1
言之不從，是謂不乂
When commands find no compliance, the canon calls it a failure of proper order.
2
《傳》曰：「言之不從，是謂不乂，厥咎僭，厥罰恆陽，厥極憂。 時則有詩妖，時則有介蟲之孽，時則有犬禍，時則有口舌之痾，時則有白眚白祥。 惟木沴金。」 言之不從，從，順也。 是謂不乂，乂，治也。 孔子曰：「君子居其室，出其言不善，則千里之外違之，況其邇者乎！」 《詩》曰：「如蜩如螗，如沸如羹。」 言上號令不順人心，虛譁憒亂，則不能治海內。 失在過差，故其咎僭差也。 刑罰妄加，群陰不附，則陽氣勝，故其罰常陽也。 旱傷百穀，則有寇難，上下俱憂，故其極憂也。 君炕陽而暴虐，臣畏刑而箝口，則怨謗之氣發於歌謠，故有詩妖。 介蟲孽者，謂小蟲有甲飛揚之類，陽氣所生也，於《春秋》為螽，今謂之蝗，皆其類也。 于《易》，《兌》為口，犬以吠守而不可信，言氣毀，故有犬禍。 一曰，旱歲犬多狂死及為怪，亦是也。 及人，則多病口喉咳嗽者，故有口舌痾。 金色白，故有白眚白祥。 凡言傷者，病金氣； 金氣病，則木沴之。 其極憂者，順之，其福曰康寧。 劉歆《言傳》曰時則有毛蟲之孽。 說以為于天文西方參為獸星，故為毛蟲。
The tradition reads: when the ruler's word is not heeded, that is "disorder of governance"; the blame falls on arrogance, the chastisement takes the form of unrelenting drought, and the worst reach is widespread anxiety. At such times there are omens in songs; at such times calamities from shelled insects; at such times dog disasters; at such times afflictions of mouth and tongue; at such times white ill-omens and white auspicious signs. Only Wood harms Metal." The gloss defines "not following" as a refusal to go along with what was commanded. They label it a breakdown of rule itself, for the graph glossed as "to govern" is precisely to set the realm to rights. Confucius said: "The gentleman sits in his chamber; if the words he utters are not good, they are rejected a thousand li away — how much more by those nearby!" The Book of Songs says: "Like cicadas, like cicadas; like boiling, like a stew." The point is that edicts which cut against the people produce empty noise and panic until the land can no longer be ruled. The misstep is overreach and skewed judgment, which the text names as usurpation and disorder. Wanton penalties drive loyal ministers away, yang energy runs unchecked, and the heaven-sent scourge appears as relentless drought and searing heat. Crops wither, invaders press in, court and countryside share dread — that is the nadir called "anxiety." A brutal sovereign and a silenced bureaucracy turn popular ballads into vessels of grievance, which is what the canon means by "song omens." Armored vermin — winged pests bred of excess yang — match the spring-and-autumn record of locust plagues. The hexagram Dui governs utterance; dogs figure betrayal masquerading as vigilance, so corrupt words invite canine portents. Another gloss counts rabid dogs and dog-shaped freaks in parched seasons as the same sign. Among men it shows as oral and throat diseases and hacking coughs. Because metal correlates with white, pale anomalies in heaven and earth follow. Each mention of "harm" targets the metal element in the cosmic scheme. A sick metal phase draws the countering force of wood. Redress that worst anxiety with obedience, and the promised fortune is tranquility and well-being. Liu Xin adds omens from furry pests to the catalogue. Commentators link the omen to the western mansion Shen, the astral seat of beasts.
3
魏齊王嘉平初，東郡有訛言，云白馬河出妖馬，夜過官牧邊鳴呼，眾馬皆應，明日見其跡，大如斛，行數里，還入河。 楚王彪本封白馬，兗州刺史令狐愚以彪有智勇，及聞此言，遂與王淩謀共立之。 事泄，淩、愚被誅，彪賜死。 此言不從之罰也。 《詩》云：「人之訛言，甯莫之懲。」
In Cao Fang's Jiaping years Dongjun buzzed with talk of a monstrous horse from the White Horse River that neighed along the government stud by night and left tracks like vats before vanishing upstream. Cao Biao, once prince at Baima, seemed to Linghu Yu a bold candidate for the throne, so the inspector joined Wang Ling's plot to enthrone him. Discovery brought down Wang Ling and Linghu Yu, and Cao Biao was forced to kill himself. It illustrates heaven's rebuke when men ignore what prudence should have told them. The Book of Songs says: "Because of people's false rumors — will no one chastise them?"
4
蜀劉禪嗣位，譙周曰：「先主諱備，其訓具也，後主諱禪，其訓授也。 若言劉已具矣，當授與人，甚于晉穆侯、漢靈帝命子之祥也。」 蜀果亡，此言之不從也。 劉備卒，劉禪即位，未葬，亦未逾月，而改元為建興，此言之不從也。 禮，國君即位逾年而後改元者，緣臣子之心不忍一年而有二君。 今可謂亟而不知禮義矣。 後遂降焉。
In Shu, when Liu Shan succeeded, Qiao Zhou said: "The late founder's taboo name was Bei, glossed 'complete'; the reigning lord's taboo name is Shan, glossed 'to hand over. If it means the Liu house was already "complete" and ought to be "handed over" to another, that is a graver omen than Jin Marquis Mu's naming of his heir or Han Emperor Ling's choice of heir." Shu fell soon after, proving the saying about unruly speech. Liu Shan declared a new reign title while his father still lay unburied and the month unspent — another breach of what ritual language allowed. Propriety defers the new era name so ministers need not acknowledge two sovereign anniversaries within a single cycle. His haste showed contempt for the decencies that bind a crown prince. In the end he capitulated to Wei.
5
魏明帝太和中，姜維歸蜀，失其母。 魏人使其母手書呼維令反，並送當歸以譬之。 維報書曰：「良田百頃，不計一畝，但見遠志，無有當歸。」 維卒不免。
While Ming-di of Wei reigned, Jiang Wei defected to Shu and lost touch with his mother. Wei officials made her pen an appeal for his return and boxed the herb angelica as a pun on "coming home." Jiang Wei replied in writing: "Of a hundred qing of good fields I count not one mu — I only see 'far ambition' (a herb name); there is no 'return-home' (angelica)." No clever wordplay could spare him the doom that followed.
6
景初元年，有司奏，帝為烈祖，與太祖、高祖並為不毀之廟，從之。 案宗廟之制，祖宗之號，皆身沒名成乃正其禮。 故雖功赫天壤，德邁前王，未有豫定之典。 此蓋言之不從失之甚者也。 後二年而宮車晏駕，於是統微政逸。
Officials prematurely asked to enshrine the living sovereign as "Mighty Ancestor" beside the dynasty's founding shrines, and the court assented. Temple law defers a deified style until the ruler is dead and his renown fixed. No greatness, however cosmic, justifies crowning the honor while the man still breathes. It stands among the clearest cases where rhetoric outran ritual propriety. Within two years Ming-di was dead; thereafter authority thinned and policy slid into slackness.
7
吳孫休時，烏程人有得困病，及差，能以響言者，言于此而聞於彼。 自其所聽之，不覺其聲之大也。 自遠聽之，如人對言，不覺聲之自遠來也。 聲之所往，隨其所向，遠者所過十數里。 其鄰人有責息于外，歷年不還，乃假之使為責讓，懼以禍福。 負物者以為鬼神，即傎倒畀之，其人亦不自知所以然也。 言不從之咎也。
During Sun Xiu's reign a Wucheng convalescent acquired ventriloquy that carried his voice miles from his lips. Beside him it sounded no louder than ordinary speech. From afar it seemed like conversation at arm's length, with no hint of distant projection. He could steer the voice through a dozen leagues or more. A creditor used him to haunt a defaulter abroad with ghostly threats of blessing or woe. The frightened borrower paid in full at once, while the wonder-worker himself hardly grasped the trick. The historians filed it under portents of distorted speech.
8
魏時起安世殿，武帝后居之。 安世，武帝字也。 武帝每延群臣，多說平生常事，未嘗及經國遠圖。 此言之不從也。 何曾謂子遵曰：「國家無貽厥之謀，及身而已，後嗣其殆乎！ 此子孫之憂也。」 自永熙後王室漸亂，永嘉中天下大壞，及何綏以非辜被殺，皆如曾言。
Wei builders raised Anshi Hall, later occupied by Sima Yan's empress. The hall bore Sima Yan's childhood name, Anshi. At court he dwelt on small talk, never on how to steer the empire. It marked another omen of rulers who would not voice the nation's business. He Ceng said to his son Zun: "The state has no plan to hand down its legacy; it will exhaust itself in this generation — will not posterity be endangered? That is posterity's worry." From Yongxi onward the clan unraveled; Yongjia's catastrophe and He Sui's unjust death fulfilled his prophecy.
9
趙王倫廢惠帝于金墉城，改號金墉城為永安宮。 帝尋復位而倫誅。
Sima Lun cast Emperor Hui into Jinyong and cynically rebranded the prison Yong'an. Hui returned; Lun went to the block.
10
惠帝永興元年，詔廢太子覃還為清河王，立成都王潁為皇太弟，猶加侍中、大都督，領丞相，備九錫，封二十郡，如魏王故事。 案周禮傳國以胤不以勳，故雖公旦之聖不易成王之嗣，所以遠絕覬覦，永一宗祧。 後代遵履，改之則亂。 今擬非其實，僭差已甚。 且既為國嗣，則不應復開封土，兼領庶職。 此言之不從，進退乖爽，故帝既播越，穎亦不終，是其咎僭也。 後猶不悟，又立懷帝為皇太弟。 懷終流弑，不永厥祚，又其應也。 語曰，「變古易常，不亂則亡」，此之謂乎。
Yongxing opened with a frantic rearrangement: Tan demoted to Qinghe, Ying named imperial heir while hoarding every title Cao Cao once held. Zhou law crowns the legitimate son, not the ablest man, which is why the Duke of Zhou never supplanted King Cheng — it blocks usurpation. Break that pattern, and turmoil follows. The court's scheme was a fiction and staggeringly presumptuous. An heir ought not also command twenty commanderies and a stack of ministries. When speech and policy twist so wildly, the sovereign flees and the favorite prince dies — classic "presumption" blame. Still unrepentant, they repeated the error with Emperor Huai. Huai perished as a fugitive pretender — another proof of the omen. The saying goes: "Change the archaic and alter the constant — without chaos comes ruin" — was it not this?
11
元帝永昌二年，大將軍王敦下據姑孰。 百姓訛言行蟲病，食人大孔，數日入腹，入腹則死； 療之有方，當得白犬膽以為藥。 自淮泗遂及京都，數日之間，百姓驚擾，人人皆自云已得蟲病。 又云，始在外時，當燒鐵以灼之。 於是翕然，被燒灼者十七八矣。 而白犬暴貴，至相請奪，其價十倍。 或有自云能行燒鐵灼者，賃灼百姓，日得五六萬，憊而後已。 四五日漸靜。 說曰：「夫裸蟲人類，而人為之主。 今云蟲食人，言本同臭類而相殘賊也。 自下而上，明其逆也。 必入腹者，言害由中不由外也。 犬有守衛之性，白者金色，而膽，用武之主也。 帝王之運，王霸會於戌。 戌主用兵，金者晉行，火燒鐵以療疾者，言必去其類而來火與金合德，共除蟲害也。」 案中興之際，大將軍本以腹心受伊呂之任，而元帝末年，遂攻京邑，明帝諒闇，又有異謀，是以下逆上，腹心內爛也。 及錢鳳、沈充等逆兵四合，而為王師所挫，逾月而不能濟水，北中郎劉遐及淮陵內史蘇峻率淮泗之眾以救朝廷，故其謠言首作於淮泗也。 朝廷卒以弱制強，罪人授首，是用白犬膽可救之效也。
During Yuan-di's Yongchang second year Wang Dun occupied Gushu. A panic spread of parasites burrowing through flesh and finishing their victim from within. Charlatans prescribed gall from a white dog as the cure. The scare raced from the Huai-Si lowlands to Luoyang until every household insisted worms gnawed at them. The remedy was to brand oneself with red-hot iron before the creatures reached the gut. In the frenzy seven or eight victims in ten scarred themselves. White hounds soared in value as families outbid one another. Enterprising torturers rented their branding services for tens of thousands of cash a day. Within a week the hysteria ebbed. Exegesis states: "Hairless creatures are the human class, yet humans are their master. Now it says worms eat humans — it means those of the same odor-class injuring one another. From below to above shows inversion. That it must enter the belly means harm comes from within, not without. Dogs have guarding nature; white is the color of metal; gall is the lord of martial application. The destiny of emperors and kings — hegemonic convergence meets at the branch xu. Xu governs the use of arms; metal is Jin's phase; fire burning iron to treat disease means casting out the alien kind so fire and metal join virtues and together remove the worm scourge." At the Restoration, the grand general had been entrusted as an intimate minister in the manner of Yi Yin and Lü Wang, yet in Emperor Yuan's final years he attacked the capital, and while Emperor Ming was in mourning he again plotted rebellion. This was a case of inferiors turning against superiors, with the dynasty's own heart rotting from within. Qian Feng's ring around the capital failed; Su Jun and Liu Xia marched upriver from Huai-Si to lift the siege — matching where the rumor began. The throne survived by lesser force, heads rolled among rebels — the grotesque "cure" had served as metaphor.
12
海西公時，庾晞四五年中喜為輓歌，自搖大鈴為唱，使左右齊和。 又宴會輒令倡妓作新安人歌舞離別之辭，其聲悲切。 時人怪之，後亦果敗。
Haixi's cousin Yu Xi spent years croaking dirges and swinging a temple bell for accompaniment. His feasts featured courtesans wailing Xin'an leave-taking airs. Onlookers shuddered; soon he fell as predicted.
13
太元中，小兒以兩鐵相打於土中，名曰鬥族。 後王國寶、王孝伯一姓之中自相攻擊。
Taiyuan children clashed iron stakes in the mud in a game they named dòuzú. Soon two Wangs of one lineage tore the clan apart in open war.
14
桓玄初改年為大亨，遐邇歡言曰「二月了」，故義謀以仲春發也。 玄篡立，又改年為建始，以與趙王倫同，又易為永始，永始復是王莽受封之年也。 始徙司馬道子于安成。 安帝遜位，出永安宮，封為平固王，琅邪王德文為石陽公，並使住尋陽城。 識者皆以為言不從之妖僭也。
Huan Xuan first changed the era to Daheng; far and near gleefully said "the second month is over," therefore the loyal plot rose in mid-spring. His usurpation recycled Sima Lun's Jianshi, then Wang Mang's Yongshi — compounding ill-omened names. Sima Daozi was packed off to Ancheng to clear the stage. An-di abdicated from Yong'an, won a hollow title at Pinggu, while Langya Wang Dewen became duke of Shiyang — both exiled to Xunyang. Every augur read the clumsy reign titles as arrogance and deceitful speech.
15
武帝初，何曾薄太官御膳，自取私食，子劭又過之，而王愷又過劭。 王愷、羊琇之儔，盛致聲色，窮珍極麗。 至元康中，誇恣成俗，轉相高尚，石崇之侈，遂兼王、何，而儷人主矣。 崇既誅死，天下尋亦淪喪。 僭逾之咎也。
He Zeng snubbed the palace chefs for home cooking; He Shao and Wang Kai escalated the indulgence. Wang Kai and Yang Xiu bankrolled musicians, concubines, and luxuries without limit. Under Yuankang, ostentation turned into fashion until Shi Chong outspent even Wang Kai and He Zeng, shadowing the throne itself. Shi Chong's death presaged the empire's swift collapse. The historians chalked it up to rank-breaking excess.
16
庶征恆陽，劉向以為《春秋》大旱也。 其夏旱，雩，《禮》謂之大雩。 不傷二穀謂之不雨。 京房《易傳》曰：「欲德不用茲謂張，厥災荒，旱也。 其旱陰雲不雨，變而赤，因四際。 師出過時茲謂廣，其旱不生。 上下皆蔽茲謂隔，其旱天赤三月，時有雹殺飛禽。 上緣求妃茲謂僭，其旱三月大溫亡雲。 君高臺府茲謂犯陰侵陽，其旱萬物根死，數有火災。 庶位逾節茲為僭，其旱澤物枯，為火所傷。」
The subsection on recurring drought follows Liu Xiang's reading of the Annals. Summer brought bone-dry fields and the court mounted the grand rain prayer called da yu. Canonists distinguished total failure from a drought that spared both staple crops. Jing Fang's Treatise on the Changes says: "Desiring virtue but not using it is called 'arrogance'; its calamity is wasteland — drought. Its drought: dark clouds but no rain; they turn red and spread along the four borders. An army that marches past its season is called "overreach"; its drought — nothing will grow. When high and low are both blocked it is called "partition"; its drought — the heavens burn red three months, and at times hail kills flying birds. When the ruler improperly seeks concubines it is called "presumption"; its drought — three months of fierce heat without a cloud. When the ruler raises high terraces and halls it is called "yin encroaching on yang"; its drought — the roots of the myriad things die and fires break out repeatedly. When common officers leap their stations it is "presumption"; its drought — marsh things wither and are injured by fire."
17
魏明帝太和二年五月，大旱。 元年以来崇廣宮府之應也。 又，是春宣帝南擒孟達，置二郡，張郃西破諸葛亮，斃馬謖。 亢陽自大，又其應也。
Wei's Ming-di recorded a crushing drought in Taihe 2's fifth month. Readers linked it to the endless new halls raised since Taihe began. The same season saw Sima Yi seize Meng Da, Zhang He rout Zhuge Liang, and Ma Su die for his defeat. Another gloss: unchecked yang pride in the camp mirrored the weather.
18
太和五年三月，自去冬十月至此月不雨。 辛巳，大雩。
Not a drop had fallen from midwinter through the third lunar month. The court staged the grand supplication on the day xin-si.
19
齊王正始元年二月，自去冬十二月至此月不雨。 去歲正月，明帝崩。 二月，曹爽白嗣主，轉宣帝為太傅，外示尊崇，內實欲令事先由已。 是時宣帝功蓋魏朝，欲德不用之應也。
Cao Fang's Zhengshi opening saw another rainless span from deep winter into early spring. Ming-di had fallen the previous new year. Cao Shuang "promoted" Sima Yi to figurehead tutor while hoarding real power. Sima Yi's stature eclipsed the court — classic "latent virtue" portents.
20
高貴鄉公甘露三年正月，自去秋至此月旱。 是時文帝圍諸葛誕，眾出過時之應也。 初，壽春秋夏常雨淹城，而此旱逾年，城陷，乃大雨。 咸以誕為天亡。
From autumn through the new year Cao Mao's reign saw no relief from drought. The annalist tied it to Sima Zhao's long siege of Zhuge Dan — armies overstaying their term. Shouchun had once drowned in seasonal rains; this time the siege starved it a year until walls fell and storms returned. Observers called Zhuge Dan's fall heaven's verdict.
21
吳孫亮五鳳二年，大旱，百姓饑。 是歲征役煩興，軍士怨叛。 此亢陽自大，勞役失眾之罰也。 其役彌歲，故旱亦竟年。
Sun Liang's Wufeng 2 brought famine-level drought to Wu. Endless drafts and labor gangs turned the army mutinous. The moralists blamed swaggering policy and exhausted commoners. Because corvée ran twelve months, the drought did too.
22
孫皓寶鼎元年，春夏旱。 時孫皓遷都武昌，勞役動眾之應也。
Sun Hao's Baoding years opened with a spring-and-summer dry spell. The move to Wuchang supplied the human overwork to match the omen.
23
武帝泰始七年五月閏月旱，大雩。 泰始八年五月，旱。 是時帝納荀勖邪說，留賈充不復西鎮，而任愷漸疏，上下皆蔽之應也。 及李憙、魯芝、李胤等並在散職，近厥德不用之謂也。
Sima Yan's Taihe 7 intercalary fifth month brought another da yu season. the eighth year of Taishi's fifth month stayed rainless. Bad faith at court — Xun Xu's whispering, Jia Chong's stalled western posting, Ren Kai sidelined — mirrored blocked communication. Worthy men languished in sinecures while mediocrities ran policy.
24
九年，自正月旱，至於六月，祈宗廟社稷山川。 癸未，雨。 十年四月，旱。 去年秋冬，采擇卿校諸葛沖等女。 是春，五十餘人入殿簡選。 又取小將吏女數十人，母子號哭于宮中，聲聞于外，行人悲酸。 是殆積陰生陽，上緣求妃之應也。
A six-month drought forced rites at every shrine from ancestors to rivers. Rain finally came on gui-wei. Taikang 10's fourth month dried up again. The palace had seized ministerial daughters the previous winter. Fifty-odd girls were marched into the selection hall that spring. More girls torn from low-ranking families set the inner palace echoing with grief. Moralists read it as yin-turned-yang violence from predatory harem raids.
25
咸寧二年五月旱，大雩。 至六月，乃澍雨。
Xianning 2's fifth month summoned another grand rain prayer. Sudden downpours arrived in the sixth month.
26
太康二年旱，自去冬旱至此春。 太康三年四月旱，乙酉詔司空齊王攸與尚書、廷尉、河南尹錄訊系囚，事從蠲宥。
Taikang 2's drought stretched from the prior winter deep into spring. Taikang 3's dry fourth month forced an amnesty review led by Sima You.
27
五年六月，旱。 此年正月天陰，解而復合。 劉毅上疏曰：「必有阿黨之臣奸以事君者，當誅而不赦也。」 帝不答。 是時荀勖、馮紞僭作威福，亂朝尤甚。
Taikang 5's sixth month stayed parched. Ominous skies flickered between clear and leaden. Liu Yi submitted a memorial saying: "There must be partisan ministers who deceive the ruler — they should be executed without pardon." The throne stayed silent. Xun Xu and Feng Dan terrorized the bureaucracy unchecked.
28
六年三月，青、梁、幽、冀郡國旱。 六月，濟陰、武陵旱，傷麥。 七年夏，郡國十三大旱。 八年四月，冀州旱。 九年夏，郡國三十三旱，扶風、始平、京兆、安定旱，傷麥。 十年二月，旱。
Taikang 6's third month scorched four northern provinces. Late summer drought hit Jiyin and Wuling, ruining the wheat. Thirteen jurisdictions baked in Taikang 7's summer. Ji Province dried up in the fourth month of year eight. Taikang 9 saw thirty-three regions wither, including the capital districts. Even Taikang 10 opened with drought.
29
太熙元年二月，旱。 自太康已後，雖正人滿朝，不被親仗，而賈充、荀勖、楊駿、馮紞等迭居要重，所以無年不旱者，欲德不用，上下皆蔽，庶位逾節之罰也。
Taixi 1's second month brought yet another dry spell. The litany blames perennial drought on Sima Yan's trust in Jia, Xun, Yang, and Feng while excluding honest ministers.
30
惠帝元康七年七月，秦、雍二州大旱，疾疫，關中饑，米斛萬錢。 因此氐羌反叛，雍州刺史解系敗績。 而饑疫薦臻，戎晉並困，朝廷不能振，詔聽相賣鬻。 其九月，郡國五旱。
Yuankang 7's seventh month left Guanzhong buying grain at ten thousand cash a hu. Di and Qiang uprisings followed, crushing Inspector Jie Xi. Starvation and plague broke both barbarian and Chinese communities until the throne legalized selling kin to survive. Five more jurisdictions reported drought that autumn.
31
永甯元年，自夏及秋，青、徐、幽、并四州旱。 十二月，又郡國十二旱。 是年春，三王討趙王倫，六旬之中數十戰，死者十餘萬人。
Yongning 1 scorched four provinces from midsummer into fall. Winter brought a dozen more drought reports. The war on Sima Lun killed over a hundred thousand in two months.
32
懷帝永嘉三年五月，大旱，襄平縣梁水淡池竭，河、洛、江、漢皆可涉。 是年三月，司馬越歸京都，遣兵入宮，收中書令繆播等九人殺之，皆僭逾之罰也。 又四方諸侯多懷無君之心，劉元海、石勒、王彌、李雄之徒賊害百姓，流血成泥，又其應也。 五年，自去冬旱至此春。 去歲十一月，司馬越以行台自隨，斥黜宮衛，無君臣之節。
Yongjia 3 shriveled rivers until fords appeared on the great streams. Sima Yue's palace coup and execution of Miu Bo's circle exemplified overreach. Warlords turned the heartland to slaughter — the drought's moral echo. Yongjia 5 continued the dry winter into spring. Sima Yue's mobile headquarters and dismissal of household guards broke every bond of ceremony.
33
元帝建武元年六月，揚州旱。 去年十二月，淳于伯冤死，其年即旱，而太興元年六月又旱。 干寶曰「殺淳于伯之後旱三年」是也。 刑罰妄加，群陰不附，則陽氣勝之罰也。
Jianwu 1's sixth month parched the lower Yangzi. The unjust execution of Chunyu Bo prefaced back-to-back drought years. Gan Bao said "after killing Chunyu Bo drought three years" — that is correct. False justice, alienated ministers, and drought march together.
34
元帝太興四年五月，旱。 是時王敦陵僭已著。
Taixing 4's fifth month stayed dry. Wang Dun's bullying had become unmistakable.
35
永昌元年夏，大旱。 是年三月，王敦有石頭之變，二宮陵辱，大臣誅死，僭逾無上，故旱尤甚也。 其閏十一月，京都大旱，川穀並竭。
Yongchang 1's summer seared the capital region. Wang Dun's Shitou mutiny, double-palace outrage, and ministerial bloodshed deepened the drought. By leap-month winter even the capital's streams had failed.
36
明帝太寧三年，自春不雨，至於六月。
Ming-di's Taining 3 saw not a shower from spring into summer.
37
成帝咸和元年，夏秋旱。 是時庾太后臨朝稱制，言不從而僭逾之罰也。
Cheng-di's Xianhe opening scorched summer and fall. Yu Wenjun's regency supplied the political gloss for the weather.
38
咸和二年夏，旱。 咸和五年五月，大旱。 咸和六年四月，大旱。 咸和八年秋七月，旱。 咸和九年，自四月不雨，至於八月。
Xianhe 2's summer stayed rainless. Xianhe 5's fifth month was a major drought. Xianhe 6's fourth month repeated the calamity. Late summer of Xianhe 8 brought another dry spell. Xianhe 9 saw four rainless months midyear.
39
咸康元年六月，旱。 是時成帝沖弱，未親萬機，內外之政，決之將相。 此僭逾之罰，連歲旱也。 至四年，王導固讓太傅，復子明辟。 是後不旱，殆其應也。 時天下普旱，會稽、余姚特甚，米斗直五百，人有相鬻者。 咸康二年三月，旱。 咸康三年六月，旱。 時王導以天下新定，務在遵養，不任刑罰，遂盜賊公行，頻五年亢旱，亦舒綬之應也。
Xiankang 1 opened with a June drought. The boy emperor left statecraft to generals and ministers. Yearly drought was the fine for usurped authority. In the fourth year Wang Dao refused the grand tutorship and returned visible rule to the throne. Rains returned once power reverted to the palace. Nationwide drought peaked in Kuaiji and Yuyao at five hundred cash a dou, until kin sold kin. Xiankang 2's third month dried up again. Xiankang 3's sixth month stayed harsh. Wang Dao's soft hand let robbers roam and drought linger five years — the price of lax rule.
40
康帝建元元年五月，旱。
Kang-di's the first year of Jianyuan fifth month added another dry entry.
41
穆帝永和元年五月，旱。 是時帝在襁褓，褚太后臨朝，如明穆太后故事。 永和五年七月不雨，至于十月。 永和六年夏，旱。 永和八年夏，旱。 永和九年春，旱。
Yonghe 1's fifth month brought drought under Emperor Mu. The boy on the throne left regency to Empress Dowager Chu, as under Mingmu before. From midsummer through autumn Yonghe 5 stayed utterly dry. Yonghe 6's summer scorched the fields again. Two years later another summer drought struck. Even spring of Yonghe 9 lacked rain.
42
升平三年冬，大旱。 升平四年冬，大旱。
Shengping 3's winter was one of the great dry spells. Shengping 4's winter repeated the calamity.
43
哀帝隆和元年夏，旱。 是時桓溫強恣，權制朝廷，僭逾之罰也。
Longhe 1's summer parched the realm under Emperor Ai. Huan Wen's stranglehold on the court explained the omen.
44
海西公太和元年夏，旱。 四年冬，旱。 涼州春旱至夏。
The deposed emperor's Taihe years opened with a summer drought. Winter of his fourth year stayed rainless. The northwest baked from spring into summer.
45
簡文帝咸安元年十月，大旱，饑。 自永和至是，嗣主幼沖，桓溫陵僭，用兵征伐，百姓怨苦。
Xianan 1's tenth month brought famine-level drought. Decades of child emperors and Huan Wen's wars had exhausted the country.
46
孝武帝甯康元年三月，旱。 是時桓溫入覲高平陵，闔朝致拜，逾僭之應也。 三年冬，旱。
Ningkang 1 opened dry under Xiaowu. Huan Wen's reception at the mausoleum flouted every sumptuary rule. In the winter of Ningkang 3, drought struck.
47
太元四年夏，大旱。 八年六月，旱。 十年七月，旱，饑。 初，八年破苻堅，九年諸將略地，有事徐豫，楊亮、趙統攻討巴沔。 是年正月，謝安又出鎮廣陵，使子琰進次彭城，頻有軍役。
The summer of Taiyuan 4 brought a severe drought. In the sixth month of Taiyuan 8, there was drought. By the seventh month of Taiyuan 10, drought had become famine. The annalist tied the weather to the Fei River aftermath and frontier sweeps. Xie An's redeployments kept the army in motion.
48
太元十三年六月，旱。 去歲北府遣戍胡陸，荊州經略河南。 是年夏，郭銓置戍野王，又遣軍破黃淮。
Taiyuan 13's sixth month dried up again. Frontier garrisons on the Huai line matched the timing. Further outposts at Yewang thickened the military footprint.
49
太元十五年七月，旱。 十七年，秋旱至冬。 是時烈宗仁恕，信任會稽王道子，政事舒緩。 又茹千秋為驃騎諮議，竊弄主相威福。 又比丘尼乳母親党及婢僕之子階緣近習，臨部領眾。 又所在多上春竟囚，不以其辜，建康獄吏，枉暴既甚。 此又僭逾不從冤濫之罰。
Taiyuan 15's heat refused to break. Drought ran from autumn clean through winter of Taiyuan 17. Xiaowu's softness and Dao-zi's lax rule framed the gloss. Ru Qianqiu sold offices between prince and throne. Harim favorites and household riffraff took battlefield posts. Judicial torture in the capital ran unchecked. The moral matched arrogance plus miscarried justice.
50
安帝隆安二年冬，旱，寒甚。 隆安四年五月，旱。 五年，夏秋大旱。 十二月，不雨。 時孫恩作亂，桓玄疑貳，迫殺殷仲堪，而朝廷即授以荊州之任，司馬元顯又諷百僚悉使敬己，內外騷動，兵革煩興。 此皆陵僭憂愁之應也。
the second year of Longan's winter paired drought with killing frost. the fourth year of Longan's fifth month sagged under drought. Year five scorched both summer and fall. Deep winter still brought no clouds. Sun En, Huan Xuan's double game, and Yuanxian's vanity threw the empire into military chaos. Each sign mirrored overreach and dread.
51
元興元年七月，大饑。 九月、十月不雨，泉水涸。 義熙二年六月，不雨。 冬，又旱。 時桓玄奢僭，十二月遂篡位。 義熙三年八月，不雨。
In the seventh month of Yuanxing 1, there was a great famine. Two rainless autumn months emptied the wells. Yixi 2's sixth month offered no relief. Winter drought returned the same year. Huan Xuan's luxury coup closed the drought narrative. Yixi 3's late summer stayed cloudless.
52
義熙四年冬，不雨。 義熙六年九月，不雨。 義熙八年十月，不雨。 義熙九年，秋冬不雨。 義熙十年九月，旱。 十二月又旱，井瀆多竭。 是時軍役煩興。
Yixi 4's winter was another dry spell. Yixi 6's autumn began without showers. Yixi 8 repeated the pattern in the tenth month. Yixi 9 saw both seasons pass rainless. Yixi 10's ninth month was formally logged as drought. Year-end drought drained even irrigation channels. Endless campaigns kept the omen alive.
53
（分段）
The edition inserts a line break before the next rubric.
54
詩妖
Subsection: portents voiced in popular verse.
55
（分段）
Another editorial divider follows.
56
魏明帝太和中，京師歌《兜鈴曹子》，其唱曰「其柰汝曹何」，此詩妖也。 其後曹爽見誅，曹氏遂廢。
During Wei Emperor Ming's Taihe years the capital sang "Douling Caozi," its refrain "What can be done about you people?" — this was an omen in song. Cao Shuang's purge fulfilled the rhyme.
57
景初初，童謠曰：「阿公阿公駕馬車，不意阿公東渡河，阿公來還當柰何！」 及宣帝遼東歸，至白屋，當還鎮長安。 會帝疾篤，急召之，乃乘追鋒車東渡河，終如童謠之言。
Early Jingchu, a children's rhyme said: "Grandpa, grandpa, drives a horse cart; never thought grandpa would ford the river east; grandpa comes back — what then!" He should have turned west to Chang'an after the Liaodong campaign. A dying summons sent him racing east instead, matching the omen.
58
齊王嘉平中，有謠曰：「白馬素羈西南馳，其誰乘者硃虎騎。」 硃虎者，楚王小字也。 王淩、令狐愚聞此謠，謀立彪。 事發，淩等伏誅，彪賜死。
Under the Qi King in Jiaping years a rhyme ran: "White horse, white tether galloping southwest — who rides him? The lad called Red Tiger." Listeners decoded Zhu Hu as Prince Chu Biao. The conspirators acted on the ballad's hint. Exposure ended Wang Ling and cost Biao his life.
59
吳孫亮初，童謠曰； 「籲汝恪，何若若，蘆葦單衣篾鉤絡，于何相求常子閣。」 「常子閣」者，反語石子堈也。 鉤絡，鉤帶也。 及諸葛恪死，果以葦席裹身，篾束其要，投之石子堈。 後聽恪故吏收斂，求之此堈雲。
Sun Liang's accession brought a cruel jest about Zhuge Ke. "Hey Ke, how grand you are — rush mat coat, bamboo-buckle belt; where shall we seek you? At Changzi Pavilion." "Changzi Pavilion" is reversed speech for "Stone Child Pit." The riddle glossed "bamboo hooks" as belts. His corpse was treated exactly like the rhyme prescribed. Former aides recovered the body from the stones.
60
孫亮初，公安有白鼉鳴。 童謠曰：「白鼉鳴，龜背平。 南郡城中可長生，守死不去義無成。」 「南郡城中可長生」者，有急易以逃也。 明年，諸葛恪敗，弟融鎮公安，亦見襲，融刮金印龜服之而死。 鼉有鱗介，甲兵之象。 又曰，白祥也。
White river-dragons keened at Gongan when Sun Liang began to rule. A rhyme said: "White alligator sings, turtle shell flat. In Nan commandery town you may live long; cling to death and never flee — no honor comes." "In Nan commandery town you may live long" means that when danger comes it is easy to escape. Zhuge Rong's suicide with the seal fulfilled the turtle omen. Scaly creatures signified war gear. They doubled as a pale anomaly.
61
孫休永安二年，將守質子群聚嬉戲，有異小兒忽來言曰：「三公鋤，司馬如。」 又曰：「我非人，熒惑星也。」 言畢上升，仰視若曳一匹練，有頃沒。 干寶曰：「後四年而蜀亡，六年而魏廢，二十一年而吳平。」 於是九服歸晉。 魏與吳蜀並戰國，「三公鋤，司馬如」之謂也。
Sun Xiu, Yong’an 2 — the hostage sons of the generals and garrison commanders had gathered to play when a strange child suddenly came and said, “The Three Dukes hoe; the Sima are like.” It also said: "I am not human — I am the Planet Mars." The apparition shot upward like a comet and disappeared. Gan Bao said: "Four years later Shu perished, six years later Wei was cast off, twenty-one years later Wu was pacified." The empire folded back under the Sima house. Wei fought Wu and Shu as warring states — that is what "The three dukes hoe, the Sima like" meant.
62
孫皓遣使者祭石印山下妖祠，使者因以丹書岩曰：「楚九州渚，吳九州都。 揚州士，作天子。 四世治，太平矣。」 皓聞之，意益張，曰：「從大皇帝至朕四世，太平之主非朕復誰！」 恣虐逾甚，尋以降亡，近詩妖也。
Sun Hao sent envoys to sacrifice at a demon shrine below Stone-Seal Mountain; the envoy painted in cinnabar on the cliff: "Chu fills the isles of nine provinces, Wu towers over nine capitals. A man of Yangzhou shall become Son of Heaven. Four reigns of order — great peace." Hao heard it and swelled with pride, saying: "From Great Emperor down to me is four generations — who but I brings great peace!" His tyranny hastened Wu's fall — another "song omen."
63
孫皓天紀中，童謠曰：「阿童復阿童，銜刀游渡江。 不畏岸上獸，但畏水中龍。」 武帝聞之，加王浚龍驤將軍。 及征吳，江西眾軍無過者，而王浚先定秣陵。
Under Sun Hao's Tianji years a rhyme said: "Atong again Atong, biting a blade he swims the river. Fear not beasts on the bank — only fear the dragon in the water." Sima Yan ennobled Wang Jun as "dragon" general on cue. Wang Jun's flotilla outran every rival to seize Nanjing.
64
武帝太康三年平吳後，江南童謠曰：「局縮肉，數橫目，中國當敗吳當復。」 又曰：「宮門柱，且當朽，吳當復，在三十年後。」 又曰：「雞鳴不拊翼，吳復不用力。」 于時吳人皆謂在孫氏子孫，故竊發為亂者相繼。 案「橫目」者四字，自吳亡至元帝興幾四十年，元帝興于江東，皆如童謠之言焉。 元帝懦而少斷，「局縮肉」者，有所斥也。
After Emperor Wu pacified Wu in Taikang 3, a children’s rhyme south of the Yangtze said, “Shriveled flesh, several horizontal eyes; the Middle Kingdom shall be defeated, Wu shall be restored.” It also said: "Palace gate pillars will rot; Wu returns in thirty years." It also said: "Crows crow without folding wings — Wu needs hardly lift a finger." Locals read the lines as Sun clan prophecy and rebelled in waves. Note: "horizontal eyes" forms the graph for "four"; from Wu's fall to Yuan-di's rise in the east was nearly forty years — all matched the rhymes. Yuan-di was timid and indecisive; "shriveled meat" rebukes that weakness.
65
太康末，京洛為《折楊柳》之歌，其曲始有兵革苦辛之辭，終以擒獲斬截之事。 是時三楊貴盛而被族滅，太后廢黜，幽死中宮，「折楊柳」之應也。
A new pop song moved from battlefield sorrow to executions. At that time the three Yang clans flourished yet were exterminated; the empress dowager was deposed and died imprisoned in the inner palace — the answer to "Breaking Willows."
66
惠帝永熙中，河內溫縣有人如狂，造書曰：「光光文長，大戟為牆。 毒藥雖行，戟還自傷。」 又曰：「兩火沒地，哀哉秋蘭。 歸形街郵，終為人歎。」 及楊駿居內府，以戟為衛，死時又為戟所害傷。 楊後被廢，賈后絕其膳八日而崩，葬街郵亭北，百姓哀之也。 雨火，武帝諱，蘭，楊後字也。 其時又有童謠曰：「二月末，三月初，荊筆楊板行詔書，宮中大馬幾作驢。」 此時楊駿專權，楚王用事，故言「荊筆楊板」。 二人不誅，則君臣禮悖，故云「幾作驢」也。
Under Emperor Hui's Yongxi years, a man in Wen county, Henan, raved like a madman and wrote: "Bright bright Wen-chang — halberds for walls. Though poison runs its course, halberds wound themselves." It also said: "Two fires sink into earth — alas, autumn orchid. Form returns to the roadside post — in the end men sigh over you." Yang Jun's halberd corps foretold his own skewering. Consort Yang died of Jia Nanfeng's hunger strike and was dumped by the courier station. Commentators read the paired "fire" graphs as alluding to Emperor Wu's taboo name and "orchid" as Empress Yang Zhi's style name. Then another rhyme ran: "Late second month, early third — Jing brush and Yang tablet carry edicts; the palace's great horse nearly becomes a donkey." At that time Yang Jun monopolized authority and the Prince of Chu held sway — hence "Jing brush and Yang tablet." If the two were not executed, ruler-minister ritual would invert — hence "nearly a donkey."
67
元康中，京洛童謠曰：「南風起，吹白沙，遙望魯國何嵯峨，千歲髑髏生齒牙。」 又曰：「城東馬子莫嚨哅，此至來年纏女閤。」 南風，賈后字也。 白，晉行也。 沙門，太子小名也。 魯，賈謐國也。 言賈后將與謐為亂，以危太子，而趙王因釁咀嚼豪賢，以成篡奪，不得其死之應也。
In Yuankang the capital children sang: "South wind rises, blows white sand; far off how steep the state of Lu — thousand-year skulls sprout teeth." It also said: "East-city colt, don't whinny — by next year you'll tangle in women's boudoirs." Nanfeng was the empress's sobriquet. White stood for metal — Jin's element. "Monkling" was Sima Zhong's pet name. Lu mapped onto Jia Mi's noble seat. The gloss tied the verses to Jia's coup plot and Sima Lun's coming slaughter.
68
元康中，天下商農通著大鄣日。 時童謠曰：「屠蘇鄣日覆兩耳，當見瞎兒作天子。」 及趙王倫篡位，其目實眇焉。 趙王倫既篡，洛中童謠曰：「獸從北來鼻頭汗，龍從南來登城看，水從西來河灌灌。」 數月而齊王、成都、河間義兵同會誅倫。 案成都西籓而在鄴，故曰「獸從北來。」 齊東籓而在許，故曰「龍從南來。」 河間水源而在關中，故曰「水從西來」。 齊留輔政，居於宮西，又有無君之心，故言「登城看」也。
Yuankang fashion made everyone don huge visors. A rhyme said: "Tusu hat brim covers both ears — soon a blind boy will be Son of Heaven." Sima Lun's bad eye matched the "blind boy" line. After Prince Zhao seized power, Luoyang sang: "Beasts come from the north with sweaty snouts; dragons from the south climb walls to look; water from the west makes rivers boil." The allied princes purged Sima Lun within the year. Chengdu was a western fief but sat at Ye — hence "beasts from the north." Qi was an eastern fief but camped at Xu — hence "dragons from the south." Hejian drew water from Guanzhong — hence "water from the west." Qi stayed to assist government, dwelling west of the palace, yet nursed disloyalty — hence "climb walls to look."
69
太安中，童謠曰：「五馬游渡江，一馬化為龍。」 後中原大亂，宗籓多絕，唯琅邪、汝南、西陽、南頓、彭城同至江東，而元帝嗣統矣。
In Tai'an years a rhyme said: "Five horses frolic across the river; one horse turns into a dragon." Only five princely lines escaped to Jiangdong where Sima Rui took the mandate.
70
司馬越還洛，有童謠曰：「洛中大鼠長尺二，若不早去大狗至。」 及苟晞將破汲桑，又謠曰：「元超兄弟大落度，上桑打椹為苟作。」 由是越惡晞，奪其兗州，隙難遂構焉。
When Sima Yue returned to Luoyang a rhyme said: "Luoyang's giant rat measures a foot two — if you don't leave soon, a great dog arrives." When Gou Xi was about to crush Ji Sang another ran: "Yuan-chao brothers lose their grip; climb mulberries to beat berries for Gou." The verses stoked Yue's vendetta against Gou Xi.
71
湣帝初，有童謠曰：「天子何在豆田中。」 至建興四年，帝降劉曜，在城東豆田壁中。
Early in Emperor Min's reign a rhyme asked: "Where is the Son of Heaven? In the bean fields." Sima Ye yielded in a hutment amid bean rows — the rhyme fulfilled.
72
建興中，江南謠歌曰：訇如白坑破，合集持作甒。 揚州破換敗，吳興覆瓿甊。」 案白者，晉行。 坑器有口屬甕，瓦甕質剛，亦金之類也。 「訇如白坑破」者，言二都傾覆，王室大壞也。 「合集持作甒」者，元帝鳩集遺餘，以主社稷，未能克復中原，但偏王江南，故其喻也。 及石頭之事，六軍大潰，兵人抄掠京邑，爰及二宮。 其後三年，錢鳳復攻京邑，阻水而守，相持月餘日，焚燒城邑，井堙木刊矣。 鳳等敗退，沈充將其党還吳興，官軍踵之，蹈藉郡縣，充父子授首，黨與誅者以百數。 所謂「揚州破換敗，吳興覆瓿甊」，瓿甊瓦器，又小於甒也。
Wu dialect song opened with the white-pit couplet. Yangzhou smashes and falls; Wuxing overturns pots and urns." Commentary: white again signaled Jin metal. Pottery counted as hard "metal" in the correlative scheme. "Boom — white pit breaks" means both capitals fell and the royal house shattered. "Gather shards to make a jar" means Yuan-di rounded up survivors to sustain the altars, could not reconquer the north, only ruled south of the river — hence the metaphor. Wang Dun's Shitou disaster let troops sack both palace compounds. Qian Feng's second siege charred Jiankang and ruined its wells and groves. Shen Chong's retreat ended in beheadings and mass executions. This is the so-called "Yangzhou smashes — Wuxing overturns pots"; pots are earthenware smaller than jars.
73
明帝太甯初，童謠曰：「惻惻力力，放馬山側。 大馬死，小馬餓。 高山崩，石自破。」 及明帝崩，成帝幼，為蘇峻所逼，遷於石頭，禦膳不足，此「大馬死，小馬餓」也。 高山，峻也，又言峻尋死。 石，峻弟蘇石也。 峻死後，石據石頭，尋為諸公所破，復是崩山石破之應也。
Early Emperor Ming's Taining years a rhyme said: "Sighing, straining — loose horses on the hillside. Great horse dies, small horse starves. High mountain collapses; stones break themselves." When Emperor Ming died Emperor Cheng was young, forced by Su Jun to move to Stone City with short rations — this is "great horse dies, small horse starves." Gao shan punned on Su Jun's name and doom. The stone line targeted Su Jun's brother Su Shi. Su Shi's brief hold on Shitou completed the prophecy.
74
成帝之末，又有童謠曰：「礚礚何隆隆，駕車入梓宮。」 少日而宮車晏駕。
Late Emperor Cheng another rhyme said: "Clang-clang, how it rumbles — driving a carriage into the cedar palace." The emperor died almost at once.
75
咸康二年十二月，河北謠云：「麥入土，殺石武。」 後如謠言。
Xiankang 2, twelfth month — a Hebei rhyme said, “Wheat enters the earth; kill Shi Wu.” Shi Hu's fate matched the wheat curse.
76
庾亮初鎮武昌，出至石頭，百姓于岸上歌曰：「庾公上武昌，翩翩如飛鳥。 庾公還揚州，白馬牽旒旐。」 又曰：「庾公初上時，翩翩如飛烏。 庾公還揚州，白馬牽流蘇。」 後連征不入，及薨於鎮，以喪還都葬，皆如謠言。
When Yu Liang first garrisoned Wuchang and came out to Shitou, the people on the bank sang: "Lord Yu goes up to Wuchang, fluttering like a flying bird. Lord Yu returns to Yangzhou — white horse draws mourning banners." It also said: "When Lord Yu first went up, fluttering like a flying crow. Lord Yu returns to Yangzhou — white horse pulls tassels." Yu Liang died at his post and came home for burial on cue.
77
穆帝升平中，童兒輩忽歌於道曰《阿子聞》，曲終輒云「阿子汝聞不」？ 無幾而帝崩，太后哭之曰：「阿子汝聞不？」
Mid-Shengping Emperor Mu, children suddenly sang on the road "Az-zi hears"; after each tune they asked "Az-zi, did you hear?" Soon the emperor died; the empress dowager wept, "Azi, did you hear?"
78
升平末，俗間忽作《廉歌》，有扈謙者聞之曰：「廉者，臨也。 歌云『白門廉，宮庭廉』，內外悉臨，國家其大諱乎！」 少時而穆帝晏駕。
Late Shengping folk suddenly sang the "Integrity Song"; Hu Qian heard it and said: "Integrity means 'overlooking. The song runs "White Gate integrity, palace integrity" — inside and out all watched; is this not the state's great taboo!" Mu-di followed within months.
79
哀帝隆和初，童謠曰：「昇平不滿斗，隆和那得久！ 桓公入石頭，陛下徒跣走。」 朝廷聞而惡之，改年曰興寧。 人復歌曰：「雖復改興寧，亦復無聊生。」 哀旁壽崩。 昇平五年而穆帝崩，「不滿斗」，昇平不至十年也。
Early Longhe Emperor Ai, a rhyme said: "Shengping does not fill a dou — how can Longhe last! Lord Huan enters Stone City; Your Majesty runs barefoot." Ministers renamed the year to dodge the curse. People sang again: "Even if you change to Xingning, life stays empty." Ai-di perished in his prime, fulfilling the bitter rhymes. Emperor Mu died in Shengping 5 — "does not fill a dou" — Shengping did not reach ten years.
80
海西公太和中，百姓歌曰：「青青御路楊，白馬紫遊韁。 汝非皇太子，那得甘露漿？」 識者曰：「白者，金行，馬者，國族。 紫為奪正之色，明以紫間硃也。」 海西公尋廢，其三子並非海西公之子，縊以馬韁。 死之明日，南方獻甘露馬。
Under Duke Haixi's Taihe years the people sang: "Green-green willows on the imperial road — white horse with purple reins. You are not crown prince — how get sweet-dew nectar?" Those who understood said: "White is metal phase; horse is the dynastic clan. Purple is the hue that usurps orthodoxy — it shows purple wedged between cinnabar." Sima Yi's bastards died by the purple-rein prophecy. A tribute horse arrived ironically named for the nectar line.
81
太和末，童謠曰：「犁牛耕御路，白門種小麥。」 及海西公被廢，百姓耕其門以種小麥，遂如謠言。
Late Taihe a rhyme said: "Plow-oxen till the imperial road — white gate sows wheat." Commoners literally sowed wheat at his sealed portal.
82
海西公初生皇子，百姓歌云：「鳳皇生一雛，天下莫不喜。 本言是馬駒，今定成龍子。」 其歌甚美，其旨甚微。 海西公不男，使左右向龍與內侍接，生子，以為己子。
When Duke Haixi first sired an heir-prince the people sang: "A phoenix hatches one chick — none under heaven fails to rejoice. Originally called a colt — now fixed as a dragon's son." The ode sounded sweet but hinted darkly. The history notes his impotence and borrowed heirs.
83
桓石民為荊州，鎮上明，百姓忽歌曰「黃曇子」。 曲中又曰：「黃曇英，揚州大佛來上明。」 頃之而桓石民死，王忱為荊州。 黃曇子乃是王忱字也。 忱小字佛大，是「大佛來上明」也。
When Huan Shimin governed Jingzhou from Shangming the people suddenly sang "Lord Yellow Dusk." The tune added: "Lord Yellow Blossom — Yangzhou's Great Buddha comes to Shangming." Shimin died; Wang Chen replaced him. Huang Tanzi was Chen's style. Chen's childhood name was Buddha-large — that is "Great Buddha comes to Shangming."
84
孝武帝太元末，京口謠曰：「黃雌雞，莫作雄父啼。 一旦去毛衣，衣被拉颯棲。」 尋而王恭起兵誅王國寶，旋為劉牢之所敗，故言「拉颯棲」也。
Late Emperor Xiaowu's Taiyuan years Jingkou sang: "Yellow hen, don't crow like a cock-father. Once feather-coat is shed, robes trail in tatters." Soon Wang Gong raised troops to kill Wang Guobao, then Liu Laozhi defeated him — hence "trail in tatters."
85
會稽王道子於東府造土山，名曰靈秀山。 無幾而孫恩作亂，再踐會稽。 會稽，道子所封； 靈秀，孫恩之字也
Daozi piled Lingxiu Hill beside his yamen. Sun En's revolt ravaged Kuaiji twice. The commandery was Dao-zi's appanage. The hill name duplicated Sun En's cognomen.
86
庾楷鎮曆陽，百姓歌曰：「重羅黎，重羅黎，使君南上無還時。」 後楷南奔桓玄，為玄所誅。
When Yu Kai held Liyang the people sang: "Layered gauze Li, layered gauze Li — when the lord goes south he never returns." Yu Kai ran to Xuan and died for it.
87
殷仲堪在荊州，童謠曰：「芒籠目，繩縛腹。 殷當敗，桓當復。」 未幾而仲堪敗，桓玄遂有荊州。
Yin Zhongkan in Jingzhou — a rhyme said: "Awn hoods the eyes, rope binds the belly. Yin must fall; Huan will rise." The prophecy came true within the year.
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王恭鎮京口，舉兵誅王國寶。 百姓謠云：「昔年食白飯，今年食麥麩。 天公誅謫汝，教汝撚嚨喉。 嚨喉喝復喝，京口敗復敗。」 識者曰：「昔年食白飯，言得志也。 今年食麥麩，麩粗穢，其精已去，明將敗也，天公將加譴謫而誅之也。 撚嚨喉，氣不通，死之祥也。 敗復敗，丁寧之辭也。」 恭尋死，京都又大行欬疾，而喉並喝焉。
Wang Gong marched from Jingkou against Guobao. The people rhymed: "Last year we ate white rice; this year we eat wheat bran. Heaven punishes you — it teaches you to clutch your throat. Throat choked again and again — Jingkou defeat upon defeat." Those who understood said: "Last year's white rice meant he had his way. This year's bran is coarse dregs; its essence is gone — it shows he will fall; Heaven will punish and kill. "Clutching throat" means breath blocked — an omen of death. Defeat upon defeat" is emphatic wording." Wang Gong fell while Jiankang coughed itself raw.
89
王恭在京口，百姓間忽云：「黃頭小兒欲作賊，阿公在城，下指縛得。」 又云：「黃頭小人欲作亂，賴得金刀作籓扞。」 黃字上恭字頭也，小人恭字下也，尋如謠言者焉。
When Wang Gong was at Jingkou the people suddenly said: "Yellow-head lad wants to rebel — grandpa is in the city; point down and bind him." They also said: "Yellow-head urchin plots trouble — thank the golden blade for defense." The charade split Wang Gong's name into yellow crown and petty man.
90
安帝隆安中，百姓忽作《懊憹》之歌，其曲曰：「草生可攬結，女兒可攬擷。」 尋而桓玄篡位，義旗以三月二日掃定京都，誅之。 玄之宮女及逆党之家子女妓妾悉為軍賞，東及甌越，北流淮泗，皆人有所獲。 故言時則草可結，事則女可擷也。
Mid-Longan Emperor An the people suddenly sang the "Ao-nang" song; its tune ran: "Grass grows — you can braid it; girls grow — you can pick them." Liu Yu's coup on 3/2 purged Xuan. Victors parceled out Xuan's harem across the southeast. The song's double entendre matched wartime rape and plunder.
91
桓玄既篡，童謠曰：「草生及馬腹，烏啄桓玄目。」 及玄敗，走至江陵，時正五月中，誅如其期焉。
After Huan Xuan seized the throne a rhyme said: "Grass grows to the horse's belly; crows peck Huan Xuan's eyes." His fifth-month death answered the crow omen.
92
安帝義熙初，童謠曰：「官家養蘆化成荻，蘆生不止自成積。」 其時官養盧龍，寵以金紫，奉以名州，養之極也。 而龍不能懷我好音，舉兵內伐，遂成仇敵也。 「蘆生不止自成積」，及盧龍之敗，斬伐其黨，猶如草木以成積也。
Early Yixi Emperor An a children's rhyme said: "The court raises reeds that turn to stalk-grass; reeds grow without end and pile of themselves." Lu Long won rank and region for doing nothing. He repaid favor with rebellion. "Reeds pile endlessly" — when Lu Long fell his faction was cut down like stacked grass.
93
盧龍據廣州，人為之謠曰：「蘆生漫漫竟天半。」 後擠上流數州之地，內逼京輦，應「天半」之言。
Lu Long held Guangzhou; people sang for him: "Reeds grow vast — they reach halfway to heaven." Later he squeezed several upper provinces and pressed the capital — answering "half the sky."
94
義熙二年，小兒相逢於道，輒舉其兩手曰「盧健健」，次曰「鬥歎鬥歎」，末曰「翁年老翁年老」。 當時莫知所謂。 其後盧龍內逼，舟艦蓋川，「健健」之謂也。 既至查浦，屢克期欲與官鬥，「鬥歎」之應也。 「翁年老」，群公有期頤之慶，知妖逆之徒自然消殄也。 其時復有謠言曰； 「盧橙橙，逐水流，東風忽如起，那得入石頭！」 盧龍果敗，不得入石頭也。
Yixi 2: children meeting on the road would raise both hands crying "Lu is hale," then "battle and sigh," and lastly, "the elder is aged." Contemporaries puzzled over the chant. Later Lu Long pressed inward; ships covered the streams — that is "strong-strong." Reaching Chapu he repeatedly set battle dates with the court — the answer to "fight-sigh." "Old man old" — ministers enjoyed their longevity; they knew the rebels would perish of themselves. Another fragment circulated. "Lu orange-orange, drifting with the current — east wind suddenly rises — how can you enter Stone City!" He died before taking Shitou.
95
昔溫嶠令郭景純卜己與庾亮吉凶，景純云：「元吉。」 嶠語亮曰：「景純每筮是，不敢盡言。 吾等與國家同安危，而曰『元吉』，是事有成也。」 於是協同討滅王敦。
Once Wen Qiao had Guo Pu divine his and Yu Liang's fortune; Pu said: "Supremely auspicious." Qiao told Liang: "Whenever Pu divines thus he never speaks the whole truth. We share the state's peril; if he says 'supremely auspicious,' the affair will succeed." They moved together against Wang Dun.
96
苻堅初，童謠云：「阿堅連牽三十年，後若欲敗時，當在江湖邊。」 及堅在位凡三十年，敗于淝水，是其應也。 又謠語云：「河水清復清，苻堅死新城。」 及堅為姚萇所殺，死於新城。 復謠歌云：「魚羊田升當滅秦。」 識者以為「魚羊，鮮也； 田升，卑也，堅自號秦，言滅之者鮮卑也。」 其群臣諫堅，令盡誅鮮卑，堅不從。 及淮南敗還，初為慕容沖所攻，又為姚萇所殺，身死國滅。
Early Fu Jian a rhyme said: "A-Jian drags on thirty years; when defeat comes it will be by rivers and lakes." His Fei River rout matched the prophecy. Another ditty ran: "River water clears and clears again — Fu Jian dies in New City." Yao Chang slew him in Xincheng. Still another sang: "Fish-sheep field-rise shall destroy Qin." Readers thought "fish plus sheep" forms the graph for the Xianbei ethnonym; "field-rise" means lowly; Jian styled himself Qin — it meant destroyers would be the Xianbei. Courtiers begged genocide; Fu Jian demurred. Murong Chong and Yao Chang finished him after Feishui.
97
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Editorial divider before the next rubric.
98
毛蟲之孽
Subsection: omens of furry vermin.
99
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Divider.
100
武帝太康六年，南陽獻兩足猛獸，此毛蟲之孽也。 識者為其文曰：「武形有虧，金獸失儀，聖主應天，期異何為！」 言兆亂也。 京房《易傳》曰：「足少者，下不勝任也。」 干寶以為：「獸者陰精，居於陽，金獸也。 南陽，火名也。 金精入火而失其形，王室亂之妖也。」 六，水數，言水數既極，火慝得作，而金受其敗也。 至元康九年，始殺太子，距此十四年。 二七十四，火始終相乘之數也。 自帝受命，至湣懷之廢，凡三十五年焉。
In Taikang 6 under Emperor Wu, Nanyang offered a two-legged beast, classed here as a hairy-creature calamity. Readers glossed its pattern: "Martial form is flawed; metal beast loses propriety; sage lord answers Heaven — why this strangeness?" They read it as rebellion brewing. Jing Fang's Treatise on the Changes says: "Too few feet — those below cannot bear the burden." Gan Bao held: "Beasts are yin essences dwelling in yang — metal beasts. Nanyang is a fire name. Metal essence entering fire and losing shape is an omen of royal-house disorder." Numerology linked six to water's end and fire's revenge on metal. Fourteen years later the heir died. The arithmetic omen paired twos and sevens with fire phases. Thirty-five years spanned Sima Yan to the ruined princes.
101
太康七年十一月丙辰，四角獸見於河間，河間王顒獲以獻。 天戒若曰，角，兵象也，四者，四方之象，當有兵亂起于四方。 後河間王遂連四方之兵，作為亂階，殆其應也。
In the seventh year of Taikang, Sima Yong sent up a quadruple-horned monster. Four horns forecast multilateral rebellion. Yong's coalition fulfilled the beast sign.
102
懷帝永嘉五年，蝘鼠出延陵。 郭景純筮之曰：「此郡東之縣，當有妖人欲稱制者，亦尋自死矣。」 其後吳興徐馥作亂，殺太守袁琇，馥亦時滅，是其應也。
In Yongjia 5 under Emperor Huai, mole-crickets appeared at Yanling. Guo Pu divined: "East of this commandery a man will claim imperial style; he will also soon die." Xu Fu's mutiny matched the divination.
103
成帝咸和六年正月丁巳，會州郡秀孝于樂賢堂，有麏見於前，獲之。 孫盛以為吉祥。 夫秀孝，天下之彥士； 樂賢堂，所以樂養賢也。 自喪亂以後，風教陵夷，秀孝策試，乏四科之實。 麏興於前，或斯故乎？
On dingsi in the first month of Xianhe 6, a deer-like omen interrupted Emperor Cheng’s gathering of recommended scholars at Lexian Hall. Sun Sheng tried to read it as luck. The candidates were the empire's picked talent. The hall's name celebrated sage cultivation. Postwar exams had hollow essays. The beast maybe mocked empty ritual.
104
哀帝隆和元年十月甲申，有麈入東海第。 百姓歡言曰：「麈入東海第」，識者怪之。 及海西廢為東海王，乃入其第。
On jiashen in the tenth month of Longhe 1, a zhu-deer entered the Donghai prince’s residence. The people cheered "A zhu enters Donghai mansion" — augurs found it strange. The deposed emperor moved into the very title foretold.
105
孝武太元十三年四月癸巳，祠廟畢，有兔行廟堂上。 天戒若曰，兔，野物也，而集宗廟之堂，不祥莫之甚焉。
On guisi in the fourth month of Taiyuan 13, after the rites were finished, a rabbit ran across the shrine hall. Wild hares on the altar spelled extreme sacrilege.
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Divider before dog omens.
107
犬禍
Subsection: canine portents.
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109
公孫文懿家有犬，冠幘絳衣上屋，此犬禍也。 屋上，亢陽高危之地。 天戒若曰，亢陽無上，偷自尊高，狗而冠者也。 及文懿自立為燕王，果為魏所滅。 京房《易傳》曰：「君不正，臣欲篡，厥妖狗出朝門。」
A robed dog on the ridge mocked Wenyi's kingship bid. Rooftops symbolized precarious pride. Heaven called the dog a crowned usurper. His kingship brought swift Wei suppression. Jing Fang's Treatise says: "When the lord is not upright ministers plot usurpation — the portent is dogs leaving the court gate."
110
魏侍中應璩在直廬，欻見一白狗出門，問眾人，無見者。 逾年卒，近犬禍也。
Ying Qu alone glimpsed a phantom white hound. He perished a year later.
111
吳諸葛恪征淮南歸，將朝會，犬銜引其衣。 恪曰：「犬不欲我行乎？」 還坐。 有頃復起，犬又銜衣，乃令逐犬，遂升車，入而被害。
A dog tugged Zhuge Ke's gown before court. Ke said: "Does the dog forbid me to go?" He returned to his seat. Ignoring the second tug cost him his life at court.
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武帝太康九年，幽州有犬，鼻行地三百餘步。 天戒若曰，是時帝不思和嶠之言，卒立惠帝，以致衰亂，是言不從之罰也。
In Taikang 9 under Emperor Wu, a Youzhou dog was said to nose-walk more than three hundred paces. The freak dog echoed Sima Yan's refusal to change the heir.
113
惠帝元康中，吳郡婁縣人家聞地中有犬子聲，掘之，得雌雄各一。 還置窟中，覆以磨石，經宿失所在。 天戒若曰，帝既衰弱，籓王相譖，故有犬禍。
Subterranean barking yielded two pups in Wu commandery. The pups vanished beneath the stone cover. The omen matched frail sovereignty and princely intrigue.
114
永興元年，丹陽內史硃逵家犬生三子，皆無頭。 後逵為揚州刺史曹武所殺。
In Yongxing 1, a dog in the household of Zhu Kui, Interior Minister of Danyang, gave birth to three pups, all without heads. Cao Wu executed him as predicted.
115
孝懷帝永嘉五年，吳郡嘉興張林家狗人言云：「天下人餓死。」 於是果有二胡之亂，天下饑荒焉。
Emperor Huai, Yongjia 5 — at Zhang Lin’s home in Jiaxing, Wu commandery, a dog spoke in human words, saying, “All the people under Heaven will starve to death.” The Five Barbarians' invasions fulfilled it.
116
湣帝建興元年，狗與豬交。 案《漢書》，景帝時有此，以為悖亂之氣，亦犬豕禍也。 犬，兵革之占也。 豕，北方匈奴之象。 逆言失聽，異類相交，必生害也。 餓而帝沒于胡，是其應也。
In Jianxing 1 under Emperor Min, dogs and pigs mated. Historians cited Han parallels for the abomination. Dogs foretold military upheaval. Swine stood for steppe raiders. Unnatural unions mirrored a deaf court. Sima Ye died in barbarian hands as predicted.
117
元帝太興中，吳郡太守張懋聞齋內床下犬聲，求而不得。 既而地自坼，見有二犬子，取而養之，皆死。 尋而懋為沈充所害。 京房《易傳》曰：「讒臣在側，則犬生妖。」
Zhang Mao's yamen hound that was not there. Earth-rend pups died under his care. Shen Chong murdered him shortly after. Jing Fang's Treatise says: "When slanderers flank the throne, dogs breed portents."
118
太興四年，廬江灊縣何旭家忽聞地中有犬子聲，掘之得一母犬，青釐色，狀甚羸瘦，走入草中，不知所在。 視其處有二犬子，一雄一雌，哺而養之，雌死雄活。 及長為犬，善噬獸。 其後旭里中為蠻所沒。
A subterranean bitch escaped He Xu's diggers. One pup survived to adulthood. The survivor became a fierce hunter. Barbarians swallowed his village.
119
安帝隆安初，吳郡治下狗恆夜吠，聚高橋上，人家狗有限而吠聲甚眾。 或有夜覘視之云：「一狗假有兩三頭，皆前向亂吠。」 無幾，孫恩亂于吳會焉。 是時輔國將軍孫無終家于既陽，地中聞犬子聲，尋而地坼，有二犬子，皆白色，一雄一雌，取而養之，皆死。 後無終為桓玄所誅滅。 案《屍子》曰：「地中有犬，名曰地狼。」 《夏鼎志》曰； 「掘地得犬，名曰賈。」 此蓋自然之物，不應出而出，為犬禍也。
Early in Long'an under Emperor An, dogs under the Wu commandery seat constantly barked at night and gathered on Gao Bridge; households had only a limited number of dogs, yet the barking was very loud. Night watchers said: "One dog seemed to have two or three heads, all barking forward." Sun En's rebellion followed. Sun Wuzhong duplicated the underground pup omen. Huan Xuan extirpated his line. The Shizi says: "There is a dog in earth called earth-wolf." A second classic on buried dogs. "Dig earth and find a dog — call it Jia." Premature emergence meant canine ill omen.
120
桓玄將拜楚王，已設拜席，群官陪位。 玄未及出，有狗來便其席，莫不驚怪。 玄性猜暴，竟無言者，逐狗改席而已。 天戒若曰，桓玄無德而叨竊大位，故犬便其席，示其妄據之甚也。 八十日玄敗亡焉。
Xuan prepared his king-making ceremony. A dog soiled his throne-cloth. His courtiers quietly swapped the fouled seat. The insult marked his illegitimate rule. His regime collapsed in eighty days.
121
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122
白眚白祥
Subsection: pale anomalies.
123
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Divider.
124
魏明帝青龍三年正月乙亥，隕石于壽光。 案《左氏傳》「隕石，星也」，劉歆說曰：「庶眾惟星隕于宋者，象宋襄公將得諸侯而不終也。」 秦始皇時有隕石，班固以為：「石，陰類也。 又白祥，臣將危君。」 是後宣帝得政云。
On yihai in the first month of Qinglong 3 under Wei Emperor Ming, a meteorite fell at Shouguang. The Zuo Tradition says "falling stone is a star"; Liu Xin explained: "When many stars fell on Song it signified Duke Xiang gaining the hegemons yet not finishing." Qin Shihuang had meteorites; Ban Gu thought: "Stone is yin class. Also white omen — ministers will endanger the ruler." Sima Yi followed the omen.
125
武帝太康五年五月丁巳，隕石于溫及河陽各二。 六年正月，隕石于溫，三。
On dingsi in the fifth month of Taikang 5, two meteorites fell at Wen and two at Heyang. A second fall hit Wen commandery.
126
成帝咸和八年五月，星隕於肥鄉，一。 九年正月，隕石於涼州，二。
In the fifth month of Xianhe 8 under Emperor Cheng, a single bolide fell at Feixiang. Liangzhou took two strikes.
127
吳孫亮五鳳二年五月，陽羨縣離裏山大石自立。 案京房《易傳》曰「庶士為天子之祥也」，其說曰：「石立於山同姓，平地異姓。」 干寶以為「孫皓承廢故之家得位，其應也。」 或曰孫休見立之祥也。
In the fifth month of Wufeng 2 under Wu’s Sun Liang, a great stone at Lili Mountain stood upright on its own. Jing Fang's Treatise says "commoners becoming Son of Heaven"; his gloss: "Stone on a mountain — same surname; on flat ground — different surname." Gan Bao thought it meant, "Sun Hao inherited a deposed old house and gained the throne; this was its response." Another reading favored Sun Xiu.
128
武帝太康十年，洛陽宮西宜秋裏石生地中，始高三尺，如香鈩形，後如傴人，槃薄不可掘。 案劉向說，此白眚也。 明年宮車晏駕，王室始騷，卒以亂亡。 京房《易傳》曰：「石立如人，庶士為天下雄。」 此近之矣。
In Taikang 10 under Emperor Wu, a stone sprouted in Yiqiu ward west of the Luoyang palace, changing from an incense-burner shape into something like a hunched man. Liu Xiang filed it under white shang. Sima Yan died; turmoil followed. Jing Fang says: "Stone stands like a man — commoners become heroes under heaven." The annalist judged it apt.
129
惠帝元康五年十二月，有石生於宜年裏。 永康元年，襄陽郡上言，得鳴石，撞之，聲聞七八里。 太安元年，丹陽湖熟縣夏架湖有大石，浮二百步而登岸，民驚噪相告曰：「石來。」 干寶曰：「尋有石冰入建鄴。」
In the twelfth month of Yuankang 5 under Emperor Hui, a stone grew in Yinian ward. In Yongkang 1, Xiangyang Commandery reported finding ringing stones: when struck, their sound could be heard seven or eight li away. Tai'an 1 a great stone in Danyang Hushu county's Xiajia Lake floated two hundred paces then beached; folk cried "The stone comes." Gan Bao said: "Soon Shi Bing entered Jianye."
130
車騎大將軍、東嬴王騰自并州遷鎮鄴，行次真定。 時久積雪，而當門前方數丈獨消釋，騰怪而掘之，得玉馬，高尺許，口齒缺。 騰以馬者國姓，上送之，以為瑞。 然馬無齒則不得食，妖祥之兆，衰亡之征。 案占，此白祥也。 是後騰為汲桑所殺，而天下遂亂。
Sima Teng marched toward Ye. Melted snow revealed a toothless jade horse. He offered the jade horse as a Sima totem. Toothless mount spelled hungry power. Texts labeled it white xiang. Ji Sang slew him; anarchy spread.
131
武帝泰始八年五月，蜀地雨白毛，此白祥也。 時益州刺史皇甫晏伐汶山胡，從事何旅固諫，不從，牙門張弘等困眾之怨，誣晏謀逆，害之。 京房《易傳》曰：「前樂後憂，厥妖天雨羽。」 又曰：「邪人進，賢人逃，天雨毛。」 其《易妖》曰：「天雨毛羽，貴人出走。」 三占皆應。
In the fifth month of the eighth year of Taishi under Emperor Wu, white hair fell like rain in Shu, a white omen. Huangfu Yan's western war brought mutiny and death. Jing Fang says: "Joy before grief — its portent heaven rains feathers." Also: "Villains advance, worthies flee — heaven rains fur." His Omen Treatise says: "Heaven rains feather-fur — nobles flee." Every reading converged.
132
惠帝永寧元年，齊王冏舉義軍。 軍中有小兒，出於襄城繁昌縣，年八歲，發體悉白，頗能卜，于《洪范》，白祥也。
In Yongning 1 under Emperor Hui, Sima Jiong, Prince of Qi, raised his righteous army. An albino child divined in Jiong's host.
133
成帝咸康初，地生毛，近白祥也。 孫盛以為人勞之異也。 是後石季龍滅而中原向化，將相皆甘心焉。 於是方鎮屢革，邊戍仍遷，皆擁帶部曲，動有萬數。 其間征伐征賦，役無寧歲，天下勞擾，百姓疲怨。
Fur grew from soil at Xiankang's start. Sun Sheng blamed human fatigue. Zhao's collapse followed the sign. Warlord militias multiplied on the borders. Endless corvée enraged the north.
134
咸康三年六月，地生毛。
In the sixth month of Xiankang 3, hair-like growth appeared on the ground.
135
孝武太元二年五月，京都地生毛，至四年而氐賊次襄國，圍彭城，向廣陵，征戍仍出，兵連年不解。
In the fifth month of Taiyuan 2 under Emperor Xiaowu, the capital’s ground grew hair; by Taiyuan 4 the Di forces were threatening Xiangguo, Pengcheng, and Guangling, and campaigns dragged on year after year.
136
太元十四年四月，京都地生毛。 是時苻堅滅後，經略多事，人勞之應也。 十七年四月，地生毛。
In the fourth month of Taiyuan 14, the capital’s ground again grew hair. Post-Feishui scheming matched the sign. Taiyuan 17 repeated the anomaly.
137
安帝隆安四年四月乙未，地生毛，或白或黑。 元興三年五月，江陵地生毛。 是後江陵見襲，交戰者數矣。
On yiwei in the fourth month of Long’an 4 under Emperor An, the ground sprouted both white and black hair-like growth. In the fifth month of Yuanxing 3, the ground at Jiangling grew hair. The city saw serial sieges.
138
義熙三年三月，地生白毛。 十年三月地生毛。 明年，王旅西討司馬休之。 又明年，北掃關洛。
In the third year of Yixi, White filaments rose in spring. Yixi decade opened with turf beards. Liu Yu struck Xiuzhi the year after. A second campaign reclaimed the north.
139
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Divider.
140
木沴金
Subsection: wood overcoming metal.
141
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Divider.
142
魏齊王正始末，河南尹李勝治聽事，有小材激墮，楇受符吏石彪頭，斷之，此木沴金也。 勝後旬日而敗。
Flying timber decapitated a clerk — the wood-metal omen. Li Sheng lost power immediately.
143
惠帝元康八年五月，郊禖壇石中破為二，此木沴金也。 郊禖壇者，求子之神位，無故自毀，太子將危之象也。 明年湣懷廢死。
In the fifth month of Yuankang 8 under Emperor Hui, the fertility altar stone split in two, read as wood harming metal. Broken altar spelled doom for the crown prince. Sima Yu and Yu fell the next year.
144
孝武帝太元十年四月，謝安出鎮廣陵，始發石頭，金鼓無故自破。 此木沴金之異也，天意也。 天戒若曰，安徒揚經略之聲，終無其實，鉦鼓不用之象也。 月餘，以疾還而薨。
In the fourth month of Taiyuan 10, when Xie An left Shitou to take post at Guangling, the bronze drums burst on their own. Metal drums failing showed cosmic reproof. Silent drums mocked empty strategy. He died weeks later.
145
視之不明，是謂不哲
Section: blurred vision — lack of discernment.
146
《傳》曰：「視之不明，是謂不哲，厥咎舒，厥罰恆燠，厥極疾。 時則有草妖，時則有蠃蟲之孽，時則有羊禍，時則有目痾，時則有赤眚赤祥。 惟水沴火。」 視之不明，是謂不哲。 哲，知也。 《詩》云：「爾德不明，以亡陪亡卿。 不明爾德，以亡背亡側。」 言上不明，暗昧蔽惑，則不能知善惡，親近習，長同類，亡功者受賞，有罪者不殺，百官廢亂，失在舒緩，故其咎舒也。 盛夏日長，暑以養物，政弛緩，故其罰常燠也。 燠則冬溫，春夏不和，傷病疾人，其極疾也。 誅不行則霜不殺草，繇臣下則殺不以時，故有草妖。 凡妖，貌則以服，言則以詩，聽則以聲。 視不以色者，五色，物之大分也，在於眚祥，故聖人以為草妖，失物柄之明者也。 溫燠生蟲，故有蠃蟲之孽，謂螟螣之類當死不死，當生而不生，或多於故而為災也。 劉歆以為屬思心不容。 于《易》，剛而苞柔為《離》，《離》為火，為目。 羊上角下蹄，剛而苞柔，羊大目而不精明，視氣毀，故有羊禍。 一日，暑歲羊多疫死，及為怪，亦是也。 及人，則多病目者，故有目痾。 火色赤，故有赤眚赤祥。 凡視傷者，病火氣； 火氣傷，則水沴之。 其極疾者順之，其福曰壽。 劉歆《視傳》曰有羽蟲之孽，雞禍。 說以為于天文南方硃張為鳥星，故為羽蟲。 禍亦從羽，故為雞。 雞于《易》自在《巽》，說非是。
The Commentary says: "When sight is not clear it is called lack of wisdom; its fault is slackness; its punishment constant heat; its extreme sickness. Then arise grass portents; then soft-shelled insect calamities; then sheep disasters; then eye diseases; then red ill-omens and red signs. Only water harms fire." The refrain on benighted rule. Zhe glosses as understanding. The Book of Songs says: "Your virtue not bright — you lose aides, you lose ministers. Not bright your virtue — you lose backs, you lose flanks." Obscure sovereigns muddle personnel until bureaucracy collapses — the "slack" blame. Lax rule draws the scourge of endless summer. Mild winters and sickly seasons mark the nadir. Untimely justice lets weeds thrive — "grass omens." Omens dress as costume, verse, or noise. Because color vision fails, sages read plant freaks as blurred rule. Heat-born vermin mean soft-shell plagues. Liu Xin linked it to undisciplined thought. The Li hexagram pairs fire with the eye. Sheep embody dim vision — "sheep calamity." Summer sheep epidemics count the same. Humanity suffers ocular plague. Scarlet sky-wounds follow fire's phase. Hurt vision means hurt flame-element. Water then overwhelms fire. Heal that worst and the boon is long life. Liu Xin adds fowl portents. The Vermilion Bird mansion governs winged pests. Plumed ill luck targets poultry. The chicken-Sun linkage is rejected.
147
庶征之恆燠，劉向以為《春秋》無冰也。 小燠不書，無冰然後書，舉其大者也。 京房《易傳》曰：「祿不遂行茲謂欺，廝咎燠。 其燠，雨雲四至而溫。 臣安祿樂逸茲謂亂，燠而生蟲。 知罪不誅茲謂舒，其燠，夏則暑殺人，冬則物華實。 重過不誅茲謂亡征，其咎當寒而燠盡六日也。」
Liu Xiang read perpetual warmth as iceless winters. Annalists note only total failure of winter freeze. Jing Fang's Treatise says: "When emoluments are not justly dispensed it is called deceit — its fault is heat. Its heat: rain clouds come from four sides yet it stays warm. When ministers are content and idle it is called disorder — heat breeds insects. When known crimes go unpunished it is called slackness; its heat kills people in summer yet ripens fruit in winter. When grave faults go unexecuted it is called omens of extinction; the fault should be cold yet heat lasts six full days."
148
吳孫亮建興元年九月，桃李華，孫權世政煩賦重，人凋於役。 是時諸葛恪始輔政，息校官，原逋責，除關梁，崇寬厚，此舒緩之應也。 一說桃李寒華為草妖，或屬華孽。
In Wu, in Sun Liang's Jianxing 1.9, peach and plum trees bloomed out of season; under Sun Quan, heavy taxes and service had already worn the people down. Ke's reforms briefly softened the regime — matching the omen. Some filed the blooms under "grass anomaly."
149
魏少帝景元三年十月，桃李華。 時少帝深樹恩德，事崇優緩，此其應也。
In the tenth month of Jingyuan 3 under the young Wei emperor, peach and plum trees bloomed out of season. His indulgent style explained the sign.
150
惠帝元康二年二月，巴西郡界草皆生華，結子如麥，可食。 時帝初即位，楚王瑋矯詔誅汝南王亮及太保衛瓘，帝不能察。 今非時草結實，此恆燠寬舒之罰。
In the second month of Yuankang 2 under Emperor Hui, Baxi grasses flowered and set edible wheat-like seed. Sima Wei's coup caught the new throne blind. Untimely grain on weeds bespoke thermal slackness.
151
穆帝永和九年十二月，桃李華，是時簡文輔政，事多馳略，舒緩之應也。
In the twelfth month of Yonghe 9 under Emperor Mu, peach and plum trees bloomed in winter, matching the lax administration while Jianwen assisted the government.
152
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Divider.
153
草妖
Subsection: vegetal omens.
154
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Divider.
155
漢獻帝建安二十五年春正月，魏武帝在洛陽起建始殿，伐濯龍樹而血出，又掘徙梨，根傷亦血出。 帝惡之，遂寢疾，是月崩。 蓋草妖，又赤祥，是歲魏文帝黃初元年也。
In the first month of spring, Jian’an 25, Cao Cao’s Luoyang construction drew blood from trees: the Zhuolong tree bled when cut, and a transplanted pear bled from its roots. He sickened and died the same month. The sign was classed as both a grass portent and a red omen, in the first year of Cao Pi’s Huangchu reign.
156
吳孫亮五鳳元年六月，交阯稗草化為稻。 昔三苗將亡，五穀變種，此草妖也。 其後亮廢。
In the sixth month of Wufeng 1 under Sun Liang of Wu, Jiaozhi barnyard grass turned into rice. Ancient precedent: mutating crops meant doom. Sun Liang fell soon after.
157
蜀劉禪景耀五年，宮中大樹無故自折。 譙周憂之，無所與言，乃書柱曰：「眾而大，其之會。 具而授，若何復。」 言曹者眾也，魏者大也，眾而大，天下其當會也。 具而授，如何復有立者乎？ 蜀果亡，如周言，此草妖也。
In Jingyao 5 under Liu Shan of Shu, a great palace tree broke without cause. Qiao Zhou fretted, spoke to no one, wrote on a pillar: "Many and great — there will be a gathering. Complete then handed over — how can there be restoration?" The riddle spelled Cao-Wei swallowing Shu. No dynasty could follow once mandate was yielded. The tree break was vegetal omen.
158
吳孫皓天璽元年，吳郡臨平湖自漢末穢塞，是時一夕忽開除無草。 長老相傳：此湖塞，天下亂； 此湖開，天下平。 吳尋亡而九服為一。
In Tianxi 1 under Sun Hao, Linping Lake, clogged since late Han, suddenly cleared overnight. Folk wisdom tied the lake to order. An open lake meant unity. Wu's conquest followed.
159
天紀三年八月，建鄴有鬼目菜于工黃狗家生，依緣棗樹，長丈餘，莖廣四寸，厚二分。 又有蕒菜生工吳平家，高四尺，如枇杷形，上圓，徑一尺八寸，莖廣五寸，兩邊生葉，綠色。 東觀案圖，名鬼目作芝萆，蕒菜作平慮，遂以狗為侍芝郎，平為平慮郎，皆銀印青綬。 干寶曰：明年平吳，王浚止船正得平渚，姓名顯然，指事之征也。 黃狗者，吳以土運承漢，故初有黃龍之瑞。 及其季年，而有鬼目之妖托黃狗之家。 黃稱不改，而貴賤大殊，天道精微之應敢也。
In the third year of Tianji, Weird vines sprouted on a craftsman's jujube. A second freak crop rose at Wu Ping's door. The court jokingly ennobled the plants and artisans. Gan Bao read the names as prophecy of conquest. Yellow stood for Wu's earth succession. Late Wu paired yellow dogs with demon vines. Same hue, opposite fortune — Heaven's irony.
160
惠帝元康二年春，巴西郡界竹生花，紫色，結實如麥，外皮青，中赤白，味甘。
In spring of Yuankang 2 under Emperor Hui, Baxi bamboo flowered purple and fruited like sweet wheat.
161
元康九年六月庚子，有桑生東宮西廂，日長尺餘，甲辰枯死。 此與殷太戊同妖，太子不能悟，故至廢戮也。 班固稱「野木生朝而暴長，小人將暴居大臣之位，危國亡家之象，朝將為墟也。」 是後孫秀、張林用事，遂至大亂。
On gengzi in the sixth month of Yuankang 9, a mulberry shot up in the Eastern Palace’s west wing, grew more than a chi a day, and died on jiachen. Like Shang precedent, the crown prince ignored the sign. Ban Gu said: "Wild wood in court growing wildly means petty men will usurp ministers' seats — image of state ruin; the court will be waste." Jia Nanfeng's minions fulfilled it.
162
永康元年四月，立皇孫臧為皇太孫。 五月甲子，就東宮，桑又生於西廂。 明年，趙王倫篡位，鴆殺臧，此與湣懷同妖也。 是月，壯武國有桑化為柏，而張華遇害。 壯武，華之封邑也。
In the first year of Yongkang, Sima Zang became heir-apparent. The mulberry returned when Zang entered. Lun's coup killed Zang like earlier heirs. Mulberry-cypress shift coincided with Zhang Hua's death. The omen struck his domain.
163
孝懷帝永嘉二年冬，項縣桑樹有聲如解材，人謂之桑樹哭。 案劉向說，「桑者喪也」，又為哭聲，不祥之甚。 是時京師虛弱，胡寇交侵，東海王越無衛國之心，四年冬季而南出，五年春薨於此城。 石勒邀其眾，圍而射之，王公以下至眾庶，死者十餘萬人。 又剖越棺，焚其屍。 是敗也，中原無所請命，洛京亦尋覆沒，桑哭之應也。
In the winter of Yongjia 2 under Emperor Huai, a Xiang county mulberry sounded like splitting wood, so people called it “the mulberry tree crying.” Liu Xiang said: "Mulberry sounds like mourning"; also weeping — utmost ill omen. Sima Yue abandoned Luoyang and died on campaign. Shi Le massacred Yue's army. Le violated Yue's grave. The fall of Jin answered the crying trees.
164
六年五月，無錫縣有四株茱萸樹，相樛而生，狀若連理。 先是，郭景純筮延陵蝘鼠，遇《臨》之《益》，曰：「後當復有妖樹生，若瑞而非，辛螫之木也，儻有此，東西數百里必有作逆者。」 及此木生，其後徐馥果作亂，亦草妖也。 郭又以為「木不曲直」。 其七月，豫章郡有樟樹久枯，是月忽更榮茂，與漢昌邑枯社復生同占。 是懷湣淪陷之征，元帝中興之應也。
Dogwood trees fused in Wuxi. Earlier Guo Pu divined Yanling mole-crickets, drew Lin changing to Yi, said: "Later an uncanny tree will grow — seeming auspicious yet not, a biting acrid wood; if so within several hundred li east-west a rebel will rise." Xu Fu's rising matched the dogwood. Guo also classed it as "wood not straight or bent." A dead camphor greened like Han portents. It foretold lost north and southern revival.
165
明帝太寧元年九月，會稽剡縣木生如人面。 是後王敦稱兵作逆，禍敗無成。 昔漢哀成之世並有此妖，而人貌備具，故春禍亦大。 今此但如人面而已，故其變也輕矣。
In the ninth month of Taining 1 under Emperor Ming, a tree in Shan county bore a human-face shape. Wang Dun's revolt followed. Han precedents were graver. A partial face meant milder trouble.
166
成帝五月癸亥，曲阿有柳樹枯倒六載，是日忽復起生，至九年五月甲戌，吳縣吳雄家有死榆樹，是日因風雨起生，與漢上林斷柳起生同象。 初，康帝為吳王，于時雖改封琅邪，而猶食吳郡為邑，是帝越正體饗國之象也。 曲阿先亦吳地，象見吳邑雄之舍，又天意乎！
In Emperor Cheng's fifth month, on guihai, a willow at Qu'a that had lain withered for six years suddenly rose and lived again. In the fifth month of the ninth year, on jiaxu, a dead elm at Wu Xiong's house in Wu County likewise rose and lived again amid wind and rain, the same omen as the broken willow that revived in Han Shanglin Park. Sima Dan's Wu income foretold his succession. The sites all tied to Wu and the future emperor.
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哀帝興寧三年五月癸卯，廬陵西昌縣修明家有僵栗樹，是日忽復起生。 時孝武年始四歲，俄而哀帝崩，海西即位，未幾而廢，簡文越自籓王，入纂大業，登阼享國，又不逾二年，而孝武嗣統。 帝諱昌明，識者竊謂西昌修明之祥，帝諱實應焉。 是亦與漢宣帝同象也。
On guimao in the fifth month of Xingning 3 under Emperor Ai, a dead chestnut tree at Xiu Ming’s house in Xichang revived. The tree marked the whirl of four emperors. Place names echoed Sima Yao's taboo. Parallels were drawn to Liu Xun.
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海西太和元年，涼州楊樹生松。 天戒若曰，松者不改柯易葉，楊者柔脆之木，今松生於楊，豈非永久之業將集危亡之地邪？ 是時張天錫稱雄於涼州，尋而降苻堅。
In Taihe 1 under the Duke of Haixi, Liangzhou poplars sprouted pine growth. Hard pine on soft poplar mocked false permanence. Tianxi's brief independence ended in Qin conquest.
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孝武太元十四年六月，建甯郡銅樂縣枯樹斷折，忽然自立相屬。 京房《易傳》曰：「棄正作淫，厥妖木斷自屬。 妃後有專，木僕反立。」 是時正道多僻，其後張夫人專寵，及帝崩，兆庶歸咎張氏焉。
In the sixth month of Taiyuan 14 under Emperor Xiaowu, a broken dead tree in Tongle, Jianning, stood itself upright and rejoined. Jing Fang says: "Abandon rectitude for debauchery — its portent: timber breaks yet joins itself. When consorts monopolize favor, fallen wood stands upright." The omen was read against a crooked court: Lady Zhang later monopolized favor, and when the emperor died, common opinion blamed the Zhangs.
170
安帝元興三年，荊、江二州界竹生實，如麥。
In Yuanxing 3 under Emperor An, bamboo between Jing and Jiang fruited like wheat.
171
義熙二年九月，揚武將軍營士陳蓋家有苦蕒菜，莖高四尺六寸，廣三尺二寸，厚三寸，亦草妖也。 此殆與吳終同象。 識者以為苦蕒者，買勤苦也。 自後歲歲征討，百姓勞苦，是買苦也。 十餘年中，姚泓滅，兵始戢，是苦蕒之應也。
In the ninth month of Yixi 2, a giant bitter herb grew in soldier Chen Gai’s barracks household, another grass portent. It echoed Wu's final omens. Kǔ mǎi punned on purchased toil. Endless war bought national suffering. Yao Hong's fall ended the campaigns.
172
義熙中，宮城上及御道左右皆生蒺藜，亦草妖也。 蒺藜有刺，不可踐而行。 生宮牆及馳道，天戒若曰，人君不聽政，雖有宮室馳道，若空廢也，故生蒺藜。
Jiankang's walls sprouted caltrops. Caltrops barred the avenues. Heaven turned avenues into brambles for an idle throne.
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羽蟲之孽
Subsection: avian omens.
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Divider.
176
魏文帝黃初四年五月，有鵜鶘鳥集靈芝池。 案劉向說，此羽蟲之孽，又青祥也。 詔曰：「此詩人所謂汙澤者也。 《曹詩》『刺共公遠君子近小人』，今豈有賢智之士處於下位，否則斯鳥何為而至哉！ 其博舉天下俊德茂才獨行君子，以答曹人之刺。」 於是楊彪、管寧之徒咸見薦舉，些所謂睹妖知懼者也。 然猶不能優容亮直而多溺偏私矣。 京房《易傳》曰「辟退有德，厥妖水鳥集于國中」。
In the fifth month of Huangchu 4 under Wei Emperor Wen, pelicans gathered at Lingzhi Pool. Liu Xiang filed pelicans under green portents. An edict said: "This is what poets call the fouled marsh. The Cao ode "rebukes Duke Gong for shunning gentlemen and cherishing petty men" — are wise men now stuck in low posts, else why would this bird come? Let all recommend outstanding talent, solitary integrity, and gentlemen — answering the Cao people's satire." Notables were nominated in response. Favoritism persisted despite the scare. Jing Fang says: "When you cast aside virtue waterfowl gather in the capital."
177
黃初元年，未央宮中又有燕生鷹，口爪俱赤，此與商紂、宋隱同象。
A swallow hatched a hawk in the Wei harem — ancient tyrants' omen.
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景初元年，又有燕生巨鷇於衛國李蓋家，形若鷹，吻似燕，此羽蟲之孽，又赤眚也。 高堂隆曰：「此魏室之大異，宜防鷹揚之臣于蕭牆之內。」 其後宣帝起誅曹爽，遂有魏室。
A second freak hatchling augured Cao Wei's end. Gao Tang Long said: "This is Wei's great prodigy — guard against hawk-like ministers inside the screen wall." Sima Yi purged Shuang and seized power.
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漢獻帝建安二十三年，禿鶖鳥集鄴宮文昌殿后池。 明年，魏武王薨。 魏文帝黃初三年，又集雒陽芳林園池。 七年，又集。 其夏，文帝崩。 景初末，又集芳林園池。 已前再至，輒有大喪，帝惡之。 其年，明帝崩。
In Jian’an 23 under Han Emperor Xian, pelicans gathered behind Wenchang Hall at Ye. Cao Cao perished the next year. In Huangchu 3 under Wei Emperor Wen, the pelicans returned to Fanglin Garden in Luoyang. A third massing occurred in year seven. Cao Pi died that summer. Late Ming-di saw another flock. Cao Rui dreaded the double visitation. He died the same year.
180
蜀劉禪建興九年十月，江陽至江州有鳥從江南飛渡江北，不能達，墮水死者以千數。 是時諸葛亮連年動眾，志吞中夏，而終死渭南，所圖不遂。 又諸將分爭，頗喪徒旅，鳥北飛不能達墮水死者，皆有其象也。 亮竟不能過渭，又其應乎！ 此與漢時楚國烏鬥墮泗水粗類矣。
In the tenth month of Jianxing 9 under Liu Shan of Shu, thousands of birds drowned trying to cross the Yangtze northward between Jiangyang and Jiangzhou. Zhuge's northern drives stalled at Wei River. The drownings mirrored Shu's failed offensives. He never crossed the river — the omen held. Historians recalled Han crow omens.
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景初元年，陵霄闕始構，有鵲巢其上。 鵲體白黑雜色，此羽蟲之孽，又白黑祥也。 帝以問高堂隆，對曰：「《詩》云『惟鵲有巢，惟鳩居之』，今興起宮室而鵲來巢，此宮室未成身不得居之象也。 天戒若曰，宮室未成，將有他姓制御之，不可不深慮。」 於是帝改顏動色。
Magpies built on the new tower. Pied magpies doubled as yin-yang portent. The emperor asked Gao Tang Long, who replied: "The Book of Songs says, 'The magpie has a nest; the turtledove dwells in it.' Now palaces are being raised and magpies come to nest; this is the image that the palace halls are unfinished and your person cannot dwell in them. Heaven's warning is as if to say: the palace halls are unfinished, and another surname will control them; this must be pondered deeply." Cao Rui blanched at the gloss.
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吳孫權赤烏十二年四月，有兩烏銜鵲墮東館，權使領丞相硃據燎鵲以祭。 案劉歆說，此羽蟲之孽，又黑祥也。 視不明、聽不聰之罰也。 是時權意溢德衰，信讒好殺，二子將危，將相俱殆，睹妖不悟，加之以燎，昧道之甚者也。 明年，太子和廢，魯王霸賜死，硃據左遷，陸議憂卒，是其應也。 東館，典教之府； 鵲墮東館，又天意乎？
In the fourth month of Chiwu 12 under Sun Quan, crows dropped a magpie at the Eastern Lodge, and Zhu Ju was ordered to burn it in sacrifice. Black-bird symbolism applied. The court had mis-seen and mis-heard. Sun Quan burned the omen and deepened his moral blindness. The succession war consumed his heirs and ministers. Dongguan housed education. The drop-site magnified the warning.
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吳孫權太元二年正月，封前太子和為南陽王，遣之長沙，有鵲巢其帆檣。 和故宮僚聞之，皆憂慘，以為檣末傾危，非久安之象。 是後果不得其死。
In the first month of Taiyuan 2 under Sun Quan, when the former heir He was sent to Changsha as Prince of Nanyang, magpies nested on his ship’s mast. His retinue saw disaster in the rigging. Sun He died violently.
184
孫亮建興二年十一月，有大鳥五見於春申，吳人以為鳳皇。 明年，改元為五鳳。 漢桓帝時有五色大鳥，司馬彪云：「政道衰缺，無以致鳳，乃羽蟲孽耳。」 孫亮未有德政，孫峻驕暴方甚，此與桓帝同事也。 案《瑞應圖》，大鳥似鳳而為孽者非一，宜皆是也。
In the eleventh month of Jianxing 2 under Sun Liang, five great birds appeared at Chunshen and were hailed in Wu as phoenixes. The reign title echoed the five birds. Han Emperor Huan had a five-colored great bird; Sima Biao said: "With decayed government you cannot summon a phoenix — only feathered calamity." Li matched Huan's debased court. According to the Ruiying tu, more than one great bird resembled a phoenix but was actually an omen of disorder; these should all have been such birds.
185
孫皓建衡三年，西苑言鳳皇集，以之改元，義同於亮。
In Jianheng 3 under Sun Hao, a supposed phoenix gathering in the Western Park prompted an era-name change, much like Sun Liang’s omen.
186
武帝泰始四年八月，有翟雉飛上閶闔門。 天戒若曰，閶闔門非雉所止，猶殷宗雉登鼎耳之戒也。
In the eighth month of the fourth year of Taishi under Emperor Wu, a long-tailed pheasant perched on Changhe Gate. The gate omen recalled Shang dynasty precedent.
187
惠帝永康元年，趙王倫既篡，京師得異鳥，莫能名。 倫使人持出，周旋城邑市以問人。 積日，宮西有小兒見之，遂自言曰：「服留鳥翳。」 持者即還白倫，倫使更求，又見之，乃將入宮，密籠鳥，並閉小兒戶中，明日視之，悉不見。 此羽蟲之孽。 時趙王倫有目瘤之疾，言服留者，謂倫留將服其罪也。 尋而倫誅。
In Yongkang 1 under Emperor Hui, after Sima Lun’s usurpation, the capital captured an unnamed strange bird. Paraded the bird for identification. After days a western-slum boy saw it and said: "It is the 'stay-cloak' bird." Lun imprisoned bird and prophet — both disappeared. Another winged portent. The pun foretold Lun's execution. Sima Lun fell quickly.
188
趙王倫篡位，有鶉入太極殿，雉集東堂。 天戒若曰，太極東堂皆朝享聽政之所，而鶉雉同日集之者，趙王倫不當居此位也。 《詩》云：「鵲之強強，鶉之奔奔，人之無良，我以為君。」 其此之謂乎！ 尋而倫誅。
Game birds invaded the throne hall. Twin fowl barred his legitimacy. The Book of Songs says: "Magpie strong-strong, quail darting — the man lacks goodness — I make him lord." Editors applied the ode to Lun. He died as foretold.
189
孝懷帝永嘉元年二月，洛陽東北步廣裏地陷，有蒼白二色鵝出，蒼者飛翔沖天，白者止焉。 此羽蟲之孽，又黑白祥也。 陳留董養曰：「步廣，周之狄泉，盟會地也。 白者，金色，國之行也。 蒼為胡象，其可盡言乎？」 是後，劉元海、石勒相繼亂華。
In the second month of Yongjia 1 under Emperor Huai, a Luoyang sinkhole released two geese: the blue-green bird flew skyward and the white one remained. Dual-colored fowl marked ethnic war. Dong Yang of Chenliu said: "Buguang is Zhou's Di Spring, covenant ground. White is metal color — the state's phase. Blue is Hu image — can one say all?" The barbarian onslaught followed.
190
明帝八月庚戌，有大鳥二，蒼黑色，翼廣一丈四尺，其一集司徒府，射而殺之，其一集市北家人舍，亦獲焉。 此羽蟲之孽，又黑祥也。 及閏月戊子而帝崩，後遂有蘇峻、祖約之亂。
Twin black birds presaged Ming-di's death. Dark wings signaled mourning. Su Jun's mutiny followed the birds.
191
成帝咸和二年正月，有五鷗鳥集殿庭，此又白祥也。 是時庾亮苟違眾謀，將召蘇峻，有言不從之咎，故白祥先見也。 三年二月，峻果作亂，宮掖焚毀，化為汙萊，此其應也。
In the first month of Xianhe 2 under Emperor Cheng, five gulls alighted in the court, another white omen. Yu Liang's stubbornness prefaced white gulls. Su Jun torched the inner palace.
192
咸康八年七月，有白鷺集殿屋。 是時康帝初即位，不永之祥也。 後涉再期而帝崩。 案劉向曰：「野鳥入處，宮室將空。」 此其應也。
In the eighth year of Xiankang, Egrets settled on the tiles. They augured Kang's brief rule. He died within two years. Liu Xiang says: "Wild birds enter dwellings — palace will empty." Kang's death matched.
193
海西初以興寧三年二月即位，有野雉集於相風。 此羽蟲之孽也。 尋為桓溫所廢也。
When the Duke of Haixi first took the throne in the second month of Xingning 3, a wild pheasant perched on the wind-vane. Another fowl sign. Wen cast him down.
194
孝武帝太元十六年六月，鵲巢太極東頭鴟尾，又巢國子學堂西頭。 十八年東宮始成，十九年正月鵲又巢其西門。 此殆與魏景初同占。 學堂，風教所聚； 西頭，又金行之祥。 及帝崩後，安皇嗣位，桓玄遂篡，風教乃穨，金行不競之象也。
In the sixth month of Taiyuan 16 under Emperor Xiaowu, magpies nested both on Taiji Hall’s eastern roof ornament and on the west end of the National Academy hall. Crown prince halls drew magpies too. The parallel was Wei Ming-di's tower nest. The school was the moral heart of state ritual. The academy's west eaves matched Jin's metal element. From Xiaowu's death through An to Xuan, moral education collapsed — Jin metal waning.
195
安帝義熙三年，龍驤將軍硃猗戍壽陽。 婢炊飯，忽有群烏集灶，競來啄噉，婢驅遂不去。 有獵狗咋殺兩烏，余烏因共啄殺狗，又噉其肉，唯餘骨存。 此亦羽蟲之孽，又黑祥也。 明年六月，猗死，此其應也。
In Yixi 3 under Emperor An, General Zhu Yi was stationed at Shouyang. Crows swarmed the camp kitchen fire. Crows mobbed and devoured the hound. Black-winged strife marked the omen class. Zhu Yi died within the year.
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197
羊禍
Subsection: ovine portents.
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199
成帝咸和二年五月，司徒王導廄羊生無後足，此羊禍也。 京房《易傳》曰：「足少者，下不勝任也。」 明年，蘇峻破京都，導與帝俱幽石頭，僅乃得免，是其應也。
In the fifth month of Xianhe 2 under Emperor Cheng, one of Wang Dao’s stable sheep was born without hind legs, a sheep disaster. Jing Fang says: "Too few feet — those below cannot bear the load." Su Jun's coup trapped Wang Dao with the boy emperor.
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201
赤眚赤祥
Subsection: scarlet anomalies.
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203
公孫文懿時，襄平北市生肉，長圍各數尺，有頭目口喙，無手足而動搖，此赤祥也。 占曰：「有形不成，有體不聲，其國滅亡。」 文懿尋為魏所誅。
Self-moving meat appeared in Liaodong market. Divination says: "Form incomplete, body voiceless — its state will perish." Wei destroyed Wenyi swiftly.
204
吳戍將鄧喜殺豬祠神，治畢懸之，忽見一人頭往食肉，喜引弓射中之，咋咋作聲，繞屋三日，近赤祥也。 後人白喜謀北叛，闔門被誅。 京房《易傳》曰：「山見葆，江於邑，邑有兵，狀如人頭，赤色。」
A flying head feasted on Deng Xi's offering. Xi's family died for treason. Jing Fang says: "Mountain shows treasure, river in town, town has arms, shape like human head, red."
205
武帝太康五年四月壬子，魯國池水變赤如血。
In Emperor Wu's Taikang 5.4, on renzi, Lu's ponds turned blood-red.
206
七年十月，河陰有赤雪二頃。 此赤祥也。 是後四載而帝崩，王室遂亂。
Crimson snow covered Heyin fields. The crimson fall matched chi portents. Sima Yan perished; turmoil followed.
207
惠帝元康五年三月，呂縣有流血，東西百餘步，此赤祥也。 至元康末，窮凶極亂，僵屍流血之應也。 干寶以為「後八載而封雲亂徐州，殺傷數萬人」，是其應也。
In the third month of Yuankang 5 under Emperor Hui, blood flowed across more than a hundred paces of Lü county, a red omen. The War of the Eight Princes fulfilled the sign. Gan Bao thought: "Eight years later Feng Yun ravaged Xuzhou, killing tens of thousands" — its answer.
208
永康元年三月，尉氏雨血。 夫政刑舒緩，則有常燠赤祥之妖。 此歲正月，送湣懷太子，幽于許宮。 天戒若曰，不宜緩恣奸人，將使太子冤死。 惠帝愚眊不寤，是月湣懷遂斃。 於是王室成釁，禍流天下。 淖齒殺齊湣王日，天雨血沾衣。 天以告也，此之謂乎？ 京房《易傳》曰：「歸獄不解，茲謂追非，厥咎天雨血。 茲謂不親，下有噁心，不出三年，無其宗。」 又曰：「佞人祿，功臣戮，天雨血也。」
In the first year of Yongkang, Blood showered on Weishi. Lax justice invites thermal and sanguinary signs. Sima Yu was caged in first month. Heaven rebuked Jia Nanfeng's plot against the heir. Hui let his nephew be killed. Dynastic shame ignited civil war. Spring and Autumn parallel: blood rain on regicide. The classic blood-rain trope applied. Jing Fang says: "When guilt is not cleared it is called pursuing wrong — its fault heaven rains blood. This is called unfilial — below is malice — within three years the lineage ends." Also: "When sycophants have salary and merit ministers are slaughtered — heaven rains blood."
209
湣帝建興元年十二月，河東地震，雨肉。 四年十二月丙寅，丞相府斬督運令史淳于伯，血逆流上柱二丈三尺，此赤祥也。 是時，後將軍褚裒鎮廣陵，丞相揚聲北伐，伯以督運稽留及役使贓罪，依軍法戮之。 其息訴稱：「督運事訖，無所稽乏，受賕役使，罪不及死。 兵家之勢，先聲後實，實是屯戍，非為征軍。 自四年已來，運漕稽停，皆不以軍興法論。」 僚佐莫之理。 及有變，司直彈劾眾官，元帝不問，遂頻旱三年。 干寶以為冤氣之應也。 郭景純曰：「血者水類，同屬於《坎》。 《坎》為法象，水準潤下，不宜逆流。 此政有咎失之征也。」
In Emperor Min's Jianxing 1.12, Hedong shook and meat fell from the sky. Chunyu Bo's blood defied gravity in the ministry yard. Chu Ai and the minister framed Bo for logistics crimes. His son appealed: "Transport duty was finished — no delay; bribery and labor charges do not merit death. Military principle is threat before stroke; this was garrison duty, not expedition force. Since year four transport halts were never judged by martial law." Bureaucrats ignored the plea. Sima Rui's inaction brought triple drought. Gan Bao called it unjust-death weather. Guo Pu said: "Blood is water-class; it belongs to Kan. Kan is the image of law; water should moisten downward — it must not flow upward. This is a sign that government errs."
210
劉聰偽建元元年正月，平陽地震，其崇明觀陷為池，水赤如血，赤氣至天，有赤龍奮迅而去。 流星起於牽牛，入紫微，龍形委蛇，其光照地，落於平陽北十里。 視之則肉，臭聞於平陽。 長三十步，廣二十七步。 肉旁常有哭聲，晝夜不止。 數日，聰后劉氏產一蛇一獸，各害人而走。 尋之不得，頃之見於隕肉之旁。 是時，劉聰納劉殷三女，並為其后。 天戒若曰，聰既自稱劉姓，三后又俱劉氏，逆骨肉之綱，成人倫之則。 隕肉諸妖，其眚亦大。 俄而劉氏死，哭聲自絕矣。
In the first month of Liu Cong's illegitimate first year of Jianyuan, Pingyang shook, Chongming Observatory collapsed into a blood-red pool, red vapor rose to the sky, and a red dragon surged away. A draconic meteor fell north of Pingyang. The "meteor" was rotting meat. The carcass spanned thirty by twenty-seven paces. Wails rose from the meteoric flesh. Empress Liu whelped man-eating monsters. The creatures haunted the flesh-mound. Liu Cong stacked three Liu brides. Incestuous Liu matches drew Heaven's rebuke. The prodigies compounded. When the empresses perished the keening stopped.