Notes:

(1) Sima’s advice: Sima Guang (1019-1086), courtesy name Junshi. A native of Xia County, Shaanxi Province (now part of Shanxi Province), he served as Youjianyi Dafu (an official responsible for advising the emperor) at that time. He was a famous historian in the Northern Song Dynasty and compiled Zizhi Tongjian. Shenzong used Wang Anshi to implement new laws, but he strongly opposed it. In the eighth year of Yuanfeng (1085), Zhezong came to the throne. Empress Dowager Gao was in charge of the affairs and called him to take charge of the state affairs. The following year he became Prime Minister. Repeal the new law. He died of illness eight months after serving as prime minister, and was posthumously granted the title of Duke Wen.

(2) Someone: Call yourself. Kai: Write a letter to explain something.

(3) Mengjiao: Thank you for your advice. This refers to receiving a letter.

(4) Plagiarism: private. privately. Here it is used as a word of modesty. Junshi: The name of Sima Guang. Ancient people wrote letters by addressing each other by name to show respect.

Youchu: Tongyou***chu, that is, the meaning of socializing with colleagues.

(5) Operation: hold, use. Technique: method, proposition.

(6) 强聒(guō): whisper in the ear, forcefully explain. Noise: Noisy voice. See: table passive.

(7) Abbreviated: Abbreviated. Report: Write to you. Reply: Refers to Wang Anshi’s brief reply after receiving Sima Guang’s first letter.

(8) Chóng: think again and again. Shiyuhou: means to value, Shiyu: to treat.

(9) Repeatedly: refers to correspondence.

Reckless: rude and rude.

(10) Gudao: detailed explanation. So: the whole story.

(11) Ji (jì): hope.

(12) Confucians: This generally refers to the general feudal scholar-bureaucrats.

(13) Name and reality: name and reality.

(14) Resentment (bàng): resentment, accusation.

(15) Owner: Emperor. This refers to Zhao Xu, Shenzong of the Song Dynasty.

(16) Legal discussion: discuss and review the country’s legal system. Revision: revision.

(17) Yousi: Officials with specific responsibilities.

(18) Ju: implementation.

(19) The theory of warding off evil spirits: Refuting wrong statements. To refute, to refute, to exclude.

(20) Difficulty (nàn): blame. Ren (ren): sycophant, refers to a person who is skillful and flattering.

(21) Solid: originally. Before: in advance.

(22)shirt (xù): concern. To follow the vulgar and flatter others: It refers to agreeing with the worldly opinions and flattering others.

(23)Part 1: Your Majesty. This refers to Zhao Xu, Shenzong of the Song Dynasty. Nai: But.

(24) Resistance: resistance, struggle. It: a pronoun, referring to the "scholar-officials" mentioned above.

(25) Xiongxiangran: noisy and shouting.

(26) Pan Geng: a monarch in the mid-Shang Dynasty. The original capital of the Shang Dynasty was Amang (now Qufu, Shandong), north of the Yellow River, where floods often occurred. In order to get rid of political difficulties and natural disasters, after Pan Geng ascended the throne, he decided to move the capital to Yin (now northwest of Anyang, Henan). The decision was met with resentful opposition across the country. Later, Pan Geng issued a proclamation to persuade them and completed the plan to move the capital. See "Shangshu·Pangeng" for details.

(27)Xu (xū) resentment: mutual resentment. Mostly refers to the resentment of the people towards their superiors. Xu: All.

(28) Change his attitude: change his original plan. Degree: Plan.

(29) Degree (duó) meaning: consider whether it is reasonable. Degree: consider, used here as a verb.

(30) is: used as a verb here, meaning that it is done right.

(31) Anointing: applying favor. used here as a verb.

(32) Nothing to do: Do ??nothing. Do things, do things. The former word "事" is a verb, and the latter word "事" is a noun.

(33) Keep to the past: Stick to the practices of the predecessors.

(34) Those who dare to know: those who are willing to learn. Know, learn.

(35) Don’t let (rén) yearn for anything: it means that you can’t admire someone selfishly. This is an old-time polite way of writing letters. Unwilling, unbearable, unbearable, describing the depth of affection.

Measuring, small, here refers to oneself, a word of self-effacement. Yearn for, admire.

Creative background:

In the first year of Xining (1068), the newly ascended Song Shenzong asked Wang Anshi: "What should be the priority in governing the country today?" Wang Anshi replied: "Start with choosing techniques." In the second year of Xining, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty asked Wang Anshi: "I don't know what you should do first when you implement it?" Wang Anshi replied: "Changing customs and legislating laws are what we are urgently looking for today. Anyone who wants beauty The custom is to grow the gentleman and eliminate the villain, and the gentleman will give birth to propriety, justice, integrity and shame..."

In February of the second year of Xining (1069), Wang Anshi began to implement the new law and adopt a series of reform measures. Fan Zhen, a Hanlin scholar, believed that the implementation of the "green seedling method" was to make people rich by taking more and taking less. However, "taking less and taking more are just like fifty steps and a hundred steps." In July and August, Fan Chunren wrote to the emperor and publicly criticized An. Shi "destroys wealth and interests" and "Yao and Shun knew how to bring peace to the people." Cheng Lujiao, the imperial censor, wrote a letter to accuse Wang Anshi of being cunning and deceitful, saying: "If you put all the prime ministers and assistants in place, the world will suffer from it." Once Shenzong of the Song Dynasty and Wen Yanbo were discussing the reform. Shenzong said: "If we change the legal system, we will be very unhappy with the scholar-bureaucrats, but why will it be inconvenient for the people?" Wen Yanbo said: "The purpose of governing the world is with the scholar-bureaucrats, not with the common people. "

The next year, Sima Guang wrote three long letters to Wang Anshi - "Books with (Wang) Jiefu", accusing Wang Anshi of "not relying on the power of appointing three divisions to establish self-government." "Three departments of regulations were established", "and the envoy of Changping Guanghuicang was established", "Now that Jiefu is in charge, all the old laws of the ancestors are changed, those who are first are followed by others, those who are above are those who are below, those who are right are those who are left, and those who succeed are destroyed If you abandon it, you will take it, and you will have no strength in the day, and then you will not be able to rest at night...", "Now that Jiefu is in charge, he first established the Department of Regulations, talked about financial gains, and ordered Xue Xiangxing to lose the law. In the Jiang and Huaihe areas, in order to seize all the profits from the merchants, they sent envoys to scatter young crops and money all over the country and collect the interest, which made people sad. Fathers and sons did not meet each other, brothers and wives were separated...", "Maybe there are small differences. Jiefu would often get angry if he even mentioned the convenience of a new order, or he would scold and insult him, or he would banish him without waiting for his words to be finished. The Ming Lord tolerated this, but Jiefu refused to remonstrate. Nothing is enough to forgive!”

He also listed the shortcomings of implementing the new law such as "intruding on officials", "causing trouble", "expropriating profits", "rejecting advice" and "causing resentment", and asked Wang Anshi to abandon the new law and restore the old system. Wang Anshi wrote "Reply to Sima's Remonstrance" and replied: "If you really blame me because you have been in office for a long time and have not been able to do anything great to anoint the people, then you know that you are guilty. If you say that today, nothing should be done." Everything is just a matter of keeping what you have done before, and it is not what someone dares to know." Later, the two completely broke up, and Sima Guang resigned from the emperor and lived in seclusion in Luoyang to concentrate on writing "Zi Zhi Tong Jian".

Appreciation:

The argument of the full text is based on Sima Guang's accusation that the new law "intrudes officials, causes trouble, expropriates profits, refuses to remonstrate, and causes resentment". It points out that Confucian scholars argue, especially It lies in name and reality. The name and reality are clear, and the principles of the world are clear. This shows that the reform is correct. Sima Guang's attack is inconsistent with the name and is a fallacy. The article refutes Sima Guang's fallacies one by one, reveals their conservative and decadent nature, and expresses the author's determination to persist in reform and never be swayed by rumors and rumors.

The first paragraph mainly explains the reason and purpose of writing this letter.

Because there were differences between the two of them, they wrote a letter to express their position and attitude. Wang Anshi wrote three meanings in the first sentence of the first paragraph: the first level "Yesterday I was taught" is a polite formula; the second level mentioned that he and Sima Guang "have been getting along for a long time", which is very emotional and makes Sima Guang was very comfortable; the third level quickly turned to "Every time there is disagreement about the matter, the techniques used are different." It was lightning fast and directly pointed out the reason why the two people did not agree with each other politically. These three levels of meaning are concentrated in one sentence, showing a high degree of generalization and highlighting the focus of differences. Don't be sentimental and be candid. The second sentence has two meanings. The first level is: Sima Guang has a firm opinion and is not willing to change easily, so "although he wants to force it" to say a few more words, he will definitely not get any insights; he only gives a simple reply to the eloquent letter of more than 3,000 words, and does not give a simple reply. Distinguish them one by one again. The second level is: after careful consideration, Sima Guang values ??himself very much and should not be reckless when exchanging letters, so I have to explain in detail and hope that Sima Guang can forgive me. This illustrates the author's attitude and method, and shows his calmness and composure.