Category: Chinese Classics

Proverbs about White Dew “When it comes to the End of Heat, it is still hot. But eighteen days later, it is White Dew and you need to dress properly.” This proverb means that you can wash yourself with cool water during the End of Heat period, but you have to dress properly, or you’ll be attacked by the cold air. This suggests that White Dew is the real beginning of autumn.

＜史记本纪＞12.＜孝武本纪第十二＞mperial Biographies: No. 12, Biography of the Filial Emperor Xiao-Wudi the Martial (r. 140-87 BC)
上遂东巡海上，行礼祠八神。四月，还至奉高。上念诸儒及方士言封禅人人殊，不经，难施行。天子至梁父，礼祠地主。乙卯，令侍中儒者皮 弁荐绅，射牛行事。封泰山下东方，如郊祠泰一之礼。封广丈二 尺，高九尺，其下则有玉牒书，书秘。礼毕，天子独与侍中奉车 子侯上泰山，亦有封．其事皆禁。明日，下阴道．丙辰，禅泰山下址东北肃然山，如祭后土礼。 天子皆亲拜见，衣上黄而尽用乐焉。天子从封禅还，坐明堂，群臣更上寿．The emperor traveled, and then went eastwards, where he passed along and inspected the sea-cost. He made sacrifices and offerings to the Eight Spirits… In the fourth month, the emperor came back to Fenggao, where he thought about the words of the scholars and the magicians about the fengshan sacrifices for Heaven and Earth, that were all so confusing and misleading that is would be impossible to follow them. Thereupon the emperor went to the Liangfu summit to sacrifice the Lord of the Land, or Dizhu. On the day yimao, he ordered the official secretaries to wear their leather caps and the pinned official clothes and to perform the ritual shooting of oxen. In the east of Mount Tai, he had an altar erected for the Heavenly sacrifice that had to be performed like the sacrifice to the Great Unity in the suburbs. The altar was two zhang wide and nine zhang high, at the base of the altar a precious book-case was lying, but nobody knew what its content was. When the sacrifice was finished, the Son of Heaven alone with only a few secretaries and riding the carriage of (Huo) Zihou ascended Mount Tai to perform the feng sacrifice to Heaven once more. The performance of the sacrifice was thoroughly secret. On the next day he descended on the northern slope of the mountain. On the day bingchen, the emperor performed the chan sacrifice to the Earth at the north eastern corner of Mount Suran, like the sacrifice for the Mother Earth, or Houtu, is performed. All was performed by the emperor himself. We wore yellow clothes, and all ceremonies were accompanied by music… When the Son of Heaven came back from the fengshan sacrifices, he seated himself in the Clear Hall, where all ministers and officials wished him a long life.
夏，汉改历，以正月为岁首，而色上黄，官名更印章以五字。因为太初元年。是岁，西伐大宛。蝗大起。丁夫人、雒阳虞初等以方祠诅匈奴、大宛焉。In the summer, the Han dynasty corrected the calendar and took the first month as the beginning of the year. The color of the dynasty was changed up to yellow, the official titles and the official seals were altered with the Five as leading number. The year was thus called the first year of the rule tilte "Great Commencing". During this year, the Han empire attacked Ferghana (Dayuan). A huge flock of locusts arose. Lady Ding and a wife from Luoyang called Yu Chu used sorcery as a means of casting spells against the Xiongnu and the realm of Ferghana.

The Shiji 史记 "Records of the [Grand] Scribe" is a very famous universal history of early China and the first of the official dynastic histories (zhengshi 正史). It is the first history of China written in a biographic-thematic style (jizhuanti 纪传体) in which biographies of different type, treatises and tables are combined.　The original name of the book was Taishigong shu 太史公书 "The book of the Master Grand Scribe" or Taishiji　太史记 "Records of the Grand Scribe". These titles are derived from the office the two compilers occupied, namely that of the official dynastic court scribes (taishi　太史) of the Former Han dynasty 前汉 (206 BC- 8 AD), Sima Tan 司马谈 (d. ca. 110 BCE) and his son Sima Qian 司马迁 (145-86 BC). Sima Tan who had access to the imperial library and the official documents stored there planned to write a universal history but was not able to finish his work and entrusted the completion to his son.

The Shen Nong bencaojing 神农本草经 "The Holy Husbandman's classic on roots and herbs", shortly called Shen Nong bencao 神农本草, Bencaojing 本草经, or Benjing 本经, is an old text on medical herbs and other materia media. It is first mentioned in the catalogue Qilu 七录 by the Liang period 梁 (502-557) scholar Ruan Xiaoxu 阮孝绪. The book went lost during the Tang period 唐 (618-907), but considerable parts were reconstructed from the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) on. Fragments of this text were compiled by the Qing period 清 (1644-1911) scholar Sun Xingyan 孙星衍 and his nephew Sun Fengyi 孙冯翼. The real author of the book is not known, yet authorship was attributed to the mythical emperor Shen Nong 神农, who was seen as the inventor of herbal medicine. The book is rarely attributed to other persons, like Zi Yi 子仪, Yi Yin 伊尹, Zhang Zhongjing 张仲景, or Hua Tuo 华佗. The book must have been compiled during the Han period 汉 (206 BCE-220 CE), or probably already during the late Warring States period 战国 (5th cent.-221 BCE). It is the oldest, partially, surviving Chinese pharmacopoeia. The original text was often quoted in medical texts like the Zhenglei bencao 证类本草 or the Bencao gangmu 本草纲目 and in encyclopedias like the Taiping yulan 太平御览, so that a considerable part of it has survived. The oldest collection of fragments has been made by the Ming period scholar Lu Fu 卢复. Other reconstructions were undertaken by the Japanese Mori Tachiyuki 森立之, and by Gu Guanggao 顾观光.

６．（１７．）禹贡 The Tribute of Yu
（序：禹别九州岛．随山浚川．任土作贡．）禹敷土．随山刊木．奠高山大川．
．．．济河惟兖州．九河既道．雷夏既泽．灉沮会同．桑土既蚕．是降丘宅土．厥土黑坟．厥草惟繇．厥木惟条．厥田惟中下．厥赋贞．作十有三载．乃同．厥贡漆丝．厥篚织文．浮于济漯．达于河．．．(Preface: Yu marked out the nine provinces; followed the course of the hills, and deepened the rivers; defined the imposts on the land, and the articles of tribute.) Yu divided the land. Following the course of the hills, he cut down the trees. He determined the highest hills and largest rivers (in the several regions). […]
Between the Ji and the Yellow River was the region of Yanzhou. The nine branches of the Yellow River were made to keep their proper channels. Leixia was made a marsh, in which (the waters of) the Yong and the Ju were united. The mulberry grounds were made fit for silkworms, and then (the people) came down from the heights, and occupied the grounds (below). The soil of this province was blackish and rich; the grass in it was luxuriant, and the trees grew high. Its fields were the lowest of the middle class. Its contribution of revenue was fixed at what would just be deemed the correct amount; but it was not required from it, as from the other provinces, till after it had been cultivated for thirteen years. Its articles of tribute were varnish and silk, and, in baskets, woven ornamental fabrics. They floated along the Ji and Ta, and so reached the Yellow River. […]

The Sanzijing 三字经 "Three-character classic" is a character text book for elementary learning. It is traditionally attributed to the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) scholar Wang Yinglin 王应麟. The common version of the book has 1,248 characters (a Qing period print only 1,140), which are arranged in sets of three, or verses of six. The book is divided into five parts, explaining the various steps of learning, from the initial requirements, the understanding of social relationships, the numbers, seasons, the Five Processes, plants and animals, to the standardized learning with succesful outcome. The book was very popular in traditional China, and there was even a multi-lingual version including Manchurian and Mongolian. For practical learning, theSanzijing has often been rated as not very applicable because of the complexity of the text and the use of specialised characters.

The Quanyuanqu 全元曲 "Complete collection of Yuan period qu arias" is a collection of all surviving Yuan period (1279-1368) qu style 曲 arias.