from History of the Han
Pan Ku (32–92)
When Wang Mang took control of the government, Kung Sheng and Ping Han together petitioned to resign from office on account of their age and health. Earlier, during the time of Emperor Chao,1 when Han Fu of Cho commandery came to the capital having been summoned for audience on account of his virtuous conduct, he was presented with an imperial document of entitlement and rolls of bundled silk, and was dispatched to return home. The emperor issued an edict saying: “We feel compunction about burdening him with the affairs of official duties. Let him endeavor to cultivate filial devotion and brotherly respectfulness, and so edify his district and town. On his journey home, he shall stay at the government relay lodges, and the local hostels will provide him with wine and meat, and feed his entourage and horses. The Senior Subaltern shall seasonally pay him visits, and shall present him one head of sheep and two hu2 of wine yearly in the eighth month. In the case of something untoward,3 he shall be presented with one set of burial shroud and coverlet, and sacrificed to with the medium offering.”4
Wang Mang then, in accordance with the precedent, announced he would dismiss Sheng and Han. The imperial document read: “Today, the fourth day of the sixth month of the second year of the Yüan-shih reign,5 the two elders, Imperial Household Grandee6 and Grand Palace Grandee,7 shall cease their duties due to age and illness.” The Grand Empress Dowager sent the Supervisor of the Receptionists to issue an imperial edict to them, which said: “It is heard that of old, when those holding office came to advanced age, they retired from office; in this way their resignation was respected and their energies not exhausted. At the present, the Grandees’ years have advanced, and We would feel compunction at troubling them with the affairs of official duties. Let them present their sons, as well as one each of grandchildren, brothers, and sons of brothers. Let the Grandees cultivate their persons and cleave to the Way, and thus finish their long years. They shall be granted bundled silk and the privilege of lodging in the official guest-houses while on their journey, and at the new year be granted a sheep, wine, a tunic, and a cloak, all in accordance with the Han Fu precedent. The male progeny they present all shall be selected for the office of Gentleman.” Thereupon, Sheng and Han returned to grow old in their native districts….8
When Wang Mang usurped the rule of the country,9 he dispatched the Commanding General of the Five Awesome Armies to conduct the conventional observances throughout the empire. The Commanding General personally paid respects to Sheng, offering him a sheep and wine. On the New Year,10 Mang sent an emissary to go to Sheng and confer upon him the appointment of Chancellor of Academicians. On the pretext of illness, Sheng did not comply to the summons to audience.
Two years later, Mang again dispatched emissaries to present a document bearing the imperial seal, and the seal and seal-cord of the office of Academic Chancellor for the Preceptors and Companions of the Heir Designate, and he sent a comfortable quadriga11 to receive Sheng. They went forward to accord respect and to confer the rank of Superior Chancellor, presenting in advance the amount of six months’ emolument to facilitate his transfer to the capital. The emissaries along with the Grand Administrator of the commandery, the Senior Subaltern of the prefecture, the district elders, the sundry officials and those known for their conduct and fealty, as well as their students, in all amounting to a thousand men and more, entered Sheng’s hamlet to present the edict.
The emissaries wished to induce Sheng to come forward and greet them, and so stood long outside the gate. Sheng claimed aggravated illness and prepared a bed in his quarters, below the southern window in the room west of the entry. He lay his head to the east, neatly spread his court attire and drew up his sash.12 The emissaries passed through the entry, filed west and stood facing south. They presented the edict to which was attached the document with the imperial seal, removed to the courtyard, twice did obeisance and offered up the seal and seal-cord of office. They brought in the comfortable quadriga and went forward to address Sheng, saying, “The sage court has never been neglectful of you, lord; when the codes and regulations were not yet established at the advent of the new dynasty, we waited for you to formulate the government, hoping to hear that what we had wished for could come to be realized, and thus bring peace to all between the seas.”
Sheng responded, “I have always been unclever, and adding to that being advanced in years and afflicted with illness, liable to expire at any moment. Were I to follow your lordships the emissaries and take to the road, I would be certain to die during the journey. This would be without benefit, to the greatest degree.” The emissaries sought to persuade him of the importance of this appointment, going so far as advancing to place the seal and seal-cord upon Sheng’s body. But Sheng pushed the articles aside and would not accept them.
The emissaries then memorialized: “We are just in full summer’s torrid heat, and Sheng ails from asthenia; possibly he could be allowed to wait for autumn’s coolness before setting out.” This was approved by imperial edict. Once each five days, one of the emissaries went together with the Grand Administrator to inquire as to his daily welfare. They said to Sheng’s two sons and his disciple Kao Hui and others, “The court humbly wishes to accord your lordship ceremonial entitlement. Though he be afflicted with illness, it would be better to set out and move to the official relay lodge, to demonstrate his intention to go. This would assure for his sons and grandsons a legacy of great endeavors.” Hui and the others related the words of the emissaries.
Sheng realized that he would never be listened to, and addressed Hui and the others: “I was the recipient of great favor from the House of Han, but there was nothing with which I could repay it. Now I am old in years, and imminently will be put into the earth. In my opinion, how could I with my single life serve two ruling houses, and face my former rulers below?” Sheng then gave instructions on the matter of mourning, and on restraint in terms of the coffin: “The shroud surrounds the body; the coffin surrounds the shroud. You are not to follow vulgar custom and stir up my grave, nor plant cypresses, nor erect a memorial hall.” When he had finished speaking, he did not again open his mouth to drink or eat. When fourteen days had passed he died; he was seventy-eight years13 old at death.
The emissaries and the Grand Administrator oversaw the restraint in funeral matters, and presented the double burial coverlet and sacrificial memorial services according to the law. Disciples, hemp-clad mourners, and funeral participants were counted by the hundreds. An elderly fellow came to mourn, whose wailing was extremely grave. Presently he said, “Alas, incense burns itself up on account of its fragrance; oil depletes itself on account of its brightness. Master Kung in the end cut off prematurely his appointed years—he was no cohort of mine.” He then left in a hurry; nobody knew his identity.
Sheng’s residence was at Lien hamlet14 in P’eng-ch’eng.15 Those of later ages engraved stone tablets to mark the gates of his hamlet.
Translated by Alan J. Berkowitz
Wang Mang’s founding of a new dynasty has been condemned throughout Chinese history as an unrightful act of usurpation. The portrayal of Kung Sheng’s conduct evinces the general commendation of acts against “usurpers” and the specific disparagement of Wang Mang that was common throughout all periods of imperial China, especially during the Later Han. The account of Kung Sheng was composed during the second half of the first century C.E. and thus merely some fifty years after Wang Mang’s “usurpation” and his subsequent overthrow resulting in the reinstitution of “legitimate” rule. The construction of Kung Sheng’s life and career, and the approbatory portrayal of Kung’s righteous self-sacrifice, reflect the sentiments of a historiography wherein praise and blame are accorded retrospectively in compliance with the dominant values of the historian and his time. Thus, Kung Sheng is portrayed as a humble savant, who, especially later in his career, accepted appointments with great reluctance and, even then, only until such time as he was able to retire on the excuse—or pretext—of age and health. At the advent of “illegitimate” rule, Kung Sheng withdrew in moral protest.
The History of the Former Han was started by Pan Piao (3–54), largely written by his son Pan Ku, and completed by the latter’s sister Pan Chao (see selection 162). It deals with the period from 206 B.C.E. to 23 C.E. and is one of the most renowned and influential of all Chinese historical works. Admired for the rich detail of its narrative and the purity and economy of its style, along with the Records of the Grand Historian which was completed by Ssu-ma Ch’ien around the year 90 B.C.E. (see selection 173, note 10), the History of the Former Han served as a model for the official histories compiled in later centuries to cover all the Chinese imperial dynasties. From the time they were written until the end of period of traditional culture, no one in China could consider himself truly educated who was not thoroughly familiar with their pages.
1. In 80 B.C.E.
2. Approximately 40 liters.
3. I.e., death.
4. Of a sheep and a pig.
5. Equivalent to the first of July, 2 C.E.
6. Kung Sheng.
7. Ping Han.
8. The text here breaks to discuss an unrelated matter.
9. On January 10, 9 C.E.
10. Five days later.
11. Outfitted with rush-padded wheels so as to ride smoothly.
12. This description alludes to the way in which an ill Confucius insisted on correct posture and dress; it is taken from Analects 10.13.
13. The text has “seventy-nine sui.”
14. Hamlet of the Incorrupt.
15. Modern-day Hsü-chou in Kiangsu province.