INTRODUCTION

I came across these two Chinese dreams while researching a third--a folktale that Confucius' mother dreamed she was making love with a Dark Emperor, and was told to make sure to give birth in a kongsang, a hollow mulberry tree (or was Kongsang a place name later mistaken in folklore for a literal tree?) It didn't make much sense--it seems to be a mishmash of two other dreams and births in Chinese lore by moms of major historical figures. Few women's dreams this ancient survive in any form... so here they are.

1: LIU BANG'S MOTHER, 257 BCE

Liu Bang (256-195 BCE) was the founder of the Han dynasty.

Previously old Lady Liu used to rest by the water margin, and she dreamt of encountering a spirit. At that time it was dark and there was thunder. Taigong [Liu Bang's father] went to check, and he saw a dragon on top of her. Then she was pregnant, and gave birth to Gaozu [Liu Bang].

SOURCE: A Concise Companion to Confucius, 2017, p. 85-86: Representations of Confucius in Apocrypha of the First Century CE, by Zhao Lu. Lu's sources for the offset quote: Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian) by Sima Qian, 1987 ed., 8.341; Han Shu (History of Han Dynasty) by Ban Gu, 1987 ed., 1.1

2: YI YIN'S MOTHER, c.1600 BCE

Yi Yin was a legendary minister who assisted Tang in defeating the Xia dynasty and establishing the Shang dynasty (1600 BCE, give or take 50 years).

In the Chronicle of Master Lü (Lüshi chunqiu, c.239 BCE), Yi Yin's birth was associated with Kongsang, "hollow mulberry tree". In the anecdote, a woman found the infant Yi Yin in a hollow mulberry tree and brought him to her lord. They later found out that Yi Yin's mother lived by the Yin river. When she became pregnant, a spirit appeared in her dream and warned her to run when water came out of her rice mortar. When this happened, she followed the spirit's words. Running more than six miles, she turned around, and discovered that water had flooded her village. Witnessing this disaster, she turned into a hollow mulberry.

Although the moral of this story is rather opaque, Yi Yin's miraculous birth is obvious. In line with Liu Bang's and Confucius' conceptions, we find pregnancy by the water and an oracle in a dream once again. Moreover, the birthplace becomes significant in the Yi Yin story, for the human womb transforms into a supernatural one. The hollow mulberry where Yi Yin is found thus symbolizes his supernatural origin. Borrowing this birthplace into Confucius' story, apocrypha associate Confucius with Yi Yin: they were both worthy subjects and came from the same place.

SOURCE: A Concise Companion to Confucius, 2017, p. 85-86, Representations of Confucius in Apocrypha of the First Century CE, by Zhao Lu. Lu's primary source: (Lü Buwei, Chronicle of Master Lü (Lüshi chunqiu), 2002 ed., 22.2780-81, 1 380-87 [sic; maybe 22-27, 80-81, 380-87?].

EDITOR'S COMMENT

The moral is indeed opaque. In a dream, a spirit warns Yi Yin's mother--if you see this bizarre sign, it means a flood--run for the hills! She heeds the dream, saves herself with great effort, and then... she turns into a mulberry tree? Or as with Confucius' mom, did some old text mean only that she gave birth in Kongsang village, and later storytellers misread it spiced it up?

At the least, all three dreams show common motifs floating in the soup-pot of the ancient Chinese psyche, bobbing up in different combinations. And who knows? Maybe some of these dreams are true. This far back, I'm grateful to see any records at all.

--Chris Wayan

World Dream Bank homepage - Art gallery - New stuff - Introductory sampler, best dreams, best art - On dreamwork - Books
Indexes: Subject - Author - Date - Names - Places - Art media/styles
Titles: A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - IJ - KL - M - NO - PQ - R - Sa-Sh - Si-Sz - T - UV - WXYZ
Email: wdreamb@yahoo.com - Catalog of art, books, CDs - Behind the Curtain: FAQs, bio, site map - Kindred sites