1
孔穆崔柳楊馬
The Kong, Mu, Cui, Liu, Yang, and Ma Clans
2
1.1.1子遵孺
1.1.1 Son: Zunru
3
1.1.2遵孺子緯
1.1.2 Son of Zunru: Wei
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1.3.1子溫業
1.3.1 Son: Wenye
5
孔巢父
Kong Chaofu
6
孔巢父，字弱翁，孔子三十七世孫。 少力學，隱徂來山。 永王璘稱兵江淮，辟署幕府，不應，鏟跡民伍。 璘敗，知名。 廣德中，李季卿宣撫江淮，薦為左衛兵曹參軍。 三遷庫部員外郎。 出為涇原行軍司馬。 累拜湖南觀察使，未行，會普王為荊襄副元帥，署行軍司馬。 俄而德宗狩奉天，行在擢給事中，為河中、陜、華招討使，累上破賊方略，帝嘉納。
Kong Chaofu, styled Ruoweng, was a thirty-seventh-generation descendant of Confucius. He applied himself to study from youth and lived in retirement on Culai Mountain. When Li Lin, the Prince of Yong, took up arms in the Jiang-Huai region, Chaofu was summoned to join his headquarters staff but declined, concealing himself among commoners. After Li Lin's defeat, Chaofu gained renown. In the Guangde era (763–764), Li Jiqing, commissioner for pacifying the Jiang-Huai region, recommended him for the post of Left Guard Army Adjutant. He was promoted three times to become Vice Director of the Treasury Bureau. He was posted as acting chief of staff on campaign in Jingyuan. He was repeatedly appointed Military Commissioner of Hunan but had not yet departed when Prince Pu was made vice commander-in-chief of the Jing-Xiang theater, and he was assigned as acting chief of staff under him. Before long Emperor Dezong took refuge at Fengtian. At the mobile court Chaofu was promoted to Supervising Secretary and tasked with pacifying Hezhong, Shaanzhou, and Huazhou. He repeatedly submitted strategies for breaking the rebels, which the emperor warmly approved.
7
未幾，兼御史大夫，為魏博宣慰使。 巢父辯而才，及見田悅，與言君臣大義，利害逆順，開曉其眾。 是時，悅久不臣，下皆厭亂，雜然喜曰：「不圖今日還為王人！」 酒中，悅起，自陳騎射工，曰：「陛下見用，何敵不摧！」 巢父曰：「若爾，不蚤自歸，乃一劇賊耳。」 悅曰：「能為劇賊，豈不能為功臣乎？」 巢父曰：「國方多虞，待子而息。」 悅謝焉。 數日，田緒殺悅，與大將邢曹俊等聽命，巢父即以緒權知軍務，紓其難。
Not long after, he was additionally appointed Chief Censor and commissioner of consolation to Weibo. Eloquent and capable, Chaofu when he met Tian Yue expounded on the bond between sovereign and subject, on gains and losses and on right and wrong, enlightening Yue's followers. At the time Yue had long withheld allegiance, and his men, sick of rebellion, exclaimed with one voice: "Who would have thought that today we would again serve the throne! During the drinking, Yue stood up, boasting of his mastery of horsemanship and archery: "If Your Majesty puts me to use, what foe could I not destroy!" Chaofu replied: "If that is true, then by not surrendering sooner you have been nothing but a hardened rebel." Yue said: "If I can play the rebel, can I not play the loyal minister as well?" Chaofu said: "The realm is full of troubles just now—it is waiting for you to bring peace." Yue apologized. A few days later Tian Xu killed Yue. Together with the general Xing Caojun and others he submitted to imperial authority, and Chaofu at once put Xu in provisional command of the army, relieving the crisis.
8
李懷光據河中，帝復令巢父宣慰，罷其兵，以太子太保授之。 懷光素服待命，巢父不止。 眾忿曰：「太尉無官矣！」 方宣詔，乃噪而合，害巢父，並殺中人啖守盈。 初，巢父至，懷光以其使魏博而田悅死，疑其謀出巢父，故軍亂不肯救。 帝聞震悼，贈尚書左仆射，謚曰忠。 詔具禮收葬，賜其家粟帛，存恤之。
Li Huaiguang held the Hezhong region. The emperor again dispatched Chaofu to pacify him, stripped him of his troops, and invested him with the title Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. Huaiguang was already dressed in submissive garb awaiting his orders, yet Chaofu would not leave off reading the edict. The soldiers erupted in fury: "The Grand Preceptor has been stripped of his rank! As the edict was being read aloud they surged forward in a riot, killed Chaofu, and also murdered the eunuch Dan Shouying. Earlier, when Chaofu arrived, Huaiguang suspected he had engineered Tian Yue's death during the Weibo mission and deliberately did nothing when the troops rose up against him. On hearing the news the emperor was stunned with grief. Chaofu was posthumously given the rank of Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and the posthumous name Loyal. An edict ordered him buried with full honors, granted grain and cloth to his family, and extended relief to them.
9
從子戣、戡、戢。
Among his nephews were Mo, Kan, and Ji.
10
從子戣
Nephew: Mo
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戣，字君嚴，擢進士第。 鄭滑盧群辟為判官，群卒，攝揔留務。 監軍楊誌謙雅自肆，眾皆恐。 戣邀誌謙至府，與對榻臥起，示不疑，誌謙嚴憚不敢動。 入為侍御史，累擢諫議大夫。 條上四事：一、多冗官，二、吏不奉法，三、百姓田不盡墾，四、山澤榷酤為州縣弊。 憲宗異其言。 中人劉希光受賕二十萬緡，抵死，吐突承璀坐厚善，逐為淮南監軍。 太子舍人李涉知帝意，投匭上言承璀有功不可棄。 戣得副章，不肯受，面質讓之。 涉更因左右以聞，戣劾奏涉結近幸，營罔上聽。 有詔斥涉峽州司馬，宦寵側目，人為危之，戣自以適所誌，軒軒甚得。
Mo, styled Junyan, passed the jinshi civil-service examination. Lu Qun of Zheng-Hua district recruited him as administrative aide; when Qun died, Mo took interim charge of headquarters affairs. The army supervisor Yang Zhiqian was habitually arrogant and unrestrained, and everyone feared him. Mo invited Zhiqian to headquarters and shared his couch day and night, showing perfect trust. Awed and constrained, Zhiqian did not dare make a move. He entered court service as Attending Censor and rose through successive promotions to Remonstrance Adviser. He laid out four reforms in order: superfluous officials, clerks who failed to enforce the law, farmland left unopened, and the state monopolies on mountain resources and wine that plagued the prefectures and counties. Emperor Xianzong took special notice of his proposals. The eunuch Liu Xiguang took a bribe of two hundred thousand strings of cash and was executed. Tutu Chengcui, implicated for his close ties to Liu, was banished to serve as army supervisor in Huainan. Li She of the Heir Apparent's household, sensing the emperor's mind, dropped a petition in the suggestion box arguing that Chengcui's past service made him worth keeping. Mo obtained a copy of the petition and refused to accept it, confronting She in person to rebuke him. She then worked through court favorites to get his message to the emperor, and Mo memorialized to impeach him for cultivating the emperor's favorites and manipulating the sovereign's judgment. She was exiled to the post of military aide in Xia Prefecture. The eunuch faction glared at Mo with hostility and many thought him in grave peril, but Mo felt he had fulfilled his purpose and was quite exultant.
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俄兼太子侍讀，改給事中。 江西觀察使李少和坐贓，獄寢不下； 博陵崔易簡殺從父兄，鞫狀具。 京兆尹左右之，翻其情。 戣慷慨論正，貶少和，殺易簡，奪尹三月俸。 再遷尚書左丞。 信州刺史李位好黃老道，數祠禱，部將韋嶽告位集方士圖不軌，監軍高重謙上急變，捕位劾禁中。 戣奏：「刺史有罪，不容系仗內，請付有司。」 詔還御史臺。 戣與三司雜治，無反狀。 嶽坐誣罔誅，貶位建州司馬。 中人愈怒，故出為華州刺史。 明州歲貢淡菜蚶蛤之屬，戣以為自海抵京師，道路役凡四十三萬人，奏罷之。 歷大理卿、國子祭酒。
He was soon additionally appointed Lecturer to the Heir Apparent and transferred to Supervising Secretary. Li Shaohe, Military Commissioner of Jiangxi, was implicated in embezzlement, but the investigation stalled without resolution; Cui Yijian of Boling had murdered his elder cousin; the full facts of the case had been established. The metropolitan governor took his side and overturned the verdict. Mo argued forcefully for justice. Shaohe was demoted, Yijian was executed, and the governor was stripped of three months' salary. He was promoted again to Left Assistant Director of the Department of State Affairs. Li Wei, prefect of Xinzhou, was devoted to Huang-Lao Daoism and frequently performed rites and prayers. His subordinate Wei Yue reported that the prefect was gathering occult practitioners to plot rebellion. Army supervisor Gao Chongqian sent an urgent report, and Li Wei was seized and placed under investigation inside the palace. Mo memorialized: "A prefect who has committed a crime should not be held within the palace armed guard. I ask that he be turned over to the appropriate offices. An edict ordered the case transferred back to the Censorate. Mo joined the Three Offices in a joint investigation and found no evidence of rebellion. Wei Yue was executed for false accusation, and Li Wei was demoted to military aide in Jianzhou. The eunuchs were further enraged, and Mo was accordingly posted out as prefect of Huazhou. Mingzhou each year sent tribute of mussels, oysters, and clams. Mo reckoned that moving these from the coast to the capital required four hundred thirty thousand men in transport labor, and memorialized to end the practice. He served in succession as Minister of Justice and Chancellor of the Imperial University.
13
會嶺南節度使崔詠死，帝謂裴度曰：「嘗論罷蚶菜者，誰歟？ 今安在？ 是可往，為朕求之。」 度以戣對，即拜嶺南節度使。 既至，免屬州逋負十八萬緡、米八萬斛、黃金稅歲八百兩。 先是，屬刺史俸率三萬，又不時給，皆取部中自衣食。 戣乃倍其俸，約不得為貪暴，稍以法繩之。 南方鬻口為貨，掠人為奴婢，戣峻為之禁。 親吏得嬰兒於道，收育之，戣論以死，由是閭裏相約不敢犯。 士之斥南不能北歸與有罪之後百餘族，才可用，用之，稟無告者，女子為嫁遣之。 蕃舶泊步有下碇稅，始至有閱貨宴，所餉犀琲，下及仆隸，戣禁絕，無所求索。 舊制，海商死者，官籍其資，滿三月無妻子詣府，則沒入。 戣以海道歲一往復，茍有驗者不為限，悉推與。
When Military Governor Cui Yong of Lingnan died, the emperor asked Pei Du: "Who was it who once argued to abolish the oyster tribute? Where is he now? He would be the right man. Find him for me. Pei Du named Mo, and he was at once appointed military governor of Lingnan. On reaching his post he remitted arrears totaling one hundred eighty thousand strings of cash owed by subordinate prefectures, eighty thousand bushels of grain, and the annual gold tax of eight hundred ounces. Previously the prefects under his command had averaged salaries of thirty thousand each, paid irregularly, and all had been feeding and clothing themselves by drawing on their jurisdictions. Mo doubled their salaries, bound them not to act greedily or oppressively, and gradually reined them in with the law. In the south people traded in human lives and seized others as slaves; Mo enforced stern prohibitions against it. One of his personal clerks picked up a baby from the road and kept it; Mo had him sentenced to death. Thereafter neighborhoods bound themselves by agreement not to dare break the law. For more than a hundred families of scholars exiled to the south who could not return north, and of those tainted by criminal connections—whoever had usable talent he put to use; whoever lacked support he supplied with provisions; for women he arranged marriages and saw them properly settled. Foreign ships paid anchorage dues, and on arrival there were banquets to inspect cargo, with gifts of rhinoceros horn and beads extending even to servants and attendants. Mo banned all such practices and accepted nothing. Under the old rules, when overseas merchants died the government registered their property; if after three months no wife or children came to claim it at the prefectural office, it was forfeited. Reasoning that the sea route allowed only one round trip per year, Mo held that as long as claimants could furnish proof, the time limit should not apply, and he returned everything in full.
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自貞元中，黃洞諸蠻叛，久不平。 容、桂二管利虜掠，幸有功，乃請合兵討之。 戣固言不可，帝不聽，大發江、湖兵，會二管入討。 士被瘴毒死者不勝計，安南乘之，殺都護李象古，而桂管裴行立、容管陽旻皆無功，憂死； 獨戣不邀一旦功，交、廣晏然大治。
Since the Zhenyuan era (785–804) the Huangdong tribes had repeatedly rebelled and remained unrested for years. The Rong and Gui circuits profited from raiding and captives and, hoping for glory, requested a joint military campaign against the rebels. Mo adamantly opposed the plan, but the emperor overruled him and mustered large forces from the Jiang and Hu regions for a joint expedition with the two circuits. Soldiers died of malarial fevers beyond all count. Annan took advantage of the turmoil and killed Protector-General Li Xianggu. Pei Xingli of Gui circuit and Yang Min of Rong circuit both accomplished nothing and died of distress; Mo alone refrained from chasing quick victories, and the Jiao and Guang regions were governed in settled peace.
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穆宗立，以吏部侍郎召，改右散騎常侍，還為左丞，以老自乞。 雅善韓愈，謂曰：「公尚壯，上三留，何去之果？」 戣曰：「吾豈要君者？ 吾年，一宜去； 吾為左丞，不能進退郎官，二宜去。」 愈曰：「公無留資，何恃而歸？」 曰：「吾負二宜去，尚奚顧子言？」 愈嗟嘆，即上疏言：「臣與戣同在南省，數與戣相見，其為人守節清苦，論議正平。 年七十，筋力耳目未衰，憂國忘家，用意至到。 如戣輩，在朝不過三數人，陛下不宜茍順其求，不留自助也。 《禮》：大夫七十致事，若不得謝，則賜之幾杖安車，不必七十盡許致事。 今戣據禮求退，陛下若不聽許，亦無傷義，而有貪賢之美。」 不報。 以禮部尚書致仕，歲致羊酒如漢征士禮。 卒，年七十三。 贈兵部尚書，謚曰貞。
When Emperor Muzong took the throne, Mo was recalled as Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel, promoted to Right Regular Attendant of the Palace Guard, then returned as Left Assistant Director of the Department of State Affairs, and on grounds of age asked to retire. He and Han Yu were close friends. Han Yu said to him: "You are still vigorous, and the emperor tried three times to keep you—why resign so decisively? Mo said: "Do you think I am currying favor with you? My age is one reason I should go; As Left Assistant Director I cannot appoint or dismiss court officials—that is a second reason." Han Yu said: "You have no savings. What will you live on when you go home?" He replied: "I already have two good reasons to leave— why should I worry about what you say?" Han Yu sighed deeply and at once submitted a memorial: "I have served with Mo in the southern offices and know him well. He lives with integrity and austerity, and his judgments are fair and principled. At seventy his body and senses are still strong, he cherishes the nation above his own family, and his devotion is complete. There are scarcely three or four men like Mo left at court. Your Majesty should not lightly grant his request and lose his counsel. The Book of Rites states that at seventy a minister may retire, but if the emperor needs him, he may gift him a staff and a comfortable carriage—the rule does not require that every seventy-year-old be allowed to resign. Mo is asking to retire as the Rites permit; if Your Majesty refuses, no principle is violated—and you gain the reputation of valuing talent." The emperor made no reply. He retired with the title Minister of Rites, and each year received gifts of wine and mutton as under the Han dynasty rite for retired scholars. He died at seventy-three. He was posthumously made Minister of War and given the posthumous name Upright.
16
子遵孺
Son: Zunru
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子遵孺，溫裕，仕為天平節度使。 遵孺子緯。
His son Zunru, styled Wenyu, served as military governor of Tianping. Zunru's son was Wei.
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遵孺子緯
Son of Zunru: Wei
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緯，字化文，少孤，依諸父。 多與有名者遊，才譽蚤成。 擢進士第，東川崔慎由表置幕府。 從崔鉉淮南，復從慎由守河中，再遷觀察判官。 宰相楊收薦以長安尉直弘文館。 遷監察御史，進禮部員外郎、兼集賢直學士。 母喪解。 還為右司員外郎。 趙隱言其才，拜翰林學士，俄知制誥。 頻遷戶部侍郎，擢御史中丞。 緯方雅，疾惡若仇，中外聞風，未繩輒肅。 三遷吏部侍郎。 權要私謁至盈幾，一不省，當路不悅，改太常卿。
Wei, styled Huawen, was orphaned young and was raised by his uncles. He traveled widely in the circles of distinguished men and won an early reputation for talent. He passed the jinshi examination, and Cui Shenyou of Dongchuan had him placed on his staff. He followed Cui Xuan to Huainan, then served again under Shenyou as prefect of Hezhong, and after two promotions became administrative aide to a military commissioner. Grand Counselor Yang Shou recommended him for the post of assistant magistrate of Chang'an and a concurrent appointment as erudite of the Hongwen Institute. He was transferred to the censorate, promoted to Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites, and given a concurrent appointment as erudite of the Jixian Academy. He resigned from office upon his mother's death. After returning from mourning he was appointed Vice Director of the Right Secretariat. Zhao Yin praised his ability, and he was appointed Hanlin Academician; before long he was placed in charge of drafting imperial edicts. After several promotions he rose to Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue, then was elevated to Censor-in-Chief. Wei was dignified and unbending; he loathed wickedness with the fervor of a vendetta. His reputation struck fear through court and countryside alike—men fell into line before he ever raised a hand against them. After three further promotions he was made Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel. Men of influence sent private visitors until his desk was piled high with calling cards, yet he refused every one of them. Those in power took offense, and he was transferred to the post of Minister of Rites.
20
從僖宗西到蜀，以刑部尚書判戶部。 蕭遘雅不喜，坐調度不給，改太子少保。 及帝避朱玫，次陳倉，惟黃門衛士數百扈乘輿。 詔拜緯御史大夫，令趣百官至行在。 時群臣露次盩厔，為盜剽脅，衣囊略盡。 緯謁宰相，欲有所論，遘與裴澈怨田令孜，不欲行，辭不見。 緯召御史曰：「吾等身被恩，誼不辭難，今詔群臣皆不至，夫與人布衣遊，猶緩急相恤，況於君乎？」 且泣下。 御史亦辭方寇奪，丐衣食，請辦一日費而行。 緯曰：「吾妻疾，旦暮盡，丈夫豈以家事後國事乎？ 公善自謀，吾行決矣。」 往見李昌符曰：「詔書再至，而群臣顧未行。 仆，大夫也，不敢後。 願假兵護送天子所。」 昌符具資裝送之。 既及行在，緯策玫必反，建言關邑厄狹，不足駐六師，請幸梁州。 即日去陳倉而玫兵至，微緯言幾不脫。 進拜兵部侍郎、同中書門下平章事。 玫平，從帝還，領諸道鹽鐵轉運使，累遷尚書左仆射，賜號「持危啟運保乂功臣」。 鐵券恕十死，又賜天興良田、善和裏第各一區，兼京畿營田使。
He followed Emperor Xizong westward into Shu, serving as Minister of Justice with concurrent responsibility for the Ministry of Revenue. Xiao You had long borne him ill will. On the charge that he had failed to supply provisions, Wei was demoted to Junior Tutor to the Heir Apparent. When the emperor fled Zhu Mei and halted at Chencang, only a few hundred attendants of the Yellow Gate guard remained to escort the imperial carriage. An edict appointed Wei Censor-in-Chief and charged him with hurrying the assembled officials to the emperor's mobile court. At the time the assembled ministers were encamped in the open at Zhouzhi; bandits robbed and plundered them until their clothing and baggage were nearly gone. Wei called on the chancellor, intending to discuss the matter, but You and Pei Che, who both resented Tian Lingzi, did not wish to go and declined to receive him. Wei summoned the censors and said: "We have all received the emperor's grace; in duty we cannot refuse hardship. The edict has gone out, yet the assembled ministers have not come. Even when one travels with a man in common dress, one still helps him in time of need—how much more so toward one's sovereign? As he spoke, tears streamed down his face. The censors also pleaded that bandits had just robbed them bare; they begged for clothing and food and asked to scrape together enough for one day's travel before departing. Wei said: "My wife lies ill and is near death. Should a man put family affairs ahead of the affairs of state? Look to your own affairs as you see fit—I am resolved to go. He went to see Li Changfu and said: "The edict has arrived twice, yet the assembled ministers still hesitate to go. I, your humble servant, though only a grandee, dare not fall behind. I ask that you lend me troops to escort me to the emperor's side." Changfu fully outfitted him with supplies and sent him on his way. Once he reached the mobile court, Wei judged that Mei would surely rebel. He urged that the narrow passes could not accommodate the imperial army and asked that the emperor proceed to Liangzhou. They left Chencang that very day, and Mei's troops arrived immediately afterward; but for Wei's counsel they would scarcely have escaped. He was further promoted to Vice Director of the Ministry of War and appointed Co-Director of the Chancellery. After Mei was suppressed, he followed the emperor back to the capital, took charge as Commissioner for Salt, Iron, and Transport throughout the circuits, rose to Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, and was granted the title Meritorious Minister Who Upheld Crisis, Initiated Fortune, and Preserved Order. He received an iron certificate forgiving ten capital offenses, was granted one tract of fine land at Tianxing and one mansion in the Shanhe Ward, and was concurrently appointed Commissioner for Agricultural Colonies in the Capital Region.
21
張濬將伐太原，帝不決，以問緯，緯助濬請。 既濬敗，坐傅會，出為荊南節度使，俄貶均州刺史。 二人皆密結朱全忠，全忠為請，詔聽所便，乃屏居華陰。 李茂貞入殺韋昭度，帝惡大臣朋比，與藩臣交，更召緯入朝，再擢吏部尚書，以司空、門下侍郎復輔政。 使者敦勸，力疾到京師，見帝嗚咽流涕，自陳衰疾不任事，乞歸田裏。 帝動容，詔使者送緯至堂視事。 會天子出次石門，從至莎城，以病還都。 家人召醫視，緯曰：「天下方亂，何久求生？」 不肯服藥，卒，贈太尉。
When Zhang Jun was preparing to campaign against Taiyuan, the emperor could not decide and asked Wei, who supported Jun's request. After Jun's defeat, Wei was punished for having sided with him and was sent out as military commissioner of Jingnan; before long he was demoted to prefect of Jun Prefecture. Both men secretly allied themselves with Zhu Quanzhong. Quanzhong petitioned on their behalf, and an edict permitted them to live where they chose; they then withdrew to Huayin. Li Maozhen entered the capital and killed Wei Zhaodu. The emperor was angered that grand ministers were forming factions and consorting with frontier lords. Wei was summoned back to court, again promoted to Minister of Personnel, and with the titles of Minister of Works and Vice Director of the Chancellery he once more joined the government. The emissaries pressed him earnestly. Forcing himself onward despite illness, he reached the capital; when he saw the emperor he sobbed and wept, declaring himself aged and infirm and unfit for office, and begged to retire to his fields. The emperor was deeply moved and ordered the emissaries to escort Wei to the hall of office so that he might take up his duties. When the emperor went out and halted at Shimen, Wei followed as far as Shacheng, then returned to the capital on account of illness. His family summoned a physician, but Wei said: "The empire is in turmoil—why should I cling to life? He refused to take medicine and died. Posthumously he was granted the title Grand Preceptor.
22
從子戡
Nephew: Kan
23
戡，字勝始，進士及第，補修武尉，以大理評事佐昭義李長榮節度府。 長榮死，盧從史自別將代之，留署掌書記。 從史稍得誌，益驕，與王承宗、田緒陰相結，欲久連兵以固其位。 戡始陰爭不從，則於會肆言以折之，從史始若受其言，後偃蹇不軌，戡遂以疾歸洛陽。 未幾，李吉甫鎮揚州，表置幕府，戡未應。 從史曰：「是欲舍我而從人邪？」 即誣以事，奏三上，詔以衛尉丞分司東都。 自貞元後，帥鎮劾奏僚佐，不驗輒斥。 至是，給事中呂元膺執不可。 憲宗遣使諭曰：「朕非不知戡，行用之矣。」 未幾，卒，年五十七。 從史敗，追贈司勛員外郎。
Kan, styled Shengshi, passed the jinshi examination and was appointed assistant magistrate of Xiuwu. As a reviewer of the Court of Judicial Review he served on the staff of Li Changrong, military commissioner of Zhaoyi. When Changrong died, Lu Congshi replaced him from the rank of deputy commander and retained Kan on staff as chief secretary. As Congshi gradually had his way he grew ever more arrogant. He secretly allied with Wang Chengzong and Tian Xu, intending to keep the armies fighting so as to secure his own position. At first Kan remonstrated in private, and when Congshi would not listen he spoke openly at gatherings to refute him. Congshi at first seemed to heed his words, but later grew insolent and unruly, and Kan then pleaded illness and returned to Luoyang. Before long Li Jifu took charge at Yangzhou and petitioned to have Kan placed on his staff, but Kan did not respond. Congshi said: "Does he mean to abandon me and go serve someone else? He immediately fabricated charges against him and submitted memorials three times. An edict appointed Kan Vice Director of the Court of Imperial Regalia with duty at the Eastern Capital. Since the Zhenyuan era, military commissioners who impeached their staff members had them dismissed without investigation. On this occasion Supervising Secretary Lü Yuanying objected that this could not be permitted. Emperor Xianzong sent an emissary to explain: "It is not that We do not recognize Kan's worth—we intend to employ him. Before long he died, at the age of fifty-seven. When Congshi was defeated, Kan was posthumously granted the title Vice Director of the Ministry of Honors.
24
從子戢
Nephew: Ji
25
戢，字方舉。 初，父死難，詔與一子官，補修武尉，不受，以讓其兄戡。 擢明經，書判高等，為校書郎、陽翟尉，累遷殿中侍御史，分司東都。 昭義判官徐玫，故嘗助盧從史為跋扈者，從史敗，孟元陽代，欲復用之。 戢移書昭義前系玫，乃上列其狀。 帝怒，流玫播州。 轉侍御史、庫部員外郎。 始，朱泚以彭偃為中書舍人，偃子充符得不死，辟鄜坊府。 或薦其能，召還京師。 戢謂京兆尹裴武曰：「泚所下詔令皆偃為之，悖逆子不鳥竄獸伏，乃幹譽求進乎？ 子盍效季孫行父逐莒仆以勉事君者？」 武即逐出充符。 拜京兆少尹，再遷為湖南觀察使，召授右散騎常侍、京兆尹。 歲旱，文宗憂甚，戢躬祠曲江池，一夕大澍，帝悅，詔兼御史大夫。 卒，贈工部尚書。
Ji, styled Fangju. When his father died in the line of duty, an edict granted an office to one son. Ji was appointed assistant magistrate of Xiuwu but declined, yielding the post to his elder brother Kan. He passed the mingjing examination and ranked high in the document-judgment test. He served as collator and magistrate of Yangdi, then rose to Palace Censor with duty at the Eastern Capital. Xu Mei, an administrative aide of Zhaoyi, had once helped Lu Congshi in his overbearing conduct. After Congshi's defeat, when Meng Yuanyang replaced him, he wished to employ Mei again. Ji sent a letter to Zhaoyi ordering Mei detained in advance, then submitted a memorial detailing his offenses. The emperor was enraged and banished Mei to Bo Prefecture. He was transferred to regular censor and Vice Director of the Treasury Bureau. Earlier, Zhu Ci had made Peng Yan a Drafting Secretary. Yan's son Chongfu escaped execution and was recruited to the Bin-Fang headquarters. Someone recommended his talents, and he was summoned back to the capital. Ji said to Pei Wu, Intendant of the Capital: "Every edict Zhu Ci issued was composed by Yan. Should this traitor's son, instead of hiding like a bird in its nest or a beast in its lair, now seek fame and advancement? Why not follow Jisun Xingfu's example in driving out Ju Pu, to encourage those who serve their sovereign? Wu immediately expelled Chongfu. He was appointed Vice Intendant of the Capital, then after two promotions became Military Commissioner of Hunan. Summoned back, he was given the titles Right Regular Attendant and Intendant of the Capital. During a year of drought Emperor Wenzong was deeply troubled. Ji personally offered sacrifice at Qujiang Pool, and overnight a great rain fell. The emperor was delighted and ordered him to serve concurrently as Censor-in-Chief. He died. Posthumously he was granted the title Minister of Public Works.
26
子溫業
Son: Wenye
27
子溫業，字遜誌，擢進士第。 大中時，為吏部侍郎。 求外遷，宰相白敏中顧同列曰：「吾等可少警，孔吏部不樂居朝矣。」 後為太子賓客。
His son Wenye, styled Xunzhi, passed the jinshi examination. During the Dazhong era he served as Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel. He sought a transfer out of the capital. Chancellor Bai Minzhong turned to his colleagues and said: "We ought to take warning—Vice Minister Kong no longer wishes to remain at court. Later he served as Tutor to the Heir Apparent.
28
穆寧，懷州河內人。 父元休，有名開元間，獻書天子，擢偃師丞，世以儒聞。 寧剛正，氣節自任。 以明經調鹽山尉。 安祿山反，署劉道玄為景城守，寧募兵斬之，檄州縣並力捍賊。 史思明略境，郡守召寧攝東光令禦之。 賊遣使誘寧，寧斬以徇，郡守恐怒賊令致死，即奪其兵，罷所攝。 始，寧過平原，見顏真卿，嘗商賊必反。 及是，聞真卿拒祿山，即遺真卿書曰：「夫子為衛君乎？」 真卿喜，署寧河北采訪支使。 寧以息屬其母弟曰：「茍不乏嗣，足矣！」 即馳謁真卿曰：「先人有嗣矣，我可從公死。」 既而賊攻平原，寧勸固守，真卿不從，夜亡過河，見肅宗行在。 帝問狀，真卿對：「不用穆寧言，故至此。」 帝異之，馳驛召寧，將以諫議大夫任之。 會真卿以直忤旨，寧亦罷。
Mu Ning was a native of Henei in Huaizhou. His father Yuanxiu won renown during the Kaiyuan era. He presented books to the emperor and was promoted to assistant magistrate of Yanshi; the family was known for generations as scholars. Ning was sternly upright and held himself to the highest standards of integrity. Having passed the mingjing examination, he was assigned as magistrate of Yanshan. When An Lushan rebelled, he appointed Liu Daoxuan prefect of Jingcheng. Ning raised troops, beheaded him, and issued a proclamation calling on prefectures and counties to join forces against the rebels. When Shi Siming overran the region, the prefect summoned Ning to serve as acting magistrate of Dongguang and defend against him. The rebels sent envoys to win Ning over; Ning beheaded them as a public warning. The prefect feared that provoking the rebels would bring ruin upon them, so he stripped Ning of his troops and removed him from his acting post. Earlier, when Ning passed through Pingyuan and met Yan Zhenqing, they had discussed how the rebels would surely turn against the dynasty. At this juncture, hearing that Zhenqing was resisting Lushan, he immediately sent him a letter saying: "Master, will you serve your sovereign as you ought? Zhenqing was delighted and appointed Ning Branch Commissioner of the Hebei Investigation Circuit. Ning entrusted his son to his younger brother by the same mother, saying: "So long as the line is not cut off, that is enough! He then rode at once to see Zhenqing and said: "My father now has an heir; I may follow you to the death." Before long the rebels attacked Pingyuan. Ning urged holding the city, but Zhenqing would not agree. By night he fled across the river and went to Emperor Suzong's mobile court. The emperor inquired into the situation. Zhenqing replied: "Because I did not heed Mu Ning's counsel, I have come to this pass. The emperor was impressed. He dispatched relay horses to summon Ning and intended to appoint him Remonstrance and Advice Grandee. Just then Zhenqing, for his bluntness, gave offense to the emperor, and Ning was dismissed as well.
29
上元初，為殿中侍御史，佐鹽鐵轉運，住埇橋。 李光弼屯徐州，餉不至，檄取資糧，寧不與。 光弼怒，召寧欲殺之。 或勸寧去，寧曰：「避之失守，亂自我始，何所逃罪乎？」 即往見光弼。 光弼曰：「吾師眾數萬，為天子討賊，食乏則人散，君閉廩不救，欲潰吾兵耶？」 答曰：「命寧主糧者，敕也，公可以檄取乎？ 今公求糧，而寧專饋； 寧有求兵，而公亦專與乎？」 光弼執其手謝曰：「吾固知不可，聊與君議耳。」 時重其能守官。 累遷鄂嶽沔都團練及租庸鹽鐵轉運使。 當是時，河漕不通，自漢、沔徑商山以入京師。 淮西節度使李忠臣不奉法，設戍邏以征商賈，又縱兵剽行人，道路幾絕。 與寧夾淮為治，憚寧威，掠劫為衰，漕賈得通。 坐杖死沔州別駕，貶平集尉。
At the beginning of the Shangyuan era he served as Palace Censor, assisting in salt-and-iron transport administration, and was stationed at Yongqiao. Li Guangbi was encamped at Xuzhou, but supplies did not arrive. He issued an order requisitioning provisions, and Ning refused to release them. Guangbi was furious and summoned Ning, intending to kill him. Someone urged Ning to flee, but Ning said: "To flee would be to abandon my post. Disorder would begin with me—where could I escape blame? He went at once to see Guangbi. Guangbi said: "My army numbers in the tens of thousands, campaigning for the emperor against rebels. If food runs out the men will scatter. You lock the granaries and refuse aid—do you wish to break my army? He replied: "The one who ordered me to manage provisions was the imperial edict. Can you requisition them by military dispatch alone? If you now demand grain and I alone dispense it, if I should demand troops, would you also dispense them on your sole authority?" Guangbi took his hand and apologized: "I knew all along it could not be done—I was only sounding you out." At the time people greatly admired his steadfastness in office. He was repeatedly promoted to Overall Training Commissioner of E, Yue, and Mian, and Commissioner for Tax Corvée, Salt, and Iron Transport. At that time the canal transport route was blocked; goods reached the capital only by way of Han and Mian, passing through Shang Mountain. Li Zhongchen, military governor of Huai-Xi, flouted the law. He set up frontier posts to levy exactions on merchants and let his soldiers pillage travelers, so that the roads were all but closed. Governing on opposite banks of the Huai alongside Ning, he feared Ning's authority. Predation waned, and canal transport and merchants could move freely again. For beating the vice-prefect of Mian Prefecture to death, he was demoted to registrar of Pingji.
30
大歷初，起為監察御史，三遷檢校秘書少監，兼和州刺史，治有狀。 後刺史疾之，以天寶舊版校見戶，妄劾寧多逋亡，貶泉州司戶參軍事。 子贊訴其枉，三年始得通。 詔御史覆視，實增戶數倍。 召入拜太子右諭德。 寧性不能事權右，毅然寡合，執政者惡之，雖直其誣，猶置散位。 寧默不樂，唶曰：「時不我容，我不時徇，又可以進乎！」 遂移疾，滿百日屢矣，親友強之，輒復一朝。 德宗在奉天，奔詣行在，擢秘書少監，改太子右庶子。 帝還京師，乃曰：「可以行吾誌矣！」 即罷歸東都。 以秘書監致仕，卒。
At the beginning of the Dali reign he was recalled to serve as supervising censor. After three promotions he became acting vice director of the Secretariat and concurrently prefect of He Prefecture, and his administration showed clear merit. Later the prefect took a dislike to him. Using the Tianbao-era household register to check registered households, he falsely impeached Ning for widespread tax evasion and had him demoted to revenue section administrator of Quan Prefecture. His son Zan appealed the injustice, but only after three years did the petition reach the court. An edict ordered censors to reinvestigate, and they found that the number of households had in fact increased several times over. He was summoned to court and appointed right mentor of the heir apparent. By nature Ning could not defer to the powerful. Resolute and little inclined to compromise, he was disliked by those in power. Though his false accusation was cleared, he was still given an honorary post without real duties. Ning fell silent and unhappy, sighing: "The times will not accommodate me, and I will not bend to the times—how then can I advance! He then submitted a request for sick leave. When the hundred-day limit was repeatedly reached, friends and kin pressed him, and each time he would attend court for a single day before resuming his leave. When Dezong was at Fengtian, Ning rushed to the mobile court and was promoted to vice director of the Secretariat, then reassigned as right vice mentor of the heir apparent. When the emperor returned to the capital, Ning said: "Now I can act on my resolve! He at once resigned and returned to the Eastern Capital. He retired as director of the Secretariat and died.
31
寧居家嚴，事寡姊恭甚。 嘗撰家令訓諸子，人一通。 又戒曰：「君子之事親，養誌為大，吾誌直道而已。 茍枉而道，三牲五鼎非吾養也。」 疾病不嘗藥，時稱知命。
At home Ning was strict in conduct and treated his elder sister, his only surviving sibling, with great respect. He once composed household instructions for his sons, giving each one a copy. He also admonished them: "In serving one's parents, the greatest form of support is to fulfill their aspirations. My aspiration is nothing but the straight Way. If the Way is bent, then even the finest sacrificial offerings are not support fit for me. When ill he would not take medicine; at the time he was praised as one who understood fate.
32
四子：贊、質、員、賞。 寧之老，贊為御史中丞，質右補闕，員侍御史，賞監察御史，皆以守道行誼顯。 先是，韓休家訓子侄至嚴。 貞元間，言家法者，尚韓、穆二門云。
He had four sons: Zan, Zhi, Yuan, and Shang. When Ning was old, Zan was vice censor-in-chief, Zhi was right remonstrance official, Yuan was attending censor, and Shang was supervising censor—all were distinguished for upholding the Way and integrity. Earlier, Han Xiu had trained his sons and nephews with extreme strictness. During the Zhenyuan era, those who spoke of household discipline still looked to the Han and Mu families.
33
子贊
Son: Zan
34
贊，字相明，擢累侍御史，分司東都。 陜虢觀察使盧嶽妻分貲不及妾子，妾訴之。 中丞盧佋欲重妾罪，贊不聽。 佋與宰相竇參共誣贊受金，捕送獄。 弟賞上冤狀，詔三司覆治，無之，猶出為郴州刺史。 參敗，召為刑部郎中，對延英，擢御史中丞。 裴延齡判度支，屬吏受賕，具獄，欲曲貸吏，贊執不可。 延齡白贊深文，貶饒州別駕。 久之，拜州刺史。 憲宗立，進宣歙觀察使，卒於官。 贈工部尚書。
Zan, styled Xiangming, was repeatedly promoted to attending censor and served in the Eastern Capital branch office. Lu Yue, observation commissioner of Shaan-Guo, had a wife who did not divide the estate equally with the concubine's son; the concubine brought suit. Vice Censor-in-Chief Lu Qian wished to impose a heavy penalty on the concubine, but Zan would not agree. Qian and the chief minister Dou Can together falsely accused Zan of taking bribes and had him arrested and sent to prison. His younger brother Shang submitted a petition of injustice. An edict ordered the Three Offices to reinvestigate and found no wrongdoing, yet Zan was still sent out as prefect of Chen Prefecture. When Can fell from power, Zan was recalled as director in the Ministry of Justice. Facing the emperor in the Yanying Hall, he was promoted to vice censor-in-chief. Pei Yanling was in charge of the Department of Public Revenue. A subordinate had taken bribes and the case was complete, but Yanling wished to leniently excuse the official. Zan held firm and would not agree. Yanling reported that Zan had applied the law with excessive severity, and Zan was demoted to vice-prefect of Rao Prefecture. After some time he was appointed prefect of Xin Prefecture. When Xianzong acceded, he was promoted to observation commissioner of Xuan and She and died in office. He was posthumously awarded the title minister of works.
35
子質
Son: Zhi
36
質，性強直，舉賢良方正，條對詳切，頻擢至給事中，政事得失，未嘗不盡言。 元和時，鹽鐵、轉運諸院擅系囚，笞掠嚴楚，人多死。 質奏請與州縣吏參決，自是不冤。 後論吐突承璀不宜為將，憲宗不悅，改太子左庶子。 坐與楊憑善，出為開州刺史，卒。
Zhi was strong and upright by nature. Recommended as Worthy and Upright, his written responses were detailed and incisive. He was repeatedly promoted to supervising secretary, and on matters of government gain and loss he never failed to speak fully. During the Yuanhe era, the salt, iron, and transport offices arbitrarily detained prisoners and beat them with severe cruelty, and many people died. Zhi memorialized requesting that prefectural and county officials participate in deciding cases. From then on there were no wrongful convictions. Later he argued that Tutu Chengcui was unfit to be a general. Xianzong was displeased and transferred him to left vice mentor of the heir apparent. For associating with Yang Ping he was sent out as prefect of Kai Prefecture and died.
37
子員
Son: Yuan
38
員，字與直，工為文章。 杜亞留守東都，置佐其府，蚤卒。
Yuan, styled Yuzhi, was skilled at composing literary works. Du Ya was left behind to guard the Eastern Capital and appointed him assistant in his headquarters. He died young.
39
兄弟皆和粹，世以珍味目之：贊少俗，然有格，為「酪」； 質美而多入，為「酥」； 員為「醍醐」； 賞為「乳腐」云。
The brothers were all mild and pure; the age compared them to delicacies: Zan, though somewhat common, yet had character, and was called "curdled milk"; Zhi was fine and widely appealing, and was called "butter"; Yuan was called "ghee"; and Shang was called "fermented curd."
40
崔邠，字處仁，貝州武城人。 父倕，三世一爨，當時言治家者推其法。 至德初，獻賦行在，肅宗異其文，位吏部侍郎。
Cui Bin, styled Churen, was a native of Wucheng in Bei Prefecture. His father Chui maintained one shared kitchen for three generations. At the time those who spoke of household governance praised his methods. At the beginning of the Zhide reign he presented a fu at the mobile court. Suzong was struck by his writing and appointed him vice minister of personnel.
41
邠第進士，復擢賢良方正，授渭南尉，遷補闕。 上疏論裴延齡奸，以鯁亮知名。 由中書舍人再遷吏部侍郎。 性溫裕深密，行己又簡儉，憲宗器之，裴垍亦薦邠材可宰相。 會病，遂不拜。 久乃為太常卿，知吏部尚書銓。 故事，太常始視事，大閱四部樂，都人縱觀。 邠自第去帽，親導母輿，公卿見者皆避道，都人榮之。 以母憂解，卒於喪，年六十。 贈吏部尚書，謚曰文簡。
Bin passed the jinshi examination, was again selected as Worthy and Upright, was appointed registrar of Weinan, and was promoted to remonstrance official. He submitted a memorial denouncing Pei Yanling's treachery and became known for his blunt integrity. From palace secretariat drafting official he was twice promoted to vice minister of personnel. By nature he was warm, generous, and deeply reserved. In personal conduct he was also simple and frugal. Xianzong valued him, and Pei Ji also recommended Bin's talent as suitable for the chancellorship. He happened to fall ill and so was not appointed. After a long time he became minister of rites and oversaw the Ministry of Personnel's selection examinations. By precedent, when the minister of rites first assumed office, the four divisions of music were grandly reviewed and the capital populace was allowed to watch freely. Bin, from his own residence, removed his cap and personally guided his mother's carriage. Officials who saw it all yielded the road, and the people of the capital took pride in it. He resigned on account of mourning for his mother and died during the mourning period, at the age of sixty. He was posthumously awarded the title minister of personnel, with the posthumous name Wenjian.
42
弟酆、郾、郇、鄯、鄲。
His younger brothers were Feng, Yan, Xun, Shan, and Yin.
43
弟郾
Younger brother: Yan
44
郾，字廣略，姿儀偉秀，人望而慕之，然不可狎也。 中進士第，補集賢校書郎。 累遷吏部員外郎，下不敢欺，每擬吏，親挾格，褒黜必當，寒遠無留才。 三遷諫議大夫。 穆宗立，荒於遊畋，內酣蕩，昕曙不能朝。 郾進曰：「十一聖之功德，四海之大，萬國之眾，其治其亂，系於陛下。 自山以東百城，地千里，昨日得之，今日失之。 西望戎壘，距宗廟十舍，百姓憔悴，畜積無有。 願陛下親政事以幸天下。」 帝動容慰謝，遷給事中。
Yan, styled Guanglue, was tall and handsome in bearing. People gazed at him with admiration, yet he could not be treated lightly. He passed the jinshi examination and was appointed collator in the Hall of Assembled Worthies. He was repeatedly promoted to vice director in the Ministry of Personnel. Subordinates did not dare deceive him. Whenever he drafted appointments he personally held the regulations in hand, and promotions and demotions were always appropriate—no talent from humble or distant backgrounds was left unused. After three promotions he became remonstrance and reproof official. When Muzong acceded, he neglected governance for hunting and sport, indulged in revelry within the palace, and could not attend court until dawn. Yan advanced and said: "The merit of eleven sage emperors, the vastness of the Four Seas, the multitude of ten thousand states—whether there is order or disorder depends on Your Majesty. From the mountains eastward lie a hundred prefectures across a thousand li of land—what was gained yesterday is lost today. Looking west to the frontier fortresses, only ten stages lie between them and the imperial ancestral temple. The common people are wasted, and stored provisions are gone. I beg Your Majesty to attend personally to state affairs and bring good fortune to the realm. The emperor was moved in countenance and thanked him with words of comfort, then promoted him to supervising secretary.
45
敬宗嗣位，拜翰林侍講學士，旋進中書舍人，謝曰：「陛下使臣侍講，歷半歲不一問經義。 臣無功，不足副厚恩。」 帝慚曰：「朕少間當請益。」 高釴適在旁，因言：「陛下樂善而無所咨詢，天下之人不知有響儒意。」 帝重咎謝，鹹賜錦、幣。 郾與高重類《六經》要言為十篇，上之，以便觀省。
When Jingzong succeeded to the throne, Yan was appointed Hanlin academician and lecturer, and soon afterward was promoted to palace secretariat drafting official. He declined, saying: "Your Majesty appointed me to lecture, yet in half a year not once did you inquire about the meaning of the classics. I have achieved nothing and am unworthy of such great favor. The emperor said in shame: "When I have a little leisure I shall ask for instruction." Gao Li happened to be present and thereupon said: "Your Majesty delights in goodness yet consults no one. The people of the realm do not know that there is a Confucian scholar in attendance." The emperor deeply reproached himself and apologized, and richly bestowed silk and cash. Yan and Gao Chong compiled the essential teachings of the Six Classics into ten chapters and presented them to the throne for convenient reading.
46
遷禮部侍郎，出為虢州觀察使。 先是，上供財乏，則奪吏奉助輸，歲率八十萬。 郾曰：「吏不能贍私，安暇恤民？ 吾不能獨治，安得自封？」 即以府常費代之。 又詔賦粟輸太倉者，歲數萬石，民困於輸，則又輦而致之河。 郾乃旁流為大敖受粟，竇而註諸艚。 民悅，忘輸之勞。 改鄂、嶽等州觀察使。 自蔡人叛，鄂、嶽常苦兵，江湖盜賊顯行。 郾修治鎧仗，造蒙沖，駛追窮躡，上下千里，歲中悉捕平。 又觀察浙西，遷檢校禮部尚書，卒於官。 贈吏部尚書，謚曰德。
He was promoted to vice minister of rites and sent out as observation commissioner of Guo Prefecture. Earlier, when funds for imperial tribute were short, officials' salaries were seized to help meet the quota, averaging eight hundred thousand per year. Yan said: "If officials cannot support themselves, how can they find time to care for the people? If I cannot govern alone, how can I enrich myself alone? He thereupon used the prefecture's regular expenditures in place of the seized salaries. There was also an edict requiring grain tribute to the imperial granary of tens of thousands of shi each year. The people were burdened by transport, and when that failed they were made to haul it to the river by cart. Yan then diverted a side stream to build a large storage basin to receive the grain, opened channels, and channeled it into barges. The people were pleased and forgot the hardship of transport. He was transferred to observation commissioner of E, Yue, and other prefectures. Since the people of Cai rebelled, E and Yue had constantly suffered from warfare, and bandits on the rivers and lakes operated openly. Yan repaired armor and weapons, built covered assault boats, and with swift pursuit ran the bandits down. Within a thousand li upstream and downstream, within the year all were captured and suppressed. He also served as observation commissioner of Zhexi, was promoted to acting minister of rites, and died in office. He was posthumously awarded the title minister of personnel, with the posthumous name De.
47
郾不藏貲，有輒周給親舊，為治其昏喪。 居家怡然，不訓子弟，子弟自化。 室處庳漏，無步廡，至霖淖，則客蓋而屐以就外位。 治虢以寬，經月不笞一人。 及涖鄂，則嚴法峻誅，一不貸。 或問其故，曰：「陜土瘠而民勞，吾撫之不暇，猶恐其擾； 鄂土沃民剽，雜以夷俗，非用威莫能治。 政所以貴知變者也。」 聞者服焉。
Yan did not hoard wealth. Whenever he had any he would distribute it to relatives and old friends and arrange their weddings and funerals. At home he was at ease and did not instruct his sons and nephews. They reformed themselves of their own accord. His dwelling was low and leaked, with no covered walk. When rain and mud came, guests would take umbrellas and clogs to reach the outer seats. In governing Guo he was lenient and for a month did not beat a single person. When he arrived at E, he applied strict law and severe punishment and showed no mercy. When someone asked the reason, he said: "The soil of Shaan is poor and the people labor hard. I have no leisure even to comfort them and still fear troubling them; E's soil is fertile and the people are fierce, mixed with barbarian customs. Without employing severity, none can govern them. This is why governance values knowing how to adapt." Those who heard were convinced.
48
五子：瑤、瑰、瑾、珮、璆。 瑤任禮部侍郎、浙西鄂嶽觀察使。 瑾禮部侍郎、湖南觀察使。 瑰、珮俱達官。
Five sons: Yao, Gui, Jin, Pei, and Qiu. Yao served as vice minister of rites and Zhexi E-Yue observation commissioner. Jin was vice minister of rites and Hunan observation commissioner. Gui and Pei both reached high office.
49
弟鄯
Younger brother: Shan
50
鄯，擢進士，累遷至左金吾衛大將軍，暴卒，以韓約代之。 不閱旬，李訓亂，約死於難。 世謂鄯之亡，崔氏積善報也。 贈禮部尚書。
Shan passed the jinshi examination and rose through successive posts to grand general of the Left Jinwu Guard. He died suddenly, and Han Yue was appointed to replace him. Within ten days, Li Xun's rebellion broke out and Yue died in the turmoil. People of the time said Shan's death was karmic repayment for the Cui clan's accumulated virtue. He was posthumously awarded minister of rites.
51
弟鄲
Younger brother: Yin
52
鄲及進士第，補渭南尉。 累除刑部郎中，出副杜元穎西川節度府。 召入為工部侍郎、集賢殿學士。 再遷吏部侍郎，由宣歙觀察使入為太常卿。 文宗末，擢同中書門下平章事，改中書侍郎，罷為劍南西川節度使。 宣宗初，以檢校尚書右仆射同平章事，節度淮南，卒於軍。
Yin passed the jinshi examination and was appointed assistant magistrate of Weinan. He was successively promoted to bureau director in the Ministry of Justice and sent out as deputy to Du Yuanying's Xichuan circuit headquarters. He was summoned to the capital as vice minister of works and academician of the Hall of Assembled Worthies. He was promoted again to vice minister of personnel and, from Xuan-Xi observation commissioner, entered the capital as minister of ceremonies. At the end of Emperor Wenzong's reign he was promoted to associate director of the Secretariat and Chancellery, then changed to vice director of the Secretariat and dismissed to serve as military commissioner of Sword-South and Xichuan. At the beginning of Emperor Xuanzong's reign he served as honorary right vice director of the Secretariat and associate director, military commissioner of Huainan, and died in camp.
53
崔氏四世緦麻同爨，兄弟六人至三品，邠、郾、鄲凡為禮部五，吏部再，唐興無有也。 居光德里，構便齋，宣宗聞而嘆曰：「鄲一門孝友，可為士族法。」 因題曰「德星堂」。 後京兆民即其裏為「德星社」云。
For four generations the Cui clan wore the finest mourning garb and ate from a single kitchen. Six brothers reached the third rank; Bin, Yan, and Yin together held the Ministry of Rites five times and the Ministry of Personnel twice — since the founding of Tang there had been nothing like it. They lived in Guangde Lane and built a modest hall. When Emperor Xuanzong heard of it he sighed and said: "Yin's household is filial and friendly — it can serve as a model for gentry families." He thereupon inscribed it "Hall of Virtuous Stars." Later the people of the capital established at that lane a "Virtuous Stars Society."
54
柳公綽
Liu Gongchuo
55
柳公綽，字寬，京兆華原人。 始生三日，伯父子華曰：「興吾門者，此兒也。」 因小字起之。 幼孝友，性質嚴重，起居皆有禮法。 屬文典正，不讀非聖書。 舉賢良方正直言極諫，補校書郎。 間一年，再登其科，授渭南尉。 歲歉饉，其家雖給，而每飯不過一器，歲豐乃復。 或問之，答曰：「四方病饑，獨能飽乎？」 累遷開州刺史，地接夷落，寇常逼其城，吏曰：「兵力不能制，願以右職署渠帥。」 公綽曰：「若同惡邪？ 何可撓法！」 立誅之，寇亦引去。 遷侍御史、吏部員外郎。 時武元衡節度劍南，與裴度俱為判官，尤相引重。 召為吏部郎中。
Liu Gongchuo, courtesy name Kuan, was a native of Huayuan in Jingzhao. Three days after his birth his uncle Zihua said: "He who will raise our house is this boy." He therefore gave him a childhood name based on this. As a child he was filial and friendly. His nature was stern and grave, and in rising and sitting he always observed ritual propriety. His essays were classical and correct, and he did not read books that were not those of the sages. Recommended in the examination for filial and incorrupt, upright speech and extreme remonstrance, he was appointed proofreader. After one year he passed that examination again and was appointed assistant magistrate of Weinan. In years of famine, though his household had provisions, at each meal he took no more than one dish. Only in abundant years did he restore his former fare. When someone asked him, he answered: "The four quarters suffer famine — can I alone eat my fill?" He was successively promoted to prefect of Kai. The region bordered barbarian settlements, and bandits often pressed the city. The officials said: "Our military strength cannot control them; we wish to appoint the tribal chieftain to a high office." Gongchuo said: "Would that be sharing in evil? How could one bend the law!" He immediately executed the man, and the bandits also withdrew. He was promoted to attendant censor and assistant director in the Ministry of Personnel. When Wu Yuanheng commanded Jiannan, he and Pei Du both served on his staff and held each other in especial esteem. He was summoned as bureau director in the Ministry of Personnel.
56
憲宗喜武功，且數出遊畋，公綽奏《太醫箴》以諷曰：「天布寒暑，不私於人。 品類既一，高卑以均。 人謹好愛，能保其身。 清靜無瑕，輝光以新。 寒暑滿天地，浹肌膚於外； 好愛在耳目，誘心知於內。 端潔為堤，奔射猶敗。 氣行無間，隙不在大。 謂天高矣，氛蒙晦之； 謂地厚矣，橫流潰之。 飲食資身，過則生患； 衣服稱德，侈則生慢。 唯過與侈，心必隨之。 氣與心流，疾乃伺之。 畋遊恣樂，流情蕩誌。 馳騁勞形，叱咤傷氣。 不養其外，前脩所忌。 人乘氣生，嗜欲以萌。 氣離有患，氣完則成。 巧必喪真，智實誘情。 醫之上者，理於未然。 患居慮後，防處事先。 心靜樂行，體和道全。 克施萬物，以享億年。 聖人在上，各有攸處。 臣司太醫，敢告諸禦。」 天子高其才，遣使謂曰：「卿言『氣行無間，隙不在大』，愛朕深者，當置之坐隅。」 逾月，拜御史中丞。
Emperor Xianzong delighted in military achievement and often went out hunting. Gongchuo submitted the "Admonition of the Grand Physician" to remonstrate, saying: "Heaven spreads cold and heat and shows favoritism to no one. All living kinds are one; high and low are equal. When people are careful in cherishing themselves, they can preserve their bodies. When pure and quiet without flaw, brilliance renews itself. Cold and heat fill heaven and earth and soak the skin without; What one loves fills ear and eye and seduces the mind within. Upright purity serves as an embankment, yet rushing torrents still breach it. Qi flows without gap; the opening need not be large. One says heaven is high, yet vapors cloud and darken it; One says earth is thick, yet cross-flowing waters breach it. Food and drink sustain the body — excess then gives rise to illness; Clothes should match virtue — extravagance then gives rise to contempt. Only excess and extravagance — the mind must follow them. Qi and mind flow together; disease then watches for its chance. Hunting and roaming at will — feelings float and purpose slackens. Galloping wearies the form; shouting harms the breath. Not nourishing the exterior — what former worthies forbade. People are born riding qi; appetites and desires thus sprout. When qi departs there is illness; when qi is complete then accomplishment. Cleverness must lose genuineness; cunning in truth seduces the feelings. The superior physician treats principle before illness exists. Illness rests on concern afterward; defense lies in acting first. Mind quiet, joy in conduct, body harmonious, the Way complete. Able to bestow on the myriad things and enjoy myriad years. When the sage is above, each has his allotted place. Your servant holds the post of grand physician and dares report to all who attend the emperor." The Son of Heaven admired his talent and sent an envoy to say: "Your words, 'Qi flows without gap; the opening need not be large' — one who loves Us deeply should place this at Our sitting corner." More than a month later he was appointed censor-in-chief.
57
公綽本與裴垍善，李吉甫復當國，出為湖南觀察使。 以地卑濕，不可迎養，求分司東都，不聽。 後徙鄂嶽觀察使。 時方討吳元濟，詔發鄂嶽卒五千，隸安州刺史李聽。 公綽曰：「朝廷謂吾儒生不知兵邪！」 即請自行，許之。 引兵度江，抵安州，聽以軍禮迎謁。 公綽謂曰：「公所以屬負弩，豈非兵事邪？ 若褫戎容，則兩郡守耳，何所統壹哉？ 以公世將曉兵，吾且欲署職，以兵法從事。」 聽曰：「唯命。」 即以都知兵馬使、中軍先鋒、行營都虞候三牒授之，選兵六千屬焉，戒諸校曰：「行營事一決都將。」 聽被用畏威，遂盡力，當時服其知權。 軍出，公綽數省問其家，疾病生死厚給之，婦人敖蕩者，沈之江。 軍中感服曰：「中丞為我知家事，敢不死戰！」 故鄂軍每戰輒克。
Gongchuo had originally been on good terms with Pei Ji. When Li Jifu again held state power, he was sent out as Hunan observation commissioner. Because the region was low and damp and unsuitable for receiving and caring for his parents, he requested a post in the Eastern Capital branch office, but permission was not granted. Later he was transferred to E-Yue observation commissioner. At that time the court was campaigning against Wu Yuanji. An edict dispatched five thousand E-Yue troops placed under An Prefecture governor Li Ting. Gongchuo said: "Does the court think this Confucian scholar knows nothing of war?" He immediately requested to lead them himself, and permission was granted. He led the troops across the river and arrived at An Prefecture. Ting received him with military ceremony. Gongchuo said to him: "The reason you were assigned the crossbow-bearers — was it not a military matter? If you strip off military garb, we are merely two prefectural governors — what unified command is there? Since your family for generations has been military and understands warfare, I intend to grant you a post and have you conduct affairs according to military law." Ting said: "As you command." He thereupon granted him three commissions — director knowing military affairs, vanguard of the central army, and chief camp adjutant — selected six thousand troops under his command, and warned the officers: "Camp affairs shall be decided solely by the commanding general." Once employed, Ting feared his authority and exerted himself fully. At the time people admired his knowing how to wield authority. When the army went out, Gongchuo repeatedly visited their families, generously providing for illness, birth, and death. Women who were licentious were drowned in the river. The army was deeply moved and said: "The commissioner takes care of our household affairs for us — how dare we not fight to the death!" Therefore the E troops whenever they fought always prevailed.
58
元和十一年，為李道古代還，除給事中。 李師道平，遣宣諭鄆州，復命，拜京兆尹。 方赴府，有神策校乘馬不避者，即時搒死。 帝怒其專殺，公綽曰：「此非獨試臣，乃輕陛下法。」 帝曰：「既死，不以聞，可乎？」 公綽曰：「臣不當奏。 在市死，職金吾； 在坊死，職左右巡使。」 帝乃解。 以母喪去官。 服除，為刑部侍郎，領鹽鐵轉運使，轉兵部，兼御史大夫。
In the eleventh year of Yuanhe he replaced Li Daogu and was appointed supervising secretary. When Li Shidao was pacified he was dispatched to proclaim the news at Yan Prefecture. Upon returning from his mission he was appointed governor of Jingzhao. Just as he was proceeding to the yamen, a Shence Army officer rode a horse and did not yield. Gongchuo immediately had him beaten to death. The emperor was angry at his unauthorized killing. Gongchuo said: "This was not merely testing your servant — it was slighting Your Majesty's law." The emperor said: "Since he is dead, not reporting it — is that acceptable?" Gongchuo said: "Your servant ought not to memorialize. If he dies in the market, that is the duty of the Jinwu; if he dies in the ward, that is the duty of the left and right patrol commissioners." The emperor then understood. He left office due to his mother's mourning. When the mourning period ended he served as vice minister of justice and headed the salt and iron transport commission, then transferred to the Ministry of War while concurrently serving as censor-in-chief.
59
長慶元年，復為京兆尹。 時幽、鎮用兵，補置諸將，使驲系道。 公綽奏曰：「比館遞匱乏，驛置多闕。 敕使衣緋紫者，所乘至三四十騎； 黃綠者，不下十數。 吏不得視券，隨口輒供。 驛馬盡，乃掠奪民馬。 怨嗟驚擾，行李殆絕。 請著定限，以息其弊。」 有詔中書條檢定數，由是吏得紓罪。 宦官共惡疾之。 改吏部侍郎，遷御史大夫。 韓弘病，自河中還，詔百官問疾，弘遣子辭不能見，公綽謂曰：「上使百司省候，是謂異禮，宜力疾以見公卿，安可臥令子姓傳言耶？」 弘懼，挾扶以出。
In the first year of Changqing he again became governor of Jingzhao. At that time You and Zhen were at war. Supplemental appointments of various generals sent courier horses tying up the roads. Gongchuo memorialized: "Recently relay stations are depleted and deficient, and post stations are mostly lacking. Imperial envoys wearing crimson and purple ride with as many as thirty or forty horses; those in yellow and green, no fewer than ten or so. Officials were not allowed to check the vouchers and supplied horses on whatever was demanded at once. When the relay horses ran out, they seized the people's horses instead. Grumbling and panic spread, and ordinary travelers all but disappeared from the roads. I ask that fixed quotas be set to put an end to these abuses." The emperor ordered the Secretariat to draw up and verify fixed quotas, and from then on the clerks could escape punishment. The eunuchs all loathed him intensely. He was transferred to vice minister of personnel and promoted to censor-in-chief. Han Hong fell ill and returned from Hezhong. The emperor ordered the whole bureaucracy to inquire after his health, but Hong sent his son to say he was too ill to receive visitors. Gongchuo told him, "The emperor has sent every office to call on you — that is an extraordinary courtesy. You ought to rouse yourself despite your illness and receive the chief ministers in person. How can you stay in bed and send your son to speak for you?" Hong was frightened and had himself helped outside.
60
改禮部尚書，以祖諱換左丞。 俄檢校戶部尚書、山南東道節度使。 行部至鄧，縣吏有納賄、舞文二人同系獄，縣令以公綽素持法，謂必殺貪者，公綽判曰：「贓吏犯法，法在； 奸吏壞法，法亡。」 誅舞文者。 其廄馬害圉人，公綽殺之。 或言良馬可愛，曰：「安有良馬而害人乎？」
He was made minister of rites, but because of his grandfather's taboo name he was reassigned as left vice director of the Secretariat. Before long he was named acting minister of revenue and military commissioner of Shannan East Circuit. While touring his circuit he reached Deng, where two county clerks — one who took bribes and one who twisted the law in writing — were imprisoned together. The magistrate, knowing Gongchuo's reputation for strict justice, assumed he would surely execute the bribe-taker. Gongchuo ruled, "When a corrupt official breaks the law, the law still stands. When a scheming official destroys the law, the law itself is lost. He executed the clerk who had twisted the law. One of his stable horses injured a groom, and Gongchuo had the horse killed. When someone said it was a fine horse and a pity to lose, he replied, "What fine horse ever harmed people?"
61
寶歷元年，就遷檢校左仆射。 牛僧孺罷政事，為武昌節度使，公綽具軍容伏謁，左右諫止之，答曰：「奇章始去臺宰，方鎮重宰相，所以尊朝廷也。」 有道士獻丹藥，問所從來，曰：「自薊門。」 時朱克融方叛，遽曰：「惜哉，藥自賊境來，雖驗何益！」 即棄藥而逐道士。 入為刑部尚書，俄拜邠寧節度使。 先是神策諸鎮列屯部中，不聽本道節制，故虜得窺間。 公綽論所宜，因詔屯營緩急悉受節度。 復為刑部尚書。 京兆獄有姑鞭婦至死者，府欲殺之。 公綽曰：「尊毆卑，非鬥也； 且子在，以妻而戮其母，不順。」 遂減論。
In the first year of Baoli he was promoted on the spot to acting vice director of the Left. When Niu Sengru left the central government to become military commissioner of Wuchang, Gongchuo appeared in full military regalia and prostrated himself in greeting. His attendants tried to stop him, but he answered, "Qizhang has just stepped down from the chancellorship. A frontier commander who honors a former chancellor is honoring the court itself. A Daoist priest offered him an elixir. Asked where it came from, the priest said, "From Jimen Gate. Zhu Kerong had just rebelled, and Gongchuo said at once, "What a pity — the medicine comes from rebel territory. Even if it works, what use is it? He threw the medicine away and drove the priest out. He returned to the capital as minister of justice and was soon appointed military commissioner of Binning. Earlier the Shence garrisons had been posted in force throughout the prefecture and refused to take orders from the local commander, which let the barbarians probe for openings. Gongchuo laid out what ought to be done, and an edict followed requiring all garrison camps to obey his orders in emergencies. He again became minister of justice. A Jingzhao case involved a mother-in-law who beat her daughter-in-law to death with a whip, and the prefectural office wanted to put her to death. Gongchuo said, "When an elder strikes a junior, that is not a fight between equals. Besides, her son is still alive — to execute a mother because of a wife would violate filial duty. The penalty was reduced accordingly.
62
太和四年，為河東節度。 遭歲惡，撙節用度，輟宴飲，衣食與士卒鈞。 北虜遣梅祿將軍李暢以馬萬匹來市，所過皆厚勞，飭兵以防襲奪。 至太原，公綽獨使牙將單騎勞問，待以至意，辟牙門，令譯官引謁，宴不加常。 暢德之，出涕，徐驅道中，不妄馳獵。 陘北有沙陀部，勇武喜鬥，為九姓、六州所畏。 公綽召其酋朱邪執宜，治廢柵十一，募兵三千留屯塞上，其妻、母來太原者，令夫人飲食問遺之。 沙陀感恩，故悉力保鄣。
In the fourth year of Taihe he became military commissioner of Hedong. When the harvest failed, he tightened spending, gave up feasting and drinking, and ate and dressed no better than his soldiers. The northern tribes sent Li Chang, an officer of General Meiluo, with ten thousand horses to trade. Every district along the route entertained them lavishly and kept troops ready to prevent raids and seizure. At Taiyuan, Gongchuo sent only one guard officer on a single horse to welcome them. He received them with the utmost courtesy, opened his headquarters gate, had an interpreter conduct the audience, and offered no special banquet. Li Chang was moved by the courtesy, wept openly, and moved slowly along the road without reckless galloping or hunting. North of the Xing Gorge lived the Shatuo, a people fierce in battle and eager to fight, feared by the Nine Surnames and Six Prefectures. Gongchuo summoned their chieftain Zhuxie Zhuyi, restored eleven abandoned stockades, and recruited three thousand men to garrison the border. When Shatuo wives and mothers came to Taiyuan, he had his own wife feed them and send gifts. Grateful, the Shatuo threw all their strength into defending the frontier.
63
以病乞代，授兵部尚書，不任朝請。 忽顧左右召故吏韋長，眾謂屬諉以家事。 及長至，乃曰：「為我白宰相，徐州專殺李聽親吏，非用高瑀不能安。」 因瞑目不復語，後二日卒，年六十八。 贈太子太保，謚曰元。
Illness forced him to ask for relief; he was made minister of war but excused from attending court. Suddenly he turned and summoned his former clerk Wei Zhang. Everyone assumed he meant to entrust him with family business. When Zhang came, he said, "Tell the chancellor for me: Xuzhou has executed Li Ting's personal clerk on its own authority. Only by appointing Gao Yu can the region be pacified. He closed his eyes and said no more. Two days later he died, at sixty-eight. He was posthumously made Grand Guardian of the Crown Prince, with the posthumous name Yuan.
64
公綽居喪毀慕，三年不澡沐。 事後母薛謹甚，雖姻屬不知非薛所生。 外兄薛宮早卒，為育其女嫁之。 嘗曰：「吾蒞官未嘗以私喜怒加於人，子孫其昌乎！」 與錢徽、蔣乂、杜元穎、薛存誠善，取士如許康佐、鄭朗、盧簡辭、崔玙、夏侯孜、李拭、韋長，皆知名顯貴云。
In mourning Gongchuo was so stricken with grief that for three years he would not bathe or wash. He served his stepmother Lady Xue with scrupulous devotion, and even relatives by marriage did not know she was not his own mother. His maternal cousin Xue Gong died young, and Gongchuo raised his daughter and saw her married. He once said, "In office I have never let private likes or dislikes govern how I treat people. Surely my descendants will flourish! He was close to Qian Hui, Jiang Yi, Du Yuanying, and Xue Cuncheng. Men he recommended — Xu Kangzuo, Zheng Lang, Lu Jianchi, Cui Yu, Xiahou Zi, Li Shi, and Wei Zhang among them — all rose to fame and high rank.
65
子仲郢，字諭蒙。 母韓，即臯女也，善訓子，故仲郢幼嗜學，嘗和熊膽丸，使夜咀咽以助勤。 長工文，著《尚書二十四司箴》，為韓愈咨賞。 元和末，及進士第，為校書郎。 牛僧孺辟武昌幕府，有父風矩，僧孺嘆曰：「非積習名教，安及此邪？」 入為監察御史，遷侍御史。 有禁卒誣裏人斫父墓柏，射殺之，吏以專殺論，而中尉護免其死，右補闕蔣系爭，不省。 仲郢監罰，執曰：「賊不死，是亂典刑。」 有詔御史蕭傑監之，傑復爭。 遂獨詔京兆杖之，不監。 朝廷嘉其守。
His son was Zhongying, courtesy name Yimeng. His mother was Lady Han, a daughter of Gao, and she was skilled at teaching her son. From childhood Zhongying loved study; she once prepared pills of bear gall for him to chew at night to keep him at his books. As an adult he excelled at writing and composed Admonitions for the Twenty-Four Bureaus of the Ministry of Works, which Han Yu praised highly. Near the end of the Yuanhe era he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed a collator. Niu Sengru recruited him to his staff at Wuchang. He carried himself with his father's dignity and discipline, and Niu Sengru sighed, "Without long training in the rites and teachings, how could anyone reach this? He entered the capital as a supervisory censor and was promoted to attendant censor. An imperial guard falsely accused a neighbor of cutting the cypress at his father's tomb and shot the man dead. The officials sought a sentence for unauthorized killing, but the palace commandant protected him and spared his life. Right remonstrance-supplementor Jiang Xi protested, but no one listened. Zhongying supervised the punishment and insisted, "If this killer is not put to death, the law itself is corrupted. An edict ordered censor Xiao Jie to supervise the case, and Jie protested again. In the end the emperor ordered Jingzhao alone to beat the man, with no censor present. The court praised his integrity.
66
會昌初，累轉吏部郎中。 時詔減官冗長者，仲郢條簡浹日，損千二百五十員，議者厭伏。 遷左諫議大夫。 武宗延方士，築望仙臺，累諫諄切，帝遣中人愧諭。 御史崔元藻以覆按吳湘獄得罪，仲郢切諫，宰相李德裕不為嫌，奏拜京兆尹。 置權量於東西市，使貿易用之，禁私制者。 北司吏入粟違約，仲郢殺而屍之，自是人無敢犯，政號嚴明。 會廢浮屠法，盡壞銅象為錢。 仲郢為鑄錢使，吏請以字識錢者，不答。 既，淮南鑄會昌字，久之，僧反取為鐘鈸云。 中書舍人紇幹訴甥劉詡毆其母，詡為禁軍校，仲郢不待奏，即捕取之，死杖下，宦官以為言，改右散騎常侍，知吏部銓。 德裕頗抑進士科，仲郢無所徇。 是時，以進士選，無受惡官者。 又當調者，持闕簿令自閱，即擬唱，吏無能為奸。
At the start of the Huichang era he rose through several posts to director in the Ministry of Personnel. When an edict came to cut redundant posts, Zhongying sorted and trimmed the roster in ten days, eliminating 1,250 positions and silencing every critic. He was promoted to left remonstrance adviser. Emperor Wuzong entertained Daoist adepts and built the Terrace of Gazing on Immortals. Zhongying remonstrated again and again, bluntly and at length, until the emperor sent a palace envoy to rebuke and warn him. When censor Cui Yuanzao was punished for reinvestigating the Wu Xiang case, Zhongying remonstrated sharply. Chancellor Li Deyu bore no resentment and recommended him as governor of Jingzhao. He placed official weights and measures in the East and West Markets for merchants to use and banned private manufacture. When a Northern Bureau clerk violated the terms on grain deliveries, Zhongying executed him and put the body on display. After that no one dared cross him, and his rule was known for its severity and clarity. When the suppression of Buddhism came, every copper Buddha image was destroyed and cast into coin. Zhongying served as coinage commissioner. When clerks asked to stamp the coins with identifying characters, he gave no answer. Later Huainan cast coins marked with the reign name Huichang, and in time the monks reclaimed the metal for bells and gongs. Secretariat drafter Heggan complained that his nephew Liu Xu had beaten his mother. Xu was an officer in the imperial guard. Without waiting for an imperial order, Zhongying had him arrested and beaten to death. When eunuchs protested, he was moved to right regular attendant and put in charge of personnel selection. Li Deyu had worked hard to curb the jinshi examination, but Zhongying bowed to no pressure. At that time, in selecting jinshi degree holders, no tainted official was accepted. When appointments came due, he let each candidate read the vacancy register for himself, then immediately proposed and announced the posting, leaving the clerks no room for trickery.
67
宣宗初，德裕罷政事，坐所厚善，出為鄭州刺史。 周墀鎮滑，而鄭為屬郡，高其績； 及入相，薦授河南尹，召拜戶部侍郎。 墀罷，它宰相惡仲郢，左遷秘書監。 數月，復出河南尹，以寬惠為政。 或言不類京兆時，答曰：「輦轂之下，先彈壓； 郡邑之治，本惠養。 烏可類乎？」 擢劍南東川節度使。 大吏邊章簡挾勢肆貪，前帥不能制，仲郢因事殺之，官下肅然。 居五年，召為吏部侍郎，俄改兵部，領鹽鐵轉運使。 有劉習者，以藥術進，詔署鹽官。 仲郢以為醫有本色官，若委錢谷，名分不正。 帝悟，乃賜縑遣還。
Early in Emperor Xuanzong's reign, when Li Deyu fell from power, Zhongying was sent out as prefect of Zhengzhou on account of their close friendship. Zhou Chi governed Hua, with Zheng as a subordinate prefecture, and thought highly of Zhongying's record there. When Zhou became chancellor, he recommended Zhongying for governor of Henan and had him recalled as vice minister of revenue. After Zhou left office, other chancellors turned against Zhongying and demoted him to director of the Palace Library. A few months later he was again sent out as governor of Henan, where he governed with leniency and kindness. When people said this was nothing like his days in Jingzhao, he answered, "Under the imperial capital one must first suppress wrongdoing. Governing a commandery or county is fundamentally about caring for the people. How can the two be the same? He was promoted to military commissioner of Jiannan East Circuit. A senior clerk named Bian Zhangjian abused his power and plundered freely; the previous commander could not restrain him. Zhongying seized an occasion to execute him, and the whole administration fell into order. After five years he was recalled as vice minister of personnel, then soon made vice minister of war and put in charge of the salt and iron transport commission. A man named Liu Xi, who had risen through medical skill, was ordered appointed to a salt post. Zhongying argued that physicians already had posts suited to their profession, and to put them in charge of money and grain would violate proper rank and duty. The emperor saw the point, gave Liu Xi a gift of silk, and sent him home.
68
大中十二年，辭疾，以刑部尚書罷使，轉戶部，封河東縣男，為山南西道節度使。 南鄭令權弈以罪，仲郢杖之，六日死，貶雷州刺史。 頃之，以太子賓客分司東都，起為虢州刺史，以檢校尚書左仆射東都留守。 會盜發父墓，棄官歸華原。 徙華州刺史，不拜。 咸通五年，為天平節度使。 初，仲郢為諫議大夫，後每遷，必烏集升平第，庭樹戟架皆滿，五日乃散。 及是不復集。 卒於鎮。
In the twelfth year of Dazhong he asked leave for illness, gave up his commission as minister of justice, moved to minister of revenue, was enfeoffed as Baron of Hedong County, and became military commissioner of Shannan West Circuit. When Nanzheng magistrate Quan Yi was found guilty of an offense, Zhongying had him beaten with rods; he died on the sixth day, and Zhongying was demoted to prefect of Leizhou. Before long he served as guest of the crown prince with duty at the Eastern Capital, then was recalled as prefect of Guo and appointed acting vice director of the Left as Eastern Capital garrison commander. When robbers broke into his father's tomb, he resigned his post and returned to Huayuan. He was transferred to governor of Hua but refused the appointment. In the fifth year of Xiantong he became military commissioner of Tianping. When Zhongying had been remonstrance adviser, every later promotion brought crows flocking to his Shengping residence until the courtyard trees and halberd racks were black with them; they would not disperse for five days. This time they did not gather. He died in his command.
69
仲郢方嚴，尚氣義，事親甚謹。 李德裕貶死，家無祿，不自振； 及領鹽鐵，遂取其兄子從質為推官，知蘇州院。 宰相令狐持不可，乃移書開諭，感悟，從之。 每私居內齋，束帶正色，服用簡素。 父子更九鎮，五為京兆，再為河南，皆不奏瑞，不度浮屠。 急於摘貪吏，濟單弱。 每旱潦，必貸匱蠲負，裏無逋家。 衣冠孤女不能自歸者，斥稟為婚嫁。 在朝，非慶吊不至宰相第。 其跡略相同。
Zhongying was upright and severe, devoted to honor and principle, and extremely careful in serving his parents. After Li Deyu died in exile his household had no stipend and could not support itself. When Zhongying took charge of salt and iron, he appointed Li's nephew Congzhi as administrative aide in charge of the Suzhou office. Chancellor Linghu Chi disapproved, but Zhongying wrote to explain and persuade him; moved, Linghu gave way. Even in the private study of his own home he wore his sash and kept a formal bearing, and his dress was always plain. Father and son between them held nine regional commands: five terms as Jingzhao governor and two as Henan governor. None ever reported auspicious omens to the throne or patronized Buddhist salvation rites. They were quick to purge greedy officials and to help the poor and defenseless. In every drought or flood they opened the granaries, canceled debts, and saw to it that no household in the district remained in default. Orphaned daughters of respectable families who lacked means to marry were given grain from the public stores for their weddings. At court they never called at a chancellor's house except for weddings, funerals, and the like. In these matters their ways were much alike.
70
家有書萬卷，所藏必三本：上者貯庫，其副常所閱，下者幼學焉。 仲郢嘗手鈔《六經》，司馬遷、班固、范曄史皆一鈔，魏晉及南北朝史再，又類所鈔它書凡三十篇，號《柳氏自備》； 旁錄仙佛書甚眾，皆楷小精真，無行字。
The family library held ten thousand scrolls, and every title was kept in triplicate: the finest copy went into the vault, a working copy stayed at hand for reading, and a third served the children's lessons. Zhongying once copied out the Six Classics by hand, each of the histories by Sima Qian, Ban Gu, and Fan Ye once, the Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties histories twice, and some thirty other works besides—a collection he called The Liu Family's Self-Sufficiency; Alongside these he copied a great many Daoist and Buddhist texts, all in small, precise regular script—never a line of running hand.
71
子璞、珪、璧、玭。
His sons were Pu, Gui, Bi, and Pin.
72
子璞
Son: Pu
73
璞，字韜玉，學不營仕。 著《春秋三氏異同義》，又述《天祚長歷》，斷自漢武帝紀元，為編年，以大政、大祥異、侵叛戰伐隨著之，閏位者附見其左，常謂「杜征南《春秋後序》述紀甲歷為得實，自余史家皆差」，蔣系以為然。 終著作郎。
Pu, styled Taoyu, pursued scholarship and never entered official life. He authored Differing Interpretations of the Three Commentators on the Spring and Autumn and also compiled the Long Calendar of Heavenly Blessing, starting from the inaugural year of Emperor Wu of Han as a chronicle in which great policies, great omens, invasions, rebellions, and campaigns were entered as they arose, with usurping regimes noted in the margin. He often remarked that Du Yu's Postface to the Spring and Autumn, in its account of the Jia-calendar chronology, had the facts right and that every other historian was wrong—and Jiang Xi agreed. He died in office as Author-Editor.
74
子珪
Son: Gui
75
珪，字交玄。 大中中，與璧繼擢進士，皆秀整而文，杜牧、李商隱稱之。 杜悰鎮西川，表在幕府，久乃至。 會悰徙淮南，歸其積俸，珪不納，悰舉故事為言，卒辭之。 以藍田尉直弘文館，遷右拾遺，而給事中蕭仿、鄭裔綽謂珪不能事父，封還其詔。 仲郢訴其子「冒處諫職為不可，謂不孝則誣。 請勒就養」，詔可。 始，公綽治家埒韓滉，及珪被廢，士人愧悵。 終衛尉少卿。
Gui, styled Jiaoxuan. During the Dazhong reign they and Bi passed the jinshi examination in turn; both were handsome, polished, and literary, and Du Mu and Li Shangyin spoke highly of them. When Du Cong took command in Xichuan he had Gui appointed to his staff, but Gui did not arrive until long afterward. When Cong was reassigned to Huainan he tried to return Gui's accumulated salary. Gui refused; Cong cited precedent, but in the end Gui would not take it. Appointed Lantian county magistrate with concurrent service at the Hongwen Library, he was promoted to Right Reminder, but the Palace Assistant Secretaries Xiao Fang and Zheng Yichuo declared that Gui was unable to care for his father and sent the appointment edict back unopened. Zhongying petitioned on his son's behalf: "It is wrong for him to hold a remonstrance post while his father still needs him, but to call him unfilial is a false charge. I ask that he be ordered home to support his parents." The throne approved. Gongchuo's household had once been ranked with Han Huang's in good order; when Gui was removed from office, men of letters felt ashamed and dismayed. He died as Vice Minister of the Guard.
76
子璧
Son: Bi
77
璧，字賓玉。 馬植鎮汴州，辟管書記。 又從李瓚桂州，規止其不法，瓚不聽，乃拂衣去。 未幾，軍亂。 擢右補闕，再轉屯田員外郎。 僖宗幸蜀，授翰林學士，累遷右諫議大夫。
Bi, styled Binyu. When Ma Zhi was military governor of Bianzhou he took Bi on as chief secretary. He later served Li Zan in Guizhou and urged him to abandon his unlawful ways. When Zan refused to listen, Bi shook out his robes and walked away. Not long afterward the army rose in mutiny. He was promoted to Right Supplementation Censor and later moved to Assistant Director of the Bureau of State Farms. When Emperor Xizong took refuge in Shu, Bi was appointed Hanlin Academician and rose in time to Right Remonstrance Grand Master.
78
子玭
Son: Pin
79
玭以明經補秘書正字，由書判拔萃，累轉左補闕。 高湜再鎮昭義，皆表為副，擢刑部員外郎。 湜貶高要尉，比三疏申理。 湜後得稿嗟嘆，以為其言雖自辨不加也。 出為嶺南節度副使。 廨中橘熟，既食，乃納直於官。 黃巢陷交、廣，逃還，除起居郎。 巢入京師，奔行在，再遷中書舍人、御史中丞。 文德元年，以吏部侍郎脩國史，拜御史大夫。 直清有父風，昭宗欲倚以相，中官譖比煩碎，非廊廟器，乃止。 坐事貶瀘州刺史，卒。 光化初，帝自華還，詔復官爵。
Having passed the Mingjing examination, Pin was appointed Secretary Proofreader; distinguished in document review, he rose through several posts to Left Supplementation Censor. Each time Gao Chen took command of Zhaoyi he recommended Pin as his deputy, and Pin was promoted to Assistant Director of the Ministry of Justice. When Chen was demoted to magistrate of Gaoyao, Pin submitted three memorials in a row in his defense. Chen later obtained the draft and sighed over it, feeling that though Pin spoke in his own defense, he had not gone too far. He was posted as deputy military commissioner of Lingnan. Oranges ripened in the yamen; after he ate some he paid their market price into the public coffers. When Huang Chao took Jiaozhi and Guangzhou, Pin escaped home and was appointed Court Diarist. When Chao entered the capital, Pin fled to the emperor's camp and was promoted in turn to Secretariat Drafter and Censor-in-Chief. In the first year of Wende he was made Vice Minister of Personnel with charge of the national history and appointed Censor-in-Chief. Upright and incorruptible in his father's mold, Pin was someone Emperor Zhaozong hoped to make chancellor, but eunuchs slandered him as finicky and petty—not timber for the grand hall—and the appointment went no further. Convicted on a charge, he was demoted to prefect of Luzhou, where he died. Early in Guanghua, when the emperor returned from Hua, an edict restored Pin's rank and titles posthumously.
80
玭嘗述家訓以戒子孫曰：
Pin once laid down family instructions to admonish his descendants, saying:
81
夫門地高者，一事墜先訓，則異它人，雖生可以茍爵位，死不可見祖先地下。 門高則自驕，族盛則人窺嫉。 實蓺懿行，人未必信； 纖瑕微累，十手爭指矣。 所以修己不得不至，為學不得不堅。 夫士君子生於世，己無能而望它人用，己無善而望它人愛，猶農夫鹵莽種之而怨天澤不潤，雖欲弗餒，可乎？ 余幼聞先公仆射言：立己以孝悌為基，恭默為本，畏怯為務，勤儉為法。 肥家以忍順，保交以簡恭，廣記如不及，求名如儻來。 蒞官則絜己省事，而後可以言家法； 家法備，然後可以言養人。 直不近禍，廉不沽名。 憂與禍不偕，絜與富不並。 董生有云：「吊者在門，賀者在閭。」 言憂則恐懼，恐懼則福至。 又曰：「賀者在門，吊者在閭。」 言受福則驕奢，驕奢則禍至。 故世族遠長與命位豐約，不假問龜蓍星數，在處心行事而已。
When one's gate is high, a single lapse from ancestral teaching sets one apart from other men: in life one may cling to rank by shameful means, but in death one cannot face one's forebears beneath the earth. A lofty gate invites pride; a flourishing clan invites jealous scrutiny. Real ability and fine conduct may not be believed; but the smallest blemish, and ten fingers point at once. That is why self-cultivation must be pushed to the limit and learning pursued without slackening. A gentleman in this world who has no talent yet expects others to use him, who has no virtue yet expects others to cherish him, is like a farmer who sows carelessly and then curses heaven for withholding rain: can he hope not to starve? In childhood I heard my late father, the Pushe, say: to stand as a man, take filial piety and brotherly duty as your foundation, reverent reserve as your base, prudent caution as your task, and diligence and thrift as your law. Enrich the household through patience and deference, keep friendships through plain courtesy, note everything as though you could never catch up, and treat fame as something that arrives unbidden. In office, keep yourself clean and your business lean—only then may one speak of household discipline; when household discipline is complete, only then may one speak of raising others aright. Uprightness does not seek out disaster, and integrity does not haggle for a name. Anxious care and calamity do not keep company; clean living and great wealth do not share a house. Master Dong said: "When mourners stand at the gate and well-wishers in the lane," he meant that worry breeds fear, and fear brings fortune. He also said: "When well-wishers stand at the gate and mourners in the lane," he meant that receiving good fortune breeds pride and excess, and pride and excess bring disaster. Whether a great clan endures or dies out, whether rank and fortune wax or wane, does not depend on tortoise shells, yarrow stalks, or star lore—it depends only on how one thinks and acts.
82
昭國裏崔山南琯子孫之盛，仕族罕比。 山南曾祖母長孫夫人年高無齒，祖母唐夫人事姑孝，每旦，櫛縰笄拜階下，升堂乳姑，長孫不粒食者數年。 一日病，言無以報吾婦，冀子孫皆得如婦孝。 然則崔之門安得不大乎？ 東都仁和裏裴尚書寬子孫眾盛，實為名閥。 天後時，宰相魏玄同選尚書之先為婿，未成婚而魏陷羅織獄，家徙嶺表。 及北還，女已逾笄。 其家議無以為衣食資，願下發為尼。 有一尼自外至，曰：「女福厚豐，必有令匹，子孫將遍天下，宜北歸。」 家人遂不敢議。 及荊門，則裴賫裝以迎矣。 今勢利之徒，舍信誓如返掌，則裴之蕃衍，乃天之報施也。 余舊府高公先君兄弟三人，俱居清列，非速客不二羹胾，夕食，龁卜瓠而已，皆保重名於世。
Few official families could rival the prosperity of Cui Shannan's line in Zhaoguo Lane. Shannan's great-grandmother, Lady Changsun, was old and had lost her teeth. His grandmother Lady Tang served her with perfect filial devotion: every morning she combed and bound her hair, performed the hairpin rite bowing on the steps, then went up to the hall and nursed her mother-in-law at the breast. For years Lady Changsun ate no grain at all. When she fell ill one day she said, "I can never repay my daughter-in-law; may all my descendants be as filial as she is." How then could the house of Cui fail to flourish? The descendants of Vice Minister Pei Kuan of Renhe Lane in Luoyang were many and thriving—a true great house. Under Empress Wu, Chancellor Wei Xuantong betrothed his son to the Vice Minister's daughter, but before the wedding Wei was trapped in a fabricated charge and the family was banished to Lingnan. When they returned north, the girl was already past marriageable age. Her family debated what they could live on and proposed that she be tonsured as a nun. A nun arrived from outside and said, "This girl's blessing is great; she will surely find a worthy husband, and her descendants will fill the realm. She ought to return north." At that the family dared raise the matter no further. When they reached Jingmen, Pei was already there with a train of gifts to welcome her. Men of power today discard sworn faith as easily as turning the hand; the Pei clan's flourishing was heaven's recompense for keeping theirs. The father of my former chief Gao and his three brothers all held high clean offices; unless an unexpected guest arrived they never set out more than one meat dish, and for supper they ate only pickled gourd—each guarding a hard-won name in the world.
83
永寧王相國涯居位，竇氏女歸，請曰：「玉工貨釵直七十萬錢。」 王曰：「七十萬錢，豈於女惜？ 但釵直若此，乃妖物也，禍必隨之。」 女不復敢言。 後釵為馮球外郎妻首飾，涯曰：「為郎吏妻，首飾有七十萬錢，其可久乎！」 馮為賈相國餗門人，賈有奴頗橫，馮愛賈，召奴責之，奴泣謝。 未幾，馮晨謁賈，賈未出，有二青衣賫銀罌出，曰：「公恐君寒，奉地黃酒三杯。」 馮悅，盡舉之。 俄病渴且咽，因暴卒。 賈為嘆息出涕，卒不知其由。 明年，王、賈皆遘禍。 噫，王以珍玩為物之妖，信知言矣，而不知恩權隆赫之妖甚於物邪？ 馮以卑位貪貨，不能正其家，忠於所事，不能保其身，不足言矣。 賈之奴害客於墻廡間而不知，欲始終富貴，其得乎？ 舒相國元輿與李繁有隙，為御史，鞫譙獄，窮致繁罪，後舒亦及禍。 今世人盛言宿業報應，曾不思視履考祥事歟？ 夫名門右族，莫不由祖考忠孝勤儉以成立之，莫不由子孫頑率奢傲以覆墜之。 成立之難如升天，覆墜之易如燎毛。
When Wang Ya, Prince of Yongning, was chancellor, his daughter Dou came home and asked, "A jade craftsman is offering a hairpin for seven hundred thousand cash." Wang said, "Seven hundred thousand cash—is that something I would begrudge my daughter? But a hairpin that costs so much is an uncanny thing—disaster is sure to follow it." After that the daughter did not dare mention it again. Later the hairpin turned up as the headdress of Feng Qiu's wife, a clerk in the outer offices. Ya said, "For a clerk's wife to wear a seven-hundred-thousand-cash ornament—how can that end well?" Feng was a client of Chancellor Jia Su. Jia had a slave who bullied others; out of loyalty to Jia, Feng summoned the slave and scolded him, and the slave wept and apologized. Not long after, Feng called on Jia one morning. Jia had not yet appeared when two green-robed attendants came out with a silver jar and said, "My lord fears you are cold and sends three cups of rehmannia wine." Delighted, Feng drank them down to the last drop. Soon he was seized by burning thirst and choking, and died suddenly. Jia sighed and wept, but never learned what had killed him. The following year both Wang and Jia met disaster. Alas! Wang was right to call precious trinkets uncanny things—but did he not see that the uncanny power of favor and towering authority is worse than any object? Feng, low in rank yet greedy for finery, could not govern his household; loyal to his patron, he could not save his own life—hardly worth mentioning. Jia's slave murdered a guest in the side hall without his master ever knowing—could such a man hope to die rich and honored? Chancellor Shu Yuanyu bore a grudge against Li Fan; as censor he tried the Qiao case and hounded Fan to conviction—and later Shu met disaster himself. People today love to talk of karma and retribution from past lives—have they never thought to examine their own conduct and read the omens in it? Great houses are built by forebears through loyalty, filial piety, diligence, and thrift, and cast down by descendants through stubbornness, extravagance, and pride. To build them up is as hard as climbing to heaven; to ruin them as easy as setting fire to dry grass.
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余家本以學識禮法稱於士林，比見諸家於吉兇禮制有疑者，多取正焉。 喪亂以來，門祚衰落，基構之重，屬於後生。 夫行道之人，德行文學為根株，正直剛毅為柯葉。 有根無葉，或可俟時； 有葉無根，膏雨所不能活也。 至於孝慈、友悌、忠信、篤行，乃食之醢醬，可一日無哉？
Our house was once known among scholars for learning and ritual propriety; whenever other families were uncertain about rites of mourning and celebration, they often came to us for guidance. Since the rebellions our line has waned; the burden of the foundation now rests on the young. For one who would live rightly, moral character and learning are the root and trunk; integrity and steadfastness are the branches and leaves. With roots but no leaves, one may yet wait for the season; but with leaves and no root, even the kindest rain cannot keep the tree alive. Filial piety, kindness, brotherly duty, loyalty, faith, and earnest conduct are the salt and sauce of life—can one do without them for a single day?
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其大概如此。
Such is the general outline.
86
弟公權
Younger brother: Gongquan
87
公權，字誠懸，公綽弟也。 年十二，工辭賦。 元和初，擢進士第。 李聽鎮夏州，表為掌書記。 因入奏，穆宗曰：「朕嘗於佛廟見卿筆跡，思之久矣。」 即拜右拾遺、侍書學士，再遷司封員外郎。 帝問公權用筆法，對曰：「心正則筆正，筆正乃可法矣。」 時帝荒縱，故公權及之。 帝改容，悟其以筆諫也。 公綽嘗寓書宰相李宗閔，言家弟本誌儒學，先朝以侍書見用，頗類工祝，願徙散秩。 乃改右司郎中、弘文館學士。
Liu Gongquan, whose courtesy name was Chengxuan, was the younger brother of Liu Gongchuo. At twelve he already excelled at rhymed prose. In the early Yuanhe period he passed the jinshi examination. When Li Ting served as military governor of Xiazhou, he nominated Gongquan as his secretary. When he came to court to report, Emperor Muzong said, "I once saw your handwriting in a Buddhist temple and have missed you ever since." He was immediately made Right Reminder and Palace Calligraphy Scholar, and soon promoted to Vice-Director in the Department of Titles. The emperor asked about his brushwork. Gongquan answered, "When the mind is upright, the brush is upright—and only an upright brush can serve as a model." The emperor was then given to indulgence, and Gongquan was admonishing him through his brush. The emperor's face changed as he grasped that Gongquan was remonstrating through calligraphy. Gongchuo once wrote to Chief Minister Li Zongmin that his younger brother had set his heart on Confucian learning, yet the previous court had used him mainly as a palace calligrapher—a role too much like a temple scribe—and asked that he be moved to an ordinary post. He was accordingly reassigned as Right Section Director and a scholar of the Hongwen Institute.
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文宗復召侍書，遷中書舍人，充翰林書詔學士。 嘗夜召對子亭，燭窮而語未盡，宮人以蠟液濡紙繼之。 從幸未央宮，帝駐輦，曰：「朕有一喜，邊戍賜衣久不時，今中春而衣已給。」 公權為數十言稱賀，帝曰：「當賀我以詩。」 宮人迫之，公權應聲成，文婉切而麗。 詔令再賦，復無停思，天子甚悅，曰：「子建七步，爾乃三焉。」 常與六學士對便殿，帝稱漢文帝恭儉，因舉袂曰：「此三澣矣！」 學士皆賀，獨公權無言。 帝問之，對曰：「人主當進賢退不肖，納諫諍，明賞罰。 服澣濯之衣，此小節耳，非有益治道者。」 異日，與周墀同對，論事不阿，墀為惴恐，公權益不奪，帝徐曰：「卿有諍臣風，可屈居諫議大夫。」 乃自舍人下遷，仍為學士知制誥。
Emperor Wenzong recalled him as palace calligrapher and made him Secretariat Drafter and Hanlin Edict-and-Calligraphy Scholar. Once the emperor summoned him at night to Ziting Pavilion; the candles burned down before they had finished speaking, and palace women dipped paper in wax to keep the light going. On an outing to Weiyang Palace, the emperor halted his carriage and said, "I have good news: border garrisons have long received their seasonal clothing late, but this year by mid-spring the issue is already complete." Gongquan spoke a few dozen words of congratulation. The emperor said, "Congratulate me in verse instead." Palace attendants pressed him; Gongquan answered at once, his lines tender, apt, and beautifully wrought. The emperor ordered another poem; again Gongquan composed without hesitation. Delighted, the Son of Heaven said, "Cao Zijian needed seven steps—you need only three." He often met with the six Hanlin scholars in the side hall. Praising Emperor Wen of Han for modest thrift, the emperor lifted his sleeve and said, "I've washed this three times already!" The scholars all offered congratulations; only Gongquan remained silent. When the emperor asked why, he answered, "A ruler should promote the worthy and remove the unfit, heed remonstrance, and make rewards and punishments clear. Wearing a thrice-washed robe is a trifle; it is not what truly benefits good government." On another day he and Zhou Chi were in audience together. Gongquan spoke without flattery on policy; Zhou Chi quaked with fear, but Gongquan only grew firmer. The emperor said at length, "You have the spirit of a remonstrating minister. You may acceptably step down to Remonstrance Grandee." So he was demoted from Secretariat Drafter, but kept his duties as a Hanlin scholar drafting edicts.
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開成三年，轉工部侍郎。 召問得失，因言：「郭文領邠寧，而議者頗有臧否。」 帝曰：「文，尚父從子，太皇太后季父，官無玷郵，自大金吾位方鎮，何所更議？」 答曰：「文誠勛舊，然人謂獻二女乃有是除，信乎？」 帝曰：「女自參承太后，豈獻哉？」 公權曰：「疑嫌間不可戶曉。」 因引王珪諫廬江王妃事。 是日，帝命中官自南內送女還文家。 其忠益多類此。 遷學士承旨。
In Kaicheng 3 (838) he was made Vice-Minister of Works. Summoned to discuss what was going wrong, he said, "Guo Wen holds Binning, and opinion about him is sharply divided." The emperor said, "Wen is the Grand Preceptor's nephew and the Grand Empress Dowager's uncle. His record is spotless, and he rose from the Grand Gold Crow Guard to a frontier command—what is left to criticize?" He replied, "Guo Wen is indeed a veteran of merit, but people say this appointment came from offering two daughters to the palace—is that true?" The emperor said, "Those girls entered the palace to serve the empress dowager directly—how is that an offering?" Gongquan said, "Once suspicion arises, you cannot make every household understand." He then cited Wang Gui's remonstrance in the matter of the Princess of Lujiang. That same day the emperor ordered a palace eunuch to return the daughters from the Southern Inner Court to the Wen household. Many of his loyal remonstrances were like this. He was promoted to Senior Scholar of the Hanlin Academy.
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武宗立，罷為右散騎常侍。 宰相崔珙引為集賢院學士，知院事。 李德裕不悅，左授太子詹事，改賓客。 累封河東郡公，復為常侍，進至太子少師。 大中十三年，天子元會，公權稍耄忘，先群臣稱賀，占奏忽謬，御史劾之，奪一季俸，議者恨其不歸事。 咸通初，乃以太子太保致仕。 卒，年八十八。 贈太子太師。
When Emperor Wuzong took the throne, Gongquan was removed and made Right Regular Attendant of the Cavalry. Chief Minister Cui Gong had him appointed Jixian Academy scholar and put him in charge of the institute. Li Deyu was displeased and demoted him to Grand Mentor of the Heir Apparent, later making him Guest of the Heir Apparent. He was enfeoffed as Duke of Hedong, restored as Regular Attendant, and eventually rose to Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent. In Dazhong 13, at the New Year's audience Gongquan, now somewhat senile, congratulated the emperor ahead of the other officials but bungled his auspicious memorial. Censors impeached him and his salary was docked for a season; many wished he had retired instead. In the early Xiantong period he retired as Grand Guardian of the Heir Apparent. He died at eighty-eight. He was posthumously enfeoffed as Grand Preceptor of the Heir Apparent.
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公權博貫經術，於《詩》、《書》、《左氏春秋》、《國語》、莊周書尤邃，每解一義，必數十百言。 通音律，而不喜奏樂，曰：「聞之令人驕怠。」 其書法結體勁媚，自成一家。 文宗嘗召與聯句，帝曰：「人皆苦炎熱，我愛夏日長。」 公權屬曰：「薰風自南來，殿閣生餘涼。」 它學士亦屬繼，帝獨諷公權者，以為詞情皆足，命題於殿壁，字率徑五寸，帝嘆曰：「鐘、王無以尚也！」 其遷少師，宣宗召至禦座前，書紙三番，作真、行、草三體，奇秘，賜以器幣，且詔自書謝章，無限真、行。 當時大臣家碑誌，非其筆，人以子孫為不孝。 外夷入貢者，皆別署貨貝曰：「此購柳書。」 嘗書京兆西明寺《金剛經》，有鐘、王、歐、虞、褚、陸諸家法，自為得意。 凡公卿以書貺遺，蓋巨萬，而主藏奴或盜用。 嘗貯杯盂一笥，縢識如故而器皆亡，奴妄言叵測者，公權笑曰：「銀杯羽化矣！」 不復詰。 唯研、筆、圖籍，自鐍秘之。
Gongquan was deeply read in the classics, especially the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, the Zuo Commentary, the Discourses of the States, and Zhuangzi; whenever he expounded a single point he would speak at great length. He understood music theory but disliked hearing performances, saying, "Music makes people proud and lazy." His calligraphy united vigor and elegance in a style entirely his own. Emperor Wenzong once invited him to compose linked verses. The emperor opened: "All men brood on sweltering heat; I love how long the summer days are." Gongquan answered: "A sweet wind blows from the south; the palace halls fill with lingering cool." Other scholars added lines as well, but the emperor recited only Gongquan's, finding both words and feeling faultless. He had the couplet brushed on the hall wall in characters five inches high and marveled, "Not even Zhong You or Wang Xizhi can match this!" When he was made Junior Preceptor, Emperor Xuanzong summoned him before the throne. Gongquan wrote out three sheets in regular, running, and cursive script—work so marvelous the court had rarely seen its like. The emperor bestowed gifts and ordered him to write his own memorial of thanks in whatever script he chose. At the time, epitaphs and steles for great ministers' families that were not in his hand were taken as proof their descendants lacked filial piety. Tributary envoys from abroad set aside part of their goods marked, "For purchasing Liu's calligraphy." He once copied the Diamond Sutra for Ximing Temple in the capital, drawing on the styles of Zhong, Wang, Ouyang, Yu, Chu, and Lu—and counted it his proudest work. Officials showered him with calligraphic gifts worth tens of thousands of strings of cash, but his head steward would sometimes steal from them. Once he stored a basket of cups and bowls; the wax seals were intact but every vessel was gone. When the slave babbled about uncanny causes, Gongquan only laughed and said, "My silver cups have achieved transcendence!" He asked no more. Only his inkstones, brushes, and books he kept under lock himself.
92
諸父子華
Paternal uncle: Zihua
93
子華，公綽諸父也。 始辟嚴武劍南府，累遷池州刺史。 代宗將幸華清宮，先命完葺，欲以子華為京兆少尹，尹惡其剛方，沮解之，遂為昭應令、檢校金部郎中、修宮使。 設棘圍於市，徇邑中曰：「民有得華清瓦石材用，投圍中，逾三日不還者死。」 不終日，已山積矣，營辦略足。 宰相元載有別墅，以奴主務，自稱郎將，怙勢縱暴，租賦未嘗入官。 子華因奴入謁，收付獄，劾發宿罪，杖殺之，一邑震伏。 載不敢怨，遣吏厚謝。 預知其終，自為墓銘。
Zihua was Liu Gongchuo's uncle. He first entered Yan Wu's staff in Jiannan and eventually rose to prefect of Chizhou. When Emperor Daizong planned a visit to Huaqing Palace and ordered the grounds rebuilt, he meant to make Zihua Junior Administrator of Jingzhao. The chief administrator resented his uncompromising manner and blocked the appointment, so Zihua became magistrate of Zhaoying, acting director in the Department of Gold, and commissioner overseeing the palace repairs. He erected a thorn-fenced enclosure in the market and proclaimed through the district, "Anyone who finds usable tile or stone from Huaqing must deposit it here; failure to do so within three days is punishable by death." Before the day was out the pile stood like a hill, and the work was nearly complete. Chief Minister Yuan Zai owned a villa run by a slave who styled himself a commandant, abused his master's power, and never forwarded rent or tax to the state. When the slave came to pay court, Zihua had him arrested, dredged up old crimes, and flogged him to death—the whole district trembled into obedience. Yuan Zai dared not complain and sent an official with lavish thanks. Foreknowing his death, he wrote his own tomb inscription.
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子公器、公度。 公度善攝生，年八十餘，有強力。 常云：「吾初無術，但未嘗以氣海暖冷物，熟生物，不以元氣佐喜怒耳。」 位光祿少卿。 公器生遵，遵生燦，別有傳。
Sons: Gongqi and Gongdu. Gongdu mastered the art of preserving health; past eighty he still had great strength. He often said, "I never had any secret art—only this: I never sent hot or cold things into my belly, never ate raw food, and never let joy or anger consume my vital energy." He rose to Vice-Director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Gongqi's son was Zun; Zun's son was Can—they receive separate biographies.
95
楊於陵
Yang Yuling
96
楊於陵，字達夫，本漢太尉震之裔。 父太清，倦宦，客河朔，死安祿山之亂。 於陵始六歲，間關至江左，逮長，有奇誌。 十八擢進士，調句容主簿。 節度使韓滉剛嚴少許可，獨奇於陵，謂妻柳曰：「吾求佳婿，無如於陵賢。」 因以妻之。 辟鄂嶽、江西使府。 滉居宰相，領財賦，權震中外。 於陵隨府罷，避親不肯調，退廬建昌，以文書自娛樂。 滉卒，乃入為膳部員外郎。 以吏部判南曹，選者恃與宰相親，文書不如式，於陵駁其違，宰相怒，以南曹郎出使吊宣武軍。 未幾，遷右司郎中，換吏部，出為絳州刺史。 德宗雅聞其名，留拜中書舍人。 時京兆李實恃恩暴橫，於陵與所善許孟容不離附，為所譖短，徙秘書少監。 帝崩，宣遺詔於太原、幽州，節府獻遺無所納。 拜華州刺史，遷浙東觀察使。 越人饑，請出米三十萬石扌烝贍貧民，政聲流聞。
Yang Yuling, courtesy name Dafu, traced his line to Zhen, Grand Commandant of Han. His father Taiqing, weary of official life, lived as a guest north of the Yellow River and died in the An Lushan rebellion. Yuling was only six when he made the hard journey south of the Yangtze; grown to manhood, he harbored uncommon ambitions. At eighteen he passed the jinshi examination and was posted as recorder in Jurong. The military governor Han Huang was stern and sparing of praise, yet he singled out Yuling and told his wife, Lady Liu, "In all my search for a son-in-law, none matches Yuling." He gave him his daughter in marriage. He joined the staff of the E-Yue and Jiangxi commissioners. When Han Huang became chief minister and controlled the treasury, his power eclipsed court and realm alike. When his post ended with Han Huang's staff, Yuling declined reassignment to avoid favoritism, withdrew to Jianchang in Mount Lu, and devoted himself to letters. After Han Huang died, he entered court as Vice-Director in the Department of Food. While judging appointments in the Ministry of Personnel's Southern Bureau, Yuling rejected a candidate's irregular paperwork—the man had counted on kinship with the chief minister. The minister was furious and shunted Yuling out as condolence envoy to the Xuanwu army. Soon he became Right Section Director, then moved within the Ministry of Personnel, and was sent out as prefect of Jiang Prefecture. Emperor Dezong had long heard of him and kept him at court as Secretariat Drafter. Li Shi of Jingzhao then enjoyed imperial favor and ruled by terror. Yuling and his friend Xu Mengrong refused to join his faction and were slandered; Yuling was transferred to junior director of the Secretariat. When the emperor died, he was sent to proclaim the testament at Taiyuan and Youzhou and accepted none of the gifts the frontier commands offered. He was made prefect of Hua Prefecture, then inspector of Zhedong. When famine struck the Yue region he asked to release three hundred thousand shi of grain to relieve the poor, and his reputation for good government spread far.
97
入為京兆尹。 先是，編民多竄北軍籍中，倚以橫閭裏。 於陵請限丁制，減三丁者不得著籍，奸人無所影賴，京師豪右大震。 遷戶部侍郎。 元和初，牛僧孺等以賢良方正對策，於陵被詔程其文，居第一，宰相惡其言，出為嶺南節度使。 辟韋詞、李翺等在幕府，咨訪得失，教民陶瓦易蒲屋，以絕火患。 監軍許遂振者，悍戾貪肆，憚於陵，不敢撓以私，則為飛語聞京師，憲宗不能無惑，有詔罷歸。 遂振領留事，笞吏剔抉其贓，吏呼曰：「楊公尚拒他方賂遺，肯私官錢邪？」 宰相裴垍亦為帝別白言之，乃授吏部侍郎，而遂振終得罪。
He was recalled to serve as intendant of Jingzhao. Previously many registered residents had slipped into Northern Army rolls and used that cover to bully their neighborhoods. Yuling proposed a household quota: families missing three adult males could not enlist; with nowhere to hide, the capital's bully magnates quaked. He was promoted to Vice-Minister of Revenue. In early Yuanhe, Niu Sengru and others took the incorrupt-and-upright examination; Yuling was ordered to grade the papers and ranked Niu first. The chief minister hated Niu's answers and had Yuling posted as military governor of Lingnan. He recruited Wei Ci, Li Ao, and others to his staff, sought their counsel on policy, and taught the people to fire roof tiles and replace thatched cottages—eliminating a major source of fires. The army supervisor Xu Suizhen was brutal, greedy, and overbearing. He feared Yuling and dared not push private interests, so he fed rumors to the capital. Even Xianzong wavered, and Yuling was recalled by edict. Suizhen took over local affairs and tortured clerks to extract evidence of embezzlement. One clerk cried, "Lord Yang would refuse even gifts from outsiders—would he steal public funds?" Chief Minister Pei Ji cleared the matter for the emperor, and Yuling was appointed Vice-Minister of Personnel; Xu Suizhen eventually met his downfall.
98
初，吏部程判，別詔官參考，齊抗當國，罷之。 至是，尚書鄭餘慶移疾，乃循舊制。 於陵建言：「他官但第判能否，不知限員，有司計員為留遣之格，事不相謀，莫如勿置。」 於是有詔三考官止較科目選，至常調悉還吏部。 又請修甲歷，南曹置別簿相檢實，吏不能為奸。 始奏選者納直給符告，居四年，凡調三千員，時謂為適。
At first the Ministry of Personnel's grading had been reviewed by separately appointed officials, but when Qi Kang ran the government that practice was abolished. By then Minister Zheng Yuqing took medical leave, and the old review system was restored. Yu Ling proposed: "Other offices judge only whether candidates are capable, without regard to quota limits, while the responsible bureaus use head counts as the rule for keeping or releasing men—the two processes do not work together. It would be better to abolish the quota system altogether. An edict followed: the three examination officers were to evaluate only examination-route candidates, and all routine transfers were returned entirely to the Ministry of Personnel. He also requested that service registers be brought up to date and that the Southern Office keep separate ledgers for cross-checking, so that clerks could no longer cheat. He first required successful candidates to pay a fee before receiving their appointment notices. Over four years some three thousand posts were filled through transfer, and contemporaries regarded the pace as about right.
99
以兵部兼御史大夫，判度支。 王師討淮西，於陵用所親為供軍使，主唐、鄧，而高霞寓騰牒度支，以餉道乏。 及戰敗，詔責之，指以為言。 帝怒，貶於陵郴州刺史。 徙原王傅，復以戶部侍郎知吏部選。 李師道平，詔宣慰淄青。 朝廷始議分其地，而劉悟節度滑州，未出鄆，於陵趣使上道。 還奏，帝悅其能。 會浙西觀察使李閹死，皇甫镈素忌於陵，薦以代翛，帝不之可。 穆宗立，遷戶部尚書，為東都留守。 數上疏乞身，不許。 授太子少傅，封弘農郡公。 俄以尚書左仆射致仕，詔賜實俸，讓不受。 於陵器量方峻，進止有常度，節操堅明，始終不失其正，時人尊仰之。 太和四年卒，年七十八。 冊贈司空，謚曰貞孝。
He served as Minister of War while also holding the post of Chief Censor and taking charge of the revenue commission. When imperial armies marched against Huai West, Yu Ling put a close associate in charge of army supplies for Tang and Deng prefectures. Gao Xiayu sent urgent dispatches to the revenue commission reporting that the supply lines were exhausted. When the army was defeated, an edict censured him and cited this very matter as the cause. The emperor was enraged and demoted Yu Ling to prefect of Chenzhou. He was transferred to tutor of the Prince of Yuan and again served as Vice Director of the Ministry of Revenue with charge of personnel selection. After Li Shidao was pacified, an edict appointed Yu Ling commissioner of consolation to Zi and Qing. The court had just begun debating how to divide the territory. Liu Wu was military commissioner at Hua Prefecture but had not yet departed from Yan. Yu Ling pressed him to take to the road at once. When he returned and reported, the emperor was pleased with his competence. When Li Yan, observation commissioner of Zhexi, died, Huangfu Bo—who had long resented Yu Ling—recommended him as replacement. The emperor did not agree. When Emperor Muzong took the throne, Yu Ling was promoted to Minister of Revenue and appointed garrison commissioner of the eastern capital. He repeatedly memorialized asking to retire, but permission was not granted. He was appointed Junior Preceptor of the Heir Apparent and enfeoffed as Duke of Hongnong Commandery. Before long he retired with the title Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs. An edict granted him his full salary, but he declined to accept it. Yu Ling was stern and upright in bearing, measured in all he did, and firm and clear in integrity. He never lost his rectitude from first to last, and his contemporaries honored and revered him. He died in the fourth year of Taihe (830), at the age of seventy-eight. He was posthumously invested as Grand Tutor and given the posthumous name Upright and Filial.
100
四子：景復仕至同州刺史，紹復中書舍人，師復大理卿，中子嗣復位宰相，自有傳。
He had four sons: Jingfu rose to prefect of Tongzhou; Shaofu became Secretariat Drafter; Shifu became Minister of Justice; and the middle son Sifu reached the chancellorship and has his own biography.
101
馬總，字會元，系出扶風。 少孤窶，不妄交遊。 貞元中，辟署滑州姚南仲幕府，監軍薛盈珍誣南仲不法，總坐貶泉州別駕。 盈珍入用事，福建觀察使柳冕希旨欲誅之，會刺史穆贊保護，乃免。 徙恩王傅。
Ma Zong, styled Huiyuan, came from the Fufeng line of the Ma clan. Orphaned young and poor, he did not make friends lightly. During the Zhenyuan era (785–804) he joined Yao Nanzong's staff in Huazhou. Army supervisor Xue Yingzhen falsely accused Nanzong of misconduct, and Zong was implicated and demoted to vice prefect of Quanzhou. When Yingzhen came to power at court, Fujian observation commissioner Liu Mian, eager to curry favor, tried to have him executed. Prefect Mu Zan protected him, and he escaped death. He was transferred to tutor of the Prince of En.
102
元和中，以虔州刺史遷安南都護，廉清不撓，用儒術教其俗，政事嘉美，獠夷安之。 建二銅柱於漢故處，镵著唐德，以明伏波之裔。 徙桂管經略觀察使，入為刑部侍郎。 十二年，兼御史大夫，副裴度宣慰淮西。 吳元濟禽，為彰義節度留後。 蔡人習偽惡，相掉訐，獷戾有夷貊風。 總為設教令，明賞罰，磨治洗汰，其俗一變。 始奏改彰義為淮西，尋擢拜淮西節度使，徙忠武，改華州防禦、鎮國軍使。 李師道平，析鄆、曹、濮等為一道，除總節度，賜號天平軍。
In the Yuanhe era (806–820) he was promoted from prefect of Qianzhou to Protector-General of Annan. Incorruptible and unyielding, he taught the people with Confucian learning, his administration was exemplary, and the tribal peoples were brought to peace. He erected two bronze columns at the old Han site, inscribed with Tang virtue, to proclaim descent from the Marquis Who Pacified the Waves. He was transferred to military commissioner and observation commissioner of Guangxi, then entered court as Vice Director of the Ministry of Justice. In the twelfth year he was additionally appointed Chief Censor and served as Pei Du's deputy in pacifying Huai West. When Wu Yuanji was captured, Zong was made acting military commissioner of Zhangyi. The people of Cai were steeped in deceit and malice, denouncing one another, fierce and unruly with the manners of frontier tribes. Zong established rules and teachings, made rewards and punishments clear, and through steady reform and purging transformed their customs entirely. He first memorialized to rename Zhangyi as Huai West, was soon appointed its military commissioner, then transferred to Zhongwu, and later became defense commissioner of Huazhou and commander of the Zhenguo Army. When Li Shidao was pacified, Yan, Cao, Pu, and neighboring prefectures were organized into a new circuit. Zong was appointed its commissioner and the army was named Tianping.
103
長慶初，劉總上幽、鎮地，詔總徙天平，而召揔還，將大用之。 會總卒，穆宗以鄆人附賴總，復詔還鎮。 二年，檢校尚書左仆射，入為戶部尚書。 總篤學，雖吏事倥傯，書不去前，論著頗多。 卒，贈右仆射，謚曰懿。
At the start of Changqing (821), Liu Zong surrendered the You and Zhen territories. An edict moved Ma Zong to Tianping and recalled Liu Zong to court, intending to give him high office. When Liu Zong died, Emperor Muzong, knowing the people of Yan relied on Ma Zong, ordered him back to his command. In the second year he was made acting Left Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs and entered court as Minister of Revenue. Zong was deeply devoted to learning. Though overwhelmed with administrative work, he always kept books before him and produced many scholarly writings. He died and was posthumously made Right Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, with the posthumous name Solemn.
104
贊曰：巢父恃正義，觸群不肖，謀不以權，遂喪其身。 寧、邠皆所謂邦之司直者，後世卒蕃衍。 公綽仁而勇，於陵方重，總沈懿，皆有大臣風，才堪宰相而用不至，果時有不幸邪？ 穆、崔、柳代為孝友聞家，君子之澤遠哉！
The encomium reads: Chaofu stood on righteousness, provoked many unworthy men, and would not use cunning to his advantage—thus he lost his life. Ning and Bin were both what the ancients called the state's straight correctors, and their lines flourished and multiplied in later generations. Gongchuo was benevolent and brave, Yu Ling was upright and weighty, and Zong was deep and solemn—all had the bearing of great ministers and talent fit for the chancellorship, yet never reached that office. Was it truly that the times were against them? The Mu, Cui, and Liu clans in succession were renowned for filial piety and brotherly devotion—how far the gentleman's beneficence reaches!