Leixu — False Tales of Thunder雷虛篇
盛夏之時，雷電迅疾，擊折樹木，壞敗室屋，時犯殺人。世俗以為擊折樹木、壞敗室屋者，天取龍；其犯殺人也，謂之〔有〕陰過，飲食人以不潔淨，天怒，擊而殺之。隆隆之聲，天怒之音，若人之吁矣。世無愚智，莫謂不然。推人道以論之，虛妄之言也。
In the height of summer thunder and lightning come swift and sudden, striking trees and breaking them, wrecking and ruining houses, and at times killing people. The common world holds that when trees are struck and broken and houses wrecked and ruined, Heaven is taking a dragon; and that when people are killed it is because they had a hidden fault, feeding others with what was not clean, so that Heaven grew angry and struck them dead. The rumbling sound, they say, is the voice of Heaven's anger, like a man crying out in rage. In all the world, foolish or wise, there is none who says it is not so. But reason it out from the way of man, and it is empty and wild talk.
夫雷之發動，一氣一聲也，折木坏屋亦犯殺人，犯殺人時亦折木壞屋。獨謂折木壞屋者，天取龍；犯殺人，罰陰過，與取龍吉凶不同，并時共聲，非道也。論者以為隆隆者，天怒吁之聲也。此便於罰過，不宜於取龍。罰過，天怒可也。
Now when thunder rouses itself, it is one breath and one sound. When it breaks trees and wrecks houses it also kills people, and when it kills people it also breaks trees and wrecks houses. If one says that only the breaking of trees and the wrecking of houses is Heaven taking a dragon, while the killing of people is the punishing of a hidden fault, then taking a dragon and punishing a fault are not the same in good and ill fortune, yet they come at the same time with the same sound. That is not the way. Those who argue hold that the rumbling is the sound of Heaven crying out in anger. This suits the punishing of a fault, but it does not fit the taking of a dragon. In punishing a fault, that Heaven should be angry is right enough.
取龍，龍何過而怒之？如龍神，天取之，不宜怒。如龍有過，與人同罪，（龍）殺而已，何為取也？殺人，怒可也。取龍，龍何過而怒之？殺人，不取；殺龍，取之。人龍之罪何別，而其殺之何異？然則取龍之說既不可聽，罰過之言復不可從。
In taking a dragon, what fault has the dragon, that Heaven should be angry with it? If the dragon is divine and Heaven takes it, there is no call for anger. If the dragon has a fault and its guilt is the same as a man's, then it should simply be killed; why take it? In killing a man, anger is right enough. In taking a dragon, what fault has the dragon, that Heaven should be angry with it? A man is killed and not taken; a dragon is killed and taken. How does the guilt of a man differ from the guilt of a dragon, and how does the killing of the one differ from the killing of the other? Then the saying about taking a dragon cannot be listened to, and the talk about punishing a fault cannot be followed either.
何以效之？案雷之聲迅疾之時，人仆死於地，隆隆之聲臨人首上，故得殺人。審隆隆者天怒乎？怒用口之怒氣殺人也。口之怒氣，安能殺人？人為雷所殺，詢其身體，若燔灼之狀也。如天用口怒，口怒生火乎？且口著乎體，口之動與體俱。當擊折之時，聲著於地；其衰也，聲著於天。夫如是，聲著地之時，口至地，體亦宜然。當雷迅疾之時，仰視天，不見天之下，不見天之下，則夫隆隆之聲者，非天怒也。天之怒與人無異。人怒，身近人則聲疾，遠人則聲微。今天聲近，其體遠，非怒之實也。且雷聲迅疾之時，聲東西或南北，如天怒體動，口東西南北，仰視天亦宜東西南北。或曰：「天已東西南北矣，雲雨冥晦，人不能見耳。」
How is this tested? Look into it: when the thunder's sound is swift and sudden, a man falls dead on the ground, for the rumbling sound comes down over his head, and so it can kill him. Is the rumbling truly Heaven's anger? Anger kills a man with the angry breath of the mouth. How can the angry breath of a mouth kill a man? When a man is killed by thunder and his body is examined, it is like something burned and scorched. If Heaven is angry with its mouth, does the anger of a mouth give birth to fire? Again, the mouth is set in the body, and the movement of the mouth goes together with the body. When the thunder strikes and breaks, the sound clings to the ground; when it dies away, the sound clings to the sky. If that is so, then when the sound clings to the ground the mouth has come down to the ground, and the body should have done the same. When the thunder is swift and sudden, look up at the sky and you do not see the sky come down. If you do not see the sky come down, then the rumbling sound is not Heaven's anger. Heaven's anger is no different from a man's. When a man is angry, if his body is near you the sound is sharp, and if it is far from you the sound is faint. Now the sky's sound is near and its body is far, and that is not the reality of anger. Again, when the thunder's sound is swift and sudden, the sound goes east and west, or north and south. If Heaven were angry and its body moved, so that its mouth went east and west and north and south, then looking up at the sky you should see it too go east and west and north and south. Someone says, "The sky has indeed gone east and west and north and south, but the clouds and rain are dark and dim, and men simply cannot see it."
夫千里不同風，百里不共雷。《易》曰：「震驚百里。」雷電之地，（雷）〔雲〕雨晦冥，百里之外無雨之處，宜見天之東西南北也。口著於天，天宜隨口，口一移普天皆移，非獨雷雨之地，天隨口動也。且所謂怒者，誰也？天神邪？蒼蒼之天也？如謂天神，神怒無聲；如謂蒼蒼之天，天者體不怒，怒用口。且天地相與，夫婦也，其即民父母也。子有過，父怒，笞之致死，而母不哭乎？今天怒殺人，地宜哭之。獨聞天之怒，不聞地之哭。如地不能哭，則天亦不能怒。且有怒則有喜。人有陰過，亦有陰善。有陰過，天怒殺之；如有陰善，天亦宜以（善）〔喜〕賞之。隆隆之聲謂天之怒，如天之喜亦哂然而笑。
Now a thousand li do not share the same wind, and a hundred li do not share the same thunder. The Yi says, "The thunder startles for a hundred li." In the land of thunder and lightning the clouds and rain make it dark, but beyond a hundred li, where no rain falls, men should see the sky going east and west and north and south. The mouth is set in the sky, so the sky must follow the mouth, and when the mouth moves once the whole sky moves with it; it is not over the land of thunder and rain alone that the sky moves after the mouth. And who is it that is said to be angry? The spirit of Heaven? Or the blue-blue sky? If it is the spirit of Heaven, a spirit's anger has no sound. If it is the blue-blue sky, the sky is a body and does not grow angry, and anger uses a mouth. Again, Heaven and earth together are husband and wife, and they are the father and mother of the people. If a child has a fault and the father in anger beats him to death, will the mother not weep? Now if Heaven in anger kills a man, the earth should weep for him. Only Heaven's anger is heard; the earth's weeping is never heard. If the earth cannot weep, then Heaven cannot be angry either. Again, where there is anger there is joy. Men have hidden faults, and they have hidden goodness as well. If Heaven in anger kills them for a hidden fault, then for hidden goodness Heaven should in joy reward them. If the rumbling sound is called Heaven's anger, then Heaven's joy too should break out into a smile and a laugh.
人有喜怒，故謂天喜怒、推人以知天，知天本於人。如人不怒，則亦無緣謂天怒也。緣人以知天，宜盡人之性。人性怒則吁，喜則歌笑。比聞天之怒，希聞天之喜；比見天之罰，希見天之賞。豈天怒、不喜，貪於罰、希於賞哉？何怒罰有效，喜賞無驗也？
Men have joy and anger, and so Heaven is said to have joy and anger; man is taken as the measure by which Heaven is known, and knowing Heaven is rooted in man. If men did not grow angry, there would be no ground for saying that Heaven grows angry. If Heaven is known by way of man, then the nature of man should be followed to the end. It is man's nature to cry out when angry, and to sing and laugh when glad. Heaven's anger is often heard, Heaven's joy is seldom heard; Heaven's punishment is often seen, Heaven's reward is seldom seen. Is Heaven then angry and never glad, greedy to punish and sparing to reward? Why should anger and punishment have their proof, while joy and reward have no evidence?
且雷之擊也，折木坏屋，時犯殺人，以為天怒。時或徒雷，無所折敗，亦不殺人，天空怒乎？人君不空喜怒，喜怒必有賞罰。無所罰而空怒，是天妄也。妄則失威，非天行也。政事之家，以寒溫之氣為喜怒之候，人君喜即天溫，（即）〔怒〕則天寒。雷電之日，天必寒也。高祖之先劉媼，曾息大澤之陂，夢與神遇，此時雷電晦冥。天方施氣，宜喜之時也，何怒而雷？如用擊折者為怒，不擊折者為喜，則夫隆隆之聲，不宜同音。人怒喜異聲，天怒喜同音，與人乖異，則人何緣謂之天怒？
Again, when thunder strikes it breaks trees and wrecks houses and at times kills people, and this is taken for Heaven's anger. But sometimes there is thunder and nothing more: nothing is broken or ruined, and no one is killed. Was Heaven angry for nothing? A ruler of men is not glad or angry for nothing; his joy and anger always carry reward and punishment. To be angry for nothing, with nothing to punish, would make Heaven reckless, and what is reckless loses its majesty, which is not the conduct of Heaven. Those who discuss government take the breath of cold and warmth as the sign of joy and anger: when the ruler is glad the sky is warm, and when he is angry the sky is cold. Then on a day of thunder and lightning the sky must be cold. Liu Ao, the mother of Gaozu, once rested on the bank of a great marsh and dreamed that she met a spirit, and at that time thunder and lightning made all dark. Heaven was then bestowing its breath, a time when it should have been glad. Why then be angry and thunder? If striking and breaking is taken for anger, and not striking and breaking for joy, then the rumbling sound should not be the same sound in both. Men have different sounds for anger and for joy; if Heaven has the same sound for anger and for joy, it runs counter to man, and then on what ground do men call it Heaven's anger?
且飲食人以不潔淨，小過也。以至尊之身，親罰小過，非尊者之宜也。尊不親罰過，故王不誅罪。天尊於王，親罰小過，是天德劣於王也。且天之用心，猶人之用意。人君罪惡，初聞之時，怒以非之；及其誅之，哀以怜之。故《論語》曰：「如得其情，則哀怜而勿喜。」紂至惡也，武王將誅，哀而怜之。故《尚書》曰：「予惟率夷怜爾。」人君誅惡，怜而殺之；天之罰過，怒而擊之。是天少恩而人多惠也。說雨者以為天施氣。天施氣，氣渥為雨，故雨潤萬物，名曰澍。人不喜，不施恩。天不說，不降雨。謂雷，天怒；雨者，天喜也。雷起常與雨俱，如論之言，天怒且喜也。人君賞罰不同日，天之怒喜不殊時，天人相違，賞罰乖也。且怒喜具形，亂也。惡人為亂，怒罰其過；罰之以亂，非天行也。冬雷人謂之陽氣泄，春雷謂之陽氣發。夏雷不謂陽氣盛，謂之天怒，竟虛言也。
Again, to feed a man with what is not clean is a small fault. For one of the most honored station to punish a small fault in person is not what befits an honored one. The honored do not punish faults in person, and so a king does not cut down the guilty with his own hand. Heaven is more honored than a king; if it punishes a small fault in person, then Heaven's virtue is lower than a king's. Again, Heaven's use of its mind is like a man's use of his thoughts. When a ruler first hears of a crime he is angry and condemns it, and when he comes to put the man to death he grieves and pities him. So the Analects says, "If you get at the truth of their case, then grieve and pity them and do not rejoice." Zhou Xin (紂) was utterly evil, yet when King Wu was about to put him to death he grieved and pitied him. So the Shangshu says, "I do nothing but pity you all." A ruler puts the evil to death pitying them as he kills, while Heaven punishes a fault by striking in anger. Then Heaven has little kindness and man has much.
Those who explain rain hold that Heaven bestows its breath. Heaven bestows its breath, and when the breath is thick it becomes rain, and so the rain moistens the ten thousand things and is called the sweet rain. A man who is not glad bestows no kindness, and Heaven that is not pleased sends down no rain. Thunder is called Heaven's anger, and rain Heaven's joy. Thunder rises always together with rain, and by this argument Heaven is angry and glad at once. A ruler's rewards and punishments do not fall on the same day; if Heaven's anger and joy do not differ in their time, then Heaven and man run counter to each other, and reward and punishment are out of joint. Again, for anger and joy to take shape together is disorder. When an evil man makes disorder, anger punishes his fault; to punish it with disorder is not the conduct of Heaven. Winter thunder men call the leaking out of the yang breath, and spring thunder the opening of the yang breath. Summer thunder they do not call the fullness of the yang breath, but Heaven's anger; and that in the end is empty talk.
人在天地之間，物也。物，亦物也。物之飲食，天不能知。人之飲食，天獨知之。萬物於天，皆子也；父母於子，恩德一也。豈為貴賢加意，賤愚不察乎？何其察人之明，省物之暗也！犬豕食人腐臭，食之天不殺也。如以人貴而獨禁之，則鼠人飲食，人不知，誤而食之，天不殺也。如天能原鼠，則亦能原人，人誤以不潔淨飲食人，人不知而食之耳，豈故舉腐臭以予之哉？如故予之，人亦不肯食。呂后斷戚夫人手，去其眼，置於廁中，以為人豕。呼人示之，人皆傷心；惠帝見之，病臥不起。呂后故為，天不罰也。人誤不知，天輒殺之，不能原誤失而責故，天治悖也。
Man stands between Heaven and earth, and he is a thing. Other things too are things. The eating and drinking of things Heaven cannot know, yet the eating and drinking of men Heaven alone knows. To Heaven the ten thousand things are all its children, and a father and mother's kindness and virtue toward their children are one and the same. Would Heaven give more heed to the noble and worthy and take no notice of the base and foolish? How bright its scrutiny of men, and how dark its looking into other things! Dogs and pigs eat what men have left to rot and stink, and Heaven does not kill them for eating it. If it is because men are noble that this alone is forbidden, then when a rat makes water in a man's food and the man, not knowing, eats it by mistake, Heaven does not kill him. If Heaven can pardon the rat, it can pardon the man as well. A man by mistake feeds another with what is not clean, and the other eats it without knowing, and that is all. Would anyone deliberately take up what is rotten and stinking and hand it over? And if it were handed over deliberately, the other would not consent to eat it. Empress Lü cut off Lady Qi's hands, took out her eyes, and put her in a privy, making of her a human pig. She called people in to look, and all of them were sick at heart, and when Emperor Hui saw it he fell ill and took to his bed and did not rise. Empress Lü did it deliberately, and Heaven did not punish her. A man does it by mistake and without knowing, and Heaven kills him at once. Not to pardon what was a mistake, and not to call to account what was done on purpose, would make Heaven's rule perverse.
夫人食不淨之物，口不知有其也；如食已，知之，名曰腸。戚夫人入廁，身體辱之，與何以別？腸之與體何以異？為腸不為體，傷不病辱，非天意也。且人聞人食不清之物，心平如故，觀戚夫人者，莫不傷心。人傷，天意悲矣。夫悲戚夫人則怨呂后，案呂后之崩，未必遇雷也。道士劉春熒惑楚王英，使食不清。春死，未必遇雷也。建初四年夏六月，雷擊殺會稽（靳專日食）〔鄞縣〕羊五頭皆死。夫羊何陰過而雷殺之？舟人溪上流，人飲下流，舟人不雷死。
When a man eats an unclean thing, his mouth does not know that the filth is there; and if he knows it after he has eaten, it is called the defiling of the bowels. Lady Qi was put into a privy and her body was disgraced. How does the one differ from the other? How do the bowels differ from the body? To act for the bowels and not for the body, to make an illness of the hurt and not of the disgrace, is not Heaven's will. Again, when a man hears that another has eaten an unclean thing his heart is as calm as before, but among those who looked on Lady Qi there was none who was not sick at heart. If men were grieved, Heaven's will must have been sorrowful too. Now to sorrow for Lady Qi is to bear a grudge against Empress Lü, yet look into it: when Empress Lü died she had not met with any thunder. The adept Liu Chun led King Ying of Chu astray and made him eat what was unclean; and when Chun died he had not met with any thunder. In the sixth month of summer in the fourth year of Jianchu, thunder struck five sheep in Yin county in Kuaiji, and all of them died. What hidden fault had the sheep, that thunder should kill them? Boatmen make water in the upper stream and men drink from the lower stream, and the boatmen are not killed by thunder.
天神之處天，猶王者之居也。王者居重關之內，則天之神宜在隱匿之中。王者居宮室之內，則天亦有太微、紫宮、軒轅、文昌之坐。王者與人相遠，不知人之陰惡。天神在四宮之內，何能見人暗過？王者聞人進，以人知。天知人惡，亦宜因鬼。使天問過於鬼神，則其誅之，宜使鬼神。如使鬼神，則天怒，鬼神也，非天也。
The spirit of Heaven dwelling in Heaven is like a king in his residence. A king lives within gate upon gate, and so the spirit of Heaven must be hidden away within. A king lives within his palace halls, and Heaven too has the seats of Taiwei, Zigong, Xuanyuan, and Wenchang. A king is far from men and does not know their hidden evil. The spirit of Heaven is within those four palaces; how can it see the dark faults of men? A king hears what men come forward and report, and so knows by men. Heaven's knowing the evil of men must likewise come by way of ghosts. If Heaven asks after faults from the ghosts and spirits, then in putting men to death it should send the ghosts and spirits. And if it sends the ghosts and spirits, then what is angry is the ghosts and spirits, and not Heaven.
且王斷刑以秋，天之殺用夏，此王者用刑違天時。奉天而行，其誅殺也，宜法象上天。天殺用夏，王誅以秋，天人相違，非奉天之義也。或論曰：「飲食〔人〕不潔淨，天之大惡也。殺大惡，不須時。」王者大惡，謀反大逆無道也。天之大惡，飲食人不潔清。天（之）〔人〕所惡，小大不均等也。如小大同，王者宜法天，制飲食人不潔清之法為死刑也。聖王有天下，制刑不備此法，聖王闕略，有遺失也？或論曰：「鬼神治陰，王者治陽。陰過暗昧，人不能覺，故使鬼神主之。」曰：「陰過非一也，何不盡殺？案一過，非治陰之義也。天怒不旋日，人怨不旋踵。人有陰過，或時有用冬，未必專用夏也。以冬過誤，不輒擊殺，遠至於夏，非不旋日之意也。
Again, a king settles punishments in autumn while Heaven does its killing in summer, so that the king's use of punishment goes against Heaven's season. If he serves Heaven in his conduct, then in his putting to death he should take high Heaven for his model. Heaven kills in summer and the king executes in autumn; Heaven and man run counter to each other, and this is not the meaning of serving Heaven. Someone argues, "To feed a man with what is not clean is what Heaven greatly hates, and in killing what is greatly hated there is no waiting for the season." What a king greatly hates is plotting revolt, high treason, and lawlessness. What Heaven greatly hates is feeding a man with what is not clean. What Heaven hates and what man hates are not equal in size. If they were equal in size, the king should model himself on Heaven and lay down the law of feeding a man with what is not clean as a capital crime. The sage kings held the world and laid down punishments, yet did not provide this law. Did the sage kings leave a gap and let something fall away? Someone argues, "The ghosts and spirits govern the dark and the king governs the light. Hidden faults are dim and dark and men cannot perceive them, and so the ghosts and spirits are set over them." The answer is, "Hidden faults are not of one kind; why are not all of them killed? To look into one fault only is not the meaning of governing the dark. Heaven's anger does not let a day turn round, and a man's grudge does not let a heel turn round. When men have hidden faults, some of those faults fall in winter, and they are not in summer alone. Not to strike and kill at once for a fault and mistake of winter, but to go far off to summer, is not the meaning of not letting a day turn round.
圖畫之工，圖雷之狀，累累如連鼓之形；又圖一人，若力士之容，謂之雷公，使之左手引連鼓，右手推椎，若擊之狀。其意以為雷聲隆隆者，連鼓相扣擊之（意）〔音〕也；其魄然若敝裂者，椎所擊之聲也；其殺人也，引連鼓相椎，并擊之矣。
The craftsmen who make pictures draw the shape of thunder strung out one after another like a row of linked drums, and they draw a man as well with the look of a strong man, and call him the Duke of Thunder, and have him draw the linked drums with his left hand and push a mallet with his right, as though striking them. Their meaning is that the rumbling of the thunder is the sound of the linked drums knocking and striking against one another, that the crack as of something split apart is the sound of the mallet's blow, and that when it kills a man he draws the linked drums, mallets them together, and strikes the man along with them.
世又信之，莫謂不然。如復原之，虛妄之象也。夫雷，非聲則氣也。聲與氣，安可推引而為連鼓之形乎？如審可推引，則是物也。相扣而音鳴者，非鼓即鍾也。夫隆隆之聲，鼓與鍾邪？如審是也，鍾鼓（而）不〔而〕空懸，須有，然後能安，然後能鳴。今鍾鼓無所懸著，雷公之足無所蹈履，安得而為雷？或曰：「如此固為神。如必有所懸著，足有所履，然後而為雷，是與人等也，何以為神？」曰：神者，恍惚無形，出入無門，上下無〔垠〕，故謂之神。今雷公有形，雷聲有器，安得為神？如無形，不得為之圖象；如有形，不得謂之神。謂之神龍升天，實事者謂之不然，以人時或見龍之形也。
The world believes this too, and none says it is not so. But trace it back again, and it is an empty and wild image. Now thunder is either sound or breath. How can sound and breath be pushed and drawn into the shape of linked drums? If they could truly be pushed and drawn, they would be things. What knocks together and rings out is either a drum or a bell. Is the rumbling sound, then, a drum or a bell? If it truly were, bells and drums cannot hang on nothing; there must be a frame, and then they can rest firm, and then they can ring. Now the bells and drums have nothing to hang from and the Duke of Thunder's feet have nothing to tread on. How can there be thunder? Someone says, "Just so, and that is what makes him a spirit. If there must be something to hang from and something for the feet to tread on before there is thunder, then he is the same as a man, and how is he a spirit?" The answer is: a spirit is dim and shadowy and has no shape; it goes out and comes in without a gate, and rises and sinks without a bound, and therefore it is called a spirit. Now the Duke of Thunder has a shape and the thunder's sound has its instruments. How can he be a spirit? If he has no shape, no picture can be made of him; if he has a shape, he cannot be called a spirit. It is said that the divine dragon rises to Heaven, but those who keep to the facts say it is not so, because men do at times see the shape of a dragon.
以其形見，故圖畫升龍之形也；以其可畫，故有不神之實。
Because its shape is seen, the shape of a rising dragon is painted; and because it can be painted, there is the fact that it is not divine.
難曰：「人亦見鬼之形，鬼復神乎？」曰：「人時見鬼，有見雷公者乎？」鬼名曰神，其行蹈地，與人相似。雷公頭不懸於天，足不蹈於地，安能為雷公？飛者皆有翼，物無翼而飛，謂仙人。畫仙人之形，為之作翼。如雷公與仙人同，宜復著翼。使雷公不飛，圖雷家言其飛，非也。使實飛，不為著翼，又非也。夫如是，圖雷之家畫雷之狀，皆虛妄也。且說雷之家，謂雷，天怒吁也；圖雷之家，謂之雷公怒引連鼓也。審如說雷之家，則圖雷之家非；審如圖雷之家，則說雷之家誤。二家相違也，并而是之，無是非之分。無是非之分，故無是非之實。無以定疑論，故虛妄之論勝也。
An objection says, "Men also see the shape of ghosts. Are ghosts then divine?" The answer is, "Men do at times see ghosts, but has anyone seen the Duke of Thunder?" Ghosts are called spirits, yet they walk treading the ground, much as men do. The Duke of Thunder's head hangs from nothing in the sky and his feet tread on nothing on the ground. How can he be the Duke of Thunder? All that fly have wings, and a being that flies without wings is called an immortal. When the shape of an immortal is painted, wings are made for him. If the Duke of Thunder is like an immortal, he too should have wings put on. If the Duke of Thunder does not fly, those who paint thunder are wrong to say that he flies. If he truly flies, then not putting wings on him is wrong as well. That being so, the shapes of thunder that those who paint thunder have painted are all empty and wild. Again, those who explain thunder say that thunder is Heaven crying out in anger, while those who paint thunder say that it is the Duke of Thunder in anger drawing his linked drums. If those who explain thunder are right, then those who paint thunder are wrong; and if those who paint thunder are right, then those who explain thunder are mistaken. The two schools run counter to each other, yet both are held to be right, so that there is no dividing of right from wrong. Where there is no dividing of right from wrong, there is no reality of right and wrong. With no way to settle a doubtful argument, the empty and wild argument wins.
《禮》曰：「刻尊為雷之形，一出一入，一屈一伸，為相校軫則鳴。」校軫之狀，郁律壘之類也，此象類之矣。氣相校軫分裂，則隆隆之聲，校軫之音也。魄然若裂者，氣射之聲也。氣射中人，人則死矣。實說，雷者太陽之激氣也。何以明之？正月陽動，故正月始雷。五月陽盛，故五月雷迅。秋冬陽衰，故秋冬雷潛。盛夏之時，太陽用事，陰氣乘之。陰陽分（事）〔爭〕，則相校軫。校軫則激射。激射為毒，中人輒死，中木木折，中屋屋坏。人在木下屋間，偶中而死矣。何以驗之？試以一斗水灌冶鑄之火，氣激裂，若雷之音矣。或近之，必灼人體。天地為爐大矣，陽氣為火猛矣，雲雨為水多矣，分爭激射，安得不迅？中傷人身，安得不死？當冶工之消鐵也，以士為形，燥則鐵下，不則躍溢而射。射中人身，則皮膚灼剝。陽氣之熱，非直消鐵之烈也；陰氣激之，非直土泥之濕也；陽氣中人，非直灼剝之痛也。
The Li says, "The shape of thunder is carved on a zun (尊): once out and once in, once bent and once stretched, and when they twine and strike together it rings." The look of that twining and striking is of a rumbling, piled-up kind, and the carving takes that kind for its model. When breaths twine and strike and split apart, the rumbling sound is the sound of that twining and striking. The crack as of something split is the sound of the breath shooting out. When the shooting breath hits a man, the man dies. To speak of the reality: thunder is the violent breath of the great yang. How is this made plain? In the first month the yang stirs, and so in the first month thunder begins. In the fifth month the yang is full, and so in the fifth month thunder is swift. In autumn and winter the yang wanes, and so in autumn and winter thunder lies hidden. In the height of summer the great yang is in charge, and the yin breath rides upon it. When yin and yang divide and strive, they twine and strike together, and twining and striking they shoot out violently. The violent shooting becomes a poison: hitting a man, it kills him at once; hitting a tree, the tree breaks; hitting a house, the house falls. A man under a tree or inside a house is hit by chance and dies. How is this tested? Try pouring a peck of water on a smelter's fire: the breath bursts violently, like the sound of thunder, and anyone who goes near it is sure to have his body scorched. Heaven and earth as a furnace are vast, the yang breath as fire is fierce, the clouds and rain as water are many; when they divide and strive and shoot out violently, how should it not be swift? And when it strikes and wounds a man's body, how should he not die? When a smith melts iron he makes the mold of earth; if the mold is dry the iron runs down, and if it is not the iron leaps and spills over and shoots out. Shooting out and hitting a man's body, it scorches and peels his skin. The heat of the yang breath is not merely as fierce as what melts iron; the yin breath striking it is not merely as wet as earth and mud; and the yang breath hitting a man is not merely as painful as a scorching and peeling.
夫雷，火也。〔火〕氣剡人，人不得無跡。如炙處狀似文字，人見之，謂天記書其過，以示百姓。是復虛妄也。使人盡有過，天用雷殺人。殺人當彰其惡，以懲其後，明著其文字，不當暗昧。圖出於河，書出於洛。《河圖》、《洛書》，天地所為，人讀知之。今雷死之書，亦天所為也，何故難知？如以（一）〔殪〕人皮不可書，魯惠公夫人仲子，宁武公女也，生而有文在掌，曰「為魯夫人」，文明可知，故仲子歸魯。雷書不著，故難以懲後。地如是，火剡之跡，非天所刻畫也。或頗有而增其語，或無有而空生其言，虛妄之俗，好造怪奇。何以驗之？雷者火也，以人中雷而死，即詢其身，中頭則鬚髪燒，中身則皮膚灼，臨其尸上聞火氣，一驗也。道朮之家，以為雷燒石色赤，投於井中，石井寒，激聲大鳴，若雷之狀，二驗也。人傷於寒，寒所入腹，腹中素溫，溫寒分爭，激氣雷鳴，三驗也。當雷之時，電光時見，大若火之耀，四驗也。當雷之擊，時或燔人室屋及地草木，五驗也。夫論雷之為火有五驗，言雷為天怒無一效。然則雷為天怒，虛妄之言。
Now thunder is fire. When the breath of fire pares a man, he cannot be left without a trace of it. If the burned place is shaped like writing, men see it and say that Heaven has written down his fault to show it to the people. This too is empty and wild. Suppose that all men had faults and Heaven used thunder to kill them. In killing a man it should make his evil plain, to warn those who come after, and set out the writing clearly; it should not be dim and dark. The Diagram came out of the He and the Writing came out of the Luo. The Hetu and the Luoshu were made by Heaven and earth, and men read them and understand them. Now the writing on one killed by thunder is also made by Heaven. Why then is it hard to read? If it is said that writing cannot be made on the skin of a dead man, then consider Zhongzi, the wife of Duke Hui of Lu, who was the daughter of Duke Wu of Song. She was born with writing on her palm that said, "She will be the wife of Lu." The writing was clear and could be read, and so Zhongzi was married into Lu. The thunder's writing is not clear, and so it is hard to warn those who come after. That being so, the trace pared by fire is not something Heaven carved and drew. Some add to their words where there is a little, and some produce words out of nothing where there is none; an empty and wild custom loves to make up the strange and the marvelous. How is this tested? Thunder is fire. When a man is hit by thunder and dies, examine his body at once: if he was hit on the head the beard and hair are burned, if he was hit on the body the skin is scorched, and standing over the corpse one smells the breath of fire. That is the first proof. Those who practice the arts of the Way say that a stone burned red by thunder, thrown into a well, meets the cold of the well, and a violent sound rings out loud in the form of thunder. That is the second proof. When a man is harmed by cold, the cold enters his belly; the belly is warm by nature, and warm and cold divide and strive, and the violent breath rumbles like thunder. That is the third proof. When it thunders, the lightning's glare is seen from time to time, as great as the blaze of a fire. That is the fourth proof. When thunder strikes, it sometimes burns men's houses and the grass and trees of the ground. That is the fifth proof. So the argument that thunder is fire has five proofs, while the saying that thunder is Heaven's anger has not one. Then that thunder is Heaven's anger is empty and wild talk.
Interlinear notes 1
宁武公女也
The source text has 宁武公, with the name of the state missing. The father of Zhongzi, wife of Duke Hui of Lu, was Duke Wu of Song (宋), and Song is supplied. ― translator
（雖）〔難〕曰：「《論語》云：『迅雷風烈必變。』《禮記》曰：『有疾風迅雷甚雨則必變，雖夜必興，衣服、冠而坐。』懼天怒，畏罰及己也。如雷不為天怒，其擊不為罰過，則君子何為為雷變動朝服而正坐（子）〔乎〕？」曰：天之與人猶父子，有父為之變，子安能忽？故天變，己亦宜變，順天時，示己不違也。人聞犬聲於外，莫不驚駭，竦身側耳以審聽之。況聞天變異常之聲，軒迅疾之音乎？《論語》所指，《禮記》所謂，皆君子也。君子重慎，自知無過，如日月之蝕，無陰暗食人以不潔清之事，內省不懼，何畏於雷？審如不畏雷，則其變動不足以效天怒何則？不為己也。如審畏雷，亦不足以效罰陰過。何則？雷之所擊，多無過之人。君子恐偶遇之，故恐懼變動。夫如是，君子變動，不能明雷為天怒，而反著雷之妄擊也。妄擊不罰過，故人畏之。如審罰有過，小人乃當懼耳，君子之人無為恐也。宋王問唐鞅曰：「寡人所殺戮者眾矣，而群臣不畏，其故何也？」唐鞅曰：「王之所罪，盡不善者也。罰不善，善者胡為畏？王欲群臣之畏也，不若毋辨其善與不善而時罪之，斯群臣畏矣。」宋王行其言，群臣畏懼，（宋王大怒）〔宋國大恐〕。夫宋王妄刑，故宋國大恐。懼雷電妄擊，故君子變動。君子變動，寧國大恐之類也。
An objection says, "The Analects says, 'At swift thunder and fierce wind he always changed countenance.' The Liji says, 'When there is a quick wind, swift thunder, or a heavy rain, one always changes countenance, and even at night one rises, puts on one's clothes and cap, and sits up.' This was fearing Heaven's anger and dreading that the punishment would reach oneself. If thunder is not Heaven's anger and its striking is not the punishing of faults, then why does the gentleman change countenance for thunder, put on court dress, and sit up straight?" The answer is: Heaven and man are as father and son. When the father changes countenance for something, how can the son make light of it? So when Heaven changes, one should change as well, following Heaven's season and showing that one does not go against it. When a man hears a dog's voice outside, there is none who is not startled; he draws himself up and turns his ear to listen closely. How much more when he hears the sound of an uncommon change in Heaven, a swift and sudden noise. What the Analects points to and what the Liji speaks of are both the gentleman. The gentleman holds carefulness weighty and knows himself to be without fault; he is like the eclipse of the sun and the moon, having no dark and hidden business of feeding others with what is not clean, and looking within himself he is not afraid. What should he dread in thunder? If he truly does not dread thunder, then his change of countenance is not enough to prove Heaven's anger. Why? Because it is not for his own sake. And if he truly does dread thunder, that too is not enough to prove the punishing of hidden faults. Why? Because those whom thunder strikes are mostly men without fault. The gentleman fears that he may meet it by chance, and so in fear he changes countenance. That being so, the gentleman's change of countenance cannot make plain that thunder is Heaven's anger; on the contrary it shows that thunder strikes at random. It strikes at random and does not punish faults, and so men dread it. If it truly punished those who have faults, then only the small man need be afraid, and the gentleman would have no cause for fear. The king of Song asked Tang Yang, "I have put many to death, and yet my officials are not afraid. What is the reason for it?" Tang Yang said, "Those your majesty has punished are all men who are not good. If the not-good are punished, why should the good be afraid? If your majesty wishes the officials to be afraid, it would be better not to tell the good from the not-good and to punish them from time to time; then the officials will be afraid." The king of Song acted on his words, and the officials were in dread, and the state of Song was in great terror. Now the king of Song punished at random, and so the state of Song was in great terror. Men dread that thunder and lightning strike at random, and so the gentleman changes countenance. The gentleman's change of countenance is of a kind with the great terror of the state of Song.