Instructing the Crown Prince and the Princes教戒太子諸王第十一
貞觀七年，太宗謂太子左庶子于志寧、杜正倫曰：「卿等輔導太子，常須為說百姓間利害事。朕年十八，猶在人間，百姓艱難，無不諳練。及居帝位，每商量處置，或時有乖疏，得人諫諍，方始覺悟。若無忠諫者為說，何由行得好事？況太子生長深宮，百姓艱難，都不聞見乎？且人主安危所系，不可輒為驕縱。但出敕云，有諫者即斬，必知天下士庶無敢更發直言。故克己勵精，容納諫諍，卿等常須以此意共其談說。每見有不是事，宜極言切諫，令有所裨益也。」
In the seventh year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Yu Zhining and Du Zhenglun, the left mentors of the Heir Apparent:
"You assist and guide the crown prince, and you must always speak to him of what is of benefit or of harm among the people. At eighteen I was still living among men, and there was nothing of the people's hardships that I did not know well. Even since I came to the imperial seat, whenever I weigh a matter and dispose of it there are times when it goes awry and is carelessly done, and only when I receive someone's remonstrance do I come to see it. If there were no loyal remonstrator to speak to me, by what means could I do what is good? How much more with the crown prince, who was born and grew up in the deep palace and has neither heard nor seen anything of the people's hardships.
"Moreover, the safety or peril of the state hangs upon the ruler, and he must not lightly become proud and unrestrained. If he merely sent down a decree saying that whoever remonstrates will be beheaded, it is certain that no scholar or commoner in the world would dare to utter a straight word again. That is why I master myself and keep my spirit sharp and take in remonstrance. You must always speak with him in this sense. Whenever you see a thing that is not right, you should speak of it to the utmost and remonstrate earnestly, so that there may be some benefit in it."
貞觀十八年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「古有胎教世子，朕則不暇。但近自建立太子，遇物必有誨諭，見其臨食將飯，謂曰：『汝知飯乎？』對曰：『不知。』曰：『凡稼穡艱難，皆出人力，不奪其時，常有此飯。』見其乘馬，又謂曰：『汝知馬乎？』對曰：『不知。』曰：『能代人勞苦者也，以時消息，不盡其力，則可以常有馬也。』見其乘舟，又謂曰：『汝知舟乎？』對曰：『不知。』曰：『舟所以比人君，水所以比黎庶，水能載舟，亦能覆舟。爾方為人主，可不畏懼！』見其休於曲木之下，又謂曰：『汝知此樹乎？』對曰：『不知。』曰：『此木雖曲，得繩則正，為人君雖無道，受諫則聖。此傅說所言，可以自鑒。』」
In the eighteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"In ancient times there was the teaching of an heir in the womb, but I have had no leisure for that. Only since I set up the crown prince of late, whenever he meets with a thing I am sure to teach and enlighten him by it.
"I saw him at table about to eat his rice, and I said to him, 'Do you know rice?' He answered, 'I do not know it.' I said, 'All the hardship of sowing and reaping comes out of men's strength. Only if their seasons are not taken from them is there always this rice.'
"I saw him riding a horse, and I said to him again, 'Do you know the horse?' He answered, 'I do not know it.' I said, 'It is what can toil in a man's place. Only if it is rested in season and its strength is not used up can there always be horses.'
"I saw him riding in a boat, and I said to him again, 'Do you know the boat?' He answered, 'I do not know it.' I said, 'The boat is what the ruler is likened to, and the water is what the people are likened to. The water can carry the boat, and it can also overturn the boat. You are about to be a ruler of men. Can you be without fear?'
"I saw him resting under a crooked tree, and I said to him again, 'Do you know this tree?' He answered, 'I do not know it.' I said, 'Crooked though this tree is, it is made straight once the marking line is laid on it. A ruler of men, though he lack the way, becomes a sage once he takes in remonstrance. This is what Fu Yue said, and it may serve you as a mirror.'"
貞觀七年，太宗謂侍中魏徵曰：「自古侯王能自保全者甚少，皆由生長富貴，好尚驕逸，多不解親君子遠小人故爾。朕所有子弟欲使見前言往行，冀其以為規範。」因命徵錄古來帝王子弟成敗事，名為《自古諸侯王善惡錄》，以賜諸王。其序曰：
In the seventh year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Wei Zheng, the palace attendant:
"From ancient times very few marquises and kings have been able to guard themselves and stay whole. It is all because they were born and raised in wealth and honor, loved pride and idleness, and for the most part did not know how to keep near the gentleman and far from the small man. I wish all my sons and younger kin to see the words spoken before them and the deeds done before them, in the hope that they will take these as their rule."
He therefore ordered Wei Zheng to set down the successes and failures of the sons and younger kin of emperors and kings of old, and named it the Record of the Good and the Bad of the Feudal Princes and Kings from Ancient Times, and bestowed it on the several princes. Its preface ran as follows.
觀夫膺期受命，握圖御宇，咸建懿親，藩屏王室，布在方策，可得而言。自軒分二十五子，舜舉一十六族，爰歷周、漢，以逮陳、隋，分裂山河，大啟磐石者眾矣。或保乂王家，與時升降；或失其土宇，不祀忽諸。然考其隆替，察其興滅，功成名立，咸資始封之君，國喪身亡，多因繼體之後。其故何哉？始封之君，時逢草昧，見王業之艱阻，知父兄之憂勤。是以在上不驕，夙夜匪懈，或設醴以求賢；或吐飱而接士。故甘忠言之逆耳，得百姓之懽心。樹至德於生前，流遺愛於身後。暨夫子孫繼體，多屬隆平，生自深宮之中，長居婦人之手，不以高危為憂懼，豈知稼穡之艱難？昵近小人，疏遠君子，綢繆哲婦，傲狠明德。犯義悖禮，淫荒無度，不遵典憲，僣差越等。恃一顧之權寵，便懷匹嫡之心；矜一事之微勞，遂有無厭之望。棄忠貞之正路，蹈奸宄之迷塗。愎諫違卜，往而不返。雖梁孝、齊冏之勛庸，淮南、東阿之才俊，摧摩霄之逸翮，成窮轍之涸鱗，棄桓、文之大功，就梁、董之顯戮。垂為炯戒，可不惜乎？皇帝以聖哲之資，拯傾危之運，耀七德以清六合，總萬國而朝百靈，懷柔四荒，親睦九族。念華萼於《棠棣》，寄維城於宗子。心乎愛矣，靡日不思，爰命下臣，考覽載籍，博求鑒鏡，貽厥孫謀。臣輒竭愚誠，稽諸前訓。凡為藩為翰，有國有家者，其興也必由於積善，其亡也皆在於積惡。故知善不積不足以成名，惡不積不足以滅身。然則禍福無門，吉兇由己，惟人所召，豈徒言哉！今錄自古諸王行事得失，分其善惡各為一篇，名曰：《諸王善惡錄》，欲使見善思齊，足以揚名不朽；聞惡能改，庶得免乎大過。從善則有譽，改過則無咎。興亡是系，可不勉歟？
Consider that those who answered to their season and received the mandate, who grasped the chart and ruled the world, all set up their worthy kin as a hedge and screen for the royal house. This lies spread through the records, and it may be told.
Since Xuanyuan divided his twenty-five sons and Shun raised up his sixteen clans, on through Zhou and Han and down to Chen and Sui, many were the times when mountains and rivers were parted and rock-firm domains were widely opened. Some kept and ordered the royal house and rose and fell with the age; some lost their lands, and their sacrifices were suddenly cut off.
Yet if one examines their flourishing and their decay and looks into their rise and their ruin, where merit was completed and a name was established, it was always owing to the lord who was first enfeoffed; and where the state was lost and the man perished, it was mostly owing to those who came after and continued the line. What is the reason for this?
The lord who was first enfeoffed met a time that was dark and disordered. He saw how hard and blocked the royal enterprise was and knew the anxiety and toil of his father and elder brothers. Therefore he was not proud in his high place, and from early morning until night he was not remiss. Some set out sweet wine to seek out worthy men; some spat out their food to receive scholars. So they found loyal words sweet though the words grated on the ear, and won the glad hearts of the people. They planted the highest virtue while they lived, and left their love behind them after their death.
But when their sons and grandsons continued the line, they mostly belonged to times of abundance and peace. Born within the deep palace and raised in the hands of women, they did not take their high and perilous place for a thing to worry and fear, so how should they know the hardship of sowing and reaping? They kept near to small men and held the gentleman at a distance, entangled themselves with women who played at cleverness, and were haughty and harsh toward bright virtue. They offended against righteousness and went against ritual, were licentious and wild beyond measure, did not follow the statutes, and stepped over their rank. Trusting in the power and favor of a single glance, they at once harbored the thought of matching the rightful heir; boasting of the small labor of a single affair, they came at last to have desires that were never satisfied. They cast away the straight road of loyalty and uprightness and trod the deluded path of treachery and crime. They refused remonstrance and went against the oracle, and having gone they did not return.
Even with the merit of King Xiao of Liang and Sima Jiong the Prince of Qi, and the talent and distinction of the Prince of Huainan and the Prince of Dong'e, they broke the rare wings that had brushed the clouds and became fish drying up in a wheel rut; they cast aside the great achievement of Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin and went to the open execution of Liang Ji and Dong Zhuo. They hang before us as a bright warning. Is it not a thing to regret?
The Emperor, with the stuff of a sage and a wise man, has rescued a destiny that was tottering and in peril. He has made the seven virtues shine and cleared the six directions, has gathered in the myriad states and received the homage of all the spirits. He has cherished and soothed the wild lands of the four quarters and brought the nine branches of his kin into close concord. Thinking on the flower and the calyx in the Tangdi, he has committed the walls of the realm to the sons of his house. His heart is set on love, and there is no day when he does not think of it. So he has commanded his lowly servant to examine the old records and seek far and wide for a mirror, and thus to make a plan to leave to his grandsons.
Your servant has thereupon exhausted his foolish sincerity and looked into the teachings of former times. For all who are a hedge and a pillar, who hold a state and hold a house, their rise must come from the piling up of good, and their fall lies wholly in the piling up of evil. Thus it is known that good, unless it is piled up, is not enough to make a name, and that evil, unless it is piled up, is not enough to destroy a man. This being so, disaster and blessing have no gate of their own, and good fortune and ill come from oneself; it is only what a man calls upon himself. How should this be mere words?
Now the gains and the losses in the conduct of the several kings of old are set down, and their good and their bad are divided, each into one chapter, and the whole is named the Record of the Good and the Bad of the Feudal Kings. The wish is that one who sees good should think to become its equal, which is enough to spread a name that will not decay, and that one who hears of evil should be able to change, and so be likely to escape great fault. Follow the good and there is praise; mend a fault and there is no blame. Rising and falling hang upon this. Can a man not make the effort?
太宗覽而稱善，謂諸王曰：「此宜置於座右，用為立身之本。」
Taizong read it and called it good, and said to the several princes:
"This should be kept at the right of your seat and taken as the root of establishing yourselves."
貞觀十年，太宗謂荊王元景、漢王元昌、吳王恪、魏王泰等曰：「自漢已來，帝弟帝子，受茅土、居榮貴者甚眾，惟東平及河間王最有令名，得保其祿位。如楚王瑋之徒，覆亡非一，並為生長富貴，好自驕逸所致。汝等鑒誡，宜熟思之。揀擇賢才，為汝師友，須受其諫諍，勿得自專。我聞以德服物，信非虛說。比嘗夢中見一人云虞舜，我不覺竦然敬異，豈不為仰其德也！向若夢見桀、紂，必應斫之。桀、紂雖是天子，今若相喚作桀、紂，人必大怒。顏回、閔子騫、郭林宗、黃叔度，雖是布衣，今若相稱贊道類此四賢，必當大喜。故知人之立身，所貴者惟在德行，何必要論榮貴。汝等位列藩王，家食實封，更能克修德行，豈不具美也？且君子小人本無常，行善事則為君子，行惡事則為小人，當須自克勵，使善事日聞，勿縱欲肆情，自陷刑戮。」
In the tenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Li Yuanjing the Prince of Jing, Li Yuanchang the Prince of Han, Li Ke the Prince of Wu, Li Tai the Prince of Wei, and the others:
"Since the Han there have been very many younger brothers and sons of emperors who received the rush and the earth and dwelt in glory and honor; yet only the Prince of Dongping and the Prince of Hejian had the fairest names and were able to keep their stipends and their places. Men like Sima Wei the Prince of Chu were overturned and destroyed, and not one or two of them only. In all of them it came of being born and raised in wealth and honor and of loving to be proud and idle. Take this as a mirror and a warning, and think it over carefully. Choose out the worthy and able to be your teachers and your friends, and be sure to accept their remonstrance, and do not decide everything by yourselves.
"I have heard that one subdues things by virtue, and this is truly no empty saying. Lately I saw a man in a dream who was said to be Shun, and before I knew it I rose in awe and held him uncommon. Was this not because I look up to his virtue? Had I seen Jie or King Zhou of Shang in the dream, I would surely have cut them down. Jie and King Zhou of Shang were Sons of Heaven, yet if men now call one another Jie or King Zhou of Shang, a man is sure to be greatly angered. Yan Hui, Min Ziqian, Guo Linzong, and Huang Shudu wore hempen clothes, yet if men now praise one another and say they are like these four worthy men, a man is sure to be greatly pleased. So it is known that what is honorable in a man's establishing himself lies only in virtue and conduct. Why must glory and honor be spoken of?
"Your places are ranged among the princes of the domains, and at home you eat your true fiefs. If you can cultivate virtue and conduct still better, will you not have every beauty? Moreover, the gentleman and the small man have no fixed nature from the first. Do good deeds and you become a gentleman; do evil deeds and you become a small man. You must master yourselves and strive, so that your good deeds are heard of day by day. Do not let your desires loose and give free rein to your feelings, and so fall of yourselves into punishment and death."
貞觀十年，太宗謂房玄齡曰：「朕歷觀前代撥亂創業之主，生長人間，皆識達情偽，罕至於敗亡。逮乎繼世守文之君，生而富貴，不知疾苦，動至夷滅，朕少小以來，經營多難，備知天下之事，猶恐有所不逮。至於荊王諸弟，生自深宮，識不及遠，安能念此哉？朕每一食，便念稼穡之艱難；每一衣，則思紡績之辛苦。諸弟何能學朕乎？選良佐以為藩弼，庶其習近善人，得免於愆過爾。」
In the tenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Fang Xuanling:
"When I look through the rulers of former ages who put down disorder and opened an enterprise, they were born and raised among men and all of them knew the true from the false, and rarely did one of them come to ruin. But as for the rulers who continued the line and kept the letter, they were rich and honored from birth and did not know suffering, so that at a move they came to destruction. I have gone through many hardships since I was small and know the affairs of the world fully, and even so I fear there is something I fall short of. As for the Prince of Jing and my several younger brothers, they were born in the deep palace and their knowledge does not reach far. How could they think of such things?
"Whenever I eat a meal I think of the hardship of sowing and reaping; whenever I put on a garment I think of the toil of spinning and weaving. How could my younger brothers learn this from me? I choose good helpers to be the supports of the domains, in the hope that by keeping near good men they may escape faults. That is all."
貞觀十一年，太宗謂吳王恪曰：「父之愛子，人之常情，非待教訓而知也。子能忠孝則善矣！若不遵誨誘，忘棄禮法，必自致刑戮，父雖愛之，將如之何？昔漢武帝既崩，昭帝嗣立，燕王旦素驕縱，诪張不服，霍光遣一折簡誅之，則身死國除。夫為臣子不得不慎。」
In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Li Ke the Prince of Wu:
"That a father loves his son is the constant feeling of men, and it is not known only after being taught. If a son can be loyal and filial, that is good. But if he does not follow what teaches and leads him, and forgets and throws away ritual and law, he will surely bring himself to punishment and death; and though his father loves him, what will he be able to do?
"Long ago, when Emperor Wu of Han had died and Emperor Zhao succeeded to the throne, Liu Dan the Prince of Yan was proud and unrestrained by nature, deceived men wildly, and would not submit; and Huo Guang sent a single folded letter and had him put to death, so that his person perished and his state was abolished. A man who is a subject and a son cannot but be careful."
貞觀中，皇子年小者多授以都督刺史，諫議大夫褚遂良上疏諫曰：「昔兩漢以郡國治人，除郡以外，分立諸子，割土封疆，雜用周制。皇唐郡縣，粗依秦法。皇子幼年，或授刺史。陛下豈不以王之骨肉，鎮扞四方，聖人造制，道高前古？臣愚見有小未盡。何者？刺史師帥，人仰以安。得一善人，部內蘇息；遇一不善人，闔州勞弊。是以人君愛恤百姓，常為擇賢。或稱河潤九里，京師蒙福；或與人興詠，生為立祠。漢宣帝云：『與我共理者，惟良二千石乎！』如臣愚見，陛下子內年齒尚幼，未堪臨民者，請且留京師，教以經學。一則畏天之威，不敢犯禁；二則觀見朝儀，自然成立。因此積習，自知為人，審堪臨州，然後遣出。臣謹按漢明、章、和三帝，能友愛子弟，自茲以降，以為準的。封立諸王，雖各有土，年尚幼小者，各留京師，訓以禮法，垂以恩惠。訖三帝世，諸王數十百人，惟二王稍惡，自餘皆沖和深粹。惟陛下詳察。」太宗嘉納其言。
During the Zhenguan years the young imperial sons were often given the posts of area commander or prefect. Chu Suiliang, the grand counselor of remonstrance, submitted a memorial and remonstrated:
"Long ago the two Han ruled men by commanderies and by domains. Outside the commanderies they set up their several sons apart, cut off lands and enfeoffed borders, and so used the Zhou system mixed with their own. The commanderies and districts of Tang follow the law of Qin in the main. Yet imperial sons in their young years are sometimes made prefects. Is it not that Your Majesty would have the flesh and bone of the royal house hold down and guard the four quarters, and that the system made by a sage stands higher in its way than antiquity? In your servant's foolish view there is a small point not yet fully met.
"How so? The prefect is the leader of the people, and men look up to him and are at peace. If one good man is got, the whole district revives; if one man who is not good is met with, the whole prefecture is wearied and worn out. That is why rulers who loved and pitied the people always chose worthy men. Of one it was said that the moistening of the river reached nine li and the capital received its blessing; for another men raised songs and set up a shrine for him while he still lived. Emperor Xuan of Han said, 'Those who govern together with me are only the good officers of two thousand piculs.'
"In your servant's foolish view, those among Your Majesty's sons who are still young in years and not yet fit to stand over the people should be kept for a while in the capital and taught the study of the classics. First, they will fear the majesty of Heaven and not dare to break the prohibitions; second, they will see the bearing of the court and will be formed by it of themselves. By this the habit will build up, and they will come of themselves to know how to be men; and when it has been looked into whether they are fit to stand over a prefecture, then send them out.
"Your servant has carefully examined the three Han emperors Ming, Zhang, and He. They were able to love their sons and younger kin, and from that time downward this was taken as the standard. The several kings were enfeoffed and set up, and though each had his land, those still young and small were each kept in the capital and taught by ritual and law and shown kindness. To the end of the reigns of those three emperors there were tens and hundreds of kings, and only two of them were at all bad, while all the rest were mild and deep and pure. Let Your Majesty alone look closely into it."
Taizong thought his words fine and took them in.