On Calamities and Auspicious Omens論災祥第三十九
貞觀六年，太宗謂侍臣曰：「朕此見眾議以祥瑞為美事，頻有表賀慶。如朕本心，但使天下太平，家給人足，雖無祥瑞，亦可比德於堯、舜。若百姓不足，夷狄內侵，縱有芝草遍街衢，鳳凰巢苑囿，亦何異於桀、紂？嘗聞石勒時，有郡吏燃連理木，煮白雉肉吃，豈得稱為明主耶？又隋文帝深愛祥瑞，遣秘書監王劭著衣冠，在朝堂對考使焚香，讀《皇隋感瑞經》。舊嘗見傳說此事，實以為可笑。夫為人君，當須至公理天下，以得萬姓之歡心。若堯、舜在上，百姓敬之如天地，愛之如父母，動作興事，人皆樂之，發號施令，人皆悅之，此是大祥瑞也。自此後諸州所有祥瑞，並不用申奏。」
In the sixth year of Zhenguan, Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"I see now that the many voices about me hold auspicious signs to be a fine thing, and memorials of congratulation come one after another. As for my own mind, if only all under heaven be at peace, and every house have enough and every man be content, then even without auspicious signs my virtue may be matched with that of Yao and Shun. But if the people have not enough and the tribes of the border press in upon us, then though the zhi plant grew along every street and the phoenix nested in the parks, how would that differ from Jie and the tyrant Zhou?
"I once heard that in the time of Shi Le an officer of a commandery burned a tree whose branches had grown together and boiled the flesh of a white pheasant and ate it. How could such a man be called an enlightened ruler? Again, Emperor Wen of Sui was deeply fond of auspicious signs. He sent Wang Shao, director of the palace library, to put on robe and cap and to stand in the court hall facing the envoys who came with the assessments, and there to burn incense and read the Huang Sui gan rui jing. When I heard this story told in the past, I truly thought it a thing to laugh at.
"He who is the ruler of men must order all under heaven with the utmost fairness, and so win the glad heart of the countless people. When Yao and Shun were above, the people revered them as they revere heaven and earth and loved them as they love father and mother. When they stirred and began a work, all men took joy in it. When they gave out an order, all men were pleased with it. This is the great auspicious sign. From this time on, let none of the auspicious signs in any of the prefectures be reported to me."
貞觀八年，隴右山崩，大蛇屢見，山東及江、淮多大水。太宗以問侍臣，秘書監虞世南對曰：「春秋時，梁山崩，晉侯召伯宗而問焉，對曰：『國主山川，故山崩川竭，君為之不舉樂，降服乘縵，祝幣以禮焉。』粱山，晉所主也。晉侯從之，故得無害。漢文帝元年，齊、楚地二十九山同日崩，水大出，令郡國無來獻，施惠於天下，遠近歡洽，亦不為災。後漢靈帝時，青蛇見御座；晉惠帝時，大蛇長三百步，見齊地，經市入朝。按蛇宜在草野，而入市朝，所以為怪耳。今蛇見山澤，蓋深山大澤必有龍蛇，亦不足怪。又山東之雨，雖則其常，然陰潛過久，恐有冤獄，宜斷省系囚，庶或當天意。且妖不勝德，修德可以銷變。」太宗以為然，因遣使者賑恤饑餒，申理冤訟，多所原宥。
In the eighth year of Zhenguan a mountain fell in Longyou and great snakes appeared again and again, and there were many great floods in Shandong and along the Jiang and the Huai. Taizong asked the ministers in attendance about this, and Yu Shinan, director of the palace library, answered:
"In the time of the Spring and Autumn, Mount Liang fell, and the marquis of Jin summoned Bo Zong and asked him. Bo Zong answered: 'A state has its mountains and rivers for its lords. Therefore when a mountain falls and a river dries up, the ruler for its sake raises no music, lowers his dress and rides in an unadorned carriage, and prays with offerings to meet the rite.' Mount Liang was what the state of Jin held as its lord. The marquis of Jin followed this, and so no harm came.
"In the first year of Emperor Wen of Han, twenty-nine mountains in the lands of Qi and Chu fell on the same day, and the waters came out in flood. He ordered that the commanderies and the fiefs bring no tribute, and he spread favor over all under heaven. Far and near were glad and at one, and this too did not become a disaster.
"In the time of Emperor Ling of the Later Han a green snake appeared at the imperial seat. In the time of Emperor Hui of Jin a great snake three hundred paces long appeared in the land of Qi, passed through the market and entered the court. Now a snake belongs in the grass and the wild, and it was because these entered the market and the court that they were held strange. The snakes have now appeared in the mountains and the marshes. In deep mountains and great marshes there must be dragons and snakes, and this is not enough to be thought strange.
"As for the rain in Shandong, it is indeed the common course. Yet the shade has lain hidden too long, and I fear there may be prisoners wronged. It would be right to cut short and lessen the number of those held in the prisons, and this may perhaps meet the will of heaven. Moreover the uncanny does not overcome virtue. If virtue is cultivated, strange changes can be melted away."
Taizong thought it so. He therefore sent envoys to relieve the hungry and to set right the suits of the wronged, and many were pardoned.
貞觀八年，有彗星見於南方，長六丈，經百餘日乃滅。太宗謂侍臣曰：「天見彗星，由朕之不德，政有虧失，是何妖也？」虞世南對曰：「昔齊景公時彗星見，公問晏子。晏子對曰：『公穿池沼畏不深，起臺榭畏不高，行刑罰畏不重，是以天見彗星，為公戒耳！』景公懼而修德，後十六日而星沒。陛下若德政不修，雖麟鳳數見，終是無益。但使朝無闕政，百姓安樂，雖有災變，何損於德？願陛下勿以功高古人而自矜大，勿以太平漸久而自驕逸，若能終始如一，彗見未足為憂。」太宗曰：「吾之理國，良無景公之過。但朕年十八便為經綸王業，北剪劉武周，西平薛舉，東擒竇建德、王世充，二十四而天下定，二十九而居大位，四夷降伏，海內乂安。自謂古來英雄撥亂之主無見及者，頗有自矜之意，此吾之過也。上天見變，良為是乎？秦始皇平六國，隋煬帝富有四海，既驕且逸，一朝而敗，吾亦何得自驕也？言念於此，不覺惕焉震懼！」魏徵進曰：「臣聞自古帝王未有無災變者，但能修德，災變自銷。陛下因有天變，遂能戒懼，反復思量，深自克責，雖有此變，必不為災也。」
In the eighth year of Zhenguan a comet appeared in the south. It was sixty feet long, and only after more than a hundred days did it fade. Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"That heaven has shown a comet comes from my want of virtue, and from the flaws and losses in my government. What uncanny thing is this?"
Yu Shinan answered:
"Long ago, in the time of Duke Jing of Qi, a comet appeared, and the duke asked Yanzi about it. Yanzi answered: 'My lord digs ponds and pools and fears they are not deep. He raises terraces and pavilions and fears they are not high. He carries out punishments and fears they are not heavy. For this reason heaven has shown a comet, only to warn my lord.' Duke Jing was afraid and cultivated his virtue, and after sixteen days the star was gone.
"If Your Majesty does not cultivate a government of virtue, then though the unicorn and the phoenix appear again and again, in the end there is no gain in it. If only there be no flawed government in the court and the people be at peace and glad, then though there be calamity and strange change, what is taken away from your virtue? I beg that Your Majesty not boast and think yourself great because your merit stands higher than that of the men of old, and not grow proud and idle because the great peace has lasted a while. If you can be one and the same from the beginning to the end, the appearing of a comet is not enough to be a care."
Taizong said:
"In my ordering of the state I have truly not the fault of Duke Jing. But at eighteen I was already weaving the work of the royal enterprise. In the north I cut down Liu Wuzhou, in the west I put down Xue Ju, in the east I took Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong. At twenty-four all under heaven was settled, and at twenty-nine I came to the great seat. The tribes of the four quarters bowed and submitted, and within the seas all was ordered and at peace. I thought to myself that among the heroes of old who set right a time of disorder there was none who came up to me, and I had in me a good deal of the mind that boasts. This is my fault. Has high heaven shown this change truly for that reason?
"The First Emperor of Qin put down the six states, and Emperor Yang of Sui had the four seas in abundance. Being proud and also idle, they fell in a single morning. How then can I be proud? When my words come to this, without knowing it I am afraid and shaken."
Wei Zheng came forward and said:
"I have heard that from of old there has been no emperor or king without calamity and strange change, but that if one can cultivate virtue, calamity and strange change melt away of themselves. Because there has been this change in heaven, Your Majesty has been able to take warning and to fear, to turn the matter over and over and to press the blame deeply upon yourself. Though there be this change, it will surely not become a calamity."
貞觀十一年，大雨，谷水溢，沖洛城門，入洛陽宮，平地五尺，毀宮寺十九，所漂七百餘家。太宗謂侍臣曰：「朕之不德，皇天降災。將由視聽弗明，刑罰失度，遂使陰陽舛謬，雨水乖常。矜物罪己，載懷憂惕。朕又何情獨甘滋味？可令尚食斷肉料，進蔬食。文武百官各上封事，極言得失。」中書侍郎岑文本上封事曰：
In the eleventh year of Zhenguan there was a great rain. The Gu River overflowed, broke against the gate of the city of Luo and came into the palace of Luoyang, standing five feet deep on the level ground. Nineteen palaces and offices were ruined, and more than seven hundred houses were washed away. Taizong said to the ministers in attendance:
"It is my want of virtue, and august heaven has sent down this calamity. It must come from my seeing and hearing not being clear and from punishments losing their measure, so that the shade and the light have gone awry and the rain and the waters have broken from their constant course. I pity the things that suffer and lay the blame upon myself, and I carry care and fear. With what feeling could I alone take pleasure in rich food? Let the office of the imperial table cut off the portions of meat and serve me food of vegetables. Let the hundred officers, civil and military, each send up a sealed memorial and speak to the end of what is gained and what is lost."
Cen Wenben, the vice director of the Secretariat, sent up a sealed memorial saying:
臣聞開撥亂之業，其功既難；守已成之基，其道不易。故居安思危，所以定其業也；有始有卒，所以崇其基也。今雖億兆乂安，方隅寧謐，既承喪亂之後，又接雕弊之餘，戶口減損尚多，田疇墾辟猶少。覆燾之恩著矣，而瘡痍未復；德教之風被矣，而資產屢空。是以古人譬之種樹，年祀綿遠，則枝葉扶疏；若種之日淺，根本未固，雖壅之以黑墳，暖之以春日，一人搖之，必致枯槁。今之百姓，頗類於此。常加含養，則日就滋息；暫有徵役，則隨日雕耗；雕耗既甚，則人不聊生；人不聊生，則怨氣充塞；怨氣充塞，則離叛之心生矣。故帝舜曰：「可愛非君，可畏非民。」孔安國曰：「人以君為命，故可愛。君失道，人叛之，故可畏。」仲尼曰：「君猶舟也，人猶水也。水所以載舟，亦所以覆舟。」是以古之哲王雖休勿休，日慎一日者，良為此也。
I have heard that to open the work of setting right a time of disorder is a merit already hard to win, and that to keep a foundation already made is a way that is not easy. Therefore to dwell in safety and think of danger is that by which the work is made firm, and to have a beginning and to have an end is that by which the foundation is made high.
Now, though the countless people are ordered and at peace and the four corners are quiet and still, we have come after a time of ruin and disorder and follow upon what was left worn and wasted. The loss in households and mouths is still great, and the fields broken and opened are still few. The kindness that covers and shelters is plain to see, but the wounds are not yet healed. The wind of virtue and teaching has spread over all, but goods and living are again and again empty.
Therefore the men of old likened this to the planting of trees. When the years are long and far, then the branches and leaves grow thick and spreading. But if the day of planting is near and the root and the stock are not yet firm, then though you heap black loam about it and warm it with the spring sun, one man shaking it will surely bring it to wither and dry. The people of today are much like this. If nourishment is added to them without ceasing, then day by day they increase. If there are levies and labors even for a while, then day by day they wither and are worn away. When the withering and the wearing away is deep, then men cannot make a living. When men cannot make a living, then the air of resentment fills up everything. When the air of resentment fills up everything, then the heart that departs and rebels is born.
Therefore Emperor Shun said, "Is it not the ruler who may be loved? Is it not the people who may be feared?" And Kong Anguo said, "Men take the ruler as their life, and so he may be loved. If the ruler loses the way, men rebel against him, and so they may be feared." And Zhongni said, "The ruler is like a boat and men are like water. The water is what bears the boat up, and it is also what overturns the boat." This is why the wise kings of old, though it was excellent, did not call it excellent, and were careful day after day. It was truly for this reason.
伏惟陛下覽古今之事，察安危之機，上以社稷為重，下以億兆在念。明選舉，慎賞罰，進賢才，退不肖。聞過即改，從諫如流。為善在於不疑，出令期於必信。頤神養性，省遊畋之娛；雲奢從儉，減工役之費。務靜方內，而不求辟土；載橐弓矢，而不忘武備。凡此數者，雖為國之恒道，陛下之所常行。臣之愚昧，惟願陛下思而不怠，則至道之美與三、五比隆，億載之祚與天地長久。雖使桑穀為妖，龍蛇作孽，雉雊於鼎耳，石言於晉地，猶當轉禍為福，變災為祥，況雨水之患，陰陽恒理，豈可謂天譴而系聖心哉？臣聞古人有言：「農夫勞而君子養焉，愚者言而智者擇焉。」輒陳狂瞽，伏待斧鉞。
I bow and consider that Your Majesty looks upon the affairs of old and of today and examines the springs of safety and danger, holding the altars of the land heavy above and keeping the countless people in mind below. Make clear the choosing and raising of men. Be careful in reward and punishment. Bring forward the worthy and the able, and put back the unfit. When you hear of a fault, change it at once, and follow remonstrance as water flows. Let the doing of good lie in not doubting, and let the giving of an order look to being surely believed. Nourish your spirit and rear your nature, and cut down the pleasure of roaming and hunting. Put away extravagance and follow thrift, and lessen the cost of labor and works. Take pains to keep all quiet within the borders, and do not seek to widen the land. Put bow and arrow away in their bags, yet do not forget the readiness of arms.
All of these several things are the constant way of ordering a state and what Your Majesty always does. Foolish and dark as I am, I wish only that Your Majesty think upon them and not grow slack. Then the beauty of the utmost way will match in height the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors, and the blessing of a hundred million years will be as long and lasting as heaven and earth. Then though mulberry and paper mulberry grow as an uncanny sign, though dragon and snake work harm, though a pheasant cry on the ear of a caldron and a stone speak in the land of Jin, still you will turn calamity into blessing and change disaster into a sign of good. How much more with the trouble of rain and water, which is the constant course of the shade and the light. How can it be called a rebuke of heaven and be tied to your sage heart?
I have heard that the men of old had a saying: "The farmer toils and the gentleman is fed by it; the foolish speak and the wise choose among their words." So I set forth my mad and blind words, and I bow down to await the axe.
Interlinear notes 1
The text has yun 雲, taken here as an error for qu 去 (to put away), to match the paired cong jian (follow thrift). — translator
太宗深納其言。
Taizong deeply took in his words.