魏书十八 · 阎温传 · 附张恭、孙宾硕、杨阿若、鲍出
阎温字伯俭，天水西城人也。以凉州别驾守上邽令。马超走奔上邽，郡人任养等举众迎之。温止之，不能禁，乃驰还州。超复围州所治兾城甚急，州乃遣温密出，告急于夏侯渊。贼围数重，温夜从水中潜出。明日，贼见其迹，遣人追遮之，于显亲界得温，执还诣超。
Yan Wen, courtesy name Bojian, was from Xi County, Tianshui. As the Deputy Aide to the Inspector of Liang Province, he served as the acting Magistrate of Shanggui. When Ma Chao fled to Shanggui, commandery men led by Ren Yang gathered to welcome him. Yan Wen tried to stop them but could not, and galloped back to the provincial seat. Ma Chao then laid close siege to Ji, the provincial seat. The provincial authorities secretly sent Yan Wen to seek assistance from Xiahou Yuan. The rebels had encircled the city in several rings, but Yan Wen slipped out through the water by night. The next day, the enemies discovered his tracks and sent men in pursuit. Yan Wen was caught near the borders of Xianqin, seized, and brought before Ma Chao.
超解其缚，谓曰：「今成败可见，足下为孤城请救而执于人手，义何所施？若从吾言，反谓城中，东方无救，此转祸为福之计也。不然，今为戮矣。」温伪许之，超乃载温诣城下。温向城大呼曰：「大军不过三日至，勉之！」城中皆泣，称万岁。超怒数之曰：「足下不为命计邪？」温不应。时超攻城乆不下，故徐诱温，兾其改意。复谓温曰：「城中故人，有欲与吾同者不？」温又不应。遂切责之，温曰：「夫事君有死无贰，而卿乃欲令长者出不义之言，吾岂苟生者乎？」超遂杀之。
Ma Chao untied Yan Wen and said, "The outcome is now plain. You went to seek relief for an isolated city, only to fall into another's hands. What can your loyalty accomplish now? If you heed my advice, return and tell those within the city that no relief will come from the east, and you may thereby turn disaster into good fortune. Otherwise, you will be put to death at once." Yan Wen feigned agreement, so Ma Chao put him in a cart and sent him beneath the city walls. Facing the city, Yan Wen cried out, "The main army will arrive within three days. Stand firm!" Everyone within the city wept and cried out in jubilation. Ma Chao angrily reproached him: "Do you not care for your own life?" Yan Wen did not answer. Ma Chao sieged the city for a long time without success, and so continued patiently to coax Yan Wen, hoping he might change his mind. Ma Chao asked again, "Are there any among your old friends within the city who would join me?" Yan Wen again did not reply. Ma Chao then pressed him harshly, and Yan Wen said, "In serving one's lord, there is death but no divided loyalty. Yet you wished for a man of honour to utter unrighteous words. Am I one who would cling to life at any cost?" Chao thereupon killed him.
先是，河右扰乱，隔绝不通，燉煌太守马艾卒官，府又无丞。功曹张恭素有学行，郡人推行长史事，恩信甚著，乃遣子就东诣太祖，请太守。时酒泉黄华、张掖张进各据其郡，欲与恭并势。就至酒泉，为华所拘执，劫以白刃。就终不回，私与恭疏曰：「大人率厉燉煌，忠义显然，岂以就在困厄之中而替之哉？昔乐羊食子，李通覆家，经国之臣，宁怀妻孥邪？今大军垂至，但当促兵以掎之耳；愿不以下流之爱，使就有恨于黄壤也。」
Previously, the lands west of the Yellow River had fallen into disorder, and communications were cut off. Ma Ai, Grand Administrator of Dunhuang, died in office, and the commandery had no Assistant to take over. Zhang Gong, the Merit Section Foreman Clerk, had long been esteemed for his learning and conduct. The people of the commandery therefore chose him to act as Chief Clerk, and he won renown for his benevolence and good faith. He sent his son Zhang Jiu east to Cao Cao (posthumously honoured as the Grand Progenitor) to request a new Grand Administrator. At the time, Huang Hua in Jiuquan and Zhang Jin in Zhangye had each seized control of his commandery and sought to join forces with Zhang Gong. When Zhang Jiu reached Jiuquan, Huang Hua detained him and threatened him at swordpoint. Zhang Jiu never wavered, but secretly sent Zhang Gong a letter: "Father, you have rallied and inspired Dunhuang, and your loyalty and righteousness are plain to all. Would you abandon them merely because I am in peril? In former times, Yue Yang ate the flesh of his son, and Li Tong sacrificed his whole household. How could ministers entrusted with governing the realm place concern for their wives and children above their duty? The great army is now close at hand. You need only hasten your troops to strike him from the rear. I beg you not to yield to the lesser affection of ordinary men and leave me with regret beneath the yellow earth."
恭即遣从弟华攻酒泉沙头、干齐二县。恭又连兵寻继华后，以为首尾之援。别遣铁骑二百，迎吏官属，东缘酒泉北塞，径出张掖北河，逢迎太守尹奉。于是张进须黄华之助；华欲救进，西顾恭兵，恐急击其后，遂诣金城太守苏则降。就竟平安。奉得之官。黄初二年，下诏襃扬，赐恭爵关内侯，拜西域戊己校尉。数岁征还，将授以侍臣之位，而以子就代焉。恭至燉煌，固辞疾笃。太和中卒，赠执金吾。就后为金城太守，父子著称于西州。
Zhang Gong immediately sent his cousin Zhang Hua to attack the counties of Shatou and Ganqi in Jiuquan. He then led another force close behind, so that the two armies could support each other front and rear. He also dispatched two hundred armoured cavalrymen to escort the newly arriving officials and their staff. Travelling east along the northern frontier of Jiuquan, then took a direct route to a river in northern Zhangye, and received the incoming Grand Administrator, Yin Feng. Zhang Jin now depended on Huang Hua's aid. Huang Hua wished to rescue him, but, mindful of Zhang Gong's troops to the west, feared a sudden attack on his rear. Huang Hua therefore went to surrender to Su Ze, Grand Administrator of Jincheng. Zhang Jiu ultimately came through unharmed, and Yin Feng was able to take up his post. In the second year of Huangchu, an edict was issued commending Zhang Gong. He was enfeoffed as Marquis Within the Pass and appointed Colonel of the Central Garrison. Several years later, he was summoned to the capital to receive a position among the imperial attendants, with his son Zhang Jiu succeeding him. On reaching Dunhuang, Zhang Gong firmly declined the rewards, pleading grave illness. He died during the Taihe era and was posthumously appointed Bearer of the Golden Mace. Zhang Jiu later became Grand Administrator of Jincheng, and both father and son won renown in the western provinces.
世语曰：就子敩，字祖文，弘毅有干正，晋武帝世为广汉太守。王濬在益州，受中制募兵讨吴，无虎符，敩收濬从事列上，由此召敩还。帝责敩：「何不密启而便收从事？」敩曰：「蜀汉绝远，刘备尝用之。辄收，臣犹以为轻。」帝善之。官至匈奴中郎将。敩子固，字元安，有敩风，为黄门郎，早卒。敩，一本作勃。
The Shiyu / Accounts of this Generation states: Zhang Jiu's son Zhang Xiao, courtesy name Zuwen, was resolute, capable, and upright. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin, the Martial Emperor, he served as Grand Administrator of Guanghan. While Wang Jun was in Yi Province, he received an imperial command to recruit troops for an attack on Wu, but had no tiger tally to verify his authority. Zhang Xiao arrested one of Wang Jun's aides and memorialised the matter, for which he was summoned back to court. The Emperor reproached Zhang Xiao: "Why did you not report the matter in secret, rather than immediately arrest his aide?" Zhang Xiao replied: "Shu-Han is exceedingly remote, and Liu Bei once exploited that very fact. Even in making the arrest, I considered myself too lenient." The Emperor approved of his response. Zhang Xiao eventually became Gentleman-General Protecting the Xiongnu. His son Zhang Gu, courtesy name Yuan'an, took after him. Zhang Gu served as Gentleman within the Yellow Gates, but died young. In one edition, Zhang Xiao's name is written as Zhang Bo.
魏略勇侠传载孙賔硕、祝公道、杨阿若、鲍出等四人，賔硕虽汉人，而鱼豢编之魏书，盖以其人接魏，事义相类故也。论其行节，皆庞、阎之流。其祝公道一人，已见贾逵传。今列賔硕等三人于后。
The Biographies of the Brave and Chivalrous in the Weilüe / Brief History of Wei records four men: Sun Binshuo, Zhu Gongdao, Yang A'ruo, and Bao Chu. Although Binshuo was a man of Shu-Han, Yu Huan included him in his book, presumably because these men had links with Wei and their deeds were of a kind. In conduct and integrity, they all belonged to the class of Pang Yu and Yan Wen. Zhu Gongdao has already appeared in the Biography of Jia Kui. The other three are set out below.
孙賔硕者，北海人也，家素贫。当汉桓帝时，常侍左悺、唐衡等权侔人主。延熹中，衡弟为京兆虎牙都尉，秩比二千石，而统属郡。衡弟初之官，不修敬于京兆尹，入门不持版，郡功曹赵息呵廊下曰：「虎牙仪如属城，何得放臂入府门？」促收其主簿。衡弟顾促取版，既入见尹，尹欲修主人，𠡠外为市买。息又启云：「左悺子弟，来为虎牙，非德选，不足为特酤买，宜随中舍菜食而已。」及其到官，遣吏奉牋谢尹，息又𠡠门，言「无常见此无阴儿辈子弟邪，用其笺记为通乎？」晚乃通之，又不得即令报。
Sun Binshuo was from Beihai State. His family had always been poor. During the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, the Accomplished Emperor, Regular Attendant Zuo Guan, Tang Heng, and others wielded power equal to the ruler. During the Yanxi era, Tang Heng's younger brother became Tiger Tooth Commandant of Jingzhao, an office subordinate to the commandery and ranked equivalent to 2000 Shi. When Tang Heng's brother first took office, he showed no respect to the Intendant of Jingzhao. He entered the gates without carrying his tablet, and Zhao Xi, the commandery's Merit Section Foreman Clerk, rebuked him from the corridor: "The standing of the Tiger Tooth is subordinate to the Intendant. How dare you stroll into the Intendant's office with arms swinging free?" Zhao Xi then had his Registrar arrested. Tang Heng's brother hurriedly sent for his tablet. Once he had entered and met the Intendant, the latter wished to receive him with due hospitality and ordered provisions from the market for his welcome. Zhao Xi remonstrated again: "A kinsman of a man like Zuo Guan has come here as Tiger Tooth Commandant. He was not chosen for his virtue and merits no special provision of wine and food. He should simply eat the ordinary fare of the lodge." Upon taking up his post, he sent an official to present a formal letter of thanks to the Intendant. Zhao Xi again instructed the gatekeepers, saying, "Do you not often see the sons and younger kinsmen of these eunuchs? Why should a mere letter from him gain him admittance?" It was not passed on until evening, and even then no immediate reply was given.
衡弟皆知之，甚恚，欲灭诸赵。因书与衡，求为京兆尹，旬月之间，得为之。息自知前过，乃逃走。时息从父仲台，见为凉州刺史，于是衡为诏征仲台，遣归。遂诏中都官及郡部督邮，捕诸赵尺儿以上，及仲台皆杀之，有藏者与同罪。时息从父岐为皮氏长，闻有家祸，因从官舍逃，走之河间，变姓字，又转诣北海，著絮巾布袴，常于市中贩胡饼。
Tang Heng's brother learnt of all this and was furious. He resolved to exterminate the entire Zhao clan. He wrote to Tang Heng asking to become Intendant of Jingzhao, and within a month or so secured the post. Recognising the imminent danger, Zhao Xi fled. At the time, his paternal uncle Zhao Zhongtai was about to become Inspector of Liang Province. Tang Heng procured an edict summoning Zhao Zhongtai and dismissed him. An imperial order then commanded the capital offices and the Post Marshals of the commanderies to arrest and kill every member of the Zhao clan, including Zhao Zhongtai, from children one chi tall upwards. Anyone who sheltered them was subject to the same punishment. Another of Zhao Xi's paternal uncles, Zhao Qi, was then Chief of Pishi. When he heard of the disaster that had befallen his clan, he abandoned his post and fled to Hejian. He changed his name and courtesy name, then moved on to Beihai State. Wearing a padded cap and coarse trousers, he made a living selling flatbreads in the marketplace.
賔硕时年二十余，乘犊车，将骑入市。观见岐，疑其非常人也。因问之曰：「自有饼邪，贩之邪？」岐曰：「贩之。」賔硕曰：「买几钱？卖几钱？」岐曰：「买三十，卖亦三十。」賔硕曰：「视处士之望，非似卖饼者，殆有故！」乃开车后户，顾所将两骑，令下马扶上之。时岐以为是唐氏耳目也，甚怖，面失色。賔硕闭车后户，下前襜，谓之曰：「视处士状貌，既非贩饼者，加今面色变动，即不有重怨，则当亡命。我北海孙賔硕也，阖门百口，又有百岁老母在堂，势能相度者也，终不相负，必语我以实。」
Sun Binshuo, then in his twenties, entered the market in an ox-cart. When he saw Zhao Qi, he suspected that he was no ordinary man. He asked, "Do you make these cakes yourself, or resell them?" "I resell them," Zhao Qi replied. "What do they cost, and what do you charge?" "I buy them for thirty cash and sell them for thirty." Sun Binshuo said, "By your bearing, sir, you do not look like a bread seller. There must be some reason for this." He opened the rear door of the cart and ordered his two horsemen to dismount and help Zhao Qi inside. Zhao Qi thought they must be agents of the Tang family and was terrified. Sun Binshuo closed the rear door, lowered the front curtain, and said, "By your appearance, you are clearly no bread seller. Now your face has changed colour as well. Either you have incurred a bitter feud or you are a fugitive. I am Sun Binshuo of Beihai State. My household numbers a hundred mouths, and I have a mother of a hundred years at home. I understand your circumstances. I would never betray you. You must tell me the truth."
岐乃具告之。賔硕遂载岐驱归。住车门外，先入，白母言：「今日出得死友在外，当来入拜。」乃出，延岐入，椎牛钟酒，快相娱乐。一二日，因载著别田舍，藏置复壁中。后数岁，唐衡及弟皆死。岐乃得出，还本郡。三府并辟，展转仕进，至郡守、刺史、太仆，而賔硕亦从此显名于东国，仕至豫州刺史。初平末，賔硕以东方饥荒，南客荆州。至兴平中，赵岐以太仆持节使安慰天下，南诣荆州，乃复与賔硕相遇，相对流涕。岐为刘表陈其本末，由是益礼賔硕。顷之，賔硕病亡，岐在南，为行丧也。
Zhao Qi then told him everything. Sun Binshuo drove him straight home, halted the cart outside the gate, and went in first to tell his mother: "Today I met a friend worth dying for. He is outside and will come in to pay his respects." He went out, invited Zhao Qi inside, slaughtered an ox, brought out wine, and feasted with him. A day or two later, he transported Zhao Qi to a detached farmstead and hid him within a double wall. Several years later, Tang Heng and his brother both died. Zhao Qi was at last able to emerge and return to his home commandery. All Three Excellencies summoned him to service, and he rose successively through office to become a commandery Administrator, Inspector, and Minister Coachman. Sun Binshuo likewise became renowned throughout the eastern provinces and eventually served as Inspector of Yu Province.At the end of the Chuping era, famine in the east drove Sun Binshuo south to Jing Province. During the Xingping era, Zhao Qi, then Minister Coachman, was sent out as Bearer of the Imperial Tally to conciliate the realm. When he travelled south to Jing Province, he met Sun Binshuo again, and the two faced each other with tears streaming down their cheeks. Zhao Qi related the whole affair to Liu Biao, who thereafter treated Binshuo with still greater honour. Before long Binshuo died of illness. Zhao Qi, still in the south, observed mourning for him.
杨阿若后名丰，字伯阳，酒泉人。少游侠，常以报仇解怨为事，故时人为之号曰：「东市相斫杨阿若，西市相斫杨阿若。」至建安年中，太守徐揖诛郡中彊族黄氏。时黄昂得脱在外，乃以其家粟金数斛，募众得千余人以攻揖。揖城守。丰时在外，以昂为不义，乃告揖，捐妻子走诣张掖求救。会张掖又反，杀太守，而昂亦陷城杀揖，二郡合势。昂恚丰不与己同，乃重募取丰，欲令张掖以麻系其头，生致之。丰遂逃走。
Yang Aruo, later named Feng and with the courtesy name Boyang, was from Jiuquan. In his youth, he was known for his chivalrous ways, often avenging wrongs and settling grievances. People of the time therefore had a saying: "When blades clash in the eastern market, there is Yang Aruo. When blades clash in the western market, there is Yang Aruo." During the Jian'an era, Grand Administrator Xu Yi executed the powerful Huang clan of his commandery. Huang Ang escaped and used several hu of gold from his family's stores to recruit more than a thousand men, with whom he attacked Xu Yi. Xu Yi held the city against him. Yang Feng was then away from home, but regarded Huang Ang's cause as unjust. He sent word to Xu Yi, left his wife and children, and hastened to Zhangye to seek aid. Just then, a rebellion also broke out in Zhangye, and the Grand Administrator was killed. Huang Ang likewise captured the city and killed Xu Yi, after which the forces of the two commanderies united. Enraged that Yang Feng had refused to join him, Huang Ang offered a large reward for his capture. He wanted the men of Zhangye to bind Yang Feng by the head with hemp and deliver him alive. Yang Feng was forced to flee.
武威太守张猛假丰为都尉，使赍檄告酒泉，听丰为揖报仇。丰遂单骑入南羌中，合众得千余骑，从乐涫南山中出，指趋郡城。未到三十里，皆令骑下马，曳柴扬尘。酒泉郡人望见尘起，以为东大兵到，遂破散。昂独走出，羌捕得昂，丰谓昂曰：「卿前欲生系我颈，今反为我所系，云何？」昂慙谢，丰遂杀之。时黄华在东，又还领郡。丰畏华，复走依燉煌。至黄初中，河西兴复，黄华降，丰乃还郡。郡举孝廉，州表其义勇，诏即拜驸马都尉。后二十余年，病亡。
Zhang Meng, Grand Administrator of Wuwei, provisionally appointed Yang Feng Commandant and sent him with a proclamation to Jiuquan, authorising him to avenge Xu Yi. Yang Feng rode alone among the Southern Qiang and gathered more than a thousand cavalry. Emerging through the southern mountains of Leguan, he headed directly for the commandery seat. When still thirty Li away, he ordered every rider to dismount and drag bundles of brushwood behind him, raising clouds of dust. The people of Jiuquan saw the dust and believed that a great army had arrived from the east. Their forces collapsed and scattered. Huang Ang escaped alone, but the Qiang army caught him. Yang Feng said, "You once meant to bind me by the neck and take me alive. Now it is you who are bound before me. What have you to say?" Huang Ang pleaded in shame, but Yang Feng killed him. Huang Hua was then in the east and returned to take control of the commandery. Fearing that Huang Hua might retaliate against him, Yang Feng fled once more, this time to Dunhuang. During the Huangchu era, order was restored in the Hexi region and Huang Hua surrendered. Feng then returned to his commandery. The commandery nominated him as Filial and Incorrupt, while the province submitted a memorial praising his righteousness and courage. By imperial edict he was immediately appointed Commandant of Escorting Cavalry. He died of illness more than twenty years later.
鲍出字文才，京兆新丰人也。少游侠。兴平中，三辅乱，出与老母兄弟五人家居本县，以饥饿，留其母守舍，相将行采蓬实，合得数升，使其二兄初、雅及其弟成持归，为母作食，独与小弟在后采蓬。初等到家，而噉人贼数十人已略其母，以绳贯其手掌，驱去。初等怖恐，不敢追逐。须臾，出从后到，知母为贼所略，欲追贼。兄弟皆云：「贼众，当如何？」出怒曰：「有母而使贼贯其手，将去煑噉之，用活何为？」乃攘臂结衽独追之，行数里及贼。
Bao Chu, courtesy name Wencai, was from Xinfeng, Jingzhao.In his youth, he was also known for his chivalrous ways. During the Xingping era, when the Three Capital Areas were in turmoil, Bao Chu and his four brothers lived with their aged mother in their native county. Driven by hunger, they left their mother to look after the house while they went together to gather lotus seeds. After they had collected several pints, Bao Chu sent his elder brothers Chu and Ya and his younger brother Cheng home to prepare food for their mother, while he and his youngest brother remained to gather more. By the time the three reached home, several dozen man-eating bandits had abducted their mother. They had tied her hands and were about to drive her away. Terrified, the brothers dared not pursue them. Soon afterwards Bao Chu returned and learnt that his mother had been taken. He made ready to follow the bandits. His brothers all said, "There are too many of them. What can we do?" Bao Chu answered furiously, "What use is there in living if, while our mother still lives, we allow bandits to bind her hands, carry her off, boil her, and eat her?" He bared his arms, hitched up his robe, and set off alone. After several li, he caught up with the bandits.
贼望见出，乃共布列待之。出到，回从一头斫贼四五人。贼走，复合聚围出，出跳越围斫之，又杀十余人。时贼分布，驱出母前去。贼连击出，不胜，乃走与前辈合。出复追击之，还见其母与比舍妪同贯相连，出遂复奋击贼。贼问出曰：「卿欲何得？」出责数贼，指其母以示之，贼乃解还出母。比舍妪独不解，遥望出求哀。出复斫贼，贼谓出曰：「已还卿母，何为不止？」出又指求哀妪：「此我嫂也。」贼复解还之。出得母还，遂相扶将，客南阳。
Seeing him, they drew together and waited for his approach. Bao Chu charged them, wheeled around, and struck one end of their line, cutting down four or five men. The rest fled, but soon regrouped and surrounded him. Bao Chu broke out of the encirclement and charged them again, killing more than ten. Meanwhile, some of the bandits had gone ahead with Bao Chu's mother. The others repeatedly attacked him but could not overcome him, so they fled to join the forward party. Bao Chu pursued them and again attacked. He then saw his mother bound by the same rope to an old woman from a neighbouring house, and renewed his assault. The bandits called out, "What do you want?" Bao Chu denounced their crimes and pointed at his mother. They untied her and gave her back. The neighbour remained bound and cried out to Bao Chu for mercy from afar. Bao Chu attacked the bandits once more. The bandit said, "We have already returned your mother. Why will you not stop?" Pointing to the woman who had called to him, Bao Chu replied, "She is my sister-in-law." The bandits untied her too and let her go. Bao Chu received his mother, and the family helped one another south to seek refuge in Nanyang.
建安五年，关中始开，出来北归，而其母不能步行，兄弟欲共舆之。出以舆车历山险危，不如负之安稳，乃以笼盛其母，独自负之，到乡里。乡里士大夫嘉其孝烈，欲荐州郡，郡辟召出，出曰：「田民不堪冠带。」至青龙中，母年百余岁乃终，出时年七十余，行丧如礼，于今年八九十，才若五六十者。
In the fifth year of Jian'an, when Guanzhong first reopened, Bao Chu set out north for home. His mother could no longer walk, and his brothers wanted to carry her together in a cart. Bao Chu thought a cart would be perilous over the mountain roads and that carrying her on his back would be safer. He therefore placed her in a basket and bore her home alone. The local gentry admired his intense filial devotion and wished to recommend him to the province and commandery. When the commandery summoned him to office, Bao Chu said, "I am a man of the fields and unfit for cap and sash." During the Qinglong era, his mother died at more than a hundred years of age. Bao Chu was then over seventy. He observed every mourning rite. He is now between eighty and ninety, yet looked like a man of fifty or sixty.
鱼豢曰：昔孔子叹颜回，以为三月不违仁者，盖观其心耳，孰如孙、祝菜色于市里，颠倒于牢狱，据有实事哉？且夫濮阳周氏不敢匿迹，鲁之朱家不问情实，是何也？惧祸之及，且心不安也。而太史公犹贵其竟脱季布，岂若二贤，厥义多乎？今故远收孙、祝，而近录杨、鲍，既不欲其泯灭，且敦薄俗。至于鲍出，不染礼教，心痛意发，起于自然，迹虽在编户，与笃烈君子何以异乎？若夫杨阿若，少称任侠，长遂蹈义，自西徂东，摧讨逆节，可谓勇而有仁者也。
Yu Huan said: When Confucius praised Yan Hui for not straying from benevolence for three months, he could only have been judging his heart. Who can compare with Sun Bingsuo and Zhu Gongdao, one gaunt in the marketplace and the other suffering in prison, whose virtue was borne out by their deeds? Moreover, the Zhou family of Puyang did not dare openly shelter the fugitive, while Zhu Jia of Lu did not ask the truth of the matter. Why was this? They feared that disaster might reach them, yet their consciences would not let them stand aside. Even so, the Grand Historian esteemed Zhu Jia for ultimately securing Ji Bu's release. How could he compare with these two worthies, whose righteousness was greater still? I have therefore gathered the more distant accounts of Sun Bingsuo and Zhu Gongdao and recorded the more recent deeds of Yang Feng and Bao Chu. I wished not only to preserve their names from oblivion, but also to strengthen the weak morals of our age. Bao Chu had never been imbued with ritual instruction. The pain in his heart stirred his resolve, and his actions sprang entirely from his natural feelings. Though but a common man, how did he differ from a gentleman of steadfast and ardent virtue? Yang Aruo was famed in youth for his chivalry, and in maturity distinguished himself through righteous deeds. From west to east, he struck down and punished rebels. He may truly be called courageous and benevolent.