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郭璞
Biography of Guo Pu.
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郭璞，字景純，河東聞喜人也。 父瑗，尚書都令史。 時尚書杜預有所增損，瑗多駁正之，以公方著稱。 終於建平太守。 璞好經術，博學有高才，而訥於言論，詞賦為中興之冠。 好古文奇字，妙於陰陽算曆。 有郭公者，客居河東，精于卜筮，璞從之受業。 公以《青囊中書》九卷與之，由是遂洞五行、天文、卜筮之術，攘災轉禍，通致無方，雖京房、管輅不能過也。 璞門人趙載嘗竊《青襄書》，未及讀，而為火所焚。
Guo Pu, courtesy name Jingchun, came from Wenxi in Hedong commandery. His father, Guo Yuan, served as secretary chief clerk of the Ministry of State. Whenever Du Yu revised protocols Guo Yuan corrected his slips so steadily that contemporaries praised his fairness. He died in office as governor of Jianping. Guo Pu loved classical learning and mastered many disciplines despite awkward speech; poets ranked his fu verse foremost among the Restoration authors. He cherished archaic characters and excelled at yin-yang numerology and calendar science. A visitor called Master Guo practiced divination west of the river, and Guo Pu apprenticed himself to him. The master handed him nine volumes of The Satchel of Azure Secrets; Guo Pu thereby mastered the Five Agents, astronomy, and milfoil divination, turning aside disasters with uncanny ease—skills said to eclipse Jing Fang and Guan Lu. Disciple Zhao Zai once stole the azure satchel text; flames consumed it before he could open a page.
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惠懷之際，河東先擾。 璞筮之，投策而歎曰：「嗟乎！ 黔黎將湮於異類，桑梓其翦為龍荒乎！」 於是潛結姻昵及交遊數十家，欲避地東南。 抵將軍趙固，會固所乘良馬死，固惜之，不接賓客。 璞至，門吏不為通。 璞曰：「吾能活馬。」 吏驚入白固。 固趨出，曰：「君能活吾馬乎？」 璞曰：「得健夫二三十人，皆持長竿，東行三十里，有丘林社廟者，便以竿打拍，當得一物，宜急持歸。 得此，馬活矣。」 固如其言，果得一物似猴，持歸。 此物見死馬，便噓吸其鼻。 頃之馬起，奮迅嘶鳴，食如常，不復見向物。 固奇之，厚加資給。
Between Emperors Hui and Huai turmoil struck Hedong first. Guo Pu cast the milfoil, threw down the stalks, and cried: "Alas! The black-haired people will be drowned among alien kinds; will our mulberry home be cut down into dragon wasteland?" He then quietly tied marriage ties and travel bonds with dozens of families, planning to escape southeast. He came to General Zhao Gu while Zhao's prized mount had died; Zhao mourned the beast and refused visitors. Gatekeepers barred Guo Pu when he arrived. Guo Pu said: "I can bring the horse back to life." Startled guards rushed within to tell Zhao Gu. Zhao Gu hurried forth demanding: "Can you truly revive my horse?" Guo Pu instructed: "Take twenty or thirty sturdy men with long poles. Thirty li east stand hills, woods, and village shrines; beat every shrine until something appears—snatch it and run home. Bring that thing here and the horse will rise." Zhao Gu obeyed; his men returned clutching a monkey-like creature. Set beside the corpse it breathed into the nostrils. Moments later the horse lurched up, neighed, and fed as always while the creature vanished. Zhao Gu stood amazed and rewarded him lavishly.
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行至廬江，太守胡孟康被丞相召為軍諮祭酒。 時江淮清宴，孟康安之，無心南渡。 璞為占曰「敗」。 康不之信。 璞將促裝去之，愛主人婢，無由而得，乃取小豆三斗，繞主人宅散之。 主人晨見赤衣人數千圍其家，就視則滅，甚惡之，請璞為卦。 璞曰：「君家不宜畜此婢，可于東南二十里賣之，慎勿爭價，則此妖可除也。」 主人從之。 璞陰令人賤買此婢。 復為符投于井中，數千赤衣人皆反縛，一一自投于井，主人大悅。 璞攜婢去。 後數旬而廬江陷。
At Lujiang, Prefect Hu Mengkang received summons from the chancellor to serve as army counsellor and libationer. The Yangzi region seemed tranquil, so Hu rested easy and saw no need to flee south. Guo Pu divined for him and said, "Defeat." Hu Mengkang refused to credit it. Guo Pu meant to pack out yet coveted his host's maid; unable to win her openly he scattered three pecks of beans around the compound. At dawn the host saw thousands of red figures ringing his halls; they vanished on approach. Uneasy, he asked Guo Pu for a reading. Guo Pu said: "Your household should not keep this maidservant. Sell her twenty li to the southeast, and be careful not to haggle over the price; then this haunting can be removed." The master complied. Guo Pu secretly sent buyers to purchase her cheap. He dropped another charm into the well; thousands of red phantoms appeared bound hand and foot and plunged after it, delighting the host. Guo Pu walked away with the girl. Within weeks Lujiang fell to the enemy.
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璞既過江，宣城太守殷祐引為參軍。 時有物大如水牛，灰色卑腳，腳類象，胸前尾上皆白，大力而遲鈍，來到城下，眾咸異焉。 祐使人伏而取之，令璞作卦，遇《遁》之《蠱》，其卦曰：「《艮》體連《乾》，其物壯巨。 山潛之畜，匪兕匪武。 身與鬼並，精見二午。 法當為禽，兩靈不許。 遂被一創，還其本墅。 按卦名之，是為驢鼠。」 卜適了，伏者以戟刺之，深尺餘，遂去不復見。 郡綱紀上祠，請殺之。 巫云：「廟神不悅，曰：『此是䢼亭驢山君鼠，使詣荊山，暫來過我，不須觸之。』」 其精妙如此。 祐遷石頭督護，璞復隨之。 時有鼯鼠出延陵，璞占之曰：「此郡東當有妖人欲稱制者，尋亦自死矣。 後當有妖樹生，然若瑞而非瑞，辛螫之木也。 儻有此者，東南數百里必有作逆者，期明年矣。」 無錫縣欻有茱萸四株交枝而生，若連理者，其年盜殺吳興太守袁琇。 或以問璞，璞曰：「卯爻發而沴金，此木不曲直而成災也。」 王導深重之，引參己軍事。 嘗令作卦，璞言：「公有震厄，可命駕西出數十里，得一柏樹，截斷如身長，置常寢處，災當可消矣。」 導從其言。 數日果震，柏樹粉碎。
After crossing the Yangzi Guo Pu joined Xuancheng prefect Yin You as military adviser. A beast as big as a buffalo—grey hide, stub legs like an elephant's, white chest and tail—strong but sluggish—appeared below the walls and amazed everyone. Yin You had it trapped and told Guo Pu to divine; the cast ran Retreat turning into Corruption: "Gen rests upon Qian—the beast is massive. A creature lurking in the hills—neither rhinoceros nor tiger. Its body mingles ghosts; omens pair on the noon stems. Justice names it prey, yet twin spirits withhold consent. One wound drives it home to its mountain den. Name it by the hexagram—call it the donkey-rat." As soon as the reading ended ambushers thrust halberds a foot deep; the thing fled unseen. County officers petitioned the shrine gods for permission to kill it. The shaman said: "The temple spirit is displeased and says, 'This is Lord Rat of Donkey Mountain at Gongting. He is being sent to Jing Mountain and has only come to pass by me for a while; you need not touch him.'" His subtle skill was like this. When Yin You moved to command Stone Citadel Guo Pu followed. When a giant flying squirrel appeared at Yanling Guo Pu foretold: "East of this commandery a sorcerer will seize the mandate—and soon perish. Later an uncanny tree will sprout—looking auspicious yet poisonous as nettles. Should it appear, rebels will stir within a few hundred li southeast within the coming year." Cornus trees in Wuxi suddenly intertwined like paired trunks; that year bandits slew Wuxing prefect Yuan Xiu. Someone asked Guo Pu about it, and Pu said: "The mao line was activated and harmed Metal; this is Wood not being bent or straight and becoming disaster." Wang Dao esteemed him and brought him onto staff. Wang Dao once had him make a hexagram, and Guo Pu said: "My lord has a thunder calamity. You may order your carriage driven several tens of li west, obtain a cypress tree, cut it to the length of your body, and place it where you normally sleep; the disaster should then be dispelled." Wang Dao obeyed. Days later lightning struck and shattered the timber.
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時元帝初鎮鄴，導令璞筮之，遇《咸》之《井》，璞曰：「東北郡縣有『武』名者，當出鐸，以著受命之符。 西南郡縣有『陽』名者，井當沸。」 其後晉陵武進縣人于田中得銅鐸五枚，曆陽縣中井沸，經日乃止。 及帝為晉王，又使璞筮，遇《豫》之《睽》，璞曰：「會稽當出鐘，以告成功，上有勒銘，應在人家井泥中得之。 繇辭所謂'先王以作樂崇德，殷薦之上帝'者也。」 及帝即位，太興初，會稽剡縣人果于井中得一鐘，長七寸二分，口徑四寸半，上有古文奇書十八字，云「會稽嶽命」，余字時人莫識之。 璞曰：「蓋王者之作，必有靈符，塞天人之心，與神物合契，然後可以言受命矣。 觀五鐸啟號于晉陵，棧鐘告成於會稽，瑞不失類，出皆以方，豈不偉哉！ 若夫鐸發其響，鐘征其象，器以數臻，事以實應，天人之際不可不察。」 帝甚重之。
While Yuan Emperor still held Ye Wang Dao had Guo Pu cast lots; the hexagram ran Concord turning into Well: "A county northeast bearing the syllable Wu will yield bronze clappers proving Heaven's mandate. Where southwest counties bear Yang in their names village wells will boil." Soon peasants at Wujin in Jinling dug up five bronze bells while wells seethed in Liyang for days. After Sima Rui became Jin prince Guo Pu cast again; Rest turning into Opposition foretold: "Kuaiji will yield a triumph bell bearing an inscription dredged from household wells. This matches Xi Ci's line that ancient kings shaped music to magnify virtue and offered it lavishly on high." After the emperor ascended the throne, early in Taixing, people of Shan county in Kuaiji indeed found a bell in a well. It was seven cun and two fen long, its mouth was four and a half cun across, and on it were eighteen strange archaic characters saying "Kuaiji Peak Mandate"; the people of the time did not recognize the remaining characters. Guo Pu declared: "True kings always earn spirit tallies that seal heaven and men's wills and align with sacred relics—only then may they speak of mandate. Five clappers hailed Jinling while Kuaiji's bell proclaimed completion—omens arrive by kind and quarter—is this not majestic! As for the clappers sending forth their sound and the bell verifying its image, implements arrived according to number and affairs answered in fact; the border between Heaven and man must be examined." The emperor prized him highly.
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璞著《江賦》，其辭甚偉，為世所稱。 後復作《南郊賦》，帝見而嘉之，以為著作佐郎。 于時陰陽錯繆，而刑獄繁興，璞上疏曰：臣聞《春秋》之義，貴元慎始，故分至啟閉以觀雲物，所以顯天人之統，存休咎之徵。 臣不揆淺見，輒依歲首粗有所占，卦得《解》之《既濟》。 案爻論思，方涉春木王龍德之時，而為廢水之氣來見乘，加升陽未布，隆陰仍積，《坎》為法象，刑獄所麗，變《坎》加《離》，厥象不燭。 以義推之，皆為刑獄殷繁，理有壅濫。 又去年十二月二十九日，太白蝕月。 月者屬《坎》，群陰之府，所以照察幽情，以佐太陽者也。 太白，金行之星，而來犯之，天意若曰刑理失中，自壞其所以為法者也。 臣術學庸近，不練內事，卦理所及，敢不盡言。 又去秋以來，沈雨跨年，雖為金家涉火之祥，然亦是刑獄充溢，怨歎之氣所致。 往建興四年十二月中，行丞相令史淳于伯刑于市，而血逆流長標。 伯者小人，雖罪在未允，何足感動靈變，致若斯之怪邪！ 明皇天所以保祐金家，子愛陛下，屢見災異，殷勤無已。 陛下宜側身思懼，以應靈譴。 皇極之謫，事不虛降。 不然，恐將來必有愆陽苦雨之災，崩震薄蝕之變，狂狡蠢戾之妖，以益陛下旰食之勞也。 臣謹尋按舊經，《尚書》有五事供禦之術，京房《易傳》有消復之救，所以緣咎而致慶，因異而邁政。 故木不生庭，太戊無以隆；雉不鳴鼎，武丁不為宗。 夫寅畏者所以饗福，怠傲者所以招患，此自然之符應，不可不察也。 案《解卦》繇云：「君子以赦過宥罪。」 《既濟》云：「思患而豫防之。」 臣愚以為宜發哀矜之詔，引在予之責，蕩除瑕釁，贊陽布惠，使幽斃之人應蒼生以悅育，否滯之氣隨穀風而紓散。 此亦寄時事以制用，藉開塞而曲成者也。 臣竊觀陛下貞明仁恕，體之自然，天假其祚，奄有區夏，啟重光於已昧，廓四祖之遐武，祥靈表瑞，人鬼獻謀，應天順時，殆不尚此。 然陛下即位以來，中興之化未闡，雖躬綜萬機，勞逾日昃，玄澤未加於群生，聲教未被乎宇宙，臣主未甯於上，黔細未輯於下，《鴻雁》之詠不興，康衢之歌不作者，何也？ 杖道之情未著，而任刑之風先彰，經國之略未震，而軌物之跡屢遷。 夫法令不一則人情惑，職次數改則覬覦生，官方不審則秕政作，懲勸不明則善惡渾，此有國者之所慎也。 臣竊為陛下惜之。 夫以區區之曹參，猶能遵蓋公之一言，倚清靖以鎮俗，寄市獄以容非，德音不忘，流詠於今。 漢之中宗，聰悟獨斷，可謂令主，然厲意刑名，用虧純德。 《老子》以禮為忠信之薄，況刑又是禮之糟粕者乎！ 夫無為而為之，不宰以宰之，固陛下之所體者也。 恥其君不為堯舜者，亦豈惟古人！ 是以敢肆狂瞽，不隱其懷。 若臣言可采，或所以為塵露之益；若不足采，所以廣聽納之門。 願陛下少留神鑒，賜察臣言。
Guo Pu's River Fu moved readers with its grandeur. His Southern Suburb Fu delighted the throne and earned appointment as assistant editor. At that time yin and yang were in confusion and criminal punishments and prisons were multiplying, so Guo Pu submitted a memorial: I have heard that the meaning of the Chunqiu values making the beginning correct and cautious; therefore the divisions, solstices, openings, and closings are used to observe clouds and phenomena, revealing the unity of Heaven and man and preserving signs of good and ill. I do not measure my shallow views, but roughly made a divination according to the beginning of the year, and the hexagram was Jie changing to Jiji. Examining the lines and considering them, we are just entering spring, when Wood is ascendant and dragon virtue is in season, yet the qi of spent Water has come to ride upon it; moreover rising yang has not yet spread, deep yin still accumulates, Kan is the image for law, prisons are what it attaches to, and when Kan changes and Li is added, the image is not bright. When this is inferred by meaning, all of it indicates that punishments and prisons are numerous and that principles are blocked and excessive. Also, on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month last year, Taibai eclipsed the moon. The moon belongs to Kan and is the storehouse of the many yin; it illuminates hidden feelings in order to assist the great yang. Taibai is the star of the Metal phase, and its coming to offend the moon is as if Heaven were saying that judicial principle has lost the mean and has damaged the very thing by which it makes law. My arts and learning are ordinary and shallow, and I am not practiced in inner affairs, but where hexagram principle reaches, I dare not fail to speak fully. Again, since last autumn, heavy rains have crossed into the new year. Although this is an omen of the Metal house crossing Fire, it is also caused by the qi of prisons and punishments overflowing and by resentment and sighs. In the twelfth month of the fourth year of Jianxing, acting Chancellor Clerk Chunyu Bo was executed in the market, and his blood flowed backward up the tall marker. Bo was a petty man, and though his guilt was not yet settled, how could he be enough to move numinous transformations and bring about a prodigy like this? This shows clearly that august Heaven protects the Metal house and loves Your Majesty like a son, repeatedly displaying disasters and anomalies with unceasing earnestness. Your Majesty should turn inward in fear and reflection in order to answer the numinous rebuke. Rebukes from the imperial pivot do not descend emptily. Otherwise, I fear that in the future there will certainly be disasters of excessive yang and bitter rains, changes of collapse, thunder, and eclipses, and portents of mad and perverse creatures, adding to Your Majesty's labor of eating late. I have carefully sought through the old classics: the Shangshu has arts for responding to the Five Matters, and Jing Fang's Yizhuan has rescues for waning and returning; these are ways to follow blame and bring about blessing, and to use anomalies to advance government. Thus, if the tree had not grown in the court, Taiwu would have had no way to flourish; if the pheasant had not cried on the cauldron, Wuding would not have become an ancestral lord. Reverent fear is what receives blessing, while indolence and arrogance are what summon disaster; these natural signs and responses must be examined. According to the line text of the Jie hexagram: "The gentleman pardons errors and forgives crimes." The Jiji hexagram says: "He thinks of danger and guards against it beforehand." In my foolish view, You should issue an edict of pity, take the responsibility upon Yourself, sweep away flaws and offenses, assist yang by spreading favor, and cause those hidden and destroyed to answer the common people with joy and nurture, while blocked and stagnant qi disperses with the valley wind. This too is a way of lodging use in the affairs of the time and borrowing opening and closing to bring things to completion indirectly. I privately observe that Your Majesty is upright, bright, humane, and forgiving, embodying these things naturally; Heaven has granted You its fortune, and You possess all the central lands, opened renewed radiance when matters had grown dim, and enlarged the distant martial work of the four ancestors; auspicious spirits have shown omens, men and spirits have offered plans, and in responding to Heaven and following the time, nothing could surpass this. Yet since Your Majesty ascended the throne, the transformation of restoration has not been made clear; though You personally manage ten thousand affairs and labor past sundown, dark beneficence has not reached the many lives, instruction has not covered the universe, lord and ministers are not at peace above, and the common people are not gathered below. Why are the songs of Hongyan not raised and the songs of the broad road not composed? The feeling of relying on the Way has not yet appeared, while the habit of relying on punishment has first become manifest; the strategy for ordering the state has not yet shaken the age, while the traces by which things are regulated have repeatedly shifted. When laws and commands are not unified, people's feelings are confused; when offices and ranks are repeatedly changed, covetous hopes arise; when official methods are not examined, bad policies are produced; when punishment and encouragement are unclear, good and evil become muddled. These are what possessors of states are careful about. I privately grieve over this for Your Majesty. Even a small man like Cao Can could still follow a single word from Master Gai, rely on purity and quiet to settle customs, and entrust markets and prisons with room for mistakes; his virtuous sound was not forgotten and has flowed in song down to the present. Emperor Zhongzong of Han was intelligent, perceptive, and decisive, and may be called a good ruler, yet by sharpening his attention on punishments and names he damaged pure virtue. The Laozi takes ritual to be the thinning of loyalty and trust; how much more is punishment the dregs of ritual! To act by not acting and govern by not mastering is surely what Your Majesty embodies. Those ashamed that their ruler is not Yao or Shun are surely not only men of antiquity. For this reason I dare to indulge my mad blindness and do not hide what is in my heart. If my words can be adopted, perhaps they may offer the benefit of dust and dew; if they are not worth adopting, they may still broaden the gate of hearing and accepting advice. I beg Your Majesty to slightly retain Your divine discernment and grant examination to my words.
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疏奏，優詔報之。
The throne answered with a gracious rescript.
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其後日有黑氣，璞復上疏曰：臣以頑昧，近者冒陳所見，陛下不遺狂言，事蒙禦省。 伏讀聖詔，歡懼交戰。 臣前雲升陽未布，隆陰仍積，《坎》為法象，刑獄所麗，變《坎》加《離》，厥象不燭，疑將來必有薄蝕之變也。 此月四日，日出山六七丈，精光潛昧，而色都赤，中有異物大如雞子，又有青黑之氣共相薄擊，良久方解。 案時在歲首純陽之月，日在癸亥全陰之位，而有此異，殆元首供禦之義不顯，消復之理不著之所致也。 計去微臣所陳，未及一月，而便有此變，益明皇天留情陛下懇懇之至也。 往年歲末，太白蝕月，今在歲始，日有咎謫。 會未數旬，大眚再見。 日月告釁，見懼詩人，無曰天高，其鑒不遠。 故宋景言善，熒惑退次；光武甯亂，呼沲結冰。 此明天人之懸符，有若形影之相應。 應之以德，則休祥臻；酬之以怠，則咎征作。 陛下宜恭承靈譴，敬天之怒，施沛然之恩，諧玄同之化，上所以允塞天意，下所以弭息群謗。 臣聞人之多幸，國之不幸。 赦不宜數，實如聖旨。 臣愚以為子產之鑄刑書，非政事之善，然不得不作者，須以救弊故也。 今之宜赦，理亦如之。 隨時之宜，亦聖人所善者。 此國家大信之要，誠非微臣所得幹豫。 今聖朝明哲，思弘謀猷，方辟四門以亮采，訪輿誦於群心，況臣蒙珥筆朝末，而可不竭誠盡規哉！
After this, black qi appeared in the sun, and Guo Pu again submitted a memorial: Because I am stubborn and ignorant, I recently ventured to state what I had seen; Your Majesty did not reject my mad words, and the matter received imperial review. I humbly read the sage edict, and joy and fear battled within me. Earlier I said that rising yang had not yet spread and deep yin still accumulated; Kan was the image for law and was what punishments and prisons attach to, and when Kan changed and Li was added, its image was not bright. I suspected that in the future there would certainly be a change of dimming or eclipse. On the fourth day of this month, when the sun had risen six or seven zhang above the mountains, its pure light was hidden and its color was entirely red; within it was an anomalous object as large as a chicken egg, and blue-black qi also struck against it, only separating after a long while. Examining the time, it was the first month of the year, the month of pure yang, while the day was gui-hai, the position of complete yin, and yet this anomaly occurred. This was probably caused by the meaning of the ruler's response not being manifest and the principle of waning and returning not being made clear. Counting from what this humble minister stated, not yet one month had passed before this change occurred; this further clarifies that August Heaven fixes its concern on Your Majesty with the utmost earnestness. At the end of last year Taibai eclipsed the moon; now at the beginning of the year the sun has shown rebuke. Before even several tens of days had gathered, a great calamity appeared twice. The sun and moon announce faults; the poets feared such things. Do not say Heaven is high, for its mirror is not far away. Thus when Duke Jing of Song spoke good words, Mars withdrew its station; when Emperor Guangwu pacified disorder, the Hutuo River froze over. This makes clear that the suspended tally between Heaven and man responds like form and shadow. Answer it with virtue, and auspicious blessings arrive; repay it with negligence, and signs of blame arise. Your Majesty should reverently accept the numinous rebuke, respect Heaven's anger, dispense abundant grace, and harmonize with the darkly shared transformation, above thereby fulfilling Heaven's intent, below thereby stopping the many slanders. I have heard that many pardons for men are misfortune for the state. That amnesties should not be frequent is truly as the sage instruction says. In my foolish view, Zichan's casting of the penal writings was not good government, yet the reason he could not avoid doing it was that he needed it to rescue a defect. The propriety of an amnesty now follows the same principle. What suits the time is also what sages approve. This is the essential point of the state's great trust, and truly not something a petty servant may interfere in. Now the sage court is bright and wise and wishes to enlarge its plans, opening the four gates to illuminate talents and seeking the carriage songs in the hearts of the people. Since I have received a brush at the very edge of the court, how could I fail to exhaust sincerity and offer all my remonstrance?
10
頃之遷尚書郎。 數言便宜，多研匡益。 明帝之在東宮，與溫嶠、庾亮並有布衣之好，璞亦以才學見重，埒於嶠、亮，論者美之。 然性輕易，不修威儀，嗜酒好色，時或過度。 著作郎干寶常誡之曰：「此非適性之道也。」 璞曰：「吾所受有本限，用之恆恐不得盡，卿乃憂酒色之為患乎！」
Soon he rose to gentleman of the masters of writing. He tendered timely counsel that sharpened policy. While Ming Emperor was heir Wen Qiao and Yu Liang enjoyed rustic friendship with him; Guo Pu matched them in scholarship and critics admired the pairing. Yet he was careless of dignity, loved wine and women, and often overindulged. Editor Gan Bao often warned him: "This is not the Way to suit your nature." Guo Pu replied: "My allotted span is finite—I fear exhausting life without tasting everything—and you fret over wine and beauty?"
11
璞既好卜筮，縉紳多笑之。 又自以才高位卑，乃著《客傲》，其辭曰：客傲郭生曰：「玉以兼城為寶，士以知名為賢。 明月不妄映，蘭葩豈虛鮮。 今足下既以拔文秀于叢薈，廕弱根于慶雲，陵扶搖而竦翮，揮清瀾以濯鱗，而響不徹於一皋，價不登乎千金。 傲岸榮悴之際，頡頏龍魚之間，進不為諧隱，退不為放言，無沈冥之韻，而希風乎嚴先，徒費思於贊味，摹《洞林》乎《連山》，尚何名乎！ 夫攀驪龍之髯，撫翠禽之毛，而不得絕霞肆、跨天津者，未之前聞也。」 郭生粲然而笑曰：「鷦鷯不可與論雲翼，井蛙難與量海鰲。 雖然，將祛子之惑，訊以未悟，其可乎？ 乃者地維中絕，乾光墜采，皇運暫回，廓祚淮海。 龍德時乘，群才雲駭，藹若鄧林之會逸翰，爛若溟海之納奔濤，不煩咨嗟之訪，不假蒲帛之招，羈九有之奇駿，咸總之於一朝，豈惟豐沛之英，南陽之豪！ 昆吾挺鋒，驌驦軒髦，杞梓競敷，蘭荑爭翹，嚶聲冠於伐木，援類繁乎拔茅。 是以水無浪士，岩無幽人，刈蘭不暇，爨桂不給，安事錯薪乎！ 且夫窟泉之潛不思雲翬，熙冰之采不羨旭晞，混光耀於埃藹者，亦曷願滄浪之深，秋陽之映乎！ 登降紛於九五，淪湧懸乎龍津。 蚓蛾以不才陸槁，蟒蛇以騰騖暴鱗。 連城之寶，藏於褐裏，三秀雖豔，糜於麗采。 香惡乎芬？ 賈惡乎在？ 是以不塵不冥，不驪不騂，支離其神，蕭悴其形。 形廢則神王，跡粗而名生。 體全者為犧，至獨者不孤，傲俗者不得以自得，默覺者不足以涉無。 故不恢心而形遺，不外累而智喪，無岩穴而冥寂，無江湖而放浪。 玄悟不以應機，洞鑒不以昭曠。 不物物我我，不是是非非。 忘意非我意，意得非我懷。 寄群籟乎無象，域萬殊於一歸。 不壽殤子，不夭彭涓，不壯秋豪，不小太山。 蚊淚與天地齊流，蜉蝣與大椿齒年。 然一闔一開，兩儀之跡，一沖一溢，懸象之節，渙互期於寒暑，凋蔚要乎春秋。 青陽之翠秀，龍豹之委穎，駿狼之長暉，玄陸之短景。 故皋壤為悲欣之府，蝴蝶為物化之器矣。 夫欣黎黃之音者，不顰蟪蛄之吟；豁雲台之觀者，必閟帶索之歡。 縱蹈而詠采薺，擁璧而歎抱關。 戰機心以外物，不能得意於一弦。 悟往復于嗟歎，安可與言樂天者乎！ 若乃莊周偃蹇於漆園，老萊婆娑于林窟，嚴平澄漠於塵肆，梅真隱淪乎市卒，梁生吟嘯而矯跡，焦先混沌而槁杌，阮公昏酣而賣傲，翟叟遁形以倏忽。 吾不能歲韻於數賢，故寂然玩此員策與智骨。」
Officials mocked his obsession with divination. Again, because he considered his talent high and his rank low, he wrote Ke'ao, "The Guest's Pride." Its text says: A guest mocked Master Guo: "Jade is treasured when it is worth paired cities, and a gentleman is deemed worthy when his name is known. The bright moon does not shine at random; how could orchid blossoms be fresh in vain? Now you have already drawn literary excellence out from tangled growth, sheltered weak roots beneath fortunate clouds, mounted the whirlwind and raised your wings, and stirred clear waves to wash your scales, yet your sound does not reach a single marsh and your price does not rise to a thousand in gold. Between pride and decline, between dragon and fish, when advancing you are not a harmonious recluse and when withdrawing you are not one who speaks freely; lacking the tone of deep obscurity, yet hoping to follow the style of Yan and Xian, you merely spend thought on praising flavors and model Donglin on Lianshan. What name is still left? As for climbing the black dragon's whiskers and stroking the feathers of the kingfisher, yet not being able to cut across the rosy market and cross the ford of Heaven, I have never heard of such a thing." Master Guo laughed brightly and said: "A wren cannot discuss cloud-wings, and a well frog is hard to use in measuring the sea turtle. Even so, may I dispel your delusion and question what you have not yet understood? Recently the cords of earth were cut in the center and the light of Heaven fell from brightness; imperial fortune turned for a time, and the broad mandate opened over the Huai and the sea. Dragon virtue rode the season, and the many talents rose like clouds, thick as Denglin gathering soaring wings and splendid as the dark sea receiving rushing waves. Without needing anxious summons or invitations with rush mats and silk, the strange steeds bound across the nine regions were all gathered in one court; how could this be only the worthies of Feng and Pei or the heroes of Nanyang? Kunwu showed its edge, the Sushuang horse lifted its mane, catalpa and lacquer trees competed in spreading branches, orchid shoots vied in rising high; calls seeking friends crowned the Famu ode, and drawing up one's kind was more abundant than the Bamao image. Thus there were no wave-riding gentlemen in the waters and no hidden men in the cliffs; there was no leisure to cut orchids and not enough time to cook cassia. What need was there to arrange common firewood? Moreover, a spring hidden in a cave does not think of cloud-brilliance, and the gleam of thawing ice does not envy the morning sun. One who mingles radiance in dust and haze, why would he long for the depth of Canglang or the reflection of autumn sunlight? Rising and descending are tangled at the nine-five place; sinking and surging hang at the dragon ford. Earthworms and moths dry on land because they lack talent; boas and snakes expose their scales because they soar and gallop. A treasure worth linked cities is hidden inside coarse cloth; though the threefold fungus is brilliant, it is wasted amid beautiful colors. Where can fragrance be fragrant? Where can value reside? Thus one is neither dusty nor dark, neither black horse nor red horse; one lets the spirit be misshapen and the form grow withered. When form is discarded, spirit flourishes; when traces are coarse, name is born. What keeps its body whole becomes a sacrificial victim; what is utterly alone is not solitary. One who is proud before the world cannot thereby possess himself, and one who silently awakens is not enough to cross into nonbeing. Therefore without broadening the mind one leaves form behind; without external entanglement one loses cleverness. There is no cliff cave and yet there is dark stillness; there are no rivers and lakes and yet there is free wandering. Dark awakening does not respond to occasions, and penetrating vision does not make itself broadly bright. One does not thing things or self the self; one does not right the right or wrong the wrong. Forgetting intention is not my intention; attaining intention is not my concern. One lodges the many pipes in formlessness and bounds the ten thousand differences in one return. One does not make the child who dies young long-lived, does not make Peng or Juan short-lived, does not make a fine autumn hair great, and does not make Mount Tai small. Mosquito tears flow equally with Heaven and Earth, and the mayfly shares years with the great chun tree. Yet each closing and opening is the trace of the two powers, and each emptiness and overflowing is the rhythm of the suspended images; dispersal and interweaving are timed by cold and heat, while withering and flourishing depend on spring and autumn. The emerald beauty of green yang, the drooping ears of dragon and leopard, the long brightness of Junlang, and the short shadows of dark land all have their season. Therefore marsh and soil become treasuries of sadness and joy, and the butterfly becomes the vessel of the transformation of things. Those who rejoice in the music of Li and Huang do not frown at the cicada's chirp; those whose view opens onto Cloud Terrace must shut away the pleasure of a tied cord. One may step freely while singing Caiqi, or embrace a jade disk while sighing as a gatekeeper. If the calculating mind battles with external things, it cannot obtain meaning from a single string. If one understands coming and going through sighs, how can one speak with him about delighting in Heaven? As for Zhuang Zhou lounging in Qiyuan, Lao Lai wandering in forest caves, Yan Ping settling into clarity in the dusty market, Mei Zhen hiding among market servants, Master Liang chanting and whistling while correcting his traces, Jiao Xian in muddled stump-like stillness, Ruan Gong drunk and selling pride, and old Zhai vanishing in an instant: I cannot keep yearly harmony with these several worthies, and so in stillness I play with this round divining board and wisdom bones."
12
永昌元年，皇孫生，璞上疏曰：有道之君未嘗不以危自持，亂世之主未嘗不以安自居。 故存而不忘亡者，三代之所以興也；亡而自以為存者，三季之所以廢也。 是以古之令主開納忠讜，以弼其違；標顯切直，用攻其失。 至乃聞一善則拜，見規誡則懼。 何者？ 蓋不私其身，處天下以至公也。 臣竊惟陛下符運至著，勳業至大，而中興之祚不隆、聖敬之風未躋者，殆由法令太明，刑教太峻。 故水至清則無魚，政至察則眾乖，此自然之勢也。 臣去春啟事，以囹圄充斥，陰陽不和，推之卦理，宜因郊祀作赦，以蕩滌瑕穢。 不然，將來必有愆陽苦雨之災，崩震薄蝕之變，狂狡蠢戾之妖。 其後月餘，日果薄鬥。 去秋以來，諸郡並有暴雨，水皆洪潦，歲用無年。 適聞吳興復欲有構妄者，咎征漸成，臣甚惡之。 頃者以來，役賦轉重，獄犴日結，百姓困擾，甘亂者多，小人愚嶮，共相扇惑。 雖勢無所至，然不可不虞。 案《洪範傳》，君道虧則日蝕，人憤怨則水湧益，陰氣積則下代上。 此微理潛應已著實於事者也。 假令臣遂不幸謬中，必貽陛下側席之憂。 今皇孫載育，天固靈基，黔首顒顒，實望惠潤。 又歲涉午位，金家所忌。 宜於此時崇恩布澤，則火氣潛消，災譴不生矣。 陛下上承天意，下順物情，可因皇孫之慶大赦天下。 然後明罰敕法，以肅理官，克厭天心，慰塞人事，兆庶幸甚，禎祥必臻矣。 臣今所陳，暫而省之，或未允聖旨，久而尋之，終亮臣誠。 若所啟上合，願陛下勿以臣身廢臣之言。 臣言無隱，而陛下納之，適所以顯君明臣直之義耳。
In the first year of Yongchang, when the imperial grandson was born, Guo Pu submitted a memorial: Rulers who possess the Way have never failed to hold themselves as if in danger, and rulers of disordered ages have never failed to dwell as if secure. Therefore those who survive yet do not forget perishing are why the Three Dynasties rose; those who are perishing yet think themselves secure are why the last ages of the Three Dynasties fell. For this reason enlightened rulers of antiquity opened themselves to loyal and upright speech to correct what they violated, and marked and displayed urgent directness to attack their faults. They went so far that when they heard one good word they bowed, and when they saw admonition they were afraid. Why was this? It was because they did not privatize their own bodies, but treated the realm with utmost public-mindedness. I privately consider that Your Majesty's tally and fortune are most manifest and Your merits and achievements are most great, yet the mandate of restoration has not flourished and the style of sage reverence has not risen; this is probably because laws and commands are too bright and punishments and instruction too severe. When water is perfectly clear, there are no fish; when government is perfectly exacting, the multitude parts from it. This is the natural tendency. Last spring I submitted a matter, saying that prisons were full, yin and yang were not harmonious, and by inference from hexagram principle an amnesty should be made on the occasion of the suburban sacrifice in order to wash away flaws and filth. Otherwise, in the future there would certainly be disasters of excessive yang and bitter rain, changes of collapse, thunder, and eclipses, and portents of mad and perverse creatures. More than a month later, the sun indeed dimmed and contended. Since last autumn, the commanderies have all had violent rains, and the waters have all been great floods, so the year has produced no harvest. I have just heard that in Wuxing there are again people who wish to construct false charges; signs of blame are gradually forming, and I deeply hate this. Recently labor service and taxes have grown heavier, prisons and lawsuits are daily knotted, the common people are distressed and disturbed, and many would gladly accept disorder, while foolish and dangerous petty men fan and delude one another. Although their momentum has not reached anywhere, it cannot go unwatched. According to the Hongfan zhuan, when the ruler's Way is deficient, the sun is eclipsed; when people are angry and resentful, waters surge and increase; when yin qi accumulates, the lower replaces the upper. These subtle principles and hidden responses have already become manifest in actual affairs. If I should unfortunately prove wrong, it will still leave Your Majesty with the worry of sitting uneasily. Now the imperial grandson has been born, Heaven has secured the numinous foundation, and the black-haired people gaze upward, truly hoping for moistening grace. Moreover the year has entered the wu position, which the Metal house fears. At this time You should exalt grace and spread favor, and then fire qi will secretly dissolve and disasters and rebukes will not arise. Your Majesty may above receive Heaven's intent and below follow the feelings of things by using the celebration of the imperial grandson to grant a great amnesty throughout the realm. Afterward clarify punishments and order the laws, thereby making the legal officials solemn, satisfying Heaven's heart, and comforting human affairs; the multitudes would be deeply fortunate, and auspicious signs would surely arrive. What I now state, if examined briefly, may not accord with the sage instruction; but if sought out over time, it will finally make clear my sincerity. If what I have submitted accords with what is above, I beg Your Majesty not to discard my words because of my person. That my words hide nothing and Your Majesty accepts them is precisely what displays the meaning of an enlightened ruler and a direct minister.
13
疏奏，納焉，即大赦改年。
The throne accepted it, proclaimed an amnesty, and changed the era name.
14
時暨陽人任穀因耕息於樹下，忽有一人著羽衣就淫之，既而不知所在，穀遂有娠。 積月將產，羽衣人復來，以刀穿其陰下，出一蛇子便去。 谷遂成宦者。 後詣闕上書，自雲有道術。 帝留谷于宮中。 璞復上疏曰：「任穀所為妖異，無有因由。 陛下玄鑒廣覽，欲知其情狀，引之禁內，供給安處。 臣聞為國以禮正，不聞以奇邪。 所聽惟人，故神降之吉。 陛下簡默居正，動遵典刑。 案《周禮》，奇服怪人不入宮，況穀妖詭怪人之甚者，而登講肆之堂，密邇殿省之側，塵點日月，穢亂天聽，臣之私情竊所以不取也。 陛下若以谷信為神靈所憑者，則應敬而遠之。 夫神，聰明正直，接以人事。 若以穀為妖蠱詐妄者，則當投畀裔土，不宜令褻近紫闈。 若以穀或是神祇告譴、為國作眚者，則當克己修禮以弭其妖，不宜令谷安然自容，肆其邪變也。 臣愚以為陰陽陶烝，變化萬端，亦是狐狸魍魎憑假作慝。 願陛下采臣愚懷，特遣穀出。 臣以人乏，忝荷史任，敢忘直筆，惟義是規。」 其後元帝崩，穀因亡走。
A Jiyang farmer named Ren Gu napped beneath a tree where a feather-robed stranger violated him and vanished; Ren Gu conceived. Months later as labour began the stranger returned, slit his groin, drew out a serpentling, and vanished. Ren Gu became a eunuch thereafter. Later he petitioned court boasting arcane arts. The emperor housed Ren Gu inside the palace. Guo Pu wrote again: "Ren Gu's marvel lacks rational cause. Your Majesty wished to study him and lodged him within the palace. States stand on ritual rectitude, not occult strangeness. Listen to men and spirits grant blessing. Your Majesty rules in austere silence and follows statute. Zhou rituals bar freakish dress and persons from palace gates—Ren Gu exceeds every freak yet lectures beside your halls; he soils daylight and befouls imperial ears—I cannot endorse him. If you deem him spirit-possessed honour him from afar. Spirits are lucid and upright and approach through human affairs. If he is fraud banish him beyond the frontier—never seat him beside the purple gates. If spirits warn through him discipline yourself with ritual to end the omen—do not let Ren Gu lounge here spreading corruption. This foolish minister believes yin-yang ferments myriad shapes—often fox-spirits borrow flesh to work harm. May Your Majesty heed this plea and send Ren Gu away from court. Because men are lacking, I have unworthily borne the historian's charge; how could I dare forget the straight brush? I regulate myself only by righteousness." After Yuan Emperor died Ren Gu fled.
15
璞以母憂去職，卜葬地于暨陽，去水百步許。 人以近水為言，璞曰：「當即為陸矣。」 其後沙漲，去墓數十里皆為桑田。 未期，王敦起璞為記室參軍。 是時潁川陳述為大將軍掾，有美名，為敦所重，未幾而沒。 璞哭之哀甚，呼曰：「嗣祖，嗣祖，焉知非福！」 夫幾而敦作難。 時明帝即位逾年，未改號，而熒惑守房。 璞時休歸，帝乃遣使齎手詔問璞。 會暨陽縣復上言曰赤烏見。 璞乃上疏請改年肆赦，文多不載。 璞嘗為人葬，帝微服往觀之，因問主人何以葬龍角，此法當滅族。 主人曰：「郭璞雲此葬龍耳，不出三年當致天子也。」 帝曰：「出天子邪？」 答曰：「能致天子問耳。」 帝甚異之。 璞素與桓彝友善，彝每造之，或值璞在婦間，便入。 璞曰：「卿來，他處自可徑前，但不可廁上相尋耳。 必客主有殃。」 彝後因醉詣璞，正逢在廁，掩而觀之，見璞裸身被髮，銜刀設醊。 璞見彝，撫心大驚曰：「吾每屬卿勿來，反更如是！ 非但禍吾，卿亦不免矣。 天實為之，將以誰咎！」 璞終嬰王敦之禍，彝亦死蘇峻之難。
Mourning his mother Guo Pu quit office and chose a gravesite at Jiyang within a hundred paces of the river. People objected that it was close to the water, but Guo Pu said: "It will soon become land." Later silt piled until mulberry orchards stretched tens of li beyond the tomb. Before the period elapsed Wang Dun summoned him as secretary of headquarters. Yingchuan's Chen Shu served Wang Dun as aide-in-chief with shining reputation but died soon after. Guo Pu wept over him with great sorrow and called out: "Sizu, Sizu, how do you know this is not fortune?" Soon Wang Dun rebelled. Ming Emperor had reigned a year without changing the era name while Mars stalled in the Chamber mansion. Guo Pu was home on leave when couriers arrived with the emperor's handwritten questions. Jiyang county reported crimson crows. Guo Pu memorialized for a new era name and blanket amnesty—the full text is omitted here. Guo Pu once directed a burial that Ming Emperor inspected incognito; he challenged the host for burying on dragon horns—a prescription for clan extinction. The host said: "Guo Pu said this burial was the dragon's ear; within three years it would bring the Son of Heaven." The emperor asked: "Will it produce a Son of Heaven?" He answered: "It can bring the Son of Heaven to ask, that is all." The emperor marvelled. Guo Pu befriended Huan Yi, who walked in unannounced even when Guo was among his women. Guo Pu warned: "Elsewhere enter freely—never search me out in the privy. There will surely be disaster for both guest and host." Later a drunken Huan Yi peeked into the latrine and saw Guo Pu naked, hair loose, biting a blade before an altar. Guo Pu clutched his chest: "I forbade you—and still you came! You doom yourself as well as me. Heaven truly does this; whom can we blame?" Guo Pu fell to Wang Dun and Huan Yi died in Su Jun's coup.
16
王敦之謀逆也，溫嶠、庾亮使璞筮之，璞對不決。 嶠、亮復令占己之吉凶，璞曰：「大吉。」 嶠等退，相謂曰：「璞對不了，是不敢有言，或天奪敦魄。 今吾等與國家共舉大事，而璞雲大吉，是為舉事必有成也。」 於是勸帝討敦。 初，璞每言「殺我者山宗」，至是果有姓崇者構璞於敦。 敦將舉兵，又使璞筮。 璞曰：「無成。」 敦固疑璞之勸嶠、亮，又聞卦凶，乃問璞曰； 「卿更筮吾壽幾何？」 答曰：「思向卦，明公起事，必禍不久。 若住武昌，壽不可測。」 敦大怒曰：「卿壽幾何？」 曰：「命盡今日日中。」 敦怒，收璞，詣南岡斬之。 璞臨出，謂行刑者欲何之。 曰：「南岡頭。」 璞曰：「必在雙柏樹下。」 既至，果然。 復云：「此樹應有大鵲巢。」 眾索之不得。 璞更令尋覓，果於枝間得一大鵲巢，密葉蔽之。 初，璞中興初行經越城，間遇一人，呼其姓名，因以袴褶遺之。 其人辭不受，璞曰：「但取，後自當知。」 其人遂受而去。 至是，果此人行刑。 時年四十九。 及王敦平，追贈弘農太守。
When Wang Dun plotted rebellion Wen Qiao and Yu Liang asked Guo Pu to divine; he hedged. Wen Qiao and Yu Liang again had him divine their own good and bad fortune. Guo Pu said: "Greatly auspicious." They withdrew whispering: "His silence feared frank speech—or heaven seized Wang Dun's wits. Now we are raising a great undertaking together with the state, and Guo Pu says it is greatly auspicious; this means the undertaking will certainly succeed." They urged Ming Emperor to strike Wang Dun. Guo Pu once predicted "Mountain clan will kill me"—a man surnamed Chong—homophone for clan—slandered him to Wang Dun. Wang Dun prepared rebellion and ordered another casting. "No success," said Guo Pu. Suspicious of Guo Pu's loyalty to Wen Qiao and Yu Liang and hearing ill omens Wang Dun demanded: "You should divine again: how long is my life?" Guo Pu replied: "Your former hexagram promises swift disaster once you move. If you remain in Wuchang, your lifespan cannot be measured." Wang Dun raged: "And your span?" He said: "My life ends at noon today." Wang Dun seized Guo Pu and marched him to South Ridge for execution. Walking out Guo Pu asked where they headed. He said: "At the head of the southern ridge." Guo Pu said: "It must be beneath twin cypress trees." They found exactly that. He also said: "This tree should have a large magpie nest." Searchers found nothing. Guo Pu pointed higher; they found a huge nest hidden in the canopy. Early in the Restoration Guo Pu crossed Yue City, hailed a stranger by name, and gave him riding clothes. The man declined and would not accept them, but Guo Pu said: "Just take them; later you will naturally understand." The stranger accepted and left. That same man later wielded the headsman's blade. Guo Pu was forty-nine. After Wang Dun fell the court posthumously named him governor of Hongnong.
17
初，庾翼幼時嘗令璞筮公家及身，卦成，曰：「建元之末丘山傾，長順之初子凋零。」 及康帝即位，將改元為建元，或謂庾冰曰：「子忘郭生之言邪？ 丘山上名，此號不宜用。」 冰撫心歎恨。 及帝崩，何充改元為永和，庾翼歎曰：「天道精微，乃當如是。 長順者，永和也，吾庸得免乎！」 其年翼卒。 冰又令筮其後嗣，卦成，曰：「卿諸子並當貴盛，然有白龍者，凶徵至矣。 若墓碑生金，庾氏之大忌也。」 後冰子蘊為廣州刺史，妾房內忽有一新生白狗子，莫知所由來，其妾秘愛之，不令蘊知。 狗轉長大，蘊入，是狗眉眼分明，又身至長而弱，異于常狗，蘊甚怪之。 將出，共視在眾人前，忽失所在。 蘊慨然曰：「殆白龍乎！ 庾氏禍至矣。」 又墓碑生金。 俄而為桓溫所滅，終如其言。 璞之占驗，皆如此類也。
Earlier, when Yu Yi was young, he once had Guo Pu divine the fate of the ducal house and himself. When the hexagram was completed, Pu said: "At the end of Jianyuan the hills will topple; at the beginning of Changshun the sons will wither." When Emperor Kang ascended the throne and was about to change the era name to Jianyuan, someone said to Yu Bing: "Have you forgotten Master Guo's words? Qiu and shan are the upper parts of the name Jian; this title should not be used." Yu Bing smote his breast in regret. When the emperor died and He Chong changed the era name to Yonghe, Yu Yi sighed: "The Way of Heaven is so subtle that it is actually like this. Changshun is Yonghe. How can I escape!" Yu Yi died that year. Yu Bing also had him divine his later heirs. When the hexagram was completed, Pu said: "Your sons will all be noble and flourishing, but if there is a white dragon, the ominous sign has arrived. If metal grows on a grave stele, it is the great taboo of the Yu clan." Yu Bing's son Yu Yun governed Guangzhou where a concubine secretly raised a newborn white pup. It grew oddly human in face yet weak in limb until Yu Yun noticed. When Yu Yun drew it before witnesses it vanished. Yu Yun sighed deeply and said: "Is this not the white dragon? The Yu clan's disaster has arrived." Metal later filmed their tombstones. Huan Wen soon wiped them out as predicted. Guo Pu's auguries ran true in such cases.
18
璞撰前後筮驗六十餘事，名為《洞林》。 又抄京、費諸家要最，更撰《新林》十篇、《卜韻》一篇。 注釋《爾雅》，別為《音義》、《圖譜》。 又注《三蒼》、《方言》、《穆天子傳》、《山海經》及《楚辭》、《子虛》、《上林賦》數十萬言，皆傳於世。 所作詩賦誄頌亦數萬言。 子驁，官至臨賀太守。
Guo Pu compiled sixty divination cases in Piercing the Forest. He excerpted Jing Fang and Fei Zhi and wrote New Forest in ten fascicles plus Rhymes for Divination. He glossed Erya with separate pronunciations, meanings, and illustrations. He also annotated the Three Archives, Dialect, Travels of Mu Son of Heaven, Classic of Mountains and Seas, Chu Ci, Sir Vacuity, and Upper Woods Fu—hundreds of thousands of characters still circulating. His poems, fu, elegies, and encomia ran tens of thousands of words. His son Guo Ao rose to governor of Linhe.
19
葛洪
Biography of Ge Hong.
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葛洪，字稚川，丹陽句容人也。 祖系，吳大鴻臚。 父悌，吳平後入晉，為邵陵太守。 洪少好學，家貧，躬自伐薪以貿紙筆，夜輒寫書誦習，遂以儒學知名。 性寡欲，無所愛玩，不知棋局幾道，摴蒱齒名。 為人木訥，不好榮利，閉門卻掃，未嘗交遊。 于余杭山見何幼道、郭文舉，目擊而已，各無所言。 時或尋書問義，不遠數千里崎嶇冒涉，期於必得，遂究覽典籍，尤好神仙導養之法。 從祖玄，吳時學道得仙，號曰葛仙公，以其練丹秘術授弟子鄭隱。 洪就隱學，悉得其法焉。 後師事南海太守上党鮑玄。 玄亦內學，逆占將來，見洪深重之，以女妻洪。 洪傳玄業，兼綜練醫術，凡所著撰，皆精核是非，而才章富贍。
Ge Hong, courtesy name Zhichuan, came from Jurong in Danyang commandery. His ancestor Ge Xi served Wu as grand herald. His father Ge Ti entered Jin service after Wu fell and governed Shaoling. Poor yet diligent Ge Hong chopped fuel to buy paper, copying texts by night until scholars noted him. He lacked worldly cravings—never learned chess lines or dice names. Withdrawn and uninterested in fame he barred his gate and seldom socialized. On Yuhang Mountain he met He Youdao and Guo Wenju—they exchanged only glances. At times, when searching for books and asking about their meaning, he did not shrink from rough journeys of several thousand li, determined to obtain what he sought; he then mastered the classics and especially loved methods of immortality, breathing, and self-nourishment. His granduncle Ge Xuan became famed Ge Immortal Duke and passed cinnabar secrets to Zheng Yin. Ge Hong studied under Zheng Yin and mastered every technique. He later studied under Nanhai prefect Bao Xuan of Shangdang. Bao Xuan practiced interior arcana, foresaw Ge Hong's greatness, and married him his daughter. Ge Hong inherited Bao's arts and medicine; every treatise weighed evidence yet read elegantly.
21
太安中，石冰作亂，吳興太守顧秘為義軍都督，與周玘等起兵討之，秘檄洪為將兵都尉，攻冰別率，破之，遷伏波將軍。 冰平，洪不論功賞，徑至洛陽，欲搜求異書以廣其學。
During Taian Ge Hong joined Gu Mi's loyal army against Shi Bing as commandant, routed a column, and earned promotion to Wave-Pacifying general. After victory Ge Hong spurned rewards and hurried to Luoyang hunting rare books.
22
洪見天下已亂，欲避地南土，乃參廣州刺史嵇含軍事。 及含遇害，遂停南土多年，征鎮檄命一無所就。 後還鄉里，禮辟皆不赴。 元帝為丞相，辟為掾。 以平賊功，賜爵關內侯。 咸和初，司徒導召補州主簿，轉司徒掾，遷諮議參軍。 干寶深相親友，薦洪才堪國史，選為散騎常侍，領大著作，洪固辭不就。 以年老，欲練丹以祈遐壽，聞交阯出丹，求為句漏令。 帝以洪資高，不許。 洪曰：「非欲為榮，以有丹耳。」 帝從之。 洪遂將子侄俱行。 至廣州，刺史鄧岳留不聽去，洪乃止羅浮山煉丹。 岳表補東官太守，又辭不就。 岳乃以洪兄子望為記室參軍。 在山積年，優遊閑養，著述不輟。 其自序曰：
Seeing chaos Ge Hong joined Guangzhou Inspector Xi Han's staff seeking refuge south. Xi Han's murder stranded Ge Hong for years; he spurned every summons. Even recalled home he refused appointments. When Sima Rui was chancellor Ge Hong accepted aide duty. Suppressing bandits brought him secondary marquis rank. Early in Xianhe Wang Dao named him prefect clerk, then chancellor aide, then consultant. Gan Bao befriended Ge Hong and nominated him for court historian; the court named him supernumerary palace attendant and chief editor but Ge Hong refused. Aging, he sought cinnabar for longevity; learning Jiaozhi yielded ore he asked for the magistracy of Gou Lou. The emperor refused, deeming him too eminent. Ge Hong said: "I do not wish to do this for glory; it is only because there is cinnabar." The emperor relented. Ge Hong took sons and nephews along. Guangzhou inspector Deng Yue detained him; Ge Hong stayed on Mount Luofu to compound elixirs. Deng Yue petitioned him as governor of Eastern Office yet again he declined. Deng Yue instead appointed Ge Hong's nephew Ge Wang secretary. Years on the mountain passed in serene study and ceaseless writing. His own preface reads:
23
洪體乏進趣之才，偶好無為之業。 假令奮翅則能陵厲玄霄，騁足則能追風躡景，猶欲戢勁翮于於鷦鷃之群，藏逸跡於跛驢之伍，豈況大塊稟我以尋常之短羽，造化假我以至駑之蹇足？ 自卜者審，不能者止，又豈敢力蒼蠅而慕沖天之舉，策跛鱉而追飛兔之軌； 飾嫫母之篤陋，求媒陽之美談； 推沙礫之賤質，索千金于和肆哉！ 夫僬僥之步而企及誇父之蹤，近才所以躓礙也； 要離之羸而強赴扛鼎之勢，秦人所以斷筋也。 是以望絕于榮華之途，而志安乎窮圮之域； 藜藿有八珍之甘，蓬蓽有藻棁之樂也。 故權貴之家，雖咫尺弗從也； 知道之士，雖艱遠必造也。 考覽奇書，既不少矣，率多隱語，難可卒解，自非至精不能尋究，自非篤勤不能悉見也。
Ge Hong admits no zeal for climbing office—only love of quiet non-action. Had I wings to pierce the clouds or legs to outrun the gale, I would still hide among quails and limping asses—how much more when heaven gives me ordinary plumage and Creation fits me with stumbling hooves? The wise know their limits; how may a fly aspire aloft or a lame tortoise chase the swiftest hare? Painting Mother Mo and expecting Yangzhou beauties to praise it— —peddling gravel for jade prices in the He market! A dwarf aping Kuafu's stride only trips— Yao Li lifting tripods broke Qin men's sinews— So I abandon ambition on glory's road and rest content in mean lanes; wild greens taste royal fare and hovels bring palace joy. Mighty houses inches away I shun; men of the Way, however distant, I seek. Strange books abound in riddles; without utmost wit and toil none masters them.
24
道士弘博洽聞者寡，而意斷妄說者眾。 至於時有好事者，欲有所修為，倉卒不知所從，而意之所疑又無足諮。 今為此書，粗舉長生之理。 其至妙者不得宣之於翰墨，蓋粗言較略以示一隅，冀悱憤之徒省之可以思過半矣。 豈謂暗塞必能窮微暢遠乎，聊論其所先覺者耳。 世儒徒知服膺周孔，莫信神仙之書，不但大而笑之，又將謗毀真正。 故予所著子言黃白之事，名曰《內篇》，其餘駁難通釋，名曰《外篇》，大凡內外一百一十六篇。 雖不足藏諸名山，且欲緘之金匱，以示識者。
Few priests read widely while rash guesswork spreads. Would-be adepts rush unsure whom to ask. This book sketches the principles of longevity. The subtlest teachings resist ink; here is a sketch so earnest readers grasp half the lesson. It cannot expose every mystery—only what I already perceive. Confucians mock immortal scriptures—some even slander the true teaching. Hence my Inner Chapters on alchemy and Outer Chapters of debate—116 chapters in all. They may not merit mountain vaults but deserve a golden coffer for discerning eyes.
25
自號抱樸子，因以名書。 其餘所著碑誄詩賦百卷，移檄章表三十卷，神仙、良吏、隱逸、集異等傳各十卷，又抄《五經》、《史》、《漢》、百家之言、方技雜事三百一十卷，《金匱藥方》一百卷，《肘後要急方》四卷。
He styled himself Master Embracing Simplicity and titled his book accordingly. Besides a hundred fascicles of verse and prose, thirty of state papers, and ten each on transcendents, worthy magistrates, recluses, and marvels, he copied 310 fascicles of classics, histories, and technical lore, 100 of Metal Casket Formulas, and 4 of Emergency Formulas from the Elbow Lair.
26
洪博聞深洽，江左絕倫。 著述篇章富於班馬，又精辯玄賾，析理入微。 後忽與嶽疏云：「當遠行尋師，克期便發。」 嶽得疏，狼狽往別。 而洪坐至日中，兀然若睡而卒，嶽至，遂不及見。 時年八十一。 視其顏色如生，體亦柔軟，舉屍入棺，甚輕，如空衣，世以為屍解得仙雲。
Ge Hong's erudition was unrivalled south of the Yangzi. His corpus outbulked Ban and Sima and dissected arcana to the finest grain. Later he suddenly sent Deng Yue a letter saying: "I must travel far to seek a teacher, and when the appointed time arrives I will set out." Deng Yue rushed to bid farewell. Ge Hong sat motionless like sleep until noon and died before Deng Yue arrived. He was eighty-one. His colour stayed lifelike, his limbs supple; lifted into the coffin he weighed like empty clothes—people called it corpse liberation and transcendence.
27
【史評】
Historians' appraisal
28
史臣曰：景純篤志綈緗，洽聞強記，在異書而畢綜，瞻往滯而咸釋； 情源秀逸，思業高奇； 襲文雅於西朝，振辭鋒于南夏，為中興才學之宗矣。 夫語怪征神，伎成則賤，前修貽訓，鄙乎茲道。 景純之探策定數，考往知來，邁京管於前圖，軼梓窀於遐篆。 而宦微於世，禮薄于時，區區然寄《客傲》以申懷，斯亦伎成之累也。 若乃大塊流形，玄天賦命，吉凶修短，定乎自然。 雖稽象或通，而厭勝難恃，稟之有在，必也無差，自可居常待終，頹心委運，何至銜刀被髮，遑遑于穢向之間哉！ 晚抗忠言，無救王敦之逆； 初慚智免，竟斃「山宗」之謀。 仲尼所謂攻乎異端，斯害也已，悲夫！ 稚川束發從師，老而忘倦。 紬奇冊府，總百代之遺編； 紀化仙都，窮九丹之秘術。 謝浮榮而捐雜藝，賤尺寶而貴分陰，遊德棲真，超然事外。 全生之道，其最優乎！
The historians say: Guo Pu devoted himself to silk tomes, remembered all he read, mastered exotic texts, and cleared every crux; his spirit flowed refined and his ideas soared; he inherited Western Jin letters and led southern literature—the patriarch of Restoration letters. Tales of spirits win cheap fame once skill turns stale—ancient teachers warned us to scorn such arts. Yet Guo Pu's stalk divining surpassed Jing Fang and Guan Lu and outdid astrologers like Zi Shen. Office humbled him and ritual slighted him—hence his petty Guest's Pride—a burden of wasted craft. Great Nature shapes forms and dark Heaven assigns spans—good or ill, long or short rest in what is natural. Even divination may glimpse fate yet charms cannot be trusted—what is allotted cannot err—one may calmly await destiny—why bite blades and loose hair in frantic sorcery? Late loyal words could not stop Wang Dun's revolt; early wit spared him yet the "mountain clan" prophecy slew him. Confucius warned against heterodox arts—their harm proves real—alas! Zhichuan tied his hair and studied on, tireless in age. He threaded marvel vaults and gathered generations of scattered writings; he chronicled transcendence and plumbed the ninefold elixir. He spurned vanity and baubles, prized each inch of time, roamed in virtue and lodged in truth beyond worldly affairs. Of ways to preserve life his was finest.
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贊曰：景純通秀，夙振宏材。 沈研鳥冊，洞曉龜枚。 匪甯國釁，坐致身災。 稚川優洽，貧而樂道。 載范斯文，永傳洪藻。
The encomium sings: Jingchun's brilliance shone early and vast. He plumbed omens of birds and turtles. He brought the state no grief yet met personal doom. Zhichuan was learned though poor and rejoiced in the Way. His pattern endures and his great letters shine on.