春．王正月．

夏‧狄侵齊．

秋．衛殺其大夫元咺．及公子瑕．衛侯鄭歸于衛．晉人．秦人．圍鄭．介人侵蕭．冬．天王使宰周公來聘．公子遂如京師．遂如晉．

XXX. Thirtieth year.

1. It was the [duke's] thirtieth year, the spring, the king's first month.

2. In summer, the Di made an incursion into Qi.

3. In autumn, Wey put to death its great officer, Yuan Xuan, and duke [ Wen's] son, Xia.

4. Zheng, marquis of Wey, returned to Wey.

5. A body of men from Jin and one from Qin laid siege to [the capital of] Zheng.

6. A body of men from Jie made an incursion into Xiao.

7. In winter, the king [by] Heaven's [grace] sent his chief minister, the duke of Zhou, to Lu, on a mission of friendly inquiries.

8. Duke [Zhuang's] son, Sui, went to the capital, and at the same time went to Jin.

傳三十年．

春．晉人侵鄭．以觀其可攻與否．狄間晉之有鄭虞也．

夏．狄侵齊．晉侯使醫衍酖衛侯．甯俞貨醫．使薄其酖．不死．公為之請．納玉於王．與晉侯．皆十榖．王許之．

秋．乃釋衛侯．衛侯使賂周歂．冶廑．曰．苟能納我．吾使爾為卿．周冶殺元咺．及子適．子儀．公入祀先君．周冶既服將命．周歂先入．及門．遇疾而死．冶廑辭卿．

九月．甲午．晉侯．秦伯．圍鄭．以其無禮於晉．且貳於楚也．晉軍函陵．秦軍汜南．佚之狐言於鄭伯曰．國危矣．若使燭之武見秦君．師必退．公從之．辭曰．臣之壯也．猶不如人．今老矣．無能為也已．公曰．吾不能早用子．今急而求子．是寡人之過也．然鄭亡．子亦有不利焉．許之．夜縋而出．見秦伯曰．秦晉圍鄭．鄭既知亡矣．若亡鄭而有益於君．敢以煩執事．越國以鄙遠．君知其難也．焉用亡鄭以倍鄰．鄰之厚．君之薄也．若舍鄭以為東道主．行李之往來．共其乏困．君亦無所害．且君嘗為晉君賜矣．許君焦瑕．朝濟而夕設版焉．君之所知也．夫晉何厭之有．既東封鄭．又欲肆其西封．若不闕秦．將焉取之．闕秦以利晉．唯君圖之．秦伯說．與鄭人盟．使杞子逢孫楊孫戍之．乃還．子犯謂擊之．公曰．不可．微夫人力不及此．因人之力而敝之．不仁．失其所與．不知．以亂易整．不武．吾其還也．亦去之．初．鄭公子蘭出奔晉．從於晉侯伐鄭．請無與圍鄭．許之．使待命于東．鄭石甲父．侯宣多．逆以為大子．以求成于晉．晉人許之．

冬．王使周公閱來聘．饗有昌歜．白．黑．形鹽．辭曰．國君文足昭也．武可畏也．則有備物之饗．以象其德．薦五味．羞嘉穀．鹽虎形．以獻其功．吾何以堪之．東門襄仲將聘于周．遂初聘于晉．

COMMENTARY

An officer of Jin was conducting an incursion into Zheng, to see whether that State could be attacked with advantage or not. The Di took the opportunity of Jin's being thus occupied with Zheng, and in the summer made an incursion into Qi.

The marquis of Jin employed the physician Yan to poison the marquis of Wey, but Ning Yu bribed the physician to make the poison so weak that his master did not die of it. The duke [of Lu] after this interceded on his behalf, and presented the king and the marquis of Jin each with 10 pairs of jade ornaments. The king acceded to the duke's intercession, and in autumn the marquis of Wey was released. He then bribed Zhou Chuan and Ye Jin, saying, 'If you can secure my restoration, I will make you my high ministers." On this Zhou and Ye killed Yuan Xuan, with Zidi and Ziyi. When the marquis was entering the ancestral temple to sacrifice to his predecessors, Zhou and Ye were there in full dress to receive their charge as ministers. Zhou preceded, but when he came to the door, he was taken ill, and died, upon which Jin declined the appointment.

In the 9th month, on Jia wu, the marquis of Jin and the earl of Qin laid siege to Zheng, because of the want of courtesy which the earl of it had shown to the marquis in his wanderings [See the Zhuan at the end of the 23d year], and because he was with double-mindedness inclining to Chu. The army of Jin took a position at Hanling, and that of Qin one at Fannan. Yi Zhihu said to the earl of Zheng, "The State is in imminent peril. If you send Zhu Zhiwu to see the earl of Qin, his army is sure to be withdrawn." The earl took the advice, but Zhu Zhiwu declined the mission, saying, "When your servant was in the strength of his age, he was regarded as not equal to others; and now he is old, and unable to render any service." The earl said, "That I was not able to employ you earlier, and now beg your help in my straits, I acknowledge to be my fault. But if Zheng perish, you also will suffer loss." On this Zhiwu agreed, and undertook the mission.

At night he was let down from the city-wall by a rope; and when he saw the earl of Qin, he said, "With Jin and Qin both besieging its capital, Zheng knows that it must perish. If the ruin of Zheng were to benefit your lordship, I should not dare to speak to you;—you might well urge your officers and soldiers in such a case. But you know the difficulty there would be with such a distant border, another State intervening. Of what advantage is it to you to destroy Zheng to benefit your neighbour? His advantage will be your disadvantage. If you leave Zheng to be master and host here on the way to the east, when your officers go and come with their baggage, it can minister to their necessities;—and surely this will be no injury to you. And moreover, your lordship was a benefactor to the former marquis of Jin, and he promised you the cities of Jiao and Xia; but in the morning he crossed the He, and in the evening he commenced building defences against you:—this your lordship knows. But Jin is insatiable. Having made Zheng its boundary on the east, it will go on to want to enlarge its border on the west. And how will it be able to do that except by taking territory from Qin? To diminish Qin in order to advantage Jin:—this is a matter for your lordship to think about."

The earl of Qin was pleased with this speech, and made a covenant with the people of Zheng, appointing Qi Zi, Feng Sun, and Yang Sun to guard the territory, while he himself returned to Qin. Zifan asked leave to pursue and smite him, but the marquis of Jin said, "No. But for his assistance I should not have arrived at my present state. To get the benefit of a man's help, and then to injure him, would show a want of benevolence, To have erred in those with whom I was to cooperate shows my want of knowledge. To exchange the orderly array in which we came here for one of disorder would show a want of warlike skill. I will withdraw." And upon this he also left Zheng.

Before this, Lan, a son of the earl of Zheng, had fled from that State to Jin. Following the marquis of Jin in the invasion of Zheng, he begged that he might not take any part in, or be present at, the siege. His request was granted, and he was sent to the eastern border of Jin to wait for further orders. Shi Jiafu and Hou Xuanduo now came to meet him, and hail him as his father's successor, that by means of him they might ask peace from Jin;—and this was granted to them.

At the entertainment to him, there were the pickled roots of the sweet flag cut small, rice, millet, and the salt in the form of a tiger, all set forth. Yue [the prime minister's name] declined such an entertainment, saying, 'The ruler of a State, whose civil talents make him illustrious, and whose military prowess makes him an object of dread, is feasted with such a complete array of provisions, to emblem his virtues. The five savours are introduced, and viands of the finest grains, with the salt in the shape of a tiger, to illustrate his services; but I am not worthy of such a feast.

Dongmen Xiangzhong [see the Zhuan on XXVI. 5] was going with friendly inquiries to Zhou, when he took the occasion to pay a similar visit in the first place to Jin.