Lofty Principles of Dream-Interpretation

Lofty Principles of Dream-Interpretation

(C^en S^i-yuan : Encyclopaedia of Dreams ) [I.1-4]

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pp. 55-57 – I.1. "True Controller"

p. 56, nn. 1-2 the unknowable became the knowable

n. 1	"There seems to be a True Controller {cf. [Skt.] antra-yamin ‘inner controller’}, but it is impossible to apprehend its appearance. According to Master Guangcheng, the absolute Way is fathomless and obscure."	*Master Z^uan*
	"In antiquity, before there was heaven and earth, everything was fathomless and obscure, confused and murky, undifferentiated and empty, so that there was no gateway into it."	*Master of Huai-nan*
n. 2	"The Great Generation occurred before qi-energy appeared. It lacked any form or definite borders, but then it transformed and became oneness."	*Master Lie*

p. 56, n. 2 successive cosmic becomings

1 became 7	7 became 9	9 becometh 1 again	*Lie-zi*
1 became 2	2 became 3	3 became 10,000	*Lao-zi*

p. 56, n. 5 distinctions between Heaven & Earth in regard to energy, essence, & spirit

*Heaven (Tian)*	*Earth (Di)*	*source*
"Heaven in us takes the form of virtuous power [de]	while earth in us takes the form of qi-energy."	*Book of the Spiritual Pivot*
"Vigorous essence [xin] and spirit [s^en] are apportioned by heaven and	the components of the body are apportioned by earth.	*Master Lie*
what belongs to heaven is pure and disperses;	what belongs to earth is impure and coagulates."	*Master Lie*

pp. 56-57, nn. 5-7 differences between hun-soul & po-soul

p.	n.	*hun*	po	*source*
56	5	accompanieth the spirit [s^en] as it cometh and goeth	entereth and exiteth along with the vigorous essence [xin]	*Book of the Spiritual Pivot*
		ruleth the emotions	ruleth the inhaerent nature	*Discussions in the White Tigre Hall*
		governed by wood	governed by metal	*Z^u Xi*
56-7		3 in #	7 in #	*Z^u Xi*
57	6	worthy	stupid	*A Record of Textual Studies*
		lightweight	heavy
		bright	dark
		is elevated by feathers	is weighed down by hair
	7	when it is strong, "one is adept at achieving a profound understanding"	when it is strong, "one is adept at remembering things"
		is used by ordinary people "to direct their po-soul"	*is used by the sage "to take charge of his hun-soul"*

p. 55 locations of souls during states of consciousness

*during __ state*	*__-soul*	*is located in one’s __*
waking	hun	eyen
dreaming	po	liver

pp. 55, 57 dream-mirror, according to Master Z^uan

p. 55	"Dreaming is spirit-wandering and a mirror for knowing the future."
p. 57, n. 8	"It is the reflector of heaven and earth and a mirror of the myriad things."
p. 57, n. 9	*"The hun-soul interacts with others during sleep".*

p. 57, n. 9 effect of the spirit (s^en) on dreaming, according to Master Lie

*When the spirit __*	*thereupon __*
"makes contact"	"dreams result"
"congeals"	"dreams dissipate on their own."

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pp. 58-59 – I.2. "Long-Willow Method" (of Dream-Interpreation)

p. 59, n. 2 the 3 patterns & the 3 methods used by the grand diviner, according the "Grand Diviner" chapter in the Government Organization of the Z^ou

the 3 patterns of tortoise-shell divination :-	"cracks ... resembling striations on jade"
	cracks "resembling the shape of clay roof tiles"
	cracks "forming a right angle"
the 3 methods of hexagram divination :-	"Connected Mountains"
	"Returning to Concealment"
	"Zhou Dynasty Hexagrams"

p. 59, n. 3 the dynasties of the 3 types of dreams, according to commentary, by Z^en Xuan, on the Government Organization of the Z^ou

*dream-type*	*dynasty*
‘arrival’ : "where the dreamer arrives someplace."	Xia
qi-men ‘obtaining something’	S^an
xian-z^i ‘everything-obtaining’	Z^ou

p. 59, n. 4

"there are eight fixed charges that are ... posed	to the milfoil stalks of hexagram divination and
	to the tortoise shells of pyroscapulomancy, and these
	are also used in the interpretation of dreams."
"These eight charges were applied to the interpretations of		the three kinds of patterns of tortoise shell divination,
		the three methods of hexagram divinations, and
		the three kinds of dreams".
*{8 3 * 3 = 72 applications}**
"The Government Organization of the Z^ou states that the eight charges regarding state affairs concerned : war; astronomical omens; bestowals; strategies; results; arrivals; rain; and disease."

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pp. 60-62 – I.3. "Day and Night"

similes for nychthemeron

p.	*simile*
60	"Day and night are like a single breath".
61, n. 1	[according to Yan Z^i-tui] "A sage appears once in a thousand years, yet this occurs as rapidly as dawn and dusk."

p. 61, n. 4 "auspicious dreams of heaven and earth"

*dream about __*	*description*	*source*
"Lucky stars	are shaped like a half-moon."	Mr. Sun’s Illustrations of Auspicious Things
"providential clouds"	"lonely and spiraling"	*Historical Records*
"bronze vessels, chariots, and sweet springs"	derived from "the virtuous power of a king"	*Discussions in the White Tigre Hall*

p. 61, n. 5 "inauspicious dreams of heaven and earth" : "nightmares of heaven and earth"

*dream about __*	*description*	*source*
"Baneful stars"	"comets"	Jin Z^uo
"Dust-filled wind-storms"	mixed with earth	*Commentary on the Book of Songs*
"Malevolent vapors"	"inauspicious qi-energy"	*Ocean of Chapters according to the Five Sounds*
"earthquakes"	"Mountains collapsing"	*Apocrypha to the Book of Ritual*
"droughts"	"rivers drying up"	" " "
the god Yi-yan	"on the Plains of Mu"	*Master of Huai-nan*

p. 62, n . 6 macrosm-microcosm, according to the Master of Huai-nan

*macrocosm (heaven)*	*microcosm (human)*
4 seasons	4 limbs
5 agents	5 zan-organs
9 caelestial regions	9 origifices
366 days	366 joints

p. 62, n . 6 organs responding to trees, according to A Garden of Stories

*organ*	*tree*
heart	jujube
liver	elm

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pp. 63-65 – I.4 "Various Forms of Divination"

p. 63 methods of divinations produced from rivers

*the __ River*	Luo	Yellow
*produced the __*	"Cinnabar Text"	"Green Diagram"
*consisting of __*	9 divisions	8 trigrams
*subdivided into __*	120 basic forms	64 permutations
*for __ divination*	tortoise-shell	hexagram

p. 64, n. 6 the 10 hui (‘haloes’), according to the Government Organization of the Z^ou -- According to the commentary by Z^en Xuan, "the king is represented in heaven by the sun. After he dreams at night, one can observe vapors around the sun the next day and interpret ... . There are ten kinds of vapors that can be interpreted, and each vapor has nine variations."

#	*halo*
1^st	"malign"
2^nd	"symbolic image"
3^rd	"engraved"
4^th	"examined"
5^th	"dark"
6^th	"obscure"
7^th	"complete"
8^th	"ranked"
9^th	"increasing"
10^th	"imagined"

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Richard E. Strassberg (transl.) : Wandering Spirits : Chen Shiyuan’s Encyclopedia of Dreams. U of CA Pr, Berkeley, 2008. [dreaming is described as "spirit-wandering" on p. 55]