1
孫家鼐，字燮臣，安徽壽州人。 咸豐九年一甲一名進士，授修撰。 歷侍讀，入直上書房。 光緒四年，命在毓慶宮行走，與尚書翁同龢授上讀。 累遷內閣學士，擢工部侍郎。 江西學政陳寶琛疏請以先儒黃宗羲、顧炎武從祀文廟，議者多以爲未可，家鼐與潘祖蔭、翁同龢、孫詒經等再請，始議准。 十六年，授都察院左都御史、工部尚書，兼順天府尹。
Sun Jianai, whose courtesy name was Xiechen, was a native of Shouzhou in Anhui. In the ninth year of the Xianfeng reign he placed first among the first class of metropolitan graduates and was appointed Drafting Compiler. He rose through the post of Hanlin Reader-in-Waiting and entered regular service in the Imperial Library. In the fourth year of Guangxu he was ordered to serve at the Yuying Palace, and together with Minister Weng Tonghe he taught the emperor his lessons. He was promoted in succession to Grand Secretariat Academician and then elevated to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works. When the Jiangxi educational commissioner Chen Baochen memorialized that the earlier Confucians Huang Zongxi and Gu Yanwu be admitted to sacrifices in the Confucian temple, many officials argued against it. Jianai joined Pan Zuyin, Weng Tonghe, Sun Yijing, and others in petitioning again, and only then was the proposal approved. In the sixteenth year he was appointed Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and Minister of Works, while also serving as Governor of Shuntian Prefecture.
2
二十年，中日事起，朝議主戰，家鼐力言釁不可啓。 二十四年，以吏部尚書協辦大學士。 命爲管學大臣。 時方議變法，廢科舉，興學校，設報編書，皆特交核覆，家鼐一裁以正。 嘗疏謂：「國家廣集卿士以資議政，聽言固不厭求詳，然執兩用中，精擇審處，尤賴聖知。」 其所建議，類能持大體。 及議廢立，家鼐獨持不可。 旋以病乞罷。
In the twentieth year, when war broke out between China and Japan, the court largely favored fighting. Jianai argued forcefully that hostilities must not be provoked. In the twenty-fourth year he served as Minister of Personnel and Assistant Grand Secretary. He was appointed Superintendent of Studies. At that time the court was debating reform—abolishing the examinations, founding schools, establishing newspapers, and commissioning books—and each proposal was referred to him for review. Jianai judged every matter on its merits. He once memorialized: "The state gathers ministers and scholars broadly so that they may inform deliberation on policy. In hearing counsel one should never weary of seeking thoroughness, yet to hold the mean between opposing views and to choose and settle matters with care depends above all on the sovereign's discernment." For the most part his recommendations upheld the larger principles of governance. When the court debated deposing and enthroning the emperor, Jianai alone held that it must not be done. Soon afterward he asked to resign on grounds of illness.
3
二十六年，乘輿西狩，召赴行在，起禮部尚書。 還京，拜體仁閣大學士。 歷轉東閣、文淵閣，晉武英殿。 充學務大臣，裁度規章，折衷中外，嚴定宗旨，一以敦行實學爲主，學風爲之一靖。 議改官制，命與慶親王奕劻、軍機大臣瞿鴻禨總司核定。 御史趙啓霖劾奕劻及其子貝子載振受賄納優，命醇親王載灃與家鼐往按，啓霖坐汚衊親貴褫職，而載振尋亦乞罷兼官。 資政院立，命貝子溥倫及家鼐爲總裁，一持正議不阿。 時詔諸臣輪班進講，家鼐撰尚書四子書講義以進。 三十四年二月，以鄉舉重逢，賞太子太傅。 歷蒙賜「壽」，頒賞御書及諸珍品，賜紫韁，紫禁城內坐二人暖輪，恩遇優渥。 宣統元年，再疏乞病，溫詔慰留。 尋卒，年八十有二，贈太傅，諡文正。
In the twenty-sixth year, when the court fled west, he was summoned to the traveling palace and reappointed Minister of Rites. After returning to the capital he was appointed Grand Secretary of the Titren Hall. He served in turn at the Dongge and Wenyuange halls and was promoted to the Wuying Hall. As Superintendent of Educational Affairs he drafted regulations, balancing Chinese and Western models and fixing a clear purpose with practical learning at its core. Scholarly conduct was thereby steadied. When reform of the official system was discussed, he was ordered to work with Prince Qing Yikuang and Grand Councilor Qu Hongji as chief coordinators of the review. Censor Zhao Qilin impeached Yikuang and his son, the beizi Zaizhen, for taking bribes and keeping actresses. Prince Chun Zaifeng and Jianai were sent to investigate. Zhao Qilin was punished for slandering imperial kin and stripped of office, and Zaizhen soon resigned his concurrent posts as well. When the Political Consultative Assembly was established, the beizi Pulun and Jianai were appointed its presidents. Jianai consistently upheld principled views and would not curry favor. At that time an edict required ministers to lecture before the throne in rotation. Jianai composed and presented lectures on the Book of Documents and the Four Books. In the second month of the thirty-fourth year, because he had again reached the anniversary of his provincial examination success, he was granted the title Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince. He repeatedly received the gift of the character for longevity, imperial calligraphy, and other precious objects, along with purple reins and a heated two-seat carriage within the Forbidden City. The favor shown him was exceptionally generous. In the first year of Xuantong he again asked to retire on grounds of illness, and a gracious edict urged him to stay. He died soon afterward, at the age of eighty-two. He was posthumously granted the title Grand Tutor and given the posthumous name Wen Zheng.
4
家鼐簡約斂退，生平無疾言遽色。 雖貴，與諸生鈞禮。 閉門齋居，雜賓遠跡，推避權勢若怯。 嘗督湖北學政，典山西試，再典順天試，總裁會試，屢充閱卷大臣，獨無所私。 嘗拔一卷廁二甲，同列意不可，即屏退之，其讓不喜競類此。 器量尤廣，庚子，外人請懲禍首戮大臣，編修劉廷琛謂失國體，責宰輔不能爭，家鼐揖而引過。 其後詔舉御史。 家鼐獨保廷琛，謂曩以大義見責，知忠鯁必不負國，世皆稱之。
Jianai lived simply and modestly. Throughout his life he never spoke harshly or showed sudden anger. Though he rose to high rank, he treated scholars as equals. He kept his doors closed and lived in quiet seclusion, keeping casual visitors at a distance and shunning powerful connections as if from timidity. He once supervised education in Hubei, presided over the Shanxi provincial examination, twice presided over the Shuntian examination, served as chief examiner of the metropolitan examination, and repeatedly served as chief reviewing examiner—never showing favoritism. Once he placed a candidate's paper in the second rank of the second class, but when his colleagues objected he immediately set it aside. His willingness to yield and his dislike of rivalry were characteristic. His breadth of character was especially remarkable. In the gengzi year foreigners demanded that those responsible be punished and senior ministers executed. Compiler Liu Tingchen said this would disgrace the state and blamed the chief ministers for failing to object. Jianai bowed and took the blame upon himself. Later an edict called for nominations of censors. Jianai alone recommended Tingchen, saying that because he had once been rebuked for upholding a great principle, one could know that as a loyal and forthright man he would not fail the state. The world praised him for it.
5
張百熙，字埜秋，長沙人。 同治十三年進士，授編修。 督山東學政，典試四川。 命直南書房，再遷侍讀。
Zhang Baixi, whose courtesy name was Yeqiu, was a native of Changsha. In the thirteenth year of Tongzhi he passed the metropolitan examination and was appointed Compiler. He supervised education in Shandong and presided over the provincial examination in Sichuan. He was ordered to regular service in the Southern Imperial Library and was promoted twice to Reader-in-Waiting.
6
光緒二十年，朝鮮釁起，朝議多主戰。 百熙疏劾李鴻章陽作戰備，陰實主和，左寶貴、聶士成皆勇敢善戰之將，以餉械不繼，遂致敗績，咎在鴻章； 又劾禮親王世鐸筦樞務，招權納賄，戰事起，一倚鴻章，貽誤兵機：皆不報。 時值太后萬壽，承辦典禮者猶競尚華飾，百熙奏罷之。 復偕侍講學士陸寶忠等合彈樞臣朋比誤國十大罪。 未幾，孫毓汶引疾歸，恭親王奕訢復入軍機，而百熙亦出督廣東學政。 累遷內閣學士。 二十四年，坐濫舉康有爲，革職留任。 二十六年，授禮部侍郎，擢左都御史，充頭等專使大臣。 拳匪亂定，下詔求言，百熙抗疏陳大計，請改官制，理財政，變科舉，建學堂，設報館。 明年，遷工部尚書，調刑部，充管學大臣。
In the twentieth year of Guangxu conflict broke out in Korea, and most at court favored war. Baixi memorialized against Li Hongzhang, charging that he made a show of preparing for war while secretly favoring peace. Zuo Baogui and Nie Shicheng were both brave and capable generals, but because pay and arms were not supplied in time they were defeated—the blame lay with Hongzhang. He also impeached Prince Su Shiduo for monopolizing Grand Council affairs, hoarding power, and taking bribes; when war began Shiduo relied entirely on Hongzhang and thereby mishandled military timing. None of these memorials received a response. It was the empress dowager's birthday, yet those in charge of the ceremonies still competed in lavish display. Baixi memorialized to put a stop to it. He then joined Lecturer Lu Baozhong and others in jointly impeaching the Grand Council ministers on ten capital charges of factional collusion and harming the state. Before long Sun Yuwen retired on grounds of illness, Prince Gong Yixin returned to the Grand Council, and Baixi was sent out to supervise education in Guangdong. He was promoted in succession to Grand Secretariat Academician. In the twenty-fourth year he was punished for indiscriminately recommending Kang Youwei: his office was stripped but he was kept in post. In the twenty-sixth year he was appointed Vice Minister of Rites, promoted to Left Censor-in-Chief, and made a chief envoy of the first rank. After the Boxer uprising was suppressed, the throne issued an edict seeking counsel. Baixi submitted a forthright memorial outlining a grand plan: reform the official system, put finances in order, transform the examinations, establish schools, and found newspapers. The following year he was made Minister of Works, transferred to the Ministry of Punishments, and appointed Superintendent of Studies.
7
京師之有大學堂也，始於中日戰後。 侍郎李端棻奏請立學，中旨報可，而樞府厭言新政，請緩行。 迄戊戌，乃奉嚴旨，促擬學章，命孫家鼐爲管學大臣。 及政變，惟大學以萌芽早得不廢。 許景澄繼管學，坐論義和團被誅。 兩宮西幸，百熙詣行在，以人望被斯任，於是海內欣然望興學矣。 百熙奏加冀州知州吳汝綸五品卿銜，總教大學。 汝綸辭不應，百熙具衣冠拜之，汝綸請赴日本察視學務。 大學教職員皆自聘，又薪金優厚，忌嫉者衆，蜚語浸聞。 汝綸返國，未至京，卒； 而百熙所倚以辦學者，門人沈兆祉亦受讒搆。 大學既負時謗，言官奏稱本朝定制，部官大率滿、漢相維，請更設滿大臣主教事，乃增命榮慶爲管學大臣。 旋別設學務處，以張亨嘉爲大學總監督，百熙權益分。 始議分建七科大學，又選派諸生游學東西洋。 榮慶意不謂可，而百熙持之堅，親至站送諸生登車。 各省之派官費生自此始。 值張之洞入覲，命改定學章，及還鎮，復命家鼐爲管學大臣。 凡三管學，百熙位第三矣。 百熙擬建分科大學，以絀於貲而止，惟創醫學及譯學館、實業館，遽謝學務。 賞黃馬褂、紫禁城騎馬。 後歷禮部、戶部、郵傳部尚書，政務、學務、編纂官制諸大臣。 卒，贈太子少保，諡文達。
The Imperial University in the capital dated from the period after the Sino-Japanese War. Vice Minister Li Duanfen memorialized asking that a university be established. The imperial rescript approved, but the Grand Council was weary of new policies and asked that implementation be delayed. Not until the wuxu year did a stern edict come pressing for draft school regulations, and Sun Jianai was appointed Superintendent of Studies. When the political coup came, only the university survived abolition, because it had taken root early. Xu Jingcheng succeeded him as superintendent of studies and was executed for criticizing the Boxers. When the two palaces fled west, Baixi went to the traveling court. Because of his public standing he received the appointment, and throughout the empire people looked eagerly to the revival of learning. Baixi memorialized that Wu Jilun, prefect of Jizhou, be given fifth-rank minister status and made general instructor of the university. Jilun declined. Baixi, fully robed, bowed to him in person. Jilun then asked to go to Japan to observe educational affairs. He hired all the university's teaching staff himself and paid generous salaries. Many envied him, and slander gradually reached the court. Jilun returned to China but died before he reached the capital. Shen Zhaozhi, a disciple on whom Baixi relied to run the school, also fell victim to slander and intrigue. The university was already widely criticized. Censorial officials memorialized that under dynastic custom ministry offices were generally shared between Manchu and Han officials, and asked that a Manchu grand minister be added to preside. Rongqing was accordingly appointed co-superintendent of studies. Soon a separate Board of Educational Affairs was established, with Zhang Hengjia as general superintendent of the university, and Baixi's authority was correspondingly divided. At first they discussed establishing seven specialized universities and selecting students to study in East Asia and the West. Rongqing did not think it advisable, but Baixi held firm and went in person to the station to see the students off as they boarded the train. Provincial governments sending students abroad at government expense began from this. When Zhang Zhidong came to court for audience he was ordered to revise the school regulations. When he returned to his post, Sun Jianai was again appointed Superintendent of Studies. There were three superintendents of studies in all; Baixi was the third. Baixi planned to build specialized universities but stopped for lack of funds. He created only a medical college and schools of translation and practical industry, then quickly resigned from educational affairs. He was granted the yellow jacket and permission to ride a horse within the Forbidden City. Later he served in succession as Minister of Rites, Revenue, and Posts and Communications, and as minister of government affairs, educational affairs, and compilation of the official system reform. He died and was posthumously granted Junior Tutor of the Crown Prince with the posthumous name Wen Da.
8
唐景崇，字春卿，廣西灌陽人。 父懋功，舉人，有學行。 景崇，同治十年進士，授編修。 由侍讀四遷至內閣學士。 光緒二十年，典試廣東。 明年，主會試。 歷兵部、禮部侍郎，權左都御史，出督浙江學政，母憂歸。 拳禍起，命督辦廣西團練。 二十九年，以工部侍郎典試浙江，督江蘇學政，三十一年，詔罷科歲試，學政專司考校學務。 景崇條上十事。 明年，罷學政，還京供職。 疏陳立憲大要四事。
Tang Jingchong, whose courtesy name was Chunqing, was a native of Guanyang in Guangxi. His father Maogong was a provincial graduate known for learning and integrity. Jingchong passed the metropolitan examination in the tenth year of Tongzhi and was appointed Compiler. From Reader-in-Waiting he was promoted four times to Grand Secretariat Academician. In the twentieth year of Guangxu he presided over the Guangdong provincial examination. The following year he served as chief examiner of the metropolitan examination. He served in succession as Vice Minister of War and Rites, acted as Left Censor-in-Chief, went out to supervise education in Zhejiang, and returned home to observe mourning for his mother. When the Boxer uprising broke out he was ordered to supervise militia training in Guangxi. In the twenty-ninth year, as Vice Minister of Works, he presided over the Zhejiang examination and supervised education in Jiangsu. In the thirty-first year an edict abolished the annual provincial examinations and confined educational commissioners to examining and supervising academic affairs. Jingchong memorialized ten proposals in detail. The following year the post of educational commissioner was abolished, and he returned to the capital to resume office. He memorialized four main points on constitutional government.
9
時兩廣疆臣建議廣西省會移治南寧，京朝官皆持異議。 景崇奏陳：「遷省之議，以越南逼近龍州，法人時蓄狡謀，桂林距離遠，聲氣難通，不若改建南寧之便。 臣謂不然，今我兵力尚不能經營邕州，扼北海水陸衝要，徒虛張聲勢，招外人疑忌何爲？ 且遷徙締造之費，桂林善後之費，練兵設防之費，皆非巨款不辦。 方今俄居西陲，英窺南徼，蒙、藏、川、滇勢均岌岌，非獨一法人之可畏。 以大局論，決不能竭全力事廣西之一隅； 以廣西論，亦不能竭全力事南寧之一隅：明矣。 故爲今之計，誠能簡重臣駐龍州，於對汛邊地二千里，相度土宜，興辦樹藝、屯墾、畜牧、開礦諸端，俟地利漸興，人齒漸繁，再以兵法部勒。 此上策也。 至目前應變之方，莫如迅設龍州電綫，移提督駐南寧，增募十營，暫停廣西應解賠款，飭各省欠解廣西協餉，分年攤解，用抵賠款。 一轉移間，餉足則兵强，可紓朝廷南顧之憂。 若遷省之舉，勞民費財，無益於治。」 事得寢。
At that time the governors-general of the two Guang provinces proposed moving the Guangxi provincial capital from Guilin to Nanning. Officials at court were divided. Jingchong memorialized: "Those who favor moving the provincial seat argue that Vietnam presses close on Longzhou, that the French often harbor crafty designs, and that Guilin is too distant for timely communication—so rebuilding at Nanning would be more convenient. I disagree. Our forces are not yet strong enough to hold Yongzhou or control Beihai's land and sea approaches. To make an empty show of strength would only invite foreign suspicion—what good would that do? Moreover, the costs of relocation and construction, of dealing with Guilin afterward, and of training troops and building defenses cannot be met without enormous sums. Russia now holds the western frontier, Britain watches the southern marches, and Mongolia, Tibet, Sichuan, and Yunnan are all in peril. We have more to fear than France alone. From the perspective of the empire as a whole, we certainly cannot exhaust our strength on one corner of Guangxi alone. And from Guangxi's perspective alone, we cannot exhaust our strength on Nanning alone either. That much is clear. The better course for the present would be to send a senior minister to Longzhou. Over two thousand li of borderland facing the enemy, assess local conditions and develop forestry, colonization, animal husbandry, and mining. When the land grows productive and population increases, troops can then be organized by military methods. That is the superior strategy. For immediate measures, nothing would be better than quickly establishing a telegraph line at Longzhou, moving the provincial military governor to Nanning, recruiting ten additional battalions, temporarily suspending Guangxi's indemnity payments, and ordering provinces that owe Guangxi cooperative stipends to pay in annual installments to offset those payments. With these shifts, once pay is sufficient the troops will be strong, and the court's anxiety over the south may be eased. As for moving the provincial seat, it would burden the people, waste resources, and do nothing for good governance." The proposal was dropped.
10
調吏部侍郎，充經筵講官。 景崇以績學端品受主知，屢司文柄。 迨科舉罷，廷試游學畢業生，皆倚景崇校閱。 宣統元年，戴鴻慈卒，遺疏薦景崇堪大用。 二年，擢學部尚書。 明年，詔設內閣，改學務大臣。 是時學說紛歧，景崇力謀溝通新舊，慎擇教科書。 兼任弼德院顧問大臣。 武昌變起，袁世凱總理內閣，仍命掌學務。 引疾去。 越三年，卒，諡文簡。
He was transferred to Vice Minister of Personnel and appointed lecturer at the Classics Colloquium. Because of his solid scholarship and upright character, Jingchong won the ruler's trust and repeatedly held control of literary examinations. When the civil service examinations were abolished and palace examinations were held for students who had studied abroad, all relied on Jingchong to examine and review them. In the first year of the Xuantong reign Dai Hongci died; in his deathbed memorial he recommended Tang Jingchong as capable of great service. In the second year he was promoted to Minister of Education. The following year an edict established the cabinet, and he was reassigned as Minister of Educational Affairs. At that time scholarly doctrines were sharply divided; Jingchong worked hard to reconcile the old and the new and to choose textbooks with care. He also served concurrently as an advising minister at the Bide Academy. When the Wuchang uprising broke out, Yuan Shikai became premier of the cabinet, yet Jingchong was still ordered to oversee educational affairs. He resigned on grounds of illness. Three years later he died and was given the posthumous title Wenjian.
11
景崇博覽羣書，通天文算術，尤喜治史。 自爲編修時，取新唐書爲作注，大例有三：曰糾繆，曰補闕，曰疏解，甄采書逾數百種。 家故貧，得秘籍精本，輒典質購之。 殫精畢世，唯缺地理志內羈縻州及藝文志，餘均脫稿。
Jingchong read widely, mastered astronomy and mathematics, and especially loved the study of history. From his days as a drafting compiler he undertook a commentary on the New Book of Tang organized under three headings: correcting errors, filling gaps, and clarifying the text, drawing on more than several hundred works. His family had long been poor; whenever he found a rare or fine edition he would pawn his belongings to buy it. He devoted his utmost until the end of his life; only the sections on dependent prefectures in the Geography Monograph and the Bibliographic Monograph remained unfinished—everything else was in final draft.
12
于式枚，字晦若，賀縣人。 博聞强記，善屬文。 光緒六年進士，以庶吉士，散館用兵部主事。 李鴻章疏調北洋差遣，歷十餘年，奏牘多出其手。 性不樂爲外吏，又格於例不得保升京秩，久之不遷。 二十二年，鴻章賀俄皇加冕，因歷聘德、法、英、美諸國，式枚充隨員。 俄選授禮部主事，由員外郎授御史，遷給事中。 贊辛丑和約，賞五品京堂。 充政務處幫提調、大學堂總辦、譯學館監督。 三十一年，以鴻臚寺少卿督廣東學政，改提學使，疏辭，命總理廣西鐵路。 三十三年，擢郵傳部侍郎。
Yu Shimei, whose courtesy name was Huiruo, was a native of He County. He possessed encyclopedic learning and a formidable memory, and was skilled at literary composition. In the sixth year of the Guangxu reign he passed the metropolitan examination; after leaving the Hanlin Academy as a Bachelor he was assigned as a secretary in the Ministry of War. Li Hongzhang memorialized to have him transferred for service in the Beiyang command; for more than ten years most of the memorials and documents there came from his hand. By nature he disliked serving as a provincial official, and regulations also barred him from securing promotion to a capital post, so for a long time he received no advancement. In the twenty-second year Li Hongzhang attended the coronation of the Russian emperor and then paid successive visits to Germany, France, Britain, the United States, and other countries, with Shimei serving on his staff. He was soon selected and appointed a secretary in the Ministry of Rites, then promoted from department director to censor and then to supervising secretary. He assisted in negotiating the Boxer Protocol and was rewarded with a fifth-rank capital office. He served as assistant coordinator at the Office of Government Affairs, superintendent of the Imperial University, and supervisor of the School of Translation. In the thirty-first year, as vice minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments he was appointed to supervise educational affairs in Guangdong; when the post was changed to educational commissioner he memorialized to decline and was instead ordered to direct Guangxi railways. In the thirty-third year he was promoted to vice minister of posts and communications.
13
當是時，政潮激烈，有詔預備立憲，舉朝競言西法，無敢持異議者。 於是式枚奉命出使德國，充考察憲政大臣。 瀕行，疏言：「憲政必以本國爲根據，采取他國以輔益之，在求其實，不徒震其名。 我朝道監百王，科條詳備，行政皆守部章，風聞亦許言事，刑賞予奪，曾不自私。 有大政事、大興革，內則集廷臣之議，外或待疆吏之章。 勤求民隱，博采公論，與立憲之制無不符合。 上有教誡無約誓，下有遵守無要求。 至日久官吏失職，或有奉行之不善，海國開通，又有事例之所無，自可因時損益，並非變法更張。 惟人心趣向各異，告以堯、舜、周、孔之道，則以爲不足法； 告以英、德、法、美之制度，而日本所模仿者，則心悅誠服，以爲當行。 考日本維新之初，即宣言立憲之意。 後十四年，始發布開設國會之敕諭，二十年乃頒行憲法。 蓋預備詳密遲慎如此。 今橫議者自謂國民，聚衆者輒云團體，數年之中，內治外交，用人行政，皆有干預之想。 動以立憲爲詞，紛馳電函，上厪宸慮。 蓋以立憲爲新奇可喜，不知吾國所自有。 其關於學術者，固貽譏荒陋，以立憲爲即可施行，不審東洋之近事。 關於政術者，尤有害治安。 惟在朝廷本一定之指歸，齊萬衆之心志，循序漸進。 先設京師議院以定從違，舉辦地方自治以植根本，尤要在廣興教育，儲備人才。 凡與憲政相輔而行者，均當先事綢繆者也。 臣前隨李鴻章至柏林，略觀大概。 今承特簡，謹當參合中、西同異，歸極於皇朝典章，庶言皆有本而事屬可行。 是臣區區之至願。」
At that time political currents ran fierce; an edict announced preparations for constitutional government, and the whole court competed to advocate Western methods, with no one daring to dissent. Shimei was then ordered to go to Germany as commissioner to investigate constitutional government. Before his departure he memorialized, saying: "Constitutional government must take one's own country as its foundation and adopt other countries only to supplement it; the aim is to seek what is real, not merely to be dazzled by names. Our dynasty's Way has overseen the hundred kings; its regulations are detailed and complete, administration follows the statutes of each ministry, and even hearsay is permitted as grounds for memorializing; rewards and punishments have never been selfishly applied. For major policies and major reforms, the court gathers the deliberations of its ministers at home, and abroad it sometimes awaits memorials from frontier officials. In diligently seeking the people's hidden grievances and broadly gathering public opinion, our practices are fully in accord with constitutional systems. Above, there is instruction and admonition without binding covenants; below, there is obedience without pressing demands. When over time officials neglect their duties or something is poorly carried out, or when the opening of maritime trade brings matters without precedent, one may naturally adjust according to the times; this is not a fundamental change of law and institutions. Only people's inclinations differ: tell them the ways of Yao, Shun, the Zhou, and Confucius, and they deem them unworthy of imitation; tell them the systems of Britain, Germany, France, and America—and what Japan has imitated—and they are wholeheartedly convinced that these should be adopted at once. If we examine Japan at the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, it at once proclaimed its intention to adopt constitutional government. Fourteen years later it first issued the imperial rescript convening a national assembly, and only after twenty years did it promulgate a constitution. Its preparation was thus so detailed, slow, and cautious. Today those who speak rashly in public call themselves "the people," and those who assemble in crowds call themselves "organizations"; within a few years they have come to think they may intervene in domestic governance, foreign relations, appointments, and administration alike. They constantly invoke constitutionalism, sending urgent telegrams that trouble the emperor's peace of mind. They treat constitutionalism as something novel and delightful, unaware that our country already possesses it in its own way. In matters of learning they invite ridicule for their shallowness, imagining that constitutionalism can be put into effect immediately without studying recent events in the Eastern seas. In matters of political method they are especially harmful to public order. What is needed is for the court to hold to a single clear direction, align the minds of the multitude, and advance step by step. First establish a deliberative assembly at the capital to determine what is to be accepted or rejected; promote local self-government to lay foundations; and above all expand education and train talent. Everything that must accompany constitutional government should be prepared in advance. Your servant once followed Li Hongzhang to Berlin and gained some general acquaintance with the system there. Now, entrusted with this special mission, I shall carefully compare Chinese and Western similarities and differences and bring them into harmony with the statutes of the imperial court, so that every proposal has a solid basis and every measure can be carried out. This is your servant's humble and earnest wish."
14
明年，調禮部侍郎。 時新黨要求實行立憲，召集國會日亟。 式枚上言：「臣徧考東西歷史，參校同異，大抵中法皆定自上而下奉行，西法則定自下而上遵守。 惟日本憲法，則纂自日臣伊藤博文，雖西國之名詞，仍東洋之性質。 其采取則普魯士爲多，其本原則德君臣所定，名爲欽定憲法。 夫國所以立曰政，政所以行曰權，權所歸即利所在。 定於一則無非分之想，散於衆則有競進之心。 行之而善，則爲日本之維新； 行之不善，則爲法國之革命。 法國當屢世苛虐之後，民困已深，欲以立憲救亡，而適促其亂。 日本當尊王傾幕之時，本由民力，故以立憲爲報，而猶緩其期。 中國名義最重，政治最寬，國體尊嚴，人情安習，既無法國之怨毒，又非日本之改造。 皇上俯順輿情，迭降諭旨，分定年期，自宜互相奮勉，靜待推行。 豈容欲速等於取償，求治同於論價？ 至敢言監督朝廷，推倒政府，胥動浮言，幾同亂黨。 欲圖補救之策，惟在朝廷舉錯一秉至公，不稍予以指摘之端，自無從爲煽惑之計。 至東南各省疆吏，當慎擇有風力、知大體者鎮懾之。 當十年預備之期，爲大局安危所繫。 日皇所謂『組織權限，爲朕親裁』，德相所謂『法定於君，非民可解』。 故必正名定分，然後措正施行。 臣濫膺考察，斷不敢附會時趨，貽誤國家，得罪名教。」 章下所司。 尋調吏部侍郎。
The following year he was transferred to vice minister of rites. At that time the reform party urgently demanded that constitutional government be implemented and a national assembly convened without delay. Shimei memorialized, saying: "Your servant has broadly examined the histories of East and West and compared their differences; in general, Chinese methods are established from above and carried out downward, whereas Western methods are established from below and obeyed upward. Only Japan's constitution was drafted by the Japanese minister Ito Hirobumi; though it employs Western terminology, it retains an East Asian character. In what it adopted Prussia predominated; its foundation was laid by the sovereign and ministers of Germany, and it is called an emperor-granted constitution. A state is established for the sake of government, government is exercised through power, and wherever power resides, there interest lies as well. When power is fixed in one place, improper ambitions do not arise; when it is dispersed among the multitude, hearts compete to advance. If it is carried out well, the result is Japan's Meiji Restoration; if it is carried out poorly, the result is France's revolution. France, after generations of harsh rule, was a country whose people were already deeply afflicted; hoping to save itself through constitutional government, it only hastened its disorder. Japan, at the time of the movement to honor the emperor and overthrow the shogunate, had relied on popular strength; it therefore offered constitutional government in return, yet still moved slowly. China places the greatest weight on ritual propriety, governs with the greatest leniency, possesses the most dignified state form, and its people are most accustomed to settled life; it has neither France's accumulated bitterness nor Japan's need for wholesale reconstruction. The Emperor, deferring to public sentiment, has repeatedly issued edicts setting a timetable; all should therefore encourage one another and calmly await implementation. How can we tolerate demanding speed as though collecting a debt, or treating good government like haggling over a price? As for those who dare speak of supervising the court or overthrowing the government, they traffic in reckless talk and are nearly indistinguishable from seditious factions. The remedy lies solely in the court holding every action to the utmost standard of fairness and giving no handle for criticism; then there will naturally be no opportunity for agitation. As for the frontier officials of the southeastern provinces, men of forceful character who understand the larger situation should be carefully chosen to keep order. During the ten-year preparatory period, the safety of the whole situation is at stake. As the Japanese emperor said, "the organization of authority is personally determined by Us"; as the German chancellor said, "the law is fixed by the sovereign and is not for the people to interpret." Therefore names and roles must first be properly defined; only then can measures be rightly applied. Your servant has undeservedly received this commission of investigation; I dare not simply follow the fashion of the day, to the harm of the state and the offense of right principle." The memorial was referred to the appropriate offices. Shortly afterward he was transferred to vice minister of personnel.
15
上海政聞社法部主事陳景仁等電請定三年內開國會，罷式枚謝天下，嚴旨申飭，褫景仁職。 式枚復奏言：「德皇接受國書，答言憲政紛繁，慮未必合中國用，選舉法尤未易行。 又昔英儒斯賓塞爾亦甚言憲法流弊，謂美國憲法本人民平等，行之久而治權握於政黨，平民不勝其苦。 蓋歐人言憲法，其難其慎如此。 今橫議遍於國中，上則詆政府固權，下則罵國民失職，專以爭競相勸導。 此正斯賓塞爾所云政黨者流，與平民固無與也。 伊藤博文論君臣相與，先道德而後科條。 君民何獨不然？ 果能誠信相接，則普與日本以欽定憲法行之至今； 如其不然，則法蘭西固民約憲法，何以革命者再三，改法者數十而猶未定？ 臣愚以爲中國立憲，應以日本仿照普魯士之例爲權衡，以畢士麥由君主用人民意見制定，及伊藤博文先道德後科條之言爲標準，則憲法大綱立矣。」 章下所司。 又以各省諮議局章程與普國地方議會制度不符，大恉謂：「改革未定之時，中央政權唯恐少統一堅强之力，而國民識政體知法意者極少。 驟以此龐大政權之地方議會，橫亙政府與國民之間，縱使被選者不皆營私武斷，而一國政權落於最少數人之手，劫持中外大臣，後患何可勝言？」 因證以普制，逐條駁議。 先後譯奏普魯士憲法全文、官制位號等級，暨兩議院新舊選舉法。 式枚以三十三年冬行，宣統元年六月返國，以疾乞假。 張之洞遺疏薦式枚堪大用。 轉吏部侍郎，改學部侍郎，總理禮學館事、修訂法律大臣、國史館副總裁。 國變後，僑居青島。 未幾，卒，年六十三，諡文和。
Chen Jingren, a bureau secretary in the Ministry of Justice, and others of the Political Opinion Society in Shanghai telegraphed demanding that a national assembly be convened within three years and that Shimei be dismissed to appease public opinion; a stern edict rebuked them and stripped Chen Jingren of his post. Shimei memorialized again, saying: "When the German emperor received the credentials of investiture, he replied that constitutional affairs are complex and numerous and might not suit China's needs; election law in particular would be difficult to implement. Moreover, the English scholar Herbert Spencer also spoke at length of the abuses of constitutional government, saying that although the American constitution was founded on popular equality, in the long run governing power fell into the hands of political parties and the common people could not bear the suffering. Thus when Europeans speak of constitutions, their difficulty and caution are of this order. Today reckless debate fills the country: above, the government is accused of monopolizing power; below, the people are blamed for failing in their duties—all while competition alone is preached as the path forward. This is precisely what Spencer called the party faction—it has nothing to do with the common people. Ito Hirobumi observed that in the relation between sovereign and minister, morality comes first and statutes afterward. Is the relation between ruler and people any different? If sincerity and trust can truly be maintained, then constitutional government may broadly be practiced as in Japan, which has used an emperor-granted constitution down to the present; if not, then consider France, which indeed has a constitution based on a covenant of the people—why has it suffered repeated revolutions and dozens of changes of law without ever settling? Your servant humbly believes that in establishing constitutional government China should take Japan's imitation of Prussia as its measure, and Bismarck's principle that the sovereign should formulate law with reference to the people's views, together with Ito Hirobumi's teaching that morality must precede statutes, as its standards; then the grand outline of a constitution may be laid down." The memorial was referred to the appropriate offices. He also protested vigorously that the regulations for provincial consultative assemblies did not accord with Prussian local assemblies, declaring: "At a time when reform is still unsettled, central authority can scarcely afford to lose unified strength, while those among the people who understand the political order and the meaning of law are extremely few. To thrust suddenly between government and people a local assembly wielding such vast authority—even if those elected were not all selfish and domineering—would still place the political power of the entire country in the hands of a tiny minority, able to hold ministers Chinese and foreign hostage; the later troubles are beyond words." He therefore cited Prussian institutions and refuted the proposals article by article. Before and after he translated and presented memorials containing the full text of the Prussian constitution, the ranks and grades of officialdom, and the new and old election laws of both chambers. Shimei set out in the winter of the thirty-third year and returned home in the sixth month of the first Xuantong year, then begged leave on grounds of illness. In his deathbed memorial Zhang Zhidong recommended Yu Shimei as capable of great service. He was transferred to vice minister of personnel, then reassigned as vice minister of education, and also directed the Hall of Ritual Learning, served as revising laws minister, and was deputy president of the National History Institute. After the fall of the dynasty he lived in retirement in Qingdao. Before long he died at the age of sixty-three and was given the posthumous title Wenhe.
16
式枚生而隱宮，精力絕人，夜倚枕坐如枯僧。 內介而外和易。 論事謇諤，頗有聲公卿間云。
Shimei was born with cryptorchidism, yet his vitality was extraordinary; at night he would sit propped on a pillow like a withered monk. Inwardly he was severe, outwardly mild and approachable. In debate he was blunt and forthright, and he enjoyed considerable reputation among the high officials.
17
沈家本，字子惇，浙江歸安人。 少讀書，好深湛之思，於周官多創獲。 初援例以郎中分刑部，博稽掌故，多所纂述。 光緒九年，成進士，仍留部。 補官後，充主稿，兼秋審處。 自此遂專心法律之學，爲尚書潘祖蔭所稱賞。 十九年，出知天津府，治尚寬大，姦民易之，聚衆鬨於市，即擒斬四人，無敢復犯者。 調劇保定，甘軍毀法國教堂，當路懾於外勢，償五萬金，以道署舊址建新堂，侵及府署東偏。 家本據府志力爭得直。 拳匪亂作，家本已擢通永道、山西按察使，未及行，兩宮西幸。 聯軍入保定，教士銜前隙，誣以助拳匪，卒無左驗而解。 因馳赴行在，授光祿寺卿，擢刑部侍郎。
Shen Jiaben, whose courtesy name was Zidun, was a native of Gui'an in Zhejiang. In his youth he read widely and loved deep reflection; in the Rites of Zhou he made many original discoveries. At first, by purchased degree, he entered service as a department director assigned to the Ministry of Punishments, where he broadly investigated precedent and compiled many works. In the ninth year of the Guangxu reign he passed the metropolitan examination and remained at the ministry. After receiving a substantive appointment he served as chief drafter and concurrently in the Autumn Review Office. From then on he devoted himself to legal studies and won the praise of Minister Pan Zuyin. In the nineteenth year he was appointed prefect of Tianjin. His rule favored leniency, and local ruffians took him lightly until a mob rioted in the market. He had four ringleaders seized and executed at once, and no one dared repeat the offense. He was transferred to troubled Baoding, where Gansu troops destroyed a French church. The authorities, fearing foreign pressure, paid fifty thousand taels and built a new church on the old circuit yamen site, encroaching on the east wing of the prefectural offices. Jiaben argued forcefully from the prefectural gazetteer and won his case. When the Boxer uprising broke out, Jiaben had already been promoted to circuit intendant of Tongzhou and Yongping and to surveillance commissioner of Shanxi, but before he could take up his posts the court fled west. When the allied armies entered Baoding, missionaries nursed old grievances and accused him of aiding the Boxers, but in the end no evidence supported the charge and the case was dropped. He hurried to the traveling court, where he was appointed Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and then promoted to Vice Minister of Punishments.
18
自各國互市以來，內地許傳教，而中外用律輕重懸殊，民、教日齟齬。 官畏事則務抑民，民不能堪，則激而一逞，往往焚戮成巨禍。 家本以謂治今日之民，當令官吏普通法律。 然中律不變而欲收回領事審判權，終不可得。 會變法議起，袁世凱奏設修訂法律館，命家本偕伍廷芳總其事； 別設法律學堂，畢業者近千人，一時稱盛。 補大理寺卿，旋改法部侍郎，充修訂法律大臣。 宣統元年，兼資政院副總裁，仍日與館員商訂諸法草案，先後告成，未嘗以事繁自解。 其所著書，有讀律校勘記、秋讞須知、刑案匯覽、刺字集、律例偶箋、歷代刑官考、歷代刑法考、漢律摭遺、明大誥竣令考、明律目箋，他所著非刑律者又二十餘種，都二百餘卷。 卒，年七十四。
Since the treaty ports opened, missionaries were allowed in the interior, but Chinese and foreign law differed sharply in severity, and friction between common people and missionaries grew daily. Officials, fearing trouble, would suppress the people; when the people could no longer bear it they would erupt in violence, and burning and killing often became catastrophes. Jiaben held that to govern the people of today, officials must be made generally conversant with the law. Yet if the Chinese code remained unchanged, recovering consular jurisdiction would remain impossible. When reform was debated, Yuan Shikai memorialized to establish the Commission for the Revision of Laws and ordered Jiaben and Wu Tingfang to direct it jointly. A separate law school was established, with nearly a thousand graduates, and for a time it was widely acclaimed. He was appointed director of the Court of Judicial Review, soon became vice minister of the Ministry of Law, and served as commissioner for the revision of laws. In the first year of Xuantong he also served as vice president of the Political Consultative Assembly, yet still met daily with bureau staff to draft laws. The codes were completed one after another, and he never pleaded the press of business as an excuse to withdraw. His writings included Collation Notes on Reading the Code, Essentials for Autumn Review Cases, Compendium of Criminal Cases, Collection on Tattooing, Occasional Commentary on Statutes and Regulations, Study of Punishment Officials through the Ages, Study of Punishment Law through the Ages, Gathered Remains of Han Law, Study of the Ming Great Admonitions and Completed Commands, and Commentary on the Ming Code Table of Contents, along with more than twenty other works not on penal law, totaling over two hundred juan. He died at the age of seventy-four.
19
論曰：自變法議興，凡新政特設大臣領之。 百熙管學務，家本修法律，並邀時譽。 景崇之主教育，謀溝通新舊； 式枚之論憲政，務因時損益。 而大勢所趨，已莫能挽救。 家鼐儒厚廉謹，常以資望領新政，每參大計，獨持正不阿。 賢哉，不愧古大臣矣！
The historian comments: Once reform was debated, every new policy was placed under a specially appointed grand minister. Baixi directed educational affairs and Jiaben revised the laws; both won contemporary acclaim. Jingchong directed education and sought to reconcile the old and the new. Shimei discussed constitutional government and sought timely adjustment rather than rigid change. Yet the tide of events could no longer be turned back. Jianai was learned, generous, honest, and cautious. He often headed new policies by virtue of senior standing, took part in every major decision, and alone upheld principle without trimming his views to please. How worthy a man—he did not disgrace the great ministers of old!