| | 偶会: |
命、吉凶之主也，自然之道，适偶之数，非有他气旁物厌胜感动使之然也。 |
| | Fate and auspiciousness or inauspiciousness are the masters of these matters. The principle of nature, the numbers of coincidence and chance, are not caused by any other qi, external objects, or supernatural influences that can subdue or affect them to be so.
|
| | 偶会: |
世谓子胥伏剑，屈原自沉，子兰、宰嚭诬谗，吴、楚之君冤杀之也。偶二子命当绝，子兰、宰嚭适为谗，而怀王、夫差适信奸也。君适不明，臣适为谗，二子之命，偶自不长，二偶三合，似若有之，其实自然，非他为也。 |
| | The world says that Wu Zixu committed suicide by drawing a sword upon himself, and Qu Yuan drowned himself. Zi Lan and Zai Pi slandered them with false accusations, and the rulers of Wu and Chu wrongfully killed them. It happened that these two men were destined to die; Zi Lan and Zai Pi just happened to make false accusations, while King Huai of Chu and Fu Chai of Wu just happened to believe the villains. The ruler just happened not to be wise, and the minister just happened to make slander. The fate of these two men was coincidentally short-lived; this combination of two coincidences and one convergence seems as if there were some external force at work, but in reality it was natural, not caused by anything else.
|
| | 偶会: |
夏、殷之朝适穷，桀、纣之恶适稔；商、周之数适起，汤、武之德适丰。关龙逢杀，箕子、比干囚死，当桀、纣恶盛之时，亦二子命讫之期也。任伊尹之言，纳吕望之议，汤、武且兴之会，亦二臣当用之际也。人臣命有吉凶，贤不肖之主与之相逢。文王时当昌，吕望命当贵；高宗治当平，傅说德当遂。非文王、高宗为二臣生，吕望、傅说为两君出也。君明臣贤，光曜相察，上修下治，度数相得。 |
| | The Xia and Yin dynasties just happened to reach the end of their reigns; Jie and Zhou's wickedness had just reached its culmination. The numbers of Shang and Zhou dynasties coincidentally arose, while the virtue of Tang and Wu coincidentally flourished. Guan Longfeng was killed, Ji Zi and Bi Gan were imprisoned and died; this occurred during the time when Jie and Zhou's evil reached its height, which also coincided with the end of these two men's fates. Accepting Yi Yin's words and adopting Yu Wang's advice, the time for Tang and Wu to rise was also the moment when these two ministers were destined for use. Ministers' fates have auspiciousness or inauspiciouness; virtuous or wicked rulers meet them accordingly. When King Wen was destined to flourish, Yu Wang's fate was destined for nobility; When Gaozong's rule was destined to be peaceful, Fu Yue's virtue was destined to succeed. It is not that King Wen and Gaozong were born for these two ministers, nor that Yu Wang and Fu Yue emerged for the two rulers. When a ruler is wise and his minister virtuous, their brilliance shines upon each other; when the superior cultivates virtue and the subordinate governs well, principles and numbers harmonize.
|
| | 偶会: |
颜渊死，子曰：“天丧予。”子路死，子曰：“天祝予。”孔子自伤之辞，非实然之道也。孔子命不王，二子寿不长也。不王不长，所禀不同，度数并放，适相应也。 |
| | When Yan Yuan died, Confucius said: "Heaven has deprived me." When Zilu died, Confucius said: "Heaven is blessing me." These were expressions of Confucius's own sorrow; they are not the actual principles. Confucius was destined not to become a king, and these two disciples' lives were not long either. Not becoming a king and not living long resulted from receiving different endowments; principles and numbers spread together, coincidentally corresponding to each other.
|
| | 偶会: |
二龙之祅当效，周厉适闓椟；褒姒当丧周国，幽王禀性偶恶。非二龙使厉王发孽，褒姒令幽王愚惑也，遭逢会遇，自相得也。 |
| | The omen of the two dragons was about to manifest when King Lie of Zhou just happened to open the casket; Bao Si was destined to bring ruin to the Zhou state, and King You of Zhou coincidentally had an evil nature. It was not that the two dragons caused King Lie to commit evils, nor Bao Si who made King You foolish and deluded; it was a meeting of circumstances, naturally fitting together.
|
| | 偶会: |
僮谣之语当验，鬭鸡之变适生；鸜鹆之占当应，鲁昭之恶适成。非僮谣致鬭竞，鸜鹆招君恶也，期数自至，人行偶合也。 |
| | The prophecy in the children's song was about to be fulfilled when the incident involving fighting cocks just happened to occur; The divination of the quail and jay was about to come true, while Duke Zhao of Lu's wickedness coincidentally reached its culmination. It was not the children's song that caused the contest, nor were the quail and jay what invited the ruler's evil; it was the time and numbers naturally arriving, with human actions coincidentally aligning.
|
| | 偶会: |
尧命当禅舜，丹朱为无道；虞统当传夏，商均行不轨。非舜、禹当得天下，能使二子恶也，美恶是非适相逢也。 |
| | Yao's fate was destined to abdicate in favor of Shun, while Dan Zhu became a man without virtue; The Yu dynasty was destined to pass on to the Xia, and Shang Jun behaved unlawfully. It was not that Shun and Yu were destined to gain the world, thus causing these two sons to become wicked; rather, virtue and vice, right and wrong, coincidentally met.
|
| | 偶会: |
火星与昴星出入，昴星低时火星出，昴星见时火星伏，非火之性厌服昴也，时偶不并，度转乖也。 |
| | When the Mars star and the M 昴 star rise and set, when the M 昴 star is low, the Mars star appears; when the M 昴 star appears, the Mars star hides. This is not because the nature of fire suppresses or overcomes M 昴, but rather a coincidence that they do not appear together, due to their orbital positions diverging.
|
| | 偶会: |
正月建寅，斗魁破申，非寅建使申破也，转运之衡，偶自应也。 |
| | In the first month, the calendar is set in Yin; the Dipper's Crown opposes Shen. This does not mean that setting the calendar in Yin causes Shen to be broken, but it is a balance of revolving movements, coincidentally corresponding on its own.
|
| | 偶会: |
父殁而子嗣，姑死而妇代，非子妇代代使父姑终殁也，老少年次自相承也。 |
| | When a father dies, the son succeeds; when a mother-in-law dies, the daughter-in-law takes her place. This is not because sons and daughters-in-law succeeding causes fathers and mothers-in-law to die, but rather that old age and youth naturally succeed one another in order.
|
| | 偶会: |
世谓秋气击杀谷草，谷草不任，凋伤而死。此言失实，夫物以春生夏长，秋而熟老，适自枯死，阴气适盛，与之会遇。何以验之？物有秋不死者，生性未极也。人生百岁而终，物生一岁而死，死谓阴气杀之，人终触何气而亡？论者犹或谓鬼丧之。夫人终鬼来，物死寒至，皆适遭也。人终见鬼，或见鬼而不死；物死触寒，或触寒而不枯。 |
| | The world says autumn qi strikes and kills grain grass; the grain grass cannot resist, and thus withers and dies. This statement is untrue: things grow in spring, flourish in summer, and become ripe and old in autumn; they naturally wither and die at that time. Yin qi just happens to be strong then, coinciding with their condition. How can this be verified? There are things that do not die in autumn; their nature has not yet reached its limit. A human lives a hundred years and then dies; an object grows for one year and then perishes. If death is said to be caused by Yin qi killing it, what kind of qi does a person touch when he finally dies? Some debaters still say that ghosts cause the death. When a person dies, ghosts come; when an object perishes, cold arrives—these are all coincidental encounters. A person may see ghosts at the time of death, or see ghosts without dying; An object may wither when touched by cold, but sometimes it is touched by cold and does not dry up.
|
| | 偶会: |
坏屋所压，崩崖所坠，非屋精崖气杀此人也，屋老崖沮，命凶之人，遭㞐适履。 |
| | A person crushed by a collapsing house or falling from a collapsed cliff is not killed by the spirit of the house or the qi of the cliff. Rather, when houses grow old and cliffs become unstable, those with ill fate just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
|
| | 偶会: |
月毁于天，螺消于渊。风从虎，云从龙。同类通气，性相感动。 |
| | The moon is destroyed in the sky; snails vanish in the abyss. Winds follow tigers, clouds follow dragons. Those of the same kind share qi; their natures naturally influence and move each other.
|
| | 偶会: |
若夫物事相遭，吉凶同时，偶适相遇，非气感也。 |
| | However, when things meet by chance and auspiciousness or misfortune occurs at the same time, it is merely a coincidence; it is not caused by qi influencing them.
|
| | 偶会: |
杀人者罪至大辟，杀者罪当重，死者命当尽也。故害气下降，囚命先中；圣王德施，厚禄先逢。是故德令降于殿堂，命长之囚，出于牢中。天非为囚未当死，使圣王出德令也，圣王适下赦，拘囚适当免死。犹人以夜卧昼起矣，夜月光尽，不可以作，人力亦倦，欲壹休息；昼日光明，人卧亦觉，力亦复足。非天以日作之，以夜息之也，作与日相应，息与夜相得也。 |
| | One who kills another receives the punishment of death—the greatest penalty. The killer deserves a heavy sentence, while the victim's life was destined to end. Therefore, harmful qi descends from above; the prisoner's fate is already predetermined. When a sage ruler bestows virtue and grace, great rewards are encountered beforehand. Therefore, virtuous decrees descend to the halls and chambers; those whose fates are long live emerge from prison. Heaven did not specially spare the prisoner who was not yet destined to die in order for a sage ruler to issue virtuous decrees; it merely happened that the sage ruler issued an amnesty, and the imprisoned person coincidentally deserved to be spared death. It is like people sleeping at night and rising in the day: when the moonlight of night fades, one cannot work; human strength also becomes weary, desiring a moment's rest; During the day, with bright light, even if people lie down they feel aware, and their strength is also sufficient again. It is not that Heaven commands people to work during the day and rest at night; rather, working corresponds with daylight, while resting harmonizes with nighttime.
|
| | 偶会: |
雁鹄集于会稽，去避碣石之寒，来遭民田之毕，蹈履民田，喙食草粮。粮尽食索，春雨适作，避热北去，复之碣石。象耕灵陵，亦如此焉。《传》曰：“舜葬苍梧，象为之耕。禹葬会稽，鸟为之佃。”失事之实，虚妄之言也。 |
| | Geese and cranes gather in Kuaiji, leaving to avoid the cold of Jieshi; they come upon completed farmland, treading on it with their feet and pecking at grass and grain. When the food runs out and forage becomes scarce, spring rain just happens to fall; they avoid the heat by flying northward and return once more to Jieshi. The elephants plowing at Lingling also behave in this way. The Commentary says: "Shun was buried at Cangwu, and the elephant tilled the land for him." "Yu was buried in Kuaiji, and birds cultivated the fields for him." This is a distortion of factual events; it is an empty and false statement.
|
| | 偶会: |
丈夫有短寿之相，娶必得早寡之妻；早寡之妻，嫁亦遇夭折之夫也。世曰：“男女早死者，夫贼妻，妻害夫。”非相贼害，命自然也。使火燃，以水沃之，可谓水贼火。火适自灭，水适自覆，两名各自败，不为相贼。今男女之早夭，非水沃火之比，适自灭覆之类也。贼父之子，妨兄之弟，与此同召。同宅而处，气相加凌，羸瘠消单，至于死亡，何谓相贼。或客死千里之外，兵烧厌溺，气不相犯，相贼如何？王莽姑姊正君，许嫁二夫，二夫死，当适赵而王薨。气未相加，遥贼三家，何其痛也！黄公取邻巫之女，卜谓女相贵，故次公位至丞相。其实不然，次公当贵，行与女会；女亦自尊，故入次公门。偶适然自相遭遇，时也。 |
| | A man with the appearance of a short life, when he marries, must obtain a wife who becomes a widow early; A woman destined to become an early widow will also encounter a husband with a short life when she marries. The world says: "Those who die young among men and women, the husband harms the wife, or the wife harms the husband." It is not that they harm each other; it is simply their natural fate. If one causes fire to burn and then pours water on it, can this be called the water harming the fire? The fire just happened to go out by itself; the water just happened to cover it. The two elements each failed on their own, not because they harmed one another. Now, the early deaths of men and women are not comparable to water extinguishing fire; they belong rather to the category of things that just happen to extinguish or cover themselves. A son who harms his father, a younger brother who hinders his elder sibling—these are of the same nature as what has been discussed. Living in the same house, their qi interacts and overwhelms one another; weakness and emaciation gradually lead to death. How can this be called mutual harm? Or someone may die a thousand miles away from home, killed by weapons, fire, or drowning; their qi does not interact at all. How could this be considered mutual harm? Wang Mang's aunt, Zhengjun, was betrothed to two husbands. Both of them died; she was about to marry Zhao when King Wang died. Their qi had not yet interacted, and yet from afar it harmed three families—how painful this is! Huang Gong took the daughter of a neighbor's witch as his wife. A divination said that the girl was destined for greatness, so Ci Gong attained the position of Chancellor. In fact, this is not true: Ci Gong was destined to become noble; his actions coincided with meeting that woman; the woman also had her own lofty destiny, hence she entered the household of Ci Gong. It was a mere coincidence that they encountered each other—this is simply the result of timing.
|
| | 偶会: |
无禄之人，商而无盈，农而无播。非其性贼货而命妨䅽也，命贫，居无利之货，禄恶，殖不滋之䅽也。世谓宅有吉凶，徙有岁月，实事则不然。天道难知，假令有，命凶之人，当衰之家，治宅遭得不吉之地，移徙适触岁月之忌。一家犯忌，口以十数，坐而死者，必禄衰命泊之人也。 |
| | Those without fortune, when engaged in commerce, gain no profit; when farming, they achieve no sowing. It is not that their nature harms goods or their fate hinders crops; it is simply because their destiny is poor, and they deal in goods that yield no profit. Their fortune is bad, so the crops they cultivate do not thrive. The world says houses have auspiciousness or inauspicousness, and that moving has to be done at certain times; but actual facts are not like this. The Dao of Heaven is hard to know; even if there were such things, those with ill fate and families destined for decline would build houses on inauspicious land and move at times coincidentally hitting taboos. If one family violates a taboo, with ten or more people in it, those who die while sitting must be the ones whose fortune is waning and fate weak.
|
| | 偶会: |
推此以论，仕宦进退迁徙，可复见也。时适当退，君用谗口；时适当起，贤人荐己。故仕且得官也，君子辅善；且失位也，小人毁奇。公伯寮诉子路于季孙，孔子称命；鲁人臧仓谗孟子于平公，孟子言天。道未当行，与谗相遇；天未与己，恶人用口。故孔子称命，不怨公伯寮；孟子言天，不尤臧仓，诚知时命当自然也。 |
| | Extending this reasoning, one can also see that advancement or retreat in officialdom, as well as relocation, follows the same principle. When the time is appropriate for retreat, a ruler uses 谗言 (false accusations); When the time is right to rise, virtuous people recommend themselves. Therefore, when one serves and attains office, a gentleman supports virtue; when one loses position, villains slander the extraordinary. Gong Bolaiao accused Zilu to Ji Sun; Confucius referred to it as fate; A man from Lu, Zang Cang, slandered Mencius before King Ping; Mencius spoke of Heaven. The Dao had not yet been destined to prevail when it met with slander; Heaven had not yet favored them, so wicked people used their tongues. Therefore, Confucius referred to fate and did not resent Gong Bolaiao; Mencius spoke of Heaven and did not blame Zang Cang, truly understanding that time and fate are naturally determined.
|
| | 偶会: |
推此以论，人君治道功化，可复言也。命当贵，时适平；期当乱，禄遭衰。治乱成败之时，与人兴衰吉凶适相遭遇。 |
| | Extending this reasoning, the governance and transformation of a ruler can also be discussed. When one's fate is destined for nobility, the time just happens to be peaceful; When the appointed time is one of chaos, fortune coincidentally declines. The times of order or disorder and success or failure just happen to meet with a person's rise or decline, auspiciousness or misfortune.
|
| | 偶会: |
因此论圣贤迭起，犹此类也。圣主龙兴于仓卒，良辅超拔于际会。世谓韩信、张良辅助汉王，故秦灭汉兴，高祖得王。夫高祖命当自王，信、良之辈时当自兴，两相遭遇，若故相求。是故高祖起于丰、沛，丰、沛子弟相多富贵，非天以子弟助高祖也，命相小大，适相应也。赵简子废太子伯鲁，立庶子无恤，无恤遭贤，命亦当君赵也。世谓伯鲁不肖，不如无恤。伯鲁命当贱，知虑多泯乱也。韩生仕至太傅，世谓赖倪宽，实谓不然，太傅当贵，遭与倪宽遇也。赵武藏于袴中，终日不啼，非或掩其口、阏其声也，命时当生，睡卧遭出也。故军功之侯，必斩兵死之头；富家之商，必夺贫室之财。削土免侯，罢退令相，罪法明曰，禄秩适极。故厉气所中，必加命短之人；凶岁所著，必饥虚耗之家矣。 |
| | Therefore, discussing the successive emergence of sages and virtuous men is like this case. A sage ruler rises suddenly in times of crisis; a capable minister is promoted unexpectedly at the right moment. The world says that Han Xin and Zhang Liang assisted King Han, so Qin fell and Han rose, and Emperor Gaozu gained the throne. Emperor Gaozu was destined to become king by his own fate, and men like Han Xin and Zhang Liang were also destined for prominence at that time; the two sides coincidentally encountered each other, as if deliberately seeking one another. Therefore, when Emperor Gaozu rose from Feng and Pei, many young men from those regions became wealthy and noble. This was not because Heaven sent these youths to assist Gaozu; rather, their fates were small or great, coincidentally corresponding with each other. Zhao Jianzi deposed his crown prince Bo Lu and established the commoner son Wu Xu, who coincidentally was virtuous; his fate also destined him to rule Zhao. The world says that Bo Lu was unworthy and not as capable as Wu Xu. Bo Lu's fate was destined for obscurity, hence his knowledge and deliberation were often muddled and chaotic. Han Sheng rose to the position of Taifu (Grand Tutor), and the world says this was due to Ni Kuan. In fact, it is not so; Taifu was destined for honor, and he coincidentally encountered Ni Kuan at the right time. Zhao Wu was hidden in the trousers and remained silent all day, not because someone covered his mouth or stifled his voice; it was simply that at this time he was destined to live, and by sleeping and lying down, he coincidentally survived. Therefore, marquises awarded for military merit must have beheaded the enemy soldiers who were about to die; wealthy merchants must have taken away the wealth from poor households. Those who lose their fiefs and are stripped of marquis titles, those who resign or are dismissed from high offices—according to clear laws and punishments, their official ranks coincidentally reached the peak. Therefore, when harmful qi strikes, it inevitably affects those whose fate is already destined for a short life; in years of misfortune and calamity, the suffering inevitably falls upon families that are already poor and depleted.
|
