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Chapter XIII. Parks and Ponds

a. The Lord Grand Secretary: The feudal lord, whose fief can be considered as forming but one household, has his concern limited to his manor. The Emperor, whose domain has as its boundaries the Eight Extremities, 1 has concerns extending far and wide. It is clear that under the small manorial roof the expenses are trifling, in comparison with the great expenditure necessitated by the immense undertaking [of ruling the Empire]. Herein lies the reason for the Government's opening up of parks and ponds, and its concentrating under one hand the mountains and the seas, to secure profits that could be used to supplement tribute and levies.

b. We improve canals and sluices, promote various kinds of agriculture, extend farm and pasture lands, 2 and develop national reservations. 3 The offices of the t'ai-p'u, the shui-hêng, the shao-fu, and the ta-nung,4 compute annually the revenue derived from farm and pasture, and the rentals from farming out pond and weir. Up to the limits of the Empire in the north, supervisors of fields have been appointed; 5 and yet with all these efforts to provide for the different items of expenditure, there is still a deficit. Now you desire to abolish all these measures, to stop the fountain of income and the source of revenue, with the result that the people, both high and low, will be in dire need, devoid of means of subsistence. Even though we would like to save effort and cut down expenditure, how can we do it?

c. The Literati: The Ancients managed to control land so that it would suffice to nourish the people, and the people would have ample means to satisfy demands from above. In a kingdom of a thousand chariots, or in a district of a hundred li, duke, marquis, count, viscount and baron 6 each filled his want and satisfied his desire; while Ch'in, who consolidated the territory of the Myriad States and possessed himself of the wealth within the Four Seas, remained yet with longings unsatisfied. There was no question here of the trifling expenses under the small manorial roof, but of lust for so many things that the people below could not suffer his exactions. The prince's kitchen stuffed with rotting meat, says the adage, while people hunger in the provinces; the prince's stable full of sleek horses, while starvelings walk the highways.7 As now going on, is it not true that raising hound and horse, and rearing reptile and beast, even exceed in expense "the wastage of rotting meat and horses' fodder?" With offices superfluous, activities irrelevant, ever-changing fashions for prodigalities and vagaries, those unwarrantedly feeding and clothing at the expense of the Government are so numerous that it is no wonder we have deficiency above and poverty and distress below!

d. Yet the present policy is to strive to make ends meet 8 without making an attempt at rigid economy at the source. All kinds of devices are put up to obtain capital: 9 farming, and rearing of animals, are taken up; the government competes with the people in fodder production, and with the merchants in the matter of market profits. 10 Such a policy will never help you to make illustrious the Ruler's virtue, or become real gerents of the Commonwealth. Now that men should till and women should weave, this is the "Great Vocation" in the Empire. So the Ancients subdivided the land 11 to settle the people, and made farming profitable to give them an occupation; as a result, for every occupation there was a plot of land assigned to the individual, 12 and there were no unemployed in the country.

e. At present, we see on the other hand the Government opening up national reservations, public fields, ponds, and marshes; but the result is that while the Commonwealth enjoys in name the rentals from the dykes, all the profit derived from them reverts to the plutocrats. 13 The Metropolitan District, 14 hemmed in by rivers and mountains, is greatly overpopulated. With the people flocking to it from all quarters of the Empire, the supply of grain and fuel falls short; but with the public fields rented out, the mulberries and elms, vegetables and fruits fall in production, and the land is not tilled to full capacity. 15 It is our humble opinion that this was not the purpose of the late Emperor 16 in opening up parks and reservations, ponds and weirs. They could be turned over to the people in return for certain levies; the Government should get nothing but rents and taxes. Though lease and tax 17 are different terms, they are identical in substance. With such an arrangement the male population would exert themselves in working in the southern fields, 18 while the women would spend all their effort in the production of woven goods. With fields and fallows worked to capacity, and the production of linen going at full speed, both rulers and subjects would have plenty, and what deficiency and distress would there be?

Silently the Lord Grand Secretary regarded the Chancellor and his Secretaries.

Notes

1.

八 極, the eight points of the compass, north, south, east, west, north-east, south-east, north-west and south-west. In this, and the preceding sentence, the terms nei 內 and wai 外 are used again. Cf. p. 40, note 2.

八 極, the eight points of the compass, north, south, east, west, north-east, south-east, north-west and south-west. In this, and the preceding sentence, the terms nei 內 and wai 外 are used again. Cf. p. 40, note 2.

2.

The text has 田 收; the second character should be altered to 牧, which, according to Wang, is the better reading.

The text has 田 收; the second character should be altered to 牧, which, according to Wang, is the better reading.

3.

苑 囿.

苑 囿.

4.

太 僕 、 水 衡 、 少 府 、 大 農, are mentioned together in the Shih-chi, XXX, and are explained by Chavannes (Mém. hist., III, 587, note 4) as: "Le choei-heng administrait le parc Chang-lin; le chao-fu, le trésor privé de l'empereur; le ta-nong, les finances publiques; le t'ai-p'ou avait la charge des équipages du palais." For previous mention of the terms shui-hêng, shao-fu and ta-nung, see pp. 2 (note 1), 29 (note 2), and 34 (note 4).

太 僕 、 水 衡 、 少 府 、 大 農, are mentioned together in the Shih-chi, XXX, and are explained by Chavannes (Mém. hist., III, 587, note 4) as: "Le choei-heng administrait le parc Chang-lin; le chao-fu, le trésor privé de l'empereur; le ta-nong, les finances publiques; le t'ai-p'ou avait la charge des équipages du palais." For previous mention of the terms shui-hêng, shao-fu and ta-nung, see pp. 2 (note 1), 29 (note 2), and 34 (note 4).

5.

置 任 田 官.

置 任 田 官.

6.

公 , 侯 , 伯 , 子 , 男, as these titles of feudal China are usually rendered.

公 , 侯 , 伯 , 子 , 男, as these titles of feudal China are usually rendered.

7.

Cf. Mencius I, i, iv, 4, and III, ii, ix, 9.

Cf. Mencius I, i, iv, 4, and III, ii, ix, 9.

8.

而 欲 贍 其 末.

而 欲 贍 其 末.

9.

設 機 利.

設 機 利.

10.

The Scholars' criticism is of course not directed against agricultural pursuits generally. It is the intervention of the officials 縣 官 (the Government) and their exploitation of the fields, that they oppose.

The Scholars' criticism is of course not directed against agricultural pursuits generally. It is the intervention of the officials 縣 官 (the Government) and their exploitation of the fields, that they oppose.

11.

Probably the ching-t'ien system of land holding is here in mind, previously advocated by the Literati. Cf. p. 16, text and note 2.

Probably the ching-t'ien system of land holding is here in mind, previously advocated by the Literati. Cf. p. 16, text and note 2.

12.

業 無 不 食 之 地: in (every) occupation there was no unproductive (unoccupied, untenanted) land.

業 無 不 食 之 地: in (every) occupation there was no unproductive (unoccupied, untenanted) land.

13.

權 家, i.e., "powerful families", who with the suppression of the feudal lords in Han times, and the development of industry and commerce, had become the rich traders. Cf. pp. 11, 17, 25, 31, et al., where the existence of a class of wealthy speculators is referred to. See also Introduction.

權 家, i.e., "powerful families", who with the suppression of the feudal lords in Han times, and the development of industry and commerce, had become the rich traders. Cf. pp. 11, 17, 25, 31, et al., where the existence of a class of wealthy speculators is referred to. See also Introduction.

14.

三 輔, the district in the neighborhood of the capital, Ch'ang-an 長 安, in the early Han period.

三 輔, the district in the neighborhood of the capital, Ch'ang-an 長 安, in the early Han period.

15.

地 力 不 盡. The term 盡 地 力 was applied to the school of "Intensive Agriculture," ascribed to Li K'uei 李 悝. Cf. Duyvendak, Book of Lord Shang, 43 and 51.

地 力 不 盡. The term 盡 地 力 was applied to the school of "Intensive Agriculture," ascribed to Li K'uei 李 悝. Cf. Duyvendak, Book of Lord Shang, 43 and 51.

16.

先 帝. The "late Emperor", if it be Han Wu Ti, was, however, known not for opening up national reservations, but on the other hand for enclosing them, to gratify his passion for the chase. Tung-fang So 東 方 朔 (cf. Giles, Biog. Dict, No. 2093) lectured His Majesty on the impropriety of enclosing great tracts of productive land as hunting parks 上 林 苑 (cf. Wieger, Textes hist., I, 470, ap. Ch'ien-hanshu); while Ssŭ-ma Hsiang-ju 司 馬 相 如 (Giles, ibid., No. 1753) addressed a memorial, celebrated in Chinese prose writings, to the Emperor warning him of the dangers of the hunt (cf. Margouliès' translation in Le Kou-wen Chinois, 74).

先 帝. The "late Emperor", if it be Han Wu Ti, was, however, known not for opening up national reservations, but on the other hand for enclosing them, to gratify his passion for the chase. Tung-fang So 東 方 朔 (cf. Giles, Biog. Dict, No. 2093) lectured His Majesty on the impropriety of enclosing great tracts of productive land as hunting parks 上 林 苑 (cf. Wieger, Textes hist., I, 470, ap. Ch'ien-hanshu); while Ssŭ-ma Hsiang-ju 司 馬 相 如 (Giles, ibid., No. 1753) addressed a memorial, celebrated in Chinese prose writings, to the Emperor warning him of the dangers of the hunt (cf. Margouliès' translation in Le Kou-wen Chinois, 74).

17.

假 , 稅, i e., the funds obtainable are identical.

假 , 稅, i e., the funds obtainable are identical.

18.

Cf. p. 13, note 2, supra.

Cf. p. 13, note 2, supra.

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