Volume 85 Biographies 35: Tang Lin, Zhang Wenguan, Xu Yougong

狄仁傑狄仁傑字懷英，并州太原人也。祖孝緒，貞觀中尚書左丞。父知遜，夔州長史。仁傑兒童時，門人有被害者，縣吏就詰之，眾皆接對，唯仁傑堅坐讀書。吏責之，仁傑曰：「黃卷之中，聖賢備在，猶不能接對，何暇偶俗吏，而見責耶！」後以明經舉，授汴州判佐。時工部尚書閻立本爲河南道黜陟使，仁傑爲吏人誣告，立本見而謝曰：「仲尼云：『觀過知仁矣。』足下可謂海曲之明珠，東南之遺寶。」薦授并州都督府法曹。其親在河陽別業，仁傑赴并州，登太行山，南望見白雲孤飛，謂左右曰：「吾親所居，在此雲下。」瞻望佇立久之，雲移乃行。仁傑孝友絶人，在并州，有同府法曹鄭崇質，母老且病，當充使絶域。仁傑謂曰：「太夫人有危疾，而公遠使，豈可貽親萬里之憂！」乃詣長史藺仁基，請代崇質而行。時仁基與司馬李孝廉不協，因謂曰：「吾等豈獨無愧耶？」由是相待如初。

Di Renjie, whose courtesy name was Huaiying, came from Taiyuan in Bing prefecture. His grandfather Di Xiaoxu had served as Left Vice Director of the Secretariat under Emperor Taizong. His father Di Zhixun had been prefectural secretary in Kuizhou. As a boy, when a household retainer was killed and county officers came to question everyone, they all responded while Renjie alone remained seated, reading. When an officer scolded him, Renjie replied: "The sages are all there in my books, and I still could not face your questioning—what leisure would I have to bandy words with a petty clerk and earn rebuke for it? He later passed the Classics examination and was appointed adjutant in Bianzhou. When Yan Liben, Minister of Works, was touring Henan as promotion-and-demotion commissioner, clerks falsely accused Renjie. Liben met him and apologized, quoting Confucius: "One may know a man's benevolence from his faults. You are a pearl from the coast, a treasure the southeast had overlooked. He recommended Renjie for appointment as legal officer in the Bingzhou metropolitan government. His parents lived at a family estate in Heyang. On his way to Bingzhou he climbed the Taihang range, and gazing south at a solitary white cloud, he told his attendants: "My parents' home lies beneath that cloud. He stood watching for a long time and did not move on until the cloud had drifted away. Renjie's devotion to parents and kin was extraordinary. In Bingzhou a colleague in the legal bureau, Zheng Chongzhi, had an aged, ailing mother yet was assigned to go as envoy to a far frontier. Renjie told him: "Your mother is gravely ill, and you are to travel thousands of miles—how can you lay that burden on her? He went to Chief Administrator Lan Renji and volunteered to take Chongzhi's place on the mission. Renji had been at odds with Vice Prefect Li Xiaolian; he now said to him: "Should we not be ashamed as well? From then on the two men were reconciled.

仁傑，儀鳳中爲大理丞，周歳斷滯獄一萬七千人，無冤訴者。時武衞大將軍權善才坐誤斫昭陵柏樹，仁傑奏罪當免職。高宗令即誅之，仁傑又奏罪不當死。帝作色曰：「善才斫陵上樹，是使我不孝，必須殺之。」左右矚仁傑令出，仁傑曰：「臣聞逆龍鱗，忤人主，自古以爲難，臣愚以爲不然。居桀、紂時則難，堯、舜時則易。臣今幸逢堯、舜，不懼比干之誅。昔漢文時有盜高廟玉環，張釋之廷諍，罪止棄市。魏文將徙其人，辛毗引裾而諫，亦見納用。且明主可以理奪，忠臣不可以威懼。今陛下不納臣言，瞑目之後，羞見釋之、辛毗於地下。陛下作法，懸之象魏，徒流死罪，俱有等差。豈有犯非極刑，即令賜死？法既無常，則萬姓何所措其手足？陛下必欲變法，請從今日爲始。古人云：『假使盜長陵一抔土，陛下何以加之？』今陛下以昭陵一株柏殺一將軍，千載之後，謂陛下爲何主？此臣所以不敢奉制殺善才，陷陛下於不道。」帝意稍解，善才因而免死。居數日，授仁傑侍御史。時司農卿韋機兼領將作、少府二司，高宗以恭陵玄宮狹小，不容送終之具，遣機續成其功。機於埏之左右爲便房四所，又造宿羽、高山、上陽等宮，莫不壯麗。仁傑奏其太過，機竟坐免官。左司郎中王本立恃寵用事，朝廷懾懼，仁傑奏之，請付法寺，高宗特原之。仁傑奏曰：「國家雖乏英才，豈少本立之類，陛下何惜罪人而虧王法？必欲曲赦本立，請棄臣於無人之境，爲忠貞將來之誡。」本立竟得罪，由是朝廷肅然。

During the Yifeng period Renjie served as assistant director of the Court of Judicial Review and within a year cleared seventeen thousand pending cases, with no one left protesting wrongful judgment. When General Quan Shancai of the Martial Guard was charged with accidentally felling a cypress at Emperor Taizong's mausoleum, Renjie argued the offense merited only removal from office. Emperor Gaozong ordered immediate execution, but Renjie submitted again that the crime did not deserve death. The emperor flushed with anger and said: "By cutting a tree on the imperial tomb Shancai has made me fail in filial duty—I must have him killed. Attendants signaled Renjie to withdraw, but he said: "They say it is hard to touch the dragon's scales and oppose one's sovereign—I do not believe it. Under tyrants like Jie and Zhou it was hard; under rulers like Yao and Shun it was easy. I am fortunate to serve a Yao or a Shun and need not fear dying like Bigan. In Han Wendi's reign, when thieves stole a jade ring from the founder's temple, Zhang Shizhi argued in open court and limited the penalty to execution in the marketplace. When King Wen of Wei planned to move his people, Xin Pi seized his robe to protest, and his counsel was heeded. A wise ruler yields to reason; a loyal minister is not frightened by threats. If Your Majesty will not heed me, when I am dead I shall be ashamed to face Zhang Shizhi and Xin Pi below. Your Majesty has promulgated laws and posted them at the gate; exile, penal servitude, and death each have their proper degree. How can a crime that is not capital be punished with immediate execution? If the law has no fixed measure, how are the people to know what to do? If Your Majesty insists on changing the law, let the change begin today. The ancients asked: if someone stole a handful of soil from the founder's tomb, what penalty would Your Majesty impose? Yet now, for one cypress at Zhaoling, you would kill a general—what will posterity call such a ruler? That is why I dare not obey an order to kill Shancai and make Your Majesty guilty of injustice." The emperor's anger subsided, and Shancai was spared. A few days later Renjie was appointed attendant censor. Wei Ji, Minister of Agriculture, also headed the offices of palace construction and the imperial workshops. Because the burial chamber at Gongling was too small for the funeral furnishings, Gaozong had him enlarge it. He built four side chambers around the tomb mound and also erected the Suyu, Gaoshan, Shangyang, and other palaces, each magnificent. Renjie protested the extravagance, and Wei Ji was eventually dismissed. Wang Benli of the Left Bureau abused imperial favor and terrified the court. Renjie impeached him and asked that he be tried, but Gaozong personally pardoned him. Renjie argued: "The empire may lack talent, but men like Benli are not rare—why spare a guilty man and damage the law? If Your Majesty must pardon Benli, cast me out to some desolate place as a warning to loyal men hereafter. Benli was punished after all, and the court grew orderly.

尋加朝散大夫，累遷度支郎中。高宗將幸汾陽宮，以仁傑爲知頓使。并州長史李沖玄以道出妒女祠，俗云盛服過者必致風雷之災，乃發數萬人別開御道。仁傑曰：「天子之行，千乘萬騎，風伯清塵，雨師灑道，何妒女之害耶？」遽令罷之。高宗聞之，歎曰：「真大丈夫也！」

He was soon made Grand Master of Palace Leisure and rose to director of the revenue bureau. When Gaozong planned to visit Fenyang Palace, he made Renjie commissioner in charge of supplies along the route. Li Chongxuan, chief administrator of Bingzhou, feared the route passed the Jealous Woman Shrine, where local belief held that richly dressed travelers would stir storms; he drafted tens of thousands of laborers to build a new imperial road. Renjie said: "When the Son of Heaven travels, he has thousands of chariots and horsemen—the Wind Lord clears the dust and the Rain Master wets the road. What harm can a jealous woman's shrine do? He ordered the project halted at once. When Gaozong heard of this he exclaimed: "A true man!"

俄轉寧州刺史，撫和戎夏，人得歡心，郡人勒碑頌德。御史郭翰巡察隴右，所至多所按劾。及入寧州境內，耆老歌刺史德美者盈路。翰既授館，召州吏謂之曰：「入其境，其政可知也。願成使君之美，無爲久留。」州人方散。翰薦名於朝，徵爲冬官侍郎，充江南巡撫使。吳、楚之俗多淫祠，仁傑奏毀一千七百所，唯留夏禹、吳太伯、季劄、伍員四祠。

He was soon made prefect of Ningzhou, where he reconciled Chinese and non-Chinese subjects alike; the people loved him, and the prefecture set up a stele in his praise. When Censor Guo Han toured Longyou he impeached officials wherever he went. Entering Ningzhou he found the roads lined with elders singing the prefect's praises. After taking lodging he summoned the prefectural staff and said: "One can tell the quality of rule the moment one crosses the border. I would rather add to the prefect's reputation than linger here. The crowd then dispersed. Guo Han recommended him to the court; Renjie was summoned as vice minister of public works and made touring commissioner of Jiangnan. Wu and Chu were rife with improper shrines; Renjie had seventeen hundred demolished, sparing only those of Yu the Great, Taibo of Wu, Jizha, and Wu Zixu.

轉文昌右丞，出爲豫州刺史。時越王貞稱兵汝南事敗，緣坐者六七百人，籍沒者五千口，司刑使逼促行刑。仁傑哀其詿誤，緩其獄，密表奏曰：「臣欲顯奏，似爲逆人申理；知而不言，恐乖陛下存恤之旨。表成復毀，意不能定。此輩鹹非本心，伏望哀其詿誤。」特敕原之，配流豐州。豫囚次於寧州，父老迎而勞之曰：「我狄使君活汝輩耶！」相攜哭於碑下，齋三日而後行。豫囚至流所，復相與立碑頌狄君之德。

He was promoted to right vice director of the Secretariat and sent out as prefect of Yuzhou. When Prince Yue rebelled in Runan and was defeated, six or seven hundred people were implicated and five thousand more faced confiscation of property; the judicial commissioner pressed for executions. Renjie pitied those caught up in the affair, slowed the trials, and sent a secret memorial: "If I speak openly I may seem to plead for rebels; yet if I know and stay silent I fear I betray Your Majesty's merciful intent. He drafted the memorial, destroyed it, and could not make up his mind. These people did not rebel of their own will; I beg Your Majesty to pity their mistake. An edict specially pardoned them and sent them into exile at Fengzhou. As the prisoners from Yuzhou passed through Ningzhou, the elders came out to greet them: "Did our Commissioner Di save you? They wept together at the stele, fasted three days, and then went on. At their place of exile the Yuzhou prisoners again joined in erecting a stele praising Commissioner Di.

初，越王之亂，宰相張光輔率師討平之。將士恃功，多所求取，仁傑不之應。光輔怒曰：「州將輕元帥耶？」仁傑曰：「亂河南者，一越王貞耳。今一貞死而萬貞生。」光輔質其辭，仁傑曰：「明公董戎三十萬，平一亂臣，不戢兵鋒，縱其暴橫，無罪之人，肝腦塗地，此非萬貞何耶？且凶威協從，勢難自固，及天兵暫臨，乘城歸順者萬計，繩墜四面成蹊。公奈何縱邀功之人，殺歸降之眾？但恐冤聲騰沸，上徹於天。如得尚方斬馬劍加於君頸，雖死如歸。」光輔不能詰，心甚銜之。還都，奏仁傑不遜，左授復州刺史。入爲洛州司馬。

When Prince Yue rebelled, Chancellor Zhang Guangfu led the army that suppressed him. His officers, flush with victory, made many demands, which Renjie refused. Guangfu snapped: "Does the prefect hold the commander in contempt? Renjie replied: "Only one man disturbed Henan—Prince Yue. Now one Yue is dead, but ten thousand Yues are being born." When Guangfu challenged him, Renjie said: "You led three hundred thousand men to crush one rebel, yet failed to restrain your troops. Innocent people were slaughtered—is that not breeding ten thousand Yues? Men joined the rebels only under coercion; when imperial troops arrived, tens of thousands climbed the walls to surrender, and ropes hung on every side like paths. Why let men hungry for credit kill those who had already submitted? I fear only that the outcry of the wronged will rise to heaven itself. Even if the imperial sword were laid to your neck, I would die content." Guangfu had no answer and nursed a deep grudge. Back in the capital he accused Renjie of insubordination, and Renjie was demoted to prefect of Fuzhou. He was later recalled as vice prefect of Luozhou.

天授二年九月丁酉，轉地官侍郎、判尚書、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。則天謂曰：「卿在汝南時，甚有善政，欲知譖卿者乎？」仁傑謝曰：「陛下以臣爲過，臣當改之；陛下明臣無過，臣之幸也。臣不知譖者，並爲善友，臣請不知。」則天深加歎異。

On the dingyou day of the ninth month of Tianshou 2 (691), he became vice minister of revenue, acting director of the secretariat, and associate grand councillor. Empress Wu said: "You governed Runan well. Would you like to know who denounced you? Renjie replied: "If Your Majesty finds fault in me, I shall reform; if Your Majesty knows I am without fault, that is my good fortune. I do not wish to know my accusers—let them remain my friends. I beg to remain ignorant." The empress marveled at this.

未幾，爲來俊臣誣構下獄。時一問即承者例得減死，來俊臣逼協仁傑，令一問承反。仁傑歎曰：「大周革命，萬物唯新，唐朝舊臣，甘從誅戮。反是實！」俊臣乃少寬之。判官王德壽謂仁傑曰：「尚書必得減死。德壽意欲求少階級，憑尚書牽楊執柔，可乎？」仁傑曰：「若何牽之？」德壽曰：「尚書爲春官時，執柔任其司員外，引之可也。」仁傑曰：「皇天后土，遣仁傑行此事！」以頭觸柱，流血被面，德壽懼而謝焉。既承反，所司但待日行刑，不復嚴備。仁傑求守者得筆硯，拆被頭帛書冤，置綿衣中，謂德壽曰：「時方熱，請付家人去其綿。」德壽不之察。仁傑子光遠得書，持以告變。則天召見，覽之而問俊臣。俊臣曰：「仁傑不免冠帶，寢處甚安，何由伏罪？」則天使人視之，俊臣遽命仁傑巾帶而見使者。乃令德壽代仁傑作謝死表，附使者進之。則天召仁傑，謂曰：「承反何也？」對曰：「向若不承反，已死於鞭笞矣。」「何爲作謝死表？」曰：「臣無此表。」示之，乃知代署也。故得免死。貶彭澤令。武承嗣屢奏請誅之，則天曰：「朕好生惡殺，誌在恤刑。渙汗已行，不可更返。」

Before long Lai Junchen framed him and had him imprisoned. Confessing at the first interrogation could reduce a capital sentence; Lai Junchen pressured Renjie to admit treason immediately. Renjie sighed: "The Zhou has renewed all things; as an old servant of Tang I accept execution. Treason it is, then! Lai Junchen then eased his pressure. The examining judge Wang Deshou told Renjie: "You will surely receive a reduced sentence. Deshou said he wanted a small promotion—would Renjie implicate Yang Zhirou for him? Renjie asked: "How would I implicate him?" Deshou said: "When you were in the Ministry of Personnel, Zhirou was your bureau aide—you could name him." Renjie cried: "Heaven and Earth—would they have me do such a thing!" He dashed his head against a pillar until blood covered his face; Deshou fled in terror and apologized. Once he had confessed, the authorities merely waited for execution day and relaxed their watch. Renjie persuaded a guard to lend him brush and ink, tore open his quilt lining to write his plea of innocence, hid the note in his padded coat, and told Deshou: "It is hot—please send this to my family to remove the padding. Deshou noticed nothing amiss. Renjie's son Guangyuan retrieved the letter and brought it forward as a complaint. The empress summoned Guangyuan, read the letter, and questioned Lai Junchen. Lai Junchen said: "Renjie still wears his cap and sash and sleeps in comfort—how could he have confessed? The empress sent an inspector; Lai Junchen at once had Renjie dress in cap and sash to meet him. He then had Deshou write a memorial of thanks for execution in Renjie's name and sent it in with the envoy. Wu Zetian summoned Renjie and asked: "Why did you confess treason? He answered: "If I had not confessed, I would already be dead from the beating." Then why was there a memorial thanking you for execution?" He said: "I wrote no such memorial." When they showed it to him, he saw it had been forged in his name. In this way he was spared execution. He was demoted to magistrate of Pengze. Wu Chengsi repeatedly asked that he be put to death, but Wu Zetian said: "I love life and abhor killing; my aim is mercy in punishment. The pardon has already gone forth and cannot be withdrawn."

萬歳通天年，契丹寇陷冀州，河北震動，征仁傑爲魏州刺史。前刺史獨孤思莊懼賊至，盡驅百姓入城，繕修守具。仁傑既至，悉放歸農畝，謂曰：「賊猶在遠，何必如是。萬一賊來，吾自當之，必不關百姓也。」賊聞之自退，百姓咸歌誦之，相與立碑以紀恩惠。俄轉幽州都督。

In the Wansuitongtian reign period the Khitan attacked and took Jizhou, throwing Hebei into alarm; Renjie was appointed prefect of Weizhou. The previous prefect, Dugu Sizhuang, fearing an attack, herded every civilian into the city and rushed to repair its defenses. When Renjie arrived he sent them all back to their farms, saying: "The enemy is still far off—why go to such extremes? If they do come, I will face them myself—the people will not be dragged into it. The raiders withdrew on hearing this; the people sang his praises and together raised a stele to commemorate his kindness. He was soon transferred to area commander of Youzhou.

神功元年，入爲鸞臺侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事，加銀青光祿大夫，兼納言。仁傑以百姓西戍疏勒等四鎮，極爲凋弊，乃上疏曰：

In 697 he entered court as vice director of the Censorate and co–grand counselor of the Fengge and Luantai, promoted to Silver-Glitter Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, and made director of edicts as well. Seeing how badly the people were exhausted by western garrison duty at Kucha and the other Four Garrisons, Renjie submitted a memorial saying:

臣聞天生四夷，皆在先王封疆之外。故東拒滄海，西隔流沙，北橫大漠，南阻五嶺，此天所以限夷狄而隔中外也。自典籍所紀，聲教所及，三代不能至者，國家盡兼之矣。此則今日之四境，已逾於夏、殷者也。詩人矜薄伐於太原，美化行於江、漢，則是前代之遠裔，而國家之域中。至前漢時，匈奴無歳不陷邊，殺掠吏人。後漢則西羌侵軼漢中，東寇三輔，入河東上黨，幾至洛陽。由此言之，則陛下今日之士宇，過於漢朝遠矣。若其用武荒外，邀功絶域，竭府庫之實，以爭磽確不毛之地，得其人不足以增賦，獲其土不可以耕織。苟求冠帶遠夷之稱，不務固本安人之術，此秦皇、漢武之所行，非五帝、三皇之事業也。若使越荒外以爲限，竭資財以騁欲，非但不愛人力，亦所以失天心也。昔始皇窮兵極武，以求廣地，男子不得耕於野，女子不得蠶於室，長城之下，死者如亂麻，於是天下潰叛。漢武追高、文之宿憤，藉四帝之儲實，於是定朝鮮，討西域，平南越，擊匈奴，府庫空虛，盜賊蜂起，百姓嫁妻賣子，流離於道路者萬計。末年覺悟，息兵罷役，封丞相爲富民侯，故能爲天所祐也。昔人有言：「與覆車同軌者未嘗安。」此言雖小，可以喻大。

I have heard that Heaven created the four barbarian quarters, all beyond the borders set by the ancient kings. The east is bounded by the sea, the west by drifting sands, the north by the great desert, and the south by the Five Ridges—Heaven's way of confining the barbarians and separating them from the heartland. Every land recorded in the classics and touched by civilization, yet beyond the reach of the Three Dynasties, our dynasty now holds in full. Today's frontiers already surpass those of Xia and Yin. When poets praised the punitive campaign against Taiyuan and civilization spread along the Yangtze and Han, those were distant marches of earlier ages—yet heartland domains of our state. Under the Former Han the Xiongnu breached the frontier every single year, killing and plundering officials and commoners. Under the Later Han the Western Qiang overran Hanzhong, struck the capital region from the east, pushed into Hedong and Shangdang, and nearly reached Luoyang. From this it is clear that Your Majesty's realm today far exceeds that of the Han. If we wage war in the outer wastes, chase glory in distant lands, and drain the treasury to seize barren ground, the people won would not pay enough tax to matter and the soil could neither be farmed nor woven from. If we chase the empty honor of civilizing distant tribes while neglecting the work of strengthening the root and settling the people, we follow Qin Shihuang and Han Wudi—not the way of the sage emperors. To push beyond the wastes and spend the treasury to satisfy ambition is not only to waste human labor—it is to lose Heaven's favor. Qin Shihuang drove armies to exhaustion to expand his domain; men could not farm, women could not raise silkworms; beneath the Great Wall the dead piled like tangled hemp—and the realm rose in revolt. Han Wudi vented the old grievances of Emperors Gao and Wen and spent the hoarded wealth of four reigns conquering Korea, campaigning in the Western Regions, pacifying Southern Yue, and striking the Xiongnu; the treasuries emptied, bandits swarmed, and tens of thousands of people sold wives and children and wandered destitute on the roads. Only in his last years did he see his error, halt the armies, end corvée, and enfeoff his chancellor as Marquis Who Enriches the People—thereby winning Heaven's protection. As someone once said: "Those who follow the ruts of an overturned cart never ride safely. The saying is small, but it speaks to great matters.

近者國家頻歳出師，所費滋廣，西戍四鎮，東戍安東，調發日加，百姓虛弊。開守西域，事等石田，費用不支，有損無益，轉輸靡絶，杼軸殆空。越磧逾海，分兵防守，行役既久，怨曠亦多。昔詩人云：「王事靡盬，不能藝稷黍。」「豈不懷歸，畏此罪罟。念彼蒸人，涕零如雨。」此則前代怨思之辭也。上不是恤，則政不行而邪氣作；邪氣作，則蟲螟生而水旱起。若此，雖禱祀百神，不能調陰陽矣。方今關東饑饉，蜀、漢逃亡，江、淮以南，徵求不息。人不復業，則相率爲盜，本根一搖，憂患不淺。其所以然者，皆爲遠戍方外，以竭中國，爭蠻貊不毛之地，乖子養蒼生之道也。

In recent years the state has sent armies out year after year at ever greater cost, garrisoning the Four Garrisons in the west and Andong in the east; levies mount daily and the people are hollowed out. Opening and holding the Western Regions is like tilling rock—costs cannot be borne, losses outweigh gains, transport never stops, and the looms stand nearly idle. Troops cross deserts and seas on divided garrison duty; service drags on, and resentment and long separation multiply. The poets of old sang: "The king's service never ends; we cannot plant millet and grain." Would we not long to go home? We fear the snare of punishment. Thinking of those common people, tears fall like rain." These are the words of resentment and longing from ages past. If the ruler above does not set things right, government fails and malign forces arise; when malign forces arise, locusts and borers appear and flood and drought follow. When things reach this point, prayer to the hundred spirits cannot restore the balance of yin and yang. East of the Pass there is famine; in Shu and Han people flee; south of the Yangtze and Huai exactions never stop. If people cannot return to their trades they will turn to banditry in groups; once the root is shaken, the troubles will be grave. The cause of all this is distant garrisoning beyond the borders, draining the heartland to fight over barren tribal lands—a betrayal of the ruler's duty to nurture the people as his children.

昔漢元納賈捐之之謀而罷珠崖郡，宣帝用魏相之策而棄車師之田，豈不欲慕尚虛名，蓋憚勞人力也。近貞觀年中，克平九姓，冊李思摩爲可汗，使統諸部者，蓋以夷狄叛則伐之，降則撫之，得推亡固存之義，無遠戍勞人之役。此則近日之令典，經邊之故事。竊見阿史那斛瑟羅，陰山貴種，代雄沙漠，若委之四鎮，使統諸蕃，封爲可汗，遣禦寇患，則國家有繼絶之美，荒外無轉輸之役。如臣所見，請捐四鎮以肥中國，罷安東以實遼西，省軍費於遠方，並甲兵於塞上，則恒、代之鎮重，而邊州之備實矣。況綏撫夷狄，蓋防其越逸，無侵侮之患則可矣。何必窮其窟穴，與螻蟻計校長短哉！

Formerly Emperor Yuan of Han took Jia Juanzhi's advice and abolished Zhuya commandery, and Emperor Xuan followed Wei Xiang's counsel and gave up the fields of Jushi—not because they scorned glory, but because they feared wasting human labor. In the recent Zhenguan era, after defeating the Nine Surnames, Li Simo was enthroned as qaghan to rule the tribes—rebel and you strike them, submit and you soothe them—honoring the principle of preserving what survives without the corvée of distant garrisons. This is the recent model and the established precedent of frontier policy. I observe that Ashina Queshelo, noble stock of the Yin Mountains and a desert chieftain for generations, if entrusted with the Four Garrisons to rule the tribes and enfeoffed as qaghan to repel invaders, would bring the state the honor of restoring a broken line and spare the outer wastes endless transport corvée. As I see it, relinquish the Four Garrisons to enrich the heartland, abolish Andong to strengthen Liaoxi, cut military costs in distant lands, and mass armor and troops on the frontier—then the Heng and Dai garrisons will gain weight and the border prefectures real strength. In pacifying the barbarians one need only keep them from overstepping; if they do not harass or insult us, that is enough. Why must we hunt them to their lairs and measure strength against ants!

且王者外寧必有內憂，蓋爲不勤修政故也。伏惟陛下棄之度外，無以絶域未平爲念。但當敕邊兵謹守備，蓄銳以待敵，待其自至，然後擊之，此李牧所以製匈奴也。當今所要者，莫若令邊城警守備，遠斥候，聚軍實，蓄威武。以逸待勞，則戰士力倍；以主禦客，則我得其便；堅壁清野，則寇無所得。自然賊深入必有顛躓之慮，淺入必無虜獲之益。如此數年，可使二虜不擊而服矣。

When a ruler finds peace abroad, trouble at home follows—because he has neglected to govern diligently. I humbly ask Your Majesty to set distant regions aside and not fix your mind on pacifying the outer wastes. You need only order frontier troops to hold their defenses, store their strength, wait for the enemy to come to them, and then strike—this is how Li Mu mastered the Xiongnu. What is needed now, above all, is to alert the border cities, post distant scouts, stock military supplies, and store martial power. Meet the weary with rested men and warriors fight at double strength; fight as host against guest and we hold the advantage; hold strong walls and clear the countryside and invaders gain nothing. Invaders who push deep will fear disaster; those who raid shallowly will gain no plunder worth the effort. Within a few years the two barbarian enemies could be made to submit without a blow being struck.

仁傑又請廢安東，復高氏爲君長，停江南之轉輸，慰河北之勞弊，數年之後，可以安人富國。事雖不行，識者是之。尋檢校納言，兼右肅政臺御史大夫。

Renjie also asked to abolish Andong, restore the Gao clan as tribal chiefs, halt transport levies from south of the Yangtze, and ease Hebei's exhaustion—within a few years the people could be settled and the state enriched. The proposal was not adopted, but those who understood the issue approved it. He was soon made acting director of edicts and concurrently censor-in-chief of the Right Suheng Office.

聖曆初，突厥侵掠趙、定等州，命仁傑爲河北道元帥，以便宜從事。突厥盡殺所掠男女萬餘人，從五回道而去。仁傑總兵十萬追之不及。便製仁傑河北道安撫大使。時河朔人庶，多爲突厥逼脅，賊退後懼誅，又多逃匿。仁傑上疏曰：

At the start of the Shengli era the Turks raided Zhao, Ding, and other prefectures; Renjie was appointed commander of the Hebei circuit with full discretion. The Turks killed every one of the more than ten thousand men and women they had seized and withdrew by the Wuhui route. Renjie led a hundred thousand men in pursuit but could not overtake them. An edict at once appointed him pacification commissioner of the Hebei circuit. Many people north of the Yellow River had been forced to serve the Turks; after the raiders withdrew they feared punishment and went into hiding. Renjie submitted a memorial saying:

製從之。軍還，授內史。

The empress approved it. When the army returned he was appointed director of the Palace Secretariat.

聖曆三年，則天幸三陽宮，王公百僚鹹經侍從，唯仁傑特賜宅一區，當時恩寵無比。是歳六月，左玉鈐衞大將軍李楷固、右武威衞將軍駱務整討契丹餘眾，擒之，獻俘於含樞殿。則天大悅，特賜楷固姓武氏。楷固、務整，並契丹李盡忠之別帥也。初，盡忠之作亂，楷固等屢率兵以陷官軍，後兵敗來降，有司斷以極法。仁傑議以爲楷固等並有驍將之才，若恕其死，必能感恩效節。又奏請授其官爵，委以專征。製並從之。及楷固等凱旋，則天召仁傑預宴，因舉觴親勸，歸賞於仁傑。授楷固左玉鈐衞大將軍，賜爵燕國公。

In the third year of Shengli Wu Zetian visited the Sanyang Palace; nobles and officials all attended, but Renjie alone received a special grant of a residence—favor without equal at the time. That sixth month Left Grand General Li Kaigu of the Jade Bridle Guard and Right General Luo Wuzheng of the Martial Might Guard attacked the remaining Khitan forces, captured them, and presented prisoners at the Hall of the Pivot of Harmony. Wu Zetian was greatly pleased and specially granted Kaigu the surname Wu. Kaigu and Wuzheng had both been subordinate commanders under the Khitan leader Li Jinzhong. When Jinzhong first rebelled, Kaigu and the others had repeatedly led troops against the imperial armies; after defeat they surrendered, and the authorities ruled death. Renjie argued that Kaigu and the others were fierce generals of real talent; if spared, they would repay the grace with loyal service. He also memorialized asking that they be given office and rank and entrusted with independent command. The empress approved all of it. When Kaigu and the others returned in triumph, Wu Zetian summoned Renjie to the feast, raised her cup and urged him to drink, and credited the victory to him. Kaigu was made left grand general of the Jade Bridle Guard and enfeoffed as Duke of Yan.

則天又將造大像，用功數百萬，令天下僧尼每日人出一錢，以助成之。仁傑上疏諫曰：

Wu Zetian was also planning a great Buddha image that would require millions of work-days; she ordered every monk and nun in the realm to contribute one coin per day toward its completion. Renjie submitted a memorial remonstrating, saying:

則天乃罷其役。是歳九月，病卒，則天爲之舉哀，廢朝三日，贈文昌右相，諡曰文惠。

Wu Zetian then halted the project. That ninth month he died of illness; Wu Zetian mourned him, suspended court for three days, posthumously made him vice director of right of the Palace of Literary Brilliance, and gave him the posthumous name Wenhui, Cultured and Beneficent.

仁傑常以舉賢爲意，其所引拔桓彥範、敬暉、竇懷貞、姚崇等，至公卿者數十人。初，則天嘗問仁傑曰：「朕要一好漢任使，有乎？」仁傑曰：「陛下作何任使？」則天曰：「朕欲待以將相。」對曰：「臣料陛下若求文章資歴，則今之宰臣李嶠、蘇味道亦足爲文吏矣。豈非文士齷齪，思得奇才用之，以成天下之務者乎？」則天悅曰：「此朕心也。」仁傑曰：「荊州長史張柬之，其人雖老，真宰相才也。且久不遇，若用之，必盡節於國家矣。」則天乃召拜洛州司馬。他日，又求賢。仁傑曰：「臣前言張柬之，猶未用也。」則天曰：「已遷之矣。」對曰：「臣薦之爲相，今爲洛州司馬，非用之也。」又遷爲秋官侍郎，後竟召爲相。柬之果能興復中宗，蓋仁傑之推薦也。

Renjie always made recommending talent his aim; among those he advanced to ministerial rank—Huan Yanfan, Jing Hui, Dou Huaizhen, Yao Chong, and others—were dozens of men. Once Wu Zetian asked Renjie: "I need a capable man to employ—is there one? Renjie said: "For what post does Your Majesty wish to use him?" Wu Zetian said: "I mean to use him as a general or minister." He replied: "If Your Majesty wants literary credentials and résumé, the present chancellors Li Jiao and Su Weidao would suffice as literary officials. Is it not that literary men seem too narrow, and you wish to find an exceptional talent to carry out the affairs of the realm?" Empress Wu was delighted and said, "That is exactly what I have in mind." Di Renjie replied, "Zhang Jianzhi, the prefectural secretary of Jingzhou, is advanced in years, but he is genuine chancellor material. Moreover, he has long gone unrecognized; if you appoint him, he will surely devote himself utterly to the realm." The empress thereupon summoned Zhang Jianzhi and appointed him Vice Marshal of Luozhou. On another occasion she again asked for recommendations of able men. Renjie said, "Your subject spoke earlier of Zhang Jianzhi, yet he still has not been properly used. Empress Wu said, "I have already moved him to another post." He answered, "Your subject recommended him as chancellor, yet he is now Vice Marshal of Luozhou—that is not putting him to use." Zhang was then transferred to Vice Minister of Justice, and was eventually summoned to serve as chancellor. That Jianzhi was able to restore Emperor Zhongzong was owed, in the end, to Renjie's recommendation.

仁傑嘗爲魏州刺史，人吏爲立生祠。及去職，其子景暉爲魏州司功參軍，頗貪暴，爲人所惡，乃毀仁傑之祠。長子光嗣，聖曆初爲司府丞，則天令宰相各舉尚書郎一人，仁傑乃薦光嗣。拜地官員外郎，蒞事稱職，則天喜而言曰：「祁奚內舉，果得其人。」開元七年，自汴州刺史轉揚州大都督府長史，坐贓貶歙州別駕卒。

When Renjie had served as prefect of Weizhou, the people and officials erected a living shrine in his honor. After Renjie left office, his son Jinghui served as Revenue Assistant in Weizhou. Jinghui was greedy and brutal and widely despised, and the people tore down Renjie's shrine. Renjie's eldest son Guangsi, at the start of the Shengli reign, held the post of Commissioner of the Palace Revenues Office. When Empress Wu ordered each chancellor to nominate one Bureau Director, Renjie recommended Guangsi. Guangsi was appointed Assistant Director in the Ministry of Population Affairs and proved competent in office. Empress Wu was pleased and said, "Like Qi Xi recommending a kinsman, you have indeed found the right man. In the seventh year of Kaiyuan he was transferred from Prefect of Bianzhou to Chief Secretary of the Yangzhou Grand Protectorate; later he was convicted of corruption, demoted to Vice Prefect of Shezhou, and died there.

初，中宗在房陵，而吉頊、李昭德皆有匡復讜言，則天無復辟意。唯仁傑每從容奏對，無不以子母恩情爲言，則天亦漸省悟，竟召還中宗，復爲儲貳。初，中宗自房陵還宮，則天匿之帳中，召仁傑以廬陵爲言。仁傑慷慨敷奏，言發涕流，遽出中宗謂仁傑曰：「還卿儲君。」仁傑降階泣賀，既已，奏曰：「太子還宮，人無知者，物議安審是非？」則天以爲然，乃復置中宗於龍門，具禮迎歸，人情感悅。仁傑前後匡復奏對，凡數萬言，開元中，北海太守李邕撰爲《梁公別傳》，備載其辭。中宗返正，追贈司空；睿宗追封梁國公。仁傑族曾孫兼謨。仁傑族曾孫兼謨兼謨，登進士第。祖郊、父邁，仕官皆微。兼謨元和末解褐襄陽推官，試校書郎，言行剛正，使府知名。憲宗召爲左拾遺，累上書言事，歴尚書郎。長慶、太和中，歴鄭州刺史，以治行稱，入爲給事中。開成初，度支左藏庫妄破漬汙縑帛等贓罪，文宗以事在赦前不理。兼謨封還敕書，文宗召而諭之曰：「嘉卿舉職，然朕已赦其長官，典吏亦宜在宥。然事或不可，卿勿以封敕爲艱。」遷御史中丞。謝日，文宗顧謂之曰：「御史臺朝廷綱紀，臺綱正則朝廷理，朝廷正則天下理。凡執法者，大抵以畏忌顧望爲心，職業由茲不舉。卿梁公之後，自有家法，豈復爲常常之心哉！」兼謨謝曰：「朝法或未得中，臣固悉心彈奏。」會江西觀察使吳士矩違額加給軍士，破官錢數十萬計。兼謨奏曰：「觀察使守陛下土地，宣陛下詔條，臨戎賞軍，州有定數。而士矩與奪由己，盈縮自專，不唯貽弊一方，必致諸軍援例。請下法司，正行朝典。」士矩坐貶蔡州別駕。兼謨尋轉兵部侍郎。明年，檢校工部尚書、太原尹，充河東節度使。會昌中，累歴方鎮，卒。王方慶王方慶，雍州咸陽人也，周少司空石泉公褒之曾孫也。其先自琅邪南度，居於丹陽，爲江左冠族。褒北徙入關，始家咸陽焉。祖鼒，隋衞尉丞。伯父弘讓，有美名，貞觀中爲中書舍人。父弘直，爲漢王元昌友，畋獵無度，乃上書切諫，其略曰：「夫宗子維城之托者，所以固邦家之業也。大王功無任城戰克之效，行無河間樂善之譽，爵高五等，邑富千室，當思答極施之洪慈，保無疆之永祚。其爲計者，在乎修德，冠屨《詩》《禮》，畋獵史傳。覽古人成敗之所由，鑒既往存亡之異跡，覆前戒後，居安慮危。奈何列騎齊驅，交橫壟畝，野有遊客，巷無居人。貽眾庶之憂，逞一情之樂，從禽不息，實用寒心。」元昌覽書而遽止。漸見疏斥，轉荊王友。龍朔中卒。

At first, while Emperor Zhongzong was confined at Fangling, both Ji Xu and Li Zhaode offered counsel on restoring him, but Empress Wu showed no inclination to bring him back. Renjie alone, in every calm memorial and reply, spoke always of the bond between mother and son. Empress Wu gradually came round, and at last recalled Zhongzong and restored him as crown prince. When Zhongzong first returned from Fangling to the palace, Empress Wu concealed him behind a screen and summoned Renjie, speaking as though the heir were still Prince of Luling. Renjie spoke with passionate urgency, tears streaming as he pleaded; the empress suddenly produced Zhongzong and said to Renjie, "I give you back your crown prince. Renjie stepped down weeping with joy; when he had composed himself, he memorialized, "The crown prince has returned to the palace, yet no one knows of it—how can public opinion weigh the rights and wrongs of the matter?" Empress Wu agreed, and had Zhongzong received again at Longmen with full ceremony. The people were deeply moved and rejoiced. Renjie's memorials and replies on the restoration altogether ran to tens of thousands of words. In the Kaiyuan era Li Yong, Prefect of Beihai, compiled them into a Separate Biography of the Duke of Liang, preserving his words in full. After Zhongzong was restored, Renjie was posthumously honored as Minister of Works; Emperor Ruizong later posthumously ennobled him as Duke of Liang. Renjie's collateral great-great-grandson was Di Jianmo. Di Jianmo, Renjie's collateral great-great-grandson, passed the jinshi examination. His grandfather Jiao and his father Mai had both held only minor offices. At the end of the Yuanhe reign Jianmo entered service as investigating officer in Xiangyang and as provisional collator. Upright in word and deed, he won a name for himself in the governor's headquarters. Emperor Xianzong summoned him to serve as Left Reminder. He memorialized repeatedly on affairs of state and rose through posts as Bureau Director. During the Changqing and Taihe reigns he served as Prefect of Zhengzhou, where his administration won praise, and was then recalled to court as Attendant Expositor. Early in the Kaicheng reign officials in the Left Treasury of the Revenue Ministry wantonly destroyed stained and spoiled silk in connection with an embezzlement case. Emperor Wenzong declined to prosecute because the offense predated a general amnesty. Jianmo sealed the edict and returned it unread. Emperor Wenzong summoned him and said, "I commend you for doing your duty, but I have already pardoned the chief official, and the clerks should be forgiven as well. If the matter truly cannot stand, however, you must not shrink from returning an edict unexecuted. He was then appointed Vice Censor-in-Chief. On the day he thanked the throne, Emperor Wenzong turned to him and said, "The Censorate is the disciplinary backbone of the court. When its standards are upright, the court is well ordered; when the court is well ordered, the realm is well ordered. Those charged with enforcing the law are, for the most part, ruled by fear and hesitation, and so fail in their duties. You are a descendant of the Duke of Liang and carry your family's standards in your blood. Surely you will not settle for the timid habits of ordinary men! Jianmo thanked him and replied, "If the court's handling of the law falls short, your subject will impeach without reserve." Not long afterward Wu Shiju, Observation Commissioner of Jiangxi, paid soldiers above the authorized quota and squandered several hundred thousand strings of government money. Jianmo memorialized, "An observation commissioner holds Your Majesty's territory in trust and proclaims Your Majesty's statutes. Rewards to troops on campaign are fixed by regulation for each province. Yet Shiju has distributed and withheld funds at his own pleasure, controlling surpluses and shortfalls as he sees fit. This will not only corrupt one region—it will invite every army in the empire to follow his example. I ask that the case be referred to the judicial authorities and punished according to statute. Wu Shiju was found guilty and demoted to Vice Prefect of Caizhou. Jianmo was soon transferred to Vice Minister of War. The following year he was made acting Minister of Works and Governor of Taiyuan, with the additional title of Military Governor of Hedong. During the Huichang reign he served in several frontier commands in succession and then died. Wang Fangqing was a native of Xianyang in Yong Province and the great-grandson of Bao, Duke of Shiquan and former Junior Minister of Works under the Zhou. His forebears had migrated south from Langye and settled at Danyang, where they became one of the great families of the Jiangzuo region. Bao moved north through the Pass and first established the family seat at Xianyang. His grandfather Zi served the Sui as Deputy Director of the Palace Guard. His father's elder brother Hongrang enjoyed a fine reputation and served during the Zhenguan reign as Drafting Officer of the Secretariat. His father Hongzhi served as companion to Prince Yuan Chang of Han. The prince hunted without restraint, and Hongzhi submitted a forceful memorial, which in essence said, "Imperial sons are entrusted as the walls of the realm precisely so that the fortunes of state and dynasty may be secured. Your Highness has won no victories like those of the Prince of Rencheng, nor earned a name for virtue like the Prince of Hejian, yet your rank stands among the highest and your fief holds a thousand households. You ought to repay the boundless grace shown you and safeguard an inheritance without end. The proper course is to cultivate virtue—let your cap and shoes be guided by the Classic of Poetry and the Rites, and let your hunting be measured by the lessons of history. Study why the ancients rose or fell, weigh the divergent fates of those who came before, take past errors as warnings for the future, and in security keep peril in mind. Yet you ride out with columns of horses thundering across the fields until the countryside is emptied of farmers and the lanes stand deserted. You burden the people with fear, indulge a private pleasure, and hunt without end. It is enough to chill the heart. Yuan Chang read the memorial and at once gave up the hunt. Hongzhi gradually fell out of favor and was transferred to serve as companion to the Prince of Jing. He died during the Longshuo reign.

方慶年十六，起家越王府參軍。嘗就記室任希古受《史記》、《漢書》。希古遷爲太子舍人，方慶隨之卒業。永淳中，累遷太仆少卿。則天臨朝，拜廣州都督。廣州地際南海，每歳有昆侖乘舶以珍物與中國交市。舊都督路元睿冒求其貨，昆侖懷刃殺之。方慶在任數載，秋毫不犯。又管內諸州首領，舊多貪縱，百姓有詣府稱冤者，府官以先受首領參餉，未嘗鞫問。方慶乃集止府僚，絶其交往，首領縱暴者悉繩之，由是境內清肅。當時議者以爲有唐以來，治廣州者無出方慶之右。有制褒之曰：「朕以卿歴職著稱，故授此官，既美化遠聞，實副朝寄。令賜卿雜采六十段，並瑞錦等物，以彰善政也。」

Fangqing entered service at sixteen as military adjutant in the household of the Prince of Yue. He studied the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han under the prince's recorder, Ren Xigu. When Xigu was transferred to serve as aide to the crown prince, Fangqing followed him and finished his course of study. During the Yongchun reign he rose to Deputy Master of Horse. When Empress Wu assumed the throne, he was appointed Protector-General of Guangzhou. Guangzhou lay on the South Sea, and every year Kunlun merchants arrived by ship bearing precious goods to trade with the Middle Kingdom. The previous Protector-General, Lu Yuanrui, had brazenly extorted their merchandise, and the Kunlun merchants, blades hidden on their persons, killed him. Fangqing held the post for several years without taking so much as a hair's worth of improper gain. The tribal chiefs of the prefectures under his jurisdiction had long been greedy and lawless. When commoners came to the prefectural office to plead injustice, the staff never investigated, having already accepted gifts from those same chiefs. Fangqing summoned his staff, forbade such dealings, and punished every chief who abused his power. Thereafter the region was brought to order. Contemporaries held that since the founding of Tang, no governor of Guangzhou had matched Fangqing. An imperial decree praised him, saying, "We appointed you to this post because of your distinguished record in office. Your governance has now won renown far and wide and has truly fulfilled the trust the court placed in you. We therefore grant you sixty bolts of assorted silks, together with auspicious brocades and other gifts, in recognition of your excellent administration."

證聖元年，召拜洛州長史，尋加銀青光祿大夫，封石泉縣男。萬歳登封元年，轉并州長史，封琅邪縣男。未行，遷鸞臺侍郎、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。俄轉鳳閣侍郎，依舊知政事。

In the first year of Zhengsheng he was summoned as Chief Secretary of Luozhou; shortly afterward he was granted the title Silver Azure Glory Grand Master of Imperial Secretariat and ennobled as Baron of Shiquan County. In the first year of the Wansui Dengfeng reign he was transferred to Chief Secretary of Bingzhou and ennobled as Baron of Langye County. Before he could take up the Bingzhou post, he was transferred to Vice Minister of Luantai and appointed Associate Grand Counselor of Fengge and Luantai. He was soon transferred to Vice Minister of Fengge and continued to participate in governing as before.

神功元年七月，清邊道大總管建安王攸宜破契丹凱還，欲以是月詣闕獻俘。內史王及善以爲將軍入城，例有軍樂，既今上孝明高皇帝忌月，請備而不奏。方慶奏曰：「臣按禮經，但有忌日，而無忌月。晉穆帝納後，用九月九日，是康帝忌月，於時持疑不定。下太常，禮官荀訥議稱：『禮隻有忌日，無忌月。若有忌月，即有忌時、忌歳，益無理據。』當時從訥所議。軍樂是軍容，與常不等，臣謂振作於事無嫌。」則天從之。則天嘗幸萬安山玉泉寺，以山逕危懸，欲禦腰輿而上。方慶諫曰：「昔漢元帝嘗祭廟，出便門，禦樓船，光祿勳張猛奏曰：『乘船危，就橋安。』元帝乃從橋，即前代舊事。今山徑危險，石路曲狹，上瞻駭目，下視寒心，比於樓船，安危不等。陛下蒸人父母，奈何踐此畏塗？伏望停輿駐蹕。」則天納其言而止。是歳，改封石泉子。

In the seventh month of the first year of Shenggong, Prince Youyi of Ji'an, Commander-in-Chief of the Qingbian Circuit, defeated the Khitans and returned in triumph, intending to present captives at court that same month. The Imperial Secretary Wang Jishan noted that a victorious general entering the capital was normally greeted with military music, but as the month fell within the mourning period for Emperor Gaozong, he proposed that the instruments be prepared but not played. Fangqing memorialized, "Your subject has consulted the ritual classics and finds that mourning is observed on anniversaries of death, but not throughout entire months. When Emperor Mu of Jin took an empress on the ninth day of the ninth month—the mourning month of Emperor Kang—the court was uncertain what to do. The matter was referred to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, where the ritual specialist Xun Ne argued, 'The rites prescribe mourning days, not mourning months." If one admitted mourning months, one would have to admit mourning seasons and mourning years as well, which has no basis in reason. The court at the time accepted Xun Ne's view. Military music belongs to the display of martial ceremony and is not ordinary festivity. Your subject believes that performing it on this occasion would give no cause for offense. Empress Wu accepted his recommendation. Empress Wu once visited Yuquan Temple on Mount Wan'an. Because the mountain path was steep and treacherous, she intended to be carried up in a waist litter. Fangqing remonstrated, "In the past Emperor Yuan of Han, leaving to perform temple sacrifice through Bian Gate, boarded a tower boat. Zhang Meng, Director of Imperial Parks, memorialized, 'Going by boat is perilous; going by bridge is safe. Emperor Yuan then took the bridge—a precedent from antiquity. Today's mountain path is far more dangerous: the stone track is narrow and twisting, dreadful to look up at and chilling to look down from. Compared with a tower boat, the difference in risk is not slight. Your Majesty is father and mother to the people—how can you set foot on so fearful a path? I humbly beg that Your Majesty halt the carriage and go no farther.' Empress Wu accepted his counsel and abandoned the plan. That year his title was raised to Viscount of Shiquan.

時有制，每月一日於明堂行告朔之禮。司禮博士辟閭仁諝奏議，其略曰：「經史正文，無天子每月告朔之事，唯《禮記·玉藻》云：『天子聽朔於南門之外。』其每月告朔者，諸侯之禮也。臣謹按《禮論》及《三禮義宗》、《江都集禮》、《貞觀禮》、《顯慶禮》及《祠令》，無天子每月告朔之事。若以爲無明堂故無告朔之禮，有明堂即合告朔，則周、秦有明堂而無天子每月告朔之事。臣等參求，既無其禮，不可習非，以天子之尊而用諸侯之禮。」方慶又奏議，其略曰：「明堂，天子布政之宮也。謹按《穀梁傳》云：『閏者，附月之餘日，天子不以告朔。』『非禮也。閏以正時，時以作事，事以厚生，生人之道，於是乎在矣。不告閏朔，棄時政也。』臣據此文，則天子閏月亦告朔矣。寧有他月而廢其禮乎？先儒舊説，天子行事，一年十八度入明堂矣。大享不問卜，一入也；每月告朔，十二入也；四時迎氣，四入也；巡狩之年，一入也。今禮官議唯歳首一入耳，與先儒既異，在臣不敢同。宋朝何承天纂集其文，以爲《禮論》，雖加編次，事則闕如。梁代崔靈恩撰《三禮義宗》，但捃摭前儒，因循故事而已。隋煬帝命學士撰《江都集禮》，隻抄撮舊禮，更無異文。《貞觀》、《顯慶禮》及《祠令》不言告朔者，蓋爲歴代不傳，所以其文乃闕。各有緣由，不足依據。今禮官引爲明證，在臣誠實有疑。」則天又令春官廣集眾儒，取方慶、仁諝所奏議，以定得失。時成均博士吳揚善、太學博士郭山惲等奏：「按《周禮》及《三傳》，皆有天子告朔之禮，秦滅《詩》、《書》，由是告朔禮廢。望依方慶議。」有制從之。

At that time a regulation required that on the first day of each month the gaoshuo rite be performed in the Bright Hall. Pimilu Renxu, Director of Ritual Studies, submitted a memorial for discussion, which in essence said, "The canonical texts of the classics and histories contain no instance of the Son of Heaven performing a monthly gaoshuo rite. Only the Jade Regalia chapter of the Book of Rites states, 'The Son of Heaven receives the first-of-month announcement outside the south gate. The monthly gaoshuo rite, however, is the ceremony of feudal lords. Your subject has carefully consulted the Discussions of Rites, the Compendium of the Meanings of the Three Rites, the Jiangdu Collected Rites, the Zhenguan Rites, the Xianqing Rites, and the Sacrifice Regulations, and finds in none of them any provision for a monthly gaoshuo rite performed by the Son of Heaven. If the argument is that the rite is absent only because there is no Bright Hall, and that possessing a Bright Hall necessarily entails gaoshuo, then the Zhou and Qin dynasties both had Bright Halls—yet nowhere is there record of the Son of Heaven performing a monthly gaoshuo rite. We have investigated the matter thoroughly: no such rite exists in the records, and we must not adopt a false precedent by imposing a feudal lord's ceremony upon the Son of Heaven.' Fang Qing submitted his own memorial for discussion, which in essence stated, "The Bright Hall is where the Son of Heaven promulgates government. I have carefully consulted the Guliang Commentary, which states, "An intercalary month consists of surplus days attached to the preceding month; the Son of Heaven does not perform gaoshuo on such a month." That is not in accordance with ritual propriety. Intercalation adjusts the seasons; the seasons govern human activity; activity sustains life. In this lies the whole way of nourishing the people. To fail to announce the intercalary month's new moon is to abandon seasonal governance altogether. From this passage it follows that the Son of Heaven ought to perform gaoshuo even in an intercalary month. Would he observe the rite in one month and abandon it in another? Earlier scholars held that in the course of a year the Son of Heaven entered the Bright Hall on eighteen separate occasions. One entry for the great sacrifice without divination; twelve entries for the monthly gaoshuo rite; four entries for receiving the seasonal qi; and one entry in years of the imperial tour. The ritual officials now propose only a single annual entry at the year's beginning—a view already at odds with earlier scholarship, and one your subject cannot accept. During the Liu Song dynasty He Chengtian gathered these texts into the Discussions of Rites, but although he put them in order, the subject itself remained incomplete. In the Liang dynasty Cui Lin'en composed the Compendium of the Meanings of the Three Rites, yet he merely collected earlier scholars and repeated established precedent. Emperor Yang of Sui had scholars compile the Jiangdu Collected Rites, but they only copied older ritual texts and added nothing new. The Zhenguan Rites, Xianqing Rites, and Sacrifice Regulations make no mention of gaoshuo because the practice had fallen out of transmission over the centuries, leaving those texts silent on the point. Each omission has its own explanation, and none of these works can serve as reliable authority. That the ritual officials now cite them as decisive proof is something your subject genuinely finds doubtful." Empress Zetian then ordered the Ministry of Rites to assemble a broad council of scholars and weigh the memorials submitted by Fang Qing and Renxu to settle the dispute. At that time Wu Yangshan, Director of the Imperial Academy, Guo Shanyun, Director of the Directorate of Education, and others submitted a memorial: "The Rites of Zhou and the Three Commentaries all attest to a gaoshuo rite performed by the Son of Heaven. When Qin destroyed the Odes and Documents, that rite fell into disuse. We ask that Fang Qing's proposal be adopted. An edict ordered that the proposal be followed.

則天以方慶家多書籍，嘗訪求右軍遺跡。方慶奏曰：「臣十代從伯祖羲之書，先有四十餘紙，貞觀十二年，太宗購求，先臣並已進之。唯有一卷見今在。又進臣十一代祖導、十代祖洽、九代祖珣、八代祖曇首、七代祖僧綽、六代祖仲寶、五代祖騫、高祖規、曾祖褒，並九代三從伯祖晉中書令獻之已下二十八人書，共十卷。」則天禦武成殿示群臣，仍令中書舍人崔融爲《寶章集》，以敘其事，復賜方慶，當時甚以爲榮。

Because Fang Qing's household held an extensive library, Empress Zetian once asked him to search out surviving works of the Right General, Wang Xizhi. Fang Qing replied in a memorial: "Your subject once possessed more than forty sheets of calligraphy by my tenth-generation elder cousin Wang Xizhi. In the twelfth year of the Zhenguan era Emperor Taizong sought to acquire them, and my forebears had already presented them all. Only one scroll remains in my possession today. I also present calligraphy by my eleventh-generation ancestor Wang Dao, tenth-generation ancestor Wang Qia, ninth-generation ancestor Wang Xun, eighth-generation ancestor Wang Tanshou, seventh-generation ancestor Wang Sengchuo, sixth-generation ancestor Wang Zhongbao, fifth-generation ancestor Wang Qian, my great-grandfather Wang Gui, my great-great-grandfather Wang Bao, and, together with my ninth-generation thrice-removed elder cousin Wang Xianzhi, former Director of the Secretariat under the Jin, and twenty-eight others of the family below him—ten scrolls in all. Empress Zetian then received the court in Wucheng Hall and displayed the works to her ministers. She ordered Drafting Secretary Cui Rong to compose the Precious Scrolls Collection narrating the event, and bestowed the collection again upon Fang Qing—a distinction widely regarded at the time as a signal honor.

方慶又舉：「令杖『期喪、大功未葬，不預朝賀；未終喪，不預宴會。』比來朝官不遵禮法，身有哀容，陪預朝會，手舞足蹈，公違憲章，名教既虧，實玷皇化。伏望申明令式，更禁斷。」從之。方慶漸以老疾，乞從閑逸，乃授麟臺監修國史。及中宗立爲東宮，方慶兼檢校太子左庶子。

Fang Qing also submitted a proposal citing the regulation: "Those observing first-year mourning or second-degree mourning before burial shall not attend court congratulations; and before mourning is complete, one shall not attend banquets. Yet of late many court officials have ignored these rules, appearing at assemblies with faces still marked by grief yet clapping and dancing along with the rest—open defiance of statute, an erosion of moral teaching, and a real stain upon the court's example. I humbly ask that the regulations be restated clearly and the practice forbidden once again. The proposal was accepted. As age and illness gradually overtook him, Fang Qing asked to be released to a quieter post and was appointed Director of the Imperial Library with responsibility for compiling the national history. When Zhongzong was named Heir Apparent, Fang Qing was concurrently appointed Acting Left Assistant to the Crown Prince.

聖曆二年一日，則天欲季冬講武，有司稽緩，延入孟春。方慶上疏曰：「謹按《禮記月令》：『孟冬之月，天子命將帥講武，習射禦角力。』此乃三時務農，一時講武，以習射禦，角校才力，蓋王者常事，安不忘危之道也。『孟春之月，不可以稱兵。』兵者，甲胄干戈之總名。兵金性，克木，春盛德在木，而舉金以害盛德，逆生氣。『孟春行冬令，則水潦爲敗，雪霜大摯，首種不入。』蔡邕《月令章句》云：『太陰新休，少陽尚微，而行冬令以導水氣，故水潦至而敗生物也。雪霜大摯，折陽者也。太陰幹時，雨雪而霜，故大傷首種。首種，謂宿麥也，麥以秋種，故謂之首種。入，收也，春爲沍寒所傷，故至夏麥不成長也。』今孟春講武，是行冬令，以陰政犯陽氣，害發生之德。臣恐水潦敗物，霜雪損稼，夏麥不登，無所收入也。伏望天恩不違時令，至孟冬教習，以順天道。」手製答曰：「比爲久屬太平，多歴年載，人皆廢戰，並悉學文。今者用整兵威，故令教習。卿以春行冬令，則水潦爲敗，舉金傷木，則便害發生。循覽所陳，深合典禮，若違此請，乃月令虛行。佇啟直言，用依來表。」是歳，正授太子左庶子，封石泉公，餘並如故，俸料同職事三品，兼侍皇太子讀書。方慶又上言：「謹按史籍所載，人臣與人主言及上表，未有稱皇太子名者。當爲太子皇儲，其名尊重，不敢指斥，所以不言。晉尚書僕射山濤啟事，稱皇太子而不言名。濤中朝名士，必詳典故，其不稱名，應有憑準。朝官尚猶如此，宮臣歸則不疑。今東宮殿及門名，皆有觸犯，臨事論啟，回避甚難。孝敬皇帝爲太子時，改弘教門爲崇教門；沛王爲皇太子，改崇賢館爲崇文館。皆避名諱，以遵典禮。此即成例，足爲軌模。伏望天恩因循舊式，付司改換。」製從之。

On the first day of the second year of the Shengli era, Empress Zetian planned to hold martial exercises in late winter, but the responsible offices moved slowly and the event was postponed into early spring. Fang Qing submitted a memorial: "I have carefully consulted the Monthly Ordinances in the Book of Rites, which state, "In the month of early winter the Son of Heaven orders his generals to conduct martial exercises, practicing archery and testing strength in combat. This reflects the principle that three seasons are given to farming and one to military training—to practice archery and charioteering and test men's strength and skill. Such exercises are the constant duty of a ruler, the way of remaining secure without forgetting danger. The text also says, "In the month of early spring one must not mobilize arms." Arms are the general name for armor, helmets, and weapons. Arms belong to the element metal, which overcomes wood. In spring the flourishing virtue resides in wood, so to raise metal against it is to violate the generative qi of the season. It further warns, "If winter ordinances are enforced in early spring, floods will bring ruin, frost and snow will fall heavily, and the first sowing will fail to take root." Cai Yong's Commentary on the Monthly Ordinances explains, "The great yin has only just withdrawn and the lesser yang is still weak; to enforce winter ordinances then is to summon water qi, so floods come and destroy living things." Heavy frost and snow break the yang force of the season. When the great yin dominates the season, rain and snow turn to frost and the first sowing suffers severe harm. The first sowing refers to winter wheat, sown in autumn and therefore called the first crop of the year. The word "ru" here means to ripen for harvest: harmed by the bitter cold of spring, the wheat cannot mature by summer. To conduct martial exercises now, in early spring, is to enforce winter ordinances—to let yin governance violate yang qi and injure the virtue of generation itself. Your subject fears floods will destroy the crops, frost and snow will ruin the fields, the summer wheat will fail to ripen, and there will be nothing to harvest. I humbly ask that Your Majesty not violate the seasonal ordinances, and that the training be postponed until early winter in accord with Heaven's Way." The Empress replied in her own hand: "We have enjoyed peace for many years now. People everywhere have laid aside warfare and turned wholly to learning. It is now necessary to restore military discipline, which is why training has been ordered. You argue that to enforce winter ordinances in spring brings floods, and that raising metal against wood injures the season's power of generation. On reading what you have set forth, I find it deeply in accord with canonical ritual. To disregard this request would be to render the Monthly Ordinances meaningless. Continue to speak plainly as you have done; your memorial will be followed. That year Fang Qing was formally appointed Left Assistant to the Crown Prince and enfeoffed as Duke of Shiquan. His other duties remained unchanged, his salary was set equal to that of an active third-rank official, and he was also charged with attending the Crown Prince in his studies. Fang Qing submitted another memorial: "A careful review of the historical records shows that when ministers addressed the ruler or submitted memorials, none ever used the Crown Prince's personal name. As heir and royal reserve, his name is too exalted to be spoken directly; one dares not utter it, and therefore does not. In the Jin dynasty, Vice Director of the Secretariat Shan Tao addressed his reports to "the Crown Prince" without using the heir's name. Shan Tao was a leading scholar of the central court and thoroughly versed in precedent; his avoidance of the name must have rested on solid authority. If even court officials observed this rule, palace officials would surely have followed it without question. At present the names of halls and gates in the Eastern Palace all contain characters that violate this taboo, making it very difficult to conduct business or draft memorials without offense. When Emperor Xiaojing was Crown Prince, Hongjiao Gate was renamed Chongjiao Gate; when the Prince of Pei was Crown Prince, Chongxian Pavilion was renamed Chongwen Pavilion. Both changes avoided the heir's personal name in accordance with canonical ritual. These precedents are sufficient to serve as a model. I humbly ask that Your Majesty follow the established practice and order the responsible offices to make the changes. The imperial reply ordered that the proposal be followed.

長安二年五月卒，贈袞州都督，諡曰貞。中宗即位，以宮僚之舊，追贈吏部尚書。方慶博學好著述，所撰雜書凡二百餘卷。尤精《三禮》，好事者多詢訪之。每所酬答，鹹有典據，故時人編次，名曰《禮雜答問》。聚書甚多，不減秘閣，至於圖畫，亦多異本。諸子莫能守其業，卒後尋亦散亡。長子光輔，開元中官至潞州刺史。少子晙，工書知名，尤善琴棋，而性多嚴整，官至殿中侍御史。姚璹姚璹，字令璋，散騎常侍思廉之孫也。少孤，撫弟妹以友愛稱。博涉經史，有才辯。永徽中明經擢第。累補太子宮門郎。與司議郎孟利貞等奉令撰《瑤山玉彩》書，書成，遷秘書郎。調露中，累遷至中書舍人，封吳興縣男。則天臨朝，遷夏官侍郎。坐從父弟敬節同徐敬業之亂，貶桂州都督府長史。時則天雅好符瑞，璹至嶺南，訪諸山川草樹，其名號有「武」字者，皆以爲上膺國姓，列奏其事。則天大悅，召拜天官侍郎。善於選補，時人稱之。

He died in the fifth month of the second year of the Chang'an era. He was posthumously appointed Area Commander of Yanzhou and given the posthumous name Zhen. When Emperor Zhongzong took the throne, he posthumously promoted Fang Qing to Minister of Personnel in recognition of their former service together in the Eastern Palace. Fang Qing was broadly learned and devoted to writing; his miscellaneous works totaled more than two hundred scrolls. He was especially expert in the Three Rites, and many scholars sought his counsel. Every answer he gave was grounded in canonical authority, and contemporaries compiled them under the title Miscellaneous Questions and Answers on Rites. He amassed a library rivaling the Secret Archives, and his collection of paintings included many rare copies as well. None of his sons proved able to preserve his estate, and soon after his death the collection was scattered and lost. His eldest son Guangfu rose during the Kaiyuan era to the post of Prefect of Luzhou. His youngest son Jun was known for his calligraphy and was especially skilled at the zither and chess, though by nature he was stern and exacting; he rose to the office of Palace Censor. Yao Shu, whose courtesy name was Lingzhang, was the grandson of Palace Attendant Yao Siliang. Orphaned at a young age, he raised his younger brother and sister and was known for his devoted affection toward them. He was widely read in the classics and histories and was gifted with talent and eloquence. During the Yonghui era he passed the Classics examination. He was successively appointed Gate Gentleman of the Crown Prince. Together with Drafting Secretary Meng Lizhen and others, he was ordered to compile the Jade Brilliance of Mount Yao. When the work was finished, he was promoted to Secretary. During the Tiaolu era he was successively promoted to Drafting Secretary and enfeoffed as Baron of Wuxing County. When Empress Zetian assumed power, he was promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Because his father's younger cousin Jingjie had joined Xu Jingye's rebellion, he was demoted to Senior Administrator of the Guizhou metropolitan government. Empress Zetian was then greatly fond of auspicious portents. When Shu reached Lingnan, he searched out mountains, rivers, grasses, and trees whose names contained the character "Wu," treating each as proof that the ruler embodied the dynastic surname, and memorialized them one by one. Empress Zetian was greatly pleased and recalled him to appointment as Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. He was skilled at selecting and appointing officials, and contemporaries praised him for it.

長壽二年，遷文昌左丞、同鳳閣鸞臺平章事。自永徽以後，左、右史雖得對仗承旨，仗下後謀議，皆不預聞。璹以爲帝王謨訓，不可暫無紀述，若不宣自宰相，史官無從得書。乃表請仗下所言軍國政要，宰相一人專知撰錄，號爲時政記，每月封送史館。宰相之撰時政記，自璹始也。是歳九月，坐事轉司賓少卿，罷知政事。延載初，擢拜納言。有司以璹從父弟犯法，奏言不合更爲侍臣。璹上言：「昔王敦稱兵犯順，王導仍典樞機；嵇康戮於晉朝，嵇紹忠於晉室。竊惟前古，尚不爲疑；今奉聖恩，豈由臣下。必以體例有乖，伏請甘從屏退。」則天曰：「此乃我意，卿復何言！但當盡忠，無聽浮説。」

In the second year of the Changshou era he was promoted to Left Vice Director of the Secretariat and appointed Co-Grand Counselor of the Phoenix Pavilion and Crane Terrace. Since the Yonghui era, although the Left and Right Historians could receive the emperor's intent during formal court sessions, they were not privy to deliberations held after the session adjourned. Shu argued that the counsel and instructions of the ruler could not go even briefly unrecorded: if they were not communicated through the chief counselor, the historiographers had no way to set them down. He therefore submitted a memorial requesting that important military and civil matters discussed after court sessions be recorded by a single chief counselor, under the title Record of Current Governance, sealed each month and forwarded to the Historiography Office. The practice of chief counselors compiling the Record of Current Governance began with Yao Shu. That year, in the ninth month, implicated in an offense, he was transferred to Vice Director of the Court of Guests and removed from participation in government. At the beginning of the Yanzai era he was elevated to the post of Censor-in-Chief. The responsible offices, citing the criminal offense of Shu's father's younger cousin, memorialized that he should not again serve as a palace official. Shu submitted a memorial: "In the past, when Wang Dun raised troops in rebellion, Wang Dao still held the keys of state; Ji Kang was put to death under the Jin, yet Ji Shao remained loyal to the Jin house. Reflecting on antiquity, such cases aroused no suspicion; Now that I receive Your Majesty's grace, how could this depend on a subordinate's merit? If the regulations truly forbid it, I humbly ask to accept removal from office." Wu Zetian said: "This is my decision—what more is there to say? Simply remain loyal, and pay no heed to idle talk."

時武三思率蕃夷酋長，請造天樞於端門外，刻字紀功，以頌周德，璹爲督作使。證聖初，璹加秋官尚書、同平章事。是歳，明堂災，則天欲責躬避正殿，璹奏曰：「此實人火，非曰天災。至如成周宣榭，卜代愈隆；漢武建章，盛德彌永。臣又見《彌勒下生經》雲，當彌勒成佛之時，七寶臺須臾散壞。睹此無常之相，便成正覺之因。故知聖人之道，隨緣示化，方便之利，博濟良多。可使由之，義存於此。況今明堂，乃是布政之所，非宗廟之地，陛下若避正殿，於禮未爲得也。」左拾遺劉承慶廷奏云：「明堂宗祀之所，今既被焚，陛下宜輟朝思過。」璹又持前議以爭之，則天乃依璹奏。先令璹監造天樞，至是以功當賜爵一等。璹表請回贈父一官，乃追贈其父豫州司戸參軍處平爲博州刺史。天後將封嵩嶽，命璹總知撰儀注，並充封禪副使。及重造明堂，又令璹充使督作，以功加銀青光祿大夫。

At that time Wu Sansi led tribal chiefs from the frontier in requesting that the Celestial Axis be erected outside the Duan Gate, with inscriptions recording merit to praise the virtue of Zhou; Shu was made superintendent of the project. At the beginning of the Zhengsheng era, Shu was further appointed Minister of the Autumn Office and Co-Chief Counselor. That year the Bright Hall burned; Wu Zetian wished to accept blame and withdraw from the main hall. Shu submitted: "This was plainly human fire, not a heaven-sent disaster. Consider the Xuan tower of the Zhou: though it burned, divination showed the dynasty would grow ever greater; Emperor Wu's Jianzhang Palace likewise rose again, and his great virtue endured all the longer. Your subject has also read in the Scripture of Maitreya's Descent that when Maitreya attains Buddhahood, the seven-jewel platform momentarily crumbles and falls. Seeing this mark of impermanence becomes the very cause of true enlightenment. From this we know that the sage's way adapts to conditions to teach, and that skillful means can bring vast benefit to many. The principle that rulers may continue their course despite such events is precisely here. Moreover, the Bright Hall is where government is conducted, not the ancestral shrine. For Your Majesty to withdraw from the main hall would not accord with ritual propriety." The Left Reminder Liu Chengqing argued at court: "The Bright Hall is where the ruler sacrifices to ancestors. Now that it has burned, Your Majesty should suspend court and reflect on your conduct. Shu again pressed his earlier argument, and Wu Zetian sided with his memorial. Shu had earlier been charged with supervising the Celestial Axis, and for this service he was now granted one step in rank of nobility. Shu asked that the reward be applied instead to posthumous honors for his father; his father Chuping, formerly Administrative Assistant of the Yuzhou Prefecture Office, was then posthumously given the title Prefect of Bozhou. As the Heavenly Empress prepared to perform the fengshan rite at Mount Song, she put Shu in charge of drafting the ritual protocols and appointed him deputy commissioner of the rite. When the Bright Hall was rebuilt, she again appointed Shu to supervise the work, and for this service he was granted the title Silver Azure Glory Grand Master.

時有大石國使請獻獅子，璹上疏諫曰：「獅子猛獸，唯止食肉，遠從碎葉，以至神都，肉既難得，檢爲勞費。陛下以百姓爲心，慮一物有失，鷹犬不蓄，漁獵總停。運不殺以闡大慈，垂好生以敷至德，凡在飛蠢動，莫不感荷仁恩。豈容自菲薄於身，而厚資給於獸，求之至理，必不然乎。」疏奏，遽停來使。又九鼎初成，製令黃金千兩塗之。璹進諫曰：「夫鼎者神器，貴在質樸自然，無假別爲浮飾。臣觀其狀，先有五彩輝煥，錯雜其間，豈待金色，方爲炫耀？」則天又從之。

An envoy from the Kingdom of Da Shi asked to present a lion. Shu remonstrated: "The lion is a fierce beast that eats only meat. Brought from distant Suyab all the way to the Divine Capital, meat would be hard to supply, and keeping it would mean endless labor and expense. Your Majesty's heart is with the people, and you shrink from any harm to living things: you keep no hawks or dogs and have banned all fishing and hunting. You uphold non-killing to spread great compassion and cherish life to manifest supreme virtue; every creature that flies or crawls has felt your kindness. How can you be frugal toward yourself yet lavish in maintaining a beast? By any sound principle, this cannot be right. The memorial was submitted, and the envoy's visit was promptly canceled. When the Nine Cauldrons were first completed, an edict ordered them plated with a thousand taels of gold. Shu remonstrated: "Cauldrons are sacred vessels. Their value lies in plain, natural simplicity; they need no added ornament. I see that they already shine with five colors interwoven among them—must they be gilded before they can dazzle? Wu Zetian again accepted his advice.

尋屬契丹犯塞，命梁王武三思爲榆關道安撫大使、璹爲副使以備之。及還，坐事，神功初左授益州大都督府長史。蜀中官吏多貪暴，璹屢有發擿，奸無所容。則天嘉之，降璽書勞之曰：「夫嚴霜之下，識貞鬆之擅奇，疾風之前，知勁草之爲貴。物既有此，人亦宜哉。卿早荷朝恩，委任斯重。居中作相，弘益已多，防邊訓兵，心力俱盡。歳寒無改，終始不渝。乃眷蜀中，氓俗殷雜，久缺良守，弊於侵漁，政以賄成，人無措足。是用命卿出鎮，寄茲存養。果能攬轡澄清，下車整肅。吏不敢犯，奸無所容，前後糾擿，蓋非一緒。貪殘之伍，屏跡於列城；剽奪之儔，遁形於外境。詎勞期月，康此黎元，言念德聲，良深嘉尚。宜布琅邪之化，當以豫州爲法。」則天又嘗謂侍臣曰：「凡爲長官，能清自身者甚易，清得僚吏者甚難。至於姚璹，可謂兼之矣。」

Before long the Khitans raided the frontier. Prince Wu Sansi of Liang was appointed Pacification Commissioner of the Yuguan Circuit, with Shu as deputy, to meet the threat. After their return he was implicated in an offense and, at the beginning of the Shenggong era, was demoted to Chief Secretary of the Yizhou Metropolitan Protectorate. Officials in Shu were notoriously greedy and brutal, but Shu repeatedly exposed their crimes until wrongdoing had no place to hide. Wu Zetian was pleased and sent an imperial letter of commendation: "Under hard frost one learns how singular the pine's constancy is; in a sharp wind one sees how precious tough grass can be. If even plants show such qualities, how much more should men. You have long enjoyed the court's favor and been entrusted with weighty responsibilities. As chief counselor at court you have already brought great benefit; guarding the frontier and drilling troops, you have given your utmost in body and mind. Unchanged through the year's cold, steadfast from first to last. Turning to Shu: its people are numerous, its customs complex, and good governors have long been lacking. Predatory officials have made government a matter of bribes, and the people can scarcely find footing. For this reason I sent you to govern there, trusting you to preserve and nurture the people. You have indeed taken office like a rider reining in a fouled stream, and from the day you arrived you brought order. Officials dare not transgress, and wrongdoers have nowhere to hide; your repeated investigations have not been few. The greedy and brutal have vanished from the cities; plunderers have fled beyond the borders. In hardly a month you have brought ease to the people. At the thought of your virtuous reputation, I am deeply pleased. Continue to spread the governance you showed at Langye, and let Yuzhou be your model." Wu Zetian also once told her ministers: "For any chief official, keeping oneself clean is easy; keeping one's subordinates clean is hard. As for Yao Shu, one may say he has done both."

時新都丞朱待辟坐贓至死，逮捕繫獄。待辟素善沙門理中，陰結諸不逞，因待辟以殺璹爲名，擬據巴蜀爲亂。人密表告之者，製令璹按其獄。璹深持之，事涉疑似引而誅死者，僅以千數。則天又令洛州長史宋元爽、御史中丞霍獻可等重加詳覆，亦無所發明。逮繫獄數百人，不勝酷毒，遞相附會，以就反狀。因此籍沒者復五十餘家，其餘稱知反配流者亦十八九，道路冤之。監察御史袁恕己劾奏其事。則天初令璹與恕己對定，又尋令罷推。俄拜地官尚書。歳餘，轉冬官尚書，仍西京留守。長安中，累表乞骸骨，製聽致仕，進爵爲伯。遇官名復舊，爲工部尚書。神龍元年卒，遺令薄葬，贈越州都督，諡曰成。璹弟珽弟珽，少好學，以勤苦自立。舉明經，累除定、汴、滄、虢、豳等五州刺史，加銀青光祿大夫，轉秦州刺史。以善政有聞，璽書褒美，賜絹百匹。神龍元年，累封宣城郡公，三遷太子詹事，仍兼左庶子。時節湣太子舉事不法，班前後上書進諫。今載四事：

Zhu Daibi, assistant prefect of Xindu, was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to death; he was arrested and imprisoned. Daibi had long been close to the monk Lizhong and secretly united malcontents. Using his case as pretext, they plotted to kill Shu, seize Bashu, and rebel. When someone secretly reported the plot, an edict put Shu in charge of the investigation. Shu pressed the case relentlessly, and where suspicion touched, executions ran to nearly a thousand. Wu Zetian also ordered Song Yuanshuang, chief secretary of Luozhou, Vice Censor-in-Chief Huo Xiank, and others to reinvestigate thoroughly, but they too found nothing substantial. By then several hundred prisoners, unable to endure torture, corroborated one another's confessions until a full case of treason was made. More than fifty families were again stripped of property, and eight or nine out of ten others were exiled for allegedly knowing of the plot; people everywhere lamented the injustice. The supervising censor Yuan Shuji impeached Shu over the affair. Wu Zetian first ordered Shu and Shuji to settle the matter face to face, but soon halted the investigation. He was soon appointed Minister of the Earth Office. After a year or more he became Minister of the Winter Office while remaining Garrison Commander of the Western Capital. During the Chang'an era he repeatedly asked to retire; an edict granted his request, and he was advanced in rank to Count. When official titles were restored to their old forms, he became Minister of Works. He died in the first year of Shenlong, leaving orders for a plain burial. He was posthumously made Grand Defender of Yuezhou and given the posthumous title Cheng. Shu's younger brother Ting loved learning from youth and through tireless effort made his own way. Having passed the Mingjing examination, he served successively as prefect of Ding, Bian, Cang, Guo, and Bin, was granted the title Silver Azure Glory Grand Master, and was later transferred to Qinzhou. His good governance won renown, and he received an imperial letter of praise together with a gift of a hundred bolts of silk. In the first year of Shenlong he was ennobled Duke of Xuancheng Commandery, was thrice promoted until he reached Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent, and concurrently served as Left Subordinate of the Heir Apparent. At the time Crown Prince Jiemin behaved lawlessly, and Ting repeatedly submitted memorials of remonstrance. Four of his remonstrances are recorded here:

其一曰：臣聞賈誼曰：「選天下之端士，孝悌博聞有道術者，使與太子居處出入。故太子見正事，聞正言，行正道，左右前後皆正人也。夫習與正人居之，不能無正；習與不正人居之，不能無不正。太子既冠成人，免於保傅之嚴，則有記過之史。徹膳之宰，進善之旌，誹謗之木，敢諫之鼓，瞽史誦箴，大夫進謀，故習與智長，化與心成。夫教得而左右正，則太子正矣；太子正而天下定矣。」臣又聞之，木從繩則正，後從諫則聖。善言古者，所以驗於今。伏惟殿下睿德洪深，天姿聰敏，近代成敗，前古安危，莫不懸鑒在心，動合典禮。臣以庸朽，濫居輔弼，虛備耳目，叨預股肱，輒薦塵露，庶裨山海。伏以內置作坊，工巧得入宮闈之內、禁衞之所，或言語內出，或事狀外通，小人無知，不識輕重，因爲詐偽，有玷徽猷。臣望並付所司，以停宮內造作。如或要須役造，猶望宮外安置，庶得工匠不於宮禁出入。

The first reads: "I have heard Jia Yi say: 'Choose the most upright men in the empire—those known for filial piety and fraternity, broad learning, and mastery of the Way—and let them live with the Heir Apparent, sharing his daily comings and goings. Then the Heir Apparent will see what is right, hear what is right, and do what is right, with upright men on every side. For one who keeps company with upright men cannot fail to become upright; and one who keeps company with the un upright cannot fail to become un upright. When the Heir Apparent comes of age and is freed from the tutors' strict oversight, historians record his faults, stewards who withhold meals, banners for promoting good conduct, the wooden post for criticism, the drum for bold remonstrance, blind historians reciting admonitions, and grand officers offering counsel—thus habit grows into wisdom and transformation becomes second nature. When instruction succeeds and those around him are upright, the Heir Apparent becomes upright; when the Heir Apparent is upright, the realm is secure." I have also heard that wood straightened to the line becomes true, and a ruler who heeds remonstrance becomes a sage. Fine words about the past are meant to test the present. Your Highness's wisdom runs deep and your native wit is keen. Recent successes and failures, ancient triumphs and catastrophes—all hang before you like mirrors, and your every act accords with ritual propriety. I am old and worthless, unworthy of my post as counselor, yet I serve as Your Highness's eyes and ears and bear, however unworthily, a share in your trust. I venture to offer this trifling counsel in hope it may prove of some use. Workshops inside the palace allow craftsmen into the inner quarters and guarded precincts. Matters are sometimes discussed inside and sometimes communicated outside; ignorant petty men, failing to grasp what is at stake, may commit fraud and bring disgrace upon your reputation for fine governance. I ask that these workshops be placed under the proper offices and all palace construction halted. If any work is truly needed, let it be set up outside the palace so craftsmen need not enter and leave the forbidden precinct.

其二曰：臣聞漢文帝身衣弋綈，足履革舄；齊高帝欄檻用銅者，皆易以鐵。經侯帶玉具劍環珮以過魏，太子不視，經侯曰：「魏國亦有寶乎？」太子曰：「主信臣忠，魏之寶也。」經侯委劍珮而去。太子使追還之，謂曰：「珠玉珍玩，寒不可衣，饑不可食，無遺我賊。」經侯杜門不出。臣觀聖賢經籍，務以簡素爲貴；皇王政化，皆以菲薄爲德。伏惟殿下留心恭儉，靡尚浮奢。臣愚猶望損之又損之，居簡以行簡，減省造作，節量用度。

The second reads: "I am told that Emperor Wen of the Han wore coarse silk and leather shoes; and Emperor Gao of Qi replaced every copper railing with iron. When Marquis Jing passed through Wei wearing a jade-fitted sword with ring and pendant, the crown prince did not so much as glance at it. Marquis Jing asked: "Does Wei possess treasures of its own?" The crown prince replied: "The ruler's trust and the minister's loyalty—that is Wei's treasure. Marquis Jing laid down his sword and pendant and left. The crown prince sent a man after him to return them, saying: "Pearls, jade, and precious trifles cannot keep one warm in cold or fed in hunger. Do not leave me thieves instead of treasures. After that Marquis Jing shut his door and never went out again. The classics of sages and worthies hold simplicity in highest esteem; and the governance of sage rulers takes frugality as virtue. Your Highness already practices reverence and thrift and does not indulge in empty extravagance. Yet I still venture to hope you will reduce again and again: live simply, act simply, cut construction, and measure every expense.

其三曰：臣聞銀牖銅樓，宮闈嚴秘，門閤來往，皆有簿歴。殿下時有所須，唯門司宣令，或恐奸偽之輩，因此妄爲增減，脫有文狀舛錯，事理便即差違。且近日呂升之便乃代署宣敕，伏賴殿下睿敏，當即覺其奸偽，自餘臣下庸淺，豈能深辨真虛？望墨令及覆事行下，並用內印印畫署之後，冀得免有詐假，乃是長久規模。臣又聞之，忠臣事君，有犯而無隱；明主馭下，納諫以進德。故《書》云：「有言逆於誌，必求諸道；有言順於心，必求諸非道。」伏惟殿下仁明昭著，聖敬日躋，探幽洞微，窮神索隱。事之善惡，毫厘靡差；理有危疑，錙銖無爽。臣以庸謬，叨侍春闈，職居獻替，豈敢緘默！

The third reads: "I understand that the palace quarters, with their silver lattices and bronze towers, are strictly guarded, and every passage through the gates is recorded in ledgers. When Your Highness requires something, the gate office alone proclaims the order. I fear that frauds may exploit this to alter commands at will; should any document be wrong, the result would immediately go astray. Only recently Lü Shengzhi dared to sign edicts in others' stead. Thanks to Your Highness's sharp wit, the fraud was caught at once—but other officials are neither so keen nor so vigilant. How could they tell truth from forgery? I ask that every written order and every return submitted for action be stamped with the inner seal and signed only after that, so forgeries may be prevented. That would be a permanent safeguard. I have also heard that a loyal minister serves his ruler by speaking out rather than hiding his views; and that a wise sovereign governs his officials by accepting remonstrance to grow in virtue. The Book of Documents says: "When words go against your wish, examine them by the Way; when words please your heart, examine them for what is not the Way. Your Highness is manifestly benevolent and clear-sighted, your sacred reverence grows daily, and you probe the deepest mysteries. You judge good and evil in affairs to a hair's breadth; and where principle is doubtful, not the smallest weight escapes you. I am unworthy to serve in your household, yet my duty is to counsel and correct—how dare I remain silent!

其四曰：臣聞聖人不專其德，賢智必有所師。故曰：與善人言，如入芝蘭之室，久自芬芳；與不善人言，如火銷膏，不覺而盡。今司經見無學士，供奉未有侍讀，伏望時因視膳，奏請置人。所冀講席談筵，務盡忠規之道；披文擿句，方資審諭之勤。臣又聞臣之事主，必盡乃誠；君之進賢，務求忠讜。伏惟殿下養德儲闈，以端靜爲務；恭膺守器，以學業爲先。經所以立行修身，史所以諳識成敗。雅誥既習，忠孝乃成，傳記方通，安危斯辨。知父子君臣之道，識古今鑒戒之規，經史爲先，斯乃急務。至於工巧造作，僚吏直司，實爲末事，無足勞慮。臣以庸淺，獻替是司，臣而不言，負譴聖日，言而獲罪，是所甘心。伏願留意經書，簡略細事，一蒙采納，萬殞無辭。乞降儲明，俯矜狂瞽。

Fourth: I have heard that sages do not rely on virtue alone—the worthy and wise must have teachers. They say that talking with good men is like entering a room of orchids: in time you take on their fragrance; talking with bad men is like fire melting fat—you are consumed before you know it. Today the Directorate of Classics lacks learned scholars, and the palace staff has no reading tutors. I beg that when you attend your parents at meals, you ask to have such men appointed. Then at lecture and discussion you may fully pursue loyal counsel; and by unfolding texts and weighing phrases you will gain the benefit of careful instruction. I have also heard that a minister must serve his lord with full sincerity; and a ruler who promotes the worthy must seek loyal and forthright counsel. Your Highness is cultivating virtue in the Eastern Palace and should make dignity and restraint your aim; as heir you should put learning first. The classics teach how to live and cultivate the self; histories teach how to know success and failure. Master the classics and loyalty and filial piety follow; master the histories and you can tell safety from peril. To know the duties of father and son, ruler and subject, and the lessons of past and present—classics and histories must come first; that is the urgent task. Craftsmanship and construction, the business of clerks and artisans, are truly minor matters not worth your concern. I am shallow and unworthy, yet my office is to counsel; if I do not speak I fail my duty, and if speaking brings punishment I accept it willingly. I beg you to heed the classics and set minor affairs aside; if you accept this counsel once, I would die ten thousand deaths without regret. I beg Your Highness to lend your wisdom and pity this rash blindness.

疏奏，太子雖稱善，竟不悛革。太子敗，詔遣索其宮中，得班諫書，中宗嘉其切直。時宮臣皆貶黜，唯班擢拜右散騎常侍。歳餘，遷秘書監。

When the memorial was submitted, the Crown Prince praised it but did not reform. After the Crown Prince's fall, an edict searched his quarters and found Ban's remonstrances; Emperor Zhongzong praised their blunt honesty. While other palace officials were demoted, Ban alone was promoted to Right Regular Attendant of the Palace Cavalry. A year later he became Director of the Palace Library.

睿宗即位，累授戸部尚書，轉太子賓客。先天二年，加金紫光祿大夫，復拜戸部尚書。班與兄弟璹，數年間俱爲定州刺史、戸部尚書，時人榮之。開元二年卒，年七十四。班嘗以其曾祖察所撰《漢書訓纂》，多爲後之注《漢書》者隱沒名氏，將爲己説；班乃撰《漢書紹訓》四十卷，以發明舊義，行於代。史臣曰史臣曰：天子有諍臣七人，雖無道不失其天下。致廬陵復位，唐祚中興，諍由狄公，一人以蔽。或曰：許之太甚。答曰：當革命之時，朋邪甚眾，非推誠竭力，致身忘家者，孰能與於此乎！仁傑流死不避，骨鯁有彰，雖逢好殺無辜，能使終畏大義。竟存天下，豈不然乎！王方慶幹城南海，羽冀東宮，臺閣樞機，無不功濟，所謂君子不器者也。苟非文學，斯焉取斯。璹成都布政，始卒不侔；相國上章，或否或中。且焚明堂而避正殿，固諍何多；黜唐頌而立天樞，一言非措。矧乃妄求符瑞，已失忠貞；精擇楚茅，難裨過咎。不常其德，罔畏承羞。班規諫有才，牧守多善，儲幄之任，可謂得人。贊贊曰：犯顏忤旨，返政扶危。是人雜事，狄能有之。終替武氏，克復唐基。功之莫大，人無以師。方慶之才，周旋特立。璹也無常，珽能操執。

When Emperor Ruizong came to the throne, Ban was appointed Minister of Revenue and later Mentor of the Crown Prince. In Xiantian 2 (713) he was made Grand Master of the Golden Purple and Bright Light and again appointed Minister of Revenue. Ban and his brother Shuo both served as prefect of Dingzhou and Minister of Revenue within a few years—a distinction people envied. He died in Kaiyuan 2 (714) at the age of seventy-four. Ban observed that his great-grandfather Cha's Exegetical Compendium of the Han History was often used by later Han shu commentators, who hid Cha's name and passed the work off as their own; so Ban compiled forty scrolls of Continuation of the Han Exegesis to restore the original meaning, and it circulated widely. The historiographer writes: The historiographer writes: A Son of Heaven has seven remonstrating ministers; even if he lacks the Way he will not lose the realm. Restoring the Lord of Luling and reviving the Tang house came through remonstrance—and Lord Di alone is enough to prove the point. Some say this praises him excessively. The reply: In a time of revolution, wicked factions were everywhere—who but a man who gave his whole heart, body, and family could have done what he did? Renjie faced exile and death without flinching, and his integrity was plain. Though he served a ruler who killed freely, he made her fear the claims of justice in the end. He preserved the empire in the end—is that not so? Wang Fangqing was a bulwark in the south and a support to the Eastern Palace; in court and in power he succeeded everywhere—a true gentleman of many parts. Without learning, what would he have had to draw on? Shuo governed Chengdu well at first but not at the end; the chief minister's memorials were sometimes wrong and sometimes right. He burned the Bright Hall and avoided the main hall—how many bold remonstrances; yet in dismissing Tang hymns and raising the Heavenly Pivot, one word missed the mark. Worse still, he rashly sought portents and had already lost loyal steadfastness; carefully choosing Chu thatch could not repair his errors. Inconstant in virtue, he did not fear the shame that follows. Ban had a gift for remonstrance; as regional governor he did well; in the heir's household he was the right man for the post. Encomium: He offended his ruler's face and defied imperial will, yet restored the dynasty and steadied a crisis. Among all men and all affairs, only Di Renjie could do this. He ended the Wu regime and restored the Tang foundation. No achievement was greater; no man can be his equal. Fangqing's talent was versatile and distinctive. Shuo was inconstant; Ting could hold firm to principle.

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