劉敬叔孫通列傳

Liu Jing was a man of Qi. In the fifth year of Han, while being sent to garrison Longxi, he passed through Luoyang. Lou Jing unhitched himself from the transport cart, put on his sheepskin coat, and gained an audience. He argued: "Does Your Majesty intend to rival the glory of the Zhou house by making Luoyang your capital? You rose from Feng and Pei, fought seventy major and forty minor battles with Xiang Yu, and left the people's brains smeared across the ground. To compare yourself with the peaceful reigns of Kings Cheng and Kang is not fitting. The Qin heartland is shielded by mountains and girded by rivers, with four passes as its barriers. If Your Majesty enters the Pass and makes it your capital, you seize the realm by the throat and strike its back." The Emperor consulted his ministers, who were all easterners and argued for Zhou. But when the Marquis of Liu explicitly endorsed the advantages of the Pass, the Emperor moved west to Guanzhong that very day.

After Emperor Gaozu returned from the Pingcheng disaster, the Xiongnu under Maodun had three hundred thousand mounted archers and continually ravaged the northern border. Liu Jing said: "The realm is newly pacified and the soldiers are war-weary; military force cannot subdue the Xiongnu. The only option is a long-term strategy for future generations. If Your Majesty gives your eldest daughter in marriage, while Maodun lives he will be your son-in-law; when he dies, your grandson will be the Chanyu. Has anyone ever heard of a grandson daring to oppose his grandfather?" The Emperor agreed.

Liu Jing also argued: "The Xiongnu cavalry south of the Yellow River is only seven hundred li from Chang'an. I urge Your Majesty to relocate the great clan families of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei to Guanzhong, along with other powerful houses. This is the strategy of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches." The Emperor agreed and relocated over a hundred thousand people to Guanzhong.

Shusun Tong was a man of Xue. Under Qin, he was recruited as a scholar and waited at court as an academician. When the Second Emperor asked his scholars about Chen Sheng's revolt, Shusun Tong said: "These are merely petty thieves and pilferers — not worth mentioning." The Second Emperor was pleased. When his colleagues asked afterward why he had been so sycophantic, Shusun Tong replied: "You don't understand — I barely escaped the tiger's jaws!"

In the fifth year of Han, the realm was unified, but at court feasts the ministers drank and quarreled over merit, some shouting wildly and drawing swords to hack at pillars. Emperor Gaozu was troubled. Shusun Tong proposed: "Let me recruit scholars from Lu and, with my disciples, design a court ceremony." Two scholars from Lu refused to participate: "Ritual must grow from a hundred years of accumulated virtue." Shusun Tong laughed: "You are truly pedantic scholars who do not understand the times."

In the seventh year of Han, the Changle Palace was completed and all lords and ministers attended the tenth-month audience. The ceremony proceeded without a single breach of decorum. Emperor Gaozu said: "Only today do I understand the honor of being Emperor." He appointed Shusun Tong as Grand Master of Ceremonies.