LU WÊN-SHU.
1st Century b.c.
[He taught himself to read and write while working as a shepherd, and soon attracted attention. Graduating as what was in his day the equivalent of B.A., he rose to some distinction in official life. The Memorial given below was presented in 67 b.c.]
ON PUNISHMENTS.
MAY it please your Majesty,
Of the ten great follies of our predecessors, one still survives in the maladministration of justice which prevails.[1]
Under the Ch‘ins, learning was at a discount: brute force carried everything before it. Those who cultivated a spirit of charity and duty towards their neighbour were despised. Judicial appointments were the prizes coveted by all. He who spoke out the truth was stigmatised as a slanderer, and he who strove to expose abuses was set down as a pestilent fellow. Consequently, all who acted up to the precepts of our ancient code, found themselves out of place in their generation; and loyal words of good advice to the sovereign remained locked up within their bosoms, while hollow notes of obsequious flattery soothed the monarch’s ear and lulled his heart with false images, to the exclusion of disagreeable realities. And so the rod of empire fell from their grasp for ever.
- ↑ The “ten great follies” which helped to bring about the overthrow of the Ch‘in dynasty were―
1.Abolition of the feudal system.
2.Melting down all weapons and casting twelve huge figures from the metal.
3.Building the Great Wall to keep out the Tartars.
4.Building a huge pleasaunce, the central hall of which was over sixty feet in height, and capable of accommodating ten thousand guests. It is described in a poem by Tu Mu, or the younger Tu.
5.The Burning of the Books. See Li Ssŭ.
6.The massacre of the Literati.
7.Building a vast mausoleum.
8.Searching for the elixir of life.
9.Appointing the Heir-Apparent to be Commander-in-Chief.
10.Maladministration of justice
