古谣谚 卷十

时人为詰汾力微二帝谚

魏书序纪

詰汾皇帝无妇家。

力微皇帝无舅家。

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.

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时人为李崇元融语

魏书宣武灵皇后胡氏传

陈留章武。

伤迁折股。

贪人败类。

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.

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时人为安丰中山济南三王语

魏书临话淮王谭传

三王楚琳琅。

未若济南备圆方。

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

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时人为元颐元钦语

魏书阳平王新成传

皇宗略略。

寿安思若。

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

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咸阳宫人为咸阳王禧歌

魏书咸阳王禧传

可怜咸阳王。

奈何作事误。

金床玉几不能眠。

夜蹋霜与露。

洛水湛湛弥岸长。

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.

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时人为王嶷语

魏书王嶷传

实痴实昏。

终得保存。

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

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雍州民为公孙轨语

魏书公孙轨传

驴无疆弱。

辅脊自壮。

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

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时人为王遵业王延明语

魏书王遵业传

英英济济。

王家兄弟。

The Wang brothers were all outstanding.

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桑干乡里为房景伯语

魏书房景伯传

有义有礼。

房家兄弟。

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

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高允引谚

魏书高允传

其益如毫。

其损如刀。

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

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赵郡邻郡为李曾谣

魏书李孝伯传

诈作赵郡鹿。

犹胜常山粟。

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

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广平百姓为李波小妹语

魏书李安世传。

李波小妹字雍容。

褰裙逐马如卷蓬。

左射右射必叠双。

妇女尚如此。

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.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

高祖与侍臣续歌

魏书郑道昭传

白日光天无不曜。

江左一隅独未照。

愿从圣明兮登衡会。

万国驰诚\混內外。

云雷大振兮天门辟。

率土来宾一正歷。

舜舞干戚兮天下归。

文德远被莫不思。

皇风一鼓兮九地匝。

戴日依天清六合。

遵彼汝坟兮昔化贞。

未若今日道风明。

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.

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时人为崔楷语

魏书崔楷传

莫廌獬。

付崔楷。

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

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李彪引谚

魏书李彪传

一日不书。

百日荒芜。

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

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邢恋引俗谚

魏书邢恋传

耕则问田奴。

绢则问织婢。

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

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洛中童谣二则

魏书尔朱彦伯传

三月末。

四月初。

扬灰簸土觅真珠。

头去项。

脚根齐。

驱上树。

不须梯。

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

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高谦之引谚

魏书高谦之传

迷而知反。

得道未远。

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

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张普惠引谚

魏书张普惠传

唯乱门之无过。

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.

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时人为祖莹袁翻语

魏书祖莹传

京师楚楚﹑袁与祖。

洛中翩翩﹑祖与袁。

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

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同门生为李謐语

魏书李謐语

青成蓝。

蓝谢青。

师何常。

在明经。

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.

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蜀中民为李势谣二则

魏书賨李势传

江桥头。

闕下市。

成都北门十八子。

有客有客。

来侵门陌。

其气欲索。

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

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时人为刘卲刘骏语

魏书岛夷刘义隆传

遥望建康城。

江水逆流縈。

前见子杀父。

后见弟杀兄。

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.

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凉州民谣

魏书私署凉州牧张寔传

蛇利砲。

蛇利砲。

公头坠地而不觉。

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.

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凉州民为宋氏谣

魏书私署凉州牧张玄靖传

灭宋者田土子。

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

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凉州民为张氏谣

魏书私署凉州牧张天锡传

刘新妇簸米。

石新妇炊羖羝。

荡涤簸张儿。

张儿食之口真正披。

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

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北方女为倍侯利谣

魏书高车国传

求良夫当如倍侯。

A good husband should be like Bei Huo Li.

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魏孝明帝时洛下谣言

北齐书神武纪上

铜拔打铁拔。

元家世將末。

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

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魏静帝时童谣

北齐书神武纪下

可怜青雀子。

飞来鄴城裏。

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.

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魏武定末童谣

北齐书文襄纪

百尺高张竿摧折。

水底燃灯灯灭。

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

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文襄时谣言

北齐书文襄纪

软脱帽。

床底喘。

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

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北齐末童戏唱

北齐书后主纪

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.

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武成时童谣

北齐书神武娄后传

九龙母死不作孝。

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

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后主时童谣

北齐书后主穆后传

黄花势欲落。

清觴满盃酌。

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

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斛律光引鄙谚

北齐书琅邪王儼传

奴见大家心死。

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.

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孝昭时童谣

北齐书上洛王思宗子元海传

中兴寺內白鳧翁。

四方侧听声雍雍。

道人闻之夜打钟。

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

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惠化尼为竇泰谣

北齐书竇泰传

竇行台。

去不回。

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

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贝州民为刺史司马长史清河令语

北齐书库狄士文传

刺史罗杀政。

司马蝮蛇瞋。

长史含笑判。

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.

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时人为陈元康语

北齐书陈元康传

三崔二张。

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.

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兗州民为郑父子歌

北齐书郑述祖传

大郑公。

小郑公。

相去五十载。

风教犹尚同。

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.

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鄴下为睦仲让语

北齐书崔暹传

讲义两行﹑得中郎。

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

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徐之范引童谣

北齐书徐之才传

周里跂求伽。

豹祠嫁石婆。

斩冢作媒人。

唯得一量紫綎靴。

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

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时人为唐邕白建言

北齐书徐之才传

并州赫赫﹑唐与白。

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

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齐废帝时童谣三则

北齐书杨愔传

白羊头尾禿。

羖【歷】头生角。

羊羊喫野草。

不喫野草远我道。

不远打尔脑。

阿么姑﹑祸也。

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.

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省中为裴让之语

北齐书裴让之传

能赋诗。

裴让之。

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

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时人为裴皇甫二姓兄弟语

北齐书裴让之次弟諏之传

諏胜於让。

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.

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时人为冯祖赵三氏子语

北齐书赵彦深传

冯祖及赵。

秽我凤池。

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

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清河民为曲堤成姓语

北齐书宋世良传

寧度东吴会稽。

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.

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清河民为宋世良谣

北齐书宋世良传

曲堤虽险贼\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.

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时人为苏珍之宋世轨语

北齐书宋世轨传

决定嫌疑﹑苏珍之。

视表见裏﹑宋世轨。

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

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济北民为崔伯谦歌

北齐书崔伯谦传

崔府君。

能治政。

易鞭鞭。

布威德。

民无爭。

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.

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京师为苏琼语

北齐书苏琼传

断决无疑﹑苏珍之。

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

御史台中为宋游道语

北齐书宋游道传

见贼\能討﹑宋游道。

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

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时人为宋游道陆操语

北齐书宋游道传

游道獼猴面。

陆操科斗形。

意识不关貌。

何谓丑者必无情。

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?

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阳子术引谣言

北齐书魏寧传

卢十六。

稚十四。

犍子拍头三十二。

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

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省中为祖珽裴让之语

北齐书逸文

多才多能﹑祖孝征。

能赋能诗﹑裴让之。

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

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相府为裴汉语

周书裴宽传

日下粲烂﹑有裴汉。

Pei Han has lustrous qualities.

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河北民为裴侠歌

周书裴侠歌

肥鲜不食。

丁庸不取。

裴公贞惠。

为世规矩。

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

时人为裴諏柳虯语

周书柳虯传

北府裴諏。

南省柳虯。

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

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诸生为吕思礼语

周书吕思礼传

讲书论易。

其锋难敌。

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

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梁武帝在雍镇童谣

隋书音乐志上

襄阳白铜蹄。

反缚扬州儿。

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

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陈初童谣

隋书五行志上

黄班青驄马。

发自寿阳涘。

来时冬气末。

去日春风始。

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

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齐神武时鄴中童谣

隋书五行志上

可怜青雀子。

飞入鄴城裏。

作窠犹未成。

举头失乡里。

寄书与妇母。

好看新妇子。

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

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齐武平元年童谣

隋书五行志上

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.

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齐武平二年童谣

隋书五行志上

和士开。

七月三十日。

將你向南台。

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

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又齐武平二年童谣

隋书五行志上

七月刈禾伤早。

九月喫糕正好。

十月洗荡饭瓮。

十一月出却赵老。

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

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齐武平末鄴中童谣

隋书五行志上

金作扫帚玉作把。

净扫殿屋迎西家。

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

周初童谣

隋书五行志上

白杨树头金鸡鸣。

祇有阿舅无外甥。

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

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周宣帝语宫人蹋歌

隋书五行志上

自知身命促。

把烛夜行游。

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

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隋煬帝梦二竖子歌

隋书五行志上

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.

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大业中童谣

隋书五行志上

桃李子。

鸿鵠遶阳山。

宛转花林里。

莫浪语。

谁道许。

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

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长孙览求为周宣帝歌

隋书刑法志

朝亦醉。

暮亦醉。

日日恒常醉。

政事日无次。

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.

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唐史官引谚语论冀州

隋书地理志中

仕官不偶遇冀部。

魏郡清河。

天公无奈何。

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.

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汩罗土人为屈原歌

隋书地理志下

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.

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唐史官引梁世谚论史职

隋书经籍志

上车不落﹑则著作。

体中何如﹑则秘书。

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

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时人为刘昉郑译语

隋书刘昉传

刘昉牵前。

郑译推后。

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

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渭州民为豆卢勣谣

隋书豆卢勣传

我有丹阳。

山出玉浆。

济我民夷。

神乌来翔。

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

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长孙平引鄙谚

隋书长孙平传

不痴不聋。

未堪作大家翁。

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

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幽州为卢昌衡卢思道语

隋书卢昌衡传

卢家千里。

释奴龙子。

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

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蜀中为于仲文语

隋书于仲文传

明断无双﹑有于公。

不避强御﹑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.

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赵州民为和平子谣

隋书柳彧传

老禾不早杀。

余种秽良田。

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

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陈留老子祠柏树下三童子歌

隋书王劭传

老子庙前古枯树。

东南状如繖。

圣主从此去。

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

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相州百姓为樊叔略语

隋书樊叔略传

智无穷。

清乡公。

上下正。

樊安定。

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

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长安为崔弘度屈突盖语

隋书崔弘度传

寧饮三升酢。

不见崔弘度。

寧茹三升艾。

不逢屈突盖。

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.

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时人为何妥萧慎语

隋书何妥传

世有两雋。

白杨何妥。

青杨萧慎。

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

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刘炫引谚

隋书刘炫传

老吏抱案死。

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

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时人为崔儦李若语

隋书崔儦传

京师灼灼。

崔儦李若。

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

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隋煬帝时童谣

隋书萧岿传

萧萧亦復起。

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