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littleeyesofpallas · 5 years

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Bleach - Name Games

Not a family by name or blood, but a kind of found family. (at least the way they were originally presented) This time I’m tackling the Visored! And while I’m at it I want to address some of the broader thematic elements going on with their original character designs. Buckle up, this is a long one...

Hirako(平子) Shinji(真子)

Shinji’s name is actually kinda of a false start to this one. His names read as “Flat-Child“ and “Real-Child“ but that’s keeping in mind that -ko(子) for “child” is actually just a really common suffix for names, and not one generally used to ascribe literal meaning. (Typically because of its diminutive implications it denotes a female given name, but it applies neutrally to family names, and even generally is not uncommon in male names.) So his name kind reads as “Flat Reality“ or “Flat Truth.“

But this one isn’t actually about the meaning of the words, it’s a different kind of name game. As we all remember, when Hirako introduces himself to Ichigo’s class at Karakura High during his original entrance at the start of the Arrancar Arc, he writes his name on the board mirrored and mentions how he’s “good at doing things backwards.” At the time it was a reference to him being a hollow (Remember that when Ichigo’s inner hollow was given a chapter cover, his “name” was Ichigo’s but written mirrored) and would later influence his zanpakutou, Sakanade(逆撫)

As an aside here, Sakanade(逆撫) has been kind of erroneously translated as “counter stroke” in English, which is technically accurate as a literal translation but is kind of needlessly vague; For one the word “Stroke” here specifically refers to the act of stroking as in petting, patting, or smoothing over, and not something like a sword stroke; secondly the “counter” here should read more obviously as “reverse,” “opposite,” or “inverted.”

Moreover, Sakanade(逆撫で) is an actual verb already, so it doesn’t actually need to be broken down in the first place. The word actually means exactly what it sounds like as well as having a colloquial use as, “rub the wrong way.” Yes, other than just meaning to literally “pet in the opposite direction” (as with petting a cat or dog from tail to head) it means “to irritate” or “to annoy,” (which the former action invariably does) and that is an apt description of Sakanade’s powers.

Anyway... About Hirako’s name not being about the meaning: the joke is that whether you write the name forward or backwards 平子真子 -vs- 子真子平, you still get Shinji(真子) out of it. As in, his name is still legible both forwards and backwards. Plus both kanji, 平 and 真 have horizontal symmetry, so they don’t change when mirrored..

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Okay... let’s do an easier one...

Sarugaki(猿柿) Hiyori(ひよ里)

My personal favorite Visored, has a nice straight forward name Saru(猿) as I’m sure anyone amply familiar with anime knows means “Monkey” and the Gaki(柿) is the word for the fruit “Persimmon.” The image of a monkey in a persimmon tree references an old folktale present in various east-asian cultures about a greedy monkey who cheats other animals before eventually receiving its comeuppance at the hands of the animals it has wronged. In this case it’s reflective of Hiyori’s general image, sandles, track suit, decidedly tomboyish and unladylike; the “mountain monkey” is a poor, rural character type in Japan, not dissimilar to the American hillbilly of the Appalachia.

In that same vein, the name Hiyori(ひよ里) has a peculiar rural slant to it, in that it uses hiragana in place of the first component. The ri(里) is a common place indicator in surnames meaning “village” or “hamlet” but like many Japanese surnames that reference landmarks like -kawa(川)“-river,” “-yama”(山)-mountain,” and “-da”(田)”-field,” the important part isn’t actually the locale but the descriptor preceding it; Which mountain? Which river? Which field? Which village? In the case of Hiyori, it’s not clear... The fact that the village she appears to be named after doesn’t have a kanji again lends to this impression that, like the peasants of Soul Society’s Rukongai, the person who named her didn’t know how to read or write kanji.

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Muguruma(六車) Kensei(拳西)

I think this one has gotten pretty good visibility in the fandom already because of the relation with Hisagi Shuuhei. The eventual explanation of Hisagi’s 69 tattoo would be that it was copied directly from Kensei’s, and that Kensei’s comes from a mix of his name Muguruma, and the fact that he was captain of the Gotei 13’s 9th squad. (Personally I don’t like this explanation, and I think there’s pretty reasonable cause to assume this was a later decision and not a part of Kensei’s original conception or design.) But the reason behind that being Muguruma(六車) Mu(六) which is the Japanese numeral “6″ and Guruma(車) meaning “wagon” and later updated to mean “car.” In the Turn Back the Pendulum sidestory, this name is played upon in how Kubo styled Kensei’s 9th squad as a Bousouzoku(暴走族) the term for a Japanese biker gang (although they often include sports cars), where the “Six Car” reading becomes emblematic of his gang.

There’s a lot about the Bousouzoku that is culturally specific to Japan, but much of the familiar American cliches do actually carry over. One distinct aspect of how the Bousouzoku opperate however, is that they are predominantly a youth culture phenomenon, as any wide spread, organized criminal activity among adults quickly steps on the toes of the much better established Yakuza scene. For this reason it is very rare for Bousouzoku to persist in direct group activity into their adult years, although often bikers become easy recruitment targets for Yakuza.

Kensei(拳西) is actually an odd one for me. It’s both super straight forward yet somehow together really obtuse. Ken(拳) for “Fist” and sei(西) for “West;“ both are pretty singular in their meaning, so it’s not like there’s any uncertainty to what each one means, but I can’t make heads or tails of the two together. For one, Ken(拳) is usually something you’d see put on the end of a compound, and when it’s used that way it tends to denote a kind of martial arts style or technique. It might still be meant to read as “Western Fist” or essentially “Western [style] Fist” and Kubo just liked the sound of Kensei over Seiken. It might be a reference to the fact that Kensei’s original design was largely reminiscent of a kind of military look and feel, with a combat knife for a zanpakutou, short hair, combat boots, and pants that look like they could be part of military fatigues. (the tank top sorta throws the look off, though.) But this was a theme that was dropped by the time the Visored got reincorporated into the story after their long absence.

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Yadoumaru(矢胴丸) Risa(リサ)

...is another odd one. Her surname, Yadoumaru(矢胴丸) has pretty clear implications, Ya(矢) means “arrow” and dou(胴) means “hull” as in the part of a ship, and maru(丸) doesn’t actually have an explicit meaning. The kanji does generally mean “round” or “whole” both in reference to a circle, but it is most notably a suffix used in naming both naval ships, and frequently boys. Given the rest of the name the imagery seems clear, Yadoumaru(矢胴丸) is meant to read as “Arrow-Hull Ship.“* And although the uniform has heavy ties to school girl aesthetics and fetishism (which in turn link to her preoccupation with adult books) the tie here actually seems to be to the origins of the Japanese school girl uniform as a modification of the European naval uniforms introduced to Japan in the 1800s.

*edit: I’m an idiot. A Yadou(胴丸) is the sleeveless chest plate and skirt piece in traditional samurai armor, which also carries over into kendo sports armor.

Adding to this, the name RISA (sometimes romanized as LISA) being written in katakana and not kanji or even hiragana works together with the naval associations would seem to imply she’s of mixed birth? Possibly the daughter of a foreign naval officer stationed in Japan, hence a Western name and a ship as a surname? In fact, most Japanese ships would be named after some mythical figure or indeed named like a person, so the literal descriptor of “Arrow-hull” actually sounds like what someone would call a ship they didn’t know the name of, tacking “-maru” on to the end.

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Let me also take a moment here to complain about the fact that Kubo originally wrote Rabu(ラヴ) and Roozu(ローズ) as katakana, pretty clearly denoting them as the English words LOVE and ROSE and while those seem pretty implicitly like nicknames it also implied in conjunction with their designs that they were both foreigners. So the fact that he retconned them to being nicknames based on more conventionally Japanese when he decided to make them previously SoulSociety shinigami names bugs me... But that being said

Aikawa(愛川) Rabu(羅武)

Man, what is it with Kubo and black people and “love” gimmicks? Zomarri’s Amor, and PePe’s The Love, Love’s whole thing... The name Aikawa(愛川) means “Love River,” and Kubo’s clever shorehorning of kanji into the phonetics for Rabu that he’d already used for the nickname Love use Ra(羅) for “silk,” but specifically a thin or sheer kind, and bu(武) for “warrior”/”soldier.“ The associations with sheer silk and negligee seem very intentional, so his name really is basically “flowing love, [sexy] silk soldier.“ And that’s it, it’s actually super straight forward. I dunno why he looks like an unemployed slacker, in a tracksuit and sneakers, lounging around reading manga, though.

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Otouribashi(鳳橋) Roujuurou(楼十郎)

This might be my favorite as far as name games within the Visored. The given name Roujuurou(楼十郎) means “Watchertower 10 Son;” Rou(郎) being an exceedingly common suffix in boys names meaning “son.” (this is incidentally how anyone with a rudimentary familiarity with Japanese knew for certain Yuushirou(四楓院) was a boy at first glance, where as a bunch of other people thought he was a girl. In case any of you were around certain fandom circles for that whole drama... More on him later though, because he’s got a fun name too.) It’s not super clear if the arrangement here denotes the “Son of the 10th Watchtower [family],” or the “10th Son of the Watchtower [family].”

The surname Otouribashi(鳳橋) is a great little work of poeticism, where Outouri(鳳) is the Japanese name of the Chinese Feng(鳳) which in the most colloquial sense could be translated as “Phoenix,” but there’s a little more to it than that...

See, the Feng is itself the male half of the mated pair of mythical birds together called the Feng-Huang(鳳凰). The Japanese pronunciation Outori is actually directly taken from Ou(王) meaning “King” and Tori(鳥) meaning “bird.” The mythical Feng-huang is in fact king of birds, but more broadly represents a union of yin and yang, and is a common visual element of Chinese weddings evoking harmony. As a part of this theme of unity it is said to share features of many different birds, and also of the 5 fundamentally opposed colors associated with Chinese daoism and fengshui: Red, Blue/Green, Black, White, and Yellow. This particular feature has been tweaked over time to depict the Feng-huang as more broadly multicolored, and associated with the rainbow. (it’s also the basis of the Pokemon Ho-oh, if that wasn’t apparent) For a number of different mythological similarities, the Feng-huang have become erroneously thought of as “the Chinese phoenix,” but I’m not going to get into all that here...

So, getting back to the name, Bashi(橋) means “Bridge.” The, again false equivalence based, but more easily understood translation of Otouribashi(鳳橋) thus being “Phoenix Bridge.” But what is shaped like a bridge and directly associated with the Feng? A rainbow. His family name is just a really fanciful and kind of poetic reference to a rainbow. In conjunction with the “Watchtower” referenced in the name Roujuurou(楼十郎) I’m tempted to take to the meaning of “10th [Floor of the] Watchtower Son” as it implies a high floor, and in the common mythological motif of rainbows as actual physical structures, a high tower would be the sensible entry point to a rainbow bridge.

Also this is why he has a bird mask.

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Kuna(久南) Mashiro(白)

Let me just come right out and say that I haven’t got a damn clue on this one. Mashiro(白) means “White.” Ku(久) means “long time,” na(南) means “South.” She dresses like a super sentai character, specifically one of the original Himitsu Sentei Goranger team, and her mask is a nod to Kamen Rider, with its antenna and big round bug-eyes. I don’t really see a connection with the name and the tokusatsu theme though.

Small aside, Tokusatsu is a genre of Japanese TV and film that was originally named for its emphasis on special effects like camera tricks and editing in post, used most noticeably in children’s shows like Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. That distinction became less and less relevant as special effects became more widespread, and so it is now used mostly to refer to live-action costumed super hero shows.

Super Sentai is btw the source material for the American franchise, Power Rangers, from which Saban Entertainment originally bought the footage that they would cut together with their own original footage, and later from which they would buy the costumes in order to shoot their own shows from scratch.

Also of note is that Ishinomori Shoutarou, author of the original Cyborg 009, was also the original show creator of Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. His work created the transforming(henshin) hero, the body suit and helmet aesthetic, and the heroic billowing scarf, effectively inventing the Japanese superhero almost single-handed.

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Ushouda(有昭田) Hachigen(鉢玄)

Another funky one... “[To] Exist [in] a Shining Field” might be the best way to read Ushouda(有昭田)? Its really the U(有) that gives me trouble here, as it just means “Exist”/”Existance.” And Hachigen(鉢玄) seems to read Hachi(鉢) meaning “bowl” and Gen(玄) meaning “deep,” “mysterious” and in certain contexts “occult.” I’m not sure if that “deep” is really a physical deepness or just a sort of “profoundness” that would fall more in line with “mysterious” and “occult.”

Either way I think the general meaning is actually pretty clear, “bowls of rice from a shining field” evoke an image of kind of mythical field of magical produce, eating from which grants a kind of magical quality and sustenance. In other words, his name is saying that Hachi is such a huge guy and so gifted at magic because he ate a lot of food that grants magic power.

I have no idea why he has the tux or the shaved hair though. Stage magician? Fancy gourmand? But again then why the shaved head and the cross bones? And Kubo did eventually come up with for him is strangely Balinese looking? It seems reminiscent of Barong, king of spirits; A benevolent lion/bear monster that defends mankind from Rangda, the demon queen and master of blackmagic. But apart from the superficial appearance and broad ties to magic, there’s not a lot really tying the two together.

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It’s hard not to just go off on all the weird little design choices, and loose ends, dropped plot points, and retcon’d details that surround the Visored in Bleach. They really were just such a great concept utterly wasted by terrible pacing and some truly confusing priorities as far as publication goes, eithe ron Kubo’s part, editorial, or both... But that’s a story for another time...

#Bleach #hirako shinji #sarugaki hiyori #muguruma kensei #yadomaru risa #aikawa love #otoribashi rose #kuna mashiro #ushoda hachigen #visored

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fuyonggu · 6 years

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Biography of Li Te, Li Liu, & Li Xiáng (Book of Jin 120, 16 Kingdoms, Huayang Guozhi)

(Li Te was the spiritual founder of the Sixteen Kingdoms state of Cheng-Han, which occupied the former territory of Shu-Han. Li Liu and Li Xiáng were two of his brothers.)

Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms

李特，字玄休，巴西宕渠人。其先廩君之苗裔，秦併天下，以為黔中郡，薄賦斂之，口歲出錢四十。巴人謂賦為賨，因謂之賨人焉。及高祖為漢王，始募賨人，平定三秦，既而不願出關，求還鄉里。高祖以其功，復同豐沛，更名其地為巴郡。土有鹽鐵丹漆之利，民用敦阜，俗性剽勇，善歌舞。高祖愛其舞，詔樂府習之，今巴渝舞是也。其後繁昌，分為數十姓。及魏武剋漢中，特祖父虎將五百家歸魏，魏武嘉之，遷略陽（一云洛陽），拜虎等為將軍。徙內者亦萬餘家，散居隴右諸郡及三輔、弘農，所在號巴氐。虎子慕為東羌獵將，慕生有五子，輔、特、庠、流、驤。特身長八尺，雄武善騎射，沉毅有大度。元康中，氐齊萬年反，關西擾亂，天水、略陽、扶風、始平諸郡皆被兵，頻歲大饑，流移就穀，相與入漢川者數萬家。特至劍閣，顧盼嶮阻，曰：「劉禪有如此之地而面縛於人，豈非庸才耶！」同移者閻武等咸歎異之。初、流民既至漢中，上書求寄食巴蜀，朝廷從之。由是散在梁、益，不可禁止。

Li Te, styled Xuanxiu, was a native of Dangqu in Baxi commandary. His ancestors were the descendants of the Granary Lord of old.

When the Qin dynasty annexed all the realm (~221 BC), they made this region into Qianzhong commandary, and they only lightly taxed it, with each person having to pay forty cash per year. The people of Ba called taxes "cong", and so they became known as the Cong people.

During the time that Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang) was Prince of Han (~206 BC), he recruited from among these Cong people in order to conquer the region of the Three Qins (around Chang'an). But since the people did not want to live in that region, they asked to return to their native land. In order to honor their achievement on his behalf and encourage their prosperity and flourishing, Gaozu renamed their land to Ba commandary. The land had an abundance of salt, iron, cinnabar, and lacquer, and the people there were honest and numerous, and naturally swift and brave. They also were experts at singing and dancing, and Gaozu loved their dancing so much that he ordered his Music Bureau to practice it, which led to the modern Ba-Yu Dance. The people flourished and multipled still further after that, and they split up into dozens of different surnames.

When Wu of Wei (Cao Cao) captured Hanzhong, Li Te's grandfather Li Hu led five hundred families to go over to Cao-Wei. Emperor Wu commended him, and relocated him to Lueyang (some say Luoyang), appointing Li Hu and others as Generals. There were a further more than ten thousand such families who were also moved away from the interior, scattering out to reside in the various commandaries of Longyou, as well as the Three Adjuncts (Fufeng, Pingyi, and Jingzhao) and Hongnong commandary. They were all called the Di of Ba or Ba-Di.

Li Hu's son was Li Mu, who served as Hunting General of the Eastern Qiang tribes. Li Mu himself had five sons: Li Fu, Li Te, Li Xiáng, Li Liu, and Li Xiang.

Li Te was eight 尺 in height, and he was a bold and martial man, skilled at horseback archery. He was a stalwart fellow, with great capacity.

During the Yuankang reign era (~296), the Di leader Qiwannian rebelled, and the Guanxi region was thrown into great turmoil. The commandaries of Tianshui, Lueyang, Fufeng, and Shiping were all overrun by soldiers, and there was a great famine for several years. The common people became refugees in search of grain. Tens of thousands of families all led each other into the Han River basin for that reason.

When Li Te came to Jian'ge Pass, he looked about and marveled at the place's stout defenses. He said, "Liu Shan had such defenses as this, and yet he still gave himself over in surrender to others. How could he not have been a man of inferior talents?" There were others who were on the move with him, including Yan Shi and others, and they all sighed in admiration of him.

Earlier, when the refugees had first arrived at Hanzhong, they sent up a letter to the court asking that they be granted refuge in the Ba and Shu regions. The court allowed it, and so the refugees scattered throughout Yizhou and Lianzhou, and no one could stop them.

永康元年，詔徵益州刺史趙廞為大長秋，以成都內史耿滕代廞。廞遂謀叛，潛有劉氏割據之志。滕率衆入內，廞遣衆迎之，戰于西門，滕敗走，廞獲殺之。廞自稱大將軍、益州牧。特弟李庠與兄弟及妹夫李含、任回等以四千騎歸廞，廞以庠為滅寇將軍，使斷北道。庠素東羌之良將，曉兵法，部陣肅然。廞惡其齊整，殺之。復以特為督將，特兄弟既怨廞，引兵歸綿竹。廞恐朝廷疑己，遣長史費遠等督萬餘人斷北道，次綿竹之石亭，密收合得七千餘人，夜襲遠軍，遠軍大潰，因放火燒之，死者十八九。進攻成都，廞聞兵至，驚怕不知所為。李廞等夜斬關走，文武盡散。廞獨與妻子乘小船走至廣都，為其下人朱竺所殺。先是，梁州刺史羅尚聞廞叛，上表稱廞非雄才，又蜀人不願為亂，事終無成，願欲征之。惠帝遣尚為平西將軍、益州剌史，率七千餘人入蜀。特等聞尚來，甚懼，使其弟驤于道奉迎，并貢寶物，尚甚悅。

In the first year of the Yongkang reign era (300), an edict was issued summoning the Inspector of Yizhou, Zhao Xin, back to the capital to serve as Manager of the Empress's Palace. The Interior Minister of Chengdu, Geng Teng, was to become the new Inspector of Yizhou. Zhao Xin plotted to rebel instead, and he secretly had ambitions of carving out and holding the territory of Yizhou for himself, as the Liu clan had once done (Liu Yan, Liu Zhang, Liu Bei, and Liu Shan). Geng Teng led his forces into the provincial administration center (at Chengdu), but Zhao Xin sent his own troops to oppose Geng Teng. They fought at the West Gate, where Geng Teng was defeated, and Zhao Xin captured and killed him.

Zhao Xin declared himself Grand General and Governor of Yizhou. Li Te's younger brother Li Xiáng, at the head of four thousand cavalry, came to join Zhao Xin along with many others: his brother-in-law Li Han, Ren Hui, and others. Zhao Xin appointed Li Xiáng as General Who Vanquishes Invaders, and had him block the roads to the north. Li Xiáng had long been a fine general under the Colonel of Eastern Qiang Tribes. He made the military laws very clear, and so his division respected him. Zhao Xin resented him for having such discipline, so he killed Li Xiáng.

Zhao Xin then appointed Li Te as a commander, but Li Te and his brothers were now furious with Zhao Xin, and they led their soldiers back to Mianzhu. Zhao Xin was worried that the court would campaign against him, so he sent his Chief Clerk, Fei Yuan, and others to lead more than ten thousand soldiers to block the northern roads, and they camped at Shiting in Mianzhu. Li Te secretly gathered an army of more than seven thousand soldiers, and he raided Fei Yuan's camp at night. Fei Yuan's army was greatly scattered because the Li soldiers had set fire to the camp to burn it down, and eight or nine of every ten soldiers died.

Li Te then advanced to attack Chengdu. When Zhao Xin heard that Li Te's soldiers had arrived, he was shocked and afraid and did not know what to do. Li Xin and others cut their way out of the city gates during the night and fled, and the civil and military officials all scattered. Zhao Xin was left alone with his wife. They got into a small boat and fled, but when they reached Guangdu, they were killed by Zhao Xin's subordinate Zhu Zhu.

Before this, when the Inspector of Lianzhou, Luo Shang, heard that Zhao Xin had rebelled, he sent up a petition to the court claiming that Zhao Xin had no heroic talents, and that the people of Shu would not join him in his rebellion, so he would fail in the end. Luo Shang thus wished to campaign against him. Emperor Hui appointed Luo Shang as General Who Pacifies The West and as the new Inspector of Yizhou, and Luo Shang led more than seven thousand people to enter Shu.

冬十月，六郡流人推特行鎮北將軍，承制封拜。其弟流行鎮東將軍，弟驤驍騎將軍，少子雄為前將軍，以相統領，進兵攻尚于成都，頻為特所敗，乃阻長圍，緣水作營，自都安至犍為七百里，與特相拒。大安二年，部下推特為大將軍，大赦，改元為建初元年。益州從事任回說尚曰：「特既凶逆，侵暴百姓，今又分散人衆，在諸村堡，驕怠無備，是天亡之時也。可告諸村，密刻期日，內外擊之，破之必矣。」尚從之，遣大衆奄襲特營。尚出逆戰，到官桑，特軍敗績，死之。雄稱成都王，追諡景王，及稱尊號，追尊曰景皇帝。廟號始祖。

In winter, the tenth month, the refugees of the six commandaries acclaimed Li Te as acting General Who Guards The North, and Li Te claimed the authority to make his own appointments. He appointed his younger brother Li Liu as acting General Who Guards The East, his other younger brother Li Xiang as General of Agile Cavalry, and his youngest son Li Xiong as General of the Front, each of them leading their own forces.

They advanced to attack Luo Shang at Chengdu. Luo Shang was frequently defeated by Li Te, so he built long walls to protect himself, and he diverted the waters of the river to serve as his ramparts. He defenses stretched for seven hundred li, from Du'an to Jianwei. He and Li Te were locked in stalemate.

In the second year of Da'an (or Tai'an; 303), Li Te's subordinates acclaimed him as Grand General. He declared a general amnesty, and changed the reign era title to the first year of Jianchu.

The Attendant Officer of Yizhou, Ren Hui, advised Luo Shang, "Li Te is a wild and wicked traitor, and he has plundered and ravaged the common people. Now he has dispersed his forces to all the various villages and fortifications, and in his arrogance, he has made no preparations to defend himself. Heaven wills his downfall. You should make a accord with the villages. Set a secret time for a general rising, and we shall all attack him from every side. How could we not destroy him?"

Luo Shang followed his advice, and he sent out most of his forces to suddenly attack Li Te's camp. Luo Shang then went out and counter-attacked Li Te, and when he arrived at Guansang, Li Te's camp was defeated again, and he perished.

When his son Li Xiong assumed the title Prince of Chengdu, he posthumously named Li Te as Prince Jing ("the Splendid"), and when Li Xiong later claimed imperial title, he further posthumously honored Li Te as Emperor Jing. Li Te's temple name was Shizu.

Li Liu

李流字玄通，特第四子也。少好學，便弓馬，東羌校尉何攀稱流有賁、育之勇，舉為東羌校尉，平趙廞于成都。晉朝論功，拜奮威將軍，封武陽侯。建初元年，特既見殺，流自大將軍、益州牧。九月，流疾篤，謂諸將曰：「驍騎高明仁愛，識量多奇，固足以濟大事，然前軍英武，殆天所相，可共受事於前軍，以為成都王也。」遂薨，年五十六。諸將共立雄為主，雄稱尊，追諡流秦文王，子龍嗣。

Li Liu, styled Xuantong, was Li Te's fourth younger brother. As a young man, he was well-educated, and also proficient at archery and riding. The Colonel of Eastern Qiang Tribes, He Pan, claimed that Li Liu had the same valor as the ancient heroes Meng Ben and Xia Yu. Li Liu was nominated as Colonel of Eastern Qiang Tribes, and he conquered Zhao Xin at Chengdu. When the Jin court discussed the merits for putting down Zhao Xin's rebellion, they appointed Li Liu as General Who Exerts Might and Marquis of Wuyang.

In the first year of Jianchu (by 16K's reckoning, 303), after Li Te's death, Li Liu proclaimed himself as Grand General and Governor of Yizhou.

In the ninth month, Li Liu became deathly ill, and he told his generals, "The General of the Agile Cavalry, Liu Xiang, has great wisdom, benevolence, and love; he is knowledgeable, decisive, and very remarkable. He would be enough to see this affair to fruition. But the General of the Front, Li Xiong, is a brave and heroic man, almost the equal of Heaven. May all of you entrust affairs to the General of the Front, and make him the Prince of Chengdu."

Li Liu soon passed away; he was fifty-five years old. His generals all acclaimed Li Xiong as their leader.

After Li Xiong claimed imperial title, he posthumously named Li Liu as Prince Wen ("the Cultured") of Qin. His son Li Long inherited his position.

Book of Jin 120

李特，字玄休，巴西宕渠人，其先廩君之苗裔也。昔武落鐘離山崩，有石穴二所，其一赤如丹，一黑如漆。有人出於赤穴者，名曰務相，姓巴氏。有出於黑穴者，凡四姓：曰皥氏、樊氏、柏氏、鄭氏。五姓俱出，皆爭為神，於是相與以劍刺穴屋，能著者以為廩君。四姓莫著，而務相之劍懸焉。又以土為船，雕畫之而浮水中，曰：「若其船浮存者，以為廩君。」務相船又獨浮。於是遂稱廩君，乘其土船，將其徒卒，當夷水而下，至於鹽陽。鹽陽水神女子止廩君曰：「此魚鹽所有，地又廣大，與君俱生，可止無行。」廩君曰：「我當為君求廩地，不能止也。」鹽神夜從廩君宿，旦輒去為飛蟲，諸神皆從其飛，蔽日晝昏。廩君欲殺之不可，別又不知天地東西。如此者十日，廩君乃以青縷遺鹽神曰：「嬰此，即宜之，與汝俱生。弗宜，將去汝。」鹽神受而嬰之。廩君立碭石之上，望膺有青縷者，跪而射之，中鹽神。鹽神死，群神與俱飛者皆去，天乃開朗。廩君復乘土船，下及夷城。夷城石岸曲，泉水亦曲。廩君望如穴狀，歎曰：「我新從穴中出，今又入此，奈何！」岸即為崩，廣三丈餘，而階陛相乘，廩君登之。岸上有平石方一丈，長五尺，廩君休其上，投策計算，皆著石焉，因立城其旁而居之。其後種類遂繁。秦並天下，以為黔中郡，薄賦斂之，口歲出錢四十。巴人呼賦為賨，因謂之賨人焉。及漢高祖為漢王，募賨人平定三秦。既而求還鄉里，高祖以其功，復同豐、沛，不供賦稅，更名其地為巴郡。土有鹽鐵丹漆之饒，俗性剽勇，又善歌舞。高祖愛其舞，詔樂府習之，今《巴渝舞》是也。漢末，張魯居漢中，以鬼道教百姓，賨人敬信巫覡，多往奉之。值天下大亂，自巴西之宕渠遷于漢中楊車阪，抄掠行旅，百姓患之，號為楊車巴。魏武帝克漢中，特祖將五百餘家歸之，魏武帝拜為將軍，遷于略陽，北土復號之為巴氐。特父慕，為東羌獵將。

Li Te, styled Xuanxiu, was a native of Dangqu in Baxi commandary. His ancestors were the descendants of the Granary Lord of old.

In former times, part of Mount Wuluo Zhongli collapsed, and two stone caves appeared: one was red as cinnabar, and one was black as lacquer. There was one man who emerged from the red cave: his given name was Wuxiang, and his surname was Ba. And there were four men who emerged from the black cave: their surnames were Hao, Fan, Bai, and Zheng. After these five fellows came out of the caves, they argued with one another about who among them was divine. The five of them attempted to carve out a room from their caves using a blade, with the understanding that the one who could do so would be the Granary Lord. The other four fellows could not do it, but Wuxiang had an exceptional blade. These men also made boats out of earth and carved designs on them, then placed the boats into water, saying, "The one whose boat can float shall be the Granary Lord." Again, Wuxiang's boat was the only one to float. So they acclaimed him as the Granary Lord.

Then they climbed into his earthen boat, and acting as his followers, they sailed the boat down the Yi River until they came to Yanyang. There they met a goddess of river and salt who stopped the Granary Lord and said to him, "This place has fish and salt in abundance, and the land is both broad and large. Live here together with me, and you may end your journey here and wander no further."

The Granary Lord replied, "I must be seeking land for a granary. I cannot stop here."

During the night, the salt goddess followed the Granary Lord to his residence, and in the morning she suddenly became a flying insect. The other local spirits followed her into flight, and they blotted out the sun as though it were dusk. The Granary Lord wished to kill them, but he could not, and now he could no longer tell what was what, or where Heaven or Earth were. This went on for ten days, until at last the Granary Lord presented the salt goddess with a green thread, telling her, "Test this thread. If it is suitable, I shall live here together with you; if not, I shall soon leave you." The salt goddess accepted the thread and tested it. Then the Granary Lord placed a large stone on top of it, and following the line of the thread, he knelt and shot an arrow, which struck the salt goddess. She then died, and the other spirits who had been flying with her all ran away, so the sky was clear once again.

The Granary Lord then got back into his earthen boat and sailed further down the river, until he reached Yicheng. At Yicheng, the river had stone banks and was bent, and the springwaters were also twisted. The Granary Lord felt that it was like back in his cave, and he lamented, "I had only just emerged from the cave, and now it is as though I am going back into it. How can this be?" This caused part of the bank to collapse, leaving a space of more than three zhang, with stairs that one could ascend. So the Granary Lord mounted these stairs. On top of the bank was a flat stone, one zhang square and five 尺 tall. The Granary Lord rested on this stone, throwing down his calculating instruments, which all made marks on the stone. This was why he built walls all around the stone to house it. And his descendants were bountiful and multiplied.

During the time that Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang) was Prince of Han (~206 BC), he recruited from among these Cong people in order to conquer the region of the Three Qins (around Chang'an). After this, the people asked to return to their native land, and so in order to honor their achievement on his behalf and encourage their prosperity and flourishing, Gaozu did not levy any taxes or corvee labor on them, and he also renamed their land to Ba commandary. The land had an abundance of salt, iron, cinnabar, and lacquer, and the people there were swift and brave. They also were experts at singing and dancing, and Gaozu loved their dancing so much that he ordered his Music Bureau to practice it, which led to the modern Ba-Yu Dance.

At the end of the Han dynasty (~189 AD), the warlord Zhang Lu occupied Hanzhong commandary. He instructed the common people in the ways of the spirits, and because the Cong people respected and trusted in witches and wizards, many of them came to follow him. The realm soon fell into turmoil, and so the Cong people moved from Dangqu in Baxi commandary to Yangche Slope in Hanzhong. There they plundered and wandered freely, making themselves a nuisance to the common people, who called them the Ba of Yangche.

When Emperor Wu of Cao-Wei (Cao Cao) took Hanzhong (in 215), Li Te's grandfather led more than five hundred families to go over to him. Emperor Wu appointed him as a General and relocated him north to Lueyang, where the northerners called them the Di of Ba or Ba-Di. Li Te's father was Li Mu, who served as Hunting General of the Eastern Qiang tribes.

特少仕州郡，見異當時，身長八尺，雄武善騎射，沈毅有大度。元康中，氐齊萬年反，關西擾亂，頻歲大饑，百姓乃流移就穀，相與入漢川者數萬家。特隨流人將入於蜀，至劍閣，箕踞太息，顧眄險阻曰：「劉禪有如此之地而面縛於人，豈非庸才邪！」同移者閻式、趙肅、李遠、任回等咸歎異之。

As a young man, Li Te served in office in the commandary and the province, and during that time he was greatly appreciated. He was eight 尺 in height, and he was a bold and martial man, skilled at horseback archery. He was a stalwart fellow, with great capacity.

During the Yuankang reign era (~296), the Di leader Qiwannian rebelled, and the Guanxi region was thrown into great turmoil. For several years there was a great famine, and so the common people became refugees in search of grain. Tens of thousands of families all led each other into the Han River basin for that reason. Li Te followed the refugees and entered the Shu region, the former territory of the state of Shu-Han.

When he came to Jian'ge Pass, he took a great rest as he sat down with his legs stretched out and marveled at the place's stout defenses. He said, "Liu Shan had such defenses as this, and yet he still gave himself over in surrender to others. How could he not have been a man of inferior talents?" There were others who were on the move with him, including Yan Shi, Zhao Su, Li Yuan, Ren Hui, and others, and they all sighed in admiration of him.

初，流人既至漢中，上書求寄食巴、蜀，朝議不許，遣侍御史李苾持節慰勞，且監察之，不令入劍閣。苾至漢中，受流人貨賂，反為表曰：「流人十萬餘口，非漢中一郡所能振贍，東下荊州，水湍迅險，又無��船。蜀有倉儲，人復豐稔，宜令就食。」朝廷從之，由是散在益、梁，不可禁止。

Earlier, when the refugees had first arrived at Hanzhong, they sent up a letter to the court asking that they be granted refuge in the Ba and Shu regions. The court would not grant their assent, and they sent the Resident Imperial Secretary, Li Bi, with a Staff of Authority to send their regards to the refugees. Li Bi had orders to investigate the situation, and to not permit the refugees to pass through Jian'ge Pass.

But when Li Bi arrived at Hanzhong, he took bribes from the refugees, and so he instead wrote the court a petition stating, "There are more than a hundred thousand refugees here, too many for Hanzhong commandary alone to sustain them. If you mean to have them go east into Jingzhou, the rivers are swift and with narrow rapids, and besides there are no boats to use. But Shu has plenty of grain stores, and the people there have just had a bountiful harvest. You should send the refugees there so that they may eat."

So the court followed his recommendation. The refugees scattered throughout Yizhou and Lianzhou, and no one could stop them.

永康元年，詔征益州刺史趙廞為大長秋，以成都內史耿滕代廞。廞遂謀叛，潛有劉氏割據之志，乃傾倉廩，振施流人，以收眾心。特之党類皆巴西人，與廞同郡，率多勇壯，廞厚遇之，以為爪牙，故特等聚眾，專為寇盜，蜀人患之。滕密上表，以為流人剛剽而蜀人懦弱，客主不能相制，必為亂階，宜使移還其本。若致之險地，將恐秦雍之禍萃于梁益，必貽聖朝西顧之憂。廞聞而惡之。時益州文武千餘人已往迎滕，滕率眾入州，廞遣眾逆滕，戰于西門，滕敗，死之。

Zhao Xin plotted to rebel instead, and he secretly had ambitions of carving out and holding the territory of Yizhou for himself, as the Liu clan had once done (Liu Yan, Liu Zhang, Liu Bei, and Liu Shan). So he opened the government storehouses and distributed food among the refugees from the north, in order to win the hearts of the people.

Li Te and his partisans and followers were all natives of Baxi, the same commandary as Zhao Xin hailed from, and he led many brave fellows. So Zhao Xin treated them well, in order to keep them as his claws and fangs. Thanks to Zhao Xin's support, Li Te and the others gathered people together to become bandits, and the natives of Shu suffered from them.

Geng Teng secretly sent up a petition, stating that the refugees were bold and strong, while the natives of Shu were timid and weak; when the hosts and guests were unable to control one another, chaos in the proper hierarchy was sure to follow. He said that the refugees should be sent back to their original homes again. If they were to remain in such a strategic region, he feared the recent troubles in Qinzhou and Yongzhou (from Qiwannian's rebellion) might be repeated on an even worse scale in Lianzhou and Yizhou, which would certainly leave a source of anxiety for the court whenever they looked to the west. Zhao Xin found out about the petition and resented Geng Teng.

By this time, more than a thousand civil and military officials had already welcomed Geng Teng as the new Inspector. Geng Teng led his forces into the provincial administration center (at Chengdu), but Zhao Xin sent his own troops to oppose Geng Teng. They fought at the West Gate, where Geng Teng was defeated and killed.

廞自稱大都督、大將軍、益州牧。特弟庠與兄弟及妹夫李含、任回、上官惇、扶風李攀、始平費佗、氐苻成、隗伯等以四千騎歸廞。廞以庠為威寇將軍，使斷北道。庠素東羌良將，曉軍法，不用麾幟，舉矛為行伍，斬部下不用命者三人，部陣肅然。廞惡其齊整，欲殺之而未言。長史杜淑、司馬張粲言於廞曰：「傳云五大不在邊，將軍起兵始爾，便遣李庠握強兵於外，愚竊惑焉。且非我族類，其心必異，倒戈授人，竊以為不可，願將軍圖之。」廞斂容曰：「卿言正當吾意，可謂起予者商，此天使卿等成吾事也。」會庠在門，請見廞，廞大悅，引庠見之。庠欲觀廞意旨，再拜進曰：「今中國大亂，無復綱維，晉室當不可復興也。明公道格天地，德被區宇，湯、武之事，實在於今。宜應天時，順人心，拯百姓于塗炭，使物情知所歸，則天下可定，非但庸、蜀而已。」廞怒曰：「此豈人臣所宜言！」令淑等議之。於是淑等上庠大逆不道，廞乃殺之，及其子侄宗族三十餘人。廞慮特等為難，遣人喻之曰：「庠非所宜言，罪應至死，不及兄弟。」以庠屍還特，復以特兄弟為督將，以安其眾。牙門將許弇求為巴東監軍，杜淑、張粲固執不許。弇怒，于廞閣下手刃殺淑、粲，淑、粲左右又殺弇，皆廞腹心也。

Zhao Xin declared himself Grand Commander, Grand General, and Governor of Yizhou. Li Te's younger brother Li Xiáng, at the head of four thousand cavalry, came to join Zhao Xin along with many others: his brother-in-law Li Han, Ren Hui, Shangguan Dun, Li Pan of Fufeng commandary, Fei Tuo of Shiping, the Di leaders Fu Cheng and Kui Bo, and others. Zhao Xin appointed Li Xiáng as General Who Awes Invaders, and had him block the roads to the north.

Li Xiáng had long been a fine general under the Colonel of Eastern Qiang Tribes. He made the military laws very clear. Rather than use a personal command banner, he kept his lance aloft to direct the rank and file soldiers. He killed three of his subordinates who did not obey orders, and so his division respected him.

Zhao Xin had resented him for having such discipline, and he wanted to kill Li Xiáng, but had not yet expressed such sentiments. Zhao Xin's Chief Clerk, Du Shu, and his Marshal, Zhang Can, warned him, "Reports state that the Five Greats are not on the borders. General, when you first rose up, the soldiers were all with you. But now you have sent this Li Xiáng away to take hold of powerful soldiers for himself. We must humbly express our bewilderment at this. Furthermore, do not forget the saying: 'if he be not of our kin, he is sure to have a different mind'. We believe that Li Xiáng is not the kind of man to throw down his spear and accept you. General, we ask that you get rid of him."

Looking serious, Zhao Xin replied, "You speak just as I believe, as though you were expressing my own thoughts. Heaven has sent you men to help me carry this thing out."

Soon, Li Xiáng himself was at the gate, asking to see Zhao Xin. Overjoyed, Zhao Xin had Li Xiáng brought in to see him.

Li Xiáng wanted to measure Zhao Xin's intentions, so he saluted him again and stepped forward, saying, "The Middle Kingdom is now in great turmoil, and it cannot be tied back together again; the Jin dynasty cannot recover any longer. Your Excellency is as principled as Heaven and Earth, and your virtue is spread throughout the whole region. Now is the time to follow the examples of Tang of Shang and King Wu of Zhou by founding a new dynasty. You should heed the opportunity granted by Heaven and obey the wishes of the people. Save the common people from their misery, and they will recognize the situation and come to you. Then all the realm can be settled, and you need not claim merely the regions of Yong and Shu alone."

Zhao Xin angrily replied, "How could a mere minister advocate such things?" He ordered Du Shu and the others to discuss the matter, and they concluded that Li Xiáng was a great traitor without principle. So Zhao Xin killed Li Xiáng, along with his sons, nephews, and other kinsmen, more than thirty people.

Zhao Xin was worried that Li Te and the others would be trouble, so he sent men to console them, saying, "Li Xiáng was presumptuous and spoke out of turn, and his crime was worthy of death. But his crime does not extend to his brothers." He sent Li Xiáng's body back to Li Te, and appointed Li Te and his brothers as commanders and generals, in order to keep them quiet.

Zhao Xin's General of the Standard, Xu Yan, asked to be appointed as Chief General of Badong commandary. Du Shu and Zhang Can stubbornly refused him. In a fit of rage, Xu Yan killed Du Shu and Zhang Can with his own blade beneath Zhao Xin's pavilion, but was then killed by their attendants in turn. These three men had been Zhao Xin's most trusted officers.

特兄弟既以怨廞，引兵歸綿竹。廞恐朝廷討己，遣長史費遠、犍為太守李苾、督護常俊督萬餘人斷北道，次綿竹之石亭。特密收合得七千餘人，夜襲遠軍，遠大潰，因放火燒之，死者十八九。進攻成都。廞聞兵至，驚懼不知所為。李苾、張征等夜斬關走出，文武盡散。廞獨與妻子乘小船走至廣都，為下人硃竺所殺。特至成都，縱兵大掠，害西夷護軍薑發，殺廞長史袁治及廞所置守長，遣其牙門王角、李基詣洛陽陳廞之罪狀。

Li Te and his brothers were now furious with Zhao Xin, and they led their soldiers back to Mianzhu.

Zhao Xin was worried that the court would campaign against him, so he sent his Chief Clerk, Fei Yuan, the Administrator of Jianwei commandary, Li Bi, and his Protector, Chang Jun, to lead more than ten thousand soldiers to block the northern roads, and they camped at Shiting in Mianzhu. Li Te secretly gathered an army of more than seven thousand soldiers, and he raided Fei Yuan's camp at night. Fei Yuan's army was greatly scattered because the Li soldiers had set fire to the camp to burn it down, and eight or nine of every ten soldiers died.

Li Te then advanced to attack Chengdu. When Zhao Xin heard that Li Te's soldiers had arrived, he was shocked and afraid and did not know what to do. Li Bi, Zhang Zheng, and others cut their way out of the city gates during the night and fled, and the civil and military officials all scattered. Zhao Xin was left alone with his wife. They got into a small boat and fled, but when they reached Guangdu, they were killed by Zhao Xin's subordinate Zhu Zhu.

Li Te entered Chengdu, letting his soldiers loose to sack the city. He did harm to the Protector of Western Yi Tribes, Jiang Fa, and he killed Zhao Xin's Chief Clerk, Yuan Zhi, and the other local commanders that Zhao Xin had appointed. He sent his Generals of the Standard, Wang Jiao and Li Ji, to visit Luoyang, detailing the crimes Zhao Xin had committed.

先是，惠帝以梁州刺史羅尚為平西將軍、領護西夷校尉、益州刺史，督牙門將王敦、上庸都尉義歆、蜀郡太守徐儉、廣漢太守辛冉等凡七千餘人入蜀。特等聞尚來，甚懼，使其弟驤于道奉迎，並貢寶物。尚甚悅，以驤為騎督。特及弟流復以牛酒勞尚於綿竹。王敦、辛冉並說尚曰：「特等流人，專為盜賊，急宜梟除，可因會斬之。」尚不納。冉先與特有舊，因謂特曰：「故人相逢，不吉當凶矣。」特深自猜懼。

Earlier, Emperor Hui had appointed the Inspector of Lianzhou, Luo Shang, as General Who Pacifies The West, as acting Colonel Who Protects Western Yi Tribes, and as the new Inspector of Yizhou. The General of the Standard, Wang Dun, the Commandant of Shangyong, Yi Xin, the Administrator of Shu commandary, Xu Jian, the Administrator of Guanghan, Xin Ran, and others were all placed under Luo Shang's command, and he entered Shu at the head of more than seven thousand soldiers.

When Li Te and the others heard that Luo Shang was coming, they were very afraid. Li Te sent his younger brother Li Xiang to offer welcome to Luo Shang along the road, presenting him with fine treasures as tribute. Luo Shang was very pleased, and he kept Li Xiang with him as a Cavalry Commander. Li Te and his younger brother Li Liu also treated Luo Shang with oxen and wine at Mianzhu.

Wang Dun and Xin Ran warned Luo Shang, "Li Te and his ilk are nothing more than bandits. You ought to hang up all their heads and get rid of them, so you can take this chance to behead them." But Luo Shang did not listen to them.

Xin Ran had a long history with Li Te, and he told Li Te, "Old friend, we happen to meet one another again. But this is no blessing; it is a curse." So Li Te began to be very fearful and suspicious for himself.

尋有符下秦、雍州，凡流人入漢川者，皆下所在召還。特兄輔素留鄉里，托言迎家，既至蜀，謂特曰：「中國方亂，不足復還，」特以為然，乃有雄據巴、蜀之意。朝廷以討趙廞功，拜特宣威將軍，封長樂鄉侯，流為奮威將軍、武陽侯。璽書下益州，條列六郡流人與特協同討廞者，將加封賞。會辛冉以非次見征，不顧應召，又欲以滅廞為己功，乃寢朝命，不以實上。眾咸怨之。羅尚遣從事催遣流人，限七月上道，辛冉性貪暴，欲殺流人首領，取其資貨，乃移檄發遣。又令梓潼太守張演于諸要施關，搜索寶貨。特等固請，求至秋收。流人布在梁、益，為人傭力，及聞州郡逼遣，人人愁怨，不知所為。羅尚遣從事催遣流人，限七月上道，辛冉性貪暴，欲殺流人首領，取其資貨，乃移檄發遣。又令梓潼太守張演于諸要施關，搜索寶貨。特等固請，求至秋收。流人布在梁、益，為人傭力，及聞州郡逼遣，人人愁怨，不知所為。又知特兄弟頻請求停，皆感而恃之。且水雨將降，年穀未登，流人無以為行資，遂相與詣特。特乃結大營於綿竹，以處流人，移冉求自寬。冉大怒，遣人分榜通逵，購募特兄弟，許以重賞。特見，大懼，悉取以歸，與驤改其購云：「能送六郡之豪李、任、閻、趙、楊、上官及氐、叟侯王一首，賞百匹。」流人既不樂移，咸往歸特，騁馬屬鞬，同聲雲集，旬月間眾過二萬。流亦聚眾數千。物乃分為二營，特居北營，流居東營。

An order soon arrived from the court that all the refugees from Qinzhou and Yongzhou who had gone into the region of the Han River basin were to return to their former homes. Li Te's elder brother Li Fu had remained in their homeland in Lueyang all this time, and he was asked to go and collect his family as well. But when he arrived in Shu, he told Li Te, " The Middle Kingdom is in the midst of great turmoil, and you cannot go back north yet." Li Te believed him, so he intended to boldly occupy the regions of Ba and Shu for himself.

As reward for his merits in putting down Zhao Xin's rebellion, Li Te was appointed as General Who Displays Might and Marquis of Changle Village by the court, and Li Liu was appointed as General Who Exerts Might and Marquis of Wuyang. When the seals and letters regarding these appointments reached Yizhou, others among the refugees of the six commandaries who had also helped Li Te to put down Zhao Xin expected that they would receive ranks and rewards as well. But since Xin Mao wished to claim credit for defeating Zhao Xin for himself, despite not having participated in the campaign against him or responding to the summons, he tabled the imperial order and prevented it from being carried out. This caused all of the refugees to resent him.

Luo Shang sent out his Attendant Officers to hurry along the refugees, planning to have them start back for the north as soon as autumn arrived in the seventh month. Xin Ran had a greedy and fierce nature, and he wished to kill the leaders of the refugees and take away all of their goods. So he had many proclamations sent out. And he ordered the Administrator of Zitong, Zhang Yan, to build gates at key locations and to confiscate any treasures that the refugees possessed.

Li Te and the others asked for leniency, requesting that they be given until autumn to collect the people together. The refugees were all spread out throughout Lianzhou and Yizhou, working as hired hands for the people. When they heard that the provinces and commandaries were going to force them to return, they were all anxious and resentful, not knowing what they would do.

They also knew that Li Te and his brothers had frequently asked for the relocation order to be halted, and so the refugees all appreciated him and relied upon him. Furthermore, the rivers of the region were all greatly swollen by rains, while the yearly harvest had not been gathered yet. The refugees had no means to sustain themselves during any proposed relocation trip, and they all came to visit Li Te.

So Li Te formed a great camp at Mianzhu in order to manage the refugees, and he appealed to Xin Mao's magnanimity. Xin Mao was enraged, and he had notices posted up along all the roads listing a bounty on Li Te and his brothers, offering great rewards. When Li Te saw the notices, he was greatly afraid. He gathered up the notices to edit them, and he and his younger brother Li Xiang changed the words to state, "Whoever can bring us the heads of one of the leaders of the great clans of the six commandaries, whether Li, Ren, Yan, Zhao, Yang, Shangguan, or one of the nobles of the Di or Sou peoples, will be rewarded with a hundred bolts of silk."

Since the refugees were unhappy at being forced to move, they all came to Li Te, with galloping horses and filled quivers, with one sound like a gathering of clouds. Within the space of a month, Li Te had more than twenty thousand people with him, and Li Liu also gathered several thousand people. So Li Te split his camp into two halves; he himself resided in the northern camp, while Li Liu resided in the eastern camp.

特遣閻式詣羅尚，求申期。式既至，見冉營柵沖要，謀掩流人，歎曰：「無寇而城，仇必保焉。今而速之，亂將作矣！」又知冉及李苾意不可回，乃辭尚還綿竹。尚謂式曰：「子且以吾意告諸流人，今聽寬矣。」式曰：「明公惑於奸說，恐無寬理。弱而不可輕者百姓也，今促之不以理，眾怒難犯，恐為禍不淺。」尚曰：「然。吾不欺子，子其行矣。」式至綿竹，言於特曰：「尚雖云爾，然未可必信也。何者？尚威刑不立，冉等各擁強兵，一旦為變，亦非尚所能制，深宜為備。」特納之。冉、苾相與謀曰：「羅侯貪而無斷，日復一日，流人得展奸計。李特兄弟並有雄才，吾屬將為豎子虜矣。宜為決計，不足復問之。」乃遣廣漢都尉曾元、牙門張顯、劉並等潛率步騎三萬襲特營。羅尚聞之，亦遣督護田佐助元。特素知之，乃繕甲厲兵，戒嚴以待之。元等至，特安臥不動，待其眾半入，發伏擊之，殺傷者甚眾，害田佐、曾元、張顯，傳首以示尚、冉。尚謂將佐曰：「此虜成去矣，而廣漢不用吾言，以張賊勢，今將若之何！」

Li Te sent Yan Shi to see Luo Shang to ask for an extension for the refugees. When Yan Shi arrived and saw the camps and barriers that Xin Mao had set up on the roads and in important places, and heard the discussions of how to contain the refugees, he lamented, "There are no invaders, and yet these walls are being raised, as though they are needed for defense against some enemy. This will only speed things along. Chaos will break out before long." And Yan Shi knew that Xin Ran and Li Bi were of a mind to not let him return again. So he told Luo Shang that he would be returning to Mianzhu.

Luo Shang said to him, "Sir, when you convey my words to the refugees, I hope we shall soon hear of peace and contentment."

Yan Shi replied, "Your Excellency, you have been misleading people with such wild talk that I fear there will be no cause for peace. The common people may be weak, but they are not to be underestimated. But now you try to contain them like this for no reason. As it is said, 'it is difficult to go against the anger of all the crowd'. I fear the coming disaster will be serious indeed."

Luo Shang replied, "It may be so. Sir, I shall not force you; you are free to go."

When Yan Shi returned to Mianzhu, he said to Li Te, "Although Luo Shang claims such things, he still cannot necessarily be trusted. How could he be? His power and authority are not established, and Xin Ran and the others each command strong bodies of soldiers. Everything could change overnight, and Luo Shang would not be able to control the situation. We truly must prepare ourselves."

Li Te heeded his advice.

Xin Ran and Li Bi plotted with one another, saying, "Marquis Luo may be greedy, but he cannot make up his mind. He lets the days pass by one after another, and all the while, those refugees continue to develop their wicked plans. Li Te and his brothers are bold and talented fellows; we will all become his slaves sooner or later! Better for us to carry out our own plan at once and so decide the matter once and for all. There is no point in talking to Marquis Luo about it first."

So they sent the Commandant of Guanghan, Ceng Yuan, the Generals of the Standard, Zhang Xian and Liu Bing, and others to lead thirty thousand horse and foot on a surprise attack against Li Te's camp. When Luo Shang heard that these commanders were already on the move, he sent the Protector Tian Zuo to assist Ceng Yuan too.

But Li Te had long known what they were plotting, and so he had been maintaining his armor and drilling his soldiers, staying in strict readiness for whatever might happen. When Ceng Yuan and the others arrived at Li Te's camp, Li Te was resting peacefully and did not stir himself. He waited until half of the enemies had poured into his camp. Then he launched an ambush to attack them, and a great number of the enemy soldiers were killed. Li Te killed Tian Zuo, Ceng Yuan, and Zhang Xian, and sent their heads as a warning to Luo Shang and Xin Ran.

Luo Shang said to his generals, "Those slaves were just on the point of leaving, yet the Administrator of Guanghan (Xin Ran) ignored what I had said, and now the bandits' strength has only grown. How could things have come to this?"

於是六郡流人推特為主。特命六郡人部曲督李含、上邽令任臧、始昌令閻式、諫議大夫李攀、陳倉令李武、陰平令李遠、將兵都尉楊褒等上書，請依梁統奉竇融故事，推特行鎮北大將軍，承制封拜，其弟流行鎮東將軍，以相鎮統。於是進兵攻冉於廣漢。冉眾出戰，特每破之。尚遣李苾及費遠率眾救冉，憚特不敢進。冉智力既窘，出奔江陽。特入據廣漢，以李超為太守，進兵攻尚于成都。閻式遺尚書，責其信用讒構，欲討流人，又陳特兄弟立功王室，以寧益土。尚覽書，知特等將有大志，嬰城固守，求救于梁、寧二州。於是特自稱使持節、大都督、鎮北大將軍，承制封拜一依竇融在河西故事。兄輔為驃騎將軍，弟驤為驍騎將軍，長子始為武威將軍，次子蕩為鎮軍將軍，少子雄為前將軍，李含為西夷校尉，含子國離、任回、李恭、上官晶、李攀、費佗等為將帥，任臧、上官惇、楊褒、楊珪、王達、麹歆等為爪牙，李遠、李博、夕斌、嚴檉、上官琦、李濤、王懷等為僚屬，閻式為謀主，何世、趙肅為腹心。時羅尚貪殘，為百姓患，而特與蜀人約法三章，施捨振貸，禮賢拔滯，軍政肅然。百姓為之謠曰：「李特尚可，羅尚殺我。」尚頻為特所敗，乃阻長圍，緣水作營，自都安至犍為七百里，與特相距。

The refugees of the six commandaries all now acclaimed Li Te as their leader. Li Te ordered the divisional leader of the people of the six commandaries, Li Han, the Prefect of Shanggui, Ren Zang, the Prefect of Shichang, Yan Shi, the Grandee Remonstrant, Li Pan, the Prefect of Chencang, Li Wu, the Prefect of Yinping, Li Yuan, the Commandant of Soldiers, Yang Bao, and others to send up a letter to the court in Luoyang, asking that Li Te be allowed to assume command of Lianzhou, following the example of Dou Rong of former times. These people all acclaimed Li Te as acting Grand General Who Guards The North, with authority to make his own appointments. They also acclaimed Li Liu as acting General Who Guards The East, and Li Te and Li Liu collaborated in the protection and leadership of the people.

Li Te led his soldiers to advance and attack Xin Mao at Guanghan. Xin Ran marched out to battle, but Li Te always routed him. Luo Shang sent Li Bi and Fei Yuan to lead troops to reinforce Xin Ran, but they feared Li Te and did not dare to advance. With Xin Mao's intelligence exhausted, he broke out and fled to Jiangyang. Li Te entered Guanghan and occupied it, appointing Li Chao as the new Administrator.

His soldiers then advanced to attack Luo Shang at Chengdu. Yan Shi sent a letter to Luo Shang, blaming him for trusting in and using slander and fabrications and wanting to campaign against the refugees, and defending the actions of Li Te and his brothers as achieving merits on behalf of the Jin royal family, in order to bring peace to Yizhou. Luo Shang reflected upon this letter and realized that Li Te and the others had great ambitions indeed. So he withdrew into the city to hold out, and asked for reinforcements from Lianzhou and Ningzhou.

Li Te appointed himself as Commissioner Bearing Credentials, Grand Commander, and fully Grand General Who Guards The North, and he wielded authority to make his own appointments as Dou Rong had once done when he had occupied the Hexi region (in the northwest at Liangzhou). He appointed his elder brother Li Fu as General of Agile Cavalry, his youngest brother Li Xiang as General of Fierce Cavalry, his eldest son Li Shi as General of Might and Valor, his second son Li Dang as General Who Guards The Army, and his youngest son Li Xiong as General of the Front. He also appointed Li Han as Colonel of Western Yi Tribes, and he appointed Li Han's sons Li Guo and Li Li, Ren Hui, Li Gong, Shangguan Jing, Li Pan, Fei Tuo, and others as generals and leaders as well. Ren Zang, Shangguan Dun, Yang Bao, Yang Gui, Wang Da, Qu Xin, and others served as his fangs and claws, while Li Yuan, Li Bo, Xi Bin, Yang Cheng, Shangguan Qi, Li Tao, Wang Huai, and others served as subordinates. Yan Shi was his chief advisor, and He Shi and Zhao Su were his right-hand men.

Now Luo Shang had long been greedy and covetous, a burden upon the common people. But Li Te made a covenant with the people of Shu to only enforce the Three Regulations (of Liu Bang), and he gave out alms and funds to them. He treated the worthy with proper ceremony and plucked out people living in obscurity, and he treated both the army and the government respectfully. The common people made a ditty which went, "Luo Shang's blade is at our neck, but Li Te treats us with respect."

Luo Shang was frequently defeated by Li Te, so he built long walls to protect himself, and he diverted the waters of the river to serve as his ramparts. He defenses stretched for seven hundred li, from Du'an to Jianwei. He and Li Te were locked in stalemate.

河間王顒遣督護衙博、廣漢太守張征討特，南夷校尉李毅又遣兵五千助尚，尚遣督護張龜軍繁城，三道攻特。特命蕩、雄襲博。特躬擊張龜，龜眾大敗。蕩又與博接戰連日，博亦敗績，死者太半。蕩追博至漢德，博走葭萌。蕩進寇巴西，巴西郡丞毛植、五官襄珍以郡降蕩。蕩撫恤初附，百姓安之。蕩進攻葭萌，博又遠遁，其眾盡降於蕩。

The Prince of Hejian, Sima Yong, sent the Protector Ya Bo and the Administrator of Guanghan, Zhang Zheng, to campaign against Li Te. The Colonel of Southern Yi Tribes, Li Yi, also sent five thousand soldiers to reinforce Luo Shang. And Luo Shang sent the Protector Zhang Gui to march his army to Fancheng. So these three forces attacked Li Te along three routes.

Li Te ordered Li Dang and Li Xiong to attack Ya Bo. Li Te himself went to attack Zhang Gui, and he greatly defeated Zhang Gui.

Li Dang also fought a running battle against Ya Bo for several days, where Ya Bo suffered several defeats and more than half of his soldiers died. Li Dang pursued Ya Bo as far as Hande, and Ya Bo fled to Jiameng. Li Dang advanced and invaded Baxi commandary, where the Minister of Baxi, Mao Zhi, and the Director of the Five Offices, Xiang Zhen, surrendered the commandary to him. Li Dang reassured and relieved the commandary, since it had only just come over to his side, and thus the common people were settled. Then he advanced and attacked Jiameng. Ya Bo once more fled far away, and his forces all surrendered to Li Dang.

太安元年，特自稱益州牧、都督梁、益二州諸軍事、大將軍、大都督，改年建初，赦其境內。於是進攻張征。征依高據險，與特相持連日。時特與蕩分為二營，徵候特營空虛，遣步兵循山攻之，特逆戰不利，山險窘逼，眾不知所為。羅准、任道皆勸引退，特量蕩必來，故不許。征眾至稍多，山道至狹，唯可一二人行，蕩軍不得前，謂其司馬王辛曰：「父在深寇之中，是我死日也。」乃衣重鎧，持長矛，大呼直前，推鋒必死，殺十餘人。征眾來相救，蕩軍皆殊死戰，征軍遂潰。特議欲釋征還涪，蕩與王辛進曰：「征軍連戰，士卒傷殘，智勇俱竭，宜因其弊遂擒之。若舍而寬之，征養病收亡，餘眾更合，圖之未易也。」特從之，復進攻征，征潰圍走。蕩水陸追之，遂害征，生擒征子存，以征喪還之。

In the first year of Tai'an (302), Li Te declared himself Governor of Yizhou, Commander of military affairs in Lianzhou and Yizhou, Grand General, and Grand Commander. He changed the reign era title to the first year of Jianchu, and he declared an amnesty within his domain.

Then Li Te advanced and attacked Zhang Zheng. Zhang Zheng occupied strategic terrain in high places, and he was locked in battle with Li Te for several days. At this time, Li Te and Li Dang had split their forces into two camps. When Zhang Zheng noticed that Li Te's camp was now left exposed, he sent infantry around the side of the mountain and attacked it. Li Te tried to counter-attack, but he got the worst of the fighting. Li Te now found himself pressed in by the narrow confines of the mountain, and his army did not know what to do. Luo Zhun and Ren Dao both urged Li Te to lead his soldiers away in retreat, but Li Te felt that Li Dang was certain to come and help him, so he refused to agree.

Although Zhang Zheng had somewhat more men on his side, the mountain roads were so narrow that only one or two men could advance along them at a time. Li Dang's army could not press forward, but he said to his Marshal Wang Xin, "If my father perishes in the midst of these enemies, that shall be the day of my death too." So putting on a heavy suit of armor and grasping a long spear, he gave a great shout and charged forward. He pressed forward even in the face of certain death, killing more than ten people. Zhang Zheng's army all rushed forward to help each other, but Li Dang's army fought a battle of life and death, until at last Zhang Zheng's army scattered.

Li Te proposed letting Zhang Zheng go while they fell back to Fu, but Li Dang and Wang Xin stepped forward and said, "Zhang Zheng's army has just fought many battles; his officers and soldiers have been greatly wounded, and his cunning and valor are both exhausted. We should take advantage of his weakness to capture him. If we stay here and let him escape, then Zhang Zheng will nurse his soldiers back to health and round up his stragglers. Then his army will grow even larger, and it will not be easy to overcome him."

Li Te followed their advice, and advanced again and attacked Zhang Zheng. Zhang Zheng broke out of his encirclement and fled, but Li Dang pursued him by water; he killed Zhang Zheng and captured his son Zhang Cun alive, but released the son to return and mourn for the father.

以騫碩為德陽太守，碩略地至巴郡之墊江。

Li Te appointed Qian Shuo as Administrator of Deyang, and Qian Shuo surveyed the land as far as Dianjiang in Ba commandary.

特之攻張征也，使李驤與李攀、任回、李恭屯軍毗橋，以備羅尚。尚遣軍挑戰，驤等破之。尚又遣數千人出戰，驤又陷破之，大獲器甲，攻燒其門。流進次成都之北。尚遣將張興偽降於驤，以觀虛實。時驤軍不過二千人，興夜歸白尚，尚遣精勇萬人銜枚隨興夜襲驤營。李攀逆戰死，驤及將士奔於流柵，與流並力回攻尚軍。尚軍亂，敗還者十一二。晉梁州刺史許雄遣軍攻特，特陷破之，進擊，破尚水上軍，遂寇成都。蜀郡太守徐儉以小城降，特以李瑾為蜀郡太守以撫之。羅尚據大城自守。流進屯江西，尚懼，遣使求和。

When Li Te had gone to attack Zhang Zheng, he had sent Li Xiang, Li Pan, Ren Hui, and Li Gong to camp at Piqiao, to prepare defenses against Luo Shang. Luo Shang sent an army to offer battle to them, but Li Xiang and the others routed this army. Luo Shang once more sent several thousand soldiers out to fight, but Li Xiang again destroyed and routed them, greatly capturing their arms and armor. Then he attacked Luo Shang's gates and set fire to them. Li Liu's army also arrived north of Chengdu.

Luo Shang sent his general Zhang Xing to pretend to surrender to Li Xiang, but his real purpose was to scout out their camp and look for any weaknesses. By now, Li Xiang's army numbered no more than two thousand people. Zhang Xing returned to Luo Shang during the night and reported this discovery to him, so Luo Shang sent ten thousand of his most elite and bravest soldiers to launch a night attack on Li Xiang's camp, with Zhang Xing leading them; they kept sticks in their mouths to ensure silence as they approached. Li Pan fought back against them and died, while Li Xiang and his generals and soldiers fled to the defenses of Li Liu's barricades. Then they joined their strength with Li Liu's soldiers and marched back to attack Luo Shang's army. Luo Shang's army was thrown into a panic, and they were defeated; only one or two of every ten of the soldiers returned.

Jin's new Inspector of Lianzhou, Xu Xiong, sent his own army to attack Li Te, but Li Te destroyed and routed it. Then he advanced and attacked, routing Luo Shang's naval force, before invading Chengdu itself. The Administrator of Shu commandary, Xu Jian, surrendered Chengdu's Lesser City to Li Te. Li Te appointed Li Jin as his own Administrator of Shu in order to nurture that region. Luo Shang occupied Chengdu's Greater City and maintained the defense. But when Li Liu advanced to camp at Jiangxi, Luo Shang was frightened, and he sent messengers asking for peace terms.

是時蜀人危懼，並結村堡，請命於特，特遣人安撫之。益州從事任明說尚曰：「特既凶逆，侵暴百姓，又分人散眾，在諸村堡，驕怠無備，是天亡之也。可告諸村，密克期日，內外擊之，破之必矣。」尚從之。明先偽降特，特問城中虛實，明曰：「米穀已欲盡，但有貨帛耳。」因求省家，特許之。明潛說諸村，諸村悉聽命。還報尚，尚許如期出軍，諸村亦許一時赴會。

By this time, because of the danger and fear across the region, the people of Shu had banded together into villages and fortifications. They asked for orders from Li Te, who sent men to settle and nurture them.

The Attendant Officer of Yizhou, Ren Ming, advised Luo Shang, "Li Te is a wild and wicked traitor, and he has plundered and ravaged the common people. Now he has dispersed his forces to all the various villages and fortifications, and in his arrogance, he has made no preparations to defend himself. Heaven wills his downfall. You should make a accord with the villages. Set a secret time for a general rising, and we shall all attack him from every side. How could we not destroy him?"

Luo Shang agreed with him. So Ren Ming first visited Li Te to feign his surrender, and Li Te asked him what conditions were like inside Luo Shang's defenses. Ren Ming replied, "The grain stores are nearly exhausted; funds and silks are the only things there."

Then Ren Ming asked that he be allowed to go back to his family, and Li Te allowed him to leave. Ren Ming then secretly visited the villages and advised them of the plan, and all of those places heeded his orders. Then he returned to Chengdu and informed Luo Shang of everything. At the set time, Luo Shang would march out with his army, and the villages would all march out and join him at the same time.

二年，惠帝遣荊州刺史宋岱、建平太守孫阜救尚。阜已次德陽，特遣蕩督李璜助任臧距阜。尚遣大眾奄襲特營，連戰二日，眾少不敵，特軍大敗，收合餘卒，引趣新繁。尚軍引還，特復追之，轉戰三十餘里，尚出大軍逆戰，特軍敗績，斬特及李輔、李遠，皆焚屍，傳首洛陽。在位二年。其子雄僭稱王，追諡特景王，及僭號，追尊曰景皇帝，廟號始祖。

In the second year of Tai'an (303), Emperor Hui ordered the Inspector of Jingzhou, Song Dai, and the Administrator of Jianping, Sun Fu, to go and reinforce Luo Shang. Sun Fu had already reached Deyang, so Li Te sent Li Dang to lead Li Huang to reinforce Ren Zang against Sun Fu.

Luo Shang then sent most of his forces to suddenly attack Li Te's camp. They fought for two days, and with so few remaining soldiers, Li Te was no match for the enemy and his army was greatly defeated. Li Te gathered up his remaining men and fell back to Xinfan. Luo Shang then began to lead his own army back towards Chengdu. Li Te turned around and pursued him, and they fought a running battle for more than thirty li. Then Luo Shang brought his main army out again and counter-attacked, and Li Te's army suffered another defeat. Li Te was killed, as well as Li Fu and Li Yuan. Their corpses were burned, and their heads were sent to Luoyang. Li Te had been in the second year of his reign.

When his son Li Xiong assumed title as Prince, he posthumously named Li Te as Prince Jing ("the Splendid"), and when Li Xiong later claimed imperial title, he further posthumously honored Li Te as Emperor Jing, with the temple name Shizu.

Li Liu

李流，字玄通，特第四弟也。少好學，便弓馬，東羌校尉何攀稱流有賁育之勇，舉為東羌督。及避地益州，刺史趙廞器異之。廞之使庠合部眾也，流亦招鄉里子弟得數千人。庠為廞所殺，流從特安慰流人，破常俊於綿竹，平趙廞于成都。朝廷論功，拜奮威將軍，封武陽侯。

Li Liu, styled Xuantong, was Li Te's younger brother, the fourth of the five brothers. As a young man, he was well-educated, and also proficient at archery and riding. The Colonel of Eastern Qiang Tribes, He Pan, claimed that Li Liu had the same valor as the ancient heroes Meng Ben and Xia Yu, and he nominated him as a subordinate Director under him.

Later on, when Li Liu followed the other refugees into Yizhou, the Inspector Zhao Xin marveled at him and appreciated him. When Zhao Xin ordered Li Xiáng to form an army, Li Liu recruited his own host of several thousand men from among the sons and younger brothers of natives of his hometown.

After Li Xiáng was killed by Zhao Xin, Li Liu followed Li Te and settled and reassured the refugees. He routed Chang Jun at Mianzhu, and conquered Zhao Xin at Chengdu. When the court discussed the merits for putting down Zhao Xin's rebellion, they appointed Li Liu as General Who Exerts Might and Marquis of Wuyang.

特之承制也，以流為鎮東將軍，居東營，號為東督護。特常使流督銳眾，與羅尚相持。特之陷成都小城，使六郡流人分口入城，壯勇督領村堡。流言於特曰：「殿下神武，已克小城，然山藪未集，糧仗不多，宜錄州郡大姓子弟以為質任，送付廣漢，縶之二營，收集猛銳，嚴為防衛。」又書與特司馬上官惇，深陳納降若待敵之義。特不納。

When Li Te assumed the authority to make his own appointments, he appointed Li Liu as General Who Guards The East, and since he resided with the eastern camp, he was called the Eastern Protector. Li Te often sent Li Liu to lead his best soldiers, and Li Liu often fought against Luo Shang.

After Li Te captured Chengdu's Lesser City, he sent the refugees from the six commandaries away in several groups, each to go into a city, and he had his strong soldiers guard the various villages and fortifications. Li Liu said to Li Te, "Your Highness, you have divine martial ability, and you have already taken the Lesser City. However, the last few pockets of resistance among the hills and shallows have not yet been dealt with, and we have little grain and few weapons on hand here. You should have the leaders of the great families of the provinces and commandaries send us their sons and younger brothers as hostages, whom you can send back to Guanghan. Then make ready the two camps and gather together fierce and keen soldiers, to keep a tight defense to protect ourselves."

And he and Li Te's Marshal, Shangguan Dun, also wrote Li Te a letter, explaining the principle of how accepting a surrender (as he was planning to do with Luo Shang) was like going to receive an enemy. But Li Te would not listen to them.

特既死，蜀人多叛，流人大懼。流與兄子蕩、雄收遺眾，還赤祖，流保東營，蕩、雄保北營。流自稱大將軍、大都督、益州牧。

Following Li Te's death, many of the natives of Shu turned against the rebels, and the refugees were greatly afraid. Li Liu and his nephews Li Dang and Li Xiong gathered up their remaining forces and fell back to Chizu, where Li Liu guarded the eastern camp and Li Dang and Li Xiong guarded the northern one. Li Liu proclaimed himself Grand General, Grand Commander, and Governor of Yizhou.

時宋岱水軍三萬，次於墊江，前鋒孫阜破德陽，獲特所置守將騫碩，太守任臧等退屯涪陵縣。羅尚遣督護常深軍毗橋，牙門左氾、黃訇、何沖三道攻北營。流身率蕩、雄攻深柵，克之，深士眾星散。追至成都，尚閉門自守，蕩馳馬追擊，觸倚矛被傷死。流以特、蕩並死，而岱、阜又至，甚懼。太守李含又勸流降，流將從之。雄與李驤迭諫，不納，流遣子世及含子胡質於阜軍。胡兄含子離聞父欲降，自梓潼馳還，欲諫不及，退與雄謀襲阜軍，曰：「若功成事濟，約與君三年迭為主。」雄曰：「今計可定，二翁不從，將若之何？」離曰：「今當制之，若不可制，便行大事。翁雖是君叔，勢不得已，老父在君，夫復何言！」雄大喜，乃攻尚軍。尚保大城。雄渡江害汶山太守陳圖，遂入郫城，流移營據之。三蜀百姓並保險結塢，城邑皆空，流野無所略，士眾饑困。涪陵人范長生率千餘家依青城山，尚參軍涪陵徐轝求為汶山太守，欲要結長生等，與尚掎角討流。尚不許，轝怨之，求使江西，遂降於流，說長生等使資給流軍糧。長生從之，故流軍復振。

By this time, Song Dai's naval force of thirty thousand had advanced to Dianjiang, and his vanguard under Sun Fu had broken into Deyang, capturing Li Te's appointee as Administrator, Qian Shuo. The Administrator, Ren Zang, and the other rebel commanders retreated to camp at Fuling County.

Luo Shang sent his Protector Chang Shen to lead his army to Piqiao, and he sent his Generals of the Standard, Zuo Fan, Huang Hong, and He Chong, along three roads to attack the refugees' northern camp. Li Liu personally led Li Dang and Li Xiong to attack Chang Shen's barricades, and they took them, with Chang Shen's soldiers scattering like shooting stars. They pursued the enemy to Chengdu, where Luo Shang once more closed the gates to hold out.

Li Dang was rushing his horse ahead to pursue and attack the enemy when he was struck by a spear and died from the wound.

Now that Li Te and Li Dang were both dead, and the armies of Song Dai and Sun Fu were closing in, Li Liu was very afraid. The Administrator Li Han also urged him to surrender, and Li Liu was about to follow his advice. Li Xiong and Li Xiang sent remonstrations, but Li Liu would not heed them. He sent his son Li Shi and Li Han's son Li Hu to Sun Fu's army as hostages.

When Li Hu's elder brother Li Li heard that his father wished to surrender, he quickly returned from Zitong to remonstrate with Li Liu and Li Han, but to no avail. Li Li withdrew from them, and began plotting with Li Xiong to attack Sun Fu's army. He said, "If we can realize this achievement, within three years I shall recognize you as our leader."

Li Xiong said, "I reckon we can accomplish it, but our uncles will not go along with it. What should we do?"

Li Li replied, "Now we shall have to force them. Otherwise, we will be throwing away the whole design. Our uncles may be the ones in charge, but their power does not compare with yours. With old men like them in charge, what more is there to say?"

Li Xiong was overjoyed, and so he attacked Luo Shang's army. Luo Shang defended the Greater City.

Li Xiong crossed over the Yangzi and killed the Administrator of Wenshan, Chen Tu. Then he entered Picheng, and the refugees moved their camp there and occupied it.

The people of Shu had all withdrawn into the fortified places to protect themselves, leaving their cities and villages empty. Li Liu foraged all around, but he could not obtain any supplies, and the soldiers suffered from hunger and exhaustion.

A native of Fuling commandary, Fan Changsheng, had led more than a thousand families to seek refuge at Mount Qingcheng. Luo Shang's Army Advisor, Xu Yu of Fuling, asked Luo Shang to appoint him as the new Administrator of Wenshan, as he wanted to form an alliance with Fan Changsheng and others in order to attack Li Liu together from many sides. But Luo Shang would not permit it, and so Xu Yu resented him. He sent word to Jiangxi, and so surrendered to Li Liu, advising Fan Changsheng and the others to send grain to keep Li Liu's army supplied. Fan Changsheng followed his advice, and so Li Liu's army was restored to fighting form.

流素重雄有長者之德，每云：「興吾家者，必此人也。」敕諸子尊奉之。流疾篤，謂諸將曰：「驍騎高明仁愛，識斷多奇，固足以濟大事，然前軍英武，殆天所相，可共受事於前軍，以為成都王。」遂死，時年五十六。諸將共立雄為主。雄僭號，追諡流秦文王。

Li Liu had long appreciated Li Xiong for his great virtue and other qualities, and he always said, "The one who shall make our family rise is this man." He ordered his own sons to submit to Li Xiong.

When Li Liu became deathly ill, he told his generals, "The General of the Agile Cavalry, Liu Xiang, has great wisdom, benevolence, and love; he is knowledgeable, decisive, and very remarkable. He would be enough to see this affair to fruition. But the General of the Front, Li Xiong, is a brave and heroic man, almost the equal of Heaven. May all of you entrust affairs to the General of the Front, and make him the Prince of Chengdu."

Li Liu soon passed away; he was fifty-five years old. His generals all acclaimed Li Xiong as their leader.

After Li Xiong claimed princely title, he posthumously named Li Liu as Prince Wen ("the Cultured") of Qin.

Li Xiáng

驤李庠，字玄序，特第三弟也。少以烈氣聞。仕郡督郵、主簿，皆有當官之稱。元康四年，察孝廉，不就。後以善騎射，舉良將，亦不就。州以庠才兼文武，舉秀異，固以疾辭。州郡不聽，以其名上聞，中護軍切征，不得已而應之，拜中軍騎督。弓馬便捷，膂力過人，時論方之文鴦。以洛陽方亂，稱疾去官。性在任俠，好濟人之難，州黨爭附之。與六郡流人避難梁、益，道路有饑病者，庠常營護隱恤，振施窮乏，大收眾心。至蜀，趙廞深器之，與論兵法，無不稱善，每謂所親曰：「李玄序蓋亦一時之關、張也。」及將有異志，委以心膂之任，乃表庠為部曲督，使招合六郡壯勇，至萬餘人。以討叛羌功，表庠為威寇將軍，假赤幢曲蓋，封陽泉亭侯，賜錢百萬，馬五十匹。被誅之日，六郡士庶莫不流涕，時年五十五。

Li Xiáng, styled Xuanzu, was Li Te's younger brother, the third of the five brothers. Even when he was a young man, people had heard of his fierce spirit. He served in his commandary as a Courier Commander and as Registrar, and in both instances he was praised for his good work. In the fourth year of Yuankang (294), he was examined as a Filial and Incorrupt candidate, but he did not accept. Later, since he was adept at mounted archery, he was nominated as a fine general, but again he did not accept.

His province, noting Li Xiáng's talents in both civil and military affairs, nominated him as Exceptional and Remarkable, but even still he declined on account of illness. However, this time the province and commandary would not listen to his request, and when his name was called out, the Army Protector of the Center compelled him, so that he had no choice but to heed the call to service, and he was appointed as a Cavalry Commander of the Central Army. He was remarkably nimble at riding and with a bow, and his arm strength was more than human. The people of that time compared him to Wen Yang.

When Luoyang fell into turmoil, he resigned his office by claiming illness. Li Xiáng was naturally suited to a life of gallant chivalry, and he liked to help people to overcome difficulties, so people all through the province struggled against each other to be the first to come join him.

When Li Xiáng followed the other refugees and entered the Shu region, Zhao Xin deeply appreciated him. He would discusses the arts of war with Li Xiáng, and there was nothing Li Xiáng said that Zhao Xin could find fault with. Zhao Xin was always telling his associates, "Li Xuanzu is the Guan Yu or Zhang Fei of our age." And since Zhao Xin soon developed sinister intentions, he kept Li Xiáng in a trusted position, as close to himself as the heart and spine, and he petitioned to make Li Xiáng a Divisional Commander. He sent Li Xiáng to recruit brave fellows from among the refugees of the six commandaries, until Li Xiáng had a host of more than ten thousand people. For Li Xiáng's success in campaigning against rebellious Qiang, Zhao Xin petitioned to have him appointed as General Who Awes Invaders. He granted Li Xiáng a crimson banner and a bent canopy, appointed him as Marquis of Yangquan Village, and rewarded him with a million cash and fifty horses.

The day that Li Xiáng was executed, there was no one among the people of the six commandaries who did not weep for him. He was fifty-four when he died.

Huayang Guozhi

李特，字玄休，略陽臨渭人也。祖世本巴西宕渠賨民，種黨勁勇，俗好鬼巫。漢末，張魯居漢中，以鬼道教百姓，賨人敬信；值天下大亂，自巴西之宕渠移入漢中。魏武定漢中，曾祖父虎與杜〔濩〕、朴胡、〔袁〕約、楊車、李黑等移於略陽北土，復號曰巴「人」〔氐〕。

Li Te, styled Xuanxiu, was a native of Linwei in Lueyang commandary. His ancestors were originally members of the Cong people living in Dangqu in Baxi commandary. They were a bountiful people, nimble and bold, and they usually found delight in spirits and witchcraft.

At the end of the Han dynasty (~189 AD), the warlord Zhang Lu occupied Hanzhong commandary. He instructed the common people in the ways of the spirits, and the Cong people respected and trusted in him. The realm soon fell into turmoil, and so the Cong people moved from Dangqu in Baxi commandary to Hanzhong.

When Wu of Wei (Cao Cao) conquered Hanzhong (in 215), Li Te's great-grandfather Li Hu, along with Du (Huo), Pu Hu, (Yuan) Yue, Yang Che, Li Hei, and others, all moved to the northern territory of Lueyang, where they were called the people (or Di) or Ba (or the Ba-Di).

〈顧廣圻校稿云：「曾當作特。」廖本注云：「曾字不當有。」皆緣《晉書載記》有「魏武帝剋漢中，特祖將五百家歸之」句而疑之也。今按：魏武北徙巴氐距李特入蜀，已閱八十四年，應歷三世。又後文李雄追尊三代，至曾祖庸，不及虎，則虎為其父特之曾祖明矣。是此文不誤。《晉書》稱「特祖」乃誤。〉〈舊各本有脫字。顧廣圻稿云：「杜下當有濩字。約上當有袁字。見前。」廖本注同。茲補入二字。〉〈廖本注云，「當作氐」，亦依《晉書》也。本書《大同志》亦稱「巴氐」。茲據改。〉

(Regarding the statement of Li Hu being Li Te's "great" grandfather, Gu Guangqi's Analysis states, "The character 曾 'great (grandfather)' here should be 特 '(Li) Te'." And Liao Ben's Annotations states, "The character 曾 should not be present." Both of them base this on the Biography of Li Te in the Chronicles of the Book of Jin, which states, "When Emperor Wu of Cao-Wei (Cao Cao) took Hanzhong (in 215), Li Te's grandfather led five hundred families to go over to him." However, I (the commentator) have reasons to doubt this sentence. Now consider: between the time when Wu of Wei moved the Ba-Di to the north (215) and the time when Li Te entered Shu (300) was a period of eighty-four years, which would indicate three further generations (ie, down to Li Te's grandfather, father, and Li Te himself). And later on in the text, we note that Li Xiong honored the past three generations of his ancestors, as far back as his great-grandfather Li Yong. But Li Hu was not included (suggesting the people honored were Li Te, Li Mu, and this Li Yong). So clearly Li Hu must have been his father Li Te's great-grandfather (and so was four generations removed from Li Xiong). So this sentence in Huayang Guozhi is not mistaken. It is the Book of Jin which is mistaken when it calls Li Hu Li Te's "grandfather".

Regarding the other people listed with Li Hu, the old versions of Huayang Guozhi all listed the given name of the one surnamed Du as "Huo". And Gu Guangqi states, "The character 濩 Huo should be listed after Du, and the character 袁 Yuan should be listed before Yue. See above." Liao Ben's Annotations states the same thing. So I have added those two characters in.

Some versions of the final sentence identify the identity of Li Hu and the others as "people of Ba". Liao Ben's Annotations states, "The character 人 'people' should be 氐 'Di (people)'." The Book of Jin says the same thing. And so does the Records of the Great Accordance chapter of the Huayang Guozhi. So I have changed the character accordingly.)

特父慕，為東羌獵將。特兄弟五人：長兄輔，字玄政。次特。特弟庠，字玄序。庠弟流，字玄通。流弟驤，字玄龍。皆銳驍有武幹。特長子蕩，字仲平，好學，有容觀。少子雄，字仲雋。初，特妻羅氏夢雙虹自門升天，一虹中斷。羅曰：「吾二兒，若有先亡，在者必大貴。」雄少時，辛冉相當貴。有劉化者，道術士也，言：「關隴民皆當南移。李氏子中惟仲雋天姿奇異，終為人主。」鄉里人多善之。與叔父庠並以烈氣聞，〔鄉里人多善之。〕人多歸之。

Li Te's father was Li Mu, who served as Hunting General of the Eastern Qiang tribes. Li Te was one of five brothers. The eldest brother was Li Fu, styled Xuanzheng. Next was Li Te himself. Third was Li Xiáng, styled Xuanxu. Fourth was Li Liu, styled Xuantong. The youngest was Li Xiang, styled Xuanlong. They were all stalwart and valiant fellows, possessing martial talents. Li Te's elder son was Li Dang, styled Zhongping; he was well-educated, and had a remarkable appearance. His younger son was Li Xiong, styled Zhongjuan.

Earlier, Li Te's wife Lady Luo dreamed of a pair of rainbows that came out of the gate and mounted to the sky, but one of the rainbows suddenly stopped halfway through. She said, "I have two sons; if one of them dies early, the one that lives will certainly become greatly honored."

When Li Xiong was young, he and Xin Mao honored one another.

There was a certain Liu Hua who was a Daoist master. He said, "The people of Guanzhong and Longyou shall go south. Among the sons of the Li clan, only Zhongjuan has a divine bearing and remarkable talents. He shall become a leader of men in the end." Many of the people of that area approved of him. Li Xiong and his uncle Li Xiáng were both known for their fierce spirits, and many of the people of that area approved of him. [After Li Xiáng's death,] many of them followed him.

〈顧觀光本補「妊雄」二字，注云：「依《初學記》二，《書鈔》百五十一，《御覽》十四補。」今按：彙書引文，每意為增省，不足盡據。設雙虹果應蕩雄，則不當妊雄時獨夢之。此易辨也。〉〈同上《初學記》等三書引作「自地」。〉〈舊各本作昇。廖本作升。〉〈元豐本倒作「南移當」。〉〈六字舊倒在上，茲移正。〔庠死〕，舊無此二字。於文當有。〉

(Regarding the phrase "Lady Luo dreamed...", in Gu Guangqi's Analysis he inserts the words "while pregnant with Li Xiong", noting that in doing so he is "following the examples of the second chapter of the 初學記, the 151st chapter of the 書鈔, and the tenth chapter of the Taiping Yulan". Now consider: when one gathers together books to draw from their words, one must always be careful when adding or subtracting anything, and one cannot simply accept something wholesale. Naturally the pair of rainbows in the dream symbolized Li Dang and Li Xiong, but it does not therefore follow that Lady Luo only dreamed of such a thing while she was pregnant with Li Xiong. This is easy enough to determine.

The Huayang Guozhi states that the pair of rainbows in the dream came up from "out of the gate". The entries in the three books mentioned above, 初學記 and the rest, state that they came up from "out of the ground".

The old versions of Huayang Guozhi all state that the pair of rainbows 昇 "ascended to" the sky. Liao Ben has changed the character to 升 "mounted to".

Liu Hua's prophecy states that the people will 當南移 "move to the south". Yuan Fengben has rearranged this phrase as 南移當.

The sentence "Many of the people of that area approved of him" originally appeared directly after Liu Hua's prophecy. I have rectified the account by moving it closer to the end of the passage. As for the characters 庠死 "After Li Xiáng's death", the old versions do not have them, but they ought to be included.)

#Li Te #Li Liu #Cheng-Han #Sixteen Kingdoms #Jin Dynasty #Western Jin #Book of Jin #Huayang Guozhi #Chinese History #China

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