《资治通鉴·晋纪·晋纪三十三》
孙恩作乱之后，三吴的八郡又都被孙恩攻占，京畿几个县，也盗贼祸乱四起，孙恩的党羽也有潜伏在建康城中的人，因此人们心情恐惧，经常担心会发生什么意想不到的变乱，朝廷只好宣布全国戒严，安帝加授给司马道子黄钺，任命司马元显为中军将军，徐州刺史谢琰兼督吴兴、义兴等郡军事，来讨伐孙恩。刘牢之也出动军队征讨孙恩，向朝廷呈上奏章之后立即出师。
及孙恩作乱，八郡皆为恩有，畿内诸县，盗贼处处蜂起，恩党亦有潜伏在建康者，人情危惧。常虑窃发，于是内外戒严。加道子黄钺，元为领中军将军，命徐州刺史谢琰兼督吴兴、义兴军事以讨恩；刘牢之亦发兵讨恩，拜表辄行。
After Sun En launched the rebellion, the eight counties of the three Wu regions were all occupied by Sun En. Thieves ran rampant in several counties near the capital. Sun En's followers also infiltrated Jiankang City. Therefore, the people were terrified and always worried about unexpected events. The court had no choice but to declare martial law nationwide. Emperor An gave Sima Daozi the yellow battle-axe and appointed Sima Yuanxian as General of the Central Army. Xu Zhou Governor Xie Yan was given concurrent authority over the military affairs of Wuxing and Yixing counties to punish Sun En. Liu Laozhi also sent troops to attack Sun En. He submitted a memorial to the court and then set out on an expedition immediately.