| Annals of the Five...: |
Eastward his empire extended to the sea, Ball hill, and the ancestral Dai mountain; westward to 'Hollow cave' and Cock's-head hills; southward to the Yangtze river and Xiongxiang hill; while in the north he drove out the Xunyu. He made a treaty on Kettle hill, and built a city on the slopes of Zhuolu. He was constantly changing his residence, while his troops formed an encampment about him. He ordered his officers to be named after cloud omens. He appointed a chief and deputy superintendent over international affairs, and the various states being at peace, he worshipped the demons and spirits of the hills and streams with the feng and shan ceremonies in numbers. He obtained a valuable tripod, and made calculations of future events, appointing 'Chief of the winds,' 'Strength-governor,' 'Everfirst,' and 'Great Swan,' to direct the people to act in accordance with the celestial and terrestrial arrangements, the dark and bright prognostications, the disputations on life and death, the planting of the crops, plants, and trees in their seasons, and the transformations of birds, beasts, insects, and moths. He also prepared a record of the movements of the sun, moon, and stars; the flow of the tides; and the properties of clay, stones, metals, and gems. He devoted much careful attention to these things, and his observation was applied to ascertaining how fire, water, wood, and other elements could be used economically. There was an auspicious omen of the earth's energy, and he was therefore called 'Yellow god.' |
