Letter to Han Ching-chou - Revision history

ArnoldQ at 05:36, 5 March 2012

2012-03-05T05:36:20Z

ArnoldQ at 05:20, 5 March 2012

2012-03-05T05:20:03Z

ArnoldQ at 05:19, 5 March 2012

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Created page with 'I have heard that, when the empire's chatty scholars gather together, they say to each other, "During one's lifetime, it is not necessary to…'

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I have heard that, when the empire's chatty scholars gather together, they say
to each other, "During one's lifetime, it is not necessary to be a marquis with
the income from ten thousand households, if one could hope but once to make
the acquaintance of Han, the Governor of Ching-chou." How is it that you
have caused men to lionize you to such a degree ? Is it not because you have the
spirit of the Duke of Chou who, in his anxiety not to miss any callers, would interrupt his meals by spitting out his food and his bath by wringing his half-
washed hair? The result is that all the elite within the realm rush to you and
give you their allegiance. Once having passed the hurdle of gaining your recommendation, their credit increases tenfold. Thus, those gentlemen who are
hidden away in retirement like coiled dragons and reclusive phoenixes are all
desirous of receiving a good name and establishing their worth with Your Honor.
I pray that your Honor does not pride himself on association with the rich and
noble nor scorn the poor and lowly. Then, if among your many guests there
would be a Mao Sui, should I but get a chance to show the tip of my head, I
shall be that man.
I am a commoner from Lung-hsi and have drifted here to Ching-chou. At
fifteen, I was fond of swordsmanship and ranged broadly in search of employment with various lords. At thirty, I became an accomplished litterateur and
contacted successively a number of high officers. Although I am not quite a six-
footer, I am braver than ten thousand men. Princes, dukes, and high ministers
admit that I have moral courage and high principles. This, then, has been my
past spiritual biography. How could I venture not to explain it fully to Your
Lordship ?
Your writings are worthy of the gods and your virtuous conduct moves Heaven
and Earth. Your pen is imbued with creative energy and your scholarship plumbs
heavenly principles and human affairs. I hope, because of your open-mindedness
and good nature, that I shall have the good fortune not to meet with a refusal in
making this low bow before you. If you receive me with grand feasts, give free
rein to my untrammelled discourse, and then request that I attempt to indite
ten thousand words a day, just wait! I'll dash them off on the spur of the moment.' Today, the whole Empire holds you to be the life-and-death arbiter in
literary matters and the scales upon which men are weighed. Once having been
adjudged worthy by you, one can then be a superb scholar. So why should you
begrudge me a modest space before your stairs, thus neither allowing me a feeling
of pride and self-fulfillment nor stimulating me to rise up to the cloudy blue?
Of old, when Wang Tzu-shih was serving as Governor of Yu-chou, he summoned Hsiun Tz'u-ming even before he had assumed office. And, when he did
assume office, he summoned K'ung Wen-chu. When Shan T'ao was acting as
Governor of Chi-chou, he picked out more than thirty individuals who became
either court attendants or state secretaries, for which he was admired by earlier
generations. Your Lordship, as well, had but to recommend Harmonizer of the
Scales Yen and he was admitted to the court as secretary in the Imperial Library.
Among others, there are people like Ts'ui Tsung-chih, Fang Hsi-tsu, Li Hsin,
and Hsu Jung, some of whom made your acquaintance because of their reputa-
tion for brilliance and some of whom were appreciated by you because of their
unimpeachable character. I have often observed their introspective devotion and
the way they exert themselves in acts of loyalty. As a result, I am deeply im-
pressed and realize the empathy which you extend to worthy individuals. There-
fore, I shall not give my allegiance to anyone else but willingly entrust myself
to you who are without peer in our land. Should you ever get into difficulty such
that I might be of use to you, may I be so bold as to offer, in gratitude, my humble
services ? Yet none of us is a Yao or a Shun. Who can be perfect? How could I
be so presumptuous as to boast of my counsels and plans? As for my own writings,
I have accumulated a large number of scrolls. Although I flatter myself that
you will deign to look at them, I fear that these "insect carvings" and trivial
exercises will not suit Your Honor's taste. If you would do me the favor of reading my rustic pieces, please provide me with paper and ink along with a copyist.
Then I shall retreat to a vacant room and, having tidied it up, will have a copy
of them made to present to you. This is similar to the increased value which would
accrue to the sword, Green Duckweed, by placing it at the door of Hsueh Chu
and to the gem, Congealed Greenness, by placing it at the door of Pien Ho.
May you extend your blessings to me in my lowly station, greatly encouraging
and rewarding me. It all depends on how Your Lordship views the matter.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:20, 5 March 2012
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	May you extend your blessings to me in my lowly station, greatly encouraging		May you extend your blessings to me in my lowly station, greatly encouraging
	and rewarding me. It all depends on how Your Lordship views the matter.		and rewarding me. It all depends on how Your Lordship views the matter.
		+
		+	= Reference:=
		+	#Mair, Victor H. "Li Po's Letters in Pursuit of Political Patronage." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 44.1 (1984): 123-53. JSTOR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.

@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 the   acquaintance     of  Han,   the   Governor   of  Ching-chou."    How   is  it  that   you
 have  caused  men  to  lionize   you  to  such  a  degree ? Is  it  not  because   you  have  the
-spirit   of  the  Duke   of  Chou   who,   in  his  anxiety   not   to  miss  any   callers,   would interrupt   his  meals   by  spitting   out  his  food  and  his  bath   by  wringing   his  half-
+spirit   of  the  Duke   of  Chou   who,   in  his  anxiety   not   to  miss  any   callers,   would interrupt   his  meals   by  spitting   out  his  food  and  his  bath   by  wringing   his  half-washed   hair?  The   result  is  that  all  the  elite  within   the  realm  rush  to  you  and
 give  you  their  allegiance.   Once  having   passed  the  hurdle   of  gaining   your  recommendation,    their   credit   increases    tenfold.    Thus,    those    gentlemen     who    are
 hidden   away   in  retirement   like  coiled  dragons   and  reclusive   phoenixes   are  all
@@ Line 17: / Line 16: @@
 I  am  a  commoner    from  Lung-hsi and  have   drifted   here   to  Ching-chou.   At
 fifteen,   I  was  fond  of  swordsmanship    and  ranged   broadly   in  search   of  employment   with   various   lords.   At  thirty,   I  became   an  accomplished    litterateur    and
-contacted   successively   a  number   of  high  officers.  Although    I  am  not  quite  a  six-
+contacted   successively   a  number   of  high  officers.  Although    I  am  not  quite  a  six-footer,  I  am  braver  than  ten  thousand   men.   Princes,   dukes,  and  high  ministers
 admit   that   I  have   moral   courage   and  high  principles.    This,   then,   has  been   my
 past  spiritual   biography.    How   could   I  venture   not   to  explain   it  fully   to  Your
@@ Line 44: / Line 42: @@
 Scales  Yen  and  he  was  admitted   to  the  court  as secretary  in  the  Imperial   Library.
 Among   others,   there  are  people   like  Ts'ui   Tsung-chih,   Fang   Hsi-tsu,   Li  Hsin,
-and  Hsu  Jung, some  of  whom   made  your  acquaintance    because   of  their  reputa-
+and  Hsu  Jung, some  of  whom   made  your  acquaintance    because   of  their  reputation  for  brilliance   and  some  of  whom   were  appreciated    by  you  because   of  their
 unimpeachable     character.   I  have  often  observed   their  introspective   devotion   and
-the  way   they  exert   themselves    in  acts  of  loyalty.   As  a  result,   I  am  deeply   im-
+the  way   they  exert   themselves    in  acts  of  loyalty.   As  a  result,   I  am  deeply   impressed  and  realize  the  empathy  which  you  extend  to  worthy  individuals.   Therefore,   I  shall  not  give   my  allegiance    to  anyone   else  but  willingly    entrust   myself
 to  you  who  are  without   peer  in  our  land.  Should   you  ever  get  into  difficulty  such
 that  I might  be  of use  to  you,  may  I  be  so bold  as to offer,  in  gratitude,   my  humble

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 would   be  a  Mao   Sui, should   I  but  get  a  chance   to  show  the  tip  of  my  head,   I
 shall  be  that  man.
 I  am  a  commoner    from  Lung-hsi and  have   drifted   here   to  Ching-chou.   At
 fifteen,   I  was  fond  of  swordsmanship    and  ranged   broadly   in  search   of  employment   with   various   lords.   At  thirty,   I  became   an  accomplished    litterateur    and
@@ Line 20: / Line 22: @@
 past  spiritual   biography.    How   could   I  venture   not   to  explain   it  fully   to  Your
 Lordship  ?
 Your  writings  are  worthy  of  the  gods  and  your  virtuous   conduct   moves  Heaven
 and  Earth.  Your  pen  is imbued   with  creative   energy  and  your  scholarship   plumbs
@@ Line 31: / Line 35: @@
 begrudge   me  a  modest  space  before  your  stairs,  thus  neither  allowing   me  a feeling
 of  pride  and  self-fulfillment    nor  stimulating    me  to  rise  up  to  the  cloudy   blue?
 Of  old,  when   Wang   Tzu-shih  was  serving   as  Governor   of  Yu-chou,   he  summoned   Hsiun Tz'u-ming  even  before  he  had  assumed  office. And,  when  he  did
 assume   office,  he  summoned    K'ung   Wen-chu.   When   Shan  T'ao   was  acting   as
@@ Line 55: / Line 61: @@
 accrue   to  the  sword,   Green   Duckweed,    by  placing   it  at  the  door  of  Hsueh   Chu
 and  to  the  gem,   Congealed    Greenness,   by  placing   it  at  the  door  of  Pien  Ho.
 May  you  extend  your  blessings  to  me  in  my  lowly  station,  greatly  encouraging
 and  rewarding   me.  It  all  depends   on  how  Your  Lordship   views  the  matter.