奇怪篇

儒者稱聖人之生，不因人氣，更稟精於天。禹母吞薏苡而生禹，故夏姓曰姒；卨母吞燕卵而生卨，故殷姓曰子。 後稷母履大人跡而生後稷，故周姓曰姬。《詩》曰：“不坼不副”。是生後稷。

說者又曰：“禹、卨逆生，闓母背而出；後稷順生，不坼不副。不感動母體，故曰“不坼不副”。逆生者子孫逆死，順生者子 孫順亡。故桀、紂誅死，赧王奪邑”。言之有頭足，故人信其說；明事以驗證，故人然其文。

讖書又言：“堯母慶都野出，赤龍感己，遂生堯”。《高祖本紀》言：劉媼嘗息大澤之陂，夢與神遇。是時，雷電晦冥，太公往視，見蛟龍於上。已而有身，遂生高祖。其言神驗，文又明著，世儒學者，莫謂不然。如實論之，虛妄言也。

彼《詩》言“不坼不副”，言其不感動母體，可也；言其母背而出，妄也。夫蟬之生複育也，闓背而出。天之生聖子，與複育同道乎？

兔吮毫而懷子，及其子生，從口而出。案禹母吞薏苡，卨母咽燕卵，與兔吮毫同實也。禹、卨之母生，宜皆從口，不當闓背。 夫如是，闓背之說，竟虛妄也。

世間血刃死者多，未必其先祖初為人者生時逆也。秦失天下，閻樂斬胡亥，項羽誅子嬰。秦之先祖伯翳，豈逆生乎？如是為順逆之說，以驗三家之祖，誤矣。

且夫薏苡，草也；燕卵，鳥也；大人跡，土也，三者皆形，非氣也，安能生人？說聖者，以為稟天精微之氣，故其為有殊絕之知。 今三家之生，以草、以鳥、以土，可謂精微乎？

天地之性，唯人為貴，則物賤矣。今貴人之氣，更稟賤物之精，安能精微乎？

夫令鳩雀施氣於雁鵠，終不成子者，何也？鳩雀之身小，雁鵠之形大也。今燕之身不過五寸，薏苡之莖不過數尺， 二女吞其卵實，安能成七尺之形乎？

爍一鼎之銅，以灌一錢之形，不能成一鼎，明矣。今謂大人天神，故其跡巨。巨跡之人，一鼎之爍銅也；姜原之身，一錢之形也。 使大人施氣於姜原，姜原之身小，安能盡得其精？不能盡得其精，則後稷不能成人。

堯、高祖審龍之子，子性類父，龍能乘雲，堯與高祖亦宜能焉。

萬物生於土，各似本種；不類土者，生不出於土，土徒養育之也。母之懷子，猶土之育物也。堯、高祖之母，受龍之施， 猶土受物之播也。物生自類本種，夫二帝宜似龍也。

且夫含血之類，相與為牝牡；牝牡之會，皆見同類之物。精感欲動，乃能授施。若夫牡馬見雌牛，雄雀見牝雞， 不相與合者，異類故也。今龍與人異類，何能感於人而施氣？

或曰：夏之衰，二龍鬥於庭，吐漦於地。龍亡漦在，櫝而藏之。至周幽王發出龍漦，化為玄黿，入於後宮，與處女交，遂生褒姒。

玄黿與人異類，何以感於處女而施氣乎？夫玄黿所交非正，故褒姒為禍，周國以亡。以非類妄交，則有非道妄亂之子。 今堯、高祖之母，不以道接會，何故二帝賢聖，與褒姒異乎？

或曰：“趙簡子病，五日不知人。覺言，我之帝所，有熊來，帝命我射之，中熊，死；有羆來，我又射之，中羆，羆死。 後問當道之鬼，鬼曰：“熊羆，晉二卿之先祖也。”

熊羆物也，與人異類，何以施類於人，而為二卿祖？夫簡子所射熊羆，二卿祖當亡，簡子當昌之祆也。簡子見之，若寢夢矣。 空虛之象，不必有實。假令有之，或時熊羆先化為人。乃生二卿。

魯公牛哀病化為虎。人化為獸，亦如獸為人。玄黿入後宮，殆先化為人。

天地之間，異類之物，相與交接，未之有也。 天人同道，好惡均心。人不好異類，則天亦不與通。人雖生於天，猶蟣虱生於人也。人不好蟣虱，天無故欲生於人。何則？異類殊性，情欲不相得也。 天地，夫婦也，天施氣於地以生物。人轉相生，精微為聖，皆因父氣，不更稟取。

如更稟者為聖，、後稷不聖。如聖人皆當更稟，十二聖不皆然也。黃帝、帝嚳、帝顓頊、帝舜之母，何所受氣？文王、武王、周公、孔子之母，何所感吞？

此或時見三家之姓，曰姒氏、子氏、姬氏，則因依放，空生怪說，猶見鼎湖之地，而著黃帝升天之說矣。 失道之意，還反其字。蒼頡作書，與事相連。姜原履大人跡。跡者基也，姓當為其下土，乃為女旁臣，非基跡之字，不合本事，疑非實也。

以周姬況夏殷，亦知子之與姒，非燕子、薏苡也。或時禹、契、後稽之母適欲懷妊，遭吞薏苡、燕卵，履大人跡也。 世好奇怪，古今同情。不見奇怪，謂德不異，故因以為姓。世間誠信，因以為然。聖人重疑，因不復定。世士淺論，因不復辨。

儒生是古，因生其說。 《被詩》言“不坼不副”者，言後稽之生，不感動母身也。儒生穿鑿，因造禹、契逆生之說。感於龍，夢與神遇，猶此率也。堯、高祖之母，適欲懷妊，遭逢雷龍載雲雨而行，人見其形，遂謂之然。

夢與神遇， 得聖子之象也。夢見鬼合之，非夢與神遇乎，安得其實！“野出感龍”，及“蛟龍居上”，或堯、高祖受富貴之命。龍為吉物，遭加其上， 吉祥之瑞，受命之證也。

光武皇帝產於濟陽宮，鳳皇集於地，嘉禾生於屋。聖人之生，齊鳥吉物之為瑞應。必以奇吉之物見而子生，謂之物之子， 是則光武皇帝嘉禾之精，鳳皇之氣歟？

案《帝系》之篇及《三代世表》，禹，鯀之子也；卨、稷皆帝嚳之子，其母皆帝嚳之妃也，及堯，亦嚳之子。帝王之妃， 何為適草野？古時雖質，禮已設制，帝王之妃，何為浴於水？夫如是，言聖人更稟氣於天，母有感吞者，虛妄之言也。

實者，聖人自有種族，如文、武各有類。孔子吹律，自知殷後；項羽重瞳，自知虞舜苗裔也。五帝、三王皆祖黃帝。黃帝聖人，本稟貴命，故其子孫皆為帝王。帝王之生，必有怪奇，不見於物，則效於夢矣。

Chapter XXVI. Miracles (Chi-kuai).

The Literati pretend that Sages are not born from human sperm, but that they are endowed with a special essence from Heaven. The mother of Yü swallowed pearl-barley, ¹ and gave birth to Yü,² whence the Hsia dynasty has its surname Sse.³Hsieh's mother consumed a swallow's egg, and was delivered of Hsieh,⁴ whence the Yin dynasty derived its surname Tse.⁵ The mother of Hou Chi walked in the foot-steps of a giant, ⁶ and bore Hou Chi,⁷ whence the Chou received their surname Chi.⁸ The Shiking says, "There was no rending and no tearing, thus Hou Chi was born." ⁹

They further state that Yü and Hsieh were born unnaturally, issuing from their mother's back, and that Hou Chi was born naturally. There was no rending and no tearing, the mother's body did not suffer, hence the expression:---no rending and no tearing. The descendants of those born unnaturally die an unnatural death, while the descendants of those born naturally die naturally. Therefore Chieh and Chou¹⁰ were executed, and Nan Wang¹¹ was deprived of his cities. These words seem to be self-consistent, therefore people believe them, and since, in addition evidence is given to establish their truth, they rely on these

The Chan-shu¹² also relates of the mother of Yao, Ching Tu, that she conceived from a red dragon, when she went out into the country, and gave birth to Yao. From the chronicle of Kao Tsu¹³ we learn that dame Liu was reposing on the banks of a large lake. In her dream she met with a spirit. At that time there was a tempest with thunder and lightning and a great darkness. T`ai Kung¹⁴ went near, and perceived a dragon above her. She became enceinte and was delivered of Kao Tsu. These instances of the supernatural action of spirits are not only narrated but also written down, and all the savants of the day swear by them. A thorough investigation, however, will show their futility.

The statement of the Shiking that there was no rending and no tearing viz. that the mother's body was much affected may be true, but the assertion that Yü and issued from their mother's back is irrational. When cicadas are born, they break forth from the back of the larvæ. Did Heaven in generating those sages follow the law of the larvæ?

Hares conceive by licking the pubescence of plants. When the leveret is born, it issues from the mouth of the hare. Since the mother of Yü swallowing the barley and that of Hsieh, who consumed the swallow's egg, were like hares the pubescence, their sons ought likewise to have issued from their mouths, and not from their backs. Consequently the statement about the back is preposterous.

In the world many persons die a sangninary death by the sword, and it is not necessary that their first ancestor should have had an unnatural birth. When the Ch`in lost the empire, Yen Yüeh<sup>15</sup> beheaded Hu Hai,<sup>16</sup> and Hsiang Yü<sup>17</sup> executed Tse Ying.<sup>18</sup> Was the forefather of the Ch`in, Po Yi¹⁹ born unnaturally? Ergo the thesis of natural and unnatural births based on the ancestors of the Three Dynasties is erroneous.

Moreover, pearl-barley is a plant, a swallow's egg a bird, and a giant's foot-prints are earth. These three things are bodies, but not a fluid, how could they procreate a man? With regard to Sages people suppose that they receive the essence of Heaven, which is an exceptionally fine fluid, wherefore their doings are so different from those of the masses. Now the progenitors of the Three Dynasties are born from a plant, a bird, and earth. Could these be regarded as very fine essences?

Since among the productions of Heaven and Earth man is the noblest, the others are common. Now, if the essence of those common things should be the sperm for the noblest creature, man, how could it be very fine?

Let us suppose that a pigeon or a sparrow emitted their fluid into a wild goose or a wild swan, it would never produce an egg. Why? Because a pigeon and a sparrow are too small, compared with a wild goose and a wild swan. Now, the body of a swallow measures but five inches, and the stalk of pearl-barley not more than several feet. How could the two women who swallowed the egg and the grain have begot a creature of seven feet? ²⁰

Supposing that one melts the copper required for a tripod and pours it into the mould of a cash, it is plain that one could not produce a tripod. Now the giant is the Spirit of Heaven, therefore his foot-prints were so big. ²¹ The man with the huge foot-prints is like the molten copper for a tripod, and Chiang Yuan's²² body like the mould of a cash. Should the giant emit his fluid into Chiang Yuan, her body would be much too small to receive the whole essence, and without this whole essence Hou Chi could not have been born.

If Yao and Kao Tsu were really the sons of dragons, their nature as sons ought to have been similar to that of their dragon fathers. Dragons can ride on the clouds, and Yao and Kao Tsu should have done the same.

All plants growing from earth resemble their own species, but not earth, for they are not produced by earth, which merely nourishes and feeds them. A mother with child is like the earth feeding plants. The mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu received the emissions of the dragons, as earth receives the seeds of plants. Since growing plants are similar to their own species, the two emperors also should have been like dragons.

Of animals with blood males and females pair. When they come together and see one of their own kind, their lust is excited, they wish to satisfy it, and then are able to emit their fluid. Should a stallion see a cow, or a male sparrow a hen, they would not couple, because they belong to different species. Now, dragons and man are of a different species likewise. How then could a dragon be moved by a human being so as to impart its fluid?

Some say ²³ that, when the Hsia dynasty was near its downfall, two dragons fought together in the court, and spat their saliva on the ground. When the dragons had disappeared, their saliva was preserved in a casket, until King Yu of the Chou²⁴ dynasty opened it. Then the saliva of the snakes changed into a black lizard, which slipped into the seraglio, where it had intercourse with a palace girl. The result was the birth of Pao Sse.²⁵

A black lizard belongs to another class than man, how could it become enamoured with a palace girl, and emit its fluid? The intercourse with the black lizard was vicious, therefore Pao Sse caused disasters, and overthrew the Chou dynasty. When different species recklessly mix together, their offspring becomes unprincipled and mischievous. Now, the mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu had illicit intercourse, ²⁶ why did the two emperors become wise and sage men, and were quite different from Pao Sse?

They say that Viscount Chien of Chao was sick and for five days did not know anybody. When he awoke, he said, "I have been to God's abode. There appeared a brown bear. God bade me shoot it; I hit the animal, and it died. Then came a spotted bear; I hit it also, and it died. After the two bears had died, I asked a ghost on the road. The ghost said:---"The brown and the spotted bears are the forefathers of two ministers of Chin." ²⁷

Bears are animals, and as such of a different class from man. How should they become of the same class and the ancestors of the two ministers? The time, when the ancestors of the two ministers, the brown and the spotted bears, killed by Viscount Chien, were doomed to die, was one of luck for the Viscount Chien. He saw them as in a dream. They were empty semblances and must not have been real. Should they really have existed, then perhaps the two bears were first metamorphosed into human beings, before they engendered the two ministers.

Niu Ai, Duke of Lu, was changed into a tiger during a sickness. ²⁸ Man can be transformed into an animal, as animals can become men. Probably tIllegal HTML character: decimal 156