To Minister Zheng Ningji of Bizhou壁州鄭凝績尙書
1Congratulations on his going out as prefect for his father's sake
伏承自小司馬。假大宗伯。出刺始寧。伏惟慶慰。竊以進有致君之志。共託阿衡。仕無擇祿之言。常聆季路。綽然遺範。宛若合符。尙書玉樹一枝。金山萬仞。雅望全騰於八海。華資緩步於五雲。漢丞相之傳經。永光儒室。周司徒之善職。固屬高門。況乃於國於家。曰忠曰孝。比者黃巾犯闕。翠輦省方。尙書暫別鯉庭。遠趨鳳扆。高提夢筆。仰贊宸猷。稟大聖之指歸。立中朝之張本。此實爲人臣之忠於國也。今以聖主優賢。嚴君遜位。尙書固辭武部。峻陟儀曹。榮掛萊衣。俾歌廉袴。毛義之喜難自已。胡威之淸必衆知。又爲人子之孝於家也。莫不事標雙美。譽冠一時。今彼郡而昔彼州。豈能較盛。出傳舍而八官舍。未足齊榮。佇見風扇揚名。雲屛隔位。隼旟高建。免勞陟岵之詩。龍鼎待調。卽展濟川之業。某早銜眷獎。常切禱祠。拜賀未期。瞻攀無極云云。
I learn that the Minister leaves the vice post at the ministry of war, takes the borrowed rank of head of the bureau of rites, and goes out as prefect of Shining. I offer my congratulations. I consider quietly that one who comes forward with the will to lift his lord up entrusts himself along with others to Aheng, and that one who serves without a word about choosing his salary is always heard of in Ji Lu. The ample model they left behind fits him as the two halves of a tally fit together. The Minister is one branch of a jade tree and a golden mountain of ten thousand fathoms. His fair repute has risen whole over the eight seas, and his splendid rank walks at ease among the five-colored clouds. The chancellor of Han who handed down the classics lights the house of the scholars forever, and the situ of Zhou who did his office well belongs indeed to a noble gate. Still more so when in the state and in the home alike it is loyalty, it is filial duty. Of late the Yellow Turbans broke in upon the palace gates and the kingfisher carriage went to inspect the regions. The Minister left the Li courtyard for a time and hurried far to the phoenix screen. He raised high the brush of his dream and helped the imperial plan from below. He took the great sage's own direction and set the foundation of the middle court. This is truly the loyalty of a subject to the state. Now, since the sage ruler honors the worthy and his stern father has yielded his post, the Minister has firmly declined the ministry of war and climbed steeply to the bureau of rites. He wears the colored robe of Laolaizi in glory and sets the people singing the song of the five trousers. The joy of Mao Yi can hardly be held back, and the purity of Hu Wei will surely be known to all. This again is the filial duty of a son in his home. In everything his conduct marks a double beauty, and his repute crowns the age. How could that commandery of today and that province of old be matched for splendor? To leave the post house and enter the official lodging is not enough to stand level with this glory. I wait to see the wind of his fan carry his name abroad and a screen of cloud set his seat apart, his falcon banner raised high so that he need not toil at the poem of climbing the hill, and the dragon cauldron waiting to be seasoned, so that he may spread out at once the work of crossing the river. I have borne his regard and his encouragement from early days, and my prayers for him are always keen. I have no set time to bow and offer my congratulations, and my looking up to him and holding fast are without end, and so on.
Interlinear notes 1
The received text has 八, but it is taken to be a mistake for 入, "to enter," and is read so. — tr.