Luanlong — The Clay Dragon亂龍篇
董仲舒申《春秋》之雩，設土龍以招雨，其意以雲龍相致。
Dong Zhongshu set forth the rain sacrifice of the Chunqiu and placed an earthen dragon to call down rain. His meaning was that cloud and dragon bring each other on.
《易》曰：「雲從龍，風從虎。」
The Yi says, "The clouds follow the dragon, and the wind follows the tiger."
以類求之，故設土龍。陰陽從類，雲雨自至。儒者或問曰：夫《易》言雲從龍者，謂真龍也，豈謂土哉？楚葉公好龍，牆壁盤盂皆畫龍，必以象類為若真，是則葉公之國常有雨也。《易》又曰「風從虎」，謂虎嘯而谷風至也。風之與虎，亦同氣類。設為土虎，置之谷中，風能至乎？夫土虎不能而致風，土龍安能而致雨？古者畜龍，乘車駕龍，故有豢龍氏、御龍氏。夏后之庭，二龍常在；季年夏衰，二龍低伏。
He sought it by kind, and so he placed an earthen dragon. Yin and yang follow their kind, and cloud and rain come of themselves. A Confucian scholar may ask: when the Yi says that the clouds follow the dragon, it speaks of a true dragon. How should it speak of earth? Duke She of Chu loved dragons, and on his walls and his platters and bowls dragons were all painted. If a likeness of the kind must be taken for the true thing, then there would always have been rain in Duke She's state. The Yi also says, "The wind follows the tiger," meaning that when the tiger roars the valley wind comes. Wind and tiger too are of one breath and one kind. Make an earthen tiger and set it in the middle of a valley: can the wind come? If an earthen tiger cannot bring the wind, how can an earthen dragon bring the rain? In old times dragons were reared, and carts were drawn by dragons, and so there were the Huanlong clan and the Yulong clan. In the courtyard of the Xia sovereign two dragons were always present; in his last years, when Xia declined, the two dragons lay low.
真龍在地，猶無雲雨，況偽象乎？禮，畫雷樽象雷之形，雷樽不聞能致雷，土龍安能而動雨？頓牟掇芥，磁石引針，皆以其真是，不假他類。他類肖似，不能掇取者，何也？氣性異殊，不能相感動也。
A true dragon is on the earth and still there is no cloud and rain; how much less a false likeness. By the rites the leizun jar is painted with the shape of thunder, and no one has heard that the leizun jar can bring thunder; how then can an earthen dragon move the rain? Amber (頓牟) picks up mustard seed and the loadstone draws the needle, and both do so because they are truly what they are; they borrow nothing from another kind. When another kind is made like them and cannot pick anything up, why is it so? Their breath and their nature are different, and they cannot stir each other.
劉子駿掌雩祭，典土龍事，桓君山亦難以頓牟、磁石不能真是，何能掇針、取芥，子駿窮無以應。子駿，漢朝智襄，筆墨淵海，窮無以應者，是事非議誤，不得道理實也。
Liu Zijun had charge of the rain sacrifice and had charge of the business of the earthen dragon. Huan Junshan pressed him: if dunmou and the loadstone were not truly what they are, how could they pick up needles and take up mustard seed? Zijun was at a loss and had nothing to answer. Zijun was the wise counsellor of the Han court, a deep sea of brush and ink, and yet he had nothing to answer. This was not that the matter and the argument were wrong; it was that he had not got the truth of the principle.
曰：夫以非真難，是也；不以象類說，非也。夫東風至，酒湛溢。〔按酒味酸，從東方木也。其味酸，故酒湛溢也〕。
The answer is: to press him with what is not true is right, but not to speak by the likeness of kinds is wrong. When the east wind comes, wine wells up and runs over. 〔Note: the taste of wine is sour, and it follows the wood of the east. Its taste being sour, the wine wells up and runs over.〕
天道自然，非人事也。事與彼雲龍相從，同一實也。
The way of Heaven is what is so of itself; it is not the work of men. This matter and the cloud following the dragon are one and the same truth.
日，火也；月，水也。水火感動，常以真氣。今伎道之家，鑄陽燧取飛火於日，作方諸取水於月，非自然也，而天然之也。土龍亦非真，何為不能感天？一也。陽燧取火於天，五月丙午日中之時，消煉五石，鑄以為器，乃能得火。今妄取刀劍偃月之鉤，摩以向日，亦能感天。夫土龍既不得比於陽燧，當與刀劍偃月鉤為比。二也。
The sun is fire; the moon is water. Water and fire stir each other, and always by true breath. Now the school of craft and the Way casts the yangsui mirror to take flying fire from the sun, and makes the fangzhu vessel to take water from the moon. This is not what is so of itself, and yet Heaven makes it so. The earthen dragon too is not true; why then should it not be able to stir Heaven? That is the first. To take fire from Heaven with the yangsui mirror, the five stones must be melted at noon on the bingwu day of the fifth month and cast into a vessel, and only then can fire be got. Now take at random a knife, a sword, the hooked moon of a blade, rub it and hold it up facing the sun, and it too can stir Heaven. The earthen dragon cannot be matched with the yangsui mirror, but it may well be matched with the knife, the sword, and the hooked moon blade. That is the second.
齊孟常君夜出秦關，關未開，客為雞鳴而真雞鳴和之。夫雞可以奸聲感，則雨亦可以偽象致。三也。
Lord Mengchang of Qi went out by the Qin barrier at night. The gate was not yet open, and a guest of his made the cry of a cock, and a true cock crowed in answer. If a cock can be stirred by a false voice, then rain too can be brought on by a false likeness. That is the third.
李子長為政，欲知囚情，以梧桐為人，象囚之形。鑿地為坎，以盧為槨，臥木囚其中。囚罪正則木囚不動，囚冤侵奪，木囚動出。不知囚之精神著木人乎？將精神之氣動木囚也？夫精神感動木囚，何為獨不應從土龍？四也。
Li Zichang, in governing, wished to know the truth of his prisoners. He made a man of paulownia wood in the shape of the prisoner. He dug the ground into a pit, made an outer coffin of reeds, and laid the wooden prisoner within it. If the prisoner's guilt was rightly judged, the wooden prisoner did not move; if the prisoner had been wronged and robbed, the wooden prisoner moved and came out. It is not known whether the prisoner's spirit clung to the wooden man, or whether the breath of his spirit moved the wooden prisoner. If spirit can stir a wooden prisoner, why should it alone not answer and follow an earthen dragon? That is the fourth.
舜以聖德，入大麓之野，虎狼不犯，蟲蛇不害。禹鑄金鼎象百物，以入山林，亦辟凶殃。論者以為非實，然而上古久遠，周鼎之神，不可無也。夫金與土，同五行也，使作土龍者如禹之德，則亦將有雲雨之驗。五也。
Shun, by his sagely virtue, went into the wild at the foot of the great mountains, and tigers and wolves did not attack him, and insects and snakes did not harm him. Yu cast metal cauldrons with the likenesses of the hundred creatures, and went into the mountains and forests, and so kept off evil and calamity. Those who discuss it hold that this is not true; but high antiquity is long ago and far off, and the spirit power of the Zhou cauldrons cannot be wanting. Metal and earth are of the same five agents. If the maker of an earthen dragon were as Yu was in virtue, there too would be the proof of cloud and rain. That is the fifth.
頓牟掇芥，磁石、鉤象之石非頓牟也，皆能掇芥，土龍亦非真，當與磁石、鉤象為類。六也。
Amber picks up mustard seed; the loadstone and the hook-shaped stone are not dunmou, and yet both can pick up mustard seed. The earthen dragon too is not true, but it may fitly be ranked with the loadstone and the hook-shaped stone. That is the sixth.
楚葉公好龍，牆壁盂樽皆畫龍象，真龍聞而下之。夫龍與雲雨同氣，故能感動，以類相從。葉公以為畫致真龍，今獨何以不能致雲雨？七也。
Duke She of Chu loved dragons, and on his walls and his bowls and jars the likeness of the dragon was everywhere painted, and a true dragon heard of it and came down. Dragon and cloud and rain are of one breath, and so they can stir each other and follow each other by kind. Duke She brought on a true dragon with a painting; why then should this alone not bring on cloud and rain? That is the seventh.
神靈示人以象不以實，故寢臥夢悟見事之象。將吉，吉象來；將凶，凶象至。神靈之氣，雲雨之類，（八也）神靈以象見實，土龍何獨不能以偽致真？〔八〕也。
The spirits show men by likeness and not by the real thing, and so men lying asleep see in dreams the likeness of things. If good fortune is coming, a lucky likeness comes; if ill fortune is coming, an ill likeness arrives. The breath of the spirits is of the kind of cloud and rain. The spirits show the real by a likeness; why should the earthen dragon alone not bring on the true by the false? That is the eighth.
神靈以象見實，土龍何獨不能以偽致真也？上古之人，有神荼、郁壘者，昆弟二人，性能執鬼，居東海度朔山上，立桃樹下，簡閱百鬼。鬼無道理，妄為人禍，荼與郁壘縛以盧索，執以食虎。故今縣官斬桃為人，立之戶側；畫虎之形，著之門闌。夫桃人非荼、郁壘也，畫虎非食鬼之虎也，刻畫效象，冀以御凶。今土龍亦非致雨之龍，獨信桃人畫虎，不知土龍。九也。
The spirits show the real by a likeness; why should the earthen dragon alone not bring on the true by the false? Among the men of high antiquity were Shen Shu and Yu Lu, two brothers whose nature could seize ghosts. They lived on Mount Dushuo in the Eastern Sea, stood beneath a peach tree, and looked over the hundred ghosts. When a ghost had no principle and wantonly worked harm on men, Shu and Yu Lu bound it with a rope of reed, seized it, and fed it to the tigers. Therefore the magistrates today cut peach wood into men and stand them beside the door, and paint the shape of a tiger and fix it on the door frame. The peach man is not Shu and Yu Lu, and the painted tiger is not the tiger that eats ghosts; but men carve and paint to copy the likeness, hoping to ward off evil. Now the earthen dragon too is not the dragon that brings rain; yet men believe in the peach man and the painted tiger alone, and do not understand the earthen dragon. That is the ninth.
此尚因緣昔書，不見實驗。魯般、墨子刻木為鳶，蜚之三日而不集，為之巧也。使作土龍者若魯般、墨子，則亦將有木鳶蜚不集之類。夫蜚鳶之氣，雲雨之氣也。氣而蜚木鳶，何獨不能從土龍？十也。
This still rests upon old books and shows no real proof. Lu Ban and Mozi carved wood into a kite and flew it, and for three days it did not settle, so skilful was their making. If the maker of an earthen dragon were as Lu Ban and Mozi, there too would be something of the kind of the wooden kite that flies and does not settle. The breath of a flying kite is the breath of cloud and rain. If breath can fly a wooden kite, why should it alone not follow an earthen dragon? That is the tenth.
夫雲雨之氣也，知於蜚鳶之氣，未可以言。釣者以木為魚，丹漆其身，近之水流而擊之，起水動作，魚以為真，并來聚會。夫丹木非真魚也，魚含血而有知，猶為象至。雲雨之知，不能過魚。見土龍之象，何能疑之？十一也。
It cannot be said that the breath of cloud and rain knows more than the breath of a flying kite. A fisherman makes a fish of wood and paints its body with red lacquer, and brings it near the running water and strikes it; the water rises and stirs, and the fish take it for true and come together to it. The red wood is not a true fish; and fish hold blood and have knowing, and yet they come because of a likeness. The knowing of cloud and rain cannot go beyond that of fish. Seeing the likeness of an earthen dragon, how could they doubt it? That is the eleventh.
此尚魚也，知不如人。匈奴敬畏郅都之威，刻木象都之狀，交弓射之，莫能一中。不知都之精神在形象邪？亡（也）將匈奴敬鬼精神在木也？
These are still fish, whose knowing is not as a man's. The Xiongnu revered and feared the awe of Zhi Du. They carved wood in the likeness of Du's form and shot at it by turns, and not one could hit it. It is not known whether Du's spirit was in the form, or whether the spirit of the ghost the Xiongnu revered was in the wood.
如都之精神在形象，天龍之神亦在土龍。如匈奴精在於木人，則雩祭者之精亦在土龍。十二也。
If Du's spirit was in the form, then the spirit of the dragon of Heaven is in the earthen dragon too. If the essence of the Xiongnu was in the wooden man, then the essence of those who make the rain sacrifice is in the earthen dragon too. That is the twelfth.
金翁叔，休屠王之太子也，與父俱來降漢，父道死，與母俱來，拜為騎者尉。母死，武帝圖其母於甘泉殿上，署曰休屠王焉提。翁叔從上上甘泉，拜謁起立，向之泣涕沾襟，久乃去。夫圖畫，非母之實身也，因見形象，涕泣輒下，思親氣感，不待實然也。夫土龍猶甘泉之圖畫也，雲雨見之，何為不動？十三也。
Jin Wengshu was the crown prince of King Xiutu. He came with his father to surrender to Han; his father died on the road, and he came on with his mother, and was made commandant of cavalry. When his mother died, Emperor Wu had her painted in the Ganquan hall and inscribed it: Yanti of King Xiutu. Wengshu went up to Ganquan in the emperor's train, bowed and paid his respects, then rose and stood facing it and wept until his tears wet his collar, and only after a long while went away. A painting is not the real body of a mother, and yet at the sight of the form his tears fell at once. The breath of longing for a parent is stirred, and does not wait for the real thing. The earthen dragon is like the painting at Ganquan. When cloud and rain see it, why should they not be moved? That is the thirteenth.
此尚夷狄也。有若似孔子，孔子死，弟子思慕，共坐有若孔子之座。
These are still the Yi and the Di. You Ruo was like Confucius, and when Confucius died his disciples longed for him and together seated You Ruo in Confucius's seat.
弟子知有若非孔子也，猶共坐而尊事之。雲雨之知，使若諸弟子之知，雖知土龍非真，然猶感動，思類而至。十四也。
The disciples knew that You Ruo was not Confucius, and yet they seated him there together and honoured and served him. If the knowing of cloud and rain were like the knowing of those disciples, then though they knew the earthen dragon was not true, they would still be stirred, and would think of their kind and come. That is the fourteenth.
有若，孔子弟子，疑其體象，則謂相似。孝武皇帝幸李夫人，夫人死，思見其形。道士以術為李夫人，夫人步入殿門，武帝望見，知其非也，然猶感動，喜樂近之。使雲雨之氣如武帝之心，雖知土龍非真，然猶愛好感起而來。十五也。
You Ruo was a disciple of Confucius, and men were in doubt at his body and his look, and so said that he was like him. Emperor Xiaowu favoured Lady Li, and when the lady died he longed to see her form. A Daoist made Lady Li by his art, and the lady walked in at the hall gate. Emperor Wu looked on her and knew that it was not she, and yet he was stirred, and in his joy drew near to her. If the breath of cloud and rain were like Emperor Wu's heart, then though it knew the earthen dragon was not true, it would still love it and take joy in it, and be stirred and rise and come. That is the fifteenth.
既效驗有十五，又亦有義四焉。
There are already fifteen proofs of its working, and there are four meanings besides.
立春東耕，為土象人，男女各二人，秉耒把鋤。或立土牛，未必能耕也。順氣應時，示率下也。今設土龍，雖知不能致雨，亦當夏時以類應變，與立土人土牛同（一）義。〔一〕也。
At the beginning of spring, when the ploughing is done in the east, likenesses of men are made of earth, two men and two women, holding the plough and grasping the hoe. Sometimes an earthen ox is set up, which certainly cannot plough. It follows the breath and answers the season, and shows the leading of those below. Now the placing of an earthen dragon, though men know it cannot bring on rain, likewise answers the change by its kind in the summer season, and is of one meaning with setting up earthen men and an earthen ox. That is the first.
禮，宗廟之主，以木為之，長尺二寸，以象先祖。孝子入廟，主心事之，雖知木主非親，亦當盡敬。有所主事，土龍與木主同。雖知非真，示當感動，立意於象。二也。
By the rites, the tablet of the ancestral temple is made of wood, a foot and two inches long, to be the likeness of the forefather. When a filial son enters the temple, he serves it with his heart set upon it; and though he knows the wooden tablet is not his parent, he still gives it all his reverence. There is something that he takes as his object and serves, and in this the earthen dragon and the wooden tablet are the same. Though men know it is not true, it shows that they should be stirred, and they set their meaning upon the likeness. That is the second.
塗車、芻靈，聖人知其無用，示象生存，不敢無也。夫設土龍知其不能動雨也，示若塗車、芻靈而有致。三也。
Clay carts and straw figures: the sage knew that they are of no use, but they show the likeness of the living, and he did not dare to be without them. The placing of an earthen dragon, though men know that it cannot move the rain, shows that there is a bringing on, as with the clay cart and the straw figure. That is the third.
天子射熊，諸侯射麋，卿大夫射虎豹，土射鹿豕，示服猛也。名布為侯，示射無道諸侯也。夫畫布為熊麋之象，名布為侯，禮貴意象，示義取名也。土龍亦夫熊麋、布侯之類。四也。
The Son of Heaven shoots at the bear, the feudal lords at the elk, the ministers and grandees at the tiger and the leopard, and the gentlemen at the deer and the boar, to show the subduing of fierce things. The cloth is named the marquis, to show the shooting of lawless feudal lords. To paint the cloth with the likeness of bear and elk, and to name the cloth the marquis: in this the rites hold meaning and likeness dear, showing the sense and taking the name. The earthen dragon too is of the kind of those bears and elks and that cloth marquis. That is the fourth.
夫以象類有十五驗，以禮示意有四義。仲舒覽見深鴻，立事不妄，設土龍之象，果有狀也。龍暫出水，雲雨乃至。古者畜龍御龍常存無雲雨，猶舊交相闊遠，卒然相見，歡欣歌笑，或至悲泣涕，偃伏少久，則示行各恍忽矣。《易》曰：「雲從龍。」非言龍從雲也。
By likeness and kind there are fifteen proofs, and by the rites that show the meaning there are four senses. Zhongshu saw deep and wide and did not set up a matter wantonly, and his placing the likeness of an earthen dragon has indeed a ground to it. When the dragon comes out of the water for a while, cloud and rain then arrive. In old times, when dragons were reared and dragons were driven, they were always there and still there was no cloud and rain. It is as when old friends have been far apart and suddenly meet: they rejoice and sing and laugh, or come even to weeping and tears; but when they have lain together a little while, each goes his own way as in a haze. The Yi says, "The clouds follow the dragon." It does not say that the dragon follows the clouds.
云樽刻雷雲之象，龍安肯來？夫如是傳之者何可解，則桓君山之難可說也，則劉子駿不能對，劣也。劣則董仲舒之龍說不終也。《論衡》終之。故曰「亂龍」。〔亂〕者，終也。
The leizun jar is carved with the likeness of thunder and cloud; how should a dragon be willing to come? If it is so, how can those who hand this down explain it? Then Huan Junshan's challenge can be stated, and Liu Zijun's having no answer was a falling short. Falling short, Dong Zhongshu's discourse on the dragon is not brought to an end. The Lunheng brings it to an end. Therefore it is called "Luan long." Luan means an ending.