廣弘明集 7.17

7.17

Looking at the ten articles listed by Ji, they all return to a single falsehood: stringing together fabrications to further agitate the emperor's mind. He had long understood the emperor's acute intelligence and deeply resented that the emperor held him in contempt. Having no means of advancement, he harbored resentment and relied on slander to vent his face-to-face derision. Although his words seemed like those of a subject, his intention was truly slight and disdainful. Why so? The false charges against monks listed above left no evil unproclaimed; by saying the emperor valued them, he made it clear that the emperor lacked discernment. Thus, [depicting the emperor as] a solitary tyrant and an ignorant ruler was naturally revealed without being explicitly spoken. Though he embellished his words to conceal his deceit, his traces were manifestly exposed. Therefore it is said: 'Knowing people is difficult indeed; people are truly hard to know. Those who know this difficulty are only one in a thousand years.' Emperor Wu of Liang deeply knew that Ji's character made him unfit to govern, hence he said: 'He has talent, but is fond of rebellion'—how could that have been mere talk? Thus, as for the memorials presented by later figures, all took Ji's talent and eloquence as their model, yet they fell far short, and so merely showed their clumsiness.