Introduction序
1The east is called Yi (夷) — the names of the nine kinds
《王制》云：“東方曰夷。”夷者，柢也，言仁而好生，萬物柢地而出。故天性柔順，易以道御，至有君子、不死之國焉。夷有九種，曰畎夷、於夷、方夷、黄夷、白夷、赤夷、玄夷、風夷、陽夷。故孔子欲居九夷也。
The Wangzhi (王制) of the Book of Rites says, "The east is called Yi (夷)." Yi means root. It means that they are kind and love to give life, and that all things take root in the earth and come forth. Therefore their nature is soft and yielding, and they are easy to govern by the Way, and there are even the country of the gentlemen and the country of the undying.
The Yi have nine kinds, and they are called the Quanyi (畎夷), the Yuyi (於夷), the Fangyi (方夷), the Huangyi (黄夷), the Baiyi (白夷), the Chiyi (赤夷), the Xuanyi (玄夷), the Fengyi (風夷), and the Yangyi (陽夷). Therefore Confucius wished to live among the Nine Yi (九夷).
2Yao sends Xizhong to dwell in Ouyi, and three hundred years of submission and revolt
昔堯命羲仲宅嵎夷，曰暘谷，蓋日之所出也。夏后氏太康失德，夷人始畔。自少康已後，世服王化，遂賓於王門，獻其樂舞。桀為暴虐，諸夷内侵，殷湯革命，伐而定之。至於仲丁，藍夷作寇。自是或服或畔，三百餘年。武乙衰敝，東夷浸盛，遂分遷淮、岱，漸居中土。
Long ago Yao commanded Xizhong to dwell in Ouyi (嵎夷), and the place was called Yanggu (暘谷), for it is where the sun comes out. When Taikang of the Xiahou clan lost his virtue, the Yi people revolted for the first time. From Shaokang onward they submitted to the king's teaching age after age, and at last they came as guests to the king's gate and offered their music and dance.
When Jie was cruel and violent, the several Yi invaded within, and Tang of Yin changed the mandate, struck them, and settled them. By the time of Zhongding the Lanyi (藍夷) turned robber. From then on they submitted at times and revolted at times, for more than three hundred years. When Wuyi grew weak and fell into ruin, the Eastern Yi grew strong little by little, and at last they moved apart toward the Huai and Mount Dai, and came little by little to live in the central land.
3Thirty-six countries come to the court of King Yan of Xu
及武王滅紂，肅慎來獻石砮、楛矢。管、蔡畔周，乃招誘夷狄，周公征之，遂定東夷。康王之時，肅慎復至。後徐夷僭號，乃率九夷以伐宗周，西至河上。穆王畏其方熾，乃分東方諸侯，命徐偃王主之。偃王處潢池東，地方五百里，行仁義，陸地而朝者三十有六國。穆王後得驥騄之乘，乃使造父御以告楚，令伐徐，一日而至。於是楚文王大舉兵而滅之。偃王仁而無權，不忍斗其人，故致於敗。乃北走彭城武原縣東山下，百姓隨之者以萬數，因名其山為徐山。厲王無道，淮夷入寇，王命虢仲征之，不克，宣王復命召分伐而平之。及幽王淫亂，四夷交侵，至齊桓修霸，攘而卻焉。及楚靈會申，亦來豫盟。後越遷琅邪，與共征戰，遂陵暴諸夏，侵滅小邦。
When King Wu destroyed King Zhou of Shang (紂), the Sushen came and offered stone arrowheads and arrows of bush-clover wood. When Guan and Cai revolted against the house of Zhou (周) and called in the Yi and the Di, the Duke of Zhou went out against them and so settled the Eastern Yi. In the time of King Kang the Sushen came again.
Afterward the Xuyi (徐夷) presumed to take the title of king, and led the Nine Yi to strike Zongzhou (宗周), and went west as far as the river. King Mu feared that their power was at its height, and so he divided the lords of the east and commanded King Yan of Xu to have charge of them. King Yan was east of Huangchi (潢池), and his land was five hundred li square. He ruled with benevolence and righteousness, and thirty-six countries came overland to his court.
Afterward King Mu got a team of swift horses and had Zaofu drive it, and he sent word to Chu and ordered it to strike Xu, and he came there in a single day. Thereupon King Wen of Chu raised a great army and destroyed Xu. King Yan was benevolent but had no power to weigh matters, and he could not bear to make his people fight, and so he was brought to defeat. He fled north to the foot of Mount Dong in Wuyuan county of Pengcheng, and the people who followed him were counted in tens of thousands, and for this the mountain was named Mount Xu.
When King Li was without the Way, the Huaiyi (淮夷) came in and plundered, and the king commanded Guozhong to strike them, but he could not overcome them; and King Xuan again commanded the Duke of Shao to strike them and settle them. When King You was licentious and disordered, the Four Yi invaded by turns, and when Duke Huan of Qi built up his hegemony he drove them back. When King Ling of Chu held the meeting at Shen, they came and took part in the covenant as well. Afterward Yue moved to Langye and joined them in war, and so they trampled the Xia states and invaded and destroyed the small countries.
4Wiman is king in Joseon, and the Eastern Yi reach the capital
秦併六國，其淮、泗夷皆散為民户。陳涉起兵，天下崩潰，燕人衛滿避地朝鮮，因王其國。百有餘歲，武帝滅之，於是東夷始通上京。王莽篡位，貊人寇邊。建武之初，復來朝貢。時遼東太守祭肜威讋北方，聲行海表，於是濊、貊、倭、韓，萬里朝獻，故章、和已後，使聘流通。逮永初多難，始入寇鈔；桓、靈失政，漸滋曼焉。
When Qin swallowed the six states, the Yi of the Huai and the Si were all scattered and became households of the common people. When Chen She raised troops and all under Heaven fell in ruin, Wiman, a man of Yan, fled to Joseon and was king in that country. After more than a hundred years Emperor Wu destroyed it, and thereupon the Eastern Yi first had dealings with the capital.
When Wang Mang usurped the throne, the Maek raided the border. At the beginning of Jianwu they came again with tribute. At that time Zhai Rong (祭肜), Grand Administrator of Liaodong, struck awe into the north, and the sound of him went out beyond the sea, and so the Ye (濊), the Maek (貊), the Wa (倭), and the Han (韓) came from ten thousand li away to court with offerings. Therefore after Emperors Zhang and He the going and coming of envoys was open.
By the Yongchu years, when troubles were many, they began to come in and plunder, and when Emperors Huan and Ling misgoverned, it spread little by little.
5When China loses the rites, they are sought among the Four Yi
自中興之後，四夷來賓，雖時有乖畔，而使驛不絕，故國俗風土，可得略記。東夷率皆土著，憙飲酒歌舞，或寇弁衣錦，器用俎豆。所謂中國失禮，求之四夷者也。几蠻、夷、戎、狄總名四夷者，猶公、侯、伯、子、男皆號諸侯云。
After the Restoration the Four Yi came as guests. At times there was falling away and revolt, but envoys and post riders were never cut off, and so the customs of their countries and the lay of their lands can be set down in outline.
The Eastern Yi are almost all settled on the land. They love to drink wine and to sing and dance, and some of them wear the peaked cap and robes of brocade, and for vessels they use the sacrificial vessels (俎豆). This is what is meant by the saying, "When China loses the rites, seek them among the Four Yi." That the Man, the Yi, the Rong, and the Di are all called together the Four Yi is like duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron being all called lords.