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The oracles of the clouds and the Winds1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 December 2009

Michael Loewe
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Extract

The subject of oracles and divination usually calls to mind two topics, the shells and bones of the Shang–Yin period, and the cast of the yarrow stalks with a view to constructing the hexagrams. Attention may then fasten on the inscriptions of the shells and the bones, or on the Changes, and their respective places in linguistic, religious, historical or philosophical studies. However, it is by no means always recognized that divination and oracles continued to be matters of considerable importance in their many forms in later ages, playing a significant role alike in political decisions, religious practice and scientific enquiry.

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Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , October 1988 , pp. 500 - 520
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Copyright © School of Oriental and African Studies 1988

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References

2 For further details, see M., Loewe, ‘The almanacs (jih-shu) from Shui-hu-ti; a preliminary survey’ (forthcoming in Asia Major); ‘The term k'an-yii and the choice of the moment’ (EC, 9/10, 1987, 204–17); ’The Han view of comets’ (BMFEA, 52, 1980, 1–31); and ‘Divination by shells bones and stalks during the Han period' (forthcoming in T'oung Pao)Google Scholar.

3 The manuscript has been entitled by modern scholars T'ien-wen ch'i-hsiang tsa chan; see Ku T'ieh-fu, , ‘Ma-wang-tui po-shu “T'ien-wen ch'i-hsiang tsa chan” nei-jung chien-shu‘ WW, 1978,2, 1–4 (translGoogle Scholar. Donald, J. Harper, Chinese Studies in Archeology, I, 1, 1979, 56.–74Google Scholar For illustrations of entries for the clouds, see Chung-kuo po-wu-kuan, no. 2: Hu-nan sheng po-wu-kuan (Peking: Wen-wu Press, 1983Google Scholar), no. 138; Chung-kuo wen-wu no. 1, 1979; and I yuan to ying no. 9. It is possible that material comparable with that of the manuscript may have been included in works entitled Yün-ch'I fu.(see Hua-yang kuo chih 10A.5a, SPPY ed.) and Hou yiin-ch'i (see SS 34 (chih 29). 1020).

4 Tso chuan, Duke, Hsi, Fifth year; Harvard-Yenching Institute Sinological Index Series, Supplement no. 11, p. 94Google Scholar; Couvreur' translation, vol. i, 247–8Google Scholar; Legge' translation, vol. v, part 1, 142–4Google Scholar; DeWoskin, 8.

5 Lü shih ch'iu 13 (‘Ying t'ung’). 4b (SPPY ed.).

6 Kuroda, Genji, Ki no kenkyū (Tokyo: Tokyo bijutsu, 1977), 165–72Google Scholar; he cites passages from Chuang-tzu (Harvard-Yenching Institute Sinological Index Series, Supplement no. 20) 1 (line 15), 6 (line72), 27(line31) and39 (line62); Hsün-tzu 18(‘Fup'ien’). 13a(SPTK ed.); Kuan-tzu 14 (‘ Shui ti’). 2b and 16 (‘ Nei yeh’). 5a (SPTK ed.); Lü shih ch'un-ch'iu 20 (‘ Kuan piao’). 17b (SPPY ed.); and Huai-nan-tzu 3.30a. See also TPYL 6.4b, for a citation from Ta hsiang lieh hsing t'u which concerns the control exercised over various climatic phenomena including yün ch'iGoogle Scholar.

7 SC 27.72; MH vol. III, 393 f.; HS 26.43a; Hulsewé, A. F. P., ‘Watching the vapours; an ancient Chinese technique of prognostication’ (Nachrichten der Gesellschaft fur Natur-und Volkerkunde Ostasiens [Hamburg], 125, 1979,40–9)Google Scholar.

8 Chavannes separates the two characters and renders ‘observation des nuées et des vapeurs’. The expression yün-ch'i is also seen in Shui-hu-ti strip no. 852RGoogle Scholar. I am aware that many distinguished scholars prefer to leave‘ ch'i’ as it stands rather than attempt a translation. The term ‘Vital energy’ that is used here is comparable with ‘vital force’, as once suggested byGoogle ScholarBernhard, Karlgren (see Day, M. Henry, Spontaneity and the pattern of things: the Zirán and wüshi of Wáng Chong's Lùn Héng, Stockholm: Skrifter utgivna av Föreningen för Orientaliska Studier, 6, 1972, p. 15, n. 1)Google Scholar. In Han writings, ch'i had not been developed in the way that it appears later, principally in Neo-Confucian thoughtGoogle Scholar. It signified a life-giving force or vitality that may remain latent within certain natural substances or phenomena or may become manifest in material form. In this way the unseen force could be seen to appear in the cloudsGoogle Scholar. A further example of the concept of ch'i in Han times is seen in the opening sentence of Wang Ch‘ung' chapter on spontaneous creation (LH 18.775, ‘Tzu-jan’Forke's translation, vol. i, 92), ‘Thanks to the union of the ch'i of heaven and earth all things are spontaneously created, in just the same way as children are spontaneously brought to life thanks to the union of the ch'i of man and womanGoogle Scholar’.

9 See SC 27.77, HS 26.45a for a reference to yang ch'i , SC 27.75, HS 26.44a for a reference to the Five Colours, but without the assignment that accords with wu hsing theory.

10 Ming-ti's performance is recorded in HHS 2.4b and HHS (tr.) 8.4b for a day corresponding with 20 February 59. In one passage he is said to have observed yüan ch'i , in the other yün wu. In a third passage, HHS 79A (biog. 69A).lb he is said to have observed yün wu on an unspecified date. It seems reasonable to suppose that the three passages refer to a single incident, and the expression yüan ch'i, which does not appear to be used elsewhere, requires explanation. It may be noted that in the manuscript from Ma-wang-tui the characteris regularly used for, and it is possible that in HHS 2.4b an original has been corrupted into The records of observation made by Chang-ti and Ho-ti (78 and 93) on days corresponding with 18 February and 25 February of those years both specify yün wu. Consideration of the dating of these visits suggests that they may have taken place on the day of Spring's beginning, i.e. the seasonal new yearGoogle Scholar(see Derk, Bodde, Festivals in Classical China (Princeton: Princeton University Press/Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1975, 45 f.)Google Scholar. For a further reference to the ruler' visit to the observatory to inspect these phenomenaGoogle Scholar, see Chung, lun B, 15a, b (SPTK ed.)Google Scholar.

11 SC 27.79 f., HS 26.46a.

12 See Bodde, , Festivals, 168Google Scholar. A work of this title, in two chüan, edited byGoogle ScholarCheng Hsüan was known in Sung times, but it has long been lost. For collected fragments, see Shuo-fu, 5 and Sun Chüeh Ku wei shu (Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng 691, pp. 265–95)Google Scholar. For the dubious nature of the textGoogle Scholar, see Chang Hsin-ch'eng, Wei shu t'ung-k'ao (Shanghai: Commercial Press; original edition 1939, repr. 1957), 146Google Scholar.

13 HHS lB.23b; LH 2, p. 90 and 19, p. 831.

14 Chou li 6.29b (SPTK ed.), Biot's translation, vol. II, 84; see also Ho, Ping-yii [Ho Peng, Yoke and Ho, Kuan-piao [ Ho Koon, Piu], Tun-huang ts‘an chüan chart yün ch'i shu yen-chiu (Taipei: I-wen yin-shu-kuan, 1985), 25 fGoogle Scholar.; see also Chou, li 6.46a, Biot's translation vol. n, 115, for the Pao chang shih's duties of this typeGoogle Scholar.

15 SC 28.52 (MH, vol. in, 470); HS 25A.25a.

16 Wang, Li-ch'i, Yen-t'ieh lun chiao chu (Shanghai: Ku-tien wen-hüeh ch'u-pan-she, 1958) 1 (‘T'ungyu’),p.22Google Scholar.

17 See WW 1979. 3, If., for an account of the tomb of Ts'ao Chuan near Ch'ang-sha (p. 3b includes a reference to the painting)Google Scholar.

18 HHS 34 (biog.24). 12b; Hans, Bielenstein, ‘Lo-yang in Later Han times’, Stockholm: reprinted from BMFEA 48 (1976), 73Google Scholar.

19 HHS (tr.) 6.10b; see also HHS (tr.) 6.1 la; 10.5a and 29.13b.

20 See Ho Peng, Yoke, The astronomical chapters of the Chin shu with amendments full translation and annotations, Paris and the Hague: Mouton, 1966, 13Google Scholar.

21 See Derk, Bodde, ‘The Chinese cosmic magic known as watching for the Ethers’, in Saren Egerod and Else Glahn (ed.), Studia Serica Bemhard Karlgren dedicata (Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaard, 1959), 18Google Scholar. It is necessary to distinguish between two scholars, each named Ching, Fang and each concerned with the Book of Changes; (a) Ching, Fang the first, teacher of Liang-ch'iu Ho, at one time governor of Ch'i commandery, and known as a specialist in the I ching by the time of Hsüan-ti (reigned 73–49). Hulsewé (T'oung Pao LXXII, 1986, 161–2)Google Scholarsuggests dates of c. 140 to c. 80; see HS 88.9a. (b) Ching, Fang the second, pupil of Chiao Yen-shou, native of Tung commandery, dates, as in Bodde, 79–37; see below in connexion with prognostication from the winds; HS 75.9a and HS 88.10bGoogle Scholar.

22 CS 12.16a; Ho Peng, Yoke, Astronomical chapters of the Chin shu, 138; SS 20 (chih 15) 576Google Scholar.

23 CS 12.19b; Ho Peng Yoke, p. 144; 5521 (chih 16).584. In expressing this view I may be differing somewhat from Professor Hulsewé; it does not seem to me that the text of the Shih-chi or the Han shu reads abruptly or that a lacuna should be suspected; see Hulsewé, ‘Watching the vapours’, 42.

24 SC 27.74; HS26.44a; CS 12.23a; Ho Peng, Yoke, Astronomical chapters of the Chin shu, 147; SS 21 (chih 16) 591Google Scholar.

25 The most comprehensive study of this document will be found in Ho Ping-yű and Ho Kuanpiao as cited in note 14 above (also published in Wen-shih 25, 1985, 67–94 and subsequently). Reference is made therein (introduction, pp. 2–3, and p. 134) to earlier studies by Hsiang Ta, Ch'en P'an and Hsia Nai which concern both the document under consideration here and the astronomical chart which precedes itGoogle Scholar. See also Ma Shih-ch'ang, , in Tun-huang T'u-lu-fan wen-hsien yen-chiu lun-chi (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1982), 477–508; and Ho Peng, Yoke, Li, Qi and Shu; an introduction to science and civilization in China (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1985), 146 fGoogle Scholar. Illustrations of parts of the document appear as follows: (a) the astronomical chart; Chungkuo ku-tai t'ien-wen wen-wu t'u-chi (Peking: Wen-wu Press, 1980), 121, colour plate 10 and plate 63; and Ho Peng Yoke, Li, Qi and Shu, fig. 58 and endpapers, (b) Chan yiin ch'i shu; in colour, in Seki Kafuku (Shih Chia-fu) and Tō Kengo, (Teng Chien-wu) Tonkō e no michi (Tokyo: Nihon hoso shuppansha, 1978), 170–1Google Scholar; and Chügoku Tonkō ten (Catalogue of an exhibition held in various cities in Japan 5 x 85 to 26 iii 86) no. 85; in black and white in China Pictorial, 1980, 3,17. The illustrations of the clouds are also reproduced, individually alongside their text, in Ho and Ho's monograph.

26 Ho Peng, Yoke, Li, Qi and Shu, 146 fGoogle Scholar.

27 HHS 82A.lb; Ngo, p. 74; DeWoskin, 43.

28 WW 1974.2, 18, 32 and 35.

29 See Ngo, 188.

30 SC 27.78 (MH, vol. in, 397); HS 26.46a; Ngo, 186; Bodde, Festivals, 45.

31 Lü shih ch'un-ch'iu 6 (‘Yinlü 4a

32 SC 27.93; MH, Vol. m, 409; Bodde, Festivals, p. 46, n. 4.

33 i.e., the People's New Year; see Bodde, Festivals, 49 fGoogle Scholar.

34 HS 75.11b et seq.

35 See Loewe, , Crisis and conflict in Han China (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1974), 11 fGoogle Scholar.

36 See Crisis and Conflict, 147 f., 154 f.

37 HS 75.15a

38 Crisis and Conflict, ch.v.

39 The assignment of the emotions to the directions that is given here varies from that ascribed to Tung, Chung-shu (see HS 75.6a notes) and Po-hu-fung (SPTK ed.) 8.1aGoogle Scholar.

40 HS 75.13b. The incidence of the chien-ch'u cycle was evidently concerned with the timing of the winds; for chien-ch'u, see my forthcoming article in Asia Major, ‘The almanacs (jihshu) from Shui-hu-ti; a preliminary surveyGoogle Scholar’.

41 LH15(‘Pientung’)651Google Scholar.

42 See Meng, K'ang's notes in HS 75.13a, following the text (a) and (b), and the note of Chin Cho (fl.c. 208) in HS 25B. 16b. In a citation quoted by Hui Tung (HHS 61, biog. 57,3b note) an attempt is made to link the winds with amnestiesGoogle Scholar. This remark is ascribed to Hsü Chien; there is no immediate reason to identify this man with the Hsü Chien, whose biography appears in Chiu T'ang shu 102 (biog. 52).3175–6 (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chu, 1975)Google Scholar. The T'ang commentary to HHS 60B (biog. 50B).10a and 65 (biog. 55).9a carries the citation translated above. I Feng's book is possibly listed in SS 34 (chih 29). 1020, 1027, under the titles andGoogle Scholar

43 HHS 530B (biog.20B).15a; and HHS 60B (biog. 50B).10aGoogle Scholar.

44 HS 75.6aGoogle Scholar.

45 CS 12.I2b; SS 34 (chih 29).1027 includes an entry for Feng-chiao yao chan in three chüan, stated in the note to be by Ching Fang. For the statement that eight of the names of comets that appear on the manuscript from Ma-wang-tui correspond with the names in Ching Fang's work, see WW 1978.2, 6bGoogle Scholar.

46 Chou li 6.46a (SPTK ed.); Biot's translation vol. II, 115Google Scholar.

47 See Stephan, D. R. Feuchtwang, An anthropological analysis of Chinese geomancy (Vientiane: Edition Vithanga, 1974), 139Google Scholar.

48 HS 25A. 15b; HS 25B.22a; HHS 40B (biog. 30B). 4a; HHS (tr.) 7.4a; HHS (tr.) 8.6a; HHS (tr.) 9.12a. For the establishment of a shrine to Feng po at Vung in pre-imperial times, see SC 28.31 (MH vol. in, 444)Google Scholar.

49 HHS (tr.) 25.2a note, which cites a statement from the lost Han kuan, Google Scholar.

50 HHS 6.7a and HHS 59 (biog. 49).8a. For the possible construction of similar equipment somewhat laterGoogle Scholar, by Hsin-tu, Fang, see Wei shu 91 (biog. 79). 1955 (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chii, 1974)Google Scholar; Pei Ch'i shu 49 (biog.41).675 (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chii, 1972) does not include a reference to the windsGoogle Scholar. See Needham, , Science and civilisation in China, vol. 3 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959), 632 fGoogle Scholar.

51 HHS 82A (biog. 72A).3a; Ngo, 80; De Woskin, 46Google Scholar.

52 HHS 30B (biog. 20B).laGoogle Scholar; see Rafe de, Crespigny, Portents of protest in the Later Han dynasty: the memorials of Hsiang K'ai to Emperor Huan (Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1976), 98–9Google Scholar.

53 Shih-shuo hsin yu A(2) (‘Wen-hsueh’).9a commentary (SPTK ed.)Google Scholar.

54 Wei shu 91 (biog. 79). 1957Google Scholar.

55 i.e. the seventh of the twelve two-hourly periods into which the day and night were divided.

56 HHS 82A (biog. 72A).6b; Ngo, 87; DeWoskin, , 53Google Scholar.

57 HHS 82A (biog. 72A).9a; Ngo, 94; DeWoskin, , 57Google Scholar.

58 HHS 82A (biog. 72A).l la, 1 lb, 12b; Ngo, 98, 101Google Scholar; DeWoskin, , 60, 61, 63; see also Cambridge history of China, vol. i (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 307Google Scholar.

59 HHS 78 (biog. 68). 18bGoogle Scholar.

60 These four were Liu K'uan (c. 119–85); Shih Yen (T'ai-wei Supreme Commander 133–5); Hsü Chih (fl.c. 160); and Li, Ku, first known for his memorial following the earthquake of 133 (see Cambridge history of China, vol. I, 307–11). See notes to HHS25 (biog. 15).l lb; 46 (biog. 36).l la; 53 (biog. 43).5b; and 63 (biog. 53). la. For the Hou Han shu of Hsieh Ch'eng (Wu period: 222–77), of which 8 chiian surviveGoogle Scholar, see Hans, Bielenstein, The restoration of the Han Dynasty, vol. 1 (BMFEA 26, 1954), 12Google Scholar.

61 e.g., see CS 95 (biog. 65). lb, 52a; Wei shu 91 (biog. 79). 1958; Pei Ch'i shu 49 (biog. 41). 676, 680Google Scholar.

62 CS 95(biog.65).3aGoogle Scholar.

63 i.e., in the historian's appreciation; SC 27.95 (MH vol. III, 411)Google Scholar.

64 HHS 61 (biog. 57).3b.

65 T^rZ. 28.7b and 652.9a.

66 TPYL 872.6a.

67 Liu t'ao 4.37b (SPTK ed.) (cited by Kuroda, 167).

68 Pei Ch'i shu 49 (biog. 41).674.

69 By Li, Ch'üan, preface dated 768; see ch. 8 (Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng ed., no. 943, pp. 185 f.)Google Scholar. Much of the text recurs in Hsü Tung Hu-ch'ien ching dated 1004 (Ts'ung-shu chi-ch'eng ed., no. 945, p. 180)Google Scholar.

70 SC 127.2 f.

71 HS 25B.16a; de, Woskin, 38; for Ku Yung, see HS 85.1a; Loewe, Crisis and conflict, 242, 247, 299Google Scholar.

72 For Ts'ai Yung, see HHS 60B (biog. 50B).10a.

73 LH15 (‘Pien tung’), 649–52; Forke's translation, vol. i, 109 f.

74 See LH 23.964 f. (‘Ssu hui’); 24.985 f. (‘Chi jih’); 24.994 f. (‘Pu shih’), 24.1004f. (‘Pien sui’); Forke's translation, vol. II, 376f., 393f., vol. i, 182f., 525f.

75 HHS 59 (biog. 49). lla.

76 HHS 65 (biog. 55). 9a. For Chang Huan's orders for a simple funeral, see Jacques, Gernet, ‘Etre enterré nu’, in Journal des savants, Jan-Sept. 1985, 12–13Google Scholar.

77 Chang Huan had been appointed Superintendent of Agriculture shortly before 169.

78 See C595 (biog. 65). lb for Ch'en Hsün; C595 (biog. 65). 52a for T'ai Ch'an; Pei Ch'i shu 49 (biog. 41).676 for Hsü Tsun; and 49 (biog. 41). 680 for Chang Tzu-hsin, who had attained a reputation as a physician while still young.

79 Major, pp. 110 f. For references to pafeng in connexion with music and dancing, see, e.g., Tso chuan, Duke Yin 5, Duke Hsiang 29, Duke Chao 20 and 25 (Harvard-Yenching Index text pp. 13, 327, 403, 414; Couvreur's translation, vol. I, 34, vol. II, 534, vol. in, 327, 380).

80 Lü shih ch'un-ch'iu 13.2b.

81 See HHS 79 B (biog. 69B).3b for Ching Luan and 12a for the New Text scholar Ho Hsiu (Tjan, vol. i, 38, 41 et passim).

82 For Hsin-tu Fang, see Wei shu 91 (biog. 79). 1955; Pei Ch'i shu 49 (biog. 41). 675 does not mention winds in this connexion. For Hsin-tu Fang and the various devices mentioned, see Needham, , Science and civilisation in China, vol. 3, 313 f., 339 f., 632 fGoogle Scholar.

83 See entries in HS 30.62a, 71b for titles such as Feng hou , Feng ku

84 SS 34 (chih 29), 1026–7; two other items, in which the term feng-chiao does not appear, may also be concernedGoogle Scholar.

85 T'ung chih 68 (Commercial Press ed.). 803. The list includes several copies of some items and should not be taken as evidence for 32 separate works. Feng-chiao also appears in the titles of books under the immediately following sub-heading Niao-ch'ing Google Scholar