魏其武安侯列传 — Shiji

During the reign of Emperor Wen, Dou Ying served as Prime Minister of Wu, but resigned due to illness. When Emperor Jing first ascended the throne, Dou Ying was appointed Chamberlain of the Palace. Now King Xiao of Liang was Emperor Jing's own brother, and his mother, Empress Dowager Dou, doted on him deeply. When King Xiao came to court, Emperor Jing received him with a brother's banquet. At the time no crown prince had yet been designated, and as the wine flowed freely, the emperor said casually, "After I am gone, the kingdom shall pass to the King of Liang." The Empress Dowager was overjoyed. But Dou Ying raised a goblet of wine and presented it to the emperor, saying, "The realm is the realm of Emperor Gaozu. It has been passed from father to son—this is the covenant of Han. How could Your Majesty presume to bestow it on the King of Liang?" From that moment, Empress Dowager Dou grew to despise Dou Ying. Dou Ying, in turn, came to despise his own office and resigned due to illness. The Empress Dowager then struck his name from the palace registry, barring him from court audiences.

In the third year of Emperor Jing's reign, when the rebellion of Wu and Chu erupted, the emperor searched among all the imperial clansmen and the Dou family but found no one more capable than Dou Ying. He summoned Dou Ying, who firmly declined, insisting his illness made him unfit for responsibility. The Empress Dowager was filled with shame. The emperor then declared, "The realm faces grave peril. Would the Marquis truly abandon his king?" He appointed Dou Ying Grand General and granted him a thousand catties of gold.

Dou Ying then recommended such capable generals and worthy men as Yuan Ang and Luo Bu, who were living in retirement. The gold he had received he spread across the corridors and pavilions of the camp. Whenever a military officer passed by, Dou Ying would instruct them to take what they needed for the campaign—none of the gold ever entered his own household. Dou Ying held the defense of Xingyang and oversaw the armies of Qi and Zhao. When the Seven Kingdoms' forces were finally defeated, Dou Ying was enfeoffed as Marquis of Weiqi. Scholars and wandering guests from every quarter rushed to attach themselves to his household.

A man from Liang named Gao Sui persuaded Dou Ying, saying, "He who can enrich and ennoble a general is the sovereign; he who can favor a general is the Empress Dowager. Now you serve as tutor to the Crown Prince, yet when the Crown Prince is deposed, you cannot plead his cause. When your pleading fails, you cannot even die for him. Instead you withdraw in illness, keeping a Zhao dancer beside you, living in seclusion and refusing court audience. To draw comparisons, this is to highlight the ruler's faults. Should both Your Highness and the Empress Dowager turn against you, your wife and children will be exterminated." Dou Ying found this convincing, so he rose and resumed his court audiences as before.

When the Marquis of Tao was dismissed from the chancellorship, Empress Dowager Dou repeatedly recommended Dou Ying. Emperor Jing said, "Does the Empress Dowager think I begrudge this office to Dou Ying? Dou Ying is merely self-satisfied and changeable—he would make a poor Chancellor. It requires someone weighty." He declined to appoint Dou Ying, installing instead the Marquis of Jianling, Wei Wan.

Tian Fen, the Marquis Wu'an, was the half-brother of Empress Dowager Wang by the same mother, and he grew up in Changling. After Dou Ying had risen to become Grand General and achieved great prominence, Tian Fen was still a mere attendant, not yet ennobled, serving Dou Ying's wine and rising and kneeling as a son might. By Emperor Jing's later years, however, Tian Fen had risen greatly in favor and rank, becoming a Senior Compiler. He was eloquent and articulate, well-versed in the studies of bronze inscriptions and other classical texts, and Empress Dowager Wang esteemed him.

In the second year of the Jianyuan reign, the Imperial Secretary Zhao Wan proposed that state affairs should no longer be reported to the Eastern Palace. Empress Dowager Dou was enraged and thereupon dismissed and exiled Zhao Wan, Wang Zang, and others. She also removed the Chancellor and the Grand Commandant from office, making the Marquis of Baizhi, Xu Chang, the Chancellor, and the Marquis of Wuqiang, Zhuang Qingzhai, the Imperial Secretary. As a result, the Marquis of Weiqi and the Marquis of Wu'an stayed at home as nobles. Although the Marquis of Wu'an held no official post, because of his relationship with Empress Dowager Wang, he was personally favored; many of his policy suggestions were effective. All those officials and scholars in the empire who chased power and profit abandoned the Marquis of Weiqi and turned to the Marquis of Wu'an, who grew ever more arrogant.

In the sixth year of the Jianyuan era, Empress Dowager Dou passed away. Chancellor Chang and Imperial Secretary Qing Zhai were dismissed for failing to handle the funeral affairs properly. The Marquis of Wu'an, Tian Fen, was appointed Chancellor, and the Minister of Agriculture, Han Anguo, was appointed Imperial Secretary. After that, the scholars, commandery governors, and feudal lords of the empire increasingly attached themselves to the Marquis of Wu'an. The Marquis of Wu'an was ugly in appearance, but he was born into great nobility. He also believed that the feudal kings were mostly older, while the emperor had just ascended the throne and was still young. Tian Fen, as a close relative of the emperor serving as Chancellor in the capital, felt that if he did not harshly humble their pride and subdue them with ritual propriety, the realm would not be respectful and obedient. At this time, whenever the Chancellor entered the palace to report on affairs, he would sit and talk with the emperor for the better part of the day, and everything he said was heeded. He recommended people who could rise from commoner status to official positions of two thousand piculs, shifting power away from the sovereign.

Tian Fen, newly intent on taking office as Chancellor, humbled himself before guests and elevated renowned scholars living in retirement, seeking to surpass Dou Ying and all the other generals and ministers.

In the first year of the Jianyuan era, Chancellor Wei Wan fell ill and was dismissed. The emperor discussed appointing a Chancellor and a Grand Marshal. Ji Fuku persuaded Tian Fen: "Dou Ying has been eminent for a long time, and the scholars of the realm have always flocked to him. Now Your Excellency is newly risen and cannot yet match Dou Ying. If His Majesty makes you Chancellor, you must defer to Dou Ying. If Dou Ying becomes Chancellor, then Your Excellency will surely become Grand Marshal. The positions of Grand Marshal and Chancellor are equally dignified, and this arrangement would also earn you a reputation for yielding to the worthy." Tian Fen then subtly hinted through the Empress Dowager to the emperor. The emperor thereupon appointed Dou Ying Chancellor and Tian Fen Grand Marshal.

Ji Fuku offered congratulations to Dou Ying, then added a word of caution: "Your Lordship's nature inclines toward the good and against the wicked. Since good people praise Your Lordship, you have risen to the chancellorship. But Your Lordship also despises the wicked, and there are many wicked people, who will surely speak ill of Your Lordship. If Your Lordship can show tolerance toward both, your position may endure. If not, you will be destroyed by their calumny." Dou Ying would not listen.

Dou Ying and Tian Fen both favored Confucian teachings. They promoted Zhao Wan to be Grandee Secretary and Wang Zang to be Director of the Imperial Guard. They invited the Lu scholar Shen Gong to establish a Bright Hall, ordered the nobles to reside in their own domains, abolished the frontier passes, reformed ceremonial dress according to proper rites, and sought to revive great peace. They recommended that unworthy members of the imperial clan and the Dou family be stripped of their genealogic registration. At that time many of the empress family's members were nobles, and many nobles had married imperial princesses—none wished to leave the capital for their domains. For this reason, criticism of Dou Ying grew daily.

Empress Dowager Dou favored the teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi, while Dou Ying, Tian Fen, Zhao Wan, and Wang Zang sought to advance Confucianism and disparage Daoist teachings. As a result, Empress Dowager Dou grew increasingly displeased with Dou Ying and his associates.

In the second year of the Jianyuan era, when Zhao Wan asked that no memorials be presented to the Eastern Palace, the Empress Dowager flew into a rage. She dismissed and drove out Zhao Wan, Wang Zang, and others, dismissing the Chancellor and Grand Marshal. She appointed Xu Chang, Marquis of Bozhi, as Chancellor, and Zhuang Qingdi, Marquis of Wuqiang, as Grandee Secretary.

In the sixth year of the Jianyuan era, Empress Dowager Dou died. Chancellor Xu Chang and Grandee Secretary Zhuang Qingdi were dismissed for failing to manage the funeral arrangements properly. Tian Fen was appointed Chancellor, and Han Anguo, the Director of the Granaries, became Grandee Secretary.

Scholars and nobles throughout the empire increasingly aligned themselves with Tian Fen. Tian Fen was physically small and insignificant, yet he was born to great privilege. Believing that most princes and kings were elderly while the new emperor was young and newly enthroned, Tian Fen, as the intimate confidant of the throne serving as Chancellor of the capital, felt he must humble these princes and nobles through strict propriety—if not, the realm would never be orderly.

At this time, when the Chancellor entered to present business, he would sit and converse for hours, and whatever he proposed was granted. He recommended men who rose from obscurity to posts of two thousand piculs. His power eclipsed the emperor's own. The emperor once said to him, "Have you finished appointing all the officials yet? I would like to appoint some officials myself." Tian Fen had once requested land from the Kao Gong workshop to enlarge his residence. The emperor flew into a rage, saying, "Why not simply take the Armory!" From then on, Tian Fen withdrew.

On another occasion, when hosting guests at a banquet, Tian Fen had his older brother, the Marquis of Gai, seated facing south, while he himself sat facing east, claiming that the dignity of the Han Chancellor could not be compromised even for a brother's sake. From this, Tian Fen's arrogance only grew.

Dou Ying, having lost Empress Dowager Dou, grew ever more neglected and unused, lacking influence. His guests gradually withdrew, becoming haughty and distant—only General Guan alone remained unchanged in his old loyalty. Dou Ying lived in silence, his ambitions unfulfilled, and he treated General Guan with particular generosity.

General Guan Fu was a native of Yingyin. His father, Zhang Meng, had once been a retainer of the Marquis of Yingyin, Guan Ying, and had won his favor. Through this connection he rose to a post of two thousand piculs, and took the surname Guan. Thus he became Guan Meng. When the rebellion of Wu and Chu erupted, Guan He, the Marquis of Yingyin, served as a general under the Grand Marshal. He recommended Guan Meng as a Commandant. Guan Fu served with his father at the head of a thousand men. Guan Meng was now elderly, and the Marquis of Yingyin, with some difficulty, prevailed upon him to accept a command; but he was dispirited and never reconciled to his situation. Consequently, in battle he would always charge the enemy line's strongest point, and so he fell among the Wu forces.

Military law held that when father and son served together and one died in service, the other might accompany the body home. Guan Fu refused to go. "I would rather take the head of the King of Wu or of his general," he declared, "to avenge my father's death."

When his wounds had somewhat healed, he again petitioned the general, saying, "I have come to know the layout of the Wu camp intimately. Allow me to go again." The general admired his courage and loyalty, but feared for his life, and reported the matter to the Grand Marshal, who firmly restrained him. When Wu was finally defeated, Guan Fu's name resounded throughout the realm. The Marquis of Yingyin reported his deeds to the emperor, who appointed Guan Fu as a Court Chamberlain. After several months, he was dismissed for a legal violation and returned to live in Chang'an, where every prominent family spoke highly of him.

During Emperor Jing's reign, he rose to become Chancellor of Dai. When Emperor Jing died and the new emperor first ascended, it was decided that Huaiyang, being the crossroads of the realm and a stronghold of military strength, should be governed by a capable man. Accordingly, Guan Fu was transferred to be Governor of Huaiyang. In the first year of the Jianyuan era, he was summoned to court to serve as Grand Coachman. In the second year, Guan Fu was drinking with Dou Fu, the Prefect of the Everlasting Joy Guard, when a dispute arose and Guan Fu, in his cups, struck Dou Fu. Now Dou Fu was a brother of Empress Dowager Dou. The emperor, fearing the Empress Dowager would put Guan Fu to death, transferred him to be Chancellor of Yan. Several years later, he was dismissed from office for a legal violation and lived in Chang'an.

Guan Fu was a man of unyielding temper, quick to anger when he drank, and disliked flattery. With powerful nobles and relatives who considered themselves above him, he would not show deference; instead he would inevitably browbeat them. Among scholars and others below him, the poorer and more humble they were, the more he respected them and treated them as equals. In crowded assemblies he would recommend and honor those younger than himself. Scholars admired him for this. He had no love for literature but delighted in chivalry; once he gave his word, he kept it. All those who associated with him were violent men and great bullies. His household wealth amounted to several tens of millions, and his table hosted dozens or hundreds of guests daily. His ponds, fields, and gardens, together with his clan and retainers, dominated the region of Yingchuan. The children of Yingchuan sang a song about them: