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卷四十六 列傳第十六 劉頌 李重

Volume 46 Biographies 16: Liu Song; Li Zhong

Chapter 46 of 晉書 · Book of Jin
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Chapter 46
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Liu Song.
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使 使 使 便 便 使
Liu Song, courtesy name Ziya, came from Guangling and traced his line to Prince Li of Guangling under the Han, Liu Xu. For generations his family had ranked among the great houses of the region. Guangling also boasted the four houses of Lei, Jiang, Gu, and Lu, yet all stood beneath the Lius, and a local rhyme ran, "Lei, Jiang, Gu, and Lu bow to Liu as their elder stock." His father Liu Guan had served as prefect of Pingyang. From youth Liu Song could reason to the root of affairs and won wide praise. Though nominated as filial and incorrupt and as a flourishing talent, he declined each summons. Emperor Wen appointed him a staff clerk in the princely chancellery and dispatched him on embassy to Shu. Shu had only just been pacified: the people were starving and the fields lay waste. Liu Song submitted an urgent plea for grain relief and distributed aid before imperial approval arrived, for which he was struck from office. When Emperor Wu took the throne Liu Song was named a Three Excellencies gentleman in the Masters of Writing, charged with statutes and codes and with redressing unjust suits. He rose step by step to gentleman attendant of the palace secretariat. During Xianning the court sent Liu Song and Bai Bao, cavalier gentleman, on an inspection tour of Jingzhou and Yangzhou. The mission pleased the throne, and Liu Song was moved to gentleman of the yellow gate. He advanced to consultant and served as acting commandant of justice. When Hu Yin, a clerk of the Masters of Writing, was jailed on a false charge and the emperor ordered a full inquest, Liu Song proved his innocence and secured his release. Contemporaries likened him to the Han jurist Zhang Shizhi. Six years in the post earned him a reputation for meticulous fairness. After the conquest of Wu the generals wrangled over credit. The court charged Liu Song with adjudicating their claims; he ranked Wang Hun first and Wang Jun second. The emperor faulted Liu Song for misapplying the law and demoted him to prefect of Jingzhao. Liu Song never took up that post and was reassigned instead to Henei. Before he set out he offered practical policy recommendations, many of which the throne accepted. Princess-owned water mills across the commandery had choked the streams and caused flooding. Liu Song had them shut down by edict, to the great relief of the commoners. He soon resigned to observe mourning for his mother. After the mourning term ended he was named chancellor of Huainan. He ran a tight administration and compiled an impressive record. The old Shao Lake works had drafted tens of thousands each year while magnates monopolized labor and left widows and paupers destitute. Liu Song made every household share the burden by measured shifts and fair rationing, and the people praised his equity.
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使 使 使 使 使 使忿 使 祿 使 使 滿 使 使 使 使 使 祿 退 調 使 使 退 簿 使 使 使 使 使 使 使
While administering the commandery Liu Song memorialized: Your servant once served as Administrator of Henei and, on taking leave, received an edict: "What you report concerns matters of weight; you should keep me informed of them, great and small. I am constantly burdened with affairs and may not be able to answer everything in full; do not doubt me on that account." On the day your servant received that edict, joy and fear mingled together; he resolved all the more to give his utmost, forgetting his own unworthiness, hoping that like a firefly or candle he might add a little light to your greater brilliance. On reaching the commandery he drafted the memorial below, but before he could submit it, your servant was struck by Heaven's punishment in bereavement and lay ill for years; he now respectfully seals and presents that earlier submission. Though your servant's talent falls short of governing the realm and his words are shallow and often wide of the mark, he still hopes Your Majesty will deign to examine them, so that this slight sincerity may reach your sage discernment and not be wholly discarded among routine papers. If anything here is worth adopting, he hopes it may prove of some small use. Prostrate, he has seen the edict opening the realm to support generations yet to come, enfeoffing imperial kinsmen and sending them all to frontier domains; who would not approve? Public reason demands it. The full system of establishing feudal states is now first brought to completion, surpassing the arrangements of Qin, Han, and Wei and renewing the broken line of the Five Emperors and Three Dynasties. Its merit extends everywhere abroad, its glory flows to later generations; in loftiness and splendor it is so grand that even the rulers of the Three Dynasties and Five Emperors might feel ashamed before it. Why is this so? They achieved it by following what was already natural, unlike creating anew after the old line had been broken. Even so, in your servant's humble view, enfeoffing young princes in Wu and Shu is not yet the best course. Wu and Yue are swift and restless; Yong and Shu are perilous and remote—places where disturbances arise and turmoil easily flares. Moreover, since Wu was pacified, the generals and soldiers of the six southeastern provinces have rotated in guarding the lands south of the Yangzi—the greatest affliction of the age. Again, with troops from within guarding lands abroad, the people of Wu lack confidence in the regime; a strong prince should be placed there to pacify and reassure them, so that within and without each may rest secure in accustomed ways. Again, under the Sun house there had been a state whose civil and military offices in multitude rivaled the imperial court; in a single morning that order was buried and its people reduced to ordinary registered households. They do not recognize the grace of renewed life they have received; disaster and hardship press upon them, they deem themselves dispossessed, and therefore harbor unrest. If an elder prince were now placed over that region, appointing men according to talent and ordering civil and military offices alike, so that soldiers and corvée laborers need not leave their native districts and those seeking wealth and rank obtain them within the domain— —inner troops could be dispersed, the new domain would be well governed, and both sides would gain what they need; in the matter this would be fitting. Princes of the imperial surname who are over twenty and of high talent should be chosen and given separate domains in Wu and Shu. Because they would leave what is near and take what is far, their lands should be divided and their territories doubled in size. By transferring enfeoffments to the old domains and using young princes for now, one need only wait until the imperial sons are grown before sending them as lords—then there would be no delay. Where land is urgently needed, an elder prince would at once be obtained; in this matter the course is fitting. What your servant has presented on enfeoffment has now set forth the great principle; yet regarding the remaining matters, if any are worth adopting to help complete the system, he therefore lists them together with the original points. Your servant has heard that one who does not fear the peril of regret and yet offers what he sees is a fully loyal minister; and one who listens to what grates on the ear and willingly accepts bitter counsel is a ruler who saves the age. By the fortune of the age, your servant has been blessed to serve in a court where frank speech is not forbidden. Although he has once submitted a memorial broadly discussing the body of government, he has still not fully stated what he sees or pointed out what succeeds and fails; he has merely received grace and favor, no different from the common run. Your servant is privately ashamed that he has not fully offered loyal counsel and has nothing with which to repay your grace; he respectfully lists what he sees below. Your servant does not assure himself that what he says must be correct, yet he holds that not hiding what is in his heart is the measure of repaying your grace. If by chance anything here is worth adopting, it will be as a year of renewed life for this lowly minister; if all is blind and reckless, then it is the state's good fortune. He asks Your Majesty to set aside half a day and examine your servant's words. Prostrate, he considers that although Your Majesty responded to Heaven and accorded with men, soared as a dragon, and ascended the throne as a founder of the dynasty, the age you have encountered is in truth a declining one. Why is this so? At the end of Han the realm declined; eunuchs held power, petty men monopolized the court, gentlemen remained in retirement, government fell into ruin and the people scattered, and so the dynasty perished in disorder. Emperor Wu of Wei, with talent for strategy and planning, cleared away troubles and ordered disorder while also making civil teaching solemn; after several decades, by the beginning of the Yankang era, officials were finally upright, the lower ranks compliant, and the law broadly enforced. By the reigns of Emperors Wen and Ming, the throne was held by rulers who were extravagant, dissolute, proud, and unrestrained—sovereigns who tilted the dynasty toward peril. Yet within they flourished in towers, terraces, and the pleasures of sound and color; without they faced heroic foes on three sides and stern enemies—affairs succeeded and were accomplished with little fault or failure; what was the reason? In truth they relied on what had gone before to complete their achievement. Yet the ritual objects, government, and punishments had already gradually declined. From the beginning of Jiaping the Jin dynasty first laid its foundation; by the end of Xianxi many years had passed. Although axes and halberds were repeatedly applied and fierce villains were cut down, those who remained all received the grace of the age and went outside the track of law. At the beginning of Taishi Your Majesty ascended the throne; those who served and attended you were all descendants of meritorious ministers of former generations—if not their sons and grandsons, then their great-great-grandsons. The ancients said that the nature of the rich and noble is hard to correct; hence it is said that the age you encountered is a declining one. At that moment the positions of Heaven and Earth were first fixed—it was the moment for the four seas to wash their hearts and put right the bonds of rule. Yet Your Majesty still held that employing talent according to circumstance and the law's leniency had their reasons, accumulated over long custom, unlike Han and Wei before. The Three Ancestors rose up and changed dynasties; one could not at once apply the straight cord to rule those below—it was truly suited to the time. Yet in governing and correcting the age's many affairs, one should naturally gradually emerge onto the public path, make law upright and authority decisive, and day by day move toward severity. It is like traveling by boat: although one does not cut straight across the swift current, one gradually drifts toward one's aim and in the end achieves the crossing. Accumulating small changes until they gradually appear, reaching to the present, one may speak of government. Yet from Taishi until now, nearly thirty years, governmental achievement and splendid merit have not matched your sage intent; none of the various undertakings has flourished beyond what went before. With Your Majesty's clarity and sagacity, still not reaching beyond the ills of a declining age to achieve the splendor of the beginning and transmit it to later generations—is there not cause for concern! Perhaps your servant's words do not a little touch Your Majesty's heart! Looking to affairs of ten thousand generations, the principle lies in two points. The realm is a great vessel: once secure it is hard to overturn; once overturned it is hard to set right. Therefore one who plans for later generations must refine the government of the present; when government secures the legacy, several generations may rely on it. If one moreover jointly establishes feudal lords and plants frontier screens, with deep roots and firm stems, then the fortune will extend without end and one may compare traces with the Three Dynasties. If the government of one's own reign, with surviving influence and remaining vigor, does not reach later generations, then although kinsmen are planted, the system of established states is not built, and later generations must rely solely on intelligence and force to secure the great enterprise— if its principle is not fully realized, then although time passes, worry and blame will still pursue Your Majesty—what then is to be done! He asks Your Majesty to manage well the government of today and plant an unuprootable power—then the realm will have no lingering worry. Sagely clarity does not come generation after generation, and later successors need not be worthy—this is the constant way of Heaven. Therefore one who is good at governing the realm relies on power and not on men. Those who rely on power are the feudal lords; those who rely on men are the commanderies and counties. Under the clarity of commanderies and counties, small government is well ordered but the great power is perilous; when feudal lords govern states, near at hand there are many transgressions but far-sighted consideration is firm. The sage king weighs the ills of beginning and end, balances the principle of light and heavy, embraces those small transgressions to hold the great security, and only then is able to screen and secure inner and outer and maintain the nine domains. King Wu was a sage ruler and King Cheng a worthy successor; yet King Wu did not rely on King Cheng's worthiness and broadly enfeoffed because he planned for endless generations. Moreover, one who speaks well of the present must have verification in the ancients. Before Tang and Yu, written texts were broken and missing; those affairs are hard to detail. Reaching the Three Dynasties, they jointly established the bright and virtuous and the illustrious kin of founding kings; they ranked the five ranks of nobility, opened states and continued houses to screen the imperial house; their fortune extended long—near at hand five or six hundred years, far off nearly a thousand. When the Qin house came, they abolished marquises and set up governors; sons and younger brothers were not allotted even a foot of land; isolated without support, they perished in the second generation. Han succeeded Zhou and Qin and used both systems mixed together; the two periods before and after each lasted more than two hundred years. Measuring that enfeoffment was not used, although strong and weak were ill matched and institutions were awry and not fully suited to affairs, yet tracing their decline and fall, it was constantly when those of the same surname lost office and feudal lords were weak in their time—not when they were strong and flourishing. Formerly when the Lü clan rebelled, the realm luckily relied on the aid of Qi and Dai to settle the altars of soil and grain. When the seven states rebelled, the King of Liang defended against them and in the end quelled the crisis. From this afterward, authority and power were cut and seized; feudal lords only lived on rent and stipends, and in extreme cases even rode ox carts. Therefore Wang Mang was able to monopolize the court, carry out his treacherous plot, overturn and shake the realm, and spread poison among the living. Emperor Guangwu rose up in succession; although he enfeoffed sons and younger brothers, he did not establish the system of founded states, and the fortune also did not extend. The Wei house inherited this, penning in kinsmen and imprisoning sons and younger brothers; therefore the sacred vessel quickly tilted and Heaven's mandate shifted to Your Majesty. The response of long and short reigns, the sign of disaster and blessing, may be seen in this. Again, although the Wei house rightly occupied the throne and faced south as emperor, the three regions were not submitted and the calendar was not applied everywhere; in truth there was the posture of the Warring States standing against one another. The rise of Great Jin: Emperor Xuan settled Yan, Emperor Taizu pacified Shu, Your Majesty destroyed Wu—merit reaching Heaven and Earth, territory broadened beyond the Three Kings; wherever boats and chariots reached, wherever human tracks extended, all became subjects; the great unity of the four seas begins from today. One should inherit the record of great achievement and, in Your Majesty's sage and bright time, open the realm, make those of the same surname necessarily kings, establish long peace for ten thousand generations, and extend long ages without end. Your servant has also heard that when a state has entrusted ministers it is secure, and when it has heavy ministers it is disordered. Yet in royal institutions, the ruler establishes a son by legitimacy of birth and not by seniority, and establishes the legitimate heir by seniority and not by worth—this is what in affairs cannot be changed. Yet the worthy and bright are at best few and the unworthy are at most many—this is indeed the constant way of Heaven. Things of a kind seek one another; responding and touching they arrive—this too is natural. Therefore when a dark ruler is on the throne, heavy ministers fill the court; when a bright sovereign governs, entrusted ministers fill the offices. Entrusted ministers and heavy ministers alike hold the state's succession and establish decisions. Yet success and failure are opposite, the crooked and straight turn their backs—what is the reason? Heavy ministers borrow what they rely on to plant private interest; entrusted ministers by what they rest upon exhaust the public good. Exhausting the public good is the root of government; planting private interest is the source of disorder. Extending this saying, peaceful days are few and disorderly days many; government and teaching gradually decline—wishing the state to be without peril is impossible. And this is not merely so and nothing more. Suppose a foolish and inferior successor, receiving the remnant threads of former sages and obtaining assistants of middling worth, yet the planted state's roots are not deep and there is no firmness of supporting trunks—then the so-called entrusted ministers transform into heavy ministers. Why is this so? When the state has a posture that may be overturned, those who hold power are viewed with suspicion; when the multitude is suspicious it is hard to trust oneself, and willingly accepting death is not human nature. If the foundation is already thick and the frontier screens strong in defense, then even if an infant ruler or suckling child is set up the realm is not afraid; the so-called heavy ministers of former times now all turn loyal and become entrusted ministers. Why is this so? Principle has no perilous posture; in the heart one does not suspect oneself; loyalty and sincerity obtain display; one is not wary of the crooked. The sage king knows that the worthy and wise do not come generation after generation; therefore he establishes a mutually sustaining posture to guard against his ministers. Therefore once the five ranks are arrayed, ministers have no loyal sloth; they are the same in exhausting integrity to follow their superior. Once the host of lords is established, successors worthy or base are also equal in one tally, equal to being without worry. Moreover, if the planted state is firm, then the ministers entrusted—if the worthy are obtained, government is further ordered; if next entrusted to middling intelligence, that too is sufficient for security. Why is this so? Power once firm is easy to hold. Thus if establishing states exhausts its principle, then there is no direction in which one may not succeed. Therefore from Kings Cheng and Kang downward in the Zhou house, reaching King Xuan, and after King Xuan down to King Nan, years passed between; the court had no famous ministers yet the ancestral temple did not fall—feudal lords maintained it. Therefore it is said that in calculating for the altars of soil and grain, nothing is like establishing states. The crooked and straight, the rebellious and compliant—these are what men's hearts attach to and submit to. In today's establishment, one should carefully measure affairs and power, making feudal lords lead righteousness in action, share anger and together exert themselves, so that their strength is sufficient to bind and gird the capital region. If one harbors a treacherous heart, is wary and rises from the crooked, isolated without faction, the registers one receives are not sufficient to act alone. Yet to align this is very difficult; Your Majesty should deeply consult together with men who penetrate antiquity and the present and are good at knowing affairs and power. The principle of establishing marquises is to make lords delight in their states and ministers honor their court, each flowing fortune and blessing, transmitting them without end. Above and below of one heart, loving the state as home, viewing the common people as children—only then can one preserve and bear Heaven's blessing and together wing the royal house. Now the various princes divide land, all combining the ancient feudal lords, yet lords despise their ranks and ministers are ashamed of their positions; none have a settled will—what is the reason? The law is the same as commanderies and counties; there is no system of established states. In today's establishment, one should make all follow the old statutes, exactly like the ancient model. Yet men's hearts are tied to custom; within not ten years, likes and dislikes are not changed and inclinations are not shifted. In your servant's humble view, one should early create the great system; if one delays and turns back the multitude's hope, it will still be beyond ten years before lord and minister can each rest secure in his position, honor what he receives, above and below mutually sustain, and thereby complete frontier assistance. As it is done now, it is just sufficient to diminish the storehouse of Heaven's treasury, vainly discard resources of grain and cloth, and give no help to the power of stabilizing the state and guarding the sovereign. In antiquity, once enfeoffment was settled, each had his state; afterward, even the king's sons and grandsons had no more foot of land—this is what in present affairs certainly cannot be done. If one pushes near and far kin, in turn abolishing here and planting there, then this is the duty of commanderies and counties, not the system of establishing states. Now one should beforehand open this ground, so that within ten generations those who are near kin may in turn be placed nearer. At ten generations' distance, when the near suburban lands are exhausted, then near and far kin will mutually sustain one another and cannot again be as within ten generations. Yet still in planting kin there is a place; delaying until the realm is full has already spanned several hundred or thousand years. Now one has just begun to enfeoff yet near and far kin are reversed in application—this is very unsuitable. One should again greatly measure the numbers of land and square li throughout the realm, all again split land and divide people, making kings of the same surname, so that near and far kin, distant and close, do not miss their proper place—only then can there be lasting peace. In antiquity enfeoffed states, the largest did not exceed a hundred li square of land; then the population was abundant and numerous, and within the borders they necessarily filled their strength, sufficient to prepare and complete the institutions. Now although one state circles nearly a thousand li, in truth its strength is sparse and insufficient to support the state's canon. What is encountered is different; therefore one should adapt institutions to the time, to exhaust affairs and suit the present. One should order the various princes' state regalia to be few and military regalia many; yet among what the ancient model should have, fully establish its institutions; yet what is not urgently needed should gradually be prepared and must not be set up at once. Only when chariots, armor, and weapons are complete do the host of ministers then wear colored insignia; when granaries are already filled, then one builds palaces and halls; when the common people are already sufficient, then one prepares official offices; when within the borders is full and solid, then one makes rites and music. Only the ancestral temple and altars of soil and grain should be built first. As to government within the borders and appointing men by talent, except that the inner scribe and state chancellor are appointed by the Son of Heaven, all other offices and decisions of life and death, resources of grain and cloth, rewards and punishments, honors and authority, and matters other than enfeoffment of rank—all may be exclusively decided. What your servant now presents in two points is broadly the great outline of affairs; what is not recorded but should belong to the category of the two points should take this as the measure. Now the various states are in origin only the government of one commandery; if one prepares the old canon, then official offices multiply in number for affairs not needed, and with empty institutions one damages real strength. As to rewards and punishments and judicial decisions—these are the authority by which one guards those below; if not weighty, one has no means to awe the multitude and guard the sovereign. Therefore in your servant's humble view, he wishes to make feudal lords' authority complete, with state regalia few and military regalia many; yet in the end it must also be fully prepared—as present affairs require. Zhou's establishment of marquises: they long enjoyed their states, standing alongside the king; far off nearly a thousand years, near at hand still several hundred; Han's various kings transmitted fortune reaching even to great-great-grandsons. Human nature is not very far apart; ancient and modern are one measure—yet short and long greatly diverge; what is the reason? The intent established was fundamentally different and the institutions were not the same. Zhou's enfeoffment made the state heavier than the lord and the bodies of dukes and marquises lighter than the altars of soil and grain; therefore unprincipled lords did not escape execution and banishment. They honored the principle of raising what was destroyed and continuing what was broken off; therefore state fortune was not extinguished. Not escaping execution and banishment, then the host of lords thought and feared; heirs and successors necessarily continued—there was no perishing state. Feudal lords thought and feared, and then followed the track; below there were no perishing states; the Son of Heaven rode upon this—principle and power naturally secure; this is why the Zhou house long endured. Han in planting and setting up lords and states made light and heavy not different; therefore various kings lost measure, fell into crime and punishment, and states followed in perishing. They did not honor the order of raising what was destroyed and continuing what was broken off; therefore below there were no firm states. Below there were no firm states; the Son of Heaven dwelt above, power isolated without assistance; therefore treacherous ministers monopolized the court and easily overturned the great enterprise. Now one should reverse Han's ills and repair Zhou's old traces. Although a state's lord may lose the Way and fall into execution and extinction, and again have no son who should succeed, if there is a branch descendant of the original enfeoffment, without asking near or far, he must continue its fortune. If there is no surviving line, then establish it in vacancy; when an imperial son is born, let him continue its succession—only then will established states not perish. Again Ban Gu said, "When feudal lords lose their states it is also like a net being tight"; now one should also broadly loosen their scrutiny. Moreover, the principle of establishing marquises fundamentally passes through flourishing and decline; once the great system is fully settled, distribute it to the host of lords, inscribe the oath in cinnabar, write it on jade tablets, store it in a golden coffer, place it in the ancestral temple, and keep a copy with the relevant offices. Even a small state that is weak and few may not be endangered—how much more the lord of ten thousand chariots! Inheriting a state hard to overturn and placing it above, one naturally forever dwells in heavy and firm security—it may be said that roots are deep as Mount Hua and the four corners are bound. In your servant's humble view, he wishes Your Majesty to place the realm in a place of self-security and entrust the great enterprise to a posture already firm and formed—then one may be without lingering worry. Now in lanes and wards there are few famous scholars, and in official offices there are no men of high ability—what is the reason? Pure discussion is not solemn; men do not establish virtue; conduct lies in gaining acceptance—therefore there are no famous scholars. Below, offices are not specialized, and again there is no examination and assessment; clerks do not exhaust integrity—therefore there are no men of high ability. Without men of high ability, there are those who resent worldly affairs; with few famous scholars, those who come after have no standard; therefore your servant thinks to establish clerk assessment and make pure discussion solemn. To desire wealth and rank and hate poverty and baseness is human nature. The sage king greatly understands human feelings, knows they cannot be removed, and therefore directly makes public and private profit the same, yet artfully arranges the path of seeking, so that those who wish to be rich must first pass through poverty and those who wish to be noble must first rest content in baseness. Resting content in baseness, then one is not proud; not being proud, then integrity and shame are sharpened; those who keep poverty necessarily restrain desire; restraining desire, then conduct is complete. With this to handle affairs, one then obtains exhausting the public good. Those who exhaust the public good are the company of wealth and rank. Those who act without private interest ultimately obtain their private interest; therefore public and private profit are the same. Now those who wish to be rich obtain riches without passing through poverty; those who wish to be noble obtain nobility without resting content in baseness; the paths of public and private are already at odds, yet human feeling cannot be without private interest; private profit cannot be obtained through the public—then one constantly turns from the public and recklessly pursues affairs. Therefore integrity daily declines, public reason gradually fades, and scholars' wealth and rank are not what is obtained by following the track. Using this to govern, small and great affairs are hard to expect. Yet teaching has declined for long; it is hard to reverse in one morning. Again, the age is unrestrained and the capital dissolute; pursuing desire shoulder to shoulder, the host of scholars are all alike and vulgar conduct is similar—it cannot be suddenly made solemn, and promotion and demotion would be very disparate. Moreover, teaching does not seek complete goodness; goodness lies in restraining extremes; among the equally extravagant, there are still those very excessive. Make those who are blind to the pleasure of fitting feeling abandon their displayed glory and honor, and in a little while be in a place not fresh; those who restrain themselves and are pure and plain receive the reward of frugal virtue and are ranked above clear offices. The two pursuits divide into streams, making each have what he receives. Yet custom is unrestrained and the capital extravagant; it cannot be suddenly made solemn; therefore in your servant's private thought he wishes first to engage in gradual progress. The realm is greatest, the myriad affairs most numerous, and the ruler is least—like Heaven and the sun; therefore it is not what listening downward can fully survey. Therefore the sage king's transformation holds the essential and nothing more, entrusting affairs to those below and not binding himself with affairs. Once divided duties are settled, he has no part in them; it is not that he fears the diligence of the sun's setting, but that he is pulled by worry over ease and pleasure—in truth the body of government should be so; affairs and power bring it about. Why is this so? Creating and planning the beginning, going against darkness to distinguish right and wrong and separate able from unable—is very hard to discern. Once it has been implemented, following its success and failure to divide merit and guilt—is very easy to recognize. Easy to recognize lies in examining the end; hard to discern lies in creating the beginning; therefore the ruler constantly dwells in what is easy and is secure, while ministers do not occupy what is hard and there is disorder. Now Your Majesty each time is precise at the beginning of affairs yet brief in examining the end; therefore the host of clerks, considering affairs, hold lightly the fear of success and failure and adorn literary color to avoid the heavy censure of the present eye—this is why governmental achievement is not yet good. Now if the ruler can constantly dwell in what is easy and hold the essential to guard against those below, then ministers' merit and guilt take form in the signs of success and failure and cannot escape punishment and reward. Therefore guilt cannot be hidden and merit cannot be falsely charged. Merit cannot be falsely charged, then the able are encouraged; guilt cannot be hidden, then transgression and sloth daily grow solemn—this is the great outline of governing the state. Your servant privately considers Your Majesty's sage heart: the intent lies in complete goodness, fearing that government may transgress; therefore you are precise at the beginning of affairs, seeking to be without failure. Again, because among the multitude of officials few are competent, you do not entrust affairs and would rather dwell at the sun's setting. In your servant's humble view, he privately holds that now wishing for complete goodness, one should therefore examine the end. Why is this so? Because being precise at the beginning is hard to verify. Again, many officials are not competent; one should also entrust affairs, so that the able may achieve success and the unable may show failure. Failure shown may be obtained and dismissed; success achieved may be obtained and continued in office; then the worthy and able constantly hold position to handle affairs well, and the dark and inferior may not by corpse stipend harm government. If this continues without end, then the competent gradually increase; after years, little by little, the host of offices everywhere obtain their men. This comparing talent and examining reality is the utmost task of government. Now when the ruler does not entrust affairs and look upward for completion, but together with those below creates the beginning of affairs, then merit and guilt are hard to divide. Those below do not specialize in affairs and do not long hold office; therefore able and unable are not distinguished. How may this be verified? In the present age scholars are certainly not all thoroughly able, and again are certainly not all thoroughly weak and soft. Yet now wishing to promote one loyal and worthy, one does not know whom to reward; seeking one who bears failure, one does not know whom to punish. When they are dismissed and retire, they themselves think it is because they violated law—not because they were unable. Those who advance think it is because of accumulated seniority and worldly reputation—not real achievement. If one says this is not so, then the government of today has not matched your sage intent—this is its sign. Your Majesty has governed by the present law for nearly thirty years, yet achievement is not daily renewed—where lies the blame? The ancients had a saying: "When zither and lute are not in tune, in extreme cases one must change and restring them." All that your servant speaks is truly the constant of the body of government; yet ancient and modern differ in suitability and what is encountered is different. Your Majesty, even if not fully obtaining the principle of looking upward for completion, should wholly entrust affairs to those below; as to present affairs that should be memorialized to the throne, remove what is not urgent, so that important affairs may be made precise to about two-thirds. In antiquity the six ministers divided duties and the chief steward was their teacher. From Qin and Han onward, the nine ranks executed affairs and the chancellor gathered and oversaw all. Now the Masters of Writing decide and cut off; the various ministers receive and complete—in the ancient system this is heavy and not needed for affairs; yet now one cannot yet reduce and merge. One may send out the multitude of affairs to outer offices, allowing them to decide exclusively; the Masters of Writing serve as their general overseer, as the chancellor did. Only establishing law and creating institutions, decisions of life and death, removal of names and exile, great matters of dismissal and removal, and matters connected with revenue—the Secretariat then memorializes and decides. All other outer offices decide exclusively; at year's end the Secretariat and pavilion only assess achievement and verify registers. Thus the nine ministers create and plan the beginning of affairs, decide and carry them out; the Masters of Writing record and preside, and reward and punishment bind them—the tendency must increasingly examine completion and office fault and nothing more. As it is now, those who personally hold power constantly receive completion from above; the sovereign's failures cannot again be charged to those below; at year's end when achievement is not established, one does not know whom to blame. Supervisors raise crimes by law; prison officials investigate and impeach to exhaust reality; law clerks rely on words and hold to text—broadly the same, yet as to application, supervisors and law prisons in substance should differ slightly. Prison officials only seek reality; law clerks only hold to text; supervisors then wish to raise what is great and omit what is small. Why is this so? Small faults and slight omissions, errors of mistake and recklessness—these are what human feeling necessarily has; yet if all are investigated by law, then in court and wild there are no whole men—this is what is called wishing to order yet instead creating disorder. Therefore one who is good at governing raises the cord and leaves the net sparse; raising the cord then what is netted is broad, the net sparse then small things necessarily leak; what is netted broad then government is not harsh—this is the essential of governing. Yet from recent generations onward, those who serve as supervisors mostly do not raise the great cord yet always raise small faults. Small faults are not sufficient to harm government; raising them then makes things slight and increases disorder; the great cord not raised, then the powerful and strong run rampant; the powerful and strong run rampant, then the common people lose their duties—this is the reason for mistaking what is urgent and inverting what is pursued. Now one should order the relevant offices to reverse their usual government, so that the realm may be well transformed. Reaching this is not difficult; if the ruler does not favor fragmented and minute cases, but necessarily assigns blame for strong crimes and raises extreme memorials, taking exhausting the public good as the measure, then treacherous men who harm government will naturally be captured. Great treachery that violates government and disorders the myriad multitude mostly comes from the rich and powerful; the rich and powerful have strength sufficient to inspire fear and goods sufficient for desire—therefore chief officials look to power and stop their brushes. Lower clerks indulge treachery; fearing that their superiors will not raise cases, they then carefully tighten the net to catch small crimes. Making memorials of impeachment follow one after another, the appearance seeming to exhaust the public good—yet bending law and not making it bright is already within it. Not merely without benefit to the body of government—pure discussion is thereby further harmed. The ancients had a saying: "The gentleman's fault is like an eclipse of the sun." They also said, "When one errs, one can reform"; and again, "Do not err twice in the same way." All these several are words that worthy men and gentlemen cannot be without fault. If they do not reach the point of harming government, then all are what Heaven's net leaks; what is violated lies in being very excessive—only then is royal punishment necessarily applied; this is the great example of raising crimes shallow and deep. Therefore gentlemen obtain full beauty to handle affairs well; those who are not good must be exterminated and executed to warn the multitude—this is the standard pattern of governing through punishment and pardon. Why is this so? The so-called worthy men and gentlemen, if they cannot be without fault, small blemishes may not be used to discard their persons—yet if one immediately binds them by law, one is ashamed before a bright age. Why is this so? Although there is violation, light and heavy are very different; in the hearts of scholar-gentlemen the blame received differs yet the name does not differ—therefore unprincipled fellows can cite the name to compare themselves, to confuse the multitude's hearing; by the name disorder may arise, borrowing power to obtain straightness; therefore pure discussion is further harmed. Generally, raising faults and impeaching transgressions is meant to make wind and discussion solemn and put right worldly teaching; now raising small faults, pure discussion further declines. Therefore the sage deeply knows human feeling and penetrates the body of government; therefore his saying goes: "Do not with one fault cover great virtue." " Again he said: "Pardon small faults, promote worthy talent." " Again he said: "Do not seek completeness in one man." Therefore the cap with front tassels and padded earplugs stopping the ears—the intent is that in the reward of good and evil one must take the extreme; then simple yet not leaking, great crimes must be punished, and law and prohibition are easily kept whole. Why is this so? Harm to law lies in violating extremes, yet carefully searching out small faults—what difference from releasing rhinoceroses and leopards on the public road yet forbidding mouse-thieves in corner cracks? The ancients had a saying: "Axes and halberds are not used while knives and saws daily wear out—one cannot govern thus"; this speaks of great affairs being slow and small affairs being urgent. Among the failures of present government, there are somewhat of this kind; Your Majesty should turn and seek them—then one obtains what is pursued. Expedient institutions cannot be constant; government at odds cannot guard security—this speaks of the techniques of attack and defense being different. Although the common people are foolish, hope is not born in vain—it must arise according to the time. When there is cause and it arises, then hope cannot be seized; when affairs change differently from before, then the time cannot be violated. The bright and sage who penetrate government respond with speed not reaching dismounting from the carriage; therefore they can move in accord with the occasion and greatly obtain human feeling. Formerly Emperor Wu of Wei divided the realm, making men, corvée, dwellings, and households each in one region; both because affairs and power required it and because the intent had partial application, borrowing power for one time to rush to what was pursued—not the regular canon. Yet hesitating until today, years accumulated without change, the common people although personally bearing its hardship yet private resentment did not arise—in truth because the three regions were not all swept and merged, knowing the time was not yet one in which rest could be sought. Therefore they gladly accepted corvée as returning home and viewed peril as level ground. Reaching the day Wu was pacified, the realm cherished quiet; yet in the two southeastern regions, the six provinces' commandery troops, generals, soldiers, and military clerks garrisoned the lands south of the Yangzi or supplied transport to the capital—fathers south, sons north, households separated, all restless in rotation. Again they were unaccustomed to water and soil; transport corvée was toilsome and weary, and together there was the affliction of death—the posture could not long continue. This should be greatly seen to and disposed, to match men's hopes. Wei's mistaken corvée should also change the old ways. These two each exhaust their principle; then the common people, grateful and cherishing virtue, singing and rejoicing in life, will necessarily be ten times what they are now. From Dong Zhuo's rebellion until now, nearly a hundred years have passed; the four seas have been toilsome and weary, and hardship for the people has reached its extreme. The six directions merged as one begins from today; the myriad multitude think of peace—it is not an empty hope. Yet ancient and modern differ in suitability and what is encountered is different; in truth one also cannot yet hope to follow the past and release horses and oxen to rest. Yet if those who bear the hundred corvées do not leave their state and military preparations await affairs in their native district—in truth this can be done. Even if one cannot entirely do it so, if one exhausts its principle, two-thirds may be quieted and clerk corvée need not go outside a thousand li. Merely thus and nothing more—the realm's benefit would already be beyond measure. Government affairs have many branches; worldly affairs not yet fully ordered are hard to enumerate entirely in a memorial—shaking the collar and gathering the cord, the essential lies in three points. Generally, government wishes quiet; quiet lies in resting corvée; resting corvée lies in non-action. Granaries wish to be filled; being filled lies in benefiting agriculture; benefiting agriculture lies in leveling grain purchases. Governing wishes to show trust; showing trust lies in selecting the worthy; selecting the worthy lies in long tenure in office. Long tenure in office is not difficult; linking their ranks, unless talent is unsuitable one may not sidestep transfer to complete their term—then affairs are well handled. Leveling grain purchases already has an established system; what is not yet complete may be brought to fullness—then grain is stored. Non-action is nothing else: repelling the diligence of construction works and restraining profits that seem beneficial yet are harmful. Merely thus and nothing more, then the realm is quiet. Once these three are raised, although not yet sufficient for thick transformation, yet one may be secure with surplus. The profit of the king lies in producing Heaven and Earth's natural wealth—agriculture is this. What is established and taken as the aim here—in affairs there is truly achievement and benefit. If anything hinders agriculture, all such pursuits should be rested—this is all what is called seeming benefit yet being harm. Yet in the realm today there are naturally affairs that must be done and cannot be stopped; or labor used is very little yet what is helped is extremely weighty. Doing them at present, although slightly wasting some, yet calculating the end there is already great benefit. Agricultural offices have tenfold or hundredfold profit; when there is hindrance, at the beginning it seems not urgent, yet in the end it becomes a great affliction—one should in advance add effort to block its gradual spread. Such as when the Yellow River and Bian River are about to join—if Shen and Lai are well managed, then corvée cannot rest. All such as these—one also cannot help but proceed. Yet affairs worry over urgency and slowness; expediently calculating light and heavy—unless near such as these, taking them as the measure, one may then undertake them; all the rest should pursue quiet and rest. Yet to be able to well calculate light and heavy, expediently examine what is fitting, and know what may be undertaken and what may be abolished is very hard to complete—not unless supreme wisdom and far-reaching talent does one undertake this charge. The beauty of founding an enterprise: achievement lies in handing down the succession, making later generations rely upon it for security. Its being secure: though dark, still bright; though foolish, as if wise. Achievement that saves the age lies in reality in good transformation; the essential lies in quieting the state. As to repairing and adorning palaces and offices—all various construction corvée constantly wound excessively, not fearing they will not be undertaken—this is what in the future Your Majesty need not concern yourself with; it will come of itself. As to relying upon and receiving the threads before, what is leaned upon like sun and moon lies in reality in surviving influence binding men's hearts and remaining vigor supporting the young and weak—yet now being diligent in what is not needed harms what is relied upon. Weighing these two, which pursuit is urgent, Your Majesty should slightly extend grace and turn consideration, carefully choosing what is secure—then the great principle is exhausted. Private discussion in the world secretly compares Your Majesty to Emperor Xiaowen. Your servant holds that sage virtue's rise and decline will lie in what comes after, not in the present. Why is this so? Your Majesty soared as dragon and phoenix, responded to the season and ascended the throne—you already have the achievement of founding the enterprise. Sweeping away mighty Wu and suddenly campaigning to the Southern Sea—you have this too. With the Son of Heaven's nobility, yet personally practicing what common cloth is hard to do—filial and frugal virtue crowns the hundred kings; you have this too. Conducting what is fitting in every detail, movement becoming rule and measure—you have this too. If you manage well the government of your own reign, establish the firmness of frontier screens, make the Jin age long endure, and later generations look up and gaze at surviving traces, comparing achievement and examining affairs—in reality comparing spiritual power with Tang and Wu—how is Emperor Xiaowen worth mentioning! Your servant's words here are not the minister below praising the sovereign with empty beauty and common phrases—the affair is indeed so. If the principle by which one supports security is not yet fully good, then I fear good historians recording achievement will not be able remotely to exhaust grand beauty—very regrettable. Yet one cannot make those who know government obtain participation in sage consideration; after years, little by little, in the end there will certainly be achievement. He asks Your Majesty slightly to examine your servant's words.
4
His further memorial on restoring mutilating punishments is recorded in the Treatise on Punishments and Law. The throne answered, "I have received your memorial on princely fiefdoms after the ancient pattern, on restoring corporal punishment to unify the law, on service obligations for the six provinces, and on tenure in office. In every point I see how wholly you devote yourself to the realm. Keep me informed as matters develop."
5
駿殿
Early in the Yuankang era he accompanied Prince Yun of Huainan to the capital; the received text miswrites the river name Huai. When Yang Jun was put to death Liu Song held the palace watch, and that same night the emperor named him director of the Three Excellencies section of the Masters of Writing. A further memorial on statutes and ordinances drew admiration across the court. In time he became director of personnel and framed a nine-grade scheme meant to keep officials in post longer, grade their performance, and make rewards and sanctions transparent. With the Jia and Guo factions dominating the government and every careerist demanding rapid promotion, the reform was never carried out.
6
退 忿 祿 使使 𨻳
When Prince Lun of Zhao murdered Zhang Hua, Liu Song mourned him with wrenching grief. Learning that Zhang Hua's son had escaped, he cried with relief, "Maoxian, your line survives yet!" Zhang Lin, a partisan of Prince Lun, heard this and fumed, yet dared not strike Liu Song down because his integrity commanded respect. Sun Xiu and his clique praised Prince Lun's merits and pressed for the nine insignia of usurpation, and not a minister dared dissent. Liu Song alone objected, "The Han grant to Wei and the Wei grant to Jin were one-off expedients, not a precedent to repeat at will. The shrines are secure again: the favorite consort has been set aside and the overmighty ministers executed, as when Zhou Bo purged the Lü clan for Emperor Wen or Huo Guang deposed the king of Changyi for Emperor Xuan. Neither crisis was answered with the nine bestowals. To cast aside established rite and reach for such contrivances is alien to the way of the ancient kings. I urge that the proposal for the nine bestowals be dropped entirely." Zhang Lin nursed a growing grudge, branded Liu Song a partisan of Zhang Hua, and plotted to destroy him. Sun Xiu warned him, "Executing Zhang Hua and Pei Xiu has already cost us the goodwill of the realm. Liu Song must not be killed as well." Zhang Lin abandoned the plan. Liu Song was therefore appointed grand master of splendid carriage with the honor of dismounting rails before his gate. He soon died of illness. The court sent envoys to mourn him, gave two hundred thousand cash and a full set of court robes, and posthumously styled him Zhen, Upright. Liu Shen of the palace secretariat argued that Liu Song, among the foremost men of his generation, deserved the posthumous privilege of a grand commander's establishment. Sun Xiu, who had long detested Liu Shen, rejected the recommendation. Liu Song left no sons. He had adopted Yong, son of his brother Liu He, but Yong died young, so the line passed to Na, son of Xu, Yong's younger brother, as heir grandson to inherit the title. In the first year of Yongkang, Later an edict noted Liu Song's part in executing Jia Mi and steadying the government, posthumously creating him marquis of Liangzou with fifteen hundred taxable households.
7
Liu Song's younger brother Liu Biao, courtesy name Zhongya, served on the staff of the army of eastern pacification. In the conquest of Wu he took the Wu commander Zhang Ti prisoner and rose through several posts to general of the crossbowmen. When the imperial armory burned, Liu Biao ordered sections of roof struck away so the stored weapons could be salvaged. He later served as inspector of Jingzhou. The next brother, Liu Zhong, courtesy name Shihun, held appointments as gentleman of the yellow gate and prefect of Xingyang but died before he could assume the latter post.
8
Earlier Liu Song had given a daughter in marriage to Chen Jiao of Linhuai. Chen Jiao was born a Liu, a near kinsman of Liu Song, but had been adopted by an aunt and took the Chen surname. The local rectifier Liu You objected. Liu Song replied, "The houses of Yao, Yu, Chen, and Tian stem from a single Shun-line ancestry, yet they have intermarried for generations without the code forbidding it. Our case falls under the same principle, so the match is lawful." Liu You was preparing a formal denunciation when Chen Qian intervened, so no charges were filed. Liu Song asked his law clerks Chen Mo and Cai Ji, "Who in our district has been wronged worst?" Both answered, "Liu You." Liu Song flushed and rebuked them. Cai Ji ventured, "Liu You was wrong to press a private grudge against your honor, yet public opinion still calls him the injured party." Liu You went on to serve as princely clerk, gentleman of the Masters of Writing, and cavalier investigator at the Huangsha prison.
9
Li Zhong.
10
使 祿 使
Li Zhong, courtesy name Maozeng, was a native of Zhongwu in Jiangxia commandery. His father Li Jing had been inspector of Qinzhou and marquis Ding of Duting. Li Zhong loved learning from youth and wrote with polish; orphaned early, he kept house with his younger brothers and was famed for fraternal devotion. When capped he was offered the rectifier's post for his home principality but modestly refused to serve. He later became tutor in letters to the prince of Shiping and memorialized on the nine-rank system as follows: The ancient kings shaped institutions by reforming them to suit the age; the logic of continuity and change is simply to adapt to what the times require. The nine-rank system arose amid the chaos of war as a product of military administration, and is certainly not an immutable statute for governing the realm. Its oversight grew ever more fragmented and its gradings ever less truthful, so court and countryside alike hold that it has warped public morals and done grave harm. Yet when reform is proposed, doubts arise again. I hold that reforming institutions requires first laying out what opens or blocks the way, what helps or harms the state, and applying that design so the whole system flows without obstruction—yet such a change is not easily made. Under the feudal lords of antiquity, fiefs had fixed boundaries and states had settled rulers; the people entertained no divided loyalties. Grandees and ministers held hereditary stipends, officials did not scheme beyond their stations, and subjects did not cultivate ties across borders. Authority and obligation were firmly knit, and men returned to solid virtue. Qin overturned that order, abolishing feudal lords and appointing commandery governors, and the erosion of moral custom began then. Han remedied those abuses by blending Zhou and Qin precedents, combining enfeoffed domains with commandery administration and fixing territorial boundaries. Regional overseers had to recommend talent, and presented scholars rested on local reputation—in keeping with the sage canon and echoing the Three Dynasties. Today your sage virtue shines to the four quarters, and the common people look up in hope, eager to witness the age of peace. Yet we inherit the ruin left by Wei: families and reputations scattered, no fixed court for service, no fixed homes for men. Clerkships pile up in military headquarters while great families cluster in the capital—a tangle of affairs unlike anything in antiquity. Once the nine ranks are abolished, migration should be encouraged first so people may relocate and merge communities as they choose. And if recommendation procedures are clarified so they do not extend beyond local boundaries, then the gentry ranks will settle themselves without forced division—that is true land registration and territorial alignment. Government offices should likewise be organized, and here the virtue lies in simplicity and stability over time. Fewer ranks settle people's minds; long tenure in office lets government take root and talent show itself—that is how the Three Dynasties walked the straight path of rule. A nine-grade selection scheme is the urgent need of our day and should be put into practice. Sage kings know the realm is hard to govern and begin with what is easy; therefore they lodge oversight in local communities so that every village becomes the concern of its officials. If appointments are not made through proper channels and affairs are not checked at the proper level, then even the utmost sage wisdom cannot sustain the work. Viewed thus, if both measures were truly carried out, men would turn back to their roots, cultivate virtue in their home villages, flashy competition would die away of itself, and courtesy and yielding would flourish day by day.
11
便使
He rose to household gentleman to the heir apparent and then to gentleman of the Masters of Writing. Grand Palace Grandee Tian He then submitted a utilitarian memorial, invoking Han debates led by Kong Guang and Wei discussions by Xu Gan, urging caps on slaveholding for the nobility downward and a ban on commoners' sale of land and houses. The palace secretariat endorsed the plan and told the responsible agencies to draft implementing rules. Li Zhong replied in a memorial: Under the institutions of the ancient kings, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants each had their allotted station and did not change trades, so that resources might be put to use, livelihoods enriched, and every man apply his labor where it belonged. The Offices of Zhou employed land-equalization to lay out the well-field system, ranked tribute and taxes across the nine grades of the five categories of goods, and only then fixed what belonged to the state and to private holders, making the realm as a whole evenly ordered. Once Qin opened the grid of private fields and replaced feudal domains with commanderies and counties, that system was lost forever. Through Han and Wei alike, government followed the old path: royal law was strict chiefly in dress, furnishings, carriages, and utensils, forbidding anyone to imitate above his rank and thereby blur the hierarchy. As for slaves and private wealth, no dynasty ever seriously imposed fixed limits upon them. The jisi edict of the eighth year spelled out the law anew: soldiers, artisans, and all ranks above them were forbidden to wear or ride beyond what their station allowed. In any county, three violating households within a year would cost the magistrate his post; in Luoyang County the threshold was ten or more. By the standard set in that edict, the law was already severe enough. To adopt Tian He's proposal and revive the debates of Kong Guang and Xu Gan is to reach back to remedies born of ages in decline—each was a response to the extravagance of its own day. Yet flourishing early Han never took up Kong Guang's scheme: his proposals were drafted and set aside—not from oversight but from deliberate choice not to enforce them. Once the feudal order was dismantled and the well-field system never restored, royal law could no longer govern what men held privately. If land and houses themselves went unlimited, it would be inappropriate to impose a special cap on slaves alone; such a rule would be empty on the ground, too piecemeal to enforce. Under our present sagely rule, which favors simplicity, the needed prohibitions are already in place; Tian He's memorial ought not be enacted.
12
使 使
Metropolitan Commandant Shi Jian also charged Jie Deng, prefect of Yulin, with illegally drafting men under his supervision and asked that Deng be recalled. Xun Kai of the Masters of Writing argued that no one willingly took a distant post and proposed merely demoting Jie Deng in rank while leaving him in place. Li Zhong demurred, "Law exists to hold the many to one standard and curb abuse, not to chase every special case while leaving justice undone. Clear rules snag few and help the many. Remote posts like Yulin abound. If we treat a token demotion as precedent, every mediocre official banished to the marches will resort to graft. That will not purify government or pacify the borderlands. I urge acceptance of Shi Jian's memorial: recall Jie Deng at once and hold one rule for near and distant posts alike." The emperor agreed and issued an edict accordingly.
13
西 退 西
Early in the Taixi era he was promoted to justice assessor in the commandant of justice's office. He overturned several commandant findings in cases such as Handan Zui; the full texts are omitted here. A second promotion brought him to gentleman of the palace secretariat. On great matters and doubtful points he habitually cited the classics in his rulings, and most of his opinions were adopted. As personnel gentleman of the Masters of Writing he curbed ostentatious rivalry, refused private solicitations, and sought out hidden talent until worthy men filled the ranks. He promoted Guo Tang of Beihai, Liu Hang of Langye, Huo Yuan of Yan, Ji Mou of Fengyi, and others to secretariat posts and princely tutorships, winning the loyalty of scholars everywhere. When Liu Shen, rectifier for Yan, nominated Huo Yuan for the cold-and-plain category, the ministry of education balked. Liu Shen appealed to the palace secretariat, which bounced the case back to the ministry for joint review. Xun Zu, left chief clerk of the ministry of education, argued, "Cold-and-plain means humble birth and plain station, without inherited stipends. Huo Yuan is already a full marquis with gold seal and purple ribbon. He trafficked in worldly affairs in youth and turned to scholarship only late; he has passed thirty with no wide rural reputation and no renown for virtue or ritual. He does not fit the cold-and-plain rubric." Li Zhong replied in a memorial: As the Guiyou Edict provides, integrity and modesty should be honored, and ostentatious rivalry should be rejected. Men who live humbly, in plain circumstances, with quiet integrity and self-cultivation deserve to be advanced ahead of others. The edict's point was that tying nomination to second-rank pedigree could overlook men of modest, retiring character, so the cold-and-plain track was opened to honor virtue. The Minister of Education governs human relations and national instruction; he should apply rigorous standards in evaluation and set a single moral tone for the age. Yet the ancients' men of stern virtue and lofty character—some lived in mountain caves, some vanished into country estates, some disciplined themselves and restored ritual, some proclaimed the Way in old age—acted or held back, spoke or kept silent, only as righteousness required. One must not doubt the worth of a man's present character because his youth differed from his maturity, nor hold him to a uniform standard from first to last—that is not what it means to judge a man within his proper measure. The proper test is the judgment of his district and clan, and the scrutiny of the official who nominated him. Liu Shen served as rectifier and personally held the scales of nomination. Huo Yuan lives in seclusion to pursue his purpose, reveres antiquity, and loves learning; he studies without thought of profit and acts without courting fame. He has withdrawn to remote mountains, cultivating the Way and the arts within himself, showing no outward desire to impress the world while inwardly preserving the full integrity of a recluse. His conduct is established and his reputation made; officials admire him, and students come from a thousand li to submit and study under him. He has the spirit of Sun and Mencius and the moral fiber of Yan and Zheng. When Liu Shen first nominated Yuan, he consulted Attendant-in-Ordinary and Supervisor of the Palace Secretariat Hua, former provincial grand rectifier and General of the Rear Ying, and Intendant of Henan Yi. Three years ago, when provincial officials returned to court, Youzhou inspector Xu Meng singled out Yuan's name, proposed him for Xihe, and asked that he be specially summoned. As Liu Shen showed, local opinion had already nominated Yuan and the inspector had circulated the edict and submitted a formal recommendation—yet they still claim his rural reputation has not spread and his virtue and ritual conduct are unknown, set aside the verified findings, and, without sound reasoning, seek to overturn Liu Shen's judgment. Moreover, he meets the standard for second rank; perfection is not being required of him. Yet Yuan fixed his resolve in the mountains, cultivated and expounded the Confucian Way—a course rightly to be praised. If he is now rejected and demoted, it will disappoint Youzhou and damage the court's teaching of earnest virtue. In keeping with the edict's purpose, he should be ranked in the second grade.
14
The throne ruled in Li Zhong's favor.
15
Li Yi.
16
=
Li Zhong served alongside Li Yi as personnel gentleman while Wang Rong headed the Masters of Writing. Li Zhong was admired for austere integrity, Li Yi for encyclopedic wit. Though their temperaments differed, Wang Rong sized up each man and used him to best effect. Li Yi, courtesy name Maoyan, left so slight a record that older histories omit his career. At that time inner-court posts outweighed local office and rank titles had proliferated wildly. Li Zhong's critique is preserved in the Treatise on Officials. He also memorialized, "Recluses who flee the court to the hills may shun the age, yet the sage-kings honored them for clinging to a higher duty than office. When the late emperor grew alarmed at fashionable excess and sought to restore plain virtue, he polled the court and summoned recluses. In the second year of Xianning he first summoned Huangfu Mi of Anding as attendant of the heir apparent's household; in the fourth year he summoned Zhu Chong of Nan'an as court erudite; in the first year of Taikang he summoned Zhu Chong again as heir apparent's attendant. Both men pleaded illness and stayed home, yet the gesture won acclaim at court and in the countryside. Your Majesty exceeds even Emperor Wu's reverence for recluses. I have asked about Zhu Chong in his home commandery: though he is in his eighties his spirit is vigorous, he pursues the Way in the depths of the wilds with growing zeal, and his life chastens every village he touches. He is a sage of the hills who could edify the age. I urge you to show him imperial favor while he still lives and grant him a distinguished summons." Yet the court was in turmoil and never acted on the proposal. He was posted as acting general who punishes the caitiffs and army protector and as prefect of Pingyang, where he promoted moral education, rebuilt schools, cited men of proven integrity, promoted talent, lived plainly without private wants, and set a personal example for subordinates. Within three years he had four magistrates removed for cause. When his brother Yi died he resigned by memorial.
17
Early in the Yongkang era Prince Lun of Zhao named him left major to the chancellor of state. Anxiety and intimidation broke his health, and he died at forty-eight. His family was destitute and his house too small for the funeral rites, so the court ordered the reception office to host the obsequies. He was posthumously given the title cavalier attendant-in-ordinary and the posthumous name Cheng, Accomplished. His son Li Shi enjoyed a fine reputation, rose to palace attendant, and died early in the Xianhe era.
18
Editorial rubric: historical judgment.
19
西
The historians write that from the day Liu Song bound up his hair for office he served the state with utter loyalty, laid out far-reaching plans for feudal enfeoffment that struck the heart of the matter, and dissected penal law and administrative structure with exhaustive care. His prose may lack literary polish, yet his reasoning always drives to the crux. Measured against the Western Han capital he stands within sight of Jia Yi. Turning to the scholars of the eastern heartland, he matches the stature of men such as Lang Yi with room to spare. In the Yuankang years, when usurping ministers held absolute power and the whole court cowered merely to escape the chopping block. Liu Song alone remained bluntly loyal: he mourned Zhang Hua's innocence and rejected Prince Lun's illicit honors. The straight-speaking worthies of antiquity could scarcely better him. Yet when private pique led him to wrong Liu You, he fell short of the ideal that hates the sin yet knows the good and recommends even a foe! Li Zhong expounded the logic of continuity and reform and demolished unsound rules on land and property; his language fit the facts, and his tireless precision repays reading. When he turned his keen mind to appointments and to recluses, he vindicated Wang Rong's trust in his discernment—that reputation was no empty boast!
20
The encomium runs: Liu Song was unbending, and righteousness shaped every word he spoke. He dared remonstrate upward against power, and he meant every word. Li Zhong was refined and disinterested, and his aims were never self-serving. He lifted the worthy and freed the blocked; here lies his lasting counsel. Splendid were these two sages, true foundations of the house of Jin.
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