Overview
陛下 was a ruler.
IdentityHistorical · Male · Title only
Life and dates
Attested activity
Places and affiliations
- Polity Tang 唐 · Relation Ruled
Assessments and attributes
- Assessment worry and labor have reached an extreme · Mode speaker-judgment Speaker Liu Fen (劉蕡)
References in the histories
No matching passages.
New Book of Tang, Chapter 178Volume 178 Biographies 103: Liu Fen · 13 passages
臣前所謂「若夫任賢惕厲，宵衣旰食，宜絀左右之纖佞，進股肱之大臣」，實以陛下憂勞之至也。
What I meant when I said "you should employ the worthy with vigilance, rise before dawn and eat after dusk, dismiss the petty flatterers at your side, and advance your great ministers as arms and thighs" — is that Your Majesty's worry and labor have reached an extreme.
陛下不以國家存亡、社稷安危之策而降於清問，臣未知陛下以布衣之臣不足與定大計耶？
Your Majesty does not lower your clear inquiry to policies for the state's survival, the realm's security and danger — I do not know whether Your Majesty thinks a man in plain cloth insufficient to settle the great plan?
臣以為陛下所先憂者，宮闈將變，社稷將危，天下將傾，四海將亂。
I believe what Your Majesty should worry over first is this: the inner palace is about to change, the altars of state are about to be endangered, the realm is about to topple, and the four seas are about to fall into chaos.
此四者，國家已然之兆，故臣謂聖慮宜先及之。
These four are omens already manifest in the state; therefore I say Your Majesty's concern should reach them first.
太祖肇其基，高祖勤其績，太宗定其業，玄宗繼其明，至於陛下，二百餘載，其間聖明相因，擾亂繼作，未有不用賢士、近正人而能興者。
Taizu laid its foundation, Gaozu labored at its achievements, Taizong fixed its enterprise, Xuanzong continued its brilliance — down to Your Majesty, more than two hundred years have passed; through that span sage rulers succeeded one another and turmoil followed in turn — never yet has a dynasty flourished without employing worthy men and drawing near the upright.
昔董仲舒為漢武帝言之略矣，有未盡者，臣得為陛下備論之。
Long ago Dong Zhongshu spoke of it to Emperor Wu of Han in outline; what he left unsaid, your subject may now set forth fully for Your Majesty.
伏惟陛下思祖宗開國之勤，念《春秋》繼故之誡。
I beg Your Majesty to reflect on the toil of the ancestors in founding the state and heed the Spring and Autumn's admonition on succeeding a predecessor.
奈何以褻近五六人總天下大政，外專陛下之命，內竊陛下之權，威懾朝廷，勢傾海內，群臣莫敢指其狀，天子不得制其心，禍稔蕭墻，奸生帷幄，臣恐曹節、侯覽復生於今日，此宮闈將變也。
Yet how can five or six men of intimate proximity monopolize the great affairs of the realm — outwardly monopolizing your commands, inwardly stealing your authority, their might terrifying the court and their power overturning the empire; the ministers dare not point to their conduct, the Son of Heaven cannot control their hearts; disaster ripens within the courtyard wall and treachery arises within the curtain — I fear Cao Jie and Hou Lan are reborn in our day: this is the inner palace about to change.
則典刑不繇天子，征伐必自諸侯，此海內之將亂也。
then canonical punishments will not come from the Son of Heaven and campaigns will necessarily come from the feudal lords — this is how the empire is about to fall into chaos.
故樊噲排闥而雪涕，袁盎當車而抗辭，京房發憤以殞身，竇武不顧而畢命，此皆陛下明知之矣。
Therefore Fan Kuai pushed through the door with tears streaming, Yuan Ang blocked the carriage with defiant words, Jing Fang gave vent to indignation and lost his life, Dou Wu paid no heed and gave his life — all these Your Majesty clearly knows.
今公卿大臣，非不欲為陛下言之，慮陛下不能用也。
Now the great ministers — it is not that they do not wish to speak to you; they fear you cannot employ their words.
是以欲盡其言則有失身之懼，欲盡其意則有害成之憂，裴回郁塞，以須陛下感悟，然後盡其啟沃。
Therefore if they wish to speak fully they fear for their lives; if they wish to speak their full mind they worry of harming what is accomplished; they hesitate, depressed and blocked, awaiting your awakening — only then do they fully offer their counsel.
陛下何不聽朝之餘，時禦便殿，召當世賢相老臣，訪持變扶危之謀，求定傾救亂之術，塞陰邪之路，屏褻狎之臣，制侵陵迫脅之心，復門戶掃除之役，戒其所宜戒，憂其所宜憂。
Why do you not, after court affairs, from time to time proceed to the side hall, summon the worthy chief ministers and elder statesmen of the age, inquire after plans to uphold change and support peril, seek methods to settle what topples and rescue chaos, block the paths of perverse influence, dismiss intimate favorites, restrain hearts that encroach and coerce, restore the work of sweeping clear the gates and households, warn against what should be warned, and worry over what should be worried?