The art of governance stems from true learning; a gentleman detests its deceit.
The study of the Way tolerates no falsehood, yet the world employs it hypocritically.
Of old, Master Lianxi, pure and refined, was the teacher of his time.
His character, like clear breeze and bright moon, was praised by earlier scholars.
The two Cheng brothers followed him, yet the changing currents brought suspicion.
Facing the world, they were rather rigid and restrained, upholding themselves with solemn dignity.
Some transmitted only the coarse parts, feigning dissent to gain worldly advantage.
Their mouths spoke words of sincerity and reverence, grasping sleeves and bowing to the wise.
Yet their conduct was that of the marketplace, little different from the acts of a thief.
Sitting solemnly in long silence, they covered up their common foolishness.
When classical orthodoxy flourished in prosperous times, strange women still sowed discord.
If we could, in a single day, cast out the tares, the fine grain would remain.
Upright scholars gather like swans and wild geese; ancient learning shines like stars and sun.
A recluse by rivers and lakes, with a true glimpse through a narrow tube.
Your kind suffers exclusion and attack, as if none were left untouched.
Could it be that outstanding talents, once stumbling, are stained and blackened?
Employ the worthy more than their merit, take the jade and forget its minor flaws.
I wish to extend a wiping hand, to avert the grief of missing the time.
I wish to share a measure of official salary, to relieve the hunger of consecutive days.
Open the path of Zhou and Confucius, correct with the rules of Mencius and Han Yu.
Examine carefully the lofty and the trivial, choose or avoid; ashamed of yesterday's deceit and exaggeration.
With six directions open and four routes clear, vast and majestic as in high antiquity.
The way of governance values avoiding excess; changes of the age must guard against the subtle.
My words may perhaps be worth recording; I dare to offer them to the poetry collectors.