1
昔武王伐紂，遷九鼎於雒邑，伯夷、叔齊薄之，餓于首陽，不食其祿，周猶稱盛德焉。 然孔子賢此二人，以為「不降其志，不辱其身」也。 而孟子亦云：「聞伯夷之風者，貪夫廉，懦夫有立志；」 「奮乎百世之上，行乎百世之下莫不興起，非賢人而能若是乎！」
Long ago, when King Wu overthrew the last king of Shang and had the nine bronze tripods carried to Luoyi, Boyi and Shuqi condemned the new order; they withdrew to Mount Shouyang and starved rather than live off Zhou grain—and still the Zhou could be praised for the moral grandeur it claimed. Confucius nevertheless ranked these two among the worthiest of men, for they had, he said, "refused to bend their resolve and refused to compromise their integrity." Mencius likewise observed that whoever feels the moral force of Boyi finds the grasping stirred toward honesty and the faint-hearted stirred toward steadfast purpose— "—men who stand as models a hundred generations above us and whose example still lifts every generation that follows; who but a true sage could do that?"
2
漢興有園公、綺里季、夏黃公、甪里先生，此四人者，當秦之世，避而入商雒深山，以待天下之定也。 自高祖聞而召之，不至。 其後呂后用留侯計，使皇太子卑辭束帛致禮，安車迎而致之。 四人既至，從太子見，高祖客而敬焉，太子得以為重，遂用自安。 語在留侯傳。
When the Han arose, four recluses were remembered—Lord Yuan of the garden, Qili Ji, Lord Xia of Huang, and Master Luli—who, while the Qin still ruled, had withdrawn into the Shangluo range and waited out the turmoil until peace returned. Emperor Gaozu sent for them once he heard their fame, but they never answered the call. Later Empress Lü, following Zhang Liang's stratagem, had the crown prince approach them with humble letters, rolls of silk, and full courtesy, and send a cushioned carriage to escort them to court. Once they came and attended the heir apparent at audience, Gaozu received them as honored guests; the heir's standing rose at a stroke, and he used their presence to steady his own position. The full account is given in the biography of Zhang Liang, Marquis of Liu.
3
其後谷口有鄭子真，蜀有嚴君平，皆修身自保，非其服弗服，非其食弗食。 成帝時，元舅大將軍王鳳以禮聘子真，子真遂不詘而終。 君平卜筮於成都巿，以為「卜筮者賤業，而可以惠眾人。 有邪惡非正之問，則依蓍龜為言利害。 與人子言依於孝，與人弟言依於順，與人臣言依於忠，各因勢導之以善，從吾言者，已過半矣。」 裁日閱數人，得百錢足自養，則閉肆下簾而授老子。 博覽亡不通，依老子、嚴周之指著書十餘萬言。 楊雄少時從遊學，以而仕京師顯名，數為朝廷在位賢者稱君平德。 杜陵李彊素善雄，久之為益州牧，喜謂雄曰：「吾真得嚴君平矣。」 雄曰：「君備禮以待之，彼人可見而不可得詘也。」 彊心以為不然。 及至蜀，致禮與相見，卒不敢言以為從事，乃歎曰：「楊子雲誠知人！」 君平年九十餘，遂以其業終，蜀人愛敬，至今稱焉。 及雄著書言當世士，稱此二人。 其論曰：「或問：君子疾沒世而名不稱，盍勢諸？ 名，卿可幾。 曰：君子德名為幾。 梁、齊、楚、趙之君非不富且貴也，惡虖成其名！ 谷口鄭子真不詘其志，耕於巖石之下，名震於京師，豈其卿？ 豈其卿？ 楚兩龔之絜，其清矣乎！ 蜀嚴湛冥，不作苟見，不治苟得，久幽而不改其操，雖隨、和何以加諸？ 舉茲以旃，不亦寶乎！」
Later ages knew Zhen Zizhen of Zheng at Gukou and Yan Junping in Shu—men who guarded their integrity so strictly that they wore only what befitted their station and ate only what their principles allowed. Under Emperor Cheng, Grand General Wang Feng—the Yuan consort's brother—sought to engage Zizhen with formal honors; Zizhen refused to the last and never took office. Junping set up his divining stall in the Chengdu market, reasoning that although fortune-telling was a humble occupation, it put him where he could do ordinary people some good. When clients came with crooked or improper questions, he would read the stalks and shell and steer the answer toward what truly helped or harmed them. To sons he spoke of filial duty, to younger brothers of deference, to officials of loyalty—tailoring counsel to each case until most who listened left the better for it." He saw only a handful of clients a day; once he had earned the hundred cash he needed for his keep, he shuttered the stall, drew the blind, and turned to expounding the Laozi. He read widely and missed nothing essential; guided by Laozi and Zhuang Zhou, he wrote well over a hundred thousand characters of his own. Yang Xiong had studied with him in his youth before making a name in the capital; more than once high ministers at court repeated praise of Junping's character. Li Qiang of Duling, an old friend of Yang Xiong's, was eventually appointed governor of Yi Province and said with delight, "At last I shall meet Yan Junping in person." Xiong replied, "Treat him with every courtesy if you like—you may see him, but you will never bend him to your service." Li Qiang privately dismissed the warning. In Shu he paid his respects and was received, but he never dared offer Junping a post; afterward he could only marvel, "Yang Ziyun reads character like a mirror." Junping lived past ninety and died as he had lived, by the diviner's trade; the people of Shu cherished his memory, and they still speak of him with respect. When Yang Xiong later wrote of the leading men of his day, he singled out these two for praise. In his essay he asks: "They say a gentleman dreads leaving no name behind—so why not simply ride influence and office?" "Can reputation really be seized by rank alone?" The answer runs: "For the gentleman, moral weight and a true name are what may be drawn near." The rulers of Liang, Qi, Chu, and Zhao had wealth and rank in abundance—yet none of them won the kind of name that endures. Zhen Zizhen of Gukou never bent his principles; he farmed beneath the cliffs until his reputation shook the capital—was that because he held high office? Was it court rank that did it? As for the stainless honor of the two Gongs of Chu—could any gloss make it brighter? Yan of Shu moved in depths beyond easy praise: no opinion offered for effect, no profit taken by compromise; years in obscurity never dulled his standard—what could the fabled jewels of Sui and He add to a man like that? To hold such examples before the age—is that not the true treasure?"
4
自園公、綺里季、夏黃公、甪里先生、鄭子真、嚴君平皆未嘗仕，然其風聲足以激貪厲俗，近古之逸民也。 若王吉、貢禹、兩龔之屬，皆以禮讓進退云。
Lord Yuan, Qili Ji, Lord Xia of Huang, Master Luli, Zhen Zizhen, and Yan Junping never took office, yet the mere rumor of their lives was enough to shame the covetous and lift public morals—men in the spirit of the ancient recluses. Wang Ji, Gong Yu, and the two Gongs belong to another pattern—men who advanced or withdrew according to ritual propriety, as the text will show.
5
王吉字子陽，琅玡皋虞人也。 少時學明經，以郡吏舉孝廉為郎，補若盧右丞，遷雲陽令。 舉賢良為昌邑中尉，而王好遊獵，驅馳國中，動作亡節，吉上疏諫，曰：
Wang Ji, style Ziyang, came from Gaoyu in the commandery of Langya. He mastered the classics in youth, entered the bureaucracy as a commandery clerk, earned recommendation as filial and incorrupt, became a court gentleman, served as right assistant in the Ruolu arsenal, and was promoted magistrate of Yunyang. Recommended as worthy and good, he was appointed captain of the guard to the king of Changyi—a ruler who loved the chase and tore across his domain without restraint. Wang Ji remonstrated in a memorial that began:
6
臣聞古者師日行三十里，吉行五十里。 《詩》云：「匪風發兮，匪車揭兮，顧瞻周道，中心怛兮。」 說曰：是非古之風也，發發者； 是非古之車也，揭揭者。 蓋傷之也。 今者大王幸方與，曾不半日而馳二百里，百姓頗廢耕桑，治道牽馬，臣愚以為民不可數變也。 昔召公述職，當民事時，舍於棠下而聽斷焉。 是時人皆得其所，後世思其仁恩，至虖不伐甘棠，甘棠之詩是也。
I have read that armies of old marched thirty li a day on the march and at most fifty when the roads were good. The Book of Odes says, "That is no wind of old; it is the wind of haste; that is no carriage of old; it is the carriage lifted at a run; I glance back at the highway of Zhou, and sorrow knots my heart." The gloss reads: "It is not the measured wind of antiquity—it is the wind of reckless speed." "It is not the steady carriage of antiquity—it is the carriage jolting at a gallop." The poem is lamenting exactly that kind of recklessness. Your Majesty lately rode to Fangyu and covered two hundred li before noon; farmers had to drop plow and loom to mend roads and hold horses. I fear the people cannot bear such disruption again and again. The Duke of Shao, they say, heard lawsuits in the open and even camped under a wild pear so the people could always reach him. Everyone found justice in his day; later ages remembered his kindness so fondly they would not cut the sweet pear where he had sat—the theme of the "Sweet Pear" ode in the Odes.
7
大王不好書術而樂逸游，馮式撙銜，馳騁不止，口倦乎叱吒，手苦於箠轡，身勞乎車輿； 朝則冒霧露，晝則被塵埃，夏則為大暑之所暴炙，冬則為風寒之所匽薄。 數以耎脆之玉體犯勤勞之煩毒，非所以全壽命之宗也，又非所以進仁義之隆也。
You take little interest in books but great pleasure in the hunt—gripping bar and bit, driving on without pause until voice is raw from shouting, hands raw from whip and rein, and your body shaken inside the carriage. Dawn sorties mean mist and dew; daylight rides cloak you in dust; summer sun scorches you; winter wind cuts through you. To strain a body as fine as jade with that kind of exertion is no way to safeguard your years, and no way to deepen the humane and right conduct you owe your people.
8
夫廣夏之下，細旃之上，明師居前，勸誦在後，上論唐虞之際，下及殷周之盛，考仁聖之風，習治國之道，訢訢焉發憤忘食，日新厥德，其樂豈徒銜橛之間哉！ 休則俛仰詘信以利形，進退步趨以實下，吸新吐故以練臧，專意積精以適神，於以養生，豈不長哉！ 大王誠留意如此，則心有堯舜之志，體有喬松之壽，美聲廣譽登而上聞，則福祿其轃而社稷安矣。
Beneath a broad hall, on fine rugs, with a good teacher before you and readers behind, you could range from the age of Yao and Shun down to the glory of Yin and Zhou, absorb the temper of the sages, and learn how true kings governed—forgetting meals in earnest study and growing better every day. Would that joy be no more than what you find between horse and saddle? In quiet hours you could stretch and flex to limber the frame, walk and pace to strengthen the legs, practice breath exercises to clear the inner organs, and gather your spirit to refresh the mind—there is true longevity in that. If Your Majesty would fix your heart on such things, you would match Yao and Shun in intent and Peng Zu and Prince Qiao in years; a good name would reach the throne above you, blessings would follow in train, and the altars of the state would stand firm.
9
皇帝仁聖，至今思慕未怠，於宮館囿池弋獵之樂未有所幸，大王宜夙夜念此，以承聖意。 諸侯骨肉，莫親大王，大王於屬則子也，於位則臣也，一身而二任之責加焉，恩愛行義孅介有不具者，於以上聞，非饗國之福也。 臣吉愚戇，願大王察之。
The late emperor was humane and wise; the court still mourns him and has not turned to palace pleasures or hunting in the parks. You should weigh that example day and night and show that you share the same mind. Of all imperial kinsmen none stands closer to the throne than you: you are a son by blood yet a subject by rank, and both ties bind you at once. Any lapse in love or duty that reaches the capital bodes ill for the whole realm. I speak bluntly, Your Majesty; I beg you to weigh these words.
10
王賀雖不遵道，然猶知敬禮吉，乃下令曰：「寡人造行不能無惰，中慰甚忠，數輔吾過。 使謁者千秋賜中尉牛肉五百斤，酒五石，脯五束。」 其後復放從自若。 吉輒諫爭，甚得輔弼之義，雖不治民，國中莫不敬重焉。
King He paid little heed to duty, yet he still respected Wang Ji; he issued an edict saying, "I cannot claim perfect conduct, but my captain of the interior has served me with utter loyalty and has again and again corrected my faults. Let usher Qianqiu convey to him five hundred jin of beef, five shi of wine, and five bundles of dried meat as my gift." After that he went back to his old habits as if nothing had been said. Wang Ji kept arguing against the misconduct and fulfilled the true office of a remonstrator; though he held no civil portfolio, everyone in the kingdom respected him.
11
久之，昭帝崩，亡嗣，大將軍霍光秉政，遣大鴻臚宗正迎昌邑王。 吉即奏書戒王曰：「臣聞高宗諒闇，三年不言。 今大王以喪事徵，宜日夜哭泣悲哀而已，慎毋有所發。 且何獨喪事，凡南面之君何言哉？ 天不言，四時行焉，百物生焉，願大王察之。 大將軍仁愛勇智，忠信之德天下莫不聞，事孝武皇帝二十餘年未嘗有過。 先帝棄群臣，屬以天下，寄幼孤焉，大將軍抱持幼君襁褓之中，布政施教，海內晏然，雖周公、伊尹亡以加也。 今帝崩亡嗣，大將軍惟思可以奉宗廟者，攀援而立大王，其仁厚豈有量哉！ 臣願大王事之敬之，政事壹聽之，大王垂拱南面而已。 願留意，嘗以為念。」
Years later, when Emperor Zhao died without an heir, Huo Guang as regent dispatched the Grand Herald and the imperial-clan director to escort the king of Changyi to the capital. Wang Ji at once sent a sealed warning: "I have read that King Gaozong of Shang observed deep mourning and for three years scarcely spoke. You have been called to the capital for a funeral; your whole demeanor should be tears and grief, and you must issue no rash orders. And not for mourning alone: what business has a ruler who faces south to chatter about? Heaven is silent, yet the seasons turn and the myriad things grow—consider what that means for a Son of Heaven." The Grand General combines humanity, courage, and wisdom, and his name for loyalty is known everywhere; he served Emperor Wu for more than twenty years without a stain. The late emperor left the empire in his hands and the infant heir in his arms; he has governed from the cradle and kept the realm at peace—work that not even the Duke of Zhou or Yi Yin could surpass. Now that the throne is empty, he has searched the bloodline and raised you to it—kindness on that scale cannot be reckoned. Serve him with deference, yield every decision of state to him, and content yourself with the empty dignity of the throne—that is how you will survive this moment. Fix these words in your mind and never forget them."
12
王既到，即位二十餘日以行淫亂廢。 昌邑群臣坐在國時不舉奏王罪過，令漢朝不聞知，又不能輔道，陷王大惡，皆下獄誅。 唯吉與郎中令龔遂以忠直數諫正得減死，髡為城旦。
The new sovereign reached the capital and within a few weeks was deposed for debauchery and disorder. His Changyi attendants, who had stayed silent about his crimes at home and failed the court with their counsel until he fell into utter disgrace, were arrested and put to death. Only Wang Ji and Gong Sui, captain of the palace gentlemen, escaped execution because they had remonstrated faithfully; their sentence was commuted to shaved-head corvée labor.
13
起家復為益州刺史，病去官，復徵為博士諫大夫。 是時宣帝頗修武帝故事，宮室車服盛於昭帝。 時外戚許、史、王氏貴寵，而上躬親政事，任用能吏。 吉上疏言得失，曰：
He was later recalled from private life as governor of Yi Province, retired on grounds of ill health, then summoned back as an erudite and remonstrance grandee. Emperor Xuan was reviving Emperor Wu's scale of splendor: palaces, wardrobes, and equipage soon outshone anything seen under Emperor Zhao. The Xu, Shi, and Wang affines by marriage dominated the inner court, but the emperor himself presided over policy and appointed capable administrators. Wang Ji therefore memorialized on what the court was doing right and wrong:
14
陛下躬聖質，總萬方，帝王圖籍日陳于前，惟思世務，將興太平。 詔書每下，民欣然若更生。 臣伏而思之，可謂至恩，未可謂本務也。
Your Majesty bears a sage-like nature and holds the realm in hand; maps and registers lie open before you daily while you ponder the business of the age and seek to bring about great peace. Every edict from your desk leaves the people feeling as though they had been given new life. With respect, that is supreme benevolence—but benevolence alone is not yet the root of good order.
15
欲治之主不世出，公卿幸得遭遇其時，言聽諫從，然未有建萬世之長策，舉明主於三代之隆者也。 其務在於期會簿書，斷獄聽訟而已，此非太平之基也。
Capable sovereigns are rare; ministers who live under one should seize the chance. You are heard when you speak, yet no one has framed a policy for the ages or lifted this reign to the level of the golden Three Dynasties. Officialdom busies itself with deadlines, ledgers, and lawsuits; that is no foundation for lasting tranquillity.
16
臣聞聖王宣德流化，必自近始。 朝廷不備，難以言治； 左右不正，難以化遠。 民者，弱而不可勝，愚而不可欺也。 聖主獨行於深宮，得則天下稱誦之，失則天下咸言之。 行發於近，必見於遠，故謹選左右，審擇所使； 左右所以正身也，所使所以宣德也。 《詩》云：「濟濟多士，文王以寧。」 此其本也。
I have been taught that when a sage king wants his virtue to transform the realm, he begins with what is closest to him. If the court itself is not in order, you cannot speak of governing the world; if those who attend you are not upright, you cannot hope to reform the farthest village. The common people may seem powerless, yet they cannot be crushed; they may seem simple, yet they cannot be tricked forever. The Son of Heaven moves behind high walls: do right and the empire sings your praise; slip once and every lane carries the tale. What begins beside the throne shows itself on the frontier; choose companions and envoys with care. Those at your elbow set the standard for your own conduct; those you dispatch carry your virtue abroad. As the Odes put it, "In hosts of good officers King Wen found his peace." That is the root of the matter.
17
春秋所以大一統者，六合同風，九州共貫也。 今俗吏所以牧民者，非有禮義科指可世世通行者也，獨設刑法以守之。 其欲治者，不知所繇，以意穿鑿，各取一切，權譎自在，故一變之後不可復修也。 是以百里不同風，千里不同俗，戶異政，人殊服，詐偽萌生，刑罰亡極，質樸日銷，恩愛寖薄。 孔子曰「安上治民，莫善於禮」，非空言也。 王者未制禮之時，引先王禮宜於今者而用之。 臣願陛下承天心，發大業，與公卿大臣延及儒生，述舊禮，明王制，驅一世之民濟之仁壽之域，則俗何以不若成康，壽何以不若高宗？ 竊見當世趨務不合於道者，謹條奏，唯陛下財擇焉。
The Annals praise "great unity"—one moral climate across the six directions, one political thread binding the nine provinces. Yet the clerks who govern the people today have no ritual framework that could hold for generations; they rely on statutes and penalties alone. Men who want order grope without a map, improvise from whim, grab stopgap powers, and leave the system so twisted that each "reform" only makes the next harder. The result is a hundred different local habits, a thousand petty policies, fraud on every side, punishments without end, plain folk manners eroded, and good will drained away. Confucius said, "For securing ruler and people, nothing matches ritual"—that was no idle slogan. Until a true king can promulgate new rites, he should revive whatever in the old kings' codes still fits the times. I beg you to heed Heaven, undertake the great work, call in high ministers and scholars, recover the classical rites, clarify the institutions of true kingship, and lead this generation into the realm of benevolence and long life—then our age could rival Cheng and Kang, and your own years those of King Wu. I have noted several ways in which current fashion departs from the Way; I list them below for your judgment.
18
吉意以為「夫婦，人倫大綱，夭壽之萌也。 世俗嫁娶太早，未知為人父母之道而有子，是以教化不明而民多夭。 聘妻送女亡節，則貧人不及，故不舉子。 又漢家列侯尚公主，諸侯則國人承翁主，使男事女，夫詘於婦，逆陰陽之位，故多女亂。 古者衣服車馬貴賤有章，以褒有德而別尊卑，今上下僭差，人人自制，是以貪財趨利，不畏死亡。 周之所以能致治，刑措而不用者，以其禁邪於冥冥，絕惡於未萌也。」 又言「舜、湯不用三公九卿之世而舉皋陶、伊尹，不仁者遠。 今使俗吏得任子弟，率多驕驁，不通古今，至於積功治人，亡益於民，此伐檀所為作也。 宜明選求賢，除任子之令。 外家及故人可厚以財，不宜居位。 去角抵，減樂府，省尚方，明視天下以儉。 古者工不造琱瑑，商不通侈靡，非工商之獨賢，政教使之然也。 民見儉則歸本，本立而末成。」 其指如此，上以其言迂闊，不甚寵異也。 吉遂謝病歸琅邪。
Among Wang Ji's points was this: marriage is the great bond of human society and the first cause of long life or early death. People marry too young: they raise children before they understand parenthood, so moral instruction fails and many die before their time. Betrothal gifts and wedding costs know no limit, so the poor cannot afford to marry and forgo having children altogether. Moreover, Han usage joins full marquises to imperial princesses and pairs the heirs of kings with princesses of the imperial house; the husband becomes the wife's subordinate, yin and yang trade places, and women's factional strife spreads through the court. Antiquity regulated dress and equipage by rank so virtue was honored and hierarchy clear; today everyone tailors his own display, which drives the scramble for wealth without thought for life or law. The Zhou achieved order with the rack nearly idle because they checked vice while it was still hidden and stopped crime before it could sprout." He added, "Shun and Tang did not promote men merely because their fathers had been ministers; they lifted Gao Yao and Yi Yin on merit, and the unworthy shrank away. Today clerks who inherit office through their sons are often arrogant ignoramuses who know nothing of past or present; they neither build real achievement nor help the people—that is the evil the Odes lament in "Hewing the sandalwood." Open appointments to true talent and abolish the hereditary privilege of "sons of officials." Reward in-laws and old friends with riches if you wish, but do not park them in office. Ban wrestling spectacles, shrink the court music office, cut the palace workshops—and show the empire that you mean to live plainly. In a well-ordered age artisans did not turn out useless luxuries and merchants did not deal in excess—not because those classes were morally better, but because policy shaped them." When the people see thrift at court, they return to the fundamentals; once the root is firm, the whole tree of society can flourish." The emperor judged his advice too lofty for practice and gave him no special favor. Wang Ji pleaded illness and retired to Langya.
19
始吉少時學問，居長安。 東家有大棗樹垂吉庭中，吉婦取棗以啖吉。 吉後知之，乃去婦。 東家聞而欲伐其樹，鄰里共止之，因固請吉令還婦。 里中為之語曰：「東家有樹，王陽婦去； 東家棗完，去婦復還。」 其厲志如此。
In his youth, while studying in Chang'an, Wang Ji lodged there for years. A neighbor's jujube bough overhung his yard; his wife picked the fruit to serve him. When he learned she had taken another man's fruit without permission, he divorced her. The neighbor was so ashamed that he meant to fell the tree; the lane-mates stopped him and begged Wang Ji to take his wife back. A rhyme ran through the ward: "The east side had a tree—Wang Yang's wife had to flee; the east side spared its fruit—and Wang Yang's wife came home again." Such was the rigor of his self-discipline.
20
吉與貢禹為友，世稱「王陽在位，貢公彈冠」，言其取舍同也。 元帝初即位，遣使者徵貢禹與吉。 吉年老，道病卒，上悼之，復遣使者弔祠云。
He and Gong Yu were close friends, and contemporaries said, "When Wang Yang takes a post, Gong Yu brushes off his official cap"—meaning they rose or withdrew in moral unison. At the beginning of Emperor Yuan's reign the court summoned both Gong Yu and Wang Ji. Wang Ji was elderly and died en route from illness; the emperor grieved and sent envoys to honor him with mourning rites.
21
初，吉兼通五經，能為騶氏春秋，以詩、論語教授，好梁丘賀說易，令子駿受焉。 駿以孝廉為郎。 左曹陳咸薦駿賢父子，經明行修，宜顯以厲俗。 光祿勳匡衡亦舉駿有專對材。 遷諫大夫，使責淮陽憲王。 遷趙內史。 吉坐昌邑王被刑後，戒子孫毋為王國吏，故駿道病，免官歸。 起家復為幽州刺史，遷司隸校尉，奏免丞相匡衡，遷少府。 八歲，成帝欲大用之，出駿為京兆尹，試以政事。 先是京兆有趙廣漢、張敞、王尊、王章，至駿皆有能名，故京師稱曰：「前有趙、張，後有三王。」 而薛宣從左馮翊代駿為少府，會御史大夫缺，谷永奏言：「聖王不以名譽加於實效。 考績用人之法，薛宣政事已試。」 上然其議。 宣為少府月餘，遂超御史大夫，至丞相。 駿乃代宣為御史大夫，並居位。 六歲病卒，翟方進代駿為大夫。 數月，薛宣免，遂代為丞相。 眾人為駿恨不得封侯。 駿為少府時，妻死，因不復娶，或問之，駿曰：「德非曾參，子非華、元，亦何敢娶？」
Wang Ji had mastered the Five Classics and lectured on the Zou version of the Spring and Autumn and on the Odes and Analects; he admired Liangqiu He's reading of the Book of Changes and had his son Wang Jun study under that tradition. Wang Jun entered the court as a gentleman on a filial-and-incorrupt recommendation. Chen Xian of the Left Aides memorialized that father and son were both worthy—learned in the classics and impeccable in conduct—and deserved high visibility as a model for the realm. Kuang Heng, superintendent of the imperial household, likewise recommended Wang Jun for his skill in debate and policy. He was promoted to remonstrance grandee and dispatched to admonish King Xian of Huaiyang. He was then named interior administrator of Zhao. After Wang Ji's brush with execution over the king of Changyi, he forbade his descendants to serve feudal courts; Wang Jun therefore pleaded illness, resigned his Zhao post, and went home. Recalled from retirement, he served as governor of You, then as metropolitan superintendent—where he secured the dismissal of Chancellor Kuang Heng—before moving to superintendent of the lesser treasury. In the eighth year of Emperor Cheng's reign the throne meant to give him heavier duties, named him metropolitan governor of the capital, and watched how he managed administrative business. The metropolitan seat had once been governed by the likes of Zhao Guanghan, Zhang Chang, Wang Zun, and Wang Zhang; Wang Jun upheld the same reputation, so the capital saying ran, "First the two of Zhao and Zhang, then the three Wangs." When Xue Yan left his post as governor of Left Fengyi to succeed Wang Jun as lesser-treasury superintendent, the office of imperial counselor fell vacant. Gu Yong argued, "A wise ruler does not hand out titles ahead of proven results. Xue Yan's administrative record is already on the books—use that as your measure of merit." The emperor accepted the recommendation. Within a month Xue Yan jumped from lesser treasury to imperial counselor and soon reached the chancellorship. Wang Jun stepped into Xue Yan's former post as imperial counselor while both men still held top rank. Six years later Wang Jun died in office; Zhai Fangjin succeeded him as imperial counselor. Months afterward Xue Yan was removed, and Zhai Fangjin became chancellor in his place. Public opinion held it a shame that Wang Jun never received a marquisate. After his wife died while he was lesser-treasury superintendent he refused remarriage; when asked why, he answered, "I am no Zeng Shen in virtue, nor are my sons like Zeng Hua and Zeng Yuan—what right have I to take another wife?"
22
自吉至崇，世名清廉，然材器名稱稍不能及父，而祿位彌隆。 皆好車馬衣服，其自奉養極為鮮明，而亡金銀錦繡之物。 及遷徙去處，所載不過囊衣，不畜積餘財。 去位家居，亦布衣疏食。 天下服其廉而怪其奢，故俗傳「王陽能作黃金」。
From Wang Ji to his descendant Wang Chong the family kept its name for integrity, though later men never quite matched the founder's stature even as their offices grew grander. They enjoyed fine horses and handsome dress and lived in conspicuous comfort, yet they kept no hoard of gold, silver, or brocaded silks. When they moved house their baggage was no more than a few sacks of clothing; they laid up no surplus wealth. Out of office they wore homespun and ate simply. The empire admired their honesty yet wondered at their lavish style, so rumor invented the tale that "Wang Yang knew how to mint gold."
23
貢禹字少翁，琅邪人也。 以明經絜行著聞，徵為博士，涼州刺史，病去官。 復舉賢良為河南令。 歲餘，以職事為府官所責，免冠謝。 禹曰：「冠壹免，安復可冠也！」 遂去官。
Gong Yu, style Shao'weng, came from Langya commandery. His mastery of the classics and spotless conduct won him fame; the court summoned him as an erudite and as governor of Liang Province, but ill health forced him to retire. Recommended again as worthy and good, he became magistrate of Henan. A little over a year later a superior censured him over routine paperwork; he took off his cap to apologize. Gong Yu replied, "If the court has stripped me of my cap, it will never fit again." He resigned on the spot.
24
元帝初即位，徵禹為諫大夫，數虛己問以政事。 是時年歲不登，郡國多困，禹奏言：
When Emperor Yuan came to the throne he called Gong Yu back as remonstrance grandee and repeatedly set aside rank to ask his counsel on state affairs. Harvests failed that year and commanderies were in distress; Gong Yu therefore memorialized:
25
古者宮室有制，宮女不過九人，秣馬不過八匹； 牆塗而不琱，木摩而不刻，車輿器物皆不文畫，苑囿不過數十里，與民共之； 任賢使能，什一而稅，亡它賦斂繇戍之役，使民歲不過三日，千里之內自給，千里之外各置貢職而已。 故天下家給人足，頌聲並作。
Antiquity fixed the scale of the palace: no more than nine ladies-in-waiting and eight teams of chariot horses. Walls were whitewashed, not carved; timber was planed smooth, not inlaid; carriages and vessels carried no gilded designs; royal parks ran only a few dozen li and commoners could enter them. Rulers appointed talent, took a tenth in tax, imposed no extra levies or corvée beyond three days a year, kept supplies local within a thousand li, and required only standard tribute from farther regions. The realm then knew sufficiency in every home, and praise for the throne was universal.
26
至高祖、孝文、孝景皇帝，循古節儉，宮女不過十餘，廄馬百餘匹。 孝文皇帝衣綈履革，器亡琱文金銀之飾。 後世爭為奢侈，轉轉益盛，臣下亦相放效，衣服履恊刀劍亂於主上，主上時臨朝入廟，眾人不能別異，甚非其宜。 然非自知奢僭也，猶魯昭公曰：「吾何僭矣？」
Down to Gaozu and Emperors Wen and Jing the court still observed those limits—barely a dozen concubines and little more than a hundred stable horses. Emperor Wen wore homespun silk and leather shoes, and his utensils bore neither chasing nor gold and silver trim. Later ages competed in luxury until officials dressed and armed themselves like the sovereign; when the emperor appeared at court or in the ancestral shrine, subjects could scarcely be told apart from their ruler—a scandalous confusion of rank. They did not even see their own presumption, any more than Duke Zhao of Lu when he asked, "Where have I overstepped?"
27
今大夫僭諸侯，諸侯僭天子，天子過天道，其日久矣。 承衰救亂，矯復古化，在於陛下。 臣愚以為盡如太古難，宜少放古以自節焉。 論語曰：「君子樂節禮樂。」 方今宮室已定，亡可奈何矣，其餘盡可減損。 故時齊三服官輸物不過十笥，方今齊三服官作工各數千人，一歲費數鉅萬。 蜀廣漢主金銀器，歲各用五百萬。 三工官官費五千萬，東西織室亦然。 廄馬食粟將萬匹。 臣禹嘗從之東宮，見賜杯案，盡文畫金銀飾，非當所以賜食臣下也。 東宮之費亦不可勝計。 天下之民所為大飢餓死者，是也。 今民大飢而死，死又不葬，為犬豬所食。 人至相食，而廄馬食粟，苦其大肥，氣盛怒至，乃日步作之。 王者受命於天，為民父母，固當若此乎！ 天不見邪？ 武帝時，又多取好女至數千人，以填後宮。 及棄天下，昭帝幼弱，霍光專事，不知禮正，妄多臧金錢財物，鳥獸魚鱉牛馬虎豹生禽，凡百九十物，盡瘞臧之，又皆以後宮女置於園陵，大失禮，逆天心，又未必稱武帝意也。 昭帝晏駕，光復行之。 至孝宣皇帝時，陛下烏有所言，群臣亦隨故事，甚可痛也！ 故使天下承化，取女皆大過度，諸侯妻妾或至數百人，豪富吏民畜歌者至數十人，是以內多怨女，外多曠夫。 及眾庶葬埋，皆虛地上以實地下。 其過自上生，皆在大臣循故事之罪也。
Today ministers ape kings, kings ape the emperor, and the emperor outruns Heaven itself—and the habit is old. To heal a declining age and set things right, the power lies with you alone. I do not ask you to revive the high archaic age overnight, but you can still borrow its restraint to curb the present excess. The Analects says the gentleman "finds joy in restraining himself with ritual and music." The palace complexes are already built and cannot be undone, but everything else can still be cut back. The Qi workshops that once supplied three grades of imperial garments shipped no more than ten chests a year; today they employ thousands of artisans and cost many millions annually. The Shu and Guanghan agencies for gold and silver plate each burn through five million cash a year. The three imperial craft bureaus spend fifty million; the eastern and western weaving shops cost as much. The stables now hold nearly ten thousand grain-fed horses. I once attended in the heir apparent's eastern palace and saw cups and trays so encrusted with gold and silver chasing that they were unfit gifts even for high ministers. The heir apparent's establishment spends sums beyond reckoning. This is why the common people starve and die in heaps. They drop from famine in the roads, and corpses lie unburied until dogs and swine tear them apart. While men resort to cannibalism, the imperial horses gorge on grain until grooms must walk them daily to work off their fat. The Son of Heaven is parent to the people by Heaven's charge—can this be what such a parent should allow? Does Heaven not see this wrong? Emperor Wu drafted thousands of attractive women until the rear palace was packed. When he died, the boy Emperor Zhao left Huo Guang in charge; ignorant of proper burial rite, Guang buried treasure by the cartload—live birds, beasts, fish, cattle, horses, even tigers and leopards, nearly two hundred kinds of creature—and sealed palace women in the tomb precincts. That violated Heaven as well as the late emperor's true wishes. When Emperor Zhao in turn died, Huo Guang repeated the same abuses. Under Emperor Xuan you yourself, though heir, had no chance to remonstrate; your ministers likewise clung to precedent—and the wrong has never been redressed. The court's example taught the realm to overfill harems: some lords kept hundreds of concubines, rich households dozens of singing girls, while unmarried women languished inside palace walls and unmarried men wandered outside. Commoners likewise beggared their living kin to pile treasure under the earth. The evil began at the top; the fault lies with ministers who hide behind "that is how it was done before."
28
唯陛下深察古道，從其儉者，大減損乘輿服御器物，三分去二。 子產多少有命，審察後宮，擇其賢者留二十人，餘悉歸之。 及諸陵園女亡子者，宜悉遣。 獨杜陵宮人數百，誠可哀憐也。 廄馬可亡過數十匹。 獨舍長安城南苑地以為田獵之囿，自城西南至山西至鄠皆復其田，以與貧民。 方今天下飢饉，可亡大自損減以救之，稱天意乎？ 天生聖人，蓋為萬民，非獨使自娛樂而已也。 故《詩》曰：「天難諶斯，不易惟王；」 「上帝臨女，毋貳爾心。」 「當仁不讓」，獨可以聖心參諸天地，揆之往古，不可與臣下議也。 若其阿意順指，隨君上下，臣禹不勝拳拳，不敢不盡愚心。
I beg you to study the frugal models of antiquity and cut the imperial wardrobe, chariots, and furnishings by two-thirds. Audit the inner palace: keep twenty ladies of proven character and send the rest home to their families, for no ruler needs a harem beyond Heaven's measure. Dismiss as well the childless attendants still quartered at the imperial tombs. Hundreds of women still languish at the Duling shrine alone—surely a sight to pity. Cut the stable to a few dozen grain-fed horses. Reserve only the southern hunting park at Chang'an; return the rest of the capital preserves—from the southwest wall to the western hills and Hu county—to tillage and give the plots to the destitute. The realm is starving; will you not slash court spending yourself to answer Heaven's will? Heaven appoints a sage for the myriad lives under him, not so he may amuse himself. The Odes warn, "Heaven's mandate is hard to read; the king's task is never easy;" "High God watches you—do not harbor a divided heart." The maxim "do not yield the ground of humanity" means you must weigh such reforms in your own sage mind against Heaven and history—not dilute them in routine debate with ministers. If you prefer flattery, I cannot force you; yet I would fail my duty if I did not speak plainly.
29
天子納善其忠，乃下詔令太僕減食穀馬，水衡減食肉獸，省宜春下苑以與貧民，又罷角抵諸戲及齊三服官。 遷禹為光祿大夫。
The emperor welcomed his honesty and ordered the grand coachman to cut grain-fed horses, the superintendent of waters to cut meat-fed palace beasts, turned over the lower Yichun park to the poor, and ended wrestling shows and the Qi garment workshops. Gong Yu was promoted to grand counselor of the household.
30
頃之，禹上書曰：「臣禹年老貧窮，家訾不滿萬錢，妻子㐄豆不贍，裋褐不完。 有田百三十畝，陛下過意徵臣，臣賣田百畝以供車馬。 至，拜為諫大夫，秩八百石，奉錢月九千二百。 廩食太官，又蒙賞賜四時雜繒綿絮衣服酒肉諸果物，德厚甚深。 疾病侍醫臨治，賴陛下神靈，不死而活。 又拜為光祿大夫，秩二千石，奉錢月萬二千。 祿賜愈多，家日以益富，身日以益尊，誠非屮茅愚臣所當蒙也。 伏自念終亡以報厚恩，日夜慚愧而已。 臣禹犬馬之齒八十一，血氣衰竭，耳目不聰明，非復能有補益，所謂素餐尸祿洿朝之臣也。 自痛去家三千里，凡有一子，年十二，非有在家為臣具棺槨者也。 誠恐一旦蹎仆氣竭，不復自還，洿席薦於宮室，骸骨棄捐，孤魂不歸。 不勝私願，願乞骸骨，及身生歸鄉里，死亡所恨。」
Soon afterward Gong Yu wrote again: "I am old and destitute—family assets under ten thousand cash, wife and children without enough coarse grain to fill a bowl, and not even a whole homespun coat between us. I owned only one hundred thirty mu of land; when Your Majesty graciously summoned me, I sold a hundred mu to pay for the journey to the capital. On arrival I was named remonstrance grandee at eight hundred shi—nine thousand two hundred cash a month. The court fed me from the imperial kitchen and showered me with seasonal gifts—silks, padding, robes, wine, meat, and fruit—kindness beyond measure. When I fell ill, palace physicians attended me; by your grace I survived what might have killed me. I was then promoted to grand counselor of the household at two thousand shi—twelve thousand cash each month. Stipends and gifts multiplied until my family grew wealthy and my person exalted—honors no humble subject should ever expect. I know I can never repay such bounty; shame is all I feel, waking and sleeping. I am eighty-one years old, my strength spent and my senses dull; I can no longer serve usefully—I am the sort who "eats free rice" and disgraces the court. I am three thousand li from home with only a twelve-year-old son and no kin there to arrange a decent burial should I die. I dread collapsing one morning on your palace floor—unable to journey home, my corpse fouling your halls and my ghost stranded far from kin. I beg leave to surrender my bones: let me go home alive while I still can, for that alone would leave me without regret."
31
天子報曰：「朕以生有伯夷之廉，史魚之直，守經據古，不阿當世，孳孳於民，俗之所寡，故親近生，幾參國政。 今未得久聞生之奇論也，而云欲退，意豈有所恨與？ 將在位者與生殊乎？ 往者嘗令金敞語生，欲及生時祿生之子，既已諭矣，今復云子少。 夫以王命辨護生家，雖百子何以加？ 傳曰亡懷土，何必思故鄉！ 生其強飯慎疾以自輔。」 後月餘，以禹為長信少府。 會御史大夫陳萬年卒，禹代為御史大夫，列於三公。
The emperor answered: "I drew you near because you combine Boyi's purity with Shi Yu's blunt honesty—you hold to the classics, scorn fashion, and labor for the people where others fall short. I meant for you to share in governing. I have not yet heard enough of your uncommon counsel, yet you speak of retiring—do you nurse some grievance against me?" Or is it that you feel slighted by the ministers already in power?" I already told Jin Chang to see that your son received a stipend while you live; you now plead that he is too young. With the throne watching over your household, what more could a hundred sons require? The classic says, "A gentleman does not pine for native soil"—why insist on going home? Eat well, guard your health, and stay at my side." A month later he named Gong Yu superintendent of the household to the Grand Empress Dowager at Changxin Palace. When Imperial Counselor Chen Wannian died, Gong Yu succeeded him and took a seat among the Three Dukes.
32
自禹在位，數言得失，書數十上。 禹以為古民亡賦算口錢，起武帝征伐四夷，重賦於民，民產子三歲則出口錢，故民重困，至於生子輒殺，甚可悲痛。 宜令兒七歲去齒乃出口錢，年二十乃算。
As grand counselor he repeatedly debated policy, filing dozens of memorials. Gong Yu noted that antiquity knew no poll tax until Emperor Wu's foreign wars drove the treasury to levy a "mouth cash" on infants as young as three; families were crushed until many killed newborns—a horror that still haunts the realm. Levy mouth cash only after the seventh year, when milk teeth fall, and full poll tax only at twenty.
33
又言古者不以金錢為幣，專意於農，故一夫不耕，必有受其飢者。 今漢家鑄錢，及諸鐵官皆置吏卒徒，攻山取銅鐵，一歲功十萬人已上，中農食七人，是七十萬人常受其飢也。 鑿地數百丈，銷陰氣之精，地臧空虛，不能含氣出雲，斬伐林木亡有時禁，水旱之災未必不繇此也。 自五銖錢起已來七十餘年，民坐盜鑄錢被刑者眾，富人積錢滿室，猶亡厭足。 民心搖動，商賈求利，東西南北各用智巧，好衣美食，歲有十二之利，而不出租稅。 農夫父子暴露中野，不避寒暑，捽屮杷土，手足胼胝，已奉穀租，又出槁稅，鄉部私求，不可勝供。 故民棄本逐末，耕者不能半。 貧民雖賜之田，猶賤賣以賈，窮則起為盜賊。 何者？ 末利深而惑於錢也。 是以姦邪不可禁，其原皆起於錢也。 疾其末者絕其本，宜罷採珠玉金銀鑄錢之官，亡復以為幣。 市井勿得販賣，除其租銖之律，租稅祿賜皆以布帛及穀。 使百姓壹歸於農，復古道便。
Antiquity did not make coin the heart of commerce; agriculture came first, so if one farmer idled, others went hungry. Today mints and iron monopolies deploy clerks, troops, and convicts to strip mountains of ore—well over a hundred thousand laborers a year. Seven commoners eat on one middle farmer's yield; that means seven hundred thousand mouths starve for every mint we run. Pits hundreds of feet deep drain the land's vital energies; the hollowed earth can no longer hold moisture or send up rain clouds; forests are stripped without seasonal restraint—flood and drought may well follow. Seventy years after the five-zhu coin, jails still swarm with counterfeiters while the rich fill vaults and still grasp for more. Popular mind chases coin; merchants roam the empire with clever schemes, live in silks and delicacies, reap twelve percent a year, and pay no land tax. Farmers and sons toil in the open, heedless of weather, hands horny from the hoe; after grain rent and fodder levies, petty clerks still squeeze them for more than flesh can yield. So the people abandon the plow for trade; fewer than half the fields stay under cultivation. Even when the poor receive land grants, they sell cheap to speculators; driven to desperation they turn bandit. Why? Because trade pays and money dazzles them. Vice spreads from the same root—the obsession with coin. Strike the evil at its source: close the mints and the pearl-and-gold workshops and stop treating metal as money. Forbid coin in the markets, repeal the petty surcharges on grain, and pay taxes, salaries, and imperial gifts in silk and grain alone. Then the people will return to the soil and the old order can be restored with ease.
34
又言諸離宮及長樂宮衛可減其太半，以寬繇役。 又諸官奴婢十萬餘人戲遊亡事，稅良民以給之，歲費五六鉅萬，宜免為庶人，廩食，令代關東戍卒，乘北邊亭塞候望。
He urged cutting guards on detached palaces and Changle Palace by more than half to ease corvée. More than a hundred thousand palace slaves idle at public expense—fifty or sixty million a year. Free them as commoners, feed them from state granaries, and use them to relieve eastern garrisons on the northern frontier.
35
又欲令近臣自諸曹侍中以上，家亡得私販賣，與民爭利，犯者輒免官削爵，不得仕宦。 禹又言：
He would forbid any intimate minister from the attendants-in-ordinary up to trade on the side; violators would be dismissed, stripped of rank, and barred forever from office. Gong Yu added:
36
孝文皇帝時，貴廉絜，賤貪汙，賈人贅婿及吏坐贓者皆禁錮不得為吏，賞善罰惡，不阿親戚，罪白者伏其誅，疑者以與民，亡贖罪之法，故令行禁止，海內大化，天下斷獄四百，與刑錯亡異。 武帝始臨天下，尊賢用士，闢地廣境數千里，自見功大威行，遂從耆欲，用度不足，乃行壹切之變，使犯法者贖罪，入穀者補吏，是以天下奢侈，官亂民貧，盜賊並起，亡命者眾。 郡國恐伏其誅，則擇便巧史書習於計簿能欺上府者，以為右職； 姦軌不勝，則取勇猛能操切百姓者，以苛暴威服下者，使居大位。 故亡義而有財者顯於世，欺謾而善書者尊於朝，誖逆而勇猛者貴於官。 故俗皆曰：「何以孝弟為？ 財多而光榮。 何以禮義為？ 史書而仕宦。 何以謹慎為？ 勇猛而臨官。」 故黥劓而髡鉗者猶復攘臂為政於世，行雖犬彘，家富勢足，目指氣使，是為賢耳。 故謂居官而置富者為雄桀，處姦而得利者為壯士，兄勸其弟，父勉其子，俗之壞敗，乃至於是！ 察其所以然者，皆以犯法得贖罪，求士不得真賢，相守崇財利，誅不行之所致也。
Under Emperor Wen probity was honored and graft despised: merchants, uxorilocal sons-in-law, and corrupt officials were barred from service; rewards and punishments ignored connections; clear guilt meant death, doubtful cases went to the people; there was no buying off sentences—so commands held, the realm reformed, and the empire heard barely four hundred capital cases a year, as if the rack stood idle. Emperor Wu began by honoring talent and pushing the borders thousands of li; intoxicated by his own power, he chased every appetite until the treasury failed; then he sold pardons and sold offices—luxury spread, government rotted, the people grew poor, banditry exploded, and fugitives filled the hills. Terrified of imperial punishment, local officials promoted slick clerks who could cook the books; when fraud still spread, they elevated brutal men who cowed the commoners by terror. So the shameless rich flaunted themselves, smooth writers lorded it at court, and violent men won high posts. Hence the proverb: "Who needs filial sons when cash brings glory?" "Heaps of gold mean honor enough." "Who needs ritual when ledgers win office?" "Scratch a fair hand and you earn a cap." "Who wants caution when—" "—ferocity buys a magistrate's seat?" Branded felons still wave their arms in power; men viler than dogs pass for worthies if their coffers are full. Office is praised as heroism if it makes you rich; crime is hailed as courage if it pays; brothers urge brothers and fathers sons toward the same vice—morals have sunk this low! The cause is plain: ransom laws, false appointments, officials who worship profit, and punishments that never fall on the powerful.
37
今欲興至治，致太平，宜除贖罪之法。 相守選舉不以實，及有臧者，輒行其誅，亡但免官，則爭盡力為善，貴孝弟，賤賈人，進真賢，舉實廉，而天下治矣。 孔子，匹夫之人耳，以樂道正身不解之故，四海之內，天下之君，微孔子之言亡所折中。 況乎以漢地之廣，陛下之德，處南面之尊，秉萬乘之權，因天地之助，其於變世易俗，調和陰陽，陶冶萬物，化正天下，易於決流抑隊。 自成康以來，幾且千歲，欲為治者甚眾，然而太平不復興者，何也？ 以其舍法度而任私意，奢侈行而仁義廢也。
To seek true peace, abolish the sale of pardons. When recommendations lie, or when embezzlers are caught, execute them—do not merely dismiss—and the empire will struggle toward virtue again: filial duty honored, merchants scorned, true men advanced, and order restored. Confucius was only a commoner, yet because he never tired of moral self-cultivation, every ruler under Heaven needs his words to find the mean. With Han's breadth, your virtue, the Son of Heaven's station, the weight of ten thousand chariots, and Heaven and earth behind you, remaking the age, tuning yin and yang, and casting the people in a better mold ought to be easier than turning back a flood or propping up a tottering beam. Since the age of Cheng and Kang nearly a thousand years have passed; many have claimed to seek order, yet great peace never returned—why? Because each ruler abandoned law for whim, chased luxury, and let benevolence and duty decay.
38
陛下誠深念高祖之苦，醇法太宗之治，正己以先下，選賢以自輔，開進忠正，致誅姦臣，遠放諂佞，放出園陵之女，罷倡樂，絕鄭聲，去甲乙之帳，退偽薄之物，修節儉之化，驅天下之民皆歸於農，如此不解，則三王可侔，五帝可及。 唯陛下留意省察，天下幸甚。
If you will remember Gaozu's hardships, model yourself soberly on Emperor Wen, set the example, appoint worthies, welcome honest counsel, execute corrupt ministers, drive away sycophants, free the tomb attendants, silence lewd music, strip the layered gauze hangings, cast off sham finery, teach thrift, and steer every subject back to the plow without flagging—you could stand beside the Three Kings and tread the path of the Five Thearchs. I beg you to weigh these words—for the empire's sake as well as your own.
39
天子下其議，令民產子七歲乃出口錢，自此始。 又罷上林宮館希幸御者，及省建章、甘泉宮衛卒，減諸侯王廟衛卒省其半。 餘雖未盡從，然嘉其質直之意。 禹又奏欲罷郡國廟，定漢宗廟迭毀之禮，皆未施行。
The court adopted part of his program: the poll on infants began at seven years from that day forward. He also closed rarely visited lodges in the Shanglin park, cut guards on Jianzhang and Sweet Spring palaces, and halved the garrisons at imperial princes' shrines. The throne did not grant every request but honored his blunt honesty. He also urged abolishing local shrines to Han emperors and fixing the rotation of remote versus close ancestral temples—measures left unenacted for the moment.
40
為御史大夫數月卒，天子賜錢百萬，以其子為郎，官至東郡都尉。 禹卒後，上追思其議，竟下詔罷郡國廟，定迭毀之禮。 語在韋玄成傳。
He died a few months after becoming imperial counselor; the emperor gave his family a million cash, appointed his son a gentleman, who rose eventually to metropolitan commandant of the eastern commandery. After Gong Yu's death the emperor reflected on his memorials and at last ordered the local imperial shrines closed and the ancestral rotation rites codified. The details are recorded in the biography of Wei Xuancheng.
41
兩龔皆楚人也，勝字君賓，舍字君倩。 二人相友，並著名節，故世謂之楚兩龔。 少皆好學明經，勝為郡吏，舍不仕。
The two Gongs, natives of Chu, were Gong Sheng, style Junbin, and Gong She, style Junqian. They were fast friends and equally famed for principle, hence the phrase "the two Gongs of Chu." Both studied the classics in youth; Gong Sheng took a commandery post while Gong She refused office.
42
久之，楚王入朝，聞舍高明，聘舍為常侍，不得已隨王，歸國固辭，願卒學，復至長安。 而勝為郡吏，三舉孝廉，以王國人不得宿衛補吏。 再為尉，壹為丞，勝輒至官乃去。 州舉茂材，為重泉令，病去官。 大司空何武、執金吾閻崇薦勝，哀帝自為定陶王固已聞其名，徵為諫大夫。 引見，勝薦龔舍及亢父甯壽、濟陰侯嘉，有詔皆徵。 勝曰：「竊見國家徵醫巫，常為駕，徵賢者宜駕。」 上曰：「大夫乘私車來邪？」 勝曰：「唯唯。」 有詔為駕。 龔舍、侯嘉至，皆為諫大夫。 甯壽稱疾不至。
When the king of Chu later visited the capital, he heard of Gong She's reputation and made him a regular attendant; Gong She had no choice but to follow the king home, then resigned firmly, returned to Chang'an to complete his studies. Gong Sheng served as a commandery clerk and thrice earned filial-and-incorrupt recommendation, but as a subject of a kingdom he could not hold capital guard posts. Twice he was a district captain and once an aide—each time he quit as soon as he took the post. The province nominated him as "abundant talent," and he became magistrate of Chongquan until illness forced him out. He Wu and Yan Chong recommended Gong Sheng; Emperor Ai, who had known his name even as prince of Dingtao, summoned him as remonstrance grandee. At audience Gong Sheng recommended Gong She, Ning Shou of Kangfu, and Hou Jia of Jiyin; the throne summoned them all. Gong Sheng observed, "When the court calls physicians or shamans it sends carriages; it should do no less for worthies." The emperor asked, "Did you arrive in your own carriage, sir?" Gong Sheng answered, "I did." An edict at once ordered a state carriage for him. Gong She and Hou Jia came to the capital and were both named remonstrance grandees. Ning Shou pleaded illness and stayed away.
43
勝居諫官，數上書求見，言百姓貧，盜賊多，吏不良，風俗薄，災異數見，不可不憂。 制度泰奢，刑罰泰深，賦斂泰重，宜以儉約先下。 其言祖述王吉、貢禹之意。 為大夫二歲餘，遷丞相司直，徙光祿大夫，守右扶風。 數月，上知勝非撥煩吏，乃復還勝光祿大夫諸吏給事中。 勝言董賢亂制度，繇是逆上指。
As remonstrator Gong Sheng repeatedly sought audience to warn that the people were destitute, banditry rife, officials corrupt, morals thin, and omens frequent—ills that brooked no complacency. Institutions had grown extravagant, penalties harsh, and taxes crushing; the court should lead by austerity. His arguments echoed Wang Ji and Gong Yu. After two years as grandee he became the chancellor's director of integrity, then grand counselor of the household, then acting governor of Right Fufeng. Within months the emperor saw he was no routine administrator and moved him back to grand counselor of the household with attendant-at-palace duties. He denounced Dong Xian for corrupting government and thus crossed the emperor's will.
44
後歲餘，丞相王嘉上書薦故廷尉梁相等，尚書劾奏嘉「言事恣意，迷國罔上，不道。」 下將軍中朝者議，左將軍公孫祿、司隸鮑宣、光祿大夫孔光等十四人皆以為嘉應迷國不道法。 勝獨書議曰：「嘉資性邪僻，所舉多貪殘吏。 位列三公，陰陽不和，諸事並廢，咎皆繇嘉，迷國不疑，今舉相等，過微薄。」 日暮議者罷。 明旦復會，左將軍祿問勝：「君議亡所據，今奏當上，宜何從？」 勝曰：「將軍以勝議不可者，通劾之。」 博士夏侯常見勝應祿不和，起至勝前謂曰：「宜如奏所言。」 勝以手推常曰：「去！」
A year later Chancellor Wang Jia recommended the former commandant of justice Liang Xiang; the secretariat impeached him for "reckless counsel that misleads the state and deceives the throne—conduct incompatible with the Way." The case went to the generals and inner court: Gongsun Lu, Bao Xuan, Kong Guang, and fourteen others voted that Wang Jia had indeed misled the state. Gong Sheng alone filed a dissent: "Wang Jia's character is twisted and the men he promotes are mostly cruel grafters. As a minister of state he threw yin and yang out of joint and let every duty lapse—the blame is his. Compared with that, recommending Liang Xiang is a venial slip." At dusk the session adjourned. Next morning Gongsun Lu asked him, "Your opinion had no textual basis; the draft verdict goes up today—which way will you vote?" Gong Sheng replied, "If my view offends you, impeach me along with him." The academician Xia Hou Chang, seeing the clash, stepped up and urged him to sign the majority opinion. Gong Sheng shoved him aside and snapped, "Out of my sight!"
45
後數日，復會議可復孝惠、孝景廟不，議者皆曰宜復。 勝曰：「當如禮。」 常復謂勝：「禮有變。」 勝疾言曰：「去！ 是時之變。」 常恚，謂勝曰：「我視君何若，君欲小與眾異，外以采名，君乃申徒狄屬耳！」
A few days later the court reconvened to decide whether to restore the shrines to Emperor Hui and Emperor Jing; the majority voted yes. Gong Sheng said, "The rites do not permit it." Xia Hou Chang retorted, "Ritual itself allows for change." Gong Sheng snapped, "Be gone! That is the kind of "change" we have today." Chang, furious, sneered, "So you must stand apart from everyone and polish your reputation—you are another Shentu Di!"
46
先是常又為勝道高陵有子殺母者。 勝白之，尚書問：「誰受？」 對曰：「受夏侯常。」 尚書使勝問常，常連恨勝，即應曰：「聞之白衣，戒君勿言也。 奏事不詳，妄作觸罪。」 勝窮，亡以對尚書，即自劾奏與常爭言，洿辱朝廷。 事下御史中丞，召詰問，劾奏「勝吏二千石，常位大夫，皆幸得給事中，與論議，不崇禮義，而居公門下相非恨，疾言辯訟，惰謾亡狀，皆不敬。」 制曰：「貶秩各一等。」 勝謝罪，乞骸骨。 上乃復加賞賜，以子博為侍郎，出勝為渤海太守。 勝謝病不任之官，積六月免歸。
Earlier Chang had told Gong Sheng of a matricide case in Gaoling. Gong Sheng relayed it to the secretariat, which asked who had first brought the report. He answered, "Xia Hou Chang." The secretariat told Gong Sheng to confront Chang, who already hated him and answered at once, "I heard it from some commoner who told me to keep silent. Your report was vague; I spoke carelessly and risked a charge." Caught short before the secretariat, Gong Sheng memorialized against himself for brawling with Chang and disgracing the court. The assistant imperial secretary investigated and charged them: "Gong Sheng held a two-thousand-shi post and Xia Hou Chang the rank of grandee; both enjoyed attendant status at deliberations yet ignored ritual, quarreled at the palace gate, traded insults and suits, and behaved with contempt for all decorum." The edict demoted each man one rank. Gong Sheng confessed fault and asked to retire. The emperor instead heaped gifts on him, appointed his son Bo an attendant gentleman, and named him governor of Bohai. He pleaded illness and never took up the post; after six months he was dismissed and sent home.
47
上復徵為光祿大夫。 勝常稱疾臥。 數使子上書乞骸骨，會哀帝崩。
The court recalled him as grand counselor of the household. He stayed in bed claiming chronic illness. He had his son file repeated requests to retire; then Emperor Ai died.
48
初，琅邪邴漢亦以清行徵用，至京兆尹，後為太中大夫。 王莽秉政，勝與漢俱乞骸骨。 自昭帝時，涿郡韓福以德行徵至京師，賜策書束帛遣歸。 詔曰：「朕閔勞以官職之事，其務修孝弟以教鄉里。 行道舍傳舍，縣次具酒肉，食從者及馬。 長吏以時存問，常以歲八月賜羊一頭，酒二斛。 不幸死者，賜複衾一，祠以中牢。」 於是王莽依故事，白遣勝、漢。 策曰：「惟元始二年六月庚寅，光祿大夫、太中大夫耆艾二人以老病罷。 太皇太后使謁者僕射策詔之曰：蓋聞古者有司年至則致仕，所以恭讓而不盡其力也。 今大夫年至矣，朕愍以官職之事煩大夫，其上子若孫若同產、同產子一人。 大夫其修身守道，以終高年。 賜帛及行道舍宿，歲時羊酒衣衾，皆如韓福故事。 所上子男皆除為郎。」 於是勝、漢遂歸老于鄉里。 漢兄子曼容亦養志自修，為官不肯過六百石，輒自免去，其名過出於漢。
Bing Han of Langya had likewise been summoned for his integrity, rose to metropolitan governor, and later to grand palace grandee. When Wang Mang took the reins, Gong Sheng and Bing Han both petitioned to retire. Since Emperor Zhao's day, Han Fu of Zhuo had been called to the capital for his virtue, given a written citation and silk, and escorted home in honor. The edict read, "I regret burdening you with office; devote yourself instead to filial piety and brotherly love as a model for your community. On the journey home use the post stations; each county shall furnish wine, meat, and fodder for your escort and horses. Local magistrates shall call on you in season and every eighth month send a sheep and two hu of wine. If you should die, the state will grant a double shroud and sacrifice with a pig and a sheep." Wang Mang followed that precedent in arranging Gong Sheng's and Bing Han's departure. The citation ran: "On the gengyin day of the sixth month in the second year of Yuanshi, the grand counselor of the household and the grand palace grandee, two venerable men, retire for age and infirmity." The grand empress dowager had the chief usher read: "Antiquity set an age for retirement so that ministers might yield their strength in good time. You have reached that age, and I regret that state business still wearies you—name one son, grandson, full brother, or nephew as your successor." Cultivate yourself in the Way and live out your span in peace. You shall receive silk, post-station lodging, seasonal sheep, wine, and clothing—exactly as was done for Han Fu. The sons you nominate shall all be appointed gentlemen." Gong Sheng and Bing Han thus spent their last years in their home districts. Bing Han's nephew Manrong likewise cultivated his character; he refused any salary rank above six hundred shi and quit rather than accept one, and his reputation eclipsed his uncle's.
49
初，龔舍以龔勝薦，徵為諫大夫，病免。 復徵為博士，又病去。 頃之，哀帝遣使者即楚拜舍為太山太守。 舍家居在武原，使者至縣請舍，欲令至廷拜授印綬。 舍曰：「王者以天下為家，何必縣官？」 遂於家受詔，便道之官。 既至數月，上書乞骸骨。 上徵舍，至京兆東湖界，固稱病篤。 天子使使者收印綬，拜舍為光祿大夫。 數賜告，舍終不肯起，乃遣歸。
Gong She, on Gong Sheng's recommendation, had been remonstrance grandee until illness forced him out. He was recalled as an erudite but again quit on grounds of health. Soon Emperor Ai dispatched an envoy to Chu to name Gong She governor of Taishan. Gong She lived in Wuyuan County; the envoy asked the magistrate to bring him to the yamen for the formal investiture. Gong She replied, "The Son of Heaven holds the realm as his house; why drag me to a county yamen?" He accepted the edict at home and took the shortest road to his post. Within months he memorialized to retire. When the court recalled him, he crossed into the capital district at East Hu and insisted he was dying. The emperor sent an envoy to take back his seal and instead named him grand counselor of the household. Repeated sick leave followed; he would not rise from bed, so they let him return home.
50
舍亦通五經，以魯詩教授。 舍、勝既歸鄉里，郡二千石長吏初到官皆至其家，如師弟子之禮。 舍年六十八，王莽居攝中卒。
Gong She too had mastered the Five Classics and taught the Lu recension of the Odes. After Gong She and Gong Sheng retired, every new governor called on them as on a teacher. Gong She died at sixty-eight while Wang Mang was regent.
51
莽既篡國，遣五威將帥行天下風俗，將帥親奉羊酒存問勝。 明年，莽遣使者即拜勝為講學祭酒，勝稱疾不應徵。 後二年，莽復遣使者奉璽書，太子師友祭酒印綬，安車駟馬迎勝，即拜，秩上卿，先賜六月祿直以辦裝，使者與郡太守、縣長吏、三老官屬、行義諸生千人以上入勝里致詔。 使者欲令勝起迎，久立門外。 勝稱病篤，為床室中戶西南牖下，東首加朝服癴紳。 使者入戶，西行南面立，致詔付璽書，遷延再拜奉印綬，內安車駟馬，進謂勝曰：「聖朝未嘗忘君，制作未定，待君為政，思聞所欲施行，以安海內。」 勝對曰：「素愚，加以年老被病，命在朝夕，隨使君上道，必死道路，無益萬分。」 使者要說，至以印綬就加勝身，勝輒推不受。 使者即上言：「方盛夏暑熱，勝病少氣，可須秋涼乃發。」 有詔許。 使者五日壹與太守俱問起居，為勝兩子及門人高暉等言：「朝廷虛心待君以茅土之封，雖疾病，宜動移至傳舍，示有行意，必為子孫遺大業。」 暉等白使者語，勝自知不見聽，即謂暉等：「吾受漢家厚恩，亡以報，今年老矣，旦暮入地，誼豈以一身事二姓，下見故主哉？」 勝因敕以棺斂喪事：「衣周於身，棺周於衣。 勿隨俗動吾冢，種柏，作祠堂。」 語畢，遂不復開口飲食，積十四日死，死時七十九矣。 使者、太守臨斂，賜複衾祭祠如法。 門人衰絰治喪者百數。 有老父來弔，哭甚哀，既而曰：「嗟虖！ 薰以香自燒，膏以明自銷。 龔生竟夭天年，非吾徒也。」 遂趨而出，莫知其誰。 勝居彭城廉里，後世刻石表其里門。
Once Wang Mang seized the throne he sent the Five Weights commissioners on tour; they called on Gong Sheng with sheep and wine. The following year an envoy tried to name him libationer of the imperial lecture hall; he pleaded illness and ignored the summons. Two years later Wang Mang sent another envoy with the jade-sealed edict, the seals of tutor and friend to the heir apparent, a four-horse carriage, appointment at upper-minister rank, six months' salary in advance for travel expenses, and a procession of the governor, magistrate, village elders, and more than a thousand students to Gong Sheng's lane to read the summons. The envoy waited at the gate for Gong Sheng to come out and greet him. Gong Sheng declared himself dying, had a couch placed beneath the southwest window of his room with his head to the east, and dressed in full court robes with sash properly tucked. The envoy entered, took station facing south, read the edict and presented the sealed letter, bowed twice, offered the carriage and horses, and said, "The new dynasty has not forgotten you; laws are unfinished—it looks to you for guidance. Tell us what you would enact to settle the realm." Gong Sheng answered, "I am a dull old man at death's door; if I tried to travel with you I would die on the road and do your cause no good." The envoy pressed him until he tried to drape the seals on Gong Sheng's person; Gong Sheng thrust them away. The envoy reported back, "Midsummer heat has left him breathless; let him wait for cool autumn before traveling." The court assented. Every five days the envoy and governor inquired after his health and told his sons and disciple Gao Hui, "The throne means to enfeoff you; even ill you should move to the post inn to show good will—that will secure great fortune for your heirs." When his disciples relayed this, Gong Sheng knew they would not listen. He told them, "The Han treated me generously; I could never repay it. I am old and near the grave—how could I serve a second dynasty and face my late sovereign below?" He then instructed them on his burial: "Let my clothes cover my limbs and my coffin cover my clothes—no more. Do not follow fashion by heaping up my mound, planting cypress, or building a shrine." He spoke no more, ate nothing, and died fourteen days later at seventy-nine. The envoy and governor attended his laying-out and supplied the state shroud and rites as prescribed. More than a hundred disciples wore mourning and handled the funeral. An old stranger came to mourn, wept bitterly, and cried, "Alas! Fragrant incense consumes itself; bright lamp-oil burns itself away. Master Gong has cut short the span Heaven gave him—he is no disciple of mine!" He hurried off; no one learned his name. Gong Sheng had lived in Lian Lane, Pengcheng; later ages carved a stone marker at his gate.
52
鮑宣字子都，渤海高城人也。 好學明經，為縣鄉嗇夫，守束州丞。 後為都尉太守功曹，舉孝廉為郎，病去官，復為州從事。 大司馬衛將軍王商辟宣，薦為議郎，後以病去。 哀帝初，大司空何武除宣為西曹掾，甚敬重焉，薦宣為諫大夫，遷豫州牧。 歲餘，丞相司直郭欽奏「宣舉錯煩苛，代二千石署吏聽訟，所察過詔條。 行部乘傳去法駕，駕一馬，舍宿鄉亭，為眾所非。」 宣坐免。 歸家數月，復徵為諫大夫。
Bao Xuan, style Zidu, was a native of Gaocheng in Bohai commandery. He loved the classics and served as a village bailiff in his county, then as assistant magistrate in the Shu prefecture office. He later was merit clerk to the commandant and governor, entered as a filial-and-incorrupt gentleman, retired ill, then joined a provincial staff. Grand Marshal Wang Shang engaged him as a consultant; he later resigned on health grounds. Early in Emperor Ai's reign He Wu named him a Western Bureau clerk, thought highly of him, recommended him as remonstrance grandee, then sent him out as governor of Yu Province. A year later the chancellor's director of integrity Guo Qin charged that Bao Xuan ran his province with petty harshness, usurped a governor's authority to appoint clerks and hear cases, and exceeded the scope set by edict. On inspection tours he used a single horse, shed full escort, and slept at country post stations—the crowd thought him improper." Bao Xuan was removed from office. After a few months at home he was recalled as remonstrance grandee.
53
宣每居位，常上書諫爭，其言少文多實。 是時帝祖母傅太后欲與成帝母俱稱尊號，封爵親屬，丞相孔光、大司空師丹、何武、大司馬傅喜始執正議，失傅太后指，皆免官。 丁、傅子弟並進，董賢貴幸，宣以諫大夫從其後，上書諫曰：
Whenever he held office he remonstrated incessantly—plain words, solid content. The emperor's grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Fu, demanded equal honor with Emperor Cheng's mother and titles for her kin; Chancellor Kong Guang, Grand Ministers Shi Dan and He Wu, and Grand Marshal Fu Xi opposed her and were stripped of office. The Ding and Fu factions rose together with the favorite Dong Xian; Bao Xuan, again remonstrance grandee, sent a memorial that began:
54
竊見孝成皇帝時，外親持權，人人牽引所私以充塞朝廷，妨賢人路，濁亂天下，奢泰亡度，窮困百姓，是以日蝕且十，彗星四起。 危亡之徵，陛下所親見也，今柰何反覆劇於前乎！ 朝臣亡有大儒骨鯁，白首耆艾，魁壘之士； 論議通古今，喟然動眾心，憂國如飢渴者，臣未見也。 敦外親小童及幸臣董賢等在公門省戶下，陛下欲與此共承天地，安海內，甚難。 今世俗謂不智者為能，謂智者為不能。 昔堯放四罪而天下服，今除一吏而眾皆惑； 古刑人尚服，今賞人反惑。 請寄為姦，群小日進。 國家空虛，用度不足。 民流亡，去城郭，盜賊並起，吏為殘賊，歲增於前。
Under Emperor Cheng the maternal relatives seized power, packed the court with favorites, shut out good men, bankrupted the people, and brought on nearly ten eclipses and comets in every quarter. You saw those omens of ruin yourself—how can the relapse be worse than the first illness? The court now boasts no great scholar with a straight spine, no white-haired pillar of integrity; no one who can speak across past and present, stir the crowd, and thirst for the state's welfare as for food and drink. Petty in-laws, boys, and the favorite Dong Xian cluster at the palace gates; to expect them to uphold Heaven and earth with you is hopeless. Custom now calls fools capable and calls the wise helpless. Yao exiled four villains and the realm obeyed; you dismiss one clerk and everyone is bewildered; In antiquity even the punished submitted; today rewards only breed public confusion. Backdoor dealing passes for duty; petty men advance daily. The treasury is hollow and spending still outruns income. The people flee the towns, bandits multiply, and officials prey on them more viciously each year.
55
凡民有七亡：陰陽不和，水旱為災，一亡也； 縣官重責更賦租稅，二亡也； 貪吏並公，受取不已，三亡也； 豪強大姓蠶食亡厭，四亡也； 苛吏繇役，失農桑時，五亡也； 部落鼓鳴，男女遮迣，六亡也； 盜賊劫略，取民財物，七亡也。 七亡尚可，又有七死：酷吏毆殺，一死也； 治獄深刻，二死也； 冤陷亡辜，三死也； 盜賊橫發，四死也； 怨讎相殘，五死也； 歲惡飢餓，六死也； 時氣疾疫，七死也。 民有七亡而無一得，欲望國安，誠難； 民有七死而無一生，欲望刑措，誠難。 此非公卿守相貪殘成化之所致邪？ 群臣幸得居尊官，食重祿，豈有肯加惻隱於細民，助陛下流教化者邪？ 志但在營私家，稱賓客，為姦利而已。 以苟容曲從為賢，以拱默尸祿為智，謂如臣宣等為愚。 陛下擢臣巖穴，誠冀有益豪毛，豈徒欲使臣美食大官，重高門之地哉！
I count seven ways the people are ruined: first, when yin and yang fall out of tune and flood or drought strikes; second, when the state piles on replacement levies, rent, and tax; third, when corrupt clerks bleed the public without end; fourth, when great clans devour small holders insatiably; fifth, when harsh corvée tears farmers from plow and loom at the wrong season; sixth, when village alarms beat and men and women must turn out night watch; seventh, when bandits strip them of what little they own. Seven kinds of ruin the people might survive—but there are also seven ways they die: first, when brutal officials beat them to death; second, when jailers torture them to death; third, when the innocent are framed and perish; fourth, when bandits strike them down; fifth, when private feuds end in murder; sixth, when bad years starve them; seventh, when plague carries them off. Seven losses against no gain—how can the state stand firm? Seven deaths and no reprieve—how can you expect the rack to stay idle? Is this not the work of greedy, cruel ministers and local rulers? You give your high ministers fat salaries—yet who spares a thought for the poor or helps you teach the realm? They scheme only for private gain, flatter clients, and trade in influence. They call toadying "worth," silence at court "wisdom," and men like me fools. You raised me from obscurity hoping for some small use—not merely to fatten me at the imperial kitchen and puff up my gate!
56
天下乃皇天之天下也，陛下上為皇天子，下為黎庶父母，為天牧養元元，視之當如一，合尸鳩之詩。 今貧民菜食不厭，衣又穿空，父子夫婦不能相保，誠可為酸鼻。 陛下不救，將安所歸命乎？ 奈何獨私養外親與幸臣董賢，多賞賜以大萬數，使奴從賓客漿酒霍肉，蒼頭廬兒皆用致富！ 非天意也。 及汝昌侯傅商亡功而封。 夫官爵非陛下之官爵，乃天下之官爵也。 陛下取非其官，官非其人，而望天說民服，豈不難哉！
The empire belongs to Heaven; you are its Son above and parent to the people below, charged to nurture every life alike—as the Odes ask of the fair cuckoo feeding its young. The poor choke down greens without filling their bellies and wear rags that will not hold a family together—a sight to wring the heart. If you will not save them, where can they look for life? Yet you lavish tens of thousands on in-laws and on Dong Xian, while their slaves and guests pour wine and waste meat until every groom in the stables grows rich. That cannot be Heaven's will. Fu Shang of Ruchang was made a marquis without a shred of merit. Rank and fief belong to the realm, not to the throne alone. You hand out titles to the wrong men for the wrong reasons and still expect Heaven to smile and the people to bow—how can that be?
57
方陽侯孫寵、宜陵侯息夫躬辯足以移眾，彊可用獨立，姦人之雄，或世尤劇者也，宜以時罷退。 及外親幼童未通經術者，皆宜令休就師傅。 急徵故大司馬傅喜使領外親。 故大司空何武、師丹、故丞相孔光、故左將軍彭宣，經皆更博士，位皆歷三公，智謀威信，可與建教化，圖安危。 龔勝為司直，郡國皆慎選舉，三輔委輸官不敢為姦，可大委任也。 陛下前以小不忍退武等，海內失望。 陛下尚能容亡功德者甚眾，曾不能忍武等邪！ 治天下者當用天下之心為心，不得自專快意而已也。 上之皇天見譴，下之黎庶怨恨，次有諫爭之臣，陛下苟欲自薄而厚惡臣，天下猶不聽也。 臣雖愚戇，獨不知多受祿賜，美食太官，廣田宅，厚妻子，不與惡人結讎怨以安身邪？ 誠迫大義，官以諫爭為職，不敢不竭愚。 惟陛下少留神明，覽五經之文，原聖人之至意，深思天地之戒。 臣宣吶鈍於辭，不勝惓惓，盡死節而已。
Sun Chong of Fangyang and Xifu Gong of Yiling wield tongues that sway crowds and wills that bow to no one—ringleaders of villainy among the worst of the age—and should be cashiered at once. Pack the young in-laws who know no classics off to tutors. Recall Fu Xi, the former grand marshal, to keep watch on the affines. He Wu, Shi Dan, Kong Guang, and Peng Xuan—each a former minister of the highest rank, each a master of the classics—have the wisdom and prestige to restore moral government and steady the state. When Gong Sheng was director of integrity, local elections were honest and the capital transport clerks dared not cheat—such men deserve your full trust. You dismissed He Wu and his like for a trifle—and the empire lost heart. You tolerate countless mediocrities—could you not spare these few good men? A ruler must think with the mind of the empire, not indulge private whim. Heaven frowns above, the people mutter below, and we remonstrators still speak—yet if you mean to ruin yourself and blame your ministers, the realm will not follow you there either. Do you think I do not know I could take your silks, feast at your kitchen, enlarge my estate, enrich my family, and keep silent to avoid enemies? But my office is remonstrance, and I dare not hold back. I beg you to pause, read the Five Classics, recover the sages' deepest intent, and heed the warnings of Heaven and earth. I am clumsy with words but loyal to the bone—I can offer you nothing less than my life.
58
上以宣名儒，優容之。
The emperor, knowing Bao Xuan a noted scholar, bore with him.
59
是時郡國地震，民訛言行籌，明年正月朔日蝕，上乃徵孔光，免孫寵、息夫躬，罷侍中諸曹黃門郎數十人。 宣復上書言：
Earthquakes shook the commanderies; rumors and divination panics spread; a new-year eclipse followed. The emperor recalled Kong Guang, removed Sun Chong and Xifu Gong, and purged dozens of palace gentlemen. Bao Xuan memorialized again:
60
陛下父事天，母事地，子養黎民，即位已來，父虧明，母震動，子訛言相驚恐。 今日蝕於三始，誠可畏懼。 小民正月朔日尚恐毀敗器物，何況於日虧乎！ 陛下深內自責，避正殿，舉直言，求過失，罷退外親及旁仄素餐之人，徵拜孔光為光祿大夫，發覺孫寵、息夫躬過惡，免官遣就國，眾庶歙然，莫不說喜。 天人同心，人心說則天意解矣。 乃二月丙戌，白虹虷日，連陰不雨，此天有憂結未解，民有怨望未塞者也。
You serve Heaven as a father and Earth as a mother and the people as your children—yet since your accession Heaven has dimmed, Earth has trembled, and the people have spread rumors of terror. Today's eclipse falls on the "three beginnings" of the year—a terrifying omen. Even commoners fear breaking dishes on New Year's Day—how much more should we fear an eclipse of the sun! You withdrew to self-blame, left the main hall, called for honest counsel, cashiered useless kin and hangers-on, named Kong Guang grand counselor of the household, stripped Sun Chong and Xifu Gong of office and sent them to their fiefs—and the people drew a breath of joy. Heaven and the people move as one; when hearts ease, Heaven's anger lifts. Yet on bingxu in the second month a white rainbow cut the sun, clouds hung unbroken, and no rain fell—Heaven's grief is not yet spent, nor the people's resentment slaked.
61
侍中駙馬都尉董賢本無葭莩之親，但以令色諛言自進，賞賜亡度，竭盡府藏，并合三第尚以為小，復壞暴室。 賢父子坐使天子使者將作治第，行夜吏卒皆得賞賜。 上冢有會，輒太官為供。 海內貢獻當養一君，今反盡之賢家，豈天意與民意邪！ 天下可久負，厚之如此，反所以害之也。 誠欲哀賢，宜為謝過天地，解讎海內，免遣就國，收乘輿器物，還之縣官。 如此，可以父子終其性命； 不者，海內之所讎，未有得久安者也。
Dong Xian, attendant-in-ordinary and commandant of cavalry, is no kin of yours; he rose on a pretty face and smooth words; his gifts have drained the treasury; three mansions merged into one palace were still too small, so he tore down the imperial wardrobe hall besides. Father and son sit at ease while imperial envoys and the chief of works build their house, and every night watchman goes home with a tip. When they visit the family graves the imperial kitchen caters the feast. The tribute of the empire should feed one sovereign—yet it all flows to Dong Xian's door. Can that be Heaven's will or the people's? The realm cannot bear such favor forever; to spoil him so is to doom him. If you pity him, confess the fault before Heaven and earth, appease the empire's anger, send him back to his fief, and confiscate every piece of imperial gear he has taken. Then father and son may live out their natural years; otherwise the hatred of the realm will swallow them—no favorite has ever lasted long on that tide.
62
孫寵、息夫躬不宜居國，可皆免以視天下。 復徵何武、師丹、彭宣、傅喜，曠然使民易視，以應天心，建立大政，以興太平之端。
Sun Chong and Xifu Gong should not be left in their fiefs—strip them entirely as a signal to the realm. Recall He Wu, Shi Dan, Peng Xuan, and Fu Xi—give the people something new to look up to, answer Heaven, and lay the foundation of true peace.
63
高門去省戶數十步，求見出入，二年未省，欲使海瀕仄陋自通，遠矣！ 願賜數刻之間，極竭毣毣之思，退入三泉，死亡所恨。
The palace gate lies only a few dozen paces from the censor's yamen, yet for two years I could not win an audience—how much farther off are the humble petitioners of the coast! Grant me a few moments to pour out every scruple; then let me sink into the three springs of the dead—I shall die without regret.
64
上感大異，納宣言，徵何武、彭宣，旬月皆復為三公。 拜宣為司隸。 時哀帝改司隸校尉但為司隸，官比司直。
Moved by the omens, the emperor took his advice and recalled He Wu and Peng Xuan; within the month both were back among the Three Dukes. Bao Xuan was named metropolitan superintendent. Emperor Ai had dropped "colonel" from the title, leaving the post simply "metropolitan superintendent," with rank on a par with the chancellor's director of integrity.
65
丞相孔光四時行園陵，官屬以令行馳道中，宣出逢之，使吏鉤止丞相掾史，沒入其車馬，摧辱宰相。 事下御史，中丞侍御史至司隸官，欲捕從事，閉門不肯內。 宣坐距閉使者，亡人臣禮，大不敬，不道，下廷尉獄。 博士弟子濟南王咸舉幡太學下，曰：「欲救鮑司隸者會此下。」 諸生會者千餘人。 朝日，遮丞相孔光自言，丞相車不得行，又守闕上書。 上遂抵宣罪減死一等，髡鉗。 宣既被刑，乃徙之上黨，以為其地宜田牧，又少豪俊，易長雄，遂家于長子。
When Chancellor Kong Guang toured the imperial tombs, his staff rode the imperial carriage-way as regulations allowed; Bao Xuan intercepted them, had the aides arrested, impounded their horses, and publicly humiliated the chief minister. The case went to the imperial secretariat; when its officers came to arrest his aide, Bao Xuan locked his gate and refused them entry. He was charged with blocking imperial officers, gross disrespect, and conduct unworthy of a minister, and jailed pending execution. Wang Xian of Ji'nan, a student at the Imperial Academy, hoisted a banner: "Who would save Metropolitan Bao, gather here." More than a thousand students rallied. At dawn they barred Chancellor Kong Guang's carriage and pleaded; they also besieged the palace gate with petitions. The emperor commuted the death sentence to shaving and the cangue. After his sentence he was banished to Shangdang, where land was good for farming and herding and local bullies were few; he settled in Changzi county.
66
平帝即位，王莽秉政，陰有篡國之心，乃風州郡以罪法案誅諸豪桀，及漢忠直臣不附己者，宣及何武等皆死。 時名捕隴西辛興，興與宣女婿許紺俱過宣，一飯去，宣不知情，坐繫獄，自殺。
When the boy Emperor Ping came to the throne, Wang Mang began plotting usurpation and hinted to the provinces to frame and execute local strongmen and Han loyalists who would not bend—Bao Xuan and He Wu were among those killed. When Longxi issued a warrant for Xin Xing, he stopped once at Bao Xuan's house with Xu Dan, Bao's son-in-law, shared a meal, and left; Bao Xuan knew nothing of the charge, was arrested as an accomplice, and took his own life in prison.
67
自成帝至王莽時，清名之士，琅邪又有紀逡王思，齊則薛方子容，太原則郇越臣仲、郇相稚賓，沛郡則唐林子高、唐尊伯高，皆以明經飭行顯名於世。
From Emperor Cheng to Wang Mang, noted men of integrity included Ji Qun and Wang Si of Langya, Xue Fang (Zirong) of Qi, Xun Yue and Xun Xiang of Taiyuan, and Tang Lin and Tang Zun of Pei—all famed for classical learning and upright lives.
68
紀逡、兩唐皆仕王莽，封侯貴重，歷公卿位。 唐林數上疏諫正，有忠直節。 唐尊衣敝履空，以瓦器飲食，又以歷遺公卿，被虛偽名。
Ji Qun and both Tangs served Wang Mang, were ennobled as marquises, and rose to the highest offices. Tang Lin repeatedly remonstrated with blunt honesty. Tang Zun affected rags, holey shoes, meals from earthenware, and calendars handed out to ministers—a hollow show of austerity.
69
郇越、相，同族昆弟也，並舉州郡孝廉茂材，數病，去官。 越散其先人訾千餘萬，以分施九族州里，志節尤高。 相王莽時徵為太子四友，病死，莽太子遣使裞以衣衾，其子攀棺不聽，曰：「死父遺言，師友之送勿有所受，今於皇太子得託友官，故不受也。」 京師稱之。
The cousins Xun Yue and Xun Xiang were both recommended as filial, incorrupt, and abundant talent, but ill health repeatedly drove them from office. Xun Yue gave away over ten million cash of inherited wealth to kin and neighbors—his purpose was of the highest. Xun Xiang was summoned as one of the heir apparent's four friends under Wang Mang but died in office; the heir sent mourning gifts, yet Xun's son clung to the coffin and refused them, saying, "My father's last charge was to accept nothing from tutor or friend; though the heir calls him friend, we will not take these." The capital praised his resolve.
70
薛方嘗為郡掾祭酒，嘗徵不至，及莽以安車迎方，方因使者辭謝曰：「堯舜在上，下有巢由，今明主方隆唐虞之德，小臣欲守箕山之節也。」 使者以聞，莽說其言，不強致。 方居家以經教授，喜屬文，著詩賦數十篇。
Xue Fang had been a commandery libationer and once ignored a summons; when Wang Mang sent a carriage for him, he told the envoy, "Under Yao and Shun there were still hermits like Chao and Xu; Your Majesty revives their virtue, while I prefer the reclusion of Mount Ji." The envoy reported his words; Wang Mang was pleased and did not press him. Xue Fang taught the classics at home, loved letters, and left several dozen poems and fu.
71
始隃麋郭欽，哀帝時為丞相司直，奏免豫州牧鮑宣、京兆尹薛修等，又奏董賢，左遷盧奴令，平帝時遷南郡太守。 而杜陵蔣詡元卿為兗州刺史，亦以廉直為名。 王莽居攝，欽、詡皆以病免官，歸鄉里，臥不出戶，卒於家。
Guo Qin of Yumi had been the chancellor's director of integrity under Emperor Ai who impeached Bao Xuan and Xue Xiu and also struck at Dong Xian, was demoted to magistrate of Lunu, and under Emperor Ping became governor of Nan commandery. Jiang Xu of Duling, as governor of Yan Province, was likewise famed for honesty. When Wang Mang became regent, both Guo Qin and Jiang Xu pleaded illness, retired to their villages, never crossed their thresholds again, and died at home.
72
齊栗融客卿、北海禽慶子夏、蘇章游卿、山陽曹竟子期皆儒生，去官不仕於莽。 莽死，漢更始徵竟以為丞相，封侯，欲視致賢人，銷寇賊。 竟不受侯爵。 會赤眉入長安，欲降竟，竟手劍格死。
Li Rong of Qi, Qin Qing of Beihai, Su Zhang, and Cao Jing of Shanyang were scholars who quit office rather than serve Wang Mang. After Wang Mang fell, Emperor Gengshi of Han summoned Cao Jing as chancellor and offered a marquisate to display his zeal for worthies and to disarm the rebels. Cao Jing refused the marquisate. When the Red Eyebrows took Chang'an they tried to force him to yield; he crossed swords with them and died fighting.
73
世祖即位，徵薛方，道病卒。 兩龔、鮑宣子孫皆見褒表，至大官。
When Guangwu came to the throne he summoned Xue Fang, who died en route. The descendants of the two Gongs and Bao Xuan were honored and rose to high rank.
74
【贊】
Appraisal
75
贊曰：易稱「君子之道，或出或處，或默或語」，言其各得道之一節，譬諸草木，區以別矣。 故曰山林之士往而不能反，朝廷之士入而不能出，二者各有所短。 春秋列國卿大夫至漢興將相名臣，懷祿耽寵以失其世者多矣！ 是故清節之士於是為貴。 然大率多能自治而不能治人。 王、貢之材，優於龔、鮑。 守死善道，勝實蹈焉。 貞而不諒，薛方近之。 郭欽、蔣詡好遯不汙，絕紀、唐矣！
The appraisal: The Book of Changes says the gentleman "may serve or withdraw, speak or hold silence"—each path catches one facet of the Way, as plants differ in kind. Recluses may leave the world but cannot easily return; courtiers may enter power but cannot easily leave—each path has its cost. From the feudal age to Han, countless generals and ministers clung to stipend and favor until they ruined themselves and their times. Hence men of stainless principle won the highest esteem. Yet most could govern their own persons, not the realm. Wang Ji and Gong Yu had the greater political talent; the two Gongs and Bao Xuan stand more narrowly on moral heroism. To die for the right principle—Gong Sheng truly walked that path. Upright yet supple in refusal—Xue Fang came close to that balance. Guo Qin and Jiang Xu chose reclusion without stain—here was integrity that put Ji Qun and the Tang brothers to shame.