Heaven's Mandate and Man's Des

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Reader' s
A dissertation entitled
Heaven’s Mandate and Man’s Destiny in Early Medieval China:
The Role of Prophecy in Politics
submitted to the Graduate School of the

University of Wisconsin-Madison
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy
by
Zongli Lu
Degree to be awarded: December 19___ May 19____ A ugust 19 95
Approved by Dissertation Readers:
Major Professor Date of Exam ination
Dean, G raduate School
H E A V E N ’S M A N D A T E A N D M A N 'S D E ST IN Y IN
E A R LY M E D IE V A L CH IN A:
TH E R O L E O F P R O P H E C Y IN PO L IT IC S
by
Zongli Lu
A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor o f Philosophy
(Chinese)
at the
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON
1995
© Copyright by Zongli Lu 1995
All Rights Reserved
i
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to my dissertation
committee members not only for their valuable advice on this dissertation, but also
for all the help and kindness I have received from them over the past five years at
the University o f Wisconsin-Madison.
Without Professor Joseph S. M. Lau's help, I would never have been able to
begin my doctoral studies at the university five years ago, at which time I had no
experience o f English whatever. Professor Lau's generous concern encouraged me
to finally achieve my goal From Professors William H. Nienhauser, Jr. and Robert
Joe Cutter, I have learned the great traditions o f western Sinology, and have
moreover benefited from the model o f careful and intelligent scholarship they gave
me. Their help over these years is one o f the happiest memories I have o f Madison.
Studying with Professor Lin Yu-sheng was an enlightening experience. I learned
from him not only Chinese intellectual history but also important traditions in
Western thought.
Professor Cheng Tsai-fa, my adviser, is an erudite scholar as well as a model
o f the traditional Chinese gentleman. Without his help and attention in various ways,
I would not have been able to overcome the difficulties and challenges I faced
ii
during these years. This dissertation has greatly benefited from his careful review
and detailed suggestions for the revision.
I am grateful to the Department o f East Asian Languages and Literature.
The lectureship the department provided me during the five years I was in Madison
enabled me to complete my degree. A special thanks is due to Ms. Teresa E.
Nealon, the office manager o f the department. I find an ordinary "thank-you"
entirely inadequate to express how much I appreciate her kind assistance.
My thanks are also due to Diane Howard and Robert Reynolds, whose
comments and suggestions on this dissertation were very helpful in the revision.
Help from other friends and classmates at Madison was immeasurable. I offer my
sincere appreciation for all their valuable help.
In the process o f writing this dissertation, I benefited from discussions and
conversations on the topic with Professors Stephen Durrant, Chauncey S. Goodrich,
Michael Loewe, David R. Knechtges, Jurii L. Kroll, Paul W. Kroll, Victor Mair, E.
G. Pulleyblank, Madeline Spring, and Laurence G. Thompson. My thanks are due to
them as well. I am grateful to Professor David W. Pankenier kindly allowing me to
consult his unpublished article presented at the 1995 Annual Meeting o f the
Association for Asian Studies, Washington D. C.
Going further back, I also have debts from the beginning o f my study o f
Chinese literature and history twenty years ago at East China Normal University,
R e p ro d u c e d with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
iii
Shanghai. Professors Xu Zhongyu ^ 4 13 L Xu Zhen'e Xu Deling
Ye Baifeng Zhou Zimei )H ■?“H and my other teachers first initiated me
into the riches o f China’s great cultural treasures. I then studied and worked in the
Institute o f History at the Chinese Academy o f Social Sciences, Beijing, from 1978
to 1989, where I studied with Professors Zhang Zhenglang sH and Li Xueqin
who guided me step by step on a long and fascinating march, the study o f
Qin and Han history and culture. There I also benefited from studying and
association with the versatile scholars Yang Hsi-mei Wang Yu-ch'uan 3 :
& §1, Lin Ganquan Xie Guozhen I t [U tJf, Xiong Deji f g H , Wang
Liqi I ÎJ |§ , Yang Xiangkui | § [qj |g , Li Zehou Qiu Hansheng M
Liu Qiyu §IJ ^ i f , and Zhong Zhaopeng M H Bl- My thanks are also due to
Professor Wang Chiu-kuei at the National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu,
whose long-term kindness and friendship made my study at Madison possible at the
first place.
Since 1981, I have been encouraged and guided in my studies o f Han
prophetic-apocryphal texts by two Japanese scholars, Yasui Kozan ill and
Nakamura Shohachi 4* ^ A , whose Jushin Isho Shusei f i lr and
other publications have been important contributions to the study o f the Han
apocryphal texts.
iv
In the Spring o f 1995, I was granted a travel grant from the Eastern Asian
Library, the University o f Michigan. Its rich collections o f Chinese studies were
very helpful in my writing process.
I feel fortunate that I had the opportunities to study and associate with
numerous erudite scholars in China, Taiwan and the United States. Some o f them
have been mentioned above. I also "study and associate" with more scholars
impersonally through reading their works, which are mentioned in the Selected
Bibliography. Without all these previous and various studies and without all the help
and guidance I have received, this dissertation and my future career would have
been impossible.
Finally, I am most grateful to my parents, who not only gave birth to a son
but also brought him up as a man; to my homeland, the beautiful and sorrowful
country which has the mountains, waters, people and culture I cannot cease loving.
V
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i
INTRODUCTION 1
1) Outline o f the Dissertation 1
2) Chen and Prophecy 4
3) Wei and Apocrypha 17
CHAPTER I THE TRUTH BEHIND BANS 25
1) The Western and Eastern Jin 30
2) The Sixteen States Period 36
2. 1 Later Zhao 37
2. 2 Former Qin 39
3) The Southern Dynasties 46
3 .1 The Song Dynasty 47
3. 2 The Liang Dynasty 50
4) The Northern Wei Dynasty 53
5) The Sui Dynasty 65
6) General Observation 69
CHAPTER II THE ATTITUDE OF THE RULERS TOWARDS
CHEN PROPHECY 79
1) The Ritual Procedure o f Dynastic Changes 80
2) The Role o f Chen Prophecy in Legitimation in *he South 82
2. 1 Chen prophecy by ambiguity 84
2. 2 Chen prophecy by ideographic riddles 85
2. 3 Chen prophecy from the traditional Eastern Han
and Three States prophetic-apocryphal texts 88
2. 4 Chen prophecy from newly inspired and circulated
prophetic collections 89
2 .5 Chen prophecy without reference 91
2. 6 Chen prophecy from stone inscription 92
2. 7 Chen prophecy recorded from dream 92
3) The Role o f Chen Prophecy in Legitimation in the North 94
3. 1 Northern Qi 95
3. 2 Northern Zhou and Sui 102
4) B elief in Chen Prophecy Among the Rulers 104
CHAPTER III THE STUDY AND TRANSMISSION OF
PROPHETIC-APOCRYPHAL TEXTS 110
1) Introduction
2) The Study and Transmission o f Prophetic-apocryphal
Texts Among Scholars
2. 1 The Jin
2. 2 Former Zhao
2. 3 Former Liang
2. 4 The Song Dynasty
2. 5 The Southern Qi Dynasty
2. 6 The Liang Dynasty
2. 7 The Chen Dynasty
2. 8 The Northern Wei Dynasty
2. 9 The Northern Qi Dynasty
2. 10 The Northern Zhou Dynasty
2. 11 The Sui Dynasty
3 ) Summary
CHAPTER IV WORD MAGIC AND REVELATION
1) Other Forms o f Traditional and N ew Chen Prophecies
2 ) Chen Prophecy by Mottoes
2. 1 Chen prophecy in ideographic riddles
2. 2 Chen prophecy by ambiguity
2 . 3 Chen prophecy by f a n qie spelling 173
2. 4 Chen prophecy by puns 175
2. 5 Summary 176
3) Chen Prophecy in Poetic Form 179
3. 1 Poetic portents as a type o f new chen prophecy 179
3. 2 Poems as poetic portents in history 181
3. 3 Prophetic rhymes in the form o f poetic portents 186
3. 4 Summary 189
CHAPTER V PROPHETIC RHYMES 192
1) On Folk and Children's Rhymes as Chen Prophecy 192
2) Influence o f Prophetic Rhymes in Political
Struggles and Official Careers 199
2. 1 "Under the pressure o f a great stone, it will
not be able to stretch itself." 199
2. 2 "The central state will decline while Wu will
be revived." 201
2. 3 "A great fish in the Eastern Sea changes into a dragon." 203
2 .4 "Hand touching the head." 204
2. 5 "A Son o f Heaven will emerge from Qiantang." 205
2. 6 "A Son o f Heaven will arise from the east o f the city." 205
ix
2. 7 "Riding on a white horse with dark blue silk reins,
someone comes from Shouyang." 209
2. 8 "Soughing is the wind, it shall rise again." 210
3) Fabricated Political Rhymes 211
3. 1 "A gentleman cannot be on intimate term with,
and a long bow shoots people dead." 211
3 .2 "A panpipe will sound only for a while." 213
3. 3 "The bright moon lights up Chang'an." 216
4) Chen Prophecy Recognized After Realization 225
4. 1 Prophetic rhymes o f politically less sensitive events 226
4. 2 Prophetic rhymes conveying popular grievance 233
5) Traditional Theories on the Prophetic RJiymes 242
CONCLUSION 251
1) Justification o f Legitimacy and Illegitimacy 254
2) Heaven's Mandate and Related Theories in Prophetic-apocryphal
Texts 258
3) Sociological and Psychological Functions o f Belief in
Chen Prophecy and the Mandate o f Heaven 264
4) Heaven Sees with the Eyes o f Its People 265
5) Heaven's Mandate and Man's Destiny 271
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
APPENDIX: CHRONOLOGICAL CHART OF
RELEVANT HISTORY
1
IN TR O D U C TIO N
1) Outline o f the Dissertation
This dissertation attempts to examine the role o f belief in chen in early
medieval Chinese politics.
B elief in chen (also pronounced chan) is a unique cultural phenomenon
which began early in Chinese history, yet still exists today. Chen refers to portentous
words which are later proven to be true. Chinese commonly believe that some oral
or written portentous words revealed Heaven's will and mandate, which determined
man's (i. e., a political figure or group) destiny. Although it is impossible to trace its
origin through extant sources, we know that its first occurrence in Chinese historical
records was no later than the first century B .C .
At the beginning o f the first century A. D. , a new type o f literature written
by numerous anonymous authors occurred. These new texts contained many
portentous words and were obviously influenced by the Western Han N ew Text
canonical school. These texts were called chen wei in the Eastern Han dynasty
(25-220). The philosophical view expressed in these texts was prevalent throughout
China during the Eastern Han and Three States period.
2
Portentous words and chen wei texts were banned from early medieval China
through the last Chinese dynasty, the Qing (1644-1911). The texts are no longer
extant except for a few fragments. Partly because o f the lack o f sources, the
significant role o f chen wei in Chinese history has long been ignored and
misunderstood by scholars o f Chinese history, religion and culture. This dissertation
therefore attempts to examine the role and significance o f chen in Chinese culture
through the investigation o f early medieval China's political history.
Repeated bans o f chen wei texts have attracted the attentions o f scholars
who work on early medieval Chinese history, religion and culture. But the actual
causes, background, and failure o f the bans are far from well studied. In Chapter I,
an examination o f the political background to the bans during this period will show
how the bans were instituted, why the rulers o f the time issued them, and why the
bans failed to accomplish their purpose.
The bans and their failure were not an isolated and simple phenomenon.
Chapters II and III examine the attitudes towards chen wei texts o f the rulers,
officials, and scholars, the elite social groups o f the period. Scholarly interest and
belief in chen enabled chen to play a significant role in political struggles for a long
period.
The writing o f chen was not a privilege o f the ruling class. Chapter IV
examines the concept o f portentous riddles, an interesting phenomenon in which
3
many person, place or building names, reign titles and poems by people o f all walks
were believed to reveal the future. This belief was prevalent among all social
stratums.
Even more interesting, folk and children's rhymes were also recognized as
chen and influenced political events o f the time. Chapter V examines this new
development in chen. This phenomenon is noteworthy because it reveals one o f the
bases for the pervasive power and influence o f chen in Chinese politics.
A lot o f materials would be quoted from the source materials to support my
points that:
1. The bans were not effective.
2. Chinese, including those who issued the bans, believed in chen prophecy.
3. Chen prophecy is not fabricated even though it may have no inspired
prophets.
Some discussion on the nature o f Chinese prophecy will be given. As a
preliminary study o f the field, however, I intend to concentrate myself to the above
issues, and leave a more theoretical and detailed discussion o f Chinese belief in
general, and the nature o f Chinese prophecy in particular, to my future project.
Before beginning our review o f early medieval Chinese history, a brief
review o f chen, wei and their studies is in order.
4
2) Chen and Prophecy
In the summer o f 1991,a great flood inundated East China, the bountiful
valley o f the lower reaches o f the Jiang £E, or Yangzi River. A rumor began
circulating that people should have had expected the flood to occur, because a
heavenly warning had long been revealed through the new leader's name: Jiang
Zemin which could literally be interpreted as "the Yangzi River drenches
people."
This was not a political joke. It is an example o f the traditional belief in chen
that has affected Chinese culture and society for millennia, and is still alive in
modem Chinese society.
Although the earliest textual instance scholars have found o f the character
chen is in the "Zhao shijia" ^ [Zhao, Hereditary House] o f the Shi j i £ 12
[Grand Scribe's Records],1 this does not necessarily mean that this belief began only
in the early Western Han.2 In early Chinese sources, chen is defined as meaning yaw
1 See Sj, 1786-1787. The details o f the story shall be discussed below.
2 Jack L. Dull thinks that there is a considerable evidence that the rise of chen (which he
calls prognostication) is closely associated with the state o f Qin f | | . The evidence appears
in the Zuo zhuan 515 B. C. (the twelfth month o f the 26th year of Duke Zhao Hp of
Lu ). In this section a chen which originated in the Qin and prophesied the decline of the
Zhou Jq| house is recorded. See his "A Historical Introduction to the Apocryphal (Ch'an-wei)
Texts o f the Han Dynasty," (Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University o f Washington,
1966; hereafter, "Apocryphal Texts"), 11. The key to reading this prophecy or
prognostication is the translation o f the first line of the passage: |j| A $1 0- Following
James Legge's translation o f The Ch'un Ts'ew with the Tso chen, 717, vol. V in The Chinese
Classics (Hong Kong: University o f Hong Kong Press, 1960), Dull reads: "There came
5
^ (v erifica tio n ),3 xian (subtle),4 and m i mi shu U (esoteric writings).5 In
sum, chen are subtle, esoteric and portentous words foretelling future events; they
are the revelations o f Heaven's will through human language.
Chen usually foretell future political events, either directly or obscurely and
ambiguously. They are not predictions, since they involve no calculations,
knowledge, or inferences from facts or experience. Although there were many ways
in ancient China for one to divine or prognosticate the fiiture, such as astrology,
reading the patterns o f cracks made by heat on the surfaces o f animal bones or turtle
shells, casting the stalks o f the yarrow plant,6 and observing various unusual natural
phenomena, chen were neither divinations nor prognostications.7 Chen refers to
down among the people in Ch'in these ominous utterances." He thus takes the word yao
which Legge translates as ominous utterances, to be basically the same as prognostication.
Yao if c , however, is not necessarily the same as yao yan ijfc H ominous utterances. I read
jian g ya o as "possessed by a spirit," and read the line as: "Possessed by a spirit, a Qin
individual (possibly a shaman) said." Although this dissertation makes no attempt to discuss
shamanism, belief in chen, in the early period only, could be associated with a sort of
possession.
3 Shuo wen jie zi HP ^ , by Xu Shen fK (ca. 58-ca. 147), quoted in Zhong

Zhaopeng HI H IBS, Chen wei lun I tie Kh (Shenyang: Liaoning jiaoyu chubanshe,
1992), 2.
4 Shi ming & £ , , b y Liu Xi §lj , a late Eastern Han scholar, quoted in Jiang Qingyi
Wei xue yuan liu xingfei kao (preface dated 1897) 7.
5 San cang H S ( a text book for children in the Han), quoted in ibid.
6 See Michael Loewe and Carmen Blacker, eds. Oracles and Divination (Boulder:
Shambhala, 1981), 3 8.
7 On the features o f divination, see ibid, 38, 40.
6
revelations which are not replies to pre-existing questions, and require no deliberate
search by man for answers, no artificial production o f signs for a specific purpose,
and need no trained diviners to formulate questions (important when answers would
be simply yes or no) or to interpret the answers skillfully, in contrast to divination.
As for its form, chen often comes in rhymes and riddles, sometimes uttered by
inspired persons but mostly written or spoken by anonymous authors. This idea is
decipherable from the Chinese character chen jjj$, which consists o f ya n fg
(language) and xian (subtle), suggesting that it is an insignificant language in
form, but contains a subtle message revealing the fortune o f a public figure or the
future o f an institution.
Chen could come from many sources. As I mentioned above, the earliest use
o f chen can be found in the Shi ji. The passage describes an oracle inspired by the
Supreme Deity (ti ^?) in a dream. Once Duke Mu H? o f Qin #f!(r. 659-621 B. C.)
remained unconscious for seven days. When he finally came to his senses, the duke
told his servants that he had been with the Supreme Deity who has revealed that the
state o f Jin If- was about to suffer a great disorder that would last for five
generations. After that [its lord] would have the hegemony, and would die before he
reached old age. The son o f the hegemon would further debauch Qin's people. All o f
this was later proven true.8 Interestingly, Sima Qian places this story in his "Zhao,
8 See Sj, 1786-1787.
7
Hereditary House" chapter instead o f the "Qin benji" [Qin, Basic Annals], in
a conversation when Viscount Jian o f the Zhao 9 remained unconscious, and
Bian Que Jjf| fj§, a legendary physician o f the time, came to examine the patient. Bian
Que referred to the record o f this inspired oracle Qin chen f p e it.10 Sima Qian seems
to regard the story as legendary rather than a historical account suitable for his
"Basic Annals." Nevertheless, the fact that this kind o f record circulated among the
people o f the Warring States and Western Han periods shows that belief in oracles
was part o f their life.
Chen were not limited to trances or dreams. A master o f the Yinyang ^
school could be an inspired person and his writings were read as chen. At the end o f
9 Zhao Yang j |§ |£ , a minister of the state of Jin during the late Spring and Autumn period
(770-476 B. C.).
10 The same story, as Dull has pointed out in his "Apocryphal Texts," is quoted no less than
three times in the Shi ji (11-12). The other two references are in the "Feng shan shu" fif
H [Treatise on the Sacrificial Ritual], 1360; and "Bian Que Cong Gong liezhuan" H §§
£*^01$ [Bian Que and the Grand Cang, Memoir], 2786-2787. The version in the memoir on
Bian Que is identical to the version in the "Zhao Hereditary House" except that ce Iff
[bamboo slip] is used in place of chen. Another instance of ce replacing chen is found in the
memoir on Jia Yi J f H “i the Shi ji. In the "Funiao fu" |$} [Rhapsody on Owl], Jia Yi
says: "I opened the book to prognosticate, and the slips told what it omened"
’ U t i l ■(2497) In the paralleled memoir in the Han shu $§ ^ [Han History], chen
is used in place o f ce (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1964), 2226. Dull thinks the substitution is
of no consequence since ce means both to divine and also the slip of wood on which the
divination text was written. ("Apocryphal Texts," 17, note 16) In fact, ce were slips of wood
or bamboo on which any kind o f text can be written or which can be used to calculate or
divine. In these cases, ce refers to the slips of the book, and chen refers to the content of the
book. These two words were not interchangeable, and no divination was ever performed in
these two stories.
8
the Qin dynasty, Fan Zeng yQift (277-204 B. C.), later the principal advisor o f the
great general Xiang Yu J|f 33 (232-202 B. C.), first went to see Xiang Liang Jjj a
former Chu ^ noble, early leader o f the anti Qin forces, and Xiang Yu's uncle. In
persuading Xiang Liang to enthrone a descendant o f the former Chu royal house as
the symbol o f their enterprise, Fan quoted a prophecy by Master Nan j^[ £*•, a
legendary figure from Chu in the Warring States period who was a master o f the
Yinyang school: "Even if Ch'u has but three households left, it will be Ch'u that
destroys Ch'in" 3itS §jE P 1 ’ t >§t. 11 A work with the title o f M aster Nan
containing thirty-six ju a n %$*, is listed in the "Yi wen zhi" H ^ [Treatise on
Classics and Literature], the bibliographical chapter o f the Han History. M aster Nan
is no longer extant, depriving us o f the opportunity to see what he foretold.
There were other collections o f chen o f that era either without authorship
given or with a forged attribution. In the thirty-second year o f the First Emperor o f
the Qin (215 B. C.), a Scholar Lu ]j£, returning from a mission seeking immortals
overseas, presented the emperor with an illustrated collection o f chen, Lu tu shu ^
f§I U , which, according to Chen Pan ^ , was the legendary He tu ?pJ [gj [River
11 See William H. Nienhauser, Jr. , ed. The Grand Scribe's Records (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1994), vol. 1, 183. Some read this san hu H P [three households] as the
three royal clans of Chu (Zhao H§, Qu Hg, and Jing ft-), or as a place name Sanhu jin H P
^ (Three Households Ferry) where Hsiang Yu indeed later defeated the Qin general Zhang
Han . See ibid, note 50 for more information.
9
ch art].12 The heavenly message for the emperor in this work was: "The one who
will destroy Ch'in is a 'Hu'" £ iH # 13 The First Emperor then had General
Meng Tian § | set forth with a troop o f 300,000 men to assault the barbarian
tribes in the north, since Hu could mean barbarian.14 The catch in this chen,
according to later interpretations, is that Hu is actually the name o f the First
Emperor’s successor, Hu Hai Hu Hai’s incompetent rule is still viewed today
as one reason for the collapse o f the Qin dynasty. There is a long standing dispute
12 See Chen Pan, "Lun zaoqi chen wei ji qi yu Zou Yan shushuo zhi guanxi,"
^ f i r ! ! ! £ ; £ . HE in Zhongyangyanjiuyuan lishi yuyan yanjiusuo jikan
20:1 (1948): 159-187. For the River chart, see Anna Seidel,
"Imperial Treasures and Taoist Sacraments—Taoist Roots in the Apocrypha," (hereafter,
"Taoist Sacraments") in Tantric and Taoist Studies, vol. 2, ed. by Michel Strickmann
(Institute Beige des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, 1983), 308; Michael Saso, "What is the Ho-
t'u," History o f Religions 17:1 (August 1977): 399-416.
13 In "Appendix 2: Interpolations in the Shih-chi," in Denis Twitchett and Michael Loewe

eds. , The Cambridge History o f China, vol. 1, (New York: Cambridge University Press,
1978), Derk Bodde suggests that some half dozen incidents in the Shi j i could be
interpolations without providing detailed arguments in support o f his claim. Among the total
o f six incidents that he cites, the third, fourth and fifth concern this thesis. The third,
"Adoption o f the element water in 221," I will discuss in later chapters. The fourth,
"Presentation o f the prophetic text in 215," and the fifth, "Fall o f the meteor in 211," are
directly associated with the chen I discuss here and require comment. In "Presentation o f the
prophetic text in 215," Bodde questions the historicity of the revealing words "that which
will destroy Ch'in is Hu" on the following reasons: the self-fulfilling nature of the prophecy,
the improbability that such a prediction would ever be actually submitted to an autocrat like
the First Emperor, and the awkward manner in Lu's presentation. These reasons are a series
of subjective assumptions rather than objective arguments. Based on the information given,
at most we might doubt that the story really took place as early as the First Emperor's reign.
Since no evidence is produced to support the claim that the story was an interpolation
written by someone other than Sima Qian, it is still not impossible to assume that the
"rumor" was circulated during the Qin period, although not necessarily presented to the
emperor directly. For the incident o f "Fall of the meteor in 211," see note 16 below.
14 See Nienhauser, The Grand Scribe's Records, vol. 1, 145.
10
over what the original R iver chart was, which will not be discussed here. The lesson
w e learn from this story is that by the time o f the First Emperor o f Qin, the River
chart was an anonymous book including chen texts.
Chen could also come as inscriptions on buried stones or meteorites, or as
messages from mysterious emissaries. Again from the "Ch'in, Basic Annals," w e
learn that "in the 36th year (211 B. C.), Mars stayed in the Heart Constellation. A
meteor fell in Tung-chun [Commandery], on which an inscription was found. It
read: "After the First Emperor dies, his territory will be divided" ffO
5> .15 In the fall o f the same year, when an imperial emissaiy was on his way back
from the east at night, "a man with a jade disc in his hand stopped the emissary and
15 Ibid, 150. This story is another incident Bodde has doubts about (see note 14). This time,
besides the "inherent improbability," (97) Bodde provides better textual evidence: this Shi ji
passage violates the principle that during the lifetime of the First Emperor, his title was used
only by himself, never in the statements or writings o f others. This principle is based on
Kurihara Tomonobu's Ijl fff study in the Shin Kan shi no kenkyu ifi 60 W 3^
(Tokyo: Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1960). No attempt will be made to reexamine this principle
in this dissertation. However, there are two additional factors which should be taken into
consideration. The first is that the title "First Emperor," designed by the emperor himself,
was actually more like a "temple title." It was not supposed to be used in official speech or
writing when the emperor was still alive. However, there was no ways to prevent it from
being used in non-public utterances and writings, as is the case in this story. The second is
that although Sima Qian and his lather depended on the Qin official documents a great deal
when they wrote the chapters on Qin history, this does not necessarily mean that they used
the original Qin documents exclusively. And even if they copied the Qin documents, chances
are great that they reworded the records. In reference to rewording, a related and interesting
phenomenon is noteworthy: the Grand Scribe’s Records in early accounts often refers to
persons with their later noble titles. This kind of wording certainly is not copied from the
original official documents. This being the case, the chen in this citation is an indirect
quotation. I intend to provide a detailed discussion o f this principle o f wording in a future
study.
11
said: 'Give this to the Lord o f Hao Pond $3 fq for me.' The disk was inscribed:
'This year the primal dragon will d i e ' ^ ^ f i l f i t ^ E . The emissary tried to question
him, whereupon he suddenly disappeared, leaving his jade disc behind."16 The
"primal dragon," according to a traditional interpretation, refers to the First
Emperor.17 One may say that the chen on the meteor was inscribed by men rather
than by Heaven. W e will examine this issue later, but a full discussion must be
deferred for another time.
In later times, w e will see that chen came in the form o f folk and children's
rhymes. In other words, unlike divination and prognostication, which are done by a
few inspired individuals, a chen can come from inspired or common people. Anyone
in the chain o f transmission might also add amendments or interpretation to a chen.
As can be seen, chen are portentous words, coming from various sources,
composed by people in various states o f mind, and written in various forms. The
language o f a chen can be straightforward and thus easily understood, or subtle and
requiring decipherment. The trick o f decipherment lies in the discovery o f a correct
second reading o f the chen. It is partially in this sense that chen are regarded as
esoteric and odd.
16 See Nienhauser, The Grand Scribe’s Records, vol. 1, 150.
17Ibid, 151, note 265.
12
It is not easy to find a suitable English word to translate chen.
"Prognostication" is used by Derk Bodde in his translation o f Fung Yu-lan's A
H istory o f Chinese Philosophy and was adopted by Jack L. Dull.18 However, Bodde
later calls the Qin chen I mentioned above "prophecy."19 Anna Seidel uses both
"prophetic" and "prognostic texts" for chen, and "apocryphal texts" for the Han
chen and wei texts.20 Writing about Han texts, Tjan Tjoe Som recognizes that there
was originally a distinction between chen and wei, but still treats chen-wei as a
compound meaning "apocryphal literature."21 Robert P. Kramers in his "The
Development o f the Confiician Schools," seems to prefer to leave the terms in
romanization—"ch'an-wei literature"— yet defines chen as the term for "oracles" and
"predictions."22
In addition to the distinctions between chen, prediction and divination
mentioned earlier, I would like to discuss the differences between chen,
18 See Fung Yu-lan, A History o f Chinese Philosophy, vol. II (Princeton: Princeton

University Press, 1953), 88-91; Dull, "Apocryphal Texts."
19 See Twitchett and Loewe The Cambridge History o f China, vol. 1,, 97.
20 See Seidel, "Taoist Sacraments."
21 See Tjan, Po hu t'ung: The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall
(hereafter, Po hu t'ung. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1949), 100-120.
22 See The Cambridge History o f China, vol. 1, 759-764. Paul Demieville also regards chen
as oracular prognostication; see his "Philosophy and Religion from Han to Sui," in The
Cambridge History o f China, vol. 1, 809.
13
prognostication, and oracles here. To "prognosticate" means "to know or tell o f (an
event, etc.) beforehand; to have previous knowledge of, to foretell, predict,
prophesy, forecast."23 In ancient China, one prognosticated an event by forecasting
from present signs or indications, through astrology, the observation o f abnormal
natural phenomena Q £ f f £ ) , the observation o f aeromantic signs ( | f H ),
physiognomy jfi), and so on. In other words, prognostication shared features
with divination. As for "oracle," it generally indicates "divine communication
delivered in response to a petitioner's request," and was also "a branch o f
divination."24 Michael Loewe has pointed out a feature that differentiates oracles
from divination: "Oracles included questions that were put to signs already inherent
in nature and recognizable to those gifted with certain faculties."25 Although such
divination, oracles, and prognostications did occur in the Han chen wei texts, they
differ from chen in four principal ways: 1) divination, oracles, and prognostication
request supernatural powers or observe present signs to seek answers. Chen are
revealed by Heaven instead o f being sought; 2) divination and prognostication are
interpretations o f present signs. Chen themselves are specifically the words which
23 The Compact Edition o f the Oxford English Dictionary (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 1971), vol. 1, 387.
24 The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 1994), vol.
8, 974.
25 Loewe and Blacker, Oracles and Divination, 38-39.
14
reveal the messages from Heaven; 3) divination, oracles, and prognostication serve
both state and individual requests. Chen in its early stages only dealt with state
affairs, in other words, with national politics; 4) neither divination nor oracles nor
prognostication can occur without a medium w ho delivers and interprets the divine
messages. Chen, while sometimes transmitted through such an individual, can occur
and be disseminated without any particular medium. It can fly without wings; it can
run without legs.
The term "prophecy" in the Biblical sense, referring to divine communication
transmitted to the people by prophets, shares some features with chen. Both
generally deal with similar issues and often present views critical o f the existing
political order and authorities; both prophesy future events with the aid o f divine or
supernatural inspiration or revelation; and both are words written or pronounced
concerning future events which later com e to pass. However, while prophecy in
Western cultures appears in many shapes and forms, none occurs without a
prophet.26 In the Chinese case, however, even though we may find a few Chinese
26 In the entry "Prophecy" in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, vol. 9, 426, for instance,
the types o f prophecy are classified on the basis o f types o f prophets: divinatory prophets
include seers, oracle givers, soothsayers, and diviners, all o f whom prophesy the future or
reveal the divine will in oracular statements by means o f instruments, dreams, visions
received while they were in an ecstatic state; cult prophets or priest-prophets who pronounce
the word o f the deity under cultic mandate; missionaries or apostolic prophets who maintain
that the religious truth revealed to them is unique to themselves alone, and may lead them to
found a new religion; reformative or revolutionary prophets such as those of the Old
Testament classical prophets and Muhammad.
15
historical figures who are similar or even comparable with the Western classical
prophets, as the efforts o f H. H. Rowley and Wm. Theodore de Bary try to show,27
the chen I discuss in this dissertation are not like the Western classical prophecies
appearing in The O ld Testament. In fact, chen are more comparable with the
Medieval European prophecies o f Nostradamus (1503-1566) or Dr. John D ee
(1527-1608), but without a Chinese equivalent o f Nostradamus or Dr. Dee.
It is true that many chen o f the Han dynasty were contained in the
collections o f well-known authors. For instances, the wei texts, which I will discuss
in the next section, all pretended to be Confucius' writings; early medieval
collections o f chen were often attributed to Lao Zi Yao §!§, or Liu Xiang
|bJ. Later there was Tui bei tu ^ ® [Pushing the Back: A Book with
Illustrations], a collection that first appeared no earlier than the late Tang (618-907)
under the nominal authorship o f Li Chunfeng ^ ^ J g H a n d Yuan Tiangang
tw o well known astrologers o f the early Tang; Qian kun wan nian
[The Songs o f the History o f the Eternal Universe] "by" Jiang Tai Gong a
27 In his Prophecy and Religion in Ancient China and Israel (New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1956; hereafter, Prophecy and Religion), H. H. Rowley attempts to illustrate the
similarity between Chinese Sages, such as Confucius, Mencius and Mo Tzu, and the
Hebrew prophets, especially in their morals and sense of mission.
Wm. T. de Bary, in The Trouble with Confucianism (Cambridge: Harvard University

Press, 1991), while pointing out that the distinction between Chinese and Hebrew traditions
is that Chinese Heaven does not speak and direct the actions o f a prophet like the God of the
Old Testament, agrees that the Confucian "noble man" did have a prophetic role (11), and
further argues for the "prophetic voice" o f the Neo-Confucians in late imperial China (9).
R eprod u ced with perm ission of the copyright owner. F urther reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
16
minister and lord o f the early Western Zhou (11th century-771 B. C.), also
famous for his divinatory abilities; M a qian ke ,1| i t HI [The Divination in the Front
o f the Horse] "by" Zhuge Liang jHf 3S ^ (181-234), a statesman o f the state o f Shu
ID (221-263), also famous for his legendary wisdom which included divination; M ei
h u ash i [The Poems on Plum Blossom] "by" Shao Yong § |5 $ I(1 0 1 1-1077),
a Neo-Confucian philosopher also well known for his divining skills; and Shao bing
ge 'JH IJf 1ft [Pancake Baking Songs] "by" Liu Ji Îj H (1311-1375), a principal
advisor and minister o f Zhu Yuanzhang ^ 7C ^ (1328-1398), the founder o f the
Ming BJ§ (1368-1644) dynasty. All o f these attributions o f authorship are spurious.
There may have been some chen collections which originally published with their
real compilers' names, but, because o f their obscurity, the names were soon lost.
There is a good reason for chen prophecy to have no prophets. The
authority and power o f prophecy in the west originates from the personal connection
between prophet and deity. A prophet, o f course, does not speak for himself but for
his deity.28 N o one but the prophet can speak for the deity. In the case o f chen, its
authority and power originate from public acceptance, because a real chen can be
completed only after its public selection and circulation. Spurious attribution to a
28 Or, as Hilda Ellis Davidson mentions in "The Germanic World" (Loewe and Blacker,
Oracles and Divination, 115), an Icelandic quotation, spa er spaks geta, should read:
"Prophecy is the wise man's guess," or, "The wise man's guess reveals hidden truth." Still, it
was the uniqueness of a prophet or, a wise man, that gave the prophecy life.
17
well-known author may reinforce the popularity o f a chen yet not make it more
believable. A more detailed discussion o f this issue will appear in my conclusion.
The above notwithstanding, chen prophecy (or simply chen in some
occasions) is chosen to translate H in this dissertation because first, chen does have
a prophetic feature; second, while a chen is basically anonymous, hence without a
prophet, it is believed by Chinese to be a divine revelation from Heaven; third,
prophecy in English has a wider meaning than the other terms I have discussed.
One might question why chen, Chinese prophecy, does not require a
prophet. This question ultimately leads to the more central issue o f why in Chinese
religion and thought Heaven is not a personified God. This subject is beyond the
scope o f this dissertation, and will be touched upon only briefly in the conclusion.
3) Wei and Apociypha
B elief in prophecy is a phenomenon that can be found throughout the world
from ancient to modem times. China is no exception. But since early ancient
Chinese documents preserve many types and forms o f magic and divination, why
was so little o f chen prophecy? My assumptions are that: a) early chen prophecies
were generally in oral form and remained an “underground” tradition circulated
mostly among the common people; b) these chen prophecies were random,
unpredictable and unsystematic, so that they were difficult for rulers to control.
18
Consequently, after a chen prophecy had run its due course, it was soon forgotten
by most people.
It is generally held that the beginning o f the Qin dynasty was the turning
point in the development o f belief in chen prophecy. This view has arisen because
o f the supposedly close connection between chen prophecy and Zou Yan's $jJJ5
(305-240 B. C.) theory o f the Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures 3 £ ^ ! £ $ p ,29
a philosophical theory which the First Emperor o f Qin |j |$ q jH (r.221-210 B. C.)
officially adopted as one o f the ideological foundations o f his new dynasty. The
connection between Zou Yan’s theories and chen prophecy, however, is not
necessarily that close. Zou Yan's theory later became the basis o f some political
philosophical writings in the chen wei [prophetic-apocryphal] texts, but his work
originated from a different tradition, the Yinyang and Wuxing 31 f j [Five Agents]
schools.30 Furthermore, it is noteworthy that once Zou Yan's views were officially
29 The historicity of the account that the First Emperor of the Qin adopted Zou Yan's theory
has been challenged by Kurihara, Shin Kan shi no kenkyu , 45-91, and Kamada Shigeo £jfc
B3 f i W i, Shin Kan seiji seido no kenkyu (Tokyo: Nihon
Gakujutsu Shinkokai, 1962), 42-93. However, as Bodde points out, their arguments cannot
be convincingly substantiated and remain only an attractive possibility ("Adoption of the
element water in 221," see note 14).
30 The "Five Agents," or wuxing, is also translated as five phases or five elements; and wude
31 W: is translated as five powers, five virtues or five essences by scholars. In this
dissertation, wuxing is translated as five agents, and wude is specified as five natures. For
general information on the Yinyang and Wuxing schools, see Fung, A History o f Chinese
Philosophy, vol. I, 159-169; vol. II, 88-132. For further information, see Li Han-san ^
H , Xian Oin Liang Han zhi yinyang wuxing xueshuo
(Taibei: Zhongding wenhua chuban gongsi, 1967; hereafter, Yinyang wuxing xueshuo).
19
adopted, belief in chen prophecy grew and developed into an anti-imperial sentiment
among both the common people and fangshi f f j r [Fangists].31
The merging o f the Yinyang and Wuxing schools and belief in chen prophecy
into apocryphal thought took place in the late Western Han, during a time when
classical Confucianism had been transformed into imperial Confucianism, an
ideology embracing Yinyang and Wuxing philosophy, astrology, divination, and
other occult elements. Its leading figure was D ong Zhongshu M f4 , ^ ( 1 ^ 9 - 1 0 4 B.
C.), a master o f the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring a n d Autumn Annals ^
His ideology proclaimed the interaction between Heaven and man A A
This ideology’s goals were to maintain social justice and balance and protect
institutional structures from totalitarian abuses by appeals to heavenly forces. In
Dong’s view, Heaven issued inauspicious portents or calamities as punishment for
rulers' misbehavior and displayed auspicious portents as rewards for their good
deeds. Within a century, this ideology had gained prominence with support from
Confucian bureaucrats and encouragement from Wang Mang 3 : # ( 4 5 B. C.-A. D.
31 Fangshi has been translated as magicians, necromancers, recipe man, and thaumaturgist.
No lengthy review o f these translations will be made here, except to say none of then is
acceptable. Fangshu A ^ includes a much wider variety o f technologies than just magic,
necromancy, or thaumaturgy. And to read fang as that in yao fang |j£ A (recipe) is a total
misunderstanding. Fang is the name o f the lesser version o f Dao jj|, as can be seen in the
compound word fangshu, which is parallel to daoshu jj| In short, fang, fa Dao were
synonyms, and all became the labels o f schools of teaching. Those who practiced Dao have
been called Taoists in English. Following this suit, Tsai Fa Cheng coins this word Fangists
to name those who practiced fangshu.
20
23), a powerful royal relative and contender for the Han throne. Later, with the aid
o f "auspicious portents," and numerous chen prophecies that the Han House would
lose the mandate o f Heaven, Wang Mang finally ascended the throne and established
his brief Xin [New] dynasty (A. D. 9-24).
In A. D. 25, after defeating Wang Mang and other contenders for imperial
power, Liu Xiu ^§r, a distant member o f the former Han house, established the
Eastern Han ?J| dynasty, with the aid o f powerful Confucian-bureaucrat families
and again favorable chen prophecies. The role o f chen prophecy in political
struggles increased dramatically from the end o f the Western Han to the beginning
o f the Eastern Han. During this period, a large number o f new texts were produced.
These texts, which purported to be the work o f Confucius, were a mixture o f the
learning o f the N ew Text school, the Yinyang and Wuxing schools, Taoism,
astrology, geography, numerology, ancient legends, folk beliefs, the occult, various
forms o f divination, and, o f course, chen prophecy.
Texts o f these natures were regarded as complements or supplements to the
Confucian canon. The Chinese word for canon, Jing $£, means "warp" as well as
"canonical text." Thus these new texts, as supplements to the canon, were called wei
$$, meaning "weft."32 These weft texts were widespread during the Eastern Han.
32 See Tjan, 100 and 107. Tjan and Seidel ("Taoist Sacraments," 309), claim that the weft
texts were unrelated to the classics they claimed to complement. In fact, no less than forty
percent o f the existing fragments of weft texts are related to New Text learning in the
Western Han. See Lu Zongli, "Wei shu yu Xi Han jinwen jing xue,"
21
D ue to the mystical nature o f the texts, they were called the "mi jing" (Esoteric
Canon) or "nei dian" (Internal Classics). Although chen prophecies were not a
major part o f this corpus, the term "chen wei" (prophecy-weft), because o f the
significant role o f chen prophecy during the Eastern Han, and the high regard it was
held in, came to refer to the entire corpus o f these texts at that time, and is still
widely used by modem scholars. In fact, during the Eastern Han period, there was
no clear distinction between chen, wei, and chen-wei. They all referred to the same
thing: the prophetic weft texts. Since chen were regarded as originating from the
R iver Chart, and since some o f these texts were illustrated, the terms Tu wei [g| $$
(chart and weft; or illustrated weft) and Tu chen Hj (chart and chen prophecy; or
illustrated chen prophecy) were common as well.
B elief in chen prophecy became an inseparable part o f the orthodox learning
o f the prophetic-weft texts during this period. Thus an important distinction between
belief in chen prophecy and study o f the prophetic-weft texts is often ignored, to
wit: ignoring the fact that belief in chen prophecy had a long history, even before
P , in Yasui Kozan j^LUed., Shini jingaku no sog oteki kenky

(Tokyo: Kokusho kankokai, 1984), 397; Zhong, Chen wei lun liie, 116-146.
Huang Fushan H I S |JL|, however, thinks that only one-tenth o f the existing fragments o f the
chen wei texts are related to canonical learning. He also points out that the term "weft text"
actually occurred in the later Eastern Han. See his "Chen wei yi ming tong shi kao bian," fj$
jj$f|;g|H j|J^ f-$l¥,in Liang Han wenxue xueshu yan tao lunwen j i pg P P jjfcf f t
(Taibei: Huayan chubanshe, 1995), 91 and 108. His arguments are reasonable and
interesting yet not conclusive, and need to be reexamined. I will discuss this issue in a future
study.
22
the prophetic-weft texts o f the Eastern Han appeared, and long after the decline o f
the influence o f prophetic-weft texts.
The most popular translation for the "weft texts" in the West is "apocrypha"
or "apocryphal texts,"33 although some authors express reservations.34 In Hebrew
and early Christian literature, apocrypha, meaning "hidden esoteric secrets," referred
to the extracanonical writings o f Jews during the Hellenistic and Roman periods,
which were very influential but later were excluded from the biblical canon, first by
Jewish and then by Christian authorities.35 In the sense that the weft texts were
recognized as secret extracanonical writings during the Eastern Han and later
excluded by Confucians and rulers as well, apocrypha seems to be a proper
translation for wei, or weft. The problem is that in Western languages, by the fourth
century A. D., the term apocrypha no longer denoted "hidden esoteric secrets."36 It
became synonymous with spurious canons, or pseudepigrapha, while the word wei
never meant wei $§ (spurious) in Chinese. However, considering the original
33 See Tjan, Po Hu T’ung, 100; Fung, A History o f Chinese Philosophy, vol. II, 88. Paul
Demieville says: "Western sinologists refer to both types o f texts [chen and we/]as Han
apocrypha" ("Philosophy and religion from Han to Sui," 809).
34 Robert P. Kramers has pointed out in "The Development o f the Confucian Schools" : "In
Western literature the wei are usually referred to as apocryphal books, although the analogy
is somewhat remote" (The Cambridge History o f China, vol. 1, 759).
35 Mircea Eliade, ed. The Encyclopedia o f Religion (New York: Macmillan Publishing
Company, 1986) , vol. 2, 173.
36 Ibid.
23
meaning and usage o f the word apocrypha, "hidden esoteric secrets" and
extracanonical writings, this dissertation will translate wei as apocryphal texts and
chen-wei as prophetic-apocryphal texts.
The golden age o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts was Eastern Han and the
following Three States period37 After this period these texts gradually lost their
standing and, consequently, most o f them disappear. This process took place in early
medieval China over the course o f several centuries. After the Sui dynasty (589-
618) complete texts were no longer extant, but a few fragments and eight
apocryphal texts attached to the Yi Jing H [Classic o f Change] were re-edited
during the Qianlong ^ reign period (1736-1795). The reasons for the loss o f the
prophetic-apociyphal texts and the decline o f the prophetic-apociypha learning will
be discussed in later chapters o f this dissertation. Early collections o f the fragments
o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts were published in the Ming Bf] and Qing yjf
dynasties. The most famous collections are: Gu wei shu ^ ^ ^ [The Ancient
Subtle Books] by the Ming scholar Sun Jue 1$; Oi wei -fc [The Seven Weft
Works] by the Qing scholar Zhao Zaihan and Wei Jun ^ ^ [C o lle c tio n s o f
37 For detailed information, such as titles, contents, political roles and historical background,
o f the learning o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts during this golden age, see Zhong, Chen
wei lun l(le; Dull, "Apocryphal Texts;" Carl Leban, "Managing Heaven's Mandate: Coded
Communications in the Accession o f Ts'ao P'ei, A. D. 220" (hereafter "Managing Heaven's
Mandate") in David T. Roy and Tsuen-hsuin Tsien eds. , Ancient China: Studies in Early
Civilization, (Hong Kong: Chinese University o f Hong Kong Press, 1978), 315-341.
24
Weft Texts] by the Qing scholar Qiao Songnian The most comprehensive
collection so far is Jushin Isho Shusei M fit? (r [Revised Edition o f the
Collection o f the Apocryphal Texts] by two modem Japanese scholars, Yasui Kozan
ill and Nakamura Shohatsu J \ 38
38 For further information on the collections o f the weft texts, see Zhong, Chen wei lun lile,
246-276.
25
C H A PT E R I
TH E TR U TH BEH IN D BAN S
Despite the publication o f some noteworthy articles in Japan and the W est, 1
the role o f chen prophecy and prophetic-apocryphal texts in early medieval China
has generally been ignored and misunderstood. The most common impression o f the
prophetic-apocryphal texts Chinese and Western scholars have is that they were
proscribed and no longer influential. Thus most discussions o f this period have
instead centered around the rise and dominance o f Buddhism and Taoism, the
popularity and meaning o f Metaphysical Learning ^P) and Pure Discourse (?jf
the development o f individualism, the power and subsequent decline o f
aristocratic families, and the ethnic battles and cultural diversity o f this period.
Hardly any mention o f chen prophecy or the prophetic-apocryphal texts can be
1 See Taira Hidenmichi "Dokyo no seiritsu to shin'i shiso"

Ryukoku daigaku 355 (1957):29-44; "Hobokushi to shin'i"
#3 Ryukoku daigaku ronshu 368 (1961):68-85; "Nan Sei sho Shozuishi ni
tsuite" $3 PF§ Jjij IC O I ' X , Ryukoku daigaku ronshu 400/401 (1973):625-635;
"Gi no Buntei to zui" fjt <D 'rf 1 0 iS§, Ryukoku daigaku ronshu 404 (1974): 104-116;
"Shoku no Shoretsu tei to shini" Ryukoku daigaku ronshu 409
(1976):57-66; Leban, "Managing Heaven's Mandate;" Seidel, "Taoist Sacraments;" Anna K.
Seidel, "The Image of the Perfect Ruler in Early Taoist Messianism: Lao-Tzu and Li Hung"
(hereafter," Image of the Perfect Ruler"), History o f Religions 9-2,3 (1969-70): 216-247.
26
found, simply because most scholars believe that the texts were no longer studied
due to the bans. This is far from true.
It is not without reason, however, that scholars are impressed by the bans
during the period. It is a fact that the great bulk o f these texts, which played such a
predominant ideological role throughout the Eastern Han and Three States period,
were lost during the period from Western Jin to Sui,2 a period which coincided with
repeated imperial bans on these texts. What better reason for the disappearance o f
the texts than the bans? However, a careful examination o f the bans on the
prophetic-apocryphal texts may reveal a different picture.
When did the first ban take place? How many bans were issued during this
period? For what reasons and on what ideological grounds were the bans
pronounced? Were they effective?
A Ming scholar, Wang Wei 3 i writes: "The first ban o f the prophetic-
apocryphal texts began with Song, no earlier than the Darning reign period (457-
464). At the end o f Sui (581-618), [Emperor Yang j^ ] sent messengers to go all
2 Actually a common perception among scholars of Chinese history and culture is that the
prophetic-apocryphal texts, other than a few fragments postdating early medieval China, no
longer exist since Emperor Yang o f Sui had them all burnt. However, this common
perception cannot explain how and why a Tang scholar, Li Shan (JI. 630-689), quoted
so many apocryphal texts in his famous commentary on the Wen xuan j|l [Selections of
Refined Literature], Neither does it explain the large number o f the apocryphal quotations
that survive in the Kaiyuan zhan jing |§ j c ^ |§ , a Tang astrological encyclopedia, and the
Tang commentaries on the Confucian canon.
27
over the empire, to search for books which were related to the prophetic-apocryphal
texts and bum them all. After the time o f the Tang, the learning o f the prophetic-
apocryphal texts died out” 5 ^ ^ 1 5 4 ' ’ J o S i l i X W # ’
■ 3 R o b eitP Kramers
holds a similar view: "The ch'an-wei literature has been preserved only in
fragmentary quotations, for the texts began to be prohibited in the fifth century, and
by the beginning o f the seventh century, during the reign o f Sui Yang-ti, they were
virtually destroyed."4 Wolfgang Bauer has more definite dates: "These books were
first proscribed in A. D. 460, and again in 510. In a large-scale and seemingly
successful action, they were collected for a third time in 605, and apparently
destroyed."5
These views are obviously influenced by an early Chinese reference to the
bans on prophetic-apocryphal texts in the "Jing ji zhi" M H / S [Treatise on Canons
and Books], the bibliographical chapter o f the Sui shu Plf Hr [Sui History]: "The first
ban o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts began no earlier than the Darning reign period
(457-464 ) o f Song. From the Tianjian reign period (502-519) o f Liang on, the
3 See Chen Dengyuan 151 H J if in Zhongguo diem ji shi ^ IS f t I t (Taibei: Letian

chubanshe, 1971), 50.
4 See Kramers, "The Development o f the Confucian Schools," 759.
5 See Walfgang Bauer, China and the Search fo r Happiness (New York: Seabury, 1976),
74.
28
regulation became even stricter. When Gao zu rHj [o f Sui]6 took the throne which
[the Northern Zhou rulers] abdicated, he banned the texts even more fervently.
When Emperor Yang (r. 604-617) succeeded to the throne, he soon sent messengers
all over the empire to search for books which were related to the prophetic-
apocryphal texts and bum them all. Anyone indicated by functionaries [for failing to
obey the regulation] would be sentenced to various punishments up to death. Since
then, this learning no longer exists. Most o f the imperial collections disappeared" 31
sfcfcE** xmgfcJ*
Although the authors o f the Sui H istory personally lived through the Sui
dynasty and would certainly have better access to the historical records o f this
period, their opinions are not necessarily entirely reliable.
Jiang Qingyi # fit 5$, a Qing dynasty expert on the prophetic-apocryphal
texts, has reviewed the history o f the bans and he concludes that the first ban
occurred in 336.8 Jack L. Dull, who has done a remarkable job on this issue, points
out that the earliest evidence o f the proscription o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts
6 Yang Jian Emperor Wen yC (r. 581-604), the founder of Sui.
7 See Sui, 32.941.
8 See Jiang, Wei xue xingfeiytianliu kao,juan A, 21.
29
occurred by the end o f Eastern Han. Ji Mao o ' a learned scholar and bibliophile
from a famous clan, was arrested when a relative rebelled in 217.9 He misunderstood
the real charge and so told his attendants: "I am charged with keeping those books"
What kind o f books would cause their owner to be arrested? The Wei I tie
[Wei Epitome] explains: "Earlier, the statutes proscribed esoteric learning and
writings on warfare" ^ ^ ^ ^ Itr- "Esoteric learning" was another
term for the prophetic-apocryphal texts during the Eastern Han. Although the
incident took place at the end o f Eastern Han, w e can be sure that the ban was the
Cao family's idea, since it was in charge o f state affairs at that time.11 In addition to
this incident, Dull lists a total o f ten dated prohibitions in the millennium after Han:
267, 336, 369-379, 457-464, 486, 502-519, 589, 605, 767 and 1273. Besides the
last tw o dates, which fall outside the range o f this dissertation, all the others plus an
additional one in 444 are well within early medieval times. I will therefore provide
more precise dating and arrange the nine bans into five groups chronologically and
9 See Dull, "Apocryphal Texts," 404.
10 This story was not in Chen Shou's history but in the Wei Epitome quoted by Pei Songzhi.
SeeSgz, 23.660-661.
11 Ironically, in 220, only a few years later, Cao Pi U 55 and his associates arranged a
mandate-transfer performance with the aid of the prophetic-apocryphal texts; See below.
30
geographically, in order to show their historical background and political
significance.
1) The Western and Eastern Jin ( 265-420 )
In the twelfth month o f the third year o f the Taishi reign period (2 6 8)12
o f Emperor Wu o f Western Jin, the emperor issued a decree: "We proscribe the
study o f astrology and prophetic-apocryphal texts" 13
Prior to this, the Cao family and its followers, having adopted the theory o f
the “Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures” as the basis for the legitimation o f
dynastic change, quoted a large number o f auspicious portents, and particularly the
prophetic-apocryphal texts, in an attempt to legitimize their usurpation o f imperial
power as nothing less than the transfer o f Heaven's mandate from the Han house to
the Wei ^ house. Following suit, Liu Bei (161-223) in Shu H) and Sun Quan
3 & ^ (182-252) in Wu all proclaimed their own mandates and, o f course, used
favorable chen prophecies and portents to serve their own causes.14 One important
way in which Shu and Wu were never able to surpass Wei, however, was that the
12 This decree is usually dated 267, yet the twelfth month of the third year o f Taishi fell in
268.
13 See Js, 3.56.
14 For detailed discussion, see Leban, "Managing Heaven's Mandate;" Taira, "Gi no Buntei
to zui."
31
latter was the legitimate recipient o f the abdication o f the Han emperor. When the
Sima WJ family replaced the Cao family, they imitated the model the Cao family
had set.
These precedents established the proper procedure for the transfer o f the
mandate o f Heaven, and with it imperial power. The Wei-Jin model influenced the
politics o f early medieval China for centuries. The Simas' adoption o f the Wei model
had a decisive effect, as is commonly agreed by scholars, o f preventing other
potential contenders for the throne from taking advantage o f astrology and the
prophetic-apocryphal texts. This illustrates the ideological power o f the prophetic-
apocryphal texts at that time.
It would be too simplistic, however, to assume that the use o f these texts and
prophecies was merely the stratagem o f political conspirators. A belief is neither
functional nor effective without believers. And once an utterance has become a
public motto, meeting almost no opposition, this motto begins to constitute the
symbol o f public faith. If the motto has a religious overtone, even if it was fabricated
in the first place, it will still have its power. Those politicians who were either
dubious o f such texts, or ow ed political power to their manipulation o f the texts,
such as the Cao family, banned them so that no one else could utilize them, but were
unable to resist making use o f it themselves. A more detailed discussion o f this point
32
will be made in following chapters. In the rest o f this chapter, more examples will be
given to illustrate this point.
It was rumored that before the Sima’s took the throne from the Cao to
establish the Jin, there was already a negative chen prophecy that "the ox will
succeed the horse" which apparently first occurred in a prophetic book
called Xuan shi tu ® [The Book o f the Black Stone with Illustrations]. Sima is
a compound surname composed o f tw o Chinese characters, si W] (being in charge)
and ma ,H (horse). The surname actually came from an ancient official title and often
is referred to simply as ma, the horse. Thus Sima Yi W] ,H | $ ( 179-251), the leader
o f Sima family, dreaded anyone with the surname Niu 4 1 (° x) ft was said that he
even poisoned Niu Jin one o f his generals. What he could not know was that
approximately thirty years later (276), one o f his grandsons, Sima Jin W] J | | | , the
Prince o f Langya would be cuckolded by one o f his consorts. Consort Xiahou
If had illicit intercourse with a low functionary with the surname Niu and gave
birth to a prince who was not o f pure royal blood. The bastard prince was Sima Rui
W] ^ |X , who later became the first emperor o f Eastern Jin (r. 317-322). Thus, the
chen prophecy came true.15 This kind o f story is obviously an imitation o f the story
o f the First Emperor o f Qin—that he was not o f royal blood but a bastard o f Lii
Buwei § ^ the chancellor o f the state o f Qin. While certainly not necessarily
15 See J i 6.157-158.
33
historical, this view o f the patrimony o f the First Emperor was popular in the Jin
dynasty and people o f the time regarded it seriously. Throughout the history o f Jin,
w e can indeed see that the "horse" became a symbolic character for the Sima family
in many chen prophecies, and thus became a taboo o f the Jin house. The emperors
were extremely sensitive about any expression violating the taboo. N iu Jin, the
general who was alleged to have been poisoned, has no biography in the Jin History,
or in the R ecords o f the Three States. As early as 208, he was a general under Cao
Ren's 0 \Z command, a man who was a cousin and important commander o f Cao
Cao. He was sent to guard against Zhou Yu Jjf Jfo at Jiangling fX and later was
made hou jiangju n jjl (Rear General) .16 Twenty-three years later, in the fifth
year o f the Taihe fO reign period (231) o f Emperor Ming Bfj o f the Wei, he
became d a sim a f t W M (Marshal o f State). When Cao Zhen | | f j)| died,
Commander-in-Chief Sima Yi was in charge o f military operations against Shu. Niu
Jin, as a important general in Sima Yi's command, fought against Zhuge Liang § # 3 !
^5 several times in battles from 231 to 238.17 Then Niu Jin disappears from the
official records completely. We have no evidence to suggest that N iu Jin was
poisoned at that time. Still, while there may be a few other examples o f such a
16 See Sgz, 9.275-276.
17 See Js, 1.7-10.
34
sudden disappearance o f an important figure from history, it is suspicious, and
brings to mind the purges o f 20th century figures from Soviet and Chinese history.
Given the attitude toward chen prophecy o f the Sima family, the decree to
ban astrological and the prophetic-apocryphal texts by Emperor Wu appears to be
pretty logical. One month after the ban, the newly issued Taishi lii # $p
[ Statutes o f Taishi] reaffirmed: Those who privately collect astrological and
prophetic-apocryphal texts, will be sentenced to up to two years at hard labor.18
However, in spite o f such decrees, the study o f astrology was openly
practiced throughout both Western and Eastern Jin.19 B elief and interest in the
prophetic-apocryphal texts regained their popularity and influence among various
social strata as well, although w e shall see 1) that more and more Confiician
scholars focused on the doctrines o f the Old Text school, which had less connection
to the prophetic-apocryphal texts, 2) that Metaphysical Learning and Pure Discourse
were prevalent among elite groups, and 3) that later advanced religions like
Buddhism and Taoism became more attractive. The remaining influence o f the
prophetic-apocryphal texts was particularly striking among the rulers and contenders
18 See An Pingqiu and Zhang Peiheng Meds, Zhongguo jinshu daguan # (U

(Shanghai: Shanghai wenhua chubanshe, 1990), 15.
19 This dissertation will not deal with astrology, although astrology was often banned
together with the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
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35
for the throne, who had little interest in metaphysical thinking and serious
scholarship.
A story in the Jin H istory says:
Earlier, [Eastern Jin] Emperor Jianwen ^ ^ C [r . 371-372] saw a chen which
read, "the blessedness that Jin has enjoyed will be end at the time o f
Changming H B£j [Glorious and Bright]." When the emperor [Emperor
Xiaowu, the third son o f Emptier Jianwen. r. 373-396] was still in his
mother's womb, Empress Dowager Li $ heard a deity tell her in a dream:
"You will give birth to a boy. Style him Changming." At the time [Emperor
Xiaowu] was bom, dawn was just breaking. Thus they took [Changming] to
be the boy's name.20 Emperor Jianwen, becoming aware o f [the chen] later,
was tearful ft] * M I S : “ i i 0J ° ”
f • » a s • ° micw'ikm nig.®2'
>
Here, a hundred years after the ban by the first emperor o f Jin, Emperor Jianwen
was still able to read prophecies. D oes this suggest that the ban applied to only
private collections but not to the imperial collections?
20 The "name" refers to zi the style name. Emperor Xiaowu, named Sima Yao WJ MRU,
was styled Changming.
21 See Js, 9.242. In 396, Emperor Xiaowu was murdered by a consort. The empire soon was
involved in civil wars, revolts and court disputes. Twenty-four years later the Eastern Jin
house abdicated the throne to Song.
36
2) The Sixteen States Period (317-440)
Almost contemporary with Eastern Jin, both non-Han ethnic groups and a
few Han families established numerous states in North and West China. The
historical documents o f these states, especially the cultural and intellectual sources
that have come down to us, are so rare that the following incidents can only be
regarded as fragments o f history rather than the complete picture. Even so, w e are
impressed that the non-Han leaders seemed to be as pious concerning chen
prophecy and apocrypha as the majority o f Chinese politicians.22
" Not only did the leaders of the "five barbarians" who were under the influence of Chinese
culture for a long time believed in chen prophecy, some frontier tribe leaders did so as well.
According to the "Ruirui lu zhuan" j£j [Memoir on Ruirui Tribes] o f the Southern
Qi History, their Chancellor Xiliyin who was contemporary with the Song period,
knew the learning o f astrology and magic and understood both barbarian and Chinese
languages. He once mentioned that in the South there will be a person with name o f Qi who
will rise [as king]. By the time of the Jianyuan reign period (479-482) of Emperor Gao
of Southern Qi, the Chancellor of Ruirui, named Xingjiqiluohui JfPH $£ H M, presented a
memorial to the founder o f Southern Qi, Xiao Daocheng, which said: "Although your
servant [I] am a man living on the frontier, and have just started to browse among prophetic-
apocryphal texts...[I see that] the water nature has come to trouble while the wood nature
rises to power in accord with the changes... The chen by Jing Fang mentions: 'Mao and
metal at the number sixteen, cao (grass) plus su (solemn) shall be as the king.' The
prophetic-apocryphal texts I have read, although varying in predictions, all tell that the
blessing is focused on the Xiao family, and the state replacing Song will be Qi ’
M ’ ffcifcT'— » W tz M M M R ’ f t 5 ^ # ^ .( 1 0 2 4 ) Lu Simian's comment is: "That to

fabricate portentous words in the name o f foreign barbarians is not what one could normally
imagine" » ° J lf (Liang Jin Nanbeichao shi, 1473).
It is, of course, very possible that there were Chinese scholars who stayed with Ruirui tribes
and wrote or polished this memorial. Yet, as far as we know, there is no textual evidence in
support of Lii's assumption that this chen prophecy was made by Chinese.
37
2 .1 Later Zhao $ | ( 3 19-351)
The second ban during early medieval era was not a nationwide one. It was
issued by Shi Hu (295-349), the third lord o f Later Zhao which was founded
by the Jie $ i people. Its first lord, Shi Le 5 W (274-333), although famous for his
military achievements, was a devotee o f Chinese elite culture. To justify his heavenly
mandate, he adopted the theory o f the Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures, and
disseminated favorable chen prophecies and myths regarding his birth. He treated
Fo Tudeng a Central Asian monk, respectfully because the monk was good
at predicting.23 When Shi Le passed away, his nephew Shi Hu killed Shi Le’s sons
and seized the throne.
As a usurper, Shi Hu stood in even more need o f aid from chen prophecy.
In an attempt to fulfill the chen prophecy which read "The [new] Son o f Heaven
shall come from the northeast" ^ I f- #£ jfC i t 5)5, 24 Shi Hu left his capital
Xiangguo H H j,25 went to the northeastern city o f Xindu fglflS, about hundred miles
away,26 then came back the capital from the northeast before formally taking the
23 See Zizhi tongjian 3H'/n3Ili£ (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1971), 3002.
24 This chen prophecy was circulated for generations and was mostly influential in North
and West China, and was traditionally believed to refer to the incident that the Murong
family o f Xianbei would enter the heartland o f China from Northeast China. See the
commentary o f Zztj by Hu Sanxing H Ha, 2999.
25 A place located to southwest of the modem Xingtai in Hebei.
25 A city located in Modem Ji county in Hebei. See Js, 106.2762.
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38
throne. As a tyrannical usurper with numerous enemies, Shi Hu yearned for proof
that he had the mandate o f Heaven. In 336, he initiated large-scale construction o f
palaces in the capital He placed female officers in the palaces, instructed palace
maids to learn martial arts so that they could serve in cavalry and infantry, and at the
Ling tai ® pj (Royal Observatory) established the position o f female royal
astrologer to observe celestial omens as a check on the regular royal astrologer. His
suspicions regarding those around him w as doubtless based on his insecure grasp on
the throne, and the works which he judged the greatest threat to his power were
military and astrological powers. Under these circumstances he issued a much
stricter ban in the same year:
Studying astrology and prophetic texts privately is forbidden in provinces.
Those who violate [the order] will be executed ’
In the capital, particularly at court or in the palace, he could still manipulate the
predictions, and keep a firm grip on the study o f astrological and prophetic-
apocryphal texts.
27 Ibid, 2765. No specific date is given. The Zizhi tongjian (3007-3008) chronicles the
preceding accounts for the ban under the eleventh month o f the second year o f the Xiankang
f&M reign period (336) o f Emperor Cheng of Western Jin.
39
2 .2 F o rm e rQ in fu ijl(351-394)
Former Qin was the only one among the sixteen (or twenty-four) states to
unite Northern China. The early leaders o f this Di J3; -Tibetan state, especially Fu
Jian §? (338-385), although militarily strong, following a policy o f adopting
Chinese ways. A modem Chinese scholar, Jiang Fuya describes Fu Jian in
his "Qian Qin shi" fu f j | [History o f the Former Qin] as follows: "Among the
numerous minority mlers, [Fu Jian was] one o f the first who successfully tried to
sinify the state and encourage the national diversity. With his broad vision and
political honesty, Fu Jian made Former Qin the most vigorous, efficient and
advanced state o f the time, in both economical and cultural terms."28
Fu, the ruling family, is said to have originally been sumamed Pu fjf. The
family changed its name in 350, during Pu Hong |jf $£, or Fu Hong's reign.
The reason for changing it, according to historical records, was to fulfill a chen
prophecy.29 The chen, according to the Jin H istory and the Annals o f the Sixteen
States, said: "It is the time for the Grassy Fu (without the grass radical) to rule as
king" fvf fig 3 :. These texts also claim said that a grandson o f Pu Hong, named
28 See Jiang Fuya, Qian Oin shi gij (Beijing: Beijing shifan xueyuan chubanshe,
1993), 1.
29 Ibid., 10. Jiang's view is supported by most historical records of this reign, such as the Jin
History, 2868 and Shiliu guo chunqiu comp. Tang Qiu (Shanghai:
Shangwu yinshuguan, 1958), 240.
40
Jian, had veins like the words and on his back. Some one thus advised Pu
Hong to take the opportunity to proclaim himself the king. Hong then changed his
family name to Fu |rf.30
Whether or not the Fu family changed its surname to correspond to the chen
prophecy is still a mystery. Nevertheless, Fu Hong did have an important Chinese
advisor named Wang Duo 3E IS who was learned in astrology and prophetic-
apocryphal texts. Wang told Fu: "The chen says a certain Fu shall be the king. It will
be you, my master" A "til- Fu Hong, according to the
record, agreed with him.31 Wang Duo's career was not impaired despite his expertise
in banned texts. He became chancellor o f state in the succeeding reign.
Fu Jian ^ F $ t, Fu Hong's successor, formally established Former Qin and
proclaimed himself emperor. Unfortunately, his Heir and eldest son, Fu Chang
jH, died before he did. In selecting a new heir, there was a palace dispute. His third
30 Ibid. Lii Simian S however, argues that the chen prophecy and the story of
changing their name were fabricated after Fu Jian took the throne in 357. His reason is that
Fu (with the grass radical) as a surname had been used among Di-Tibetan tribes for a
hundred years. See Lu Simian, Liang Jin Nanbeichao shi pjg H jfc 19 5& (Rpt. Taibei:
Taiwan Kaiming shudian, 1969), 172. Lii's point is valid but not conclusive: 1) the chen
prophecy and the story have been recorded in several sources by both northern and southern
contemporary authors. For the Han Chinese authors, there was no need to fabricate or
record a spurious chen prophecy for a barbarian lord. The chen prophecy could have been
circulated before 350. While the chen prophecy may be true, the specific instance of the
veins on Fu Jian's back seems suspicious; 2) the records do not say that the surname was a
new creation, but only that Pu was changed to Fu.
31 SeeJs, 112.2880.
41
son Fu Sheng was well-known among the armies for his courage but was bom
with only one eye. H e could not win the support o f the royal house and influential
families. Even his mother, Qiang the empress, was partial to her youngest son Fu
Liu ^vjp Fu Jian finally picked Fu Sheng because o f a chen prophecy that said:
"Three rams have only five eyes."32
After Fu Sheng had been on the throne for only two years (355-357), his
cousin Fu Jian the most capable man o f the Fu family, usurped the throne. At
this point w e see some manipulation o f the Fu family chen prophecy: in the earlier
version recorded in the memoir on Fu Hong, Fu Jian had veins like the words -f+*
and f\f on his back which predicted simply the fate o f the Fu family. The later
version recorded in Fu Jian's memoir, however, became much more detailed: "There
were red veins on his back which, slightly protruding, composed characters which
read: Cao Fu Chen You Tu [characters that can be combined to form the characters
in Fu Jian's name] will rule Xianyang as king" T=f
The suspicion o f fabricating the chen prophecy only means that Fu Jian or
his associates could have manipulated this story to suit himself. It does not
necessarily mean that he or his followers created a chen prophecy. The chen
32 See Js, 112.2872; Ws, 95.2075.
33 SeeJs, 113.2883.
42
prophecy already existed long before the manipulation. After having been publicly
accepted, the story also became a chen prophecy. The formation o f chen prophecy is
an interesting topic, regarding which I will provide a more detailed discussion later.
After having availed himself o f the chen prophecy to become the emperor, a
ban was then issued in 375, but it was not limited to chen prophecy and apocrypha:
"We proscribe the learning o f Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi and the prophetic-apocryphal
texts" This is interesting because the Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi
had nothing to do with the political struggles at that time. A possible reason for the
ban could be that Fu Jian, in issuing it, wished to show his sentiment for Wang
Meng J g a t the latter's death.35 Wang Meng, Fu's most faithful and valuable
Chinese advisor, was a well known legalist and realist. He had long held anti-Taoist
and anti-prophetic-apocryphal texts views. Fu Jian's issue o f the ban only after
Wang's death suggests that it was not necessarily a calculated political decision. The
later rehabilitation o f Wang Diao's 3EISI reputation can be argued in support o f such
a position.
34 Ibid, 2897. No specific date is given. The Zizhi tongjian (3269) chronicles the death of
Wang Meng under the seventh month of the third year o f the Ningkang JH reign period
(3 75) o f Emperor Xiaowu zjt ^ of Eastern Jin.
35 Jiang Fuya mistakes the timing of the ban. He says that the ban was made upon Wang
Meng's request when Wang Diao St presented a chen prophecy. (Oian Qin shi, 80; on
this incident, see below) Although Fu Jian did execute Wang Diao upon Wang Meng's
request, it took place around 357; the ban was issued eighteen years later, right after Wang
Meng's death.
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43
Wang Diao was an astrologer. When Fu Jian first took the throne,36 Wang
presented a favorable chen prophecy to the new Son o f Heaven and was thus
appointed taishi ling ^ (Head o f the Bureau o f Royal Astrology). This was
common during the period except in one respect—Wang did not simply present
conventional chen prophecy but provided new chen prophecy which could fit the
new house's needs:
[Your servant ] has carefully examined the chen that says: "The progenies o f
the lao yu e (old moon) will throw the heartland o f China into chaos. The
flo o d s will occur widely and fo rcefu lly flow west ward. Only a virile man
will be able to pacify the eight provinces." This refers to the divine names o f
your three ancestors and Your Majesty. The chen further says: "There shall
be a Cao Fu Chen You Tu. He will exterminate the Eastern Yan and defeat
the white [Xianbei] tribesmen. The Di-[Tibetan] shall live in the heartland
and the Chinese on the frontier." According to this prophetic-apocryphal
text, Your Majesty shall exterminate Yan and pacify the six provinces. I ask
that you move all the Di-[Tibetan] living in Qian and Long37 into the capital
and settle the influential families living in the Three Qin area in the frontier
36 Fu Jian took the throne in 357. Wang Diao presented the chen prophecy around that time,
but the precise date is not known.
37 Qian and Long fH refer to the area around modem Long county in Shanxi .
44
region, thereby to correspond with the words o f the prophetic-apocryphal
te x ts S * S iK : - # # »
• ' ttfiP Z S K T Z S # « Z 0 : •
± - - « S » • JS&'t > - ”j£ B S 2 £ - K T S
When Fu Jian consulted Wang Meng about Wang Diao's chen prophecy and
suggestion, Wang Meng's advised him to execute Wang Diao, possibly for his
suggestion o f moving the Di and Chinese people from their homelands-something
that would cause great chaos—but certainly not for providing the favorable chen
prophecy. Although Fu Jian accepted Wang Meng's advice and executed Wang
Diao, about twenty-five years after Wang Diao's execution and seven years after the
ban, he gave an order to rehabilitate Wang Diao's reputation when his chen
prophecy indeed came true.
There is more evidence that manifests Fu Jian's real attitude towards chen
prophecy. In 385, two years after Fu Jian was defeated by Eastern Jin at the Fei
38 See Js, 114.2910. The old and moon together compose a Chinese character hu meaning
"barbarian." The flood suggests Fu Hong's giving name Hong, forceful is Fu Jian's
giving name, and virile, Fu Xiong's given name, who was Fu Hong's another son and
Fu Jian's H father. Therefore, the names o f the three ancestors are hidden in the chen
prophecy.
45
River,39 he was surrounded by the Western Yan army in his own capital, Chang'an.
Having lost his best commanders and soldiers, there seemed saw no way out.
Earlier, there was a folk rhyme that can be translated as: "When entering Mount
Wujiang Jian will obtain a long [life]" A 3 l JHF ill Coincidentally a
collection o f chen prophecies called Gu f u chuan gu § [Records o f
the Transference and Transaction o f the Ancient Tally], was circulating in Chang’an
at that time and a chen prophecy in the book said: "When the emperor goes out to
Wujiang, he will obtain a long [life]" ^ fct} 3£ JHF The Gu fit chuan ji a lu
has long since been lost. Still we can recognize from its title that it does not belong
to the traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts. This means that new collections o f
chen prophecies were circulating at that time. The coincidental (or an intentional)
match o f the chen prophecy and the folk rhythm crucially influenced Fu Jian's
decision. He believed that it was a revelation from Heaven and told his heir Fu Hong
"It may be that Heaven is guiding me if [everything] is as these words say.
N ow I will leave you here to be in charge o f both military and administrative affairs,
but do not struggle for advantage with the bandits. I shall g o out through Long to
39 A tributary of the Huai River in modem Anhui. Michael C. Rogers argues that the
"battle of the Fei River" was a myth that never really took place. ("The Myth of the Battle of
the Fei River (A. D. 383)," T'oung Pao 54.1-3 (1968): 50-72.) His view of the battle is
arguable. Nevertheless, even Rogers has agreed that, "there is no reason to doubt that a Chin
counteoffensive in 383 dislodged a Ch'in force from Shou-ch'un" (which, according to
Rogers, took place at Luo Creek '$■ $3 and was commanded by Liu Laozhi glj ^ £ ) , and
Former Qin fell apart cataclysmically shortly after the event. (69)
46
gather troops and transport f o o d to support you. It is possible that Heaven is going
to correct a n d discipline me [this way]" itb li ’
« > m. He
then, accompanied by only a few hundred horseman, left the encircled city to go to
Mount Wujiang.40 Soon after Fu Jian arrived at Mount Wujiang, he was captured by
the army o f his enemy Yao Chang J |, a Qiang ^ T ib e ta n general, who had first
submitted to the Former Qin, but subsequently established his own state, Later Qin
£ £ § j|(3 8 4 -4 1 7 ). The trick o f the chen prophecy is that chang jH, which Fu Jian
read as "long," was a pun for Yao's given name Chang J |. Thus the chen prophecy
turns out to mean "when the emperor goes out to Mount Wujiang, he will be
captured by Yao Chang."41
3) The Southern Dynasties (420-589)
The compilers o f the bibliographical chapters o f the Sui H istory claimed that
the prophetic-apocryphal texts were first banned in the Darning reign period o f
Song, and that the bans became stricter in the Tianjian reign period o f Liang. But w e
can not find these proscriptive decrees in the major sources for the period, such as
40 The mountain was either in the northwest of modem Qishan |lj£ ill county, or to the north
of Liquan g§ county, both in Shanxi (Jiang Fuya, Oian Oin shi, 253)
41 See Js, 114.2928.
47
the Song shu 5 )5 ^ [Song History], Liang shu ^ ( | [Liang History], Nan shi
[Southern Histories], or Zizhi tongjian Hr Vn 311 [The comprehensive Mirror for
Aid in Governing], Some Chinese scholars comment that, in comparison with the
Northern Dynasties, the bans o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts issued by Song and
Liang were less strict and often had little effect42 Following are the materials w e
have been able to find in these primary texts concerning bans o f prophetic-
apocryphal texts by Southern rulers who believed in chen prophecy.
3. 1 The Song dynasty (420-479)
The Song ban was issued during the Darning reign period (457-464) o f
Emperor Xiaowu ^ Je£, the fourth emperor o f Song. All the founders o f the
southern dynasties paid great attention to chen prophecy and apocrypha, a point that
I will discuss later. The founder o f Song, Liu Yu (363-422), was no exception.
From 404 on, Liu Yu gradually came to control the political and military power o f
the Eastern Jin. In the fourteenth year o f the Yixi | | SB reign period (418), he
murdered Emperor An ^ ^ and enthroned the emperor's younger brother Emperor
Gong ^ Two years later, Liu Yu ordered Emperor Gong to abdicate and
proclaimed the transfer o f the mandate. This sort o f process was formulaic. What
was unique in Liu Yu's case was that he deliberately murdered one emperor to
42 See An and Zhang, Zhongguo jin shu daguan, 31.
48
enthrone another, whom he then removed within two years. The Jin H istory says:
"Earlier, a chen mentioned 'there will be two more emperors after Changming.' Liu
Yu was going to proceed with the abdication [o f the Jin house], so he secretly had
Wang Shaozhi hang the emperor and enthroned Emperor Gong. By doing so he
created tw o emperors to correspond to the two-emperors chen" $J iff ^ H Bf] tfk.
Liu Yu's case, he not only formally adopted the formula o f the mandate-transfer but
also closely adhered to the events described in the chen prophecy, or at least its
practical effectiveness.
Liu Yu's successor Liu Yilong fglj fj| fit, Emperor Wen o f Song, was on
the throne for thirty years (424-453) providing a relatively efficient and stable
government. Nevertheless, he could not effectively prevent the factions and power
struggles among the princes. In 445, a coup was exposed. The plot involved a
brother o f the emperor, the King o f Pengcheng 44 Liu Yikang f i t Yikang
was capable and formerly had been influential, being in charge o f the central
administration. However, the emperor later began to distrust him and exiled him
from the capital. His associates were arrested and executed. Kong Xixian JL $c,
w hose father had been under Yikang's protection when Yikang still enjoyed the
43 See Js, 10.267. O f the chen prophecy o f Changming, see section 1 o f this chapter.
44 The kingdom's seat was in modem Xuzhou in Jiangsu.
49
Emperor’s trust, initiated the plot in association with Fan Ye and others who
were favorable to Yikang. An important part o f the plot was to spread a chen
prophecy that "[the emperor] shall certainly pass away in an improper way. H e shall
be killed by his flesh and blood. The [new] Son o f Heaven shall come from
Jiangzhou"46 ° EC jW * f t ^ Kong, Fan
and the others were arrested and immediately executed. Yikang was executed two
years later. Nonetheless Kong's chen prophecy came true in that Emperor Wen was
murdered by his heir Liu Shao §IJ $)] in 453, eight years after Kong and Fan's
execution.47
Liu Jun m m , a younger son o f Emperor Wen, killed his elder brother Liu
Shao and ultimately enthroned himself as Emperor Xiaowu. It was Xiaowu who
issued the Darning ban. Emperor Xiaowu was greatly suspicious, particularly o f the
princes and influential officials, since he himself had com e to power through bloody
plots and continuous struggles. The emperor had already taken advantage o f a chen
prophecy in reaching the throne, with the aid o f one o f his advisors, Yan Jun jfi
$£.48 N ow he used chen prophecy as a weapon to attack his brothers. In the fourth
45 The author o f the Hou Han shu [Later Han History], Dull thinks that Fan in his Later
Han History disapproved of the prophetic-apocryphal texts. ("Apocryphal Texts," 184)
However, Fan was involved in this plot with aid o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
46 Modem Nanchang H in Jiangxi, where Yikang currently lived.
47S e e * , 69.1820-1827.
48 See Ss, 75.1959.
50
month o f the third year o f Darning reign period (459), the emperor's legal officials
accused the King o f Jingling ]=£ |§?,49 Liu Dan ^lj fJjE, o f the charge o f "secretly
investigating the prophetic-apocryphal texts" Seizing this opportunity,
the emperor had Yan Jun arrested and then executed. This ban was very likely
issued around this time.51
3. 2 The Liang dynasty (502-557)
The founder o f Liang, Xiao Yan U£ ftj (464-549), better known as Emperor
Wu o f Liang, had a rather unusual background in comparison with the other
founders o f the southern dynasties. In his youth, he was a promising scholar and
befriended poets and writers such as Shen Yue (441-513), Xie Tiao
(464-499), and Ren Fang ££ [#j (460-508). Naturally, he was versed in all the
prevailing learning o f that time including "the learning o f Yinyang, prophetic-
apocryphal texts and divination" ^ &f§ > h M dd t£ -52 Later he had a
49 The kingdom's seat was in modem Zhongxiang county in Hubei.
50 See Ss, 79.2029.
51 Under the circumstances that power struggles during Song were often associated with the
use o f chen prophecy, the ban at that time had to be strict. Some Chinese scholars surmise
that the cause o f the ban during the Darning reign period was failure in military conflict
between Song and Northern Wei and thus the ban was not serious. (An and Zhang,
Zhongguo jin shu daguan, 24, 31.) I cannot agree.
52 See Is, 3.96.
51
remarkable career in the military, yet still kept a great interest in culture and
literature. He was famous for encouraging the development o f Buddhism in South
China. There are a large number o f chen prophecies and apocryphal texts associated
with his enthronement and the mandate-transfer process which I will discuss in the
next chapter.
According to the records o f the Sui H istory, Emperor Wu reissued a ban on
the prophetic-apocryphal texts and made it even stricter during the Tianjian reign
period (502-519). Although as far as we know, there is no direct evidence to show
when, why and how the ban was issued and carried out, w e do find an indirect
evidence: In the biography o f Ruan Xiaoxu W (479-536), a famous
bibliographer o f Liang who wrote the Qi lu [The Bibliography o f Seven
Categories], Ruan’s biography appears in the "Yinyi zhuan" IM M {$ [Memoir on
Hermits] o f the Southern Histories. "Emperor Wu [o f Liang] banned the collecting
o f prophetic and apocryphal texts, yet Ruan Xiaoxu collected both. Someone
advised Ruan to store them away. Ruan replied: 'In the past Liu D e regarded the
esoteric selections from Huainan as valuable and this caused nothing but trouble for
Gengsheng.53 Du Qiong said it would be better if one knows nothing o f the esoteric
53 Gengsheng was the style name o f Liu Xiang §lj |qj (Jl. 77-6 B. C.). His father Liu De §jlJ
, when participating in the trial o f the King of Huainan ^ j%during the reign o f Emperor
Wu jSi(r. 141-87 B. C.) o f Western Han, took some esoteric writings with him. Liu Xiang
read these writings in his youth. When Emperor Xuan j|[ was interested in the ways of
magic and longevity, Liu Xiang presented a prescription o f alchemy he learned from the
52
learning. This is an excellent advice.’54 Someone asked to see his collections. Ruan
said: 'How could I shift trouble that I m yself do not want onto others?' H e thus
burned them" ’ M W )M 2. 0
'M m m w w ’ itt n m % ° ■ £
’SB : “ ° ” 7 5 K 2 SS
What w e learn through this story is first that it was true that Emperor Wu o f
Liang reissued a ban which specifically prohibited private collections o f prophetic-
apocryphal texts; second, although several bans had been issued previously, private
bibliophiles were still holding these texts; and third, the more iiite-.esting message in
the story is that some people at that time still read the texts in spite o f the repeated
bans and without any sense o f wrong-doing or danger.
As for Emperor Wu, he enjoyed associating with a Taoist leader, Tao
Hongjing Jf- (456-536), who presented favorable chen prophecies to the
Huainan writings. However, the prescription did not work and Liu Xiang was almost
executed. See Hs, 36.1928-1929.
54 Du Qiong (d. 250) was a master o f astrology and prophetic-apocryphal texts during the
end o f Eastern Han and the Shu. He successively served the lords o f the Shu as advisor, yet
refused to observe the celestial omen or discuss it with other scholars. Qiao Zhou H JU, who
later became the most influential master o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts o f the Shu, once
asked why Du did not want to observe celestial omen. Du said, knowing the astrology and
observing celestial phenomena was a real hard job, while one should stand in awe of
revealing heavenly message. "It would be better if one knows nothing o f [the esoteric
learning]." SeeSgz, 42.1022.
55 See Afr, 76.1895.
53
emperor many times, and a Buddhist monk, Baozhi (418-514), who created
prophetic rhymes throughout the Tianjian reign period. Emperor Wu himself quoted
the prophetic-apocryphal texts when he discussed ritual matters with his ministers.56
Xiao Tong Hf the heir o f Emperor Wu who compiled the Wen xuan, was praised
as one who "contemplates on and probes into the finest subtlety, devoting himself to
the study o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts" > ffe-W ® f | t 57 Thus it is
safe to say that the Liang court and the emperors had no real antagonism towards
the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
4) The Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534)
The Xianbei empire o f Northern Wei has a reputation for issuing strict
bans to "bum all the books and execute all the men who violate the statutes." These
bans applied not only to the prophetic-apocryphal texts, but to astrological and
Buddhist texts as well. Impressed by the sternness o f the language describing the
bans, some Chinese scholars have come to the conclusion that the bans in North
China were usually stricter than in South China.58 Looking into specific cases, we
find that this is an oversimplification. The reality was far more intriguing.
56 See Sui, 6.120.
57 S e e ls, 8.170.
58 See An and Zhang, Zhongguo jin shu daguan, 31.
54
Among the numerous Northern Wei emperors, Emperor Daowu aH (r.
386-408), Emperor Taiwu (r. 423-452) and Emperor Xiaowen (r. 471-
499) were the three most influential.
Emperor Daowu, whose name was Tuoba Gui jjj£ :££, was the founder o f
the Northern Wei dynasty. He studied Chinese culture and the Confucian Classics in
his youth with Yan Feng ^ UK, and Xu Qian two Chinese scholars who had
served Emperor Daowu's grandfather as his principal advisors in the early years o f
the Tuoba empire. They later assisted Emperor Daowu as well. Both o f these
scholars were versed in astrology and prophetic-apocryphal texts.
Besides his old teachers, Emperor Daowu also selected his own Chinese
political advisors. Cui Hong ^ ^ ( d . 418), styled Xuanbo ;£Cf0, a northern Chinese
aristocrat, was employed to reorganize governmental, ritual and legal institutions.
He first introduced the theory o f Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures and the
system o f mandate-transfer to the Tuoba empire. Emperor Daowu adopted the
academician Li Xian's ^ suggestion o f ordering provincial officials to collect all
available texts o f Confucianism, history, astrology, and esoteric and prophetic-
apocryphal learning and present them to the imperial library.59
In his old age, Emperor Daowu seemed to have become unbalanced. The
causes o f his madness, in addition to illness and the toxic elixirs he took, may well
59 See Ws, 33.789.
55
have included palace disputes and warnings from astrologers and chen prophecies.60
In the end he was murdered in 409 by his son Tuoba Shao
Tuoba Gui's first posthumous title was Emperor Xuanwu W Emperor
Mingyuan jq (r. 409-423), another o f his sons, thought that the posthumous title
did not do justice to what his father had achieved. In 420 when the emperor had
"recently opened the illustrated apocryphal texts, for the first time he saw the
honorable title [for his father]. The will o f Heaven and man has been manifested
brightly [through the title]" ^ m % B ® > *A A Z M ’
Thereupon he changed his father's title to Emperor Daowu.62 Through this instance
we see that Emperor Mingyuan consulted the prophetic-apocryphal texts collected
in his palace in order to learn the will o f Heaven and man, the source o f his power.
The successor to Emperor Mingyuan was Tuoba Tao JB the famous
Emperor Taiwu, who conquered the states o f Xia 5 , Northern Yan i t ^ and
Northern Liang itW-* and reunited North China. It was he who issued the first strict
ban o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts in Northern Wei. There is no reason to
suppose that he personally disliked c/rawprophecy and apocrypha. Cui Hao H ^ (d.
450), the son o f the Cui Hong who was mentioned earlier, was Emperor Taiwu's
60 See Ws, 2.44.
61 See Lii, Liang Jin Nanbeichao shi, 349.
62 See Ws, 3.60.
56
closest advisor and perhaps the best astrologer in China at the time. Cui made
several famous divinations for Emperor Taiwu, all o f which later came true. Why,
then, did the emperor issue the ban?
The ban is recorded for the first month o f the fifth year o f the Taiping
zhenjun reign period (444) as follows:
The ignorant people are without insight. Believing in and being confused by
evil enchanters, they privately support magicians and mediums, keep and
hide writings on chen prophecy, the Yinyang school, apocrypha and various
magic. Moreover, Buddhist monks, relying on the absurd teaching o f the
Western barbarians, cause evildoers to arise. These are not the means by
which to keep policies and discipline consistent and to spread good deeds in
the world. N ow no matter whether he is o f high rank like a prince or a duke,
or lowly rank like ordinary people, anyone who privately supports Buddhist
monks, magicians and mediums, and craftsmen o f gold and silver vessels in
his household, must send them all to the offices concerned. It is not
permissible to harbor them. The deadline is the coming fifteenth day o f the
second month. If they are still being harbored past that date, the magicians
and mediums and Buddhist monks will be killed and the host will be
executed with his entire family H SP M ’
mmtz' ' hh ' ’f ±
57
im m °
i a ’ i i % n ® n m m R ± m j : r 5 Z A t E % m m >w i i w
W ’ I K ^ — £ + £ B » JB S S ^ fcB » SfPM» fc!>F1 #
*E > £ A F m 63
This ban, as w e can see, emphasized Buddhist monks, magicians and mediums rather
than students o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts. Since this was an early anti-
Buddhist case, it has drawn much attention from scholars o f the history o f Chinese
Buddhism. A popular view is that it was a reflection o f the conflict between
Buddhists and Taoists. The anti-Buddhist movement was conducted by Emperor
Taiwu under the influence o f tw o Taoists, Cui Hao, and Kou Qianzhi Lu
Simian views it as a political incident arising out o f Emperor Taiwu's shock when he
heard a report o f a Buddhist temple in the capital keeping weapons. The emperor
speculated about the possible connection between the Buddhist temple and a revolt
lead by Gai Wu whom he hated very much.65 In the other words, the ban was
based on not only the personal sentiments o f the emperor and a few court advisors,
but also on more practical political concerns. This hypothesis is more convincing
63 See Ws, 4.97.
64 See Harumoto Hideo "Hoku Gi Taibutei no haibu to zushin kinzetsu ni tsuite

no ichi shiron" I* T<7) — In Nakamura
Shohachi A , ed. Igaku kenkyu ronso (Tokyo: Heika shuppansha,
1993), 299-324..
65 See Lii, Liang Jin Nanbeichao shi, 354.
58
than the simple assumption o f a Buddhist-Taoist conflict, yet it too is still not
without problems.
It has been pointed out by many scholars that the Tuoba rulers had for
generations respected Buddhism. Although Emperor Taiwu was partial to Taoists,
how could he vent his anger towards a single temple on the entire Buddhist church?
Why did he ban the prophetic-apocryphal texts and harboring o f magicians and
craftsmen in the same decree? There were numerous revolts during the emperor's
reign, so one wonders what was special about that o f the revolt o f Gai Wu?
Harumoto Hideo believes that the critical reason for the ban was
a prophetic saying circulating earlier in the Northern Wei empire which went: "The
one who will exterminate the [Tuoba-Xianbei] caitiff is Wu" When Gai
Wu raised his revolt, his name corresponded to the prophetic saying. Thus, he and
his associates attracted the intense hatred and fear o f the emperor. A crucial flaw in
this hypothesis is the fact that the ban was issued in 444, but the Gai Wu revolt
occurred in 445, and the discovery o f the Buddhist temple case took place in 446.
Although the case might have added fuel to the Emperor’s fear, it cannot have been
the cause o f the ban.
Actually, as early 438, Emperor Taiwu had issued a decree to force Buddhist
monks under age o f fifty to resume secular life, in order to mobilize more military
59
forces.66 Therefore, the rational behind prohibiting monks, magicians and craftsmen
may have been military and economic, as well as political and ideological. The
prophetic-apociyphal texts were banned all together, because he was alarmed by the
above mentioned prophetic saying, and might also have involved other political
incidents involving chert prophecy.
The most directly related incident was Liu Jie's ^lj ^ case. Liu was a long
term associate o f Emperor Taiwu even before the emperor was enthroned. During
Emperor Taiwu's reign, Liu was appointed shangshu ling (p] H (Director o f the
Department o f State Affairs). In 443 the court debated a contemplated expedition
against the Rouran $£, a northern barbarian tribe. Liu Jie disapproved, while Cui
Hao was in favor o f the expedition. The emperor finally approved Cui Hao's
proposal, thus making Liu angry. He then fabricated a decree to change the
schedule, thereby causing the commanders to fail to assemble on time. When
Emperor Taiwu discovered this on his way back from a lost batter, he was greatly
angered and ordered the arrest o f Liu. The case became more complicated during
the progress o f a harsh investigation. It was reported that before Emperor Taiwu's
expedition, Liu Jie secretly told his family members: "If the expedition is
unsuccessful and His Majesty does not return, I will enthrone the Prince o f
66 See Lin Luzhi # ^ , Xianbei shi ^ (Hong Kong: Zhonghua wenhua shiye
gongsi, 1967), 374-375.
60
Leping"67 3=f 1 | [ f c t ’ HP I I I t j £ ¥ 3E.- !t was also reported
that Liu Jie once had his assistant Zhang Song §f| ^ look for chert prophecies,
telling Zhang: "Liu family shall be kings and succeed the imperial house. D o my
surname and given name appear [in any chert]7' |?!JJS; jj| 3E. ’ SH rW
Zhang told him: "Your given name does not but the surname does" ^
The officers did find such prophetic texts in Liu's house after a search. Liu
and Zhang were later executed and their families were all implicated. Emperor
Taiwu maintained a great hatred for Liu for a long while.68 The details o f the case
are dubious since the "prophetic texts" and the coup were "exposed" only after Liu
had been put in prison. It is possible in this kind o f situation that he was framed.
Nevertheless, the case shows that any matter involving chert prophecy during this
period was very sensitive and carried serious political implications. Liu's case was
exposed in the twelfth month o f the fourth year o f the Taiping zhenjun reign period,
and the ban was issued in the next month, the first month o f the fifth year o f the
Taiping zhenjun reign period.
67 The Prince o f Leping, named Tuoba Pi #3 ■£. >was a half brother of Emperor Taiwu.
See JVs, 17.413-414.
68 See Ws, 28.689.
61
The second ban was issued in the first month o f the ninth year o f Emperor
Xiaowen's Taihe reign period (485).
The illustrated prophetic texts came to be by the end o f the three dynasties.
They have never been the canon for regulating the state, but were merely
used by evil enchanters. From now on all the texts o f illustrated chen
prophecy, esoteric apocrypha and those named as Kong Zi bi fa n g j i [The
Esoteric Writings o f Confucius] must be burned. Those who keep them will
be sentenced to execution M W i Z M » 0 ’ W.
z • % % t k ± M m 69
Emperor Xiaowen was brought up by the Wenming [Civilized] Empress Dowager
Feng fg, and thus was very sinicized. He was fond o f reading and
studying the classics, history, and the writings o f the hundred schools, and was also
versed in Taoism and Buddhism. His most famous political achievements were the
reforms which transformed the Tuoba empire after the pattern o f Chinese culture.
The 485 ban was not his doing since the empress dowager was still in charge at that
69 SeefVs, 7.155.
70 Emperor Xiaowen was enthroned at the age of five. Empress Dowager Feng herself gave
audience in court and supervised state affairs. This situation continued to the fourteenth year
of the Taihe reign period when the empress dowager passed away. See m , 13.329.
62
The immediate reason for Empress Dowager Feng reissuing the ban is not
known. Earlier, in the fifth year o f the Taihe reign period (481), the court issued a
decree for the execution o f the Buddhist monk Faxiu "Faxiu was evil and
deceitful. He intended to confuse the regular order. He recklessly interpreted the
portents. The lan taiyu shi (Imperial Inspector at Lan tai), Zhang Qiu, and more than
a hundred followers, recruiting slaves, planned to rise in revolt [due to Faxiu]"
a s s - s i j s A > mtsnm m&*>
j|tf.71 Faxiu was a heretical Buddhist monk who knew magic, divination and
prophetic learning. It was common for Buddhist and Taoist monks in early medieval
China to be proficient in portents and chen prophecy. Some o f them were well
known for such skills. The revolt o f Faxiu would not have been the only or major
reason for the empress dowager to reissue the ban. Some o f these bans contain new
information, such as the appearance o f the prophetic writing Kong Zi bi fa n g ji.
This work, o f course, has long since been lost. Nonetheless, a description
can be found in the "Wang Shichong zhuan" i £ tit [Memoir on Wang
Shichong] in the Sui History. At the end o f the Sui dynasty, Wang Shichong (d.
621), a Sui governor who later proclaimed himself chancellor, intended to usurp the
throne. Huan Fasi ^ |ij, a Taoist monk who claimed to be versed in prophetic
learning and was trusted by Wang on this account, showed the Kong Zi bi fa n g j i to
71 See Ws, 7.150.
63
Wang. There was a picture showing a man who herded sheep with a pole. Huan
then interpreted for Wang: '"Sheep' refers to the surname o f the Sui house.72 'One'
and 'pole' compose the character 'king.'73 His standing behind sheep illustrates that
Your Chancellor shall be the next in order to become emperor and replace Sui"
#> ° T - # - W f g B f t W S f f t e . 74
This illustrated text was a new prophetic writing rather than one o f the
traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts handed down from Eastern Han. It seems,
then, that there were contemporarily produced chen prophecies circulating among
the people at that time. The K ong Zi bi fa n g j i was not the only example, as I will
show later. However, there may have been chen prophecies unfavorable to Northern
Wei contained in the text which caused the ban during the Taihe reign period.
It is interesting that this was the only ban which mentions an academic and
ideological reason as its basis. The first proposal to proscribe the prophetic-
apocryphal texts presented by Zhang Heng 5 ! (78-139), the remarkable Eastern
Han scientist and thinker, was based on academic and scholarly reasons. Yet
practically all the other bans issued by rulers later were based on political concerns
72 In Chinese, yang (sheep) is homophonic with Yang, the surname o f the Sui house.
73 The characters yi — (one) and gan (pole) together can form the character pronounced
wang 3E (king). This is an orthographic riddle.
74 See Sui, 85.1898.
64
and never questioned such texts in a religious, historigraphical or philosophical
sense.75 Nevertheless, the emphasis here is still political. "Merely used by evil
enchanters" is a stereotypical expression revealing the psychology o f the rulers.
They would not have banned chen prophecy if it could have been used exclusively
by them. Chen prophecy had never been "merely used by evil enchanters" because
even those rulers who issued bans themselves made use o f such texts. Otherwise the
prophetic-apocryphal texts could not possibly have survived so long.
Although according to the decree all the prophetic-apocryphal texts had to
be burned, this treatment very likely did not apply to imperial collections. During the
reign o f Emperor Xuanwu Hf jit (r. 499-515), the successor o f Emperor Xiaowen,
his Chinese teacher Sun Huiwei M M jif asked an expansion o f the imperial library
collections because "the Six Classics, the writings o f the hundred schools, and the
illustrated texts and esoteric books, are the proper arts for serving Heaven and the
standard models for regulating people" ( T n M ) Tb& JtkL
lEftr» tfpA £ jit 1676 The illustrated texts and esoteric books, o f course, could
be general terms for the imperial collections. Still, it was a convention from Eastern
Han times to use these terms to refer to the prophetic-apocryphal texts. I later will
75 Note that the bans of Buddhists during early medieval China often mention their
ideological grounds.
76 See Ws, 84.1853.
65
show more evidence that such texts were in imperial collections during these
periods.
5) The Sui dynasty (581-618)
Sui was the period in which the prophetic-apocryphal texts were most
strictly banned, while, at the same time, belief in chen prophecy and apocrypha
remained very active. This is not difficult to understand. The standard procedure for
abdication and transfer o f the mandate, in southern and northern dynasties alike, was
to first build up individual or family’s forces and influence over a period o f decades
or even generations, reducing the emperor to a figurehead, while the powerful man
or family behind the throne controlled all state affairs through military force. Then
favorable myths, portents and chen prophecies were prepared, and when the time
was ripe, the abdication and transfer o f the mandate were announced. However, the
case o f Emperor Wen (whose real name was Yang Jian $f§ §?, r. 581-605), the
founder o f Sui, was somewhat different. He was a high official and the father-in-law
o f Emperor Xuan l|E(r. 578-580) o f Northern Zhou. When the emperor suddenly
passed away, his successor, Yang's grandson, was only an eight-year old boy. Yang
Jian took the opportunity to seize power. He built up his forces, defeated his
competitors and prepared for his enthronement only ten months after he actually
usurped the throne. Since his accession was virtually a palace coup, he was more
66
than ever in need o f religious, ritual and ideological aids that could justify the
legitimacy o f his mandate. Understandably chen prophecies and apocrypha played an
important role in this process. In his court, the ministers and advisors freely quoted
prophetic-apocryphal texts to support his move. One o f his major advisors, Niu
Hong at the very beginning o f the new dynasty, convinced Emperor Wen to
collect all the books which had been lost in the endless battles o f this period,
including prophetic-apocryphal texts.77
The relationship between the Sui emperors and Wang Shao 3E HI5 (/7. 543-
608) reveals the real attitude o f the Sui rulers toward the prophetic-apocryphal
texts. Wang was a book-worm. He loved to read books, any books available,
especially Buddhist and prophetic-apocryphal texts. At the beginning o f the dynasty,
Wang, an imperial historian, repeatedly presented numerous favorable prophetic-
apocryphal texts and new chen prophecies to Emperor Wen. The emperor was
greatly pleased. Being encouraged, Wang collected folk rhymes, portents,
prophetic-apocryphal texts and Buddhist texts, and compiled a thirty-ywaw collection
titled Huang Sui ling'gan zhi JH PH H ^ [The Records o f Divine Interactions
between Heaven and Man for the Great Sui]. Emperor Wen then published the
collection nationwide.78 It was beyond doubt that the emperor first intended to take
77 See Sui, 49.1297-1330.
78 See Sui, 69.1601-1610.
67
advantage o f the favorable chen prophecies, yet soon after he issued his ban. No
matter what the emperor had done, he and the later Emperor Yang seemed to
actually have had good personal relationships with Wang Shao. Thus the
relationship between them should not be seen as simply an utilitarian one.
In the second month o f the thirteen year o f the Kaihuang j f| reign period
(593) o f Emperor Wen, a ban was issued:
His Majesty decrees that no private house is allow to keep the prophetic-
apocryphal texts and chen prophecy fjjlj % ^ ^ # R§ ^ ^ g j | f t 79
Again, the ban applied to no imperial collections. In the next year (594), Xiao Ji H
^ (fl. 604), a well known scholar o f the Yinyang school, in a memorial quoted
some prophetic-apocryphal texts which so pleased the emperor that Xiao was
awarded five-hundred pieces o f silk. He became a faithful imperial advisor and
remained in this position during emperor Yang's reign, even though the emperor
tried to distance himself from most o f his father's advisors.80 In 596 a "divine bird"
came down from Heaven. An official, Xu Shanxin 'D (558-618), presented a
song to eulogize the auspicious portent in which he also quoted prophetic-
apocryphal texts and was again rewarded.81
79 See Sui, 2.38.
80 See Sui, 78.1775.
81 See 5 m/, 58.1425-1427.
68
Emperor Yang is also well known for his strict ban o f prophetic-apocryphal
texts. However, as discussed earlier, the statement quoted above: " he soon sent
messengers to go all over the empire to search for books which related to prophetic-
apocryphal texts and to burn them all. Anyone indicated by functionaries [for failing
to obey the regulation] would be sentenced to various punishments up to death.
Since then, the learning no longer existed. Even the bulk o f the imperial collections
almost disappeared" is overstated. While there is no information o f when and why
the ban took place, a historical account might be able to reveal the psychology
behind it. For centuries a chen prophecy that "The Li family will rule as king" had
been extensively circulated.82 It would not be surprising if many emperors during
these periods had been wary o f people with the surname Li. Yet no one went as far
as Emperor Yang did. He considered killing everyone with the surname Li in the
empire—a huge number o f people since Li is one o f the most common surnames in
China.83 This bit o f insanity betrayed Emperor Yang's fanatic belief in chen
prophecy.84
82 For detailed information, see Seidel, "Image o f the Perfect Ruler."
83 See Sui, 37.1120-1121.
84 The dynasty which succeeded Sui was the Tang, founded by Li Yuan ^ $ j j , a Sui general
who was encouraged by the chen prophecy in his revolt (See Zztj, 5732).
69
6) General Observation
Examining the nine recorded bans (six o f them with recorded decrees) o f
prophetic-apocryphal texts from Western Jin to Sui, there are several common
features which are worthy o f our attention. First, the bans applied to no imperial
collections, but rather to provincial and private collections. Among the six recorded
proscriptive decrees, three definitely specify that the bans applied to provincial and
individual collections (Later Zhao decree in 336), the common people's circulation
(the Taiping zhenjun reign period decree o f Northern Wei in 4 4 4 ) , and private
houses (the Kaihuang reign period decree o f Sui in 593). The bans in the Taihe
reign period o f Northern Wei and the Daye reign period o f Sui seem to be absolute,
however, their targets were actually private collections.
At the beginning o f Eastern Jin (317), Xun Song Ifl ^ (262-ca. 329), an
aristocratic scholar-official who had escaped from the north, requested Emperor
Yuan to restore the posts o f boshi (academicians) o f canonical studies. In the
memorial, he recalled the apex o f Confucian learning in the reign o f Emperor Wu o f
Western Jin, who issued the first ban o f the learning o f the prophetic-apocryphal
texts. Owing to him, the emperor then honored canonical learning and encouraged
the development o f the Confucian schools, and "the River Charts, esoteric writings
70
and other imperial collections were stored in the western and eastern wings o f the
imperial libraries" W iM M F ? >
At the end o f Western Jin, when the remaining members o f the royal house,
together with the northern aristocratic families and the Confiician-bureaucrats fled
south from the flames o f war, they perhaps would not have been able to take the
bulk o f the imperial collections with them. This was one reason why Xun Song
sentimentally recalled an idealized past. Dai Miao J*Ej||(/7. 270-330), an aristocratic
southern scholar, in presenting a memorial earlier on the same matter, mourned that
in the chaos "literary writings, being trampled on by barbarian horses, were lost in
wars; and not even a kernel o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts has been preserved for
our generation" £ * » « « § £ £ £ >
However, the lack o f prophetic-apocryphal texts did not persist long. As
shown earlier, Emperor Jianwen had access to prophetic texts in his palace.
Moreover, the subsequent southern dynasties seemed already to have basic
collections o f prophetic-apocryphal texts for political use. Every time a mandate-
transfer took place, the out-going emperor would formally issue a decree o f
abdication; the ministers, generals, governors and warlords would then submit their
supporting memorials to the in-coming Son o f Heaven to justify the legitimacy o f
85 See .A, 75.1977.
86 See Ss, 14.359.
71
the new authority and show their loyalty or submission to their new master. The
decrees and memorials were full o f quotations o f auspicious portents and prophetic-
apocryphal texts, particularly the memorials presented by the heads o f the Bureau o f
Royal Astrology, despite the various bans that had been issued. H ow could such
materials be available? It is possible that all the heads o f the Bureau o f Royal
Astrology, since they had served the imperial houses as professionals for
generations, had their own family collections. At any rate, the major source o f this
kind o f "esoteric text" would still have to be the imperial collections. The "Xiang rui
zhi" [Treatise o f the Auspicious Portents] o f the Southern Qi H istory says:
"The divine chapters and esoteric charts are certainly to be held in the Metal Bound
B ox and stored in the Stone R oom .87 The cases o f publicizing the esoteric writings
and displaying the astrological and apocryphal texts have never been recorded in the
Classics"
The northern rulers were originally "barbarians" and the proscription o f the
prophetic-apocryphal texts in the north was even stricter than in the south. Northern
87 Jin gui ^ (metal bound box) and Shi shi (stone house) usually refer to special
storage in imperial libraries. It first occurred in the Shang shu jnj ^ [Classic o f Documents]
as a chapter title Jin teng meaning "the metal bound." See Shi san jing zhu shu - p H
M (Rpt. Taibei: Yiwen yinshuguan, 1960), 1: 185; Legge, The Chinese Classics, vol.
III.
88 See NQs, 18.349.
72
Wei, the first northern dynasty, did not follow the Wei-Jin model o f a legitimate
"mandate-transfer," yet this did not reduce their zeal in seeking proof o f the sanction
o f the mandate o f Heaven. Although the Northern Wei emperors were notorious for
their harsh proscriptions, Emperors Daowu and Xuanwu did try to gather missing
books from all around the empire, including the astrological texts, chen prophecy
and apocrypha.
The Sui dynasty, as mentioned at the beginning o f this chapter, is held
responsible for eradicating all the remaining prophetic-apocryphal texts.
Nonetheless, Niu Hong suggested gathering the prophetic-apocryphal texts at the
very beginning o f Sui and Wang Shao had access to the prophetic-apocryphal texts
throughout the reigns o f Emperor Wen and Emperor Yang. The modem scholar Lii
Simian, when discussing the causes o f the loss o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts,
points out:
The loss o f books was mainly due to frequent disorders, while printing
technology was yet to develop so that the copies in circulation were very
limited. It had very little to do with the political proscriptions. Qin did not
prohibit the books o f medicine, divination, and horticulture. However, the
books handed down to later generations are no more numerous than the
Classics and the learning o f the hundred schools. This is a clear indication [o f
the cause o f the loss]
73
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£#, >^^nm^mm »iw m 89

So, the loss o f a great quantity o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts was actually
caused by warfare, large scale migrations, and changes in the dominant style o f
scholarship.
Second, the aim o f bans o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts in early medieval
China, w as actually to prevent the study o f such texts from being disseminated to
pretenders and rebels. Therefore, the targets o f the bans were princes, nobles,
generals, warlords, magicians, radical monks, religious zealots, and the common
people. Among the Confucian masters, knowledgeable scholars, and imperial
astrologers, the lineage o f the tradition o f the prophetic-apocryphal learning was
unbroken throughout the period.
M ost bans at that time would have prohibited both collection and study o f
the prophetic-apocryphal texts. The "study" here actually emphasizes "the act o f
study" rather than study as knowledge and scholarship. Pure scholarly interest was
never prohibited. Thus w e can explain why, in spite o f the bans, many scholar-
officials still quoted from the prophetic-apocryphal texts as part o f canonical
writings in their debates and discussions on ritual, music, astronomy, and ancient
89 See Lti, Liang Jin Nanbeichao shi, 1476.
74
history, in court or in public. This kind o f knowledge had no ill effects but could
instead be beneficial to the imperial authorities.
It is true that the study o f prophetic-apocryphal texts was never viewed as
pure scholarship. In comparison with other Confucian schools, it was both practical
and political. However, among the scholastic Confucians and scholar-officials, its
political functions were usually twofold: justifying the legitimacy o f the present
authorities, and maintaining the continuity and standardization o f institutions. These
functions would help rulers o f vision to establish a stable and balanced social order
and to institute social harmony.
The learning also could be "used by evil enchanters," and its destructive
power towards the present order would be released if it were broadly taught and
diffused. The paradox was thus that the versatile and knowledgeable scholars who
knew the prophetic-apocryphal texts were generally masters o f the Confucian
classics. They often had hundreds, even thousands, o f disciples and followers. Many
had private schools far away from political centers. There was no way to prohibit
teaching and learning between the masters and their followers. One way or another,
sooner or later, the prophetic-apocryphal texts would disseminated. This situation
will be discussed in detail in Chapter III.
Third, the emphasis o f the bans during this periods, seems to be on chen
prophecy rather than on the apocryphal texts. In its golden age, Eastern Han and
75
Three States period, belief in chen prophecy and the study o f apocryphal texts were
mixed together, although we still can distinguish one from the other according to
certain features. The apocryphal parts generally dealt with ancient history or legend,
rituals, and Classics; chen prophecy generally dealt with state affairs, the mandate o f
Heaven, and rulers' behavior and misbehavior, all o f which influenced the fate o f
their dynasties. Terms such as tuchen fH (illustrated chen prophecy), weihou
^(apocrypha and astrology), chenwei | $ { c h e n prophecy and apocrypha), tuwei
HI (illustrated apocrypha), mijing % M (esoteric canon), were all used as
collective terms commonly referring to the same things—the prophetic-apocryphal
texts. This tradition was inherited by early medieval scholars. Thus, in the bans chen
prophecy and apocrypha were often mentioned as a unit.
However, since the bans were basically political, the apocrypha, which
interpreted and completed the meanings o f the Confucian classics, were not their
target. We know that scholars argued ritual or ideological issues on the basis o f the
apocryphal texts in court or in public throughout this period, even as the rulers were
issuing strict bans. The Tang lii f t [Tang Statutes], a modified version o f the
statutes o f Sui Kaihuang lii Hf H [Kaihuang Statutes], prohibits prophetic
writings while—very interestingly—regarding the apocrypha as an exception.90 The
90 According to the Tang Statutes, anyone who violated the regulation that proscribed
private collection of astrological and the prophetic texts, as well as military writings, would
be sentenced. However, "the apocrypha to the Classics and the prophecies attached to the
Analects are excused from the proscription" See The Tang
76
Kaihuang Statutes obviously absorb the essence and content o f the statutes o f the
northern and southern dynasties. Although I make no attempt to conclude that this
policy was inherited from the early medieval statutes, it is worth further
investigation.
Moreover, in the early medieval era, the traditional chen prophecies quoted
in the prophetic-apocryphal texts, sometimes could be reinterpreted to suit new
needs, but in general they were out-of-date. The systematic theories o f the
prophetic-apocryphal texts, such as Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures, had
become too complicated to the common people, who were the essential links o f the
circulation chains o f prophecies. Thus the contemporary chen prophecies attracted
most o f the authorities’ attention.
Fourth, it is also interesting that, despite being the targets o f repeated bans,
private collections o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts continued to exist throughout
the period. A s I mentioned earlier and will discuss in detail later, a large number o f
scholars during these times continued to study and teach the prophetic-apocryphal
texts in private, which strongly suggests that these scholars and their students
probably had their own collections. I have mentioned that the distinguished
bibliographer and bibliophile Ruan Xiaoxu o f the Liang dynasty had quite a good
lii shu yi interpreted by Zhangsun Wuji (d. 659) and issued in 653,
(Rpt. Taibei: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1956), vol. 2, 18.82.
77
collection o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts. In his bibliographical treatise, the Qi lu,
he listed thirty-two texts concerning chen prophecy and apocrypha in 254 juan.
Although he eventually burnt these collections himself, it is impressive that these
texts could survive down to his time in spite o f bans, conflagrations, migrations and
other disasters. It is quite safe to suppose that Ruan was not the only private
collector o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
Fifth, there were new developments in chen prophecy. During the Eastern
Han and Three States period, as the orthodox ideology, the teachings o f prophetic-
apocryphal texts were encouraged by the authorities while, at the same time, kept
under their control. Chen prophecies became set. The only versions allowed to
circulate had undergone imperial examination and qualification. When the prophetic-
apocryphal texts lost their orthodox position and official protection after the
Western Jin, the authorities lost control o f them. Thereupon, although the bulk o f
the Han prophetic-apocryphal texts were gradually lost, new chen prophecies and
new collections arose, sometimes in new forms, such as the Gu f it chuan gu lu lii,
K ong Zi bi fa n g j i , Jin ci shi jNf [Poems o f the Golden Female], Jin xiong j i ^
16 [Records o f the Golden Male], Wang Zinian [Songs by Wang
Zinian], Lao Zi he luo chen ^ ?Rj [The Chen prophecy in the River Chart
and Luo Writings by Lao Zi], Liu X ian g chen fn] [The Chen prophecy by Liu
Xiang] and so forth. A few legendary prophets arose, such as Guo Pu (276-324),
78
Cui Hao, Wang Zinian,91 and certain monks. Thus the traditional and systematic
writings were gradually lost while new and fortuitous chen prophecies spring up.
This new tendency led belief in chen prophecy in a new direction which gave the
birth to the Tui bei tu, Shao bing ge, and the esoteric canons o f the later secret
religions.
91 The author of the Shi y i ji f£ is usually known as Wang Jia 3E. Zinian was his
style name. According to his memoir in the Jin History, he was a hermit during the late
Western Jin and the Sixteen States periods. He was famous for his ability to predict things.
Many officials and noblemen went to him for advice. The emperor of Former Qin, Fu Jian,
and the founder o f Later Qin, Yao Chang, both treated him as an advisor. "He was fond of
drawing analogies while seeming to make jokes. When he mentioned future events, his words
were like the prophetic writings: no one would understand the real meaning yet the words
would all come true when the events eventually happened." "[The chen prophecies in] the
Oian san ge chen [The Chen prophecy in the Related Three Sons] he created all
came true when the events eventually happened. They were circulated for generations."
(95.2496-2497) The prophetic songs recorded here may be quoted from the missing book
The Chen Prophecy in the Related Three Songs.
79
C H A P T E R II
TH E A T T IT U D E O F TH E R U L E R S
T O W A R D S CHEN PR O PH E C Y
B elief in chen prophecy in China is a complex cultural phenomenon. Despite
the subtle, ambiguous, or even ill-formed phrases in which they are expressed, chen
prophecies have been frequent and influential among Chinese rulers, intellectuals,
and common folk for thousands o f years. There are social, political, cultural and
psychological reasons for this, and these reasons will be discussed in a more detailed
manner in the conclusion o f this study. Here relevant historical accounts from early
medieval times will be introduced .
While there was serious political reason for early medieval rulers to ban the
prophetic-apocryphal texts, the bans were never successful because the rulers never
really enforced them. This contradiction is understandable since belief in the texts
and contemporary chen prophecies was a double-edge sword which was both usable
by and directed at the rulers, as described in the previous chapter. What requires
more explanation is whether the bans were simply based on practical and secular
concerns, as many scholars would say, or on the fear o f and belief in chen prophecy.
R e p ro d u c e d with permission of the copyright owner. F urther reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
80
1) The Ritual Procedure of Dynastic Changes
The prophetic-apocryphal texts which began to appear from late Western
Han on created a unique and attractive ritual system justifying the legitimacy o f the
mandate o f Heaven. This system includes the theory o f the Rotational Changes o f
the Five Natures, corresponding alterations in color, the calendar, birth myths based
on the theory o f Gansheng d i ^ ^ ^ [Heavenly deities who beget human
emperors],1 portentous appearances,2 portents and chen prophecy. This system,3 in
its entirety, was adopted and utilized by both the Eastern Han dynasty and the Three
States which succeeded the Eastern Han, as the basis for the legitimation o f dynastic
change. The subsequent ruling houses o f the Jin, Sixteen States, and Southern and
1A theory inspired by ancient myths and legends and developed through the learning o f the
prophetic-apocryphal texts in which each o f the five heavenly deities in turn comes from
Heaven and leaves his semi-divine successor through a human mother. The successor thus
becomes the Son o f Heaven and the founder of the new dynasty. His family will inherit the
position until the time for the next heavenly deity. See Lu Zongli, "Dong Han beike yu
chenwei shenxue" in Yanjiusheng lunwen xuanji 5ft % zfc Iw
s l $ ! (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1984), 73-74.
2Ibid. 74.
3 For detailed discussion o f these ritual symbols, see Sun Guangde J|f "Wo guo
zhengshi zhong de zhengzhi shenhua" Weiyun
Wang Shounan 3 : H ffjj, Wang Deyi 3 i ^ tx and Li Yunhan ^ eds. Zhongguo
shixue lunwen xuanji, 4 3ls i5 £ ^ lir a 3 ta lllil (Taibei: Youshi wenhua shiye gongsi, 1986),
vol. 6, 51-125; Wang Yuqing 3 i ^ t j f , "Liyun yu f u s e " M l H l f e in Bao Zunpeng
xiansheng jinian lunwen j i Q ^ £ iSS ^ Ira HI (Taibei: Guoli lishi bowugaun,
Guoli zhongyang tushuguan and Meiguo Sheng ruowang daxue yazhou yanjiu zhongxin,
1971), 1-35.
81
Northern dynasties closely observing this pattern, all claimed to have received
Heaven’s sanction as the legitimate successors o f Han and Wei.
This system was an indispensable part o f dynastic transitions for over one
thousand years. However, the role o f belief in chen prophecy in this ritual system
has not been clarified.
The theory o f the Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures, corresponding
alterations in color, and the calendar was well systematized by the time o f Eastern
Han and Three States. Because o f this degree o f formalization, there was little room
for competitors for the throne to tailor these theories to their own purposes. Birth
myths based on the theory o f Gansheng di and an individual's portentous looks were
more subjective, leaving more room for dynastic founders and pretenders to the
throne to maneuver. Portents and chen prophecy were even more adaptable to these
situations and thus even more useful to political contenders in early medieval times.
B elief in chen prophecy and scholastic theories associated with prophetic-
apocryphal texts were based on the theory that every imperial house had its own
destiny, which corresponded to the movement o f the Five Natures. This theory was
widely accepted in early medieval China. The question was when the mandate-
transfer would take place and who would receive it. Chen prophecy thus was
generally believed to be the revelation o f Heaven's will in this regard. From the
Three States period on, quoting numerous favorable chen prophecies became a
82
necessary step on the way to the throne. Clearly chen prophecy played a significant
and even essential role in the legitimation o f dynastic change and was banned by
rulers to prevent these changes from occurring.
2) The Role of Chen prophecy in Legitimation in the South
In 317, one hundred eighty high officials o f the Western Jin who had moved
south o f the Yangzi River lead by the situ WJ (Minister o f the Masses) Liu Kun f?lj
submitted a memorial to Sima Rui, Prince o f Langya, who held charge o f the
middle and lower areas o f Yangzi River, urging him to take the throne.
[Your ascending the throne will allow you] to correspond with the tide4 o f
the world’s mandate and inherit the destiny o f a thousand years. What the
auspicious portents have manifested, in the heavens and among men, are
signs indicating this. The omens o f the resurgence [o f Jin] have been
revealed in the prophetic-apocryphal texts J?§ ’ &§ T1 M 0
» m m m m .5
Sima Rui soon became the first emperor o f Eastern Jin, Emperor Yuan.
4 "Tide" is chosen to translate qi $8 in this study. Some scholars think the notion of "tide"
might have been influenced by a Buddhist belief, kalpa. In my opinion, "tide" was a yinyang
and wuxing notion which was inspired by natural season changes. It also has its origin in
Confucius' notion o f shi The earliest application of this notion can be found in the
Classic o f Changes.
5 See Js, 6.146.
83
When Emperor Gong H (r. 418-420), the last emperor o f Eastern Jin,
"abdicated," he issued his final edict to Liu Yu, King o f Song 5|$, the powerful
chancellor and pretender to the throne. The edict which, o f course, had been drawn
up by one o f Liu's followers,6 praised Liu, saying that "It has come about that
Heaven has issued portents and the four divine creatures have occurred as
auspicious signs.7 Both revelations in chert prophecies have been obvious and the
will o f deities and man has changed" ®
6 Earlier, in the first month o f the first year o f the Yuanxi j c EB reign period (419) of
Emperor Gong, Liu Yu was prepared to make the emperor abdicate yet had difficulty saying
so outright. Setting up wine for court colleagues, he told them while drinking that he had
achieved great merit for the imperial house; now he was getting old and his post and honors
were already so high that difficult for him to maintain the situation too long; it would be
better to retire. His colleagues failed to understand his real meaning and simply praised his
virtue and achievement, except for zhongshu ling 4 1!lF "tj (Director of the Secretariat) Fu
Xuan ft§ ^ . In the sixth month o f the year Fu suggested that the emperor abdicate and drew
up the edict for the emperor. The emperor then copied the edict on his own. See Zztj, 3732-
3734.
7 The appearance of the four divine creatures was traditionally believed to be an auspicious
portent. In the "Li yun fU^g" chapter of the Li j i H fiJ [Records of Social Norms], the four
divine creatures are defined as the lin |$ o r qilin H H , a mythical creature that is supreme
beast; the feng or feng huang M I L a mythical bird that is the supreme bird; the tortoise
that is the supreme among creatures with shells; and the dragon that is the chief of all
creatures with scales. See Wang Mengou 3E W H » Li ji jin zhu jin yi |£ ^ M
(Taibei: The Taiwan Commercial Press, 1970), 304-305. In the prophetic-apocryphal texts
of Eastern Han, the four divine creatures refer to the dark blue dragon ]if f t , white tiger g
j^, scarlet bird ^ c^ a n d black tortoise
8 See Ss, 2.47.
84
Emperor Gong even sent Liu a letter impressed with the imperial seal to
validate Liu's ascension o f the throne: "The auspicious portents and chen prophecies
are apparent. In addition, with [Liu's] noble look which is prominent and his gifted
extraordinary carriage, his appearance o f a natural ruler is as brilliant as the sun and
them oonNH » t t # > I
m n u s 9
In addition to the blessings o f the out-going emperor, Liu also received from
the Head Royal Astrologer at that time, Luo Da jit, dozens o f examples o f
auspicious celestial portents and favorable chen prophecies.10 Here w e will examine
a few examples o f these.
2. 1 Chen prophecies by ambiguity
Earlier, a Buddhist monk named Facheng told his disciple Puyan # 1 1
on his deathbed: "The Grand Deity o f the [Holy] Mount Song told me that a certain
General Liu living east o f the Yangzi River, who is a descendant o f the Han house,
shall receive the mandate o f Heaven. I shall leave thirty-two jade disks and a gold
ingot as tokens for the general. The reason for leaving thirty-two jade disks is to
foretell the number o f the Liu family's ruling generations" * jX iS
9 Ibid, 48.
10 See Ss, 27.784-786.
85
» mmmmm » ° = + - a » > m w
JEH- — H # » h tyr^SSC-tfe- Puyan told his schoolmate Fayi j £
H about this. Later, Fayi, as expected, found the thirty-two jade disks and gold
ingot underneath a stone altar in the temple o f the deity o f Mount Song. The number
"thirty-two" was actually to foretell the years instead o f the generations o f the ruling
house. Rather than thirty-two, the chen prophecy meant two thirties, namely sixty.
The Song dynasty, from the time it received the mandate through the Eastern Jin
until it in turn abdicated to the Qi dynasty, ruled a total o f sixty years.
2. 2 Chen prophecies by ideographic riddles
The Chen Prophecy in the R iver Chart a n d Luo Writings by Confucius
says: "When two mouths both lift their pole-axes, they cannot be equal. When [the
blades] o f tw o m etal [weapons] clash, a divine p oin t issues forth. When an vacated
cave has no host, a stranger will occupy it. A fem ale stands alone then finds her
match again" ~ ■*
11 See Ss, 27.784. This nonsensical rhyme is an ideographic riddle based on a play on
characters with the solution being Liu Yu's name. The first and second lines suggest the
surname Liu. Since the end o f Wang Mang's 3E I? (r. 9-23) reign, Liu §[) had been the
answer to a popular prophetic riddle "mao jin dao Jjp ^ 73" (Mao pp, the fourth of the
twelve Earthly Branches; jin gold or metal; and dao JJ, knife). The three component
radicals for the character Liu §lj. The "two mouths" P P indicate Mao Jjp that was
occasionally written as P P . The "metal" is the second part o f Liu. The "divine point"
suggests the last part, the dao J). The third and fourth lines suggest Liu Yu's childhood
name Jinu Hr WL- The "vacated cave" 3? 'pi shares the same radical with ji Hr. When the
86
It is interesting that in addition to traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts, Luo
D a often quoted new chen prophecies and folk rhymes. Some new chen prophecies
were included in anonymous collections, like the Golden Female and the Chen
prophecy by Liu X ia n g 12 It seems that the new chen prophecies were more
powerful than the traditional ones.
In 479, Emperor Shun fl[ff o f the Song was forced to abdicate. The
established procedure o f the mandate-transfer was duplicated. The last emperor o f
Song issued his final edict to Xiao Daocheng (427-482), the King o f Qi who had
also served as chancellor, and became the founder o f the Southern Qi: "The
illustrated chen prophecy shines radiantly; it manifests that [a new dynasty will]
receive the mandate [o f the old dynasty]" ® IS ^ ^ £ H WL 13 The
acting Head Royal Astrologer Chen Wenjian ^ > H and his colleagues submitted
proofs o f auspicious celestial portents and favorable chen prophecies. In the "Gao di
ji" ^ 15 [Basic Annals o f Emperor Gao], the author o f the H istory o f the
Southern Q iu points out: "His Majesty's name, physical characteristics as well as the
"cave" is vacated, qi l?f ("stranger") takes the position of xue's 7 \ host and results in the
character A "female" stands alone indicates the left part of the character nu while
"again," the character you X , suggests the right part.
12 See Ss, 27.784-786.
13 SeeNQs, 1.21.
14 Xiao Zixian (A- 489-537), a grandson of Emperor Gao Xiao Daocheng and later
a high official o f the Liang dynasty. The special relationship between the author and the
87
tide, destiny, and the order o f succession all correspond with dozens, nearly one
hundred, earlier chen prophecies. N o preceding dynasty can match this. His servants
compiled them for His Highness, yet His Highness restrained them from revealing
the records. How great he was" ( 4 € ' § ' ! ! $ $ ! 3 ! H R ’ R +W
m ’
W e are unable to judge whether or not the favorable chen prophecies for
Southern Qi were more than those for any other dynasty. However, it is true that the
favorable chen prophecies for the Southern Qi which are recorded in the Southern
O i H istory and the Southern Qi section o f the Southern Histories outnumber those
o f any other dynasty.
The principal sources o f the favorable chen prophecies for Southern Qi are
recorded in the "Treatise on the Auspicious Portents" in the Southern Qi H istory
and the "Qi benji" [Basic Annals o f Southern Qi] in the Southern Histories.
There are five types o f references to chen prophecy recorded in the two sources
with slight variations between the two histories. The following quotations are based
on the "Treatise on Auspicious Portents" o f the Southern Qi History, while variants
founder o f Southern Qi might be one o f the reasons why the history preserves so many
favorable portents and prophecies for the imperial house.
15 SeeNQs, 2.39.
88
in the "Basic Annals o f Southern Qi" o f the Southern Histories are noted in
parenthesis.
2. 3 Chen prophecies quoted from the traditional Eastern Han and Three States
prophetic-apocryphal texts
The chapter "Yi ming” m in the Shangshu zhonghou fnj H 4 1 an
apocrypha to the Classic o f Documents reads: "A benevolent man will appear in an
impressive manner. With the appearance o f holding a chart, his surname will be Jiao
f t (horn), the fusion form o f zhi and yu jZ A & tB ’ M f ! £ ^ ’ S ^
Su Kan $£ fffL(427-479)16 interprets: "Xiao is the surname Jiao.
Moreover, there is xiao guan [vertical bamboo flute] among the eight musical
instruments" H * ° X .A f t - ' 7 The Apocrypha to X ia o jin g
Gou m ingju e $fjj pp goes: "Who will rise? Look for the one with the name
16 An aristocrat, general and governor o f the Song, who was a supporter of Xiao Daocheng.
He wrote the Xiao taiwei j i S t Hf ffi [The Records of Supreme Commander Xiao] with
Qiu Juyuan ji# $=LM to praise Xiao's merits. As soon as Xiao Daocheng proclaimed himself
ruler, Su presented the Sheng huang ruiming j i H? M iffij np 15 [The Records of the
Flourishing Destiny of the Sagacious Emperor], It is safe to suppose that Su's writing is an
important source of many favorable portents and chen prophecies preserved in the "Treatise
on the Auspicious Portents" in the Southern Oi History. See NQs, 28.527-529.
17 See NQs, 18.350. The author o f the Southern Qi History disagrees with Su's
interpretation. He argues that two Jin historians, He Zhen f5J and Wang Yin 31 in
interpreting this chen prophecy both read the fusion form o f zhi and yu as Cao | f , the
surname o f the Wei house in the Three States period. There is no ground to support Su's
reading.
89
Jiang" H The author o f the Southern Q i History explains: "Jiang is
the childhood name o f the Grand Progenitor (Xiao Daocheng)" l i . / h 1$
m 18
2. 4 Chen prophecies from newly inspired and circulated prophetic collections
The Chen Prophecies in the R iver Chart and Luo Writings by L ao Zi says:
"When the years have passed seven and seven then water shall exterminate the
continuity; Wind and cloud shall rise together while a dragon spreads its scales" ^
(The Southern H istories reads: " The
Chen prophecies in the R iver Chart a n d Luo Writings says: 'After seventy years,
water shall exterminate the continuity. Wind and cloud shall rise together while
18 Ibid. Xiao Daocheng's childhood name was Dou jiang H }}§. See NOs, 1.1.
19 See NOs, 18.349. The author o f the Southern Qi History explains that: "Seven and seven"
means seventy-seven years, exactly the length o f the Song period. This interpretation,
however, counts not only the Song period (420-479) but also an additional sixteen years,
the Yixi m m reign period (405-418) o f Emperor An fând the Yuanxi j c reign period
(418-420) o f Emperor Gong o f Eastern Jin, because Liu Yu was in actual power from 405.
The last year o f the Yuanxi reign period (420) o f Eastern Jin and the first year o f the
Yongchu tR $ ] reign period (420-422) o f Emperor Wu of Song overlapped. The Yongguang
reign period tR i t (465) of Liu Ziye §IJ ^ ^ (the earlier dethroned emperor) and the first
year o f the Taishi reign period (465-471) o f Emperor Ming 0$ o f Song overlapped.
Thus the actual duration of the ruling period o f the Song house is seventy-four years. Water
was the nature o f the Song dynasty according to the theory o f the Rotational Changes o f the
Five Natures. The wind and cloud, traditionally the symbols o f dragon and tiger, all refer to
the rise of important persons.
90
dragon spreads its scales"
^20
The Wang Zinian G e T ^ [The Songs o f Wang Zinian] that was
purportedly created between 349 and 386 reads: "A M eta l Knife regulates the world
yet [the world] later will suffer. The sovereigns will be fatuous and misbehave while
the heavenly deities will be angered. Calamity will repeatedly occur to alarm the
rulers. The territory will be reduced two-thirds by revolts. Three kings will rise from
Jiujiang while one more will occupy the Wu area. The remaining princes will all be
too young and be orphaned at an early age. Two rulers and one state is what Heaven
c o m m a n d s " ^ ! ) S .'jt
~ 3 £ £ iH 'i± -
The Songs further state: "The three grains are delicate while w oods are
flourishing. A metal knife with sharp blade will cut them equally"
^ # ZJ f (1fJ W M 22 "Wish to know the surname [of the new ruling house]?
It will be 'grass so still'" 23
20 SeeNs, 4.115.
21 See NOs, 18.351. According to the author's interpretation, the "metal knife" refers to Liu,
the surname of the Song house; the last line suggests that Xiao Daocheng will share the
empire with the Song emperor; the remaining lines all foretell the political situation that
actually took place during the Song dynasty.
22 Ibid. The word qi ^(equally) is also the name o f the future dynasty.
23 Ibid. The character su (still) plus a grass radical forms Xiao, the surname of the
Southern Qi rulers.
91
2. 5 Chen prophecies without references
Some quotations which appear in the Southern Qi H istory are cited without
mention o f their sources. These sources are sometimes mentioned in the Southern
Histories. For example, the Southern Q i H istory mentions a chen prophecy: "Dike
up the river weirs, block the dragon pool. Get rid o f the blood and draw the
mountains and rivers" 11 f t # f l ’ (The Southern
H istories supplies the reference: "The Chen in the River Chart a n d Luo Writings by
Confucius says: 'Dike the river weirs, block the dragon spring. Get rid o f the blood
and draw the mountains and rivers'" > S • ’
tK $ ill Jll-25) The following tw o chen prophecies appear only in the
Southern Qi H istory which again does not mention their sources: "When Xiao
becomes a double-knight, the world will be pleased" HI M — d t ’ ^ T 26
"Why does the Son o f Heaven sleep amidst o f grass" ^ ffT & 4 1?lf?27
24 Ibid, 350. The inundation here suggests the Song house, for its term was the water nature,
while the weirs and dams suggest Xiao Daocheng's given name (Daocheng could be
understood as "accomplishing roads." Weirs and dams are roads as well).
25 See Aft, 4.115.
26 See NQs, 18.350. The characters ershi Z ld r (doubled-knight), according to the author of
the Southern Qi History, could be combined to form the character zhu ^(ruler, master).
27 Ibid. This prophecy reveals the new Son o f Heaven's surname: Su fU (to sleep) is
pronounced similar to su 0 . Su 0 and the radical grass combine to form Xiao I f.
92
2. 6 Chen prophecies from stone inscriptions
It is very possible that the stone inscription chen prophecies examined below
are forgeries. Nonetheless, the early medieval Chinese must have believed in the
magic o f words, as the power o f the chen prophecies depends on public acceptance
rather than how they were produced.
There were three prophetic inscriptions found in Shan county $!J o f Guiji
commandery ^ f j |.28 The inscription on one said: "The star o f the Yellow Heaven,
its surname is Xiao and its given name is so-and-so. He will have capable
commanders and the world will be in great peace"
Sill ’ ' 29 (The Southern Histories quotation is almost identical except for
the second line. From it w e learn the exact name o f the new ruler: "His surname will
be Xiao while the given name is Daocheng"
2. 7 Chen prophecy recorded from dreams
Cui Lingyun fj| jlf, an aristocrat from the famous Cui H family o f Qinghe
yjf fpj commandery,31 and a canjun 0 j|E (assistant administrator) to a high office,
28 Its seat was located to the southwest o f modem Sheng county in Zhejiang.
29 See NOs, 18.352.
30 Ns, 4.115.
31 Its seat was the east of modem Linqing county in Shandong.
93
said that a heavenly deity once spoke to him in a dream: "Xiao Daocheng is my
nineteenth son. I granted the post o f the Son o f Heaven to him last year" Iff i l ||
The chen cited above are only a small pan o f the chen prophecies circulating
around the end o f the Song and beginning o f the Southern Qi. A noteworthy
phenomenon is that several new collections o f chen prophecies were already in
existence at court and among the scholars and common people. Some o f the new
chen prophecies seemed to have been influenced by Taoism, while some show the
influence o f the folk rhyme style. Such features reflected the transition o f chen
prophecy from that o f traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts to a more popular, or
folk, mode o f expression.
However, the traditional texts still important as late as Southern Qi. The
following two examples illustrate this.
In 502, Emperor HefQ, the last emperor o f the Southern Qi, announced his
abdication, opening the way to the throne for Xiao Yan, who was King o f Liang and
also a powerful and ambitious chancellor. Emperor He’s formal edict reads: "The
portents for the mandate-transfer have been revealed among the rivers and on sacred
mountains; the destiny o f the mandate-transfer is recorded in the prophetic-
32 See NQs, 18.353. The author o f the Southern Oi History thinks that since the Three
Emperors and Five Sovereigns, there had been nineteen emperors by the time o f Southern
Qi.
94
apocryphal texts" }nj ^ ^ ^ op £ ’ f l H &£ f t 0 £ M - 33 The Head Royal
Astrologer Jiang Daoxiu submitted sixty-four instances o f auspicious
celestial portents and favorable chen prophecies.34
In 557, Emperor Jing|&, the last ruler o f Liang, under pressure from Chen
Baxian (503-559), King o f Chen, announced his abdication and issued a
formal edict: "The celestial signs have manifested the removal o f the old house; the
destiny o f the power transference has been revealed in the prophetic-apocryphal
texts" »f t n ^ ^ i i .35
3) The Role o f Chen prophecy in Legitimation in the North
As can be seen, auspicious portents and favorable chen prophecies were
essential for legitimizing mandate-transfers, from the Three States to the end o f the
Southern Dynasties. As for the north, although the first dynasty o f the Northern
Dynasties, Northern Wei, also adopted the theory o f the Rotational Changes o f the
Five Natures and claimed itself as a link chain o f legitimacy, it did not succeed to the
throne following an abdication, but rather through military victory. Therefore, its
33 SeeLs, 1.26.
34 Ibid, 29.
35 See Cs, 1.22.
95
claim has been regarded as dubious by traditional Chinese historians.36 Compared
with the Southern Dynasties, the Northern Dynasties were much less likely to quote
many chen prophecies as proof o f their legitimacy. However, this is not to deny the
role and influence o f belief in chen prophecy even in the north.
3. 1 Northern Qi
Northern Wei ruled North China through 534, when it split into the Eastern
and Western Wei. The powerful Gao family controlled the Eastern Wei, while the
Yuwen family controlled the Western Wei. The Gaos and Yuwens faced situations
similar to their southern competitors.
Gao Huan raj and his elder son Gao Cheng rfj spent more than ten
years preparing the transfer o f the mandate, spreading numerous myths and
prophetic sayings and rhymes, yet did not succeed in their lifetimes. This was partly
because the last emperor o f Northern Wei, Emperor Xiaowu ^ j t , who was
enthroned by Gao Huan, could not stand Gao's grip on power and fled to the west
where he took refuge with the Yuwen family. Although Gao Huan soon enthroned
another prince o f the W ei house, moved the capital from Luoyang to Ye, and had
commanded over much richer territory and stronger military forces than the Western
36 For example, in the Zizhi tongjian Sima Guang treats the Wei-Jin-Southem Dynasties as
the legitimate succession chain, while regarding all the Northern Dynasties except Sui as
usurpers.
96
Wei, the Gaos were afraid o f a possible attack on the legitimacy o f their authority.
As a matter o f fact, Yuwen Tai could not get along with Emperor Xiaowu either,
finally murdering him and enthroning another prince. Yet most Tuoba nobles still
thought o f the Gaos as the usurpers, since they had driven Emperor Xiaowu to flee
in the first place. As late as Gao Yang's reign,37 the Empress Dowager Lou
and most influential officials still preferred to maintain the status quo and preserve
the puppet Wei emperor, though the Gao family was firmly in charge o f the empire.
Gao Dezheng a long-term follower o f Gao Yang and a huangmen
shilang f t flp JtP (palace attendant at Yellow Gate),38 incited Gao Yang to
proceed with the transfer o f the mandate. When Gao Yang discussed this with his
mother, Empress Dowager Lou, she rebuked him: "Your father was like a dragon,
and your elder brother was like a tiger, yet still they ended their days as subjects.
How can you presume to do as Shun and Yu? This cannot not be your idea but is
surely at Gao Dezheng's instigation" I I ’ i k k t t 01^5 » ’ tk
37 In 549, Gao Cheng was killed by a slave captured from the south. His younger brother
Gao Yang succeeded to his position. In the next year Gao Yang made the Eastern Wei
emperor abdicate and proclaimed himself the emperor of Northern Qi.
38 He was executed by Gao Yang. See BQs, 30.410.
97
Du Bi an advisor serving both Gao Huan and Gao Cheng, help the
posts o f wei jiangjun l |i (General o f the Palace Guards), Director o f the
Secretariat and zhangshi (chief clerk) o f Gao Yang. He too admonished Gao:
"The land West o f the Pass39 is a formidable competitor for Your Highness. If we
now receive the mandate from the Wei house, I am afraid that they will raise a 'force
o f righteousness' in the name o f the Son o f Heaven and march eastward [on us].
Then by what means could Your Highness deal with them" $ 8 t e Isj
Gao Yang still decided to go ahead with the mandate-transfer because he
needed to consolidate his position quickly. But Gao Dezheng, Xu Zhicai $
and Song Jingye 5(5 M M , were very effective in reinforcing his decision and helping
him to pick the specific moment. We can easily understand Gao Dezheng's eagerness
to see Gao Yang's enthronement. Yet without the ideological basis and supernatural
proofs provided by Xu and Song, whether Gao Yang would have made up his mind
at this moment remains an open question.
Xu Zhicai (/I. 494-573), a native o f Danyang # commandery,41 was a
child prodigy in classical studies. He first served King Yuzhang f^ lp i o f Liang, Xiao
39 Referring to the virtual rulers of Western Wei, the Yuwens.
40 See BQs, 30.407-408.
41 It was located in the vicinity o f modem Nanjing in Jiangsu.
98
Zong M m , 42 as zuo changshi (Regular Attendant in the Left) and zhu bu
(Master o f Records). When Xiao Zong fled to Northern Wei, Xu was
captured by the Northern Wei army. Later, through Xiao Zong’s recommendation,
Xu was recognized for his ability in medicine, intelligence in debate, and knowledge
o f the classics and history. At the end o f Gao Huan's reign (546), he was given the
post o f mishu jiart H Hi (Supervisor o f the Imperial Library). Still later, when
Gao Yang took over, he was removed from this position because he was a
southerner. Xu was also skilled in astrology and the prophetic-apocryphal texts.43
Song Jingye {/I. 550), who had been a governor during the late Northern Wei, was
also versed in astrology and the prophetic-apocryphal texts.44 These tw o experts on
divination and interpretation o f chen prophecy and portents were introduced to Gao
Yang by Gao Dezheng.
Xu first debated the transfer o f the mandate with Du Bi in front o f Gao
Yang. Responding to Du's opposition, Xu argued that: "The one who contends for
the world with our Highness intends to be emperor as well. It is like people chasing
a hare around the market place; when one person gets it, the others will calm down.
42 Xiao Zong was the second son o f Xiao Yan. He believed a rumor that he was actually a
son of the last emperor o f Southern Qi. (His mother had been a palace woman o f the
Southern Qi emperor, then was favored by Xiao Yan.) In 525, he turned his back on Liang
and surrendered to Northern Wei. See Ls, 55.823-824.
43 Seefl0s, 33.444-445.
44 See BOs, 49.675.
99
N ow if w e succeed to Wei's line first, those West o f the Pass [i. e. , the Yuwen]
should naturally give up the idea altogether. Even if they still want to parade their
superiority, the best they will be able to do is to proclaim the emperorship after us.
W e should be aware o f the opportunity and awake first. We cannot allow ourselves
to fall behind so as to follow someone else's example" fj£Slc
.- a nz - > h
a.
Du Bi could find no words to respond.45
While he convinced Du Bi with his penetrating observation o f political
reality, Xu incited Gao Yang using divination and chen prophecy. He and Song
Jingye, according to the " Xu Zhicai zhuan" ^ [Memoir on Xu Zhicai],
having checked the signs, both good and ill, reckoned that there had to be a change
in the wu year, and the closest wu year would be the next year—g en g wu H
(550). They thus presented chen prophecies to Gao Yang through Gao Dezheng.46
Despite the Empress Dowager's objections, Xu interpreted a new chen prophecy for
Gao Yang:
45 See BQs, 30.407.
46 Ibid, 445.
100
It is exactly because Your Highness is nowhere near the equal o f his father
and elder brother that he needs to ascend the throne quickly. I f he does not,
the ambitions o f others will be encouraged. Besides, the chen has said:
'When a ram drinks w ater at Meng-ford, its horn props up the sky.' Meng-
ford refers to water. A ram drinking water suggests Your Highness' name.47
Its horn propping up the sky indicates the throne
o in
^ o - n # > o 48
Song Jingye interpreted a traditional chen prophecy for Gao Yang:
The chapter "Ji lan tu" o f the A pocrypha to the Classic o f Change goes:
"Ding [the Caldron],49 in the fifth month, a sage will be the ruler. Heaven
will prolong his life. In water at the northeast, a commoner will rule as king.
'High' will obtain it."501 humbly note that "the water at the northeast" means
Bohai;51 That "High will obtain it" makes clear that the Gao family will
47 The given name o f Gao Yang, Yang 'f£, is a ram plus a water radical.
48 See Bs, 7.258.
49 The fiftieth hexagram. See Richard Wilhelm, trans. , The I Ching, rendered into English
by Cary F. Baynes (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 193.
50 These two lines can also be punctuated as: "A commoner named Wang Gao will obtain it"
A 3 E i§i = 1 wonder whether or not there was a commoner Wang Gao who claimed
that he was the future of the mandate.
51 A commandery was centered to the northeast o f modem Nanpi $3 County in Hebei. The
Gao family was from there.
101
obtain the world52 0 : « > S .R » ^ A ^ »
% -ffi » JlCtt** » I A I » °- ;M
% Z > 0 ^ i f ^ # A m 53
Although many powerful nobles and influential officials disapproved, Gao Yang
finally determined to proceed with the mandate-transfer in the fifth month o f the
gen g wu year. O f course, there were other reasons for Gao Yang to consider, but
the choice o f timing was obviously influenced by the chen prophecies.
Gao Yang's enthronement was not the only case in which belief in chen
prophecy played a significant role in Northern Qi politics. During the reign o f Gao
Yin Hi J§5 (r. 559-560), Gao Yang's successor, a powerful chancellor and imperial
uncle, Gao Yan Hi $ f, was actually in charge o f the government. Soon "people
throughout the world all took pleasure in lauding [Gao Yan], songs and rhymes
were everywhere" Princes, dukes, commanders and
governors all presented memorials concerning auspicious portents and favorable
chen prophecies. In the eighth month o f the second year o f Gao Yin's reign (560),
Gao Yan murdered his nephew and enthroned himself. This was Emperor Xiaozhao
(r. 560-561) o f the Northern Qi.
52 Gao as a stative verb means "high."
53 See BQs, 49.675.
54 See £Oy, 31.420.
102
3. 2 Northern Zhou and Sui
The transfer o f the mandate from the Western Wei empire to the Northern
Zhou took place in 557, five years after the Eastern Wei. According to the theory o f
Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures, the Northern Zhou should have been under
the influence o f wood, with dark blue as its symbolic color, since the Wei was
associated with water and the color black. However, in proceeding with the transfer
some court officials made the following suggestion: "Since King Wen55 was bom
with the auspicious portents o f the black aeromantic sign,56 and there has been a
chen prophecy o f a 'Black River,' the proper color should be black" fg[ 3: H
M Emperor Xiaomin # RJ (r. 557)
approved. The Head Royal Astrologer presented proofs o f auspicious portents.58
The formal transfer o f the mandate from the Northern Zhou to the Sui was
basically similar. The Sui H istory tells us that after serving as the chancellor in
charge o f imperial affairs, Yang Jian wanted to show the world auspicious portents
in order to prepare for the transfer. A Taoist priest, Zhang Bin was greatly
55 Referring to Yuwen Tai ^ ^ , the first powerful chancellor o f Western Wei who
actually set the power base of the Yuwen family and thus was recognized as the founder of
Northern Zhou. His first posthumous title was Wen wang I (King Wen), later he was
promoted to Wen Huangdi SCM ^ (Emperor Wen).
56 See Zs, 1.1.
57 See Zs, 3.46.
58 SeeRs, 9.331.
103
favored by Yang because he spoke highly o f the signs o f the change o f mandate.59
When Yang first enthroned himself, in order to dispel the doubts concerning his
legitimacy among the common people, he revealed that there had been a large
number o f auspicious portents and chen prophecies in his favor. "The number o f
those who presented fabricated [portents and 'chen prophecies'] was beyond
counting" ^ ^ j s [Td ^ I f - 60 It is not impossible that the
flourishing o f chen prophecy in this case was at least as great as that o f the Southern
Dynasties. Even Li Delin (530-590), a learned scholar and one o f the major
advisers o f Emperor Wen, wrote the essay "Tian ming lun" ^ pp jj$i [Discourse on
the Mandate o f Heaven] to justify the legitimacy o f Sui and win over competitors
from both the south and north. In his essay he writes: "[The emperor accepted the
throne only after] all the ministers in court and governors all over the empire
[submitted sincerely and loyally] in accordance with the writings in the prophetic-
apocryphal texts and at the request o f the bulk o f the population" I f § f ^
S tt ’ £ ■ * £ :* : > I f . 61
59 See Sui, 17.420.
60 See Sui, 6.117.
61 See Sui, 42.1204.
104
4) Belief in Chen prophecy Among the Rulers
The elaborate orchestration o f chen prophecies in support o f an in-coming
emperor naturally was done in order to manipulate public opinion. But the point
here is not whether or not chen prophecy was fabricated. The point here is why chen
prophecy was the only means o f ensuring a peaceful power transition. Was this a
matter o f folk belief or o f deliberate deception? The usual answer has been the
latter, at the cost o f more meaningful discussions.
As w e saw in our discussion in the last chapter, although numerous bans
were issued, the prophetic-apociyphal texts were not eradicated in this period. The
reason, w e suggested, was that belief in chen prophecy still played a significant role
in political struggles.
As mentioned in Chapter I, it was believed that Sima Yi poisoned his general
Niu Jin to avoid an evil fate revealed in a chen prophecy, while Emperor Jianwen o f
Eastern Jin wept when he found out that the style name o f his heir was mentioned in
another unfavorable chen prophecy. These two stories may be legendary. The
following accounts are historical: Shi Hu, the ruler o f Later Zhac, left his capital for
a northeast city, then came back before the enthronement took place, simply to
correspond with a traditional chen prophecy; Fu Jian, the emperor o f Former Qin,
seriously believed in chen prophecy even at the risk o f his life; Liu Yu murdered an
emperor o f the Eastern Jin and enthroned another soon before he proceeded with
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of the copyright owner. F urther reproduction prohibited without permission.
105
the mandate-transfer because o f the chen prophecy "there will be two more
emperors after Changming;" Emperor Yang o f Sui intended to kill everyone with the
surname Li. Additional accounts o f this kind can be found in the historical records
during the period.
Emperor Gong, the last emperor o f the Eastern Jin, was fond o f a game
when he w as still a prince: he had good archers shoot at horses just for fun. Later
some one warned him: "Ma (horse) is the surname o f the imperial house, yet you
yourself kill them. This is extremely bad" 62
Emperor Ming Bfj (r. 465-472) o f Song "in his later years was interested in
ghosts and deities, and shunned numerous things as taboo. In both spoken and
written language, he had several hundred or a thousand words, such as 'calamity,'
'destruction,' 'inauspicious,' 'death' and similar terms which were to be avoided.
Anyone who violated the taboo would be charged and executed without fail" 7}^ ^
’ m m x w >
i 1 np * W M f f W,- 63 This kind o f sensitivity to the prophetic function o f
language, no doubt, is related to belief in chen prophecy.
A commander o f Liang named Du Yi ifl. 515-552), who was famous
for his intrepid and warlike nature, once lost an eye and his horse in a battle with
62 See Js, 10.269-270.
63 See Ss, 8.170.
10 6
Western Wei in 535. H e killed a Wei cavalier and took his horse, then raced back to
his lines. During the reign o f Emperor Yuan % (r. 552-554) o f Liang, the emperor
suspected him because o f a chen prophecy that went: "There will be a blind Son o f
Heaven under a single Hang (beam)" ^ ^ ^ l r M It happened that Du
Yi was going to re-bury his grandfather and father.65 The emperor ordered the
gravediggers working for the Du family to build the new graveyard in an
inauspicious way. In the next year Du Yi died.66 The Du family was powerful in the
military, and Emperor Yuan may have been quite happy to see Du Yi's death for
practical concerns. The fact that Du Yi's brothers and nephews continued to serve
the Liang house as commanders after his death suggests that what Emperor Yuan
disliked was connected with the chen and Du's loss o f one eye, for otherwise he
would have executed or removed all members o f the Du clan from the military.
64 See Ns, 64.1556-1557.
65 A possible reason to do so was that he wanted to have a new site with betterfengsui 10,
(geomantic position) for his family graves.
66 See Ns, 64.1557. This mysterious story only exists in the Southern Histories' "Du Ze
zhuan" ifcfcMO& [Memoir on Du Ze], a younger brother o f Du Yi, and is not in the parallel
memoir in the Liang History. This could mean that it was added by the compilers o f the
Southern Histories.
107
Chen Baxian, the founder o f the Chen dynasty, who came from a lower
social background, was also fond o f reading texts on history and warfare and
interested in the prophetic-apocryphal texts and divination.67
Starting from Gao Huan, the leaders o f the Gao family, the ruling house o f
Northern Qi, tried to avoid Buddhist monks when they went out because a magician
had foretold that "someone wearing black clothing will destroy Gao" £ pt) ^3 Jit
35c,68 and Buddhist monks usually wore black at that time. But Gao Yang, Emperor
Wenxuan, seemed to be especially fearful. He asked his attendants, "What kind o f
thing is the darkest?" They replied, "Nothing can be darker than [black] qi ^
(lacquer)." The emperor, because "seven" was homonymous with "lacquer,"
executed the Prince o f Shangdang _h M ,69 his younger brother and the seventh son
o f his father. Looking into the incident, w e cannot rule out the possibility that Gao
Yang intended to use chen as an excuse to eliminate his brother, a potential rival for
the throne. However, we cannot simply conclude that the avoidance o f Buddhist
monks by the leaders o f the Gao family over a long period o f time was merely to
manipulate or deceive someone. It must have been genuine that made them so.
67 See "Chen benji" ^ ^ [Basic Annals o f Chen], in the Southern Histories, 257. This
account does not exist in the parallel basic annals in the Chen History.
68 See BQs, 10.136.
69 Located to the north of modem Changzhi U t o in Shanxi jJLj 0 .
108
This can be seen more clearly in the Northern Q i H istory :
Earlier, Emperor Wenxuan had Xing Shao70 name his Heir. As it turned out,
[the Heir] was named Yin71 and styled Zhengdao. Emperor Wenxuan soon
blamed Xing: "Within the Yin house [o f Shang], a younger brother would
succeed to the throne [when his elder brother died]. In addition, the
character zheng IE (right) is composed o f y i —* (one) and zhi jE (to end).
My son will be unable to have the throne after me." Xing Shao was
frightened and asked permission to rename [the boy]. Emperor Wenxuan did
not allow this and said: "It is Heaven's will." He thus told his younger
brother Gao Yan: "If you have to take [the throne], take it; but be sure not
to kill [my son]" ®
• - 35* • WrSt#° -0 :- • * H !S « «
B : - * 72
It so happened that less than one year after Gao Yin succeeded his father, his uncle
Gao Yan usurped the throne and soon murdered him. The Northern Oi H istory
anecdote at first looks suspect. Since Gao Yang killed many family members to
70 Xing Shao(/7.490-560) was a learned scholar and imperial adviser.
71 Like the early Chinese dynasty, also known as Shang ® .
72 See 5 0 s , 5.76.
109
protect his Heir from potential usurpers, how could he possibly not have recognized
the threat to the Heir from Gao Yan and disposed o f him? But as a matter o f fact, in
the later years o f Emperor Wenxuan's reign, Gao Yan was indeed in an extremely
dangerous position and was distrusted by his brother, the emperor. He escaped
death because o f his skill as an administrator which made him useful to the emperor,
and because he was under the protection o f the powerful Empress Dowager Lou,
the mother o f both Gao Yang and Gao Yan.73
Noteworthy here is the way Emperor Wenxuan associated the character
zheng with y i and zhi. This way o f thinking was prevalent during early medieval
China, as w e will see in Chapter IV.
73 See Lii Chunsheng S # ® , êi Qi zhengzhi shi yanjiu W JSC'fn ^ W % (Taibei:

Taiwan daxue chuban weiyuanhui, 1987), 214.
110
CHAPTER III
THE STUDY AND TRANSMISSION OF PROPHETIC-
APOCRYPHAL TEXTS
1) Introduction
B elief in chert prophecy among the rulers o f early medieval China was not an
isolated social phenomenon. During this period, members o f many social strata
believed in chert prophecy. Scholars were no exception in this regard. In this
chapter, I will describe the continuous line o f learning and transmission o f the
prophetic-apocryphal texts among canonical scholars, who were the most influential
political group among the Chinese intellectuals in early medieval China.
It is commonly agreed that the most prevalent philosophical school among
early medieval Chinese intellectuals was the school o f Metaphysical Learning, which
studied the Classic o f Changes, Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi, while the most widely
accepted school in canonical studies was the Old Text School. At the same time,
newly developed forms o f Taoism and Buddhism were favored by many intellectuals
and scholars. The prophetic-apocryphal texts, which were closely related to the N ew
Texts School, declined in popularity, first among intellectuals and scholars, then
among the other social groups o f the period.
Ill
This view o f early medieval Chinese scholarship holds true only to a certain
extent. Cultural phenomena are complex. If a cultural tradition does not suddenly
disappear simply because o f a ban, as seen in the last chapter, it would certainly not
completely disappear because o f a change in scholastic or intellectual fashions. The
o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts had indeed passed their golden age and soon
became an object o f criticism by serious scholars. Yet the study and transmission o f
this school o f thought was not seriously disrupted during these three and half
centuries and was passed on until the Sui via many influential Confucian scholars.
In Chapter I, I already pointed out that numerous imperial advisors and
scholar-officials, such as Wang Duo in Fu Hong's reign, Su Kan in the Southern Qi,
Shen Yue, Ren Fang and Ruan Xiaoxu in the Liang, Yan Feng and Xu Qian in the
Northern Wei, Xu Zhicai and Song Jingye in the Northern Qi, Cui Zhongfang, Niu
Hong, Wang Shao, Xiao Ji and Xu Shanxin in the Sui, all studied the prophetic-
apocryphal texts and publicly quoted the texts in court debates about politics and
ritual. In this chapter I will concentrate on the study o f the prophetic-apocryphal
texts among canonical scholars.
Pi Xirui JF£ $§ ^ (1850-1908) in his Jing xne lishi [History o f
Canonical Learning], defines the Western and Eastern Han as "The Heyday o f
Canonical Learning;" the Three States, the Western and Eastern Jin
and the Sixteen States as "The Period o f Decline o f Canonical Learning;"
112
|£f f t and the Southern and Northern Dynasties as "The Period o f Factionalization
o f Canonical Learning." The dynamic and chaotic early medieval
period, although it contributed quite a few great poets and writers and numerous
remarkable philosophical and religious thinkers, was indeed not a period in which
canonical learning flourished. However, a modem historian o f canonical studies, Ma
Zonghuo JH H , does not completely accept Pi's periodization. He notes that
while it is not easy to make a fair comparison o f the situation o f canonical learning
between the Han or the Three States and Western Jin, since both periods possessed
a large number o f remarkable scholars. According to him, what we can be sure o f is
that canonical learning during the later period underwent greater changes and
experienced greater challenges than before.2
The N ew Text school did decline when the Jin court moved to the south.3
Having been through endless battles and chaos, central and local schools for the
most part closed, and canonical learning went into decline during the Southern and
Northern Dynasties. Still, the transmission o f canonical learning was never
completely severed and numerous learned scholars preserved the tradition quite
1Hong Kong: Zhonghua shuju, 1961.
2 See Ma Zonghuo, Zhongguo jing xue shi cf3 Ssl M. ^ (Taibei: Shangwu yinshuguan,
1966), 68.
3Ibid, 69.
R e p ro du ced with perm ission of the copyright owner. Fu rther reproduction prohibited without permission.
113
well. These scholars prepared a solid foundation for the development o f canonical
learning during the Tang dynasty.4 In other words, early medieval China was not
merely a period o f transition between the Han and Tang dynasties. It also made its
own contribution to the tradition.
As Ma Zonghuo has pointed out, the methodology o f canonical learning
during early medieval China was distinguished from Han studies by its focus.5
Generally speaking, Chinese canonical learning is annotative and interpretive,
although creative and innovative ideas and thoughts often lie behind such
annotations and interpretations. While the focus o f Han canonical scholars was the
canonical texts themselves and Han commentaries interpreted jin g , the classics, early
medieval scholars aimed at reinterpreting the Han commentaries. Since at that time
the prophetic-apocryphal texts were commonly recognized as an interpretive
complement to the classics, it was very natural for the early medieval canonical
scholars to be attracted to such texts. They also attracted historians, astrologers and
astronomers.
Most writings o f this era have not come down to us in their entirety. Rather
they are preserved as fragments quoted in the Tang annotations on the classics. This
dissertation therefore attempts to understand the role o f the prophetic-apocryphal
4 Ibid, 75-88.
5 Ibid, 85.
114
texts in early medieval canonical learning based on, first, memoirs on canonical
scholars in the official histories and second, the Qing collections o f the fragments o f
early medieval canonical studies, such as M a Guohan's |j | §§f (1794-1857) Yuhan
s h a n fa n g jiy i shu H iiij H -6
2) The Study and Transmission of Prophetic-apocryphal Texts Among
Scholars
2. 1 The Jin (265-420)
Zhang Hua jrHiji (232-300), the best known and most versatile scholar o f his
time and a faithful advisor o f Emperor Wu and Emperor Hui o f Jin, was, according
to his memoir, "excellent and erudite in studies. His writing was mellow and
beautiful, and his open view was free o f obstruction. H e closely read all the
prophetic-apocryphal texts and books o f the applied arts" ^ {& ^ ^ iS.
m> @ & £ Ir M I t ” 7 He was in favor o f conquering
Wu during Emperor Wu's reign. Before Jin's conquest o f Wu, there was a purple
aeromantic sign between the Dou if* and Niu 4 1 constellations. Zhang heard that Lei
Huan I f j$|, a native o f Yuzhang ^ Jp» commandery,8 was skillful in astrology. He
6 Kyoto: Chubun shuppansha, 1990.
7 See Js, 36.1068.
8 The commandery was centered in modem Nanchang j|j H in Jiangxi.
115
invited Lei Huan over to stay with him, so that they "could observe the celestial
movements together, and foresee good and ill events" cf
l*l.9
Xiahou Zhan J (fl. 243-291), was from a powerful aristocratic
family.10 His father, Xiahou Zhuang J f $£, was the Governor o f Huainan
commandery11 o f Wei. Zhan himself was well known for his literary talent. His
contemporaries called Zhan and Pan Yue jgf £5 (247-300), a talented writer o f the
Western Jin, the "linked jade disks" a H # . 12 Xiahou Zhan wrote the "Kundi gao" _§-
% fin [Admonition to Brothers], in which he praised his father, Governor Xiahou
Zhuang: "From the San Jen, Wu dian, Ba suo and Jin qiu n down to prophetic-
9 See Js, 36.1075.
10 It is said that Cao Cao's father was originally named Xiahou. Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun
were cousins. Dun later served as a commander and was greatly trusted by Cao
Cao. Xiahou Zhan's great grandfather, Xiahou Yuan g ^ , was also Cao Cao's cousin
and married Cao Cao's sister-in-law. See Sgz, 9.272 .
11 The commandery was centered in modem Shou county in Anhui which included the
central part o f modem Anhui.
12 See Js, 55.1491.
13 San fen H if t Wu dian £ , JftL, Ba suo J \ and Jiu qiu f i J i , are archaic writings that
have been long lost. During Western Jin, they became a general term referring to archaic
writings. In his explanation of the texts in Zuo Zhuan, 530 B. C. (the twelfth year of Duke
Zhao o f Lu), "He is able to read San fen , Wu dian , Ba suo and Jiu qiu" J e g t fit ’
£ ifit » } \ ^ jx , Du Yu 51 (222-284), the famous commentator of Western Jin,
simply annotates: "All are titles o f archaic writings" j l f Y a n g Bojun % f£j , the
modem commentator comments: "There are many interpretations from ancient times to
present. Since these books had long been lost without even a single character left, there
could be no definite readings." See Chunqiu Zuo zhuan zhu # ^ ^ j i (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju, 1980), 1340-1341.
116
apocryphal texts and the Six Classics, as well as the writings o f hundred schools and
various teachings, there was nothing he did not probe into to explore its hidden
secrets and search out its subtlety and profundity" ' 3 l jSj- ' A ^ ' fi
> mmxm» mmm» m* » s *.14

Du Yi (236-301), a native o f Lujiang commandery, 15 was from a
family that was "well known for its canonical learning for generations, and a
renowned family in the commandery" He "extensively
read extensively in the classics and the writings o f the hundred schools and studied
every book on calendar and the prophetic-apocryphal texts" | § M If H ^
m>
Wen Li SC vT (d. 342), a native o f Ba E commandery, 17 specialized in the
Classic o f Poetry o f the Mao school and the San li H H [Three Classics o f Rites].18
He, Chen Shou ^ 1 ^ ( 2 3 3 - 2 9 7 ) ,19 Li Qian ^ j g a n d Luo Xian H % (d. 270)20 all
14 See Js, 55.1497.
15 This was located in the south of modem Anhui.
15 See Js, 91.2353.
17 A commandery was centered in modem Chongqing S J ^ in Sichuan.
18 The Mao school was a branch o f the Old Text school. This suggests that although the
learning o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts had been closely associated with the New Text
school, which had declined during the Three States and Wei-Jin period, scholars o f the Old
Text school maintained an interest in the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
19 The author o f the Records o f the Three States. See his biography in Js, 82.2137-2138.
117
studied with and were recognized as the best students o f Qiao Zhou M jH5 (201-
270),21 who was a great master o f the learning o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts at
the end o f the Eastern Han and who had large numbers o f disciples in the Ba and
Shu regions. He was a legendary figure in this region for his mystical ability to
predict the future. His favorite students would very likely have been taught the
prophetic-apocryphal texts.
Chen Xun ^ |/l| (fl. 244-324), served Sun Hao (r. 264-280), the last
emperor o f Wu, as a diviner and astrologer. During the Western and Eastern Jin he
retired from public service and acted as a private consultant for many officials. He
"was fond o f esoteric learning in his youth, and mastered all the arts o f astrology,
the calendar, yinycmg learning and divination" p t m m * x x ' n m ' ^
Esoteric learning means the learning o f the prophetic-
apocryphal texts.
Gan Bao -p f ? (/7. 320), a well-known historian and writer o f the Eastern
Jin,23 was a commentator on the Confucian classics as well. He annotated the Zuo
20 Luo Xian was the Governor of Badong E ^ commandery (was centered in modem
Pengshui 0 tK County in Sichuan) of Shu and effectively fought back Wei and Wu's
invaders. He later became a governor o f Western Jin. See his biography in Js, 57.1551-
1552.
21 See Js, 91.2347.
22 See Js, 95.2468.
23 Gan Bao wrote a history o f Western Jin that is longer extant. His Sou shen j i fS [In
Search of the Supernatural] is the best known work among the Wei-Jin zhiguai literature.
118
Commentary, Classic o f Changes, and Zhou guan Jn} 'j=f [Zhou Official
Institutions].24 His annotations on the classics no longer exist except for a few
fragments collected in the Yuhan sh anfangji y i shu. In his annotations on the "Tuan
chuan" [Commentary on the Decision] on the third hexagram, Chun t£ , in the
Classic o f Change, he says "If chaos and darkness prevail while heaven is creating,
it is fitting to appoint helpers, without being oneself thereby lulled to rest"
’ J[ M ffO'f' ^ , 25 Gan Bao notes, "The spell o f water was about to end, and
the nature o f wood was about to begin. This was the occasion o f the transition
between the Yin and Zhou" M ^ On the
"Judgment" on the forty-eighth hexagram, Jing # , "Or the jug breaks, it brings
misfortune" JjSR] ^ |® l^ l, Gan states, "Water was the nature o f Yin, and w ood was
the nature o f Zhou. The jin g (well) is the foundation o f the [water] nature" 7fcf$ IS
-tfc ’ 0 On the forty-ninth hexagram G e ^ i, nine in
the fourth place f i 0 , Gan writes, "It was the auspicious sign that the water nature
would be conquered" On the fifty-first hexagram C hen f t , he
annotates: "Zhou possessed the w ood nature, which is the proper image o f the
hexagram Chen" On the forty-third hexagram Guai he
However, the extant text of the Sou shen j i is not necessarily the original writing by Gan
Bao.
24 See Js, 82.2149-2151.
25 Wilhelm, The I Ching, 399.
119
comments, "The length o f time that the essence o f dark blue26 received its mandate
has been revealed here in its entirety" ^ op M
Wang Yanqi $9, another Eastern Jin scholar, in his work Gongyang
Wang M enzi zhu 3 : F*! [The Annotation to the Gongyang Commentary
on the Spring a n d Autumn Annals by Wang Menzi], in annotating the section o f the
first year o f Duke Yin H* (722 B. C.) o f the G ongyang Commentary wrote "who
does the 'king' refer to? It means King Wen [o f the Western Zhou]" 5 ’ IS
H e thinks that "When the Spring a n d Autumn Annals sets up the model o f
'King Wen,' it refers to Confucius rather than Chang o f the Zhou" ) $(] ~SC
I ’ Jh ?L -?■ I f ’ Ir] H t i l - 28 This annotation is based on the theory o f the
apocryphal texts that Confucius was a su wang ^ 3 i ( a king without the throne). He
was a son o f the heavenly deity o f water nature yet came to the earth in terms o f fire
nature. The reason for him coming at the "wrong time" was that he was responsible
for formulating the statutes for the Han, the future dynasty.
26 Meaning the essence o f the wood nature.
27 See Ma, Yuhan shanfang ji y i shu, 213-230.
28 Ibid, 52. Chang was the given name o f King Wen o f the Zhou.
120
2 .2 Former Zhao (304-329)
Tai Chan M. M( / l - 318-329), a native o f Shangluo _h f a commandery,29 "in
his youth specialized in the learning o f the Jing school o f the C lassic o f Changes.
He [later] was also good at prophetic-apociyphal texts, astrology, making calendars,
observation o f winds, and the learning o f six and seven-tenth days" 'p $ ( jS.K;
s> - # ■ * ' m » ' ' < & •> * m s ' a * * x B - t& z .
P . 30 The emperor o f Earlier Zhao, Liu Yao, regarded him as a political advisor and
made him boshi jijiu |t | dr ^ lH (Chief Academician), jia n y i dafu
(Grand Master o f Remonstrance), and ling taishi ling fjj| jfcj £ (Acting Head o f
the Bureau o f Royal Astrology). "Later, what he had prognosticated all came true.
Liu Yao thus valued him even more. His position reached that o f taizi shao shi
'p (Junior Master o f the Heir), and he was granted the noble title Marquis o f
withinthe P ass-g^ m m ^ >mmmz ’ »i i h *#*-31
29 It was centered in the modem Shangzhou )‘li in Shanxi ^ 5 © .
30 See/s, 95.2503. The "six and seven-tenth day," also known as the learning o f guaqi
(hexagram-^/), is a term for the learning o f the Jing school that arranges the sixty-four
hexagrams corresponding to seasons, nodes Iff M, and days, in order to prognosticate future
events through the changes of weather and phenology.
31 SeeJs, 95.2503.
121
2. 3 Former Liang (317-376)
Song Xian was a hermit and a native o f Dunhuang ffc
commandery.32 During the reign o f Zhang Zuo jjrHt^r. 354), he was compelled to
serve as taizi tai fu A"?* A f € ( Senior Tutor o f the Heir). He therefore refused to
eat and soon died. He "understood the classics and the prophetic-apocryphal texts
clearly. The disciples who studied with him numbered more than three thousand"
It would be reasonable to suppose that among
his disciples there were some who were skilled in the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
Guo Yu $[5$§(/7. 340-384), another hermit and native o f Dunhuang, was
versed in the Spring an d Autumn Annals and the Classic o f Filial Piety. His
students numbered more than a thousand. He wrote the X iao jin g cuo wei
[The Crisscross Apocrypha to the C lassic o f Filial Piety] M
2. 4 The Song Dynasty (420-479)
Zhou Xuzhi (377-423), a descendent o f a northern immigrant, was a
resident o f Jianchang ^ H county35 o f Yuzhang commandery. At the age o f twelve,
32 It was centered to the west of modem Dunhuang in Gansu.
33 See .A, 94.2453.
34 Ibid, 2454.
35 It was located to the northwest of modem Nanchang in Jiangxi.
122
he attended the commandery school and studied with the Governor Fan Ning
(f l . 365-374).36 "After few years at the school, he understood all the five classics, as
well as the prophetic-apocryphal texts and prognostication. His reputation surpassed
that o f his schoolmates" ft £ <£M > PI-37 He
later studied the Lao Zi and Classic o f Changes, and entered Mount Lu flS ill to
study with Huiyuan (334-416), a well-known Buddhist monk. He was among
the "Three Hermits o f Xunyang H ^§,"38 associated with Liu Yimin §IJ ££ (fl.
396-407)39 and Tao Yuanming ^ (365 or 372 or 376-427). Zhou was an
important scholar in the Eastern Jin and Song, yet his master, Governor Fan Ning, is
more interesting for our purposes. Fan Ning was also from a northern immigrant
family. His Chunqiu Guliang zhuan jijie # M 1$ M [The Collected
Annotations on the Guliang Commentary on the S prin g and Autumn Annals] is one
o f the few canonical studies o f the Southern and Northern Dynasties handed down
36 See Liu Rulin Dong Jin nan bei chao xueshu biannian
^ (Rpt. Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1992), 65, 75.
37 See Ss, 93.2280. Ma Zonghuo regards Zhou Xuzhi as one of the great experts on classical
ritual during the Southern Dynasties. (Zhongguo jing xue shi, 79) The Southern Histories
has a slight variation: "He understood all the five classics and five apocrypha, that were
referred to as the 'ten classics.' " (75.1865) It is interesting that by the time of Song the
apocryphal texts were still referred as "classics."
38 A commandery was centered to the west o f modem Jiujiang iLlX in Jiangxi.
39 A hermit of the Eastern Jin. Originally named Liu Chengzhi §jlJ $§? , he was fond o f
Buddhism and studied with Huiyuan. See Liu, Dong Jin nan bei chao xueshu biannian ,
104, 137-138.
123
to us. As a learned Old Texts scholar, he was famous for promoting both canonical
learning and social reform, and also for his rejection o f divination and
prognostication. In his six years as the Prefect o f Yuhang ^ county,40 he
promoted Confucian schools and supported students. The author o f the "Fan Ning
zhuan" [Memoir on Fan Ning] o f the Jin H istory writes: "There has never
been a person, since the resurgence o f the Jin, who could compare with Fan Ning in
promoting schools and esteeming education" ^
% -tfJ,41 It is understandable that there is not a single word mentioning that Fan
Ning had anything to do with the prophetic-apocryphal texts in the memoir.
When Fan went to Yuzhang commandery as governor, he again focused his
energy on promoting Confucian schools. Students came not only from within the
commandery but also from more distant districts. Zhou Xuzhi, at the age o f barely
twelve, mastered both canonical and apocryphal texts in just a few years. Although
he must have been gifted, w e would have to assume that his teachers were well
versed in the prophetic-apocryphal texts. According to the tradition at that time, Fan
Ning himself should have been the principal teacher in the commandery school, and
must have been responsible for the teaching o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts in the
school. This reminds us that, in addition to these scholar who are explicitly recorded
40 Located to the west o f modem Hangzhou j'l'l in Zhejiang.
41 See .A, 75.1985, 1985.
124
in history as experts on the prophetic-apocryphal texts in early medieval times, there
w ere surely other authorities as well.
Ren Yu f t JK, the taiwei canjun 0 W (Adjutant o f the Supreme
Commander) o f Song, in discussing the section "Da siyue" if] ^ [Senior Director
o f Musicians] o f the Zhou li Jj|J $f| [Zhou Official Institutions], quoted from the
prophetic-apocryphal texts to interpret the classical texts: "Note that the Apocrypha
to the C lassic o f F ilial P iety mentions that the music during Fu Xi's reign was
named Shu xu. Furthermore, the A pocrypha to the Classic o f M usic says the music
during Zhuan Xu's reign was named Wu jin g, while the music during Emperor Ku's
time was named Liu ying" ^
Yu Weizhi %t W Z , the yuanw ei sanqi changshi M fifc M M { $
(Supernumerary Cavalier Attendant-in-ordinary) o f Song, wrote a Li j i Hie ji e jU fS
[Brief Interpretation on the R ecords o f Social Norms] that is no longer extant.
On a fragment o f his annotation to the "Wang zhi" f t $1] chapter, on the sentence
"The Son o f Heaven will go out to perform the Lei sacrifice to the Supreme Deity"
he commented: "Supreme Deities refer to the deities o f the
Five Natures, or the five deities o f Taiwei, who correspond to the Five Agents. Each
o f the Five Agents has its nature, thus they are called the deities o f the Five Natures”
42 See Ma, Yuhan shanfangji y i shu, 1140.
125
>
Ifilt
» &
0£
3££
i f 43
2. 5 The Southern Qi Dynasty (479-502)
Wang Jian f £ (452-489), was a member o f a famous aristocratic family,
the Wang family o f Langya 3$ JlflS. His mother was a princess o f the Song house. He
himself succeeded to the title o f marquis before the age o f ten, and later married
another Song princess. When Xiao Daocheng, the founder o f the Southern Qi,
proceeded with the mandate-transfer, Wang Jian was one o f Xiao's important
supporters. Thus he was greatly trusted by the Southern Qi house. As a principal
advisor to the first two emperors, Emperor Gao and Emperor Wu, Wang
successively served as shangshu puye jnj H and shangshu ling jpj H ^ (Vice
Director and Director o f the Department o f State Affairs), and had long been in
charge o f personnel affairs in the central administration. To his honorable social
status and reputation and powerful government position, Wang added acumen in
scholarship. He was a skillful writer, well read, and an established bibliographer. In
addition, he was an expert on court ritual and canonical teachings on ritual and
social norms. It is no wonder that Ma Zonghuo, the historian o f Chinese canonical
43 See Ma, Yuhan shanfangji yi shu, 987.
126
learning, regards Wang as one o f the key court figures promoting canonical learning
during the Southern Qi.44
In the first year o f the Southern Qi (479), the Department o f State Affairs
and academicians jointly formulated the ritual procedures for the jia o j i £(S ^
(Suburban Sacrifice)45 and M ing tang HJ] ^ (the Bright Hall).46 As the Vice Director
o f the Department o f State Affairs, Wang Jian quoted from the "Ji ming zheng"
op f t chapter o f the Li w ei |ft $$ [Apocrypha to the Ritual an d Social Norms],
which reads "every three years [one should] perform the xia ^ sa crifice,47 and every
five years [one should] perform the d i sacrifice "H ^ — $?,48 *n
order to complement the explanation in the Li ji . He further quoted from the chapter
"Yuan shen qi" ^ o f the Apocrypha to the Classic o f Filial Piety. "The Bright
Hall has five rooms. On the first day o f every month, staying in one o f the rooms
44 See Ma, Zhongguo jing xue shi, 79-80. The key figure promoting canonical learning
outside the court, according to Ma, was Liu Yan (434-489). He was the most famous
master of canonical learning among Southern Qi scholars. See NQs, 39.677-680.
45 A rite to worship Heaven and Earth.
46 A hall where emperor held grand sacrifices and other ceremonies. The problems on how
the suburban sacrifice should be practiced and what the correct shape of the Ming tang
should be were extensively debated during the Southern Dynasties. Many scholars, officials,
and emperors were involved. It was not simply a scholarly debate but a political issue as
well. This might explain why the study o f ritual procedure was so prevalent during the
Southern Dynasties.
47 A collective sacrifice to all the ancestors o f the ruling house.
48 A sacrifice to the earliest ancestor of the ruling house.
127
appropriate to the month, the Son o f Heaven supervises the administration and
issues his instructions, offers sacrifices to the spirits o f the five heavenly deities, with
[late] lords o f merit and good deeds [by their sides]" B
> g a i ^ W ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ T h e emperor approved.
In the second year o f the Yongming xR reign period (484) o f Emperor
Wu, a court debate on the suburban sacrifice and the Bright Hall again took place.
As the Director o f the Department o f State Affairs at the time, Wang Jian quoted
from the "Chunqiu gan jing fii" ??F50 which reads "Kings regard Heaven
as father and the earth as mother" H i # fife, in order to justify his point that
the sacrifice performed in the northern suburb should take place before those
performed in the Bright Hall.51
2. 6 The Liang Dynasty (502-557)
He Yin foj jK, (446-531), Although from an aristocratic family related to the
empress, and despite having held such high positions as shangshu jqj H (Secretary
o f the Department o f State Affairs) and later Secretariat Director, was personally
fond o f scholarship and Metaphysical Learning. For this reason his memoir was
118-119.
50 A chapter o f the Apocrypha to the Spring and Autumn Annals.
51 See NQs, 9.125, 125.
128
placed in the "Chushi zhuan" [Memoir on Hermits] in the Liang History. He
studied with Liu Huan, the most influential master o f canonical learning during the
Southern Qi, and published annotations on the C lassic o f Changes, R ecords o f
Social Norms, and Classic o f Poetry with M ao Commentary, as well as Buddhist
writings.52 The memoir on He Yin does not mention whether he also knew the
prophetic-apocryphal texts. However, w e do find a fragment o f his L i j i yin y i IfifB
^ H [The Hidden Meaning o f the R ecords o f Social Norms] in which he quotes
from "Chunqiu shuo" # jj& [The Interpretation o f the Spring a n d Autumn
Annals] to explain who Emperor Yan w as:53 "The Interpretation o f the Spring
an d Autumn Annals mentions that Emperor Yan, styled with the clan name Dating,
came down [to the earth] to became the earthly emperor. He created farm tools,
such as plowshares, and planted various grains. Thus he was called the Divine
F a r m e r " # !* !^ * ’ i l # » 0 #
54 The Interpretation o f the Spring a n d Autumn Annals, in fact, refers to the
Apocrypha to the Spring a n d Autumn Annals.
52 See Ls, 51.735-739. His works are no longer extant except for few fragments.
53 Emperor Yan is a legendary culture-hero. See Nienhauser etal. , "The Five Emperors,
Basic Annals 1," in The Grand Scribe's Records,
54 See Ma, Yuhan shanfangjiyi shu, 1000.
129
Cui Lingeng 514), a native o f Qinghe v f ynTcommandery,55 was
very learned. He studied all the five classics, and was especially good at the Three
C lassics o f R ites and the three commentaries on the Spring a n d Autumn Annals. He
earlier served Northern Wei as taichang boshi ^ f il i (Academician o f the
Imperial Ceremonies). In 514 he left the north for the south. Emperor Wu o f Liang
promoted him for his achievements in canonical studies. He was knowledgeable in
both N ew Text and Old Text traditions and had written many books on the Classic
o f P oetry with M ao Commentary, Zhou O fficial Institutions, the Three Classics o f
Rites, and the Zuo, Gongyang, and Guliang commentaries.56 Nonetheless, his
memoir never mentions the prophetic-apocryphal texts. Fortunately, there are few
fragments o f his San l i y i zong H H i l t ^ [The Fundamental Meaning o f the Three
Classics o f Rites]in Ma Guohan's Yuhan shanfang j i y i shu.
With regard to the "Qu Ji" f t $ f |57 chapter o f the Records o f Social Norms
and the sentence "[At the death o f the Son o f Heaven], fit means the Son o f
Heaven have returned" 0 Cui notes, "By fit, one called back [the
spirit o f the deceased] Son o f Heaven. All kings were begotten by the [heavenly]
55 Centered to the east o f modem Linqing county in Shandong.
56 See Ls, 48.676-677. His works are no longer extant.
57 See Wang Mengou 1£ H , Li j i jin zhu jin yi H IB ^ t i M (Taibei: Shangwu

yinshuguan, 1970), 1.
130
deities o f the five essences [o f the Natures], thus they were the Sons o f Heaven.
N ow when a heavenly king passed away, his essential qi returned to the supreme
deities. To call the Son o f Heaven back is to call him back to live again" U fllf
^ Z m m Si > ’ J ig fifM
° ’ 1MW £ . £ . 0 - This interpretation is obviously based on
the theory o f Gan sheng d i in the prophetic-apocryphal texts. He annotates the term
san wei H W. (three subtleties) in the passage "The Xia Hou clan esteems black" |E
fB&Z (r] H , ("Tan gong" ^ ^ chapter)58 as follows: "The 'Qian zao du1 H
chapter o f the Apocrypha to the C lassic o f Changes says, 'Three subtleties
accomplish a manifestation; and a triple manifestation accomplishes the body [o f
things]. Right at this moment, Heaven and earth come into contact with each other,
and the myriad things come to join with one another" H M H ’ H ^3 M f a
$ - s u b l e t . > mm i m .59
Xu M ao I f $$ (464-532), an Old Text scholar with a great knowledge o f
ancient and canonical traditions, was called "the bookcase o f canon and histories" $£
5£i ftj by his contemporaries. At the beginning o f the Liang, there was a suggestion
that the emperor should perform the fe n g shan ^ ceremony on Guiji H and
58 The term san wei, however, is no longer extant in the present edition o f the Li ji.
59 See Ma, Yuhan shanfang j i yi shu, 1161-1162.
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of th e copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
131
Guoshan !£j |1|.60 Xu Mao disagreed and criticized the whole idea o f fe n g shan
because it was simply "a distorted interpretation in the prophetic-apocryphal texts,
but not the common idea in the orthodox classics" { t b ^ H /£. E&1$ ’
H ib,. He further blamed Zheng Xuan ^ (127-200), the master o f canonical
learning o f Eastern Han, someone who was “unable to search for answers from the
orthodox classics so as to believe totally in the interpretation in the prophetic-
apocryphal texts and prognostications. This was absurd" ^ f t # ! Ip IE
M £ Wt * Emperor Wu o f Liang finally accepted Xu's arguments.61
This incident illustrates two points. First, there were scholars who followed the
theory o f fe n g shan provided by Zheng Xuan and the prophetic-apocryphal texts;
and second, scholars good at the study o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts were then
not always the followers o f that teaching.
2. 7 The Chen Dynasty (557-589)
Gu Yue 0 M (492-569), a native o f Wu ^ commandery,62 was from an
aristocratic family with a tradition o f canonical learning and teaching for
60 Mount Guiji is in modem Zhejiang. Mount Guoshan, also known as Mount Lili |$£ J i l_L|,
is located to the southwest of modem Yixing ]l£ J | City in Jiangsu.
61 SeeLs, 40.575-577.
62 It was centered in modem Suzhou jljEjJ'H in Jiangsu.
132
generations. According to the "Rulin zhuan" f |f ^ ^ [Memoir on Confucian
Scholars] in the Southern H istories, in addition to canonical learning, he "thoroughly
understood the minute details o f the subtle words and profound meaning [o f
Metaphysics Learning], the Jiu zhang [The Nine Chapters] and q i y a o [The Seven
Planets],63 musicology and the prophetic-apocryphal t e x t s " h »
•fc ® JsSc l l S f i 0 - When he visited the capital in his youth, "he
visited every accomplished Confucian and great scholar to discuss difficult questions
with" - !» » r c s r * .“
Shen Wen E (503-563) was from a family o f different setting, but
keeping a tradition o f canonical learning tradition. His father, Shen Jun l^ , was
brought up in a farmer's family, but he was fond o f learning. He studied first with a
clansman, then visited various private institutes to learn the classics. In the end he
became knowledgeable in the five classics and an expert on the Three C lassics o f
Rites. He was made wu jin g boshi J L M t lllb (Academician o f the Five Classics) by
the Liang.65 His son, Wen E, studied with his grand uncle Taishi Shuming ^
0f} (475-547) and uncle Wang Huixing 3E ^§JP|, both o f whom were also fond o f
63 Jiu zhang refers to a Han mathematics work, the Jiu zhang suanshu This
sentence qualifies Gu Yue as being good at mathematics and astronomy.
64 See Ns, 71.1752. No mention o f this can be found in the paralleled biography in the Chen
History.
65 SeeLs, 48.678-679.
133
canonical learning and used to study with Shen Jun. A s a result, W en E, combining
all the schools o f canonical learning and establishing his own interpretative theory,
became an influential master o f the Three C lassics o f R ites and the three
commentaries on the Spring a n d Autumn Annals. He successively held the position
o f guo zi boshi [U - p iH dr (Academician at the National Academy) during Liang
and Chen, and was in charge o f formulating ritual procedure66 Nothing is mentioned
in his memoir o f his knowledge concerning the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
A passage in the Zuo Commentary, the fifth year o f Duke Yin PH4a (718 B.
C.) reads: "Dancing is to keep the eight instruments in rhythm and make the wind
o f all directions to flow" fz Mffii A E3 TfnfTA HI-67 Wen E annotates this
sentence as follows:
According to the Apocrypha to the Classic o f M usic, Kan (the Abysmal) 68 is
in charge o f the Winter Solstice, and its corresponding instruments are
winds. Gen is in charge o f the Beginning o f Spring, and its corresponding
instrument is the Xun,69 Zhen is in charge o f the Vernal Equinox, and its
66 See Cs, 33.434.
67 See Yang, Chunqiu zuozhuan zhu, 46-47.
68 This and the following terms are the names o f trigrams o f the Classic o f Changes. The
translations o f the names o f the trigram is based on Wilhelm, The 1 Ching. Kan could also
refer to the north, Gen, the northeast, Zhen, the southeast, Sun, the northwest, Li, the south,
Kun, the east, Dui, the southwest, Qian, the west. See Zhu Xi's H Yi ben y i H ^ |§
(Taibei: Shijie shu ju, reprinted, 1979), 7.
69 It is an ancient egg-shaped, wind instrument with holes.
134
corresponding instrument is the drum; Sun is in charge o f the Beginning o f
Summer, and its corresponding instrument is the sheng pipe;70 Li is in charge
o f the Summer Solstice, and its corresponding instruments are strings; Kun is
in charge o f the Beginning o f Autumn, and its corresponding instrument is
the chime stone; D ui is in charge o f the Autumnal Equinox, and its
corresponding instrument are bells; Qian is in charge o f the Beginning o f
Winter, and its corresponding instruments are the zhu and y u lx" ^ ^ ^
» >m m m ; »m m m ;
f tiis >mmm.; >mm%; >m m m ;a

’ m m m ;
2. 8 The Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534)
Liu Fang Îj ^ (453-513) was a descendent o f the former Han house. He
was knowledgeable in both the N ew Text and Old Text schools. In addition, he was
good at philology and phonology so that he was skillful in interpreting and analyzing
the canonical texts. Contemporary scholars thus called him "Liu o f the Stone
70 Sheng pipe is a musical instrument consisting of a number of pipes of different length; it

has a spout for flowing and fingering keyholes.
71 Zhu and yu are ancient wood percussion instruments.
72 Shen Wen E, Chunqiu zuoshi jing zhuan yi liie Brief

Interpretation o f the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Zuo Commentary] collected by Ma,
Yuhan shanfangji yi shu, 1449.
135
Canons" JEi M .J3 and recognized him as a master o f canonical learning.74 Emperor
Xiaowen thought highly o f Liu Fang and made him guo zi jijiu HH Ik
(Chancellor o f the National Academy) and taichang qing 'fis Wb (Minister o f the
Imperial Ceremonies). He then, thinking that the existing procedures o f the
Suburban Sacrifice had deviated that o f the ancient times, submitted a memorial to
correct the existing ones. In his arguments, he extensively quoted from various
commentaries and interpretations by early canonical masters, including the
annotation to the "Han wen jia" itT H? chapter o f the Apocrypha to the Ritual an d
Social Norms. In the fourth year o f the Yongping zk reign period o f Emperor
Xuanwu 1l[ jit (511), the Northern Wei court held a debate on the social norm
concerning how long a mourning period a grandson should observe for his
grandmother. Liu Fang, based on the Records o f Social Norms and the "Ji ming
zheng" I f pp chapter o f the Apocrypha to the Ritual, argued with the
73 Because o f the endless debate on the textual and editorial problems among various schools
of canonical learning, starting in the fourth year o f the Xiping reign period o f Emperor
Ling & o f Eastern Han (175), and based on the famous scholar and calligrapher Cai Yong's
HI handwriting, the government erected stones with the inscriptions of thr* Confucian
classics in order to provide a standard version for canonical learning; thus the classics of
this version have been called the Xiping Stone Canons. Later, during the reign period o f the
Zhengshi IE$pof Cao Fang Hf^yofWei (240-243), another version o f stone inscriptions of
the classics were made, which version has been called the Zhengshi Stone Canons. Thus the
term "stone canons" meant standard canonical versions.
74 See Ws, 55.1219-1220; Ma, Zhongguo jingxue shi, 84.
136
academicians at guo m e |H ^ [the National Academy] and tai xue ^ [the
Imperial Academy], Finally the emperor accepted the academicians' proposal.75
Fang Jingxian (476-518) was bom to a poor family and could not
afford to study with a master. His mother taught him the C lassic o f Poetry with
M a o ’s Commentary and the "Qu li" chapter o f the Records o f Social Norms in his
youth. During the Taihe reign period (477-499) o f Emperor Xiaowu, he was made
an Academician o f the Imperial Academy. Even contemporary masters o f canonical
learning, such as Liu Fang, the Minister o f the Imperial Ceremonies, and Cui Guang
the sh izh o n g ffitfi (Director o f the Chancellery), admired his proficiency and
erudition. His work Wu jin g y iw e n [The Questions on the Five Classics]
is no longer extant. However, few pieces o f it are preserved in his biography in the
Wei History. For example, he answered the question what was the meaning o f "a
king will receive the mandate [o f Heaven] when the w ood [nature] generates the fir e
[nature]" |n 3 3 i% '^ a p » ^ A ;ttl! zfc, by explaining that "The five essences beget
each other in turn, those who inherit the divine nature [o f the new-born essence] will
rise" £ fjf f t H "76 The question, obviously, is not about canonical
texts, but prophetic-apocryphal texts. Fang's answer was based on these texts, too.
Liu Lan {fl. 477-514) first got a chance to enter an elementary school
75 See Ws, 108: 4.2793.
76 See Ws, 43.978.
R e p ro d u c e d with permission of the copyright owner. F urther reproduction prohibited without perm ission.
137
only in his thirties. Although he was slow to start, he was quick to learn the Spring
an d Autumn Annals, Classic o f Poetry, and the Three Classics o f Rites. His family
was poor and could not afford to pay his tuition. He had to farm and study at same
time. Three years later, Liu opened his own school and gathered two-hundred
students. Soon he was brought to the attention o f the rulers. Within his life, Liu
taught several thousand students. In his lectures Liu "examined the reasons why the
classics and early exegetic texts [have said so], traced the sources o f the [Han]
commentators' ideas, and consulted the prophetic-apocryphal texts and
prognostications and other earlier Confucian scholars' anecdotes, all in meticulous
d
etail"mmmzfe» » mxnmRVtmw»sums.77
Diao Chong (fl. 512-519), a native o f Bohai commandery, was from a
powerful noble family. Both his great grandfathers, Diao Yong $j| (paternal) and
Gao Yun jf|[ (maternal), were well known ministers in the early Northern Wei.
Diao Chong himself was greatly fond o f scholarship. He "studied well the entire
canon, and was partial to Zheng Xuan's commentary. He was interested in and
grasped the ideas o f all kinds o f writings, including yinyang, prophetic-apocryphal
texts, mathematics, astrology and the observation o f winds and aeromantic signs.
His contemporaries admired his proficiency and erudition" ^ 3® INj M HP
m m ' ' m m ' m m m #**
77 See Ws, 84.1851.
138
|1| . 78 Every year several hundred students came to study with him. In addition to
canonical learning, there must have been some among them who also studied the
prophetic-apocryphal texts with him.
Jia Sibo (d 525), a native o f Qi ^ commandery,79 was originally a
Confiician scholar. Later he was recognized by Emperor Xiaowen for his
administrative ability, and successively served as governor, general, tingwei qing $ £
JJjlp (Minister o f Justice), and weiwei qing % jj^JJ (Minister o f the Palace
Garrison). In the famous court debate on the institution o f the Bright Hall, he
submitted a memorial to the emperor, supporting the theory o f "five rooms," on the
basis o f the Zhou Official Institutions, R ecords o f Social Norms, C lassic o f Poetry,
M encius, and the "Yuan shen qi" chapter o f the A pocrypha to the C lassic o f F ilial
Piety." Scholars thought well o f his deliberation"
Wang Yanye 5E M M was an Academician at the Imperial Academy in
Emperor Xiaoming's reign. At the beginning o f the Shengui H. reign period (518-
519), the powerful Empress Dowager Hu S9 81 personally supervised the court. She
therefore was able to confer a noble title on her father posthumously and bury him
78 Ibid, 1858.
79 It was centered in modem Zibo i° Shandong.
80 See JTs, 72.1612-1615.
81 She was also known as Empress Ling .
139
with especially honorable ritual. When she further decided to build five temples for
him, voices in opposition rose from the scholars.82 Wang Yanye was one o f the
opposition. He quoted Zheng Xuan's commentary and the Apocrypha to the Ritual
a n d S ocial Norms, as well as the precedent o f Jin house, to oppose the Empress
Dowager Hu,83 while another Academician Lu Guan DU f § held a pro-Empress
position, also on the basis o f the apocryphal texts.84 In the end, the influential Prince
o f Qinghe yjf ?Rl, Yuan Yi j t & , supported Wang Yanye's standpoint because "As
for the ancient references, we shall refer to what the Apocrypha to the R itual an d
Social Norms and numerous canonical scholars have said, and for the more recent
references we shall follow the precedent o f Duke Jin's temples" ( H ^ ) UNI
{W flfM ’ Only then did the debate came to a conclusion
thwarting Empress Dowager Hu's wishes.
Feng Weibo (492-527) was versatile and talented. He held the post
o f Academician at the Imperial Academy and participated in important court
82 In Imperial China, the rank of mourning and sacrificial ritual was a very serious political
issue, because it would sometimes cause the breaking off of the proper legitimate line of
royal succession. Particularly in the cases in which an empress dowager personally
supervised the court or the emperor was not a legitimate successor due to that the late
emperor did not have a direct heir, Confucian scholars and court ministers would be very
vigilant to which for any signs of improper and excessive ritual.
83 See Ws, 108: 2.2767-2768.
84Ibid, 2768-2770.
85 Ibid, 2770-2771.
140
discussions in his teens. During the Northern Wei, the shape and institution o f the
Bright Hall was continuously debated among canonical scholars without any
conclusion being reached. "Weibo thus collected and examined the canonical and
prophetic-apocryphal texts [which concerning the Bright Hall], and submitted the
M in g tang tu shuo [A Illustrated Interpretation o f the Bright Hall] in six juan" f${£j
T b tS W ^ ’ ±
Gao Qianzhi {ft- 520-528), a hereditary baron and a capable official
serving Emperor Xiaoming ^ BJ (r. 515-528), was fond o f history and canonical
learning as well. "He had read many o f the astrological, mathematical, calendaric,
and prophetic-apocryphal texts" ' MM '
Li Yexing (484-549), a native o f Shangdang J t M commandeiy,88
was from a family with a tradition o f canonical learning. He himself studied with Xu
Zunming the most influential master o f canonical learning o f the Northern
Dynasties.89 Xu Zunming (475-529) was a native o f Huayin l}§ ^ commandery.90
He would select the best masters to study with and choose the best classical editions
86 See Ws, 32.766.
87 See Ws, 77.1708.
88 It was centered to the north o f modem Changzhi in Shanxi (JLj 0 .
89 See Ma, Zhongguo jing xue shi, 81.
90 It was centered to the east o f modem Huayin County in Shanxi ^ 0 .
141
to work on, favoring no specific schools. He soon established his own scholarly
reputation. According to Ma Zonghuo, the teaching and transmission o f the various
classics during the Northern Dynasties essentially began with Xu. Many o f his
disciples later became masters o f different classics.91 Nevertheless, at the beginning
Xu was little known and his students were few, so that a contemporary scholar and
an Academician, Xianyu Lingfu looked down on him. Li Yexing, one o f
Xu's early disciples, helped his master to establish his reputation by baffling Xianyu
with questions on the Zuo Commentary. All o f Xianyu's students thus turned their
backs on him and went to Xu's school. From that point Xu became more and more
famous.92 It is interesting that although the "Memoir on Confucian Scholars" o f the
Wei H istory does not mention that Xu knew prophetic-apociyphal texts, several
well known disciples o f his were skilled in them, including Li Yexing and Xiong
Ansheng, whom I will introduce later.
Li Yexing, according to the "Memoir on Confucian Scholars" o f the Wei
H istory, "practiced everything well, including the prophetic-apocryphal learning,
observation o f winds, astrology and divination, and was particularly famous for
mathematics and making calendar. Scholars admired his erudition" ' JH^j '
91 See Ma, Zhongguo jingxue shi, 82.
92 See Ws, 84.1861.
142
xnknmm&wn* nmmxmw* i n 529,

he was granted the noble title o f earl for his achievement in revising the calendar.
When the Northern Wei split into tw o empires, Li served the eastern empire, the one
under the Gao family's control. In the fourth year o f Tianping reign period o f
Emperor Xiaojing ^ §§?, as the emperor's shi du flp (Reader-in-waiting), Li
served as one o f envoys to the Liang, the contemporaneous southern dynasty.
During this time o f peace, debating between North and South were
fashionable. Thus an envoy had to be both versatile and eloquent. At that time, the
southern courts had adopted Wang Su's theory as the basis o f its suburban-sacrifice
ritual, while the northern courts had adopted Zheng Xuan's theory. When Li arrived
at the Liang court, he began a debate on the ritual procedures with Zhu Yi a
Cavalier Attendant-in-ordinary o f the Liang. Li criticized the fact that the shape o f
Liang's Bright Hall was a square hall with four pillars; the proper shape, according
to Li, should be a square hall with a round roof. Zhu Yi argued: "The theory o f 'a
square hall with a round roof does not appear in the classics; why should you think
a square hall s t r a n g e " t l ? Li responded: "The
reference to 'a square hall with a round roof is easily found, you simply do not want
93 Ibid.
94 Zhu Yi (482-548), well learned in his teens, was favored by Emperor Wu of Liang for his
intelligence and eloquence. He was the one who incited Emperor Wu to receive Hou Jing, the
northern betrayer. Zhu later was blamed to be responsible for the chaos caused by Hou. See
Ls, 38.537-540.
143
to see it. I have read the lectures on the M eaning o f the Classic o f F ilial P iety by
the lord o f Liang,95 recorded by you sir, which also speak o f 'a square hall with a
round roof.' Aren't your words self-contradictory" * UPS
< # £ « >
it is so" Zhu Y i said, "exactly in which classic can the reference of'square hall
with round roof be found" g ] fct} f S J " I t is mentioned in the 'Yuan shen qi'
chapter o f the Apocrypha to the C lassic o f F ilial Piety" |±J ^ Li
replied. Zhu refuted: "How can one believe the words in prophetic-apocryphal texts"
H" ’ fn jffifstb ,? Li answered: "If you, sir, do not believe in [the prophetic-
apocryphal texts], then, do you believe in [the deities] which also have no reference
in canonical texts, such as Ling wei yang and Yi guang ji, '
V + » i P l S f s ^ ? Zhu had no response to this.
Ling wei yang and Yi guang ji are the names o f two o f the "five heavenly
deities"96 mentioned in the prophetic-apocryphal texts. The founders o f the Wei, Jin
and Southern and Northern Dynasties all claimed that they were the legitimate sons
o f the five heavenly deities so that they were qualified to rule the empire in turns.
They were the divine basis for the legitimacy o f these ruling houses. N o wonder Zhu
Yi did not dare to refute Li's argument.
95 This lord o f Liang refers to Emperor Wu of Liang.
96 See Chapter II for more about Gansheng di.
144
Since Zhu Yi could not baffle Li Yexing, Emperor Wu o f Liang, who was
knowledgeable about canonical learning, personally examined Li concerning the
meanings o f the C lassic o f Changes, Classic o f Documents, and the Three Classics
o f Rites. When the emperor asked, in the chapter "Shun Dian" ^ [Canon o f
Shun] o f the C lassic o f Documents, "what kind o f the first month is this" libJifR jIE
in reference to the sentence "On the first day o f the first month, [Shun] received the
[throne] abdicated [by Yao] in the temple o f Wen zu" IE E3 ± B Li
replied: "This is the first month o f the Xia calendar" lit Je J t IE El • The emperor
asked how he knew this, and Li replied: "Note that the 'Yun xing pian' jig f f H
chapter o f the Shang shu zhong hou jnj ^ rf3 ]ij|97 says: 'The sun and moon began to
revolve.' I therefore know that it is the first month o f the Xia calendar" % ( H
■t'M* ^ B
El ’ & & X E -98 This entire story is mentioned in
the Wei H istory but not in the Liang History. The Wei H istory has a bad reputation
for exaggeration. Even if this story has been overstated, w e can still observe the
attitude toward prophetic-apocryphal texts among scholars and emperors during this
period.
97 An apocrypha to the Classic o f Documents.
98 See Ws, 84.1863-1864.
145
2. 9 The Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577)
Li Gongxu 0 ( / 7 . 550), a native o f Zhao M commandery," was from a
powerful noble family. Living in such a chaotic age, he had no political ambitions
but "was very skilled in the learning o iy in ya n g and the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
Once he told someone: 'Whenever I observe the field allocation100 o f the [Northern]
Qi, [I see that] it will not have much fortune. The blessedness to the empire and the
house, will end at four-seven1 0 A 0 • “
” 101 Four times seven is twenty-
eight, and this was the number o f years the Northern Qi dynasty lasted.
2. 10 The Northern Zhou Dynasty (556-581)
Shen Zhong U (500-583), a native o f Wuxing ^ JH,102 a master o f
canonical learning in his time, served Liang as wu jin g boshi £ S ^ i
(Academician o f Five Classics). Later he served Xiao Cha Hf ^ (r. 555-561), the
ruler o f the Later Liang, a dependency o f the Northern Zhou, as du guan shangshu
99 It was ceiueied in modem Zhao county M i l in Hebei.
100Fen ye frig? indicates a geographical location in terms of an astrological scheme.
101 See BQs, 29.396.
102 A commandery was centered in modem Wuxing county in Zhejiang.
146
1$ Hf IrJ il l (Secretary o f Justice and Irrigation Works). Emperor Wu o f the
Northern Zhou, Yuwen Y ong ^ ^ (r. 561-578), intending to promote
Confucian learning, invited Shen Zhong to the capital to lecture on the classics in
court and to teach the Heir. Shen was appointed as biaoqi d a jiangjun Hf fz
W (Agile Cavalry General-in-Chief), kai fu y i long sansi |{§ IH 1^1 H WJ
(Excellency Unequaled in Honor),103 Lu men boshi P i t # dr (Academician at the
Imperial Academy o f the Lu Gate). At the end o f the Jiande ^ reign period
(572-577), Shen retired from the Zhou court and returned to the south. He died in
the early Sui. Shen Zhong, basically an Old Text scholar, was versed in the Classic
o f P oetry with M ao Commentary, the Three Classics o f Rites, Zuo Commentary,
and as many contemporary Confucian masters, he "had totally comprehended all
[the books] including yinyang and prophetic-apocryphal texts, as well as Taoist and
m M w m > B T ' m m 104
Xiong Ansheng 499-578), another canonical master o f the
Northern Zhou, was a native o f the north. Xu Zunming was the most famous o f his
masters. Although he was an expert in all the classics as his teacher was, Xiong
devoted himself to the Three Classics o f Rites. He first served the Eastern Wei and
103 A honorific title. See Charles 0 . Hucker, A Dictionary o f Official Titles in Imperial
China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985) 275; Lu Zongli ed. Zhongguo lidai guan
zhi da cidian f^ W ^ J^ i^ A fB eijin g: Beijing chubanshe, 1994), 91.
104 SeeZs, 45.810.
147
Northern Qi as an Academician at the National Academy. Yet his reputation was
well known by the Northern Zhou emperor. When Emperor Wu o f the Northern
Zhou conquered the Northern Qi and entered the capital o f Ye, Xiong had his
servants to clean up the entrance o f the house. His family, puzzled, asked him why
he did so. Xiong replied: "The emperor o f Zhou honors the Way and Confucianism.
H e will certainly come to see me" # fit ’ 'J&}}€ M 105 After a while
Emperor Wu o f Zhou did indeed stop by Xiong's house in person; "Commanding
[Xiong] not to prostrate himself, the emperor held Xiong's hands and lead Xiong to
sit together with him" » 3 | # t |^ ] ^ . 106 X i°ng was granted
a house, grain, silk and other gifts. He was later appointed Academician at the
Imperial Academy o f the Lu Gate. As a well known master in the north, Xiong
attracted more than a thousand students, some o f whom came from long distances
to study with him. Many o f them later became masters themselves. At the beginning
o f the Sui, most academicians in the court and at the Imperial Academy were
Xiong's students. I will bring them up later. In lecturing on ritual, Xiong "discussed
prophetic-apocryphal texts and adopted different explanations. He clarified many
points which earlier masters never understood" 7b fit fra ® W ’ M S frU fa ! ’ 7*ciM
105 Ibid, 813.
106Ibid.
148
M ^ Hi ^ * "ii? Wt i£ 107 Thus his students would certainly have studied
prophetic-apocryphal texts as well.
From his interpretations and explanations o f the Zhou Official Institutions,
R ecords o f Social Norms and Classic o f F ilial Piety, w e can see he did adopt
opinions from various apocryphal texts. For the term San huang Wu d i H M £
(the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors) , 108 Xiong quotes from various
apocryphal texts and their annotations in his argument. For instance, the "Yun dou
shu" j j i i f ' f l i chapter o f the Apocrypha to the Spring an d Autumn Annals regards
Fu Xi Nti Wa and Shen Nong # H a s the Three Sovereigns, while the
"Zhen yao du" chapter o f the Apocrypha to the Classic o f Documents takes
Sui Ren A , Fu Xi and Shen Nong to be the Three Sovereigns.
Xiong further qualifies "sovereign" and "emperor" by referring to apocryphal
texts. For instance, after quoting Song Jun's 5fc # J 109 annotation to the "Han shen
wu" chapter o f the Apocrypha to the Classic o f Poetry, which reads "The
great heavenly sovereign at the North Pole begets humans with his essence" ;[t
fit A , Xiong comments, "If this is so, then all those who
107Ibid, 812.
108 In Xiong's Li j i y i shu M f 2 H 5ft [The Interpretations and Explanations o f the Records
o f Social Norms]. The work is no longer extant, however, fragments o f it are in Ma, Yuhan
shanfangji y i shu. The fragments I use here are quoted from 1052 to 1077.
109 He was an Eastern Han governor and died in 76. His authorship o f the commentaries to
the prophetic-apocryphal texts has been controversial. See Tjan, Po-hu T'ung, 23.
149
proclaim themselves sovereigns have received the q i from the heavenly sovereign"
For the "emperor," he quotes the following line
from the "Kun ling tu" S ® chapter o f A pocrypha to the Spring a n d Autumn
Annals, "The one whose deeds are compatible to those o f Heaven and earth, and are
impartial rather than partial, is called'emperor'" ^ @2^
0 From "Wo he ji" g #2 chapter o f the Zhong hou cjd M apocrypha to the
C lassic o f Documents, he quotes the line "A sovereign should embody the Way and
an emperor should embody the virtue" j |i j j | ^ and comments: "Thus the
distinction between the Three Sovereigns and the Five Emperors is that the
sovereigns carried out the Way while the emperors practiced good deeds"
fT S t ’ S t f f r f c ’
In some cases, his reading really clarifies problems. For example, in the "Qu
li" chapter o f the R ecords o f Social Norms, a sentence -f- 0 is
traditionally read as: "One at the age o f fifty is called 'aged.' He shall serve in an
administrative office."110 Xiong argues that ai f a c t u a lly means "senior" based on
the chapters "Yun heng" jj! and "Zun xian zhe" ^ o f the Zhong hou
apocrypha to the C lassic o f Documents.
But som e times, his clarification only makes it more difficult to understand.
For example, in the interpretation o f the sentence "If [a noble man and his
110Ibid.
150
descendants] have left their home state for three generations, neither their ranks nor
their salaries remain in file in the court, and they receive no orders from the king o f
their home state in regard to their leaving or coming, then they should obey the
statutes o f the new state [where they take residence] at the time they begin to work"
* h = n t > « » i M K ? m i 9 » a t xmmnm»mmz n &mmz&.xu »
Xiong quotes from the "Gou ming jue" $jj pp ^ chapter o f the Apocrypha to the
Classic o f F ilial P iety the line: "The supreme [Confucius] was the lord who
formulated statutes; dark red and green will not go against112 dark blue and
yellow.113 The Sage114 specially formulates the statutes [for the Han dynasty], which
is distinguished from common social norms"
lA im iJ a - W M lim
111 Wang, Li j i jin zhu jinyi, 6-7.
112 In a paralleled fragment collected in the "Gou ming jue" chapter (see Yasui and
Nakamura, Jushin Isho Shusei, 5.69), dai (to replace) is used in place o f fa {% (to
attack).
113 In the Five Natures system, the color o f wood and east is either green, blue or dark blue,
but can not be both. The colors Xiong mentions here should refer to the colors o f stars.
Traditional Chinese astrology thought that each o f the five planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter and Saturn) could manifest itself as different colors-green or blue, red, white, yellow
and black (meaning dark red)— according to its circumstances. Each color of the stars
reveals a certain portentous sign. (See Jiang Xiaoyuan Bj§ Hi. Xing zhan xue yu
chuantong wenhua JI £ Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1992. 98-
101) The prophetic-apocryphal texts adopt this theory and extend it to comets as well. (See
Song Jun's commentary to the "Gou ming jue" chapter of the Apocrypha to the Classic o f
Filial Piety, Yasui and Nakamura, Jushin Isho Shusei, 5 • 69) Still, the relationship between
these colors here is beyond my knowledge.
114 Referring to Confucius.
151
2 . 1 1 The Sui Dynasty (581-618)
Li Delin was a principal advisor o f Emperor Wen o f the Sui. In his youth, "at
the age o f fifteen, he could recite several thousand words o f the five classics and the
writings o f ancient and contemporary authors per day. Soon he understood the
classics, and could read all the yinyang and prophetic-apocryphal texts" ^ -f- >
^ ns
Niu Hong, another major advisor to Emperor Wen, successively held
positions as mishu jia n ilr Ini (Supervisor o f the Imperial Library), // bu shangshu
bP H (Secretary o f the Department o f Rites), Minister o f the Imperial
Ceremonies, and li bu shangshu 5^ j°i I I (Secretary o f Personnel), and was in
charge o f formulating the ritual procedures and regulating the ceremonial music for
the new empire. He was a leading figure o f such scholarship in the Sui court.
Although his biography does not mention whether or not he studied prophetic-
apocryphal texts, in the third year o f the Kaihuang reign period (583), he asked that
a Bright Hall be built according to the "ancient standard" ^ $lj. The "ancient
standard" he arrived at, was based on the "Di ming yan" pp ^ chapter o f the
1,5 See Sui, 42.1193.
152
A pocrypha to the Classic o f Documents, and the "Yuan shen qi" chapter o f the
Apocrypha to the Classic o f F ilial P ie ty } 16
Ma Guang M tib {ft- 510-590) was a disciple o f Xiong Ansheng. "Since his
youth, M a had been fond o f studying. He studied with masters for several decades,
day and night, never relaxing. He had read through with all prophetic-apocryphal
texts. He comprehended the Three Classics o f R ites especially well, and was highly
regarded by Confucian scholars"^
® ^ # 58 > ( £ 8 ) ’ § fll # W S5-117 He became the most
important teacher o f the Three C lassics o f R ites after Xiong Ansheng. His students
numbered more than a thousand. At the beginning o f the Sui, Emperor Wen
intended to promote canonical learning. He invited numerous canonical masters,
most o f them from the east, previously the territory o f the Northern Qi, to come to
the capital, Chang'an. Six o f these masters were appointed academicians at the
Imperial Academy and thus were called "the six masters." Ma Guang was among the
six. The other five were Zhang Zhongrang Kong Long J i f f , D ou Shirong
8? i t HI, Zhang Heinu j[f| | l | and Liu Zuren Îj fH Their typical northern
simple style did not appeal to the emperor or the court and all but Ma Guang soon
lost their positions. The official records pay little attention to them so that w e do not
116 See Sui, 49.1300, 1303.
117 See Sui, 75.1717.
153
know much about them. However, from Ma Guang's memoir w e learn that four o f
the six were disciples o f Xiong Ansheng. They were Ma Guang, Kong Long, Zhang
Heinu and Dou Shirong. Ma was familiar with the prophetic-apocryphal texts as was
mentioned above. It would be safe to suppose that the other three were also good at
these texts. Zhang Zhongrang soon retired but often talked about celestial omens to
people. He was finally executed. This suggests that the prophetic-apocryphal texts
should not be foreign to him. Thus, the reason these people were chosen to the
Academy at the beginning o f the Sui must be either Emperor Wen had mindfully
chosen scholars who knew the prophetic-apocryphal texts to be in charge o f the
academy, or such knowledge was so common among canonical masters.
FangHuiyuan (fl- 531-602), a native ofHengshan fM lil,118 came
from a family with a canonical-leaming tradition. As a master o f the Three Classics
o f Rites, three commentaries to the Spring an d Autumn Annals, Classic o f Poetry,
Classic o f Documents, and C lassic o f Change, as well as the prophetic-apocryphal
texts, he made his living through teaching. His students often numbered over a
thousand, some coming from great distances to study with him. During the Sui, he
served as an Academician at the Ministry o f the Imperial Ceremonies, the Imperial
Academy, and the National Academy. Minister o f the Imperial Ceremonies Niu
118 The commandery was centered to the south of modem Zhengding IE/Ei in Hebei.
154
Hong called him wu jin g ku Ti 0 . (Treasury o f the Five Classics). Other
contemporary scholars were impressed by his erudition, to o .119
Yuwen Kai ^ ti; (555-612), a former member o f the Northern Zhou
royal house, was not only a learned canonical scholar but also the best known civil
and architectural engineer. The new palaces in Luoyang, the eastern capital, were
designed and built by him during Emperor Yang's reign. At the beginning o f the Sui,
the court intended to rebuild the Bright Hall. Yuwen, as an architect, provided a
design which was based on the description o f the Hall in the "Di ming yan" chapter
o f the A pocrypha to the C lassic o f Documents.120
In addition to canonical scholars, historians and literary writers o f this period
were familiar with prophetic-apocryphal texts as well. In Buddhist and Taoist
writings during the period, for instance, w e can find a great deal o f influence from
prophetic-apocryphal texts, and they are even more prominent in works on
astronomy and the calendar. In this dissertation, however, I have limited my
discussion to canonical scholarship because o f its close connection with politics.
119 See Sui, 75.1716.
120Ibid, 68.1589.
155
3) Summary
Through the extensive investigation in this chapter, I have found several
interesting features o f the study o f prophetic-apocryphal texts during early medieval
China.
First, there is continuity. As mentioned before, this period was not only a
difficult time for the prophetic-apocryphal texts, but for canonical learning as well.
Besides the endless battles and disorder, rulers paid much less attention to canonical
learning than the Han rulers had. As Pi Xirui has pointed out, the southern emperors
valued literary achievements but disparaged canonical learning. Therefore, there is
not even a "Memoir on Confucian Scholars" in the Song H istory and Southern Qi
History. The Liang dynasty was an exception because Emperor Wu himself used to
be a canonical scholar.121 Ma Zonghuo also thinks that, after the Jin house moved to
the south, the southern rulers faced so many troubles that they had no time to
promote canonical learning.122 Even by the time o f Song and Southern Qi, the
Imperial Academy and the National Academy were only occasionally open.
Provincial and private schools were also rare. Most o f the nobles and ministers had
no expertise in the classics, while the few masters o f canonical studies in courts
neglected to financially support their students. The reign o f Emperor Wu o f Liang
121 See Pi, Jingxue li shi, 179.
122 Most emperors during early medieval China died from unnatural causes.
156
was a golden era for canonical learning due to the emperor's support. He promoted
the classics and classical study throughout his reign o f almost fifty years. However
in his old age he became interested in Buddhism and his reign ended with Hou Jing's
devastating revolt. Thus canonical learning in South China in the early medieval age
never really flourished.
In comparison, the northern "barbarian" rulers seemed to pay more attention
to canonical learning. The Northern Wei emperors reopened schools at both the
central and provincial levels. However, after 525 the imperial house was under
political struggles and the empire soon declined. Most schools closed again. One o f
the W ei successors, the Northern Qi, seemingly employed numerous canonical
masters. Nevertheless, in its National Academy the posts o f academicians were but
nominal, with only a few dozen students. At the local level, teachers and students
became servants o f the local officials. Emperor Wu o f the Northern Zhou, on the
contrary, intended to promote canonical learning and many well known masters
were invited to the Zhou capital.123
The study o f prophetic-apocryphal texts faced an even worse situation due
to repeated bans and exclusion from the mainstream o f scholarship. Thus the
absence o f historical records concerning these texts and the loss o f most o f the texts
during this period is to be expected. Nonetheless, w e have seen that the line o f study
123 See Ma, Zhongguo jing xue shi, 73-76.
157
and transmission o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts continued through the entire
period. Cases o f teaching and studying these texts can be found in every dynasty
during early medieval times.124 This indicates that even in the post-golden age, the
influence o f and scholarly interest in the prophetic-apocryphal texts should not be
underestimated.
Second, as discussed in Chapter I, in spite o f repeated and strict bans,
prophetic-apocryphal texts were often openly quoted in court debates concerning
ritual, calendar, and other political issues among emperors and officials, without any
misgivings. This phenomenon supports my view that the emphasis o f the bans was
only to limit the negative influence but not to root out all the ideas o f the prophetic-
apociyphal texts.
Third, the above point can be further supported by the following argument.
Regardless o f the imperial bans and the criticism and rejection by many scholars and
intellectuals, we find that, in reading the memoirs on those who knew the prophetic-
apocryphal texts, those who understood these texts in early medieval China were
still recognized as erudite, intelligent and honorable by their contemporaries. Among
those who understood the texts, there were quite a few aristocrats, ministers and
canonical masters. In addition, numerous scholars studied the prophetic-apocryphal
124 As the matter o f fact, I cited only about half of the cases concerning prophetic-
apocryphal learning.
158
texts not for practical and political purposes, but out o f scholarly interest. For these
scholars the examination o f such texts was serious scholarship. Therefore, some
hermits with no connection to either the court or politics were interested in these
texts. This illustrates that such texts were regarded as a legitimate field o f
intellectual endeavor.
Fourth, in early medieval China, studying the prophetic-apocryphal texts was
still a very common and widespread cultural tradition. Besides politicians and
canonical scholars, we can also find historians, poets and literary writers, religious
figures, hermits, scientists and engineers and others, who, either living in the South
or in the North, either leading a public life or a private life, were interested in
studying and prophetic-apocryphal texts. These figures all had teachers, and would
very like have transmitted it down to their students as well. Some o f them were
more influential that they had thousands o f students. Thus, although we are unable
to estimate the number o f those who knew the prophetic-apocryphal texts during the
period, the real number would have to be much higher than w e can gather from the
very limited extant historical sources.
159
C H A P T E R IV
W O R D M A G IC A N D R E V E L A T IO N
1) Other Forms o f Traditional and New Chen prophecy
While the prophetic-apocryphal texts with their systematic ideology held the
interest o f early medieval Chinese scholars and intellectuals, chen prophecy
continued to attract believers not only from rulers and pretenders as mentioned in
Chapter II, but also from the lower strata o f early medieval Chinese society. Belief
in chen prophecy, as a part o f Chinese folk religion, had deep roots in the society o f
this period. This is one reason for the continuation o f this belief long after it had lost
its intellectual currency. In arguing for this, I have shown that official bans were not
effective in suppressing the prophetic-apocryphal texts in Chapter I. N ow we will
see that in the case o f simple chen prophecy, the bans did not work either.
The chen prophecies I will discuss here are not confined to the traditional
political chen prophecies that were incorporated into the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
It is true that the traditional chen prophecies still circulated during the period.
However, there were also a large number o f contemporary political chen prophecies
that arose and were disseminated among people. Only a few o f them were recorded
160
in the extant official histories. These will be referred to as new chen prophecies in
this study.
The largest group o f new chen prophecies was "prophetic folk and children’s
rhymes," which will be discussed in the next chapter. In this section I will examine a
type o f prophecy which took the form o f ideographic riddles based on the Chinese
writing system.
It is widely accepted that there are six principles underlying the formation o f
Chinese characters. These are called Liu shu A H (The Six Principles o f Writing),
and include the following:1 xiang xing {$. (depictive), zhi shi $§ sjl (indicative),
h u iy i H M (semantic aggregate), xie sheng fjf H (phonetic combination), ji a j i e ff§
fa (phonetic loan), and zhuan zhu $$ ££ (semantic derivation) respectively.2 These
principles, generally speaking, make Chinese characters pictographic or ideographic.
I f a character consists o f more than one radical, then the combined meaning o f its
radicals can be either philosophized or codified into riddles. A well known example
is in the section o f the twelfth year o f Duke Xuan W o f the Lu (597) in the Zuo
Commentary, "[the Lord o f the Chu said:] 'To be martial means to stop using
1 This theory has been attributed to an Eastern Han philologist, Xu Shen f^t^(/7. 58-147),
who compiled the first extensive Chinese dictionary, Shuo wen jie zi It was
further developed by Chinese philologists over the course o f generations.
2 See Mark, "Riddles, Divination, and Word Magic," 48.
161
weapon' " i h ^ ^ j E ^-3 Another good example is the following story in the Sou shen
j i o f Gan Bao: a lady o f Song during the Warring States period was so beautiful that
the king o f Song jailed her husband and forced her to be his court consort. She did
not consent to serve him. Instead, she sent husband a message, "
B£t
lH-
'I
V (The
sun rises right above my heart) meaning she "had made up her mind to kill herself
within a few days." This message is decoded by reading chu fct} above xin '\j* as the
character zhi ^(determ ination).4
It goes without saying that larger linguistic units, such as words, phrases,
sentences, can also be read as mottoes containing codified messages. This kind o f
philosophized or codified reading o f Chinese mottoes took a further mystic turn
during the Han and Three States period to become chen prophecy by mottoes.
3 See Yang, Chun qiu Zuo zhuan zhu, 744. The character wu J£ (martial) is composed with
two parts, zhi i t (to stop) and ge J t (spear). However, as Yang points out, the form o f zhi
in the oracle bones was a hand. According to the semantic aggregate principle, wu originally
meant "to hold a weapon." The people during the Spring and Autumn period, gave a new
philosophical and symbolic meaning to the character in spite or forgetting its original
philological meaning.
4 See Lin Yiian-huei, "The Weight o f Mt. T'ai: Patterns o f Suicide in Traditional Chinese
History and Culture" (Unpublished Ph. D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1990), 59.
162
2) Chen prophecy by Mottoes
2. 1 Chen prophecy in Ideographic Riddles
1) At the end o f Wang Mang's reign, as mentioned in Chapter II, a certain
ideographic riddle used as a chen prophecy widely circulated. This was to analyze
the character Liu f?lj into tw o or three radicals, namely: m ao £)p, jin and dao J ),
to imply that the Former Han house will rise again.5 A warlord o f the period,
Gongsun Shu jjjt (d. 36), w as a competitor o f Liu Xiu §lj ^ (6 B. C. -57 A.
D .), the founder o f Later Han. Gongsun controlled the area o f modem Sichuan at
the end o f the Wang Mang reign. In a dream, he heard some one tell him: Ba si zi xi
J\ A shi er w ei q i The first line is an ideographic riddle. Ba and
si together form gon g while zi and xi together com pose sun The second line
means "the [ruling] term will be twelve." D oes it mean twelve years or twelve
generations? W e do not know. Nevertheless, this ideographic riddle encouraged
Gongsun Shu and his wife to finally decide to contend for the throne.
5 Yu Zhengxie (1775-1840) points out that in the prophetic-apocryphal texts, the

anonymous authors played with characters, by taking apart or piecing together a character,
so as to create a second reading, without following the six principles (Gui si lei gao H B ^
$ |. Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1957. 268-269). Thus, in dealing with the prophetic
ideographic riddles, one needs a symbolic and mystic imagination rather than philological
training.
6 SeeHHs, 13.535.
163
As with the other types o f chen prophecy w e have discussed in earlier
chapters, ideographic prophecies can occur in dreams, or may be some words whose
second reading is portentous, or even artificial fabrications by some manipulating
minds. N o matter how they come about, once they have taken root in popular
imagination, they reveal the will o f Heaven.
2) In the "Sima Rui zhuan" W] J | [Memoir o f Sima Rui]7 o f the Wei
H istory, a story goes:
In the seventh month o f the fifth year o f the Xiankang ij£ reign period
(339) o f Emperor Cheng Jj£(r. 325-342) o f Eastern Jin, Chancellor Wang Dao
(276-339) died. His long term rivals, the Yu JH family, an aristocratic family related
to the imperial house by marriage, controlled the administration and military from
the capital to the provinces. While Yu Liang ^ (289-340) held the most
important military position in the middle Yangzi basin, his younger brother Yu Bing
Jt^| (296-344) was made the Supervisor o f the Secretariat in charge o f the central
government and the lower basin o f the Yangzi River. In 342, Emperor Cheng fell ill
and soon passed away. Yu Bing, for the Yu family's own good, did not enthrone the
late emperor's sons, but instead chose the late emperor's younger brother, Sima Yue,
who was known as Emperor Kang gjf (r. 342-344). But Yu Bing remained in charge.
After several changes, Yu finally picked Jiangyuan ^ j t (343-344) as the reign-
7 He was Emperor Yuan o f Eastern Jin.
164
period title. "After a while, a certain person told Yu: 'You must not have known a
chen prophecy when you made the reign period title. The chen says: "At the end o f
Jianyuanthe qiu shan [hill and mountain] will collapse." Qiu and shan together make
the character Yue,8 [the given name o f Emperor Kang.]' Yu Bing was startled. After
a long while, he sighed and said: 'If there will be evil luck, there is no way to prevent
it by changing [the title].' He thus made no more changes" w
7 ftx : ‘ n%Z.*SL\hm° • £LU>

” & n ^ ’ x m m B :
3) From 548 to 552, Liang was thrown into chaos by Hou Jing, a former
Eastern Wei general. The central government collapsed. Imprisoning Emperor Wu,
who soon passed away, Hou Jing first enthroned then dethroned the puppet Liang
emperors at will. In the seventh month o f the second year o f the Dabao 7c H reign
period (551) o f Emperor Jianwen fUj Hou dethroned the emperor, enthroned an
8 The upper radical o f the character jwe ^ is a qiu J t, and the lower radical is a shan |JL|.
9 See fVs, 96.2099-2100. The Jin History (7.187)also records this account with some
differences: "Someone told Bing: 'A prophecy by Guo Pu (276-324) goes: 'At the time
o f li shi (to initiate), qiu and shan will collapse." Li means the same as jian (to
establish), shi means the same as yuan (the beginning); while qiu and shan were the name of
the emperor.' Yu Bing was startled. After a long while, he sighed and said: 'If there will be
an evil luck, there is no way to prevent it by changing[the title]?' At this time (444) the
prophecy consequently came true" 0 • “ ‘ 3Z$pi£.^rcInlilftS ° ’
’ 7C : £ 0 J ’ IHfe ° - » IEM1H0 : - ’
165
imprisoned prince, Xiao Dong f £ and picked a new reign-period title, Tianzheng
5ÎE (Heavenly Proper). In the next year, Hou was defeated by Liang's army. Xiao
Dong and his brothers were killed in the battle. When another prince, the Prince o f
Wulin Xiao Ji Uf who controlled the area o f modem Sichuan, heard that
both o f Emperor Wu and his Heir had died, he proclaimed himself emperor in 552.
His reign period title was Tianzheng as well. Some wise persons observed that tian
^ is composed o f two radicals, er ZL (two) and ren \ (people), and zheng IE is
composed o f y i — (one) and zhi _[h (to stop). They predicted that these tw o princes,
Xiao Dong and Xiao Ji would each last no longer than one year on the throne. Xiao
Hui I f Marquis o f Yongfeng H , 10 Xiao Ji's most faithful general and
governor, told his associates: "In the past Huan Xuan's reign period title was
Daheng. Wise persons called it 'finished by the second month,' and Huan Xuan was
indeed defeated in the second month. N ow the reign period title is called Tianzheng.
[The character Zheng] is written a sy i and zhi (one and to stop). It will not last long"
■Z H T > " 4 -#
0 ^ iE > — J t ’ ” ’ S 0e X ^ f7 '' As it happened, Xiao Ji’s reign,
like Xiao Dong's, came to an end in one year.
10 A county located to the northwest o f modem Lipu county in Guangxi.
11 SeeAfe, 53.1329.
166
4) Gao Yang, the first emperor o f the Northern Qi, picked Tianbao A
(Heaven Protects) (550-559) as his reign title. Some wise scholars said: "The
characters tian and bao are formed by the radicals^/ (one), da (great), ren (person),
zhi (only) and shi (ten). The emperor will last no longer than ten years" A ^ £
The following stories are recorded in the "Treatise on the Five Agents" in
the Sui History.
5) "In the seventh year o f the Wuping W' reign period (576), the Later
Lord [o f Northern Qi] was defeated by the Zhou troops. He fled to Ye.
Proclaiming himself Emperor Emeritus, 13 he passed the throne to the Heir [Gao]
Heng t S .14 The title o f the reign period was changed to Longhua (Flourishing
and Reforming) (576). Contemporaries removed the last stroke o f the first character
and attached it to the top o f the second character and read it as xiang si (surrender
and die). [The Youthful Lord] eventually surrendered to the Zhou and died" ^
12 See Bs, 7.262.
13 Tai shang huang A _ t i l •
14 The eldest son o f Gao Wei pt5|§, the Later Lord. As the matter o f fact, Gao Heng iSj fS
(570-578), the Youthful Lord ih A . was only six years old when his father enthroned him.
The Later Lord was greatly frustrated after the defeat. Believing in a prognostication that
the Qi should make some changes, Gao Wei took this formal step, while being still in charge
o f the empire, o f course. See BQs, 8.97, 110-111.
167
•t* M 5 7 6 ) > a m ) m t
n '& m m K '5
6) In th e third month o f the seventh year o f the Jiande H; ^ reign period
(578), Emperor Wu o f Northern Zhou (r. 560-578) changed his reign period title to
Xuanzheng jfEjEfc. Xiao Kui (542-585), Emperor Ming o f Later Liang, 16 a
dependent lord o f Northern Zhou, rearranged the radicals and/or strokes o f the two
characters into four characters "Yuwen (the surname o f Zhou house) wang (die) ri
(in days)" ^ jC £ H • In the six month o f the new reign period, Emperor Wu o f
Zhou passed away.17
7) The successor o f Emperor Wu o f Northern Zhou was Emperor Xuan W.
The emperor's behavior was unconventional and unpredictable. He cursed the late
emperor and executed important officials w ho were favored by his father. He first
changed the reign period title to Dacheng (Great Achievement) (579), and a
15 See Sid, 22.634.
16 In 554, Xiao Cha f f l f (519-562), the Prince of Yueyang o f Liang, surrendered to

Western Wei. In 555, he was enthroned as "the emperor o f Liang" by Western Wei, ruling a
few counties and taking Jiangling , the modem Jiangling county in Hubei, as his
capital. This small state, as a dependency of Western Wei and Northern Zhou, lasted thirty-
three years and is called Later Liang %£. Xiao Kui, Xiao Cha's son and the second
emperor, ruled from 562 to 585. He successively served several Northern Zhou emperors
and Emperor Wen o f Sui with great caution and submission, seemingly loyal to his suzerain.
However, the stories recorded in the "Treatise on the Five Agents" in the Sui History reveal
otherwise.
17 See Sui, 22.634.
168
month later changed the title again. The new reign period title was Daxiang ^ ^
(Great Heavens). The emperor then announced his abdication and put his Heir, a
six- year-old boy named Yuwen Chan ^ ~£ ^ (573-581), on the throne. H e was
known as Emperor Jing jiff, and was the last emperor o f Northern Zhou. Emperor
Xuan styled himself the Tianyuan ^ 7c (Heavenly and the First) Emperor. Thus he
could enjoy everything as an emperor while being responsible for nothing. Xiao Kui,
the lord o f Later Liang, again rearranged the radicals o f the characters o f the new
reign period title, d a xiang, into three characters: "Tian zi ^ (Son o f Heaven)
zhong (tomb)."18 In the next year Emperor Xuan died suddenly and left the seven
year old emperor in Yang Jian’s care. Taking advantage o f the situation, Yang soon
took over power and established his own empire.
8) In the early Kaihuang reign period o f the Sui, Xiao Zong (r. 585-
587), successor o f Xiao Kui and the third lord o f Later Liang, changed his reign
period title to Guangyun j|f jjf in 586. The elders o f the Later Liang state said to
each other: "The character yim j ||, is written with ju n zou (army flees). D oes
this mean that our lord will be forced to flee by armies?" ’ I M ° b
j In the next year (587), Emperor Wen o f Sui summoned Xiao
18Ibid.
19Ibid.
169
Zong to the court and confined him to the capital; soon after Later Liang was
conquered by the Sui army.20
9) When Emperor Yang o f the Sui was enthroned, he picked Daye ^ M
(Great Enterprise) as the title o f his reign period. Some wise men disliked the title,
saying: "These two characters can be rearranged into 'da ku wei ^ 7^ (great
suffering or not?)' " t il-21 During Emperor Yang's reign,
people did suffer from numerous revolts and civil war.
10) In 402, Huan Xuan actually took over the Eastern Jin court. He had the
emperor change the reign period title from Longan |H (397-402) to Daheng
^ . People all over the empire said: "Er yue liao H £j 7 [Finish by the second
month]."22 As it happened, the Jin expedition against Huan Xuan began in the
second month o f the next year, 403, and Huan was defeated in 404.
2. 2 Chen prophecy by ambiguity
M ottoes can have second readings mainly due to their ambiguity. Let's
examine the following story first:
20 See Zs, 48.866.
21 See Sui, 22.634.
22 The lower part o f the character heng is liao, meaning to finish. The middle part is similar
to yue (month). The upper part in an alternative form o f the character, can be written as er,
meaning two.
170
Yang Jun $ § i £ ( d . 291), the father-in-law o f Emperor Wu o f Western Jin,
was appointed Che q i jiangjun i|L®f { ^ Iji (General o f Chariots and Cavalry),23 and
granted the title o f Marquis o f Linjin (§§ I f 24 by the emperor. "[A wise man
commented:] 'The father o f the empress was granted his first fief with the title
Marquis o f Linjin. [This] portends disorder.25" 0 :] “
6^ # M * % Ifc SL ^1- ” 26 At the time Emperor Hui M (r- 290-306) was
enthroned, Yang Jun, as the emperor's material grandfather, assisted in the
government.27 Empress Jia J f had Sima Wei W] J§ the Prince o f Chu kill
Yang Jun. The great chaos which finally caused the decline o f Western Jin was
revealed at the moment when Emperor Wu, by granting the title Marquis o f Linjin,
prophetically promised to grant whoever came to Jin the title o f marquis.28
23 One o f the most powerful and honorable titles for a general during the period.
24 A county located in modem Dali ^ county in Shanxi ^ 0 .
25 A place name, which literally means "Coming to Jin."
26 See Js, 40.1177.
27 Since Emperor Hui was an incompetent ruler, Yang, as tai (Senior Tutor) and da
dudu H (Commander-in-Chief), was actually in charge o f the central government.
This situation caused conflict between the families of the two empresses, the Yang and Jia,
which soon rapidly intensified.
28 Traditionally the "evil" Empress Jia was blamed for all the disasters that happened to the
court and Sima family. However, the competition between the Jia and Yang families was at
most the fuse to the time bomb that had been ticking for a long time and which was much
more complicated that a palace dispute. Nevertheless, it is true that the great chaos did start
from the struggle between the Yang and Jia families.
171
The noble title o f Linjin was approved by Emperor Wu himself. He read the
title as it would usually mean, without knowing that its second reading was
inauspicious. This suggests that the second reading o f words which meant that the
opposite o f the current situation would become true. These portentous words were
believed to be the proper vehicle to deliver heavenly revelation.
It is noteworthy that the Song H istory's "Treatise on the Five Agents"
collected this type o f revelation under the section o f "Yan zhi bu cong" f | ^ #£
[Inconsistent Words]29 (i. e. , not consistent with the intent o f the speaker).
Following are some typical examples.
1) When Liu Chan §IJ (r. 223-263) succeeded to the throne o f Shu, the
legendary seer Qiao Zhou30 observed: "The Former Lord's given name was Bei,
which means completion; and the Later Lord's given name is Chan, which means to
give away.31 It seems to say that the Liu family has completed [its mission], and will
give the throne to others" » ^ il| ° ° %
’ H i g U A - Shen Yue, the author o f the Song H istory comments:
29 The title o f this section is adopted from the "Memoir on the Five Agents" o f the Han
History (1376). Liu Xiang §lj [q], whose work is the original version o f the memoir, explains
that It is saying that when the orders from the superior disagreed with the common people's
will, the ruler then would be unable to regulate his empire.
30 See Chapter III.
31 Chan can mean "abdication." The term "the Last Lord" suggests that this story, as well as
those stories related to a certain "the Last Lord" in this chapter, was recorded after the fall
o f his kingship.
"Shu consequently declined. This is an example of'Inconsistent Words’" f|} Jpcljl »
Whether or not Qiao Zhou actually spoke the words attributed
to him is unknown. However, the inconsistency between the names o f the tw o rulers
and the anticipated result was noted by the people from the time o f Shu's decline and
was believed to be a revelation.
2) From the time o f Sima Yi WJ (r. 365-370),33 the dethroned emperor
o f Eastern Jin, "fluffing the hair on the temples with wispy knots hanging down was
considered a gorgeous hair-style among aristocratic women. It required thick hair
and w as not an every day coiffure. Therefore, women prepared wigs with wispy
knots in advance, keeping them on a piece o f wood, which was called 'mock-head.'
When someone wanted to borrow one, she would say she 'borrows the head.' Finally
this expression was prevailed everywhere. Since that time, many accidents have
occurred. Some lost their heads, and were buried with mock heads made o f grass or
w ood. The saying of'borrowing the head' was an omen [o f this later development]"
’ nys-'fgp" ° A&f£» £ 0 “ ° gitb

° > itb *
32 See Ss, 31.899.
33 He was dethroned by a powerful general, Huan Wen | h (312-373).
34 See Ss, 31.903.
perm ission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
173
3) Beginning in 383, Emperor Xiaowu entrusted the central administration
to his brother, the Prince o f Guiji ^ Sima Daozi If] JS S i "?■ (364-402). Later
Daozi ordered an artificial hill built next to his residence compound and named it
Hill o f Lingxiu I f ill (Divine and Beautiful Hill). In 399, Sun En (d. 402), a
Taoist leader, raised a revolt. He twice occupied Guiji, the fief o f Daozi. Sun's style
name was Lingxiu.35 Thus this hill was meant to be Lingxiu's Hill.
4) When Huan Xuan controlled the middle basin o f the Yangzi River, he
named his studio Panlong (Curling Dragon). In 404 Huan was defeated by the
Eastern Jin army.36 One o f the Eastern Jin generals w ho defeated Huan, Liu Yi <$!] Wt
(d. 412), took over the use o f the room, and his style name was Panlong.37
2 . 3 Chen prophecy by fa n qie spelling
1) During the Taiyuan f s i f t reign period (376-396) o f Emperor Xiaowu ^
o f Eastern Jin, a hall w as built inside the palace and was named O ing shu (Cool
Summer). Soon the emperor passed away. A contemporary person commented:
35 See Ss, 31.918.
36 It was lead by Liu Yi and other leaders o f the Bei fu jfc (the Northern Headquarters)
army group including Liu Yu, who later became the founder o f the Song dynasty.
37 See Ss, 31.918.
174
"Qing shu, in fa n qie spelling,38 would be 'Chu sheng (grievous voice, or the voice
o f Chu)" V j f # # » "fe-39 When the emperor passed away, there certainly
was a grievous voice. Another person disagreed with this interpretation. He said:
"According to a chen, the Chu will replace Jin. This message must be encoded in
this [name]" H Shen Yue then pointed out that
when Huan Xuan | h j£ (3 6 9 -4 0 4 )40 usurped the throne, he named his "dynasty" Chu
2) The "Chen benji" ^ ^ [Basic Annals o f the Chen] in the Southern
H istories records a comment on the last Chen emperor’s name: "Someone said, the
Last Lord's name Shubao ^ (r. 582-589),41 in fa n qie spelling, would be shao
38 Fan qie -0J spelling is a traditional Chinese method o f indicating the pronunciation o f a
character by using two other Chinese characters, the first having the same initial as the
character been glossed and the second having the same final and tone.
39 Here the interpreter reads tjf % (ching shu) as the phonetic gloss for (chu), and H tjf
(shu ching) as that for (shing). Due to phonetic changes through the history, I have
slightly modified the modem pronunciation o f these four characters in order to show how
this method worked in ancient times.
40 The son of Huan Wen. He established the Chu in 403 yet soon was defeated by Jin army.
41 Chen Shubao (553-604), the last emperor o f Chen, was famous for his poetic
writing. In the third year of the Zhenming reign period (589), the Sui conquered Chen. Chen
Shubao was captured.
175
(lack of) f u (fortune). It was indeed the sign o f his failure" £& m
g§ M ' P 1 8 »
2. 4 Chen prophecy by puns
When the Chanling Temple ^ M ^ f 43 had just been built by Emperor Wu
o f the Southern Qi, the common people were allowed to tour it. Someone
commented: "Chan means to give away, and ling is not a good name, either.44 His
successor will certainly be an improper person"
^ ^ X -45 In 493, Emperor Wu's grandson succeeded to the throne, yet soon
was killed by his uncle Xiao Luan Hf who later became Emperor Ming 0^. Ming,
as can be seen from the following interpretation, can be synonymous with ling. So
this prophecy means "to give to Ming Bfj." Another source says: "Earlier, Emperor
Wu built the Chanling Temple at the capital. People at the time all thought it was a
great spectacle. Yet the heavenly will was revealed: 'Chan means to abdicate, and
42 See Ns, 10.310. Here again ^ (shu bao) is read as the phonetic gloss for 'fz (shao),
and (bao shu) as that for (bu, which is now pronounced as f u due to phonetic
change).
43 Chan in Buddhism means Zen, a suitable name for a Buddhist temple. It is a pun here.
44 Ling originally means shaman or divinity.
45 SeeNQs, 19.381-382.
176
ling is the other word for deities.'46 When Emperor Wu passed away, the enterprise
declined and the mandate shifted" ^ ^ ’ H "t£ lii.
f i ’
During Emperor Ming's five-year reign (494-498), he killed almost all o f his
nineteen brothers (the sons o f Emperor Gao) and twenty-three nephews (sons o f
Emperor Wu).48 Southern Qi soon declined.
2. 5 Summary
This dissertation makes no effort to justify the historicity o f these chen
prophecies. The noteworthy point is that these chen prophecies circulated during the
period and were accepted as real revelations. It is in this sense that these stories, as
cultural phenomena, are real.
That the early medieval Chinese paid so much attention to important persons'
names, or the titles o f imperial buildings and reign periods was not without reasons.
These names and titles historically antedated the related events. Ironically, all these
names and titles were supposed be good and auspicious, because naming in general
46 Sheng ming usually means divinity. But its second reading can mean the divine
Ming, referring to Emperor Ming.
47 See Ns, 5.140.
48 See Wang, Wei Jin Nanbeichao Sui Chu Tang shi, 266.
177
has been a channel to express one's wish. Nevertheless, these "auspicious" names
and titles, through their second reading, turned out to be the revelations o f evil and
inauspicious results. Why were people so intent on finding second readings in
m ottoes during this period?49
There were tw o factors instrumental in making these chen prophecies
functional: first, the "wise men" or the interpreters who first pointed out the
connections between the characters or the mottoes and the future events. Without
interpreters, people would have no idea how to decipher the hidden message. And in
case o f ideographic riddles, without the unique features o f the Chinese writing
system, no second reading would be possible. Or if we may, we can say that even if
the Chinese writing system is phonetic, people still could read a word
unconventionally, e.g. , through folk etymology, and make it into a chen prophecy.
B elief in chen prophecy is actually the notivation behind this seemingly artificial
manipulation.
Through the instances above, w e can see that every single Chinese character
can be read in various ways by means o f graphic decomposing, rearranging, qie
spelling, punning, and ambiguity. Given all these approaches, one is able to decode a
desired revelation with almost any Chinese character or phrase. Xiao Kui, the gifted
49 This has been the case throughout the history.
178
interpreter o f reign titles, is a good example. He could discover revelations o f evil
results behind even the most auspicious titles.
This gives rise to other problems. I f the ideographic or orthographic riddles
were simply word games played as the "wise men" pleased, how could the people at
that time believe them to be heavenly revelations? Since there are so many ways to
play the word game, there must have been more than one interpretation o f a single
title. Why, then, was only a certain interpretation recorded? Were these
interpretations lucky guesses made by the "wise men" beforehand, or were they
"wise" only after the fact, or were the mottoes prophecies?
First, we must realize that early medieval Chinese believed in the mystic
power o f words as did people o f many other cultures. N o matter how words acquire
their mystic power, this belief is a fundamental reason for belief in chen prophecy. In
the Chinese case, as I have pointed out, the portentous power o f words comes from
public acceptance o f the ctew-prophecy-to-be, or perhaps we can call them quasi-
chen prophecies. Just as a motto designed by a political leader, in order to
manipulate public opinion, can stir up a nationwide movement and turn into the a
mandate o f the people, a quasi -chen can stir up a nationwide movement and turn
into the mandate o f Heaven.
We surmise that there would certainly be many quasi -chen in the stories
mentioned above. Furthermore, there could be numerous possible interpretations for
179
a single quasi-c/tew, and people believe in a particular interpretation which they want
to believe in most. This interpretation, then, becomes the "revelation." I will expand
on this point in more detail in the Conclusion.50
3) Chen prophecy in Poetic Form
3. 1 Poetic portent as a type o f new chen prophecy
Another prevalent form o f new chen prophecies which used word games
during early medieval China was the shi chen §# I t (poetic chen prophecy), or shi
yao (poetic portent).51 Although many traditional chen prophecies o f Han and
Three States were already in the form o f verse or rhyme,52 the early medieval poetic
chen prophecy or poetic portent differs from the traditional prophetic rhymes.
First, the traditional anonymous prophetic rhymes, although sometimes
containing word games, were intended to prophesy the future. In the other words,
the authors o f the traditional prophetic rhymes used word magic as prophetic tool.
50 The ideographic and orthographic riddles later developed into another direction-as a form
of prognostication, ce zi $0 or glyphomancy. For further information on this
development, see Wolfgang Bauer, "Chinese Glyphomancy (ch'ai-tzu) and Its Uses in
Present-day Taiwan," 71-96. (In Allan and Cohen, Legend)
51 Prophetic folk and children's rhyme is another kind o f poetic revelation. Since the next
chapter will deal with those prophetic rhymes, this section will only discuss the poems which
were written by officials and intellectuals.
521 prefer to call the traditional prophecies with rhyme "rhymes." They were closer to folk
rhymes in style and language.
180
In the case o f the early medieval poetic portents, most authors (usually known) did
not intend to write a prophetic poem or play a word-magic game, yet unknowingly
the poem revealed the future.53 It is in this sense that this type is similar to the reign
period titles discussed in the last section.
Second, the contents o f the traditional prophetic rhymes concerned political
issues, particularly the future o f a state, ruling house, emperor or lord, or important
political figures, while those o f the later poetic portents could be personal or private
affairs. This latter type became fully developed from the Tang to present time. It has
been a very common belief or superstition among Chinese intellectuals that a
person's future fate could be unknowingly revealed through a poetic line he wrote
beforehand. Early medieval China was a transition period for this kind o f belief or
superstition, in that the poetic revelations during the period dealt with both political
and personal affairs.
Third, the rhymes in the traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts were coarse,
while the language o f the later poetic portents were more beautiful as they were
53 There are exceptions. Some prophets, including well known Buddhist or Taoist monks,
and some magicians, did write prophetic poems or rhymes to prophesy the future, which
were also included as "poetic portents" in the Treatises on the Five Agents o f the early
medieval histories. They will be brought up below.
181
intended to be poetic in the first place.54 Followings are examples o f the poetic
portents.
3. 2 Poems as poetic portents in history
Liu Bing §tlj fH (434-478), a member o f the Song imperial house, served
Emperor Shun Jljj| (r. 477-479) as the Director o f the Department o f State Affairs
and zhong ling ju n 4 1it l ¥ (Commander-in-Chief o f the Imperial Guards). At that
time Xiao Daocheng, the chancellor, and, later, King o f Qi, held the actual power
and already aspired to the throne. Liu Bing and his two sons, in the company o f
other generals, plotted against Xiao. When the plot leaked, Liu and his sons were
arrested and executed. Earlier, one o f his sons, Liu Yu wrote a poem: "Grass
growing on the city wall have their roots place up above all. What they shall regret
is that too soon wind will blow and frost fall" iH ’
fp-.55 This poem was regarded as a portent by contemporaries, foretelling the fate o f
those in the highest positions.
54 However, since early medieval China was a transition period for this kind of writing, we
can also find some poetic portents written in a coarse style.
55 See Ns, 13.356. Considering the hatred for Xiao which the Lius held, and that many
prophecies were circulated at that time which said someone's name with a grass radical as
the new Son o f Heaven (see Chapter II), it is possible that Liu Yu's original intention was to
curse Xiao Daocheng.
182
During the Yongming 7k reign period (483-493) o f Emperor Wu o f
Southern Qi, Liu Changmao $$(458-493), the Heir Wenhui ~$CM, imitating an
ancient poem, wrote a line: "Tall is the Jade Mount, it will collapse into pieces" H
When Shen Yi ^ t ^ ( d . 505), an aristocrat and hermit, heard o f
the poem, he said: "This is a chen" jfcb jj$ i f fh,.56 Soon the Heir died. By that
autumn (493) Emperor Wu passed away. The emperor's successors, his grandsons,
were successively dethroned and murdered by their grand uncle Xiao Luan, who
later enthroned himself as Emperor Ming.
After Xiao Tong I f ;££ (501-531), the famous Zhaoming Heir 0g B£3
passed away, Emperor Wu o f Liang selected Xiao Gang H I ® (503-551), his third
son, to be the new Heir. The new Heir was fond o f literature as well and was
famous for his “palace-style poetry.” In a poem with the title "The Cold Evening" Its
*7 he wrote: "Snow flower57 is without a calyx, and the ice mirror is n ot secured to
any stand' ^ ^ $ o'- In another poem entitled "About the
Moon" he wrote: "As a flying wheel it moves without a track. As a crystal
clear mirror it is not secured to any stand' fFl TT During
the chaos caused by Hou Jing, Xiao Gang was first a hostage o f Hou, then
56 See Afr, 35.938.
57 The term xue hua M t t , literally "snow flower," is the Chinese word for snowflake.
58 SeeAfr, 80.2007.
183
enthroned by Hou as a puppet emperor (Emperor Jianwen f g j ) in 550. In the next
year Hou murdered him. Later, people decided that the poems were poetic portents.
The d i (calyx) is a pun for di ^ (emperor). "Without a calyx" thus means
"without an emperor." The palace and central government o f Liang was located in
Tai City ea J$c, a district o f the capital. Thus bu an t a i / f ^ - ^ , instead o f "being not
secured to any stand," could be read as "being not secure in Tai City." As for "a
wheel moving without a track," the comment in the Southern H istory goes: "[It is
saying that] the Prince o f Shaoling § P ^ , 59 with a given name Lun $g,60 promised in
vain to come to the rescue [o f the capital]" ^
In the "Treatise on the Five Agents" o f the Sui History, poems o f this type
are arranged under the title "Poetic Portents." Below are some more examples.
At the beginning o f the Zhenming fjl reign period (587-589), "the Last
Lord o f Chen composed a new song. The language o f the song was extremely
melancholy. He had the beauties in the inner palace practice and sing the song. The
words o f the song read: 'The jade trees are in blossom in the backyard; The
blossoms will fall before long.' The contemporaries regarded the song as a chen.
59 It was centered modem Shaoyang 3|5|£§ City in Hunan.
60 This name is a pun for lun (wheel).
61 See Aft, 80.2007.
184
This was the revelation that [the dynasty] would fall before long" ^ %FrSfc »
0 : “
X • - B S A & M I » I f c ^ A ^ f e i f e . 62
Emperor Xuan o f Northern Zhou,63 when he danced with his palace women
at midnight, sang: "Knowing that life is short, we play at night under candle light"
111 £Q # dp { £ ’ ifB iBf ^ ?T W -M In the third year o f his reign (579) the emperor
died suddenly.65
Another example reads:
(In the eleventh year o f the Daye reign period (615), Emperor Yang o f the
Sui) left the capital66 for the Eastern capital67 After having arrived at the
Changle Palace fUj^'jlT, the emperor had a wine party and was very drunk.
In this condition he composed a pentasyllable poem. The last stanza o f the
poem reads: "Although having the intention to fly back, no more strength
left to avail myself o f the wind." He had the beauties repeatedly chant the
62 See Sui, 22.637.
63 He was the successor of Emperor Wu and was famous for his debauched behavior. See
Wang, Wei Jin Nanbeichao Sui Chu Tang shi, 463.
64 See Sui, 22.639.
65 See Section 2. 1 o f this chapter.
66 Chang'an.
67 Luoyang.
185
poem, while the emperor himself wept with tears wetting his handkerchief.
The attendants all sobbed themselves. Then the emperor visited Jiangdu,68
and composed another pentasyllabic poem, which said: "Looking forward to
going home, yet I am unable to leave. I have really made myself enchanted
by spring. The voices o f birds urge me to drink more cups, while plum
blossoms make us laugh ourselves to death."69 The emperor was murdered
three months later. This corresponds to the line 'be enchanted by the spring'
im * m > s m i i
S : “ ° - * if a r m
68 The commandery was centered at modem Yangzhou Jf§ ^*l‘l in Jiangsu. Emperor Yang
paid several visits there and used it as an alternate capital. In 615, the Sui empire was
already involved in disorder. Revolts took place everywhere. In 616, Emperor Yang fled for
Jiangdu and never returned. "His last days in Chiang-tu were melancholy." (Twitchett and
Fairbank, 148) In 618, the emperor was murdered in Jiangdu. The poem he wrote in Jiangdu
would certainly date to his last days.
69 The last two lines, however, can also be read as: "Surrounded by bird songs, I am urged to
drink more cups. Where plum trees are in blossom, with smiling faces people are killing."
70 See Sui, 22.639.
186
3. 3 Prophetic rhymes in the form o f poetic portents
A s mentioned earlier, the "Treatise on the Five Agents" in the Sui H istory
also arranged prophetic rhymes under the title "Poetic Portents." For example:
On the eighth day o f the sixth month, the third year o f the Tianjian reign
period (504), Emperor Wu o f Liang was giving a lecture at the Hall o f Chongyun J l
f | jjg;. Bao Zhi, a Buddhist monk who was famous for his ability to prophesy the
future, suddenly went into an ecstatic trance. He first danced and sung, then wept.
Then, he chanted a pentasyllabic "poem"71 in which he prophesied:
H ow happy it has been for more than thirty years, and how sad it will be
within fifty years! N ote the number eight-thirteen, portentous signs will arise
at the zi region.72 Sycophantic servants will deceive their lord, while
rebellious servants will exterminate noble men. If you do not believe my
words, [keep in mind that] a Hou rebel will raise at the time o f dragon. Even
during the time o f horse, I see no happiness but tragedy +
mi m#A+H > °mgfpxs»

* ° • j . m j s + m » a r s o n s .73
71 Its style is closer to a folk rhyme than a poetic writing.
72 Zi, according to the Five Agents system, corresponds with water and north.
73 See Sui, 22.636.
187
The author o f the "Treatise on the Five Agents" gives us his interpretation o f this
prophetic rhyme. The Liang empire was peaceful from the beginning o f the Tianjian
reign period (502) to the beginning o f the Datong reign period (535), for a total o f
more than thirty years. However, the capital o f Liang was destroyed by Hou Jing in
548 and Emperor Wu was starved to death in 549, almost fifty years from when the
emperor took the throne. The number "eight-thirteen" refers to the thirteenth day o f
the eighth month o f the first year o f the Taiqing reign period (547). It was the day
Hou Jing surrendered to Liang, an incident that soon caused Liang to disintegrate
into chaos. Hou Jing came from the north, the "zi region." The emperor approved
Zhu Yi's suggestion o f accepting Hou's surrender, so the chen prophecy said
"sycophantic servants will deceive their lord." The year Hou Jing rebelled was a wu
chen f% jg| year, which was a year o f dragon. By 550, Emperor Jianwen was
murdered. It was geng wu a year o f horse.74
More prophetic rhymes and poems are recorded in the treatise under the
names o f authors such as Bao Zhi and a well known Taoist leader Tao Hongjing. It
is, o f course, impossible to verify the authenticity o f these attributions. Nevertheless,
it is quite safe to say that these poetic chen prophecies circulated widely after the
chaos arising from Hou Jing's rebellion.
14Ibid.
188
In addition to monks, magicians were also believed to be able to write
prophetic rhymes or poems. Lu Fahe a legendary magician living in Liang
and Northern Qi reigns, was good at magic and fond o f Buddhism as well. He used
to be an ascetic hermit. During the Hou Jing chaos, he led the southern tribes to
protect themselves from the chaos, and defeated Hou's army. Lu himself took over
the command o f the Yingzhou i|5 •III province.75 In the sixth year o f the Tianbao
reign period (555) o f Northern Qi, he submitted to Northern Qi with his territory.
Northern Qi appointed him to be d a du du shi zhou zhu junshi jz tPHi H“')'HIt W

^ (Area Commander-in-Chief in Charge o f Ten Provinces), governing the middle
basin o f the Yangzi River.76 The "Treatise on the Five Agents" o f the Sui H istory
reads:
Having entered the capital, Lu Fahe wrote on the wall o f his residence (in
Ye, the Northern Qi capital) : "To be a Son o f Heaven for ten years will be
fine. To be a Son o f Heaven for a hundred days will be [in a situation] as
pressing as [a house] on fire. And to be a Son o f Heaven for one year will be
replaced." At that time, Emperor Wenxuan possessed the empire for ten
years before he passed away. [His successor,] the dethroned emperor,
75 Centered in modem Wuchang ji£ H in Hubei, it included the south and southeast o f
modem Hubei, and the north of modem Hunan.
76 See BQs, 32.427-430.
189
succeeded to the throne for about hundred days, then he was forced down.
Emperor Xiaozhao passed away only one year after he took the throne. Thus
his chen came true Ei ft! A HI ’ I S I 1 0 : “ + ^ A M IrJ
r o w - - f f l s s s e - f t *
* flr ”
The same story can also be found with more details in the Northern Q i History. For
instance, there it says that Fahe first wrote on the wall o f his residence then daubed
something over it. When Fahe died and the daubed layer peeled off, the poetic
portent was discovered.78
3. 4 Summary
In form, some poetic portents look like riddles, prophesying the future, as
did the traditional prophetic rhymes; some were actually poems revealing the
authors' personal sentiments, but turned out to reveal a different message concerning
the future.
Except for poems by prophetic monks or magicians, the poetic portents
mentioned above were not written with the intention o f revealing the future. The
77Ibid.
78 See BQs, 32.431.
190
heavenly revelations were hidden behind the secular words through men's creative
state o f mind. This is similar to most o f the ideographic riddles, or even z a iy i H
(natural portents).
Zai y i is a term referring to certain types o f natural phenomena, which, the
Chinese believe are the revelation o f the will o f Heaven, warning the rulers o f the
time o f their misconduct. They include unusual celestial phenomena, earth quakes,
or any abnormal happenings to the living beings. These can not be manipulated at all
by people, and, in this sense, they are the revelation o f the will o f Heaven if they
convey any messages at all. Yet without an interpreter and the subsequent
acceptance o f people, they prognosticate nothing.
The poetic portents and other types o f Chinese chen prophecy alike are a
form o f linguistic phenomena. They could be strikingly different from normal speech
or writing and therefore easily identifiable as portentous, or they could be as
ordinary as a cloud in the sky when viewed with a naked eye but as portentous as a
divine halo to a religious person. In other words, poetic portents, as well as other
forms o f chen prophecy, are kinds o f linguistic phenomena unusual in their context,
just as za i y i are natural phenomena unusual in the world, at least to the Chinese
people. Again, the unusualness in most cases com e from a second reading o f a
motto which is otherwise very normal. The second reading is unusual, because it is
191
not consistent with the current situation, but portends a will-be-situation which is by
no means what the speaker/writer anticipates.
Chinese chen prophecy should be understood in the context o f Chinese
beliefs in general. Those who hold that chen prophecy is all man-made fabrication,
they obviously have overlooked the fact that the "Poetic Portents" are recorded
right after the section for "Natural Portents" in histories.
192
CHAPTER V
P R O PH E T IC R H Y M E S
1) On Folk and Children's Rhymes as Chen prophecies
"Prophetic rhymes" is a translation o f the Chinese phrase ya o chen |& I t
[rhyme-prophecy]. It means chen prophecy in the form o f folk rhymes.
Yao was originally a kind o f folk song, similar to the songs known as fe n g JH,
[airs], such as were collected in the Classic o f Poetry. Later it also came to refer to
lu g e songs which are sung without instrumental accompaniment. Sometimes
such poems were not even sung, but rather chanted, read aloud, or declaimed in
rhythmic cadences. Often they were extemporaneous creations by ordinary people.1
Several English words have been used to translate yao. "Ballad" and "ditty"
are the most popular. However, rhyme is preferred here because the prophetic ya o
were basically not meant for singing but for chanting aloud; in addition, in historical
records y a o sometimes means y a o y a n H J f [words spread by mouth].2
1 Liu Yusong §!] Stl (f. 1861) believes that Chinese folk rhymes were basically oral,
spontaneous, and straight-forward expressions o f people's mind and heart. As sounds of
nature, or wind passing across water, they are formed without affectation. See the "preface"
to Du Wenlan e d ., Gu Yao Yan (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1958), 1.
2 In a few occasions recorded yao appear to be sayings instead of rhymes. In modem

Chinese, yao yan means rumor. It is very interesting because the Chinese folk rhymes and
193
For thousands o f years, people have created folk and children's rhymes, not
only for enjoyment, but to unburden themselves as well.3 In most cases, the rhymes
are not simply literary creations, but function to express popular sentiments as well
as to lampoon politics. Lampoons flourished before and after the Cultural
Revolution. This is clearly a living tradition among the Chinese people today. Many
o f these modem rhymes are sharp, satirical and incendiary. These rhymes have
recently attracted attention from scholars, who are starting to collect folk rhymes
from the Cultural Revolution, which often can compare favorably with political
jokes from the former Soviet Union.
How long has this tradition been a part o f Chinese popular culture? It is
impossible to give a precise answer, just as it is impossible to answer who first made
such rhymes, because the folk and children's rhymes were and are collective
creations, and supposedly have existed since very early times. It is generally held
that the "Guo Feng" m JH [Airs by Areas] section in the Classic o f Poetry is an
anthology o f early folk songs, dating from Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn
period. According to traditional accounts, the reason for the collection and
preservation o f these folk songs lay in the government’s desire to learn popular
sayings indeed share certain features, such as circulating among people, with rumors and
chen prophecies.
3 It seems that folk rhymes refer to the rhymes which are created by adults, while children's
rhymes refer to rhymes which are created for/by children. In the historical records, however,
the distinction is not that clear-cut.
194
opinion through popular creations. This tradition o f song collection was inherited by
the Han rulers. Although w e do not know the details o f the institutions established
for collecting folk songs and rhymes, it is safe to suppose that this policy was
preserved throughout Western and Eastern Han dynasties,4 and continued during
early medieval China.5
Since tradition held that Chinese government should consciously survey the
common people's opinion and their reaction towards political policies through the
collection o f folk rhymes, folk and children's rhymes were a double-edged tool in the
politics o f the time. On the one hand, rulers relied on them to gauge the people's
sentiments. On the other, rulers would try to prevent folk and children's rhymes
from spreading too broadly or rapidly among the people. The rhymes not only
revealed the people's will but also molded the people's ideals and were believed to be
4 "Fang shu lie zhuan" [Memoir on Fangists], in the Later Han History reads:
"When Emperor He (88-105) first succeeded the throne, he sent envoys, all in mufti without
attendants, to different provinces and counties, in order to survey local customs and collect
folk rhymes" ’ W ftft !l* P f f ’ # M j'H M ££ M, M-
(82a.2717) "Yang Xu z h u a n " i ^ [ Me mo i r on Yang Xu], HHs: In 186, "Yang Xu (142-
189) was appointed governor of Nanyang commandary. Before entering the border o f the
commandary, Yang, being in disguise and taking a side road, traveled around all the
counties and towns in company with a young servant, in order to survey local customs and
collect folk rhymes. After then he moved on" W M M W W b A T ? 0 # A HP ’ 7b M. 8$.
mn » ’$&$k.7bM- (7.298)
5 See Zhu Jiefan A i t A , Zhongguo ge yao lun cfn |U 1$ H (Taibei: Taiwan Zhonghua
shuju, 1974), 218.
195
heavenly revelations. Thus Chinese folk and children's rhymes developed into chen
prophecies.
A speech by Fan X ie yjj Viscount Wen, the leader o f the Fan clan o f Jin
during the Spring and Autumn Period, is recorded in section six o f the chapter "Jin
yu" [Discourse o f Jin] o f the G u o yu [Discourses o f the States], where he
said that the ancient sage kings, while having brought about the benevolent
government, still wanted to hear the reactions and criticisms o f the people. Thus the
kings would "collect hearsay from market places, and reckon portentous and
auspicious signs in folk rhymes" This is one o f
the earliest expressions o f the belief that folk rhymes could have prophetic functions.
Another early examples o f a prophetic children's rhyme is recorded in the
Zuozhuan under the eighth month o f the fifth year (655 B. C.) o f Duke Xi fj| o f Lu:
On the ji a wu day o f the eighth month, the Marquis o f Jin7 encircled
Shangyang.8 The duke inquired o f Diviner Yan: "Will I accomplish
something?" Yan replied. "You will conquer it." "When?" The duke inquired
again. Yan said: "A children's rhyme goes: 'At daybreak on a bing zi p^f ^
6 See Guoyu (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1988), 12.410.
7 Duke Xian &£ o f Jin (r. 676-651 B. C.).
8 This was within Guo's territory, located to the south o f modem Shan ^ county in
Henan.
196
day,9 the Wei constellation o f the Dragon cluster o f constellations will go
into hiding in the conjunction o f the sun and moon. Those in black military
uniforms10 will prevail in number, and will capture Guo's colors. When the
Quail Fire constellation is bright, the Tiance star is faint. When the Quail Fire
appears high on the south, the army in black uniforms shall regroup into
formation, and Duke o f Guo shall flee.1 The victory will take place at the
meeting o f the ninth and tenth months" AB ’ #111 HIJt &§ 0

hf!H : 0 ” & B : »
» b : “ : • n z m mvtm m m m »wmzm
» t > °
m z n n > » m m • m a x # • •
Kong Yingda - F l l i jH (574-648), a Tang commentator on the classics explains the
importance o f gathering children's rhymes as follows: "Young children, having no
sense o f misgiving, composed some playing words when they played together, as if
they were possessed. Their words sometimes came true, and sometimes did not.
Both erudite scholars and those who are fearful and prudent recorded these words,
taking them to be a mirror and a means for future examination. They are good for
9 1 follow Yang Bojun's reading here. (Chunqiu Zuo zhuan zhu, 310)
10 This indicates Jin army.
11 See Yang, Chunqiu Zuo zhuan zhu, 310-311. This is the time when the Wei constellation
comes to the conjunction o f the sun and the moon.
197
promoting teachings in the world" M f l L Z ^ f - » l& f tiZ tS ’ M
zm o ° w r a + s s ° t w £ ± » nm&ZA • a r n ^
£ » ’ J ^ tKF3 |5 ; £ 8 I » Kong’S view was influenced
by the early medieval canonical scholars.
"As if' o f course implies that "it in fact may be not." But we have to
understand that Kong was a Confucian scholar. Following the tradition o f Confiician
attitude toward ghosts, Confucian scholars do not pass judgment on whether there
are supernatural deities. A s Confucius put it: "Ji shen ru shen zai" iU (In
worshipping deities one should be as reverant as if they are there).13 The words "as
if' are carefully chosen when dealing with this subject. For those who did not follow
this teaching, however, it was inevitable that they would positions as to whether or
not there were spiritual phenomena.
Lampoons and prophetic rhymes were well developed during Western and
Eastern Han period. The "Treatise on the Five Agents" in the Han H istory and Later
Han H istory both set aside special sections for poetic portents or folk rhymes. These
recorded rhymes extemporaneously satirized and stirred up popular opinion against
the corrupt government and bureaucrats. A typical Han explanation o f the origin o f
the folk lampoon rhymes found in the "Treatise on the Five Agents" o f the Han
12 See Shi san jing zhu s t e - f H S t t l S (Taibei: Yiwen yinshuguan, 1960), 6: 208.
13Ibid, 8: 28.
198
History, under the title o f "Yan zhi bu cong" H ^ [The Words o f
Inconformity], well applies to poetic portents. It says: "When a lord is too harsh and
treats people tyrannically, and his subjects keep their mouths shut for fear o f
punishment, the people's grievances and complaints will be aired through folk songs
and rhymes, becoming poetic portents" P ’ SU&§
The manifestation o f the Han folk rhymes were similar to the early medieval
poetic portents. They also played ideographic riddles. For example, near the end o f
the Eastern Han, in 189, Dong Zhuo Ifr^ l (d. 192), a northwestern warlord, entered
the capital Luoyang with his forces, dethroned and enthroned emperors at will, and
held control o f the central government until he was killed in 192. With his
connivance, soldiers looted and destroyed the capital. A children's rhyme thus
circulated around the capital: "Weeds grow in the field o f thousand square li. How
could them grow so luxuriantly? Divination on the tenth day, [says] they will be no
longer growing" » H W W ° "HB h * 15 The characters qian
^[thousand], li M ,16 and cao (the grass radical o f j^l) together form dong, the
warlord's surname, while shi -(-(ten), ri B (day) and bu p (to divine) together form
14 S e e /* , 27.1377.
15 See HHs, 13.3285.
16 A Chinese unit o f length equivalent to 415 meters.
199
z h u o , his given name. This was certainly a revelation o f the peoples' will. According
to the interpretation o f the author o f the treatise,*7 the regular way to versify the
radicals o f a character was to arrange them according to the stroke order, from the
top to the bottom. However, this rhyme goes against the natural order and begins
with the bottom and moves to the top. This suggests that Dong Zhuo was a usurper
w ho rebelled against his lord.18
The symbolic and prophetic function o f folk and children's rhymes was well
developed and played an even more significant role in early medieval Chinese
politics than they did in Han.
2) Influence of Prophetic Rhymes in Political Struggles and Official
Careers
Examples o f this type in early medieval China are too numerous to list
completely. In this section I will examine only a few.
2. 1 "Under the pressure o f a great stone, it will not be able to stretch itself."
Shi Bao % (d. 272), a general and governor o f Wei, was a supporter o f
the Sima family. He was instrumental in the transfer o f the mandate between Wei
17 Sima Biao 1?J ^ (d. 306).
18 SeeHHs, 13.3285.
200
and Jin,. Because o f this, when Western Jin w as first established, Shi Bao was
appointed as Grand Marshal and granted the title o f duke, garrisoning Huainan j^)
[south o f Huai River].19 As a frontier area facing the hostile state o f Wu, Huainan
commandery was a strategic area with a well trained and powerful army. Wang
Chen 32ji, the Army Supervisor north o f the Huai River, who had long looked
down on Shi Bao for his humble personal background,20 heard a children's rhyme
which went: "The stallion in the palace is used almost as a donkey, under the
pressure o f a great stone, it will not be able to stretch itself' ^ 4

1IS
^ It *
5 JH £ ^ 21 He accordingly presented a secret report to Emperor Wu
about this, accusing Shi Bao o f associating him self with the state o f Wu. Earlier, the
emperor had learned from a diviner watching aeromantic signs that a great battle
would occur in the southeast o f the empire. Since Wu and Huainan are in the
southeast o f Jin, the emperor became suspicious o f Shi. Later he removed Shi from
duty.22
19 A region including the central area of modem Anhui province.
20 Shi Bao used to be a servant in his youth. See Js, 33.1002.
21 The horse was pun for the Jin house. Stone is the pun for the surname of Shi Bao.
22 See Js, 1002. Shi Bao later was appointed as si tu W] (Minister of the Masses).
However, Shi was never entrusted with a military duty again.
201
2. 2 "The central state will decline while Wu will be revived."
After Jin’s conquest o f Wu in 280, many anti-Jin rhymes circulated in the
former Wu area. Some o f them are recorded in the "Treatise on the Five Agents" in
the Jin H istory :
A children's rhyme circulating south o f the Yangzi River went: "A piece o f
meat is small and cowardly,23 knitting [the brow above] the horizontal eyes
(mu |! ) . 24 [You will know that] the central state25 will decline while Wu will
be revived." Others went: "The pillars at the palace entrance will rot.26 Wu
will be revived thirty years later." "When a cock crows, it does not need to
flap its wings. When Wu is revived, it does not need to use great effort." At
that time the people o f the former Wu state all thought [the prophetic
rhymes] would come true for the descendants o f the Wu royal house.
Therefore, those who presumptuously arose in revolt followed one after the
other. However, note that the horizontal eye ( @) actually is a character for
four (EH). From the conquest o f Wu to the time Emperor Yuan’s rise, was
23 The piece of meat suggests both the small territory o f Eastern Jin in the future and the
narrow-mindedness and cowardice o f the future founder o f Eastern Jin, Emperor Yuan.
24 A horizontal mu f=] is si E9 (four).
25 This refers to Western Jin.
26 This suggests the down fall o f the Jin empire.
202
nearly forty years.27 Emperor Yuan rose to power on the east o f the Yangzi
River (the territory o f the former Wu) and the result was as the children's
rhymes had revealed LLjiiifEi& EI • “ * S fcH tll *
” X 0 : -
xs:
° > a s e s T c a ii*
b+^ *Tcaims:* ’ ^ iP is^ ti28

As Lti Simian points out, revolts against the new ruling house among the natives o f
the former state o f Wu natives were continuous after the Jin conquest.29 There were,
o f course, many social, political, economic and cultural reasons which caused
hostility between conquerors and conquered. Nonetheless, the southern rhymes
revealed the native sentiment on one hand, and encouraged a hostile attitude on the
other.
27 From 280 to 317, it fells short o f forty.
28 SeeJs, 28.844.
29 See Lti, Liang Jin Nanbeichao shi, 96-97.
203
2. 3 "A great fish in the Eastern Sea changes into a dragon."
Fu Jian, the great emperor o f Former Qin, was a usurper. After a coup and
the murder o f his cousin Fu Sheng, the legitimate emperor, he enthroned himself.
Here w e will see a rhyme foretelling the murder:
Earlier, Fu Sheng saw a great fish eating a piece o f cattail in his dream.30 In
addition, a rhyme was circulated in the Chang'an area: "A great fish in the
Eastern Sea changes into a dragon.31 I f it is a male he will be a king. I f it is a
female she will be a duchess. If you want to know where you can find it, go
to the east o f the Luo Gate." Donghai [Eastern Sea] was Fu Jian's
noble title. At that time he served as the Longxiang f | f $ [Dragon Prance]
General with his residence compound east o f the Luo Gate. However, failing
to recognize that the rhyme was suggesting Fu Jian, Fu Sheng, because o f
his dream and the rhyme, executed Yu Zun 3^ , 32 the Palace Attendant,
Grand Master and Overseer o f the Department o f State Affairs, and his
seven sons and ten grandsons %J] > QLW’ j'zM s'& W > • “
MMX&imm > °iflntfsraffeR# ° - Mm
30 This is a pun for the original surname o f the Fu family, Pu , means cattail.
31 The dragon is a common symbol for mlers.
32 The surname Yu means fish.
204
m ' ' ± m ' ' +
m 33
2. 4 "Hand touching the head."
Zhang Mao ffl (r. 320-324) was the successor o f Zhang Shi |P , the
founder o f the Former Liang j§u #£,34 one o f the Sixteen States. His uncle Jia Mo J f
Ê, a younger brother o f the Queen Dowager, was from a powerful native family o f
Liang province, the base o f Former Liang. Thus Jia became the most influential man
after Zhang Shi's death. A rhyme earlier circulated: "With one's hand touching his
head,35 [he] is plotting for the Liang province" ’ BI^jU'H-36 Zhang Mao
got the message and preemptively killed Jia.
33 See Js, 112.2878.
34 Its territory was the area to west o f the Yellow River in modem Gansu.
35 This is a ideographic riddle. Mo the given name o f Jia, means to touch. Here it is
dissected into two radicals, shou ^ [hand] and mo H [don't].
36 See Js, 86.2232. The paralleled biography in the Wei History goes slighttly differently:
"Jia Mo and his brothers, who were Zhang Mao's brother-in-law, planned to murder Zhang
Mao. Zhang thus killed them" (99.2194) "To
plan to kill Zhang Mao" and "to plot for the Liang province" are paraphrases.
205
2. 5 "A Son o f Heaven will emerge from Qiantang."
During the Yuanjia 7C ^ reign period (424-453) o f Emperor Wen o f Song, a
saying went "A Son o f Heaven will emerge from Qiantang" & ^ - f ‘ 37 The
emperor accordingly placed a garrison station there to ward o ff the potential threat.
However, during a bloody struggle for the throne after Emperor Wen was murdered
by his own heir, Emperor Xiaowu eventually took the throne at the Chan tang $P
[Zen Hall] o f the Xinting Temple Qian tangis but a pun for chan tang.
2. 6 "A Son o f Heaven will arise from the east o f the city"
The "Treatise on Auspicious Portents" o f the Southern O i H istory goes:
"During the Taishi ^ reign period (465-471) o f the Song, a children's saying
went, 'A Son o f Heaven will arise from the Eastern City.'39 Therefore, Emperor
Ming killed Xiuren the Prince o f Jianan 41 ’ fcB
37 A county located to the west o f modem Hangzhou in Zhejiang.
38 See Ss, 27.786.
39 Jiangkang f t , the capital of the Six Dynasties, in modem Nanjing, could be divided
into three parts. The central part was called Tai City [Terrace City], where the palace and
the central government compounds were located. The western part was Shitou City [Rocky
City], where the imperial guards were stationed. The eastern part, the Eastern City, was the
residence compounds usually given to the chancellor, supervisor o f the Department of State
Affairs, and the inspector of Yangzhou province (a powerful person often held all these
posts at same time). See Wang, Wei Jin Nanbeichao Sui Chu Tang shi, 315.
40 See NQs, 18.353.
206
The Southern H istories has a more detailed account. It tells us that the
rhyme occurred earlier before Xiuren moved his residence to the compounds in the
east o f the capital in keeping with his office. Emperor Ming was alarmed by the
rhyme. He killed Xiuren and closed the Eastern Residence Compounds to
everybody. Later, when Emperor Ming's successor, Liu Yu §$} Jl. (r. 472-476), was
murdered by Xiao Daocheng's associates, another son o f Emperor Ming, Liu Zun §jlJ
if l (r. 477-479), was chosen by Xiao Daocheng as puppet emperor. He was
regarded as the one the rhyme revealed. N o one really realized the revelation in the
rhyme until Xiao Daocheng took over and established Southern Qi. Xiao's
hometown was Dongcheng [literally, east o f the city], a village o f Wujing ^
3i|| county.41 The rhyme actually revealed Xiao's rise to power.42
These accounts, as a part o f the official histories, should not overstate the
role o f rhymes in the political struggles during the reign o f Emperor Ming o f Song.
But the killing o f Xiuren can be understood from the political behaviors o f the rulers
then.
Liu Xiuren (443-471), the Prince o f Jianan, and Emperor Ming were both
the sons o f Emperor Wen. Even when Emperor Wen was still on the throne, he
could not effectively repress the factions and power struggles among the princes. He
41 It was located to the northwest o f modem Wujing county in Jiangsu.
42 See Ns, 4.114.
207
himself was murdered by the Heir, his eldest son Liu Shao in 453. This was revealed
in Kong Xixian's chen prophecy which is mentioned in Chapter I. Liu Jun, the third
son o f Emperor Wen and later Emperor Xiaowu (r. 454-464), killed not only the
murderer Liu Shao and his four sons, but also the entire family o f Emperor Wen's
second son. Still later Emperor Xiaowu killed his other four younger brothers.43 A
contemporary rhyme went: "Gazing at Jiankang’s city wall from afar, little rivers
spiral against the current. Earlier we see that a son killed his father, later w e see that
brothers killed brothers" 0 fu
5E,44 Emperor Xiaowu's successor, Liu Ziye $ ] (r. 465), was even more
brutal. He killed his own brothers, grand uncle and uncles. Finally he himself was
murdered by his officials. His uncle, Liu Yu was then enthroned. This was Emperor
Ming. Emperor Ming was not a legitimate successor because his mother was not the
principal wife o f Emperor Wen. The power struggles stopped in his reign but the
emperor lacked confidence in his right to the throne. He killed not only all the fifteen
sons o f Emperor Xiaowu, but his own remaining brothers, too. Xiuren was one o f
them.
Among all the brothers, cousins, and nephews, Xiuren was the closest to
Emperor Ming. Their friendship began in their youth. When Liu Yu ascended to the
43 See Wang, Wei Jin Nanbeichao Sui Chu Tang shi, 264.
44 See Ws, 97.2142.
208
throne, Xiuren was an important supporter. At the beginning o f Emperor Ming's
reign, the princes and other contenders for the throne led their troops to the capital
to fight against the new emperor. Xiuren, at that time, being in charge o f all the
military and administrative affairs, pacified the situation. Thus he achieved great
merits for the emperor and he himself rose in prestige and fame. In his old age,
Emperor Ming became even more suspicious. He set up a list o f taboo words.
Anyone who violated the taboo would be charged and executed.45 His concern was
over potential threats to his young Heir, and under the influence o f the chen
prophecies and prophetic rhymes, he finally decided to kill Xiuren.46 Although it
became routine for emperors to kill powerful princes in order to prevent potential
threats to their heirs, for Emperor Ming to kill Xiuren was too much a psychological
burden. He issued several edicts to excuse himself, and told someone: "The matter
was so pressing that I could do nothing but eliminate him. I cannot help missing him
and feeling sorrow" ^ f f * ° ^ ^ £ 3 1 » ' F i t 1=1 B - 47
Thus, although the rhyme might not have been not the primary cause o f
Xiuren's execution, it was the spark that set o ff the incident. The biography o f
Xiuren further says: "The emperor w as once very ill. Everyone in court or outside
45 See Chapter II.
46 See Ss, 72.1873. The "Ming di ji" [Basic Annals o f Emperor Ming] said Xiuren
ws allowed to kill himself.
47 See Ss, 72.1878.
209
the court anticipated Xiuren would succeed to the throne. All the functionaries
lower than zhu shu I f [scribe] visited the Eastern Residence Compounds [o f
Xiuren] looking for connections with Xiuren's close associates in advance" _h $1 Wt
* # - >
fij In There is no smoke without fire. The rhyme thus occurred and the
emperor had reason to deal with it seriously.
2. 7 "Riding on a white horse with dark blue silk reins, someone comes from
Shouyang."
The revolt o f Hou Jing, which lasted from 548 to 552, was the turning point
for the Liang dynasty. Earlier, a children's rhyme circulated during the Datong reign
period (535-S45)48 o f Emperor Wu o f Liang, in which a line went: "Riding on a
white horse with dark blue silk reins, one com es from Shouyang" ]lf
5(5.49 In 547, Hou Jing betrayed Eastern Wei. He was defeated by the pursuing
army o f Eastern Wei and fled to Shouyang within Liang's territory.50 The next year,
Hou Jing rose in revolt from Shouyang. With dark blue clothes which the Liang
48 The memoir on Hou Jing in the Liang History dates this rhyme in the Putong 3S reign
period, from 502 to 527, twenty years before the Hou Jing incident.
49 See Ns, 80.1999.
50 There were several places named Shouyang during early medieval China. This Shouyang
actually was Shouchun ^ , located to the southwest of modem Shou county m? ^ in
Anhui.
210
court had supplied to him, made into uniforms for his army, Hou Jing intentionally
rode a white horse with a dark blue silk bridle. By doing so he was acting in
accordance with the rhyme. This can be compared with the actions o f Shi Hu, who
left his capital for a northeastern city, then returned for his enthronement ceremony
simply to correspond to a chen prophecy.
2. 8 "Soughing is the wind, it shall rise again."
Xiao Kui, the third lord o f Later Liang, a dependency o f Northern Zhou, was
very good at interpreting unfavorable revelations in ideographic riddles, as we have
seen in Chapter IV. In fact, this was simply a way o f venting his own grievances
against his suzerain. In 587, Sui annexed the Later Liang and kept its lord Xiao
Cong K | ^ ( r . 585-587), the successor o f Xiao Kui, in the capital. When Emperor
Yang succeeded to the throne, Xiao Cong was greatly trusted. He was appointed as
nei shi ling pkj 5^ ^ [Director o f the Secretariat], and was granted the title Duke o f
Liang. However, Xiao befriended Heruo Bi | f ^-Ef jjffi (544-607), a high-ranking
commander o f Sui. When Heruo offended Emperor Yang and was executed, Xiao
was also disgraced. In addition, a children's rhyme was circulating at that time. A
line o f the rhyme went: "Soughing is the wind, it shall rise again" Hf Hf U l f e . 51
51 See Bs, 93.3093. Xiao xiao f t is a pun for the surname Xiao If.
211
Emperor Yang thus was suspicious o f Xiao Cong. Xiao was dismissed and was
never called back to court again.
3) Fabricated Political Rhymes
It is to be expected that, owing to the significant role and influence o f
prophetic rhymes in power struggles, fabricated political rhymes would occur and
became an interesting feature o f early medieval Chinese politics.
3 .1 "A gentleman cannot be on intimate term with, and a long bow shoots people
dead."
The following story took place during the Song period. Again, it concerns
Emperor Ming, the overly suspicious ruler. During his reign, in addition to the most
obvious potential rivals for the throne, the princes, the emperor also killed numerous
powerful commanders because he thought they would not be loyal to his young son.
Nevertheless, there were two persons he spared simply because he had to rely on
them. One was Wang Yu (413-472), Emperor Ming's brother-in-law. They
were very close in their youth. During Emperor Ming's reign, Wang held several
important court positions such as the Vice Director o f the Department o f State
Affairs, zhongshu jia n cjd H i s (Supervisor o f the Secretariat), and taizi tai fit
212
^ (Senior Tutor o f the Heir), while concurrently holding the most powerful
provincial post, the Yangzhou cishi jUjJ'HflJjt! (Inspector o f Yangzhou province).52
The other was Zhang Yong gg (410-475). Zhang was a native o f Wu
commandery and came from an influential aristocratic family. Zhang Yong earlier
served Song as a capable administrator. He was skillful in writing, calligraphy,
music, technology and martial arts. Starting from 452, he was treated as a capable
governor and general. By the time o f Emperor Ming, he had been given court
positions several times, yet had not had a chance to assume the offices, because he
was too busy putting down rebellions throughout the empire. He suppressed all the
rebellions and held in succession the offices o f provincial governor, inspector and
commander-in-chief in the area extending from modem Zhejiang, Jiangsu to
Shangdong.
Emperor Ming worried that Wang Yu, as a relative o f the emperor, was too
powerful and that Zhang Yong was too influential in the military, and was
suspicious that they might be unfaithful "in the future." He thus created a "folk
rhyme" himself. It went: "A gentleman cannot be on intimate term with, and the
long bow shoots people dead" — ’ ^ § l t f $ t A - 53In 472, Emperor
52 Yangzhou was centered around the capital Jiankang, controlled the territory surrounding
the capital.
53 Ss, 85.2181. Jingwen was Wang Yu's style name. This is an ideographic riddle. Yi —
(one) and shi zh (gentleman) together form Wang 3L Wang Yu's surname. Gong ^ (bow)
plus chang ^ (long) together form Zhang <jri, Zhang Yong's surname.
213
Ming was seriously ill. H e knew that he would not live long, so he sent a messenger
to give Wang Yu poison and had him commit suicide, telling Wang this was to
"protect your family from execution."54 Zhang Yong was luckier. He was in charge
o f the imperial guards and the garrisoning o f the capital at that time. The emperor
still had use for him. He died three years later because o f illness.
3 .2 "Apanpipe will sound only for a while."
At the end o f Song, there were four officials who were trusted by Emperor
Ming and were entrusted to assist the young successor, Liu Yu (r. 472-477),55 to
run the central government after Emperor Ming's death. These four were called "the
four nobles" 0 jtf.They were Xiao Daocheng, who was in charge o f the imperial
guards at that time and later established the Southern Qi; Chu Yuan ^ (435-
482), a son-in-law o f Emperor Wen and a henchman o f Emperor Ming, the Vice
Director o f the Department o f State Affairs and later the Supervisor o f the
Secretariat; Liu Bin §?J fH (433-477), a member o f the imperial house, in charge o f
the Department o f State Affairs; Yuan Can 3^(420-477), an aristocrat, in charge
o f the Department o f State Affairs and later the Secretariat. O f the four, Xiao, who
controlled the military, was the most powerful. Chu was a good friend o f Xiao. Liu
54 Zztj, 4169.
55 He was murdered by his attendants who were bought over by Xiao Daocheng.
R e p ro d u c e d with perm ission of the copyright owner. F urther reproduction prohibited without permission.
214
and Yuan, recognizing Xiao as a contender for the throne, were alarmed. In 477,
Shen Youzhi ^ f f e ^ . ( d . 478), the Inspector o f Jingzhou province ^JjJi'l,56 launched
an expedition against Xiao Daocheng. Taking advantage o f this, Liu Bing and Yuan
Can, in association with Wang Yun 3E $ t (d. 477),57 planned a palace coup against
Xiao. Consequently, the coup failed and all the people who had colluded in the plan
were killed.
Our story starts from here. Bian Bin i^ ft2 (d . 499 or 500), a literary writer
famous for his lampooning style,58 did not believe that Xiao and Chu would be
successful. He told Xiao Daocheng: "I recently learned a [children's]59 rhyme which
goes: 'Pitiable is that the impersonator in mourning60 still wearing the mourning
garments. The filia l son is absent, and the sun takes his place weeping. A panpipe
will be sounding only for a while, and when it stops to be, it will get its entire family
56 A famous commander. He used to get along with Xiao Daochen well. Xiao's daughter
married Shen's son. Shen, at the end o f Song, as the Commander-in-chief, with his seat at
Jingzhou province, controlled eight provinces, including the areas o f modem Hubei,
Hunan, Shanxi, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. See Zztj, 4201-4202; Ss,
74.1927-1940.
57 A nephew o f Wang Yu, Emperor Ming's brother-in-law as mentioned above.
58 He wrote prose-poems, passing ironical remarks by means o f animals and birds, to

lampoon some contemporary powerful figures. See his biography in NQs, 52.893.
59 In other references, for example, in Southern Oi History, 52.892, the "rhyme" is recorded
as "children's rhyme," tongyao M.Wr-
60 Shi originally meant the one who impersonates the dead to receive sacrifice. Usually a
son impersonates his parents.
215
exterminated.' Has Your Excellency heard o f this?" J
m > » m w f s m y t m m ° - &*w>p*Thejwto/sw»is
absent, and the sun takes his place weeping" is an ideographic riddle. If we remove
zi (son) from the character xiao (filial), and put ri B

(sun) in the place o f zi,
the character becomes zhe Zhe with a cloth radical61 results in Chu i^f, the
surname o f Chu Yuan. The pan pipe suggests Xiao Uf,62 the surname o f Xiao
Daocheng. Xiao Daocheng, having heard Bian's rhyme, was not pleased. When Bian
left, Xiao said: "Bian Bin made this up himself' lib-63
The story above is the Southern H istories version. The Southern Qi H istory
rendition is almost identical except for the ending: "When Bian Bin left, Xiao
Daocheng said with smile: 'Bian Bin made this up himself " $2 ^ 0 I
“ fij i'P Jib• ” 64 The author o f the Southern Oi History, Xiao Xixian, was a
descendant of Xiao Daocheng. His attitude toward Xiao Daocheng is
understandable. If what Xiao Daocheng said was true, Bian Bin obviously used a
children's rhyme as a weapon to lampoon the powerful figures o f his time.
61 The cloth radical is from the earlier line, the mourning garments.
62 This character looks similar to the character xiao H [pipe] except for the uper radical.
63 See M , 72.1767.
64 See NQs, 52.892.
216
3. 3 "The bright moon lights up Chang'an."
Here is the most famous case o f a stratagem o f sowing distrust among
opponents by fabricating rhymes in early medieval China.
After almost forty years o f confrontation between the Gao and Yuwen
families in North China, 573 was a turning point. In the beginning, Eastern Wei,
which later became Northern Qi, was stronger than its opponents, first Western
Wei, then Northern Zhou. From 571 to 572, the contemporary southern dynasty,
Chen, allied with Northern Zhou. Seizing this opportunity, Emperor Xuan eT o f
Chen (r. 569-582) launched an expedition against Northern Qi. As a result, Chen
recovered all o f its lost territory between the Yangzi River and the Huai River. From
that time on Northern Qi was greatly crippled, while Northern Zhou started to look
for an opportunity to conquer Northern Qi.65
A Chinese idiom goes: "An ice sheet three feet thick takes more than one
cold day to form." The decline o f Northern Qi took a long while and the historical
causes were complicated. However, briefly and from the political viewpoint, the
critical internal causes were: first, extreme corruption and ruthless power struggles
among the emperors and members o f the imperial house; second, factional fighting
among the ruling group; and, third, the emperors' jealousy and suspicion towards the
commanders which resulted in the executions o f many men with great merit and
65 See Lti, Bei Qi zhengzhi shi yanjiu, 125-128.
217
ability. The external cause was when Northern Zhou, taking advantage o f the
political situation o f its opponent, launched an espionage war to intensify the
tensions and conflicts among the Northern Qi ruling group. This was the specific
background o f the "bright moon lights up Chang'an" case.
There are three key figures in the case which deserve our special attention.
The first one is Wei Xiaokuan (509-580), the Northern Zhou strategist and
instigator o f this espionage battle. Wei's given name was actually Shuyu
Xiaokuan was his style name. However, his style name was so well known that the
historical records all refer him as Xiaokuan. H e was a native o f Jingzhao jff ^
commandery.66 His family was influential in the former central area o f the Han
dynasty. Xiaokuan's grandfather and father served Northern Wei as provincial
inspectors and governors. Xiaokuan himself was well educated in the classics and
history, as were many aristocrats o f the time. He was once made an Academician at
the National Academy. However, Xiaokuan possessed a special talent for warfare.
In 546, Gao Huan, the Chancellor and actual ruler o f Eastern Wei, personally led an
expedition with his main forces towards the west. The first important strategic point
on his way west was Yubi 3L1£.67 With his forces spread out over dozens o f miles,
Gao Huan personally commanded the attack against the heavily fortified city, day
66 It was centered to the northwest o f modem Xian £§ $ in Shanxi ^ gjjf.
67 It was located to the southwest of modem Linfen in Shanxi lJL| g f .
218
and night, without a break. Xiaokuan, as garrison commander, held fast to his
position with remarkable stratagems for fifty days. Eastern Wei lost seventy-
thousand officers and soldiers. Exhausting his resources and physical strength and
falling ill, Gao Huan had no alternative but to withdrew his forces and return home.
Partly because o f his illness and partly because o f frustration,68 he passed away.69
Wei Xiaokuan served as the garrison commander and governor o f the
frontier provinces and commanderies o f Western Wei and Northern Zhou for
decades. M ost o f the time, although the Eastern empire was more powerful
militarily,70 Xiaokuan w on many battles, defended his garrison areas, and allowed
his people to live in peace. An important factor in his success was his skill in using
stratagems and espionage. His memoir in the Zhou History comments: "Serving at
the frontier areas for many years, Xiaokuan warded o ff the strong enemies many
times. When he first laid his plans and operations out, no one could understand.
Only after the plan was successful would people be surprised and convinced" ^ j=[
»fiwz® >KMzm; tm»

j j j b m m 71
68 Gao Huan himself was a talented strategist and one o f the great commanders o f his
generation.
69 See Zztj, 4941-4943.
70 See Lti, Bei Qi zhengzhi shiyanjiu, 102-105.
71 See Zs, 31.544.
219
In the third year o f the Datong reign period (537) o f Western Wei,
Xiaokuan was the Inspector o f Southern Yanzhou ;H‘| province.72 His
opponents Duan Chen (fl. 550) and Yao Jie § s | (fl. 538), the commanders
o f Eastern Wei, had their subordinate Niu Daoheng attract the Western Wei
people in the frontier areas moving to the east. Niu's task must have been successful,
because Xiaokuan w as deeply worried about this. He had his spy get a sample o f
Niu's handwriting, then fabricated a letter from Niu to Xiaokuan. The letter, o f
course, was finally received by Duan Chen and Yao Jie. Taking advantage o f the
fact that Eastern Wei's commanders were suspicious o f one another, Xiaokuan made
an ingenious military m ove and captured the opponent's commanders. His garrison
area was thus free from military threats.73 Xiaokuan was not only skillful at
espionage, he was also good at manipulating his agents and winning their loyalty. All
his agents who were sent to Northern Qi remained loyal to him. There were Qi
citizens who worked for Xiaokuan for money as well. Therefore, every move in the
Qi court was soon known by Northern Zhou. Nevertheless, from 569 to 571 when
Northern Zhou w as fighting for Yiyang &f§,74 a strategic position, Xiaokuan, as
the front-line commander, encountered his military match. This was Hulti Guang,
72 It used to be the territory of Northern Qi, and was centered on modem Bozhou ^ j'H in
Anhui.
73 See Zs, 31.536.
74 A commandery was centered to the southwest of modem Luoyang in Henan.
220
the Senior Tutor o f the Heir o f Northern Qi, who later became the Chancellor. After
being defeated by Hulti, Xiaokuan sought for some means other than military ones
to crush Hulii.
Hulti Guang (515-572), whose style name was Mingyue BJ £ j,75
was from an influential Xianbei noble family. His father Hulii Jin ^ ^ (4 8 8 -5 6 7 ),
served Northern Wei and Eastern Wei as a high official, and was greatly trusted by
the earlier leaders o f the Gao Family, Gao Huan, Gao Cheng and Gao Yang. In Gao
Yang's reign, he was granted the title o f Prince o f Xianyang £f§ commandery,76
and was made Chancellor. Among the daughters o f the Hulii family, one married an
emperor, and two married heirs. Among the sons o f the Hulii family, three married
princesses.
Nevertheless, the Hulii family was not esteemed by the Northern Qi house
solely because o f this relationship. The male members o f Hulii family had been
known for their military talent, martial arts and courage for generations. Hulii
Guang, although his daughter was the empress o f Gao Wei J ^ |^ (r. 565-576), Later
Lord o f Northern Qi, won his influence and prestige by his own merit. He served as
warrior and commander in the military from the age o f seventeen. Throughout
countless battles, he was never defeated. Both the eastern and southern opponents
75 His given name means light, and the style name means bright moon.
76 It was centered to the north o f modem Jingyang 'MWb county in Shanxi .
221
dreaded him. In addition to his military achievements, he was also loyal to the
emperor. In 571, Gao Yan jU fig, the emperor's younger brother, led a palace coup.
Hulti was ordered by the emperor to pacify the coup.
However, when he led his forces on the way back to the capital from the
victory in Yiyang, the emperor ordered him to dismiss them on the spot. Believing
that his officers and soldiers deserved a formal recognition and reward for their
outstanding performance in battle, Guang failed to follow the order and led the
returning forces to the capital instead. This incident displeased the emperor greatly.
Moreover, Guang offended Zu Ting, the Vice Director o f the Department o f State
Affairs, who thus became the third key figure in the espionage battle.
Zu Ting §£ (fl. 573) was from an aristocratic family. He was a skillful
writer and capable official, but was also corrupt and sycophantic. At the end o f
Emperor Wucheng's reign (r. 561-565), Zu convinced the emperor to abdicate
the throne to his heir by quoting prophetic-apocryphal texts, but was later blinded by
Emperor Wucheng. When the Heir became the Later Lord, he remembered the favor
Zu had done him. When he came to power, he restored Zu to office. During the
Later Lord's reign, his wet nurse Lu Lingxuan ^ 1 | became the most influential
woman in the palace, while Lu's son Mu Tipo ^ H became the emperor’s
222
favorite lackey.77 Zu got along well with Lu and Mu. Thus Zu became the most
powerful official in court. Hulii Guang, however, looked down on Zu because o f his
mean behavior and refused Mu Tipo's offer to marry his daughter. In addition,
Empress Hulti, the daughter o f Hulii Guang, was no longer favored by the emperor
at that time.
Making use o f this situation, Wei Xiaokuan had his subordinate, Qu Yan f t
£§c, fabricate "children's rhymes" which went: "One hundred liters fly to Heaven.
The bright moon lights up Chang'an" U ff* ff$ _ t ^ ^ I M "A tall
mountain will collapse itself without a push, while a Mongolian oak tree will grow
straight without any support" rij [ J L ] ^ ’ t § 7 f c ^ ^ g $ = . 78 He then had
his agents disseminate the "rhymes" in Ye, the capital o f Northern Qi. The rhymes
soon became prevalent among the Ye children. They sang them on the streets.
When Zu Ting heard o f these rhymes, as a skillful political tactician,79 he
would not let this great opportunity get away. He added two more lines to the
rhymes: "A blind aged man will feel a great ax on his back, while a garrulous aged
77 Note that the Later Lord was ten when he formally succeeded to the throne, and personally
supervised the court at fourteen. Thus his henchmen were his wet nurse or the associates
who used to play with him when he was the Heir.
78 See Zztj, 5308.
79Zu Ting had used folk rhymes as political weapon before. In Emperor Wucheng's reign, he
decoded a folk rhyme for the emperor, which caused the prince Gao Xiaowan's M
execution. See BQs, 11.146.
223
woman will shut her mouth" 1=f Mu Tipo
passed the rhymes to his mother. Lu Lingxuan thought the "garrulous aged woman"
must refer to her while the "blind aged man" would be Zu Ting. Thus they became
allies and, as the rumors increased, ultimately the emperor himself summoned the
two o f them to ask about the situation.81 Zu and Lu both verified the rhymes. Zu
further decoded the hidden message for the emperor: One hundred liters suggested
the first character o f Hulii's surname.82 The blind a g ed man indicated Zu Ting,
devoted servant o f the emperor. The garrulous a g ed woman suggested Lady Lu.
Members o f the Hulii family had been great commanders for generations, and Hulii
Guang's prestige was known even by the dynasty’s western opponents, while Hulii
Xian's83 majesty deterred the Turks. The Hulu daughter was empress while Hulu
sons married princesses—these rhymes deserved serious vigilance.84
80 Ibid.
8' SeeZztf, 5308.
82 The character hu §4 is a Chinese measure unit. One hundred Chinese liters are equivalent
to a hu. Thus "one hundred liters will fly to Heaven" suggests the Hulii family will reach the
highest position. The next line is a pun as well. The "bright moon" is the style name of Hulti
Guang. "Chang'an" is used as a common noun for the imperial capital. The "tall mountain"
implies the surname o f the imperial house, since Gao ft] in Chinese meaning tall or high.
The Mongolian oak tree #$is a pun for hu $4, the surname o f Hulti Guang.
83 Hulti Xian j§4 ^ (d- 572), Guang's younger brother, was also an great commander
garrisoning the northern frontier areas.
84 SeeZz/y, 5308.
224
Consequently, most male members o f the Hulti family were executed.85
When Emperor Wu o f Northern Zhou heard the news, he issued a nationwide
general amnesty to celebrate.86 In 575, as the Northern Zhou court prepared a great
expedition against its eastern and southern opponents, Emperor Wu asked Yilou
Qian M(fl- 581), the Excellency Unequaled in Honor, which opponent should
be the first target. Yilou replied, “The [emperor of] Qi is indulging in wine and
entertainment, and its great commander Hulii Mingyue has been killed by those
slanderous mouths. It would be easy to take.” Emperor Wu laughed.87 In 577, when
Emperor Wu finally conquered Northern Qi and entered the capital Ye he conferred
on Hulii Guang the titles o f duke and shang zhu guo f t M [Supreme Pillar o f
State].88 The emperor, pointing to the edict, said: "If this person were still alive,
could I get to Ye?" jib ’ S £ ^ t £ M i I ? 89
This may overstate the effect o f the rhyme "The bright moon lights up
Chang'an." The decline o f Northern Qi was a complicated historical course.
85 Wang Zhongluo treats this incident as a conflict between the Han officials and aristocrats
and Xianbei nobles and generals within the Northern Qi ruling group.(W?/ Jin Nanbeichao
Sui Chu Tang shi, 446-447) I cannot agree with Wang at this point.
86 See Zztj, 5310.
87 See Zztj, 5343.
88 A highly honorific title. See Hucker, A Dictionary o f Official Titles in Imperial China,
407.
89 See BQs, 17.226.
225
Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the execution o f the Hulii family crippled its
military strength and accelerated the course o f decline o f Northern Qi.
Although these fabricated political rhymes played a great role in certain
historical incidents, as w e have been at pains to show, it would be a mistake if we
regarded the role o f the prophetic rhymes or even the bulk o f early medieval Chinese
folk rhymes simply as fabrications for political gains. First, the fabricated rhymes
were only a small part o f the large number o f the prophetic rhymes recorded in the
histories. Second, one o f the reasons that the fabricated rhymes worked was because
the prophetic rhymes did play an important role during early medieval China.
Without this background, the fabricated rhymes would have had no effect at all.
4) Chen prophecies Recognized After Realization
As I have pointed out, before any expression which purports to describe
future events is accepted by the public, it is a competing quasi-chen. After it has
attracted the attention and belief o f the people, it becomes a chen prophecy.
Because o f the people's zeal, a chen prophecy will, one way or the other, bring
about some practical effects. As a result, it will be recorded in a history.
But there must be many such expressions which remain quasi -chen,
gathering no attention and causing no disturbances. They either stir up no political
anxiety, and thus are totally forgotten, leaving no traces in history, or are identified
226
as having prophetic value only after they come true. In other words, a quasi-chen
may be folly recognized as a chen prophecy only after the prophesied event is over.
The following are examples o f rhymes which were either identified as
prophecies but not completed decoded by contemporary writers, or were not
recognized as prophecies until later.
4. 1 Prophetic rhymes o f politically less sensitive events
1) "Will see a blind man become the Son o f Heaven."
In the Yuankang j c fiff reign period (291-299) o f Emperor Hui o f the
Western Jin, it was fashionable for peasants and tradesmen to wear straw hats with
large brims.90 A children's rhyme went: "A tnsu grass hat shades one from sun and
covers one's two ears. We shall see a blind man become the Son o f Heaven" 9i M M
0 301, Sima Lun, the Prince o f Zhao, killed
Empress Jia and usurped the throne. H e was blind in one eye.
2) "The stallion died, the colt went hungry."
90 It was called da zhang ri 0 (large enough to shade one from the sun) in Chinese.
91 This rhyme makes little sense. But, as we have become accustomed to the nonsensicial
children's rhymes now, we should have no problem to recognize it as a candidate of a chen
prophecy.
92 See Js, 28.845. The memoir on Sima Lun o f the Jin History, however, does not mention
Lun's blindness but "a tumor on his eye" instead. (59.1602)
227
At the beginning o f the Taining reign period (323-325) o f Emperor Ming Hf]
o f the Eastern Jin, a children's rhyme went: "How sad it is to herd horses at the foot
o f a mountain. The stallion died, and the colt went hungry. The tall mountain
collapsed, the rocks broke themselves" 0 ’ /K H
$1 0 ifj ill § fi&.93 In 325, Emperor Ming passed away. According to the
authors o f the Jin H istory, this was what was meant by the "the stallion died." The
"colt," his successor Emperor Cheng fj£, was then only five years old. A powerful
provincial commander, Su Jun (d. 328), could not get along with the officials
who were in charge o f the central government. In 327, he rose in revolt, and
captured the capital. The young emperor fled and was often short o f food. However,
Su Jun was defeated and killed in 329. This is what was meant by "the tall mountain
collapsed."94 Su Jun's younger brother, Su Shi, was killed by Eastern Jin army soon
after Su Jun's death. This was what the rhyme meant by "the rocks."95
3) "Weeds have grown long enough to tie a knot."
In the Longan $ reign period (397-401) o f Emperor An ^ o f Eastern Jin,
the common people sang a song called "Ao nao ge" iH 1$ UK [Song o f Vexation],
The song went: "Weeds have grown long enough to tie a knot. Young girls can be
93 See .A, 28.846.
94 Jun |^ , Su Jun's given name, means tall [mountain],
95 Shi £ j, Su Shi's given name, means rock.
228
embraced and carried away" S 6 J 6 96 In 403, Huan Xuan
usurped the throne. In the third month o f 404, Huan Xuan was defeated. When the
Jin army entered the capital, the remaining palace women and the women w hose
family members had served Huan's government were all taken as rewards for the
army. It was middle spring when Jin army entered the capital, a season in which
weeds grow fast, as the rhyme revealed.
4 ) "By the next third month you will have your arms around barbarians'
waists.”
During Western Jin, in Emperor Hui's reign (290-306), a children's rhyme
circulated in the Luoyang area: "Girls in Y e97 don't be cocky and seductive. By the
next third month you will have your arms around barbarians' waists" 4 1£ H
’ f u M H Pi J&SEBfSj^This rhyme seems to be a joking song between young
girls. However, in the next year the barbarians rose in revolt and soon conquered the
heartland o f Western Jin.
5) "You see no one on the horse but yellow dust rising as a cloud."
Li Yanshou 628), the author o f the Southern Histories, gives
this comment at the end o f the "Chen benji" [Basic Annals o f Chen]:
96 See Ss, 31.918-919.
97 It used to be the capital o f Wei.
98 Du, Gu yao yan, 148. Du thinks this was a fragment o f the Jin History.
229
[A children's rhyme current at the end o f Liang goes:] "How lovable is the
Sichuan horse which can run a thousand li a day." You see no one on the
horse but yellow dust rising as a cloud. Yellow dust dirties clothes; the
Chinese honey locust100 cleans it up." After Wang Sengbian was defeated,101
officials in the Liang court102 reported the rhyme to the court and decoded it:
Wang Sengbian, when he fought with Hou Jing, rode a horse from Ba.
"Someone on the horse" refers to the written character Wang.103 The dust
means Chen.104 However, they could not understand the meaning o f the
Chinese honey locust. When Chen was exterminated by Sui, some decoders
thought that in the East o f the Yangzi River area horn o f the black ram is
called zaojia (homonymous with the name o f Chinese honey locust), while
the surname o f the Sui imperial house was Yang. Yang is the same as ram
99 Ba refers to the eastern area of Sichuan. The horses produced in Sichuan are famous in
China because they are hardy, tenacious and good at running in mountains.
100 Zaojia ^ (Chinese honey locust) was traditionally used as soap in China.
101 Wang Sengbian 3 i fit M (d. 555), earlier served Northern Wei, then turned his back on
Wei and came to Liang. When Hou Jing raised his great revolt, Wang was one o f the
important commanders who defeated Hou. In 552, together with Chen Baxian, who later
became the founder o f Chen, he recovered Jiankang, the capital. In 555, Emperor Yuan of
Liang passed away and the conflict between Wang and Chen soon intensified. As a result
Wang was defeated and killed by Chen.
102 They were Chen Baxian's supporters.
103 Wang is Wang Sengbian's surname. This is an ideographic riddle. The form 3 i can be
seen on the uper part o f the character $ |.
104 Chen JH (dust) is the pun for Chen the surname o f Chen Baxian.
230
(ycmg in Chinese).105 The rhyme actually revealed that Chen eventually
would be exterminated by Sui. Thus the rise and decline [o f an imperial
house or an powerful person] which were revealed by portents, would
supposedly have been predetermined « nj G M“P" » — 0 'F'

ju n ± fl5 ’ m j m m ° m s* ? a # >
mm > »0 :
» w tm m m n m »
«• » a w « s . 106
This rhyme was not at the first glance political. Nevertheless, the officials in the
Liang court were able to recognize it as a chen prophecy, although they were not
able to decode it completely.
6) "Winnowing dust and dirt to search for pearls"
In 531, a Northern Wei commander Gao Huan, who later became the
founder o f the Northern Qi imperial house, led an expedition against the Erzhu Uf 7^
family,107 and exterminated it the next year. Earlier, a rhyme circulated throughout
105 Again "Chinese honey locust" is the pun for zaojia, a dialected word for the black ram
horn.
106 SeeAfr, 10.311.
107 The Erzhu family were hereditary chiefs o f a northwestern minority tribe. At the end of
Northern Wei, its chief Erzhu Rong fH ^£11 (493-530), extended his forces. Gao Huan and
Hou Jing, at the beginning o f their careers, were both supported by him. In 528, he
conquered the Wei capital, killed the empress dowager and the emperor, enthroned a puppet
emperor, and appointed himself the Commander-in-Chief o f the Empire and the Director of
231
the empire: "From the end o f the third month, to the beginning o f the fourth month,
winnowing dust and dirt to search for pearls" > 0 £3 M M M dlM
Another rhyme went: "Head leaves neck. Heels are side by side. Body reaches
the top o f a tree without a ladder's help" gf-jfelH ’ ’ § i_ h } s t »
108 In the beginning o f the fourth month o f 532, two cousins o f Erzhu Rong who had
escaped were caught.109 Their heads were cut o ff and hung on a tree for public
exposure.
7) "Lovely is the baby green sparrow"
In 534, Emperor Xiaowu escaped from the capital Ye and sought Yuwen
Tai's protection. Gao Huan tried several times to bring the emperor back yet failed.
Finally, Gao Huan decided to enthrone a puppet emperor himself. The emperor was
Yuan Shanjian 7C H M (525-552), a nine-year-old boy and the heir o f the Prince o f
Qinghe He became Emperor Xiaojing ^ § f ( r . 534-550). Northern Wei thus
split into two empires. Earlier, a children's rhyme circulated in Northern Wei:
"Lovely is the baby green sparrow, it flies to Ye city. The wings are yet to be full-
fledged, when it turns into a parrot's chick" 5(31$M i l » M M
the Department o f State Affairs. His family members occupied important positions in both
the court and the provinces. In 530, he was killed by Emperor Xiaozhuang, the puppet
emperor he enthroned. The Erzhu family was soon exterminated.
108 See Ws, 75.1666.
109 Zhu (pearl) is a pun for zhu ^ , a radical of Erzhu's surname. Searching for pearls
thus means to search for Erzhu.
232
The rhyme was decoded as follows: the baby green
sparrow suggested the young emperor. He was the heir o f the Prince Qinghe, while
the character Qing ^ is a pun for qing ]if [green],The parrot indicated Gao Huan,
who picked and enthroned the emperor. Gao Huan's posthumous title was Shen wu
# [Divine and Majestic], The second character o f the title is pronounced the
same as the second character o f yin g w u jjj|[parrot],
8) "A lamp burning under water shall be extinguished."
In 547, Gao Huan, the powerful chancellor o f Eastern Wei, passed away.
Two years later, his successor Gao Cheng (521-549) was assassinated by his slave, a
son o f a southern general who had been captured by Eastern Wei army in a battle.111
This unusual death naturally attracted people's attention. Some thought that the
deaths had been revealed in a children's rhyme o f a slightly earlier era: "A tall
bamboo pole o f hundred feet shall be broken off. A lamp burning under water shall
be extinguished" H R jfU ^ Jlf ’ 7K H; $$ @ @ M -112 The first line suggested
Gao Huan's death because his surname meant "tall." The second line revealed the
assassination o f Gao Cheng because o f his given name, Cheng which is
110 See BQs, 2.18.
111 This incident was introduced in Chapter II. The slave's name was Lan Jing jj@ (d.
549). His grandfather Lan Ziyun -?• S served Liang as a general and a provincial
inspector. His father, Lan Qin (Jl. 527), was an accomplished general and served as
Area Commander-in-Chief garrisoning the southern frontier areas for Liang.
1,2 See BQs, 3.37.
233
composed o f tw o parts, a water radical and a deng which in turn is deng jtj|
[lamp] without the fire j/c radical.113
There is at least one thing in common among the folk rhymes quoted above:
as usual, they prophesied some future political events, but were not the cause o f any
political purge. The reason may be that they were not fully understood, or
prophesied the events which did not seem politically sensitive. They became publicly
recognized as revelations o f heavenly will because their secret messages were
decoded and the connections between these rhymes and certain historical incidents
were "discovered" later.
4. 2 Prophetic rhymes conveying popular grievance
Rhymes conveying popular grievances are usually extemporaneous
lampoons. These lampooning rhymes often manifest common opinions and popular
sentiments o f the common people. They form an important and unique tradition o f
Chinese popular culture.
N ot all lampooning rhymes possess prophetic power or are publicly
recognized as prophetic rhymes. Furthermore, since at the first glance they appear to
be purely political, their prophetic nature may be overlooked and thus cause no
political tension at first. In this section, I will examine some selected rhymes
113 Thus we get the idea o f "a lamp burning under water without fire."
234
associated with certain important historical events or figures. As grievances are
expressed in different forms, the rhymes are grouped accordingly.
1) Pro-establishment sentiments
During Emperor Hui's reign (290-306), Empress Dowager Yang's family and
Empress Jia's family struggled for power at court. Most princes were later involved.
This caused a civil war and resulted in Western Jin's decline.
After Empress Jia defeated the Yang family, she could not get along well
with the Heir114 and decided to depose him. According to the historical records, the
populace was very unhappy with Empress Jia and sympathetic to the former Heir. In
299, a folk rhyme became popular: "Colt in the Eastern Palace,115 don't be deaf!
Approaching the twelfth month your mane will be knotted" jK ^ ,1§ -?■ H Wk ’
ft In the twelfth month (300), the empress fabricated a letter
which was purported to have been written by the Heir which attacked the emperor.
Thus the Heir was deposed.
114 Sima Yu WJ ^ (278-300). His posthumous title was the Heir Minhuai $ £ tf| • He was
not Empress Jia's son.
115 As mentioned before, the horse was a pun for the Jin house. The colt, of course, indicated
the Heir.
116 See the biography o f the Heir, Js, 53.1460. Another version in the "Treatise on the Five
Agents" (Js 28.844) goes: ""Colt in the Eastern Palace, don't whinny! Approaching the
twelfth month your mane will be knotted" One
o f the traditional views reads this as a curse on the Prince of Zhao.
235
Another rhyme went: "The fast wind from the south beats the yellow sand.117
Looking at the Lu capital from a distance, the city wall looks magnificent.118
Approaching the time o f the coming third month it will destroy your family119" ^ JjS,
in the next third
month (300), the Heir was killed by the empress.
The Empress Jia’s murder o f the Heir was partly due to the Prince o f Zhao’s
attempts to sow dissension between the empress and the former Heir. He spread
rumors to the effect that the palace guards would get rid o f the empress and restore
the Heir. When Empress Jia killed the Heir, the Prince o f Zhao, on the pretext o f
avenging the Heir, led a palace coup and killed the empress.121 People soon
recognized the plot o f the Prince o f Zhao. A new rhyme occurred: "The fast wind
117 Empress Jia's given name was Nanfeng $3 US,, meaning the wind from the south. The
Heir's childhood name was Shamen , sha meaning sand.
118 It was centered in modem Qufii £&li|L in Shandong. It was the fief of Empress Jia's father
and later o f her nephew.
119 This means to exterminate the Jin imperial house. "You" refers to the Heir. There is
another reading which takes "you" to be the Prince of Zhao. (See Gao Dianshi iU ^ ,
Zhongguo lidai tongyao j i zhu Jinan: Shangdong daxue chubanshe,
1990. 53.) I think that the version recorded in the memoir on empresses and consorts
appeared before the coup by the Prince of Zhao took place, so "you" could not be the Prince
o f Zhao.
120 See Js, 53.1460.
121 Zztj, 2639.
236
from the south beats the white sand.122 Looking at the Lu capital from a distance,
the city wall looks magnificent. A thousand-year-old skull will grow teeth"
2) Curses tyrants
In addition to the constant warfare with northern barbarian states, the
Eastern Jin empire suffered from serious internecine conflicts, in particular conflict
between the two major political, economic and military areas-Yangzhou j|jj
province, which include the capital and the Lower Yangzi River Valley, and
Jingzhou jJ'I'l province, the Middle Yangzi River Valley with its powerful military
forces and economic strength. This was basically a struggle between the court and
the provincial warlords and great aristocratic families.124
In 345, Huan Wen j g ^ (312-373), a capable aristocrat and son-in-law o f
Emperor Ming, was appointed as Inspector o f Jingzhou and the Area Commander-
in-Chief o f the Middle Yangzi River Valley. From that time on, the Huan family
controlled this significant area and the main forces o f the Eastern Jin military. In
363, Huan Wen was made the Grand Marshal and the Commander-in-Chief o f the
122 The color change from yellow to white had symbolic significance. The fixed term of the
Jin house was metal power with the symbolic color white.
123 This new version is recorded in Js, 1460.
124 See Wang, Wei Jin Nanbeichao Sui Chu Tang shi, 210-211.
237
Empire. The next year, he became the Inspector o f both Jingzhou and Yangzhou.
He was both powerful and ambitious.
In 3 6 2 , Emperor Ai succeeded to the throne and changed the reign period
title to Longhe pHftj. A children's rhyme went: "A full sheng (liter) cannot fill up
a dou 4* (ten liters).125 H ow can Longhe last long?126 When the Excellency Huan
enters Shitou 5 M City, His Majesty will flee without shoes" ’ (UfO
The emperor was displeased with this
inauspicious rhyme. The next year the reign period title was changed again. This
time the title was Xingning f | £g.127 People then circulated a new rhyme: "Even
though he changed the title to Xingning , there is no means to make living" § 1 1 8
J|12§£ » m UP 128 Three years later the emperor was dead. These two
rhymes were clearly prophetic.

f
In 4 0 3 , Huan Xuan (369-404), the son o f Huan Wen, conquered
Jiankang and enthroned himself as emperor. A children's rhyme said: "Weeds grow
long, reaching the trunk o f horses. Crows will peck Huan Xuan's eyes" ^
125 "A full liter" in Chinese was a pun for Shengping, the reign period title (357-361) o f the
late emperor, Emperor Mu ^ |. The reign period last less than ten years.
126 Shengping and Longhe are synonyms.
127 This still means "flourishing and peaceful," another synonym of Shengping.
128 See Js, 28.846-847.
238
BE ’ M 8§^1l[3C @ 129 The next year, Huan Xuan was defeated and withdrew to
Jiangling, his old base. In the fifth month, he was killed. The timing was quite
precise because that w as the season in which weeds grow .130
When Huan Xuan was on the throne, a children's rhyme circulated: "The
Changgan Lane, the Lane Changgan. This year [Huan Xuan] killed the young
man,131 next year people kill the Huans" 0 ^
^ l l T j N f S 132 After one year on throne, Huan Xuan escaped from the capital. Most
o f his family members were killed.
Shi Le, the leader o f the Jie people who established Later Zhao, was famous
for his ferocity. A rhyme cursed him: "A cup o f food, with two spoons. When Shi
Le dies, no one pays attentions" — ° ’ A ' f ' £ f l I33Shi
Le passed away in 333. His successor was murdered by Shi Le's nephew, Shi Hu.
When Shi Hu died, his sons slaughtered one another. Later Zhao fell in 352.
129 Ibid, 848.
130 The character wu (crow) was a pun. On one hand it implied Huan Xuan's death
because a crow pecks dead bodies. On the other hand, wu is pronounced the same as wa £ .
(five), thus pointing to the fifith month. See Gao, Zhongguo lidai tongyao j i zhu, 74.
131 The young man referred to Sima Yuanxian WJ TCJSf (382-402), the son o f Sima Daozi
M (364-402), the Prince o f Guiji, who was actually in charge o f the central
administration before Huan Xuan entered the capital. These two royal members were
corrupt and caused many problems in their government.
132 See Ss, 31.919.
133 SeeWang Yin ^ Jin shu in Tang, Jiu jia jiu jin shu j i ben, 201.
239
Murong Chui ^ ^ H (326-396), was a Xianbei noble and a prince o f
Former Yan who escaped to Former Qin in 369 and helped Fu Jian to conquer his
old state in 370. When Former Qin was defeated by Eastern Jin, Murong, seizing the
opportunity, betrayed Former Qin and restored the Murong state, Later Yan, in 384.
The war between Later Yan and Former Qin raged for over a year, leaving very few
survivors in the area. A rhyme circulated in Later Yan state: "The Que o f
Youzhou134 shall die. If he does not die, people will be wiped out" ^ f|>| » zfela
M ° H #£ M -135 This curse, however, did not immediately come true.
Later Yan became one o f the mighty states o f the period. In 396, another Xianbei
state, Northern Wei, attacked Later Yan, and thoroughly defeated Yan's army.
Murong Chui fell ill due to humiliation and anger. He passed away the next year.
Lii Guang S (338-399), a Di-Tibetan general o f Former Qin, established
his own state, Later Liang (386-403), after Fu Jian's defeat. He made the
residents o f Xihai #§■ commandery136 migrate to other commanderies. In 394, a
rhyme circulated: "Why are the northern horses so sorrowful? They are sad and miss
their homeland. Why do swallows and sparrows fly around? They wish to go back
134 A area including modem northern Hebei. This was the base o f the Murong family.
Murong Chui earlier had the given name Que §&. He later changed the name to Chui in
order to correspond with a chen prophecy. See Js, 123.3077.
135 See .A, 114.2926.
136 It was centered to the southeast o f modem Ejina Banner M in the Inner Mongol
Autonomous Region.
240
[to their] old nests" ° ? if& itift
|j | . 137 This was not necessarily a curse, but manifested the grievances o f the
uprooted people. When the rhyme circulated among these migrants, such sentiments
were intensified. Finally Lti Guang moved them to tw o commanderies, Xihe 0 ?rJ
138 and Ledu 139
Hou Jing, the betrayer o f the North and the rebel against the South, who has
been mentioned several times in this dissertation, naturally attracted the people's
curses. After Hou occupied the capital o f Liang, almost destroying this important
city, he ordered the restoration o f the Tai City, the palace and central government
compounds, and the city gates, including the gates called Zhuque 7fc H (Vermilion
Bird) and Xuanyang jlT &§. Contemporary children's rhymes went: "White neck
swallow,140 in defiance with the Vermilion Bird, shall return it to W u141" ’
137 SeeJs, 122.3060.
138 A commandery was centered in modem Lishi i$| county in Shanxi LU 0 . It was far
away from Later Liang and was the territory of Later Yan. Xiping 0 - ^ commandery would
be more reasonable here because it was immediately to the west o f Ledu commandery.
139 It was centered in modem Ledu county in Qinghai.
140 This is a pun. First, the white neck swallow and vermilion bird formed a contrast.
Second, the vermilion bird refers to a Liang city gate (implying the Liang popular wish), and
the white neck swallow refers to Hou Jing. It was said that when Hou was enthroned he
wore a white hat and a dark blue robe. See Gao, Zhongguo lidai tongyao j i zhu, 102.
141 Wu here is a general term referring to the area south o f the lower reach o f the Yangzi
River. Hou was general from the middle reach of the River. "It" refers to the capital.
241
> "Take o ff the dark blue robe, put on your straw sandals.142 The
Son o f Heaven from Jingzhou rightfully deserves to wear them143"
H » ^ J f l ' l ^ - ^ ^ M ^ 144 Hou Jing soon was defeated and killed.
He Shikai fP d r H (524-571) was the favorite lackey o f Emperor Wucheng
(r. 561-565) and the Later Lord o f Northern Qi. He had illicit intercourse with the
powerful Empress Dowager Hu, who then granted him the title o f prince. Earlier, a
children's rhyme circulated in Ye, the capital: "He Shikai, he will enter the
Terrace145" fP d rp jf » f A l '46 Shikai thus thought he might be able to get the
highest position in the central government. But, in 571, Gao Yan, the Prince o f
Langya and younger brother o f the Later Lord, led a palace coup. A major aim o f
this coup was to kill He Shikai. At the sundown o f the geng wu f | day o f the
seventh month, soldiers escorted He to the south o f the Terrace City,147 and killed
142 As mentioned earlier, dark blue was Hou Jing's lucky color. "Putting on your straw
sandals" suggested that Hou should ran.
143 This refers to Xiao Yi, the Inspector of Jingzhou, who later became Emperor Yuan.
144 See As, 80.2013.
145 During the Jin and Southern Dynasties, the area including the palace and central
government residence compounds was called Tai City (Terrace City). Tai alone refers
to either Tai City or the Imperial Consorate.
146 See Bs, 92.3046.
147 This was the location of the Imperial Censorate. Gao Yan was in charge o f the Imperial
Censorate.
242
him there. Another children's rhyme is recorded in the "Treatise on the Five Agents"
o f the Sui H istory . "He Shikai, on the thirtieth day o f the seventh month, we bring
you to the south o f the Terrace." When children finished chanting the rhyme, they
would clap their hands while shouting: "Kill you" i t p§ *
0 : $ S £ P !148 The actual day H e was killed
was the twenty-fifth day o f the seventh month.
5) Traditional Theories on the Prophetic Rhymes
That folk and children's rhymes possessed prophetic power was commonly
recognized in early medieval China.
Pei Songzhi H (372-451), a historian o f Song and author o f a remarkable
commentary on the Records o f the Three States, made a very interesting comment on a
children's rhyme. The rhyme concerned Gongsun Zan 199), a warlord at the
end o f Eastern Han. It was recorded in a now lost work Yingxiongji UlStIB[Records
o f the Heroes] which Pei quoted .
Earlier, a children's rhyme went: "To the southern border o f Yan,149 to the
northern boundary o f Zhao,150 somewhere in between them is a discordance as
148 See Sui, 22.638.
149This was the area including modem Beijing and the northeast o f Hebei.
150 This was the area in the south of modem Hebei.
243
big as a whetstone. Only in this place can one escape from the [chaotic] world."
[Gongsun] Zan151 thought Y i152 was the place. He then built a walled city and
tenaciously defended [himself] there. One o f his detached subordinate
commanders was encircled by enemies. [Gongsun Zan,] holding fast to his
principles, refused to rescue him. He said: "If I rescued this one, it would cause
the other commanders to depend on rescue and not to fight hard later. This time
I refuse to rescue him, and the others later will remember to put forth their best
effort themselves." Because o f this, when Yuan Shao153 first attacked the
north,154 [the soldiers of] the detached camps garrisoning the southern border o f
[Gongsun] Zan, realizing themselves that they were unable to hold on their own,
and that they would certainly not be rescued, either killed their commanders, or
were defeated by Yuan Shao's troops. This resulted in Yuan Shao's army quickly
reaching the gates o f Yi
151 Gongsun Zan occupied Jizhou H ;l'|j province and Youzhou M jl'l'l province, including modem
Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, and parts of Liaoning and Korea, at the end of Eastern Han. He was one
of the famous military leaders who defeated the Yellow Turbans rebellion. Later he himself
appointed his subordinate generals to be the governors of the provinces he occupied, and
established local governments there. Being involved in long term warfare with Yuan Shao ^
and the other warlords, he feared that he could be crushed. He thus, in accordance with the rhyme,
built and reinforced a city wall at Yi. In the end he was defeated by Yuan Shao and committed
suicide.
152 It was located to the northwest of modem Xiong county J I U in Hebei.
153 Yuan Shao (d. 202), a powerful warlord occupying a huge area in Northern China, was
crushed by Cao Cao in 200, and died two years later.
154 This was the southern border o f Gongsun Zan.
tm • tiwifcb* rtm ° - wx&uz.» A U S T E N • w j w w
£Si&/?r®» °110 : - &-A ' ;
4 -^ ftJ tb »
»x * d c t ji& » f i ^ i ^ J N F d n > s
£§*g£m$»®*»¥«Msrc.155
The message we leam from this story is that Gongsun Zan believed in the prophetic
power o f a children's rhyme and so made a strategic mistake. The more interesting
message is in Pei's comment: "Your servant Songzhi takes it to be that the words o f
children's rhymes always come true. Nevertheless, in the case o f this record, seemingly it
did not come true. But the purpose in composing this rhyme, was presumably meant to
make Zan guard Yi all the time rather than launch distant expeditions"
mzn t e r m • : s ^ n t t e - 1
a s i s - i i M -
a > S i t u s ' * Here Pei Songzhi was uneasy that this particular rhyme had failed to
come true. It is clear that, to him, all children's rhymes are prophetic, and every chen
prophecy shall realize its foretelling power.
What is the foundation o f the prophetic power o f folk and children's rhymes?
Basically there are two traditional theories.
As mentioned at the beginning o f this chapter, traditional Chinese governments
consciously surveyed the common people's will and their reaction towards political
155 SeeSgz, 8.245.
156Ibid.
245
policies through folk rhymes. This survey, first o f all, was based on the view that
Chinese folk and children's rhymes were a manifestation o f popular sentiment. This
theory, needless to say, is universally true. In the way Han people put it, as can be
seen in the "Treatise on the Five Agents" o f the Han History, the folk lampoon
rhymes emerge "when a lord is too harsh and treats people tyrannically, and his
subjects keep their mouths shut because o f fear o f punishment, the people's
grievances and complaints will air themselves through folk songs and rhymes."
This view, in the words o f the early medieval Chinese scholars as quoted in
the "Treatise on the Five Agents" o f the Southern Qi H istory157 from a now lost
work Yan zhuan | f [Commentary on Speech],158 is paraphrased as: "The
inferiors, suffering from the behavior o f their superiors and lords, and not daring to
speak out squarely for fear o f severe punishment, will then certainly air [their
sentiments] first through rhymes"
S ’
Since the Confucian classics says that "Heaven sees with the eyes o f its
people; Heaven listens with the ears o f its people" ^ S iS
157 The author is Xiao Zixian Hf tP SI (fl- 489-537), a descendant of the Southern Qi
imperial house and official o f Liang.
158 This lost work seems to be a part o f a certain Wuxing zhuan £ . f j $ [Commentary on
the Five Agents],
159 SeeNQs, 19.381.
246
Us,160 it is in this sense that the will and sentiments revealed in these rhymes is
Heaven's will. Human beings are neither the instruments o f a supernatural entity nor
that o f a transcendental reason, they are part o f the transcendental whole.
This view leads to a more fundamental reason for the survey, concerning the
theory that rhymes possess mystic power. An earlier explanation o f this theory
occurs in the "Treatise on the Five Agents" o f the Han History. This placement
already unmistakably suggests that the theory has something to do with the Five
Agents theory. When the author explains the origin o f the power o f folk and
children's rhymes, he concludes that the rhymes are poetic portents. In the "Treatise
on the Five Agents" o f the Southern Q i H istory the author also mentions that:
"Rhymes are the affairs o f the mouth. When the qi o f a mouth is obstructed, there
are malicious remarks, or sometimes portentous rhymes" fK M » ° PM
SU W H; i t - 161 "This means when the qi is impaired, people will
throw in lots o f remarks. Thus there will be faults o f mouth and tongue"
& # P $ ’ & W P - £ £ f i ! . 162
160 Mencius quoted these words from the "Tai shi" ^ chapter of the Classic o f
Documents. This chapter is no longer extant. (Yang BoJun, Meng Zi yi zhu
Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984. 9.5.219; D. C. Lau, trans. , Mencius, London: Penguin
Classics, 1970.)
161 SeeNQs, 19.381.
162Ibid, 383.
247
The theory that the rhymes possess mystic power reached its peak in early
medieval China when a new explanation o f the supernatural origin o f the rhymes
occurred. This leads to the second theory different from the aforementioned
Confucian's view concerning the creation o f prophetic rhymes.
According to ancient Chinese astrology, the movement and appearance o f
the five planets, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn have significant symbolic
meanings. O f the five, Mars163 attracted a great deal o f attention from astrologers
and imperial courts because it was believed to be the heavenly judge and164 law-
enforcing official. Mars expresses this function through its movement, position and
appearance. The "Tianwen zhi" [Treatise on Celestial Phenomena] in the Jin
History, however,165 mentions that the essence o f the five planets could come to
earth,166 changing into human form. Jupiter would be in the form o f a high official.
Mars would be a child, chanting rhymes and playing with other children. Saturn
163 Its Chinese name is Yinghuo , or the Fire Star.
164 The "Tian guan shu" ^ 'g' ^ [Treatise on Heavenly Offices] in the Grand Scribe's
Records (1332, 1347) regards Mars as being in charge o f disasters (to issue disasters on
behalf o f Heaven when necessary). "Tianwen zhi" ^ [Treatise on Celestial
Phenomena] in the Han History (1281) adopts this view and calls Mars the Judge o f the Son
of Heaven (Tian zi li ^ - ? - 8 ) .
165 Although this treatise was written by a Tang astronomer, Li Chunfeng, the sources Li
based his work on were handed down from the early medieval period. The date o f the theory
can also be verified by many other references. Belief that the initial source o f folk and
children's rhymes was Mars was prevalent in early medieval China.
166 This belief was developed from the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
248
would be an old woman. Venus would be a male adult. Mercury would be a woman.
These heavenly beings would reveal the good or evil signs o f the future to
humanity.167
Here we are especially interested in Mars. The "Treatise on the Five Agents"
in the Jin H istory records: "In the second year o f the Yongan reign period (259) o f
Sun Xiu o f the Wu, the hostages o f the generals and governors168 played together.
Unexpectedly, a strange child appeared and said: 'Three Dukes shall be rooted up,
Sima shall come.' He further said: 'I am not a human. I am Mars.' Having finished
this speech, he ascended. Looking up, it was like a trailing piece o f silk,169 which
soon disappeared" ( 259 ) » * W P e 'h
’ W)J§*n o X B : S # A * °
’ ffP$tÊf This story, o f course, is a legend. Nevertheless,
it greatly reinforced the perception o f the prophetic power o f children's rhymes. Its
influence can even be seen in folk beliefs in present day China.
Cui Hao, a political advisor o f Northern Wei and the best known astrologer
in early medieval China, greatly impressed his contemporaries, including his
167 See Js, 12.320.
168 During the Three States period, generals and governors had to present their sons to their
lords as hostages.
169 Bright and fast.
170 See Js, 28.843.
249
emperors, with his psychic ability and skills in astrological divination. Once the
Bureau o f Royal-Astrologer reported that Mars had suddenly disappeared. The
emperor171 and court officials were nervous, because they believed that Mars must
have come to Earth presaging dangers and troubles by disseminating children's
rhymes and issuing disasters. Cui Hao argued there was no need to be nervous.
Mars would enter the zone o f Later Qin ££jj|an d would not affect Northern W ei.172
All the other officials did not believe him and questioned him: a star is missing from
Heaven, how can a man possibly know where it would go? About eighty days later,
Mars appeared again and was clearly by the Eastern Well constellation, the zone o f
that f ie ld allocation173 corresponding with the area o f Later Qin. A great drought
took place there and numerous children's rhymes and rumors circulated in that state.
The next year (416), Yao Xing f | (r. 394-416), the Lord o f Later Qin passed
away. His two sons fought for power. Three years later, the state was
exterminated.174
The essence o f Mars coming down to earth and showing its identity was one
o f the reasons for the initial energy and power o f the prophetic rhymes. Once such
171 He was Emperor Mingyuan.
172 The state was founded by Yao Chang in 384 and ended in 417.
173 Fen ye
174 See Ws, 35.808-809.
250
things were set in motion, Mars did not need to present itself all the time. I have
quoted Kong Yingda, the great Tang commentator on the classics at the beginning
o f this chapter. He thought that when children compose rhymes, they "were
possessed." Possessed by what? Here we have an answer: the essence o f Mars. Thus
no matter whether or not the "strange child" Mars was visible, the common people
would believe that the rhymes which touched their hearts were certainly the
revelations or chen prophecies coming through the mouths o f those children or o f
commoners. Thus prophetic rhymes together with the traditional apocrypha and
contemporary chen prophecies formed a unique cultural and political phenomenon in
early medieval China. At the end o f Southern Qi, Shen Yue, a brilliant literary
writer, suggested that Xiao Yan, the founder o f Liang, should proceed with the
mandate-transfer, quoting favorable chen prophecies to aid his argument. This was a
common formula in the period. In addition to the chen prophecies, Shen said: "Even
children and cowherds today all know that the blessedness o f the Qi has come to its
end. Every one is saying that Your Highness is the right person [for the throne]"
Popular opinion or
sentiment or even nonsensical rhymes, including those by "children and cowherds,"
were the solid evidence o f the change o f heavenly mandate, and were convincing
enough to justify the legitimacy o f a Son o f Heaven in the period.
175 See Is, 13.234.
251
C O N C L U SIO N
It can be concluded after this examination o f early medieval Chinese history
that, despite repeated bans, both traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts and various
new chen prophecies and prophetic folk and children's rhymes evidently continued
to be circulated and studied, and played a significant political role in this period. The
disregard for the bans at that time was not necessarily caused by the neglect o f
political authorities. As a matter o f fact, the rulers who issued the bans often ignored
them themselves. To solve this puzzle, w e need to know why rulers kept trying to
ban prophetic texts.
An Pingqiu and Zhang Peiheng think that the rulers were aiming at a unified
national ideology.1 Thus the bans were ideological measures to guarantee the
stability o f the empire. Anna Seidel points out that the main reason for the
authorities to forbid the texts was that anyone could use them to claim a divine
mission against those in power.2 That is to say, the bans were basically political
measures to maintain the stability o f the present political order. Yasui Kozan
suggests that certain Confiicians o f vision, when they realized the poisonous
potential o f "semi-magic" belief in chen prophecy to canonical learning and society,
1 See An and Zhang, Zhongguo jinshu daguan, 13.
2 See Seidel, "Taoist Sacraments," 307.
252
asked the authorities to ban the prophetic-apocryphal texts; while rulers, considering
that rebels and contenders for the throne often used the prophetic-apocryphal texts
as a political weapon, were only too ready to accept the Confucian scholars'
suggestion.3 In other words, the bans were based on both political and ideological
concerns. This view is shared by many Chinese intellectual historians as well.
According to this view, the prophetic-apocryphal texts were recognized as
heterodoxy by Confucians scholars after the Three States and thus were eliminated
from the mainstream o f scholarship.
My view, however, is that the bans were basically political in intent, because
the prophetic-apocryphal texts, as discussed in Chapter III, were still respected by
many scholars and intellectuals in early medieval China, despite frank criticism o f
them by a few intellectuals.4 In addition, although there were several bans o f
religious activities in the period, w e do not have sufficient evidence to confirm that
the early medieval rulers intended to establish a unified imperial ideology.
3 See Yasui and Nakamura, Isho no kisoteki kenkyu, 260-263.
4 For example, Seidel notes that "anyone at all familiar with Six Dynasties Taoist texts will
be struck, on reading through the apocrypha" that many archaic foreshadowings o f Taoist
lore already existed in the Han apocrypha, (see her "Taoist Sacraments," 294.) This
situation happens to the Six Dynasties Buddhist texts as well. On this issue, also see Taira
Hidemichi "Dokyo no seiritsu to shin'i shiso" b >Ryu
koku daigaku 355 (1957):29-44; "Hobokushi to shin'i"
| $ $$ , Ryukoku daigaku ronshu 368 (1961):68-85. The influence o f the prophetic-
apocryphal texts can be recognized all over the early medieval writings.
253
A question then inevitably arises. A ban based on political concerns in China
is always a serious matter. The use o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts by rebels and
contenders was a danger and an unacceptable situation to the rulers. Why did the
rulers not ban them by all means? One might argue that it was the inefficiency o f the
administration during the period that hindered the success o f enforcing. I f this were
the case, then the rulers should have been able to enforce a strict ban at least within
their own courts and palaces. But as I have shown, this was not the case.
A cultural and historical phenomenon may be more complex than it seems on
the surface. A simple event could be the tip o f an iceberg. In the case o f the
prophetic-apocryphal texts, the application and leniency o f bans is actually
paradoxical. A ban has to be agreeable to people in order to be successful and
effective. Without the recognition and voluntary cooperation o f both elite and
common people, even under a totalitarian government such as that in China, a ban
will never be successful. An unpopular ban would only encourage people's curiosity
or increase people's need in searching for the banned materials,5 and this has been
the case in China. A s for the bans o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts in early
medieval China, no such consensus was reached. When most o f the rulers, elite and
5 Robert Damton, in his recent work The Forbidden Best-Sellers o f Pre-Revolutionary

France (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1995), illustrates the interesting
phenomenon that how Pre-Revolutionary French were fond of reading banned or illegal
writings. This seems to be a universal phenomenon.
254
the common people at that time maintained the needs and belief in chen prophecy,
how could w e expect the bans to be successful?
Before discussing the basis and reasons by which early medieval Chinese
needed and believed in chen prophecy, let us see what roles chen prophecy played
in the period.
1) Justification of Legitimacy and Delegitimation
"The desire for legitimacy," D o lf Stemberger writes, "is so deeply rooted in
human communities that it is hard to discover any sort o f historical government that
did not either enjoy widespread authentic recognition o f its existence or try to win
such recognition. "6 This is also true in Chinese history, although a medieval Chinese
general once bluntly commented: "There is no bom 'Son o f Heaven.' The one with
the strongest military force is he" ^ ^ M j |± # ^ ^ W 1
6 See Stemberger, "Legitimacy," in International Encyclopedia o f the Social Sciences, ed.

by David L. Sills (New York, 1968), 9:244. Political legitimacy and legitimation have been
thoroughly discussed by modem scholars, especially in the West beginning with Max
Weber. For general theories and discussions o f political legitimation in Chinese history, see
Howard J. Wechesler, Offerings o f Jade and Silk: Ritual and Symbol in the Legitimation o f
the T'ang Dynasty (hereafter Offerings o f Jade and Silk. New Haven: Yale University
Press, 1985); Hok-lam Chan, Legitimation in Imperial China: Discussions under the
Jurchen-Chin Dynasty (I I 15-1234) (hereafter Legitimation in Imperial China. Seattle:
University o f Washington Press, 1984).
7 An Zhongrong $ f i ^ (d. 942), a warlord in the Five Dynasties period. He was killed
after he rose in a revolt against Later Jin (936-946). See Xwds, 51.5 83.
255
Legitimacy helps one to stop disputes among equally matched opponents and to
insure stability after military conquest.
In early medieval times, except for the Sixteen States and Northern Wei,
most power transfers between imperial houses followed the Wei-Jin model o f
"abdication," to legitimatize the new governments after they had used military force
to coerce the old houses to abdicate. In a period which suffered from frequent
dynastic change and endless struggles for power, restoration o f social order and
social relations was welcome, no matter how it was achieved.8
A s Hok-lam Chan has pointed out, the Chinese not only developed a concept
parallel to the Western notion o f legitimacy much earlier than the West, but also
formulated a set o f political theories for legitimating rulers and dynasties as far back
as the second century B. C.9 These theories matured with the formulation o f the
cyclical sequences o f historical changes in the Five Agents theory in Han.10 The
theory o f the Five Agents, and the Rotational Changes o f the Five Natures, were
well developed in Eastern Han and adopted as a systematic and socio-political
theory in the prophetic-apocryphal texts. It was from this system that a formal
8 For traditional Chinese historians, legitimation in early medieval China was a problem
because China was divided into pieces and every regional ruling house claimed to be
legitimate. Nevertheless, for the people who lived in a certain area, it was not a problem as
long as the regional ruling house was locally legitimate.
9 See Chan, Legitimation in Imperial China, "Preface," ix.
10Ibid, x.
256
procedure was derived for legitimate transfer o f imperial power. Among the symbols
o f this system, which included ritual, birth myths, portents, and portentous
appearance, chen prophecy played a very important role. This was discussed in
Chapter II.
Realizing the significant role o f chen prophecy in Chinese politics from the
end o f the Western Han to early medieval China, Anna Seidel concludes that the
initial and central concerns o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts were the religious and
political definition, delimitation, and legitimation or confirmation o f imperial
authority.11 Her view is commonly shared by scholars o f Chinese culture and history,
in both China and the West, but with variations.12 To some o f them, the prophetic-
apocryphal texts are simply functional instruments in political-psychological battles
for justifying imperial authority,13 and are therefore "propaganda books."14 The
11 See Seidel, "Taoist Sacraments," 297, 307. Wm. Theodore de Bary, based on Ernest
Nicholson's theory, argues that "the crucial role o f the prophets o f Israel was to proclaim a
radically new view, superseding a theology of creation which had sanctified the existing
order and in particular had legitimated the rulers as the divinely appointed guardian o f the
establishment." (The Trouble with Confucianism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1991. 21.) Nevertheless, among the Western scholars, Israel prophecy was never defined
simply as functional and instrumental but as religious and transcendental.
12 For example, C. K. Yang, among others, is suspicious of whether or not the "educated
ruling class" in China actually believed in the prophetic-apocryphal texts. (See his Religion
in Chinese Society. Berkeley: University o f California Press, 1961. 143.)
13 For example, in his "Managing Heaven's Mandate," Carl Leban thinks that the chen
prophecies which occurred in the procedure o f the mandate-transfer between Eastern Han
and Wei were artificial products created for political purposes. This tendency is also shown
in the title o f his article.
257
spiritual and psychological aspects o f Chinese chen prophecy and its position in
Chinese intellectual basis history have long been ignored.
Prophecies as political propaganda in the West have a long history. "The art
o f manipulating opinion through carefully planted 'prophecies' was well known in the
Roman Empire," and "the mass o f political prophecies stem from the medieval
period onwards."15 However, as Michael Grant has pointed out, very often the
ancient Roman poets and historians who told the tales o f omens believed in them, as
did most o f the first twelve Caesars.16
In defining the roles o f chen prophecy in early medieval China, the following
points should be borne in mind: first, chen prophecy was an instrument for political
legitimation, yet also a sincere belief among the people; second, it could legitimatize
as well as delegitimize a house, and could be treated as propaganda for as well as
against a ruling house; third, it could occur after as well as before the fact; fourth,
the initial and central concern o f Chinese chen prophecy was nothing less than the
Mandate o f Heaven, the underlying concept o f Chinese political behavior. Every
14 See Dull, Apocryphal Texts, 161. This viewpoint is even more prevalent among Chinese
scholars.
15 See R. J. Stewart, The Elements o f Prophecy (Longmead: Elements Books, 1990), 106.
16 See Michael Grant, The Twelve Caesars (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975), 5-6.
258
concept has been manipulated for nonessential reasons in history so is this one. But
a concept and manipulations o f the concept are two things.
2) Heaven's Mandate and Related Theories in the Prophetic-
apocryphal Texts
The Mandate o f Heaven, as a central issue o f Chinese thought in the areas o f
cosmology, philosophy, intellectual history, religion and politics, always attracts
great attention from scholars o f Chinese culture.17 However, its role and influence in
the prophetic-apocryphal texts and early medieval China's politics still need to be
clarified.
It is a universal phenomenon among pre-modem societies to adopt a
supernatural deity or transcendental power as the origin o f state authority and
symbol o f political legitimacy. In China, since supernatural deities, or their
equivalents, did not speak for themselves, their wills were believed to be revealed
through visible signs, which were usually obtained by means o f divination and
observation o f celestial portents.
17 It is hard to find a work dealing with Chinese religion, thought, philosophy or intellectual
history without some mention or discussion o f the concept o f the Mandate o f Heaven. For
detailed information on its origin, history and development, see Robert Eno, The Confitcian
Creation o f Heaven (Albany: State University o f New York Press, 1990); Benjamin I.
Schwartz, The World o f Thought in Ancient China (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1985); Yang Huijie Tian ren guanxi l u n f i A (SI i t (Taibei: Dalin chubanshe,
1981); Lti Lizheng Tian, ren, shehui (Taibei: Taiwan Kaiming shudian, 1969.
259
On top o f this general belief, some new elements were added during the Qin
and Han periods. Under the influence o f the Warring States thinker, Zou Yan, and
the theories o f yinyang and wuxing schools, a theory that a group o f five
cosmological agents each in turn would have charge o f the human world became
prevalent. This theory was adopted by the Qin and Han ruling houses and later was
incorporated into the prophetic-apocryphal texts.
The main ideas o f the resultant theory are as follows.
First, the prophetic-apocryphal texts reinforced the divinity o f imperial
authority and belief in the Mandate o f Heaven by providing visible political symbols.
Political symbols can reinforce the effects o f ideology,18 have the ability to unify an
audience around a common focal point,19 and may affect the process o f establishing,
transferring and maintaining an authority. Natural portents, celestial omens, birth
myths, portentous appearances and words are all visible, tangible or audible symbols
and thereby easily understood and accepted by the common people. These concrete
symbols show the substantial connections between the supernatural and human
rulers. The coded messages from Heaven to man are thus discernible to or
decipherable by human.
18 See Wechsler, Offerings o f Jade and Silk, 11.
19Ibid, 31.
260
Second, the term "Son o f Heaven" was used by the Zhou kings to
legitimatize their hereditary rights.20 This term, as adopted by the Han emperors,
was still, by and large, a rather abstract title to describe an emperor o f good deeds
and achievements.21 However, in the prophetic-apocryphal texts, the Son o f Heaven
is endowed with a mystic quality. According to the theory o f Gansheng di, every
founder o f a dynasty was begotten by one o f the five heavenly deities. These
founders shared the essence o f the supreme divinities and therefore had substantial
blood lineage from Heaven.22 Although this theory occurred in the Han prophetic-
apocryphal texts, the imperial house did not then take it seriously. Nevertheless, in
the early medieval period the theory became orthodox teaching among Confiician
scholars23 and was believed as truth. For example, since every founding emperor
was the son o f one o f the five heavenly deities, he and his successors naturally
regarded this heavenly deity as their ancestor and would offer sacrifices to him as
regularly as they would to Heaven and Earth. In Chapter III w e saw a debate on
20 See Michael Loewe, "The Religious and Intellectual background" (Twitchett and Loewe,
eds. The Cambridge History o f China, Vol. 1), 710.
21 The ancient emperors of Japan claimed for themselves personal divinity. In ancient Egypt
kings were gods descended among men. In ancient Israel, a king was never a Son o f Heaven
by nature, despite the title o f Son of God. See Hans Kung and Julia Ching, Christianity and
Chinese Religions (New York: DoubleDay, 1989), 24, 35.
22 Each o f these five heavenly deities has a strange name and is in charge of one of the Five
Natures.
23 See Chapter III, the case of a Liang scholar, Cui Lingen.
261
ritual between a northern envoy Li Yexing and a southern official Zhu Yi; Zhu Yi
was doubtful o f the authenticity o f the prophetic-apocryphal texts, but he did not
dare to criticize the G an sheng di theory because his lord, Emperor Wu o f Liang, as
with all the other rulers during the period, worshipped the heavenly deities. N ot only
the rulers, but most aristocratic families as well, claimed to have blood ties to the
divinities o f certain stars or holy mountains. This was an Eastern Han tradition and
prevailed in early medieval China.
Third is the notion o f qi yun jig , tide and destiny.24 The concept o f the
Mandate o f Heaven, as early as in Western Zhou, already contained the significant
idea that the mandate bestowed by Heaven was conditional. The mandate could be
withdrawn or shifted if the ruling house did not maintain its good deeds. This idea
provided limited room for Chinese to maintain social balance and justice, to a certain
extent, in an otherwise totalitarian monarchical state. It also provided a theoretical
basis for justifying revolutionary social changes as when Tang M o f Yin overthrew
Xia M or King Wu o f Zhou subjugated Yin. The problem then was that dynastic
changes were always revolutionary and bloody. However, due to the concepts o f
tide and destiny, although military force was a significant factor in power struggles,
24Js, 52.1452 reads: "To be or not to be is decided by destiny, and to flourish or to languish
is determined by tide. He who Heaven forsakes is not supportable by man" 21 » Jl-
o > A 'T 't t Both destiny and tide, o f course, are predetermined by
Heaven.
262
large scale civil wars in early medieval China sometimes were minimized in the
process o f dynastic changes.
The notion o f tide and destiny originated in a Zhou idea that the Mandate o f
Heaven is not eternal. Robert Eno notes that at the time o f Mencius there was a
widespread belief that dynastic rule was a cyclical process that obeyed set rules o f
timing.25 Nevertheless, the notion o f tide and destiny was a typical Han apocryphal
theory which contributed certain new characteristics to the concept o f the Mandate
o f Heaven. According to the Gan sheng d i theory, the five heavenly deities were
equal in their powers and opportunities to take charge o f the human world. Thus,
each imperial house had its heavenly supporter, yet had to come to its end when the
next term began. When a ruling house came to its end it would be meaningless to
refuse to abdicate since the next house was also supported by one o f the five
heavenly powers. In this case, a timely mandate shifting became necessary. During
early medieval China, this notion was repeatedly expounded in courts, such as:
The world is not o f someone. It is o f everyone — A £ A ”F ’ 7b
A T £ A T 26
25 See Eno, The Conjucian Creation o f Heaven, 102.
26 See Js, 55.1513. This theory was traditional, but quoted extremely often during early
medieval China.
263
Flourishing or languishing does not have a constant tide; and the succession
to the throne is to be done not necessarily within one house. This is
universally true for hundreds o f ruling houses, and has been so ever since
antiquity °
The Mandate o f Heaven is not eternal. The emperors and kings are not
necessarily from one house
This notion was influential not only among politicians and intellectuals but
the common people as well. A well known common saying went: "Taking turns to
be emperor, it will be my family's turn next year" J i ^
Chinese totalitarian political system, often, although not always, produced
corrupt rulers near the end o f every dynasty. The notion o f tide, therefore, provided
an ideological basis for fresh rulers to replace aged and corrupt ruling houses in a
timely fashion.
Fourth, among the numerous political symbolic systems, chen prophecy was
unique for its ability to reveal the future. Portents, chaos, corruption, and
27 See the abdication edict o f the Jin house, in Ss, 2.45.
28 See the edict o f Emperor Wu o f Liang, in Ls, 2.33.
264
inefficiency o f the central government also could signal the decline o f an aged and
corrupt ruling house. But only chert prophecy could reveal its future in detail.
3) Sociological and Psychological Functions of Belief in Chen prophecy
and the Mandate o f Heaven
After an extensive examination o f the Han prophetic-apocryphal texts, Jack
L. Dull notes that "the apocrypha were more than political weapons; they
constituted (in conjunction with the N ew Text classics) the medium through which
men expressed their faith. The ideas dealt with in these texts were not mere political
symbols to be manipulated according to the exigencies o f the moment; they
provided the beliefs by which men viewed the world around them and their place in
it."29 His observation is also valid for the texts in early medieval China.
There were, o f course, certain social and psychological conditions which
supported this conventional symbolic system and cultivated belief in chert prophecy
and the Mandate o f Heaven in early medieval China. In a disordered and centrifugal
age, there is naturally more need for people to search for heavenly guidance. This
belief thus became a mean o f psychological adjustment. On one hand, such a belief
could help to maintain the social and political order and reintegrate the fragmentary
29 See Dull, Apocryphal Texts, 440.
265
pieces o f a disordered society with the aid o f supernatural power; but, on the other
hand, it also encouraged political conflict and change. Both its constructive and
destructive ability were used to create and maintain the social harmony and balance.
C. K. Yang, in explaining "the functional role o f prophecy," points out, "no
major critical period in Chinese history was not attended by the rise o f some form o f
prophecy. Typical o f a crisis were the mass psychological setting o f intense feelings
o f insecurity, the expectancy o f impending disaster, and the uncertainty o f what was
ahead."30 This kind o f mass psychology did occur in early medieval China. To a
certain degree, chen prophecy and prophetic rhymes helped people to ease their
intense feelings o f insecurity, keep a positive attitude and optimistic hope for the
future, relax the tension between winners and losers in power struggles, and provide
a commonly acceptable explanation for the frequent shifts o f power.
4) Heaven Sees with the Eyes of Its People
"Many o f the philosophers who considered religion a source o f social
integration made it appear as if religious faith was deliberately manipulated by rulers
to keep their subjects obedient and submissive."31 In discussing the role o f belief in
chen prophecy in Chinese history, many scholars hold the view that the prophetic-
30 See Yang, Religion in Chinese Society, 233.
31 See Lewy, Religion and Revolution, 541.
266
apocryphal texts, the prophetic folk and children's rhymes and other chen prophecies
w ere deliberately manipulated by rulers to keep their subjects submissive, or by
contenders for throne to guide public opinion. This view is one-sided and totally
overlooks the religious aspect o f chen prophecy.
Earlier I explained that the concept o f the Mandate o f Heaven is an integral
part o f Chinese cosmological thought. In Chinese cosmology, the three major parts
o f the universe, Heaven (with all its celestial bodies), earth (with all beings and
things on earth except for humans), and humans, are tied together in an organic,
correlative, interactive, and harmonic unity. While harmony is the ultimate rule,
changes and interaction among beings and things are the eternal energy and
motivation o f Heaven. Every happening has its reason in Heaven. This is why there
were portentous signs. This thought was alive not only in classical doctrine and the
minds o f intellectuals o f the past, but also has roots in all aspects o f Chinese culture
and is now an inseparable part o f Chinese thinking. The problem is: Heaven does not
often speak.32 In this case, how could people recognize Heaven's will? In the West,
as in Israel, prophets were believed to be the mouth o f the God who could reveal
32 In the prophetic-apocryphal texts the five heavenly emperors were personified. They all
had names and the ability to beget sons, they still barely talked. In a few occasions, usually
in dreams, Chinese supreme divinities could talk. One such story is mentioned in the
introduction. Another famous example took place in the early part o f Northern Song
dynasty, when Emperor Zhen ]H ^ (r. 997-1022) pretended to meet a heavenly divinity in
his dream. Nevertheless, this kind of case is rare in Chinese history.
267
Heaven's will. In China, generally speaking, the power o f chen prophecy was not
based on an individual prophet's personal charisma and vision,33 but depended on
popular acceptance instead. Thus the visible symbols, such as portents and chen
prophecies, were naturally believed to be Heaven's revelations.
To decode the numerous patterns o f celestial and portentous omens required
professional training and knowledge, while chen prophecy and prophetic folk and
children's rhymes were easily understood and disseminated. They soon became
prevalent among all social strata especially in early medieval China. A question
requires further clarification: how these chen prophecies and folk and children's
rhyme received the prophetic power?
According to a traditional Confucian's view, "The people's contentment is
one o f the indispensable criteria for Heaven's choice o f the ruler 'since Heaven sees
with the eyes o f its p eo p le.'1,34 In the examination o f the role o f chen prophecy in
early medieval China we find that chen prophecy was a mean by which people
expressed what they had seen about the political situation and what they wanted it
to be in future.
33 Hong Xiuquan ^ (1814-1864) was an exception. However, he was inspired by the

Western religious tradition and the influence o f his prophecy was very limited.
34 See Schwartz, The World o f Thought in Ancient China, 284.
268
Several scholars have pointed out that, whether or not chen or prophetic
folk and children's rhyme were authentic, Chinese chen prophecies and prophetic
rhymes are reliable reflections o f the current thought or conditions o f the time.35 My
own investigation has also found that the early medieval prophetic folk and
children's rhymes often reflected the social conditions and people's sentiments,
because the initial intention for the people to create and disseminate the rhymes was
to lampoon the authorities and to ventilate their will. The chen prophecies in the
traditional prophetic-apocryphal texts and the contemporary collections, or those
prophetic ideographic riddles and poems discussed in Chapter IV, were not initiated
by the common people. Nevertheless, there was at least one thing in common
between the prophetic folk and children's rhymes and the chen prophecies in the
texts: they were circulated and disseminated through the same way-public
participation and modification.
A modem psychologist o f mass communication notes: "An important general
cognitive principle is that information processing is constructive; that is, people do
not literally store and retrieve information they read or hear in the media (or
anywhere else). Rather, they modify it in accordance with their beliefs and the
35 See Dull, "Apocryphal Texts," 206; Woodbridge Bingham, "The Rise of Li in a Ballad
Prophecy." Journal o f the American Oriental Society 61 (1954), 272.
269
context in which it is received."36 People do not believe things because others tell or
want them to believe. People believe what they are ready to believe, what they
expect to happen, what they are willing to believe, what their friends, associates or
relatives believe. This principle can also be applied to the case o f Chinese chen
prophecy and prophetic rhymes.
In early medieval China, there were always portentous words and rhymes
circulating, even without the guidance o f the authorities. Some were produced by
different groups for different purposes and interests; some occurred spontaneously
or accidentally; and some were fabricated intentionally. Nevertheless, the initial
intention o f these portentous words or rhymes became less significant. These
portentous words and rhymes were recognized as quasi -chen before they won
popular acceptance. The process o f circulation and dissemination o f these
portentous words and rhymes became a process o f selection, examination and
elimination. The wider portentous words or rhymes spread, the more prophetic
power it possessed. Only the most popular ones could survive after examination. In
addition, in the process o f circulation, certain messages could be modified, omitted
or supplemented by people in the chain o f circulation. The ones which got through
36 See Richard Jackson Harris, A Cognitive Psychology o f Mass Communication (Hillsdale:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1989), 33.
270
all these examinations became chen prophecies, and had a chance to be recorded by
historians.
The best known chen prophecies and rhymes were often no longer the initial
ones. They had accumulated layer upon layer o f messages. Thus they became
perfect objects for observing popular opinion and sentiment. I f one was able to
decode the messages in the deep layers, he would be able to read the people's will,
which was the revelation o f the Mandate o f Heaven.
H. H. Rowley points out that the word o f a Israeli prophet "was not merely a
forecast o f the future. It was a living force which helped to mould the future."37
Robert Damton found that forbidden books which circulated among the pre-
Revolutionary French people expressed and shaped public opinion, while public
opinion affected events.38 It is interesting that Wolfgang Bauer made a similar
observation on the Chinese prophetic-apocryphal texts: "They not merely predicted
events but probably helped shape them."39 We are not sure how chen prophecy
helped shape future events. Nevertheless, w e are sure on at least one point, that
chen prophecies revealed popular wills and sentiments, which the traditional Chinese
37 See Rowley. Prophecy and Religion in Ancient China and Israel, 13.
38 See Damton, The Forbidden Best-Sellers o f Pre-Revolutionary France, 239, 245.
39 See Wolfgang Bauer, China and the Search fo r Happiness (New York: The Seabury
Press, 1976), 74.
271
political philosophy called min xin S'C .' (the people's heart or sentiments) or m in y i
Bs*§C(the people's will).
Although early medieval Chinese rulers were generally totalitarian, the
people's sentiments and the people's wills were something they dared not to
transgress against in important cases. Xiao Daocheng, the founder o f the Southern
Qi dynasty, once asked an advisor after his enthronement: "I proceeded with the
mandate transfer to follow Heaven's guidance. What does public opinion think o f
[me]" = j £ % $ [ # * % M U. M tU fpj?40 When Xiao Yan, the founder o f the
Liang dynasty, "received" the throne from the last emperor o f Southern Qi, some o f
the former Qi officials refused to serve the new dynasty and went on a hunger strike
until they died. The new emperor said: "I simply followed Heaven's guidance and the
people's wills, what business is this o f all the gentlemen in the world " ^ #£
A » r a ^ T ± A A ^ ? 41
5) Heaven's Mandate and Man's Destiny
B elief in Heaven's Mandate and chen prophecy in early medieval China could
influence the fate o f the state as well as individual destiny. It was believed at that
time that all the significant events for a ruling house, a ruler, or even an official and
40 See NQs, 39.678.
41 SeeLs, 50.727.
272
nobleman, could be revealed in chen prophecies or prophetic rhymes beforehand.42
This belief presupposes the "concept o f predetermination."43
Wing-tsit Chan describes five ancient Chinese theories about the Mandate o f
Heaven. The first w as fatalism: the Mandate o f Heaven is fixed and unchangeable.
The second was moral determinism: Heaven always encourages virtue and punishes
evil; one can determine his fate through his own deeds. The third was anti-fatalism,
advocated by the M oist School. The fourth was naturalistic fatalism. The fifth was a
Confucian theory o f "waiting for destiny," meaning a person should exert his utmost
in moral endeavor and leave whatever is beyond man's control to fate.44 The belief in
chen prophecy must be as various in types as the notion o f Heavenly Mandate
among scholars.
Among commoners, belief in chen prophecy could be simply a belief in
predestination or fatalism. As mentioned in Chapter IV, Mars could appear as a lad
and spread children's rhymes. Was he doing so in order to respond to popular
sentiment, or to actively reveal Heaven's will? I f it was the latter, then the course o f
history course is predetermined. Tui bei tu, the famous medieval prophetic work,
42 Due to the political nature o f the recorded materials, we cannot find any single chen
prophecy for a commoner. But as it still is now in China, a commoner's future could also be
prophesied.
43 See Wechsler, Offerings o f Jade and Silk, 19.
44 See Chan Wing-tsit, A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton

University Press, 1963), 78-79.
273
was believed to reveal historical events for hundreds o f years to come, and even to
contain chen prophecies concerning modem China. In many Chinese traditional
novels, such as the prologues o f the Shui hu zhuan 7K ^ [Water Margin] and
H ong lou meng H ® [The Story o f the Stone, or The Dream o f the Red
Chamber] which were published in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, chen
prophecies or prophetic poems served to indicate the course o f the coming events
and the predetermined destiny o f the heroes and heroines in the novels. These
examples suggest the fatalistic nature o f belief in chen prophecy.
However, when looking into early medieval Chinese thought, we find that
although the Mandate o f Heaven was unchangeable, to achieve the mandate still
required human effort.45 While man's destiny was predetermined, it was not an
inevitable predestination.
N ow we see that there were three variations in regard to the notion o f the
Heavenly Mandate at this point: one that was held by the Old Text Confiicians,
whose view was closer to Wing-tsit Chan's second type; one that was held by
commoners, whose view was closer to Chan's first type; and one that was held by
45 Yang Hu (221-278), a great commander o f Western Jin, suggested that Emperor Wu

conquer the Wu promptly. His argument was: "Although tide and destiny is bestowed by
Heaven, only with men’s efforts will the enterprise be achieved" » M5?J
3 £ £ ' g |A f M .( S e e .A , 34.1018)
274
the N ew Text Confucians, whose view seems to have been a compromise between
the two above and remains to be clarified.
When the centralized totalitarian empires, such as Qin and Han, were
established, Chinese intellectuals pushed the concept o f the Mandate o f Heaven in a
mystic direction, particularly with the development o f the N ew Text Confucians'
thought, in which the relationship between Heaven and man was interactive. Heaven
played the supreme inspector, issuing rewards and punishments and immediately
responding to human rulers' deeds. Even if Heaven was angry and determined to
shift the mandate, there could still be ways to hui zhuan tian xin HO$$ A ' f r (make
Heaven relent o f its intention).46 This theory, named tian ren gan yin g AA IS
(interaction between Heaven and man), became prevalent from Han to early
medieval China. The central idea o f the theory was that in the face o f evil portents,
i.e. Heaven's punishments, a ruler could make Heaven relent o f its intentions by
cultivating good deeds and correcting his wrongdoing immediately. This kind o f
notion occurred in the West as well. R. J. Stewart mentions that "while
predestination was a feature o f medieval astrology and religion, it does not seem to
have played a great part in the operation o f inherent or inspired prophecy." "If we
46 To this author, this notion could be inspired by aversion magic.
275
consider the Old Testament prophets," he says, "if the Children o f Israel returned to
the ways o f righteousness, then such evils might be averted."47
The notion o f tide in the prophetic-apocryphal texts emphasized the timing
o f dynastic changes. As destiny is changeable, so is the timing.
The cultural phenomenon discussed in this dissertation w as both a historical
aspect o f early medieval China and a link in the chain o f Chinese popular culture’s
tradition. Its influence can be seen throughout politics, religion, literature, customs
and daily life, in both traditional and present China. However, it has long been
neglected by the scholars o f Chinese history, religion and culture. This dissertation,
while attempting to re-examine and re-value the significant role o f this cultural
tradition in early medieval Chinese politics, makes no effort to devalue the important
role o f other cultural aspects, such as Buddhism, Taoism and Metaphysical Learning
in early medieval Chinese history.
47 See Stewart, The Elements o f Prophecy, 4-5.
276
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A P P F N n iY *
C H R O N O L O G IC A L C H A R T O F
R E L E V A N T H IST O R Y
1) Western Jin 0 # (265-316)

Emperor Wu # r. 265-290
Emperor Hui jfK# r. 290-306
Emperor Huai ^ ^ r. 306-312
Emperor Min # r. 313-316
2) Eastern Jin jjf # ( 3 1 7 - 4 2 0 )

Emperor Yuan r. 317-322
Emperor Ming 0 ^ r. 322-325
Emperor Cheng r. 325-342
Emperor Kang I f f # r. 342-344
Emperor Mu Hl'pf r. 344-361
Emperor Ai r. 361-365
The dethroned emperor r. 365-370
Emperor Jianwen r. 371-372
Emperor Xiaowu r. 372-396
Emperor An $ ^ r. 396-418
Emperor Gong r. 418-420
3) Sixteen States - { - HI (302-440)

Based in Shanxi and Shanxi l_L|0:
Han $ |o r Former Zhao fu jig (304-329)
Later Zhao (319-351)
Ran Wei (350-352)
Former Qin gij §*1(351-410)
L a terQ in f£ § ||(3 8 4 -4 1 7 )
Western Qin 0 ^ ( 3 8 5 - 4 3 1 )
Xia J (407-431)
Based in Sichuan 0 J11:

Cheng Han $ $ 1 (3 0 3 -3 4 7 )
Based in Hebei
Former Yan fu (337-370)
Western Yan 0 ^ ( 3 8 4 - 3 9 4 )
Later Yan $5 (384-407)
Southern Yan (398-410)
Northern Yan ift 5^(407-436)
298
Based in Gansu
Former Liang §([$£(313-376)
Southern Liang ft) $£(397-414)
Later Liang (£ $ £ (3 8 6 -4 0 3 )
Western Liang (400-421)
Northern Liang ;((;#£ (397-439)
4) Southern Dynasties (317-589)

(Liu) Song (glj) 5^(420-479)
Emperor Wu r. 420-422
The Young Emperor 4 ? ® r. 422-423
Emperor Wen ; £ ® r. 424-453
Emperor Xiaowu ® r. 453-464
The former dethroned emperor gif r. 464-465
Emperor Ming 0J5 ® r. 465-472
The later dethroned emperor ( £ ) § ® r. 472-476
Emperor Shun llpC® r. 477-479
Southern Qi (479-502)
Emperor Gao tf!)® r. 479-482
Emperor Wu (it ® r. 482-493
King o f Yulin r. 493-494
King o f Hailing j l ^ J r . 494
Emperor Ming 0$ ® r. 494-498
Marquis Donghun r. 498-500
Emperor He f O ® r. 501 502
Liang ^ (502-557)
Emperor Wu ® r. 502-549
Emperor Jianwen fSJ^C® r- 549-550
King o f Yuzhang r. 551
King o f W u l i n g ^ p i r. 552
Emperor Yuan 7 G ® r. 552-554
Marquis o f Zhenyang j=f |^§ r. 555
Emperor Jing |& ® r. 555-557
Chen ^ (557-589)
Emperor Wu ^ ® r. 557-559
Emperor Wen ~X ® r. 559-566
The dethroned emperor j § ® r. 566-568
Emperor Xuan j|r ® r. 569-582
The Later Lord ( £ ^ r. 582-589
299
5) Northern Dynasties (386-581)
Northern Wei jfc M (386-589)

Emperor Daowu 'S? r. 386-408
Emperor Mingyuan B r . 409-423
Emperor Taiwu r. 423-451
King ofN anan j | ^ I r . 452
Emperor Wencheng r. 452-465
Emperor Xianwen r, 465-470
Emperor Xiaowen r. 471-499
Emperor Xuanwu r. 499-515
Emperor Xiaoming BQ^ r. 515-528
Emperor Xiaozhuang ^ ^ ^ r. 528-529
King o f Changguang I IJ lfjE r. 530
Emperor Jiemin j 0 K ^ r. 531
King o f Anding r.531
Emperor Xiaowu r. 532-534
Western Wei (535-557) Eastern Wei (534-550)

Emperor Wen r. 535-551 Emperor Xiaojing r.559-566
The dethroned emperor r. 551-553
Northern Zhou 1^(557-581) Northern Qi (550-577)

Emperor Xiaomin ^ ^ ^ r. 557 Emperor Wenxuan jif^? Emperor
Ming Ej)§^ r. 557-560 r. 550-559
Emperor Wu ^ ^ r. 560-578 The dethroned emperor
Emperor Xuan r. 578-579 r. 559-560
Emperor Jing jf§? ^ r. 579-581 Emperor Xiaozhao 3p ^ r. 560
Emperor Wucheng ^
r. 561-564
The Later Lord # ^ r. 565-576
The Young Lord ^ j i r . 577
6) Sui p g(581-618)
Emperor Wen r. 581 -604
Emperor Yang M r. 604-617

Heaven's Mandate and Man's Des

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INFORMATION TO U S E R S

The negative microfilm copy of th is dissertation w as prepared and inspected by the

The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify notations w hich

1. M anuscripts may not always be complete. W hen it is not possible to obtain

3. Oversize m aterials (maps, drawings, a n d ch arts) are photographed by sec­

4. M ost photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or m icro­

OMI Microform 9536804

This microform edition is protected against unauthorized

submitted to the Graduate School of the

Degree to be awarded: December 19___ May 19____ A ugust 19 95

Approved by Dissertation Readers:

Major Professor Date of Exam ination

Dean, G raduate School

A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON

I wish to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to my dissertation

the University o f Wisconsin-Madison.

experience o f English whatever. Professor Lau's generous concern encouraged me

Studying with Professor Lin Yu-sheng was an enlightening experience. I learned

Professor Cheng Tsai-fa, my adviser, is an erudite scholar as well as a model

and detailed suggestions for the revision.

I am grateful to the Department o f East Asian Languages and Literature.

enabled me to complete my degree. A special thanks is due to Ms. Teresa E.

Nealon, the office manager o f the department. I find an ordinary "thank-you"

entirely inadequate to express how much I appreciate her kind assistance.

sincere appreciation for all their valuable help.

In the process o f writing this dissertation, I benefited from discussions and

conversations on the topic with Professors Stephen Durrant, Chauncey S. Goodrich,

G. Pulleyblank, Madeline Spring, and Laurence G. Thompson. My thanks are due to

them as well. I am grateful to Professor David W. Pankenier kindly allowing me to

Association for Asian Studies, Washington D. C.

Shanghai. Professors Xu Zhongyu ^ 4 13 L Xu Zhen'e Xu Deling

Ye Baifeng Zhou Zimei )H ■?“H and my other teachers first initiated me

to 1989, where I studied with Professors Zhang Zhenglang sH and Li Xueqin

association with the versatile scholars Yang Hsi-mei Wang Yu-ch'uan 3 :

Liqi I ^IJ |§ , Yang Xiangkui | § [qj |g , Li Zehou Qiu Hansheng M

Professor Wang Chiu-kuei at the National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu,

Since 1981, I have been encouraged and guided in my studies o f Han

prophetic-apocryphal texts by two Japanese scholars, Yasui Kozan ill and

Nakamura Shohachi 4* ^ A , whose Jushin Isho Shusei f i lr and

very helpful in my writing process.

1) Outline o f the Dissertation 1

2) Chen and Prophecy 4

3) Wei and Apocrypha 17

CHAPTER I THE TRUTH BEHIND BANS 25

1) The Western and Eastern Jin 30

2) The Sixteen States Period 36

3) The Southern Dynasties 46

3 .1 The Song Dynasty 47

3. 2 The Liang Dynasty 50

4) The Northern Wei Dynasty 53

5) The Sui Dynasty 65

1) The Ritual Procedure o f Dynastic Changes 80

2) The Role o f Chen Prophecy in Legitimation in *he South 82

2. 1 Chen prophecy by ambiguity 84

2. 2 Chen prophecy by ideographic riddles 85

2. 3 Chen prophecy from the traditional Eastern Han

and Three States prophetic-apocryphal texts 88

2. 4 Chen prophecy from newly inspired and circulated

2 .5 Chen prophecy without reference 91

2. 6 Chen prophecy from stone inscription 92

2. 7 Chen prophecy recorded from dream 92

3) The Role o f Chen Prophecy in Legitimation in the North 94

3. 2 Northern Zhou and Sui 102

4) B elief in Chen Prophecy Among the Rulers 104

CHAPTER III THE STUDY AND TRANSMISSION OF

PROPHETIC-APOCRYPHAL TEXTS 110

2) The Study and Transmission o f Prophetic-apocryphal

Texts Among Scholars

2. 4 The Song Dynasty

2. 5 The Southern Qi Dynasty

2. 6 The Liang Dynasty

2. 7 The Chen Dynasty

2. 8 The Northern Wei Dynasty

2. 9 The Northern Qi Dynasty

3. Oversize m aterials (maps, drawings, a n d ch arts) are photographed by sec

4. M ost photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or m icro

Degree to be awarded: December 19_ May 19__ A ugust 19 95