Travelogue Essays of China - Jiangxi Volume

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Features: ⑩ Numbers in parentheses are used because of the Ruizhou San Xian Tang record from Song Dynasty Wen Tianxiang. The three sages are Yu Xianggong①, Su Wendinggong②, and Yang Wenjiegong③. The old hall was located in Shuinián Huanhou④. It was destroyed by war in the Jingtai Gengwu year⑤. The former governor Yanling Fang Fengchen moved it slightly to the west and left before it was completed⑥. I replaced him as the governor of Ruizhou and met Fang at Shangrao. He said about this hall: "The people of Ruizhou respect the three sages as if they were alive. For three years after the hall was destroyed, there was no place for worship, and their hearts were filled with sorrow. Therefore, I urgently rebuilt it⑦. However, the decoration is not yet finished, and the statues are not yet ready. You should complete this and then write a record." When I arrived in Ruizhou, remembering Fang’s instructions, I quickly led the Confucian students to perform the sacrificial ceremony (11). Fang wrote to me three times, urging the completion of the record (12), and I could not refuse.
Ruizhou is a prefecture under the Jiangxi Dao Yuan. However, during the prosperous times of the Northern Song capital Bianjing, it was remote and small. Therefore, Yu Jing and Su Zhe were both exiled here for crimes, almost as if they were banished. During the Chunxi period (14), Ruizhou was closer to the current capital Lin’an (15), and Yang Wanli, a native of Jiangxi, was appointed as the governor. Although he came from a poor county, he was no less than the area of Huaiyang. The place is the same, but the times are different. Moreover, the governor of a prefecture is different from those exiled. However, the people of Ruizhou proudly said: "Our prefecture is respected because of the three sages. Yu Gong was blamed for being a partisan of Fan Zhongyan (20); Su Gong was blamed for saving his brother Su Dongpo and later for being part of the Yuanyou Party (21); Yang Gong was blamed for arguing about the joint worship of Zhang Wei Gong (22). If these three sages had no crimes, how could they come to our land (23)?"
Ah, how profound the people of Ruizhou’s admiration for virtue is (24)! Yet, can the cultivation of the three sages still be thoroughly analyzed (25)? Fan Zhongyan offended the Prime Minister Lü and was dismissed, but he was soon reinstated. The colleagues who were once dismissed for respecting him were also recalled in turn (28). Yu Xianggong was transferred from Ruizhou to Tai, and then he alone requested a convenient post in the Lingnan region to return, growing farther and farther away. Was this not what was called "retreating together but not advancing together" (29)? Su Gong had always been indifferent to worldly affairs. In his record of Dongxuan (30), he said that the joy of Yanzi’s hunger and thirst (31) was unattainable. Yet, he daily engaged in collecting profits from salt and wine merchants, never considering it an humiliation (34). After repeated exiles and forced migrations, he retired to Yingbi by the river, closed his doors, and remained blameless and resentful (36), extinguishing all pursuit of worldly happiness. As for Yang Gong, he indulged in poetry and calligraphy, his brushwork flowing, and in Ruizhou alone, he compiled a collection. It was no different from the joy of writing with the sages of Daoshan in the past (38). If the three sages were like this, how could they be burdened by exile and distance from the court (39)?! Those who are not burdened by exile and distance may withdraw freely and live beyond the world (40). But the three sages were not like this. Yu Gong was appointed during the Qingli period (42), and Su Gong during the Yuanyou period (43). They remained steadfast and selfless (44), even in adversity and exile (45). Yang Gong, when power villains were in control (46), refused repeated summons (47), his loyal heart ultimately leading to his death from sorrow (48), embodying the spirit of ancient corpse-advising officials (48). Ah, this is why they were called the three sages.
From what was said earlier (49), I know that during their time in Ruizhou, they accepted fate and settled in this land. From what was said later, I know that in Ruizhou, their hearts were still devoted to the royal family (50). Ah, this is why they were called the three sages. The poem says: "Gazing up at the high mountains, we follow the shining paths" (51). Sima Qian said: "Even to drive his carriage would bring joy" (52). The people of Ruizhou’s reverence for the three sages, when reflected upon, should be enough to justify Fang’s desire to record this hall (53). As for the sages, I could not do more than write this record.
Translated from The Complete Works of Wen Tianxiang【Translation】
Ruizhou has a hall dedicated to the three sages. These are Yu Jing (Yu Xianggong)①, Su Zhe (Su Wendinggong)②, and Yang Wanli (Yang Wenjiegong)③. The hall was originally located in the Shuinián area of Ruizhou City along the Shui River. It was destroyed by war during the Jingtai Gengwu year⑤. The former governor Yanling Fang Fengchen moved it slightly to the west. Just as the hall was about to be completed, Fang resigned, and I took over as the governor of Ruizhou. We met in Shangrao. When Fang spoke of the three sages’ hall, he said: "The people of Ruizhou respect the three sages as if they were alive. For three years after the hall was destroyed, there was no place for worship, and their hearts were filled with sorrow. Therefore, I urgently rebuilt it⑦. However, the decoration is not yet finished, and the statues are not yet ready. You should complete this and then write a record." When I arrived in Ruizhou, remembering Fang’s instructions, I quickly led the Confucian students to perform the sacrificial ceremony (11). Fang wrote to me three times, urging the completion of the record (12), and I could not refuse.
Ruizhou is a prefecture under the Jiangxi Dao Yuan. However, during the prosperous times of the Northern Song capital Bianjing, it was remote and small. Therefore, Yu Jing and Su Zhe were both exiled here for crimes, almost as if they were banished. During the Chunxi period (14), Ruizhou was closer to the current capital Lin’an (15), and Yang Wanli, a native of Jiangxi, was appointed as the governor. Although he came from a poor county, he was no less than the area of Huaiyang. The place is the same, but the times are different. Moreover, the governor of a prefecture is different from those exiled. However, the people of Ruizhou proudly said: "Our prefecture is respected because of the three sages. Yu Gong was blamed for being a partisan of Fan Zhongyan (20); Su Gong was blamed for saving his brother Su Dongpo and later for being part of the Yuanyou Party (21); Yang Gong was blamed for arguing about the joint worship of Zhang Wei Gong (22). If these three sages had no crimes, how could they come to our land (23)?"
Ah, how profound the people of Ruizhou’s admiration for virtue is (24)! Yet, can the cultivation of the three sages still be thoroughly analyzed (25)? Fan Zhongyan offended the Prime Minister Lü and was dismissed, but he was soon reinstated. The colleagues who were once dismissed for respecting him were also recalled in turn (28). Yu Xianggong was transferred from Ruizhou to Tai, and then he alone requested a convenient post in the Lingnan region to return, growing farther and farther away. Was this not what was called "retreating together but not advancing together" (29)? Su Gong had always been indifferent to worldly affairs. In his record of Dongxuan (30), he said that the joy of Yanzi’s hunger and thirst (31) was unattainable. Yet, he daily engaged in collecting profits from salt and wine merchants, never considering it an humiliation (34). After repeated exiles and forced migrations, he retired to Yingbi by the river, closed his doors, and remained blameless and resentful (36), extinguishing all pursuit of worldly happiness. As for Yang Gong, he indulged in poetry and calligraphy, his brushwork flowing, and in Ruizhou alone, he compiled a collection. It was no different from the joy of writing with the sages of Daoshan in the past (38). If the three sages were like this, how could they be burdened by exile and distance from the court (39)?! Those who are not burdened by exile and distance may withdraw freely and live beyond the world (40). But the three sages were not like this. Yu Gong was appointed during the Qingli period (42), and Su Gong during the Yuanyou period (43). They remained steadfast and selfless (44), even in adversity and exile (45). Yang Gong, when power villains were in control (46), refused repeated summons (47), his loyal heart ultimately leading to his death from sorrow (48), embodying the spirit of ancient corpse-advising officials (48). Ah, this is why they were called the three sages.
From what was said earlier (49), I know that during their time in Ruizhou, they accepted fate and settled in this land. From what was said later, I know that in Ruizhou, their hearts were still devoted to the royal family (50). Ah, this is why they were called the three sages. The poem says: "Gazing up at the high mountains, we follow the shining paths" (51). Sima Qian said: "Even to drive his carriage would bring joy" (52). The people of Ruizhou’s reverence for the three sages, when reflected upon, should be enough to justify Fang’s desire to record this hall (53). As for the sages, I could not do more than write this record.
【Notes】
① Yu Xianggong: Name Yu Jing. When Fan Zhongyan was exiled to Raozhou, Yu Jing said that such treatment would make the world afraid to speak truthfully. Therefore, he was dismissed and exiled to Ruizhou to oversee the salt tax.
⑦ Su Wendinggong: Su Zhe. He was exiled to Ruizhou to oversee the salt and wine tax to save his brother Su Dongpo. Later, he was blamed for being part of the Yuanyou Party.
③ Yang Wenjiegong: Yang Wanli. During the Lizong period of the Southern Song, he was appointed as the governor of Ruizhou.
④ Shuinián: Refers to the area south of the Shui River in Jiangxi. The Shui River flows through the Ruizhou prefecture and the city.
⑥ Jingtai Gengwu: Jingtai was the era name of the Southern Song Lizong Emperor (1260–1264). Jingtai Gengwu should be Jingtai Gengshen, i.e., 1260. There was no Gengwu year during the Jingtai era.