Questions about Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and the Emperor of Heaven.

Bai Xiaohong translated by Xie Huiquan

It shows that this chronicle is a book intercepted by later generations, and 60 words were written at the beginning to make up for the missing chronicle of Shiji today. This passage records the activities of offering sacrifices to the gods, mountains, rivers and ghosts in the world for more than forty years after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty ascended the throne.

In this chronicle, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is the center, surrounded by alchemists such as Li, Qi Ren Shao Weng, Luan Da and Gong. The author's description of these alchemists' deception by magic is extremely vivid and tortuous, thus profoundly satirizing the absurdity and ignorance of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who hoped for the protection of ghosts and gods and pursued immortality. These alchemists confuse people's eyes with magic, or confuse them with beautiful words; Liang Wudi's opponents, on the other hand, are convinced, or respect them, or reward them and obey them. And the end result is that magic has no effect. Emperor Wu was cheated many times, but he still couldn't wake up and extricate himself. He is still obsessed with "restraining everything and hoping to meet the truth." These descriptions not only mocked the alchemist's deception and Emperor Wu's ignorance, but also revealed that the alchemist's deception succeeded for a while, and it was Emperor Wu's obsession with ghosts and gods that created conditions for them.

In the use of irony, this chronicle shows a calm style and a sharp and profound effect, which reflects the author's dissatisfaction with Hanwu's excessive sacrifice and outstanding satirical artistic talent. The author is sometimes a fake of an alchemist. For example, Li's "Hidden Years and Growth ……", Qi's "Rice and cattle are written in silk, the details are better …", Luan's "Dare to speak, don't doubt" and so on. Sometimes it is lined with a pen to reward the ugliness of those who are violent and expensive, and to stab the stupidity of Emperor Wu. For example, "I watched it for several months and wore six seals, which are world-famous. However, between Yan Qi at sea, I said that there is a ban on the party, and I can become an immortal. " For another example, "there are tens of thousands of people who say that there are strange people, but there are no witnesses." Wait a minute.

This chronicle also shows the author's unique ingenuity in language use. When describing those absurd things, the words "cover" and "cloud" are often used. For example, "Shaoweng used magic to cover the night to make Mrs. Wang and the kitchen ghost like a cloud", Gongsun Qing "saw its great trace like a cloud of animals", and Luan Da "stayed behind and went east to the sea to seek its cloud" and so on. As function words, "Gai" and "Yun" are often used to express uncertain mood. The word "Gai" also has a euphemistic meaning, and the word "Yun" has a tone that is said to be so. Mr. Qian Zhongshu put it well: "You believe what the cloud says, but you doubt what it says." And "the tone contains gossip and ignorance, which makes the whole article confusing." (Page 286, Volume I of Pipeline Taper Assembly)

Emperor Xiaowu is the second son of Emperor Xiaojing. His mother is the Queen Mother. In the fourth year of Xiaojing (153), he became the king of Jiaodong as a prince. In the seventh year of Xiaojing (before 150), Li Rongfei was renamed Linjiang King and Jiaodong King was the Prince. Jingdi died in sixteen years, and the prince succeeded to the throne. This is Emperor Xiao Wu. As soon as Emperor Xiaowu ascended the throne, he paid special attention to offering sacrifices to ghosts and gods.

In the first year (before 140), the Han Dynasty was established for more than 60 years, and the world was stable. The court ministers all hoped that the Emperor of Heaven would hold a ceremony of offering sacrifices to Mount Tai and Liang Shanbo and change various systems. Moreover, the emperor also advocated Confucianism and recruited wise men through virtuous and upright subjects. Zhao Wan (w m: n, deceased), Wang Zang and others climbed to the high positions of officials with their erudition and versatility. They want to suggest that the Emperor of Heaven set up a hall for preaching politics and religion in the south of the city according to the ancient system, as a place for imperial governors. The plan they drafted for the emperor to patrol, meditate and change the calendar service system has not yet been completed. Just as Dou Taihou was still advocating Taoism of Huangdi and Laozi, he didn't like Confucianism, so he sent people to visit Zhao Wan and others privately to make illegal profits, and summoned Zhao Wan, Wang Zang, Zhao Wan and Wang Zang to commit suicide. Those things they suggested were abolished.

Six years later, Dou Taihou died. The following year (before 134), the emperor called Gong and others, who were all good writers.

Another year passed, and the emperor came to Yongxian for the first time, and held a ceremony in the suburbs of the Five Halls (zhī, Zhi) where the five emperors were sacrificed. It is often once every three years in the future. At this time, the emperor asked the emperor to worship the hoof in the forest garden. The God Emperor was originally a woman from Changling. She died of grief because of her son's untimely death, and appeared on her sister-in-law Wan (yuān, unjust). Just like offering sacrifices to her at home, many people go to sacrifice. During the Warring States Period, Ping Yuanjun, the son of Zhao, went to sacrifice, and her descendants became famous. After Emperor Wu ascended the throne, he was placed in the palace to worship with grand etiquette. He could hear the voice of the emperor, but he could not see her with his own eyes.

At that time, Li also went to see the emperor by offering sacrifices to the stove to pray for the emperor, avoiding grain and eating, and living forever, and was respected by the emperor. Li was introduced by the late Hou Shenze to take charge of magic. At this time, he concealed his age and birth experience, often claiming to be 70 years old, which can exorcise ghosts and make people live forever. He used magic to travel all the client countries. He has no wife and children. People heard that he can exorcise ghosts and make people live forever, so they kept giving him property, so he often had extra money, silk, clothes and food. People believe in him more and more and work hard for him, because he is rich, but he doesn't know where he comes from. Li Tiansheng likes magic and is good at expressing things in clever language. Once he went to Wu 'an Hou's house for a banquet. There is an old man in his nineties. He talked about the place where he used to hunt with his grandfather. The old man followed his grandfather when he was a child, and he still remembers those places. At this time, all the guests were surprised. On one occasion, Shao Jun met the emperor. The emperor had an ancient bronze ware, so he took it out and asked Shao Jun. Shao Jun said: "This bronze ware was displayed on the cypress bed when Qi Huangong was ten years old." Later, the inscriptions on bronzes were examined, and they really belonged to Qi Huangong. The whole palace was very surprised and thought that Shao Jun was a god. He was several hundred years old.

Li said to the emperor, "Sacrificing the kitchen god can attract ghosts and gods. Cinnabar can be refined into gold after attracting ghosts and gods. After refining, gold can be used to make tableware and prolong life. If you live a long life, you can see immortals in Penglai Island in the East China Sea, and then you can live forever after meeting them. The Yellow Emperor is like this. On a trip at sea, I met An Qisheng. He gave me dates as big as melons. An Qisheng is a fairy who travels in the mountains of Penglai Island. Those who agree with him will come out to meet each other, and those who disagree will hide and disappear. " So the son of heaven began to personally worship the kitchen god, and sent alchemists to the East China Sea to visit the gods like An Qisheng, and at the same time began to extract gold with various drugs such as cinnabar.

After a long time, Li died of illness. The son of heaven thought he was immortal and not dead, so he ordered the courtiers of Huanghanmo County to learn his magic. No one can find a fairy in Penglai, but many absurd and pedantic alchemists along the coast of Yan and Qi all follow the example of Li and Li to talk about immortals and things like that.

Bo (bó, Bo) county people dare not play the method of offering sacrifices to Taiyi God to the court. He said: "The most noble of the gods is Taiyi God, and Taiyi's auxiliary god is called the Five Emperors, that is, the Five Emperors. In ancient times, in the spring and autumn seasons, the son of heaven offered sacrifices to a god in the southeast suburb, and built an altar with cows, sheep and pigs for three days. There are passages on all sides of the altar for ghosts and gods to go in and out. " So the son of heaven ordered Taizu to set up a shrine in the southeast suburb of Chang' an, and often offered sacrifices according to the law of "thin absurdity". Later, someone wrote: "In ancient times, the son of heaven sacrificed three beasts every three years, namely the God of Heaven, the God of Earth and the God of Taiyi." The son of heaven allowed him to play; I ordered Taizhu to be responsible for offering sacrifices on the altar of Taiyi requested by Bomiuji in the way the writer said. Later, someone wrote: "In ancient times, Emperor Tiandi often held a memorial service in the spring and autumn to eliminate disasters and seek happiness, and sacrificed an evil bird that ate its mother and an evil beast that ate its father to the Yellow Emperor." : a sheep that sacrifices to the ghost sheep god; Sacrifice a blue stallion to the gods; Sacrifice a cow to Taiyi God, Gaoshan King and Chang Di God; Sacrifice dried fish to Wuyishan God; Sacrifice a cow to the messenger of yin and yang. "The son of heaven also ordered the temple official to take charge of this matter, and held a sacrifice next to Taiyi altar, which was called by Bomiuji, according to what the writer said.

Later, there was a white deer in the courtyard of the Emperor of Heaven, so he made money with white deer skin. In order to make heaven send auspicious signs, he also cast silver-tin alloy white gold coins.

The next year, the Emperor went to the outskirts of Yongxian County to hold a sacrifice and hunted a unicorn that looked like an ostrich. The official in charge said: "Your Majesty respectfully held a suburban sacrifice, and God gave this unicorn in return for his sacrifice. This is probably a unicorn. " So he offered sacrifices to the temples of the Five Emperors. Each temple offered sacrifices to a cow, and held Liao (Liao) festivals and burned firewood to worship heaven. Give the princes white gold coins, suggesting that this auspicious sign is consistent with the meaning of heaven and earth.

At this time, King Jibei thought that the emperor was going to hold a meditation ceremony, so he wrote to the emperor and presented Taishan and its surrounding cities. The son of heaven accepted it and gave it to him as compensation in other counties and cities. King Changshan was guilty and exiled. The son of heaven sealed his brother to be calm, continued to worship his ancestors, and changed Changshan country into a county. In this way, the five mountains are all within the counties directly under the jurisdiction of the son of heaven.

The following year, Qi people came to see the emperor with magic to attract ghosts and gods. The emperor had a beloved Mrs. Wang who died. It is said that Shao Weng used magic to make Mrs. Wang and the kitchen god appear at night, and the son of heaven saw it through the curtain. So Shao Weng was named General Wencheng, and he was rewarded a lot, treating him like a distinguished guest. General Wencheng said: "If the emperor wants to associate with God, but the palace, clothes and other utensils are not used by God, God will not come." So they made cars painted with various clouds, and drove cars of different colors on different days to drive away evil spirits according to the principle of the five elements interacting with each other. Ganquan Palace was also built. There was a Gaotai Palace in the palace, in which gods such as heaven, earth and Thailand were painted, and sacrificial utensils were placed to attract gods. After more than a year, his magic became more and more ineffective, and the fairy never came again. General Wencheng wrote some words on a piece of silk to make the cow swallow, pretending not to know, saying that there was something strange in the cow's stomach. I killed the cow. Look at it. I found a piece of silk with words written on it. The words on it are very strange, and the son of heaven is very suspicious. Someone recognized Wencheng's handwriting and came up with a question, which proved to be a fake of Shao Weng. So he killed General Wencheng and hid.

Since then, white veranda, copper columns and dew cactus have been built. It is said that the dew of cactus is mixed with jade powder, and you can live forever if you drink it often.

In the second year after Wencheng's death, the son of heaven was seriously ill in Dinghu Palace. The witch doctor tried everything, but it didn't get better. So he swam to the root of the tree and said, "There is a wizard in Shang Jun. When he is sick, ghosts and gods can attach themselves to him. " The emperor called the wizard and enshrined him in Ganquan Palace. When the wizard is sick, send someone to ask the god king attached to the wizard. The emperor said, "The son of heaven need not worry about his illness. He will recover soon. You can hold on and meet me at Ganquan Palace. " So the son of heaven's condition eased and went to Ganquan Palace in person. Sure enough, he recovered completely. Amnesty, put the king of god in the first place. The most noble of the kings of gods is Taiyi God, and his assistant gods are gods like Ban and Siming, who all follow him. People can't see the gods, they can only hear their voices, just like people's voices. Immortals come and go, and when they come, they can hear the rustling wind. They live in indoor curtains and sometimes talk during the day, but often at night. The son of heaven first held a blessing (clothing) sacrifice to seek happiness in disaster relief, and then entered the palace. The wizard is the main person, let him take care of the emperor's diet. What the immortal said was Wu Shichuan's. They were placed in Shougong and Gong Bei, decorated with feather flags, and set up sacrificial containers to show their respect for God. What the emperor said was ordered to be recorded and called "painting", which means unified method. In fact, what the emperor said is generally known to ordinary people, and it is nothing special, but the emperor is secretly happy. These things are secret, and no one in the world knows.

In the third year after that, the official in charge suggested that the epochs should be named after auspicious signs from heaven, not in the order of one year or two. The first era of the People's Republic of China can be called "Jianyuan"; The second era can be called "high beam" because there is a comet called the long star. The third era can be called "Yuanshou" because unicorns were acquired during the sacrifice in the suburbs.

The following winter, the son of heaven went to the outskirts of Yongcheng to hold a sacrifice, saying, "Now I personally worship God, but I didn't worship the land god, which is not in line with the ceremony." The official in charge discussed with Taishiling Sima Tan, temple official Kuan Shu and others: "There should be young animals with horns as big as cocoons and chestnuts in the place of offering sacrifices to heaven. Now your Majesty will personally sacrifice Hou Di. After the sacrifice, five altars will be built on the dome in the middle of osawa. Each altar was sacrificed with a yellow calf, and all of them were buried after the sacrifice. Those who accompany the sacrifice must wear yellow clothes. " So the son of heaven traveled eastward and established the Houtu Temple in Fenyin Mountain for the first time, which was completed at the suggestion of Kuanshu and others. The emperor personally worships the land god, which is the same as the previous ceremony. After the ceremony, the emperor returned to Chang 'an via Xingyang. When passing Luoyang, Zhao Xia said, "The Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties are far away, so it is difficult to preserve many descendants. You can set aside 30 miles for Zhou Zinan County, the descendant of Zhou Wang, where he can sacrifice to his ancestors. " This year, the son of heaven began to patrol counties and counties, and gradually approached Mount Tai.

In the spring of this year, Le Chenghou wrote to recommend Luan Da. Luan Da is the imperial secretary in charge of daily life affairs in Liu Ji Palace, the king of Jiaodong. I used to study with General Wencheng, and later I gave the order that King Jiaodong was responsible for preparing drugs. Le Chenghou's sister is Queen Kang of Jiaodong and has no son. Kang Wang died, and the sons of other concubines became kings. But after Kang promiscuous, he couldn't get along with the new gentleman, and they hurt each other in various ways. When Kang Hou heard that General Wencheng had died and wanted to please the emperor personally, he sent Luan Datong to Lecheng Hou to see the emperor and said that he was a magic weapon. After the son of heaven killed General Wencheng, he also regretted his early death and that he had not taken out all the magic weapons. When he met Luan Da, the son of heaven was very happy. Luan Da is a tall and handsome man, who speaks strategically, dares to say and do things, and speaks the truth without hesitation. He boasted: "I have traveled in the sea and met immortals such as An Qisheng and Xianmen Ao. But they think I am inferior and don't trust me. And think that Kang Wang is just a vassal, not worthy to pass the fairy method to him. I tried to persuade Kang Wang many times, but Kang Wang refused to hire me. My teacher said,' Gold can be refined, the breach of the Yellow River can be blocked, the fairy medicine can be obtained, and the fairy moves'. I'm afraid I'll be killed like Wencheng, and the alchemists will have to keep their mouths shut. How dare they talk about magic soldiers again! " The emperor said, "Wencheng just ate horse liver by mistake and died. If you really study the teacher's magic, what can I stand! " Luanda said, "My teacher doesn't want what others want, but what people want from him. If your majesty wants to attract immortals, he should make the messenger of immortals more distinguished, let him have his own family, treat him with courtesy, don't look down on him, and let him wear various seals to deliver letters to immortals. It is uncertain whether the fairy will come or not. In short, only by making the messenger of the gods extremely noble can it attract the gods. " At this time, the emperor asked him to do a little magic trick to test the effect, so he performed a game of chess and the pieces collided with each other on the chessboard. The emperor didn't know that this was actually just a trick with magnetic chess pieces and magnetic steel bars.

At that time, the emperor was worried that the Yellow River would burst and gold refining would not be successful, so he named Luan Dawei General Wuli. After more than a month, Luan Da got four gold seals, wearing the seals of General Shi Tian, General Dickinson, General Datong and General Tiandao respectively. The emperor wrote an imperial edict: "In the past, Dayu was able to dredge Jiujiang and attract four blasphemies (dú, Nian). Recently, the flooded river flooded the land, and the work of embankment construction continued. I have ruled the world for 28 years. If God wants to send me an alchemist, it will be General Chase. " "Flying Dragon" is mentioned in "Gangua" in Zhouyi, and "Hongyan" is mentioned in "Gradually Gua". I think this may be a compliment to our monarch and his subjects. We should set aside 2000 families as fiefs. General Luan Dawei will be happy to communicate with Hou. "Give him a first-class mansion and one thousand slaves. He distributed the surplus chariots, horses and curtains used by the emperor to Luanda and filled his new house. He also married Wei princess royal, gave him ten thousand Jin of gold, and renamed the city where he lived as Princess Dangli. The son of heaven visited the residence of General Li Wu. Ambassadors went to offer their condolences, and gifts poured in on the road. From the emperor's aunt and princess royal to the people below the general, banquets were prepared at home to present gifts to him. Then the son of heaven carved a decree of "General Tian" and sent messengers to hold the decree and wear clothes made of bird feathers to stand on the white thatch at night. General Li Wu also wore clothes made of bird feathers and stood on a white thatch to accept the imperial seal, which shows that the son of heaven did not treat Indian lovers as princes. Wearing the seal of "heaven" is to guide the arrival of the gods for the son of heaven. So Wuli often sacrifices at home at night, hoping to invite immortals to the next world. As a result, the gods didn't come, and all kinds of ghosts gathered, but General Wuli could still exorcise ghosts. After that, he packed his bags and went east to sea, reportedly to find his teacher. Luan Da introduced it for several months, and he wore six seals. His noble name shocked the world, making the alchemists along the coast of Yanqi hold their wrists and excited. They all say that they also have secret recipes and can communicate with immortals.

In the middle of June this summer, a sound-splitting mage named Jin offered sacrifices to people near Houtu Temple. When he saw the ground rise into a hook, he dug up the dirt and found a tripod. This tripod is very different from others. There are only patterns on it, but no lettering. The wizard thought it was strange and told the local officials. The local officials reported to the Governor of Hedong, Sheng, and Sheng reported to the court. The Emperor sent messengers to check and ask about the details of the wizard's tripod. After confirming that there is no fraud, hold a sacrifice according to etiquette and invite Ding to Ganquan Palace. The son of heaven followed the tripod and prepared to give it to the emperor of heaven. When I arrived in Zhongshan, the sun was shining and the weather was warm, covering a piece of Huang Yun. Just as a bird ran by, the emperor personally shot it and offered it as a sacrifice. After arriving in Chang 'an, officials and doctors are talking about demanding respect for Baoding. The son of heaven said, "Recently, the Yellow River has flooded and the harvest has failed year after year. That's why I went out to patrol the county, offering sacrifices to the afterlife and praying for her to nourish the crops for the people. There was a bumper harvest this year, and there was no sacrifice to reward the gods. Why did this tripod appear? " Officials all said: "I heard that the great emperor Xi Shi once built a tripod to show unity, which means that everything in the world is tripod." The Yellow Emperor made three Baoding, symbolizing heaven, earth and people. Yu Xia collected bronze from Kyushu and cast nine Baoding, all of which were used for cooking livestock and offering sacrifices to gods and ghosts. When you meet Ding Zhu, it will appear, and Baoding has been spread from Xia Dynasty to Shang Dynasty. At the end of the week, Shide declined, and the social altar where the Song State sacrificed to the land god was destroyed, so the tripod disappeared and no longer appeared. " "The Book of Songs Zhou Song" said: "Going back and forth from the hall to the steps, from sheep to cattle, Dading Xiaoding has checked; Not arrogant and impetuous, extremely respectful, healthy and long-lived. "Now ding has reached the oasis palace. Its appearance is dazzling and unpredictable, which means that our country will get endless good luck. This trip to Zhongshan was covered with yellow and white auspicious clouds, and the next day auspicious signs coincided with auspicious animals. You also got a bow of Zhang greatly and four arrows on the altar, which are the rewards for your joint sacrifice to the ancestors in the ancestral temple. Only those who are ordered to be emperor can know God's will and be in harmony with Heaven's virtue. This tripod should be dedicated to ancestors and treasured in the court of the Emperor of Heaven to welcome all kinds of good omen. " The emperor wrote a letter and said, "Yes."

People who went to the sea to look for Penglai Fairy Mountain said that Penglai was not far away, but they could never reach it, probably because they could not see the clouds in Fairy Mountain. The emperor sent officials who were good at watching gas to help observe the clouds.

In the autumn of this year, the emperor went to Yongxian County to hold a suburban sacrifice to the Five Emperors. Some people say, "The Five Emperors are the assistants of Taiyi God, so it is necessary to set up Taiyi altar, and the emperor will personally hold a suburban sacrifice." The emperor hesitated. Sun Qing of Qiren Palace said: "I got Baoding this year. It's the first day this winter, and it was delivered this morning on the winter solstice, the same as when Huangdi got Baoding. " There was a wooden copy in the palace, saying, "The Yellow Emperor got Baoding in Wanqu County and asked about your canal area. The ghost cave area replied:' The magic strategy of divination by Emperor Baoding. This year, the first day is the new moon, and the winter solstice is in the morning, which conforms to the calendar of Heaven. The calendar of heaven is over and over again. So the Yellow Emperor observed the movement of the sun to calculate the calendar. Since then, he met the winter solstice on the morning of the new moon every 20 years, and he counted it 20 times. In 380, the Yellow Emperor became immortal and ascended to heaven. Gong Sunqing wanted to tell the story to the emperor through Zhong Zhong. Zhong Zhong refused to say, "What's the point of beating Baoding?" Gongsunqing also hit all the people the emperor prized. The emperor was very happy and asked Gongsunqing to inquire. Gong said, "It's a book. He is dead. " The emperor asked, "Who is Shen Gong?" Gong Sunqing said: "He is a neat person. He had contacts with An Qisheng and was taught by the Yellow Emperor, leaving no other books, only this one about Ding. The book says,' The prosperity of the Han Dynasty should be the same as that of the Yellow Emperor; The wise king of the Han dynasty will be among the grandchildren or great-grandchildren of Emperor Gaozu. When Baoding appears, you can communicate with the gods and hold a meditation. Since ancient times, 72 kings have held amenorrhea ceremonies, and only the Yellow Emperor can climb Mount Tai to worship heaven. "Shen Gong said," The emperors of the Han Dynasty have to climb Mount Tai to worship heaven, and then they can become immortals and ascend to heaven. There are tens of thousands of vassal states in the Yellow Emperor, among which 7,000 are fiefs built to worship the gods. There are eight famous mountains in the world, three of which are in the barbarian territory and five in the Central Plains. There are Huashan Mountain, Shoushan Mountain, Taishi Mountain, Taishan Mountain and Donglai Mountain in the Central Plains. These five mountains are the places where the Yellow Emperor often goes and where he meets the immortals. The Yellow Emperor learned how to become immortal in the battle. He was afraid that the people would oppose what he had learned, so he killed those who slandered ghosts and gods. It took more than a hundred years to get in touch with the gods. The Yellow Emperor worshipped God in the suburb of Yongxian County and lived there for three months. The ghost's nickname is Dahong, and he was buried in Yongxian after his death. This is the origin of Zhu Hong. After that, the Yellow Emperor greeted tens of thousands of gods in the Ming court. Mingting is now Ganquan Mountain. The so-called cold door is now taniguchi. Huangdi mined Shoushan copper mine and cast a tripod at the foot of Jingshan Mountain. After casting the tripod, a dragon with a beard around its neck descended from the sky to meet the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor rode on the dragon's back, followed by more than 70 ministers and concubines in the harem, and Longteng left empty. The rest of the junior officials couldn't get up, but they all clung to the dragon beard, which was broken and the bow of the Yellow Emperor fell off. The people looked up at the Yellow Emperor and shouted loudly with bows and dragons, so later generations called that place Dinghushan and that place GongWu Hao. " "The son of heaven said," ah! If I can really be like the Yellow Emperor, then I think leaving my wife and children is just like taking off my shoes. So he appointed the palace as Langguan and told him to go east to Taishi Mountain and other immortals. "。

Then the emperor went to worship in the suburbs of Yongxian County, then to Longxi, climbed the Kongtong Mountain to the west, and then returned to Ganquan Palace. Temple official Kuanshu and others were ordered to set up Taiyi altar. The altar is modeled after the Taiyi altar mentioned by Bomiu Er and is divided into three layers. The altar of the Five Emperors surrounds the altar of Taiyi, each in its place. The Yellow Emperor altar is located in the southwest, with eight passages for ghosts and gods to pass through. All the sacrifices of Taiyi altar are the same as those of one of the five temples in Yongxian, with the addition of sweet wine, jujube fruit and dried meat, and the killing of a cattle (máo) as a sacrificial prison. The Five Emperors altar only worships cows, sheep and other sacrificial prisons and sweet wine, and does not cultivate cows. Around the altar, as a place to worship the gods and the Big Dipper. After the sacrifice, burn all the used sacrifices. The sacrificial cow is white. Put the deer into the abdominal cavity of the cow, then put the pig into the abdominal cavity of the deer and soak it in water. Only one cow is used to worship the sun, and one sheep or pig is used to worship the moon. Zhu Guan, who sacrificed to Taiyi God, wore purple embroidery, Zhu Guan, who sacrificed to the Five Emperors, wore red clothes on the sacrificial day and white clothes on the sacrificial moon.

1 1 in the morning, the winter solstice turned, and just before dawn, the son of heaven began to sacrifice to Taiyi God in the suburbs. Worship the sun god in the morning and Yue Bai god in the evening, all holding hands; The sacrifice of Taiyi God is carried out in accordance with the etiquette of sacrifice in the suburbs of Yongxian County. The congratulatory message to persuade God to eat said: "God began to give the emperor a plan to make his world endless month after month, year after year. The emperor respectfully visits the gods here. " Sacrificial clothing is yellow. During the sacrifice, the altar was covered with a torch and a cooker was placed next to it. The official in charge said that "a light appeared above the shrine". The minister or minister said, "The emperor first offered sacrifices to Taiyi God in the suburb of Yunyang Palace, and the stewards held exquisite sacrifices with a diameter of six inches, such as jade and wool, for the gods to enjoy. There are beautiful lights at night, and yellow clouds rise during the day and connect with the sky. " Tai Shigong and Guan Shu, a temple official, said: "The beautiful sight of the gods is an auspicious sign for blessing Fulu. A Thai altar should be built in this area, illuminated with sacred light to publicize the sacred response. I put Taizu in charge of this matter, and held sacrifices in autumn and December every year. Every three years the emperor is in the suburbs. "

This autumn, in order to crusade against South Vietnam, the God Taiyi was sacrificed. Vitex negundo is used as a flagpole. The national flag is painted with the sun, the moon, the Big Dipper and the rising dragon to symbolize three stars in the sky. Because Taiyi Samsung is behind and Tianyi Samsung is in front, Tianyi Samsung is named as the pioneer flag of Taiyi God. When Tai Shigong paid homage to military affairs, he held a spirit flag and pointed it in the direction of the conquered country. At that time, General Li Wu, as an emissary, did not dare to go to the sea to seek immortality, but only went to Mount Tai to offer sacrifices. The emperor sent someone to secretly follow him to check his whereabouts and learned that he didn't actually see anything. General Wuli talks nonsense about meeting his teacher, but in fact, his magic has been exhausted, and most of it can't be fulfilled. The emperor killed General Li Wu.

This winter, Gong waited for the immortal in Henan, saying that he saw the immortal's footprints in the city of Gou (u, dig) and there was a sacred object like a pheasant, which came and went in the city. The son of heaven personally went to Gou Jian's city to see the footprints. Ask Gong Sunqing: "Are you deceiving me by imitating Wencheng and Wuli?" Sun Qingqing said, "Immortals don't want emperors, and emperors want immortals. Ask the fairy to say that if you don't relax your time, the fairy won't come. It seems pedantic and absurd to talk about asking for God. In fact, as long as you accumulate years, you can attract immortals. " So all counties and countries built roads, repaired palaces, observatories and shrines of famous mountains in order to look forward to the arrival of the son of heaven.

This year, after the destruction of South Vietnam, Li Yannian, the emperor's favorite, came to meet him with wonderful music. The emperor thought the music was extremely beautiful, so he gave it to ministers and ministers to discuss, saying, "There are drums, dances and music in folk sacrifices. Now I hold suburban sacrifices, but there is no music. How can you match it? " Ministers said: "In ancient times, there was joy in heaven and earth, and gods and land gods could enjoy sacrifices." Someone said, "Teddy asked the goddess Motome to play a 50-string instrument. Taidi asked her to stop because of her sad voice, but she couldn't stop, so she cut her instrument open and changed it into a 25-string instrument. " Therefore, when offering sacrifices to Taiyi and Houtu God in order to pacify South Vietnam, they began to recruit singers with music and dance, and began to make 25-string Qin and k NGHóu Qin.

The following winter, the emperor suggested that "the ancient emperors should stop fighting and then worship Zen." So he went north to inspect Shuofang and brought hundreds of thousands of troops. When I came back, I sacrificed at the tomb of Huangdi Mausoleum in Qiao Shan, and now I have dismissed the army. The emperor said, "I heard that the Yellow Emperor didn't die, but now he has a mausoleum. What's wrong? " Someone replied, "After the Yellow Emperor became immortal and ascended to heaven, ministers buried his clothes and hats here, so there was a mausoleum." When the emperor arrived at Ganquan Palace, he offered sacrifices to Taiyi God so that he could meditate on Mount Tai.

Ever since he got Baoding, the emperor has been discussing Zen with ministers and Confucian scholars. Because amenorrhea ceremony is rarely held, it has been lost for a long time, and no one knows its etiquette. Many Confucian scholars advocated adopting the ceremony of the son of heaven shooting an ox to watch the sacrifice recorded in Shangshu, Zhouguan and Wang Zhi. Ding Gong, a 90-year-old Qi man, said: "The' seal' of climbing Mount Tai to worship heaven should mean immortality. Qin Shihuang failed to climb Mount Tai for meditation. If your majesty must go up, he should insist; As long as you climb a little higher, there will be no wind and rain to stop you, and you can finally climb Mount Tai for meditation. " The emperor then ordered Confucian scholars to practice shooting cows repeatedly and draft amenorrhea etiquette. In a few years, there will be a meditation. The son of heaven listened to the words of the palace and the alchemist, saying that emperors before the Yellow Emperor held meditation ceremonies, which attracted strange things and connected them with immortals. He wanted to imitate the way the Yellow Emperor greeted the immortal Penglai scholar at that time, so as to surpass the secular world and be on a par with the Nine Emperors, and to a great extent, he also decorated it with Confucianism. Confucian scholars, because they can't tell the details of Zen, are bound by ancient China classics such as poems and books, and dare not bring their knowledge to the extreme. The emperor showed Confucian scholars sacrificial vessels for amenorrhea. Some Confucian scholars said that "it is different from the ancient times", and Yan Xu said that "the official ceremony of Taichang Temple is not as good as that of Gulu". At this time, Zhou Ba gathered a group of Confucian scholars to plan to accept Zen, and the emperor exiled Yan Xu and Zhou Ba, and dismissed all Confucian scholars.

In March, the emperor traveled eastward to Gou County, and boarded the Taishan Mountain in Zhongyue to offer sacrifices. At the foot of the mountain, the accompanying officials heard someone shouting "Long live". Ask the people on the mountain, say or not; I asked the people at the foot of the mountain, but they didn't shout. So the emperor sealed 300 families in Taishi Mountain as sacrifices and named them Gaocheng. Climb Mount Tai to the east. Before the vegetation on the mountain grows leaves, find someone to transport the stone tablet up the mountain and stand at the peak of Mount Tai.

Then, the emperor went on a cruise to pay homage to the gods, landlords, soldiers, Yin, Yang, the moon, the sun, Ba Shen and the four seasons. Tens of thousands of people in the state of Qi have written about immortals and monsters, but none of them worked. So the emperor sent more boats and ordered thousands of people who talked about the sacred mountains on the sea to visit Penglai Fairy. The palace often goes to the mountains with immortals in hand. When he arrived in Donglai, he said that he saw a man standing a few feet high at night, waiting for him to approach, but he was gone. It is said that I saw his footprints, which were large and similar to those of animals. A minister said that he saw an old man with a dog and said, "I want to see the son of heaven", and then he suddenly disappeared. When the emperor saw the big footprint, he still didn't believe it. It was not until some of his ministers talked about the old man that he thought the old man was a fairy to a great extent. So he stayed at sea, gave the alchemist a bus, and secretly sent thousands of messengers to find the immortal.

In April, I returned to Gao Feng. It is really hard for the emperor to think that Confucian scholars and alchemists have different views on Zen rites and lack of ancient books.