Translation of the Treatise on Punishment and Loyalty

Though they are very jealous, they do not fail to practice the way of loyalty and forgiveness, which is also translated as: Though they hate and hate (them) greatly, they never fail to practice the way of loyalty and forgiveness.

From the late Yuan Dynasty Totokh and Arutu successively presided over the revision of the "Song History: Bao Zheng Biography".

Excerpt from the original text: Righteous and upright, harsh and honest, although very jealous, but not unwilling to be loyal and forgive. Do not get along with others, do not pretend to be pleasant, and live selflessly. Although it is expensive, clothes, utensils, and food are like cloth clothes.

He said: "In the future, if there are stolen goods, they shall not be released to their own families, and they shall not be buried in the big house when they die." If you don't follow my will, you are not my son or grandson.

Translation of "History of the Song Dynasty: The Biography of Bao Zheng":

Bao Zheng has a stern and upright temperament, hates the vulgarity and meanness of the servants, and strives for loyalty and kindness, although he hates (them) very much, but he has never failed to practice the way of loyalty and forgiveness. (He) does not conform to people at will, does not use clever words to please people, usually has no personal letters, and even cuts off friends and relatives.

Although he was of high status, he wore the same clothes, utensils, and food as he did when he was a common people. (He) once said: "If the descendants of the descendants are officials and politicians, if they are corrupt and pervert the law, they will not be allowed to return to their hometown, and they will not be buried in the family cemetery when they die."

If you don't obey my will, you're not my offspring. ”

The meaning of this sentence is that the state cannot prohibit them even if they have high walls, deep moats, harsh decrees, and cruel punishments.

Source: Han Dynasty Chao Cuo "On Guisu Shu": "Although there are high cities and deep pools, strict laws and heavy punishments, it is still not forbidden." The husband is cold in clothes, not to be warm; Hunger is for food, not for willingness; Hungry and cold, regardless of shame. ”

Translation: In this case, the state cannot forbid them, even if they have high walls, deep moats, harsh decrees, and cruel punishments. People who suffer from the cold do not require light warmth for their clothes; Hungry people don't want food to be sweet and tasty; When hunger and cold reach the body, you can't care about shame.

Meaning:In this case, the state cannot forbid them, even with its high walls, its treacherous moats, its harsh decrees, and its cruel punishments.

From the two Han Dynasty's "On Guisu Shu": "Poverty is born from insufficiency, lack is born from non-farming, if you don't farm, you don't live on the land, if you don't work on the land, you leave your hometown and don't care about your home, and the people are like birds and beasts." Although there are high cities and deep pools, strict laws and heavy punishments, it is still impossible to prohibit it. ”

Translation: Poverty is due to not being rich, and not being rich is due to not farming, and if you don't engage in agriculture, you can't settle down in one place, and if you can't settle down, you will leave your homeland, despise your homeland, and scatter like birds and beasts. In this case, the state cannot forbid them, even with its high walls, its treacherous moats, its harsh decrees, and its cruel punishments.

Background of creation. In the early days of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, took a series of measures such as boycotting troops and returning home, suppressing merchants, and lightly dispensing with small taxes, so that the agricultural production that had been seriously damaged in the last years of the Qin Dynasty due to continuous wars was gradually restored.

After Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne, he continued to pursue the policy of "resting with the people", attaching importance to agriculture and mulberry, and promoting the prosperity of agriculture and the development of commerce. However, this also gave rise to the social phenomenon of the peasants being hurt by the peasants due to the development of commerce, the mergers and seizures of the peasants by the big landlords and big businessmen intensified, a large number of peasants were displaced, and class contradictions intensified day by day.

In view of this problem, Chao mistakenly wrote this note, comprehensively expounded the importance of "guisu" (attaching importance to grain), and put forward a series of propositions such as emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce, entering millet into officials, and worshipping the lord to eliminate crimes, which were of certain progressive significance for the development of production and the consolidation of national defense at that time.

Even with its high walls, its treacherous moats, its harsh decrees, and its cruel punishments, it could not forbid them.

Translation: Though there are high walls, deep moats, harsh laws, and severe punishments, they cannot be forbidden.

Although there are high walls and deep pools, strict laws and heavy punishments cannot be forbidden.

The story behind "The Theory of Punishment and Loyalty" is the text of Su Shi's 21-year-old test paper for the Jinshi examination. The Song people once circulated as an anecdote, saying that Ouyang Xiu presided over the examination of the Ministry of Rites in the second year of Jia, and asked the poet Mei Bipi to judge Shengyu to read the papers. At this time, Ouyang Xiumen's corporal Zeng Gong was also taking the same test, and they thought that this article was excellent, and it may have been written by Zeng Gong, and Ouyang Xiu did not dare to be the first in order to avoid suspicion, so he was demoted to second.

However, the example of the mutual restraint of the criminal law of Yao and Gaotao cited in the article does not know its source, and when Su Shi visited him and asked him, Su Shi smiled and said: Of course. It was he who fabricated it to coax the judge, Ou, Mei didn't mind because of his talent.

The actual examples cited are from the Book of Rites: The Prince of Wen. It is the case of Zhou Gong. Su Shi mistakenly recorded it as Yao when he was about to take the exam.

Because the good deeds did not know the source, they added to them and made this good story. But this story also reflects the situation of ancient test-taking writing. We should not be too obsessed with this kind of text, thinking that it really expresses the author's opinion, but in fact it is just a gesture for the sake of being taken.

In this article and the following articles, Su Shi's selected articles are all texts prepared by Su Shi for the exam. Su Shi once said in his "Book of Answers to Li Zhiyi" that when he was young, "reading and writing was just for the example", and in response to the policy class, he wrote some articles that "talked about the gains and losses", "This is the habit of the people". This kind words, although they contain the elements of evasion, also reveal some of the truth.

So when reading these words, you should take them into account.

The title of this article comes from the annotation of the pseudo-Kong Anguo in "Shangshu Da Yu Mo": "The punishment is light, the suspicion is followed, and the loyalty is great." In order to get on the topic, his argument is nothing more than the Confucian benevolence, the royal way, and the admiration of Yao Shun and Zhou Kong, which belongs to the indiscriminate of the time.

However, the author's skill in grasping the topic and planning the text, and the close integration of quotation from the Bible and the argument is very high. The writing is hearty and reasonable. It is very successful to use these methods to get the attention of the examiner.

After Wang Anshi came to power in the Song Dynasty, he immediately reformed the system of taking scholars, abolished the examination of poetry, and changed to the scriptures, and took the current affairs of expressing political opinions as the main content of the examination, so as to select some talents who repented and applied the scriptures to serve the reform of the law. This kind of political discourse style is called policy theory. Most of the policy theories require candidates to discuss some issues, that is, to demonstrate the feasibility and rationality of a national policy or countermeasure, focusing on the candidates' ability to solve problems.

The Theory of Punishment and Loyalty" is the topic of Song Jia's second-year Jinshi Examination of the Ministry of Rites.