Volume 79 Biographies 29: Zu Xiaosun, Fu Renjun, Fu Yi, Li Chunfeng, Lucai

祖孝孫傅仁均傅弈李淳風呂才

Zu Xiaosun, Fu Renjun, Fu Yi, Li Chunfeng, and Lu Cai

祖孝孫，幽州范陽人也。父崇儒，以學業知名，仕至齊州長史。孝孫博學，曉歷算，早以達識見稱。初，開皇中，鐘律多缺，雖何妥、鄭譯、蘇夔、萬寶常等亟共討詳，紛然不定。及平江左，得陳樂官蔡子元、於普明等，因置清商署。時牛弘為太常卿，引孝孫為協律郎，與子元、普明參定雅樂。時又得陳陽山太守毛爽，妙知京房律法，布管飛灰，順月皆驗。爽時年老，弘恐失其法，於是奏孝孫從其受律。孝孫得爽之法，一律而生五音，十二律而為六十音，因而六之，故有三百六十音，以當一歲之日。又祖述洗重，依淮南本數，用京房舊術求之，得三百六十律，各因其月律而為一部。以律數為母，以一中氣所有日為子，以母命子，隨所多少，分直一歲，以配七音，起於冬至。以黃鐘為宮，太簇為商，林鐘為徵，南呂為羽，姑洗為角，應鐘為變宮，蕤賓為變徵。其餘日建律，皆依運行。每日各以本律為宮。旋宮之義，由斯著矣。然牛弘既初定樂，難復改張。至大業時，又采晉、宋舊樂，唯奏《皇夏》等十有四曲，旋宮之法，亦不施用。高祖受禪，擢孝孫為著作郎，歷吏部郎、太常少卿，漸見親委，孝孫由是奏請作樂。時軍國多務，未遑改創，樂府尚用隋氏舊文。武德七年，始命孝孫及秘書監竇璡修定雅樂。孝孫又以陳、梁舊樂雜用吳、楚之音，周、齊舊樂多涉胡戎之伎，於是斟酌南北，考以古音，作《大唐雅樂》。以十二月各順其律，旋相為宮，制十二樂，合三十二曲、八十四調。事具《樂志》。旋宮之義，亡絕已久，世莫能知，一朝復古，自孝孫始也。孝孫尋卒。其後，協律郎張文收復采《三禮》，增損樂章，然因孝孫之本音。

Zu Xiaosun came from Fanyang in You Province. His father, Chongru, won fame through learning and rose to become chief clerk of Qizhou. Xiaosun was erudite and versed in calendrical reckoning, and even in his youth he was known for far-reaching understanding. Early in the Kaihuang reign, pitch standards were badly incomplete. He Tuo, Zheng Yi, Su Kui, Wan Baochang, and others debated the problem again and again, yet no agreement could be reached. After the south of the Yangzi was pacified, the court acquired Chen music officers such as Cai Ziyuan and Yu Puming and established the Office of Pure Shang music. Niu Hong was then director of the Imperial Music Office. He brought Xiaosun in as pitch regulation officer and had him work with Ziyuan and Puming to set the court ceremonial music. The court also obtained Mao Shuang, formerly administrator of Yangshan under Chen, who had a subtle grasp of Jing Fang's pitch-pipe method. When he set out the pipes and the ash rose, the results matched the months every time. Shuang was by then elderly, and Hong feared his method would be lost. He therefore memorialized that Xiaosun should receive instruction in the pitch laws from him. Xiaosun mastered Shuang's method: from one pipe came the five tones; twelve pipes yielded sixty tones; multiplied by six, this produced three hundred and sixty tones to match the days of the year. He also followed the tradition of Xian Zhong, took the fundamental numbers from the Huainanzi, and applied Jing Fang's older method to obtain three hundred and sixty pitch standards, each grouped into a section according to its monthly pitch. He took the pitch number as the divisor and the days in each solar term as the dividend, then derived the tones from these ratios. In this way he distributed the year and assigned the seven tones, beginning at the winter solstice. Yellow Bell served as the tonic, Great Heap as the second, Forest Bell as the third, Southern Pitch as the fifth, Maiden Wash as the fourth, Responding Bell as the altered tonic, and Flabby Guest as the altered third. The pitch pipes assigned to the remaining days all followed the cycles of celestial motion. On each day, that day's own pitch served as the tonic. Thus the principle of circular modulation was made clear. But Niu Hong had already set the music in its first form, and it proved hard to revise it again. By the Daye reign the court again drew on the old music of Jin and Song and performed only fourteen pieces such as "Imperial Summer." The method of circular modulation was not put into practice. After the Founding Emperor took the throne, he promoted Xiaosun to drafting official and later to department officer and vice director of the Imperial Music Office. As Xiaosun gradually won the emperor's trust, he memorialized asking that new court music be composed. Military and state affairs were pressing, and there was no time yet for a full reform. The Music Office still relied on Sui-era scores. In the seventh year of Wude, the emperor first ordered Xiaosun and Palace Library director Dou Jin to revise the court ceremonial music. Xiaosun also observed that the old music of Chen and Liang mixed in Wu and Chu styles, while the old music of Northern Zhou and Qi drew heavily on foreign and nomadic pieces. Weighing north against south and testing everything against ancient pitch standards, he composed the Great Tang Court Ceremonial Music. Each of the twelve months followed its proper pitch, and the modes rotated in turn as tonic. He devised twelve musical suites comprising thirty-two melodies in eighty-four modes. The details are given in full in the Treatise on Music. The principle of circular modulation had been lost for ages, and no one in his day understood it. Its restoration in a single generation began with Xiaosun. Xiaosun died not long afterward. Later, pitch regulation officer Zhang Wenshou drew again on the Three Rites to revise the ceremonial sections, but he still built on Xiaosun's fundamental pitches.

傅仁均，滑州白馬人也。善歷算、推步之術。武德初，太史令庾儉、太史丞傅弈表薦之，高祖因召令改修舊曆。仁均因上表陳七事：其一曰：「昔洛下閎以漢武太初元年歲在丁丑，創歷起元，元在丁丑。今大唐以戊寅年受命，甲子日登極，所造之歷，即上元之歲，歲在戊寅，命日又起甲子，以三元之法，一百八十去其積歲，武德元年戊寅為上元之首，則合璧連珠，懸合於今日。」其二曰：「《堯典》為『日短星昴，以正仲冬』，前代造歷，莫能允合。臣今創法，五十餘年，冬至輒差一度，則卻檢周、漢，千載無違。」其三曰：「經書日蝕，《毛詩》為先，『十月之交，朔日辛卯』。臣今立法，卻推得周幽王六年辛卯朔蝕，即能明其中間，並皆符合。」其四曰：「《春秋命歷序》云：『魯僖公五年壬子朔旦冬至。』諸歷莫能符合。臣今造歷，卻推僖公五年正月壬子朔旦冬至則同，自斯以降，並無差爽。」其五曰：「古曆日蝕或在於晦，或在二日；月蝕或在望前，或在望後。臣今立法，月有三大三小，則日蝕常在於朔，月蝕在望前。卻驗魯史，並無違爽。」其六曰：「前代造歷，命辰不從子半，命度不起虛中。臣今造歷，命辰起子半，度起於虛六，度命合辰，得中於子，符陰陽之始，會歷術之宜。」其七曰：「前代諸歷，月行或有晦猶東見、朔已西朓。臣今以遲疾定朔，永無此病。」經數月，歷成奏上，號曰《戊寅元歷》，高祖善之。武德元年七月，詔頒新曆，授仁均員外散騎常侍，賜物二百段。

Fu Renjun came from Baima in Hua Prefecture. He was skilled in calendrical calculation and astronomical progression. Early in Wude, grand astrologer Yu Jian and astrologer aide Fu Yi recommended him in a memorial. The Founding Emperor summoned him and ordered him to revise the old calendar. Renjun then submitted a memorial presenting seven points. The first read: "Long ago Luoxia Hong, in the first year of Emperor Wu's Taichu reign when the year stood in dingchou, created a calendar and fixed its origin in dingchou. Great Tang received the Mandate in a wuyin year and took the throne on a jiazi day. The calendar we now create makes that very year the superior origin in wuyin and begins the Mandate day again from jiazi. By the method of the three origins, after subtracting one hundred eighty from the accumulated years, the first year of Wude in wuyin becomes the head of the superior origin. Then the sun and moon join like paired jades and the five planets align like beads on a string, perfectly matching the present day." The second read: "The Canon of Yao says, 'The days are short and the stars of the Hairy Head culminate, to mark mid-winter.' No calendar of earlier ages could truly match this. Your subject now devises a method by which the winter solstice shifts one degree every fifty-odd years. Checking back through Zhou and Han, there is no discrepancy across a thousand years." The third read: "Among the classics on solar eclipses, the Mao Odes come first: 'At the turn of the tenth month, on the new moon day xinmao. Your subject now establishes a law that, working backward, yields the xinmao new-moon eclipse in the sixth year of King You of Zhou. All the intervals in between then become clear and match completely." The fourth read: "The Spring and Autumn Calendar Destiny Sequence says, 'In the fifth year of Duke Xi of Lu, on the renzi new moon at dawn was the winter solstice. No earlier calendar could match this. Your subject's new calendar, working backward, gives the same result for the first month of Duke Xi's fifth year: a renzi new moon at dawn with the winter solstice. From that point onward there is no discrepancy." The fifth read: "In ancient calendars solar eclipses sometimes fell on the last day of the month or on the second day; lunar eclipses sometimes before full moon and sometimes after it. Your subject now establishes a law: when a month has three long days and three short days, solar eclipses always fall on the new moon and lunar eclipses before full moon. Checking back against the Lu chronicle, there is no discrepancy." The sixth read: "Calendars of former ages did not fix the hour from the middle of zi, nor fix the degree from the middle of Emptiness. Your subject's calendar fixes the hour from the middle of zi and the degree from the sixth of Emptiness. Degree and hour join together and obtain the center at zi, matching the beginning of yin and yang and fitting the requirements of calendrical science." The seventh read: "Earlier calendars sometimes showed the moon still visible in the east on the last day of the month, or already a thin crescent in the west on the new moon. Your subject now fixes the new moon by fast and slow lunar motion, and this defect will never occur." After several months the calendar was completed and submitted. It was titled the Wuyin Origin Calendar, and the Founding Emperor approved it. In the seventh month of the first year of Wude, an edict promulgated the new calendar. Renjun was appointed extraordinary attendant cavalier in ordinary and given two hundred lengths of goods.

後中書令封德彝奏歷術差謬，敕吏部郎中祖孝孫考其得失。又太史丞王孝通執《甲辰曆法》以駁之曰：

Later, chief minister Feng Deyi memorialized that the calendrical methods were flawed. The emperor ordered department officer Zu Xiaosun to examine their strengths and weaknesses. Astrologer aide Wang Xiaotong also upheld the Jiachen Calendar Method to refute it, saying:

案《堯典》云：「日短星昴，以正仲冬。」孔氏雲，七宿畢見，舉中者言耳。是知中星無定，故互舉一分兩至之星以為成驗也。昴西方處中之宿，虛為北方居中之星，一分各舉中者，即余六星可知。若乃仲冬舉鳥，仲夏舉火，此一至一分又舉七星之體，則余二方可見。今仁均專守昴中而為定朔，執文害意，不亦謬乎！又案《月令》：仲冬「昏在東壁」。明知昴中則非常準。若言陶唐之代，定是昴中，後代漸差，遂至東壁。然則堯前七千餘載，冬至之日，即便合翼中，逾遠彌卻，尤成不隱。且今驗東壁昏中，日體在斗十有三度；若昏於翼中，日應在井十有三度。夫井極北，去人最近，而斗極南，去人最遠，在井則大熱，在斗乃大寒。然堯前冬至，即應翻熱，及於夏至，便應反寒。四時倒錯，寒暑易位，以理推尋，必不然矣。又，鄭康成，博達之士也。對弟子孫皓云：日永星火，只是大火之次二十度有其中者，非謂心之火星也，實正中也。又平朔、定朔，舊有二家；平望、定望，由來兩術。然三大三小，是定朔、定望之法；一大一小，是平朔、平望之義。且日月之行，有遲有疾，每月一相及，謂之合會。故晦朔無定，由人消息。若定大小合朔者，合會雖定，而蔀元紀首，三端並失。若上合履端之始，下得歸余於終，合會時有進退，履端又皆允協，則《甲辰元歷》為通術矣。

The Canon of Yao says, "The days are short and the stars of the Hairy Head culminate, to mark mid-winter." Master Kong said that when the seven lodges are all visible, one cites the one at the center merely as an example. This shows that the culminating star has no fixed position. Each quarter therefore cites the solstice star at its center as proof. The Hairy Head is the lodge at the center in the west, and Emptiness is the star at the center in the north. When each quarter cites its center, the other six stars can be inferred. If mid-winter cites the Bird and mid-summer cites Fire, then this one quarter of one quarter again cites the body of the Seven Stars, and the other two directions become clear. Renjun now clings exclusively to the Hairy Head at center to fix the new moon. To cling to the text and harm the meaning—is that not absurd? The Monthly Ordinances also say that in mid-winter "at dusk it is at Eastern Wall." This clearly shows that the Hairy Head at center is not the constant standard. If one says that in the age of Yao of Tao Tang it was certainly the Hairy Head at center, and later ages gradually shifted until it reached Eastern Wall, then more than seven thousand years before Yao the winter solstice would already fall at Wings at center. The farther back one goes, the more it recedes, and this cannot be hidden. Moreover, if we verify today: when Eastern Wall is culminating at dusk, the sun stands in the thirteenth degree of Dipper; if at dusk it were at Wings at center, the sun should stand in the thirteenth degree of Well. Well lies farthest north and nearest to us, while Dipper lies farthest south and farthest away. In Well there is great heat; in Dipper, great cold. Yet before Yao, winter solstice would mean reversed heat, and summer solstice would mean reversed cold. The four seasons would be inverted and cold and heat would exchange places. Reasoning it through, this surely cannot be so. Zheng Xuan, moreover, was a broadly accomplished scholar. He told his disciple Sun Hao that "the days are long and the Fire Star blazes" means only that within the twenty degrees of the Great Fire asterism there is one at the center. It does not mean the Fire Star of the Heart, but truly the star at the center. Mean new moon and true new moon were formerly two schools of thought; and mean full moon and true full moon have from antiquity been two methods. Yet three long days and three short days belong to the method of true new moon and true full moon; one long day and one short day belong to the principle of mean new moon and mean full moon. Moreover, the sun and moon move sometimes slowly and sometimes swiftly. Once each month they catch up to each other, which is called conjunction. Therefore the last day of the month and the new moon have no fixed rule and depend on human adjustment. If one fixes the long and short conjunction new moons, conjunction may be fixed, but the cycle origin and era head of the obscuration cycle lose all three terminals together. If above the conjunction matches the beginning of treading the origin and below the remainder returns at the end, with conjunction sometimes advancing and retreating while treading the origin remains everywhere in accord, then the Jiachen Origin Calendar is the comprehensive method.

仁均對曰：

Renjun replied:

宋代祖沖之久立差術，至於隋代張胄玄等，因而修之，雖差度不同，各明其意。今孝通不達宿度之差移，未曉黃道之遷改，乃執南斗為冬至之恆星，東井為夏至之常宿，率意生難，豈為通理？夫太陽行於宿度，如郵傳之過逆旅，宿度每歲既差，黃道隨而變易，豈得以膠柱之說而為斡運之難乎？又案《易》云：「治歷明時。」《禮》云：「天子玄端，聽朔於南門之外。」《尚書》云：「正月上日，受終於文祖。」孔氏云：「上日，朔日也。」又云：「季秋月朔，辰不集於房。」孔氏云：「集，合也。不合，則日蝕隨可知矣。」又云：「先時、不及時，皆殺無赦。」先時，謂朔日不及時也。若有先後之差，是不知定朔之道矣。《詩》云：「十月之交，朔日辛卯。」又，《春秋》日蝕三十有五，左丘明云：「不書朔，官失之也。」明聖人之教，不論於晦，唯取朔耳。自春秋以後，去聖久遠，歷術差違，莫能詳正。故秦、漢以來，多非朔蝕，而宋代御史中丞何承天微欲見意，不能詳究，乃為太史令錢樂之、散騎侍郎皮延宗所抑止。孝通今語，乃是延宗舊辭。承天既非甄明，故有當時之屈。今略陳梗概，申以明之。夫理歷之本，必推上元之歲，日月如合璧，五星如連珠，夜半甲子朔旦冬至。自此以後，既行度不同，七曜分散，不知何年更得余分普盡，還復總會之時也？唯日分氣分，得有可盡之理，因其得盡，即有三端之元。故造經立法者，小余盡即為元首，此乃紀其日數之元，不關合璧之事矣。時人相傳，皆云大小余俱盡，即定夜半甲子朔旦冬至者，此不達其意故也。何者？冬至自有常數，朔名由於月起，既月行遲疾無常，三端豈得即合？故必須日月相合，與冬至同日者，始可得名為合朔冬至耳。故前代諸歷，不明其意，乃於大余正盡之年而立其元法，將以為常，而不知七曜散行，氣朔不合。今法唯取上元連珠合璧，夜半甲子朔旦冬至，合朔之始以定，一九相因，行至於今日，常取定朔之宜，不論三端之事。皮延宗本來不知，何承天亦自未悟，何得引而相難耶？

In the Liu-Song dynasty Zu Chongzhi long ago established the differential method, and in the Sui Zhang Zhouxuan and others revised it. Though the differential degrees differed, each clarified his own meaning. Xiaotong now does not understand the shifting of lodge degrees and does not grasp the migration of the ecliptic. He clings to Southern Dipper as the fixed star of the winter solstice and Eastern Well as the constant lodge of the summer solstice, raising difficulties at will. How can that be sound reasoning? The sun travels through the lodge degrees like a courier passing an inn. The lodge degrees shift every year, and the ecliptic changes accordingly. How can one use the doctrine of gluing the pillar fast to create difficulties for the turning of the heavens? The Changes also says, "Regulate the calendar and clarify the seasons. The Rites say, "The Son of Heaven in dark robes listens to the new moon outside the southern gate." The Documents say, "On the first day of the first month, he received the end at Wenzu." Master Kong said, "The first day is the new-moon day." He also said, "In the autumn moon of the last month, the chronogram did not gather at Chamber." Master Kong said, "Gather means join together. If they do not join, then the solar eclipse can be inferred accordingly." He also said, "Before the time and not reaching the time—both are executed without pardon." Before the time" means the new-moon day did not reach the proper time. If there is a discrepancy of before and after, this shows ignorance of the way of true new moon. The Odes say, "At the turn of the tenth month, on the new moon day xinmao. The Spring and Autumn Annals records thirty-five solar eclipses. Zuo Qiuming said, "When the new moon is not recorded, it is because the officials failed." This shows that the sage's teaching does not discuss the last day of the month but takes only the new moon. From the Spring and Autumn period onward, the age of the sages lay far behind, calendrical methods drifted into error, and no one could examine and correct them in detail. From Qin and Han onward, many eclipses were recorded on days other than the new moon. In the Liu-Song dynasty, censor-in-chief He Chengtian faintly wished to show his meaning but could not investigate in detail and was suppressed by grand astrologer Qian Yuezhi and cavalier attendant-in-ordinary Pi Yanzong. Xiaotong's words today are in fact Yanzong's old phrases. Because Chengtian was not discriminating and clear, he suffered the setback of his day. I now briefly set forth the outline to explain and clarify the matter. The root of regulating the calendar must reach back to the year of the superior origin, when sun and moon joined like paired jades and the five planets aligned like beads on a string, at midnight on a jiazi new moon at dawn with the winter solstice. From then onward, since their degrees of motion differ, the seven luminaries scatter apart. Who knows in what year the fractional remainders will all be exhausted and the time of general reunion return again? Only the day fraction and qi fraction can be fully exhausted in principle, and once they are exhausted, the origin of the three terminals is established. Those who compose classics and establish calendrical laws therefore take the exhaustion of the small remainder as the era head. This records the origin of day counts and has nothing to do with the joining of sun and moon like paired jades. People of the time passed around the saying that when both large and small remainders are exhausted, this fixes midnight on a jiazi new moon at dawn with the winter solstice. They did not understand the meaning. Why? The winter solstice has its own constant number, while the new moon takes its name from the rising of the month. Since the moon's motion of slow and fast has no fixed rule, how can the three terminals immediately join together? Sun and moon must therefore join together on the same day as the winter solstice before the moment can be called conjunction new moon with winter solstice. Former calendars, not understanding this meaning, established their origin methods in years when the large remainder was exactly exhausted, intending to make this a constant. They did not know that the seven luminaries scatter in motion and that qi and new moon do not join. Our method takes only the superior origin with planets aligned like beads on a string and sun and moon joined like paired jades, midnight on a jiazi new moon at dawn with the winter solstice, and fixes the calendar from the beginning of conjunction. One and nine follow in succession down to the present day, always taking the fitness of true new moon and not discussing the three terminals. Pi Yanzong never understood this in the first place, and He Chengtian himself had not grasped it either. How can one cite them to raise objections?

孝孫以仁均之言為然。

Xiaosun agreed with Renjun's argument.

貞觀初，有益州人陰弘道，又執孝通舊說以駁之，終不能屈。李淳風復駁仁均歷十有八事，敕大理卿崔善為考二家得失，七條改從淳風，余一十一條並依舊定。仁均後除太史令，卒官。

Early in the Zhenguan reign, a man of Yizhou named Yin Hongdao again upheld Xiaotong's old doctrine to refute Renjun, but in the end could not prevail against him. Li Chunfeng again refuted Renjun's calendar on eighteen points. The emperor ordered chief minister of justice Cui Shanyou to examine the strengths and weaknesses of both schools. Seven articles were changed to follow Chunfeng, and the remaining eleven followed the old determination. Renjun was later appointed grand astrologer and died in office.

傅奕，相州鄴人也。尤曉天文曆數。隋開皇中，以儀曹事漢王諒。及諒舉兵，謂奕曰：「今茲熒惑入井，是何祥也？」奕對曰：「天上東井，黃道經其中，正是熒惑行路，所涉不為怪異；若熒惑入地上井，是為災也。」諒不悅。及諒敗，由是免誅，徙扶風。高祖為扶風太守，深禮之。及踐祚，召拜太史丞。太史令庾儉以其父質在隋言占候忤煬帝意，竟死獄中，遂懲其事，又恥以數術進，乃薦奕自代，遂遷太史令。奕既與儉同列，數排毀儉，而儉不之恨，時人多儉仁厚而稱奕之率直。奕所奏天文密狀，屢會上旨，置參旗、井鉞等十二軍之號，奕所定也。武德三年，進《漏刻新法》，遂行於時。七年，奕上疏請除去釋教，曰：

Fu Yi came from Ye in Xiang Prefecture. He was especially versed in astronomy and calendrical reckoning. During the Sui Kaihuang reign he served in the Department of Ceremonial under Prince Liang of Han. When Liang raised troops, he said to Yi, "This year the Sparkling Deluder enters the Well. What omen is this? Yi replied, "Eastern Well in heaven lies on the ecliptic. This is precisely the Sparkling Deluder's path of travel, and what it touches is no marvel. If the Sparkling Deluder entered the well on earth, that would be a disaster. Liang was displeased. When Liang was defeated, Yi escaped execution for this reason and was relocated to Fufeng. The Founding Emperor was then administrator of Fufeng and treated him with deep courtesy. When the emperor took the throne, Yi was summoned and appointed astrologer aide. Grand astrologer Yu Jian's father Zhi had spoken of divination under the Sui and offended Emperor Yang, and ultimately died in prison. Yu Jian therefore shunned that path and was also ashamed to advance through numerological arts. He recommended Yi to replace him, and Yi was then appointed grand astrologer. Yi now held the same rank as Jian and repeatedly denounced him, yet Jian bore no resentment. People of the time mostly praised Jian's kindness and spoke of Yi's blunt directness. The secret astronomical reports Yi submitted repeatedly matched the emperor's intent, and the establishment of the twelve army designations such as Banner of the Three Stars and Well Axe was also his work. In the third year of Wude he presented the New Method of Clepsydra Graduations, and it was then put into practice. In the seventh year, Yi submitted a memorial requesting the removal of Buddhism, saying:

佛在西域，言妖路遠，漢譯胡書，恣其假托。故使不忠不孝，削髮而揖君親；游手游食，易服以逃租賦。演其妖書，述其邪法，偽啟三途，謬張六道，恐嚇愚夫，詐欺庸品。凡百黎庶，通識者稀，不察根源，信其矯詐。乃追既往之罪，虛規將來之福。佈施一錢，希萬倍之報；持齋一日，冀百日之糧。遂使愚迷，妄求功德，不憚科禁，輕犯憲章。其有造作惡逆，身墜刑網，方乃獄中禮佛，口誦佛經，晝夜忘疲，規免其罪。且生死壽夭，由於自然；刑德威福，關之人主。乃謂貧富貴賤，功業所招，而愚僧矯詐，皆云由佛。竊人主之權，擅造化之力，其為害政，良可悲矣！案《書》云：「惟闢作福威，惟辟玉食。臣有作福、作威、玉食，害於而家，凶於而國，人用側頗僻。」降自羲、農，至於漢、魏，皆無佛法，君明臣忠，祚長年久。漢明帝假託夢想，始立胡神，西域桑門，自傳其法。西晉以上，國有嚴科，不許中國之人，輒行髡發之事。洎於苻、石，羌胡亂華，主庸臣佞，政虐祚短，皆由佛教致災也。梁武、齊襄，足為明鏡。昔褒姒一女，妖惑幽王，尚致亡國；況天下僧尼，數盈十萬，翦刻繒彩，裝束泥人，而為厭魅，迷惑萬姓者乎！今之僧尼，請令匹配，即成十萬餘戶。產育男女，十年長養，一紀教訓，自然益國，可以足兵。四海免蠶食之殃，百姓知威福所在，則妖惑之風自革，淳樸之化還興。且古今忠諫，鮮不及禍。竊見齊朝章仇子他上表言：「僧尼徒眾，糜損國家，寺塔奢侈，虛費金帛。」為諸僧附會宰相，對朝讒毀；諸尼依託妃主，潛行謗讟。子他竟被囚執，刑於都市。及周武平齊，制封其墓。臣雖不敏，竊慕其蹤。

The Buddha arose in the Western Regions. His words were demonic and the road distant. When Han translators rendered foreign scriptures, they indulged in fabrication at will. They made men disloyal and unfilial, shaving their heads and offering only formal bows to ruler and parents; wandering idly and eating without labor, changing dress to escape taxes and levies. They expounded their demonic books and described their heterodox laws, falsely opening the three paths and absurdly spreading the six ways, terrifying foolish men and deceiving common people. Among the common people, those with general understanding are few. Not examining the root source, they believe its fabrications and fraud. They pursue past sins and vainly scheme for future blessings. Giving alms of one cash, they hope for ten thousandfold reward; keeping fast for one day, they expect a hundred days' grain. Thus they make the foolish and deluded vainly seek merit, not fearing statutes and prohibitions, and lightly violating the laws. Those who commit wicked and rebellious acts, when they fall into the net of punishment, only then worship the Buddha in prison and recite Buddhist scriptures day and night without rest, scheming to escape their crimes. Moreover, life and death, longevity and early death, depend on nature; punishment, virtue, authority, and blessing concern the human ruler. Poverty and wealth, nobility and baseness should be summoned by merit and achievement, yet foolish monks fabricate and deceive, all saying they come from the Buddha. They steal the ruler's authority and usurp the power of creation and transformation. How lamentable is the harm they do to government! The Documents say, "Only the ruler makes blessings and authority; only the ruler has jade food. If ministers make blessings, make authority, and have jade food, it harms your family and is ominous for your state, and people will use crooked and perverse ways." From Fu Xi and Shen Nong down to Han and Wei, there was no Buddhist law. Rulers were enlightened and ministers loyal, and reigns were long and enduring. Emperor Ming of Han falsely claimed a dream vision and first established the foreign god. Monks from the Western Regions transmitted their law themselves. Up through Western Jin, the state had strict statutes and did not permit people of China casually to shave their heads. By the time of Fu Jian and Shi Le, Qiang and nomadic peoples disturbed China. Rulers were mediocre and ministers flattered, government was cruel and reigns short. All these disasters were caused by Buddhism. Emperor Wu of Liang and Emperor Xiang of Qi are sufficient as bright mirrors. Formerly Bao Si, a single woman, bewitched King You with demonic charm and still brought the state to ruin; how much more when monks and nuns throughout the realm number more than a hundred thousand, cutting and carving silks, dressing clay figures, and making sorcery to bewitch the people! If the monks and nuns of today were ordered to marry, there would immediately be more than a hundred thousand households. They would produce and rear sons and daughters, nurture them for ten years and instruct them for twelve, naturally benefit the state, and supply sufficient troops. Within the four seas they would escape the calamity of being devoured like silkworms. The common people would know where authority and blessing reside, the wind of demonic bewitchment would reform itself, and plain simplicity would rise again. Moreover, loyal remonstrance ancient and modern has rarely escaped calamity. I have seen that in the Qi dynasty Zhang Chou Zita submitted a memorial saying, "The monk and nun multitudes waste and harm the state. Temples and pagodas are extravagant and vainly spend gold and silk. The monks attached themselves to the chief minister and slandered him at court; the nuns relied on imperial consorts and secretly carried out defamation. Zita was ultimately imprisoned and executed in the capital market. When Emperor Wu of Zhou pacified Qi, he decreed the sealing of his tomb. Your subject, though not clever, privately admires his example.

又上疏十一首，詞甚切直。高祖付群官詳議，唯太僕卿張道源稱奕奏合理。中書令蕭瑀與之爭論曰：「佛，聖人也。奕為此議，非聖人者無法，請置嚴刑。」奕曰：「禮本於事親，終於奉上，此則忠孝之理著，臣子之行成。而佛逾城出家，逃背其父，以匹夫而抗天子，以繼體而悖所親。蕭瑀非出於空桑，乃遵無父之教。臣聞非孝者無親，其瑀之謂矣！」瑀不能答，但合掌曰：「地獄所設，正為是人。」高祖將從奕言，會傳位而止。

He again submitted eleven memorials, their language very blunt and direct. The Founding Emperor handed it to the officials for detailed discussion. Only minister of the stud Zhang Daoyuan said Yi's memorial was reasonable. Chief minister Xiao Yu argued with him, saying, "The Buddha is a sage. Yi makes this argument. Those who are not sages have no law. I request severe punishment be imposed. Yi said, "Rites begin in serving parents and end in serving superiors. Thereby the principle of loyalty and filial piety is made manifest and the conduct of ministers and sons is completed. Yet the Buddha left the city and left home, fleeing and turning his back on his father. As a common man he resisted the Son of Heaven, and as one who should inherit the body he was perverse toward those he should be close to. Xiao Yu did not spring from the hollow mulberry tree. He follows the teaching of having no father. I have heard that those who are not filial have no kin. This applies to Yu! Yu could not reply but only pressed his palms together and said, "Hell was established precisely for people like this." The Founding Emperor was about to follow Yi's words when the abdication of the throne intervened and the matter stopped.

奕武德九年五月密奏，太白見秦分，秦王當有天下，高祖以狀授太宗。及太宗嗣位，召奕賜之食，謂曰：「汝前所奏，幾累於我，然今後但須盡言，無以前事為慮也。」太宗常臨朝謂奕曰：「佛道玄妙，聖蹟可師，且報應顯然，屢有征驗，卿獨不悟其理，何也？」奕對曰：「佛是胡中桀黠，欺誑夷狄，初止西域，漸流中國。遵尚其教，皆是邪僻小人，模寫莊、老玄言，文飾妖幻之教耳。於百姓無補，於國家有害。」太宗頗然之。貞觀十三年卒，年八十五。臨終誡其子曰：「老、莊玄一之篇，周、孔《六經》之說，是為名教，汝宜習之。妖胡亂華，舉時皆惑，唯獨竊嘆，眾不我從，悲夫！汝等勿學也。古人裸葬，汝宜行之。」奕生平遇患，未嘗請醫服藥，雖究陰陽數術之書，而並不之信。又嘗醉臥，蹶然起曰：「吾其死矣！」因自為墓誌曰：「傅奕，青山白雲人也。因酒醉死，嗚呼哀哉！」其縱達皆此類。注《老子》，並撰《音義》，又集魏、晉已來駁佛教者為《高識傳》十捲，行於世。

In the fifth month of the ninth year of Wude, Yi secretly memorialized that the Great White appeared in the Qin quarter and the Prince of Qin should possess the realm. The Founding Emperor handed the report to the Prince of Qin. When the Prince of Qin succeeded to the throne, he summoned Yi and gave him food, saying, "Your former memorial nearly brought trouble upon me, yet from now on you need only speak fully and have no concern for past matters. The Emperor often said to Yi at court, "The Buddhist Way is profound and subtle, and the sage's traces may be taken as model. Moreover retribution is manifest and there have repeatedly been verified signs. Why do you alone not understand its principle?" Yi replied, "The Buddha was a cunning villain among the barbarians who deceived foreign tribes. At first he stopped in the Western Regions and gradually flowed into China. Those who honor and follow its teaching are all perverse petty men who copy the abstruse words of Zhuangzi and Laozi to adorn a demonic and illusory teaching. It benefits the common people in nothing and harms the state. The Emperor was quite inclined to agree with this. He died in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan at the age of eighty-five. On his deathbed he admonished his sons, "The abstruse unity chapters of Laozi and Zhuangzi and the teachings of the Six Classics of Zhou and Confucius are the orthodox teaching. You should study them. The demonic barbarians disturbed China, and the whole age was deluded. I alone sighed in private, yet the multitude did not follow me. How sad! You must not learn that. The ancients were buried naked. You should practice this. Throughout his life when Yi encountered illness he never requested doctors or took medicine. Although he investigated books on yin-yang and numerological arts, he did not believe in them. He also once lay drunk asleep, then suddenly started up and said, "I am about to die! He then composed his own epitaph, saying, "Fu Yi, a man of green mountains and white clouds. Died from drunkenness. Alas, how sad! His free and unrestrained ways were all of this sort. He annotated the Laozi and composed a Phonetic and Semantic Commentary. He also collected those who since Wei and Jin had refuted Buddhism into the Biographies of Lofty Understanding in ten scrolls, which circulated in the world.

李淳風，岐州雍人也。其先自太原徙焉。父播，隋高唐尉，以秩卑不得志，棄官而為道士。頗有文學，自號黃冠子。注《老子》，撰《方志圖》，文集十捲，並行於代。淳風幼俊爽，博涉群書，尤明天文、歷算、陰陽之學。貞觀初，以駁傅仁均歷議，多所折衷，授將仕郎，直太史局。尋又上言曰：「今靈台候儀，是魏代遺範，觀其制度，疏漏實多。臣案《虞書》稱，舜在璇璣玉衡，以齊七政。則是古以混天儀考七曜之盈縮也。《周官》大司徒職，以土圭正日景，以定地中。此亦據混天儀日行黃道之明證也。暨於週末，此器乃亡。漢孝武時，洛下閎復造混天儀，事多疏闕。故賈逵、張衡各有營鑄，陸績、王蕃遞加修補，或綴附經星，機應漏水，或孤張規郭，不依日行，推驗七曜，並循赤道。今驗冬至極南，夏至極北，而赤道當定於中，全無南北之異，以測七曜，豈得其真？黃道渾儀之闕，至今千餘載矣。」太宗異其說，因令造之，至貞觀七年造成。其制以銅為之，表裡三重，下據准基，狀如十字，末樹鰲足，以張四表焉。第一儀名曰六合儀，有天經雙規、渾緯規、金常規，相結於四極之內，備二十八宿、十干、十二辰，經緯三百六十五度。第二名三辰儀，圓徑八尺，有璇璣規道，月游天宿矩度，七曜所行，並備於此，轉於六合之內。第三名四游儀，玄樞為軸，以連結玉衡游筒而貫約規矩；又玄樞北樹北辰，南距地軸，傍轉於內；又玉衡在玄樞之間而南北遊，仰以觀天之辰宿，下以識器之晷度。時稱其妙。又論前代渾儀得失之差，著書七卷。名為《法象志》以奏之。太宗稱善，置其儀於凝暉閣，加授承務郎。十五年，除太常博士。尋轉太史丞，預撰《晉書》及《五代史》，其《天文》、《律歷》、《五行志》皆淳風所作也。又預撰《文思博要》。二十二年，遷太史令。初，太宗之世有《秘記》云：「唐三世之後，則女主武王代有天下。」太宗嘗密召淳風以訪其事，淳風曰：「臣據象推算，其兆已成。然其人已生，在陛下宮內，從今不逾三十年，當有天下，誅殺唐氏子孫殲盡。」帝曰：「疑似者盡殺之，如何？」淳風曰：「天之所命，必無禳避之理。王者不死，多恐枉及無辜。且據上象，今已成，復在宮內，已是陛下眷屬。更三十年，又當衰老，老則仁慈，雖受終易姓。其於陛下子孫，或不甚損。今若殺之，即當復生，少壯嚴毒，殺之立讎。若如此，即殺戮陛下子孫，必無遺類。」太宗然竟善其言而止。淳風每占候吉凶，合若符契，當時術者疑其別有役使，不因學習所致，然竟不能測也。顯慶元年，復以修國史功封樂昌縣男。先是，太史監候王思辯表稱《五曹》、《孫子》十部算經理多踳駁。淳風復與國子監算學博士梁述、太學助教王真儒等受詔注《五曹》、《孫子》十部算經。書成，高宗令國學行用。龍朔二年，改授秘閣郎中。時《戊寅曆法》漸差，淳風又增損劉焯《皇極歷》，改撰《麟德歷》奏之，術者稱其精密。咸亨初，官名復舊，還為太史令。年六十九卒。所撰《典章文物志》、《乙巳佔》、《秘閣錄》，並《演齊人要術》等凡十餘部，多傳於代。子諺，孫仙宗，並為太史令。

Li Chunfeng came from Yong in Qi Prefecture. His ancestors had moved there from Taiyuan. His father Bo was a Sui magistrate of Gaotang. Because his rank was low and he could not fulfill his ambitions, he abandoned office and became a Daoist priest. He had considerable literary accomplishment and styled himself the Yellow-Capped Master. He annotated the Laozi, composed the Regional Gazetteer Atlas, and had a collected works in ten scrolls, all circulating in his age. Chunfeng from youth was brilliant and open. He read widely among many books and was especially clear in astronomy, calendrical calculation, and the study of yin and yang. Early in the Zhenguan reign, because he refuted Fu Renjun's calendar proposals and mediated many points, he was appointed awaiting-appointment gentleman and served directly in the Astrological Bureau. Soon afterward he again submitted a statement saying, "The observational instruments of the present Spirit Terrace are a legacy pattern of the Wei dynasty. Examining their construction, there are truly many gaps and omissions. Your subject examines that the Book of Yu says Shun was at the armillary sphere and jade transversal to align the seven regulators. This shows that antiquity used the armillary sphere to examine the waxing and waning of the seven luminaries. The office of the Grand Minister of Education in the Offices of Zhou used the earth gnomon to correct the sun's shadow and thereby fix the center of the earth. This too is clear proof from the armillary sphere that the sun travels the ecliptic. By the end of Zhou this instrument was lost. In the time of Emperor Wu of Han, Luoxia Hong again made an armillary sphere, but the work had many gaps and omissions. Therefore Jia Kui and Zhang Heng each cast their own versions, and Lu Ji and Wang Fan successively added repairs. Some attached the fixed stars and used mechanisms responding to dripping water; others spread the rings alone without following the sun's daily motion. All examined the seven luminaries along the equator. We now verify that the winter solstice is utmost south and the summer solstice utmost north, while the equator should be fixed in the center with no north-south variation. Using this to measure the seven luminaries, how can one obtain the truth? The lack of an ecliptic armillary sphere has lasted more than a thousand years to this day. The Emperor was struck by his doctrine and ordered it made. By the seventh year of Zhenguan it was completed. It was made of bronze, triple-layered inside and out. Below it rested on a leveling base shaped like a cross, with turtle feet at the ends to spread the four directions. The first instrument was called the Six Harmonies Instrument. It had celestial meridian double rings, armillary latitude rings, and golden constant rings joined within the four poles, equipped with the twenty-eight lodges, ten stems, twelve branches, and three hundred sixty-five degrees of longitude and latitude. The second was named the Three Chronograms Instrument, eight feet in circular diameter. It had armillary track rings, the moon's motion through celestial lodges in angular measure, and the paths of the seven luminaries, all turning within the Six Harmonies. The third was named the Four Traversals Instrument. The dark pivot served as axis, linking the jade balance traveling tube and threading through the rules and measures; again the dark pivot planted the Northern Pole Star in the north and set the earth axis in the south, turning sideways within; again the jade balance traveled north and south between the dark pivots, looking up to observe the celestial lodges and looking down to read the instrument's gnomon degrees. The age praised its subtlety. He also discussed the strengths and weaknesses of armillary spheres of former ages and composed a book in seven scrolls. It was titled the Record of Law and Phenomena and submitted. The Emperor praised it, placed the instrument in the Ninghui Pavilion, and additionally appointed him court service gentleman. In the fifteenth year he was appointed doctor of the Imperial Music Office. Soon he was transferred to astrologer aide and participated in compiling the Book of Jin and the History of the Five Dynasties. Its treatises on astronomy, pitch pipes and calendars, and the five phases were all composed by Chunfeng. He also participated in compiling the Literary Thought Broad Essentials. In the twenty-second year he was promoted to grand astrologer. Early in the Emperor's reign there was a Secret Record saying, "After three generations of Tang, a female ruler named Wu will possess the realm. The Emperor once secretly summoned Chunfeng to inquire about the matter. Chunfeng said, "Your subject, calculating from the signs, finds the omen already formed. Yet the person is already born and within Your Majesty's palace. Within thirty years from now, she will possess the realm and slaughter the descendants of the Tang to extinction. The Emperor said, "If we kill all the suspicious ones, how would that be?" Chunfeng said, "What Heaven commands cannot be averted by exorcism. One marked for kingship does not die. To kill widely would likely wrong the innocent. Moreover, according to the signs above, the omen is already formed and she is within the palace. She is already Your Majesty's kin. After thirty more years she will be aged, and when old one is benevolent. Though she receives the end and changes the surname, toward Your Majesty's descendants she may not greatly harm. If you kill her now, she will be born again, young and sternly poisonous. Killing her creates an enemy at once. If it is thus, she will slaughter Your Majesty's descendants and none will remain. The Emperor agreed and ultimately approved his words and stopped. Whenever Chunfeng divined good and ill fortune, the results matched like tally and contract. Technicians of the time suspected he had other agents serving him and that it did not come from study, yet in the end they could not fathom him. In the first year of Xianqing he was again enfeoffed as baron of Lechang for merit in revising the national history. Earlier, astrological observer Wang Sibian memorialized that the ten mathematical classics including the Five Bureaus and Master Sun had many contradictions and errors in their principles. Chunfeng again, with national university doctor of mathematical studies Liang Shu, university assistant instructor Wang Zhenru, and others, received an edict to annotate the ten mathematical classics including the Five Bureaus and Master Sun. When the book was completed, Emperor Gaozong ordered the national university to put it into use. In the second year of Longshuo he was transferred to palace library director. At the time the Wuyin Calendar Method gradually diverged. Chunfeng again revised Liu Zhuo's Imperial Ultimate Calendar, composed the Linde Calendar, and submitted it. Technicians praised its precision. At the beginning of Xianheng, official titles returned to the old forms, and he again became grand astrologer. He died at the age of sixty-nine. Works he composed, including the Record of Institutions and Cultural Objects, the Yisi Divination, the Secret Pavilion Record, and the Elaboration of the Essential Arts of Qi, altogether more than ten titles, mostly circulated in his age. His son Yan and grandson Xianzong both became grand astrologer.

呂才，博州清平人也。少好學，善陰陽方伎之書。貞觀三年，太宗令祖孝孫增損樂章，孝孫乃與明音律人王長通、白明達遞相長短。太宗令侍臣更訪能者，中書令溫彥博奏才聰明多能，眼所未見，耳所未聞，一聞一見，皆達其妙，尤長於聲樂，請令考之。侍中王珪、魏徵又盛稱才學術之妙，徵曰：「才能為尺十二枚，尺八長短不同，各應律管，無不諧韻。」太宗即征才，令直引文館。太宗嘗覽周武帝所撰《三局象經》，不曉其旨。太子洗馬蔡允恭年少時嘗為此戲，太宗召問，亦廢而不通，乃召才使問焉。才尋繹一宿，便能作圖解釋，允恭覽之，依然記其舊法，與才正同，由是才遂知名。累遷太常博士。太宗以陰陽書近代以來漸致訛偽，穿鑿既甚，拘忌亦多。遂命才與學者十餘人共加刊正，削其淺俗，存其可用者。勒成五十三卷，並舊書四十七卷，十五年書成，詔頒行之。才多以典故質正其理，雖為術者所短，然頗合經義，今略載其數篇。

Lu Cai came from Qingping in Bo Prefecture. From youth he loved learning and was skilled in books of yin-yang arts and techniques. In the third year of Zhenguan the Emperor ordered Zu Xiaosun to revise the musical sections. Xiaosun then with pitch experts Wang Changtong and Bai Mingda took turns finding fault with each other. The Emperor ordered attendant ministers to seek further for capable men. Chief minister Wen Yanbo memorialized that Cai was clever and multitalented: what the eye had not seen and the ear had not heard, upon one hearing and one seeing he mastered the subtlety, especially excelling in music and sound, and requested that he be examined. Attendant-in-chief Wang Gui and Wei Zheng also greatly praised the subtlety of Cai's learning and art. Zheng said, "Cai can make twelve pitch pipes of a foot each. Eight-foot pipes of different lengths each respond to the pitch tubes, all in harmonious tone. The Emperor immediately summoned Cai and ordered him to serve directly in the Literary Hall. The Emperor once perused the Three Board Image Classic composed by Emperor Wu of Zhou and did not understand its purport. Crown prince attendant Cai Yungong in his youth had once played this game. The Emperor summoned and asked him, but he too had abandoned it and did not understand, and therefore summoned Cai to question him. Cai traced it through one night and was able to make diagrams and explain it. Yungong perused them and still remembered his old method, exactly the same as Cai's. From this Cai became famous. He was repeatedly promoted to doctor of the Imperial Music Office. The Emperor considered that yin-yang books in recent times had gradually become erroneous and false, with forced interpretations already excessive and taboos also numerous. He therefore ordered Cai and more than ten scholars jointly to revise and correct them, cutting away the shallow and vulgar and preserving what could be used. They compiled fifty-three scrolls together with forty-seven scrolls of old books. In fifteen years the book was completed and an edict promulgated it. Cai often used classical precedents to test and correct their principles. Although technicians criticized him, it largely accorded with canonical meaning. A few of his chapters are briefly recorded here.

其敘《宅經》曰：

His preface to the Dwelling Classic says:

《易》曰：「上古穴居而野處，後世聖人易以宮室，蓋取諸大壯。」迨於殷、周之際，乃有卜宅之文，故《詩》稱「相其陰陽」，《書》雲「卜惟洛宅」，此則卜宅吉凶，其來尚矣。至於近代師巫，更加五姓之說。言五姓者，謂宮、商、角、徵、羽等。天下萬物，悉配屬之，行事吉凶，依此為法。至如張、王等為商，武、庾等為羽，欲似同韻相求。及其以柳姓為宮，以趙姓為角，又非四聲相管。其間亦有同是一姓，分屬宮商，後有復姓數字，徵羽不別。驗於經典，本無斯說，諸陰陽書，亦無此語，直是野俗口傳，竟無所出之處。唯《堪輿經》，黃帝對於天老，乃有五姓之言。且黃帝之時，不過姬、姜數姓，暨於後代，賜族者多。至如管、蔡、成、霍、魯、衛、毛、聃、郜、雍、曹、滕、畢、原、酆、郇，並是姬姓子孫；孔、殷、宋、華、向、蕭、亳、皇甫，並是子姓苗裔。自余諸國，准例皆然。因邑因官，分枝布葉，未知此等諸姓，是誰配屬？又檢《春秋》，以陳、衛及秦並同水姓，齊、鄭及宋皆為火姓，或承所出之祖，或系所屬之星，或取所居之地，亦非宮、商、角、徵，共相管攝。此則事不稽古，義理乖僻者也。

The Changes say, "In high antiquity people dwelt in caves and lived in the wild. Later sages replaced this with palaces and chambers, taking the pattern from Great Strength. By the time of Yin and Zhou there were texts on divining dwellings. Therefore the Odes say "observe its yin and yang" and the Documents say "divine only the Luo dwelling." Divining dwelling fortune and misfortune has a long origin. As for recent master-shamans, they further added the doctrine of the five surnames. The five surnames mean tonic, second, third, fourth, fifth, and the like. All things under heaven are assigned to them, and the fortune and misfortune of affairs follow this as law. For example Zhang, Wang, and others are assigned to second, Wu, Yu, and others to fifth, as if seeking correspondence by rhyme. Yet when they assign the surname Liu to tonic and Zhao to third, this is again not governed by the four tones. Among them there are also cases of the same surname assigned separately to tonic and second. Later with compound surnames of several characters, fourth and fifth are not distinguished. Verified against the classics, there originally was no such doctrine. In all yin-yang books there is also no such phrase. It is simply wild custom passed by mouth with ultimately no source. Only in the Site Selection Classic, in the Yellow Emperor's dialogue with the Heaven Elder, is there speech of the five surnames. Moreover, in the time of the Yellow Emperor there were only a few surnames such as Ji and Jiang. Down to later ages, enfeoffed clans were many. For example Guan, Cai, Cheng, Huo, Lu, Wei, Mao, Dan, Gao, Yong, Cao, Teng, Bi, Yuan, Feng, and Xun were all descendants of the Ji surname; Kong, Yin, Song, Hua, Xiang, Xiao, Bo, and Huangfu were all descendants of the Zi surname. The remaining states all follow the same pattern. Through fiefs and offices branches spread their leaves. Who knows to which assignments these various surnames belong? Again examining the Spring and Autumn Annals, Chen, Wei, and Qin are all of the Water surname, while Qi, Zheng, and Song are all of the Fire surname. Some inherit the ancestor from which they issued, some are tied to the star to which they belong, and some take the place where they dwell. These too are not tonic, second, third, and fourth mutually governing one another. This is a matter that does not examine antiquity and whose reasoning is perverse.

敘《祿命》曰：

His preface to Fortune and Fate says:

謹案《史記》，宋忠、賈誼譏司馬季主云：「夫卜筮者，高人祿命以悅人心，矯言禍福以盡人財。」又案王充《論衡》云：「見骨體而知命祿，睹命祿而知骨體。」此即祿命之書，行之久矣。多言或中，人乃信之。今更研尋，本非實錄。但以積善餘慶，不假建祿之吉；積惡餘殃，豈由劫殺之災？皇天無親，常與善人，禍福之應，其猶影響。故有夏多罪，天命剿絕；宋景修德，妖孛夜移。學也祿在，豈待生當建學。文王勤憂損壽，不關月值空亡。長平坑卒，未聞共犯三刑；南陽貴士，何必俱當六合？歷陽成湖，非獨河魁之上；蜀郡炎燎，豈由災厄之下？今時亦有同年同祿，而貴賤懸殊；共命共胎，而夭壽更異。

Carefully examining the Records of the Historian, Song Zhong and Jia Yi mocked Sima Jizhu, saying, "Diviners and augurs elevate fortune and fate to please people's hearts and twist words of fortune and calamity to exhaust people's wealth. Again examining Wang Chong's Discourses Weighed, it says, "Seeing the bone structure one knows fate and emolument; seeing fate and emolument one knows the bone structure." These are the books of fortune and fate, long in circulation. Much of what they say sometimes hits the mark, and people therefore believe them. Now on further investigation, they are fundamentally not true records. It is only that accumulated goodness leaves surplus blessing. One need not rely on the auspiciousness of established emolument; accumulated evil leaves surplus calamity. How could it come from the disaster of robber-killing stars? August Heaven is without partiality and constantly assists good people. The response of fortune and calamity is like shadow and echo. Therefore Xia committed many crimes and Heaven's command cut them off; Song Jing cultivated virtue and the comet moved away by night. Learning too has emolument present. Must one wait to be born under established learning? King Wen's diligent cares shortened his life. This had nothing to do with the month falling in void emptiness. The soldiers buried at Changping—one has not heard that they all violated the three punishments; the noble scholars of Nanyang—why must they all have been in the six harmonies? Liyang became a lake—not solely because of the River Chief above; Shu commandery burned with fire—how could it be from disaster and affliction below? In our time too there are those of the same year and same emolument yet with nobility and baseness vastly apart; shared fate and shared womb, yet early death and long life differ again.

案《春秋》，魯桓公六年七月，魯莊公生。今檢《長歷》，莊公生當乙亥之歲，建申之月。以此推之，莊公乃當祿之空亡。依祿命書，法合貧賤，又犯勾絞六害，背驛馬三刑，當此三者，並無官爵。火命七月，生當病鄉，為人尪弱，身合矬陋。今案《齊詩》譏莊公「猗嗟昌兮，頎若長兮。美目揚兮，巧趨蹌兮。」唯有向命一條，法當長命。依檢《春秋》，莊公薨時計年四十五矣。此則祿命不驗一也。又案《史記》，秦莊襄王四十八年，始皇帝生，宋忠注云：「因正月生，乃名政。」依檢襄王四十八年，歲在壬寅。此年正月生者，命當背祿，法無官爵，假得祿合，奴婢尚少。始皇又當破驛馬三刑，身克驛馬，法當望官不到，金命正月，生當絕下，為人無始有終，老而彌吉。今檢《史記》，始皇乃是有始無終，老更彌凶。唯建命生，法合長壽，計其崩時，不過五十。祿命不驗二也。又《漢武故事》，武帝以乙酉之歲七月七日平旦時生。亦當祿空亡下，法無官爵，雖向驛馬，尚隔四辰。依祿命法，少無官榮，老而方盛。今檢《漢書》，武帝即位，年始十六，末年已後，戶口減半。祿命不驗三也。又按《後魏書》云：孝文皇帝皇興元年八月生。今按《長歷》，其年歲在丁未。以此推之，孝文皇帝背祿命並驛馬三刑，身克驛馬。依祿命書，法無官爵，命當父死中生，法當生不見父。今檢《魏書》，孝文皇帝身受其父顯祖之禪。禮云：「嗣子位定於初喪，踰年之後，方始正號。是以天子無父，事三老也。孝文受禪，異於常禮，躬率天下，以事其親，而祿命雲不合識父。祿命不驗四也。又按沈約《宋書》云：「宋高祖癸亥歲三月生。依此而推，祿之與命，並當空亡。依祿命書，法無官爵；又當子墓中生，唯宜嫡子，假有次子，法當早卒。今檢《宋書》，高祖長子先被篡弒，次子義隆，享國多年。高祖又當祖祿下生，法得嫡孫財祿。今檢《宋書》其孫劉劭、劉浚並為篡逆，幾失宗祧。祿命不驗五也。

Examining the Spring and Autumn Annals, in the seventh month of the sixth year of Duke Huan of Lu, Duke Zhuang of Lu was born. Now checking the Long Calendar, Duke Zhuang was born in the year yihai, in the month beginning with shen. From this it follows that Duke Zhuang should have been in the void emptiness of emolument. According to the books of fortune and fate, by law he should have been poor and base. He also violated entanglement, strangulation, and six harms, and turned his back on post-horse and three punishments. Facing these three, he should have had no office or rank. With fire fate in the seventh month, born in the sickness quarter, he should have been a weakling in person and short and ugly in body. Now examining the Qi Odes, they mock Duke Zhuang: "Ah, how splendid! How tall and long! Beautiful eyes and arched brows! Skilled in graceful steps! Only the item of facing fate by law should mean long life. Checking the Spring and Autumn Annals, when Duke Zhuang died he was counted at forty-five years. This is the first case in which fortune and fate did not verify. Again examining the Records of the Historian, in the forty-eighth year of King Zhuangxiang of Qin the First Emperor was born. Song Zhong annotated, "Because he was born in the first month, he was named Zheng. Checking the forty-eighth year of King Zhuang, the year was in renyin. One born in the first month of this year should turn his back on emolument. By law he would have no office or rank, and even if emolument matched, servants would still be few. The First Emperor should also break post-horse and three punishments, his body overcoming post-horse. By law he should have looked for office and not attained it. With metal fate in the first month, born he should end below, a man without beginning who has an end, old and ever more auspicious. Now checking the Records of the Historian, the First Emperor in fact had a beginning without an end, old and ever more vicious. Only established fate at birth by law should mean long life. Counting when he collapsed, he was not yet fifty. Fortune and fate did not verify—a second case. Again, Han Wu Stories says Emperor Wu was born in the year yiyou on the seventh day of the seventh month at dawn. He too should have been below void emptiness of emolument. By law he had no office or rank, and though facing post-horse, he was still separated by four chronograms. By the law of fortune and fate, in youth little office and glory, old and only then flourishing. Now checking the Book of Han, when Emperor Wu took the throne he was only sixteen. In his later years the population was halved. Fortune and fate did not verify—a third case. Again according to the Book of Later Wei, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei was born in the eighth month of the first year of Huangxing. Now checking the Long Calendar, that year was in dingwei. Pushing from this, Emperor Xiaowen turned his back on emolument and fate together with post-horse and three punishments, his body overcoming post-horse. By the books of fortune and fate, by law he had no office or rank. Fate should mean father dies while son is born; by law he should be born without seeing his father. Now checking the Wei Book, Emperor Xiaowen personally received the abdication from his father Emperor Xianzu. The Rites say, "The heir's position is fixed at the first mourning. Only after the year passes does he formally take the title. Therefore the Son of Heaven has no father and serves the three elders. Xiaowen received the abdication, differing from ordinary rites, yet personally led the realm in serving his parent, while fortune and fate say he should not have recognized his father. Fortune and fate did not verify—a fourth case. Again according to Shen Yue's Book of Song, "Founding Emperor of Song was born in the third month of the year guihai." Pushing from this, both emolument and fate should have been in void emptiness. By the books of fortune and fate, by law he had no office or rank; he should also have been born in the son tomb. Only the eldest son was fitting, and if there were a second son, by law he should die early. Now checking the Book of Song, the Founding Emperor's eldest son was first murdered in usurpation, while the second son Yilong enjoyed the realm for many years. The Founding Emperor should also have been born below ancestral emolument. By law he should obtain wealth and emolument through the eldest grandson. Now checking the Book of Song, his grandsons Liu Shao and Liu Jun both committed usurpation and rebellion, nearly losing the ancestral temple. Fortune and fate did not verify—a fifth case.

敘《葬書》曰：

His preface to the Burial Classic says:

《易》曰：「古之葬者，衣之以薪，不封不樹，喪期無數。」後世聖人易之以棺槨，蓋取諸《大過》。《禮》云：「葬者，藏也，欲使人不得見之。」然《孝經》云：「卜其宅兆而安厝之。」以其顧復事畢，長為感慕之所；窀穸禮終，永作魂神之宅。朝市遷變，不得豫測於將來，泉石交侵，不可先知於地下。是以謀及龜筮，庶無後艱，斯乃備於慎終之禮，曾無吉凶之義。暨乎近代以來，加之陰陽葬法，或選年月便利，或量墓田遠近，一事失所，禍及死生。巫者利其貨賄，莫不擅加妨害。遂使葬書一術，乃有百二十家。各說吉凶，拘而多忌。且天覆地載，乾坤之理備焉；一剛一柔，消息之義詳矣。或成於晝夜之道，感於男女之化，三光運於上，四氣通於下，斯乃陰陽之大經，不可失之於斯須也。至於喪葬之吉凶，乃附此為妖妄。《傳》云：「王者七日而殯，七月而葬；諸侯五日而殯，五月而葬；大夫經時而葬；士及庶人逾月而已。」此則貴賤不同，禮亦異數。欲使同盟同軌，赴吊有期，量事制宜，遂為常式。法既一定，不得違之。故先期而葬，謂之不懷；後期而不葬，譏之殆禮。此則葬有定期，不擇年月，一也。《春秋》又云：丁巳，葬定公，雨，不克葬，至於戊午襄事。禮經善之。《禮記》雲「卜葬先遠日」者，蓋選月終之日，所以避不懷也。今檢葬書，以己亥之日用葬最凶。謹按春秋之際，此日葬者凡有二十餘件。此則葬不擇日，二也。《禮記》又云：「周尚赤，大事用平旦；殷尚白，大事用日中；夏尚黑，大事用昏時。」鄭玄《注》云：「大事者何？謂喪葬也。」此則直取當代所尚，不擇時之早晚。《春秋》雲，鄭卿子產及子太叔葬鄭簡公，於時司墓大夫室當葬路。若壞其室，即平旦而窆；不壞其室，即日中而窆。子產不欲壞室，欲待日中。子太叔云：「若至日中而窆，恐久勞諸侯大夫來會葬者。」然子產既雲博物君子，太叔乃為諸侯之選，國之大事，無過喪葬，必是義有吉凶，斯等豈得不用？今乃不問時之得失，唯論人事可否。《曾子問》云：「葬逢日蝕，舍於路左，待明而行，所以備非常也。」若依葬書，多用乾、艮二時，並是近半夜，此即文與禮違。今檢《禮傳》，葬不擇時，三也。葬書雲，富貴官品，皆由安葬所致；年命延促，亦曰墳壟所招。然今按《孝經》云：「立身行道，則揚名於後世，以顯父母。」《易》曰：「聖人之大寶曰位，何以守位曰仁。」是以日慎一日，則澤及於無疆；苟德不建，則人而無後，此則非由安葬吉凶而論福祚延促。臧孫有後於魯，不關葬得吉日，若敖絕祀於荊，不由遷厝失所。此則安葬吉凶不可信用，其義四也。今之喪葬吉凶，皆依五姓便利。古之葬者，並在國都之北，域兆既有常所，何取姓墓之義？趙氏之葬，並在九原；漢之山陵，散在諸處。上利下利，蔑爾不論，大墓小墓，其義安在？及其子孫富貴不絕，或與三代同風，或分六國而王。此則五姓之義，大無稽古；吉凶之理，何從而生？其義五也。且人臣名位，進退何常，亦有初賤而後貴，亦有始泰而終否。是以子文三已令尹，展禽三黜士師。卜葬一定，更不回改，冢墓既成，曾不革易，則何因名位無時暫安。故知官爵弘之在人，不由安葬所致。其義六也。野俗無識，皆信葬書，巫者詐其吉凶，愚人因而徼幸。遂使擗踴之際，擇葬地而希官品；荼毒之秋，選葬時以規財祿。或云辰日不宜哭泣，遂莞爾而對賓客受吊；或云同屬忌於臨壙，乃吉服不送其親。聖人設教，豈其然也？葬書敗俗，一至於斯，其義七也。

The Changes say, "The ancients in burying clothed the dead in brushwood, did not mound or plant trees, and mourning periods had no fixed number. Later sages replaced this with coffin and outer coffin, taking the pattern from Great Excess." The Rites say, "To bury is to conceal, wishing that people cannot see. Yet the Classic of Filial Piety says, "Divine the dwelling site and peacefully lay them to rest." Because once the task of nurturing is complete, it becomes the place of long yearning; when the rites of the grave chamber end, it forever becomes the dwelling of the soul. Markets and courts may change and cannot be foreseen for the future. Springs and stones may encroach and cannot be known beforehand underground. Therefore one consults tortoise and yarrow hoping for no later hardship. This merely completes the rites of careful ending and never had the meaning of fortune or misfortune. Down to recent times people have added yin-yang burial methods, choosing convenient years and months or measuring grave fields near and far. Lose one matter and calamity reaches the living and dead. Shamans profit from their bribes and invariably add harm on their own authority. Thus the art of burial books came to have one hundred and twenty schools. Each speaks of fortune and misfortune, constrained and full of taboos. Heaven covers and earth bears—the principles of Qian and Kun are complete; one firm, one yielding—the meaning of waxing and waning is detailed. Some are formed from the Way of day and night, moved by the transformation of male and female. The three luminaries move above and the four qi penetrate below. This is the great constant of yin and yang and cannot be lost even for an instant. As for the fortune and misfortune of mourning and burial, they are attached to this as demonic falsehood. The Commentary says, "The king lies in state seven days and is buried in seven months; feudal lords five days in state and buried in five months; grand masters after a season; knights and commoners only beyond one month. Thus noble and base differ and the rites also have different numbers. The wish was to make allied states and those on the same path come to mourning on a fixed schedule, measuring affairs and setting rules accordingly, and thus it became a constant pattern. Once the law was fixed, it could not be violated. Therefore to bury before the term is called lack of regard; to pass the term without burial is criticized as nearly unritual. This shows burial has a fixed term and does not choose year and month—the first point. The Spring and Autumn Annals also says that on dingsi they buried Duke Ding, rain fell and burial could not be completed, and on wuwu the rites were carried through. The ritual classics approve this. The Record of Rites says "in divining burial choose a distant day first." This means selecting the last day of the month, thereby avoiding lack of regard. Now checking burial books, they say using burial on a jihai day is most inauspicious. Carefully examining the Spring and Autumn period, burials on this day number more than twenty cases. This shows burial does not choose the day—the second point. The Record of Rites also says, "Zhou honored red; great affairs used dawn; Yin honored white; great affairs used noon; Xia honored black; great affairs used dusk. Zheng Xuan's Commentary says, "What are great affairs? They mean mourning and burial." This directly takes what the age honored and does not choose early or late in time. The Spring and Autumn Annals says that when Zichan of Zheng and Zitaishu buried Duke Jian of Zheng, the tomb-master's house blocked the burial road. If they destroyed the house, they would bury at dawn; if they did not destroy the house, they would bury at noon. Zichan did not wish to destroy the house and wished to wait for noon. Zitaishu said, "If we bury only at noon, I fear we will long weary the feudal lords and grand masters who come to join the burial. Yet Zichan was called a broadly learned gentleman and Taishu was chosen among feudal lords. Of the state's great affairs none surpass mourning and burial. Surely there must be meaning in fortune and misfortune—how could such men fail to use them? Now they did not ask about gain and loss in time but only discussed whether human affairs were feasible. Zengzi Asked says, "When burial meets a solar eclipse, lodge on the left of the road and wait for light before proceeding. This is to guard against the extraordinary. If one follows burial books, they mostly use the qian and gen hours, all near midnight. This contradicts both text and rites. Now checking ritual texts, burial does not choose the hour—the third point. Burial books say that wealth, nobility, and official rank all come from burial; length and shortness of life are also said to be summoned by the tomb mound. Yet now examining the Classic of Filial Piety, it says, "Establish the person and walk the Way, then spread your name in later ages to glorify your parents. The Changes say, "The great treasure of the sage is position. How to keep position is called benevolence." Therefore if one is cautious day by day, blessing extends without bound; if virtue is not established, then as a person one has no posterity. This is not discussed in terms of burial fortune and misfortune for blessing and length of life. Zangsun had posterity in Lu, unrelated to obtaining an auspicious burial day. Ruao lost sacrifice in Jing, not because of wrong removal and burial. Thus the fortune and misfortune of burial cannot be trusted—the fourth point. Today's fortune and misfortune in mourning and burial all depend on the convenience of the five surnames. The ancients in burying were all north of the capital. Burial grounds already had fixed places. Why take the meaning of surname tombs? The burials of the Zhao clan were all at Jiuyuan; the mountain tombs of Han were scattered in various places. Upper benefit and lower benefit were utterly disregarded. Large tombs and small tombs—where is the meaning? Yet their descendants' wealth and nobility did not cease, some sharing the wind of the Three Dynasties, some dividing the six states and becoming kings. Thus the meaning of the five surnames greatly lacks examination of antiquity; from what does the principle of fortune and misfortune arise? This is the fifth point. Moreover, the name and rank of ministers—advancement and retreat—how can they be constant? Some are base at first and noble later; some flourish at first and end in decline. Therefore Ziwen thrice left the office of prime minister and Zhan Qin was thrice dismissed as master of knights. Once divination for burial is fixed it is never changed again. Once the tomb is completed it is never altered. Then from what cause would name and rank lack even temporary peace? Thus we know that the greatness of office and rank lies in the person and is not caused by burial. This is the sixth point. Rustic custom is without understanding; all trust burial books. Shamans deceive about fortune and misfortune, and fools therefore hope for undeserved luck. Thus at the time of beating the breast and stamping, they choose burial ground hoping for official rank; in the season of bitter grief they choose burial times scheming for wealth and emolument. Some say the chen day is unsuitable for weeping, and so they smile gently while receiving condolences from guests; some say those of the same clan taboo approaching the grave pit and so wear auspicious dress and do not escort their kin. Did the sages in establishing teaching intend it to be thus? Burial books corrupt custom to this extreme—the seventh point.

太宗又令才造《方域圖》及《教飛騎戰陣圖》，皆稱旨，擢授太常丞。永徽初，預修《文思博要》及《姓氏錄》。顯慶中，高宗以琴曲古有《白雪》，近代頓絕，使太常增修舊曲。才上言曰：「臣按《禮記》及《家語》雲，舜彈五弦之琴，歌《南風》之詩。是知琴操曲弄，皆合於歌。又張華《博物志》云：《白雪》是天帝使素女鼓五十弦瑟曲名。又楚大夫宋玉對襄王雲，有客於郢中歌《陽春白雪》，國中和者數十人。是知《白雪》琴曲，本宜合歌，以其調高，人和遂寡。自宋玉已來，迄今千祀，未有能歌《白雪》曲者。臣今准敕，依琴中舊曲，定其宮商，然後教習，併合於歌，輒以御製《雪詩》為《白雪》歌詞。又案古今樂府，奏正曲之後，皆別有送聲，君唱臣和，事彰前史。今取太尉長孫無忌、僕射於志寧、侍中許敬宗等《奉和雪詩》以為送聲，合十六節，今悉教訖，並皆合韻。」高宗大悅，更作《白雪歌詞》十六首，付太常編於樂府。時右監門長史蘇敬上言，陶弘景所撰《本草》，事多舛謬。詔中書令許敬宗與才及李淳風、禮部郎中孔志約，並諸名醫，增損舊本，仍令司空李勣總監定之，併圖合成五十四卷，大行於代。才龍朔中為太子司更大夫，麟德二年卒。著《隋記》二十捲，行於時。

The Emperor also ordered Cai to make the Regional Atlas and the Instructional Chart of Flying Cavalry Battle Formations. Both met approval and he was promoted to vice director of the Imperial Music Office. At the beginning of Yonghui he participated in revising the Literary Thought Broad Essentials and the Record of Surnames. In Xianqing, Emperor Gaozong noted that the qin piece White Snow existed in antiquity but had abruptly ceased in recent times and ordered the Imperial Music Office to augment and revise the old piece. Cai submitted a statement saying, "Your subject examines that the Record of Rites and the Family Sayings say Shun played the five-string qin and sang the Ode of the Southern Winds. This shows that qin performance, melodies, and variations all join with song. Again Zhang Hua's Broad Knowledge of Things says that White Snow is the name of the fifty-string se piece that the August Thearch had the Plain Girl play. Again the Chu grand master Song Yu said to King Xiang of Chu that a guest in Ying sang Sunny Spring and White Snow and those in the state who joined in harmony numbered only a few dozen. This shows that the qin piece White Snow originally should join with song. Because its mode is high, those who harmonized were few. From Song Yu until now, a thousand years, there has been no one able to sing the White Snow melody. Your subject now by imperial order, following the old piece in the qin repertoire, fixes its tonic and second, then teaches it and joins it with song, taking the imperially composed Snow Poems as the lyrics for White Snow. Again examining ancient and modern Music Bureau pieces, after performing the main melody there is always a separate sending voice. Lord sings and ministers harmonize—a matter clear in former histories. Now taking the Harmonizing with Snow Poems by chief minister Zhangsun Wuji, vice director Yu Zhining, attendant-in-chief Xu Jingzong, and others as the sending voice, altogether sixteen stanzas—now all taught and all in rhyme. Emperor Gaozong was greatly pleased and composed sixteen White Snow song texts, handing them to the Imperial Music Office to compile in the Music Bureau. At the time right gate guardian chief clerk Su Jing submitted a statement that the Materia Medica composed by Tao Hongjing had many errors and mistakes. An edict ordered chief minister Xu Jingzong together with Cai, Li Chunfeng, department of rites officer Kong Zhiyue, and all famous physicians to revise the old text. Minister of works Li Ji was ordered to oversee it. With illustrations it formed fifty-four scrolls and circulated widely. Cai in Longshuo became grand master of the crown prince's household administration and died in the second year of Linde. He composed the Record of Sui in twenty scrolls, which circulated in his time.

子方毅，七歲能誦《周易》、《毛詩》。太宗聞其幼敏，召見，甚奇之，賜以縑帛。後為右衛鎧曹參軍。母終，哀慟過禮，竟以毀卒。布車載喪，隨轜車而葬。友人郎余令以白粥、玄酒，生芻一束，於路隅奠祭，甚為時人之所哀惜。

His son Fangyi at age seven could recite the Zhou Changes and the Mao Odes. The Emperor heard of his youthful quickness, summoned and saw him, greatly marveled at him, and bestowed silk. Later he became army aide of the right guard armor office. When his mother died his grief exceeded the rites and he ultimately died from ruin of the body. A cloth-covered cart carried the coffin and he was buried following the hearse. His friend Lang Yuling offered white gruel and dark wine and a bundle of fresh fodder, making offering at the roadside corner—much pitied by people of the time.

史臣曰：孝孫定音律，仁均正曆數，淳風候象緯，呂才推陰陽，訂於其倫，咸以為裨、梓、京、管之流也。然旋宮三代之法，秦火籍煬，歷代缺其正音，而雲孝孫復始，大可嘆也。淳風精於術數，能知女主革命，而不知其人，則所未喻矣。呂才核拘忌之曲學，皆有經據，不亦賢乎！古人所以存而不議，蓋有意焉。

The historian says: Xiaosun fixed pitch and pipes, Renjun corrected calendrical numbers, Chunfeng observed signs and coordinates, and Cai pushed yin and yang. In ordering their categories all were considered of the stream of Bi, Zi, Jing, and Guan. Yet the method of circular modulation of the Three Dynasties was lost in the Qin fires and the Sui blaze. Successive ages lacked its correct pitches, yet it is said Xiaosun began it again—greatly lamentable. Chunfeng was subtle in numerological arts and could know a female ruler's revolution, yet did not know the person—this is what was not understood. Lu Cai examined cramped, taboo-bound crooked learning and all had canonical basis. Is he not worthy? Why the ancients preserved such things without debating them—there was presumably intent in this.

贊曰：祖、傅、淳、才，彰往考來。裁筠嶰谷，運箸清台。推迎斡運，圖寫昭回。重黎之後，諸子賢哉！

The encomium says: Zu, Fu, Chun, and Cai—illuminating the past and examining the future. Cutting bamboo in the Jie Valley, moving counting rods on the Clear Terrace. Pushing and welcoming the turning of the heavens, charting and depicting the bright revolving sky. Descendants of Chongli—all worthy sons!

Cite this Chapter