或为六国说秦王
Someone Offered Suggestions to Qin's King on Behalf of the Six States Located East of Mount Xiao
【原文】
或为六国说秦王曰土广不足以为安，人众不足以为强。若土广 者安，人众者强，则桀、纣之后将存！昔者，赵氏亦尝强矣。曰赵强何若？举左案齐，举右案魏?厌案万乘之国二，国千乘之宋也。筑刚平， 卫无东野，刍牧薪采，莫敢窥东门。当是时，卫危于累卵.天下之士相从 谋曰：‘吾将还其委质，而朝于邯郸之君乎？’于是天下有称伐邯郸者，莫 不令朝行。魏伐邯郸，因退为逢泽之遇，乘夏车，称夏王，朝为天子，天 下皆从。齐太公闻之，举兵伐魏，壤地两分，国家大危。梁王身抱质执 璧，请为陈侯臣，天下乃释梁。郢威王闻之，寝不寐，食不饱，帅天下百姓以与申缚遇于泗水之上，而大败申缚。赵人闻之，至枝桑；燕人闻之, 至格道。格道不通，平际绝9齐战（败）[则]不胜，谋则不得，使陈毛释 剑撖，委南听罪，西说赵，北说燕，内喻其百姓，而天下乃（齐释）[释齐]。 于是夫积薄而为厚，聚少而为多，以同言郢威王于侧纣之间。臣岂以那 威王为政衰谋乱以至于此哉？郢为强，临天下诸侯，故天下乐伐之也7
【今译】
有人为六国游说秦王说领土广大不足以保障国家的安宁，人口 众多不足以保障国家的强大。假如说领土广大国家就安宁，人口众多 国家就强大，那桀和纣的后代就应该继续存在！从前，赵国也曾经很强 大。说赵国有多强大？它向左可以制服齐国，向右可以制服魏国。制服两个拥有一万辆战车的大国，如同压制拥有一千辆战车的宋国一样 赵国占领了刚平，卫国失掉了东部的土地，放牧打柴的人都不敢出东 门，正当那时，卫国非常危急。天下士人集合起来商量道：‘难道我们 将要朝拜邯郸的君主吗？’于是天下有声称讨伐赵国的，都号令他们第 二天一早就出发。魏囯攻下邯郸，然后魏王退兵，跟各国诸候在逢泽会 晤，自己乘坐着中原地区的车子，自称为中原王，率领各国朝拜周天子， 各国君主都跟随他前行。齐太公听说了这件事，派兵攻打魏国，魏国的 领土被分为两半，国家十分危急。魏王亲自怀抱抵押品、拿着美玉，请求向齐国称臣，天下各国才放过了魏国。楚威王听说了这件事，睡不着觉，吃不好饭，率领夭下各国联军跟齐国将领申缚指挥的军队在泗水岸 边交战，严重挫敗了申缚的军队赵国听说后，派兵出征到枝桑；燕国 听说后，派兵出征到格道。格道不能通行，平陆被阻断。齐国在战斗中 不能取胜，谋划不能实现，就派陈毛解下佩剑、摘掉帽子，到南方请罪， 并派人向西游说赵国、向北游说燕国停止进攻齐国" 在国内做百姓的 工作，天下各国这才放过了齐国e于是天下士人又逐渐聚合起来，共同 谋划讨伐楚成王4我难道是以为楚成王因为政治衰敗、策略混乱才到 了这个地步吗？楚国强大，高居于天下各国之上，所以天下各国才乐意 讨伐它。”
On behalf of the Six States located east of Mount Xiao, someone went to consult with the king of the state of Qin and said，u Although you might have a vast territory，it is not enough to ensure the safety of your state. Although you might have a huge population, it is not enough to ensure the great might of your state. Suppose a state with a vast territory would always be safe, and a state with a huge population would always be powerful,the offspring of Jie and Zhou would have been in power! Previously,the state of Zhao was very powerful. How powerful used Zhao to be? Well，it conquered the state of Qi on its left flank and suppressed the state of Wei on its right flank. It defeated these two states with ten thousand chariots each as if they were only states with one thousand chariots like the small Song. Zhao also occupied Gangping，and therefore the state of Wei lost control over its eastern territory. As a result, people didn’t dare go to these areas to graze animals or collect firewood. At that time, the state of Wei was in severe danger. Then scholars all over the world converged to discuss the situation and said9 ‘Do we really have no choice but to devote ourselves to working for the sovereign of the state of Zhao? Hence, if somebody among them advocated attacking Handan, the rest would follow him，announcing that they would take military action the next morning. After the troops of the state of Wei conquered Handan，the king of Wei returned and held a meeting to meet other states ^ sovereigns in Fengze* He went there tn a well decorated carriage made in the central part of China. He proclaimed himself king of central China and asked his peers to go to the court of the sovereign of the state of Zhou to worship the Son of Heaven (nominally,the sovereign of Zhou was still considered Son of Heaven). All the other sovereigns followed him. When Duke Tai of the state of Qi heard of this, he sent his troops to attack the state of Wei- Thus Qi occupied half of the territory of Wei and therefore put the state of Wei under severe threat. The king of Wei presented a hostage and a precious jade in person to the sovereign of Qi and expressed his hope of being regarded as a dependency of Qi. So other states of the world stopped attacking Wei, When King Wei of the state of Chu heard of this, he couldn’t sleep well，nor could he enjoy his meals. So he led allied forces consisting of people from various states to confront Shen Fu,the general of the state of Qi, on the bank of the Sishui River. The allied forces defeated Shen Fu’s army badly. When the king of the state of Zhao heard of this，he ordered his troops to march to Zhisang, When the king of the state of Yan heard of this，he ordered his troops to march to Gedao. Thus Gedao was blockaded and Pinglu was besieged. The state of Qi couldn’t win the war, nor could it implement its strategies. Taking off his sword and hat，Chen Shi was sent to the south to apologize to Chu. Qi also sent emissaries to the state of Zhao in the west and the state of Yan in the north respectively to implore these two states to stop their aggression against Qi. In addition, it appeased the people in the state. Then other states in the world gave up aggression against Qi, After that, more and more scholars converged to conspire against King Wei of the state of Chu. Do I really think King Wei deserved to be attacked because he had pursued tyrannical policies or put his state into chaos? The state of Chu was very powerful and therefore overwhelmed other states in the world. So other states willingly launched concerted attacks against it."