Volume 201 Biographies 89: Tao Yan, Wang Zhen, Li Chongsi, Wu Tingju, Fang Liangyong, Wang Kuang, Wang Yue, Xu Wen, Zhang Bangqi, Han Bangqi, Zhou Jin, Wu Yue

陶琰〈（子滋）〉王縝李充嗣吳廷舉〈（弟廷弼）〉方良永〈（弟良節子重傑）〉王爌王軏徐問張邦奇〈（族父時徹）〉韓邦奇〈（弟邦靖）〉周金吳嶽〈（譚大初）〉

Tao Yan (his son Zi)]〉 Wang Zhen, Li Chongsi, and Wu Tingju (his younger brother Tingbi)]〉 Fang Liangyong (his younger brother Liangzi and his son Chongjie)]〉 Wang Kuang, Wang Yue, Xu Wen, and Zhang Bangqi (his clansman-uncle Shi Che)]〉 Han Bangqi (his younger brother Bangjing)]〉 Zhou Jin and Wu Yue (Tan Dachu)]〉

陶琰，字廷信，絳州人。父銓，進士，陜西右參議。琰舉成化七年鄉試第一，十七年成進士，授刑部主事。

Tao Yan, styled Tingxin, was a native of Jiangzhou. His father Quan was a jinshi and served as Right Assistant Administration Commissioner of Shaanxi. Yan ranked first in the provincial examination of Chenghua 7, passed the jinshi examination in Chenghua 17, and was appointed a principal secretary in the Ministry of Punishments.

弘治初，進員外郎。歷固原兵備副使。練士卒，廣芻粟。歷九年，部內晏如。遷福建按察使，浙江左布政使。正德初，以右副都御史巡撫河南，遷刑部右侍郎。陜西遊擊徐謙訐御史李高。謙故劉瑾黨，行厚賂，欲中高危法。琰往按，直高。瑾怒，假他事下琰詔獄，褫其職，又罰米四百石輸邊。瑾誅，起左副都御史，總督漕運兼巡撫準、揚諸府。

At the beginning of the Hongzhi reign he was promoted to vice director. He served in succession as the Guyuan military-defense assistant surveillance commissioner. He drilled the troops and expanded stores of fodder and grain. After nine years the region under his jurisdiction was calm and secure. He was transferred to Fujian as surveillance commissioner and to Zhejiang as left administration commissioner. At the beginning of the Zhengde reign he was appointed Right Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Henan, then promoted to Right Vice Minister of Punishments. Xu Qian, a mobile-detachment commander in Shaanxi, accused the censor Li Gao. Qian had been a partisan of Liu Jin; he offered heavy bribes and sought to entrap Gao in a capital crime. Yan went to investigate and cleared Gao. Jin was furious; on another charge he had Yan thrown into the imperial prison, stripped of his post, and fined four hundred piculs of grain for the frontier. After Jin was executed, Yan was recalled as Left Censor-in-Chief, placed in overall charge of grain transport on the Grand Canal, and made Grand Coordinator of Huai, Yang, and the other prefectures.

六年，轉南京刑部侍郎。明年，賊劉七等將犯江南，王浩八又入衢州。進琰右都御史，巡視浙江。至則七等已滅，浩八聽撫。會寧、紹瀕海地颶風大作，居民漂沒萬數。琰出帑金振救，而大築蕭山至會稽堤五萬余丈。奏設兵備道守要害，防浩八黨出沒，遣將擊斬其渠魁。遂城開化、常山、遂安、蘭溪，境內以靖。復命總督漕運，七疏乞歸。世宗嗣位，起故官。凡三督漕，軍民習其政，不嚴而肅。

In the sixth year he was transferred to Vice Minister of Punishments at Nanjing. The following year the bandits Liu Qi and his fellows were about to raid Jiangnan, and Wang Haoba again entered Quzhou. Yan was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and sent to inspect Zhejiang. By the time he arrived, Liu Qi and his band had already been wiped out and Haoba had accepted pacification. At the same time a typhoon struck the coastal districts of Hui and Shao, and tens of thousands of residents were swept away in the flood. Yan drew on treasury funds for relief and undertook a great dike project of more than fifty thousand zhang from Xiaoshan to Kuaiji. He memorialized to establish a military-defense circuit to hold the key points against Haoba's followers, and sent generals to attack and behead their leaders. He then fortified Kaihua, Changshan, Suian, and Lanxi, and the territory under his charge was brought to peace. He was again ordered to take overall charge of grain transport and memorialized seven times asking to retire. When Emperor Shizong succeeded to the throne, Yan was recalled to his former office. In all he directed grain transport three times; soldiers and civilians, used to his ways, were orderly though he was not harsh.

琰性清儉，飯惟一疏。每到官及罷去，行李止三竹笥。尋加戶部尚書。嘉靖元年召拜工部尚書。其冬，改南京兵部，加太子少保。未浹歲，屢引年乞體。加太子太保，乘傳歸，有司歲時存問。又九年卒，年八十有四。贈少保，謚恭介。

Yan was frugal by nature and took only a single simple dish at each meal. Whenever he arrived at or left a post, his luggage amounted to no more than three bamboo cases. Before long he was given the additional title of Minister of Revenue. In Jiajing 1 he was summoned and appointed Minister of Works. That winter he was transferred to the Ministry of War at Nanjing and given the additional title of Junior Mentor to the Heir Apparent. Before a full year had passed he repeatedly pleaded his age and asked to retire. He was given the further title of Grand Mentor to the Heir Apparent and returned home with relay horses; local officials were to call on him at the seasonal festivals. Nine years later he died, at the age of eighty-four. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Junior Guardian and given the posthumous name Gongjie (Reverent and Incorruptible).

子滋，以進士授行人。諫武宗南巡，杖闕下，謫國子學正。嘉靖初，歷兵部郎中。率同官伏闕爭「大禮」，再受杖，謫戍榆林。兵部尚書王時中等言，琰老病呻吟，冀父子一相見，乞改調近衛。不許。十五年赦還，卒。

His son Zi, having passed the jinshi examination, was appointed a courier-official. He remonstrated against Emperor Wuzong's southern tour, was beaten at the palace gate, and was demoted to director of studies at the National University. At the beginning of the Jiajing reign he served as a director in the Ministry of War. Leading his colleagues he knelt at the palace gate to protest the Grand Rites controversy; he was beaten again and exiled to military service at Yulin. The Minister of War Wang Shizhong and others said that Yan, old and ill and groaning in pain, hoped only that father and son might see each other once more, and asked that Zi be transferred to a nearer garrison. The request was denied. In the fifteenth year he was pardoned and returned home, then died.

王縝，字文哲，東莞人。父恪，寶慶知府。縝登弘治六年進士，選庶吉士，授兵科給事中。劾三邊總制王越附汪直、李廣，不可復玷節鉞。出理南畿屯田。有司征松江白絺六千匹，縝言絺非正供。且請停上清宮役。詔皆罷之。累遷工科都給事中。武宗初立，內府工匠以營造加恩。縝率同官言：「陛下初登大寶，工匠末技已有以微勞進者，誠不可示後世。宜散遣先朝諸畫士，革工匠所授官。」帝不能用。中官張永請改築通州新城，縝言泰陵工作方興，不當復興無益之役。帝乃止。正德元年出為山西右參政。歷福建布政使，遷右副都御史，巡撫蘇、松諸府。協平江西賊王浩八。乾清宮災，疏請養宗室子宮中，定根本；去南京新增內官，召還建言被黜諸臣。不報。已，調鄖陽巡撫，遷南京刑部右侍郎。世宗即位，陳正本十事。嘉靖二年就擢戶部尚書。卒官。

Wang Zhen, styled Wenzhe, was a native of Dongguan. His father Ke was prefect of Baqing. Zhen passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi 6, was selected as a Hanlin probationer, and was appointed a supervising secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs. He impeached Wang Yue, supreme commander of the three frontiers, for siding with Wang Zhi and Li Guang, declaring that he ought not again to hold military command. He was sent out to administer military colonies in the southern metropolitan region. When local officials levied six thousand bolts of white silk gauze from Songjiang, Zhen argued that such gauze was not part of the regular tribute. He also asked that labor on the Shangqing Palace be halted. An edict halted both measures. He was promoted in succession to supervising secretary-in-chief of the Bureau of Works. When Emperor Wuzong first took the throne, artisans of the inner palace were granted favors for construction work. Zhen led his colleagues in saying, "Your Majesty has but lately ascended the great throne, and already artisans of trifling skill have been promoted for slight services—this truly cannot be shown to posterity. You should dismiss the painters retained from the previous reign and revoke the offices granted to artisans. The emperor would not accept this. The eunuch Zhang Yong requested rebuilding the new city at Tongzhou; Zhen said work on the Tailing mausoleum had only just begun and that useless projects ought not be revived. The emperor then halted the project. In Zhengde 1 he went out as Right Assistant Administration Commissioner of Shanxi. He served as administration commissioner of Fujian, then was appointed Right Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Suzhou, Songjiang, and the other prefectures. He helped pacify the Jiangxi bandit Wang Haoba. When the Qianqing Palace burned, he memorialized asking that a son of the imperial clan be reared within the palace to secure the succession; to dismiss the newly added inner eunuchs at Nanjing; and to recall the officials who had been dismissed for offering remonstrance. No reply was received. Later he was transferred as Grand Coordinator of Yunyang and promoted to Right Vice Minister of Punishments at Nanjing. When Emperor Shizong ascended the throne, he set forth ten measures for restoring fundamental order. In Jiajing 2 he was forthwith promoted to Minister of Revenue. He died in office.

李充嗣，字士修，內江人。給事中蕃孫也。登成化二十三年進士，改庶吉士。弘治初，授戶部主事。以從父臨安為郎中，改刑部。坐累，謫岳州通判。久之，移隨州知州，擢陜西僉事，歷雲南按察使。正德九年，舉治行卓異，累遷右副都御史，巡撫河南。歲大祲。請發帑金移粟振之，不足，則勸貸富室。時流民多聚開封，煮糜哺之。逾月，資遣還鄉。初，鎮守中官廖堂黨於劉瑾，假進貢名，要求百端，繼者以為常。充嗣言：「近中官進貢，有古銅器、窯變盆、黃鷹、角鷹、錦雞、走狗諸物，皆借名科斂。外又有拜見銀、須知銀及侵扣驛傳快手月錢、河夫歇役之屬，無慮十余事，苛派動數十萬。其左右用事者，又私於境內抑買雜物，擅榷商賈貨利。乞嚴行禁絕。」詔但禁下人科取而已。

Li Chongsi, styled Shixiu, was a native of Neijiang. He was a grandson of the supervising secretary Fan. He passed the jinshi examination in Chenghua 23 and was transferred to be a Hanlin probationer. At the beginning of the Hongzhi reign he was appointed a principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. Because his father's cousin Lin'an was a bureau director, he was transferred to the Ministry of Punishments. He was implicated in a case and demoted to vice prefect of Yuezhou. After a long while he was moved to prefect of Suizhou, then promoted to assistant surveillance commissioner in Shaanxi and served as surveillance commissioner of Yunnan. In Zhengde 9, recognized for outstanding administration, he was promoted in succession to Right Censor-in-Chief and Grand Coordinator of Henan. That year there was a severe famine. He requested disbursement of treasury funds and transfer of grain for relief; when these proved insufficient, he urged wealthy households to lend grain. At the time many refugees had gathered at Kaifeng; he cooked gruel to feed them. After more than a month he provided funds to send them back to their home districts. Earlier, the eunuch defender Liao Tang, a partisan of Liu Jin, had used the pretext of tribute to make demands of every kind; his successors took this as routine. Chongsi said, "Recently, when eunuchs have presented tribute, they have demanded antiquities in bronze, kiln-transformed basins, yellow hawks, horned hawks, brocaded fowl, hunting dogs, and the like—all exacted under borrowed names. Beyond these there are presentation silver, notification silver, and deductions from relay-post runners' monthly pay and boatmen's rest levies—no fewer than a dozen such items, with oppressive levies often running into the hundreds of thousands. Their attendants in power further privately forced purchases of miscellaneous goods within the jurisdiction and arrogated merchants' profits to themselves. He asked that such practices be strictly forbidden. An edict went out forbidding only the exactions of subordinates under borrowed names.

十二年移撫應天諸府。寧王宸濠反，充嗣謂尚書喬宇曰：「都城守禦屬於公，畿輔則充嗣任之。」乃自將精兵萬人，西屯采石。遣使入安慶城中，令指揮楊銳等堅守。傳檄部內，聲言京邊兵十萬旦夕至，趣供餉，以紿賊。賊果疑懼。事定，兵部及巡按御史胡潔言其功。時已就進戶部右侍郎，乃賜敕嘉勞。有建議修蘇、松水利者，進充嗣工部尚書兼領水利事。未幾，世宗嗣位，遣工部郎林文霈、顏如翙佐之。開白茅港，疏吳淞江，六閱月而訖工。語詳《河渠志》。

In the twelfth year he was transferred as Grand Coordinator of Yingtian and the other prefectures. When the Prince of Ning, Zhu Chenhao, rebelled, Chongsi said to the Minister Qiao Yu, "Defense of the capital is your charge; the metropolitan region I shall take upon myself. He then personally led ten thousand picked troops and encamped to the west at Caishi. He sent envoys into the city of Anqing ordering the commander Yang Rui and others to hold firm. He issued proclamations throughout his jurisdiction, declaring that a hundred thousand capital and frontier troops would arrive within days and urging the supply of provisions, so as to deceive the rebels. The rebels indeed grew suspicious and fearful. When the affair was settled, the Ministry of War and the touring censor Hu Jie reported his achievements. By then he had already been promoted to Right Vice Minister of Revenue, and an edict of commendation was bestowed upon him. When someone proposed repairing the waterworks of Suzhou and Songjiang, Chongsi was promoted to Minister of Works with concurrent charge of water conservancy. Before long, when Emperor Shizong succeeded to the throne, he sent the bureau directors Lin Wenpei and Yan Ruhui to assist him. They opened the Baimao harbor and dredged the Wusong River; the work was completed in six months. The details are given in the Treatise on Rivers and Canals.

嘉靖元年論平宸濠功，加太子少保。蘇、松白糧輸內府。正德時驟增內使五千人，糧亦加十三萬石。帝用充嗣言，減從故額。又請常賦外盡蠲歲辦之浮額者，內府征收，監以科道官，毋縱內臣苛索。帝俱從之。尋改南京兵部尚書。七年致仕，卒。久之，詔贈太子太保，謚康和。

In Jiajing 1, when the merit of pacifying Chenhao was discussed, he was given the additional title of Junior Mentor to the Heir Apparent. White grain from Suzhou and Songjiang was delivered to the inner palace. In the Zhengde reign the inner eunuchs were suddenly increased by five thousand men, and the grain quota was also raised by a hundred and thirty thousand piculs. The emperor followed Chongsi's advice and reduced the quota to the former amount. He also asked that beyond the regular tax all excess amounts in annual procurement be wholly remitted, that collection for the inner palace be supervised by censorial officials, and that inner eunuchs not be allowed to exact harshly. The emperor accepted all of these proposals. Shortly he was transferred to Minister of War at Nanjing. In the seventh year he retired from office and died. Long afterward an edict posthumously enfeoffed him as Grand Mentor to the Heir Apparent and gave him the posthumous name Kanghe (Peaceful and Harmonious).

吳廷舉，字獻臣，其先嘉魚人，祖戍梧州，遂家焉。成化二十三年登進士，除順德知縣。上官屬修中貴人先祠，廷舉不可。市舶中官市葛，以二葛與之，曰：「非產也。」中官大怒。御史汪宗器亦惡廷舉，曰：「彼專抗上官，市名耳。」會廷舉毀淫祠二百五十所，撤其材作堤，葺學宮、書院。宗器謂有所侵盜，執下獄。按之不得間，慚而止。為縣十年，稍遷成都同知。憂歸，補松江。

Wu Tingju, styled Xianchen, was originally of Jiayu; his grandfather was posted to a garrison at Wuzhou, and the family settled there. In Chenghua 23 he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed magistrate of Shunde. His superior ordered him to repair first the shrine of a favored eunuch; Tingju refused. The maritime-trade eunuch sought to buy ramie cloth; Tingju gave him two lengths and said, "This is not a local product. The eunuch was furious. The censor Wang Zongqi also disliked Tingju and said, "He specializes in defying his superiors merely to buy a reputation. Just then Tingju destroyed two hundred and fifty illicit shrines, used their timber to build dikes, and repaired the Confucian school and academies. Zongqi claimed there had been embezzlement and had him thrown into prison. The investigation found no opening; ashamed, Zongqi dropped the matter. After ten years as magistrate he was gradually transferred to assistant prefect of Chengdu. He returned home to observe mourning, then was reassigned to Songjiang.

用尚書馬文升、劉大夏薦，擢廣東僉事。從總督潘蕃討平南海、清遠諸盜。正德初，歷副使。發總鎮中官潘忠二十罪。忠亦訐廷舉他事，逮系詔獄。劉瑾矯詔，枷之十余日，幾死。戍雁門，旋赦免。楊一清薦其才，擢江西右參政。敗華林賊於連河。從陳金大破姚源賊。其黨走裴源，復從俞諫破之。賊首胡浩三既撫復叛，廷舉往諭，為所執。居三月，盡得其要領，誘使攜。及得還，浩三果殺其兄浩二，內亂。官兵乘之，遂擒浩三。與副使李夢陽不協，奏夢陽侵官，因乞休。不俟命竟去，坐停一歲俸。起廣東右布政使，復佐陳金平府江賊。擢右副都御史，振湖廣饑。已，復出湖南定諸夷疆地。寧王宸濠有逆謀，疏陳江西軍政六事，為豫防計。

On the recommendation of the ministers Ma Wensheng and Liu Daxia he was promoted to assistant surveillance commissioner of Guangdong. Following the supreme commander Pan Fan he campaigned to pacify the bandits of Nanhai, Qingyuan, and other districts. At the beginning of the Zhengde reign he served as vice commissioner. He exposed twenty crimes of the eunuch defender Pan Zhong. Zhong in turn accused Tingju of other matters, and he was seized and thrown into the imperial prison. Liu Jin forged an edict and had him cangued for more than ten days, nearly to the point of death. He was exiled to Yanmen, then soon pardoned. Yang Yiqing recommended his talent, and he was promoted to Right Assistant Administration Commissioner of Jiangxi. He defeated the Hualin bandits at Lianhe. Following Chen Jin he inflicted a great defeat on the bandits of Yaoyuan. Their partisans fled to Peiyuan; he again followed Yu Jian and defeated them there. The bandit leader Hu Haosan, having submitted to pacification, rebelled again; Tingju went to admonish him and was taken captive. After three months he had learned all their secrets and induced defections among them. When he was able to return, Haosan indeed killed his elder brother Haoer, and internal strife broke out. Government troops seized the opportunity and captured Haosan. He was at odds with the vice commissioner Li Mengyang, memorialized that Mengyang had overstepped his authority, and asked to retire. Without awaiting permission he left his post and was penalized by suspension of one year's salary. He was recalled as Right Administration Commissioner of Guangdong and again assisted Chen Jin in pacifying the bandits of Fujiang. He was promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and provided relief for the famine in Huguang. Later he went out again to Hunan to fix the borderlands of the various tribes. When the Prince of Ning, Zhu Chenhao, harbored treasonous designs, he memorialized six matters of Jiangxi military administration as precautionary measures.

世宗立，召為工部右侍郎，旋改兵部。上疏詆陸完、王瓊、梁儲及少傅蔣冕，而自以為己昔居憲職無一言，乞罷黜以儆幸位。時完早得罪，瓊及儲已罷去，廷舉借以傾冕。冕遂求罷。帝頗不直廷舉，調南京工部，而慰諭冕。冕固請留之，不聽。

When Emperor Shizong ascended the throne, Tingju was summoned as Right Vice Minister of Works, then soon transferred to the Ministry of War. He memorialized denouncing Lu Wan, Wang Qiong, Liang Chu, and the Junior Mentor Jiang Mian, while declaring that he himself, though once in a censorial post, had not spoken a word and begged dismissal to warn those who held office by luck. By then Wan had long since been punished, and Qiong and Chu had already been dismissed; Tingju used the occasion to bring down Mian. Mian thereupon asked to retire. The emperor was rather displeased with Tingju, transferred him to the Ministry of Works at Nanjing, and comforted Mian. Mian firmly asked that Tingju be kept, but the emperor would not listen.

嘉靖元年，廷舉乞休。尋以災異復自劾求罷，勸帝修德應天，因奏行其部興革十二事。尋就改戶部，遷右都御史，巡撫應天諸府。長洲知縣郭波以事挫織造中官張誌聰。誌聰伺波出，倒曳之車後。典史蕭景腆操兵教場，急率兵救。百姓登屋，飛瓦擊誌聰。誌聰奏逮波、景腆，廷舉具白誌聰貪黷狀。帝乃降波五級，調景腆遠方，誌聰亦召還。

In Jiajing 1 Tingju asked to retire. Soon, citing omens and disasters, he again impeached himself and asked to resign, urging the emperor to cultivate virtue in response to Heaven and memorializing twelve reforms for his ministry to carry out. Shortly he was transferred to the Ministry of Revenue, then promoted to Right Censor-in-Chief and made Grand Coordinator of Yingtian and the other prefectures. Guo Bo, magistrate of Changzhou, on some matter thwarted the weaving-office eunuch Zhang Zhicong. Zhicong waited until Bo came out and dragged him head-down behind a cart. The clerical assistant Xiao Jingtian was drilling troops on the parade ground and hurriedly led soldiers to the rescue. The common people climbed onto roofs and hurled tiles at Zhicong. Zhicong memorialized to have Bo and Jingtian arrested; Tingju fully reported Zhicong's corrupt conduct. The emperor then demoted Bo five ranks, transferred Jingtian to a distant post, and recalled Zhicong as well.

三年，以「大禮」議未定，請如洪武中修《孝慈錄》故事，令兩京部、寺、臺、省及天下督、撫各條所見，並詢家居老臣，采而行之，匯為一書，以詔後世。時已定稱本生考，廷舉窺帝意不慊，故為此奏。給事中張原、劉祺交劾之，不報。尋改南京工部尚書，辭不拜，稱疾乞休。帝慰留。已，復辭，且引白居易、張詠詩，語多詼諧，中復用嗚呼字。帝怒，以廷舉怨望無人臣禮，勒致仕。

In the third year, because the Grand Rites debate was still unsettled, he asked that, following the Hongwu precedent of compiling the Record of Filial Piety and Kindness, the ministries, directorates, censorates, and provincial offices of both capitals and all grand coordinators throughout the empire each set forth their views, and that retired elder statesmen also be consulted; the results were to be gathered into one book to instruct posterity. By then the title for the emperor's biological father had already been fixed; Tingju perceived that the emperor was not satisfied and therefore made this memorial. The supervising secretaries Zhang Yuan and Liu Qi jointly impeached him, but no reply was given. Shortly he was transferred to Minister of Works at Nanjing, declined to accept the appointment, and pleaded illness to retire. The emperor comforted him and kept him in office. Later he resigned again, citing poems by Bai Juyi and Zhang Yong; his language was largely jocular, and he again used the word "Alas." The emperor was angry, deeming that Tingju harbored resentment and lacked the deportment of a subject, and compelled him to retire.

廷舉面如削瓜。衣敝帶穿，不事藻飾。言行必自信，人莫能奪。其在太學時，兄事羅玘。玘病痢，仆死，自煮藥飲之。負以如廁，一晝夜數十反。玘嘗語人曰：「獻臣生我。」廷舉好薛瑄、胡居仁學，尊事陳獻章。居湫隘，亡郭外田，有書萬卷。及卒，總督姚鏌庀其喪。隆慶中，追謚清惠。

Tingju's face was lean as a peeled melon. His clothes were worn and his belt frayed; he did not attend to ornament. In word and deed he always trusted himself, and no one could sway him. When he was at the National University he treated Luo Qin as an elder brother. When Qin fell ill with dysentery and his servant died, Tingju himself brewed medicine and gave it to him. He carried him to the privy dozens of times in a day and night. Qin once said to others, "Xianchen gave me life. Tingju admired the learning of Xue Xuan and Hu Juren and honored Chen Xianzhang. He lived in cramped quarters, owned no fields outside the city wall, and had ten thousand volumes of books. When he died, the supreme commander Yao Mo arranged his funeral. In the Longqing reign he was posthumously given the name Qinghui (Pure and Kind).

弟廷弼，舉於鄉。廷舉枷吏部前，廷弼臥其械下。刑部主事宿進為奏記張糸采，乃得釋。

His younger brother Tingbi passed the provincial examination. When Tingju was cangued before the Ministry of Personnel, Tingbi lay beneath the cangue. The principal secretary Su Jin of the Ministry of Punishments submitted a letter to Zhang Cai on his behalf, and he was released.

方良永，字壽卿，莆田人。弘治三年進士。督逋兩廣，峻卻饋遺，為布政使劉大夏所器。還授刑部主事。進員外郎，擢廣東僉事。瓊州賊符南蛇為亂，大夏時為總督，檄攝海南兵備，會師討平之。御史坐良永失利。大夏已入為本兵，為白於朝，賚銀幣。

Fang Liangyong, styled Shouqing, was a native of Putian. He passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi 3. While supervising arrears in the two Guang provinces he sternly refused gifts and was valued by the administration commissioner Liu Daxia. On his return he was appointed a principal secretary in the Ministry of Punishments. He was advanced to vice director and promoted to assistant surveillance commissioner of Guangdong. The bandit Fu Nanshe of Qiongzhou rose in rebellion; Daxia was then supreme commander and ordered Liangyong to take charge of Hainan military defense; their forces joined and the rebels were pacified. A censor held Liangyong responsible for a defeat. Daxia had already entered the capital as Minister of War and cleared the matter at court; Liangyong was rewarded with silver and silks.

正德初，父喪除，待銓闕下。外官朝見畢，必謁劉瑾。鴻臚導良永詣左順門叩頭畢，令東向揖瑾，良永竟出。或勸詣瑾家，良永不可。及吏部除良永河南撫民僉事，中旨勒致仕。既去，瑾怒未已，欲假海南殺人事中之。刑部郎中周敏力持，乃不坐。瑾誅，起湖廣副使。尋擢廣西按察使。發巡按御史朱誌榮罪至謫戍。遷山東右布政使。旋調浙江，改左。

At the beginning of the Zhengde reign, after the mourning for his father was completed, he waited at the ministry gate for appointment. After provincial officials had finished their audience at court, they invariably paid a call on Liu Jin. The director of ceremonial led Liangyong to the Left Gate of Correct Deportment; after he had kowtowed, they told him to bow east toward Jin, but Liangyong walked straight out. Some urged him to call at Jin's residence, but Liangyong refused. When the Ministry of Personnel appointed Liangyong assistant administration commissioner for pacifying the people in Henan, an imperial rescript compelled him to retire. After Liangyong had left office, Jin's anger had not abated; he wished to use a homicide case in Hainan to entangle him in it. Zhou Min, a bureau director in the Ministry of Punishments, firmly resisted, and Liangyong was not convicted. After Jin was executed, Liangyong was reinstated as vice commissioner of Huguang. He was soon promoted to surveillance commissioner of Guangxi. He exposed touring censor Zhu Zhirong's crimes to the point that Zhu was banished to frontier garrison duty. He was transferred to serve as right administration commissioner of Shandong. He was soon transferred to Zhejiang and appointed left administration commissioner.

錢寧以鈔二萬鬻於浙，良永上疏曰：「四方盜甫息，瘡痍未瘳，浙東西雨雹。寧廝養賤流，假義子名，躋公侯之列。賜予無算，納賄不貲，乃敢攫民財，戕邦本。有司奉行急於詔旨，胥吏緣為奸，椎膚剝髓，民不堪命。鎮守太監王堂、劉璟畏寧威，受役使。臣何敢愛一死，不以聞。乞陛下下寧詔獄，明正典刑，並治其黨，以謝百姓。」寧懼，留疏不下。謀遣校尉捕假勢鬻鈔者，以自飾於帝，而請以鈔直還之民，陰召還前所遣使。寧初欲散鈔遍天下，先行之浙江、山東，山東為巡撫趙璜所格，而良永白髮其奸，寧自是不敢鬻鈔矣。寧方得誌，公卿、臺諫無敢出一語。良永以外僚訟言誅之，聞者震悚。良永念母老，恐中禍，三疏乞休去。

Qian Ning sold twenty thousand paper notes in Zhejiang; Liangyong memorialized, saying: "Banditry in the realm has only just subsided, the land is still scarred by war, and hail has struck both eastern and western Zhejiang. Ning is a menial groom of base birth who, under the title of adopted son, has risen to the ranks of dukes and marquises. He has received gifts beyond reckoning and bribes beyond measure, yet he dares seize the people's wealth and wound the foundations of the state. Local officials enforce the order even more harshly than the edict requires; clerks seize the chance for corruption, squeezing the people dry, until the common folk can no longer endure it. The garrison eunuchs Wang Tang and Liu Jing fear Ning's power and do his bidding. How could I value my own life and fail to report this to Your Majesty? I beg Your Majesty to send Ning to prison by edict, punish him according to law, and deal with his followers as well, so as to give satisfaction to the people." Ning was afraid and kept the memorial from being forwarded. He plotted to send guards to arrest those who had sold notes under borrowed authority from him, so as to make himself look good before the emperor, to ask that the notes' value be returned to the people, and secretly to recall the agents he had earlier dispatched. Ning had at first intended to circulate the notes throughout the empire, beginning in Zhejiang and Shandong. In Shandong, grand coordinator Zhao Huang blocked him, while Liangyong openly exposed his scheme; from then on Ning no longer dared sell the notes. Ning was then at the height of his power, and among grand secretaries, ministers, and censorial officials none dared speak out. Liangyong, an outside official, memorialized calling for his execution; all who heard of it were shaken with fear. Liangyong, mindful that his mother was old and fearing he might come to harm, submitted three memorials requesting retirement.

良永侍父疾，衣不解帶者三月。母病，良永年六十余矣，手進湯藥無少怠。居倚廬哀毀，稱純孝焉。素善王守仁，而論學與之異。嘗語人曰：「近世專言心學，自謂超悟獨到，推其說以自附於象山，而上達於孔子。目賢聖教人次第為小子無用之學，程、朱而下無不受擯，而不知其入於妄。」

While nursing his father's illness, Liangyong did not remove his belt for three months. When his mother fell ill, though Liangyong was already over sixty, he personally brought her medicine and broth without the slightest neglect. He mourned in the mourning hut with such grief that it wasted his body, and he was acclaimed as a model of pure filial devotion. He had long been friendly with Wang Yangming, but his views on learning differed from Wang's. He once said to others: "In recent times men speak only of the learning of the mind, claiming a unique enlightenment of their own, and extend their doctrine to align themselves with Lu Jiuyuan and even with Confucius. They treat the successive teachings of the sages as childish and useless learning; from the Cheng brothers and Zhu Xi downward none escape their rejection, yet they do not realize that they have fallen into delusion."

弟良節，官廣東左布政使，亦有治行。子重傑，舉於鄉，以孝聞。

His younger brother Liangjie served as left administration commissioner of Guangdong and likewise had a reputation for effective administration. His son Chongjie passed the provincial examination and was known for his filial devotion.

王爌，字存納，黃巖人。弘治十五年進士。除太常博士。正德時，屢遷刑科都給事中。武定侯郭勛鎮兩廣，行事乖謬。詔自陳，勛強辨，爌等駁之。都察院覆奏，不錄爌言，爌並劾都御史彭澤。帝責澤，置勛不問。御史林有年直言下獄，浙江僉事韓邦奇忤中官被逮，爌皆救之。帝幸大同久不反，爌力請回鸞。又與工科石天柱救彭澤，忤王瓊。中旨調兩人於外，爌得惠州推官。世宗立，召復都給事中。旋擢太仆少卿，改太常。嘉靖三年遷應天府尹。歲大祲，奏免其賦。居四年，遷南京刑部右侍郎，以母老歸養。家居十年，起故官。尋擢南京右都御史。守備中官進表，率以兩御史監禮。爌曰：「中官安得役御史？」止之。舉賀入朝，謁內閣夏言。言倨甚，大臣多隅坐，爌獨引坐正之。言不悅，爌遂謝病歸。

Wang Kuang, styled Cunna, was a native of Huangyan. He passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi 15. He was appointed an erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. During the Zhengde reign he was repeatedly promoted until he became supervising secretary of the punishments section. The Marquis of Wuding, Guo Xun, commanded the two Guang provinces and conducted affairs in an arbitrary and improper manner. An edict ordered him to submit a personal account; Xun argued forcefully, and Kuang and others rebutted him. The Censorate memorialized in reply but did not include Kuang's statements; Kuang also impeached the censor-in-chief Peng Ze. The emperor rebuked Peng Ze and took no action against Xun. Censor Lin Younian was imprisoned for speaking bluntly; Han Bangqi, assistant surveillance commissioner of Zhejiang, offended a eunuch and was arrested; Kuang intervened to save them both. The emperor stayed at Datong for a long time without returning; Kuang urgently petitioned for the imperial tour to end and the court to return. He also joined Shi Tianzhu of the works section in defending Peng Ze, thereby offending Wang Qiong. An imperial rescript transferred the two men to posts outside the capital; Kuang was assigned as magistrate of Huizhou. When the Jiajing emperor ascended the throne, Kuang was recalled as supervising secretary. He was soon promoted to vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and then transferred to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. In Jiajing 3 he was transferred to serve as prefect of Yingtian. That year there was a severe famine; he memorialized for tax relief. After four years he was transferred to right vice minister of punishments at Nanjing and returned home to care for his aged mother. He lived in retirement for ten years, then was reinstated in his former post. He was soon promoted to right censor-in-chief at Nanjing. When the garrison eunuch presented a memorial, he routinely had two censors supervise the ceremony. Kuang said: "How can a eunuch order censors about?" He put a stop to the practice. On entering court he called on Grand Secretary Xia Yan. Yan was extremely arrogant; most senior ministers sat off to the side, but Kuang alone drew him to the seat of honor. Yan took offense, and Kuang thereupon resigned on grounds of illness and returned home.

爌與御史潘壯不相能。壯坐大獄，詔爌提問。爌力白壯罪，至忤旨。人以此稱爌長者。卒，贈工部尚書。

Kuang and censor Pan Zhuang were on bad terms. When Zhuang was implicated in a major case, an edict ordered Kuang to conduct the interrogation. Kuang vigorously declared Zhuang innocent, even to the point of defying the emperor's intent. People for this reason praised Kuang as a man of magnanimous character. When he died he was posthumously ennobled as Minister of Works.

王軏，開平衛人，弘治十二年進士。正德初，歷工部員外郎，屢遷山東左布政使。嘉靖初，入為順天府尹。房山地震，軏言召災有由，語多指斥。忤旨切責。尋遷副都御史，巡撫四川。芒部土官知府隴慰死，庶子政與嫡子壽爭立，朝議立壽。政倚烏撒，數構兵，使人誘殺壽，奪其印。軏請討之。乃會貴州兵分道進，擒政於水西，招降四十九寨。璽書獎勞。

Wang Yue was a native of Kaiping Guard and passed the jinshi examination in Hongzhi 12. Early in the Zhengde reign he served as vice director in the Ministry of Works and was repeatedly promoted until he became left administration commissioner of Shandong. Early in the Jiajing reign he entered the capital as prefect of Shuntian. When Fangshan suffered an earthquake, Yue said the calamity had its cause and his memorial largely cast blame. He offended the emperor and was sharply rebuked. He was soon transferred to vice censor-in-chief and appointed grand coordinator of Sichuan. The Mang tribal native-official prefect Long Wei died; the secondary son Zheng and the legitimate son Shou contested the succession, and court deliberation favored installing Shou. Zheng relied on Wusa, repeatedly raised troops, had men lure Shou to his death, and seized the official seal. Yue requested a punitive campaign against Zheng. He then joined forces with Guizhou troops advancing by separate routes, captured Zheng at Shuixi, and won the surrender of forty-nine stockades. The emperor sent an imperial letter commending and rewarding him.

時將營仁壽宮，就拜軏工部右侍郎，督采大木。工罷，召還，改戶部。核九門苜蓿地，以余地歸之民。勘禦馬監草場，厘地二萬余頃，募民以佃。房山民以牧馬地獻中官韋恒，軏厘歸之官。奸人馮賢等復獻中官李秀，秀為請於帝，軏抗疏劾之。帝雖宥秀，竟治賢等如律。出核勛戚莊田，請如周制，計品秩，別親疏，以定多寡，非詔賜而隱占者俱追斷。戶部尚書梁材采其言，兼並者悉歸官。稍進左侍郎。

As work was about to begin on the Renshou Palace, Yue was appointed on the spot right vice minister of works to supervise the procurement of large timber. When the work was finished he was recalled and transferred to the Ministry of Revenue. He audited the alfalfa lands of the nine gates and returned surplus land to the people. He surveyed the Imperial Stud Directorate pasturage, rectified more than twenty thousand qing of land, and recruited tenants to farm it. The people of Fangshan presented horse-pasture land to the eunuch Wei Heng; Yue rectified the matter and returned the land to official control. Schemers such as Feng Xian again presented land to the eunuch Li Xiu; Xiu petitioned the emperor on their behalf, and Yue submitted a forceful memorial impeaching him. Although the emperor pardoned Li Xiu, he ultimately punished Feng Xian and the others according to law. He went out to audit the estate lands of meritorious nobles and imperial kin, proposing that, as under the Zhou system, rank and degree of kinship should determine how much each might hold, and that all who had seized land without an edictal grant be pursued and stripped of it. Minister of Revenue Liang Cai adopted his proposal, and all illegally consolidated lands were returned to official control. He was soon promoted to left vice minister.

初，軏之平隴政也，以隴氏無後，請改設流官，兵部尚書李鉞等然之。遂改芒部為鎮雄府，分置四長官司，授隴氏疏屬阿濟等為長官，而擢重慶通判程洸為試知府。隴氏舊部沙保等攻執洸，奪其印，欲復立隴氏後。巡撫王廷相等破保，洸得還。保子普奴復連烏撒、水西苗攻剽畢節諸衛。帝命伍文定圖之。以朝議不合，召還。御史戴金因言：「芒部改流之議，諸司鹹執不可。軏徇洸邪說，違眾獨行，致疆場不靖。」遂罷軏官。

When Yue had earlier pacified Long Zheng, because the Long house had no heir he requested that regular officials be installed instead; Minister of War Li Zhen and others agreed. Mang territory was therefore reorganized as Zhenxiong Prefecture, four chiefdom districts were established, distant kinsmen of the Long house such as Aji were appointed chiefs, and Chongqing subprefect Cheng Hao was promoted to acting prefect. Former followers of the Long house such as Shabao attacked, seized Cheng Hao, and took his seal, intending to restore a descendant of the Long house. Grand coordinator Wang Tingxiang and others defeated Shabao, and Cheng Hao was able to return. Shabao's son Punu again joined forces with the Wusa and Shuixi tribes in raiding the guards around Bijie. The emperor ordered Wu Wending to devise a plan to deal with them. Because court opinion was divided, he was recalled. Censor Dai Jin thereupon said: "On the proposal to replace Mang rule with regular administration, all the offices insisted that it could not be done. Yue followed Cheng Hao's perverse proposal, defied consensus and acted on his own, and brought unrest to the frontier." Yue was thereupon dismissed from office.

以兵部尚書李承勛薦，起故官，總督倉場。再遷南京戶部尚書。御史龔湜劾軏老悖；吏部言軏居官儉素，搢紳儀表。帝乃責湜妄言。久之，就改兵部，參贊機務。詔舉將材，薦鄭卿、沈希儀等二十一人，皆擢用。居四年，以老乞罷。疏中言享年若干，帝以為非告君體，勒為民。久之卒。

On the recommendation of Minister of War Li Chengxun, he was reinstated in his former post and appointed grand coordinator of the granary depots. He was again transferred to Minister of Revenue at Nanjing. Censor Gong Shi impeached Yue as aged and obstinate; the Ministry of Personnel replied that in office Yue was frugal and plain and a model for officials and gentry alike. The emperor then rebuked Gong Shi for reckless accusations. After some time he was transferred on the spot to the Ministry of War to assist in military affairs. When an edict called for recommendations of military talent, he recommended Zheng Qing, Shen Xiyi, and twenty-one others in all, all of whom were promoted and employed. After four years in office, he petitioned to retire on account of age. In his memorial he stated how many years he had lived; the emperor deemed this an improper way to address one's sovereign and stripped him of office, reducing him to commoner status. After some time he died.

徐問，字用中，武進人。弘治十五年進士。授廣平推官。遷刑部主事，歷兵部，出為登州知府。地濱海多盜，問盡捕之。調臨江。修築壞堤七十二。轉長蘆鹽運使。運司故利藪，自好者不樂居。問曰：「吾欲清是官也。」終任不取一錢。累遷廣東左布政使。

Xu Wen, styled Yongzhong, was a native of Wujin. In the fifteenth year of Hongzhi he passed the jinshi examination. He was appointed investigating magistrate of Guangping. He was transferred to a principal secretary in the Ministry of Punishments, served in the Ministry of War, and went out as prefect of Dengzhou. The region bordered the sea and had many bandits; Wen captured them all. He was transferred to Linjiang. He repaired seventy-two broken dikes. He was transferred to salt transport commissioner of Changlu. The transport office had long been a den of profit, and men of integrity were unwilling to serve there. Wen said, "I wish to purify this office." Throughout his term he did not take a single coin. He was repeatedly promoted to Left Administration Commissioner of Guangdong.

嘉靖十一年以治行卓異，拜右副都御史，巡撫貴州。獨山州賊蒙鉞弒父為亂。問聞南丹、泗城欲助逆，檄廣西撫按伐其謀。又檄鉞弟釗復父仇，事平得承襲。鉞援絕。問督大兵分道入，誅之。捷聞，賜金綺，召為兵部右侍郎。疏陳武備八事。又言：「兩廣、雲、貴半土司，深山密菁，瑤、僮、羅、僰所窟穴。邊將喜功召釁，好為掃穴之舉。王師每入，巨憝潛蹤，所誅戮率無辜赤子。興大兵，費厚餉，以易無辜命，非陛下好生意。宜敕邊臣布威信，嚴厄塞，謹哨探，使各安邊境，以絕禍萌。」帝深納其言。尋引疾歸。二十一年，召為南京禮部侍郎。久之，就遷戶部尚書。復引疾去，卒於家。

In the eleventh year of Jiajing, on account of outstanding administrative merit, he was appointed Right Vice Censor-in-Chief and grand coordinator of Guizhou. At Dushan Prefecture the bandit Meng Yue murdered his father and rose in rebellion. When Wen learned that Nandan and Sicheng intended to aid the rebels, he dispatched orders to the Guangxi grand coordinators and surveillance commissioners to thwart their plot. He also ordered Meng Yue's younger brother Zhao to avenge their father; when the affair was settled, Zhao received the succession. Meng Yue's support was cut off. Wen supervised the main army entering by several routes and executed him. When victory was reported, he was granted gold and brocade and summoned as Vice Minister of War. In a memorial he set forth eight measures for military preparedness. He also said: "In the two Guang and in Yunnan-Guizhou, half the territory is under native chieftains; in deep mountains and dense thickets lie the lairs of the Yao, Zhuang, Luo, and Bo. Border generals, eager for merit, provoke incidents and love to mount campaigns to uproot whole nests. Whenever the imperial army enters, the great villains slip away in hiding, and those killed are mostly innocent common people. To raise a great army and spend heavy rations in exchange for innocent lives is not in keeping with Your Majesty's cherishing of life. Border officials ought to be ordered to extend authority and trust, tighten strategic passes, keep careful watch at outposts, and let each side abide within its borders so the seeds of disaster are cut off at the start." The emperor deeply accepted his words. Soon he retired on grounds of illness. In the twenty-first year he was summoned as Vice Minister of Rites at Nanjing. After some time he was transferred on the spot to Minister of Revenue. He again pleaded illness and left office, and died at home.

問清節自勵。居官四十年，敝廬蕭然，田不滿百畝。好學不倦，粹然深造，為士類所宗。隆慶初，謚莊裕。

Wen held himself to incorrupt integrity. In forty years of office his humble dwelling was bleakly empty, and his fields did not amount to a hundred mu. He loved learning without weariness, attained pure and profound cultivation, and was revered by scholars. In the early Longqing reign he was posthumously granted the title Zhuangyu.

張邦奇，字常甫，鄞人。年十五作《易解》及《釋國語》。登弘治末年進士，改庶吉士，授檢討。出為湖廣提學副使。下教曰：「學不孔、顏，行不曾、閔，雖文如雄、褒，吾且斥之。」在任三四年，諸生競勸。時世宗方為興世子，獻皇遣就試。乃特設兩案，己居北而使世子居南。文成，送入學。世宗由此知邦奇。嘉靖初，提學四川，以親孝乞歸。久之，桂萼掌銓，去留天下提學官，起邦奇福建。未幾，選外僚入坊局，改右庶子，遷南京祭酒。以身為教，學規整肅。就遷吏部侍郎。丁外艱歸。

Zhang Bangqi, styled Changfu, was a native of Yin county. At fifteen he composed "Explanations of the Changes" and "Exegesis of the Discourses of the States." In the final years of Hongzhi he passed the jinshi examination, was made a Hanlin Bachelor, and appointed Erudite at the Hanlin Academy. He went out as Vice Commissioner for Education in Huguang. His instruction ran: "If one's learning is not that of Confucius and Yan Hui, and one's conduct not that of Zengzi and Min Ziqian—even if one's writing rivaled Yang Xiong and Liu Xiang, I shall reject such a one." Within three or four years in office the students vied in moral cultivation. At the time the future Jiajing Emperor was still heir to the Princedom of Xing; Prince Xian sent him to take the examination. Bangqi specially set up two desks, placing himself on the north and the prince on the south. When the compositions were finished, they were submitted to the school. From this the prince came to know Bangqi. In the early Jiajing reign he served as Commissioner for Education in Sichuan and begged leave to return on account of mourning for his parent. After some time Gui E took charge of the Board of Personnel and reviewed all commissioners for education nationwide; Bangqi was recalled to Fujian. Before long, outside officials were selected for the Eastern Palace and Secretariat; he was made Right Vice Director and transferred to Chancellor of the National University at Nanjing. He taught by his own example, and the academic regulations were orderly and strict. He was transferred on the spot to Vice Minister of Personnel. On mourning for his father he returned home.

帝嘗奉太后謁天壽諸陵，語及擇相。太后曰：「先皇嘗言提學張邦奇器識，他日可為宰相，其人安在？」帝憬然曰：「尚未用也。」服闋，即召為吏部右侍郎，掌部事。推轂善類，人不可幹以私。銓部升除，多受教政府，邦奇獨否，大學士李時銜之。郭勛家人犯法，舁重賄請寬，邦奇不從。帝欲即授邦奇尚書，為兩人沮止。尋改掌翰林院事，充日講官，加太子賓客，改掌詹事府。九載考績，晉禮部尚書。以母老欲便養，乃改南京吏部。復改兵部，參贊機務。帝猶念邦奇，時與嚴嵩語及之。嵩曰：「邦奇性至孝，母老，不樂北來。」帝信其言，遂不召。二十三年卒，年六十一。贈太子太保，謚文定。

The emperor once accompanied the empress dowager on a visit to the Tianshou tombs and spoke of choosing a chief minister. The empress dowager said, "Your late father once said that the education commissioner Zhang Bangqi had ability and judgment and might one day serve as chief minister—where is that man now?" The emperor started and said, "He has not yet been employed." When mourning was over he was at once summoned as Right Vice Minister of Personnel to manage the ministry. He promoted worthy men and could not be swayed by private interests. Appointments and dismissals in the Board of Personnel often followed instructions from the chief ministers; Bangqi alone refused, and Grand Secretary Li Shi bore a grudge. When retainers of Guo Xun broke the law and offered heavy bribes seeking leniency, Bangqi would not agree. The emperor wished to appoint Bangqi minister at once, but the two men obstructed and stopped it. Soon he was reassigned to manage Hanlin Academy affairs, served as daily lecturer, was made Tutor to the Heir Apparent, and transferred to manage the Household of the Heir Apparent. At the nine-year performance review he was advanced to Minister of Rites. Because his mother was old and he wished to care for her nearby, he was transferred to Minister of Personnel at Nanjing. He was again transferred to the Ministry of War to assist in military affairs. The emperor still thought of Bangqi and from time to time spoke of him with Yan Song. Yan Song said, "Bangqi is thoroughly filial by nature; his mother is old and he is unwilling to come north." The emperor believed his words and therefore did not summon him. In the twenty-third year he died, aged sixty-one. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grand Tutor to the Heir Apparent and given the posthumous title Wendi.

邦奇之學以程、朱為宗。宗王守仁友善，而語每不合。躬修力踐，跬步必謹。晝之所為，夕必書於冊。性篤孝，以養親故，屢起輒退。其母後邦奇卒，壽至百歲。邦奇事寡嫂如事母。所著《學庸傳》、《五經說》及文集，粹然一出於正。

Bangqi's learning took Cheng Hao and Zhu Xi as its standard. He was on friendly terms with Wang Shouren, yet their words often did not agree. He cultivated himself in practice, careful at every step. What he did by day he necessarily wrote down in a book by evening. By nature deeply filial, for the sake of supporting his parents he repeatedly accepted appointment only to retire. His mother survived him; she lived to a hundred. Bangqi served his widowed sister-in-law as he would his mother. His works "Commentary on the Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean," "Treatises on the Five Classics," and his collected writings are all purely within the orthodox tradition.

族父時徹，少邦奇二十歲，受業於邦奇。仕至南京兵部尚書。有文名。

His clansman-uncle Shi Che was twenty years younger than Bangqi and studied under him. In office he rose to Minister of War at Nanjing. He had a literary reputation.

韓邦奇，字汝節，朝邑人。父紹宗，福建副使。邦奇登正德三年進士，除吏部主事，進員外郎。六年冬，京師地震，上疏陳時政闕失。忤旨，不報。會給事中孫禎等劾臣僚不職者，並及邦奇。吏部已議留，帝竟以前疏故，黜為平陽通判。遷浙江僉事，轄杭、嚴二府。宸濠令內豎假飯僧，聚千人於杭州天竺寺，邦奇立散遣之。其儀賓托進貢假道衢州，邦奇詰之曰：「入貢當沿江下，奚自假道？歸語王，韓僉事不可誑也。」

Han Bangqi, styled Rujie, was a native of Chaoyi. His father Shaozong had served as vice commissioner of Fujian. Bangqi passed the jinshi examination in the third year of Zhengde and was appointed principal secretary in the Ministry of Personnel, advancing to vice director. In the winter of the sixth year, when the capital was shaken by an earthquake, he submitted a memorial setting forth the faults of current policy. He offended the imperial will and received no reply. At this time the supervising secretary Sun Zhen and others impeached officials for malfeasance and included Bangqi among them. The Ministry of Personnel had already decided to retain him, but the emperor, on account of his earlier memorial after all, demoted him to vice magistrate of Pingyang. He was transferred to vice commissioner of Zhejiang, with jurisdiction over Hangzhou and Yanzhou prefectures. Zhu Chenhao sent a palace eunuch under the pretense of feeding monks to gather a thousand men at Tianzhu Temple in Hangzhou; Bangqi immediately dispersed and sent them away. When a ritual guest of the prince sought passage through Quzhou on the pretext of presenting tribute, Bangqi interrogated him and said, "Tribute should proceed down the Yangzi River—why take this roundabout route? Return and tell the prince: Vice Commissioner Han cannot be deceived."

時中官在浙者凡四人，王堂為鎮守，晁進督織造，崔泬主市舶，張玉管營造。爪牙四出，民不聊生。邦奇疏請禁止，又數裁抑堂。邦奇閔中官采富陽茶魚為民害，作歌哀之。堂遂奏邦奇沮格上供，作歌怨謗。帝怒，逮至京，下詔獄。廷臣論救，皆不聽，斥為民。

At the time there were four eunuchs in Zhejiang: Wang Tang as military commissioner, Chao Jin supervising weaving, Cui Jiong in charge of the customs bureau, and Zhang Yu managing construction. Their agents reached everywhere and the people had no livelihood. Bangqi memorialized requesting a ban, and repeatedly curbed Tang. Bangqi pitied the people over the harm done by eunuchs collecting tea and fish at Fuyang and composed a lament. Tang then memorialized that Bangqi obstructed tribute to the court and composed a song of resentment and slander. The emperor was enraged, had him arrested and brought to the capital, and placed him in the imperial prison. Court officials pleaded for mercy but none was heeded; he was dismissed as a commoner.

嘉靖初，起山東參議。乞休去。尋用薦，以故官蒞山西。再乞休去。起四川提學副使，入為春坊右庶子。七年偕同官方鵬主應天鄉試，坐試錄謬誤，謫南京太仆丞。復乞歸。起山東副使，遷大理丞，進少卿，以右僉都御史巡撫宣府。入佐院事，進右副都御史，巡撫遼東。時遼陽兵變，侍郎黃宗明言邦奇素有威望，請假以便宜，速往定亂。帝方事姑息，不從，命與山西巡撫任洛換官。至山西，為政嚴肅，有司供具悉不納，間日出俸米易肉一斤。居四年，引疾歸。

In the early Jiajing reign he was recalled as administration commissioner of Shandong. He requested retirement and left office. Soon afterward, on recommendation, he took up his former post in Shanxi. He again requested retirement and left office. He was recalled as vice education intendant of Sichuan, then entered the capital as right assistant in the Eastern Palace. In the seventh year, together with his colleague Fang Peng he presided over the Yingtian provincial examination; for errors in the examination record he was demoted to vice director of the Nanjing Court of the Imperial Stud. He again asked to return home. Recalled as vice commissioner of Shandong, he was transferred to assistant director of the Court of Judicial Review, promoted to vice director, and appointed right vice censor-in-chief to supervise Xuanfu. He entered the capital to assist in censorate affairs, was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief, and supervised Liaodong. At the time the troops at Liaoyang mutinied; Vice Minister Huang Zongming said Bangqi had long enjoyed great prestige and asked that he be granted discretionary authority to go quickly and put down the disturbance. The emperor was then inclined to leniency and would not agree; he ordered Bangqi and Ren Luo, grand coordinator of Shanxi, to exchange posts. On reaching Shanxi, he governed with strict severity, refused all provisions offered by subordinate officials, and from time to time exchanged part of his salary grain for a pound of meat. After four years in office, he cited illness and retired.

中外交薦，以故官起督河道。遷刑部右侍郎，改吏部。拜南京右都御史，進兵部尚書，參贊機務。致仕歸。三十四年，陜西地大震，邦奇隕焉。贈太子少保，謚恭簡。

Recommended at court and beyond, he was recalled to his former rank to supervise the waterways. He was transferred to right vice minister of Justice, then to the Ministry of Personnel. He was appointed right censor-in-chief at Nanjing, promoted to minister of War, and assisted in state affairs. He retired and returned home. In the thirty-fourth year a great earthquake struck Shaanxi, and Bangqi was killed. He was posthumously made Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent, with the posthumous name Gongjian ("Respectful and Simple").

邦奇性嗜學。自諸經、子、史及天文、地理、樂律、術數、兵法之書，無不通究。著述甚富。所撰《誌樂》，尤為世所稱。

Bangqi was by nature devoted to learning. From the Classics, masters, and histories to works on astronomy, geography, music, calendrical science, divination, and military strategy, there was virtually no field he had not mastered. His writings were extensive. His treatise Records of Music was especially acclaimed.

弟邦靖，字汝度。年十四舉於鄉。與邦奇同登進士，授工部主事。榷木浙江，額不充，被劾，以守官廉得免。進員外郎。乾清宮災，指斥時政甚切。武宗大怒，下之詔獄。給事中李鐸等以為言，乃奪職為民。世宗即位，起山西左參議，分守大同。歲饑，人相食，奏請發帑，不許。復抗疏千余言，不報。乞歸，不待命輒行。軍民遮道泣留。抵家病卒，年三十六。未幾，邦奇亦以參議蒞大同。父老因邦靖故，前迎，皆泣下。邦奇亦泣。

His younger brother Bangjing, styled Rudu. At fourteen he passed the provincial examination. He and Bangqi passed the jinshi examination together; he was appointed principal secretary in the Ministry of Works. While collecting timber levies in Zhejiang he failed to meet the quota and was impeached, but was excused on grounds of incorrupt service. He was promoted to vice director. After the Qianqing Palace burned, he criticized current policy in the sharpest terms. Emperor Wuzong was furious and had him thrown into the imperial prison. Supervising secretaries Li Duo and others pleaded for him, and he was merely stripped of office and reduced to commoner status. When Emperor Shizong acceded, he was recalled as left administration commissioner of Shanxi to defend Datong. In a famine year people resorted to cannibalism; he memorialized asking that funds be released from the treasury, but the request was denied. He again submitted a forthright memorial of more than a thousand characters and received no response. He asked to retire and left without waiting for imperial approval. Soldiers and civilians barred the road, weeping as they tried to keep him from leaving. He reached home and died of illness at thirty-six. Before long Bangqi likewise arrived at Datong as administration commissioner. The local elders, remembering Bangjing, came forward to greet him, all in tears. Bangqi wept as well.

邦奇嘗廬居，病歲餘不能起。邦靖藥必分嘗，食飲皆手進。後邦靖病亟，邦奇日夜持弟泣，不解衣者三月。及歿，衰绖蔬食，終喪弗懈。鄉人為立「孝弟碑」。

Bangqi once lived in a mourning hut and was bedridden for more than a year. Bangjing always tasted his brother's medicine first and personally served his food and drink. Later, when Bangjing fell gravely ill, Bangqi held his brother day and night, weeping; for three months he never undressed. After his death Bangqi wore hemp mourning and ate plain fare, never relaxing observance through the full mourning period. The villagers erected for him a stele entitled "Filial Piety and Brotherly Affection."

周金，字子庚，武進人。正德三年進士。授工科給事中。累遷戶科都給事中。疏言：「京糧歲入三百五萬，而食者乃四百三萬，當痛為澄汰。中官迎佛及監織造者濫乞引鹽，暴橫道路，當罷。都督馬昂納有妊女弟，當誅昂而還其女。」朝議用兵土魯番，復哈密。金言西邊虛憊，而土魯番險遠，且青海之寇窺伺西寧，不宜計哈密。已，卒從金議。

Zhou Jin, styled Zigeng, was a native of Wujin. He passed the jinshi examination in the third year of Zhengde. He was appointed supervising secretary in the Ministry of Works. He rose through the ranks to chief supervising secretary of the Revenue Bureau. In a memorial he wrote: "Annual grain intake for the capital is 3.5 million piculs, yet those receiving rations number 4.3 million—the rolls must be ruthlessly purged. Palace eunuchs escorting Buddhist images and supervisors of imperial weaving who indiscriminately seek salt vouchers and swagger violently along the roads should be suppressed. Commander Ma Ang took in his pregnant younger sister as a concubine—Ang should be executed and the woman sent home." The court debated military action against Turfan to recover Hami. Jin argued that the western frontier was drained and weak, Turfan was dangerous and remote, and Qinghai raiders were eyeing Xining—Hami should not be the focus of strategy. In the end the court adopted Jin's view.

嘉靖元年由太仆寺少卿遷都察院右僉都御史，巡撫延綏。邊人貧甚。金為招商聚粟，廣屯積芻，以時給其食。改撫宣府，進右副都御史。大同叛卒殺張文錦，邊鎮兵皆驕。宣府總督侍郎馮清苛刻。諸軍請糧不從，且欲鞭之，眾轟然圍清府署。金方病，出坐院門，召諸軍官數之曰：「是若輩剝削之過！」欲痛鞭之。軍士氣稍平，擁而前請曰：「總制不恤我耳！」金從容諭以利害，眾乃散解去，得無變。改撫保定。巡按御史李新芳疑廣平知縣謀己，欲抶之。知府為之解，並欲執知府，發兵二千捕之。知府及佐貳皆走，一城盡空。金發其罪狀，而都御史王廷相庇新芳，與相爭。帝卒下新芳刑部，黜官。金遷兵部右侍郎。未幾，進右都御史，總督漕運，巡撫鳳陽諸府。久之，擢南京刑部尚書，就轉戶部。二十四年致仕歸，歲餘卒。贈太子太保，謚襄敏。

In the first year of Jiajing he was transferred from vice director of the Court of the Imperial Stud to right vice censor-in-chief, with authority over Yan-sui. The border population was desperately poor. Jin encouraged merchants to bring in grain, expanded garrison farming and fodder stores, and saw that provisions were distributed on schedule. He was reassigned to supervise Xuanfu and promoted to right vice censor-in-chief. Mutinous troops at Datong killed Zhang Wenjin, and soldiers at every border garrison grew unruly. Feng Qing, vice minister and grand coordinator of Xuanfu, was harsh and overbearing. When the troops asked for rations he refused, and even threatened to flog them; with a roar the men surrounded Feng Qing's headquarters. Jin was ill at the time; he came out and sat at the yamen gate, summoned the officers, and rebuked them: "This is your fault for extorting the men!" He threatened to flog them severely. The soldiers' anger eased somewhat; pressing forward they cried: "The grand coordinator does not care for us at all!" Jin calmly explained the consequences; the men then dispersed, and no disturbance arose. He was reassigned to supervise Baoding. Touring investigating censor Li Xinfang suspected the magistrate of Guangping of plotting against him and wished to have him beaten. The prefect intervened on the magistrate's behalf; Li then tried to seize the prefect as well and sent two thousand troops to capture him. The prefect and his deputies all fled, and the city was left deserted. Jin exposed Li's misconduct, but censor-in-chief Wang Tingxiang shielded Xinfang, and the two clashed. The emperor eventually handed Xinfang over to the Ministry of Justice and removed him from office. Jin was transferred to right vice minister of War. Soon he was promoted to right censor-in-chief, placed in charge of the Grand Canal transport, and given supervision over the Fengyang region. After some years he was promoted to minister of Justice at Nanjing, then moved directly to the Ministry of Revenue. In the twenty-fourth year he retired; a little over a year later he died. He was posthumously made Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent, with the posthumous name Xiangmin.

吳嶽，字汝喬，汶上人。嘉靖十一年進士。授戶部主事，歷郎中。督餉宣府，吏進羨金數千，拒之。出知廬州府。稅課歲萬金，例輸府，嶽以代郵傳費。西山薪故供官爨，嶽弛以利民。以憂去。服除，改保定，治如廬州。歷山西副使、浙江參政、湖廣按察使、山西右布政使，並以清靜得民。遷右僉都御史，巡撫保定六府。奏裁征發冗費十六七，民力遂寬。甫浹歲，引疾去。久之，以貴州巡撫征。尋進左副都御史，協理院事。隆慶元年，歷吏部左、右侍郎。京察竣，給事中胡應嘉有所申救。嶽詣內閣抗聲曰：「科臣敢留考察罷黜官，有故事乎？」應嘉遂得譴。遷南京禮部尚書，就改吏部。抑浮薄，杜僥幸，南都縉紳憚之。上疏陳六事，帝頗納其言。尋改兵部，參贊機務。未上，給由過家，病卒。詔贈太子太保，謚介肅。

Wu Yue, styled Rujiao, was a native of Wenshang. He passed the jinshi examination in the eleventh year of Jiajing. He was appointed principal secretary in the Ministry of Revenue and rose to serve as director. While supervising grain supplies at Xuanfu, clerks offered him several thousand taels in "supplementary" silver; he refused. He was appointed prefect of Luzhou. Annual tax receipts came to ten thousand taels, which by custom went to the prefectural treasury; Yue applied them to courier expenses instead. Firewood from West Mountain had formerly been reserved for official use; Yue lifted the restriction to ease the burden on the people. He left office to observe mourning. When his mourning ended he was assigned to Baoding and governed there as he had at Luzhou. He served as vice commissioner of Shanxi, administration commissioner of Zhejiang, surveillance commissioner of Huguang, and right administration commissioner of Shanxi, winning popular esteem everywhere through quiet, upright government. He was promoted to right vice censor-in-chief and given supervision over the six Baoding prefectures. He memorialized to cut redundant levies by six or seven tenths, greatly easing the burden on the people. After barely a year he cited illness and retired. After some years he was recalled to serve as grand coordinator of Guizhou. Soon he was promoted to left vice censor-in-chief and assisted in managing the Censorate. In the first year of Longqing he served successively as left and right vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel. After the capital civil inspection, supervising secretary Hu Yingjia intervened on behalf of an official marked for dismissal. Yue went to the Grand Secretariat and demanded in a loud voice: "When has a supervising censor ever kept in office someone the inspection marked for dismissal—is there any precedent for that?" Yingjia was thereupon punished. He was transferred to minister of Rites at Nanjing, then moved directly to the Ministry of Personnel. He curbed frivolous conduct and shut off opportunism, and the officials of the southern capital stood in awe of him. He memorialized on six policy points, and the emperor largely accepted his recommendations. Soon he was moved to the Ministry of War to assist in state affairs. Before he could assume the post, he was granted leave to visit home and died of illness en route. An edict posthumously enfeoffed him as Grand Mentor to the Heir Apparent and gave him the posthumous name Jiesu (Incorruptible and Solemn).

嶽清望冠一時，禔躬嚴整。尚書馬森言平生見廉節士二人，嶽與譚大初耳。嶽知廬州時，王廷守蘇州，以公事遇京口。嶽召為金山遊，攜酒一缶，肉一斤，菜數束。廷笑曰：「止是乎？」嶽亦笑曰：「足供我兩人食矣。」歡竟日而還。去廬日，假一蓋禦雨，至即命還之。

Yue's reputation for integrity stood foremost in his age, and his personal conduct was stern and orderly. The Minister Ma Sen said that in his life he had seen only two men of incorruptible integrity—Yue and Tan Dachu. When Yue was prefect of Luzhou, Wang Ting was defending Suzhou; they met at Jingkou on official business. Yue invited him on an outing to Jinshan, bringing one jar of wine, a pound of meat, and several bundles of vegetables. Ting laughed and said, "Is this all? Yue also laughed and said, "It is enough to feed the two of us. They enjoyed themselves the whole day and returned. On the day he left Luzhou he borrowed an umbrella against the rain and, upon arrival, immediately ordered it returned.

譚大初，字宗元，始興人。嘉靖十七年進士。授工部主事。憂歸。起補戶部，改戶科給事中。數論事。歷兵科左給事中，出為江西副使。清軍，多所釋。御史孫慎以失額為疑，大初曰：「失額罪小，殃民罪大。」嚴嵩親黨奪民田，治之不少貸。遷廣西右參政，投劾歸。久之，起故官河南。未上，擢南京右通政。俄遷應天府尹。將赴南都，而穆宗即位，乞以參政致仕，不許。隆慶元年召拜工部右侍郎，尋遷戶部左侍郎，督倉場。海瑞為僉都御史，大初力薦瑞。已而屢疏乞休，不允。拜南京戶部尚書，引疾去。家居，田不及百畝。卒年七十五。謚莊懿。

Tan Dachu, styled Zongyuan, was a native of Shixing. He passed the jinshi examination in Jiajing 17. He was appointed a principal secretary in the Ministry of Works. He returned home to observe mourning. He was recalled to the Ministry of Revenue and transferred to supervising secretary in the Bureau of Revenue. He repeatedly remonstrated on state affairs. He served as left supervising secretary in the Bureau of Military Affairs, then went out as vice commissioner of Jiangxi. While inspecting troops he released many men. The censor Sun Shen suspected him of shortfall in quotas; Dachu said, "A shortfall is a small offense; harming the people is a great one. When kinsmen of Yan Song seized the people's fields, he punished them without leniency. He was transferred to Right Assistant Administration Commissioner of Guangxi and submitted an impeachment of himself to retire. After a long while he was recalled to his former office in Henan. Before he took up the post he was promoted to Right Vice Commissioner of Transmissions at Nanjing. Shortly he was transferred to be prefect of Yingtian. As he was about to go to the southern capital, Emperor Muzong ascended the throne; he asked to retire with the rank of administration commissioner, but was not permitted. In Longqing 1 he was summoned as Right Vice Minister of Works, then soon transferred to Left Vice Minister of Revenue with charge of the granary depots. When Hai Rui was made censor-in-chief, Dachu strongly recommended him. Later he repeatedly memorialized to retire, but was not permitted. He was appointed Minister of Revenue at Nanjing and retired citing illness. At home his fields amounted to less than a hundred mu. He died at the age of seventy-five. He was given the posthumous name Zhuangyi (Solemn and Kind).

贊曰：當正、嘉之際，士大夫刓方為圓，貶其素履，羔羊素絲之節浸以微矣。陶琰諸人清操峻特，卓然可風。南都列卿，後先相望，不其賢乎。琰之督漕，充嗣之守禦，良永之遏錢寧，周金之弭亂卒，所豎立甚偉。至琰子之直節，廷弼、邦靖之篤行，尤無忝其父兄雲。

The commentator says: In the Zhengde and Jiajing era, scholar-officials planed the square into the round, belittled their plain conduct, and the integrity symbolized by the lamb and the white silk grew ever faint. Tao Yan and his fellows were stern and exceptional in pure conduct, standing forth as models to be emulated. The chief ministers of the southern capital followed one upon another—were they not worthy men? Yan's direction of grain transport, Chongsi's defense, Liangyong's curbing of Qian Ning, and Jin's quelling of mutinous troops—the achievements they raised up were very great. As for the upright integrity of Yan's son, and the devoted conduct of Tingbi and Bangjing, they especially did not disgrace their fathers and elder brothers.

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