Volume 181 Biographies 69: Xu Pu, Qiu Jun, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang, Wang Ao, Liu Zhong

徐溥邱濬劉健謝遷李東陽王鏊劉忠

Xu Pu, Qiu Jun, Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Li Dongyang, Wang Ao, and Liu Zhong

徐溥，字時用，宜興人。祖鑒，瓊州知府，有惠政。溥，景泰五年進士及第。授編修。憲宗初，擢左庶子，再遷太常卿兼學士。成化十五年拜禮部右侍郎，尋轉左，久之改吏部。孝宗嗣位，兼文淵閣大學士，參預機務。旋進禮部尚書。

Xu Pu, whose courtesy name was Shiyong, came from Yixing. His grandfather Jian had served as prefect of Qiongzhou and was known for his benevolent rule. Pu placed first in the jinshi examination in the fifth year of the Jingtai reign. He was appointed a compiler at the Hanlin Academy. Early in the Xianzong reign he was promoted to left vice tutor of the heir apparent, and later transferred to vice minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices while retaining his post as Hanlin academician. In the fifteenth year of Chenghua he was appointed right vice minister of Rites, soon moved to the left vice ministership, and after some years was transferred to the Ministry of Personnel. When Xiaozong ascended the throne, Pu was also made grand secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion and took part in deliberations on state affairs. He was soon promoted to minister of Rites.

弘治五年，劉吉罷，溥為首輔，屢加少傅、太子太傅。溥承劉吉恣睢之後，鎮以安靜，務守成法。與同列劉健、李東陽、謝遷等協心輔治，事有不可，輒共爭之。欽天監革職監正李華為昌國公張巒擇葬地，中旨復官。溥等言：「即位以來，未嘗有內降。幸門一開，未流安底。臣等不敢奉詔。」八年，太皇太后召崇王來朝，溥等與尚書倪嶽諫，帝為請乃已。占城奏安南侵擾，帝欲遣大臣往解。溥等言：「外國相侵，有司檄諭之足矣，無勞遣使。萬一抗令，則虧損國體，問罪興師，後患滋大。」於是罷不遣。

In the fifth year of Hongzhi, after Liu Ji was dismissed, Pu became chief grand secretary and was repeatedly honored with the titles of junior tutor and grand tutor of the heir apparent. Following Liu Ji's overbearing tenure, Pu steadied the government through calm restraint and devoted himself to upholding established institutions. He worked in concert with his colleagues Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian to govern the realm, and whenever they found a policy unacceptable they remonstrated together. Li Hua, the dismissed director of the Directorate of Astronomy, had lost his post for choosing a burial site for Zhang Luan, Duke of Changguo, but an edict from within the palace restored him to office. Pu and the others said, "Since Your Majesty's accession there has never been an order issued from within the palace. Once the gate of favoritism is opened, there is no telling where the current will end. We dare not accept this decree. In the eighth year, when the grand empress dowager summoned Prince Chong to court, Pu and the others joined Minister Ni Yue in remonstrance, and the emperor interceded on their behalf before the summons was withdrawn. When Champa reported that Annam was raiding its territory, the emperor wished to send a senior minister to mediate. Pu and the others said, "When foreign states clash, it is enough for the responsible offices to issue proclamations instructing them to desist; there is no need to send an envoy. If they should defy the order, the dignity of the state would be compromised, and to demand satisfaction and raise troops would only magnify the troubles to come. The emperor thereupon abandoned the plan and sent no envoy.

是年十二月，詔撰三清樂章。溥等言：「天至尊無對。漢祀五帝，儒者猶非之，況三清乃道家妄說耳。一天之上，安得有三大帝？且以周柱下史李耳當其一，以人鬼列天神，矯誣甚矣。郊祀樂章皆太祖所親制，今使制為時俗詞曲以享神明，褻瀆尤甚。臣等誦讀儒書，邪說俚曲素所不習，不敢以非道事陛下。國家設文淵閣，命學士居之，誠欲其謨謀政事，講論經史，培養本原，匡弼闕失，非欲其阿諛順旨，惟言莫違也。今經筵早休，日講久曠，異端乘間而入。此皆臣等無狀，不足以啟聖心，保初政。憂愧之至，無以自容。數月以來，奉中旨處分未當者封還，執奏至再至三。願陛下曲賜聽從，俾臣等竭駑鈍，少有裨益，非但樂章一事而已。」奏入，帝嘉納之。

In the twelfth month of that year an edict ordered the composition of hymns to the Three Pure Ones of Daoism. Pu and the others said, "Heaven is supreme and without peer. When the Han sacrificed to the Five Emperors, Confucian scholars still condemned the practice; how much more are the Three Pure Ones mere fabrications of Daoist doctrine. Above the one Heaven, how can there be three great emperors? To identify one of them with Li Er, the Zhou court archivist, placing a mortal shade among the celestial gods, is a gross perversion of truth. The suburban sacrifice hymns were all composed by the Taizu himself; to have new ones written as contemporary popular songs for offering to the spirits would be an even graver profanation. We study the Confucian classics and have never practiced heterodox doctrines or vulgar tunes; we dare not serve Your Majesty with what is contrary to the Way. The state established the Wenyuan Pavilion and stationed academicians there so that they might deliberate on policy, expound the classics and histories, cultivate the foundations of rule, and remedy its defects—not so that they might flatter Your Majesty and never speak a word of dissent. Now the classics lectures end early, the daily expositions have long been neglected, and heterodox doctrines slip in through the gap. All of this is because we are unworthy ministers, unable to enlighten Your Majesty's mind or preserve the policies of your early reign. Our grief and shame are beyond bearing. For months now, whenever we received rescripts on matters we judged improper, we sealed them and returned them, memorializing two and three times until our objections were heard. We beg Your Majesty graciously to heed us, so that we may exhaust our feeble abilities to some small benefit—not on the question of the hymns alone. When the memorial was submitted, the emperor praised it and accepted their advice.

帝自八年後，視朝漸晏，溥等屢以為言。中官李廣以燒煉齋醮寵。十年二月，溥等上疏極論曰：「舊制，內殿日再進奏，事重者不時上聞，又常面召儒臣，咨訪政事。今奏事日止一次，朝參之外，不得一望天顏。章奏批答不時斷決，或稽留數月，或竟不施行。事多壅滯，有妨政體。經筵進講，每歲不過數日，正士疏遠，邪說得行。近聞有以齋醮修煉之說進者。宋徽宗崇道教，科儀符箓最盛，卒至乘輿播遷。金石之藥，性多酷烈。唐憲宗信柳泌以殞身，其禍可鑒。今龍虎山上清宮、神樂觀、祖師殿及內府番經廠皆焚毀無余，彼如有靈，何不自保？天厭其穢，亦已明甚。陛下若親近儒臣，明正道，行仁政，福祥善慶，不召自至，何假妖妄之說哉！自古奸人蠱惑君心者，必以太平無事為言。唐臣李絳有云：『憂先於事，可以無憂。事至而憂，無益於事。』今承平日久，溺於晏安。目前視之，雖若無事，然工役繁興，科斂百出，士馬罷敝，閭閻困窮，愁嘆之聲上幹和氣，致熒惑失度，太陽無光，天鳴地震，草木興妖，四方奏報殆無虛月，將來之患灼然可憂。陛下高居九重，言官皆畏罪緘默。臣等若復不言，誰肯為陛下言者。」帝感其言。

From the eighth year onward the emperor came to court ever later in the morning, and Pu and the others repeatedly remonstrated about it. The eunuch Li Guang won the emperor's favor through alchemical elixirs and Daoist rituals. In the second month of the tenth year, Pu and the others submitted a forceful memorial, saying, "Under the old system the inner palace received memorials twice a day, weighty matters were reported without delay, and Confucian officials were regularly summoned in person to discuss affairs of state. Now memorials are received only once a day, and apart from the morning audience we cannot catch even a glimpse of Your Majesty's face. Memorials and rescripts are not decided in timely fashion—some are held for months, and some are never implemented at all. Affairs pile up in obstruction, to the detriment of good government. The classics lectures meet only a few days each year; upright scholars are kept at a distance while heterodox doctrines gain free rein. We have lately heard that someone has advanced doctrines of ritual fasting and alchemical refinement. Song Huizong revered Daoism until its rituals and talismans flourished beyond measure, and in the end the imperial carriage was driven into exile. Elixirs of metal and stone are by nature harsh and violent. Tang Xianzong trusted the alchemist Liu Bi and lost his life thereby—a warning plain to see. The Shangqing Palace on Longhu Mountain, the Temple of Divine Music, the Patriarchs' Hall, and the inner palace sutra printing office have all been burned to ashes—if those powers had any efficacy, why did they not save themselves? Heaven's revulsion at their impurity could not be clearer. If Your Majesty draws near to Confucian ministers, upholds the right Way, and practices benevolent government, blessings will come unbidden—why resort to reckless and false doctrines! Since antiquity, wicked men who bewitch their rulers have always spoken of universal peace and the absence of trouble. The Tang minister Li Jiang said, "Worry before trouble comes, and you may escape worry. Worry only after trouble arrives, and it will do no good. We have enjoyed peace so long that we are drowning in ease and comfort. Seen from the surface all seems well, yet corvée projects multiply, levies issue in endless variety, troops and horses are exhausted, and the common people are destitute—their cries of grief disturb the harmony of heaven, Mars strays from its course, the sun loses its light, heaven thunders and the earth quakes, plants and trees show portents, and alarming reports arrive from every quarter almost every month. The troubles ahead are plainly visible and deeply worrisome. Your Majesty dwells high in the ninefold palace, and the remonstrating officials all fear punishment and keep silent. If we do not speak now, who will speak for Your Majesty? The emperor was moved by their words.

三月甲子，禦文華殿，召見溥及劉健、李東陽、謝遷，授以諸司題奏曰：「與先生輩議。」溥等擬旨上，帝應手改定。事端多者，健請出外詳閱。帝曰：「盍就此面議。」既畢，賜茶而退。自成化間，憲宗召對彭時、商輅後，至此始再見，舉朝詡為盛事。然終溥在位，亦止此一召而已。

On the jiazi day of the third month the emperor held court in the Wenhua Hall, summoned Pu together with Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, and Xie Qian, and handed them the pending memorials from the ministries, saying, "Discuss these with you gentlemen. Pu and the others drafted rescripts and submitted them; the emperor revised them on the spot. When the matters were numerous, Liu Jian asked to withdraw and review them in detail. The emperor said, "Why not discuss them here face to face? When they had finished, he granted them tea and they withdrew. Since Xianzong's summoned audience with Peng Shi and Shang Lu in the Chenghua period, such a meeting had not occurred again until now, and the whole court hailed it as a momentous occasion. Yet throughout Pu's tenure in office, this remained the only such summons.

尋以災異求言，廷臣所上封事，經月不報，而言官論救何鼎忤旨待罪者久，溥等皆以為言。於是悉下諸章，而罷諸言官弗問。溥時年七十，引年求退，不許。詔風雨寒暑免朝參。

Soon afterward, when the court sought advice in response to disasters and portents, sealed memorials from court officials went unanswered for a month, and censorial officials who had remonstrated on behalf of He Ding and awaited punishment for offending the throne had long been left in limbo—Pu and the others spoke on all these matters. The emperor thereupon released all the pending memorials and dismissed the charges against the remonstrating officials. Pu was then seventy years old and cited his age in requesting retirement, but the emperor would not allow it. An edict excused him from court audience in foul or extreme weather.

十一年，皇太子出閤，加少師兼太子太師，進華蓋殿大學士。以目疾乞歸。帝眷留，久之乃許，恩賚有加。逾年卒，贈太師，謚文靖。

In the eleventh year, when the crown prince left the Eastern Palace to begin his studies, Pu was made junior tutor and grand tutor of the heir apparent and promoted to grand secretary of the Huagai Hall. He pleaded to retire on account of eye disease. The emperor was reluctant to let him go and kept him for a long time before consenting, bestowing additional favors upon his departure. He died the following year and was posthumously honored as grand preceptor with the posthumous name Wenjing.

溥性凝重有度，在內閣十二年，從容輔導。人有過誤，輒為掩覆，曰：「天生才甚難，不忍以微瑕棄也。」屢遇大獄及逮系言官，委曲調劑。孝宗仁厚，多納溥等所言，天下陰受其福。嘗曰：「祖宗法度所以惠元元者備矣，患不能守耳。」卒無所更置。性至孝，嘗再廬墓。自奉甚薄，好施予。置義田八百畝贍宗族，請籍記於官，以垂永久，帝為復其徭役。

Pu was by nature grave and measured; during his twelve years in the Grand Secretariat he guided the government with calm composure. When others made mistakes he would cover for them, saying, "Talent is hard to come by; I cannot bear to discard a man for a slight flaw. He repeatedly encountered major prosecutions and the arrest of remonstrating officials, and tactfully mediated on their behalf. Xiaozong was benevolent and generous and often heeded what Pu and the others advised; the realm quietly benefited from their counsel. He once said, "The laws and institutions of our ancestors that benefit the common people are complete in every respect; the only worry is that we cannot preserve them. In the end he changed and established nothing new. He was profoundly filial and twice observed mourning at his parents' tombs. He lived very frugally himself and delighted in giving to others. He established a charitable estate of eight hundred mu to support his clan, petitioned to have it registered with the authorities so that it would endure permanently, and the emperor exempted it from corvée obligations.

邱濬，字仲深，瓊山人。幼孤，母李氏教之讀書，過目成誦。家貧無書，嘗走數百里借書，必得乃已。舉鄉試第一，景泰五年成進士。改庶吉士，授編修。濬既官翰林，見聞益廣，尤熟國家典故，以經濟自負。

Qiu Jun, whose courtesy name was Zhongshen, came from Qiongshan. Orphaned in childhood, he was taught to read by his mother, Lady Li, and could recite a text after reading it once. His family was poor and owned no books; he once traveled several hundred li to borrow a book and would not rest until he had obtained it. He placed first in the provincial examination and passed the jinshi examination in the fifth year of Jingtai. He was made a junior compiler and then appointed a compiler at the Hanlin Academy. Once Qiu Jun entered the Hanlin Academy his knowledge broadened considerably; he was especially versed in state precedents and prided himself on practical statecraft.

濬以真德秀《大學衍義》於治國平天下條目未具，乃博采群書補之。孝宗嗣位，表上其書，帝稱善，賚金幣，命所司刊行。特進禮部尚書，掌詹事府事。修《憲宗實錄》，充副總裁。弘治四年，書成，加太子太保，尋命兼文淵閣大學士參預機務。尚書入內閣者自濬始，時年七十一矣。濬以《衍義補》所載皆可見之行事，請摘其要者奏聞，下內閣議行之。帝報可。

Qiu Jun found that Zhen Dexiu's Extension of the Mean in the Great Learning lacked complete entries on governing the state and ordering the realm, and so drew widely from many books to supplement it. When Xiaozong ascended the throne, Qiu Jun presented the work in a memorial; the emperor praised it, bestowed gold and coins, and ordered the relevant office to publish it. He was specially promoted to minister of Rites and placed in charge of the Household of the Heir Apparent. He helped compile the Veritable Records of Xianzong as deputy chief compiler. In the fourth year of Hongzhi, when the work was completed, he was made grand protector of the heir apparent and soon afterward appointed concurrently as grand secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion with a seat in deliberations on state affairs. He was the first minister to enter the Grand Secretariat—a precedent that began with Qiu Jun, who was then seventy-one years old. Qiu Jun, noting that the Supplement recorded only concrete historical precedents, asked that its essential points be extracted and submitted to the throne, and referred to the Grand Secretariat for deliberation and implementation. The emperor approved.

明年，濬上言：「臣見成化時彗星三見，遍掃三垣，地五六百震。邇者彗星見天津，地震天鳴無虛日，異鳥三鳴於禁中。《春秋》二百四十年，書彗孛者三，地震者五，飛禽者二。今乃屢見於二十年之間，甚可畏也。願陛下體上天之仁愛，念祖宗之艱難，正身清心以立本而應務。謹好尚不惑於異端，節財用不至於耗國，公任使不失於偏聽。禁私謁，明義理，慎儉德，勤政務，則承風希寵、左道亂政之徒自不敢肆其奸，而天災弭矣。」因列時弊二十二事。帝納之。六年以目疾免朝參。

The following year Qiu Jun submitted a memorial, saying, "I have observed that during the Chenghua reign comets appeared three times, sweeping through the Three Enclosures, and the earth quaked five or six hundred times. Recently a comet has appeared at Tianjin, earthquakes and heavenly thunder occur almost daily, and a strange bird cried three times within the palace. In the two hundred forty years covered by the Spring and Autumn Annals, comets are recorded three times, earthquakes five times, and strange birds twice. Yet all of these have appeared repeatedly within a span of twenty years—this is deeply alarming. I beg Your Majesty to embody Heaven's benevolent care, recall the hardships of our ancestors, rectify your person and purify your mind to establish the foundations of rule and meet the demands of governance. Guard your preferences carefully and do not be misled by heterodox doctrines, restrain expenditures so as not to drain the state, and in appointments and employment do not be swayed by partial counsel. Prohibit private audiences, uphold right principle, practice frugal virtue, and attend diligently to affairs of state—then those who curry favor and those who by heterodox ways disturb government will not dare to work their wickedness, and heavenly disasters will subside. He then listed twenty-two current abuses of the time. The emperor accepted his advice. In the sixth year he was excused from court audience on account of eye disease.

濬在位，嘗以寬大啟上心，忠厚變士習。顧性褊隘，嘗與劉健議事不合，至投冠於地。言官建白不當意，輒面折之。與王恕不相得，至不交一言。六年大計群吏，恕所奏罷二千人。濬請未及三載者復任，非貪暴有顯跡者勿斥，留九十人。恕爭之不得，求去。太醫院判劉文泰嘗往來濬家，以失職訐恕，恕疑文泰受濬指，而言者嘩然，言疏稿出濬手。恕竟坐罷，人以是大不直濬。給事中毛呈，御史宋惪、周津等交章劾濬不可居相位，帝不問。逾年，加少保。八年卒，年七十六。贈太傅，謚文莊。

During his tenure Jun often opened the emperor's mind with magnanimity and transformed scholarly habits through loyalty and generosity. Yet he was by nature narrow-minded; he once clashed with Liu Jian over policy to the point of throwing his cap to the ground. When censorial proposals displeased him, he would rebuke the officials to their faces. He did not get along with Wang Su and would not exchange a word with him. In the sixth year, at the great triennial evaluation of officials, Wang Su recommended the dismissal of two thousand men. Qiu Jun requested that officials who had served less than three years be restored to office and that none be dismissed unless greed or violence left clear evidence, retaining ninety men in office. Wang Su argued in vain and requested to resign. Liu Wentai, vice director of the Imperial Medical Academy, had often visited Qiu Jun's home; after losing his post he denounced Wang Su, who suspected that Wentai acted at Qiu Jun's instigation. The court was in an uproar, claiming the denunciation had been drafted by Qiu Jun himself. Wang Su was ultimately dismissed, and public opinion strongly condemned Qiu Jun. The supervising secretary Mao Cheng and the censors Song Ti and Zhou Jin submitted successive memorials impeaching Qiu Jun as unfit for the chief ministership, but the emperor took no action. More than a year later he was made junior protector. He died in the eighth year at the age of seventy-six. He was posthumously honored as grand preceptor with the posthumous name Wenzhuang.

濬廉介，所居邸第極湫隘，四十年不易。性嗜學，既老，右目失明，猶披覽不輟。議論好矯激，聞者駭愕。至修《英宗實錄》，有言於謙之死當以不軌書者。濬曰：「己巳之變，微於公社稷危矣。事久論定，誣不可不白。」其持正又如此。正德中，以巡按御史言賜祠於鄉。曰「景賢」。

Qiu Jun was incorrupt and upright; the residence he occupied remained extremely cramped and mean, unchanged for forty years. He loved learning by nature; though old and blind in his right eye, he still read without cease. His discourse tended toward overstrained vehemence that startled his listeners. When compiling the Veritable Records of Yingzong, some argued that Yu Qian's death should be recorded as treason. Qiu Jun said, "In the jisi crisis, but for Yu Qian the altars of state would have been in peril. The matter has long been settled by judgment; the slander against him cannot go unredressed. His uprightness was again evident in this. In the Zhengde reign, on the recommendation of an investigating censor, a shrine was established in his honor in his native place. It was named Honoring the Worthy.

劉健，字希賢，洛陽人。父亮，三原教諭，有學行。健少端重，與同邑閻禹錫、白良輔遊，得河東薛瑄之傳。舉天順四年進士，改庶吉士，授編修。謝交遊，鍵戶讀書，人以木強目之。然練習典故，有經濟誌。

Liu Jian, whose courtesy name was Xixian, came from Luoyang. His father Liang had served as instructor at Sanyuan and was a man of learning and integrity. From youth Liu Jian was dignified and steady; he associated with Yan Yuxi and Bai Liangfu of his native district and received the teachings of Xue Xuan of Hedong. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourth year of Tianshun, was made a junior compiler, and then appointed a compiler at the Hanlin Academy. He declined social engagements, shut his door to study, and people regarded him as wooden and obstinate. Yet he was well versed in state precedents and aspired to practical statecraft.

成化初，修《英宗實錄》，起之憂中，固辭，不許。書成，進修撰，三遷至少詹事，充東宮講官，受知於孝宗。既即位，進禮部右侍郎兼翰林學士，入內閣參預機務。弘治四年進尚書兼文淵閣大學士，累加太子太保，改武英殿。十一年春，進少傅兼太子太傅，代徐溥為首輔。

Early in the Chenghua reign he helped compile the Veritable Records of Yingzong; summoned from mourning, he firmly declined but was not permitted to do so. When the work was completed he was promoted to revising compiler, rose thrice to junior tutor of the heir apparent, served as lecturer in the Eastern Palace, and won the confidence of the future Xiaozong. When Xiaozong ascended the throne, Liu Jian was made right vice minister of Rites and Hanlin academician, entering the Grand Secretariat to participate in deliberations on state affairs. In the fourth year of Hongzhi he was promoted to minister and grand secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion, repeatedly honored as grand protector of the heir apparent, and transferred to the Wuying Hall. In the spring of the eleventh year he was made junior tutor and grand tutor of the heir apparent, succeeding Xu Pu as chief grand secretary.

健學問深粹，正色敢言，以身任天下之重。清寧宮災，太監李廣有罪自殺。健與同列李東陽、謝遷疏言：「古帝王未有不遇災而懼者。向來奸佞熒惑聖聽，賄賂公行，賞罰失當，災異之積，正此之由。今幸元惡殄喪，聖心開悟，而余慝未除，宿弊未革。伏願奮發勵精，進賢黜奸，明示賞罰。凡所當行，斷在不疑，毋更因循，以貽後悔。」帝方嘉納其言，而廣黨蔡昭等旋取旨予廣祭葬、祠額。健等力諫，僅寢祠額。南北言官指陳時政，頻有所論劾，一切皆不問。國子生江容劾健、東陽杜抑言路。帝慰留健、東陽，而下容於獄，二人力救得釋。

Liu Jian's learning was deep and pure; with stern countenance he dared to speak out, bearing on his shoulders the weight of the realm. When the Qingning Palace burned, the eunuch Li Guang, guilty of crimes, took his own life. Liu Jian and his colleagues Li Dongyang and Xie Qian submitted a memorial, saying, "Ancient emperors and kings were without exception fearful when they encountered disasters. In recent times wicked men have deluded Your Majesty's ear; bribery has run rampant and rewards and punishments have been misplaced—the accumulation of disasters and portents has precisely this as its cause. Now fortunately the chief villain is dead and Your Majesty's mind has awakened, yet remaining evils have not been removed and long-standing abuses have not been reformed. We humbly beg that Your Majesty rouse yourself and strive with vigor, advance the worthy and dismiss the wicked, and clearly display rewards and punishments. Whatever ought to be done, decide without hesitation; do not procrastinate again, to your later regret. The emperor was just praising their advice when Li Guang's faction, Cai Zhao and others, obtained rescripts granting Guang a state burial and a shrine inscription. Liu Jian and the others remonstrated forcefully, and only the shrine inscription was halted. Remonstrating officials north and south pointed out abuses of the time and frequently impeached wrongdoers, yet all were ignored. The National University student Jiang Rong impeached Liu Jian and Li Dongyang for suppressing the remonstrance path. The emperor comforted Liu Jian and Li Dongyang and kept them in office, while sending Jiang Rong to prison; the two men strove to save him and secured his release.

十三年四月，大同告警，京師戒嚴。兵部請甄別京營諸將，帝召健及東陽、遷至平臺面議去留。乃去遂安伯陳韶等三人，而召鎮遠侯顧溥督團營。時帝視朝頗晏，健等以為言，頷之而已。

In the fourth month of the thirteenth year, Datong reported an alarm and the capital was placed on alert. The Ministry of War requested the evaluation of capital garrison generals; the emperor summoned Liu Jian together with Li Dongyang and Xie Qian to the platform for face-to-face deliberation on who should stay or go. Three men including Chen Shao, Earl of Suian, were dismissed, and Gu Pu, Marquis of Zhenyuan, was summoned to command the regiment camps. The emperor was still coming to court rather late; Liu Jian and the others remonstrated, but he merely nodded.

十四年秋，帝以軍興缺餉，屢下廷議。健等言：「天下之財，其生有限。今光祿歲供增數十倍，諸方織作務為新巧，齋醮日費鉅萬。太倉所儲不足餉戰士，而內府取入動四五十萬。宗藩、貴戚之求土田奪鹽利者，亦數千萬計。土木日興，科斂不已。傳奉冗官之俸薪，內府工匠之餼廩，歲增月積，無有窮期，財安得不匱？今陜西、遼東邊患方殷，湖廣、貴州軍旅繼動，不知何以應之。望陛下絕無益之費，躬行節儉，為中外倡，而令群臣得畢獻其誠，講求革弊之策，天下幸甚。」明年四月，以災異陳勤朝講、節財用、罷齋醮、公賞罰數事。及冬，南京、鳳陽大水，廷臣多上言時務，久之不下。健等因極陳怠政之失，請勤聽斷以振紀綱，帝皆嘉納。《大明會典》成，加少師兼太子太師、吏部尚書、華蓋殿大學士。與東陽、遷同賜蟒衣。閣臣賜蟒自健等始。

In the autumn of the fourteenth year, because military campaigns lacked funds, the emperor repeatedly ordered court deliberation. Liu Jian and the others said, "The wealth of the realm is limited in what it can produce. The Court of Imperial Entertainments' annual supply has increased tenfold, weaving offices everywhere strive for novel extravagance, and Daoist rituals cost tens of thousands daily. The grain stored in the Grand Canal granaries is insufficient to pay the soldiers, while the inner palace withdraws forty or fifty thousand taels at a stroke. Imperial clansmen and noble relatives seeking land grants and seizing salt profits also amount to tens of millions. Construction projects flourish daily, and levies and exactions never cease. The salaries of supernumerary officials on special appointment and the provisions of inner palace artisans increase month by month without end—how can the treasury not be exhausted? Border troubles in Shaanxi and Liaodong are pressing, and armies in Huguang and Guizhou are mobilized in succession—we do not know how to meet these demands. We beg Your Majesty to cut off useless expenditures, personally practice frugality as an example to all, and enable your ministers to offer their full counsel in seeking policies to reform abuses—the realm would be greatly fortunate. In the fourth month of the following year, in response to disasters and portents, he urged diligence in court lectures, economy in expenditures, cessation of Daoist rituals, and impartiality in rewards and punishments, among other matters. When winter came, Nanjing and Fengyang suffered great floods; court officials submitted many memorials on current affairs, which for a long time went unanswered. Liu Jian and the others therefore forcefully remonstrated about slack governance, urging diligent attention to memorials to restore discipline—and the emperor praised and accepted all their advice. When the Collected Statutes of the Great Ming was completed, he was made junior tutor and grand tutor of the heir apparent, minister of Personnel, and grand secretary of the Huagai Hall. Together with Li Dongyang and Xie Qian he was bestowed python robes. The bestowal of python robes on grand secretaries began with Liu Jian and his colleagues.

帝孝事兩宮太后甚謹，而兩宮皆好佛、老。先是，清寧宮成，命灌頂國師設壇慶贊，又遣中官賫真武像，建醮武當山，使使詣泰山進神袍，或白晝散燈市上。帝重違太后意，曲從之，而健等諫甚力。十五年六月詔擬《釋迦啞塔像贊》，十七年二月詔建延壽塔朝陽門外，除道士杜永祺等五人為真人，皆以健等力諫得寢。

The emperor served the two palace empress dowagers with great filial care, and both favored Buddhism and Daoism. Earlier, when the Qingning Palace was completed, an edict ordered the state preceptor of consecration to set up altars for celebration; eunuchs were dispatched bearing an image of the True Warrior to establish rituals on Wudang Mountain, envoys were sent to Mount Tai to present divine robes, and lanterns were scattered in the marketplace in broad daylight. The emperor was reluctant to go against the empress dowagers' wishes and yielded to them, while Liu Jian and the others remonstrated forcefully. In the sixth month of the fifteenth year an edict ordered the drafting of a eulogy for the Śākyamuni Stupa image, and in the second month of the seventeenth year an edict ordered the construction of the Yanshou Pagoda outside Chaoyang Gate and the appointment of five Daoist priests including Du Yongqi as perfected ones—all were halted through the forceful remonstrance of Liu Jian and the others.

是年夏，小王子謀犯大同，帝召見閣臣。健請簡京營大帥，因言京軍怯不任戰，請自今罷其役作以養銳氣。帝然之。退復條上防邊事宜，悉報允。未幾，邊警狎至，帝惑中官苗逵言，銳欲出師。健與東陽、遷委曲阻之，帝意猶未回。兵部尚書劉大夏亦言京軍不可動，乃止。

That summer, when the Little Prince plotted to invade Datong, the emperor summoned the grand secretaries. Liu Jian requested the selection of a great commander of the capital garrison and argued that the capital troops were timid and unfit for battle, requesting that their corvée labor be stopped to restore their fighting spirit. The emperor approved. On withdrawing he submitted a detailed list of border defense measures, all of which were approved. Before long border alarms came in rapid succession; deluded by the eunuch Miao Kui's words, the emperor was keen to take the field in person. Liu Jian together with Li Dongyang and Xie Qian tactfully dissuaded him, but the emperor's mind was not yet changed. Minister of War Liu Daxia also argued that the capital troops could not be moved, and the plan was abandoned.

帝自十三年召對健等後，閣臣希得進見。及是在位久，益明習政事，數召見大臣，欲以次革煩苛，除宿弊。嘗論及理財，東陽極言鹽政弊壞，由陳乞者眾，因而私販數倍。健進曰：「太祖時茶法始行，駙馬歐陽倫以私販坐死，高皇后不能救。如倫事，孰敢為陛下言者？」帝曰：「非不敢言，不肯言耳。」遂詔戶部核利弊，具議以聞。

After the summoned audience with Liu Jian and the others in the thirteenth year, grand secretaries rarely gained audience with the emperor. Now that he had been on the throne long, he was increasingly practiced in government affairs, frequently summoning ministers in hopes of step by step reforming troublesome regulations and removing long-standing abuses. He once discussed financial management; Li Dongyang argued forcefully that the salt administration was ruined because those who petitioned for salt franchises were numerous, and private trafficking multiplied several times over. Liu Jian said, "In the Taizu period, when the tea monopoly was first implemented, the imperial son-in-law Ouyang Lun was put to death for private trafficking—the empress could not save him. For an affair like Ouyang Lun's, who would dare speak to Your Majesty? The emperor said, "It is not that they dare not speak, but that they are unwilling to speak." He thereupon ordered the Ministry of Revenue to examine the benefits and harms and submit a comprehensive proposal.

當是時，健等三人同心輔政，竭情盡慮，知無不言。初或有從有不從，既乃益見信，所奏請無不納，呼為「先生」而不名。每進見，帝輒屏左右。左右間從屏間竊聽，但聞帝數數稱善。諸進退文武大臣，厘飭屯田、鹽、馬諸政，健翊贊為多。

At that time Liu Jian and the other three assisted government with one heart, exhausting their utmost effort and speaking their minds on every matter. At first the emperor sometimes heeded them and sometimes did not; afterward he increasingly trusted them, and whatever they memorialized was accepted without exception; he called them "gentlemen" without using their names. Each time they were received in audience, the emperor would dismiss those at his side. Attendants sometimes eavesdropped from behind the screen but only heard the emperor repeatedly saying "good." As for the appointment and dismissal of civil and military officials and the rectification of garrison fields, salt, and horse policies, Liu Jian assisted and supported in the greatest measure.

未幾，帝疾大漸，召健等入乾清宮。帝力疾起坐，自敘即位始末甚詳，令近侍書之。已，執健手曰：「先生輩輔導良苦。東宮聰明，但年尚幼，好逸樂。先生輩常勸之讀書，輔為賢主。」健等欷歔，頓首受命而出。翌日帝崩。

Before long the emperor's illness grew critical and he summoned Liu Jian and the others into the Qianqing Palace. Forcing himself despite his illness, the emperor sat up and narrated from his accession to the present in great detail, ordering nearby attendants to write it down. When he had finished, he took Liu Jian's hand and said, "You gentlemen have toiled bitterly in assisting and guiding me. The heir apparent is intelligent, but still young and fond of ease and pleasure. You gentlemen must often urge him to read books and assist him to become a worthy ruler. Liu Jian and the others sobbed, bowed their heads, accepted the charge, and withdrew. The next day the emperor died.

武宗嗣位，健等厘諸弊政，凡孝宗所欲興罷者，悉以遺詔行之。劉瑾者，東宮舊豎也，與馬永成、谷大用、魏彬、張永、邱聚、高鳳、羅祥等八人俱用事，時謂之「八黨」。日導帝遊戲，詔條率沮格不舉。京師淫雨自六月至八月。健等乃上言：「陛下登極詔出，中外歡呼，想望太平。今兩月矣，未聞汰冗員幾何，省冗費幾何。詔書所載，徒為空文。此陰陽所以失調，雨旸所以不若也。如監局、倉庫、城門及四方守備內臣增置數倍，朝廷養軍匠費鉅萬計，僅足供其役使，寧可不汰？文武臣曠職僨事、虛糜廩祿者，寧可不黜？畫史、工匠濫授官職者多至數百人，寧可不罷？內承運庫累歲支銀數百余萬，初無文簿，司鑰庫貯錢數百萬，未知有無，寧可不勾校？至如縱內苑珍禽奇獸，放遣先朝宮人，皆新政所當先，而陛下悉牽制不行，何以尉四海之望？」帝雖溫詔答之，而左右宦豎日恣，增益且日眾。享祀郊廟，帶刀被甲擁駕後。內府諸監局僉書多者至百數十人，光祿日供驟益數倍。健等極陳其弊，請勤政、講學，報聞而已。

When Wuzong succeeded to the throne, Liu Jian and the others rectified various abusive policies; whatever Xiaozong had wished to establish or abolish was carried out by testamentary edict. Liu Jin had been a eunuch of the Eastern Palace. He and seven others—Ma Yongcheng, Gu Dayong, Wei Bin, Zhang Yong, Qiu Ju, Gao Feng, and Luo Xiang—held power together, and contemporaries called them the "Eight Partisans." Day after day they led the emperor into diversions, while edicts and regulations were largely blocked and left unenforced. In the capital, torrential rains fell from the sixth month through the eighth. Liu Jian and his colleagues then memorialized the throne: "When Your Majesty's accession edict was promulgated, the court and the realm rejoiced, all hoping for peace and good order. Two months have now passed, yet we have heard nothing of how many redundant offices have been cut or how much wasteful spending has been saved. What those edicts promised has amounted to nothing but empty words. This is why yin and yang have fallen out of balance and why the seasons of rain and sun have not come aright. Supervisory bureaus, storehouses, city gates, and inner eunuchs assigned to garrisons throughout the realm have been multiplied several times over. The court spends millions merely to keep soldiers and artisans on hand for their service—can such waste not be trimmed? Civil and military officials who neglect their posts, botch their duties, and squander their stipends in idleness—can they not be removed? Painters and artisans have been recklessly granted official rank by the hundreds—can this not be stopped? The Inner Transport Treasury has disbursed several million taels of silver year after year without any ledger. The Key Treasury holds several million in cash, yet no one knows whether it is really there—can these accounts not be audited? Releasing rare birds and exotic beasts from the inner parks and sending away palace women of the previous reign are reforms that ought to come first. Yet Your Majesty has been prevented from carrying any of them out. How can you satisfy the hopes of the empire?" The emperor answered with mild edicts, but the eunuchs at his side grew more brazen by the day, and their numbers swelled daily. At sacrifices at the suburban altars and the ancestral temple, they followed behind the imperial carriage wearing swords and armor. Acting secretaries in the inner-factory supervisory bureaus sometimes numbered well over a hundred each, and the Court of Imperial Sacrifices saw its daily provisions suddenly multiply several times over. Liu Jian and his colleagues laid out these abuses at length and pleaded for diligent governance and regular study sessions—but received only notice that their memorial had been received.

正德元年二月，帝從尚書韓文言，畿甸皇莊令有司征課，而每莊仍留宦官一人、校尉十人。健等言「皇莊既以進奉兩宮，自宜悉委有司，不當仍主以私人，反失朝廷尊親之意」，因備言內臣管莊擾民。不省。

In the second month of the first year of Zhengde, the emperor, acting on a memorial from Minister of Revenue Han Wen, ordered the proper offices to levy taxes on the imperial estates in the capital region—yet each estate still kept one eunuch and ten guards. Liu Jian and his colleagues argued that since the imperial estates existed to supply the two palaces, they should all be placed under the proper offices and not left in private hands, which defeated the court's purpose of honoring kin with dignity. They went on to describe in detail how eunuchs managing the estates harassed the people. The emperor paid no attention.

吏、戶、兵三部及都察院各有疏爭職掌為近習所撓。健等擬旨，上不從，令再擬。健等力諫，謂：「奸商譚景清之沮壞鹽政，北征將士之無功授官，武臣神英之負罪玩法，禦用監書篆之濫收考較，皆以一二人私恩，壞百年定制。況今政令維新，而地震天鳴，白虹貫日，恒星晝見，太陽無光。內賊縱橫，外寇猖獗。財匱民窮，怨謗交作。而中外臣仆方且乘機作奸，排忠直猶仇讎，保奸回如骨肉。日復一日，愈甚於前，禍變之來恐當不遠。臣等受知先帝，叨任腹心。邇者旨從中下，略不與聞。有所擬議，竟從改易。似此之類，不可悉舉。若復顧惜身家，共為阿順，則罔上誤國，死有余辜。所擬四疏，不敢更易，謹以原擬封進。」不報。

The Ministries of Personnel, Revenue, and War, together with the Censorate, each submitted memorials protesting that their jurisdictions were being meddled with by the emperor's intimates. Liu Jian and his colleagues drafted the imperial response, but the emperor would not agree and ordered them to draft it again. Liu Jian and his colleagues remonstrated forcefully, saying: "The wicked merchant Tan Jingqing's sabotage of the salt monopoly, the granting of offices to soldiers of the northern campaign who had won no merit, the military officer Shen Ying's defiance of the law despite his guilt, and the Imperial Workshop's reckless collection and grading of calligraphy and seal-script—all stem from the private favor of one or two men and destroy regulations a century old. Moreover, the government has just renewed its policies, yet there have been earthquakes, thunder in a clear sky, a white rainbow piercing the sun, fixed stars visible by day, and the sun dimmed of its light. Within, villains run rampant; without, enemies grow bold. The treasury is empty and the people destitute; resentment and slander rise on every side. Yet officials within and without the court are seizing the moment to do evil—treating the loyal and upright like mortal enemies while sheltering the wicked and crooked like kin. Day by day the situation grows worse than before; calamity and upheaval cannot be far off. We were favored by the late emperor and undeservedly entrusted with his innermost counsel. Lately edicts have issued from the inner court, and we are scarcely told of them at all. Whatever we propose is ultimately changed. Examples of this kind are too many to list. If we again cherish our safety and join in flattery and compliance, we will have deceived our sovereign and harmed the state—and even death would not expiate our guilt. We dare not alter the four memorials we have drafted and respectfully submit them sealed exactly as we first wrote them." No reply was given.

居數日，又言：「臣等遭逢先帝，臨終顧命，惓惓以陛下為托，痛心刻骨，誓以死報。即位詔書，天下延頸，而朝令夕改，迄無寧日。百官庶府，仿效成風，非惟廢格不行，抑且變易殆盡。建言者以為多言，幹事者以為生事，累章執奏謂之瀆擾，厘剔弊政謂之紛更。憂在於民生國計，則若罔聞知，事涉於近幸貴戚，則牢不可破。臣等心知不可，義當盡言。比為鹽法、賞功諸事，極陳利害，拱俟數日，未蒙批答。若以臣等言是，宜賜施行，所言如非，即當斥責。乃留中不報，視之若無。政出多門，咎歸臣等。宋儒朱子有言『一日立乎其位，則一日業乎其官；一日不得乎其官，則不敢一日立乎其位。』若冒顧命之名而不盡輔導之實，既負先帝，又負陛下，天下後世其謂臣何？伏乞聖明矜察，特賜退休。」帝優旨慰留之，疏仍不下。

Several days later they memorialized again: "We were favored by the late emperor, who on his deathbed entrusted us with his final charge, earnestly committing Your Majesty to our care. Our grief cut to the bone, and we vowed to repay him with our lives. When the accession edict was issued, the whole realm looked on with hope—yet orders change from morning to evening, and there has not been a single peaceful day since. Officials throughout the bureaucracy have taken this as their model until it has become custom—not only are edicts left unimplemented, they are nearly all rewritten. Those who offer counsel are called meddlesome; those who attend to business are called troublemakers; repeated memorials pressing a point are called harassment; efforts to root out abuses are called disruptive change. When the concern is the people's livelihood or the state's finances, it is as if nothing were heard; when the matter touches the emperor's favorites or noble kin, it cannot be moved. We know in our hearts this cannot stand, and by duty we must speak out fully. Recently, on the salt laws, rewards for merit, and related matters, we laid out the stakes at length and waited respectfully for days without receiving any written reply. If what we say is right, it should be ordered carried out; if what we say is wrong, we should at once be rebuked and punished. Instead our memorials are held in the palace without reply, treated as if they did not exist. Policy issues from many hands, yet blame falls on us. The Song scholar Zhu Xi said, "For one day you stand in your post, for that one day you must fulfill the duties of your office; for one day you fail in those duties, you dare not stand in that post for even a single day. If we presumptuously bear the name of a deathbed charge yet fail to perform the work of guiding and assisting, we betray the late emperor and we betray Your Majesty. What will the realm and posterity say of us? We humbly beg Your Majesty's enlightened compassion to examine our plea and grant us leave to retire." The emperor issued gracious edicts to comfort them and keep them in office, but the memorial was still not released.

越五日，健等復上疏，歷數政令十失，指斥貴戚、近幸尤切。因再申前請。帝不得已，始下前疏，命所司詳議。健知誌終不行，首上章乞骸骨，李東陽、謝遷繼之，帝皆不許。既而所司議上，一如健等指。帝勉從之，由是諸失利者咸切齒。

Five days later, Liu Jian and his colleagues submitted another memorial, listing ten failures of government and rebuking noble kin and the emperor's favorites with especial sharpness. They renewed their earlier request to retire. The emperor, having no choice, at last released the earlier memorial and ordered the responsible offices to deliberate on it in detail. Liu Jian knew their aims would never be carried out. He was the first to submit a memorial asking to retire on account of age; Li Dongyang and Xie Qian followed, but the emperor refused them all. Shortly afterward the responsible offices reported their deliberation, entirely in line with what Liu Jian and his colleagues had argued. The emperor reluctantly assented, and from that moment all who had lost ground gnashed their teeth at them.

六月庚午復上言：「近日以來，免朝大多，奏事漸晚，遊戲漸廣，經筵日講直命停止。臣等愚昧，不知陛下宮中復有何事急於此者。夫濫賞妄費非所以崇儉德，彈射釣獵非所以養仁心，鷹犬狐兔田野之物不可育於朝廷，弓矢甲胄戰鬥之象不可施於宮禁。今聖學久曠，正人不親，直言不聞，下情不達，而此數者雜交於前，臣不勝憂懼。」帝曰：「朕聞帝王不能無過，貴改過。卿等言是，朕當行之。」健等乃錄廷臣所陳時政切要者，請置坐隅朝夕省覽：曰無單騎馳驅，輕出宮禁；曰無頻幸監局，泛舟海子；曰無事鷹犬彈射；曰無納內侍進獻飲膳。疏入，報聞。

On the gengwu day of the sixth month they memorialized again: "Lately exemptions from court have grown frequent, audiences for memorials have grown later, diversions have grown broader, and the daily lectures of the Classics Colloquium have been ordered stopped outright. We are dull-witted and do not know what business within the palace could be so urgent as this. Extravagant rewards and reckless spending do not cultivate frugal virtue. Archery, ball games, fishing, and hunting do not nurture a benevolent heart. Hawks, dogs, foxes, and hares—creatures of field and countryside—must not be kept at court. Bows, arrows, armor, and helmets—emblems of battle—must not be brought into the palace precincts. Sagely learning has long been neglected, upright men are kept at a distance, straight counsel goes unheard, and the sentiments of those below never reach you—yet these diversions mingle before your eyes. We cannot contain our worry and fear." The emperor said: "We have heard that emperors and kings cannot be without fault; what matters is correcting them. What you say is right. We shall act on it." Liu Jian and his colleagues then recorded the most urgent points on current policy raised by court ministers and asked that they be placed by the throne for daily review: Do not ride out alone or gallop recklessly; do not leave the palace precincts lightly; do not visit the supervisory bureaus too often or go boating on the Imperial Sea; do not occupy yourself with hawks, dogs, archery, or ball games; do not accept food and drink presented by inner attendants. When the memorial was submitted, notice of receipt was returned.

先是，孝宗山陵畢，健等即請開經筵。常初勉應之，後數以朝謁兩宮停講，或云擇日乘馬。健等陳諫甚切至。八月，帝既大婚，健等又請開講。命俟九月，至期又命停午講。健等以先帝故事，日再進講，力爭不得。

Earlier, as soon as Xiaozong's tomb rites were completed, Liu Jian and his colleagues asked that the Classics Colloquium be opened. At first the emperor reluctantly agreed, but afterward he repeatedly suspended lectures on the grounds of attending court at the two palaces, or said he would choose a day when he could ride out. Liu Jian and his colleagues remonstrated with the utmost earnestness. In the eighth month, after the emperor's grand wedding, Liu Jian and his colleagues again asked that lectures resume. He ordered them to wait until the ninth month; when the time came he again ordered the noon lecture suspended. Liu Jian and his colleagues cited the late emperor's precedent of two lectures a day and pressed hard, but could not prevail.

當是時，健等懇切疏諫者屢矣，而帝以狎近群小，終不能改。既而遣中官崔杲等督織造，乞鹽萬二千引。所司執奏，給事中陶諧、徐昂，御史杜旻、邵清、楊儀等先後諫，健等亦言不可。帝召健等至暖閣面議，頗有所詰問，健等皆以正對。帝不能難，最後正色曰：「天下事豈皆內官所壞？朝臣壞事者十常六七，先生輩亦自知之。」因命鹽引悉如杲請。健等退，再上章言不可。帝自愧失言，乃俞健等所奏。於是中外咸悅，以帝庶幾改過。

By this time Liu Jian and his colleagues had earnestly memorialized and remonstrated again and again, yet the emperor, intimate with his petty favorites, could not be moved to change. Before long he dispatched the inner eunuch Cui Guo and others to supervise textile manufacture and requested twelve thousand salt certificates. The responsible office memorialized in opposition. The supervising secretaries Tao Xie and Xu Ang, and the censors Du Min, Shao Qing, Yang Yi, and others remonstrated in turn. Liu Jian and his colleagues also said it must not be granted. The emperor summoned Liu Jian and his colleagues to the Warm Pavilion for a face-to-face discussion. He pressed them with questions, and they answered every one on principle. The emperor could not refute them. At last he said sternly: "Can everything under heaven really be ruined by inner officials? Court ministers ruin affairs six or seven times out of ten—you elders know that yourselves." He then ordered the salt certificates granted entirely as Guo had requested. Liu Jian and his colleagues withdrew and submitted another memorial saying it must not be done. Ashamed of his slip, the emperor then approved what Liu Jian and his colleagues had urged. Thereupon the court and the realm rejoiced, thinking the emperor might at last reform.

健等遂謀去「八黨」，連章請誅之。言官亦交論群閹罪狀，健及遷、東陽持其章甚力。帝遣司禮詣閣曰：「朕且改矣，其為朕曲赦若曹。」健等言：「此皆得罪祖宗，非陛下所得赦。」復上言曰：「人君之於小人，不知而誤用，天下尚望其知而去之。知而不去則小人愈肆。君子愈危，不至於亂亡不已。且邪正不並立，今舉朝欲決去此數人，陛下又知其罪而故留之左右，非特朝臣疑懼，此數人亦不自安。上下相猜，中外不協，禍亂之機始此矣。」不聽。健等以去就爭。瑾等八人窘甚，相對涕泣。而尚書韓文等疏復入，於是帝命司禮王嶽等詣閣議，一日三至，欲安置瑾等南京。遷欲遂誅之，健推案哭曰：「先帝臨崩，執老臣手，付以大事。今陵土未乾，使若輩敗壞至此，臣死何面目見先帝！」聲色俱厲。嶽素剛正疾邪，慨然曰：「閣議是。」其儕範亨、徐智等亦以為然。是夜，八人益急，環泣帝前。帝怒，立收嶽等下詔獄，而健等不知，方倚嶽內應。明日，韓文倡九卿伏闕固爭，健逆謂曰：「事且濟，公等第堅持。」頃之，事大變，八人皆宥不問，而瑾掌司禮。健、遷遂乞致仕，賜敕給驛歸，月廩、歲夫如故事。

Liu Jian and his colleagues then plotted to remove the "Eight Partisans," submitting successive memorials calling for their execution. Censorial officials also joined in denouncing the eunuchs' crimes. Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Li Dongyang pressed their memorials with especial force. The emperor sent the Directorate of Ceremonies to the Grand Secretariat with the message: "We are about to reform. Plead with Us to pardon those fellows leniently." Liu Jian and his colleagues replied: "These men have offended the ancestral temple. They are not men Your Majesty may pardon." They memorialized again: "When a ruler toward petty men does not know them and errs in employing them, the realm still hopes that once he knows, he will remove them. But knowing them yet not removing them only makes petty men grow bolder. Gentlemen grow more endangered, and disorder and ruin do not end. Moreover, the crooked and the upright cannot stand together. Now the whole court wishes decisively to remove these men, yet Your Majesty knows their crimes and deliberately keeps them at your side. Not only do court ministers live in suspicion and fear—these men themselves cannot feel secure. Suspicion between ruler and ministers, disharmony within and without—the seeds of calamity and disorder are sown here." The emperor would not listen. Liu Jian and his colleagues pressed their case by threatening to resign. Liu Jin and the other seven were in dire straits and wept face to face. When Minister of Revenue Han Wen's memorial arrived again, the emperor ordered Wang Yue of the Directorate of Ceremonies and others to go to the Grand Secretariat for deliberation—three times in a single day—intending to post Liu Jin and his fellows to Nanjing. Xie Qian wanted to proceed straight to execution. Liu Jian pushed back from his desk and wept, saying: "When the late emperor lay dying, he took this old minister's hand and entrusted him with great affairs. The tomb earth is not yet dry, yet to let those fellows bring ruin to this point—what face would I have to meet the late emperor in death!" His voice and bearing were both fierce. Wang Yue had always been upright and hated evil. He said with feeling: "The Grand Secretariat's deliberation is right." His colleagues Fan Heng, Xu Zhi, and others agreed as well. That night the eight men grew still more desperate and wept in a circle around the emperor. The emperor flew into a rage and immediately had Wang Yue and others arrested and sent to the imperial prison. Liu Jian and his colleagues did not know this—they were still counting on Wang Yue to support them from within. The next day Han Wen led the Nine Ministers in kneeling at the palace gate to argue their case firmly. Liu Jian met him and said: "The affair is about to succeed. You gentlemen need only hold firm." Before long the affair changed utterly. All eight were pardoned without inquiry, and Liu Jin took charge of the Directorate of Ceremonies. Liu Jian and Xie Qian then requested retirement. The emperor granted an edict, provided courier horses for their journey home, and awarded monthly stipends and annual laborers as precedent allowed.

健去，瑾憾不已。明年三月辛未詔列五十三人為奸黨，榜示朝堂，以健為首。又二年削籍為民，追奪誥命。瑾誅，復官，致仕。後聞帝數巡遊，輒嘆息不食曰：「吾負先帝。」世宗立，命行人賫敕存問，以司馬光、文彥博為比，賜賚有加。及年躋九十，詔撫臣就第致束帛、餼羊、上尊，官其孫成學中書舍人。嘉靖五年卒，年九十四。遺表數千言，勸帝正身勤學，親賢遠佞。帝震悼，賜恤甚厚，贈太師，謚文靖。

After Liu Jian left, Liu Jin's resentment did not cease. In the third month of the following year, on the day xinwei, an edict listed fifty-three men as a treacherous faction and posted their names in the court hall, with Liu Jian at their head. Two years later he was struck from the official registers and reduced to commoner status, and his patent of appointment was revoked. After Liu Jin was executed, his offices were restored and he retired from service. Later, whenever he heard that the emperor went on frequent tours, he would sigh and refuse food, saying: "I have failed the late emperor." When the Jiajing Emperor ascended, he sent an imperial emissary with an edict of inquiry, comparing him to Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo, and bestowed gifts beyond the usual measure. When he reached ninety, an edict ordered the provincial governor to visit his residence with bundles of silk, a sacrificial sheep, and fine wine, and appointed his grandson Cheng Xue as a Secretariat drafter. He died in the fifth year of Jiajing, aged ninety-four. His dying memorial ran to several thousand characters, urging the emperor to correct his conduct, study diligently, draw close to worthies, and keep flatterers at a distance. The emperor was shaken with grief, bestowed generous condolence gifts, posthumously granted him Grand Preceptor, and gave him the posthumous title Wenjing.

健器局嚴整，正己率下。朝退，僚寀私謁，不交一言。許進輩七人欲推焦芳入吏部，健曰：「老夫不久歸田，此座即焦有，恐諸公俱受其害耳。」後七人果為芳所擠。

Liu Jian's bearing was sternly ordered. He disciplined himself and led his subordinates by example. After court, when colleagues and subordinates paid private visits, he would not exchange a single word. Seven men including Xu Jin wished to push Jiao Fang into the Ministry of Personnel. Liu Jian said: "This old man will soon return to the fields. That seat will soon belong to Jiao Fang—I fear you gentlemen will all suffer for it." Later the seven were indeed squeezed out by Jiao Fang.

東陽以詩文引後進，海內士皆抵掌談文學，健若不聞，獨教人治經窮理。其事業光明俊偉，明世輔臣鮮有比者。孫望之，進士。

Li Dongyang used poetry and prose to draw forward rising talent; scholars throughout the realm clapped hands discussing literature—Liu Jian seemed not to hear and taught only the thorough study of the classics to exhaust principle. His achievements were brilliant and lofty; among auxiliary ministers of the Ming, few could compare. His grandson Wang Zhi passed the metropolitan examinations.

謝遷、謝迪

Xie Qian, Xie Di

謝遷，字於喬，餘姚人。成化十年鄉試第一。明年舉進士，復第一。授修撰，累遷左庶子。

Xie Qian, courtesy name Yuqiao, was a native of Yuyao. In the tenth year of Chenghua he ranked first in the provincial examinations. The following year he passed the metropolitan examinations, again ranking first. He was appointed Hanlin compiler and rose through successive posts to Left Sub-Reader of the Heir Apparent.

弘治元年春，中官郭鏞請豫選妃嬪備六宮。遷上言：「山陵未畢，禮當有待。祥禫之期，歲亦不遠。陛下富於春秋，請俟諒陰既終，徐議未晚。」尚書周洪謨等如遷議，從之。帝居東宮時，遷已為講官，及是，與日講，務積誠開帝意。前夕必正衣冠習誦，及進講，敷詞詳切，帝數稱善。進少詹事兼侍講學士。

In spring of the first year of Hongzhi, the eunuch Guo Yong requested advance selection of consorts to fill the inner palaces. Xie Qian memorialized: "The imperial tomb is not yet completed. Ritual propriety requires waiting. The periods of initial and final mourning observances are not far off either. Your Majesty is still young. Please wait until the mourning period has ended; there will be time enough to discuss the matter at leisure." Ministers including Zhou Hongmo followed Xie Qian's view, and the emperor assented. When the emperor had been crown prince, Xie Qian had already served as lecturer. Now he lectured daily, striving with sincere devotion to open the emperor's mind. Each eve he would straighten robes and cap and rehearse his lecture. When he entered to teach, his exposition was detailed and earnest, and the emperor repeatedly praised him. He was promoted to Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, concurrently serving as Hanlin lecturer and academician.

八年詔同李東陽入內閣參預機務。遷時居憂，力辭，服除始拜命。進詹事兼官如故，皇太子出閣，加太子少保、兵部尚書兼東閣大學士。上疏勸太子親賢遠佞，勤學問，戒逸豫，帝嘉之。尚書馬文升以大同邊警，餉饋不足，請加南方兩稅折銀。遷曰：「先朝以南方賦重，故折銀以寬之。若復議加，恐民不堪命。且足國在節用，用度無節，雖加賦奚益。」尚書倪嶽亦爭之，議遂寢。

In the eighth year an edict ordered him and Li Dongyang to enter the Grand Secretariat to participate in state affairs. Xie Qian was then in mourning and strove to decline. Only when his mourning ended did he accept the appointment. He was promoted to Guardian of the Heir Apparent with his other offices unchanged. When the crown prince left the palace school, he was further made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, Minister of War, and Grand Secretary of the Eastern Pavilion. He submitted a memorial urging the crown prince to draw close to worthies, keep flatterers at a distance, study diligently, and guard against ease and pleasure. The emperor commended it. Minister Ma Wensheng, citing border alarms at Datong and insufficient supplies, requested increasing the two southern taxes converted to silver. Xie Qian said: "The previous reign, because southern levies were heavy, converted payment to silver to relieve the burden. If we now debate increasing them again, I fear the people cannot bear it. Moreover, enriching the state lies in economizing expenditure. If expenditures have no restraint, what good will increasing levies do?" Minister Ni Yue also objected, and the proposal was dropped.

孝宗晚年慨然欲厘弊政。而內府諸庫及倉場、馬坊中官作奸骫法，不可究詰。禦馬監、騰驤四衛勇士自以禁軍不隸兵部，率空名支餉，其弊尤甚。遷乘間言之，帝令擬旨禁約。遷曰：「虛言設禁無益，宜令曹司搜剔弊端，明白奏聞。然後嚴立條約，有犯必誅，庶積蠹可去。」帝俞允之。

In his later years the Hongzhi Emperor resolved with feeling to rectify corrupt government. Yet eunuchs in the inner treasuries, granaries, and horse pastures practiced fraud and bent the law in ways that could not be fully investigated. Warriors of the Imperial Horse Directorate and the Four Wings of Tengxiang, regarding themselves as forbidden troops outside the Ministry of War's control, mostly drew pay on phantom rolls—the abuses here were especially severe. Xie Qian seized an opportune moment to speak of it. The emperor ordered an edict drafted to forbid and restrain the abuses. Xie Qian said: "Empty prohibitions are useless. The relevant offices should be ordered to search out abuses, report them clearly, and submit the findings. Then regulations should be sternly established, and whoever violates them must be punished. Only then may long-standing corruption be removed." The emperor assented.

遷儀觀俊偉，秉節直亮。與劉健、李東陽同輔政，而遷見事明敏，善持論。時人為之語曰：「李公謀，劉公斷，謝公尤侃侃。」天下稱賢相。

Xie Qian's bearing and appearance were handsome and grand. He held to integrity, upright and bright. Together with Liu Jian and Li Dongyang he assisted in government, while Xie Qian saw affairs with clarity and quickness and was skilled at argument. People of the time had a saying: "Lord Li plots, Lord Liu decides, and Lord Xie is especially forthright." The realm called them worthy chancellors.

武宗嗣位，屢加少傅兼太子太傅。數諫，帝弗聽。因天變求去甚力，帝輒慰留。及請誅劉瑾不克，遂與健同致仕歸，禮數俱如健。而瑾怨遷未已。焦芳既附瑾入內閣，亦憾遷嘗舉王鏊、吳寬自代，不及己，乃取中旨勒罷其弟兵部主事迪，斥其子編修丕為民。

When the Zhengde Emperor succeeded, Xie Qian was repeatedly promoted to Junior Tutor and Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. He remonstrated repeatedly, but the emperor would not listen. Because of celestial anomalies he sought retirement with great urgency, but the emperor repeatedly comforted him and kept him. When his request to execute Liu Jin did not succeed, he retired together with Liu Jian. His ceremonial treatment matched Liu Jian's in every respect. Yet Liu Jin's resentment toward Xie Qian did not cease. Jiao Fang, having attached himself to Liu Jin and entered the Grand Secretariat, also resented that Xie Qian had once recommended Wang Ao and Wu Kuan to succeed him rather than himself. He then procured a palace edict to force out Xie Qian's younger brother Di, a registrar in the Ministry of War, and banished his son Pi, a Hanlin compiler, to commoner status.

四年二月，以浙江應詔所舉懷才抱德士餘姚周禮、徐子元、許龍，上虞徐文彪，皆遷同鄉，而草詔由健，欲因此為二人罪。矯旨謂「餘姚隱士何多，此必徇私援引」，下禮等詔獄，詞連健、遷。瑾欲逮健、遷，籍其家，東陽力解。芳從旁厲聲曰：「縱輕貸，亦當除名！」旨下，如芳言，禮等咸戍邊。尚書劉宇復劾兩司以上訪舉失實，坐罰米，有削籍者。且詔自今餘姚人毋選京官，著為令。其年十二月，言官希瑾指，請奪健、遷及尚書馬文升、劉大夏、韓文、許進等誥命，詔並追還所賜玉帶服物。同時奪誥命者六百七十五人。當是時，人皆為遷危，而遷與客圍棋、賦詩自若。瑾誅，復職，致仕。

In the second month of the fourth year, because talent-and-virtue scholars recommended through the Zhejiang imperial summons—Zhou Li, Xu Ziyuan, Xu Long of Yuyao, and Xu Wenbiao of Shangyu—were all Xie Qian's fellow-townsmen, and because the draft edict had been written by Liu Jian, they wished thereby to make crimes of both men. A forged edict declared: "Why so many recluses from Yuyao? This must be private favoritism in recommendation." Zhou Li and the others were sent to the imperial prison, and the case implicated Liu Jian and Xie Qian. Liu Jin wished to arrest Liu Jian and Xie Qian and confiscate their property. Li Dongyang strove strenuously to dissuade him. Jiao Fang shouted from the side: "Even if they are leniently pardoned, they must still be struck from the rolls!" When the edict descended, it followed Jiao Fang's words. Zhou Li and the others were all banished to the frontier. Minister Liu Yu further impeached provincial governors and surveillance commissioners for false recommendations. They were fined in rice, and some were struck from the official registers. Moreover an edict declared that from then on natives of Yuyao were not to be selected for capital offices. This was established as a permanent rule. That December, censorial officials, following Liu Jin's intent, requested revocation of the patents of appointment of Liu Jian, Xie Qian, and Ministers Ma Wensheng, Liu Daxia, Han Wen, Xu Jin, and others. An edict also ordered recovery of the jade belts and garments that had been bestowed. Six hundred seventy-five persons had their patents revoked at the same time. At that time everyone feared for Xie Qian's safety, yet he played go and composed poetry with his guests as if at ease. After Liu Jin was executed, his offices were restored and he retired.

世宗即位，遣使存問，起迪參議，丕復官翰林。遷乃遣子正入謝。勸帝勤學、法祖、納諫，優旨答之。嘉靖二年復詔有司存問。六年，大學士費宏舉遷自代，楊一清欲阻張璁，亦力舉遷。帝乃遣行人賫手敕即家起之，命撫、按官敦促上道。遷年七十九矣，不得已拜命，比至，而璁已入閣，一清以官尊於遷無相下意。遷居位數月，力求去。帝待遷愈厚，以天寒免朝參，除夕賜禦制詩。及以病告，則遣醫賜藥餌，光祿致酒餼，使者相望於道。遷竟以次年三月辭歸。十年卒於家，年八十有三。贈太傅，謚文正。

When the Jiajing Emperor ascended, he sent envoys to inquire after his welfare, appointed Di as a participating administrator, and restored Pi to his Hanlin post. Xie Qian then sent his son Zheng to court to offer thanks. He urged the emperor to study diligently, follow the ancestral model, and accept remonstrance. The emperor replied with a favorable edict. In the second year of Jiajing an edict again ordered the authorities to inquire after his welfare. In the sixth year Grand Secretary Fei Hong recommended Xie Qian to succeed him. Yang Yiqing, wishing to block Zhang Cong, also strongly recommended Xie Qian. The emperor then sent an imperial emissary with an autograph edict to summon him from home and ordered governors and surveillance commissioners to urge him onto the road. Xie Qian was seventy-nine. He had no choice but to accept. When he arrived, Zhang Cong had already entered the Grand Secretariat, and Yang Yiqing, whose rank outranked Xie Qian's, had no intention of yielding place. Xie Qian held office several months and strove to leave. The emperor treated Xie Qian ever more generously: because of the cold he was excused from court attendance, and on New Year's Eve he was bestowed an imperially composed poem. When he reported illness, the emperor sent physicians with medicines, the Court of Imperial Entertainments sent wine and provisions, and envoys followed one another along the road. Xie Qian ultimately resigned and returned home in the third month of the following year. In the tenth year he died at home, aged eighty-three. He was posthumously granted Grand Tutor and given the posthumous title Wenzheng.

迪仕至廣東布政使。丕鄉試第一，弘治末進士及第。歷官吏部左侍郎，贈禮部尚書。

Di rose in office to Administrative Commissioner of Guangdong. Pi ranked first in the provincial examinations and at the end of the Hongzhi reign passed the metropolitan examinations with highest honors. He rose to Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and was posthumously granted Minister of Rites.

李東陽

Li Dongyang

李東陽，字賓之，茶陵人，以戍籍居京師。四歲能作徑尺書，景帝召試之，甚喜，抱置膝上，賜果鈔。後兩召講《尚書》大義，稱旨，命入京學。天順八年，年十八，成進士，選庶吉士，授編修。累遷侍講學士，充東宮講官。

Li Dongyang, courtesy name Binzhi, was a native of Chaling. Because his family was registered in a military household, he lived in the capital. At four he could write characters a foot across. The Jingtai Emperor summoned him for examination, was greatly pleased, set him on his knee, and bestowed fruit and paper money. Later he was twice summoned to expound the meaning of the Book of Documents, pleased the emperor, and was ordered to enter the metropolitan schools. In the eighth year of Tianshun, at eighteen, he passed the metropolitan examinations, was selected as a Hanlin bachelor, and was appointed compiler. He rose through successive posts to Hanlin lecturer and academician and served as lecturer to the crown prince.

弘治四年，《憲宗實錄》成，由左庶子兼侍講學士，進太常少卿，兼官如故。五年，旱災求言。東陽條摘《孟子》七篇大義，附以時政得失，累數千言，上之。帝稱善。閣臣徐溥等以詔敕繁，請如先朝王直故事，設官專領。乃擢東陽禮部右侍郎兼侍讀學士，入內閣專典誥敕。八年以本官直文淵閣參預機務，與謝遷同日登用。久之，進太子少保、禮部尚書兼文淵閣大學士。

In the fourth year of Hongzhi, when the Veritable Records of the Chenghua Emperor were completed, he was promoted from Left Sub-Reader of the Heir Apparent and Hanlin lecturer to Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, retaining his concurrent offices. In the fifth year a drought prompted a call for memorials. Li Dongyang itemized the main teachings of Mencius's seven books, appended commentary on current policy, altogether several thousand characters, and submitted the memorial. The emperor praised it. Grand Secretariat ministers Xu Pu and others, because edicts and patents had grown numerous, requested that, following the precedent of Wang Zhi in former times, an office be established with exclusive charge of them. Thereupon Li Dongyang was elevated to Right Vice Minister of Rites and Hanlin reader, entering the Grand Secretariat with exclusive charge of edicts and patents. In the eighth year he was assigned to the Wenyuan Pavilion with his present rank to participate in state affairs, appointed on the same day as Xie Qian. After some time he was promoted to Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent, Minister of Rites, and Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion.

十七年，重建闕里廟成，奉命往祭。還，上疏言：

In the seventeenth year, when the rebuilt temple at Queli was completed, he was ordered to go and offer sacrifice. On his return he submitted a memorial saying:

臣奉使遄行，適遇亢旱。天津一路，夏麥已枯，秋禾未種，挽舟者無完衣，荷鋤者有菜色。盜賊縱橫，青州尤甚。南來人言：江南、浙東流亡載道，戶口消耗，軍伍空虛，庫無旬日之儲，官缺累歲之俸。東南，財賦所出，一歲之饑已至於此；北地{此口}窳，素無積聚，今秋再歉，何以堪之。事變之生，恐不可測。臣自非經過其地，則雖久處官曹，日理章疏，猶不得其詳，況陛下高居九重之上耶？

On my mission I traveled in haste and encountered severe drought. Along the Tianjin route summer wheat had withered and autumn grain was not yet planted; boat haulers lacked whole garments, and men with hoes on their shoulders had the pallor of hunger. Bandits ranged unchecked, worst of all in Qingzhou. Travelers from the south said that in Jiangnan and eastern Zhejiang exiles filled the roads, population registers had shrunk, the armies stood hollow, the treasury held less than ten days' stores, and officials were owed years of salary. The southeast, whence the state's revenue comes, after a single year of famine had already come to this; The north is poor and has never had reserves; with another failed harvest this autumn, how can it endure? I fear the upheavals that may follow cannot be foreseen. Had I not passed through those places myself, I could not have learned the details even after long service in office handling memorials every day—how much less can Your Majesty, dwelling high within the ninefold gates?

臣訪之道路，皆言冗食太眾，國用無經。差役頻煩，科派重疊。京城土木繁興，供役軍士財力交殫，每遇班操，寧死不赴。勢家巨族，田連郡縣，猶請乞不已。親王之藩，供億至二三十萬。遊手之徒，托名皇親仆從，每於關津都會大張市肆，網羅商稅。國家建都於北，仰給東南，商賈驚散，大非細故。更有織造內官，縱群小掊擊，閘河官吏莫不奔駭，鬻販窮民所在騷然，此又臣所目擊者。

Inquiring along the roads, I heard everywhere that superfluous mouths were too many and state expenditure had no fixed rule. Corvée assignments came incessantly and levies piled one upon another. In the capital construction projects multiplied; soldier-laborers were drained of wealth and strength, and when roster drill was due they would rather die than report. Powerful families and great clans held lands spanning whole prefectures and counties, yet still petitioned endlessly for favors. When princes went to their fiefs, provisioning costs ran to two or three hundred thousand. Idlers posing as servants of imperial kin opened large shops at every pass and market town and extorted commercial taxes. With the capital in the north and the state relying on the southeast for supplies, merchants were fleeing in alarm—this was no trifling matter. Moreover eunuchs from the imperial workshops let petty men extort at will; canal officials fled in terror; wherever poor peddlers traded there was uproar—this too I saw with my own eyes.

夫閭閻之情，郡縣不得而知也；郡縣之情，廟堂不得而知也；廟堂之情，九重亦不得而知也；始於容隱，成於蒙蔽。容隱之端甚小，蒙蔽之禍甚深。臣在山東，伏聞陛下以災異屢見，敕群臣盡言無諱。然詔旨頻降，章疏畢陳，而事關內廷、貴戚者，動為掣肘，累歲經時，俱見遏罷。誠恐今日所言，又為虛文。乞取從前內外條奏，詳加采擇，斷在必行。

The feelings of lanes and hamlets the prefectures and counties cannot know; the feelings of prefectures and counties the court cannot know; the feelings of the court not even the throne within the ninefold gates can know; they begin in indulgent concealment and end in enveloping obscurity. Indulgent concealment begins in small things, but the calamity of enveloping obscurity runs very deep. While in Shandong I heard that Your Majesty, because strange omens had repeatedly appeared, had ordered all ministers to speak freely without reserve. Yet though edicts descended repeatedly and memorials were submitted in full, whenever matters touched the inner court or noble kin they were checked and blocked, and year after year they were all suppressed. I truly fear that what is said today will again become empty words. I beg that former memorials from within and without the court be examined and selected carefully, and that whatever is chosen be carried out without fail.

帝嘉嘆，悉付所司。

The emperor praised the memorial and referred it all to the responsible offices.

是時，帝數召閣臣面議政事。東陽與首輔劉健等竭心獻納，時政闕失必盡言極諫。東陽工古文，閣中疏草多屬之。疏出，天下傳誦。明年，與劉健、謝遷同受顧命。

At this time the emperor frequently summoned Grand Secretariat ministers to discuss state affairs in person. Li Dongyang, together with Chief Minister Liu Jian and others, gave their utmost counsel and remonstrated fully whenever current policy fell short. Li Dongyang excelled at ancient-style prose, and most memorial drafts in the Grand Secretariat were assigned to him. When his memorials were issued, the realm transmitted and recited them. The next year he received the dying emperor's charge together with Liu Jian and Xie Qian.

武宗立，屢加少傅兼太子太傅。劉瑾入司禮，東陽與健、遷即日辭位。中旨去健、遷，而東陽獨留。恥之，再疏懇請，不許。初，健、遷持議欲誅瑾，詞甚厲，惟東陽少緩，故獨留。健、遷瀕行，東陽祖餞泣下。健正色曰：「何泣為？使當日力爭，與我輩同去矣。」東陽默然。

When the Zhengde Emperor succeeded, Li Dongyang was repeatedly promoted to Junior Tutor and Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. When Liu Jin took charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial, Li Dongyang, Liu Jian, and Xie Qian resigned their posts that same day. An edict from within removed Liu Jian and Xie Qian, but Li Dongyang alone was kept on. Ashamed, he memorialized again earnestly requesting release, but was not permitted to go. Earlier Liu Jian and Xie Qian had argued that Liu Jin should be executed; their language was very harsh—only Li Dongyang had been somewhat mild, and therefore he alone remained. As Liu Jian and Xie Qian were about to depart, Li Dongyang gave them a farewell feast and wept. Liu Jian said sternly, "Why weep? Had you fought as hard as you could that day, you would have left with us. Li Dongyang was silent.

瑾既得志，務摧抑縉紳。而焦芳入閣助之虐，老臣、忠直士放逐殆盡。東陽悒悒不得誌，亦委蛇避禍。而焦芳嫉其位己上，日夕構之瑾。先是，東陽奉命編《通鑒纂要》。既成，瑾令人摘筆畫小疵，除謄錄官數人名，欲因以及東陽。東陽大窘，屬芳與張彩為解，乃已。

Once Liu Jin had gained power, he strove to crush the scholar-officials. Jiao Fang entered the Grand Secretariat to assist his cruelty, and old ministers and upright loyal men were banished almost to the last man. Li Dongyang was dejected and could not achieve his aims, yet also yielded flexibly to avoid disaster. Jiao Fang envied that Li Dongyang outranked him and day and night slandered him to Liu Jin. Earlier Li Dongyang had been ordered to compile the Digest of the Comprehensive Mirror. When it was completed, Liu Jin had men pick out minor flaws in the brushwork and struck several copying officials from the rolls, intending thereby to implicate Li Dongyang as well. Li Dongyang was greatly embarrassed and asked Jiao Fang and Zhang Cai to intercede; only then was the matter dropped.

瑾兇暴日甚，無所不訕侮，於東陽猶陽禮敬。凡瑾所為亂政，東陽彌縫其間，亦多所補救。尚寶卿崔璿、副使姚祥、郎中張瑋以違制乘肩輿，從者妄索驛馬，給事中安奎、御史張彧以核邊餉失瑾意，皆荷重校幾死。東陽力救，璿等謫戍，奎、彧釋為民。

Liu Jin grew daily more ferocious and insulted everyone—yet toward Li Dongyang he still showed outward respect. In all the disorderly policies Liu Jin enacted, Li Dongyang patched the gaps and in many matters made redress. Court of Imperial Regalia Director Cui Xuan, Vice Commissioner Yao Xiang, and Bureau Director Zhang Wei were nearly beaten to death in the cangue for violating regulations by riding in sedan chairs while their followers wantonly demanded relay horses; Supervising Secretary An Kui and Censor Zhang Yu met the same fate for auditing frontier provisions and displeasing Liu Jin. Li Dongyang strove to save them: Cui Xuan and the others were banished to frontier service, while An Kui and Zhang Yu were released as commoners.

三年六月壬辰，朝退，有遺匿名書於禦道數瑾罪者，詔百官悉跪奉天門外。頃之，執庶僚三百余人下詔獄。次日，東陽等力救，會瑾亦廉知其同類所為，眾獲宥。後數日，東陽疏言寬恤數事，章下所司。既而戶部覆奏，言糧草虧折，自有專司，巡撫官總領大綱，宜從輕減。瑾大怒，矯旨詰責數百言，中外駭嘆。瑾患盜賊日滋，欲戍其家屬並鄰裏及為之囊橐者。或自陳獲盜七十人，所司欲以新例從事。東陽言，如是則百年之案皆可追論也，乃免。劉健、謝遷、劉大夏、楊一清及平江伯陳熊輩幾得危禍，皆賴東陽而解。其潛移默奪，保全善類，天下陰受其庇。而氣節之士多非之。侍郎羅玘上書勸其早退，至請削門生籍。東陽得書，俯首長嘆而已。

On the renchen day of the sixth month of the third year, after court was dismissed, someone left on the imperial way an anonymous letter enumerating Liu Jin's crimes; an edict ordered all officials to kneel outside the Gate of Revering Heaven. Shortly thereafter more than three hundred junior officials were seized and sent to the imperial prison. The next day Li Dongyang and others strove to save them; Liu Jin also learned that his own faction had done it, and all were pardoned. Several days later Li Dongyang memorialized on several matters of lenient relief, and the memorial was referred to the responsible offices. Soon the Ministry of Revenue replied that shortfalls in grain and fodder were the concern of specialized offices and that grand coordinators oversaw the general outline, and that penalties should be reduced. Liu Jin was furious and forged an edict of reproach several hundred words long; court and country were appalled. Troubled that banditry was growing daily, Liu Jin wished to banish to frontier service not only bandits but their families, neighbors, and those who harbored them. Someone reported having captured seventy bandits, and the responsible office wished to proceed under the new regulation. Li Dongyang said that if so, cases a hundred years old could all be reopened, and the matter was dropped. Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Liu Daxia, Yang Yiqing, and Pingjiang Earl Chen Xiong and others nearly met disaster—all were saved through Li Dongyang's intercession. By quiet maneuvering he preserved good men, and the realm unknowingly benefited from his protection. Yet men of firm principle mostly condemned him. Vice Minister Luo Zhi wrote urging him to retire early, even asking that his name as a student be struck from the rolls. Li Dongyang received the letter, bowed his head, and sighed—that was all.

焦芳既與中人為一，王鏊雖持正，不能與瑾抗，東陽乃援楊廷和共事，差倚以自強。已而鏊辭位，代者劉宇、曹元皆瑾黨，東陽勢益孤。東陽前已加少師兼太子太師，後瑾欲加芳官，詔東陽食正一品祿。四年五月，《孝宗實錄》成，編纂諸臣當序遷，所司援《會典》故事。詔以劉健等前纂修《會典》多糜費，皆奪升職，東陽亦坐降俸。居數日，乃以《實錄》功復之。

Once Jiao Fang had joined forces with the eunuchs, Wang Ao, though upright, could not stand against Liu Jin; Li Dongyang then brought in Yang Tinghe to share office work and relied on him somewhat to strengthen his position. Soon Wang Ao resigned; his replacements Liu Yu and Cao Yuan were both Liu Jin's men, and Li Dongyang's position grew ever more isolated. Li Dongyang had earlier been promoted to Junior Preceptor and Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent; later, when Liu Jin wished to promote Jiao Fang, an edict granted Li Dongyang salary of the first rank. In the fifth month of the fourth year, when the Veritable Records of the Hongzhi Emperor were completed, the compiling ministers were due for ordered promotion, and the responsible office cited the precedent of the Collected Statutes. An edict said that Liu Jian and others had greatly wasted funds in earlier compiling the Collected Statutes; all were stripped of their promotions, and Li Dongyang's salary was also reduced. After several days his salary was restored on account of the Veritable Records.

五年春，久旱，下詔恤刑。東陽等因上詔書所未及者數條，帝悉從之。而法司畏瑾，減死者止二人。其秋，瑾誅，東陽乃上疏自列曰：「臣備員禁近，與瑾職掌相關。凡調旨撰敕，或被駁再三，或徑自改竄，或持回私室，假手他人，或遞出謄黃，逼令落橐，真假混淆，無從別白。臣雖委曲匡持，期於少濟，而因循隱忍，所損亦多。理宜黜罷。」帝慰留之。

In the spring of the fifth year, after prolonged drought, an edict was issued to show mercy in punishments. Li Dongyang and others thereupon submitted several items not covered in the edict, and the emperor accepted them all. Yet the judicial offices feared Liu Jin, and only two death sentences were commuted. That autumn, after Liu Jin was executed, Li Dongyang submitted a memorial enumerating his own faults, saying, "I held a post in forbidden proximity and my duties were linked with Liu Jin's office. Whenever edicts were drafted, they might be rejected again and again, altered outright, taken back to private chambers and passed through others' hands, or yellow copies passed out with us forced to let them fall into the satchel—true and false were confused and there was no way to tell them apart. Though I bent every effort to set things right, hoping to do some small good, my compliance and concealed endurance also did great harm. By rights I ought to be dismissed. The emperor comforted him and kept him on.

寘鐇平，加特進左柱國，蔭一子尚寶司丞，為御史張芹所劾。帝怒，奪芹俸。東陽亦乞休辭蔭，不許。時焦芳、曹元已罷，而劉忠、梁儲入，政事一新。然張永、魏彬、馬永成、谷大用等猶用事，帝嬉遊如故。皇子未生，多居宿於外。又議大興豹房之役，建寺觀禁中。東陽等憂之，前後上章切諫，不報。七年，東陽等以京師及山西、陜西、雲南、福建相繼地震，而帝講筵不舉，視朝久曠，宗社祭享不親，禁門出入無度，谷大用仍開西廠，屢上疏極諫，帝亦終不聽。

When the Prince of Anhua's rebellion was pacified, Li Dongyang was specially advanced to Left Pillar of the State and one son was granted hereditary office as director in the Court of Imperial Regalia; Censor Zhang Qin impeached him for it. The emperor was angry and stripped Zhang Qin's salary. Li Dongyang also begged to retire and declined the hereditary grant, but was not permitted. By then Jiao Fang and Cao Yuan had been dismissed, and Liu Zhong and Liang Chu had entered office; government was renewed. Yet Zhang Yong, Wei Bin, Ma Yongcheng, Gu Dayong, and others still held power, and the emperor amused himself as before. No imperial son had yet been born, and he mostly lodged outside the palace. There was talk again of greatly expanding the Leopard Quarter and building temples and monasteries within the palace. Li Dongyang and others were troubled and submitted earnest memorials of remonstrance again and again, but received no reply. In the seventh year, because the capital together with Shanxi, Shaanxi, Yunnan, and Fujian had earthquakes in succession, while the emperor neglected the lecture hall, long absented himself from court, did not personally attend state sacrifices, passed in and out of the forbidden gates without restraint, and Gu Dayong reopened the Western Depot, Li Dongyang and others repeatedly submitted the sternest remonstrances, but the emperor would not listen.

九載秩滿，兼支大學士俸。河南賊平，蔭子世錦衣千戶。再疏力辭，改蔭六品文官。其冬，帝欲調宣府軍三千入衛，而以京軍更番戍邊。東陽等力持不可，大臣、臺諫皆以為言。中官旁午索草敕，帝坐乾清宮門趣之，東陽等終不奉詔。明日竟出內降行之，江彬等遂以邊兵入豹房矣。東陽以老疾乞休，前後章數上，至是始許。賜敕、給廩隸如故事。又四年卒，年七十。贈太師，謚文正。

In the ninth year his term was complete, and he concurrently drew Grand Secretary salary. When the Henan rebels were pacified, his son was granted hereditary office as commander of a thousand in the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He memorialized again firmly declining, and the grant was changed to a sixth-rank civil office. That winter the emperor wished to transfer three thousand Xuanfu troops into palace guard and rotate capital troops to garrison the frontier in their place. Li Dongyang and others firmly opposed it, and great ministers and censorial officials all remonstrated. Eunuchs came pressing for draft edicts; the emperor sat at the gate of the Palace of Heavenly Purity urging them on, but Li Dongyang and others would not obey. The next day an edict from within was issued anyway and carried out, and Jiang Bin and others thereupon brought frontier troops into the Leopard Quarter. Li Dongyang, citing age and illness, begged to retire; he had submitted memorials again and again, and only now was he permitted to go. He was granted an imperial letter of instruction and supplied with grain stipends and attendants according to precedent. Four years later he died, at the age of seventy. He was posthumously honored as Grand Tutor and given the posthumous title Wenzheng.

東陽事父淳有孝行。初官翰林時，常飲酒至夜深，父不就寢，忍寒待其歸，自此終身不夜飲於外。為文典雅流麗，朝廷大著作多出其手。工篆隸書，碑版篇翰流播四裔。獎成後進，推挽才彥，學士大夫出其門者，悉粲然有所成就。自明興以來，宰臣以文章領袖縉紳者，楊士奇後，東陽而已。立朝五十年，清節不渝。既罷政居家，請詩文書篆者填塞戶限，頗資以給朝夕。一日，夫人方進紙墨，東陽有倦色。夫人笑曰：「今日設客，可使案無魚菜耶？」乃欣然命筆，移時而罷，其風操如此。

In caring for his father Chun, Li Dongyang showed exemplary filial devotion. When he first served at the Hanlin Academy, he often drank until late at night. His father would not go to bed but endured the cold awaiting his return; from that time on he never drank away from home at night for the rest of his life. His prose was elegant and flowing, and most of the court's major compositions issued from his pen. He excelled at seal and clerical script, and his inscriptions and letters spread far beyond the empire. He nurtured younger scholars and promoted men of talent; those who studied under him all went on to distinguished achievement. Since the founding of the dynasty, among chief ministers who led the civil elite through literary stature, only Yang Shiqi before him and Li Dongyang after. He served at court for fifty years, his integrity never wavering. After leaving office and living at home, those who sought his poems, essays, and calligraphy crowded his threshold, and he largely supported himself from such work. One day, as his wife brought paper and ink, Li Dongyang looked weary. His wife smiled and said, "We have guests today—can we set the table with nothing to serve them? He then gladly took up the brush and wrote for a time before stopping—such was his conduct.

王鏊，字濟之，吳人。父琬，光化知縣。鏊年十六，隨父讀書，國子監諸生爭傳誦其文。侍郎葉盛、提學御史陳選奇之，稱為天下士。成化十年鄉試，明年會試，俱第一。廷試第三，授編修。杜門讀書，避遠權勢。

Wang Ao, whose courtesy name was Jizhi, came from Wu. His father Wan had served as magistrate of Guanghua. At sixteen Wang Ao studied with his father, and students at the Imperial University eagerly passed around and recited his essays. Vice Minister Ye Sheng and provincial education intendant Censor Chen Xuan took notice of him and hailed him as a scholar of the realm. In the provincial examination of the tenth year of Chenghua and the metropolitan examination the following year, he placed first in both. He ranked third in the palace examination and was appointed a compiler at the Hanlin Academy. He shut his doors to read and kept far from powerful connections.

弘治初，遷侍講學士，充講官。中貴李廣導帝遊西苑，鏊講文王不敢盤於遊田，反復規切，帝為動容。講罷，謂廣曰：「講官指若曹耳。」壽寧侯張巒故與鏊有連，及巒貴，鏊絕不與通。東宮出閣，大臣請選正人為宮僚，鏊以本官兼諭德。尋轉少詹事，擢吏部右侍郎。

Early in the Hongzhi reign he was promoted to lecturing academician and served as a court lecturer. The favored eunuch Li Guang induced the emperor to tour the Western Park. Wang Ao lectured on how King Wen dared not linger in the hunting parks, remonstrating repeatedly and earnestly until the emperor was visibly moved. When the lecture ended, the emperor said to Guang, "The lecturer is pointing at you people. Marquis Shouning Zhang Luan had formerly been connected with Wang Ao, but when Luan rose to favor, Ao cut off all contact with him. When the crown prince left the inner quarters, leading ministers asked that upright men be chosen as palace tutors, and Wang Ao served in his original post concurrently as preceptor. He was soon made junior mentor of the heir apparent and promoted to right vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel.

嘗奏陳邊計，略言：「昨火篩入寇大同，陛下宵旰不寧，而緣邊諸將皆嬰城守，無一人敢當其鋒者，此臣所不解也。臣竊謂今日火篩、小王子不足畏，而嬖幸亂政，功罪不明，委任不專，法令不行，邊圉空虛，深可畏也。比年邊將失律，往往令戴罪殺賊。副總兵姚信擁兵不進，亦得逃罪。此人心所以日懈，士氣所以不振也。望陛下大奮乾剛，時召大臣，咨詢邊將勇怯。有罪必罰，有功必賞，專主將之權。起致仕尚書秦纮為總制，節制諸邊，提督右都御史史琳坐鎮京營，遙為聲援。厚恤沿邊死事之家，召募邊方驍勇之士，用間以攜其部曲。分兵掩擊，出奇制勝，寇必不敢長驅深入。」從之。又言：「宜仿前代制科，如博學宏詞之類，以收異材。六年一舉，尤異者授以清要之職，有官者加秩。數年之後，士類濯磨，必以通經學古為高，脫去謏聞之陋。」時不能用。尋以父憂歸。

He once memorialized on border strategy, writing in part: "Yesterday Huoshai raided Datong. Your Majesty was troubled even before dawn, yet along the frontier every general merely held his city behind the walls, and not one dared meet the enemy head-on—this I cannot understand. I believe that today Huoshai and the Little Prince are not what we should fear; favored minions who disturb government, unclear rewards and punishments, divided authority, laws that go unenforced, and a hollow frontier—these are what should terrify us. In recent years generals who broke discipline were often allowed to redeem themselves by fighting bandits. Vice commander-in-chief Yao Xin held his troops back and would not advance, yet also escaped punishment. This is why men's hearts grow daily more slack and morale fails to rally. I hope Your Majesty will greatly rouse heavenly firmness, summon leading ministers from time to time, and inquire into the courage or cowardice of frontier generals. Punish the guilty without fail, reward merit without fail, and concentrate authority in the commanders in the field. Recall the retired minister Qin Gong as supreme commander to oversee all frontier sectors; station supervising right censor-in-chief Shi Lin in command of the capital barracks to lend distant support. Generously comfort the families of those who died in frontier service, recruit brave men from the borderlands, and use agents to sow discord in enemy ranks. Divide forces for surprise attacks and strike with unexpected tactics, and the raiders will not dare drive deep into our territory. The emperor approved. He also proposed reviving special examinations on the model of earlier dynasties—such as the Broad Learning and Eminent Phrasing category—to gather exceptional talent. Hold the examination once every six years; give the most outstanding candidates important posts in the central administration, and advance the rank of those already in office. After several years the scholarly class would be refined, would hold mastery of the classics and study of antiquity in the highest esteem, and would shake off the vice of shallow reputation. At the time this was not adopted. He soon returned home to observe mourning for his father.

正德元年四月起左侍郎，與韓文諸大臣請誅劉瑾等「八黨」。俄瑾入司禮，大學士劉健、謝遷相繼去，內閣止李東陽一人。瑾欲引焦芳，廷議獨推鏊。瑾迫公論，命以本官兼學士與芳同入內閣。逾月，進戶部尚書文淵閣大學士。明年加少傅兼太子太傅。

In the fourth month of the first year of Zhengde he was recalled as left vice minister and, with Han Wen and other leading ministers, petitioned for the execution of Liu Jin and the rest of the "Eight Clique." Before long Liu Jin took charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial; Grand Secretaries Liu Jian and Xie Qian left office in succession, until only Li Dongyang remained in the Grand Secretariat. Liu Jin wished to bring in Jiao Fang, but court discussion unanimously recommended Wang Ao. Bowing to public opinion, Liu Jin ordered him to enter the Grand Secretariat in his existing office, concurrently as academician, alongside Jiao Fang. After more than a month he was promoted to minister of Revenue and Grand Secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion. The following year he received the additional titles of junior tutor and grand tutor of the heir apparent.

景帝汪后薨，疑其禮。鏊曰：「妃廢不以罪，宜復故號，葬以妃，祭以後。」乃命輟朝，致祭如制。憲宗廢后吳氏之喪，瑾議欲焚之以滅跡，曰「不可以成服」。鏊曰：「服可以不成，葬不可薄也。」從之。尚寶卿崔璿等三人荷校幾死。鏊謂瑾曰：「士可殺，不可辱。今辱且殺之，吾尚何顏居此。」李東陽亦力救，璿等得遣戍。瑾銜尚書韓文，必欲殺之，又欲以他事中健、遷，鏊前後力救得免。或惡楊一清於瑾，謂築邊墻糜費。鏊爭曰：「一清為國修邊，安得以功為罪。」瑾怒劉大夏，逮至京，欲坐以激變罪死。鏊爭曰：「岑猛但遷延不行耳，未叛何名激變？」時中外大權悉歸瑾，鏊初開誠與言，間聽納。而芳專弇阿，瑾橫彌甚，禍流縉神。鏊不能救，力求去。四年，疏三上，許之。賜璽書、乘傳、有司給廩隸，咸如故事。家居十四年，廷臣交薦不起。

When Empress Wang of Emperor Jing died, there was doubt about the proper rites. Wang Ao said, "The consort was deposed without criminal guilt—her former title should be restored; bury her with consort's rites and sacrifice to her as an empress. The court was ordered suspended, and sacrifices were performed according to regulation. For the funeral of deposed Empress Wu of Emperor Xianzong, Liu Jin proposed burning the body to destroy the evidence, saying that mourning could not be worn. Wang Ao said, "Mourning may go unobserved, but burial cannot be slight. The emperor approved. Supervisor of Imports Cui Xuan and three others were cangued and nearly died. Wang Ao said to Liu Jin, "A gentleman may be killed, but he must not be shamed. Now you shame them and also kill them—how can I still hold office here? Li Dongyang also labored to save them, and Cui Xuan and the others were banished instead of executed. Liu Jin bore a grudge against Minister Han Wen and was determined to kill him; he also sought to destroy Liu Jian and Xie Qian on other charges. Wang Ao interceded repeatedly and they were spared. Some maligned Yang Yiqing to Liu Jin, claiming that building the border wall wasted public funds. Wang Ao argued, "Yang Yiqing repaired the frontier for the state—how can his merit be turned into a crime? Liu Jin hated Liu Daxia, had him arrested and brought to the capital, and sought to convict him of inciting rebellion—a capital offense. Wang Ao argued, "Cen Meng merely delayed and did not march—he had not rebelled. What grounds are there to call it inciting rebellion? At that time nearly all power at court and beyond rested with Liu Jin. At first Wang Ao spoke to him candidly, and Jin would sometimes listen and accept his advice. But Jiao Fang trafficked only in flattery, Liu Jin grew ever more overbearing, and disaster engulfed the official elite. Wang Ao could not stem the tide and urgently sought to resign. In the fourth year he submitted resignation memorials three times and was permitted to retire. He was granted a sealed imperial letter and traveling horses, and the relevant offices were ordered to supply grain stipends and attendants, all according to precedent. He lived in retirement for fourteen years; court ministers recommended him again and again, but he would not return to office.

世宗即位，遣行人存問。鏊疏謝，因上講學、親政二篇。帝優詔報聞，官一子中書舍人。嘉靖三年復詔有司存問。未幾卒，年七十五。贈太傅，謚文恪。

When the Jiajing Emperor ascended the throne, he sent an envoy to inquire after Wang Ao's welfare. Wang Ao memorialized his thanks and submitted two essays, on lecturing and on personal rule in government. The emperor replied with a gracious edict and appointed one of his sons secretary in the Secretariat-Chancellery. In the third year of Jiajing the throne again ordered officials to inquire after him. Before long he died, at the age of seventy-five. He was posthumously honored as Grand Preceptor and given the posthumous title Wenke.

鏊博學有識鑒，文章爾雅，議論明暢。晚著《性善論》一篇，王守仁見之曰：「王公深造，世未能盡也。」少善制舉義，後數典鄉試，程文魁一代。取士尚經術，險詭者一切屏去。弘、正間，文體為一變。

Wang Ao was broadly learned and keenly discerning; his writing was refined and elegant, his discourse clear and penetrating. In his later years he wrote an essay "On the Goodness of Nature." Wang Shouren read it and said, "Lord Wang has penetrated deeply—the world has not yet fully known his depth. In youth he excelled at examination essays; later he presided several times over the provincial examinations, and his model essays set the standard for a generation. In selecting scholars he prized mastery of the classics and rejected the devious and sophistical entirely. Between the Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns, literary style was transformed at a stroke.

劉忠，字司直，陳留人。成化十四年進士。改庶吉士，授編修。弘治四年，《憲宗實錄》成，遷侍講，直經筵，尋兼侍東宮講讀。又九年進侍讀學士。

Liu Zhong, whose courtesy name was Sizhi, came from Chenliu. He passed the jinshi examination in the fourteenth year of Chenghua. He was selected as a Hanlin bachelor and appointed compiler. In the fourth year of Hongzhi, when the Veritable Records of Emperor Xianzong were completed, he was promoted to court lecturer and attended the Classics Mat; he soon also lectured the crown prince in the Eastern Palace. Nine years later he was promoted to reader-in-waiting academician.

武宗即位，以宮寮擢學士，掌翰林院，仍直經筵。正德二年，劉瑾用事，日導帝遊戲，亂祖宗舊章。忠上言戒逸遊、崇正學數事。已，因進講與楊廷和傅經義，規帝闕失，而指斥近幸尤切。帝謂瑾曰：「經筵，講書耳，浮詞何為？」瑾素惡兩人，因諷吏部尚書許進出之南京。南京諸部惟右侍郎一人，進特請用為禮部左侍郎。命下，外議籍籍，進患之，甫兩月，即擢忠本部尚書。其冬，就改吏部。時留都一御史，素驕橫；一郎中，張彩所昵也，秩滿，皆署下考。疾吏胥詭名寄籍，督諸曹核汰千人。大計京官，所黜多於前。又疏請不時糾劾，以示勸懲，無待六年考黜。詔可之。忠在南京正直有風采。然是時，瑾方以嚴苛折辱士大夫，而忠操繩墨待下，糾劾過峻。時論遂謂忠附會瑾意，頗歸怨焉。

When Emperor Wuzong ascended the throne, Liu Zhong was elevated from palace tutor to academician, placed in charge of the Hanlin Academy, and continued to attend the Classics Mat. In the second year of Zhengde, Liu Jin held power. Day after day he led the emperor into amusement and overturned the institutions left by his ancestors. Liu Zhong memorialized warning against idle travel and urging respect for orthodox learning in several particulars. Later, lecturing together with Yang Tinghe, he expounded the classics and admonished the emperor's failings, directing his rebukes at favored minions with especial sharpness. The emperor said to Liu Jin, "The Classics Mat is for lecturing on books—why all this empty talk? Liu Jin had long hated the two men and, through insinuation, had Minister Xu Jin send them to Nanjing. Among the Nanjing ministries there was only one right vice minister; Jin specially requested that Liu Zhong be appointed left vice minister of Rites. When the appointment was announced, public opinion was outraged. Xu Jin, troubled by the outcry, after only two months promoted Liu Zhong to minister of Rites at Nanjing. That winter he was transferred at once to the Ministry of Personnel. At the time one censor at the southern capital was habitually arrogant and overbearing; and one bureau director whom Zhang Cai favored. When their terms were complete, Liu Zhong marked both with the lowest evaluation. He cracked down on clerks who registered false domiciles and oversaw the bureaus in screening out a thousand such men. In the great triennial review of capital officials, those he demoted were more numerous than in previous years. He also memorialized requesting authority to impeach at any time as encouragement and warning, rather than waiting for the six-year review to remove the unfit. The emperor approved the request by edict. In Nanjing, Liu Zhong was known for his uprightness and commanding presence. Yet at that time Liu Jin was using harsh severity to humiliate scholar-officials, while Liu Zhong held rigidly to regulations in dealing with subordinates and his impeachments were excessively severe. Public opinion therefore held that Liu Zhong was echoing Liu Jin's intent, and much resentment was directed at him.

五年二月改吏部尚書兼翰林學士，專典制詔。兩疏乞休，不報。瑾誅，以本官兼文淵閣大學士，入閣預機務。甫數日，以平寧夏功，加少傅兼太子太傅。故事，閣臣加官無遽至三孤者。忠無功驟得，不自安，連疏固辭，不許。瑾雖誅，張永、魏彬輩擅政，大臣復爭與交歡，忠獨無所顧。永嘗遣廖鵬謁忠，忠仆隸遇之，又卻其饋，由是與永輩左。前後乞休疏七八上，皆慰留。明年命典會試。甫畢，帝以試錄文義多舛，召李東陽示之。忠知為中官所掎，乞省墓。詔乘傳還。抵家，再上章乞致仕，報許。給月廩、歲隸終其身。

In the second month of the fifth year he was made minister of Personnel and Hanlin academician, specializing in the drafting of edicts and rescripts. He submitted two memorials requesting retirement, but received no reply. After Liu Jin was executed, he retained his post while also being made grand secretary of the Wenyuan Pavilion and entered the Grand Secretariat to participate in deliberations on state affairs. Only a few days later, for the merit of pacifying Ningxia, he was made junior tutor and grand tutor of the heir apparent. By precedent, grand secretaries were not suddenly elevated to the three solitary ranks. Liu Zhong, having achieved no comparable merit yet receiving such honors, was ill at ease and submitted successive memorials firmly declining them, but was not permitted to do so. Though Liu Jin was executed, Zhang Yong, Wei Bin, and their faction monopolized government affairs; senior ministers again vied to curry favor with them, while Liu Zhong alone paid no heed. Zhang Yong once sent Liao Peng to call on Liu Zhong; Liu Zhong's servants received him coldly and refused his gifts, and thereby Liu Zhong fell out with Zhang Yong's faction. He submitted seven or eight memorials requesting retirement, but each time was comforted and kept in office. The following year he was appointed chief examiner of the metropolitan civil service examination. As soon as it was finished, the emperor found many errors of meaning in the examination record and summoned Li Dongyang to review it. Liu Zhong knew he was being targeted by the eunuchs and requested leave to visit his family's tombs. An edict ordered him to return home by relay post. On reaching home he again submitted a memorial requesting retirement, and this time permission was granted. He was granted monthly stipends and annual retainers for the rest of his life.

世宗即位，屢薦不起。遣行人存問，忠奏謝，因有所獻納，帝褒其忠愛。嘉靖二年卒，年七十二。贈太保，謚文肅。

When Shizong ascended the throne, Liu Zhong was repeatedly recommended for office but declined each time. The court dispatched an envoy to inquire after him; Liu Zhong submitted a memorial of thanks and offered policy advice, which the emperor praised for its loyal devotion. He died in the second year of Jiajing at the age of seventy-two. He was posthumously honored as grand preceptor with the posthumous name Wensu.

贊曰：徐溥以寬厚著，邱濬以博綜聞。觀其指事陳言，懇懇焉為憂盛危明之計，可謂勤矣。劉健、謝遷正色直道，蹇蹇匪躬。閹豎亂政，秉義固諍。誌雖不就，而剛嚴之節始終不渝。有明賢宰輔，自三楊外，前有彭、商，後稱劉、謝，庶乎以道事君者歟。李東陽以依違蒙詬，然善類賴以扶持，所全不少。大臣同國休戚，非可以決去為高，遠蹈為潔，顧其誌何如耳。王鏊、劉忠持正不阿，奉身早退。此誠明去就之節，烏能委蛇俯仰以為容悅哉。

The appraiser says: Xu Pu was noted for his generosity and breadth, Qiu Jun for his comprehensive learning. In their pointed counsel on affairs of state, earnestly planning for prosperity while perceiving danger in times of brightness, they may truly be called diligent. Liu Jian and Xie Qian with stern countenance upheld the straight Way, advancing with difficulty and not sparing themselves. When eunuchs disturbed government, they held to righteousness and remonstrated firmly. Their aims were not fully achieved, yet their stern integrity never wavered from beginning to end. Among the worthy chief ministers of the Ming, apart from the Three Yangs, earlier there were Peng Shi and Shang Lu, and later Liu Jian and Xie Qian were praised—perhaps they were men who truly served their ruler with the Way. Li Dongyang was reviled for his wavering compliance, yet good men relied on him for support, and not a few were preserved through his efforts. Great ministers share the joy and sorrow of the state; decisive departure cannot be taken as loftiness nor distant withdrawal as purity—it depends only on what their aims were. Wang Ao and Liu Zhong upheld righteousness without bending and retired early while preserving their integrity. This truly clarifies the integrity of knowing when to go and when to stay—how could one wriggle and bow merely to win favor!

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