Xu You and Chao Fu of old avoided the world,
Not even Yao or Shun could make them ministers.
Yi Yin and Lü Wang, though eager to serve,
Found lords in Tang and Wu who could employ them.
What of these four sages?
Their names linger through a thousand years.
Some shone bright, some stayed obscure, leaving traces,
Their sequence seems inconsistent.
Qin's rule was cruel to all under heaven,
Addicted to war, it exhausted the people.
Lords died in every battle,
Even brave men frowned in despair.
Zhang Liang, the Han youth,
Smashed the imperial carriage with an iron hammer.
Thus heroes' hearts were set,
Day and night dreaming of repaying Qin.
The masters went together,
No longer entangled in worldly dust.
Clouds gathered on lone peaks,
Dragons hid as tiny scales.
The Qin king turned more tyrannical,
Advisers faced the cauldron.
Mao Jiao stripped to remonstrate,
The masters uttered not a word.
Zhao Gao killed the Second Emperor,
The masters seemed not to hear.
Liu and Xiang fought for the realm,
The masters wandered with white clouds.
Eight years of war across the land,
The masters kept themselves whole.
The Han's cause daily grew firm,
The masters' fame also rose.
Unable to save the age,
Fitting then to live in seclusion.
How, in one morning's rise,
Did they bend as guests to the heir?
They secured Emperor Hui's safety,
And crushed Lady Qi's spirit.
Abandoning great for small schemes,
Coiled like a dragon, stretched like an inchworm.
Emperor Hui left no heir,
The Lü clan's disaster had its cause.
Though they cherished the aim to secure Liu,
They were not like Zhou and Chen.
All fell into Zhang Liang's plan,
How thwarted was the masters' Way.
Advance or retreat should be clear,
Thus I now have these words.