Book of Wu · Biographies of Wang Fan, Lou Xuan, He Shao, Wei Yao, and Hua He

Wang Fan, courtesy name Yongyuan, was from Lujiang. Widely read and informed, he also mastered technical arts. He first served as Gentleman of the Masters of Writing, then left office. On Sun Xiu's accession, he, He Shao, Xue Ying, and Yu Si became Cavalier Central Regular Attendants, all additionally Commandants of Escorting Cavalry, praised for purity by contemporary opinion. Sent as envoy to Shu, Fan was praised there; returning, he became Army Supervisor at Xiakou.

At the beginning of Sun Hao's reign he again became Regular Attendant, serving alongside Wan Yu. Yu had old ties with Hao and, a vulgar man given to encroachment, felt Fan despised him. Deputy Director of the Secretariat Chen Sheng, Hao's favorite, also repeatedly slandered Fan. Lofty and upright in spirit, Fan could not accommodate expressions or follow wishes, sometimes displeasing Hao and accumulating reproaches.

In Ganlu's second year Ding Zhong returned from Jin, and Hao held a great assembly. Fan became deeply drunk and slumped forward. Suspicious and displeased, Hao had him carried outside, then recalled him shortly afterward, still drunk. Naturally dignified, Fan moved and behaved as usual. Hao furiously ordered attendants to behead him below the hall. General of the Guards Teng Mu and General Who Campaigns against the West Liu Ping pleaded unsuccessfully.

Chancellor Lu Kai memorialized: “Regular Attendant Wang Fan was balanced within, understood principle, and knew Heaven and things. Loyal and outspoken at court, he was a great pillar of the state, great Wu's Guan Longfeng. He served Emperor Jing (Sun Xiu) <a posthumous imperial title>, offering counsel nearby; Emperor Jing (Sun Xiu) admired him as exceptional. Yet angered by bitter words and direct replies, you beheaded him in the hall and abandoned his body. The country grieves and the discerning mourn.” Such was Kai's grief for Fan. Fan died aged thirty-nine. Hao exiled his family to Guang Province. His younger brothers Wang Zhu and Wang Yan were both fine talents. Refusing service to the rebel Guo Ma, they were killed.

Lou Xuan, courtesy name Chengxian, was from Qi in Pei Commandery. Under Sun Xiu he was Agricultural Supervising Censor. On Sun Hao's accession he, Wang Fan, Guo Chuo, and Wan Yu became Cavalier Central Regular Attendants. He went out as Administrator of Kuaiji and returned as Minister of Agriculture. The palace's chief supervisor had traditionally been an intimate attendant. Yu argued that close, confidential offices required good men. Hao ordered the authorities to seek someone loyal and pure, and appointed Xuan Commandant of the Palace Guard beneath the Palace, managing affairs within. Coming from the Nine Ministries to attend with a sword, Xuan set an upright example, enforced law, and replied bluntly, repeatedly displeasing Hao and increasingly receiving angry reproaches. Later someone falsely accused Xuan and He Shao of stopping together, whispering, laughing loudly, and slandering government. An edict interrogated them, and Xuan was sent to Guang Province.

Hua He, Director of the Eastern Observatory, memorialized:

“Governing a state resembles managing a household. Those over fields should be good and trustworthy, and one man must coordinate details and maintain order before affairs are regulated. The Analects says: ‘Was not Shun one who governed without action? He merely reverently faced south.’ It means he appointed the right people and could therefore enjoy ease. The realm is unsettled and affairs numerous. Great and small must all be reported and pass the imperial seat, exhausting your sacred deliberations. Your Majesty studies antiquity, comprehends literature and arts, loves the Way, and regulates vital breath with the seasons. You need peaceful leisure to extend divine thought, inhaling pure influences and matching Heaven's utmost reach. Day and night I consider the officials: none surpasses Lou Xuan in ability to bear responsibility and deserve trust <the supplied phrase 足委丈 is irregular>. His pure loyalty and public devotion crown the age; all admire his integrity and none rivals him. Purity makes the heart impartial and purpose upright; loyalty follows only the correct Way. Xuan's nature can be trusted from beginning to end. Pardon his past fault, let him renew himself, raise him to chief administrative office, and demand future results. Let him choose men for offices and assign responsibilities according to talent. Shun's reverent inactivity could then soon be attained.”

Hao resented Xuan's reputation and again moved him with his son Lou Ju, handing them to Jiaozhi's general Zhang Yi to prove themselves in warfare, while secretly ordering Yi to kill Xuan. Ju reached Jiaozhi and died of illness. Xuan alone followed Yi against rebels, carrying a blade and crossing waters on foot, bowing whenever he saw Yi. Yi could not bear to kill him. Yi suddenly died. Xuan prepared his burial and found the secret edict among his belongings. Returning, he killed himself.

He Shao, courtesy name Xingbo, was from Shanyin in Kuaiji.

On Sun Xiu's accession he advanced from Gentleman-General to Cavalier Central Regular Attendant, then went out as Administrator of Wu Commandery. Under Sun Hao he returned as Director of the Left Army, advancing to Director of the Secretariat and concurrent Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. Hao was cruel and arrogant and government worsened daily. Shao remonstrated:

“The ancient sage kings could remain within deep chambers yet know conditions ten thousand li away, sit with folded hands yet illuminate the eight limits, through employing worthy men. Your Majesty's supreme virtue and excellent nature inherit the imperial enterprise. Lead by following the Way, reverently preserve sacred authority, honor worthies and goodness, and bring peace to affairs. Recently court ranks have become confused, true and false exchanged, offices above and below empty, civil and military positions vacant. Outside there are no mountain-like defenders, inside no ministers supplying omissions. Flatterers beat their wings for heavenly flight, manipulate authority, and steal honor and profit, while loyal men are cast out and trusted servants harmed. Upright men break their principles, commonplace ministers flatter, anticipating wishes and following fashion. Men hold judgments contrary to principle and voice arguments opposed to the Way, muddying clear streams and silencing loyal tongues. Your Majesty sits above nine heavens, hidden in countless chambers; words bend others like wind and commands are followed like shadows. Intimate with flattering favorites and daily hearing agreeable words, you may think these men truly worthy and the realm already peaceful. My heart is uneasy: how dare I not report it? Rulers who prosper delight in hearing faults; disordered rulers delight in praise. Faults heard diminish and blessings arrive; praise heard diminishes deserved praise and brings calamity. Ancient rulers yielded to promote worthies and emptied themselves to seek correction, comparing the throne to riding a runaway horse and taking a tiger's tail as warning. You instead use severe laws to forbid honest speech, dismiss good men to repel remonstrators, confuse praise and blame, and sink into intimates' words. Emperor Gaozong (Wu Ding) <a Shang temple title> sought assistance and found a worthy man in dreams, while you seek as though forgetting and disregard as though discarding. Former Regular Attendant Wang Fan was loyal in public duty and fit to assist, yet suffered slaughter for drunkenness. Recently Grand Herald Ge Xi, an old servant of the late emperor (Sun Quan), offended with drunken words, which ritual excuses after three cups. You needlessly unleashed thunderous wrath, called it contempt, and made him drink strong wine until poisoning killed him. Thereafter all within the seas grieved and ministers lost direction. Officials count retirement fortunate and residents departure a blessing. This cannot preserve the great inheritance or exalt the Way's transforming influence. He Ding was a petty runner beneath the rank of servants, without the slightest worthy conduct or even a hawk's or hound's usefulness. Yet you love his flattery and lend him authority, letting him indulge favor, monopolize rewards and punishments, pronounce national policy, and manipulate Heaven's machinery. Above he dims sun and moon; below he blocks gentlemen's paths. Petty men seeking favor offer wicked gains. Ding recklessly started labor projects, levied riverside garrison soldiers to drive deer, fenced mountains, cleared forests, and exhausted the wilderness's beasts into great enclosures. There was no benefit to the times above, only waste below. Soldiers wear out transporting them, manpower is exhausted driving them, the weak and old starve and freeze, and all resentfully sigh. In recent years yin and yang have been disordered, seasons reversed, with eclipses, earthquakes, and midsummer frost. Examined against the classics, these all arise from yin overpowering yang and petty men manipulating power. Comparing books and events, I tremble at calamities' responses. Gaozong (Wu Ding) cultivated himself to dispel the pheasant omen at the cauldron; Duke Jing of Song (Zi Touman) exalted virtue to make Mars retreat. Fear Heaven's warnings above and follow these rulers' averting disaster below. Survey former ages' success in employing worthies and recognize today's mistaken appointments. Purify court positions, promote outstanding men, dismiss evil flatterers, and suppress their power. Never employ them again. Broadly invite overlooked talent, accept direct words, reverently follow Heaven's intent and the inherited enterprise. Then great transformation will shine and Heaven's and men's hopes be fulfilled. Tradition says: ‘A rising state treats people as infants; a falling state treats them as grass.’ When your radiance and virtue were hidden in the east, you rose like a dragon in response to Heaven with sage gifts. The four seas stretched their necks and eight directions wiped their eyes, expecting King Cheng (Ji Song) and King Kang (Ji Zhao) <Zhou royal titles>'s prosperity at once. Yet since accession laws have grown harsher and taxes heavier. Palace eunuchs spread through provinces and commanderies, arbitrarily launching labor and competing for wicked profits. Households suffer exhausted looms and endless demands; old and young hunger and freeze, faces show starvation. Senior officials fear punishment and impose harsh laws to force completion. Strength fails, households scatter, and cries damage harmonious energies. Riverside garrisons should extend territory in distant plans and guard boundaries against immediate dangers; favor and nourish them for emergencies. Instead levies arrive like smoke and clouds. Clothes do not provide even a complete coarse tunic, meals not enough morning and evening. Outside they face blades and arrows; inside helpless grief. Fathers and sons abandon one another and deserters form lines. Lighten taxes, remove vexations, relieve the poor, cut unurgent projects, and simplify prohibitions and laws. Then the realm will enjoy work and transforming influence spread. People are the state's foundation and food their life. Now the state lacks a year's reserve and households a month's supply, yet over ten thousand in the inner palace eat without work. Inside are grievances of separation and unused women; outside waste and expense. Treasuries and granaries empty on useless purposes while soldiers and commoners hunger even for chaff. The northern enemy watches our rise and fall. Instead of relying on your own authority and virtue, you rely on its not coming, ignoring universal poverty and treating the enemy as harmless. This is no lasting strategy for victory in council. Great Emperor (Sun Quan) <a posthumous imperial title> labored painfully to found the south, hold rivers and mountains, and extend territory ten thousand li. Heaven helped, but human effort truly achieved it. Inherited blessings reach Your Majesty. Cultivate virtue and capacity to illuminate earlier greatness, love people, nourish soldiers, and preserve the old course. How can you neglect your illustrious ancestor's toil, slight a hard-won enterprise, forget the world's distress, and disregard the great changes of rise and fall? Adversity and prosperity are not constant; fortune and disaster depend on men. The Yangzi barrier cannot be trusted forever: undefended, it can be crossed on a reed. Qin established the imperial title and held Yao and Hangu's defenses, but failed in virtue, practiced harsh government, poisoned the people, and silenced loyalty. One man's great cry overturned the state. Recently the Liu house held three passes and layered mountains, a golden city and stone chamber fit for ages. Wrong appointments lost it in one day, ruler and ministers bound by the neck as servants. This is our age's clear mirror and warning before our eyes. Examine former affairs and present changes, strengthen the foundation, cut off private feeling to follow the Way. Then Cheng and Kang's order will rise and the sacred ancestor's succession flourish.”

Hao deeply hated the memorial. Shao's upright public service made the intimates fear him. They jointly accused Shao and Lou Xuan of slandering affairs, and both were interrogated. Xuan went south; Shao was pardoned and restored. Later Shao suffered a wind illness and could not speak, leaving office for months. Hao suspected feigned sickness, confined him in the wine stores, and had him tortured a thousand times. Shao never spoke and was finally killed. His family was exiled to Linhai, and an edict ordered Xuan's sons and grandsons executed too. This was Tiance's first year. Shao was forty-nine.

Wei Yao, courtesy name Hongsi, was from Yunyang in Wu Commandery.

Fond of learning and able to compose from youth, he advanced from assistant to the chancellor to Magistrate of Xi'an, returned as Gentleman of the Masters of Writing, and became Palace Gentleman to the Crown Prince. Cai Ying also served in the Eastern Palace and liked board games. Crown Prince Sun He considered them useless and ordered Yao to write this discussion:

“A gentleman is ashamed to pass his prime without achievement and grieves to leave the world without renown. Thus it is said: ‘Learn as though never catching up, and still fear losing it.’ Ancient men of purpose mourned passing years and feared an unestablished name. They refined their energies and conduct, rose early and slept late, without leisure, accumulating months and years and daily effort. Like Ning Yue's diligence and Master Dong (Dong Zhongshu)'s devotion, they gradually immersed themselves in virtue and duty and dwelt within the Way and arts. Even the sage Earl of the West (Ji Chang) <the Zhou founder's pre-royal title> and talented Duke of Zhou (Ji Dan) <the Zhou regent's title> labored until the sun declined and waited for dawn. Thus they raised Zhou's Way and transmitted fame for countless years. How much less may ministers and commoners stop? Surveying men of achievement through ancient and modern ages, all accumulated exceptional deeds, toiled bodily, and thought diligently, never neglecting their work in leisure or changing their principles in adversity. Bu Shi fixed his purpose on farming and herding; Huang Ba received teaching in prison. Both attained distinction and immortal names. Zhong Shanfu labored early and late, and Wu Han never left the public gate. What leisure had they for idleness? Nowadays many neglect classical learning and delight in games, abandoning duties and careers, forgetting sleep and food, exhausting daylight and continuing by candles. Contending at the board with victory undecided, they concentrate fiercely until mind and body weary, neglecting human affairs and receiving no guests. Even a feast of the full sacrificial animals or the music of Shao and Xia cannot claim their attention. Some gamble clothes and possessions, shift pieces and alter moves; shame loosens and angry looks appear. Yet their purpose never leaves one board and their labor never extends beyond its squares. Defeating an enemy brings no title; taking territory adds no real land. Their skill is not one of the Six Arts and its use does not govern a state. Those establishing themselves do not advance by it, nor are candidates selected through it. In warfare it is no company for Sun Wu and Wu Qi; in the Way and arts, no school of Confucius. Making deception its task is not loyalty and trust; naming moves ‘robbery’ and ‘killing’ is not humanity. It wastes days and work without benefit, no different from setting up wood to strike or stones to throw at. At home a gentleman diligently supports parents; at court he devotes life to loyalty. Affairs already keep him from eating until late: how can he indulge games? Thus filial and fraternal conduct stands and a name for purity shines. Great Wu has received the mandate, but the realm is unsettled. The sacred court tirelessly seeks men. Brave strategists receive bear-and-tiger responsibilities; cultivated scholars enter dragon-and-phoenix offices. Every virtue is embraced and civil and military talents advance together. Good men are broadly selected and outstanding youths honored, with clear standards and golden seals and titles as rewards. This is an excellent meeting in a thousand years, an opportunity in a hundred ages. Contemporary gentlemen should strive for the utmost Way, cherish achievement and strength, and assist the enlightened age, recording names in histories and merit in the covenant archive. These are a gentleman's highest tasks and today's urgent needs. How does one wooden board compare with a territorial fief? How do three hundred lifeless pieces compare with commanding ten thousand men? Dragon-patterned ceremonial robes and music of metal and stone can more than replace game boards. If men applied gaming effort to the Odes and Documents, they would have Yan Hui's and Min Ziqian's purpose; to intelligent planning, Zhang Liang's and Chen Ping's thought; to commerce, Yi Dun's wealth; to archery and driving, generals' equipment. Then achievement and fame would stand and humble obscurity recede.”

After He's deposition Yao became Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate. On Sun Liang's accession Zhuge Ke, as regent, recommended him as Director of the Grand Astrologer's Office to compile the History of Wu, joined by Hua He, Xue Ying, and others. Under Sun Xiu he became Secretariat Gentleman and Chief of the Erudites, ordered to collate the books following Liu Xiang's precedent. Xiu also wanted him to lecture in attendance, but General of the Left Zhang Bu, an intimate favorite with many stains in conduct, feared this precise scholar would warn Xiu through ancient and modern examples and firmly opposed it. Xiu deeply resented Bu, as recorded in his biography, but Yao ultimately did not enter.

Sun Hao's accession brought the marquisate of Gaoling Village and Vice Director of the Secretariat. When the office was reduced he became Palace Attendant, always retaining the post of Left State Historian. Local officials followed the ruler's wishes by repeatedly reporting auspicious signs. Asked, Yao said: “These are merely things from people's baskets and chests.” Hao also wanted an imperial annal for his father He. Yao insisted He had never ascended the throne and should have a biography. Repeated incidents gradually brought anger and reproach. Increasingly afraid, Yao pleaded age and requested to leave both attendance and historical offices, asking to finish his books and have his other duties transferred. Hao always refused. Even when he fell ill, physicians and overseers guarded him more closely. Hao's banquets lasted all day. Everyone, capable or not, had a quota of seven sheng of wine; if not swallowed, it was poured over them until exhausted. Yao ordinarily could drink no more than two sheng. At first, when specially honored, his quota was reduced or tea secretly substituted. After favor declined, he was forced and refusal became a crime. After drinking, Hao ordered attendants to challenge high ministers, mocking them, exposing private faults for pleasure. Excesses or accidental infringement of Hao's naming taboo brought arrest, binding, and even execution. Yao thought mutual injury outside bred resentment within and damaged harmonious dignity. He therefore confined challenges to classical meanings and discussion. Hao considered this failure to obey and lack of full loyalty. Accumulating old and new resentment, he imprisoned Yao in Fenghuang's second year.

Through the prison officers Yao submitted:

“This prisoner has received unparalleled grace and pity, yet repaid not a hair's worth, disgracing favor and sinking into extreme guilt. Thinking of annihilation and abandonment beneath the yellow springs, I earnestly cherish something I wish made known. Earlier I saw ancient chronological annotations circulating, full of empty inventions and errors even in books. Comparing historical records and differences and gathering what I could hear and see, I composed the Comprehensive Chronicle in three juan from Paoxi (Fuxi) to Qin and Han. I intended a separate juan from Huangwu onward, not yet completed. Liu Xi's Explaining Names contains much excellent material, but objects are too numerous for exhaustive accuracy. There are therefore successes and failures, including errors about offices and titles. These are urgent today and should not remain mistaken. Forgetting my insignificance, I also wrote one juan each of Explanations of Official Positions and Discussion of Explaining Names, intending to submit them. Fresh copying was barely finished when my misconduct brought special imprisonment. At death I regret their not reaching you. Before dying I respectfully state their circumstances and beg that the Secret Library be instructed to collect them outside and present them within. Fearful and shallow, unworthy of Heaven's hearing, I breathe like a frightened sparrow and beg pity and examination.”

Yao hoped thus to escape, but Hao instead questioned why the books were dirty and old. Yao answered: “I truly intended to submit them, but fearing errors read them repeatedly and unknowingly stained them. Questioned, I shiver with fear, body and breath faltering. I respectfully submit this further statement, knocking my head five hundred times and striking myself with both hands.” Hua He repeatedly memorialized to save him:

“Yao encountered an opportunity in a thousand years and received special recognition. His Confucian learning admitted him among historians and fur-and-cicada-crowned palace attendants answering sacred questions. The court's humane devotion honors the dead and distant. At the welcoming of the spirit, Your Majesty tearfully instructed Yao. Foolishly he failed to understand and proclaim your Shun-like virtue, instead binding himself to historical rules, leaving your sacred intention unnarrated and supreme conduct unmanifest. This ignorance indeed deserves death. Yet I earnestly observe his tireless study from youth into old age, probing ancient writings, reviewing old knowledge to gain new understanding, and comprehending affairs past and present. Few outside officials surpass him. Li Ling, a Han general defeated in battle, surrendered to the Xiongnu. Sima Qian did not condemn him but argued his case. Emperor Wu (Liu Che) of Han <a posthumous imperial title> valued Qian's historical talent and wished him to finish his work, restraining himself from execution. The history was completed and transmitted forever. Yao in Wu is likewise Han's Historian Qian (Sima Qian). Auspicious signs have appeared repeatedly, divine indications and heavenly responses in succession. Unity should not be far away. After settlement, institutions must suit the time. The Three Kings did not inherit identical rites nor the Five Emperors identical music; simplicity and refinement differ and additions and reductions vary. We need men like Yao to consult ancient principles and establish changes. Han inherited Qin and had Shusun Tong to settle its age's ceremonies. Yao's learning ranks next to Tong's. Moreover the History of Wu has taken shape but its narrative appraisals remain unwritten. Ban Gu's History of Han was elegant and authoritative; Liu Zhen, Liu Yi, and others' later Annals of Han fell far short, especially in biographical appraisals. Our History of Wu will endure a thousand years, arranging officials and allowing later talents to judge good and bad. Without a fine man like Yao, this immortal book cannot be left deficient. Dull as I am, I am certainly not that man. Yao is already seventy with few years left. Reduce his offense one degree, make him a lifelong convict, and let him finish the books, preserving them for later generations and a hundred ages. I respectfully submit this and knock my head a hundred times.”

Hao refused, executed Yao, and exiled his family to Lingling <the supplied phrase 徙百家 is irregular>. His son Wei Long also possessed literary learning.

Hua He, courtesy name Yongxian, was from Wujin in Wu Commandery. Beginning as Commandant of Shangyu and Commandant of Qunong, he entered as Gentleman of the Secret Library through literary ability and became Deputy Director of the Secretariat. When Wei annexed Shu, he went to the palace gate and memorialized: “Recently we heard rebel troops gathered like ants against the western border. Its difficulties seemed to promise safety. Now Lu Kang's report confirms Chengdu has fallen, ruler and ministers scattered, and the state's altars overturned. When Di destroyed Wei, Duke Huan (Jiang Xiaobai) preserved it. Today distance prevents rescue. An attached territory and tributary state are lost. Though insignificant as grass, I am uneasy. Your Majesty's sacred humanity and far-reaching grace must grieve at the sudden news. Unable to contain my sorrow, I respectfully report it.”

On Sun Hao's accession He became Marquis of Xuling Village. In Baoding's second year Hao built another palace, vast in plan, adorned with pearls and jade at immense expense. Construction in midsummer interrupted farming and defense alike. He remonstrated:

“In Emperor Wen (Liu Heng) of Han's age the nine provinces were peaceful. Qin's people rejoiced to leave cruel government for the Liu family's generous humanity, beginning anew with lighter service and simpler laws. Royal sons and brothers were enfeoffed as Han's supports. All thought the foundation as safe as Mount Tai and enduring forever. Jia Yi alone found three causes for tears and six for deep sighs, comparing the situation to sleeping over piled firewood with a flame beneath, calling it safe before the fire caught. Later disturbances matched his words. Foolish and ignorant of great principles, I compare those earlier affairs with today's circumstances. Yi said that in a few years the kings would be strong and Han's appointed tutors and chancellors retire pleading illness; not even Yao and Shun could secure such government. Now our great enemy holds the nine provinces and most of the population, practices inherited methods of attack, and exploits its old military strength. Our mutual contest for annexation resembles Chu and Han, unable to coexist, not merely Han's kings of Huainan and Jibei. Yi's cause for tears was less urgent than ours; his image of sleeping on firewood applies more urgently today. Great Emperor (Sun Quan), studying earlier ages and present circumstances, expanded farming and sericulture, amassed incalculable stores, pitied the people, treated labor as weighty, and nourished fighting men. All felt gratitude and wished to devote their lives. Before the destined opportunity came he abandoned the many states. Thereafter powerful ministers monopolized government, defied Heaven's timing above and public counsel below, forgot preservation's foundation, and pursued momentary gains. Repeated campaigns emptied treasuries, wearied soldiers, and exhausted people without peace. Today's survivors are the remnant of wounds, sorrow, and bitterness. Military resources are empty and granaries unfilled. Seasonal cloth gifts are insufficient; loss of livelihood leaves households destitute. Meanwhile the north accumulates grain, nourishes people, and focuses east with no other alarm. Shu was our western support, with difficult defenses and the Former Ruler (Liu Bei) <Shu-Han's founding emperor>'s inherited methods of command, seemingly secure for long. Who imagined its sudden fall? When lips perish teeth grow cold: an ancient fear. The southern commanderies of Jiao Province are ours, yet Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen are lost and Rinan isolated, its survival uncertain. North of Hepu, the people waver. Escaping labor, many depart or rebel; garrisons diminish and authority weakens. I constantly fear a new change within a breath. Sea raiders formerly spied on eastern counties and captured many inhabitants. Familiar with sea travel and emboldened by earlier years, they plunder without respite. Now danger threatens front and back, head and tail: the state's critical hour. Halt building projects, prepare defenses, encourage cultivation, and avert hunger. I fear the farming season is passing and spring work grows late; an emergency could arrive before preparations are complete. Neglect this urgency for construction and a sudden invasion would force abandonment of earthworks for beacon alarms, driving resentful, suffering men against naked blades: precisely the enemy's advantage. Merely defend for long, and grain runs out, soldiers exhausted before swords meet. Under Taiwu of Shang, mulberry and grain plants grew in the court. Frightened, he cultivated virtue; the anomaly vanished and Yin flourished. Mars occupied the Heart lodge, alarming Song. Duke Jing of Song (Zi Touman) followed the blind historian's advice, Mars retreated, and his life lengthened. Self-cultivation moves other kinds of beings, and spoken words reach spirits. Ignorant as I am, mistakenly placed in a close office, I cannot extend benevolence to influence divine powers; looking up and down I am ashamed, with nowhere to turn. Reflecting privately, Mars and the anomalous plants were Heaven's warning to two rulers. Lesser recent anomalies seem only household and doorway spirits' acts: Heaven and Earth show no other changes. Auspicious responses repeatedly arrive, bright pearls and white sparrows in succession; an immense succession is truly Heaven's gift. The nine regions are your home and all the realm your household; this is no ordinary registered family's moving house. The present palace was built by the late emperor (Sun Quan), its site and foundations divined, not inauspicious. Yangshi adjoins the palace. Even when the great new work is finished and the imperial carriage moves, gate and passage spirits must move too; lasting benefit may not surpass the old. Repeated moves would be endless, yet remaining would invite suspicion. This worries me day and night. The Monthly Ordinances forbids earthworks, assemblies of lords, mobilization, and great undertakings in summer's final month, warning of disaster. Though lords do not assemble, their armies' gathering is no different. In the sixth month wu and ji days, Earth's phase reigns and must not be violated. It is also farming season, which must not be lost. Duke Yin of Lu (Ji Xigu) built Zhongqiu's walls in summer; the Spring and Autumn recorded it as a warning. Building a palace as an enduring foundation while violating Heaven and Earth's great prohibition, repeating what the Spring and Autumn censures, and abandoning reverent observance of agricultural timing deeply troubles my narrow understanding. Some summoned migrants may fail to arrive. Punishing them would interrupt construction and create new campaigns; not punishing would encourage growing contempt. If all arrive, great concentrations rarely avoid disease. Secure hearts think of goodness; suffering hearts resent and rebel. Jiangnan's picked soldiers are feared in the north, which needs ten men to match one eastern soldier. With the realm unsettled, cherish them deeply. If palace construction costs five thousand dead or deserters, the northern army gains the equivalent of fifty thousand; ten thousand lost means a hundred thousand gained. Sickness brings deaths, desertion spreads damaging accounts: both delight the enemy. We now contest strength in the Central Plains at a decisive moment. Their gain, our loss, and additional exhaustion deeply worry heroic and wise men. Former kings called a state without three years' reserves no state at all, cautious even in peace. How much more with a powerful enemy should we not neglect farming and stores? Existing crops have partly drowned in recent floods; survivors still need weeding and harvesting. Yet senior officials fear deadlines and commandery officers upstream personally enter forests to fell timber, abandoning agriculture. Soldiers' and people's weak wives and children cultivate little; drought or flood would leave nothing. Provincial grain must await emergencies, while nonproducing multitudes depend on official supply. If high and low are empty and transport fails while the northern enemy invades, even reborn Duke of Zhou (Ji Dan), Duke of Shao (Ji Shi), Zhang Liang, and Chen Ping could devise nothing for Your Majesty. With an enlightened ruler ministers are loyal; with a sage sovereign they speak directly. Thus in sorrow I risk heavenly majesty and beg pity and examination.”

Hao rejected the memorial. Later He became Director of the Eastern Observatory and concurrent Right State Historian. He memorialized declining. Hao replied: “Your memorial says the Eastern Observatory is a storehouse of Confucian scholarship, examining literary arts and settling doubts, staffed in Han by renowned great scholars; you request another worthy man. I hear your exact study of ancient writings and broad knowledge amount to delight in ritual and music and devotion to Odes and Documents. You should set your brush flying and display eloquence to glorify present affairs, surpassing Yang Xiong, Ban Gu, Zhang Heng, and Cai Yong. I wonder at your excessive modesty and self-depreciation. Exert yourself to fulfill the office and surpass earlier worthies. Say no more.”

Granaries then lacked reserves and customary extravagance increased. He memorialized:

“Raiders fill the land and campaigns continue. At home there are no accumulated years of stores, abroad no supplies sufficient against the enemy: a ruler's deepest concern. Wealth and grain all come from the people. Timely farming is the state's greatest urgency. Yet capital offices with different duties each issue levies without measuring popular strength, always imposing short deadlines. Senior officials fear punishment and press people day and night to abandon cultivation and hurry to assembly. Goods reaching the capital may merely accumulate unused, while people waste strength and lose the season. At harvest, officials demand the fixed grain levy, having taken planting time away. Arrears bring confiscation, leaving households poor and short of clothes and food. Suspend miscellaneous service and concentrate on farming and sericulture. The ancients said that when one man does not plow someone may hunger, and when one woman does not weave someone may suffer cold. Thus former kings made agriculture their concern. Nearly a hundred years of warfare have interrupted farmers' southern fields and women's looms. Many must subsist on vegetables in constant hunger and tread ice in thin clothes. A ruler asks two things of people, who hope three things from him. He asks them to labor and die for him. They hope for food when hungry, rest when tired, and reward for achievement. When people fulfill both demands but the ruler disappoints their three hopes, resentment arises and achievement fails. Now treasuries are unfilled, labor heavy, the ruler's two demands met and people's three hopes unrepaid. Hunger needs no fine dishes for satisfaction; cold needs no fox or raccoon furs for warmth. Delicacies are merely the mouth's luxury, embroidery the body's ornament. Affairs and labor abound, people are poor yet customs extravagant. Craftsmen make useless objects and women luxurious ornaments, neglecting hemp and ramie for embroidered designs. They imitate one another and are ashamed to lack them. Soldiers' and commoners' families follow fashion, keeping not a dan or shi of grain inside yet wearing fine patterned silk outside. Rich merchant households add gold and silver and are more extravagant still. While the realm is unsettled and people unsupplied, unite the sources of livelihood and expand grain and cloth production. Instead effort goes to showy skills and days to luxury, erasing rank distinctions above and consuming wealth and strength below. Few officials' and soldiers' households lack daughters; many have three or four, fewer one or two. Suppose each of a hundred thousand households has one woman weaving a bundle annually: a hundred thousand bundles result. Let all within the borders work together and in a few years cloth and silk will accumulate. Allow people the five colors as they wish, banning only useless embroidered luxury. Beautiful faces need no brilliant colors, charming figures no patterned silk; ordinary colors suffice for adornment. Powder and sumptuous clothes cannot eliminate ugly women; abandoning rich colors and embroidery cannot eliminate beautiful ones. If these luxuries truly bring no benefit when present or harm when absent, why cherish them instead of banning them to meet the treasury's emergency? This is the foremost relief of shortage and foundation of national wealth. Even Guan Zhong and Yan Ying reborn could not alter it. Han's Emperors Wen (Liu Heng) and Jing (Liu Qi) inherited peace, a settled realm, and quiet borders, yet regarded decoration as obstructing agriculture and embroidery as harming women's work, opening wealth's benefits and blocking hunger's roots. How much more now, with the six directions divided <the supplied text writes 六台>, jackals filling roads, armies at frontiers, and armor never loosened, must we broaden wealth's sources and replenish stores?”

Because He was old, Hao ordered him to draft a memorial. He dared not. Ordered again to compose a draft while Hao stood waiting, he wrote:

“Ah, petty servant He, common and slight as grass! Favored by the sage, exceptionally graced, raised from decaying soil, I shed my shell into the court. Brightness shone at the purple gates; blue-latticed doors sustained me. Cautiously drinking pure dew, I bathed in the gentle south wind. Service not a thread or hair, failings mountain-high; nourished despite stains, repeatedly pardoned. Impure substance received glory and constricted life found room. To repay boundless kindness I entrusted myself to imperial Heaven. Sacred grace pours like rain, pity discarding faults. Unexpectedly ordered to compose, your moisture reaches this fool. Not daring to fulfill the instruction, I feared swift execution. Presuming to obey the edict now, my soul departs while my body remains.”

He submitted over a hundred memorials on beneficial measures, recommending capable men and explaining offenses, all useful; their length prevents full inclusion. In Tiance's first year he was dismissed for a minor fault and died several years later. Yao's and He's discussions and memorials all circulated.

Appraisal: Xue Ying said: “Wang Fan's capacity was exceptionally broad, his learning extensive. Lou Xuan had pure integrity and orderly practical intelligence; He Shao lofty, clean purpose and clear grasp of essentials. Wei Yao devoted himself to ancient learning, read widely, and possessed historical talent.” Hu Chong considered: “Xuan, Shao, and Fan were the age's pure and subtle talents, almost without difference. Forced to rank them, Xuan should come first and Shao next. Hua He surpassed Yao in literary rhapsodies, but fell below him in formal proclamations.” I observe that He repeatedly offered sound advice, striving to give his utmost: he approached a loyal minister. Yet these men held reputation and office in an age of undeserved calamity <the supplied phrase 無妄之世 is difficult>; violent death followed naturally, escape was merely luck.