1
陶安，字主敬，當塗人。 少敏悟，博涉經史，尤長於《易》。 元至正初，舉江浙鄉試，授明道書院山長，避亂家居。 太祖取太平，安與耆儒李習率父老出迎。 太祖召與語。 安進曰：「海內鼎沸，豪傑並爭，然其意在子女玉帛，非有撥亂、救民、安天下心。 明公渡江，神武不殺，人心悅服，應天順人。 以行吊伐，天下不足平也。」 太祖問曰：「吾欲取金陵，何如？」 安曰：「金陵，古帝王都。 取而有之，撫形勝以臨四方，何向不克？」 太祖曰：「善。」 留參幕府，授左司員外郎，以習為太平知府。 習字伯羽，年八十余矣，卒於官。
Tao An, styled Zhujing, was from Dangtu. As a youth he was exceptionally quick-witted; he read widely in the classics and histories and was especially skilled in the Book of Changes. Early in the Zhizheng reign, he passed the Jiang and Zhe regional examination and was appointed director of the Mingdao Academy; he then retired at home to escape the civil unrest. When the founding emperor captured Taiping, An and the elder scholar Li Xi led the local elders out to welcome him. The emperor summoned him for an audience. An spoke up: "The empire is in uproar and rival strongmen fight one another, but their aim is spoil and luxury, not to restore order, relieve the people, or bring peace to the realm. Your Grace has crossed the Yangzi with a martial spirit that shuns needless slaughter; the people gladly submit. You answer Heaven's mandate and win men over. March forth as the champion of the wronged, and pacifying the realm will be a small matter. The emperor asked, "I mean to take Jinling. What do you think?" An replied, "Jinling was the seat of emperors in antiquity. Seize it and hold its strategic heights to command the four quarters—what enemy could withstand you?" The emperor said, "Well said." He was retained on the military staff as Left Department Assistant Director, and Li Xi was appointed prefect of Taiping. Li Xi, styled Boyu, was over eighty and died in his post.
2
安從克集慶，進郎中。 及聘劉基、宋濂、章溢、葉琛至，太祖問安：「四人者何如？」 對曰：「臣謀略不如基，學問不如濂，治民之才不如溢、琛。」 太祖多其能讓。 黃州初下，思得重臣鎮之，無逾安者，遂命知黃州。 寬租省徭，民以樂業。 坐事謫知桐城，移知饒州。 陳友定兵攻城，安召吏民諭以順逆，嬰城固守。 援兵至，敗去。 諸將欲盡戮民之從寇者，安不可。 太祖賜詩褒美，州民建生祠事之。
An accompanied the campaign that took Jiqing and was promoted to Director in the Secretariat. When Liu Ji, Song Lian, Zhang Yi, and Ye Chen were brought in, the emperor asked An, "What do you make of these four? He answered, "Your servant is no match for Ji in strategy, for Lian in scholarship, or for Yi and Chen in governing the people." The emperor admired his modesty. When Huangzhou was newly pacified, the emperor sought a senior official to secure it and found no one better than An, so he appointed him Huangzhou magistrate. He reduced rents and levies, and the people settled contentedly into their work. After a disciplinary offense he was demoted to Tongcheng and later transferred to Raozhou. When Chen Youding's army besieged the city, An rallied officials and commoners, explained the difference between loyalty and rebellion, and held the walls in a stubborn defense. When relief arrived, the besiegers were defeated and withdrew. The generals wanted to execute every civilian who had sided with the enemy, but An refused. The emperor granted him a poem of commendation, and the people of the prefecture raised a living shrine in his honor.
3
吳元年，初置翰林院，首召安為學士。 時征諸儒議禮，命安為總裁官。 尋與李善長、劉基、周禎、滕毅、錢用壬等刪定律令。
In the first Wu year the Hanlin Academy was founded, and An was the first scholar appointed to it. Scholars were summoned to debate ritual propriety, and An was made chief coordinator of the deliberations. He soon joined Li Shanchang, Liu Ji, Zhou Zhen, Teng Yi, Qian Yongren, and others in drafting the statutes.
4
洪武元年，命知制誥兼修國史。 帝嘗御東閣，與安及章溢等論前代興亡本末。 安言喪亂之源，由於驕侈。 帝曰：「居高位者易驕，處佚樂者易侈。 驕則善言不入，而過不聞； 侈則善道不立，而行不顧。 如此者，未有不亡。 卿言甚當。」 又論學術。 安曰：「道不明，邪說害之也。」 帝曰：「邪說害道，猶美味之悅口，美色之眩目。 邪說不去，則正道不興，天下何從治？」 安頓首曰：「陛下所言，可謂深探其本矣。」 安事帝十余歲，視諸儒最舊。 及官侍從，寵愈渥。 御制門帖子賜之曰：「國朝謀略無雙士，翰苑文章第一家。」 時人榮之。 御史或言安隱過。 帝詰曰：「安寧有此，且若何從知？」 曰：「聞之道路。」 帝大怒，立黜之。
In the first Hongwu year he was charged with drafting edicts and compiling the dynastic history. The emperor once held court in the Eastern Lodge and debated with An, Zhang Yi, and others the causes of rise and fall in earlier dynasties. An argued that the root of dynastic collapse was arrogance and lavish excess. The emperor said, "Those who hold high rank easily grow arrogant, and those who live in comfort easily grow extravagant. Arrogance shuts out good counsel so that faults go unheard; extravagance uproots the right path so that conduct is no longer restrained. Rulers who fall into this have never failed to fall. Your analysis is entirely apt. The conversation turned to learning and doctrine. An said, "When the Way is unclear, heretical teachings are to blame. The emperor replied, "Heresy harms the Way as dainties please the palate and bright colors dazzle the eye. Until heresy is cleared away the right Way cannot flourish—how can the realm be governed?" An kowtowed and said, "Your Majesty has struck the very root of the matter." An had served the emperor for more than a decade and was the senior-most of the scholarly counselors. Once he entered the inner circle of attendants, imperial favor only deepened. The emperor personally composed a couplet for his gate: "Unrivaled strategist of the dynasty; foremost writer of the academy. Contemporaries regarded this as the highest honor. A censor reported that An had concealed misconduct. The emperor demanded, "Would An truly do such a thing—and how do you know? The censor answered, "I heard it on the streets." The emperor flew into a rage and had him dismissed on the spot.
5
子晟，洪武中為浙江按察使，以貪賄誅。 其兄昱亦坐死。 發家屬四十餘人為軍，後死亡且盡。 所司復至晟家勾補，安繼妻陳詣闕訴，帝念安功，除其籍。
His son Tao Cheng served as Zhejiang surveillance commissioner in the Hongwu era and was executed for corruption. An's elder brother Yu was executed as well by implication. More than forty relatives were conscripted as soldiers, and nearly all of them eventually perished. When the authorities again came to the Cheng household to draft replacements, An's widow, Lady Chen, petitioned at court; remembering An's service, the emperor struck her name from the rolls.
6
初，安之裁定諸禮也，廣德錢用壬亦多所論建。
When An first codified the rituals, Qian Yongren of Guangde had also offered extensive guidance.
7
附錢用壬
Appendix — Qian Yongren
8
用壬，字成夫。 元南榜進士第一，授翰林編修。 出使張士誠，留之，授以官。 大軍下淮、揚，來歸。 累官御史台經歷，預定律令。 尋與陶安等博議郊廟、社稷諸儀。 其議釋奠、耤田，皆援據經文及漢、魏以來故事以定其制。 詔報可，語詳《禮志》。 洪武元年分建六部官，拜用壬禮部尚書。 凡禮儀、祭祀、宴享、貢舉諸政，皆專屬禮官。 又詔與儒臣議定乘輿以下冠服諸式。 時儒生多習古義，而用壬考證尤詳確，然其後諸典禮亦多有更定雲。 其年十二月，請告歸。
Qian Yongren, styled Chengfuzi. He topped the southern metropolitan graduates under the Yuan and was appointed Hanlin compiler. On a mission to Zhang Shicheng he was detained and given a post. When the imperial army swept the Huai and Yang regions, he defected to the Ming side. He rose to become manager of the Censorate secretariat and helped draft the legal codes. He soon joined Tao An and others in debating suburban sacrifices, temples, and state-altar rites. Their proposals for the Confucian sacrifice and the royal plowing rite drew on the classics and on Han and Wei precedents to set the forms. The emperor approved these plans; details appear in the Treatise on Rites. In the first Hongwu year, as the six ministries were organized, Yongren was appointed Minister of Rites. Ritual conduct, sacrifices, court feasts, and the examination system all fell under the Ministry of Rites. He was also charged with other scholar-officials to define court dress from the emperor's regalia downward. Many scholars of the day knew ancient precedent, but Yongren's research was especially meticulous; still, many of these rites were later revised again. That December he asked leave to retire home.
9
詹同，字同文，初名書，婺源人。 幼穎異，學士虞集見之曰：「才子也。」 以其弟槃女妻之。 至正中，舉茂才異等，除郴州學正。 遇亂，家黃州，仕陳友諒為翰林學士承旨。 太祖下武昌，召為國子博士，賜名同。 時功臣子弟教習內府，諸博士治一經，不盡通貫。 同學識淹博，講《易》、《春秋》最善。 應教為文，才思泉涌，一時莫與並。 遷考功郎中，直起居注。 會議袷禘禮，同議當，遂用之。
Zhan Tong, styled Tongwen, born Shu, was from Wuyuan. He showed exceptional brilliance as a child; the academician Yu Ji exclaimed on meeting him, "A born genius. Yu Ji gave him his younger brother Pan's daughter in marriage. During the Zhizheng era he was selected as an outstanding talent and made director of studies at Chenzhou. When turmoil broke out he settled in Huangzhou and served Chen Youliang as chief Hanlin academician. After the founding emperor took Wuchang, he was summoned as a Erudite of the National University and given the name Tong. Sons of meritorious ministers were then tutored in the inner palace, and most erudites taught only one classic without broad mastery. Tong's learning was vast; he excelled above all in lecturing on the Book of Changes and the Spring and Autumn Annals. When called on for court compositions, his prose poured forth effortlessly, and for a time no one could rival him. He was promoted to Director of Merit Evaluation and served on the Daily Records staff. In deliberations on the collective and seasonal sacrifices, Tong's view was adopted.
10
洪武元年，與侍御史文原吉、起居注魏觀等循行天下，訪求賢才。 還，進翰林直學士，遷侍讀學士。 帝御下峻，御史中丞劉基曰：「古者公卿有罪，盤水加劍，詣請室自裁，所以勵廉恥，存國體也。」 同時侍側，遂取《戴記》及賈誼疏以進，復剴切言之。 帝嘗與侍臣言：聲色之害甚於鴆毒，創業之君，為子孫所承式，尤不可不謹。 同因舉成湯不邇聲色，垂裕後昆以對。 其因事納忠如此。
In the first Hongwu year he traveled the realm with the attending censor Wen Yuanji, the recorder Wei Guan, and others to seek out men of talent. On his return he was made a direct Hanlin academician and then promoted to reader-in-waiting. The emperor ruled harshly. Vice censor-in-chief Liu Ji said, "In antiquity, when high ministers offended, they were given a tray of water and a sword and went to the execution chamber to take their own lives—this was how integrity was enforced and the dignity of the state preserved. Tong, who was attending nearby, cited the Record of Rites and Jia Yi's memorial and pressed the point with further earnest argument. The emperor once told his attendants that the lure of pleasure was deadlier than poison and that a founding ruler, being the model for his heirs, must be doubly careful. Tong answered by citing how King Tang kept his distance from sensual delights to leave a legacy for his descendants. Thus he offered loyal remonstrance whenever occasion arose.
11
四年進吏部尚書。 六年兼學士承旨，與學士樂韶鳳定釋奠先師樂章。 又以渡江以來，征討平定之跡，禮樂治道之詳，雖有紀載，尚未成書，請編《日曆》。 帝從之，命同與宋濂為總裁官，吳伯宗等為纂修官。 七年五月書成，自起兵臨濠至洪武六年，共一百卷。 同等又言：《日曆》秘天府，人不得見。 請仿唐《貞觀政要》，分輯聖政，宣示天下。 帝從之。 乃分四十類，凡五卷，名曰《皇明寶訓》。 嗣後凡有政跡，史官日記錄之，隨類增入焉。 是年賜敕致仕，語極褒美。 未行，帝覆命與濂議大祀分獻禮。 久之，起承旨，卒。
In the fourth year he was promoted to Minister of Personnel. In the sixth year he also served as expositor of the Hanlin Academy and, with Academician Yue Shaofeng, set the hymns for sacrifices to Confucius. He noted that since the Yangzi crossing, records of campaigns and of ritual and governance existed but had not been compiled into a book, and he petitioned to edit an official calendar of the reign. The emperor agreed and appointed Tong and Song Lian chief compilers, with Wu Bozong and others as editors. The work was finished in the fifth month of the seventh year, covering from the raising of forces at Linhao through the sixth Hongwu year in one hundred juan. Tong further observed that the Calendar was sealed in the imperial archives and unseen by the public. He asked that selections of the emperor's governing acts be compiled, as in Tang Essentials of Governance, and published for the realm. The emperor approved. They arranged the material in forty categories in five juan under the title Treasured Instructions of the August Ming. Thereafter court historians recorded new policies day by day and added them under the appropriate headings. That year he received an edict granting retirement written in lavish praise. Before he could leave, the emperor recalled him to debate with Song Lian the protocol for associate offerings at the great sacrifice. Long afterward he was recalled as chief expositor and soon died.
12
同以文章結主知，應制占對，靡勿敏贍。 帝嘗言文章宜明白顯易，通道術，達時務，無取浮薄。 同所為多稱旨，而操行尤耿介，故至老眷注不衰。
Tong won the emperor's favor through his prose; in every compositional assignment or impromptu audience he was quick and fluent. The emperor once said that prose should be plain and accessible, convey practical governance, speak to current affairs, and avoid empty ornament. His compositions usually pleased the emperor, and his conduct was notably upright, so imperial favor never waned even in his old age.
13
子徽，字資善，洪武十五年舉秀才。 官至太子少保兼吏部尚書。 有才智，剛決不可犯。 勤於治事，為帝所獎任。 然性險刻。 李善長之死，徽有力焉。 藍玉下獄，語連徽及子尚寶丞紱，並坐誅。
His son Zhan Hui, styled Zishan, passed the xiucai examination in the fifteenth Hongwu year. He rose to Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent and concurrent Minister of Personnel. He was capable and resolute, and brooked no challenge. He worked tirelessly at administration and won the emperor's trust and praise. Yet he was by nature harsh and unforgiving. He played a significant part in Li Shanchang's downfall and death. When Lan Yu was imprisoned, the case implicated Hui and his son Fu, a vice director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments; both were executed.
14
同從孫希原，為中書舍人，善大書。 宮殿城門題額，往往皆希原筆也。
Tong's grandnephew Xiyuan served as a drafter in the Secretariat and excelled at large-character calligraphy. Many gate inscriptions throughout the palaces and city walls were in his hand.
15
朱升，字允升，休寧人。 元末舉鄉薦，為池州學正，講授有法。 蘄、黃盜起，棄官隱石門。 數避兵逋竄，卒未嘗一日廢學。 太祖下徽州，以鄧愈薦，召問時務。 對曰：「高築牆，廣積糧，緩稱王。」 太祖善之。 吳元年，授侍講學士，知制誥，同修國史。 以年老，特免朝謁。 洪武元年進翰林學士，定宗廟時享齋戒之禮。 尋命與諸儒修《女誡》，採古賢后妃事可法者編上之。 大封功臣，制詞多升撰，時稱典核。 逾年，請老歸，卒年七十二。
Zhu Sheng, styled Yunsheng, was from Xiuning. Near the end of the Yuan he was recommended in the provincial examination, became director of studies at Chizhou, and taught with notable discipline. When rebels spread through Qi and Huang, he resigned and went into seclusion at Shimen. Though he fled repeatedly from warfare, he never let a single day pass without study. When the founding emperor took Huizhou, Deng Yu recommended him; he was summoned and questioned on current strategy. He answered, "Build high walls, store grain in abundance, and declare kingship only when the time is ripe. The emperor was pleased with this counsel. In the first Wu year he was made reader-in-waiting, charged with drafting edicts, and helped compile the dynastic history. Because of his age he was specially excused from attending court. In the first Hongwu year he was promoted to Hanlin academician and set the fasting rules for ancestral temple sacrifices. He was soon ordered with other scholars to compile the Admonitions for Women from exemplary empresses and consorts of antiquity. When the great enfeoffments were proclaimed, Sheng drafted many of the patent texts, which contemporaries praised as models of precision. A year later he asked to retire home and died at seventy-two.
16
升自幼力學，至老不倦。 尤邃經學。 所作諸經旁注，辭約義精。 學者稱楓林先生。 子同官禮部侍郎，坐事死。
Sheng had studied strenuously from childhood and never slackened even in old age. He was especially profound in classical studies. His collateral commentaries on the classics were concise in language yet exact in meaning. Scholars called him Master Fenglin. His son Zhu Tong served as vice minister of rites and was executed after being implicated in a case.
17
二年，議上仁祖陵曰「英陵」，復請行祭告禮。 太常博士孫吾與以漢、唐未有行者，駁之。 亮曰：「漢光武加先陵曰『昌』，宋太祖亦加高祖陵曰『欽』，曾祖陵曰『康』，祖陵曰『定』，考陵曰『安』，蓋創業之君尊其祖考，則亦尊崇其陵。 既尊其陵，自應祭告，禮固緣人情而起者也。」 廷議是亮。 頃之，亮言：「《禮運》曰『禮行於郊，則百神受職。』 今宜增天下神祗壇於圜丘之東，方澤之西。」 又言：「《郊特牲》『器用陶匏』，《周禮疏》『外祀用瓦』。 今祭祀用瓷，與古意合。 而槃盂之屬，與古尚異，宜皆易以瓷，惟籩用竹。」 又請大祀前七日，陪祀官詣中書受誓戒，戒辭如唐禮。 又依《周禮》定五祀及四時薦新、稞禮、圭瓚、郁鬯之制。 並言旗纛月朔望致祭，煩而瀆，宜止，行於當祭之月。 皆允行。 帝嘗謂亮：「先賢有言：『見其生不忍見其死，聞其聲不忍食其肉。』 今祭祀省牲於神壇甚邇，心殊未安。」 亮乃奏考古省牲之儀，遠神壇二百步。 帝大喜。
In the second year officials proposed naming the founding emperor's father's tomb Ying Mausoleum and petitioned to perform an announcement sacrifice. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices erudite Sun Luyu objected that Han and Tang had no precedent for this. Liang replied, "Emperor Guangwu of Han styled his forefather's tomb Chang; the Song founder likewise styled his ancestors' tombs Qin, Kang, Ding, and An. Founding rulers honor their forebears and therefore honor their tombs as well. Once the tomb is honored, an announcement sacrifice is fitting, for ritual springs from human sentiment. The court sided with Liang. Soon afterward Liang cited the Ritual Operations: "When ritual is performed in the suburbs, the hundred spirits receive their offices. He proposed adding an altar to all spirits under Heaven east of the Round Mound and west of the Square Mound. He also cited the Special Sacrifices on pottery vessels and the Zhou Rites commentary on tile vessels for outer sacrifices. He noted that present sacrifices used porcelain, in keeping with ancient practice. Platters and bowls still differed from antiquity; he urged replacing them with porcelain, retaining bamboo only for the bian baskets." He also proposed that associate sacrificers receive oath and abstinence at the Secretariat seven days before the great sacrifice, following Tang formulas." Following the Zhou Rites, he also defined the five sacrifices, seasonal offerings, libation rites, and regalia for jade scepter and scented libation. He argued that monthly sacrifices to military banners were burdensome and irreverent and should be held only in the relevant sacrificial month. All these proposals were approved. The emperor once told Liang, "The ancients said that seeing animals alive one cannot bear to see them slaughtered, and hearing their cries one cannot bear to eat their flesh. Yet today the inspection of sacrificial animals takes place very near the altar, which troubles me deeply. Liang researched the ancient rite and memorialized that victims should be inspected two hundred paces from the altar. The emperor was delighted.
18
帝慮郊社諸祭，壇而不屋，或驟雨沾服。 亮引宋祥符九年南郊遇雨，於太尉廳望祭，及元《經世大典》壇垣內外建屋避風雨故事，奏之。 遂詔：建殿於壇南，遇雨則望祭。 而靈星諸祠亦皆因亮言建壇屋焉。 時仁祖已配南北郊，而郊祀禮成後，復詣太廟恭謝。 亮言宜罷，惟先祭三日，詣太廟以配享告。 詔可。 帝以日中有黑子，疑祭天不順所致，欲增郊壇從祀之神。 亮執奏：漢、唐煩瀆，不宜取法。 乃止。 帝一日問亮曰：「朕郊祀天地，拜位正中，而百官朝參則班列東西，何也？」 亮對曰：「天子祭天，升自午陛，北向，答陽之義也； 祭社，升自子陛，南向，答陰之義也。 若群臣朝參，當避君上之尊，故升降皆由卯陛，朝班分列東西，以避馳道，其義不同。」 亮倉卒占對，必傅經義，多此類。
The emperor worried that suburban sacrifices, being performed on open altars without halls, might leave participants drenched in sudden rain. Liang cited the Song precedent of performing a rain-delayed suburban sacrifice from the Grand Marshal's hall in Xiangfu 9 and Yuan regulations for shelter within the altar precinct, and memorialized accordingly. An edict ordered a hall built south of the altar; when it rained, sacrifice would be performed from there. Altar halls were likewise built for the Spirit Star and other shrines on Liang's recommendation. The founding emperor's spirit had been enshrined at both suburban altars, yet after suburban rites the court still went to the Ancestral Temple to offer thanks. Liang urged ending this practice, leaving only a visit three days beforehand to announce the associated offering. The emperor approved. When a black spot appeared on the sun, the emperor suspected faulty heavenly sacrifice and considered adding more associated deities at the suburban altar. Liang firmly objected that Han and Tang practice had been excessive and should not be imitated. The plan was abandoned. One day the emperor asked Liang, "At suburban sacrifice I bow from the center, yet at court audiences officials stand east and west—why is that? Liang answered, "The Son of Heaven ascends the noon steps and faces north when sacrificing to Heaven, answering the principle of yang; when sacrificing to Earth he ascends the zi steps and faces south, answering the principle of yin. For court audiences ministers must avoid the ruler's position of honor, so they use the mao steps and stand east and west to avoid the imperial roadway—the meanings differ." Liang's impromptu replies always cited classical principle; this was typical of his manner.
19
自郊廟祭祀外，朝賀山呼、百司箋奏、上下冠服、殿上坐墩諸儀及大射軍禮，皆亮所酌定。 惟言「大祀帝親省牲，中祀、小祀之牲當遣官代」，帝命：「親祭者皆親省」。 又請依唐制，令郡國奏祥瑞。 帝以災異所系尤重，命有司驛聞，與亮議異焉。 三年九月，卒於官。 其後牛諒、答祿與權、張籌、牛夢炎、劉仲質之屬，亦各有所論建。
Beyond suburban and temple rites, Liang also set court congratulations, the hundred offices' memorial protocol, court dress, hall seating, and great archery military ritual. He proposed that only the emperor inspect victims at great sacrifices while officials should do so at lesser ones, but the emperor ruled that any sacrifice he attended required his personal inspection. He also asked, following Tang practice, that commanderies report auspicious omens. The emperor, placing greater weight on reports of disasters and anomalies, ordered rapid relay of such news—diverging from Liang's view. In the ninth month of the third year he died in office. Later Niu Liang, Dalu Youquan, Zhang Chou, Niu Mengyan, Liu Zhongzhi, and others likewise offered ritual proposals.
20
附牛諒
Appendix — Niu Liang
21
牛諒，字士良，東平人。 洪武元年，舉秀才，為典簿。 與張以寧使安南還，稱旨，三遷至禮部尚書。 更定釋奠及大祀分獻禮，與詹同等議省牲、冠服。 御史答祿與權請祀三皇。 太祖下其議禮官，並命考歷代帝王有功德者廟祀之。 七年正月，諒奏：三皇立廟京師，春秋致祭。 漢、唐以下，就陵立廟。 帝為更定行之，亦詳《禮志》。 是年怠職，降主事。 未幾，復官。 後仍以不任職罷。 諒著述甚多，為世傳誦。
Niu Liang, styled Shiliang, was from Dongping. In the first Hongwu year he passed the xiucai examination and became a records clerk. After serving with Zhang Yining as envoy to Annan and pleasing the emperor on his return, he was thrice promoted to Minister of Rites. He revised the Confucian sacrifice and great-sacrifice associate-offering rites and, with Zhan Tong and others, debated victim inspection and court dress. The censor Dalu Youquan petitioned to sacrifice to the Three Sovereigns. The founding emperor referred the matter to ritual officials and ordered a survey of meritorious emperors worthy of temple sacrifice. In the first month of the seventh year Liang memorialized that a Three Sovereigns temple should be built in the capital with spring and autumn sacrifices. For Han and Tang emperors onward, temples were established at their tombs. The emperor revised and implemented the system; details appear in the Treatise on Rites. That year he was demoted to section chief for neglect of duty. Before long his office was restored. He was later dismissed again for incompetence. Liang wrote extensively, and his works circulated widely.
22
附答祿與權
Appendix — Dalu Youquan
23
答祿與權，字道夫，蒙古人。 仕元為河南北道廉訪司僉事。 入明，寓河南永寧。 洪武六年，用薦授秦府紀善，改御史。 請重刊律令。 盱眙民進瑞麥，與權請薦宗廟。 帝曰：「以瑞麥為朕德所致，朕不敢當。 其必歸之祖宗。 御史言是也。」 明年出為廣西按察僉事。 未行，復為御史。 上書請祀三皇。 下禮官議，遂並建帝王廟。 且遣使者巡視歷代諸陵寢。 設守陵戶二人，三年一祭，其制皆由此始。 又請行禘禮，議格不行。 改翰林修撰，坐事降典籍，尋進應奉。 十一年以年老致仕。 禘禮至嘉靖中始定。
Dalu Youquan, styled Daofu, was a Mongol. Under the Yuan he served as surveillance vice commissioner on the Henan North Circuit. After the Ming founding he lived at Yongning in Henan. In the sixth Hongwu year, on recommendation, he was appointed chronicler of the Qin princely establishment and later made a censor. He petitioned to reprint the legal codes. When the people of Xuyi presented auspicious wheat, Youquan asked that it be offered at the ancestral temple. The emperor said, "To treat this wheat as proof of my virtue is more than I dare claim. It must be credited to the ancestors. The censor is correct. The following year he was posted as surveillance vice commissioner in Guangxi. Before he could leave he was made censor again. He memorialized again requesting sacrifice to the Three Sovereigns. The matter was referred to ritual officials, and the Imperial Emperors Temple was established. Envoys were also sent to inspect the tombs of emperors through the ages. Two guard households were assigned to each tomb, with sacrifices every three years—a system that began with this initiative. He also proposed performing the di sacrifice, but deliberation blocked the plan. He was made a Hanlin compiler, demoted to archivist after an offense, and soon promoted to responding to imperial composition. In the eleventh year he retired on account of age. The di sacrifice was not finally settled until the Jiajing reign.
24
附張籌
Appendix — Zhang Chou
25
張籌，字惟中，無錫人。 父翼，嘗勸張士誠將莫天佑降，復請於平章胡美勿僇降人，城中人得完。 以詹同薦，授翰林應奉，改禮部主事。 奉詔與尚書陶凱編集漢、唐以來籓王事跡，為《歸鑒錄》。 洪武九年，由員外郎進尚書，與學士宋濂定諸王妃喪服之制。 籌記誦淹博，在禮曹久，諳於歷代禮文沿革。 然頗善附會。 初，陶安等定圜丘、方澤、宗廟、社稷諸儀，行數年矣。 洪武九年，籌為尚書，乃更議合社稷為一壇，罷勾龍、棄配位，奉仁祖配饗，以明祖社尊而親之之道，遂以社稷與郊廟祀並列上祀。 識者竊非之。 已，出為湖廣參政。 十年坐事罰輸作。 十二年仍起禮部員外郎。 後復官，以事免。
Zhang Chou, styled Weizhong, was from Wuxi. His father Zhang Yi had urged Zhang Shicheng to accept Mo Tianyou's surrender and persuaded Commissioner Hu Mei not to massacre the surrendered, sparing the city's population. Recommended by Zhan Tong, he was appointed to respond to imperial compositions in the Hanlin Academy and later made a section chief in the Ministry of Rites. By imperial order he and Minister Tao Kai compiled the deeds of feudal princes from Han and Tang onward into the Returning Mirror Record. In the ninth Hongwu year he rose from vice director to minister and, with Song Lian, set mourning regulations for princely consorts. Chou had a prodigious memory; after long service in the Ministry of Rites he knew the evolution of ritual texts through the ages. Yet he was inclined to force classical texts to fit present needs. Tao An and others had years earlier set rites for the Round Mound, Square Mound, ancestral temple, and state altars. As minister in the ninth year Chou merged the altars of soil and grain into one, removed Gou Long and Qi from associated worship, and enshrined the founding emperor's father there, elevating the state altars to the highest tier of sacrifice alongside suburban rites. Knowledgeable observers quietly disapproved. He was soon posted as administrative commissioner of Huguang. In the tenth year he was sentenced to corvée labor for an offense. In the twelfth year he was restored as vice director in the Ministry of Rites. He was later reappointed but dismissed again after another incident.
26
附硃夢炎
Appendix — Zhu Mengyan
27
硃夢炎，字仲雅，進賢人。 元進士，為金谿丞。 太祖召居賓館，命與熊鼎集古事，為質直語，教公卿子弟，名曰《公子書》。 洪武十一年，自禮部侍郎進尚書。 帝方稽古右文，夢炎援古證今，剖析源流，如指諸掌，文章詳雅有根據。 帝甚重之。 卒於官。
Zhu Mengyan, styled Zhongya, was from Jinxian. A Yuan jinshi, he served as magistrate of Jinxi. The founding emperor lodged him at the guest residence and ordered him and Xiong Ding to compile ancient exempla in plain language for educating noble sons, titled Book for the Lord's Sons. In the eleventh Hongwu year he rose from vice minister to minister of rites. As the emperor promoted classical learning, Mengyan cited antiquity to illuminate the present with encyclopedic clarity; his essays were elegant and well founded. The emperor held him in high regard. He died in office.
28
附劉仲質
Appendix — Liu Zhongzhi
29
劉仲質，字文質，分宜人。 洪武初，以宜春訓導薦入京，擢翰林典籍，奉命校正《春秋本末》。 十五年拜禮部尚書，命與儒臣定釋奠禮，頒行天下學校。 每歲春秋仲月，通禮孔子如儀。 時國子學新成，帝將行釋菜。 侍臣有言：孔子雖聖，人臣也，禮宜一奠再拜。 帝曰：「昔周太祖如孔子廟，左右謂不宜拜。 周太祖曰：『孔子，百世帝王師，何敢不拜！』 今朕有天下，敬禮百神，於先師禮宜加崇。」 乃命仲質詳議。 仲質請帝服皮弁執圭，詣先師位前，再拜，獻爵，又再拜，退易服。 乃詣彝倫堂命講，庶典禮隆重。 詔曰「可」。 又立學規十二條，合欽定九條，頒賜師生。 已，復奉命頒劉向《說苑》、《新序》於學校，令生員講讀。 是年冬改華蓋殿大學士，帝為親制誥文。 坐事貶御史。 後以老致仕。 仲質為人厚重篤實，博通經史，文體典確，常當帝意焉。
Liu Zhongzhi, styled Wenzhi, was from Fenyi. In early Hongwu, recommended as instructor at Yichun, he was brought to court, made Hanlin archivist, and ordered to collate the Beginning and End of the Spring and Autumn. In the fifteenth year he became minister of rites and, with other scholars, fixed the Confucian sacrifice for schools empire-wide. Each spring and autumn the second month, Confucius was honored with the full ritual. When the National University was newly completed, the emperor was to perform the vegetable offering. Some attendants argued that although Confucius was a sage he remained a subject and deserved only one offering and two bows. The emperor said, "When the Zhou founder visited Confucius's temple, his attendants said he should not bow. The founder replied, "Confucius is teacher to emperors for a hundred generations—how dare I not bow!" Now that I possess the realm, I honor all spirits; toward the first teacher the rite should be still more exalted. He ordered Zhongzhi to work out the details. Zhongzhi proposed that the emperor wear the leather cap and hold the jade tablet, bow twice before Confucius, present the libation cup, bow twice again, then withdraw and change robes. He would then proceed to the Hall of Moral Principles to order lectures, lending the ceremony full dignity. The emperor approved. He also issued twelve school regulations, combined with nine imperial articles, for teachers and students. Soon he was ordered to distribute Liu Xiang's Garden of Sayings and New Prefaces to schools for student study. That winter he was made grand academician of the Huagai Hall, with an encomium drafted by the emperor himself. He was demoted to censor after an offense. He later retired on account of age. Zhongzhi was grave and sincere, versed in classics and histories; his dignified prose usually pleased the emperor.
30
陶凱，字中立，臨海人。 領至正鄉薦，除永豐教諭，不就。 洪武初，以薦征入，同修《元史》。 書成，授翰林應奉，教習大本堂，授楚王經。 三年七月與崔亮併為禮部尚書，各有敷奏。 軍禮及品官墳塋之制，凱議也。 其年，亮卒。 凱獨任，定科舉式。 明年會試，以凱充主考官，取吳伯宗等百二十人程文進御，凱序其首簡，遂為定例。 帝嘗諭凱曰：「事死如事生，朕養已不逮，宜盡追遠之道。」 凱以太廟已有常祀，乃請於乾清宮左別建奉先殿，以奉神御。 明奉先殿之制自此始。 五年，凱言：「漢、唐、宋時皆有會要，紀載時政。 今起居注雖設，其諸司所領諭旨及奏事簿籍，宜依會要，編類為書，庶可以垂法後世。 下臺省府者，宜各置銅櫃藏之，以備稽考，俾無遺闕。」 從之。 明年二月，出為湖廣參政。 致仕。 八年起為國子祭酒。 明年改晉王府左相。
Tao Kai, styled Zhongli, was from Linhai. He topped the Zhizheng provincial list and was appointed instructor at Yongfeng, but declined the post. In early Hongwu he was summoned on recommendation and helped compile the History of Yuan. When the history was finished he became a Hanlin responder, taught at the Great Foundation Hall, and instructed the Prince of Chu in the classics. In the seventh month of the third year he and Cui Liang were jointly appointed ministers of rites, each submitting ritual proposals. Military ritual and regulations for officials' tombs were Kai's work. Liang died that year. Kai then bore sole responsibility and set the civil service examination format. The next metropolitan examination made Kai chief examiner; he presented the papers of Wu Bozong and 120 others to the throne and wrote the preface to the top essay, establishing a lasting precedent. The emperor told Kai, "One should serve the dead as the living; I have not adequately provided for my forebears and must observe every rite of remembrance. Because the ancestral temple already had regular sacrifices, Kai proposed building a Hall for Venerating Ancestors east of the Qianqing Palace to house spirit tablets. The Ming hall-of-ancestors system began here. In the fifth year Kai noted that Han, Tang, and Song had all kept institutional summaries of current governance. He urged that edicts and memorial registers from each office be compiled by category, like those summaries, to preserve models for posterity. Offices receiving imperial orders should keep bronze cabinets of records for audit so nothing would be lost. The proposal was adopted. In the second month of the following year he was posted to Huguang as administrative commissioner. He retired. In the eighth year he was recalled as chancellor of the National University. The next year he became left counselor to the Prince of Jin.
31
凱博學，工詩文。 帝嘗厭前代樂章多諛辭，或未雅馴，命凱與詹同更撰，甚稱旨。 長至侍齋宮，言：宜有篇什以紀慶成。 遂命凱首唱，諸臣俱和，而宋濂為之序。 其後扈行陪祀，有所獻，帝輒稱善。 一時詔令、封冊、歌頌、碑誌多出其手雲。 凱嘗自號「耐久道人」。 帝聞而惡之。 坐在禮部時朝使往高麗主客曹誤用符驗，論死。
Kai was erudite and accomplished in poetry and prose. The emperor, disliking the flattery and roughness of earlier dynastic hymns, ordered Kai and Zhan Tong to rewrite them to great approval. At the winter solstice, attending the fasting palace, he suggested composing verses to mark the ceremony. The emperor had Kai lead the composition while other ministers harmonized and Song Lian wrote the preface. Thereafter, whenever he accompanied sacrifices and presented writings, the emperor praised them. For a time most edicts, patents, hymns, and epitaphs came from his brush. Kai once styled himself "the Long-Enduring Daoist." The emperor took offense when he heard this. While at the Ministry of Rites, an envoy to Goryeo misused credentials at the reception office; Kai was sentenced to death on this charge.
32
曾魯，字得之，新淦人。 年七歲，能暗誦《五經》，一字不遺。 稍長，博通古今。 凡數千年國體、人才，制度沿革，無不能言者。 以文學聞於時。 元至正中，魯帥里中豪，集少壯保鄉曲。 數具牛酒，為開陳順逆。 眾皆遵約束，無敢為非義者。 人號其里曰「君子鄉」。
Zeng Lu, styled Dezhi, was from Xingan. At seven he could recite the Five Classics from memory without omitting a character. As he matured he mastered history ancient and modern. He could discourse on institutions, eminent men, and reforms across thousands of years. He was renowned for scholarship. During the Zhizheng era he led local magnates and gathered young men to defend the township. He repeatedly feasted them and explained loyalty and rebellion. All obeyed his rules; none dared commit wrongdoing. People called his neighborhood the District of Gentlemen.
33
五年二月，帝問丞相：「魯何官？ 對曰：「主事耳。」 即日超六階，拜中順大夫、禮部侍郎。 魯以「順」字犯其父諱，辭，就朝請下階。 吏部持典制，不之許。 戍將捕獲倭人，帝命歸之。 儒臣草詔，上閱魯稿大悅，曰：「頃陶凱文已起人意，魯復如此，文運其昌乎！」 未幾，命主京畿鄉試。 甘露降鐘山，群臣以詩賦獻，帝獨褒魯。 是年十二月引疾歸，道卒。 淳安徐尊生嘗曰：「南京有博學士二人，以筆為舌者宋景濂，以舌為筆者曾得之也。」 魯屬文不留藁，其徒間有所輯錄，亦未成書雲。
In the second month of the fifth year the emperor asked the chief counselor what office Lu held. The answer was, "Only a section chief." That same day Lu was promoted six ranks to central upright grand master and vice minister of rites. Lu declined because the word shun in his title violated his father's taboo and asked to stand one step lower at court. The Ministry of Personnel refused, citing regulations. When border troops captured Japanese raiders, the emperor ordered their return. Confucian officials drafted the edict, but the emperor greatly preferred Lu's version, saying, "Tao Kai's prose already stirs the mind; Lu's does the same—the literary fortune is flourishing!" He was soon ordered to supervise the capital regional examination. When sweet dew fell on Bell Mountain, ministers presented poems, but the emperor singled out Lu's for praise. That twelfth month he retired citing illness and died on the journey home. Xu Zunsheng of Chun'an said, "Nanjing has two great scholars: Song Lian writes as he speaks, and Zeng Lu speaks as he writes." Lu kept no drafts; disciples compiled some of his work, but no complete book survived.
34
洪武中，禮部侍郎二十餘人，其知名者，自曾魯外，有劉崧、秦約、陳思道、張衡數人。 崧自有傳。
More than twenty vice ministers of rites served in the Hongwu era; besides Lu, notable men included Liu Song, Qin Yue, Chen Sidao, and Zhang Heng. Liu Song has a separate biography.
35
約，崇明人，字文仲。 博學，工辭章。 洪武初，以文學舉。 召試《慎獨箴》，約文第一，立擢禮部侍郎。 母老乞歸。 已，復召入陳三事，皆切直。 仍乞歸，卒。
Qin Yue of Chongming was styled Wenzhong. He was erudite and skilled in belles lettres. In early Hongwu he was recommended for his scholarship. On examination of his Admonition on Solitary Vigilance he ranked first and was immediately promoted to vice minister of rites. He asked leave to care for his aged mother. He was soon recalled and presented three frank memorials. He again asked to retire and died at home.
36
思道，山陰人，字執中。 以進士授刑部主事。 帝賞其執法，超拜兵部侍郎，益勵風節，人莫敢幹以私。 改禮部，乞歸。 居家，不殖生產。 守令造門不得見。 久之，卒。
Chen Sidao of Shanyin was styled Zhizhong. As a jinshi he became a section chief in the Ministry of Punishments. The emperor admired his strict enforcement of law and promoted him to vice minister of war; he upheld integrity so firmly that no one dared solicit favors. Transferred to the Ministry of Rites, he then retired. At home he lived without amassing property. Local officials who called at his gate were refused audience. He died some years later.
37
衡事別載。
Zhang Heng's career is recorded separately.
38
任昂，字伯顒，河陰人。 元末舉進士，除知寧晉縣，不赴。 洪武初，薦起為襄垣訓導，擢御史。 十五年拜禮部尚書。 帝加意太學，罷祭酒李敬、吳顒，命昂增定監規八條。 遂以曹國公李文忠、大學士宋訥兼領國子監事。 會司諫關賢上言：「邇來郡邑所司非人，師道不立，歲選士多缺； 甚至俊秀生員，點充承差，乖朝廷育賢意。」 昂乃奏定天下：歲貢士從翰林院考試，以為殿最。 明年，命科舉與薦舉並行。 昂條上科場成式，視前加詳，取士制始定。 廣東都指揮狄崇、王臻以妾為繼室，乞封。 下廷議，昂持不可，從之。 遂命昂及翰林院定嫡妾封贈例，因詔偕吏部定文官封贈例十一，廕敘例五，頒示中外。
Ren Ang, styled Boyang, was from Heyin. At the end of the Yuan he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed magistrate of Ningjin but declined. In early Hongwu he was recommended as instructor at Xiangyuan and promoted to censor. In the fifteenth year he became minister of rites. The emperor focused on the National University, dismissed chancellors Li Jing and Wu Yan, and had Ang add eight supervisory regulations. Li Wenzhong, duke of Cao, and Grand Academician Song Ne were then appointed to oversee the university. Remonstrance official Guan Xian reported that local officials were unfit, teaching had collapsed, and annual student selections fell short; even gifted students were assigned as couriers, contrary to the court's intent to nurture talent. Ang memorialized that annual tribute students empire-wide should be examined by the Hanlin Academy for ranking. The next year civil examinations and recommendations were ordered to run in parallel. Ang detailed examination regulations more fully than before, fixing the selection system. Guangdong commanders Di Chong and Wang Zhen asked to ennoble concubines promoted as successor wives. The court deliberated; Ang objected and the emperor agreed. Ang and the Hanlin Academy then codified enfeoffment rules for wives and concubines, and with the Ministry of Personnel issued eleven civil enfeoffment rules and five yin-succession rules for the empire.
39
尋請更定冕服之制。 及朝參坐次。 又奏毀天下淫祠，正祀典稱號：「蜀祀秦守李冰，附以漢守文翁、宋守張詠； 密縣祀太傅卓茂； 鈞州祀丞相黃霸； 彭澤祀丞相狄仁傑，皆遺愛在民。 李龍遷祀於隆州，謝夷甫祀於福州，皆為民捍患。 吳丞相陸遜以勞定國，宜祀於吳，以子抗、從子凱配。 元總管李黼立祀江州，元帥余闕立廟安慶，皆以死勤事。 從闕守皖，全家殉義者，有萬戶李宗可，宜配享闕廟。」 皆報可。 明年命以鄉飲酒禮頒天下，復令制大成樂器，分頒學宮。 是時，以八事考課外吏，及次第雲南功賞，事不隸禮部，帝皆令昂主其議。 尋予告歸。
He soon proposed revising court regalia. He also set seating order at court audiences. He memorialized abolishing improper shrines and correcting canonical titles, listing approved local cults such as Li Bing in Shu with Wen Weng and Zhang Yong; Zhuo Mao at Mixi; Huang Ba at Junzhou; and Di Renjie at Pengze—all men whose benevolence endured among the people. Li Longqian at Longzhou and Xie Yifu at Fuzhou had defended the people against disaster. Wu chancellor Lu Xun, who stabilized the state by his labors, should be worshipped in Wu with his son Kang and nephew Kai. Yuan officials Li Fu and Yu Que, who died in loyal service, were approved for sacrifice at Jiangzhou and Anqing. Li Zongke, who followed Yu Que and died with his household at Wan, was approved as an associate in Que's temple. All were approved. The next year he promulgated the district drinking rite empire-wide and had Great Completion instruments made for schools. Though examining outer officials and Yunnan rewards lay outside ritual jurisdiction, the emperor had Ang deliberate them as well. He soon retired.
40
李原名
Li Yuanming
41
李原名，字資善，安州人。 洪武十五年，以通經儒士舉為御史。 二十年使平緬歸，言：「思倫發懷詐窺伺，宜嚴邊備。 靖江王以大理印行令旨，非法，為遠人所輕。」 稱旨，擢禮部尚書。 自是遠方之事多咨之。 高麗奏遼東文、高、和、定州皆其國舊壤，乞就鐵嶺屯戍。 原名言：「數州皆入元版圖，屬於遼，高麗地以鴨綠江為界。 今鐵嶺已置衛，不宜。」 復有陳請，帝命諭其國守分土，無生釁。 安南歲貢方物，帝念其勞民，原名以帝意諭之，令三年一貢，自是為定制。 又以帝命行養老之政，申明府州縣歲貢多寡之數，定官民巾服之式，皆著為令。
Li Yuanming, styled Zishan, was from Anzhou. In the fifteenth Hongwu year he was recommended as a classicist and made censor. Returning in the twentieth year from a mission to pacify Burma, he warned that Si Lunfa was treacherous and border defenses must be strengthened. He also reported that the Prince of Jingjiang illegally issued orders with the Dali seal, inviting contempt from frontier peoples. The emperor was pleased and promoted him to minister of rites. Thereafter frontier affairs were often referred to him. Goryeo claimed the Liaodong prefectures Wen, Gao, He, and Ding as its old lands and asked to garrison the Iron Ridge. Yuanming replied that those prefectures had been under Yuan Liaodong administration and Goryeo's border was the Yalu. A guard already stood at the Iron Ridge and the request should be denied. When Goryeo petitioned again, the emperor ordered it to keep within its borders. The emperor, pitying Annam's people, had Yuanming limit tribute to once every three years, which became fixed practice. He also implemented elderly-care policy, clarified tribute quotas, and codified dress regulations for officials and commoners.
42
樂韶鳳
Yue Shaofeng
43
樂韶鳳，字舜儀，全椒人。 博學能文章。 謁太祖於和陽，從渡江，參軍事。 洪武三年，授起居注，數遷。 六年拜兵部尚書，與中書省、御史台、都督府定教練軍士法。 改侍講學士，與承旨詹同正釋奠先師樂章，編集《大明日曆》。 七年，帝以祭禮駕還，應用樂舞前導，命韶鳳等撰詞。 因撰《神降祥》、《神貺惠》、《酣酒》、《色荒》、《禽荒》諸曲以進，凡三十九章，曰《回鑾樂歌》，皆寓規諫。 禮部具《樂舞圖》以上，命太常肄習之。
Yue Shaofeng, styled Shunyi, was from Quanjiao. He was erudite and skilled in writing. He presented himself to the founding emperor at Heyang, followed him across the Yangzi, and served on military staff. In the third Hongwu year he became a daily records officer and rose through several posts. In the sixth year he became minister of war and, with the secretariat, censorate, and military commission, set drill regulations. He became reader-in-waiting, corrected Confucian sacrifice music with Zhan Tong, and helped compile the Great Ming Calendar. In the seventh year, when the emperor returned from sacrifice, he ordered Shaofeng to compose lyrics for the procession music. He composed thirty-nine songs including Spirit Descends in Auspice and Lust for Color, entitled Music of the Returning Imperial Progress, each embedding remonstrance. The Ministry of Rites submitted dance diagrams and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices rehearsed them.
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明年，帝以舊韻出江左，多失正，命與廷臣參考中原雅音正之。 書成，名《洪武正韻》。 又命孝陵寢朔望祭祀及登壇脫舄諸禮議，皆詳稽故實。 俱從之。 尋病免。 未幾，復起為祭酒。 奉詔定皇太子與諸王往復書答刂禮，考據精詳，屢被褒答。 十三年致仕歸，以壽終。 弟暉、禮、毅，皆知名。
The next year, finding southeastern rhymes inaccurate, the emperor ordered him and court scholars to revise them against central plains pronunciation. The resulting work was titled Correct Rhymes of Hongwu. He also researched Xiaoling mausoleum sacrifices and altar protocols in detail. All were approved. He soon retired on account of illness. Before long he was recalled as chancellor. By imperial order he codified correspondence etiquette between the heir apparent and princes; his research was meticulous and won repeated praise. In the thirteenth year he retired and died at an advanced age. His younger brothers Hui, Li, and Yi were also well known.
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贊曰：明初之議禮也，宋濂方家居，諸儀率多陶安裁定。 大祀禮專用安議，其餘參匯諸說，從其所長：祫禘用詹同，時享用硃升，釋奠、耕耤用錢用壬，五祀用崔亮，朝會用劉基，祝祭用魏觀，軍禮用陶凱。 皆能援據經義，酌古準今，郁然成一代休明之治。 雖折中斷制，裁自上心，諸臣之功亦曷可少哉。
The appraiser writes: When the Ming first debated ritual, Song Lian was still in retirement and Tao An settled most of the forms. Great sacrifices followed An exclusively; other rites combined specialists—Zhan Tong for collective and seasonal rites, Zhu Sheng for seasonal offerings, Qian Yongren for Confucian sacrifice and plowing, Cui Liang for the five sacrifices, Liu Ji for court audiences, Wei Guan for prayer sacrifices, and Tao Kai for military ritual. All cited the classics, weighed antiquity against the present, and helped shape a brilliant age of governance. Though final decisions rested with the emperor, the ministers' contributions can hardly be slighted.