法苑珠林 45.49

45.49

The Baopuzi says: "When a large tree in the mountains can speak, it is not the tree speaking; its essence is named Yunyang. If one calls it by its name, it brings good fortune. Seeing a foreigner in the mountains at night is the essence of copper or iron. Seeing a man of Qin is a hundred-year-old tree. Seeing an official between waters is named Siji; if one calls it by its name, it brings good fortune. In the mountains on a yin day, one that calls itself a forester official is a tiger; one calling itself a dweller upon the road is a wolf; one calling itself a district magistrate is a wildcat. On a mao day, one calling itself a gentleman is a hare; one calling itself the Eastern Father is an elk; one calling itself the Queen Mother of the West is a deer. On a chen day, one calling itself the Rain Master is a dragon; one calling itself the River Earl is a fish; one calling itself the gutless lord is a crab. On a si day, one calling itself the Solitary One is a serpent of the altar; one calling itself the Lord of the Season is a turtle. On a wu day, one calling itself the Three Excellencies is a horse; one calling itself the Three Persons is an old tree. On a wei day, one calling itself the Master is a sheep; one calling itself an official is a roe deer. On a shen day, one calling itself the Ruler of Men is a monkey; one calling itself the Nine Ministers is an ape. On a you day, one calling itself the General is an old rooster; one calling itself the Thief-catcher is a pheasant. On a xu day, one calling itself by a human surname and personal name is a dog; one calling itself Gongzhong of Chengyang is a fox. On a hai day, one calling itself the Minister and Lord is a pig; one calling itself a woman is gold or jade. On a zi day, one calling itself the Lord of the Altar is a rat; one calling itself a Divine Man is a bat. On a chou day, one calling itself a scholar is an ox. If one knows what creature it is, it cannot do harm. Furthermore, Yinghuo, the essence of fire, generates the Vermilion Bird; Chenxing, the essence of water, generates the Dark Warrior; Suixing, the essence of wood, generates the Azure Dragon; Taibai, the essence of metal, generates the White Tiger; Zhenxing, the essence of earth, generates the Chenghuang." The Baopuzi says: "Mountains, streams, stones, trees, wells, hearths, puddles, ponds, and sloughs all possess essential qi, and within the human body there are also hun and po souls. How much more so for Heaven and Earth as entities, which are the greatest of entities! In principle, they must possess spiritual essences that reward the good and punish the evil; it is merely that their body is vast and their net is coarse, so that retribution does not necessarily respond like an echo at the release of a trigger."