釋氏稽古略 3.40

3.40

In the gui-mao year, the seventeenth year of the Zhenguan era, in the second month, the Emperor asked the Grand Councillor of the Chancellery Chu Suiliang: "When Shun manufactured lacquerware, more than ten people remonstrated with him. How was this worthy of remonstrance?" Chu replied: "Extravagance is the root of peril and ruin. If lacquerware does not stop, one will proceed to make vessels of gold and jade. A loyal minister loving his lord must check it at its incipient stage. If disaster and disorder have already formed, there will be nothing left to remonstrate." The Emperor said: "Indeed, when I make an error, you must also remonstrate at its incipient stage." The Emperor said: "The sovereign of men has but a single mind, yet those who attack it are very numerous. Some use courage and strength, some use glib tongues, some use flattery, some use deceit, and some use sensual desires. Converging like the spokes of a wheel, they attack it, each seeking to sell themselves to gain favor and emolument. If the sovereign of men is slightly remiss and yields to one of them, then peril and ruin follow upon it. This is why it is difficult" (Imperial Annals).