Yandu — On Poison言毒篇
或問曰：「天地之間，萬物之性，含血之蟲，有蝮蛇蜂蠆咸懷毒螫，犯中人身，（謂護）〔謂〕疾痛，當時不救，流遍一身；草木之中，有巴豆野葛，食之湊懣，頗多殺人。不知此物，稟何氣於天？萬物之生，皆稟元氣，元氣之中，有毒螫乎？」
Someone asks, "Between Heaven and earth, in the nature of the ten thousand things, among the creatures that hold blood there are the viper, the bee and the scorpion, and all of them carry a poisonous sting. When they violate and strike a man's body he says it hurts, and if he is not helped at once it flows through his whole body. Among the grasses and trees there are badou and yege, and eating them brings a choking fullness, and they kill a good many men. It is not known what breath these things received from Heaven. In the birth of the ten thousand things all receive the primal breath. Is there a poisonous sting within the primal breath?"
曰：夫毒，太陽之熱氣也，中人人毒。人食湊懣者，其不堪任也。不堪任則謂之毒矣。太陽火氣常為毒螫，氣熱也。太陽之地，人民促急，促急之人，口舌為毒。故楚、越之人促急捷疾，與人談言，口唾射人，則人唇胎腫而為創。南郡極熱之地，其人祝樹樹枯，唾鳥鳥墜。巫咸能以祝延人之疾、愈人之禍者，生於江南，含烈氣也。
The answer: Poison is the hot breath of the great yang, and when it strikes a man the man is poisoned. That a man eats and is choked and full is because he cannot bear it. What he cannot bear is called poison. The fire breath of the great yang is always a poisonous sting, because the breath is hot. In the lands of the great yang the people are hasty and quick, and in hasty and quick men the mouth and tongue become poison. So the men of Chu and Yue are hasty and swift, and when they talk with a man and the spittle of the mouth shoots at him, the man's lips swell and break out in sores. Nan commandery is a land of utmost heat, and there a man curses a tree and the tree withers, spits at a bird and the bird falls. That Wu Xian was able by incantation to draw out a man's sickness and to heal a man's disaster was because he was born in Jiangnan and held a fierce breath within.
夫毒，陽氣也，故其中人，若火灼人。或為蝮所中，割肉置地焦沸，火氣之驗也。四方極皆為維邊，唯東南隅有溫烈氣。溫烈氣發，常以春夏。春夏陽起。東南隅，陽位也。他物之氣，入人鼻目，不能疾痛。火煙入鼻鼻疾，入目目痛，火氣有烈也。物為靡屑者多，唯一火最烈，火氣所燥也。食甘旨之食，無傷於人。食蜜少多，則令人毒。蜜為蜂液，蜂則陽物也。人行無所觸犯，體無故痛，痛處若杖之跡。人腓，腓謂鬼毆之。鬼者，太陽之妖也。微者，疾謂之邊，其治用蜜與丹。蜜丹陽物，以類治之也。夫治風用風，治熱用熱，治邊用蜜丹。則知邊者陽氣所為，流毒所加也。
Now poison is the breath of yang, so its striking of a man is like fire scorching a man. When someone is struck by a viper and the flesh is cut out and laid on the ground, it chars and bubbles, and this is the proof of the fire breath. The ends of the four quarters are all borders, yet only in the southeast corner is there a warm and fierce breath. The rising of that warm and fierce breath is always in spring and summer. In spring and summer yang rises. The southeast corner is the station of yang. The breath of other things may enter a man's nose and eyes and cannot make them hurt. When the smoke of fire enters the nose the nose hurts, and when it enters the eyes the eyes hurt, because there is fierceness in the breath of fire. Many things are ground to dust, yet fire alone is fiercest, and this is what the breath of fire dries up. Eating sweet and savory food does no injury to a man. Eating a little too much honey makes it a poison to a man. Honey is the juice of the bee, and the bee is a thing of yang. A man walks and touches or violates nothing, and his body hurts without cause, and the sore place is like the mark of a staff. When a man is taken with fei, they say of fei that a ghost has beaten him. A ghost is a portent of the great yang. The slighter form of the sickness is called bian, and in treating it honey and cinnabar are used. Honey and cinnabar are things of yang, and it is treated by its own kind. Now wind is treated with wind, and heat is treated with heat, and bian is treated with honey and cinnabar. Then one knows that bian is what the breath of yang does, and what the flowing poison has added.
天地之間，毒氣流行，人當其衝，則面腫疾，世人謂之火流所刺也。人見鬼者言其色赤，太陽妖氣，自如其色也。鬼為烈毒，犯人輒死，故杜伯射周宣立崩。
Between Heaven and earth the poisonous breath flows about, and when a man meets its onset his face swells and hurts, and the men of the age say that flowing fire has pierced him. Those who have seen ghosts say that their color is red, because the portent breath of the great yang is of itself of that color. A ghost is a fierce poison, and when it violates a man he dies at once, so Du Bo shot King Xuan of Zhou and he died on the spot.
鬼所齎物，陽火之類，杜伯弓矢，其色皆亦。南道名毒曰短狐，杜伯之象，執弓而射，陽氣因而激，激而射，故其中人象弓矢之形。火困而氣熱，血毒盛，故食走馬之肝殺人，氣困為熱也；盛夏暴行，暑而死，熱極為毒也。人疾行汗出，對爐汗出，向日亦汗出，疾溫病者亦汗出。四者異事而皆汗出，困同熱等，火日之變也。天下萬物，含太陽氣而生者，皆有毒螫。毒螫渥者，在蟲則為蝮蛇蜂蠆，在草則為巴豆治（一作野字。）
The things a ghost carries are of the kind of the yang fire, so Du Bo's bow and arrows were all red in color. On the roads of the south poison is named duanhu, and Du Bo's likeness held a bow and shot, for the breath of yang is roused by it, and being roused it shoots, so its striking of a man takes the form of bow and arrow. When fire is pressed the breath is hot and the poison of the blood is strong, so eating the liver of a running horse kills a man, because the breath is pressed and becomes heat; and walking hard in high summer, a man dies of the heat, because the heat at its height becomes poison. When a man walks fast the sweat comes out, facing a brazier the sweat comes out, turning toward the sun the sweat also comes out, and one sick with a warm sickness also sweats. These four are different matters and in all of them the sweat comes out, for the pressing is the same and the heat is equal; they are changes of fire and sun. Of all things under Heaven, those born holding the breath of the great yang all have a poisonous sting. Those whose poisonous sting is thick, among creatures become the viper, the bee and the scorpion; among plants they become badou and yege,
葛，在魚則鮭與。故人食鮭肝而死，為螫有毒。魚與鳥同類，故鳥蜚魚亦蜚，鳥卵魚亦卵，蝮蛇蜂蠆皆卵，同性類也。其在人也為小人。故小人之口，為禍天下。小人皆懷毒氣，陽地小人毒尤酷烈，故南越之人，祝誓輒效。諺曰：「眾口爍金。」
and among fish they become the pufferfish and the e. So when a man eats the liver of a pufferfish and dies, it is because there is poison in the sting. Fish and birds are of one kind, so as birds fly, fish fly too; as birds lay eggs, fish lay eggs too; and the viper, the bee and the scorpion all lay eggs, being kinds of one nature. What this is in men is the small man. So the mouth of a small man is a disaster to all under Heaven. Small men all carry the poisonous breath within, and the small men of the yang lands are harsher and fiercer in their poison, so when the men of Nanyue curse and swear it takes effect at once. A proverb says, "The mouths of the many melt metal."
口者火也。五行二曰火，五事二曰言，言與火直，故云爍金。道口舌之爍，不言拔木焰火，必云爍金，金制於火，火口同類也。
The mouth is fire. In the five phases the second is called fire, and in the five affairs the second is called speech, and since speech answers to fire it is said that they melt metal. In speaking of the melting done by mouth and tongue, it is not said that they uproot trees or set fire ablaze, but always that they melt metal, because metal is ruled by fire, and fire and the mouth are of one kind.
葯生非一地，太伯（辭）〔采〕之吳。鑄多非一工，世稱楚棠溪。溫氣天下有，路畏入南海。鴆鳥生於南，人飲鴆死。
Medicines grow in more than one land, yet Taibo gathered them in Wu. Smiths are many and not one workman, yet the age praises Tangxi of Chu. The warm breath is found everywhere under Heaven, yet on the road men fear to enter Nanhai. The zhen bird is born in the south, and when a man drinks zhen wine he dies.
辰為龍，巳為蛇，辰巳之位在東南。龍有毒，蛇有螫，故蝮有利牙，龍有逆鱗。木生火，火為毒，故蒼龍之獸含火星。冶葛巴豆，皆有毒螫，故冶在東南，巴在西南。土地有燥濕，故毒物有多少。生出有處地，故毒有烈不烈。蝮蛇與魚比，故生於草澤。蜂蠆與鳥同，故產於屋樹。江北地燥，故多蜂蠆。江南地濕，故多蝮蛇。生高燥比陽，陽物懸垂，故蜂蠆以尾刺。生下濕比陰，陰物柔伸，故蝮蛇以口。毒或藏於首尾，故螫有毒；或藏一體膚，故食之輒懣；或附於唇吻，故舌鼓為禍。
Chen is the dragon and si is the snake, and the stations of chen and si lie in the southeast. The dragon has poison and the snake has a sting, so the viper has sharp fangs and the dragon has a scale that lies against the grain. Wood gives birth to fire and fire becomes poison, so the beast of the Azure Dragon holds the fire star within. Yege and badou both have a poisonous sting, so ye is in the southeast and ba in the southwest. Lands are dry or damp, so poisonous things are many or few. What is born comes out in the place where it belongs, so poison is fierce or not fierce. The viper is matched with fish, so it is born in the grassy marshes. The bee and the scorpion are of a kind with birds, so they are brought forth in houses and trees. Born in high dry places, they are matched with yang, and things of yang hang down, so the bee and the scorpion pierce with the tail. Born in low damp places, they are matched with yin, and things of yin are soft and stretch out, so the viper does it with the mouth. Poison may be hidden in the head and tail, so there is poison in the sting; or it may be hidden in the flesh and skin of the whole body, so eating it brings a choking fullness at once; or it may cling to the lips, so that the wagging of the tongue becomes a disaster.
毒螫之生，皆同一氣，發動雖異，內為一類。故人夢見火，占為口舌；夢見蝮蛇，亦口舌。火為口舌之象，口舌見於蝮蛇，同類共本，所稟一氣也。故火為言，言為小人。小人為妖，由口舌。口舌之徵，由人感天，故五事二曰言。言之咎徵，僭恆若。僭者奢麗，故蝮蛇多文。文起於陽，故若致文。若則言從，故時有詩妖。
The birth of poisonous stings is all of one breath, and though their rising and stirring differ, within they are of one kind. So when a man dreams that he sees fire, the reading is mouth and tongue; and when he dreams that he sees a viper, it is mouth and tongue as well. Fire is the likeness of mouth and tongue, and mouth and tongue appear in the viper; being of one kind they share a root, and the breath they received is one. So fire becomes speech, and speech becomes the small man. That the small man becomes a portent comes by way of mouth and tongue. The omens of mouth and tongue come by way of man stirring Heaven, so in the five affairs the second is called speech. The blame omen of speech is that presumption ever follows. Presumption is extravagance and finery, so the viper has many markings. Markings arise from yang, so the following brings markings on. When there is following, speech complies, so at times there are portents in poems.
妖氣生美好，故美好之人多邪惡。叔虎之母美，叔向之母知之，不使視寢。
The breath of portents gives birth to beauty, so among beautiful people there is much wickedness. The mother of Shu Hu was beautiful, and the mother of Shu Xiang knew this and would not let her come to his bed.
叔向諫，其母曰：「深山大澤，實生龍蛇。彼美，吾懼其生龍蛇以禍汝。汝弊族也，國多大寵，不仁之人間之，不亦難乎！余何愛焉！」
When Shu Xiang remonstrated, his mother said, "Deep mountains and great marshes truly give birth to dragons and snakes. That woman is beautiful, and I fear she will bear a dragon or a snake and bring disaster upon you. You are of a worn-out house, and there are many great favorites in the state; if a man who is not humane comes between them, will it not be hard indeed! What is there that I would grudge!"
使往視寢，生叔虎，美有勇力，嬖於欒懷子。及范宣子（遂）〔逐〕懷子，殺叔虎，禍及叔向。夫深山大澤，龍蛇所生也，比之叔虎之母者，美色之人懷毒螫也。生子叔虎，美有勇力，勇力所生，生於美色；禍難所發，由於勇力。火有光耀，木有容貌。龍蛇東方木，含火精，故美色貌麗。膽附於肝，故生勇力。火氣猛，故多勇；木剛強，故多力也。生妖怪者常由好色，為禍難者常發勇力，為毒害者皆在好色。
She let her come to his bed, and Shu Hu was born, beautiful and having courage and strength, and he was favored by Luan Huaizi. When Fan Xuanzi drove out Huaizi, Shu Hu was killed and the disaster reached Shu Xiang. Now deep mountains and great marshes are where dragons and snakes are born, and the likening of them to the mother of Shu Hu is that a person of beautiful color holds a poisonous sting within. She bore her son Shu Hu, beautiful and having courage and strength. The birth of courage and strength came of beautiful color, and the rising of disaster and hardship came by way of courage and strength. Fire has brightness, and wood has outward form. The dragon and the snake are wood of the east and hold the essence of fire within, so they are beautiful in color and fair in form. The gall is attached to the liver, so it gives birth to courage and strength. The breath of fire is fierce, so there is much courage; wood is hard and strong, so there is much strength. The birth of portents and strange things always comes by way of fair color, the doing of disaster and hardship always rises from courage and strength, and the working of poisonous harm all lies in fair color.
美酒為毒，酒難多飲；蜂液為蜜，蜜難益食。勇夫強國，勇夫難近。好女說（一作悅。）心，好女難畜。辯士快意，辯士難信。故美味腐腹，好色惑心，勇夫招禍，辯口致殃。四者，世之毒也。辯口之毒，為害尤酷。何以明之？孔子見陽虎卻行，白汗交流。陽虎辯，有口舌。口舌之毒，中亂，況一人乎！故君子不畏虎，獨畏讒夫之口。讒夫之口。為毒大矣。
Fine wine is a poison, so wine is hard to drink much of; the juice of bees is honey, so honey is hard to eat more of. A man of courage makes a state strong, but a man of courage is hard to keep close. A fair woman gladdens the heart, but a fair woman is hard to keep. A skilled speaker gives ease to the mind, but a skilled speaker is hard to trust. So fine flavors rot the belly, fair colors delude the heart, a man of courage calls down disaster, and a speaking mouth brings on calamity. These four are the poisons of the age. The poison of a speaking mouth is the harshest in its harm. How is this made clear? Confucius saw Yang Hu and walked back from him, and pale sweat ran down. Yang Hu was a speaker and had mouth and tongue. The poison of mouth and tongue throws the middle into confusion; how much more one man! So the gentleman does not fear the tiger and fears only the mouth of the slanderer. The mouth of the slanderer is a great poison.