蘇秦為楚合從說韓王曰：「韓北有鞏、洛、成皋之固，西有宜陽、常阪之塞，東有宛、穰、洧水，南有陘山，地方千里，帶甲數十萬。天下之強弓勁弩，皆自韓出。谿子、少府，時力、距來，皆射六百步之外。韓卒超足而射，百發不暇止，遠者達胸，近者掩心。韓卒之劍戟，皆出於冥山、棠谿、墨陽、合伯膊。鄧師、宛馮、龍淵、大阿，皆陸斷馬牛，水擊鵠鴈，當敵即斬堅。甲、盾、鞮、鍪、鐵幕、革抉、口犮芮，無不畢具。

 

Su Qin[1], working on Zhao's[2] behalf, persuaded the King of Han[3] to join the Vertical Alliance, saying, "To the North of Han you have Gong[4], Luo[5] and Chenggao[6]. To the West, Yiyang[7] and the mountains of Shang[8] guard your borders. To the East you have Wan[10], Rang[11] and the Xiao River[12]. To the South you have Mount Xing[13]. You have lands of a thousand square li, guarded by hundreds of thousands of men at arms. All of the strongest bows and crossbows in All-Under-Heaven are products of Han. The crossbows of Master Xi and Shao Fu[14], the Shili and the Julai[15], these all shoot over six hundred paces. Han's artillery units cock their bows[16] and fire a hundred arrows without stopping to rest[17], striking distant targets in the chest and close ones right through the heart. Your soldiers' swords and halberds[18] are all from Mount Ming[19], Tangxi[20], Moyang[21] and Hebo[22]. Master Deng's swords[23], and those of Wanfeng[24], Longshen[25] and Da'e[26], which could cut a horse or a cow in half in its pasture or strike a crane or a wild goose on the water, they can certainly cut through the enemy's resolve. Armour and shields, boots and helmets, greaves and vambraces, bracers[27] and bucklers: you lack for nothing[28].

 

以韓卒之勇，被堅甲，蹠勁弩，帶利劍，一人當百，不足言也。夫以韓之勁，與大王之賢，乃欲西面事秦，稱東藩，築帝宮，受冠帶，祠春秋，交臂而服焉。夫羞社稷而為天下笑，無過此者矣。是故願大王之熟計之也。大王事秦，秦必求宜陽、成皋。今茲效之，明年又益求割地。與之，即無地以給之；不與，則棄前功而後更受其禍。且夫大王之地有盡，而秦之求無已。夫以有盡之地，而逆無已之求，此所謂市怨而買禍者也，不戰而地已削矣。臣聞鄙語曰：『寧為雞口，無為牛後。』今大王西面交臂而臣事秦，何以異於牛後乎？夫以大王之賢，挾強韓之兵，而有牛後之名，臣竊為大王羞之。」

​

Given the courage of Han's troops in their sturdy armour, backed by your archers standing firm protected by sharp swords, one of your partisans is equal to a hundred. This is indisputable. For all Han's power and Your Majesty's wisdom, you wish to turn West and serve as Qin's agent, calling yourself its Eastern border guard, building imperial palaces for them, wearing Qin's livery and making spring and autumn sacrifices on its altars - thus you fold your hands in submission. You are disgracing your spirits of earth and grain and All-Under-Heaven is laughing; there could be no greater mistake. This being so, I hope that Your Majesty will consider this matter intensively. Since you are serving as Qin's agent, Qin will certainly demand Yiyang and Chenggao from you. If you hand them over now, then next year Qin will be back demanding more land. If you give in you will eventually end up with no land left to give. If you do not hand it over you will be sacrificing your former achievements and inviting future misfortunes. There is a limit to Your Majesty's land, while Qin's demands have no limits. If you rely upon your finite land, you will never be free of their infinite demands. This is called trading resentment for misery, and if you do not fight then your lands will be wiped out. Your servant has heard a common saying: that it is better to be a chicken's mouth than a cow's behind[29]. Now you are turning West and folding your hands, accepting a servile position as Qin's agent. How is this different from being a cow's behind? For all Your Majesty's wisdom and the strength of Han's armies, such is your reputation. Thus your servant is bold enough to feel shame on your behalf.

​

韓王忿然作色，攘臂按劍，仰天太息曰：「寡人雖死，必不能事秦。今主君以楚王之教詔之，敬奉社稷以從。」

​

The King's anger showed on his face and he grabbed his sword, gazing up to heaven and bellowing, "Though it may kill us, we cannot serve Qin. Now that Your Lordship has informed us of the King of Zhao's[30] decrees, we will place our altars of earth and grain at your disposal."

​

[1] Su Qin worked for almost all of the states during a long and successful career as the principal proponent of the anti-Qin alliance.

[2] Reading 趙 for 楚, per the commentaries. 

[3] King Xuanhui of Han​ (323-312 BCE) was the first ruler of Han to adopt the title of King. 

[4] Gong is now Gongyi County, in Henan.

[5] Luo was the ancestral capital of Zhou. It is now Luoyang in Henan.

[6] Chenggao was an important strategic location in modern Xingyang County, Henan. It was on the other side of Zhou from most of Han's land, but provided a base from which Han would be able to attack Zheng.

[7] Yiyang is now in Yiyang County. At the time it was a fortress belonging to Han on the Qin border and another important strategic point.

[8] Reading 商 for 常, per the commentaries. This refers to modern Shangluo, in Shaanxi.

[9] This presumably refers to Wanqiu, which was the capital of the state of Chen, and then later of Chu. It was in modern Zhoukou, Henan, however, it is possible that there is an error in this sentence, since Wan also referred to Nanyang, which is mentioned subsequently, but which was not to the East of Han.

[10] Rang was the area surrounding modern Nanyang, Henan. However, this was to the Southwest of Han, not to the East.

[12] The Xiao River was in modern Henan.

[13] Xingshan was an ancestral burial ground for the Zheng royal house, later a part of Han territory after the annexation of Zheng. It is near Xinzheng in Henan.

[14] These seem to be the names of craftsmen whose ateliers produced particularly good bows.

[15] These appear to be trademarks. Shili means "strong at the right moment" and Julai implies a bird of prey diving onto a victim. 

[16] Following the interpretation given by the commentaries. Warring states era crossbows were usually cocked by pinning them down with one foot and pulling the string back by hand. 

[17] Most ancient Chinese bows and crossbows had a heavy draw by modern standards, which would tire an archer after a time. 

[18] This refers to a combination spear and dagger-axe, like this.

[19] Mount Ming was in modern Xinyang, Henan.

[20] Tangxi was in modern Xiping County, Henan.

[21] This may have been another trademark rather than a place. 

[22] According to the commentaries, either 伯 or 膊 is superfluous. Hebo was also in Xiping County. 

[23] The Deng clan lived in the vicinity of Nanyang, and Master Deng may have been one of them.

[24] These may have been made by smiths from Luo in the town of Fengchi, which is was in modern Xingyang in Henan.

[25] This may be trademark aimed at cashing in on the fame of the Longyuan Sword made by Ou Yezi. It could also refer to swords made in Longyuan, which was in modern Runan County, Henan.

[26] This may be a similar reference, harking back to the Tai'e (泰阿) Sword, also made by Ou Yezi. 

[27] These were different from European-style wrist-guards. In Chinese archery the bow string was drawn back using the right thumb. The wealthy used thumb rings made of ivory or precious stones to provide protection and enable them to release the string with precision. Poorer archers would wrap their hands in leather.

[28] From "bracers" this interpretation is the commentaries' best guess.

[29] The idea behind this is that a chicken's mouth, while small, has a much more enjoyable job than a cow's behind, even though the latter is much bigger. It seems to be a variation on the Yan family motto, which stated that they would rather lead chickens than follow cows (寧為雞尸， 不為牛從).

[30] ] King Wuling of Zhao (325–299 BCE) oversaw Zhao's transition to light cavalry tactics, a move that won them several significant victories and was rapidly followed by the other states. He later abdicated in favour of his son, King Huiwen, but continued to take an active part in politics. Eventually, his younger son, Zhao Zhang, rebelled and then took refuge with Wuling following a defeat by Huiwen and his Chancellor, Li Dui. Li Dui then proceeded to besiege both of them. Wuling killed Zhang in an attempt to lift the siege. It did not work and he was starved to death.