《明史·列传·卷五十二》
尧树立诽谤之木让人写谏言，惟恐人们不进言，所以成为圣人；秦废除确定谧号的法则，恐怕人们议论自己，所以衰亡。
尧立谤木，恐人不言，所以圣；秦除谥法，恐人议己，所以亡。
Yao set up a tree of slander to allow people to write remonstrances, fearing that people would not speak up, so he became a sage; Qin abolished the law of establishing a posthumous name, fearing that people would discuss himself, so he declined.