1
元稹,字微之,河南人。 後魏昭成皇帝,稹十代祖也。 兵部尚書、昌平公巖,六代祖也。 曾祖延景,岐州參軍。 祖悱,南頓丞。 父寬,比部郎中、舒王府長史,以稹貴,贈左僕射。
Yuan Zhen, whose courtesy name was Weizhi, came from Henan. Emperor Zhaocheng of the Northern Wei was his tenth-generation forebear. His sixth-generation ancestor was Yan, who had served as Minister of War and been enfeoffed as Duke of Changping. His great-grandfather Yanjing had held the post of military aide in Qizhou. His grandfather Fei had served as magistrate of Nandun. His father Kuan had been a director in the Ministry of Justice and senior administrator of the Prince of Shu's household; when Zhen rose to prominence, Kuan was posthumously honored as Left Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat.
2
稹八歲喪父。 其母鄭夫人,賢明婦人也; 家貧,為稹自授書,教之書學。 稹九歲能屬文。 十五兩經擢第。 二十四調判入第四等,授秘書省校書郎。 二十八應制舉才識兼茂、明於體用科,登第者十八人,稹為第一,元和元年四月也。 制下,除右拾遺。
Zhen was only eight when his father died. His mother, Lady Zheng, was a woman of wisdom and virtue; Though the household was poor, she taught him the classics herself and trained him in letters. By the age of nine he could already compose prose. At fifteen he passed the civil service examinations in both of the Confucian Classics. At twenty-four he qualified at the fourth grade in the provincial assessment and was made a proofreader in the Palace Library. At twenty-eight he sat for the special "Outstanding Talent and Practical Understanding" examination; eighteen candidates passed, and Zhen took first place—in April of the first year of Yuanhe. The appointment edict followed, and he was named Right Reminder.
3
稹性鋒銳,見事風生。 既居諫垣,不欲碌碌自滯,事無不言,即日上疏論諫職。 又以前時王叔文、王伾以猥褻待詔,蒙幸太子,永貞之際,大撓朝政。 是以訓導太子宮官,宜選正人。 乃獻《教本書》曰:臣伏見陛下降明詔,修廢學,增胄子,選司成。 大哉,堯之為君,伯夷典禮,夔教胄子之深旨也! 然而事有萬萬於此者,臣敢冒昧殊死而言之。 臣聞諸賈生曰:「三代之君,仁且久者,教之然也。」 誠哉是言! 且夫周成王,人之中才也,近管、蔡則讒入,有周、召則義聞,豈可謂天聰明哉? 然而克終於道者,得不謂教之然耶? 俾伯禽、唐叔與之遊,《禮》、《樂》、《詩》、《書》為之習,目不得閱淫艷妖誘之色,耳不得聞優笑淩亂之音,口不得習操斷擊博之書,居不得近容順陰邪之黨,遊不得縱追禽逐獸之樂,玩不得有遐異僻絕之珍。 凡此數者,非謂備之於前而不為也,亦將不得見之矣。 及其長而為君也,血氣既定,遊習既成,雖有放心快己之事日陳於前,固不能奪已成之習、已定之心矣。 則彼忠直道德之言,固吾之所習聞也,陳之者有以諭焉; 彼庸佞違道之說,固吾之所積懼也,諂之者有以辨焉。 人之情,莫不欲耀其所能而黨其所近; 茍將得志,則必快其所蘊矣。 物之性亦然。 是以魚得水而遊,馬逸駕而走,鳥得風而翔,火得薪而熾。 此皆物之快其所蘊也。 今夫成王所蘊道德也,所近聖賢也。 是以舉其近,則周公左而召公右,伯禽魯而太公齊。 快其蘊,則興禮樂而朝諸侯,措刑罰而美教化。 教之至也,可不謂信然哉! 及夫秦則不然。 滅先王之學,曰將以愚天下; 黜師保之位,曰將以明君臣。 胡亥之生也,《詩》、《書》不得聞,聖賢不得近。 彼趙高者,詐宦之戮人也; 而傅之以殘忍戕賊之術,且曰恣睢天下以為貴,莫見其面以為尊。 是以天下之人人未盡愚,而胡亥固已不能分獸畜矣。 趙高之威懾天下,而胡亥固已自幽於深宮矣。 彼李斯,秦之寵丞相也。 因讒冤死,無所自明,而況於疏遠之臣庶乎! 若然,則秦之亡有以致之也。 漢高承之以兵革,漢文守之以廉謹,卒不能蘇復大訓。 是以景、武、昭、宣,天資甚美,才可以免禍亂; 哀、平之間,則不能虞篡弒矣。 然而惠帝廢易之際,猶賴羽翼以勝邪心。 是後有國之君,議教化者,莫不以興廉舉孝、設學崇儒為意,曾不知教化之不行,自貴始。 略其貴者,教其賤者,無乃鄰於倒置乎? 洎我太宗文皇帝之在籓邸,以至於為太子也,選知道德者十八人與之遊習。 即位之後,雖遊宴飲食之間,若十八人者,實在其中。 上失無不言,下情無不達。 不四三年而名高盛古,豈一日二日而致是乎? 遊習之漸也! 貞觀已還,師傅皆宰相兼領,其餘宮僚,亦甚重焉。 馬周以位高恨不得為司議郎,此其驗也。 文皇之後,漸疏賤之。 用至母後臨朝,翦棄王室。 當中、睿二聖勤勞之際,雖有骨鯁敢言之士,既不得在調護保安之職,終不能吐扶衛之一辭。 而令醫匠安金藏剖腹以明之,豈不大哀也耶? 兵興已來,茲弊尤甚。 師資保傅之官,非疾廢眊聵不任事者為之,即休戎罷帥不知書者處之。 至於友諭贊議之徒,疏冗散賤之甚者,縉紳恥由之。 夫以匹士之愛其子者,猶求明哲慈惠之師以教之,直諒多聞之友以成之。 豈天下之元良,而可以疾廢眊聵不知書者為之師乎? 疏冗散賤不適用者為之友乎? 此何不及上古之甚也! 近制,宮僚之外,往往以沈滯僻老之儒,充侍直、侍讀之選,而又疏棄斥逐之,越月逾時,不得召見,彼又安能傅成道德而保養其身躬哉? 臣以為積此弊者,豈不以皇天眷佑,祚我唐德,以舜繼堯,傳陛下十一聖矣,莫不生而神明,長而仁聖,以是為屑屑習儀者故不之省耳。 臣獨以為於列聖之謀則可也,計傳後嗣則不可。 脫或萬代之後,若有周成之中才,而又生於深宮優笑之間,無周、召保助之教,則將不能知喜怒哀樂之所自矣,況稼穡艱難乎? 今陛下以上聖之資,肇臨海內,是天下之人傾耳註心之日。 特願陛下思成王訓導之功,念文皇遊習之漸,選重師保,慎擇宮僚,皆用博厚弘深之儒,而又明達機務者為之。 更相進見,日就月將。 因令皇太子聚諸生,定齒胄講業之儀,行嚴師問道之禮。 至德要道以成之,徹膳記過以警之。 血氣未定,則去禽色之娛以就學; 聖質已備,則資遊習之善以弘德。 此所謂「一人元良,萬方以貞」之化也。 豈直修廢學,選司成,而足倫匹其盛哉? 而又俾則百王,莫不幼同師,長同術,識君道之素定,知天倫之自然,然後選用賢良,樹為籓屏。 出則有晉、鄭、魯、衛之盛,入則有東牟、硃虛之強,蓋所謂宗子維城、犬牙盤石之勢也,又豈與夫魏、晉以降,囚賤其兄弟而自翦其本枝者,同年而語哉?
Zhen was quick and incisive by nature, grasping affairs the moment they arose. Once installed in the remonstrance bureau, he refused to settle into routine obscurity; he spoke up on every matter and that very day submitted a memorial on the proper conduct of remonstrance officials. He also recalled how Wang Shuwen and Wang Pi—men of coarse character who had lingered at court awaiting summons—had won the crown prince's favor and, during the Yongzhen regency, had thrown government into turmoil. For this reason he argued that those who instructed the crown prince's household should be men of upright character. He accordingly submitted his "Book on the Foundations of Instruction," which began: This subject humbly observes that Your Majesty has issued a bright edict to restore abandoned schools, increase the crown prince's students, and select a director of studies. How great! When Yao was ruler, Boyi supervised the rites and Kui taught the crown prince's students—that is the deep meaning of this! Yet there are matters ten thousand times greater than this, and this subject dares speak of them presumptuously, at the risk of death. This subject has heard Jia Yi say: "The rulers of the Three Dynasties who were benevolent and long-lasting were so because of instruction." How true that saying is! King Cheng of Zhou, moreover, was a man of middling talent: near Guan and Cai, slander entered; with the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao, righteousness was heard. How can one say he was heaven-endowed with brilliance? Yet because he was able to complete the Way to the end, must one not say it was because of instruction? He was made to associate with Bo Qin and Uncle Tang; the Rites, Music, Poetry, and Documents were made his studies. His eyes were not allowed to view lewd and seductive sights; his ears were not allowed to hear jesters' laughter and disorderly music; his mouth was not allowed to practice manipulation, gambling, and gaming; in residence he was not allowed to approach flatterers and sinister men; in recreation he was not allowed to indulge in chasing birds and pursuing beasts; in playthings he was not allowed to possess rare exotic treasures from distant lands. Of all these matters, it is not that they are set before him yet he refrains from them; rather, he will not even be allowed to see them. When he grew up and became ruler, his vital energies were already settled and his habits of association already formed. Even if indulgences that pleased himself were daily set before him, they could not wrest away habits already formed and a heart already settled. Then words of loyalty, uprightness, and moral virtue were what he was accustomed to hearing; when they were set forth, there was means to instruct him; base and fawning words that violated the Way were what he had long accumulated fear of; when flattery was offered, there was means to distinguish it. In human nature, everyone wishes to display what he is capable of and take as his party those he is close to; if he is about to achieve his aim, he will surely give free rein to what he harbors within. The nature of things is likewise so. Thus fish obtain water and swim; horses loose the reins and run; birds obtain wind and soar; fire obtains fuel and blazes. All these are instances of things giving free rein to what they harbor within. What King Cheng harbored within was moral virtue; those he was close to were sages and worthies. Thus when he raised up those close to him, the Duke of Zhou was at his left and the Duke of Shao at his right; Bo Qin ruled Lu and Grand Duke Wang ruled Qi. Giving free rein to what he harbored within, he raised rites and music and received the feudal lords in audience, set aside punishments, and glorified instruction and transformation. Instruction at its utmost—can one not call this truly so! But when it came to Qin, it was not so. It abolished the learning of former kings, saying it would thereby keep all under Heaven ignorant; it dismissed the posts of teacher and protector, saying it would thereby clarify the roles of ruler and minister. When Huhai was born, he was not allowed to hear the Poetry and Documents, and sages and worthies were not allowed near him. That Zhao Gao was a castrated man of the fraudulent eunuch class; yet he was made his tutor in cruel and murderous arts, and it was said that to act wantonly over all under Heaven was esteemed, and that not seeing his face was honor. Thus though the people of all under Heaven were not yet entirely ignorant, Huhai was already unable to distinguish beasts from livestock. Zhao Gao's authority awed all under Heaven, and Huhai was already shut away in the deep palace. Li Si was Qin's favored chancellor. Because of slander he died unjustly with no means to clear himself—how much more so for distant and lowly ministers and commoners! If it was so, then Qin's fall had causes that brought it about. Emperor Gaozu of Han took it over by arms, and Emperor Wen guarded it with integrity and caution, yet in the end could not revive the great instruction. Thus Emperors Jing, Wu, Zhao, and Xuan, with very fine natural endowments, were able by their talent to escape calamity and disorder; but between Emperors Ai and Ping, they could not guard against usurpation and regicide. Yet when Emperor Hui was deposed and replaced, they still relied on supporting ministers to overcome wicked hearts. After this, rulers who possessed the state, when discussing instruction and transformation, all took promoting integrity and recommending filial piety, establishing schools and honoring Confucianism as their intent—yet they never knew that instruction failed because it began with the honored rather than the humble. Neglecting the honored and instructing only the lowly—is this not close to turning things upside down? When our Emperor Taizong was in the princely residence, and up to when he became crown prince, he selected eighteen men who understood moral virtue to associate and study with him. After he ascended the throne, even amid feasting and dining, those eighteen men were truly present. None of the ruler's faults went unspoken; none of the sentiments below went unreached. In less than three or four years his fame rose above the ancients—could one or two days have brought this about? It was the gradual effect of association and habit! From the Zhenguan era onward, teachers and tutors were all concurrently held by chancellors, and the other palace officials were also greatly honored. Ma Zhou, because his rank was high, regretted that he could not serve as director of deliberation—this is proof of it. After Emperor Taizong, they were gradually treated with distance and contempt. Matters reached the point where the empress dowager held court and the royal house was pruned and cast aside. When the two sage emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong labored diligently, though there were outspoken men of firm principle, since they could not hold posts of tending, protecting, and securing the heir, in the end they could not utter a single word of support and defense. Yet the physician An Jinzang was made to cut open his belly to prove his loyalty—is this not great sorrow! Since military campaigns arose, this abuse has been especially severe. The offices of teacher, protector, and tutor were filled either by men who were sick, disabled, dim-sighted, and deaf and unfit for duty, or by retired soldiers and dismissed generals who could not read. As for companions, advisers, and commentators, they were men so remote, superfluous, scattered, and base that the gentry were ashamed to hold such posts. A common scholar who loves his son still seeks a wise, clear, kind, and gracious teacher to instruct him and a straightforward, honest, and widely learned friend to complete his formation. How can the heir apparent of all under Heaven have as his teacher one who is sick, disabled, dim-sighted, deaf, and illiterate? Have as his friends men who are remote, superfluous, scattered, base, and unfit for use? How is this not far inferior to high antiquity! Under recent regulations, apart from palace officials, sunken, stagnant, eccentric, and aged Confucians are often used to fill the selections for attendance duty and lecturing; yet they are also neglected, cast aside, and expelled—for months on end they are not summoned to audience. How can they tutor moral virtue and nurture and preserve his person? This subject believes that those who have accumulated this abuse do so because Heaven favors and protects our Tang virtue; from Yao to Shun, down through Your Majesty's eleven sage emperors, none failed to be spiritually bright from birth and benevolent and sage in maturity—because of this they take it as mere petty ritual practice and do not examine it. This subject alone believes that for the plans of the successive sage emperors it may suffice, but when calculating the transmission to later generations it will not do. If perchance ten thousand generations hence there should be one of King Cheng's middling talent, yet born amid the deep palace and jesters' laughter, without the instruction of the Duke of Zhou and Duke of Shao to protect and assist, then he will not know whence joy, anger, sorrow, and delight come—how much less the hardships of planting and harvesting? Now Your Majesty, with the endowment of a supreme sage, has newly come to rule the realm—this is the day when the people of all under Heaven incline their ears and fix their hearts. This subject especially wishes that Your Majesty reflect on King Cheng's achievement in instruction and guidance, recall Emperor Taizong's gradual effect of association and habit, select weighty teachers and protectors, carefully choose palace officials, and employ broad, generous, and profound Confucians who are also clear and penetrating in practical affairs. Let them attend in rotation, advancing day by day and month by month. Thereby command the crown prince to gather the students, fix the ceremonies of ordering by age and cap for lecturing on studies, and perform the rites of a stern teacher inquiring into the Way. Use the utmost virtue and essential Way to complete him; withdraw meals and record faults to warn him. While vital energies are not yet settled, remove the diversions of birds and sensual pleasures to attend to study; when sage substance is already complete, then draw on the goodness of association and habit to enlarge virtue. This is what is called the transformation of "one man as the chief good, the myriad regions thereby upright." How can merely restoring abandoned schools and selecting a director of studies suffice to match its greatness? Moreover, make them models for the hundred kings, so that none fail to share teachers in youth and share methods in maturity, know that the ruler's Way is settled from the first, and know that heavenly relations are natural—then afterward select and employ the worthy and good and establish them as feudal screens. Going forth there would be the splendor of Jin, Zheng, Lu, and Wei; coming in there would be the strength of Dongmou and Zhuxu—this is what is called the momentum of clansmen as walls and interlocking teeth like bedrock. How can it be spoken of in the same breath as Wei and Jin onward, who imprisoned and debased their brothers and themselves pruned their own branches?
4
憲宗覽之甚悅。
Emperor Xianzong read it with great satisfaction.
5
又論西北邊事,皆朝政之大者。 憲宗召對,問方略。 為執政所忌,出為河南縣尉。 丁母憂,服除,拜監察御史。
He also addressed northwestern frontier affairs, each a matter of central importance to the court. Xianzong summoned him for a private audience and questioned him on strategy. The chief ministers took offense, and he was transferred out to serve as magistrate of Henan County. After observing mourning for his mother and completing the requisite period, he was appointed investigating censor.
6
四年,奉使東蜀,劾奏故劍南東川節度使嚴礪違制擅賦,又籍沒塗山甫等吏民八十八戶田宅一百一十一、奴婢二十七人、草千五百束、錢七千貫。 時礪已死,七州刺史皆責罰。 稹雖舉職,而執政有與礪厚者惡之。 使還,令分務東臺。 浙西觀察使韓臯封杖決湖州安吉令孫澥,四日內死。 徐州監軍使孟升卒,節度使王紹傳送升喪柩還京,給券乘驛,仍於郵舍安喪柩。 稹並劾奏以法。 河南尹房式為不法事,稹欲追攝,擅令停務。 既飛表聞奏,罰式一月俸,仍召稹還京。 宿敷水驛,內官劉士元後至,爭廳。 士元怒,排其戶,稹襪而走廳後。 士元追之,後以棰擊稹傷面。 執政以稹少年後輩,務作威福,貶為江陵府士曹參軍。
In the fourth year he was sent on mission to eastern Shu and impeached the former military governor of eastern Sichuan, Yan Li, for unauthorized levies in violation of regulations. He further documented the confiscation of property from eighty-eight households of officials and commoners—including Tu Shanfu—totaling 111 parcels of land, 27 bondservants, 1,500 bundles of forage, and 7,000 strings of cash. Yan Li was already dead, but the governors of seven prefectures were all called to account and penalized. Though Zhen had done his duty, certain powerful figures who had been on friendly terms with Yan Li turned against him. On his return he was assigned to share duties at the eastern office of the censorate. Han Gao, commissioner of Zhexi, had ordered Sun Xie, magistrate of Anji in Huzhou, beaten with the cudgel; Sun died within four days. When Meng Sheng, the army supervisor at Xuzhou, died, the military governor Wang Shao had his coffin sent to the capital with relay passes and even housed the coffin overnight at a postal station—both grave breaches of protocol. Zhen impeached both men on legal grounds. Fang Shi, intendant of the Henan metropolitan district, had engaged in unlawful conduct; when Zhen sought to summon him, Fang unilaterally suspended his office's operations. Fang rushed a memorial to court; Shi was fined one month's salary, and Zhen was recalled to the capital nonetheless. While staying at Fushui Post, he encountered the eunuch Liu Shiyuan, who had arrived later and contested possession of the reception hall. Shiyuan flew into a rage, forced the door open, and Zhen fled barefoot to the rear of the hall. Shiyuan pursued him and struck him across the face with a club. The chief ministers, deeming the young upstart bent on throwing his weight around, demoted him to staff officer in the Jiangling prefectural army.
7
稹聰警絕人,年少有才名,與太原白居易友善。 工為詩,善狀詠風態物色,當時言詩者,稱元、白焉。 自衣冠士子,至閭閻下俚,悉傳諷之,號為「元和體」。 既以俊爽不容於朝,流放荊蠻者僅十年。 俄而白居易亦貶江州司馬,稹量移通州司馬。 雖通、江懸邈,而二人來往贈答。 凡所為詩,有自三十、五十韻乃至百韻者。 江南人士,傳道諷誦,流聞闕下,裏巷相傳,為之紙貴。 觀其流離放逐之意,靡不淒惋。
Zhen was exceptionally quick-witted; even in youth he enjoyed a reputation for talent, and he formed a close friendship with Bai Juyi of Taiyuan. He excelled at verse and had a gift for capturing mood and scenery; contemporaries who discussed poetry paired "Yuan and Bai." From court gentlemen to common folk in the alleyways, everyone recited his poems; the style became known as the "Yuanhe manner." His brilliance and outspokenness had made him unwelcome at court, and he spent nearly ten years in exile in the Jingnan region. Before long Bai Juyi was demoted to marshal of Jiangzhou as well, while Zhen was transferred to the same post at Tongzhou. Though Tongzhou and Jiangzhou lay far apart, the two men exchanged visits and poems across the distance. Their poems ranged in length from thirty or fifty rhymes to as many as a hundred. Scholars in the south copied and recited them; the poems traveled to the capital, spread through every neighborhood, and drove up the price of paper. Readers found in them the ache of exile and displacement—every poem touched with sorrow.
8
十四年,自虢州長史征還,為膳部員外郎。 宰相令狐楚一代文宗,雅知稹之辭學,謂稹曰:「嘗覽足下製作,所恨不多,遲之久矣。 請出其所有,以豁予情。」 稹因獻其文,自敘曰:稹初不好文,徒以仕無他歧,強由科試。 及有罪譴棄之後,自以為廢滯潦倒,不復為文字有聞於人矣。 曾不知好事者抉擿芻蕪,塵瀆尊重。 竊承相公特於廊廟間道稹詩句,昨又面奉教約,令獻舊文。 戰汗悚踴,慚靦無地。 稹自御史府謫官,於今十餘年矣。 閑誕無事,遂專力於詩章。 日益月滋,有詩句千餘首。 其間感物寓意,可備矇瞽之風者有之。 辭直氣粗,罪尤是懼,固不敢陳露於人。 唯杯酒光景間,屢為小碎篇章,以自吟暢。 然以為律體卑痹,格力不揚,茍無姿態,則陷流俗。 常欲得思深語近,韻律調新,屬對無差,而風情宛然,而病未能也。 江湖間多新進小生,不知天下文有宗主,妄相放效,而又從而失之,遂至於支離褊淺之辭,皆目為元和詩體。 稹與同門生白居易友善。 居易雅能詩,就中愛驅駕文字,窮極聲韻,或為千言,或五百言律詩,以相投寄。 小生自審不能過之,往往戲排舊韻,別創新辭,名為次韻相酬,蓋欲以難相排。 自爾江湖間為詩者,復相放效,力或不足,則至於顛倒語言,重復首尾,韻同意等,不異前篇,亦目為元和詩體。 而司文者考變雅之由,往往歸咎於稹。 嘗以為雕蟲小事,不足以自明。 始聞相公記憶,累旬已來,實慮糞土之墻,庇之以大廈,使不復破壞,永為板築者之誤。 輒寫古體歌詩一百首,百韻至兩韻律詩一百首,為五卷,奉啟跪陳。 或希構廈之餘,一賜觀覽,知小生於章句中欒櫨榱桷之材,盡曾量度,則十餘年之邅回,不為無用矣。
In the fourteenth year he was recalled from senior administrator of Guozhou and appointed vice director in the Bureau of Foodstuffs. Linghu Chu, the chief minister and a leading literary figure of the age, had long admired Zhen's literary gifts. He told him, "I have read your work before and regretted that there was not more of it; I have waited far too long. Bring out everything you have written and satisfy my wish at last." Zhen accordingly presented his collected writings, prefaced with an autobiographical note that read: At first I did not love literature; I merely had no other path in office and was forced through the civil service examination. After being condemned and cast aside for guilt, I considered myself discarded, stagnant, and ruined, and no longer expected my writings to become known among men. I never imagined that enthusiasts would pick out the fodder and weeds and defile what is honored. I have privately heard that the Chief Minister especially spoke of my poetic lines in the halls of state; yesterday I again received his face-to-face instruction to present my old writings. Trembling with sweat, startled and overwhelmed, I am ashamed beyond measure. Since my demotion from the Censorate, more than ten years have now passed. Leisurely and at ease with nothing to do, I then devoted myself to poetry. Day by day and month by month they increased; I have more than a thousand poems. Among them are some that respond to things and convey meaning, fit to supply instruction for the unenlightened. The wording is blunt and the tone rough; guilt is what I especially fear, so I truly do not dare display them before others. Only amid wine and cups have I often made small fragmentary pieces to chant for my own enjoyment. Yet I consider regulated verse base and cramped, its force and style not uplifted; without manner and bearing it falls into vulgar fashion. I constantly wished to attain deep thought and plain language, fresh rhyme and measure, flawless parallel couplets, and graceful feeling and style—but I have not yet overcome this failing. Along the rivers and lakes there are many newly advanced young men who do not know that literature has a master; they recklessly imitate one another and lose their way, until fragmentary, narrow, shallow phrasing is all called the Yuanhe poetic style. I was on friendly terms with my fellow student Bai Juyi. Juyi is elegantly skilled in poetry; among his works he especially loves mastering words and exhausting sound and rhyme; sometimes he sends me thousand-character or five-hundred-character regulated poems in exchange. Examining myself, I could not surpass him; I often playfully arranged old rhymes and created new wording, calling it matching rhymes in mutual response—intending to compete through difficulty. From then on, poets along the rivers and lakes again imitated one another; when their strength was insufficient, it reached inverted language, repeated beginnings and ends, identical rhymes and meaning no different from the previous piece—this too was called the Yuanhe poetic style. Yet those who oversee literature, examining the causes of the change in refined style, often lay blame on me. I once considered it a trifling matter of literary ornament, insufficient to clarify myself. When I first heard that the Chief Minister remembered me, for many days I have truly feared that a wall of dung and earth would be sheltered by a great hall so it would no longer crumble—forever becoming the error of those who lay boards and build. I have copied one hundred old-style songs and poems and one hundred regulated poems from hundred rhymes down to two rhymes, making five scrolls, which I respectfully present on my knees. Perhaps, after the great hall is built, you might once grant a reading and know that this humble student's rafter and ridgepole timber within lines and stanzas has all been measured—then more than ten years of wandering will not have been in vain.
9
楚深稱賞,以為今代之鮑、謝也。
Linghu Chu praised them extravagantly, declaring him the Bao Zhao and Xie Lingyun of their generation.
10
穆宗皇帝在東宮,有妃嬪左右嘗誦稹歌詩以為樂曲者,知稹所為,嘗稱其善,宮中呼為元才子。 荊南監軍崔潭峻甚禮接稹,不以掾吏遇之,常征其詩什諷誦之。 長慶初,潭峻歸朝,出稹《連昌宮辭》等百餘篇奏御。 穆宗大悅,問稹安在。 對曰:「今為南宮散郎。」 即日轉祠部郎中、知制誥。 朝廷以書命不由相府,甚鄙之。 然辭誥所出,夐然與古為侔,遂盛傳於代,由是極承恩顧。 嘗為《長慶宮辭》數十百篇,京師競相傳唱。 居無何,召入翰林,為中書舍人、承旨學士。 中人以潭峻之故,爭與稹交,而知樞密魏弘簡尤與稹相善,穆宗愈深知重。 河東節度使裴度三上疏,言稹與弘簡為刎頸之交,謀亂朝政,言甚激訐。 穆宗顧中外人情,乃罷稹內職,授工部侍郎。 上恩顧未衰。 長慶二年,拜平章事。 詔下之日,朝野無不輕笑之。
When the future Emperor Muzong was still crown prince, ladies of his household had sometimes sung Zhen's poems as songs; they knew his work and praised it, and within the palace he was called "the Yuan talent." Cui Tanjun, army supervisor in Jingnan, treated Zhen with exceptional respect rather than as a lowly clerk, and often asked for his poems to recite. Early in the Changqing reign Tanjun returned to the capital and presented to the throne more than a hundred of Zhen's works, including "Ballad of the Lianchang Palace." Muzong was delighted and asked where Zhen was serving. The answer came: "He is presently a junior gentleman of the Southern Palace." That same day he was transferred to director of the Sacrifices Bureau with charge of drafting edicts. The court looked down on the appointment because the edicts had not passed through the chancellor's office. Yet the edicts he drafted matched the ancients in grandeur and spread swiftly through the realm, and from this he won extraordinary favor. He composed dozens or hundreds of "Changqing Palace Lyrics," which the capital took up and sang in rivalry. Before long he was summoned to the Hanlin Academy as drafting academician and chief academician. Because of Tanjun, eunuchs vied to befriend Zhen, and Wei Hongjian of the Bureau of Military Affairs was especially close to him; Muzong valued him all the more. Pei Du, military governor of Hedong, submitted three memorials claiming that Zhen and Hongjian were sworn friends plotting to disrupt court governance, in fiercely accusatory language. Muzong, weighing opinion within and outside the court, stripped Zhen of his inner-court post and made him vice minister of Works. The emperor's favor had not yet waned. In the second year of Changqing he was appointed chief councilor. When the edict was promulgated, court and populace alike could scarcely suppress a smile.
11
時王廷湊、硃克融連兵圍牛元翼於深州,朝廷俱赦其罪,賜節鉞,令罷兵,俱不奉詔。 稹以天子非次拔擢,欲有所立以報上。 有和王傅於方者,故司空頔之子,干進於稹。 言有奇士王昭、王友明二人,嘗客於燕、趙間,頗與賊黨通熟,可以反間而出元翼。 仍自以家財資其行,仍賂兵吏部令史為出告身二十通,以便宜給賜,稹皆然之。 有李賞者,知於方之謀,以稹與裴度有隙,乃告度云:「於方為稹所使,欲結客王昭等刺度。」 度隱而不發。 及神策軍中尉奏於方之事,乃詔三司使韓臯等訊鞫,而害裴事無驗,而前事盡露。 遂俱罷稹、度平章事,乃出稹為同州刺史,度守僕射。 諫官上疏,言責度太重,稹太輕。 上心憐稹,止削長春宮使。
At that time Wang Tingcou and Zhu Keyi had joined forces to besiege Niu Yuanji at Shenzhou; the court had pardoned their crimes and granted them military commissions, ordering them to withdraw, but both refused the edicts. Zhen, having been raised to office by an exceptional imperial favor, wished to accomplish something worthy in return. A prince's tutor named Yu Fang, son of the former Minister of Works Yu Di, pressed himself on Zhen seeking advancement. He spoke of two men of unusual ability, Wang Zhao and Wang Youming, who had sojourned in the Yan and Zhao region and were well acquainted with the rebel factions, and who might be turned through counter-intelligence to rescue Yuanji. He offered his family wealth to fund their mission and bribed clerks in the Ministry of War to issue twenty blank commissions for discretionary reward; Zhen approved all of this. A man named Li Shang, who knew of Fang's scheme and aware of the rift between Zhen and Pei Du, reported to Du: "Yu Fang is acting at Zhen's orders, recruiting Wang Zhao and others to assassinate you." Du kept silent and did not act on the report. When the director of the Divine Stratagem Army reported on Fang's affair, the three judicial offices under Han Gao and others were ordered to investigate; the plot against Pei could not be verified, but the earlier schemes were fully exposed. Both Zhen and Du were removed as chief councilors; Zhen was sent out as governor of Tongzhou while Du remained vice director. Remonstrance officials submitted memorials arguing that Du's punishment was too severe and Zhen's too lenient. The emperor, taking pity on Zhen, only stripped him of his commission as commissioner of the Everlasting Spring Palace.
12
稹初罷相,三司獄未奏,京兆尹劉遵古遣坊所由潛邏稹居第,稹奏訴之。 上怒,罰遵古,遣中人撫諭稹。 稹至同州,因表謝上,自敘曰:臣稹辜負聖明,辱累恩獎,便合自求死所,豈謂尚忝官榮? 臣稹死罪。 臣八歲喪父,家貧無業。 母兄乞丐以供資養。 衣不布體,食不充腸。 幼學之年,不蒙師訓。 因感鄰裏兒稚有父兄為開學校,涕咽發憤,願知《詩》、《書》。 慈母哀臣,親為教授。 年十有五,得明經出身,由是苦心為文,夙夜強學。 年二十四,登吏部乙科,授校書郎。 年二十八,蒙制舉首選,授左拾遺。 始自為學,至於升朝,無朋友為臣吹噓,無親戚為臣援庇。 莫非苦己,實不因人,獨立性成,遂無交結。 任拾遺日,屢陳時政,蒙先皇帝召問於延英。 旋為宰相所憎,出臣河南縣尉。 及為監察御史,又不規避,專心糾繩,復為宰相怒臣下庇親黨,因以他事貶臣江陵判司。 廢棄十年,分死溝瀆。 元和十四年,憲宗皇帝開釋有罪,始授臣膳部員外郎。 與臣同省署者,多是臣登朝時舉人; 任卿相者,半是臣同諫院時拾遺、補闕。 愚臣既不料陛下天聽過卑,知臣薄藝,硃書授臣制誥,延英召臣賜緋。 宰相惡臣不出其門,由是百萬侵毀。 陛下察臣無罪,寵獎逾深,召臣固授舍人,遣充承旨翰林學士,金章紫服,光飾陋軀,人生之榮,臣亦至矣。 然臣益遭誹謗,日夜憂危。 唯陛下聖鑒昭臨,彌加保任,竟排群議,擢授臺司。 臣忝有肺肝,豈並尋常宰相? 況當行營退散之後,牛元翼未出之間,每聞陛下軫念之言,愚臣恨不身先士卒。 所問於方計策,遣王友明等救解深州,蓋欲上副聖情,豈是別懷他意? 不料奸人疑臣殺害裴度,妄有告論,塵瀆聖聰,愧羞天地。 臣本待辨明一了,便擬殺身謝責,豈料聖慈尚加,薄貶同州。 雖違咫尺之間,不遠郊圻之境,伏料必是宸衷獨斷,乞臣此官。 若遣他人商量,乍可與臣遠處方鎮,豈肯遣臣俯近闕廷? 所恨今月三日,尚蒙召對延英。 此時不解泣血,仰辭天顏,乃至今日竄逐。 臣自離京國,目斷魂銷。 每至五更朝謁之時,實制淚不已。 臣若餘生未死,他時萬一歸還,不敢更望得見天顏,但得再聞京城鐘鼓之音,臣雖黃土覆面,無恨九泉。 臣無任自恨自慚,攀戀聖慈之至。
Soon after Zhen lost the chancellorship, before the three offices had concluded their report, the metropolitan intendant Liu Zungu sent ward officers to spy on Zhen's residence; Zhen memorialized in protest. The emperor was angered, punished Zungu, and dispatched a eunuch to console Zhen. On reaching Tongzhou he submitted a memorial of thanks to the throne, with a self-account that read: This subject Zhen has failed Your sage clarity, disgraced and burdened by favor and reward; I ought to seek my own place of death—how can I say I still undeservedly hold office and honor? This subject Zhen deserves death. This subject lost his father at eight; the family was poor and without livelihood. Mother and elder brother begged to supply sustenance. Clothes did not cover the body; food did not fill the belly. In the years of early study, I did not receive a teacher's instruction. Because I was moved that neighborhood children had fathers and elder brothers who opened schools, I wept and choked with indignation and wished to know the Poetry and Documents. My kind mother pitied me and personally taught me. At fifteen I obtained entry by the classics examination; from this I labored at writing with bitter effort and studied strenuously morning and night. At twenty-four I passed the Ministry of Personnel second class and was appointed collator. At twenty-eight I was honored with first selection in the special examination and was appointed left remonstrance official. From first pursuing study to ascending court, there were no friends to puff me up, no kinsmen to shield and protect me. All was through bitter effort on myself; truly not through others. Independent character was formed, and thus I had no associations. During my days as remonstrance official I repeatedly set forth current government affairs and was honored by the late emperor with summons and inquiry in Yanying. Soon I was hated by the chancellor and was sent out as marshal of Henan County. When I became investigating censor, again I did not evade or avoid but devoted my heart to impeachment and discipline. Again the chancellor was angry that my subordinates sheltered kin and partisans, and on another matter demoted me to aide in Jiangling. Abandoned for ten years, I allotted myself to die in ditch and drain. In Yuanhe 14, Emperor Xianzong opened release for the guilty and first appointed me vice director of the Board of Appointments. Those in the same ministry office with me were mostly men I had recommended when ascending court; those holding posts as ministers and chancellors were half remonstrance and supplementation officials from my days in the remonstrance courtyard. This foolish subject had not expected that Your Majesty's heavenly hearing was excessively humble, knowing my slight arts—vermilion writing appointed me to draft edicts, and Yanying summoned me to bestow crimson robes. The chancellor hated that I did not come from his gate; thereby a hundred slanders invaded and destroyed. Your Majesty examined me and found no guilt; favor and reward exceeded the deep. I was summoned and firmly appointed palace aide, dispatched to serve as drafting Hanlin academician; golden seal and purple robes adorned my humble body—the glory of human life, I also reached its utmost. Yet I increasingly suffered slander and day and night worried over peril. Only Your Majesty's sage mirror brightly oversaw, increasingly added protection and trust, and in the end set aside the multitude of opinions and promoted me to the censorate. This subject undeservedly possessed heart and liver—how could I be ranked with ordinary chancellors? Moreover, when the campaign forces had withdrawn and dispersed, and Niu Yuanji had not yet emerged, each time I heard Your Majesty's words of anxious concern, this foolish subject regretted that I was not first among the soldiers. What was asked about in plans and stratagems—dispatching Wang Youming and others to rescue and relieve Shen Prefecture—was surely to match Your sage sentiment; how could it be harboring another intent? I did not expect that wicked men suspected me of murdering Pei Du and falsely made accusations, dusting and defiling Your sage hearing—shame before Heaven and Earth. This subject originally waited to clarify the matter completely and then planned to give my life to answer the blame—who expected that Your sage compassion still added favor, lightly demoting me to Tong Prefecture. Though separated by less than a foot's distance, not far from the suburban domain, I humbly reckon it must be Your imperial heart's sole decision, granting me this office. If others had been sent to deliberate, they might for a time send me to a distant frontier command—but would they be willing to send me bowing near the court gate? What I regret is that on the third day of this month I still received summons for audience in Yanying. At that time I did not understand to weep blood and look up to decline Your countenance, and thus reached today's banishment and expulsion. Since I left the capital, my sight is severed and my soul is broken. Each time the fifth watch arrives for court audience, I truly restrain tears without end. If my remaining life is not yet ended and someday by chance I return, I dare not hope again to see Your countenance—only to hear once more the capital's bells and drums; though yellow earth covers my face, I would have no regret in the grave. This subject cannot bear self-reproach and self-shame, clinging in longing to Your utmost sage compassion.
13
在郡二年,改授越州刺史、兼御史大夫、漸東觀察使。 會稽山水奇秀,稹所辟幕職,皆當時文士,而鏡湖、秦望之遊,月三四焉。 而諷詠詩什,動盈卷帙。 副使竇鞏,海內詩名,與稹酬唱最多,至今稱蘭亭絕唱。 稹既放意娛遊,稍不修邊幅,以瀆貨聞於時。 凡在越八年。
After two years in the prefecture he was reassigned as governor of Yuezhou with concurrent appointment as grand censor and surveillance commissioner of Zhedong. The landscape of Kuaiji was wondrously beautiful; the staff he recruited were all leading literary men of the day, and he toured Mirror Lake and Mount Qinwang three or four times a month. The poems he composed on these outings often filled whole scrolls. His deputy Dou Gong, renowned throughout the realm for poetry, exchanged verses with Zhen more than any other; to this day their Lanting songs are called unmatched. Zhen gave himself over to pleasure and travel and paid little heed to personal decorum, gaining a reputation for corrupt enrichment. He remained in Yue for eight years in all.
14
太和初,就加檢校禮部尚書。 三年九月,入為尚書左丞。 振舉紀綱,出郎官頗乖公議者七人。 然以稹素無檢操,人情不厭服。 會宰相王播倉卒而卒,稹大為路歧,經營相位。 四年正月,檢校戶部尚書,兼鄂州刺史、御史大夫、武昌軍節度使。 五年七月二十二日暴疾,一日而卒於鎮,時年五十三,贈尚書右僕射。 有子曰道護,時年三歲。 稹仲兄司農少卿積,營護喪事。 所著詩賦、詔冊、銘誄、論議等雜文一百卷,號曰《元氏長慶集》。 又著古今刑政書三百卷,號《類集》,並行於代。
In the early Taihe era he received an additional appointment as acting Minister of Rites. In the ninth month of the third year he entered the capital as Left Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat. He raised standards and regulations and removed seven bureau officials who had long fallen short of public consensus. Yet because Zhen had never been restrained in conduct, popular sentiment did not willingly accept him. When the chief minister Wang Bo died suddenly, Zhen went to great lengths along the road, maneuvering for the chancellorship. In the first month of the fourth year he received an additional appointment as acting Minister of Revenue with concurrent posts as governor of Ezhou, grand censor, and military commissioner of the Wuchang army. On the twenty-second day of the seventh month of the fifth year he was seized by sudden illness and died at his post within a day, at the age of fifty-three; he was posthumously enfeoffed as Right Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat. He left a son named Daohu, then three years old. Zhen's elder brother Ji, Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Granaries, arranged the funeral. His collected poems, fu, edicts, inscriptions, eulogies, discourses, and miscellaneous prose fill one hundred scrolls, entitled Collected Writings of Master Yuan of the Changqing Era. He also compiled three hundred scrolls on penal administration ancient and modern, entitled Classified Compilations, and both works circulated widely in his age.
15
稹長慶末因編刪其文稿,《自敘》曰:劉歆云:制不可削。 予以為有可得而削之者,貢謀猷,持嗜欲,君有之則譽歸於上,臣專之則譽歸於下。 茍而存之,其攘也,非道也。 經制度,明利害,區邪正,辨嫌惑,存之則事分著,去之則是非冺。 茍而削之,其過也,非道也。 元和初,章武皇帝新即位,臣下未有以言刮視聽者。 予時始以對詔在拾遺中供奉,由是獻《教本書》、《諫職》、《論事》等表十數通,仍為裴度、李正辭、韋熏訟所言當,而宰相曲道上語。 上頗悟,召見問狀。 宰相大惡之,不一月,出為河南尉。 後累歲,補御史,使東川。 謹以元和赦書,劾節度使嚴礪籍塗山甫等八十八家,過賦梓、遂之民數百萬。 朝廷異之,奪七刺史料,悉以所籍歸於人。 會潘孟陽代礪為節度使,貪過礪,且有所承迎,雖不敢盡廢詔,因命當得所籍者皆入資。 資過其稱,榷薪盜賦無不為,仍為礪密狀不當得醜謚。 予自東川還,朋礪者潛切齒矣。 無何,分蒞東都臺。 天子久不在都,都下多不法者。 百司皆牢獄,有裁接吏械人逾歲而臺府不得而知之者,予因飛奏絕百司專禁錮。 河南尉判官,予劾之,忤宰相旨。 監徐使死於軍,徐帥郵傳其柩,柩至洛,其下歐詬主郵吏,予命吏徙柩於外,不得復乘傳。 浙西觀察使封杖決安吉令至死; 河南尹誣奏書生尹太階請死之; 飛龍使誘趙寔家逃奴為養子; 田季安盜娶洛陽衣冠女; 汴州沒入死商錢且千萬; 滑州賦於民以千,授於人以八百; 朝廷饋東師,主計者誤命牛車四千三百乘飛芻越太行。 類是數十事,或移或奏,皆主之。 貞元已來,不慣用文法,內外寵臣皆喑嗚。 會河南尹房式詐諼事發,奏攝之。 前所喑嗚者叫噪。 宰相素以劾叛官事相銜,乘是黜予江陵掾。 後十年,始為膳部員外郎。 穆宗初,宰相更相用事,丞相段公一日獨得對,因請亟用兵部郎中薛存慶、考功員外郎牛僧孺,予亦在請中,上然之。 不十數日次用為給、舍,他忿恨者日夜構飛語,予懼罪,比上書自明。 上憐之,三召與語。 語及兵賦洎西北邊事,因命經紀之。 是後書奏及進見,皆言天下事,外間不知,多臆度。 陛下益憐其不漏禁中語,召入禁林,且欲亟用為宰相。 是時裴度在太原,亦有宰相望,巧者謀欲俱廢之,乃以予所無構於裴。 裴奏至,驗之皆失實。 上以裴方握兵,不欲校曲直,出予為工部侍郎,而相裴之期亦衰矣。 不累月,上盡得所構者,雖不能暴揚之,遂果初意,卒用予與裴俱為宰相。 復有購狂民告予借客刺裴者,鞫之復無狀,而裴與予以故俱罷免。 始元和十五年八月得見上,至是未二歲,僭忝恩寵,無是之速者; 遭罹謗咎,亦無是之甚者。 是以心腹腎腸,糜費於扶衛危亡之不暇,又惡暇經紀陛下之所付哉! 然而造次顛沛之中,前後列上兵賦邊防之狀,可得而存者一百一十五。 茍而削之,是傷先帝之器使也。 至於陳暢辨謗之章,去之則無以自明於朋友矣。 其餘郡縣之奏請,賀慶之禮,因亦附於件目。 始《教本書》,至於為人雜奏,二十有七軸,凡二百二十有七奏。 終歿吾世,貽之子孫式,所以明經制之難行,而銷毀之易至也。
At the end of the Changqing era he edited and abridged his collected writings; his "Self-Account" read: Liu Xin said: Institutions must not be cut away. I believe there are some that may be cut away: presenting plans and counsel, restraining appetites and desires—if the ruler possesses them, praise returns to the sovereign; if ministers monopolize them, praise returns to those below. If they are kept, their usurpation is not the Way. Passing through institutions, clarifying benefit and harm, distinguishing the wicked and upright, discerning suspicion and confusion—if kept, affairs are divided and clear; if removed, right and wrong are obscured. If they are cut away, the fault is not the Way. At the beginning of Yuanhe, Emperor Muzong had newly ascended the throne, and among his subjects none yet spoke to cleanse his sight and hearing. At that time I had just entered service among the remonstrance officials by imperial examination response, and thereby presented more than ten memorials including the Book on Foundations of Instruction, On the Duties of Remonstrance, and On Affairs; I also joined Pei Du, Li Zhengchen, and Wei Xun in litigation over what was said to be correct, while the chancellor twisted the matter and reported upward. The sovereign was somewhat enlightened and summoned me to audience to inquire into the matter. The chancellor greatly hated this; within a month I was sent out as marshal of Henan. After several years I was appointed censor and dispatched to Dongchuan. In accordance with the Yuanhe amnesty edict, I impeached the military governor Yan Li for confiscating the property of Tu Shanfu and eighty-seven other households, over-taxing the people of Zi and Sui by several million. The court was astonished, stripped him of seven grades of censorial authority, and returned all confiscated property to the people. It happened that Pan Mengyang replaced Yan Li as military governor; he was greedier than Yan Li and moreover sought to curry favor. Though he did not dare wholly abolish the edict, he therefore ordered that all who should have received confiscated property must pay a fee to obtain it. The fees exceeded their worth; he monopolized firewood and stole taxes—nothing was left undone. He also submitted a secret memorial on Yan Li's behalf that he ought not receive a disgraceful posthumous title. When I returned from Dongchuan, Yan Li's partisans secretly ground their teeth in hatred. Before long I was assigned to oversee the Eastern Capital Censorate. The Son of Heaven had long been absent from the capital, and in the capital there were many lawless men. Every office was a prison; there were receiving clerks who shackled men for more than a year while the censorate could not know of it. I therefore submitted an urgent memorial to forbid every office from exclusive imprisonment. I impeached the Henan marshal's aide, offending the chancellor's intent. The supervisory commissioner of Xu died in the army; the Xu commander sent his coffin by post relay. When the coffin reached Luoyang, his subordinates beat and reviled the chief postal clerk. I ordered the clerks to move the coffin outside and forbade further use of post relay. The Zhexi observation commissioner sealed a staff and adjudged the magistrate of Anji to death; the Henan governor falsely memorialized that the scholar Yin Taijie requested death; the Feilong commissioner enticed a runaway slave of Zhao Shi's household to become an adopted son; Tian Ji'an secretly married a genteel woman of Luoyang; Bian Prefecture confiscated the money of a dead merchant, nearly ten million; Hua Prefecture levied a thousand from the people and handed over only eight hundred; the court supplied the eastern army; the chief accountant mistakenly ordered four thousand three hundred ox carts to rush fodder over the Taihang Mountains. Matters like these numbered in the dozens; whether by dispatch or memorial, I took charge of them all. Since the Zhenyuan era, people were unaccustomed to using written law; favored ministers within and without all roared and clamored. It happened that the Henan governor Fang Shi's fraud and false accusation came to light; I memorialized to take him into custody. Those who had previously roared and clamored now shouted and made an uproar. The chancellor had long harbored resentment over my impeachment of a rebellious official; seizing this opportunity he dismissed me to aide in Jiangling. After ten years I was at last made vice director of the Board of Appointments. At the beginning of Emperor Muzong's reign, chancellors alternated in wielding power. Chancellor Duan Wenchang one day alone obtained audience and thereupon requested the prompt appointment of Xue Cunqing, director of the Ministry of War, and Niu Sengru, vice director of the Ministry of Personnel examinations—I was also among those requested, and the sovereign approved. Within less than ten days I was next appointed drafting and palace aide; others who resented me day and night fabricated flying rumors. I feared punishment and repeatedly submitted memorials to clarify myself. The sovereign pitied me and thrice summoned me to speak. Our conversation reached military levies and northwestern border affairs, and he thereupon ordered me to manage them. After this, in written memorials and audiences I spoke of affairs under Heaven; those outside did not know and mostly speculated. Your Majesty all the more valued that I did not leak palace talk, summoned me into the Hanlin Academy, and wished to promptly appoint me chancellor. At that time Pei Du was in Taiyuan and also had prospects of chancellorship; the crafty plotted to abolish both together and therefore fabricated against Pei charges that I had not made. Pei's memorial arrived; upon verification all was untrue. The sovereign, because Pei was then holding troops, did not wish to judge right and wrong, and sent me out as vice minister of works; the prospect of Pei becoming chancellor also faded. Within not many months the sovereign fully obtained those who had fabricated; though he could not publicly expose them, he then fulfilled his original intent and in the end appointed both me and Pei as chancellors. Again someone bribed a mad commoner to report that I had borrowed a guest to assassinate Pei; upon interrogation again there was no substance, yet Pei and I were both dismissed for the old matter. From first seeing the sovereign in the eighth month of Yuanhe 15 to this time was not yet two years; presumptuously receiving favor and grace, none was so swift; suffering slander and blame, none was so severe. Thus heart and soul were consumed supporting and defending in peril of destruction with no leisure—how could there be leisure to manage what Your Majesty entrusted! Yet amid haste and hardship, the military levy and border defense reports submitted before and after, of which copies can be preserved, number one hundred fifteen. If they are cut away, this wounds the late emperor's employment of his servant. As for the chapters clarifying slander in full expression, if removed there would be no means to clarify myself before friends. The rest—county and prefecture memorials and requests, congratulatory rites—are also appended to the list of items. From the Book on Foundations of Instruction to miscellaneous memorials on behalf of others, there are twenty-seven scrolls, altogether two hundred twenty-seven memorials. To the end of my life I bequeath them to descendants as a model, thereby making clear how hard institutions are to carry out and how easily destruction arrives.
16
其自敘如此,欲知其作者之意,備於此篇。
His self-account is as above; those who wish to know the author's intent will find it fully set forth in that piece.
17
稹文友與白居易最善。 後進之士,最重龐嚴,言其文體類己,保薦之。 龐嚴者,壽春人。 父景昭。 嚴元和中登進士第,長慶元年應制舉賢良方正、能直言極諫科,策入三等,冠制科之首。 是月,拜左拾遺。 聰敏絕人,文章峭麗。 翰林學士元稹、李紳頗知之。 明年二月,召入翰林為學士。 轉左補闕,再遷駕部郎中、知制誥。 嚴與右拾遺蔣防俱為稹、紳保薦,至諫官內職。
Of Zhen's literary friends, none was closer than Bai Juyi. Younger writers esteemed Pang Yan most highly, saying his style resembled Zhen's, and Zhen recommended him. Pang Yan came from Shouchun. His father was Jingzhao. Yan passed the jinshi in the Yuanhe era; in the first year of Changqing he entered the special examination for worthy and upright men able to speak blunt remonstrance, placing third in grade and ranking first among the special-examination candidates. That same month he was appointed Left Reminder. He was exceptionally intelligent, and his prose was sharp and elegant. The Hanlin academicians Yuan Zhen and Li Shen knew him well. In the second month of the following year he was summoned to the Hanlin Academy as academician. He was transferred to Left Supplementation Officer, then promoted to director of the Carriages Bureau with charge of drafting edicts. Yan and the Right Reminder Jiang Fang were both recommended by Zhen and Shen for remonstrance posts and inner-court offices.
18
四年,昭湣即位,李紳為宰相李逢吉所排,貶端州司馬。 嚴坐累,出為江州刺史。 給事中於敖素與嚴善,制既下,敖封還,時人凜然相顧曰:「於給事犯宰相怒而為知己,不亦危乎!」 及覆制出,乃知敖駁制書貶嚴太輕,中外無不嗤誚,以為口實。 初李紳謫官,朝官皆賀逢吉,唯右拾遺吳思不賀。 逢吉怒,改為殿中侍御史,充入蕃告哀使。 嚴復入為庫部郎中。
In the fourth year, when Emperor Zhaomin ascended the throne, Li Shen was ousted by the chief minister Li Fengji and demoted to marshal of Duanzhou. Yan was implicated by association and sent out as governor of Jiangzhou. The Attendant-in-Ordinary Yu Ao had long been friendly with Yan; when the appointment edict was issued, Ao sealed it and returned it, and people at court looked at one another in alarm and said, "Attendant Yu has offended the chief minister's wrath for a friend's sake—is he not in peril?" When the revised edict appeared, it turned out Ao had rejected the draft as punishing Yan too lightly; court and populace alike mocked the affair and made it a byword. When Li Shen was first demoted, court officials all congratulated Fengji; only the Right Reminder Wu Si refused to join them. Fengji in anger transferred him to palace censor and appointed him envoy to announce mourning in a foreign land. Yan was recalled and made director of the Storehouses Bureau.
19
太和二年二月,上試制舉人,命嚴與左散騎常侍馮宿、太常少卿賈餗為試官,以裴休為甲等制科之首。 有應直言極諫舉人劉蕡,條對激切,凡數千言。 不中選,人鹹以為屈。 其所對策,大行於時,登科者有請以身名授蕡者。 嚴再遷太常少卿。
In the second month of the second year of Taihe the emperor tested special-examination candidates and appointed Yan, together with the Left Regular Attendant Feng Su and Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices Jia Su, as examiners, with Pei Xiu ranking first in the top grade of the special examination. Among the candidates for blunt remonstrance was Liu Fen, whose itemized responses were fiercely incisive, running to several thousand words in all. He was not selected, and people widely regarded it as unjust. His policy essay circulated widely at the time, and some who had passed the examination offered to yield their fame to Fen. Yan was promoted again to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
20
五年,權知京兆尹,以強幹不避權豪稱,然無士君子之檢操,貪勢嗜利。 因醉而卒。 白居易,字樂天,太原人。 北齊五兵尚書建之仍孫。 建生士通,皇朝利州都督。 士通生志善,尚衣奉御。 志善生溫,檢校都官郎中。 溫生锽,歷酸棗、鞏二縣令。 锽生季庚,建中初為彭城令。 時李正己據河南十餘州叛。 正己宗人洧為徐州刺史,季庚說洧以彭門歸國,因授朝散大夫、大理少卿、徐州別駕,賜緋魚袋,兼徐泗觀察判官。 歷衢州、襄州別駕。 自锽至季庚,世敦儒業,皆以明經出身。 季庚生居易。 初,建立功於高齊,賜田於韓城,子孫家焉,遂移籍同州。 至溫徙於下邽,今為下邽人焉。
In the fifth year he served as acting metropolitan intendant of Jingzhao, praised for being forceful and unafraid of powerful families, yet he lacked a gentleman-scholar's restraint and was greedy for power and profit. He died in a drunken stupor. Bai Juyi, whose courtesy name was Letian, came from Taiyuan. He was the great-grandson of Jian, Minister of the Five Armies under the Northern Qi. Jian begot Shitong, who served as military governor of Lizhou in the present dynasty. Shitong begot Zhishan, Attendant for Imperial Vestments. Zhishan begot Wen, acting director in the Ministry of Justice. Wen begot Huang, who served in turn as magistrate of Suozao and Gong counties. Huang begot Jigeng, who in the early Jianzhong era was magistrate of Pengcheng. At that time Li Zhengji held more than ten prefectures south of the Yellow River in rebellion. Zhengji's clansman Wei was military governor of Xuzhou; Jigeng persuaded Wei to return Pengmen to the state, and for this he was granted Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, Vice Director of the Court of Judicial Review, Xuzhou vice governor, a crimson fish bag, and concurrent appointment as administrative aide to the Xuzhou-Si surveillance commissioner. He served in turn as vice governor of Quzhou and Xiangzhou. From Huang down to Jigeng, the family cultivated Confucian learning for generations, all entering office through the Classics examinations. Jigeng begot Juyi. At first Jian had rendered meritorious service to the Northern Qi and was granted fields in Hancheng; the family settled there and later transferred their registry to Tongzhou. When Wen moved to Xiaji, the family settled there; today they are registered as men of Xiaji.
21
居易幼聰慧絕人,襟懷宏放。 年十五六時,袖文一編,投著作郎吳人顧況。 況能文,而性浮薄,後進文章無可意者。 覽居易文,不覺迎門禮遇,曰:「吾謂斯文遂絕,復得吾子矣。」
Juyi in youth was exceptionally intelligent, with a broad and expansive spirit. When he was fifteen or sixteen he tucked a literary manuscript under his sleeve and presented it to Gu Kuang, a native of Wu who was an editorial director. Kuang could write but was by nature frivolous; he found nothing satisfactory in the writings of junior scholars. Reading Juyi's essay, he could not help but go out to the gate to receive him with courtesy and said, "I thought this literary tradition had perished; I have found you again."
22
貞元十四年,始以進士就試,禮部侍郎高郢擢升甲科,吏部判入等,授秘書省校書郎。 元和元年四月,憲宗策試制舉人,應才識兼茂、明於體用科,策入第四等,授盩厔縣慰、集賢校理。
In the fourteenth year of Zhenyuan he first took the jinshi examination; Vice Director of Rites Gao Ying elevated him to the top grade, the Ministry of Personnel assessment placed him in grade, and he was appointed proofreader in the Palace Library. In the fourth month of the first year of Yuanhe Emperor Xianzong tested special-examination candidates; Juyi entered the examination for outstanding talent and practical understanding, his policy placing in the fourth grade, and he was appointed magistrate of Zhouzhi and collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies.
23
居易文辭富艷,尤精於詩筆。 自讎校至結綬畿甸,所著歌詩數十百篇,皆意存諷賦,箴時之病,補政之缺。 而士君子多之,而往往流聞禁中。 章武皇帝納諫思理,渴聞讜言,二年十一月,召入翰林為學士。 三年五月,拜左拾遺。 居易自以逢好文之主,非次拔擢,欲以生平所貯,仰酬恩造。 拜命之日,獻疏言事曰:蒙恩授臣左拾遺,依前翰林學士,已與崔群同狀陳謝。 但言忝冒,未吐衷誠。 今再瀆宸嚴,伏惟重賜詳覽。 臣謹按《六典》,左右拾遺,掌供奉諷諫,凡發令舉事,有不便於時、不合於道者,小則上封,大則廷諍。 其選甚重,其秩甚卑,所以然者,抑有由也。 大凡人之情,位高則惜其位,身貴則愛其身; 惜位則偷合而不言,愛身則茍容而不諫,此必然之理也。 故拾遺之置,所以卑其秩者,使位未足惜,身未足愛也。 所以重其選者,使下不忍負心,上不忍負恩也。 夫位不足惜,恩不忍負,然後能有闕必規,有違必諫。 朝廷得失無不察,天下利病無不言。 此國朝置拾遺之本意也。 由是而言,豈小臣愚劣暗懦所宜居之哉? 況臣本鄉校豎儒,府縣走吏,委心泥滓,絕望煙霄。 豈意聖慈,擢居近職,每宴飲無不先預,每慶賜無不先沾,中廄之馬代其勞,內廚之膳給其食。 朝慚夕惕,已逾半年,塵曠漸深,憂愧彌劇。 未申微效,又擢清班。 臣所以授官已來僅經十日,食不知味,寢不遑安。 唯思粉身以答殊寵,但未獲粉身之所耳。 今陛下肇臨皇極,初受鴻名,夙夜憂勤,以求致理。 每施一政、舉一事,無不合於道、便於時者。 萬一事有不便於時者,陛下豈不欲聞之乎? 萬一政有不合於道者,陛下豈不欲知之乎? 倘陛下言動之際,詔令之間,小有闕遺,稍關損益,臣必密陳所見,潛獻所聞,但在聖心裁斷而已。 臣又職在禁中,不同外司,欲竭愚誠,合先陳露。 伏希天鑒,深察赤誠。
Juyi's literary compositions were rich and gorgeous, and he was especially skilled in poetic writing. From proofreading through receiving his sash in the capital region, the songs and poems he composed numbered dozens or hundreds, all intending satirical expression, admonishing the ills of the age and repairing the gaps in governance. Gentlemen and scholars mostly approved of them, and they often reached the ears of the inner palace. Emperor Zhangwu, wishing to receive remonstrance and ponder governance, was eager to hear blunt counsel; in the eleventh month of the second year he summoned Juyi into the Hanlin Academy as academician. In the fifth month of the third year he was appointed Left Reminder. Juyi considered that he had encountered a sovereign who loved literature and had been raised out of turn; he wished to offer up what he had stored through his life to repay the grace of his elevation. On the day he received his appointment, he submitted a memorial on affairs of state, which read: Receiving your grace, you appointed me Left Reminder while continuing me as Hanlin academician; I have already submitted a joint memorial of thanks with Cui Qun. I spoke only of unworthy acceptance and did not express my inner sincerity. Now again intruding upon your imperial presence, I humbly beg your careful reading once more. I respectfully consult the Administrative Compendium: the Left and Right Reminders oversee attendance and admonition; whenever orders or undertakings are inconvenient to the times or not in accord with the Way, for small matters they submit sealed memorials, for great matters they remonstrate at court. Their selection is weighty, their rank low; there is indeed a reason for this. Generally speaking, when position is high one cherishes one's position, when status is exalted one loves one's person; cherish position and one steals agreement without speaking; love one's person and one is compliant without remonstrating—this is inevitable. Therefore the Reminders are given low rank so that position is not yet worth cherishing and person not yet worth loving. Their selection is made weighty so that subordinates cannot bear to betray their hearts and superiors cannot bear to betray grace. When position is not worth cherishing and grace cannot be betrayed, only then can one admonish wherever there are faults and remonstrate wherever there are violations. The court's gains and losses are all examined; the realm's benefits and harms are all spoken of. This is our dynasty's original intent in establishing the Reminders. From this perspective, how could it be a post fit for a petty minister as stupid, inferior, and timid as I? Moreover I was originally a village-school pedant and a runner-clerk in prefecture and county; my heart was cast into the mire, my hopes cut off from the clouds. Who would have thought your sagely kindness would raise me to a nearby post: at every feast I was first to attend, at every celebratory bestowal first to benefit; the imperial stable's horses bore my labor, the inner kitchen's meals supplied my food. Ashamed morning and wary evening for more than half a year, the dust of neglect grows deeper and my worry and shame grow keener. Before I had rendered the slightest service, I was again promoted to the pure ranks. Therefore, in the ten days since receiving office, I have eaten without tasting and slept without rest. I think only of giving my body to repay extraordinary favor, yet have not yet found the occasion to do so. Now you have newly ascended the throne and first received the great name; day and night anxious and diligent, seeking to bring order. Whenever you enact a policy or undertake an affair, none fails to accord with the Way and suit the times. If by chance there is an affair inconvenient to the times, would you not wish to hear of it? If by chance there is a policy not in accord with the Way, would you not wish to know of it? If in your words and actions, among edicts and orders, there are small omissions or slight matters bearing on benefit and harm, I will secretly set forth what I have seen and quietly present what I have heard—only awaiting your judgment. My duties are moreover within the forbidden precincts, unlike outer offices; wishing to exhaust my sincerity, I ought first to disclose it. I humbly hope for Heaven's discernment and deep perception of my sincerity.
24
居易與河南元稹相善,同年登制舉,交情隆厚。 稹自監察御史謫為江陵府士曹掾,翰林學士李絳、崔群上前面論稹無罪,居易累疏切諫曰:
Juyi was on friendly terms with Yuan Zhen of Henan; they had passed the special examination in the same year and their friendship was deep and thick. When Zhen was demoted from investigating censor to army staff officer of Jiangling prefecture, Hanlin academicians Li Jiang and Cui Qun spoke to the emperor's face arguing that Zhen was guiltless; Juyi submitted memorial after memorial in blunt remonstrance, saying:
25
臣內察事情,外聽眾議,元稹左降有不可者三。 何者? 元稹守官正直,人所共知。 自授御史已來,舉奏不避權勢,只如奏李佐公等事,多是朝廷親情。 人誰無私,因以挾恨,或假公議,將報私嫌,遂使誣謗之聲,上聞天聽。 臣恐元稹左降已後,凡在位者,每欲舉職,必先以稹為誡,無人肯為陛下當官守法,無人肯為陛下嫉惡繩愆。 內外權貴親黨,縱有大過大罪者,必相容隱而已,陛下從此無由得知。 此其不可者一也。 昨元稹所追勘房式之事,心雖徇公,事稍過當。 既從重罰,足以懲違,況經謝恩,旋又左降。 雖引前事以為責辭,然外議喧喧,皆以為稹與中使劉士元爭廳,因此獲罪。 至於爭廳事理,已具前狀奏陳。 況聞士元蹋破驛門,奪將鞍馬,仍索弓箭,嚇辱朝官,承前已來,未有此事。 今中官有罪,未聞處置; 御史無過,卻先貶官。 遠近聞知,實損聖德。 臣恐從今已後,中官出使,縱暴益甚; 朝官受辱,必不敢言。 縱有被淩辱毆打者,亦以元稹為戒,但吞聲而已。 陛下從此無由得聞。 此其不可二也。 臣又訪聞元稹自去年已來,舉奏嚴礪在東川日枉法,沒入平人資產八十餘家; 又奏王沼違法給券,令監軍押柩及家口入驛; 又奏裴玢違敕征百姓草; 又奏韓臯使軍將封杖打殺縣令。 如此之事,前後甚多,屬朝廷法行,悉有懲罰。 計天下方鎮,皆怒元稹守官。 今貶為江陵判司,即是送與方鎮,從此方便報怨,朝廷何由得知? 臣伏聞德宗時有崔善貞者,告李锜必反,德宗不信,送與李锜,锜掘坑熾火,燒殺善貞。 曾未數年,李锜果反,至今天下為之痛心。 臣恐元稹貶官,方鎮有過,無人敢言,陛下無由得知不法之事。 此其不可者三也。 若無此三不可,假如朝廷誤左降一御史,蓋是小事,臣安敢煩瀆聖聽,至於再三! 誠以所損者深,所關者大,以此思慮,敢不極言!
Having examined the matter inwardly and listened to public discussion outwardly, I find three reasons Yuan Zhen's demotion must not stand. What are they? Everyone knows that Yuan Zhen is upright in office. Since his appointment as censor, he has not shied from power and influence in his impeachments; cases such as his memorial against Li Zuogong and others mostly involved court intimates and kin. Who is without private feeling? Resentment has been harbored; public discussion has been borrowed to settle private grudges, and slander has reached Your Majesty's ears. I fear that after Zhen's demotion, every official who wishes to perform his duties will first take him as a warning; no one will be willing to hold office and uphold the law for you, or to hate evil and restrain wrongdoing on your behalf. Powerful nobles and their kin, inside and outside the court, will only cover for one another no matter how grave their faults; from this you will have no way to learn of them. This is the first reason it must not stand. In yesterday's matter of Fang Shi, which Zhen pursued and investigated, his heart followed public duty, but the affair was somewhat excessive. He has already received heavy punishment, enough to chastise the offense; moreover, he had already thanked you for imperial grace, yet was again demoted. Although earlier matters were cited as grounds for reproach, public talk is loud: all believe Zhen was punished because he quarreled with the palace envoy Liu Shiyuan over quarters. The rights and wrongs of the quarrel over quarters have already been fully set forth in my previous memorial. Moreover I have heard that Shiyuan kicked through the relay station gate, seized a general's saddle and horse, and still demanded bow and arrows, terrifying and insulting court officials; nothing like this has ever occurred before. Now the palace official is guilty, yet no punishment has been heard of; yet the censor, though without fault, was demoted first. Near and far, all who hear of it know that it truly damages your sagely virtue. I fear that from now on, when palace officials go on missions, unrestrained violence will grow still worse; court officials who suffer insult will certainly not dare to speak out. Even those who are insulted and beaten will take Zhen as a warning and only swallow their voices. From this you will have no way to hear of it. This is the second reason it must not stand. I have also learned that since last year Zhen has memorialized that Yan Li, during his days in eastern Shu, violated the law and confiscated the property of more than eighty common households; he also memorialized that Wang Zhao illegally issued passes, ordering the military supervisor to escort the coffin and household members into the relay station; he also memorialized that Pei Bin violated an imperial order in levying fodder from the common people; he also memorialized that Han Gao had a military officer beat the county magistrate to death with a sealed staff. Such matters are very numerous; when the court applied the law, all received punishment. I reckon that the military governors throughout the realm are all angry at Zhen for upholding his office. Now that he is demoted to judicial adjutant at Jiangling, he is in effect delivered to the military governors; from this they can conveniently settle their grudges—how is the court to learn of it? I humbly recall that in Emperor Dezong's time Cui Shanzhen reported that Li Qi would certainly rebel; Dezong did not believe him and sent him to Li Qi, who dug a pit, kindled a fire, and burned Shanzhen to death. Within a few years Li Qi did rebel; to this day the realm grieves over it. I fear that with Zhen demoted, when military governors commit faults no one will dare speak, and you will have no way to learn of unlawful conduct. This is the third reason it must not stand. Were it not for these three reasons, a mistaken demotion of one censor would be a small matter—how would I dare trouble your imperial ear again and again! Truly, because the harm is deep and the stakes are great, with this in mind I must speak to the utmost!
26
疏入不報。
The memorial entered and received no response.
27
又淄青節度使李師道進絹,為魏徵子孫贖宅。 居易諫曰:「徵是陛下先朝宰相,太宗嘗賜殿材成其正室,尤與諸家第宅不同。 子孫典貼,其錢不多,自可官中為之收贖,而令師道掠美,事實非宜。」 憲宗深然之。
Also the military governor of Ziqing, Li Shidao, presented silk to ransom the residence of Wei Zheng's descendants. Juyi remonstrated, saying, "Wei was a chief minister of Your Majesty's former reign; Taizong once bestowed hall timber to complete his main hall, and it was especially unlike the mansions of other families. The descendants pawned it; the sum was not large and the court itself could redeem it, yet to let Shidao seize the credit is in truth not fitting." The emperor deeply agreed.
28
上又欲加河東王鍔平章事,居易諫曰:「宰相是陛下輔臣,非賢良不可當此位。 鍔誅剝民財,以市恩澤,不可使四方之人謂陛下得王鍔進奉,而與之宰相,深無益於聖朝。」 乃止。
The emperor also wished to add Wang E of Hedong as chief councilor; Juyi remonstrated, saying, "The chief councilor is Your Majesty's assisting minister; only the worthy and good should hold this post. E strips the people's wealth to purchase favor; it must not be allowed that people in the four directions say Your Majesty received Wang E's tribute offerings and gave him the chancellorship—this is deeply without benefit to the holy court." And so it was stopped.
29
王承宗拒命,上令神策中尉吐突承璀為招討使,諫官上章者十七八。 居易面論,辭情切至。 既而又請罷河北用兵,凡數千百言,皆人之難言者,上多聽納。 唯諫承璀事切,上頗不悅,謂李絳曰:「白居易小子,是朕拔擢致名位,而無禮於朕,朕實難奈。」 絳對曰:「居易所以不避死亡之誅,事無巨細必言者,蓋酬陛下特力拔擢耳,非輕言也。 陛下欲開諫諍之路,不宜阻居易言。」 上曰:「卿言是也。」 由是多見聽納。
Wang Chengzong defied orders; the emperor appointed the director of the Divine Stratagem Army, Tuoba Chenghuan, as campaign commissioner, and remonstrance officials submitted memorials numbering seventeen or eighteen. Juyi argued face to face, his words urgent and sincere. Afterward he again requested withdrawal of troops in Hebei; in all several thousand words, all things difficult for others to speak, and the emperor mostly listened and accepted. Only on the matter of remonstrating against Chenghuan was the emperor somewhat displeased, and he said to Li Jiang, "Bai Juyi the youngster is one I raised and elevated to fame and position, yet he is without propriety toward me—I truly find it hard to bear." Jiang replied, "The reason Juyi does not avoid the punishment of death and speaks on matters great and small is that he is repaying Your Majesty's special elevation of him by force—it is not light speech. Your Majesty wishes to open the path of blunt remonstrance; you should not obstruct Juyi's words." The emperor said, "Your words are correct." From this Juyi was often heard and accepted.
30
五年,當改官,上謂崔群曰:「居易官卑俸薄,拘於資地,不能超等,其官可聽自便奏來。」 居易奏曰:「臣聞姜公輔為內職,求為京府判司,為奉親也。 臣有老母,家貧養薄,乞如公輔例。」 於是,除京兆府戶曹參軍。 六年四月,丁母陳夫人之喪,退居下邽。 九年冬,入朝,授太子左贊善大夫。
In the fifth year, when his term for office change came due, the emperor said to Cui Qun, "Juyi's office is low and his salary thin; constrained by seniority he cannot be promoted beyond grade—his office may be reported as he himself wishes." Juyi memorialized, saying, "I have heard that Jiang Gongfu, holding an inner post, requested appointment as administrative aide in the capital prefecture for the sake of supporting his parents. I have an aged mother; our household is poor and support is thin—I beg to follow Gongfu's example." Thereupon he was appointed army staff officer in the metropolitan prefecture's revenue section. In the fourth month of the sixth year he entered mourning for his mother Lady Chen and retired to Xiaji. In the winter of the ninth year he entered court and was appointed Left Mentor to the Heir Apparent.
31
十年七月,盜殺宰相武元衡,居易首上疏論其冤,急請捕賊以雪國恥。 宰相以宮官非諫職,不當先諫官言事。 會有素惡居易者,掎摭居易,言浮華無行,其母因看花墮井而死,而居易作《賞花》及《新井》詩,甚傷名教,不宜置彼周行。 執政方惡其言事,奏貶為江表刺史。 詔出,中書舍人王涯上疏論之,言居易所犯狀跡,不宜治郡,追詔授江州司馬。
In the seventh month of the tenth year bandits killed the chief minister Wu Yuanheng; Juyi was first to submit a memorial on his injustice and urgently requested capture of the assassins to wash away the national shame. The chief ministers held that a palace official was not a remonstrance post and ought not speak before remonstrance officials. There happened to be one who had long disliked Juyi; he seized on Juyi and said he was frivolous and without conduct—that his mother had died from falling into a well while viewing flowers, yet Juyi composed "Viewing Flowers" and "The New Well," gravely injuring moral teaching, and was unfit to stand among the court ranks. Those in power at the time detested his remonstrances and memorialized that he be demoted to prefect south of the Yangtze. When the edict was issued, Drafting Academician Wang Ya submitted a memorial on the matter, saying that given the nature of Juyi's offenses he was unfit to govern a prefecture; the edict was recalled and he was appointed marshal of Jiangzhou instead.
32
居易儒學之外,尤通釋典,常以忘懷處順為事,都不以遷謫介意。 在湓城,立隱舍於廬山遺愛寺,嘗與人書言之曰:「予去年秋始遊廬山,到東西二林間香爐峰下,見雲木泉石,勝絕第一。 愛不能舍,因立草堂。 前有喬松十數株,修竹千餘竿,青羅為墻援,白石為橋道,流水周於舍下,飛泉落於檐間,紅榴白蓮,羅生池砌。」 居易與湊、滿、朗、晦四禪師,追永、遠、宗、雷之跡,為人外之交。 每相摧遊詠,躋危登險,極林泉之幽邃。 至於翛然順適之際,幾欲忘其形骸。 或經時不歸,或逾月而返,郡守以朝貴遇之,不之責。
Beyond Confucian learning Juyi was especially versed in Buddhist scriptures and often took forgetting cares and accepting circumstances as his practice, not minding exile and demotion at all. At Xuncheng he established a hermitage at the Jian'ai Temple on Mount Lu and once wrote to someone, saying, "Last autumn I first traveled Mount Lu; between the eastern and western forests at the foot of Incense Burner Peak I saw clouds, trees, springs, and rocks surpassing all else in excellence. I loved it and could not leave; therefore I built a thatched hall. Before it were more than ten tall pines, more than a thousand bamboo poles, green silk for a wall enclosure, white stone for a bridge path, flowing water circling below the lodge, flying springs falling between the eaves, red pomegranate and white lotus growing thick around the pool ledge." Juyi with the four Chan masters Cou, Man, Lang, and Hui pursued the traces of Yong, Yuan, Zong, and Lei and formed friendships outside the world of men. They often urged one another to travel and chant, climbing peril and ascending heights, reaching the utmost seclusion of forests and springs. When they arrived at a state of free and easy accord, they nearly forgot their own bodies. Sometimes they did not return for a whole season, or returned only after more than a month; the prefect treated them as court nobility and did not hold them accountable.
33
時元稹在通州,篇詠贈答往來,不以數千里為遠。 嘗與稹書,因論作文之大旨曰:夫文,尚矣,三才各有文。 天之文三光首之; 地之文五材首之; 人之文《六經》道之。 就《六經》言,《詩》又首之。 何者? 聖人感人心而天下和平。 感人心者,莫先乎情,莫始乎言,莫切乎聲,莫深乎義。 詩者,根情,苗言,華聲,實義。 上自賢聖,下至愚騃,微及豚魚,幽及鬼神。 群分而氣同,形異而情一。 未有聲入而不應、情交而不感者。 聖人知其然,因其言,經之以六義; 緣其聲,緯之以五音。 音有韻,義有類。 韻協則言順,言順則聲易入; 類舉則情見,情見則感易交。 於是乎孕大含深,貫微洞密,上下通而二氣泰,憂樂合而百志熙。 二帝三王所以直道而行、垂拱而理者,揭此以為大柄,決此以為大竇也。 故聞「元首明,股肱良」之歌,則知虞道昌矣。 聞五子洛汭之歌,則知夏政荒矣。 言者無罪,聞者作誡,言者聞者莫不兩盡其心焉。 洎周衰秦興,采詩官廢,上不以詩補察時政,下不以歌泄導人情。 用至於諂成之風動,救失之道缺。 於時六義始剚矣。 《國風》變為《騷辭》,五言始於蘇、李。 《詩》、《騷》皆不遇者,各系其志,發而為文。 故河梁之句,止於傷別; 澤畔之吟,歸於怨思。 仿徨抑郁,不暇及他耳。 然去《詩》未遠,梗概尚存。 故興離別則引雙鳧一雁為喻,諷君子小人則引香草惡鳥為比。 雖義類不具,猶得風人之什二三焉。 於時六義始缺矣。 晉、宋已還,得者蓋寡。 以康樂之奧博,多溺於山水; 以淵明之高古,偏放於田園。 江、鮑之流,又狹於此。 如梁鴻《五噫》之例者,百無一二。 於時六義浸微矣! 陵夷至於梁、陳間,率不過嘲風雪、弄花草而已。 噫! 風雪花草之物,三百篇中豈舍之乎? 顧所用何如耳。 設如「北風其涼」,假風以刺威虐; 「雨雪霏霏」,因雪以湣征役; 「棠棣之華」,感華以諷兄弟; 「采采芣苡」,美草以樂有子也。 皆興發於此而義歸於彼。 反是者,可乎哉! 然則「餘霞散成綺,澄江凈如練」,「歸花先委露,別葉乍辭風」之什,麗則麗矣,吾不知其所諷焉。 故僕所謂嘲風雪、弄花草而已。 於時六義盡去矣。 唐興二百年,其間詩人不可勝數。 所可舉者,陳子昂有《感遇詩》二十首,鮑防《感興詩》十五篇。 又詩之豪者,世稱李、杜。 李之作,才矣! 奇矣! 人不迨矣! 索其風雅比興,十無一焉。 杜詩最多,可傳者千餘首。 至於貫穿古今,覙縷格律,盡工盡善,又過於李焉。 然撮其《新安》、《石壕》、《潼關吏》、《蘆子關》、《花門》之章,「硃門酒肉臭,路有凍死骨」之句,亦不過十三四。 杜尚如此,況不迨杜者乎? 僕常痛詩道崩壞,忽忽憤發,或廢食輟寢,不量才力,欲扶起之。 嗟乎! 事有大謬者,又不可一二而言,然亦不能不粗陳於左右。 僕始生六七月時,乳母抱弄於書屏下,有指「之」字、「無」字示僕者,僕口未能言,心已默識。 後有問此二字者,雖百十其試,而指之不差。 則知僕宿習之緣,已在文字中矣。 及五六歲,便學為詩。 九歲諳識聲韻。 十五六,始知有進士,苦節讀書。 二十已來,書課賦,夜課書,間又課詩,不遑寢息矣。 以至於口舌成瘡,手肘成胝。 既壯而膚革不豐盈,未老而齒發早衰白; 瞀然如飛蠅垂珠在眸子中者,動以萬數,蓋以苦學力文之所致! 又自悲家貧多故,年二十七,方從鄉賦。 既第之後,雖專於科試,亦不廢詩。 及授校書郎時,已盈三四百首。 或出示交友如足下輩,見皆謂之工,其實未窺作者之域耳。 自登朝來,年齒漸長,閱事漸多。 每與人言,多詢時務; 每讀書史,多求理道。 始知文章合為時而著,歌詩合為事而作。 是時皇帝初即位,宰府有正人,屢降璽書,訪人急病。 僕當此日,擢在翰林,身是諫官,月請諫紙。 啟奏之間,有可以救濟人病,裨補時闕,而難於指言者,輒詠歌之,欲稍稍進聞於上。 上以廣宸聽,副憂勤; 次以酬恩獎,塞言責; 下以復吾平生之志。 豈圖志未就而悔已生,言未聞而謗已成矣! 又請為左右終言之。 凡聞僕《賀雨詩》,眾口籍籍,以為非宜矣; 聞僕《哭孔戡詩》,眾面脈脈,盡不悅矣; 聞《秦中吟》,則權豪貴近者,相目而變色矣; 聞《登樂遊園》寄足下詩,則執政柄者扼腕矣; 聞《宿紫閣村》詩,則握軍要者切齒矣! 大率如此,不可遍舉。 不相與者,號為沽譽,號為詆訐,號為訕謗。 茍相與者,則如牛僧孺之誡焉。 乃至骨肉妻孥,皆以我為非也。 其不我非者,舉世不過三兩人。 有鄧魴者,見僕詩而喜,無何魴死。 有唐衢者,見僕詩而泣,未幾而衢死。 其餘即足下。 足下又十年來困躓若此。 嗚呼! 豈六義四始之風,天將破壞,不可支持耶? 抑又不知天意不欲使下人病苦聞於上耶? 不然,何有志於詩者,不利若此之甚也! 然僕又自思關東一男子耳,除讀書屬文外,其他懵然無知,乃至書畫棋博,可以接群居之歡者,一無通曉,即其愚拙可知矣! 初應進士時,中朝無緦麻之親,達官無半面之舊; 策蹇步於利足之途,張空拳於戰文之場。 十年之間,三登科第,名落眾耳,跡升清貫,出交賢俊,入侍冕旒。 始得名於文章,終得罪於文章,亦其宜也。 日者聞親友間說,禮、吏部舉選人,多以僕私試賦判為準的。 其餘詩句,亦往往在人口中。 僕恧然自愧,不之信也。 及再來長安,又聞有軍使高霞寓者,欲聘倡妓,妓大誇曰:「我誦得白學士《長恨歌》,豈同他哉?」 由是增價。 又足下書云:到通州日,見江館柱間有題僕詩者。 何人哉? 又昨過漢南日,適遇主人集眾娛樂,他賓諸妓見僕來,指而相顧曰:此是《秦中吟》、《長恨歌》主耳。 自長安抵江西三四千里,凡鄉校、佛寺、逆旅、行舟之中,往往有題僕詩者; 士庶、僧徒、孀婦、處女之口,每有詠僕詩者。 此誠雕篆之戲,不足為多,然今時俗所重,正在此耳。 雖前賢如淵、雲者,前輩如李、杜者,亦未能忘情於其間。 古人云:「名者公器,不可多取。」 僕是何者,竊時之名已多。 既竊時名,又欲竊時之富貴,使己為造物者,肯兼與之乎? 今之屯窮,理固然也。 況詩人多蹇,如陳子昂、杜甫,各授一拾遺,而屯剝至死。 孟浩然輩不及一命,窮悴終身。 近日孟郊六十,終試協律; 張籍五十,未離一太祝。 彼何人哉! 況僕之才又不迨彼。 今雖謫佐遠郡,而官品至第五,月俸四五萬,寒有衣,饑有食,給身之外,施及家人。 亦可謂不負白氏子矣。 微之,微之! 勿念我哉! 僕數月來,檢討囊帙中,得新舊詩,各以類分,分為卷目。 自拾遺來,凡所遇所感,關於美刺興比者; 又自武德至元和,因事立題,題為《新樂府》者,共一百五十首,謂之諷諭詩。 又或退公,或臥病閑居,知足保和,吟玩性情者一百首,謂之閑適詩。 又有事物牽於外,情理動於內,隨感遇而形於嘆詠者一百首,謂之感傷詩。 又有五言、七言、長句、絕句,自百韻至兩韻者,四百餘首,謂之雜律詩。 凡為十五卷,約八百首。 異時相見,當盡致於執事。 微之,古人云:「窮則獨善其身,達則兼濟天下。」 僕雖不肖,常師此語。 大丈夫所守者道,所待者時。 時之來也,為雲龍,為風鵬,勃然突然,陳力以出; 時之不來也,為霧豹,為冥鴻,寂兮寥兮,奉身而退。 進退出處,何往而不自得哉! 故僕志在兼濟,行在獨善,奉而始終之則為道,言而發明之則為詩。 謂之諷諭詩,兼濟之志也; 謂之閑適詩,獨善之義也。 故覽僕詩者,知僕之道焉。 其餘雜律詩,或誘於一時一物,發於一笑一吟,率然成章,非平生所尚者,但以親朋合散之際,取其釋恨佐歡,今銓次之間,未能刪去。 他時有為我編集斯文者,略之可也。 微之,夫貴耳賤目,榮古陋今,人之大情也。 僕不能遠征古舊,如近歲韋蘇州歌行,才麗之外,頗近興諷; 其五言詩,又高雅閑淡,自成一家之體,今之秉筆者誰能及之? 然當蘇州在時,人亦未甚愛重,必待身後,人始貴之。 今僕之詩,人所愛者,悉不過雜律詩與《長恨歌》已下耳。 時之所重,僕之所輕。 至於諷諭者,意激而言質; 閑適者,思淡而辭迂。 以質合迂,宜人之不愛也。 今所愛者,並世而生,獨足下耳。 然百千年後,安知復無如足下者出,而知愛我詩哉? 故自八九年來,與足下小通則以詩相戒,小窮則以詩相勉,索居則以詩相慰,同處則以詩相娛。 知吾罪吾,率以詩也。 如今年春遊城南時,與足下馬上相戲,因各誦新艷小律,不雜他篇,自皇子陂歸昭國裏,叠吟遞唱,不絕聲者二十里餘。 攀、李在傍,無所措口。 知我者以為詩仙,不知我者以為詩魔。 何則? 勞心靈,役聲氣,連朝接夕,不自知其苦,非魔而何? 偶同人當美景,或花時宴罷,或月夜酒酣,一詠一吟,不覺老之將至。 雖驂鸞鶴、遊蓬瀛者之適,無以加於此焉,又非仙而何? 微之,微之! 此吾所以與足下外形骸、脫蹤跡、傲軒鼎、輕人寰者,又以此也。 當此之時,足下興有餘力,且欲與僕悉索還往中詩,取其尤長者,如張十八古樂府,李二十新歌行,盧、楊二秘書律詩,竇七、元八絕句,博搜精掇,編而次之,號為《元白往還集》。 眾君子得擬議於此者,莫不踴躍欣喜,以為盛事。 嗟乎! 言未終而足下左轉,不數月而僕又繼行,心期索然,何日成就? 又可為之太息矣! 僕常語足下,凡人為文,私於自是,不忍於割截,或失於繁多。 其間妍媸,益又自惑。 必待交友有公鑒無姑息者,討論而削奪之,然後繁簡當否,得其中矣。 況僕與足下,為文尤患其多。 己尚病,況他人乎? 今且各纂詩筆,粗為卷第,待與足下相見日,各出所有,終前志焉。 又不知相遇是何年,相見是何地,溘然而至,則如之何? 微之知我心哉! 潯陽臘月,江風苦寒,歲暮鮮歡,夜長少睡。 引筆鋪紙,悄然燈前,有念則書,言無銓次。 勿以繁雜為倦,且以代一夕之話言也。
At that time Yuan Zhen was in Tongzhou; poems exchanged in gift and response traveled back and forth, not considering several thousand li distant. He once wrote to Zhen discussing the great principles of composition, saying: Writing is exalted indeed; heaven, earth, and humanity each have their own literature. Heaven's literature is headed by the sun, moon, and stars; earth's literature is headed by the five elements; human literature is guided by the Six Classics. Among the Six Classics, the Odes come first. Why is this? The sage moves people's hearts, and the realm is at peace. What moves the heart begins with feeling, starts with words, is sharpened by sound, and is grounded in meaning. Poetry has feeling for its root, words for its shoot, sound for its blossom, and meaning for its fruit. It ranges from sages and worthies down to fools and dullards, reaching subtly even to pigs and fish and darkly even to ghosts and spirits. Though classes are many, the vital breath is one; though forms differ, feelings are the same. Never does sound enter the ear without response, nor feelings meet without mutual stirring. Knowing this, the sage took people's words and threaded them with the six principles; and following their sounds, wove them with the five tones. Sound has rhyme; meaning has category. When rhyme harmonizes, words flow smoothly; when words flow, sound enters easily; when categories are set forth, feeling shows; when feeling shows, mutual stirring comes easily. Thus it bears the great and holds the deep, penetrates the subtle and threads the dense; above and below communicate and the two breaths are at peace, sorrow and joy unite and the hundred aims flourish. The Two Emperors and Three Kings could walk the straight path and govern with folded arms because they raised this as the great handle and opened this as the great gateway. Thus hearing the song "The head is bright, the arms are good," one knows the way of Yu flourished. Hearing the song of the Five Sons at Luorui, one knows the government of Xia was in disorder. The speaker bears no guilt; the hearer takes warning—speaker and hearer alike give their full hearts. When Zhou declined and Qin rose, the poetry-gathering office was abolished; above, poetry no longer supplemented and examined government; below, songs no longer vented and guided human feeling. Flattery and complacency took hold, and the way of remedying loss was lost. Then the six principles were first cut away. The Airs of the States became Sao verse; five-character poetry began with Su Wu and Li Ling. The authors of the Odes and Sao were all men who met with no favor; each clung to his own aim and, giving vent, produced writing. Thus the lines at River Bridge stop at grieving parting; the chant beside the marsh returns to resentful brooding. Wandering and depressed, they had no leisure for anything else. Yet they were not far from the Odes; the rough outline still remained. Thus in treating parting they cited paired ducks and a single goose as metaphor; in satirizing gentleman and petty man they cited fragrant herbs and evil birds as comparison. Though the categories of meaning were not complete, they still preserved two or three out of ten of the Airs. Then the six principles were first lacking. From Jin and Song onward, those who attained it were few indeed. In Xie Lingyun's profundity and breadth, many drowned in landscape; in Tao Yuanming's lofty antiquity, many were set loose in fields and gardens. The stream of Jiang Yan and Bao Zhao was narrower still. Cases like Liang Hong's "Five Sighs" were not one or two in a hundred. By then the six principles were gradually fading! Decline reached Liang and Chen, when as a rule poetry was no more than mocking wind and snow and toying with flowers and grasses. Alas! Are wind, flowers, snow, and grass absent from the three hundred pieces? It depends on how they are used. Take "The north wind is cold"—wind is borrowed to satirize cruel oppression; "The snow falls thickly"—through snow to pity conscript labor; "The cherry-apple in flower"—moved by blossom to satirize brothers; "Gathering plantain"—praising the herb to rejoice in having sons. All rise from this and meaning returns to that. To do the opposite—can that be allowed! Then pieces like "Leftover glow scatters into brocade; the clear river is smooth as silk" and "Returning flowers first shed dew; parting leaves suddenly leave the wind" are lovely indeed, but I do not know what they satirize. This is what I mean by mocking wind and snow and toying with flowers and grasses. By then the six principles were entirely gone. Tang has risen for two hundred years; poets in that time are beyond counting. Those who may be cited: Chen Zi'ang had twenty "Poems on Encountering Feeling"; Bao Fang had fifteen "Poems Stirred by Feeling." Again, the mighty in poetry—the age calls them Li and Du. Li Bai's works—talented indeed! Strange indeed! Men cannot reach him! Search for elegance, Airs, comparison, and stirring—not one in ten. Du Fu's poems are most numerous; those that can be transmitted number more than a thousand. In penetrating past and present, threading through rules and forms, and achieving utmost craft and goodness, he surpasses Li Bai. Yet gather his chapters "Xin'an," "Shihao," "Tong Pass Officer," "Luzi Pass," and "Flower Gate," and the line "Vermilion gates reek of wine and meat; on the road lie bones of the frozen dead"—these too are no more than thirteen or fourteen out of a hundred. If Du Fu is still like this, how much more those who do not reach Du Fu? I have often grieved that the way of poetry was collapsing; suddenly, in angry agitation, I would abandon eating or stop sleeping, not measuring my talent and strength, wishing to raise it up again. Alas! There are great errors in affairs that cannot be told one by one, yet I also cannot fail to set them out roughly before you. When I was six or seven months old, my wet nurse held me playing beneath a book screen; someone pointed out the characters "zhi" and "wu" to me; though my mouth could not yet speak, my heart had already silently recognized them. Later, when asked about these two characters, though tested a hundred or ten times, I pointed without error. Then I knew that the bond of my former learning was already within writing. By five or six I was already learning to write poetry. At nine I was thoroughly versed in rhyme. At fifteen or sixteen I first learned of the jinshi degree and studied books with bitter discipline. From twenty onward, by day I studied fu, by night books; in between I also studied poetry, with no leisure for sleep and rest. It reached the point where my mouth and tongue formed sores and my hands and elbows formed calluses. Though grown, my skin and flesh were not full; though not yet old, my teeth and hair whitened early; dazed as though flies hanging beads in the pupils, numbering in the tens of thousands—this was caused by bitter study and forcing writing! Again I grieved that my family was poor and full of troubles; only at twenty-seven did I set out for the provincial examination. After passing, though I specialized in the civil examinations, I did not abandon poetry. By the time I was appointed collator, I already had three or four hundred pieces. Sometimes I showed them to friends like you; all who saw them called them skilled, but in truth I had not yet glimpsed the domain of the true author. Since entering court, my years gradually lengthened and affairs I witnessed gradually grew. Whenever I spoke with others, I often inquired about current affairs; whenever I read books and histories, I often sought the way and its principles. I then knew that writing should be composed for the age, and songs and poems should be made for affairs. At that time the emperor had just taken the throne; the chief ministers had upright men; repeatedly imperial edicts were sent down, inquiring into people's urgent ills. On that day I was promoted to the Hanlin; my person was remonstrance official; monthly I requested remonstrance paper. Between memorials and reports, when there was something that could relieve people's ills, supplement and repair current lacks, yet was hard to speak of directly, I would chant and sing it, wishing gradually to advance it to the emperor's hearing. Above, to broaden the imperial ear and assist anxious diligence; next, to repay favor and reward and fulfill the duty of speech; below, to fulfill my lifelong aim. Who would have thought that before the aim was achieved regret was already born, before the words were heard slander was already formed! Again I ask to speak to the end before you. Whenever people heard my "Poem on Congratulating the Rain," mouths were all abuzz, thinking it improper; when they heard my "Poem on Mourning Kong Kan," faces were all stern, entirely displeased; when they heard "Chants of Qin," then powerful families and the noble and near exchanged glances and changed color; when they heard the poem "Ascending Leyou Garden" sent to you, then those who held the reins of government clenched their wrists; when they heard the poem "Lodging at Zige Village," then those who grasped military power gnashed their teeth! Mostly it was like this; it cannot all be cited. Those not on good terms with me called it seeking reputation, called it slander, called it ridicule. If on good terms, then like Niu Sengru's admonition. It reached the point that flesh and bone, wife and children—all regarded me as wrong. Those who did not regard me as wrong—in the whole realm were no more than two or three. There was Deng Fang, who saw my poems and rejoiced; before long Fang died. There was Tang Qu, who saw my poems and wept; before long Qu died. The rest is you. You too have been thwarted like this for ten years. Alas! Is the wind of the six principles and four beginnings of heaven about to be destroyed, beyond support? Or again, does one not know whether heaven's intent is unwilling to let the suffering of those below be heard above? If not, why are those who aspire to poetry so greatly disadvantaged! Yet I again reflect that I am but a man of east of the Pass; apart from reading books and composing writing, in other things I am blankly ignorant—even calligraphy, painting, chess, and gambling, which can join the pleasure of group living, I have not one that I understand; from this my foolish awkwardness can be known! When I first answered the jinshi examination, in the central court I had no relative within the mourning-garment bond; among high officials I had no acquaintance of half a face; I urged lame steps on the path of swift feet and brandished empty fists on the battlefield of literary combat. Within ten years I thrice passed the examinations; my name fell on many ears, my track rose to the clear roster; going out I associated with worthy and eminent men, entering I attended the imperial crown. At first I gained name through writing; in the end I offended through writing—it is fitting. Recently I heard from among kin and friends that the Ministries of Rites and Personnel, in selecting candidates, often took my private examination fu and judgments as the standard. The rest of the poetic lines too are often on people's lips. I was ashamed and doubted it myself, not believing it. When I came again to Chang'an, I also heard that Military Commissioner Gao Xiayu wished to hire a singing girl; the girl greatly boasted, saying: "I can recite Academician Bai's 'Song of Everlasting Sorrow'—how can I be like the others?" and thereby raised her price. Again your letter says: On reaching Tongzhou, I saw on a pillar of the river lodge someone had inscribed my poem. Who was it? Again yesterday, passing Hannan, I happened to meet the host gathering the crowd for entertainment; other guests and singing girls, seeing me come, pointed and looked at one another, saying: This is the master of "Chants of Qin" and "Song of Everlasting Sorrow." From Chang'an to Jiangxi, three or four thousand li—everywhere in village schools, Buddhist temples, inns, and boats on the road, there are often inscriptions of my poems; from the mouths of commoners and gentry, monks, widows, and maidens, there are often those who chant my poems. This is truly the sport of carving and inlay—not enough to count for much; yet what the present age values lies just in this. Though former worthies like Tao Yuanming and Xie Lingyun, and elders like Li Bai and Du Fu, also could not forget feeling in this. The ancients said: "Fame is a public vessel; one must not take too much of it." What sort of man am I, that I have already stolen more than my share of fame of the age? Having already stolen the age's name, I also wish to steal the age's wealth and honor—if I were the Creator, would He grant both together? Today's hardship and obstruction—by principle it is surely so. Moreover poets mostly meet with obstruction; like Chen Zi'ang and Du Fu, each was granted a remonstrance post and yet met hardship and stripping unto death. Men like Meng Haoran did not reach even one appointment and ended their lives in poverty and emaciation. Recently Meng Jiao at sixty finally passed the Harmonizing Office examination; Zhang Ji at fifty had still not left the post of grand libationer. What sort of men were they! Moreover my talent again does not reach them. Though now demoted as assistant in a distant commandery, my official rank reaches the fifth grade, monthly salary four or five myriad; in cold I have clothes, in hunger food; beyond supplying my person, it extends to my family. One may also say I have not failed the son of the Bai clan. Zhen, Zhen! Do not think of me! For several months I have examined satchels and folders, obtaining old and new poems, each sorted by category into fascicle titles. From remonstrance officer onward, all that I encountered and felt, relating to praise, satire, stirring, and comparison; again from Wude to Yuanhe, setting titles according to affairs, titled "New Ballads"—altogether one hundred fifty pieces, called satirical-remonstrance poems. Again, whether leaving office or lying ill in leisure residence, content and preserving harmony, chanting and savoring one's nature—one hundred pieces, called leisurely-contentment poems. Again, when external things pull and inner principle stirs, following encounter and feeling and taking form in sighing chant—one hundred pieces, called poems of stirred feeling. Again, five-character, seven-character, long lines, and quatrains, from one hundred rhymes down to two rhymes—more than four hundred pieces, called miscellaneous regulated poems. Altogether fifteen fascicles, about eight hundred pieces. When we meet another time, I shall present them all to you. Zhen, the ancients said: "In obstruction, cultivate the self alone; in attainment, benefit all under heaven together." Though I am unworthy, I constantly take this saying as teacher. What a great man keeps is the Way; what he awaits is the time. When the time comes, he becomes cloud and dragon, wind and peng, suddenly bursting forth and offering his strength; when the time does not come, he becomes mist leopard, dark swan, silent and sparse, withdrawing his person. Advancing, retreating, going out, staying—wherever he goes he is not without self-sufficiency! Thus my aim lies in benefiting all together; my conduct lies in cultivating the self alone; keeping it from beginning to end is the Way; speaking and making it clear is poetry. Calling them satirical-remonstrance poems is the aim of benefiting all together; calling them leisurely-contentment poems is the meaning of cultivating the self alone. Thus those who read my poems know my Way. The rest of the miscellaneous regulated poems—sometimes tempted by one time or one thing, arising from one laugh or one chant, composed on the spur of the moment, not what I esteem in life—are only for the moment when kin and friends gather or part, taking them to release resentment and assist pleasure; in present selection and ordering I have not been able to delete them. If another time someone compiles this writing for me, he may omit them. Zhen, to honor the ear and despise the eye, to glorify the old and despise the present—this is the great feeling of men. I cannot go far to cite antiquity; take in recent years Wei Yingwu's song-lines—beyond talent and beauty, they are quite near stirring satire; his five-character poems again are lofty, elegant, leisurely, and plain, forming a style of their own—among those who wield the brush today, who can reach him? Yet when Suzhou was alive, people also did not greatly love and esteem him; it had to wait until after his death before people began to value him. Today what people love in my poems is entirely no more than miscellaneous regulated poems and "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" and below. What the age values is what I lightly esteem. As for satirical-remonstrance poems, the intent is sharp and the words plain; as for leisurely-contentment poems, the thought is bland and the diction circuitous. Plain joined with circuitous—it is fitting that people do not love them. Those who love them now, born in the same age—only you. Yet a hundred or a thousand years hence, who knows whether again someone like you will appear and know to love my poems? Thus from eight or nine years ago, with you when slightly in accord I admonish through poetry, when slightly in hardship I encourage through poetry, when living apart I console through poetry, when together I delight through poetry. Knowing me or blaming me—in all cases it is through poetry. Like this spring when touring south of the city, with you jesting on horseback, we each recited new and gorgeous short regulated pieces, not mixing other pieces; from Prince's Mound returning to Zhaoguo Ward, chanting and singing in turn, the sound unbroken for more than twenty li. Pan and Li were at the side, with no place to put their mouths. Those who knew me called me poetry immortal; those who did not know me called me poetry demon. Why? Toiling the mind and spirit, enslaving breath and sound, connecting morning to evening, not knowing one's own suffering—is that not demon? By chance with companions amid fine scenery, or when the flower-season banquet ends, or when on a moonlit night the wine is deep, one chant and one recitation—before one knows it old age is near. Though the ease of riding paired cranes or roaming Penglai cannot be added to beyond this—again, is that not immortal? Zhen, Zhen! This is why I with you shed bodily form, cast off tracks, disdain regalia and tripods, and lightly esteem the human realm—again for this reason. At that time you still had surplus energy and also wished with me to search thoroughly all the poems exchanged back and forth, take the especially fine among them—like Zhang Eighteen's old ballads, Li Twenty's new song-lines, Secretaries Lu and Yang's regulated poems, Dou Seven and Yuan Eight's quatrains—search broadly, select finely, compile and arrange them, and title them "Collection of Yuan and Bai's Exchanges." The gentlemen who obtained a place to discuss this were all leaping with joy, taking it as a great event. Alas! Before the words were finished you were transferred left; within a few months I followed in going; the heart's expectation was desolate—what day would it be achieved? Again one may sigh deeply over this! I have often told you: for any person composing writing, he is partial to his own work, unwilling to cut and trim, or errs in being too numerous. Among them the beautiful and ugly—further he himself is confused. One must wait for a friend who has fair judgment without indulgence, discuss and pare away, and only then whether prolix or concise is appropriate can reach the mean. Moreover I with you, in writing especially fear its being too much. I myself still find it sickening—how much more others? For now let each compile poetic drafts, roughly into fascicles; wait until the day we meet face to face, each bring out what he has, and fulfill the former aim. Again I do not know in what year we will meet, in what place we will see each other; if suddenly it comes, then what is to be done? Zhen knows my heart! Xunyang, twelfth month; river wind bitter cold; year's end with little joy; night long and little sleep. I draw the brush and spread paper, quietly before the lamp; when there is a thought I write; the words are without order of selection. Do not weary at prolixity; let it stand in place of one evening's conversation.
34
居易自敘如此,文士以為信然。
Juyi's self-account is as above; literary men regarded it as trustworthy.
35
十三年冬,量移忠州刺史。 自潯陽浮江上峽。 十四年三月,元稹會居易於峽口,停舟夷陵三日。 時季弟行簡從行,三人於峽州西二十里黃牛峽口石洞中,置酒賦詩,戀戀不能訣。 南賓郡當峽路之深險處也,花木多奇。 居易在郡,為《木蓮荔枝圖》,寄朝中親友,各記其狀曰:「荔枝生巴、峽間,形圓如帷蓋。 葉如桂,冬青; 華如橘,春榮; 實如丹,夏熟。 朵如蒲萄,核如枇杷,殼如紅繒,膜如紫綃,瓤肉瑩白如雪,漿液甘酸如醴酪。 大略如此,其實過之。 若離本枝,一日而色變,二日而香變,三日而味變,四五日外,色香味盡去矣。」 「木蓮大者高四五丈,巴民呼為黃心樹,經冬不雕。 身如青楊,有白文。 葉如桂,厚大無脊。 花如蓮,香色艷膩皆同,房獨蕊有異。 四月初始開,自開迨謝,僅二十日。 元和十四年夏,命道士毋丘元志寫之。 惜其遐僻,因以三絕賦之。」 有「天教拋擲在深山」之句,鹹傳於都下,好事者喧然模寫。
In the winter of the thirteenth year he was transferred in grade to governor of Zhongzhou. From Xunyang he floated upriver on the Yangtze into the gorges. In the third month of the fourteenth year Yuan Zhen met Juyi at the gorge mouth and moored their boats at Yiling for three days. At the time his younger brother Xingjian was traveling with him; the three men at a stone cave twenty li west of Yiling at the mouth of Yellow Ox Gorge set out wine and composed poems, reluctant to part and unable to take leave. Nanbin prefecture lies at the deepest peril of the gorge route, and its flowers and trees are mostly extraordinary. While in the prefecture Juyi composed "Illustrations of Magnolia and Lychee" and sent them to kin and friends at court, each recording their forms, which read, "The lychee grows between Ba and the gorges; its form is round like a canopy. Its leaves are like cassia, evergreen in winter; Its blossoms resemble the orange, opening in spring; Its fruit is like cinnabar, ripening in summer. Clusters hang like grapes; the pit resembles a loquat; the shell is red silk gauze, the membrane purple gauze; the flesh gleams white as snow; the juice is sweet-sour as cultured curds. That is the general picture—and the fruit itself surpasses it. If separated from its branch, in one day its color changes, in two days its fragrance changes, in three days its flavor changes, and beyond four or five days its color, fragrance, and flavor are all gone." "The magnolia grows as tall as four or five zhang; Ba people call it the yellow-heart tree and it never sheds in winter. Its trunk is like green poplar, with white markings. Its leaves are like cassia, thick and large without a midrib. Its flowers are like the lotus; fragrance, color, and lush beauty are all the same, only the calyx and solitary pistil differ. It first opens in the fourth month; from opening until fading is only twenty days. In the summer of the fourteenth year of Yuanhe he ordered the Daoist priest Wuqiu Yuanzhi to paint them. Pitying their remote seclusion, he therefore composed a fu in three parts on them." Among its lines was "Heaven cast them off deep in the mountains," which swept through the capital until enthusiasts clamored to copy it.
36
其年冬,召還京師,拜司門員外郎。 明年,轉主客郎中、知制誥,加朝散大夫,始著緋。 時元稹亦征還為尚書郎、知制誥,同在綸閣。 長慶元年三月,受詔與中書舍人王起覆,試禮部侍郎錢徽下及第人鄭朗等一十四人。 十月,轉中書舍人。 十一月,穆宗親試制舉人,又與賈餗、陳岵為考策官。 凡朝廷文字之職,無不首居其選,然多為排擯,不得用其才。
That winter he was summoned back to the capital and appointed vice director of the Gate Office. The following year he was transferred to director of the Guests Bureau with charge of drafting edicts, granted Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, and for the first time wore crimson. At that time Yuan Zhen was also summoned back as director in a ministry with charge of drafting edicts, and both were together in the drafting pavilion. In the third month of the first year of Changqing he received an edict together with Drafting Academician Wang Qi to review the fourteen men including Zheng Lang whom Vice Director of Rites Qian Hui had passed in the lower examination. In the tenth month he was transferred to drafting academician. In the eleventh month Emperor Muzong personally tested special-examination candidates, and Juyi again served with Jia Su and Chen Hu as policy examiners. Of all court posts for written composition, none failed to place him first in selection, yet he was often ostracized and could not employ his talents.
37
時天子荒縱不法,執政非其人,制御乖方,河朔復亂。 居易累上疏論其事,天子不能用,乃求外任。 七月,除杭州刺史。 俄而元稹罷相,自馮翊轉浙東觀察使。 交契素深,杭、越鄰境,篇詠往來,不間旬浹。 嘗會於境上,數日而別。 秩滿,除太子左庶子,分司東都。 寶歷中,復出為蘇州刺史。 文宗即位,征拜秘書監,賜金紫。 九月上誕節,召居易與僧惟澄、道土趙常盈對御講論於麟德殿。 居易論難鋒起,辭辨泉註,上疑宿構,深嗟挹之。 太和二年正月,轉刑部侍郎,封晉陽縣男,食邑三百戶。 三年,稱病東歸,求為分司官,尋除太子賓客。
At that time the Son of Heaven was dissolute and lawless, those in power were not the right men, regulation and control were misaligned, and Hebei again fell into turmoil. Juyi submitted memorial after memorial discussing these matters; the Son of Heaven could not employ them, and Juyi then sought an outer appointment. In the seventh month he was appointed governor of Hangzhou. Before long Yuan Zhen was removed as chief councilor and transferred from Fengyi to surveillance commissioner of Zhedong. Their bond of friendship had always been deep; Hang and Yue were neighboring jurisdictions, and poems exchanged in gift and response came without a break of ten days. They once met on the border and parted after several days. When his term expired he was appointed Left Mentor to the Heir Apparent with duty at the eastern capital. In the Baoli era he was again sent out as governor of Suzhou. When Emperor Wenzong ascended the throne, Juyi was summoned as Director of the Palace Library and granted the gold-purple seal. On the imperial birthday in the ninth month he summoned Juyi together with the monk Weicheng and the Daoist Zhao Changying to lecture before the throne in the Qinde Hall. Juyi's rebuttals flashed like spears and his eloquence poured forth; the emperor suspected prepared answers and marveled at his mastery. In the first month of the second year of Taihe he was transferred to vice minister of Punishments, enfeoffed as Baron of Jinyang with a fief of three hundred households. In the third year he claimed illness and returned east, requesting a duty-at-large post, and soon was appointed Mentor to the Heir Apparent.
38
居易初對策高第,擢入翰林,蒙英主特達顧遇,頗欲奮厲效報,茍致身於訏謨之地,則兼濟生靈,蓄意未果,望風為當路者所擠,流徙江湖。 四五年間,幾淪蠻瘴。 自是宦情衰落,無意於出處,唯以逍遙自得,吟詠情性為事。 太和已後,李宗閔、李德裕朋黨事起,是非排陷,朝升暮黜,天子亦無如之何。 楊穎士、楊虞卿與宗閔善,居易妻,穎士從父妹也。 居易愈不自安,懼以黨人見斥,乃求致身散地,冀於遠害。 凡所居官,未嘗終秩,率以病免,固求分務,識者多之。 五年,除河南尹。 七年,復授太子賓客分司。
When Juyi first topped the policy examination and entered the Hanlin, an enlightened sovereign singled him out for favor and he burned to repay it—hoping to reach the council chamber and benefit the people at once. His intent never ripened; those in power read the wind and crowded him out until he drifted on rivers and lakes. Within four or five years he nearly succumbed to miasma in the southern wilds. From this his official ambition declined and he had no mind for advancement or withdrawal, taking only free roaming and self-contentment and chanting to express his nature as his affairs. After Taihe, the factional affairs of Li Zongmin and Li Deyu arose; right and wrong were used to entrap one another, and men were elevated at dawn and demoted at dusk—the Son of Heaven likewise could do nothing about it. Yang Yingshi and Yang Yuqing were friendly with Zongmin; Juyi's wife was Yingshi's cousin on the father's side. Juyi grew all the more ill at ease, fearing rejection as a faction member, and sought to place himself in a scattered post, hoping to escape harm from afar. In every office he held he never completed a full term, generally leaving on grounds of illness, firmly requesting duty-at-large posts—those who understood approved of this. In the fifth year he was appointed metropolitan intendant of Henan. In the seventh year he was again appointed Mentor to the Heir Apparent with duty at large.
39
初,居易罷杭州,歸洛陽。 於履道里得故散騎常侍楊憑宅,竹木池館,有林泉之致。 家妓樊素、蠻子者,能歌善舞。 居易既以尹正罷歸,每獨酌賦詠於舟中,因為《池上篇》曰:東都風土水木之勝在東南偏,東南之勝在履道里,裏之勝在西北隅,西闬北垣第一第,即白氏叟樂天退老之地。 地方十七畝,屋室三之一,水五之一,竹九之一,而島樹橋道間之。 初樂天既為主,喜且曰:「雖有池臺,無粟不能守也」,乃作池東粟廩。 又曰:「雖有子弟,無書不能訓也。」 乃作池北書庫。 又曰:「雖有賓朋,無琴酒不能娛也」,乃作池西琴亭,加石樽焉。 樂天罷杭州刺史,得天竺石一、華亭鶴二以歸。 始作西平橋,開環池路。 罷蘇州刺史時,得太湖石五、白蓮、折腰菱、青板舫以歸,又作中高橋,通三島逕。 罷刑部侍郎時,有粟千斛,書一車,洎臧獲之習管磬弦歌者指百以歸。 先是潁川陳孝仙與釀酒法,味甚佳; 博陵崔晦叔與琴,韻甚清; 蜀客姜發授《秋思》,聲甚淡; 弘農楊貞一與青石三,方長平滑,可以坐臥。 太和三年夏,樂天始得請為太子賓客,分秩於洛下,息躬於池上。 凡三任所得,四人所與,洎吾不才身,今率為池中物。 每至池風春,池月秋,水香蓮開之旦,露清鶴唳之夕,拂楊石,舉陳酒,援崔琴,彈《秋思》,頹然自適,不知其他。 酒酣琴罷,又命樂童登中島亭,含奏《霓裳散序》,聲隨風飄,或凝或散,悠揚於竹煙波月之際者久之。 曲未竟,而樂天陶然石上矣。 睡起偶詠,非詩非賦,阿龜握筆,因題石間。 視其粗成韻章,命為《池上篇》云:十畝之宅,五畝之園,有水一池,有竹千竿。 勿謂土狹,勿謂地偏,足以容膝,足以息肩。 有堂有亭,有橋有船,有書有酒,有歌有弦。 有叟在中,白須颯然,識分知足,外無求焉。 如鳥擇木,姑務巢安; 如蛙作坎,不知海寬。 靈鵲怪石,紫菱白蓮,皆吾所好,盡在我前。 時引一杯,或吟一篇。 妻孥熙熙,雞犬閑閑。 優哉遊哉,吾將老乎其間。
At first, when Juyi left Hangzhou, he returned to Luoyang. At Lüdao Lane he obtained the former residence of the Regular Attendant Yang Ping, with bamboo, trees, ponds, and lodges possessing the charm of forests and springs. His household entertainers Fansu and Manzi could sing and dance well. After leaving office as capital intendant and returning home, he would often drink alone and compose verses in his boat; he therefore wrote his "Essay on the Pool," which read: In the Eastern Capital, the finest scenery of land and water lay in the southeast; the choicest part of the southeast was Lüdao Ward; and the choicest spot in the ward was the northwest corner—the first mansion on the western lane and northern wall, where the Bai clansman Juyi lived out his retirement. The estate covered seventeen mu: a third in buildings, a fifth in water, a ninth in bamboo, with islands, trees, bridges, and paths distributed throughout. When Juyi first took possession, he said happily, "Though one has pools and terraces, without grain one cannot keep them up," and built a granary east of the pool. He also said, "Though one has sons and kin, without books one cannot teach them." and built a library north of the pool. He added, "Though one has guests and friends, without zither and wine one cannot entertain," and built a zither pavilion west of the pool, with stone wine vessels added. After leaving his post as prefect of Hangzhou, Juyi brought home one stone from Tianzhu and two cranes from Huating. He then built West Flat Bridge and opened a circuit road around the pool. When he left the prefecture of Suzhou, he returned with five Taihu stones, white lotuses, bent-neck water chestnuts, and a blue-planked boat, and built Middle High Bridge to connect a path to the three islands. When he stepped down as vice minister of justice, he had a thousand hu of grain, a cartload of books, and about a hundred household servants skilled in pipes, chimes, strings, and song. Earlier Chen Xiaoxian of Yingchuan had taught him a brewing method of excellent flavor; Cui Huishu of Boling had given him a zither of very clear tone; the Shu visitor Jiang Fa had taught him "Autumn Thoughts," its sound very subdued; and Yang Zhenyi of Hongnong had given him three blue stones, square, long, and smooth enough to sit or lie upon. In the summer of Taihe 3, Juyi was at last permitted to serve as guest of the heir apparent, drew his stipend at Luoyang, and rested at his poolside estate. Everything accumulated across three offices, bestowed by four friends, together with my own unworthy self—all are now part of the pool estate. Whenever spring breezes stirred over the pool or autumn moonlight bathed it—on mornings when the water smelled sweet and lotuses opened, or evenings when dew lay clear and cranes called—he would brush the Yang stones, pour Chen's wine, take up Cui's zither, and play "Autumn Thoughts," sinking into contentment and forgetting everything else. When wine ran deep and the zither fell silent, he would have young musicians climb Middle Island Pavilion to perform the "Prelude to Rainbow Skirts"; the sound drifted on the wind, now lingering, now scattering, rising and falling long among bamboo, mist, waves, and moonlight. Before the piece ended, Juyi had already drifted contentedly asleep on the stones. On waking he improvised a piece—neither quite poem nor prose—and A'gui took up the brush and inscribed it on the stones. Seeing the rough rhymed piece complete, he titled it "On the Pool": A ten-mu dwelling, a five-mu garden, one pool of water, and a thousand bamboo shoots. Call not the ground too narrow or the spot too remote—it is room enough for one's knees and rest enough for one's shoulders. Hall and pavilion, bridge and boat, books and wine, song and strings. An old man dwells at the center, white beard stirring in the breeze; knowing his place and content, he desires nothing more. Like a bird choosing a tree, he seeks only a secure nest; like a frog digging its hollow, he knows nothing of the sea's vastness. Spirit magpies, curious rocks, purple water chestnuts, white lotuses—all that I love lies spread before me. Sometimes I lift a cup; sometimes I chant a verse. Wife and children are happy; chickens and dogs are tranquil. At ease, at leisure—I shall grow old within this place.
40
又效陶潛《五柳先生傳》,作《醉吟先生傳》以自況。 文章曠達,皆此類也。
He also modeled Tao Qian's "Biography of the Five-Willow Gentleman" and composed "Biography of the Drunken Chanting Gentleman" to portray himself. His writing was free and far-reaching—all of this kind.
41
太和末,李訓構禍,衣冠塗地,士林傷感,居易愈無宦情。 開成元年,除同州刺史,辭疾不拜。 尋授太子少傅,進封馮翊縣開國侯。 四年冬,得風病,伏枕者累月,乃放諸妓女樊、蠻等,仍自為墓誌,病中吟詠不輟。 自言曰:「予年六十有八,始患風痹之疾,體郤首胘,左足不支。 蓋老病相乘,有時而至耳。 予棲心釋梵,浪跡老、莊,因疾觀身,果有所得。 何則? 外形骸而內忘憂患,先禪觀而後順醫治。 旬月以還,厥疾少間,杜門高枕,淡然安閑。 吟詠興來,亦不能遏,遂為《病中詩》十五篇以自諭。」
At the end of Taihe, Li Xun engineered disaster; the gentry were trampled in blood and scholars grieved deeply; Juyi's official ambition declined all the more. In the first year of Kaicheng he was appointed governor of Tongzhou but declined on grounds of illness. Soon he was appointed Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent and advanced to enfeoffment as Marquis of Fengyi with an opening fief. In the winter of the fourth year he contracted wind illness and lay on his pillow for months; he then released the entertainers Fan and Man and others, and even composed his own epitaph, chanting without cease even in illness. He said to himself, "I am sixty-eight years old and have first contracted wind-block illness; my body is bent and my head droops, and my left foot cannot support me. It is that old age and illness multiply, and sometimes arrive together. I have set my mind on Buddhist teaching and wandered in the tracks of Laozi and Zhuangzi; through illness I have observed the body and truly gained something. How so? Outwardly I discard the bodily form and inwardly forget worry and calamity; first Chan contemplation and afterward compliance with medical treatment. Within a month or so the illness abated somewhat; I shut the gate and lay on a high pillow, calm and at ease. When the urge to compose returned he could not check it, and wrote fifteen "Poems in Illness" as self-admonition."
42
會昌中,請罷太子少傅,以刑部尚書致仕。 與香山僧如滿結香火社,每肩輿往來,白衣鳩杖,自稱香山居士。
In the Huichang era he requested removal as Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent and retired as Minister of Punishments. He formed a incense-and-fire fellowship with the Xiangshan monk Ruman; each went back and forth in a shoulder carriage, white robe and dove staff, calling himself the Xiangshan Recluse.
43
大中元年卒,時年七十六,贈尚書右僕射。 有文集七十五卷,《經史事類》三十卷,並行於世。 長慶末,浙東觀察使元稹,為居易集序曰:樂天始未言,試指「之」、「無」字,能不誤。 始既言,讀書勤敏,與他兒異。 五六歲識聲韻,十五志辭賦,二十七舉進士。 貞元末,進士尚馳競,不尚文,就中六籍尤擯落。 禮部侍郎高郢始用經藝為進退,樂天一舉擢上第。 明年,中拔萃甲科,由是《性習相近遠》、《玄珠》、《斬白蛇劍》等賦洎百節判,新進士競相傳於京師。 會憲宗皇帝策召天下士,對詔稱旨,又登甲科。 未幾,選入翰林,掌制誥。 比比上書言得失,因為《賀雨詩》、《秦中吟》等數十章,指言天下事,時人比之《風》、《騷》焉。 予始與樂天同秘書,前後多以詩章相贈答。 予譴掾江陵,樂天猶在翰林,寄予百韻律體及雜體,前後數十詩。 是後各佐江、通,復相酬寄。 巴、蜀、江、楚間洎長安中少年,遞相仿效,競作新辭,自謂為元和詩。 而樂天《秦中吟》、《賀雨》諷諭閑適等篇,時人罕能知者。 然而二十年間,禁省觀寺、郵候墻壁之上無不書; 王公妾婦、牛童馬走之口無不道。 其繕寫模勒,炫賣於市井,或因之以交酒茗者,處處皆是。 其甚有至盜竊名姓,茍求自售,雜亂間廁,無可奈何。 予嘗於平水市中,見村校諸童,競習歌詠,召而問之,皆對曰:「先生教我樂天、微之詩。」 固亦不知予為微之也。 又雞林賈人求市頗切,自云:「本國宰相,每以一金換一篇,甚偽者,宰相輒能辨別之。」 自篇章已來,未有如是流傳之廣者。 長慶四年,樂天自杭州刺史以右庶子召還,予時刺會稽,因得盡征其文,手自排纘,成五十卷,凡二千二百五十一首。 前輩多以前集、中集為名,予以為陛下明年當改元,長慶訖於是矣,因號《白氏長慶集》。 大凡人之文各有所長,樂天長可以為多矣。 夫諷諭之詩長於激,閑適之時長於遣,感傷之詩長於切,五字律詩百言而上長於贍,五字、七字百言而下長於情,賦贊箴誡之類長於當,碑記敘事制誥長於實,啟奏表狀長於直,書檄辭冊剖判長於盡。 總而言之,不亦多乎哉!
In the first year of Dazhong he died at the age of seventy-six and was posthumously enfeoffed as Right Vice Director of the Imperial Secretariat. He had a collection of writings of seventy-five scrolls and Classified Matters from the Classics and Histories of thirty scrolls, and both circulated in his age. At the end of the Changqing era, as surveillance commissioner of Zhedong, he wrote a preface to Juyi's collected works, which read: Juyi at first did not speak; when tested by pointing to the characters "zhi" and "wu," he could do so without error. Once he began to speak, in reading he was diligent and quick, different from other children. At five or six he knew tonal patterns; at fifteen he aspired to rhapsodies and fu; at twenty-seven he passed the presented scholar examination. At the end of Zhenyuan, presented scholars still valued rushing competition and did not value literature; among them the Six Classics were especially cast aside. Vice Minister of Rites Gao Ying first used classical arts as the criterion for advancement and demotion; Juyi in one attempt was promoted to the top rank. The next year he passed the selected outstanding first class; thereby his fu such as On Nature and Habit Near and Far, Mysterious Pearl, and Sword That Slew the White Serpent, together with a hundred-section judgment, were competitively transmitted among new presented scholars in the capital. It happened that Emperor Xianzong by examination summoned scholars of all under Heaven; his examination response matched the intent, and again he passed the top class. Before long he was selected into the Hanlin Academy to manage drafting of edicts. Repeatedly he submitted memorials speaking of gains and losses; thereby he composed several tens of chapters such as Ode Congratulating Rain and Chants of Qin, pointing out affairs under Heaven—men of the time compared them to the Airs and Elegies. I first served together with Juyi in the Secretariat; before and after we often exchanged poems as gifts and replies. When I was banished to aide in Jiangling, Juyi was still in the Hanlin Academy and sent me regulated verse of a hundred rhymes and mixed forms—several tens of poems before and after. After this we each served in Jiangling and Tong Prefecture and again exchanged poems in reply. Among Ba, Shu, Jiang, and Chu, down to the youths of Chang'an, they successively imitated one another, competing to compose new lyrics, calling themselves Yuanhe poetry. Yet Juyi's Chants of Qin, Ode Congratulating Rain, admonitory, leisurely, and other pieces were rarely known by men of the time. Yet within twenty years, writing covered the walls of the palace offices, temples, and postal stations; in the mouths of kings, dukes, concubines, ox boys, and horse runners, there was none who did not speak of them. Their copying and carving, flaunted and sold in the market streets, or used to exchange wine and tea—everywhere it was so. In the extreme there were even those who stole names and surnames, seeking by any means to sell themselves, jumbled among privies—with nothing to be done. I once in Pingshui market saw village schoolchildren competing to practice songs and chants; I summoned and asked them, and all replied: "The teacher teaches us the poems of Juyi and Zhen." They did not even know that I was Zhen. Again merchants of Goguryeo sought to buy with great urgency and said: "Our country's chancellor exchanges one piece of gold for each piece; even very false ones, the chancellor can at once distinguish them." Since writings and chapters began, there has never been such wide circulation. In the fourth year of Changqing, Juyi was recalled from Hangzhou prefect to right vice director of the crown prince's household; I was then prefect of Kuaiji and thereby was able to gather all his writings, personally arranging and compiling them into fifty scrolls, altogether two thousand two hundred fifty-one pieces. Former generations mostly named them former collection and middle collection; I believed Your Majesty next year would change the era name and Changqing would end at this point, and therefore titled it Collected Works of Bai of Changqing. Generally speaking, each man's writings has what it excels in; Juyi's excellences can be said to be many. Admonitory poems excel in stirring; leisurely pieces excel in releasing; sentimental poems excel in cutting close; five-character regulated verse of more than a hundred words excels in fullness; five- and seven-character verse of less than a hundred words excels in feeling; fu, encomia, admonitions, and warnings excel in fitness; steles, records, narratives, and drafted edicts excel in substance; memorials, reports, and petitions excel in directness; letters, proclamations, documents, and judgments excel in completeness. Speaking of them in sum, are they not also many!
44
人以為稹序盡其能事。
People regarded Zhen's preface as exhausting his powers in the task.
45
居易嘗寫其文集,送江州東西二林寺、洛城香山聖善等寺,如佛書雜傳例流行之。 無子,以其侄孫嗣。 遺命不歸下邽,可葬於香山如滿師塔之側,家人從命而葬焉。 弟行簡行簡,字知退。 貞元末,登進士第,授秘書省校書郎。 元和中,盧坦鎮東蜀,辟為掌書記。 府罷,歸潯陽。 居易授江州司馬,從兄之郡。 十五年,居易入朝為尚書郎,行簡亦授左拾遺。 累遷司門員外郎、主客郎中。 長慶末,振武奏水運營田使賀拔志言營田數過實,詔令行簡按覆之。 不實,志弘,自刺死。 行簡寶歷二年冬病卒,有文集一十卷。 行簡文筆有兄風,辭賦尤稱精密,文士皆師法之。 居易友愛過人,兄弟相待如賓客。 行簡子龜兒,多自教習,以至成名。 當時友悌,無以比焉。 從父弟敏中敏中,字用晦,居易從父弟也。 祖鏻,位終揚府錄事參軍。 父季康,溧陽令。 敏中少孤,為諸兄之所訓歷。 長慶初,登進士第,佐李聽,歷河東、鄭滑、邠寧三府節度掌書記,試大理評事。 大和七年,丁母憂,退居下邽。 會昌初,為殿中侍御史,分司東都。 尋除戶部員外郎,還京。
Juyi once copied his collected works and sent them to the eastern and western forest temples of Jiangzhou and to the Xiangshan Shenshan and other temples of Luoyang, circulating them like Buddhist scriptures and miscellaneous transmissions. He had no son and made his nephew's grandson his heir. His final instructions were not to return to Xiaji but to be buried beside Master Ruman's pagoda on Xiangshan, and the family followed the command in burying him. His younger brother Xingjian, whose courtesy name was Zhitui. At the end of Zhenyuan he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed proofreader in the Palace Library. In the Yuanhe era Lu Tan governed eastern Shu and recruited him as recorder. When the prefecture was dissolved he returned to Xunyang. Juyi was appointed marshal of Jiangzhou and Xingjian accompanied him to the prefecture. In the fifteenth year Juyi entered court as a director in a ministry and Xingjian was also appointed Left Reminder. He was promoted in turn to vice director of the Gate Office and director of the Guests Bureau. At the end of Changqing Zhenwu reported that the water-transport garrison-field commissioner Heba Zhiyan's garrison-field figures greatly exceeded reality; an edict ordered Xingjian to investigate and verify. The report proved false; in alarm Zhiyan stabbed himself to death. Xingjian died of illness in the winter of the second year of Baoli, leaving collected works of ten scrolls. Xingjian's brush had his elder brother's manner, and his fu were especially praised as refined and close; literary men all took him as a model. Juyi's fraternal affection surpassed others; the brothers treated one another like guests. Xingjian's son Guier was largely taught by Juyi himself and thereby achieved fame. At the time none matched them in fraternal devotion. His younger cousin Minzhong, whose courtesy name was Yonghui, was Juyi's cousin on the father's side. His grandfather Lian ended his career as recorder of Yang prefecture. His father Jikang was magistrate of Liyang. Minzhong was orphaned young and was trained through experience by his elder brothers. In the early Changqing era he passed the jinshi examination, served Li Ting as aide, and in turn was recorder under the military governors of Hedong, Zheng-Hua, and Binning, and tested as reviewer in the Court of Judicial Review. In the seventh year of Dahe he entered mourning for his mother and retired to Xiaji. In the early Huichang era he was palace censor with duty at the eastern capital. Soon he was appointed vice director in the Ministry of Revenue and returned to the capital.
46
武宗皇帝素聞居易之名,及即位,欲征用之。 宰相李德裕言居易衰病,不任朝謁,因言從弟敏中辭藝類居易,即日知制誥,召入翰林充學士,遷中書舍人。 累至兵部侍郎、學士承旨。 會昌末,同平章事,兼刑部尚書、集賢史館大學士。 宣宗即位,加右僕射、金紫光祿大夫、太清宮使、太原郡開國公、食邑二千戶。 及李德裕再貶嶺南,敏中居四輔之首,雷同毀譽,無一言伸理,特論罪之。 五年,罷相,檢校司空,出為邠州刺史、邠寧節度、招撫党項都制置等使。 七年,進位特進、成都尹、劍南西川節度副大使、知節度等事。 十一年二月,檢校司徒、平章事、江陵尹、荊南節度使。 懿宗即位,征拜司徒、門下侍郎、平章事,復輔政。 尋加侍中。 三年罷相,為河中尹、河中晉絳節度使。 累遷中書令。 太子太師致仕,卒。 評贊史臣曰:舉才選士之法,尚矣! 自漢策賢良,隋加詩賦,罷中正之法,委銓舉之司。 由是爭務雕蟲,罕趨函丈,矯首皆希於屈、宋,駕肩並擬於《風》、《騷》。 或侔箴闕之篇,或敩補亡之句。 鹹欲錙銖《采葛》,糠秕《懷沙》,較麗藻於碧雞,鬥新奇於白鳳。 暨編之簡牘,播在管弦,未逃季緒之詆訶,孰望《子虛》之稱賞? 迨今千載,不乏辭人,統論六義之源,較其三變之體,如二班者蓋寡,類七子者幾何? 至潘、陸情致之文,鮑、謝清便之作,迨於徐、庾,踵麗增華,纂組成而耀以珠璣,瑤臺構而間之金碧。 國初開文館,高宗禮茂才,虞、許擅價於前,蘇、李馳聲於後。 或位升臺鼎,學際天人,潤色之文,鹹布編集。 然而向古者傷於太僻,徇華者或至不經,齷齪者局於宮商,放縱者流於鄭、衛。 若品調律度,揚搉古今,賢不肖皆賞其文,未如元、白之盛也。 昔建安才子,始定霸於曹、劉; 永明辭宗,先讓功於沈、謝。 元和主盟,微之、樂天而已。 臣觀元之制策,白之奏議,極文章之壺奧,盡治亂之根荄。 非徒謠頌之片言,盤盂之小說。 就文觀行,居易為優,放心於自得之場,置器於必安之地,優遊卒歲,不亦賢乎?
Emperor Wuzong had long heard Juyi's name, and when he ascended the throne wished to summon and employ him. The chief minister Li Deyu said Juyi was aged and ill and unfit for court audience, and therefore spoke of his cousin Minzhong, whose literary arts resembled Juyi's; that same day Minzhong received charge of drafting edicts, was summoned into the Hanlin Academy as academician, was transferred to drafting academician. He was promoted in turn to vice minister of War and chief academician. At the end of Huichang he was appointed chief councilor with concurrent posts as Minister of Punishments and Grand Academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies and History Office. When Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne, he was added as Right Vice Director, Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with golden seal, commissioner of the Great Pure Palace, Duke of Taiyuan with an opening fief of two thousand households. When Li Deyu was banished again to the southern mountains, Minzhong led the four chief ministers and chimed in with the attack, never speaking a word in his defense—a fault for which he was specially censured. In the fifth year he was removed as chief councilor, appointed acting Minister of Works, and sent out as governor of Binzhou with military commission over Binning, commissioner for pacifying the Tangut, and overall disposition. In the seventh year he advanced to Special Grand Master, metropolitan intendant of Chengdu, deputy military commissioner of Sword-South West with charge of military affairs. In the second month of the eleventh year he was appointed acting Minister of Works, chief councilor, metropolitan intendant of Jiangling, and military commissioner of Jingnan. When Emperor Yizong took the throne, Minzhong was summoned as Minister of Works, Vice Director of the Gate Department, and chief councilor, returning to assist at court. He was soon made Palace Attendant as well. In the third year he left the chancellorship and became metropolitan intendant of Hezhong and military commissioner of Hezhong-Jin-Jiang. He rose in turn to drafting director. He retired as Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent and died in office. The evaluating historian writes: Methods for raising talent and choosing scholars are very old indeed! From the Han examination of worthy men through the Sui addition of poetry and fu, the impartial-evaluation system was abandoned and selection entrusted to the examination offices. Candidates then strove for ornamental craft and rarely attended the lecture hall; all craned their necks toward Qu Yuan and Song Yu and marched shoulder to shoulder after the "Airs" and "Elegies." Some matched pieces admonishing the throne, others imitated lines mending what was lost. Each hoped to measure up to "Gathering Mugwort," sift chaff from "Lament for Huai," rival the green cock in ornament, and outdo the white phoenix in novelty. Once copied on bamboo and spread through pipes and strings, they still could not escape Ji Xu's censure—who could expect the praise accorded "Sir Fantasy"? A thousand years on, writers have never been scarce; yet surveying the source of the Six Principles and comparing their three transformations, how few have equaled the two Bans, how many resemble the Seven Masters? Pan and Lu wrote with feeling; Bao and Xie wrote with clarity and ease; by Xu and Yu splendor piled on splendor—brocade woven and studded with pearls, jade terraces framed in gold and azure. At the dynasty's founding the Literary Hall opened; under Gaozong eminent talent was honored; Yu and Xu set the standard early, Su and Li carried fame later. Some reached the highest offices with learning that touched heaven and man; their polishing compositions were gathered into collections. Those who looked to antiquity grew too eccentric; those who chased ornament sometimes left the canon; the cramped were trapped by pitch and mode, the unrestrained drifted into Zheng and Wey music. If one grades tone and measure and weighs past and present so that worthy and unworthy alike prize the writing, none has matched the ascendancy of Yuan and Bai. In Jian'an, literary talent first crowned Cao and Liu; in Yongming, the literary masters first yielded pride of place to Shen and Xie. In the Yuanhe literary league, only Weizhi and Letian held the field. This subject finds that Zhen's policy essays and Bai's memorials reach the innermost chamber of letters and lay bare the roots of order and disorder. These were not mere snatches of praise-song or little allegories on platters. Judging conduct by their writing, Juyi is the finer: he rested his heart where contentment lives and set his vessel on ground that must hold—passing his years at ease; is that not the better part?
47
贊曰:文章新體,建安、永明。 沈、謝既往,元、白挺生。 但留金石,長有《莖英》。 不習孫、吳,焉知用兵?
The eulogy reads: New literary forms arose in Jian'an and Yongming. After Shen and Xie, Yuan and Bai stood forth. Metal and stone alone remain; "Stalk and Blossom" endures. Without studying Sun and Wu, how could one know the use of arms?