On Punishments and Law論刑法第三十一
貞觀元年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「死者不可再生，用法務在寬簡。古人云：『鬻棺者欲歲之疫，非疾於人，利於棺售故耳』。今法司核理一獄，必求深刻，欲成其考課。今作何法，得使平允？」諫議大夫王珪進曰：「但選公直良善人，斷獄允當者，增秩賜金，即奸偽自息。」詔從之。太宗又曰：「古者斷獄，必訊於三槐、九棘之官，今三公、九卿，即其職也。自今以後，大辟罪皆令中書、門下四品以上及尚書九卿議之。如此，庶免冤濫。」由是至四年，斷死刑，天下二十九人，幾致刑措。
In the first year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"The dead cannot be brought back to life, so in the use of law one must strive to be lenient and sparing. A man of old said, 'The coffin seller wishes for a plague that year not because he hates men, but only because it profits the sale of coffins.' Now when the office of law examines and settles a single case, it always seeks to be deep and harsh, wishing to make its record of service. What law should be made now so that judgments may be even and true?"
Wang Gui, the grand counselor of remonstrance, came forward and said:
"Only choose men who are fair and straight and good and kind. For those whose judgments in cases are true and fitting, raise their rank and bestow gold on them, and treachery and falsehood will cease of themselves."
An edict followed this. Taizong also said:
"In old times, when a case was judged, the officers of the three locust trees and the nine thorn bushes were always asked. Today the three dukes and the nine chief ministers hold that charge. From now on, let every capital crime be discussed by the officials of the fourth rank and above in the Secretariat and the Chancellery, and by the ministers of state and the nine chief ministers. In this way wrong and excess may nearly be avoided."
Because of this, by the fourth year the death sentences carried out in all the realm were twenty-nine men, and punishment was all but laid aside.
貞觀二年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「比有奴告主謀逆，此極弊法，特須禁斷。假令有謀反者，必不獨成，終將與人計之；眾計之事，必有他人論之，豈藉奴告也？自今奴告主者，不須受，盡令斬決。」
In the second year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"Of late there have been slaves who denounce their masters for plotting rebellion. This is a most harmful practice and must be forbidden and stopped. Even if there is a man who plots rebellion, he can never accomplish it alone, and in the end he will plan it with others. A thing planned by many will surely be reported by someone else. Why should the denunciation of a slave be needed? From now on, when a slave denounces his master, do not receive it, and let them all be beheaded."
貞觀五年，張蘊古為大理丞。相州人李好德素有風疾，言涉妖妄，詔令鞠其獄。蘊古言：「好德癲病有徵，法不當坐。」太宗許將寬宥。蘊古密報其旨，仍引與博戲。治書侍御史權萬紀劾奏之。太宗大怒，令斬於東市。既而悔之，謂房玄齡曰：「公等食人之祿，須憂人之憂，事無巨細，咸當留意。今不問則不言，見事都不諫諍，何所輔弼？如蘊古身為法官，與囚博戲，漏泄朕言，此亦罪狀甚重。若據常律，未至極刑。朕當時盛怒，即令處置。公等竟無一言，所司又不覆奏，遂即決之，豈是道理。」因詔曰：「凡有死刑，雖令即決，皆須五覆奏。」五覆奏，自蘊古始也。又曰：「守文定罪，或恐有冤。自今以後，門下省覆，有據法令合死而情可矜者，宜錄奏聞。」
In the fifth year of Zhenguan, Zhang Yungu became an assistant in the Court of Judicial Review. Li Haode, a man of Xiangzhou, had long suffered from a disorder of the wind, and his words touched on the weird and false, so by edict his case was examined. Yungu said, "Haode's madness has clear signs. By law he cannot be held guilty." Taizong allowed him to be pardoned with leniency. Yungu secretly told him of this intent, and went on to draw him into gambling. Quan Wanji, the attending censor in charge of documents, impeached him in a memorial. Taizong was greatly angered and had him beheaded in the eastern market.
Soon he repented of it and said to Fang Xuanling:
"You gentlemen eat the salary of other men, so you must worry over the worries of other men, and in matters great or small you should all give heed. Now if I do not ask, you do not speak; you see a thing and do not remonstrate at all. What is it that you assist?
"As for Yungu, he was himself a judge, yet he gambled with a prisoner and let my words leak out. This too is a very heavy offense. Still, had the ordinary statute been followed, it would not have reached the utmost punishment. I was in great anger then and ordered him dealt with at once. You gentlemen in the end said not a word, and the office in charge did not report again, so he was put to death straightway. How is that right?"
Thereupon he issued an edict:
"Whenever there is a death sentence, even if it is ordered to be carried out at once, it must all be reported five times over."
The five reports began with Yungu. He also said:
"To keep to the letter in fixing guilt, I fear there may be wrongs. From now on, when the Chancellery reviews a case and finds one that by law and ordinance deserves death but whose circumstances are pitiable, let it be written down and reported."
蘊古，初以貞觀二年，自幽州總管府記室兼直中書省，表上《大寶箴》，文義甚美，可以規誡。其詞曰：
Yungu, at the first, in the second year of Zhenguan, was recorder of the office of the governor general of Youzhou and served at the same time in the Secretariat, and he sent up a memorial presenting the Dabao zhen. The wording and the sense of it were very beautiful, fit to be taken as rule and warning. Its words were these:
今來古往，俯察仰觀，惟辟作福，為君實難。宅普天之下，處王公之上，任土貢其所有，具僚和其所唱。是故恐懼之心日弛，邪僻之情轉放。豈知事起乎所忽，禍生乎無妄。故以聖人受命，拯溺亨屯，歸罪於己，推恩於民。大明無偏照，至公無私親。故以一人治天下，不以天下奉一人。禮以禁其奢，樂以防其佚。左言而右事，出警而入蹕。四時調其慘舒，三光同其得失。故身為之度，而聲為之律。勿謂無知，居高聽卑；勿謂何害，積小成大。樂不可極，極樂成哀；欲不可縱，縱欲成災。壯九重於內，所居不過容膝；彼昏不知，瑤其臺而瓊其室。羅八珍於前，所食不過適口；惟狂罔念，丘其糟而池其酒。勿內荒於色，勿外荒於禽；勿貴難得之貨，勿聽亡國之音。內荒伐人性，外荒蕩人心；難得之物侈，亡國之聲淫。勿謂我尊而傲賢侮士，勿謂我智而拒諫矜己。聞之夏後，據饋頻起；亦有魏帝，牽裾不止。安彼反側，如春陽秋露；巍巍蕩蕩，推漢高大度。撫茲庶事，如履薄臨深；戰戰栗栗，用周文小心。
The present comes and the past goes; I look down and observe, I look up and gaze. Only the ruler makes blessing, and to be a lord is truly hard. He dwells beneath the whole sky and stands above the kings and dukes. The land is charged to offer what it has, and the whole body of officials answers what he calls out. And so the heart that fears grows slack by the day, and the crooked and biased feeling turns loose. How should he know that trouble rises from what is neglected, and disaster is born where nothing was looked for?
Therefore the sage receives the mandate, lifts up the drowning and opens what is hard. He turns guilt upon himself and pushes kindness out to the people. The great brightness does not shine to one side, and perfect fairness has no private favor. Therefore one man governs all under heaven, and all under heaven is not made to serve one man.
Rites forbid his extravagance; music guards against his idleness. On the left his words are written, on the right his deeds. Going out, the road is cleared; coming in, the road is swept. The four seasons order their harshness and their ease, and the three lights share their gaining and their losing. So his body becomes the measure and his voice becomes the pitch.
Do not say that none knows: he is high and hears what is low. Do not say what harm is in it: small things pile up and make a great one. Joy must not be pushed to its end, for joy at its end becomes sorrow. Desire must not be let loose, for desire let loose becomes disaster. Though the ninefold hall be built within, to live in he needs only room for his knees; yet the benighted man does not know it, and makes his terrace of jade and his chamber of gems. Though eight rare dishes be spread before him, to eat he needs only what suits his mouth; yet the mad man has no thought, and makes a hill of lees and a pond of wine.
Do not run wild within after women. Do not run wild without after birds. Do not prize goods that are hard to get. Do not listen to the music that ruins a state. Wildness within strikes at a man's nature; wildness without shakes a man's heart. Goods hard to get are extravagance; the sounds that ruin a state are lewdness.
Do not say, 'I am honored,' and be haughty to the worthy and slight the gentlemen. Do not say, 'I am wise,' and shut out remonstrance and boast of yourself. We have heard of the lord of Xia: he set his meal aside and rose again and again. And there was the emperor of Wei: his robe was held fast, and still it did not stop.
Bring peace to those who toss and turn, like the spring sun and the autumn dew. Be lofty and vast, and follow the great measure of Gaozu of Han. Handle these many affairs as if treading thin ice, as if standing over a depth. Tremble and shake, and use the care of King Wen of Zhou.
《詩》云：「不識不知。」《書》曰：「無偏無黨。」一彼此於胸臆，捐好惡於心想。眾棄而後加刑，眾悅而後命賞。弱其強而治其亂，伸其屈而直其枉。故曰：如衡如石，不定物以數，物之懸者，輕重自見；如水如鏡，不示物以形，物之鑒者，妍蚩自露。勿渾渾而濁，勿皎皎而清；勿汶汶而暗，勿察察而明。雖冕旒蔽目而視於未形，雖黈纊塞耳而聽於無聲。縱心乎湛然之域，遊神於至道之精。扣之者，應洪纖而效響；酌之者，隨淺深而皆盈。故曰：天之清，地之寧，王之貞。四時不言而代序，萬物無為而受成。豈知帝有其力，而天下和平。吾王撥亂，戡以智力；人懼其威，未懷其德。我皇撫運，扇以淳風；民懷其始，未保其終。爰術金鏡，窮神盡性。使人以心，應言以行。包括理體，抑揚辭令。天下為公，一人有慶。開羅起祝，援琴命詩。一日二日，念茲在茲。惟人所召，自天祐之。爭臣司直，敢告前疑。
The Book of Songs says, "Neither knowing nor perceiving." The Book of Documents says, "Without partiality, without faction." Make this side and that side one within your breast, and cast liking and hating out of your mind. Add punishment only after the many have cast a man off; command reward only after the many are pleased. Weaken what is strong and order what is unruly; stretch out what is bent and straighten what is twisted.
Therefore it is said: be like the balance and like the weight, which fix nothing by number, yet when a thing is hung on them its lightness and heaviness show of themselves; be like water and like a mirror, which show a thing no shape, yet when a thing is reflected its beauty and its ugliness come out of themselves.
Do not be muddy and thick. Do not be glaring and clear. Do not be dim and dark. Do not be picking and bright. Though the tassels of the crown cover your eyes, see what has not yet taken shape. Though the yellow floss stops your ears, hear where there is no sound. Let your heart go in the region of stillness, and let your spirit roam in the fineness of the perfect way.
To him who strikes, answer the great note and the small and give back the sound. To him who draws, follow the shallow and the deep and fill them all. Therefore it is said: the clearness of heaven, the quiet of earth, the uprightness of the king. The four seasons do not speak, yet they take their turns. The ten thousand things do nothing, yet they are brought to completion. Who would know that the emperor had a hand in it? Yet all under heaven is at peace.
Our king put down disorder and won by wisdom and by strength. The people fear his awe, but they do not yet hold his virtue in their hearts. Our emperor took up the turning of the age and fanned it with a pure wind. The people hold to his beginning, but his end is not yet made safe.
So unfold the art of the metal mirror, exhaust what is divine and fulfill your nature. Employ men with your heart, and answer words with deeds. Embrace the body of right order, and press down and lift up your words and commands. When all under heaven is held in common, blessing comes to the one man. Open the net and raise a prayer; draw the lute and call for a song. For a day, for two days, think of this and keep it here. Only what men call down does heaven of itself help. A remonstrating minister and an officer of uprightness dares to report what was doubted before.
太宗嘉之，賜帛三百段，仍授以大理寺丞。
Taizong thought well of it, bestowed three hundred lengths of silk, and went on to give him the post of assistant in the Court of Judicial Review.
貞觀五年，詔曰：「在京諸司，比來奏決死囚，雖云三覆，一日即了，都未暇審思，三奏何益？縱有追悔，又無所及。自今後，在京諸司奏決死囚，宜二日中五覆奏，天下諸州三覆奏。」又手詔敕曰：「比來有司斷獄，多據律文，雖情在可矜而不敢違法，守文定罪，惑恐有冤。自今門下省復有據法合死，而情在可矜者，宜錄狀奏聞。」
In the fifth year of Zhenguan an edict was issued:
"When the offices in the capital report capital cases for decision, though they speak of reporting three times over, they finish it in a single day and have no leisure at all to weigh and consider. What good are three reports? Even if regret follows, there is no reaching back. From now on, when the offices in the capital report capital cases for decision, let them report five times over within two days, and let the prefectures of the realm report three times over."
He also commanded by an edict in his own hand:
"Of late, when the offices in charge judge cases, they mostly follow the letter of the statutes, and though the circumstances be pitiable they dare not go against the law. To keep to the letter in fixing guilt, I fear there may be wrongs. From now on, when the Chancellery reviews a case and finds one that by law deserves death but whose circumstances are pitiable, let the facts be written down and reported."
貞觀九年，鹽澤道行軍總管、岷州都督高甑生，坐違李靖節度，又誣告靖謀逆，減死徙邊。時有上言者曰：「甑生舊秦府功臣，請寬其過。」太宗曰：「雖是藩邸舊勞，誠不可忘。然理國守法，事須畫一，今若赦之，使開僥幸之路。且國家建義太原，元從及征戰有功者甚眾，若甑生獲免，誰不覬覦？有功之人，皆須犯法。我所以必不赦者，正為此也。」
In the ninth year of Zhenguan, Gao Zengsheng, commander of the marching army of the Yanze route and governor general of Minzhou, was found guilty of going against Li Jing's orders and also of falsely accusing Li Jing of plotting rebellion, and his death sentence was reduced and he was moved to the frontier. At that time there was one who sent up a memorial and said:
"Zengsheng is an old meritorious officer of the Prince of Qin's household. I beg you to be lenient with his fault."
Taizong said:
"His old labors in the days of my princely residence are true and cannot be forgotten. But in governing the state and keeping the law, matters must be of one measure. If I pardon him now, it opens a road for men to hope for luck. And when the state raised the righteous cause at Taiyuan, those who followed from the first and had merit in the campaigns were very many. If Zengsheng is let off, who will not look for the same? Every man of merit would break the law. This is just why I will not pardon him."
貞觀十一年，特進魏徵上疏曰：
In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, Wei Zheng, who held the rank of tejin, sent up a memorial:
臣聞《書》曰：「明德慎罰」，「惟刑恤哉！」《禮》云：「為上易事，為下易知，則刑不煩矣。上人疑則百姓惑，下難知則君長勞矣。」夫上易事，則下易知，君長不勞，百姓不惑。故君有一德，臣無二心，上播忠厚之誠，下竭股肱之力，然後太平之基不墜，「康哉」之詠斯起。當今道被華戎，功高宇宙，無思不服，無遠不臻。然言尚於簡文，誌在於明察，刑賞之用，有所未盡。夫刑賞之本，在乎勸善而懲惡，帝王之所以與天下為畫一，不以貴賤親疏而輕重者也。今之刑賞，未必盡然。或屈伸在乎好惡，或輕重由乎喜怒；遇喜則矜其情於法中，逢怒則求其罪於事外；所好則鉆皮出其毛羽，所惡則洗垢求其瘢痕。瘢痕可求，則刑斯濫矣；毛羽可出，則賞因謬矣。刑濫則小人道長，賞謬則君子道消。小人之惡不懲，君子之善不勸，而望治安刑措，非所聞也。
Your servant has heard that the Book of Documents says, "Make virtue bright and be careful in punishing," and "Let there be pity in punishment." The Book of Rites says, "When the one above is easy to serve and those below are easy to know, punishment is not troublesome. When the man above is suspicious, the people are confused; when those below are hard to know, the ruler is worn out." Now if the one above is easy to serve, those below are easy to know; and if the ruler is not worn out, the people are not confused. So the ruler has one constant virtue and the ministers have no second heart; above, a loyal and generous sincerity is spread, and below, the strength of arms and legs is spent to the full. Only then does the foundation of great peace not fall, and the song "How peaceful!" arises.
Today the way covers China and the tribes beyond, and your merit stands high in the whole world. There is none who thinks and does not submit, none so far off that he does not come. Yet in words you honor the plain and the brief, while your will is set on seeing clearly into things, so that in the use of punishment and reward something is left undone.
Now the root of punishment and reward lies in urging men to good and checking them from evil. It is that by which an emperor makes one measure for all under heaven, and does not make things light or heavy by rank or by closeness. Yet the punishments and rewards of today are not always so. Sometimes the bending or the stretching lies in liking and disliking; sometimes the lightness or the heaviness comes of joy or of anger. Meeting with joy, you pity a man's circumstances within the law; meeting with anger, you seek his guilt outside the matter. For the man you like, the hide is bored through to bring out his feathers; for the man you dislike, the dirt is washed away to find his scar. If a scar can be found, punishment overflows. If feathers can be brought out, reward goes wrong. When punishment overflows, the way of the small man grows. When reward goes wrong, the way of the gentleman fades. The evil of small men is not checked and the good of gentlemen is not urged on, and yet to hope for peaceful rule and punishment laid aside is not a thing I have heard of.
且夫暇豫清談，皆敦尚於孔、老；威怒所至，則取法於申、韓。直道而行，非無三黜，危人自安，蓋亦多矣。故道德之旨未弘，刻薄之風已扇。夫刻薄既扇，則下生百端；人競趨時，則憲章不一。稽之王度，實虧君道。昔州犁上下其手，楚國之法遂差；張湯輕重其心，漢朝之刑以弊。以人臣之頗僻，猶莫能申其欺罔，況人君之高下，將何以措其手足乎？以睿聖之聰明，無幽微而不燭，豈神有所不達，智有所不通哉？安其所安，不以恤刑為念；樂其所樂，遂忘先笑之變。禍福相倚，吉兇同域，惟人所召，安可不思？頃者責罰稍多，威怒微厲，或以供帳不贍，或以營作差違，或以物不稱心，或以人不從命，皆非致治之所急，實恐驕奢之攸漸。是知「貴不與驕期而驕自至，富不與侈期而侈自來」，非徒語也。
Again, in leisured and pure talk you honor Confucius and Laozi and hold them dear, but where your awe and your anger reach you take your rule from Shen Buhai and Han Fei. Men who walk the straight way are not spared being put out of office three times, and those who endanger others to make themselves safe are, it seems, many. So the purport of virtue is not yet spread wide, while a harsh and thin wind is already fanned. Once harshness and thinness are fanned, a hundred devices spring up below; and when men race to follow the moment, the statutes are not of one measure. Weighed against the royal rule, this truly wears away the way of a ruler.
Long ago Zhou Li raised and lowered his hand, and the law of Chu went astray. Zhang Tang made things light or heavy by his own heart, and the punishments of the Han court decayed by it. Even the leaning of a subject could not be kept from spreading its deceit. How much more, when a ruler raises and lowers, shall men have anywhere to set hand or foot?
With your wise and sagely brightness there is nothing so hidden and fine that it is not lit up. How should there be anything your spirit does not reach, anything your wisdom does not pass through? Yet you rest in what is restful and do not take pity in punishment for your thought; you delight in what delights you, and so forget the turn that follows the laughter that comes first. Disaster and blessing lean on each other, good fortune and ill share one ground, and it is only what men call down. How can one not think of this?
Of late your reproofs and punishments have grown somewhat many, and your awe and your anger a little sharp. Sometimes you say the provision is not ample; sometimes you say the building work has gone amiss; sometimes you say a thing does not suit your heart; sometimes you say a man has not followed your command. None of these is urgent for reaching good rule, and I truly fear that pride and extravagance are seeping in. So we know that "honor makes no appointment with pride, yet pride comes of itself, and wealth makes no appointment with excess, yet excess comes of itself" is not an empty saying.
且我之所代，實在有隋。隋氏亂亡之源，聖明之所臨照。以隋氏之府藏譬今日之資儲，以隋氏之甲兵況當今之士馬，以隋氏之戶口校今時之百姓，度長比大，曾何等級？然隋氏以富強而喪敗，動之也；我以貧窮而安寧，靜之也。靜之則安，動之則亂，人皆知之，非隱而難見也，非微而難察也。然鮮蹈平易之途，多遵覆車之轍，何哉？在於安不思危、治不念亂、存不慮亡之所致也。昔隋氏之未亂，自謂必無亂；隋氏之未亡，自謂必不亡，所以甲兵屢動，徭役不息。至於將受戮辱，竟未悟其滅亡之所由也，可不哀哉！
Again, what we took the place of was truly the Sui. The source of the Sui house's disorder and ruin is what your sagely brightness looks down upon and lights. Set the Sui house's storehouses beside today's stores, the Sui house's armor and soldiers beside today's men and horses, the Sui house's households beside today's people; measure length and compare bulk, and what grade of difference was there ever? Yet the Sui house was rich and strong and was lost and broken, because it moved; we are poor and straitened and are at peace and quiet, because we are still.
That stillness brings peace and movement brings disorder is known to all. It is not hidden and hard to see, not faint and hard to make out. Yet few tread the level road and many follow the ruts of the overturned cart. Why is this? It comes of not thinking of danger while at peace, not thinking of disorder while in good rule, not reckoning on ruin while still standing.
Long ago, while the Sui house was not yet in disorder, it said of itself that there would surely be no disorder; while the Sui house had not yet fallen, it said of itself that it would surely not fall. And so armor and soldiers were moved again and again, and labor service did not cease. Even when it was about to meet slaughter and shame, to the end it did not see what its ruin came from. Is that not pitiable?
夫鑒形之美惡，必就於止水；鑒國之安危，必取於亡國。故《詩》曰：「殷鑒不遠，在夏後之世。」又曰：「伐柯伐柯，其則不遠。」臣願當今之動靜，必思隋氏以為殷鑒，則存亡之治亂，可得而知。若能思其所以危，則安矣；思其所以亂，則治矣；思其所以亡，則存矣。知存亡之所在，節嗜欲以從人，省遊畋之娛，息靡麗之作，罷不急之務，慎偏聽之怒；近忠厚，遠便佞，杜悅耳之邪說，甘苦口之忠言；去易進之人，賤難得之貨，采堯舜之誹謗，追禹湯之罪己；惜十家之產，順百姓之心，近取諸身，恕以待物，思勞謙以受益，不自滿以招損；有動則庶類以和，出言而千里斯應，超上德於前載，樹風聲於後昆，此聖哲之宏觀，而帝王之大業，能事斯畢，在乎慎守而已。
To mirror the beauty or the ugliness of a shape, one must go to still water. To mirror the safety or the danger of a state, one must take it from a fallen state. Therefore the Book of Songs says, "The mirror of Yin is not far off; it lies in the age of the lord of Xia." And it says, "Hew an axe handle, hew an axe handle; the model is not far off."
Your servant wishes that in every movement and stillness of today you would think of the Sui house and make it your mirror of Yin. Then standing and falling, good rule and disorder, may be known. If you can think of what made them endangered, you will be safe. If you think of what made them disordered, you will be well governed. If you think of what made them fall, you will stand.
Know where standing and falling lie. Set a measure to what you relish and desire, and follow other men. Cut down the pleasure of roaming and hunting. Stop the making of lavish and lovely things. Put aside business that is not urgent. Beware of the anger that comes of hearing one side. Draw near the loyal and generous, and keep far from the glib and the fawning. Shut out the crooked words that please the ear, and take as sweet the loyal words that are bitter in the mouth. Cast off the man who advances too easily, and hold cheap the goods that are hard to get. Take up the way Yao and Shun gathered the slanders against them, and follow the way Yu and Tang laid the blame on themselves. Spare the substance of ten households and follow the heart of the people. Take what is near, from your own person, and meet all things with forbearance. Think to labor and be humble and so receive increase, and do not fill yourself and so call down loss.
When you move, the many kinds will be in accord; when you speak, a thousand li will answer. So the highest virtue will pass beyond the records of old, and a name like the wind will be set up for those who come after. This is the great vision of the sage and the wise and the great work of an emperor. What can be done ends here, and it lies only in guarding it with care.
夫守之則易，取之實難。既能得其所以難，豈不能保其所以易？其或保之不固，則驕奢淫泆動之也。慎終如始，可不勉歟！《易》曰：「君子安不忘危，存不忘亡，治不忘亂，是以身安而國家可保也。」誠哉斯言，不可以不深察也。伏惟陛下欲善之誌，不減於昔時，聞過必改，少虧於曩日。若以當今之無事，行疇昔之恭儉，則盡善盡美矣，固無得而稱焉。
To keep it is easy, and to win it is truly hard. Since you were able to get what was hard, how should you not be able to hold what is easy? If ever the holding is not firm, it is pride and extravagance and lewdness and license that have shaken it. To be careful at the end as at the beginning: can one not strive for this?
The Book of Changes says, "The gentleman at peace does not forget danger; standing, he does not forget ruin; in good rule he does not forget disorder. Thus his person is safe and his state and his house can be kept." True indeed are these words, and one cannot but look into them deeply.
Prostrate, your servant thinks that Your Majesty's will toward the good is no less than in former days, but that your changing at once when you hear of a fault has fallen off a little from times past. If with the freedom from trouble you now enjoy you were to practice the reverence and the thrift of old, then the good would be complete and the beauty complete, and truly there would be nothing left to praise.
太宗深嘉而納用。
Taizong thought well of it deeply and took it up and used it.
貞觀十四年，戴州刺史賈崇以所部有犯十惡者，被御史劾奏。太宗謂侍臣曰：「昔陶唐大聖，柳下惠大賢，其子丹朱甚不肖，其弟盜跖為臣惡。夫以聖賢之訓，父子兄弟之親，尚不能使陶染變革，去惡從善。今遣刺史，化被下人，咸歸善道，豈可得也？若令緣此皆被貶降，或恐遞相掩蔽，罪人斯失。諸州有犯十惡者，刺史不須從坐，但令明加糾訪科罪，庶可肅清奸惡。」
In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, Jia Chong, the prefect of Daizhou, was impeached by a censor because within his district there was a man who had committed one of the ten great crimes. Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"Long ago the lord of Taotang was a great sage and Liuxia Hui a great worthy, yet Taotang's son Danzhu was utterly worthless and Liuxia Hui's younger brother Robber Zhi was evil as a subject. Now with the teaching of sages and worthies, and with the closeness of father and son and of elder and younger brother, they still could not make them take the dye and change, cast off evil and follow good. How then can a prefect be sent out and his transforming power cover the people below him, so that all return to the way of good?
"If on this account they are all to be demoted and lowered, I fear that they may cover for one another in turn and the guilty be lost. When there is a man in a prefecture who has committed one of the ten great crimes, let the prefect not be punished with him. Only let the matter be plainly searched out and the guilt assessed, and then treachery and evil may nearly be swept clean."
貞觀十六年，太宗謂大理卿孫伏伽曰：「夫作甲者欲其堅，恐人之傷；作箭者欲其銳，恐人不傷。何則？各有司存，利在稱職故也。朕常問法官刑罰輕重，每稱法網寬於往代，仍恐主獄之司，利在殺人，危人自達，以釣聲價。今之所憂，正在此耳。深宜禁止，務在寬平。」
In the sixteenth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to Sun Fujia, the chief minister of the Court of Judicial Review:
"The man who makes armor wants it to be hard, for he fears that a man may be hurt. The man who makes arrows wants them to be sharp, for he fears that a man may not be hurt. Why is this? Each has his own charge, and his profit lies in fitting his office.
"I always ask the judges about the lightness and the heaviness of punishments, and they say the net of the law is wider than in ages past. Still I fear that the offices in charge of cases hold their profit to lie in killing men, endangering others to make themselves known and so fishing for name and price. What I am troubled by now lies just here. It should be strictly forbidden and stopped, and effort made to be lenient and even."