Chinese people have a special affection for dreams. Although in the blink of an eye, one returns from the dream world to reality, the clear dream world is still vivid and enchanting, so many people are also keen on dream interpretation. In ancient China, besides the interpretation of dreams by the Duke of Zhou, there were also many people who were good at interpreting dreams in the official and unofficial histories, and they were all fulfilled later.
Fu Jian’s dream about vegetables
The former Qin emperor Fu Jian wanted to attack Jiangnan, and one night he had a dream. In the dream, he saw vegetables growing in the city and the earth collapsing to the southeast.
When he woke up, he asked someone to divine whether the dream was good or bad. The fortune-teller said, “There are many vegetables, it is difficult for the sauce (general) ah; the earth tilted to the southeast, indicating that the left side of the river is difficult to attack.”
Later, Fu Jian led an army of millions and tried to take down the Eastern Jin dynasty, but was defeated by Jin’s army in the Battle of Interlude.
Dream Blood
In the late Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang joined Guo Zixing’s Red Turban Army and led an army against the Yuan. During the same period, Zhang Shicheng also raised an army against the Yuan and claimed the kingdom.
One night, Zhu Yuanzhang dreamed that he had a face full of mud and was bleeding more than once. Zhu Yuanzhang thought it was not an auspicious omen, so he wanted to kill a condemned man to fulfill the blood omen in the dream.
When Liu Bo Wen heard about this dream, he said to Zhu Yuanzhang, “Blood on the head is the word ‘congregation’; dirt on the face means that one can get land. To be able to get the multitude and also get the land, this must be an auspicious dream. Good news will surely come within three days.”
Sure enough, three days later, Zhang Shicheng’s army was defeated and surrendered. So far, Zhu Yuanzhang unified Jiangnan.
A dream of the governor with a ceremonial warrior and medicinal wine
During the Three Kingdoms period, there was a strange man named Zhou Xuan, who was also good at dream interpretation and was considered an expert in dream interpretation in the Three Kingdoms.
One day, the governor Yang Pei had a dream in which someone said to him, “On the first day of August, Cao Gui will come and will surely grant you an honor guard and give you medicinal wine to drink.” The governor did not understand the meaning, so he asked Zhou Xuan for advice.
Zhou Xuan said, “Battles are prepared for the weak, and medicinal wine is also prepared for healing people. This dream foretells that on the first day of August, the rebels will surely be defeated.”
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhang Jiao led the Yellow Turban Army to rebellion. It was only after the last Yellow Turban Army, Zhang Yan’s Black Mountain Army, surrendered to Cao Cao that the Yellow Turban Army was completely removed. On August 1, indeed the Yellow Turban Army was defeated.
It is amazing that dream interpreters can understand the dream signs and read the mystery accurately. What is even better is that these dreams are as if they have traveled through time and space, revealing the historical plot ahead of time, as if telling people that the world has its own arrangement in the underworld.
References.
Taiping Guangji – Dream I, Volume 276
The Wisdom of the Wise – Volume 18 Minwu
The Three Kingdoms Records – Book of Wei – Fangji Zhuan (Volume 29)
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