by Jordan » Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:55 pm
First Year of Jingchu (237 AD)
Shu: Fifteenth Year of Jianxing
Wu: Sixth Year of Jiahe
1. Spring, first month. On the day of renchen (February 6), Shanqi Xian {???} reported the appearance of a yellow dragon.
2. Gaotang Long held that it was because Wei had obtained the influence of “earth,” that the auspicious sign, the yellow dragon, had appeared, and that the calendar should be altered and the color of the court garments changed, so that its rule might be divinely brilliant and the people have their sight and hearing changed. The Emperor followed this proposal.
3. Third month (April 13-May 12). The Emperor issued an edict changing his reign title; the current month became the fourth month, middle of summer. For the color of court garments, yellow was fixed, and in the offering of sacrifices, white was to be used; in this the principle of “earth” was followed. He further renamed the Taihe Calendar, calling it the Jingchu Calendar.
4. Fifth month. On the day of chisi (May 14), the Emperor returned to Luoyang
5. On the day of qizhou, a general amnesty was given.
6. Sixth month. On the day wu-shen (June 22), there was an earthquake in the capital.
7. On the day chi-hai, the shangshu ling Chen Jiao was appointed situ, and the shangshu zuobuyi Wei Chen [was appointed] sigong.
8. On the day of dingwei, Wei-yang in Weixing [-jun] and An-fu and Shangyong in Xi[-jun], were detached to form Shangyong[-jun]: Xijun was discontinued. Xi[-xian] became a part of Weixing[-jun]
9. The officials in charge memorialized the throne to make Wu Huangdi (Cao Cao) the “Grand Ancestor (Taizu) of Wei; to make Wen Huangdi (Cao Pi) the “Founder” (Gaozu) of Wei; to make the [reigning] Emperor the “Meritorious Ancestor” (Liezu) of Wei; and to preserve the temples of these three ancestors for myriad of generations to come, destroying all the other four temples—all just as in the Zhou institution of altering the order of the spirit tablets of Hou-Chi, Wen and Wu.
10. Sun Sheng discoursed on this as follows: “Canonization serves to display virtue, temples to preserve memory. Both of these become prominent only after the death of the persons in question. By this means the origin is traced and the end rounded up, to be shown to the people of the land. There never has been a case of fixing ancestors beforehand, or of causing oneself to be prematurely honored and renowned while still alive. Because of extravagant interment, Hua Yuan and Yue Ju were reproved; for offering condolence in anticipation, the King of Zhou erred in matters of propriety. So, the various officials of Wei were lacking in correction.”
11. Autumn, seventh month. On the day ding-mao (July 11), Chen Jiao, Correct Lord of Dongxiang, died.
12. Gongsun Yuan frequently used abusive language of Wei to guests in his country. The Emperor wished to carry out a punitive campaign against him and for this purpose appointed the Cishi (Governor) of Jingzhou, Guanqiu Jian of Hedong, to be Cishi of Yuzhou.
Guanqiu Jian sent up a memorial saying: “Since Your Majesty's accession to the throne, there has been nothing worth writing down. Wu and Shu, relying on their natural strongholds, cannot easily be subdued. Perhaps we may take the soldiers useless against them, to conquer Liaodong.”
The guanglu dafu Wei Zhen said, “What Guanqiu Jian sets forth is all a petty scheme of the Warring States, not the business of a royal personage. Wu has been invading our borders for many years, and if yet we put aside our armor and rest our soldiers, not attempting a punitive campaign, it is because the people are weary. Gongsun Yuan, born and reared on the other side of the sea, has succeeded to his patrimony in the third generation; on the outside he soothes the Rong barbarians, inside he trains his men for warfare. In spite of this, Guanqiu Jian proposes to make a distant expedition with a detachment of troops; arriving in the morning, he will have to retreat in the evening. I know the recklessness of it!”
13. The Emperor did not listen to him, but had Guanqiu Jian lead the various troops as well as the Xianbei and Wuhuan and take up a position on the southern border of Liaodong. The Emperor sent a sealed edict to summon Gongsun Yuan. In the end, Gongsun Yuan arose in an armed rebellion, meeting Guanqiu Jian at Liaosui. It so happened that it rained for more than ten days and the water of Liaosui rose greatly. Guanqiu Jian fought him, but was unsuccessful and withdrew his troops to Youbeiping
14. Gongsun Yuan then proclaimed himself King of Yan. He adopted the reign title Shao-han. He appointed officials for his government, sent an envoy to the Shanyu of the Xianbei to confer on him the royal seal, enfeoffed border peoples, and seduced the Xianbei, so that they would invade and trouble the northern regions (of China, on the northern border of Wei).
15. In Han [i.e. Shu-Han], the Empress Zhang passed away.
16. Ninth Month (September 7-October 6), Jizhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Yuzhou were heavily flooded.
17. The fu-ren (first class concubine) Guo of Xiping was in favor with the Emperor, whose love for the Empress Mao was slackened. The Emperor had a party in his rear garden, inviting his concubines from cairen up; he enjoyed a most pleasant private entertainment.
The furen Guo asked that the Empress be invited, but the Emperor did not consent, at the same time prohibiting his attendants from divulging it. However, the Empress knew about it. The next day she said to the Emperor, “Was yesterday's party in the northern garden pleasant?” The Emperor thought that his attendants had divulged it to her and put more than ten of them to death.
On the day geng-chen (September 22), the Emperor commanded the Empress to commit suicide. Nevertheless, he honored her with the canonization Tao (Lamented). In the tenth month, on the day Gui-zhou (October 25), he buried her at the mausoleum of Minling. He promoted her younger brother, Mao Ceng.
18. Winter, tenth month (September 7-October 4). The Emperor, following the advice of Gaotang Long, took Weisushan, south of Luoyang, and made it Yuanqiu. The edict issued on this occasion reads: “Emperors and Kings, having received their mandate, all revere Heaven and Earth to glorify the divinites, and offer sacrifices to their ancestors to illumine their achievements. Hence, when the records from former generations become known, the institution of sacrifice to the ancestors will become complete. Of old, at the beginning of the Han, a time succeeding to the destruction of learning by the Qin, fragments were picked up and patched together, and thus the Suburban Sacrifices were pieced out. From the time of the Sacrifices to the Spirit of Earth in Ganchuan and to the Five Spirits at Yonggong, the myriad divinites have not been regulated. Hence the instituion is irregular, now this and now that. For more than four hundred years the Suburban Sacrifices have been in discuse, and that which ought to have been reinstated from antiquity is missing. The Cao trace their lineage from Emperor Shun. From now on, Huang-Huangdi Tian shall be sacrificed to at Yuanqiu paired with our primordial ancestory Shun. Huang-Huang Houdi shall be sacrificed to at Fangqiu, paired with Shun's consort Yi. The spirit of Huangtian shall be sacrificed to at the Southern Suburb, paired with Wudi (Cao Cao). The Spirit of Huangdi shall be sacrificed to at the Northern Suburb, paired with the Empress Xuan, Consort of Wudi.
19. The zhufu of Lujiang, Lü Xi, secretly sent an emissary to Wu requesting that their troops come; he intended to open the city gate, acting as a traitor from within. The Sovereign of Wu sent the Wei Jiang Jun Quan Zong to command the Qian Jiang Jun Zhu Huan, etc., and proceed to him. When they arrived the affair had leaked out, and the Wu troops returned.
20. Zhuge Ke, having come to Danyang, dispatched instructions to the chief officials of the towns belonging to the four districts. He ordered them to defend their own borders and put their troops in good shape. The people of the plain who had submitted were ordered to live in military settlements. The various generals were to be posted with their troops at important positions. Ramparts and walls were to be repaired. Arms were not to be exchanged (with the Shanyue). When the crops matured, the troops were to be released to reap them, leaving no seed behind. The old grain having been consumed and the new crop not yet harvested, and with the people of the plain living in settlements, there was nothing at all for the Shanyue to take in. Thus the people of the Shanyue were reduced to starvation and gradually came out to surrender. Zhuge Ke then sent further instructions: “Since the mountain people (note: Shan=mountain) have left their evil life behind and submitted, they shall all be soothed. If they migrate to other xian (counties), they should not be held under suspicion and apprehended.”
The head official of Qiuyang, Hu Kang, got hold of Zhou Yi, a man who had submitted. This Zhou Yi had been a bad man, but being hard pressed, he tardily came out, secretly harboring intent to revolt. Hu Kang had him bound and sent him to the prefect, Zhuge Ke. On the ground that Hu Kang had disobeyed his instructions, Zhuge Ke put him to death as a lesson for others, and reported this case to the throne.
Hearing that Hu Kang was charged for having arrested a man and was hence put to death, the people were convinced that the government had no intentions other than to make them come out. Therefore they came out, old and young leading each other. The limit of time and the number of men were both as originally counted on. Zhuge Ke took ten thousand men to himself and distributed the remainder (thirty thousand men) among his subordinate generals. The Sovereign of Wu commended his achievements. He appointed Zhuge Ke Weibo Jiangjun and enfeoffed him as Lord of Duxiang (or Buxiang?). He transferred him and stationed him at Huankou in Lujiang.
21. In this year the Emperor moved all the drums and drumsticks, bronze camels and bronze men, and the dew-basin from Chang'an to Luoyang. The dew basin broke, and the sound could be heard tens of li away. The bronze men were too heavy to be carried off, so they were left behind at Bacheng.
He furthermore levied copper on a large scale and cast two bronze men, called Wengzhong, and placed them as a pair outside the Sima Men (Gate of the Sima's office). He further cast a yellow dragon and a phoenix, the dragon forty feet high and the phoenix more than thirty feet high. Both were placed in front of the inner palace.
He constructed an artificial hill at the northwest corner of the garden Fangling Yuan; he had the Ducal and other Ministers and all the officials carry earth on their backs (to make the artificial hill). Pine trees, bamboos, various other trees and famous herbs were planted on its top. Mountain fowls and various beasts were caught and kept there.
22. The Situ Junyi Yuan Dong Xun [of Hedong] sent up a memorial, remonstrating with the Emperor: “I have heard that upright gentlemen of antiquity spoke out their minds for the sake of the state, not fearing death and perishment. So Zhou Chang compared Han Gaozu with Jie and Zhou. Liu Fu compared the Empress Chao with a maid-servant. Loyal and upright by nature, they went ahead and did not shrink in the face of drawn swords and boiling water; they did so because they loved the empire on behalf of the Sovereigns of their time.
Since the Jian'an period (196-220 AD), the people have been killed on the battlefields, sometimes not a soul being left in a family; if there are any survivors, they are orphans, the aged, and children. If your palaces at present are too small and need extension, it should still be done gradually, and not interfere with the time needed for tilling the land.
Going still further, you have made useless things: the yellow dragon, phoenix, the Jiulong[-dian], the dew-basin, the artificial hill and ponds; all of these are things that sage and enlightened Sovereigns would not do. Besides, they demand three times more work than your palaces. The Three Ducal Ministers and nine Ministers of State, the Shizhong and Shangshu, are the most respected of the Empire. Yet knowing well that what you do is wrong, they dare not to utter a word against you, because you are still young and they are afraid of incurring your vehement wrath. Now, Your Majesty shows honor to your numerous officials: you make them distinguished with headgear, clothe them in embroidered garments, carry them in beautiful carriages. They are different from the common people; yet you make them dig holes and lift earth; their faces are dirty and dusky, their bodies are sullied and their feet covered with filth, their headgear and garments are in tatters. By this the respectability of the state is damaged—all from prizing the useless. This is indeed very wrong.
“Confucius said, 'A prince should employ his ministers according to the rules of propriety; ministers should serve their prince with faithfulness.' Without faithfulness and without rules of propriety, how can a state stand on its feet?
When princes do not act as princes, nor ministers as ministers, and there is no exchange of thoughts between high and low, and minds are dissatisfied, the result is that the principles of yin and yang do not harmonize, calamities occur frequently, and the wicked rabble take the opportunity to rise up. Who is there who will speak out these words on behalf of Your Majesty? Or who will dare to incur the wrath of the august personage, toying with death?
I am well aware that once my words are out, death will be my certain lot, yet I compare my own person to a single hair of an ox. If living, I serve no purpose, then what loss can there be in my death? With the writing-brush in the hand, I weep and take leave of this world. I have eight sons, who will have to be taken care of by Your Majesty after my death. Having washed and purified myself, I submit this memorial, waiting your command.”
When the memorial was brought in, the Emperor said, “Is Dong Xun not afraid of death? The official in charge memorialized to have him arrested, but the Emperor's orders were to leave him alone.
23. Gaotang Long sent up a memorial saying, “Of old, King Jing of Zhou did not emulate the bright virtue of Kings Wen and Wu and neglected the sage institutions of the Duke of Zhou. Having minted the Big Coins, he went on to cast large bells. Duke Mu of Shan remonstrated with him, but he would not listen to him; the Musician Zhou Jiu advised him, but he did not follow him. He persisted in error, never mending himself, and thus the influence of the Zhou declined. The good historians recorded this as a warning for all time.
Nowadays, mean men are fond of speaking of the extravagance and luxury of the Qin and Han, thereby tempting your sage mind. To make vessels that can bring the state to ruin will waste labor and expenditure, only causing damage to virtuous rule; this is not the way for effecting harmony of rites and music or securing the blessings of the divinities.”
The Emperor did not listen to him.
24. Gaotaing Long again sent up a memorial saying, “The great virtue of Heaven and Earth is giving life; the great treasure of a sage is his position. How should the position be kept? By means of benevolence. How are people to be collected together? By means of wealth. This being so, the people are the foundation of the state. Grain and silk are the life of the people. Grain and silk cannot grow without assistance from the supernatural, nor can they be produced without human effort. Therefore, an Emperor tills the land in person to encourage agriculture, and an Empress attends to the mulberry leaves to make clothes. In this way is the August Creator (Shangdi) brilliantly served and blessing is reverently sought.
Of old, during the era of Tang (Yao), when fate had calamities fall on the Earth, the inundating waters seemed to assail the heaven. Kun was commisioned to control them, but the work was unaccomplished. So Wenming (Kun's son Yu) was given the charge. Following the course of the hills, he hewed down the woods. From beginning to end, it took twenty two years. Never was calamity heavier than this, nor was any work ever of such a long duration. Yet Yao and Shun, Sovereign and Subject, did nothing but take their seat facing south. When Yu divided the land into nine provinces, all the officials were given employment, each with distinction of rank. The superior and inferior ones were distinguished by five habiliments and five decorations.
At present, the need is not as great as at that time, yet the Ducal Ministers and other ministers of state do manual labor in the company of servants. When this is reported to the barbarians of the four quarters, it will not be a credit; when it is recorded for posterity to history, it will not be good fame.
Therefore, one who rules over a state takes his lesson from his own body and derives his model from the external world; thus he sends forth warmth and gives nourishment. Hence it is said, 'How much more should the happy and courteous sovereign be the parents of the people.'
At present, high and low are toiling, diseases and famine are working their ravages. Those who till the land are few, and there has been continuous famine. The people cannot live through the year. You must take pity and relieve their plight to rescue them from their distress.
As far as I can observe from what is written in ancient books, there has never been a case where the mutual action of Heaven and man has failed. So wise Kings of antiquity stood in fear of the bright commandment of high Heaven, and complied with the course, normal or abnormal, of the yin and the yang. Prudent and cautious, they always feared to go counter to it, the result being that their rule continued and their lineage was prolonged. But coming to later days, stupid Sovereigns and licentious Kings did not prize the precedents of their former Kings, nor accept honest remonstrances; they carried out their desires and neglected with seeming impunity the warnings given them by unusual physical phenomena. They all courted disaster and risked dangers, and went so far they were overthrown. So unmistakable is the way of Heaven.
Permit me next to continue my discourse with the Way of man. The six emotions and five sentiments are shared by all men; desires and righteousness are part of them. When one is about to act, they contend for supremacy in the mind. If desires are stronger than one's character, one will be reckless beyond control; if one is not directed by sincere sentiment, one will be wanton without bounds. What our mind desires is what it deems good or beautiful. But the good and the beautiful cannot be realized without human effort, which cannot subsist without grain and silk. If the Sovereign's desires are boundless, men will not be able to bear the toil, and there will not be enough things to satisfy his demands. With toil and demand interacting, troubles will naturally occur. In other words, without lessening one's desires, there will be no inducing of satisfaction.
Confucius said, 'If a man take no thought about what is distant, he will find sorrow near at hand.' From this point of view, the institutions of Rites are by no means arbitrary distinctions; they are meant to keep harm away and bring about good rule.
Now, Wu and Shu are not mere barbarian hordes on the northern desert, nor are they mere bandits. They have taken their position on defiles and navigate streams; they possess soldiers in large numbers; their rulers have proclaimed themselves Emperors and would vie for hegemony with our China Proper. If some one were to come and report that both Sun Quan and Liu Chan are ruling virtuously, tread the path of simplicity and frugality, have reduced taxation, do not devote their minds to things they like, always ask the aged and worthy for advice, and follow earnestly what the Rites dictate—would not your Majesty, hearing of it, be distressed. Would you not be vexed that, because of this, they could not be easily subdued and exterminated, but remain a source of anxiety for the state?
If, however the informer were to tell you, 'These two rebels both practice wickedness, they indulge in luxury without limit, making their soldiers and people toil and increasing collections and taxation, so that the people below cannot bear it and groaning is increasing day by day'--hearing of this, would your Majesty not burst out in anger that they harass your innocent people, and resolve to punish them speedily? And then, would you not take advantage of their exhaustion and easily take them?
Furthermore, the First Emperor did not lay a foundation for virtue, but built the O-pang palace; he did not worry over the trouble within the screen of his own court, but constructed the Great Wall. When the Sovereign and his ministers planned these projects, they were bent on setting up a work for the coming myriad generations, so that his descendants might enjoy dominion over the Empire permanently. Could they have expected that one day a single man could emit a loud cry and overthrow the dynasty? Therefore I am of the opinion that the Sovereigns of the past, had they known that what they were doing would be certain to end in fall, would not have done it.
A Sovereign that brings his dynasty to its fall believes in his time that he is not going to fall, but still he eventually goes to his fall. A worthy and sage-like Sovereign considers that he might fall, and so eventually is spared from fall.
Of old, Han Wendi, who is known as a worthy Sovereign, personally practiced frugality, benefited and nourished his subjects. Yet Jia Yi compared the Empire with a man hanged by his feet, saying that there was one matter about which he could wail bitterly, two about which he could shed tears, and three about which he could heave a heavy sigh.
At present, the Empire is worn out. The people have not a picul of grain, and the state has not stored one year's revenues; outside there are powerful enemies, so that the Six Armies are exposed along the frontiers, and internally you have undertaken construction works, with the result that the provinces and prefectures are in an uproar. If there is an invasion, I am afraid those who are now engaged in construction work will not be able to pour out their lives to reach the court of the enemy.
Furthermore, the salaries of the generals and their subordinate officials have been more or less reduced, amounting to only one-fifth compared with former times. Those granted leave of absence are not given stipdends, and those formerly exempted from paying taxes have to pay half sum now. Thus the government revenues are more than doubled, while expenditures are less than one third of those in earlier times. Yet the government's finances are always deficient; even beef is always being issued as payment. If we probe into the matter, all the extra expenditures can be found (i.e. in the building of palaces).
Now, salaries and gifts, distributed in the form of grain and silk, are means for the Sovereign to show kindness to the people and to nourish them, means of keeping them alive. By dispensing with them at present, you are depriving of their lives. And, to lose things which one has already obtained—this is the fountainhead of complaint.
According to the Zhouli, the Ministry of Heaven took charge of the Nine Kinds of Revenues to supply the expenditures of the Nine Measures. There were definite revenues and also definite expenditures, these two items never infringing on each other, so that the disbursements were sufficient. When disbursements were sufficient, the remainder of the tribute was allotted for the personal use of the King. Furthermore, when superior personages laid out expenditures the matter had to be examined by the accountant-general.
At present, those who sit with you in the court to rule over the Empire are, first, the Three Ducal Ministers and Nine Ministers of State, and, then, your intimate officials of the government. They are all in your confidence and they ought to conceal nothing from you. If, observing your extravagance or economy, they dare not speak to you, but obey you blindly and run hither and thither at your behest, always fearing that they might not please you, they are your ministers in name only, not assistants with backbone.
Of old, Li Su instructed the Second Qin Emperor, 'A Sovereign who does not indulge his wildest desires is to be called one fettered and shackled by his Empire.' The Second Emperor adopted this advice, with the result that the Qin Empire was overthrown and Li Su as well as his entire family exterminated. Therefore the historiographer Sima Qian criticized him for not having given a correct admonition and not having warned him for the sake of the world.”
Having read the memorial, the emperor said to the Zhongshu Jianling, “This memorial of Gaotang Long makes me afraid.”
25. The Shangshu Wei Ji sent up a memorial saying: “The changing of one's sentiments and polishing up of one's character cannot be done forcibly. It is not easy for a subject to speak of it to his Sovereign, and it is difficult as well for the Sovereign to accept it. Furthermore, what human beings are fond of is riches and honors; what they dislike is poverty and death. But these four things are in the hands of the Sovereign; if he likes an individual, that individual will have riches and honors. If he dislikes him, there will be poverty and death. Those who comply with his desires are liked, those who contradict him are disliked. It is for this reason that subjects all vie to be compliant and avoid contradicting him. Except a man who would let his family be ruined for the sake of perfecting his Sovereign, will any one incur his wrath and touch upon sore spots in order to propose one idea or discuss one view? If your Majesty remains at watchful attention, the true sentiments of your subjects will be made manifest.
At present, many of those who would advise are inclined to please your ear. Speaking of your rule, they compare Your Majesty with Yao and Shun; speaking of your campaigns, they compare the two rebels with badgers and mice. But I hold a different view.
Of old, in the time of Han Wendi, the feudal lords were powerful; Jia Yi sighed repeatedly and said the situation was most precarious. It is more so now.
The land within the four seas is divided into three. Numerous worthy men are exerting their utmost for their masters. Those who come to surrender to us are not willing to say that they have renounced a wicked path to join the right one, but that they are compelled by urgent circumstances. In other words, the situation is not different from the separate dominions of the Six States. At present, along the stretch of a thousand li, the land is uninhabited, and the neglected people are in distress. If Your Majesty does not pay attention to this, the country will be so exhausted it will be hard to revive it.
“According to the Rites, the vessels used by the Son of Heaven were always decorated with gold and jade, and for food he had the Eight Delicacies laid before him; but in times of bad harvest, he would decrease the number of dishes and put on simpler garments. This shows that lavish or frugal standards depended on the abundancy or scarcity of the time.
At the time of Wu Huangdi (Cao Cao), the ladies of the palace lived on one kind of meat dish, their dresses were not brocaded or embroidered, their sitting mats were devoid of frills, and their vessels were neither painted red nor lacquered. It follows that he was able to conquer the Empire and leave it as a legacy to his descendants. All these were things Your Majest saw in person. As for present duty, Sovereign and subjects, high and low, should use the calculating sticks and check the treasury and storehouses so that expenditures will match revenues, and think deeply on the method by which Goujian caused his people to multiply. Even so, it is to be feared lest this be inadequate. Yet the amount of golden and silver wares manufactured in the Shangfang (Palace Workshop) increases more and more. Work and corvee never cease; luxury is increasingly prized day by day; and the palace treasury reserve is daily diminishing.
Of old, Han Wudi believed in the way of immortality, saying he had to get some dew drops from above the clouds so that he might eat pulverized jade; and so he set up an Immortal's Palm to receive dew drops that might fall from on high. Your Majesty, enlightened and broad, always ridiculed him. Now the Emperor Wudi sought his object, dew drops, yet he is ridiculed. Your Majesty, however, does not even search for dew drops, yet you set up the dew basin idly. It serves no purpose, for you have no object, but only wastes work. All these are things it would be well for you to think over and dispense with.”
26. At that time there was an edict that daughters and soldiers already married to officials or common civilians were to be taken and mated with soldiers. It was permissible to ransom them by substitutes. Furthermore, selection was to be made of those with pretty faces and hair for the Imperial harem. The Taizi Sheren, Zhang Mao, of the State of Pei, sent up a letter in protest, saying:
“In prostration, I observe in the edict that all the daughters of soldiers married to non-soldiers are to be taken and mated to soldiers. This indeed is an appropriate measure to meet the exigency of the time, but it is not a good one for right government. Allow me to discuss the matter.
Your Majesty is a Son of Heaven; the officials and people on the other hand are your sons. According to the Rites, gifts to the superior and inferior are distributed on the same day; it is because there is a distinction between high and low. Officials are high personages and soldiers are inferior ones. Now, you would take from one to give to the other; this is no different from robbing an elder brother of his wife to marry her to the younger brother, which is partiality on the part of the parents in showing their affection.
Then again, the edict says that it is allowable to bring in substitutes, who ought to be of the same age and beauty as the wives in question. Hence, the rich come to bankruptcy and the poor contract loans, buying substitutes at high prices to ransom their own wives. Under the pretext of finding mates for the soldiers, district officials deliver the women to the Imperial harem, distributing only the ugly ones among the soldiers. Those who get wives will not necessarily be happy, those who lose their wives will be certain to be dejected; on one hand, they are distressed, on the other they are worried—either way they will not be contented.
Now any Sovereign who rules over the Empire and yet cannot win the heart of the people, is seldom secure from danger. Furthermore, our armies are on the frontiers, hundreds of thousands of men; the daily expenditures do not stop at a thousand units of gold. All the revenues of the whole Empire are not sufficient to supply this war. Yet in the palace there are supernumerary girls, and gifts to the families of your consorts and the Empress are without measure. Both within and without there are expenditures, the total sum of which amounts to half of that of the armies.
Of old, Han Wudi, taking to the way of the immortals and believing in magicians, dug out a lake and raised an artificial hill. Thanks to the fact that the Empire at that time was unified, there was no one who dared to stand against him. It has already been forty or fifty years since decline set in. Horses are never relieved of their saddled and soldiers never divest themselves of armor. After each battle, blood flows on the gore-stained fields; the sounds of wailing have not ceased.
Powerful hordes are at our borders, plotting danger for the House of Wei. Your Majesty is not wary or fearful, does not prize frugality, does not think of putting the empire at ease, but is bent on luxury and extravagance. The Zhong Shangfang (Central Palace Workshop) is manufacturing exclusively objects of fancy to dazzle the eye; in the rear garden a basin to receive dew drops is erected. These indeed please the ear and the eye, but are enough to make our enemies exult.
Alas, to give up the frugality of Yao and Shun and to emulate Han Wudi in extravagance! I presume not to compliment Your Majesty for it.
I would wish Your Majesty to issue a gracious edict, eliminating one and all the things that have no benefit and are harmful, and using the expenditures saved from the things thus eliminated to make gifts to soldiers whose parents, wives and children are suffering from hunger and cold. You ought to inquire about the people's ailments and do away with the things they resent; replenish granaries, repair arms and weapons, and rule the Empire with reverence and sincerity. If you act thus, the Wu rebel will submit himself to be bound and the Shu barbarian will plead to be put to death; before you undertake a punitive campaign against them, they will submit of themselves. The path to peace can be anticipated, with a definite time. Your Majesty, then, need not belabor your will on the other side of the sea; your armies will enjoy peaceful sleep, and your troops will be without care.
At present, the various Ducal Ministers are tongue-tied. But I dare not abstain from offering you my blind advice; because some time ago, when I sent up my admonition and the San-Ji transmitted my letter with my Ting Jian Pian (Discourse on Listening to Admonitions), Your Majesty said, 'Excellent' and promoted me to be Taizi Sheren. In that letter I censured ministers who are unable to admonish their Sovereign. If now, when there is something about which I ought to admonish you, I should abstain from doing so, then my former letter would turn out to be false and I myself be one who cannot speak.
I am now fifty years old; always fearful that I may not be able to requite the state to the very end of my life. I ignore the safety of my own person and boldly make myself heard. I beg Your Majesty to take notice.”
The Emperor did not listen to him.
27. Seriously ill, Gaotang Long dictated and sent up a memorial saying: “The philosopher Zeng being ill, Meng Jing went to ask how he was. Zeng said to him, 'When a bird is about to die, its notes are mournful. When a man is about to die, his words are good.'
I am chronically ill, my disease increases without ever diminishing. I am always afraid I may die all too suddenly, without demonstrating my loyal sentiments. My sincerity is not less than the philosopher Zeng's. I hope Your Majesty will pay a little attention to it.
You ought to amend your past faults entirely, opening the way for future posterity with one stroke, so that spirits and men will respond to you, foreign people come to submit to you, the four auspicious animals bring their felicitous signs, and the celestial bodies shine brilliantly. Thus you may become a match for the Three Kings and supersede the five Emperors; this is not merely becoming a successor to the throne and following existing institutions.
I am always vexed that Sovereigns, though they all think of continuing the rule of Yao, Shun, Tang and King Wu of Zhou, nevertheless follow in the wake of Jie, Zhou and Kings Yu and Li {the notorious despots of antiquity}—that though they all laugh at the misguided and licentious Sovereigns of declining days who brought their dynasties to ruin, they nevertheless do not rise to the model of Yu, Xia, Yin and Zhou. {the sages of antiquity}
Alas! Acting as you do, in pursuit of what you would bring about, is like climbing a tree in search of fish, like boiling water to make ice—it is clear that you will not attain your object!
I have observed of the Empire during the time of the Three Dynasties that sages and worthy men succeeded one another for a period of several hundred years. There was not a foot of land that did not belong to them, not one man who was not their subject.
The myriad states all enjoyed repose and the nine provinces of China were well ordered. They had no use for the gold of Lu-Tai and the grain of Ju-qiao and as ever they sat facing south. What accounts for all this?
But Gui, Jie, Xin and Zhou indulged their desires; august Heaven was wrathful and their states went to ruin. Zhou's severed head was hung on the white banner and Jie was banished to Mingtiao. Tang and Wu were both Emperors. Are rulers different from men? Every Emperor is a descendent of illustrious kings.
Furthermore in the time of the Six States, the land was prosperous. The Qin united it, but did not cultivate the virtue of the sages. Instead, they built the palace of O-pang and constructed the Great Wall. They ruled over China and their sway extended to the hundred barbarian tribes; the whole world was trembling and fearful, people walked in the street with watchful eyes. They thought that their House was on a strong foundation, that their glory and magnificence would last forever. How could they anticipate that their dynasty would crumble down in two generations!
In recent times, Han Xiaowu, succeeding to the prosperity of Wendi and Jingdi, subdued the barbarians without and raised palaces within. For more than ten years the Emprie was in tumult. But he believed the shaman from Yue; he murmured against Heaven and showed anger toward it. He built the palace of Jianchang, with its thousand gates and ten thousand doors. In the end he brought about Jiang Chong's case of black magic; the result was that there was estrangement within the palace, father and son destroying each other. This disaster continued for several generations.
I observed that during the Huangchu period (220-226 AD), Heaven manifested warning signs. A strange bird settled in a swallow's nest, talons on its beak and its breast red. This was an important omen for the House of Wei. You must be wary of the falcon-like minister within the screen of your own Court. You ought to select the various feudal princes, and make them rulers over their states and commanders of troops; they should be stationed here and there like chessmen, to protect the Imperial domain and guard the Imperial house.
Formerly, when the Zhou moved to the East, Jin and Zheng served for them to rely on; during the troubles of the Lu in Han times, the lord of Zhuxu served as a prop. These are clear examples from former dynasties.
Now Great Heaven has no affections—it helps only the virtuous. If the people sing your virtuous rule, then the dynasty will be prolonged; but if those below have complaint, then Heaven will recall the mandate and entrust it to an abler hand. From this point of view the Empire is the empire of the people of the empire, not your Majesty's alone.
I am attacked by the hundred ailments and my strength is lessening. I shall be carried in a carriage to my village home. Should I fail to regain my health, I shall replay your kindness, assuming that the spirits of the dead retain consciousness.”
The Emperor thanked him in an edict written in his own hand. He [Gaotang Long] died soon afterward.
28. Chen Shou in his Commentary says: “As for Gaotang Long, his learning was bright, his aims were directed towards rectifying his Sovereign; taking the opportunity of calamity he set forth his warning, which he expressed from his sincere and honest heart. Loyal indeed was he! But he went so far as to insist that the calendar be changed and that Yu (Emperor Shun) be made the ancestor of the Wei. May we not say that his good intentions carried him beyond his own convictions?”
29. The Emperor deeply disliked men of superficial elegance. He said to the Libu Shangshu Lu Yu, “In selecting officials, do not employ those who are famous. For fame is like a mud-pie. It cannot be eaten.”
Lu Yu replied, “Fame is not a sufficient standard for obtaining extarodinary men, but suffices for getting the ordinary officer. The usual gentleman becomes famous only after holding the teachings in awe and craving goodness, and should not be despised. This stupid servant is not competent to recognize extraordinary men. It devolves then on the official in charge to take fame as his standard and follow the routine, only he must check the result. Hence the ancient saying, 'They will set forth, and you will receive, their reports; you will make proof of them severally by their merits.'
At present, the regulations for examining officials are in disuse and officials are appointed or dismissed in accordance with praise and blame. Hence, truth and falsity are intermingled, emptiness and reality are confused.”
The Emperor accepted his advice.
30. The Emperor commanded the Sanji Changshi Liu Shao to draft the regulations for examining officials. Liu Shao wrote Regulations for Examining Officials by the Du-guan in seventy-two items, and further wrote his Explanations in one section. The Emperor had them sent down to the hundred officials for discussion.
The Sili Jiaoyu Cui Lin said, “In the Zhou Guan (or Zhou Li) the institution of examining officials is given in detail. But beginning with King Kang, it became neglected. This proves that the regulations for examining officials depends on men. Can the defects of these regulations at the end of the Han dynasty lie in the fact that the officials in charge were not strict in their duties? At present, military expeditions are made continually and without notice. If this item is also entered among the laws and proclaimed throughout the Empire, it will have to be now augmented, now relaxed, without constancy. Uniformity will be difficult. Furthermore, it would be like raising the supporting ropes of a net when the ten thousand openings of the mesh are not yet strung, or shaking a fur coat by the lapel before the mass of hairs is set in order. When Gao Yao served Yu and Yi Yin served under the Yin, all who were devoid of virtue disappeared.
“The Five Emperors and Three Kings were not necessarily of the same mould, yet they all brought order out of chaos. The Yi says: “With the attainment of such ease and such freedom from laborious effort, the mastery is got of all principles under the sky.' Our Taizu (Cao Cao) set up laws in accord with the specific needs of his time and left them to us of today. He did not worry about not following ancient models. He thought that what he had to do, assuming the present system to be not too lax and loose, was to stick to one principle and not deviate from it.
If only our ministers are competent to do their duty and 'be a pattern to all the princes,' who is there who will dare not be serious? What need is there for us to examine officials?”
31. The Huangmen Shilang Du Shu said: “The Shu says, 'You will make proof of them severeally by their merits' and 'after three examinations the undeserving were degraded, and the deserving promoted.' This certainly is a grand institution for Emperors and Kings. To let the able be invested with their office and the deserving receive their emoluments is like Wu Huo's lifting a thousand jun and Liang Luo's picking out the feet of the splendid steed.
But, having passed through the six dynasties, the regulations on examining officials and merits are not manifest; having gone through the hands of seven sages, the records for examining them have not been transmitted. My explanation is that this is because those regulations can be followed in rough outline but their details can hardly be adopted.
The saying has it: 'It is only man who brings order, no law can bring order.' If laws could ever be relied one exclusively, Tang (Empero Yao) and Yu (Emperor Shun) need not have had Ji and Qi as their assistants, Yin and Zhou would not have prized the help of Yi Yin and Lu Shang. At present, those who memorialize for the examination set forth the laws of Zhhou and Han and bring the ideas of Jing Fang to culmination. They indeed can be said to have grasped the fundamentals of examination. But as means for heightening customs of mutual politeness and introducing august rule, they are not, in my opinion, all too perfect.
If we wish to let the provincial officials examine candidates, the four classifications must be followed. After they have proved their worth in deeds, they should be accepted and then employed on trial in government offices as lower officials close to the people. Those who in accordance with their merits are eventually promoted to be the chief officials of prefectures would have their ranks raised and receive enfeoffment. This is the most urgent matter that these men should be made relative to examining officials.
I am of the opinion that these men should be made personally prominent and their words be accepted, so that the laws on examining provincial officials may become complete. When these laws are completely implemented, rewards and punishments should be meted out punctually and without fail.
“As for the Ducal Ministers and other Ministers of State, as well as high officials of the Court, they also should be examined in their different duties. The Three Ducal Ministers of antiquity discussed the Way in their seats; the high officials of the court proffered advice and filled in deficiencies. There was no good deed that they did not record, no fault that they did not point out. The Empire being a big thing and state affairs multifarious, the light of a single intelligence cannot shine everywhere. Therefore the Sovereign serves as the head and his ministers as legs and arms; this indicates clearly that they form a single body and are complete when they are together. Therefore the ancients said that the timber for the ancestral temple is not from the branch of a single tree, nor is the work of an Emperor or King done through a single man's counsel. Seen from this point of view, can any minister induce a happy rule merely by attending to his duty and taking charge of official examinations?
“Further, even friendship between two common people stress trustworthiness. Once an oath is taken, they would tread fire and water; moved by friendship that understands and appreciates, they expose their innermost hearts. For the sake of name and fame, they abide by their principles. How much more so, then, when it concerns those who wear girdles and stand in the Court, whose ranks are those of the Ministers of State. Is what they stress merely the trust of a common man? Is what moves them merely friendship that understands and appreciates? Is it a mere matter of name and fame? Those who receive emoluments and are entrusted with important duties do not limit their ambition to lifting their enlightened Sovereign above Tang and Yu; they also wish to place themselves by the side of Ji and Qi. Therefore, the ancients did not worry if their minds were not completely applied to inducing good rule, but they took it to heart if they were insufficiently conscious of their own importance. It is indeed the Sovereign who made them so. The Sovereigns of Tang and Yu gave their trust to Ji, Qi, Gui and Long and urged them to accomplish their work; when crimes were committed, they held Kun a prisoner until death and banished the four criminals.
Now, Ministers of State serve your enlightened commands in person, and work under your very eyes. Those who apply their minds for the State day and night, who have distinguished themselves through reverence and assiduity, who as officials do not bend before position and power, who abide by equity and do not flatter their intimates, who abide at court with upright words and deeds—these, being a perspicacious Sovereign, you can yourself observe. As for those who think themselves superior by receiving their undeserved emoluments, or consider themselves wise by keeping silent, who as officials do not aim higher than evading reproof; who never forget the preservation of their persons while standing at court; who stay at court by unexceptional action and cautious words—being a perspicacious Sovereign, you can yourself notice these too.
Suppose one serves honestly and assiduously, preserving his person and protecting his position, without any crime that might get him dismissed or banished, yet finds himself in a suspicious position. While impartial judgment on him has not yet been made, private criticism is circulating. Even if Confucius were to examine him, he would not be able to probe completely this single man of ability. How much less, then, will a common man be able to do so.
Scholars nowadays derive their teaching from Shang Yang and Han Fei, and advise you with the Legalist teachings. They vie with each other in considering the Confucian school impractical and useless for the world. This is a fad of the gravest evil, and something which the founder of a dynasty must beware.”
32. The Sigong Yuan Fu Jia of Bodi said, “I observe with regard to Liu Shao's treatise on examining the merits of officials that he intends, indeed, to restore the texts from past dynasties about promoting and dismissing. But those regulations are gone for good. What remains in outline are the Zhou institutions by which, externally, feudal lords were enfeoffed to serve as protection for the nine domains, and internally, various officials were appointed to administer duties of six functions. Each state had a definite tribute and each office had a definite standard. The hundred offices were charged with uniform functions and the four classes of the people were engaged in different occupations. Therefore it was possible to arrange the examination of officials of promotion and dismissal.
Our Great Wei continues the lineage of a hundred Kings. It is successor to the violent rule of Qin and Han, but all the defective aspects of their institutions have not been adopted. Since the Jian'an and down to the Qinglong period, the divine prowess of our Emperors has brought order to chaos and laid a foundation for the Imperial line. The wicked are wiped out and the remnants of the rebels are being mowed down; battle flags are furled and unfurled ay after day. In administration of state afffairs as well as in carrying out military campaigns, both makeshift and regular laws are used. The hundred officials and the horde of functionaries are employed in the army and in the state without distinction. Appropriate measures are taken in accordance with the needs of the time.
Therefore if we apply ancient usages to the present time, things will be confused and purports will be found to be different. It is difficult to execute the scheme. The reason is that in making laws we must be farsighted. If they are not appropriate to the laws at hand or competent to cope with the business of the time, they cannot be handed down to the future.
Now, instituting offices and dividing functions, so that the life of the people will be ordered and regulated, is a primary necessity. Checking names with reality, to rectify extant statutes, is secondary matter. If we attend to the unimportant before the important is fixed, to hastening the examination of officials before the general policy of the state is made manifest, I am afraid that (the proposed measure) will not be adequate to distinguish between the able and the stupid, or to clarify the difference between the deserving and the undeserving.
When the ancient Kings selected men of talent, they made a point of taking their conduct in their own home districts as standard, and seeing to their virtue in the schools. With deeds complete, one was called worthy; with virtue cultivated, one was called able. The villages' elders offered the worthy and able to the King, who received them respectfully, appointing the worthy to serve as provincial officials and the able as court officials. Such was the ancient Kings' principle of recruiting the talented. At present, the people of the nine provinces are not recommended along with those of the metropolis for the positions of the Six Ministers; the duty of selecting the talented devolves exclusively on the Libu. If candidates are examined with regard to their external appearance, the really talented may not necessarily be picked out. If only those who have slight merits are given employment, those with virtuous conduct will not find a chance. In this matter, the examination will not exhaust men of talent. As for epitomizing the great principle of the King and discoursing on the norm of the state, the scope is too broad and the meaning is too deep to do so in detail.”
The matter was debated for a long time without any decision; in the end the proposal was not adopted.
33. {33. contains a long commentary by Sima Guang. For brevity and for the sake of my sleep, I am going to leave this out for now and maybe insert it later}
34. Some time before this, the Youbuyi Wei Zhen was in charge of selecting officials. The Zhonghu Jun Jiang Ji sent a letter to Wei Zhen saying, “The Sovereign of Han [Gaozu] treated a fugitive [Han Xin] as his First General (shangjiang), and King Wu of Zhou promoted a fisherman [Lü Wang also known as Lü Shang] as his Grand Preceptor (taishi)--a mere commoner and servant can climb to the position of a prince or a Duke. What need to follow the letter of the law and give employment only after examination?”
Wei Zhen said, “Not so. You think to identify Mu-ye with the reigns of Kings Cheng and Kang and compare the cutting down of the serpent with the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing; you are inclined to unorthodox appointments, and would open up a flood of eccentric elections. You are going to make the Empire rise up in tumult and chaos!”
35. When Lu Yu discussed men and selected them for appointment, he always put their character and conduct in the foreground and only afterwards spoke of their talent. The Huangmen Lang Li Feng of Feng Yi once questioned Lu Yu about this. Lu Yu said, 'Talent is for doing good; hence a great talent accomplishes a great good, a small talent a small good. If a man is known for his talent and yet cannot do good, then his talent is a useless thing.' Li Feng submitted to his words.
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I've noticed that oftentimes, a new part will begin with "On the day of Dingmao" and stuff like that. Is this dating related to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches or am I confusing those with something else?
Also I've probably done a poor job converting from Wade-Giles to Pinyin at times, so please feel free to correct me on these and other errors.