1
范冲，字元長，登紹聖進士第。 高宗即位，召為虞部員外郎，俄出為兩淮轉運副使。
Fan Chong, whose courtesy name was Yuanchang, obtained his jinshi degree in the Shaosheng reign period. When Emperor Gaozong came to the throne, Chong was called to serve as Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue, and before long was posted as Vice Commissioner of Transport for the Two Huai circuits.
2
紹興中，隆祐皇后誕日，上置酒宮中，從容語及前朝事，後曰：「吾老矣，有所懷為官家言之。 吾逮事宣仁聖烈皇后，聰明母儀，古今未見其比。 曩因姦臣誣謗，有玷聖德，建炎初雖下詔辨明，而史錄未經刪定，無以傳信後世，而慰在天之靈也。」 上悚然，亟詔重修神、哲兩朝《實錄》，召冲為宗正少卿兼直史館。 冲父祖禹，元祐中嘗修《神宗實錄》，盡書王安石之過，以明神宗之聖。 其後安石婿蔡卞惡之，祖禹坐謫死嶺表。 至是復以命冲，上謂之曰：「兩朝大典，皆為姦臣所壞，故以屬卿。」 冲因論熙寧創置，元祐復古，紹聖以降弛張不一，本末先後，各有所因。 又極言王安石變法度之非，蔡京誤國之罪。 上嘉納之，遷起居郎。
During the Shaoxing period, on the birthday of Empress Dowager Longyou, the emperor held a banquet in the palace and spoke at leisure of matters from the previous reign. The empress said, "I am old now, and there is something I wish to say to you, Son of Heaven. I once attended Empress Dowager Xuanren, the Sagely and Virtuous; in wisdom and dignity as a mother of the realm, none in past or present has ever equaled her. Long ago treacherous ministers defamed her and stained her sacred reputation. Although an edict at the start of the Jianyan era cleared her name, the historical record has never been edited and settled, so that truth cannot be handed down to later ages and her spirit in Heaven cannot be consoled." The emperor was deeply moved and at once ordered the Veritable Records of the Shenzong and Zhezong reigns to be thoroughly revised, summoning Chong to serve as Vice Director of the Imperial Clan Court with concurrent appointment in the Historiography Institute. Chong's father Fan Zuyu had compiled the Veritable Record of Emperor Shenzong during the Yuanyou era, setting down all of Wang Anshi's errors so as to make plain the emperor's own sagacity. Later Wang Anshi's son-in-law Cai Bian took offense at this work, and Zuyu was banished on that account and died in the far south. Now the commission was given again to Chong. The emperor said to him, "The great chronicles of both reigns were ruined by treacherous ministers; that is why I entrust this work to you." Chong went on to discuss how the Xining reign had created new institutions, how Yuanyou had restored older ways, and how from Shaosheng onward policy had alternately tightened and relaxed—each change, he argued, had its own root causes in sequence and circumstance. He also spoke at length against Wang Anshi's reforms of laws and institutions and against Cai Jing's crime of having misled the state. The emperor approved his counsel and promoted him to Attendant Gentleman for Court Audiences.
3
俄開講筵，陞兼侍讀。 上雅好《左氏春秋》，命冲與朱震專講。 冲敷衍經旨，因以規諷，上未嘗不稱善。 會皇子建國公瑗出就傅，首命冲以徽猷閣待制提舉建隆觀，為資善堂翊善，而朱震兼贊讀。 詔曰：「朕為宗廟社稷大計，不敢私於一身，選於屬籍，得藝祖七世孫鞠之宮中。 茲擇剛辰，出就外傅，宜有端良之士以充輔導之官，博觀在廷，無以易汝冲，德行文學，為時正人。 乃祖發議嘉祐之初，乃父納忠元祐之際，敷求是似，尚有典刑。 顧資善之開，史館經筵，姑仍厥舊。 朕方求多聞之益，爾實兼數器之長，施及童蒙，綽有餘裕。 蔽自朕志，宜即安之。」 時張浚在長沙，亦薦冲、震可備訓導。 冲、震皆一時名德老成，極天下之選，上命建國公見翊善、贊讀，皆納拜。 俄遷翰林學士兼侍讀，冲力辭，改翰林侍讀學士，用其父故事也。 尋以龍圖閣直學士奉祠。 卒，年七十五。
Before long the imperial lecture hall was opened, and he was promoted to serve concurrently as Lecturer-in-Waiting. The emperor was especially fond of the Zuo Commentary to the Spring and Autumn Annals and ordered Chong and Zhu Zhen to lecture on it exclusively. Chong would unfold the meaning of the text and use it to offer gentle remonstrance, and the emperor never failed to commend him. When the prince, Guogong Yuan, left the palace to take up his studies, Chong was first appointed acting commissioner of the Huiyou Pavilion and director of the Jianlong Abbey, to serve as adjutant tutor in the Hall of Supporting Goodness, while Zhu Zhen served concurrently as lecturer and reader. The edict read, "For the great design of the ancestral temple and the altars of state, We dare not indulge Our private person. Choosing from among the imperial clan, We found a seventh-generation descendant of our dynastic founder and reared him within the palace. On this chosen auspicious day he goes forth to take an outer tutor. Upright and excellent men should fill the posts that guide and instruct him. Surveying the whole court, We find none to replace you, Chong: in conduct, virtue, and learning you are a man of integrity in this age. Your grandfather advanced proposals at the opening of the Jiayou era; your father offered loyal counsel in the Yuanyou period. To spread such examples and seek their likeness is still to preserve the standards of former worthies. As for the opening of the Hall of Supporting Goodness, the Historiography Institute, and the lecture hall, for the present let the former arrangements stand. We are now seeking the benefit of broad learning, and you truly unite many kinds of excellence. Applied to a child still in his first studies, you will have more than enough to spare. This is Our settled wish; you should take up the post at once." At that time Zhang Jun, stationed at Changsha, also recommended Chong and Zhen as fit to serve in the prince's instruction. Chong and Zhen were both eminent men of established virtue, the finest choice in the realm. The emperor ordered Prince Guogong to receive the adjutant tutor and lecturer-reader with full ceremonial obeisance. Soon he was promoted to Hanlin Academician with concurrent service as lecturer-in-waiting, but Chong firmly declined and was instead made Hanlin Lecturer-in-Waiting Academician, following his father's precedent. Before long he was appointed a direct academician of the Longtu Hall with the privilege of receiving sacrificial emoluments. He died at the age of seventy-five.
4
冲之修《神宗實錄》也，為《考異》一書，明示去取，舊文以墨書，刪去者以黃書，新修者以朱書，世號「朱墨史」。 及修《哲宗實錄》，別為一書，名《辨誣錄》。 冲性好義樂善，司馬光家屬皆依冲所，冲撫育之。 為光編類《記聞》十卷奏御，請以光之族曾孫宗召主光祀。 又嘗薦尹焞自代云。
In revising the Veritable Record of Emperor Shenzong, Chong compiled a work called Examination of Differences that made plain what was retained and what was removed: the old text in black, deletions in yellow, and new revisions in red. His contemporaries called it the "Red-and-Black History." When he revised the Veritable Record of Emperor Zhezong, he produced a separate work entitled Record of Refuting Slander. By nature Chong loved righteousness and delighted in doing good. The dependents of Sima Guang's household all looked to him, and he cared for them. He edited Guang's Record of What I Heard into ten fascicles and presented them to the throne, asking that Guang's great-great-grandson Zongzhao be appointed to preside over Guang's sacrifices. It is also recorded that he once recommended Yin Chun to succeed him.
5
朱震，字子發，荊門軍人。 登政和進士第，仕州縣以廉稱。 胡安國一見大器之，薦於高宗，召為司勳員外郎，震稱疾不至。 會江西制置使趙鼎入為參知政事，上諮以當世人才，鼎曰：「臣所知朱震，學術深博，廉正守道，士之冠冕，使位講讀，必有益於陛下。」 上乃召之。 既至，上問以《易》、《春秋》之旨，震具以所學對。 上說，擢為祠部員外郎，兼川、陝、荊、襄都督府詳議官。 震因言：「荊、襄之間，沿漢上下，膏腴之田七百餘里，若選良將領部曲鎮之，招集流亡，務農種穀，寇來則禦，寇去則耕，不過三年，兵食自足。 又給茶鹽鈔於軍中，募人中糴，可以下江西之舟，通湘中之粟。 觀釁而動，席卷河南，此以逸待勞，萬全計也。」
Zhu Zhen, courtesy name Zifa, was a native of Jingmen. He passed the jinshi examination in the Zhenghe era and served in local government, where he was known for integrity. Hu Anguo, upon meeting him once, recognized his great promise and recommended him to Emperor Gaozong, who summoned him to the post of Vice Director of the Ministry of Merits; Zhen pleaded illness and did not go. When Zhao Ding, military commissioner of Jiangxi, entered the capital as vice grand councilor, the emperor asked him about the leading men of the day. Ding said, "The Zhu Zhen I know has learning both deep and broad, is upright and steadfast in the Way, and stands at the head of scholars. If he were placed among those who lecture and read to Your Majesty, he would surely be of benefit." The emperor then summoned him. When he arrived, the emperor questioned him on the meaning of the Book of Changes and the Spring and Autumn Annals, and Zhen answered fully from his own learning. The emperor was pleased and promoted him to Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites, with concurrent appointment as review officer on the staff of the military headquarters for Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hubei, and Xiangyang. Zhen then said, "Between Jingzhou and Xiangyang, along the upper and lower reaches of the Han, lie more than seven hundred li of rich farmland. If a capable general were chosen to station troops there, gather the displaced, and devote them to farming and grain planting—fighting when the enemy comes, plowing when they withdraw—within three years the army's food supply would be secure. Moreover, if tea-and-salt exchange notes were issued to the army and men were recruited to buy grain on the spot, boats from Jiangxi could be relieved of their burden and grain from central Hunan could be brought through. Watch for the moment to strike and sweep across the North China plain—this is to meet a weary foe with rested troops, a plan of complete security."
6
遷秘書少監兼侍經筵，轉起居郎。 建國公出就傅，以震為讚讀，仍賜五品服。 遷中書舍人兼翊善。 時郭千里除將作監丞，震言：「千里侵奪民田，曾經按治，願寢新命。」 從之。 轉給事中兼直學士院，遷翰林學士。 是時，虔州民為盜，天子以為憂，選良太守往慰撫之。 將行，震曰：「使居官者廉而不擾，則百姓自安，雖誘之為盜，亦不為矣。 願詔新太守到官之日，條具本郡及屬縣官吏有貪墨無狀者，一切罷去，聽其自擇慈祥仁惠之人，有治效者優加獎勸。」 上從其言。 故事，當喪無享廟之禮。 時徽宗未祔廟，太常少卿吳表臣奏行明堂之祭。 震因言：「《王制》：『喪三年不祭，惟天地社稷為越紼而行事。』 《春秋》書『夏五月乙酉，吉，禘於莊公』，《公羊傳》曰：『譏始不三年也。』 國朝景德二年，真宗居明德皇后喪，既易月而除服，明年遂享太廟，合祀天地於圜丘。 當時未行三年之喪，專行以日易月之制可也，在今日行之則非也。」 詔侍從、台諫、禮官參議，卒用御史趙渙、禮部侍郎陳公輔言，大饗明堂。 七年，震謝病丐祠，旋知禮部貢舉，會疾卒。
He was promoted to Vice Director of the Secretariat with concurrent service at the classic lecture, and then transferred to Attendant Gentleman for Court Audiences. When Prince Guogong left the palace to take up his studies, Zhen was appointed lecturer-reader and was also granted robes of the fifth rank. He was promoted to Drafting Attendant of the Secretariat with concurrent appointment as adjutant tutor. At that time Guo Qianli was appointed vice director of the Directorate of Palace Buildings. Zhen said, "Qianli seized and encroached upon the people's fields and has already been investigated and punished. I ask that this new appointment be withdrawn." The emperor agreed. He was transferred to Supervisory Attendant of the Secretariat with concurrent service in the Academy of Scholarly Worthies, and then promoted to Hanlin Academician. At that time the people of Qianzhou had turned to banditry, and the emperor, deeply troubled, chose a capable prefect to go and reassure them. As the prefect was about to depart, Zhen said, "If those who hold office are honest and do not harass the people, the common folk will settle down of themselves; even if someone tried to lure them into banditry, they would not go. I ask that an edict be issued requiring the new prefect, on the day he takes office, to list every corrupt and unworthy official in the prefecture and its subordinate counties and dismiss them all, while allowing him to choose on his own men who are kindly and benevolent, and to reward those who govern well." The emperor followed his advice. By established precedent, while mourning was in force there was no rite of offering sacrifice at the ancestral temple. At that time Emperor Huizong had not yet been enshrined in the ancestral temple, and Vice Director of Sacrificial Rites Wu Biaochen memorialized that the Bright Hall sacrifice should be performed. Zhen then said, "The Royal Regulations states, 'During the three years of mourning no sacrifices are performed, except that for Heaven and Earth and for the altars of soil and grain one may carry out the rites with the mourning sash drawn aside over the arm. The Spring and Autumn Annals records, 'In summer, the fifth month, on the day yiyou, an auspicious day, a li sacrifice was performed for Duke Zhuang.' The Gongyang Commentary explains this as a rebuke because the three-year mourning had not been observed from the beginning." In our own dynasty, in the second year of the Jingde era, when Emperor Zhenzong was in mourning for Empress Mingde, he changed the mourning month and then laid aside his mourning garments; the following year he offered sacrifice at the Grand Temple and joined Heaven and Earth in worship at the Round Mound. At that time the full three-year mourning was not observed, and it was acceptable to follow only the practice of substituting days for months; to do the same today would be wrong." An edict ordered the attendant officials, the remonstrance and review offices, and the ritual officials to deliberate together; in the end the court followed the views of Supervisory Censor Zhao Huan and Vice Minister of Rites Chen Gongfu and held the great Bright Hall feast. In the seventh year Zhen resigned on grounds of illness and asked for a sacrificial appointment; he was soon put in charge of the metropolitan examination of the Ministry of Rites, but before long he died of illness.
7
震經學深醇，有《漢上易解》云：「陳摶以《先天圖》傳種放，放傳穆修，穆修傳李之才，之才傳邵雍。 放以《河圖》、《洛書》傳李溉，溉傳許堅，許堅傳範諤昌，諤昌傳劉牧。 穆修以《太極圖》傳周惇頤，惇頤傳程顥、程頤。 是時，張載講學於二程、邵雍之間。 故雍著《皇極經世書》，牧陳天地五十有五之數，惇頤作《通書》，程頤著《易傳》，載造《太和》、《參兩》篇。 臣今以《易傳》為宗，和會雍、載之論，上采漢、魏、吳、晉，下逮有唐及今，包括異同，庶幾道離而復合。」 蓋其學以王弼盡去舊說，雜以莊、老，專尚文辭為非是，故其於象數加詳焉。 其論《圖》、《書》授受源委如此，蓋莫知其所自云。
Zhen's classical learning was profound and mature. In his Han River Commentary on the Changes he wrote, "Chen Tuan transmitted the Prior Heaven Diagram to Zhong Fang; Zhong Fang to Mu Xiu; Mu Xiu to Li Zhicai; and Li Zhicai to Shao Yong. Zhong Fang transmitted the Yellow River Diagram and the Luo River Writing to Li Gai; Li Gai to Xu Jian; Xu Jian to Fan Echang; and Fan Echang to Liu Mu. Mu Xiu transmitted the Diagram of the Supreme Polarity to Zhou Dunyi; Zhou Dunyi to the Cheng brothers, Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi. At that time Zhang Zai taught and studied in the circle of the two Chengs and Shao Yong. Thus Shao Yong wrote the Book of the Royal Extreme through the Ages; Liu Mu set forth the doctrine that Heaven and Earth number fifty-five; Zhou Dunyi wrote the Tongshu; Cheng Yi wrote the Commentary on the Changes; and Zhang Zai composed the chapters 'Grand Harmony' and 'Participating in the Two. I now take the Commentary on the Changes of Cheng Yi as my foundation, reconcile it with the doctrines of Shao Yong and Zhang Zai, draw upward from Han, Wei, Wu, and Jin, and extend downward through Tang to the present, embracing both agreements and differences, so that the Way, though scattered, may come together again." In general he held that Wang Bi was wrong to discard the older interpretations entirely, mix in Zhuangzi and Laozi, and prize literary elegance above all; for that reason he gave particular attention to images and numbers." Such was his account of how the Diagrams and Writings were handed down; yet in the end no one truly knows where they came from.
8
胡安國
Hu Anguo
9
胡安國，字康侯，建寧崇安人。 入太學，以程頤之友朱長文及潁川靳裁之為師。 裁之與論經史大義，深奇重之。 三試於禮部，中紹聖四年進士第。 初，廷試考官定其策第一，宰職以無詆元祐語，遂以何昌言冠，方天若次之，又欲以宰相章惇子次天若。 時發策大要崇復熙寧、元豐之制，安國推明《大學》，以漸復三代為對。 哲宗命再讀之，注聽稱善者數四，親擢為第三。 為太學博士，足不躡權門。
Hu Anguo, whose courtesy name was Kanghou, was a native of Chong'an in Jianning. He entered the Imperial University and took as his teachers Zhu Changwen, a friend of Cheng Yi, and Jin Caizhi of Yingchuan. When Caizhi discussed with him the great principles of the classics and history, he came to admire him deeply. After three attempts at the Ministry of Rites examinations, he passed the jinshi in the fourth year of the Shaosheng era. At first the examiners for the palace examination ranked his policy essay first, but the chief ministers, because it contained no language attacking the Yuanyou faction, placed He Changyan first and Fang Tianruo second, and even wished to rank the son of Chief Councillor Zhang Dun just below Tianruo. The examination questions that year broadly favored restoring the institutions of the Xining and Yuanfeng eras; Anguo, in his answer, developed the Great Learning and argued for a gradual return to the ways of the Three Dynasties. Emperor Zhezong ordered the essay read again, listened closely, and praised it several times, then personally raised Anguo to third place. He became an erudite of the Imperial University and would not set foot in the houses of the powerful.
10
提舉湖南學事，有詔舉遺逸，安國以永州布衣王繪、鄧璋應詔。 二人老不行，安國請命之官，以勸為學者。 零陵簿稱二人黨人范純仁客，而流人鄒浩所請托也。 蔡京素惡安國與己異，得簿言，大喜，命湖南提刑置獄推治，又移湖北再鞫，卒無驗，安國竟除名。 未幾，簿以他罪抵法，台臣直前事，復安國元官。
While serving as promoter of educational affairs in Hunan, he responded to an edict calling for the recommendation of recluses of outstanding talent by nominating the Yongzhou commoners Wang Hui and Deng Zhang. The two men were old and declined to take office, but Anguo asked that they nevertheless be granted official posts so as to encourage others in learning. A clerk of Lingling claimed that the two men were clients of Fan Chunren of the Yuanyou faction and that the nomination had been arranged at the request of the exiled scholar Zou Hao. Cai Jing had long resented Anguo for standing apart from him; when he obtained the clerk's accusation he was delighted and ordered the Hunan judicial intendant to open a case and investigate. The inquiry was transferred to Hubei and heard again, but though nothing was proved, Anguo was nevertheless stripped of his office. Before long the clerk was punished for another offense, and the censorial officials spoke up about the earlier affair, whereupon Anguo's former office was restored.
11
政和元年，張商英相，除提舉成都學事。 二年，丁內艱，移江東。 父沒終喪，謂子弟曰：「吾昔為親而仕，今雖有祿萬鍾，將何所施？」 遂稱疾不仕，築室墓傍，耕種取給，蓋將終身焉。 宣和末，李彌大、吳敏、譚世勣合薦，除屯田郎，辭。
In the first year of the Zhenghe era, when Zhang Shangying became chief councilor, Anguo was appointed promoter of educational affairs in Chengdu. In the second year he entered mourning for his mother and was transferred to Jiangdong. When his father died and the mourning period had ended, he said to his sons and younger brothers, "In the past I took office for the sake of my parents; now, though I have an income of ten thousand zhong, to whom should I devote it?" He then pleaded illness and refused office, built a dwelling beside the tomb, and supported himself by farming, intending to live out his life in that way. Near the end of the Xuanhe era, Li Mida, Wu Min, and Tan Shixun jointly recommended him; he was appointed Master of Dotted Fields but declined the post.
12
靖康元年，除太常少卿，辭； 除起居郎，又辭。 朝旨屢趣行，至京師，以疾在告。 一日方午，欽宗亟召見，安國奏曰：「明君以務學為急，聖學以正心為要。 心者萬事之宗，正心者揆事宰物之權。 願擢名儒明於治國平天下之本者，虛懷訪問，深發獨智。」 又言：「為天下國家必有一定不可易之計，謀議既定，君臣固守，故有志必成，治功可立。 今南向視朝半年矣，而紀綱尚紊，風俗益衰，施置乖方，舉動煩擾。 大臣爭競，而朋黨之患萌； 百執窺覦，而浸潤之奸作。 用人失當，而名器愈輕； 出令數更，而士民不信。 若不掃除舊跡，乘勢更張，竊恐大勢一傾，不可復正。 乞訪大臣，各令展盡底蘊，畫一具進。 先宣示台諫，使隨事疏駁。 若大臣議絀，則參用台諫之言； 若疏駁不當，則專守大臣之策。 仍集議於朝，斷自宸衷，按為國論，以次施行。 敢有動搖，必罰無赦。 庶幾新政有經，可冀中興。」 欽宗曰：「比留詞掖相待，已命召卿試矣。」 語未竟，日昃暑甚，汗洽上衣，遂退。
In the first year of the Jingkang era he was appointed Vice Director of Sacrificial Rites and declined; he was appointed Attendant Gentleman for Court Audiences, and again declined. Court orders repeatedly urged him to take up his post; he reached the capital but remained on sick leave. One day at noon Emperor Qinzong urgently summoned him to audience. Anguo memorialized, "An enlightened ruler makes the pursuit of learning his first urgency; sagely learning takes the rectification of the mind as its foundation. The mind is the source of the myriad affairs; to rectify the mind is to hold the authority by which affairs are judged and things are governed. I ask that renowned scholars who understand the foundations of governing the state and bringing peace to the realm be elevated, consulted with an open mind, and allowed to bring forth their deepest insight." He also said, "To govern the realm there must be a settled plan that cannot lightly be altered. Once counsel has been decided, ruler and ministers must hold firmly to it; only then can purpose be fulfilled and good governance be achieved. Your Majesty has faced south and held court for half a year already, yet discipline remains disorderly, customs grow daily worse, measures are ill chosen, and every action is vexatious and confused. Great ministers contend with one another, and the scourge of faction begins to appear; the hundred offices watch and covet, and insidious wrongdoing takes shape; men are appointed improperly, and offices of honor are cheapened; edicts are issued and changed again and again, and neither scholars nor common people place any trust in the government. If the old abuses are not swept away and policy is not boldly renewed while there is still momentum to do so, I fear that once the great balance of the state tilts, it will never be set right again. I ask that the great ministers be consulted and that each be required to set forth his full understanding, drawing up a single unified plan for presentation. First announce this to the remonstrance and review offices, so that they may submit objections on particular points as matters arise. If the great ministers' deliberations are deficient, then the views of the censorial remonstrators should be adopted; if the objections are improper, then the court should adhere solely to the great ministers' plans. The court should still gather for joint deliberation, let the imperial heart decide, fix this as national policy, and carry it out in order. Whoever dares to undermine this policy will certainly be punished without pardon. In this way the new policies may have a constant thread, and restoration may be hoped for." Emperor Qinzong said, "We have kept you in the drafting office awaiting your service, and have already ordered you summoned for examination." Before he had finished speaking, the sun was declining and the heat was intense; sweat soaked through his upper garment, and he withdrew.
13
時門下侍郎耿南仲倚攀附恩，凡與己不合者，即指為朋黨。 見安國論奏，慍曰：「中興如此，而曰績效未見，是謗聖德也。」 乃言安國意窺經筵，不宜召試。 欽宗不答。 安國屢辭，南仲又言安國不臣。 欽宗問其狀，南仲曰：「往不事上皇，今又不事陛下。」 欽宗曰：「渠自以病辭，初非有向背也。」 每臣僚登對，欽宗即問識胡安國否，中丞許翰曰：「自蔡京得政，士大夫無不受其籠絡，超然遠跡不為所汙如安國者實鮮。」 欽宗歎息，遣中書舍人晁說之宣旨，令勉受命，且曰：「他日欲去，即不強留。」 既試，除中書舍人，賜三品服。 南仲諷台諫論其稽命不恭，宜從黜削。 疏奏不下，安國乃就職。
At that time Vice Director of the Secretariat Geng Nanzhong relied on favor he had curried; whoever disagreed with him he labeled a factionalist. When he saw Anguo's memorial, he said angrily, "Restoration is already under way, and yet he says that results are not yet seen—this is to slander the sacred virtue of the throne." He then said that Anguo's intent was to covet a place at the lecture seat and that he was unfit to be summoned for examination. Emperor Qinzong did not reply. Anguo repeatedly declined office; Nanzhong again said that Anguo was disloyal. Emperor Qinzong asked what he meant; Nanzhong said, "Formerly he would not serve the Retired Emperor; now he will not serve Your Majesty either." Emperor Qinzong said, "He himself pleads illness; from the first there was no question of taking sides." Whenever a minister faced the throne, Emperor Qinzong would ask whether he knew Hu Anguo. Supervisory Censor Xu Han said, "Since Cai Jing held power, no scholar-official was untouched by his nets; those who kept aloof and left no stain upon themselves, like Anguo, are truly few." Emperor Qinzong sighed and sent Drafting Attendant Chao Shuozhi to proclaim the imperial will, urging him to accept office, and said, "If you wish to leave on another day, We will not strongly detain you." After the examination he was appointed Drafting Attendant of the Secretariat and granted robes of the third rank. Nanzhong incited the censorial remonstrators to say that Anguo's delay in obeying orders was disrespectful and that he should be demoted. The memorial was not issued, and Anguo then took up his post.
14
南仲既傾宰相吳敏、樞密使李綱，又謂許景衡、晁說之視大臣升黜為去就，懷奸徇私，並黜之。 安國言：「二人為去就，必有陳論。 懷奸徇私，必有實跡。 乞降付本省，載諸詞命。」 不報。
Nanzhong, having already overthrown Chief Councillor Wu Min and Military Affairs Commissioner Li Gang, also said that Xu Jingheng and Chao Shuozhi treated the promotions and demotions of great ministers as grounds for their own staying or leaving, harboring treachery and favoring private ties—and both were dismissed together. Anguo said, "If the two made staying or leaving their course, there must have been memorials setting forth their reasons. If they harbored treachery and favored private ties, there must have been concrete evidence. I ask that the charges be sent down to this department and recorded in the appointment documents." There was no response.
15
葉夢得知應天府，坐為蔡京所知，落職奉祠。 安國言：「京罪已正，子孫編置，家財沒入，已無蔡氏矣。 則向為京所引者，今皆朝廷之人，若更指為京黨，則人才見棄者眾，黨論何時而弭！」 乃除夢得小郡。
Ye Mengde, when he governed Yingtian Prefecture, was dismissed and given a sacrificial appointment because he had been known to Cai Jing. Anguo said, "Cai Jing's crime has already been corrected; his descendants have been registered and banished and his family wealth confiscated—there is no longer a Cai clan. Those who were formerly advanced by Jing are now all men of the court; if they are again labeled members of the Jing faction, then many talents will be cast aside—when will factional strife ever cease!" Anguo then had Mengde appointed to a small prefecture.
16
中書侍郎何㮚建議分天下為四道，置四都總管，各付一面，以衛王室、捍強敵。 安國言：「內外之勢，適平則安，偏重則危。 今州郡太輕，理宜通變。 一旦以二十三路之廣，分為四道，事得專決，財得專用，官得辟置，兵得誅賞，權恐太重。 萬一抗衡跋扈，何以待之？ 乞據見今二十三路帥府，選擇重臣，付以都總管之權，專治軍旅。 或有警急，即各率所屬守將應援，則一舉兩得矣。」 尋以趙野總北道，安國言魏都地重，野必誤委寄。 是冬，金人大入，野遁，為群盜所殺，西道王襄擁眾不復北顧，如安國言。
Vice Director of the Secretariat He Bo proposed dividing the empire into four circuits and establishing four supreme commanders, each entrusted with one sector, to guard the royal house and repel strong enemies. Anguo said, "The balance between inner and outer power is such that when it is level the state is secure, and when it is weighted to one side it becomes perilous. At present the prefectures and circuits are too lightly held; it is right in principle to adapt flexibly. Yet to divide at once the breadth of twenty-three circuits into four circuits, with exclusive power to decide affairs, use finances, appoint officials, and punish and reward troops—the authority may become too great. If one day they contend with the center and grow overbearing and insubordinate, how shall we deal with them? I ask that, on the basis of the twenty-three circuit headquarters now in existence, heavy ministers be selected and entrusted with supreme commander authority, specializing in governing armies. If there is urgent alarm, each may lead the defending generals under his command to respond in aid—then one move gains two benefits." Soon Zhao Ye was made supreme commander of the northern circuit; Anguo said that the capital region of Wei was weighty in strategic importance and that Ye would certainly mishandle the commission. That winter the Jurchens entered in force; Ye fled and was killed by bandits. Wang Xiang of the western circuit held his forces and no longer looked to the north—as Anguo had foretold.
17
李綱罷，中書舍人劉玨行詞，謂綱勇於報國，數至敗衄。 吏部侍郎馮澥言玨為綱遊說，玨坐貶。 安國封還詞頭，以為「侍從雖當獻納，至於彈擊官邪必歸風憲。 今台諫未有緘默不言之咎，而澥越職，此路若開，臣恐立於朝者各以好惡脅持傾陷，非所以靖朝著。」 南仲大怒，何㮚從而擠之，詔與郡。 㮚以安國素苦足疾，而海門地卑濕，乃除安國右文殿修撰、知通州。
When Li Gang was dismissed, Drafting Attendant Liu Jue drafted the edict, saying that Gang was brave in serving the state but had suffered defeat several times. Vice Minister of Personnel Feng Xi said that Jue was lobbying for Gang, and Jue was demoted on that account. Anguo returned the edict draft, arguing that "although attendants should offer advice, the exposure of official wrongdoing must rest with the censorial remonstrators. The remonstrators have committed no fault of silence, yet Xi overstepped his office. If this path is opened, I fear that those who stand at court will use likes and dislikes to coerce, undermine, and topple one another—this is not the way to settle the demeanor of the court." Nanzhong was greatly angered; He Bo joined in forcing him out, and an edict sent him to a prefecture. He Bo, knowing that Anguo had long suffered from foot ailment and that Haimen was low and damp, appointed Anguo Compiler of the Right Wen Hall and prefect of Tongzhou.
18
安國在省一月，多在告之日，及出必有所論列。 或曰：「事之小者，盍姑置之？」 安國曰：「事之大者無不起於細微，今以小事為不必言，至於大事又不敢言，是無時而可言也！」
During the one month Anguo spent in the central secretariat, most days were spent on sick leave; yet whenever he did go out, he invariably had something to memorialize. Someone said to him, "For small matters, why not set them aside for the time being?" Anguo said, "Great matters all arise from small beginnings. If small matters are held not worth speaking of, then when great matters come one again dares not speak—in the end there is no time when one can speak at all!"
19
安國既去逾旬，金人薄都城。 子寅為郎，在城中，客或憂之，安國愀然曰：「主上在重圍中，號令不出，卿大夫恨效忠無路，敢念子乎！」 敵圍益急，欽宗亟召安國及許景衡，詔竟不達。
More than ten days after Anguo left office, the Jurchens pressed close to the capital. His son Yin was a court gentleman within the city. When a guest worried for him, Anguo said gravely, "The sovereign is in heavy siege and orders do not issue; ministers resent that they have no road by which to show loyalty—how dare I think of my son!" The enemy siege grew more urgent; Emperor Qinzong urgently summoned Anguo and Xu Jingheng, but the edict never reached them.
20
高宗即位，以給事中召。 安國言：「昨因繳奏，遍觸權貴，今陛下將建中興，而政事弛張，人才升黜，尚未合宜，臣若一一行其職守，必以妄發，干犯典刑。」 黃潛善諷給事中康執權論其托疾，罷之。 三年，樞密張浚薦安國可大用，再除給事中。 賜其子起居郎寅手劄，令以上意催促。 既次池州，聞駕幸吳、越，引疾還。
When Emperor Gaozong took the throne, Anguo was summoned as Supervisory Attendant. Anguo said, "Formerly, because I submitted a remonstrance, I broadly offended the powerful. Now Your Majesty is about to establish restoration, yet governance remains lax and inconsistent and the promotion and demotion of personnel are still not fitting. If I carry out each duty of my office in turn, I will certainly be judged rash in speaking and will violate statute." Huang Qianshan incited Supervisory Attendant Kang Zhiquan to accuse Anguo of feigning illness, and Anguo was dismissed. In the third year Military Affairs Commissioner Zhang Jun recommended Anguo for great employment, and he was again appointed Supervisory Attendant. The emperor granted his son, Attendant Gentleman Yin, a handwritten note ordering him to convey the imperial intent and urge Anguo on. Having reached Chizhou in due course, he heard that the imperial carriage was going to Wu and Yue and pleaded illness and returned.
21
紹興元年，除中書舍人兼侍講，遣使趣召，安國以《時政論》二十一篇先獻之。 論入，復除給事中。 二年七月入對，高宗曰：「聞卿大名，渴於相見，何為累詔不至？」 安國辭謝，乞以所進二十一篇者施行。 其論之目，曰《定計》、《建都》、《設險》、《制國》、《恤民》、《立政》、《核實》、《尚志》、《正心》、《養氣》、《宏度》、《寬隱》。 論《定計》略曰：「陛下履極六年，以建都，則未有必守不移之居； 以討賊，則未有必操不變之術； 以立政，則未有必行不反之令； 以任官，則未有必信不疑之臣。 舍今不圖，後悔何及！」 論《建都》謂：「宜定都建康以比關中、河內，為興復之基。」 論《設險》謂：「欲固上流，必保漢、沔； 欲固下流，必守淮、泗； 欲固中流，必以重兵鎮安陸。」 論《尚志》謂：「當必志於恢復中原，祗奉陵寢； 必志於掃平仇敵，迎復兩宮。」 論《正心》謂：「戡定禍亂，雖急於戎務，而裁決戎務，必本於方寸。 願選正臣多聞識、有志慮、敢直言者置諸左右，日夕討論，以宅厥心。」 論《養氣》謂：「用兵之勝負，軍旅之強弱，將帥之勇怯，係人君所養之氣曲直何如。 願強於為善，益新厥德，使信於諸夏、聞於夷狄者，無曲可議，則至剛可以塞兩間，一怒可以安天下矣。」 安國嘗謂：「雖諸葛復生，為今日計，不能易此論也。」
In the first year of Shaoxing he was appointed Drafting Attendant with concurrent service as Lecturer-in-Waiting; envoys were sent to urge his summons, and Anguo first presented his twenty-one Treatises on Current Affairs. When the treatises were submitted, he was again appointed Supervisory Attendant. In the seventh month of the second year he faced the throne. Emperor Gaozong said, "I have long heard your great name and have thirsted to meet you—why have you not come after repeated edicts?" Anguo declined with thanks and asked that the twenty-one pieces he had presented be put into practice. The headings of his treatises were Settling the Plan, Establishing the Capital, Setting Defenses, Ordering the State, Cherishing the People, Establishing Government, Verifying Facts, Upholding Purpose, Rectifying the Mind, Nourishing Qi, Magnanimity, and Magnanimous Reticence. On Settling the Plan he wrote in brief, "Your Majesty has been on the throne six years, yet for establishing the capital there is still no residence that must be held and not abandoned; for suppressing the bandits, there is still no tactic that must be held and not changed; for establishing government, there is still no order that must be carried out and not reversed; for employing officials, there is still no minister who must be trusted without doubt. If we do not plan now, what regret will there be later!" On Establishing the Capital he said, "The capital should be fixed at Jiankang, to stand with Guanzhong and Henei as the base of restoration." On Setting Defenses he said, "To secure the upper reaches one must hold Han and Mian; to secure the lower reaches one must defend the Huai and the Si; to secure the middle reaches one must station heavy troops at Anlu." On Upholding Purpose he said, "One must resolve to recover the Central Plain and reverently tend the imperial tombs; and must resolve to sweep away the enemy and welcome back the two palaces." On Rectifying the Mind he said, "Though quelling calamity and disorder is urgent and military affairs press upon us, to decide military affairs the root lies in the inch-square mind. I wish that upright ministers of broad learning, firm purpose, and daring to speak directly be placed at his left and right to discuss day and night and settle his heart." On Nourishing Qi he said, "Victory and defeat in using troops, the strength and weakness of armies, and the courage and cowardice of generals all depend on whether the qi the ruler nourishes is straight or crooked. I wish Your Majesty to be strong in doing good and ever to renew his virtue, so that what the states trust and the barbarians hear has no crookedness that can be discussed—then the utmost rigidity can fill the space between Heaven and Earth, and one burst of wrath can settle the realm." Anguo once said, "Even if Zhuge Liang were reborn, for the reckoning of this day this doctrine could not be changed."
22
居旬日，再見，以疾懇求去。 高宗曰：「聞卿深於《春秋》，方欲講論。」 遂以《左氏傳》付安國點句正音。 安國奏：「《春秋》經世大典，見諸行事，非空言比。 今方思濟艱難，《左氏》繁碎，不宜虛費光陰，耽玩文采，莫若潛心聖經。」 高宗稱善。 尋除安國兼侍讀，專講《春秋》。 時講官四人，援例乞各專一經。 高宗曰：「他人通經，豈胡安國比。」 不許。
After ten days in office he was received again and earnestly begged to leave on grounds of illness. Emperor Gaozong said, "I hear that you are deeply versed in the Spring and Autumn Annals, and I am just about to lecture on it." He then handed the Zuo Commentary to Anguo to punctuate the text and correct the pronunciation. Anguo memorialized, "The Spring and Autumn Annals is the great canon for ordering the ages; its meaning is seen in conduct and is not to be compared with empty words. Now we are only beginning to think of crossing hardship; the Zuo Commentary is cumbersome and fragmentary and unfit for wasting bright hours in literary ornament. Better to concentrate the mind on the sage classics." Emperor Gaozong praised this. Soon Anguo was appointed concurrent Lecturer-in-Waiting and lectured exclusively on the Spring and Autumn Annals. At the time four lecturers petitioned that, by precedent, each should specialize in one classic. Emperor Gaozong said, "When others penetrate the classics, how can they compare with Hu Anguo?" He did not permit it.
23
會除故相朱勝非同都督江、淮、荊、浙諸軍事，安國奏：「勝非與黃潛善、汪伯彥同在政府，緘默附會，循致渡江。 尊用張邦昌結好金國，淪滅三綱，天下憤鬱。 及正位塚司，苗、劉肆逆，貪生苟容，辱逮君父。 今強敵憑陵，叛臣不忌，用人得失，係國安危，深恐勝非上誤大計。」 勝非改除侍讀，安國持錄黃不下，左相呂頤浩特令檢正黃龜年書行。 安國言：「『有官守者，不得其職則去』。 臣今待罪無補，既失其職，當去甚明。 況勝非係臣論列之人，今朝廷乃稱勝非處苗、劉之變，能調護聖躬。 昔公羊氏言祭仲廢君為行權，先儒力排其說。 蓋權宜廢置非所施於君父，《春秋》大法，尤謹於此。 建炎之失節者，今雖特釋而不問，又加選擢，習俗既成，大非君父之利。 臣以《春秋》入侍，而與勝非為列，有違經訓。」 遂臥家不出。
When the former chief councillor Zhu Shengnon was appointed concurrent military commander of the Jiang, Huai, Jing, and Zhe circuits, Anguo memorialized, "Shengnon was in government with Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan, silent and in accord, and led step by step to the crossing of the river. He honored Zhang Bangchang and made friendly terms with the Jin state, destroying the three bonds of human order, and under Heaven there was rage and depression. When he reached the post of chief minister, Miao and Liu committed outrage; greedy for life, he was accommodating, and shame reached to ruler and father. Now strong enemies press upon the borders and rebellious ministers heed no restraint. Gain and loss in employing men is tied to the safety or peril of the state, and I deeply fear that Shengnon above will mislead the great plan." Shengnon was changed to Lecturer-in-Waiting; Anguo held the recorded yellow and would not issue it; Left Councillor Lü Yihao specially ordered Compiler Huang Guinian to sign and execute the appointment. Anguo said, "'Those who hold an official charge, if they do not obtain their function, then leave. Your servant now bears charge without supplement and has already lost his function; that he should leave is very clear. Moreover Shengnon is a man whom your servant has listed in discussion, yet now the court says that in Miao and Liu's outrage Shengnon was able to soothe and protect the sacred person. Formerly the Gongyang school said that Zhong of Cai, in deposing his ruler, was exercising expedient power, but the earlier Confucians strenuously rejected this doctrine. Expedient suspension and installation is not to be applied to ruler and father; the great law of the Spring and Autumn Annals is especially strict on this point. Those who failed in propriety during the Jianyan era are now specially released without inquiry and yet again promoted and selected. Once such custom is formed, it greatly harms the benefit of ruler and father. Your servant enters attendance with the Spring and Autumn Annals yet sits in the same row as Shengnon—this violates scripture and instruction." Thereupon he kept to his home and would not go out.
24
初，頤浩都督江上還朝，欲去異己者，未得其策。 或教之指為朋黨，且曰：「黨魁在瑣闈，當先去之。」 頤浩大喜，即引勝非為助，而降旨曰：「胡安國屢召，偃蹇不至，今始造朝，又數有請。 初言勝非不可同都督，及改命經筵，又以為非，豈不以時艱不肯盡瘁，乃欲求微罪而去，其自為謀則善，如國計何？」 落職，提舉仙都觀。 是夕，彗出東南。 右相秦檜三上章乞留之，不報，即解相印去。 侍御史江躋上疏，極言勝非不可用，安國不當責。 右司諫吳表臣亦言安國扶病見君，欲行所學，今無故罪去，恐非所以示天下。 不報。 頤浩即黜給事中程瑀、起居舍人張燾及躋等二十餘人，云應天變除舊布新之象。 台省一空，勝非遂相，安國竟歸。
Earlier, when Lü Yihao returned to court after commanding on the Yangzi, he wished to remove those who opposed him but had not yet found a strategy. Someone advised him to charge them with forming a faction, saying, "The ringleader sits in the privy chamber and should be removed first." Yihao was greatly pleased. He immediately enlisted Shengnon's aid and issued an edict saying, "Hu Anguo was summoned many times yet held himself aloof and would not come. Now he finally appears at court and again makes repeated demands. First he said that Shengnon could not serve alongside him as military commander; when the appointment was changed to the royal lecture hall, he again found fault. Does he not, because of these hard times, refuse to exert himself to the utmost and instead seek petty offenses as grounds to withdraw? That may serve his own interests well enough, but what of the interests of the realm?" Anguo was removed from office and appointed supervisor of Xiandu Abbey. That same evening, a comet appeared in the southeast. Right Councilor Qin Hui submitted three memorials begging that Anguo be kept in office, but received no reply and at once surrendered the councilor's seal and withdrew. Supervisory Censor Jiang Ji submitted a memorial saying emphatically that Shengnon was unfit for office and that Anguo should not be punished. Remonstrance Official Wu Biaochen also said that Anguo had attended the emperor despite illness because he wished to put his learning into practice, and that to punish and remove him without cause would perhaps not be the right way to show the world. There was no reply. Yihao immediately dismissed Supervising Secretary Cheng Yu, Attendant Gentleman for Court Audiences Zhang Zhao, Jiang Ji, and more than twenty others, saying this answered the heavenly sign of casting off the old and ushering in the new. The censorate and secretariat were emptied at a stroke; Shengnon then became chief councilor; and Anguo returned home at last.
25
五年，除徽猷閣待制、知永州，安國辭。 詔以經筵舊臣，重閔勞之，特從其請，提舉江州太平觀，令纂修所著《春秋傳》。 書成，高宗謂深得聖人之旨，除提舉萬壽觀兼侍讀。 未行，諫官陳公輔上疏詆假托程頤之學者。 安國奏曰：「孔、孟之道不傳久矣，自頤兄弟始發明之，然後知其可學而至。 今使學者師孔、孟，而禁不得從頤學，是入室而不由戶。 本朝自嘉祐以來，西都有邵雍、程顥及其弟頤，關中有張載，皆以道德名世，公卿大夫所欽慕而師尊之。 會王安石、蔡京等曲加排抑，故其道不行。 望下禮官討論故事，加之封爵，載在祀典，比於荀、楊、韓氏，仍詔館閣裒其遺書，校正頒行，使邪說者不得作。」 奏入，公輔與中丞周秘、侍御史石公揆承望宰相風旨，交章論安國學術頗僻。 除知永州，辭，復提舉太平觀，進寶文閣直學士，卒，年六十五。 詔贈四官，又降詔加賻，賜田十頃恤其孤，諡曰文定，蓋非常格也。
In the fifth year he was appointed Awaiting Draft in the Huiyou Pavilion and prefect of Yongzhou, but Anguo declined. An edict held that, as a former lecturer at the royal lecture hall, his labors deserved special sympathy and reward. The court granted his request, appointing him to administer Taiping Abbey in Jiangzhou and ordering him to compile and revise his Commentary on the Spring and Autumn. When the work was finished, Gaozong said that it had fully grasped the intent of the sage. Anguo was appointed supervisor of Wanshou Abbey with concurrent appointment as Reader-in-Waiting. Before he could take up the post, Remonstrance Official Chen Gongfu submitted a memorial attacking those who falsely claimed the learning of Cheng Yi. Anguo memorialized, "The way of Confucius and Mencius has long ceased to be transmitted. It was first recovered by the Cheng brothers, and only then did men know that it could be learned and attained. If scholars are told to take Confucius and Mencius as their masters yet forbidden to follow the learning of Cheng Yi, that is like entering a house without going through the door. Since the Jiayou era of this dynasty, Shao Yong, Cheng Hao, and his younger brother Cheng Yi were in the western capital, and Zhang Zai was in Guanzhong. All were famed throughout the age for virtue and the Way, and grandees and great officers admired and honored them as teachers. But Wang Anshi, Cai Jing, and others persistently forced them down and suppressed them, so their Way could not prevail. I beg Your Majesty to order the rites officials to consult precedent, grant them posthumous titles, and record them in the sacrificial canon alongside the houses of Xun, Yang, and Han; and also to decree that the palace institutes gather their surviving writings, correct them, and promulgate them, so that perverse doctrines cannot arise." When the memorial was submitted, Gongfu, together with Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhou Mi and Supervisory Censor Shi Gongkui—reading the chief minister's wishes—submitted memorial after memorial declaring that Anguo's learning was rather heterodox. He was appointed prefect of Yongzhou but declined, was again appointed to administer Taiping Abbey, was promoted to Direct Academic Scholar of the Baowen Pavilion, and died at the age of sixty-five. An edict granted him posthumously four offices. Another edict added condolence gifts and bestowed ten qing of fields to support his orphaned family. His posthumous title was Wending—far beyond the usual measure.
26
安國強學力行，以聖人為標的，志於康濟時艱，見中原淪沒，遺黎塗炭，常若痛切於其身。 雖數以罪去，其愛君憂國之心遠而彌篤，每有君命，即置家事不問。 然風度凝遠，蕭然塵表，視天下萬物無一足以嬰其心。 自登第迄謝事，四十年在官，實曆不及六載。
Anguo pursued learning with vigor and put it into practice, taking the sage as his standard and setting his heart on relieving the hardships of the age. When he saw the Central Plains overrun and the remnant people plunged into misery, it was as if the pain cut into his own flesh. Though he was repeatedly dismissed under accusations, his love of the ruler and concern for the state only grew deeper and steadier with time. Whenever the emperor commanded him, he at once set aside his family affairs without a second thought. Yet his bearing was lofty and remote, austere and aloof from the dusty world. Of all things under Heaven, not one was enough to entangle his heart. From the time he passed the examinations until he left office, forty years passed in official life, yet the actual years he served did not reach six.
27
朱震被召，問出處之宜，安國曰：「子發學《易》二十年，此事當素定矣。 世間惟講學論政，不可不切切詢究，至於行己大致，去就語默之幾，如人飲食，其饑飽寒溫，必自斟酌，不可決諸人，亦非人所能決也。 吾平生出處皆內斷於心，浮世利名如蠛蠓過前，何足道哉！」 故渡江以來，儒者進退合義，以安國、尹焞為稱首。 侯仲良言必稱二程先生，他無所許可。 後見安國，歎曰：「吾以為志在天下，視不義富貴真如浮雲者，二程先生而已，不意復有斯人也。」
When Zhu Zhen was summoned and asked about the proper course of taking or leaving office, Anguo said, "Zifa, you have studied the Changes for twenty years. On a matter such as this, you should long since have settled your mind. In worldly affairs, only questions of lecturing on learning and debating policy must be pursued urgently and examined closely. But as for the broad principles of personal conduct—the fine distinctions of going or staying, speaking or remaining silent—these are like eating and drinking: hunger and fullness, cold and warmth must be weighed by oneself. They cannot be decided for you by others, nor can anyone else decide them on your behalf. Throughout my life I have decided for myself, inwardly, whether to serve or withdraw. The profit and fame of this floating world are like gnats darting past the eyes—what are they worth mentioning!" That is why, since the crossing of the Yangzi, among scholars whose advances and withdrawals accord with righteousness, Anguo and Yin Chun have been chiefly praised. Hou Zhongliang always spoke of the two Masters Cheng and approved of no one else. Later, when he met Anguo, he sighed and said, "I thought that only the two Masters Cheng set their hearts on the realm and regarded unrighteous wealth and honor as truly floating clouds. I did not expect to find such a man again.
28
安國所與遊者，遊酢、謝良佐、楊時皆程門高弟。 良佐嘗語人曰：「胡康侯如大冬嚴雪，百草萎死，而松柏挺然獨秀者也。」 安國之使湖北也，時方為府教授，良佐為應城宰，安國質疑訪道，禮之甚恭，每來謁而去，必端笏正立目送之。
Those with whom Anguo associated were You Zuo, Xie Liangzuo, and Yang Shi, all eminent disciples of the Cheng school. Liangzuo once said to others, "Hu Kanghou is like the deep winter under heavy snow: the hundred grasses wither and die, yet pine and cypress stand upright alone in splendor. When Anguo was posted to Hubei, Yang Shi was then professor of the prefectural school and Liangzuo was magistrate of Yingcheng. Anguo questioned him and sought instruction in the Way, treating him with great respect. Each time Liangzuo came to call and then departed, Anguo would hold his tablet upright, stand properly, and see him off with his gaze.
29
自王安石廢《春秋》不列於學官，安國謂：「先聖手所筆削之書，乃使人主不得聞講說，學士不得相傳習，亂倫滅理，用夏變夷，殆由乎此。」 故潛心是書二十餘年，以為天下事物無不備於此。 每歎曰：「此傳心要典也。」
Since Wang Anshi removed the Spring and Autumn Annals from the classics taught in the official schools, Anguo said, "The book that the former sage personally edited with his own hand—yet the ruler is made unable to hear it lectured upon and scholars unable to transmit and study it—disordering human bonds and extinguishing principle, using Xia to transform into Yi: this is perhaps where it begins. Therefore he devoted his heart to this book for more than twenty years, believing that nothing under Heaven was not fully contained within it. He often sighed and said, "This is the essential canon for transmitting the heart-mind.
30
安國少欲以文章名世，既學道，乃不復措意。 有文集十五卷、《資治通鑒舉要補遺》一百卷。 三子，寅、宏、寧。
In youth Anguo wished to make a name for himself in letters; once he studied the Way, he no longer gave it thought. He left a collected works in fifteen juan and Essentials and Supplements to the Comprehensive Mirror in Aid of Governance in one hundred juan. He had three sons: Yin, Hong, and Ning.
31
〈子〉 寅
〈Sons〉 Yin
32
寅字明仲，安國弟之子也。 寅將生，弟婦以多男欲不舉，安國妻夢大魚躍盆水中，急往取而子之。 少桀黠難制，父閉之空閣，其上有雜木，寅盡刻為人形。 安國曰：「當有以移其心。」 別置書數千卷於其上，年餘，寅悉成誦，不遺一卷。 遊辟雍，中宣和進士甲科。
Yin, whose courtesy name was Mingzhong, was the son of Anguo's younger brother. When Yin was about to be born, his younger brother's wife, because she already had many sons, wished not to raise the child. Anguo's wife dreamed of a great fish leaping in a basin of water, hurried to take it, and raised the boy herself. In youth he was fierce and cunning and hard to control. His father shut him in an empty loft, above which were miscellaneous trees, and Yin carved them all into human figures. Anguo said, "There must be a way to shift his heart." He placed several thousand volumes of books above the loft. After more than a year, Yin had memorized them all completely, not leaving out a single volume. He studied at the Imperial College and passed the jinshi examination in the first rank in the Xuanhe era.
33
靖康初，以御史中丞何㮚薦，召除秘書省校書郎。 楊時為祭酒，寅從之受學。 遷司門員外郎。 金人陷京師，議立異姓，寅與張浚、趙鼎逃太學中，不書議狀。 張邦昌偽立，寅棄官歸，言者劾其離次，降一官。
At the beginning of the Jingkang era, on the recommendation of Vice Censor-in-Chief He Li, he was summoned and appointed collator in the Secretariat. Yang Shi was then director of the Imperial College, and Yin received instruction from him. He was transferred to Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue for the Gate. When the Jurchens took the capital, there was discussion of enthroning a man of another surname. Yin, together with Zhang Jun and Zhao Ding, fled into the Imperial College and did not sign the deliberation document. When Zhang Bangchang was falsely enthroned, Yin abandoned his office and returned home. Accusers impeached him for leaving his post, and he was demoted one rank.
34
建炎三年，高宗幸金陵，樞密使張浚薦為駕部郎官，尋擢起居郎。 金人南侵，詔議移蹕之所，寅上書曰：
In the third year of Jianyan, when Gaozong visited Jinling, Military Affairs Commissioner Zhang Jun recommended him as chariot-section officer; soon he was promoted to Attendant Gentleman for Court Audiences. When the Jurchens invaded south, an edict ordered discussion of where to move the traveling court. Yin submitted a memorial saying:
35
昨陛下以親王、介弟出師河北，二聖既遷，則當糾合義師，北向迎請。 而遽膺翊戴，亟居尊位，斬戮直臣，以杜言路。 南巡淮海，偷安歲月，敵入關陝，漫不捍禦。 盜賊橫潰，莫敢誰何，元元無辜，百萬塗地。 方且製造文物，講行郊報，自謂中興。 金人乘虛直搗行在，匹馬南渡，淮甸流血。 迨及返正寶位，移蹕建康，不為久圖，一向畏縮遠避。 此皆失人心之大者也。
Yesterday Your Majesty, as imperial prince and younger brother of the emperor, went forth as commander to Hebei. Once the Two Emperors had been removed, you ought to have gathered righteous armies and turned north to welcome and escort them back. Yet you hastily accepted support and elevation, quickly took the exalted seat, executed upright ministers, and blocked the road of remonstrance. You toured south to the Huai and sea regions, stealing ease month after month. When the enemy entered Guan and Shaan, you made no defense at all. Bandits burst forth everywhere and none dared check them. Innocent common people were slaughtered by the millions across the land. Yet you were still manufacturing ritual objects, conducting suburban sacrifices, and calling it restoration. The Jurchens seized the opportunity and drove straight at the traveling court. You crossed the Yangzi with a single horse, and the Huai region ran with blood. Only when you returned to the true imperial seat and moved the court to Jiankang did you fail to plan for the long term and persistently shrink back in fear and keep your distance. These are great matters in which you have lost the hearts of the people.
36
自古中興之主所以能克復舊物者，莫不本於憤恥恨怒，不能報怨，終不苟已。 未有乘衰微闕絕之後，固陋以為榮，苟且以為安，而能久長無禍者也。 黃潛善與汪伯彥方以乳嫗護赤子之術待陛下，曰：「上皇之子三十人，今所存惟聖體，不可不自重愛。」 曾不思宗廟則草莽湮之，陵闕則畚鍤驚之，堂堂中華戎馬生之，潛善、伯彥所以誤陛下、陷陵廟、蹙土宇、喪生靈者，可勝罪乎！ 本初嗣服，既不為迎二聖之策，因循遠狩，又不為守中國之謀。 以致於今德義不孚，號令不行，刑罰不威，爵賞不勸。 若不更轍以救垂亡，則陛下永負孝悌之愆，常有父兄之責。 人心一去，天命難恃，雖欲羈棲山海，恐非為自全之計。
Since antiquity, restoration emperors who were able to recover what had been lost all rooted themselves in indignation, shame, hatred, and rage, unable to avenge wrongs and never yielding until the end. Never yet has one, after inheriting a time of decline, weakness, and rupture, taken narrowness as glory and expedience as safety, and been able to endure long without calamity. Huang Qianshan and Wang Boyan were just then treating Your Majesty with the art of a wet nurse protecting an infant, saying, "The Former Emperor had thirty sons; of those who remain today there is only Your Sacred Person—you must cherish and protect yourself." They never thought that the ancestral temples were buried in wild grass, that the imperial tombs were disturbed by spades, that great China had barbarian horses trampling it. Can the crimes by which Qianshan and Boyan misled Your Majesty, ruined the imperial tombs, compressed the realm, and cost countless lives be fully counted! At the beginning, when you first succeeded to the throne, you neither adopted a plan to welcome back the Two Emperors nor, as you lingered far away on a hunting tour, devised a plan to hold China. The result is that up to now virtue and righteousness are not trusted, orders are not obeyed, punishments inspire no awe, and ranks and rewards encourage no one. If you do not change course to save what is on the verge of perishing, then Your Majesty will forever bear the fault of unfiliality and constantly carry the blame of a younger brother toward his elder brothers. Once the hearts of the people are gone, the Mandate of Heaven cannot be relied upon. Even if you wish to dwell in mountains and seas, I fear that will not be a plan for self-preservation.
37
願下詔曰：「繼紹大統，出於臣庶之諂，而不悟其非； 巡狩東南，出於僥幸之心，而不虞其禍。 金人逆天亂倫，朕義不共天，志思雪恥。 父兄旅泊，陵寢荒殘，罪乃在予，無所逃責。」 以此號召四海，聳動人心，決意講武，戎衣臨陣。 按行淮、襄，收其豪英，誓以戰伐。 天下忠義武勇，必雲合響應。 陛下凡所欲為，孰不如志？ 其與退保吳、越，豈可同年而語哉！
I hope Your Majesty will issue an edict saying, "In succeeding to the great succession, I was moved by the flattery of officials and commoners, and did not perceive my error; in touring southeast on a hunting progress, I was moved by a heart of lucky chance, and did not guard against the calamity that would come. The Jurchens oppose Heaven and disorder human bonds. I, by righteousness, cannot live under the same sky with them, and my will is set on wiping away disgrace. My father and elder brothers lodge as travelers; the imperial tombs lie desolate in ruin—the fault lies in me, and there is no escaping responsibility." With this summon the four seas, stir the hearts of the people, resolve to drill the army, and take the martial robe to the battlefield yourself. Inspect Huai and Xiang, gather their heroes and champions, and swear to fight. The loyal, righteous, brave, and martial under Heaven will surely gather like clouds and answer like echoes. Whatever Your Majesty wishes to do—who will not carry it out as you desire? How can that be spoken of in the same breath as retreating to defend Wu and Yue!
38
自古中國強盛如漢武帝、唐太宗，其得志四夷，必並吞掃滅，極其兵力而後已。 中國禮義所自出也，恃強淩弱且如此。 今乃以仁慈之道、君子長者之事，望於凶頑之粘罕，豈有是理哉！ 今日圖復中興之策，莫大於罷絕和議，以使命之幣，為養兵之資。 不然，則僻處東南，萬事不競。 納賂則孰富於京室？ 納質則孰重於二聖？ 反復計之，所謂乞和，決無可成之理。
Since antiquity, when China was strong, as under Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Taizong of Tang, in gaining their will over the four barbarians they always annexed, swept away, and extinguished them, exhausting military force before stopping. China is where ritual and righteousness come from; even in relying on strength to bully the weak it was thus. Now to expect from the vicious and obstinate Nijian the conduct of the humane Way and the affairs of a gentleman and elder—is there such a principle! Today's plan for restoration and revival has nothing greater than ending peace talks altogether and using the tribute sent on diplomatic missions as funds to train troops. Otherwise, dwelling in a remote corner of the southeast, one competes in nothing. If you pay bribes, who is richer than the capital of the Jin? If you send hostages, who is weightier than the Two Emperors? Turn it over again and again—so-called begging for peace has absolutely no principle by which it can succeed.
39
夫大亂之後，風俗靡然，欲丕變之，在於務實效，去虛文。 治兵擇將，誓戡大憝者，孝弟之實也； 遣使乞和，冀幸萬一者，虛文也。 屈己求賢，信用群策者，求賢之實也； 外示禮貌，不用其言者，虛文也。 不惟面從，必將心改，苟利於國，即日行之者，納諫之實也； 和顏泛受，內惡切直者，虛文也。 擢智勇忠直之人，待禦以恩威，結約以誠信者，任將之實也； 親厚庸奴，等威不立者，虛文也。 汰疲弱，擇壯勇，足其衣食，申明階級，以變其驕悍之習者，治軍之實也； 教習兒戲，紀律蕩然者，虛文也。 遴選守刺，久於其官，痛刈奸贓，廣行寬恤者，愛民之實也； 軍須戎具，征求取辦，蠲租赦令，苟以欺之者，虛文也。 若夫保宗廟、陵寢、土地、人民，以此六實者行乎其間，則為中興之實政也。 陵廟荒圮，土宇日蹙，衣冠黔首，為血為肉，以此六虛者行乎其間，則為今日虛文。 陛下戴黃屋，建幄殿，質明輦出房，雉扇金爐夾侍兩陛，仗馬衛兵儼分儀式，讚者引百官入奉起居，以此度日。 彼粘罕者，晝夜厲兵，跨河越岱，電掃中土，遂有吞吸江湖，蹂踐衡霍之意。 吾方擁虛器，茫然未知所之。
After great disorder, custom is utterly broken down. If one wishes to change it greatly, the key lies in seeking real effect and removing empty form. Training troops and selecting generals, swearing to punish the great enemy—this is the substance of filial piety and brotherliness; sending envoys to beg for peace, hoping for the one chance in ten thousand—this is empty form. Humbling oneself to seek the worthy and trusting and using the counsel of many—this is the substance of seeking the worthy; outwardly showing courtesy yet not using their words—this is empty form. Not merely agreeing in face but changing in heart, and if it benefits the state carrying it out that very day—this is the substance of accepting remonstrance; receiving all with a pleasant countenance yet inwardly hating what is direct and upright—this is empty form. Promoting men of wisdom, courage, loyalty, and uprightness, treating generals with both favor and awe, and binding them by covenant in good faith—this is the substance of employing generals; favoring worthless underlings and failing to uphold proper rank—this is mere show. Culling the weak, choosing the stalwart, supplying their needs, enforcing clear hierarchy, and breaking their arrogant, violent ways—this is how an army is truly governed; training soldiers as though at play while discipline collapses—this is mere show. Choosing magistrates with care, leaving them in office long enough to govern, rooting out graft without mercy, and extending mercy widely—this is how a ruler truly loves his people; requisitioning arms and provisions on demand, issuing tax remissions and amnesties only to placate—this is mere show. If the ancestral temple, imperial tombs, land, and people are preserved, and these six real measures are put into practice, then this is a genuine policy of national revival. Tombs and temples crumble, the realm contracts day by day, and scholar and commoner alike are butchered—while these six hollow gestures go on. That is the empty pageantry of our age. Your Majesty dons the imperial canopy, sits in the curtained hall, and at dawn rides out from the inner palace. Feathered fans and golden censers flank the throne; ceremonial horses and guards array themselves in order; heralds lead the officials forward to pay their respects—and so the days pass. Meanwhile Nijian drills his troops day and night, crosses the Yellow River and Mount Tai, and sweeps the heartland like lightning—intent on swallowing the Yangtze basin and trampling the sacred mountains of Heng and Huo. We cling to hollow symbols of power, adrift and without direction.
40
君子小人，勢不兩立。 仁宗皇帝在位，得君子最多。 小人亦時見用，然罪者則斥； 君子亦或見廢，然忠顯則收。 故其成當世之功，貽後人之輔者，皆君子也。 至王安石則不然，斥絕君子，一去而不還； 崇信小人，一任則不改。 故其敗當時之政，為後世之害者，皆小人也。 仁宗皇帝所養之君子，既日遠而銷亡矣。 安石所致之小人，方蕃息而未艾也。 所以誤國破家，至毒至烈，以致二聖屈辱，羿、莽擅朝，伏節死難者不過一二人。 此浮華輕薄之害，明主之所畏而深戒者也。
The gentleman and the petty man cannot stand together. Under Emperor Renzong, more true gentlemen entered service than at any other time. Petty men were sometimes used, but the guilty were cast out; Gentlemen were sometimes pushed aside, but the loyal and worthy were brought back. Thus every man who built the achievements of that age and left strength for later generations was a gentleman. With Wang Anshi it was otherwise: he drove the gentlemen away, and once gone they never came back; He exalted petty men and, once entrusted with power, never replaced them. Thus every man who wrecked the governance of that age and poisoned later times was a petty man. The gentlemen Renzong had nurtured are now far gone, fading day by day. The petty men Anshi set loose are still breeding and have not yet spent their force. They misled the realm and shattered households with the bitterest poison, until the Two Emperors were humiliated, usurpers seized the court like Yi and Wang Mang, and scarcely one or two men died holding fast to their integrity. This is the damage done by showy, shallow men—the very thing a wise ruler dreads and guards against.
41
古之稱中興者曰：「撥亂世，反之正。」 今之亂亦云甚矣，其反正而興之，在陛下； 其遂陵遲不振，亦在陛下。 昔宗澤一老從官耳，猶能推誠感動群賊，北連懷、衛，同迎二聖，克期密應者，無慮數十萬人。 何況陛下身為子弟，欲北向而有為，將見舉四海為陛下用，期以十年，必能掃除妖沴，遠迓父兄，稱宋中興。 其與惕息遁藏，蹈危負恥如今日，豈不天地相絕哉！
The ancients defined revival thus: "In a chaotic age, set things aright and restore the proper order." Today's disorder is no less severe. Whether the realm is set aright and revived depends on Your Majesty; Whether it keeps sinking and never rises again also depends on Your Majesty. Once Zong Ze was no more than an elderly attendant in office, yet by sincerity he moved whole bands of rebels; north through Huai and Wei men pledged together to welcome the Two Emperors, and those who secretly agreed to answer on a fixed day numbered, at the least, several hundred thousand. How much more, then, when Your Majesty—son and brother to the captive emperors—turns north with purpose! All under Heaven will rally to you; in ten years you can drive off calamity, bring home your father and elder brother, and win the name of Song's revival. How can that be compared with cowering in dread, hiding in shame, and living as we do today in peril and disgrace—as though Heaven and Earth themselves were torn apart!
42
疏入，宰相呂頤浩惡其切直，除直龍圖閣、主管江州太平觀。
After the memorial entered court, Chief Councilor Lü Yihao, angered by its bluntness, had him appointed Directly Attached to the Hall of Dragon Images and put in charge of the Taiping Abbey in Jiangzhou.
43
二年五月，詔內外官各言省費、裕國、強兵、息民之策，寅以十事應詔，曰修政事、備邊陲、治軍旅、用人才、除盜賊、信賞罰、理財用、核名實、屏諛佞、去奸慝。 疏上不報，尋命知永州。
In the fifth month of the second year, an edict called on all officials to propose ways to cut costs, enrich the state, strengthen the army, and give the people rest. Yin answered with ten measures: reform administration, secure the frontiers, discipline the armies, employ talent, suppress banditry, enforce reward and punishment, manage revenue, match names to reality, drive out flatterers, and remove the wicked. The memorial went unanswered; soon afterward he was made prefect of Yongzhou.
44
紹興四年十二月，復召為起居郎，遷中書舍人，賜三品服。 時議遣使入雲中，寅上疏言：
In the twelfth month of Shaoxing 4 he was recalled as Recorder of the Emperor's Actions, promoted to Drafting Attendant in the Central Secretariat, and granted robes of the third rank. At that time the court debated sending envoys into Yunzhong. Yin submitted a memorial that read:
45
女真驚動陵寢，殘毀宗廟，劫質二聖，乃吾國之大仇也。 頃者，誤國之臣遣使求和，以苟歲月，九年於茲，其效如何？ 幸陛下灼見邪言，漸圖恢復，忠臣義士聞風興起，各思自效。 今無故蹈庸臣之轍，忘復仇之義，陳自辱之辭，臣切為陛下不取也。
The Jurchen violated the imperial tombs, destroyed the ancestral temple, and seized the Two Emperors as hostages—they are the great enemy of our state. Not long ago, the ministers who ruined the state sent envoys to sue for peace, buying time month by month. Nine years have passed—what has it accomplished? Your Majesty, thank Heaven, saw through those false counsels and began to plan recovery; loyal and righteous men everywhere took heart and sought to serve. Now, for no reason, to follow mediocre ministers again, forget the duty of vengeance, and offer self-abasing words—I cannot believe Your Majesty would choose this.
46
若謂不少貶屈，如二聖何？ 則自丁未以至甲寅，所為卑辭厚禮以問安迎請為名而遣使者，不知幾人矣，知二聖之所在者誰歟？ 聞二聖之聲音者誰歟？ 得女真之要領而息兵者誰歟？ 臣但見丙午而後，通和之使歸未息肩，而黃河、長淮、大江相繼失險矣。 夫女真知中國所重在二聖，所懼在劫質，所畏在用兵，而中國坐受此餌，既久而不悟也。 天下謂自是必改圖矣，何為復出此謬計邪？
If the objection is that without some humbling of ourselves, what becomes of the Two Emperors? From dingwei through jiayin, how many envoys went forth with humble words and rich gifts, claiming to inquire after the emperors and beg their return? Yet who knows where the Two Emperors are? Who has heard their voices? Who has seized the Jurchen by the throat and stopped the fighting? I have seen only this: since bingwu, envoys of peace return exhausted, while the Yellow River, the Huai, and the Yangtze have fallen one after another. The Jurchen know that we prize the Two Emperors above all, dread hostage-taking, and fear war—yet we have swallowed their bait for years without waking. The realm believed the policy would change at last—why revive this foolish plan?
47
當今之事，莫大於金人之怨。 欲報此怨，必殄此仇。 用復仇之議，而不用講和之政，使天下皆知女真為不共戴天之仇，人人有致死之心，然後二聖之怨可平，陛下人子之職舉矣。 苟為不然，彼或願與陛下歃盟泗水之上，不知何以待之？ 望聖意直以世仇無可通之義，寢罷使命。
Of all matters today, none is greater than hatred of the Jin. To settle this grievance, the enemy must be destroyed. Choose the path of vengeance, not negotiation. Let every man under Heaven know the Jurchen as an enemy he cannot live under the same sky with, until all are ready to die for the cause—then the Two Emperors' wrong may be redressed and Your Majesty's filial duty fulfilled. If not, they may offer to swear brotherhood with Your Majesty beside the Si River—how then should you answer? I pray Your Majesty will treat them as hereditary enemies with whom no dealings are possible, and put an end to these embassies altogether.
48
高宗嘉納，云：「胡寅論使事，詞旨剴切，深得獻納論思之體。」 召至都堂諭旨，仍降詔獎諭。 既而右僕射張浚自江上還，奏遣使為兵家機權，竟反前旨。 寅復奏疏言：「今日大計，隻合明復仇之義，用賢修德，息兵訓民，以圖北向。 倘或未可，則堅守待時。 若夫二三其德，無一定之論，必不能有所立。」 寅既與浚異，遂乞便郡就養。
Gaozong approved the memorial, saying: "Hu Yin's words on the envoy question are sharp and to the point; they embody the spirit in which a subject should offer counsel for the throne's deliberation." He was called to the Chief Council Chamber to hear the imperial response, and an edict of praise was issued besides. Soon afterward Right Vice Director Zhang Jun returned from the front and argued that sending envoys was a military expedient; in the end the earlier decision was reversed. Yin submitted another memorial: "The great plan for today is to proclaim vengeance openly, employ the worthy and cultivate virtue, rest the armies and train the people, and prepare to turn north. If the time is not ripe, then hold fast and wait. But to shift one's stand and hold no firm view is to accomplish nothing at all." Having broken with Zhang Jun, Yin asked for a comfortable post nearby so he could retire and support his parents.
49
始，寅上言：「近年書命多出詞臣好惡之私，使人主命德討罪之詞，未免玩人喪德之失，乞命詞臣以飾情相悅、含怒相訾為戒。」 故寅所撰詞多誥誡，於是忌嫉者眾。 朝廷辨宣仁聖烈之誣，行遣章惇、蔡卞，皆宰臣面授上旨，令寅撰進。 除徽猷閣待制、知邵州，辭。 改集英殿修撰，復以待制改知嚴州，又改知永州。
Earlier Yin had said: "In recent years many edicts have reflected the private likes and dislikes of the drafting officials, so that the sovereign's words of moral command and condemnation have often become mere playthings that erode virtue. I ask that the drafters be warned against smoothing feelings with false courtesy and venting anger in veiled reproach." For this reason Yin's drafts were mostly admonitory, and many came to resent him. When the court cleared the calumnies against Empress Xuanren and issued edicts banishing Zhang Dun and Cai Bian, the chief ministers received the emperor's instructions in person and had Yin draft the documents. He was appointed Awaiting Orders at the Hall of Imperial Exemplars and prefect of Shaozhou, but declined. He was reassigned as Compiler at the Hall for Assembling Eminence, then made Awaiting Orders and prefect of Yanzhou, and later transferred to Yongzhou.
50
徽宗皇帝、寧德皇后訃至，朝廷用故事以日易月，寅上疏言：「禮：仇不復則服不除。 願降詔旨，用喪三年，衣墨臨戎，以化天下。」 尋除禮部侍郎、兼侍講兼直學士院。 丁父憂，免喪，時秦檜當國，除徽猷閣直學士、提舉江州太平觀。 俄乞致仕，遂歸衡州。
When word came of the deaths of Emperor Huizong and Empress Cide, the court followed precedent and shortened the mourning period. Yin submitted a memorial: "Ritual teaches: if the enemy is not avenged, mourning clothes are not laid aside. I ask that Your Majesty decree full three-year mourning, take the field in black, and thereby transform the realm." Soon afterward he was made Vice Minister of Rites, Lecturer, and Academician of the Hanlin Academy. After his father's death he observed mourning; when mourning ended and Qin Hui dominated the court, he was made Direct Academician of the Hall of Imperial Exemplars and put in charge of the Taiping Abbey in Jiangzhou. Before long he asked to retire and went home to Hengzhou.
51
檜既忌寅，雖告老，猶憤之，坐與李光書譏訕朝政落職。 右正言章復劾寅不持本生母服不孝，諫通鄰好不忠，責授果州團練副使、新州安置。 檜死，詔自便，尋復其官。 紹興二十一年卒，年五十九。
Qin Hui had long resented Yin; though Yin had retired, Qin still pursued him, and Yin was stripped of rank for letters exchanged with Li Guang that mocked court policy. Right Remonstrator Zhang Fu accused Yin of failing to mourn his biological mother—charging unfiliality—and of opposing friendly relations with neighboring states—charging disloyalty. Yin was demoted to Vice Militia Commissioner of Guozhou and exiled to Xinzhou. After Qin Hui's death an edict freed him to live where he chose, and soon his rank was restored. He died in Shaoxing 21, aged fifty-nine.
52
寅志節豪邁，初擢第，中書侍郎張邦昌欲以女妻之，不許。 始，安國頗重秦檜之大節，及檜擅國，寅遂與之絕。 新州謫命下，即日就道。 在謫所著《讀史管見》數十萬言，及《論語詳說》，皆行於世。 其為文根著義理，有《斐然集》三十卷。
Yin was a man of fierce integrity. When he first passed the examinations, Vice Director Zhang Bangchang of the Central Secretariat offered him his daughter in marriage; he refused. At first Hu Anguo greatly respected Qin Hui's public integrity; once Qin seized control of the state, Yin broke with him completely. When the order banishing him to Xinzhou arrived, he left the same day. In exile he wrote "Glimpses from Reading History," several hundred thousand words long, and "Detailed Expositions on the Analects"; both works circulated widely. His prose was grounded in moral principle. His "Feiran Collection" ran to thirty scrolls.
53
〈子〉 宏
〈Sons〉 Hong
54
宏字仁仲，幼事楊時、侯仲良，而卒傳其父之學。 優遊衡山下餘二十年，玩心神明，不舍晝夜。 張栻師事之。 紹興間上書，其略曰：
Hong, styled Renzhong, studied in youth under Yang Shi and Hou Zhongliang, and in the end carried on his father's doctrine. For more than twenty years he lived at ease beneath Mount Heng, refining his inner spirit without ceasing, day or night. Zhang Shi studied under him as his disciple. During the Shaoxing period he submitted a memorial, which in summary said:
55
治天下有本，仁也。 何謂仁？ 心也。 心官茫茫，莫知其鄉，若為知其體乎？ 有所不察則不知矣。 有所顧慮，有所畏懼，則雖有能知能察之良心，亦浸消亡而不自知，此臣之所大憂也。 夫敵國據形勝之地，逆臣僭位於中原，牧馬駸駸，欲爭天下。 臣不是懼，而以良心為大憂者，蓋良心充於一身，通於天地，宰制萬事，統攝億兆之本也。 察天理莫如屏欲，存良心莫如立志。 陛下亦有朝廷政事不幹於慮，便嬖智巧不陳於前，妃嬪佳麗不幸於左右時矣。 陛下試於此時沉思靜慮，方今之世，當陛下之身，事孰為大乎？ 孰為急乎？ 必有歉然而餒，惻然而痛，坐起彷徨不能自安者，則良心可察，而臣言可信矣。
To govern the realm has a foundation, and that foundation is benevolence. What is benevolence? The heart. The heart is boundless and obscure; none can say where it dwells—how then can one grasp its nature? Fail to examine it, and you cannot know it. When calculation and fear take hold, the innate heart that can know and discern withers away unnoticed—even though it is still there. This is what I fear most. The enemy holds the commanding ground; a rebel sits in usurpation at the heart of the realm; their horses graze ever closer—they mean to wrest the empire from us. I do not say these things because I fear the enemy. I speak of the innate heart because it fills the self, reaches through Heaven and Earth, governs all affairs, and is the root from which the multitude are ruled. To see Heaven's principle, nothing helps more than restraining desire; to keep the innate heart alive, nothing helps more than setting one's will. Your Majesty too has moments when state affairs never reach your thoughts, when clever favorites stand far off, and when consorts and beauties are absent from your side. At such a moment, I ask Your Majesty to think deeply and in silence: in this age, in your own person—what matter is greatest? What is most urgent? Surely shame will come, and hollowness; compassion will ache in you; you will rise and sit unable to rest. Then the innate heart may be known—and my words believed.
56
昔舜以匹夫為天子，瞽叟以匹夫為天子父，受天下之養，豈不足於窮約哉？ 而瞽叟猶不悅。 自常情觀之，舜可以免矣，而舜蹙然有憂之，舉天下之大無足以解憂者。 徽宗皇帝身享天下之奉幾三十年。 欽宗皇帝生於深宮，享乘輿之次，以至為帝。 一旦劫於仇敵，遠適窮荒，衣裘失司服之制，飲食失膳夫之味，居處失宮殿之安、妃嬪之好，動無威嚴，辛苦墊隘。 其願陛下加兵敵國，心目睽睽，猶饑渴之於飲食。 庶幾一得生還，父子兄弟相持而泣，歡若平生。 引領東望，九年於此矣。 夫以疏賤，念此痛心，當食則嗌，未嘗不投箸而起，思欲有為，況陛下當其任乎？ 而在廷之臣，不能對揚天心，充陛下仁孝之志，反以天子之尊，北面仇敵。 陛下自念，以此事親，於舜何如也？
Long ago Shun became emperor though he was a common man, and Gousou became the father of an emperor though he was a common man. He received the sustenance of the realm—was he still in want? Yet Gousou was not content. By ordinary feeling one might say Shun had done enough, yet Shun furrowed his brow in grief, and nothing in all the world could ease it. Emperor Huizong enjoyed the empire's bounty for nearly thirty years. Emperor Qinzong was born in the inner palace, raised to imperial rank, and at last ascended the throne. Then in a single day they were taken by the enemy and cast into distant wasteland. Their robes no longer followed court ritual; their food no longer tasted of the imperial kitchen; their dwellings no longer knew palace ease or the company of consorts. Stripped of majesty, they endured hardship and confinement. They long for Your Majesty to send armies against the enemy; their eyes strain in fixed hope, as hunger and thirst crave food and drink. If only they might once come home alive — fathers and sons, brothers clasping one another in tears, joy like that of years past. Necks craned eastward — nine years have passed thus. Remote and lowly though I am, the thought wrings my heart: at every meal I choke, always casting down my chopsticks to rise, hungering to act — and how much more should Your Majesty, who bears the office? Yet ministers in court cannot echo Heaven's will or fulfill Your Majesty's benevolent and filial purpose; they use the Son of Heaven's own dignity to bow north to the foe. Consider, Your Majesty: to serve your parents thus — how would Shun have judged it?
57
且群臣智謀淺短，自度不足以任大事，故欲偷安江左，貪圖寵榮，皆為身謀爾。 陛下乃信之，以為必持是可以進撫中原，展省陵廟，來歸兩宮，亦何誤耶！
Besides, the ministers' counsel is shallow and small; knowing themselves unequal to great undertakings, they seek ease south of the Yangtze and grasp at favor and rank — every move is for themselves. Your Majesty still trusts them, believing this course will surely restore the Central Plain, allow visits to the imperial tombs, and bring home the Two Palaces — what a grievous mistake!
58
萬世不磨之辱，臣子必報之仇，子孫之所以寢苫枕戈，弗與共天下者也； 而陛下顧慮畏懼，忘之不敢以為仇。 臣下僭逆，有明目張膽顯為負叛者，有協讚亂賊為之羽翰者，有依隨兩端欲以中立自免者，而陛下顧慮畏懼，寬之不敢以為討。 守此不改，是祖宗之靈，終天暴露，無與復存也； 父兄之身，終天困辱，而求歸之望絕也； 中原士民，沒身塗炭，無所赴訴也。 陛下念亦及此乎？
An indelible shame for ten thousand generations, a feud ministers and sons must avenge — the reason posterity sleeps on brushwood and keeps a spear at the pillow, unwilling to share the realm with them; yet Your Majesty, in anxious fear, sets it aside and dares not call it a feud. Among your subjects are usurpers and turncoats: some openly rebel; some lend wings to rebels; some fence-sit, hoping neutrality will save them — yet Your Majesty, full of anxious fear, pardons them and dares not punish. Hold to this, and the spirits of our ancestors remain exposed under Heaven, with none left to restore them; father and elder brothers suffer humiliation to their last day, and all hope of return is lost; the scholars and common people of the Central Plain sink into misery unto death, with no place to cry for help. Does Your Majesty give this any thought at all?
59
王安石輕用己私，紛更法令，棄誠而懷詐，興利而忘義，尚功而悖道，人皆知安石廢祖宗法令，不知其並與祖宗之道廢之也。 邪說既行，正論屏棄，故奸諛敢挾紹述之義以逞其私，下誣君父，上欺祖宗，誣謗宣仁，廢遷隆祐。 使我國家君臣父子之間，頓生疵癘，三綱廢壞，神化之道泯然將滅。 遂使敵國外橫，盜賊內訌，王師傷敗，中原陷沒，二聖遠棲於沙漠，皇輿僻寄於東吳，囂囂萬姓，未知攸底，禍至酷也。
Wang Anshi acted on private impulse, churning through laws and codes; he cast off sincerity for cunning, prized profit over righteousness, exalted achievement against the Way. All know Anshi scrapped the ancestral statutes — few see that he scrapped the ancestral Way with them. When deviant teaching took hold, honest debate was silenced; flatterers then wrapped themselves in 'continuation of the founder's work' to serve private ends — defaming the living ruler and deceased father below, deceiving the ancestors above, reviling Empress Dowager Xuanren and deposing Empress Dowager Longyou. Between ruler and minister, father and son, our realm suddenly broke out in moral blight; the Three Bonds crumbled, and the Way of transforming governance all but died. Enemy power roared without; bandits rose within; imperial armies were broken; the Central Plain was lost; the Two Emperors languished in the desert; the throne was a fugitive in the southeast; a clamoring multitude saw no end — calamity at its cruelest.
60
若猶習於因循，憚於更變，亡三綱之本性，昧神化之良能，上以利勢誘下，下以智術干上。 是非由此不公，名實由此不核，賞罰由此失當，亂臣賊子由此得志，人紀由此不修，天下萬事倒行逆施，人欲肆而天理滅矣。 將何以異於先朝，求救禍亂而致昇平乎？
If you still cling to inertia and fear reform, void the Three Bonds of their true nature and blind Heaven's transforming power — the court baiting subjects with gain and rank, subjects importuning the court with schemes. Then right and wrong lose fairness, names and facts go unreconciled, rewards and punishments miss their mark, traitors prosper, human order rots, all under Heaven runs backward — desire unchecked and Heavenly principle quenched. How will this differ from the last reign? How can it save us from chaos and restore peace?
61
末言：
In closing:
62
高閌為國子司業，請幸太學，宏見其表，作書責之曰：
Gao Kan, Vice Director of the Directorate of Education, petitioned for an imperial visit to the Imperial Academy. Hong read his memorial and wrote to rebuke him, saying:
63
太學，明人倫之所在也。 昔楚懷王不返，楚人憐之，如悲親戚。 蓋忿秦之以強力詐其君，使不得其死，其憯勝於加之以刃也。 太上皇帝劫制於強敵，生往死歸，此臣子痛心切骨，臥薪嘗膽，宜思所以必報也。 而柄臣乃敢欺天罔人，以大仇為大恩乎？
The Imperial Academy exists to clarify human relations. When King Huai of Chu never came home, the people of Chu mourned him like a kinsman lost. They hated Qin for using force and deceit to hold their king and deny him a proper death — worse than killing him outright. The Retired Emperor was hostage to a mighty foe — he went alive and came back dead. Every loyal subject should feel it in his bones, sleep on brushwood and taste gall, and brood on vengeance that cannot be refused. And the power-holding minister dares deceive Heaven and mankind, calling the greatest feud the greatest grace?
64
昔宋公為楚所執，及楚子釋之，孔子筆削《春秋》，乃曰：「許侯盟於薄，釋宋公。」 不許楚人制中國之命也。 太母，天下之母，其縱釋乃在金人，此中華之大辱，臣子所不忍言也。 而柄臣乃敢欺天罔人，以大辱為大恩乎？
When Duke Song of Song was taken by Chu and later released, Confucius edited the Spring and Autumn Annals to record: "The Marquis of Xu allied at Bo, releasing Duke Song." — refusing to let Chu dictate the destiny of the Central States. The Grand Empress was mother of the realm; that her release owed to the Jurchens is China's deepest shame — what loyal subjects cannot bear to utter. Yet that minister dares still deceive Heaven and men, calling the deepest shame the highest favor?
65
晉朝廢太后，董養遊太學，升堂歎曰：「天下之理既滅，大亂將作矣。」 則引遠而去。 今閣下自睹忘仇滅理，北面敵國，以苟宴安之事，猶偃然為天下師儒之首。 既不能建大論，明天人之理以正君心； 乃阿諛柄臣，希合風旨，求舉太平之典，又為之詞云云，欺天罔人孰甚焉！
When the Jin deposed their empress dowager, Dong Yang entered the Imperial Academy, mounted the hall, and sighed: "The moral order of the realm is dead; great disorder is near." — then he withdrew and left. Today you see the feud forgotten and moral order extinguished, bowing north to the enemy for a little feasting and ease — and still you sit at ease as chief teacher of the empire. You cannot even raise great doctrine, show Heaven-and-man's principle, and set the ruler's heart straight; instead you fawn on the power-holder, bend to his will, plead for rites of 'great peace,' and dress it in fine phrases — who deceives Heaven and men more thoroughly than this!
66
宏初以蔭補右承務郎，不調。 秦檜當國，貽書其兄寅，問二弟何不通書，意欲用之。 寧作書止敘契好而已。 宏書辭甚厲，人問之，宏曰：「政恐其召，故示之以不可召之端。」 檜死，宏被召，竟以疾辭，卒於家。
Hong first received an appointment as Right Assistant Director for Works through inherited privilege and never reported for duty. While Qin Hui dominated the court, he wrote to Hong's elder brother Yin asking why the two younger brothers never wrote; he meant to bring them into service. Ning replied with a letter that spoke only of their old friendship. Hong's letter was fierce in tone. When asked about it, he said: "I feared he might summon me, so I gave him reason to think me unsummonable." When Hui died, Hong was summoned; he pleaded illness, declined, and died at home.
67
著書曰《知言》。 張栻謂其言約義精，道學之樞要，制治之蓍龜也。 有詩文五卷、《皇王大紀》八十卷。
He wrote a work titled Knowing Words. Zhang Shi praised it as concise in speech and precise in meaning — the pivot of Dao learning, the oracle for governing the realm. His literary remains include five fascicles of poetry and prose and eighty fascicles of Great Chronicle of Emperors and Kings.
68
〈子〉 寧
〈Sons〉 Ning
69
寧字和仲，以蔭補官。 秦檜當國，召試館職，除敕令所刪定官。 秦熺知樞密院事，檜問寧曰：「熺近除，外議云何？」 寧曰：「外議以為相公必不為蔡京之所為也。」 遷太常丞、祠部郎官。
Ning, courtesy name Hezhong, entered office through inherited privilege. While Qin Hui held power, Ning was summoned for an Academy post examination and appointed as editor at the Edict Drafting Office. When Qin Xi was made Director of the Privy Bureau, Hui asked Ning: "Xi has just been appointed — what do people outside the court say?" Ning answered: "Outside opinion holds that the Chancellor surely will not repeat what Cai Jing did." He was then promoted to Assistant Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Secretariat Gentleman in the Ministry of Rites.
70
初，以寧父兄故召用，及寅與檜忤，乃出寧為夔路安撫司參議官。 除知澧州，不赴。 主管台州崇道觀，卒。
He had first been called to office because of his father and elder brothers; once Yin broke with Hui, Ning was posted as adviser on the Kuizhou Pacification Commission. He was appointed prefect of Lizhou but refused to go. He supervised the Chongdao Abbey in Taizhou and died in that post.
71
安國之傳《春秋》也，修纂檢討盡出寧手。 寧又著《春秋通旨》，以羽翼其書云。
When Hu Anguo worked on the Spring and Autumn, the compilation and editorial review were largely Ning's work. Ning also wrote General Purport of the Spring and Autumn Annals to support his father's book.