Volume 429 Biographies 188: Taoist Scholars 3 - Zhu Xi, Zhang Shi

朱熹張栻

Zhu Xi and Zhang Shi.

朱熹，字元晦，一字仲晦，徽州婺源人。父松字喬年，中進士第。胡世將、謝克家薦之，除秘書省正字。趙鼎都督川陝、荊、襄軍馬，招松為屬，辭。鼎再相，除校書郎，遷著作郎。以御史中丞常同薦，除度支員外郎，兼史館校勘，歷司勳、吏部郎。秦檜決策議和，松與同列上章，極言其不可。檜怒，風御史論松懷異自賢，出知饒州，未上，卒。

Zhu Xi, whose style was Yuanhui and who also used the style Zhonghui, came from Wuyuan in Huizhou. His father Zhu Song, styled Qiaonian, passed the jinshi examination. On the recommendation of Hu Shijiang and Xie Kejia, he was appointed Secretariat Rectifier. When Zhao Ding was made overall commander of the forces in Sichuan, Shaanxi, Jing, and Xiang, he asked Song to join his staff, but Song refused. After Zhao Ding returned to the chief ministership, Song was made a Collator and later promoted to Compiler in the Palace Library. Recommended by Censor-in-Chief Chang Tong, he was appointed Vice Director of the Revenue Bureau and concurrent Historiography Institute Reviser, and later served as Director in the Bureau of Honors and in the Ministry of Personnel. When Qin Hui resolved to negotiate peace with the Jurchens, Song and his colleagues memorialized the throne in the strongest terms that such a course was unacceptable. Qin Hui, furious, had the censors denounce Song for disloyal opinions and self-righteousness; Song was appointed prefect of Raozhou but died before he could assume office.

熹幼穎悟，甫能言，父指天示之曰：「天也。」熹問曰：「天之上何物？」松異之。就傅，授以《孝經》，一閱，題其上曰：「不若是，非人也。」嘗從群兒戲沙上，獨端坐以指畫沙，視之，八卦也。年十八貢於鄉，中紹興十八年進士第。主泉州同安簿，選邑秀民充弟子員，日與講說聖賢修己治人之道，禁女婦之為僧道者。罷歸請祠，監潭州南嶽廟。明年，以輔臣薦，與徐度、呂廣問、韓元吉同召，以疾辭。

From childhood Xi was exceptionally bright; barely able to speak, he was shown the sky by his father, who said, "That is Heaven." Xi asked, "What lies above Heaven?" His father was astonished. Once he began formal study and was taught the Classic of Filial Piety, he read it through once and wrote on the book, "Anyone who does not live this way is not truly human." Once, playing in the sand with other boys, he sat apart and traced figures with his finger; they formed the Eight Trigrams of the Book of Changes. At eighteen he qualified in the prefectural examination, and in 1148 he passed the jinshi examination. As registrar of Tong'an in Quanzhou, he chose promising local youths as students and lectured daily on how the sages cultivated themselves and governed others, while forbidding women to take monastic vows. After leaving office he returned home, sought a nominal temple appointment, and was made custodian of the Southern Marchmount Temple in Tanzhou. The following year, on the recommendation of senior ministers, he was summoned to court along with Xu Du, Lü Guangwen, and Han Yuangji, but declined citing illness.

孝宗即位，詔求直言，熹上封事言：「聖躬雖未有過失，而帝王之學不可以不熟講。朝政雖未有闕遺，而修攘之計不可以不早定。利害休戚雖不可遍舉，而本原之地不可以不加意。陛下毓德之初，親御簡策，不過風誦文辭，吟詠情性，又頗留意於老子、釋氏之書。夫記誦詞藻，非所以探淵源而出治道；虛無寂滅，非所以貫本末而立大中。帝王之學，必先格物致知，以極夫事物之變，使義理所存，纖悉畢照，則自然意誠心正，而可以應天下之務。」次言：「修攘之計不時定者，講和之說誤之也。夫金人於我有不共戴天之仇，則不可和也明矣。願斷以義理之公，閉關絕約，任賢使能，立紀綱，厲風俗。數年之後，國富兵強，視吾力之強弱，觀彼釁之淺深，徐起而圖之。」次言：「四海利病，係欺民之休戚，斯民休戚，係守令之賢否。監司者守令之綱，朝廷者監司之本也。欲斯民之得其所，本原之地亦在朝廷而已。今之監司，姦贓狼籍、肆虐以病民者，莫非宰執、臺諫之親舊賓客。其已失勢者，既按見其交私之狀而斥去之；尚在勢者，豈無其人，顧陛下無自而知之耳。」

When Emperor Xiaozong ascended the throne and called for frank counsel, Xi submitted a sealed memorial: "Though Your Majesty has as yet committed no personal fault, the learning proper to a ruler cannot be left unstudied. Though the court's governance has shown no glaring lapse, plans for strengthening the state within and resisting enemies without must be settled without delay. Though one cannot list every matter of profit and loss or public and private welfare, the root of government must not be neglected. In the years when Your Majesty was cultivating virtue, study has meant chiefly reciting belles-lettres and composing poetry, with considerable attention also given to Laozi and Buddhist writings. Memorization and literary polish are not how one probes the deep springs of order and brings forth the way of governance; nor are emptiness, quiescence, and annihilation the means to join root and branch and establish the great Mean. The learning of a ruler must begin with investigating things and extending knowledge to the utmost, comprehending every change in affairs until moral principle is illuminated in every detail; then sincerity of intent and rectitude of mind follow naturally, and one can meet the demands of governing the realm." He went on: "The reason plans for internal strength and external defense are never settled in time is that the doctrine of negotiated peace has led us astray. The Jurchens are our mortal enemies; that peace with them is impossible should be obvious. I beg Your Majesty to decide by the impartial standard of moral principle: close the borders, break off treaties, appoint worthy men and employ the capable, establish institutions, and revive public morals. After several years, when the state is wealthy and the army strong, judge by our own strength and by the gravity of their provocations, then move deliberately to strike." He next observed: "The welfare of the whole realm depends on the people's fortune; the people's fortune depends on whether local prefects and magistrates are capable or corrupt. Intendant-commissioners hold prefects and magistrates in check; the court holds intendant-commissioners in check. If the people are to prosper, the root of reform lies in the court itself. Today's corrupt intendant-commissioners who prey on the people are almost all relatives, old friends, or clients of chief ministers and censorial officials. Those who have already fallen from power have been exposed for their private dealings and dismissed; but among those still in favor, are there not such men as well? Your Majesty simply has no way to learn of them on his own."

五年，史浩再相，除知南康軍，降旨便道之官，熹再辭，不許。至郡，興利除害，值歲不雨，講求荒政，多所全活。訖事，奏乞依格推賞納粟人。間詣郡學，引進士子與之講論。訪白鹿洞書院遺址，奏復其舊，為《學規》俾守之。明年夏，大旱，詔監司、郡守條其民間利病，遂上疏言：

In the fifth year of Xiaozong's reign, when Shi Hao returned as chief councilor, Xi was appointed prefect of Nankang; an edict told him to proceed directly to his post, but though he declined twice, the court would not accept his refusal. On reaching his prefecture he promoted public good and removed abuses; when drought struck that year, he organized famine relief and saved many lives. When the relief effort ended, he memorialized that those who had contributed grain should receive rewards according to regulation. He also visited the prefectural school from time to time to lecture and debate with the students. He located the ruins of Bailudong Academy, memorialized for its restoration, and drew up School Regulations for the academy to follow. The following summer a severe drought struck; the throne ordered intendant-commissioners and prefects to report on local hardships, and Xi submitted a memorial stating:

天下之務莫大於恤民，而恤民之本，在人君正心術以立紀綱。蓋天下之紀綱不能以自立，必人主之心術公平正大，無偏黨反側之私，然後有所繫而立。君心不能以自正，必親賢臣，遠小人，講明義理之歸，閉塞私邪之路，然後乃可得而正。

No task under Heaven is greater than caring for the people, and the foundation of that care lies in the ruler rectifying his mind and thereby establishing sound institutions. Institutions cannot sustain themselves: only when the ruler's mind is fair, upright, and free of factional or selfish bias can they take root and endure. The ruler's mind cannot correct itself unaided: he must draw near worthy ministers, keep petty men at a distance, study where moral principle leads, and shut off the roads of private corruption—only then can his mind be made right.

今宰相、臺省、師傅、賓友、諫諍之臣皆失其職，而陛下所與親密謀議者，不過一二近習之臣。上以蠱惑陛下之心志，使陛下不信先王之大道，而說於功利之卑說，不樂莊士之讜言，而安於私暬之鄙態。下則招集天下士大夫之嗜利無恥者，文武彙分，各入其門。所喜則陰為引援，擢置清顯。所惡則密行訾毀，公肆擠排。交通貨賂，所盜者皆陛下之財。命卿置將，所竊者皆陛下之柄。陛下所謂宰相、師傅、賓友、諫諍之臣，或反出入其門牆，承望其風旨；其幸能自立者，亦不過齪齪自守，而未嘗敢一言以斥之；其甚畏公論者，乃能略警逐其徒黨之一二，既不能深有所傷，而終亦不敢正言以搗其囊橐窟穴之所在。勢成威立，中外靡然向之，使陛下之號令黜陟不復出於朝廷，而出於一二人之門，名為陛下獨斷，而實此一二人者陰執其柄。

Today the chief councilor, the censorate, the heir's tutors, his advisers, and remonstrating officials have all been reduced to impotence, while Your Majesty's intimate counselors are no more than one or two favored attendants. They bewitch Your Majesty's mind from above, leading him to distrust the great Way of the ancient kings, to heed base doctrines of profit and expedience, to reject the frank counsel of upright scholars, and to rest content in the vulgar company of private favorites. Below, they recruit from across the empire those officials who crave profit and know no shame, sorting civil and military men into separate factions that enter their respective camps. Those they favor they secretly advance to honorable office. Those they hate they secretly defame and openly squeeze from office. They traffic in bribes, stealing what belongs to the imperial treasury. They appoint ministers and generals, usurping powers that belong to Your Majesty alone. Those whom Your Majesty calls chief councilor, tutors, advisers, and remonstrators instead pass through their gates and defer to their wishes; those few who manage to stand apart merely fuss over their own integrity and never dare speak a word of rebuke; those who fear public opinion may drive out one or two of their followers, but cannot wound them deeply and still dare not speak plainly against the nests where their wealth and power are hoarded. Once their power is secure, the whole court defers to them; appointments and dismissals no longer issue from the throne but from the doors of one or two men. Your Majesty is said to decide alone, but in truth these men secretly hold the reins of power.

且云：「莫大之禍，必至之憂，近在朝夕，而陛下獨未之知。」上讀之，大怒曰：「是以我為亡也。」熹以疾請祠，不報。

He added: "The greatest calamity and the gravest peril are imminent, yet Your Majesty alone remains unaware of them." The emperor read this and flew into a rage: "He thinks my dynasty is finished." Xi asked to be relieved on grounds of illness and given a temple appointment; the court did not respond.

陳俊卿以舊相守金陵，過闕入見，薦熹甚力。宰相趙雄言於上曰：「士之好名，陛下疾之愈甚，則人之譽之愈眾，無乃適所以高之。不若因其長而用之，彼漸當事任，能否自見矣。」上以為然，乃除熹提舉江西常平茶鹽公事。旋錄救荒之勞，除直秘閣，以前所奏納粟人未推賞，辭。

Chen Junqing, a former chief councilor serving at Jinling, came to court on his way through the capital and strongly recommended Xi. Chief Councilor Zhao Xiong told the emperor, "When a scholar courts reputation, the more Your Majesty resents it, the more the public praises him—might that not only raise him higher? Better to employ him for his strengths; once he takes on real duties, his capacity will reveal itself." The emperor agreed and appointed Xi Commissioner for the Ever-Normal Granaries and the Tea and Salt Monopoly in Jiangxi. Soon his famine-relief work was recognized with appointment as Direct Attendant of the Secretariat, but he declined because those who had contributed grain had still not received the rewards he had recommended.

會浙東大饑，宰相王淮奏改熹提舉浙東常平茶鹽公事，即日單車就道，復以納粟人未推賞，辭職名。納粟賞行，遂受職名。入對，首陳災異之由與修德任人之說，次言：「陛下即政之初，蓋嘗選建英豪，任以政事，不幸其間不能盡得其人，是以不復廣求賢哲，而姑取軟熟易制之人以充其位。於是左右私褻使令之賤，始得以奉燕閒，備驅使，而宰相之權日輕。又慮其勢有所偏，而因重以壅己也，則時聽外廷之論，將以陰察此輩之負犯而操切之。陛下既未能循天理、公聖心，以正朝廷之大體，則固已失其本矣，而又欲兼聽士大夫之言，以為駕馭之術，則士大夫之進見有時，而近習之從容無間。士大夫之禮貌既莊而難親，其議論又苦而難入，近習便辟側媚之態既足以蠱心志，其胥史狡獪之術又足以眩聰明。是以雖欲微抑此輩，而此輩之勢日重，雖欲兼采公論，而士大夫之勢日輕。重者既挾其重，以竊陛下之權，輕者又借力於所重，以為竊位固寵之計。日往月來，浸淫耗蝕，使陛下之德業日隳，綱紀日壞，邪佞充塞，貨賂公行，兵愁民怨，盜賊間作，災異數見，饑饉薦臻。群小相挻，人人皆得滿其所欲，惟有陛下了無所得，而顧乃獨受其弊。」上為動容。所奏凡七事，其一二事手書以防宣洩。

When eastern Zhejiang suffered severe famine, Chief Councilor Wang Huai had Xi transferred to the same post in that region; Xi set out the same day with only a single cart, but again declined the appointment because the grain contributors had not yet been rewarded. Once the grain contributors had been rewarded, he accepted the appointment. At court he first explained the causes of portents and urged cultivating virtue and appointing worthy men, then said: "When Your Majesty first took power, you chose outstanding men and entrusted them with government; unfortunately not all proved equal to the task, and thereafter you ceased seeking the truly wise, contenting yourself with pliable men easy to control. Thereupon the low attendants of private favor gained access to Your Majesty's leisure hours and came to run errands, while the chief councilor's authority dwindled day by day. Fearing their power might grow one-sided and choke off his own, Your Majesty would sometimes heed outside opinion, intending secretly to catch these men in fault and hold them in check. Having failed to align the court with Heaven's principle and the sage mind, Your Majesty has already lost the root; yet you also wish to heed literati opinion as a technique of control—yet literati see the throne only occasionally, while favored attendants enjoy unbroken access. Literati are formal and hard to approach; their counsel is austere and hard to hear. Favored attendants flatter and bewitch the mind, while their clerks deceive with crafty tricks that cloud Your Majesty's judgment. Thus although Your Majesty wishes slightly to restrain the favorites, their power grows daily; although he wishes to heed public opinion, the literati grow daily weaker. The powerful use their weight to usurp Your Majesty's authority; the lesser borrow their strength to cling to office and secure favor. Day by day and month by month this corrodes Your Majesty's virtue, undermines institutions, fills the court with flatterers, spreads bribery openly, leaves soldiers discontent and the people resentful, breeds banditry, multiplies portents, and brings famine upon famine. Petty men support one another; each gets what he wants, while Your Majesty alone gains nothing and alone suffers the harm." The emperor was visibly moved. His memorial covered seven points; for one or two of them he wrote out the text in his own hand to prevent leaks.

熹始拜命，即移書他郡，募米商，蠲其征，及至，則客舟之米已輻湊。熹日鉤訪民隱，按行境內，單車屏徒從，所至人不及知。郡縣官吏憚其風采，至自引去，所部肅然。凡丁錢、和買、役法、榷酤之政，有不便於民者，悉釐而革之。從救荒之餘，隨事處畫，必為經久之計。有短熹者，謂其疏於為政，上謂王淮曰：「朱熹政事卻有可觀。」

As soon as he took office, Xi wrote to neighboring prefectures inviting grain merchants and exempting their taxes; by the time he arrived, merchant vessels laden with rice had already converged on the region. Each day he investigated the people's hidden grievances, touring his jurisdiction alone in a simple cart without attendants, arriving before local officials knew he was coming. Prefectural and county officials feared his authority; some resigned of their own accord, and his jurisdiction became notably orderly. He revised every policy that burdened the people—poll taxes, government purchases, corvée regulations, and wine monopolies. Beyond emergency relief, he addressed each problem as it arose and always sought lasting solutions. Critics claimed Zhu Xi was negligent in office, but the emperor told Wang Huai, "Zhu Xi's administration is in fact impressive."

熹以前後奏請多所見抑，幸而從者，率稽緩後時，蝗旱相仍，不勝憂憤，復奏言：「為今之計，獨有斷自聖心，沛然發號，責躬求言，然後君臣相戒，痛自省改。其次惟有盡出內庫之錢，以供大禮之費為收糴之本，詔戶部免征舊負，詔漕臣依條檢放租稅，詔宰臣沙汰被災路分州軍監司、守臣之無狀者，遴選賢能，責以荒政，庶幾猶足下結人心，消其乘時作亂之意。不然，臣恐所憂者不止於饑殍，而將在於盜賊；蒙其害者不止于官吏，而上及於國家也。」

Because many of his memorials had been suppressed and even approved measures were implemented too late, while locusts and drought followed one another, Xi could bear it no longer and memorialized again: "The only remedy now is for Your Majesty to decide from his own sacred resolve, issue sweeping orders, blame himself and seek counsel—then ruler and ministers can warn one another and reform in earnest. Next, draw on the inner treasury—using even funds set aside for state ritual—as capital to buy grain; order the Revenue Bureau to forgive old tax arrears; order transport officials to remit rents and taxes according to law; order chief ministers to remove incompetent officials in the stricken circuits and appoint capable men to manage famine relief—thus binding the people's loyalty and forestalling rebellion. Otherwise I fear our worry will be not only starving corpses but bandits; and those harmed will be not only local officials but the state itself."

知台州唐仲友與王淮同裏為姻家，吏部尚書鄭丙、侍御史張大經交薦之，遷江西提刑，未行。熹行部至台，訟仲友者紛然，按得其實，章三上，淮匿不以聞。熹論愈力，仲友亦自辯，淮乃以熹章進呈，上令宰屬看詳，都司陳庸等乞令浙西提刑委清強官究實，仍令熹速往旱傷州郡相視。熹時留台未行，既奉詔，益上章論，前後六上，淮不得已，奪仲友江西新命以授熹，辭不拜，遂歸，且乞奉祠。

Tang Zhongyou, prefect of Taizhou, was a fellow townsman and in-law of Wang Huai; Minister of Personnel Zheng Bing and Attending Censor Zhang Dajing jointly recommended him for promotion to judicial intendant of Jiangxi, though he had not yet taken up the post. When Xi toured Taizhou, lawsuits against Tang Zhongyou poured in; his investigation confirmed the charges, and Xi memorialized three times, but Wang Huai suppressed the reports. Xi pressed his case harder; Tang Zhongyou defended himself; Wang Huai finally submitted Xi's memorial; the emperor ordered the chief ministers' staff to review it; Chen Yong and others asked the judicial intendant of western Zhejiang to send a capable official to investigate, while ordering Xi to hurry to drought-stricken prefectures. Xi was still at Taizhou when the edict arrived; he memorialized six times in all; Wang Huai finally revoked Tang Zhongyou's Jiangxi appointment and offered it to Xi, but Xi declined, returned home, and asked for a temple sinecure.

時鄭丙上疏詆程氏之學以沮熹，淮又擢太府寺丞陳賈為監察御史。賈面對，首論近日搢紳有所謂「道學」者，大率假名以濟偽，願考察其人，擯棄勿用。蓋指熹也。十年，詔以熹累乞奉祠，可差主管台州崇道觀，既而連奉雲臺、鴻慶之祠者五年。十四年，周必大相，除熹提點江西刑獄公事，以疾辭，不許，遂行。

Meanwhile Zheng Bing memorialized against the Cheng school of learning to block Xi; Wang Huai also promoted Chen Jia of the Imperial Treasury to Investigating Censor. In his audience Chen Jia attacked the so-called "Learning of the Way" among recent officials, declaring that most used the name to cover hypocrisy, and urged that such men be investigated and barred from office. This was aimed at Zhu Xi. In the tenth year an edict granted his repeated requests and assigned him to the Chongdao Temple in Taizhou; he then held successive sinecures at Yuntai and Hongqing temples for five years. In the fourteenth year, when Zhou Bida became chief councilor, Xi was appointed Judicial Intendant of Jiangxi; though he pleaded illness, the court refused, and he took up the post.

十五年，淮罷相，遂入奏，首言近年刑獄失當，獄官當擇其人。次言經總製錢之病民，及江西諸州科罰之弊。而其末言：「陛下即位二十七年，因循荏苒，無尺寸之效可以仰酬聖志。嘗反覆思之，無乃燕閑蠖濩之中，虛明應物之地，天理有所未純，人欲有所未盡，是以為善不能充其量，除惡不能去其根，一念之頃，公私邪正、是非得失之機，交戰於其中。故體貌大臣非不厚，而便嬖側媚得以深被腹心之寄；寤寐英豪非不切，而柔邪庸繆得以久竊廊廟之權。非不樂聞公議正論，而有時不容；非不堲讒說殄行，而未免誤聽；非不欲報復陵廟仇恥，而未免畏怯苟安；非不愛養生靈財力，而未免歎息愁怨。願陛下自今以往，一念之頃必謹而察之：此為天理耶，人欲耶？果天理也，則敬以充之，而不使其少有壅閼；果人欲也，則敬以克之，而不使其少有凝滯。推而至於言語動作之間，用人處事之際，無不以是裁之，則聖心洞然，中外融澈，無一毫之私欲得以介乎其間，而天下之事將惟陛下所欲為，無不如志矣。」是行也，有要之於路，以為「正心誠意」之論上所厭聞，戒勿以為言。熹曰：「吾平生所學，惟此四字，豈可隱默以欺吾君乎？」及奏，上曰：「久不見卿，浙東之事，朕自知之，今當處卿清要，不復以州縣為煩也。」

In the fifteenth year, after Wang Huai left office, Xi came to court and memorialized first that recent criminal justice had been mishandled and that prison officials must be carefully chosen. He next described how the comprehensive management funds oppressed the people and how arbitrary fines plagued the prefectures of Jiangxi. He concluded: "Your Majesty has reigned twenty-seven years, yet through inertia and delay has achieved nothing by which to fulfill the founding sage's intent. I have pondered this repeatedly: perhaps in moments of leisure, in the mind's empty clarity as it responds to affairs, Heaven's principle is not wholly pure and human desire not wholly subdued; thus good deeds fall short of their full measure and evil is never uprooted; in a single thought public and private, right and wrong, gain and loss contend within the heart. Thus although great ministers are honored in appearance, favored flatterers win the deepest trust of Your Majesty's heart; Though Your Majesty yearns for heroes awake and asleep, the soft, corrupt, and mediocre have long usurped power at court. You do not disdain public debate and honest counsel, yet at times such voices are not tolerated; You do not fail to punish slander and root out misconduct, yet You sometimes heed the wrong voices; You do not lack the will to avenge the insult to the imperial tombs, yet You shrink from action and settle for a precarious peace; You care for the people and the treasury, yet You must sigh over their burden and bitterness. I pray that henceforth Your Majesty, in every passing thought, scrutinize carefully: Is this Heaven's principle, or human desire? If it is Heaven's principle, then with reverence nurture it and permit no obstruction; If it is human desire, then with reverence subdue it and permit no foothold. Extend this scrutiny to every word and deed, every appointment and decision, and the imperial mind will become luminous and transparent, no private desire able to intrude; then all affairs under Heaven will go as Your Majesty wishes." On this journey someone intercepted him on the road, warning that the emperor had grown weary of hearing about "rectifying the heart and making intentions sincere," and urging him not to raise the topic. Zhu Xi replied, "All I have learned in my life comes down to these four words—how could I keep silent and deceive my sovereign?" When he presented his memorial, the emperor said, "It has been long since we met. I know the situation in eastern Zhe myself. I shall now give you a prestigious central appointment and no longer trouble you with local posts."

時曾覿已死，王抃亦逐，獨內侍甘昪尚在，熹力以為言。上曰：「昪乃德壽所薦，謂其有才耳。」熹曰：「小人無才，安能動人主。」翌日，除兵部郎官，以足疾丐祠。本部侍郎林栗嘗與熹論《易》、《西銘》不合，劾熹：「本無學術，徒竊張載、程頤緒餘，謂之『道學』。所至輒攜門生數十人，妄希孔、孟歷聘之風，邀索高價，不肯供職，其偽不可掩。」上曰：「林栗言似過。」周必大言熹上殿之日，足疾未瘳，勉強登對。上曰：「朕亦見其跛曳。」左補闕薛叔似亦奏援熹，乃令依舊職江西提刑。太常博士葉適上疏與栗辨，謂其言無一實者，「謂之道學」一語，無實尤甚，往日王淮表裏臺諫，陰廢正人，蓋用此術。詔：「熹昨入對，所論皆新任職事，朕諒其誠，復從所請，可疾速之任。」會胡晉臣除侍御史，首論栗執拗不通，喜同惡異，無事而指學者為黨，乃黜栗知泉州。熹再辭免，除直寶文閣，主管西京嵩山崇福宮。未逾月再召，熹又辭。

By then Zeng Di was dead and Wang Bian had been driven out; only the inner attendant Gan Sheng remained, and Zhu Xi spoke out against him with force. The emperor said, "Gan Sheng was recommended by the Retired Emperor at Degao Palace, who said merely that he had ability." Zhu Xi replied, "Petty men have no talent—how else could they sway the ruler?" The next day he was appointed Vice Director in the Bureau of Personnel, but pleaded foot ailment and requested a temple sinecure. Vice Minister of Personnel Lin Li, who had once quarreled with Zhu Xi over the Book of Changes and the Western Inscription, impeached him: "He has no real learning of his own, but merely pilfered scraps from Zhang Zai and Cheng Yi and called it the 'Learning of the Way. Wherever he goes he drags along dozens of disciples, pretentiously imitating Confucius and Mencius on their rounds of appointment, demands lavish payment, and shirks official duty—his hypocrisy cannot be hidden." The emperor said, "Lin Li's words seem to go too far." Zhou Bida noted that on the day Zhu Xi came to court his foot ailment had not healed and he had forced himself to attend. The emperor said, "I saw him limping as well." Left Remonstrance Official Xue Shousi also memorialized in Zhu Xi's support, and the court ordered him to resume his former post as Judicial Intendant of Jiangxi. Court Erudite Ye Shi submitted a memorial rebutting Lin Li, declaring every charge false and the label "Learning of the Way" especially baseless; he noted that Wang Huai had once worked through censorial and remonstrance officials to quietly purge upright men by this same tactic. An edict declared, "When Zhu Xi came to audience yesterday, he spoke only of his new duties. I trust his sincerity and again grant his request; let him proceed quickly to his post." When Hu Jinchen was appointed Remonstrance and Examination Official, he opened by attacking Lin Li as obstinate and narrow-minded, eager to side with the wicked and ostracize the unlike-minded, and for no cause branding scholars as a faction; Lin Li was then demoted to prefect of Quanzhou. Zhu Xi declined again and was appointed Direct Associate in the Hall of Literary Glory, supervising the Chongfu Palace on Mount Song of the Western Capital. Within a month he was summoned again, and Zhu Xi declined once more.

始，熹嘗以為口陳之說有所未盡，乞具封事以聞，至是投匭進封事曰：

Earlier Zhu Xi had felt his oral presentation incomplete and had asked to submit a sealed memorial; now he placed one in the memorial box, writing:

今天下大勢，如人有重病，內自心腹，外達四支，無一毛一髮不受病者。且以天下之大本與今日之急務，為陛下言之：大本者，陛下之心；急務則輔翼太子，選任大臣，振舉綱紀，變化風俗，愛養民力，修明軍政，六者是也。

The empire today is like a man gravely ill: from heart and belly within to the four limbs without, not a hair is free of disease. Let me address Your Majesty on the empire's fundamental root and today's urgent tasks: the fundamental root is Your Majesty's heart; The urgent tasks are assisting the crown prince, selecting great ministers, restoring discipline, reforming customs, conserving the people's strength, and strengthening military administration—these six.

古先聖王兢兢業業，持守此心，是以建師保之官，列諫諍之職，凡飲食、酒漿、衣服、次舍、器用、財賄與夫宦官、宮妾之政，無一不領於冢宰。使其左右前後，一動一靜，無不制以有司之法，而無纖芥之隙、瞬息之頃，得以隱其毫髮之私。陛下所以精一克復而持守其心，果有如此之功乎？所以修身齊家而正其左右，果有如此之效乎？宮省事禁，臣固不得而知，然爵賞之濫，貨賂之流，閭巷竊言，久已不勝其籍籍，則陛下所以修之家者，恐其未有以及古之聖王也。

The ancient sage kings guarded this heart with tireless care; they established tutor-and-protector offices and remonstrance posts; food, drink, clothing, lodging, goods, gifts, and even the management of eunuchs and palace women—all fell under the chief steward's oversight. Thus every movement around them, every moment of stillness, was governed by official regulation, leaving not the smallest opening or instant in which private desire could hide. Has Your Majesty, through refinement and singleness of mind, truly achieved such mastery in holding fast to the heart? Has Your Majesty truly achieved such results in self-cultivation, household order, and correcting those at your side? Palace affairs are hidden from me, yet the reckless bestowal of honors, the traffic in bribes, and street gossip have long been rampant; Your Majesty's governance of the household has surely not yet matched that of the ancient sage kings.

至於左右便嬖之私，恩遇過當，往者淵、覿、說、抃之徒勢焰熏灼，傾動一時，今已無可言矣。獨有前日臣所面陳者，雖蒙聖慈委曲開譬，然臣之愚，竊以為此輩但當使之守門傳命，供掃除之役，不當假借崇長，使得逞邪媚、作淫巧於內，以蕩上心，立門庭、招權勢於外，以累聖政。臣聞之道路，自王抃既逐之後，諸將差除，多出此人之手。陛下竭生靈膏血以奉軍旅，顧乃未嘗得一溫飽，是皆將帥巧為名色，奪取其糧，肆行貨賂于近習，以圖進用，出入禁闥腹心之臣，外交將帥，共為欺蔽，以至於此。而陛下不悟，反寵暱之，以是為我之私人，至使宰相不得議其制置之得失，給諫不得論其除授之是非，則陛下所以正其左右者，未能及古之聖王又明矣。

As for undue favor toward personal attendants: men such as Yuan, Di, Shuo, and Wang Bian once wielded blinding power and swayed the age, but of them there is nothing left to say. Only the man I raised before Your Majesty remains; though the throne answered with gentle reassurance, I still believe such men should merely guard gates, carry messages, and sweep floors—not be elevated to power, practicing flattery and intrigue within to sway the imperial mind and building private networks without to burden the government. I hear from travelers that since Wang Bian's expulsion, most appointments and dismissals of generals have passed through this man's hands. Your Majesty drains the people's lifeblood to feed the armies, yet the soldiers never know a full meal—because commanders invent pretexts, seize their rations, and bribe Your Majesty's favorites to win promotion; trusted inner attendants who traffic with generals conspire in deception until matters have reached this pass. Yet Your Majesty does not see this, but instead favors him as a personal retainer, so that the chief councilor cannot judge his appointment and remonstrance officials cannot challenge his selection—making it plain that Your Majesty has not yet corrected those at your side as the ancient sage kings did.

至於輔翼太子，則自王十朋、陳良翰之後，宮僚之選號為得人，而能稱其職者，蓋已鮮矣。而又時使邪佞儇薄、闒冗庸妄之輩，或得參錯於其間，所謂講讀，亦姑以應文備數，而未聞其有箴規之效。至於從容朝夕、陪侍遊燕者，又不過使臣宦者數輩而已。師傅、賓客既不復置，而詹事、庶子有名無實，其左右春坊遂直以使臣掌之，既無以發其隆師親友、尊德樂義之心，又無以防其戲慢媟狎、奇邪雜進之害。宜討論前典，置師傅、賓客之官，罷去春坊使臣，而使詹事、庶子各復其職。

As for assisting the crown prince: since Wang Shipeng and Chen Lianghan, the palace staff were said to have been well chosen, yet few who could truly perform their duties remained. Moreover, wicked, frivolous, and mediocre men are sometimes intermixed among them; the so-called lectures are mere formalities to fill quotas, and one hears of no real admonition. Those who keep him company at leisure, morning and evening, at banquets and outings, are no more than a handful of palace attendants and eunuchs. The tutor and guest offices were abolished; the chamberlain and sub-chamberlain were titles without substance; the crown prince's attendants were placed directly under palace envoys—so that neither could he be moved to honor teachers and delight in virtue, nor could he be shielded from disrespect, improper intimacy, and the intrusion of corrupt influences. Your Majesty should consult ancient precedent, restore the tutor and guest offices, abolish the Eastern Palace envoys, and return the chamberlain and sub-chamberlain to their proper functions.

至於選任大臣，則以陛下之聰明，豈不知天下之事，必得剛明公正之人而後可任哉？其所以常不得如此之人，而反容鄙夫之竊位者，直以一念之間，未能徹其私邪之蔽，而燕私之好，便嬖之流，不能盡由於法度，若用剛明公正之人以為輔相，則恐其有以妨吾之事，害吾之人，而不得肆。是以選擇之際，常先排擯此等，而後取凡疲懦軟熟、平日不敢直言正色之人而揣摩之，又於其中得其至庸極陋、決可保其不至於有所妨者，然後舉而加之於位。是以除書未出，而物色先定，姓名未顯，而中外已逆知其決非天下第一流矣。

As for selecting great ministers: with Your Majesty's intelligence, do You not know that the empire's affairs can be entrusted only to men who are resolute, clear-sighted, and impartial? The reason such men are rarely chosen and vulgar placeholders hold office is that private desire still clouds the mind; private indulgence and favored minions cannot be fully bound by law. Firm, impartial ministers would obstruct private affairs and restrain private men—and so they are feared. At selection time such men are first excluded; then from among the timid, pliable, and seasoned—those who dare not speak plainly—candidates are tested; and from these the most mediocre and harmless are chosen and elevated to office. Thus the choice is settled before the appointment edict is issued, and court and country alike know in advance that the appointee will certainly not be a man of the first rank.

至於振肅紀綱，變化風俗，則今日宮省之間，禁密之地，而天下不公之道，不正之人，顧乃得以窟穴盤據於其間。而陛下目見耳聞，無非不公不正之事，則其所以熏烝銷鑠，使陛下好善之心不著，疾惡之意不深，其害已有不可勝言者矣。及其作姦犯法，則陛下又未能深割私愛，而付諸外廷之議，論以有司之法，是以紀綱不正於上，風俗頹弊於下，其為患之日久矣。而浙中為尤甚。大率習為軟美之態、依阿之言，以不分是非不辨曲直為得計，甚者以金珠為脯醢，以契券為詩文，宰相可啖則啖宰相，近習可通則通近習，惟得之求，無復廉恥。一有剛毅正直、守道循理之士出乎其間，則群譏眾排，指為「道學」，而加以矯激之罪。十數年來，以此二字禁錮天下之賢人君子，復如昔時所謂元祐學術者，排擯詆辱，必使無所容其身而後已，此豈治世之事哉？

As for restoring discipline and reforming customs: in the palace itself, the most guarded of places, the empire's injustice and unworthy men are allowed to nest and entrench. What Your Majesty sees and hears is nothing but injustice; such an atmosphere erodes the love of good and dulls the hatred of evil—the harm is already beyond measure. When they break the law, Your Majesty again cannot set aside private affection and leave them to the outer court and the law—so discipline fails above and morals decay below; the harm has been long in the making. The condition is especially grave in Zhejiang. Men there cultivate a manner of soft flattery and evasive speech, treating indifference to right and wrong as shrewdness; worse still, they offer gold and pearls as gifts and contracts as literary tokens—bribing the chief councilor when they can, cultivating favorites when they must—seeking gain without shame. When a resolute, upright man devoted to principle appears among them, the crowd mocks and drives him out, branding him with "Learning of the Way" and charging him with excessive rigidity. For more than ten years these two words have been used to confine the empire's worthy men—just as in the old Yuanyou learning purges, hounding them until they have no place to stand. Is this the way of a well-governed age?

至於愛養民力，修明軍政，則自虞允文之為相也，盡取版曹歲入窠名之必可指擬者，號為歲終羨餘之數，而輸之內帑。顧以其有名無實、積累掛欠、空載簿籍、不可催理者，撥還版曹，以為內帑之積，將以備他日用兵進取不時之須。然自是以來二十餘年，內帑歲入不知幾何，而認為私貯，典以私人，宰相不得以式貢均節其出入，版曹不得以簿書勾考其在亡，日銷月耗，以奉燕私之費者，蓋不知其幾何矣，而曷嘗聞其能用此錢以易敵人之首，如太祖之言哉。徒使版曹經費闕乏日甚，督促日峻，以至廢去祖宗以來破分良法，而必以十分登足為限；以為未足，則又造為比較監司、郡守殿最之法，以誘脅之。於是中外承風，競為苛急，此民力之所以重困也。

As for conserving the people's strength and strengthening the military: when Yu Yunwen was chief councilor, he identified every fixed revenue item in the Ministry of Revenue's annual intake, labeled the total year-end surplus, and diverted it to the inner treasury. Meanwhile unreal entries, accumulated arrears, and uncollectable accounts on the books were shifted back to the Ministry of Revenue as inner reserves, supposedly to fund future military campaigns. Yet for more than twenty years since, the inner treasury's annual intake—who knows how much?—has been hoarded as private wealth and managed by private hands; the chief councilor cannot regulate its flow, nor the Ministry audit its accounts. It is spent daily on private indulgence—yet when has it been used, as Taizu said it should be, to buy the heads of enemies? The Ministry of Revenue's operating funds grow ever scarcer while exactions grow ever harsher, until the apportionment methods of the founders were abolished and full collection to the last fraction was enforced; and finding even that insufficient, comparison rankings for circuit intendants and prefects were devised to coerce compliance. Court and country alike took up harsh urgency in competition—this is why the people's strength has been so grievously exhausted.

諸將之求進也，必先掊克士卒，以殖私利，然後以此自結于陛下之私人，而蘄以姓名達于陛下之貴將。貴將得其姓名，即以付之軍中，使自什伍以上節次保明，稱其材武堪任將帥，然後具奏牘而言之陛下之前。陛下但見等級推先，案牘具備，則誠以為公薦而可以得人矣，而豈知其諧價輸錢，已若晚唐之債帥哉？夫將者，三軍之司命，而其選置之方乖刺如此，則彼智勇材略之人，孰肯抑心下首于宦官、宮妾之門，而陛下之所得以為將帥者，皆庸夫走卒，而猶望其修明軍政，激勸士卒，以強國勢，豈不誤哉！

Generals seeking promotion must first squeeze their troops for private gain, then use the proceeds to cultivate Your Majesty's favorites, hoping their names will reach the senior commanders. The senior commanders receive these names, pass them to the army for certification rank by rank from squad leaders upward, attest to their fitness for command, and then memorialize Your Majesty. Your Majesty sees orderly ranks and complete paperwork and believes it honest recommendation—how would You know they have haggled over prices and paid bribes, like the debt-bought commanders of late Tang? Generals hold the army's fate in their hands, yet they are chosen by such corrupt means—what man of wisdom, courage, and talent would bow before eunuchs and palace women? The commanders Your Majesty obtains are vulgar men and common soldiers—yet You still expect them to strengthen the military and the state. Is this not a grave mistake?

凡此六事，皆不可緩，而本在於陛下之一心。一心正則六事無不正，一有人心私欲以介乎其間，則雖欲憊精勞力，以求正夫六事者，亦將徒為文具，而天下之事愈至於不可為矣。

All six of these matters brook no delay, and their root lies in Your Majesty's single heart. When the heart is upright, the six affairs will be upright; but if private desire intrudes, then no amount of labor on those six tasks will be more than empty form, and the empire's affairs will grow ever harder to manage.

疏入，夜漏下七刻，上已就寢，亟起秉燭，讀之終篇。明日，除主管太一宮，兼崇政殿說書。熹力辭，除秘閣修撰，奉外祠。

When the memorial arrived, the night watch had already passed the seventh mark and the emperor had retired; he rose at once, lit a candle, and read it through to the end. The next day Zhu Xi was appointed supervisor of the Taiyi Palace and concurrent Lecturer at the Chongzheng Hall. Zhu Xi forcefully declined and was instead appointed Academician of the Secret Repository with an outer temple sinecure.

光宗即位，再辭職名，仍舊直寶文閣，降詔獎諭。居數月，除江東轉運副使，以疾辭，改知漳州。奏除屬縣無名之賦七百萬，減經總製錢四百萬。以習俗未知禮，采古喪葬嫁娶之儀，揭以示之，命父老解說，以教子弟。土俗崇信釋氏，男女聚僧廬為傅經會，女不嫁者為庵舍以居，熹悉禁之。常病經界不行之害，會朝論欲行泉、汀、漳三州經界，熹乃訪事宜，擇人物及方量之法上之。而土居豪右侵漁貧弱者以為不便，沮之。宰相留正，泉人也，其裏黨亦多以為不可行。布衣吳禹圭上書訟其擾人，詔且需後，有旨先行漳州經界。明年，以子喪請祠。

When Emperor Guangzong succeeded, Zhu Xi again declined his title but retained his post as Direct Associate in the Hall of Literary Glory; an edict praised him. Several months later he was appointed Vice Transport Commissioner of Jiangdong; pleading illness, he was instead made prefect of Zhangzhou. He memorialized to abolish seven million in unauthorized levies in subordinate counties and cut comprehensive management funds by four million. Because local customs had not yet learned proper ritual, he gathered ancient rites for funerals, marriages, and weddings, posted them publicly, and had elders explain them to teach the young. The people there revered Buddhism; men and women gathered in monasteries for scripture assemblies, and unmarried women lived in convents—Zhu Xi forbade all of it. He had long lamented the failure to carry out land registration; when the court proposed implementing it in Quan, Ting, and Zhang prefectures, Zhu Xi investigated the matter, chose personnel and surveying methods, and submitted a plan. But local magnates who had encroached on the lands of the poor and weak found the plan inconvenient and blocked it. Chief Councilor Liu Zheng, a native of Quanzhou, and his local associates also largely declared it unworkable. A commoner, Wu Yugui, memorialized that the project harassed the people; an edict ordered delay, though a directive still called for land registration to proceed first in Zhangzhou. The following year, mourning a son's death, he requested a temple sinecure.

時史浩入見，請收天下人望，乃除熹秘閣修撰，主管南京鴻慶宮。熹再辭，詔：「論撰之職，以寵名儒。」乃拜命。除荊湖南路轉運副使，辭。漳州經界竟報罷，以言不用自劾。除知靜江府，辭，主管南京鴻慶宮。未幾，差知潭州，力辭。黃裳為嘉王府詡善，自以學不及熹，乞召為宮僚，王府直講彭龜年亦為大臣言之。留正曰：「正非不知熹，但其性剛，恐到此不合，反為累耳。」熹方再辭，有旨：「長沙巨屏，得賢為重。」遂拜命。會洞獠擾屬郡，熹遣人諭以禍福，皆降之。申敕令，嚴武備，戢奸吏，抑豪民。所至興學校，明教化，四方學者畢至。

At that time Shi Hao came to audience and urged the court to gather men of public esteem; Zhu Xi was appointed Academician of the Secret Repository, supervising the Hongqing Palace in Nanjing. Zhu Xi declined again; an edict declared, "The post of commentator and compiler is meant to honor a renowned scholar." Thereupon he accepted the appointment. He was appointed Vice Transport Commissioner of Jinghu South Circuit and declined. The Zhangzhou land registration was ultimately reported cancelled; because his advice went unheeded, he submitted a self-impeachment. He was appointed prefect of Jingjiang Prefecture, declined, and was assigned to supervise the Hongqing Palace in Nanjing. Before long he was assigned to Tanzhou as prefect and forcefully declined. Huang Xiang served as Instructor to the Prince of Jia's household; finding his own learning inferior to Zhu Xi's, he asked that Zhu Xi be summoned as a palace official; the household Direct Lecturer Peng Guinian also raised the matter with the chief ministers. Liu Zheng said, "It is not that I do not know Zhu Xi, but his temperament is unyielding; I fear he would not fit in here and would instead become a liability." Zhu Xi was declining once more when an edict declared, "Changsha is a great bulwark; securing a worthy man is paramount." Thereupon he accepted the appointment. When Yao tribesmen of the caves raided subordinate prefectures, Zhu Xi sent envoys to instruct them on the consequences of their actions; all surrendered. He issued edicts, strengthened military preparedness, restrained corrupt officials, and curbed powerful families. Wherever he served he founded schools and promoted education; scholars came from all quarters.

會趙彥逾按視孝宗山陵，以為土肉淺薄，下有水石。孫逢吉覆按，乞別求吉兆。有旨集議，臺史憚之，議中輟。熹竟上議狀言：「壽皇聖德，衣冠之藏，當博訪名山，不宜偏信臺史，委之水泉沙礫之中。」不報。時論者以為上未還大內，則名體不正而疑議生；金使且來，或有窺伺。有旨修葺舊東宮，為屋三數百間，欲徙居之。熹奏疏言：

When Zhao Yanyu inspected Emperor Xiaozong's tomb mound, he judged the covering earth too thin and shallow, with water and rock below. Sun Fengji conducted a follow-up inspection and petitioned to seek a new auspicious site. An edict ordered a collective deliberation, but the geomancers feared the inquiry, and the discussion was suspended midway. Zhu Xi ultimately submitted a deliberation memorial stating, "Given Emperor Shouhuang's sagely virtue, his burial garments should be laid to rest after broad inquiry among famed mountains; one must not trust the geomancers alone and consign him to water, springs, sand, and gravel." The memorial received no response. Commentators at the time held that if the emperor had not yet returned to the Inner Palace, his title and office would lack proper form and suspicions would arise; Jin envoys were soon expected, and there was fear they might be watching for weakness. An edict ordered the old Eastern Palace renovated into several hundred rooms, with the intention that the emperor would move there. Zhu Xi submitted a memorial, stating:

此必左右近習倡為此說以誤陛下，而欲因以遂其奸心。臣恐不惟上帝震怒，災異數出，正當恐懼修省之時，不當興此大役，以咈譴告警動之意；亦恐畿甸百姓饑餓流離、阽於死亡之際，或能怨望忿切，以生他變。不惟無以感格太上皇帝之心，以致未有進見之期，亦恐壽皇在殯，因山未卜，几筵之奉不容少弛，太皇太后、皇太后皆以尊老之年，煢然在憂苦之中，晨昏之養尤不可闕。而四方之人，但見陛下亟欲大治宮室，速得成就，一旦翩然委而去之，以就安便，六軍萬民之心將有扼腕不平者矣。前鑒未遠，甚可懼也。

This must surely be close attendants and favored intimates who put forward this proposal to mislead Your Majesty, seeking thereby to fulfill their own treacherous designs. I fear that not only may Heaven be angered—with omens and anomalies appearing one after another—but that this is precisely when Your Majesty should be filled with awe and cultivate self-examination. It is no time to undertake such a great public work, rebuffing the very meaning of Heaven's warnings. I also fear that the people of the capital region, starving, displaced, and on the brink of death, may turn to resentment and bitter anger and give rise to other disturbances. Not only would this fail to move the Retired Emperor's heart and leave no prospect of an audience, but I also fear that with Emperor Shouhuang still lying in state and his tomb site undetermined, the offerings at the mourning altar must not be relaxed even for a moment. The Grand Empress Dowager and Empress Dowager, both advanced in years, are utterly alone in grief and sorrow; the morning and evening care owed them especially must not be neglected. Yet people throughout the realm would see only that Your Majesty urgently wished to undertake a great renovation of the palace, have it finished at speed, and then one day cast it aside and leave for comfort and ease. The hearts of the armies and the common people would surely fill with anguished indignation. Recent precedents lie close at hand; this is a matter of grave concern.

又聞太上皇后懼忤太上皇帝聖意，不欲其聞太上之稱，又不欲其聞內禪之說，此又慮之過者。殊不知若但如此，而不為宛轉方便，則父子之間，上怨怒而下憂恐，將何時而已。父子大倫，三綱所系，久而不圖，亦將有借其名以造謗生事者，此又臣之所大懼也。願陛下明詔大臣，首罷修葺東宮之役，而以其工料回就慈福、重華之間，草創寢殿一二十間，使粗可居。若夫過宮之計，則臣又願陛下下詔自責，減省輿衛，入宮之後，暫變服色，如唐肅宗之改服紫袍、執控馬前者，以伸負罪引慝之誠，則太上皇帝雖有忿怒之情，亦且霍然消散，而歡意浹洽矣。

It was also reported that the Retired Empress, fearing to offend the Retired Emperor, did not wish him to hear the title "Retired Emperor" or any mention of the abdication—yet this too was excessive caution. They did not realize that if matters were handled only in this way, without tactful mediation, then between father and son—with anger above and fear below—when would it ever end? The bond between father and son is the foundation of the Three Bonds; if this is left unaddressed for long, others will borrow its name to manufacture slander and stir up trouble. This too is what I greatly fear. I urge Your Majesty to issue a clear edict to the chief ministers, first halting the renovation of the Eastern Palace and redirecting its labor and materials to the halls of Cifu and Chonghua, provisionally building one or two dozen bedchambers so that the Retired Emperor may have a place to stay. As for the plan of visiting the Retired Emperor's palace, I further urge Your Majesty to issue an edict of self-reproach, reduce the imperial escort, and after entering the palace temporarily change your dress—as Tang Suzong did when he wore a purple robe and took the bridle of the horse before his father—to express sincere remorse and acknowledgment of fault. Then even if the Retired Emperor still harbors anger, it would suddenly dissipate, and joy and reconciliation would follow.

至若朝廷之紀綱，則臣又願陛下深詔左右，勿預朝政。其實有勳庸而所得褒賞未愜眾論者，亦詔大臣公議其事，稽考令典，厚報其勞。而凡號令之弛張，人才之進退，則一委之二三大臣，使之反覆較量，勿循己見，酌取公論，奏而行之。有不當者，繳駁論難，擇其善者稱制臨決，則不惟近習不得干預朝權，大臣不得專任己私，而陛下亦得以益明習天下之事，而無所疑於得失之算矣。

As for the discipline of the court, I further urge Your Majesty to issue a stern edict to close attendants forbidding them to intervene in court politics. Those who truly have rendered meritorious service yet whose rewards do not satisfy public opinion should also be ordered discussed jointly by the chief ministers, examined against established statutes, and richly repaid for their labors. As for the tightening and loosening of government orders and the advancement and dismissal of talent, all should be entrusted to two or three chief ministers, who should weigh matters repeatedly, not follow their own views alone, take public opinion into account, and submit recommendations for implementation. Where a proposal is improper, memorials should be returned with objections and debated; choose what is best and decide by imperial command. Then not only will close intimates be unable to intervene in court power and great ministers unable to monopolize their private interests, but Your Majesty will also grow increasingly versed in affairs throughout the realm and have no doubts in weighing gain and loss.

若夫山陵之卜，則願黜台史之說，別求草澤，以營新宮，使壽皇之遺體得安於內，而宗社生靈皆蒙福於外矣。

As for the selection of the tomb site, I urge dismissal of the geomancers' proposal and a separate search among remote hills and marshes for a new mausoleum, so that Emperor Shouhuang's remains may rest in peace within and the altars of state and the people may all receive blessing without.

疏入不報，然上亦未有怒熹意也。每以所講編次成帙以進，上亦開懷容納。

The memorial was submitted and went unanswered, yet the emperor showed no anger toward Zhu Xi. He regularly compiled his lecture materials into volumes and presented them to the throne; the emperor received them openly and with acceptance.

熹又奏勉上進德云：「願陛下日用之間，以求放心為之本，而於玩經觀史，親近儒學，益用力焉。數召大臣，切劘治道，群臣進對，亦賜溫顏，反覆詢訪，以求政事之得失，民情之休戚，而又因以察其人才之邪正短長，庶於天下之事各得其理。」熹奏：「禮經敕令，子為父，嫡孫承重為祖父，皆斬衰三年；嫡子當為其父後，不能襲位執喪，則嫡孫繼統而代之執喪。自漢文短喪，歷代因之，天子遂無三年之喪。為父且然，則嫡孫承重可知。人紀廢壞，三綱不明，千有餘年，莫能厘正。壽皇聖帝至性自天，易月之外，猶執通喪，朝衣朝冠皆用大布，所宜著在方冊，為萬世法程。間者，遺誥初頒，太上皇帝偶違康豫，不能躬就喪次。陛下以世嫡承大統，則承重之服著在禮律，所宜遵壽皇已行之法。一時倉卒，不及詳議，遂用漆紗淺黃之服，不惟上違禮律，且使壽皇已行之禮舉而復墜，臣竊痛之。然既往之失不及追改，唯有將來啟殯發引，禮當復用初喪之服。」

Zhu Xi again submitted a memorial urging the emperor to advance in virtue, stating: "I urge Your Majesty, in your daily conduct, to take restoring a tranquil mind as the foundation, and in reading the classics, studying history, and drawing near to Confucian learning, to exert yourself all the more. Frequently summon the chief ministers and sharply examine the way of governance; when officials come forward to respond, grant them a warm countenance and repeatedly inquire and consult, so as to learn the gains and losses of government affairs and the weal and woe of the people—and thereby also observe the integrity, ability, and character of their talent—so that affairs throughout the realm may each be handled according to principle." Zhu Xi submitted: "The ritual classics and imperial commands state that a son mourning for a father, and an eldest grandson bearing the chief mourning for a grandfather, both observe the deepest mourning for three years; The eldest son ought to succeed his father; if he cannot inherit the position and observe mourning, then the eldest grandson succeeds to the line and performs mourning in his stead. Since Emperor Wen of Han shortened the mourning period, successive generations followed his example, and the Son of Heaven thus ceased to observe three-year mourning. If this is so even for mourning a father, then the case of an eldest grandson bearing the chief mourning can readily be understood. Human norms were ruined, the Three Bonds left unclear—for more than a thousand years no one could rectify this. Emperor Shouhuang's utmost filial nature came from Heaven; beyond the change of garments at one month, he still observed full mourning, wearing coarse cloth for court dress and court cap. This ought to be recorded in the official registers as a model for ten thousand generations. Recently, when the testamentary edict was first promulgated, the Retired Emperor happened to be unwell and could not personally attend the mourning rites. Your Majesty, as the legitimate heir succeeding to the great succession, ought to wear the mourning of bearing the chief mourning as set forth in ritual law and follow the practice already carried out by Emperor Shouhuang. At the time, in haste, there was no opportunity for detailed deliberation, and lacquered gauze in pale yellow was used. This not only violated ritual law but also caused the rites already practiced by Emperor Shouhuang to be raised up only to fall again. I grieve at this in private. Yet past errors cannot be pursued and changed; only for the future, when the coffin is opened and the funeral procession departs, the rites ought to restore the garments of initial mourning."

會孝宗祔廟，議宗廟迭毀之制，孫逢吉、曾三復首請並祧僖、宣二祖，奉太祖居第一室，祫祭則正東向之位。有旨集議：僖、順、翼、宣四祖祧主，宜有所歸。自太祖皇帝首尊四祖之廟，治平間，議者以世數浸遠，請遷僖祖於夾室。後王安石等奏，僖祖有廟，與稷、契無異，請復其舊。時相趙汝愚雅不以復祀僖祖為然，侍從多從其說。吏部尚書鄭僑欲且祧宣祖而祔孝宗。熹以為藏之夾室，則是以祖宗之主下藏於子孫之夾室，神宗復奉以為始祖，已為得禮之正，而合于人心，所謂有舉之而莫敢廢者乎。又擬為《廟制》以辨，以為物豈有無本而生者。廟堂不以聞，即毀撤僖、宣廟室，更創別廟以奉四祖。

When Emperor Xiaozong was enshrined in the ancestral temple, the system of successive removal in the temple was debated. Sun Fengji and Zeng Sanfu first requested jointly removing Emperors Xi and Xuan from the main line, placing Emperor Taizu in the first chamber, and at the joint sacrifice placing him in the due east-facing position. An edict ordered a collective deliberation: the removed spirit tablets of the four ancestors Xi, Shun, Yi, and Xuan ought to have a proper place of enshrinement. Since Emperor Taizu first honored the temples of the four ancestors, during the Zhiping era commentators, because generations had grown distant, requested moving Emperor Xi to a side chamber. Later Wang Anshi and others memorialized that Emperor Xi had a temple, no different from Hou Ji and Qi, and requested restoring the former arrangement. At the time, Chief Councillor Zhao Ruyu by nature did not approve of restoring sacrifice to Emperor Xi; most of the attendant officials followed his view. Minister of Personnel Zheng Qiao wished temporarily to remove Emperor Xuan and enshrine Emperor Xiaozong. Zhu Xi held that storing the tablets in a side chamber meant placing the spirit tablets of the ancestors down in the side chamber of their descendants. When Emperor Shenzong again honored Emperor Xi as founding ancestor, this already accorded with proper ritual and with the hearts of the people—is this not what is meant by "once it was raised up, none dared abolish it"? He also drafted a "Temple System" to clarify the matter, holding that nothing can be born without a root. The temple authorities did not report his views; they immediately demolished the temple chambers of Emperors Xi and Xuan and newly built separate temples to honor the four ancestors.

始，甯宗之立，韓侂胄自謂有定策功，居中用事。熹憂其害政，數以為言，且約吏部侍郎彭龜年共論之。會龜年出護使客，熹乃上疏斥言左右竊柄之失，在講筵復申言之。御批云：「憫卿耆艾，恐難立講，已除卿宮觀。」汝愚袖御筆還上，且諫且拜。內侍王德謙徑以御筆付熹，台諫爭留，不可。樓鑰、陳傅良旋封還錄黃，修注官劉光祖、鄧馹封章交上。熹行，被命除寶文閣待制，與州郡差遣，辭。尋除知江陵府，辭，仍乞追還新舊職名，詔依舊煥章閣待制，提舉南京鴻慶宮。慶元元年初，趙汝愚既相，收召四方知名之士，中外引領望治，熹獨惕然以侂胄用事為慮。既屢為上言，以數以手書啟汝愚，當用厚賞酬其勞，勿使得預朝政，有「防微杜漸，謹不可忽」之語。汝愚方謂其易制，不以為意。及是，汝愚亦以誣逐，而朝廷大權悉歸侂胄矣。

At the beginning, when Ningzong was established as heir, Han Tuozhou considered himself to have merit in fixing the succession and held power at court. Zhu Xi worried that he would harm governance, spoke of this repeatedly, and also arranged with Vice Minister of Personnel Peng Guinian to discuss the matter together. When Guinian went out to serve as commissioner for receiving envoys, Zhu Xi submitted a memorial denouncing the fault of close attendants usurping power and again stated this at the lecture hall. An imperial annotation read: "Taking pity on your age and venerability, fearing difficulty in lecturing while standing, We have already appointed you to a temple commission post." Zhao Ruyu tucked the emperor's handwritten note into his sleeve and returned it to the throne, remonstrating while bowing. The inner attendant Wang Deqian directly handed the emperor's note to Zhu Xi; censorate remonstrators struggled to retain him, but could not. Lou Yue and Chen Fuliang immediately sealed and returned the recorded draft; the revising annotators Liu Guangzu and Deng Yi submitted sealed memorials in succession. Zhu Xi departed; he was ordered appointed as Hanlin Academician of the Baowen Pavilion with assignment to a prefecture or circuit, but declined. Soon he was appointed Prefect of Jiangling; he declined and still requested the return of both old and new titles and offices. An edict ordered him to remain as Hanlin Academician of the Huanzhang Pavilion, with charge of the Hongqing Palace in Nanjing. At the beginning of the first year of Qingyuan, after Zhao Ruyu had become chief councillor, he gathered and recalled renowned men from throughout the realm; within and without the court all looked on hoping for good governance. Zhu Xi alone was apprehensive, taking Han Tuozhou's wielding of power as a concern. Having repeatedly spoken to the emperor on this, he also repeatedly by handwritten letter apprised Zhao Ruyu that he ought to use rich rewards to repay Han Tuozhou's labors and must not allow him to participate in court politics—writing, "Guard against the subtle and stop the gradual; this must not be neglected." Zhao Ruyu just then considered him easy to control and did not take it to heart. By this time, Zhao Ruyu also was driven out on false charges, and great power at court all returned to Han Tuozhou.

熹始以廟議自劾，不許，以疾再乞休致，詔：「辭職謝事，非朕優賢之意，依舊秘閣修撰。」二年，沈繼祖為監察御史，誣熹十罪，詔落職罷祠，門人蔡元定亦送道州編管。四年，熹以年近七十，申乞致仕，五年，依所請。明年卒，年七十一。疾且革，手書屬其子在及門人范念德、黃幹，拳拳以勉學及修正遺書為言。翌日，正坐整衣冠，就枕而逝。

Zhu Xi first submitted a self-impeachment over the temple deliberation—it was not accepted. Citing illness, he again requested retirement. An edict read: "Resigning office and declining affairs is not Our intent in honoring the worthy; he is ordered to remain as Secretary of the Secretariat." In the second year, Shen Jizu as Investigating Censor falsely charged Zhu Xi with ten crimes. An edict stripped him of office and abolished his temple stipend; his disciple Cai Yuanding was also sent to Daozhou for supervised residence. In the fourth year, Zhu Xi, because his age was nearly seventy, submitted a request for retirement; in the fifth year, the request was granted. The next year he died, aged seventy-one. When his illness was nearly critical, he wrote by hand instructions to his son Zhu Zai and his disciples Fan Niande and Huang Gan, earnestly urging them to encourage learning and to correct and complete his remaining writings. The next day, sitting upright, he straightened his cap and robes, lay down on his pillow, and passed away.

熹登第五十年，仕於外者僅九考，立朝才四十日。家故貧，少依父友劉子羽，寓建之崇安，後徙建陽之考亭，簞瓢屢空，晏如也。諸生之自遠而至者，豆飯藜羹，率與之共。往往稱貸於人以給用，而非其道義則一介不取也。

From Zhu Xi's passing the examinations for fifty years, he served outside the capital for only nine terms of evaluation and stood at court for only forty days. His family was originally poor; in youth he relied on his father's friend Liu Ziyu, lodging in Chong'an in Jian Prefecture, later moving to Kaoting in Jianyang. The basket and gourd were often empty, yet he was at ease. Students who came from afar all ate bean rice and wild vegetable soup, and he generally shared meals with them. He often borrowed from others to supply his needs, yet if something was not in accord with the Way and righteousness, not one cash would he take.

自熹去國，侂胄勢益張。何澹為中司，首論專門之學，文詐沽名，乞辨真偽。劉德秀仕長沙，不為張栻之徒所禮，及為諫官，首論留正引偽學之罪。「偽學」之稱，蓋自此始。太常少卿胡紘言：「比年偽學猖獗，圖為不軌，望宣諭大臣，權住進擬。」遂召陳賈為兵部侍郎。未幾，熹有奪職之命。劉三傑以前御史論熹、汝愚、劉光祖、徐誼之徒，前日之偽黨，至此又變而為逆黨。即日除三傑右正言。右諫議大夫姚愈論道學權臣結為死黨，窺伺神器。乃命直學士院高文虎草詔諭天下，於是攻偽日急，選人餘嘉至上書乞斬熹。

From the time Zhu Xi left the court, Han Tuozhou's power grew ever more expansive. He Dan as Chief of the Censorate Bureau first denounced specialized learning as literary deception and trading on reputation, and requested distinguishing true from false. Liu Dexiu served in Changsha and was not treated with courtesy by Zhang Shi's followers. When he became a remonstrating official, he first denounced Liu Zheng for the crime of promoting false learning. The designation "false learning" began from this. Vice Minister of Rites Hu Hong stated: "In recent years false learning has run rampant, plotting irregular conduct. I hope Your Majesty will proclaim and instruct the chief ministers temporarily to halt nominations for appointment." Chen Jia was then summoned as Vice Minister of War. Before long, Zhu Xi received an order stripping him of office. Liu Sanjie, formerly an investigating censor, denounced Zhu Xi, Zhao Ruyu, Liu Guangzu, Xu Yi, and their kind—the false faction of former days—who by this time had again been recast as a rebellious faction. That same day Liu Sanjie was appointed Right Rectifier of Discourse. Right Remonstrating Grandee Yao Yu denounced the Learning of the Way faction and powerful ministers forming a sworn faction and spying on the sacred regalia. An order was then issued to Academician of the Direct Academy Gao Wenhu to draft an edict proclaiming this to the realm. Thereafter attacks on the false grew daily urgent, and the candidate Yu Jiazhi submitted a memorial requesting that Zhu Xi be beheaded.

方是時，士之繩趨尺步、稍以儒名者，無所容其身。從遊之士，特立不顧者，屏伏丘壑；依阿巽懦者，更名他師，過門不入，甚至變易衣冠，狎遊市肆，以自別其非黨。而熹日與諸生講學不休，或勸以謝遣生徒者，笑而不答。有籍田令陳景思者，故相康伯之孫也，與侂胄有姻連，勸侂胄勿為已甚，侂胄意亦漸悔。熹既沒，將葬，言者謂：四方偽徒期會，送偽師之葬，會聚之間，非妄談時人短長，則繆議時政得失，望令守臣約束。從之。

At that time, scholars who walked to the measure of the cord and foot-rule and were even slightly known by Confucian reputation had no place to stand. Among those who had studied with him, those who stood firm and paid no heed hid themselves in hills and ravines; Those who fawned and were weak changed their teachers' names, passed his gate without entering, and even changed their dress and idly roamed marketplaces so as to distinguish themselves as not of the faction. Yet Zhu Xi daily lectured with his students without ceasing; when some advised him to dismiss his disciples, he smiled and did not answer. There was the Field-Allotment Magistrate Chen Jingsi, grandson of the former chief councillor Chen Kangbo, connected to Han Tuozhou by marriage. He advised Han Tuozhou not to go too far, and Han Tuozhou's mind also gradually came to regret. After Zhu Xi had died and was about to be buried, remonstrators stated: "False followers from the four directions will assemble by appointment to escort the false teacher's burial. In their gatherings, if they are not recklessly discussing the faults and merits of men of the time, they will be absurdly debating the gains and losses of current government. I hope Your Majesty will order local officials to restrain them. The request was granted.

嘉泰初，學禁稍弛。二年，詔：「朱熹已致仕，除華文閣待制，與致仕恩澤。」後侂胄死，詔賜熹遺表恩澤，諡曰文。尋贈中大夫，特贈寶謨閣直學士。理宗寶慶三年，贈太師，追封信國公，改徽國。

At the beginning of the Jiatai era, the proscription on learning was slightly relaxed. In the second year, an edict read: "Zhu Xi has already retired; he is appointed Hanlin Academician of the Huawen Pavilion, with retirement honors." Later, after Han Tuozhou died, an edict granted the honors of Zhu Xi's final memorial; his posthumous title was Wen. Soon he was posthumously promoted to Grandee of the Palace and specially posthumously promoted to Academician of the Baomo Pavilion. In the third year of Baoqing under Emperor Lizong, he was posthumously promoted to Grand Preceptor, posthumously enfeoffed as Duke of Xin, then changed to Duke of Hui.

始，熹少時，慨然有求道之志。父松病亟，嘗屬熹曰：「籍溪胡原仲、白水劉致中、屏山劉彥沖三人，學有淵源，吾所敬畏，吾即死，汝往事之，而惟其言之聽。」三人，謂胡憲、劉勉之、劉子翬也。故熹之學既博求之經傳，復遍交當世有識之士。延平李侗老矣，嘗學于羅從彥，熹歸自同安，不遠數百里，徒步往從之。

At the beginning, when Zhu Xi was young, he was stirred and had the aspiration of seeking the Way. When his father Zhu Song's illness was critical, he once instructed Zhu Xi, saying: "Jixi Hu Yuanzhong, Baishui Liu Zhizhong, and Pingshan Liu Yanchong—the three men's learning has deep sources; they are those I revere. When I die, you should go and serve them, and listen only to their words." The three men were Hu Xian, Liu Mianzhi, and Liu Zihui. Therefore Zhu Xi's learning both broadly sought understanding in the classics and commentaries and also widely associated with knowledgeable men of the age. Li Tong of Yanping was already old; he had once studied under Luo Congyan. When Zhu Xi returned from Tong'an, he traveled not less than several hundred li on foot to follow him.

其為學，大抵窮理以致其知，反躬以踐其實，而以居敬為主。嘗謂聖賢道統之傳散在方冊，聖經之旨不明，而道統之傳始晦。於是竭其精力，以研窮聖賢之經訓。所著書有：《易》本義、啟蒙、《蓍卦考誤》，《詩集傳》，《大學中庸》章句、或問、《論語》、《孟子》集注、《太極圖》、《通書》、《西銘解》、《楚辭》集注、辨證，《韓文考異》；所編次有：《論孟集議》，《孟子指要》，《中庸輯略》，《孝經刊誤》，《小學書》，《通鑒綱目》，《宋名臣言行錄》，《家禮》，《近思錄》，《河南程氏遺書》，《伊洛淵源錄》，皆行於世。熹沒，朝廷以其《大學》、《語》、《孟》、《中庸》訓說立於學官。又有《儀禮經傳通解》未脫稿，亦在學官。平生為文凡一百卷，生徒問答凡八十卷，別錄十卷。

His pursuit of learning, broadly speaking, was to exhaust principle to extend knowledge, turn inward to practice what is real, and take reverent composure as the main thing. He once said that the transmission of the sages' Way was scattered in records, the intent of the sacred classics was unclear, and the transmission of the Way therefore began to grow obscure. Thereupon he exhausted his energy and strength to investigate thoroughly the sages' classic exegeses. Books he authored include: Original Meaning of the Changes, Enlightenment, Examination of Errors in Divination by Yarrow Stalks, Collected Commentary on the Odes, Chapter and Sentence commentaries on the Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean, Questions on those texts, Collected Commentaries on the Analects and Mencius, Explications of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, Penetrating the Classic, and Western Inscription, Collected Commentary and Evidential Analysis on the Songs of Chu, and Examination of Variants in Han Yu's Writings; Works he compiled and arranged include: Collected Deliberations on the Analects and Mencius, Essential Points of Mencius, Abridged Doctrine of the Mean, Corrections to the Classic of Filial Piety, Elementary Learning, Outline and Details of the Comprehensive Mirror, Records of Words and Deeds of Famous Song Ministers, Family Rituals, Reflections on Things at Hand, Surviving Writings of the Cheng Family of Henan, and Record of the Origins of the Yi-Luo School—all circulated in the world. After Zhu Xi's death, the court placed his commentaries on the Great Learning, Analects, Mencius, and Doctrine of the Mean in the official curriculum. His Ceremonial Rites General Explication of Classic and Commentaries, still incomplete at his death, was also adopted for the official schools. Over his lifetime he produced one hundred juan of prose, eighty juan of exchanges with disciples, and ten juan of miscellaneous records.

理宗紹定末，秘書郎李心傳乞以司馬光、周敦頤、邵雍、張載、程顥、程頤、朱熹七人列於從祀，不報。淳祐元年正月，上視學，手詔以周、張、二程及熹從祀孔子廟。

Late in the Shaoding era, Secretariat Attendant Li Xinchuan asked that Sima Guang, Zhou Dunyi, Shao Yong, Zhang Zai, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, and Zhu Xi be enshrined as collateral sacrifices in the Confucian temple; the petition went unanswered. In the first month of Chunyou 1, the emperor visited the schools and by personal edict added Zhou Dunyi, Zhang Zai, the two Chengs, and Zhu Xi to the collateral sacrifices in Confucius's temple.

黃幹曰：「道之正統待人而後傳，自周以來，任傳道之責者不過數人，而能使斯道章章較著者，一二人而止耳。由孔子而後，曾子、子思繼其微，至孟子而始著。由孟子而後，周、程、張子繼其絕，至熹而始著。」識者以為知言。

Huang Gan said: "The true line of the Way waits upon the right person before it can be handed down. Since the Zhou, only a handful have shouldered the task of transmitting the Way, and only one or two at most have ever made that Way stand out plain for all to see. After Confucius, Zengzi and Zisi kept its faint thread alive; not until Mencius did it shine forth in full. After Mencius, Zhou Dunyi, the Chengs, and Zhang Zai took up the broken line; not until Zhu Xi did it shine forth again." Men of discernment judged this well said.

熹子在，紹定中為吏部侍郎。

Zhu Xi's son Zhu Zai served as Vice Minister of Personnel during the Shaoding era.

張栻字敬夫，丞相浚子也。穎悟夙成，浚愛之，自幼學，所教莫非仁義忠孝之實。長師胡巨集，巨集一見，即以孔門論仁親切之旨告之。栻退而思，若有得焉，宏稱之曰：「聖門有人矣。」栻益自奮厲，以古聖賢自期，作《希顏錄》。

Zhang Shi, styled Jingfu, was the son of Chief Councilor Zhang Jun. Bright and mature beyond his years, Zhang Jun doted on him; from boyhood every lesson he received was grounded in humaneness, righteousness, loyalty, and filial piety. As a young man he studied under Hu Hong, who at their very first meeting expounded to him the inner meaning of the sage school's teaching on humaneness. Zhang Shi withdrew to ponder and seemed to have grasped something; Hu Hong exclaimed, "The sage's gate has its man." Zhang Shi drove himself harder still, measuring himself against the ancient sages, and composed the Records of Aspiring to Yan.

以蔭補官，辟宣撫司都督府書寫機宜文字，除直密閣，時孝宗新即位，浚起謫籍，開府治戎，參佐皆極一時之選。栻時以少年，內贊密謀，外參庶務，其所綜畫，幕府諸人皆自以為不及也。間以軍事入奏，因進言曰：「陛下上念宗社之仇恥，下閔中原之塗炭，惕然於中，而思有以振之。臣謂此心之發，即天理之所存也。願益加省察，而稽古親賢以自輔，無使其或少息，則今日之功可以必成，而因循之弊可革矣。」孝宗異其言，於是遂定君臣之契。

He received office by inherited privilege, was appointed clerk for confidential military documents in the Pacification Commission headquarters, and was made Direct Associate of the Secret Palace Library. Xiaozong had just taken the throne; Zhang Jun was recalled from banishment, opened a command headquarters, and gathered a staff drawn from the best men of the day. Though still very young, Zhang Shi helped shape secret strategy within and handled public business without; in the plans he drew up, every man in the staff felt himself outmatched. On one occasion he came to court to report on military affairs and seized the moment to say: "Your Majesty, mindful above of the shame our altars of state still bear and grieving below the scorched desolation of the Central Plain, feels this urgency within and seeks some way to rouse the realm. Your subject believes that the awakening of this heart is itself the presence of Heavenly principle. I urge you to examine yourself all the more closely, take antiquity as your guide and draw worthy men close to assist you, and never let this resolve slacken even for a moment—then the work of this day can surely be accomplished and the evil of drift and delay can be uprooted." Xiaozong was moved by what he heard, and from that moment a true bond was fixed between sovereign and minister.

浚去位，湯思退用事，遂罷兵講和。金人乘間縱兵入淮甸，中外大震，廟堂猶主和議，至敕諸將無得輒稱兵。時浚已沒，栻營葬甫畢，即拜疏言：「吾與金人有不共戴天之仇，異時朝廷雖嘗興縞素之師，然旋遣玉帛之使，是以講和之念未忘於胸中，而至忱惻怛之心無以感格於天人之際，此所以事屢敗而功不成也。今雖重為群邪所誤，以蹙國而召寇，然亦安知非天欲以是開聖心哉。謂宜深察此理，使吾胸中了然無纖芥之惑，然後明詔中外，公行賞罰，以快軍民之憤，則人心悅，士氣充，而敵不難卻矣。繼今以往，益堅此志，誓不言和，專務自強，雖折不撓，使此心純一，貫徹上下，則遲以歲月，亦何功之不濟哉？」疏入，不報。

After Zhang Jun was removed, Tang Situi came to power and the armies were stood down in favor of peace talks. The Jurchens seized the moment to send troops flooding into the Huai region; shock ran through court and country, yet the throne still clung to peace and even ordered the generals not to mobilize on their own authority. Zhang Jun was already dead; Zhang Shi had barely finished his funeral when he submitted a memorial: "We share with the Jurchens a hatred that cannot live under the same sky. In the past the court has sometimes raised armies in mourning white, yet just as quickly dispatched envoys laden with tribute—so the thought of peace has never left the breast, and the deepest sincerity cannot move Heaven and men to answer. That is why efforts fail again and again and nothing is ever achieved. Now, though wicked men have once more led us astray, shrinking the realm and inviting invasion, who is to say Heaven does not mean by this very crisis to open the sacred heart? You should ponder this deeply until not a trace of doubt remains in your breast; then proclaim it plainly throughout the realm, reward and punish openly to satisfy the rage of soldiers and people—and hearts will rally, morale will rise, and the enemy will not be hard to drive back. From this day on, hold this resolve all the firmer: swear never to speak of peace, devote yourself wholly to strengthening the state, and though broken do not bend—let this heart be pure and undivided, reaching from the throne to the ranks below; given time, what goal could fail?" The memorial was submitted; there was no response.

久之，劉珙薦於上，除知撫州，未上，改嚴州。時宰相虞允文以恢復自任，然所以求者類非其道，意栻素論當與己合，數遣人致殷勤，栻不答。入奏，首言：「先王所以建事立功無不如志者，以其胸中之誠有以感格天人之心，而與之無間也。今規畫雖勞，而事功不立，陛下誠深察之日用之間，念慮雲為之際，亦有私意之發以害吾之誠者乎？有則克而去之，使吾中局洞然無所間雜，則見義必精，守義必固，而天人之應將不待求而得矣。夫欲復中原之地，先有以得中原之心，欲得中原之心，先有以得吾民之心。求所以得吾民之心者，豈有他哉？不盡其力，不傷其財而已矣。今日之事，固當以明大義、正人心為本。然其所施有先後，則其緩急不可以不詳；所務有名實，則其取捨不可以不審，此又明主所宜深察也。」

Some time later Liu Qi recommended him to the throne; he was appointed prefect of Fuzhou, but before he could take up the post was reassigned to Yanzhou. Chief Councilor Yu Yunwen had taken the recovery of lost territory as his personal mission, yet the methods he pursued were largely wrong; assuming Zhang Shi's long-held views would align with his own, he sent envoys again and again with warm overtures—and Zhang Shi never replied. When he came to court to report, he began: "The reason the ancient kings succeeded in every enterprise they undertook was that the sincerity in their hearts could move Heaven and men to respond, with no breach between them. Plans are drawn up with great labor yet nothing is accomplished—does Your Majesty truly look deep into the daily round of affairs, into every moment of thought and deed, to see whether private motives creep in to corrupt our sincerity? If there are, root them out, until the inner mind is clear and nothing alien remains—then to see righteousness will be to see it truly, to hold righteousness will be to hold it fast, and Heaven and men will answer without your having to ask. To recover the Central Plain you must first win the hearts of the Central Plain; to win the hearts of the Central Plain you must first win the hearts of your own people. And how do you win your people's hearts? Is there any other way? Only this: do not exhaust their strength, do not drain their wealth. Today's task must take as its foundation the clarification of great principle and the rectification of the people's hearts. Yet what is to be done has its proper sequence, and what is urgent and what can wait must be weighed with care; what is undertaken must have both name and substance, and what to adopt and what to set aside must be judged with equal care—this too is what a wise ruler must examine deeply."

明年，召為吏部侍郎，兼權起居郎侍立官。時宰方謂敵勢衰弱可圖，建議遣泛使往責陵寢之故，士大夫有憂其無備而召兵者，輒斥去之。栻見上，上曰：「卿知敵國事乎？」栻對曰：「不知也。」上曰：「金國饑饉連年，盜賊四起。」栻曰：「金人之事，臣雖不知，境中之事，則知之矣。」上曰：「何也？」栻曰：「臣切見比年諸道多水旱，民貧日甚，而國家兵弱財匱，官吏誕謾，不足倚賴。正使彼實可圖，臣懼我之未足以圖彼也。」上為默然久之。栻因出所奏疏讀之曰：「臣竊謂陵寢隔絕，誠臣子不忍言之至痛，然今未能奉辭以討之，又不能正名以絕之，乃欲卑祠厚禮以求於彼，則于大義已為未盡。而異論者猶以為憂，則其淺陋畏怯，固益甚矣。然臣竊揆其心意，或者亦有以見我未有必勝之形，而不能不憂也歟。蓋必勝之形，當在於早正素定之時，而不在於兩陣決機之日。」上為竦聽改容。栻復讀曰：「今日但當下哀痛之詔，明復仇之義，顯絕金人，不與通使。然後修德立政，用賢養民，選將帥，練甲兵，通內修外攘、進戰退守以為一事，且必治其實而不為虛文，則必勝之形隱然可見，雖有淺陋畏怯之人，亦且奮躍而爭先矣。」上為歎息褒諭，以為前始未聞此論也。其後因賜對反復前說，上益嘉歎，面諭：「當以卿為講官，冀時得晤語也。」

The following year he was recalled as Vice Minister of Personnel and concurrently made acting Attendant-in-Waiting of the Diary of Activity and Repose. The chief councilor then believed the enemy enfeebled and ripe for pressure; he proposed sending unrestricted envoys to demand an accounting for the desecration of the imperial tombs, and any scholar-official who warned that such unpreparedness would provoke war was promptly silenced. When Zhang Shi had audience, the emperor asked: "Do you know what is happening in the enemy state?" Zhang Shi answered: "I do not." The emperor said: "The Jin have suffered famine year after year, and bandits have risen on every side." Zhang Shi said: "I may not know what is happening among the Jin, but I do know what is happening within our own borders." The emperor asked: "How so?" Zhang Shi said: "I have seen with my own eyes that in recent years flood and drought have struck many circuits, the people grow poorer by the day, the state is weak in arms and empty in coffers, and officials are feckless and unreliable. Even if they truly are vulnerable, I fear we are not yet strong enough to take advantage of them." The emperor was silent for a long time. Zhang Shi then took out his memorial and read from it: "The severance from our imperial tombs is, I know, a grief ministers and sons can scarcely bear to utter—yet now, unable to send a righteous proclamation to punish them, unable even to declare the rupture by name, you would send humble petitions and lavish gifts to beg from them—in the matter of great principle this is already a compromise too far. And if dissenters still call this reckless, then their timidity and smallness of vision are all the more plain. Yet I suspect their real fear is that they see we do not yet have the look of certain victory—and cannot help worrying. The look of certain victory is won in the time of early resolve and settled principle—not on the day the two armies meet in the field." The emperor listened with rapt attention, his face altered. Zhang Shi read on: "Today you need only issue a proclamation of grief, proclaim the duty of vengeance, openly sever relations with the Jurchens, and send no envoys. Then cultivate virtue and good governance, employ worthy men and nurture the people, choose generals, drill the armies—make internal reform and external defense one single task, and see to substance, not empty show—and the look of certain victory will quietly take shape; even the timid and small-minded will leap forward to lead the charge." The emperor sighed in admiration and praised him, saying he had never heard such an argument before. In later audiences he returned to the same theme again and again; the emperor praised him all the more and told him face to face: "I shall appoint you lecturer, so that we may speak together from time to time."

會史正志為發運使，名為均輸，實盡奪州縣財賦，遠近騷然，士大夫爭言其害，栻亦以為言。上曰：「正志謂但取之諸郡，非取之於民也。」栻曰：「今日州郡財賦大抵無餘，若取之不已，而經用有闕，不過巧為名色以取之於民耳。」上矍然曰：「如卿之言，是朕假手於發運使以病吾民也。」旋閱其實，果如栻言，即詔罷之。

When Shi Zhengzhi became transport commissioner, his policy—called "balanced transport"—in fact stripped prefectures and counties of all their revenue; unrest spread far and wide, scholars competed to denounce it, and Zhang Shi spoke against it as well. The emperor said: "Zhengzhi says he takes only from the prefectures, not from the people." Zhang Shi said: "Prefectures and counties today have scarcely anything left; if the taking never stops and ordinary expenses fall short, they will simply invent new levies and take from the people in the end." The emperor started in alarm: "If what you say is true, then I am using the transport commissioner as my instrument to harm my own people." He soon looked into the matter and found it exactly as Zhang Shi had said; an edict immediately abolished the policy.

兼侍講，除左司員外郎。講《詩葛覃》，進說：「治生於敬畏，亂起於驕淫。使為國者每念稼穡之勞，而其後妃不忘織糸任之事，則心不存者寡矣。」因上陳祖宗自家刑國之懿，下斥今日興利擾民之害。上歎曰：「此王安石所謂'人言不足恤'者，所以為誤國也。」

He was concurrently made Lecturer-in-Waiting and appointed Vice Director in the Left Bureau. Lecturing on the "Ge Tan" ode in the Book of Poetry, he taught: "Good order is born of reverent awe; disorder springs from pride and excess. If rulers always kept in mind the toil of sowing and reaping, and their consorts never forgot the labor of spinning and weaving, few hearts would remain untouched by such feeling." Above he held up the founders' noble example of governing family and state by moral example; below he condemned the harm of today's profit-seeking that harasses the people. The emperor sighed: "This is what Wang Anshi meant by 'public opinion is not worth worrying about'—and that is how he ruined the state."

知閣門事張說除簽書樞密院事，栻夜草疏極諫其不可，旦詣朝堂，質責宰相虞允文曰：「宦官執政，自京、黼始，近習執政，自相公始。」允文慚憤不堪。栻復奏：「文武誠不可偏，然今欲右武以均二柄，而所用乃得如此之人，非惟不足以服文吏之心，正恐反激武臣之怒。」孝宗感悟，命得中寢。然宰相實陰附說，明年出栻知袁州，申說前命，中外喧嘩，說竟以謫死。

When Zhang Shuo, Director of the Bureau of Reception, was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs, Zhang Shi drafted a memorial overnight fiercely opposing the appointment and at dawn went to the court hall to confront Chief Councilor Yu Yunwen: "Eunuchs in power began with Jing and Fu; favorites in power begins with you, Lord Chancellor." Yu Yunwen was shamed and enraged beyond endurance. Zhang Shi memorialized again: "Civil and military power must indeed be balanced—but to elevate military affairs and then appoint a man like this will not only fail to win over civil officials; it may well enrage the military officers themselves." Xiaozong took his point and ordered the appointment withdrawn. But the chief councilor secretly backed Zhang Shuo; the next year he sent Zhang Shi out as prefect of Yuanzhou and reinstated Shuo's appointment; uproar shook court and country, and Shuo ultimately died in exile.

栻在朝未期歲，而召對至六七，所言大抵皆修身務學，畏天恤民，抑僥倖，屏讒諛，於是宰相益憚之，而近習尤不悅。退而家居累年，孝宗念之，詔除舊職，知靜江府，經略安撫廣南西路。所部荒殘多盜，栻至，簡州兵，汰冗補闕，籍諸州黥卒伉健者為效用，日習月按，申嚴保伍法。諭溪峒酋豪弭怨睦鄰，毋相殺掠，於是群蠻帖服。朝廷買馬橫山，歲久弊滋，邊氓告病，而馬不時至。栻究其利病六十餘條，奏革之，諸蠻感悅，爭以善馬至。

Zhang Shi had not yet served a full year at court when he was summoned to audience six or seven times; his themes were self-cultivation and earnest study, reverence for Heaven and compassion for the people, curbing opportunism and shutting out flatterers—so the chief councilor feared him all the more, and the emperor's favorites were especially displeased. He withdrew and lived in retirement for several years; Xiaozong remembered him, restored his former rank by edict, and appointed him prefect of Jingjiang and military commissioner and pacification commissioner of the Guangnan West Circuit. His jurisdiction was wasted and lawless, with bandits everywhere; on arrival Zhang Shi trimmed the prefectural forces, cut dead weight and filled gaps, enrolled the sturdiest tattooed convicts from the prefectures as militia, drilled them daily and inspected them monthly, and strictly enforced the mutual-responsibility militia system. He urged the chieftains of the stream grottoes to lay aside old grudges, live in peace with their neighbors, and cease raiding one another—and the tribal peoples submitted. For years the court had been buying horses at Hengshan; abuses mounted, border people groaned under the burden, and horses failed to arrive on time. Zhang Shi investigated more than sixty abuses, memorialized reforms, and the tribal peoples, grateful and pleased, competed to bring their best horses.

孝宗聞栻治行，詔特進秩，直寶文閣，因任。尋除秘閣修撰、荊湖北路轉運副使。改知江陵府，安撫本路。一日去貪吏十四人。湖北多盜，府縣往往縱釋以病良民，栻首劾大吏之縱賊者，捕斬奸民之舍賊者，令其黨得相捕告以除罪，群盜皆遁去。郡瀕邊屯，主將與帥守每不相下，栻以禮遇諸將，得其歡心，又加恤士伍，勉以忠義，隊長有功輒補官，士鹹感奮。並淮奸民出塞為盜者，捕得數人，有北方亡奴亦在盜中。

When Xiaozong heard of Zhang Shi's record in office, he issued an edict specially promoting him to Direct Associate of the Hall of Treasured Classics while keeping him in post. Soon afterward he was appointed Compiler in the Secret Archive and Vice Transport Commissioner of the Jinghu North Circuit. He was transferred to serve as prefect of Jiangling and pacification commissioner of that circuit. In a single day he dismissed fourteen corrupt officials. Banditry was rife in Hubei; prefectures and counties often released criminals to the harm of honest people; Zhang Shi first impeached senior officials who had let bandits go, seized and executed men who harbored them, offered their accomplices remission if they informed on one another—and the bandit gangs dispersed. The prefecture lay on the frontier; garrison commanders and the prefect often clashed; Zhang Shi treated the generals with courtesy and won their hearts, showed special care for the rank and file, urged them on with talk of loyalty and duty, and promptly rewarded squad leaders who distinguished themselves with official rank—and the soldiers were stirred to serve with all their strength. Several ruffians from along the Huai who had crossed the border to plunder were captured; among them was a fugitive slave from the north.

栻曰：「朝廷未能正名討敵，無使疆場之事其曲在我。」命斬之以徇於境，而縛其亡奴歸之。北人歎曰：「南朝有人。」

Zhang Shi said: "The court has not yet formally declared war on the enemy—we must not let a frontier incident put us in the wrong." He ordered the bandits executed and their bodies displayed at the border as a warning, and sent the fugitive slave back in bonds. Northerners marveled: "The Southern court has men of principle."

信陽守劉大辯怙勢希賞，廣招流民，而奪見戶熟田以與之。栻劾大辨詐諼，所招流民不滿百，而虛增其數十倍，請論其罪，不報。章累上，大辯易他郡，栻自以不得其職求去，詔以右文殿修撰提舉武夷山沖佑觀。病且死，猶手疏勸上親君子遠小人，信任防一己之偏，好惡公天下之理。天下傳誦之。栻有公輔之望，卒時年四十有八。孝宗聞之，深為嗟悼，四方賢士大夫往往出涕相吊，而江陵、靜江之民尤哭之哀。嘉定間，賜諡曰宣。淳祐初，詔從祀孔子廟。

Liu Dabian, prefect of Xinyang, traded on influence to win favor, recruited displaced persons on a large scale, and seized cultivated land from established households to give to them. Zhang Shi impeached Dabian for fraud, showing that fewer than a hundred displaced persons had been recruited yet the numbers were inflated tenfold; he asked that Dabian be punished—there was no response. Memorial after memorial went up; Dabian was transferred to another post; Zhang Shi, feeling he could no longer serve effectively, asked to resign; an edict appointed him Compiler in the Hall of Culture and Classics and superintendent of the Chongyou Temple on Mount Wuyi. As illness brought him near death, he still wrote a memorial by hand urging the emperor to draw close to gentlemen and keep petty men at a distance, to guard against partiality in whom he trusted, and to let likes and dislikes be governed by what is right for all under Heaven. The whole realm copied and recited it. Zhang Shi had been widely expected to reach the highest offices; he died at forty-eight. When Xiaozong heard the news he mourned deeply; worthy scholars throughout the realm wept in one another's company, and the people of Jiangling and Jingjiang grieved most bitterly of all. During the Jiading era he was posthumously granted the temple name Xuan. At the opening of the Chunyou era, an edict enshrined him as a collateral sacrifice in Confucius's temple.

栻為人表裏洞然，勇於從義，無毫髮滯吝。每進對，必自盟於心，不可以人主意悅輒有所隨順。孝宗嘗言伏節死義之臣難得，栻對：「當于犯顏敢諫中求之。若平時不能犯顏敢諫，他日何望其伏節死義？」孝宗又言難得辦事之臣，栻對：「陛下當求曉事之臣，不當求辦事之臣。若但求辦事之臣，則他日敗陛下事者，未必非此人也。」栻自言：前後奏對忤上旨雖多，而上每念之，未嘗加怒者，所謂可以理奪雲爾。

Zhang Shi was transparent through and through—bold in following righteousness, without a hair's breadth of hesitation or holding back. Each time he came before the throne he swore to himself that he would not simply follow whatever happened to please the emperor's mood. Xiaozong once remarked that ministers who hold fast to principle and die for righteousness are hard to find; Zhang Shi answered: "Look for them among those who face the throne and dare to speak against it. If in ordinary times a man cannot face the throne and speak plainly, how can you expect him later to hold fast and die for principle?" Xiaozong spoke again of how hard it was to find men who could simply get things done; Zhang Shi replied: "Your Majesty should seek men who understand affairs—not men who merely get things done. If you seek only men who get things done, the very men who someday ruin your affairs may well be these same men." Zhang Shi himself said that though in audience after audience he often went against the emperor's wishes, the emperor always thought kindly of him and never showed anger—what is meant by being won over by reason alone.

其遠小人尤嚴。為都司日，肩輿出，遇曾覿，覿舉手欲揖，栻急掩其窗櫺，覿慚，手不得下。所至郡，暇日召諸生告語。民以事至庭，必隨事開曉。具為條教，大抵以正禮俗、明倫紀為先。斥異端，毀淫祠，而崇社稷山川古先聖賢之祀，舊典所遺，亦以義起也。

He was especially severe in keeping petty men at a distance. While serving in the capital, he went out in a sedan chair and met Zeng Di, who raised his hand to bow; Zhang Shi quickly shut his window screen; Di, shamed, could not bring his hand down. In every prefecture he served, on his free days he gathered students to teach them. When common people came to his court with their troubles, he always explained matters to them as the case required. He drew up full sets of regulations and instruction, putting first the rectification of custom and the clarification of human relationships. He drove out heterodox teachings, demolished illicit shrines, and restored proper worship of the altars of soil and grain, mountains and rivers, and the ancient sages; where the old rites had lapsed, he re-established them according to right principle.

栻聞道甚早，朱熹嘗言：「己之學乃銖積寸累而成，如敬夫，則于大本卓然先有見者也。」所著《論語孟子說》、《太極圖說》、《洙泗言仁》、《諸葛忠武侯傳》、《經世紀年》，皆行於世。栻之言曰：「學莫先於義利之辨。義者，本心之當為，非有為而為也。有為而為，則皆人欲，非天理。」此栻講學之要也。子焯。

Zhang Shi found the Way very early; Zhu Xi once said: "My own learning was built up grain by grain and inch by inch; as for Jingfu, he had already grasped the fundamental root with clear insight." His works—the Expositions on the Analects and Mencius, Exposition of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, Words on Humaneness at the Zhu and Si, Biography of Zhuge the Loyal Marquis of Wu, and Annals for Governing the Age—all circulated widely. Zhang Shi taught: "In learning, nothing comes before distinguishing righteousness from profit. Righteousness is what the original heart ought to do—not acting from ulterior motive. When one acts from ulterior motive, all of it is human desire, not Heavenly principle." This was the heart of Zhang Shi's teaching. His son was Zhang Zhuo.

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