齊東郭姜

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齊東郭姜者，棠公之妻，齊崔杼御東郭偃之姊也。
Dongguo Jiang of Qi was the wife of Duke Tang, and the elder sister of Cui Zhu of Qi's charioteer, Dongguo Yan.

美而有色。棠公死，崔子弔而說姜，遂與偃謀娶之。
She was very beautiful. When Duke Tang died, Cuizi spoke to Jiang offering his condolences. Then, with [Dongguo] Yan, he planned to take her as his own wife.

既居其室，比於公宮，莊公通焉，驟如崔氏，崔子知之。
When she had moved to her new husband's home, she went with him to the duke's palace. Duke Zhuang had an affair with her, and often galloped to the Cui residence. Cuizi found out about this.

異日，公以崔子之冠賜侍人，崔子慍，告有疾不出，
Another day, the duke gave Cuizi's cap to one of his attendants. Cuizi was angry, and announced that he was ill and would not leave his room.

公登臺臨崔子之宮，由臺上與東郭姜戲，
The duke climbed a tower and looked down at Cuizi's palace. From the top of the tower, he was jesting Dongguo Jiang.

公下從之，東郭姜奔入戶而閉之，
The duke went down to follow her, but Dongguo Jiang fled into the gates and shut them.

公推之曰：「開余。」
The duke pushed and said: "Open up for me."

東郭姜曰：「老夫在此，未及收髮。」
Dongguo Jiang said: "My old husband is here, he has not yet got any hair."

公曰：「余開崔子之疾也，不開？」
The duke said: "If I can cure Cuizi's illness, will you not open?"

崔子與姜自側戶出，閉門，聚眾鳴鼓，公恐，擁柱而歌。
Cuizi and Jiang exited through a side door, locked the gates, and gathered a crowd, yelling and beating drums. The duke was afraid, grabbed a pillar and started singing.

公請於崔氏曰：「孤知有罪矣，請改心事吾子。若不信，請盟。」
The duke asked of the Cui family: "Only you know of my crime. I wish to rectify my heart and serve my children. If you do not trust me, let us swear an oath."

崔子曰：「臣不敢聞命。」乃避之。
Cuizi said: "Your servant does not dare to obey this command." and left the duke.

公又請於崔氏之宰曰：「請就先君之廟而死焉。」
The duke pleaded to the Cui family steward, too: "May I go to the temple of the former rulers, and die in there?"

崔氏之宰曰：「君之臣杼，有疾不在，侍臣不敢聞命。」
The Cui family steward said: "My lord's subject, Zhu, is ill and not present. As his servant, I dare not obey your order."

公踰牆而逃，崔氏射公中踵，公反墮，遂弒公。
The duke attempted to flee by jumping over the wall, but the Cui family shot him in his heel. The duke fell back down, and was murdered.

先是時，東郭姜與前夫子棠毋咎俱入，
At a time before this, Dongguo Jiang and her son Tang Wujiu from her previous husband entered the family together.

崔子愛之，使為相室，崔妻子二人大子城、少子彊。
Cuizi loved her, and married her. Lady Cui had two children, the eldest was Cheng and the youngest Jiang.

及姜入後，生二子明、成。
After Jiang had joined the family, she gave birth to two children: Ming and Cheng.

成有疾，崔子廢成，以明為後。
Cheng was ill, so Cuizi discarded him and made Ming his successor.

成使人請崔邑以老，崔子哀而許之。
Cheng sent a messenger requesting the city of Cui to support him until his old age, Cuizi pitied him and agreed to this.

棠毋咎與東郭偃爭而不成，成與彊怒，將欲殺之，以告慶封。
Tang Wujiu fought with Dongguo Yan without success. Cheng and Jiang were angry and desired to kill him, and announced this to Qing Feng.

慶封，齊大夫也，陰與氏爭權，欲其相滅也。
Qing Feng was a dafu of Qi. He secretly competed with the families for power, and desired them to eliminate each other.

謂二子曰：「殺之。」
He told the two sons: "Kill him."

於是二子歸殺棠毋咎東郭偃於崔子之庭。
Thereupon the two sons returned and killed Tang Wujiu and Dongguo Yan at Cuizi's courtyard.

崔子怒，愬之於慶氏曰：「吾不肖，有子不能教也，以至於此。
Cuizi was angry, and blamed them when reporting to the Qing family: "As father and son we are not similar. I have sons but was unable to teach them, and it came to this.

吾事夫子，國人之所知也，唯辱使者，不可以已。」
I serve my master, the people of the country knows this. I am afraid that I am only the messenger, and can not stop this.

慶封乃使盧蒲嫳帥徒眾，與國人焚其庫廄，而殺成、姜。
Qing Feng then sent Lupu Pie to lead a crowd of his followers in battle, and together with the people of the country burn their armory and stables, and kill Cheng and Jiang.

崔氏之妻曰：「生若此，不若死。」遂自經而死。
The wife of the Cui family said: "If life is like this, death is better." Then she hanged herself and died.

崔子歸見庫廄皆焚，妻子皆死，又自經而死。
Cuizi return and saw his armory and stables on fire, his wife and children dead, so he too hanged himself.

君子曰：「東郭姜殺一國君而滅三室，又殘其身，可謂不祥矣。」
The superior man says: "Dongguo Jiang killed the lord of one country and exterminated three families. She also killed herself. She can truly be called inauspicious."

詩曰：「枝葉未有害，本實先敗。」此之謂也。
The ode says: "While its branches and leaves are yet uninjured, It must first have been uprooted." This applies here.
Note: from James Legge's translation of 蕩 (ode 255).

左傳

襄公二十五年

二十五年，春，齊崔杼帥師伐我北鄙，以報孝伯之師也，公患之，使告于晉，孟公綽曰，崔子將有大志，不在病我，必速歸，何患焉，其來也不寇，使民不嚴，異於他日，齊師徒歸。

In the twenty-fifth year, in spring, Cui Zhu of Qi led a force and attacked our northern borders. This was in retaliation for the expedition of Meng Xiaobo. The duke was distressed about it, and [was going to] send information to Jin, when Meng Gongchuo said to him, "Cuizi has a greater object in his mind. He is not set on troubling us; he is sure to return back soon:---why need you be distressed? His coming this time is without injuring us, and he does not treat the people with severity. It is very different from other invasions." The army of Qi returned empty-handed.

齊棠公之妻，東郭偃之姊也，東郭偃臣崔武子，棠公死，偃御武子以弔焉，見棠姜而美之，使偃取之，偃曰，男女辨姓，今君出自丁，臣出自桓，不可，武子筮之，遇困之大過，史皆曰吉，示陳文子，文子曰，夫從風，風隕妻，不可聚也，且其繇曰，困于石，據于蒺梨，入于其宮，不見其妻，凶，困于石，往不濟也，據于蒺梨，可恃傷也，入于其宮，不見其妻，凶，無所歸也，崔子曰，嫠也何害，先夫當之矣，遂取之，莊公通焉，驟如崔氏，以崔子之冠賜人，侍者曰不可，公曰，不為崔子，其無冠乎，

The wife of the commandant of Tang of Qi was an elder sister of Dongguo Yan, who was a minister of Cui Wucui. When the commandant died, Yan drove Wuzi to offer his condolences. Wozi then saw Tang [Dongguo] Jiang and, admiring her beauty, wished Yan to give her to him for his wife. Yan said, "Husband and wife should be of different surnames. You are descended from [duke] Ting, and I from [duke] Huan; the thing cannot be." Wozi consulted the milfoil about it, and got the diagram Kun, which then became the diagram Daguo; which the diviners all said was fortunate. He showed it to Chen Wenzi, but he said, "The [symbol for] a man [in Kun] is displaced by that for wind [in Daguo]. Wind overthrows things. The woman ought not to be married. And moreover, [upon Kun] it is said, 'Distressed by rocks; holding to brambles; he enters his palace and does not see his wife. It is evil' 'Distressed by rocks;'---in vain does one attempt to go forward. 'Holding by brambles;'---that in which trust is placed wounds. 'He enters his palace and does not see his wife; it is evil:'---there is nowhere to turn to." Cuizi replied, "She is a widow;---what does all this matter? Her former husband bore the brunt of it." So he married her. Afterwards due Zhuang had an intrigue with her, and constantly went to Cui's house. He took Cui's hat and gave it to another person; and when his attendants said that he should not do so, he remarked, "Although he be not Cuizi, should he therefore be without a hat?"

崔子因是，又以其間伐晉也，曰晉必將報，欲弒公以說于晉，而不獲間，公鞭侍人賈舉，而又近之，乃為崔子間公，

Cuizi [was enraged] by these things; and because the duke took occasion to invade Jin, thinking that Jin would be sure to retaliate, he wished to murder the duke in order to please that State. He did not, however, find an opportunity, till the duke had whipt one of his attendants, called Jia Ju, whom not withstanding he kept near him. This man then watched the duke for Cuizi.

...and the story continues with much bloodshed.

襄公二十七年

齊崔杼生成，及彊，而寡，娶東郭姜，生明，東郭姜以孤入，曰，棠无咎，與東郭偃相崔氏，崔成有病而廢之，而立明，成請老于崔，崔子許之，偃與无咎弗予，曰崔宗邑也，必在宗主，成與彊怒，將殺之，告慶封曰，夫子之身，亦子所知也，唯无咎與偃是從，父兄莫得進矣，大恐害夫子，敢以告，慶封曰，子姑退，吾圖之，告盧蒲嫳，盧蒲嫳曰，彼君之讎也，天或者將棄彼矣，彼實家亂，子何病焉，崔之薄，慶之厚也，

Before Cui Zhu of Qi became a widower, he had two sons, Cheng and Jiang. After his marriage with Dongguo Jiang, she bore to him Ming, and also brought into his family Tang Wujiu, her son by her former husband, who, with Dongguo Yan, took the management of Cui's family. In consequence of some disease which he had, Cui Cheng was degraded from his position, and Ming appointed in his place, after which he begged that he might be put in possession till his old age of Cui. Cuizi granted him that city, but Yan and Wujiu would not give it to him, saying, "Cui is the ancestral city, and must be in the hands of the lord of the ancestral temple." Cheng and Jiang were enraged, and, having resolved to kill them, they told Qing Feng, saying, "You know all about our father. He follows only Wujiu and Yan. None of our uncles or cousins of the clan can get him to listen to a word. The state of things, we are greatly afraid, will be injurious to him, and we presume to tell you of it." Qing told them to retire for a time, while he considered the matter, which he laid before Lupu Pie. Pie said, "He showed himself the enemy of his ruler, and Heaven perhaps is now going to abandon him; but why should you feel any distress at disorder in his House? The thinner Cui is, the thicker grows Qing."

他日又告，慶封曰，苟利夫子，必去之，難吾助女，九月，庚辰，崔成崔彊殺東郭偃，棠无咎，於崔氏之朝，崔子怒而出，其眾皆逃，求人使駕，不得，使圉人駕，寺人御而出，且曰崔氏有福，止余猶可，遂見慶封，慶封曰，崔慶一也，是何敢然，請為子討之，使盧蒲嫳帥甲以攻崔氏，崔氏堞其宮而守之，弗克，使國人助之，遂滅崔氏，殺成與彊而盡俘其家，其妻縊，嫳復命於崔子，且御而歸之，至則無歸矣，乃縊，崔明夜辟諸大墓，辛巳，崔明來奔，慶封當國。

When the sons of Cui came to Qing Feng another day, he said to them, "If it be profitable for your father, you can remove the two men; and if you get into difficulties, I will assist you." In the 9th month, on gengchen, Cui Qing and Cui Jiang killed Dongguo Yan and Tang Wujiu, while they were at the court of Cuizi. In a rage he issued from the gate, but his people were all scattered. He sought for men to get his carriage in readiness, but it could not be done. He got a groom to yoke a carriage for him, and with a eunuch to drive him, he went forth, saying to himself, "It will be fortunate for the Cui family, if only I perish." He then drove to see Qing Feng, who said, "The Cui and the Qing are one. Who dared to act thus? Allow me to punish them for you." He then send Lupu Pie with a a body of men-at-arms to attack the palace of Cui. It was held, however, by men behind the parapets, who made a successful resistance, till the people were sent to assist the assaulters. Pie then extinguished the House of Cui, killed Qing and Jiang, and carried off all in the house, the wife of Cuizi having strangled herself. This done, he returned with a report to that officer, and then drove him back to his palace, where he found that he had nothing to come to, and strangled himself. Cui Ming laid him at night in his fathers' grave;---and on xinsi he fled himself to Lu. Qing Feng took the administration of the State.

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