Saturday, June 1, 2024

263 Han System of Fengshan

A12.49..52

Gong Yudai said: "Although the Fengshan ceremony was held at Mount Tai during the Yellow Emperor's time, Fenghou, Fengju, and Qibo still asked the Yellow Emperor to build an altar at east Mount Tai to offer sacrifices to the heavens, and to come to Mount Fan to open up a field for offering sacrifices, in order to match the auspicious signs, so that he could live forever." The emperor ordered the preparation of sacrifices, and then came to east Mount Tai. Seeing that Mount Tai was short and did not match its reputation, he ordered the temple officials to offer sacrifices, but did not hold the Fengshan ceremony. Later, he ordered Gong Yudai to go there to offer sacrifices, worship, and welcome the gods. In the summer, the emperor returned to Mount Tai and held the Fengshan ceremony every five years as before, and added the ritual of offering sacrifices at Mount Shilu. Shilu is located in the south of the foot of Mount Tai. Many alchemists said that it was where the immortals lived, so the emperor went there to offer sacrifices in person.

Five years later, the emperor came to Mount Tai again to hold the Fengshan Ceremony, and on his way back he also offered sacrifices to Changshan.

The Suburban sacrifices set by the emperor, Taiyi and Houtu, were offered in person every three years, which started establishing the Fengshan system of the Han Dynasty, and the Fengshan ceremony was held every five years. Bo Youji also petitioned to build the Taiyi Temple and other temples, including Sanyi, Mingyang, Maxing, and Chixing, and the temple officials under Kuanshu went to offer sacrifices on time every year. Together with the Houtu Temple, there were six temples in total, which were managed by Taizhu. As for the gods among the eight gods, as well as the famous temples in places such as Ming Nian and Fanshan, they were offered sacrifices when the emperor passed by, and they were forgotten when he left. The temples built by the alchemists were offered sacrifices by themselves, and when the person died, the sacrifices ended, and the temple officials no longer managed the sacrifices. The other temples were handled according to the original regulations. Since the emperor held the Fengshan ceremony, a total of twelve years have passed, and the gods that have been offered sacrifices have spread all over the Five Mountains and Four Rivers. However, the alchemists welcomed and worshipped the gods and went to the sea to visit the Penglai Fairy Mountain, but they never got any results. Gongsun Qing and other alchemists who were waiting for the gods continued to use the giant's footprint as an excuse, but it didn't work. The emperor was getting more and more tired of the absurd words of the alchemists, but he always controlled them and didn't break off contact with them. He was always eager to meet someone whose magic worked. Since then, the alchemists have talked more about offering sacrifices to the gods, but the effect can be seen by everyone.

Taishigong the Grand Historian said: I accompanied the emperor on his tours, worshipped the gods of heaven and earth, famous mountains and rivers, and participated in the Fengshan ceremony. I also entered the Shou Palace to accompany the emperor in worship, heard the prayers of the officials, and carefully read and studied the words of the alchemists and temple officials. So after returning, I discussed the activities of worshipping ghosts and gods from ancient times to the present in order, and presented these activities inside and out. Gentlemen of later generations should be able to see the situation at that time from here. As for the details of the ritual vessels such as zuodou and jade and silk used in the sacrifice, as well as the etiquette of worshiping and paying tribute to the gods, there are specific regulations from the relevant officials.


公玉带曰:“黄帝时虽封泰山,然风后、封钜、岐伯令黄帝封东泰山,禅凡山合符,然后不死焉。”天子既令设祠具,至东泰山,东泰山卑小,不称其声,乃令祠官礼之,而不封禅焉。其后令带奉祠候神物。夏,遂还泰山,脩五年之礼如前,而加禅祠石闾。石闾者,在泰山下阯南方,方士多言此仙人之闾也,故上亲禅焉。

其后五年,复至泰山脩封,还过祭常山。

今天子所兴祠,泰一、后土,三年亲郊祠,建汉家封禅,五年一脩封。薄忌泰一及三一、冥羊、马行、赤星,五,宽舒之祠官以岁时致礼。凡六祠,皆太祝领之。至如八神诸神,明年、凡山他名祠,行过则祀,去则已。方士所兴祠,各自主,其人终则已,祠官弗主。他祠皆如其故。今上封禅,其后十二岁而还,遍于五岳、四渎矣。而方士之候祠神人,入海求蓬莱,终无有验。而公孙卿之候神者,犹以大人迹为解,无其效。天子益怠厌方士之怪迂语矣,然终羁縻弗绝,冀遇其真。自此之后,方士言祠神者弥众,然其效可睹矣。

太史公曰:余从巡祭天地诸神名山川而封禅焉。入寿宫侍祠神语,究观方士祠官之言,于是退而论次自古以来用事于鬼神者,具见其表里。后有君子,得以览焉。至若俎豆珪币之详,献酬之礼,则有司存焉。


The end of A12

So this is the completion of the 12 volumes of the annals of the Historical Records by Sima Qian. 

262 Yellow Clothes

A12.44..48

On the 11th month, a fire broke out at Bailiang Terrace. On the first day of the 12th month, the emperor went to Gaoli Mountain to worship the Earth God. He also went to the Bohai Sea, looking at and worshipping the immortal mountain like Penglai, longing to go to the foreign land where the immortals lived.

After the emperor returned to the capital, because the Bailiang Terrace was burned down, he held court in Ganquan Palace to accept the documents reported by various counties and states. Gongsun Qing said: "Huangdi built Qingling Terrace, but it was burned down after twelve days, so Huangdi built Mingting. Mingting is the current Ganquan Palace." Many alchemists also said that ancient emperors also built their capitals in Ganquan. After that, the emperor received princes in Ganquan Palace and built official residences for princes in Ganquan. Yongzhi said: "There is such a custom in Yue. The house built after a fire must be larger than the one that was burned down to suppress the fire." So the emperor built Jianzhang Palace, which was as large as thousands of households. Its front hall was higher than Weiyang Palace, and to the east was Fengque, the Phoenix tower, which was more than 200 feet high. To the west was Central Court Zoo, with a tiger circle dozens of miles wide. A large pool was built in the north, with a terrace more than 200 feet high. The pool was named Taiye Pool. Four mountains, Penglai, Fangzhang, Yingzhou and Huliang, were built in the pool, all imitating the fairy mountains in the sea. There were also some stone sculptures of turtles and fish. To the south, there were statues of Yutang, Bimen and divine birds. Shenming Terrace and Jinggan Pavilion were also built, both more than 500 feet high, with carriageways connecting the terraces.

In the summer, the Han Dynasty adopted a new calendar, set the first month of the year straight, the color of the official uniforms changed to yellow, and the official seals of each official name changed to five characters, so the reign was changed to the first year of Taichu. In this year, the expedition to Dayuan was launched to the west. A large-scale locust plague occurred. Lady Ding and Yuchu of Luoyang and others used magic to perform sacrifices and prayed to the gods to bring disaster to the Huns and Dayuan.

The next year, officials said that no cooked animals or other offerings were used in the sacrifices to the Five Shrines in Yong County, and no fragrant aroma was produced. So the emperor ordered the temple officials to offer cooked animal sacrifices made of calves to the Five Shrines, select the fur color of the animals according to the principle of the five elements, and use puppet horses instead of strong horses as sacrifices. Strong horses were only used when offering sacrifices to the Five Emperors, and strong horses were only used when the emperor personally went to the suburbs to offer sacrifices. Strong horses were originally used when offering sacrifices to famous mountains and rivers, but they were all replaced with puppet horses. Strong horses were used for sacrifices when the emperor passed by on a tour. Other sacrifices were the same as before.

Another year passed, and the emperor went east to inspect the seashore, investigating things like gods and immortals, but nothing worked. Some alchemists said, "During the Yellow Emperor's time, five cities and twelve towers were built for the purpose of welcoming the gods and immortals at Zhiqi, and it was called welcoming the year." The emperor agreed to build five cities and twelve towers according to his idea, and called it the next year. The emperor also went there in person to worship and offer sacrifices to the gods, wearing yellow clothes.


十一月乙酉,柏梁灾。十二月甲午朔,上亲禅高里,祠后土。临渤海,将以望祠蓬莱之属,冀至殊庭焉。

上还,以柏梁灾故,朝受计甘泉。公孙卿曰:“黄帝就青灵台,十二日烧,黄帝乃治明庭。明庭,甘泉也。”方士多言古帝王有都甘泉者。其后天子又朝诸侯甘泉,甘泉作诸侯邸。勇之乃曰:“越俗有火灾,复起屋必以大,用胜服之。”于是作建章宫,度为千门万户。前殿度高未央,其东则凤阙,高二十余丈。其西则唐中,数十里虎圈。其北治大池,渐台高二十余丈,名曰泰液池,中有蓬莱、方丈、瀛洲、壶梁,象海中神山龟鱼之属。其南有玉堂、璧门、大鸟之属。乃立神明台、井幹楼,度五十余丈,辇道相属焉。

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。

其明年,有司言雍五畤无牢熟具,芬芳不备。乃命祠官进畤犊牢具,五色食所胜,而以木禺马代驹焉。独五帝用驹,行亲郊用驹。及诸名山川用驹者,悉以木禺马代。行过,乃用驹。他礼如故。

其明年,东巡海上,考神仙之属,未有验者。方士有言“黄帝时为五城十二楼,以候神人于执期,命曰迎年”。上许作之如方,名曰明年。上亲礼祠上帝,衣上黄焉。