Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance
By Sima Guang
Translated By Yiming Yang
Annals of Han Book 9 Scroll 17 (continued)
The 6th year of the Emperor Wu’s Jianyuan Era (135 B.C.)
On February 3 of the spring, a fire occurred at the Shrine of Emperor Gaozu in Liáodōng commandery, causing damage.
On April 21 of the summer, a fire broke out at the side house in Emperor Gaozu’s tomb. As a result, the Emperor wore plain mourning clothes for five days.
On May 26, the Grand Empress Dowager Dou passed away.
On June 3, the Chancellor Xu Chang was dismissed from office. Marquis Wu’an, Tian Fen, was appointed as Chancellor.
Tian Fen was spendthrift and self-indulgent. He built vast mansions that outclassed any other residence; his manors were the most fecund. The carriages bearing tribute from the counties and commanderies crowded before his gates. He accepted bribes from across the realm, and his household overflowed with treasures, concubines, hounds, steeds, and musicians, the luxuries beyond reckoning. When presenting memorials to the Emperor, he would discourse from morning till night, and all he spoke was approved. Those whom he recommended swiftly rose to ranks as high as two-thousand-piculs, and his influence came to surpass that of the throne.
The Emperor once complained to him, “All the ministers have been appointed by you; I had wished to make some appointments myself.” When Tian Fen petitioned for land from the imperial armory to expand his mansion, the Emperor grew angry, saying, “Why don’t you take the entire armory for yourself?” After this, Tian Fen restrained his conduct somewhat.
In August of autumn, a comet appeared in the east, its tail stretching across the sky.
In this same year, the King of Minyue, Zou Ying, raised an army and attacked the borderlands of Nanyue. The King of Nanyue, mindful of his allegiance to the Emperor, dared not raise troops without imperial authorization and dispatched an envoy to submit a memorial reporting the matter.
The Emperor, moved by his loyalty, resolved to act. He ordered the Grand Herald, Wang Hui, to set forth from Yuzhang Commandery, and the Minister of Agriculture, Han Anguo, to march from Kuaiji Commandery, each commanding forces to chastise Minyue.
At this time, the Prince of Huainan, Liu An, memorialized to remonstrate:
“Your Majesty, who reigns over all under Heaven, has extended benevolence and nurtured virtue. Within the seas, all is at peace, and the people live in harmony. Throughout your reign, there has been no turmoil or disorder. Now I hear that officials propose to raise an army to chastise Minyue, and I, your humble subject, am compelled to offer my counsel.
“Yuè is an outer land, inhabited by those who cut their hair and tattoo their bodies. They do not submit to the codes and customs of the Middle Kingdom. Since the days of the Three Dynasties, the Nomads and Yuè have never willingly adopted our calendar and rites. It was not that the Three Dynasties lacked strength to subdue them, but rather that these peoples dwell in inhospitable places and pursue ways intractable to governance.
“Since the founding of Han, seventy-two years have passed. Though conflicts among the Yuè have been numerous, the Son of Heaven has never campaigned personally against them. Their lands lack walled cities and ordered towns; they live in valleys and among bamboo groves, skilled in river warfare and adept at boat-fighting. Their terrain is dense with forests and cut by treacherous waters; to one ignorant of the land, one hundred soldiers from the Middle Kingdom would scarcely match one of theirs. Those who seize their territory cannot establish counties and commanderies; those who attack cannot gain swift victories. The strategic passes and rivers, though appearing close on a map, span hundreds and thousands of miles in truth. Many routes are unrecorded and unknown. Though the path seems near, it is exceedingly difficult.
“Now, by the blessings of the ancestral temples, all under Heaven enjoys peace. Men grow old and grey without knowing warfare; fathers, sons, and wives live in security. This is due to Your Majesty’s virtue. Yuè is named a vassal only in empty words. They offer no tribute, no sacrifices; they do not provide soldiers for the army. Their internal strife is constant. If Your Majesty now dispatches forces to intervene in their squabbles, it would exhaust the wealth of the Middle Kingdom for the sake of barbarians.
“Moreover, the Yuè are rash and fickle, ignorant of propriety, prone to breaking faith. If whenever they disobey, we raise armies to punish them, then campaigns will be endless, and the soldiers of the empire will know no rest.”
“Of late, the realm has suffered successive years of poor harvests and famine. People have sold their titles and married away their sons into in-law’s households merely to sustain themselves. Only through Your Majesty’s benevolence and relief efforts so that the ditches and valleys have not been filled with corpses. Yet it has been four years of failed crops, and now a fifth year with the scourge of locusts. The people’s vitality has not yet recovered.
“Now to raise an army to march thousands of miles, to bear clothing and provisions over rugged terrain, to carry litters over mountains and drag boats across rivers, traversing countless valleys choked with dense forests and bamboo, would impose untold hardship. Soldiers would journey across hundreds and thousands of li, striking against rocks in the water, threading through woods rife with venomous serpents and fierce beasts. In the sweltering summer, fevers, dysenteries, and pestilences will inevitably follow. Even before encountering the enemy, deaths and injuries will be many.
“In former days, when the King of Nanhai(Zhi) rebelled, Your Majesty’s subject, my late father, dispatched the general Jian Ji to lead an expedition. Though some among the Nanhai forces defected and surrendered, and were thereafter resettled in the upstream of Ganshui River, the Han forces withdrew without deep incursion, yet later, rebellion revived. That summer happened to be very hot and rainy, and many of our naval troops, confined aboard ship for months, succumbed to waterborne diseases before they ever faced battle. Without fighting, more than half perished. The old mourned, orphans wailed, households were broken, estates left desolate. Families had to journey a thousand li to collect the bones of their dead, wrapping them for burial and bringing them home. Their grief and lamentations have endured for years without ceasing. Even now, elders recall those sorrows.
“All this befell us though our forces had not yet entered enemy lands.
“Your Majesty’s virtue matches Heaven and Earth, your light shines like the Sun and Moon, your benevolence extends to the grass and trees, and you are grieved when even a single soul endures hunger or cold or is cut short before their appointed years. Yet now, with no hounds barking at the borders, no clamor of arms within the seas, Your Majesty would send tens of thousands to perish in the wilderness, to stain the mountains and rivers with blood, to expose their corpses to sun and carrion birds. Border towns will bolt their gates at dusk and hesitate to open them at dawn, and the people at sunrise will not know what disaster may befall them at sunset.
“I, your humble servant, bow low and beg that Your Majesty weigh this matter again.”
“Those unacquainted with the terrain of the southern reaches often assume that the Yuè tribes are numerous, their armies formidable, and thus a threat to our border cities. Yet in the days when Huáinán remained whole, before it was partitioned into three polities, I was acquainted with many who held office near the frontier. From them I learned that the land there differs markedly from that of the Middle Kingdom. Lofty mountains mark the bounds, where human footprints are scarce and the passage of chariots is hindered—thus do Heaven and Earth place a barrier between the inner realm and the outer wilds.
“When the Yuè tribes venture northward into the Middle Kingdom, they must first descend to the basin of the Lǐng River. There, mountain torrents surge through precipitous gorges, strewn with tumbling rocks that may shatter vessels. Provisions cannot be conveyed downstream in large boats; the route is treacherous and impassable for loaded craft.
“Should the Minyue harbor designs of mischief, they must first cultivate fields and amass grain at Yúgan County. Only then may they approach the border, fell timber, and fashion boats. Yet the defenses of the frontier cities are ever watchful. When the Minyue cross the boundary and commence logging, our garrisons promptly seize them and set fire to their storehouses. However many their number, what force can they muster against fortified cities?
“Moreover, the Yuè people are of lean frame and want capable commanders. They possess neither cavalry nor chariot legions, and they are unskilled in the arts of crossbow and siege. Though invulnerable to conquest owing to the defenses of their rugged terrain, they themselves are ill-suited for campaigns in the Middle Kingdom, whose climate and customs lie beyond their ken.
“It is said that the Yuè commanded several hundred thousand armed men. Yet to subdue them, an invading host must outnumber them fivefold, and this reckoning omits those tasked with bearing provisions. The southern climes are sultry and damp. With the approach of summer, the heat intensifies, pestilence thrives, and fevers spread unchecked. Exposure to the marshes, to serpents and noxious vapors, afflicts the troops. Long before engaging the enemy, sickness fell them; oft one in ten, or even one in five, perish before a battle is fought. Even were the whole of Yuè to be taken, with its lands and its people, it would not suffice to balance the loss in men.
“It is said that after the King of Yuè was slain by his own brother, a man named Jia, the traitor was swiftly put to death, and the Yuè tribes have since lacked a sovereign. If Your Majesty desires to receive them into the fold, you may summon them to the Middle Kingdom, appoint worthy ministers to oversee their affairs, extend to them the warmth of virtue, and bestow upon them generous rewards. In so doing, they shall surely bring their elders and their young to submit themselves beneath your benevolent governance.
“If they cannot be employed directly, it would be fitting to establish a surviving scion of their royal line as a lord, thereby preserving the name of their fallen state. Grant him a title, endow him with lands, and keep him as the guardian of the Yuè people. In return, they will of their own accord offer hostages to the court, and for generations will render tribute and pay their dues. With but a seal of a square inch and a silken ribbon twelve feet long, Your Majesty shall rule the distant regions without the march of armies or the clash of arms; and your virtue shall resound beyond the borders of civilization.
“But should arms be raised and troops dispatched into their territory, alarm will spread like wildfire. The Yuè tribes will believe the generals mean to exterminate them, and they will flee into the forests and mountains, evading capture. When the army withdraws, they will reassemble and return. Should we garrison troops and maintain a permanent force in their land, over the years our strength will dwindle, our grain stores will be depleted, and the people shall suffer under the weight of war. Disorder will take root, and lawless bands shall rise.
“It is said that in the time of the Qin, Commandant Túsuī led troops against the Yuè, while Supervisor Lu oversaw the digging of a canal to open a passage. The Yuè fled into remote mountain fastnesses where the army could not follow. Qin forces remained encamped for many months, the soldiers grew weary and dispirited. When the Yuè launched their counterattack, the Qin army was crushed, and reinforcements had to be summoned. This, coupled with unrest within the realm, gave rise to great panic and caused a tide of refugees. In the east of Mount Xiāo, uprisings began to stir. Such are the perils of war—it brings calamity in all directions. I fear that if we proceed down this path, disorder will be sown, wickedness awakened, and great trouble will follow.
“I have heard that the Son of Heaven embarks on conquests, but not wars—that is, his virtue is such that none dare oppose him. Yet if, in this endeavor, a single man—be he porter or cart-driver—fails to return in safety, even should the head of the Yuè King be taken, I would feel profound shame on behalf of the Han.
“Your Majesty’s dominion extends to the Four Seas; all living things fall under your protection. Your kindness and generosity shall become the enduring blessing of the people and the legacy of future generations. The peace and security of the realm are as weighty as Mount Tài, bound fast by cords drawn from all directions. What worth is there in the land of the barbarians, that it should merit the sweat and blood of Han soldiers?
“As it is written in the Book of Songs: ‘The king is majestic and radiant; afar, the people come to him.’ Thus is the power of benevolent rule—that even those in distant lands offer themselves in submission. In my humble judgment, to send a hundred thousand troops under generals and officers is to do the work of a mere envoy.”
Reflection by Rio Grande 