《前出师表》+英文译文

前出师表

诸葛亮

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先帝创业未半而中道崩殂，今天下三分，益州疲弊，此诚危急存亡之秋也。

然侍卫之臣不懈于内，

忠志之士忘身于外者，

盖追先帝 之殊遇，

欲报之于陛下也。

诚宜开张圣听，以光先帝遗德，恢弘 志士之气，不宜妄自菲薄，引喻失义，以塞

忠谏之路也。

宫中府中，俱为一体；陟罚臧否， 不宜异同：若有作奸犯科及为忠善者，宜

付有司论其刑赏，以昭陛下平明之理；不宜偏私 ，使内外异法也。

侍中、侍郎郭攸之、费祎、董允等，此皆良实，志虑忠纯，是以先帝简拔以

遗 陛下：愚以为宫中之事，事无大小，悉以咨之，然后施行，必能裨补阙漏，有

所广益。< /p>

将军向宠 ，性行淑均，晓畅军事，试用于昔日，先帝称之曰“能”

，是以众

议举宠为督：愚以为营中之事，悉以咨之，必能使行阵和睦，优劣得所。

亲贤臣，

远小人，

此先汉所以兴隆也；

亲小人，

远贤臣，

此后汉所以倾颓也。

先帝在时，每与臣论此事，未尝不 叹息痛恨于桓、灵也。侍中、尚书、长史、参

军，此悉贞良死节之臣，愿陛下亲之、信之 ，则汉室之隆，可计日而待也。

臣本布衣，躬耕于南阳，苟全 性命于乱世，不求闻达于诸侯。先帝不以臣卑

鄙，猥自枉屈，三顾臣于草庐之中，咨臣以 当世之事，由是感激，遂许先帝以驱

驰。后值倾覆，受任于败军之际，奉命于危难之间： 尔来二十有一年矣。

先帝知臣谨慎，故临崩寄臣以大事也。受 命以来，夙夜忧叹，恐托付不效，

以伤先帝之明；故五月渡泸，深入不毛。今南方已定， 兵甲已足，当奖率三军，

北定中原，庶竭驽钝，攘除奸凶，兴复汉室，还于旧都。此臣所 以报先帝而忠陛

下之职分也。至于斟酌损益，进尽忠言，则攸之、祎、允之任也。

愿陛下托臣以讨贼兴复之效，不效，则治臣之罪，以告先帝之灵。若 无兴德

之言，则责攸之、祎、允等之慢，以彰其咎；陛下亦宜自谋，以咨诹善道，察纳< /p>

雅言，深追先帝遗诏。臣不胜受恩感激。

今当远离，临表涕零，不知所言。

Memorial to the Emperor before the Northern Expedition

By Zhuge Liang

I, your humblesubject Zhuge Liang, have this to say:

The

late

Emperor

had

by

far

not

yet

attained

his

objective

of

restoring

the

Han

Dynasty

before

he

deceased

halfway

in

his

career.

Now

the

country

is

divided

into

three

camps,

and

Yizhouhas

exhausted

it

resources.

It

is

indeed

a

critical

moment

when survival is at stake. However, the royal guards keep vigilant at court while the

loyal

soldiers

with

high

aim

fight

selflessly

on

the

battlefield,

because

they

bear

in

mind the late Emperor’s special grace, wishing to repay it to Your

Majesty. It would

be most judicious that you give more open-minded hearing to your counselors, so as

to aggrandize his legacy of noble virtues and heighten thearmymen’s morale. In the

meantime, it would be inadvisable to strain your modesty or make inapt remarks, thus

blocking faithful remonstrances.

The court andthe chancellery are one entity. No difference should be made between

them in respect of promoting and commending the good or punishing and criticizing

the

evil.

Those

who

are

guilty

of

misconduct

or

creditable

for

devotion

and

noble

character

should

be

referred

to

the

authorities

to

be

penalized

or

awarded

on

their

merits,

so

as

to

manifest

Your

Majesty’s

justice

and

perspicacity.

It

would

be

inappropriate to show partiality and make distinction between regulations inside and

outside the court.

Ministers such asGuoYouzhi, Fei Yi and Dong Yun, having integrity and probity as

well as faith in our cause and purity of mind, were selected by the late Emperor to be

used by Your Majesty.

I think that they should

be consulted on

all

court

affairs, be

they

great

or

small,

before

they

are

put

into

execution.

This

will

certainly

be

conducive to making up for loopholes and defects in our work and to effecting greater

successes.

General

Xiang

Chong,

a

man

of

good

nature,

wellversed

in

tactics,

formerly used on probation and considered by the late Emperor as capable, has been

recommended

by

all

to

be

the

Military

Superintendent.

In

my

humble

opinion,

he

should be consulted on all matters concerning the army, be they great or small. This

will surely contribute to the harmony in the army and to putting both the superior and

the indifferent people in their proper places.

To be close to virtuous courtiers and alien to knavish ones was what made the Earlier

Han Dynasty strong and prosperous, while to be close to knavish courtiers and alien

to

virtuous

ones

was

what

made

the

Latter

Han

Dynasty

collapse.

When

the

late

Emperor was still alive, he did

not

fail to

sign

with

regret

and bear a

bitter grudge

against

Emperors

Huan

and

Ling

every

time

he

discussed

this

history

with

me.

Ministers

such

as

Chen

Zhen,

Zhang

Yi

and

Jiang

Wan

are

all

constant

and

loyal

subjects. It is hoped that Your Majesty will hold them dear and trust them. In that case,

the revival of the Han Dynasty can be expected in the nearest future.

I was originallya commoner, tilling my land in Nanyang, trying merely to survive in

the

troublous

times,

not

seeking

to

be

known

to

the

nobility.

The

late

Emperor,disregarding

my

humble

birth

and

low

position,

condescended

to

pay

me

three

visits

in

my

thatched

cottage,

consulting

me

on

contemporary

issues.

I

was

therefore very grateful to him and promised him my whole- hearted service. Later our

army suffered a disastrous defeat, I was appointed as envoy to Wu at the time of the

debacle, and was installed in office at a moment of great peril and tribulation. Since

then

twenty

one

years

have

elapsed.

Knowing

my

prudence,

the

late

Emperor

entrusted

me

with

that

task

of

great

consequence

upon

his

demise.

Being

thus

committed, I have often worried at night, fearing lest I should

fail to live up to the

trust, reflecting discredit upon His Majesty’s uently, I led the troops to

cross

the

River

Lu

in

the

fifth

month,penetrating

into

the

depth

of

the

barren

land.

Now

that

the

southern

territoryis

stabilized

and

armaments

are

sufficient,

it

is

high

time

to

reward

the

army,

so

as

to

march

north

and

recover

the

central

part

of

the

country. I wish that I might exhaust my mediocre ability in extirpating the treacherous

malefactors

and

restoring

the

Han

Dynasty

with

a

triumphant

re- entry

into

the

lost

capital.

This

is

what

I

should

do

to

repay

the

kindness

of

the

late

Emperor

and

to

perform

my

duty

to

Your

Majesty.

As

for

handling

matters

with

discretion

and

weighing advantages and disadvantages as well as making faithful remonstrances,they

are

the

concern

of

Guo,

Fei

and

Dong.

I

beg

Your

Majesty

to

enjoin

upon

methe

success of the expedition and the revival of the Han Dynasty. Should I fail, then call

me to task and have me duly punished, so as to solace the soul of the late Emperor. In

the

absence

of

outspoken

suggestions

regarding

theadvancement

of

virtues

and

morality, Guo, Fei and Dong are to be corrected andto have their fault of remissness

made known to everybody.

It

would

be

wisethat

Your

Majesty

also

give

more

consideration

to

State

affairs,

soliciting

thegood

opinions

on

conducting

the

government

and

accepting

with

discernment otherpeople’s views, so as to realize the late Emperor’s wish as expressed

in

histestament.

I

shall

be

most

grateful

to

you

for

your

kindness.

Upon

my

departureto

a

remote

region,

I

cannot

help

shedding

tears

while

writing

this

memorial,not quite clear myself on what I have herein related.

（谢百魁）

Zhuge Liang

诸葛亮（

181-234

）

COMMENTARY

Zhuge

Liang

is

a

figure

of

both

history

and

legend.

Historically

he

was

the

brains

behind Liu Bei

刘备

, the counsellor who helped Liu set up the kingdom of Shu in the

west of China in rivalry with the kingdoms of Wei(founded by Cao Cao

曹操

) and Wu

(founded by Sun Quan

孙权

) after the Han dynasty fell apart. Legendarily he was the

possessor of preternatural

intelligence.

In later ages his

name became

a

byword for

wisdom. His extant writings are few, but the memorial here translated, addressed to

his

sovereign,

the

son

of

Liu

Bei,

is

such

a

powerful

piece

of

prose

that

it

became

required reading for all Chinese students right up to, and even including, the present

generation.

Zhuge Liang’s forefathers had been eminent servants of the state, but he was orphaned

in youth, and although confident of his ability and knowledge of statecraft, chose to

farm his land in obscurity rather than place himself in the hands of tyrants. Liu Bei,

however, won him over, and Zhuge Liang served him with unswerving devotion to the

end of Liu’s life and into the next, in the person of Liu’s son, Li

u Chan

刘禅

. As prime

minister to Liu Chan

刘禅

, Zhuge led a successful expedition to subjugate the native

tribes to the south, but in the end failed to realize Liu Bei’s ambition as a descendant

of the house of Han to reconquer the homeland occupied by the kingdom of Wei. He

died on campaign.

The ‘subtext’ of Zhuge Liang’s memorial (written in AD 227) is that he himself was a

man

of

high

intelligence

and

wide

vision,

and

his

sovereign

was

close

to

being

an

imbecile. That implication is evident in his every word, and was true in fact. Loyalty

was

the

principle

he

lived

by:

no

loyalty,

no

Zhuge

Liang.

Yet

it

must

have

been

impossible for him to persuade himself that the object of his loyalty was worthy of it.

The wording of his memorial suggests that he had found the way out of his dilemma:

it reads like the last words of a veteran of many wars going out to battle expecting to

meet his end. As it turned out, he led his armies for another seven years before he died

in his tent. We read out the text a life and a will that makes us feel humble, which is a

rare and valuable experience.

To Lead out the Army

Your servant Liang advises:

The late Emperor passed away leaving his great enterprise less than half completed.

The world is still divided into three, and our base in Shu is beleaguered. At this time

our very survival hangs m the balance. Yet the ministers who serve and protect you do

not slacken their efforts at court, and loyal and principled officers act selflessly in the

field: they will require Your Majesty for the uncommon kindness of the late Emperor.

Your Majesty should be truly open minded and attentive if he is to build upon the late

Emperor's legacy and put heart into men of honour, he should not demean himself and

draw on false analogies in order to put a stop to loyal remonstration.

The palace and the Chief Minister's office are one body: there should be no difference

between them over promotions and demotions, favour and disgrace. If there be cases

of

trickery

and

misdemeanour

on

the

one

hand,

and

good

and

loyal

service

on

the

other,

the

matter

of

punishment

and

reward

should

be

left

to

the

responsible

department of state, in order to demonstrate Your Majesty's fairness and impartiality.

No favouritism should be shown, no different rules for the palace and the ministries.