The ideal saint: an enlightened and trainable image is thus established.
The general public has always had the need to look up. So history, like real life, needs idols, especially emperors with idol temperament. Emperor Taizong seems to have been quite cooperative in this regard. Encouraged by Emperor Taizong's exhortation, the monarchs and ministers in Zhenguan once really formed the atmosphere of speaking out and admonishing ministers. Pei Ju, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was able to boldly remonstrate and fight for it in the Sui Dynasty. Sima Guang said: "Pei Ju was loyal to the Tang Dynasty because of the change of his nature;" If you hate it, your loyalty will become loyalty, and if you are willing to speak out, your loyalty will become loyalty. "
Go your own way: coachable listens with an open mind and does what you want. According to the second volume of Zhenguan Dignitary, in the fourth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong ordered the repair of Luoyang Gonggan Yangdian to prepare for the inauguration tour. Zhang wrote a letter of protest. Although Emperor Taizong was very unhappy, he did not have an attack, but ordered "to stop all work immediately". He also took advantage of the topic and said, "It is better to admire a scholar than to be immune to it." However, it is recorded in Zi Jian (Volume 193) that the following year, just after the renovation of Jiucheng Palace, Emperor Taizong once again proposed to rebuild Luoyang Palace. This time, Dai Zhou, Minister of Civil Affairs, stood up against Cobb, who is still open-minded. He not only praised Dai Zhou for "serving the country faithfully and knowing everything", but also promoted him to an official position. However, after a while, Emperor Taizong could not help but order Dou Zhuo to repair Luoyang Palace. There are many scattered records in the history books about things like advice when most needed is least heeded, one step at a time and so on. Emperor Taizong, who is "open-minded and teachable", is just a "moral illusion" of the "inner sage and outer king" concocted by Confucian scholars and Emperor Taizong himself. Ministers tried their best to suppress Tang Taizong's selfish desires and put him into the correct track of "being a saint inside and a king outside", so they frequently remonstrated. Emperor Taizong, on the other hand, accepted almost every suggestion and gave little reward to those who made it, but there was little change in his actions: after giving it to members of parliament, he wanted to go hunting, but he would still go; Want to build a new house, or will you? But the coach's secret: formalism has shaped the image of a generation of sages. Looking back at the history of Zhenguan period, it is not difficult to find Li Shimin's strong performance traces. The talented emperor was so concerned about his image in the history books that he deliberately revised his every move. More than once, he tried to create a glorious image of his simple life and cherishing the people's strength by talking with his officials. During the twenty years of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong did accept too many admonitions, but acceptance is one thing and implementation is another, and most of them were not effectively implemented in the end. When he fully demonstrated his magnanimous demeanor in court, and when his tolerance for offending face was recorded by historians, he soon forgot the specific content of the advice. For Emperor Taizong, it is important to accept the proposal, not the content. It is worth noting that for Confucian intellectuals, especially civil servants, it is only important to be influenced by them, not to implement the content that is easily influenced by them, because all they need is a "representative of ordinary destiny." Therefore, in the political ideal of Confucianism, the whole meaning of Emperor Taizong is just a utopia of "inner saints and outer kings". As for the rule of Zhenguan, in addition to giving people enough "deification", there is only a perfect formalism.
2. "Three-sided mirror" Classical Chinese three-sided mirror ①
Duke Zheng Wenzhen (2) Wei Zhi is ill. The messenger asks him, feeds him with medicine bait, and looks at each other on the road. He also sent the corps commander (4) Ang Lee Yanyan to stay under him first, and heard the news. Fu Shang is the same as the prince, which means that Princess Hengshan wants to take away his wife and his son's uncle Yu. ⑤ On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, all officials with more than nine grades are levied to attend the funeral, claiming that ⑧ is a jade treasure and Zhaoling ⑨ is buried with it. His wife, Shi Pei, said, "I have been frugal all my life, and it is not the will of the deceased to bury me with a feather instrument." Tell me I won't be accepted. I'm buried in a cloth car. I went to the West Building in Deng Yuan, and I looked at it and cried. The self-made inscription on the tablet is used as a stone for calligraphy. I've been thinking about this problem. The courtier said: "People can look at copper as a mirror, dress their clothes, look at history as a mirror, see the ups and downs, and look at people as a mirror to know the gains and losses; Wei Zhi didn't! I lost a mirror! "
Word annotation
① Selected from Zi Tong Zhi Jian. ② Zheng Guogong: Wei Zhi was named Zheng Guogong before his death and was named "Wen Zhen" by the court after his death. ③ Up: refers to Li Shimin and Emperor Taizong. 4 corps commander: the military attache in the Royal Guards. ⑤ Wife (q@): Let's talk about "collocation" first. ⑥ Chen Wu: refers to the 17th day of the first month in the seventeenth year of Zhenguan. ⑦ Qiu (h#ng): Qi Huangong is called Qiu when he dies. ⑧ Yubao claims that Yubao is a car cover decorated with bird feathers. Advocacy means advocating a band. The royal funeral for Yu Baohe's advocacy band was a tribute to the late minister. ⑨ Buried with Zhao Mausoleum: When a minister is buried near the Imperial Mausoleum, it is called a privileged burial. Zhaoling is the mausoleum of Emperor Taizong Li Shimin. ⑩ Substitution: Eliminate or abolish lectures.
Poetry translation
Zheng Wenzhen and Wei Zhi were sick at home, and the emperor sent messengers to offer condolences and medicines. They kept coming and going. And sent corps commander Ang Lee Yanyan to live in the Wei family, so as to report the illness at any time. The emperor and the prince went to his home together and appointed Princess Hengshan as the fiancee of his son Wei Shuyu. On the 17th day of the first month, Wei Zhi died. The emperor ordered all the above officials to offer condolences, and encouraged him to be buried with Zhaoling. Pei Shuo, his wife, said, "Life is frugal. It is not the will of the deceased to hold a funeral with the ceremony of a first-class official. " She politely refused to accept it, but carried the coffin in a cloth van for burial. The emperor boarded the west wing of the Forbidden Garden and looked at the hearse and wept bitterly. The emperor wrote an inscription on the stone tablet. The emperor missed Wei Zhi very much. He said to the ministers around him: "People use copper as mirrors, which can be used to dress well and put on proper hats;" Taking ancient history as a mirror, we can see the truth of the rise and fall of the country; You can know your own advantages and disadvantages by looking at people as a mirror. Wei Zhi is dead, and I lost a mirror! "
3. The first impression left by Li Shimin of Emperor Taizong to most people is probably a general who is open-minded.
Admittedly, he is not humble. It just went in one ear and out the other, and after listening to the opinions of my liegeman, I still did what I originally wanted to do.
Get a good reputation, but also enjoy it. Ideal saint: The image of an enlightened and easily trained person is so certain that the general public always needs to look up to it.
So history, like real life, needs idols, especially emperors with idol temperament. Emperor Taizong seems to have been quite cooperative in this regard.
Encouraged by Emperor Taizong's exhortation, the monarchs and ministers in Zhenguan once really formed the atmosphere of speaking out and admonishing ministers. Pei Ju, Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, was able to boldly remonstrate and fight for it in the Sui Dynasty.
Sima Guang said: "Pei Ju was loyal to the Tang Dynasty because of the change of his nature;" If you hate it, your loyalty will become loyalty, and if you are willing to speak out, your loyalty will become loyalty. "Go your own way: coachable listens with an open mind and does what you want. According to the second volume of Zhenguan Dignitary, in the fourth year of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong ordered the repair of Luoyang Gonggan Yangdian to prepare for the inauguration tour.
Zhang wrote a letter of protest. Although Emperor Taizong was very unhappy, he did not have an attack, but ordered "to stop all work immediately". He also took advantage of the topic and said, "It is better to admire a scholar than to be immune to it."
However, it is recorded in Zi Jian (Volume 193) that the following year, just after the renovation of Jiucheng Palace, Emperor Taizong once again proposed to rebuild Luoyang Palace. This time, Dai Zhou, Minister of Civil Affairs, stood up against Cobb, who is still open-minded. He not only praised Dai Zhou for "serving the country faithfully and knowing everything", but also promoted him to an official position.
However, after a while, Emperor Taizong could not help but order Dou Zhuo to repair Luoyang Palace. There are many scattered records in the history books about things like advice when most needed is least heeded, one step at a time and so on.
Emperor Taizong, who is "open-minded and teachable", is just a "moral illusion" of the "inner sage and outer king" concocted by Confucian scholars and Emperor Taizong himself. Ministers tried their best to suppress Tang Taizong's selfish desires and put him into the correct track of "being a saint inside and a king outside", so they frequently remonstrated.
Emperor Taizong, on the other hand, accepted almost every suggestion and gave little reward to those who made it, but there was little change in his actions: after giving it to members of parliament, he wanted to go hunting, but he would still go; Want to build a new house, or will you? But the coach's secret: formalism has shaped the image of a generation of sages. Looking back at the history of Zhenguan period, it is not difficult to find Li Shimin's strong performance traces.
The talented emperor was so concerned about his image in the history books that he deliberately revised his every move. More than once, he tried to create a glorious image of his simple life and cherishing the people's strength by talking with his officials.
During the twenty years of Zhenguan, Emperor Taizong did accept too many admonitions, but acceptance is one thing and implementation is another, and most of them were not effectively implemented in the end. When he fully demonstrated his magnanimous demeanor in court, and when his tolerance for offending face was recorded by historians, he soon forgot the specific content of the advice.
For Emperor Taizong, it is important to accept the proposal, not the content. It is worth noting that for Confucian intellectuals, especially civil servants, it is only important to be influenced by them, not to implement the content that is easily influenced by them, because all they need is a "representative of ordinary destiny."
Therefore, in the political ideal of Confucianism, the whole meaning of Emperor Taizong is just a utopia of "inner saints and outer kings". As for the rule of Zhenguan, in addition to giving people enough "deification", there is only a perfect formalism.
4. On the translation of "Three Mirrors" by Emperor Taizong [Original] Zheng Wenzhen and Wei Zhi were sick, went to the emissary to inquire, gave them medicine bait, and confronted each other on the road. He also sent Ang Lee, a corps commander, to stay for the first time and heard the news. Just like the prince, that is to say, Princess Hengshan will take away his wife and son, Uncle Yu. On the fifth day of Lunar New Year's Eve, he ordered hundreds of officials to attend funerals of grade 9 or above, preach to Yu Bao, and be buried with Zhaoling. His wife, Shi Pei, said: "I have been frugal all my life, and it is not the will of the dead to be buried with a feather instrument today." Tell me I won't be accepted. I'm buried in a cloth car. I went to the West Building in Deng Yuan, and I looked at it and cried. The self-made inscription on the tablet is used as a stone for calligraphy. Thinking about the levy, he said to the courtiers: "People can take copper as a mirror, dress their clothes, take history as a mirror, see the rise and fall, and take people as a mirror to know the gains and losses; Wei Zhi didn't, I died a mirror! "
Zheng Wenzhen and Wei Zheng couldn't afford to get sick, so the Taijiao people went to inquire and gave him medicine bait, and the people who delivered the medicine kept coming. Ang Lee Yanyan, the corps commander, was also sent to stay in Wei Zhi's house and report any movement. Emperor Taizong took the prince to his residence and pointed to Princess Hengshan, hoping to marry her to Wei Shuyu, the son of Wei Zhi. On the 17th of Chen Wu, Wei Zhi died, and Emperor Taizong ordered all the civil and military officials above grade 9 to attend the funeral, and gave a guard of honor and a feathered trumpeter to be buried in Zhaoling. Wei Zhi's wife said, "Wei Zhi usually lived a simple life, but now he decorated the national flag with bird feathers and buried it with the etiquette of a first-class official. This is not the will of the deceased. " They refused, only covered the car with cloth and carried the coffin for burial. Emperor Taizong boarded the West Building of Forbidden Garden and looked at Wei Zhi's hearse and wept bitterly. Emperor Taizong personally wrote inscriptions and tombstones. Emperor Taizong kept thinking about Wei Zhi and said to the ministers around him, "People can use copper as mirrors to arrange clothes and hats. Taking history as a mirror, we can observe the ups and downs of dynasties, compare people to a mirror, and know the gains and losses of our actions. Wei Zhi died and I lost an excellent mirror. "
5. On Tang Taizong's "Three Mirrors" Translation [Original] Zheng Wenzhen and Wei Zhi were sick, went to the emissary to inquire, gave them medicine bait, and confronted each other on the road.
He also sent Ang Lee, a corps commander, to stay for the first time and heard the news. Just like the prince, that is to say, Princess Hengshan will take away his wife and son, Uncle Yu.
On the fifth day of Lunar New Year's Eve, he ordered hundreds of officials to attend funerals of grade 9 or above, preach to Yu Bao, and be buried with Zhaoling. His wife, Shi Pei, said: "I have been frugal all my life, and it is not the will of the dead to be buried with a feather instrument today."
Tell me I won't be accepted. I'm buried in a cloth car. I went to the West Building in Deng Yuan, and I looked at it and cried.
The self-made inscription on the tablet is used as a stone for calligraphy. Thinking about the levy, he said to the courtiers: "People can take copper as a mirror, dress their clothes, take history as a mirror, see the rise and fall, and take people as a mirror to know the gains and losses; Wei Zhi didn't, I died a mirror! " Zheng Wenzhen and Wei Zheng couldn't afford to get sick, so Tai sent someone to inquire, fed him medicine bait, and the people who sent the medicine were in an endless stream.
Ang Lee Yanyan, the corps commander, was also sent to stay in Wei Zhi's house and report any movement. Emperor Taizong took the prince to his residence and pointed to Princess Hengshan, hoping to marry her to Wei Shuyu, the son of Wei Zhi.
On the 17th of Chen Wu, Wei Zhi died, and Emperor Taizong ordered all the civil and military officials above grade 9 to attend the funeral, and gave a guard of honor and a feathered trumpeter to be buried in Zhaoling. Wei Zhi's wife said, "Wei Zhi usually lived a simple life, but now he decorated the national flag with bird feathers and buried it with the etiquette of a first-class official. This is not the will of the deceased. "
They refused, only covered the car with cloth and carried the coffin for burial. Emperor Taizong boarded the West Building of Forbidden Garden and looked at Wei Zhi's hearse and wept bitterly.
Emperor Taizong personally wrote inscriptions and tombstones. Emperor Taizong kept thinking about Wei Zhi and said to the ministers around him, "People can use copper as mirrors to arrange clothes and hats. Taking history as a mirror, we can observe the ups and downs of dynasties, compare people to a mirror, and know the gains and losses of our actions.
Wei Zhi died, and I lost a magic mirror. "。
6. Modern Translation of Three Mirrors of China Ancient Literature Zheng Wenzhen and Wei Zhi were sick at home, and the emperor sent messengers to offer condolences and medicine. They kept going back and forth.
And sent corps commander Ang Lee Yanyan to live in the Wei family, so as to report the illness at any time. The emperor and the prince went to his home together and appointed Princess Hengshan as the fiancee of his son Wei Shuyu.
On the 17th day of the first month, Wei Zhi passed away, and the emperor ordered all the officials to offer condolences, rewarded the initiative, and allowed Zhaoling to be buried with him. Pei Shuo, his wife, said, "Life is frugal. It is not the will of the deceased to hold a funeral with the ceremony of a first-class official. "
She politely refused to accept it, but carried the coffin in a cloth van for burial. The emperor boarded the west wing of the Forbidden Garden and looked at the hearse and wept bitterly.
The emperor wrote an inscription on the stone tablet. The emperor missed Wei Zhi very much. He said to the ministers around him: "People use copper as mirrors, which can be used to dress well and put on proper hats;" Taking ancient history as a mirror, we can see the truth of the rise and fall of the country; You can know your own advantages and disadvantages by looking at people as a mirror.
Wei Zhi died, and I lost a mirror! "。
7. Zheng Wenzhen and Wei Zhi couldn't afford to be ill, so the people who taught him too much went to inquire, fed him medicine bait, and the people who delivered medicine kept coming in an endless stream. Ang Lee Yanyan, the corps commander, was also sent to stay in Wei Zhi's house and report any movement. Emperor Taizong took the prince to his residence and pointed to Princess Hengshan, hoping to marry her to Wei Shuyu, the son of Wei Zhi. On the 17th of Chen Wu, Wei Zhi died, and Emperor Taizong ordered all the civil and military officials above grade 9 to attend the funeral, and gave a guard of honor and a feathered trumpeter to be buried in Zhaoling. Wei Zhi's wife said, "Wei Zhi usually lived a simple life, but now he decorated the national flag with bird feathers and buried it with the etiquette of a first-class official. This is not the will of the deceased. " They refused, only covered the car with cloth and carried the coffin for burial. Emperor Taizong boarded the West Building of Forbidden Garden and looked at Wei Zhi's hearse and wept bitterly. Emperor Taizong personally wrote inscriptions and tombstones. Emperor Taizong kept thinking about Wei Zhi and said to the ministers around him, "People can use copper as mirrors to arrange clothes and hats. Taking history as a mirror, we can observe the ups and downs of dynasties, compare people to a mirror, and know the gains and losses of our actions. Wei Zhi died and I lost an excellent mirror. "