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CHAPTER XXVI.

Miracles (Chi-kuai).

The Literati pretend that Sages are not born from human
sperm, but that they are endowed with a special essence from
Heaven. The mother of Yü swallowed pearl-barley,[1] and gave birth
to Yü,[2] whence the Hsia dynasty has its surname Sse.[3] Hsieh's mother
consumed a swallow's egg, and was delivered of Hsieh,[4] whence
the Yin dynasty derived its surname Tse.[5] The mother of Hou Chi
walked in the foot-steps of a giant,[6] and bore Hou Chi,[7] whence
the Chou received their surname Chi.[8] The Shiking says, "There
was no rending and no tearing, thus Hou Chi was born."[9]

They further state that Yü and Hsieh were born unnaturally,
issuing from their mother's back, and that Hou Chi was born naturally.
There was no rending and no tearing, the mother's body
did not suffer, hence the expression:—no rending and no tearing.
The descendants of those born unnaturally die an unnatural death,
while the descendants of those born naturally die naturally. Therefore
Chieh and Chou[10] were executed, and Nan Wang[11] was deprived
of his cities. These words seem to be self-consistent, therefore

people believe them, and since, in addition evidence is given to
establish their truth, they rely on these

The Chan-shu[12] also relates of the mother of Yao, Ching Tu,
that she conceived from a red dragon, when she went out into
the country, and gave birth to Yao. From the chronicle of Kao
Tsu[13] we learn that dame Liu was reposing on the banks of a large
lake. In her dream she met with a spirit. At that time there was
a tempest with thunder and lightning and a great darkness. T`ai
Kung[14] went near, and perceived a dragon above her. She became
enceinte and was delivered of Kao Tsu. These instances of the supernatural
action of spirits are not only narrated but also written
down, and all the savants of the day swear by them. A thorough
investigation, however, will show their futility.

The statement of the Shiking that there was no rending and
no tearing viz. that the mother's body was much affected may
be true, but the assertion that Yü and issued from their
mother's back is irrational. When cicadas are born, they break
forth from the back of the larvæ. Did Heaven in generating those
sages follow the law of the larvæ?

Hares conceive by licking the pubescence of plants. When
the leveret is born, it issues from the mouth of the hare. Since
the mother of Yü swallowing the barley and that of Hsieh, who
consumed the swallow's egg, were like hares the pubescence,
their sons ought likewise to have issued from their mouths, and
not from their backs. Consequently the statement about the back
is preposterous.

In the world many persons die a sangninary death by the
sword, and it is not necessary that their first ancestor should have
had an unnatural birth. When the Ch`in lost the empire, Yen Yüeh[15]
beheaded Hu Hai,[16] and Hsiang Yü[17] executed Tse Ying.[18] Was the
forefather of the Ch`in, Po Yi[19] born unnaturally? Ergo the thesis
of natural and unnatural births based on the ancestors of the Three
Dynasties is erroneous.

Moreover, pearl-barley is a plant, a swallow's egg a bird, and
a giant's foot-prints are earth. These three things are bodies, but
not a fluid, how could they procreate a man? With regard to
Sages people suppose that they receive the essence of Heaven, which
is an exceptionally fine fluid, wherefore their doings are so different
from those of the masses. Now the progenitors of the Three Dynasties
are born from a plant, a bird, and earth. Could these be
regarded as very fine essences?

Since among the productions of Heaven and Earth man is
the noblest, the others are common. Now, if the essence of those
common things should be the sperm for the noblest creature, man,
how could it be very fine?

Let us suppose that a pigeon or a sparrow emitted their fluid
into a wild goose or a wild swan, it would never produce an egg.
Why? Because a pigeon and a sparrow are too small, compared
with a wild goose and a wild swan. Now, the body of a swallow
measures but five inches, and the stalk of pearl-barley not more
than several feet. How could the two women who swallowed
the egg and the grain have begot a creature of seven feet?[20]

Supposing that one melts the copper required for a tripod
and pours it into the mould of a cash, it is plain that one could
not produce a tripod. Now the giant is the Spirit of Heaven, therefore
his foot-prints were so big.[21] The man with the huge foot-prints
is like the molten copper for a tripod, and Chiang Yuan's[22] body like the
mould of a cash. Should the giant emit his fluid into Chiang Yuan,
her body would be much too small to receive the whole essence, and
without this whole essence Hou Chi could not have been born.

If Yao and Kao Tsu were really the sons of dragons, their
nature as sons ought to have been similar to that of their dragon
fathers. Dragons can ride on the clouds, and Yao and Kao Tsu
should have done the same.

All plants growing from earth resemble their own species, but
not earth, for they are not produced by earth, which merely nourishes
and feeds them. A mother with child is like the earth feeding
plants. The mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu received the emissions of
the dragons, as earth receives the seeds of plants. Since growing
plants are similar to their own species, the two emperors also
should have been like dragons.

Of animals with blood males and females pair. When they
come together and see one of their own kind, their lust is excited,
they wish to satisfy it, and then are able to emit their fluid.
Should a stallion see a cow, or a male sparrow a hen, they would
not couple, because they belong to different species. Now, dragons
and man are of a different species likewise. How then could a
dragon be moved by a human being so as to impart its fluid?

Some say[23] that, when the Hsia dynasty was near its downfall,
two dragons fought together in the court, and spat their saliva
on the ground. When the dragons had disappeared, their saliva
was preserved in a casket, until King Yu of the Chou[24] dynasty
opened it. Then the saliva of the snakes changed into a black
lizard, which slipped into the seraglio, where it had intercourse
with a palace girl. The result was the birth of Pao Sse.[25]

A black lizard belongs to another class than man, how could
it become enamoured with a palace girl, and emit its fluid? The
intercourse with the black lizard was vicious, therefore Pao Sse
caused disasters, and overthrew the Chou dynasty. When different
species recklessly mix together, their offspring becomes unprincipled
and mischievous. Now, the mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu had illicit
intercourse,[26] why did the two emperors become wise and sage men,
and were quite different from Pao Sse?

They say that Viscount Chien of Chao was sick and for five
days did not know anybody. When he awoke, he said, "I have
been to God's abode. There appeared a brown bear. God bade
me shoot it; I hit the animal, and it died. Then came a spotted
bear; I hit it also, and it died. After the two bears had died, I
asked a ghost on the road. The ghost said:—"The brown and
the spotted bears are the forefathers of two ministers of Chin."[27]

Bears are animals, and as such of a different class from man.
How should they become of the same class and the ancestors of
the two ministers? The time, when the ancestors of the two ministers,
the brown and the spotted bears, killed by Viscount Chien,
were doomed to die, was one of luck for the Viscount Chien. He
saw them as in a dream. They were empty semblances and must

not have been real. Should they really have existed, then perhaps
the two bears were first metamorphosed into human beings, before
they engendered the two ministers.

Niu Ai, Duke of Lu, was changed into a tiger during a sickness.[28]
Man can be transformed into an animal, as animals can become
men. Probably the black lizard, which entered the harem,
was also first changed into a man.

Between heaven and earth it does not happen that creatures
of a different species mix and couple. Should Heaven have the
same law as man, their likes and dislikes would also be similar.
Man does not like different species, therefore Heaven would not
consort with such either. Although man is created by Heaven,
he is like the lice which are produced on man. Man does not love
those lice, for what reason then should Heaven desire to beget
through man? Different classes have different natures, and their
sentiments and desires do not agree. Heaven and Earth are husband
and wife. Heaven emits its fluid into Earth and produces
the various things. Man is born by propagation. If Sages are
formed of a very fine essence, yet they receive the fluid from their
fathers, and are not endowed with a special essence from Heaven.

Should the recipients of a special essence become Sages, Hsieh
and Hou Chi are not Sages, and, if it be necessary that all Sages
should have received a special fluid, the Twelve Sages[29] did not all
meet this requirement. What fluid did the mothers of Huang Ti,
Ti K`u, Chuan Hsü and Shun receive, and what did the mothers of
Wên Wang, Wu Wang, Chou Kung, and Confucius swallow to become
pregnant?

Perhaps the surnames of the Three Dynasties:—Sse, Tse, and
Chi gave the impetus to the invention of those unfounded and
marvellous stories, as the legend of Huang Ti's ascension to heaven
originated from the local name of Ting-hu.[30] Not only are they
irrational, but those names are also misinterpreted. When T`sang
Hsieh[31] invented writing, he made the signs agree with the ideas.
Chiang Yuan walked into the foot-prints of a giant. "Foot-print"
(chi = [OMITTED]) means a "basis" (chi = [OMITTED]), therefore the surname
should be "his" (ch`i = [OMITTED]) with "earth" (tu = [OMITTED]) below, but
it is "woman" (nü = [OMITTED]) with "chin" (i = [OMITTED]) at its side. This

is not the character chi = [OMITTED] or chi = [OMITTED] nor in accordance with
the circumstances,[32] whence their truth becomes very doubtful.

Judging by the surname Chi of the Chou of those of the Hsia
and Yin, we arrive at the conclusion that Tse and Sse have nothing
to do with a swallow's egg or pearl-barley. May be that the
mothers of Yü, Hsieh, and Hou Chi were just going to conceive,
when they happened to swallow a grain of pearl-barley and a
swallow's egg, or walked upon the foot-prints of a giant. The
world is fond of the marvellous, a propensity which has been the
same in ancient and modern times. Unless they see wonders, people
do not believe that a person possesses extraordinary faculties. Thus
they explain surnames according to their preconceived ideas. The
world puts implicit faith in these explanations, and they are therefore
regarded as true. Sages have repeatedly uttered their doubts,
but they could not solve them, and the shallow discussions of the
scholars of the day cannot discriminate between right and wrong.

The literati, who approve of all that is old, have put forward
those arguments. The Shiking says that there was no rending and
no tearing, which means to say that by Hou Chi's birth the body
of his mother was not much affected. From this the literati, perverting
the right principles, have derived the story of the unnatural
birth of Yü and Hsieh. The fecundation by the dragon and the
dream of the meeting with the spirit are of the same nature. The
mothers of Yao and Kao Tsu were just about to become enceinte,
when they met with a thunder-storm and a dragon carrying clouds
and rain along. People seeing these phenomena then told the stories.

A dream that one meets with a dragon is an augury of the
birth of a wise son. Is a dream of a meeting with ghosts not like
a dream of a rendez-vous with a spirit? How could it be real?
When the mother had intercourse with the dragon in the wilds,
and when the dragon appeared on high, Yao and Kao Tsu perchance
received their destiny of wealth and honour, for a dragon is an
auspicious animal, and to meet it appearing above is a lucky omen
and a sign that fate has been received.

When the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti saw the light in the Chi-yang
palace, a phœnix alighted on the ground, and an auspicious
grain grew in one room.[33] When Sages are born, and strange birds
and auspicious things appear as portents, strange and auspicious

things become visible indeed. If, however, we are to regard the
children born then as the offspring of those things, should we
consider the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti as the essence of the auspicious
blade or the fluid of the phœnix?

According to the chapters on the pedigree of the Emperors[34]
and the Genealogical Tables of the Three Dynasties[35] Yü was the
son of Kun, and Hsieh and Hou Chi were both sons of the Emperor
K`u, their mothers being second wives of K`u. Yao also was a son
of the Emperor K`u. Why then must the wives of kings and
emperors walk into the country? Although the ancient times are
noted for their simplicity, yet there were already certain rules of
propriety established. And why did these ladies bathe in the
rivers?[36] It follows that the assertion about the Sages receiving a
special fluid from Heaven and their mothers becoming pregnant by
swallowing something is a fallacy.

As a matter of fact Sages have their prototypes among their
ancestors; being as virtuous as Wên Wang and Wu Wang, they still
find their peers. Confucius, playing the flute, knew that he was a
descendant of the Yin,[37] and Hsiang Yü, having double pupils, was
cognisant of his being a scion of Shun.[38] The Five Emperors and
Three Rulers had all Huang Ti as their ancestor. He was a Sage,
who first received a grand destiny. Therefore all his descendants
became emperors and rulers. At their births there were miracles
of course, which, if they did not appear in things, became manifest
in dreams.