“仁君”风范：纳言克己 The Demeanor of a Benevolent Emperor: Open-Minded and Displaying Self-Restraint
The Demeanor of a Benevolent Emperor: Open-Minded and Displaying Self-RestraintThe proverb states, "To err is human." Why was an admonisher needed in the imperial courts in ancient China? It was to point out the monarch's faults frankly so that wrongs could be righted. It is important to be tolerant and accepting of others' suggestions and criticisms, because this way one will be able to constantly improve oneself and, by taking advantage of the outsider's view, avoid falling into the trap of not being able to see one's own wrongdoings and thus causing more losses. This is why people say "Honest advice, though unpleasant to the ear, benefits conduct," and Emperor Song Renzong (1022-1063 AD) of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1126 AD) was a person who was pleased to hear his own mistakes being pointed out.
Admonisher Wang Su once advised Emperor Renzong not to be obsessed with women, but the Emperor said, "Indeed, Wang Deyong sent me a few beautiful young ladies recently, and they are all in the court now. I like them very much, so let me keep them." Wang Su insisted, "I, your minister, came to offer advice today precisely because I fear that Your Majesty would indulge in young ladies." Hearing that, Emperor Renzong issued an immediate order, though reluctantly, that the girls be sent out of the imperial court after each of them was given 300 strings of cash. Wang Su knew that the Emperor hated to see the girls leave, so he said to him, "Your Majesty has realized that I was right, so there is no need to act so quickly. Since those girls are already here, it wouldn't be too late to send them away later." Emperor Renzong responded, "My fear is that, if I keep them here too long, I will come to love them more and it will be even harder for me to send them away."
Some time later, Emperor Song Renzong retired to his bedroom after attending court business and had one of his eunuchs comb his hair. The eunuch saw that the Emperor was holding a document and asked what it was about. The Emperor told him that it was from his admonisher, suggesting that the number of court maids and servants be cut. The eunuch said, "Even ministers' homes have girls to sing and dance, and when the ministers get promotions, they engage even more of them. Your Majesty does not have too many maids and servants, and yet he suggested a further cut. That is too much." Emperor Song Renzong sat there, silent. The eunuch spoke again. "Will Your Majesty accept the suggestion?" Emperor Song Renzong said, "It is advice from my admonisher, of course I will accept it." Taking advantage of his position as a favored servant who worked close to the emperor, the eunuch said, "In that case, let me leave the court first." At that, the emperor rose and ordered that 29 maids and servants, including the hair-combing eunuch, be removed from the list of the imperial court. Later the queen asked the emperor why he would fire a needed hair-combing eunuch who had been favored and trusted for years. Emperor Song Renzong replied, "He asked me to reject my admonisher's advice. How can I keep that kind of person around me?! "
“仁君”风范：纳言克己
俗话说“人非圣贤，孰能无过。”古时朝廷中为什么要设立“谏官”一职呢？就是为了对君主的过失直言规劝并使其改正。对于他人的建议和指正，要包容和广泛采纳，因为只有这样才能不断进取，避免“只缘身在此山中”对自身的过错“不识庐山真面目”，避免固步自封造成大的损失，这就是人们说的“忠言逆耳利于行”，宋仁宗就是这样一个闻过则喜的人。
有一次，谏官王素劝仁宗不要贪恋女色，宋仁宗说：“最近王德用的确进献了美女给我，现在正在宫中，我很喜欢，就让我留下吧。”王素说：“臣今日进谏，正是怕陛下被女色所惑。”仁宗听了，虽面有难色，但还是立即下令把进献的美女每个赠送三百贯钱后，遣送她们离开皇宫。看得出来，仁宗还是有些恋恋不舍，于是王素说：“陛下认为我说的对，也不必这么匆忙的办理，那些女子既已进宫，过一段时间再送走也不迟。”仁宗说：“我怕把她们留久了，因为情深更不忍心送走了。”
一天，仁宗退朝后回到寝宫，让梳头的太监为他梳头。太监问仁宗怀中的奏折是关于什么的，仁宗告诉他这是谏官上奏建议减少宫中宫女和侍从。梳头太监说道：“大臣家中尚且都有歌伎舞女，而且一旦升官还会增加，陛下的侍从并不多，他们还建议要减少，这太过份了！”仁宗没有答话，太监又问这个建议是否准备采纳，仁宗说：“谏官的建议，朕当然要采纳了。”太监依仗自己是仁宗身边的亲信，平日受宠，便说：“如果要采纳这个建议，那就把我第一个削减了吧！”仁宗听后马上起身，命人按名册将二十九人及这个梳头的太监一起削减出宫。后来，皇后问仁宗为什么把身边多年的亲信，况且并不是多余人的梳头太监削减出宫呢？仁宗说：“他劝我拒绝谏官的忠言，我怎能将这种人留在身边！”