卷十五

西王母为穆王谣
穆天子传
白云在天。山陵自出。道里悠远。
山川间之。將子为死。尚能復来。
A song sung by Xi Wang Mu ("western king mother," a supposedly mythological figure) forEmperor Mu. The words express the long distance that he had to travel in order to visit her.

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穆王答西王母谣
穆天子传
予归东土。和治诸夏。万民平均。
吾顾见汝。比及三年。將復而野。
A song sung by Emperor Mu in reply to Xi Wang Mu’s song in the previous item. The words saythat he would do a good job governing the entire country and making people happy. He wouldcome back in three years to visit her.
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穆王西巡时忧吟
穆天子传
彼徂西土。爰居其野。虎豹为群。於鹊与处。嘉命不迁。
我为帝天子。大命而不可称。顾世民之恩。流涕卉陨。
吹笙鼓簧。中心翱翔。世民之子。唯天子望。
A verse made by Emperor Mu when he traveled west to see the territory he reigned. Heexpressed his concerns for his people and realized that people would wish for him to do a goodjob.
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穆王使宫乐谣
穆天子传
黄之地。 其马歕\沙。 皇人威仪。 黄之泽。其马歕\玉。
皇人受谷。
A song sung by Emperor Mu’s musician. The words are praising Emperor’s Mu’s majesticradiance and wishing him a long life.

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击壤歌
帝王世纪
吾日出而作。 日入而息。 凿井而饮。 耕田而食。
帝何力於我哉。
We go to work when the sun rises and quit work when the sun sets. We dig our own well fordrinking water and we grow our own food. In no way is the emperor’s power constricting us.

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开皇初太原童谣
大唐创业起居注
法律存。道德在。白旗天子出东海。
A children’s song from Tai Yuan where the first emperor of Tang dynasty originated. The wordsgo like this : as long as the law exists, there will be morality. The emperor goes on ships on theEastern Sea.
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桃李子歌
大唐创业起居注
桃李子。莫浪语。黄鵠绕山飞。宛转花园裏。
桃花园。 宛转属旌旛。
A song about a peach garden and plums. Tang emperor’s surname is Li, which literally meansplum. This song predicted the coming to power of the Li family. People were amazed that whatthe song was hinting at should come true.

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慧化尼歌
大唐创业起居注
东海十八子。八井唤三军。手持双白雀。头上戴紫云。
丁丑语甲子。深藏入堂裏。何意坐堂裏。中央有天子。
西北天光照。龙山昭童子。赤光连北斗。童子木上悬白旛。
胡兵纷纷满前后。拍手唱堂堂。驱羊向南走。
胡兵未济汉不整。治中都护有八井。兴伍伍。仁义行。武得九九得声名。童子木底百丈水。
东家井裏五色星。我语不可信。问取卫先生。
A song sung by a nun concerning what China would become.
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杨济引谚
通鑑
生子痴。了官事。If one should have stupid sons, then one does not ever have to worry about them getting intotrouble with the government, as they could not possibly be in any government posts.

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魏孝武帝迁长安时谚
通鑑
荧惑入南斗。 天子下 殿走。
The emperor would run off the court when the constellation was in certain arrangement.
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唐太宗引谚
通鑑
生狼犹恐如羊。
A wolf is afraid of giving birth to a son who has the character of a lamb. A proverb referred to byTang Emperor Tai concerning his crown prince, Zhi whose character was too weak.

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薛克构引谚
通鑑
娶妇得公主。无事取官府。
If one is married to a princess, it is like trying to have more trouble with the government.
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上元元年淮西谣言
通鑑
手执金刀起东方。
A rumor predicting the uprising of a warlord holding a gold saber in the east.

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时人称扬益二州语
通鑑
扬一。益二。
In the country, Yang Zhou (equivalent to a state) is the most prosperous and Yi Zhou is next tothat.

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胡三省引鄙语论司马懿
通鑑
棋逢敌手难藏行。
When one meets an opponent with equal competence in a chess game, it is hard to hide anysecret skills.
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胡三省引鄙语论后唐后汉二后
通鑑
福至心灵。祸来神昧。When one is having good fortune, one’s mind tends to be clear. When one is struck by a disaster,one’s mind tends to be muddled.

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理宗绍定时人语
宋季三朝政要
阴阳眠变理。天地醉经纶。
Words said during the Shao Ding era of Song’s Emperor Li. It says that the emperor’s chiefadvisor is sick in bed and the emperor himself is too drunk to do anything. These words, ofcourse, were said very indirectly.

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里巷为马光祖许堪史嵩之谣
宋季三朝政要
光祖做总领。许堪为节制。丞相要起復。援例。
Words said by people about five court officials who were only good at pleasing the emperorrather than at doing any good work.

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池州二士哭赵昴发言
宋季三朝政要
生为大宋人。死为大宋鬼。何以洗此污。清溪一泓水。
Words said by two people who mourned a couple who hanged themselves because of the end ofthe Song dynasty.
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京师为伯顏语
庚申外史
上把君欺。下把民虐。倚恃著太皇太后。Words said in the capital city about Buo Yan who was an official of Song yet surrendered to thenew Yuan dynasty. The words go like this: He lies to the emperor and abuses people under him.He is relying on his close relationship with the emperor’s grandmother.
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京师人为脱脱丞相语
庚申外史
脱脱丞相开干河。
Words referring to the failed attempt of the emperor’s chief advisor, Tuo Tuo, to dig up a canal in the capital city.

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江西民为华林贼\土官兵谣
炎徼纪闻
华林贼\。来亦得。土兵来。死不测。黄狐跳梁白狐立。十家九家逻柴棘。
A song sung by people of Jiang Xi concerning the bandits and the government troops who weredispatched to eliminate the bandits. The words go like this : It is not too bad when the banditscome, but when the government troops come, we could die easily and everyone no longer has apeaceful life.

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广西人为猺蛮谣
炎徼纪闻
盎有一斗米。莫泝藤峡水。囊有一陌钱。莫上府江船。
A song sung by people of Guang Xi about one section of a river gorge in which the bandits got together and stood on the hills overlooking the boats going by, then robbed and killed the travelers.

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韩雍引谚论灭猺
炎徼纪闻
救火焉。而嘘之。
When one tries to put out a fire, one should not give the fire more wind to burn higher.

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粤西宣慰氏族谚
炎徼纪闻
思播田杨。两广岑黄。Words referring to the major population groups with the family names of Tian, Yang, Chen and Huang in southwestern and southern China.

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播凯二州人为杨氏兄弟谚
炎徼纪闻
骨肉臡醢。参商播凯。
Of all the bloody strife between brothers, Yang You and Yang Ai had the worst case.

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苗人復讎谚
炎徼纪闻
苗家仇。九世休。
The feud among the groups of Miao people can be extended to nine generations.

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罗罗国谚
炎徼纪闻
水西罗鬼。断头掉尾。
Words referring to some tribal groups in Southern China whose people are violent and takepleasure in bloody conflicts.
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两广征猺谚
炎徼纪闻
比年小征。 三年大征。
In Guang Dong and Guang Xi, there is constantly warfare between the Chinese with neighboringtribal groups.

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京师为温体仁谣二则
明季北略
崇皇帝。 温阁老。崇禎皇帝遭温了。
Two songs sung by people in the capital city during Ming Emperor Cong Zhen’s reign (the last emperor of Ming), indicating that the emperor has used the wrong person as his chief advisor.
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卢州民为许宦妾谣
明季北略
一砲打死二大王。
One cannon shot killed two bandits leaders. Words said by people of Lu Zhou about Xu Huan Qie who lit up the cannon in Lu Zhou when bandits were attacking the place.
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四川人为陈士奇谣
明季北略
学宪广文。
Words said by people of Su Chuan about Chen Shi Qi, who was the superintendent of the school system. Under his management, even poor people got to attend the schools.

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京师为刘懋谣
绥寇纪略
刘给事裁省驛递。驱民为盗。
A song sung by people in the capital city for Liu Mao, who had proposed some policyconcerning the government system which resulted in the creation of more bandits.

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熹宗时童谣
绥寇纪略
天下兵起。遍地皆烟。When the world is going to have unrest because of rebels, we see smoke first. The smoke refersto a kind of fire therapy used for healing. Smoke therapy seems to be in vogue everytime there isa major unrest.
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庆阳军中为张良臣语
明史纪事本末
不怕金牌张。 惟怕七条鎗。
Zhang Liang Chen who had a golden shield is not to be feared; it is his seven god sons who usedspears who should be feared.

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李登负罌木歌
明史纪事本末
痈之不决而狃於痏。危巢不覆而令梟止。
A song sung by an oil vendor about how to eliminate different factions of a warlord’s followersby using internal strife to make them kill each other.