Wednesday, May 29, 2024

253 Luan Da

A12.17

In the spring of this year, Marquis Lecheng wrote a letter to recommend Luan Da. Luan Da was a palace maid in charge of daily life affairs in the palace of Jiaodong King Liu Ji. He had previously learned from the same master as General Wencheng, and later became an official in charge of preparing medicines for the Jiaodong King. At that time, Marquis Lecheng's elder sister was the queen of Jiaodong King Kang, and she had no son. After King Kang died, the son of another concubine was made the heir king. However, Queen Kang had committed promiscuous acts and did not get along well with the new king. The two tried their best to harm each other. When Queen Kang heard that General Wencheng had died, she wanted to please the emperor, so she sent Luan Da to meet the emperor to discuss alchemy with the recommendation of Marquis Lecheng. Although Emperor Wu killed General Wencheng, he regretted letting him die so early and lamented that he did not let him give up all his alchemy. When he met Luan Da, the emperor was very happy. Luan Da was tall and handsome, and he was very strategic in his words. He dared to talk big and acted very decisively. He boasted, "I have traveled back and forth in the sea and met immortals such as Anqisheng and Xianmen Gao. But they all thought that I was of low status and did not believe me. They also thought that King Kang was just a prince and was not worthy of being given those immortal arts. I have made suggestions to King Kang many times, but King Kang did not employ me. My teacher said: 'Gold can be refined, the Yellow River can be blocked, the medicine for immortality can be obtained, and the gods can be summoned.' I am now afraid that I will be killed like Wencheng, then all the alchemists will keep silent and dare not mention the art of alchemy again!" The emperor said, "Wencheng died by accidentally eating horse liver. If you really can get me the magic of the immortals, what should I be reluctant to give up? "Luan Da said, "My teacher never asks others for help, it is others who ask him for help. If Your Majesty must invite my teacher, you must first make me of noble status, let me have my own family, treat me with the etiquette of entertaining guests, and not despise me, and let me wear various seals, so that I can convey the words of the immortals. But it is not certain whether the immortals will come. In short, you must make your messenger noble, so that you can invite the immortals." So the emperor asked him to perform a small magic to test his effectiveness. He performed a chess game, letting the chess pieces hit each other on the chessboard.

其春,乐成侯上书言栾大。栾大,胶东宫人,故尝与文成将军同师,已而为胶东王尚方。而乐成侯姊为康王后,毋子。康王死,他姬子立为王。而康后有淫行,与王不相中,相危以法。康后闻文成已死,而欲自媚于上,乃遣栾大因乐成侯求见言方。天子既诛文成,后悔恨其早死,惜其方不尽,及见栾大,大悦。大为人长美,言多方略,而敢为大言,处之不疑。大言曰:“臣尝往来海中,见安期、羡门之属。顾以为臣贱,不信臣。又以为康王诸侯耳,不足予方。臣数言康王,康王又不用臣。臣之师曰:‘黄金可成,而河决可塞,不死之药可得,仙人可致也。’臣恐效文成,则方士皆掩口,恶敢言方哉!”上曰:“文成食马肝死耳。子诚能脩其方,我何爱乎!”大曰:“臣师非有求人,人者求之。陛下必欲致之,则贵其使者,令有亲属,以客礼待之,勿卑,使各佩其信印,乃可使通言于神人。神人尚肯邪不邪。致尊其使,然后可致也。”于是上使先验小方,斗旗,旗自相触击。

252 The Wizard

A12.14|15|16

Two years after General Wencheng's death, the emperor fell seriously ill in Dinghu. The witch doctors tried all the prescriptions, but his condition did not improve. The swimmer Fagen said, “There is a wizard god in Shangjun who said that when he was seriously ill, a ghost possessed him.” So the emperor summoned the wizard god and set up a shrine in Ganquan Palace to worship him. When the emperor's illness relapsed, he sent people to ask for the wizard god. The wizard said, “The Emperor does not need to worry about this disease. When you have recovered a little, please gather yourself and come to meet me in Ganquan." So when the emperor's condition improved, he went to Ganquan Palace in person, and he recovered immediately. The emperor announced a general amnesty and placed the wizard god in the Shou Palace. The highest-ranking wizard among them in Shou Palace is "Daifu", and those who assist him, such as "Dajin" and "Siming", all follow him. The images of these wizards cannot be seen, only their voices can be heard, just like when people speak. The wizards sometimes floats away and sometimes comes, and when he comes, you can feel the breeze blowing. They lived in tents within the palace, and sometimes spoke during the day, but often at night. The emperor had to fast and bathe before entering the palace. The emperor regarded the wizard as the master of the longevity palace and asked him to take care of the diet of the wizards. Whatever the God wants to say is heard by the wizard and then passed on. The emperor also built the Shou Palace and the Bei Palace, hung feather flags, placed sacrificial vessels, and treated the gods with lofty etiquette. The emperor would send people to write down what the god said, and named it "calligraphy". What the God said was known to ordinary people and there was absolutely nothing special about it, but the emperor was secretly happy. These things were done in secret, and no one in the world knew about them.

Three years later, some officials said that the new year's name should be named after the auspicious sign from heaven, rather than being recorded with numbers like one or two years. The first year name should be "Jianyuan"; the second year name should be "Yuanguang" because a long-tailed comet appeared in the sky; the third year name should be "Yuanshou" because a unicorn was captured during a suburban sacrifice.

In the winter of the following year, the emperor discussed with the people during the suburban sacrifice in Yong County, saying: "Now I personally worship the Emperor of Heaven, but I have not yet worshipped the Earth God Hou Tu, which is not in accordance with etiquette." The relevant officials discussed with the Grand Historian Sima Tan, the temple official Kuan Shu and others, saying: "To worship the Heaven and Earth, a calf with horns the size of a silk cocoon or a chestnut should be used. Now your majesty wants to personally worship Hou Tu. To worship Hou Tu, five altars should be built on the round hills in the Great Lake. Each altar should use a yellow calf, a pig and a sheep as offerings. After the sacrifice, all the animals should be buried, and the people who accompany the sacrifice should also wear yellow clothes." So the emperor went east and built a shrine to Hou Tu on Fenyin Hill for the first time, which was built according to the suggestions of Kuan Shu and others. The emperor personally looked up into the sky and knelt to worship the Earth God, the same etiquette as used in the sacrifice to the Emperor of Heaven. After the sacrifice, the emperor went to Xingyang and then returned to Chang'an. On the way, he passed through Luoyang and issued an edict saying: "The Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties are very far away from now, and it is difficult for their descendants who are too far away to survive. Thirty miles of land should be set aside for the descendants of the King of Zhou, and they should be named Zhou Zinan Jun so that they can worship their ancestors." This year, the emperor began to tour the counties and finally gradually reached Mount Tai.


文成死明年,天子病鼎湖甚,巫医无所不致,不愈。游水发根乃言曰:“上郡有巫,病而鬼下之。”上召置祠之甘泉。及病,使人问神君。神君言曰:“天子毋忧病。病少愈,强与我会甘泉。”于是病愈,遂幸甘泉,病良已。大赦天下,置寿宫神君。神君最贵者太一,其佐曰大禁、司命之属,皆从之。非可得见,闻其音,与人言等。时去时来,来则风肃然也。居室帷中。时昼言,然常以夜。天子祓,然后入。因巫为主人,关饮食。所欲者言行下。又置寿宫、北宫,张羽旗,设供具,以礼神君。神君所言,上使人受书其言,命之曰“画法”。其所语,世俗之所知也,毋绝殊者,而天子独喜。其事秘,世莫知也。

其后三年,有司言元宜以天瑞命,不宜以一二数。一元曰建元,二元以长星曰元光,三元以郊得一角兽曰元狩云。

其明年冬,天子郊雍,议曰:“今上帝朕亲郊,而后土毋祀,则礼不答也。”有司与太史公、祠官宽舒等议:“天地牲角茧栗。今陛下亲祀后土,后土宜于泽中圜丘为五坛,坛一黄犊太牢具,已祠尽瘗,而从祠衣上黄。”于是天子遂东,始立后土祠汾阴脽上,如宽舒等议。上亲望拜,如上帝礼。礼毕,天子遂至荥阳而还。过雒阳,下诏曰:“三代邈绝,远矣难存。其以三十里地封周后为周子南君,以奉先王祀焉。”是岁,天子始巡郡县,侵寻于泰山矣。