1
列傳第六十三文藝上○韓昉蔡松年子珪吳激馬定國任詢趙可郭長倩蕭永祺胡礪王競楊伯仁鄭子聃党懷英
Biography 63 — Literary Arts (Part One): Han Fang; Cai Songnian and his son Gui; Wu Ji; Ma Dingguo; Ren Xun; Zhao Ke; Guo Changqian; Xiao Yongqi; Hu Li; Wang Jing; Yang Boren; Zheng Zidan; and Dang Huaiying.
2
金初未有文字。 世祖以來，漸立條教。 太祖既興，得遼舊人用之，使介往復，其言已文。 太宗繼統，乃行選舉之法，及伐宋，取汴經籍圖，宋士多歸之。 熙宗款謁先聖，北面如弟子禮。 世宗、章宗之世，儒風丕變，庠序日盛，士由科第位至宰輔者接踵。 當時儒者雖無專門名家之學，然而朝廷典策、鄰國書命，粲然有可觀者矣。 金用武得國，無以異於遼，而一代製作，能自樹立唐、宋之間，有非遼世所及，以文而不以武也。 《傳》曰：「言之不文，行之不遠。」 文治有補於人之家國，豈一日之效哉。 作《文藝傳》。
In the early Jin there was as yet no written language or formal documentation. From the reign of Shizu onward, statutes and institutional rules were introduced step by step. Once Taizu had risen to power, he recruited former Liao officials, and the language used in diplomatic exchange was already polished literary Chinese. When Taizong inherited the throne he instituted civil-service examinations; in the campaign against the Song he seized the libraries and maps of Bianjing, and many Song literati entered Jin service. Xizong paid ceremonious homage to Confucius, standing to the north as a student would. Under Shizong and Zhangzong Confucian culture flourished anew, schools multiplied, and men who entered government through the examinations rose in steady succession to the highest offices. Although Jin scholars of that period had no masters of a single scholastic tradition, court memorials and treaties with foreign states were nonetheless accomplished works of genuine merit. The Jin, like the Liao before them, had won an empire by arms, yet in the cultural institutions of their age they could stand among the Tang and Song in ways the Liao never had—because they ruled through letters as much as through the sword. The Commentary says: "What is not expressed in refined language will not carry far in practice." Civil culture strengthens a household and a realm alike; its fruits are never the work of a single day. This is why the "Treatise on Literary Arts" was written.
3
韓昉，字公美，燕京人。 仕遼，累世通顯。 昉五歲喪父，哭泣能盡哀。 天慶二年，中進士第一。 補右拾遺，轉史館修撰。 累遷少府少監、乾文閣待制。 加衛尉卿，知制誥，充高麗國信使。 高麗雖舊通好，天會四年，奉表稱籓而不肯進誓表，累使要約，皆不得要領。 而昉複至高麗，移督再三。 高麗征國中讀書知古今者，商榷辭旨，使酬答專對。 凡涉旬乃始置對，謂昉曰：「小國事遼、宋二百年無誓表，未嘗失籓臣禮。 今事上國，當與事遼、宋同禮。 而屢盟長亂，聖人所不與，必不敢用誓表。」 昉曰：「貴國必欲用古禮，舜五載一巡狩，群後四朝。 週六年五服一朝，又六年王乃時巡，諸侯各朝于方嶽。 今天子方事西狩，則貴國當從朝會矣。」 高麗人無以對，乃曰：「徐議之。」 昉曰：「誓表朝會，一言決耳。」 於是高麗乃進誓表如約，昉乃還。 宗幹大說曰：「非卿誰能辦此。」 因謂執事者曰：「自今出疆之使，皆宜擇人。」
Han Fang, whose style name was Gongmei, came from Yanjing. His family had served the Liao for generations and held eminent rank. Fang lost his father at the age of five and wept with the full depth of filial mourning. In the second year of the Tianqing reign he took first place in the jinshi examination. He was appointed Right Reminder and later became a compiler at the Historiographical Institute. He rose through successive posts to Vice Director of the Palace Storehouse and awaiting draftsman at the Qianwen Pavilion. He was promoted to Commandant of the Guards and charged with drafting imperial rescripts, then sent as credentialed envoy to Goryeo. Goryeo had long maintained friendly relations with the court, but in the fourth year of Tianhui it sent a memorial acknowledging vassalage while refusing to submit a sworn covenant; repeated missions pressed for terms, yet none could secure a definitive agreement. Fang was sent to Goryeo again and pressed his demands in letter after letter. Goryeo gathered its most learned men to deliberate on every phrase and appointed them to answer Fang point by point. Only after ten days did they begin to reply, telling Fang: "For two hundred years our small kingdom served Liao and Song without a sworn covenant and never once failed in the duties of a vassal. In serving your great state we should observe the same ceremonial terms we kept with Liao and Song. Repeated treaties only breed long disorder, and the sages would not approve—we cannot possibly adopt a sworn covenant." Fang replied: "If your state insists on ancient precedent, recall that Shun made a tour of inspection every five years and the feudal lords attended court four times in each cycle. Under the Zhou, the five domains came to court once every six years; after another six years the king toured the realm, and each lord attended at his assigned mountain altar. The Son of Heaven is presently engaged in a western hunt—so your state should come to the court assembly at once." The Goryeo envoys had no answer and said only, "We must deliberate further." Fang said: "The sworn covenant or the court assembly—let one word decide it." At that Goryeo submitted the sworn covenant as required, and Fang returned home. Zonggan was delighted and said, "Who but you could have brought this off?" He then told the officials in charge, "From now on every envoy sent abroad must be chosen with care."
4
明年，加昭文館直學士，兼堂後官。 再加諫議大夫，遷翰林侍講學士。 改禮部尚書，遷翰林學士，兼太常卿、修國史，尚書如故。 昉自天會十二年入禮部，在職凡七年。 當是時，朝廷方議禮，制度或因或革，故昉在禮部兼太常甚久雲。 除濟南尹，拜參知政事。 皇統四年，表乞致仕，不許。 六年，再表乞致仕，乃除汴京留守，封鄆國公。 複請如初，以儀同三司致仕。 天德初，加開府儀同三司。 薨。 年六十八。
The following year he was appointed direct academician of the Zhaowen Hall and also given a concurrent post in the rear hall. He was further promoted to Remonstrance Censor and then to Hanlin attendant lecturer. He was appointed Minister of Rites and Hanlin academician, while retaining his ministry rank and concurrently serving as Grand Master of Ceremonies and compiler of the national history. Fang entered the Ministry of Rites in the twelfth year of Tianhui and held office there for seven years in all. The court was then debating ritual reform, adopting or revising institutions as needed—hence Fang's long tenure in the Ministry of Rites with concurrent charge of the Grand Master of Ceremonies. He was made prefect of Jinan and appointed vice grand councilor. In the fourth year of Huangtong he petitioned to retire, but the request was denied. In the sixth year he petitioned again to retire and was appointed garrison commander of Bianjing and enfeoffed as Duke of Yun. He petitioned once more as before and was permitted to retire with the honorary rank of Pillar of the State, Third Class. At the opening of the Tiande era he was given the additional rank of Grand Master of the Palace with Golden Bells, Third Class. He died. He was sixty-eight years old.
5
昉性仁厚，待物甚寬。 有家奴誣告昉以馬資送叛人出境，考之無狀，有司以奴還昉，昉待之如初，曰：「奴誣主人以罪，求為良耳，何足怪哉。」 人稱其長者。 昉雖貴，讀書未嘗去手，善屬文，最長於詔冊，作《太祖睿德神功碑》，當世稱之。 自使高麗歸，後高麗使者至，必問昉安否雲。
Fang was by nature kind and magnanimous and treated others with exceptional forbearance. A household slave falsely accused him of using government horse funds to help rebels escape across the border; the investigation found no evidence, and the authorities returned the slave to Fang, who treated him exactly as before, saying, "The man accused his master in hope of becoming a free commoner—there is nothing remarkable in that." People praised him as a man of true magnanimity. Though he rose to high office, Fang never set his books aside; he was an accomplished writer, especially famed for edicts and patent letters, and his "Stele of Taizu's Sagacious Virtue and Divine Merit" was acclaimed in his own day. After his mission to Goryeo, every subsequent Goryeo envoy to the court asked after his health.
6
蔡松年
Cai Songnian.
7
蔡松年，字伯堅。 父靖，宋宣和末，守燕山。 松年從父來，管勾機宜文字。 宗望軍至白河，郭藥師敗，靖以燕山府降，元帥府辟松年為令史。 天會中，遼、宋舊有官者皆換授，松年為太子中允，除真定府判官，自此為真定人。
Cai Songnian, whose style name was Bojian, was the son of Jing, who at the end of the Xuanhe reign held Yanshan for the Song. Songnian followed his father and served as overseer of military correspondence. When Zongwang's army reached the White River and Guo Yaoshi was defeated, Jing surrendered the Yanshan prefecture, and the marshal's headquarters appointed Songnian as a clerk. During the Tianhui era former Liao and Song officials were reappointed to Jin posts; Songnian became a palace attendant and was made administrative aide of Zhending Prefecture, thereafter regarded as a native of Zhending.
8
嘗從元帥府與齊俱伐宋。 是時，初平真定西山群盜，山中居民為賊汙者千餘家，松年力為辨論，竟得不坐。 齊國廢，置行台尚書省於汴，松年為行台刑部郎中，都元帥宗弼領行台事，伐宋，松年兼總軍中六部事。 宋稱臣，師還，宗弼入為左丞相，薦松年為刑部員外郎。 皇統七年，尚書省令史許霖告田玨黨事，松年素與玨不相能。 是時宗弼當國，玨性剛正，好評論人物，其党皆君子，韓企先為相愛重之。 而松年、許霖、曹望之欲與玨相結，玨拒之，由是構怨。 故松年、許霖構成玨等罪狀，勸宗弼誅之，君子之党熄焉。 是歲，松年遷左司員外郎。
He once accompanied the marshal's headquarters on a joint campaign with Qi against the Song. When the bandit gangs of the western Zhending hills were newly suppressed, more than a thousand mountain households were implicated as collaborators; Songnian argued strenuously in their defense, and they were ultimately not punished. After the Qi state was abolished a branch secretariat was set up at Bianjing; Songnian became director in the Ministry of Punishments on the branch staff; when Grand Marshal Zongbi led the branch secretariat on campaign against the Song, Songnian concurrently oversaw the six ministries within the army. When the Song submitted as a vassal and the army withdrew, Zongbi entered the capital as left chancellor and recommended Songnian as vice director of the Ministry of Punishments. In the seventh year of Huangtong, secretariat clerk Xu Lin denounced Tian Jue for factional intrigue; Songnian had long been at odds with Jue. Zongbi then dominated the government; Jue was upright and outspoken, given to judging men's character, and his associates were men of integrity whom Chancellor Han Qixian favored. Songnian, Xu Lin, and Cao Wangzhi sought an alliance with Jue, but he rebuffed them, and from that enmity arose. Songnian and Xu Lin then fabricated charges against Jue and his circle and urged Zongbi to put them to death, and the party of upright men was destroyed. That year Songnian was promoted to vice director of the left bureau.
9
松年前在宗弼府，而海陵以宗室子在宗弼軍中任使，用是相厚善。 天德初，擢吏部侍郎，俄遷戶部尚書。 海陵遷中都，徙榷貨物以實都城，複鈔引法，皆自松年啟之。 海陵謀伐宋，以松年家世仕宋，故亟擢顯位以聳南人觀聽，遂以松年為賀宋正旦使，使還改吏部尚書，尋拜參知政一。 是年，自崇德大夫進銀青光祿大夫，遷尚書右丞。 未幾，為左丞，封郜國公。
Songnian had earlier served in Zongbi's headquarters, where Hailing, then a young imperial clansman on assignment in Zongbi's army, became his close friend. At the opening of the Tiande era he was promoted to vice minister of personnel and soon thereafter to minister of revenue. When Hailing moved the capital to Zhongdu, Songnian proposed transferring state monopoly goods to stock the new city and reviving the paper-note tally system. As Hailing planned war against the Song, he rapidly promoted Songnian—whose family had long served the Song—to a conspicuous post so as to impress the south, then sent him as New Year's envoy to the Song; on his return he was made minister of personnel and soon appointed vice grand councilor. That year he was advanced from Grand Master of Cherished Virtue to Grand Master with Silver-Gleaming Light and appointed right vice director of the secretariat. Before long he became left vice director and was enfeoffed as Duke of Gao.
10
初，海陵愛宋使人山呼聲，使神衛軍習之。 及孫道夫賀正隆三年正旦，入見，山呼聲不類往年來者。 道夫退，海陵謂宰臣曰：「宋人知我使神衛軍習其聲，此必蔡松年、胡礪泄之。」 松年惶恐對曰：「臣若懷此心，便當族滅。」
Hailing had taken a liking to the ceremonial shout with which Song envoys hailed the throne and ordered the Divine Guard to practice it. When Sun Daofu came to offer New Year's congratulations in the third year of Zhenglong, his ceremonial shout on entering audience differed from that of earlier envoys. After Daofu withdrew, Hailing told his chief ministers, "The Song must know we had the Divine Guard practice their shout—Songnian and Hu Li must have leaked it." Songnian answered in alarm, "If I harbored such intent, let my entire clan be destroyed."
11
松年事繼母以孝聞，喜周恤親黨，性複豪侈，不計家之有無。 文詞清麗，尤工樂府，與吳激齊名，時號「吳蔡體。」 有集行於世。 子珪。
He was famed for filial devotion to his stepmother and for generous support of kin and friends; he was by nature lavish and gave no thought to his household's means. His verse was refined and elegant, especially in yuefu poetry; he and Wu Ji were equally famed, and contemporaries spoke of the "Wu-Cai style." A collection of his writings circulated widely. His son was Gui.
12
子珪
His son Gui.
13
珪字正甫。 中進士第，不求調，久乃除澄州軍事判官，遷三河主簿。 丁父憂，起複翰林修撰，同知制誥。 在職八年，改戶部員外郎，兼太常丞。 珪號為辨博，凡朝廷制度損益，珪為編類詳定檢討刪定官。
Gui, whose style name was Zhengfu, passed the jinshi examination but declined to seek a post; only after a long interval was he appointed military administrative aide of Cheng Prefecture, later becoming registrar of Sanhe. After mourning his father he was recalled to serve as Hanlin compiler and deputy drafter of imperial rescripts. After eight years in office he was appointed vice director of the Ministry of Revenue and concurrently vice director of the Grand Master of Ceremonies. Gui was known for erudition and precision; whenever court institutions were revised, he served on the committee for compilation, detailed review, and final revision.
14
初，兩燕王墓舊在中都東城外，海陵廣京城圍，墓在東城內。 前嘗有盜發其墓，大定九年詔改葬於城外。 俗傳六國時燕王及太子丹之葬，及啟壙，其東墓之柩題其和曰「燕靈王舊。」 「舊」，古「柩」字，通用。 乃西漢高祖子劉建葬也。 其西墓，蓋燕康王劉嘉之葬也。 珪作《兩燕王墓辯》，據葬制名物款刻甚詳。
The two tombs of the Yan kings had originally lain east of Zhongdu outside the walls; when Hailing enlarged the capital, they fell inside the eastern quarter of the city. Grave robbers had once opened them, and in the ninth year of Dading an edict ordered them reburied outside the walls. Popular tradition held that they were the tombs of the Yan king and Crown Prince Dan of the Warring States period; when the vault was opened, the eastern coffin bore on its lid the inscription "Yan Ling Wang jiu." Jiu" was the archaic form of the character for "coffin," used interchangeably in such inscriptions. The tomb was in fact that of Liu Jian, son of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han. The western tomb was evidently that of Liu Jia, King Kang of Yan. Gui wrote "A Disputation on the Two Yan-King Tombs," drawing in meticulous detail on burial regulations, ritual objects, and the tomb inscriptions.
15
安國軍節度判官高元鼎坐監臨奸事，求援于太常博士田居實、大理司直吳長行、吏部主事高震亨、大理評事王元忠。 震亨以屬鞫問官禦史台典事李仲柔，仲柔發之。 珪與刑部員外郎王翛、宛平主簿任詢、前衛州防禦判官閻恕、承事郎高複亨、文林郎翟詢、敦武校尉王景晞、進義校尉任師望，坐與居實等轉相傳教，或令元鼎逃避，居實、長行、震亨、元忠各杖八十，翛、珪、詢、恕、複亨、霍詢各笞四十，景晞、師望各徒二年，官贖外並的決。
Gao Yuanding, administrative aide to the military commissioner of the Anguo army, was charged with condoning sexual misconduct and sought help from Tian Jushi, an academician of the Grand Master of Ceremonies, Wu Changxing, an investigating officer of the Court of Judicial Review, Gao Zhenheng, a principal clerk of the Ministry of Personnel, and Wang Yuanzhong, a judging officer of the Court of Judicial Review. Zhenheng passed the matter to Li Zhongrou, a clerk of the Censorate charged with investigation, and Zhongrou exposed the affair. Gui, together with Wang Xiao, vice director of the Ministry of Punishments, Ren Xun, registrar of Wanping, Yan Shu, former administrative aide of the Weizhou defense command, Gao Fuheng, gentleman for meritorious achievement, Zhai Xun, literary grove gentleman, Wang Jingxi, dunwu commandant, and Ren Shiwang, jinyi commandant, were convicted of passing messages among Jushi's circle or helping Yuanding evade prosecution; Jushi, Changxing, Zhenheng, and Yuanzhong were each sentenced to eighty strokes of the staff; Xiao, Gui, Xun, Shu, Fuheng, and Huo Xun to forty strokes of the bamboo; Jingxi and Shiwang to two years' penal servitude; and beyond whatever redemption their offices allowed, all punishments were carried out on the spot.
16
久之，除河東北路轉運副使，複入為修撰，遷禮部郎中，封真定縣男。 珪已得風疾，失音不能言，乃除濰州刺史，同輩已奏謝，珪獨不能入見。 世宗以讓右丞唐括安禮、參政王蔚曰：「卿等閱書史，亦有不能言之人可以從政者乎。」 又謂中丞劉仲誨曰：「蔡珪風疾不能奏謝，卿等何不糾之。 人言卿等相為黨蔽，今果然邪？」 珪乃致仕。 尋卒。
After some time he was appointed vice transport commissioner of the Hedong North circuit, recalled as a Hanlin compiler, promoted to director of the Ministry of Rites, and enfeoffed as Baron of Zhending. Gui had already been stricken with apoplexy and had lost his power of speech; he was nevertheless appointed prefect of Weizhou, and while his colleagues had already presented their thanks for appointment, Gui alone could not appear at court. Shizong rebuked right vice director Tangutuo Anli and vice grand councilor Wang Wei, saying, "You have read history—can a man who cannot speak truly hold office?" He then said to censor-in-chief Liu Zhonghui, "Cai Gui's apoplexy kept him from presenting thanks for his appointment—why did you not impeach him? People say you shield one another as a faction—is that not plainly true?" Gui thereupon retired from office. He died soon afterward.
17
珪之文有《補正水經》五篇，合沈約、蕭子顯、魏收宋、齊、北魏志作《南北史志》三十卷，《續金石遺文跋尾》十卷，《晉陽志》十二卷，《文集》五十五卷。 《補正水經》、《晉陽志》、《文集》今存，餘皆亡。
Among Gui's writings were five chapters of "Correcting the Water Classic"; a thirty-chapter "North-South History Gazetteer" compiled from the Song, Qi, and Northern Wei gazetteers of Shen Yue, Xiao Zixian, and Wei Shou; ten chapters of "Continued Colophons to Lost Bronze and Stone Inscriptions"; twelve chapters of the "Jinyang Gazetteer"; and fifty-five chapters of collected works. The "Correcting the Water Classic," the "Jinyang Gazetteer," and the collected works survive today; all his other works are lost.
18
吳激，字彥高，建州人。 父拭，宋進士，官終朝奉郎、知蘇州。 激，米芾之婿也。 工詩能文，字畫俊逸，得芾筆意。 尤精樂府，造語清婉，哀而不傷。 將宋命至金，以知名留不遣，命為翰林待制。 皇統二年，出知深州，到官三日卒。 詔賜其子錢百萬、粟三百斛、田三頃以周其家。 有《東山集》十卷行於世。 「東山」，其自號也。
Wu Ji, whose style name was Yangao, came from Jianzhou. His father Shi was a Song jinshi who ended his career as Gentleman for Court Attendance and prefect of Suzhou. Ji was the son-in-law of the calligrapher Mi Fu. He excelled in poetry and prose, and his calligraphy and painting were elegant and spirited, capturing Mi Fu's brush manner. He was especially accomplished in yuefu poetry, with diction clear and delicate—lament without excess. When he was about to deliver a Song mission to the Jin, his fame led the court to detain him and appoint him Hanlin awaiting draftsman. In the second year of Huangtong he was sent out as prefect of Shenzhou and died three days after taking office. An edict granted his son a million in cash, three hundred hu of grain, and three qing of land to support the family. His "Eastern Mountain Collection" in ten chapters circulated widely. "Eastern Mountain" was his chosen sobriquet.
19
馬定國
Ma Dingguo.
20
馬定國字子卿，茌平人。 自少志趣不群。 宣、政未末題詩酒家壁，坐譏訕得罪，亦因以知名。 阜昌初，遊歷下，以詩撼齊王豫，豫大悅，授監察禦史，仕至翰林學士。 《石鼓》自唐以來無定論，定國以字畫考之，雲是宇文周時所造，作辯萬餘言，出入傳記，引據甚明，學者以比蔡正甫《燕王墓辯》。 初，學詩未有入處，夢其父與方寸白筆，從是文章大進。 有集傳於世。
Ma Dingguo, whose style name was Ziqing, came from Chiping. From youth his temperament and ambitions set him apart from others. Near the end of the Xuanhe and Zhenghe reigns he wrote a poem on a tavern wall, was punished for satirical mockery, and thereby became famous. At the opening of the Fuchang era he traveled to Lixia and impressed Prince Yu of Qi with a poem; Yu was delighted and made him investigating censor, and he rose to Hanlin academician. The "Stone Drums" had been disputed since the Tang; Dingguo studied their script and argued that they dated from the Northern Zhou of the Yuwen clan, writing a disputation of more than ten thousand words with clear citations from historical records—scholars compared it to Cai Zhengfu's "Disputation on the Yan-King Tombs." When he was still struggling to master poetry, he dreamed that his father gave him a small white brush, and from that time his writing advanced greatly. A collection of his writings circulated.
21
任詢，字君謨，易州軍市人。 父貴，有才幹，善畫，喜談兵，宣、政間游江、浙。 詢生於虔州，為人慷慨多大節。 書為當時第一，畫亦入妙品。 評者謂畫高於書，書高於詩，詩高於文，然王庭筠獨以其才具許之。 登正隆二年進士第。 曆益都都勾判官，北京鹽使。 年六十四致仕，優遊鄉里，家藏法書名畫數百軸。 年七十卒。
Ren Xun, whose style name was Junmo, came from Junshi in Yizhou. His father Gui was capable and skilled in painting, fond of military discussion, and during the Xuanhe and Zhenghe reigns traveled through Jiangnan and Zhejiang. Xun was born in Qianzhou and was by nature generous and possessed of great moral resolve. His calligraphy ranked first in his day, and his painting reached the highest grade. Critics held that his painting surpassed his calligraphy, his calligraphy his poetry, and his poetry his prose—yet Wang Tingyun alone praised the breadth of his gifts. He passed the jinshi examination in the second year of Zhenglong. He served as investigating administrative aide of Yidu and as Beijing salt commissioner. He retired at sixty-four and lived at ease in his home district, keeping several hundred scrolls of master calligraphy and famous paintings. He died at the age of seventy.
22
趙可，字獻之，高平人。 貞元二年進士。 仕至翰林直學士。 博學高才，卓犖不羈。 天德、貞元間，有聲場屋。 後入翰林，一時詔誥多出其手，流輩服其典雅。 其歌詩樂府尤工，號《玉峰散人集》。
Zhao Ke, whose style name was Xianzhi, came from Gaoping. He received his jinshi degree in the second year of Zhenyuan. He rose to the post of Hanlin direct academician. He was broadly learned, brilliantly gifted, and unconstrained by convention. Between the Tiande and Zhenyuan eras he was famed in the examination halls. After entering the Hanlin Academy, most court edicts and rescripts of the day came from his hand, and his contemporaries admired his refined style. His songs, poetry, and yuefu were especially accomplished, collected under the title "Works of the Jade-Peak Recluse."
23
郭長倩
Guo Changqian.
24
郭長倩，字曼卿，文登人。 登皇統丙寅經義乙科。 仕至秘書少監，兼禮部郎中，修起居注。 與施朋望、王無競、劉岩老、劉無党相友善。 所撰《石決明傳》為時輩所稱。 有《昆侖集》行於世。
Guo Changqian, whose style name was Manqing, came from Wendeng. He passed the Classics Meaning examination in the bingyin year of Huangtong, second class. He rose to vice director of the Secretariat, concurrently director of the Ministry of Rites and compiler of the imperial diary. He was on close terms with Shi Pengwang, Wang Wujing, Liu Yanlao, and Liu Wudang. His "Biography of Stone Cassia" was praised by contemporaries. His "Kunlun Collection" circulated in his day.
25
蕭永祺
Xiao Yongqi.
26
蕭永祺，字景純，本名蒲烈。 少好學，通契丹大小字。 廣甯尹耶律固奉詔譯書，時置門下，因盡傳其業。 固卒，永祺率門弟子服齊衰喪。 固作《遼史》未成，永祺繼之，作紀三十卷、志五卷、傳四十卷，上之。 加宣武將軍，除太常丞。
Xiao Yongqi, whose style name was Jingchun and whose original name was Pulie, loved learning from youth and mastered both the large and small Khitan scripts. When Guangning prefect Yelü Gu was ordered to translate books, Yongqi was placed in his household and received his full instruction. When Gu died, Yongqi led his fellow disciples in wearing one-year mourning. Gu had left the "History of Liao" unfinished; Yongqi continued it, completing thirty chapters of annals, five of treatises, and forty of biographies, and presented them to the throne. He was promoted to General of Manifest Martiality and appointed vice director of the Grand Master of Ceremonies.
27
海陵為中京留守，永祺特見親禮。 天德初，擢左諫議大夫，遷翰林侍講學士，同修國史，再遷翰林學士。 明年，遷承旨。 尚書左丞耶律安禮出守南京，海陵欲以永祺代之，召見於內閣，諭以旨意，永祺辭曰：「臣才識卑下，不足以辱執政。」 海陵曰：「今天下無事，朕方以文治，卿為是優矣。」 永祺固辭。 既出，或問曰：「公遇知人主，進取爵位，以道佐時，何多讓也？」 永祺曰：「執政系天下休戚，縱欲貪冒榮寵，如蒼生何！」 海陵嘗選廷臣十人備諮訪，獨永祺議論寬厚，時稱長者。 卒年五十七。
When Hailing served as garrison commander of the Central Capital, Yongqi received his special favor. At the opening of the Tiande era he was promoted to left remonstrance censor, then to Hanlin attendant lecturer and compiler of the national history, and again to Hanlin academician. The following year he was made Hanlin academician expositor. When left vice director Yelü Anli was sent to guard Nanjing, Hailing wished to replace him with Yongqi and summoned him to the inner pavilion to explain his intent; Yongqi declined, saying, "My talent and learning are too slight to bear the burden of high office." Hailing said, "The realm is at peace, and I am pursuing civil governance—you are well suited to it." Yongqi still refused. After he left, someone asked, "You have met a ruler who knows talent and could advance in rank to aid the age—why refuse so much?" Yongqi replied, "High office bears on the welfare of the realm; even if one craved rank and favor, what would become of the people?" When Hailing once chose ten court ministers for consultation, Yongqi alone was noted for his generous and measured discourse, and contemporaries called him a man of true magnanimity. He died at the age of fifty-seven.
28
胡礪，字元化，磁州武安人。 少嗜學。 天會間，大軍下河北，礪為軍士所掠，行至燕，亡匿香山寺，與傭保雜處。 韓昉見而異之，使賦詩以見志，礪操筆立成，思致清婉，昉喜甚，因館置門下，使與其子處，同教育之，自是學業日進。 昉嘗謂人曰：「胡生才器一日千里，他日必將名世。」 十年，舉進士第一，授右拾遺，權翰林修撰。 久之，改定州觀察判官。 定之學校為河朔冠，士子聚居者常以百數，礪督教不倦，經指授者悉為場屋上游，稱其程文為「元化格」。
Hu Li, whose style name was Yuanhua, came from Wu'an in Cizhou. From youth he was devoted to study. During the Tianhui era, when the main army swept through Hebei, Li was seized by soldiers; he fled to Yan and hid in Xiangshan Temple, living among hired laborers. Han Fang noticed him, asked him to write a poem expressing his aspirations, and Li composed one immediately with clear and graceful thought; Fang was delighted, took him into his household, and had him study with his sons, after which Li's learning advanced daily. Fang once said, "Master Hu's talent advances a thousand li in a day; he will surely make his name in the world." Ten years later he took first place in the jinshi examination and was appointed right reminder and acting Hanlin compiler. After some time he was made administrative aide to the Dingzhou observation commissioner. Dingzhou's schools were the finest in Hebei, with hundreds of students in residence; Li taught tirelessly, and those he instructed regularly ranked at the top in examinations—his model essays were called the "Yuanhua style."
29
皇統初，為河北西路轉運都勾判官。 礪性剛直無所屈。 行台平章政事高楨之汴，道真定，燕于漕司。 礪欲就坐，楨責之，礪曰：「公在政府則禮絕百僚，今日之會自有賓主禮。」 楨曰：「汝他日為省吏當何如？」 礪曰：「當官而行，亦何所避。」 楨壯其言，改謝之。
At the opening of Huangtong he became investigating administrative aide on the Hebei West transport commission. Li was by nature upright and unyielding. Branch secretariat grand councilor Gao Zhen traveled to Bianjing, passed through Zhending, and was entertained at the transport commission. When Li was about to take his seat, Zhen rebuked him; Li replied, "In the central government your rank sets you apart from all officials, but at today's gathering the rites of host and guest still apply." Zhen said, "If you become a secretariat clerk one day, how will you behave then?" Li said, "One acts as office requires—what is there to shrink from?" Zhen admired his reply and apologized to him.
30
改同知深州軍州事，加朝奉大夫。 郡守暴戾，蔑視僚屬，礪常以禮折之，守愧服，郡事一委於礪。 州管五縣，例置弓手百餘，少者猶六七十人，歲征民錢五千余萬為顧直。 其人皆市井無賴，以跡盜為名，所至擾民。 礪知其弊，悉罷去。 繼而有飛語曰：「某日賊發，將殺通守。」 或請為備，礪曰：「盜所利者財耳，吾貧如此，何備為。」 是夕，令公署撤關，竟亦無事。
He was made vice commissioner of Shenzhou and given the rank of Gentleman for Court Attendance. The prefect was brutal and despised his staff; Li regularly checked him with proper ceremony until the prefect submitted in shame and entrusted all prefectural affairs to him. The prefecture administered five counties and by custom maintained more than a hundred bowmen, or at least sixty or seventy, levying more than fifty million in cash annually from the people as guard pay. They were market riffraff who went about under the name of thief-catchers and harassed the people wherever they went. Li saw the abuse and abolished them entirely. Soon a rumor spread that bandits would rise on a certain day and kill the administrative commissioner. When someone urged precautions, Li said, "Thieves want only wealth, and I am as poor as this—what need is there for precautions?" That night he ordered the government offices to leave their gates unbarred, and nothing happened.
31
再補翰林修撰，遷禮部郎中，一時典禮多所裁定。 海陵拜平章政事，百官賀於廟堂，礪獨不跪。 海陵問其故，礪以令對，且曰：「朝服而跪，見君父禮也。」 海陵深器重之。 天德初，再遷侍講學士，同修國史。 以母憂去官。 起複為宋國歲元副使，刑部侍郎白彥恭為使，海陵謂礪曰：「彥恭官在卿下，以其舊勞，故使卿副之。」 遷翰林學士，改刑部尚書。 扈從至汴得疾，海陵數遣使臨問，卒，深悼惜之。 年五十五。
He was again appointed Hanlin compiler and promoted to director of the Ministry of Rites, determining many ritual questions of the day. When Hailing was appointed grand councilor, the officials offered congratulations in the temple hall, but Li alone did not kneel. Hailing asked why; Li cited the regulations and said, "Kneeling in court dress is the rite owed to the ruler and father." Hailing greatly valued him. At the opening of the Tiande era he was again promoted to attendant lecturer and compiler of the national history. He left office to mourn his mother. Recalled to serve as vice envoy for the Song New Year mission, with Bai Yangong of the Ministry of Punishments as chief envoy; Hailing told Li, "Yangong's rank is below yours, but because of his long service I have made you his deputy." He was promoted to Hanlin academician and then minister of punishments. He fell ill while accompanying the court to Bianjing; Hailing sent envoys repeatedly to inquire after him; when he died, Hailing mourned him deeply. He was fifty-five years old.
32
王競，字無競，彰德人。 警敏好學。 年十七以廕補官。 宋宣和中，太學兩試合格，調屯留主簿。 入國朝，除大寧令，曆寶勝鹽官，轉河內令。 時歲饑盜起，競設方略以購賊，不數月盡得之。 夏秋之交，沁水泛溢，歲發民築堤，豪民猾吏因緣為奸，競核實之，減費幾半，縣民為之諺曰：「西山至河岸，縣官兩人半。」 蓋以前政韓希甫與競相繼治縣，皆有幹能，絳州正平令張元亦有治績而差不及，故雲然。
Wang Jing, whose style name was Wujing, came from Zhangde. He was quick-witted and devoted to learning. At seventeen he entered office through hereditary privilege. During the Xuanhe reign he twice passed the Imperial Academy examinations and was appointed registrar of Tunliu. After entering Jin service he was made magistrate of Daning, served as salt commissioner of Baosheng, and was transferred to magistrate of Henei. In a year of famine bandits rose; Jing devised a reward scheme for their capture, and within a few months had seized them all. Between summer and autumn the Qin River flooded, and each year the people were conscripted to build dikes while powerful locals and corrupt clerks profited; Jing audited the accounts and cut costs nearly in half, and the people coined a saying: "From West Mountain to the riverbank—the county has two and a half officials." This referred to the successive administrations of Han Xifu and Jing, both men of real ability, and to Zhang Yuan, magistrate of Zhengping in Jiangzhou, whose achievements fell somewhat short—hence the saying.
33
天眷元年，轉固安令。 皇統初，參政韓昉薦之，召權應奉翰林文字，兼太常博士。 詔作《金源郡王完顏婁室墓碑》，競以行狀盡其實，乃請國史刑正之，時人以為法。 二年，試館閣，競文居最，遂為真。
In the first year of Tianjuan he was transferred to magistrate of Gu'an. At the opening of Huangtong, vice grand councilor Han Fang recommended him; he was summoned as acting attendant for Hanlin documents and concurrently academician of the Grand Master of Ceremonies. He was ordered to compose the stele inscription for Prince Wanyan Loushi of Jinyuan; Jing drew on the conduct narrative to state the facts fully and asked the historiographical office to revise it—contemporaries took this as the proper method. In the second year he passed the Hanlin examination with the highest-ranked essay and received a permanent appointment.
34
遷尚書禮部員外郎。 時海陵當國，政由己出，欲令百官避堂諱，競言人臣無公諱，遂止。 蕭仲恭乙太傅領三省事封王，欲援遼故事，親王用紫羅傘。 事下禮部，競與郎中翟永固明言其非是，事竟不行，海陵由是重之。 天德初，轉翰林待制，遷翰林直學士，改禮部侍郎，遷翰林侍講學士，改太常卿，同修國史，擢禮部尚書，同修國史如故。 大定二年春，從太傅張浩朝京師，詔複為禮部尚書。 是歲，奉遷睿宗山陵，儀注不應典禮，競削官兩階。 詔改創五龍車，兼翰林學士承旨，修國史。 四年，卒官。
He was promoted to vice director of the Ministry of Rites in the Secretariat. When Hailing held power and wished to require officials to avoid his personal taboo, Jing argued that ministers owed no such public taboo, and the proposal was dropped. When Xiao Zhonggong was appointed grand mentor, placed in charge of the Three Departments, and enfeoffed as prince, he sought to follow Liao precedent and use a purple silk umbrella reserved for imperial princes. The matter was referred to the Ministry of Rites; Jing and director Zhai Yonggu plainly declared it improper, and the proposal was abandoned; Hailing thereafter held him in high regard. At the opening of Tiande he rose through Hanlin awaiting draftsman and direct academician to vice minister of rites, Hanlin attendant lecturer, grand master of ceremonies, and minister of rites, while continuing to compile the national history. In the spring of the second year of Dading he accompanied grand mentor Zhang Hao to the capital and was by edict restored as minister of rites. That year, in the removal of Ruizong's tomb to the mountain mausoleum, the ceremonial regulations failed to meet canonical standards, and Jing was demoted two ranks. By edict he redesigned the Five-Dragon carriage, served as Hanlin academician expositor, and compiled the national history. In the fourth year he died in office.
35
競博學而能文，善草隸書，工大字，兩都宮殿榜題，皆競所書，士林推為第一雲。
Jing was broadly learned and accomplished in prose, skilled in cursive and clerical script and especially in large characters; the inscription plaques of the palaces in both capitals were all his work, and scholars ranked him first.
36
楊伯仁
Yang Boren.
37
楊伯仁，字安道，伯雄之弟也。 天性孝友，讀書一過成誦。 登皇統九年進士第，事親不求調。 天德二年，除應奉翰林文字。 初名伯英，避太子光英諱，改今名。 海陵嘗夜召賦詩，傳趣甚亟，未二鼓奏十詠，海陵喜，解衣賜之。 海陵射烏，伯仁獻《獲烏詩》以諷。 丁父憂，起複，賜金帶襲衣，及賜白金以奉母。 改左拾遺。 進士呂忠翰廷試已在第一，未唱名，海陵以忠翰程文示伯仁，問其優劣，伯仁對曰：「當在優等。」 海陵曰：「此今試狀元也。」 伯仁自以知忠翰姓名在第一，遂宿諫省，俟唱名乃出，海陵嘉其慎密。 轉翰林修撰。 孟宗獻發解第一，伯仁讀其程文，稱之「此人當成大名」。 是歲，宗獻府試、省試、廷試皆第一，號「孟四元」，時論以為知文。 故事，狀元官從七品，階承務郎，世宗以宗獻獨異等，與從六品，階授奉直大夫。
Yang Boren, whose style name was Andao, was the younger brother of Yang Boxiong. By nature filial and devoted to his brothers, he could recite a text after reading it once. He passed the jinshi examination in the ninth year of Huangtong and declined appointment in order to care for his parents. In the second year of Tiande he was appointed attendant for Hanlin documents. His original name was Boying; to avoid the taboo of Crown Prince Guangying he adopted his present name. Hailing once summoned him at night to compose poetry with urgent dispatch; before the second watch he presented ten poems, and Hailing was so pleased that he gave him his own robe. When Hailing went crow-shooting, Boren presented a "Poem on Capturing Crows" as indirect admonition. After mourning his father he was recalled and granted a gold belt, court robe, and white gold to support his mother. He was appointed left reminder. The jinshi Lü Zhonghan had already ranked first in the palace examination before the names were announced; Hailing showed Boren his essay and asked its merit; Boren replied, "It belongs in the highest grade." Hailing said, "This is today's top examination graduate." Knowing that Zhonghan was first, Boren stayed overnight in the remonstrance office and did not emerge until the names were announced; Hailing praised his discretion. He was made Hanlin compiler. When Meng Zongxian took first place in the qualifying examination, Boren read his essay and said, "This man will surely make a great name." That year Zongxian took first in the prefectural, provincial, and palace examinations and was called "Meng the Four Firsts"; contemporaries agreed that Boren truly knew literary talent. By precedent the top graduate received seventh rank and the rank of Gentleman for Court Service; Shizong, finding Zongxian uniquely outstanding, granted sixth rank and the rank of Gentleman for Direct Service.
38
改著作郎。 居母喪，服除，調鎮西節度副使。 入為起居注兼左拾遺，上書論時務六事。 改大名少尹。 郡中豪民橫恣甚，莫可制，民受其害，伯仁窮竟渠黨，四境帖然。 讞館陶大辟，得其冤狀，館陶人為立祠。 府尹荊王文坐贓削封，降德州防禦使，同知裴滿子甯及伯仁、判官謝奴皆以不能匡正解職。 伯仁降南京留守判官，改同知安化軍節度使，到官三日，召為太子右諭德、兼侍御史，改翰林待制，複兼右諭德。
He was appointed composition gentleman. After mourning his mother he was assigned vice military commissioner of the Zhenxi circuit. He entered court as compiler of the imperial diary and left reminder and memorialized on six matters of state. He was made junior prefect of Daming. Powerful locals in the prefecture ran rampant beyond control and harmed the people; Boren investigated their gangs to the end, and the region was pacified. In a capital case at Guantao he uncovered a wrongful conviction, and the people of Guantao erected a shrine in his honor. Prefect Jing Wangwen was stripped of his enfeoffment for corruption and demoted to defense commissioner of Dezhou; vice commissioner Peiman Zining, Boren, and administrative aide Xie Nu were all dismissed for failing to correct him. Boren was demoted to administrative aide to the Nanjing garrison commander, then made vice commissioner of the Anhua army; three days after taking office he was recalled as right mentor to the crown prince and attending censor, then Hanlin awaiting draftsman, again concurrently right mentor.
39
除濱州刺史。 郡俗有遣奴出亡，捕之以規賞者，伯仁至，責其主而杖殺其奴，如是者數輩，其弊遂止。 入為左諫議大夫，兼禮部侍郎、翰林直學士。 故事，諫官詞臣入直禁中，上閔其勞，特免入直。 改吏部侍郎，直學士如故。 鄭子聃卒，宰相舉伯仁代之，乃遷待講兼禮部侍郎。
He was appointed prefect of Binzhou. Local custom encouraged masters to let slaves escape and then capture them for reward; Boren punished the masters and executed the slaves in several such cases, and the abuse ceased. He entered court as left remonstrance censor, concurrently vice minister of rites and Hanlin direct academician. By precedent remonstrance officials and literary ministers kept night duty in the palace; the emperor, pitying his labors, specially exempted him. He was made vice minister of personnel while retaining his post as direct academician. When Zheng Zidan died, the chief ministers recommended Boren to replace him, and he was promoted to attendant lecturer concurrently vice minister of rites.
40
伯仁久在翰林，文詞典麗，上曰：「自韓昉、張鈞後，則有翟永固，近日則張景仁、鄭子聃，今則伯仁而已，其次未見能文者。 呂忠翰草《降海陵庶人詔》，點竄再四，終不能盡朕意，狀元雖以詞賦甲天下，至於辭命，未必皆能。 凡進士可令補外，考其能文者召用之。」 不數月，兼左諫議大夫，俄兼太常卿。 大臣舉可修起居注者數人，上以伯仁領之。 從幸上京，伯仁多病，至臨潢，地寒因感疾，還中都。 明年，上還幸中都，遣使勞問，賜以丹劑。 是歲，卒。
Boren had long served in the Hanlin, and his writing was elegant and accomplished; the emperor said, "After Han Fang and Zhang Jun came Zhai Yonggu; recently Zhang Jingren and Zheng Zidan; now only Boren remains—I see no other capable writer among them. Lü Zhonghan drafted the edict demoting Hailing to commoner status and revised it repeatedly, yet still failed to satisfy me; though the top graduate may lead the empire in fu and rhapsody, not every such man can draft imperial commands. Let jinshi fill posts outside the capital first, and summon those who prove themselves capable writers." Within a few months he was also made left remonstrance censor, and soon grand master of ceremonies. When chief ministers recommended several men to compile the imperial diary, the emperor put Boren in charge. Accompanying the emperor to the Upper Capital, Boren fell ill; at Linhuang the cold brought on his illness, and he returned to the Central Capital. The following year, when the emperor returned to the Central Capital, he sent envoys to inquire after him and bestowed medicinal pellets. That year he died.
41
鄭子聃
Zheng Zidan.
42
鄭子聃，字景純，大定府人。 父宏，遼金源令，二子子京、子聃。 楊丘行嘗謂人曰：「金源二子，鳳毛也。 小者尤特達，後必名世。」 子聃及冠，有能賦聲。 天德三年，丘行為太子左衛率府率，廷試明日，海陵以子聃程文示丘行，對曰：「可入甲乙。」 及拆卷，果中第一甲第三人。 調翼城丞，遷贊皇令，召為書畫直長。
Zheng Zidan, whose style name was Jingchun, came from Dading prefecture. His father Hong had been magistrate of Jinyuan under the Liao and had two sons, Zijing and Zidan. Yang Qiuxing once said, "The two sons of Jinyuan are phoenix fledglings. The younger is especially remarkable and will surely make his name in the world." When Zidan came of age he was already famed for his fu. In the third year of Tiande, when Qiuxing was commandant of the Left Guard of the Heir Apparent, Hailing showed him Zidan's palace examination essay the day after the test; he replied, "This can rank in the upper grades." When the papers were opened, he indeed ranked third in the first jia. He was assigned assistant magistrate of Yicheng, promoted to magistrate of Zanhuang, and summoned as direct steward of calligraphy and painting.
43
子聃頗以才望自負，常慊不得為第一甲第一人。 正隆二年會試畢，海陵以第一人程文問子聃，子聃少之。 海陵問作賦何如，對曰：「甚易。」 因自矜，且謂他人莫己若也。 海陵不悅，乃使子聃與翰林修撰綦戩、楊伯仁、宣徽判官張汝霖、應奉翰林文字李希顏同進士雜試。 七月癸未，海陵禦寶昌門臨軒觀試，以「不貴異物民乃足」為賦題，「忠臣猶孝子」為詩題，「憂國如饑渴」為論題。 上謂讀卷官翟永固曰：「朕出賦題，能言之或能行之，未可知也。 詩、論題，庶戒臣下。」 丁亥，禦便殿親覽試卷，中第者七十三人，子聃果第一，海陵奇之。 有頃，進官三階，除翰林修撰。 改侍御史。
Zidan was proud of his talent and reputation and often regretted that he had not ranked first in the first jia. After the joint examination of the second year of Zhenglong, Hailing asked Zidan's opinion of the top candidate's essay, and Zidan disparaged it. Hailing asked how he found composing fu; he replied, "Very easy." He grew boastful and declared that no one could match him. Displeased, Hailing ordered Zidan to take a special jinshi examination alongside Hanlin compiler Qi Kai, Yang Boren, palace attendant administrative aide Zhang Rulin, and attendant for Hanlin documents Li Xiyan. On guimou of the seventh month Hailing observed the examination from the Baochang Gate; the fu topic was "Not prizing strange objects, the people are content," the poetry topic "A loyal minister is like a filial son," and the discourse topic "Caring for the state as for hunger and thirst." The emperor told examination reader Zhai Yonggu, "In setting the fu topic, whether those who can write of it can also act on it remains to be seen. The poetry and discourse topics are meant to admonish my ministers." On dinghai he personally reviewed the papers in the side hall; seventy-three passed, with Zidan first, to Hailing's astonishment. Soon he was promoted three ranks and appointed Hanlin compiler. He was made attending censor.
44
京畿旱，詔子聃決囚，遂澍雨，人以比顏真卿。 遷待制，兼吏部郎中，改秘書少監。 遷翰林直學士，兼太子左諭德，顯宗深器重之。 以疾求補外，遂為沂州防禦使，皇太子幣贐甚厚，命以安輿之官。 召還，為左諫議大夫、兼直學士。 改吏部侍郎、同修國史，直學士如故。 遷侍講、兼修國史，上曰：「修《海陵實錄》，知其詳無如子聃者。」 蓋以史事專責之也。 二十年，卒，年五十五。 子聃英俊有直氣，其為文亦然。 平生所著詩文二千餘篇。
When the capital region suffered drought, Zidan was ordered to review prisoners, and timely rain followed; people compared him to Yan Zhenqing. He was promoted to awaiting draftsman and concurrently director of the Ministry of Personnel, then vice director of the Secretariat. He became Hanlin direct academician and left mentor to the crown prince, and Xianzong held him in high regard. Seeking an external post because of illness, he became defense commissioner of Yizhou; the crown prince sent lavish parting gifts and ordered him to travel to his post in a comfort carriage. Recalled to court, he became left remonstrance censor and direct academician. He was made vice minister of personnel and compiler of the national history while retaining his post as direct academician. Promoted to attendant lecturer and compiler of the national history, the emperor said, "In compiling the Veritable Records of Hailing, no one knows the details as Zidan does." This was because he was given sole charge of that historical work. In the twentieth year he died at the age of fifty-five. Zidan was handsome and upright in character, and his writing was the same. In his lifetime he wrote more than two thousand poems and essays.
45
党懷英
Dang Huaiying.
46
党懷英，字世傑，故宋太尉進十一代孫，馮翊人。 父純睦，泰安軍錄事參軍，卒官，妻子不能歸，因家焉。 應舉不得意，遂脫略世務，放浪山水間。 簞瓢屢空，晏如也。 大定十年，中進士第，調莒州軍事判官，累除汝陰縣令、國史院編修官、應奉翰林文字、翰林待制、兼同修國史。
Dang Huaiying, whose style name was Shijie, was an eleventh-generation descendant of the Song grand marshal Dang Jin and came from Fengyi. His father Chunmu served as recording affairs officer of the Taian army and died in office; unable to return home, the family settled there. After failing to succeed in the examinations, he cast off worldly affairs and wandered freely among mountains and streams. Though his basket and gourd were often empty, he remained perfectly at ease. In the tenth year of Dading he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed military administrative aide of Juzhou; he rose through county magistrate of Yuyin, compiler at the National History Institute, attendant for Hanlin documents, Hanlin awaiting draftsman, and compiler of the national history.
47
懷英能屬文，工篆籀，當時稱為第一，學者宗之。 大定二十九年，與鳳翔府治中郝俁充《遼史》刊修官，應奉翰林文字移剌益、趙渢等七人為編修官。 凡民間遼時碑銘墓誌及諸家文集，或記憶遼舊事，悉上送官。 是時，章宗初即位，好尚文辭，旁求文學之士以備侍從，謂宰臣曰：「翰林闕人如之何？」 張汝霖奏曰：「郝俁能屬文，宦業亦佳。」 上曰：「近日制詔惟党懷英最善。」 移剌履進曰：「進士擢第後止習吏事，更不復讀書，近日始知為學矣。」 上曰：「今時進士甚滅裂，《唐書》中事亦多不知，朕殊不喜。」 上謂宰臣曰：「郝俁賦詩頗佳，舊時劉迎能之，李晏不及也。」
Huaiying was an accomplished writer and master of seal script; contemporaries ranked him first, and scholars took him as their model. In the twenty-ninth year of Dading he and Hao Yi, administrative aide of Fengxiang, served as revising officers for the "History of Liao," with Yelü Yi, Zhao Feng, and seven other attendants for Hanlin documents as compilers. All Liao-era stele inscriptions, tomb epigraphs, collected works, and memories of Liao affairs in private hands were ordered sent to the authorities. When Zhangzong had newly ascended the throne, devoted to literary culture, he sought literary men for his entourage and asked his chief ministers, "The Hanlin lacks men—what is to be done?" Zhang Rulin replied, "Hao Yi can write well and has a fine official record." The emperor said, "Of late only Dang Huaiying writes the best edicts and rescripts." Yelü Lü added, "After receiving their degrees jinshi study only clerkly affairs and read no more; only recently has Hao Yi turned to learning." The emperor said, "Jinshi of today are shockingly slipshod; many do not even know events recorded in the Book of Tang, and I am deeply displeased." He then told the chief ministers, "Hao Yi composes fu poetry quite well; Liu Ying could do so in earlier days, but Li Yan fell short of that level."