《變動篇》

論災異者，已疑於天用災異譴告人矣。更說曰：「災異之至，殆人君以政動天，天動氣以應之。譬之以物擊鼓，以椎扣鍾，鼓猶天，椎猶政，鍾鼓聲猶天之應也。人主為於下，則天氣隨人而至矣。」 曰：此又疑也。

夫天能動物，物焉能動天？何則？人物繫於天，天為人物主也。故曰：「王良策馬，車騎盈野。」非車騎盈野，而乃王良策馬也。 天氣變於上，人物應於下矣。故天且雨，商羊起舞，〔非〕使天雨也。商羊者、知雨之物也，天且雨，屈其一足起舞矣。

故天且雨，螻蟻徙，丘蚓出，琴絃緩，固疾發，此物為天所動之驗也。故天且風，巢居之蟲動；且雨，穴處之物擾，風雨之氣感蟲物也。故人在天地之間，猶蚤虱之在衣裳之內，螻蟻之在穴隙之中。蚤虱螻蟻為逆順橫從，能令衣裳穴隙之間氣變動乎？蚤虱螻蟻不能，而獨謂人能，不達物氣之理也。

夫風至而樹枝動，樹枝不能致風。是故夏末蜻蛚鳴，寒螿啼，感陰氣也。雷動而雉驚，發蟄而出，起〔陽〕氣也。夜及半而鶴唳，晨將旦而鳴，此雖非變，天氣動物，物應天氣之驗也。顧可言寒溫感動人君，人君起氣而以賞罰，迺言以賞罰感動皇天，天為寒溫以應政治乎！

六情風家言，風至，為盜賊者感應之而起。非盜賊之人精氣感天，使風至也。風至，（怪）〔搖〕不軌之心，而盜賊之操發矣。 何以驗之？盜賊之人，見物而取，睹敵而殺，皆在徙倚漏刻之間，未必宿日有其思也，而天風已以貪狼陰賊之日至矣。

以風占貴賤者，風從王相鄉來則貴，從囚死地來則賤。夫貴賤多少，斗斛故也。風至，而（糴）〔糶〕穀之人貴賤其價，天氣動（怪）〔搖〕人物者也。故穀價低昂， 一貴一賤矣。

《天官》之書，以正月朝，占四方之風。風從南方來者旱，從北方來者湛，東方來者為疫，西方來者為兵。太史公實道，言以風占水旱兵疫者，人物吉凶統於天也。

使物生者，春也；物死者，冬也。春生而冬殺（也）〔者〕，天（者）〔也〕。如或欲春殺冬生，物終不死生，何也？ 物生統於陽，物死繫於陰也。故以口氣吹人，人不能寒；吁人，人不能溫。

使見吹吁之人，涉冬觸夏，將有凍暘之患矣。寒溫之氣，繫於天地，而統於陰陽，人事國政，安能動之？

且天本而人末也。登樹（怪）〔搖〕其枝，不能動其株。如伐株，萬莖枯矣。人事猶樹枝，（能）〔寒〕溫猶根株也。

〔人〕生於天，含天之氣，以天為主，猶耳目手足繫於心矣。心有所為，耳目視聽，手足動作。謂天應人，是謂心為耳目手足使乎？

旌旗垂旒，旒綴於杆。杆東則旒隨而西。苟謂寒溫隨刑（罰）〔賞〕而至，是以天氣為綴旒也。

鉤星在房、心之間，地且動之占也。齊太卜知之，謂景公：「臣能動地。」景公信之。夫謂人君能致寒溫，猶齊景公信太卜之能動地。 夫人不能動地，而亦不能動天。 夫寒溫、天氣也。天至高大，人至卑小。（篙）〔箸〕不能鳴鍾，（而）螢火不〔而〕爨鼎者，何也？鐘長而（篙）〔箸〕短，鼎大而螢小也。以七尺之細形，感皇天之大氣，其無分銖之驗，必也。

占（大）將且入國邑，氣寒，則將且怒；溫，則將喜。夫喜怒起事而發，未入界，未見吏民，是非未察，喜怒未發， 而寒溫之氣已豫至矣。怒喜致寒溫，怒喜之後，氣乃當至。是竟寒溫之氣，使人君怒喜也。

或曰：「未至誠也。行事至誠，若鄒衍之呼天而霜降，（）〔杞〕梁妻哭而城崩，何天氣之不能動乎？」

夫至誠，猶以心意之好惡也。有果蓏之物，在人之前，去口一尺，心欲食之，口氣吸之，不能取也；手掇送口，然後得之。 夫以果蓏之細，員圌易轉，去口不遠，至誠欲之，不能得也，況天去人高遠，其氣莽蒼無端末乎！

盛夏之時，當風而立；隆冬之月，嚮日而坐。其夏欲得寒，而冬欲得溫也，至誠極矣。欲之甚者，至或當風鼓箑，嚮日燃爐，而天終不為冬夏易氣〔者〕，寒暑有節，不為人變改也。夫正欲得之而猶不能致，況自刑賞意思不欲求寒溫乎！

萬人俱歎，未能動天，一鄒衍之口，安能降霜？鄒衍之狀，孰與屈原？見拘之冤，孰與沉江？《離騷》、《楚辭》悽愴，孰與一歎？ 屈原死時，楚國無霜.

此懷、襄之世也。厲、武之時，卞和獻玉，刖其兩足，奉玉泣出，涕盡，續之以血。夫鄒衍之誠，孰與卞和？見拘之冤，孰與刖足？ 仰天而歎，孰與泣血？夫歎固不如泣，拘固不如刖，料計冤情，衍不如和，當時楚地不見霜。

李斯、趙高纔殺太子扶蘇，并及蒙恬、蒙驁。其時皆吐痛苦之言。與歎聲同，又禍至死，非徒（苟徙）〔見拘〕， 而其死之地，寒氣不生。

秦坑趙卒於長平之下，四十萬眾，同時俱陷。當時啼號，非徒歎也。誠雖不及鄒衍，四十萬之冤，度當一賢臣之痛；入坑埳之啼， 度過拘囚之呼.

當時長平之下，不見隕霜。《甫刑》曰：「庶僇旁告無辜于天帝。」此言蚩尤之民被冤，旁告無罪于上天也。以眾民之叫，不能致霜，鄒衍之言，殆虛妄也。

南方至熱，煎沙爛石，父子同水而浴；北方至寒，凝冰坼土，父子同穴而處。燕在北邊，鄒衍時，周之五月，正歲三月也。中州內，正月二月霜雪時降；北邊至寒，三月下霜，未為變也。此殆北邊三月尚寒，霜適自降，而衍適呼，與霜逢會。

《傳》曰：「燕有寒谷，不生五穀，鄒衍吹律，寒谷復溫。」則能使氣溫，亦能使氣復寒。何知衍不令時人知己之冤， 以天氣表己之誠，竊吹律於燕谷獄，令氣寒而因呼天乎？即不然者，霜何故降？

范雎為須賈所讒，魏齊僇之，折幹摺脅。張儀遊於楚，楚相掠之，被捶流血。二子冤屈，太史公列記其狀。鄒衍見拘，雎、儀之比也， 且子長何諱不言？案《衍列傳》，不言見拘而使霜降。偽書遊言，猶太子丹使日再中、天雨粟也。由此言之，衍呼而降霜，虛矣！則（） 〔杞〕梁之妻哭而崩城，妄也！

頓牟叛，趙襄子帥（帥）〔師〕攻之。軍到城下，頓牟之城崩者十餘丈，襄子擊金而退之。夫以（）〔杞〕梁妻哭而城崩，襄子之軍有哭者乎？ 秦之將滅，都門內崩；霍光家且敗，第墻自壞，誰哭於秦宮、泣於霍光家者？然而門崩墻壞，秦、霍敗亡之徵也。

或時（）〔杞〕國且圮，而（） 〔杞〕梁之妻適哭城下，猶燕國適寒，而鄒衍偶呼也。事以類而時相因，聞見之者，或而然之。（又）〔夫〕城老墻朽，猶有崩壞。一婦之哭， 崩五丈之城，是（城）則一指摧三仞之楹也。

春秋之時，山多變。山、城，一類也。哭能崩城，復能壞山乎？女然素縞而哭河，河流通，信哭城崩，固其宜也。案（） 〔杞〕梁從軍死，不歸。其婦迎之，魯君弔於途，妻不受弔，棺歸於家，魯君就弔。不言哭於城下。本從軍死，從軍死不在城中，妻向城哭，非其處也。然則 （）〔杞〕梁之妻哭而崩城，復虛言也。

因類以及，荊軻〔刺〕秦王，白虹貫日；衛先生為秦畫長平之計，太白食昴，復妄言也。夫豫子謀殺襄子，伏於橋下， 襄子至橋心動；貫高欲殺高祖，藏人於壁中，高祖至柏人，亦動心。二子欲（剌）〔刺〕兩主，兩主心動。實論之，尚謂非二子精神所能感也， 而況荊軻欲（剌）〔刺〕秦王，秦王之心不動，而白虹貫日乎？然則白虹貫日，天變自成，非軻之精為虹而貫日也。

鉤星在房、心間，地且動之占也。地且動，鉤星應房、心。夫太白食昴，猶鉤星在房、心也。謂衛先生長平之議， 令太白食昴，疑矣！

歲星害鳥尾，周、楚惡之；綝然之氣見，宋、衛、陳、鄭災。案時周、楚未有非，而宋、衛、陳、鄭未有惡也。然而歲星先守尾，災氣（署）〔著〕垂於天，其後周、楚有禍，宋、衛、陳、鄭同時皆然。歲星之害周、楚，天氣災四國也。何知白虹貫日，不致（剌）〔刺〕秦王；太白食昴，〔不〕使長平計起也？

Chapter V. Phenomenal Changes (Pien t`ung).

Arguing on calamitous events I have already expressed my doubts as to Heaven reprimanding man by misfortunes. ¹ They say, moreover, that the sovereign, as it were, moves Heaven by his government, and that Heaven moves the fluid in response. Beating a drum and striking a bell with a hammer would be an analogous process. The drum represents Heaven, the hammer the government, and the sound of the drum or the bell is like Heaven's response. When man acts below, the heavenly fluid survenes, and accompanies his actions. I confess that I doubt this also.

Heaven can move things, but how can things move Heaven? Men and things depend upon Heaven, and Heaven is the master of men and things. Thus one says that, when Wang Liang² whips the horses, the carriage and the steeds rush over the plain. It is not said that, when the carriage and the steeds chase over the plain, Wang Liang subsequently whips the horses. The heavenly fluid changes above, and men and things respond to it below. Consequently, when Heaven is about to rain, the shang-yang³ begins to dance, and attracts the rain. The "shang-yang" is a creature which knows the rain. As soon as Heaven is about to rain, it bends its single leg, and commences to dance.

When Heaven is going to rain, the mole-crickets and ants leave their abodes, the earth-worms come forth, the chords of guitars become loose, and chronic diseases more violent. This shows, how Heaven moves things. When Heaven is about to blow, the creatures living in nests become restless, and, when it is going to rain, the insects staying in holes become excited. The fluid of wind and rain has such an effect upon those creatures. Man takes the same position between Heaven and Earth as fleas and bugs between the upper and lower garments, or crickets and ants in crevices. Can fleas and bugs, crickets and ants, in so far as they are either rebellious or peaceful, wild or quiet, bring about a change of the fluid in the crevices? Fleas and bugs, mole-crickets and ants cannot do this. To pretend that man is able to do so, shows a misconception of the nature of the fluid of things.

When the wind comes, the boughs of the trees shake, but these boughs cannot produce the wind. In the same manner at the end of summer the field crickets chirrup, and the cicadas cry. They are affected by the Yin fluid. When the thunder rolls, the pheasants become frightened, and, when the insects awake from their state of torpidity, the snakes come forth. This is the rising of the Yang fluid. When it is near mid-night, the cranes scream, and when at dawn the sun is about to rise, the cocks crow. Although these be not phenomenal changes, they show at least, how the heavenly fluid moves things, and how those respond to the heavenly fluid. One may say that heat and cold influence the sovereign in such a way, that he cmits a fluid by which he rewards or punishes, but are we warranted in saying that rewards and punishments affect high Heaven so, that it causes heat or cold to respond to the government?

In regard to the Six Passions ⁴ the expositors of the wind theory maintain that, when the wind blows, robbers and thieves set to work under its influence, but the nature of robbers and thieves cannot move Heaven to send the wind. When the wind blows, it has a strange influence on perverted minds so, that robbers and thieves do their deeds. How can we prove that? Robbers and thieves seeing something, take it away, and beholding an enemy, kill him. This is an off-hand business, and the work of a moment, and not premeditated day and night. When the heavenly afflatus passes, the time of greedy scoundrels and stealthy thieves has come.

Those who predict dearness and cheapness from the wind, hold that a wind blowing over residences of kings and ministers brings dearness, whereas a wind coming from the dwellings of prisoners, or of the dead, brings cheapness. Dearness and cheapness refer to the amount of pecks and bushels to be got. When the wind arrives, the buyers of grain raise or lower the prices, such is the wonderful influence exercised by the heavenly fluid on men and things. Thus the price of grain rises, or falls, becomes dear, or cheap.

In the book on the Celestial Governors ⁵ it is stated that the wind blowing from the four quarters is determined on the morning of New Year's Day. When the wind blows from the south, there will be droughts; when it blows from the north, inundations. Coming from the east, it forebodes epidemics, and coming from the west, war. The Great Annalist is right in saying that water, dryness, war, and diseases are predetermined from the wind, for luck and mishap of men and things depend on Heaven.

It is spring that animates things, and winter that causes them to die. Spring vivifies, winter kills. Should Heaven for any reason wish spring to kill, and winter to vivify, things would not die or live at all, why? Because the life of things is governed by the Yang principle, and their death depends on the Yin.⁶

By blowing air upon a person one cannot make him cold, nor can one make him warm by breathing upon him. But if a person who has thus been blown or breathed upon, comes into winter or summer, he will have the unpleasant sensation of chill or heat. The cold and hot fluids depend on heaven and earth, and are governed by the Yin and the Yang. How could human affairs and government have any influence upon them?

Moreover, Heaven is the root, and man the apex. Climbing up a tree, we wonder that the branches cannot move the trunk, but, if the trunk is cut down, all the twigs wither. Human affairs resemble the branches of a tree, that which gives warmth is like the root and the trunk.

For those creatures which are born from Heaven and filled with its fluid Heaven is the master in the same manner as the ear, the eye, the hand, and the foot are ruled by the heart. When the heart has that intention, the ear and the eye hear and see, and the hand and the foot move and act. To maintain that Heaven responds to man would be like saying that the heart is under the command of the ear and the eye, the hand and the foot.

Streamers hanging down from flags are attached to the flagstaff. The flagstaff moving eastward, those streamers follow, and float westward. If they say that heat and cold follow rewards and punishments, then the heavenly fluid must be like those streamers.

The fact that the "Hook" star (Mercury) is amidst the "House" constellation forebodes an earth-quake. ⁷ The Great Diviner of Ch`i was cognisant of this, and told Duke Ching⁸ that he could shake the earth, which Duke Ching believed. ⁹ To say that a sovereign can cause heat and cold is like Duke Ching's trusting in the ability of the Great Diviner to shake the earth. Man cannot move the earth, nor can he move Heaven. Heat and cold are heavenly fluids. Heaven is very high, man very small. With a small rod one cannot strike a bell, and with a fire-fly one cannot heat a cauldron. Why? Because a bell is large, and a rod short, a cauldron big, and a fire-fly small. If a tiny creature, seven feet high, ¹⁰ would attempt to influence the mighty fluid of great Heaven, it is evident that it would not have the slightest effect.

When it has been predetermined that a great general is about to enter a territory, he will be angry, in case the air is cold, and pleased, if it be warm. Now, joy and anger are called forth by actions. Previous to his entering the territory, they are not yet manifest, and do not come forward, before the conduct of the people and the officials has been inquired into. But the hot or the cold fluids have been there previously. If joy and anger evoked heat and cold, those fluids ought to appear later than joy and anger. Therefore only the hot and the cold fluids evoke the sovereign's pleasure or wrath.

Some will say `Not so; the greatest sincerity is required. In one's actions one must be most sincere, as Tsou Yen was, who implored Heaven, when frost began to fall, <sup>11</sup> or the wife of Ch`i Liang¹² who by her tears caused the city wall to collapse. How? The heavenly fluid cannot be moved?'

The greatest sincerity is shown in the likes and dislikes of the heart. When fruits are hanging before a man's face, no more than one foot away from his mouth, he may desire to eat them, and his breath may touch them, yet he does not obtain them thereby. But, when he takes them in his hand, and conveys them to his mouth, then he can eat them. Even small fruits which can easily be moved in a basket, and are not far from the mouth, cannot be procured merely by a desire, be it ever so strong. How about Heaven then, which is so high and distant from us, and whose fluid forms the shapeless empyrean without beginning or end?

During the dog-days, people stand against the wind, and in the depth of winter, they sit turned towards the sun. In summer, they are anxious to obtain coolness, and in winter, they would like to have warmth. These wishes are most sincere. When their desires reach their climax, they will perhaps stand against the wind, and simultaneously fan themselves, or turned towards the sun-shine, light a fire in a stove. Yet Heaven will never change its fluid for summer or winter's sake. Heat and cold have their fixed periods, which are never transmuted for man's sake. With an earnest desire one does not obtain it, how should it be brought about by rewards and punishments, when the thoughts are not longing for heat or cold at all?

The sighs of ten thousand people cannot move Heaven, how should it be possible that the sobs of Tsou Yen alone could cause the frost to fall? Could the predicament of Tsou Yen be compared to that of Ch`ü Yuan? Was his unjust imprisonment like jumping into the river? Were the lamentations of the Li-sao and the Ch`ut`se<sup>13</sup> nothing more than a sigh?---When Ch`ü Yuan died, there fell no frost in the State of Ch`u.

This happened during the reign of the Kings Huai and Hsiang.¹⁴ At the time of the Kings Li and Wu,¹⁵Pien Ho¹⁶ presented them with a jade-stone, and had his two feet cut off. Offering his stone he wept, till his tears ran dry, when he went on weeping blood. Can the sincerity of Tsou Yen bear a comparison with Pien Ho's sufferings, or his unjust arrest with the amputation of the feet? Can the sighs towards heaven be put on a parallel with tears of blood? Sighs are surely not like tears, nor Tsou Yen's imprisonment like the cutting of the feet. Considering their grievances Tsou Yen is not Pien Ho's equal. Yet at that time no frost was seen in the Ch`u country.

Li Sse¹⁷ and Chao Kao¹⁸ caused the death of the crown-prince Fu Su by their calumnies. Mêng T`ien¹⁹ and Mêng Ao²⁰ were involved in his fall. At that time they all gave vent to their pain, which was like sighing. Their misfortune culminated in death, and was not limited to unjust banishment. Albeit yet no cold air was produced, where they died.

Ch`in buried alive 400,000 soldiers of Chao below Ch`ang p`ing,²¹ where they were all thrown into pits at the same time. Their wails and cries then were more than sighs. Even if their sincerity was less than that of Tsou Yen, yet the sufferings of 400,000 people must have been commensurate to the pain of one wise man, and the cries they uttered, while falling into the pits, must have been worse than the moans of one fettered prisoner.

In spite of this no hoar-frost was seen falling down below Ch`ang-p`ing, when the above related event took place.

We read in the "Fu-hsing" chapter:--- ²² "The people maltreated universally complained that they had not failed against the Ruler of Heaven." ²³ This means that Ch`ih Yu's subjects suffering under his vexations universally complained that they had not sinned against high Heaven. Since the complaints of a whole populace could not cause a fall of frost, the story about Tsou Yen is most likely ficticious also.

In the south it is extremely hot:---the sand burns, stones crumble into dust, and father and son bathe in the same water. In the north it is bitterly cold:---water turns into ice, the earth cracks, and father and son huddle together in the same den. Yen is situated in the north. Tsou Yen was there in the 5th month of Chou,²⁴ which corresponds to the 3d month of the corrected year. In the central provinces frost, and snow-falls are of frequent occurrence during the first and the second months. In the northern region, where it is very cold, frost may fall even during the third month, and that would not be an extraordinary phenomenon. Perhaps it was still cold in the north in the third month, and frost happened to fall, when by chance Tsou Yen gave vent to his feelings, which just coincided with the frost.

It has been recorded that in Yen there was the "Cold Valley," where the five grains did not grow. Tsou Yen blew the flute, and the "Cold Valley" became warm. Consequently Tsou Yen was able to make the air warm, and also to make it cold. How do we know that Tsou Yen did not communicate his grievances to his contemporaries, and instead manifested his sincerity through the heavenly fluid? Did he secretly blow the flute in the valley of Yen, and make the air of the prison cold, imploring Heaven for that purpose? For otherwise, why did the frost fall?

Fan Sui²⁵ calumniated by Hsü Chia was most disgracefully treated by Wei Ch`i, had his back broken, and his ribs doubled up. Chang Yi<sup>26</sup> while travelling in Ch`u, was arrested by the prime minister of Ch`u, and beaten, until the blood ran out. The way in which these two gentlemen were maltreated has been narrated by the Great Annalist. <sup>27</sup> The imprisonment of Tsou Yen resembles the adventures of Fan Sui and Chang Yi. Why does Sse Ma Ch`ien omit to mention this? Since it is not mentioned in Tsou Yen's biography that during his imprisonment he caused the frost to fall, it must be an invention, and a random statement like the story of Prince Tan,²⁸ who is believed to have ordered the sun to return to the meridian, ²⁹ and Heaven to rain grain. Thus we may assume that the story about the frost falling down upon Tsou Yen imploring Heaven is untrue, and that the report of the wife of Ch`i Liang causing the city wall to collapse is false.

When Tun-mao³⁰ rebelled, the Viscount Hsiang of Chao³¹ led an army against it to invest it. When his soldiers had arrived at the foot of the city wall, more than one hundred feet of this wall of Tun-mao crumbled down. Viscount Hsiang thereupon sheathed his sword, and went back. If the wife of Ch`i Liang caused the collapse of the city wall by her tears, was there anybody crying among Hsiang Tse's men? When Ch`in was about to be extinguished, a city gate collapsed inside, and when the house of Ho Kuang³² was going to ruin, a wall of the palace was demolished of itself. Who was weeping in the Ch`in palace, or crying in the house of Ho Kuang? The collapse of the gate, and the demolition of the wall were signs of the catastrophe awaiting Ch`in and Ho.

Perhaps at the time, when the Ch`i State <sup>33</sup> was about to be subverted, the wife of Ch`i Liang happened to cry at the foot of the wall, just as Tsou Yen chanced to cry to Heaven, when it was still very cold in the Yen State. There was a correspondence of events and a concordance of time. Eye-witnesses and people who heard about it, most likely were of this opinion. Moreover, provided that the city wall was old, and the house-wall, rotten, there must have been a collapse, and a destruction. If the tears of one woman could make 50 feet of the wall tumble down, the wall must have been such, that one might have pushed a beam of 30 feet into it with one finger.

During the Spring and Autumn period several mountains were transformed in an extraordinary way. Mountains and walls belong to the same class. If tears subvert a city wall, can they demolish a mountain also? If somebody in white mourning like a woman cries so, that his tears flow like rivers, people generally believe that a city wall can collapse through these tears, and regard it as quite the proper thing. But Ch`i Liang died during the campaign, and did not return. His wife went to meet him. The Prince of Lu offered his condolence on the road, which his wife did not accept. When the coffin had arrived in her house, the Prince of Lu condoled with her again. <sup>34</sup> She did not say a word, and cried at the foot of the wall. As a matter of fact, her husband had died in the campaign, therefore he was not in the wall, and, if his wife cried turned towards the city wall, this was not the right place. In short, it is again an unfounded assertion that the wife of Ch`i Liang caused the city wall to tumble down by her tears. ³⁵

On this principle of sympathetic actions a white halo encircled the sun, when Ching K`o stabbed the king of Ch`in,³⁶ and Venus eclipsed the Pleiades, when the scholar from Wei drew up the stratagem of Ch`ang-p`ing for Ch`in.<sup>37</sup> This again is an absurdity. When Yü Tse<sup>38</sup> was planning the murder of Viscount Hsiang, and was lying under a bridge, Hsiang Tse's heart throbbed, as he approached the bridge. Kuan Kao<sup>39</sup> intended to murder Kao Tsu, and had concealed a man in the wall. When Kao Tsu arrived at Po-jen,<sup>40</sup> his heart also beat high. <sup>41</sup> Those two individuals being about to stab the two princes, the hearts of the latter palpitated. If we reason in a proper way, we cannot admit that the princes were affected by the souls of the two assassins, and should we do so in the case of the king of Ch`in? When Ching K`o was preparing to stab him, the king's heart was not moved, but a white halo encircled the sun. This celestial phenomenon of a white halo encircling the sun happened of its own accord, and it was not the mind of Ching K`o which produced it.

Mercury between the constellations of the House and the Heart denotes an impending earth-quake. When an earth-quake is going to take place, Mercury corresponds to the House and the Heart. The offuscation of the Pleiades by Venus is like the position of Mercury between the House and the Heart. Therefore the assertion that the design of Ch`ang-p`ing, devised by the scholar from Wei, caused Venus to eclipse the Pleiades, is very doubtful.

When Jupiter injured the Bird⁴² and the Tail stars, ⁴³Chou and Ch`u were visited with disasters, and when a feather-like fluid appeared, Sung, Wei, Chên, and Chêng suffered misfortunes. At that time, Chou and Ch`u had not done any wrong, nor had Sung, Wei, Chên, or Chêng committed any wickedness. However, Jupiter first occupied the place of the Tail star, and the fluid of misfortune, for a while, descended from heaven, whereupon Chou and Ch`u had their disasters, and Sung, Wei, Chên, and Chêng suffered likewise at the same time. Jupiter caused injury to Chou and Ch`u, as the heavenly fluid did to the four States. Who knows but that the white halo encircling the sun, caused the attempt on the life of the king of Ch`in, and that Venus eclipsing the Pleiades, brought about the stratagem of Ch`ang-p`ing?