When Han E was traveling east of Qi she ran low on provisions. Coming to Yongmen she had to sell her songs in order to eat. After she left the sound continued reverberating for three days. People all around there thought she hadn't left, and people who met her on the road criticized her. So Han E (played a) Long Song and cried mournfully. People for one li around, young and old, were all sad. They cried in front of each other and could not eat for three days. Quickly they ran (to Han E) and asked her to come back. Overjoyed, this time Han E played a Long Song which made everyone for one li around so joyous they hopped and danced to the rhythm, unable to stop themselves, and they forgot their sadness of the previous day. Thus the people of Yongmen enjoyed singing and crying at the same time, and they studied the precious sounds of (Han) E.

Zhou (of Yongmen) became especially good at skills (of Han E). Using this method he first cried for Lord Mengchang, then continued this using the qin. Mengchang Jun said. Sir, you play the qin. Can you also cause people to be 悲 (emotionally moved, usually suggesting sadness)? (From here on the passage is paraphrased rather than translated: Zhou replied that he could only affect those who were now rich and mighty but would later be poor and lowly, and not effect the ordinary person or the gifted person who never attained anything. He then went on to say that since Lord Mengchang was so wealthy and successful, how could even a great qin player make him sad. However, Zhou then proceeded to tell him that in the future Mengchang would die and eventually even his grave markers would disappear and his descendants forget him. At this Zhou took out his qin, first playing slow tunes in 宮 gong and 徵 zhi modes, then continuing with 羽 yu and 角 jue, at which point Mengchang began crying. He then approached Zhou and said, "You have shown me that I am one of those who will lose all his wealth and position." The writer, presumably Zhu Changwen, adds his opinion that Zhou must have been an advisor to Mengchang who used qin playing to admonish his lord's failure to listen to advice.)

今若足下，居則廣廈高堂，連闥洞房，下羅帷，來清風；倡優在前，諂諛侍側，揚激楚，舞鄭妾，流聲以娛耳，練色以淫目；水戲則舫龍舟，建羽旗，鼓釣乎不測之淵；野遊則登平原，馳廣囿，強弩下高鳥，勇士格猛獸；置酒娛樂，沈醉忘歸：方此之時，視天地曾不若一指，雖有善鼓琴，未能足下也。」

孟嘗君曰：「固然！」

雍門周曰：「然臣竊為足下有所常悲。夫角帝而困秦者君也，連五國而伐楚者又君也。天下未嘗無事，不從即衡；從成則楚王，衡成則秦帝。夫以秦、楚之強而報弱薛，猶磨蕭斧而伐朝菌也，有識之士，莫不為足下寒心。天道不常盛，寒暑更進退，千秋萬歲之後，宗廟必不血食；高台既已傾，曲池又已平，墳墓生荊棘，狐狸穴其中，遊兒牧豎躑躅其足而歌其上曰：『孟嘗君之尊貴，亦猶若是乎！』」

於是孟嘗君喟然太息，涕淚承睫而未下，雍門周引琴而鼓之，徐動宮、徵，叩角、羽。 終而成曲，孟嘗君遂歔欷而就之曰：「先生鼓琴，令文立若亡國之人也。」
Yongmen Zhou brought with him his qin to meet Lord Mengchang, who asked: "Master, when you play qin can you move me to sorrow?"

Yongmen Zhou replied: "Those I can move to sorrow are ones who: were noble but have fallen to low estate; were once rich but are now poor; were banished to desolate alleys, cut off from neighbors; are of noble character, embracing purity, yet have been slandered and disbelieved; are lovers parted by life, sent to distant lands never to meet again; ore are orphans with no parents in youth, no spouse or children in age, dwelling in marshes by day, burrowing in caves by night, struggling to survive, with none to turn to. For such people the cry of a lone bird or the whisper of autumn wind through branches are alone enough wound the heart. When I play the qin for them, sighing as I pluck the strings, none fail to weep in anguish.

But now standing at your feet, (I see) your halls are vast, your chambers deep; Cool breezes stir your silk curtains. Singers charm your ears, dancers dazzle your eyes; you sail on dragon-boats with feathered banners, there are fish in unfathomed depths; you hunt across plains with swift arrows felling birds, brave men battle beasts at your command, banquets leave you drunken, forgetting to return. In this existence, heaven and earth seem smaller than your fingertip. Even the finest qin master could never cause you grief."

Lord Mengchang conceded: "True."

Yet Yongmen Zhou continued: "Still, I grieve for you in secret. you allied with emperors to corner Qin; you rallied five states against Chu. The world knows no peace. All must choose vertical or horizontal alliance. Should the vertical alliance triumph, Chu rules; Should the horizontal prevail, Qin reigns. When Qin and Chu — mighty as they are — turn vengeance on your fragile fief of Xue, it will be like scything morning mushrooms with a sharp axe. All who foresee this shiver for you. Heaven’s favor never lasts**: cold follows heat; tides rise and fall. A thousand years hence, no sacrifices will grace your ancestral temple. Your towers will crumble; your ponds will dry to dust. thorns will choke your tomb, foxes den in its ruins. children herding cattle will trample your grave, and sing: 'Was Lord Mengchang’s glory truly so grand?’"

Then, with Lord Mengchang sighing deeply, tears welling but not falling. Yongmen Zhou took up his qin and played, slowly plucking the notes gong and zhi, and striking jue and yu. And when the melody finally was finished, Lord Mengchang sobbed and drew near, saying: "Master, your qin has made me feel like a man whose kingdom has perished."

She passed an inn, where the landlord insulted her. She therefore wailed mournfully in long-drawn-out notes; and all the people in the quarter, old and young, looked at each other sadly with the tears dripping down their faces, and could not eat for three days. They hurried after her and brought her back; and again she sang them a long ballad in drawn-out notes. The people of the whole quarter, old and young, could not help skipping with joy and dancing to hand claps, forgetting that they had been sad just before. Afterwards they sent her away with rich presents.

That is why even today the people of Concord Gate are good singers and funeral wailers, taking as their example the memory of Erh's singing.