鐔津文集 10.28

10.28

I have recently learned with humble respect that you, having been granted your request at the northern palace, have received your appointment to the eastern command, laden with the exceptional favor of the imperial dew and relieved of your confidential responsibilities in the pivotal council. The praises of 'relief and revival' have already arisen, and the style of pacifying the realm from your seat is swiftly proclaimed. I humbly consider that you, Prefect, Academician of the Guanwen Hall and Vice Minister, are a grand Confucian of the garden of arts, a supreme sage among living beings, treading the inner sanctuary of the sages and reigning as the exemplar of literature. You shower beautiful rhetoric upon the forest of letters to elucidate imperial edicts, and store immense merit in the Bureau of Military Affairs to magnify the sagely ruler's achievements. Reliance upon you was just then profound, yet your earnest memorials requesting relief were all the more devoted. You bestow fine customs upon all of Wu and inspire grand spectacles in our old domain. The people's hopes overturn the city as they wait to behold their father and mother; welcoming vessels fill the roads, yearning to gaze upon your banners. Presumptuously presiding over a Jetavana cloister, I unduly rank among the master monastics. I recall that long ago I was fortunate to come into your pure presence; how could I have expected that in my declining years I would dwell in your honorable jurisdiction? Mindful that my exhaustion and debility are so severe, I am ashamed that I have not yet advanced to meet and welcome you. I humbly pray that your exalted benevolence will deign to consider this with sympathy. My humble feelings are overcome with the utmost yearning, reverence, and praise.