2
Huang Gan, whose courtesy name was Zhiqing, came from Min County in Fuzhou. His father Yu had served as investigating censor under Emperor Gaozong and was famed for his earnest conduct and upright ways. When Yu died, Gan went to see Liu Qingzhi of Qingjiang. Qingzhi was struck by him and said, "You are meant for great things; the conventional learning of the day is no fit place for you." He then told him to take Zhu Xi as his teacher. Gan's household discipline was severe; he told his mother and left that very day. Snow lay deep; he reached Xi's place only to find him away, so Gan stayed at a guest inn, sleeping and waking on one couch without undressing for two months, until Xi finally came home. Once he was in Xi's presence he never laid out a bed at night or loosened his belt; when fatigue crept in he sat bolt upright, and one brief lean might carry him clear to daybreak. Xi told others, "Zhiqing's resolve is iron and his thought relentless; company with him does one real good." He once visited Lü Zuqian at Donglai and cross-checked what he had learned from Xi. When Zhang Shi of Guanghan passed away, Xi wrote to Gan, "My Way grows lonelier by the day; what I look for in a worthy man is no small thing." Later he gave his daughter to Gan in marriage.
3
When Ningzong ascended the throne, Xi had Gan present the congratulatory memorial; he was made probationary gentleman, passed civil-service selection, and received appointment as probationary merit officer supervising the Taizhou wine monopoly. When his mother died, a great host of scholars followed him to study at his mourning hut beside the grave. When Xi completed the Bamboo Grove Retreat he wrote Gan a letter saying, "When the time comes you may ask Zhiqing to step directly into my chair." While editing the Book of Rites he entrusted only the Mourning and Sacrifice volumes to Gan; when the draft was finished Xi read it with delight and said, "The scale and sequence you have laid down are tight and orderly; one day we should take the village, state, and court ritual sections and rework them all on this pattern." As his illness turned grave he gave Gan his deep robe and his books, and wrote in his own hand at farewell, "The trust of my Way is placed here; I have no regret." When the death notice came, Gan kept heart-mourning for three full years, then was reassigned to supervise the Shimen wine depot in Jiaxing Prefecture.
4
At that time Han Tuozhou was plotting war; Wu Lie, commanding Hubei, was about to take up his post and asked Gan about military affairs. Gan said, "I hear men at court say the realm now plans a great thrust deep into enemy country; if that is true, it is doomed to fail. What season is this for advancing and seizing ground?" Lie, who deeply respected Gan's name and virtue, appointed him to the reward wine depot of the Jinghu North Circuit pacification commission with additional preparatory dispatch; whenever anything was amiss he offered loyal remonstrance and fought it through.
5
Zhao Xiyi, Jiangxi intendant for ever-normal granaries, and Gao Shanglao, prefect of Fuzhou, made him magistrate of Linchuan; in a drought year he pressed grain sales and locust-catching with all his strength. He was moved to administer Xin'gan County; officials and people, knowing Linchuan's rule, were delighted, and government ran without fresh orders. Recommended by the intendant for ever-normal granaries and the prefect, he was raised to supervisor of the Six Ministries Gate; before he reported he was reassigned vice-prefect of Anfeng Army. The Huai-Xi command ordered Gan to try a Hezhou prison case long left doubtful; Gan freed the prisoners from fetters and fed them, questioning them at length yet learning nothing. One night he dreamed of someone in a well; next day he summoned the prisoner and said, "You killed a man and threw him down a well; I know everything—how dare you lie to me?" The prisoner confessed in alarm; a corpse was indeed found in an abandoned well.
6
He was soon appointed prefect of Hanyang. In a famine year he bought grain from merchants and opened ever-normal stores for relief. The pacification office ordered grain moved out of the command while banning local purchase; Gan asked that enforcement wait until he left office, and citing the Ezhou precedent reported one-tenth of purchases to the commission. Famine relief was fully carried out. Refugees from neighboring prefectures poured in; he treated them alike; when spring came those who wished to go home received grain, those who stayed were given shelters, and the people were deeply moved. Wherever he served he stressed schools and put nurture first. At Hanyang he built halls on Phoenix Perch Hill behind the yamen to lodge scholars from afar and raised shrines to the four masters Zhou, Cheng, You, and Zhu. He sought leave on grounds of illness and was made custodian of Chongyou Abbey on Mount Wuyi.
7
尋起知安慶府，至則金人破光山，而沿邊多警。 安慶去光山不遠，民情震恐。 乃請於朝，城安慶以備戰守，不俟報，即日興工。 城分十二料，先自築一料，計其工費若干，然後委官吏、寓公、士人分料主之。 役民兵五千人，人役九十日，而計人戶產錢起丁夫，通役二萬夫，人十日而罷。 役者更番，暑月月休六日，日午休一時，至秋漸殺其半。 榦日以五鼓坐於堂，濠砦官入聽命，以一日成算授之：役某鄉民兵若干，某鄉人夫若干； 分佈於某人料分，或搬運某處土木，應副某料使用； 某料民兵人夫合當更代，合散幾日錢米。 俱受命畢，乃治府事，理民訟，接賓客，閱士卒，會僚佐講究邊防利病，次則巡城視役，晚入書院講論經史。 築城之杵，用錢監未鑄之鐵，事畢還之。 城成，會上元日張燈，士民扶老攜幼，往來不絕。 有老嫗百歲，二子輿之，諸孫從，至府致謝。 榦禮之，命具酒炙，且勞以金帛。 嫗曰：「老婦之來，為一郡生靈謝耳，太守之賜非所冀也。」 不受而去。 是歲大旱，榦祈輒雨，或未出，晨興登郡閣，望灊山再拜，雨即至。 後二年，金人破黃州沙窩諸關，淮東、西皆震，獨安慶按堵如故。 繼而霖潦餘月，巨浸暴至，城屹然無虞。 舒人德之，相謂曰：「不殘於寇，不滔於水，生汝者黃父也。」
Soon he was recalled to Anqing; when he arrived the Jin had taken Guangshan and the frontier was alight with alarm. Anqing lay close to Guangshan, and popular fear ran high. He asked the court to wall Anqing for defense; without awaiting reply he began work that same day. The wall was split into twelve sections; he built one section first, reckoned its cost, then assigned officials, local notables, and gentry to each section. He drafted five thousand militiamen for ninety days each; by household wealth he raised twenty thousand corvée men for ten days each. Crews rotated; in summer they rested six days a month and one hour at noon; by autumn rest was cut in half. Each dawn at the fifth drum Gan sat in hall; moat officers took orders and received the day's plan: draft so many militia from one township, so many laborers from another; post them under a given section head, or haul timber and earth to a given section; when a section's militia and laborers should rotate, and how much cash and grain to pay on release. Orders given, he turned to prefectural affairs, lawsuits, guests, troop review, staff conferences on border ills, wall inspection, and evening lectures in the academy. Wall tampers used unminted iron from the mint; when work ended the metal went back. When the wall stood, Lantern Festival lights drew old and young in an unbroken stream. A centenarian was borne in a litter by two sons, grandsons following, to thank him at the yamen. Gan received her with ceremony, ordered wine and meat, and offered silk. She said, "I come to thank you for a whole commandery's lives, not suited for the prefect's bounty." She refused the gifts and left. That year drought was severe; his prayers brought rain; if rain delayed he rose at dawn, climbed the tower, bowed toward Mount Qian, and rain came. Two years later the Jin broke Huangzhou Shawan passes; both Huai regions shook, yet Anqing alone stayed calm. Months of rain followed; floodwaters rose, yet the wall held without harm. Shu people said, "Neither bandits nor flood destroyed us—Father Huang gave us life."
8
Pacification commissioner Li Jue made him consulting officer; twice he declined. The court then swapped him with Xu Qiao at Hezhou and ordered him to the pacification office first; Gan surrendered his seal and went at once. Hezhou people awaited him, saying, "This is he who once tried a capital case here and was moved by a dream of someone in a well—perhaps he can right our wrongs."
9
先是，榦移書珏曰：「丞相誅韓之後，懲意外之變，專用左右親信之人，往往得罪於天下公議。 世之君子遂從而歸咎於丞相，丞相不堪其咎，繼然逐去之，而左右親信者其用愈專矣。 平居無事，紀綱紊亂，不過州縣之間，百姓受禍。 至於軍政不修，邊備廢弛，皆此曹為之，若今大敵在境，更不改圖，大事去矣。 今日之急，莫大於此。」 又曰：「今日之計，莫若用兩淮之人，食兩淮之粟，守兩淮之地。 然其策當先明保伍，保伍既明，則為之立堡砦，蓄馬、製軍器以資其用，不過累月，軍政可成。 且淮民遭丙寅之厄，今聞金人遷汴，莫不狼顧脅息，有棄田廬、挈妻子渡江之意，其間勇悍者。 且將伺變竊發。 嚮日胡海、張軍之變，為害甚於金，今若不早為之圖，則兩淮日見荒墟，卒有警急，攘臂而起矣。」 珏皆不能用。
Earlier Gan wrote Jue, "After the chief minister killed Han, fearing surprise, he relied only on close favorites who have often offended public opinion. Worthy men blamed the chief minister; unable to bear it he drove them away, while favorites grew more exclusive. In quiet times discipline broke down to county level and the people suffered. Military neglect and slack borders were their work; with the enemy at the gate, without change the cause is lost. Today's urgency is nowhere greater than this." He also said, "The plan for today is to use men of the two Huai, eat their grain, and hold their land. But policy must first clarify mutual-aid units; then build forts, keep horses, and forge arms—in a few months the army can be made whole. Since the bingyin disaster Huai people, hearing the Jin move to Bian, tremble and gasp, ready to abandon farms and cross the river with families; among them are fierce men, who will watch their chance to rise in secret revolt. Hu Hai and Zhang Jun's revolts once hurt us more than the Jin; without early planning the two Huai will become desert, and at the first alarm men will rise." Jue could adopt none of it.
10
At the pacification office Jue went to Huaiyang to inspect troops and took Gan, who said, "The enemy has withdrawn; it is time to reward merit and punish guilt. Cui Weiyang built a fort at Qingpingshan in advance and cut the Jin right wing; Fang Yizhen organized defense so troops and people did not panic—these two should be recommended. In the Sizhou defeat Liu Zhuo deserves death. Three officials of one prefecture fled with families; pursue and punish, then memorialize." Then the staff were frivolous; plans from officials, clerks, gentry, or people were mostly torn up. Generals were partisan, hearts did not unite, and nothing succeeded. Refugees clogged the roads while department heads feasted without a day free. Knowing he could not serve with them, Gan returned from Huaiyang, declined Hezhou again, begged a sinecure, shut his doors, and joined no feasts. He wrote Jue again, saying:
11
浮光敵退已兩月，安豐已一月，盱眙亦將兩旬，不知吾所措置者何事，所施行者何策。 邊備之弛，又甚於前，日復一日，恬不知懼，恐其禍又不止今春矣。 向者輕信人言，為泗上之役，喪師萬人。 良將勁卒、精兵利器，不戰而淪於泗水，黃團老幼，俘虜殺戮五六千人，盱眙東西數百里，莽為丘墟。 安豐、浮光之事大率類此。 切意千乘言旋，必痛自咎責，出宿於外，大戒於國，曰：「此吾之罪也，有能箴吾失者，疾入諫。」 日與僚屬及四方賢士討論條畫，以為後圖。 今歸已五日矣，但聞請總領、運使至玉麟堂賞牡丹，用妓樂，又聞總領、運使請宴賞亦然，又聞宴僚屬亦然。 邦人諸軍聞之，豈不痛憤。 且視牡丹之紅艷，豈不思邊庭之流血； 視管弦之啁啾，豈不思老幼之哀號； 視棟宇之宏麗，豈不思士卒之暴露； 視飲饌之豐美，豈不思流民之凍餒。 敵國深侵，宇內騷動，主上食不甘味，聽朝不怡； 大臣憂懼，不知所出。 尚書豈得不朝夕憂懼，而乃如是之迂緩暇逸耶！ 今浮光之報又至矣，金欲以十六縣之眾，四月攻浮光，侵五關，且以一縣五千人為率，則當有八萬人攻浮光，以萬人刈吾麥，以五萬人攻吾關。 吾之守關不過五六百人，豈能當萬人之眾哉？ 則關之不可守決矣。 五關失守，則蘄、黃決不可保； 蘄、黃不保，則江南危。 尚書聞此亦已數日，乃不聞有所施行，何耶？
The enemy left Fuguang two months ago, Anfeng one month, Xuyi nearly twenty days—what have we done, what policy enacted? Border defense is laxer than before; day by day complacency grows—I fear disaster will not end with this spring. Earlier, trusting men's words, you undertook Sizhou and lost ten thousand men. Good generals, crack troops, sharp weapons—all went to the Sishui without fighting; Huang and Tuan lost five or six thousand; for hundreds of li around Xuyi the land is ruin. Anfeng and Fuguang were much the same. I thought on your return you would blame yourself, lodge outside, warn the realm, and say, "This is my fault; whoever can admonish me, speak at once." Daily you would debate plans with staff and worthies from afar. Five days since return, yet I hear only of inviting fiscal and transport chiefs to Yulin Hall for peonies with singing girls, and the same at other feasts. When command people and armies hear this, how can they not rage? To gaze on crimson peonies—is one blind to border blood? To hear pipes twitter—is one deaf to old and young wailing? To view grand halls—is one blind to soldiers' exposure? To taste rich fare—is one deaf to refugees starving? The enemy presses deep; the realm trembles; the Son of Heaven eats without taste and holds court in grief; ministers are anxious and know not what to do. How can the Secretariat not worry day and night, yet be so slow and leisurely! Word from Fuguang: the Jin will attack in the fourth month with sixteen counties—eighty thousand on Fuguang, ten thousand reaping our wheat, fifty thousand on the passes. Our garrisons hold five or six hundred each—how withstand ten thousand? The passes cannot be held—that is settled. If the five passes fall, Qi and Huang cannot be held; if Qi and Huang fall, Jiangnan is in peril. The Secretariat has heard this for days, yet nothing is done—why?
12
其它言皆激切，同幕忌之尤甚，共詆排之。 厥後光、黃、蘄繼失，果如其言。 遂力辭去，請祠不已。
His other words were equally sharp; secretariat colleagues hated him and slandered him together. Later Guang, Huang, and Qi fell in turn, just as he had warned. He pressed to leave and begged a sinecure without cease.
13
Soon he was ordered again to Anqing but declined; he went to Mount Lu to visit Li Fan and Chen Mi, wandered Jade Abyss and the Three Gorges, traced their teacher's footsteps, lectured on Qian and Kun at White Deer Academy, and scholars from north and south of the mountain gathered. Soon he was summoned to court; made vice director of judicial review he refused, and censor Li Nan impeached him.
14
When Gan first entered the Jing-Hu secretariat he traveled the passes and mingled with Jiang-Huai heroes who often wished to follow him. As vice-prefect at Anfeng and Wuding, the generals all gave him their loyalty. Later at Jiankang and as prefect of Hanyang his renown grew. Heroes knew Gan was bold and shrewd; at Anqing, also on the pacification staff, Long Huai soldiers and people turned to him as one. Once this spread, those in power feared he would speak frankly on the border at audience and awaken the throne; they banded together to force him out.
15
Gan went home; disciples multiplied; scholars from Ba-Shu and the lakes came; he edited rites and wrote books by day and lectured on principle by night without rest, lodging students at a neighboring monastery as in Xi's day. Ordered to Chaozhou he declined; assigned to Mingdao Palace in Bozhou, within a month he sought retirement, was granted it, and made Gentleman for Discussion. Years after his death disciples sought a posthumous name; he was specially granted the rank of Gentleman for Court Service, one son received lower-prefecture literary studies, and his posthumous title was Wensu. His classical exegesis and collected writings circulate in the world.
16
Li Fan, courtesy name Jingzi, was from Jianchang in Nan'kang. Orphaned young, he lived with his mother's kin. In the first year of Shaoxi he passed the jinshi, was made professor at Yuezhou, and before reporting went to Jianyang to study under Zhu Xi. Xi cited Zengzi on resolute breadth and said, "Distance demands resoluteness, but bearing a heavy charge values breadth more." Fan withdrew and named his study "Breadth" to admonish himself. At Yuezhou he taught the ancient texts and six arts against fashion and said, "Men of old were versatile; in office they united civil and military skill." He picked keen military students, opened an archery ground, and had them drill; he brought in veteran masters of arms to discipline the lax. When his grandmother died he left office to mourn.
17
He was made professor at Xiangyang Prefecture. He visited Xi again; Xi praised him; students not yet clear were sent first to Fan, then to Xi for judgment, and all submitted in awe. Xi said, "Fan's friendships help and his learning awes; he is plain and upright in affairs—he will bear the Way hereafter." When Xi died learning was banned; Fan led fellows to the funeral and watched the tomb sealed without fear. When the court sought hidden worthies Jiujiang recommended Fan; summoned to court examination he declined, and declined again. The prefect made him hall director at White Deer Academy; scholars gathered and lectures flourished beyond any other prefecture.
18
Made judicial review director he declined; soon given additional duty on the Jiangxi transport staff; Li Jue and Wang Bu both recommended him. When Yao bandits rose, commander and transport commissioner debated how to pacify them but disagreed. Fan said slowly, "Are bandits not our people as well? Must every one of them be evil? They are as they are because greedy officials provoked them and officers seeking merit pressed the walls. Reverse that and they are people again." Commander and commissioner said, "The staff officer is right. Who can go?" Fan volunteered; he stationed troops at Wan'an, met nearby Yao patrol officers, replaced the worst corner guards, held the defiles, sent speakers to explain fortune to the rebels, and all submitted.
19
Hongzhou is low-lying; when the Gan rose dikes broke and long rain flooded; Fan had them repaired and fields became fertile. The transport office, as new fourteen-border huizi lost value daily, ordered households to hoard sealed notes under inspection—disobedience meant tattooing—yet people clamored with empty certificates and notes sold less. Fan and Guozijian recorder Li Cheng fought it together but could not stop it. Fan memorialized again: "Money is scarce and paper floods; parent and child cannot balance; notes fail because money cannot balance them. Forcing people to hoard notes that do not circulate is to discard a thing. Truly economize, put grain first, do not insist on paper, and paper becomes useful." When the memorial arrived the transport office relaxed the ban and apologized to Fan. Fan saw community granaries lent only to landowners while tenants gained nothing; he gathered grain for a granary to lend to tenants.
20
An edict promoted him; made vice-prefect of Tanzhou he declined but was refused. When Zhen Dexiu commanded Changsha, the whole prefecture consulted Fan. Within months he resigned and went home. When Shi Miyuan ruled and deposed Imperial Son Hong, Fan, seeing the three bonds at stake, never went out again. Zhen Dexiu and Wei Liaoweng recommended him; acting vice-prefect of Longxing and consulting officer under Wei Dayou he declined; he was made direct gentleman of the Secretariat in charge of Zhidao Palace. Thinking he could not repay the state in retirement, Fan recommended Cui Yuzhi, Wei Liaoweng, Zhen Dexiu, Chen Mi, Zheng Yin, Yang Changru, Ding Fu, Qi Zai, Gong Weifan, Xu Qiao, Liu Zai, and Hong Zikui.
21
In Shaoding year 5 the emperor spoke of eminent men who would not come when summoned; Li Xinchuan answered with Fan: "Fan is Zhu Xi's chief disciple; in learning and conduct he is next to Huang Gan—within the seas there is only this one." Asked where Fan was, Xinchuan said, "Fan is from Nan'kang; the former emperor summoned him as judicial review director and he would not come; recently he has begged retirement. If Your Majesty could summon him to the lecture seat, how shallow would the benefit to sagely learning be!" The emperor agreed but never summoned him. Cai Niancheng of Jiujiang said Fan's inner life was like the autumn moon. Fan died at seventy; given Direct Huawen Gentleman and posthumous Wending; his son received lower-prefecture literary studies.
22
Fan once said, "One need not wait for office to have achievement; wherever strength reaches to help others, that is achievement." He also said, "Even as minister one must not lose plain simplicity. The Master's ease wherever he entered was to grind pride and luxury so dwelling would not shift temper nor nurture shift the body." He quoted an old saying: "Where rank sits, not a hair may one climb; the wise step back." Fan in poverty and hardship was unmoved as in ordinary times and wore plain cloth though honored. In forty-two years of service he passed no more than seven evaluations. At home he taught the Way; scholars honored him; with Huang Gan he was called Huang and Li." His grandson Biao passed the jinshi.
23
Zhang Qia, courtesy name Yuande, was from Qingjiang in Linjiang. His father Fu passed the jinshi. Qia was precocious and studied under Zhu Xi; from the Six Classics down he traced every teaching; he read the hundred schools, geographies, Laozi, and Buddhist texts without exception. He took Guanzi's "Think, think; think again; if thought fails, spirits will aid" as the key to exhausting principle. Xi praised his resolve and told Huang Gan, "Those who will perpetuate the Way—such men are few."
24
When the community-granary law was in force, Qia asked the county to lend three hundred piculs of ever-normal grain, built a granary in the village, returned the principal in six years, and the villagers profited. In the first year of Jiading he passed and was made sheriff of Songzi. Lake-right land boundaries were wrong and abuses grew; Qia carried out push-and-check and the prefecture entrusted him. He had people report land and property into a chest, calculated and ranked them, and clerical fraud could not hide. More than ten years later litigants still cited it as proof.
25
He was made judicial military adjutant of Yuanzhou. A great prisoner confessed then changed his tale and swayed officials; for years it was unresolved while many remained detained. Qia reported to the judicial intendant and had him executed. A very cunning thief defied his questioning. When brothers disputed property Qia said, "Court is only clerks' ground; risking law to win—why not keep your shares and preserve brotherly love?" His tone was earnest and the litigants were moved. The thief heard and confessed. A killer bribed his son to burn the corpse; years later it was exposed; Qia found no proof, worried, and asked the prefect to investigate on site. Soon he dreamed of someone bowing in court showing rib wounds. Next day the officer reported, and it was so.
26
The prefect, finding granaries empty, registered twenty granary households and ordered Qia to try them; Qia knew the chief clerk had framed them. The chief clerk was the prefecture's great parasite; refused at the granary, he framed these men. Qia saw the prefect was sharp and not to be crossed; he detained the clerk and secretly counted intake, telling the prefect, "Your twenty households are because of clerks. Comparing years of intake, stores are richer than before—the clerks lied. You cannot bear clerks' lies yet register innocent households. Punish the clerks and the fault is escaped." The prefect understood, dismissed the chief clerk, and released the households.
27
He was made magistrate of Yongxin. On leave he heard beating in the prison—a jailer had taken a bribe and forced a false confession. Qia in rage seized him, jailed him, and next day reported to the prefecture for tattooing. Ling bandits rebelled in Hunan; the county bordered them and people were terrified. Qia went alone in a single cart; aides and resident gentry urged him in turn but he would not hear them. He arrived before the bandits; he received corner officers, asked their needs, rewarded them, toured the Anfu border, made covenants with local strongmen, and won their hearts. Soon Nan'an Shu bandits were about to invade; hearing defenses were ready, they withdrew.
28
Recommended by the Jiangdong ever-normal intendant, he became vice-prefect of Chizhou. Zhang Dexiu in prison had kicked a man to death by mistake; the jailer charged murder; Qia doubted it and asked a retrial; the prefect refused. Ever-normal intendant Yuan Fu arrived in great drought; prayers failed; Qia told Fu, "Since Han and Jin, harsh punishment brought drought and righting wrongs brought rain—books record it. Today drought is severe—who knows it is not the Dexiu case?" Fu reviewed the prison papers and Dexiu received penal servitude. Qia asked the prefect to cancel levies and ease collection to summon harmony; the prefect eased taxes. Three days later rain fell and the people rejoiced. Qia had often begged a sinecure for illness; now he kept Xiandu Abbey in Jianchang and received crimson robe and silver fish by Celebrating Longevity grace.
29
Yuan Fu was Jiangdong judicial intendant; finding White Deer Academy neglected, he made Qia director. Qia said, "That is my teacher's place—how can I refuse!" He chose keen students for daily lectures and removed the unruly. He recovered student-support fields seized by powerful families. When the academy flourished he resigned on illness and left.
30
At Duanping's start ministers recommended Qia; summoned to court examination he stayed home for illness; made secretary then assistant compiler. Du Zheng and Ye Weidao served the classics mat; the emperor asked when Qia would come to make him expositor; Qia declined and was made direct gentleman keeping Chongxi Abbey in Jiankang. In the first year of Jiaxi he sought retirement for illness; in the tenth month he died at seventy-seven.
31
From youth he worked at reverence and named his study "Maintaining Oneness." In daily life he seemed ordinary, but where duty called his courage could not be shaken. Retired he did not discuss court affairs, yet disasters wrung his brow; when a worthy was advanced or gentlemen spoke frankly of court errors, joy showed on his face. His friends were famous men—Lü Zujian, Huang Gan, Zhao Chongxian, Cai Yuan, Wu Bida, Fu Guang, Li Daochuan, Li Fan, Ye Weidao, Li Hongzu, Li Fangzi, Chai Zhongxing, Zhen Dexiu, Wei Liaoweng, Li Zhi, Zhao Rujing, Chen Guiyi, Du Xiaoyan, Du Zheng, Zhang Sigu—all revered him. A day after his death an edict made him Direct Baozhang Gentleman. He wrote Collected Notes on the Spring and Autumn, Collected Commentary, Zuo Tradition Primer, Outline of the Continued Mirror, geographical tables through the ages, and collected works.
33
Chen Chun, courtesy name Anqing, was from Longxi in Zhangzhou. Young he studied for examinations; Lin Zongchen marveled and said, "This is not the work of sages." He gave him Reflections on Things Near at Hand; Chun read it and abandoned examination studies.
34
When Zhu Xi governed his district Chun sought instruction; Xi said, "In examining principle exhaust its root—why does fatherhood stop at kindness, sonhood at filial piety; infer the rest by kind." Chun pressed harder and daily sought what he had not reached. Xi often told people, "Coming south, I am glad to have gained Chen Chun"; when students disagreed he called Chun good at questions. Ten years later Chun presented his attainments; Xi was gravely ill and said, "You have seen the root; what lacks is lower learning." Thereafter he heard only essential words; in three months Xi died.
35
Recalling his teacher he restrained himself, read all books, investigated all things, and month by month principle ran clear. On the Supreme Ultimate he said: "It is only principle; principle is round, so its substance is undifferentiated. In principle, from branch to root and root to branch, gathering and scattering, the Supreme Ultimate reaches everywhere. From endless past to endless future without beginning or end—this is the whole undifferentiated Supreme Ultimate. From still emptiness all things emerge; once emerged it returns to still emptiness—the wondrous function of the limitless. The sage's one mind is the whole undifferentiated Supreme Ultimate; responding to change is all its circulating function. Learning must run through all things and gather one undifferentiated root, then scatter again without obstruction—then the utmost substance is in oneself and the great function is true."
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其言仁曰：「仁只是天理生生之全體，無表裡、動靜、隱顯、精粗之間，惟此心純是天理之公，而絕無一毫人欲之私，乃可以當其名。 若一處有病痛，一事有欠闕，一念有間斷，則私意行而生理息，即頑痹不仁矣。」
On benevolence: "Benevolence is heaven's principle wholly alive, without gap between inner and outer, movement and stillness; only when the mind is purely heaven's public without human desire can it bear the name. One pain, one lack, one broken thought—and private intent runs while living principle stops: that is benumbed unbenevolence."
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其語學者曰：「道理初無玄妙，只在日用人事間，但循序用功，便自有見。 所謂『下學上達』者，須下學工夫到，乃可從事上達，然不可以此而安於小成也。 夫盈天地間千條萬緒，是多少人事； 聖人大成之地，千節萬目，是多少功夫。 惟當開拓心胸，大作基址。 須萬理明徹於胸中，將此心放在天地間一例看，然後可以語孔、孟之樂。 須明三代法度，通之於當今而無不宜，然後為全儒，而可以語王佐事業。 須運用酬酢，如探諸囊中而不匱，然後為資之深，取之左右逢其原，而真為已物矣。 至於以天理人欲分數而驗賓主進退之幾，如好好色，惡惡臭，而為天理人欲強弱之證，必使之於是是非非如辨黑白，如遇鏌鎁，不容有騎牆不決之疑，則雖艱難險阻之中，無不從容自適，夫然後為知之至而行之盡。」 此語又中學者膏肓，而示以標的也。
He told learners: "Principle is not mysterious; it is in daily affairs; apply effort in order and you will see. Lower learning reaching upward' needs lower learning complete before upward work—but do not rest in small accomplishment. Filling heaven and earth are thousands of threads—how many human affairs; the sage's ground of great completion has thousands of joints and myriad facets—how much effort. One must open the mind and lay a great foundation. Myriad principles must be clear in the breast; view the mind as one with the world—then one may speak of Confucius and Mencius's joy. Understand Three Dynasties institutions and apply them to the present—then one is a complete Confucian fit for king-assisting work. Deploy and respond as from an inexhaustible bag—then the store is deep, left and right meet the source, and it is truly one's own. Divide principle and desire, test advance and retreat as loving beauty and hating stench—yes and no must be black and white, no straddling; then even in danger one is at ease: knowing is utmost and action complete." This speech struck learners' deep sickness and showed the target.
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Filial by nature, when his mother was critical he wept to heaven and begged to take her place. He married off brothers and sisters not yet wed. He buried clansmen with nowhere to bury their dead. In the village he did not chase fame but calmly withdrew as if unknown. His name spread worldwide; though unused, his talk of the times moved people; prefects honored him and came to his hut.
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In Jiading year 9, awaiting capital examination, he passed Yanling; Prefect Zheng Zhitie and staff heard him lecture at the prefectural school. Chun lamented Lu, Zhang, and Wang: learning without source, using Chan aims, taking void spirit and awareness as heaven's principle, skipping investigation yet claiming the sage's gate. He set forth our Way's substance, teachers' source, effort's nodes, and reading's order in four chapters for learners. Next year by special grace he was made probationary merit officer and Anxi recorder in Quanzhou; before reporting he died at sixty-five. He wrote oral exegeses on the Four Books, Rites, Odes, and Women's Learning; disciples recorded What Was Heard at Jun Valley, Lai Mouth, and Jin Mountain.
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Li Fangzi, courtesy name Gonghui, was from Zhaowu. Young he was learned and wrote well; proper, cautious, pure, and earnest. Meeting Zhu Xi, Xi said, "You are naturally free of many faults—but breadth needs rule and gentleness needs firm decision." He named his study "Fruit." At the Imperial College, academic officer Li Daochuan set aside rank and came with calling cards.
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In Jiading year 7 he placed third in the palace exam and was made Quanzhou investigating officer. Zhen Dexiu came as prefect and treated him as teacher and friend; all prefectural affairs were consulted. In leisure they debated classics until midnight without tiring. By precedent one must write the temple before promotion; Fangzi said, "Writing the temple is begging." Chief minister Miyuan was angry; after a year he was made Guozijian recorder. Soon to be chosen for palace staff, Fangzi would not demean himself to fit in. Someone told Miyuan, "He is Zhen Dexiu's man." Censors impeached and dismissed him.
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Returned, learners gathered; he sat upright all day; with guests he spoke no careless word; even slaves he did not revile yet they feared him. He said, "Though not thorough in learning, on the great root I have insight; this mind stays calm and is not soaked by desire." At his death the emperor pitied him and favored one son.
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Huang Hao, courtesy name Shangbo, was from Duchang in Nan'kang. Young he was keen and memorized well; three years at Jingshan monastery, then the college and jinshi. Professor at Longxing and magistrate of Dehua—he rooted work in schools and good government. In famine he relieved with method. Wang Lin and Liu Ying recommended him; he was made Petition Drum Court officer. Guangzong made him Imperial Sacrifices recorder; he said ritual teaching was abandoned and asked offices to revise Zhenghe rites and books by Sima Guang and Gao Kang and enact them.
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除太府寺丞，出知常州，提舉本路常平。 秀州海鹽民伐桑柘，毀屋廬，莩殣盈野，或食其子持一臂行乞，而州縣方督促捕欠，顥見之蹙然。 時有旨倚閣夏稅，遂奏乞並閣秋苗，不俟報行之。 言者罪其專，移居筠州，已而寢謫命，止削兩秩，而從其蠲閣之請。
Vice director of the Imperial Treasury, then prefect of Changzhou and circuit ever-normal intendant. At Xiuzhou Haiyan people cut trees and destroyed homes; corpses filled the fields and some ate their children begging with an arm—yet counties pressed for arrears; Hao knit his brow. An order deferred summer tax; he memorialized to defer autumn grain too and enacted without awaiting reply. Critics faulted his overreach; he was moved to Yunzhou; later demotion was suspended—two ranks cut but deferral was granted.
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Home again, plain scarf and deep robe, riding a donkey on Mount Lu like a recluse. Recalled to Xinzhou, made Guangxi transport judge, Guangdong judicial intendant—he pleaded age and would not go. He died.
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