釋鑑稽古略續集 3.11

3.11

In the renwu year, the fourth year of Jianwen [1402], on the thirteenth day of the sixth month, the Emperor set fire to the palace, changed his clothes, and fled into hiding. A rumor spread through the capital that the Emperor had died. The Prince of Yan held back his troops and entered the city; officials and commoners all welcomed him and urged him to take the throne, to which he consented, dispatching envoys to proclaim it throughout the realm. Taizu had known in advance that the Emperor would not come to a natural end; when he was critically ill, he handed over a small chest, tightly locked and sealed, warning that it should be opened only in times of urgent crisis. At this point, distressed and without a plan, he opened the chest and saw inside the ordination certificate of Yang Yingneng together with the implements for tonsure. He thereupon shaved his hair, donned monastic robes, took the ordination certificate, left via the palace drainage ditch, reached the suburban altars, and fled. At that time, fire blazed in the palace, and everyone believed that Jianwen had burned himself to death. When the Emperor fled into exile, he asked Cheng Ji for a plan; Ji said such and such, and immediately summoned a monk to tonsure the Emperor. Accompanying him in exile, whenever they encountered danger he always used occult arts to escape. Decades later, he followed the Emperor to Nanjing, and his final end was not known. He had entered government service via the classics examination alongside Gao Xiang of the same county; Xiang cultivated a reputation for integrity, while Ji was fond of occult arts. Xiang had said, 'I wish to be a loyal minister,' and Ji had said, 'I wish to be a wise man.' Afterward, Xiang died for the cause at the age of ninety. The Emperor was by nature compassionate and wise, fond of poetry, prose, and classical ritual writings; his filial piety and fraternal affection were supreme, surpassing ordinary sons. When Prince Yiwen was ill with an ulcer, the Emperor was still young; with tears in his eyes he stroked and tended him, never leaving him day or night, and personally sucked the ulcer. When Prince Yiwen passed away, he wailed, leaped, and mourned so deeply that neither water nor broth entered his mouth for five days. Taizu's governance favored strict severity; the Emperor tempered it with leniency and generosity, earning the love and esteem of court and country. Earlier during Jianwen's reign, a Daoist sang in the street: 'Do not pursue the swallow [Yan]; pursue the swallow and daily it flies high. / Flying high it ascends to the imperial capital.' Soon after, he vanished, and no one could fathom it; only now did his words prove true. Jianwen's funeral was held according to the rites of the Son of Heaven, officials were dispatched to offer sacrifices, and court was suspended for three days. Fang Xiaoru wore unhemmed mourning dress, weeping aloud day and night. When summoned, the Emperor [Yongle] said, 'This is merely our family affair; why distress yourself so, Master?' He ordered him to draft an imperial edict, giving him brush and paper. Xiaoru wrote several large characters, threw the brush to the ground, and said, 'Death is just death; I cannot draft the edict!' Prior to this, Daoyan had pleaded with the Emperor, saying, 'In the south there is Fang Xiaoru, who has always possessed learning and conduct. When military success is achieved, he will surely not submit; please do not kill him. If you kill him, the seeds of those who love learning under Heaven will be cut off!' In the tenth month, the monk Daoyan was appointed Left Exalter of the World in the Central Buddhist Registry. As for the ministers who died for their loyalty during the Pacifying the Distress war, those who were prominent were later praised by posterity under the title 'Surviving Accounts of the Abolished Era.' Those who suffered calamity at the outset and fell in battle numbered nineteen; those who committed suicide upon hearing of the turn of events were fifteen; those who met calamity at court were twenty-three; those in the provinces were twenty; scholar-officials in the capital and provinces totaled one hundred ninety-eight. Six escaped the calamity, six were dismissed, and twenty-two were employed.