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Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals

Chunqiu Fanlu

Dong Zhongshu·Chinese·attributed

About this text

The collection under Dong Zhongshu's name that worked out his grand correlation of Heaven, Earth, and humankind — omens as Heaven's commentary on government, the ruler as the hinge between cosmic and social order. Parts are likely later accretions, which is why scholars treat the attribution chapter by chapter; the system, though, is the one his memorials made state doctrine.

When a state is about to fail through loss of the Way, Heaven first sends forth calamities and disasters to reprimand and warn it. If the ruler does not know to examine himself, Heaven sends prodigies to frighten him. If he still does not change, only then do ruin and defeat arrive. From this one can see that Heaven's heart is benevolent toward the ruler of men, and wishes to stay his disorder.

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