釋氏稽古略 3.265

3.265

戊寅十二年冬十月。司空門下侍郎同平章事令（平聲）狐綯擬李遠杭州刺史。帝曰。吾聞遠詩長日唯消一局棊安能理人。綯曰。詩人託此為高興耳。未必實然。帝曰。且令往試觀之（唐書本傳）。

In the wuyin year, the twelfth year, in the winter, the tenth month, Minister of Works, Vice Director of the Chancellery, and Joint Manager of Affairs with the Secretariat-Chancellery Linghu Tao nominated Li Yuan as the Prefect of Hangzhou. The emperor said, "I have heard that in Li Yuan's poems, 'The long day is passed only in a single game of chess.' How could he govern the people?" Tao said, "Poets merely rely on this to express lofty spirits; it may not truly be so." The emperor said, "Let him go for the time being, and we shall observe him" (from the Book of Tang, individual biography).