CHAPTER II. 



DIVINATION. 



§ 1. Iiucky omeus. 



The birt h of great sages j-nd^JEmperors^was. jtreceded bj,ihe 

 appearance of^ragp]^Iand-_phoenixes. In the night of Confucius' 

 birth (B.C. 551) two azure dragons descended from TEFsKyfand 

 came to his mother' s_house_She saw them^in her dream and 

 gave birth fo'the great sage '. The biography of the Emperor 

 Wu^ the famous man of the Han dynasty (B.C. 140—87), con- 

 tains the following passage in regard to his birth: "The Emperor 

 Hiao Wu of the Han dynasty was the son of the Emperor King. 

 Before he was born the Emperor King dreamt that a red hog 

 descended from the clouds and straightly. entered the Ch'ing fang 

 koh (Exalted Fragance Corridor). The Emperor King awoke and 

 sat down under the corridor.. Actually there was a red dragon. 

 It was like fog and in coming darkened the doors and windows. 

 When the Imperial harem went to look (what was happening), 

 there was above the corridor a cinnabar coloured vapour which 

 increased enormously and ^ rose. After the vapour had dispersed 

 they saw a red dragon coiling and revolving between the rafters. 

 The Emperor King called a diviner, the Old Tao by name, and 

 asked him about the matter. The old man said: 'This is a lucky 

 omen. This corridor certainly will produce a man who shall rule 

 the world. He shall expel the barbarians and thus bring with 

 him lucky omens. Therefore he shall be the most glorious ruler 

 of the Liu family. But it (may mean) also a great prodigy'. 

 The Emperor King ordered the Imperial Consort Wang to move 

 to the Exalted Fragrance Corridor, wishing thereby to act in 

 accordance with Old Yao's words. Thereupon he changed the 



i Shih i ki, j^ ^ ^g, written by Wang Kia, ^ ^, probably in the 4th 

 century ; Ch. Ill, BS ^^ ^ i P- 46- 



2 Wu Ti nei chufen, "'Inner traditions on the Emperor Wu", j^^ 'jS' p3 "^ , 

 ascribed to the famous historiographer Pan Ku, ^^ ^ , who died A.D. 92; p, ia. 



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