Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance
By Sima Guang
Translated By Yiming Yang
Annals of Han Book 21 Scroll 29 (continued)
The 1st year of Emperor Yuan’s Jianzhao Era (38 B.C.)
In spring, on January 28, a meteor fell in the Principality of Liang.
In March, the Emperor traveled to Yong and offered sacrifice at the Altars of the Five Deities.
In winter, Liu Yuan, Prince of Hejian, was deposed and banished to Fangling for complicity in the killing of an innocent man.
The ancestral temple and garden of Empress Dowager Xiaowen (Madame Bo, mother of Emperor Wen) were abolished.
The Emperor went to the tiger menagerie to watch a beast fight, with all the ladies of the harem seated around him. A bear broke from its enclosure, climbed the railing, and attempted to enter the hall. The attendants, noblewomen, and Consort(Jieyu[Lady of Handsome Fairness]) Fu all fled in fear. But Consort(Jieyu) Feng stepped forth and stood before the bear. The attendants then slew it.
The Emperor asked, “When all were terrified, why did you stand before the bear?”
Consort Feng (Feng Jieyu) replied, “A fierce beast halts advance when it grapples with a person. I feared it would reach Your Majesty’s seat, so I used my body to block it.”
The Emperor sighed and praised her, and his favor toward her deepened. Consort Fu(Fu Jieyu) felt shamed, and thus enmity arose between her and Consort Feng(Feng Jieyu).
Consort Feng(whose name is Feng Yuan) was the daughter of Feng Fengshi, General of the Left.
The 2nd year of Emperor Yuan’s Jianzhao Era (37 B.C.)
In January of spring, the Emperor journeyed to Ganquan and performed the suburban sacrifice at the Taiyi Altar. In March, he traveled to Hedong and offered sacrifice to Queen Earth.
In April of summer, a general amnesty was proclaimed throughout the empire.
In June, the Emperor established his son Liu Xing (born by Feng Yuan)as Prince of Xindu.
Jing Fang of Dongjun had studied the Book of Changes under Jiao Yanshou of Liang principality. Jiao Yanshou often said, “He who will follow my teachings and lose his life thereby is my disciple Jing Fang.” His method excelled in interpreting disasters and transformations, dividing the sixty hexagrams and employing them daily to foresee events by observing wind, rain, cold, and warmth—each with its own verification.
Jing Fang mastered this method with singular skill. He was recommended to office as a Court Attendant on account of filial piety and incorrupt conduct, and he frequently submitted memorials concerning disasters, which were later confirmed. The Emperor esteemed him and summoned him repeatedly for inquiry.
Jing Fang said, “In ancient times, the Son of Heaven promoted the worthy according to their achievements; thus all transformations were successfully realized and auspicious signs appeared. In later ages, men were selected for their reputations, and achievements were neglected, resulting in calamities. Officials should be examined by their merits, thereby preventing disasters.”
The Emperor ordered Jing Fang to carry out the examination, and Jing Fang submitted a method for evaluating the performance of officials. The Emperor instructed the Three Excellencies and the ministers to deliberate upon it in the Warm Chamber(Heated) Palace. All judged Jing Fang’s proposal to be intricate and cumbersome, its system of mutual supervision between higher and lower ranks difficult to implement, though the Emperor inclined toward adopting it.
At that time, the provincial inspectors were presenting their annual reports in the capital. The Emperor summoned them all and commanded Jing Fang to explain his method of assessment; the inspectors likewise deemed it impracticable. Only the Grand Master of the Censorate, Zheng Hong, and the Grandee of Merit, Zhou Kan, who had at first opposed it, later gave their support.
At that time, the Director of the Palace Secretariat, Shi Xian, held exclusive authority. His friend Wulu Chongzong served as Director of the State Secretariat, and the two managed all court affairs day by day.
Once, during a banquet together, Jing Fang asked the Emperor: “Why did Kings You and Li of Zhou fall into peril? Whom did they employ?”
The Emperor replied, “Those lords lacked wisdom, and the men they employed were cunning sycophants.”
Jing Fang asked, “Did they know these men were sycophants and yet employ them, or did they take them for the virtuous?”
The Emperor said, “They took them for the virtuous.”
Jing Fang continued, “Then how do we now know that they were not virtuous?”
The Emperor replied, “Because their age fell into chaos, and the lords met with calamity.”
Jing Fang said, “If this is so, then employing the worthy certainly brings order, and employing the unworthy certainly brings chaos. This is an unchanging principle. Why, then, did Kings You and Li of Zhou not comprehend this and seek out the worthy? Why did they persist in employing the unworthy and bring peril upon themselves?”
The Emperor replied, “Lords in a time of disorder each believe their ministers to be virtuous. If all could discern the truth as plainly as we do now, how could any ruler lead his state into chaos and ruin?”
Jing Fang said, “Duke Huan of Qi and the Second Emperor of Qin also heard of those rulers and mocked them. Yet they themselves employed eunuch Shu Diao and Zhao Gao, plunging their realms ever deeper into chaos until bandits filled the mountains. Why did they not divine the faults of Kings You and Li of Zhou and awaken to their own misjudgment?”
The Emperor replied, “Only those of superior insight can infer the future from the past.”
Jing Fang then removed his cap, bowed, and said: “The Spring and Autumn Annals record two hundred and forty-two years of disasters to warn the rulers of all ages. Since Your Majesty ascended the throne, there have been eclipses and retrograde stars, landslides and erupting springs, earthquakes and falling stones, frosts in summer, thunder in winter, withering in spring, flourishing in autumn, unseasonable frosts that failed to kill pests, floods, droughts, locusts, famine, pestilence, rampant banditry, and execution grounds filled to excess—every disaster set forth in the Spring and Autumn Annals has manifested. Does Your Majesty deem the present condition one of order or of chaos?”
The Emperor said, “It is greatly chaotic—what need is there to say more?”
Jing Fang asked, “Who are those now employed?”
The Emperor replied, “Indeed, I believe we fare better than the old regimes of Qi and Qin, and the fault does not lie with these men.”
Jing Fang said, “The rulers of old thought the same. I fear that future generations will judge the present as we judge the past.”
After a long silence, the Emperor asked, “Who is causing the present disorder?”
Jing Fang replied, “A wise lord should have known this of himself.”
The Emperor said, “I do not know. If I knew, why would I employ them?”
Jing Fang answered, “Those whom Your Majesty trusts most—who deliberate within the inner chambers and determine promotions and demotions—these are the ones.”
Jing Fang’s meaning pointed to Shi Xian. The Emperor understood and said to him, “I have got what you mean.” Jing Fang withdrew, but afterward the Emperor still could not bring himself to dismiss Shi Xian.
Reflection by Rio Grande 
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