Comprehensive Reflections to Aid in Governance
By Sima Guang
Translated By Yiming Yang
Annals of Han Book 18 Scroll 26 (continued)
The 3rd year of Emperor Xuan’s Shen’jue Era (59 B.C.)
In spring, on March 16, the Chancellor and Marquis Xian of Gaoping, Wei Xiang, passed away.
In summer, on April 29, Bing Ji was appointed Chancellor. Bing Ji was magnanimous, observed proper ritual, and avoided petty matters. His contemporary praised him for his broad understanding of affairs and grasp of the larger design.
In autumn, on July 26, Xiao Wangzhi, the Grand Herald, was elevated to Grand Master of the Censorate.
In August, an imperial edict declared: “If officials are neither upright nor impartial, governance will decay. At present even minor officials toil diligently, yet their stipends are meager. Though they may desire not to infringe upon the livelihood of the people, necessity makes restraint difficult. Increase by half the salaries of all officials below the rank of one-hundred-picul.”
In that same year, Han Yanshou, Prefect of Dongjun Commandery, was appointed Intendant of Pingyi.
Han Yanshou had previously served as Prefect of Yingchuan. The commandery, long troubled by resentment and discord between officials and people following the administration of Zhao Guanghan, was pacified under Han Yanshou’s governance. He emphasized propriety and harmonious conduct, summoning the elders to settle the customs of marriage, funeral, and ritual, restoring ancient forms without extravagance. Waste was strictly opposed; vendors of paper funerary horses, chariots, and other joss goods had their wares confiscated and cast away on public roads.
When Huang Ba later succeeded Han Yanshou in Yingchuan, he continued this foundation and advanced its good order.
Han Yanshou, in office, upheld propriety and righteousness, honored ancient teachings, and wherever he served he gathered worthy scholars, treating them with respect and seeking their counsel. He promoted filial piety and fraternal harmony, established schools, held spring and autumn archery and community gatherings to select the talented, and organized performances of music and dance. At ceremonial assemblies, the people were instructed to bow and yield in courtesy toward one another. During annual military examinations, he held demonstrations of hatchet-and-banner drills, archery, and charioteering. He supervised city defenses and the collection of taxes, issuing public notices with precise deadlines and enforcing them strictly. The people respected him deeply and willingly followed his order.
He also instituted neighborhood wardens and corporal officers, chosen for uprightness, who promoted filial and fraternal ideals within their communities. Individuals of immoral or disreputable behavior were not permitted protection or hospitality. Whenever disorder arose, officials were notified at once, and criminals dared not enter the district. Though his governance seemed strict at first, with time it brought ease to the people, secured their safety. It reduced the burden of judicial investigation for officials, and eliminated the coercion of confessions from the accused by corporal punishment. Han Yanshou was generous to his subordinates yet uncompromising in discipline. When any subordinate committed abuse of authority, he blamed himself, saying, “This is my fault—what failure of mine allowed this to happen?”
Once, upon hearing that, county officials who heard of it all felt wounded and repentant; the county commandant even stabbed himself and died. Then a clerk of his office cut his own throat, and though men sought to save him, he did not survive. Han Yanshou wept and sent officers and physicians to treat and tend to them, and he bestowed generous compensation upon their families. Serving three years in Dongjun Commandery, his orders were carried out and prohibitions upheld, and the number of cases sentenced was greatly reduced. By this he was summoned to enter the court as the Intendant of Pingyi.,
When Han Yanshou was passing through to Gaolinging on his county tour, he came upon two brothers locked in a dispute over land. He was deeply distressed and said: “As Intendant of the commandery, it is my duty to cultivate morality and education. Yet I have failed to prevent brothers from quarreling over fields—this dishonors our customs, and brings shame upon the upright officers, tax clerks, the Three-Elders, and the Filials. The fault lies with me. I, the Intendant, should be the first to resign.”
That very day he fell ill and refused to attend to official matters. He shut himself in his chambers, closed his door, and reflected upon his shortcomings.
The people of the county did not know what to do; officials, deputies, tax clerks, Three-Elders, and Filials all awaited punishment, and the families involved blamed one another. The two brothers were struck with remorse: they shaved their heads, bared their backs, and begged forgiveness, offering to relinquish the disputed fields and vowing never again to quarrel—even at the cost of their lives. A solemn hush settled over the entire county. None dared disobey.
Han Yanshou’s reputation for uprightness and benevolence spread through all twenty-four counties; none would deceive him, for his sincerity was such that neither officials nor commoners could bear to betray it.
The Xiongnu Woyanqudi Chanyu again executed the two younger brothers of Xianxianchan. Wuchanmu pleaded on their behalf, but the Chanyu rebuffed him, and Wuchanmu was sorely angered. Later, when the Left Yujian Rizhu King died, Woyanqudi Chanyu appointed his young son to succeed him as Yujian Rizhu King and kept the boy at court. But the nobles of the Yujian clan jointly enthroned the previous king’s elder son in defiance, and migrated eastward. Woyanqudi Chanyu sent the Right Tuqi King with ten thousand cavalry to pursue them, but they suffered heavy losses and failed to prevail.
Reflection by Rio Grande 