1
羅倫 〈（塗棐）〉 章懋 〈（從子拯）〉 黃仲昭莊鄒智舒芬 〈（崔桐馬汝驥）〉
Luo Lun (Tu Fei)〉 Zhang Mao (nephew Zheng)〉 Huang Zhongzhao, Zhuang Yuejuanyong, Zou Zhi, and Shu Fen (Cui Tong and Ma Ruji)〉
2
羅倫，字彜正，吉安永豐人。 五歲嘗隨母入園，果落，眾競取，倫獨賜而後受。 家貧樵牧，挾書誦不輟。 及為諸生，誌聖賢學，嘗曰：「舉業非能壞人，人自壞之耳。」 知府張瑄憫其貧，周之粟，謝不受。 居父母喪，逾大祥，始食鹽酪。
Luo Lun, styled Yizheng, was from Yongfeng in Ji'an prefecture. When he was five, he once went into a garden with his mother. Fruit fell, and everyone rushed to grab it; Lun alone waited until it was offered to him before he took any. Though his family was poor and he had to cut wood and tend herds, he always carried books with him and never stopped reading aloud. After he became a licentiate, he devoted himself to the learning of the sages and once remarked, "Civil-service examination work cannot ruin a man—it is only that men ruin themselves." The prefect Zhang Xuan, taking pity on his poverty, sent him grain, but he politely refused to accept it. During mourning for his parents, he did not touch salted food or dairy until after the daxiang observance had ended.
3
成化二年，廷試，對策萬余言。 直斥時弊，名震都下。 擢進士第一，授翰林修撰。 逾二月，大學士李賢奔喪畢，奉詔還朝。 倫詣賢沮之，不聽。 乃上疏曰：
In 1466, at the palace examination, he submitted a policy response of more than ten thousand characters. He denounced current abuses forthrightly, and his name resounded throughout the capital. He was placed first among the jinshi and appointed Hanlin Academician Editor. Two months later, Grand Secretary Li Xian, having finished the mourning rush for his parent, was ordered by imperial edict to return to court. Lun went to Li Xian to dissuade him, but Li would not heed him. He then submitted a memorial that read:
4
臣聞朝廷援楊溥故事，起復大學士李賢。 臣竊謂賢大臣，起復大事，綱常風化系焉，不可不慎。 曩陛下制策有曰：「朕夙夜拳拳，欲正大綱，舉萬目，使人倫明於上，風俗厚於下。」 竊謂明人倫，厚風俗，莫先於孝。 在禮，子有父母之喪，君三年不呼其門。 子夏問：「三年之喪，金革無避，禮歟？」 孔子曰：「魯公伯禽有為為之也。 今以三年之喪從其利者，吾弗知也。」 陛下於賢，以為金革之事起復之歟？ 則未之有也。 以大臣起復之歟？ 則禮所未見也。
Your subject has heard that the court, invoking the precedent of Yang Pu, has recalled Grand Secretary Li Xian from mourning service. I venture to say that Li Xian is a great minister, and recalling a minister from mourning is a matter on which the cardinal norms and moral customs of the realm depend; it must be handled with the utmost care. Your Majesty once wrote in the examination questions: "I work earnestly day and night to set right the great norms, to lift up every standard of conduct, and to make human relations clear at court and customs sound among the people." I believe that to clarify human relations and strengthen customs, nothing comes before filial piety. According to the rites, when a son is mourning his parents, the ruler for three years does not summon him to court. Zixia asked Confucius: "For the three-year mourning, must one not avoid military service—is that what the rites require?" Confucius replied: "It was because Duke Bo Qin of Lu had someone arrange it that way. As for those who now, during the three-year mourning, follow their own advantage instead—I do not understand them at all." Does Your Majesty believe that Li Xian is being recalled for urgent military affairs? If so, there is no such emergency. Or is he being recalled simply because he is a great minister? If so, the rites know no such precedent.
5
夫為人君，當舉先王之禮教其臣； 為人臣，當守先王之禮事其君。 昔宋仁宗嘗起復富弼矣，弼辭曰：「不敢遵故事以遂前代之非，但當據《禮經》以行今日之是。」 仁宗卒從其請。 孝宗嘗起復劉珙矣，珙辭曰：「身在草土之中，國無門庭之寇，難冒金革之名，私竊利祿之實。」 孝宗不抑其情。 此二君者，未嘗以故事強其臣。 二臣者。 未嘗以故事徇其君。 故史冊書之為盛事，士大夫傳之為美談。 無他，君能教臣以孝，臣有孝可移於君也。 自是而後，無復禮義。 王黼、史嵩之、陳宜中、賈似道之徒，皆援故事起復。 然天下壞亂，社稷傾危，流禍當時，遺譏後代。 無他，君不教臣以孝，臣無孝可移於君也。 陛下必欲賢身任天下之事，則賢身不可留，口實可言。 宜降溫詔，俾如劉珙得以言事。 使賢於天下之事知必言，言必盡。 陛下於賢之言聞必行，行必力。 賢雖不起復，猶起復也。 茍知之而不能盡言，言之而不能力行，賢雖起復無益也。
A ruler ought to uphold the rites of the former kings to instruct his ministers; and a minister ought to observe the rites of the former kings in serving his ruler. In the past, Emperor Renzong of Song once tried to recall Fu Bi from mourning. Bi declined, saying, "I dare not follow precedent merely to perpetuate a former age's error; I should act according to the Classic of Rites and do what is right today." In the end Renzong granted his request. Emperor Xiaozong once tried to recall Liu Gong from mourning. Gong declined, saying, "My body is still amid grass and earth in mourning; the state has no enemy at its gates. It would be hard to claim the exemption for military emergency while privately grasping salary and rank." Xiaozong did not override his wishes. Neither of these rulers ever forced a minister with precedent alone. Neither of these ministers ever yielded to his ruler merely because of precedent. That is why the histories record these episodes as great events and scholar-officials still recount them as exemplary stories. The reason is simple: the ruler could teach his ministers through filial piety, and the ministers had filial piety that could be offered up to the ruler. After that, ritual and righteousness were abandoned. Men such as Wang Fu, Shi Songzhi, Chen Yizhong, and Jia Sidao all invoked precedent to justify recall from mourning. The realm then fell into chaos, the altars of state were endangered, disaster spread through the age, and posterity still heaps reproach upon their names. The reason is the same: the ruler did not teach his ministers through filial piety, and the ministers had no filial piety to offer up to the ruler. If Your Majesty truly wishes Li Xian to shoulder the affairs of the realm in person, then he cannot remain in mourning—but then there will be grounds for criticism that cannot be silenced. Your Majesty should issue a gracious edict, as with Liu Gong, allowing him to state his views fully. Let Li Xian know that on affairs of state he must speak, and speak without reserve. And let Your Majesty, when you hear his words, act on them without fail and act with full resolve. Even if Li Xian is not recalled from mourning, it will be as though he had been. But if he knows yet cannot speak fully, or speaks yet Your Majesty cannot act with resolve, then recalling Li Xian will do no good at all.
6
且陛下無謂廟堂無賢臣，庶官無賢士。 君，盂也； 臣，水也。 水之方圓，盂實主之。 臣之直佞，君實召之。 陛下誠於退朝之暇，親直諒博洽之臣，講聖學君德之要，詢政事得失，察民生利病，訪人才賢否，考古今盛衰。 舍獨信之偏見，納逆耳之苦言。 則眾賢群策畢萃於朝，又何待違先王之《禮經》，損大臣之名節，然後天下可治哉。
Moreover, Your Majesty should not suppose that the court lacks worthy ministers or that the ranks of officials lack worthy men. The ruler is like a basin; the ministers are like water. Whether the water takes a square or round shape, it is the basin that determines it. Whether ministers are upright or fawning, it is the ruler who summons that quality forth. If Your Majesty, in the hours after court, would truly draw near upright, candid, and broadly learned ministers, discuss the essentials of sagely learning and rulerly virtue, inquire into what is right and wrong in government, examine the welfare and hardships of the people, seek out whether men of talent are worthy or not, and study the rise and fall of past and present ages set aside partial views and private convictions, and accept blunt counsel that offends the ear, then every worthy man and every sound policy will gather at court. Why must Your Majesty violate the former kings' Classic of Rites and damage a great minister's reputation before the realm can be governed?
7
臣伏見比年以來，朝廷以奪情為常典，縉紳以起復為美名，食稻衣錦之徒，接踵廟堂，不知此人於天下之重何關耶？ 且婦於舅姑，喪亦三年； 孫於祖父母，服則齊衰。 奪情於夫，初無預其妻； 奪情於父，初無幹其子。 今或舍館如故，妻孥不還，乃號於天下曰：「本欲終喪，朝命不許」，雖三尺童子，臣知其不信也。 為人父者所以望其子之報，豈擬至於此哉。 為人子者所以報其親之心，豈忍至於此哉。 枉己者不能直人，忘親者不能忠君。 陛下何取於若人而起復之也。
Your subject has observed that in recent years the court has treated curtailing mourning as routine, and officials have treated recall from mourning as a mark of honor. Men who still feast on rice and dress in brocade stream one after another into the halls of government—what do such men have to do with the weighty affairs of the realm? Moreover, a wife mourns her parents-in-law for three years as well; a grandson wears one year of qi mourning for his grandparents. When mourning is curtailed for a husband, it does not affect his wife; when mourning is curtailed for a father, it does not involve his son. Yet now some keep their lodgings as before and do not bring wife and children home, yet proclaim to the world, "I wished to complete my mourning, but the court would not permit it"—even a child of three feet, your subject knows, would not believe them. Is this what any father could expect from the requital he hopes for from his son? Could any son's heart in repaying his parents bear to come to this? One who bends himself cannot set others straight; one who forgets his parents cannot be loyal to his ruler. What does Your Majesty see in such men that you would recall them from mourning?
8
今大臣起復，群臣不以為非，且從而贊之； 群臣起復，大臣不以為非，且從而成之。 上下成俗，混然同流，率天下之人為無父之歸。 臣不忍聖明之朝致綱常之壞、風俗之弊一至此極也。 願陛下斷自聖衷，許賢歸家持服。 其他已起復者，仍令奔喪，未起復者，悉許終制。 脫有金革之變，亦從墨衰之權，使任軍事於外，盡心喪於內。 將朝廷端則天下一，大臣法則群臣效，人倫由是明，風俗由是厚矣。
Today, when great ministers are recalled from mourning, the officials do not regard it as wrong but even follow and praise it; when lesser officials are recalled, the great ministers do not regard it as wrong but even follow and enable it. Above and below have made a custom of it, flowing together in one stream, leading all under Heaven to become men who act as though they had no fathers. Your subject cannot bear to see this sage and enlightened court allow the cardinal norms to collapse and customs to decay to such an extreme. I pray that Your Majesty, deciding from your own sage heart, will permit Li Xian to return home and complete his mourning. As for others already recalled, order them back to complete their mourning; as for those not yet recalled, permit them all to observe the full term. If there should be military emergency, then follow the expedient of shortened mourning dress, letting them command armies abroad while fulfilling mourning duties at home with full devotion. Then, with the court upright the realm will be united, with great ministers setting the model the officials will follow, human relations will be clarified, and customs will be strengthened.
9
疏入，謫福建市舶司副提舉。 御史陳選疏救，不報。 御史楊瑯復申救，帝切責之。 尚書王翺以文彥博救唐介事諷賢，賢曰：「潞公市恩，歸怨朝廷，吾不可以效之。」 亡何，賢卒。 明年以學士商輅言召復原職，改南京。 居二年，引疾歸，遂不復出。
When the memorial was submitted, he was demoted to Vice Commissioner of the Fujian Maritime Trade Office. Censor Chen Xuan submitted a memorial in his defense, but received no response. Censor Yang Lang again pleaded on his behalf; the emperor sharply rebuked Yang. Minister Wang Ao, alluding to how Wen Yanbo had rescued Tang Jie, urged Li Xian to intervene; Li replied, "The Duke of Lu traded favors and shifted blame onto the court—I cannot imitate that." Before long, Li Xian died. The following year, on Academician Shang Lu's recommendation, he was recalled to his former post and transferred to Nanjing. After two years he cited illness and retired home, and never took office again.
10
倫為人剛正，嚴於律己。 義所在，毅然必為，於富貴名利泊如也。 裏居倡行鄉約，相率無敢犯。 衣食粗惡。 或遺之衣，見道堇，解以覆之。 晨留客飲，妻子貸粟鄰家，及午方炊，不為意。 以金牛山人跡不至，築室著書其中，四方從學者甚眾。 十四年卒，年四十八。 嘉靖初，從御史唐龍請，追贈左春坊諭德，謚文毅。 學者稱一峰先生。
Lun was sternly upright and rigorous in disciplining himself. Where righteousness required action, he acted resolutely; toward wealth, rank, fame, and profit he was utterly indifferent. In retirement he promoted the village covenant, and the community followed him so faithfully that none dared violate it. His food and clothing were coarse and plain. When someone gave him clothing and he saw purslane growing by the roadside, he would take off the garment to cover the plants. One morning he kept a guest for wine; his wife had to borrow grain from a neighbor, and they did not cook until noon—he thought nothing of it. Because Mount Jinniu was secluded and rarely visited, he built a study there and wrote books; students came from all directions in great numbers. He died in the fourteenth year of Chenghua, at the age of forty-eight. Early in the Jiajing reign, on Censor Tang Long's petition, he was posthumously appointed Left Sub-Reader of the Eastern Palace and given the posthumous title Wenyi. Scholars honor him as Master Yifeng.
11
方倫為提舉時，御史豐城塗棐巡按福建。 司禮中官黃賜，延平人也，請見，棐不可。 泉州知府李宗學以受賕為棐所按，訐棐自解，賜從中主其奏。 棐、宗學俱被征，詞連倫，當並逮。 鎮撫司某曰：「羅先生可至此乎？」 即日鞫成上之。 倫得免，棐亦復官。
While Lun was serving as commissioner, Censor Tu Fei of Fengcheng was conducting an inspection tour of Fujian. Huang Ci, a eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial and a native of Yanping, asked for an audience; Tu Fei refused. Li Zongxue, prefect of Quanzhou, was impeached by Tu Fei for taking bribes; Li counter-attacked Tu Fei to clear himself, and Huang Ci intervened from within the palace to support Li's memorial. Both Tu Fei and Li Zongxue were summoned to the capital; their testimony implicated Lun, and he too was due to be arrested. Someone in the Brocade Guard said, "Could Master Luo really have come to this?" That same day the case was tried, concluded, and reported upward. Lun was spared, and Tu Fei was also restored to office.
12
塗棐，天順四年進士。 成化中嘗言：「祖宗朝，政事必與大臣面議。 自先帝幼沖，未能裁決，柄國者慮其缺遺，假簡易之辭，以便宣布。 凡視朝奏事，諭旨輒曰：「所司知之」。 此一時權宜，非可循為定制。 況批答多參以中官，內閣或不與，尤乖祖制。 乞復面議，杜蔽壅之弊。」 憲宗不能用。 終廣東副使。
Tu Fei passed the jinshi examination in 1460. During the Chenghua reign he once said, "Under the founding emperors, state affairs were always discussed face to face with the senior ministers. After the former emperor came to the throne as a child and could not decide matters himself, those who held power, fearing omissions, used brief formulas to make announcements easier. Whenever officials reported business at court, the imperial response would simply say, "Let the relevant office handle it." This was a temporary expedient, not a practice that should become permanent custom. Moreover, many rescripts were drafted with eunuchs involved, and the Grand Secretariat was sometimes left out—this departed especially far from ancestral practice. I beg that face-to-face deliberation be restored, to cut off the abuses of concealment and obstruction." The Xianzong Emperor did not adopt his proposal. He ended his career as Vice Commissioner of Guangdong.
13
章懋，字德懋，蘭溪人。 成化二年會試第一，成進士，改庶吉王。 明年冬，授編修。
Zhang Mao, styled Demao, was from Lanxi. In 1466 he placed first in the metropolitan examination, became a jinshi, and entered the Hanlin as a Metropolitan Graduate. The following winter he was appointed Hanlin Compiler.
14
憲宗將以元夕張燈，命詞臣撰詩詞進奉。 懋與同官黃仲昭、檢討莊昶疏諫曰：「頃諭臣等撰鰲山煙火詩詞，臣等竊議，此必非陛下本懷，或以兩宮聖母在上，欲備極孝養奉其歡心耳。 然大孝在乎養誌，不可徒陳耳目之玩以為養也。 今川東未靖，遼左多虞，江西、湖廣赤地數千里，萬姓嗷嗷，張口待哺，此正陛下宵旰焦勞，兩宮母後同憂天下之日。 至翰林官以論思為職，鄙俚之言豈宜進於君上。 伏讀宣宗皇帝御制《翰林箴》有曰『啟沃之言，唯義與仁。 堯、舜之道，鄒、魯以陳。』 張燈豈堯、舜之道，詩詞豈仁義之言？ 若謂煙火細故不足為聖德累，則舜何必不造漆器，禹何必不嗜旨酒，漢文何必不作露臺？ 古帝王慎小謹微必矜細行者，正以欲不可縱，漸不可長也。 伏乞將煙火停止，移此視聽以明目達聰，省此資財以振饑恤困，則災祲可銷，太平可致。」 帝以元夕張燈，祖宗故事，惡懋等妄言，並杖之闕下，左遷其官。 修撰羅倫先以言事被黜，時稱「翰林四諫」。
The Xianzong Emperor planned to display lanterns for the Lantern Festival and ordered the literary officials to compose poems and lyrics for presentation. Mao, together with his colleague Huang Zhongzhao and Reviser Zhuang Chang, submitted a remonstrance that read: "Your Majesty recently instructed us to compose poems and lyrics for the Ao Mountain fireworks display. We discussed this privately and believe this cannot be Your Majesty's true intent—or perhaps, with the empress dowagers above, you wish to offer the utmost filial display to please them. Yet true filial piety lies in honoring one's parents' wishes, not in offering mere spectacles for the senses and calling that nurture. Eastern Sichuan is not yet pacified, Liaodong faces many threats, and in Jiangxi and Huguang bare earth stretches for thousands of li while the people cry out for food. This is precisely the time when Your Majesty should labor anxiously from dawn to dusk, and when the empress dowagers should share the realm's troubles. Hanlin officials are charged with deliberation and counsel—how can vulgar words be presented to the throne? We have read the Xuanzong Emperor's imperial composition Admonition for the Hanlin, which says, "Words of counsel should speak only of righteousness and benevolence." The way of Yao and Shun should be set forth in the manner of the sages of Zou and Lu. Are hanging lanterns the way of Yao and Shun? Are festive poems and lyrics words of benevolence and righteousness? If one says fireworks are trifles that cannot burden sagely virtue, then why did Shun refrain from making lacquer vessels, why did Yu refrain from fine wine, and why did Emperor Wen of Han refrain from building the Terrace of Dew? Ancient emperors were cautious in small matters and strict in minute conduct precisely because desire must not be indulged and small excesses must not be allowed to grow. We beg that the fireworks be stopped, that this attention be turned to clear sight and keen hearing in governance, and that these resources be saved to relieve famine and succor the distressed—then calamities can be dispelled and great peace attained." The emperor, holding that Lantern Festival displays were ancestral precedent, resented their reckless remonstrance, had them all beaten below the palace gate, and demoted them. Academician Editor Luo Lun had already been dismissed for remonstrating on policy; together they were known as "the Four Remonstrators of the Hanlin."
15
懋既貶臨武知縣，未行，以給事中毛弘等論救，改南京大理左評事。 逾三年，遷福建僉事。 平泰寧、沙、尤賊，聽福安民采礦以杜盜源，建議番貨互通貿易以裕商民，政績甚著。 滿考入都，年止四十一，力求致仕。 吏部尚書尹旻固留之，不可。
Mao was demoted to magistrate of Linwu, but before he departed, Supervising Secretary Mao Hong and others pleaded on his behalf, and he was reassigned as Left Assessor of the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. After three years he was transferred to Fujian as Assistant Commissioner. He pacified bandits in Taining, Sha, and You, allowed the people of Fu'an to mine ore to cut off the source of banditry, and proposed mutual trade in foreign goods to enrich merchants and commoners—his administrative record was outstanding. When his term ended and he returned to the capital for evaluation, he was only forty-one and urgently sought retirement. Minister of Personnel Yin Min pressed him to stay, but could not prevail.
16
既歸，屏跡不入城府。 奉親之暇，專以讀書講學為事，弟子執經者日益進。 貧無供具，惟脫粟菜羹而已。 四方學士大夫高其風，稱為「楓山先生」。 家居二十余年，中外交薦，部檄屢起之，以親老堅不赴。
After returning home, he kept out of public offices and never entered the prefectural city. In the intervals of caring for his parents, he devoted himself to reading and teaching; the number of students who came to study the classics with him grew daily. Too poor to offer guests fine fare, he had only plain grain and vegetable broth. Scholars throughout the realm admired his conduct and called him Master Fengshan. He lived at home for more than twenty years. Recommendations poured in from court and countryside, and the ministry repeatedly summoned him, but while his parents lived he steadfastly refused to return to office.
17
懋為學，恪守先儒訓。 或諷為文章，曰：「小技耳，予弗暇。」 有勸以著述者，曰：「先儒之言至矣，芟其繁可也。」 通籍五十余年，歷俸僅滿三考。 難進易退，世皆高之。
In scholarship Mao strictly adhered to the teachings of the earlier Confucians. When someone urged him to write literary compositions, he replied, "That is a petty skill—I have no time for it." When someone urged him to write books, he said, "The earlier Confucians have already said everything—one need only prune what is redundant." Though he had been on the official rolls for more than fifty years, the salary he actually drew barely covered three evaluation cycles. Reluctant to advance yet quick to withdraw, he was universally admired.
18
生三子，兼令業農。 縣令過之，諸子釋耒跪迎，人不知其貴公子也。 子省懋於南監，徒步往，道為巡檢所笞，已知而請罪，懋慰遣之。 晚年，三子一孫盡死。 年八十二生少子接，後以蔭為國子生。
He had three sons and made them farm as well. When the district magistrate visited, his sons would set down their hoes and kneel to receive him—no one would have guessed they were the sons of a distinguished official. One son visited Mao at the Southern Directorate on foot; along the way a patrol inspector beat him. Once the inspector learned who he was and apologized, Mao comforted him and sent him on his way. In his later years all three sons and one grandson died. At eighty-two he fathered a younger son named Jie, who later entered the Directorate of Education by yin privilege.
19
從子拯，字以道。 幼從懋學，登弘治十五年進士，為刑部主事。 正德初，忤劉瑾，下詔獄，謫梧州府通判。 謹誅，擢南京兵部郎中。 嘉靖中，累官工部尚書。 桂萼欲復海運，延公卿議得失，拯曰：「海運雖有故事，而風濤百倍於河。 且天津海口多淤，自古不聞有浚海者。」 議遂寢。 南北郊議起，拯言不可，失帝意。 尋坐郊壇祭器缺供，落職歸。 久之復官。 致仕，卒。
His nephew Zheng, styled Yidao. He studied under Mao from childhood, passed the jinshi examination in 1502, and became a secretary in the Ministry of Justice. Early in the Zhengde reign he offended Liu Jin, was imprisoned, and was demoted to vice prefect of Wuzhou. After Jin was executed, he was promoted to director in the Nanjing Ministry of War. During the Jiajing reign he rose through successive posts to Minister of Works. Gui E wished to restore sea transport and summoned the senior officials to debate the matter. Zheng said, "Sea transport has precedent, but wind and waves on the open sea are a hundred times worse than on the rivers. Moreover, the mouth of the sea at Tianjin is heavily silted, and since antiquity no one has ever heard of dredging the open sea." The proposal was then abandoned. When the debate over separate southern and northern suburban sacrifices arose, Zheng opposed it and lost the emperor's favor. Soon afterward he was dismissed and sent home on the charge that sacrificial vessels for the suburban altars had not been supplied. After a long interval he was restored to office. He retired and died.
20
黃仲昭，名潛，以字行，莆田人。 祖壽生，翰林檢討，有學行。 父嘉，束鹿知縣，以善政聞。
Huang Zhongzhao, personal name Qian, known by his style, was from Putian. His grandfather Shousheng had been a Hanlin Reviser and was a man of learning and integrity. His father Jia had been magistrate of Shulu and was known for good governance.
21
仲昭性端謹，年十五六即有誌正學。 登成化二年進士，改庶吉士，授編修。 與章懋、莊同以直諫被杖，謫湘潭知縣。 在道，用諫官言，改南京大理評事。 兩京諸司隸卒率放還而取其月錢，為故事，惟仲昭與羅倫不敢。 御史縱子弟取賂，刑部曲為地，仲昭駁正之。 有群掠民婦轉鬻者，部坐首惡一人，仲昭請皆坐。 連遭父母喪，不離苫塊者四年。 服除，以親不逮養，遂不出。
Zhongzhao was by nature proper and cautious; by fifteen or sixteen he was already resolved to pursue true learning. He passed the jinshi examination in 1466, entered the Hanlin as a Metropolitan Graduate, and was appointed Compiler. Together with Zhang Mao and Zhuang Chang he was beaten for blunt remonstrance and demoted to magistrate of Xiangtan. While still on the road to his post, on the recommendation of remonstrance officials he was reassigned as assessor of the Nanjing Court of Judicial Review. Runners attached to offices in both capitals were routinely sent home while their monthly pay was still collected—a standing abuse that only Zhongzhao and Luo Lun refused to follow. When a censor allowed his sons to take bribes and the Ministry of Justice bent the law in their favor, Zhongzhao overturned the ruling. When a gang abducted commoners' wives and resold them, the ministry convicted only the ringleader; Zhongzhao insisted that all be punished. He mourned both parents in succession and did not leave the mourning hut for four years. When mourning ended, feeling that he had failed to nurture his parents while they lived, he never returned to office.
22
弘治改元，御史姜洪疏薦，吏部尚書王恕檄有司敦趣。 比至，恕迓之大門外，揖讓升堂，相向再拜，世兩高之。 除江西提學僉事，誨士以正學。 久之再疏乞休，日事著述。 學者稱「未軒先生」。 卒年七十四。
At the beginning of the Hongzhi reign, Censor Jiang Hong recommended him in a memorial, and Minister of Personnel Wang Su ordered local officials to urge him to return. When he arrived, Wang Su met him outside the main gate; they bowed and yielded precedence as they entered the hall, then faced each other and bowed again—the age admired them both. He was appointed Assistant Commissioner for Education in Jiangxi and instructed scholars in orthodox learning. After a long interval he again petitioned to retire and devoted himself daily to writing. Scholars honor him as Master Weixuan. He died at the age of seventy-four.
23
仲昭兄深，御史。 深子乾亨，行人。 使滿剌加，歿於海。 乾亨子如金，廣西提學副使，希雍，蘇州同知。 仲昭孫懋，南京戶部侍郎。
Zhongzhao's elder brother Shen was a censor. Shen's son Qianheng was a courier. On a mission to Malacca he died at sea. Qianheng's son Rujin became Vice Commissioner for Education in Guangxi; another descendant, Xiyong, became vice prefect of Suzhou. Zhongzhao's grandson Mao became Vice Minister of Revenue in Nanjing.
24
莊，字孔抃，江浦人。 自幼豪邁不群，嗜古博學。 舉成化二年進士，改庶吉士，授翰林檢討。 與編修章懋、黃仲昭疏諫內廷張燈，忤旨廷杖二十，謫桂陽州判官。 尋以言官論救，改南京行人司副。 居三年，母憂去。 繼丁父憂，哀毀，喪除不復出。 卜居定山二十余年，學者稱「定山先生」。 巡撫王恕嘗欲葺其廬，辭之。
Zhuang Chang, styled Kongbian, was from Jiangpu. From childhood he was bold and unconventional, devoted to antiquity and broadly learned. He passed the jinshi examination in 1466, entered the Hanlin as a Metropolitan Graduate, and was appointed Hanlin Reviser. Together with Compiler Zhang Mao and Huang Zhongzhao he remonstrated against the inner court's Lantern Festival display; for offending the throne he was beaten twenty times at court and demoted to assistant magistrate of Guiyang. Soon afterward, on the plea of remonstrance officials, he was reassigned as vice director of the Nanjing Courier Office. After three years in office he left to mourn his mother. He then mourned his father, was devastated by grief, and when mourning ended never returned to office. He settled on Mount Dingshan for more than twenty years; scholars honor him as Master Dingshan. Grand Coordinator Wang Su once offered to repair his cottage; he declined.
25
昶生平不尚著述，有自得，輒見之於詩。 薦章十余上，部檄屢趣，俱不赴。 大學士邱濬素惡昶，語人曰：「率天下士背朝廷者，昶也。」 弘治七年有薦昶者，奉詔起用。 昶念濬當國，不出且得罪，強起入都。 大學士徐溥語郎中邵寶曰：「定山故翰林，復之。」 濬聞曰：「我不識所謂定山也。」 乃復以為行人司副。 俄遷南京吏部郎中。 得風疾。 明年乞身歸，部臣不為奏。 又明年京祭，尚書倪嶽以老疾罷之。 居二年卒，年六十三。 天啟初，追謚文節。
Chang did not value book-writing in his lifetime; when he had an insight, he expressed it in poetry. More than ten recommendation memorials were submitted, and the ministry repeatedly summoned him, but he never went. Grand Secretary Qiu Jun had long disliked Chang and said to others, "The man who leads scholars throughout the realm to turn their backs on the court is Chang." In 1494 someone recommended Chang, and he received an edict summoning him to office. Chang thought that with Qiu Jun in power, if he did not go he would give offense anyway, and reluctantly set out for the capital. Grand Secretary Xu Pu said to Director Shao Bao, "Dingshan is a former Hanlin man—restore him to that status." When Qiu Jun heard this, he said, "I do not know any such person as Dingshan." He was then reappointed as vice director of the Courier Office. Soon afterward he was transferred to director in the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel. He contracted a paralytic disorder. The following year he petitioned to retire, but the ministry officials did not forward his request. The year after, at the capital sacrifices, Minister Ni Yue dismissed him on account of age and illness. Two years later he died, at the age of sixty-three. Early in the Tianqi reign he was posthumously given the title Wenjie.
26
鄒智，字汝愚，合州人。 年十二能文。 家貧，讀書焚木葉繼晷者三年。 舉成化二十二年鄉試第一。
Zou Zhi, styled Ruyu, was from Hezhou. At twelve he could already write essays. His family was poor, and for three years he studied by burning tree leaves to extend the daylight. He placed first in the provincial examination of 1486.
27
時帝益倦於政，而萬安、劉吉、尹直居政府，智憤之。 道出三原，謁致仕尚書王恕，慨然曰：「治天下，在進君子退小人。 方今小人在位，毒痡四海，而公顧屏棄田裏。 智此行非為科名，欲上書天子，別白賢奸，拯斯民於塗炭耳。」 恕奇其言，笑而不答。 明年登進士。 改庶吉士。 遂上疏曰：
The emperor was growing ever more weary of governing, while Wan An, Liu Ji, and Yin Zhi held power in the government; Zhi was deeply angered. Passing through Sanyuan, he visited the retired minister Wang Su and said with feeling, "To govern the realm is to advance gentlemen and dismiss petty men. Petty men now hold office and poison the realm, yet you withdraw to the countryside. I have not come for examination honors. I mean to submit a memorial to the Son of Heaven, distinguish the worthy from the wicked, and rescue the people from misery." Wang Su marveled at his words, smiled, and made no reply. The following year he passed the jinshi examination. He entered the Hanlin as a Metropolitan Graduate. He then submitted a memorial that read:
28
陛下於輔臣，遇事必咨，殊恩異數必及，亦雲任矣。 然或進退一人，處分一事，往往降中旨，使一二小人陰執其柄，是既任之而又疑之也。 陛下豈不欲推誠待物哉？ 由其進身之初，多出私門，先有以致陛下之厭薄。 及與議事，又唯諾惟謹，伈々伣々，若有所不敢，反不如一二俗吏足以任事。 此陛下所為疑也，臣竊以為過矣。 昔宋仁宗知夏竦懷詐則黜之，知呂夷簡能改過則容之； 知杜衍、韓琦、範仲淹、富弼可任則不次擢之。 故能北拒契丹，西臣元昊。 未聞一任一疑，可以成天下事也。 願陛下察孰為竦，孰為夷簡，而黜之容之，孰為衍、琦、仲淹、弼而擢之，日與講論治道，不使小人得參其間，則天工亮矣。
Your Majesty consults your assisting ministers on every matter and bestows special favor upon them—this may be called entrustment indeed. Yet whether promoting or dismissing a man, or deciding an affair, you often issue secret edicts, letting one or two petty men secretly hold real power—entrusting them and yet doubting them at once. Does Your Majesty not wish to treat your ministers with full sincerity? Because they rose mostly through private connections, Your Majesty came to despise them from the start. When they discuss affairs they only nod assent with exaggerated caution, cringing as if afraid to speak, and prove less useful than a common clerk. This is what Your Majesty doubts—but I venture to think the mistake lies elsewhere. Formerly Emperor Renzong of Song, knowing that Xia Song harbored deceit, dismissed him; knowing that Lü Yijian could reform his faults, tolerated him; knowing that Du Yan, Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan, and Fu Bi were fit for office, promoted them out of turn. Thus he was able to hold the Khitan in the north and subdue Yuan Hao in the west. No one has ever heard that entrusting and doubting at once can accomplish the affairs of the realm. I pray that Your Majesty discern who are like Song and who like Yijian, and dismiss or tolerate them accordingly; discern who are like Yan, Qi, Zhongyan, and Bi, and promote them; discuss the way of governing with them daily and keep petty men from intervening—then Heaven's work will be accomplished.
29
臣又聞天下事惟輔臣得議，惟諫官得言。 諫官雖卑，與輔臣等。 乃今之諫官以軀體魁梧為美，以應對捷給為賢，以簿書刑獄為職業。 不畏天變，不恤人窮。 或以忠義激之，則曰：「吾非不欲言，言出則禍隨，其誰吾聽？」 嗚呼！ 既不能盡言效職，而復引過以歸於上。 有人心者固如是乎？ 臣願罷黜浮冗，廣求風節之臣。 令仗下糾彈，入閣參議。 或請對，或輪對，或非時召對，霽色接之，溫言導之，使得畢誠盡蘊，則天聽開矣。
Your subject has also heard that affairs of the realm may be deliberated only by assisting ministers and spoken of only by remonstrance officials. Remonstrance officials, though low in rank, stand equal to assisting ministers. Yet today's remonstrance officials prize tall stature, quick repartee, and treat paperwork and criminal cases as their profession. They do not fear heavenly warnings and do not pity the people's distress. When stirred by loyalty and righteousness, they say, "It is not that I do not wish to speak—but once words go forth, calamity follows. Who will heed me?" Alas! Unable to speak fully and perform their duty, they shift the blame upward onto the throne. Can any man with a human heart truly act like this? Your subject wishes to dismiss the superfluous and seek broadly for men of moral integrity. Let them impeach wrongdoing at court and enter the Grand Secretariat to deliberate. Whether by requested audience, rotating audience, or irregular summons, receive them with an open countenance and guide them with warm words, so that they may speak with full sincerity—then Heaven's ear will be open.
30
臣又聞汲黯在朝，淮南寢謀，君子之有益人國也大矣。 以陛下之聰明，寧不知君子可任而故屈抑之哉？ 乃小人巧讒間以中傷之耳。 今碩德如王恕，忠鯁如強珍，亮直剛方如章懋、林俊、張吉，皆一時人望，不宜貶錮，負上天生才之意。 陛下誠召此數人，置要近之地，使各盡其平生，則天心協矣。
Your subject has also heard that while Ji An was at court, Huainan's plots lay dormant—the benefit gentlemen bring to the state is indeed great. With Your Majesty's intelligence, would you not know that gentlemen can be entrusted—yet deliberately hold them down? It is only that petty men wound them through crafty slander. Men of great virtue such as Wang Su, loyal bluntness such as Qiang Zhen, and bright integrity such as Zhang Mao, Lin Jun, and Zhang Ji are the hope of the age. They should not be demoted and confined, betraying Heaven's intent in producing talent. If Your Majesty truly summons these men and places them in important posts near the throne, letting each fulfill his life's purpose, then Heaven's heart will be in accord.
31
臣又聞高皇帝制閽寺，惟給掃除，不及以政。 近者舊章日壞，邪徑日開，人主大權盡出其手。 內倚之為相，外倚之為將，藩方倚之為鎮撫，伶人賤工倚之以作奇技淫巧，法王佛子倚之以恣出入宮禁，此豈高皇帝所許哉！ 願陛下以宰相為股肱，以諫官為耳目，以正人君子為腹心，深思極慮，定宗社長久之計，則大綱正矣。
Your subject has also heard that the founding emperor regulated the palace eunuchs, assigning them only sweeping and cleaning, not government affairs. Recently old regulations have decayed daily and crooked paths opened daily; the ruler's great power has passed entirely into their hands. Within the court they are relied on as chancellors; without, as generals; in the provinces, as grand coordinators; actors and craftsmen rely on them for extravagant displays; Buddhist clerics rely on them to come and go freely within the palace precincts—is this what the founding emperor permitted? I pray that Your Majesty take chancellors as your arms and thighs, remonstrance officials as your ears and eyes, and upright gentlemen as your heart, think deeply, and fix a long-lasting plan for the altars of state—then the great norms will be set right.
32
然其本則在陛下明理何如耳。 竊聞侍臣進講無反復論辨之功，陛下聽講亦無從容沃心之益。 如此而欲明理以應事，臣不信也。 願陛下念義理之難窮，惜日月之易邁，考之經史，驗之身心，使終歲無間，則聖學明而萬事畢治，豈特四事之舉措得其當已耶。
Yet the root of it all lies in how clearly Your Majesty understands principle. I have heard that when attending ministers lecture there is no real discussion or debate, and when Your Majesty listens there is no real benefit of nourishing the mind. To wish thus to clarify principle and respond to affairs—I cannot believe it possible. I pray that Your Majesty reflect that principle is hard to exhaust fully, cherish how swiftly the days pass, examine it in the classics and histories and test it in your own person without interruption through the year—then sagely learning will be clear and all affairs well governed. Will it be only these four matters that are set right?
33
疏入，不報。
When the memorial was submitted, no response was given.
34
智既慷慨負奇，其時御史湯鼐、中書舍人吉人、進士李文祥亦並負意氣，智皆與之善。 因相與品核公卿，裁量人物。 未幾，孝宗嗣位，弊政多所更。 智喜，以為其誌且得行，乃復因星變上書曰：
Zhi was generous and possessed of exceptional talent. At the time Censor Tang Tai, Secretariat Drafter Ji Ren, and jinshi Li Wenxiang were also men of spirited resolve, and Zhi was on good terms with them all. Together they appraised the senior officials and weighed men's characters. Before long the Xiaozong Emperor succeeded to the throne, and many abusive policies were reformed. Zhi rejoiced, believing his aims would soon be realized, and again, on account of a stellar anomaly, submitted a memorial that read:
35
伏讀明詔雲「天下利弊所當興革，所在官員人等條具以聞」。 此殆陛下知前日登極詔書為奸臣所誤，禁言官毋風聞挾私言事，物論囂然，故復下此條自解耳。 夫不曰「朕躬有過，朝政有闕」，而曰「利弊當興革」； 不曰「許諸人直言無隱」，而曰「官員人等條具以聞」。 陛下所以求言者，已不廣矣。 今欲興天下之利，革天下之弊，當求利弊之本原而興且革之，不當毛舉細故，以為利弊在是也。
Your subject has read the clear edict stating, "Benefits and harms throughout the realm that ought to be raised or abolished—let officials everywhere itemize and report." This perhaps means Your Majesty knows the accession edict was misled by treacherous ministers when it forbade remonstrance officials from reporting hearsay and speaking with private motives—public discussion was clamorous—and therefore issued this clause to explain yourself. Rather than saying "My person has faults and court government has failings," you say "benefits and harms ought to be raised and abolished"; rather than saying "I permit all men to speak directly without concealment," you say "let officials everywhere itemize and report." The scope of Your Majesty's invitation to speak is already narrow. If you wish to raise the realm's benefits and abolish its harms, you must seek the root source of benefits and harms and act there—not pick out minor details and think the root lies in them.
36
本原何在？ 閣臣是已。 少師安持祿怙寵，少保吉附下罔上，太子少保直挾詐懷奸，世之小人也。 陛下留之，則君德必不就，朝政必不修，此弊所當革者也。 致仕尚書王恕忠亮可任大事，尚書王竑剛毅可寢大奸，都御史彭韶方正可決大疑，世之君子也。 陛上用之，則君德開明，朝政清肅，此利所當興也。
Where is the root source? The Grand Secretariat ministers—that is where it lies. Junior Tutor Wan An clings to salary and relies on favor; Junior Guardian Liu Ji fawns on subordinates and deceives superiors; Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent Yin Zhi harbors deceit and treachery—they are the petty men of the age. If Your Majesty keeps them, rulerly virtue will never be attained and court government will never be set right—this is the harm that must be abolished. Retired Minister Wang Su is loyal and bright and fit for great affairs; Minister Wang Hong is firm and resolute and can suppress great traitors; Censor-in-Chief Peng Shao is upright and can resolve great doubts—they are the gentlemen of the age. If Your Majesty employs them, rulerly virtue will be enlightened and court government clear and solemn—this is the benefit that must be raised.
37
然君子所以不進，小人所以不退，大抵由宦官權重而已。 漢元帝嘗任蕭望之、周堪矣，卒制於弘恭、石顯。 宋孝宗嘗任劉俊卿、劉珙矣，卒間於陳源、甘昇。 李林甫、牛仙客與高力士相附和，而唐政不綱。 賈似道、丁大全與董宋臣相表裏，而宋室不振。 君子小人進退之機，未嘗不系此曹之盛衰。 願陛下鑒既往，謹將來，攬天綱，張英斷。 凡所以待宦官者，一以高皇帝為法，則君子可進，小人可退，而天下之治出於一矣。 以陛下聰明冠世，豈不知刑臣不可委信，然而不免誤用者，殆正心之學未講也。 心發於天理，則耳目聰明，言動中節，何宦官之能惑。 發於人欲，則一身無主，萬事失綱，投間抵隙，蒙蔽得施。 雖有神武之資，亦將日改月化而浸失其初。 欲進君子退小人，興天下之利，革天下之弊，豈可得哉？
Yet why gentlemen do not advance and petty men do not withdraw is largely due to the eunuchs' heavy power. Emperor Yuan of Han once entrusted Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan, yet in the end was controlled by the eunuchs Hong Gong and Shi Xian. Emperor Xiaozong of Song once entrusted Liu Junqing and Liu Gong, yet in the end was estranged by the eunuchs Chen Yuan and Gan Sheng. Li Linfu and Niu Xianke echoed the eunuch Gao Lishi, and Tang government lost its norms. Jia Sidao and Ding Daquan worked hand in glove with Dong Songchen, and the Song house failed to revive. Whether gentlemen advance and petty men withdraw has never failed to depend on whether such men flourish or decline. I pray that Your Majesty take warning from the past, be cautious about the future, gather Heaven's authority, and exercise heroic decisiveness. In all your treatment of eunuchs, take the founding emperor alone as your model—then gentlemen can advance, petty men can withdraw, and good government will issue from a single source. With Your Majesty's intelligence surpassing the age, would you not know that castrated ministers cannot be entrusted? Yet that you cannot avoid misusing them is perhaps because the learning of rectifying the heart has not been cultivated. When the heart issues from heavenly principle, ears and eyes are clear and words and actions hit the mark—how could eunuchs beguile you? When it issues from human desire, the person has no master within, the myriad affairs lose their norm, and obscuring and deception find their opening. Even with divine martial endowment, one will daily change and monthly transform until the original purpose is gradually lost. To wish to advance gentlemen and dismiss petty men, raise benefits and abolish harms throughout the realm—how can it be attained?
38
帝得疏，頷之。 居無何，安、直相繼罷斥。 而吉任寄如故，銜智刺骨。
The emperor received the memorial and nodded assent. Before long, Wan An and Yin Zhi were successively dismissed. But Liu Ji's power remained as before, and he bore a grudge against Zhi to the bone.
39
鼐常朝當侍班，智告之曰：「祖宗盛時，御史侍班，得面陳政務得失，立取進止。 自後惟退而具疏，此君臣情意所由隔也。 君幸值維新之日，盍仿先朝故事行之。」 及恕赴召至京，智往謁曰：「後世人臣不獲時見天子，故事多茍且。 願公且勿受官，先請朝見，取時政不善者歷陳之，力請除革，而後拜命，庶其有濟。 若先受官，無復見天子之日矣。」 鼐與恕亦未能用其言。
When Tang Tai was on attendance duty at court, Zhi told him, "In the flourishing age of the ancestral emperors, censors on attendance duty could face the throne and state the gains and losses of government affairs, and immediately receive approval or rejection. Afterward they only withdrew and submitted written memorials—this is how affection and understanding between ruler and minister came to be severed. You are fortunate to live in a day of renewal—why not imitate the former court's precedent and act on it?" When Wang Su answered the summons and reached the capital, Zhi visited him and said, "Later-age ministers no longer obtain timely audience with the Son of Heaven, and precedents have become mostly perfunctory. I beg you not to accept office yet. First request audience, enumerate what is wrong in current government, strongly urge removal and reform, and only then accept appointment—perhaps something can be accomplished. If you accept office first, you will never again have a day to see the Son of Heaven." Neither Tang Tai nor Wang Su could act on his advice.
40
會劉概獄起，吉使其黨魏璋入智名，遂下詔獄。 智身親三木，僅屬喘息，慷慨對簿曰：「智見經筵以寒暑輟講，午朝以細事塞責，紀綱廢馳，風俗浮薄，生民憔悴，邊備空虛，私竊以為憂。 與鼐等往來論議誠有之，不知其他。」 讞者承吉意，竟謫廣東石城所吏目，事具《湯鼐傳》。
When the Liu Gai case arose, Liu Ji had his follower Wei Zhang insert Zhi's name, and Zhi was sent to the imperial prison. Zhi wore the cangue in person and could barely breathe, yet said generously at trial, "I have seen the classics lecture halted through cold and heat, the noon audience blocked with petty affairs, norms abandoned, customs shallow, the people haggard, and frontier defense empty—I privately took this as cause for worry. It is true that I exchanged discussions with Tang Tai and others; I know nothing beyond that." The legal reporter followed Liu Ji's intent and in the end demoted him to clerk of the Shicheng Guard in Guangdong; the affair is fully recorded in the Biography of Tang Tai.
41
智至廣東，總督秦纮檄召修書，乃居會城。 聞陳獻章講道新會，往受業，自是學益粹。 弘治四年十月得疾遽卒，年二十有六。 同年生吳廷舉為順德知縣，殮而歸其喪。 天啟初，追謚忠介。
When Zhi reached Guangdong, Grand Coordinator Qin Hong summoned him by order to compile books, and he resided in the provincial capital. Hearing that Chen Xianzhang was teaching the Way at Xinhui, he went to study under him; from then on his learning grew purer still. In the tenth month of Hongzhi 4 he took ill and died abruptly at the age of twenty-six. Wu Tingju, who had passed the jinshi examination in the same year, was serving as magistrate of Shunde County; he prepared the body for burial and sent the coffin home. At the beginning of the Tianqi reign the court posthumously honored him with the title Zhongjie ("Loyal and Upright").
42
舒芬，字國裳，進賢人。 年十二，獻《馴雁賦》於知府祝瀚，遂知名。 正德十二年舉進士第一，授修撰。
Shu Fen, styled Guoshang, came from Jinxian. When he was twelve he submitted his "Ode on the Tame Wild Geese" to Prefect Zhu Han and gained a reputation for his talent. In Zhengde 12 he came in first on the jinshi examination and was appointed a Hanlin Compiler.
43
時武宗數微行，畋遊無度。 其明年，孝貞皇后崩甫逾月，欲幸宣府。 托言往視山陵，罷沿道兵衛。 芬上言：「陛下三年之內當深居不出，雖釋服之後，固儼然煢疚也。 且自古萬乘之重，非奔竄逃匿，未有不嚴侍衛者。 又等威莫大於車服，以天子之尊下同庶人，舍大輅袞冕而羸車褻服是禦，非所以辨上下、定禮儀。」 不聽。
At the time Emperor Wuzong often slipped out in disguise on hunting excursions with no limit. The following year, scarcely a month after Empress Xiaozhen had died, he wanted to visit Xuanfu. On the pretext of visiting the imperial tombs, he disbanded the military escorts posted along the road. Feng submitted a memorial stating: "Your Majesty should remain in deep seclusion throughout the three-year mourning period; even after shedding mourning dress, you ought to continue to bear the solemn air of one who has lost a parent. Furthermore, from ancient times no ruler of the realm has ever traveled without a strict guard, unless he were running away or in hiding. Moreover, nothing defines rank more clearly than carriage and dress. For the Son of Heaven to travel like a commoner—discarding the imperial carriage and court robes for a lean cart and casual garments—is no way to distinguish rank or uphold ritual order. The emperor refused to listen.
44
孝貞山陵畢，迎主祔廟，自長安門入。 芬又言：「孝貞皇后作配茂陵，未聞失德。 祖宗之制，既葬迎主，必入正門。 昨孝貞之主，顧從陛下駕由旁門入，他日史臣書之曰「六月己丑，車駕至自山陵，迎孝貞純皇后主入長安門」，將使孝貞有不得正終之嫌，其何以解於天下後世？ 昨祔廟之夕，疾風迅雷甚雨，意者聖祖列宗及孝貞皇后之靈，儆告陛下也。 陛下宜即明詔中外，以示改過。」 不報。 遂乞歸養，不許。
After Empress Xiaozhen's burial was complete, her spirit tablet was brought to the ancestral temple for enshrinement, entering through Chang'an Gate. Feng submitted another memorial: "Empress Xiaozhen was properly paired with Emperor Xiaozong at Maoling, and no fault was ever attributed to her. Under the institutions of our forefathers, when a spirit tablet is escorted home after burial, it must enter through the main gate. Yesterday Empress Xiaozhen's tablet entered by a side gate at Your Majesty's side. When future historians record that 'On the day jichou of the sixth month, the imperial carriage returned from the tombs and escorted the spirit tablet of the Pure Empress Xiaozhen into Chang'an Gate,' Empress Xiaozhen will be left under the suspicion of an improper end. How will that be explained to the world and to posterity? On the night of the enshrinement there were violent winds, thunder, and torrential rain—perhaps the spirits of the dynastic founders and Empress Xiaozhen were warning Your Majesty. Your Majesty should at once issue a public edict to the court and the realm, demonstrating repentance. The emperor did not respond. He then asked to resign and return home to care for his parents, but the request was denied.
45
又明年三月，帝議南巡。 時寧王宸濠久蓄異謀，與近幸相結，人情惶懼。 言官伏闕諫，忤旨被責讓。 芬憂之，與吏部員外郎夏良勝、禮部主事萬潮、庶吉士汪應軫要諸曹連章入諫，眾許諾。 芬遂偕編修崔桐，庶吉士江暉、王廷陳、馬汝驥、曹嘉及應軫上疏曰：
The following year, in the third month, the emperor proposed a southern tour. Prince of Ning Zhu Chenhao had long been nursing treasonous ambitions and had allied himself with the emperor's favorites; anxiety ran high among the people. Censorial officials knelt at the palace gate to remonstrate; they defied the emperor's wishes and were rebuked and punished. Distressed by this, Feng joined Vice-Director of the Ministry of Personnel Xia Liangsheng, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Rites Wan Chao, and Junior Compiler Wang Yingzhen in urging officials across the ministries to submit joint remonstrance memorials; they all agreed. Feng then joined Compiler Cui Tong, Junior Compilers Jiang Hui, Wang Tingchen, Ma Ruji, and Cao Jia, along with Wang Yingzhen, in submitting a memorial that read:
46
「古帝王所以巡狩者，協律度，同量衡，訪遺老，問疾苦，黜陟幽明，式序在位，是以諸侯畏焉，百姓安焉。 若陛下之出，不過如秦皇、漢武，侈心為樂而已，非能行巡狩之禮者也。 博浪、柏谷，其禍亦可鑒矣。 近者西北再巡，六師不攝，四民告病。 哀痛之聲，上徹蒼昊。 傳播四方，人心震動。 故一聞南巡詔書，皆鳥驚獸散。 而有司方以迎奉為名，征發嚴急，江、淮之間蕭然煩費。 萬一不逞之徒，乘勢倡亂，為禍非細。 且陛下以鎮國公自命，茍至親王國境，或據勛臣之禮以待陛下，將北向朝之乎，抑南面受其朝乎？ 假令循名責實，深求悖謬之端，則左右寵幸無死所矣。 尚有事堪痛哭不忍言者：宗藩蓄劉氵鼻之釁，大臣懷馮道之心。 以祿位為故物，以朝署為市廛，以陛下為弈棋，以革除年間為故事。 特左右寵幸知術短淺，無能以此言告陛下耳。 使陛下得聞此言，雖禁門之外，亦將警蹕而出，尚敢輕騎慢遊哉？」
The ancient sovereigns toured the realm to harmonize musical pitch and measure, unify weights and measures, seek out elders of merit, inquire into the people's suffering, promote the worthy and dismiss the unworthy, and thereby put officials in proper order—so that the feudal lords stood in awe and the people lived in peace. If Your Majesty's journey is no more than Qin Shihuang's or Han Wudi's excursions—indulgence pursued for pleasure—it cannot be called performing the rites of a tour of inspection. The disasters at Bolang and Baigu should serve as warnings. On Your Majesty's two recent northwestern tours, military discipline collapsed and people of every walk of life were driven to despair. The cries of grief rose all the way to heaven. The tidings spread in every direction, and public morale was shaken. So at the first rumor of a southern tour edict, people fled in panic like birds startled from the brush. Meanwhile officials were requisitioning labor under the pretext of preparing to welcome the emperor, with brutal urgency; between the Yangzi and the Huai the land was stripped bare and the people exhausted. If lawless elements seize the chance to stir up trouble, the consequences could be grave. Moreover, since Your Majesty has taken the title Duke of Zhenguo, should you enter a prince's domain and find him receiving you with the honors owed a meritorious minister—will you bow north to pay him court, or sit facing south and accept his homage? If the title were held to its true meaning and the contradictions traced to their source, Your Majesty's favored courtiers would have nowhere to hide. There are matters so grievous one can scarcely speak of them: princes of the blood are nursing ambitions like Liu Bei's, and senior ministers carry the unprincipled opportunism of a Feng Dao. They treat office and emolument as personal property, the halls of government as a marketplace, Your Majesty as a chess piece, and the disorders of the Removing-the-Evil years as a model to repeat. Your Majesty's court favorites simply will not relay such warnings—their own plots are too crude, and they lack either the wit or the will to speak. Were Your Majesty to hear such words, you would bolt from the palace even under full armed escort—how then could you still dare to ride out lightly for pleasure?"
47
疏入，陸完迎謂曰：「上聞有諫者輒恚，欲自引決。 諸君且休，勿歸過君上，沽直名。」 芬等不應而出。 有頃，良勝、潮過芬，扼腕恨完。 芬因邀博士陳九川至，酌之酒曰：「匹夫不可奪誌，君輩可遂已乎？」 明日遂偕諸曹連疏入。 帝大怒，命跪闕下五日，期滿復杖之三十。 芬創甚，幾斃，舁至翰林院中。 掌院者懼得罪，命摽出之，芬曰：「吾官此，即死此耳。」 竟謫福建市舶副提舉，裹創就道。
When the memorial arrived, Lu Wan intercepted them saying: "The Emperor grows furious whenever he hears of remonstrance and threatens to harm himself. Gentlemen, stop now. Do not blame the sovereign or seek to burnish your names for integrity. Feng and his companions said nothing and left. Shortly afterward Xia Liangsheng and Wan Chao passed Feng, wringing their hands in anger at Lu Wan. Feng then invited Doctor Chen Jiuchuan, poured him wine, and said: "A resolute man will not be swayed from his purpose—can you really leave matters here? The next day they and officials from across the ministries submitted joint memorials together. The emperor flew into a rage and ordered them to kneel at the palace gate for five days; when that period ended, each received thirty blows with the beating staff. Feng was badly injured, near death, and was carried into the Hanlin Academy. The academy's director, fearing punishment, ordered him removed; Feng said, "I hold my office here; if I must die, I shall die here. He was ultimately demoted to Vice Supervisor of the Fujian Maritime Trade Office and departed for his post with his wounds still bandaged.
48
世宗即位，召復故官。 嘉靖三年春，昭聖太后壽旦，詔免諸命婦朝賀。 芬言：「前者興國太后令旦，命婦朝賀如儀。 今遇皇太后壽節，忽行傳免，恐失輕重之宜。 乞收成命，以彰聖孝。」 帝怒，奪俸三月。 時帝欲尊崇本生，芬偕其僚連章極諫。 及張璁、桂萼、方獻夫驟擢學士，芬及同官楊維聰、編修王思羞與同列，拜疏乞罷。 未幾，復偕同官楊慎等伏左順門哭爭。 帝怒，下獄廷杖，奪俸如初。 旋遭母喪歸，卒於家，年四十四。 世稱「忠孝狀元」。
When Emperor Shizong took the throne, Feng was recalled to his former post. In the spring of Jiajing 3, on Empress Dowager Zhaosheng's birthday, an edict exempted titled ladies from the customary court congratulations. Feng argued: "When Empress Dowager Xingguo's birthday was observed, titled ladies congratulated her according to established ceremony. Now, on the Empress Dowager's birthday, a sudden exemption has been announced, which I fear disrupts the proper balance of ceremonial honor. I beg that this order be revoked so that Your Majesty's filial reverence may be made clear. The emperor was angered and docked his pay for three months. When the emperor sought to elevate his biological father in rank, Feng and his colleagues submitted a stream of vehement memorials in opposition. When Zhang Cong, Gui E, and Fang Xianfu were abruptly elevated to Hanlin academicians, Feng, his colleague Yang Weicong, and Compiler Wang Si—ashamed to serve alongside them—submitted memorials asking to resign. Not long after, he again joined Yang Shen and other colleagues in kneeling and weeping at the Left Shun Gate to protest. The emperor was enraged, had them imprisoned and subjected to court beating, and again docked Feng's pay for three months. He soon returned home upon his mother's death and died there at the age of forty-four. His contemporaries called him the "Loyal and Filial Zhuangyuan."
49
芬豐神玉立，負氣峻厲，端居竟日無倦容，夜則計過自訟。 以倡明絕學為己任。 其學貫串諸經，兼通天文律歷，而尤精於《周禮》。 嘗曰：「《周禮》視《儀禮》、《禮記》，猶蜀之視吳、魏也。 賈氏謂《儀禮》為本，《周禮》為末，妄矣。 朱子不加是正，何也？」 疾革，其子請所言，惟以未及表章《周禮》為恨。 學者稱「梓溪先生」。 萬歷中，追謚文節。 先是，修撰羅倫以諫謫福建提舉，逾六十年而芬繼之。 與倫同鄉同官，所謫地與官又同，福建士大夫遂祀芬配倫雲。
Feng carried himself with the upright grace of polished jade and a fierce, unyielding spirit. He could sit in meditation all day without fatigue, and at night he would review his faults and rebuke himself. He made it his life's work to revive and champion the highest scholarship. His scholarship spanned the entire canon; he also mastered astronomy, pitch standards, and calendrical science, and was especially expert in the Rites of Zhou. He once remarked: "The Rites of Zhou stands toward the Ceremonial Rites and the Record of Rites as Shu stands toward Wu and Wei"—that is, as the true inheritor of legitimacy. When Jia Gong said the Ceremonial Rites was fundamental and the Rites of Zhou derivative, he was simply wrong. Why did Zhu Xi never set the record straight? When he was dying, his son asked if he had any final words; he replied only that he regretted not having completed his exposition of the Rites of Zhou. Scholars honored him as "Master Zixi." In the Wanli reign the court posthumously honored him with the title Wenjie ("Cultured and Principled"). Decades earlier, Compiler Luo Lun had been banished to the Fujian Intendant post for remonstrating; more than sixty years later Feng suffered the same fate. He shared Luo Lun's home district and official rank, and his place of exile and position were identical; Fujian scholar-officials therefore enshrined Feng alongside Luo at the Yun shrine.
50
崔桐，字來鳳，海門人。 鄉試第一，與芬同進士及第。 授編修。 既諫南巡，並跪闕下，受杖奪俸。 嘉靖中，以侍讀出為湖廣右參議，累擢國子祭酒，禮部右侍郎。
Cui Tong, styled Laifeng, came from Haimen. He topped the provincial examinations and received his jinshi degree in the same year as Feng. He was appointed a Hanlin Compiler. After joining the southern tour remonstrance, he knelt at the palace gate with the others, was beaten, and had his salary docked. During the Jiajing reign he went out from his Reader post to serve as Right Assistant Commissioner of Huguang, then rose through the ranks to Chancellor of the Imperial Academy and Right Vice Minister of Rites.
51
馬汝驥，字仲房，綏德人。 正德十二年進士。 改庶吉士。 偕芬等諫南巡，罰跪受杖。 教習期滿，當授編修，特調澤州知州。 懲王府人虐小民。 比王有所屬，輒投其書櫝中不視。 陵川知縣貪，汝驥欲黜之。 巡按御史為曲解，汝驥不聽，竟褫其官。 世宗立，召復編修，尋錄直諫功，增秩一等。 預修《武宗實錄》，進修撰。 歷兩京國子司業，擢南京右通政，就改國子祭酒，召拜禮部右侍郎。 尚書嚴嵩愛重汝驥，入閣稱之，帝特加侍讀學士。 汝驥行己峭厲，然性故和易，人望歸焉。 卒贈尚書，謚文簡。
Ma Ruji, styled Zhongfang, came from Suide. He passed the jinshi examination in Zhengde 12. He was made a Junior Compiler. He joined Feng and others in remonstrating against the southern tour and was punished with kneeling and beating. When his Junior Compiler term ended he should have been promoted to Compiler, but was instead posted as prefect of Zezhou. He punished members of the princely household who mistreated commoners. Whenever the prince sent him instructions, he tossed the documents into his desk box unread. The magistrate of Lingchuan was corrupt, and Ma Ruji sought to remove him from office. The touring censor tried to smooth matters over, but Ma Ruji would not hear of it and ultimately stripped the man of his post. When Emperor Shizong took the throne, Ma Ruji was recalled as Compiler; shortly afterward his bold remonstrance was officially recognized and his rank was raised one step. He helped compile the Veritable Records of Emperor Wuzong and was promoted to Compiler. He served as Vice Chancellor of the Imperial Academy in both capitals, was promoted to Right Vice Commissioner in Nanjing, transferred to Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, and was then summoned as Right Vice Minister of Rites. Minister Yan Song held Ma Ruji in high regard; when Yan entered the Grand Secretariat he recommended him, and the emperor specially added for him the title Grand Secretariat Reader. Ma Ruji was rigorous in his personal conduct yet naturally warm and approachable, and he commanded wide respect. After his death he was posthumously honored as Minister and given the title Wenjian ("Cultured and Simple").
52
應軫等自有傳。
Wang Yingzhen and the others are given separate biographies.
53
贊曰：詞臣以文學侍從為職，非有言責也。 激於名義，侃侃廷諍，抵罪謫而不悔，豈非皎然誌節之士歟？ 奪情之典不始李賢，然自羅倫疏傳誦天下，而朝臣不敢以起復為故事，於倫理所裨，豈淺鮮哉。 章懋等引宣宗箴，明國家設官意，不為彰君之過。 鄒智指列賢奸，矯拂俞末。 舒芬危言聳切，有爰盎攬轡之風。 況夫清修峻節，行無瑕尤，若諸子者，洵足以矯文士浮誇之習矣。
The chronicler writes: Literary officials serve by attending on the emperor with learning and letters; remonstrance is not their assigned duty. Yet stirred by moral duty, they remonstrated boldly at court, accepted punishment and exile without regret—were they not men of unmistakable integrity? The practice of compelling officials to leave mourning early did not begin with Li Xian, but after Luo Lun's memorial circulated nationwide, court officials no longer treated recall from filial mourning as routine precedent—a moral gain of no small consequence. Zhang Mao and others cited Emperor Xuanzong's admonitions to clarify the purpose for which the state establishes offices—not to parade the monarch's errors before the world. Zou Zhi named the worthy and the wicked alike, correcting conduct from root to branch down to the smallest detail. Shu Fen spoke with alarming bluntness, in the spirit of Yuan Ang taking the reins in hand. Moreover, with pure conduct, stern integrity, and lives without blemish, men such as these were truly fit to correct the literary scholars' habit of empty display.