On Modesty and Deference論謙讓第十九
貞觀二年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「人言作天子則得自尊崇，無所畏懼，朕則以為正合自守謙恭，常懷畏懼。昔舜誡禹曰：『汝惟不矜，天下莫與汝爭能；汝惟不伐，天下莫與汝爭功。』又《易》曰：『人道惡盈而好謙。』凡為天子，若惟自尊崇，不守謙恭者，在身倘有不是之事，誰肯犯顏諫奏？朕每思出一言，行一事，必上畏皇天，下懼群臣。天高聽卑，何得不畏？群公卿士，皆見瞻仰，何得不懼？以此思之，但知常謙常懼，猶恐不稱天心及百姓意也。」魏徵曰：「古人云：『靡不有初，鮮克有終。』願陛下守此常謙常懼之道，日慎一日，則宗社永固，無傾覆矣。唐、虞所以太平，實用此法。」
In the second year of Zhenguan Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"Men say that once a man becomes the Son of Heaven he is honored and exalted and has nothing to fear, but I hold that it is right for him to keep himself humble and respectful and to carry fear in his heart always.
"Long ago Shun warned Yu, 'Only do not boast, and the world will not contend with you over ability. Only do not vaunt yourself, and the world will not contend with you over merit.' The Book of Changes also says, 'The way of man hates fullness and loves humility.'
"If a man becomes the Son of Heaven and only honors and exalts himself and does not keep himself humble and respectful, then when something is wrong in his own conduct, who will be willing to brave his face and remonstrate with him? Whenever I let out one word or do one thing, I fear great Heaven above and I fear the officials below. Heaven is high, yet it hears what is low. How can I not fear it? All the high officials and the gentlemen look up at me. How can I not fear them? Thinking of it in this way, even if I know only to be humble always and to fear always, I am still afraid I may not answer the heart of Heaven and the will of the people."
Wei Zheng said:
"The men of old said, 'There is none who has no beginning, but few are able to have an end.' I ask that Your Majesty keep to this way of being humble always and fearing always, and be careful day after day. Then the ancestral temple and the altars of the land will stand firm forever and never be overturned. That Yao and Shun had great peace lay truly in their use of this rule."
貞觀三年，太宗問給事中孔穎達曰：「《論語》云：『以能問於不能，以多問於寡，有若無，實若虛。』何謂也？」穎達對曰：「聖人設教，欲人謙光。己雖有能，不自矜大，仍就不能之人求訪能事。己之才藝雖多，猶病以為少，仍就寡少之人更求所益。己之雖有，其狀若無，己之雖實，其容若虛。非惟匹庶，帝王之德，亦當如此。夫帝王內蘊神明，外須玄默，使深不可知。故《易》稱『以蒙養正；以明夷蒞眾』。若其位居尊極，炫耀聰明，以才陵人，飾非拒諫，則上下情隔，君臣道乖。自古滅亡，莫不由此也。」太宗曰：「《易》云：『勞謙，君子有終，吉。』誠如卿言。」詔賜物二百段。
In the third year of Zhenguan Taizong asked Kong Yingda, the supervising secretary:
"The Analects says, 'Able, he asks of those who are not able. Having much, he asks of those who have little. Having, he is as one who has not. Full, he is as one who is empty.' What does this mean?"
Yingda answered:
"The sage set up his teaching because he wished men to be humble and so to shine. Though a man have ability, he does not boast and make himself great, but goes to those without ability and asks them about matters they can do. Though his talents and arts be many, he still worries that they are few, and goes to those who have little and seeks something more to add. Though he have, his manner is as one who has not. Though he be full, his bearing is as one who is empty. Not only for the common man. The virtue of an emperor and king should also be like this.
"An emperor and king stores up spiritual brightness within and must be dark and silent without, so that his depth cannot be known. Therefore the Book of Changes says, 'Nurture what is right by means of youth, and face the multitude by means of dimming your brightness.' If a man sits in the highest place and makes a show of his keen sight and hearing, and treats others with contempt for his own talent, and dresses up his faults and shuts out remonstrance, then the feelings of those above and below are cut off from each other and the way of ruler and official is broken. From of old, no state has perished but by this."
Taizong said:
"The Book of Changes says, 'He toils and is humble. The gentleman has an end, and it is auspicious.' It is truly as you say."
By edict he bestowed two hundred lengths of goods.
河間王孝恭，武德初封為趙郡王，累授東南道行臺尚書左仆射。孝恭既討平蕭銑、輔公祏，遂領江、淮及嶺南、北，皆統攝之。專制一方，威名甚著，累遷禮部尚書。孝恭性惟退讓，無驕矜自伐之色。時有特進江夏王道宗，尤以將略馳名，兼好學，敬慕賢士，動修禮讓，太宗並加親待。諸宗室中，惟孝恭、道宗莫與為比，一代宗英云。
Li Xiaogong, the prince of Hejian, was enfeoffed as prince of Zhao Commandery at the beginning of the Wude era, and by successive appointments became left vice director of the Department of State Affairs for the Southeast Circuit. After Xiaogong had struck down Xiao Xian and Fu Gongshi, he came to hold the lands of the Jiang and the Huai and Lingnan and Lingbei, and governed them all together. He held one whole region in his sole charge, and his awe and his name were very great, and by successive appointments he became minister of rites. Xiaogong was a man who only drew back and yielded, and there was no look of pride or boasting or self-praise about him.
At that time there was Li Daozong, the prince of Jiangxia, who held the rank of specially advanced. His fame ran still further for his generalship, and he also loved learning and respected and admired worthy men, and in all he did he practiced the rites and yielded to others, so that Taizong treated them both with closeness. Among all the imperial kin, only Xiaogong and Daozong were beyond compare, and they are called the finest of the kin of that age.