Wang ch‘ung lun-hêng philosophical essays Traduits et annotés par Alfred forke
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I reply that he was not the only man who killed another. Other murderers have not seen their victims, when they fell sick afterwards, whereas T‘ien Fên beheld the two men whose deaths he had brought about. T‘ien Fên alone did so, because he felt their anger, and in his delirium had hallucinations. Or maybe he perceived some other ghost, and the necromancer having heard of his former dispute with Kuan Fu and Tou Ying, and of his wish to p1.218 learn the real name of the spirit, and seeing him crying, ‘Yes, yes’, at random, gave the answer that Kuan Fu and Tou Ying were sitting near him. * The governor of Huai-yang 5, Yin Ch‘i, was a very cruel and oppressive magistrate. When he had passed away, the people whom he had wronged intended to burn his body, but it disappeared, and reverted to its grave. He was conscious, therefore the people were going to burn him, and he was a spirit, therefore he could disappear. I presume that the vanished spirit of Yin Ch‘i has his analogies. During the Ch‘in epoch three mountains disappeared 1, and about the end of the Chou dynasty the Nine Tripods were engulphed 2. Provided that things which can disappear are spirits, then the three mountains and the Nine Tripods must have had consciousness. Perhaps the then magistrate, apprised of the design of the angry populace, stealthily removed the corpse, and pretended that it had disappeared, and for fear, lest the outraged people should vent their wrath upon himself, declared that it had done so of its own accord. All persons who can disappear must have their feet to walk upon. Now, the circulation of the blood of the deceased had been interrupted, and his feet could not move any more. How should he have managed his flight ? In Wu, Wu Tse Hsü was cooked 3, and in Han, P‘êng Yüeh 4 was pickled. Burning and pickling is the same torture. Wu Tse Hsü and P‘êng Yüeh were equally brave. They could not escape the cooking, or avoid the pickling, and Yin Ch‘i alone is said to have been able to return to his tomb. That is an untruth and an unfounded assertion. * Doomed 5 Wang Mang removed the empress Fu Hou, the wife of the emperor Yuan Ti 6, from her tomb. He desecrated her coffin, and took from it boxes with jewels and seals. Afterwards he p1.219 conveyed the corpse to Ting-t‘ao 7, where he had it buried again after the fashion of common people. When the coffin was taken out, a stench rose to heaven. The governor of Loyang on approaching the coffin smelled it, and dropped down dead. Wang Mang likewise disinterred the empress Ting Hou, wife to the emperor Kung Wang 8 in Ting-t‘ao, but fire issued from her crypt, and burned several hundred officials and scholars to death. The re-interment was done in a low style, and the dead were robbed of their valuables. These two insults induced them to cause the stench, and send the fire to destroy the offenders. I say that the stench rose to heaven, because many eatable things had been placed into the grave. It is not passing strange that men could not stand the mephetic vapours, when the smell of the putrid matter came forth in abundance, but it is strange that flames should have flashed from the crypt. At all events, it was not the spirit of the empress Ting Hou, for the following reason. Must he who breaks open, and despoils graves not be much more hated than he who merely changes the tombs ? Yet, during a year of scarcity, those who dig up tombs for the purpose of appropriating the garments of the dead must be counted by thousands. Provided that the departed know, when others strip them of their clothes, and leave their bodies naked, they cannot hinder it at that time, and, later on, have no means to take their revenge. But these are people of small account, not worth mentioning. Ch‘in Shih Huang Ti was buried near the Li-shan 1. At the close of Erh Shih Huang Ti’s reign 2 the robbers of the empire dug up his grave, and he could not send forth either stench or fire, nor kill a single man ! He had been the Son of Heaven, and could not become a spirit. How then should Fu Hou and Ting Hou, two women, have been able to do miracles ? They are believed to have become spirits, but not in the same way, and to have shown their powers in different places. People saw flames, and smelled bad odour. Consequently the assertion that both became spirits is erroneous. @ CHAPTER XVII Spook Stories 64. XXII, I. Chi-yao © — @ p1.220 Duke Ling of Wei 1 was proceeding to Chin. When he had arrived on the banks of the river Pu 2, he heard at night-time a new tune played on the guitar, which pleased him so well, that he ordered somebody to ask his attendants about it. They all reported that they had heard nothing. Then he called for the music-master Chüan, and told him saying, — There was some one playing a new melody, I gave orders to ask my followers about it, but they all stated that they had not heard anything. It is, as if a ghost made the music for me. Pray, listen to it and write it down for me. The music-master Chüan acquiesced, sat quietly down, played the guitar, and wrote down the tune. On the following morning he reported that he had got it, but still required some practice. He therefore asked for one night more to practice. Duke Ling granted this request. Chüan practised one more night, and on the next morning he had mastered it. They then went on to Chin. Duke P‘ing of Chin 3 feasted him on the Shi Yi terrace 4. When they were flushed with wine, Duke Ling rose and said, — I have a new tune, which I would like to have played for Your Highness to hear. The duke consented, and he called upon the music-master Chüan to sit down next to the music-master K‘uang, to take the lute, and strike it, but, ere Chüan had finished, K‘uang grasped the instrument, and stopped him saying, — This is a song p1.221 of a doomed State. You must not proceed. Duke P‘ing inquired, — Where does it come from ? The music-master K‘uang replied, — It is a licentious melody composed by the music-master Yen, who made this voluptuous music for Chou. Wu Wang executed Chou, hanging his head on a white banner 1. Yen fled to the east, and, when he had reached the river Pu, he drowned himself. Therefore to hear this tune one must be on the banks of the Pu. If formerly any one heard it, his State was wiped out. It must not be continued. Duke P‘ing said, — I am very partial to music. Let him go on.
Duke P‘ing said, — What do they call this air ? The music-master replied, — It is what they call G major 2. — Is not G major most plaintive ?, asked the duke. — It does not come up to C major, replied Kuang. — Could I not hear C major ?, inquired the duke. The music-master rejoined, — You cannot. Of old, only princes possessed of virtue and justice were allowed to hear C major. Now the virtue of Your Highness is small. You could not stand the hearing of it. The duke retorted, — I am very partial to music, and I would like to hear it. K‘uang could not help taking up the lute and thrumming it. When he played the first part, two times eight black cranes came from the south, and alighted on the top of the exterior gate. When he played again, they formed themselves into rows, and, when he played the third part, they began crowing, stretching their necks and dancing, flapping their wings. The notes F and G were struck with the greatest precision, and their sound rose to heaven. Duke P‘ing was enraptured, and all the guests were enchanted. The duke lifted the goblet, and rose to drink the health of the music-master K‘uang. Then he sat down again, and asked, — Is there no more plaintive music than that in C major ? K‘uang replied, — It falls short of A major. — Could I not hear it ?, said the duke. The music-master replied, — You cannot. Of yore, Huang Ti assembled the ghosts and spirits on the Western Mount T‘ai 1. He rode in an ivory carriage, to which were yoked p1.222 six black dragons. The Pi-Fang bird 2 came along with it, and Ch‘ih Yu 3 was in front. The Spirit of the Wind came forward sweeping the ground, and the Spirit of Rain moistened the road. Tigers and wolves were in front, and ghosts and spirits in the rear, reptiles and snakes crawling on the ground, and white clouds covering the empyrean. A great assembly of ghosts and spirits ! And then he began to play in A major 4. Your virtue, Sire, is small and would not suffice to hear it. If you did, I am afraid, it would be your ruin. Duke P‘ing rejoined, — I am an old man and very fond of music. I would like to hear it. The music-master K‘uang could not but play it. When he had struck the first notes, clouds rose from the north-west, and when he played again, a storm broke loose, followed by torrents of rain. The tents were rent to pieces, the plates and dishes smashed, and the tiles of the verandah hurled down. The guests fled in all directions, and Duke P‘ing was so frightened, that he fell down under the porches. The Chin State was then visited with a drought. For three years the soil was scorched up. The duke’s body began to suffer pain and to languish thereafter 5. What does that mean ? Since the State of Duke Ling of Wei was not going to ruin, whereas Duke P‘ing of Chin fell sick, and his State suffered from a drought, it was not spook. The music-master K‘uang had said that the States of those who had heard this tune before, were destroyed. Now the two States had both heard it before. How do we know that the new tune was not played by the music-master Yen ? — When Yen had jumped into the Pu, his body decomposed in the water, and his vital essence dissolved in the mud. How could he still touch the lute ? Ch‘ü Yuan flung himself into the river. He was as able a writer as Yen was a player of the guitar. If Yen could strike the lute again, then Ch‘ü Yuan would p1.223 have been able to write again. When Yang Tse Yün lamented Ch‘ü Yuan’s death, wherefore did he not show his gratitude ? While alive, Ch‘ü Yuan was a very active writer, but he could not thank Yang Tse Yün, because, when dead, he became mud and earth. His hand being rotten, he could not use it again to write. Since Ch‘ü Yuan could not use his rotten hand to write, Yen could not thrum the guitar with his tainted thumb either. When Confucius was buried opposite to the Sse river, the Sse flowed backwards. They say that it was the spirit of Confucius which cause the Sse to flow backwards. Confucius was very fond of teaching, just as Yen liked to play the lute. Provided that the music-master Yen could strike the lute on the banks of the Pu, why could not Confucius teach in the vicinity of the Sse ? * Viscount Chien of Chao 1 was sick, and for five days did not know anybody. His high officers were alarmed, and then called Pien Ch‘io 2. He entered, inquired into the nature of the malady, and then went out again. Tung An Yü 3 asked him, and Pien Ch‘io replied, — His blood circulation is all right, but it is strange. Formerly Duke Mu of Ch‘in 4 has been in such a state. After seven days he awoke, and, when he had recovered consciousness, he spoke to Kung Sun Chih and Tse Yü 5 saying, ‘‘I have been in God’s abode. I was very happy, and I stayed away so long, because I was lucky enough to acquire some knowledge. God told me that the Chin State would be in convulsions for five generations and have no repose, and that the next powerful prince would die, before he was old. Owing to the son of this monarch no distinction between men and women would be made in my country. Kung Sun Chih wrote it all down, and kept the paper in a trunk. Then ensued the revolution under Duke Hsien of Chin 1, the domination of Duke Wên 2, the victory of Duke Hsiang 3 over the army of Ch‘in p1.224 at Yao 4, and his weakness towards his woman-folk on his march home 5. The sickness of your prince is identical with this. Within three days it will cease, and then the patient will have something to say. When two days and a half had elapsed, Viscount Chien became conscious again, and said to his high officers, — I have been with God, and was very happy. With the spirits I roamed about heaven, and enjoyed the highest bliss. The music and the dances there were different from the music of the three dynasties, and the sound went to heart. There was a brown bear preparing to seize me. God bade me shoot it ; I hit the animal, and it died. Then a spotted bear attacked me ; I hit it also, and it died. God was very much pleased, and presented me with two caskets of the same contents. I then beheld a lad by God’s side. God entrusted to me a Ti 6 dog and said, ‘When your son has grown up, give it to him’. God told me further, ‘The Chin State is going to be destroyed ; after ten generations 7 it will have disappeared. Some one of the family name of Ying 8 will inflict a crushing defeat on the people of Chou 9 west of Fan-kuei, but he will not keep the country all the same. Now I think of the merits of Shun, therefore I will marry his descendant Mêng Yao to your grandson of the tenth generation’. 10 Tung An Yü committed all these words to writing and kept the document. He informed Viscount Chien of what Pien Ch‘io had p1.225 said. Chien Tse then made Pien Ch‘io a grant of forty thousand mou of land. When, one day, Viscount Chien went out, a man stood in his way. Though warned off, he did not go. The retinue were going to arrest him, when the man on the road said, — I wish to have an audience with His Lordship. The attendants informed Chien Tse, who called the man crying, — How delightful ! I saw you in my rambles. — Send your attendants away, said the man on the road, I would like to speak to you. When Chien Tse had dismissed his men, the man on the road continued, — Some time ago, when Your Lordship was sick, I was standing by God. — That is true, said Viscount Chien, What did I do, when you saw me ? — God bade Your Lordship, replied the man on the road, to shoot the brown and the spotted bears, which both were killed. — What does that mean, asked Chien Tse. — The Chin State, replied the man, will be in extremities, and Your Lordship will take the lead. God ordered you to destroy the two ministers, for the brown and the spotted bears were their forefathers. — What does it mean, inquired the Viscount, that God gave me two caskets both having the same contents ? The man on the road said, — Your Lordship’s son will conquer two kingdoms in the Ti country, which will be named after him 1. — I perceived a lad near God, said Chien Tse, and God entrusted to me a Ti dog saying, ‘When your son has grown up, give it to him’. Would my son be pleased to have such a dog ? — That lad, rejoined the man, is your son, and the Ti dog is the ancestor of Tai. Your Lordship’s son will get possession of Tai. Among your descendants there will be a change of government, they will wear Mongolian dress, and two States will be added to that of the Ti’.
— I am but a rustic and have delivered God’s message. Then he disappeared. 1 What does this mean ? It was all spook, they say. The explanation of the things seen in God’s presence, as given by the man on the road was the correct interpretation, and the man on the road himself an apparition. p1.226 Later on, the two ministers of Chin, Fan Wên Tse and Chung Hang Chao Tse mutinied. Viscount Chien attacked and routed them, and both fled to Ch‘i. At that time Chien Tse had his sons examined physiognomically by Ku Pu Tse Ch‘ing 2. None of them had any auspicious signs, but, when the physiognomist arrived at Wu Hsü, his son by his Ti wife, he declared him to be noble. Chien Tse conversed with him, and discovered that he was very intelligent. Chien Tse then called all his sons and said to them, — I have hidden a precious charm on Mount Ch‘ang 3. He who first finds it, will be rewarded. All the sons ascended the mountain, but did not find anything. When Wu Hsü returned, he said that he had found the charm. Viscount Chien asked, how. — On Mount Ch‘ang, replied Wu Hsü, one is near Tai 4, which might be acquired.
After Viscount Hsiang had come to power, he instigated somebody to assassinate the king of Tai, and annexed his territory, and likewise he seized the territory of the Chih family 6. Later on, he married a Jung from K‘ung-t‘ung 1. Ten generations after Chien Tse 2 came King Wu Ling 3. Wu Ching 4 introduced to him his mother of the name of Ying and his daughter Mêng Yao 5. Subsequently King Wu Ling seized Chung shan 6 and annexed the Hu territory 7. In his nineteenth year King Wu Ling assumed the Hu dress, and his subjects adopted the Hu customs. Everything happened as predicted, p1.227 and nothing was wrong. The supernatural lucky signs manifested by portents all proved true ; so they say. All there things are not true. The lucky and unlucky omens happening one after the other were like manifestations of Heaven, but how do we know that, as a matter of fact, Heaven did not send any message ? Because the man on the road was by God’s side, for only spirits of the highest degree can keep near the Ruler of Heaven. Those who forward God’s commands are the heavenly envoys. The envoys of human princes are provided with horses and carriages, and it would not be dignified for an envoy of the Ruler of Heaven to stand alone on the road. Of heavenly officials there are one hundred and twenty 8, who do not differ from those of the kings of the earth. The kings of the earth have plenty of officials and attendants, who have received their power after the model of the heavenly officials. Since the officials of Heaven and Earth are alike, their envoys must resemble each other also, and, there being such a similarity, it is impossible that one man should have been so dissimilar. How do we know that God, whom Chien Tse saw, was not the real God ? We know it from the interpretation of dreams. Towers, belvederes, hills, and mountains are images for an official post. When a man dreams of ascending a tower or a belvedere, or of mounting a hill or a mountain, he will get an office. In reality a tower, a belvedere, a hill, or a mountain are not an official post. Hence we know that God, whom Viscount Chien saw in his dream, was not the Ruler of Heaven. When an official dreams of a prince, this prince does not appear at all, nor does he give presents to the official. Therefore the interpretation of dreams teaches us that God who gave Chien Tse two caskets and a Ti dog, was not the Supreme Ruler. Since it was not the Ruler of Heaven, the heaven over which Chien Tse roamed with the other ghosts, as he says, was not heaven. Shu Sun Mu Tse of Lu 1 dreamed that heaven fell down upon him 2. If this had really been the case, heaven would have dropped upon the earth, and approaching the earth, it would not have reached Shu Sun Mu Tse owing to the resistance offered by towers and terraces. Had it reached him, then towers and terraces ought to have been demolished first. Towers and terraces were not p1.228 demolished, therefore heaven did not descend upon the earth. Since it did not descend upon the earth, it could not reach him, and, since it did not reach him, that which fell down upon him was not heaven, but an effigy of heaven. As the heaven which fell down upon Shu Sun Mu Tse in his dream was not the real heaven, so the heaven through which Chien Tse had been roving was not heaven. Some one might object that we also have direct dreams, insomuch as we dream of so-and-so, and on the next day see him or, as we dream of a gentleman, whom we see on the following day. I admit that we can have direct dreams, but these direct dreams are semblances, and only these semblances are direct, which will become evident from the following fact. Having a direct dream, we dream of so-and-so, or of any gentleman, and, on the following day, see Mr. So-and-so, or the gentleman in question. That is direct. But, when we ask so-and-so or that gentleman, they will reply that they have not appeared to us in our dreams. Since they did not appear, the persons we saw in our dreams were merely their likenesses. Since so-and-so and the said gentleman were likenesses, we know that God, as perceived by Chien Tse, was solely a semblance of God. The oneirocritics say that, when a man dreams, his soul goes out. Accordingly, when he sees God in a dream, the soul ascends to heaven. Ascending to heaven is like going up a mountain. When we dream of ascending a mountain, our feet climb up the mountain, and our hand uses a stick ; then we rise. To mount up to heaven there are no steps, how should we rise then ? The distance from heaven to us amounts to upwards of ten thousand li. A man on a journey uses to travel one hundred li daily. As long as the soul is united to the body, it cannot move very rapidly, how much less, when it walks alone ! Had the soul moved with the same speed as the body, Chien Tse would have required several years for his ascension to heaven and his return. Now, he awoke after seven days, and became conscious again. How could the time be so short ? |