1
梁書卷第三十七列傳第三十一
Book of Liang, Volume 37, Biography 31
2
謝舉何敬容
Xie Ju; He Jingrong
3
謝舉，字言揚，中書令覽之弟也。 幼好學，能清言，與覽齊名。 舉年十四，嘗贈沈約五言詩，爲約稱賞。 世人爲之語曰：「王有養、炬，謝有覽、舉。」 養、炬，王筠、王泰小字也。
Xie Ju, whose courtesy name was Yanyang, was the younger brother of Xie Lan, Director of the Palace Library. As a boy he loved study, excelled at pure conversation, and was as famous as his brother Lan. When Ju was fourteen he once gave Shen Yue a pentasyllabic poem, and Yue praised it highly. People said of them: “The Wangs have Yang and Ju; the Xies have Lan and Ju.” Yang and Ju were the childhood names of Wang Jun and Wang Tai.
4
起家秘書郎，遷太子舍人，輕車功曹史，秘書丞，司空從事中郎，太子庶子，家令，掌東宮管記，深爲昭明太子賞接。 秘書監任昉出爲新安郡，別舉詩云：「詎念耋嗟人，方深老夫託。」 其屬意如此。 嘗侍宴華林園，高祖訪舉於覽，覽對曰：「識藝過臣甚遠，惟飲酒不及於臣。」 高祖大悅。 轉太子中庶子，猶掌管記。
He entered service as a Secretariat gentleman, then rose through posts as heir-apparent attendant, merit-office secretary, secretariat aide, masters-of-works attendant, crown-prince household administrator, and household master, overseeing the Eastern Palace archives, and won the deep favor of Crown Prince Zhaoming. When Ren Fang, Director of the Secretariat, left for Xin’an Commandery, he sent Ju a farewell poem: “I would not dwell on the groaning elder—yet how deeply I place my trust in you, old friend.” Such was the feeling he meant to convey. Once at a banquet in Huaglin Garden the Founding Emperor asked Lan about Ju; Lan answered: “His learning and skill far exceed mine—only in wine he cannot match me.” The Founding Emperor was delighted. He was made an attendant in the heir’s palace while continuing to keep the archives.
5
天監十一年，遷侍中。 十四年，出爲寧遠將軍、豫章內史，爲政和理，甚得民心。 十八年，復入爲侍中，領步兵校尉。 普通元年，出爲貞毅將軍、太尉臨川王長史。 四年，入爲左民尚書。 其年遷掌吏部，尋以公事免。 五年，起爲太子中庶子，領右軍將軍。 六年，復爲左民尚書，領步兵校尉。 俄徙爲吏部尚書，尋加侍中。 出爲仁威將軍、晉陵太守。 在郡清靜，百姓化其德，境內肅然。 罷郡還，吏民詣闕請立碑，詔許之。 大通二年，入爲侍中、五兵尚書，未拜，遷掌吏部，侍中如故。 舉祖莊，宋世再典選，至舉又三爲此職，前代未有也。
In Tianjian 11, Ju was promoted to Attendant-in-Ordinary. In the fourteenth year, he went out as General Who Pacifies the Distant and Interior Minister of Yuzhang. His governance was harmonious and orderly, and he greatly won the hearts of the people. In the eighteenth year, he again entered court as Attendant-in-Ordinary, concurrently Infantry Colonel. In Putong 1, he went out as General of Firm Resoluteness and chief clerk to the Prince of Linchuan, Grand Commandant. In the fourth year, he entered court as Minister of the Left People. That year he was transferred to administer the Ministry of Personnel, but soon was dismissed over an official matter. In the fifth year, he was recalled as Household Attendant to the Crown Prince, concurrently General of the Right Army. In the sixth year, he again became Minister of the Left People, concurrently Infantry Colonel. Soon he was shifted to Minister of Personnel, and before long was additionally Attendant-in-Ordinary. He went out as General of Benevolent Awe and administrator of Jinling. In the commandery he was clear and tranquil; the common people were transformed by his virtue, and the territory was orderly and respectful. When he left the commandery and returned to court, the officials and people went to the palace gate to request permission to erect a stele, and an edict allowed it. In Datong 2, he entered court as Attendant-in-Ordinary and Minister of the Five Armies, but before taking office was transferred to administer the Ministry of Personnel, remaining Attendant-in-Ordinary as before. Ju's grandfather Zhuang had twice managed personnel selection in the Song period; down to Ju, who held this office three more times, there had been no such precedent in earlier ages.
6
舉少博涉多通，尤長玄理及釋氏義。 爲晉陵郡時，常與義僧遞講經論，徵士何胤自虎丘山赴之。 其盛如此。 先是，北渡人盧廣有儒術，爲國子博士，于學發講，僕射徐勉以下畢至。 舉造坐，屢折廣，辭理通邁。 廣深嘆服，仍以所執麈尾薦之，以況重席焉。
In his youth Ju read widely and mastered many fields, above all metaphysics and Buddhist teaching. As governor of Jinling he often exchanged lectures on scripture and doctrine with Buddhist monks, and the recluse He Yin would come from Tiger Hill to hear them. The assemblies were as grand as that. Earlier the northern scholar Lu Guang, skilled in Confucian learning, was Libationer of the National University; when he lectured there, Vice Director Xu Mian and the rest all attended. Ju took a seat and repeatedly overturned Guang’s points, his argument lucid and bold. Guang marveled and, in token of esteem, gave Ju the fly-whisk in his hand—as if setting out a second mat for a master.
7
四年，加侍中。 五年，遷尚書右僕射，侍中如故。 大同三年，以疾陳解，徙爲右光祿大夫，給親信二十人。 其年，出爲雲麾將軍、吳郡太守。 先是，何敬容居郡有美績，世稱爲何吳郡。 及舉爲政，聲跡略相比。 六年，入爲侍中、中書監，未拜，遷太子詹事、翊左將軍，侍中如故。 舉父瀹，齊世終此官，累表乞改授，敕不許，久之方就職。 九年，遷尚書僕射，侍中、將軍如故。 舉雖居端揆，未嘗肯預時務，多因疾陳解。 敕輒賜假，並手敕處方，加給上藥。 其恩遇如此。 其年，以本官參掌選事。
In the fourth year he was made Palace Attendant. In the fifth year he became Right Vice Director of the Secretariat while retaining his post as Palace Attendant. In the third year of Datong he asked leave on grounds of illness and was shifted to Right Master of the Imperial Household with twenty personal attendants. That same year he left the capital as Cloud-Banner General and Governor of Wu. Earlier, when He Jingrong had governed the commandery, his record was so fine that men called him “He of Wu Commandery.” Under Ju’s rule his reputation and deeds were nearly on a par. In the sixth year he returned as Palace Attendant and Director of the Palace Library; before he could assume the latter post he was made Grand Warden of the Heir Apparent and General of the Left Guards, still Palace Attendant. Ju’s father Yue had ended his career in that same office under Qi; Ju memorialized again and again to be given a different post, but the throne refused until, after long delay, he at last entered upon the duty. In the ninth year he was made Vice Director of the Secretariat, retaining Palace Attendant and general’s rank. Though he stood at the head of government, Ju never cared to meddle in the day’s business and often pleaded illness to withdraw. Each time the emperor granted him leave, wrote prescriptions in his own hand, and sent the finest drugs. Such was the grace shown him. That year he also took part in appointments in his existing rank.
8
太清二年，遷尚書令，侍中、將軍如故。 是歲，侯景寇京師，舉卒于圍內。 詔贈侍中、中衛將軍、開府儀同三司，侍中、尚書令如故。 文集亂中並亡逸。
In the second year of Taiqing he became Director of the Secretariat, still Palace Attendant and general. That year, when Hou Jing besieged the capital, Ju died inside the encircled city. An edict mourned him with Palace Attendant, Central Guard General, and Grand Honorific with the Three Insignia, while his posts as Palace Attendant and Director of the Secretariat stood unchanged. His collected works perished entirely in the upheaval.
9
二子禧，嘏，並少知名。 嘏，太清中，歷太子中庶子，出爲建安太守。
His two sons Xi and Gu were both noted while young. Gu, in the Taiqing era, served as heir’s attendant and then went out as Administrator of Jian’an.
10
何敬容，字國禮，廬江人也。 祖攸之，宋太常卿； 父昌珝，齊吏部尚書； 並有名前代。
He Jingrong, courtesy name Guoli, came from Lujiang. His grandfather Youzhi had been Grand Minister of Ceremonies under Song; his father Changxu had been Director of the Imperial Secretariat under Qi; both were celebrated in earlier ages.
11
敬容以名家子，弱冠選尚齊武帝女長城公主，拜駙馬都尉。 天監初，爲秘書郎，歷太子舍人，尚書殿中郎，太子洗馬，中書舍人，秘書丞，遷揚州治中。 出爲建安內史，清公有美績，民吏稱之。 還除黃門郎，累遷太子中庶子，散騎常侍，侍中，司徒左長史。 普通二年，復爲侍中，領羽林監，俄又領本州大中正。 頃之，守吏部尚書，銓序明審，號爲稱職。 四年，出爲招遠將軍、吳郡太守，爲政勤恤民隱，辨訟如神，視事四年，治爲天下第一。 吏民詣闕請樹碑，詔許之。 大通二年，徵爲中書令，未拜，復爲吏部尚書，領右軍將軍，俄加侍中。 中大通元年，改太子中庶子。
Jingrong, as the son of a distinguished house, was selected in his early twenties to marry Emperor Wu of Qi's daughter, Princess Changcheng, and was appointed Commandant of the Horse Guards. At the beginning of Tianjian he became Palace Library Gentleman, and then served successively as crown prince attendant, Palace Gentleman in the Department of State Affairs, Groom of the Crown Prince, Secretariat Drafter, and Assistant Director of the Palace Library, before being transferred to administrative aide of Yangzhou. He went out as Interior Minister of Jian'an, where he was honest and fair and achieved an excellent record, and the people and officials praised him. On returning to court he was appointed Yellow Gate Gentleman, then rose successively to Junior Mentor in the heir apparent's household, Regular Attendant of the Scattered Cavalry, Attendant-in-Ordinary, and left chief clerk to the Minister over the Masses. In the second year of Putong, he again became Attendant-in-Ordinary, concurrently Director of the Feathered Forest Guard, and soon also served as Grand Rectifier of his home province. Before long, he acted as Minister of Personnel; his selection and ordering of officials were clear and careful, and he was considered competent in the post. In the fourth year, he went out as General Who Summons the Distant and administrator of Wu Commandery. In governing he diligently cared for the people's hardships and judged lawsuits with almost uncanny precision. After four years in office, his administration was ranked first in the realm. The officials and people went to the palace gate to request permission to erect a stele, and an edict allowed it. In Datong 2, he was summoned as Secretariat Director, but before taking office he was again made Minister of Personnel, concurrently General of the Right Army, and soon additionally Attendant-in-Ordinary. In Zhongdatong 1, he was changed to Household Attendant to the Crown Prince.
12
敬容身長八尺，白皙美鬚眉。 性矜莊，衣冠尤事鮮麗，每公庭就列，容止出人。 三年，遷尚書右僕射，參掌選事，侍中如故。 時僕射徐勉參掌機密，以疾陳解，因舉敬容自代，故有此授焉。 五年，遷左僕射，加宣惠將軍，置佐史，侍中、參掌如故。 大同三年正月，朱雀門災，高祖謂羣臣曰：「此門制卑狹，我始欲構，遂遭天火。」 並相顧未有答。 敬容獨曰：「此所謂陛下『先天而天不違』。」 時以爲名對。 俄遷中權將軍、丹陽尹，侍中、參掌、佐史如故。 五年，入爲尚書令，侍中、將軍、參掌、佐史如故。
Jingrong stood eight chi tall, with fair skin and handsome beard and brows. Proud and formal by nature, he lavished care on bright, elegant dress; whenever he took his place at court his bearing outshone the rest. In the third year he became Right Vice Director of the Secretariat and shared in appointments, still Palace Attendant. Vice Director Xu Mian then held the secret reins of power; when he resigned on grounds of illness he recommended Jingrong to succeed him, and so the post fell to him. In the fifth year he was made Left Vice Director and General Who Spreads Grace, with clerks assigned, while he remained Palace Attendant and kept his role in administration. In the first month of the third year of Datong the Vermilion Bird Gate burned; the Founding Emperor told the ministers: “The gate was built too low and cramped—I had only just meant to rebuild it when Heaven sent this blaze.” The courtiers looked at one another and none answered. Only Jingrong spoke: “This is what Your Majesty calls acting before Heaven so that Heaven does not oppose you.” Men at the time hailed it as a brilliant reply. Soon he was made Central Authority General and Intendant of Danyang, keeping Palace Attendant, his administrative role, and his staff. In the fifth year he returned as Director of the Secretariat, still Palace Attendant, general, administrator, and chief clerk.
13
敬容久處臺閣，詳悉舊事，且聰明識治，勤於簿領，詰朝理事，日旰不休。 自晉、宋以來，宰相皆文義自逸，敬容獨勤庶務，爲世所嗤鄙。 時蕭琛子巡者，頗有輕薄才，因制卦名離合等詩以嘲之，敬容處之如初，亦不屑也。
Long in the secretariat, Jingrong knew every old rule by heart; clever and skilled in affairs, he toiled over registers and papers, taking up business at dawn and working past sunset without pause. From Jin and Song onward ministers had prided themselves on literary ease; Jingrong alone sweated over clerical work, and the age sneered at him. Xiao Chen’s son Xun had a gift for light verse and wrote riddling poems from hexagram names to ridicule him; Jingrong bore it as before and would not stoop to reply.
14
十一年，坐妾弟費慧明爲導倉丞，夜盜官米，爲禁司所執，送領軍府。 時河東王譽爲領軍將軍，敬容以書解慧明，譽即封書以奏。 高祖大怒，付南司推劾。 御史中丞張綰奏敬容挾私罔上，合棄市刑，詔特免職。 初，天監中，有沙門釋寶志者，嘗遇敬容，謂曰：「君後必貴，然終是何敗何耳」。 及敬容爲宰相，謂何姓當爲其禍，故抑沒宗族，無仕進者，至是竟爲河東所敗。
In the eleventh year his concubine’s younger brother Fei Huiming, a grain-depot clerk, stole government grain by night; the patrol seized him and handed him to the Rear Guard command. Prince of Hedong Xiao Yu then commanded the Rear Guard; Jingrong wrote to plead for Huiming, and Yu at once sealed the letter and reported it to the throne. The Founding Emperor was enraged and sent the case to the Southern Office for prosecution. Censor Zhang Zan charged that Jingrong had used private ties to mislead the throne and deserved death; an edict spared his life but stripped him of office. Earlier, in the Tianjian era, the monk Baozhi had met him and said: “You are sure to reach the heights, yet in the end—what defeat, what?” Once he was chancellor he feared harm from anyone surnamed He and blocked his clan from office; in the end he was brought down by the Prince of Hedong.
15
中大同元年三月，高祖幸同泰寺講《金字三慧經》，敬容請預聽，敕許之。 又有敕聽朔望問訊。 尋起爲金紫光祿大夫，未拜，又加侍中。 敬容舊時賓客門生喧嘩如昔，冀其復用。 會稽謝鬱致書戒之曰：「草萊之人，聞諸道路，君侯已得瞻望朝夕，出入禁門，醉尉將不敢呵，灰然不無其漸，甚休，甚休！ 敢賀於前，又將吊也。 昔流言裁作，公旦東奔； 燕書始來，子孟不入。 夫聖賢被虛過以自斥，未有嬰時釁而求親者也。 且曝鰓之鱗，不念杯杓之水； 雲霄之翼，豈顧籠樊之糧。 何者？ 所托已盛也。 昔君侯納言加首，鳴玉在腰，回豊貂以步文昌，聳高蟬而趨武帳，可謂盛矣。 不以此時薦才拔士，少報聖主之恩； 今卒如爰絲之說，受責見過，方復欲更窺朝廷，觖望萬分，竊不爲左右取也。 昔竇嬰、楊惲亦得罪明時，不能謝絕賓客，猶交黨援，卒無後福，終益前禍。 僕之所吊，實在於斯。 人人所以頗猶有踵君侯之門者，未必皆感惠懷仁，有灌夫、任安之義，乃戒翟公之大署，冀君侯之復用也。 夫在思過之日，而挾復用之意，未可爲智者說矣。 君侯宜杜門念失，無有所通，築茅茨于鐘阜，聊優遊以卒歲，見可憐之意，著待終之情。 復仲尼能改之言，惟子貢更也之譬，少戢言於衆口，微自救於竹帛，所謂『失之東隅，收之桑榆』。 如此，令明主聞知，尚有冀也。 僕東皋鄙人，入穴幸無銜窶，恥天下之士不爲執事道之，故披肝膽，示情素，君侯豈能鑒焉。」
In the third month of the first year of Zhongdatong the Founding Emperor went to Tongtai Temple to expound the Golden-character Three Wisdom Sutra; Jingrong asked to hear it and was allowed by edict. Another edict let him attend the new- and full-moon audiences to offer greetings. Soon he was recalled as Grand Master with the Golden Seal and Purple Ribbon; before he could accept it he was again made Palace Attendant. His old clients and students raised the same clamor as before, hoping he would be used again. Xie Yu of Kuaiji wrote to warn him: “From common report we hear that you may once more gaze on the court at dawn and dusk and pass the palace gates—that even the drunken gate guard will not bark at you—yet the slope is not absent; how fortunate, how fortunate! I congratulate you beforehand—and I must mourn you as well. When rumor first arose, the Duke of Zhou fled east; when the letter from Yan came, Zi Meng would not go in. Sages have been slandered and therefore held themselves back; no wise man has ever sought intimacy at a time of blame. Fish with drying gills do not think of a cup of water; wings that touch the clouds do not glance at fodder in a pen. Why? Because what they rest on is already vast. Once, when you were chief minister, jade chimed at your belt; you swept sable robes as you entered Wenchang and lifted your cicada crest as you hastened to the martial hall—truly a time of glory. You did not then lift men of talent to repay your sovereign’s kindness; now, as Master Ai’s words have it, you bear blame and fault, yet you would look again toward the court and hope for the slightest chance—I cannot think this wise for you. Dou Ying and Yang Yun too offended a luminous court; unable to shut their doors to guests, they still traded on connections, and in the end won no blessing but deepened their fall. My condolences are for this very thing. Those who still throng your door are not all moved by grace or bound like Guan Fu and Ren An; they dread Duke Zhai’s famous notice and hope for your return to power. To cling to hope of office while you should be repenting is not counsel fit for a wise man. Shut your door, ponder your fault, deal with no one, raise a thatched hut on Bell Peak, and live out your days at leisure, showing that you accept reproach and await your end. Remember that Confucius said a man may mend his ways, and Zigong that one may change; speak less to the multitude and rescue yourself a little on the page—that is “what is lost at sunrise is gained at sunset.” Do this, and if the wise sovereign learns of it, hope may yet remain. I am a humble man of the eastern shore; though I live apart I am not ashamed to speak; I blush that no gentleman in the realm speaks frankly to you, and so I bare my inmost heart—will you not see it?”
16
太清元年，遷太子詹事，侍中如故。 二年，侯景襲京師，敬容自府移家臺內。 初，景于渦陽退敗，未得審實，傳者乃云其將暴顯反，景身與衆並沒，朝廷以爲憂。 敬容尋見東宮，太宗謂曰：「淮北始更有信，侯景定得身免，不如所傳。」 敬容對曰：「得景遂死，深是朝廷之福。」 太宗失色，問其故。 敬容曰：「景翻覆叛臣，終當亂國。」 是年，太宗頻於玄圃自講《老》《莊》二書，學士吳孜時寄詹事府，每日入聽。 敬容謂孜曰：「昔晉代喪亂，頗由祖尚玄虛，胡賊殄覆中夏。 今東宮復襲此，殆非人事，其將爲戎乎？」 俄而侯景難作，其言有徵也。 三年正月，敬容卒于圍內，詔贈仁威將軍，本官並如故。
In Taiqing 1, he was transferred to Crown Prince's Household Administrator, remaining Attendant-in-Ordinary as before. In the second year, when Hou Jing attacked the capital, Jingrong moved his household from his office into the imperial compound. Earlier, when Jing had been defeated at Guoyang and no verified report had yet arrived, rumor said that his general Bao Xian had rebelled and that Jing himself and his troops had all perished, and the court was anxious over it. Jingrong soon had an audience in the Eastern Palace, and Taizong said to him, "News has only just come again from north of the Huai: Hou Jing certainly escaped alive, not as the rumors said." Jingrong replied, "If Jing had indeed died, it would be a great blessing for the court." Taizong turned pale and asked the reason. Jingrong said, "Jing is a treacherous rebel minister; in the end he will throw the state into disorder." That year Taizong often personally lectured on the Laozi and Zhuangzi at Xuanpu. The scholar Wu Zi was then attached to the Crown Prince's Household Administrator's office and entered every day to listen. Jingrong said to Zi, "In the past, the disasters and disorder of the Jin were largely due to esteeming abstruse emptiness, and Hu bandits destroyed the central realm. Now the Eastern Palace is taking this up again. This scarcely seems like a human matter; is it about to become a barbarian calamity?" Soon Hou Jing's calamity broke out, and his words were borne out. In the first month of the third year, Jingrong died inside the siege. An edict posthumously granted him the title General of Benevolent Awe, with all his regular offices as before.
17
何氏自晉司空充、宋司空尚之，世奉佛法，並建立塔寺； 至敬容又舍宅東爲伽藍，趨勢者因助財造構，敬容並不拒，故此寺堂宇校飾，頗爲宏麗。 時輕薄者因呼爲「衆造寺」焉。 及敬容免職出宅，止有常用器物及囊衣而已，竟無餘財貨，時亦以此稱之。
From Jin’s Grand Master He Chong and Song’s Grand Master He Shangzhi, the He family served Buddhism and raised pagodas and temples; Jingrong too gave his eastern house for a monastery; flatterers supplied money to build it, and he did not refuse, so the shrine’s halls and ornaments grew very grand. Wits of the day nicknamed it the “Temple Built by the Crowd.” When he was removed and quit his mansion, he took only ordinary goods and a bundle of clothes, with no wealth left—on this too the age praised him.
18
子瑴，秘書丞，早卒。
His son Jiao, a secretariat aide, died early.
19
陳吏部尚書姚察曰：魏正始及晉之中朝，時俗尚於玄虛，貴爲放誕，尚書丞郎以上，簿領文案，不復經懷，皆成于令史。 逮乎江左，此道彌扇，惟卞壼以臺閤之務，頗欲綜理，阮孚謂之曰：「卿常無閒暇，不乃勞乎？」 宋世王敬弘身居端右，未嘗省牒，風流相尚，其流遂遠。 望白署空，是稱清貴； 恪勤匪懈，終滯鄙俗。 是使朝經廢於上，職事隳於下。 小人道長，抑此之由。 嗚呼！ 傷風敗俗，曾莫之悟。 永嘉不競，戎馬生郊，宜其然矣。 何國禮之識治，見譏薄俗，惜哉！
Yao Cha, Chen Director of the Imperial Secretariat, said: From the Zhengshi reign through Jin’s middle courts the vogue favored abstruse talk and unrestrained conduct; secretariat directors and above no longer touched papers—everything fell to the clerks. Under the Eastern Jin the fashion spread further; only Bian Kun tried to manage secretariat business, and Ruan Fu told him: “You are never free—is that not toilsome?” In Song, Wang Hongjing sat at the head yet never opened a file; elegance was admired, and the current ran deep. To stare at empty paper and leave the desk vacant was called refined dignity; unflagging diligence in the end kept one among the coarse. So state discipline perished at the top and office work collapsed below. Petty ways flourished—and this is why. Alas! Manners were harmed and morals spoiled, and no one ever understood. When Yongjia could no longer hold its own and war horses foaled by the city wall, it was only to be expected. That He Guoli knew how to govern yet was scorned by shallow men—alas!