1
志第十五五行三
Treatise Fifteen: The Five Elements, Part Three.
2
大水水变色大寒雹冬雷山鸣鱼孽蝗
This section treats great floods, discolored water, bitter cold, hail, thunder in winter, mountains that thunder, fish omens, and locust swarms.
3
《五行传》曰：「简宗庙，不祷祠，废祭祀，逆天时，则水不润下」谓水失其性而为灾也。 又曰：「听之不聪，是谓不谋。 厥咎急，厥罚恒寒，厥极贫。 时则有鼓妖，时则有鱼孽，时则有豕祸，时则有耳疴，时则有黑眚、黑祥，惟火沴水。」 鱼孽，刘歆传以为介虫之孽，谓蝗属也。
The "Treatise on the Five Elements" says: "When one slights the ancestral shrines, does not pray at the altars, abandons sacrifices, and goes against Heaven's seasons, then water fails to moisten downward"—meaning water loses its proper nature and becomes calamity. The same text adds that when the ruler "does not hear clearly," counsel goes unheard—that is the fault called "lack of planning. The omen-chain names rash governance as the moral fault, unrelenting cold as the matching scourge, and grinding poverty as its bitter end. Such ages bring freak drumming, fish omens, swine plagues, ear diseases, and black hauntings—while in the mutual overcoming of phases, fire is said to encroach on water." Liu Xin's school reads "fish prodigies" alongside omens among armored or shelled vermin—in practice, the locust plague.
4
和帝永元元年七月，郡国九大水，伤稼。 京房《易传》曰：「颛事有知，诛罚绝理，厥灾水。 其水也，雨杀人，陨霜，大风，天黄。 饥而不损，兹谓泰，厥水水杀人。 辟遏有德，兹谓狂，厥水水流杀人，已水则地生虫。 归狱不解，兹谓追非，厥水寒杀人。 追诛不解，兹谓不理，厥水五谷不收。 大败不解，兹谓皆阴，厥水流入国邑，陨霜杀谷。」 是时，和帝幼，窦太后摄政，其兄窦宪干事，及宪诸弟皆贵显，并作威虣虐，尝所怨恨，辄任客杀之。 其后窦氏诛灭。
Yongyuan 1 (89 CE), seventh month: nine provinces were inundated and the standing grain was ruined. Jing Fang's "Tradition of the Changes" says: "When one monopolizes affairs with cunning knowledge, and punishments and executions cut off what is right, the calamity is flood. The portents cluster: lethal downpours, untimely frost, howling gales, and a sallow, yellowed sky. When hunger stalks the land yet the court refuses relief—false "tranquility"—the waters rise until they carry off the people. To bar worthy men from office is the madness of policy; rivers then run wild and, when they withdraw, leave the fields worm-ridden. When the innocent languish in jail, the omen is killing cold carried on the flood. Endless vindictive killing is "disorder"; the harvest fails and the granaries stand empty. When a shattering military reverse is never redressed—total yin dominance—rivers invade the cities and late frost finishes the crops." The emperor was a child; Dou Xian and his kin ran the realm from behind the dowager's screen, swaggering in rank and murdering scores by private assassins whenever spite moved them. In time the whole Dou faction was swept away and put to the sword.
5
十二年六月，颍川大水，伤稼。 是时，和帝幸邓贵人，阴有欲废阴后之意，阴后亦怀恚怨。 一曰，先是恭怀皇后葬礼有阙，窦太后崩后，乃改殡梁后，葬西陵，征舅三人皆为列侯，位特进，赏赐累千金。
Yongyuan 12 (100 CE), sixth month: the Yingchuan plain went under and the harvest was lost. The court had turned to Lady Deng while Empress Yin, sensing she would be cast off, nursed a bitter grudge. Another gloss ties the flood to the shabby obsequies for Empress Gonghuai, the belated reinterment of Empress Liang at Xiling after Dou's death, and the sudden enrichment of three uncles at the highest noble rank.
6
殇帝延平元年五月，郡国三十七大水，伤稼。 董仲舒曰：「水者，阴气盛也。」 是时，帝在襁抱，邓太后专政。
Yanping 1 (106 CE), fifth month: thirty-seven provinces flooded and the fields were battered. Dong Zhongshu said: "Water means yin qi is abundant." The boy on the throne was still in arms; Empress Dowager Deng held every rein of power.
7
安帝永初元年冬十月辛酉，河南新城山水虣出，突坏民田，坏处泉水出，深三丈。 是时司空周章等以邓太后不立皇太子胜而立清河王子，故谋欲废置。 十一月，事觉，章等被诛。 是年郡国四十一水出，漂没民人。 《谶》曰：「水者，纯阴之精也。 阴气盛洋溢者，小人专制擅权，妒疾贤者，依公结私，侵乘君子，小人席胜，失怀得志，故涌水为灾。」
Yongchu 1 (107 CE), late autumn: a flash flood out of the Xincheng hills in Henan tore through farmland, and new springs welled ten yards deep in the scour. Zhou Zhang and his fellow ministers resented the dowager's choice of the Qinghe infant over Prince Sheng and conspired to reverse the succession. Eleventh month: the plot leaked; Zhou Zhang and his allies went to the block. That same year forty-one jurisdictions saw rivers overrun their banks and sweep away whole communities. The "Chen" prophecy says: "Water is the essence of pure yin. When yin swells past measure, mean men seize the levers of state, envy the good, trade on public trust for private gain, and trample their betters—so the rivers boil up in answer."
8
二年，大水。 三年，大水。 四年，大水。 五年，大水。 六年，河东池水变色，皆赤如血。 是时，邓太后犹专政。
Yongchu 2: another year of widespread flooding. Yongchu 3: floods again. Yongchu 4: the inundations continued. Yongchu 5: still the rivers would not stay their banks. Yongchu 6: the ponds of Hedong turned the color of blood. The dowager's regency still gripped the court.
9
延光三年，大水，流杀民人，伤苗稼。 是时安帝信江京、樊丰及阿母王圣等谗言，免太尉杨震，废皇太子。
Yanguang 3 (124 CE): catastrophic freshets drowned people and laid waste to the young grain. The emperor listened to his eunuchs and his wet nurse, cashiered Yang Zhen, and cast down the crown prince—classic signs of a tottering house.
10
质帝本初元年五月，海水溢乐安、北海，溺杀人、物。 是时帝幼，梁太后专政。
Benchu 1 (146 CE), fifth month: the Bohai tide surged into Le'an and Beihai, swallowing lives and property. Another child emperor; the Liang empress dowager held the regency.
11
桓帝建和二年七月，京师大水。 去年冬，梁冀枉杀故太尉李固、杜乔。 三年八月，京都大水。 是时，梁太后犹专政。
Jianhe 2 (148 CE), seventh month: Luoyang was awash. Only months after Liang Ji had framed and executed the two grand commandants Li Gu and Du Qiao. Jianhe 3, eighth month: the capital flooded again. The Liang dowager still pulled every string from behind the curtain.
12
永兴元年秋，河水溢，漂害人、物。 二年六月，彭城泗水增长，逆流。
Yongxing 1 (153 CE), autumn: the great river burst its dikes and carried off people and stores. Yongxing 2, sixth month: the Si swelled so violently at Pengcheng that it ran upstream.
13
永寿元年六月，雒水溢至津阳城门，漂流人、物。 是时梁皇后兄冀秉政，疾害忠直，威权震主。 后遂诛灭。
Yongshou 1 (155 CE), sixth month: the Luo climbed to the Jinyang gate, rafting debris and bodies through the streets. Liang Ji, the empress's brother, dominated the bureaucracy, hunted the outspoken, and terrified even the throne. He and his clan were extirpated not long after.
14
延熹八年四月，济北河水清。 九年四月，济阴、东郡、济北、平原河水清。 襄楷上言：「河者诸侯之象，清者阳明之征，岂独诸侯有规京都计邪？」 其明年，宫车晏驾，征解犊亭侯为汉嗣，即尊位，是为孝灵皇帝。
Yanxi 8 (165 CE), fourth month: the Ji-north reach of the Yellow River ran transparent—a freak omen. Next year's fourth month: the same uncanny clarity appeared along the Yellow River in four commanderies. Xiang Kai submitted a memorial: "The river is the image of the feudal lords; clarity is the sign of yang brightness—does it mean only that the lords are taking aim at the capital's plans?" The following year Huan died without issue; the court fetched Liu Hong, marquis of Jieduting, who ascended as Emperor Ling.
15
永康元年八月，六州大水，勃海海溢，没杀人。 是时，桓帝奢侈淫祀，其十一月崩，无嗣。
Yongkang 1 (167 CE), eighth month: six provinces drowned; the Bohai tide rolled inland and killed many. Huan had bankrupted the treasury on shrines and pleasures; he died childless that winter.
16
灵帝建宁四年二月，河水清。 五月，山水大出，漂坏庐舍五百余家。
Jianning 4 (171 CE), second month: again the Yellow River ran crystal-clear. Fifth month: mountain torrents smashed over five hundred dwellings.
17
熹平二年六月，东莱、北海海水溢出，漂没人物。 三年秋，雒水出。 四年夏，郡国三水，伤害秋稼。
Xiping 2 (173 CE), sixth month: the sea breached Donglai and Beihai, wiping out lives and goods. Xiping 3, autumn: the Luo left its channel. Xiping 4, summer: three jurisdictions flooded and the late-season grain was spoiled.
18
光和六年秋，金城河溢，水出二十余里。
Guanghe 6 (183 CE), autumn: the Jinzhou reach of the Yellow River spread miles beyond its banks.
19
中平五年，郡国六水大出。
Zhongping 5 (188 CE): six provinces were hit by major cloudbursts and river bursts.
20
献帝建安二年九月，汉水流，害民人。 是时，天下大乱。 十八年六月，大水。 二十四年八月，汉水溢流，害民人。
Jian'an 2 (197 CE), ninth month: the Han River rampaged through settled country. The realm was already torn by warlord strife. Jian'an 18, sixth month: another great inundation. Jian'an 24, eighth month: the Han rose again and drowned communities along its course.
21
庶征之恒寒。
Under the heading of miscellaneous portents comes unseasonable, enduring cold.
22
灵帝光和六年冬，大寒，北海、东莱、琅邪井中冰厚尺余。
Guanghe 6, winter: a killing frost gripped the coast—wells in Beihai, Donglai, and Langye froze over a foot thick.
23
献帝初平四年六月，寒风如冬时。
Chuping 4 (193 CE), sixth month: a blast swept the land as bitter as mid-winter.
24
和帝永元五年六月，郡国三雨雹，大如鸡子。 是时和帝用酷吏周纡为司隶校尉，刑诛深刻。
Yongyuan 5 (93 CE), sixth month: hailstones the size of eggs fell across three provinces. He had put the notorious Zhou Xu in charge of the capital corps; torture and summary execution became the norm.
25
安帝永初元年，雨雹。 二年，雨雹，大如鸡子。 三年，雨雹，大如雁子，伤稼。 刘向以为雹，阴胁阳也。 是时邓太后以阴专阳政。
Yongchu 1: hailstorms swept the north. Yongchu 2: egg-sized hail returned. Yongchu 3: hail as big as goose eggs beat down the standing grain. Liu Xiang read hail as yin force lashing out at yang. A woman regent, in Liu Xiang's cosmology, was yin ruling in yang's place.
26
元初四年六月戊辰，郡国三雨雹，大如杅杯及鸡子，杀六畜。
Yuanchu 4 (117 CE), sixth month, wuchen: three provinces were pelted with hail between cup- and egg-size; herds died in the fields.
27
延光元年四月，郡国二十一雨雹，大如鸡子，伤稼。 是时安帝信谗，无辜死者多。 三年，雨雹，大如鸡子。
Yanguang 1 (122 CE), fourth month: twenty-one jurisdictions caught egg-sized hail that shredded the crops. The emperor again lent his ear to informers; innocents perished wholesale. Yanguang 3: another season of egg-sized hail.
28
桓帝延熹四年五月己卯，京都雨雹，大如鸡子。 是时，桓帝诛杀过差，又宠小人。 七年五月己丑，京都雨雹。 是时，皇后邓氏僭侈，骄恣专幸。 明年废，以忧死，其家皆诛。
Yanxi 4 (161 CE), fifth month, jimao: Luoyang was bombarded with hail as large as eggs. Huan was slaughtering beyond measure while showering favor on sycophants. Yanxi 7 (164 CE), fifth month, jichou: the capital hailstorm returned. Empress Deng had grown haughty, extravagant, and jealous of every rival for the emperor's eye. The following year she was cast down, broken-hearted, and her kin extirpated.
29
灵帝建宁二年四月，雨雹。 四年五月，河东雨雹。
Jianning 2 (169 CE), fourth month: hail. Jianning 4, fifth month: Hedong was hail-struck.
30
光和四年六月，雨雹，大如鸡子。 是时，常侍、黄门用权。
Guanghe 4 (181 CE), sixth month: egg-sized hail again. The palace eunuchs held the real authority.
31
中平二年四月庚戌，雨雹，伤稼。
Zhongping 2 (185 CE), fourth month, gengxu: hail ruined the spring planting.
32
献帝初平四年六月，右扶风雹如斗。
Chuping 4, sixth month: west of the capital, hail fell in lumps the size of peck measures.
33
和帝元兴元年冬十一月壬午，郡国四冬雷。 是时皇子数不遂，皆隐之民间。 是岁，宫车晏驾，殇帝生百余日，立以为君； 帝兄有疾，封为平原王，卒，皆夭无嗣。
Yuanxing 1 (105 CE), eleventh month, renwu: thunder rolled in winter across four provinces—an uncanny sound. Several imperial infants had died in secret; the court hid the losses from the realm. When He died that year the throne passed to the hundred-day-old Shang; the sick elder prince of Pingyuan followed him to the grave—He's line seemed cursed to die young and heirless.
34
殇帝延平元年九月乙亥，陈留雷，有石陨地四。
Yanping 1, ninth month, yihai: thunder over Chenliu shook four stones from the sky.
35
安帝永初六年十月丙戌，郡六冬雷。 七年十月戊子，郡国三冬雷。
Yongchu 6 (112 CE), tenth month, bingxu: winter thunder in six commanderies. Yongchu 7, tenth month, wuzi: three more provinces heard thunder in the dead of winter.
36
元初元年十月癸巳，郡国三冬雷。 三年十月辛亥，汝南、乐浪冬雷。 四年十月辛酉，郡国五冬雷。 六年十月丙子，郡国五冬雷。
Yuanchu 1 (114 CE), tenth month, guisi: triple winter thunder omen. Yuanchu 3, tenth month, xinhai: Ru'nan and Lelang echoed with winter peals. Yuanchu 4, tenth month, xinyou: five jurisdictions lit up with off-season thunder. Yuanchu 6 (119 CE), tenth month, bingzi: winter thunder rolled across five provinces.
37
永宁元年十月，郡国七冬雷。
Yongning 1 (120 CE), tenth month: seven jurisdictions heard thunder out of season.
38
建光元年十月，郡国七冬雷。
Jianguang 1 (121 CE), tenth month: the same omen struck seven provinces again.
39
延光四年，郡国十九冬雷。 是时，太后摄政，上无所与。 太后既崩，阿母王圣及皇后兄阎显兄弟更秉威权，上遂不亲万机，从容宽仁任臣下。
Yanguang 4 (125 CE): nineteen commanderies reported winter thunder—a widespread sign. The dowager regent ran every decision; the sovereign had no voice in affairs. When she died, the emperor's wet nurse Wang Sheng and Empress Yan's brothers seized the reins; the ruler withdrew from the daily grind of government, indulged a reputation for mildness, and left policy to his officials.
40
桓帝建和三年六月乙卯，雷震宪陵寝屋。 先是梁太后听兄冀枉杀李固、杜乔。
Jianhe 3 (149 CE), sixth month, yimao: lightning shattered the roof of the tomb hall at Emperor Zhang's Xianling. The bolt answered Liang Ji's earlier murder of Grand Commandants Li Gu and Du Qiao at his sister's behest.
41
灵帝熹平六年冬十月，东莱冬雷。
Xiping 6 (177 CE), winter: thunder rolled over Donglai though snow should have sealed the sky.
42
中平四年十二月晦，雨水，大雷电。 雹。
Zhongping 4 (187 CE), month's end: warm rain fell with deafening thunder—freak weather for deep winter. Hail followed—a further portent in the same season.
43
献帝初平三年五月丙申，无云而雷。 四年五月癸酉，无云而雷。
Chuping 3 (192 CE), fifth month, bingshen: thunder pealed from a clear sky. Chuping 4, fifth month, guiyou: again thunder without a cloud in sight.
44
建安七八年中，长沙醴陵县有大山，常大鸣如牛呴声，积数年。 后豫章贼攻没醴陵县，杀略吏民。
Between Jian'an 7 and 8 (202–203 CE) a peak above Liling in Changsha lowed like a bull for years on end. Then bandits from Yuzhang stormed Liling, slaughtering and looting the county.
45
灵帝熹平二年，东莱海出大鱼二枚，长八九丈，高二丈余。 明年，中山王暢、任城王博并薨。
Xiping 2 (173 CE): two leviathans surfaced off Donglai—ninety feet long and twenty feet out of the water. The following year two imperial princes, Chang of Zhongshan and Bo of Rencheng, died the same year.
46
和帝永元四年，蝗。 八年五月，河内、陈留蝗。 九月，京都蝗。 九年，蝗从夏至秋。 先是，西羌数反，遣将军将北军五校征之。
Yongyuan 4 (92 CE): locust clouds darkened the fields. Yongyuan 8, fifth month: the pests devoured Henei and Chenliu. Ninth month: the swarm reached Luoyang itself. Yongyuan 9: the infestation lasted from midsummer into fall. For years the Western Qiang had risen in revolt, drawing expedition after expedition from the capital legions.
47
安帝永初四年夏，蝗。 是时，西羌寇乱，军众征距，连十余年。 五年夏，九州蝗。 六年三月，去蝗处复蝗子生。 七年夏，蝗。 元初元年夏，郡国五蝗。 二年夏，郡国二十蝗。
Yongchu 4 (110 CE), summer: locusts again. The Qiang war had dragged on for over a decade of campaigning. Yongchu 5, summer: the plague of locusts spread across all nine provinces. Yongchu 6, third month: the stripped fields hatched a second brood of hoppers. Yongchu 7, summer: another wave of locusts. Yuanchu 1 (114 CE), summer: five commanderies were stripped bare. Yuanchu 2, summer: twenty jurisdictions reported swarms.
48
延光元年六月，郡国蝗。
Yanguang 1 (122 CE), sixth month: a general locust plague.
49
顺帝永建五年，郡国十二蝗。 是时，鲜卑寇朔方，用众征之。
Yongjian 5 (130 CE): twelve provinces suffered locusts. The Xianbei were probing Shuofang; the court sent a punitive host north.
50
永和元年秋七月。 偃师蝗。 去年冬，乌桓寇沙南，用众征之。
Yonghe 1 (136 CE), late summer heading into autumn—the seventh month. Locusts fell on Yanshi east of the capital. That followed a winter campaign against Wuhuan incursions south of the desert.
51
桓帝永兴元年七月，郡国三十二蝗。 是时，梁冀秉政无谋宪，苟贪权作虐。 二年六月，京都蝗。
Yongxing 1 (153 CE), seventh month: thirty-two commanderies writhed under locusts. Liang Ji ruled with no respect for law or counsel—only a cruel grip on power. Yongxing 2, sixth month: the capital itself was swarmed.
52
永寿三年六月，京都蝗。
Yongshou 3 (157 CE), sixth month: Luoyang again under locusts.
53
延熹元年五月，京都蝗。
Yanxi 1 (158 CE), fifth month: another locust year in the capital.
54
灵帝熹平六年夏，七州蝗。 先是，鲜卑前后三十余犯塞。 是岁，护乌桓校尉夏育、破鲜卑中郎将田晏、使匈奴中郎将臧旻将南单于以下，三道并出讨鲜卑。 大司农经用不足，殷敛郡国，以给军粮。 三将无功，还者少半。
Xiping 6 (177 CE), summer: seven provinces were eaten bare. The Xianbei had raided the passes over thirty times running. The court launched a three-pronged expedition—Xia Yu, Tian Yan, and Zang Min at the head of Wuhuan auxiliaries, Southern Xiongnu allies, and frontier garrisons—to crush the Xianbei. The treasury ran dry; ministers squeezed every commandery for grain to feed the armies. The campaign failed; fewer than half the men came back.
55
献帝兴平元年夏，大蝗。 是时，天下大乱。
Xingping 1 (194 CE), summer: locusts blotted out the sky. The empire was already torn by warlords and famine.
56
建安二年五月，蝗。
Jian'an 2 (197 CE), fifth month: the hoppers returned.