<史记本纪>12.<孝武本纪第十二>mperial Biographies: No. 12, Biography of the Filial Emperor Xiao-Wudi the Martial (r. 140-87 BC)

上遂东巡海上,行礼祠八神。四月,还至奉高。上念诸儒及方士言封禅人人殊,不经,难施行。天子至梁父,礼祠地主。乙卯,令侍中儒者皮 弁荐绅,射牛行事。封泰山下东方,如郊祠泰一之礼。封广丈二 尺,高九尺,其下则有玉牒书,书秘。礼毕,天子独与侍中奉车 子侯上泰山,亦有封.其事皆禁。明日,下阴道.丙辰,禅泰山下址东北肃然山,如祭后土礼。 天子皆亲拜见,衣上黄而尽用乐焉。天子从封禅还,坐明堂,群臣更上寿.
The emperor traveled, and then went eastwards, where he passed along and inspected the sea-cost. He made sacrifices and offerings to the Eight Spirits... In the fourth month, the emperor came back to Fenggao, where he thought about the words of the scholars and the magicians about the fengshan sacrifices for Heaven and Earth, that were all so confusing and misleading that is would be impossible to follow them. Thereupon the emperor went to the Liangfu summit to sacrifice the Lord of the Land, or Dizhu. On the day yimao, he ordered the official secretaries to wear their leather caps and the pinned official clothes and to perform the ritual shooting of oxen. In the east of Mount Tai, he had an altar erected for the Heavenly sacrifice that had to be performed like the sacrifice to the Great Unity in the suburbs. The altar was two zhang wide and nine zhang high, at the base of the altar a precious book-case was lying, but nobody knew what its content was. When the sacrifice was finished, the Son of Heaven alone with only a few secretaries and riding the carriage of (Huo) Zihou ascended Mount Tai to perform the feng sacrifice to Heaven once more. The performance of the sacrifice was thoroughly secret. On the next day he descended on the northern slope of the mountain. On the day bingchen, the emperor performed the chan sacrifice to the Earth at the north eastern corner of Mount Suran, like the sacrifice for the Mother Earth, or Houtu, is performed. All was performed by the emperor himself. We wore yellow clothes, and all ceremonies were accompanied by music... When the Son of Heaven came back from the fengshan sacrifices, he seated himself in the Clear Hall, where all ministers and officials wished him a long life.

夏,汉改历,以正月为岁首,而色上黄,官名更印章以五字。因为太初元年。是岁,西伐大宛。蝗大起。丁夫人、雒阳虞初等以方祠诅匈奴、大宛焉。
In the summer, the Han dynasty corrected the calendar and took the first month as the beginning of the year. The color of the dynasty was changed up to yellow, the official titles and the official seals were altered with the Five as leading number. The year was thus called the first year of the rule tilte "Great Commencing". During this year, the Han empire attacked Ferghana (Dayuan). A huge flock of locusts arose. Lady Ding and a wife from Luoyang called Yu Chu used sorcery as a means of casting spells against the Xiongnu and the realm of Ferghana.

<汉书帝纪>6.<孝武帝纪第六>Hanshu, Imperial Biographies: No. 6, Biography of Emperor Wudi

行遂东巡海上。夏四月癸卯,上还,登封泰山。降坐明堂。
The emperor traveled, and then went eastwards, where he passed along and inspected the sea-cost. In the summer, the fourth month, on the day guimao, the emperor returned, and ascended and performed the sacrifice feng upon Mount Tai. The emperor descended the mountain and seated himself in the Clear Hall.

五月,正历以正月为岁首,色上黄,数用五。定官名,协音律。遣因杅将军 公孙敖筑塞外受降城。秋八月行幸安定,遣贰师将军李广利发天下?民西征大宛。蝗从东方飞至敦煌。
In the summer, the fifth month, the emperor corrected the calendar and took the first month as the beginning of the year; among the colors, he took yellow as the ruling color, and among the numbers, he used five. He fixed official titles and harmonized the sounds of the musical pipes. The emperor sent the General of Yinyu, Gongsun Ao, to buld the fortress Shouxiang outside of the barriers. In the autumn, the eight month, the emperor traveled and favored the commandery Anding. He sent the General of Sutrishna (Ershi), Li Guangli, to mobilize the reprobated common people of the empire, to go west and make an expedition against Ferghana (Dayuan). Locusts flew from the eastern quarter and reached Dunhuang commandery.

<史记书>28.<封禅书第六>Treatises: No. 6, Treatise about the sacrifice for Heaven and Earth
始皇之上泰山,中阪遇暴风雨,休于大树下。诸儒生既绌,不得与用封事之礼,闻始皇遇风雨,则讥之。
When the First Emperor (r. 246/221-210) was ascending Mount Tai he encountered a violent wind and rain storm halfway up the slope and had to stop for a while under large trees. The Confucian scholars, who had been dismissed and were not allowed to take part in the ritual of the feng sacrifice to Heaven, hearing of the Emperor's encounter with the storm, promptly used it as a basis to speak ill of him.

于是始皇遂东游海上,行礼祠名山大川及八神,求僊人羡门之属。八神将自古而有之,或曰太公以来作之。 齐所以为齐,以天齐也.其祀绝莫知起时。八神:一曰天主,祠天齐。天齐渊水,居临菑南郊山下者。二曰 地主,祠泰山梁父。盖天好阴,祠之必于高山之下,小山之上,命曰「畤」;地贵阳,祭之必于泽中圜丘云。

The First Emperor then proceeded east on his journey as far as the borders of the sea, stopping along the way to perform rituals and sacrifices to the various mountains and great rivers and to the Eight Spirits, and searching for immortal spirits such as Xianmen and his companions. The Eight spirits appear to have existed from ancient times. Some people say that their worship was begun at the time of the Great Duke, the first lord of the state of Qi at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty. But since the sacrifices were later discontinued, no one knows exactly when they originated. Of the Eight spirits, the first was called the Lord of Heaven, or Tianzhu; sacrifices to him were offered at the Navel of Heaven. The Navel of Heaven, or Tianqi, is the name of a spring situated at the foot of a mountain in the southern suburbs of the city of Linzi. It is said that the state of Qi takes its name from this place. The second was called Lord of the Land, or Dizhu, and was sacrificed to at Liangfu near Mount Tai. It appears that since Heaven loves the yin, the principle of darkness, it must be worshiped at the foot of a high mountain or on top of a small hill, at a place called an "altar"; while because Earth honors the yang, the principle of light, the sacrifices to it must always be conducted on a round hill in the midst of a lowland.

<史记世家>39.<晋世家第九>Biographies of Eminent Persons: No. 9, The House of Jin
十五年,悼公问治国于师旷,师旷曰:「惟仁义为本。」冬,悼公卒,子平公彪立。平公元年,伐齐。齐灵公与战靡下,齐师败走。晏婴曰:「君亦毋勇,何不止战?」遂去。晋追,遂围临菑,尽烧屠其郭中。东至胶,南至沂,齐皆城守,晋乃引兵归。
In the fifteenth year of his reign, Duke Dao the Mournful of Jin (r. 573-558 BC) asked Shi Kuang about government, who said: "Benevolence and righteousness shall be the base of your politics." In the winter, Duke Dao died, and his son Biao followed as the later Duke Ping the Appeaser (r. 558-532). In the first year of Duke Ping's reign, he attacked Qi. Jin met with the armies of Duke Ling the Clever (r. 582-554) to battle at Mixia. The army of Qi was defeated, soldiers started to run away. Master Yan told the Duke of Qi: "My Lord, don't be too foolhardy, why don't you stop battling?" The Duke stopped fighting and withdraw. The troops of Jin followed them and besieged Linzi, the capital of Qi, burned down the houses and massacred the people. In the east, the troops of Jin reached Jiao and advanced to the south until they came to Yi, but when Qi was able to defend all its cities, the troops of Jin withdraw.

<史记列传>62.<管晏列传第二>Biographies: No. 2, Biographies of Guan (Zhong) and Yan (Ying)

晏平仲婴者,莱之夷维人也。事齐灵公﹑庄公﹑景公,以节俭力行重于齐。既相齐,食不重肉,妾不衣帛。 其在朝,君语及之,即危言;语不及之,即危行。国有道,即顺命;无道,即衡命。以此三世显名于诸侯。
Yan Pingzhong, also named Ying, was of barbarian descent of the old country of Lai. He served the Dukes Ling the Clever (r. 582-555 BC), Zhuang the Dignified (r. 554-549) and Jing the Luminous (r. 548-491) of Qi. Because of his austerity and his efforts, he was greatly appreciated by the people of Qi. When he became prime minister of Qi, he did not eat meat, and his wifes did not wear silk. At the court, when the Lord asked him for his advice, he answered very carefully, but when he was not asked, he at least behaved very carefully. When the state was running on the right path, he behaved according to his position, but when the state did not run on the right way, he weighed and measured his position. Doing this, he could make the three generations of rulers he served the most famous under all the rulers of their time.

越石父贤,在缧绁中。晏子出,遭之涂,解左骖赎之,载归。弗谢,入闺。久之,越石父请绝。晏子戄然,摄衣冠谢曰:「婴虽不仁,免子于?,何子求绝之速也?」石父曰:「不然。吾闻君子诎于不知己而信于知己者。吾在缧绁中,彼不知我也。夫子既已感寤而赎我,是知己;知己而无礼,固不如在缧绁之中。」晏子于是延入为上客。
Yue Shifu was a capable man, but because of some crime, he was in prison. When Master Yan once went out and met him on the way, he loosened a horse from his carriage and ransomed him. Together, they went home, and Master Yan let him stay in his house for a very long time without giving him farewell. Finally, Yue Shifu wanted to leave his host. Master Yan was surprised, took off his robe and cap and said to him, apologizing: "Although I am not very benevolent, I helped you to get out of great trouble. Why do you want to leave me that early?" Shifu answered: "Don't talk like this. I heard, your eminence is mistrusted by people that do not know themselves, and you are trusted by people that know themselves. When I was in prison, these people did not understand me. But you had a really feeling for me and freed me, that is knowing oneself. Knowing oneself, but acting without politeness, that is shurely not as bad as being in chains." Thereupon, Master Yan asked him to be one of his retainers.