Zuozhuan Min Gong — the reign of Duke Min of Lu, 661–660 BCE

The Zuo Commentary (春秋左氏傳, Chunqiu Zuoshi Zhuan) is the great narrative companion to the Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu, the terse court chronicle that runs from 722 to 468 BCE. Tradition assigns the commentary to Zuo Qiuming, a figure of the late Spring and Autumn period; the attribution is old but not secure, and the work as we have it was most likely compiled and shaped over the fourth and third centuries BCE from earlier records of several courts. Where the Annals give a line, the Zuo gives the event, the speech, the omen, and the judgment.

This file covers the reign of Duke Min of Lu, 661–660 BCE — two years only, because he was a child placed on the throne after his father's murder and was himself murdered in the eighth month of his second year. Under each year the source alternates between the Annals and the Zuo*: the bold lead Annals. marks the terse entries of the classic itself, and Zuo. marks the narrative that explains, expands, or judges them. The two years hold the end of the Qingfu affair that nearly destroyed the ruling house of Lu, the Di annihilation of the state of Wei and its refounding at Cao, the divinations that promised greatness to the house of Bi Wan in Jin, and the ominous sending out of the heir apparent Shensheng in a motley robe.*

Names are given in pinyin without tone marks, with Chinese characters at the first appearance of major persons and places. Two states in these pages are both read "Wei" in modern Mandarin — 衛, the state destroyed by the Di, and 魏, the city granted to Bi Wan in Jin — and the characters are supplied wherever confusion is possible. Ranks follow the conventional five: duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese, which is printed in full below. Complete English translations of the Zuo Commentary already exist — James Legge (1872) and Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li, and David Schaberg (2016), with selections by Burton Watson (1989); these are named as controls-in-existence and were not consulted. No firstness is claimed for this rendering, which was made independently from the Chinese.

Contents

• Year 1 (閔公元年)
• Year 2 (閔公二年)

Translation

Duke Min, Years 1–2 (閔公元年–二年)

Year 1 (閔公元年)

Annals.

• In the first year, in spring, in the king's first month, men of Qi rescued Xing.
• In summer, in the sixth month, on the day xinyou, we buried our ruler Duke Zhuang.
• In autumn, in the eighth month, the duke and the Marquis of Qi made a covenant at Luogu. Jizi came back.
• In winter, Zhongsun of Qi came.

Zuo.

In the first year, in spring, the accession was not recorded, because of the disorder.

The Di attacked Xing. Guan Jingzhong (管敬仲, Guan Zhong) said to the Marquis of Qi: "The Rong and Di are jackals and wolves; they can never be satisfied. The states of the Xia are our close kin; they cannot be abandoned. Ease and comfort are poisoned wine; they must not be cherished. The Odes say:

Do we not long to go home?
We fear these written summons.

The written summons mean that those who share an enemy relieve one another. Let us rescue Xing, and so follow the summons." Men of Qi rescued Xing.

In summer, in the sixth month, Duke Zhuang was buried. Because of the disorder, it was late.

In autumn, in the eighth month, the duke and the Marquis of Qi made a covenant at Luogu, asking for the restoration of Ji You (季友). The Marquis of Qi granted it and sent to summon him from Chen; the duke halted at Lang to wait for him. The entry "Jizi came back" expresses approval of him.

In winter, Zhongsun Jiao of Qi came to inspect our troubles. The record says "Zhongsun" — this too expresses approval of him. Zhongsun returned to Qi and said, "Until Qingfu (慶父) is removed, the troubles of Lu will not end." The duke said, "How is he to be removed?" He replied, "If the troubles do not end, he will destroy himself. Let my lord wait for it." The duke said, "Can Lu be taken?" He replied, "It cannot. Lu still holds to the rites of Zhou, and the rites of Zhou are what a state is rooted in. Your servant has heard it said, 'When a state is about to perish, the root must topple first, and the branches and leaves follow after.' Lu has not cast off the rites of Zhou; it cannot yet be shaken. Let my lord rather labor to quiet the troubles of Lu and draw close to it. To befriend those who have ritual propriety, to rely on what is weighty and firm, to divide those who are of two minds, to overturn the benighted and disordered — these are the instruments of a hegemon and a king."

The Marquis of Jin formed two armies. The duke commanded the upper army, and the heir apparent Shensheng (申生) commanded the lower army. Zhao Su drove the war chariot and Bi Wan (畢萬) was the right-hand warrior. With these he extinguished Geng, extinguished Huo, and extinguished Wei (魏). On his return he walled Quwo for the heir apparent. He granted Geng to Zhao Su and Wei to Bi Wan, and made them grandees.

Shi Wei said: "The heir apparent will not be established. He has been given a walled city for his portion and set in the rank of a minister; the utmost has already been done for him, so how can he be established? Better for him to flee, and not let a charge come upon him. To become a Taibo of Wu — would that not do? He would at least keep a good name, rather than have the calamity reach him. And the proverb says, 'If the heart is truly without flaw, why grieve at having no house?' If Heaven blesses the heir apparent, it will not be in Jin!"

Bu Yan said: "The descendants of Bi Wan will surely be great. Wan, 'ten thousand,' is a full number; Wei is a great name. That his rewards begin with these means Heaven has opened the way for him. The Son of Heaven speaks of his people in their millions; the feudal lords speak of their people in their ten thousands. Now a great name has been joined to a full number: he will surely have a multitude."

Earlier, when Bi Wan divined by milfoil about taking office in Jin, he met Zhun (屯) changing into Bi (比). Xin Liao read it and said: "Auspicious. Zhun is firmness and Bi is entering — what good fortune could be greater than that? He will surely flourish and multiply. Zhen has become earth; the chariot follows the horse; the foot rests upon it; the elder brother leads it; the mother covers it; the multitude turns to it; the six lines are unchanged; joined together it can stand firm, and at rest it can kill. This is the hexagram of a duke or a marquis. The descendants of a duke or a marquis will surely return to their beginning."

Year 2 (閔公二年)

Annals.

• In the second year, in spring, in the king's first month, men of Qi moved Yang.
• In summer, in the fifth month, on the day yiyou, the auspicious di sacrifice was offered to Duke Zhuang.
• In autumn, in the eighth month, on the day xinchou, the duke passed away.
• In the ninth month, the duke's wife, the lady Jiang, withdrew to Zhu. The ducal son Qingfu fled to Ju.
• In winter, Gaozi of Qi came and made a covenant.
• In the twelfth month, the Di entered Wei (衛).
• Zheng cast away its army.

Zuo.

In the second year, in spring, the Duke of Guo defeated the Quanrong at the bend of the Wei River. Zhou Zhiqiao said, "To take reward without virtue is a calamity; the calamity is about to arrive." He then fled to Jin.

In summer, the auspicious di sacrifice was offered to Duke Zhuang: it was too soon.

Earlier, the duke's tutor had seized the fields of Bu Yi, and the duke did not forbid it. In autumn, in the eighth month, on the day xinchou, Gongzhong had Bu Yi murder the duke at the Wu gate. Cheng Ji took Duke Xi and went to Zhu. Gongzhong fled to Ju, and then Cheng Ji came in and set Duke Xi up. With bribes he sought Gongzhong from Ju, and the men of Ju sent him back. When Gongzhong reached Mi, he sent the ducal son Yu to plead for him. It was not granted, and Yu went to him weeping. Gongzhong said, "That is the voice of Xisi." Then he hanged himself.

Duke Min was the son of Shu Jiang, the younger sister of Ai Jiang; therefore the men of Qi had set him up. Gongzhong had illicit relations with Ai Jiang, and Ai Jiang wished to set him up as ruler. In the death of Duke Min, Ai Jiang shared the knowledge of it, and therefore she withdrew to Zhu. The men of Qi seized her and put her to death at Yi, and carried her corpse home. Duke Xi asked for it and buried her.

When Cheng Ji was about to be born, Duke Huan had the father of Bu Chuqiu divine about it by the tortoise. He said: "It is a boy. His name will be You, and he will stand at the duke's right hand. Between the two altars of the soil he will be the support of the ducal house. If the Ji lineage perishes, Lu will not prosper." They divined again by milfoil, and met Da You (大有) changing into Qian (乾), and the oracle said: "He will be one with his father again; he will be revered as in his lord's own place." When the child was born there was a mark on his hand reading "You," and so he was named by it.

In winter, in the twelfth month, the Di attacked Wei. Duke Yi of Wei loved cranes, and there were cranes that rode in the carriages of grandees. When battle was about to be joined, the men of the capital who were issued armor all said, "Send the cranes. It is the cranes who hold stipend and rank; how can we fight?" The duke gave Shi Qizi a broken ring of jade and gave Ning Zhuangzi arrows, charging them to hold the capital, and said, "With these aid the state; choose what is advantageous and do it." To his wife he gave an embroidered robe and said, "Obey these two men." Qu Kong drove the war chariot, Zibo was the right-hand warrior, Huang Yi led the van, and Kong Yingqi brought up the rear. They fought the Di at Yingze. The army of Wei was utterly defeated, and Wei was thereupon extinguished. The Marquis of Wei would not take down his banner, and for this reason the defeat was severe. The Di took prisoner the scribes Hua Longhua and Li Kong, and used them in pursuing the people of Wei. The two men said, "We are the grand scribes; it is we who have charge of the sacrifices. Unless we go ahead, the capital cannot be taken." So they were sent ahead. When they arrived they told the defenders, "You cannot hold out." At night they went out with the people of the capital. The Di entered Wei, then followed after them, and defeated them again at the Yellow River.

Earlier, when Duke Hui came to the throne he was young, and the men of Qi made Zhaobo take Xuan Jiang, his father's consort. He refused, and they forced him. She bore Qizi, Duke Dai, Duke Wen, the wife of Duke Huan of Song, and the wife of Duke Mu of Xu. Duke Wen, because the troubles of Wei were many, had gone earlier to Qi. When the defeat came, Duke Huan of Song met the fugitives at the Yellow River and ferried them across by night. The surviving people of Wei, men and women, were seven hundred and thirty; with the people of Gong and Teng added to them they came to five thousand. They set up Duke Dai and lodged him in huts at Cao. The wife of Duke Mu of Xu composed the ode "Zai Chi" (載馳). The Marquis of Qi sent the ducal son Wukui to lead three hundred chariots and three thousand armored soldiers to garrison Cao. He presented to the duke a team of four horses, five sets of sacrificial robes, three hundred each of oxen, sheep, pigs, chickens, and dogs, and timber for his gates. He presented to the duke's wife a fish-ornamented carriage and thirty bolts of heavy brocade.

The men of Zheng hated Gao Ke. They sent him to command an army and take station on the Yellow River, and for a long time did not recall him. The army broke up and came home, and Gao Ke fled to Chen. The men of Zheng made the ode "Qing Ren" (清人) about it.

The Marquis of Jin sent the heir apparent Shensheng to attack the Gaoluo clan of the Eastern Mountains. Li Ke remonstrated: "The heir apparent tends the ancestral sacrifices and the grain offerings of the altars of soil and grain, and morning and evening inspects the ruler's food; therefore he is called the principal son. When the ruler goes out, the heir guards the state; if another guards it, the heir follows the ruler. To follow is called soothing the army; to guard is called overseeing the state. Such was the institution of antiquity. But to lead an army, to have sole charge of the plans, to give the oath to the chariots and the troops — this is what the ruler and the chief minister of state deliberate; it is not the business of the heir apparent. An army rests upon command and nothing else. If he must receive orders, he has no authority; if he issues orders on his own, he is unfilial. Therefore the ruler's rightful heir may not lead an army. The ruler would fail in his appointments, and the leader of the army would have no authority. What use can be made of it? Moreover your servant hears that the Gaoluo clan will give battle. Let my lord give this up." The duke said, "I have sons; it is not yet known which of them will be established!" Li Ke did not reply, and withdrew.

He saw the heir apparent, and the heir apparent said, "Am I to be set aside?" He replied, "He has charged you with ruling the people and taught you in the army; your fear should be of not being equal to these. Why should you be set aside? And you should fear being unfilial, not fear failing to be established. Cultivate yourself and lay no blame on others, and you will escape harm."

The heir apparent led out the army. The duke clothed him in a robe of two halves and hung a broken ring of metal at his girdle. Hu Tu (狐突) drove the war chariot and Xian You was the right-hand warrior; Liang Yuziyang drove for Han Yi, with Xian Danmu as right-hand warrior; the grandee of Yangshe was the commandant. Xian You said: "You wear the half of the ruler's own person and hold the essential of the army; it lies in this campaign — do your best, sir. To share the half of his person is no ill will; to hold the essential of arms keeps calamity far off. Close to him and free of calamity — what is there to fear?" Hu Tu sighed and said: "The season is the sign of an undertaking; clothing is the emblem of the person; the girdle-pendant is the banner of the inmost heart. Therefore, when a matter is respected, it is commanded at the season's beginning; when a man's person is to be clothed, he is clothed in unmixed color; when his inmost devotion is to be employed, he is given a pendant of the proper measure. Now the command comes at the season's close: the undertaking is shut away. He is clothed in a motley robe: his person is set at a distance. He is given a broken ring of metal: his inmost heart is cast off. By the robe he is put far away, by the season the matter is shut up. Motley is coldness; winter is killing; metal is chill; a broken ring is separation. How can any of this be relied on? Even if he would do his best, can the Di be wiped out?" Liang Yuziyang said: "One who leads an army receives his charge in the ancestral temple and receives the sacrificial meat at the altar of the soil, and there is a regular dress for it. He has not received that, but motley instead: the intent may be known. To die in it and be unfilial is worse than to flee." Han Yi said: "Motley and strange, not the regular dress; a broken ring of metal means no return. And even if he returned, what would come of it? The ruler has made up his mind." Xian Danmu said: "This robe — even a madman would shrink from it. He says, 'Wipe out the enemy and come back.' Can the enemy be wiped out? And even if he wiped out the enemy, there would still be slander within. Better to disobey." Hu Tu wished to depart. The grandee of Yangshe said: "You must not. To disobey a command is unfilial; to abandon one's charge is disloyal. Though you know the chill of it, the evil course cannot be chosen. Sir, die in it."

When the heir apparent was about to give battle, Hu Tu remonstrated: "You must not. Long ago Xin Bo admonished Duke Huan of Zhou, saying, 'A favorite within the palace rivaling the queen, a favorite outside dividing the government, a doted-on son matching the rightful heir, a great city equal to the capital — these are the roots of disorder.' Duke Huan of Zhou did not follow him, and so came to grief. Now the roots of disorder are already formed. Can your establishment be made certain? Be filial and give the people peace: think on it, sir! Better that than to endanger yourself and hasten the charge against you."

Cheng Feng heard the oracle given concerning Cheng Ji, and so she served him and entrusted Duke Xi to him; therefore Cheng Ji set Duke Xi up.

In the first year of Duke Xi, Duke Huan of Qi moved Xing to Yiyi. In the second year he invested Wei at Chuqiu. Xing's removal was like a homecoming, and the state of Wei forgot that it had perished.

Duke Wen of Wei wore clothing of coarse cloth and a cap of coarse silk. He promoted the growing of materials and instructed the farmers, opened trade and favored the artisans, honored teaching and encouraged learning, imparted method and employed the able. In his first year he had thirty war chariots; in his last year, three hundred.

Colophon

This translation was prepared for the Chinese shelf of the Good Works Library from the classical Chinese text of the Zuo Commentary for the reign of Duke Min of Lu, printed complete below. Every English sentence was derived independently from those characters. The source alternates the terse entries of the Spring and Autumn Annals with the Zuo narrative year by year; that alternation has been preserved exactly as the source orders it, each annal entry rendered as its own line under Annals. and each narrative block under Zuo. Nothing has been merged, summarized, or omitted: every annal entry, speech, divination, and closing judgment of these two years is here. Speeches are given as continuous direct discourse; the quotation from the Odes keeps its verse lines.

Complete published English translations of the Zuo Commentary already exist, and no firstness is claimed for this one. Named here as controls-in-existence, and not fetched or consulted at any point in the work: James Legge's The Ch'un Ts'ew with the Tso Chuen (1872); Stephen Durrant, Wai-yee Li, and David Schaberg, Zuo Tradition / Zuozhuan (2016), the complete scholarly translation; and Burton Watson's selections (1989). This Good Works Translation exists to put a free, plainly readable English text beside the Chinese for readers who have neither a research library nor the price of a three-volume edition.

Two states written differently in Chinese are both read "Wei" in modern Mandarin: 衛, the state annihilated by the Di in the twelfth month of the second year and refounded at Cao, and 魏, the city taken by Jin and granted to Bi Wan. Characters are supplied wherever the two could be confused. The man called Qingfu (慶父) in the Annals is called Gongzhong (共仲) in the Zuo, and Ji You (季友) appears as Jizi (季子) and Cheng Ji (成季); the source's own usage has been kept in each place rather than flattened to one name, since the difference in naming is itself part of what the commentary is reading. 玦 is rendered "a broken ring," the split jade or metal pendant whose broken circle the speakers take as an omen of severance. The Chinese text contains no illegible or unencodable characters.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.

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Source Text: 春秋左氏傳 閔公

Classical Chinese text in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

閔公元年

經

元年春，王正月，齊人救邢。

夏六月，辛酉，葬我君莊公。

秋八月，公及齊侯盟于落姑。季子來歸。

冬，齊仲孫來。

傳

元年春，不書即位，亂故也。

狄人伐邢。管敬仲言於齊侯曰：「戎狄豺狼，不可厭也；諸夏親暱，不可棄也；宴安酖毒，不可懷也。《詩》云：『豈不懷歸？畏此簡書。』簡書，同惡相恤之謂也。請救邢以從簡書。」齊人救邢。

夏，六月，葬莊公，亂故，是以緩。

秋，八月，公及齊侯盟于落姑，請復季友也。齊侯許之，使召諸陳，公次于郎以待之。「季子來歸」，嘉之也。

冬，齊仲孫湫來省難。書曰「仲孫」，亦嘉之也。仲孫歸，曰：「不去慶父，魯難未已。」公曰：「若之何而去之？」對曰：「難不已，將自斃，君其待之。」公曰：「魯可取乎？」對曰：「不可，猶秉周禮。周禮，所以本也。臣聞之，『國將亡，本必先顛，而後枝葉從之』。魯不棄周禮，未可動也。君其務寧魯難而親之。親有禮，因重固，間攜貳，覆昬亂，霸王之器也。」

晉侯作二軍，公將上軍，大子申生將下軍。趙夙御戎，畢萬為右，以滅耿、滅霍、滅魏。還，為大子城曲沃。賜趙夙耿，賜畢萬魏，以為大夫。

士蒍曰：「大子不得立矣，分之都城，而位以卿，先為之極，又焉得立？不如逃之，無使罪至。為吳大伯，不亦可乎？猶有令名，與其及也。且諺曰：『心苟無瑕，何恤乎無家？』天若祚大子，其無晉乎！」

卜偃曰：「畢萬之後必大。萬，盈數也；魏，大名也。以是始賞，天啟之矣。天子曰兆民，諸侯曰萬民。今名之大，以從盈數，其必有眾。」

初，畢萬筮仕於晉，遇《屯》之《比》。辛廖占之，曰：「吉。《屯》固、《比》入，吉孰大焉？其必蕃昌。《震》為土、車從馬、足居之、兄長之、母覆之、眾歸之、六體不易、合而能固、安而能殺，公侯之卦也。公侯之子孫，必復其始。」

閔公二年

經

二年春，王正月，齊人遷陽。

夏，五月，乙酉，吉禘于莊公。

秋，八月，辛丑，公薨。

九月，夫人姜氏孫于邾。公子慶父出奔莒。

冬，齊高子來盟。

十有二月，狄入衛。

鄭棄其師。

傳

二年春，虢公敗犬戎于渭汭。舟之僑曰：「無德而祿，殃也。殃將至矣。」遂奔晉。

夏，吉禘于莊公，速也。

初，公傅奪卜齮田，公不禁。秋八月辛丑，共仲使卜齮賊公于武闈。成季以僖公適邾。共仲奔莒，乃入，立之。以賂求共仲于莒，莒人歸之。及密，使公子魚請。不許，哭而往。共仲曰：「奚斯之聲也。」乃縊。

閔公，哀姜之娣叔姜之子也，故齊人立之。共仲通於哀姜，哀姜欲立之。閔公之死也，哀姜與知之，故孫于邾。齊人取而殺之于夷，以其尸歸，僖公請而葬之。

成季之將生也，桓公使卜楚丘之父卜之。曰：「男也。其名曰友，在公之右。間于兩社，為公室輔。季氏亡，則魯不昌。」又筮之，遇《大有》之《乾》，曰：「同復于父，敬如君所。」及生，有文在其手曰「友」，遂以命之。

冬，十二月，狄人伐衛。衛懿公好鶴，鶴有乘軒者。將戰，國人受甲者皆曰：「使鶴，鶴實有祿位，余焉能戰？」公與石祁子玦，與甯莊子矢，使守，曰：「以此贊國，擇利而為之。」與夫人繡衣，曰：「聽于二子。」渠孔御戎，子伯為右，黃夷前驅，孔嬰齊殿。及狄人戰于熒澤，衛師敗績，遂滅衛。衛侯不去其旗，是以甚敗。狄人囚史華龍滑與禮孔，以逐衛人。二人曰：「我，大史也，實掌其祭。不先，國不可得也。」乃先之。至，則告守曰：「不可待也。」夜與國人出。狄入衛，遂從之，又敗諸河。

初，惠公之即位也少，齊人使昭伯烝於宣姜，不可，強之。生齊子、戴公、文公、宋桓夫人、許穆夫人。文公為衛之多患也，先適齊。及敗，宋桓公逆諸河，宵濟。衛之遺民男女七百有三十人，益之以共、滕之民為五千人，立戴公以廬于曹。許穆夫人賦《載馳》。齊侯使公子無虧帥車三百乘、甲士三千人以戍曹。歸公乘馬，祭服五稱，牛羊豕雞狗皆三百與門材。歸夫人魚軒，重錦三十兩。

鄭人惡高克，使帥師次于河上，久而弗召。師潰而歸，高克奔陳。鄭人為之賦《清人》。

晉侯使大子申生伐東山皋落氏。里克諫曰：「大子奉冢祀，社稷之粢盛，以朝夕視君膳者也，故曰冢子。君行則守，有守則從。從曰撫軍，守曰監國，古之制也。夫帥師，專行謀，誓車旅，君與國政之所圖也，非大子之事也。師在制命而已。稟命則不威，專命則不孝，故君之嗣適不可以帥師。君失其官，帥師不威，將焉用之？且臣聞皋落氏將戰，君其舍之。」公曰：「寡人有子，未知其誰立焉！」不對而退。

見大子，大子曰：「吾其廢乎？」對曰：「告之以臨民，教之以軍旅，不共是懼，何故廢乎？且子懼不孝，無懼弗得立，修己而不責人，則免於難。」

大子帥師，公衣之偏衣，佩之金玦。狐突御戎，先友為右，梁餘子養御罕夷，先丹木為右，羊舌大夫為尉。先友曰：「衣身之偏，握兵之要，在此行也，子其勉之。偏躬無慝，兵要遠災，親以無災，又何患焉？」狐突歎曰：「時，事之徵也；衣，身之章也；佩，衷之旗也。故敬其事，則命以始；服其身，則衣之純；用期衷，則佩之度。今命以時卒，閟其事也；衣之尨服，遠其躬也；佩以金玦，棄其衷也。服以遠之，時以閟之；尨，涼；冬，殺；金，寒；玦，離；胡可恃也？雖欲勉之，狄可盡乎？」梁餘子養曰：「帥師者，受命於廟，受脤於社，有常服矣。不獲而尨，命可知也。死而不孝，不如逃之。」罕夷曰：「尨奇無常，金玦不復，雖復何為？君有心矣。」先丹木曰：「是服也，狂夫阻之。曰『盡敵而反』，敵可盡乎？雖盡敵，猶有內讒，不如違之。」狐突欲行。羊舌大夫曰：「不可。違命不孝，棄事不忠。雖知其寒，惡不可取，子其死之。」

大子將戰，狐突諫曰：「不可，昔辛伯諗周桓公云：『內寵並后，外寵二政，嬖子配適，大都耦國，亂之本也。』周公弗從，故及於難。今亂本成矣，立可必乎？孝而安民，子其圖之！與其危身以速罪也。」

成風聞成季之繇，乃事之，而屬僖公焉，故成季立之。

僖之元年，齊桓公遷邢于夷儀。二年，封衛于楚丘。邢遷如歸，衛國忘亡。

衛文公大布之衣、大帛之冠，務材訓農，通商惠工，敬教勸學，授方任能。元年，革車三十乘；季年，乃三百乘。

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Zuo Commentary (春秋左氏傳), article 春秋左氏傳 閔公, revision of 21 March 2026, inspected from a witness copy captured on 22 August 2026. Chinese Wikisource transcriptions are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GFDL; the text itself is ancient and in the public domain. The wiki header and license templates have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.

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