Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance(Part 236): Infertility Paranoia

Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance

By Sima Guang

Translated By Yiming Yang  

Annals of Han Book 22 Scroll 30 (continued)

The 1st year of Emperor Cheng’s Heping Era (28 B.C.)

In the spring, Du Qin recommended Wang Yanshi of Qianwei to Wang Feng, and Wang Yanshi was appointed to oversee the breach of the Yellow River. Wang Feng designated him Special Envoy for the Yellow River embankments. Wang Yanshi employed bamboo crates, each forty feet in length and nine men in circumference, filled them with small stones, and floated them downstream, each crate pressed by two boats. Within thirty-six days, the embankment was completed.

In March, an edict appointed Wang Yanshi Grand Master of Merit, with emoluments of the two-thousand-picul rank, and bestowed upon him the title of Marquis within the Passes, together with one hundred catties of gold.

In summer, on April 30, a solar eclipse occurred. An edict was issued calling upon officials and ministers to discuss the court’s faults openly and without restraint, and a general amnesty was proclaimed throughout the realm.

The Grand Master of Merit, Liu Xiang, responded: “In late April and early May, the month of this eclipse corresponds to that of the eclipse in the time of Emperor Hui, and the day of this eclipse corresponds to that in the time of Emperor Zhao. Neither of those emperors left a son. This portent thus suggests a threat to the dynastic succession.” At the time, Empress Xu monopolized the Emperor’s intimacy, and few in the harem had the opportunity to see him. Both within and beyond the palace, people feared there would be no heir. Accordingly, Du Qin, Gu Yong, and Liu Xiang all raised this concern in their responses.

The Emperor then reduced expenditures for the Pepper Chamber—the Empress’s residence—and the rear quarters of the harem. Henceforth, outlays for clothing, carriages, and other necessities were to be supplied through the various government offices, and gifts to the Empress’s family and to ministers were to follow the precedents established before the Jingning era (under Emperor Yuan).

The Empress submitted a memorial in her own defense, saying: “Times and institutions change; different measures may complement one another without departing from the Han system. Minor details cannot always be made to coincide exactly. To compare the period before the Jingning era (under Emperor Yuan) with the period before the Huanglong era (under Emperor Xuan) is unreasonable. My household staff does not understand, and this decree now makes it so that I cannot so much as move my hand freely. If I wish to have a screen made and placed somewhere, they will say, ‘There is no precedent for this,’ and I will be constrained by the decree. This truly cannot be carried out. I beg Your Majesty to reconsider!

“By precedent, sacrifices using a single head of cattle were offered to grandparents; yet my grandparents—Marquis Dai (Xu Guanghan, whose title was inherited by Xu Jia, her father) and Marquis Jing (Xu Yanshou, Xu Jia’s biological father)—have, by Your Majesty’s exceptional grace, received the honor of grand sacrifices. If we must adhere strictly to precedent, then we should offer only a single head of cattle. I beg Your Majesty to show mercy!

“Now, as soon as the officials received the decree and read it aloud, they made its meaning plain to me: that these resources are not to be treated as private household property, to be taken at will. This is the beginning of a slippery slope—constraining me in a manner contrary to human nature. I ask Your Majesty to examine this thoroughly!”

The Emperor replied, citing the statements of Gu Yong and Liu Xiang concerning disasters and portents arising from the harem: “Officials are constrained by the law and should not be overly reproached. In rectifying excess, there is often the risk of overcorrection; this has been so throughout history. The reduction of expenditures and the offering of sacrifices with only a single head of cattle are intended to foster virtue and to win for you, Empress, greater praise and renown. If the root causes of calamity are not removed, disasters will continue, and our ancestors will not receive their proper sacrifices—still less the Marquis Dai. Does not the Classic say, ‘Those who are frugal seldom go astray’? Does the Empress truly wish to pursue a path of extravagance?

“I could have followed the example of Emperor Wu; had I done so, the palaces of Ganquan and Jianzhang might have been restored. No—Emperor Wen is my model, and the Empress Dowager is the standard for the Empress. If the Empress Dowager, when she was Empress, did not attain such a standard, yet you now enjoy intimacy and favor, do you begrudge surpassing her example? The Empress should diligently cultivate virtue, practice modesty and frugality, and set a pattern for the other consorts, thereby establishing a lasting standard.”

The Palace Steward, Ping Dang of Pingling, submitted a memorial stating: “The Emperor Emeritus, founding ancestor of the Han dynasty, should not have his mausoleum and temple precincts left in neglect.” The Emperor, who was also concerned about the lack of an heir, accepted this advice. In September of autumn, the mausoleum and temple precincts of the Emperor Emeritus were restored.

An edict declared: “At present, there are more than a thousand provisions for capital punishment in the penal code, and the laws and decrees are numerous and intricate, amounting to over a hundred thousand words. Special statutes and far-reaching citations increase daily. Even those well versed in the law find them difficult to comprehend; how much more so the common people? This ensnares the innocent and leads to wrongful deaths. Is this not tragic? Discuss the reduction of capital penalties and the simplification of the laws so that they may be clear and easily understood, and submit your proposals.”

At the time, officials failed to convey and propagate the Emperor’s intent in full, merely quibbling over minor points and listing a few matters to satisfy the edict superficially.

At the New Year celebration in the first month of spring, the Chanyu of the Xiongnu sent the Right Gaolin King, Yiye Moyan, to present tributes at court.