Volume 231 Biographies 119: Gu Xiancheng, Gu Yuncheng, Qian Yiben, Yu Kongjian, Shi Menglin, Xue Fujiao, An Xifan, Liu Yuanzhen, Ye Maocai

顧憲成〈（歐陽東鳳吳炯）〉顧允成〈（張納陛賈巖諸壽賢彭遵古）〉錢一本〈（子春）〉於孔兼〈（陳泰來）〉史孟麟薛敷教安希範〈（吳弘濟譚一召孫繼有）〉劉元珍〈（龐時雍）〉葉茂才

Gu Xiancheng (Ouyang Dongfeng, Wu Jiong)〉 Gu Yuncheng (Zhang Nabi, Jia Yan, Zhu Shouxian, and Peng Zungu)〉 Qian Yiben (Zichun)〉 Yu Kongjian (Chen Tailai)〉 Shi Menglin, Xue Fujiao, and An Xifan (Wu Hongji, Tan Yizhao, and Sun Jiyou)〉 Liu Yuanzhen (Pang Shiyong)〉 Ye Maocai

顧憲成，字叔時，無錫人。萬歷四年，舉鄉試第一。八年成進士，授戶部主事。大學士張居正病，朝士群為之禱，憲成不可。同官代之署名，憲成手削去之。居正卒，改吏部主事。請告歸三年，補驗封主事。

Gu Xiancheng, whose style was Shushi, came from Wuxi. In the fourth year of the Wanli reign he ranked first in the provincial examinations. In the eighth year he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Revenue. When Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng fell ill, officials throughout the court flocked to pray for his recovery; Xiancheng refused to join them. A colleague signed his name on his behalf; Xiancheng personally struck the name out. After Juzheng's death he was transferred to a secretary's post in the Ministry of Personnel. He requested leave and returned home for three years, then was reassigned as secretary in the Sealing and Investiture section.

十五年，大計京朝官，都御史辛自修掌計事。工部尚書何起鳴在拾遺中，自修坐是失執政意。給事中陳與郊承風旨並論起鳴、自修，實以攻自修而庇起鳴。於是二人並罷，並責御史糾起鳴者四人。憲成不平，上疏語侵執政，被旨切責，謫桂陽州判官。稍遷處州推官。丁母憂，服除，補泉州推官。舉公廉第一。擢吏部考功主事，歷員外郎。會有詔三皇子並封王。憲成偕同官上疏曰：

In the fifteenth year the great triennial evaluation of capital officials was held, with Censor-in-Chief Xin Zixiu in charge of the proceedings. Minister of Works He Qiming was named in the supplementary recall list, and for this Zixiu lost the favor of the chief administrators. Supervising Secretary Chen Yuhe, following their intent, impeached both Qiming and Zixiu—in reality to strike at Zixiu while protecting Qiming. Thereupon both men were dismissed, and four censors who had impeached Qiming were punished as well. Indignant, Xiancheng submitted a memorial whose language offended the chief administrators; by imperial order he was sternly rebuked and demoted to assistant magistrate of Guiyang prefecture. He was gradually promoted to supervising secretary of Chuzhou. When his mother died he observed mourning; after the mourning period he was reassigned as supervising secretary of Quanzhou. He was rated first for public integrity. He was promoted to secretary in the Ministry of Personnel's Merit Evaluation section and rose through the ranks to vice director. At this time an edict came down to ennoble all three imperial sons as princes at once. Xiancheng and his colleagues submitted a memorial that read:

皇上因《祖訓》立嫡之條，欲暫令三皇子並封王，以待有嫡立嫡，無嫡立長。臣等伏而思之，「待」之一言，有大不可者。太子，天下本。豫定太子，所以固本。是故有嫡立嫡，無嫡立長，就見在論是也，待將來則非也。我朝建儲家法，東宮不待嫡，元子不並封。廷臣言甚詳，皇上概弗省，豈皇上創見有加列聖之上乎？有天下者稱天子，天子之元子稱太子。天子系乎天，君與天一體也；太子系乎父，父子一體也。主鬯承祧，於是乎在，不可得而爵。今欲並封三王，元子之封何所系乎？無所系，則難乎其為名；有所系，則難乎其為實。

Your Majesty, invoking the ancestral instruction's rule on establishing the heir by the legitimate line, wishes temporarily to ennoble all three princes at once, to wait until a son of the empress is born—then establish the legitimate son as heir, and if there is none, establish the eldest. We your ministers bow low and reflect: in the single word "wait" there is much that must not be done. The heir apparent is the foundation of the realm. To establish the heir in advance is how that foundation is secured. Thus "if there is a legitimate son, establish the legitimate son; if not, establish the eldest" applies when judging the present situation; to wait for the future is not correct. Our dynasty's established practice for creating an heir holds that the Eastern Palace does not wait for a son of the legitimate line, and the eldest son is not ennobled together with his brothers. Court ministers have spoken at length, yet Your Majesty has paid no heed to any of it. Does Your Majesty intend a novel departure rising above all the sage emperors of old? He who possesses the realm is called Son of Heaven; the Son of Heaven's eldest son is called heir apparent. The Son of Heaven is bound to Heaven—the ruler and Heaven are one body; the heir apparent is bound to the father—father and son are one body. He who presides over the ancestral sacrifices and continues the line is defined here; he cannot be reduced to a mere noble title. If you now wish to ennoble all three princes at once, to what is the eldest son's ennoblement attached? If attached to nothing, it is hard to make the title mean anything; if attached to something, it is hard to make the reality match.

皇上以為權宜雲耳。夫權宜者，不得已而行之也。元子為太子，諸子為藩王，於理順，於分稱，於情安，有何不得已而然乎？耦尊鈞大，逼所由生。皇上以《祖訓》為法，子孫以皇上為法。皇上不難創其所無，後世詎難襲其所有？自是而往，幸皆有嫡可也，不然，是無東宮也。又幸而如皇上之英明可也，不然，凡皇子皆東宮也，無乃啟萬世之大患乎？皇后與皇上共承宗祧，期於宗祧得人而已。皇上之元子諸子，即皇后之元子諸子。恭妃、皇貴妃不得而私之，統於尊也。豈必如輔臣王錫爵之請，須拜皇后為母，而後稱子哉？

Your Majesty takes this to be merely an expedient. An expedient is what one does only when there is no alternative. The eldest son as heir, the other sons as feudal princes—in reason it is orderly, in rank fitting, in affection secure—what necessity forces any other course? Two equals in honor weigh heavily upon the one who bore them. Your Majesty takes the ancestral instructions as law; posterity will take Your Majesty as law. If Your Majesty does not shrink from creating what never existed, will posterity shrink from copying whatever you establish? From this point onward, if fortunately there is always a legitimate son, all may be well; otherwise there will be no Eastern Palace at all. And if fortunately there is a sovereign as enlightened as Your Majesty, all may be well; otherwise every prince will be the Eastern Palace—will this not open a great calamity for ten thousand generations? The empress and Your Majesty jointly sustain the ancestral line, expecting only that the line receive the right man. Your Majesty's eldest son and other sons are likewise the empress's eldest and other sons. Lady Gong and the honored consort cannot claim them as their private sons; they are unified under the one who is honored. Must it be as Grand Secretary Wang Xijue requested—that they must first acknowledge the empress as mother before they may be called sons?

況始者奉旨，少待二三年而已，俄改二十年，又改於二十一年，然猶可以歲月期也。今曰「待嫡」，是未可以歲月期也。命方布而忽更，意屢遷而愈緩。自並封命下，叩閽上封事者不可勝數，至裏巷小民亦聚族而竊議，是孰使之然哉？人心之公也。而皇上猶責輔臣以擔當。錫爵夙夜趣召，乃排群議而順上旨，豈所謂擔當？必積誠感悟納皇上於無過之地，乃真擔當耳。不然，皇上且不能如天下何，而況錫爵哉！

Moreover, at first the edict said to wait only two or three years; soon it was changed to twenty, then to twenty-one—yet one could still reckon it by the calendar. Now to say "wait for the legitimate heir" is something that cannot be reckoned by the calendar at all. Orders are barely promulgated before they are changed; intentions shift again and again and grow ever more lax. Since the order for simultaneous enfeoffment was issued, those who beat the palace gates and submitted sealed memorials are beyond counting—even common folk in the lanes gather by clan to whisper about it. Who made this happen? It is the fairness of people's hearts. Yet Your Majesty still reproaches the grand secretaries for lacking backbone. Xijue, hurrying day and night at the summons, excluded the multitude of opinions to follow the imperial intent—is this what is called backbone? Only by accumulating sincerity to move Your Majesty and draw him into a place without fault is true backbone. Otherwise Your Majesty will not be able to answer to the realm—how much less Xijue!

皇上神明天縱，非溺寵狎昵之比。而不諒者，見影而疑形，聞響而疑聲，即臣等亦有不能為皇上解者。皇上盛德大業，比隆三五。而乃來此意外之紛紛，不亦惜乎！伏乞令皇元子早正儲位，皇第三子、皇第五子各就王爵。父父子子，君君臣臣，兄兄弟弟。宗廟之福，社稷之慶，悉在是矣。

Your Majesty's divine clarity was Heaven-given; you are not one who dotes excessively or treats intimates lightly. Yet those who do not understand see a shadow and suspect a form, hear a sound and suspect its source—even we your ministers have points we cannot explain on Your Majesty's behalf. Your Majesty's great virtue and great enterprise rival the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Yet to come to this unexpected uproar—is it not a pity! We humbly beg that the imperial eldest son be established early as heir, and that the third and fifth imperial sons each receive their princely titles. Father as father, son as son; ruler as ruler, subject as subject; elder brother as elder brother, younger brother as younger brother. The blessing of the ancestral temple and the rejoicing of the altars of soil and grain—all lie in this.

憲成又遺書錫爵，反覆辨論。其後並封議遂寢。

Xiancheng also sent a letter to Xijue, arguing back and forth at length. Afterward the proposal for simultaneous enfeoffment was abandoned.

二十一年京察。吏部尚書孫籥、考功郎中趙南星盡黜執政私人，憲成實左右之。及南星被斥，憲成疏請同罷，不報。尋遷文選郎中。所推舉率與執政牴牾。先是，吏部缺尚書，錫爵欲用羅萬化，憲成不可，乃用陳有年。後廷推閣臣，萬化復不與。錫爵等皆恚，萬化乃獲推，會帝報罷而止。及是，錫爵將謝政，廷推代者。憲成舉故大學士王家屏，忤帝意，削籍歸。事具有年傳。

In the twenty-first year came the capital triennial evaluation. Minister of Personnel Sun Gua and Director of Evaluation Zhao Nanxing dismissed all the chief administrators' private clients; Xiancheng was the one who actually guided this. When Nanxing was dismissed, Xiancheng memorialized asking to be dismissed together; no reply came. Soon he was promoted to director of the Civil Office section. Those he recommended were generally at odds with the chief administrators. Earlier, when the Ministry of Personnel lacked a minister, Xijue wished to appoint Luo Wanhua; Xiancheng opposed it, and Chen Younian was appointed instead. Later, in court nomination for grand secretaries, Wanhua again was not included. Xijue and the others were all resentful; Wanhua finally obtained nomination, but when the emperor returned with a dismissal it stopped. At this time Xijue was about to resign from government; the court nominated his replacement. Xiancheng nominated the former Grand Secretary Wang Jiaoping, which offended the emperor; he was struck from the rolls and sent home. The matter is treated in full in Younian's biography.

憲成既廢，名益高，中外推薦無慮百十疏，帝悉不報。至三十六年，始起南京光祿少卿，力辭不就。四十年，卒於家。天啟初，贈太常卿。魏忠賢亂政，其黨石三畏追論之，遂削奪。崇禎初，贈吏部右侍郎，謚端文。

After Xiancheng was dismissed his fame rose ever higher; memorials recommending him from inside and outside the court numbered easily a hundred or more, but the emperor answered none. Only in the thirty-sixth year was he summoned as Vice Director of Ceremonial in Nanjing, but he firmly declined and did not take office. In the fortieth year he died at home. At the beginning of the Tianqi reign he was posthumously promoted to Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. When Wei Zhongxian threw government into chaos, his faction member Shi Sanwei pursued a review of the case, and Xiancheng's honors were stripped. At the beginning of the Chongzhen reign he was posthumously made Right Vice Minister of Personnel, with the posthumous title Duanwen ("Upright in Culture").

憲成姿性絕人，幼即有誌聖學。暨削籍裏居，益覃精研究，力辟王守仁「無善無惡心之體」之說。邑故有東林書院，宋楊時講道處也，憲成與弟允成倡修之，常州知府歐陽東鳳與無錫知縣林宰為之營構。落成，偕同誌高攀龍、錢一本、薛敷教、史孟麟、於孔兼輩講學其中，學者稱涇陽先生。當是時，士大夫抱道忤時者，率退處林野，聞風響附，學舍至不能容。憲成嘗曰：「官輦轂，誌不在君父，官封疆，誌不在民生，居水邊林下，誌不在世道，君子無取焉。」故其講習之余，往往諷議朝政，裁量人物。朝士慕其風者，多遙相應和。由是東林名大著，而忌者亦多。

Xiancheng's natural gifts surpassed others; even in youth he aspired to the learning of the sages. After he was struck from the rolls and lived at home, he studied all the more deeply and forcefully refuted Wang Shouren's doctrine of "the substance of the mind as neither good nor evil." The district already had the Donglin Academy, where Yang Shi of the Song had lectured on the Way; Xiancheng and his younger brother Yuncheng led a campaign to restore it, while Ouyang Dongfeng, prefect of Changzhou, and Lin Zai, magistrate of Wuxi, arranged the building work. When it was finished, he lectured there with kindred spirits—Gao Panlong, Qian Yiben, Xue Fujiao, Shi Menglin, Yu Kongjian, and others—and scholars called him Master Jingyang. At that time scholar-officials who held to the Way yet clashed with the times mostly retired to the countryside; drawn by his reputation they flocked to him until the academy could no longer hold them. Xiancheng once said: "Serving at the capital yet caring nothing for sovereign and father, serving on the frontier yet caring nothing for the people's livelihood, living in seclusion by rivers and woods yet caring nothing for the fate of the age—such a man is no gentleman worth the name. Accordingly, when they were not lecturing they often offered veiled criticism of court policy and passed judgment on public figures. Court officials who admired their spirit often echoed them from afar. Thus Donglin's fame spread far and wide, and those who resented it grew numerous as well.

既而淮撫李三才被論，憲成貽書葉向高、孫丕揚為延譽。御史吳亮刻之邸抄中，攻三才者大嘩。而其時於玉立、黃正賓輩附麗其間，頗有輕浮好事名。徐兆魁之徒遂以東林為口實。兆魁騰疏攻憲成，恣意誣詆。謂滸墅有小河，東林專其稅為書院費；關使至，東林輒以書招之，即不赴，亦必致厚饋；講學所至，仆從如雲，縣令館谷供億，非二百金不辦；會時必談時政，郡邑行事偶相左，必令改圖；及受黃正賓賄。其言絕無左驗。光祿丞吳炯上言為一致辨，因言：「憲成貽書救三才，誠為出位，臣嘗咎之，憲成亦自悔。今憲成被誣，天下將以講學為戒，絕口不談孔、孟之道，國家正氣從此而損，非細事也。」疏入，不報。嗣後攻擊者不絕，比憲成歿，攻者猶未止。凡救三才者，爭辛亥京察者，衛國本者，發韓敬科場弊者，請行勘熊廷弼者，抗論張差梃擊者，最後爭移宮、紅丸者，忤魏忠賢者，率指目為東林，抨擊無虛日。借魏忠賢毒焰，一網盡去之。殺戮禁錮，善類為一空。崇禎立，始漸收用。而朋黨勢已成，小人卒大熾，禍中於國，迄明亡而後已。

Before long the Huai commissioner Li Sancai came under attack; Xiancheng wrote to Ye Xianggao and Sun Piyang asking them to speak on his behalf. The censor Wu Liang had the letters printed in the Court Gazette, and those attacking Sancai erupted in uproar. Yet at that time Yu Yuli, Huang Zhengbin, and others hung about the group and acquired a reputation for frivolity and stirring up trouble. Men like Xu Zhaokui then seized on Donglin as a pretext for attack. Zhaokui sent up a memorial attacking Xiancheng, slandering him at will. He claimed that at Huxu a small river's tolls were monopolized by Donglin to fund the academy; whenever transit commissioners arrived Donglin would summon them by letter, and even if they did not come they were still sent lavish gifts; wherever they lectured attendants swarmed like clouds, and county magistrates had to lodge and provision them at a cost of no less than two hundred taels; at their meetings they always discussed current politics, and if a prefecture or county did something they disliked they demanded a change of course; and that Xiancheng had taken bribes from Huang Zhengbin. Not one of these charges had any corroboration at all. Wu Jiong, Vice Director of Ceremonial, memorialized in his defense, saying: "Xiancheng's letters pleading for Sancai were indeed overstepping; I once reproached him for it, and Xiancheng himself has regretted it. Now that Xiancheng is slandered, the empire will treat lecturing as a warning and fall silent on the Way of Confucius and Mencius—the state's vital spirit will be damaged by this, and it is no small matter. The memorial was submitted but received no response. Thereafter the attacks never let up; even after Xiancheng died the assailants had not stopped. Those who had defended Sancai, fought over the Xinsi capital evaluation, upheld the heir apparent, exposed Han Jing's examination scandal, called for an inquiry into Xiong Tingbi, argued over Zhang Cha's club assault, and finally contested the palace transfer and the Red Pill case, along with anyone who crossed Wei Zhongxian—all were fingered as Donglin, and the attacks never ceased for a single day. Riding Wei Zhongxian's poisonous power, they swept them all away in one net. Through slaughter and imprisonment the ranks of the worthy were emptied. When Chongzhen took the throne they were gradually brought back into office. But factional power was already entrenched; petty men ultimately flourished, disaster struck the state, and did not end until the Ming fell.

歐陽東鳳，字千仞，潛江人。年十四喪父，哀毀骨立。母病嘔血，跪而食之。舉於鄉，縣令憫其貧，遺以田二百畝，謝不受。萬歷十七年成進士，除興化知縣。大水壞堤，請振於上官不應，遂自疏於朝。坐越奏停俸，然竟如所請。屢遷南京刑部郎中，擢平樂知府。撫諭生瑤，皆相親如子弟。因白督學監司，擇其俊秀者入學，瑤漸知禮讓。稅使橫行，東鳳力抗之。以才調常州。布帷瓦器，胥吏不能牟一錢，擒奸人劇盜且盡。憲成輩講學，為建東林書院。居四年，謝事歸。起山西副使，擢南京太仆少卿，並辭不就。卒於家。

Ouyang Dongfeng, styled Qianren, was a native of Qianjiang. At fourteen he lost his father; grief wore him to skin and bone. When his mother was ill and vomited blood, he knelt and ate it himself. He passed the provincial examination; the county magistrate, pitying his poverty, gave him two hundred mou of land, but he declined. In the seventeenth year of Wanli he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed magistrate of Xinghua. Great floods destroyed the dikes; he requested relief from his superiors but received no answer, so he memorialized the court directly. He was penalized for overstepping authority with his memorial and had his salary suspended, yet in the end he obtained what he had asked for. After several promotions he became a director in the Nanjing Ministry of Punishments, then was promoted to prefect of Pingle. He pacified and instructed the raw Yao, who all grew as close as sons and younger brothers. He informed the educational commissioner and overseers, who selected their promising youth for the schools, and the Yao gradually learned ritual and deference. Tax commissioners ran rampant, and Dongfeng resisted them strenuously. For his ability he was transferred to Changzhou. He used cloth curtains and earthenware vessels; clerks could not extort a single cash, and he captured scoundrels and major bandits almost to the last man. When Xiancheng and his circle lectured, he built the Donglin Academy for them. After four years he resigned and returned home. He was summoned as Vice Commissioner in Shanxi and promoted to Vice Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud in Nanjing, but declined both posts and did not take office. He died at home.

吳炯，字晉明，松江華亭人。萬歷十七年成進士，授杭州推官。入為兵部主事，乞假歸。恬靜端介，不騖榮利。家居十二年，始起故官。久之，進光祿丞。天啟中，累遷南京太仆卿。魏忠賢私人石三畏追論炯黨庇憲成，落職閑住。崇禎初，復官。炯家世素封，無子，置義田以贍族人。郡中貧士及諸生赴舉者，多所資給。嘗輸萬金助邊，被詔旌獎。

Wu Jiong, styled Jinming, was a native of Huating in Songjiang. In the seventeenth year of Wanli he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed investigating censor of Hangzhou. He entered the Ministry of War as a director, then asked for leave and returned home. Calm, upright, and reserved, he did not chase rank or profit. He remained at home twelve years before he was finally restored to his former post. After a long interval he was promoted to Vice Director of Ceremonial. During the Tianqi reign he rose by stages to Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud in Nanjing. Wei Zhongxian's partisan Shi Sanwei pursued a case against Jiong for shielding Xiancheng as a factional ally; he was dismissed and lived in retirement. At the beginning of the Chongzhen reign his office was restored. Jiong's family had long been wealthy; having no son, he set aside charitable fields to support his clansmen. He gave generously to poor scholars in the prefecture and to students traveling to take the examinations. He once contributed ten thousand taels to aid the frontier and was honored by imperial edict.

顧允成，字季時，憲成弟。性耿介，厲名節，舉萬歷十一年會試，十四年始赴殿試。對策中有曰：「陛下以鄭妃勤於奉侍，冊為皇貴妃，廷臣不勝私憂過計。請立東宮，進封王恭妃，非報罷則峻逐。或不幸貴妃弄威福，其戚屬左右竊而張之，內外害可勝言！頃張居正罔上行私，陛下以為不足信，而付之二三匪人。恐居正之專，尚與陛下二。此屬之專，遂與陛下一。二則易間，一難圖也。」執政駭且恚，置末第。

Gu Yuncheng, styled Jishi, was Xiancheng's younger brother. By nature stern and upright, he prized moral integrity; he passed the metropolitan examination in the eleventh year of Wanli and only in the fourteenth year sat for the palace examination. In his examination response he wrote: "Your Majesty, because Consort Zheng was diligent in attendance, enfeoffed her as Imperial Noble Consort—the court officials could not help private anxiety and excessive worry. Those who urged establishing the Eastern Palace and advancing Lady Wang the Respectful Consort were either dismissed with no answer or harshly driven out. If by misfortune the noble consort wielded power and favor, and her kin and attendants stole authority and spread it abroad—the harm inside and outside defies description! Recently Zhang Juzheng deceived his lord and pursued private ends; Your Majesty judged him unworthy of trust, yet entrusted affairs to two or three unworthy men. I fear that under Juzheng's monopoly Your Majesty still had a counterweight— whereas this lot's monopoly makes them one with Your Majesty. When there are two, wedges are easy; when there is one, plotting is hard. The chief ministers were alarmed and furious; he was placed in the last rank.

會南畿督學御史德清人房寰連疏詆都御史海瑞，允成不勝憤。偕同年生彭遵古、諸壽賢抗疏劾之。略言：「寰妒賢醜正，不復知人間羞耽事。臣等自幼讀書，即知慕瑞，以為當代偉人。寰大肆貪汙，聞瑞之風，宜愧且死，反敢造言逞誣，臣等所為痛心。」因劾其欺罔七罪。始寰疏出，朝野多切齒。而政府庇之，但擬旨譙讓。及得允成等疏，謂寰已切讓，不當出位妄奏，奪三人冠帶，還家省愆，且令九卿約束辦事進士，毋妄言時政。南京太仆卿沈思孝上言：「二三年來，今日以建言防人，明日以越職加人罪，且移牒諸司約禁，而進士觀政者，復令堂官鉗束之。夫禁其作奸犯科可也，而反禁其讜言直諫；教其砥行立節可也，而反教以緘默取容。此風一開，流弊何極。諫官避禍希寵不言矣，庶官又不當言；大臣持祿養交不言矣，小臣又不許言。萬一權奸擅朝，傾危宗社，陛下安從聞之？臣歷稽先朝故事，練綱、鄒智、孫磐、張璁並以書生建言，未聞以為罪，獨奈何錮允成等耶？」疏入，忤旨被責，三人遂廢。寰復詆瑞及思孝，其言絕狂誕，自是獲罪清議，出為江西副使。給事中張鼎思劾其奸貪，寰亦訐鼎思請寄事。諸給事中不平，連章攻寰，寰與鼎思並謫，遂不復振。

It happened that Fang Huan of Deqing, educational inspector of the southern metropolitan region, sent repeated memorials slandering the censor-in-chief Hai Rui; Yuncheng could not contain his anger. Together with his year-mates Peng Zungu and Zhu Shouxian he submitted a forceful memorial impeaching him. It said in part: "Huan envies the worthy and defames the upright; he no longer knows what shame means among human beings. We have read books since childhood and admired Rui, holding him a great man of the age. Huan is flagrantly corrupt; hearing of Rui's example he ought to die of shame, yet he dares fabricate charges and vent slander—this is what breaks our hearts. They therefore impeached him on seven counts of deceit. When Huan's memorials first appeared, court and country gnashed their teeth in anger. But the government sheltered him and only drafted an edict of reprimand. When Yuncheng's memorial arrived they said Huan had already been sharply reprimanded and that others must not overstep with reckless memorials; the three men's caps and girdles were taken, they were sent home to reflect on their faults, and the Nine Ministers were ordered to restrain jinshi on probationary duty from rashly discussing current politics. Shen Sixiao, Director of the Court of the Imperial Stud in Nanjing, memorialized: "For two or three years now, today someone is blocked for speaking out, tomorrow someone is punished for overstepping his office; restraining edicts go out to every agency, and jinshi observing government are again ordered restrained by their department heads. Wrongdoing and crime may be forbidden, yet loyal remonstrance is forbidden instead; upright conduct and moral integrity may be taught, yet silence and ingratiation are taught instead. Once this wind takes hold, how far will the harm run? Censors avoid disaster and court favor by keeping silent, yet ordinary officials must not speak either; great ministers hold their salaries and cultivate connections by keeping silent, yet junior officials are not allowed to speak either. If by chance powerful traitors seized the court and endangered the altars of state, how would Your Majesty hear of it? I have traced precedents in former reigns: Lian Gang, Zou Zhi, Sun Pan, and Zhang Cong all spoke out as mere scholars and were not treated as criminals—why alone punish Yuncheng and the others? The memorial was submitted; offending the throne he was rebuked, and the three were ruined. Huan again slandered Rui and Sixiao in language utterly wild and absurd; from this he earned the condemnation of upright opinion and was sent out as Vice Commissioner in Jiangxi. The supervising secretary Zhang Dingsi impeached him for corruption and wickedness; Huan in turn accused Dingsi of soliciting favors. The supervising secretaries were indignant and attacked Huan in a series of memorials; Huan and Dingsi were both demoted and never recovered their standing.

久之，南京御史陳邦科請錄用允成等，不許。巡按御史復言之，詔許以教授用。允成歷任南康、保定。入為國子監博士，遷禮部主事。三王並封制下，偕同官張納陛、工部主事嶽元聲合疏諫曰：「冊立大典，年來無敢再瀆者，以奉二十一年舉行之明詔。茲既屆期，群臣莫不引領。而元輔王錫爵星駕趣朝，一見禮部尚書羅萬化、儀制郎於孔兼，即戒之弗言，慨然獨任，臣等實喜且慰。不意陛下出禁中密劄，竟付錫爵私邸，而三王並封之議遂成，即次輔趙誌臯、張位亦不預聞。夫天下事非一家私議。元子封王，祖宗以來未有此禮，錫爵安得專之，而陛下安得創之！」當是時，光祿丞朱維京、給事中王如堅疏先入。帝震怒，戍極邊。維京同官塗傑、王學曾繼之，斥為民。及是諫者益眾，帝知不可盡斥，但報「遵旨行」。已而竟寢。

After a long interval the Nanjing censor Chen Bangke requested that Yuncheng and others be reemployed; permission was denied. The touring censor spoke again; an edict permitted their appointment as instructors. Yuncheng served in succession at Nankang and Baoding. He entered service as a doctor of the Directorate of Education and was transferred to a director in the Ministry of Rites. When the decree enfeoffing the three princes together was issued, he joined his colleague Zhang Nabi and Yue Yuansheng, a director in the Ministry of Works, in a joint remonstrance saying: "The great ceremony of investiture of the heir—for years none dared profane it again, in obedience to the clear edict of twenty-one years ago that it be carried out. Now that the appointed time has arrived, the ministers all wait with eager expectation. Yet the Senior Grand Secretary Wang Xijue hurried night and day to court; at one meeting with the Minister of Rites Luo Wanhua and the Bureau Director Yu Kongjian he warned them not to speak and boldly took sole charge—we were truly glad and relieved. We did not expect Your Majesty to issue a secret missive from the inner palace and deliver it to Xijue's private residence, so that the proposal to enfeoff the three princes together took shape—even the Second Grand Secretaries Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei were not forewarned. Surely affairs of the empire are not one family's private deliberation! Enfeoffing the eldest son as a prince—no such rite since ancestral times; how could Xijue decide it alone, and how could Your Majesty invent it! At that time the memorials of Zhu Weijing, Vice Director of Ceremonial, and the supervising secretary Wang Rujian had already been submitted first. The emperor flew into a rage and exiled them to the remotest frontier. Weijing's colleagues in office Tu Jie and Wang Xuezeng followed suit; they were reduced to commoner status. By then remonstrators grew ever more numerous; the emperor knew he could not dismiss them all and only replied, "Carry out as instructed." Before long the matter was shelved entirely.

未幾，吏部尚書孫鑨等以拾遺事被責。允成謂閣臣張位實為之，上疏力詆位，因及錫爵。納陛亦抗章極論，並侵附執政者。帝怒，謫允成光州判官，納陛鄧州判官。皆乞假歸，不復出。

Soon afterward Sun Xuan, Minister of Personnel, and others were reprimanded over the affair of presenting omitted memorials. Yuncheng held that Grand Secretary Zhang Wei was actually behind it; he memorialized forcefully denouncing Wei and also implicated Xijue. Nabi too submitted a defiant memorial arguing fiercely, jointly attacking those allied with the chief ministers. The emperor was furious and demoted Yuncheng to magistrate of Guangzhou and Nabi to magistrate of Dengzhou. Both requested leave to return home and never took office again.

納陛，字以登，宜興人。年十六，從王畿講學。舉萬歷十七年進士。由刑部主事改禮部。生平尚風節。鄉邑有利害，輒為請於有司而後已。東林書院之會，納陛為焉。又與同邑史孟麟、吳正誌為麗澤大會，東南人士爭赴之。

Nabi, styled Yideng, was a native of Yixing. At sixteen he studied under Wang Ji. He passed the jinshi examination in the seventeenth year of Wanli. He transferred from a directorship in the Ministry of Punishments to the Ministry of Rites. Throughout his life he prized moral integrity. When matters of public benefit or harm arose in his home district, he always pleaded with the authorities on its behalf before resting. Nabi took part in the gatherings of the Donglin Academy. With his fellow townsman Shi Menglin and Wu Zhengzhi he also held the Great Lizhe Assembly, and scholars from the southeast vied to attend.

時與允成等同以部曹爭三王並封，又爭拾遺事者，戶部主事滁人賈巖，亦貶曹州判官。投劾歸，卒。天啟中，贈允成、納陛光祿少卿，巖尚寶丞。

At the time, together with Yuncheng and others who as ministry directors had contested the joint enfeoffment of the three princes and the affair of presenting omitted memorials, Jia Yan of Chuzhou, a director in the Ministry of Revenue, was also demoted to magistrate of Caozhou. He resigned and returned home, where he died. During the Tianqi reign Yuncheng and Nabi were posthumously granted Vice Director of Ceremonial, and Yan Vice Director of the Imperial Treasuries.

諸壽賢，字延之，昆山人。既釋褐，上疏願放歸田，力學十年，然後從政。章下所司，寢不奏。既斥歸。久之，起南陽教授。入為國子助教，擢禮部主事。戚里中貴幹請，輒拒之。遘疾，請告歸，授徒自給。久之卒。

Zhu Shouxian, styled Yanzhi, was a native of Kunshan. Upon first taking office he memorialized asking to be released to his fields, to study diligently for ten years, and only then enter government service. The memorial was referred to the relevant office and shelved without being forwarded to the throne. After his dismissal he returned home. After a long interval he was summoned as instructor at Nanyang. He entered service as an assistant instructor of the Directorate of Education and was promoted to a director in the Ministry of Rites. When relatives of the empress and powerful eunuchs sought favors through connections, he always refused. Struck by illness, he requested leave to return home and supported himself by teaching students. After a long interval he died.

彭遵古，麻城人，終光祿少卿。

Peng Zungu, a native of Macheng, rose to Vice Director of Ceremonial.

錢一本，字國瑞，武進人。萬歷十一年進士。除廬陵知縣，征授御史。入臺即發原任江西巡按祝大舟貪墨狀，大舟至遣戍。已，論請從祀曹端、陳真晟、羅倫、羅洪先於文廟。出按廣西。

Qian Yiben, styled Guorui, was a native of Wujin. He passed the jinshi examination in the eleventh year of Wanli. He was appointed magistrate of Luling and then summoned as censor. Upon entering the Censorate he immediately exposed the corruption of Zhu Dazhou, the former touring inspector of Jiangxi; Dazhou was banished to frontier service. He then argued that Cao Duan, Chen Zhensheng, Luo Lun, and Luo Hongxian should be admitted to sacrifice in the Confucian temple. He was dispatched as touring inspector of Guangxi.

帝以張有德請備大禮儀物，復更冊立東宮期，而申時行柄國，不能匡救。一本上論相、建儲二疏。其論相曰：

Because Zhang Youde requested provisions for the Grand Rites ceremonial objects, the emperor again postponed the date for investing the Eastern Palace heir, while Shen Shihang held power and could not set matters right. Yiben submitted two memorials, one on the chief minister and one on establishing the heir. On the chief minister he wrote:

昨俞旨下輔臣，令輔臣總政。夫朝廷之政，輔臣安得總之？內閣代言擬旨，本顧問之遺，遇有章奏，閣臣宜各擬一旨。今一出時行專斷。皇上斷者十一，時行斷者十九。皇上斷謂之聖旨，時行斷亦謂之聖旨。惟嫌怨所在，則以出自聖斷為言，罪何可勝誅。所當論者一。

Yesterday an imperial directive was issued to the assisting ministers, ordering them to oversee all government affairs. How can the assisting ministers wholly control the government of the court? The Inner Secretariat speaks for the throne and drafts rescripts, originally a remnant of advisory duty; when memorials arrive, each Grand Secretary ought to draft a rescript of his own. Now every rescript issues from Shihang alone. His Majesty decided one case in eleven; Shihang decided nineteen in twenty. His Majesty's decisions are called imperial edicts; Shihang's decisions are also called imperial edicts. Only where there is personal enmity does one invoke the sacred decision—how can guilt ever be fully punished! This is the first matter that ought to be discussed.

評事雒於仁進四藥之箴，陛下欲見之施行，輔臣力勸留中。既有言及輔臣之章，亦盡留中不下。道吾君以遂非文過如此，復安望其盡忠補過耶？所當論者二。

The reviewer Luo Yuren presented a remonstrance on the four medicines; Your Majesty wished to see it carried out, but the assisting ministers strongly urged withholding it at court. Memorials criticizing the assisting ministers were also all withheld at court and never forwarded. To guide our lord to persist in wrong and paper over faults in this way—how can one still hope they will serve with full loyalty and remedy those faults! This is the second matter that ought to be discussed.

科場弊竇，汙人齒頰，而敢擬原無私弊之旨，以欺吾君。臣請執政子弟有中式而被人指摘者，除名改蔭。又與見從仕籍者，暫還裏居，俟父致政，乃議進止。毋令犬馬報主之心，不勝其牛馬子孫之計。所當論者三。

Corruption in the examination halls is notorious, yet they dare draft a rescript claiming there was no private corruption, to deceive our lord. Your servant asks that sons and younger brothers of those in power who passed the examinations and were accused by others be struck from the rolls and have their hereditary privilege revoked. And those already in active service should temporarily return home, waiting until their fathers retire from office before any decision on advancement. Do not let loyalty to the throne be overcome by schemes to enrich one's descendants. This is the third matter that ought to be discussed.

大臣以身殉國，安復有家。乃以遠臣為近臣府庫，又合遠近之臣為內閣府庫。開門受賂自執政始，而歲歲申饋遺之禁何為哉？所當論者四。

Great ministers devote their lives to the state—how can they still concern themselves with family! Yet distant officials are made the treasury of near officials, and officials far and near together are made the treasury of the Inner Secretariat. Opening the door to bribes begins with those in power—so what is the point of the yearly proclamation forbidding gifts! This is the fourth matter that ought to be discussed.

墨敕斜封，前代所患；密啟言事，先臣弗為。今閣臣或有救援之舉，或有密勿之謀，類具揭帖以進，雖格言正論，讜議忠謀，已類斜封密啟之為，非有公聽並觀之正。況所言公，當與天下公言之；所言私，忠臣不私。奈何援中書之故事，啟留中之弊端，昭恩怨之所由，示威福之自己。所當論者五。

Irregular edicts and slant-sealed appointments were what former ages dreaded; secret memorials on state affairs—former ministers did not do this. Now when Grand Secretaries wish to intervene on someone's behalf or offer secret counsel, they mostly submit private memorial slips; even upright words and loyal counsel already resemble slant-sealed secret memorials, without the fairness of open deliberation. Moreover what is spoken in public ought to be spoken openly to the world; what is spoken in private, loyal ministers do not keep private. Why invoke Secretariat precedents, perpetuate the abuse of withholding memorials at court, reveal the springs of favor and hatred, and show that power and fortune flow from oneself alone. This is the fifth matter that ought to be discussed.

我國家仿古為治，部院即分職之六卿，內閣即論道之三公。未聞三公可盡攬六卿之權，歸一人掌握，而六卿又頫首屏氣，唯唯聽命於三公，必為請教而後行也。所當論者六。

Our state takes antiquity as its model in governing; the ministries and boards are the six ministers with divided duties, and the Inner Secretariat is the three dukes who discuss the Way. One has never heard that the three dukes may seize all the authority of the six ministers and concentrate it in one man's hands, while the six ministers bow their heads, hold their breath, and only murmur assent, necessarily awaiting instruction before acting. This is the sixth matter that ought to be discussed.

三公職在論道。師，道之教訓。今講幄經年不禦，是何師也？傅，傅之德義。今外帑匱乏，私藏充盈，不能一為救正，是何傅也？保，保其身體。今聖躬常年靜攝，尚以多疾為辭，是何保也？其兼銜必曰太子之師、傅、保，而冊立皇元子之儀，至今又復改遲，臣不知其所兼者何職矣。所當論者七。

The three dukes' duty lies in discussing the Way. Teacher—he who instructs in the Way. Now the lecture hall has gone years without an audience—what kind of teacher is this? Tutor—he who tutors in moral principle. Now the public treasury is exhausted while private stores overflow, yet he cannot once set matters right—what kind of tutor is this? Guardian—he who guards the sovereign's person. Now His Majesty year after year rests in seclusion, still pleading frequent illness as excuse—what kind of guardian is this? Their concurrent titles must read Teacher, Tutor, and Guardian to the Heir Apparent, yet the ceremony of investing the eldest imperial son has again been postponed—I do not know what office they concurrently hold. This is the seventh matter that ought to be discussed.

翰林一途，謂之儲相。累貲躡級，循列卿位，以覬必得。遂使國家命相之大任，僅為閣臣援引之私物。庸者習軟熟結納之態，黠者恣憑陵侵奪之謀。外推內引，珰閣表裏。始進不正，安望其終？故自來內閣之臣一據其位，遠者二十年，近者十年，不敗不止。嵩之鑒不遠，而居正蹈之；居正之鑒不遠，而時行又蹈之。繼其後者庸碌罷駑，或甚於時行；褊隘執拗，又復為居正。若非大破常格，公天下以選舉，相道終未可言。所當論者八。

The Hanlin path is called the reserve for chief ministers. Amassing wealth and climbing rank by rank, following the column to ministerial office, they treat high office as a certainty. Thus the great charge of appointing the state's chief ministers becomes merely a private resource for Grand Secretaries to dispense. Mediocre men practice soft compliance and ingratiating ties; crafty men indulge in bullying and schemes of encroachment. Pushed from outside and drawn from within, eunuchs and the Secretariat work as one inside and out. If the first step is not upright, how can one hope for a worthy end? Therefore from of old, once Inner Secretariat ministers grasped their posts, the distant lasted twenty years and the near ten, and they did not fall until ruin was complete. Yan Song's lesson is not far off, yet Zhang Juzheng followed in his tracks; Zhang Juzheng's lesson is not far off, yet Shihang again followed in his tracks. Those who follow them are mediocre worn-out hacks, or worse than Shihang; narrow-minded and obstinate, they again become another Juzheng. Unless the usual norms are greatly broken and selection is opened to the empire, the way of the chief minister can never be restored. This is the eighth matter that ought to be discussed.

先民詢芻蕘之言，明王設誹謗之木。今大臣懼人攻己，而欲鉗天下之口，不目之為奸、為邪、為浮薄，必詈之為讒、為謗、為小人。目前之耳目可塗，身後之是非難罔。所當論者九。

The ancients sought counsel even from grass and firewood; enlightened kings set up posts for slander. Now great ministers fear attack and wish to silence the empire; unless they call critics treacherous, heterodox, or frivolous, they revile them as slanderers, defamers, or petty men. Present eyes and ears may be deceived, but posterity's judgment of right and wrong cannot be fooled. This is the ninth matter that ought to be discussed.

君臣之分，等於天地。今上名之曰總政，己亦居之曰總政。以其身居於寵利之極，耐彈忍辱，必老死於位而後已。古所謂元老大臣，乃如是其不知進退存亡者耶？大臣既無難進易退之節，天下安有頑廉懦立之風！舉一世之人心風俗，糜爛於乞祼登壟之坑，滔滔而莫之止。是故陛下之治，前數年不勝其操切慘刻，而勢焰爍人；後數年不勝其姑息委靡，而賢愚共貫。前之政自居正總，今之政自時行總，而皆不自朝廷總故也。所當論者十。

The distinction between ruler and minister equals that between Heaven and Earth. Now the sovereign names it overseeing all government, and he himself also claims the title of overseeing all government. Because he occupies the summit of favor and profit, enduring impeachment and swallowing insult, he must die in office before he will leave. Are the so-called elder great ministers of antiquity thus ignorant of when to advance, retreat, survive, or perish? When great ministers lack the integrity to advance with difficulty and withdraw with ease, how can the empire have a climate of stern integrity and upright character! To cast the hearts and customs of an entire age into rottenness in the pit of begging at tombs and climbing the mounds of favor, rushing on with none to stop it. Thus under Your Majesty's governance, in the first years you could not restrain harsh severity and cruelty, while intimidating authority blazed over all; in later years you could not restrain indulgence and slackness, while worthy and foolish alike were promoted without distinction. The earlier administration was run by Zhang Juzheng alone, the present by Shen Shixing alone—yet neither is truly governed from the court at all. This is the tenth matter that ought to be discussed.

然君道莫先論相，而取人亦在君身，願陛下勿以國本為兒戲。昔孔子以九經告君，而先之修身、勸賢。大抵讒夫女謁貨利之交，一有惑溺，則內之心誌決不清明，外之身體決不強固。矧以艷處之褒姒，而為善譖之驪姬，狐媚既以蠱其心，鹿臺又復移其誌。陛下之方寸，臣知其不能自持者多矣，抑何以貴德尊士，而修身取人哉！

Yet in the art of rulership nothing comes before choosing the chief minister, and appointing men depends on the ruler himself—I pray Your Majesty will not treat the succession as a trivial game. Confucius once set forth the nine principles of good government to a ruler, yet placed first self-cultivation and encouraging worthy men. Generally, once a ruler is entangled with slanderers, palace women's influence, and pursuit of profit, his heart cannot remain clear within nor his resolve firm without. How much more when a Baosi in the inner quarters plays Li Ji the slanderer—foxlike seduction has bewitched his heart, and the Stag Tower has shifted his purpose again. Your Majesty's heart—I know how often it cannot hold firm; how then can you value virtue, honor scholars, cultivate yourself, and choose men wisely!

其論國本曰：

His discussion of the succession question read:

陛下所以遲遲建儲者，謂欲效皇祖世宗之為耳。然皇祖中年嘗立莊敬為太子，封皇考為裕王，非終不立太子也。矧今日事體又迥然不同。皇貴妃寵過皇后。其處心積慮，無一日而不萌奪嫡之心，無一日而不思為援立其子之計。此世宗時所無也。凡子必依於母，皇元子之母壓於皇貴妃之下。陛下曰「長幼有序」，皇貴妃曰「貴賤有等」。倘一日遂其奪嫡之心，不審陛下何以處此？此世宗時所無也。景王就封，止皇考一人在京。今則章服不別，名分不正。弟既憑母之寵而朝夕近幸，母又覬子之立而日夜樹功。此世宗時所無也。傳聞陛下先曾失言於皇貴妃，皇貴妃執此為信。及今不斷，蠱惑日深，剛斷日餒，事體日難。此世宗時所無也。

Your Majesty's reason for delaying the appointment of an heir is said to be a wish to follow the example of the imperial ancestor Emperor Shizong. Yet in mid-life the imperial grandfather did appoint Zhuangjing as crown prince and enfeoffed the imperial father as Prince of Yu—he did not ultimately refuse to name an heir. Moreover, the circumstances today are utterly different. The Imperial Noble Consort enjoys favor surpassing that of the empress. In her brooding and schemes, not a day passes without thoughts of displacing the heir, not a day without plotting to establish her own son by outside support. Nothing like this existed in the Shizong era. Every son depends on his mother, yet the mother of the Imperial Eldest Son ranks below the Imperial Noble Consort. Your Majesty says, "Elder and younger have their proper order"; the Imperial Noble Consort says, "Noble and humble have their proper ranks." If one day she fulfills her plot to displace the heir, how will Your Majesty handle it? Nothing like this existed in the Shizong era. When Prince Jing departed for his fief, only the imperial father remained in the capital. Now insignia and dress are undistinguished, and titles and status are unclear. The younger prince already relies on his mother's favor for daily access at court; the mother covets his installation and builds his reputation day and night. Nothing like this existed in the Shizong era. Rumor has it Your Majesty once made an injudicious remark to the Imperial Noble Consort, and she holds it as a pledge. Because you have not cut this off, her sway deepens daily, your firm resolve weakens daily, and the matter grows harder daily. Nothing like this existed in the Shizong era.

前者有旨，不許諸司激擾，愈致遲延，非陛下預設機阱，以禦天下言者乎！使屆期無一人言及，則佯為不知，以冀其遲延。有一人言及，則禦之曰「此來激擾我也」，改遲一年。明年又一人言及，則又曰「此又來激擾我也」，又改二三年。必使天下無一人敢言而後已，庶幾依違遷就，以全其衽席昵愛之私，而曾不顧國本從此動搖，天下從此危亂。臣以為陛下之禦人至巧，而為謀則甚拙也。此等機智，不可以罔匹夫匹婦，顧欲以欺天下萬世耶！

Your recent edict forbidding officials from "agitating" the issue only causes further delay—is this not a snare Your Majesty set in advance to silence all who speak under Heaven! If when the deadline arrives no one speaks up, you feign ignorance, hoping for further delay. If anyone speaks up, you rebuff them saying, "They come to agitate me," and postpone another year. The next year, if another speaks up, you say again, "They come to agitate me," and postpone two or three years more. You would ensure that no one under Heaven dares speak further, hedging and yielding to preserve your pillow intimacies, never minding that the succession is shaken and the realm thrown into peril. Your servant holds that Your Majesty is supremely clever at fending off critics, yet very clumsy in counsel. Such cunning cannot deceive the common man and woman—yet you would deceive all under Heaven for ten thousand generations!

疏入，留中。時廷臣相繼爭國本，惟一本言最戇直。帝銜之。無何，杖給事中孟養浩。中旨以養浩所逞之詞根托一本，造言誣君，搖亂大典，遂斥為民。屢薦，卒不用。一本既罷歸，潛心《六經》濂、洛諸書，尤研精《易》學。與顧憲成輩分主東林講席，學者稱啟新先生。裏居二十五年，預克卒日，賦詩誌之，如期而逝。天啟初，贈太仆寺少卿。

The memorial was submitted and withheld at court. Court ministers were then contending over the succession in succession; only Yiben's words were the bluntest and most direct. The emperor bore a grudge against him. Before long, the investigating censor Meng Yanghao was beaten with the rod. An inner rescript held that Yanghao's words were rooted in Yiben's influence—fabricating slander against the ruler and shaking the great statutes—and he was reduced to commoner status. Yiben was repeatedly recommended but was never employed. After Yiben was dismissed and returned home, he immersed himself in the Six Classics and the works of the Lian-Luo school, especially the Book of Changes. With Gu Xiancheng and others he shared leadership of the Donglin lecture platform; scholars called him Master Qixin. Living in retirement for twenty-five years, he foretold the day of his death, composed a poem to record it, and died on the appointed day. At the beginning of the Tianqi reign, he was posthumously granted Vice Minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud.

子春，字若木，萬歷三十二年進士。歷知高陽、獻二縣，征授御史。太仆少卿徐兆魁攻李三才，因痛詆顧憲成。春三疏首發其憸邪。出按湖廣，請予禮部侍郎郭正域及光祿少卿顧憲成恤典。楚宗人以訐偽王事，錮高墻者甚眾，春為訟冤，尋復請釋回故宗家屬，語甚切至。鹹寧知縣滿朝薦久系，奏請釋之，因請並釋王邦才、卞孔時。又再疏劾守備中官杜茂，且備陳采榷之害，言：「臣不忍皇上聽小人之謀，名出漢桓、唐德下，為我明基禍之主。」帝以湖廣地為福王莊田。春三疏力爭，帝降旨切責。葉向高致政去，方從哲為首輔。春抗疏言：「今天下人材則朝虛野實，貨財則野虛朝實。從哲不能救正，而第於福王則無事不曲從。臣嘗嘆皇上有為堯、舜之資，而輔佐無人。僅得王家屏、沈鯉，又俱不信用。其余大抵庸惡陋劣，奸回冒嫉之徒，不意至從哲而風益下。臣聞從哲每向人言，輒雲內相之意，是甘為萬安、焦芳，曾趙誌臯，沈一貫之不若也。」從哲疏辨乞去。帝慰留，而責春妄言瀆奏，出為福建右參議。尋丁父艱。天啟初，起故官。召為尚寶少卿，歷遷光祿卿。五年，魏忠賢黨門克新劾春倚恃東林，父作子述，削籍歸。

His son Chun, styled Ruomu, passed the metropolitan examination in Wanli 32 (1604). He served successively as magistrate of Gaoyang and Xian, then was summoned and appointed investigating censor. Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud Xu Zhaokui attacked Li Sancai and in the process bitterly denounced Gu Xiancheng. Chun was first to expose his treachery in three memorials. On inspection tour in Huguang, he requested posthumous honors for Vice Minister of Rites Guo Zhengyu and Vice Minister of Imperial Sacrifices Gu Xiancheng. Many members of the Chu imperial clan were imprisoned in the high wall after denouncing the false-prince affair; Chun pleaded their cause, and soon asked again for the release of former clansmen's families—his words were urgent and heartfelt. Xianning magistrate Man Chaojian had long been imprisoned; Chun memorialized for his release and also for the release of Wang Bangcai and Bian Kongshi. He twice more memorialized to impeach the eunuch defender-in-chief Du Mao, fully detailing the harm of tax levies and monopolies, saying: "Your servant cannot bear that Your Majesty heed petty men's schemes, ranking below emperors Huan of Han and Dezong of Tang, becoming a ruler who laid calamity's foundation for our Great Ming. The emperor had taken Huguang lands as manor estates for Prince Fu. Chun contested this forcefully in three memorials; the emperor issued an edict sharply rebuking him. Ye Xianggao retired from office; Fang Congzhe became chief grand secretary. Chun submitted a defiant memorial saying: "Today talent is scarce at court but abundant in the countryside; wealth is scarce in the countryside but abundant at court. Congzhe could not remedy this, yet toward Prince Fu he bent to every demand. Your servant once sighed that Your Majesty has the makings of a Yao or Shun, yet lacks worthy assistants. Wang Jiaping and Shen Li were barely secured, yet both were distrusted. The rest are mostly mediocre villains and treacherous, jealous men—you would not expect the moral climate to sink still lower with Congzhe. Your servant hears that Congzhe always says "the inner minister's intent" when he speaks to others—willingly playing Wan An and Jiao Fang, and not even equal to Zhao Zhigao and Shen Yiguan. Congzhe memorialized in defense begging to resign. The emperor comforted and retained him, but rebuked Chun for reckless and disrespectful memorializing and sent him out as Right Assistant Administration Commissioner of Fujian. Soon afterward he entered mourning for his father. At the beginning of Tianqi, he was restored to his former office. He was summoned as Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Seals and promoted in due course to Minister of Imperial Sacrifices. In the fifth year, Wei Zhongxian's follower Men Kexin impeached Chun for relying on the Donglin faction—"the father wrote and the son retailed it"—and he was struck from the rolls and sent home.

崇禎九年，召拜通政使。遷戶部右侍郎，歷尚書。總督倉場，條行厘弊十事。以勞瘁予告。未幾，起南京戶部尚書。疏請皇太子出閣，從之。累疏引疾，不允。九年，條上戰守之策，並論賊三可擊狀。帝如議敕行。十一年，黃道周、劉同升等諫楊嗣昌奪情，被貶謫。範景文等疏救，春名與焉。明年正月，削景文籍，置春不問。春為御史，甚有聲。及居大僚，循職無咎。會上疏請改折白糧，忤旨，罷歸。是年卒。

In Chongzhen 9 (1636), he was summoned and appointed Commissioner of the Transmission Office. He was promoted to Right Vice Minister of Revenue and in due course to Minister. As superintendent of the granary depots, he drew up and implemented ten reforms to correct abuses. Because of exhaustion from overwork he requested leave. Before long, he was appointed Nanjing Minister of Revenue. He memorialized asking that the crown prince leave the Eastern Palace for formal instruction; the request was granted. He repeatedly memorialized citing illness but was not permitted to retire. In the ninth year, he submitted detailed strategies for offense and defense, and discussed three circumstances in which the rebels could be attacked. The emperor approved the plan and ordered it carried out. In the eleventh year, Huang Daozhou, Liu Tongsheng, and others remonstrated against Yang Sichang's recall from mourning and were demoted and banished. Fan Jingwen and others memorialized in their defense; Chun's name was among the signatories. In the first month of the following year, Jingwen was struck from the rolls; Chun was left unpunished. As investigating censor Chun had won great renown. In high office he performed his duties without reproach. When he memorialized to reform the conversion of tribute grain tax, he offended the throne and was dismissed to return home. He died that same year.

於孔兼，字元時，金壇人。萬歷八年進士。授九江推官。入為禮部主事，再遷儀制郎中。疏論都御史吳時來晚節不終，不當謚忠恪，因請謚楊爵、陳瓚、孟秋。乃奪時來謚，而謚爵忠介。大學士王家屏以爭冊立求去。孔兼上言：「陛下徇內嬖之情，而搖主鬯之器。不納輔臣之言，反重諫官之罰。且移怒吏部，削籍三人。夫萬國欽獲罪申時行，饒伸獲罪王錫爵，非獲罪於陛下也。輔臣於數千里外，能遙制朝權若此，毋乃陛下以此示恩，欲其復來共成他圖耶！自陛下有近日之舉，而善類寒心，邪臣鼓掌。將來逢君必巧，豫教無期，申生、楊廣再見於今，此宗廟之不利，非直臣等憂也。」帝得疏，怒甚。已，竟留中。

Yu Kongjian, styled Yuanshi, was a native of Jintan. He passed the metropolitan examination in Wanli 8 (1580). He was appointed magistrate of Jiujiang. He entered the capital as a secretary in the Ministry of Rites and was twice promoted to director in the Bureau of Ritual Protocol. He memorialized that Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai's late conduct did not merit the posthumous name Loyal and Reverent, and asked posthumous honors for Yang Jue, Chen Zan, and Meng Qiu. Shilai's posthumous name was thereupon revoked, while Jue was granted the name Loyal and Upright. Grand Secretary Wang Jiaping resigned after contending over the heir's investiture. Kongjian memorialized: "Your Majesty indulges inner favorites, yet shakes the vessel of the state's succession. You reject your chief ministers' counsel yet heap punishment on remonstrating officials. You have moreover vented your anger on the Ministry of Personnel, striking three men from the rolls. Wan Guoqin was punished because of Shen Shixing, Rao Shen because of Wang Xijue—they were not punished by Your Majesty's own decree. Chief ministers thousands of li away can thus control the court from afar—does Your Majesty show them favor so they will return to pursue some other design together! Since Your Majesty's recent actions, good officials are disheartened while wicked ministers applaud. In future courtiers will grow ever craftier, tutors appointed without end—Shensheng and Yang Guang will appear again in our age; this harms the ancestral temple, not merely us remonstrating ministers. When the emperor received the memorial, he was furious. In the end it was withheld at court.

明年正月，有詔並封三王。孔兼與員外郎陳泰來合疏爭曰：「立嫡之訓，自古有之。然歷考祖宗以來，未有虛東宮之位以候嫡子者。昔陛下正位東宮，年甫六歲，仁聖皇太后方在盛年，先皇帝曾不少待，陛下豈不省記乎？地逼則嫌生，禮殊則分定。願收還新諭，建儲、封王一時並舉，宗社幸甚。」未報。孔兼又言：「陛下堅持待嫡之說，既疑群臣謗訕，又謂朝綱倒持，遂欲坐諫者以無禮於君之罪。夫謂元子當立不容緩者，君子也。此有禮於君者，王如堅諸人是也。謂並封可行逢上意者，小人也。此無禮於君者，許夢熊一人是也。今欲以無禮之罪，而加之有禮於其君者，何以服人心，昭國法？臣又惟巫蠱之謗啟於堯母；承乾之誅成於偏愛。自古亂臣，未有不窺人君之隙而逢迎以遂其奸者。始錫爵之兩諭並擬，其負國誤君大矣。既不能轉移君心決計於初，乃以杜門求去為計。夫前無失策，一去可以成名。失而後爭，爭而不得，雖去不足塞責矣。人謂錫爵言無不盡，特苦陛下聽斷之不行。臣則雲陛下悔心已萌，特憂錫爵感孚之未至。若姑雲徐徐，坐視君父之過舉，錫爵縱不為宗社計，獨不為身名計乎？」會廷臣多諫者，其事竟寢。

In the first month of the following year, an edict enfeoffed all three princes at once. Kong Jian and Vice Director Chen Tailai jointly memorialized in protest: "The rule that the legitimate heir must be established is as old as the state itself. Yet in all the generations since the founding of the dynasty, no ruler has ever left the Eastern Palace empty while waiting for a son of the principal consort. When Your Majesty was made heir, you were only six; the Benevolent and Sagely Empress Dowager was still young, and the late emperor did not delay a day—surely Your Majesty remembers? When heirs stand too close together, suspicion is born; when ritual distinctions are clear, ranks are settled. We pray that Your Majesty withdraw the recent edict and establish the heir and enfeoff the princes in a single act—the realm would be greatly blessed. The court gave no reply. Kong Jian added: "Your Majesty clings to waiting for a son of the principal consort, suspecting ministers of slandering you and claiming that court norms have been turned upside down—and now you would punish remonstrators with the crime of disrespect to the throne. Those who say the eldest son must be established without delay are gentlemen. These are men who show respect to their ruler—Wang Rujian and his like. Those who say simultaneous enfeoffment is acceptable because it flatters the throne are petty men. These are men who show disrespect to their ruler—Xu Mengxiong alone. To punish men of respect with the crime of disrespect—how will that win hearts or vindicate the law of the land? Your servant further reflects that charges of witchcraft first arose from a mother's jealousy; and the destruction of Li Chengqian was wrought by a father's partial love. Rebellious ministers in every age have watched for cracks in their ruler's judgment and flattered him to advance their treachery. At the outset Wang Xijue drafted both edicts together—his offense against the state and betrayal of the ruler is grave indeed. Unable to turn the emperor's heart at the first, he made his strategy one of shutting his gates and threatening resignation. Had he never erred, a single resignation might have won him lasting honor. To struggle only after defeat, and when struggle fails—even resignation cannot absolve him. Men say Wang Xijue left nothing unsaid and blamed only Your Majesty's refusal to heed him. Your servant believes regret has already stirred in Your Majesty's breast, and that you fear only that Wang Xijue has not yet felt it. If you merely counsel delay while your lord and father blunder—will Wang Xijue spare no thought even for his own name, if not for the altars of the realm? As court officials memorialized in growing numbers, the affair was abandoned in the end.

亡何，考功郎中趙南星坐京察削籍。孔兼、泰來各疏救。帝積前恨，謫孔兼安吉判官，泰來饒平典史。孔兼投牒歸。家居二十年，杜門讀書，矩矱整肅，鄉人稱之無間言。

Before long, Director Zhao Nanxing was struck from the rolls in the capital personnel evaluation. Kong Jian and Chen Tailai each submitted memorials in his defense. The emperor, nursing old resentments, demoted Kong Jian to assistant magistrate of Anji and Chen Tailai to record keeper of Raoping. Kong Jian handed in his credentials and went home. He lived in retirement twenty years, reading behind closed doors with stern discipline; neighbors praised him without a whisper of reproach.

泰來，字伯符，平湖人。年十九，舉萬歷五年進士，授順天教授，進國子博士。見執政與言路相水火，上書規之，坐是五年不調。南京禮部郎中馬應圖，泰來同邑，又同年生也，十三年，上疏譏切執政，又力詆給事中齊世臣，御史龔懋賢、蔡系周、孫愈賢、吳定，而盛稱吳中行、趙用賢、沈思孝、李植諸人。忤旨，謫大同典史。給事中王致祥、御史柴祥等希執政意，復連章劾應圖，且言泰來為點定奏章。帝以應圖既貶不問。泰來引疾歸。久之，起禮部主事，進員外郎。疏請建儲，不報。逾年遂卒，年三十六。天啟中，孔兼、泰來俱贈光祿少卿。

Chen Tailai, styled Bofu, was a native of Pinghu. At nineteen he passed the jinshi in Wanli 5, was appointed professor of Shuntian, and advanced to erudite of the Directorate of Education. Seeing chief ministers and remonstrating offices locked in bitter conflict, he memorialized to admonish them and for this went five years without promotion. Ma Yingtu, a director in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, was from the same district and the same examination year; in Wanli 13 he submitted a memorial sharply rebuking the chief ministers and fiercely denounced supervising secretaries Qi Shichen and censors Gong Maoxian, Cai Xizhou, Sun Yuxian, and Wu Ding, while warmly praising Wu Zhongxing, Zhao Yongxian, Shen Sixiao, Li Zhi, and others. Disobeying the throne, he was demoted to record keeper of Datong. Supervising Secretary Wang Zhixiang, Censor Chai Xiang, and others currying favor with the chief ministers again impeached Yingtu in successive memorials, and claimed that Chen Tailai had polished the draft. Since Yingtu was already punished, the emperor did not pursue the matter further. Chen Tailai cited illness and returned home. After a long interval he was appointed chief clerk in the Ministry of Rites and promoted to vice director. He memorialized requesting that the heir be established; no reply came. The following year he died, aged thirty-six. In the Tianqi reign, Kong Jian and Chen Tailai were both posthumously granted vice minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments.

於氏為金壇望族。孔兼祖湛，戶部侍郎。兄文熙，大名兵備副使。再從弟仕廉，南京戶部侍郎，有清望。史孟麟，字際明，宜興人。萬歷十一年進士。授庶吉士，改吏科給事中。疏劾少詹事黃洪憲典試作奸，左都御史吳時來沮抑言路。執政庇之，格不行。員外郎趙南星、主事姜士昌相繼劾兩人，並及副都御史詹仰庇。執政滋不說。吏科都給事中陳與郊素附執政，屬同官李春開三疏訐南星、士昌妄言。帝止下春開疏，而留南星、士昌奏不發。給事中王繼光、萬自約不平，復抗章論時來等，詞甚峻切。孟麟亦上疏力攻春開，語並侵執政，因求罷，不許。孟麟竟自引歸。春開亦謝病去，後以考察罷。孟麟尋召為兵科右給事中。

The Yu clan was a leading family of Jintan. Kong Jian's grandfather Zhan had been vice minister of revenue. His elder brother Wenkai was vice commissioner for military preparedness at Daming. His second cousin once removed Shilian was vice minister of revenue at Nanjing, famed for integrity. Shi Menglin, styled Jiming, was a native of Yixing. He passed the jinshi in Wanli 11. He was appointed junior compiler, then transferred to supervising secretary in the Ministry of Personnel. He memorialized impeaching Junior Tutor Huang Hongxian for corruption in the examinations and Left Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai for throttling the remonstrating offices. The chief ministers shielded them and blocked the memorial. Vice Director Zhao Nanxing and Chief Clerk Jiang Shichang successively impeached the two men and extended their charges to Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhan Yangbi. The chief ministers grew ever more displeased. Chen Yuhe, chief supervising secretary of the Ministry of Personnel, had long sided with the chief ministers and urged his colleague Li Chunkai to submit three memorials accusing Nanxing and Shichang of reckless speech. The emperor issued only Chunkai's memorial, withholding Nanxing's and Shichang's submissions. Supervising secretaries Wang Jiguang and Wan Ziyue, indignant at the injustice, again memorialized against Shilai and others in language fiercely stern. Menglin also memorialized, attacking Chunkai with force and implicating the chief ministers; he then begged to be dismissed, but was not permitted. Menglin ultimately resigned on his own. Chunkai also begged leave on grounds of illness; later he was dismissed in the personnel evaluation. Menglin was soon recalled as right supervising secretary in the Ministry of War.

二十年，大學士趙誌臯、張位言：「凡會議會推，並令廷臣類奏，取自上裁，用杜專權。」孟麟疏爭曰：「自臣通籍以來，竊見閣臣侵部院之權，言路希閣臣之指，官失其守，言失其責久矣。陛下更置輔臣，與天下更始，政事歸六部，公論付言官，天下方欣欣望治，奈何忽有此令？曩太祖罷中書省，分設六部，恐其專也；而官各有職，不相侵越，則又惟恐其不專。蓋以一事任一官，則專不為害；即使敗事，亦罪有所歸。此祖宗建官之意也。今令諸臣各書所見，類奏以聽上裁，則始以一部之事，分而散之於諸司；究以諸司之權，合而收之於禁密。事雖上裁，旨由閣擬。脫有私意奸其間，內托上旨，外諉廷言，誰執其咎？又脫有馮保、張居正者，夤緣為奸，授意外廷，小人趨承，扶同罔上，朝廷不得察其非，當官不能爭其是，又誰執其咎？臣竊謂政權分之六部，不可以為專。惟六部不專，則必有專之者。是乃收攬威權之漸，必不可從也。」忤旨，不納。

In Wanli 20, Grand Secretaries Zhao Zhigao and Zhang Wei proposed: "For all joint deliberations and joint recommendations, let court officials submit classified memorials for the emperor's decision, to forestall monopoly of power. Menglin memorialized in protest: "Since I entered office I have watched Secretariat ministers encroach on the ministries and remonstrating offices curry Secretariat favor—officials have lost their posts and remonstrators their charge for years. Your Majesty has newly appointed chief ministers for a fresh beginning; affairs of state were to return to the Six Ministries and public opinion to remonstrating officials—all the realm looked toward good government; how can you suddenly issue such an order? Formerly the founding emperor abolished the Secretariat and divided the Six Ministries, fearing monopoly; yet when each officer held his charge and none trespassed on another, he also feared only that they would not be fully responsible. When one matter is entrusted to one officer, concentration does no harm; and if affairs go wrong, blame has somewhere to fall. Such was the founding emperor's intent in establishing offices. Now to order all officials to write their views and submit them classified for imperial decision—at first a matter of one ministry is split and scattered among the bureaus; in the end the powers of the bureaus are gathered back into the forbidden inner court. Though matters are decided by the throne, the rescripts are drafted in the Secretariat. If private designs slip between them, invoking the imperial will within and shifting blame to the court without—who will bear the guilt? And if another Feng Bao or Zhang Juzheng should rise, who by patronage do evil and issue unexpected orders to the outer court while petty men rush to obey and jointly deceive the throne—so that the court cannot see what is wrong and officials cannot dispute what is right—who then will bear the guilt? Your servant holds that power divided among the Six Ministries must not be allowed to become monopoly. When the Six Ministries are not allowed their charge, someone else will necessarily monopolize power. This is the first step toward concentrating power in one hand—it must not be followed." Disobeying the throne, the proposal was not adopted.

再遷吏科都給事中。三王並封議起，孟麟、於孔兼等詣王錫爵邸爭之。又進《或問》一篇，別白尤力。尚書孫鑨、考功郎中趙南星掌癸巳京察，孟麟實佐之。南星以讒言斥，孟麟亦引疾歸。召拜太仆少卿，復以疾去。

He was again promoted to chief supervising secretary in the Ministry of Personnel. When the controversy over enfeoffing the three princes together arose, Menglin, Kong Jian, and others went to Wang Xijue's residence to argue with him. He also submitted a piece entitled "Questions and Answers," clarifying the issues with exceptional force. Minister Sun Sai and Director Zhao Nanxing presided over the guisi capital evaluation, with Menglin assisting in practice. Nanxing was expelled on slanderous charges, and Menglin also cited illness and went home. He was summoned and appointed vice minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud, but again left on grounds of illness.

孟麟素砥名節，復與東林講會，時望益重。家居十五年，召起故官，督四夷館。會睹梃擊事，疏請冊立皇太孫，絕群小覬覦之望。且救御史劉光復。帝怒，謫兩浙鹽運判官。熹宗立，稍遷南京禮部主事。累擢太仆卿，卒。

Menglin had always burnished his moral reputation and again joined the Donglin lecture gatherings; his standing in the age grew ever weightier. After fifteen years in retirement he was recalled to his former post and supervised the Four Barbarian Offices. When the stick-assault affair broke, he memorialized requesting investiture of the imperial great-grandson to cut off petty men's hopes of usurpation. He also interceded for Censor Liu Guangfu. The emperor was enraged and demoted him to salt transport assistant of the two Zhe provinces. When the Tianqi Emperor ascended, he was gradually transferred to chief clerk in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites. He rose in succession to minister of the Court of the Imperial Stud and died in office.

薛敷教，字以身，武進人。祖應旗，字仲常。嘉靖十四年進士。由慈溪知縣屢遷南京考功郎中，主京察。大學士嚴嵩嘗為給事中王曄所劾，囑尚寶丞諸傑貽書應旗，令黜曄。應旗反黜傑，嵩大怒。應旗又黜常州知府符驗，嵩令御史桂榮劾應旗挾私黜郡守，謫建昌通判。歷浙江提學副使。應旗雅工場屋文字，與王鏊、唐順之、瞿景淳齊名。其閱文所品題，百不失一。以大計罷歸，顧憲成兄弟方少，從之學，敷教遂與善，用風節相期許。及舉萬歷十七年進士，與高攀龍同出趙南星門，益以名教自任。

Xue Fujiao, styled Yishen, was a native of Wujin. His grandfather Yingqi, styled Zhongchang. He passed the jinshi in Jiajing 14. From magistrate of Cixi he rose repeatedly to director in the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel, presiding over the capital evaluation. Grand Secretary Yan Song had once been impeached by Supervising Secretary Wang Ye; he instructed Senior Court Gentleman Zhu Jie to write Yingqi asking him to demote Ye. Yingqi instead demoted Jie, and Yan Song was furious. Yingqi also demoted Changzhou prefect Fu Yan; Yan Song had Censor Gui Rong impeach Yingqi for demoting a prefect out of private spite, and he was demoted to assistant prefect of Jianchang. He served in succession as vice commissioner of education in Zhejiang. Yingqi excelled in examination-hall prose and ranked in fame with Wang Ao, Tang Shunzhi, and Qu Jingchun. In grading examination papers his judgments were right ninety-nine times in a hundred. Dismissed in the grand evaluation and returned home, he took the Gu Xiancheng brothers as pupils while they were still young; Fujiao befriended them and they pledged one another to lives of integrity. When he passed the jinshi in Wanli 17, he and Gao Panlong were both pupils of Zhao Nanxing and took all the more upon themselves the charge of moral teaching.

會南京御史王藩臣疏劾巡撫周繼，不具揭都察院，為其長耿定向所劾。左都御史吳時來因請申飭憲規，藩臣坐停俸。敷教上言：「時來壅遏言路，代人狼噬。而二三輔臣，曲學險诐，又故繩庶寀，以崇九列，塞主上聰明。宜嚴黨邪之禁，更易兩都臺長，以清風憲。」疏上，大學士申時行等疏言：「故事，御史建白，北京即日投揭臺長，南京則以三日。藩臣廢故事，薄罰未為過。必如敷教言，將盡抑大臣而後可耶？」副都御史詹仰庇劾敷教煽惑人心，淆亂國是。詔敷教歸，省過三年，以教職用。大學士許國以敷教其門生，而疏語侵己，尤憤，自請罷斥。因言：「邇來建言成風，可要名，可躐秩，又可掩過，故人競趨之為捷徑，此風既成，莫可救止。方今京師訛言東南赤旱，臣未為憂，而獨憂此區區者，彼止一時之災，此則世道之慮也。」時來亦乞休，力詆敷教及主事饒伸。帝慰留國、時來。都給事中陳與郊復上疏極詆建言諸臣，帝亦不問。

When Nanjing Censor Wang Fanchen impeached Grand Coordinator Zhou Ji without filing a report with the Censorate, his superior Geng Dingxiang impeached him in turn. Left Censor-in-Chief Wu Shilai requested stricter enforcement of censorial rules, and Fanchen's salary was suspended. Fujiao memorialized: "Shilai chokes off frank remonstrance and lets others devour their victims like wolves. Meanwhile the chief ministers pursue crooked, treacherous learning, binding minor officials to elevate the Nine Ranks and blind Your Majesty's discernment. Strictly forbid factional wickedness and replace the heads of both capitals' censorates to restore integrity to the law. When the memorial arrived, Grand Secretary Shen Shixing and others replied: "By precedent a censor's proposal in Beijing is reported to the censorate chief that same day; at Nanjing within three days. Fanchen broke precedent; a light penalty was not excessive. Must we, as Fujiao demands, suppress every grand minister before this is settled? Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhan Yangbi impeached Fujiao for stirring public emotion and confusing state policy. The emperor ordered Fujiao home to reflect for three years before appointment to a teaching post. Grand Secretary Xu Guo, whose student Fujiao had been, was especially furious at the memorial's attack on him and asked to resign. He wrote: "Remonstrance has lately become a fashion—for reputation, promotion, or covering faults. Men rush this shortcut; once entrenched, it cannot be stopped. Rumors speak of drought in the southeast; I do not fear that disaster but this trend—for drought passes; this corrupts the age. Shixing also begged retirement, fiercely denouncing Fujiao and Secretary Rao Shen. The emperor comforted them and kept Gu and Shixing in office. Chief Supervising Secretary Chen Yujiao memorialized again, savagely denouncing remonstrators; the emperor took no action.

二十年夏，起敷教鳳翔教授，旋遷國子助教。明年，力爭三王並封，又上書王錫爵。尋以救南星，謫光州學正。省母歸，遂不復出。敷教禔身嚴苦，垢衣糲食，終身未嘗受人饋。家居二十年，力持清議，大吏有舉動，多用敷教言而止。後與憲成兄弟及攀龍輩講學。卒，贈尚寶司丞。

In summer of the twentieth year Fujiao was appointed professor at Fengxiang, soon promoted to assistant instructor at the National University. The following year he fiercely opposed enfeoffing three princes at once and wrote again to Wang Xijue. For defending Nanxing he was soon banished to instructor at Guangzhou. He went home to mourn his mother and never returned to office. Fujiao lived with harsh austerity—tattered clothes, plain food—and never accepted gifts. For twenty years at home he upheld principled criticism; great officials often abandoned plans on his word. Later he lectured with the Gu brothers, Gao Panlong, and their circle. After his death he was posthumously granted Registrar of the Court of Imperial Regalia.

安希範，字小範，無錫人。萬歷十四年進士。授行人。遷禮部主事，乞便養母，改南京吏部。二十一年，行人高攀龍以趙用賢去國，疏爭之，與鄭材、楊應宿相訐。攀龍謫揭陽典史。御史吳弘濟復爭，亦被黜。希範上疏曰：「近年以來，正直之臣不安於位。趙南星、孟化鯉為選郎，秉公持正，乃次第屏黜。趙用賢節概震天下，止以吳鎮豎子一疏而歸，使應宿、材得窺意指，交章攻擊。至如孫鑨之清修公正，李世達之練達剛明，李禎之孤介廉方，並朝廷儀表。鑨、世達先後去國，禎亦堅懷去誌，天下共惜諸臣不用，而疑閣臣冒嫉，不使竟其用也。高攀龍一疏，正直和平，此陛下忠臣，亦輔臣諍友。至如應宿辨疏，塗面喪心，無復人理。明旨下部科勘議，未嘗不是攀龍非應宿。及奉處分之詔，則應宿僅從薄謫，攀龍反竄炎荒。輔臣誤國不忠，無甚於此。乃動輒自文，諉之宸斷。坐視君父過舉，弼違補袞之謂何！茍俟降斥之後，陽為申救，以愚天下耳目，而天下早已知其肺腑矣。吳弘濟辨別君子小人，較若蒼素，乃與攀龍相繼得罪。臣之所惜，不為二臣，正恐君子皆退，小人皆進，誰為受其禍者。乞陛下立斥應宿、材，為小人媚竈之戒；復攀龍、弘濟官，以獎忠良；並嚴諭閣臣王錫爵，無挾私植黨，仇視正人。則相業光而聖德亦光矣。」時南京刑部郎中譚一召、主事孫繼有方以劾錫爵被譴。希範疏入，帝怒，斥為民。希範恬靜簡易，與東林講學之會。熹宗嗣位，將起官，先卒。贈光祿少卿。

An Xifan, styled Xiaofan, was a native of Wuxi. He passed the metropolitan examination in Wanli 14 (1586). He was appointed court attendant. Promoted to secretary in the Ministry of Rites, he asked leave to care for his mother and was transferred to the Nanjing Ministry of Personnel. In the twenty-first year, Attendant Gao Panlong, after Zhao Yongxian left court, memorialized in protest and crossed words with Zheng Cai and Yang Yingsu. Panlong was banished to recorder of Jieyang. Censor Wu Hongji remonstrated again and was dismissed as well. Xifan memorialized: "In recent years upright officials cannot keep their posts. Zhao Nanxing and Meng Huaji served as selection directors with integrity, yet were dismissed in turn. Zhao Yongxian's integrity was famed throughout the realm; one memorial from the shallow fellow Wu Zhen sent him home, letting Yingsu and Cai read the court's mood and attack in concert. Sun Luan was pure and upright, Li Shida seasoned and firm, Li Zhen solitary and incorruptible—each a model for the court. Luan and Shida left in succession; Zhen also meant to resign. The realm lamented such men unused and suspected the chief ministers of jealous obstruction. Gao Panlong's memorial was upright and measured—Your Majesty's loyal minister and the chief ministers' candid friend. Yang Yingsu's rebuttal smeared his own face and abandoned reason entirely. The edict sent to ministries for joint deliberation always faulted Panlong, not Yingsu. Yet when punishment was ordered, Yingsu was lightly demoted while Panlong was exiled to the far south. The chief ministers' disloyalty to the state could hardly be worse. Yet they constantly excuse themselves, attributing all to imperial decision alone. They watch the ruler and father err—what of the minister's duty to assist and correct! If after demotion they feign rescue to fool the realm, the realm already knows their hearts. Wu Hongji distinguished gentleman from petty man as clearly as black from white; yet like Panlong he was punished in turn. I do not lament for those two alone—I fear that when gentlemen withdraw and petty men advance, the calamity falls on all. I beg Your Majesty dismiss Yingsu and Cai at once as a warning to petty men who curry favor at the kitchen hearth; restore Panlong and Hongji to reward loyal service; and sternly warn Grand Secretary Wang Xijue against private factions and hatred of upright men. Then the minister's service would shine—and so would Your Majesty's virtue. At that time Nanjing Punishments Director Tan Yizhao and Secretary Sun Jiyou had been punished for impeaching Xijue. When Xifan's memorial arrived, the emperor in anger dismissed him from office. Xifan was tranquil and unassuming and joined the Donglin assemblies. When Xizong succeeded, he was to be recalled but died first. He was posthumously granted Vice Minister of the Imperial Household.

吳弘濟，字春陽，秀水人。希範同年進士。由蒲圻知縣擢御史。連劾福建巡撫司汝濟、大理卿吳定、戎政侍郎郝傑、薊遼總督顧養謙，不納。三王並封詔下，偕同官抗疏爭。既而以論應宿、攀龍事，貶二秩調外。王錫爵等疏救，給事、御史、執政疏每上，輒重其罰，竟斥為民。未幾卒。熹宗時，贈官如希範。

Wu Hongji, styled Chunyang, was a native of Xiushui. He was Xifan's examination cohort. From magistrate of Puqi he was promoted to censor. He impeached in succession Fujian Grand Coordinator Si Ruji, Appeals Director Wu Ding, Military Administration Vice Minister Hao Jie, and Jizhou-Liaoning Commander Gu Yangqian—none were acted on. When the edict for simultaneous enfeoffment of three princes came down, he and colleagues remonstrated together. Later, for the matter of Yingsu and Panlong, he was demoted two ranks and sent outside the capital. Wang Xijue and others pleaded for him, but each time officials memorialized in his defense the penalty grew heavier; he was finally dismissed from office. He died soon after. Under Xizong he received posthumous honors like Xifan.

譚一召，大庾人。孫繼有，余姚人。一召疏曰：「輔臣錫爵再輔政以來，斥逐言者無虛月。攀龍、弘濟之黜，一何甚也。自趙南星秉公考察，錫爵含怒積憤。故南星一掛彈章而斥，於孔兼、薛敷教、張納陛等以申救而斥，孟化鯉等以推張棟而斥，李世達、孫鑨又相繼罷去矣。怒心橫生，觸事輒發，又安知是非公論耶！」繼有疏曰：「吳弘濟救攀龍則黜，黃紀賢、吳文梓救弘濟則罰，鄭材傾陷善類，而黜罰不加，何其舛也。今所指為攀龍罪者，以攀龍謂陛下不親一事，批答盡出輔臣。然疏內初無此語，何以服攀龍心？然此猶小者耳。本兵、經略，安危所系，乃以匪人石星、宋應昌任之，豈不誤國家大計哉！」與一召疏並上。帝怒曰：「近罪攀龍，出朕獨斷。小臣無狀，詆誣閣臣，朋奸黨惡，不可不罪。其除一召名，謫繼有極邊雜職。」給事中葉繼美疏救二人及希範。帝益怒，並除繼有名，遣官逮希範、一召，奪繼美俸一年。錫爵力救，詔免逮。諸人遂廢於家。繼有終知府。

Tan Yizhao was a native of Dayu. Sun Jiyou was a native of Yuyao. Yizhao wrote: "Since Grand Secretary Xijue's return to power, remonstrators have been dismissed every month without fail. How harsh the punishments of Panlong and Hongji! Since Zhao Nanxing's fair evaluation, Xijue has nursed anger and resentment. At one memorial Nanxing was expelled; Kongjian, Fujiao, and Zhang Nadu for pleading on his behalf; Meng Huaji for backing Zhang Dong; Li Shida and Sun Luan in turn—all driven out. His wrath erupts at every turn—who can tell right public opinion from wrong? Jiyou wrote: "Hongji defended Panlong and was dismissed; Huang Jixian and Wu Wenzai defended Hongji and were fined; yet Zheng Cai assailed the worthy without penalty—how perverse! The charge against Panlong is that he said Your Majesty handles no affair personally and all rescripts come from the chief ministers. Yet his memorial contained no such words—how can this satisfy justice? And that is still a small matter. The Ministry of War and frontier command hold the realm's safety—yet worthless men like Shi Xing and Song Yingchang hold them. Is this not a grave mistake? His memorial was submitted together with Yizhao's. The emperor raged: "Panlong's punishment was my decision alone. These petty officials slander the chief ministers and band with wickedness—they cannot go unpunished. Strike Yizhao from the rolls and banish Jiyou to the farthest frontier. Supervising Secretary Ye Jimei memorialized in defense of the two men and Xifan. Still angrier, he struck Jimei from the rolls as well, sent officers to arrest Xifan and Yizhao, and withheld Jimei's salary for a year. Xijue pressed for mercy; an edict spared arrest. They ended their careers at home. Jiyou eventually became prefect.

劉元珍，字伯先，無錫人。萬歷二十三年進士。初授南京禮部主事，進郎中，親老歸養。起南京職方，厘汰老弱營軍，歲省銀二萬有奇。

Liu Yuanzhen, styled Boxian, was a native of Wuxi. He passed the metropolitan examination in Wanli 23 (1595). First appointed secretary in the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, he rose to director, then went home to care for aging parents. Recalled to the Nanjing Bureau of Military Appointments, he purged old and weak camp troops, saving more than twenty thousand taels yearly.

三十三年京察，吏部侍郎楊時喬、都御史溫純，盡黜政府私人錢夢臯等。大學士沈一貫密為地，詔給事、御史被黜者皆留，且不下察疏。元珍方服闋需次，抗疏言：「一貫自秉政以來，比昵憸人，叢集奸慝，假至尊之權以售私，竊朝廷之恩以市德，罔上不忠，孰大於是！近見夢臯有疏，每以黨加人。從古小人未有不以朋黨之說先空善類者。所關治亂安危之機，非細故也。」疏奏，留中。一貫亟自辨，乞明示獨斷之意，以釋群疑。夢臯亦詆元珍為溫純鷹犬。疏皆不報。未幾，敕諭廷臣以留用言官之故，貶元珍一秩，調邊方。一貫佯救，給事、御史侯慶遠、葉永盛等亦爭之，不從。時員外郎賀燦然、南京御史朱吾弼相繼論察典。而主事龐時雍則直攻一貫欺罔者十，誤國者十，且曰：「一貫之富貴日崇，陛下之社稷日壞。頃南郊雷震，正當一貫奏請頒行敕諭之時。意者天厭其奸，以警悟陛下，俾早除讒慝乎！」帝得疏怒，命並元珍、燦然貶三秩，調極邊。頃之，慶遠及御史李柟等申救。帝益怒，奪其俸，謫元珍等極邊雜職。俄御史周家棟指陳時政，語過激。帝遷怒元珍等，皆除其名。然察疏亦下，諸被留者皆自免去。

In the thirty-third year's metropolitan evaluation, Personnel Vice Minister Yang Shiqi and Censor-in-Chief Wen Chun dismissed the government's clients, including Qian Menggao. Grand Secretary Shen Yiguan maneuvered behind the scenes; an edict kept all dismissed censors and secretaries in office and withheld the evaluation memorial. Yuanzhen, just finishing mourning and awaiting appointment, protested: "Since Yiguan took power he has courted flatterers, gathered villains, used imperial authority for private ends, and stolen court grace to buy loyalty—none greater disloyalty! Lately Menggao's every memorial brands opponents as factionalists. Petty men in every age first cry "faction" to clear out the good. This touches the pivot of order and chaos—not a trifle. The memorial was submitted and withheld at court. Yiguan hurried to defend himself, begging a clear edict of imperial sole decision to quiet suspicion. Menggao called Yuanzhen Wen Chun's lackey. No reply came to any memorial. Soon an edict rebuked the court for retaining the censured officials; Yuanzhen was demoted one rank and sent to the frontier. Yiguan pretended to intercede; Supervising Secretaries Hou Qingyuan and Ye Yongsheng and others also protested, but the emperor would not relent. Registrar He Yiran and Nanjing Censor Zhu Wubi then memorialized on the evaluation itself. Secretary Pang Shiyong attacked Yiguan directly with ten charges of deceit and ten of harming the state, declaring: "As Yiguan grows richer and grander, Your Majesty's altars decay daily. Thunder struck at the recent southern suburban sacrifice—just as Yiguan was petitioning to issue an edict. Perhaps Heaven loathes his treachery, warning Your Majesty to purge slanderers at once! The emperor, furious, demoted Yuanzhen and Yiran three ranks and sent them to the farthest frontier. Soon Qingyuan and Censor Li Tong and others pleaded for mercy. Still angrier, he suspended their salaries and banished Yuanzhen and the others to the farthest frontier posts. Soon Censor Zhou Jiadong criticized current policy in terms the emperor deemed excessive. The emperor vented his wrath on Yuanzhen and the others, striking them all from the rolls. The evaluation memorial was issued nonetheless, and all who had been kept in office resigned of their own accord.

未幾，元珍卒官。初，元珍罷歸，以講學為事。表節義，恤鰥寡，行義重於時。

Before long Yuanzhen died in his post. After his dismissal he devoted himself to lecturing. He upheld integrity, aided widows and orphans, and was esteemed for conduct above his peers.

時雍，汶上人。萬歷二十年進士。知丹徒縣，歷戶、兵二部主事。既除名，未及起用而卒。

Shiyong was a native of Wenshang. He passed the metropolitan examination in Wanli 20 (1592). He served as magistrate of Dantu and rose to secretary in the Ministries of Revenue and War. He was struck from the rolls and died before he could be recalled.

葉茂才，字參之，無錫人。萬歷十七年進士。除刑部主事，以便養改南京工部。榷稅蕪湖，課登，輒縱民舟去。既而課羨，請以餉邊卒，不取一錢。就改吏部，進郎中，三遷南京大理丞。復引疾。四十年，起南京太仆少卿。時朝士方植黨爭權。祭酒湯賓尹、修撰韓敬既敗，其黨猶力庇之。御史湯世濟者，敬邑人也，疏陳時政，陰詆發敬奸弊者。茂才馳疏駁之。其黨給事中官應震輩遂連疏力爭。茂才更具揭發其隱，因移疾乞休。世濟益恚，偕同年金汝諧、牟誌夔攻之不已。茂才再疏折之，竟自引去。當是時，黨人悉踞言路，凡他曹有言，必合力逐之。茂才既去，黨人益專，無復操異議者。天啟初，召為太仆少卿，改太常，皆不赴。四年，擢南京工部右侍郎。明年抵官。甫三月，以時政日非，謝病歸。友人高攀龍被逮，赴水死，使者將逮其子，茂才力救免之。未幾卒。

Ye Maocai, styled Canzhi, was a native of Wuxi. He passed the metropolitan examination in Wanli 17 (1589). Appointed secretary in the Ministry of Punishments, he moved to the Nanjing Ministry of Works to care for his parents. As tax commissioner at Wuhu, once dues were paid he always released the people's boats to depart. When revenue later exceeded quota, he asked that the surplus feed border troops and took not a single coin. He moved to the Ministry of Personnel, rose to director, and was thrice promoted to assistant director in the Nanjing Court of Appeals. He again pleaded illness and retired. In the fortieth year he was appointed Nanjing Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud. Court factions were then contending for power. Erudite Tang Binyin and Compiler Han Jing had already fallen, yet their faction still shielded them fiercely. Censor Tang Shiji, Han Jing's townsman, memorialized on current affairs while covertly attacking those who had exposed Jing's corruption. Maocai hurried a rebuttal memorial to court. Their faction's Supervising Secretaries, led by Guan Yingzhen, answered with linked memorials in fierce protest. Maocai exposed their secrets fully in another memorial and asked leave to retire. Shiji grew more furious and, with his cohort Jin Ruxie and Mou Zhikui, attacked without cease. Maocai answered again and finally resigned of his own accord. Faction members held the remonstrating offices; whenever others spoke, they combined to drive them out. After Maocai's departure the faction tightened its grip; dissent fell silent. Early in the Tianqi reign he was summoned as Vice Minister of the Imperial Stud and then as Vice Minister of Imperial Sacrifices; he attended neither. In the fourth year he was promoted to Nanjing Vice Minister of Works. He took office the following year. After only three months, seeing government daily worsen, he pleaded illness and went home. His friend Gao Panlong, arrested, drowned himself; when officers came for Panlong's son, Maocai secured the boy's release. He died soon after.

茂才恬淡寡嗜好。通籍四十年，家食強半。始同邑顧憲成、允成、安希範、劉元珍及攀龍並建言去國，直聲震一時，茂才只以醇德稱。及官太仆，清流盡斥，邪議益棼，遂奮身與抗，人由是服其勇。時稱「東林八君子」，憲成、允成、攀龍、希範、元珍、武進錢一本、薛敷教及茂才也。

Maocai was tranquil and without worldly appetite. Though on the rolls forty years, he spent more than half at home. While Gu Xiancheng, Gu Yuncheng, An Xifan, Liu Yuanzhen, and Gao Panlong won fame for bold remonstrance, Maocai was known only for pure conduct. When he took office as minister, the upright had been expelled and vicious counsel prevailed—then he threw himself into the fight, and men admired his courage. They were called the Eight Gentlemen of Donglin: Xiancheng, Yuncheng, Panlong, Xifan, Yuanzhen, Qian Yiben of Wujin, Fujiao, and Maocai.

贊曰：成、弘以上，學術醇而士習正，其時講學未盛也。正、嘉之際，王守仁聚徒於軍旅之中，徐階講學於端揆之日，流風所被，傾動朝野。於是搢紳之士，遺佚之老，聯講會，立書院，相望於遠近。而名高速謗，氣盛招尤，物議橫生，黨禍繼作，乃至眾射之的，鹹指東林。甘陵之部，洛、蜀之爭，不烈於是矣。憲成諸人，清節誇修，為士林標準。雖未嘗激揚標榜，列「君宗」、「顧」、「俊」之目，而負物望者引以為重，獵時譽者資以梯榮，附麗遊揚，薰蕕猥雜，豈講學初心實然哉？語曰「為善無近名」，士君子亦可以知所處矣。

The historian writes: Under Chenghua and Hongzhi scholarship was pure and official conduct upright, and public lecturing had not yet flourished. In the Zhengde and Jiajing reigns Wang Yangming taught amid the armies and Xu Jie lectured from the chief minister's seat; their influence shook court and country. Officials and retired elders formed lecture societies and founded academies that dotted the land. Fame brought slander, zeal invited attack, opinion sharpened into faction—until every arrow aimed at Donglin. The feuds of Ganling, the strife of Luoyang and Shu—were no fiercer. Xiancheng and his fellows, celebrated for pure integrity, set the standard for scholars. Though they never openly ranked men as masters or worthies, men of reputation leaned on them for standing and climbers used them as ladders; admirers and opportunists mingled good with bad—was this the original aim of their teaching? As the sage said, "Do good without courting a name"—a gentleman may know where he ought to stand.

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