Liu Yan SGZ bio translation, discussion, etc

[Lady Wu]

Everything Liu Yan goes here. I'm working on Liu Yan's SGZ bio translation, and here's a draft:

(For translator's notes see next post)

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Liu Yan 劉焉 (? - 194)

Liu Yan, styled Junlang, was from Jingling in Jiangxia, and a descendant of Prince Gong of Lu (i). During the Yuanhe reign [AD 84-86] of Emperor Zhang(ii), the scions of the house of Prince Gong were relocated to Jingling, and a branch of the family remained there since.

As a young man Liu Yan served in the local offices, and later was made a Gentleman of the Palace due to his imperial relationship. He resigned from that position upon the death of his teacher, Master Zhu, and moved to Mount Yangcheng. There, he started a school and took in students, and recommended those of upright behaviour and good character to official employment (1).

(1) Your servant Songzhi notes: Master Zhu is Zhu Tian, who held the rank of Master over the Populace.

Some time after that, he was summoned to serve in the Office of the Master over the Populace, and was successively promoted to Prefect of Luoyang, Inspector of Jizhou, Grand Administrator of Nanyang, Superintendent of the Imperial House (iii), and Grand Master of Ceremonies (iv). Seeing that Emperor Ling's government was corrupt and ineffective and his house beset with problems, he petitioned thus, "The inspectors and grand administrators are corrupt, taking bribes in their position, exploiting the commoners, and causing them to rebel. Worthy ministers of good name should be chosen to serve as provincial governors in order to bring peace and stability back to this nation." He then privately requested to be governor of Jiaozhi, thinking that there he would be able to escape the chaos of the realm. When he was about to depart, Dong Fu of Guanghan, an Honourary Palace Attendant, secretly said to him, "The capital city will fall into chaos very soon; an imperial aura is seen in the section of the sky corresponding to Yi Province (v)." Upon hearing Dong Fu's words, Liu Yan changed his mind and decided to go to Yi Province instead. It chanced that Xi Jian, Inspector of Yi Province of the time, was burdening the people with heavy taxes, and scandals regarding him were heard even from afar (2).At the same time, Inspector Zhang Yi was killed in Bing Province, and Inspector Geng Bi was killed in Liangzhou. Liu Yan's plan was thus approved. He was sent forth as an Imperial Messenger who Oversees the Army, designated Governor of Yi Province and Lord of Yangcheng, with the orders to arrest Xi Jian and bring him to justice (3). Dong Fu himself requested to be Chief Commandant of the Western State of Shujun, and together with Zhao Wei from Baxi, who abandoned his position of Prefect of the Imperial Granaries, he followed Liu Yan (4).

(2) Xi Jian is the grandfather of Xi Zheng.

(3) The Continued History of Han: At that time, Liu Yu was employed to govern You Province, Liu Yan to govern Yi Province, Liu Biao to govern Jing Province, and Jia Cong to govern Ji Province. These were all scholars of great renown and good reputation within the Seas. Most of them were promoted to be governors from positions of secretarial ministers, and all continued to receive their original salaries even in their higher positions. 旧典：传车参驾，施赤为帷裳。

Your servant Songzhi notes: After Emperor Ling passed away, independent voluntary forces arose through the country. At that time, Sun Jian killed Inspector Wang Rui of Jing Province, and only after that was Liu Biao made to govern Jing Province—not at the same time as Liu Yan's appointment.

Annals of Emperor Ling of Han: The Emperor summoned Liu Yan for an audience, informing him of his orders and granting him rewards. The imperial orders were that Liu Yan was to be Inspector of Yi Province; and since the previous inspectors, Liu Jun and Xi Jian were greedy, cruel, and corrupt, uncontrolled in taking bribes, causing the commoners to dispair and fill the fields with their laments, Liu Yan was to arrest them and punish them under the law upon his arrival in Yi Province, so to show the people [that the court still cared]. He was not to allow the plan be leaked out, which would cause the situation to deteriote quickly and create a thorn in the side for the nation. Liu Yan accepted the orders and departed. However, due to the roads being unpassable, he proceeded towards the eastern borders of Jing Province instead.

(4) Chen Shou's Biographies of the Natives of Yi District: Dong Fu, styled Mouan, studied mathematics and the classics under a teacher in his youth. He was an expert on the Ouyang interpretation of the Shangshu (vi). He also hired the scholar Yang Hou and studied symbolism and omens in depth under him. Eventually, he went to the capital city and visited the Imperial University. Upon returning home, he started lecturing, and attracted students from afar. In the first year of the Yongkang reign (AD 167), there was a solar eclipse. An imperial edict was thus issued summoning wise and upright scholars to point out problems in the government (vii). Zhao Qian of Zuofengyi recommended Dong Fu, but Dong Fu declined on account of illness. 遥於长安上封事，遂称疾笃归家。In total, he was recommended ten times by ministerial offices, and summoned by royal chariots three times; he then was nominated as "wise and upright", "erudite", "one of the Way" (viii), but he declined all offers of official position. Because of that, his name became even more honoured. Commander-in-Chief He Jin memorialized the throne praising Dong Fu as follows: "He demonstrates the virtues of You and Xia (ix) and explains the goodness of Confucius, and has in his heart strategies of warding off disasters and healing the nation like Jiao and Dong (x). In these times, Bing and Liang Provinces are falling to insurgents, and the Rong tribes of the west are planning rebellion. It would be advisable to send a royal chariot to bring him hither, to treat him as with exceptional courtesy, and to inquire good strategies of him." Thereupon, Emperor Ling summoned Dong Fu to service and appointed him an honoury Palace Attendant right upon his arrival. He addressed him in court as "Master of Confucian Studies" and valued him highly. Dong Fu requested to be colonel of the state of Shu Commandary, and just after a year he left the court the emperor died and the realm fell into chaos. He later resigned from his official position, and died at his home at the age of 82. Previously, Dong Fu was unrivaled in speeches and debates within the Yi District, and was nicknamed "Silence on Arrival", meaning that wherever he went, people would become silent upon his arrival as no one could match him in a debate. In later times, Prime Minister Zhuge Liang asked Qin Mi what Dong Fu's talents were, and Qin Mi replied, "Dong Fu praised every good deed, even those as insignificant as a piece of hair, and denouced every evil, even if it was the size of a mustard seed."

Around the same time, the rebels Ma Xiang, Zhao Zhi, and others from Mianzhu Prefecture claimed to be the Yellow Scarves. Appealing to those fed up with government oppression, they recruited several thousands of men in the course of two days. Their first action was to kill Li Sheng, Prefect of Mianzhu. At that, minor officers and commoners alike fled to them, and their forces numbered over ten thousand. Thereupon, they took over Luo Prefecture, and marched into the provincial capital to kill Xi Jian. A separate force went to attack Shujun and Jianwei; in under a month they conquered the three commandaries. Ma Xiang declared himself emperor, controlling tens of thousands of followers.

Jia Long, an attendant official of the provincial office, was in command of some hundreds of private troops on the eastern border of Jianwei. There he brought minor officers and commoners under his command, and built a force of over a thousand. He then attacked Ma Xiang and the other rebels, and managed to defeat them in a few days. Peace and order were thus restored to the province. Jia Long then selected some officers to welcome Liu Yan in.

Liu Yan changed the provincial capital to Mianzhu. There he reattracted the disgruntled to himself and treated all with leniency, while secretly plotting sedition. Around that time, Zhang Lu's mother had just began studying occultism, and she was also of a youthful complexion; thus she visited Liu Yan often at his home. Because of this, Liu Yan sent Zhang Lu to Hanzhong in the position of Major who Oversees Justice. There, Zhang Lu blocked off all the mountain passages and murdered messagers from the Han court. Liu Yan thus memorialized to the throne that the bandits of the Rice Sect were blocking the way and obstructing traffic to the capital city (xi). Liu Yan then used some event as an excuse to kill over ten powerful locals in the province, including Wang Xian and Li Quan, in order to assert his own power (5). Thereupon, the grand administrator of Jianwei, Ren Qi, conspired with Jia Long to revolt against Liu Yan, who did battle against them and had them killed (6).

(5) Assorted Records of the Natives of Yi District: Li Quan, styled Boyu, was Prefect of Linqiong. For information on his son Li Fu, see Yang Xi of Jianwei's "Elegy of the Assisting Ministers".

(6) Record of Heroes: When Liu Yan built up his own military force, he did not join the rest of the realm in fighting against Dong Zhuo, but kept to his own province instead. Ren Qi, Grand Administrator of Jianwei declared himself a general and, along with his aide-de-camp Chen Chao, rose up in insurrection againt Liu Yan. Liu Yan defeated them. Dong Zhuo then sent Minister over the Populace Zhao Qian march towards Yi Province. [Zhao Qian] persuaded Colonel Jia Long to turn his forces against Liu Yan. Liu Yan, sending the Qing Qiang tribe to repel them, were able to score a victory and have the insurgents killed. Ren Qi and Jia Long were both men of Shu Commandery.

Liu Yan's ambition grew, and he had more than a thousand sets of imperial carriages and paraphrenelia made. The Governor of Jing Province, Liu Biao, then memorialized the throne, saying that Liu Yan's actions were reminiscent of the story of Zixia causing people of Xihe to know him more than they knew Confucius (xii). During that time, Liu Yan's sons Liu Fan, Liu Dan, and Liu Zhang were all with Emperor Xian in Chang'an (7), serving respectively as General of the Interior of the Left, Imperial Historian, and Chief Commandant of the Royal Entourage. Only his nephew Liu Mao, Major of a Separate Command, was with Liu Yan. Emperor Xian commanded Liu Zhang to go and admonish Liu Yan; Liu Yan detained Liu Zhang and did not send him back to the court (8). At that time, Ma Teng, General who Conquers the West, who was stationed at Mei, rebelled. Liu Yan and Liu Fan were conspiring with Ma Teng to lead a secret attack on Chang'an. Liu Fan's plans were leaked out, and he was forced to flee to Huaili. Ma Teng was defeated and retreated to Liang Province. Liu Fan was killed then, and Liu Dan was arrested and executed (9). Pang Xi of Henan, an imperial consultant, was related to Liu Yan's family by marriage. He brought all of Liu Yan's grandchildren together and sent them back to the Riverlands. Right then, a lightning struck Liu Yan's city and caused a huge fire. All his imperial carriages and paraphrenalia were consumed by the flames, which spread to the homes of the commoners. Liu Yan thus relocated to Chengdu. Overly grieved about his sons and saddened by the natural disaster, he died of a carbuncle outbreak on his back, in the first year of the Xingping reign [AD 194]. Zhao Wei and other powerful officials of the province, wanting to take avantage of Liu Zhang's kind and mild disposition, petitioned in unison for Liu Zhang to become Inspector of Yi Province. An imperial edict was issued making Liu Zhang Imperial Messanger who Oversees the Army and designated Governor of Yi Province. Upon that, Liu Zhang had Zhao Wei be General of the Interior who Conquers the East and lead his men to attack Liu Biao (10).

(7) Record of Heroes: Liu Fan's father, Liu Yan, was Governor of Yi Province. When Dong Zhuo summoned Liu Yan and Liu Yan refused to heed him, Dong Zhuo ordered the arrest of Liu Fan and his two brothers, and had them manacled and sent to Meiwo, where he locked them up in a privately-designated prison.

(8) Dianlue: At that time, Liu Zhang was serving as Chief Commandant of the Imperial Entourage in the capital city. Liu Yan feigned illness and summoned Liu Zhang back; Liu Zhang also petitioned to go home and admonish Liu Yan. [Upon Liu Zhang's return,] Liu Yan thus detained Liu Zhang and did not send him back.

(9) Record of Heroes: Liu Fan fled from Chang'an to Ma Teng's camps, and requested military aid from Liu Yan. Liu Yan sent Colonel Sun Shao to reinforce him, but they were defeated at Chang'an.

(10) Record of Heroes: Upon Liu Yan's death, his son Liu Zhang took his place as provincial inspector. At the same time, the court in Chang'an appointed Hu Mao to the same position, and sent him into Hanzhong. Thereupon, Liu Kai, an Aide-de-Camp of Jing Province, rebelled along with Liu Zhang's subordinates Shen Mi, Lou Fa, and Gan Ning. They attacked Liu Zhang, but being unable to secure victory, they retreated to Jing Province. Liu Zhang then had Zhao Wei march into Jing Province and set garrison at Chunren.

[Lady Wu]

The blue is Pei's notes. There are three Chinese phrases/sentences that I was unable to get a good translation for--any help would be appreciated. The olive numbers refer to my own notes, which are as follows:

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(i) Liu Yu 劉餘(d. 128BC), son of Emperor Jing of Han (188-141BC), was enfeoffed at Lu (modern day Shandong).

(ii) Of the Easter Han; he reigned from AD 76-89.

(iii) One of the "Nine Ministers", responsible for discipline of the imperial clan.

(iv) One of the nine ministers, responsible for state religion and education.

(v) Traditional Chinese astrology holds that particular constellations or sections of the heavens correspond to each province or official district on earth.

(vi) Ouyang Sheng was one of the most dominant scholars of the Western Han who annotated and interpreted the ancient historical classic Shangshu.

(vii) A solar eclipse was seen as an evil omen caused by some wrongdoing of the government.

(viii) These were all categories under which one could be nominated to office during the Han dynasty.

(ix) Referring to Ziyou and Zixia, both among the most famous disciples of Confucius.

(x) Referring to Jiao Yanshou, a Western Han scholar on the Book of Changes, and was skilled at the art of divination and interpretation of portents, and Dong Zhongshu, the founder of Neo-Confucianism, which incorporated elements from the Ying-yang Five Elements Theory.

(xi) Implying that he could not, or would not, send the required reports and tribute to the court.

(xii) After Confucius' death, his disciple Zixia 子夏moved to Xihe to set up school there. Another disciple of Confucius', Zengzi 曾子, reprimanded him for making himself more famous than their teacher, Confucius, there. The quote which Liu Biao's memorial was based on is found in the first chapter of Tangong in the Book of Rites (禮記：檀弓上), and reads: "使西河之民 疑女于夫子". Liu Biao is thus drawing the comparison between Zixia making himself more prominent than Confucius and Liu Yan trying to make himself more powerful than the emperor.

[Liu Yuante]

For the first one, I have no idea. Or rather, I have several bad ideas. I vote some obscure ancient saying or custom that goes beyond the literal meaning, because there isn't much to hang your hat on there (unless the 赤 were men...).

For 遥於长安上封事，遂称疾笃归家。it seemed pretty straightforward, which is a bad sign. I say something like, "It was a long way to Changan, and he set forth to receive his appointment but soon thereafter gave word he had become seriously ill and returned to his family."

For 为阴狱以系之。 I think this is saying that they were imprisoned because of being of Liu Yan's lineage, his sons. Something like, "where they were secretly imprisoned because of their ties to him" and I would probably translate the 之 as Yan rather than 'him' were I doing the polishing up.

Hope it helps.

Adrian

[Seven at One Stroke]

I actually can't find the Pei's notes in the version of SGZ I'm reading online (I lost my old bookmark too. )

Anyways, I'm fairly certain the first one was about their status. Something about them being able to wear red in presence of the Emperor.

The last one I think means that Dong Zhuo took his two sons as hostages, so Liu Yan wouldn't do anything and thus Dong has "tied" Liu down.

[Liu Yuante]

The last one I think means that Dong Zhuo took his two sons as hostages, so Liu Yan wouldn't do anything and thus Dong has "tied" Liu down.

On looking at it again, my reading is incorrect and 7@1 is right.

Oh, and here's the link to SGZ w/Pei in Simplified characters: http://www.guoxue.com/shibu/24shi/sangzz/sgzzml.htm

Adrian

[Seven at One Stroke]

Oh, and here's the link to SGZ w/Pei in Simplified characters: http://www.guoxue.com/shibu/24shi/sangzz/sgzzml.htm

Thank you so much.

[LiuBeiwasGreat]

Well i am not here to add anything thing to the translations i am just here to say thank you for the translated bio. I enjoyed reading it and i am happy to have another bio to read.
Thank you Lady Wu

[Lady Wu]

Thank you guys for your suggestions/feedback. Regarding the 为阴狱以系之, I was originally thinking that it could mean "he [Dong Zhuo] made a hidden/secret prison to bind them in" or "he plotted to frame them with some crime". But the readings LYT and 7@1 suggested also seem plausible... hmm...

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I was actually pretty shocked reading Liu Yan's bio. It sounds like he's the granddaddy of pretenders, predating the Yuans even in the manufacturing of imperial items (furthermore, the whole reason he requested to go to Yizhou in the first place was to fulfill the "imperial aura" thing). It seems like he would have been able to succeed if he had more determination and more support from the locals... what do you think?

[Seven at One Stroke]

Thank you guys for your suggestions/feedback. Regarding the 为阴狱以系之, I was originally thinking that it could mean "he [Dong Zhuo] made a hidden/secret prison to bind them in" or "he plotted to frame them with some crime". But the readings LYT and 7@1 suggested also seem plausible... hmm...

According to Han Yu Da Ci Dian (San Lian, Hong Kong), Yinyu=privately designated prison. The example used is the very same quote above. But since the previous sentence already says the two were "arrested," I don't think Wang Can would repeat the same thing with the verb "xi," but I don't know, I'm no expert on this.

I was actually pretty shocked reading Liu Yan's bio. It sounds like he's the granddaddy of pretenders, predating the Yuans even in the manufacturing of imperial items (furthermore, the whole reason he requested to go to Yizhou in the first place was to fulfill the "imperial aura" thing). It seems like he would have been able to succeed if he had more determination and more support from the locals... what do you think?

I think there is a reason that he is in the chronicles of SHU (beyond that he was the govenor of Shu before Liu Bei.) Though I never knew he was like that from all the bland, short description of him in SGYY and ROTK games.

[Lady Wu]

Here's my final interpretation for the prison clause:

收范兄弟三人
arrest Fan brothers three people

锁械於郿坞
manacle (used as a verb here; what do you call those big wooden things that they used in China to put over the prisoner's head and hands?) towards Meiwu

为阴狱以系之
made private prison to incarcerate them

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If Liu Yan stayed in the Central Plains (or at least go somewhere other than Shu), he could have given Cao Cao a run for his money--he's got daring and ambition, good connections, the trump card of imperial relation, not to mention a dash of romance (Mengde got Zhang Xiu's aunt, and Yanner got Zhang Lu's mom )... it seems like he would have done better if he had stayed away from the 是非之地 (land of trouble) that is Shu.