Regnum Sinense

附：《戰國縱橫家書》原文

Appendix: text of the Zhanguo zonghengjia shu

Excavated texts 简牍 · 249 BC · 秦庄襄王元年

Introduction

A persuasion on a wooden tablet (觚) from tomb M274 at Zhengjiahu, Yunmeng, Hubei, inscribed in seven lines on the front and six on the back and published in Wenwu 2022/3: a persuader named Tu urges a King of Qin to lay down arms, and is twice met with silence. The text, unknown to the received literature, names neither the king nor the year; the excavation report takes the king to be King Zhuangxiang and the occasion the five-state alliance of 247 BC. It is placed here with the appended texts of the Warring States persuaders.

Text and Translation

Text: Chinese source

Text: English Translation

Annotations

[§4] 附：《戰國縱橫家書》原文

[§4] Appendix: text of the Zhanguo zonghengjia shu

附：《贱臣筡西问秦王》：

Appendix: Your humble servant Tu went west to put questions to the King of Qin:

贱臣筡西问秦王，曰：“王之外訄臣筡（愿）欲得王之倚立之閒（闲），渴（竭）腹之所闻。当今□之时，衍……巍（魏）五邦相与，陟＝若壹，为义虖（乎）？筡弗得智（知）；不为（正1）义虖（乎）？筡有（又）弗能智（知），不识吾王将可（何）以侍（待）之？”王不合（答）。筡有（又）称曰：“五邦以义来甗（献），吾王以义侍（待）之，不为义虖（乎）？（愿）吾王有以义侍（待）之者。为义者，皆欲人之以（正2）义也。”王有（又）不合（答）。筡有（又）曰：“欲有复言也，恐刀居（锯）不容于身。”王曰：“先生言也，寡人谨听。”筡曰：“今夫桀肘（纣）贵为天子，富有天下，尽已失之矣。无异故，皆以（正3）不义反为义者也。巍（魏）人与越人战宿胥之壄（野），而栖越王廥（会）稽廥纂之上；当此时，吴人侵（寝）兵立义事鬼，强为天子，吴人不侵（寝）兵立义事鬼，（正4）尽已失其先王冢庙及与大都连者。无异故，皆以不义反为义者也。今筡入，王之四竞（境）者（诸）民皆有（蚀）寒之色，窃问其故，曰：‘壹恶用兵矣。’阴晋、上雒（洛）之（正5）卒，天下之良卒也，自酆綦以来，夫斩首六矣。今出战不能胜，而内守不能箇（固），不能守其城郭而五刑传其身，而弗能佴（耻）也。无异故，皆未罢也。干将、莫冶（邪），（正6）天下之良剑也，金试□兔（？）壶（？）□□□□□……□勿绎（释）……[马录]耳，天下之良马也，重载以驰于路久而勿绎（释），骀马（正7）□至。无异故，皆未罢也。攻军杀将，王之（禄）也，者（诸）民之力也。者（诸）民绳身以断剅（头）列（裂）腹，宛取□□身以（迁）徙忧守之，此亦大过（祸）矣。万乘王所以□[于]□（背1），或欲黄金朱（珠）玉走马□猎听乐，是以闻谈说之士言攻（击）之便，得地之利，约车众者数百[乘]，而□者数十乘，齎（赍）币帛以□者（诸）侯，必旦兴师□（背2）以□边竞（境）。丈夫居军不□□□□□□□责阵卒，久者数岁，□者期年。兴而治地，地方环（圆）不□百余里，而地有不可虚，必且（迁）中□（背3）之民以实之，百姓弗安且茗，可虖（乎）？王胡不止兵毋兴令居，允其图（？）□，修其垣蘠（墙），又且相□，居得其乐而陈责皆赏。以筡之私此，此天下之良（背4）策已。黄啻□曰行年三百□椯（端）身□察乃智（知）足。今吾王之地，东南囊（？）楚而北半赵，是皆[膏]臾（腴）之地也。西尽日入之所，到无甲之□，而兵强人众莫弗（背5）智（知）已。有＝（又有）最奡、必方、婴（樱）母（梅）、橘鼬（柚）、毗（枇）杷、茈橿（姜）之林，鐘蠪胥（蹇）之州，美丹之穴，赣勒、□□、敝稯（椶）、桃支（枝）之渚，而万物无不有已。”（背6）

Your humble servant Tu went west and put questions to the King of Qin1, saying: "Your servant Tu, pressing from without2, wishes to have a moment of Your Majesty's standing leisure3, to pour out all that his belly holds4 of what he has heard. At the present □ time, Yan……5 Wei and the five states6 are joined together and advance as one7. Is this for righteousness? Tu cannot know. Is it not for righteousness? Tu again cannot know, and does not know with what my King will meet it." The King did not answer. Tu again declared: "If the five states come with righteousness to make their offer8, and my King meets them with righteousness, is that not righteousness? I wish my King had the means to meet them with righteousness. Those who act for righteousness all wish others to act towards them with righteousness." The King again did not answer. Tu again said: "I wish to speak further, but fear the knife and saw9 will not spare my body." The King said: "Speak, sir; I listen with care." Tu said: "Now Jie and Zhou were honoured as Sons of Heaven and rich in all under heaven, and lost it all. For no other reason: in every case they took unrighteousness for righteousness10. The men of Wei fought the men of Yue11 in the wilds of Suxu, and perched the King of Yue on the summit of Kuaiji12; at that time the men of Wu laid down their arms13, established righteousness and served the spirits, and forced their way to be Son of Heaven14; when the men of Wu did not lay down their arms, establish righteousness and serve the spirits, they lost it all, the tombs and temples of their former kings and whatever joined the great capital15. For no other reason: in every case they took unrighteousness for righteousness. Now as Tu came in, the people within Your Majesty's four borders all had the look of hunger and cold16; I privately asked the reason, and they said: 'How we hate the use of arms!17' The soldiers of Yinjin and Shangluo are the finest soldiers under heaven; since Fengqi18 they have taken heads six times19. Now going out to battle they cannot win, and keeping guard within they cannot hold firm; they cannot hold their walls, and the five punishments pass over their bodies, yet they cannot feel it as shame20. For no other reason: in every case they have never been stood down21. Ganjiang and Moye are the finest swords under heaven; tried on metal22 □ … □□□□□□ … never let go …; Lü'er is the finest horse under heaven; driven on the road under heavy loads for long and never let go, a worn-out nag23 □ arrives. For no other reason: in every case they have never been stood down. To attack armies and kill generals is the King's gain24, but it is the people's strength. The people put their bodies to the cord25 to have their heads cut off and their bellies ripped; … taken □□ bodies, moved away to garrison in anxious guard26, this too is a great calamity. That by which a king of ten thousand chariots □ [on] □ □: some desire gold, pearls and jade, racing horses, □ hunting and listening to music, and so, hearing the persuaders tell of the ease of attack and the profit of gaining land, the great among them pledge several hundred [chariots]27 and the □ several tens, and carry silks and gifts to □ the Lords; and surely next morning they raise an army □ to □ the border. The men who stay in the army do not □□□□□□□ … the ranks28: the longest for several years, the □ for a full year. The levy raised and the land brought under rule29, a territory not □ a hundred-odd li around, and land that cannot be left empty, so that the people of the interior □ must be moved to fill it; the common people are not at ease and moreover □30: can this be? Why does the King not halt the troops and raise none, and order them to stay at home, grant them their plans (?) □31, repair their walls, and further □ one another, so that at home they have their joy and the arrears of levies are all rewarded32? In Tu's private view, this is the finest policy under heaven. The Yellow Emperor □ said: at three hundred years of age □, straighten the body, □ examine, and then know sufficiency33. Now my King's land bags (?) Chu to the south-east and halves Zhao to the north34, all of it [fertile] land. To the west it reaches where the sun goes in, to the □ of no armour35; that its soldiers are strong and its people many, none does not know. It has besides forests of zui'ao36, bifang37, cherry and plum38, orange and pomelo, loquat and purple ginger; islets of zhonglong and xujian39; caves of fine cinnabar; and shoals of ganle40, □□, palm and peach-branch41; of the myriad things there is none it lacks."

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Terms

Son of Heaven / 天子n. the emperor.
the five punishments / 五刑n. the five mutilating punishments of the ancient codes: tattooing, cutting off the nose, cutting off the feet, castration and death.
Ganjiang and Moye / 干将、莫邪n. the two swords of legend, forged for the King of Wu by the smith Ganjiang and his wife Moye; the type of a fine blade.
Lü'er / 騄耳n. one of the eight steeds of King Mu of Zhou; the type of a fine horse.
ten thousand chariots / 万乘n. the measure of a great state's strength; a ruler of ten thousand chariots is a king.
persuaders / 谈说之士n. the itinerant counsellors who sold rulers plans of war and alliance.
the Lords / 诸侯npl. the rulers of the states, collectively; in this period the kings of the warring states and the lesser lords, as distinct from the Zhou king.

Persons

Tu 筡A persuader known only from the Zhengjiahu tablet, where he calls himself "your humble servant Tu" and addresses a King of Qin.
King Zhuangxiang of Qin 秦庄襄王King of Qin, reigned 249–247 BC; personal name Zichu 子楚 (Suoyin); the Grand Supreme Emperor 泰上皇 (太上皇) of the Qin and Han slips, the title given him after his death.
Jie 桀The last king of Xia, the type of the tyrant.
Zhou 纣The last king of Shang, the type of the tyrant.
King Goujian of Yue 越王勾践King of Yue, who destroyed Wu in 473 BC.
the Yellow Emperor 黄帝The Yellow Emperor, head of the line of descent in the Wu Yue Chunqiu.

Places

Wei 魏the state of Wei, with its capital at Daliang (modern Kaifeng, Henan); one of the three states formed from Jin.
Yue 越the state of Yue, with its capital at Kuaiji; modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang.
Suxu 宿胥a place on the Yellow River in Wei, Suxu Mouth 宿胥口, where the river's old course turned north; modern Xun County 浚县, Henan.
Kuaiji 会稽the mountain in Yue on which King Goujian was besieged by Wu in 494 BC; modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang.
Wu 吴the state of Wu and its capital; modern Suzhou, Jiangsu.
Yinjin 阴晋a town of Wei on the Qin border east of the Hua mountain, taken by Qin in 332 BC and renamed Ningqin 宁秦; modern Huayin 华阴, Shaanxi.
Shangluo 上雒a County of Qin on the upper Luo River, on the road from the Guanzhong to Nanyang; modern Shangluo 商洛, Shaanxi.
Chu 楚the state of Chu, with its seat at Juyang.
Zhao 赵the state of Zhao, with its capital at Handan, Hebei; one of the three states formed from Jin.

Notes

1 King of QinThe text names neither the king nor the year. The excavation report (Li Tianhong and others, Wenwu 2022/3) takes the king to be King Zhuangxiang and the occasion the five-state alliance of his third year, 247 BC; the text is placed here, at the first year of the reign. The parenthesised readings are the editors'; □ marks a lost graph and …… a lost stretch; 正1 to 背6 number the lines, seven on the front of the tablet and six on the back.
2 pressing from without王之外訄臣筡: 訄, to press; read here as the petitioner from outside the court pressing his suit. The graph after 筡 is read 愿 by the editors.
3 a moment of your standing leisure倚立之閒（闲）: the pause of a king standing, that is a short audience.
4 pour out all that his belly holds渴（竭）腹之所闻: to exhaust what his belly holds of what he has heard.
5 Yan衍: unexplained; it stands where a state is expected and may be 燕 Yan, the two graphs being near in sound. Left as a name.
6 the five states五邦: the five states allied against Qin; the report takes them as the Wei, Zhao, Han, Chu and Yan of Lord Xinling's alliance of 247 BC.
7 advance as one陟＝若壹: the ＝ is the scribe's repetition mark, 陟陟, to advance; as one.
8 to make their offer甗, read 献 by the editors: to present terms.
9 the knife and saw刀居（锯）: the knife and the saw, the instruments of punishment.
10 took unrighteousness for righteousness以不义反为义: the refrain of the speech; 反 as "turned", unrighteousness turned into righteousness in their own eyes.
11 The men of Wei fought the men of Yue巍（魏）人与越人战宿胥之壄（野）: the received histories know no battle of Wei and Yue at Suxu, which lay on the Yellow River in Wei; what follows, the King of Yue perched on Kuaiji, is the Wu siege of Goujian of 494 BC. The text is left as it stands.
12 the summit of Kuaiji廥（会）稽廥纂之上: 廥纂 after 会稽 is unexplained; read as the heights of the mountain.
13 laid down their arms侵, read 寝 by the editors: 寝兵, to lay arms to rest.
14 forced their way to be Son of Heaven强为天子: Wu's claim to lead the Lords under King Fuchai, as at the meeting of Huangchi.
15 whatever joined the great capital及与大都连者: the lands adjoining the great capital.
16 the look of hunger and cold有（蚀）寒之色: the editors read the graph as 蚀 and take the phrase as the look of gaunt hunger and cold; Wang Ning would read 饥 outright.
17 How we hate the use of arms壹恶用兵矣: 壹 as the intensifier, how greatly.
18 since Fengqi酆綦: not identified; the readings proposed are 逢忌, the marsh of Fengji near Daliang (Lin Xiaoyang), and 豐析 (Xie Minghong). Left as a name.
19 taken heads six times斩首六矣: the unit of the six is not given; six campaigns, or six (tens of thousands of) heads.
20 cannot feel it as shame佴, read 耻 by the editors.
21 have never been stood down皆未罢也: 罢, to be released from service; the soldiers have never been relieved. The sentence recurs as a refrain of the swords and the horse.
22 tried on metal金试□兔（？）壶（？）□□□□□……□勿绎（释）: the sentence on the swords is largely lost; 绎, read 释 by the editors, to let go, as of the horse below.
23 a worn out nag骀马: a broken-down horse; the finest horse, never rested, ends a nag.
24 the King s gain王之（禄）也: the editors read the graph as 禄, emolument.
25 put their bodies to the cord绳身: literally to cord the body; read as to bind themselves to the service that costs them 断剅（头）列（裂）腹, heads cut off and bellies ripped.
26 taken away宛取□□身以（迁）徙忧守之: the graph read 迁 by the editors; the people moved to hold new land in anxious guard.
27 pledge several hundred chariots约车众者数百[乘]: 乘 supplied by the editors in brackets; 约车, to bind oneself to furnish chariots.
28 the ranks责阵卒: the sense of the sentence is lost with its seven graphs.
29 The levy raised and the land brought under rule兴而治地，地方环（圆）不□百余里: the land won by a campaign, a hundred-odd li round, must be peopled from the interior (中□之民).
30 moreover且茗: 茗 unexplained.
31 grant them their plans允其图（？）□: the editors' reading, queried by them.
32 the arrears of levies are all rewarded陈责皆赏: 陈责, old debts or arrears; 赏 as read, rewarded, or remitted.
33 at three hundred years黄啻□曰行年三百□椯（端）身□察乃智（知）足: 黄啻 is the Yellow Emperor (啻 for 帝); the saying is broken by two lost graphs; 椯 read 端 by the editors.
34 bags Chu东南囊（？）楚而北半赵: the editors query 囊; Qin's land enclosing Chu to the south-east and taking half of Zhao to the north, after the fall of Ying in 278 BC and Changping in 260 BC. 膏 supplied by the editors in brackets.
35 to the of no armour到无甲之□: the far west where no armour is worn; the graph lost.
36 zui ao最奡: the editors read 奡 as 豪, the porcupine; Wang Ning reads 獒, a dog; Fang Yong reads the graph as 戛, 最戛 for 丛棘, thickets of jujube; Cai Wei reads 獿 and Xie Minghong 狙猱, the macaque. Romanised.
37 bifang必方: the editors read 苾芳, fragrant plants, and note the bird 畢方; Fang Yong reads 枋, a tree. Romanised.
38 cherry and plum婴（樱）母（梅）: the editors' reading; Wang Ning reads 鹦鹉, the parrot, as the Shijing commentary writes it.
39 islets of zhonglong and xujian鐘蠪胥（蹇）之州: 鐘蠪 read 籦籠, a bamboo (Bing Shangbai); 胥蹇 likewise a bamboo; 州 as islet.
40 ganle赣勒: read 瑊玏, a stone like jade (Cai Wei). Romanised.
41 palm and peach branch敝稯（椶）、桃支（枝）: 敝椶 the palm (栟櫚), 桃枝 a bamboo.