Volume 96 Biographies 46: Yao Chong, Song Jing

尹思貞尹思貞，京兆長安人也。弱冠明經舉，補隆州參軍。時晉安縣有豪族蒲氏，縱橫不法，前後官吏莫能制。州司令思貞推按，發其奸贓萬計，竟論殺之，遠近稱慶，刻石以紀其事，由是知名。累轉明堂令，以善政聞。三遷殿中少監，檢校洺州刺史。會契丹孫萬榮作亂，河朔不安，思貞善於綏撫，境內獨無驚擾，則天降璽書褒美之。

Yin Sizhen was a native of Chang'an in the Jingzhao region. In his early twenties he passed the Classics examination and was appointed military aide in Long Prefecture. At that time the powerful Pu clan in Jin'an County ran roughshod over the law, and no official before or after him had been able to bring them to heel. The prefecture ordered Sizhen to investigate; he exposed their crimes and embezzlements on a vast scale and ultimately secured their execution. People near and far celebrated, and a stone monument was erected to commemorate the case, after which he became widely known. He rose in succession to Director of the Bright Hall and earned a reputation for sound administration. After three promotions he became Vice Director of the Palace Domestic Service and acting governor of Ming Prefecture. When the Khitan leader Sun Wanrong rebelled and threw the Hebei region into turmoil, Sizhen excelled at pacifying the people; his jurisdiction alone remained undisturbed, and the court sent down an imperial commendation bearing the imperial seal.

長安中，七遷秋官侍郎，以忤張昌宗被構，出爲定州刺史，轉晉州刺史。尋復入爲司府少卿。時卿侯知一亦厲威嚴，吏人爲之語曰：「不畏侯卿杖，惟畏尹卿筆。」其爲人所伏若此。尋加銀青光祿大夫。於宅中掘得古戟十二，俄而門加棨戟，時人異焉。

During the Chang'an reign he was promoted seven times to Vice Minister of Justice; after offending Zhang Changzong he was framed and demoted to governor of Ding Prefecture, then transferred to governor of Jin Prefecture. Before long he was recalled to the capital as Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Clan. At that time Vice Minister Hou Zhiyi was also feared for his severity, and the clerks had a saying: 'We do not fear Vice Minister Hou's rod—we only fear Vice Minister Yin's pen.' Such was the degree to which people submitted to him. Before long he was granted the additional title of Grand Master with Silver-Green Tally. Twelve ancient halberds were unearthed at his residence; soon afterward ceremonial halberds were placed at his gate, and contemporaries took it as an omen.

神龍初，爲大理卿，時武三思擅權，御史大夫李承嘉附會之。壅州人韋月將上變，告三思謀逆，中宗大怒，命斬之。思貞以發生之月，固執奏以爲不可行刑，竟有敕決杖配流嶺南。三思令所司因此非法害之，思貞又固爭之。承嘉希三思旨，托以他事，不許思貞入朝廷。謂承嘉曰：「公擅作威福，不顧憲章，附托奸臣，以圖不軌，將先除忠良以自恣耶？」承嘉大怒，遂劾奏思貞，出爲青州刺史。境內有蠶一年四熟者，黜陟使、衞州司馬路敬潛八月至州，見繭嘆曰：「非善政所致，孰能至於此乎！」特表薦之。思貞前後爲十三州刺史，皆以清簡爲政，奏課連最。

At the beginning of the Shenlong era he became Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review; Wu Sansi then held unchecked power, and Censor-in-Chief Li Chengjia sided with him. Wei Yuejiang of Yong Prefecture submitted a memorial accusing Sansi of treason; Emperor Zhongzong was furious and ordered his execution. Sizhen argued that, because it was the season of spring growth, execution was impermissible and firmly memorialized to that effect; in the end an edict ordered Wei beaten and exiled to Lingnan. Sansi then ordered the responsible offices to harm Wei by unlawful means on this pretext, and Sizhen again contested the matter firmly. Chengjia, eager to please Sansi, used another matter as a pretext to bar Sizhen from attending court. He said to Chengjia: 'You arrogate power and favor with no regard for the law; you rely on treacherous ministers and plot sedition—do you mean first to eliminate the loyal so that you may do as you please?' Chengjia was furious and impeached Sizhen, who was demoted to governor of Qing Prefecture. Within his jurisdiction silkworms yielded four harvests in a year; Lu Jingqian, the promotion-and-demotion commissioner and senior administrator of Wei Prefecture, arrived in the eighth month, saw the cocoons, and exclaimed: 'Only good government could produce such a result!' He submitted a special memorial recommending Sizhen. Sizhen served successively as governor of thirteen prefectures, governing each with austerity and integrity, and his performance reports consistently ranked first.

睿宗即位，徵爲將作大匠，累封天水郡公。時左僕射竇懷貞興造金仙、玉真兩觀，調發夫匠，思貞常節減之。懷貞怒，頻詰責思貞，思貞曰：「公職居端揆，任重弼諧，不能翼贊聖明，光宣大化，而乃盛興土木，害及黎元，豈不愧也！又受小人之譖，輕辱朝臣，今日之事，不能茍免，請從此辭。」拂衣而去，闔門累日，上聞而特令視事。其年，懷貞伏誅，乃下制曰：「國之副相，位亞中臺，自匪邦直，孰司天憲？將作大匠尹思貞，賢良方正，碩儒耆德，剛不護缺，清而畏知，簡言易從，莊色難犯。征先王之體要，敷衽必陳；折佞臣之怙權，拂衣而謝。故以事聞海內，名動京師，鷹隼是擊，豺狼自遠。必能條理前弊，發揮舊章，宜承弄印之榮，式允登車之志。可御史大夫。」俄兼申王府長史，遷戸部尚書，轉工部尚書。以老疾累表請致仕，許之。開元四年卒，年七十七，贈黃門監，謚曰簡。李傑李傑，本名務光，相州滏陽人。後魏并州刺史寶之後也，其先自隴西徙焉。傑少以孝友著稱，舉明經，累遷天官員外郎，明敏有吏才，甚得當時之譽。神龍初，累遷衞尉少卿，爲河東道巡察黜陟使，奏課爲諸使之最。開元初，爲河南尹。傑既勤於聽理，毎有訴列，雖衢路當食，無廢處斷。由是官無留事，人吏愛之。先是，河、汴之間有梁公堰，年久堰破，江、淮漕運不通。傑奏調發汴、鄭丁夫以浚之，省功速就，公私深以爲利，刊石水濱，以紀其績。

When Emperor Ruizong acceded to the throne, Sizhen was summoned as Director of Palace Buildings and was enfeoffed as Duke of Tianshui Commandery. At that time Left Vice Director Dou Huaizhen undertook construction of the Golden Immortal and Jade Perfected monasteries and requisitioned laborers; Sizhen regularly cut back the numbers assigned. Huaizhen was furious and repeatedly rebuked him. Sizhen said: 'You hold the highest office in the state and bear heavy responsibility for assisting the throne; you cannot support enlightened rule or advance great reform, yet you lavishly raise grand construction projects that harm the people—are you not ashamed? You also heed the slanders of petty men and lightly insult court officials. In today's matter I cannot let this pass—please accept my resignation here and now.' He brushed off his robes and left; he shut his gate for several days. When the emperor heard of it, he specially ordered Sizhen to resume his duties. That year Huaizhen was executed, and an edict was issued: 'The state's deputy minister stands second only to the central secretariat; if he is not upright, who shall uphold the laws of the realm? Director of Palace Buildings Yin Sizhen is worthy and upright, a great scholar of venerable virtue; he is firm and does not cover faults, pure yet so respected that men fear him; his words are concise and persuasive, his bearing stern and not to be challenged. When he expounds the essential principles of former kings, he lays them out without reserve; when he confronts powerful flatterers who abuse their authority, he brushes off his robes and resigns on the spot. Thus his deeds are known throughout the realm and his name resounds in the capital; like an eagle or falcon he strikes down wrongdoing, and wolves and jackals keep their distance of their own accord. He will surely be able to rectify past abuses and restore established law; he should receive the honor of wielding the censor's seal and fulfill his long-standing ambition to serve in high office. He is appointed Censor-in-Chief.' Before long he also served as chief administrator of the Prince of Shen's household, was promoted to Minister of Revenue, and then transferred to Minister of Works. On account of age and illness he repeatedly memorialized requesting retirement, and the request was granted. He died in the fourth year of Kaiyuan, aged seventy-seven; he was posthumously appointed Supervisor of the Palace Secretariat and given the posthumous title Jian (Simple). Li Jie, whose original name was Wuguang, was a native of Fuyang in Xiang Prefecture. He was a descendant of Bao, governor of Bing Prefecture under the Northern Wei; his forebears had migrated there from Longxi. Jie was known from youth for filial piety and brotherly devotion; he passed the Classics examination and rose to Outer Gentleman of the Ministry of Personnel. Clever and capable in administrative affairs, he won great acclaim in his day. At the beginning of the Shenlong era he rose to Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and served as promotion-and-demotion commissioner for the Hedong circuit; his performance report ranked first among all such commissioners. At the beginning of Kaiyuan he was appointed Intendant of Henan. Jie was diligent in hearing cases; whenever litigants appeared, he would not stop adjudicating even if he had to do so in the street while taking his meal. As a result no cases were left pending in the offices, and officials and commoners alike admired him. Previously, between the Yellow and Bian rivers stood the Duke of Liang's weir; after many years it collapsed, cutting off grain transport between the Yangtze-Huai region and the capital. Jie memorialized to mobilize laborers from Bian and Zheng to dredge the channel; the work was completed quickly with minimal expenditure, to the great benefit of public and private interests alike, and a stone inscription was erected on the riverbank to commemorate his achievement.

尋代宋璟爲御史大夫。時皇后妹婿尚衣奉御長孫昕與其妹婿楊仙玉因於裏巷遇傑，遂毆擊之，上大怒，令斬昕等。散騎常侍馬情素以爲陽和之月，不可行刑，累表陳請。乃下敕曰：「夫爲令者自近而及遠，行罰者先親而後疏。長孫昕、楊仙玉等憑恃姻戚，恣行凶險，輕侮常憲，損辱大臣，情特難容，故令斬決。今群官等累陳表疏，固有誠請，以陽和之節，非肅殺之時，援引古今，詞義懇切。朕志從深諫，情亦惜法，宜寬異門之罰，聽從枯木之斃。即宜決殺，以謝百僚。」

Before long he succeeded Song Jing as Censor-in-Chief. At that time Zhangsun Xin, Director of Palace Attendants and brother-in-law of the empress, and Yang Xianyu, another of the empress's brothers-in-law, encountered Jie in a lane and assaulted him. The emperor was furious and ordered Xin and the others executed. Palace Attendant Ma Qingsu argued that in the season of spring growth executions were impermissible and repeatedly submitted memorials pleading for mercy. An edict was then issued: 'He who makes laws begins with what is near and extends to what is far; he who carries out punishments begins with kin and then proceeds to those more distant. Zhangsun Xin, Yang Xianyu, and the others relied on their marriage connections, committed wanton violence, showed contempt for the law, and insulted a high minister; the circumstances were especially intolerable, and therefore they were ordered executed. Now the assembled officials have repeatedly submitted memorials with sincere pleas, arguing that the season of spring growth is not a time for stern executions, citing ancient and modern precedents in earnest and persuasive language. Our will follows their earnest remonstrance, and Our feelings also incline toward mercy under the law; the punishment of those outside Our clan should be moderated, and We should heed the plea that withered wood not be cut down in spring. They are forthwith to be executed, to satisfy the court.'

傑明年以護橋陵作，賜爵武威子。初，傑護作時，引侍御史王旭爲判官。旭貪冒受贓，傑將繩之而不得其實，反爲旭所構，出爲衢州刺史。俄轉揚州大都督府長史，又爲御史所劾，免官歸第。尋卒，贈戸部尚書。解琬解琬，魏州元城人也。少應幽素舉，拜新政尉，累轉成都丞。因奏事稱旨，超遷監察御史，丁憂離職。則天以琬識練邊事，起復舊官，令往西域安撫夷虜，抗疏固辭。則天嘉之，下敕曰：「解琬孝性淳至，哀情懇切，固辭權奪之榮，乞就終憂之典。足可以激揚風俗，敦獎名教，宜遂雅懷，允其所請。仍令服闋後赴上。」

The following year Jie was granted the title Viscount of Wuwei for supervising construction at Qiaoling. Earlier, while Jie was supervising the construction, he appointed Attending Censor Wang Xu as his aide. Xu was corrupt and accepted bribes; Jie tried to prosecute him but could not obtain proof, and was instead framed by Xu and demoted to governor of Qu Prefecture. Before long he was transferred to senior administrator of the Yangzhou metropolitan command, but was again impeached by censors, dismissed from office, and sent home. He died soon afterward and was posthumously appointed Minister of Revenue. Xie Wan was a native of Yuancheng in Wei Prefecture. In his youth he passed the Yousu examination and was appointed magistrate of Xinzheng; he rose in succession to assistant magistrate of Chengdu. Because a memorial on state affairs pleased the throne, he was promoted out of turn to Investigating Censor; he then left office to observe mourning for a parent. Empress Wu, recognizing Wan's expertise in frontier affairs, recalled him to his former post and ordered him to the Western Regions to pacify the barbarians; he submitted a forthright memorial firmly declining. The empress commended him and issued an edict: 'Xie Wan's filial nature is pure and sincere, and his grief is earnest; he firmly declines the honor of being recalled from mourning and begs to complete the full mourning rites. This is sufficient to uplift public morals and encourage proper conduct; his wish should be honored and his request granted. He was nevertheless ordered to report to court after his mourning period ended.'

聖歷初，遷侍御史，充使安撫烏質勒及十姓部落，咸得其便宜，蕃人大悅，以功擢拜御史中丞，兼北庭都護、持節西域安撫使。琬素與郭元振同官相善，遂爲宗楚客所毀，由是左遷滄州刺史。爲政務存大體，甚得人和。景龍中，遷右臺御史大夫，兼持節朔方行軍大總管。琬前後在軍二十餘載，務農習戰，多所利益，邊境安之。

At the beginning of the Shenglì era he was promoted to Attending Censor and commissioned to pacify Wuzhile and the Ten Surnames tribes; all parties received fair treatment, and the frontier peoples were greatly pleased. For his achievements he was promoted to Vice Censor-in-Chief, concurrently serving as Protector-General of Beiting and Commissioner with Full Powers for Pacification of the Western Regions. Wan had long been on friendly terms with Guo Yuanzhen, who held a similar post; he was then slandered by Zong Chuke and demoted to governor of Cang Prefecture. In administration he focused on essentials and won broad popular support. During the Jinglong era he was promoted to Censor-in-Chief of the Right Bureau and concurrently appointed Grand General of the Mobile Army of Shuofang with full powers. Wan spent more than twenty years in military service altogether; he promoted agriculture and military training, brought many benefits, and kept the frontier secure.

景雲二年，復爲朔方軍大總管。琬分遣隨軍要籍官河陽丞張冠宗、肥鄕令韋景駿、普安令於處忠等校料三城兵募，於是減十萬人，奏罷之。尋授右武衞大將軍，兼檢校晉州刺史，賜爵濟南縣男。以年老乞骸骨，拜表訖，不待報而去。優詔加金紫光祿大夫，聽致仕，其祿準品全給。尋降璽書勞之曰：「卿器局堅正，才識高遠，公忠彰其立身，貞固足以幹事。類張騫之出使，同魏絳之和戎。職綰文武，功申方面，勤於王家，是爲國老。頃者，顧斯側景，願言勇退，深惜馬援之能，未遂祁奚之請。然章疏頻上，雅懷難奪。今知脫屣歸閑，拂衣高謝，固可以激勵頹俗，儀刑庶僚。永言終始，良可嘉尚。宜善攝養，以介期頤。」

In the second year of Jingyun he again became Grand General of the Shuofang Army. Wan dispatched registry officer Zhang Guanzong, assistant magistrate of Heyang, Magistrate Wei Jingjun of Feixiang, Magistrate Yu Chuzhong of Pu'an, and others to audit military levies in the three cities; they reduced the rolls by one hundred thousand men, and Wan memorialized to disband them. Before long he was appointed General of the Right Martial Guards, concurrently acting governor of Jin Prefecture, and was ennobled as Baron of Jinan County. On account of old age he requested retirement; having submitted his memorial, he departed without waiting for a reply. A gracious edict granted him the title Grand Master with Purple-Gold Tally, permitted his retirement, and ordered his full salary paid according to rank. Before long an imperial letter with seal was sent to commend him: 'Your character is firm and upright, your talent and insight lofty; public loyalty marks your conduct, and steadfast integrity suffices to accomplish great affairs. You resemble Zhang Qian in diplomatic missions and Wei Jiang in pacifying the frontier peoples. Your office united civil and military affairs; your achievements extended to the frontier; diligent in the service of the throne, you are a pillar of the state. Recently, mindful of advancing age, you expressed the wish to retire; We deeply regret to lose one of Ma Yuan's caliber and have not yet granted Qi Xi's request on your behalf. Yet you submitted memorial after memorial, and your earnest wish could not be denied. Now that you have cast off office and returned to leisure, brushing off your robes and taking your leave, you will surely inspire a declining age and serve as a model for all officials. Your constancy from beginning to end is truly admirable. Take good care of yourself, that you may live to a ripe old age.'

未幾，吐蕃寇邊，復召拜左散騎常侍，令與吐蕃分定地界，兼處置十姓降戸。琬言吐蕃必潛懷叛計，請預支兵十萬於秦、渭等州嚴加防遏。其年冬，吐蕃果入寇，竟爲支兵所擊走之。俄又表請致仕，不許，遷太子賓客。開元五年，出爲同州刺史。明年卒，年八十餘。畢構畢構，河南偃師人也。父憬，則天時爲司衞少卿。構少舉進士。神龍初，累遷中書舍人。時敬暉等奏請降削武氏諸王，構次當讀表，既聲韻朗暢，兼分析其文句，左右聽者皆歷然可曉。由是武三思惡之，出爲潤州刺史。累除益州大都督府長史。景雲初，召拜左御史大夫，轉陜州刺史，加銀青光祿大夫，封魏縣男。頃之，復授益州大都督府長史，兼充劍南道按察使。所歷州府，咸著聲績，在蜀中尤革舊弊，政號清嚴。睿宗聞而善之，璽書勞曰：

Before long the Tibetans raided the frontier; he was again summoned as Left Palace Attendant and ordered to demarcate the border with Tibet and settle the surrendered households of the Ten Surnames. Wan warned that the Tibetans surely harbored secret plans of rebellion and requested that one hundred thousand troops be stationed in advance in Qin, Wei, and other prefectures for strict defense. That winter the Tibetans did invade, but were ultimately driven off by the advance troops he had requested. Before long he again memorialized requesting retirement; the request was denied, and he was transferred to Mentor of the Heir Apparent. In the fifth year of Kaiyuan he was appointed governor of Tong Prefecture. He died the following year, aged over eighty. Bi Gou was a native of Yanshi in Henan. His father Jing served as Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Guards under Empress Wu. Gou passed the jinshi examination in his youth. At the beginning of the Shenlong era he rose to Attendant Drafting Documents at the Secretariat. At that time Jing Hui and others memorialized requesting the demotion of the Wu princes; Gou was next to read the memorial aloud. His delivery was clear and resonant, and he explained its sentences as he read; all who heard him found it entirely intelligible. Wu Sansi took offense at this and had him demoted to governor of Run Prefecture. He was repeatedly appointed senior administrator of the Yizhou metropolitan command. At the beginning of the Jingyun era he was summoned as Left Censor-in-Chief, transferred to governor of Shan Prefecture, granted the title Grand Master with Silver-Green Tally, and enfeoffed as Baron of Wei County. Before long he was again appointed senior administrator of the Yizhou metropolitan command and concurrently served as investigation commissioner of the Jiannan circuit. In every prefecture he served he earned renown for his achievements; in Shu he especially reformed longstanding abuses, and his administration was known for its austerity and severity. Emperor Ruizong heard of this and approved; an imperial letter with seal commended him, saying:

我國家創開天地，再造黎元，四夷來王，萬邦會至，置州立郡，分職設官。貞觀、永徽之前，皇猷惟穆；咸亨、垂拱之後，淳風漸替。征賦將急，調役頗繁，選吏舉人，涉於浮濫。省閣臺寺，罕有公直，茍貪祿秩，以度歳時。中外因循，紀綱弛紊，且無懲革，弊乃滋深。爲官既不擇人，非親即賄；爲法又不按罪，作孽寧逃？貪殘放手者相仍，清白潔己者斯絶。蓋由賞罰不舉，生殺莫行。更以水旱時乖，邊隅未謐，日損一日，征斂不休，大東小東，杼軸爲怨，就更割剝，何以克堪！

Our state opened heaven and earth anew and restored the people; the four quarters came to pay homage and the myriad states gathered; we established prefectures and commanderies and apportioned offices and officials. Before the Zhenguan and Yonghui eras, imperial governance was serene; after Xianheng and Chuigong, honest custom gradually declined. Taxes and levies grew pressing, corvée duties multiplied, and the selection of officials and recommendees became rife with superficial excess. In the ministries, secretariats, censorates, and courts there were rarely men of public integrity; they grasped at salaries and ranks merely to pass the years. Within and without all followed precedent; statutes and discipline grew lax, and with no punishment or reform, abuses only deepened. In appointing officials they did not choose men on merit—if not kin, then bribes; in applying the law they did not punish according to crime—how could evildoers escape? The greedy and cruel followed one after another, while the pure and self-restrained were cut off entirely. This was because rewards and punishments were not enforced and the power of life and death was not exercised. Moreover, floods and droughts came at untimely seasons and the frontiers were unsettled; day by day conditions worsened, levies never ceased, and the people groaned under the burden of taxation—how could they endure further exactions!

昔聞當官，以留犢還珠爲上。今之從職，以充車聯駟爲能。或交結富家，抑棄貧弱；或矜假典正，樹立腹心。邑屋之間，囊篋俱委，或地有椿幹梓漆，或家有畜產資財，即被暗通，並從取奪。若有固吝，即因事以繩，粗杖大枷，動傾性命，懷冤抱痛，無所告陳。比差御史委令巡察，或有貴要所囑，未能不避權豪；或有親故在官，又罕絶於顏面。載馳原隰，徒煩出使之名；安問狐貍，未見埋車之節。揚清激濁，涇、渭不分；嫉惡好善，蕭、蘭莫別。官守既其若此，下人豈以聊生。數年已來，雕殘更甚。

Formerly it was said that the highest standard of office was to leave calves behind and return pearls untouched. Today's officials take filling carts and linking teams of horses as the measure of ability. Some formed ties with wealthy families and oppressed the poor and weak; some put on airs of legal authority and set up trusted confidants. In every hamlet and household, bags and boxes were seized; whether the land held valuable timber or the family possessed livestock and property, officials secretly informed on them and seized everything. If anyone resisted, they found some pretext to punish him; with rough staves and heavy cangues they often endangered lives, and the victims, bearing injustice and pain, had nowhere to lodge complaint. Recently censors were dispatched on inspection tours; some had been entrusted by powerful patrons and could not avoid the mighty; some had kin and associates in office and rarely broke with them openly. They raced across plains and marshes, merely troubling the name of outgoing envoys; they never inquired into wrongdoing, and the section on burying the carriage was never seen. In raising the clear and stirring the muddy, they did not distinguish Jing from Wei; in hating evil and loving good, they did not distinguish fragrant orchid from stinking eupatorium. When official conduct was like this, how could the common people find ease in living? For several years now, devastation has grown worse.

卿孤潔獨行，有古人之風，自臨蜀川，弊化頓易。覽卿前後執奏，何異破柱求奸？諸使之中，在卿爲最。並能盡節似卿如此，百郡何憂乎不理，萬人何慮乎不安？卿當益堅，勿爲後顧。朕嘉卿直道，今賜袍帶並衣一副。

You are solitary and upright, with the bearing of the ancients; since you took charge of Shu, abuses were suddenly transformed. Reading your memorials before and after, how do they differ from breaking the pillar to seek out wrongdoing? Among all commissioners, you are foremost. If all could serve with your integrity, what worry would the hundred commanderies have of misgovernment, what concern would the people have of insecurity? You should grow still firmer and not look back. We commend your upright conduct and now bestow one set of robe, belt, and garments.

尋拜戸部尚書，轉吏部尚書，並遙領益州大都督府長史。玄宗即位，累拜河南尹，遷戸部尚書。開元四年，遇疾，上手疏醫方以賜之。時議戸部尚書爲凶官，遽改授太子詹事，冀其有瘳。尋卒，贈黃門監，謚曰景。

Before long he was appointed Minister of Revenue, then transferred to Minister of Personnel, while retaining the distant post of senior administrator of the Yizhou metropolitan command. When Emperor Xuanzong acceded to the throne, Gou was repeatedly appointed Intendant of Henan and promoted to Minister of Revenue. In the fourth year of Kaiyuan he fell ill; the emperor personally wrote out a medical prescription and bestowed it on him. At the time Minister of Revenue was considered an unlucky office; he was hastily reassigned as Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent in hope that he might recover. He died soon afterward and was posthumously appointed Supervisor of the Palace Secretariat with the posthumous title Jing.

構初喪繼母時，有二妹在繈褓，親加鞠養，咸得成立。及構卒，二妹號絶久之，以撫育恩，遂制三年之服。其弟栩亦甚哀毀，並爲當時所稱。栩官至荊州司馬。蘇珦蘇珦，雍州藍田人。明經舉，累授鄠縣尉。雍州長史李義琰召而謂曰：「鄠縣本多訴訟，近日遂絶，訪問果由明公爲其疏理。」因顧指廳事曰：「此座即明公座也，但恨非遲暮所見耳。」

When Gou first mourned his stepmother, he had two infant sisters; he personally nursed and raised them, and both grew to maturity. When Gou died, the two sisters mourned him at length and, out of gratitude for his nurturing, observed three years of mourning for him. His younger brother Xu was also deeply grief-stricken; both were praised by their contemporaries. Xu rose to senior administrator of Jing Prefecture. Su Xuan was a native of Lantian in Yong Prefecture. He passed the Classics examination and was repeatedly appointed magistrate of Hu County. Yong Prefecture Senior Administrator Li Yiyan summoned him and said: 'Hu County originally had many lawsuits; recently they have ceased entirely. On inquiry I find it is indeed because you have cleared and ordered them.' He then turned and pointed at the seat in the hall, saying: 'This seat is yours, sir; I only regret I did not see you in office sooner.'

垂拱初，拜右臺監察御史。時則天將誅韓、魯等諸王，使珦按其密狀，珦訊問皆無征驗。或誣告珦與韓、魯等同情，則天召見詰問，珦抗議不回。則天不悅，曰：「卿大雅之士，朕當別有驅使，此獄不假卿也。」遂令珦於河西監軍。五遷右司郎中。時御史王弘義托附來俊臣，構陷無罪，朝廷疾之。嘗受詔於虢州采木，役使不節，丁夫多死，珦按奏其事，弘義竟以坐黜。珦尋遷給事中，累授左肅政臺御史大夫。時有詔白司馬阪營大像，糜費巨億，珦以妨農，上疏切諫，則天納焉。

At the beginning of the Chuigong era he was appointed Investigating Censor of the Right Bureau. At that time Empress Wu was about to execute the Han, Lu, and other princes; she had Xuan investigate their secret charges, but his interrogation found no evidence. Someone falsely accused Xuan of sympathizing with the Han and Lu princes; Empress Wu summoned him for questioning, and Xuan protested firmly without yielding. The empress was displeased and said: 'You are a man of great refinement; I shall have other employment for you—this case does not require you.' She thereupon ordered Xuan to supervise the army in Hexi. After five promotions he became Director of the Right Bureau. At that time Censor Wang Hongyi relied on Lai Junchen and framed the innocent; the court detested him. He had once received an edict to gather timber in Guo Prefecture; his use of labor was unrestrained and many corvée laborers died; Xuan investigated and memorialized the matter, and Hongyi was ultimately dismissed. Xuan was soon promoted to Attendant Drafting Documents and eventually appointed Censor-in-Chief of the Left Bureau for Rectifying Governance. At that time there was an edict to build a great image at Baima Slope, wasting hundreds of millions; Xuan memorialized that it would hinder agriculture, and the empress accepted his remonstrance.

神龍初，武三思擅權，韋月將告三思將有逆謀，反爲三思所構，中宗令斬之。珦奏非時不可行刑，由是忤三思旨，轉爲右御史大夫。尋出爲岐州刺史，復爲右臺大夫。會節湣太子敗，詔珦窮其黨與。時睿宗在籓，爲得罪者所引，珦因辯析事狀，密奏以保持之。中宗意解，因是多所原免，擢珦爲戸部尚書，賜爵河內郡公。尋授太子賓客、檢校詹事，以年老致仕。開元三年卒，年八十一，贈兗州都督，謚曰文。子晉，亦知名。珦子晉晉，數歳能屬文，作《八卦論》，吏部侍郎房穎敘、秘書少監王紹宗見而賞嘆曰：「此後來王粲也。」弱冠舉進士，又應大禮舉，皆居上第。先天中，累遷中書舍人，兼崇文館學士。玄宗監國，毎有制命，皆令晉及賈曾爲之。晉亦數進讜言，深見嘉納。俄出爲泗州刺史，以父老乞辭職歸侍，許之。父卒後，歷戸部侍郎，襲爵河內郡公。開元十四年，遷吏部侍郎。時開府宋璟兼尚書事，晉及齊澣遞於京都知選事，既糊名考判，晉獨多賞拔，甚得當時之譽。俄而侍中裴光庭知尚書事，毎遇官應批退者，但對眾披簿，以硃筆點頭而已。晉遂榜選院云：「門下點頭者，更引註擬。」光庭以爲侮己，甚不悅，遂出爲汝州刺史。三遷魏州刺史，加銀青光祿大夫，入爲太子左庶子。二十二年卒，年五十九。

At the beginning of the Shenlong era Wu Sansi held unchecked power; Wei Yuejiang reported that Sansi was plotting treason, but was instead framed by Sansi, and Emperor Zhongzong ordered his execution. Xuan memorialized that it was not the proper season for execution; thereby he offended Sansi and was transferred to Right Censor-in-Chief. Before long he was sent out as governor of Qi Prefecture, then again became Censor-in-Chief of the Right Bureau. When Crown Prince Jiemin was defeated, an edict ordered Xuan to pursue his faction and associates exhaustively. At that time Emperor Ruizong was in his princely fief and was implicated by the accused; Xuan analyzed the facts of the case and submitted a secret memorial to protect him. Emperor Zhongzong's mind was eased, and many were pardoned as a result; Xuan was promoted to Minister of Revenue and enfeoffed as Duke of Henei Commandery. Before long he was appointed Mentor of the Heir Apparent and Acting Grand Mentor, then retired on account of old age. He died in the third year of Kaiyuan, aged eighty-one; he was posthumously appointed Area Commander of Yan Prefecture with the posthumous title Wen. His son Jin was also well known. Xuan's son Jin, while still a child, could compose prose and wrote Treatise on the Eight Trigrams. Vice Minister of Personnel Fang Yingxu and Vice Director of the Secretariat Wang Shaozong read it and exclaimed in admiration: 'Here is a Wang Can in the making.' In his early twenties he passed the jinshi examination and also the great ritual examination; in both he ranked at the top. During the Xiantian era he rose to Attendant Drafting Documents at the Secretariat and concurrently served as Academician of the Chongwen Hall. When Emperor Xuanzong served as regent, whenever there were edicts and orders, Jin and Jia Zeng were ordered to draft them. Jin also repeatedly submitted forthright counsel and was deeply commended. Before long he was appointed governor of Si Prefecture; because his father was elderly he begged to resign and return home to serve him, and the request was granted. After his father's death he served as Vice Minister of Revenue and inherited the title Duke of Henei Commandery. In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan he was transferred to Vice Minister of Personnel. At that time Song Jing of the Kaifu rank concurrently handled Secretariat affairs; Jin and Qi Huan took turns managing selection affairs in the capital; after names were sealed for examination, Jin alone made many commendations and promotions and won great acclaim. Before long Palace Attendant Pei Guangting handled Secretariat affairs; whenever an official should have been rejected, he merely opened the register before the assembly and marked it with a vermilion dot—that was all. Jin thereupon posted a notice at the Selection Court: 'Those whom the Secretariat has dotted must be brought forward again for review and nomination.' Guangting took this as an insult and was greatly displeased; Jin was thereupon demoted to governor of Ru Prefecture. After three promotions he became governor of Wei Prefecture, was granted the title Grand Master with Silver-Green Tally, and entered the capital as Left Mentor of the Heir Apparent. He died in the twenty-second year, aged fifty-nine.

初，晉與洛陽人張循之、仲之兄弟友善，循之等並以學業著名。循之，則天時上書忤旨被誅。仲之，神龍中謀殺武三思，爲友人宋之愻所發，下獄死。晉厚撫仲之子漸，有如己子，教之書記，爲營婚宦。及晉卒，漸制猶子之服，時人甚以此稱之。鄭惟忠鄭惟忠，宋州宋城人也。儀鳳中，進士舉，授井陘尉，轉湯陰尉。天授中，應舉召見，則天臨軒問諸舉人：「何者爲忠？」諸人對不稱旨。惟忠對曰：「臣聞忠者，外揚君之美，內匡君之惡。」則天曰：「善。」授左司禦率府胄曹參軍，累遷水部員外郎。則天幸長安，惟忠待制引見，則天謂曰：「朕識卿，前於東都言『忠臣外揚君之美，內匡君之惡』，至今不忘。」尋加朝散大夫，再遷鳳閣舍人。

Earlier, Jin was on friendly terms with Zhang Xunzhi and the brothers Zhongzhi of Luoyang; Xunzhi and the others were all famed for their scholarship. Xunzhi, under Empress Wu, submitted a memorial that offended the throne and was executed. Zhongzhi, during the Shenlong era plotted to kill Wu Sansi; he was exposed by his friend Song Zhisun, imprisoned, and died. Jin generously nurtured Zhongzhi's son Jian as if he were his own son, taught him secretarial writing, and arranged marriage and office for him. When Jin died, Jian observed the mourning garments of a nephew; contemporaries greatly praised this. Zheng Weizhong was a native of Songcheng in Song Prefecture. During the Yifeng era he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed magistrate of Jingxing, then transferred to magistrate of Tangyin. During the Tianshou era he was summoned for examination and audience; Empress Wu, facing the hall, asked the examinees: 'What is loyalty?' The various answers did not please her. Weizhong answered: 'Your servant has heard that loyalty means outwardly to display the ruler's excellence and inwardly to correct the ruler's faults.' The empress said: 'Good.' He was appointed aide in the Left Bureau of the Imperial Guard Command and rose to Outer Gentleman of the Ministry of Works. When Empress Wu visited Chang'an, Weizhong waited on duty for audience; the empress said: 'I recognize you; formerly in the eastern capital you said that a loyal minister outwardly displays the ruler's excellence and inwardly corrects the ruler's faults—I have not forgotten to this day.' Before long he was granted the title Grand Master for Splendid Happiness and was twice promoted to Attendant of the Phoenix Pavilion.

中宗即位，甚敬重之，擢拜黃門侍郎。時議請禁嶺南首領家畜兵器，惟忠曰：「夫爲政不可革以習俗，且《吳都賦》云：『家有鶴膝，戸有犀渠。』如或禁之，豈無驚擾耶？」遂寢。無何，守大理卿。節湣太子與將軍李多祚等舉兵誅武三思，事變伏誅。其詿誤守門者並配流，將行，有韋氏黨與密奏請盡誅之。中宗令推斷，惟忠奏曰：「今大獄始決，人心未寧，若更改推，必遞相驚恐，則反側之子，無由自安。」敕令百司議，遂依舊斷，所全者甚多。俄拜御史大夫，持節賑給河北道，仍黜陟牧宰。還，敷奏稱旨，加銀青光祿大夫，封滎陽縣男。開元初，爲禮部尚書，轉太子賓客。十年卒，贈太子少保。王志愔王志愔，博州聊城人也。少以進士擢第。神龍年，累除左臺御史，加朝散大夫。執法剛正，百僚畏憚，時人呼爲「皁雕」，言其顧瞻人吏，如雕鶚之視燕雀也。尋遷大理正，嘗奏言：「法令者，人之堤防，堤防不立，則人無所禁。竊見大理官僚，多不奉法，以縱罪爲寬恕，以守文爲苛刻。臣濫執刑典，實恐爲眾所謗。」遂表上所著《應正論》以見誌，其詞曰：

When Emperor Zhongzong acceded to the throne, he greatly respected Weizhong and promoted him to Vice Director of the Palace Secretariat. At the time it was proposed to forbid the chieftains of Lingnan from keeping weapons in their households; Weizhong said: 'In governing one cannot simply overturn custom, and moreover the Rhapsody on the Wu Capital says: "In every house there are crane-knee crossbows; in every door there are rhinoceros-hide shields. If we were to forbid this, would there not be alarm and disturbance?" Thereupon the proposal was shelved. Not long afterward he was appointed Director of the Court of Judicial Review. Crown Prince Jiemin and General Li Duozuo and others raised an army to kill Wu Sansi, but the plot failed and they were executed. The gatekeepers who had been drawn into the affair were all sentenced to banishment; just as they were about to leave, members of the Wei faction secretly petitioned the throne to have them all put to death. Emperor Zhongzong ordered the case reconsidered, but Weizhong submitted a memorial saying: "This major trial has only just been concluded and the public is still unsettled; if we reopen the judgment, alarm will spread from one person to the next, and those who already feel insecure will have no way to rest easy." The emperor ordered all departments to deliberate, and the original sentences were upheld; a great many people were spared. Before long he was made Censor-in-Chief, sent with imperial credentials to distribute relief in the Hebei region while also evaluating and appointing or removing local prefects. When he returned, his report to the throne pleased the emperor, who promoted him to Grand Master with Silver-Green Tally and enfeoffed him as Baron of Xingyang County. Early in the Kaiyuan reign he served as Minister of Rites, then was transferred to Senior Mentor to the Crown Prince. He died in the tenth year of the era and was posthumously honored as Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince. Wang Zhiyin was a native of Liaocheng in Bo Prefecture. As a young man he passed the Jinshi examination. During the Shenlong era he rose through successive appointments to Left Censor and received the added title Grand Master for Court Discussion. He enforced the law with uncompromising firmness, and the officials all feared him; contemporaries called him the "Black Eagle," saying that when he fixed his gaze on officials and clerks it was like an eagle or hawk watching sparrows. Soon he was promoted to Director of Cases at the Court of Judicial Review and once submitted a memorial saying: "Law is the dyke that holds human conduct in check; if the dyke is not built, people have nothing to hold them back. I have seen that many officials in the Court of Judicial Review fail to follow the law, treating the release of offenders as mercy and strict adherence to the statutes as cruelty. I hold the office of punishment only by unearned appointment, and I truly fear being condemned by my colleagues." He then submitted a memorial along with his treatise "On Responding to Uprightness" to make his views known. It reads:

嘗讀《易》至「萃，利見大人，亨，聚以正也。六二，引吉無咎。」註曰：「居萃之時，體柔當位。處《坤》之中，己獨處正。異操而聚，獨正者危，未能變體，以遠於害。故必見引，然後乃吉而無咎。」王肅曰：「六二與九五相應，俱履貞正。引由迎也，爲吉所迎，何咎之有？」未嘗不輟書而嘆曰：「居中履正，事之常體，見引無咎，道亦宜然。

Once, reading the Book of Changes, I came to the hexagram Cui: "It is beneficial to see the great man. Success. Gathering together in the right way. The second line reads: "Being led brings good fortune without blame." The commentary explains: "In a time of gathering, one is yielding by nature yet holds the proper place. Standing within Kun, one alone keeps to what is upright. When people of different conduct assemble, the one who alone remains upright is in danger; unable to change his nature, he has not yet escaped harm. Therefore one must be welcomed and guided before good fortune comes without blame." Wang Su said: "The second line and the fifth line correspond to each other, both acting in firm uprightness. To be led is to be welcomed; welcomed by what is auspicious—what fault could there be?" I could not help closing the book and sighing: "To hold the center and walk the upright path is the ordinary way of things; to be welcomed and guided without blame—the Way should work like that too.

有客聞而惑之，因謂僕曰：今主上文明，域中理定，君累司典憲，不務和同。處正之志雖存，見引之吉誰應？行之不已，余竊懼焉。

A guest who heard this was puzzled and said to me: "The emperor today is enlightened, and order is settled throughout the realm; you have repeatedly held judicial office, yet you do not seek harmony and agreement. You may still wish to stand upright, but who will answer with the good fortune of welcome and guidance? If you keep on this way, I am privately afraid for you."

僕斂襟降階揖而謝曰：補遺闕於袞職，用忠讜爲己任，以蒙養正，見引獲吉，應此道也，仁何遠哉！昔咎繇謨虞，登朝作士，設教理物，開訓成務。是以五流有宅，五宅三居，怙終賊刑，刑故無小。於是舜美其事曰：「汝明於五刑，以弼五教，期於予理，刑期於無刑，人協於中，時乃功，懋哉！」故孔子嘆其政曰：「舜舉咎繇，不仁者遠。」此非明辟執法，大人見引之應乎？季孫行父之事君也，舉竊寶之愆，黜授邑之賞，明善惡而糾慝，議僭賞以塞違。在虞舜之功，居二十之一，主司得行其道，時君不以爲嫌，此非己獨處正，應正而無咎。觀魚於棠，臧伯正色；賂鼎在廟，哀伯抗詞。言者得盡其忠，聞之不加其罪。故《春秋》稱臧氏之正，曰：「積善之家，必有餘慶。」此非異操而聚，引吉之所致乎？魏絳理直，晉侯乃復其位；邾人辭順，趙盾不伐其國。此非正體未變，爲吉所迎者乎？

I straightened my robe, stepped down, bowed, and answered: "To remedy what is missing in one's official duty and to take loyal remonstrance as one's task—to be nurtured in uprightness and, through welcome and guidance, gain good fortune—this is what the Way calls for; how distant can humaneness be! Long ago Gao Yao advised the court of Yu, entered government as Minister of Crime, set up teaching to order affairs, and opened instruction to complete the work of governance. Thus the five degrees of banishment each had their proper place, and the five places had three levels of residence; those who persisted in wrongdoing faced the harshest punishment, and even old offenses were not treated lightly. Then Shun praised his work, saying: "You are clear in the five punishments and thereby support the five teachings; you aim at good order under me, and punishment aims at the day when punishment is no longer needed; the people are brought into harmony—this is timely achievement; press on!" Confucius admired this governance and said: "When Shun elevated Gao Yao, the unworthy withdrew of themselves." Is this not the very response of an enlightened ruler enforcing the law and a great man being welcomed and guided? In serving his ruler, Jisun Xingfu reported the crime of stealing a treasure, rejected an improper grant of fief, distinguished good from evil and corrected wrongdoing, and challenged excessive rewards in order to stop misconduct. Among the achievements of Emperor Shun, this counted as one in twenty; the official in charge was able to act according to his principles, and the ruler did not resent it—is this not standing alone in uprightness and answering what is correct without blame? When the duke went to Tang to watch fish, Zang Bo rebuked him sternly; when a bribed bronze vessel stood in the ancestral temple, Ai Bo spoke out against it. Those who remonstrated could speak their full loyalty, and the ruler who heard them did not punish them for it. The Spring and Autumn Annals therefore praised the uprightness of the Zang house, saying: "A family that accumulates goodness will surely have blessing left over." Is this not what comes of gathering together while differing in conduct, and being led to good fortune? Wei Jiang's argument was just, and Duke Wu of Jin then restored him to office; the people of Zhu spoke with proper deference, and Zhao Dun did not invade their state. Is this not a case in which uprightness remained unchanged and one was welcomed by what was auspicious?

夫在上垂拱，臣下守制，若正應乎上，乃引吉於下。而中士聞道，若存若亡，交戰於譎正之門，懷疑乎語默之境，懼獨正之莫引，忘此正之必亨。籲嗟乎！行己立身，居正踐義，其動也直，其正也方。維正直而是與，何往而非攸利。何以明之？《坤》六二：「直方大，不習無不利。」《文言》曰：「直其正也，方其義也，君子敬以直內，義以方外。敬義立而德不孤，直方大則不疑其所行也。」嵇康撰《釋私論》，曹羲著《至公篇》，皆以崇公激俗，抑私事主，一言可以蔽之，歸於體正而已矣。《禮記》曰：「刑者侀也，侀者成也，一成而不可變，故君子盡心焉。」若以喜怒制刑，輕重設比，是則橋前驚馬，用希旨論人，苑中獵兔，以從欲廢法。理有違而合道，物貴和而不同，不同之和，正在其中矣。

When the sovereign above rules with folded hands and ministers below keep to the law, if uprightness answers those above, then below there is the good fortune of welcome and guidance. Yet when ordinary officers hear the Way, it seems present one moment and gone the next; they struggle at the threshold between cunning and uprightness, hesitate between speaking and keeping silent, fear that standing alone in uprightness will win no welcome, and forget that such uprightness must succeed. Alas! In how you conduct yourself and establish your character, dwell in uprightness and act in righteousness—your action is straight, your standard square. Keep only to what is upright and correct, and where could you go that would not be wholly to your benefit? How can this be shown? The second line of Kun says: "Straight, square, and great; without deliberate effort, nothing is unfavorable." The Commentary on the Text says: "Straightness is its rectitude; squareness is its duty; the noble person uses reverence to make himself straight within and righteousness to make himself square without. When reverence and righteousness are established, virtue is not isolated; being straight, square, and great, he does not doubt what he does." Ji Kang wrote "On Explaining Selfishness" and Cao Xi wrote "On Utmost Public-Mindedness"; both sought to exalt the public good, stir society, and restrain private interest in serving the ruler—in one phrase, it all comes down to embodying uprightness. The Book of Rites says: "Punishment is the pattern; the pattern is fulfillment; once fulfilled it cannot be changed—therefore the noble person gives it his whole heart." If punishment is controlled by mood and severity is decided by whim, that is like judging a case from a startled horse at the bridge—using flattery to decide a person's fate—or like hunting rabbits in the park and abandoning the law to satisfy desire. Principle may appear to conflict yet still accord with the Way; what matters is harmony, not sameness—and the harmony that preserves difference lies right here.

昔任延爲武威太守，漢帝誡之曰：「善事上官，無失名譽。」延對曰：「臣聞忠臣不私，私臣不忠，上下雷同，非國家之福。善事上官，臣不敢奉詔。」任延雅奏，漢主是其言。此則歸正不回，乖旨順義，不以忤懷見忌，斯亦違而合道。《晏子春秋》：景公見梁丘據曰：「據與我和。」晏子曰：「此同也。和者，君甘則臣酸，君淡則臣咸。今據也，君甘亦甘，所謂同也，安得爲和？」是以濟鹽梅以調羹，乃適平心之味；獻可否而論道，方恢政體之節。俟引正而遵度，故曰物貴和而不同。劉曼山辯和同之義，有旨哉！若以不同見譏，未敢聞誨。

In the past Ren Yan served as Administrator of Wuwei, and the Han emperor warned him: "Serve your superiors well and do not lose your good name." Ren Yan answered: "I have heard that a loyal minister is not self-serving, and a self-serving minister is not loyal; when superiors and subordinates merely echo one another, that is no blessing to the state. As for serving superiors well—I dare not obey that command." Ren Yan's fine reply pleased the Han emperor, who approved what he said. This is holding to uprightness without turning aside, departing from the emperor's words yet following righteousness—not being resented for giving offense—and this too is seeming to oppose yet still accord with the Way. In Master Yan's Spring and Autumn Annals, Duke Jing saw Liangqiu Ju and said: "Ju is in harmony with me." Yanzi said: "That is sameness. Harmony means that when the ruler finds something sweet, the minister finds it sour; when the ruler finds it bland, the minister finds it salty. But Ju, when the ruler finds something sweet, also finds it sweet—that is what is called sameness; how can it be called harmony?" Thus by adding salt and sour plum to balance a stew, one achieves the taste of an even mind; offering assent or dissent in discussing the Way is how to restore the proper limits of government. Wait to be guided by uprightness and follow the proper measure—hence it is said that what is valued is harmony, not sameness. Liu Manshan's discussion of the meaning of harmony and sameness—how apt! If you mean to reprove me for being different, I cannot accept that teaching.

客曰：和同乖訓，則已聞之。援法成而不變者，豈恤獄之寬憲耶？《書》曰：「禦眾以寬。」《傳》曰：「寬則得眾。」若以嚴統物，異乎寬政矣。

The guest said: "As for the teaching that harmony is not sameness—I have already heard it. But if you invoke law as fixed and unchanging, does that show any concern for leniency in judging cases?" The Book of Documents says: "Lead the people with leniency." The Commentary says: "With leniency one wins the people. If one governs people with severity, that is not lenient rule."

對曰：刑賞二柄，唯人主操之，崇厚任寬，是謂帝王之德。慎子曰：「以力役法者，百姓也；以死守法者，有司也；以道變法者，君上也。」然則匪人臣所操。後魏遊肇之爲廷尉也，魏帝嘗私敕肇有所降恕，肇執而不從曰：「陛下自能恕之，豈足令臣曲筆也？」是知寬恕是君道，曲從非臣節。人或未達斯旨，不料其務，以平刑爲峻，將曲法爲寬，謹守憲章，號爲深密。《內律》：「釋種虧戒，一誅五百人，如來不救其罪。」豈謂佛法爲殘刻耶？老子《道德經》云：「天網恢恢，疏而不漏。」豈謂道教爲凝峻耶？《家語》曰：「王者之誅有五，而寢盜不預焉。」即心辯言偽之流。《禮記》亦陳四殺，破律亂名之謂。豈是儒家執禁，孔子之深文哉？此三教之用法者，所以明真諦，重玄猷，存天綱，立人極也。

He answered: "Punishment and reward are the two handles, and only the ruler may wield them; to value generosity and apply leniency—this is the virtue of an emperor. Master Shen said: "Those who are compelled by force to obey the law are the common people; those who uphold the law even at the cost of their lives are the officials; those who change the law according to the Way are the ruler above." Therefore these are not handles for ministers to hold. In Later Wei, when You Zhao was Minister of Justice, the Wei emperor once privately ordered him to reduce or pardon a sentence; Zhao refused and said: "Your Majesty may pardon as you wish—how could that justify asking me to distort the record?" From this we know that leniency belongs to the ruler's way, while bending the law is not a minister's proper duty. Some people fail to grasp this point and misunderstand the task: they call impartial punishment harshness and bending the law leniency, and denounce strict adherence to the statutes as being rigid and severe. The Inner Vinaya says: "When the Shakya clan broke the precepts and five hundred men were put to death at once, the Tathagata did not save them from punishment. Can one say that Buddhist teaching is cruel and severe?" Laozi's Daodejing says: "Heaven's net is vast; though its mesh is wide, nothing escapes. Can one say that the Way of the Dao is austere and harsh?" The Family Conversations says: "A king has five punishments, and false accusations of theft are not among them. That refers to those who argue with hidden motives and speak falsely. The Book of Rites also lists four capital crimes—what is called breaking the law and corrupting proper names. Can one say that Confucian teaching is rigid prohibition, or that Confucius applied the law with excessive severity? The way these Three Teachings use punishment is to clarify true principle, honor the deepest design, preserve heaven's guiding net, and establish humanity's highest standard.

然則乾象震曜，天道明威。齊眾惟刑，百王所以垂範；析人以法，三後於是成功。所務掌憲決平，斯廷尉之職耳。《易》曰：「家人嗃嗃，無咎；婦子嘻嘻，終吝。」嚴於其家，可移於國。昔崔實達於理而作《政論》，仲長統曰：「凡爲人主，宜寫《政論》一通，置諸坐側。」其大抵雲爲國者以嚴致平，非以寬致平者也。然則稱嚴者不必逾條越制，凝網重罰，在於施隱括以矯枉，用平典以禁非。刑故有常，罰輕無舍，人不易犯，防之難越故也。但人慢吏濁，偽積贓深，而曰以寬理之，可以無過。何異乎命王良禦駻，舍銜策於奔踶；請俞跗攻疾，停藥石於膚腠！適見秋駕轉逸，膏肓更深，醫人僕夫，何功之有？

Thus the image of Qian is the flash of thunder—Heaven's Way makes its authority clear. To bring the people into order, nothing but punishment—this is the model handed down by the hundred kings; to distinguish people through law—the Three Sovereigns succeeded by this means. What must be done is to uphold the law, judge cases, and decide them fairly—this and nothing else is the duty of the Minister of Justice. The Book of Changes says: "In the Family, stern admonitions—no blame; when wife and children laugh and jest, in the end there comes remorse." Strictness within one's household can be extended to govern the realm. Formerly Cui Shi, skilled in principled government, wrote the Political Treatise. Zhongchang Tong said: "Every ruler ought to make one full copy of the Political Treatise and keep it beside his seat." Its general thesis is that governing a state achieves order through strictness, not through indulgence. What is called severity need not mean exceeding the code or layering on crushing punishments; it means applying firm discipline to correct excess, and using equitable statutes to forbid wrong. Because punishments are fixed and even lighter penalties are never waived, people do not offend easily; guards are in place, and transgression is hard. Yet when the people are insolent, officials corrupt, and fraud and guilt have piled deep, to say that governing with leniency will leave no fault— how is that different from asking Wang Liang to drive a horse while throwing away bit and whip as it rears and kicks; or calling on the physician Yu Fu to treat a disease while withholding medicine at the very surface of the skin! One would only watch the autumn carriage run ever wilder and the fatal disease sink deeper—what credit could physician or groom claim?

又謂僕曰：成法而變，唯帝王之命歟？對曰：何爲其然也？昔漢武帝甥昭平君殺人，以公主子，廷尉上請論。左右爲言，武帝垂涕嘆曰：「法令者，先帝之所造也，用親故誣先帝子法，吾何面目入高廟乎？又下負萬人！」乃可其奏。近代隋文帝子秦王俊爲并州總管，以奢縱免官。僕射楊素奏言：「王，陛下愛子，請舍其過。」文帝曰：「法不可違。若如公意，我是五兒之父，非兆人之父，何不別制天子兒律乎？我安能虧法！」卒不許。此是帝王操法，協於禮經不變之義。況於秋官典職，司寇肅事，而可變動者乎！我皇睿哲登圖，高視巖廊之上；宰衡明允就列，輯穆廟堂之下。乾坤交泰，日月光華，庶績其凝，眾工咸理。聚以正也，僕幸利見大人；引其吉焉，期養正於下位。中正是托，予何懼乎？

He asked me again: Can established law be altered only at an emperor's command? I answered: Why should that be so? Formerly Emperor Wu of Han's nephew Zhao Pingjun killed a man. Because he was a princess's son, the Minister of Justice submitted a petition for sentencing. Those around him pleaded his case. Emperor Wu wept and sighed: "These laws were made by the Former Emperor; to use kinship to circumvent the law he laid down for his own son—how could I face entering the High Temple? And I would betray the myriad people below!" Then he approved the petition. In recent times Emperor Wen of Sui's son, Prince of Qin Jun, served as regional commander of Bingzhou and was dismissed for extravagance and debauchery. Chief Minister Yang Su memorialized: "Your Majesty's beloved son the prince—I beg that his offense be pardoned." Emperor Wen replied: "The law cannot be broken. If I did as you suggest, I would be father to my five sons only, not to the myriad people—why not draft a separate code for the emperor's sons? How could I compromise the law!" In the end he refused. This is how emperors uphold the law—in line with the Rites' doctrine that what is right does not change. How much less should the canonical duties of the Minister of Justice and the solemn business of criminal law be altered! Our sage emperor has ascended the throne and gazes from the heights of the imperial hall; chancellors and ministers, bright and impartial, stand in their ranks; harmony fills the court below. Heaven and earth are in harmony; sun and moon shine bright; every task finds its fulfillment; every office is well governed. As the Changes says, 'Gathering through righteousness'—I am fortunate to serve one worthy of the name; I take its blessing and hope to cultivate integrity from my humble post. With fairness and rectitude as my guide, what have I to fear?

夫君子百行之基，出處二途而已。出則策名委質，行直道以事人，進善納忠，仰太階而緝政。諤諤其節，思爲社稷之臣；謇謇匪躬，願參柱石之任。處則高謝公卿，孝友揚名，是亦爲政。煙霞尚誌，其用永貞，行藏事業，心跡斯在。至如水中泛泛，天下悠悠，執馭爲榮，掃門自媚，拜塵邀勢，括囊守祿，從來長息，以爲深恥。客乃逡巡不對，遂無以間僕也。

The foundation of all a gentleman's conduct lies in only two paths: public service and withdrawal. In service he registers his name and pledges his loyalty, follows the straight path in serving others, advances good counsel and offers faithful remonstrance, and beneath the imperial steps helps govern the realm. Bold and uncompromising in principle, he aspires to be a true servant of the state; steadfast and selfless, he yearns to bear the weight of the realm like a pillar. In retirement he politely declines high office; through filial piety and friendship he wins renown—and that too is a form of governance. Though he prefers the mists and peaks, his purpose remains constant; whether in action or retirement, the work of the heart is found in both. But to drift like foam on water through this endless world—to drive another's chariot for glory, sweep gates to curry favor, bow in the dust for power, or clutch one's purse to hoard a salary—he has always held his tongue at such conduct and counted it deep shame. The visitor faltered and fell silent, with no further question to put to me.

中宗覽而嘉之。稍遷駕部郎中。

Emperor Zhongzong read the treatise and commended it. He was soon promoted to Director in the Bureau of Chariots.

景雲元年，累轉左御史中丞，尋遷大理少卿。二年，制依漢置刺史監郡，於天下沖要大州置都督二十人，妙選有威重者爲之，遂拜志愔齊州都督，事竟不行。又授齊州刺史，充河南道按察使。未幾，遷汴州刺史，仍舊充河南道按察使。太極元年，又令以本官兼御史中丞、內供奉，特賜實封一百戸。尋加銀青光祿大夫，拜戸部侍郎。出爲魏州刺史，轉揚州大都督府長史，俱充本道按察使。所在令行禁止，奸猾屏跡，境內肅然。久之，召拜刑部尚書。

In 710, after several promotions he became Left Censor-in-Chief, and soon afterward was made Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review. In the second year, an edict revived the Han practice of inspectors overseeing commanderies; twenty regional commanders were to be posted at key prefectures across the empire, chosen from men of outstanding standing. Wang Zhiyin was appointed regional commander of Qi Prefecture, but the plan was never implemented. He was then appointed governor of Qi Prefecture and investigative commissioner for Henan Circuit. Shortly afterward he was transferred to governor of Bian Prefecture while continuing as investigative commissioner for Henan Circuit. In 712 he was ordered to retain his post while also serving as Censor-in-Chief and palace attendant, and was granted a substantive fief of one hundred households. Soon afterward he was given the additional title of Grand Master with Silver-Green Tally and appointed Vice Minister of Revenue. He left the capital to serve as governor of Wei Prefecture, then became senior administrator of Yangzhou Superior Prefecture, in each case serving as investigative commissioner for his circuit. Wherever he served, his orders were obeyed; fraudsters disappeared; and his jurisdiction grew calm and orderly. After some time he was recalled and appointed Minister of Justice.

開元九年，上幸東都，令充京師留守。十年，有京兆人權梁山偽稱襄王男，自號光帝，與其黨及左右屯營押官謀反。夜半時擁左屯營兵百餘人自景風、長樂等門斬關入宮城，將殺志愔，志愔逾墻避賊。俄而屯營兵潰散，翻殺梁山等五人，傳首東都，志愔遂以駭卒。盧從願盧從願，相州臨漳人，後魏度支尚書昶六代孫也。自范陽徙家焉，世爲山東著姓。冠明經舉，授絳州夏縣尉，又應制舉，拜右拾遺。俄遷右肅政監察御史，充山南道黜陟巡撫使，奉使稱旨，拜殿中侍御史。累遷中書舍人。

In 721 the emperor traveled to the Eastern Capital and appointed him to remain behind as commandant of the capital. In 722 a Jingzhao man named Quan Liangshan falsely claimed to be a son of the Prince of Xiang, styled himself Emperor Guang, and with his followers and an officer of the Left Garrison Camp plotted rebellion. At midnight he led more than a hundred Left Garrison soldiers through the Jingfeng and Changle gates, broke through the barriers, and entered the palace city. Intending to kill Wang Zhiyin, Zhiyin climbed over a wall to escape the rebels. Soon the garrison troops broke and fled, turned on Liangshan and killed him along with four others, sent their heads to the Eastern Capital—and Wang Zhiyin died of shock. Lu Congyuan was a native of Linzhang in Xiang Prefecture, a sixth-generation descendant of Lu Chang, Minister of Revenue of Northern Wei. His clan had moved from Fanyang and settled there, becoming over generations one of the great families of the east. In early adulthood he passed the Classics examination and was appointed magistrate of Xia County in Jiang Prefecture; after also passing the imperial special examination he was made Right Reminder. Shortly afterward he became supervising censor of the Right Surveillance Bureau and served as touring commissioner for Shannan Circuit; his mission pleased the throne, and he was appointed palace censor. He rose in succession to drafting secretary of the Secretariat.

睿宗踐祚，拜吏部侍郎。中宗之後，選司頗失綱紀，從願精心條理，大稱平允。其有冒名偽選及虛增功狀之類，皆能擿發其事。典選六年，前後無及之者。上嘉之，特與一子太子通事舍人。從願上疏乞回恩贈父，乃贈其父吉陽丞敬一爲鄭州長史。初，高宗時裴行儉、馬載爲吏部，最爲稱職。及是，從願與李朝隱同時典選，亦有美譽。時人稱曰：吏部前有馬、裴，後有盧、李。

When Emperor Ruizong came to the throne, he was appointed Vice Minister of Personnel. After Emperor Zhongzong's reign the Selection Office had largely lost discipline; Congyuan reorganized it with great care and won wide praise for fairness. He could uncover every kind of fraud, from false names and bogus appointments to inflated merit records. For six years he ran appointments, and no one before or since equaled him. The emperor commended him and specially granted one of his sons the post of secretary in the Crown Prince's service. Congyuan memorialized asking to redirect the favor to his father; his father Jingyi, former assistant magistrate of Jiyang, was posthumously given the title of senior administrator of Zheng Prefecture. Under Emperor Gaozong, Pei Xingjian and Ma Zai had been the most admired ministers of Personnel. Now Congyuan and Li Chaoyin ran appointments together and likewise won high praise. People said: In Personnel, Ma and Pei came first; Lu and Li came after.

開元四年，上盡召新授縣令，一時於殿庭策試，考入下第者，一切放歸學問。從願以註擬非才，左遷豫州刺史。爲政嚴簡，按察使奏課爲天下第一等，璽書勞問，賜絹百匹。無幾，入爲工部侍郎，轉尚書左丞。又與楊滔及吏部侍郎裴漼、禮部侍郎王丘、中書舍人劉令植刪定《開元後格》，遷中書侍郎。十一年，拜工部尚書，加銀青光祿大夫，仍令東都留守。十三年，從升泰山，又加金紫光祿大夫，代韋抗爲刑部尚書。頻年充校京外官考使，前後咸稱允當。

In 716 the emperor summoned all newly appointed county magistrates and tested them at once in the palace hall; those who scored lowest were sent back to their studies. Because Congyuan had recommended unqualified candidates, he was demoted to governor of Yu Prefecture. He governed with strict simplicity; the circuit commissioner rated his performance the best in the empire; the emperor sent a sealed letter of commendation and awarded him a hundred bolts of silk. Before long he was recalled as Vice Minister of Works, then promoted to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. Together with Yang Tao, Vice Minister Pei Hui, Vice Minister Wang Qiu, and drafting secretary Liu Lingzhi, he revised the post-Kaiyuan statutes and was promoted to Vice Director of the Secretariat. In 723 he was made Minister of Works, given the additional title of Grand Master with Silver-Green Tally, and again ordered to stay behind as commandant of the Eastern Capital. In 725 he accompanied the emperor on the Mount Tai rites, was further promoted to Grand Master with Golden-Green Tally, and replaced Wei Kang as Minister of Justice. For several years he served as commissioner evaluating officials outside the capital, and each time was praised for his fair judgments.

御史中丞宇文融承恩用事，以括獲田戸之功，本司校考爲上下，從願抑不與之。融頗以爲恨，密奏從願廣占良田，至有百餘頃。其後，上嘗擇堪爲宰相者，或薦從願，上曰：「從願廣占田園，是不廉也。」遂止不用。從願又因早朝，途中爲人所射，中其從者，捕賊竟不獲。時議從願久在選司，爲被抑者所讎。

Censor-in-Chief Yuwen Rong traded on imperial favor for power; for his work registering land and households his office deserved an upper-middle rating, but Congyuan refused to grant it. Rong bore a deep grudge and secretly reported that Congyuan had seized vast tracts of good farmland—more than a hundred qing. Later, when the emperor sought someone fit for chancellor, Congyuan was recommended; the emperor said: "Congyuan has hoarded vast estates—that shows a lack of integrity." And so the appointment went no further. On another occasion, while on his way to morning audience, someone fired at Congyuan on the road and struck his attendant; the assailant was never caught. At the time many believed that his long years in Personnel had made him enemies among those he had passed over.

十六年，東都留守。時坐子起居郎論糶米入官有剩利，爲憲司所糾，出爲絳州刺史，再遷太子賓客。二十年，河北谷貴，敕從願爲宣撫處置使，開倉以救饑餒。使回，以年老抗表乞骸骨，乃拜吏部尚書，聽致仕，給全祿。二十五年卒，年七十餘，贈益州大都督，謚曰文。李朝隱李朝隱，京兆三原人也。少以明法舉，拜臨汾尉，累授大理丞。神龍年，功臣敬暉、桓彥範爲武三思所構，諷侍御史鄭愔奏請誅之，敕大理結其罪。朝隱以暉等所犯，不經推窮，未可即正刑名。時裴談爲大理卿，異筆斷斬，仍籍沒其家，朝隱由是忤旨。中宗令貶嶺南惡處，侍中韋巨源、中書令李嶠奏曰：「朝隱素稱清正，斷獄亦甚當事，一朝遠徙嶺表，恐天下疑其罪。」中宗意解，出爲聞喜令。

In 728 he served as commandant of the Eastern Capital. When his son, a palace attendant, was impeached for profiting from selling rice to the government, Congyuan was censured, demoted to governor of Jiang Prefecture, and later made advisor to the crown prince. In 732, when grain prices soared in Hebei, the emperor appointed Congyuan pacification commissioner; he opened the granaries to relieve famine. When his mission ended, citing old age he memorialized to retire; the emperor made him Minister of Personnel, granted him retirement, and continued his full salary. He died in 737 at over seventy; posthumously he was given the title of governor-general of Yi Prefecture and the posthumous name Wen. Li Chaoyin was a native of Sanyuan in the Jingzhao region. As a young man he passed the legal examination and was appointed aide in Linfen; he rose in succession to assistant director of the Court of Judicial Review. During the Shenlong reign the meritorious ministers Jing Hui and Huan Yanfan were framed by Wu Sansi, who induced Attendant Censor Zheng Yin to memorialize for their execution; an edict ordered the Court of Judicial Review to convict them. Chaoyin argued that Hui and the others had not been fully investigated and could not yet be formally sentenced. Pei Tan, then director of the court, wrote a different verdict ordering their execution and confiscation of their property—and Chaoyin thereby defied the throne. Emperor Zhongzong ordered him exiled to a harsh region of Lingnan. Chief Minister Wei Juyuan and Grand Secretary Li Qiao memorialized: "Chaoyin has long been known for integrity, and his judicial decisions are sound; to exile him overnight to the far south would make the empire doubt his guilt." The emperor relented and sent Chaoyin out as magistrate of Wenxi.

尋遷侍御史，三遷長安令，有宦官閭興貴詣縣請托，朝隱命拽出之。睿宗聞而嘉嘆，廷召朝隱，勞曰：「卿爲京縣令能如此，朕復何憂。」乃下制曰：「夫不吐剛而謅上、不茹柔而黷下者，君子之事也。踐霤必繩、登車無屈者，正人之務也。長安縣令李朝隱，德義不回，清強自遂，亟聞嘉政，累著能名。近者品官入縣，有乖儀式，遂能責之以禮，繩之以愆。但閹豎之流，多有憑恃，柔寬之代，必弄威權。歷觀載籍，常所嘆息。朕規誡前古，勤求典憲，能副朕意，實賴斯人。昔虞延持皇后之客，梅陶鞭太子之傅，古稱遺直，復見於今。思欲旌其美行，遷以重職，爲時屬閱戸，政在養人，宜加一階，用表剛烈。可太中大夫。特賜中上考，兼絹百匹。」七遷絳州刺史，兼知吏部選事。

Soon he became attendant censor and, after three promotions, magistrate of Chang'an. When the eunuch Lü Xinggui came to the county office seeking favors, Chaoyin ordered him thrown out. When Emperor Ruizong heard this he praised Chaoyin warmly, summoned him to court, and said: "If the magistrate of the capital county can act like this, what have I to worry about?" Then an imperial edict declared: "A gentleman does not swallow hard truths to flatter his superiors, nor indulge the soft-spoken to corrupt those below. To apply the rule even when treading wet ground, to stand straight even when mounting a carriage—such is the duty of an upright man. Li Chaoyin, magistrate of Chang'an, is upright and resolute, pure and firm in his ways; his excellent governance is widely praised, and his reputation for ability stands proven. Recently when a ranked official entered the county office in improper fashion, Chaoyin held him to account by ritual propriety and punished his breach. Yet eunuchs often have powerful patrons; in an age of lenient rule they invariably abuse their authority. A reading of the historical records shows how often one must sigh. I have taken warning from the past and diligently sought to uphold the code of laws; that my aims can be fulfilled truly depends on this man. Long ago Yu Yan detained the empress's guest and Mei Tao flogged the crown prince's tutor; antiquity praised such unyielding integrity, and it appears again in our day. Wishing to honor his exemplary conduct with a weightier post—at a time when the realm needs household registration and governance rests on nurturing the people—I grant him one additional rank to mark his steadfast integrity. He is appointed Grand Master of Palace Attendance. He is specially awarded an upper-middle evaluation and a hundred bolts of silk." After several promotions he became governor of Jiang Prefecture and concurrently oversaw appointments in the Ministry of Personnel.

開元二年，遷吏部侍郎，銓敘平允，甚爲當時所稱，降璽書褒美，授一子太子通事舍人。四年春，以授縣令非其人，出爲滑州刺史，轉同州刺史。駕幸東都，路由同州，朝隱蒙旨召見賞慰，賜衣一副、絹百匹。尋遷河南尹，政甚清嚴，豪右屏跡。時太子舅趙常奴恃勢侵害平人，朝隱曰：「此而不繩，何以爲政？」執而杖之。上聞，又降敕書慰勉之。

In 714 he was promoted to Vice Minister of Personnel; his appointments were fair and widely praised; the emperor sent a sealed letter of commendation and granted one of his sons the post of secretary in the crown prince's service. In the spring of 716, because the county magistrates he had recommended proved unfit, he was demoted to governor of Hua Prefecture and then transferred to governor of Tong Prefecture. When the emperor traveled to the Eastern Capital and passed through Tong Prefecture, Chaoyin was summoned to audience, praised and comforted, and awarded one set of robes and a hundred bolts of silk. Soon he was made intendant of Henan; he governed with stern integrity, and the local magnates disappeared from view. When the crown prince's maternal uncle Zhao Changnu used his influence to bully commoners, Chaoyin said: "If I do not punish this, how can I govern?" He had him seized and beaten with the rod. When the emperor heard of it, he sent another edict to comfort and encourage him.

十年，遷大理卿。時武強令裴景仙犯乞取贓積五千匹，事發逃走。上大怒，令集眾殺之。朝隱執奏曰：「裴景仙縁是乞贓，犯不至死。又景仙曾祖故司空寂，往屬締構，首預元勛。載初年中，家陷非罪，凡有兄弟皆被誅夷，唯景仙獨存，今見承嫡。據贓未當死坐，準犯猶入請條。十代宥賢，功實宜録；一門絶祀，情或可哀。願寬暴市之刑，俾就投荒之役，則舊勛斯允。」手詔不許。朝隱又奏曰：

In 722 he was made director of the Court of Judicial Review. At that time Pei Jingxian, magistrate of Wuqiang, was found to have extorted bribes totaling five thousand bolts of silk; when the case broke, he fled. The emperor was furious and ordered him seized and executed before the assembled crowd. Chaoyin submitted a firm memorial: "Pei Jingxian's offense is extortion through solicitation; it does not warrant death. Moreover, Jingxian's great-grandfather, the late Grand Director Pei Ji, helped found the dynasty and was numbered among its foremost meritorious ministers. During the Zaichu era his family was ruined on false charges; all his brothers were executed, and Jingxian alone survived as the direct heir. By the amount of bribes involved, the offense does not merit death; under the statute it still falls within the provisions for commuted punishment. The law grants ten generations' pardon for ancestral merit, and such service truly deserves recognition; yet an entire clan's line would be extinguished—a circumstance that may move one to pity. I beg that the sentence of public execution be commuted to exile in the wilderness, so that the family's old merit may still be honored." The emperor replied in his own hand and refused. Chaoyin memorialized again:

有斷自天，處之極法。生殺之柄，人主合專；輕生有條，臣下當守。枉法者，枉理而取，十五匹便抵死刑；乞取者，因乞爲贓，數千匹止當流坐。今若乞取得罪，便處斬刑，後有枉法當科，欲加何辟？所以爲國惜法，期守律文，非敢以法隨人，曲矜仙命。射兔魏苑，驚馬漢橋，初震皇赫，竟從廷議，豈威不能制，而法貴有常。又景仙曾祖寂，草昧忠節，定爲元勛，位至臺司，恩倍常數。載初之際，被枉破家，諸子各犯非辜，唯仙今見承嫡。若寂勛都棄，仙罪特加，則叔向之賢何足稱者，若敖之鬼不其餧而？舍罪念功，乞垂天聽。應敕決杖及有犯配流，近發德音，普標殊澤，杖者既聽減數，流者仍許給程。天下颙颙，孰不幸甚！瞻彼四海，已被深恩，豈於一人，獨峻常典？伏乞采臣之議，致仙於法。

When Heaven itself passes judgment, the extreme penalty may be applied. The power of life and death rightly belongs to the sovereign alone; but when sparing life, there are statutes—and ministers must uphold them. One who perverts the law and takes bribes by abuse of office faces death at fifteen bolts; one who extorts bribes through solicitation, even for several thousand bolts, faces only exile. If extortion is punished with decapitation today, what penalty remains for the far graver crime of perverting the law tomorrow? I speak thus to preserve the law for the state, not to bend the law to save Jingxian's life. When an emperor shot a hare in the Wei park or when horses panicked at Han's bridge, imperial wrath flared at first—yet in the end the court's counsel prevailed. Is authority powerless to restrain? No—but the law must remain constant. Moreover Jingxian's great-grandfather Ji served with loyal integrity in the founding chaos and was counted among the dynasty's foremost meritorious ministers; he rose to the highest office and received grace beyond the ordinary measure. At the Zaichu juncture the family was wrongfully destroyed; each son suffered innocent guilt, and only Jingxian survives as the direct heir. If Ji's merit is cast aside and Jingxian's guilt is specially aggravated, of what worth is the virtue of Shuxiang—and will not the ghost of Ru'ao go hungry? Set guilt aside and consider merit—I beg Your Majesty to hear this plea. Those subject to flogging by imperial edict and those sentenced to exile have lately received a benevolent proclamation granting special grace: flogging may be reduced, and exiles may receive travel provisions. All under heaven look up with eager hope—who would not count himself blessed! The four seas have already received Your Majesty's deep grace—why apply harsh ordinary statutes to this one man alone? I humbly beg Your Majesty to adopt my proposal and subject Jingxian to the law as written.

乃下制曰：「罪不在大，本乎情；罰在必行，不在重。朕垂範作訓，庶動植咸若，豈嚴刑逞戮，使手足無措者哉？裴景仙幸藉緒余，超升令宰，輕我憲法，蠹我風猷，不慎畏知之金，詎識無貪之寶，家盈黷貨，身乃逃亡。殊不知天孽可違，自愆難逭，所以不從本法，加以殊刑，冀懲貪暴之流，以塞侵漁之路。然以其祖父昔預經綸，佐命有功，締構斯重，緬懷賞延之義，俾協政寬之典，宜舍其極法，以竄遐荒。仍決杖一百，流嶺南惡處。」

Then an imperial edict declared: "Guilt lies not in magnitude but in intent; punishment lies in certainty of execution, not in severity. I set examples to instruct all living things—how could I indulge in harsh punishments and slaughter, leaving my subjects with nowhere to turn? Pei Jingxian traded on family connections to rise to district magistrate, treated my laws lightly, and corrupted public morals. He did not heed the warning that power demands restraint, nor cherish the treasure of integrity; his household overflowed with ill-gotten goods, and he himself fled. He did not understand that heaven's judgment may be defied but one's own guilt cannot be escaped. I therefore set aside the ordinary law and imposed an extraordinary penalty, hoping to deter the greedy and block the path of predatory corruption. Yet because his grandfather and father once served in founding the state and earned merit in assisting the mandate, and mindful of the principle of extending rewards in governance, he should be spared the extreme penalty and exiled to the far wilderness. He was sentenced to a hundred blows with the rod and exile to a harsh region of Lingnan."

朝隱俄轉岐州刺史，母憂去官。起爲揚州大都督府長史，抗疏固辭，制許之。朝隱性孝友，時年已衰暮，在喪尤加毀瘠。明年，制又起爲揚州長史，不獲已而就職，復入爲大理卿，累封金城伯，代崔隱甫爲御史大夫。朝隱素有公直之譽，毎御史大夫缺，時議咸許之。及居其職，竟無所糾劾，唯煩於細務，時望由是稍減。俄轉太常卿。二十一年，兼判廣州事，仍攝御史大夫，充嶺南采訪處置使。明年，卒於嶺外，年七十，贈吏部尚書，官給靈輿，兼家口給遞還鄕，謚曰貞。裴漼裴漼，絳州聞喜人也。世爲著姓。父琰之，永徽中，爲同州司戸參軍，時年少，美容儀，刺史李崇義初甚輕之。先是，州中有積年舊案數百道，崇義促琰之使斷之，琰之命書吏數人，連紙進筆，斯須剖斷並畢，文翰俱美，且盡與奪之理。崇義大驚，謝曰：「公何忍藏鋒以成鄙夫之過！」由是大知名，號爲「霹靂手」。後爲永年令，有惠政，人吏刊石頌之。歷任倉部郎中，以老疾廢於家。

Chaoyin was soon transferred to governor of Qi Prefecture; when his mother died he resigned to mourn. When recalled as senior administrator of Yangzhou Superior Prefecture, he submitted a firm memorial declining the appointment, and the emperor granted his request. Chaoyin was by nature filial and devoted; though already advanced in years, in mourning he wasted away still further. The next year another edict recalled him as senior administrator of Yangzhou; unable to refuse, he took the post. He returned to the capital as director of the Court of Judicial Review, was enfeoffed as Earl of Jincheng, and replaced Cui Yinfu as censor-in-chief. Chaoyin had long enjoyed a reputation for public integrity; whenever the post of censor-in-chief fell vacant, public opinion favored him. Once in office, however, he impeached no one and busied himself with trivial matters; public esteem for him accordingly waned. Soon he was transferred to director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In 733 he concurrently administered Guangzhou affairs, still acting as censor-in-chief, and served as investigation and disposition commissioner for Lingnan. The next year he died in Lingnan at seventy; posthumously he was made Minister of Personnel; the court provided a funeral carriage and relay transport for his family back to their home district; his posthumous name was Zhen. Pei Hui was a native of Wenxi in Jiang Prefecture. His was a prominent clan for generations. His father Yanzhi served in the Yonghui era as revenue section officer of Tong Prefecture. Young and handsome, he was at first greatly underestimated by Governor Li Chongyi. The prefecture held several hundred backlogged cases. Chongyi pressed Yanzhi to clear them. Yanzhi set several clerks to work, paper and brushes flowing in succession; in a moment every case was decided, every document polished, and every principle of judgment fully applied. Chongyi was astonished and apologized: "How could you hide your talent and let me make such a fool of myself!" From that day he was widely known by the nickname "Thunderbolt Hand." Later, as magistrate of Yongnian, he governed with benevolence, and officials and commoners carved a stone inscription in his praise. He rose to director in the Ministry of Revenue, then retired home because of old age and illness.

漼色養劬勞，十數年不求仕進。父卒後，應大禮舉，拜陳留主簿，累遷監察御史。時吏部侍郎崔湜、鄭愔坐贓爲御史李尚隱所劾，漼同鞫其獄。安樂公主及上官昭容阿黨湜等，漼竟執正奏其罪，甚爲當時所稱。三遷中書舍人。

Hui devoted himself to supporting his parents and for more than ten years sought no official advancement. After his father's death he passed the Great Ritual examination, was appointed chief clerk of Chenliu, and rose in succession to supervising censor. When Vice Ministers Cui Shi and Zheng Yin were impeached for bribery by Censor Li Shangyin, Hui joined in investigating their cases. Though Princess Anle and Shangguan Zhaorong shielded Cui Shi and his allies, Hui upheld the law and memorialized their crimes, winning wide praise. After three promotions he became drafting secretary of the Secretariat.

太極元年，睿宗爲金仙、玉真公主造觀及寺等，時屬春旱，興役不止。漼上疏諫曰：

In 712 Emperor Ruizong ordered monasteries and temples built for the Princesses Jinxian and Yuzhen. Spring drought afflicted the land, yet conscript labor continued without pause. Hui submitted a memorial of remonstrance:

臣謹案《禮記》春、秋令曰：無聚大眾，無起大役，不可興土功，恐妨農事。若號令乖度，役使不時，則加疾疫之危，國有水旱之災，此五行之必應也。今自春至夏，時雨愆期，下人憂心，莫知所出。陛下雖降哀矜之旨，兩都仍有寺觀之作，時旱之應，實此之由。且春令告期，東作方始，正是丁壯就功之日，而土木方興，臣恐所妨尤多，所益尤少，耕夫蠶妾，饑寒之源。故《春秋》「莊公三十一年冬，不雨」，《五行傳》以爲「歳三築臺」；「僖公二十一年夏，大旱」，《五行傳》以「時作南門，勞人興役」。陛下毎以萬方爲念，睿旨殷勤，安國濟人，防微慮遠。伏願下明制，發德音，順天時，副人望，兩京公私營造及諸和市木石等並請且停，則蒼生幸甚。農桑失時，戸口流散，縱寺觀營構，豈救黎元饑寒之弊哉！

Your servant respectfully cites the spring and autumn ordinances of the Book of Rites: do not gather great multitudes, do not launch great projects, do not undertake earthworks—for fear of obstructing the agricultural season. When orders violate proper measure and labor is conscripted out of season, pestilence follows and flood or drought afflicts the realm—such is the inevitable response of the five phases. From spring into summer the seasonal rains have failed; the people are anxious and do not know what to do. Though Your Majesty has issued compassionate decrees, construction of temples and monasteries continues in both capitals—and this drought, I fear, is the consequence. Spring's ordinance has arrived and farming has just begun—the very season when able-bodied men should be at work—yet construction of earth and timber proceeds. I fear the harm far outweighs the benefit; farmers and silk workers are the source of the people's food and clothing. Hence the Spring and Autumn Annals records that in winter of Duke Zhuang's thirty-first year there was no rain, and the Treatise on the Five Phases attributes it to "three platform constructions in one year"; "In summer of Duke Xi's twenty-first year there was great drought," which the Treatise on the Five Phases attributes to "building the South Gate and exhausting the people with labor." Your Majesty always has the myriad regions in mind, your intent earnest in stabilizing the state and aiding the people, guarding against small evils and planning far ahead. I humbly beg Your Majesty to issue a clear edict and a benevolent proclamation, accord with heaven's season, and fulfill the people's hopes: let all public and private construction in both capitals and all market purchases of timber and stone be halted for now—the common people would be deeply grateful. When farming and sericulture miss their seasons and households scatter in flight, what good can temple and monastery construction do against hunger and cold!

疏奏不報。尋轉兵部侍郎，以銓敘平允，持授一子爲太子通事舍人。

The memorial received no reply. Soon he was made Vice Minister of War; for his fair and equitable personnel ratings, one of his sons was granted the post of secretary in the crown prince's service.

開元五年，遷吏部侍郎，典選數年，多所持拔。再轉黃門侍郎，代韋抗爲御史大夫。漼早與張説特相友善，時説在相位，數稱薦之。漼又善於敷奏，上亦嘉重焉。由是擢拜吏部尚書，尋轉太子賓客。漼家世儉約，既久居清要，頗飾妓妾，後庭有綺羅之賞，由是爲時論所譏。二十四年卒，年七十餘，贈禮部尚書，謚曰懿。漼從祖弟寬漼從祖弟寬。寬父無晦，袁州刺史。寬通略，以文詞進，騎射、彈棋、投壺特妙。景雲中，爲潤州參軍，刺史韋銑爲按察使，引爲判官，清幹善於剖斷，銑重其才，以女妻之。後應拔萃，舉河南丞。再轉爲長安尉。時宇文融爲侍御史，括天下田戸，使奏差爲江南東道勾當租庸地稅兼覆田判官。轉太常博士。禮部擬國忌之辰享廟用樂，下太常，寬深達禮節，特建新意，以爲廟尊忌卑則登歌，廟卑忌尊則去龠。中書令張説謂寬明識，舉而行之。再遷爲刑部員外郎。有萬騎將軍馬崇正晝殺人，時開府、霍國公王毛仲恩幸用事，將鬻其獄，寬執之不回。兵部尚書蕭嵩爲河西節度使，奏寬及郭虛己爲判官，累年專見委任，嵩加中書令，寬歷中書舍人、御史中丞、兵部侍郎。開元二十一年冬，裴耀卿以黃門侍郎知政事，扈從出關，知江、淮轉運，於河陰置倉，奏寬爲戸部侍郎，爲其副。

In 717 he became Vice Minister of Personnel; for several years he ran appointments and promoted many men of talent. He was next promoted to vice director of the Chancellery and replaced Wei Kang as censor-in-chief. Hui had long been close to Zhang Yue; when Yue served as chancellor he repeatedly praised and recommended him. Hui was also skilled at presenting memorials, and the emperor valued him highly. Accordingly he was promoted to Minister of Personnel and soon made advisor to the crown prince. Though his family had been frugal for generations, after long service in high office Hui kept courtesans and lavished brocade and gauze on his household—and was ridiculed for it in public opinion. He died in 736 at over seventy; posthumously he was made Minister of Rites and given the posthumous name Yi. Pei Kuan, Hui's collateral cousin. Kuan's father Wu Hui had been governor of Yuan Prefecture. Kuan was broadly capable and advanced through literary talent; he was especially skilled at horsemanship, archery, bouncing-chess, and pitch-pot. During the Jingyun era he served as aide in Run Prefecture. When Governor Wei Tiao became investigative commissioner, he took Kuan as his legal assistant. Kuan was upright, capable, and skilled at judgment; Tiao valued his talent and gave him his daughter in marriage. Later he passed the exceptional selection examination and was promoted to assistant governor of Henan. After another transfer he became sheriff of Chang'an. At the time Yuwen Rong, serving as attendant censor, was registering land and households throughout the realm; he had Kuan memorialized and dispatched as commissioner for rent, corvée, and land tax in Jiangnan East Circuit, concurrently serving as agricultural inspector and legal assistant. He was transferred to serve as erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When the Ministry of Rites proposed using music for temple offerings on a national mourning day and referred the question to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, Kuan, deeply versed in ritual, devised a new rule: if the temple's rank outranked the mourning observance, the ascent hymn should be sung; if the mourning observance outranked the temple, the flutes should be omitted. Chief Minister Zhang Yue declared that Kuan was far-sighted and had his proposal adopted and put into practice. After another promotion he became vice director of the Ministry of Justice. When the Wanqi General Ma Chongzheng murdered a man in broad daylight, Wang Maozhong, Duke of Huo and director of Kai Prefecture, then a favorite at court wielding great power, was about to corrupt the trial—but Kuan held firm and would not bend. When Minister of War Xiao Song became military commissioner of Hexi, he recommended Kuan and Guo Xuji as his legal assistants and entrusted them exclusively for many years. After Song was made chief minister, Kuan rose through the posts of secretariat drafter, censor-in-chief, and vice minister of war. In the winter of 733, Pei Yaocheng, serving as vice director of the Palace Domestic Service and handling state affairs, accompanied the emperor beyond the pass to oversee transport on the Yangtze and Huai rivers. When he established granaries at Heyin, he recommended Kuan as vice minister of revenue to serve as his deputy.

寬性友愛，弟兄多宦達，子侄亦有名稱，於東京立第同居，八院相對，甥侄皆有休憩所，擊鼓而食，當世榮之。選吏部侍郎，及玄宗還京，又改蒲州刺史。州境久旱，入境，雨乃大浹。遷河南尹，不附權貴，務於恤隱，政乃大理。改左金吾衞大將軍，一年，除太原尹，賜紫金魚袋。玄宗賦詩而餞之，曰：「德比岱雲布，心如晉水清。」

Kuan was devoted to his family. Many of his brothers rose to high office, and his sons and nephews were also well known. In the Eastern Capital they built a shared residence of eight facing courtyards, with quarters for every nephew and niece, and summoned the household to meals by beating a drum—a way of life the age admired. He was selected as vice minister of personnel, and when Xuanzong returned to the capital, he was reassigned as governor of Pu Prefecture. The prefecture had long been in drought, but when he entered his jurisdiction, rain fell in torrents. Promoted to intendant of Henan, he refused to court the powerful, devoted himself to relieving the people's hardships, and brought the administration to good order. He was made general-in-chief of the Left Gold Crow Guard, and after one year was appointed intendant of Taiyuan and granted the gold-and-purple fish tally. Xuanzong composed a poem to send him off, saying: "Your virtue spreads like clouds over Mount Tai; your heart is clear as the waters of Jinyang."

天寶初，除陳留太守，兼采訪使。尋而范陽節度李適之入爲御史大夫，除寬范陽節度兼采訪使河北替之。其年，又加御史大夫，時北平軍使烏承恩恃以蕃酋與中貴通，恣求貨賄，寬以法按之。檀州刺史何僧獻生口數十人，寬悉命歸之，故夷夏感悅。

At the beginning of the Tianbao era he was appointed governor of Chenliu and concurrently made investigative commissioner. Soon afterward Li Shizhi, military commissioner of Fanyang, entered the capital as censor-in-chief, and Kuan was appointed military commissioner of Fanyang and investigative commissioner of Hebei to replace him. That same year he was also made censor-in-chief. Wu Chengen, envoy of the Beiping Army, relied on his standing as a frontier chieftain and his ties to palace eunuchs to extort bribes at will; Kuan investigated him by the book. When Tan Prefecture governor He Xianxian held several dozen captives, Kuan ordered them all sent home, to the delight of both frontier peoples and Han subjects.

三載，以安祿山爲范陽節度，寬爲戸部尚書、兼御史大夫。玄宗素重寬，日加恩顧。刑部尚書裴敦復討海賊回，頗張賊勢，又廣敘功以開請托之路，寬嘗幾微奏之。居數日，有河北將士入奏，盛言寬在范陽能政，塞上思之，玄宗嗟賞久之。李林甫懼其入相，又惡寬與李適之善，乃呼裴敦復，且以寬之語告之。敦復使氣性疏，與寬素不相下，以爲林甫推誠於己，因願結之，且訴其冤。先是，寬以親故名囑敦復，求請軍功。至是敦復氣憤發其事，林甫曰：「公宜速奏，無後於人。」尋而敦復扈從幸溫泉宮，寬在京城未發。遇有敦復下軍將程藏曜、郎將曹鑒。鑒，郴州富人；藏曜，嶺南首領之子。皆有他事，與人詣臺告訴，寬受其狀，捕鑒等鞫之。敦復判官太常博士王悅聞之，謂寬求其過，連夜詣湯所以告。敦復大懼，促裝待罪，因令子婿以五百金賂於貴妃姊楊三娘。楊氏遽爲言之，明日貶寬爲睢陽太守。

In the third year of Tianbao, An Lushan was made military commissioner of Fanyang, and Kuan was appointed minister of revenue and concurrent censor-in-chief. Xuanzong had long held Kuan in high regard and daily showered him with favor. When Minister of Justice Pei Dunfu returned from campaigning against sea pirates, he greatly inflated the enemy's strength and padded his account of merit to open the door to favor-seeking; Kuan once submitted a subtle memorial on the matter. Within a few days, officers and soldiers from Hebei memorialized the throne, praising Kuan's able governance at Fanyang and saying how the frontier missed him; Xuanzong sighed in admiration for a long while. Li Linfu feared that Kuan might enter the chancellorship and also resented his friendship with Li Shizhi, so he summoned Pei Dunfu and told him what Kuan had said. Dunfu was hot-tempered and careless by nature, and he and Kuan had never gotten along. Believing that Linfu was showing him genuine goodwill, he sought an alliance with him and complained of the wrong done to him. Earlier, Kuan had asked Dunfu to secure military merit for a close relative. Now Dunfu, in a fit of anger, exposed the affair. Linfu said, "You should memorialize at once—do not let anyone beat you to it." Soon afterward Dunfu accompanied the emperor to the Hot Spring Palace, while Kuan had not yet left the capital. He came upon Dunfu's subordinate army commander Cheng Zangyao and commander Cao Jian. Jian was a wealthy man of Chen Prefecture; Zangyao was the son of a Lingnan chieftain. Both were implicated in other offenses, and people came to the censorate to lodge complaints. Kuan accepted their petitions and had Jian and the others arrested for interrogation. When Dunfu's legal assistant Wang Yue, an erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, heard of it, he concluded that Kuan was hunting for a pretext against his master and went overnight to Dunfu's quarters to report it. Dunfu was terrified, hurriedly packed to await punishment, and had his son-in-law pay five hundred gold in bribes to Yang San Niang, elder sister of the Noble Consort. The Yang clan quickly interceded on his behalf, and the next day Kuan was demoted to governor of Suiyang.

寬以清簡爲政，故所蒞人皆愛之。當時望爲宰輔。及韋堅構禍，寬又以親累貶爲安陸別駕員外置。林甫使羅希奭南殺李適之，紆路至安陸過，擬怖死之。寬叩頭祈請，希奭不宿而過。寬又懼死，上表請爲僧，詔不許。然崇信釋典，常與僧徒往來，焚香禮懺，老而彌篤。累遷東海太守、襄州采訪使、銀青光祿大夫，轉馮翊太守，入拜禮部尚書。十四載卒，年七十五。詔贈太子少傅，賻帛一百五十段、粟一百五十石。兄弟八人，皆明經及第，入臺省、典郡者五人。

Kuan governed with purity and restraint, and the people everywhere he served loved him for it. At the time he was widely expected to reach the chancellorship. When Wei Jian brought ruin upon himself, Kuan was again demoted by association to a supernumerary post as vice governor of Anlu. Linfu sent Luo Xiyi south to kill Li Shizhi; taking a roundabout route through Anlu, he planned to terrify Kuan to death. Kuan kowtowed and begged for mercy; Xiyi did not even spend the night but passed on. Still fearing for his life, Kuan memorialized asking to become a monk, but an edict refused his request. Even so, he revered the Buddhist scriptures, kept company with monks, burned incense and performed repentance rites, and grew only more devout with age. Through successive promotions he became governor of Donghai, investigative commissioner of Xiang Prefecture, and grand master with silver-green tally; then governor of Fengyi; and finally entered court as minister of rites. He died in 755, at the age of seventy-five. An edict posthumously made him junior tutor of the crown prince and granted condolence gifts of one hundred fifty bolts of silk and one hundred fifty shi of grain. Of eight brothers, all passed the Classics examination; five served in the censorate and secretariat or governed prefectures.

寬歿之後，弟珣爲河內郡太守。安祿山反，以執父喪，將投闕庭，恐累其母，乃詣河東節度訴誠而退。後在母憂，又陷史思明，授其偽官委任，使弟朗密奉表疏至上京。代宗時，爲左司郎中、兼侍御史、河東道租庸判官。王丘王丘，光祿卿同皎從兄子也。父同晊，左庶子。丘年十一，童子舉擢第，時類皆以誦經爲課，丘獨以屬文見擢，由是知名。弱冠，又應制舉，拜奉禮郎。丘神氣清古，而誌行修潔，尤善詞賦，族人左庶子方慶及御史大夫魏元忠皆稱薦之。長安中，自偃師主簿擢第，拜監察御史。

After Kuan's death, his younger brother Xun became governor of Henei Commandery. When An Lushan rebelled, Xun was in mourning for his father and about to surrender himself at the palace gates, but fearing to implicate his mother, he went instead to the Hedong military commissioner to declare his loyalty and then withdrew. Later, while mourning his mother, he again fell into Shi Siming's hands; though given a post in the rebel administration, he entrusted his younger brother Lang with secretly delivering memorials to the capital. Under Emperor Daizong he served as director of the left bureau of the Ministry of Personnel, concurrent attendant censor, and legal assistant for rent and corvée in Hedong Circuit. Wang Qiu was the son of the paternal cousin of Tong Jiao, who had served as director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. His father Tong Zhi had been left supervisor of the Palace Library. At eleven Qiu passed the youth examination; while others were tested on reciting the classics, he alone was chosen for his literary composition, and from that he became known. In his early twenties he also passed the special imperial examination and was appointed gentleman for ritual attendance. Qiu had a pure, antique bearing and conduct of refined integrity; he was especially skilled at rhapsody and fu. His clansman Fang Qing, left supervisor of the Palace Library, and Censor-in-Chief Wei Yuanzhong both praised and recommended him. During the Chang'an era he passed selection from his post as record keeper of Yanshi and was appointed investigating censor.

開元初，累遷考功員外郎。先是，考功舉人，請托大行，取士頗濫，毎年至數百人，丘一切核其實材，登科者僅滿百人。議者以爲自則天已後凡數十年，無如丘者，其後席豫、嚴挺之爲其次焉。三遷紫微舍人，以知制誥之勤，加朝散大夫，再轉吏部侍郎。典選累年，甚稱平允。擢用山陰尉孫逖、桃林尉張鏡微、湖城尉張晉明、進士王泠然，皆稱一時之秀。俄換尚書左丞。

At the beginning of the Kaiyuan era he rose through successive promotions to vice director of the Ministry of Personnel in charge of examinations. Previously, the examination office was rife with favor-seeking and lax in selecting candidates, passing several hundred each year. Qiu verified every candidate's real ability, and those who passed numbered barely a hundred. Commentators held that in the several decades since Empress Wu's time there had been no examiner like Qiu; Xi Yu and Yan Tingzhi ranked next after him. After three promotions he became a Ziwei secretariat drafter; for diligence in drafting edicts he was given the rank of grand master for dispersed merit, and after two further transfers became vice minister of personnel. He managed personnel selections for many years and was widely praised for fairness. He promoted Sun Ti, sheriff of Shanyin; Zhang Jingwei, sheriff of Taolin; Zhang Jinming, sheriff of Hucheng; and the jinshi Wang Lengan—all hailed as outstanding talents of their day. Soon afterward he was transferred to left vice minister of the Secretariat.

十一年，拜黃門侍郎。其年，山東旱儉，朝議選朝臣爲刺史以撫貧民，制曰：「昔咎繇與禹言曰：『在知人，在安人。』此皆念存邦本，光於帝載，乾乾夕惕，無忘一日。而長吏或不稱，蒼生或未寧，深思循良，以矯過弊，仍重諸侯之選，故自朝廷始之。」於是以丘爲懷州刺史，又以中書侍郎崔沔等數人皆爲山東諸州刺史。至任，皆無可稱，唯丘在職清嚴，人吏甚畏慕之。俄又分知吏部選事，入爲尚書左丞，丁父憂去職，服闋，拜右散騎常侍，仍知制誥。

In the eleventh year he was appointed vice director of the Palace Domestic Service. That year Shandong suffered drought and famine, and the court chose senior officials to serve as governors to relieve the poor. An edict declared: "In antiquity Gao Yao said to Yu, 'The task lies in knowing men and in settling men. These words show concern for the foundation of the state and light the imperial record—diligent morning and evening, never forgetting even for a day. Yet local officials are sometimes unfit, and the people are sometimes left unsettled. Deeply mindful of upright governance to correct past abuses, we again weigh the choice of regional governors, and therefore begin with appointments from the court itself." Accordingly Qiu was made governor of Huai Prefecture, and several others, including Vice Chief Minister Cui Hao, were all appointed governors of Shandong prefectures. Once in office, none of them distinguished themselves; only Qiu governed with purity and strictness, and officials and commoners alike feared and admired him. Soon he again shared in managing personnel selections, entered court as left vice minister, left office to mourn his father, and after the mourning period was appointed right regular attendant of the Imperial Secretariat, still drafting edicts.

二十一年，侍中裴光庭病卒，中書令蕭嵩與丘有舊，將薦丘知政事，丘知而固辭，且盛推尚書右丞韓休，嵩因而奏之。及休作相，遂薦丘代崔琳爲御史大夫。丘既訥於言詞，敷奏多不稱旨。俄轉太子賓客，襲父爵宿預男，尋以疾拜禮部尚書，仍聽致仕。

In the twenty-first year Chief Minister Pei Guangting died of illness. Chief Minister Xiao Song, an old friend of Qiu's, was about to recommend Qiu for the chancellorship, but Qiu learned of it and firmly declined, warmly recommending Right Vice Minister Han Xiu instead; Song memorialized Xiu accordingly. When Han Xiu became chancellor, he recommended Qiu to replace Cui Lin as censor-in-chief. Qiu was slow of speech, and his memorial presentations often failed to please the emperor. Soon he was made advisor to the crown prince, inherited his father's title Baron of Suyu, and shortly afterward, owing to illness, was appointed minister of rites and permitted to retire.

丘雖歷要職，固守清儉，未嘗受人饋遺，第宅輿馬，稱爲敝陋。致仕之後，藥餌殆將不給。上聞而嘉嘆，下制曰：「王丘夙負良材，累升茂秩，比縁疾疹，假以優閑。聞其家道屢空，醫藥靡給，久此從宦，遂無余資。持操若斯，古人何遠！且優賢之義，方冊所先，周急之宜，沮勸攸在。其俸祿一事已上，並宜全給，式表殊常之澤，用旌貞白之吏。」天寶二年卒，贈荊州大都督。史臣曰史臣曰：有唐之興，綿歷年所，骨鯁清廉之士，懷忠抱義之臣，臺省之間，駕肩接武。但時有夷險，道有汙隆，用與不用而已。睿、玄之世，若李傑、畢構、蘇珦、鄭惟忠、王志愔、盧從願、裴漼、王丘並位歷亞臺，名德兼著。如尹思貞、李朝隱折李承嘉、竇懷貞，辱閭興貴、趙常奴，詩人所謂不畏強禦者也。解琬總兵朔野，料敵如神，功遂身退，深知止足，茲亦有足多也。贊贊曰：尚書亞臺，京尹方伯。我朝重官，云誰稱職？傑、構、珦、忠，能竭其力。愔、願、漼、丘，聿修厥德。貞蔑大僚，隱繩貴戚。琬馳令名，燕、蜀之北。

Though Qiu had held important posts, he steadfastly maintained purity and frugality, never accepted gifts, and his house and carriage were said to be shabby. After retirement he could scarcely afford medicine and food. When the emperor heard of this he sighed in admiration and issued an edict: "Wang Qiu has long possessed fine talent and rose through flourishing ranks; recently, owing to illness, he was granted a life of ease. I hear that his household is repeatedly destitute and that he lacks even for medicine; after long service in office he has no savings left. To maintain such integrity—how little he falls short of the ancients! The duty to honor the worthy comes first in the written records, and relieving distress is how encouragement and restraint are made real. His salary in full, from the lowest item upward, shall continue to be paid, to show extraordinary favor and commend an official of pure integrity." He died in 743 and was posthumously made grand protector of Jing Prefecture. The historian writes: From the founding of Tang through many years, upright and incorruptible men and ministers who cherished loyalty and embraced righteousness filled the censorate and secretariat, walking shoulder to shoulder. Yet times had their ease and peril, and the Way its rise and fall—whether men were employed or passed over was all. In the reigns of Ruizong and Xuanzong, men such as Li Jie, Bi Gou, Su Xian, Zheng Weizhong, Wang Zhiyin, Lu Congyuan, Pei Hui, and Wang Qiu all held secondary censorate posts and combined fame with virtue. Men such as Yin Sizhen and Li Chaoyin, who broke Li Chengjia and Dou Huaizhen and humiliated Lu Xinggui and Zhao Changnu, were what the poets meant by those who do not fear the powerful. Jie Wan commanded armies on the northern frontier and anticipated the enemy like a god; when his work was done he withdrew, deeply knowing where to stop—this too is abundantly worthy of praise. In praise: Vice ministers of the secretariat, intendant of the capital, regional governors. In our dynasty's weightiest offices, who truly fulfilled their duties? Jie, Gou, Xian, and Zhong each exhausted their strength. Yin, Yuan, Hui, and Qiu each cultivated their virtue. Sizhen scorned great officials; Chaoyin restrained the noble kin. Wan spread a fine reputation across the lands north of Yan and Shu.

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