周威公見而問焉，曰：「天下之國其孰先亡？
Duke Wei of Zhou24 met with him and questioned him, saying, “Among all the states in the realm, which will be the first to perish?” “Jin will perish first” was the reply.
」對曰：「晉先亡！
Duke Wei asked Tu Yu to explain this.
」威公問其說。
“I did not dare speak my mind directly,” said Tu Yu.
對曰：「臣不敢直言，示晉公以天妖、日月星辰之行多不當。
“I explained to the Jin ruler that anomalous occurrences had been visited upon us by Heaven and that the motions of the sun, moon, and constellations were irregular.
曰：『是何能然。
He asked how such things could come about.
』示以人事多不義，百姓多怨。
I explained to him that men had done unprincipled things and that the Hundred Clans were full of resentment.
曰：『是何傷。
He asked what harm there was in that.
I explained to him that neighboring states would not submit to us and that worthy and honest men would not come to his aid.
』示以鄰國不服，賢良不興。
This shows that he does not understand the causes of survival and destruction. That is why I say that Jin will perish first.” Three years later, Jin perished as Tu Yu had predicted.
曰：『是何害。
Duke Wei met with Tu Yu again and continued his questioning.
』是不知所以存、所以亡，故臣曰晉先亡。
“Which state will be the next?” he asked.
」居三年，晉果亡。
“Zhongshan will be the next” was the reply.
威公又見屠餘而問焉，曰：「孰次之？
Duke Wei asked why.
」對曰：「中山次之。
Tu Yu 屠余: evidently an archivist in the court of Jin 23 Lord Ping of Jin (r. 557–532): see 1.1, n. 1.
」威公問其故。
The appearance of this ruler’s name here is an anachronism; Jin did not come to an end until some fifty years after his reign. The Lüshi chunqiu parallel text refers simply to “the lord of Jin” 晉公.
The ruler intended here may be Lord Chu 出 (r. 474–455), the last Jin ruler to exercise any real authority, but his reign dates are not at all close to the dates of Zhongshan’s destruction and Zhou’s division. This is, in short, a completely ahistorical anecdote.