Volume 128 Biographies 16: Liu Ji, Song Lian, Ye Chen, Zhang Yi

劉基，字伯溫，青田人。曾祖濠，仕宋為翰林掌書。宋亡，邑子林融倡義旅。事敗，元遣使簿錄其党，多連染。使道宿濠家，濠醉使者而焚其廬，籍悉毀。使者計無所出，乃為更其籍，連染者皆得免。基幼穎異，其師鄭復初謂其父爚曰：「君祖德厚，此子必大君之門矣。」元至順間，舉進士，除高安丞，有廉直聲。行省辟之，謝去。起為江浙儒學副提舉，論御史失職，為台臣所阻，再投劾歸。基博通經史，於書無不窺，尤精象緯之學。西蜀趙天澤論江左人物，首稱基，以為諸葛孔明儔也。

Liu Ji, whose courtesy name was Bowen, came from Qingtian. His great-grandfather Hao had served the Song dynasty as keeper of documents in the Hanlin Academy. After the fall of the Song, a fellow townsman named Lin Rong raised a loyalist militia. When the uprising failed, the Yuan dispatched officials to register Lin's associates, and many innocent people were swept up in the dragnet. The envoy happened to lodge at Hao's house along the way; Hao plied him with wine, then burned down the building and destroyed every register. With no other recourse, the envoy had new registers drawn up, and everyone who had been caught up in the case was spared. As a boy Ji showed unusual brilliance; his teacher Zheng Fuchu told his father Yao, "Your family has accumulated great merit over generations—this son is destined to bring your house great distinction." During the Yuan Zhishun period he passed the jinshi examination, was appointed assistant magistrate of Gao'an, and earned a reputation for upright and incorruptible service. The provincial administration recruited him, but he declined and withdrew from office. He was later appointed associate educational intendant for the Jiang-Zhe region; when he criticized the censors for neglecting their duties, the censorate blocked him, and he once more resigned and went home. Ji had mastered the classics and histories; there was scarcely a book he had not read, and he was especially skilled in astronomy and astrological lore. When Zhao Tianze of western Shu assessed the leading men of the lower Yangzi region, he named Ji foremost and declared him the equal of Zhuge Liang.

方國珍起海上，掠郡縣，有司不能制。行省復辟基為元帥府都事。基議築慶元諸城以逼賊，國珍氣沮。及左丞帖裏帖木兒招諭國珍，基言方氏兄弟首亂，不誅無以懲後。國珍懼，厚賂基。基不受。國珍乃使人浮海至京，賄用事者。遂詔撫國珍，授以官，而責基擅威福，羈管紹興，方氏遂愈橫。亡何，山寇蜂起，行省復辟基剿捕，與行院判石抹宜孫守處州。經略使李國鳳上其功，執政以方氏故抑之，授總管府判，不與兵事。基遂棄官還青田，著《郁離子》以見志。時避方氏者爭依基，基稍為部署，寇不敢犯。

Fang Guozhen had risen from the sea routes, raiding prefectures and counties, and the local authorities could not bring him to heel. The provincial administration again recruited Ji to serve as chief clerk in the marshal's headquarters. Ji proposed fortifying the cities around Qingyuan to hem in the rebels, and Fang Guozhen's confidence faltered. When the left councillor Tie'ertiemuer was sent to negotiate with Fang Guozhen, Ji argued that the Fang brothers had instigated the rebellion and that unless they were punished, no lesson would be taught to future rebels. Fang Guozhen grew fearful and offered Ji a lavish bribe. Ji refused the gift. Fang Guozhen then sent envoys by sea to the capital to bribe the men who held real power at court. An imperial edict then granted Fang Guozhen amnesty and an official post, while Ji was accused of abusing his authority and was placed under detention at Shaoxing; the Fang clan grew bolder than ever. Before long mountain bandits rose everywhere; the provincial administration recalled Ji to hunt them down, and he defended Chuzhou alongside the branch administration judge Shimo Yisun. The frontier commissioner Li Guofeng reported Ji's achievements to the court, but the chief ministers, mindful of the Fang clan, suppressed the report; Ji was appointed judge of the chief commandery but was denied any role in military affairs. Ji thereupon resigned and returned to Qingtian, where he wrote the 《Yulizi》 to set forth his convictions. At that time everyone fleeing the Fang clan sought refuge with Ji; he organized a modest defense, and the raiders did not dare molest the area.

及太祖下金華，定括蒼，聞基及宋濂等名，以幣聘。基未應，總制孫炎再致書固邀之，基始出。既至，陳時務十八策。太祖大喜，築禮賢館以處基等，寵禮甚至。初，太祖以韓林兒稱宋後，遙奉之。歲首，中書省設御座行禮，基獨不拜，曰：「牧豎耳，奉之何為！」因見太祖，陳天命所在。太祖問征取計，基曰：「士誠自守虜，不足慮。友諒劫主脅下，名號不正，地據上流，其心無日忘我，宜先圖之。陳氏滅，張氏勢孤，一舉可定。然後北向中原，王業可成也。」太祖大悅曰：「先生有至計，勿惜盡言。」會陳友諒陷太平，謀東下，勢張甚，諸將或議降，或議奔據鐘山，基張目不言。太祖召入內，基奮曰：「主降及奔者，可斬也。」太祖曰：「先生計安出？」基曰：「賊驕矣，待其深入，伏兵邀取之，易耳。天道後舉者勝，取威制敵以成王業，在此舉矣。」太祖用其策，誘友諒至，大破之，以克敵賞賞基。基辭。友諒兵復陷安慶，太祖欲自將討之，以問基。基力贊，遂出師攻安慶。自旦及暮不下，基請逕趨江州，搗友諒巢穴，遂悉軍西上。友諒出不意，帥妻子奔武昌，江州降。其龍興守將胡美遣子通款，請勿散其部曲。太祖有難色。基從後蹋胡床。太祖悟，許之。美降，江西諸郡皆下。

After Taizu captured Jinhua and secured Kuocang, he heard of Ji and Song Lian and sent envoys bearing gifts to invite them to his service. Ji did not respond at first; the chief controller Sun Yan wrote again with urgent invitations, and only then did Ji emerge from retirement. Upon his arrival he presented eighteen policy recommendations on affairs of state. Taizu was delighted and built the Hall for Honoring the Worthy to house Ji and his colleagues, treating them with the highest honor. Earlier, because Han Lin'er claimed to be a scion of the Song, Taizu had acknowledged him as his nominal sovereign from afar. At the New Year the Secretariat set up the imperial seat and performed the rites of obeisance; Ji alone refused to bow, saying, "He is nothing but a shepherd boy—why should we honor him!" He then met with Taizu and explained where the Mandate of Heaven truly rested. When Taizu asked for a strategy of conquest, Ji said, "Zhang Shicheng is merely holding his ground like a cornered beast and is not worth worrying about. Chen Youliang holds his sovereign hostage and rules by coercion; his claim is illegitimate, his territory commands the upper Yangzi, and he thinks of destroying us every day—you should strike at him first. Once the Chen clan is destroyed, Zhang Shicheng will stand alone and can be brought down in a single campaign. Then you can turn north toward the Central Plains, and the foundation of an empire can be laid." Taizu was greatly pleased and said, "Sir, you have a master strategy—please speak without reserve." At that moment Chen Youliang had captured Taiping and was preparing to march east; his power was formidable, and some generals urged surrender while others proposed abandoning the capital for Zhongshan; Ji glared in silence and would not speak. Taizu summoned him inside; Ji spoke with force: "Anyone who counsels surrender or flight deserves to be executed." Taizu asked, "Sir, what is your plan?" Ji replied, "The enemy has grown arrogant; wait until he advances deep into our territory, then cut him off with an ambush—it will be easy. Heaven favors those who strike second; to awe your foe, master the enemy, and lay the foundation of empire—all depends on this battle." Taizu adopted his plan, lured Youliang into battle, and won a crushing victory; he offered Ji a reward for the triumph over the enemy. Ji declined the reward. Youliang's forces recaptured Anqing; Taizu wished to lead the campaign personally and sought Ji's counsel. Ji strongly urged him on, and Taizu marched out to attack Anqing. From dawn until evening the city still held; Ji proposed marching directly on Jiangzhou to strike at Youliang's base, and Taizu led the entire army westward. Caught off guard, Youliang fled with his family to Wuchang, and Jiangzhou surrendered. Hu Mei, the defending general at Longxing, sent his son to negotiate surrender and pleaded that his troops not be broken up. Taizu hesitated. Ji kicked the back of Taizu's folding chair. Taizu understood the signal and agreed. Hu Mei surrendered, and all the prefectures of Jiangxi fell.

基喪母，值兵事未敢言，至是請還葬。會苗軍反，殺金、處守將胡大海、耿再成等，浙東搖動。基至衢，為守將夏毅諭安諸屬邑，復與平章邵榮等謀復處州，亂遂定。國珍素畏基，致書唁。基答書，宣示太祖威德，國珍遂入貢。太祖數以書即家訪軍國事，基條答悉中機宜。尋赴京，太祖方親援安豐。基曰：「漢、吳伺隙，未可動也。」不聽。友諒聞之，乘間圍洪都。太祖曰：「不聽君言，幾失計。」遂自將救洪都，與友諒大戰鄱陽蝴，一日數十接。太祖坐胡床督戰，基侍側，忽躍起大呼，趣太祖更舟。太祖倉卒徙別舸，坐未定，飛礮擊舊所御舟立碎。友諒乘高見之，大喜。而太祖舟更進，漢軍皆失色。時湖中相持，三日未決，基請移軍湖口扼之，以金木相犯日決勝，友諒走死。其後太祖取士誠，北伐中原，遂成帝業，略如基謀。

Ji's mother had died, but with war raging he had not dared request leave; now he asked permission to return home for the funeral. Just then the Miao army rebelled, killing the defending generals Hu Dahai and Geng Zaicheng at Jin and Chu, and all of eastern Zhejiang was thrown into turmoil. Ji reached Quzhou, helped the defending general Xia Yi pacify the surrounding counties, and together with the pingzhang Shao Rong and others planned the recovery of Chuzhou; the rebellion was soon suppressed. Fang Guozhen had long feared Ji and sent a letter of condolence for his mother's death. Ji wrote back, expounding Taizu's power and benevolence, and Fang Guozhen thereupon submitted tribute. Taizu repeatedly wrote to him at home to consult on military and state affairs, and Ji's detailed replies invariably proved exactly right. He soon returned to the capital, where Taizu was personally leading a relief force to Anfeng. Ji warned, "Chen Youliang and Zhang Shicheng are watching for an opening—you must not move yet." Taizu did not heed him. Youliang heard of the expedition and seized the opportunity to besiege Hongdu. Taizu said, "Had I listened to you, I would not have come so close to disaster." He then led the relief of Hongdu in person and fought a great battle with Youliang on Poyang Lake, with dozens of clashes in a single day. Taizu sat on a folding chair directing the battle while Ji stood at his side; suddenly Ji leaped up and shouted, urging Taizu to change boats at once. Taizu scrambled onto another vessel; before he had even taken his seat, a cannonball struck the boat he had just left and shattered it to splinters. Youliang, watching from higher ground, saw the explosion and rejoiced. But Taizu's new boat pressed forward, and Youliang's entire army turned pale with dismay. The two fleets had faced each other on the lake for three days without a decision; Ji proposed shifting the army to Hukou to block the enemy's escape, and on the day when the elemental signs favored metal over wood, the battle was decided—Youliang fled and was killed. Thereafter Taizu defeated Zhang Shicheng, marched north into the Central Plains, and founded the dynasty—largely along the lines Ji had laid out.

吳元年以基為太史令，上《戊申大統曆》。熒惑守心，請下詔罪己。大旱，請決滯獄。即命基平反，雨隨注。因請立法定制，以止濫殺。太祖方欲刑人，基請其故，太祖語之以夢。基曰：「此得土得眾之象，宜停刑以待。」後三日，海寧降。太祖喜，悉以囚付基縱之。尋拜御史中丞兼太史令。

In the first year of the Wu regime, Ji was appointed Director of the Imperial Observatory and presented the 《Wushen Grand Unity Calendar》. When Mars lingered in the Heart constellation, he urged the court to issue an edict of self-reproach. During a severe drought he urged that long-pending cases in prison be resolved. Taizu immediately ordered Ji to review and redress wrongful convictions, and rain fell in torrents. He then urged the establishment of laws and institutions to curb arbitrary executions. When Taizu was about to execute someone, Ji asked the reason; Taizu told him of a dream he had had. Ji said, "This dream foretells that you will gain territory and win the people's loyalty; you should suspend executions and wait." Three days later Haining surrendered. Taizu was delighted and handed all the prisoners over to Ji to set free. He was soon appointed Censor-in-Chief while retaining his post as Director of the Imperial Observatory.

太祖即皇帝位，基奏立軍衛法，初定處州稅糧，視宋制畝加五合，惟青田命毋加，曰：「令伯溫鄉里世世為美談也。」帝幸汴梁，基與左丞相善長居守。基謂宋、元寬縱失天下，今宜肅紀綱。令御史糾劾無所避，宿衛宦侍有過者，皆啟皇太子置之法，人憚其嚴。中書省都事李彬坐貪縱抵罪，善長素匿之，請緩其獄。基不聽，馳奏。報可。方祈雨，即斬之。由是與善長忤。帝歸，愬基僇人壇壝下，不敬。諸怨基者亦交譖之。會以旱求言，基奏：「士卒物故者，其妻悉處別營，凡數萬人，陰氣鬱結。工匠死，胔骸暴露，吳將吏降者皆編軍戶，足幹和氣。」帝納其言，旬日仍不雨，帝怒。會基有妻喪，遂請告歸。時帝方營中都，又銳意滅擴廓。基瀕行，奏曰：「鳳陽雖帝鄉，非建都地。王保保未可輕也。」已而定西失利，擴廓竟走沙漠，迄為邊患。其冬，帝手詔敘基勳伐，召赴京，賜賚甚厚，追贈基祖、父皆永嘉郡公。累欲進基爵，基固辭不受。

When Taizu took the throne, Ji memorialized to establish military guard regulations and set Chuzhou's grain tax five he higher per mu than under the Song system; only Qingtian was exempted, with the remark, "Let Bowen's homeland be a subject of praise for generations to come." When the emperor traveled to Bianliang, Ji and the left chief councillor Li Shanchang remained behind to guard the capital. Ji argued that the Song and Yuan had lost the empire through laxity and indulgence, and that the new dynasty must enforce strict discipline. He ordered the censors to impeach without fear or favor; any palace guard or eunuch attendant who transgressed was reported to the crown prince for punishment, and everyone feared his severity. Li Bin, a chief clerk of the Secretariat, was convicted of corruption and sentenced to death; Li Shanchang, who had long shielded him, pleaded for a delay in carrying out the sentence. Ji refused and sent an urgent memorial to the emperor. The emperor's reply granted approval. While the court was praying for rain, Ji had him executed immediately. From this point he fell out with Li Shanchang. When the emperor returned, he accused Ji of having executed a man below the altar terrace, an act of disrespect. Those who bore grudges against Ji joined in denouncing him. When the court sought advice because of the drought, Ji memorialized: "The widows of soldiers who died in service are all confined to separate camps—tens of thousands of women whose grief has no outlet; yin energy is pent up throughout the realm. Artisans who die are left unburied; surrendered Wu generals and officials are all enrolled as military households—these practices are enough to disrupt the harmony of heaven and earth." The emperor accepted his advice, but after ten days still no rain fell, and the emperor grew angry. Ji happened to be mourning his wife and requested leave to return home. At that time the emperor was building a central capital and was also determined to destroy Kökö Temür. As Ji was about to leave, he memorialized: "Fengyang, though it is your native district, is not a suitable site for the capital. Wang Baobao must not be underestimated." Before long the campaign in Dingxi failed; Kökö Temür fled into the desert and remained a border threat for years to come. That winter the emperor issued a personal edict recounting Ji's achievements, summoned him back to the capital, lavished rich gifts upon him, and posthumously enfeoffed both Ji's grandfather and father as Dukes of Yongjia. The emperor repeatedly offered to advance Ji's rank, but Ji steadfastly refused.

初，太祖以事責丞相李善長，基言：「善長勳舊，能調和諸將。」太祖曰：「是數欲害君，君乃為之地耶？吾行相君矣。」基頓首曰：「是如易柱，須得大木。若束小木為之，且立覆。」及善長罷，帝欲相楊憲。憲素善基，基力言不可，曰：「憲有相才無相器。夫宰相者，持心如水，以義理為權衡，而己無與者也，憲則不然。」帝問汪廣洋，曰：「此褊淺殆甚於憲。」又問胡惟庸，曰：「譬之駕，懼其僨轅也。」帝曰：「吾之相，誠無逾先生。」基曰：「臣疾惡太甚，又不耐繁劇，為之且孤上恩。天下何患無才，惟明主悉心求之，目前諸人誠未見其可也。」後憲、廣洋、惟庸皆敗。三年授弘文館學士。十一月大封功臣，授基開國翊運守正文臣、資善大夫、上護軍，封誠意伯，祿二百四十石。明年賜歸老於鄉。

Earlier, when Taizu blamed Chief Councillor Li Shanchang over a matter, Ji said, "Shanchang is a veteran of the founding campaigns and knows how to keep the generals in harmony." Taizu said, "He has tried to harm you more than once—yet you plead on his behalf? I am about to make you chief councillor." Ji kowtowed and replied, "That would be like replacing a pillar—you need a massive timber. If you lash together only small timbers, the structure will soon collapse." When Shanchang was removed, the emperor wished to appoint Yang Xian as chief councillor. Xian had long been friendly with Ji, but Ji strongly objected, saying, "Xian has the talent of a minister but not the temperament for the post. A true chief councillor keeps his heart level as water, weighs all matters by righteousness and principle, and does not push his own interests—Xian is not such a man." The emperor asked about Wang Guangyang; Ji said, "He is narrow-minded and shallow—likely even worse than Xian." Asked about Hu Weiyong, Ji said, "It is like putting him in charge of the chariot—I fear he would overturn the shafts." The emperor said, "For chief councillor there is truly no one who surpasses you, sir." Ji replied, "I hate wickedness too fiercely and cannot bear the weight of such duties; if I took the post I would only disappoint your trust. The empire is not lacking in talent; an enlightened ruler need only seek it wholeheartedly—but none of those now before us seem truly fit for the role." In time Yang Xian, Wang Guangyang, and Hu Weiyong all met with ruin. In the third year of the reign he was appointed academician of the Hall for Promoting Literature. In the eleventh month the founding meritorious officials were enfeoffed on a grand scale; Ji received the titles Founding Assistant in Upholding the Mandate, Upright Civil Minister, Grand Master of Fostering Goodness, and Senior Guardian of the Army, and was created Marquis of Chengyi with a stipend of two hundred forty piculs of grain. The following year he was permitted to retire to his native district.

帝嘗手書問天象。基條答甚悉而焚其草。大要言霜雪之後，必有陽春，今國威已立，宜少濟以寬大。基佐定天下，料事如神。性剛嫉惡，與物多忤。至是還隱山中，惟飲酒弈棋，口不言功。邑令求見不得，微服為野人謁基。基方濯足，令從子引入茆舍，炊黍飯令。令告曰：「某青田知縣也。」基驚起稱民，謝去，終不復見。其韜跡如此，然究為惟庸所中。

The emperor once wrote in his own hand to inquire about celestial omens. Ji replied in detailed points and then burned the draft. In essence he wrote that after frost and snow spring must come; now that the empire's authority was secure, policy should be tempered with greater leniency. Ji had helped establish the dynasty, and his foresight in affairs seemed almost supernatural. By nature he was stern and intolerant of evil, and he clashed with many around him. By then he had withdrawn to the mountains, drinking wine and playing chess, never speaking of his achievements. The district magistrate could not obtain an audience; he disguised himself as a commoner and went to visit Ji. Ji was washing his feet; the magistrate had his nephew lead the visitor into a thatched hut and served him a meal of millet. The magistrate then revealed, "I am the magistrate of Qingtian." Ji rose in alarm, addressed him as a commoner rather than an official, apologized, and departed—never granting him another meeting. Such was his manner of hiding from the world—yet in the end he was destroyed by Hu Weiyong.

初，基言甌、括間有隙地曰談洋，南抵閩界，為鹽盜藪，方氏所由乳，請設巡檢司守之。奸民弗便也。會茗洋逃軍反，吏匿不以聞。基令長子璉奏其事，不先白中書省。胡惟庸方以左丞掌省事，挾前憾，使吏訐基，謂談洋地有王氣，基圖為墓，民弗與，則請立巡檢逐民。帝雖不罪基，然頗為所動，遂奪基祿。基懼入謝，乃留京，不敢歸。未幾，惟庸相，基大慼曰：「使吾言不驗，蒼生福也。」憂憤疾作。八年三月，帝親制文賜之，遣使護歸。抵家，疾篤，以《天文書》授子璉曰：「亟上之，毋令後人習也。」又謂次子璟曰：「夫為政，寬猛如迴圈。當今之務在修德省刑，祈天永命。諸形勝要害之地，宜與京師聲勢連絡。我欲為遺表，惟庸在，無益也。惟庸敗後，上必思我，有所問，以是密奏之。」居一月而卒，年六十五。基在京病時，惟庸以醫來，飲其藥，有物積腹中如拳石。其後中丞塗節首惟庸逆謀，並謂其毒基致死雲。

Earlier Ji had reported that between Ou and Kuo lay a tract of open land called Tanyang, reaching south to the Fujian border—a haunt of salt smugglers and a stronghold nurtured by the Fang clan—and he had requested that an inspection office be established to guard it. Corrupt local interests found this inconvenient. When deserters at Mingyang rebelled, local officials concealed the news and failed to report it. Ji had his eldest son Lian memorialize the matter directly, without first notifying the Secretariat. Hu Weiyong, then serving as left vice-councillor in charge of Secretariat affairs, seized on an old grudge and had officials accuse Ji of claiming that Tanyang possessed royal qi, of plotting to build his tomb there, and of establishing an inspection office to drive out the people when they resisted. The emperor did not convict Ji, but was somewhat swayed by the accusations and stripped him of his stipend. Ji feared to go to court and apologize, and so remained in the capital, not daring to return home. Before long Hu Weiyong became chief councillor; Ji grieved deeply and said, "If my words prove wrong, it will be a blessing for the people." Grief and indignation brought on his illness. In the third month of the eighth year the emperor composed a personal message of grace and sent envoys to escort him home. When he reached home his illness was grave; he handed his son Lian the Astronomical Treatise and said, "Present this to the throne at once—do not let later generations study it." He also told his second son Jing, "In governing, leniency and severity revolve like a wheel. The urgent task now is to cultivate virtue and reduce punishments, praying Heaven for a mandate that endures. All strategic strongpoints should be linked in strength with the capital. I had wished to leave a final memorial, but with Weiyong in power it would serve no purpose. After Weiyong falls, the emperor will surely think of me; if he inquires, submit this in a secret memorial." A month later he died, at the age of sixty-five. While Ji lay ill in the capital, Weiyong sent a physician; after taking the medicine, a hard mass formed in his belly the size of a fist. Later Vice Censor-in-Chief Tu Jie exposed Hu Weiyong's treasonous plot and alleged that he had poisoned Ji to death.

基虯髯，貌修偉，慷慨有大節，論天下安危，義形於色。帝察其至誠，任以心膂。每召基，輒屏人密語移時。基亦自謂不世遇，知無不言。遇急難，勇氣奮發，計畫立定，人莫能測。暇則敷陳王道。帝每恭己以聽，常呼為老先生而不名，曰：「吾子房也。」又曰：「數以孔子之言導予。」顧帷幄語秘莫能詳，而世所傳為神奇，多陰陽風角之說，非其至也。所為文章，氣昌而奇，與宋濂並為一代之宗。所著有《覆瓿集》，《犁眉公集》傳於世。子璉、璟。

Ji wore a curling beard and had a tall, imposing bearing; he was magnanimous and possessed of great integrity, and when he spoke of the empire's safety or peril, righteousness showed plainly on his face. The emperor perceived his utter sincerity and entrusted him as his closest confidant. Whenever he summoned Ji, he dismissed everyone else and spoke with him in private for long stretches. Ji likewise felt he had met a ruler of a once-in-an-age kind and held nothing back in his counsel. In moments of crisis his courage blazed forth; his plans were fixed in an instant, and none could fathom his mind. In quieter moments he expounded the kingly way of governance. The emperor always listened with humble attentiveness, often addressing him as "Old Sir" rather than by name, and said, "You are my Zifang." He also said, "Again and again you guide me with Confucius's teachings." The secret counsel exchanged within the imperial tent cannot be known in full; what the world celebrates as miraculous is mostly lore of yin-yang divination and wind omens—not the true measure of the man. His writings were vigorous in spirit and striking in originality; together with Song Lian he stood as a master of his generation. His collected works include the Fuboji and the Limeigongji, which have been handed down to posterity. His sons were Lian and Jing.

子璉

Son: Lian

璉，字孟藻，有文行。洪武十年授考功監丞，試監察御史，出為江西參政。太祖常欲大用之，為惟庸黨所脅，墮井死。璉子畾，字士端，洪武二十四年三月嗣伯，食祿五百石。初，基爵止及身，至是帝追念基功，又憫基父子皆為惟庸所厄，命增其祿，予世襲。明年坐事貶秩歸裏。洪武末，坐事戍甘肅，尋赦還。建文帝及成祖皆欲用之，以奉親守墓力辭。永樂間卒，子法停襲。景泰三年命錄基後，授法曾孫祿世襲《五經》博士。弘治十三年以給事中吳士偉言，乃命祿孫瑜為處州衛指揮使。

Lian, whose courtesy name was Mengzao, was accomplished in letters and upright in conduct. In the tenth year of Hongwu he was appointed vice director of the Bureau of Appointments, served a trial posting as investigating censor, and was then sent out as administrative commissioner of Jiangxi. Taizu had often wished to promote him to high office, but he was hounded by Hu Weiyong's faction and died after falling into a well. Lian's son Lei, whose courtesy name was Shiduan, succeeded to the marquisate in the third month of the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu with a stipend of five hundred piculs. Earlier Ji's enfeoffment had been limited to his own lifetime; now the emperor, recalling Ji's achievements and grieving that both father and son had been persecuted by Weiyong, ordered an increase in the stipend and granted hereditary succession. The following year he was implicated in a case, demoted in rank, and sent home. At the end of the Hongwu reign he was implicated in a case and banished to garrison duty in Gansu; he was soon pardoned and allowed to return. Both the Jianwen Emperor and the Yongle Emperor wished to employ him, but he firmly declined on the grounds of caring for his parents and guarding the family tomb. He died during the Yongle reign; his son Fa's succession to the title was suspended. In the third year of Jingtai the court recorded Ji's descendants; Fa's great-great-grandson Lu was granted hereditary appointment as Doctor of the Five Classics. In the thirteenth year of Hongzhi, on the recommendation of supervising secretary Wu Shiwei, Lu's grandson Yu was appointed commander of Chuzhou Guard.

正德八年加贈基太師，諡文成。嘉靖十年，刑部郎中李瑜言，基宜侑享高廟，封世爵，如中山王達。下廷臣議，僉言：「高帝收攬賢豪，一時佐命功臣並軌宣猷。而帷幄奇謀，中原大計，往往屬基，故在軍有子房之稱，剖符發諸葛之喻。基亡之後，孫廌實嗣，太祖召諭再三，鐵券丹書，誓言世祿。畾嗣未幾，旋即隕世，褫圭裳於末裔，委帶礪於空言。或謂後嗣孤貧，弗克負荷；或謂長陵紹統，遂至猜嫌。雖一辱泥塗，傳聞多謬，而載書盟府，績效具存。昔武王興滅，天下歸心，成季無後，君子所歎。基宜侑享太廟，其九世孫瑜宜嗣伯爵，與世襲。」制曰：「可。」瑜卒，孫世延嗣。嘉靖末，南京振武營兵變，世延掌右軍都督府事，撫定之。數上封事，不報，忿而恣橫。萬曆三十四年，坐罪論死，卒。適孫萊臣年幼，庶兄蓋臣借襲。蓋臣卒，萊臣當襲，蓋臣子孔昭復據之。崇禎時，出督南京操江，福王之立，與馬士英、阮大鋮比，後航海不知所終。

In the eighth year of Zhengde Liu Ji was posthumously honored as Grand Preceptor with the posthumous title Wencheng. In the tenth year of Jiajing, Bureau Director Li Yu of the Ministry of Punishments proposed that Liu Ji should receive associated sacrifice in the dynastic temple and a hereditary enfeoffment, as had been granted to Xu Da, Prince of Zhongshan. The matter was referred to the court for discussion; the officials unanimously stated, "The founding emperor gathered the empire's finest men, and the meritorious officials who aided him at the founding all served with comparable distinction. Yet the brilliant stratagems devised within the command tent and the grand plans for the Central Plains often fell to Ji; hence in military affairs he was called the Zifang of the age, and when enfeoffment was granted the Zhuge Liang analogy was invoked. After Ji's death his grandson Guang succeeded in fact; Taizu summoned and admonished him repeatedly, granting an iron certificate inscribed in cinnabar ink and swearing that the stipend would pass down through generations. Lei succeeded but soon died; the jade regalia was stripped from later descendants, and the promises of belt and whetstone proved hollow words. Some said the later heirs were isolated and impoverished and could not bear the burden; others said that when the Yongle Emperor succeeded to the throne, suspicion arose. Though the family once fell into disgrace and many rumors proved false, the records preserved in the archives of enfeoffment and their achievements remain fully documented. In antiquity King Wu of Zhou restored fallen states and won the hearts of the realm; when Chengjì was left without heirs, the noble-minded lamented it. Liu Ji should receive associated sacrifice in the Grand Temple; his ninth-generation descendant Yu should succeed to the earldom with hereditary transmission." The imperial rescript read, "Approved." When Yu died, his grandson Shiyuan succeeded. At the end of the Jiajing reign, soldiers of the Zhenwu camp at Nanjing mutinied; Shiyuan, then managing affairs of the Right Military Commission, pacified them. He repeatedly submitted sealed memorials to the throne without response, and in resentment turned arrogant and overbearing. In the thirty-fourth year of Wanli he was convicted of a crime, sentenced to death, and died. His rightful grandson Laichen was still young, so a son born to a concubine, Gaichen, held the title in his stead. When Gaichen died, Laichen should have succeeded, but Gaichen's son Kongzhao seized the title again. During the Chongzhen reign he was sent to supervise the Yangzi patrol at Nanjing; when the Prince of Fu was enthroned, he allied himself with Ma Shiying and Ruan Dacheng, and later put to sea, his final fate unknown.

子璟

Son: Jing

璟，字仲璟，基次子，弱冠通諸經。太祖念基，每歲召璟同章溢子允載、葉琛子永道、胡深子伯機，入見便殿，燕語如家人。洪武二十三年命襲父爵。璟言有長兄子廌在。帝大喜，命廌襲封，以璟為閤門使，且諭之曰：「考宋制，閤門使即儀禮司。朕欲汝日夕左右，以宣達為職，不特禮儀也。」帝臨朝，出侍班，百官奏事有闕遺者，隨時糾正。都御史袁泰奏車牛事失實，帝宥之，泰忘引謝。璟糾之，服罪。帝因諭璟：「凡似此者，即面糾，朕雖不之罪，要令知朝廷綱紀。」己，復令同法司錄獄囚冤滯。谷王就封，擢為左長史。

Jing, whose courtesy name was Zhongjing, was Ji's second son; by the time he came of age he had mastered all the classics. Taizu, remembering Ji, each year summoned Jing together with Zhang Yi's son Yunkai, Ye Chen's son Yongdao, and Hu Shen's son Boji to the informal palace hall, where they conversed as familiarly as family. In the twenty-third year of Hongwu he was ordered to succeed to his father's title. Jing pointed out that his elder brother's son Guang was still living. The emperor was delighted, ordered Guang to succeed to the title, and appointed Jing gate commissioner, telling him, "Under the Song system, the gate commissioner corresponds to the office of ritual protocol. I want you at my side day and night, charged with conveying my wishes—not merely with ceremonial duties." When the emperor held court, Jing stood in attendance with the officials; whenever a memorial contained omissions or errors, he corrected them on the spot. Censor-in-Chief Yuan Tai submitted a memorial on cart oxen that contained false statements; the emperor pardoned him, but Yuan forgot to withdraw and apologize. Jing rebuked him on the spot, and the man admitted his fault. The Emperor then told Jing, "Whenever you see conduct like this, call it out to the man's face. I may not punish him myself, but he must learn that the court has its standards. After that, he also ordered Jing to work with the judicial offices in reviewing prisoners whose cases had been wrongly held up. When the Prince of Gu took up his enfeoffment, Jing was promoted to Left Chief Secretary.

璟論說英侃，喜談兵。初，溫州賊葉丁香叛，延安侯唐勝宗討之，決策於璟。破賊還，稱璟才略。帝喜曰：「璟真伯溫兒矣。」嘗與成祖弈，成祖曰：「卿不少讓耶？」璟正色曰：「可讓處則讓，不可讓者不敢讓也。」成祖默然。靖難兵起，璟隨谷王歸京師，獻十六策，不聽。令參李景隆軍事。景隆敗，璟夜渡盧溝河，冰裂馬陷，冒雪行三十里。子貊自大同赴難，遇之良鄉，與俱歸。上《聞見錄》，不省，遂歸裏。成祖即位，召璟，稱疾不至。逮入京，猶稱殿下。且云：「殿下百世後，逃不得一『篡』字。」下獄，自經死。法官希旨，緣坐其家。成祖以基故，不許。宣德二年授貊刑部照磨。

Jing was a forceful, forthright speaker and loved to talk of military matters. Earlier, when the bandit Ye Dingxiang rose in rebellion at Wenzhou, the Marquis of Yan'an, Tang Shengzong, was sent to put him down and relied on Jing for every major decision. When he returned victorious, he praised Jing's talent and strategic skill. The Emperor said delightedly, "Jing is truly Boyou's son. Once, playing weiqi with Chengzu, he heard the prince say, "Do you never give way at all?" Jing answered gravely, "Where yielding is right, I yield; where it is not, I dare not." Chengzu said nothing. When the Jingnan war broke out, Jing followed the Prince of Gu to the capital and offered sixteen plans of action, but they were ignored. He was ordered to serve on Li Jinglong's staff. After Jinglong's defeat, Jing crossed the Lugou River by night; the ice gave way and his horse went down, yet he pressed on through the snow for thirty li. His son Mo had set out from Datong to join the struggle; they met at Liangxiang and went home together. He submitted his Records of What I Heard and Saw, but the court paid no attention, and he retired to his home district. After Chengzu took the throne, he summoned Jing, who pleaded illness and refused to come. When he was seized and brought to the capital, he still addressed Chengzu as "Your Highness." He went further and said, "A hundred generations from now, Your Highness will not escape the word usurper. He was thrown into prison and hanged himself. The judges, eager to please the throne, sought to punish his family as well. For Ji's sake, Chengzu would not allow it. In the second year of the Xuande reign, Mo was appointed a corrector in the Ministry of Justice.

宋濂，字景濂，其先金華之潛溪人，至濂乃遷浦江。幼英敏強記，就學于聞人夢吉，通《五經》，復往從吳萊學。已，游柳貫、黃溍之門，兩人皆亟遜濂，自謂弗如。元至正中，薦授翰林編修，以親老辭不行，入龍門山著書。

Song Lian, styled Jinglian, came from a family originally of Qianxi in Jinhua; by his generation they had moved to Pujiang. As a boy he was quick and had an extraordinary memory. He studied under Wenren Mengji until he had mastered the Five Classics, then went on to learn from Wu Lai. Later he entered the circles of Liu Guan and Huang Jin, and both men repeatedly yielded place to him, saying they were not his equal. During the Yuan Zhizheng era he was recommended for appointment as a Hanlin compiler, but declined because his parents were old and withdrew instead to Longmen Mountain to write.

逾十餘年，太祖取婺州，召見濂。時已改寧越府，命知府王顯宗開郡學，因以濂及葉儀為《五經》師。明年三月，以李善長薦，與劉基、章、溢、葉琛並征至應天，除江南儒學提舉，命授太子經，尋改起居注。濂長基一歲，皆起東南，負重名。基雄邁有奇氣，而濂自命儒者。基佐軍中謀議，濂亦首用文學受知，恒侍左右，備顧問。嘗召講《春秋左氏傳》，濂進曰：「《春秋》乃孔子褒善貶惡之書，苟能遵行，則賞罰適中，天下可定也。」太祖禦端門，口釋黃石公《三略》。濂曰：「《尚書》二《典》、三《謨》，帝王大經大法畢具，願留意講明之。」已，論賞賚，復曰：「得天下以人心為本。人心不固，雖金帛充牣，將焉用之。」太祖悉稱善。乙巳三月，乞歸省。太祖與太子並加勞賜。濂上箋謝，並奉書太子，勉以孝友敬恭、進德修業。太祖覽書大悅，召太子，為語書意，賜劄褒答，並令太子致書報焉。尋丁父憂。服除，召還。

More than ten years passed before Taizu captured Wuzhou and summoned Lian to court. The place had by then been renamed Ningyue Prefecture. The prefect Wang Xianzong was ordered to open a prefectural school, and Lian and Ye Yi were made instructors in the Five Classics. In the third month of the following year, on Li Shanchang's recommendation, he was summoned to Yingtian together with Liu Ji, Zhang Yi, and Ye Chen. He was appointed Commissioner for Confucian Schools in Jiangnan, charged with instructing the Crown Prince in the classics, and soon afterward made a diarist. Lian was a year older than Ji. Both had come up from the southeast and carried great renown. Ji was bold and charged with an uncommon force of character, whereas Lian thought of himself above all as a Confucian scholar. Ji advised on military plans, while Lian won favor first through his learning. He was constantly at Taizu's side, ready to answer whenever he was consulted. Once Taizu called him in to lecture on the Zuo Commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals. Lian said, "The Spring and Autumn Annals is Confucius's book for honoring the good and condemning the wicked. If Your Majesty can follow it, rewards and punishments will fall where they should and the realm can be brought to order. Taizu took his place at the Duan Gate and began reciting from the Three Strategies of Lord Yellow Stone. Lian said, "In the Documents, the two Canons and three Counsels set out in full the great principles by which emperors and kings should rule. I hope Your Majesty will give careful thought to studying them. Later, when the talk turned to rewards and gifts, he added, "Winning the realm depends on winning people's hearts. If hearts are not secure, what good will it do to fill the treasuries with gold and silk?" Taizu approved of everything he said. In the third month of the yisi cycle, he asked leave to go home and visit his family. Taizu and the Crown Prince both sent him gifts and words of encouragement. Lian submitted a memorial of thanks and also wrote to the Crown Prince, urging filial piety, brotherly affection, reverence, and steady progress in virtue and learning. Taizu read the letter with great pleasure, summoned the Crown Prince, explained its meaning to him, sent Lian a letter of praise in reply, and ordered the prince to write back as well. Before long he entered mourning for his father. When his mourning was over, he was summoned back to court.

洪武二年詔修元史，命充總裁官。是年八月史成，除翰林院學士。明年二月，儒士歐陽佑等采故元元統以後事蹟還朝，仍命濂等續修，六越月再成，賜金帛。是月，以失朝參，降編修。四年遷國子司業，坐考祀孔子禮不以時奏，謫安遠知縣，旋召為禮部主事。明年遷贊善大夫。是時，帝留意文治，徵召四方儒士張唯等數十人，擇其年少俊異者，皆擢編修，令入禁中文華堂肄業，命濂為之師。濂傅太子先後十餘年，凡一言動，皆以禮法諷勸，使歸於道，至有關政教及前代興亡事，必拱手曰：「當如是，不當如彼。」皇太子每斂容嘉納，言必稱師父雲。

In the second year of Hongwu an edict ordered the compilation of the History of Yuan, and he was appointed chief editor. The history was finished that eighth month, and he was appointed a Hanlin academician. In the second month of the following year the scholar Ouyang You and others returned to court after gathering material on events from the Yuantong period onward under the former Yuan. Lian and the others were ordered to continue the work; six months later it was finished again, and they were rewarded with gold and silk. That same month he was demoted to compiler for missing court audience. In the fourth year he was made Vice Director of the Directorate of Education, but during an examination he failed to report the ceremony for sacrificing to Confucius on time and was banished to serve as magistrate of Anyuan. He was soon recalled and appointed a principal clerk in the Ministry of Rites. The next year he was promoted to Grand Master of the Palace. At this time the Emperor turned his mind to civil governance. He summoned several dozen scholars from across the realm, including Zhang Wei, chose out the young and exceptionally talented among them, promoted them all to compilers, and had them study in the Wenhua Hall inside the Forbidden City with Lian as their teacher. Lian instructed the Crown Prince for more than ten years in all. In every word and deed he gently admonished him with ritual and law and tried to bring him back to the right path. Whenever the subject touched government, moral teaching, or the rise and fall of earlier dynasties, he would bow with clasped hands and say, "This is how it should be done; that is how it should not. The Crown Prince always composed himself and accepted the advice gladly; in conversation he unfailingly spoke of what his teacher had said.

帝剖符封功臣，召濂議五等封爵。宿大本堂，討論達旦，曆據漢、唐故實，量其中而奏之。甘露屢降，帝問災祥之故。對曰：「受命不于天，於其人，休符不于祥，於其仁。《春秋》書異不書祥，為是故也。」皇從子文正得罪，濂曰：「文正固當死，陛下體親親之誼，置諸遠地則善矣。」車駕祀方丘，患心不甯，濂從容言曰：「養心莫善於寡欲，審能行之，則心清而身泰矣。」帝稱善者良久。嘗問以帝王之學，何書為要。濂舉《大學衍義》。乃命大書揭之殿兩廡壁。頃之禦西廡，諸大臣皆在，帝指《衍義》中司馬遷論黃、老事，命濂講析。講畢，因曰：「漢武溺方技謬悠之學，改文、景恭儉之風，民力既敝，然後嚴刑督之。人主誠以禮義治心，則邪說不入，以學校治民，則禍亂不興，刑罰非所先也。」問三代歷數及封疆廣狹，既備陳之，復曰：「三代治天下以仁義，故多歷年所。」又問：「三代以上，所讀何書？」對曰：「上古載籍未立，人不專講誦。君人者兼治教之責，率以躬行，則眾自化。」嘗奉制詠鷹，令七舉足即成，有「自古戒禽荒」之言。帝忻然曰：「卿可謂善陳矣。」濂之隨事納忠，皆此類也。

When the Emperor broke the seals and enfeoffed his meritorious ministers, he summoned Lian to discuss the five ranks of nobility. Lian stayed overnight in the Hall of Great Foundation, and they debated until dawn, drawing on precedents from Han and Tang, weighing the balance among them, and then memorializing what they had decided. When sweet dew fell again and again, the Emperor asked what such omens of fortune and misfortune meant. He answered, "Receiving the Mandate does not depend on Heaven but on the man; true signs of favor do not lie in portents but in benevolence. That is why the Spring and Autumn Annals records anomalies but not auspicious omens. When the Emperor's cousin Wen Zheng was found guilty of a crime, Lian said, "Wen Zheng truly deserved death, but if Your Majesty would honor the bonds of kinship and send him to a distant place instead, that would be the better course." When the imperial carriage went to sacrifice at the Square Altar, the Emperor was troubled by palpitations. Lian said calmly, "Nothing nourishes the heart better than limiting one's desires. If Your Majesty can truly put that into practice, the heart will grow clear and the body find peace." The Emperor expressed his approval at length. Once Taizu asked which book was most essential to the learning of emperors and kings. Lian named the Extended Meaning of the Great Learning. Taizu then ordered the text copied out in large characters and hung on the walls of both wings of the hall. Before long Taizu went to the west wing with all the chief ministers in attendance. He pointed to Sima Qian's discussion of Huang-Lao in the Extended Meaning and ordered Lian to explain it. When he had finished, Lian went on, "Emperor Wu of Han drowned himself in the empty learning of alchemy and occult arts, turning away from the respectful frugality of the Wen and Jing reigns. Once the people's strength was spent, he drove them on with harsh punishments. If a ruler truly governs his heart with ritual and righteousness, perverse doctrines cannot enter; if he governs the people through schools, disaster and rebellion will not arise. Punishment should never come first. Taizu asked about the length of reign and the breadth of territory of the Three Dynasties. After Lian had laid it all out in detail, he added, "The Three Dynasties ruled the realm through benevolence and righteousness, and that is why they endured so long." Taizu asked again, "Before the Three Dynasties, what books did people read?" He answered, "In high antiquity written records had not yet been established, and people did not devote themselves to reciting texts. One who rules others bears the double duty of governing and teaching. If he leads through his own conduct, the people will transform themselves." Once, by imperial command, he composed a poem on an eagle and was required to finish it within seven paces. It contained the line, "Since ancient times men have been warned against the excesses of hawking and hunting." The Emperor said with pleasure, "You may truly be said to offer good remonstrance. Lian's loyal counsel on whatever came before him was always of this kind.

六年七月遷侍講學士，知制誥，同修國史，兼贊善大夫。命與詹同、樂韶鳳修日曆，又與吳伯宗等修寶訓。九月定散官資階，給濂中順大夫，欲任以政事。辭曰：「臣無他長，待罪禁近足矣。」帝益重之。八年九月，從太子及秦、晉、楚、靖江四王講武中都。帝得輿圖《濠梁古跡》一卷，遣使賜太子，題其外，令濂詢訪，隨處言之。太子以示濂，因歷歷舉陳，隨事進說，甚有規益。

In the seventh month of the sixth year he was made Lecturing Academician, Director of Edicts, co-compiler of the dynastic history, and concurrently Grand Master of the Palace. He was ordered to compile the calendar with Zhan Tong and Yue Shaofeng, and the Precious Instructions with Wu Bozong and others. In the ninth month the civil ranks were fixed, and Lian was given the rank of Middle Grand Master of Court. The Emperor wished to put him in charge of affairs of state. He declined, saying, "Your subject has no other special talent; serving close to the throne in my present post is enough. The Emperor respected him all the more. In the ninth month of the eighth year he accompanied the Crown Prince and the four princes of Qin, Jin, Chu, and Jingjiang to military exercises at the Central Capital. The Emperor obtained a scroll of maps called Ancient Sites at Haoliang, sent an envoy to present it to the Crown Prince, wrote an inscription on the cover, and ordered Lian to inquire into each place and explain it as they came to it. The Crown Prince showed it to Lian, who then went through each site in turn, offering instruction on each matter as they went. The lessons were of great benefit.

濂性誠謹，官內庭久，未嘗訐人過。所居室，署「溫樹」。客問禁中語，即指示之。嘗與客飲，帝密使人偵視。翼日，問濂昨飲酒否，坐客為誰，饌何物。濂具以實對。笑曰：「誠然，卿不朕欺。」間召問群臣臧否，濂惟舉其善者曰：「善者與臣友，臣知之；其不善者，不能知也。」主事茹太素上書萬餘言。帝怒，問廷臣，或指其書曰：「此不敬，此誹謗非法。」問濂，對曰：「彼盡忠于陛下耳。陛下方開言路，惡可深罪。」既而帝覽其書，有足采者。悉召廷臣詰責，因呼濂字曰：「微景濂幾誤罪言者。」於是帝廷譽之曰：「朕聞太上為聖，其次為賢，其次為君子。宋景濂事朕十九年，未嘗有一言之偽，誚一人之短，始終無二，非止君子，抑可謂賢矣。」每燕見，必設坐命茶，每旦必令侍膳，往復諮詢，常夜分乃罷。濂不能飲，帝嘗強之至三觴，行不成步。帝大歡樂。禦制《楚辭》一章，命詞臣賦《醉學士詩》。又嘗調甘露于湯，手酌以飲濂曰：「此能愈疾延年，願與卿共之。」又詔太子賜濂良馬，復為制《白馬歌》一章，亦命侍臣和焉。其寵待如此。九年進學士承旨知制誥，兼贊善如故。其明年致仕，賜《禦制文集》及綺帛，問濂年幾何，曰：「六十有八。」帝乃曰：「藏此綺三十二年，作百歲衣可也。」濂頓首謝。又明年，來朝。十三年，長孫慎坐胡惟庸黨，帝欲置濂死。皇后太子力救，乃安置茂州。

Lian was sincere and cautious by nature. After long service in the inner court, he never exposed another man's faults. On the house where he lived he posted the words "Warm Tree." When guests asked about affairs within the Forbidden City, he would simply point to the inscription. Once, when he was drinking with a guest, the Emperor secretly sent someone to watch them. The next day he asked whether Lian had drunk wine the day before, who had been present, and what had been served. Lian answered in full and truthfully. The Emperor laughed and said, "It is exactly so. You did not deceive me. From time to time, when summoned and asked about the merits and faults of the ministers, Lian would mention only their good qualities, saying, "Those who are good are my friends, and I know them; as for those who are not good, I have no knowledge of them. Principal Clerk Ru Taisu submitted a memorial of more than ten thousand characters. The Emperor was furious and questioned the court ministers. Some pointed to passages in the memorial and said, "This is disrespectful; this is slander and unlawful. When he asked Lian, Lian answered, "He was wholly loyal to Your Majesty. Your Majesty has only just opened the way for frank speech. How can he be punished severely?" Later, when the Emperor read through the memorial, he found much in it worth adopting. He summoned all the court ministers to rebuke them, then addressed Lian by his courtesy name and said, "But for Jinglian, I would almost have punished the man who spoke. Then, in open court, the Emperor praised him, saying, "I have heard that the highest rank is sage, the next worthy, and the next gentleman. Song Jinglian has served me for nineteen years without once speaking falsely or once mocking another man's faults. He has been consistent from first to last. He is not merely a gentleman; he may truly be called a worthy man." At every private audience, the Emperor always had a seat prepared and tea served. Every morning he had Lian dine with him, questioned him at length, and often did not let him go until the middle of the night. Lian could not hold his liquor. The Emperor once forced three cups on him, and Lian could barely keep his footing. The Emperor was delighted. The Emperor personally composed a chapter in the manner of "Songs of Chu" and ordered his literary ministers to write "Poem of the Drunken Scholar." On another occasion he mixed sweet dew into broth, ladled it out with his own hand for Lian to drink, and said, "This can cure illness and prolong life. I wish to share it with you. He also ordered the Crown Prince to give Lian a fine horse, composed another piece, "Song of the White Horse," and had the attendant ministers compose matching poems. Such was the depth of the favor shown him. In the ninth year of the reign he was promoted to Chancellor of the Hanlin Academy and Director of Edict Drafting, while retaining his post as Tutor to the Crown Prince. The next year he retired. The Emperor granted him the "Imperially Composed Collected Writings" and bolts of silk, asked Lian his age, and Lian answered, "Sixty-eight. The Emperor then said, "Store this silk for thirty-two years, and it can be made into a garment for your hundredth birthday. Lian kowtowed in gratitude. The following year he came to court again. In the thirteenth year, his eldest grandson Shen was implicated in the Hu Weiyong conspiracy, and the Emperor intended to condemn Lian to death. The Empress and Crown Prince intervened strenuously on his behalf, and he was instead relegated to Maozhou.

濂狀貌豐偉，美須髯，視近而明，一黍上能作數字。自少至老，未嘗一日去書卷，於學無所不通。為文醇深演迤，與古作者並。在朝，郊社宗廟山川百神之典，朝會宴享律曆衣冠之制，四裔貢賦賞勞之儀，旁及元勳巨卿碑記刻石之辭，鹹以委濂，屢推為開國文臣之首。士大夫造門乞文者，後先相踵。外國貢使亦知其名，數問宋先生起居無恙否。高麗、安南、日本至出兼金購文集。四方學者悉稱為「太史公」，不以姓氏。雖白首侍從，其勳業爵位不逮基，而一代禮樂製作，濂所裁定者居多。

Lian was tall and imposing, with a fine beard. Though nearsighted, his eyes were sharp enough to write several characters on a space no larger than a grain of millet. From youth to old age he never spent a day without his books, and there was no branch of learning he did not command. His prose was rich, profound, and flowing, ranking him with the great writers of antiquity. At court, whether the rituals for suburban sacrifice, ancestral temples, mountains and rivers, and the host of spirits; the regulations governing assemblies, banquets, calendar, weights and measures, and ceremonial dress; the ceremonies for tribute, taxation, and reward from the four quarters; or the inscriptions for steles and stone monuments honoring founding ministers — all were entrusted to Lian, who was repeatedly acclaimed as the leading literary statesman of the founding generation. Scholar-officials came to his door seeking compositions in an unbroken stream. Even foreign tribute envoys knew his name and often inquired whether Master Song remained in good health. Korea, Annam, and Japan paid double-weight gold to obtain his collected writings. Scholars throughout the realm called him "Grand Historian" rather than by his surname. Though he served at the Emperor's side until his hair turned white, his achievements and ennoblement never equaled Liu Ji's; yet most of the age's rites, music, and institutional regulations were determined by Lian.

其明年，卒於夔，年七十二。知事葉以從葬之蓮花山下。蜀獻王慕濂名，復移塋華陽城東。弘治九年，四川巡撫馬俊奏：「濂真儒翊運，述作可師，黼黻多功，輔導著績。久死遠戍，幽壤沉淪，乞加恤錄。」下禮部議，復其官，春秋祭葬所。正德中，追諡文憲。

The next year he died at Kui, at the age of seventy-two. Magistrate Ye Cong had him buried at the foot of Lotus Mountain. The Prince of Shu, admiring Lian's reputation, had the grave moved again to the east of Huayang. In the ninth year of the Hongzhi reign, Sichuan Surveillance Commissioner Ma Jun memorialized, "Lian was a true Confucian who aided the dynasty's rise; his writings are worthy of emulation; he contributed greatly to court ritual and dress, and his tutelage left a lasting record of merit. He died long ago in distant exile, and his remains lie forgotten in an obscure grave. I beseech that posthumous honors be granted and his record restored. The memorial was referred to the Ministry of Rites, which restored his official rank and established spring and autumn sacrifices at his tomb. During the Zhengde reign, he was posthumously honored with the title Wenvian.

仲子璲最知名，字仲珩，善詩，尤工書法。洪武九年，以濂故，召為中書舍人。其兄子慎亦為儀禮序班。帝數試璲與慎，並教誡之。笑語濂曰：「卿為朕教太子諸王，朕亦教卿子孫矣。」濂行步艱，帝必命璲、慎扶掖之。祖孫父子，共官內庭，眾以為榮。慎坐罪，璲亦連坐，並死，家屬悉徙茂州。建文帝即位，追念濂興宗舊學，召璲子懌官翰林。永樂十年，濂孫坐奸党鄭公智外親，詔特宥之。

His second son Qiong was the best known. Courtesy name Zhongheng, he was skilled at poetry and particularly accomplished in calligraphy. In the ninth year of Hongwu, on account of Lian, Qiong was summoned and appointed a drafter in the Secretariat. Lian's nephew Shen also served as an orderly in the Office of Ceremonial. The Emperor repeatedly tested Qiong and Shen, instructing and admonishing them. Smiling, he said to Lian, "You instruct the Crown Prince and the princes for me; I, too, am instructing your descendants. When Lian walked with difficulty, the Emperor always ordered Qiong and Shen to assist him. Grandfather, grandson, father, and son all held posts within the palace, and many regarded it as a singular honor. When Shen was convicted, Qiong was punished as an associate. Both were executed, and all their families were exiled to Maozhou. When the Jianwen Emperor took the throne, remembering Lian's tutelage of the heir apparent, he summoned Qiong's son Yi to serve in the Hanlin Academy. In the tenth year of Yongle, Lian's grandson was implicated through his connection to the traitor Zheng Gongzhi; an edict specially pardoned him.

葉琛，字景淵，麗水人。博學有才藻。元末從石抹宜孫守處州，為畫策，捕誅山寇，授行省元帥。王師下處州，琛避走建寧。以薦征至應天，授營田司僉事。尋遷洪都知府，佐鄧愈鎮守。祝宗、康泰叛，愈脫走，琛被執，不屈，大罵，死之。追封南陽郡侯，塑像耿再成祠，後祀功臣廟。

Ye Chen, courtesy name Jingyuan, was from Lishui. He was broadly learned and gifted in composition. At the end of the Yuan, he served under Shimao Yisun in the defense of Chuzhou, devised strategy, captured and executed mountain bandits, and was appointed Marshal of the Branch Secretariat. When the imperial army took Chuzhou, Chen fled to Jianning. On recommendation he was summoned to Yingtian and appointed Vice Commissioner in the Land-Reclamation Office. He was soon transferred to Prefect of Hongdu, where he assisted Deng Yu in holding the city. When Zhu Zong and Kang Tai rebelled, Deng Yu escaped, but Chen was captured. He refused to submit, cursed his captors, and was put to death. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Marquis of Nanyang. His statue was placed in Geng Zaicheng's shrine, and later he was enrolled among the meritorious ministers in the dynastic temple.

章溢，字三益，龍泉人。始生，聲如鐘。弱冠，與胡深同師王毅。毅，字叔剛，許謙門人也，教授鄉里，講解經義，聞者多感悟。溢從之游，同志聖賢學，天性孝友。嘗遊金華，元憲使禿堅不花禮之，改官秦中，要與俱行。至虎林，心動，辭歸。歸八日而父歿，未葬，火焚其廬。溢搏顙天，火至柩所而滅。

Zhang Yi, courtesy name Sanyi, was from Longquan. When he was born, his cry sounded like a bell. At twenty he studied under Wang Yi together with Hu Shen. Wang Yi, courtesy name Shugang, was a disciple of Xu Qian. He taught in his home district, lecturing on the classics in such a way that many listeners were deeply moved. Zhang Yi studied with him, embracing the same aim of pursuing sage learning, and was by nature filial and dutiful toward his kin. Once while traveling in Jinhua, the Yuan Commissioner Toghan Bukha received him with full honors, transferred his appointment to Qinzhong, and insisted that he accompany him. When he reached Hulin he felt a sudden foreboding, declined the appointment, and returned home. Eight days after he returned, his father died. Before the funeral could be held, fire consumed the family dwelling. Zhang Yi beat his forehead and cried to Heaven, and when the flames reached the coffin they died away.

蘄、黃寇犯龍泉，溢從子存仁被執，溢挺身告賊曰：「吾兄止一子，寧我代。」賊素聞其名，欲降之，縛於柱，溢不為屈。至夜紿守者脫歸，集裏民為義兵，擊破賊。俄府官以兵來，欲盡誅詿誤者。溢走說石抹宜孫曰：「貧民迫凍餒，誅之何為。」宜孫然其言，檄止兵，留溢幕下。從平慶元、浦城盜。授龍泉主簿，不受歸。宜孫守台州，為賊所圍。溢以鄉兵赴援，卻賊。已而賊陷龍泉，監縣寶忽丁遁去，溢與其師王毅帥壯士擊走賊。寶忽丁還，內慚，殺毅以反。溢時在宜孫幕府，聞之馳歸，偕胡深執戮首惡，因引兵平松陽、麗水諸寇。長槍軍攻婺，聞溢兵至，解去。論功累授浙東都元帥府僉事。溢曰：「吾所將皆鄉里子弟，肝腦塗地，而吾獨取功名，弗忍也。」辭不受。以義兵屬其子存道，退隱匡山。

When bandits from Qi and Huang invaded Longquan, Yi's nephew Cunren was captured. Zhang Yi stepped forward and said to the rebels, "My brother has only one son. Let me take his place instead. The rebels had long known his name and sought to win him over. They bound him to a pillar, but he refused to submit. By night he tricked his guards, escaped, rallied the local people into a militia, and routed the bandits. Shortly afterward prefectural troops arrived and planned to execute everyone who had been implicated. Zhang Yi hurried to Shimao Yisun and argued, "These are poor people driven by hunger and cold. What is to be gained by killing them. Yisun agreed, issued orders to halt the troops, and retained Zhang Yi on his staff. He helped pacify the bandits in Qingyuan and Pucheng. He was offered the post of Recorder of Longquan, but declined and returned home. When Yisun was defending Taizhou, he was besieged by bandits. Zhang Yi marched with local militia to relieve him and repelled the bandits. Before long the bandits seized Longquan. The supervising official Baohuding fled, but Zhang Yi and his teacher Wang Yi led a force of stalwarts and drove the bandits off. When Baohuding returned, ashamed of his flight, he killed Wang Yi and raised a rebellion. Zhang Yi was then serving on Yisun's staff. When he heard the news he rushed home, and together with Hu Shen captured and executed the ringleader, then led troops to pacify the bandits in Songyang, Lishui, and neighboring districts. When the Long-Spear Army attacked Wu Prefecture, they withdrew on hearing that Zhang Yi's forces were approaching. For his accumulated merit he was repeatedly promoted, eventually to Vice Commissioner in the Eastern Zhejiang Marshal's Headquarters. Zhang Yi said, "The men I lead are all local youths who have shed their blood in battle. I cannot bear to take credit for myself alone. He declined the appointment. He handed command of the militia to his son Cundao and withdrew to seclusion on Mount Kuang.

明兵克處州，避入閩。太祖聘之，與劉基、葉琛、宋濂同至應天。太祖勞基等曰：「我為天下屈四先生，今天下紛紛，何時定乎？」溢對曰：「天道無常，惟德是輔，惟不嗜殺人者能一之耳。」太祖偉其言，授僉營田司事。巡行江東、兩淮田，分籍定稅，民甚便之。以病久在告，太祖知其念母也，厚賜遣歸省，而留其子存厚于京師。浙東設提刑按察使，命溢為僉事。胡深出師溫州，令溢守處州，饋餉供億，民不知勞。山賊來寇，敗走之。遷湖廣按察僉事。時荊、襄初平，多廢地，議分兵屯田，且以控制北方。從之。會浙東按察使宋思顏、孔克仁等以職事被逮，詞連溢。太祖遣太史令劉基諭之曰：「素知溢守法，毋疑也。」會胡深入閩陷沒，處州動搖，命溢為浙東按察副使往鎮之。溢以獲罪蒙宥，不應遷秩，辭副使，仍為僉事。既至，宣佈詔旨，誅首叛者，餘黨悉定。召舊部義兵分佈要害。賊寇慶元、龍泉，溢列木柵為屯，賊不敢犯。浦城戍卒乏食，李文忠欲運處州糧餉之。溢以舟車不通，而軍中所掠糧多，請入官均給之，食遂足。溫州茗洋賊為患，溢命子存道捕斬之。硃亮祖取溫州，軍中頗掠子女，溢悉籍還其家。吳平，詔存道守處，而召溢入朝。太祖諭群臣曰：「溢雖儒臣，父子宣力一方，寇盜盡平，功不在諸將後。」復問溢征閩諸將如何。對曰：「湯和由海道，胡美由江西，必勝。然閩中尤服李文忠威信。若令文忠從浦城取建寧，此萬全計也。」太祖立詔文忠出師如溢策。處州糧舊額一萬三千石，軍興加至十倍。溢言之丞相，奏復其舊。漸東造海舶，征巨材於處。溢曰：「處、婺之交，山岩峻險，縱有木，從何道出？」白行省罷之。

When Ming forces captured Chuzhou, he fled into Fujian. The Founding Emperor invited him, and he traveled to Yingtian together with Liu Ji, Ye Chen, and Song Lian. The Founding Emperor welcomed Ji and the others and said, "I have bowed to the four masters for the sake of the empire, yet the empire remains in turmoil. When will it be settled? Zhang Yi answered, "Heaven's way is inconstant; only virtue supports it. Only one who does not delight in killing can unify the realm. The Founding Emperor was impressed by his words and appointed him Vice Commissioner in the Land-Reclamation Office. He toured the farmlands of Jiangdong and the two Huai regions, registered households, and fixed tax quotas, greatly easing the burden on the people. He had been ill on extended leave. The Founding Emperor knew he longed for his mother, gave him a generous gift, and sent him home to visit her, while keeping his son Cunhou in the capital. When the Eastern Zhejiang Surveillance Commission was established, Zhang Yi was appointed Vice Commissioner. When Hu Shen marched on Wenzhou, Zhang Yi was left to hold Chuzhou. Supplies flowed in such abundance that the people barely felt the burden of war. When mountain bandits raided, he defeated them and drove them away. He was transferred to Vice Commissioner of the Huguang Surveillance Commission. Jingzhou and Xiangyang had only recently been pacified, and much land lay abandoned. He proposed dividing troops to farm garrison fields and thereby secure control of the north. The proposal was adopted. Just then Song Siyan and Kong Keren, commissioners of Eastern Zhejiang Surveillance, were arrested on official charges, and their testimony implicated Zhang Yi. The Founding Emperor sent Grand Astrologer Liu Ji to reassure him, saying, "I have long known that Yi is law-abiding. Do not doubt him. Just then Hu Shen advanced into Fujian and was killed. With Chuzhou unsettled, Zhang Yi was appointed Deputy Surveillance Commissioner of Eastern Zhejiang and sent to restore order. Because he had been implicated but pardoned, Zhang Yi felt he did not deserve a promotion. He declined the deputy commissionership and remained Vice Commissioner. On arrival he proclaimed the imperial edict, executed the ringleaders, and pacified the remaining rebels. He recalled his former militia and stationed them at key positions. When bandits threatened Qingyuan and Longquan, he erected wooden palisades as garrison posts, and the bandits did not dare attack. The garrison at Pucheng was short of food. Li Wenzhong wanted to transport grain from Chuzhou to relieve them. Zhang Yi pointed out that transport by boat and cart was impossible, but that the army had seized ample grain. He proposed confiscating the looted grain for equal distribution, and the troops' food supply was restored. Bandits at Mingyang in Wenzhou were causing trouble. Zhang Yi ordered his son Cundao to capture and execute them. When Zhu Liangzu captured Wenzhou, his troops seized many women and children. Zhang Yi registered them all and returned them to their families. After Wu was pacified, Cundao was ordered to remain and hold Chuzhou, while Zhang Yi was summoned to court. Taizu told the ministers, "Though Zhang Yi was a Confucian civil official, he and his son exerted themselves in one region until the bandits were all pacified—their merit was no less than that of the leading generals." He then asked Yi what he thought of the generals assigned to the Fujian campaign. Yi replied, "Tang He by sea and Hu Mei through Jiangxi will surely prevail. Yet the people of Fujian especially respect Li Wenzhong's prestige and authority. If Wenzhong is sent from Pucheng to take Jianning, that would be a perfectly secure plan." Taizu immediately ordered Wenzhong to take the field according to Yi's plan. Chuzhou's original grain quota was thirteen thousand piculs; with the outbreak of war it was raised tenfold. Yi reported this to the chief councillor, who memorialized the throne to restore the original quota. Eastern Zhejiang was building seagoing vessels and requisitioning great timbers from Chuzhou. Yi said, "At the border of Chuzhou and Wuzhou the mountains are steep and perilous; even if timber exists there, by what road could it be brought out?" He reported this to the provincial administration, and the requisition was halted.

洪武元年與劉基並拜御史中丞兼贊善大夫。時廷臣伺帝意，多嚴苛，溢獨持大體。或以為言。溢曰：「憲台百司儀表，當養人廉恥，豈恃搏擊為能哉！」帝親祀社稷，會大風雨，還坐外朝，怒儀禮不合，致天變。溢委曲明其無罪，乃貰之。文忠之征閩也，存道以所部鄉兵萬五千人從。閩平，詔存道以所部從海道北征。溢持不可，曰：「鄉兵皆農民，許以事平歸農，今復調之，是不信也。」帝不懌。既而奏曰：「兵已入閩者，俾還鄉里。昔嘗叛逆之民，宜籍為軍，使北上，一舉而恩威著矣。」帝喜曰：「孰謂儒者迂闊哉！然非先生一行，無能辦者。」溢行至處州，遭母喪，乞守制。不許。鄉兵既集，命存道由永嘉浮海而北，再上章乞終制。詔可。溢悲戚過度，營葬親負土石，感疾卒，年五十六。帝痛悼，親撰文，即其家祭之。

In the first year of Hongwu he was appointed Censor-in-Chief alongside Liu Ji, while also serving as Grand Master of the Palace. At that time many court officials watched the emperor's mood and prosecuted cases harshly; Yi alone upheld the larger principles of governance. Some officials criticized him for it. Yi replied, "The censorate is the moral standard for all offices; it should cultivate people's sense of shame—how can it pride itself on ferocious prosecution alone!" When the emperor personally sacrificed at the altars of soil and grain, a violent storm arose; on his return he sat in the outer court, furious that the ritual had been performed incorrectly and had provoked a heavenly portent. Yi tactfully demonstrated their innocence, and the emperor pardoned them. During Wenzhong's Fujian campaign, Cundao followed with fifteen thousand local militiamen under his command. After Fujian was pacified, an edict ordered Cundao to lead his troops north by sea. Yi objected, saying, "These militiamen are farmers who were promised they could return to their fields once peace was restored—to mobilize them again would break the government's word." The emperor was displeased. Soon afterward he memorialized, "The troops already in Fujian should be sent home to their villages. Those who had formerly rebelled should be enrolled as soldiers and sent north—in a single stroke both mercy and authority would be made plain." The emperor was delighted and said, "Who says Confucian scholars are impractical! Yet without you, sir, going in person, no one else could carry this out." Yi traveled to Chuzhou, where his mother died; he requested leave to observe the mourning period. The request was denied. Once the local militia were assembled, he ordered Cundao to sail north from Yongjia by sea and again submitted a memorial requesting permission to complete the mourning period. The emperor granted his request. Yi grieved beyond measure; while preparing the burial he personally carried earth and stone, fell ill from overexertion and grief, and died at the age of fifty-six. The emperor mourned him deeply, composed a funeral text in his own hand, and conducted the sacrifice at Yi's home.

子存道

Son: Cundao

存道，溢長子。溢應太祖聘，存道帥義兵歸總管孫炎。炎令守上游，屢卻陳友定兵。及以功授處州翼元帥副使，戍浦城。總制胡深死，命代領其眾，為遊擊。溢即處城坐鎮之。溢謂父子相統，於律不宜，奏罷存道官。不允。旋分兵征閩，而詔存道守處，復部鄉兵，從李文忠入閩。及還，浮海至京師。帝褒諭之，命從馮勝北征。積功授處州衛指揮副使。洪武三年從徐達西征，留守興元，敗蜀將吳友仁，再守平陽，轉左衛指揮同知。五年從湯和出塞征陽和，遇敵於斷頭山，力戰死焉。

Cundao was Zhang Yi's eldest son. When Yi answered Taizu's invitation to serve, Cundao led a loyalist militia to join Chief Controller Sun Yan. Sun Yan ordered him to guard the upper reaches of the river, and he repeatedly repelled the forces of Chen Youding. For his achievements he was appointed vice marshal of the Chuzhou wing and garrisoned Pucheng. When Chief Controller Hu Shen died, he was ordered to take command of his troops as a mobile strike force. Zhang Yi then took up command at Chuzhou city. Yi argued that father and son commanding in succession was improper under the law and memorialized to have Cundao removed from office. The request was denied. Soon afterward troops were divided for the Fujian campaign; Cundao was ordered to guard Chuzhou, reorganized the local militia, and followed Li Wenzhong into Fujian. On his return he sailed by sea to the capital. The emperor praised and rewarded him and ordered him to join Feng Sheng's northern campaign. For accumulated merit he was appointed vice commander of Chuzhou Guard. In the third year of Hongwu he joined Xu Da's western campaign, remained behind to guard Xingyuan, defeated the Shu general Wu Youren, later guarded Pingyang, and was transferred to vice commander of the Left Guard. In the fifth year he followed Tang He beyond the frontier to campaign at Yanghe; he encountered the enemy at Mount Duantou, fought fiercely, and died in battle.

贊曰：太祖既下集慶，所至收攬豪雋，徵聘名賢，一時韜光韞德之士幡然就道。若四先生者，尤為傑出。基、濂學術醇深，文章古茂，同為一代宗工。而基則運籌帷幄，濂則從容輔導，于開國之初，敷陳王道，忠誠恪慎，卓哉佐命臣也！至溢之宣力封疆，琛之致命遂志，宏才大節，建豎偉然，洵不負弓旌之德意矣。基以儒者有用之學，輔翊治平，而好事者多以讖緯術數妄為傅會。其語近誕，非深知基者，故不錄雲。

The eulogist writes: After Taizu captured Jiqing, wherever he advanced he gathered bold and talented men and recruited celebrated scholars; men who had long kept their gifts in obscurity came forward in great numbers. Among them the four masters were especially eminent. Liu Ji and Song Lian possessed learning of exceptional depth and writings of classical vigor; together they stood as masters of their age. Ji devised strategy within the command tent while Lian calmly guided and instructed; in the founding of the dynasty they expounded the kingly way with loyalty, sincerity, and scrupulous care—truly eminent ministers who aided the founding mandate! As for Zhang Yi exerting himself on the frontier and Ye Chen giving his life to fulfill his purpose—their great talent and integrity, their towering achievements— they truly did not betray the honor of the imperial summons. Ji applied the practical learning of a Confucian scholar to assist in establishing peace, yet later enthusiasts often forced omen texts, cosmological lore, and numerology upon his story. Such accounts verge on the absurd; they come from those who did not truly understand Ji, and are therefore not recorded here.

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