Seeking Remonstrance求諫第四
太宗威容儼肅，百僚進見者，皆失其舉措。太宗知其若此，每見人奏事，必假顏色，冀聞諫諍，知政教得失。貞觀初，嘗謂公卿曰：「人欲自照，必須明鏡；主欲知過，必藉忠臣。主若自賢，臣不匡正，欲不危敗，豈可得乎？故君失其國，臣亦不能獨全其家。至於隋煬帝暴虐，臣下鉗口，卒令不聞其過，遂至滅亡，虞世基等，尋亦誅死。前事不遠，公等每看事有不利於人，必須極言規諫。」
Taizong's bearing was stern and grave, and the officials who came before him all lost their composure. Taizong knew this, and whenever he saw someone report on affairs he softened his face, hoping to hear words of remonstrance and to learn what was right and wrong in government and instruction. In the early years of Zhenguan he once said to the high ministers:
"If a man wishes to see himself, he must have a bright mirror; if a ruler wishes to know his faults, he must rely on loyal ministers. If the ruler calls himself worthy and his ministers do not set him straight, how can he hope to escape danger and ruin? So when a ruler loses his state, his ministers cannot keep their own houses whole either.
"Emperor Yang of Sui was cruel and harsh, and his ministers shut their mouths. In the end he never heard of his faults, and it came to ruin. Yu Shiji and the others were soon put to death as well. What went before is not far off. Whenever you see in any matter something that does not benefit the people, you must speak out to the full and remonstrate."
貞觀元年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「正主任邪臣，不能致理，正臣事邪主，亦不能致理。惟君臣相遇，有同魚水，則海內可安。朕雖不明，幸諸公數相匡救，冀憑直言鯁議，致天下太平。」諫議大夫王珪對曰：「臣聞木從繩則正，後從諫則聖。是故古者聖主必有爭臣七人，言而不用，則相繼以死。陛下開聖慮，納芻蕘，愚臣處不諱之朝，實願罄其狂瞽。」太宗稱善，詔令自是宰相入內平章國計，必使諫官隨入，預聞政事。有所開說，必虛己納之。
In the first year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"When an upright ruler employs a crooked minister, good government cannot be reached; when an upright minister serves a crooked ruler, good government cannot be reached either. Only when ruler and minister meet and are as fish and water can all within the seas be at peace. Though I am not enlightened, I am fortunate that you gentlemen so often set me straight and rescue me. I hope that through straight words and firm counsel we may bring peace to all under heaven."
Wang Gui, the grand counselor of remonstrance, answered:
"I have heard that wood follows the marking line and becomes straight, and a ruler follows remonstrance and becomes a sage. So the sage rulers of old always had seven ministers who would contend with them, and when they spoke and were not heeded they went one after another to their deaths. Your Majesty has opened your sage thoughts and takes in even the words of woodcutters. Your foolish servant stands in a court where nothing is forbidden, and truly wishes to pour out all his mad and blind words."
Taizong praised this, and decreed that from then on, when the chief ministers came in to deliberate on the plans of the state, the officers of remonstrance must come in with them and take part in the affairs of government. Whenever they had something to set forth, he always emptied himself and took it in.
貞觀二年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「明主思短而益善，暗主護短而永愚。隋煬帝好自矜誇，護短拒諫，誠亦實難犯忤。虞世基不敢直言，或恐未為深罪。昔箕子佯狂自全，孔子亦稱其仁。及煬帝被殺，世基合同死否？」杜如晦對曰：「天子有諍臣，雖無道不失其天下。仲尼稱：『直哉史魚，邦有道如矢，邦無道如矢。』世基豈得以煬帝無道，不納諫諍，遂杜口無言？偷安重位，又不能辭職請退，則與箕子佯狂而去，事理不同。昔晉惠帝賈後將廢湣懷太子，司空張華竟不能苦爭，阿意茍免。及趙王倫舉兵廢後，遣使收華，華曰：『將廢太子日，非是無言，當不被納用。』其使曰：『公為三公，太子無罪被廢，言既不從，何不引身而退？』華無辭以答，遂斬之，夷其三族。古人有云：『危而不持，顛而不扶，則將焉用彼相？』故『君子臨大節而不可奪也。』張華既抗直不能成節，遜言不足全身，王臣之節固已墜矣。虞世基位居宰輔，在得言之地，竟無一言諫諍，誠亦合死。」太宗曰：「公言是也。人君必須忠良輔弼，乃得身安國寧。煬帝豈不以下無忠臣，身不聞過，惡積禍盈，滅亡斯及。若人主所行不當，臣下又無匡諫，茍在阿順，事皆稱美，則君為暗主，臣為諛臣，君暗臣諛，危亡不遠。朕今誌在君臣上下，各盡至公，共相切磋，以成治道。公等各宜務盡忠讜，匡救朕惡，終不以直言忤意，輒相責怒。」
In the second year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"An enlightened ruler thinks of his shortcomings and grows better; a benighted ruler covers his shortcomings and stays foolish forever. Emperor Yang of Sui loved to boast of himself, covered his shortcomings and shut out remonstrance, so that it was truly hard to cross him. That Yu Shiji did not dare to speak straight is perhaps no deep crime. Long ago Jizi feigned madness and kept himself whole, and Confucius praised his benevolence. When Emperor Yang was killed, should Yu Shiji have died with him or not?"
Du Ruhui answered:
"When the Son of Heaven has ministers who contend with him, he does not lose his realm even if he is without the way. Zhongni said, 'How straight was Shi Yu! When the state had the way he was like an arrow, and when the state was without the way he was like an arrow.' How could Yu Shiji shut his mouth and say nothing because Emperor Yang was without the way and would not take remonstrance? He stole a high place and rested in it, and he could not even resign his office and ask to withdraw. In this his case is not the same as Jizi feigning madness and leaving.
"Long ago, when Empress Jia of Emperor Hui of Jin was about to depose Crown Prince Minhuai, Zhang Hua, the minister of works, in the end did not contend hard for him, but bent to her wishes and got off lightly. When Prince Lun of Zhao raised troops and deposed the empress, he sent an envoy to seize Zhang Hua, and Zhang Hua said, 'On the day they were to depose the crown prince, it is not that I said nothing. It is only that I was not heeded.' The envoy said, 'You are one of the three dukes. The crown prince was deposed without crime, and if your words were not followed, why did you not take yourself away and withdraw?' Zhang Hua had no words to answer. So they beheaded him and wiped out his three kindreds.
"The ancients said, 'If he cannot hold up what is in danger, if he cannot steady what is falling, what use is such a minister?' And they said, 'A gentleman faced with a great trial cannot be shaken from it.' Zhang Hua neither stood upright and straight to make his integrity whole, nor saved his life by yielding words. The integrity of a king's minister had already fallen away in him. Yu Shiji held the place of a chief minister and stood where he could speak, yet to the end he did not remonstrate even once. He truly did deserve to die."
Taizong said:
"What you say is right. A ruler must have the help of the loyal and the good, and only then is he safe himself and his state at peace. Was it not because there were no loyal ministers below and he never heard of his faults that Emperor Yang's evil piled up and his misfortune filled to the brim, and ruin came upon him? If what the ruler does is not fitting and the ministers below do not set him straight and remonstrate, but fawn and follow and call every matter fine, then the ruler becomes a benighted ruler and the ministers become flattering ministers. When the ruler is benighted and the ministers flatter, danger and ruin are not far off.
"My will now is that ruler and minister, high and low, each do his utmost in perfect fairness, and that together we grind and polish one another and make the way of good government. Each of you should do his utmost in loyalty and straightness, and set right and rescue me from my evil. I will never take a straight word as an offense to my wishes and turn on you in anger."
貞觀三年，太宗謂司空裴寂曰：「比有上書奏事，條數甚多，朕總黏之屋壁，出入觀省。所以孜孜不倦者，欲盡臣下之情。每一思政理，或三更方寢。亦望公輩用心不倦，以副朕懷也。」
In the third year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Pei Ji, the minister of works:
"Of late the memorials sent up on affairs have had a great many items in them, and I have pasted them all on the wall of my room and look them over as I come and go. The reason I am diligent and never weary is that I wish my ministers to speak their minds to the full. Every time I turn my thoughts to the ordering of government, it is sometimes the third watch of the night before I go to bed. I hope that you gentlemen too will be untiring in your care, and so answer to my heart."
貞觀五年，太宗謂房玄齡等曰：「自古帝王多任情喜怒，喜則濫賞無功，怒則濫殺無罪。是以天下喪亂，莫不由此。朕今夙夜未嘗不以此為心，恒欲公等盡情極諫。公等亦須受人諫語，豈得以人言不同己意，便即護短不納？若不能受諫，安能諫人？」
In the fifth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Fang Xuanling and the others:
"From of old, emperors and kings have often given way to their feelings of joy and anger. When pleased they rewarded men of no merit without measure; when angry they killed men of no crime without measure. It is from this, and from nothing else, that all under heaven fell into ruin and disorder. I now keep this in my heart day and night, and I always wish you gentlemen to speak your minds and remonstrate to the end.
"You too must accept the remonstrance of others. How can you cover your shortcomings and refuse to take a word in, merely because it does not agree with your own mind? If you cannot accept remonstrance, how can you remonstrate with others?"
貞觀六年，太宗以御史大夫韋挺、中書侍郎杜正倫、秘書少監虞世南、著作郎姚思廉等上封事稱旨，召而謂曰：「朕歷觀自古人臣立忠之事，若值明主，便宜盡誠規諫，至如龍逄、比干，不免孥戮。為君不易，為臣極難。朕又聞龍可擾而馴，然喉下有逆鱗。卿等遂不避犯觸，各進封事。常能如此，朕豈慮宗社之傾敗！每思卿等此意，不能暫忘，故設宴為樂。」仍賜絹有差。
In the sixth year of Zhenguan, the sealed memorials sent up by Wei Ting, the censor in chief, Du Zhenglun, the vice director of the secretariat, Yu Shinan, the junior keeper of the palace library, and Yao Silian, the court writer, pleased Taizong. He called them in and said:
"I have looked through the cases from of old where ministers established their loyalty. Those who met an enlightened ruler could give their whole sincerity and set him straight; but such men as Guan Longfeng and Bigan did not escape death, and their wives and children with them. To be a ruler is not easy, and to be a minister is very hard. I have also heard that a dragon can be tamed and ridden, but under its throat there is a scale that lies backward.
"You gentlemen did not shrink from touching it, and each of you sent up a sealed memorial. If it can always be like this, why should I fear that the ancestral temple and the altars of the land will topple and fall? Whenever I think of this intention of yours I cannot forget it for a moment, and so I have set out this feast for our pleasure."
He then bestowed silk on them, each according to his rank.
太常卿韋挺嘗上疏陳得失，太宗賜書曰：「所上意見，極是讜言，辭理可觀，甚以為慰。昔齊境之難，夷吾有射鉤之罪，蒲城之役，勃鞮為斬袂之仇。而小白不以為疑，重耳待之若舊。豈非各吠非主，誌在無二。卿之深誠，見於斯矣。若能克全此節，則永保令名。如其怠之，可不惜也。勉勵終始，垂範將來，當使後之視今，亦猶今之視古，不亦美乎？朕比不聞其過，未睹其闕，賴竭忠懇，數進嘉言，用沃朕懷，一何可道！」
Wei Ting, the chamberlain for ceremonials, once sent up a memorial setting out what was right and wrong, and Taizong sent him a letter:
"What you have set forth is straight speech of the highest kind, and its words and reasoning are worth looking at. It comforts me greatly. Long ago, in the troubles of Qi, Yiwu had the crime of shooting at the belt hook; in the battle at Pucheng, Bodi was the enemy who cut the sleeve. Yet Xiaobai held no suspicion, and Chong'er treated his man as an old friend. Is this not because each barks at whoever is not his own master, and his will is set on having no second heart? Your deep sincerity is seen in this.
"If you can keep this integrity whole, you will guard a fair name forever; and if you grow slack in it, would that not be a pity? Strive from beginning to end and leave a model for those who come after, so that those after us look on today as we today look on antiquity. Would that not be fine? Of late I had not heard of my faults nor seen my failings, and now you give your loyalty and earnestness to the full and send up good words again and again to water my heart. How can I ever say enough of it?"
貞觀八年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「朕每閒居靜坐，則自內省。恒恐上不稱天心，下為百姓所怨。但思正人匡諫，欲令耳目外通，下無怨滯。又比見人來奏事者，多有怖懾，言語致失次第。尋常奏事，情猶如此，況欲諫諍，必當畏犯逆鱗。所以每有諫者，縱不合朕心，朕亦不以為忤。若即嗔責，深恐人懷戰懼，豈肯更言！」
In the eighth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"Whenever I am at leisure and sit quietly, I look within myself. I am always afraid that above I do not answer to the mind of heaven, and that below I am resented by the people. So I think of upright men setting me straight and remonstrating, and I wish my ears and eyes to reach the world outside, and nothing below to be blocked up in resentment.
"Also, when I have watched men come to report on affairs of late, many of them are so afraid and cowed that their words lose their order. If their hearts are like this in reporting ordinary affairs, how much more when they wish to remonstrate and contend and must fear touching the scale that lies backward. So whenever anyone remonstrates, even if it does not suit my mind, I do not take it as an offense. If I scolded him in anger at once, I fear men would carry such dread in their hearts that they would never speak again."
貞觀十五年，太宗問魏徵曰：「比來朝臣都不論事，何也？」徵對曰：「陛下虛心采納，誠宜有言者。然古人云：『未信而諫，則以為謗己；信而不諫，則謂之屍祿。』但人之才器，各有不同。懦弱之人，懷忠直而不能言；疏遠之人，恐不信而不得言；懷祿之人，慮不便身而不敢言。所以相與緘默，俯仰過日。」太宗曰：「誠如卿言。朕每思之，人臣欲諫，輒懼死亡之禍，與夫赴鼎鑊、冒白刃，亦何異哉？故忠貞之臣，非不欲竭誠。竭誠者，乃是極難。所以禹拜昌言，豈不為此也！朕今開懷抱，納諫諍。卿等無勞怖懼，遂不極言。」
In the fifteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong asked Wei Zheng:
"Of late the officials of the court do not discuss affairs at all. Why is this?"
Wei Zheng answered:
"Your Majesty empties your mind and takes in what is said, so there ought indeed to be men who speak. But the ancients said, 'To remonstrate before you are trusted is taken as slander of the ruler; to be trusted and not remonstrate is called eating your salary as a corpse in office.' Men's talents and capacities are not all alike. A weak man carries loyalty and straightness in his heart and cannot speak. A man kept at a distance fears he will not be believed and cannot speak. A man who clings to his salary worries that it will not be good for him, and dares not speak. So they keep silent together, and pass their days looking down and looking up."
Taizong said:
"It is truly as you say. I often think that when a minister wishes to remonstrate he at once fears the disaster of death, and how is that different from walking into the boiling cauldron or braving the naked blade? It is not that loyal and steadfast ministers do not wish to give their whole sincerity. To give one's whole sincerity is the hardest thing of all. Was it not for this that Yu bowed to good words? I now open my heart and take in remonstrance. Do not trouble yourselves with fear, and so fail to speak to the end."
貞觀十六年，太宗謂房玄齡等曰：「自知者明，信為難矣。如屬文之士，伎巧之徒，皆自謂己長，他人不及。若名工文匠，商略詆訶，蕪詞拙跡，於是乃見。由是言之，人君須得匡諫之臣，舉其愆過。一日萬機，一人聽斷，雖復憂勞，安能盡善？常念魏徵隨事諫正，多中朕失，如明鏡鑒形，美惡必見。」因舉觴賜玄齡等數人勖之。
In the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Fang Xuanling and the others:
"They say the man who knows himself is enlightened, but this is truly hard. Men such as writers of prose and workers of clever crafts all think themselves better and others not their equals. Yet when a famous craftsman or a master of writing weighs their work and faults it, the coarse words and the clumsy strokes come out.
"Speaking from this, a ruler must get ministers who will set him straight and remonstrate, and let them raise up his faults. A single man hears and decides ten thousand matters in a day; however much he worries and toils, how can it all be good? I think always how Wei Zheng remonstrated and corrected me in matter after matter, and how often he hit on my faults, like a bright mirror reflecting a shape, in which the fair and the ugly must both appear."
With that he raised his cup and gave it to Xuanling and several others, to urge them on.
貞觀十七年，太宗問諫議大夫褚遂良曰：「昔舜造漆器，禹雕其俎，當時諫者十有餘人。食器之間，何須苦諫？」遂良對曰：「雕琢害農事，纂組傷女工。首創奢淫，危亡之漸。漆器不已，必金為之。金器不已，必玉為之。所以諍臣必諫其漸，及其滿盈，無所復諫。」太宗曰：「卿言是矣，朕所為事，若有不當，或在其漸，或已將終，皆宜進諫。比見前史，或有人臣諫事，遂答云『業已為之』，或道『業已許之』，竟不為停改。此則危亡之禍，可反手而待也。」
In the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong asked Chu Suiliang, the grand counselor of remonstrance:
"Long ago, when Shun made lacquered vessels and Yu carved his meat stands, more than ten men remonstrated at the time. What is there in dishes for food that calls for such bitter remonstrance?"
Chu Suiliang answered:
"Carving and cutting harm the work of farming; twisting and weaving silk cords injure the work of women. To be the first to open the way to extravagance and excess is the beginning of danger and ruin. If lacquered vessels do not stop there, gold will surely be made into vessels; if gold vessels do not stop there, jade will surely be made into vessels. So ministers who contend must remonstrate at the first sign. Once it has filled to the brim, there is nowhere left to remonstrate."
Taizong said:
"What you say is right. If there is anything unfitting in what I do, whether it is at its first sign or already near its end, you should all come forward and remonstrate. Looking at the histories of former times, I see that sometimes a minister remonstrated about a matter and was answered, 'It is already done,' or, 'It has already been allowed,' and in the end it was not stopped or changed. That is to wait for the disaster of danger and ruin as easily as turning over one's hand."