Record of the map of the outer wall of Xizhou西州羅城圖記

The outer wall of Xizhou is four ren high, three xun thick, and thirty-three li around. It was built by the present Grand Commandant of Huaihai, the Duke of Yan. Now this is a land apart within Liangzhou and the mighty capital of the state of Shu. Within, it bestrides Qian and Zang; without, it joins the Man and the Dan. On the left it looks down on the Hundred Pu, and on the right it holds the Six Rong. What it draws and holds like a throat is truly much, and what supports and leans on it like lips and teeth is hard to keep safe. From of old Bieling floated down as a wonder and the tortoise's track marked out a marvel, yet the fence first set up only its one wall, and the bolt was still wanting at the four outer ramparts. The Viscount of Ju had already forgotten to close the double gates, and the men of Wei thought only of moving elsewhere. Those wriggling people of Goufeng gave free rein to their wolfish cruelty, and whenever the grass dried on the Bo road and the waves shrank in the Lu River, they would push up their topknots and invade crosswise, scattering the crowds and driving off the ranks. The registered folk fled in terror, weeping in the lanes and crying in the streets. The soldiers took pulling up the standard for their central plan, and the prefect took shutting the pass for his best policy, and the baleful air ripened and gathered over many years. When the Qianfu years began, the loose rein happened to break and a great revolt broke out. The mad disaster of the White Tiger grew ever stronger, and the old covenant of the Yellow Dragon was hard to find. Military strength could not be stretched out, and the Emperor's heart had somewhere to entrust itself. For the Duke's good fortune came down from the dream beside the Wei, and his work was practiced on the book from the bridge; his merit was inscribed at Jiaozhi, so that his power reached forever to the Eight Zhao; and his rule at Yuncheng bore fruit without waiting three years. So when the Man bandits grew still louder and the royal army declared itself worn out, an urgent edict was sped to him, asking him to save those who hung head down. Thereupon he went from east to west, joining night to day. He drove a single carriage into the outer border, and what need was there for Gong Sui to present a memorial? He received the war chariot on the road, and nothing could hide that the Marquis of Jin was called hegemon. Holding the sage's strategy from afar, in a flash he reached Chengdu. At that time the Piaoxin had troops encamped, pressing on the suburban ranks and barely more than one stage away. The black-haired folk had lost their livelihood, and the villages burned, and far more than ten thousand houses. There the whole country ferried its army across; here the whole city took the harm. Outside, the flames of Kungang blazed, and no spouting of wine could help. Within, the spring of Shule dried up, and what use was pointing at plums? All were pillowed and leaning against the walls; who could bear to put on armor and take up weapons? On the day the Duke arrived he threw the city gates wide, as one opens a cage. His power shook out, and why should sharp weapons be troubled? The gall of the crooked was all broken. His teaching spread, and as if they smelled a fresh fragrance, the startled souls all came back. The Man king, with his pierced ears, heard his fill of these rare strategies, and the tattooed-skinned feared to be caught in stern punishment. In alarm they watched the lightning and dreaded the thunder, and suddenly they flew off like crows and scattered like fish. The Duke soon had picked men chosen and sent briefly after the fugitives, and taking the hour when their wings drooped, he unfolded the force that singes hair. The captives were past counting, and the ears taken were many. After this he looked over the maps and searched out the natural barriers. These were the caves where gibbons and monkeys keep to the heights, and the byways where jackals and wolves watch for a gap. So he had a mighty pass founded at the one place and a great bulwark marked at the other. The sheer battlements leaned on the ridge to gain their steepness, and the long trench led in the ravine to gain its depth, so that it made, as if by nature, a device that closes well, and truly gripped the paths of secret passage. A pellet of clay could make it firm, and it is certain that none could cross it. The beacon fires ceased to alarm, and sitting still he saw a victory won without a fight. He went on to follow the waterways and set up a separate river camp, so that the distant bands who trouble the central land could hardly plan to sail on a reed, and the garrison soldiers, called up in equal turns, were spared the song of the drifting firewood. The borders were kept forever like an upturned bowl, and the townsfolk had only to boast of their ranged cauldrons. The fine men of the land, like auspicious clouds, chanted at leisure and sought out phrases that pour forth phoenixes, and the local magnates like Zhuo and Zheng sat quiet and stored up the profit of the crouching-owl taro. The Duke, sleeping and dwelling within the army's gate, dreamed of a small boat. He would stretch out far-sighted care without end, for how should he set up empty words and call them undying? So he said, "The habit of those Man is to be foolish without and sly within, four in the morning and three at dusk. Though Zhuangshu in his time had already made his merit against the Changdi, the trouble of Jisun in a later day was sure to lie in Zhuanyu. How can this be called the Brocade City in vain, and still have no outer rampart? The system that guards the people, if not I, then who?" He opened his breast, and the gods honored his utmost sincerity; he sped a memorial, and the Emperor allowed his earnest request. At the time a few officials raised objections and the officers offered doubts. All of them said, "When Gongsun Shu leapt on his horse and ruled in might, he was not without a reason, and when Zhuge Liang the Crouching Dragon rose up, he too had his purpose. But when the inner wall was built before, it still had to draw on soil carted from elsewhere, and only after nine years was it done, a hard thing for a hundred generations. Still more now, when a base so vast is to be raised, we fear it will bring the reproach of delay." The Duke said, "The method is already settled beforehand, and the work should be quickly done. It will surely be chosen by Heaven's heart in the end; how can it be called a vain piercing of the earth's veins?" Thereupon the lords of the commanderies ran to make report and the town prefects gladly followed. He had the heights and hollows measured and the far and the near debated, the materials considered and the term of the work reckoned. He drew the seasons from the books of Lu and modeled the scale on the ordinances of Zhou. He led in the long river and set out a long moat, and Yu of Xia would be ashamed of his own skill; he faced the high peak and drew a high wall, and the First Emperor of Qin would lose his color. Still more, he commanded the Five Strongmen to whistle up their fellows and set the Six Jia to drive the servants, and Tianwu dried the water at the cold spring, and the Earth Dame changed sand into fine soil. Truly it may be said that a hundred spirits helped unseen and the myriad people followed with joy. The spades gathered like cloud peaks and the pestles leapt with a thunder's sound, and no fierce wind or lashing rain was seen. He had the bowls filled and the cups deep, and with the thud of the rammers the men only vied in glad shouting, and towering up, it was as if the wall welled out of the ground. A hundred walls were all built, and in thirty days it was done. After that the craftsmen of Ying spent their skill and the plain timber changed its nature, and the finer hands unfolded their art and the red earth congealed into splendor. Reaching into the sky, the beacon towers were ranged high; spanning the steep, the gate barbicans rose up. Divided crosswise by eight feet, the carved ridgepoles were joined and painted phoenixes flew in a line; the railings ran through to the four corners, embracing the embroidered battlements, and a clear rainbow hung straight across. It covers the fair scene of a whole river and gathers in the glad sound of ten thousand households. Seen from afar it is lofty and towering, like layered peaks amid the clouds, with brocade sunset and gauze mist glimmering faintly above it. Looked at close, it is red and blazing, and one thinks of the immortal mountains beside the sea, with golden terraces and silver gate-towers shining among them. From the first mustering of the workers to the last dismissal of the corvee, he borrowed not one rotted string of cash from the state taxes and drew not one split grain from the army levy. All was gathered from surplus funds, and so a grand sight stands complete. Thus the Man chieftains were stripped of their souls and the Cong hosts turned their hearts to him. They dared not speak of brushing the ramparts and turning back, and there was no cause for a campaign that would enter the outer wall. Then a painting was called for and offered up to the Ninefold Gates, and an imperial word came down at once, praising beyond measure with a single character. The sage's will was proclaimed to the talents of the Hanlin, and fair words were strung together by the grandson of the yellow silk. The Duke, though he welcomed the golden phoenix that bore the writ, did not discuss a stone tortoise bearing a tablet, for he governed himself in humble modesty and was ashamed to have his merits praised so soon. When the gray bird flew high and the kingfisher canopy hunted far, when the immortal progress rested gravely at Yulei and the sage's care was set at ease at Jinyong, he was able to look himself on the vast design and to honor that loyal fidelity all the more. He specially sent down a jade-sealed order and called for the text of a stele to be presented, and then commanded it carved, to raise that awesome glory forever. Truly this is a thing unheard of in ten thousand ages, and a glory with no match in the four quarters. How fine it is! The dragon rises by the clouds, and the fish delights because of the water. Who does not look up to the Duke, whose wisdom reaches beyond the surface of things and whose affairs are lit before the moment turns, and every stratagem he sets out fits like matched tallies? So of old, when all of Shu was still without its wall, Heaven kept back a great achievement and waited day by day for a man of talent. This is what is meant by saying that there must first be an extraordinary man, and then extraordinary deeds; and that there must first be extraordinary deeds, and then extraordinary merit. Therefore the extraordinary is truly not what an ordinary man may hope for. Chiwon, though he has seen only a corner of the hall from the mound and knows as little as Shi Mian, yet since the state of Qin gathered worthies and did not cast out Youyu, respectfully completes this true record and dares to set down this rare service. What he hopes is that those who come by ladder and by boat from the four seas will look on this mighty design and bow their foreheads, and that the standards and axes of the nine provinces will look toward the imperial equipage and set their hearts at rest. Recorded on the twenty-fifth day of the eighth month of the third year of Zhonghe, the year star in guimao.