37 



The Tih king goes on as follows : « The number nine is used (in 

 this diagram). If a herd of dragons is seen divesting themselves of 

 their heads, this means good fortune'' '). 



The lowest line of the second diagram, which represents Earth 

 (i-^, Kvfun), is explained a.^''^'' Dragons fighting in the open field ; 

 their blood is dark (not purple, as Legge translated) and yellow" ^. 

 Apparently a thimderstorm, with dark and yellow clouds flying 

 through the sky, is described in this way. For in a passage of 

 Appendix V of the Tih king ^, ascribed to Confucius, we read : 

 "KHen (Heaven) is a horse, Kvfun (Earth) is a cow, Chen {Thunder) 

 is a dragon'''^. And, again, in the same Appendix^: "Chen is 

 thunder, is a dragon, is dark and yellow" ". The same diagram 

 represents also Spring and the Eastern quarter, which are identi- 

 fied with the Azure Dragon '. 



In Ch. 1 1 (p. 2) of the Tih king the words "J. dragon lying in 

 the deep is useless"" are illustrated by " Tang is beloiv'' ^, whiph 

 means: "The Sun is under the horizon, i.e. the dragon lying in 

 the deep is as useless as the sun under the horizon. 



In the same chapter (same page) we read: "A dragon is seen 

 in the rice fields; blessing power (f^) is spread everywhere""^). This 

 is a clear explanation of the word advantage in the above passage 

 on the fifth line of the first diagram. 



As to the "Dragons fighting in the open fieW\ in this chapter 

 these words are followed by: '•'•Their way (tao) is exhausted" '^^, 

 i. e. their blessing actions are completed to the last. As rain is 

 the blessing conferred upon mankind by the dragons, this sen- 

 tence may easily be explained by the fact that in a thunderstorm, 

 when the dragons fight in the sky, the rain comes down in 

 torrents. 



1 miio^Mnt^-^^t. 



3 Shwoh-kwa chufen, |^ ^j\ ^ (Ch. 17), p. 12. Legge, Appendix V, p. 429, 

 Chapter VIII, 12. 



5 Ch. 17; Legge, p. 430, Ch. XI, 17. 



7 Cf. De Geoot, Rel. Syst, Vol. I, p. 317; III, p. 964, 987. 



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