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卷三六 補列傳第二八 邢卲

Volume 36 Biographies 28: Xing Shao

Chapter 36 of 北齊書 · Book of Northern Qi
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Chapter 36
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1
祿 便 便 宿 西
Biography of Xing Shao. Xing Shao, styled Zicai, was from Mo in Hejian commandery; he descended from Grand Master of Ceremonies Zhen of Wei. His father Xing Qiu had served Wei as director of the imperial household. Shao's childhood name was Ji; while young he observed a naming taboo and did not use his formal name. At five, Cui Liang of Qinghe, a lang in the Wei ministry of personnel, saw him and marveled, saying, "This child will one day achieve great things; office and fame will spread far and wide." By ten he could write compositions; gifted and inventive, sharp-witted and retentive, he recited more than ten thousand words each day. His kinsman Luan, skilled at judging men, told the younger generation, "Our house has produced this boy—he is no ordinary person." While young in Luoyang, the empire was quiet; with celebrated contemporaries he gave himself only to landscape outings and banquets, leaving no time for steady application. Once, during long rains, he took up the History of Han and within five days could recall most of it. Later, tired of drink and banter, he turned widely to the classics and histories; reading five lines at a glance, he retained each passage at once. His writing was elegant and polished, copious yet quick. Before twenty his reputation had shaken the official class. Once he stayed overnight drinking at Prince Xin of Beihai's residence with Pingyang Gu of Youbei, Pei Bomo of Hedong, his paternal cousin Fei, and Lu Daohui of Henan; they composed several dozen poems together, all left with the host's servant. At dawn the servant went abroad; the others could not find their poems, but Shao recited them all. Some did not recognize their own work; when the servant brought back the originals, not one character differed. The company then compared him to Wang Can. Li Shenjun of Longxi, minister of personnel, held him in high regard and took him as a friend despite the age gap.
2
便 使
Leaving mourning, he served as a Wei mourning officer for Emperor Xuanwu, was made gentleman attendant at court, and rose to assistant in the bureau of weights and measures. The commander of the guards Yuan Cha treated him with great respect; when Cha had just become director of the masters of writing, Shenjun and Yuan Fan of Chen were present, and Cha had Shao write a letter of thanks—it was finished at once and shown round. Shenjun said, "This table from Xing Shao alone would make Master Yuan flush." At the opening of Xiaochang he and yellow gate attendant Li Yanzhi jointly directed court ceremonial. After Emperor Xiaoming of Wei, literary culture flourished; Shao's ornamental prose stood alone—each new piece made paper dear in the capital, and within moments it was read and recited across the realm. Yuan Fan and Zu Ying of Fanyang were then eminent in office and fame, their writing praised by seniors; Shao's lush brilliance they jointly resented. Whenever a Luoyang grandee assumed a new post, he usually had Shao draft the letter of thanks. Once a powerful man had just received appointment and held a great banquet; Fan and Shao were both present. Fan assumed the host meant him to write the declination and ordered Shao to do it instead. Fan was deeply displeased and often said, "That Xing boy ought to write his own memorials as a guest—buy his own yellow paper, draft it, and submit it himself." Shao feared Fan would injure him and pleaded illness. When director of the masters of writing Yuan Luo took command of Qing province, he had Shao appointed headquarters staff secretary. He stayed in the east, feasting and savoring all day, draining every delight of hill and stream.
3
At the beginning of Yong'an he rose repeatedly to secretariat attendant; his edicts and pronouncements were magnificent in diction. When Erzhu Rong entered Luoyang and the capital fell into chaos, Shao and Yang Yin of Hongnong fled to Mount Song. In Putai he was made concurrent attendant of the yellow gate in the secretariat, then regular attendant of the scattered cavalry. At the beginning of Taichang he was ordered to keep constant watch in the inner court, supplied with imperial food, and told to review business of the masters of writing and secretariat; major appointments were first referred to him for approval. He was made general of the guards and grand master of the imperial academy. When his parents grew old he went home; the throne ordered his district to assign him five guards and to let him attend court once a year for consultation. Mourning his mother, he grieved beyond what the rites prescribed.
4
Later Yang Yin, Wei Shou, and Shao petitioned to establish schools and rebuild the Bright Hall, writing:
5
西 使
The Ancestral Chamber and Bright Hall shone forth under Zhou and Xia; a single academy and paired schools flourished from Yu and Yin. By them the realm sacrificed to the Lord on High and showed the greatest solemnity; they proclaimed to the four quarters and embodied Heaven's model of rule. They nourished gray hair to seek wisdom and reared blue collars to spread the teaching canon—thus realms endured and their fame lasted ten thousand generations. Then Qin fell, altered the Way, buried scholars and ended learning, and darkened the common folk. The nine domains shattered and the throne passed after only two generations. Han rose in flame and again restored Confucian learning. In the western capital stood the six schools; in the eastern capital the glory of three academies. From Wei and Jin onward, rebellion followed rebellion, yet amid war the schools never ceased. We look up to Emperor Xiaowen of Wei, the High Ancestor, who received the sage from Heaven and whose Way reflects all ages—he ordered schools in the hamlets and spread the Odes and Documents through every commandery. Yet the founding work pressed hard and the war chariot rode out again and again; he had no leisure to finish—bow and sword were left behind. Emperor Wuzong of Wei took up the former thread; in Yongping he launched great construction. Then flood and drought came, war-horses at the suburbs; though the mound was nearly made, one basket of earth remained undone. The root of rites and music, the Bright Hall, became a tangle of thorns; the school halls, foundation of virtue and duty, stood empty but for herd-boys' footprints; the ramparts, weight of defense, lacked brick and stone; the lofty terraces that display imperial majesty had scarcely tower or pavilion. Wind and rain wore at them until they crumbled. This is not to pursue a lofty hall nor to make ritual the model for ten thousand states. We hear the court argues that because the High Ancestor shaped the realm within the four seas and his Way matched King Wen of Zhou, he raised the Bright Hall to sacrifice to the Lord on High. If the foundations are not restored, it is but a mound in a field—even the High Emperor's spirit lacks its seat in the national altar; ancestral rite has sound without substance. Hence ministers cannot rest and the people wait in hope.
6
祿
We also hear that office grants ability to bear tasks, and tasks once borne are repaid with salary. Then above none blame vacant posts; below none mock salary without work. Today the imperial academy bears the name of a teaching office yet has no teaching—no different from dodder on wheat, or the Winnow Basket and Northern Dipper stars.
7
退 使
Liu Xiang once said a king should raise the Bright Academy and display rites and music to sway the realm. Rites and music nourish men; penal law kills them—yet officials press eagerly to fix penal law, while of rites and music they say they dare not. They dare kill but dare not nourish. We hold that with the four seas calm and the nine domains at peace, the state's first duty should be honored—delay again, and Liu Xiang's warning will come true. Yet two great works cannot rise together; there must be choice between advance and retreat. In our humble judgment, stop the directorate's ornamental works, cut Yongning's timber and earth, reduce Yaoguang's tile and timber, divide the labor of the stone grottoes, and every task not urgent to the age; in the three seasons' farming gaps, repair these several works. Then Bright Hall ritual will flourish again; chanting and recitation will blaze anew; fine towers and high walls will stand stern without, the academy and law courts bright within. Clarify past and present, restore district drinking, advance commandery schools, test classic learning—then Yuan and Kai may appear in the capital schools, You and Xia in the provinces; would that not be glorious!
8
Empress Dowager Ling ordered, "The great rite of matching sacrifice is the root of the state; war-horses at the suburbs left no leisure for repair. Now the four quarters are calm; let the proper offices separately plan the founding work."
9
He rose repeatedly to grand master of ceremonies and secretariat supervisor, acting grand master of the imperial academy. Most ministers then held one post; few bore two—Shao at once held three, each at the summit of literary office, and his contemporaries envied him. Gao Yang visited Jinyang; along the way sweet dew appeared again and again; court ministers all wrote Sweet Dew Eulogies, and the masters of writing had Shao compose the preface. When Emperor Wenxuan died, he was much consulted on funeral rites and ordered to draft the lamentation. Later he was granted special advance and died.
10
鹿 姿 便 宿 便 便
Shao was plain by nature, careful in private conduct, and among brothers and in-laws was praised for harmony. He read widely in the classics and histories without exception; in later years he especially pursued the Five Classics in chapter and comment, plumbing their core. On ritual, public or private, he was consulted; he cleared doubt and served as the age's guide. Whenever ministers debated precedent, Shao wrote at once, citations full and apt. Imperial edicts and court regulations he could settle in moments. His diction was vast and far-reaching, unmatched in his day. With Wen Zisheng of Jiyin he stood at the head of men of letters; contemporaries called them Wen and Xing. Wei Shou of Julu, though brilliant by nature, was junior to both; only after Zisheng died were Xing and Wei named together. Though heavy in repute and office, he did not condescend with talent or rank. He was informal and easy, cared nothing for pomp; carriage, dress, and gear sufficed and no more. While fasting he avoided the main rooms; sitting or lying, he kept to one small chamber. Fruit he sometimes stored on the rafters; when guests arrived he lowered it and shared it. His nature was plain; he was at ease with all sorts; worthy or dull, every gentleman met his courtesy; with guests he might open his robe to pick lice and still talk fiercely. He owned many books but seldom collated them. Seeing others collate books, he would laugh and say, "How foolish—no one can read every book under Heaven to the end; why collate these again? Besides, to ponder a mistaken book is its own pleasure." His wife's brother Li Jijie, a scholar, said to Zicai, "Most people are not clever—how can pondering mistaken books gain anything?" Zicai said, "If thought cannot obtain it, then there is no need to trouble over books at all." He was distant from his wife and never slept inside with her. He said he once entered the inner quarters by day and was barked at by a dog; saying this, he clapped his hands and laughed. He loved conversation and could not sit alone; when office ended and he was at leisure, he always wanted guests beside him. He cared for his widowed sister-in-law with scrupulous devotion and raised the orphan Shu with an affection that ran unusually deep. While stationed in Yan province, he heard from a capital courier that Shu had fallen ill and was seized with worry at once—he stopped eating and sleeping, and his face grew haggard. When Shu died, scholars and officials mourned with him. His grief ran deep, yet he would not weep again; when guests came to condole, he merely dabbed at his eyes. In lofty feeling and far-seeing insight, in lifting burdens that weigh on the heart, no one since Dongmen Wu had done the like. His collected writings ran to thirty scrolls and circulated widely. His son Xing Dabao had a gift for letters. His illegitimate sons Dade and Dadao could barely read.
11
The full text uses the Zhonghua Shuju first edition of the Book of Northern Qi (November 1972) as the base for collation.
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