《古谣谚》·卷五
商邱成醉歌
漢書景武昭宣成元功臣表
出居安能鬱鬱。Why am I feeling unhappy as a government official?
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班固引諺論刑法
漢書邢法志
鬻棺者欲歲之疫。
Coffin sales people would like to have a plague every year.
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元帝詩童謠
漢書五行志二
井水溢。滅灶煙。灌玉堂。流金門。
On the overthrow of the present ruling government.
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成帝時燕燕童謠
漢書五行志二
燕燕﹑尾涎涎。
張公子時相見。木門倉琅根。燕飛來。啄皇孫。
皇孫死。燕啄矢。
On how the woman dancer Zhao Fei Yan entered the emperor’s palace by pleasing the emperor and murdered the princes for her own benefit.
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成帝時黃爵謠
漢書五行志二
邪徑敗良田。讒口亂善人。桂樹華不實。黃爵巢其顛。
故未人所羨。今為人所憐。
On how the Han dynasty fell to disgrace because of mismanagement of affairs and personnel, leading to the take-over by Wang Mang.
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魏河內民為史起歌
漢書溝洫志
鄴有賢令兮為史公。決漳水兮灌鄴旁。終古舄鹵兮生稻梁。
On Ye’s (place name) having a good official who was able to resolve an irrigation problem and to enable crops growing on salted land.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
鄭白渠歌
漢書溝洫志
田於何所。池陽谷口。鄭國在前。白渠起後。
舉臿為雲。決渠為雨。水流灶下。魚躍入釜。
涇水一石。其泥數斗。且溉且糞。長我禾黍。
衣食京師。億萬之口。
On the accomplishment of an efficient irrigation system that ensured large harvests to feed many in the capital city.
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班固引諺論經方
漢書藝文志
有病不治。常得中醫。
If one delays the treatment of a disease, one does not recover quickly.
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賈誼引里諺論廉恥
漢書賈誼傳
欲投鼠而忌器。
On wanting to attack someone yet being afraid of the consequences.
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路溫書引俗語
漢書路溫書傳
畫地為獄議不入。刻木為吏期不對。
On how the prison officials practiced such excessive cruelty that they were jeopardizing the entire system.
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廣川王去為陶望卿歌
漢書廣川惠王越傳
背尊章。嫖以忽。謀屈奇。起自絕。行周流。自生患。
諒非望。今誰怨。On a strife between two mistresses of Prince Qi. One of them had to take her own life after failing to please the prince because of the other’s slander of her.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
廣川王去為諸姬歌
漢書廣川惠王越傳
愁莫愁。居無聊。心重結。意不舒。內茀鬱。憂哀積。
上不見天生何益。日崔隕。時不再。願棄軀。死無悔。
On to the boring life of Prince Qi’s mistresses after they were ordered to stay within their living quarters and granted no freedom of going out.
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李陵海上歌
漢書蘇武傳
徑萬里兮度沙幕。為君將兮奮匈奴。路窮絕兮矢刃摧。
士眾滅兮名已隤。老母已死。雖欲報恩將安歸。A song sung by Li Ling, a Han general who had to surrender to Xiong Nu after he was set up to lose one key battle. This song expresses his feelings of hopelessness and sorrow because of his mother’s execution by the emperor because of his surrender.
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司馬遷引諺
漢書司馬遷傳
誰為為之。孰令聽之。
On the sadness of Si Ma Qian who advocated justice by speaking on behalf of Li Ling (as in 0171), and yet was punished by the emperor.
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燕王旦歌
漢書燕刺王旦傳
歸空城兮。狗不吠。雞不鳴。橫術何廣廣兮。固知國中之無人。A song sung by a prince who complained that there were no qualified people to serve as officials.
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華容夫人歌
漢書燕刺王旦傳
髮紛紛兮寘渠。骨藉藉兮亡居。母求死子兮妻求死夫。
裴回兩渠間兮君子獨安居。
A song that expresses the great suffering of Madam Hua Rong who experienced the execution of her husband and children and was abducted into the service of a powerful man.
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廣陵王胥歌
漢書廣陵厲王胥傳
欲久生兮無終。長不樂兮安窮。奉天期兮不得須臾。
千里馬兮駐待路。黃泉下兮幽深。人生要死﹑何為苦心。
何用為樂心所喜。出入無悰為樂亟。
蒿里召兮郭門閱。死不得取代庸。身自逝。
A song sung by Prince Xu on the brink of his execution after he was found to have used voodoo or shamanism to try to overthrow the ruling emperor.
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楊惲拊缶歌
漢書楊惲傳
田彼南山。蕪穢不治。種一頃豆。落而為萁。
人生行樂耳。須富貴何時。
A song sung by Yang Yun about how the government is in a mess and how people should try to enjoy their lives by not worrying about pursing wealth and fame.
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諸儒為朱雲語
漢書朱雲傳
五鹿嶽嶽。朱雲折其角。How Zhu Yun was able to defeat the emperor’s favorite five scholars in debate.
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琅邪里中為王吉語
漢書王吉傳
東家有樹。王陽婦去。東家棗完。去婦復還。
How Wang Ji divorced his wife for picking fruit from a tree grown over from next door. His neighbor cut the fruit tree down and asked him to take his wife back.
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漢書稱王貢語
漢書王貢傳
王陽在位。貢公彈冠。
How Wang Ji and Gong Yu would both work together and retreat from work together.
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京師為王駿語
漢書王吉傳
前有趙張。後有三王。
The capable people in the capital city are first Chao and then three men with the same surname Wang.
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貢禹引俗語
漢書貢禹傳
何以孝弟為。財多而光榮。何以禮儀為。史書而仕宦。
何以謹慎為。勇猛而臨官。
How the morality of society has deteriorated so much due to the government’s bad policy of selling office positions.
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鄒魯諺
漢書韋賢傳
遺子黃金滿籯。不如一經。
Leaving the children with a lot of gold is not as good as leaving them with just one book.
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京師為諸葛豐語
漢書諸葛豐傳
閒何闊。逢諸葛。
How Zhu Ge Fong is doing a good job at his post.
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劉輔引里語
漢書陸輔傳
腐木不可以為柱。卑人不可以為主。Rotten wood should not be used as posts and servants should not be acting as masters.
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長安為蕭朱王貢語
漢書蕭育傳
蕭朱結綬。王貢彈冠。How friends recommend one another for jobs.
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上郡為馮氏兄弟歌
漢書馮野王傳
大馮君。小馮君。兄弟繼踵相因循。聰明賢知惠吏民。
政如魯衛德化鈞。周公﹑康叔猶二君。
A song sung by people in Shang county on how the two Fong brothers are doing a good job as officials in that county.
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諸儒為匡衡語
漢書匡衡傳
無說詩。匡鼎來。匡說詩。解人頤。
Kuang Heng is good at interpreting poetry.
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諸儒為張禹語
漢書張禹傳
欲為論。念張文。
How Zhang Yu is the ultimate expert on Confucius’ Lun Yu (the Annalect).
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薛宣引鄙語
漢書薛宣傳
苛政不親。煩苦傷恩。
Inappropriate and harsh policies distance the people from the government. Not only do they induce suffering and pain, they also counter the favors given to the people in the past.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
汝南鴻陂童謠
漢書翟方進傳
壞陂誰。翟子威。飯我豆食羹芋魁。反乎覆。陂當復。
誰云者﹑兩黃鵠
A children’s song on how a past policy of dismantling a dyke and making a lake out of a river by Zhai Zi Wei is causing the current drought problem.
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王嘉引里語
漢書王嘉傳
千人所指。無病而死。
If thousands of people have complaints against one person, that person will die even with no illness.
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京師為楊雄語
漢書楊雄傳贊
惟寂寞。自投閣。愛清靜。作符命。
On some political complication after Wang Mang took the throne. Wang Mang was trying to get rid of some people who assisted him in taking over the office fearing that they would do the same for a rival.
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長安中為尹賞歌
漢書尹賞傳
安所求子死。桓東少年場。生時諒不謹。枯骨後何葬。
On how the mayor of Chang An, Yin Shang, arrested a few hundred juvenile delinquents in the city and left them to die in a deep cave covered with rocks. Only one hundred days later, he allowed the family to identify the bodies and take them home. The song says that those juveniles may have been bad, yet is it right to bury a body that is mere skeleton.
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班固引諺論貨殖
漢書貨殖傳序
以貧求富。農不如工。工不如商。刺繡文。不如倚市門。
The best way to become wealthy is through trade.
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長安為谷永樓護號
漢書樓護傳
谷子雲筆札。樓君卿脣舌。
On two celebrities of the time, one was a good writer by the name of Gu Zi Yun, the other was a good debater named Lou Jun Qing.
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閭里為樓護歌
漢書樓護傳
五侯治喪樓君卿。
All key government officials assisted with the funeral proceedings of Lou Jun Qing’s mother.
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牢石歌
漢書石顯傳
牢邪石邪。五鹿客邪。印何纍纍。綬若若邪。
On how a few people were so powerful politically speaking.
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長安謠
漢書石顯傳
伊徙鴈。鹿徙菟。去牢與陳實無賈。
A folk song of Chang An city on how they were happy about those powerful people (described in 0197) lost their political clout.
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平城歌
漢書匈奴傳
平城之下亦誠苦。七日不食﹑不能彀弩。
The Xiong Nu (a tribe at the north of the Chinese border at the time) army had surrounded the city of Ping and the Han people and army were stuck in the city without food for seven whole days. The soldiers could not even use their bows.
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烏孫公主悲愁歌
漢書烏孫傳
吾家嫁我兮天一方。遠託異國兮烏孫王。穹廬為室兮旃為牆。
以肉為食兮酪為漿。居常土思兮心內傷。願為黃鵠兮歸故鄉。
A song sung by a Chinese girl who married the chief of a neighboring foreign tribe for the sake of diplomatic ties. She did not like the nomadic food and environment and she did not know the tribal language. She was hoping to become a swan and fly home.
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戚夫人歌
漢書呂后傳
子為王。母為虜。終日舂薄暮。常與死為伍。相離三千里。
當誰使告女。
A song sung by one of the concubines whose son became the second emperor of Han dynasty. Her complaint about being under house arrest caused the empress to order her execution.
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李延年歌
漢書李夫人傳
北方有佳人。絕世而獨立。一顧傾人城。再顧傾人國。寧不知傾城與傾國。佳人難再得。
A song sung to the emperor by the emperor’s musician Li Yan Nian who was trying to inform the emperor the exquisiteness of his beautiful sister.
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長安民為王氏五侯歌
漢書元后傳
五侯初起。曲陽最怒。壞決高都。連竟外杜。
土山漸臺西白虎。
A song sung by civilians in the city of Chang An about the extravagant lifestyle of five princes.
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長安為張竦語
漢書王莽傳
欲求封。過張伯松。力戰鬥。不如巧為奏。
A song sung by people of Chang An about Chang Song who wrote a tribute to Wang Mang, the regent of the emperor’s court. Chang Song was rewarded for this flattering act.
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東方為王匡廉丹語
漢書王莽傳
寧逢赤眉。不逢太師。太師尚可。更始殺我。
A song sung by people in northeastern China who were plagued by pillaging of officials and soldiers sent by the central ruling government.
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華人為高昌人歌
漢書逸文
驢非驢。馬非馬。
A song describing how barbaric the Gao Chang people were. Gao Chang was a kingdom in northwestern China.
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孟康引民語
漢書景帝紀
金可作。世可度。
A saying referring to the advantage of a penal code for producing fake gold.
