《淮南鴻烈解》Vol. 9

An Explanation of Huainan Honglie, Volume 9: “The Timely Ordinances,” Part One (Vernacular Interpretation)

Explanation of the Chapter Title

“Timely Ordinances” (Shize): It takes the regular patterns of the four seasons, cold and heat, and the twelve months as its instruction; therefore it is called “Timely Ordinances.”

The Month of Early Spring

Heavenly Signs and Directions

Zhaoyao points to yin: the handle of the Dipper (Zhaoyao) points to the yin earthly-branch position (east-northeast). At dusk the Shen lunar mansion is in the center; at dawn the Wei lunar mansion is in the center. At dusk the Shen mansion (one of the seven mansions of the White Tiger of the West) is due south; at dawn the Wei mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Azure Dragon of the East) is due south.

Five Phases and Categories of Things

The direction is east; the days are jia and yi days; the flourishing De is in Wood. The god Taihao presides over the east; jia and yi are Wood days; the Qi of Wood is at its fullest in the east. Its creatures are the scaly ones: in the east is lesser yang; as things leave the great yin, their shells split open into scales; among scaly creatures, the dragon is chief. Its note is jue: the jue note belongs to Wood and is situated in the east. Its pitch corresponds to Taicu: the pitch of the pitch pipe; yin Qi declines and yang Qi issues forth; the myriad things are born from the earth, hence it is called Taicu; its number is eight (the Five Phases have the number five; Wood occupies the third place, hence eight). Its flavor is sour: the flavor of Wood is sour; sour means to bore through, as the myriad things bore through the earth and are born. Its odor is rank: the Qi of Wood is rankly fragrant. Its sacrifice is to the door: hibernating insects begin to stir and come out through doors, hence the door sacrifice; the spleen belongs to Earth, and when the sacrificial vessels are set out, the spleen is placed in front. Spring Wood conquers Earth, referring to regularly eating the flavor of what is conquered; one explanation says the spleen belongs to Wood and uses its own store.

Phenology

The east wind thaws the ice: eastern Wood is the mother of Fire; as the temperature rises, the east wind thaws the ice. Hibernating insects begin to stir: hibernating insects first move, soften, and are born. Fish rise carrying ice: carp respond to yang and move, floating upward and carrying ice. Otters sacrifice fish: otters (water otters) lay out fish by the water as an offering, called “sacrificing fish.” Migratory geese go north: geese fly north from Pengli, pass through Zhou-Luo and reach Hanzhong, where they lay eggs and rear their young.

The Son of Heaven’s Ritual Regulations

He wears blue-green clothing and rides an azure dragon: blue-green clothing; he rides an azure dragon (according to the Rites of Zhou, horses seven chi or more in height are called dragons). He wears azure jade and sets up blue-green banners: he wears azure jade and raises blue-green flags.

(The original text below is not continued; the translation ends at “sets up blue-green banners.”)

Huainan Honglie Jie: A Plain-Language Interpretation

On Banners and Diet

In this month (Mengchun, the first month of spring), one should wear clothing and pendants bearing bear and tiger motifs (fup ei, that is, clothing and ornaments). The diet should center on wheat and mutton—wheat belongs to Metal and sheep to Earth; in this month Metal and Earth are in season, so it is fitting to eat fully matured and ripened things.

Wheat is taken as the first food because wheat is the king of the five grains. One drinks “eight-wind water” (dew collected in a bronze basin and consumed; this water is formed by exposure to winds from the eight directions). Use qimu wood (pronounced “gai” in this gloss, meaning “to prepare fully”) to obtain fire, and cook with suihuo, fire made by drilling wood.

The Palace and Music-Dance

The Eastern Palace is served by palace women, who wear blue-green clothing and blue-green silk and play the qin and se. The Spring King resides in the east, hence the Eastern Palace; the qin and se belong to Wood, and in spring Wood is flourishing, hence they are played.

For weapons, spears are used (the spear’s sharp point symbolizes the myriad things breaking through the earth and being born). Sheep are raised (the sheep is the mother of Earth and Wood, hence they are raised).

Court Assembly and Spring Ordinances

At the beginning of the month, the Son of Heaven holds court at the Left Compartment of Qingyang (Qingyang is an east-facing hall; the Left Compartment is the chamber at the northern end; ge means a partitioned room) in order to promulgate the spring ordinances (ordinances of generosity and harmony). He spreads De and bestows kindness, carries out celebrations and rewards, and reduces corvée and taxes (spreading yang De and bestowing gentle kindness; celebrating the good and giving rewards; reducing corvée and lightening tax collection).

On the day of Lichun (Beginning of Spring), the Son of Heaven personally leads the Three Dukes, the Nine Ministers, and the Grand Officers to the eastern suburb (the suburb eight li beyond the outer city wall) to welcome the year (welcome spring).

He repairs and clears the sacrificial sites and prepares ritual gifts to pray to ghosts and spirits (the sacrificial sites are altars and screened positions; the gifts are jade tablets, discs, and the like; praying to ghosts and spirits is to seek blessings and auspiciousness. Spirits of humans are called gui; spirits of Heaven are called shen). Sacrificial victims use male animals (valuing purity, male livestock are used).

Prohibitions

It is forbidden to fell trees (in spring Wood is flourishing and should be allowed to grow and nourish, hence felling is forbidden).

Do not overturn nests, kill fetuses, the young, or fawns, and do not take eggs (fetuses are beasts pregnant but not yet delivered; fawns are young deer; eggs are unhatched eggs. The people are all prohibited from taking them, so that the myriad things may multiply).

Do not gather crowds or establish city walls; cover exposed bones and bury carcasses (do not gather crowds or build city walls, lest it hinder farm work; bones with flesh attached are to be covered and buried out of care for the Qi of life).

Warning Against Practicing Summer Ordinances in Mengchun

(If in Mengchun one practices the ordinances of summer, then…)—This sentence introduces the following discussion of the harm of the four seasons falling out of order; here only the warning “in Mengchun practicing summer ordinances” is indicated, and the full text should be read on with what follows.

A Vernacular Interpretation of the “Monthly Ordinances” Chapter in the Huainan Honglie Jie (Excerpt)

Consequences of Violating the Ordinances in the First Month of Spring

If actions do not accord with the season, then wind and rain fall out of balance, plants and trees wither prematurely, and the state too will be beset by anxiety.

In the first month of spring, the De (Virtue/Power) of Wood governs; by principle, warmth and benevolence should be the foundation. If those in superior positions nevertheless mobilize the Qi of Fire (or things such as the Metal of autumn and the Water of winter), disturbing things excessively, then plants and trees will wither ahead of time, the world will be unsettled, and rulers and ministers will be fearful.

If the ordinances of autumn are put into practice in the first month of spring:

the common people will be prone to great epidemics; violent winds and torrential rains will come in succession; and wild grasses and weeds such as lamb’s quarters, foxtail, fleabane, and mugwort will all grow rampant.

(The first month of spring should properly be warm and benevolent, yet if the austere, cutting Qi of Metal belonging to autumn ordinances is enacted, Yin-Yang will be disharmonious; hence epidemics spread, violent wind and rain arrive, and weeds grow thickly.)

If the ordinances of winter are put into practice in the first month of spring:

flood disasters will become calamities; rain, frost, and great hail will fall together; and the first crop will be hard to ripen.

(Winter belongs to Yin; springs and waters surge upward. If winter ordinances are enacted in spring, flooding will bring ruin; Qi will be disharmonious; hence frost and hail damage the crops, and grain will not ripen.)

The First Month of Spring

In the first lunar month, the official in charge of government is the Sikong (Minister of Works), and the tree under his charge is the poplar.

The Sikong oversees Earth; in spring the Qi of Earth receives and supports the excellent growth of the myriad things, and so the Sikong governs the season. According to the Erya, the yang tree is the puliu willow; the wood of the yang responds to the light of spring, and thus in the first month of spring the yang serves as its emblem.

The Second Month of Spring

In the second month of spring, the Zhaoyao star points to the mao position; at dusk the Hu (Bow) star stands at the southern meridian, and at dawn the Jianxing (Establishment Star) stands at the southern meridian.

(The Hu star is south of Yugui; in this month at dusk, the Hu star is exactly at the southern culmination. The Jianxing is above the Dipper mansion; in this month at dawn, the Jianxing is exactly at the southern culmination.)

Its direction is east; its days are jia and yi; its creatures are the scaly creatures; its sound is the jue note; its pitch pipe is Jiazhong.

(In this month the myriad things shed Yin and turn toward Yang, gather and grow upon the earth; Yin-Yang press together from both sides, hence the name Jiazhong.)

Its number is eight; its taste is sour; its odor is the rank/sheepy odor (or written shan, corresponding to the sour taste); its sacrifice is to the Door Deity, and at the sacrifice the spleen is offered first.

Solar term: Beginning of Rain Water. From winter ice and accumulated snow up to this point, and around the spring equinox, rain gradually increases, hence it is called Beginning of Rain Water. Peach and plum all bloom in this month.

Phenology: the Canggeng sings; hawks transform into doves.

Canggeng, according to the Erya, is also named Shanggeng, Lihuang, Chuque, and so on; the people of Qi call it boshu (millet-striker), those of Qin call it huangliuli, and those of You and Ji call it huangniao (yellow bird); one account says it is the woodpecker, which sings in this month. Hawks in this month transform into doves—doves have straight beaks and are not fierce, and no longer strike; the dove here is the cuckoo.

The Son of Heaven’s Governance in the Second Month of Spring

The Son of Heaven wears blue-green garments, rides the Azure Dragon chariot, wears azure jade, and sets up blue-green banners; he eats wheat and mutton; drinks the Water of the Eight Winds; uses beanstalks for firewood and obtains Sui fire; and dwells in the Eastern Palace.

The consorts and attendants wear blue-green clothing and blue-green ornaments; they play the qin and se. Their weapon is the spear; their domestic animal is the sheep.

Audiences are held in the Eastern Palace.

Note: The above has been arranged in the order “violations of the ordinances in the first month of spring—the Sikong and the poplar in the first lunar month—astronomical phenomena, the Five Phases, phenology, and the Son of Heaven’s clothing colors and ordinances in the second month of spring.” Proper nouns (Zhaoyao, Hu, Jianxing, Jiazhong, Sikong, Canggeng, cuckoo, and so on) have been briefly explained in parentheses in the text; no additional doctrinal elaboration has been added.

During the Qingyang season, at the Grand Ancestral Temple facing east (the main chamber of the Grand Ancestral Temple is at the center of the hall and faces east), orders are issued to the relevant officials: inspect the prisons, remove the foot fetters (zhi) and hand shackles (gu) from prisoners, and do not whip or torture them; prohibit the reckless initiation of litigation (lingyu means the place of confinement; the inspection is intended to pardon minor offenses; the zhi is worn on the feet and the gu on the hands, both being instruments of punishment). At the same time, they are to nurture young children and provide relief to orphans and the childless, enabling all things to sprout and germinate smoothly (in accord with the rising Qi of spring yang; nurturing the young so that they flourish; those without fathers are gu, those without children are du, and all must be cared for and relieved, in order to be careful with yang Qi; thus even plants and trees that cannot sprout and germinate are able to penetrate and develop).

They select a yuan day (yuan is the chief of what is good; “day” refers to an auspicious day from jia through gui) and order the common people to perform the She sacrifice (She is the place where blessings are sought for the people; since ordinary days are considered inauspicious, it says to select a yuan day). In this month, day and night are equally divided, thunder begins to sound, and hibernating insects all stir and revive (fen means equal; in winter yin is closed and solid, and thunder lies hidden and does not issue; when this month arrives, yang Qi rises, thunder begins to sound, and all stir and come to life). Three days before the thunder sounds, the duo bell must first be shaken (a wooden bell with a metal mouth and wooden tongue, used to proclaim to the myriad people; zhao is a large number, and qie still carries the sense of “about to”), announcing to all the people under heaven: thunder is about to sound. If anyone, when the thunder sounds, fails to be vigilant and proper in demeanor, or engages in sexual intercourse, the children born to them will surely be defective, and they will certainly encounter calamity (to engage in sexual intercourse during thunder and lightning often causes children to be born deaf-mute, lacking understanding of human affairs, or afflicted with madness; hence it says that if one is not cautious there will surely be calamity).

They also order government offices and markets to standardize measures of length and capacity (du is the zhang and chi; liang refers to vessels such as the fu and zhong), the weights of jun, heng, and shi (heng and shi are scales; one hundred and twenty jin make one shi), and the calibration of the dou and scales (jiao means to make level and correct; the dou and cheng are measuring vessels), so that the quan and gai are upright and correct (quan and gai both seek levelness). They must not exhaust rivers and marshes, drain ponds and pools dry, or burn mountains and forests (all out of fear of harming and prematurely cutting off the myriad kinds). They must not undertake major endeavors that hinder agricultural work (major matters refers to military campaigns and punitive expeditions and the like, which would harm peasants’ cultivation).

In this month’s sacrifices, animal victims and livestock are not used; instead gui tablets and bi discs are used, with hides and silk as substitutes (this month esteems reproduction and nurturing, so animal victims are not used; geng means to replace).

【Vernacular Explanation】

(Use guibi—jade tablets and disks—and skins and silk bundles in place of sacrificial victims.) Use guibi, deerskin, and bundles of dark and light-red silk to replace the sacrificial animals. “Skins” refers to deerskin; “silk bundles” refers to bundles of dark and light-red (pale red) silk. The Book of Rites says: report to the ancestors with silk bundles, jade tablets, and skins.

If the autumn ordinances are put into effect in mid-spring, the state will suffer great floods; cold Qi will arrive frequently, and enemy invaders will attack. (Mid-spring is the time when Yang Qi grows; if the autumn’s killing ordinances are enacted, cold Qi will frequently arrive, and enemy troops will invade and attack the state.)

If the winter ordinances are enacted, Yang Qi cannot prevail, wheat will not ripen, and many among the people will kill one another. (Enacting winter’s Yin ordinances in mid-spring, Yin Qi overcomes Yang Qi; therefore Yang Qi cannot prevail, wheat cannot ripen, and the people kill one another.)

If the summer ordinances are enacted, the state will suffer severe drought; hot Qi will come early, and insects and borers will cause harm. (Enacting summer’s solar ordinances in mid-spring causes severe drought; Yang Qi becomes excessively hot, so warmth and heat reach an extreme; Yang Qi generates Yin, and therefore insects and borers cause harm. Insects that eat the hearts of grain are called ming borers.)

In the second month, the official granary; its tree is the apricot. (In the second month, agriculture is promoted and grain is sown, hence the official granary. The apricot has an aperture in the center; an aperture in the center symbolizes Yin Qi spreading above, therefore its tree is the apricot.)

In the month of late spring, Zhaoyao points to the Chen lunar mansion; at dusk the Seven Stars are due south, and at dawn the Cowherd star is due south. (The Seven Stars are the lunar mansion of the Vermilion Bird of the South, and in this month at dusk it is due south; the Cowherd is the lunar mansion of the Dark Warrior of the North, and in this month at dawn it is due south.)

Its position is the east; its days are Jia and Yi; its creatures are scaly; its sound is Jue; its pitch-tube corresponds to Guxi. (Gu means “old”; xi means “new.” In this month Yang Qi nourishes life, discarding the old and approaching the new, hence it is called Guxi.)

Its number is eight; its flavor is sour; its odor is rank; its sacrifice is at the door; the spleen is offered first. The paulownia begins to flower; field mice transform into quail. (The tong is the paulownia, which flowers this month. The field mouse is the zokor; the ru is the quail. In Qingzhou and Xuzhou it is called mou; in Youzhou and Jizhou it is called chun.)

Rainbows first appear; duckweed first grows. (The rainbow is the didong. The Book of Songs says: “The didong is in the east; no one dares point at it.” Duckweed is a water weed, and it begins to grow this month.)

The Son of Heaven wears blue-green clothes, rides a blue-green dragon chariot, wears blue-green jade, sets up blue-green banners, eats wheat and mutton, drinks the water of the eight winds, and burns bean stalks for fire. The attending women of the Eastern Palace wear blue-green clothes with blue-green trim, play the qin and se, and their weapon is the spear. (The Son of Heaven wears blue-green clothing, rides a blue-green dragon chariot, wears blue-green jade, sets up blue-green banners, eats wheat and mutton, drinks the water of the eight winds, and uses bean stalks for fire. The attending women of the Eastern Palace wear blue-green clothing with blue-green trim, play the qin and se, and their weapon is the spear.)

A Vernacular Reading of the Huainan Honglie Jie

Offering a Sheep and Preparing the Boats

In this month, a sheep is used for the morning sacrifice in the Qingyang Youge (the chamber on the south side of the east-facing hall, hence called the “right ge”). The Zhoumu (the official in charge of boats) turned the boats over five times and righted them five times, carefully checking for leaks, and then reported to the Son of Heaven that the boats were fully ready. Only then did the Son of Heaven feel at ease and begin to use the boats (“wu” is interchangeable with “an,” meaning ease or security; from winter to this point it first becomes suitable to travel by boat, hence the phrase “first taking boats”). They present wei fish (a fish like a carp but larger) in the Qinmiao (the front part is called the miao and the rear the qin; they are joined together, that is, the ancestral temple) and pray to the ancestors for an abundant wheat harvest.

Seasonal Ordinances and Government Orders for This Month

In this month, the life-giving Qi (shengqi) is abundant, and the Yang Qi (yangqi) spreads and disperses. Creatures that curled up for the winter have all emerged, and sprouts have all opened; it is no longer suitable to keep people confined indoors.

The Son of Heaven ordered the relevant officials to open the granaries and relieve the poor and weak and those whose means of livelihood had been cut off (to lack wealth is to be poor; widowers, widows, orphans, and the childless are destitute; “zhen” means to relieve); to open the treasuries and distribute coins and cloth, send envoys to inquire after the feudal lords, and treat with courtesy famous scholars and worthies (those with reputation and virtue are famous scholars; the greatly worthy are worthies), with the intention of governing the world together with them.

He also commanded the Sikong (the official in charge of water and land): since seasonal rains are about to fall and the earth’s Qi rises upward, for fear that flooding will damage the five grains, they must inspect each city and town and survey all the countryside (broad level land is “yuan”; the outskirts are “ye”). They were to repair dikes and embankments, clear ditches and canals, repair roads and clean the thoroughfares, from the capital all the way to the borders.

Prohibitions

It was forbidden to hunt in the fields, and to hunt with the bi, yi, ju, fu, luo, and similar devices (bi is a covering net; yi is an arrow with a cord; ju catches rabbits; fu catches birds; luo and the final net are types of nets). Poisonous drugs for killing wild animals were not allowed to leave the Nine Gates (Jiumen; the Son of Heaven’s city had twelve gates, and the three eastern gates were where the kingly Qi was located, so the prohibition specifically forbade poisonous drugs from leaving the city).

Note: This entry belongs to the Yueling (Monthly Ordinances) type of record. It combines the sacrifices, agricultural affairs, relief, summoning of worthies, water conservancy, and hunting prohibitions of the second month of spring into the government affairs of one month, resembling the format of the Yueling.

(The medicinal Qi must not go out; it must still be nourished. Since the regulation of the nine gates is also involved, a special warning is added, ordering it not to emerge.) Therefore hunting wild creatures is prohibited, and mulberry and zhe trees must not be cut down (both mulberry and zhe can be used to raise silkworms, so the people are explicitly forbidden to cut them down). Turtledoves beat their wings, and hoopoes descend upon the mulberry (the turtledove beats its wings and flies swiftly, shooting straight up into the sky and entering the clouds—this is what is meant; the dai-sheng is the hoopoe; as the Odes say, “The shijiu is on the mulberry,” and its young “are on the plum”—this is what is meant). The pu, qu, ju, and kuang are fully prepared (pu is a hand-held implement; “three turns” is called pu; pu is pronounced like lei in Gelei; qu and bo are called qu in Qingzhou and Xuzhou; the round-bottomed one is called ju, the square-bottomed one is called kuang; all are implements for gathering mulberry). The queen and consorts fast and purify themselves, face east, personally pick mulberry leaves, inspect women’s work, and encourage sericulture. They order the officials of the five storehouses to command the hundred artisans to inspect metal, iron, leather, sinew, horn, arrow shafts, fat, glue, cinnabar, and lacquer, so that none fails to be refined and excellent. They choose an auspicious day in the last ten days of the month and grandly assemble music, thereby bringing about joy (music is what transforms and changes customs, so an auspicious day is chosen for a grand assembly, to bring about joy and harmony). Then they order special bulls and stallions to mate with female livestock in the pastures (the special bull is the lei bull; the stallion and young stallion are those whose hooves are good at leading the herd; they roam with the females in the pasture and mate with them in the open air; lei is pronounced like lei in Gelei). They order the state Nuo exorcism to be performed, and dogs to be torn apart at the nine gates, to drive away inauspiciousness and bring the Qi of spring to completion (Nuo disperses the gloom in the corners and hidden places of palace chambers; drums are beaten and loud shouts are raised to expel inauspicious Qi, exactly like today’s driving out of epidemics; the nine gates are the nine gates of the three sides; dogs are torn apart because yang Qi is about to end, hence it says “to complete the Qi of spring”).

When this monthly ordinance is carried out, sweet rain arrives in season. If in the last month of spring the winter ordinances are carried out, cold Qi will break out from time to time, plants and trees will all become sparse and shriveled, and the state will have great fear (in the last month of spring practicing winter, the Qi of cold killing, hence cold Qi rises from time to time; the upper parts of plants and trees become sparse—this is called su). If the summer ordinances are carried out, the people will suffer many diseases and epidemics, seasonal rain will not fall, and the hills and uplands will not yield a harvest (in the last month of spring practicing summer, the ordinance of pure yang, the Qi is not harmonious, hence the people have diseases and epidemics; rain and moisture do not descend, hence plants and trees do not mature and yield). If the autumn ordinances are carried out, the sky will be much overcast, excessive rain will fall early, and weapons and armor will rise together (in autumn, Metal Qi is active; it is the mother of water. Carrying this out in the last month of spring, hence there is much overcast).

Selections from Huainan Honglie Jie, Explained in Modern Chinese

(Shen governs rain, and Metal governs weapons and warfare; therefore rain and military affairs often manifest together.)

Third Month: The government office’s main task is to inspect household registers and record the villages; the tree corresponding to this month is the plum tree. In the third month the populace is to be counted, so the “village official” is in charge; plums have pits, and one account groups them with apricots; since plums ripen after apricots, the third month is matched with plum.

The Month of Early Summer (the fourth month of the Xia calendar). The Dipper handle: the Zhaoyao star points to the si position. At dusk: the Wing Mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Vermilion Bird of the South) is at the zenith. At dawn: the Wu Nü Mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Black Tortoise of the North) is at the zenith (as recorded in the original text). Direction and day designations: it occupies the south; the day stem-branch is mainly bing and ding (fire days). The flourishing De lies in Fire: the numinous Qi of Yan Di governs the south; bing and ding belong to Fire, and the De is in Fire, so the south is in season.

Phenology and Pitch-Numerology. Creatures: feathered creatures (birds); note: zhi (the note belonging to Fire among the five notes). Pitch: Zhonglü (yang Qi disperses outward while yin is full within; the yang work is about to be completed, hence the name Zhonglü). Number: seven (Fire is generated by two; five plus two makes seven; one account says this corresponds to the numerical principle of this month). Taste and odor: bitter; scorched (the taste of Fire is bitter, and the Qi of Fire is a scorched odor).

Sacrifice. Sacrifice to the stove; among the offerings, the lung is used first. Zhurong and Wuhui were once Fire Officials under Gaoxin; after death they became fire deities and receive sacrifice at the stove. In this month Fire is at its height, hence the stove is sacrificed to. The lung belongs to Metal, and in sacrifice one may first take what it “overcomes”; another account says the lung is the store of Fire, and the Fire phase uses its own store.

Phenology. Louguo (a kind of mole cricket) sings; qiu yin (earthworms) emerge (in the fourth month Yin Qi first stirs below, and creatures respond by singing and emerging). Wang gua (Trichosanthes) grows; bitter herbs xiu (the Erya says, “to bear fruit without blooming is called xiu”; for bitter herbs one ought to say “bloom,” but here the original text’s “xiu” is retained).

The Son of Heaven’s Ritual Regulations (Fire De, Southern Governance). He wears red clothes, rides a red horse (a bay), wears red jade, and sets up red banners (in keeping with the Fire De). He eats beans (beans with pods) and chicken (both beans and chicken are nourished by Fire). He takes “eight-wind water”; for cooking he uses cudrania wood and fire obtained with a burning mirror; in the Southern Palace he establishes a female musical ensemble, dressed in red silk, blowing the yu and sheng (Fire flourishes in the south, so he occupies the Southern Palace; the yu and sheng are hollow and symbolize yang, hence they are blown).

Weapons: He uses the ji (halberd; a metal weapon, used in pairing with the Fire De; in the original text this belongs to the military symbolism of early summer).

Note: This entry belongs to the Han-dynasty “monthly ordinances” genre, which binds together the month with celestial phenomena, direction, the Five Phases, pitch standards, phenology, royal government, and sacrifice; it is not a modern agricultural almanac. The statements about the mansions “culminating at dusk and dawn” and about Wu Nü and “the south” mostly follow the original book’s manuscript and may differ from later received editions of the Monthly Ordinances; readers of history may compare other editions.

Vernacular Explanation of Relevant Passages in the Huainan Honglie Jie

The court raises chickens in accordance with ritual regulations. At dawn on the Beginning of Summer, the Son of Heaven issues that month’s summer ordinances in the “Left Compartment,” the side chamber on the eastern side of the south-facing “Bright Hall” (Mingtang, the main hall symbolizing Yang Qi at its height). Birds belong to Yang, so raising chickens symbolizes Yang Qi.

On the day of the Beginning of Summer, the Son of Heaven personally leads the Three Dukes, Nine Ministers, and Grand Masters to the southern suburb—usually the suburb about seven li south of the capital—to welcome the season, that is, to welcome summer. After returning to court, he rewards the meritorious, enfeoffs feudal lords, repairs ritual and music to stabilize high and low and to transform customs, and feasts his close ministers. The old saying goes, “Rewards in spring and summer, punishments in autumn and winter”; at this time the emphasis is on rewarding merit and enfeoffing land.

He also orders the Grand Commandant—a minister in charge of military affairs, here specially dispatched to appear—to proclaim standards for talent: recommend outstanding talents, worthy persons, and filial and fraternal people for office. This was not originally the Grand Commandant’s regular duty, so a separate royal command is added. At the same time, ranks are conferred and salaries issued to assist the Dao of Heaven in carrying out the way of “growth and nurturing”: repairs and heightening of structures are to continue, and they must not be destroyed; there must be no major construction, and no felling of large trees. The field supervisor—an official who manages the countryside—is ordered to patrol the fields and plains, encourage agriculture, and drive off birds, beasts, and livestock so that they do not harm the grain.

In this month the wheat first ripens. The Son of Heaven tastes the wheat with pork—the pig is a water domestic animal, fitting the ritual of tasting new wheat—and first presents it in the ancestral temple and its rear hall to show filial remembrance. When Yang Qi is at its height, the hundred grasses become medicines, so it is fitting to gather and store the hundred medicines; the “collapsing grasses,” withered grasses such as tingli, also wither accordingly.

The “wheat autumn” is approaching—in the fourth month Yang Qi flourishes above, and in the fifth month Yin Qi arises below; because it is the season when wheat ripens, it is called wheat autumn—so it is fitting to review minor cases and lighten punishments in order to comply with the killing Qi of autumn.

If in Mengxia, the first month of summer, autumn ordinances are mistakenly carried out, then since metal Qi governs killing, there will be much rain that damages the grain; the five grains will be hard to nourish and grow, and people from all quarters will flock into the cities to protect themselves. If winter ordinances are mistakenly carried out, cold Qi will close and solidify, grasses and trees will wither early, and afterward great floods will often overflow and destroy the city walls.

Vernacular Interpretation of Relevant Passages from the Huainan Honglie Jie

Plants and trees withering prematurely, and great floods destroying city walls, are mostly the verified consequences of disordered seasonal ordinances and of government decrees that contravene the heavenly seasons. If, in a season when spring ordinances should not be carried out, one still follows the regimen of “Beginning of Spring, awakening of hibernating insects,” disasters such as locust plagues will be drawn forth.

Violent winds suddenly arriving, and grasses that ought to put forth ears instead setting no seed: this is because in the first month of summer one should continue “repairing walls and raising them higher,” assisting the growth of yang Qi and nurturing the myriad beings, yet one mistakenly carries out the spring decree of “Jingzhe, opening the insects”; thus locusts become a plague. Spring belongs to Wood and has much wind Qi, and so it is said that when violent winds come, grasses that ought to flower and put forth ears also do not grow luxuriantly.

The fourth month is suitable for supervising agriculture, and the authorities give weight to field affairs; the tree corresponding to this month is the peach. In the commentaries it is often mentioned together with the apricot, and it is also said that plums ripen later; hence there is the saying of “the fourth-month peach.”

The Month of Midsummer: the Year Star (the Dipper handle) points to the wu position; at dusk the Jiao and Kang mansions culminate in the southern sky, and at dawn the Wei mansion culminates in the southern sky. (Kang is one of the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon of the East; Wei is one of the Seven Mansions of the Black Tortoise of the North.) The direction is south; the heavenly stems are Bing and Ding; the corresponding creature category is feathered creatures; among the Five Notes it is Zhi; the pitch pipe corresponds to Ruibin; the number is seven—in this month yin Qi is like a host languishing below, and yang Qi is like a guest above, hence it is called “Ruibin.” The flavor is bitter, the Qi is scorched; sacrifice is made to the stove, and the offering is first presented to the lungs.

When the Xiaoshu (Minor Heat) solar term arrives, mantises are born. (Mantises are sometimes called “heavenly horses” among the people, also named Chiyou; in the Yan and Yu regions they are called “giant axes.”) The shrike (ju) begins to call, and the fantalk bird no longer utters sound. (The shrike is the ju; in the fifth month yin Qi lies below, and the shrike responds to yin and calls; legend says it can peck snakes. Fantalk is the hundred-tongue bird, able to imitate the calls of a hundred birds; in the fifth month yang Qi is at its height above and faint yin first arises below; the hundred-tongue has no yin, and therefore no longer calls.)

The Son of Heaven wears red robes, rides a red horse, wears red jade, and sets up red banners; he eats beans and chicken, drinks the water of the “Eight Winds,” burns cudrania wood for fire, and obtains fire from the fire-striker. The Southern Palace presides over affairs; palace women wear red clothes and blow the yu and sheng; for weapons, halberds are used; for livestock, chickens are the mainstay. He holds audience at the Bright Hall and the Great Ancestral Temple. (The temple is in the south; the hall is the central chamber.) He orders the music master to put in order the tao and pi drums, the qin and se, the guan and xiao; to tune the yu and chi; and to refurbish the bells and chime stones. (The guan has a single hole and resembles a flute; the xiao is the song xiao of later times; chi is pronounced like the “chi” of chize, “ponds and marshes.”) They hold dance implements such as shields, axes, dagger-axes, and feathers.

Monthly Ordinance Passages Related to the Huainan Honglie Jie (Vernacular Interpretation)

The court orders the officials concerned to pray and sacrifice on behalf of the people at mountains, rivers, the many plains, and other places capable of raising clouds and bringing rain, and to conduct the Great Yu (Dayu) rite, a ceremony of sacrificing to Heaven to pray for rain during drought. When sacrificing to Heaven, they use Shengyue (grand music)—solemn and grand music, here referring to the scale of the ceremonial music of the six ancient dynasties.

The Son of Heaven tastes the new millet with pheasant: the new millet is primary and the pheasant secondary, with the emphasis on tasting the grain. When presenting sacrificial offerings, he uses Hantao (cherries)—cherries, said in legend to be fruit held in the beak of the oriole—as xiu, presented offerings, and first offers them in the ancestral temple.

In this month, the people are forbidden to cut indigo for dyeing, because the indigo plants are not yet mature and must not be cut to dye blue. Do not burn ashes, for vegetation is not yet fully grown and it is unsuitable to burn it for ash and harm things. Do not expose cloth to the sun, since fierce sunlight easily damages the quality of cloth.

City gates and lane gates need not be tightly closed, in accordance with the rising yang qi, for people should come and go; customs barriers and markets do not exact taxes or levies.

Delay the handling of serious prisoners’ cases and increase their rations. Show solicitude for old men without wives and old women without husbands; for those who died in service—state affairs, war, and the like—provide relief to their descendants.

Separate the roaming mares from the herd; restrain the leaping colts, the unbroken male colts; and promulgate the ordinances of horse administration. In this month the mares’ pregnancy is settled, so they must be separated from the herd; the unbroken male colts are restrained, and relevant ordinances are announced to the officials in charge of horses, to prevent hooves from injuring the pregnant mares and so on.

The sun’s shadow reaches its shortest—the summer solstice. Yin and Yang contend, and death and life divide. The noble person fasts and purifies himself, is careful of his person and free from rashness, moderates music and sexual pleasures, and takes bland food. The hundred officials keep affairs quiet and do not take unauthorized paths; they must not act on their own, and when there are matters they should first seek instructions, in order to stabilize what the quiet yin, the subtle yin, is to accomplish.

Phenology: deer shed their antlers, cicadas begin to sing, pinellia emerges, and rose of Sharon blooms—common seasonal signs and phenomena around the summer solstice.

Huainan Honglie Jie, “Monthly Ordinances for the Last Month of Summer”: A Vernacular Interpretation

Hibiscus (mujin, also written mujin) blooms in the morning and withers by evening; the tree is about five or six chi tall, and its leaves resemble those of the pomegranate. In this month the hibiscus blooms most abundantly and may serve as an assistant to court ministers. What the people of the Luo region call “zhaosheng” (“morning-born”) is the shun blossom in the Shijing line “face like the shun blossom.”

Prohibitions for this month: the common people are forbidden to light fires; there should be no major construction projects, no climbing high to gaze into the distance, and no building of terraces and pavilions (a high platform made by piling earth on four sides is called a tai; a tai with chambers on it is called a xie). In accord with yang Qi, dwellings should be kept bright, or one may climb high to observe clouds and phenomena and to divine Qi and auspicious omens.

If mid-summer instead carries out winter ordinances (violating the seasonal order): winter Qi governs cold, water Qi congeals, and hail and sleet will fall, harming the five grains; roads will collapse and become impassable because of excessive water and rain; violent and harmful troops will also come marauding.

If mid-summer instead carries out spring ordinances: spring Wood is in season and favors growth and reproduction, so the five grains will ripen late; the hundred teng (leg-moving insects, such as locusts) will arise from time to time, damaging crops, and the state will thereby suffer famine.

If mid-summer instead carries out autumn ordinances: autumn governs ripening, so plants and trees will wither ahead of time and fruits will ripen prematurely, contrary to the season, and the people will be prone to disease and epidemics.

The official correspondence for the fifth month is the Minister: in this month yang Qi nurtures and sustains, and it is fitting for officials and ministers to support one another. The doctrine of Xiangyu is not recorded in detail.

In the month of the last summer, the Dipper’s handle, Zhaoyao, points to the wei position. At dusk the Heart Mansion (one of the seven mansions of the Azure Dragon of the East) occupies the center of the south; at dawn the Kui Mansion (one of the seven mansions of the White Tiger of the West) occupies the center of the south.

Its position is the center; its days are wu and ji (earth days). Its flourishing De is in Earth, and the Shen of the Yellow Emperor presides over the center.

Its creature is the luo (chief of the scaly creatures). Its tone is gong (Earth occupies the center and is the ruler of the five tones).

Its pitch pipe corresponds to Baizhong (Linzhong). In this month yang Qi is abundant and yin Qi arises. Its number is five.

Note: Baizhong is Linzhong, the pitch of the last month of summer; luo is a category of scaly creatures; the gong tone belongs to Earth and occupies the center of the five tones. The above, following the format of monthly ordinances, explains the celestial phenomena, seasonal phenomena, prohibitions, and the harms of violating the ordinances in the last month of summer.

Vernacular Interpretation of the Huainan Honglie Jie

This passage discusses Earth among the Five Phases, the seasonal phenomena and ritual institutions of late summer (the sixth lunar month), and interweaves the commentator’s explanations of character meanings and literary allusions.

Earth and “the number five”

Earth nurtures the myriad things. Among the Five Phases, Earth is ranked fifth, hence “its number is five.” The flavor corresponding to Earth is sweet, and its odor is fragrant.

Sacrifice and “what it conquers”

When the Earth phase is in charge, sacrifice is offered to Zhongliu (the earth-spirit altar or earthen pit under the house or hall). One note also mentions sacrifice to “Xianxin” (“the former heart”)—according to the mutual conquest of the Five Phases, what Earth conquers is Water, and Water corresponds to the heart, so the heart is paired with the sacrifice; another explanation says “the heart belongs to Earth,” using the meaning of correspondence with the organ proper. The various schools differ.

Seasonal phenomena (around the onset of autumn)

The cool wind first rises; crickets move from the fields into the house (some editions read “wall”); hawks begin to learn to strike. Decaying grass transforms into qian (a small firefly-like insect known by different local names, such as “maxuan”). The commentary holds that as the autumn season approaches, hawks practice striking; it also explains the pronunciation of “qian” and its regional names.

The Son of Heaven acts according to the Earth phase

The Son of Heaven wears yuan-yellow garments, rides a yellow horse, wears yellow jade, and sets up a yellow banner—yellow accords with the virtue of Earth. Here “yellow” also refers to ripened grain (dengyi) and related meanings connected with Earth and sowing and reaping.

For food and drink he uses millet; for sacrificial victims he uses oxen (both millet and oxen belong to Earth).

He uses the water of the “eight winds”; the stove burns cudrania wood and fire made with a fire-drill; the Central Palace is dominated by the virtue of Earth, and palace people wear yellow clothes and yellow ornaments; the symbolic weapon is the sword (a double-edged sword; the commentary likens it to “nothing is generated” or “having no exclusive master yet mastering all,” a metaphor for Earth dwelling in the center and governing the four directions).

Livestock is represented by oxen.

In this month the Son of Heaven holds court and conducts government in the Central Palace (the Great Chamber, Taishi).

Government orders and fishing and hunting

He orders the yuren (officer in charge of fishing; “yu” here is pronounced like the “yu” in “xiangyu,” “to speak to each other”) to attack jiao dragons, take tuo alligators, present turtles, and take yuan soft-shelled turtles.

Jiao, tuo, and yuan are all aquatic creatures; alligator skin can be made into drums (as in the Book of Songs, “the tuo drums boom”), and soft-shelled turtle can be made into soup (citing the allusion to a man of Chu presenting a soft-shelled turtle and a nobleman dipping his finger into the cauldron to taste the soup).

The commentary distinguishes the wording: jiao has scales and armor, can harm people, and is hard to obtain, so it says “attack”; turtles can divine good and ill fortune and are honored in the ancestral temple, so it says “present.”

Timber and reeds, and raising sacrificial animals

He orders the Pangren (officer in charge of ponds and marshes) to collect timber and reeds for state use.

He orders the Four Supervisors and the grand officers to have the counties’ stipends and fodder used to raise the sacrificial victims for sacrifices (within the thousand-li royal domain the Son of Heaven divides counties for administration; this is a formulation in the style of the Zhou system).

Reading note

The whole text follows the format of “a summary of the classic passage + exegesis from old commentaries”: the first half of each sentence mostly concerns monthly ordinances, the Five Phases, the Son of Heaven’s colored dress, and seasonal phenomena; the parenthetical parts are later scholars’ explanations of character forms, pronunciation, ritual sources, and variant readings (such as the cricket “dwelling in the corner” or “dwelling in the wall,” and the symbolism of the sword). If you care only about the general meaning, hold on to one thread: in late summer Earth is in ascendancy; the Son of Heaven dwells in the Central Palace, honors yellow, issues orders for fishing and hunting, reeds and timber, and raising sacrificial animals, and aligns with seasonal markers such as cool winds, crickets, hawks, and decaying grass turning into fireflies.

This passage comes from the Huainan Honglie (Huainanzi)’s explanation of the ancient monthly ordinances (yueling: government decrees and agricultural rites promulgated month by month). It discusses the administrative divisions within the Zhou royal domain and what should and should not be done in the two months of midsummer and late summer.

The so-called “hundred counties” refers to counties within the royal domain (jinei: the area directly administered around the royal capital) under the Zhou system, not the total number of counties throughout the realm in later times. Each county was divided into four bi (border and rural districts); each commandery was likewise divided into four bi. Thus the Chunqiu says: a lower grandee oversaw one county, an upper grandee one commandery. When Qin first established the thirty-six commanderies, this was mainly to supervise the counties. The “hundred counties” mentioned here refers to the Zhou royal domain. The four “supervisors” (jian) were grandees who supervised the four commanderies; their stipends were issued according to regulation, so revenues were gathered and used to support the sacrificial victims—the livestock used in sacrifices to Heaven and the gods.

In this month, sacrifices should be offered to August Heaven and the Supreme God (Huangtian Shangdi), the famous mountains and great rivers, the gods of the four directions, as well as the ancestral temples (zongmiao) and the altars of soil and grain (sheji, the gods of earth and grain), to pray for blessings on the people. Orders of grace should be promulgated; condolences should be offered to families of the deceased, visits made to the sick, and care shown to the elderly. There should also be distribution of fu yu—a coarse grain gruel—and thick mats and bedding, and the common people should be sent home. The women’s officials (fuguan, officials in charge of palace women’s affairs) are ordered to dye and weave the fu and fu patterns for ceremonial robes: women can distinguish the five colors, so white and black are woven into fu (a black-and-white pattern), blue-green and red into fu (a blue-red pattern), black and red make wen, and red and white make zhang; the material must be of fine quality. These cloths and silks are used for ancestral temple sacrificial garments, and their colors must be bright and penetrating—“xuan” means pervasive and reaching, “ming” means bright and vivid. In this month the trees are flourishing and must not be cut down; the lords must not be assembled; large construction projects and conscription of labor must not be undertaken; troops must not be raised. If these are violated, Heaven will send disasters (yang means punishment). The earthy qi is damp, the summer heat is heavy, and there are frequent heavy rains; it is suitable to weed and use the grass as fertilizer, making the fields fertile and enriching the ridges and boundaries. At great heat the soil is damp and stifling, and when rain comes one can cut grass for manure and improve the soil along the borders.

If in late summer—the sixth month of the Xia calendar—the spring ordinances are mistakenly carried out, grain seeds will drop, there will be much wind, the common people will suffer from coughs (wind-cough and rising qi, resembling the dispersing image of spring yang), and migration of the population will increase. If the autumn ordinances are mistakenly carried out, hills and lowlands will both accumulate water, crops will not ripen, and there will be many “women’s calamities” (disharmony of yin qi; popular belief held that these easily produced disasters such as infertility). If the winter ordinances are mistakenly carried out, wind and cold will be out of season, hawks and falcons will become fierce and strike early, and the people of the four border districts will all have to enter bao (fortresses and settlement defenses) to protect themselves—when the austere, killing qi of winter is enacted through winter ordinances, the cold wind loses its proper timing, birds of prey become fierce early, and the people on the borders can only hide in fortified settlements.

The above integrates the meanings of characters from the original interlinear notes (such as “xuan,” “yang,” “women’s calamities,” and “bao”) into vernacular Chinese, so that readers unfamiliar with classical Chinese can understand it in one go; proper institutional terms (jinei, bi, jian, sacrificial victims, the fu and fu patterns, ancestral temples and the altars of soil and grain, etc.) have been retained as in the original with brief explanations.

This passage is lacunose in the transmitted edition and also contains interlinear notes; it can only be given a coherent reading on the basis of the literal wording and the common conventions of monthly ordinances, as follows.

〔City walls and outer walls themselves〕 are to be guarded and preserved

(The opening phrase “city walls and outer walls themselves” is unclear; it may be surviving characters from a personal or place name.) The general meaning is: one must firmly defend and preserve the city walls and boundaries.

In the sixth month, the official Shaonei [is responsible for] planting catalpa

(Shaonei was an ancient official title, mostly in charge of matters such as the palace treasury, finances, or internal affairs.) In the sixth month, it is the office of Shaonei that is responsible for matters related to planting catalpa—a commonly used timber tree, which the ancients often used to make implements, coffins, and the like.

〔In the sixth month the planted crops ripen; hence the office is Shaonei〕 Catalpa

(The interlinear note means: the crops planted in the sixth month have already ripened, and so the Shaonei office corresponds to this month and to matters such as catalpa trees.) That is to say: the sixth month is the time when crops ripen; therefore in the monthly ordinances the Shaonei official is linked with this season and with catalpa trees and similar matters.

〔What was said I have not〕 heard of

(This is a remark by a later person or commentator.) I have never heard such a saying (expressing doubt about the preceding statement, or indicating that the source text relied upon is no longer verifiable).

Note: The entry you provided closely resembles the short annotations on monthly ordinances, official duties, and phenology in the Huainan Honglie Jie. The original sentences are often broken, and the material in parentheses consists of commentators’ splitting of characters and supplying of meanings, not a complete canonical text.