1
姚燧，字端甫，世系見燧伯父樞傳。 父格。 燧生三歲而孤，育於伯父樞。 樞隱居蘇門，謂燧蒙暗，教督之甚急，燧不能堪。 楊奐馳書止之曰：「燧，令器也，長自有成爾，何以急為！」 且許醮以女。 年十三，見許衡於蘇門。 十八，始受學於長安。 時未嘗為文，視流輩所作，惟見其不如古人，則心弗是也。 二十四，始讀韓退之文，試習為之，人謂有作者風。 稍就正於衡，衡亦賞其辭，且戒之曰：「弓矢為物，以待盜也； 使盜得之，亦將待人。 文章固發聞士子之利器，然先有能一世之名，將何以應人之見役者哉！ 非其人而與之，與非其人而拒之，鈞罪也，非周身斯世之道也。」 至元七年，衡以國子祭酒教貴冑，奏召舊弟子十二人，燧自太原驛致館下。
Yao Sui, styled Duanfu, came of a family whose lineage is recorded in the biography of his paternal uncle Yao Shu. His father was Ge. Sui was orphaned at the age of three and was brought up by his uncle Yao Shu. Shu had retired to Sumen and judged the boy slow-witted; he drove his studies relentlessly, and Sui found it unbearable. Yang Huan wrote in haste to dissuade him: "Sui is promising timber; in time he will mature of his own accord—why press him so hard?" He also pledged his daughter in betrothal to the boy. At thirteen he met Xu Heng at Sumen. At eighteen he began his formal studies in Chang'an. He had not yet tried his hand at writing, but when he read what his contemporaries produced he could see only how far it fell short of the ancients, and he inwardly rejected it. At twenty-four he first read Han Yu and tried writing in his manner; contemporaries said he already showed a master's touch. He gradually submitted his work to Xu Heng for correction; Heng admired his prose but warned him: "Bows and arrows exist to meet robbers; if robbers seize them, they too will wait upon men. Writing is the scholar's weapon for making a name, yet if you win a reputation that fills the age, how will you answer everyone who comes to command your pen? To grant your writing to the wrong man is as grave a fault as to refuse the right one; neither is the way to keep your footing in the world." In the seventh year of Zhiyuan (1270), when Xu Heng served as director of the Imperial Academy and instructed the sons of the nobility, he memorialized to recall twelve former pupils; Sui traveled by relay from Taiyuan to join them at the academy.
2
至大元年，仁宗居籓邸，開宮師府，燧年已七十，遣正字呂洙，如漢徵四皓故事，起燧為太子賓客。 未幾，除承旨學士，尋拜太子少傅。 武宗面諭燧，燧拜辭，謝曰：「昔臣先伯父樞嘗除是官，尚不敢拜，臣何敢受！」 明年，授榮祿大夫、翰林學士承旨、知制誥兼修國史。 四年，得告南歸，中書以承旨召； 明年，復召。 燧以病，俱不赴。 卒於家，年七十六。 諡曰文。
In the first year of Zhide (1308), while Renzong still held his princely establishment and had opened a tutors' bureau, Sui was already seventy. Renzong sent the proofreader Lü Zhu, in deliberate echo of the Han summons to the Four Greybeards, to bring Sui out of retirement as guest of the heir apparent. Before long he was made expositor of the Hanlin Academy, and shortly thereafter was appointed junior tutor to the heir apparent. Emperor Wuzong addressed him in person, but Sui bowed and declined, saying: "My late uncle Shu was once offered this same post and even he did not dare accept the seal—how could I?" The following year he received the rank of Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, with appointments as expositor of the Hanlin Academy, controller of imperial edicts, and concurrent compiler of the national history. In the fourth year he obtained leave and returned south; the Central Secretariat summoned him back as expositor; the next year he was summoned again. Both times Sui pleaded illness and did not go. He died at home at the age of seventy-six. He was given the posthumous title Wen.
3
燧先在蘇門山時，讀《通鑑綱目》，嘗病國統散於逐年，不能一覽而得其離合之概，至告病江東，著《國統離合表》若干卷，年經而國緯之，如《史記》諸《表》，將附硃熹《凡例》之後，復取徽、建二本校仇，得三誤焉，序於《表》首。 略曰：「其一，建安二十五年，徽本作『延康元年』。 《凡例》：中歲改元，在興廢存亡之際，以前為正。 當從建本，於建安二十五年下，注『改元延康』。 其二，章武三年，徽本大書『三年，後主禪建興元年』，建本無『三年』，則昭烈為無終。 徽、建皆曰『後主』，於君臣父子之教，所害甚大，是起十四卷、盡十六卷，凡曰後主者，皆失於刊正也。 當於三年下注『帝禪建興元年』，明年大書『帝禪建興二年』，庶前後無齟齬也。 其三，天寶十五載注『肅宗皇帝至德元載』，明年惟曰『二載』，為無始。 當大書『二載』上加『肅宗皇帝至德』，使上同於開元。 三者鈞失，而建安之取，至德之去，統固在也。 若章武之距建興，才三年耳，遽有帝父主子之異，豈不於統大有關乎！」 詳見《序篇》。
During his years on Mount Sumen, Sui read Zhu Xi's Comprehensive Mirror in Outline and was troubled that legitimacy was dispersed year by year, so that one could not see at a glance how states split and reunited. When he retired sick to the lower Yangzi region he wrote several fascicles of Tables of the Separation and Reunion of Dynastic Legitimacy, arranging years down the page and states across, in the manner of the Shiji tables, intending to append them after Zhu Xi's General Principles. He then collated the Huizhou and Jian editions and found three errors, which he explained in a preface to the work. In brief he wrote: "First: for the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an the Huizhou edition gives 'first year of Yan'kang. The General Principles hold that when a reign title changes mid-year, at the moment of a dynasty's rise or fall the earlier designation should stand. The Jian edition is correct: under the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an one should note 'reign title changed to Yan'kang.' Second: for the third year of Zhangwu the Huizhou edition heads the year 'third year; the Later Lord abdicates, first year of Jianxing,' but the Jian edition omits 'third year,' as though the Latter Lord's reign had no proper conclusion. Both editions call him 'Later Lord,' a grave injury to the moral order of ruler and subject, father and son. From fascicle fourteen through sixteen, every instance of 'Later Lord' is a failure of editorial judgment. Under the third year one should note 'the Emperor abdicates, first year of Jianxing,' and the following year head the entry 'the Emperor abdicates, second year of Jianxing,' so that the sequence is internally consistent. Third: the fifteenth year of Tianbao carries a note 'Emperor Suzong, first year of Zhide,' but the next year is headed only 'second year,' as if the new reign had no proper beginning. The second year should be headed 'Emperor Suzong, Zhide, second year,' matching the treatment given earlier reigns such as Kaiyuan. All three are editorial lapses, yet in preferring the Jian'an reading and correcting the Zhide entry the thread of dynastic legitimacy remains sound. From Zhangwu to Jianxing is a mere three years, yet suddenly father becomes emperor and son becomes subject—is this not a matter of the highest consequence for legitimacy!" The full argument appears in the preface.
4
燧之學，有得於許衡，由窮理致知，反躬實踐，為世名儒。 為文閎肆該洽，豪而不宕，剛而不厲，舂容盛大，有西漢風，宋末弊習，為之一變。 蓋自延祐以前，文章大匠，莫能先之。 或謂世無知燧者，曰：「豈惟知之，讀而能句，句而得其意者，猶寡。」 燧曰：「世固有厭空桑而思聞鼓缶者乎，然文章以道輕重，道以文章輕重。 彼復有班孟堅者出，表古今人物，九品中必以一等置歐陽子，則為去聖賢也有級而不遠，其文雖無謝、尹之知，不害於行後。 豈有一言幾乎古，而不聞之將來乎！」 當時孝子順孫，欲發揮其先德，必得燧文始可傳信； 其不得者，每為愧恥。 故三十年間，國朝名臣世勳、顯行盛德，皆燧所書。 每來謁文，必其行業可嘉，然後許可，辭無溢美。 又稍廣置燕樂，燧則為之喜而援筆大書，否則弗易得也。 時高麗瀋陽王父子，連姻帝室，傾貲結朝臣。 一日，欲求燧詩文，燧靳不與，至奉旨，乃與之。 王贈謝幣帛、金玉、名畫五十篚，盛陳致燧。 燧即分散諸屬官及史胥侍從，止留金銀，付翰林院為公用器皿，燧一無所取。 人問之，燧曰：「彼籓邦小國，唯以貨利為重，吾能輕之，使知大朝不以是為意」。 其器識豪邁過人類如此。 然頗恃才，輕視趙孟頫、元明善輩，故君子以是少之。 平生所著，有《牧庵文集》五十卷行於世。 子三：塤，圻，城。
Sui's learning owed much to Xu Heng: he pursued principle to knowledge and tested it in his own conduct, and was accounted one of the age's leading Confucian scholars. His prose was broad and comprehensive, bold without extravagance, forceful without harshness, measured and ample, with the air of Western Han writing; he did much to break the bad habits of late Song letters. Before the Yanyou period (1314–1320), no writer of note could be placed above him. When someone said the world did not appreciate Sui, he answered: "They may know my name, but how few can read my sentences, parse them, and grasp their meaning." Sui said: "There are always men who tire of plain fare yet crave coarse music; but writing is judged by the Way, and the Way is judged by writing. If another Ban Gu should compile a roster of men through the ages, he would surely place Master Ouyang in the top grade; though that sets him below the sages, the distance would not be vast, and though his prose lacked admirers like Xie and Yin, it would not keep him from a place among the great writers of later ages. Can a line that nearly equals the ancients fail to reach posterity?" In his day no dutiful son or grandson who wished to celebrate a forebear's virtue could do so credibly without a text from Sui; and those who failed to secure one often felt ashamed. For thirty years the memorial inscriptions for the dynasty's great ministers, hereditary nobles, and men of outstanding conduct were almost all from his hand. He accepted commissions only when the subject's conduct deserved praise, and he never lavished empty compliment. If they laid on a generous feast with music, he would be pleased and write freely; otherwise his brush was hard to obtain. The king of Korea, the Prince of Shenyang, and his son were then allied to the imperial house by marriage and spent lavishly to win over courtiers. One day they asked for his poetry and prose; he refused until an imperial edict compelled him to comply. The prince sent fifty baskets of silk, gold and jade, and famous paintings as thanks, laid out in full display before Sui. Sui immediately distributed the gifts among his staff and attendants, kept only the gold and silver for the Hanlin Academy's common use, and took nothing for himself. When asked why, he said: "That petty vassal kingdom cares only for gain; by treating their gifts lightly I show them the great court sets no store by such things." In breadth of mind and bold spirit he surpassed ordinary men in just this way. Yet he was rather proud of his gifts and looked down on Zhao Mengfu, Yuan Mingshan, and others, for which thoughtful men held him somewhat less in esteem. His collected works, the Muan wenji in fifty fascicles, circulated widely. He had three sons: Xun, Qi, and Cheng.
5
郭貫，字安道，保定人。 以才行見推擇，為樞密中書掾，調南康路經歷，擢廣西道提刑按察司判官，會例格，授濟南路經歷。 至元二十七年，拜監察御史。 承詔分江北沿淮草地，劾淮西宣慰使昂吉兒父子專權，久不遷調，蠹政害民。 三十年，僉湖南肅政廉訪司事。 大德初，遷湖北道，言「今四省軍馬，以數万計，徵八百媳婦國，深入為炎瘴萬里不毛之地，無益於國。」 五年，遷江西道，賑恤饑民，有惠政，入為御史臺都事。 八年，遷集賢待制，進翰林直學士，奉詔與遼陽行省平章政事別速台徹里帖木兒往鎮高麗。 十一年，召為河東廉訪副使。
Guo Guan, styled Andao, was a native of Baoding. Recommended for ability and integrity, he served as a clerk in the Secretariat of the Bureau of Military Affairs, became administrator of Nankang Circuit, was promoted investigating censor of Guangxi, and when regulations blocked further advancement was appointed administrator of Jinan Circuit. In the twenty-seventh year of Zhiyuan (1290) he was appointed investigating censor. By imperial order he surveyed pasturelands along the Huai in the north and impeached Angi'er, pacification commissioner of Huai West, and his son for monopolizing office, refusing rotation, and corrupting government to the people's harm. In the thirtieth year (1293) he became vice commissioner of the Hunan Commission for Government Integrity. Early in the Dade era (1297–1307) he was transferred to Hubei and memorialized: "The four provinces now field armies numbering in the tens of thousands for a campaign against the Kingdom of Eight Hundred Wives—a march deep into malarial wastes a thousand li across that brings the state no benefit." In the fifth year he was moved to Jiangxi, where he relieved famine victims with effective charity, then was recalled to the capital as director of the Censorate. In the eighth year he became attendant at the Hall of Gathered Worthies and was promoted direct academician of the Hanlin; by imperial order he accompanied Biesutai Cheremutemur, regional councilor of Liaoyang, to oversee Korea. In the eleventh year he was recalled as vice commissioner of the Hedong Commission for Government Integrity.
6
至大二年，仁宗至五台山，貫進見，仁宗因問：「廉訪使滅里吉歹何以有善政？」 左右對曰：「皆副使郭貫之教也。」 因賜貫瑪瑙數珠、金織文幣，入為吏部考功郎，遂拜治書侍御史。 四年，除禮部尚書，帝親書其官階曰嘉議大夫，以授有司。 皇慶元年，擢淮西廉訪使，尋留不遣，改侍御史，俄遷翰林侍講學士。 明年，出為淮西廉訪使。 建言「宜置常平倉，考校各路農事」。 延祐二年，召拜中書參知政事。 明年，升左丞，加集賢大學士。 五年，除太子詹事。 貫言：「皇太子受金寶已三年，宜行冊禮； 又，輔導之官，早宜選置。」 從之。 六年，加太子賓客，謁告還家。 至治元年，復起為集賢大學士，尋致仕。 泰定元年，遷翰林學士承旨，不起。 至順二年，以疾卒，年八十有二。 贈光祿大夫、河南行省平章政事、柱國，追封蔡國公，諡文憲。 貫博學，精於篆籀，當世冊寶碑額，多出其手云。
In the second year of Zhide (1309) Renzong visited Mount Wutai; Guo Guan was presented to him, and Renzong asked: "How did the integrity commissioner Mielijitai win a reputation for good government?" His attendants replied: "It was all the teaching of Vice Commissioner Guo Guan." Renzong then gave Guo agate prayer beads and gold-woven silks, recalled him to the capital as director of merit evaluation in the Ministry of Personnel, and soon appointed him supervising censor. In the fourth year he was made Minister of Rites; the emperor personally wrote his rank as Grand Master for Discussion and handed the document to the appropriate offices. In the first year of Huangqing (1312) he was promoted integrity commissioner of Huai West but was kept at court, made attendant censor, and soon Hanlin attendant expositor. The following year he was sent out as integrity commissioner of Huai West. He proposed establishing ever-normal granaries and reviewing agricultural conditions in every circuit. In the second year of Yanyou (1315) he was summoned as associate administrator of the Central Secretariat. The next year he was promoted left chancellor and made grand academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies. In the fifth year he was appointed steward of the heir apparent. Guan said: "The crown prince has held the golden seal for three years; it is time to perform the investiture rites; and the tutors who will guide him should be chosen without delay." The court agreed. In the sixth year he was made guest of the heir apparent, obtained leave, and returned home. In the first year of Zhizhi (1321) he was recalled as grand academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies but soon retired. In the first year of Taiding (1324) he was offered expositor of the Hanlin Academy but declined to serve. In the second year of Zhishun (1331) he died of illness at the age of eighty-two. He was posthumously made Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, regional councilor of Henan, and Pillar of the State, enfeoffed as Duke of Cai, and given the posthumous title Wenxian. Guan was broadly learned and a master of seal and archaic script; most of the age's imperial edicts, regalia inscriptions, and stele headings were said to be his work.
7
夾谷之奇
Jia Guzhiqi
8
夾谷之奇，字士常，其先出女真加古部，後訛為夾谷，由馬紀嶺撒曷水徙家於滕州。 之奇少孤，舅杜氏攜之至東平，因受業於康曄。 授濟寧教授，辟中書省掾。 大兵南伐宋，授行省左右司都事。 時行省官與中書權臣有隙，特遣使核其財用，而之奇職文書，亦被按問。 張弘範率其屬詣使者言：「夾谷都事素公清，若少有侵漁，弘範當與連坐。」 會御史臺立，擢之奇僉江南浙西道提刑按察司事，既而移僉江北淮東。 至元十九年，召為吏部郎中，立陟降澄汰之法，著為令式。 歲大旱，有司議平穀價，以遏騰湧之患。 之奇言：「莫若省經費，輟土木之役，庶足召和氣，弭災變，而有豐稔之期。」 二十一年，遷左贊善大夫。 時裕宗為皇太子，每進見，必賜坐，顧遇甚優。 權臣有欲以均輸法益國賦者，慮提刑按察司撓其事，請令與轉運司並為一職，詔集群臣議之。 之奇言：「按察司者，控制諸路，發擿姦伏，責任匪輕。 若使理財，則心勞事冗，將彌縫自救之不暇，又安能繩糾他人哉！ 並之弗便。」 事遂寢。 又與諭德李謙條具時政十事，上之皇太子：一曰正心，二曰睦親，三曰崇儉，四曰幾諫，五曰戢兵，六曰親賢，七曰革敝，八曰尚文，九曰定律，十曰正名。 會皇太子薨，除翰林直學士，改吏部侍郎，遂拜侍御史。 二十五年，丁母憂，以吏部尚書起復，屢請終制，不許。 明年，卒。
Jia Guzhiqi, styled Shichang, came of the Jurchen Jiagu clan, later written as Jiagu; his forebears moved from Majiling on the Sahe River to settle in Tengzhou. Orphaned in youth, he was taken by his uncle's family to Dongping, where he studied under Kang Ye. He served as professor at Jining and was recruited as a clerk in the Central Secretariat. During the great southern campaign against Song he was appointed director of the left and right bureaus of the regional secretariat. The regional secretariat was then at odds with powerful ministers at court, and a special envoy was sent to audit its accounts; Zhiqi, who handled its documents, was investigated as well. Zhang Hongfan went with his staff to the envoy and said: "Director Jia has always been scrupulously honest; if he has taken so much as a penny in graft, I ask to share his punishment." When the Censorate was established he was made vice commissioner of the Jiangnan and Zhexi investigating commission, and later transferred to Jiangbei and Huaidong. In the nineteenth year of Zhiyuan (1282) he was recalled as a director in the Ministry of Personnel, drew up rules for promotion, demotion, and removal of unfit officials, and codified them as standing regulations. During a severe drought officials proposed fixing grain prices to curb runaway inflation. Zhiqi said: "Better to cut state spending and halt construction projects; that may restore harmony, end the calamity, and bring a good harvest in due course." In the twenty-first year (1284) he was made left supporter of goodness. The future Emperor Chengzong was then heir apparent; whenever Zhiqi attended audience he was given a seat and treated with marked favor. A powerful minister wished to revive the equalizing transport system to swell state revenue and, fearing the investigating censors would block him, proposed merging them with the transport commission; the emperor ordered a full ministerial debate. Zhiqi said: "The investigating censorate oversees the circuits, uncovers hidden crime, and bears a weighty charge. If they were made to handle revenue as well, they would be too busy covering their own tracks to discipline anyone else! The merger was rejected as impractical." The proposal was dropped. With the preceptor Li Qian he also drew up ten points on current policy for the crown prince: rectify the mind; harmonize kin; honor frugality; remonstrate subtly; curb military excess; draw near the worthy; reform abuses; esteem learning; fix the laws; and correct names. When the crown prince died he was made direct academician of the Hanlin, then vice minister of personnel, and soon attendant censor. In the twenty-fifth year he entered mourning for his mother; recalled as Minister of Personnel before the mourning term ended, he repeatedly asked to complete the full period of filial observance but was refused. The following year he died.
9
之奇慮識精審，明於大體，而不忽細微，為政卓卓可稱，雖老於吏學者，自以為不及。 為文章尤簡嚴有法，多傳於世云。
Zhiqi thought with precision, grasped the larger pattern without neglecting detail, and governed with marked distinction; even seasoned administrators admitted they could not match him. His writing was especially concise and disciplined, and much of it has survived.
10
劉賡，字熙載，洺水人。 五世祖逸，以郡吏治獄，有陰德。 祖肅，為左三部尚書。 賡幼有文名，師事翰林學士王磐。 至元十三年，用薦者授國史院編修官。 十六年，遷應奉翰林文字。 辟為司徒府長史，仍兼應奉。 補外，同知德州事，考滿，擢太廟署丞、太常博士，拜監察御史。 是時，御史中丞崔彧好盛氣待人，他御史拜謁，或平受之，獨見賡，則待以上客。 大德二年，升翰林直學士。 六年，奉使宣撫陝西。 由侍講學士升學士。 至大二年，遷禮部尚書，仍兼翰林學士。 尋拜侍御史。 頃之，還翰林為學士承旨，兼國子祭酒。 國學故事，伴讀生以次出補吏，莫不爭先出。 時有一生，親老且貧，同舍生有名在前者，因博士以告曰：「我齒頗少，請讓之先。」 賡曰：「讓，德之恭也。」 從其讓，別為書薦其人，朝廷反先用之。 自是六館之士，皆知讓之為美德也。 皇慶元年，遷集賢大學士，仍兼國子祭酒。 延祐元年，復為承旨； 六年，拜太子賓客； 七年，復入集賢為大學士； 尋又入翰林為承旨。 泰定元年，加光祿大夫。 會集議上尊號，賡獨抗言其不可，事遂已。 天曆元年卒，年八十一。
Liu Geng, styled Xizai, was a native of Moshui. His fifth-generation ancestor Yi, while serving as a commandery clerk in charge of legal cases, performed hidden acts of merit. His grandfather Su served as Minister of the Left Three Departments. Geng won a literary reputation early and studied under the Hanlin academician Wang Pan. In the thirteenth year of Zhiyuan (1276) he was recommended and appointed a compiler at the National History Office. In the sixteenth year he became attendant for Hanlin documents. He was recruited as chief steward of the Minister of Education's office while retaining his Hanlin attendant post. Posted outside the capital as vice administrator of Dezhou, he completed his term assessment and was promoted director of the Imperial Ancestral Temple Office and erudite of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, then appointed investigating censor. The censor-in-chief Cui Yu was overbearing toward his colleagues; when other censors called on him he often received them as equals, but he treated Geng as an honored guest. In the second year of Dade (1298) he was promoted direct academician of the Hanlin. In the sixth year he was dispatched on a pacification mission to Shaanxi. He rose from Hanlin attendant expositor to academician. In the second year of Zhide (1309) he was made Minister of Rites while retaining his Hanlin academician post. Soon after he was appointed attendant censor. Before long he returned to the Hanlin as expositor and was made concurrent director of the Imperial Academy. By academy custom, companion readers were released in seniority order to take official posts, and all competed to leave first. One student had aged, impoverished parents; a classmate whose name ranked above his asked the erudite: "I am junior in standing—please let him go out before me." Geng said: "Yielding is the reverence of virtue." He approved the request, wrote a separate recommendation for the student who had yielded, and the court in fact appointed him first. From then on students in all six halls understood yielding as a virtue. In the first year of Huangqing (1312) he became grand academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies while remaining director of the Imperial Academy. In the first year of Yanyou (1314) he was again made expositor; in the sixth year he was made guest of the heir apparent; in the seventh year he returned to the Hall of Gathered Worthies as grand academician; and soon after was again expositor of the Hanlin. In the first year of Taiding (1324) he was given the rank of Grand Master of Splendid Happiness. When the court debated granting an honorific title, Geng alone protested that it should not be done, and the proposal was dropped. In the first year of Tianli (1328) he died at the age of eighty-one.
11
賡久典文翰，當時大製作多出其手，以耆年宿德，為朝廷所推重云。
Geng long directed the literary offices, and most of the age's major state compositions came from his hand; as an elder of established reputation, he was greatly esteemed at court.
12
耶律有尚
Ye Luyoushang
13
耶律有尚，字伯強，遼東丹王十世孫。 祖父在金世嘗官於東平，因家焉。 有尚資識絕人，篤志於學，受業許衡之門，號稱高第弟子。 其學邃於性理，而尤以誠為本，儀容辭令，動中規矩，識與不識，莫不服其為有道之君子。 至元八年，衡罷中書左丞，除集賢大學士，兼國子祭酒，以教國人之子弟，乃奏以門人十二人為齋長以伴讀，有尚其一也。 十年，衡告免還鄉里，朝廷乃以有尚等為助教，嗣領其學事。 居久之，拜監察御史，不赴。 除秘書監丞，出知薊州，為政以寬簡得民情。 裕宗在東宮，召為詹事院長史。 自有尚既去，而國學事頗廢，廷議以謂非有尚無足以繼衡者，除國子司業。 時學館未建，師弟子皆寓居民屋，有尚屢以為言。 二十四年，朝廷乃大起學舍，始立國子監，立監官，而增廣弟子員。 於是有尚升國子祭酒，儒風為之丕振。 二十七年，以親老，辭職歸。 大德改元，復召為國子祭酒。 尋除集賢學士，兼其職。 頃之，遷太常卿，又遷集賢學士。 八年，葬父還鄉里。 已而朝廷思用老儒，以安車召之於家，累辭不允，復起為昭文館大學士，兼國子祭酒，階中奉大夫。
Ye Luyoushang, styled Boqiang, was a tenth-generation descendant of the Liao Prince of Eastern Dan. His grandfather had served in Dongping under the Jin and settled his family there. Youshang's gifts were extraordinary; he devoted himself to learning under Xu Heng and was accounted one of his foremost pupils. His learning ran deep in Neo-Confucian principle, with sincerity as its foundation; in bearing and speech he never departed from propriety, and all who met him, whether friend or stranger, acknowledged him as a true gentleman. In the eighth year of Zhiyuan (1271) Xu Heng left the post of left assistant minister and became grand academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies and director of the Imperial Academy to instruct the sons of the nobility. He memorialized that twelve disciples serve as hall chiefs and companion readers; Youshang was among them. In the tenth year Xu Heng retired to his home district, and the court appointed Youshang and others assistant instructors to carry on his teaching. After some years he was appointed investigating censor but declined to serve. He was made assistant director of the Palace Library, then prefect of Jizhou, where lenient and straightforward government won the people's affection. When the future Emperor Chengzong was heir apparent, Youshang was summoned as chief steward of the heir's household. After his departure academy affairs declined, and the court concluded that only Youshang could succeed Xu Heng; he was appointed vice director of the Imperial Academy. The academy buildings had not yet been built, and teachers and students lodged in private houses; Youshang repeatedly urged that this be remedied. In the twenty-fourth year (1287) the court built new academy halls, established the Imperial Academy directorate, appointed its officers, and increased the number of students. Youshang was then promoted director of the academy, and Confucian learning flourished anew under his leadership. In the twenty-seventh year (1290) he resigned and returned home to care for his aged parents. When the Dade era began (1297) he was recalled as director of the Imperial Academy. Soon he was also made academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies while retaining the directorship. Shortly he became Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, then returned to the Hall of Gathered Worthies as academician. In the eighth year he buried his father and returned home. The court then wished to employ a venerable scholar and sent a comfort carriage to summon him from home. He declined repeatedly but was overruled, and was restored as grand academician of the Hall of Brilliant Literature and concurrent director of the Imperial Academy, with the rank of Grand Master of Palace Attendance.
14
有尚前後五居國學，其立教以義理為本，而省察必真切； 以恭敬為先，而踐履必端愨。 凡文詞之小技，綴緝雕刻，足以破裂聖人之大道者，皆屏黜之。 是以諸生知趨正學，崇正道，以經術為尊，以躬行為務，悉為成德達材之士。 大抵其教法一遵衡之舊，而勤謹有加焉。 身為學者師表者數十年，海內宗之，猶如昔之宗衡也。 有尚既以年老，力請還家，朝廷复頒楮幣七千緡，即其家賜之。 卒年八十六，賜諡文正。
Youshang headed the Imperial Academy on five separate occasions. He grounded instruction in moral principle and demanded genuine self-examination; he put reverence first and insisted on upright conduct in practice. He barred ornamental literary tricks that could fracture the sages' great Way. His students therefore pursued orthodox learning, honored the true Way, esteemed the classics, and took practice as their task, and all became men of completed virtue and realized ability. His method followed Xu Heng's precedent, with even greater diligence. For decades he was the model teacher of scholars throughout the realm, revered as Xu Heng had once been. When age compelled him to retire, the court sent seven thousand strings of paper currency to his home as a parting gift. He died at eighty-six and was given the posthumous title Wenzheng.
15
郝天挺
Hao Tianting
16
郝天挺，字繼先，出於朵魯別族，自曾祖而上，居安肅州。 父和上拔都魯，太宗、憲宗之世多著武功，為河東行省五路軍民萬戶。 天挺英爽剛直，有志略，受業於遺山元好問，以勳臣子，世祖召見，嘉其容止，有旨：宜任以政，俾執文字，備宿衛春宮。 裕宗遇之甚厚。 建省雲南，選官屬，遂除參議雲南行尚書省事，尋升參知政事，又擢陝西漢中道廉訪使。 未幾，入為吏部尚書，尋除陝西行御史臺中丞，又遷四川行省參政及江浙行省左丞，俱不赴。 拜中書左丞，與宰相論事，有不合，輒面斥之。 一日，以奏事敷陳明允，特賜黃金百兩，不受。 帝曰：「非利汝也，第旌汝肯言耳。」
Hao Tianting, styled Jixian, came of the Dorben tribe; from his great-grandfather's generation the family lived in Ansu Prefecture. His father Heshang Badulu won distinction in the campaigns of Taizong and Xianzong and served as commander of military and civilian households for the five circuits of the Hedong regional secretariat. Tianting was brilliant, forthright, and ambitious; he studied under Yuan Haowen of Yishan. As the son of a meritorious minister he was summoned by Kublai, who admired his bearing and ordered that he be trained for government service, handle documents, and serve on night guard at the Eastern Palace. The future Emperor Chengzong treated him with great favor. When Yunnan province was established he was chosen as deliberator of its regional secretariat, soon promoted associate administrator, and then integrity commissioner of Shaanxi and Hanzhong. Before long he entered the capital as Minister of Personnel, then censor-in-chief of the Shaanxi Regional Censorate, and was offered posts as associate administrator of Sichuan and left chancellor of Jiang-Zhe—all of which he declined. He accepted appointment as left chancellor of the Central Secretariat and, when he disagreed with the chief minister on policy, rebuked him to his face. One day, after he presented a particularly clear and forceful memorial, the emperor granted him a hundred taels of gold, which he refused. The emperor said: "This is not for your profit; it is only to honor your willingness to speak frankly."
17
成宗崩，仁宗以太后命，首定大難，及武宗還自朔方，遂入正大統，定策之際，天挺與有力焉。 仁宗臨御，收召故老天挺與少保張閭等十人，共議大政，革尚書省之弊，遂成皇慶之治。 又出為江西、河南二省右丞，召拜御史中丞。 入見，首陳紀綱之要，以獵為喻曰：「御史職在擊姦，猶鷹揚焉，禽之，弱者易獲也，其力大者，必借人力。 不然，不惟失其前禽，仍或有傷鷹之患矣。」 帝嘉其言，既出，台臣皆以為賀，風紀大振。 又上疏陳七事，曰惜名爵、抑浮費、止括田、久任使、論好事、獎農務本、勵學養士，詔中書省舉行之。 尋俾均逸於外，拜河南行省平章政事。 時河南王卜憐吉歹為丞相，待以師禮，由是政化大行。
When Chengzong died, Renzong, acting on the empress dowager's orders, first resolved the succession crisis; when Wuzong returned from the north the legitimate line was restored, and Tianting played a decisive part in the deliberations. When Renzong took the throne he recalled the aged Tianting with Junior Guardian Zhang Lü and eight others—ten men in all—to deliberate on great affairs, reform the abuses of the Secretariat, and bring about the good government of the Huangqing era. He later served as right chancellor of Jiangxi and Henan and was recalled as censor-in-chief. At his audience he first explained the essentials of discipline, using the hunt as a metaphor: "The censor's duty is to strike at wrongdoing, like a hawk on the wing. Weak prey are easily taken; powerful quarry requires human assistance. Without it one not only loses the quarry but may wound the hawk itself." The emperor praised his words. When he left the audience, his colleagues congratulated him, and censorial discipline was greatly revived. He also memorialized seven reforms: cherish titles and salaries, curb extravagance, halt confiscatory land surveys, lengthen terms of office, scrutinize meritorious projects, reward agriculture as the foundation of the state, and encourage learning and nurture scholars. The court ordered the Central Secretariat to carry them out. Soon he was sent to the provinces for a period of rest and appointed regional councilor of Henan. The Prince of Henan, Bulqanjadai, then served as chancellor and treated him as a teacher; under their joint administration good government flourished.
18
皇慶二年卒，年六十七。 贈光祿大夫、中書平章政事、柱國，追封冀國公，諡文定。 天挺嘗修《雲南實錄》五卷，又注唐人《鼓吹集》一十卷，行於世。
In the second year of Huangqing (1313) he died at the age of sixty-seven. He was posthumously made Grand Master of Splendid Happiness, regional councilor of the Central Secretariat, and Pillar of the State, enfeoffed as Duke of Ji, and given the posthumous title Wending. Tianting compiled five fascicles of the Veritable Records of Yunnan and annotated the Tang Drum-and-Pipe Collection in ten fascicles; both works circulated widely.
19
子佑，字君輔，小字朵魯別台。 由宿衛補官，仁宗時拜殿中侍御史，以廉直著名，大受知遇。 遷陝西行省參知政事，拜陝西行御史臺侍御史。
His son You, styled Junfu, was known in childhood as Dorbentai. He entered service through the palace guard and, under Renzong, was appointed palace attendant censor, winning renown for integrity and receiving the emperor's strong favor. He was promoted associate administrator of the Shaanxi regional secretariat and appointed attendant censor of the Shaanxi Regional Censorate.
20
張孔孫
Zhang Kongsun
21
張孔孫，字夢符，其先出遼之烏若部，為金人所並，遂遷隆安。 父之純，為東平萬戶府參議，夜夢謁孔子廟，得賜嘉果，已而孔孫生，因丐名於衍聖公，遂名今名。 既長，以文學名，辟萬戶府議事官，萬戶嚴忠範之兄為陝西行省平章政事，聘孔孫，以母老不應。
Zhang Kongsun, styled Mengfu, came of the Wuru tribe of Liao; when the Jin absorbed their territory the family moved to Long'an. His father Zhichun served as deliberator of the Dongping Myriarch Office. One night he dreamed of visiting the Temple of Confucius and receiving fine fruit; when Kongsun was born shortly afterward, he asked the Duke Who Continues the Sage for a name, and received the name Kongsun. When grown he won a literary reputation and was recruited as deliberating officer of the Myriarch Office. The elder brother of Myriarch Yan Zhongfan, then regional councilor of Shaanxi, invited him to serve, but he declined because his mother was elderly.
22
時汴梁既下，太常樂師流寓東平，舊章缺落，止存登歌一章而已。 世祖居潛邸，嘗召樂師至日月山觀之，至是，徐世隆奏帝，宜增設宮縣及文、武二舞，以備大典。 因詔徐世隆為太常卿，而孔孫以奉禮郎為之副，以董樂師，肄成，獻之京師。 廉希憲居政府，辟為掾。 及安童為相，尤禮重之，授戶部員外郎，出為南京總管府判官。 時方議下襄樊，朝廷急用兵，孔孫謂：「今以越境私販坐罪者，動以千數，宜開自新之條，俾得效戰贖死。」 朝論采之。 僉四川道提刑按察司事，尋升湖北道提刑按察副使。 行部巴陵，有囚三百人，因怒龔乙建言興銀利，發其墳墓而燒其家，燒死者三人。 有司以真圖財殺人坐之，孔孫原其情，減罪。 遷浙西提刑按察副使，改同知保定路總管府事，俄拜侍御史，行御史臺事。
After the fall of Bianliang, Court of Imperial Sacrifices musicians had taken refuge at Dongping; most of the old ritual music was lost, and only one ascending hymn survived. When Kublai still held his princely establishment he had summoned the musicians to Sun-Moon Mountain for inspection. Xu Shilong now memorialized that palace bells and chimes and the civil and military dances should be restored for the great state ceremonies. An edict appointed Xu Shilong Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and Kongsun his deputy as ceremonial officer to supervise the musicians. When their work was complete they presented the restored music in the capital. When Lian Xixian held power in the government he recruited Kongsun as a clerk. When An'tong became chancellor he treated Kongsun with special respect, appointed him vice director in the Ministry of Revenue, and sent him out as judge of the Nanjing Metropolitan Prefecture. As the court debated the reduction of Xiangyang and Fancheng and urgently needed troops, Kongsun said: "Thousands are now imprisoned for cross-border smuggling. Open a path to repentance and let them redeem their lives by serving in battle." The court adopted his proposal. He was made vice commissioner of the Sichuan investigating commission and soon promoted vice commissioner of Hubei. On circuit at Baling he found three hundred prisoners who, enraged by Gong Yi's proposal to revive silver mining, had desecrated his grave and burned his house, killing three people in the blaze. Officials had charged them with murder for gain; Kongsun took account of their motives and reduced the sentences. He was transferred to vice commissioner of Zhexi, made vice administrator of Baoding Metropolitan Prefecture, and soon appointed attendant censor with charge of censorate affairs.
23
至元二十二年，安童復入相，言於帝曰：「阿合馬顓政十年，親故迎合者，往往驟進，據顯位； 獨劉宣、張孔孫二人，恬守故常，終始如一。」 乃除宣吏部尚書，孔孫禮部侍郎。 尋升孔孫禮部尚書，擢燕南提刑按察使。 二十八年，提刑按察司改肅政廉訪司，仍為使，蒞治於大名，一以所沒贓糴粟五千斛賑饑民。 拜僉河南江北行中書省事。 亡何，除大名路總管，兼府尹，大興學校。 有獻故河堤三百餘里於太后者，即上章，謂宜悉還細民，從之。 擢淮東道肅政廉訪司使，因讞獄鹽場，民尹執中兄弟誣伏為強盜，平反之。 召還，拜集賢大學士、中奉大夫，商議中書省事。 丞相完澤卒，孔孫與陳天祥上封事，薦和禮霍孫可為相。
In the twenty-second year of Zhiyuan (1285) An'tong returned to the chancellorship and told the emperor: "For ten years Ahmad monopolized power; his kin and flatterers rose overnight to high office; only Liu Xuan and Zhang Kongsun remained unchanged from first to last." Xuan was then made Minister of Personnel and Kongsun Vice Minister of Rites. Kongsun was soon promoted Minister of Rites and made investigating commissioner of Yannan. In the twenty-eighth year (1291) the investigating commission became the Commission for Government Integrity; he remained commissioner at Daming and used confiscated illicit funds to buy five thousand hu of grain for famine relief. He was appointed associate administrator of the Henan and Jiangbei Regional Secretariat. Before long he was made metropolitan prefect of Daming, also serving as prefect, and greatly expanded the schools. When someone presented more than three hundred li of former river embankments to the empress dowager, he memorialized that they should all be returned to the common people, and the court agreed. Promoted commissioner of the Huaidong Commission for Government Integrity, he reversed a salt-works case in which the brothers Yin Zhizhong had been forced to confess to banditry. Recalled to court, he was made grand academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies and Grand Master of Palace Attendance with a seat in Central Secretariat deliberations. When Chancellor Wanze died, Kongsun and Chen Tianxiang submitted a sealed memorial recommending Helihuosun for the chancellorship.
24
會地震，詔問弭災之道，孔孫條對八事，其略曰：蠻夷諸國，不可窮兵遠討； 濫官放譴，不可復加任用； 賞善罰惡，不可數賜赦宥； 獻鬻寶貨，不可不為禁絕； 供佛無益，不可虛費財用； 上下豪侈，不可不從儉約； 官冗吏繁，不可不為裁減； 太廟神主，不可不備祭享。 帝悉嘉納之，賜鈔五千貫。 又累疏言：「凡七十致仕者，宜加一官； 丁憂服闋者，宜待起復； 宿衛之冒濫者，必當革； 州郡之職，必當遴選，久任達魯花赤，宜量加遷轉； 又宜增給官吏俸祿； 修建京師廟學，設國子生徒，給賜曲阜孔廟灑掃戶； 相位宜參用儒臣，不可專任文吏； 故相安童、伯顏、和禮霍孫與廉希憲等，各宜贈諡。」 久之，請老還家，拜翰林學士承旨、資善大夫，致仕，集賢大學士如故。 大德十一年卒，年七十有五。
After an earthquake the emperor asked how to avert calamity; Kongsun replied with eight points, in brief: do not exhaust the armies on distant campaigns against barbarian states; officials dismissed for misconduct should not be reappointed; in rewarding good and punishing evil, do not issue amnesties too often; the offering and sale of precious goods must be strictly forbidden; Buddhist offerings bring no benefit and public funds should not be wasted on them; extravagance at court and in the provinces must give way to frugality; redundant offices and excessive clerical staffs must be cut; sacrificial rites at the Imperial Ancestral Temple must not be neglected. The emperor praised and accepted all his points and granted him five thousand strings of paper currency. He also memorialized repeatedly: "Officials who retire at seventy should receive one additional rank; those who have completed mourning should await recall before reappointment; abuses in the palace guard must be eliminated; prefectural posts must be carefully filled; darughachi who serve too long in one place should be rotated; official salaries should be increased; temple schools should be built in the capital, Imperial Academy students enrolled, and sweeping households granted for the Confucian temple at Qufu; the chancellorship should include Confucian ministers and not be left to clerical officials alone; the late chancellors An'tong, Bayan, Helihuosun, and Lian Xixian should each receive posthumous titles." After many years he asked to retire; he was made expositor of the Hanlin Academy and Grand Master for Goodness, retired from active service, and retained his grand academician title at the Hall of Gathered Worthies. In the eleventh year of Dade (1307) he died at the age of seventy-five.
25
孔孫素以文學名，且善琴，工畫山水竹石，而騎射尤精。 及其立朝，讜言嘉論，有可觀者，士論服之。
Kongsun had long been known for his literary gifts; he was also skilled at the zither, painted landscapes and bamboo, and was especially accomplished in horsemanship and archery. In office his forthright counsel was widely admired, and men of learning held him in esteem.