1
張起岩
Zhang Qiyan
2
張起岩，字夢臣。 其先章丘人，五季避地禹城。 高祖迪，以元帥右監軍權濟南府事，徙家濟南。 當金之季，張榮據有章丘、鄒平、濟陽、長山、辛市、蒲台、新城、淄州之地，歲丙戌，歸於太祖，始終能效忠節，迪與其子福，實先後羽翼之。 福仕為濟南路軍民鎮撫兵鈐轄，權府事，生東昌錄事判官鐸，鐸生四川行省儒學副提舉範，範生起岩。 初，其母丘氏有娠，見長蛇數丈入榻下，已忽不見，乃驚而誕起岩。
Zhang Qiyan, whose style was Mengchen. His family came from Zhangqiu; during the Five Dynasties they fled the turmoil and settled in Yucheng. His great-grandfather Di served as deputy military superintendent on the commandery army's right wing, acted as temporary administrator of Jinan prefecture, and moved the family there. Late in the Jin dynasty Zhang Rong controlled Zhangqiu, Zouping, Jiyang, Changshan, Xinshi, Putai, Xincheng, and Zizhou. In the bingxu year he submitted to Taizu and remained loyal to the end; Di and his son Fu were among those who had supported him from the beginning. Fu held the posts of Jinan circuit military and civil pacification commissioner and troop controller, with acting charge of prefectural affairs. His son Duo became recorder-administrator of Dongchang; Duo's son Fan became associate director of the Sichuan branch secretariat Confucian school; Fan was Qiyan's father. While his mother Lady Qiu was pregnant, she saw a serpent many zhang long slip under the couch and then vanish. Startled by the omen, she gave birth to Qiyan.
3
幼從其父學，年弱冠，以察舉為福山縣學教諭，值縣官捕蝗，移攝縣事。 久之，聽斷明允，其民相率曰：「若得張教諭為真縣尹，吾屬何患焉。」 政成，遷安丘。 中延祐乙卯進士，首選，除同知登州事，特旨改集賢修撰，轉國子博士，升國子監丞，進翰林待制，兼國史院編修官。 丁內艱，服除，選為監察御史。 中書參政楊廷玉以墨敗，台臣奉旨就廟堂逮之下吏。 丞相倒剌沙疾其摧辱同列，悉誣台臣罔上，欲置之重辟。 起岩以新除留台，抗章論曰：「台臣按劾百官，論列朝政，職使然也。 今以奉職獲戾，風紀解體，正直結舌，忠良寒心，殊非盛世事。 且世皇建臺閣，廣言路，維持治體，陛下即位詔旨，動法祖宗。 今台臣坐譴，公論杜塞，何謂法祖宗耶！」 章三上，不報。 起岩廷爭愈急，帝感悟，事乃得釋，猶皆坐罷免還鄉里。 遷中書右司員外郎，進左司郎中，兼經筵官，拜太子右贊善。 丁外艱，服除，改燕王府司馬，拜禮部尚書。
As a boy he studied with his father. In his early twenties he was nominated and appointed instructor at the Fushan county school. When the magistrate left to conduct locust control, Qiyan was left to act as county administrator. Before long his decisions proved clear and fair, and the people said as one: "If Instructor Zhang were our real magistrate, what would we have to fear?" When his term succeeded, he was transferred to Anqiu. In the yimao year of Yanyou he took the jinshi degree as first in his class. He was appointed associate administrator of Dengzhou, then by special edict made a compiler in the Hall of Gathered Talents, became an erudite of the National University, rose to vice director of the directorate of education, and was promoted to Hanlin attendant-drafter with a concurrent post as national history compiler. After his mother's death he observed mourning, and when the mourning ended he was appointed investigating censor. Associate administrator of the central secretariat Yang Tingyu fell to a corruption case. By imperial order the censors arrested him in the council hall and turned him over to the judicial authorities. Chancellor Daula Shah resented the humiliation of his colleagues and accused the entire censorate of deceiving the throne, seeking to have them punished with the heaviest penalties. Qiyan had just been appointed and was still at the censorate. He submitted a forceful memorial arguing: "Censors investigate officials and debate court policy because that is their duty. To punish them for doing their jobs will break down discipline, silence the upright, and chill the hearts of the loyal. That is no way to run a flourishing age. Moreover Emperor Shizu established the censorate and opened the channels of remonstrance to sustain good government, and Your Majesty's accession edicts repeatedly invoke the example of the founding ancestors. Now the censors are being punished and public opinion is shut out—how is that following the ancestors!" He submitted the memorial three times and received no answer. Qiyan pressed his case in court with growing urgency until the emperor was moved. The crisis was averted, but the censors were still dismissed and sent home. He was made outer gentleman of the central secretariat's right department, then director of the left department, with a concurrent post as classics mat lecturer, and was appointed right assistant to the heir apparent. After his father's death he observed mourning, and when it ended he became chief commandant of the Prince of Yan's household and was appointed minister of rites.
4
文宗親郊，起岩充大禮使，導帝陟降，步武有節，衣前後襜如，陪位百官，望之如古圖畫中所睹。 帝甚嘉之，賜賚優渥。 轉參議中書省事。 寧宗崩，燕南俄起大獄，有妄男子上變，言部使者謀不軌，按問皆虛，法司謂：「《唐律》，告叛者不反坐。」 起岩奮謂同列曰：「方今嗣君未立，人情危疑，不亟誅此人，以杜奸謀，慮妨大計。」 趣有司具獄，都人肅然，大事尋定。 中書方列坐銓選，起岩荐一士可用，丞相不悅，起岩即攝衣而起，丞相以為忤己。 遷翰林侍講學士、知制誥兼修國史，修三朝實錄，加同知經筵事。 御史臺奏除浙西廉訪使，不允。 已而擢陝西行台侍御史。 將行，复留為侍講學士。 拜江南行台侍御史，召入中台，為侍御史。 轉燕南廉訪使。 搏擊豪強，不少容貸，貧民賴以吐氣。 滹沱河水為真定害，起岩論封河神為侯爵，而移文責之，復修其提防，瀹其湮鬱，水患遂息。 升江南行台御史中丞，拜翰林學士承旨、知制誥兼修國史、知經筵事。 右丞相別裡怯不花為台臣所糾，去位。 未幾再入相，諷詞臣言台章之非，起岩執不可，聞者壯之。 俄拜御史中丞，論事剴直，無所顧忌，與上官多不合。 詔修遼、金、宋三史，復命入翰林為承旨，充總裁官，積階至榮祿大夫。 起岩熟於金源典故，宋儒道學源委，尤多究心，史官有露才自是者，每立言未當，起岩據理竄定，深厚醇雅，理致自足。 史成，年始六十有五，遂上疏乞骸骨以歸，後四年卒。 諡曰文穆。
When Emperor Wenzong performed the suburban sacrifice in person, Qiyan served as grand master of rites and guided the emperor's ascent and descent. His pace was measured, his robes hung evenly fore and aft, and the officials in attendance thought they were looking at a figure from an ancient painting. The emperor was greatly pleased and rewarded him generously. He was transferred to councilor of central secretariat affairs. After Emperor Ningzong died, a major case soon erupted in the Yan region. A reckless man filed a report accusing a circuit envoy of sedition, but investigation proved the charge false. The judicial office cited the 《Tang Code》: "One who reports rebellion is not punished in turn." Qiyan spoke forcefully to his colleagues: "The heir is not yet enthroned and the people are uneasy. Unless we execute this man at once to cut off conspiracy, I fear the great undertaking will be harmed." He pressed the authorities to conclude the case. The capital grew calm, and the crisis was soon resolved. During a central secretariat session on appointments, Qiyan recommended a capable scholar. The chancellor took offense, and Qiyan immediately gathered his robes and left. The chancellor regarded it as a personal affront. He was made Hanlin academician lecturer, drafter of proclamations, and concurrent national history compiler, edited the veritable records of three reigns, and was given additional charge of the classics mat. The censorate recommended him as surveillance commissioner of Western Zhe, but the appointment was denied. Soon afterward he was promoted to attending censor on the Shaanxi branch secretariat. Just as he was about to leave, he was kept on as academician lecturer. He was appointed attending censor on the Jiangnan branch secretariat, then summoned to the central censorate as attending censor. He was transferred to surveillance commissioner of Yan South. He prosecuted the powerful without leniency, and the poor at last had room to breathe. Flooding on the Hutuo River was harming Zhending. Qiyan argued that ennobling the river god as a marquis was misguided, sent an official rebuke, repaired the dikes, and dredged the choked channels until the floods subsided. He rose to vice censor-in-chief on the Jiangnan branch secretariat and was appointed Hanlin expositor-in-chief, drafter of proclamations, concurrent national history compiler, and director of the classics mat. Right Chancellor Bayinduq Baras Buqa was impeached by the censors and removed from office. Before long he returned as chancellor and urged the drafting officials to declare the censorial memorial mistaken. Qiyan refused, and those who heard of it took heart. Soon he was appointed vice censor-in-chief. His remonstrances were sharp and direct, without fear, and he often clashed with his superiors. When an edict ordered the compilation of the Liao, Jin, and Song histories, he was again appointed Hanlin expositor-in-chief and chief compiler, eventually rising to grand master for glorious happiness. Qiyan was deeply versed in Jin-dynasty precedents and the origins of Song Neo-Confucian learning. Whenever a history officer paraded his talent and wrote something unsound, Qiyan revised it on principle. His prose was weighty, refined, and lucid in argument. When the histories were finished he was sixty-five. He submitted a memorial asking to retire, and died four years later. He was given the posthumous title Wenmu.
5
起岩面如紫瓊，美髯方頤，而眉目清揚可觀，望而知為雅量君子。 及其臨政決議，意所背鄉，屹若泰山，不可回奪。 或時面折人，面頸發赤，不少恕，廟堂憚之。 識者謂其外和中剛，不受人籠絡，如歐陽修，名聞四裔。 安南修貢，其陪臣致其世子之辭，必候起岩起居。 性孝友，少處窮約，下帷教授，躬致米百里外，以養父母； 撫弟如石，教之宦學，無不備至。 舉親族弗克葬者二十餘喪，且買田以給其祭。 凡獲俸賜，必與故人賓客共之。 卒之日，廩無餘粟，家無餘財。
Qiyan had a face like purple jade, a fine beard, and a square jaw, with clear, spirited brows and eyes. At a glance one could see he was a man of generous character. In office, once his mind was set against something, he stood firm as Mount Tai and could not be swayed. At times he would rebuke someone to his face until his own face and neck flushed with anger, never sparing him, and the court was wary of him. Those who knew him said he was gentle outwardly and firm within, could not be manipulated, and resembled Ouyang Xiu; his reputation reached the four quarters. When Annam sent tribute, its attendant ministers always inquired after Qiyan's health before delivering their crown prince's message. He was filial and devoted to his kin. In youth he lived in poverty, teaching behind closed curtains while personally carrying rice from a hundred li away to support his parents; he raised his younger brother Rushi and guided his education for official service with complete care. He arranged burial for more than twenty kinsmen who could not afford it and bought fields to support their sacrificial rites. Whenever he received salary or imperial gifts, he shared them with old friends and guests. When he died his granary held no surplus grain and his household no surplus wealth.
6
先是，至元乙酉三月乙亥，太史奏文昌星明，文運將興。 時世祖行幸上京，明日丙子，皇孫降生於儒州。 是夜，起岩亦生。 其後皇孫踐祚，是為仁宗，始詔設科取士，及廷試，起岩遂為第一人，論者以為非偶然也。 起岩博學有文，善篆、隸，有《華峰漫稿》、《華峰類稿》、《金陵集》各若干卷，藏於家。 子二人：琳，琛。
Earlier, on the yihai day of the third month of the yiyou year of Zhiyuan, the court astronomer reported that the Wenchang star was bright and a literary age was about to dawn. Shizu was then traveling to the Upper Capital. The next day, on bingzi, the imperial grandson was born at Ruzhou. That same night Qiyan was born. Later that grandson came to the throne as Emperor Renzong and first restored the civil service examinations. At the palace examination Qiyan took first place, which commentators took as no accident. Qiyan was broadly learned and a fine writer, skilled in seal and clerical script. His 《Huafeng Casual Drafts》, 《Huafeng Classified Drafts》, and 《Jinling Collection》, each in several juan, were kept at home. He had two sons: Lin and Chen.
7
○歐陽玄
○ Ouyang Xuan
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歐陽玄，字原功，其先家廬陵，與文忠公修同所自出。 至曾大父新，始遷居瀏陽，故玄為瀏陽人。 幼岐嶷，母李氏，親授《孝經》、《論語》、小學諸書，八歲能成誦，始從鄉先生張貫之學，日記數千言，即知屬文。 十歲，有黃冠師注目視玄，謂貫之曰：「是兒神氣凝遠，目光射人，異日當以文章冠世，廊廟之器也。」 言訖而去，亟追與語，已失所之。 部使者行縣，玄以諸生見，命賦梅花詩，立成十首，晚歸，增至百首，見者駭異之。 年十四，益從宋故老習為詞章，下筆輒成章，每試庠序，輒佔高等。 弱冠，下帷數年，人莫見其面。 經史百家，靡不研究，伊、洛諸儒源委，尤為淹貫。
Ouyang Xuan, whose style was Yuangong, came from a Luling family of the same lineage as Ouyang Xiu, the Cultivated and Loyal Lord. His great-great-grandfather Xin was the first to move the family to Liuyang, so Xuan was counted as a native of Liuyang. As a child he was exceptionally bright. His mother Lady Li taught him the 《Classic of Filial Piety》, the 《Analects》, the Elementary Learning, and other texts herself. At eight he could recite them from memory. He then studied under the local teacher Zhang Guan, memorizing several thousand characters a day and learning to write prose almost at once. At ten a Daoist priest fixed his gaze on Xuan and told Guan: "This boy's spirit is concentrated and far-seeing, his eyes pierce like light. One day he will lead the world in letters—he is fit for high office." When he had spoken he left. They hurried after him to talk, but he had vanished. When a circuit envoy visited the county, Xuan was presented as a student and told to compose poems on plum blossom. He finished ten on the spot and, returning that evening, expanded them to a hundred. All who saw it were astonished. At fourteen he studied literary composition further with old Song scholars. Whatever he wrote came out as finished work, and in every school examination he took the top rank. In his early twenties he studied behind closed curtains for several years without showing his face in public. He studied the classics, histories, and the hundred schools without exception and was especially thorough in the origins of the Yi-Luo Neo-Confucians.
9
召為國子博士，升國子監丞。 致和元年，遷翰林待制，兼國史院編修官。 時當兵興，玄領印攝院事，日直內廷，參決機務，凡遠近調發，制詔書檄。 既而改元天歷，郊廟、建後、立儲、肆赦之文，皆經撰述。 复條時政數十事，實封以聞，多推行之。 明年，初置奎章閣學士院，又置藝文監隸焉，皆選清望官居之，文宗親署玄為藝文少監。 奉詔纂修《經世大典》，升太監、檢校書籍事。 元統元年，改僉太常禮儀院事，拜翰林直學士，編修四朝實錄，俄兼國子祭酒，召赴中都議事，升侍講學士，复兼國子祭酒。 重紀至元五年，足患風痺，乞南歸以便醫藥，帝不允。 拜翰林學士，未幾，懇辭去位，帝復不允，免其行朝賀禮。 至正改元，更張朝政，事有不便者，集議廷中，玄極言無隱，科目之复，沮者尤眾，玄尤力爭之。 未幾南歸，復起為翰林學士，以疾未行。
He was summoned as an erudite of the National University and promoted to vice director of the directorate of education. In the first year of Zhihe he was made Hanlin attendant-drafter with a concurrent post as national history compiler. War was then breaking out. Xuan took charge of the history office, attended court daily, and helped decide state affairs, drafting all edicts, proclamations, and dispatches for deployments near and far. When the reign title was changed to Tianli, he drafted the texts for suburban sacrifice, temple rites, the installation of the empress, the designation of the heir, and the general amnesty. He also submitted a sealed memorial listing several dozen policy recommendations, many of which were adopted. The next year the Kui Zhang Pavilion academician institute was established, with the Bureau of Literary Arts placed under it, both staffed by officials of high reputation. Emperor Wenzong personally appointed Xuan junior director of literary arts. By imperial order he helped compile the 《Comprehensive Statutes for Governing the Age》, was promoted to senior director, and was made commissioner for inspecting books. In the first year of Yuantong he became associate administrator of the court of imperial sacrifices and Hanlin academician direct, edited the veritable records of four reigns, and soon added the chancellorship of the National University. Summoned to the central capital for deliberation, he was promoted to academician lecturer while retaining the university chancellorship. In the fifth year of the renewed Zhizhi era his legs were afflicted with paralysis. He asked to return south for medical care, but the emperor refused. He was appointed Hanlin academician. Before long he earnestly asked to resign, but the emperor again refused, though he was excused from court congratulation ceremonies. When the Zhizheng era began and the court reorganized government, Xuan spoke frankly in palace deliberations on every difficult issue. The restoration of the civil service examinations met especially strong opposition, and Xuan argued for it with particular force. Soon he returned south. He was again appointed Hanlin academician but did not take up the post because of illness.
10
詔修遼、金、宋三史，召為總裁官，發凡舉例，俾論撰者有所據依。 史官中有悻悻露才、論議不公者，玄不以口舌爭，俟其呈稿，援筆竄定之，統係自正。 至於論、贊、表、奏，皆玄屬筆。 五年，帝以玄歷仕累朝，且有修三史功，諭旨丞相，超授爵秩，遂擬拜翰林學士承旨。 及入奏，上稱快者再三。 已而乞致仕，帝復不允。 御史臺奏除福建廉訪使，行次浙西，疾復作，乃上休致之請，作南山隱居，優游山水之間，有終焉之志。 復拜翰林學士承旨，玄屢力辭，不獲命。 奉敕定國律，尋乞致仕，陳情懇切，乃特授湖廣行中書省右丞致仕，賜白玉束帶，給俸賜以終其身。 將行，帝复降旨不允，仍前翰林學士承旨，進階光祿大夫。 十四年，汝潁盜起，蔓延南北，州縣幾無完城。 玄獻招捕之策千餘言，鑿鑿可行，當時不能用。 十七年春，乞致仕，以中原道梗，欲由蜀還鄉，帝復不允。 時將大赦天下，宣赴內府。 玄久病，不能步履，丞相傳旨，肩輿至延春閣下，實異數也。 是歲十二月戊戌，卒於崇教里之寓舍，年八十五。 中書以聞，帝賜賻甚厚，贈崇仁昭德推忠守正功臣、大司徒、柱國，追封楚國公，諡曰文。
When an edict ordered the Liao, Jin, and Song histories, he was summoned as chief compiler, laid down principles and examples, and gave the writers a firm basis for their work. Some history officers were resentful show-offs whose judgments were unfair. Xuan did not argue with them in words but waited until they submitted drafts, then revised them himself until the narrative was sound. The discussions, encomia, tables, and memorials were all written by Xuan. In the fifth year the emperor, noting that Xuan had served through several reigns and had helped compile the three histories, instructed the chancellor to promote him beyond the usual ranks. He was proposed for Hanlin expositor-in-chief. When the appointment was reported to the throne, the emperor expressed his pleasure again and again. Soon he asked to retire, but the emperor again refused. The censorate recommended him as surveillance commissioner of Fujian. On the road, when he reached Western Zhe, his illness returned. He submitted a request to retire, built the Southern Mountain Hermitage, and lived at ease among the hills and streams, intending to end his days there. He was again appointed Hanlin expositor-in-chief, but Xuan repeatedly declined and could not obtain permission. By imperial order he helped fix the national code. Soon he asked to retire with an earnest memorial and was specially granted retirement as right chancellor of the Huguang branch secretariat, given a white-jade girdle, and provided salary and gifts for life. Just as he was about to leave, the emperor again refused and kept him as Hanlin expositor-in-chief, promoting him to grand master of splendid happiness. In the fourteenth year bandits rose in the Ru and Ying region and spread north and south until few prefectures and counties still had intact walls. Xuan submitted a plan of more than a thousand words for recruiting loyal forces and suppressing the rebels. It was thoroughly workable, but was not adopted at the time. In the spring of the seventeenth year he asked to retire. With the roads of the central plain blocked, he wished to return home through Shu, but the emperor again refused. A great amnesty was about to be proclaimed, and he was summoned to the inner palace. Xuan had been ill for a long time and could not walk. The chancellor relayed the emperor's order that he be carried in a sedan chair to the Yanchun Pavilion—an extraordinary honor. That year, on the wuxu day of the twelfth month, he died at his lodging in Chongjiao Lane at the age of eighty-five. The central secretariat reported his death. The emperor gave lavish funeral gifts and posthumously honored him as meritorious minister of honoring benevolence, illuminating virtue, promoting loyalty, and upholding rectitude, grand preceptor, and pillar of the state, enfeoffed him as Duke of Chu, and gave him the posthumous title Wen.
11
玄性度雍容，含弘縝密，處己儉約，為政廉平。 歷官四十餘年，在朝之日，殆四之三。 三任成均，而兩為祭酒，六入翰林，而三拜承旨。 修實錄、《大典》、三史，皆大製作。 屢主文衡，兩知貢舉及讀卷官，凡宗廟朝廷雄文大冊、播告萬方制誥，多出玄手。 金繒上尊之賜，幾無虛歲。 海內名山大川，釋、老之宮，王公貴人墓隧之碑，得玄文辭以為榮。 片言隻字，流傳人間，咸知寶重。 文章道德，卓然名世。 羽儀斯文，贊衛治具，與有功焉。 玄無子，以從子達老後，复先玄卒。 有《圭齋文集》若干卷，傳於世。
By nature Xuan was dignified and unhurried, broad-minded yet finely exact, frugal in his private life, and upright and even-handed in government. In more than forty years of service, he spent roughly three quarters of his career at court. He served three times at the Imperial University, twice as its rector, entered the Hanlin Academy six times, and three times was appointed expositor-in-chief. His work on the Veritable Records, the 《Grand Compendium》, and the Three Histories were all major state projects. He repeatedly oversaw the civil examinations and twice served as chief examiner and paper reader. Most of the court's grand ceremonial writings for the ancestral temple and state, and the edicts and proclamations sent throughout the realm, came from Xuan's pen. Nearly every year brought him gifts of gold, silk, and ceremonial wine cups from the throne. Across the empire, whether on famous mountains and rivers, in Buddhist and Daoist shrines, or on the tomb steles of princes and great nobles, to obtain a composition from Xuan was counted an honor. Even a stray line of his writing, passing among ordinary readers, was prized as something rare. In both literary accomplishment and moral stature he stood out as a figure of his age. He adorned the civil tradition and helped uphold the institutions of good government, and in this he earned lasting credit. Xuan had no son and adopted his nephew Daolao as heir, but Daolao died before him. His 《Guizhai Collected Works》, in several volumes, has been handed down to later generations.
12
○許有壬
○ Xu Youren
13
許有壬，字可用，其先世居潁，後徙湯陰。 有壬幼穎悟，讀書一目五行，嘗閱衡州《淨居院碑》，文近千言，一覽輒背誦無遺。 年二十，暢師文薦入翰林，不報，授開寧路學正，升教授，未上，辟山北廉訪司書吏。 擢延祐二年進士第，授同知遼州事。 會關中有警，鄰州聽民出避，棄孩嬰滿道上，有壬獨率弓箭手，閉城門以守，卒獲無虞。 州有追逮，不許胥隸足跡至村疃，唯給信牌，令執裡役者呼之，民安而事集。 右族貪虐者懲之，冤獄雖有成案，皆平翻而釋其罪，州遂大治。 六年己未，除山北廉訪司經歷。 至治元年，遷吏部主事。 二年，轉江南行台監察御史，行部廣東，以貪墨劾罷廉訪副使哈只蔡衍。 至江西，會廉訪使苗好謙監焚昏鈔，檢視鈔者日至百餘人，好謙恐其有弊，痛鞭之。 人畏罪，率剔真為偽，以迎其意。 筦庫吏而下，榜掠無全膚，迄莫能償。 有壬覆視之，率真物也，遂釋之。 凡勢官豪民，人畏之如虎狼者，有壬悉擒治以法，部內肅然。 召拜監察御史。
Xu Youren, styled Keyong, came from a family that originally lived in Ying and later moved to Tangyin. Youren was bright from childhood and could read five lines at a glance. Once he looked through the nearly thousand-word 《Jingju Monastery Stele》 from Hengzhou and recited it from memory in full after a single reading. At twenty, Chang Shiwen recommended him for the Hanlin Academy, but nothing came of it. He was appointed Confucian instructor for Kaining Circuit and promoted to professor, but before reporting he was recruited as a clerk in the Shanbei surveillance commission. In Yanyou 2 he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed associate intendant of Liaozhou. When trouble broke out in Guanzhong, neighboring prefectures let their people flee, and abandoned children lined the roads. Youren alone led his archers, shut the gates, and held the city until the danger passed without harm. For arrests in the prefecture he forbade runners from entering villages. He issued official tokens instead and had men on corvée duty summon those wanted. The people were left in peace and business still got done. He punished greedy and cruel men among the great families. Even settled cases of injustice he overturned and released the prisoners, and the prefecture came under firm and fair rule. In the sixth year, jiwei, he was appointed administrator of the Shanbei surveillance commission. In Zhizhi 1 he was transferred to chief clerk in the Ministry of Personnel. The next year he became investigating censor on the Jiangnan branch secretariat, toured Guangdong, and impeached Deputy Surveillance Commissioner Haqai Chaiyan for corruption, bringing about his dismissal. In Jiangxi he came upon Surveillance Commissioner Miao Haoqian supervising the destruction of worn banknotes. More than a hundred examiners worked each day. Fearing fraud, Haoqian had them whipped savagely. Terrified of punishment, they scraped genuine notes to look like counterfeits in order to please him. From the treasury clerks down, those flogged were left without a patch of whole skin, and in the end none could make good the supposed losses. Youren reviewed the notes himself, found them genuine, and had the men released. Powerful officials and predatory magnates whom people feared like wolves, Youren seized and punished to the full extent of the law, and his jurisdiction became orderly. He was summoned and appointed censor.
14
三年八月，英宗暴崩於南坡，賊臣鐵失遣使者自上京至，封府庫，收百官印，有壬知事急，即往告御史中丞董守庸，守庸謂宮禁事，非子所當問。 有壬即疏守庸及經歷朵爾只班、監察御史郭也先忽都阿附鐵失之罪以俟。 十月，鐵失伏誅。 泰定帝發上都，御史大夫紐澤先還京師，有壬即袖疏上之。 及帝至，复上章言：「帖木迭兒之子瑣南，與聞大逆，乞賜典刑。 其兄弟勿令出入宮禁。 中書平章政事王毅、右丞高昉，橫罹奪爵，而四川行省平章政事趙世延，受禍尤慘，皆請雪冤復職。」 繼上正始十事：一曰輔翼太子，宜先訓導； 二曰遴選長官，宜先培養； 三曰通籍宮禁，宜別貴賤； 四曰欲謹兵權，宜削兼領； 五曰武備廢弛，宜加修飭； 六曰賊臣妻妾，宜禁勢官徵索； 七曰前赦權以止變，宜再詔以正名； 八曰帖木迭兒諸子，宜籍沒以懲惡； 九曰考驗經費，以減民賦； 十曰撙節浮蠹，以紓國用。 帝多從之。
In the eighth month of the third year Emperor Yingzong died suddenly at Nanpo. The traitor Tie Shi sent envoys from Shangdu to seal the treasuries and seize the official seals. Sensing the urgency, Youren went at once to warn Censor-in-Chief Dong Shouyong, who replied that palace affairs were none of his business. Youren immediately memorialized against Shouyong, Administrator Duo'erzhiban, and Investigating Censor Guo Yesian Hudu for siding with Tie Shi, reserving their crimes for later judgment. In the tenth month Tie Shi was put to death. As Emperor Taiding left Shangdu, Grand Censor Niuze returned first to the capital, and Youren submitted a memorial from his sleeve at once. When the emperor arrived, he submitted another memorial: "Suonan, Temuder's son, took part in the great treason. I beg that he be executed according to law. His brothers should not be allowed to enter or leave the palace precincts. Grand Councillor Wang Yi and Right Vice Chancellor Gao Fang of the central secretariat were unjustly stripped of rank, and Grand Councillor Zhao Shiyan of the Sichuan branch secretariat suffered even more harshly. I ask that their names be cleared and their offices restored." He then submitted the Ten Items for a Correct Beginning: First, in supporting the crown prince, education should come first; Second, in choosing chief officials, training should come first; Third, in granting access to the palace precincts, high and low rank should be kept apart; Fourth, to tighten military authority, concurrent commands should be cut back; Fifth, with military readiness in decay, it should be restored and strengthened; Sixth, the wives and concubines of rebel ministers should be protected from seizure by powerful officials; Seventh, the earlier amnesty was a stopgap to end the crisis; a new edict should restore proper names and ranks; Eighth, the sons of Temuder should have their property confiscated as punishment for their crimes; Ninth, audit state expenditures to lighten the people's tax burdens; Tenth, cut wasteful spending to ease the strain on state finances. The emperor largely accepted his recommendations.
15
泰定元年，初立詹事院，選為中議，改中書左司員外郎。 京畿飢，有壬請賑之。 同列讓曰：「子言固善，其如虧國何！」 有壬曰：「不然。 民，本也，不虧民，顧豈虧國邪！」 卒白於丞相，發糧四十萬斛濟之，民賴以活者甚眾。 國學舊法，每以積分次第貢以出官，執政用監丞張起岩議，欲廢之，而以推擇德行為務。 有壬折之曰：「積分雖未盡善，然可得博學能文之士，若曰惟德行之擇，其名固佳，恐皆厚貌深情，專意外飾，或懵不能識丁矣。」 議久不決。 三年六月，升右司郎中，其事遂行，已而復寢。 獲盜例有賞，論者多疑其偽，有淹四十餘年者，群訴於馬首，有壬曰：「盜賊方熾，求疵太甚，緩急何以使人！ 但經部使者覆核者，皆予官。」 俄移左司郎中，每遇公議，有壬屢爭事得失，汛掃積滯，幾無留牘。 都事宋本退語人曰：「此貞觀、開元間議事也。」 明年，丁父憂。
In Taiding 1, when the Household of the Heir Apparent was first established, he was chosen as a middle discussion officer and made left section vice director of the central secretariat. Famine struck the capital region, and Youren asked that grain be issued for relief. His colleagues objected: "What you say is well enough, but how can we afford to drain the treasury! Youren replied: "Not at all. The people are the foundation. If the people are not harmed, how can the state be harmed!" In the end he persuaded the chancellor to release four hundred thousand hu of grain for relief, and a great many people survived because of it. Under the old National University system, students were recommended for office in order of accumulated points. The chief ministers, following Supervisor Zhang Qiyan's proposal, wanted to abolish that system and select men on moral conduct alone. Youren objected: "The point system is not perfect, but it still yields broadly learned and literate men. Choosing on moral conduct alone sounds admirable, but one may end up with hypocrites skilled only in outward display, or dullards who cannot even read." The debate dragged on without resolution. In the sixth month of the third year he was promoted to right section director. The new policy was briefly adopted, then abandoned again. There were standing rewards for capturing bandits, but many suspected fraud, and some claims had waited more than forty years. A crowd appealed to him on the road. Youren said: "Banditry is raging. If we pick every claim apart, how can we get men to act when we need them! So long as the branch secretariat envoy has reviewed a case, grant the reward." Soon he was made left section director. In every public deliberation he argued forcefully over policy, cleared away long-standing backlogs, and left almost no papers pending. Director Song Ben withdrew and told others: "This is deliberation worthy of the Zhenguan and Kaiyuan eras." The next year he went into mourning for his father.
16
天曆三年，擢兩淮都轉運鹽司使。 先是，鹽法壞，廷議非有壬不能集事，故有是命。 有壬詢究弊端，立法而通融之，國課遂登。 至順二年二月，召參議中書省事，未幾，以丁母憂去。 元統元年，復以參議召。 明年甲戌，拜治書侍御史，轉奎章閣學士院侍書學士，仍治台事。 會福達魯花赤完卜，藉丞相勢，宿衛東宮，其行頗淫穢，御史劾之，完卜藏御史大夫家，有壬捕而遣之。 九月，拜中書參知政事、知經筵事。 帝詔群臣議上皇太后尊號為太皇太后，有壬曰：「皇上於皇太后，母子也，若加太皇太后，則為孫矣，非禮也。」 眾弗之從，有壬曰：「今制，封贈祖父母，降於父母一等，蓋推恩之法，近重而遠輕，今尊皇太后為太皇太后，是推而遠之，乃反輕矣，豈所謂尊之者邪！」 弗之聽。 中書平章政事徹理帖木兒挾私憾，奏罷進士科，有壬廷爭甚苦不能奪，遂稱疾在告，帝強起之，拜侍御史。 會汝寧棒胡反，大臣有忌漢官者，取賊所造旗幟及偽宣敕，班地上，問曰：「此欲何為耶？」 意漢官諱言反，將以罪中之。 有壬曰：「此曹建年號，稱李老君太子，部署士卒，以敵官軍，其反狀甚明，尚何言！」 其語遂塞。 廷議欲行古劓法，立行樞密院，禁漢人、南人勿學蒙古、畏吾兒字書，有壬皆爭止之。
In Tianli 3 he was appointed commissioner of the Two Huai regional salt transport commission. The salt laws had broken down, and the court felt that no one but Youren could set them right, which is why he received the appointment. Youren traced the abuses to their roots, drew up new regulations with room for practical adjustment, and state revenue rose. In the second month of Zhishun 2 he was summoned as participating secretary of the central secretariat, but soon left to mourn his mother. In Yuantong 1 he was again summoned as participating secretary. The next year, jiaxu, he was appointed secretary censor and made academician secretary of the Kui Zhang Pavilion Academy while still running censorate affairs. Qarachu darughachi Wanbu, relying on the chancellor's backing, served in the Eastern Palace guard. His conduct was grossly licentious. When censors impeached him, he hid in the censor-in-chief's house. Youren seized him and had him removed. In the ninth month he was appointed vice chancellor of the central secretariat and lecturer at the classics colloquium. The emperor ordered the ministers to discuss granting the empress dowager the title Grand Empress Dowager. Youren said: "The emperor and the empress dowager are mother and son. If she becomes Grand Empress Dowager, he becomes her grandson in title, which violates proper ritual." The assembly would not listen. Youren said: "Under current law, honors granted to grandparents rank one grade below those granted to parents. Favor is meant to weigh most heavily on those nearest. Making the empress dowager a grand empress dowager pushes the honor outward and actually makes it lighter. Is that what honoring her means!" They still would not listen. Grand Councillor Cherig Temur, nursing a private grudge, memorialized to abolish the jinshi examination. Youren fought the proposal fiercely at court but could not prevail, then claimed illness and stayed home. The emperor forced him back to office and appointed him attending censor. When Bang Hu rebelled at Runing, ministers hostile to Han officials spread rebel flags and forged edicts on the floor and asked: "What do you make of these?" They hoped Han officials would shrink from calling it rebellion so they could be blamed for it. Youren said: "They proclaimed a reign title, called themselves crown prince of Old Master Li, deployed troops, and fought the official army. The rebellion is plain enough. What more is there to say!" That silenced them. The court proposed reviving ancient mutilation punishments, establishing a mobile pacification commission, and forbidding Han Chinese and Southerners to study Mongol and Uyghur script. Youren fought each proposal and blocked them.
17
重紀至元初，長蘆韓公溥因家藏兵器，遂起大獄，株連台若省，多以贓敗，獨無有壬名，由是忌者益甚。 有壬度不可留，遂歸彰德，已而南游湘、漢間。 至元六年，召入中書，仍為參知政事。 明年，改元至正，有壬極論帝當親祠太廟，母后虛位，徽政院當罷，改元命相當合為上詔，冗職當沙汰，錢糧當裁節，如此之類，不一而足。 人皆韙之。 轉中書左丞。 二年，囊加慶善八及孛羅帖木兒獻議，開西山金口導渾河，逾京城，達通州，以通漕運。 丞相脫脫主之甚力，有壬曰：「渾河之水，湍悍易決，而足以為害，淤淺易塞，而不可行舟； 況地勢高下，甚有不同，徒勞民費財耳。」 不聽，後卒如有壬言。
At the start of the renewed Zhizhi era, Han Gongpu of Changlu triggered a major case over weapons found in his home. It swept through the censorate and secretariat, and many officials fell on corruption charges, but Youren's name was never implicated, which only sharpened the resentment against him. Seeing that he could not remain, Youren returned to Zhangde and later traveled south through the Xiang and Han regions. In Zhizheng 6 he was recalled to the central secretariat as vice chancellor. The next year the era name was changed to Zhizheng. Youren argued forcefully that the emperor should sacrifice at the ancestral temple in person, that the empress dowager's seat should not be left vacant, that the Huizheng Office should be abolished, that the change of era and appointment of chancellors should be issued in one supreme edict, that redundant offices should be cut, and that spending on money and grain should be reduced—proposals of this kind, and more besides. Everyone approved of his proposals. He was transferred to left vice chancellor of the central secretariat. In the second year Nanggiyasun Baqu and Bolad Temur proposed opening Jinkou in the Western Hills and diverting the Hun River through the capital to Tongzhou to revive canal transport. Chancellor Toqto'a pushed the plan hard. Youren said: "The Hun River runs swift and fierce, breaks its banks easily, and can do great harm. It silts up quickly, blocks easily, and cannot carry boats; moreover the terrain rises and falls too sharply. It would only waste labor and money." They would not listen, and events later proved him right.
18
先是，有壬之父熙載仕長沙日，設義學，訓諸生。 既歿，而諸生思之，為立東岡書院，朝廷賜額設官，以為育才之地。 南台監察御史木八剌沙，緣睚眥怨，言書院不當立，並構浮辭，誣衊有壬，併其二弟有儀、有孚，有壬遂稱病歸。 四年，改江浙行省左丞，辭。 六年，召為翰林學士，既上，又辭。 監察御史累章辨其誣。 俄拜浙西廉訪使，未上，復以翰林學士承旨召，仍知經筵事。 明年夏，授御史中丞，賜白玉束帶及御衣一襲，未幾，復以病歸。 監察御史答蘭不花銜有壬，時短長之，奏劾甚力，事尋白。
Earlier, while Youren's father Xizai was serving at Changsha, he founded a charity school to instruct students. After his death the students missed him and founded the Donggang Academy in his memory. The court granted a plaque, appointed officials, and made it a place to train talent. Mubarak Shah, investigating censor on the southern branch secretariat, nursed a petty grudge and argued that the academy should never have been founded. He fabricated slander against Youren and his younger brothers Youyi and Youfu. Youren then claimed illness and went home. In the fourth year he was appointed left vice chancellor of the Jiang-Zhe branch secretariat and declined. In the sixth year he was summoned as Hanlin academician, reported for duty, and declined again. Investigating censors repeatedly memorialized to clear the slander against him. Soon he was appointed surveillance commissioner of Western Zhe, but before reporting he was again summoned as Hanlin expositor-in-chief and still directed the classics colloquium. The next summer he was appointed vice censor-in-chief and given a white-jade girdle and a suit of imperial robes. Before long he again went home, claiming illness. Investigating Censor Dalan Buqa resented Youren and often spoke of his faults. He impeached him vigorously, but the charges were soon cleared.
19
十二年，盜起河南，聲撼河朔間，有壬畫備御之策十五條，以授郡將，民藉以安。 十三年，起拜河南行省左丞。 朝廷遣將出征，環河南境，連營以百數，一切芻餉，皆仰給之，有壬從容集事，若平時然。 十五年，遷集賢大學士，尋改樞密副使，復拜中書左丞。 時以言為諱，有壬力言朝廷務行姑息之政，賞重罰輕，故將士貪掠子女玉帛而無鬥志，遂倡招降之策，言多不載。 有僧名開，自高郵來，言張士誠乞降，眾幸事且成，皆大喜，有壬獨疑其妄，呼僧詰之，果語塞不能對。 轉集賢大學士，兼太子左諭德，階至光祿大夫。 有壬前朝舊德，太子頗敬禮之。 一日入見，方臂鷙禽以為樂，遽呼左右屏去。 十七年，以老病，力乞致其事，久之始得請，給俸賜以終其身。 二十四年九月二十一日卒，年七十八。
In the twelfth year bandits rose in Henan, their threat shaking the lands between the Yellow River and the northern frontier. Youren drafted fifteen measures for defense and preparedness and gave them to the local commanders, and the people were kept safe. In the thirteenth year he was recalled and appointed left vice chancellor of the Henan branch secretariat. The court sent generals on campaign. Around the Henan frontier, camps linked in the hundreds, and all fodder and provisions depended on supplies from Youren's province. He calmly kept affairs in order as if it were peacetime. In the fifteenth year he was made grand academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies, soon transferred to vice director of the Military Affairs Commission, and again appointed left vice chancellor of the Secretariat. Speech was dangerous at the time, yet Youren spoke bluntly: the court pursued indulgence, rewarding heavily and punishing lightly, so soldiers plundered women, children, jade, and silk without any will to fight. He then urged a policy of accepting surrenders, though much of what he said went unrecorded. A monk named Kai came from Gaoyou claiming that Zhang Shicheng wished to surrender. Everyone hoped the war might end and rejoiced, but Youren alone doubted the story. He summoned the monk and questioned him; the man was speechless and could not answer. He was transferred to grand academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies and concurrently left mentor to the heir apparent, rising to grand master of splendid happiness. Youren was a veteran minister of the previous reign, and the heir apparent treated him with great respect. One day when Youren came for an audience, the heir was amusing himself with a fierce hawk on his arm and hurriedly ordered his attendants to take it away. In the seventeenth year, citing old age and illness, he repeatedly begged to retire. Only after a long delay was he permitted to withdraw, with salary and gifts granted for the rest of his life. On the twenty-first day of the ninth month of the twenty-fourth year he died, at the age of seventy-eight.
20
有壬歷事七朝，垂五十年，遇國家大事，無不盡言，皆一根至理，而曲盡人情。 當權臣恣睢之時，稍忤意，輒誅竄隨之，有壬絕不為巧避計，事有不便，明辨力諍，不知有死生利害，君子多之。 有壬善筆札，工辭章，歐陽玄序其文，謂其雄渾閎雋，湧如層瀾，迫而求之，則淵靚深實，蓋深許之也。 所著有《至正集》若干卷。 諡曰文忠。 子一人，曰禎。
Youren served seven reigns for nearly fifty years. Whenever the state faced a great crisis, he spoke without reserve, always grounding his words in principle and weighing them against human feeling. When powerful ministers ran rampant, the slightest offense could bring execution or banishment. Youren never tried to evade them by clever means. When policy went wrong, he argued clearly and remonstrated forcefully, heedless of life, death, gain, or harm. Men of integrity praised him for it. Youren was skilled in calligraphy and letters and excelled at literary composition. Ouyang Xuan prefaced his writings, calling them grand and lofty, surging like layered waves; pressed further, they proved deep, clear, and solid. He clearly thought very highly of him. His writings include the 《Collected Works of the Zhizheng Era》 in several fascicles. His posthumous title was Cultured and Loyal. He had one son, named Zhen.
21
○宋本
○ Song Ben
22
宋本，字誠夫，大都人。 自幼穎拔異群兒，既成童，聚經史窮日夜讀之，句探字索，必通貫乃已。 嘗從父禎官江陵，江陵王奎文，明性命義理之學，本往質所得，造詣日深。 善為古文，辭必己出，峻潔刻厲，多微辭。 年四十，始還燕。 至治元年，策天下士於廷，本為第一人，賜進士及第，授翰林修撰。 泰定元年春，除監察御史，首言：「逆賊鐵失等雖伏誅，其黨樞密副使阿散，身親弒逆，以告變得不死，竄嶺南，乞早正天討。」 國製，範黃金為太廟神主，仁宗室盜竟竊去，本言：「在法，民間失盜，捕之違期不獲猶治罪，太常失典守，及在京應捕官，皆當罷去。」 又言：「中書宰執，日趨禁中，固寵苟安，兼旬不至中堂，壅滯機務，乞戒飭臣僚，自非入宿衛日，必詣所署治事。」 皆不報。
Song Ben, styled Chengfu, was a native of Dadu. From childhood he was unusually bright among his peers. Once he came of age, he gathered the classics and histories and read them day and night, probing every phrase and searching every character until he had mastered them completely. He once followed his father Zhen to an appointment at Jiangling. Wang Kuiwen of Jiangling was versed in the learning of human nature and moral principle. Ben went to him to test what he had learned, and his understanding grew deeper day by day. He was skilled at ancient-style prose. His language was always his own—severe, pure, and incisive, often laden with subtle meaning. At forty he returned to Yan for the first time. In the first year of the Zhizhi reign, the court examined scholars throughout the realm. Ben ranked first, received jinshi with honors, and was appointed Hanlin compiler. In spring of the first year of the Taiding reign he was appointed investigating censor. First he said: "The rebel Tieshi and others, though executed, their clique—the vice director of military affairs Asan—personally took part in regicide, yet by reporting the plot escaped death and was banished to Lingnan. I beg that heavenly punishment be promptly carried out." By national institution, spirit tablets for the ancestral temple were cast in pure gold, yet the tablet from Renzong's chamber was actually stolen. Ben said: "By law, when common people lose goods to theft, failure to capture the thief within the deadline still incurs punishment. The Court of Imperial Sacrifices failed in custodial duty, and the Beijing arrest officers all ought to be dismissed." Furthermore he said: "The chancellors of the Secretariat daily rush to the inner palace, clinging to favor and settling for safety. For ten days or more they do not come to the main hall, obstructing urgent business. I beg that officials be warned: except on days of palace guard duty, they must go to their offices to conduct affairs." None of these received response.
23
踰月，調國子監丞。 夏，風烈地震，有旨集百官雜議弭災之道。 時宿衛士自北方來者，復遣歸，乃百十為群，剽劫殺人桓州道中。 既逮捕，旭滅傑奏釋之。 蒙古千戶使京師，宿邸中，適民間硃甲妻女車過邸門，千戶悅之，並從者奪以入，硃泣訴於中書，旭滅傑庇不問。 本適與議，本復抗言：「鐵失餘黨未誅，仁廟神主盜未得，桓州盜未治，硃甲冤未伸，刑政失度，民憤天怨，災異之見，職此之由。」 辭氣激奮，眾皆聳聽。 冬，移兵部員外郎。 二年，轉中書左司都事。 會議招撫溪洞民，故將李牢山之子嘗假兵部尚書，從諸王帥兵徵鬱林州徭民，李在道納妾，留不進，兵敗歸，樞密副使王卜鄰吉台言：「李平徭有功，當遷官。」 本言； 「李棄軍娶妾，逗撓軍期，宜亟置諸法，況可官邪！」 王色沮，乃不敢言。
After a month he was transferred to vice director of the Directorate of Education. In summer fierce winds and an earthquake struck. An edict ordered officials gathered to discuss various means of quelling the disaster. At the time palace guards who had come from the north were being sent home again. They banded together in groups of a hundred or ten and robbed and killed people on the road to Huanzhou. After they were arrested, Xumiejie memorialized to have them released. A Mongol chiliarch was sent to the capital and lodged at an inn. Just then the wife and daughter of a man surnamed Zhu passed the inn gate in a carriage. The chiliarch took a liking to them, and together with his followers seized them and carried them inside. Zhu wept and appealed to the Secretariat, but Xumiejie shielded the offenders and would not inquire. Ben happened to be present at the deliberation and again spoke out forcefully: "Tieshi's remaining clique has not been executed, the thief of Renzong's spirit tablet has not been captured, the Huanzhou bandits have not been punished, Zhu's grievance has not been redressed, criminal administration has lost its measure, the people are angry and Heaven is resentful—the appearance of portents and disasters arises from this." His words were fierce and impassioned, and all present listened in awe. In winter he was transferred to vice director of the Ministry of War. In the second year he was transferred to director of the left department of the Secretariat. At a conference on pacifying the stream-cave people, the son of the former general Li Laoshan had once borrowed the title minister of war and followed a prince in leading troops against the Yao people of Yulin Prefecture. Li took a concubine on the march, halted and would not advance, and returned after defeat. Vice director of military affairs Wang Buling said at the Secretariat: "Li pacified the Yao with merit and ought to be promoted." Ben said; "Li abandoned the army to take a concubine and delayed the campaign schedule. He ought swiftly to be punished by law—how much less ought he be given office!" Wang's color fell, and he no longer dared speak.
24
旭滅傑死，左丞相倒剌沙當國得君，與平章政事烏伯都剌，皆西域人，西域富賈以其國異石名曰瓓者來獻，其估巨萬，或未酬其直； 諸嘗有過，為司憲褫官，或有出其門下者。 三年冬，烏伯都剌自禁中出，至政事堂，集宰執僚佐，命左司員外郎胡彝以詔稿示本，乃以星孛地震赦天下，仍命中書酬累朝所獻諸物之直，擢用自英廟至今為憲台奪官者。 本讀竟，白曰：「今警災異，而畏獻物未酬直者憤怨，此有司細故，形諸王言，必貽笑天下。 司憲褫有罪者官，世祖成憲也，今上即位，累詔法世祖，今擢用之，是廢成憲而反汗前詔也，後復有邪佞贓穢者，將治之邪？ 置不問邪？」 宰執聞本言，相視嘆息罷去。 明日，宣詔竟，本遂稱疾不出。
When Xumiejie died, left chancellor Daula Shah held state power and won the emperor's trust, together with central chancellor Ubaidullah—both were men of the Western Regions. A wealthy merchant of the Western Regions brought as tribute a strange stone from his country called Lan, valued at tens of thousands, yet its price was sometimes unpaid; some who had once been at fault and were stripped of office by the censorate, or some who had come from their households. In winter of the third year Ubaidullah came out from the inner palace to the Hall of Administration, gathered the chancellors and their staff, and ordered left department vice director Hu Yi to show Ben the draft edict. It was to pardon the realm on account of a comet and earthquake, still order the Secretariat to pay the prices of objects presented by successive reigns, and promote those stripped of office by the censorate from Emperor Yingzong's reign to the present. When Ben had finished reading, he reported: "Now we warn of portents and disasters, yet we fear the anger and resentment of those whose tribute objects have not been paid for. These are petty matters for the offices. To put them in an imperial edict will surely make the realm laugh. The censorate stripped office from the guilty according to the established statutes of Emperor Shizu. Since the present emperor ascended the throne, repeated edicts have ordered that law follow Shizu. Now to promote and employ them is to abolish the established statutes and go back on earlier edicts. Later, when wicked and corrupt men appear again, will you punish them? Or leave them unpunished?" When the chancellors heard Ben's words, they looked at one another, sighed, and withdrew. The next day, after the edict was fully promulgated, Ben then claimed illness and did not appear.
25
四年春，遷禮部郎中。 天曆元年冬，升吏部侍郎。 二年，改禮部侍郎。 是年，文宗開奎章閣，置藝文監，檢校書籍，超大監。 至順元年，進奎章閣學士院供奉學士。 二年冬，出為河東廉訪副使，將行，擢禮部尚書。 三年冬，寧宗崩，順帝未至，皇太后在興聖宮，正旦，議循故事，行朝賀禮，本言：「宜上表興聖宮，廢大明殿朝賀。」 眾是而從之。 元統元年，兼經筵官，冬，拜陝西行台治書侍御史，不拜，复留為奎章閣學士院承製學士，仍兼經筵官。 二年夏，轉集賢直學士，兼國子祭酒，兼經筵如故。 是年冬十一月二十五日卒，年五十四。 階官自承務郎十轉至太中大夫。
In spring of the fourth year he was transferred to director of the Ministry of Rites. In winter of the first year of the Tianli reign he was promoted to vice minister of personnel. In the second year he was changed to vice minister of rites. That year Emperor Wenzong opened the Kuizhang Pavilion, established the Directorate of Literary Arts to inspect books, and Ben was promoted above director. In the first year of the Zhishun reign he was promoted to academician attendant of the Kuizhang Pavilion Academy. In winter of the second year he was sent out as vice surveillance commissioner of Hedong. Just as he was about to depart, he was promoted to minister of rites. In winter of the third year Emperor Ningzong died and Emperor Shundi had not yet arrived. The empress dowager was at Xingsheng Palace. At New Year's Day, following precedent, they deliberated on performing the court congratulation rites. Ben said: "It is fitting to submit a memorial at Xingsheng Palace and abolish the court congratulation at the Daming Hall." The assembly agreed and followed him. In the first year of the Yuantong reign he concurrently served as classics colloquium official. In winter he was appointed investigating censor of the Shaanxi branch secretariat but did not accept. He was again retained as drafting academician of the Kuizhang Pavilion Academy and still concurrently served as classics colloquium official. In summer of the second year he was transferred to direct academician of the Hall of Gathered Worthies, concurrently chancellor of the Directorate of Education, and his classics colloquium duties remained as before. That year, on the twenty-fifth day of the eleventh month, he died, at the age of fifty-four. His rank in office rose through ten steps from gentleman for court service to grand master for splendid happiness.
26
本性高抗不屈，持論堅正，制行純白，不可干以私，而篤朋友之義，堅若金鐵，人有片善，稱道不少置，尤以植立斯文自任。 知貢舉，取進士滿百人額； 為讀卷官，增第一甲為三人。 父官南中，貧，賣宅以去。 ，居官清慎自持，饘粥至不給。 本未弱冠，聚徒以養親，殆二十年，歷仕通顯，猶僦屋以居。 及卒，非賻贈幾不能給棺斂，執紼者近二千人，皆縉紳大夫、門生故吏及國子諸生，未嘗有一雜賓，時人榮之。 本所著有《至治集》四十卷，行於世。 諡正獻。
By nature Ben was lofty and unyielding. He held to upright principles, conducted himself with pure integrity, and could not be swayed by private interest. Yet he was devoted to the duty of friendship, firm as gold and iron. If a man had even a small virtue, he praised it without stint. Above all he took upon himself the task of upholding civilization. When he supervised the examinations, he filled the quota of one hundred jinshi; as reading examiner he increased the first class to three men. When his father served in the south, they were poor and sold the house to depart. Ben, in office, maintained pure caution in self-conduct, sometimes scarcely having enough porridge. Before Ben had reached twenty, he gathered students to support his parents, for nearly twenty years. Though he rose through office to eminence, he still rented a house to live in. When he died, but for funeral gifts he could scarcely have afforded coffin and burial. Nearly two thousand men carried the mourning cord—all gentry officials, students, former subordinates, and students of the Directorate of Education. Never was there a single miscellaneous guest. People of the time honored him for it. Ben's writings include the 《Collected Works of the Zhizhi Reign》 in forty fascicles, circulated in the world. His posthumous title was Upright Presentation.
27
○謝端
○ Xie Duan
28
謝端，字敬德，蜀之遂寧人。 宋末，蜀士多避兵江陵，因家焉。 端幼穎異，五六歲能吟詩，十歲能作賦。 弱冠，與尚書宋本同師，明性理，為古文，又同教授江陵城中，以文學齊名，時號「謝宋」。 史槓宣慰荊南，數加延禮，薦之姚燧，燧方以文章大名自負，少所許可，以所為文眎端，端一讀，即能指擿其用意所在，燧嘆獎不已，語人：「後二十年，若謝端者，豈易得哉！」 用薦者署校官，不報。 科舉法行，就試河南行省，中其舉，以內艱不會試。 延祐五年，乃擢進士乙科。 授承事郎、潭州路同知湘陰州事。 歲滿，入為國子博士，遷太常博士。 盜入太廟，失第八室黃金主，坐罷去。 端禮官，非典守，不當坐，亦不辨。 尋除翰林修撰，升待制，以選為國子司業，遂為翰林直學士，階太中大夫。
Xie Duan, styled Jingde, was a native of Suining in Shu. At the end of the Song, many scholars of Shu fled the warfare to Jiangling and settled there. Duan was precocious from childhood. At five or six he could recite poetry; at ten he could compose fu. At twenty he studied under the same teacher as Minister Song Ben, mastered moral principle, wrote ancient-style prose, and together they taught in Jiangling city. They were equally famed in letters, and people of the time called them "Xie and Song." Shi Geng, pacification commissioner of Jingnan, repeatedly extended him courtesy and recommended him to Yao Sui. Yao Sui, then proud of his great name in letters, seldom approved others. He showed Duan what he had written. Duan read it once and could point out where his meaning lay. Yao Sui sighed in admiration without end and told others: "Twenty years from now, will a man like Xie Duan be easy to find!" Through the recommender he was appointed a school official, but no response came. When the examination system was implemented, he took the test at the Henan branch secretariat and passed its examination, but because of mourning for his mother did not attend the palace examination. In the fifth year of the Yanyou reign he was finally selected as jinshi in the second class. He was appointed gentleman for court service and vice prefect of Xiangyin Prefecture on the Tanzhou circuit. When his term ended he entered service as doctor of the Directorate of Education, then was transferred to doctor of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Thieves entered the ancestral temple and the golden spirit tablet of the eighth chamber was lost. He was dismissed on that account. Duan was a ritual official, not a custodian by statute, and ought not to have been punished. Yet he did not argue the point. Soon he was appointed Hanlin compiler, promoted to attendant draftsman, selected as vice chancellor of the Directorate of Education, and then made direct Hanlin academician, with rank grand master for splendid happiness.
29
端善為政，筮仕湘陰，猾吏束手，不敢舞文法，豪民無賴者遠避去。 部使者行部，旁郡滯訟，皆諉端讞，端剖決如流，績譽籍然。 其文章嚴謹有法，寧約近瘠，無奢滋駁。 居翰林久，至順、元統以來，國家崇號，慈極升祔先朝，加封宣聖考妣，制冊多出其手。 預修文宗、明宗、寧宗三朝實錄，及累朝功臣列傳，時稱其有史才。 初，文宗建奎章閣，搜羅中外才俊置其中，嘗語阿榮曰：「當今文學之士，朕惟未識謝端。」 亡何，文宗崩，竟不及用端。 端又與趙郡蘇天爵同著《正統論》，辨金、宋正統甚悉，世多傳之。 至元六年卒，年六十二。 元世蜀士以文名者，曰虞集，而謝端其次云。
Duan was skilled at governing. When he first took office at Xiangyin, crafty clerks held their hands and dared not manipulate the law, and overbearing commoners and ruffians kept far away. When the circuit envoy made his inspection rounds, stalled lawsuits from neighboring prefectures were all referred to Duan for judgment. He decided them like flowing water, and his reputation spread widely. His literary compositions were strict and disciplined in method, preferring restraint and approaching spareness, without extravagant excess or confusion. He long served in the Hanlin Academy. From the Zhishun and Yuantong reigns onward, when the state honored imperial titles, when the empress dowager of utmost kindness was enshrined with former emperors, and when Confucius's parents received added enfeoffment, many of the edicts and patent letters came from his hand. He took part in compiling the Veritable Records of the Wenzong, Mingzong, and Ningzong reigns, and the collected biographies of meritorious ministers of successive reigns. People of the time said he had talent for history. Earlier, when Emperor Wenzong established the Kuizhang Pavilion and gathered talented men from within and without to place there, he once told Arong: "Among literary men today, I alone have not yet met Xie Duan." Before long Emperor Wenzong died, and in the end Duan was never employed. Duan also co-authored the 《Discourse on Legitimate Succession》 with Su Tianjue of Zhao Commandery, thoroughly arguing the legitimate succession of Jin and Song. The world widely circulated it. In the sixth year of the Zhizheng reign he died, at the age of sixty-two. Among Shu scholars famed for letters in the Yuan, Yu Ji was foremost, and Xie Duan was second.