1
文學下○王鼎耶律昭劉輝耶律孟簡耶律谷欲
Literature (Part 2) — Wang Ding, Yelü Zhao, Liu Hui, Yelü Mengjian, and Yelü Guyu
2
王鼎，字虛中，涿州人。 幼好學，居太寧山數年，博通經史。 時馬唐俊有文名燕、薊間，適上巳，與同志祓禊水濱，酌酒賦詩。 鼎偶造席，唐俊見鼎樸野，置下坐。 欲以詩困之，先出所作索賦，鼎援筆立成。 唐俊驚其敏妙，因與定交。 清寧五年，擢進士第。 調易州觀察判官，改淶水縣令，累遷翰林學士。 當代典章多出其手。 上書言治道十事，帝以鼎達政體，事多咨訪。 鼎正直不阿，人有過，必面詆之。 壽隆初，升觀書殿學士。 一日宴主第，醉與客忤，怨上不知己，坐是下吏。 狀聞，上大怒，杖黥奪官，流鎮州。 居數歲，有赦，鼎獨不免。 會守臣召鼎為賀表，因以詩貽使者，有「誰知天雨露，獨不到孤寒」之句。 上聞而憐之，即召還，復其職。 乾統六年卒。
Wang Ding, whose courtesy name was Xuzhong, came from Zhuozhou. As a boy he loved study; he lived on Mount Taining for years until he had mastered the classics and histories. At the time Ma Tangjun enjoyed a literary reputation in the Yan and Ji region. It chanced to be the Shangsi Festival, and he went with friends to perform the spring purification by the water, drinking wine and composing verse. Ding happened upon the gathering. Tangjun took him for a rustic and gave him the lowest seat. Intending to trap him with verse, Tangjun first produced his own poem and demanded a reply; Ding took up the brush and finished one on the spot. Tangjun was astonished by his quick wit and thereupon became his sworn friend. In the fifth year of the Qingning reign he passed the jinshi examination. He was posted as judicial aide on the Yizhou Observation Commission, then made magistrate of Lianshui County, and rose in time to Hanlin Academician. Most of the age's ritual codes and statutes came from his pen. He memorialized the throne on ten points of governance. The emperor judged Ding thoroughly versed in statecraft and often sought his counsel. Ding was upright and unyielding: whenever anyone erred, he would rebuke him to his face. At the opening of the Shoulong era he was promoted to Academician of the Hall for Viewing Books. One day at a feast in the princess's residence he grew drunk and quarreled with a guest, complaining that the emperor did not know his worth; for this he was handed over to the magistrates. When the report reached the throne the emperor flew into a rage: Ding was beaten, tattooed, stripped of office, and exiled to Zhenzhou. After several years an amnesty was proclaimed, but Ding alone was not pardoned. It happened that the local commander summoned Ding to draft a congratulatory memorial, and he sent a poem to the envoy with the line, "Who knew heaven's rain and dew would pass the lonely and cold by alone?" The emperor heard of it, took pity on him, and at once recalled him and restored his office. He died in the sixth year of the Qiantong reign.
3
鼎宰縣時，憩於庭，俄有暴風舉臥榻空中。 鼎無懼色，但覺枕榻俱高，乃曰：「吾中朝端士，邪無干正，可徐置之。」 須臾，榻復故處，風遂止。
While Ding was serving as county magistrate he was resting in the courtyard when suddenly a violent wind lifted his couch into the air. Ding showed no fear; he only felt pillow and couch rising together, and said, "I am an upright scholar of the central court. Evil dare not touch what is correct—set me down gently. In a moment the couch returned to its place and the wind died away.
4
耶律昭，字述寧，博學，善屬文。 統和中，坐兄國留事，流西北部。 會蕭撻凜為西北路招討使，愛之，奏免其役，禮致門下。 欲召用，以疾辭。 撻凜問曰：「今軍旅甫罷，三邊宴然，惟阻卜伺隙而動。 討之則路遠難至，縱之則邊民被掠，增戍兵則饋餉不給，欲茍一時之安，不能終保無變。 計將安出？」 昭以書答曰：
Yelü Zhao, courtesy name Shuning, was broadly learned and skilled at literary composition. During the Tonghe era he was implicated in his elder brother Guoliu's case and exiled to the northwest. When Xiao Talin became Commissioner for Subjugation of the Northwestern Circuit, he took a liking to Zhao, memorialized to free him from corvée, and received him with full courtesy at his gate. When Talin wished to summon him to office, he declined on grounds of illness. Talin asked him, "Campaigns have only just ended and the three frontiers are quiet, yet the Zubu alone watch for openings and stir. To strike them is to face roads too long to reach; to indulge them is to let frontier people be plundered; to add garrison troops is to outrun our supplies. Seeking a moment's peace now, we cannot in the end be sure nothing will change. What plan should we adopt? Zhao answered in a letter:
5
竊聞治得其要，則仇敵為一家； 失其術，則部曲為行路。 夫西北諸部，每當農時，一夫為偵候，一夫治公田，二夫給糺官之役，大率四丁無一室處。 芻牧之事，仰給妻孥。 一遭寇掠，貧窮立至。 春夏賑恤，吏多雜以糠比，重以掊克，不過數月，又復告困。 且畜牧者，富國之本。 有司防其隱沒，聚之一所，不得各就水草便地。 兼以逋亡戍卒，隨時補調，不習風土，故日瘠月損，馴至耗竭。 為今之計，莫若振窮薄賦，給以牛種，使遂耕獲。 置遊兵以防盜掠，頒俘獲以助伏臘，散畜牧以就便地。 期以數年，富強可望。 然後練簡精兵，以備行伍，何守之不固，何動而不克哉？ 然必去其難制者，則余種自畏。 若舍大而謀小，避強而攻弱，非徒虛費財力，亦不足以威服其心。 此二者，利害之機，不可不察。 昭聞古之名將，安邊立功，在德不在眾。 故謝玄以八千破苻堅百萬，休哥以五隊敗曹彬十萬。 良由恩結士心，得其死力也。 閣下膺非常之遇，專方面之寄，宜遠師古人，以就勛業。 上觀乾象，下盡人謀； 察地形之險易，料敵勢之虛實。 慮無遺策，利施後世矣。
I have heard that when governance grasps what matters, even enemies become one household; when it loses the method, even one's own followers become strangers on the road. Among the northwestern tribes, whenever farming season comes one man serves as scout, one tends the public fields, and two supply corvée to the supervisory official—in general four able-bodied men have not a single room for the household. Cutting fodder and tending herds they rely entirely on wives and children. A single raid and poverty follows at once. Spring and summer relief is often adulterated with chaff by officials, and on top of that comes extortion—within a few months they are begging relief again. Moreover, pastoral herding is the foundation of national wealth. The authorities guard against concealment and herd everything into one place, not letting each family reach convenient pasture and water. Coupled with garrison deserters replaced at any moment who do not learn local conditions, they weaken day by day and month by month until exhaustion sets in. For policy today, nothing is better than reviving the destitute, lightening taxes, and providing cattle seed so they can farm and harvest. Station mobile troops against looting, distribute captives to help with seasonal rites, and scatter herds to convenient pasture. Within a few years strength and prosperity may be expected. Then drill and select crack troops to fill the ranks—what defense would not hold, what campaign would not succeed? Yet one must remove those hard to control, and the remaining tribes will themselves submit in fear. If one abandons the large to scheme at the small, avoiding the strong to strike the weak, not only is wealth wasted—it is also insufficient to overawe their hearts. These two points are the pivot of advantage and harm and must be weighed with care. Zhao has heard that famous generals of old who pacified the frontier and won merit did so through virtue, not through numbers. Thus Xie Xuan with eight thousand routed Fu Jian's million, and Xiuge with five detachments defeated Cao Bin's hundred thousand. This was because kindness won the soldiers' hearts and secured their strength unto death. Your Lordship has received an extraordinary appointment and bears sole trust for the region; you ought to take the ancients as your teachers from afar and complete your achievements. Observe above the signs of heaven and exhaust below the schemes of men; discern the difficulty or ease of terrain and gauge the emptiness or fullness of enemy strength. Let no stratagem be omitted, and benefits will extend to later generations.
6
撻凜然之。 開泰中，獵於拔裏堵山，為羯羊所觸，卒。
Talin was deeply impressed. During the KaiTai era, while hunting on Mount Balidu, he was butted by a ram and died.
7
劉輝，好學善屬文，疏簡有遠略。 大康五年，第進士。 大安末，為太子洗馬，上書言：「西邊諸番為患，士卒遠戍，中國之民疲於飛挽，非長久之策。 為今之務，莫若城於鹽濼，實以漢戶，使耕田聚糧，以為西北之費。」 言雖不行，識者韙之。 壽隆二年，復上書曰：「宋歐陽修編《五代史》，附我朝於四夷，妄加貶訾。 且宋人賴我朝寬大，許通和好，得盡兄弟之禮。 今反令臣下妄意作史，恬不經意。 臣請以趙氏初起事跡，詳附國史。」 上嘉其言，遷禮部郎中。 詔以賢良對策，輝言多中時病。 擢史館修撰，卒。
Liu Hui loved learning and was skilled at literary composition; plain in manner, he possessed far-reaching vision. In the fifth year of the Dakang reign he passed the jinshi examination. At the end of the Da'an era he served as Mentor of the Crown Prince and memorialized the throne: "The western tribes are a constant trouble; troops are garrisoned far away while the people of the Central Plains wear themselves out hauling supplies—this is no lasting policy. The urgent task today is to build fortified towns at the salt marshes, settle them with Han households, and have them farm and store grain to supply the northwest. Though his proposal was not adopted, men of insight approved it. In the second year of Shoulong he again memorialized the throne: "The Song scholar Ouyang Xiu compiled the History of the Five Dynasties and placed our dynasty among the four barbarians, recklessly denigrating us. Moreover the Song rely on our court's magnanimity, permitted friendship and peace, and enjoy the full observance of brotherly rites. Now they let their subjects presumptuously write history, calm and heedless of offense. Your servant requests that the Zhao clan's founding deeds be set forth in detail and appended to our national history. The emperor commended his words and promoted him to Master of Rites in the Ministry of Rites. The emperor ordered a policy examination for men of talent; Hui's answers largely struck the maladies of the age. He was promoted to Compiler in the Historiography Institute and died.
8
耶律孟簡，字復易，於越屋質之五世孫。 父劉家奴，官至節度使。 孟簡性穎悟。 六歲，父晨出獵，俾賦《曉天星月詩》，孟簡應聲而成，父大奇之。 既長，善屬文。 大康初，樞密使耶律乙辛以奸險竊柄，出為中京留守，孟簡與耶律庶箴表賀。 未幾，乙辛復舊職，銜之，謫巡磁窯關。 時雖以讒見逐，不形辭色。 遇林泉勝地，終日忘歸。 明年，流保州。 及聞皇太子被害，不勝哀痛，以詩傷之，作《放懷詩》二十首。 自序云：「禽獸有哀樂之聲，螻蟻有動靜之形。 在物猶然，況於人乎？ 然賢達哀樂，不在窮通禍福之間。 《易》曰：『樂天知命，故不憂。』 是以顏淵簞瓢自得，此知命而樂者也。 予雖流放，以道自安，又何疑耶？」 大康中，始得歸鄉里。 詣闕上表曰：「本朝之興，幾二百年，宜有國史以垂後世。」 乃編耶律曷魯、屋質、休哥三人行事以進。 上命置局編修。 孟簡謂余官曰：「史筆天下之大信，一言當否，百世從之。 茍無明識，好惡徇情，則禍不測。 故左氏、司馬遷、班固、范曄俱罹殃禍，可不慎歟！」 乾統中，遷六院部太保。 處事不拘文法，時多笑其迂。 孟簡聞之曰：「上古之時，無簿書法令而天下治。 蓋簿書法令適足以滋奸幸，非聖人致治之本。」 改高州觀察使，修學校，招生徒。 遷昭德軍節度使。 以中京饑，詔與學士劉嗣昌減價糶粟。 事未畢，卒。
Yelü Mengjian, courtesy name Fuyi, was the fifth-generation descendant of the Yuyue Wuzhi. His father Liu Jianu rose to the rank of military commissioner. Mengjian was quick and perceptive by nature. At six, when his father went hunting at dawn and asked him to compose a poem on "Stars and Moon at Daybreak," Mengjian answered as soon as the words were spoken, and his father was astonished. When he grew up he became skilled at literary composition. At the beginning of Dakang, Privy Councillor Yelü Yixin seized power through treachery and was sent out as Commissioner of the Central Capital; Mengjian and Yelü Shuzhen submitted a congratulatory memorial. Before long Yixin returned to his former post and bore a grudge; Mengjian was demoted to patrol the Ciyao Pass. Though driven out through slander, he showed no change in speech or countenance. When he came upon fine scenery of forest and spring he would linger all day and forget to return. The following year he was exiled to Baozhou. When he heard that the crown prince had been murdered he was overcome with grief; he mourned him in verse and composed twenty poems entitled Poems of Letting Go the Heart. In his preface he wrote: "Beasts and birds have sounds of sorrow and joy; ants and insects have forms of movement and stillness. If it is so even among things, how much more among human beings? Yet for the worthy and penetrating, sorrow and joy do not depend on poverty or success, fortune or disaster. The Classic of Changes says: 'Content with heaven and knowing fate, and therefore without worry.' Thus Yan Yuan with his bamboo basket was self-sufficient—this is knowing fate and finding joy in it. Though I am in exile, I rest secure through the Way—what doubt remains? During the Dakang era he was at last able to return home. He went to court and submitted a memorial: "Since our dynasty rose, nearly two hundred years have passed; there ought to be a national history to hand down to posterity. Thereupon he compiled the career records of Yelü Helu, Wuzhi, and Xiuge and presented them to the throne. The emperor ordered that a bureau be established for compilation. Mengjian told the other officials: "The historiographer's brush is the great trust of the realm; whether a single word is right or wrong, a hundred generations will follow it. Without clear judgment, if likes and dislikes follow private feeling, disaster is unforeseeable. Therefore Zuo Qiuming, Sima Qian, Ban Gu, and Fan Ye all suffered calamity—is caution not required! During the Qiantong era he was transferred to Grand Protector of the Six Tribes Commission. In handling affairs he did not stick to written regulations; at the time many laughed at him as pedantic. When Mengjian heard this he said: "In high antiquity there were no ledgers and laws, yet the realm was governed. Ledgers and laws are just enough to breed crafty favor—they are not the foundation by which sages bring order. He was made Commissioner of Guozhou for Observation, built schools, and enrolled students. He was transferred to Military Commissioner of the Zhaode Army. When the Central Capital suffered famine, the emperor ordered him and Academician Liu Sichang to sell grain at reduced prices. Before the task was finished he died.
9
耶律谷欲，字休堅，六院部人。 父阿古只，官至節度使。 谷欲沖淡有禮法，工文章。 統和中，為本部太保。 開泰中，稍遷塌母城節度使。 鞫霸州疑獄，稱旨，授啟聖軍節度使。 太平中，復為本部太保。 謝病歸，俄擢南院大王。 嘆風俗日頹，請老，不許。 興宗命為詩友，數問治要，多所匡建。 奉詔與林牙耶律庶成、蕭韓家奴編遼國上世事跡及諸帝《實錄》，未成而卒，年九十。
Yelü Guyu, courtesy name Xiujian, was a man of the Six Tribes Commission. His father Aguozhi rose to the rank of military commissioner. Guyu was mild and unassuming, observant of ritual propriety, and accomplished at literary composition. During the Tonghe era he served as Grand Protector of his native commission. During the KaiTai era he was gradually promoted to Military Commissioner of Tamucheng. He investigated doubtful cases in Bazhou; his work pleased the emperor, and he was appointed Military Commissioner of the Qisheng Army. During the Taiping era he again served as Grand Protector of his native commission. He resigned on grounds of illness and returned home; shortly afterward he was promoted to King of the Southern Commission. He lamented that customs were daily in decline and asked to retire, but the request was denied. Emperor Xingzong made him a poetry companion and often asked him about essentials of governance; he offered much corrective counsel. By imperial order he joined Linya Yelü Shucheng and Xiao Hanjianu in compiling the deeds of earlier Liao affairs and the Veritable Records of the various emperors; he died before the work was finished, at the age of ninety.
10
論曰：孔子言：「誦《詩》三百，授之以政，不達。 雖多，亦奚以為？」 王鼎忠直達政，劉輝侍青宮，建言國計，昭陳邊防利害，皆洞達闿敏。 孟簡疾乙辛奸邪，黜而不怨。 孰謂文學之士，無益於治哉！
The discussion says: Confucius said, "If one has recited the three hundred Odes yet, when entrusted with government, does not succeed— however many he has recited, of what use are they? Wang Ding was loyal, upright, and mastered statecraft; Liu Hui served the crown prince and offered counsel on national policy; Zhao set forth the advantages and harms of frontier defense—all were penetrating and quick of understanding. Mengjian detested Yixin's treachery; though dismissed, he bore no resentment. Who would say that men of letters are of no benefit to governance!