Biographies of Jesters (滑稽列傳 Guji Liezhuan) Part Three

Paragraph 3: Chunyu Kun (淳于髡) (2/3)

When Weiwang reigned his dukedom into the eighth year, the Chu Dukedom posed a military threat to him. Weiwang, as the ruler of the Qi Dukedom, named Chunyu Kun emissary to the Chao Dukedom, to send for defending forces. Weiwang then equipped Chunyu Kun with one-hundred jins (a measure unit; one jin at that time equals to 300 mg or more) of gold and 10 four-horse carriages as gifts for Chao. Chunyu Kun laughed so hard that his laughing ripped his hat ribbons apart. At this, Weiwang said, "My counsellor, do you think my offer is meager?" Chunyu answered, "How dare I?" "Why then you laughed?" asked Weiwang. Chunyu replied, "On my way here from the east, I saw someone pray by the road. With a pork leg and a pot of wine, the prayer went, 'May ample harvest come from barren grounds; may bountiful harvest come from flooded fields; may all crops come ripe and rich; may my house and barns be extravagantly filled.' I laughed simply because he offered so little but asked for so much." Hearing this, Weiwang then added one thousand yis (yi is a measure unit equals to apporximately 2 jins) of gold, ten pairs of royal jadeware, one hundred of four-horse carriages. With all these, Chunyu bade Wenwang farewell and left for Chao. In exchange, Chao launched an army of one hundred thousand best soldiers and one thousand warring chariots. When this information came to Chu, Duke Chu withdrew his invading army overnight.

*威王八年，楚大發兵加齊。齊王使淳于髡之趙請救兵，齎(ji1)金百(bo2)斤，車(jü1)馬十駟。淳于髡仰天大笑， 冠(guan1)纓索絕。王曰：「先生少之乎？」髡曰：「何敢！」王 曰：「笑豈有說乎？」髡曰：「今者臣從東方來，見道傍有禳(rang2)田者，操一豚蹄，酒一盂，祝曰：『甌窶(ou1lou2)滿篝(gou1)，汙邪(wu1ye2)滿車，五穀蕃熟(shu2)，穰穰(rang2)滿家。』 臣見其所持者狹而所欲者奢，故笑之。」於是齊威王乃益齎黃金千溢，白璧十雙，車馬百駟。髡辭而行，至趙。趙王與之精兵十萬，革車千乘(sheng4)。楚聞之，夜引兵而去。
**The original paragraph in Chinese is taken from: Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008. 4941. (司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. 4941頁. ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8). All translation is based upon the text and annotations thereof (4943-4944).
***All translation is mine.

Biographies of Jesters (滑稽列傳 Guji Liezhuan) Part Two

Paragraph 2: Chunyu Kun (淳于髡) (1/3)

Chunyu Kun, a man who wived in Qi the Dukedom and stayed, was short in height (no more than 7 Zhou feet, i.e., 162cm) but eloquent in speech. He set out many times as an emissary to other dukedoms; he never for once yielded himself or his dukedom to any humiliation. In reign was Qi Weiwang, a duke who enjoyed riddles. In the early years of his reign, Weiwang lusted for carnal pleasures and often feasted late into the night. Such indulgence of his took over all obligations due a ruler. His courtiers had to manage a dukedom without a duke at court. The court then fell into disorder and the land began to fall into the hands of other dukes. The future of Qi hung by a  thread. It appeared that the dukedom was about to meet its doom. Even so, none of Weiwang's courtiers durst to utter a word of admonition. Chunyu Kun then made an attempt in his riddle. "There in this dukedom is a bird," he said, "enormous in size, perching upon your palace; for three full years, it neither flipped a wing nor made a sound. I wonder if Your Highness know what bird this is." Weiwang then replied, "This bird rarely flies, but once it does, it reaches the zenith; this bird hardly sings, but once it does, it takes people by surprise." Upon these words, Weiwang convened all his 72 magistrates from around the dukedom. He executed one and rewarded one. With order restored and discipline demanded, Weiwang readied an army to defend his territory. For fear of him, the dukes returned every piece of land they took from Qi. It then became one of the most powerful dukedoms among them all and so it remained for 36 years.  This is recorded in, "House of Wan" (i.e., "House of Tian Jingzhong" 田敬仲世家, one of the 30 volumes of  "Biographies of the Feudal Houses and Eminent Persons" 世家 in The Records of the Grand Historian ).

*淳于髡者，齊之贅婿也。長不滿七尺，滑稽多辯，數(shuo4)使諸侯，未嘗屈辱。齊威王之時喜隱，好為淫樂長夜之飲，沈湎不治，委政卿大夫。百(bo2)官荒亂，諸侯並侵，國且危亡，在於旦暮，左右莫敢諫。淳于髡說(shui4)之以隱曰：「國中有大鳥，止王之庭，三年不蜚(fei1)又不鳴，王知此鳥何也？」王曰：「此鳥不飛則已，一飛沖天；不鳴則已，一鳴驚人。」於是乃朝諸縣令長七十二人，賞一人，誅一人，奮兵而出。諸侯振驚，皆還齊侵地。威行三十六年。語在《田完世家》中。

**The original paragraph in Chinese is taken from: Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008. 4941. (司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. 4941頁. ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8). All translation is based upon the text and annotations thereof (4942-4943).

***All translation is mine.

Biographies of Jesters (滑稽列傳 Guji Liezhuan) Part One

Paragraph One: Preface

Confucius says, “All books of The Six Arts (Liuyi) share one common goal—the making of great leadership. The Book of Etiquette teaches moderation; The Book of Music hails harmony; Shangshu (尚書), a book of historical records, serves to hand down accounts of the ancient times; The Book of Poetry (or The Book of Odes) conveys human emotions; I Ching (易經; or The Book of Changes) turns ruling into art; Chunqiu, the chronicle of Lu (魯) the Dukedom, encourages justice and decency.” The Prefect of the Grand Scribes (i.e., Sima Qian, the Father of Chinese Historiography) says, “The world works in countless ways; there is no telling or teaching for each. A light-hearted talk may as well come to the point or settle a dispute.”

*孔子曰：「《六蓺》於治一也。《禮》以節人，《樂》(yue4)以發和(huo2)，《書》以道事，《詩》以達意，《易》以神化，《春秋》以義。」太史公曰：天道恢恢，豈不大哉！談言微中(zhong4)，亦可以解紛。
**The original paragraph in Chinese is taken from: Sima Qian. Ed. Han Zhaoqi. New Translation Shiji. vol.VIII. Taipei: Sanmin, 2008. 4939. (司馬遷. 韓兆琦 注譯. 新譯史記, 第八冊. 臺北市：三民, 2008. 4939頁. ISBN: 978-95-14-5001-8). All translation is based upon the text and annotations thereof (4939-4940).

***All translation is mine.