General Preface to the Twelve Works of Benefit and Relief

My late father previously struggled with the lack of an heir. Once, while traveling to Jingkou, he encountered an extraordinary man original: "yiren" (異人); often referring to a master of physiognomy or a spiritual ascetic who remarked that, based on his facial features, my father was destined to have no descendants. However, the man added that if he performed acts of benefit and relief original: "liji" (利濟), he might yet obtain a son. Later, while he was serving as the superintendent of the salt administration 鹺 (cuo): an archaic term for the salt trade and its administrative bureaucracy at Xiasha, a great tidal surge occurred. Those who drowned numbered no fewer than several hundred thousand. My father devoted all his energy to devising ways to recover and bury the bodies. When a plague followed that autumn, he again donated his own salary to hire physicians and prepare medicinal formulas to treat the illnesses. Because of these efforts, tens of thousands of people survived.

He further submitted a detailed proposal for the construction of a seawall. The relevant authorities forwarded his petition, and he eventually received the Imperial Decree original: "yuzhi" (俞旨); formal approval from the Emperor granting permission to proceed. At that time, all the local salt fields were being devastated by the tides. The people "clutched the shafts of his carriage" original: "panyuan jiekou" (攀轅借寇); a classical idiom describing citizens who are so moved by an official's virtue that they physically try to prevent him from leaving his post to plead for his continued leadership. From the stone weirs of Xiasha and Shiyan to the regions of Chuanshan, Minghe, and Longtou—totaling seven districts in all—he personally supervised the entire project.

When the embankment was completed, it was named the Liji Seawall (The Seawall of Benefit and Relief). That year, when the autumn tides arrived with sudden violence, they caused no harm. Later, while my father was serving as a sub-prefectural magistrate in Yongchun and Youxi, he finally fathered my brother and me. He gave us the childhood names "Benefit" and "Relief," and upon his retirement, he used those same words to name his study hall. This is the origin from which the name "Liji" first began. My late father long desired to...