"Tian Hongzheng was the first to reform the customs of Wei, manifesting the late emperor's wisdom. Recently, h…
"Tian Hongzheng was the first to reform the customs of Wei, manifesting the late emperor's wisdom. Recently, he entered Zhenzhou, displaying Your Majesty's divine might. His accumulated loyalty and monumental achievements have left a lasting legacy, and the people, remembering his deeds, wished to carve them in stone. Your Majesty should have commanded the court scholars or entrusted the Hanlin Academy to select a masterful text to glorify his deeds. Yet unexpectedly, the imperial brush personally assigned this humble servant, an extraordinary honor. I was once specially promoted by grace and wished to repay it with my life, exhausting my sincerity in repeated audiences. But since last September, slander has barred me from seeing the imperial countenance again, resigned to wither like dead wood, cut off from the flow of imperial favor. Who could have imagined the Emperor's enduring kindness, remembering my name? None petitioned for me to compose this stele. It came directly from the imperial will. I am no block of wood, nor without heart; though I have longed to express my gratitude, I have found no means to sacrifice myself. My indebtedness is carved into my bones and flesh."