1
明十二章五和三十三殤一安四十六順二十三質三〉
This chapter records twelve celestial portents under Emperor Ming, five under Zhang, thirty-three under He, one under Emperor Shang, forty-six under An, twenty-three under Shun, and three under Zhi.
2
明十二
Emperor Ming the Filial and Enlightened: twelve entries.
3
孝明永平元年四月丁酉，流星大如斗，起天市樓，西南行，光照地。 流星爲外兵，西南行爲西南夷。 是時，益州發兵擊姑復蛮夷大牟替滅陵，斬首傳詣雒陽。
On dingyou in the fourth month of the first Yongping year (58 CE) of Emperor Ming, a meteor the size of the Dipper rose at the Celestial Market tower and streaked southwest, lighting the earth. A meteor betokens armies from outside the heartland; motion toward the southwest betokens unrest among the southwestern tribes. Yizhou then mobilized forces against the Gufu Man at Dà Móu, Tì, and Miè Líng; the severed heads were forwarded to Luoyang.
4
三年六月丁卯，彗星出天舩北，長二尺所，稍北行至亢南。 百三十五日去。 天舩爲水，彗出之爲大水。 是歲伊、雒水溢，到津城門，壞伊橋； 郡七、縣三十二皆大水。
On dingmao in the sixth month of the third Yongping year, a comet emerged north of Celestial Boat, roughly two feet in length, and drifted north until it stood south of Kang. One hundred thirty-five days later it was gone. Celestial Boat governs the element of water; a comet rising from it presages catastrophic flooding. That same year the Yi and Luo burst their banks as far as the Jin City gate and washed out the bridge over the Yi. Seven commanderies and thirty-two counties were inundated.
5
四年八月辛酉，客星出梗河西北，指貫索，七十日去。 梗河爲胡兵。 至五年十一月，北匈奴七千騎入五原塞，十二月又入雲中，至原陽。 貫索，貴人之牢。 其十二月，陵鄉侯梁松坐怨望，縣飛書誹謗朝廷，下獄死，妻子家屬徙九真。
On xinyou in the eighth month of the fourth Yongping year, a guest star shone northwest of Genghe, its train aimed at the Coiled Bonds (Guansuo), and it vanished after seventy days. Genghe presages steppe (Hu) armies. In the eleventh month of the fifth year seven thousand Northern Xiongnu horsemen broke through Wuyuan; the next month they raided Yunzhong as far as Yuanyang. The Coiled Bonds are read as fetters binding high ministers. That December Liang Song, marquis of Lingxiang, was charged with resentment and circulating anonymous libels against the court; he died in custody, and his family was exiled to Jiuzhen.
6
七年正月戊子，流星大如杯，從織女西行，光照地。 織女，天之真女，流星出之，女主憂。 其月癸卯，光烈皇后崩。
On wuzi in the first month of the seventh Yongping year, a cup-sized meteor streaked west from the Weaving Maid (Vega) and lit the landscape. Vega is Heaven’s paradigmatic woman; a meteor from that quarter portends grief for the empress. Later that month, on guimao, Empress Guanglie died.
7
八年六月壬午，長星出柳、張三十七度，犯軒轅，刺天舩，陵太微，氣至上階，凡見五十六日去。 柳，周地。 是歲，多雨水，郡十四傷稼。
On renwu in the sixth month of Yongping 8, a long-tailed comet appeared between Willow and Extended Net across thirty-seven degrees, grazed the Chariot Shaft, crossed Celestial Boat, veered through the Grand Tenuity, and its coma stretched toward the upper terrace of the Supreme Palace enclosure; it remained visible fifty-six days. Willow marks the Zhou heartland. Heavy rains that year laid waste to crops in fourteen commanderies.
8
九年正月戊申，客星出牽牛，長八尺，歷建星至房南滅，見至五十日。 牽牛主吳、越，房、心爲宋。 後廣陵王荆與沈凉、楚王英與顏忠各謀逆，事覺，皆自殺。 廣陵屬吳，彭城古宋地。
On wushen in the first month of Yongping 9, a guest star rose at Herdboy, an eight-foot train crossing Establishment to the south of Room, where it died out after fifty days. Herdboy stands for Wu and Yue; Room and Heart for the old Song region. Later Prince Jing of Guangling and Shen Liang, and Prince Ying of Chu and Yan Zhong, were each caught in separate plots of treason and took their own lives when discovered. Guangling lay in the Wu sphere, Pengcheng in ancestral Song.
9
十三年閏月丁亥，火犯輿鬼，爲大喪，質星爲大臣誅戮。 其十二月，楚王英與顏忠等造作妖書謀反，事覺，英自殺，忠等皆伏誅。
On dinghai in the intercalary month of Yongping 13, Mars trespassed on Ghosts—an omen of deep bereavement—and the attendant stars foretold executions among great ministers. In the twelfth month Ying of Chu and Yan Zhong were found forging sorcerous texts in a rebellion; Ying committed suicide, and Zhong’s party was put to death.
10
十四年正月戊子，客星出昴，六十日，在軒轅右角稍滅。 昴主邊兵。 後一年，漢遣奉車都尉顯親侯竇固、駙馬都尉耿秉、騎都尉耿忠、開陽城門候秦彭、太仆祭肜，將兵擊匈奴。 一曰，軒轅右角爲貴相，昴爲獄事，客星守之爲大獄。 是時，考楚事未訖，司徒虞延與楚王英黨與黄初、公孙弘等交通，皆自殺。 或下獄伏誅。
On wuzi in the first month of Yongping 14, a guest star appeared at the Hairy Head (Pleiades), lingered sixty days, and waned beside the right horn of the Chariot Shaft. The Hairy Head governs frontier warfare. A year later the court dispatched Dou Gu (Commandant of Chariots, marquis of Xianqin), Geng Bing (Commandant of Horse, imperial connection), Geng Zhong, Qin Peng (warden of the Kaiyang gate), and Grand Coachman Cai Rong to campaign against the Xiongnu. Another reading takes the Chariot Shaft’s right horn as the chief minister, the Hairy Head as judicial punishment, and a stationary guest star there as sweeping imprisonment. While the Chu affair was still under investigation, Minister Yu Yan was found colluding with Ying’s clique, including Huang Chu and Gongsun Hong, and all took their own lives. Others were jailed and executed outright.
11
十五年十一月乙丑，太白入月中，爲大將戮，人主亡，不出三年。 後三年，孝明帝崩。
On yichou in the eleventh month of Yongping 15, Venus passed into the Moon—an omen of a slaughtered marshal and the ruler’s demise within three years. Three years later Emperor Ming died.
12
十六年正月丁丑，歲星犯房右驂，北第一星不見，辛巳乃見。 房右驂爲貴臣，歲星犯之爲見誅。 是后司徒邢穆，坐與阜陵王延交通知逆謀，自殺。
On dingchou in the first month of Yongping 16, Jupiter crossed the right trace-horse of Room—the northern first star vanished and only reappeared on xinsi. The right trace-horse of Room denotes a powerful minister; Jupiter’s trespass foretold his downfall by execution. Afterwards Minister Xing Mu, implicated with Prince Yan of Fuling in a treason plot, committed suicide.
13
四月癸未，太白犯畢。 畢爲邊兵。 后北匈奴寇邊，入雲中，至漁陽。 使者高弘發三郡兵追討，无所得。 太仆祭肜坐不進下獄。
On guimao in the fourth month, Venus trespassed on Net (Bi). Net presages border warfare. The Northern Xiongnu soon raided the frontier, pushing through Yunzhong to Yuyang. Envoy Gao Hong called up three commanderies’ forces in pursuit but caught nothing. Grand Coachman Cai Rong was imprisoned for failing to press the attack.
14
十八年六月己未，彗星出張，長三尺，转在郎將，南入太微，皆屬張。 張，周地，爲東都。 太微，天子廷。 彗星犯之爲兵喪。 其八月壬子，孝明帝崩。
On jiwei in the sixth month of Yongping 18, a three-foot comet rose at Extended Net, swung through the Gentlemen-of-the-Palace into the Grand Tenuity—all within Zhang’s celestial zone. Extended Net marks the old Zhou domain, here paired with the eastern capital. The Grand Tenuity enclosure is the emperor’s celestial audience hall. A comet there betokens war and bereavement. On renzi that eighth month Emperor Ming died.
15
二年九月甲寅，流星過紫宫中，長數丈，散爲三，滅。 十二月戊寅，彗星出婁三度，長八九尺，稍入紫宫中，百六日稍滅。 流星過，入紫宫，皆大人忌。 后四年六月癸丑，明德皇后崩。
On jiayin in the ninth month of the second Jianchu year (77 CE), a meteor several zhang long crossed the Purple Palace, split into three fragments, and died out. On wuyin in the twelfth month a comet rose three degrees into Bond, eight or nine feet in train, drifted into the Purple Palace, and weakened away over one hundred six days. Meteors crossing into the Purple Palace are omens dire for those in supreme power. Four years later, on guichou in the sixth month, Empress Mingde died.
16
元和二年四月丁巳，客星晨出東方，在胃八度，長三尺，歷阁道入紫宫，留四十日滅。 阁道、紫宫，天子之宫也。 客星犯入留久爲大喪。 后四年，孝章帝崩。
At dawn on dingsi in the fourth month of Yuanhe 2 (85 CE), a guest star rose eastward in Stomach, traced the Gallery Road into the Purple Palace, and burned out after forty days. The Gallery Road and Purple Palace map the emperor’s inner precinct. A long-lived intruder there presages a major bereavement. Four years later Emperor Zhang died.
17
和三十三
Emperor He: thirty-three entries.
18
孝和永元元年正月辛卯，有流星起参，長四丈，有光，色黄白。 二月，流星起天棓，東北行三丈所，滅，色青白。 壬申夜，有流星起太微東蕃，長三丈。 三月丙辰，流星起天津。 壬戌，有流星起天將軍，東北行。 参爲邊兵，天棓爲兵，太微天廷，天津爲水，天將軍爲兵，流星起之皆爲兵。 其六月，漢遣車騎將軍竇憲、执金吾耿秉與度遼將軍鄧鸿出朔方，并進兵临私渠北鞮海，斬虏首万余级，獲生口牛、馬、羊百万头。 日逐王等八十一部降，凡三十余万人。 追单于至西海。 是歲七月，又雨水漂人民，是其應。
On xinmao in the first month of Yongyuan 1 (89 CE), a yellow-white meteor sprang from Orion (Shen), four zhang long. In the second month another meteor rose at the Celestial Cudgel, streaked about three zhang northeast in pale blue-white fire, and vanished. On the night of renshen, a three-zhang meteor shot up from the eastern wall of the Grand Tenuity. On bingchen in the third month a meteor appeared at the Celestial Ford. On renxu a meteor streaked northeast from the Great General asterism. Orion means border war, the Cudgel means mobilization, the Grand Tenuity is the celestial court, the Ford floods, and the Great General means arms—meteors from any of these all augur war. In the sixth month the court sent Dou Xian as chariot-and-cavalry general, Geng Bing with the golden mace, and Deng Hong as trans-Liao general from Shuofang; they united their columns at the line of the private canal and the northern Di Sea, took over ten thousand heads, and seized cattle, sheep, and horses by the hundred-thousand. The Zhizhu king and eighty-one tribes—over three hundred thousand people in all—surrendered. The pursuit drove the Shanyu as far as the western sea. In the seventh month floods again swept people away—the earthly echo of those portents.
19
二年正月乙卯，金、木俱在奎； 丙寅，水又在奎。 奎主武庫兵，三星會又爲兵喪。 辛未，水、金、木在婁，亦爲兵，又爲匿謀。 二月丁酉，有流星大如桃，起紫宫東蕃，西北行五丈稍滅。 四月丙辰，有流星大如瓜，起文昌東北，西南行至少微西滅。 有頃，音如雷聲，已而金在軒轅大星東北二尺所。 八月丁未，有流星如雞子，起太微西，東南行四丈所滅。 十月癸未，有流星大如桃，起天津，西行六丈所消。 十一月辛酉，有流星大如拳，起紫宫，西行到胃消。
On yimao in the first month of Yongyuan 2, Venus and Jupiter shared Legs (Kui). On bingyin Mercury too entered Legs. Legs oversees the arsenals; a threefold conjunction there augurs campaigns and losses. On xinwei Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter crowded Bond (Lou)—another sign of arms and clandestine intrigue. On dingyou in the second month a peach-sized meteor lifted from the east wall of the Purple Palace, arced five zhang northwest, and expired. On bingchen in the fourth month a melon-sized meteor rose northeast of Wenchang, swung southwest, and died out short of Lesser Guard (Shaowei). Thunder followed, and Venus soon sat two feet northeast of Regulus. On dingwei in the eighth month an egg-sized meteor rose west of the Grand Tenuity, crossed four zhang southeast, and went out. On guiwei in the tenth month a peach-sized meteor left the Ford and sailed six zhang west before fading. On xinyou in the eleventh month a fist-sized meteor crossed from the Purple Palace westward into Stomach and disappeared.
20
三年九月丁卯，有流星大如雞子，起紫宫，西南至北斗柄间消。 紫宫天子宫，文昌、少微爲貴臣，天津爲水，北斗主殺。 流星起，歷紫宫、文昌、少微、天津，文昌爲天子使，出有兵誅也。 竇憲爲大將軍，憲弟笃、景等皆卿、校尉，憲女弟婿郭举爲侍中、射聲校尉，與卫尉鄧叠母元俱出入宫中，謀爲不轨。 至四年六月丙辰發覺，和帝幸北宫，詔执金吾、五校勒兵屯南、北宫，閉城門，捕举。 举父長乐少府璜及叠，叠弟步兵校尉磊、母元，皆下獄誅。 憲弟笃、景等皆自殺。 金犯軒轅，女主失勢。 竇氏被誅，太后失勢。
On dingmao in the ninth month of Yongyuan 3 an egg-sized meteor ran from the Purple Palace southwest between the Dipper stars and expired. The Purple Palace is the imperial dwelling; Wenchang and Lesser Guard are great ministers; the Ford is flood; the Dipper, execution. Because Wenchang is the sovereign’s herald, that meteor’s path through the Purple Palace, Wenchang, Lesser Guard, and the Ford spelled mobilization and capital punishment. Dou Xian held the supreme command while his brothers Du and Jing filled ministerial and colonel’s posts; his sister’s husband Guo Ju served as palace attendant and colonel of the She-sheng guard; together with chamberlain Deng Die, Die’s mother Lady Yuan, and others they trafficked in and out of the inner palace and plotted usurpation. On bingchen in the sixth month of Yongyuan 4 the plot surfaced; the emperor moved to the North Palace and ordered the Bearer of the Golden Mace and the Five Brigades to seal the south and north palace compounds and the city gates and seize Guo Ju. Guo Ju’s father Huang, grand tutor of Changle, Deng Die, Die’s younger brother Lei (colonel of foot), and Lady Yuan were all thrown in prison and executed. Dou Xian’s brothers Du and Jing killed themselves with the rest of the circle. Venus trespassing Regulus meant the empress would lose her sway. When the Dou were extirpated, the empress dowager was stripped of influence.
21
十一年五月丙午，流星大如瓜，起氐，西南行，稍有光，白色。 占曰：「流星白，爲有使客，大爲大使，小亦小使。 疾期疾，遲亦遲。 大如瓜爲近，小行稍有光爲遲也。 又正王日，邊方有受王命者也。」 明年二月，蜀郡旄牛徼外夷白狼樓薄种王唐缯等率种人口十七万归义内屬，賜金印紫绶錢帛。
On bingwu in the fifth month of Yongyuan 11 a gourd-sized meteor lifted in Base (Di), glided southwest with a pale white glow. The prognostication reads: “A pale meteor signals a diplomatic courier—the larger the star, the weightier the mission. If it moves swiftly, news comes soon; if slowly, the messenger is delayed. Gourd size means the envoy is already close; a dimmer, smaller track means a slower arrival. Again, if it falls on the orthodox king day, some frontier chief is accepting an imperial patent." The following second month, chiefs such as Tang Zeng of the white-wolf Loubo tribe beyond Mao Niu in Shu led one hundred seventy thousand people to tender allegiance and received gold seals, purple ribbons, coin, and silk.
22
十二年十一月癸酉夜，有苍白氣，長三丈，起天园，東北指軍市，見积十日。 占曰：「兵起，十日期歲。」 明年十一月，遼東鮮卑二千余騎寇右北平。
On the night of guiyou in the eleventh month of Yongyuan 12, an ashen band three zhang long stretched from the Celestial Garden toward Army Market and remained visible ten days. The gloss says: “War is coming—treat each day of visibility as a year’s warning. The following November more than two thousand Liaodong Xianbei horsemen struck Right Beiping.
23
十三年十一月乙丑，軒轅第四星间有小客星，色青黄。 軒轅爲后宫，星出之，爲失勢。 其十四年六月辛卯，陰皇后廢。
On yichou in the eleventh month of Yongyuan 13, a small guest star showed green-yellow between the fourth stars of the Chariot Shaft. The Chariot Shaft stands for the harem; a star between its lights foretold a consort’s fall. In the sixth month of Yongyuan 14, on xinmao, Empress Yin was cast aside.
24
孝殤帝延平元年正月丁酉，金、火在婁。 金、火合爲烁，爲大人憂。 是歲八月辛亥，孝殤帝崩。
On dingyou in the first month of Yanping 1 (106 CE), Venus and Mars shared Bond (Lou). When Venus and Mars fuse into a scorching blaze, those in highest station should tremble. In the eighth month, on xinhai that year, the child emperor Shang died.
25
安四十六
Emperor An the Filial and Secure: forty-six entries.
26
二年正月戊子，太白昼見。
On wuzi in the first month of the second Yongchu year, Venus was visible in broad daylight.
27
四年六月甲子，客星大如李，苍白，芒氣長二尺，西南指上階星。 癸酉，太白入輿鬼。 指上階，爲三公。 后太尉張禹、司空張敏皆免官。 太白入輿鬼，爲將凶。 后中郎將任尚坐赃千万，槛車征，棄市。
On jiazi in the sixth month of Yongchu 4, a plum-sized guest star shone pale white with a two-foot coma aimed southwest at the Upper Steps. On guiyou Venus entered the Ghosts. A train toward the Upper Steps foretells the Three Excellencies. Grand Commandant Zhang Yu and Minister of Works Zhang Min were soon dismissed. Venus in the Ghosts bodes ill for field commanders. Later Household General Ren Shang was charged with embezzling ten million cash, carted to the capital in a cage, and executed in the marketplace.
28
五年六月辛丑，太白昼見，经天。 元初元年三月癸酉，熒惑入輿鬼。 二年九月辛酉，熒惑入輿鬼中。 三年三月，熒惑入輿鬼中。 五月丙寅，太白入畢口。 七月甲寅，歲星入輿鬼。 閏月己未，太白犯太微左执法。 十一月甲午，客星見西方，己亥在虚、危，南至胃、昴。 四年正月丙戌，歲星留輿鬼中。 乙未，太白昼見丙上。 四月壬戌，太白入輿鬼中。 己巳，辰星入輿鬼中。 五月己卯，辰星犯歲星。 六月丙申，熒惑人輿鬼中，戊戌，犯輿鬼大星。 九月辛巳，太白人南斗口中。 五年三月丙申，鎮星犯東井钺星。 五月庚午，辰星犯輿鬼質星。 丙戌，太白犯钺星。 六年四月癸丑，太白入輿鬼。 六月丙戌，熒惑在輿鬼中。 丁卯，鎮星在輿鬼中。 辛巳，太白犯左执法。 自永初五年到永宁，十年之中，太白一昼見经天，再入輿鬼，一守畢，再犯左执法，入南斗，犯钺星。 熒惑五入輿鬼。 鎮星一犯東井钺星，一入輿鬼。 歲星、辰星再入輿鬼。 凡五星入輿鬼中，皆爲死喪。 熒惑、太白甚犯钺、質星爲誅戮。 斗爲貴將。 执法爲近臣。 客星在虚、危爲喪，爲哭泣。 昂、畢爲邊兵，又爲獄事。 至建光元年三月癸巳，鄧太后崩； 五月庚辰，太后兄車騎將軍骘等七侯皆免官，自殺，是其應也。
On xinchou in the sixth month of Yongchu 5, Venus blazed by day clear across the meridian. On guiyou in the third month of Yuanchu 1, Mars entered the Ghosts. On xinyou in the ninth month of Yuanchu 2, Mars stood deep within the Ghosts. In the third month of Yuanchu 3 Mars again entered the Ghosts. On bingyin in the fifth month Venus slipped into the mouth of the Net asterism. On jiayin in the seventh month Jupiter entered the Ghosts. On jiwei in the intercalary month Venus trespassed on the Left Law Enforcer in the Grand Tenuity. On jiawu in the eleventh month a guest star rose in the west; by jihai it lay between Emptiness and Rooftop and stretched south toward Stomach and the Hairy Head. On bingxu in the first month of Yuanchu 4 Jupiter halted inside the Ghosts. On yiwei Venus shone in daylight in the bing sector of the sky; received commentary often glosses that position with the Hairy Head asterism. On renxu in the fourth month Venus entered the heart of the Ghosts. On jisi Mercury entered the Ghosts. On jimao in the fifth month Mercury crossed Jupiter. On bingshen in the sixth month Mars entered the Ghosts; two days later, on wuxu, it struck the principal star of the cluster. On xinsi in the ninth month Venus entered the gap of the Southern Dipper. On bingshen in the third month of Yuanchu 5 Saturn crossed the axe star in Eastern Well. On gengwu in the fifth month Mercury trespassed on the attendant star of the Ghosts. On bingxu Venus crossed the battle-axe star. On guichou in the fourth month of Yuanchu 6 Venus entered the Ghosts. On bingxu in the sixth month Mars remained inside the Ghosts. On dingmao Saturn too sat within the Ghosts. On xinsi Venus encroached on the Left Law Enforcer. Across the decade from Yongchu 5 to Yongning, Venus showed once in daylight athwart the heavens, twice entered the Ghosts, once stationed on Net, twice brushed the Left Law Enforcer, dipped into the Southern Dipper, and struck the battle-axe star. Mars entered the Ghosts on five separate occasions. Saturn once crossed the axe in Eastern Well and once entered the Ghosts. Jupiter and Mercury each entered the Ghosts twice. Any of the five wanderers inside the Ghosts presages death and lamentation. Mars and Venus striking the axe or attendant stars especially foretell slaughter. The Southern Dipper governs high commanders. The Law Enforcer stars stand for palace intimates. A guest star over Emptiness and Rooftop signals bereavement and public keening. The Hairy Head and Net govern border war and the prison system alike. In the third month of Jianguang 1, on guisi, Empress Dowager Deng died; In the fifth month, on gengchen, her brother Deng Zhi, chariot-and-cavalry general, and seven ennobled kinsmen were stripped of rank and forced to suicide—the earthly fulfillment of those omens.
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延光二年八月己亥，熒惑出太微端門。 三年二月辛未，太白犯昂。 五月癸丑，太白入畢。 九月壬寅，鎮星犯左执法。 四年，太白入輿鬼中。 六月壬辰，太白出太微。 九月甲子，太白入斗口中。 十一月，客星見天市。 熒惑出太微，爲乱臣。 太白犯昂、畢，爲邊兵，一曰大人当之。 鎮星犯左执法，有誅臣。 太白入輿鬼中，爲大喪。 太白出太微，爲中宫有兵； 入斗口，爲貴將相有誅者。 客星見天市中，爲貴喪。 是時，大將軍耿宝、中常侍江京、樊丰、小黄門劉安與阿母王聖、聖子女永等并构谮太子保，并恶太子乳母男、厨监邴吉。 三年九月丁酉，廢太子爲濟陰王，以北鄉侯懿代。 殺男、吉，徙其父母妻子日南。 四年三月丁卯，安帝巡狩，從南陽还，道寝疾，至叶，崩。 阎后與兄卫尉顯、中常侍江京等共隐匿，不令群臣知上崩，遣司徒劉喜等分詣郊庙，告天请命，载入北宫。 庚午夕發喪，尊阎氏爲太后。 北鄉侯懿病薨，京等又不欲立保，白太后，更征諸王子择所立。 中黄門孙程、王国、王康等十九人，共合謀誅顯、京等，立保爲天子，是爲孝順皇帝。 皆奸人强臣狂乱王室，其于死亡誅戮，兵起宫中，是其應。
On jihai in the eighth month of Yanguang 2 Mars issued from the Duan Gate of the Grand Tenuity. On xinwei in the second month of Yanguang 3 Venus trespassed on the Hairy Head. On guichou in the fifth month Venus entered Net. On renyin in the ninth month Saturn crossed the Left Law Enforcer. In Yanguang 4 Venus entered the Ghosts. On renchen in the sixth month Venus exited the Grand Tenuity. On jiazi in the ninth month Venus entered the Dipper’s gap. In the eleventh month a guest star shone in the Celestial Market. Mars leaving the Grand Tenuity marks traitorous ministers at court. Venus afflicting the Hairy Head or Net augurs border war, or, in another reading, doom for a man of the highest rank. Saturn on the Left Law Enforcer promises the execution of a minister. Venus inside the Ghosts signals a great bereavement. Venus quitting the Grand Tenuity foretells arms within the inner court; its plunge into the Dipper’s mouth means a leading general or minister will die by the sword. A guest star in the Celestial Market foretells the death of a great noble. Meanwhile Geng Bao the great general, eunuchs Jiang Jing and Fan Feng, junior Yellow Gate Liu An, the wet nurse Wang Sheng, and her children Yong and others conspired to slander Crown Prince Bao and blackened his nurse Nan and steward Bing Ji. On dingyou in the ninth month of Yanguang 3 the crown prince was demoted to prince of Jiyin, and Marquis Yi of Beixiang was set up in his place. Nan and Bing Ji were put to death, and their families were exiled to Rinan. On dingmao in the third month of Yanguang 4 the emperor returned from a progress through Nanyang, fell gravely ill en route, reached Ye, and died there. Empress Dowager Yan, her brother the chamberlain Yan Xian, Jiang Jing, and their faction hid the news of the emperor’s death from the bureaucracy, dispatched Minister Liu Xi to the suburban shrines to perform bogus reports, and smuggled the body into the North Palace. That evening, on gengwu, they at last proclaimed the obsequies and elevated the Yan family as dowager regents. When Marquis Yi of Beixiang died of sickness, Jiang Jing’s party still refused to enthrone Bao, petitioned the dowager, and called in other imperial sons to pick a successor. Nineteen eunuchs led by Sun Cheng, Wang Guo, and Wang Kang then slew Yan Xian and Jiang Jing, raised Bao to the throne as Emperor Shun. These were treacherous favorites and domineering ministers who convulsed the dynasty; the executions and fighting within the palace were the earthly echo of those celestial signs.
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順二十三
Emperor Shun the Filial and Harmonious: twenty-three entries.
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孝順永建二年二月癸未，太白昼見三十九日。 閏月乙酉，太白昼見東南维四十一日。 八月乙巳，熒惑入輿鬼。 太白昼見，爲强臣。 熒惑爲凶，輿鬼爲死喪。 質星爲誅戮。 是時，中常侍高梵、張防、將作大匠翟酺、尚書令高堂芝、仆射張敦、尚書尹就、郎姜述、杨凤等，及兗州刺史鲍就、使匈奴中郎將張国、金城太守張笃、敦煌太守張郎相與交通，漏泄，就、述棄市，梵、防、酺、芝、敦、凤、就、国皆抵罪。 又定远侯班始尚陰城公主坚得，斗爭殺坚得，坐要斬馬市，同产皆棄市。
On guiwei in the second month of Yongjian 2, Venus remained visible in daylight for thirty-nine days. In the intercalary month, on yiyou, Venus shone by day at the southeast corner of the sky for forty-one days. On yisi in the eighth month Mars entered the Ghosts. Daylight Venus marks ministers grown too strong for the throne. Mars brings calamity; the Ghosts, the grave. The attendant star of the cluster means judicial killing. A ring of palace attendants and provincial officials, including Gao Fan, Zhang Fang, Zhai Fu, Gao Tang Zhi, Zhang Dun, Yin Jiu, Jiang Shu, Yang Feng, Inspector Bao Jiu of Yanzhou, Xiongnu household general Zhang Guo, Jinquan’s Zhang Du, and Dunhuang’s Zhang Lang, traded confidential information; Yin Jiu and Jiang Shu were executed in the marketplace, and the rest were sentenced according to their guilt. Marquis Ban Shi of Dingyuan, who had wed Princess Jiande of Yincheng, slew her in a domestic brawl and was bisected at the waist in the horse market; his brothers and sisters shared the same fate.
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六年四月，熒惑入太微中，犯左、右执法西北方六寸所。 十月乙卯，太白昼見。 十二月壬申，客星芒氣長二尺余，西南指，色苍白，在牽牛六度。 客星芒氣白爲兵。 牽牛爲吳、越。 后一年，會稽海賊曾於等千余人燒句章，殺長吏，又殺鄞、鄮長，取官兵，拘殺吏民，攻東部都尉； 扬州六郡逆賊章何等称將軍，犯四十九縣，大攻略吏民。
In the fourth month of Yongjian 6 Mars crossed the Grand Tenuity and brushed both Law Enforcers some six inches to the northwest. On yimao in the tenth month Venus appeared in daylight. On renshen in the twelfth month a guest star showed a pale coma more than two feet long, thrusting southwest at the sixth degree of Herdboy. A white coma on a guest star augurs war. Herdboy governs Wu and Yue. The next year more than a thousand pirates under Zeng Yu of Kuaiji torched Gouzhang, murdered senior magistrates and the heads of Yin and Mao, seized arms, slaughtered officials and civilians, and struck the eastern commandant; while rebels across six Yangzhou commanderies led by Zhang He styled themselves generals, overran forty-nine counties, and plundered the population wholesale.
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陽嘉元年閏月戊子，客星氣白，廣二尺，長五丈，起天菀西南。 主馬牛，爲外軍，色白爲兵。 是時，敦煌太守徐白使疏勒王盘等兵二万人入于窴界，虏掠斬首三百余级。 烏桓校尉耿晔使烏桓親漢都尉戎末瘣等出塞，抄鮮卑，斬首，獲生口、财物； 鮮卑怨恨，抄遼東、代郡，殺傷吏民。 是后，西戎、北狄爲寇害，以馬、牛起兵，馬、牛亦死傷于兵中，至十余年乃息。
On wuzi in the intercalary month of Yangjia 1, a white band two feet broad and five zhang long lifted from the southwest edge of the Celestial Park. That sector governs horses and cattle and foreign armies; white vapor means mobilization. Dunhuang governor Xu Bai then ordered King Pan of Shule to lead twenty thousand men across the Yutian frontier, where they raided and took more than three hundred heads. Wuhuan commandant Geng Ye sent the Pro-Han Wuhuan colonel Rong Mo Hui outside the wall to strike the Xianbei, taking heads and booty; the Xianbei retaliated by sweeping Liaodong and Dai, killing and maiming officials and townsfolk. Western tribes and northern nomads then harried the frontiers for a decade, wars flared on horseback, and countless horses and cattle perished in those campaigns before calm returned.
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永和二年五月戊申，太白昼見。 八月庚子，熒惑犯南斗。 斗爲吳。 明年五月，吳郡太守行丞事羊珍與越兵弟叶、吏民吳铜等二百余人起兵反，殺吏民，燒官亭民舍，攻太守府。 太守王衡距守，吏兵格殺珍等。 又九江賊蔡伯流等數百人攻廣陵、九江，燒城郭，殺江都長。
On wushen in the fifth month of Yonghe 2, Venus shone in daylight. On gengzi in the eighth month Mars trespassed on the Southern Dipper. The Dipper here marks the Wu region. The following fifth month Yang Zhen of Wu commandery, acting as chief clerk, with the Yue soldier Ye the younger, Wu Tong the clerk, and more than two hundred followers mutinied, murdered people, torched public buildings and homes, and stormed the governor’s yamen. Governor Wang Heng held the city until his troops cut down the rebels. Meanwhile hundreds of Jiujiang raiders under Cai Boliu struck Guangling and Jiujiang, fired the walls, and slew the magistrate of Jiangdu.
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三年二月辛巳，太白昼見，戊子，在熒惑西南，光芒相犯。 辛丑，有流星大如斗，從西北東行，長八九尺，色赤黄，有聲隆隆如雷。 三月壬子，太白昼見。 六月丙午，太白昼見。 八月乙卯，太白昼見。 閏月甲寅，辰星入輿鬼。 己酉，熒惑入太微。 乙卯，太白昼見。 太白者，將軍之官，又爲西州。 昼見，陰盛，與君爭明。 熒惑與太白相犯，爲兵喪。 流星爲使，聲隆隆，怒之象也。 辰星入輿鬼，爲大臣有死者。 熒惑入太微，乱臣在廷中。 是時，大將軍梁商父子秉勢，故太白常昼見也。 其四年正月，祀南郊，夕牲，中常侍張逵、蘧政、杨定，内者令石光、尚方令傅福等與中常侍曹腾、孟贲爭权，白帝言腾、贲與商謀反，矫詔命收腾、贲，贲自解说，順帝寤，解腾、贲缚。 逵等自知事不從，各奔走，或自刺，解貂蝉投草中逃亡，皆得免。 其六年，征西將軍馬贤擊西羌于北地射姑山下，父子爲羌所没殺，是其應也。
On xinsi in the second month of Yonghe 3 Venus appeared by day; by wuzi it stood southwest of Mars, their glare overlapping. On xinchou a Dipper-sized meteor streaked from the northwest toward the east, eight or nine feet of red-yellow fire with a thunderous roar. On renzi in the third month Venus was visible in daylight again. On bingwu in the sixth month daylight Venus returned. On yimao in the eighth month Venus once more shone through the day sky. In the intercalary month, on jiayin, Mercury entered the Ghosts. On jiyou Mars crossed into the Grand Tenuity. On yimao Venus was visible in daylight. Venus governs the office of the commander-in-chief and the western quarter of the realm. Daylight apparition means yin force has swollen until it rivals the sovereign’s light. When Mars and Venus cross, expect war and bereavement. A meteor is Heaven’s courier; its thunderous roar is an image of divine anger. Mercury in the Ghosts foretells the death of a senior minister. Mars inside the Grand Tenuity marks traitorous ministers at the emperor’s elbow. Because great general Liang Shang and his son then monopolized authority, Venus repeatedly blazed in the noon sky. In the first month of that fourth year, during the southern-suburb sacrifice when the victim was presented at dusk, eunuchs Zhang Kui, Qu Zheng, Yang Ding, palace director Shi Guang, and workshop director Fu Fu vied for influence with Cao Teng and Meng Ben; they accused Teng and Ben of conspiring with Liang Shang, forged an arrest warrant, but Meng Ben cleared himself, the emperor saw through the plot, and freed both men. Zhang Kui’s party, seeing the coup collapse, scattered in flight; some stabbed themselves, others stripped their court caps and hid in the brush—yet most escaped punishment. In the sixth year Ma Xian, general who conquers the west, fought the Western Qiang at Shegu Mountain in Beidi; he and his son were overwhelmed and slain by the tribesmen—the terrestrial echo of those omens.
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四年七月壬午，熒惑入南斗犯第三星。 五年四月戊午，太白昼見。 八月己酉，熒惑入太微。 斗爲貴相，爲扬州，熒惑犯入之爲兵喪。 其六年，大將軍商薨。 九江、丹陽賊周生、馬勉等起兵攻没郡縣。 梁氏又专权于天廷中。
On renwu in the seventh month of the fourth Yonghe year Mars entered the Dipper and struck its third star. On wuwu in the fourth month of the fifth Yonghe year Venus shone in daylight. On jiyou in the eighth month Mars re-entered the Grand Tenuity. The Dipper stands for the chief minister and the Yangzhou region; Mars trespassing there augurs campaigns and loss. In the sixth Yonghe year great general Liang Shang died. Rebels Zhou Sheng and Ma Mian of Jiujiang and Danyang then rose, stormed towns, and overran the countryside. The Liang family continued to dominate the celestial court as they did the earthly one.
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漢安二年正月己亥，太白昼見。 五月丁亥，辰星犯輿鬼。 六月乙丑，熒惑光芒犯鎮星。 七月甲申，太白昼見。 辰星犯輿鬼爲大喪。 熒惑犯鎮星爲大人忌。 明年八月，孝順帝崩，孝冲明年正月又崩。
On jihai in the first month of Han’an 2, Venus appeared in daylight. On dinghai in the fifth month Mercury crossed the Ghosts. On yichou in the sixth month the glare of Mars brushed Saturn. On jiashen in the seventh month Venus was again visible by day. Mercury afflicting the Ghosts presages a state bereavement. Mars crossing Saturn is an omen dreaded by those at the summit of power. The following eighth month Emperor Shun died; early in the new year his infant successor Chong followed him to the grave.
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孝質本初元年三月癸丑，熒惑入輿鬼； 四月辛巳，太白入輿鬼，皆爲大喪。 五月庚戌，太白犯熒惑，爲逆謀。 閏月一日，孝質帝爲梁冀所鴆，崩。
On guichou in the third month of Benchu 1 of Emperor Zhi Mars entered the Ghosts; in the fourth month, on xinsi, Venus entered the Ghosts as well—twin signs of a great funeral. On gengxu in the fifth month Venus crossed Mars, auguring treasonous design. On the first day of the intercalary month Liang Ji poisoned Emperor Zhi, and the boy emperor died.