Song of the Passing On of the Legitimate Line正統相傳頌

自盤古至於此, 正統之國, 凡三十四, 其君合二百五十二也. 女主有三, 女媧呂后則天是也. 史臣曰, “夏之有窮, 漢之新室, 唐之虎周, 皆於朋盛之國桑間暴起, 强立位號, 故不別稱國, 合於本國. 至若虎周之臨年, 自斷國復號唐, 無間然矣.”

From Pangu down to here the states of the legitimate line are thirty-four in all, and their rulers come to two hundred and fifty-two. There were three female sovereigns (女主): Nüwa, Empress Lü, and Zetian. The historian says, "The Youqiong of Xia, the Xin house of Han, and the Wu Zhou of Tang, which the base text writes as 虎周, all rose up suddenly among the mulberries of a state at its height and set up titles by force, and so they are not counted as separate states but joined to the state proper. As for the last years of Wu Zhou, she herself cut off her state and restored the name of Tang, so there is nothing to fault."

或難曰, “劉宋與托跋魏竝立, 而魏立天子旌旗, 何出魏, 而以宋登於五統乎?” 史臣答, “魏雖立天子旌旗, 暴起雲中, 王戎狄而已. 宋則受晉禪, 王於華夏, 雖與魏勢均力等, 稱爲南北史, 至於名器, 豈可暇也?” 曰, “然則楊隋斷宇文周而立元, 金國敗遼軍立元, 玆非傍傳與?” 答, “彼二國, 初雖自傍傳而起, 隋平陳陳, 金克趙宋, 得其正脈, 而卒能一統天下, 烏可謂之傍傳乎?”.

Someone objected, "The Song of the Liu house and the Wei of the Tuoba house stood side by side, and Wei even raised the banners of a Son of Heaven. Why then is Wei left out and Song placed among the five lines?" The historian answered, "Wei did raise the banners of a Son of Heaven, but it rose up suddenly at Yunzhong and played king over the Rong and the Di, no more. Song received the abdication of Jin and played king over Huaxia. Its power and strength matched those of Wei, so that the two are called the southern and the northern histories, but when it comes to name and vessel, how can they be set side by side?" The objector said, "Then the Sui of the Yang house cut off the Zhou of the Yuwen house and stood, and the Jurchen Jin broke the Liao army and stood. Is this not a passing on by a side branch?" He answered, "Those two states did at first rise from the side, but Sui subdued Chen and the Jurchen Jin overcame the Song of the Zhao house, and so they took hold of the true vein and were able in the end to unite all under Heaven. How can that be called a passing on by a side branch?"

神高皇帝 — the base text writes 「神高」; it is taken as an error for 「神堯」, the posthumous title of Li Yuan, Gaozu of Tang. ― translator

奉我皇 — this means the emperor of Yuan. ― translator