Volume 319 Biographies 78: Ouyang Xiu and sons: Fa, Fei , Liu Chang and younger brother: Ban, son : Fengshi, Zeng Gong and younger brother: Zhao

歐陽脩

Ouyang Xiu

歐陽脩，字永叔，廬陵人。四歲而孤，母鄭，守節自誓，親誨之學，家貧，至以荻畫地學書。幼敏悟過人，讀書輒成誦。及冠，嶷然有聲。

Ouyang Xiu, styled Yongshu, was a native of Luling. He lost his father at the age of four. His mother, née Zheng, bound herself to widowhood and taught him herself. The household was so poor that she traced characters on the ground with reeds for him to learn to write. Even as a boy he was unusually quick-witted: whatever he read, he could recite from memory at once. By the time he came of age, he was already widely known for his promise.

宋興且百年，而文章體裁，猶仍五季餘習，鎪刻駢偶，淟涊弗振，士因陋守舊，論卑氣弱。蘇舜元、舜欽、柳開、穆修輩，咸有意作而張之，而力不足。修游隨，得唐韓愈遺稿於廢書簏中，讀而心慕焉。苦志探賾，至忘寢食，必欲並轡絕馳而追與之並。

The Song dynasty had been established for nearly a century, yet literary style still bore the habits of the Five Dynasties—overwrought parallel prose, mired and lifeless, unable to rouse itself. Scholars clung to old ways out of inertia; argument ran shallow and the scholarly temper was weak. Su Shunyuan, Su Shunqin, Liu Kai, Mu Xiu, and others all wished to revive and champion a better tradition, but lacked the strength to do so. While traveling in Suizhou, he found Han Yu's surviving manuscripts in a pile of discarded books, read them, and came to admire them deeply. He threw himself into probing their depths, forgetting food and sleep, determined to run neck and neck with Han Yu and catch up to him.

舉進士，試南宮第一，擢甲科，調西京推官。始從尹洙遊，爲古文，議論當世事，迭相師友，與梅堯臣遊，爲歌詩相倡和，遂以文章名冠天下。入朝，為館閣校勘。

He passed the jinshi examination, ranked first in the palace examination, was placed in the top grade, and was appointed Vice Magistrate of the Western Capital. He first befriended Yin Zhu, wrote in the ancient prose style, and debated the affairs of the day, each serving as the other's teacher and friend. He also befriended Mei Yaochen, and together they composed poetry in mutual response. Thus his literary fame came to crown the empire. After entering court, he served as collator in the Hall of Literature.

范仲淹以言事貶，在廷多論救，司諫高若訥獨以為當黜。修貽書責之，謂其不復知人間有羞恥事。若訥上其書，坐貶夷陵令，稍徙乾德令、武成節度判官。仲淹使陝西，辟掌書記，修笑而辭曰：「昔者之舉，豈以爲己利哉？同其退不同其進可也。」久之，復校勘，進集賢校理。

When Fan Zhongyan was demoted for remonstrating, many at court spoke up in his defense, but Remonstrance Official Gao Ruona alone held that the demotion was justified. Xiu sent him a letter of rebuke, saying that he no longer knew that human beings are capable of shame. Ruona submitted the letter to the throne, and Xiu was demoted to Magistrate of Yiling, then gradually transferred to Magistrate of Qian'e and Military Commissioner Judge of Wucheng. When Fan Zhongyan was dispatched to Shaanxi, he invited Xiu to serve as his chief secretary. Xiu smiled and declined, saying, "When you recommended me before, was it for my private gain? One may share in another's fall from favor, but not necessarily in his rise to power. After a long interval he was restored as collator and promoted to proofreader in the Hall of Assembled Worthies.

慶曆三年，知諫院。時仁宗更用大臣，杜衍、富弼、韓琦、范仲淹皆在位，增諫官員，用天下名士，修首在選中。每進見，帝延問執政，咨所宜行。既多所張弛，小人翕翕不便。修慮善人必不勝，數為帝分別言之。初，范仲淹之貶饒州也，修與尹洙、余靖皆以直仲淹見逐，目之曰「黨人」。自是，朋黨之論起，修乃為《朋黨論》以進。其略曰：「君子以同道爲朋，小人以同利爲朋，此自然之理也。臣謂小人無朋，惟君子則有之。小人所好者利祿，所貪者財貨，當其同利之時，暫相黨引以爲朋者，僞也。及其見利而爭先，或利盡而反相賊害，雖兄弟親戚，不能相保，故曰小人無朋。君子則不然，所守者道義，所行者忠信，所惜者名節。以之修身，則同道而相益，以之事國，則同心而共濟，終始如一，故曰惟君子則有朋。紂有臣億萬，惟億萬心，可謂無朋矣，而紂用以亡。武王有臣三千，惟一心，可謂大朋矣，而周用以興。蓋君子之朋，雖多而不厭故也。故為君但當退小人之僞朋，用君子之真朋，則天下治矣。」

After some time he was restored as collator and promoted to collator of the Hall for the Veneration of Literature. In the third year of the Qingli era, he was appointed Director of the Remonstrance Bureau. At that time Emperor Renzong was bringing new chief ministers into office—Du Yan, Fu Bi, Han Qi, and Fan Zhongyan were all in power—and the remonstrance posts were expanded to draw men of renown from across the empire. Xiu headed the list of those chosen. Whenever he was received in audience, the emperor would detain him to question the chief ministers and seek his counsel on what ought to be done. Once many reforms had been enacted, petty men whispered among themselves that the changes were intolerable. Fearing that good men would not prevail, Xiu repeatedly explained the matter to the emperor, distinguishing truth from slander. Earlier, when Fan Zhongyan was demoted to Raozhou, Xiu, Yin Zhu, and Yu Jing had all been expelled for speaking up forthrightly on his behalf and were labeled "members of a faction." From that point the rhetoric of factionalism took hold, and Xiu composed his "Discourse on Factions" and submitted it to the throne. Its gist ran thus: "Gentlemen form factions through shared principle; petty men form factions through shared profit—this is the natural order of things. I hold that petty men have no true factions; only gentlemen do. Petty men love salary and rank and covet wealth and goods. When their interests align for a moment, they may band together and call themselves a faction, but the bond is false. When profit appears they scramble ahead of one another; when profit is exhausted they turn on each other. Even brothers and kin cannot protect one another—hence the saying that petty men have no factions. Gentlemen are otherwise. What they uphold is moral principle; what they practice is loyalty and trustworthiness; what they prize is reputation and integrity. In self-cultivation they share the Way and strengthen one another; in serving the state they share one heart and bear difficulties together—constant from beginning to end. Thus only gentlemen have true factions. King Zhou of Shang had ministers by the tens of thousands, yet tens of thousands of hearts—one may say he had no faction—and for that his house perished. King Wu had three thousand ministers, yet one heart—one may call that a great faction—and for that the Zhou rose. In short, the factions of gentlemen, though numerous, are never burdensome for this reason. Therefore a ruler need only dismiss the false factions of petty men and employ the true factions of gentlemen, and the realm will be well governed."

修論事切直，人視之如仇，帝獨獎其敢言，面賜五品服，顧侍臣曰：「如歐陽修者，何處得來？」同修起居注，遂知制誥。故事，必試而後命，帝知修，詔特除之。

Xiu's remonstrances were blunt and uncompromising; many treated him as an enemy, yet the emperor alone praised his courage in speaking out, personally bestowing fifth-rank court dress on him and saying to his attendants, "Where does one find another like Ouyang Xiu?" He was concurrently appointed Compiler of the Veritable Records and then made Drafting Academician. By precedent an examination was required before appointment, but knowing Xiu's ability, the emperor issued an edict appointing him directly.

奉使河東。自西方用兵，議者欲廢麟州以省饋餉。修曰：「麟州，天險，不可廢；廢之，則河內郡縣，民皆不安居矣。不若分其兵，駐並河內諸堡，緩急得以應援，而平時可省轉輸，於策為便。」由是州得存。又言：「忻、代、岢嵐多禁地廢田，願令民得耕之，不然，將為敵有。」朝廷下其議，久乃行，歲得粟數百萬斛。凡河東賦斂過重民所不堪者，奏罷十數事。使還，會保州兵亂，以爲龍圖閣直學士、河北都轉運使。陛辭，帝曰：「勿爲久留計，有所欲言，言之。」對曰：「臣在諫職得論事，今越職而言，罪也。」帝曰：「第言之，毋以中外為間。」賊平，大將李昭亮、通判馮博文私納婦女，修捕博文繫獄，昭亮懼，立出所納婦。兵之始亂也，招以不死，既而皆殺之，脅從二千人，分隸諸郡。富弼爲宣撫使，恐後生變，將使同日誅之，與修遇於內黃，夜半，屏人告之故。修曰：「禍莫大於殺已降，況脅從乎？既非朝命，脫一郡不從，爲變不細。」弼悟而止。

He was dispatched on a mission to Hedong. Since the western campaigns had begun, policy advocates proposed abolishing Lin Prefecture to save on supplies. Xiu said, "Lin Prefecture is a natural fortress and cannot be abandoned. If it were abandoned, the people of the interior prefectures and counties would no longer live in security. Better to divide its garrison among the Yellow River forts: in crisis they could respond at once, while in peacetime transport costs would be reduced. That policy would serve. On this advice the prefecture was preserved. He also urged, "Xin, Dai, and Kechan hold much forbidden and abandoned land. Let the people farm it, or the enemy will seize it." The court referred his proposal for deliberation; only after a long delay was it enacted, yielding several million hu of grain each year. Wherever Hedong's tax levies were so heavy that the people could not endure them, he memorialized to abolish more than ten such impositions. On his return, the Baozhou garrison mutinied. He was appointed Academician Expositor-in-Waiting of the Dragon Diagram Hall and Grand Transport Commissioner of Hebei. When he took leave at court, the emperor said, "Do not plan on a long stay. If you have something to say, say it." He replied, "In the remonstrance office I was entitled to discuss policy. To speak now beyond my proper duties would be an offense." The emperor said, "Speak freely. Do not let the distinction between court and provinces restrain you." After the rebellion was suppressed, the great general Li Zhaoliang and Vice Commissioner Feng Bowen had privately taken women. Xiu arrested Bowen and put him in prison. Zhaoliang, in fear, immediately released the women he had taken. At the outset of the mutiny the rebels had been promised their lives if they surrendered; afterward they were all put to death. The two thousand who had been coerced into joining were distributed among the prefectures. Fu Bi, serving as Commissioner for Public Tranquillization, feared future trouble and planned to execute them all on the same day. He met Xiu at Neihuang and, at midnight, dismissed attendants and told him his plan. Xiu said, "No disaster is greater than killing men who have already surrendered—how much more those who were coerced! This is not an order from court. If even one prefecture refuses to comply, the resulting disturbance will not be slight. Fu Bi understood and abandoned the plan.

方是時，杜衍等相繼以黨議罷去，修慨然上疏曰：「杜衍、韓琦、范仲淹、富弼，天下皆知其有可用之賢，而不聞其有可罷之罪，自古小人讒害忠賢，其說不遠。欲廣陷良善，不過指爲朋黨，欲動搖大臣，必須誣以顓權，其故何也？去一善人，而眾善人尚在，則未爲小人之利；欲盡去之，則善人少過，難爲一一求瑕，唯指以爲黨，則可一時盡逐，至如自古大臣，已被主知而蒙信任，則難以他事動搖，惟有顓權是上之所惡，必須此說，方可傾之。正士在朝，群邪所忌，謀臣不用，敵國之福也。今此四人一旦罷去，而使群邪相賀於內，四夷相賀於外，臣爲朝廷惜之。」於是邪黨益忌修，因其孤甥張氏獄傅致以罪，左遷知制誥、知滁州。居二年，徙揚州、潁州。復學士，留守南京，以母憂去。服除，召判流內銓，時在外十二年矣。帝見其髮白，問勞甚至。小人畏修復用，有詐爲修奏，乞澄汰內侍爲奸利者。其群皆怨怒，譖之，出知同州，帝納吳充言而止。遷翰林學士，俾修《唐書》。奉使契丹，其主命貴臣四人押宴，曰：「此非常制，以卿名重故爾。」

At that time Du Yan and the others were removed one after another on charges of factionalism. Indignant, Xiu submitted a memorial: "Du Yan, Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan, and Fu Bi are known throughout the empire as men of talent fit for service, yet one hears no crimes that would justify their dismissal. From antiquity petty men have slandered the loyal and worthy by familiar means. To entrap the good and worthy broadly, nothing works better than calling them a faction; to shake great ministers, one must falsely accuse them of monopolizing authority. Why is this so? Remove one good man and the rest remain—the petty men's gain is still small. To remove them all, good men offer few faults and are hard to indict one by one. Only by calling them a faction can they be driven out at once. As for great ministers already known to the ruler and enjoying his trust, other charges seldom avail; only the accusation of monopolizing power, which rulers detest, can bring them down. When upright gentlemen serve at court, the wicked resent them; when able strategists go unused, it is the enemy's good fortune. Now these four have been dismissed at once, letting the wicked congratulate one another within and the barbarians without. I grieve for the court." The wicked faction then resented him all the more. Through the case of his orphaned nephew's wife, the Zhang clan, they fabricated charges against him. He was demoted to Drafting Academician and appointed Prefect of Chuzhou. After two years he was transferred to Yangzhou and Yingzhou. He was restored to his academician title and appointed administrative coordinator of Nanjing, then left office to observe mourning for his mother. When mourning ended he was summoned to serve as judge of the Directorate of Palace Eunuchs. By then he had been away from the capital for twelve years. The emperor saw that his hair had turned white and questioned him with exceptional warmth. Petty men feared his return to power. Someone forged a memorial in his name calling for the purging of palace eunuchs who had profited through fraud. The whole corps grew resentful and slandered him. He was ordered out to serve as Prefect of Tongzhou, but the emperor heeded Wu Chong and stayed the appointment. He was promoted to Hanlin Academician and ordered to compile the History of Tang. On a mission to the Khitan, their ruler ordered four honored ministers to attend his banquet, saying, "This is not the usual custom. It is because of your great renown."

知嘉祐二年貢舉。時士子尚爲險怪奇澀之文，號「太學體」，修痛排抑之，凡如是者輒黜。畢事，向之囂薄者伺修出，聚譟於馬首，街邏不能制；然場屋之習，從是遂變。

He supervised the metropolitan examination in the second year of the Jiayou era. At that time candidates still favored perilous, strange, and harshly obscure compositions known as the "Taixue style." Xiu rigorously suppressed it, failing every paper of that kind. When the examinations ended, those who had mocked him waited for him to emerge and mobbed his horse, clamoring so loudly that the street patrol could not control them. Yet from that time the habits of the examination halls were transformed.

加龍圖閣學士、知開封府，承包拯威嚴之後，簡易循理，不求赫赫名，京師亦治。旬月，改群牧使。《唐書》成，拜禮部侍郎兼翰林侍讀學士。修在翰林八年，知無不言。河決商胡，北京留守賈昌朝欲開橫壟故道，回河使東流。有李仲昌者，欲導入六塔河，議者莫知所從。修以爲：「河水重濁，理無不淤，下流既淤，上流必決。以近事驗之，決河非不能力塞，故道非不能力復，但勢不能久耳。橫壟功大難成，雖成將復決。六塔狹小，而以全河注之，濱、棣、德、博必被其害。不若因水所趨，增堤峻防，疏其下流，縱使入海，此數十年之利也。」宰相陳執中主昌朝，文彥博主仲昌，竟爲河北患。

He was made Academician of the Dragon Diagram Hall and Prefect of Kaifeng. Following Bao Zheng's stern administration, he governed with ease and reason, seeking no resounding reputation, yet the capital was well ordered. Within a month he was transferred to Commissioner of the Herds. When the History of Tang was completed, he was appointed Vice Minister of Rites and concurrent Hanlin Academician Reader-in-Waiting. Xiu spent eight years in the Hanlin Academy and spoke without reserve on every matter within his purview. The Yellow River burst its banks at Shanghu. Jia Changchao, administrative coordinator of the Northern Capital, proposed reopening the old course of the Heng dam to turn the river eastward. A certain Li Zhongchang proposed diverting it into the Liuta River. The debaters could not decide which plan to adopt. Xiu argued, "Yellow River water is heavy and turbid; by nature it must silt up. When the lower course silts, the upper course must break out. Recent experience shows that a breach cannot be permanently dammed by force, nor an old course permanently restored—but neither expedient can last. The Heng dam project is vast and hard to finish; even if finished it will breach again. The Liuta is narrow and small, yet the whole river would be poured into it. Bin, Di, De, and Bo would certainly suffer disaster. Better to follow the water's inclination, raise and strengthen the dikes, dredge the lower course, and let the river reach the sea. That would secure several decades of benefit." Chief Councillor Chen Zhizhong backed Changchao; Wen Yanbo backed Zhongchang. In the end Hebei suffered calamity.

五年，拜樞密副使。六年，參知政事。修在兵府，與曾明仲考天下兵數及三路屯戍多少、地理遠近，更爲圖籍。凡邊防久缺屯戍者，必加搜補。其在政府，與韓琦同心輔政。凡兵民、官吏、財利之要，中書所當知者，集爲總目，遇事不復求之有司。時東宮猶未定，與韓琦等協定大議，語在《琦傳》。英宗以疾未親政，皇太后垂簾，左右交構，幾成嫌隙。韓琦奏事，太后泣語之故。琦以帝疾爲解，太后意不釋，修進曰：「太后事仁宗數十年，仁德著於天下。昔溫成之寵，太后處之裕如；今母子之間，反不能容邪？」太后意稍和，修復曰：「仁宗在位久，德澤在人。故一日晏駕，天下奉戴嗣君，無一人敢異同者。今太后一婦人，臣等五六書生耳，非仁宗遺意，天下誰肯聽從。」太后默然，久之而罷。

In the fifth year he was appointed Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs. In the sixth year he was made Participant in Determining Government Affairs. While serving in the military bureau, he joined Zeng Gongliang in surveying the empire's troop strength, the garrisons along the three frontier circuits, their numbers, and the distances between posts, and remade the maps and registers. Wherever long-standing gaps in frontier garrisons appeared, he ordered them filled. In government he and Han Qi worked in concert as chief ministers. All essentials regarding troops, officials, and revenue that the Secretariat needed to know he compiled into a master register, so that when business arose one no longer had to query the responsible offices. At that time the heir apparent had not yet been settled; together with Han Qi and others he resolved the great question of succession—the account appears in Qi's biography. Emperor Yingzong, stricken with illness, had not yet taken up personal rule. The Empress Dowager ruled from behind the curtain, and those around her wove intrigues until suspicion and estrangement nearly took hold. When Han Qi memorialized on state affairs, the Empress Dowager wept and explained the cause of her distress. Qi explained matters in light of the emperor's illness, but the Empress Dowager's heart was not eased. Xiu stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty served Emperor Renzong for decades, and your benevolence is known throughout the realm. When Lady Wen received the late emperor's favor, you bore it with composure. Can you not now make room for the bond between mother and son?" The empress dowager softened a little. Xiu went on: "Emperor Renzong reigned for many years, and his kindness still lives in the hearts of the people. So when he died in a single day, the whole realm rallied to the heir, and not a soul dared raise a contrary word. Your Majesty is one woman; we are five or six scholars with books in our hands. If this were not what Renzong intended at his death, who under heaven would listen to us?" The empress dowager said nothing. After a long silence she dismissed them.

修平生與人盡言無所隱。及執政，士大夫有所干請，輒面諭可否，雖臺諫官論事，亦必以是非詰之，以是怨誹益眾。帝將追崇濮王，命有司議，皆謂當稱皇伯，改封大國。修引《喪服記》，以爲：「『爲人後者，爲其父母服』，降三年為期，而不沒父母之名，以見服可降而名不可沒也。若本生之親，改稱皇伯，歷考前世，皆無典據。進封大國，則又禮無加爵之道。故中書之議，不與眾同。」太后出手書，許帝稱親，尊王爲皇，王夫人爲后。帝不敢當。於是御史呂誨等詆修主此議，爭論不已，皆被逐。惟蔣之奇之說合修意，修薦爲御史，眾目爲奸邪。之奇患之，則思所以自解。修婦弟薛宗孺有憾於修，造帷薄不根之謗摧辱之，輾轉達於中丞彭思永，思永以告之奇，之奇即上章劾修。神宗初即位，欲深護修。訪故宮臣孫思恭，思恭爲辨釋，修杜門請推治。帝使詰思永、之奇，問所從來，辭窮，皆坐黜。修亦力求退，罷爲觀文殿學士、刑部尚書、知亳州。明年，遷兵部尚書、知青州，改宣徽南院使、判太原府。辭不拜，徙蔡州。

All his life Xiu spoke plainly to others and hid nothing. Once in office, whenever gentlemen sought his favor he told them to their faces what he would or would not do. Even remonstrance officials who came to debate policy he cross-examined on right and wrong. For this, resentment and slander against him only multiplied. The emperor wished to honor his biological father, the Prince of Pu, after death. He ordered the ministries to deliberate. All agreed he should be called Imperial Uncle and enfeoffed as ruler of a great state. Xiu cited the 《Records of Mourning Garments》, saying: "'One who becomes another's heir still mourns his natural parents'—three years of mourning are reduced to one, yet the parents' names are not erased. This shows that the period of mourning may be shortened, but the bond of kinship may not be wiped away. To retitle one's biological parents as Imperial Uncle—search every prior age and you will find no precedent in the canon of ritual. To advance the enfeoffment to a great state is likewise to add rank where ritual provides no means of doing so. For this reason the Secretariat's view did not match the consensus." The empress dowager issued a letter in her own hand, permitting the emperor to call his father by the name of kin, honoring the prince as emperor and his consort as empress. The emperor did not dare accept. Then the investigating censor Lü Hui and others attacked Xiu as the chief architect of this policy. They wrangled without end and were all expelled from court. Only Jiang Zhiqi's position matched Xiu's. Xiu recommended him for investigating censor, but in the eyes of the court he was counted among the corrupt. Zhiqi was uneasy at this and cast about for a way to clear his name. Xiu's brother-in-law Xue Zongru, who bore him a grudge, invented groundless tales of illicit intimacy behind the curtain to ruin him. The rumor wound its way to the vice censor-in-chief Peng Siyong, who relayed it to Zhiqi, and Zhiqi at once memorialized the throne to impeach Xiu. When Emperor Shenzong first took the throne, he wished to protect Xiu to the full. He sought out the former palace attendant Sun Sigong, who spoke in Xiu's defense. Xiu closed his doors and asked that the charges be pursued to the end. The emperor had Siyong and Zhiqi questioned and asked where the tale originated. Their answers failed them, and both were dismissed from office. Xiu pressed equally hard to withdraw. He was relieved as Academician of the Hall for Observing Culture, Minister of Justice, and prefect of Bozhou. The following year he was moved to Minister of War and prefect of Qingzhou, then appointed commissioner of the Southern Bureau of the Palace Secretariat with concurrent authority over Taiyuan. He declined the appointment and was transferred to Cai Prefecture instead.

修以風節自持，既數被污蔑，年六十，即連乞謝事，帝輒優詔弗許。及守青州，又以請止散青苗錢，爲安石所詆，故求歸愈切。熙寧四年，以太子少師致仕。五年，卒，贈太子太師，諡曰文忠。

Xiu held himself by integrity. Slandered again and again, at sixty he repeatedly petitioned to leave office, yet each time the emperor answered with a gracious edict that would not permit it. While governing Qingzhou he again asked that distribution of green sprout money be stopped. Wang Anshi denounced him for it, and his longing to go home grew only more urgent. In the fourth year of the Xining reign he retired with the rank of Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent. In the fifth year he died. He was posthumously honored as Grand Tutor to the Heir Apparent, with the posthumous name Loyal in Culture.

修始在滁州，號「醉翁」，晚更號「六一居士」。天資剛勁，見義勇爲，雖機阱在前，觸發之不顧。放逐流離，至於再三，志氣自若也。方貶夷陵時，無以自遣，因取舊案反覆觀之，見其枉直乖錯不可勝數，於是仰天歎曰：「以荒遠小邑，且如此，天下固可知。」自爾，遇事不敢忽也。學者求見，所與言，未嘗及文章，惟談吏事，謂文章止於潤身，政事可以及物。凡歷數郡，不見治跡，不求聲譽，寬簡而不擾，故所至民便之。或問：「爲政寬簡，而事不弛廢，何也？」曰：「以縱爲寬，以略爲簡，則政事弛廢，而民受其弊。吾所謂寬者，不爲苛急；簡者，不爲繁碎耳。」修幼失父，母嘗謂曰：「汝父爲吏，常夜燭治官書，屢廢而歎。吾問之，則曰：『死獄也，我求其生，不得爾。』吾曰：『生可求乎？』曰：『求其生而不得，則死者與我皆無恨。夫常求其生，猶失之死，而世常求其死也。』其平居教他子弟，常用此語，吾耳熟焉。」修聞而服之終身。

While first at Chuzhou, Xiu styled himself the Old Drunkard; in later years he took instead the name Hermit of Six Ones. By nature he was hard and unyielding. Where he saw the right he acted without fear. Though traps lay before him, he sprang them and did not look back. Banished and driven from place to place, again and again, his spirit remained what it had always been. While banished to Yiling, with nothing to occupy his mind, he took old case files and went through them again and again. Wrong and right were twisted beyond counting. He looked up to heaven and sighed: "If a remote little county is already like this, the realm as a whole may be known." From that day on, he never dared treat any affair lightly. When students came seeking him, he never spoke of literature, only of the business of office. Writing, he said, polishes only the self; government can reach out and touch the world. In every commandery he held, he left no show of administrative feats and sought no renown. He governed with ease and restraint, troubling no one, so wherever he went the people were at their ease. Someone asked him: "You govern with lenience and simplicity, yet nothing is neglected—how is that?" He answered: "If lenience means letting everything go and simplicity means overlooking everything, then government falls into neglect and the people suffer for it. What I mean by lenience is not to be harsh and pressing; what I mean by simplicity is not to burden people with petty, fragmented rules." Xiu lost his father young. His mother once told him: "Your father served as an official. He would work by lamplight deep into the night over the papers of office, then set them down again and again and sigh. I asked why. He said: 'A man condemned to die in prison—I am trying to find a way for him to live, and I cannot.' I said: 'Can a life be sought?' He said:' When I seek life and cannot find it, then the condemned man and I alike will have no regret. For if one constantly seeks a man's life yet still loses him to death, while the world constantly seeks a man's death.' In ordinary times, teaching the other boys, he always used this saying. I heard it until it was worn into my ears." When Xiu heard this he took it to heart for the rest of his life.

爲文天才自然，豐約中度。其言簡而明，信而通，引物連類，折之於至理，以服人心。超然獨騖，眾莫能及，故天下翕然師尊之。獎引後進，如恐不及，賞識之下，率為聞人。曾鞏、王安石、蘇洵、洵子軾、轍，布衣屏處，未爲人知，修即遊其聲譽，謂必顯於世。篤於朋友，生則振掖之，死則調護其家。

As a writer his gift was innate, his fullness and restraint always in balance. His prose was spare yet luminous, sure yet far-reaching. He drew examples and bound them into classes, pressing each argument to its root principle until hearts were won. He ranged alone above the crowd, and none could follow. For this the realm, as one, took him for its teacher. He lifted up the young as though he feared he might not do enough. Of those he marked out for praise, most in time became celebrated names. Zeng Gong, Wang Anshi, Su Xun, and Xun's sons Shi and Zhe were then in plain dress, living apart, unknown to the world. Xiu sought out reports of them at once and declared that they would surely rise to prominence. Devoted to his friends, he lifted them up while they lived and saw to their families after they died.

好古嗜學，凡周、漢以降金石遺文、斷編殘簡，一切掇拾，研稽異同，立說於左，的的可表證，謂之《集古錄》。奉詔修《唐書》紀、志、表，自撰《五代史記》，法嚴詞約，多取《春秋》遺旨。蘇軾敘其文曰：「論大道似韓愈，論事似陸贄，記事似司馬遷，詩賦似李白。」識者以爲知言。

A lover of antiquity and a voracious scholar, he collected every surviving inscription and fragment from Zhou and Han down, collated their discrepancies, annotated what could be firmly established, and published the result as 《Collected Records of Antiquities》. Ordered by the throne to edit the annals, treatises, and tables of the 《Book of Tang》, he also authored on his own the 《Records of the Five Dynasties》—austere in method and spare in diction, steeped in the spirit of the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》. Su Shi summed up his prose thus: "On the Great Way he reads like Han Yu; on policy, like Lu Zhi; in narrative history, like Sima Qian; in verse and fu, like Li Bo." Connoisseurs judged that a true appraisal.

子發

Son: Fa

子發，字伯和，少好學，師事安定胡瑗，得古樂鍾律之說，不治科舉文詞，獨探古始立論議。自書契以來，君臣世系，制度文物，旁及天文、地理，靡不悉究。以父恩，補將作監主薄，賜進士出身，累遷殿中丞。卒，年四十六。蘇軾哭之，以謂發得文忠公之學，漢伯喈、晉茂先之流也。

Fa, whose courtesy name was Bohe, was studious from boyhood. He studied under Hu Yuan of Anding and mastered theories of ancient pitch pipes and bell-tones, shunned the examination essay, and devoted himself instead to probing antiquity and framing original arguments. From the age of written records he pursued everything—royal and ministerial lines, institutions and material culture, even astronomy and geography—until nothing lay outside his inquiry. Thanks to his father's standing he entered service as registrar in the Directorate of Palace Buildings, received jinshi standing by grace, and rose in stages to vice director of the Bureau of Ceremonial. He died at forty-six. Su Shi lamented his death, declaring that Fa had inherited Wengong's learning and stood in the line of Han's Cai Yong and Jin's Zhang Hua.

子棐

Son: Fei

中子棐，字叔弼，廣覽強記，能文辭，年十三時，見修著《鳴蟬賦》，侍側不去。修撫之曰：「兒異日能為吾此賦否？」因書以遺之。用蔭，為秘書省正字，登進士乙科，調陳州判官，以親老不仕。修卒，代草遺表，神宗讀而愛之，意修自作也。服除，始為審官主簿，累遷職方員外郎、知襄州。曾布執政，其婦兄魏泰倚聲勢來居襄，規占公私田園，強市民貨，郡縣莫敢誰何。至是，指州門東偏官邸廢址為天荒，請之。吏具成牘至，棐曰：「孰謂州門之東偏而有天荒乎？」卻之。眾共白曰：「泰橫于漢南久，今求地而緩與之，且不可，而又可卻邪？」棐竟持不與。泰怒，譖於布，徙知潞州，旋又罷去。元符末，還朝。曆吏部、右司二郎中，以直秘閣知蔡州。蔡地薄賦重，轉運使又為覆折之令，多取於民，民不堪命。會有詔禁止，而佐吏憚使者，不敢以詔旨從事。棐曰：「州郡之於民，詔令苟有未便，猶將建請。今天子詔意深厚，知覆折之病民，手詔止之。若有憚而不行，何以爲長吏？」命即日行之。未幾，坐黨籍廢，十餘年卒。

The middle son Fei, courtesy name Shubi, read voraciously, remembered effortlessly, and wrote well. At thirteen he watched Xiu compose the 《Cicada Chirping Rhapsody》 and would not leave his side. Xiu stroked his head and asked, "Child, will you one day write this rhapsody for me?" Then he copied it out and gave it to him as a keepsake. By yin privilege he became a Palace Library proofreader, passed the jinshi examination in the second class, and was posted as judge of Chenzhou, but declined to serve because his parents were old. After Xiu's death Fei drafted the death memorial in his place. Shenzong read it with admiration and assumed Xiu had written it himself. When mourning ended he entered office as registrar in the Court for Examination of Credentials, then rose through assistant director in the Bureau of Military Appointments to prefect of Xiangzhou. Under Zeng Bu's administration, Bu's brother-in-law Wei Tai traded on that power to settle in Xiangzhou, grabbing public and private land and extorting townspeople's goods while no local office dared stand in his way. On this occasion he designated the abandoned government quarters east of the prefectural gate as "imperial waste" and petitioned for them. When the clerks brought the finished paperwork, Fei said, "Who ever heard of 'heaven's waste' east of the prefectural gate? He refused the request. His staff pleaded as one: "Tai has tyrannized the Han River south for years. Even a slow grant of land is unthinkable—how can we refuse him outright?" Fei held his ground and never yielded the land. Tai, enraged, slandered him to Zeng Bu. Fei was reassigned as prefect of Luzhou, then soon dismissed altogether. Near the close of the Yuanfu reign he returned to the capital. He served in turn in the Ministry of Personnel and as second-rank director in the Right Office, then, as Hanlin academician on call, became prefect of Caizhou. Caizhou was a poor region with crushing levies; the transport commissioner added orders for double assessment, squeezing the people past endurance. An edict then forbade the practice, yet the staff feared the commissioner and would not enforce the throne's command. Fei said, "Between a prefecture and its people, even when an edict seems awkward, officials should still memorialize the throne. Today's edict is steeped in humane intent: the Son of Heaven knows double assessment harms the people and has personally written to halt it. If we shrink back and refuse to act, what sort of chief officials are we?" He ordered it enforced that very day. Before long he was cashiered on the faction register; he died more than a decade afterward.

論曰：三代而降，薄乎秦、漢，文章雖與時盛衰，而藹如其言，曄如其光，皦如其音，蓋均有先王之遺烈。涉晉、魏而弊，至唐韓愈氏振起之。唐之文，涉五季而弊，至宋歐陽修又振起之。挽百川之頹波，息千古之邪說，使斯文之正氣，可以羽翼大道，扶持人心，此兩人之力也。愈不獲用，修用矣，亦弗克究其所爲，可爲世道惜也哉！

The appraisal runs: After the Three Dynasties culture thinned toward Qin and Han. Literature rose and fell with the age, yet remained lush in word, radiant in brilliance, and pure in tone—each age still carrying some trace of the former kings' legacy. Through Jin and Wei it sickened; in Tang, Han Yu raised it up again. Tang letters, worn down across the Five Dynasties, found renewal in Song through Ouyang Xiu. They turned back the collapsing tide of ten thousand streams and quelled a millennium of heterodox talk, so that the orthodox breath of civilization could again wing the Great Way and shore up the human heart—such was the force of these two men. Han Yu never won full employment; Xiu did, yet could not finish what he set out to do. The age itself is worth grieving.

劉敞，字原父，臨江新喻人。舉慶曆進士，廷試第一。編排官王堯臣，其內兄也，以親嫌自列，乃以爲第二。通判蔡州，直集賢院，判尚書考功。

Liu Chang, courtesy name Yuanfu, came from Xinyu in Linjiang. He passed the Qingli jinshi examination and ranked first in the palace examination. The arranging official Wang Yaochen was his wife's elder brother; citing conflict of interest he withdrew himself, and was ranked second instead. He served as transit intendant of Caizhou, academician on call in the Hall for Assembling the Worthies, and reviewer in the Ministry of Personnel's Bureau of Appointments.

夏竦薨，賜諡文正。敞言：「諡者，有司之事，竦行不應法。今百司各得守其職，而陛下侵臣官。」疏三上，改諡文莊。方議定大樂，使中貴人參其間，敞諫曰：「王事莫重於樂。今儒學滿朝，辨論有餘，而使若趙談者參之，臣懼爲袁盎笑也。」權度支判官，徙三司使。

When Xia Song died, the posthumous name Wenzheng was granted. Chang argued, "Posthumous names belong to the proper offices; Song's conduct does not satisfy the statutes. Every department should keep to its charge—yet Your Majesty is trespassing on your ministers' functions." After three successive memorials the title was revised to Wenzhuang. As the court debated the great music, palace eunuchs were sent to take part. Chang remonstrated: "Among royal affairs none outweighs music. The court today overflows with Confucian scholars and debate—yet if men like Zhao Tan are allowed in, I fear Yuan Ang's laughter will be on us again." He served as acting fiscal controller, then was transferred to commissioner of the three fiscal departments.

秦州與羌人爭古渭地，仁宗問敞：「棄守孰便？」敞曰：「若新城可以蔽秦州，長無羌人之虞，傾國守焉可也；或地形險利，賊乘之以擾我邊鄙，傾國爭焉可也。今何所重輕，而殫財困民，捐士卒之命以規小利，使曲在中國，非計也。」議者多不同，秦州自是多事矣。

Qinzhou and the Qiang were fighting over the old Guwei territory when Emperor Renzong asked Chang, "Would it be better to give it up or hold it?" Chang replied, "If New City can shield Qinzhou and keep the Qiang at bay for good, then pouring the nation's strength into holding it would be justified; or if the ground is strategically vital and the enemy could use it to harry our frontier, then pouring the nation's strength into fighting for it would likewise be justified. As things stand, what is there to weigh? Yet we drain the treasury, burden the people, and spend soldiers' lives for a trifling gain, putting our own side in the wrong—this is no sound policy." Most of the counselors disagreed, and from that time Qinzhou knew nothing but trouble.

溫成后追冊，有佞人獻議，求立忌。敞曰：「豈可以私昵之故，變古越禮乎？」乃止。吳充以典禮得罪，馮京救之，亦罷近職，敞因對極論之，帝曰：「充能官，京亦亡它，中書惡其太直，不相容耳。」敞曰：「陛下寬仁好諫，而中書乃排逐言者，是蔽君之明，止君之善也。臣恐感動陰陽，有日食、地震、風霾之異。」已而果然。因勸帝收攬威權，無使聰明蔽塞，以消災咎，帝深納之，以同修起居注。未一月，擢知制誥。宰相陳執中惡其斥己，沮止之，帝不聽。宦者石全彬領觀察使，意不愜，有慍言，居三日為真，敞封還除書，不草制。

When Empress Wencheng received a posthumous ennoblement, a flatterer submitted a plan to institute name taboos on her behalf. Chang said, "How can private fondness be allowed to overturn ancient precedent and breach ritual?" The proposal was halted. Wu Chong ran afoul of the court over ritual matters; Feng Jing spoke up for him and was likewise stripped of his close posts. Chang used an audience to argue the matter at length. The emperor said, "Chong is fit for office, and Jing has no other fault—the Secretariat simply cannot abide men so blunt." Chang said, "Your Majesty is magnanimous and welcomes remonstrance, yet the Secretariat is hounding away those who speak—this veils Your Majesty's clarity and blocks Your Majesty's goodness. I fear heaven and earth will be stirred to answer, and we shall see eclipses, earthquakes, and blinding storms." Before long, exactly that came to pass. He then urged the emperor to gather power back into his own hands and keep his judgment from being walled off, so that disaster might be dispelled. The emperor took this deeply to heart and made him co-compiler of the Veritable Records. In less than a month he was promoted to Drafting Edicts. Chief Minister Chen Zhizhong, resenting that Chang had criticized him, tried to block the appointment, but the emperor would not hear of it. The eunuch Shi Quanbin was named an observation commissioner and was not satisfied; he spoke in anger. Within three days the appointment was made permanent. Chang sealed up the commission and sent it back, refusing to draft the edict.

奉使契丹，素習知山川道徑，契丹導之行，自古北口至柳河，回屈殆千里，欲誇示險遠。敞質譯人曰：「自松亭趨柳河，甚徑且易，不數日可抵中京，何爲故道此？」譯相顧駭愧曰：「實然。但通好以來，置驛如是，不敢變也。」順州山中有異獸，如馬而食虎豹，契丹不能識，問敞，敞曰：「此所謂駮也。」爲說其音聲形狀，且誦《山海經》、《管子》書曉之，契丹益歎服。使還，求知揚州。

Sent as envoy to the Khitan, he was already well versed in mountains and routes. The Khitan led him from the Old Northern Pass to Willow River by a detour of nearly a thousand li, intending to impress him with hardship and distance. Chang pressed the interpreter: "From Songting to Willow River the road is short and easy; Middle Capital could be reached in a few days—why deliberately take this roundabout route?" The interpreters glanced at one another, startled and ashamed, and said, "That is true. But ever since relations were opened, relay stations have been laid out on this route, and we dare not alter it." In the mountains of Shunzhou there was a strange beast, horse-like yet feeding on tigers and leopards. The Khitan did not recognize it and asked Chang. Chang said, "This is what is called the bo." He described its cry, shape, and form, and quoted the 《Classic of Mountains and Seas》 and the 《Guanzi》 to explain it; the Khitan admired him all the more. On his return from the mission he sought appointment as prefect of Yangzhou.

狄青起行伍爲樞密使，每出入，小民輒聚觀，至相與推誦其拳勇，至壅馬足不得行。帝不豫，人心動搖，青益不自安。敞辭赴郡，爲帝言曰：「陛下幸愛青，不如出之，以全其終。」帝頷之，使出諭中書，青乃去位。

Di Qing had risen from the ranks to become Military Affairs Commissioner. Whenever he went out or in, common folk would crowd around to watch, even shoving one another and shouting his feats of boxing, until the horses' path was choked and he could not move. The emperor fell ill, hearts wavered, and Qing grew ever more ill at ease. As Chang took leave for his prefecture he told the emperor, "Your Majesty favors Qing—would it not be better to post him elsewhere and let him end his days in peace?" The emperor nodded, sent him out to instruct the Secretariat, and Qing then resigned his post.

揚之雷塘，漢雷陂也，舊爲民田。其後官取瀦水而不償以它田，主皆失業。然塘亦破決不可漕，州復用爲田。敞據唐舊券，悉用還民，發運使爭之，敞卒以予民。天長縣鞫王甲殺人，既具獄，敞見而察其冤，甲畏吏，不敢自直。敞以委戶曹杜誘，誘不能有所平反，而傅致益牢。將論囚，敞曰：「冤也。」親按問之。甲知能爲己直，乃敢告，蓋殺人者，富人陳氏也。相傳以爲神明。徙鄆州，鄆比易守，政不治，市邑攘敓公行。敞決獄訟，明賞罰，境內肅然。客行壽張道中，遺一囊錢，人莫敢取，以告里長，里長爲守視，客還，取得之。又有暮遺物市中者，旦往訪之，故在。先是，久旱，地多蝗。敞至而雨，蝗出境。召糾察在京刑獄。營卒桑達等醉鬥，指斥乘輿。皇城使捕送開封，棄達市。敞移府，問何以不經審訊。府報曰：「近例，凡聖旨及中書、樞密所鞫獄，皆不慮問。」敞奏請一準近格，樞密院不肯行，敞力爭之，詔以其章下府，著爲令。

Yangzhou's Leitang was the Han dynasty's Leipo; it had once been farmland held by common people. Later officials dammed the water without granting other land in compensation, and the owners all lost their livelihood. Yet the pond also broke through and could not serve for transport; the prefecture turned it back to farmland. Chang relied on old Tang title deeds and restored the land entirely to the people. The transport commissioner disputed him, but Chang in the end prevailed and returned it to them. In Tianchang county Wang Jia was tried for murder; when the case was ready for judgment, Chang saw him and sensed his wrongful conviction. Jia feared the clerks and did not dare speak up for himself. Chang handed the matter to the household census officer Du You, but You could not overturn the verdict and instead tightened the fabricated charges. As they were about to sentence the prisoner, Chang said, "This man has been wronged." He personally reviewed and questioned the case. Jia knew he now had someone who could clear him and dared to speak—the real killer was a wealthy man of the Chen clan. People spread word that his judgment was almost supernatural. He was transferred to Yanzhou. Yan was comparatively easy to govern, yet the administration had grown slack and market towns were overrun by brawling ruffians who acted with impunity. Chang settled lawsuits, made rewards and punishments unmistakable, and throughout the prefecture order was restored. A traveler on the road through Shouzhang dropped a bag of money; no one dared touch it. He told the village head, who stood guard over it until the traveler came back and reclaimed it. Another man lost something in the market at dusk; when he went the next morning to search for it, it was still where he had left it. Before this the region had suffered long drought, and locusts were everywhere. When Chang arrived, rain fell and the locusts departed the prefecture. He was summoned to serve as inspector of capital criminal cases. Camp soldiers Sang Da and others, drunk, brawled and reviled the imperial carriage. The Imperial City commissioner arrested them and sent them to Kaifeng; Da was executed by abandonment in the marketplace. Chang referred the matter to the prefectural court and asked why the men had not been interrogated. The court reported, "By recent precedent, whenever cases are tried under an imperial rescript or by the Secretariat or the Bureau of Military Affairs, formal interrogation is not conducted." Chang memorialized asking that a single recent standard be followed. The Bureau of Military Affairs refused to comply; Chang argued forcefully until an edict sent his memorial down to the court and established it as law.

嘉祐祫享，群臣上尊號，宰相請撰表，敞說止不得，乃上疏曰：「陛下不受徽號且二十年。今復加數字，不足盡聖德，而前美並棄，誠可惜也。今歲以來，頗有災異，正當寅畏天命，深自抑損，豈可於此時乃以虛名爲累。」帝覽奏，顧侍臣曰：「我意本謂當爾。」遂不受。

At the Jiayou grand offering, the ministers proposed an honorific title and the chief minister asked to draft the congratulatory memorial. Chang argued against it in vain and then submitted a memorial saying, "Your Majesty has declined an honorific title for nearly twenty years already. To pile on more characters would still not exhaust Your Majesty's sage virtue, yet every honor already granted would be thrown away—a genuine waste. Since the year began, omens and disasters have multiplied. This is the moment to stand in awe of Heaven and strip yourself back—not to let empty titles weigh you down." The emperor read the memorial, turned to his attendants, and said, "I always meant it to end this way." And he declined the honorific.

蜀人龍昌期著書傳經，以詭僻惑眾。文彥博薦諸朝，賜五品服。敞與歐陽修俱曰：「昌期違古畔道，學非而博，王制之所必誅，未使即少正卯之刑，已幸矣，又何賞焉。乞追還詔書，毋使有識之士，窺朝廷深淺。」昌期聞之，懼不敢受賜。

Long Changqi of Shu wrote books and lectured on the classics, beguiling the crowd with outlandish doctrines. Wen Yanbo brought him to the court's attention, and the emperor bestowed fifth-rank court dress. Chang and Ouyang Xiu spoke as one: "Changqi turns his back on antiquity and the Way. His learning is hollow, his show of erudition false—exactly what royal institutions exist to punish. That he was not dealt Shao Zhengmao's fate was mercy enough. Why reward him? We beg that the edict be recalled, lest men of judgment take the measure of this court." Changqi heard and, afraid, refused the gift.

敞以識論與眾忤，求知永興軍，拜翰林侍讀學士。大姓范偉爲奸利，冒同姓戶籍五十年，持府縣短長，數犯法。敞窮治其事，偉伏罪，長安中讙喜。未及受刑，敞召還，判三班院，偉即變前獄，至於四五，卒之付御史決。

Chang's sharp opinions had set him against the crowd; he asked for Yongxing command and was made Hanlin Academician Reader-in-Waiting. Fan Wei, head of a great clan, had grown rich on fraud. For fifty years he had ridden a forged register of the same surname, playing prefectural and county officials against one another, breaking the law again and again. Chang prosecuted the case to the end. Wei confessed, and Chang'an erupted in celebration. Before sentence could fall, Chang was recalled to the Three-Rank Bureau. Wei promptly reversed the verdict—four or five times—until the censorate took the case and settled it.

敞侍英宗講讀，每指事據經，因以諷諫。時兩宮方有小人間言，諫者或訐而過直。敞進讀《太史公書》，至堯授舜以天下，拱而言曰：「舜至側微也，堯禪之以位，天地享之，百姓戴之，非有他道，惟孝友之德，光於上下耳。」帝竦體改容，知其以義理諷也。皇太后聞之，亦大喜。

Chang attended Yingzong's lectures, citing the classics at every turn and threading remonstrance through the text. The two palaces were still poisoned by petty men's whispers, and some remonstrators impeached with a bluntness that overshot the mark. Chang read aloud from the 《Records of the Grand Historian》. At the passage where Yao yields the realm to Shun, he bowed with folded hands and said: "Shun rose from the humblest margin. Yao set the throne in his hands, and Heaven and earth rejoiced, the people looked up to him—not by any other art, only because filial piety and brotherly love lit the world above and below." The emperor stiffened and changed countenance, knowing he had been admonished through principle. The Empress Dowager heard and was likewise delighted.

敞學問淵博，自佛老、卜筮、天文、方藥、山經、地志，皆究知大略。嘗夜視鎮星，謂人曰：「此於法當得土，不然，則生女。」後數月，兩公主生。又曰：「歲星往來虛、危間，色甚明盛，當有興于齊者。」歲餘而英宗以齊州防禦使入承大統。嘗得先秦彝鼎數十，銘識奇奧，皆案而讀之，因以考知三代制度，尤珍惜之。每曰：「我死，子孫以此蒸嘗我。」朝廷每有禮樂之事，必就其家以取決焉。爲文尤贍敏。掌外制時，將下直，會追封王、主九人，立馬卻坐，頃之，九制成。歐陽修每於書有疑，折簡來問，對其使揮筆，答之不停手，修服其博。長於《春秋》，爲書四十卷，行於時。弟：攽。子：奉世。

Chang's learning ran deep and wide: Buddhism and Daoism, divination, astronomy, materia medica, mountain classics, local gazetteers—he had mastered the outlines of them all. One night he watched Saturn and told those present, "By the prognostic rules this augurs the earth element; if not, daughters will be born." Months later, two princesses were born. He also said, "Jupiter shuttles between Xu and Wei, bright and blazing—someone will rise from Qi." A year and more later, Yingzong entered to succeed the throne from his post as Defender Commissioner of Qizhou. He once acquired several dozen pre-Qin ritual vessels. Their inscriptions were strange and dense; he laid them out and read every one, and from them reconstructed the institutions of the Three Dynasties. He treasured them above all else. He would say, "When I die, let my descendants use these to feed my spirit in sacrifice." Whenever the court faced ritual or music, it came to his door for the final word. As a writer he was lavish and swift. While drafting external edicts he was about to go off duty when word came to ennoble nine princes and princesses at once. He dismounted, turned back to his desk, and in a breath all nine compositions were done. Whenever Ouyang Xiu hit a doubt in a text he sent a note. Chang would face the messenger, brush in hand, and answer without pause. Xiu marveled at his range. He excelled in the 《Spring and Autumn Annals》 and wrote a forty-scroll work that circulated in his time. Younger brother: Ban. Son: Fengshi.

弟攽

Younger Brother Ban

弟攽，字貢父，與敞同登科，仕州縣二十年，始爲國子監直講。歐陽修、趙槩薦試館職，御史中丞王陶有夙憾，率侍御史蘇寀共排之，攽官已員外郎，才得館閣校勘。熙寧中，判尚書考功、同知太常禮院。

His younger brother Ban, courtesy name Gongfu, passed the examinations with Chang, spent twenty years in prefectural and county posts, and only then became erudite lecturer in the Directorate of Education. Ouyang Xiu and Zhao Gai recommended him for a palace archive trial. Vice Censor-in-Chief Wang Tao, nursing an old grievance, led Remonstrance Secretary Su Cai to block him. Though Ban already held vice-director rank, he won only a collator's post in the palace archive. Under Xining he served as reviewer in the Ministry of Personnel and associate director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.

詔封太祖諸孫行尊者爲王，奉太祖後。攽言：「禮，諸侯不得祖天子，當自奉其國之祖。宜崇德昭、德芳之後，世世勿降爵，宗廟祭祀，使之在位，則所以褒揚藝祖者著矣。」後二王紹封，如攽議。

An edict ennobled as kings certain senior grandsons of Taizu, to carry on the Founding Ancestor's line. Ban argued: "By ritual, feudal lords may not take the Son of Heaven as ancestor. Each should honor his own state's founder. Exalt the lines of Dezhao and Defang. Let their ranks never fall from generation to generation; let them stand in the ancestral temple in their proper places—then the way to honor the Founding Ancestor will be plain for all to see." Later the two kings were enfeoffed anew, as Ban had urged.

方更學校貢舉法，攽曰：「本朝選士之制，行之百年，累代將相名卿，皆由此出，而以為未嘗得人，不亦誣哉。願因舊貫，毋輕議改法。夫士修於家，足以成德，亦何待於學官程課督趣之哉。」

As the schools and examination system were being overhauled, Ban said: "Our dynasty's way of choosing scholars has run a century. Generation after generation of chancellors and celebrated ministers came through it—and to say it never produced a single worthy man, is that not slander? Hold to the old practice. Do not lightly reopen the law. A scholar who cultivates himself at home can complete his virtue without school officials' schedules, lessons, and prodding."

王安石在經筵，乞講者坐。攽曰：「侍臣講論於前，不可安坐，避席立語，乃古今常禮。君使之坐，所以示人主尊德樂道也；若不命而請，則異矣。」禮官皆同其議，至今仍之。考試開封舉人，與同院王介爭詈，爲監察御史所劾罷。禮院廷試始用策，初，考官呂惠卿列阿時者在高等，訐直者反居下。攽覆考，悉反之。又嘗詒安石書，論新法不便。安石怒摭前過，斥通判泰州，以集賢校理、判登聞檢院、戶部判官知曹州。曹爲盜區，重法不能止。攽曰：「民不畏死，奈何以死懼之。」至，則治尚寬平，盜亦衰息。爲開封府判官，復出爲京東轉運使。部吏罷軟不逮者，務全安之。徙知兗、亳二州。吳居厚代爲轉運使，能奉行法令，致財賦，乃追坐攽廢弛，黜監衡州鹽倉。

At the Classics Mat, Wang Anshi asked that the lecturer be allowed to sit. Ban said: "When a minister lectures before the throne he may not sit at ease. To leave the mat and speak standing is the constant ritual, ancient and present alike. When the ruler commands a seat, it is to show that the sovereign honors virtue and delights in the Way; to request a seat without being commanded is something else entirely." The ritual officers all agreed. The practice holds to this day. While examining Kaifeng candidates he quarreled with his colleague Wang Jie in the same bureau. The investigating censor impeached him and he was dismissed. At the Court of Imperial Sacrifices the palace examination first used policy essays. At the outset the examiner Lü Huiqing placed flatterers of the times in the upper ranks and blunt remonstrators in the lower. Ban reviewed the case and reversed every verdict. He also once wrote Wang Anshi, arguing that the new laws were ill-advised. Anshi, enraged, dredged up his past faults, stripped him of his post as assistant prefect of Taizhou, and reassigned him collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, judge of the Court for Memorials to the Throne, and Ministry of Revenue judge with concurrent authority over Caozhou. Caozhou was a haunt of bandits; harsh statutes could not suppress them. Ban said, "When the people do not fear death, how can you frighten them with death?" Once he took office, he governed with lenience and calm, and banditry likewise waned. He served as judge of the Kaifeng prefectural court, then was posted again as transport commissioner of the Eastern Capital circuit. Clerks who were slack or unequal to their duties he nevertheless strove to shield and keep in post. He was transferred to govern Yanzhou and Bozhou. Wu Juhou succeeded him as transport commissioner. Skilled at enforcing the laws and raising revenue, he then pinned Ban with charges of lax administration and demoted him to overseer of the Hengzhou salt depot.

哲宗初，起知襄州。入為秘書少監，以疾求去，加直龍圖閣、知蔡州。於是給事中孫覺、胡宗愈、中書舍人蘇軾、范百祿言：「攽博記能文章，政事侔古循吏，身兼數器，守道不回，宜優賜之告，使留京師。」至蔡數月，召拜中書舍人。請復舊制，建紫微閣於西省。竟以疾不起，年六十七。

When Zhezong first took the throne, Ban was recalled to govern Xiangzhou. He entered the capital as vice director of the Secretariat, pleaded illness, and was granted the added title of direct academician in the Hall of Dragon Pictures with concurrent appointment as prefect of Caizhou. Thereupon Supervising Secretary Sun Jue, Hu Zongyu, Secretariat Drafter Su Shi, and Fan Bailu memorialized: "Ban is broadly learned and masterly in prose; in government he equals the ancient compassionate official; he unites many talents and holds to the Way without wavering. He should be graciously allowed to remain in the capital." After a few months at Caizhou he was summoned and appointed Secretariat Drafter. He asked that the old system be restored and the Purple Micro Pavilion built in the western office. In the end illness kept him from office; he died at sixty-seven.

攽所著書百卷，尤邃史學。作《東漢刊誤》，爲人所稱。預司馬光修《資治通鑒》，專職漢史。爲人疏俊，不修威儀，喜諧謔，數用以招怨悔，終不能改。

Ban left a hundred scrolls of writing and was especially deep in historical studies. He wrote 《Corrections to the Eastern Han》, which won wide praise. He joined Sima Guang in compiling the 《Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance》, with sole charge of the Han annals. By nature he was open and quick-witted, cared little for imposing bearing, and delighted in wit and banter, often drawing resentment on himself—yet he never changed.

子奉世

Son: Fengshi

子奉世，字仲馮，天資簡重，有法度。中進士第。熙寧三年，初置樞密院諸房檢詳文字，以太子中允居吏房。

His son Fengshi, courtesy name Zhongfeng, was by nature grave and measured. He passed the jinshi examination. In the third year of Xining, when the Bureau of Military Affairs first established its bureaus to examine and verify documents, he was made junior palace attendant and assigned to the personnel bureau.

先是，進奏院每五日具定本報狀，上樞密院，然後傳之四方。而邸吏輒先期報下，或矯爲家書，以入郵置。奉世乞革定本，去實封，但以通函騰報。從之。神宗稱其奉職不苟，加集賢校理、檢正中書戶房公事，改刑房，進直史館、國史院編修官。大理治相州獄，詳斷官竇革以白奉世，奉世曰：「君自以法從事，毋庸白。」後蔡確以是文致奉世罪，謫降蔡州糧料院。久之，爲吏部員外郎。

Earlier the Memorial Submission Office every five days prepared the fixed-text bulletin for the Bureau of Military Affairs, which then transmitted it to the four quarters. But lodge clerks would leak the bulletin early, or forge it as private letters to slip into the postal relay. Fengshi asked that the fixed text be abolished, the sealed cover removed, and reporting done only by open dispatch. The court agreed. Shenzong praised his scrupulous service, made him collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies and examiner in the Secretariat household bureau, transferred him to the penal bureau, and promoted him to direct historian and National History compiler. The Court of Judicial Review tried the Xiangzhou case. The sentencing officer Dou Ge reported to Fengshi, who said, "Apply the law as you see fit—do not report to me." Later Cai Que used this to frame him, and he was demoted to the Caizhou grain depot. After a long interval he became vice director in the Ministry of Personnel.

元祐初，歷度支左司郎中、起居郎、天章閣待制、樞密都承旨、戶部吏部侍郎、權戶部尚書。七年，拜樞密直學士，簽書院事。哲宗親政，用二內侍爲押班，中書舍人呂希純封還之。帝謂有近例，奉世曰：「雖有近例，奈人不可戶曉，顧以率先施行爲非耳。」帝爲反命。既而章惇當國，奉世乞免去。

At the opening of the Yuanyou era he rose through left-section director in the Revenue Bureau, attendance gentleman, academician on call in the Hall of Heavenly Manifestation, chief secretary of the Bureau of Military Affairs, vice ministers of Revenue and Personnel, and acting minister of Revenue. In the seventh year he was made direct academician in the Bureau of Military Affairs with authority to sign its documents. When Zhezong took personal rule, two inner attendants were named escort officers of the guard. Secretariat Drafter Lü Xichun sealed the commission and sent it back. The emperor cited a recent precedent. Fengshi said, "There may be a recent precedent, but the people cannot be taught it household by household. The fault lies in rushing to put it into practice first." The emperor rescinded the order. Before long Zhang Dun came to power, and Fengshi asked to be relieved.

紹聖元年，以端明殿學士知成德軍，改定州。逾年，知成都府。過都入覲，欲述朋黨傾邪之狀。帝將聽其來，曾布曰：「元祐變先朝法，無一當者，奉世有力焉，最爲漏網，恐不足見。」遂不許。明年，責光祿少卿，分司南京，居郴州。御史中丞邢恕劾奉世合劉摯傾害大臣，附呂大防、蘇轍，遂登政府，再貶隰州團練副使。

In the first year of Shaosheng he was made academician of the Hall of Brilliant Clarity and prefect of Chengde, then transferred to Dingzhou. A year later he was made prefect of Chengdu. On his way through the capital to present himself, he wished to describe how factionalists had overturned the upright. The emperor was ready to hear him when Zeng Bu said, "In Yuanyou they overturned the former court's laws without a single provision that stood. Fengshi had great force in that and was the chief fish that slipped the net. I fear he is not worth an audience." He was therefore denied. The following year he was demoted to vice director of the Court of Imperial Entertainments with duty at Nanjing and made to reside at Chenzhou. Investigating Censor-in-Chief Xing Shu impeached Fengshi for joining Liu Zhi in harming great ministers and siding with Lü Dafang and Su Zhe to reach the government. He was again demoted to military vice commissioner of Xizhou.

徽宗立，盡還其官職，知定州、大名府、鄆州。崇寧初，再奪職，責居沂、袞，以赦得歸。政和三年，復端明殿學士。薨，年七十三。

When Huizong took the throne, all his offices were restored. He governed Dingzhou, Daming, and Yanzhou. At the opening of Chongning his offices were stripped again; he was sent to reside at Yi and Yan, and through an amnesty was allowed to return. In the third year of Zhenghe his title of academician of the Hall of Brilliant Clarity was restored. He died at seventy-three.

奉世優於吏治，尚安靜，文詞雅贍，最精《漢書》學。常云：「家世惟知事君，內省不愧，怍士大夫公論而已。得喪，常理也，譬如寒暑加人，雖善攝生者不能無病，正須安以處之。」

Fengshi excelled in administration, prized quiet, and wrote with elegant fullness; he was most expert in Han studies. He often said, "Our house has only known how to serve the ruler. Inwardly I have no shame; I am troubled only by what scholar-officials say in public. Gain and loss are the constant way, like cold and heat laid on a man. Even one skilled at preserving life cannot escape illness. One must simply settle oneself and bear it."

曾鞏，字子固，建昌南豐人。生而警敏，讀書數百言，脫口輒誦。年十二，試作《六論》，援筆而成，辭甚偉。甫冠，名聞四方。歐陽修見其文，奇之。

Zeng Gong, courtesy name Zigong, was a native of Nanfeng in Jianchang. From birth he was keen and quick. Give him several hundred words and he could recite them the moment they left his lips. At twelve he trial-composed the 《Six Discourses》. He took up the brush and finished at once, and the prose was very grand. Just upon reaching manhood his name rang through the four quarters. Ouyang Xiu read his writing and marveled at it.

中嘉祐二年進士第。調太平州司法參軍，召編校史館書籍，遷館閣校勘、集賢校理，爲實錄檢討官。出通判越州，州舊取酒場錢給募牙前，錢不足，賦諸鄉戶，期七年止；期盡，募者志於多入，猶責賦如初。鞏訪得其狀，立罷之。歲饑，度常平不足贍，而田野之民，不能皆至城邑。諭告屬縣，諷富人自實粟，總十五萬石，視常平價稍增以予民。民得從便受粟，不出田里，而食有餘。又貸之種糧，使隨秋賦以償，農事不乏。

In the second year of Jiayou he passed the jinshi examination. He was posted judicial aide of Taiping prefecture, summoned to collate books in the History Office, promoted to archive collator and collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies, and made examiner of the Veritable Records. He went out as assistant prefect of Yuezhou. The prefecture had long taken wine-works revenue to pay yamen runners; when the funds fell short it levied rural households for a term of seven years; when the term ended the hired men, eager for greater intake, still exacted levies as at first. Gong investigated and at once abolished the practice. In a year of famine the Ever-Normal Granary could not supply enough relief, and country people could not all reach the towns. He instructed the subordinate counties to urge the wealthy to declare their grain. In all a hundred and fifty thousand piculs were gathered and sold to the people at a price slightly above the Ever-Normal rate. The people could take grain where they stood, never leaving field or hamlet, yet had food to spare. He also lent seed grain to be repaid with the autumn tax, so farming did not fail.

知齊州，其治以疾奸急盜爲本。曲堤周氏擁貲雄里中，子高橫縱，賊良民，汙婦女，服器上僭，力能動權豪，州縣吏莫敢詰，鞏取置於法。章邱民聚黨村落間，號「霸王社」，椎剽奪囚，無不如志。鞏配三十一人，又屬民爲保伍，使幾察其出入，有盜則鳴鼓相援，每發輒得盜。有葛友者，名在捕中，一日，自出首。鞏飲食冠裳之，假以騎從，輦所購金帛隨之，誇徇四境。盜聞，多出自首。鞏外視章顯，實欲攜貳其徒，使之不能復合也。自是外戶不閉。河北發民浚河，調及它路，齊當給夫二萬。縣初按籍三丁出夫一，鞏括其隱漏，至於九而取一，省費數倍。又弛無名渡錢，為橋以濟往來。徙傳舍，自長清抵博州，以達於魏，凡省六驛，人皆以爲利。徙襄州、洪州。會江西歲大疫，鞏命縣鎮亭傳，悉儲藥待求，軍民不能自養者，來食息官舍，資其食飲衣襟之具，分醫視診，書其全失、多寡爲殿最。師征安南，所過州爲萬人備。他吏暴誅亟斂，民不堪。鞏先期區處猝集，師去，市里不知。加直龍圖閣、知福州。南劍將樂盜廖恩既赦罪出降，餘眾潰復合，陰相結附，旁連數州，尤桀者呼之不至，居人懾恐。鞏以計羅致之，繼自歸者二百輩。福多佛寺，僧利其富饒，爭欲爲主守，賕請公行。鞏俾其徒相推擇，識諸籍，以次補之。授帖於府庭，卻其私謝，以絕左右徼求之弊。福州無職田，歲鬻園蔬收其直，自入常三四十萬。鞏曰：「太守與民爭利，可乎？」罷之。後至者亦不復取也。

As prefect of Qizhou he rooted his governance in rooting out hidden evil and pressing hard on bandits. The Zhou clan of Qudi held wealth and dominated the countryside. Their son Gao ran riot, robbed honest folk, violated women, and used vessels above his station. His power could sway the great families, and prefectural and county clerks dared not touch him. Gong seized him and brought him under the law. In Zhangqiu the people gathered in village clans calling themselves the Overlord Society. They robbed, plundered, and seized prisoners, and none could withstand them. Gong indicted thirty-one men and organized the people into mutual-security groups to watch comings and goings. At theft they beat drums to aid one another, and each alarm ended in capture. One Ge You, whose name was on the wanted list, one day came forward and surrendered. Gong feasted him, dressed him in cap and gown, lent him mounted attendants, and had the gold and silks bought for him carried in a carriage through the four districts as a public show. When bandits heard, many came forward to surrender. Gong outwardly honored Zhang Xian, but in fact meant to divide his followers so they could not reunite. From then on outer gates stood unbarred. Hebei drafted the people to dredge rivers, and the levy reached other circuits. Qi was to supply twenty thousand laborers. The counties at first took one laborer from every three adult males on the register. Gong searched out concealment until the ratio was one in nine, saving several times the cost. He also abolished unlisted ferry fees and built bridges for travelers. He shifted relay stations from Changqing to Bozhou to reach Wei. In all six stations were cut, and people everywhere counted it a gain. He was transferred to Xiangzhou and Hongzhou. That year Jiangxi suffered a great pestilence. Gong ordered county and market pavilions and relay lodges to store medicine against every request. Soldiers and people who could not support themselves came to eat and lodge in government buildings; he supplied food, drink, clothing, and bedding, assigned physicians to treat them, and recorded recovery, loss, and numbers for ranking. When the army campaigned against Annan, every prefecture it passed was told to prepare for ten thousand men. Other officials exacted with violence and levied in haste, and the people could not endure it. Gong arranged beforehand for sudden gatherings. When the army left, markets and lanes scarcely knew it had passed. He was given the added title of direct academician in the Hall of Dragon Pictures and made prefect of Fuzhou. In Nanjian the Jiangle bandit Liao En, though pardoned and released, had scattered remnants who reunited in secret and linked several neighboring prefectures. The most violent would not come when summoned, and residents lived in fear. Gong by stratagem drew them in; two hundred parties thereafter surrendered of themselves. Fuzhou had many Buddhist temples. Monks coveted their wealth and fought to become chief guardians, bribing and pleading openly. Gong had their disciples choose among themselves, entered them in registers, and filled posts in order. He issued commissions in the prefectural court and refused private thanks, cutting off the evil of importunate requests from those about him. Fuzhou had no official fields. Each year it sold garden vegetables and took in three or four hundred thousand in cash for the prefect's own purse. Gong said, "Is it fitting for a prefect to contend with the people for profit?" He abolished the practice. Those who came after did not take it up again either.

徙明、亳、滄三州。鞏負才名，久外徒，世頗謂偃蹇不偶。一時後生輩鋒出，鞏視之泊如也。過闕，神宗召見，勞問甚寵，遂留判三班院。上疏議經費，帝曰：「鞏以節用爲理財之要，世之言理財者，未有及此。」帝以《三朝》、《兩朝國史》各自爲書，將合而爲一，加鞏史館修撰，專典之，不以大臣監總，既而不克成。會官制行，拜中書舍人。時自三省百職事，選授一新，除書日至十數，人人舉其職，於訓辭典約而盡。尋掌延安郡王牒奏。故事命翰林學士，至是特屬之。甫數月，丁母艱去。又數月而卒，年六十五。

He was transferred to Mingzhou, Bozhou, and Cangzhou. Gong bore a reputation for talent. Long posted outside the capital, the age largely thought him proud and ill-matched to fortune. A generation of younger men rose sharp all at once; Gong looked on them with calm detachment. Passing through the capital, Shenzong summoned him, questioned him with great favor, and kept him to judge the Three-Rank Bureau. He submitted a memorial on state expenditure. The emperor said, "Gong takes frugality as the key to managing finances. Among those who speak of managing finances, none has reached this." The emperor, because the 《Histories of Three Reigns》 and the 《History of Two Reigns》 each stood as separate works, wished to combine them into one. He made Gong reviser in the History Office with sole charge of the compilation, without placing a great minister over it—and in the end the project could not be completed. When the new bureaucratic system took effect, he was appointed Secretariat Drafter. Selection and appointment throughout the Three Departments and the hundred offices were wholly renewed. Dismissal and appointment orders arrived by the dozen each day, and every man performed his duty. In edicts and instructions he was concise yet complete. Before long he was put in charge of memorials and reports for the Prince of Yan'an. By precedent a Hanlin Academician had held the post; on this occasion it was specially entrusted to him. Only a few months later he left office to observe mourning for his mother. A few months later he died, at the age of sixty-five.

鞏性孝友，父亡，奉繼母益至，撫四弟、九妹於委廢單弱之中，宦學昏嫁，一出其力。爲文章，上下馳騁，愈出而愈工，本原《六經》，斟酌於司馬遷、韓愈，一時工作文詞者，鮮能過也。少與王安石游，安石聲譽未振，鞏導之於歐陽修，及安石得志，遂與之異。神宗嘗問：「安石何如人？」對曰：「安石文學行義，不減揚雄，以吝故不及。」帝曰：「安石輕富貴，何吝也？」曰：「臣所謂吝者，謂其勇於有爲，吝於改過耳。」帝然之。呂公著嘗告神宗，以鞏爲人行義不如政事，政事不如文章，以是不大用云。弟:布，自有傳、幼弟：肇。

Gong was by nature filial and devoted to his kin. After his father's death he served his stepmother with utmost care and, amid ruin and helpless weakness, raised four younger brothers and nine younger sisters—official careers, schooling, and marriages alike at his own expense. In his writing he ranged freely up and down; the more he wrote, the more refined his work grew. He took the 《Six Classics》 as his foundation and drew on Sima Qian and Han Yu. Among the masters of literary composition of his day, few could surpass him. In his youth he associated with Wang Anshi. Before Anshi's reputation had risen, Gong introduced him to Ouyang Xiu. Once Anshi gained power, Gong broke with him. Emperor Shenzong once asked, "What sort of man is Anshi?" He replied, "In learning and conduct Anshi does not fall short of Yang Xiong, yet because of stinginess he does not measure up." The Emperor said, "Anshi holds wealth and rank lightly. How is he stingy?" He said, "What your servant means by stinginess is that he is bold in acting yet reluctant to amend his faults." The Emperor assented. Lü Gongzhu once told Shenzong that Gong's conduct and righteousness were inferior to his administration, and his administration inferior to his writing. For this reason he was not greatly employed. His younger brother Bu has his own biography; his youngest brother was Zhao.

弟肇

Younger Brother Zhao

弟肇，字子開，舉進士，調黃岩簿，用薦爲鄭州教授，擢崇文校書、館閣校勘兼國子監直講、同知太常禮院。太常自秦以來，禮文殘缺，先儒各以臆說，無所稽據。肇在職，多所厘正。親祠皇地祗於北郊，蓋自肇發之，異論莫能奪其議。

Zhao, whose courtesy name was Zikai, passed the civil service examination and was appointed recorder of Huangyan. On recommendation he became instructor at Zhengzhou, then was promoted collator of the Chongwen Library and collator in the Hall of Imperial Writings, while also serving as direct lecturer in the Directorate of Education and concurrently vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Since the Qin dynasty the ritual texts of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices had been damaged and lost, and earlier scholars had offered private interpretations with nothing authoritative to verify them against. While Zhao held office he corrected many points. The emperor's personal sacrifice to Earth at the northern suburban altar originated with him, and rival opinions could not overturn his argument.

門下侍郎韓維奏范百祿事，太皇太后以爲讒毀，出守鄧。肇言：「維爲朝廷辨邪正是非，不可以疑似逐。」不草制。諫議大夫王覿，以論胡宗愈，出守潤，肇言：「陛下寄腹心於大臣，寄耳目於臺諫，二者相須，闕一不可。今覿論執政即去之，是愛腹心而塗耳目也。」帝悟，加覿直龍圖閣。

Vice Director of the Secretariat Han Wei memorialized on the affair of Fan Bailu. The Grand Empress Dowager regarded it as slander and had him sent out to guard Dengzhou. Zhao said, "Wei was distinguishing right from wrong for the court on behalf of the throne. He must not be dismissed on mere suspicion." He refused to draft the edict. Remonstrating Censor Wang Xi, for criticizing Hu Zongyu, was sent out to guard Runzhou. Zhao said, "Your Majesty entrusts his inmost thoughts to great ministers and his eyes and ears to remonstrators and censors. The two rely on each other, and neither can be dispensed with. Now Xi is dismissed for criticizing the chief minister. That is to cherish the inmost heart while blinding the eyes and ears." The Emperor took his meaning and added Xi to the directorship of the Hall of Dragon Pictures.

太皇受冊，詔遵章獻故事，御文德殿。肇言：「天聖初，兩制定議受冊崇政，仁宗特改焉，此蓋一時之制。今帝述仁宗故事，以極崇奉孝敬之誠，可謂至矣。臣竊謂太皇當於此時特下詔揚帝孝敬之誠，而固執謙德，屈從天聖兩制之議，止於崇政，則帝孝愈顯，太皇之德愈尊矣。」坤成節上壽，議令百官班崇政。肇又言：「天聖三年，近臣班殿廷，百官止請內東門拜表。至九年，始御會慶。今太皇盛德，不肯自同章獻，宜如三年之制。」並從之。

When the Grand Empress Dowager received her investiture, an edict followed the Zhang Xian precedent and she was to attend at the Hall of Literary Virtue. Zhao said, "At the beginning of the Tiansheng era the two systems had agreed that investiture should be received at Chongzheng. Emperor Renzong specially changed it. This was a measure for a particular time. Now the Emperor follows Renzong's precedent to the utmost in honoring filial devotion. This may be called perfect. Your servant ventures to think that at this time the Grand Empress Dowager should specially issue an edict praising the Emperor's filial devotion, yet firmly hold to modest virtue and yield to the Tiansheng two-systems proposal, stopping at Chongzheng. Then the Emperor's filial piety would shine the brighter and the Grand Empress Dowager's virtue would stand the higher." On the Kuncheng Festival, when longevity was offered, it was debated whether officials should line up at Chongzheng. Zhao again said, "In the third year of Tiansheng, close attendants lined up in the palace hall, while the hundred officials only submitted congratulatory memorials at the inner east gate. Not until the ninth year did he first attend at Huiqing. Now the Grand Empress Dowager's virtue is so great that she is unwilling to equate herself with Zhang Xian. It is fitting to follow the third-year system." Both proposals were adopted.

四年，春旱，有司猶講春宴。肇同彭汝礪上疏曰：「天菑方作，正君臣側身畏懼之時。乃相與飲食燕樂，恐無以消復天變。」翼日，有旨罷宴。蔡確貶新州，肇先與汝礪相約極論。會除給事中，汝礪獨封還制書，言者謂肇賣友，略不自辨。以寶文閣待制知潁州，徙鄧、齊、陳州、應天府。

In the fourth year a spring drought struck, yet the relevant offices still planned the spring banquet. Zhao together with Peng Ruli submitted a memorial saying, "Heaven's calamity has just begun. This is precisely the time for ruler and ministers to restrain themselves in fear. Yet you gather to drink, feast, and make merry. I fear there will be no way to dispel Heaven's wrath and restore order." The next day an order canceled the banquet. Cai Que was demoted to Xinzhou. Zhao had earlier agreed with Ruli to argue the matter to the utmost. When he was appointed Supervising Secretary, Ruli alone sealed and returned the edict. Critics said Zhao had betrayed his friend, yet he scarcely defended himself. As a pending appointee of the Hall of Literary Treasures he was made prefect of Yingzhou, then transferred to Deng, Qi, Chen, and Yingtian.

七年，入爲吏部侍郎。肇在禮院時，啟親祠北郊之議。是歲當郊，肇堅抗前說，既而合祭天地，乃自劾，改刑部。請不已，出知徐州，徙江寧府。帝親政，更用舊臣，數稱肇議禮，趣入對。肇言：「人主雖有自然之聖質，必賴左右前後得人，以爲立政之本。宜於此時選忠信端良之士，置諸近班，以參謀議，備顧問。與夫深處法宮，親近暬御，其損益相去萬萬矣。」貴近惡其語，出知瀛州，與兄布易地。時方治實錄譏訕罪，降爲滁州。稍復集賢殿修撰。歷泰州、海州。徽宗即位，復召爲中書舍人。

In the seventh year he entered the capital as Vice Minister of Personnel. When Zhao was at the Court of Imperial Sacrifices he had opened the debate on the emperor's personal sacrifice at the northern suburban altar. That year the suburban sacrifice was due. Zhao firmly held to his earlier view, but when Heaven and Earth were thereafter sacrificed together, he impeached himself and was transferred to the Ministry of Justice. He pleaded without cease and was sent out as prefect of Xuzhou, then transferred to Jiangning. When the Emperor took personal rule he again employed old ministers and several times praised Zhao's ritual arguments, urging him to an audience. Zhao said, "Though the sovereign by nature possesses innate sagely quality, he must rely on those about him—left and right, before and behind—gaining the right men to serve as the foundation of government. At this time he should select men who are loyal, trustworthy, upright, and good and place them in the near ranks to deliberate on policy and stand ready for consultation. Compared with dwelling deep in the law palace and drawing close only to intimate attendants, the gain and loss are separated by ten thousandfold." The powerful and those close to the throne hated his words. He was sent out as prefect of Yingzhou and exchanged posts with his elder brother Bu. At that time the Veritable Records slander case was being prosecuted, and he was demoted to Chuzhou. Before long he was restored as compiler of the Hall for Collecting Worthies. He served in succession at Taizhou and Haizhou. When Huizong took the throne, Zhao was again summoned as Secretariat Drafter.

日食四月朔，當降詔求言。肇具述帝旨，詔下，投匭者如織。章惇惡之，欲因事去肇，帝不聽。元祐臣僚被譴者，咸以赦恩甄敘。肇請併錄死者，作訓詞，哀厚惻怛，讀者爲之感愴。遷翰林學士兼侍讀。諫官陳瓘、給事中龔原以言得罪，無敢救，肇極力論解。時論者謂元祐、紹聖，均為有失，兄布傳帝命，使肇作詔諭天下。肇見帝言：「陛下思建皇極，以消弭朋黨，須先分別君子小人，賞善罰惡，不可偏廢。」開說備至。已而詔從中出。布之拜相，肇適當制，國朝學士弟草兄制，惟韓維與肇，為衣冠榮。建中靖國元年，太史奏日又當食四月。肇請對言：「比歲日食正陽，咎異章著。陛下簡儉清淨之化，或衰於前；聲色服玩之好，或萌於心；忠邪賢不肖，或有未辨；賞慶刑威，或有未當。左右阿諛，壅蔽矯舉，民冤失職，鬱不得伸。此宜反覆循省，痛自克責，以塞天變。」言發涕下，帝悚然順納。

An eclipse fell on the first day of the fourth month. An edict seeking remonstrance ought to be issued. Zhao fully set forth the Emperor's intent. When the edict was issued, submissions poured in like woven silk. Zhang Dun hated this and wished to remove Zhao on some pretext, but the Emperor would not listen. Yuan You officials who had been punished all received amnesty and restoration of rank. Zhao requested that the dead also be recorded together and a training edict drafted, so mournful and thick with compassion that readers were moved to grief. He was promoted to Hanlin Academician while also serving as Lector. Remonstrator Chen Guan and Supervising Secretary Gong Yuan were punished for their words. None dared rescue them, but Zhao argued strenuously on their behalf. Contemporary critics held that both Yuan You and Shao Sheng had erred. The elder brother Bu transmitted the Emperor's command that Zhao draft an edict to instruct the realm. Zhao saw the Emperor and said, "Your Majesty wishes to establish the imperial norm and dissolve faction, but must first distinguish gentlemen from petty men and reward good and punish evil without partiality." He expounded this at full length. Before long the edict issued from the center. When Bu received the seal of chief minister, Zhao happened to draft the appointment. In the dynasty a younger brother drafting his elder brother's appointment had occurred only with Han Wei and Zhao—a glory for the scholar-official class. In the first year of Jianzhong Jingguo the Grand Astrologer reported that the sun would again be eclipsed in the fourth month. Zhao requested an audience and said, "In recent years the sun was eclipsed at the yang zenith, and omens and anomalies were plain. Your Majesty's frugal and pure governance may have waned from before; delight in sound, color, dress, and playthings may have sprouted in the heart; the loyal and the treacherous, the worthy and the unworthy, may still be undistinguished; rewards, celebrations, punishments, and authority may still be in error. Flatterers to left and right block and distort reports. The people's grievances lose office and are pent up without redress. At this the ruler should turn again and again to examine himself and painfully reproach himself, to stem Heaven's wrath." As he spoke, tears fell. The Emperor was startled and obediently accepted his words.

兄布在相位，引故事避禁職，拜龍圖閣學士、提舉中太一宮。未幾，出知陳州，歷太原、應天府、揚、定二州。崇寧初，落職，謫知和州，徙岳州，繼貶濮州團練副使，安置汀州。四年，歸潤而卒，年六十一。

The elder brother Bu held the chief minister's post and, citing precedent, avoided forbidden offices. He was appointed academician of the Hall of Dragon Pictures and put in charge of the Central Supreme Unity Palace. Before long he was sent out as prefect of Chenzhou, then served in succession at Taiyuan, Yingtian, Yang, and Ding. At the beginning of Chongning he was stripped of office, demoted to prefect of Hezhou, transferred to Yuezhou, then further demoted to military training vice commissioner of Puzhou and settled at Tingzhou. In the fourth year he returned to Run and died, at the age of sixty-one.

自熙寧以來四十年，大臣更用事，邪正相軋，黨論屢起，肇身更其間，數不合。兄布與韓忠彥並相，日夕傾危之。肇既居外，移書告之曰：「兄方得君，當引用善人，翊正道，以杜惇、卞復起之萌。而數月以來，所謂端人吉士，繼跡去朝，所進以爲輔佐、侍從、臺諫，往往皆前日事惇、卞者。一旦勢異今日，必首引之以為固位計，思之可爲慟哭。比來主意已移，小人道長。進則必論元祐人於帝前，退則盡排元祐者於要路。異時惇、卞縱未至，一蔡京足以兼二人，可不深慮。」布不能從。未幾，京得政，布與肇俱不免。

From the Xining era for forty years great ministers succeeded one another in power. The wicked and the upright pressed against each other, and factional debate rose again and again. Zhao passed through it all and several times fell out of step. The elder brother Bu served as chief minister together with Han Zhongyan and day and night they undermined each other. Once Zhao was outside office he wrote to inform him, "Elder brother has just won the ruler's trust. You should employ good men and support the correct Way to cut off the sprouting of Zhang Dun and Cai Bian's return. Yet in the months since, the so-called upright men and gentlemen of good omen have left the court one after another. Those advanced as aides, attendants, and remonstrators and censors are often the very men who once served Zhang Dun and Cai Bian. Once power shifts from today, they will surely be the first to bring them in to secure their own positions. To think of it is cause for wailing. Of late the ruler's intent has already shifted, and petty men grow long in the Way. Advancing, they will surely discuss Yuan You men before the Emperor; retreating, they will wholly exclude Yuan You men from key posts. In time Zhang Dun and Cai Bian may not yet arrive, but Cai Jing alone is enough to encompass the two. This must be deeply considered." Bu could not follow him. Before long Jing gained power, and Bu and Zhao alike could not escape.

肇天資仁厚，而容貌端嚴。自少力學，博覽經傳，爲文溫潤有法。更十一州，類多善政。紹興初，諡曰文昭。子統，至左諫議大夫。

Zhao was by nature humane and generous, yet in appearance grave and stern. From youth he studied strenuously and read widely in the classics and their commentaries. His writing was warm, polished, and methodical. Across eleven prefectures he mostly achieved good administration. At the beginning of the Shaoxing era he was given the posthumous title Wenzhao. His son Tong rose to Left Remonstrator.

論曰：劉敞博學雄文，鄰于邃古，其爲考功，仁宗賜夏竦諡，上疏爭之，以爲人主不可侵臣下之官；及奉詔定樂，中貴預列，又諫曰：「臣懼爲袁盎所笑。」此豈事君為容悅者哉。攽雖疏雋，文埒於敞。奉世克肖，世稱「三劉」。曾鞏立言于歐陽修、王安石間，紆徐而不煩，簡奧而不晦，卓然自成一家，可謂難矣。肇以儒者而有能吏之才。宋之中葉，文學法理，咸精其能，若劉氏、曾氏之家學，蓋有兩漢之風焉。

The commentator says: Liu Chang was broadly learned, with writing of formidable power akin to the remote ancients. When he served in the Ministry of Personnel, Emperor Renzong bestowed Xia Song's posthumous title. He submitted a memorial disputing it, holding that the sovereign must not infringe an office belonging to his subjects. When he received the edict to fix the music and palace eunuchs sat in the ranks, he again remonstrated, "Your servant fears becoming an object of Yuan Ang's laughter. Is this one who serves his lord by pleasing his countenance?" Ban, though spare and sharp, in writing matched Chang. Fengshi was his equal in likeness; the age called them "the Three Liu." Zeng Gong set forth his views between Ouyang Xiu and Wang Anshi—unhurried yet not prolix, concise and abstruse yet not obscure, standing alone as a school of his own. This may be called difficult. Zhao was a Confucian who yet possessed the talent of a capable administrator. In the mid-Song, in literature, principle, and law all mastered their craft. In household learning such as the Liu and Zeng families there was something of the wind of the two Han dynasties.

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