Classical Prose
陈涉世家(节选)
司马迁
陈胜者,阳城人也,字涉。吴广者,阳夏人也,字叔。
陈涉少时,尝与人佣耕,辍耕之垄上,怅恨久之,曰:“苟富贵,无相忘。”
佣者笑而应曰:“若为佣耕,何富贵也?”
陈涉太息曰:“嗟乎!燕雀安知鸿鹄之志哉!”
二世元年七月,发闾左適戍渔阳,九百人屯大泽乡。
陈胜、吴广皆次当行,为屯长。
会天大雨,道不通,度已失期。失期,法皆斩。
陈胜、吴广乃谋曰:“今亡亦死,举大计亦死;等死,死国可乎?”
陈胜曰:“天下苦秦久矣。”
乃丹书帛曰“陈胜王”,置人所罾鱼腹中。卒买鱼烹食,得鱼腹中书,固以怪之矣。
又间令吴广之次所旁丛祠中,夜篝火,狐鸣呼曰:“大楚兴,陈胜王。”
卒皆夜惊恐。旦日,卒中往往语,皆指目陈胜。
吴广素爱人,士卒多为用者。将尉醉,广故数言欲亡,忿恚尉,令辱之,以激怒其众。
尉果笞广。尉剑挺,广起,夺而杀尉。
陈胜佐之,并杀两尉。召令徒属曰:“公等遇雨,皆已失期,失期当斩。藉第令毋斩,而戍死者固十六七。且壮士不死即已,死即举大名耳,王侯将相宁有种乎!”
徒属皆曰:“敬受命。”
乃诈称公子扶苏、项燕,从民欲也。袒右,称大楚。为坛而盟,祭以尉首。
陈胜自立为将军,吴广为都尉。
Translation
Chen Sheng was a native of Yangcheng, styled She. Wu Guang was a native of Yangxia, styled Shu. In his youth Chen Sheng once worked as a hired farmhand. Stopping his plowing and standing on the ridge of the field, he sighed for a long time and said, “If one day we become rich and honored, let us not forget one another.” The other laborers laughed: “You are a hired plowman—what wealth and honor could you have?” Chen Sheng sighed deeply: “Alas! How can sparrows know the ambition of a swan?” In the seventh month of the first year of Qin Ershi, poor commoners were conscripted to garrison Yuyang; nine hundred men were stationed at Daze Township. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were among them and served as troop leaders. Heavy rain blocked the roads, and they judged that they had already missed the deadline. Under Qin law, delay meant execution. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang therefore plotted: “If we flee, we die; if we launch a great undertaking, we also die. Since death is the same, why not die for a cause?” Chen Sheng added, “All under Heaven has suffered under Qin for too long.” They created signs to stir belief: a silk strip written in cinnabar with “Chen Sheng shall be king” was placed in a fish’s belly, and Wu Guang was sent by night to a shrine near the camp to light a fire and cry like a fox, “Great Chu shall rise; Chen Sheng shall be king.” The soldiers were frightened at night and began whispering the next day, all looking toward Chen Sheng. Wu Guang, loved by the soldiers, provoked an officer into insulting and beating him, thereby stirring the men’s anger. When the officer drew his sword, Wu Guang seized it and killed him; Chen Sheng helped kill the other officer. Chen Sheng then addressed the men: they had missed the deadline and faced execution; even if spared, most would die on the frontier. A true man, if he must die, should win a great name. “Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born of a special seed?” The men accepted his command. They invoked the names of Fusu and Xiang Yan to follow popular sentiment, proclaimed Great Chu, swore an oath at an altar, and began the uprising. Chen Sheng made himself general, and Wu Guang became commandant.
Analysis
The “Hereditary House of Chen She” is remarkable because Chen Sheng was not a noble by birth. In the Shiji, “hereditary houses” usually concern ruling lineages or major political families. By granting Chen Sheng such a place, Sima Qian recognizes the historical force of a commoner whose revolt opened the collapse of Qin rule. The opening scene is essential. Chen Sheng is merely a hired farmhand, yet he speaks as someone who imagines a different destiny. “How can sparrows know the ambition of a swan?” establishes not success but aspiration: before power, before rebellion, there is already a consciousness unwilling to accept the limits imposed by poverty. The immediate trigger is Qin’s ruthless law: missing the deadline means execution. But the revolt is not described as blind panic. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang understand the political climate—“All under Heaven has suffered under Qin for too long.” They use signs, rumor, and the names of Fusu and Xiang Yan to gather popular belief. The fish-belly writing and fox-like cry show both superstition and strategy: in an age of unrest, symbolic legitimacy matters. “Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born of a special seed?” is the moral climax. It turns survival into a challenge against hereditary hierarchy. The sentence does not merely call men to rebel; it asks whether social rank is destiny. That is why it remained powerful in later memory: it articulates the desire of the humble to enter history.
About the Author
Sima Qian was a major historian and literary figure of the Western Han dynasty. Styled Zichang, he completed the Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, China’s first comprehensive history in biographical form. Covering the period from legendary antiquity to his own age, the Shiji combines historical judgment with vivid narrative art. Sima Qian is especially admired for his ability to reveal character through scenes, speech, and moral tension. “The Hereditary House of Chen She” shows his recognition of how people from humble origins can alter the course of history.