The Power of an Alleged Tradition - CHINA Buchservice

In Chapter Two, “Annals of the Xia” (Xia benji����), no reference to a correlation
with an element of the cycle is made. In the “Annals of the Shang,” however,
we fi nd the remark that Tang of Shang changed the beginning of the year (i.e. the
calendar) and ordered the color of the ceremonial vestments to be White. 165 And
the last sentence in the Grand Scribe’s personal remark at the end of the chapter
confi rms that (The Yin) honored White. 166
Chapter Four, “Annals of the Zhou” (Zhou benji����), contains an elaborate
narrative according to the conquest of the virtue of Fire (Red), i.e. the Zhou, over
the virtue of Metal (White), i.e the Shang, is described. According to this, a white
fi sh leaped into King Wu’s boat when he was crossing the River He. The king took
it and used it for a sacrifi ce. After this, the narrative continues, there was a fi re that
came down from above the roof of the kings residence and changed into a raven, its
color being Vermilion. 167
As for the state of Qin before the unifi cation of the empire in 221 B.C., several
rulers are said in Chapter Five, “Annals of the Qin” (Qin benji����), of the Shiji
to have directed sacrifi ces to one or the other of the Thearchs associated with one
of the Five Colors. The only reference to an honoring of Black is made in form of
a fl ashback in chapter 28, where an anonymous adviser directs the emperor’s attention
to one of his ancestors, duke Wen of Qin (r. 765–716) who, according to the
adviser’s words, once went out hunting and got a black dragon. 168
As regards Qin after the unifi cation of the empire, there is no hint of an element
having favored this dynasty in Chapter Six, “Annals of Qin Shihuang” (Qin Shihuang
benji������). However, as one learns from the “Treatise on the Feng and Shan
Sacrifi ces,” an anonymous adviser instructed the First Emperor about the cycle of
dynastic rule upon which, the account continues, Shi Huang, the First Emperor of
Qin, regarded himself as being favored by the element Water and the color Black
and as a consequence proceeded to make the adjustments necessary for a shift in the
cycle. 169
If we compare the succession of dynasties and their correspondence with elements
of the dynastic cyle found in the Shiji with those we encountered earlier
in the Lüshi chunqiu passage, 170 we can conclude that the major elements of the
sequence propagated by the Lüshi chunqiu are taken up by the author of the Shiji. 171
It thus seems that the periodization given in the annals part of the Shiji follows the
sequence which Gongsun Qing referred to in his prophetic message.
The relationship between Huangdi and the calendar which had been advocated
by Gongsun Qing in the words he directed toward Emperor Wu, is confi rmed in
several parts of the Shiji:
165 Shiji 3/98.
166 ������������See Shiji 3/109.
167 Shiji 4/120.
168 Shiji 28/1366. Cf. the translation of this passage above, pp. 255–56.
169 Cf. Shiji 28/1366.
170 Cf. n. 50.
171 It should perhaps be added that the name of this cycle – literally “End and Beginning of the Five Virtues” (wude
zhongshi ����), – is a term which frequently occurs in the Shiji, too. Cf. the parallel expression in the words
which Guiyu Qu according to Gongsun Qing directed to Huangdi, and in which he speaks of the time cycles
zhong er fu shi�����, in the passage translated on pp. 250–51.
BMFEA 74 · 2002
THE POWER OF AN ALLEGED TRADITION
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