卷十一

时人为胡母顥语
南史宋明帝纪
禾绢开眼诺。 胡母大张橐。
Words referring to a powerful yet very corrupted official in the court at the time.
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永明中魏地童谣
南史齐武帝纪
赤火南流丧南国。
A children’s song predicting the end of a dynasty.

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百姓为东昏侯歌
南史齐废帝东昏侯纪
阅武堂。 种杨柳。 至尊屠肉。 潘妃酤酒。
A song sung by people concerning the last emperor of Qi, who was at his best indulging in silly and unnecessary luxuries and plays.
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柳达摩引北方童谣
南史陈武帝纪
石头擣两襠。 擣青復擣黄。
A children’s song correctly predicting the difficulties of a military action against the current cityof Nan Jing in the south.
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梁时童谣
南史陈武帝纪
虏万夫。 入五湖。 城南酒家使虏奴。
A children’s song concerning the failure of a military action by a northern kingdom against a southern kingdom.
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陈人为齐云观歌
南史陈后主纪
齐云观。 寇来无际畔。
A song sung by people of the Chen kingdom concerning military personnel whom they thought they could count on, without fearing invasion from other kingdom.

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妇人入东宫唱
南史陈后主纪
毕国主。
A song sung by a woman, whose words point to the emperor as the one who would end the Chen dynasty.

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李延寿引梁末童谣
南史陈本纪赞
可怜巴马子。 一日行千里。 不见马上郎。
但见黄尘起。 黄尘汙人衣。 皂荚相料理。
A children’s song predicting the transition from one short-lived dynasty to another.
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湘东王府中为鱼弘徐緄谣
南史徐君蒨传。
北路鱼。 南路徐。
Words concerning two very wasteful men of the time.

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时人为檀道济歌
南史檀道济传
可怜白浮鳩。 枉杀檀江州。
A song expressing their sorrow regarding the slaying of a general, Tan Dao Ji, and his seven sons, due to a power struggle in the emperor’s court.
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时人为王志王彬语
南史王志传
三真六草。 为天下宝。
Words praising Wang Zhi and Wang Bin as the greatest calligraphers of their time.
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时人为王莹语
南史王莹传
欲向南。 钱可贪。遂向东。 为黄铜。
Words about the great cost for Wang Ying, a high ranking court official, to expand his house southwards. He eventually expanded eastward of his house, which cost a lot less.

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百姓为袁粲褚彦回语
南史袁粲传
可怜石头城。 寧为袁粲死。 不作彦回生。
Words about how one should emulate a loyal subject like Yuan Can, who would rather die than serve another emperor which was what Chu Yuan Hui did.

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时人为张周刘三姓语
南时刘绘传
三人共宅夹清漳。 张南周北刘中央。
Words referring to the three good writers of the time: Zhang Rong, Zhou Yu, and Liu Hui.

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北军中为韦叡语
南史临川静惠王宏传
不畏萧娘语吕姥。 但畏合肥有韦武。
Words said by the military personnel from the Wei dynasty of the north, who were waiting to do a battle with the approaching army of Liang dynasty from the south. They compared the commander-in-chief and the general of the Liang army to women, since these two ordered a retreat without even fighting.

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百姓为萧正德父子谣
南史临川王宏子正德传
寧逢五虎入市。不欲见临贺父子。
We would rather confront five tigers in the market than meet Prince Lin He and his son. This is describing the ruthless character of this father and son pair.
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梁武帝接民间为萧恪歌
南史南平王恪传
江千万。 蔡五百。 王新车。 庚大宅。 主人憒憒不如客。
Words about how Prince Ke was conned by his house guests who ended up richer than their host.

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梁武帝时童谣
南史鄱阳王范传
莫匆匆。 且宽公。 谁当作天子。 草覆车边己。
A children’s song may be predicting who would become the next emperor. This song gave Prince Fan a lot of hope.

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昭明为太子时谣
南史昭明太子统传
鹿子开城门。 城门鹿子开。 当开復未开。 使我心徘徊。
城中诸少年。 逐欢归去来。
A rumor about how Prince Zhao Ming would die and how Emperor Wu, in his sorrow wouldtake him a long time to decide which of his sons might succeed the post that Prince Zhao Ming had left empty.
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巴东行人为庚子舆歌
南史庚城传
淫预如襆本不通。 瞿塘水退为庚公。A song sung by people who lived along one of the three gorges of Yang Tzi River in present day Si Chuan. This song is about how the water of Qu Tang ebbed for a filial son, Yu Zi Yu, to go across the river on his way taking his father’s corpse home.

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南州士庶为江革萧曇聪语
南史江革传
故人不道智。 新人佞散骑。 莫如度不度。 新人不如故。
Words about how replacing Jiang Ge with Wang Tan Cong as the official of Nan Zhou was a bad idea. Jiang Ge was replaced simply because he did not flatter people who were close to theemperor.

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时人为鲍正语
南史鲍客卿传
无处不逢鸟噪。 无处不逢鲍佐。
Words about three very active, young, talented brothers, Bao Jian, Bao Zheng and Bao Zhi. People met them everywhere they went, just as one hears birds chirping everywhere.

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寻阳渔父答孙缅歌
南史隱逸渔父传
竹竿籊籊。 河水浟浟。相忘为乐。 贪饵吞鉤。 非夷非惠。
聊以忘忧。
A song sung by a fisherman to Sun Mian, who was advising the fishermen to become a government official. The fisherman’s song was this: I am fishing not for the fish or the money, but simply to enjoy the view of the river and forget the worries of life.
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时人为沈麟士语
南史隱逸沈麟士传
差山中。 有贤士。 开门教授局城市。Words about a hermit who lived in the mountains, yet he had disciples who built houses around him, so that eventually it was as if a city surrounded him.

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陶弘景歌
南史隱逸陶弘景传
水王木为梁字。
A song sung by a hermit saying that the name of the next dynasty would be Liang.
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都下民语
南史恩倖茹法珍传
欲求贵职﹑依刀敕。 须得富豪﹑事(捉)(御)刀。If one wants to get high paying jobs, one ought to depend on those who are in power. If one wants to get rich, one would have to wait on those who are in power as if they were the emperor.
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东昏侯时宫中谣言
南史恩倖茹法珍传
赵鬼食鸭削。 诸鬼尽著调。A rumor in the court about how those people who in fact ran the court, rather than the emperor, would all be killed and cooked.
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侯景时的脰鸟童谣
南史侯景传
的脰鸟。 拂朱雀。 还与吴。
A children’s song predicting that Hou Jing’s reign would be short-lived.

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荆州天子谣
南史侯景传
脱青袍。 著芒屩。 荆州天子挺应著。
A song about how Hou Jing was having a hard time holding on to the throne.

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江陵童谣
南史侯景传
苦竹町。市南有好井。荆危州军。杀侯景。
A children’s song predicting the slaying of Hou Jing, whose head was cooked, painted, anddisplayed as an exhibition.

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时人为殷礼语
南史逸文
奇才强记﹑殷往嗣。
Yin Wang Si was such a genius that he was constantly reading and memorizing manyscriptures.

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魏宣武孝明间谣
北史魏孝武帝纪
狐非狐。 貉非貉。 焦梨狗子啮断索。
A rumor predicting the coming to power of Yu Wen Tai.
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齐文宣將受襌时童谣
北史齐文宣帝纪
一束槁。两头然。河边羖【羝】飞上天。
A children’s song predicting the coming to power of Gao Yang, Wen Xuan emperor of Northern Qi.

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齐天保间童谣
北史齐文宣帝纪
马子入石室。三千六百日。A children’s song correctly predicting that the reign of Gao Yang would be exactly ten years.

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河东民为元淑谣
北史常山王遵传附其孙淑传
泰州河东。 杼柚代舂。 元公至止。 田畴始理。
A song sung by people of He Dong praising their Governor Yuan Shu, who made them learn agriculture in order to have a more sustainable life than that based on trading.
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文林馆中为陆乂
北史陆俟传附晜孙乂传
五经无对﹑有陆乂。
Lu Yi has so much knowledge of the five scriptures that no one could ever challenge him.

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鄴下为李氏兄弟语
北史李浑传
学则浑绘纬。 口则绘纬浑。
Among the three brothers of the Li household, their competence in learnedness are in this order: Hun is the first, Hui is the second, and Wei is the third. Their loquaciousness is in this order: Hui the first, Wei the second, and Hun the third.

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时人为李普济语
北史李子雄传附族弟普济传
入麤入细﹑李普济。
Li Pu Ji is good in every way.
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时人为李义深语
北史李义深传
剑戟森森﹑李义深。
Li Yi Shen has talent, yet he is too selfish and good at scheming.
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时人为阳休之语
北史阳休之传
能赋能诗﹑阳休之。
Yang Xiu Zhi is good at writing poems.
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时人为阴凤语
北时贾思伯传
阴生读书不免痴。 不识双凤脱人衣。
Words about how Yin Fong was silly to pawn his clothes in order to pay his tuition to his twoteachers, who eventually were all successful and rich.

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李延寿引鄙语论娄定远
北史娄昭传
利以昏智。
Profits alone can make a wise person delirious, let alone someone who is not wise.

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时人为唐永语
北史唐永传
莫陆梁。 恐尔逢唐將。
Words about a general whose army was stationed on the northern border. He was there for four years and never lost a single battle.

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隋煬帝时并州谣言
北史隋庶人谅传
一张纸。 两张纸。 客量小儿作天子。
A rumor about who would become an emperor. Yang Liang interpreted this rumor in his favor but failed in his attempt to take over the throne and died in prison.

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冀州人语
北史熊安生传
显公钟。 宋公鼓。 宗道暉屐。 李洛姬肚。
Words by people of Ji Zhou about the four biggest of four local people. One monk has the biggest bell. Mr. Song has the biggest drum, Mr. Zong has the biggest wooden shoes, and Mr. Li has the belly of a pregnant woman.