Gu Yao Yan 古謡諺 :: :: University of Virginia Library

Words about Emperor Jie Fen who was supposed to have a wife from heaven, and therefore he did not really have a wife, and his son, Emperor Li Wei, did not have a uncle on the mother side.

時人為李崇元融語

魏書宣武靈皇后胡氏傳

陳留章武。傷遷折股。貪人敗類。檅我明主。

Li Cong and Yuan Rong injured their legs and waists by loading too much cloth on them. (The emperor said they could keep all the cloth they could take out of the court.) Greedy people like them had besmirched the lustrous emperor.

時人為安豐中山濟南三王語

魏書臨話淮王譚傳

三王楚琳琅。未若濟南備圓方。

All three princes, An Fong, Zhong Shan and Ji Nan, were all good, but Prince Ji Nan was perfect in every way.

時人為元頤元欽語

魏書陽平王新成傳

皇宗略略。壽安思若。

Among the princes that were outstanding, there were Yuan Yi and Yuan Qin.

咸陽宮人為咸陽王禧歌

魏書咸陽王禧傳

可憐咸陽王。奈何作事誤。金床玉几不能眠。
夜蹋霜與露。洛水湛湛彌岸長。行人那得渡。

Songs sung by servants of Prince Xian Yang about how he planned to overthrow the emperor but failed, and was "awarded" death by the emperor.

時人為王嶷語

魏書王嶷傳

實癡實昏。終得保存。

One could only survive the imperial system of government by being really stupid and incompetent.

雍州民為公孫軌語

魏書公孫軌傳

驢無疆弱。輔脊自壯。

There was no difference in the strength of all donkeys. Once things were put on their backs, they could all manage.

時人為王遵業王延明語

魏書王遵業傳

英英濟濟。王家兄弟。

The Wang brothers were all outstanding.

桑乾鄉里為房景伯語

魏書房景伯傳

有義有禮。房家兄弟。

The Pang brothers were pious about following the due manners regarding the treatment of one's brothers.

高允引諺

魏書高允傳

其益如毫。其損如刀。

The benefit of drinking alcohol is very minimal and the harm of it is as bad as what a knife can do.

趙郡鄰郡為李曾謠

魏書李孝伯傳

詐作趙郡鹿。猶勝常山粟。

Words about a county official Li Zeng, who was able to rule the county with a zero crime rate.

廣平百姓為李波小妹語

魏書李安世傳。

李波小妹字雍容。褰裙逐馬如卷蓬。左射右射必疊雙。
婦女尚如此。男子那可逢。

Li Buo's little sister was a good archer. Even the women of the Li family were skilled in battle, let alone the men.

高祖與侍臣續歌

魏書鄭道昭傳

白日光天無不曜。江左一隅獨未照。願從聖明兮登衡會。
萬國馳誠混內外。雲雷大振兮天門闢。率土來賓一正歷。
舜舞干戚兮天下歸。文德遠被莫不思。皇風一鼓兮九地匝。
戴日依天清六合。遵彼汝墳兮昔化貞。未若今日道風明。
文王政教兮暉江沼。寧如大化光四表。

Songs sung by the emperor of Wei and his subjects. The songs were about how well they were doing with conquering territories and establishing their dominion.

時人為崔楷語

魏書崔楷傳

莫廌獬。付崔楷。

Words about how Cui Kai was very tough in terms of defeating strong opponents.

李彪引諺

魏書李彪傳

一日不書。百日荒蕪。

If there was a day that history was not recorded, then the history of one hundred days would be in peril.

邢戀引俗諺

魏書邢戀傳

耕則問田奴。絹則問織婢。

One should consult farm slaves regarding farming, and consult weaving slaves concerning weaving.

洛中童謠二則

魏書爾朱彥伯傳

三月末。四月初。揚灰簸土覓真珠。
頭去項。腳根齊。驅上樹。不須梯。

A children's song that predicted the death of two officials.

高謙之引諺

魏書高謙之傳

迷而知反。得道未遠。

If one knows to turn back when one goes astray, then one is not too far from finding the correct path.

張普惠引諺

魏書張普惠傳

唯亂門之無過。

No matter what one does, one should never even go pass a household in which there is a chaos goign on in case one gets involved with any trouble.

時人為祖瑩袁翻語

魏書祖瑩傳

京師楚楚﹑袁與祖。洛中翩翩﹑祖與袁。

In the capital city of Luo Yang, there were Zu Ying and Yuan Fan who were outstanding.

同門生為李謐語

魏書李謐語

青成藍。藍謝青。師何常。在明經。

Words praising Li Mi, who was a student of Kong Pan and became better than Kong Pan. The teacher and student relationship is not permanent. Whoever knows more about something is necessarily the teacher.

蜀中民為李勢謠二則

魏書賨李勢傳

江橋頭。闕下市。成都北門十八子。
有客有客。來侵門陌。其氣欲索。

Two folk songs in Si Chuan which foretold the invasion by Huan Wen.

時人為劉卲劉駿語

魏書島夷劉義隆傳

遙望建康城。江水逆流縈。前見子殺父。後見弟殺兄。

Words about the internal strife in the imperial court among potential emperors. In this struggle, a son would kill his father and a younger brother would kill his older brother.

涼州民謠

魏書私署涼州牧張寔傳

蛇利砲。蛇利砲。公頭墜地而不覺。

A folk song in Liang Zhou about its warlord Zhang Shi who were having visions of a man without a head in his bed room. Soon after that, he did get killed by his subordinates.

涼州民為宋氏謠

魏書私署涼州牧張玄靖傳

滅宋者田土子。

A folk song in Laing Zhou about who would kill General Song.

涼州民為張氏謠

魏書私署涼州牧張天錫傳

劉新婦簸米。石新婦炊羖羝。蕩滌簸張兒。
張兒食之口真正披。

A folk song sung by people of Liang Zhou concerning who would defeat Zhang Tian Si and take over Laing Zhou.

北方女為倍侯利謠

魏書高車國傳

求良夫當如倍侯。

A good husband should be like Bei Huo Li.

魏孝明帝時洛下謠言

北齊書神武紀上

銅拔打鐵拔。元家世將末。

Rumor about how it was the end of the Wei dynasty of the Yuan family.

魏靜帝時童謠

北齊書神武紀下

可憐青雀子。飛來鄴城裏。羽翮垂欲成。化作鸚鵡子。

A children's song predicting the split of teh territory of the Wei dynasty into two chunks, with its power falling into the hands of the chief of staff, Shen Wu.

魏武定末童謠

北齊書文襄紀

百尺高張竿摧折。水底燃燈燈滅。

A children's song predicting the death of Shen Wu and his oldest son.

文襄時謠言

北齊書文襄紀

軟脫帽。床底喘。

A rumor predicting the slaying of Wen Xiang by his food servant.

北齊末童戲唱

北齊書後主紀

高末。

The end of height. A phrase said by children jumping ropes. The Chinese character for height, Gao, is the same as the last name of the ruling emperor.

武成時童謠

北齊書神武婁后傳

九龍母死不作孝。

When the mother of the ninth Prince died, the ninth Prince would not mourn her death.

後主時童謠

北齊書後主穆后傳

黃花勢欲落。清觴滿盃酌。

A children's song indicating the fall of Northern Qi dynasty, starting with Ms. Mu becoming the empress and the emperor drinking too much.

斛律光引鄙諺

北齊書琅邪王儼傳

奴見大家心死。

A slang expression indicating that servants' rebellion against their master is doomed to failure. As soon as the rebelling servants see their master, they scatter and run away.

孝昭時童謠

北齊書上洛王思宗子元海傳

中興寺內白鳧翁。四方側聽聲雍雍。道人聞之夜打鐘。

A children's song indicating the disarray among the potential successors of the throne.

惠化尼為竇泰謠

北齊書竇泰傳

竇行臺。去不回。

A song predicting the failure of Dou Tai's military operation and his death.

貝州民為刺史司馬長史清河令語

北齊書庫狄士文傳

刺史羅殺政。司馬蝮蛇瞋。長史含笑判。清河生喫人。

Words that people of Bei Zhou said about their officials. The Governor was unkind, the Chief of Military affairs was as angry as a serpent, the only kind person was the Secretary, and the local official of Qing He literally devoured people alive.

時人為陳元康語

北齊書陳元康傳

三崔二張。不如一康。

Among the emperor's advisors, Chen Yaun Kang is better than the three Mr. Cui's and two Mr. Zhang's put together.

兗州民為鄭父子歌

北齊書鄭述祖傳

大鄭公。小鄭公。相去五十載。風教猶尚同。

A song that people of Dui Zhou sang for their two officials, Zheng Dao Zhao and Zheng Shu Zu who governed the place successively and were both very kind to the people and competent at doing their jobs.

鄴下為睦仲讓語

北齊書崔暹傳

講義兩行﹑得中郎。

Words said by people of Yie about how Mu Zhong Rang got a government job by flattering an official's son.

徐之範引童謠

北齊書徐之才傳

周里跂求伽。豹祠嫁石婆。斬冢作媒人。唯得一量紫綎靴。

A children's song indicating the imminent death of the empress.

時人為唐邕白建言

北齊書徐之才傳

并州赫赫﹑唐與白。

Currently in Bian Zhou, Tang Yong and Bai Jian are powerful.

齊廢帝時童謠三則

北齊書楊愔傳

白羊頭尾禿。羖【歷】頭生角。
羊羊喫野草。不喫野草遠我道。不遠打爾腦。
阿麼姑﹑禍也。道人姑﹑夫死也。

Three children's songs indicating the misfortune and eventual death of Yang Yin despite despite his marriage to a Princess and his ability to manage the court business well.

省中為裴讓之語

北齊書裴讓之傳

能賦詩。裴讓之。

The person who truly could write poems was Pei Rang Zhi.

時人為裴皇甫二姓兄弟語

北齊書裴讓之次弟諏之傳

諏勝於讓。和不如亮。

Pei Zou Zhi is better than his older brother Pei Rang Zhi, and Huang Fu Laing is also better than his older brother Haung Fu He.

時人為馮祖趙三氏子語

北齊書趙彥深傳

馮祖及趙。穢我鳳池。

The officials who were contaminating our court are Mr. Fong, Mr. Zu and Mr. Zhao.

清河民為曲堤成姓語

北齊書宋世良傳

寧度東吳會稽。不歷成公曲堤。

We would rather go across Gui Ji and not cross Qu Ti, since bandits gather at the latter place.

清河民為宋世良謠

北齊書宋世良傳

曲堤雖險賊何益。但有宋公自屏跡。

Although Qu Ti has many bandits, as long as Governor Song is with us, they will not come around here to bother us.

時人為蘇珍之宋世軌語

北齊書宋世軌傳

決定嫌疑﹑蘇珍之。視表見裏﹑宋世軌。

Su Zhen Zhi and Song Shi Gui are both good judges.

濟北民為崔伯謙歌

北齊書崔伯謙傳

崔府君。能治政。易鞭鞭。布威德。民無爭。

Mr. Cui is a good official, since not only is he competent, he is also kind to the people. People therefore could live peacefully together.

京師為蘇瓊語

北齊書蘇瓊傳

斷決無疑﹑蘇珍之。

Su Zhen Zhi is such a good judge that his judgements are never mistaken.

御史臺中為宋遊道語

北齊書宋遊道傳

見賊能討﹑宋遊道。

Song You Dao can really tell who the bad people are, and then serve them right.

時人為宋遊道陸操語

北齊書宋遊道傳

遊道獼猴面。陸操科斗形。意識不關貌。何謂醜者必無情。

Both Song You Dao and Lu Cao are ugly, but, one's intelligence has nothing to do with one's appearance. Why should we say that ugly people are necessarily senseless?

陽子術引謠言

北齊書魏寧傳

盧十六。稚十四。犍子拍頭三十二。

A rumor correctly predicting the death of Prince Wu Cheng at age thirty two.

省中為祖珽裴讓之語

北齊書逸文

多才多能﹑祖孝徵。能賦能詩﹑裴讓之。

Zu Xiao Zheng has many talents. Pei Rang Zhi can write prose and poems well.

相府為裴漢語

周書裴寬傳

日下粲爛﹑有裴漢。

Pei Han has lustrous qualities.

河北民為裴俠歌

周書裴俠歌

肥鮮不食。丁庸不取。裴公貞惠。為世規矩。

Pei Xiao is the model official, in that he is not corrupt in any way.

時人為裴諏柳虯語

周書柳虯傳

北府裴諏。南省柳虯。

Pei Zou could manage civil affairs well, while Liu Qiu could manage military affairs well.

諸生為呂思禮語

周書呂思禮傳

講書論易。其鋒難敵。

It is hard to defeat Lu Si Li when debating the content of the scriptures.

梁武帝在雍鎮童謠

隋書音樂志上

襄陽白銅蹄。反縛揚州兒。

A children's song predicting the success of Liang daynasty Emperor Wu's military conquest of Yang Zhou.

陳初童謠

隋書五行志上

黃班青驄馬。發自壽陽涘。來時冬氣末。去日春風始。

A children's song predicting the elimination of the Chen kingdom by Han Qin.

齊神武時鄴中童謠

隋書五行志上

可憐青雀子。飛入鄴城裏。作窠猶未成。舉頭失鄉里。
寄書與婦母。好看新婦子。

A children's song describing the disintegration of Qi dynasty.

齊武平元年童謠

隋書五行志上

狐截尾。你欲除我我除你。

A children's song remarking that everyone is trying to get rid of everyone else in their way.

齊武平二年童謠

隋書五行志上

和士開。七月三十日。將你向南臺。

A children's song correctly predicting the He Shi Kai's execution.

又齊武平二年童謠

隋書五行志上

七月刈禾傷早。九月喫糕正好。
十月洗蕩飯瓮。十一月出卻趙老。

A children's song correctly predicting the mishaps of some government officials.

齊武平末鄴中童謠

隋書五行志上

金作掃帚玉作把。淨掃殿屋迎西家。

A children's song predicting the conquest of Yei by the army of the Zhou kingdom.

周初童謠

隋書五行志上

白楊樹頭金雞鳴。祇有阿舅無外甥。

A children's song predicting that the uncle of the young Zhou emperor would take over the court.

周宣帝語宮人蹋歌

隋書五行志上

自知身命促。把燭夜行遊。

I know I will not live for long, therefore I have to play at night with the candles lit. A song sung by the Zhou emperor, who died three years after being enthroned.

隋煬帝夢二豎子歌

隋書五行志上

住亦死。去亦死。未若乘船度江水。

The second emperor of Sui dynasty dreaming of two children singing to him: staying or going, either way you will die. You might as well go across the river by boat. He was murdered soon after this dream.

大業中童謠

隋書五行志上

桃李子。鴻鵠遶陽山。宛轉花林裡。莫浪語。誰道許。

A children's song during the Da Yei era. It is about the activities of certain warlords during this time.

長孫覽求為周宣帝歌

隋書刑法志

朝亦醉。暮亦醉。日日恆常醉。政事日無次。

Chang Sun Lan Qiu sang a song about Emperor Xuan Di of Zhou: He is constantly drunk and never really attends to government affairs. Chang Sun Lan Qiu was beaten to death by order of the emperor because of this song.

唐史官引諺語論冀州

隋書地理志中

仕官不偶遇冀部。
魏郡清河。天公無奈何。

Since people from Ji Zhou banded together and protected one another, it was bad for an official to confront anyone from there. Wei Jun and Qing He both had a very bad atmosphere in terms of their residents' indulgence in luxurious lifestyles.

汩羅土人為屈原歌

隋書地理志下

何由得渡湖。

How can we cross the lake? This phrase in a song is referring to the dragon boat festival on the fifth day of the fifth month according to the lunar calendar.

唐史官引梁世諺論史職

隋書經籍志

上車不落﹑則著作。體中何如﹑則秘書。

Words describing a government historian as someone who would sit on the job and do not much.

時人為劉昉鄭譯語

隋書劉昉傳

劉昉牽前。鄭譯推後。

Liu Fang became prominent first in the imperial court and then Zheng Yi became the second after him.

渭州民為豆盧勣謠

隋書豆盧勣傳

我有丹陽。山出玉漿。濟我民夷。神烏來翔。

A song sung by people of Wei Zhou praising their official Dou Lu Ji.

長孫平引鄙諺

隋書長孫平傳

不癡不聾。未堪作大家翁。

A folk saying suggesting that one should ignore rumors when judging someone.

幽州為盧昌衡盧思道語

隋書盧昌衡傳

盧家千里。釋奴龍子。

Words referring the talents of the two brothers in the Lu household.

蜀中為于仲文語

隋書于仲文傳

明斷無雙﹑有于公。不避強禦﹑有次武。

People of Shu praising Yu Zhong Wen on his ability to resolve hard cases and bring about justice by putting even criminals from the privileged class in jail.

趙州民為和平子謠

隋書柳彧傳

老禾不早殺。餘種穢良田。

A suggestion that it is a bad practice to put people who are good at military affairs in civil service positions.

陳留老子祠柏樹下三童子歌

隋書王劭傳

老子廟前古枯樹。東南狀如繖。聖主從此去。

A song sung by three kids under a dead old cedar in front of a Lao Zi shrine. The song said that when new branches should grow, whichever direction the new branch was pointing in was the direction from which a new emperor would come.

相州百姓為樊叔略語

隋書樊叔略傳

智無窮。清鄉公。上下正。樊安定。

Words by people of Xiang Zhou praising Fan Shu Lui as a very wise and outstanding official.

長安為崔弘度屈突蓋語

隋書崔弘度傳

寧飲三升酢。不見崔弘度。寧茹三升艾。不逢屈突蓋。

One would rather drink three liters of vinegar than meet Cui Hong Du, and one would rather be burned with three liters of Ai grass than meet Qu Tu Gai. These words refer to these two men's harsh and ruthless treatment of people.

時人為何妥蕭慎語

隋書何妥傳

世有兩雋。白楊何妥。青楊蕭慎。

There are two outstanding people, namely He Tuo and Xiao Shen.

劉炫引諺

隋書劉炫傳

老吏抱案死。

Some criminal cases were never solved even when the officers in charge died of old age.

時人為崔儦李若語

隋書崔儦傳

京師灼灼。崔儦李若。

There are two outstanding people in the capital city, namely Cui Biao and Li Ruo.

隋煬帝時童謠

隋書蕭巋傳

蕭蕭亦復起。

An imperial descendant from the previous dynasty had a hard time rising to the surface again due to the doubt of the current emperor.