《论衡·卷十九·宣汉篇》
他们说五帝、三王时期招致了天下太平汉代没有出现太平，是由于见五帝、三王是圣人，圣人的功德，可以招致天下太平的缘故；说汉代不太平，是由于汉代没有圣帝，贤人的教化，是不能招致天下太平的缘故。
彼谓五帝、三王致太平，汉未有太平者，见五帝、三王圣人也，圣人之德能致太平；谓汉不太平者，汉无圣帝也，贤者之化，不能太平。
They say that the times of the Five Emperor and Three Kings brought peace to the realm but since the founding of the Han there has been no peace because the Five Emperors and Three Kings were sages whose virtuous deeds brought peace to the realm, and that since the Han has had no sage-emperors, the teachings of worthy men have not been able to bring peace to the realm.