausted and the government arsenals are empty. You must now indeed "become enraged"* and must now indeed fight. You, General, have received the weightiest duty in the state. If you do not leave your body "in the midst of the waste,"** will not be able to repay [the state's] favors or to escape a reprimand." " Thus Wang Mang drove Lien Tan to his death. (The phrase marked * is an allusion to Mencius I, ii, iii, 6 (Legge, p. 156). "King Wen, in one burst of rage, gave repose to the people of the world." That marked ** is a quotation from Book of Changes, App. III, ii, ii, 22 (Legge, 385), which passage discusses methods of burial.)

148. Cf. n. 13.8.

149. Book of Changes, Hex. 57, 6 (Legge, p. 191; Wilhelm, I, 168). The conclusion of this passage is, "Firmness of mind will bring misfortune." No wonder Fang Yang left!Yellow was the color of Wang Mang's power, hence his ceremonial axes were yellow.For the HS's ch'i 齊, the Book of Changes reads tzu 資. Legge and Wilhelm translate differently, interpreting tzu as "property," as they also do in ibid., Hex. 56, 4 where the phrase tzu-fu 斧 recurs (Legge, 188, Wilhelm, I, 163). Yü Hsi (ca. 285-360) in his Chih-lin Hsin-shu ("Yü-han Shan-fang Chi-yi-shu" ed., p. 6a) declares, "Ch'i should be chai 齋; whenever an army leaves, [its commander] must fast and purify himself, enter [the imperial ancestral temple], and receive his axe. Hence it says chai (fast)."But Ying Shao, in a note to this passage of the HS, defines ch'i as li 利 (sharp), and interprets, "He has lost his sharp axe (li-fu)." Ch'ien Chan (1744-1806) points out that tzu and ch'i were anciently interchanged. Erh-ya ch. 2 (Erh-ya Chu-su 3: 2b) says, "Chi 劑 (to cut) and chien 翦 (to cut off) are ch'i," and Kuo P'o (276-324) comments, "The people of the southern quarter call a chien-knife a ch'i-knife." Shen Ch'in- quotes the above explanations, concluding that Yü Hsi is mistaken and says, "The words ch'i-fu take their meaning from beheading and cutting off." Cf. also Tz'u-hai, hai, 154b, sub ch'i-fu and ibid., yu, 99d, sub tzu-fu. Ying Shao's interpretation must be accepted.

150. This is no. 55 in Williams, Observations of Comets. It is also listed in HHS, Tr. 10: 4a.

151. Wang Mang had taken the second astronomical month for the first month of the year, whereas the Han dynasty took the third astronomical month as their first month, so that Wang Mang's first month was the same as the thirteenth month of the preceding year according to the Han calendar. The months of this year in this chapter are thus one month earlier than the corresponding months of the Han calendar, which latter is given in Hoang, Concordance.

152. For this famous battle, cf. HHS, Mem. 4, and Glossary, sub Liu Yin(4a).

153. A phrase from Mencius, V, i, viii, 1 (Legge, p. 365). For the ancient belief concerning the literacy of the Three Sovereigns, cf. HFHD, I, 124, paragraph 3.

154. Cf. Glossary, sub Captain.

155. Hu San-hsing in Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 39: 1b explains 稱説 as "recounting [Wang] Mang's crimes."

156. HHS, An. 1 A: 4a dates this event in the second month; the difference is due merely to the fact that the HHS here uses the Han calendar, while this "Memoir" here uses Wang Mang's calendar; cf. n. 19.4.

157. Chou Shou-ch'ang remarks that this is the first time dying the beard and hair appeared in Chinese history.

158. Cf. 99 C: 13b and n. 13.4.

159. Wang Nien-sun declares that before 杜 there was originally the word 立; T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan (978-983) 89: 11a and Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 39: 2a, in quoting this sentence, have this word.

160. The gold alone was worth (at the standard rate, 10,000 cash per catty, cf. 24 B: 22a) 300,000,000 cash, so that "hundred millions of cash" must refer to the other presents. The gold amounted to 235,343 oz. troy or 7,320,000 g.

161. For the ceremonies, cf. the Yi-li, ch. III (J. Steele, trans.). For these parts of the ancient house, cf. plan in T'zu-Yüan, sub 寢.

162. In accordance with Li-chi IV, i, ii, 9 (Legge, I, 259; Couvreur, I, 341 f), "In this month [the second month of spring, Wang Mang's third month], the swallows arrive. On the day of their arrival, a suovetaurilia is sacrificed to the Eminent Deity of Marriage and Birth. The Son of Heaven attends in person, and the Queen Consort leads the nine Spouses and the Attendants. Then a ceremony is performed for those [ladies] who have attended [in person] upon the Son of Heaven. They carry bowcases and are given bows and arrows before the Eminent Deity of Marriage and Birth."

163. An allusion to Book of Odes, I, iii, x (Legge, I, 55); the phrase denotes the east wind. The valley wind was supposed to blow gently and bring all genial influences.

164. Ch'ou was connected with the note kung. Chu Chen (1072-1138), in his Han-shang Yi-kua T'u, B: 23b, basing his calculations on the Yi-chuan of Ching Fang (B.C. 77-37), asserts that the hexagram sun, in the cyclical combination hsin-ch'ou, is equated with the power earth (which is equated with the note kung). The same equation is found in San-yi Pei-yi 6: 5b (by Chu Yüan-sheng; fl. 1211; in T'ung-chih-t'ang Ching-chien, vols. 14 and 38). Thus this equation was based upon earlier documents and has passed into the stream of interpretation for the Book of Changes. Sun-erh 巽二was the ancient good of the wind, and the hexagram sun was itself equated with wine.

165. Book of Changes, Hex. 35, 2 (Legge, p. 132; Wilhelm, I, 103). Yen Shih-ku explains wang-mu 王母 as chün-mu 君母, i.e., the principal wife, which is a case of tecnonymy become a set title; cf. HS 99 A: 9a(3), C: 13a(12).

166. Yi-li I, ii, 17, c (Steele, I, p. 15). That text has however "受 receive" for the HS's "萬 ten-thousand."

167. An allusion to Mencius VI, A, vii, 1 (Legge, p. 404): "With good harvests most people are good."

168. Ti 狄 was the classical (Chou period) general designation for the barbarians in the present northern China and north of it, while hu 胡 was the general designation in the Han period for the barbarians outside the northern border. Wang Mang, imitating classical models, here uses ti in order to be classical and has to add hu to make his meaning clear to his contemporaries.Yen Shih-ku explains 泊 as meaning "and"; the Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed., and the Official ed. read 洎.

169. The phrase "tan-ch'ing-chih-hsin 丹青之信" was a set expression in Han Times. Show-wen 5 B: 1a, sub ch'ing, says, "Tan-ch'ing-chih-hsin [means] certainly 必然." Juan Chi's (210-263) "Yung-huai Shih" (Wen-hsüan, 23: 3b, not trans. by von Zach) has the lines,

"[Like a painting done in] cinnabar and azurite, our oath has been made plain,
Which for an eternity of ages we shall never forget."
Li Shan comments, "[A painting done in] cinnabar and azurite does not change, hence be used it to liken to his oath." Li Shan moreover quotes an edict of Emperor Kuang-wu from the Tung-kuan Han-chi (lost), "Establish plainly with trust worthiness [like that in a painting done in] cinnabar and azurite and open wide the road which restricts Our action." This edict is also referred to with this phrase in HHS, Mem. 3: 19a.Yang Hsiung, in his Fa-yen, 12: 2a, b, ch. "Chün-tzu," uses this phrase similarly: "Someone asked, `Are the words of a sage as brilliant as [a painting done in] cinnabar and ?' I replied, `Ha! What kind of words are that? At first [a painting done in] and azurite is brilliant; after a long time it changes. [Do a sage's words] ?' " The fact that a phrase from painting had already become widely used as a phrase in Former Han times illustrates the prevalence and antiquity of Chinese painting.

170. HS 30: 64a lists "altogether books on military matters from 53 schools, in fascicles," and Pan Ku's note adds, "I have omitted [and transferred to another place the books of] 10 schools, in 271 fascicles." Wang Hsien-ch'ien accordingly concludes that Liu Hsiang's Ch'i-lüeh Pieh-lu (now lost) recorded 63 schools of military methods. HHS, An. 1 A: 4b also says, "63 schools."

171. I take here meaning (1) for this phrase from HFHD I, 222, n. 2, since meaning (2) does not seem to fit this case.

172. HHS, An. 1 A: 5b gives a different and less bombastic explanation for Wang Yi's refusal to advance, namely that Wang Yi5 had previously been tried and reprimanded because, when he had surrounded Chai Yi, he had not taken him alive. Tzu-chih T'ung-chien 39: 3b adopts this explanation. Cf. Glossary, sub Kuang-wu, Emperor.

173. Yen Shih-ku asserts that this sentence is a saying from the standard Military Methods. Ts'ao Ts'ao, in his comment to Sun-tzu, 7: 40a, quotes the Szu-ma Fa (iv. cent. B.C., later added to; this passage is not in the present text of that book) as saying, "Surround three sides of it, and open one side of it, as a means of showing them that there is a way [to save their] lives."

174. Hsia 下 is sometimes a meaningless suffix, used to make a binom out of a place-name composed of only one word; cf. HFHD, I, 310, n. 33. But hsia can also mean "below [the walls of]," cf. HS 99 C: 26a(10-11), 28b(3), or "just outside [a wall, door, or gate]," cf. 99 A: 1b(11), 9a(2), B: 14b(20, 17b(4), C: 23a(12), 26b(7).

175. Hsiang 相 cannot here have the meaning found in the dictionaries, "mutual; reciprocal; direction towards." Hsiang can only be equivalent to a pronoun object. It very often has this meaning, frequently being equivalent to a preposition plus a pronoun object. Cf. 99 C: 29a3, "hsiang 食," which cannot mean "ate each other," but only "ste them," i.e., "others."

176. The present text reads, "Heaven's wind blew tiles off," which is the reading of the important texts. The Official ed., which I here follow, has emended 天 to 大, in accordance with HHS, An. 1 A: 6b.

177. Cf. 99 A: 24b.

178. Book of Changes, Hex. 13, 3 (Legge, p. 86; Wilhelm, I, 42).

179. Book of Changes, Hex. 13, 3 (Legge, p. 86; Wilhelm, I, 42).

180. Book of Changes, Hex. 13, 3 (Legge, p. 86; Wilhelm, I, 42).

181. The Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed. and the Official ed., for Wang Hsien-ch'ien's "臣 courtiers," read "民 common people," which latter reading I adopt.

182. Tao-shih 道士 did not yet mean predominately a Taoist practicioner. Huan T'an (ca. 40 B.C.-A.D. 29), in his Hsin-lun (lost; quoted in T'ai-p'ing Yü-lan 720: 5b), calls Hsi-men Chün-hui a "gentleman possessing magical recipes, fang-shih 方士," and states that Wang Ken (the father of Wang Shê) had kept him in order to cultivate methods of securing longevity. Hence tao-shih at this time denoted a fang-shih. Cf. , sub tao-shih.

183. This comet is not mentioned in Williams' list.The constellation Ying-shih is meant. This reference is confirmed by the sentence below, referring to it as a zodiacal constellation. Chin-shu, 11: 14b, says, "The two stars of [the constellation] Ying-shih are the palace of the Son of Heaven."

184. The State Master was Liu Hsin(1a), who had previously changed his name to Liu Hsiu(4a), which name is not used in the HS, since it was the same as the tabooed personal name of Emperor Kuang-wu, Liu Hsiu. Hsi-men Chün-hiu was prophesying that a Liu Hsiu (which may mean either Liu Hsin(1a) or Emperor Kuang-wu) would come to the throne.

185. Ju Shun's judgment upon this incident is interesting: "He said that [Wang] Mang's mother was in decayed circumstances, loved wine, and gave herself lascivious liberty, so conceived [Wang] Mang, [hence] he was not a child of the Wang clan. [Wang Shê] put forth this fraud in order to separate himself [from Wang Mang, with the aim of] not receiving execution [when Wang Mang would be destroyed]."

186. In 11 A.D., Wang Mang had executed two of Liu Hsin's sons, cf. 99 B: 16a; in 21 A.D. he also executed Liu Hsin's daughter, cf. C: 11b.

187. According to SC 27 : 50 = Mh III, 371, Venus "presides over executions. When a person who has done wrong is killed, that punishment is initiated by Venus." SC 27: 57 = Mh III, 378 moreover declares: "When Venus is invisible and troops are put into the field, the troops will suffer calamity." This astrological interpretation explains Liu Hsin1a's reluctance to act until Venus again became visible.According to calculation by the tables in K. Schoch, Planeten-Tafeln für Jedermans, Venus had been in superior conjunction on Oct. 25, A.D. 22 (Julian) and became visible as an evening star at Ch'ang-an on Dec. 4, 22. Venus was last visible as an evening star on Aug. 2, 23 and first became visible as a morning star on Aug. 20, 23.What evidently happened was that, when the conspirators finally decided to act, Venus had become invisible. Liu Hsin(1a), who accepted the above astrological interpretation of Venus' influence and who knew that at inferior conjunction this planet is only invisible for a few days, consequently suggested they wait until Venus reappears. He probably did not know that, at this time, Venus would be invisible for the longest period of time in which it can remain invisible at this latitude---eighteen days. While awaiting its reappearance, possibly expecting the period would not be long (sometimes Venus does not disappear at inferior conjunction), Tung Chung1b took Sun Chi into his confidence, with the result that the plot was revealed and the conspirators, including Liu Hsin1a lost their lives.Pan Ku's dating of the plot is not exact. He does not mention any date until he notes the revelation of the plot and includes in the events before the seventh month Liu Hsin(1a)'s proposal to delay acting until Venus reappears. Evidently Pan Ku knew only the date the plot was memorialized to the throne, that this event occurred during the seventh month, which was July 7 to Aug. 5. But Venus was still visible as an evening star during most of the sixth month. (The possibility is excluded, with great probability, that Pan Ku's source was using the Han dynasty's months, which set the seventh month a month later, i.e., Aug. 6 to Sept. 3. For Pan Ku's information about the plot and its revelation could hardly have come elsewhere than from Wang Mang's court. It was most probably taken from Sun Chi's memorial, giving information about the plot.)Since Venus disappeared first on Aug. 3, Liu Hsin(1a)'s proposal to delay could only have been made during the last three days of the seventh month, i.e., Aug. 3, 4, or 5. Sun Chi hence was persuaded by his wife and brother-in-law to reveal the plot on the same or the next day after that on which he was taken into Tung Chung1b's confidence and acted immediately. This inference is confirmed by the circumstance that only by revealing such a plot immediately that he knew of it could Sung Chi have escaped implicating himself in the plot. It is thus not surprising that the conspirators did not suspect they had been betrayed and obeyed Wang Mang's order to come to the Palace.

188. Previously (p. 20b), Shih Shen was made General of a Peaceful Beginning; Liu Feng-shih states that the text may be in error here; Wang Ming-shen thinks that the text should be emended. Lien Tan had been General of a New Beginning and had been killed in the winter of 22 A.D.; the title of General of a New Beginning seems to have been the higher title (cf. Glossary); possibly Shih Shen had been promoted. He is again noted with this title on p. 26b, so that I see no need to emend the text.

189. Professor Duyvendak calls my attention to the mention of this sword in HS 67: 6a, b, where Chu Yün, in a memorial to Emperor Ch'eng, dated during the decade beginning 20 B.C., declares, "Your servant would be willing to be granted a sword for beheading horses from the Master of Recipes, to cut off the head of one flattering courtier, in order to stimulate the others." The name of this article, which seems originally to have been merely a large sword, accordingly acquired the connotation of an article specially used to behead flatterers.

190. Professor Duyvendak suggests emending ch'ih-po(1)-ren 尺白刃 to ch'ih-po(2) 尺帛, which latter Couvreur, Dict. Class., defines as short for san 三 -ch'ih po2-ch'ou 綢, the cord granted by the throne to erring officials by which to strangle themselves. While this emendation is attractive and has the advantage of not breaking the rhythm of two-word phrases, the phrase Ch'ih-po(2) does not seem to have been used in ancient times, nor can I find any ancient example of this practise. Ch'ih-po(2) is moreover used in Chan-kuo-ts'e, ch. 20, sect. 14 ("Szu-pu Pei-yao" ed., 20: 11a; "Szu-k'u Ts'ung-k'an" ed., 6: 74b) and denoted "a foot of silk cloth," used for making a cap, which meaning is clearly unsuitable here. Professor Duyvendak also suggests rendering ch'ih separately by "footrule," perhaps in the sense of the footrule used to bastonnade criminals. He doubts the whole passage.In Han times, the requirements of parallelism and rhythm were not yet strict, so that a three-character phrase might be allowed to occur along with a series of two-character phrases. Ch'ih is used in various compounds to denote a "one-foot long" article; cf. Tz'u-hai sub ch'ih. Ch'ih-tao 刀 is used in HS 54: 12b(10). This phrase still denotes a dagger. Po(1)-ren is used in the Doctrine of the Mean, ix (Legge, p. 389). Ch'ih-po(1)-ren represents merely the combination of these two anciently well-known phrases.The ancient Chinese sword was three feet long; cf. HFHD I, 142 and n. 3. Since the ancient Chinese conceived ghosts as quite small beings, dagger-blades would naturally be sufficient to put into a grave with the bodies of dangerous criminals, along with poisonous drugs and thorns, in order to prevent their ghosts from rising. For a parallel to the magical use of vinegar, cf. HS 100 A: 14b and n. 14.5 (in the Preliminary Volume).

191. The Ching-yu ed., the Southern Academy ed., and the Official ed. read 棘 instead of 僰, which reading I adopt. The phrase "thicket of thorns" is from Book of Changes, Hex. 29, 6; Legge, p. 119; cf. also HS 45: 18b. For the use of thorns, cf. HS 97 B: 19b.

192. Mr. Cheng (fl. dur. 220-317) glosses, "The immortal held in his palm a vessel for receiving dew." Professor Duyvendak calls attention to the fact that HS 25 A: mentions "the bronze pillar and the immortal's palm for receiving dew [on] the Po-liang [Tower]" (q.v. in Glossary) made at the order of Emperor Wu about 120 B.C. Su glosses, "The immortal held in the palm of his hand an uplifted basin to receive sweet dew." The Po-liang Tower however burnt down in 104 B.C., so that in Wang Mang's time this was another statue. The San-fu Ku-shih (iii-v cent.; lost) is quoted by Shih-ku as saying, "The basin for receiving dew in the Chien-chang Palace was 200 feet high [the hight of the Po-liang Tower; the San-fu Ku-shih seems to have confused the location] and seven spans in circumference. It was made of bronze. Above it there was an immortal's palm to receive dew, which [latter] was mixed with jade powder and drunk [as Illegal HTML character: decimal 131