伍子胥列傳

Wu Zixu was a man of Chu, whose given name was Yuan. Yuan's father was Wu She. Yuan's elder brother was Wu Shang. Their ancestor Wu Ju had served King Zhuang of Chu as a forthright remonstrator and gained distinction, and so their line was famous in Chu for generations.

King Ping of Chu had a crown prince named Jian. He appointed Wu She as Grand Tutor and Fei Wuji as Junior Tutor. Fei Wuji was disloyal to Prince Jian. King Ping sent Fei Wuji to fetch a bride for the prince from Qin. The Qin woman was beautiful. Fei Wuji raced back to report to King Ping: "The Qin woman is extraordinarily beautiful. Your Majesty should take her for yourself and find another bride for the prince." King Ping took the Qin woman for himself and loved her passionately, and she bore him a son named Zhen. He found another bride for the prince.

Having ingratiated himself with King Ping through the Qin woman, Fei Wuji left the prince's service and attached himself to King Ping. Fearing that if King Ping should die and the prince succeed him, the prince would kill him, he began to slander Prince Jian. The prince's mother was a woman of Cai who had no favor with King Ping. King Ping gradually grew more distant from Jian and sent him to guard Chengfu on the frontier.

Before long, Fei Wuji was speaking against the prince to the king day and night: "The prince cannot help bearing a grudge over the Qin woman. I beg Your Majesty to take precautions. Since the prince took command of troops at Chengfu, he has been making alliances with the other lords and is planning to return and stage a revolt." King Ping summoned the Grand Tutor Wu She for interrogation. Wu She, knowing that Fei Wuji had slandered the prince, said: "How can Your Majesty let a treacherous petty minister drive a wedge between you and your own flesh and blood?" Fei Wuji said: "If Your Majesty does not act now, the plot will succeed. Your Majesty will be captured." King Ping flew into a rage. He imprisoned Wu She and sent the Chengfu military commander Fen Yang to kill the prince. Before Fen Yang arrived, he sent someone ahead to warn the prince: "Flee at once, prince, or you will be put to death." Prince Jian fled to Song.

Fei Wuji told King Ping: "Wu She has two sons, both capable. If they are not killed, they will be a danger to Chu. Use the father as bait to summon them — otherwise they will become Chu's nemesis." The king sent a messenger to tell Wu She: "If you can bring your two sons here, you live; if not, you die." Wu She said: "Shang is humane by nature — if called, he will certainly come. But Yuan is fierce, unyielding, and enduring — a man who can accomplish great things. Once he sees that coming means being captured alongside me, he will certainly not come." The king ignored this and sent for both sons, saying: "Come, and I will spare your father; refuse, and I will kill Wu She at once." Wu Shang wished to go. Wu Yuan said: "Chu is not summoning us because it wants our father to live. It fears that if one of us escapes, he will become a future threat — so it uses our father as bait to lure us both. Once we arrive, father and sons will all die. What good does our death do him? If we go, we only ensure that the wrong can never be avenged. Better to flee to another state and borrow its strength to avenge our father's disgrace. To perish together accomplishes nothing." Wu Shang said: "I know that going will not save our father's life. But I would reproach myself for not answering my father's summons to save his life, and if afterward I failed to avenge the wrong, I would be mocked by the world forever." He said to Wu Yuan: "Go now! You can avenge our father's murder — I will go back and die." After Wu Shang submitted to arrest, the messengers came for Wu Zixu. Wu Zixu strung his bow and fitted an arrow, facing the messengers. They did not dare advance, and Wu Zixu escaped. Hearing that Prince Jian was in Song, he went to join him. When Wu She learned that Zixu had escaped, he said: "The rulers and ministers of Chu will suffer the scourge of war." Wu Shang was brought to Chu, and Chu killed both Wu She and Wu Shang.

When Wu Zixu reached Song, the Hua clan was in revolt there, so he and Prince Jian together fled to Zheng. The people of Zheng treated them well. Prince Jian then traveled to Jin. Duke Qing of Jin told him: "The prince is on good terms with Zheng, and Zheng trusts the prince. If the prince serves as my agent inside while I attack from outside, Zheng will surely fall. Once Zheng is destroyed, I will enfeoff the prince." The prince returned to Zheng. Before the plan could come together — because of his own illicit desires he killed one of his attendants — the attendants learned of the conspiracy and reported it to Zheng. Duke Ding of Zheng and Zi Chan executed Prince Jian. Jian had a son named Sheng. Wu Zixu, in fear, fled with Sheng to Wu. When they reached Zhao Pass, the guards at the pass tried to seize them. Wu Zixu and Sheng escaped on foot alone, barely getting away. Pursuers were close behind. When they reached the Yangtze, a fisherman in a boat on the river saw Wu Zixu's desperate situation and ferried him across. After crossing, Wu Zixu removed his sword and said: "This sword is worth a hundred in gold — I give it to you, old man." The fisherman said: "By the law of Chu, whoever captures Wu Zixu receives fifty thousand bushels of grain and the rank of a jade-tablet holder. Why would I settle for a mere hundred-gold sword?" He refused it. Wu Zixu had not yet reached Wu when he fell ill. He stopped on the road and begged for food. When he reached Wu, King Liao was in power and Prince Guang served as general. Wu Zixu gained access to King Liao through Prince Guang.

Some time later, a dispute arose because the Chu border town of Zhongli and the Wu border town of Beiliang both raised silkworms, and two women quarreled over mulberry leaves and came to blows. This escalated into a great fury, and the two states went to war. Wu sent Prince Guang to attack Chu. He took Zhongli and Juchao and returned. Wu Zixu urged King Liao: "Chu can be broken. I beg you to send Prince Guang again." But Prince Guang told the king: "Wu Zixu's father and brother were killed by Chu. He urges Your Majesty to attack Chu only to satisfy his personal vendetta. Chu cannot yet be broken." Wu Zixu understood that Prince Guang had internal ambitions — he wanted to kill the king and take the throne himself — and could not be persuaded to focus on external campaigns. So he presented the assassin Zhuan Zhu to Prince Guang, and withdrew to farm in the countryside with Sheng, the son of Prince Jian.

Five years later, King Ping of Chu died. The Qin woman whom King Ping had taken from Prince Jian bore a son named Zhen, and when King Ping died, Zhen was indeed installed as his successor — this was King Zhao. King Liao of Wu, taking advantage of Chu's mourning, sent two princes with troops to raid Chu. Chu dispatched forces to cut off the Wu army's retreat, trapping them. With Wu's interior undefended, Prince Guang had Zhuan Zhu ambush and assassinate King Liao, and took the throne himself — becoming King Helu of Wu. Once Helu was established and had achieved his ambition, he summoned Wu Yuan, appointed him Envoy, and consulted him on affairs of state.

Chu had executed its own ministers Xi Wan and Bo Zhouli. Bo Zhouli's grandson Bo Pi fled to Wu, and Wu appointed him a minister as well. The two princes whom the late King Liao had sent to attack Chu were cut off and unable to return. When they learned that Helu had assassinated King Liao, they surrendered to Chu with their troops, and Chu enfeoffed them at Shu. In the third year of Helu's reign, he raised an army and, together with Wu Zixu and Bo Pi, attacked Chu, captured Shu, and took prisoner the two renegade Wu generals. He wanted to press on to Ying, but General Sun Wu said: "The troops are exhausted. It cannot be done yet — wait." So they returned.

In the fourth year, Wu attacked Chu and took Liu and Qian. In the fifth year, Wu attacked Yue and defeated it. In the sixth year, King Zhao of Chu sent Nang Wa to lead an army against Wu. Wu sent Wu Yuan to meet the attack. He routed the Chu army at Yuzhang and took Juchao from Chu.

In the ninth year, King Helu said to Wu Zixu and Sun Wu: "At first you said Ying could not yet be taken. What do you say now?" The two replied: "The Chu commander Nang Wa is greedy, and the states of Tang and Cai both resent him. If Your Majesty truly wishes to launch a major campaign, you must first secure Tang and Cai's support." Helu followed their advice. He mustered the full army and, together with Tang and Cai, marched against Chu. The two sides faced each other across the Han River. The king's brother, Fugai, led his troops and asked to join the attack, but the king refused. Fugai then took his own contingent of five thousand men and struck the Chu commander Zi Chang. Zi Chang was routed and fled to Zheng. Wu then pressed forward, winning five engagements, and reached Ying. On the jimao day, King Zhao of Chu fled. On the gengchen day, the King of Wu entered Ying.

King Zhao fled and entered Yunmeng. Bandits attacked the king, and he fled to Yun. The younger brother of the Lord of Yun, Huai, said: "King Ping killed my father — may I not kill his son?" The Lord of Yun, fearing his brother would kill the king, fled with the king to Sui. Wu forces besieged Sui and told the people of Sui: "Chu has wiped out all the descendants of Zhou in the Han River region." The people of Sui wanted to hand over the king. The king's son Qi hid the king and impersonated him. The people of Sui divined whether to give the king to Wu and received an inauspicious result, so they refused Wu's demand.

Earlier, Wu Yuan and Shen Baoxu had been friends. When Wu Yuan fled, he told Shen Baoxu: "I will destroy Chu." Shen Baoxu replied: "And I will preserve it." When Wu's army entered Ying, Wu Zixu searched for King Zhao. Unable to find him, he dug up the tomb of King Ping of Chu, exhumed the corpse, and flogged it three hundred times before stopping. Shen Baoxu, hiding in the mountains, sent a message to Wu Zixu: "Your vengeance — is it not excessive? I have heard it said: 'When men are many, they overcome Heaven; but when Heaven is resolved, it can also break men.' You were once King Ping's own minister and personally faced north to serve him. Now you have gone so far as to desecrate a dead man — surely this transgresses the ultimate limits of Heaven's Way!" Wu Zixu said: "Tell Shen Baoxu for me: the sun is setting and the road is long — that is why I act in reverse and proceed against the grain." Shen Baoxu then ran to Qin to raise the alarm and beg for rescue. Qin refused. Shen Baoxu stood in the Qin court and wept day and night, seven days and seven nights without his voice ceasing. Duke Ai of Qin took pity on him and said: "Though Chu has been lawless, to have a minister like this — can we not preserve it?" He dispatched five hundred chariots to rescue Chu and strike Wu. In the sixth month, they defeated Wu's forces at Ji. Meanwhile, King Helu had remained in Chu searching for King Zhao, and his brother Fugai slipped away home and proclaimed himself king. When Helu heard this, he abandoned Chu and returned to attack his brother. Fugai was defeated and fled to Chu. King Zhao, seeing that Wu was in internal turmoil, returned to Ying. He enfeoffed Fugai at Tangxi, where his descendants became the Tangxi clan. Chu fought Wu again and defeated them, and the King of Wu returned home.

Two years later, Helu sent Crown Prince Fucha to lead an army against Chu, and he captured Fan. Chu, fearing another major Wu invasion, abandoned Ying and relocated to Ruo. At this time, through the strategies of Wu Zixu and Sun Wu, Wu had shattered mighty Chu to the west, overawed Qi and Jin to the north, and subjugated the Yue people to the south.

Four years after that, Confucius served as minister of Lu.

Five years later, Wu attacked Yue. King Goujian of Yue met them in battle and defeated Wu at Gusu, wounding Helu's finger, and the army fell back. Helu fell ill from the wound and was dying. He said to Crown Prince Fucha: "Will you forget that Goujian killed your father?" Fucha replied: "I dare not forget." That evening, Helu died. After Fucha was installed as king, he made Bo Pi his Grand Steward and drilled the army in warfare and archery. Two years later he attacked Yue, defeating them at Fujiao. King Goujian of Yue retreated with his remaining five thousand troops to the summit of Mount Kuaiji. He sent his minister Zhong with lavish gifts to bribe the Grand Steward Bo Pi and sue for peace, offering to submit his state as a vassal. The King of Wu was inclined to agree. Wu Zixu remonstrated: "The King of Yue is a man who can endure hardship. If Your Majesty does not destroy him now, you will surely regret it later." The King of Wu did not listen. He followed Bo Pi's counsel and made peace with Yue.

Five years later, the King of Wu heard that Duke Jing of Qi had died, the great ministers were struggling for favor, and the new ruler was weak. He raised an army to march north against Qi. Wu Zixu remonstrated: "Goujian eats without double dishes, mourns the dead and visits the sick — he intends to put his people to use. If this man does not die, he will surely become Wu's undoing. Yue is to Wu as a disease in the heart and belly. Yet Your Majesty ignores Yue and pursues Qi — is this not folly?" The King of Wu did not listen. He attacked Qi and routed the Qi army at Ailing, then intimidated the lords of Zou and Lu before returning. He grew ever more distant from Wu Zixu's counsel.

Four years later, the King of Wu was about to march north against Qi again. King Goujian of Yue, following Zigong's stratagem, led his own forces to assist Wu and sent heavy treasure as gifts to the Grand Steward Bo Pi. Bo Pi, having repeatedly accepted Yue's bribes, was extraordinarily fond of and trusting toward Yue, and spoke in Yue's favor to the King of Wu day and night. The King of Wu adopted Bo Pi's plans. Wu Zixu remonstrated: "Yue is the disease of the heart and belly. Now you trust their empty, deceitful words and covet Qi. Even if you break Qi, it is like a field of stones — useless. Moreover, Pangeng's proclamation says: 'Those who are disobedient and disrespectful shall be cut off root and branch, leaving no seed, and no foreign stock shall be planted in this city.' That is how Shang rose to power. I beg Your Majesty to abandon Qi and deal with Yue first. If you do not, the regret will come too late." But the King of Wu would not listen and sent Wu Zixu on a mission to Qi. As Wu Zixu was departing, he told his son: "I have remonstrated with the king many times, and the king will not heed me. I can now see the destruction of Wu. There is no point in your perishing along with Wu." He entrusted his son to the care of the Bao Mu clan of Qi and returned to report to Wu.

The Grand Steward Bo Pi was already at odds with Wu Zixu, and now he slandered him: "Wu Zixu is by nature harsh, violent, ungrateful, and treacherous. His resentment will surely become a grave danger. Previously, when Your Majesty wished to attack Qi, Wu Zixu said it was wrong. Your Majesty attacked anyway and won a great victory. Wu Zixu was ashamed that his counsel had not been followed and turned resentful. Now Your Majesty is again about to attack Qi, and Wu Zixu stubbornly and arrogantly resists, obstructing policy — he simply hopes for Wu's defeat to vindicate his own judgment. Now Your Majesty is personally leading the campaign, committing the state's full military strength against Qi, yet Wu Zixu's remonstrances have been rejected and he has withdrawn, feigning illness to avoid the campaign. Your Majesty must be on guard — it would not be difficult for him to start a calamity. Moreover, I had him watched discreetly: on his mission to Qi, he entrusted his son to the Bao clan of Qi. As a minister who has no success at home and leans on a foreign power, who considers himself the late king's chief strategist and is resentful at being ignored — I beg Your Majesty to deal with this promptly." The King of Wu said: "Even without your words, I had my suspicions." He sent a messenger to present Wu Zixu with the Zhulu sword, saying: "Use this to die." Wu Zixu looked up to heaven and sighed: "Alas! The slanderous minister Bo Pi has brought chaos, and the king now turns to kill me instead. I made your father a hegemon. When you were not yet installed and the princes competed for the succession, I fought for you before the late king at the risk of my life — you nearly did not gain the throne. Once you were established, you wished to divide Wu's territory and give me a share — I would never have presumed to hope for that. Yet now you listen to a flatterer's words and kill a man of proven loyalty." He then told his household steward: "Plant catalpa trees on my grave so the wood can be made into coffins for the king. And gouge out my eyes and hang them on the eastern gate of the Wu capital, so I may watch the Yue invaders enter and destroy Wu." He then cut his own throat. When the King of Wu heard his dying words, he was enraged. He had Wu Zixu's corpse sewn into a leather sack and thrown into the river. The people of Wu pitied him and built a shrine for him on the riverbank, naming the place Mount Xu.

After the King of Wu had killed Wu Zixu, he attacked Qi. The Bao clan of Qi had killed their lord Duke Dao and installed Yangsheng. The King of Wu wished to punish the usurpers but was unable to prevail and withdrew. Two years later, the King of Wu summoned the lords of Lu and Wei to a conference at Tuogao. The following year, he convened a great assembly of the lords at Huangchi in the north, presuming to issue commands in the name of the Zhou court. King Goujian of Yue struck, killing the Wu crown prince and shattering the Wu army. When the King of Wu heard the news, he returned home and sent envoys with lavish gifts to make peace with Yue. Nine years later, King Goujian of Yue finally destroyed Wu and killed King Fucha. He also executed the Grand Steward Bo Pi, on the grounds that he had been disloyal to his own sovereign, had accepted heavy bribes from abroad, and had secretly conspired with Yue.

Sheng, the son of the former Chu Crown Prince Jian who had originally fled with Wu Zixu, was living in Wu. During the reign of King Fucha of Wu, King Hui of Chu wished to recall Sheng to Chu. Lord She remonstrated: "Sheng is fond of bravery and secretly recruits men willing to die — surely he has some private scheme!" King Hui did not listen. He recalled Sheng and settled him at the Chu border town of Yan, granting him the title Lord of Bai. Bai Gong returned to Chu three years before Wu executed Wu Zixu.

Once back in Chu, Bai Gong Sheng harbored resentment against Zheng for killing his father and secretly cultivated a force of expendable fighters to take vengeance on Zheng. Five years after his return, he requested permission to attack Zheng. The Chief Minister Zi Xi agreed. Before the army could march, Jin attacked Zheng, and Zheng asked Chu for rescue. Chu sent Zi Xi to relieve them, and he concluded an alliance with Zheng and returned. Bai Gong Sheng was furious and said: "My real enemy is not Zheng but Zi Xi." He sharpened his sword. Someone asked: "What is that for?" Sheng said: "I intend to kill Zi Xi with it." When Zi Xi heard this, he laughed and said: "Sheng is like an egg — what can he do?"

Four years later, Bai Gong Sheng and Shi Qi ambushed and killed the Chief Minister Zi Xi and the Marshal Zi Qi at court. Shi Qi said: "If we do not kill the king, it will not work." They seized King Hui and took him to the High Treasury. Qu Gu, a follower of Shi Qi, carried King Hui on his back and fled to the palace of Lady Zhao. Lord She, hearing that Bai Gong had started a revolt, rallied the people of his district and attacked him. Bai Gong's followers were defeated. He fled into the mountains and killed himself. Shi Qi was captured. When asked where Bai Gong's body was, he refused to say, even under threat of being boiled alive. Shi Qi said: "If the affair had succeeded, I would have been a minister; since it failed and I am boiled, that is simply what comes with the role." He refused to the end to reveal the location of the body. They boiled Shi Qi, then found King Hui and restored him.

The Grand Historian says: How terrible is the poison of resentment among men! Even a king cannot freely inflict it upon his ministers, let alone those of equal rank! Had Wu Zixu gone with his father Wu She to die, he would have been no different from an ant. He cast aside lesser righteousness to avenge the greater shame, and his name endures to later ages. How tragic! When Wu Zixu was in desperate straits on the river, begging for food on the road — did his mind ever, for a single moment, forget Ying? Therefore, to endure humiliation and achieve great deeds — if not a man of fiery resolve, who could accomplish this? As for Bai Gong, had he not tried to set himself up as ruler, his skills and stratagems would have been beyond measure!