There’s a famous quote attributed to science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke:
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.1
I bring it up, because I think modern commentators are sometimes unfair to the people of the past when it comes between distinguishing charlatans and people with real knowledge/skills. When you really think about it, it is not that easy to distinguish between the two. Imagine going to the distant past and trying to explain the difference between a modern drug taken orally and a contemporary “magic water” being passed around by faith healers as a cure to their illnesses.2 Heck, even in modern times there’s still a lot of quackery. Charlatans continue to successfully peddle various frauds to this day.
That is why I tend to prefer to translate the term Fángshì 方士 as “technician” instead of say, “magician,” because though the more famous stories tend to be rather magical in their claims, the term also referred to medical doctors, painters, mathematicians, astronomers, and musicians, in addition to the more famous dream diviners, physiognomy fortune tellers, astrologers, numerologists, and, well, blatant magicians.
The Sān Guó zhì has two juàn devoted specifically to such technicians, one for Later Hàn and Wèi technicians (such as the famous Huà Tuó), and one for Wú technicians.3 This time, let’s talk about some of the Wú technicians.
Wú Fàn
A native of Kuàijī, Wú Fàn gained local prominence through his reported ability in calendar calculations and observing the weather. Eventually he was nominated to the central government for his specialist abilities, but due to the chaos he did not go to the capital, and instead joined Sūn Quán, serving him by using his skills with calendar and weather divination to interpret auspicious and disastrous signs to predict the future.4
In 207, he reportedly was able to correctly predict Liú Biǎo would die in the next year, and in 212 he correctly predicted Liú Bèi would conquer Yìzhōu in 214, despite opposing reports that Liú Bèi was in military trouble. In 219, he reportedly predicted the hour of Guān Yǔ’s capture, and in 221 he correctly predicted that though Wú had made good relations with Wèi and that Liú Bèi was attacking Wú, the alliances would shift to the other way around. However, he jealously guarded the secrets of his methods, and because of this Sūn Quán eventually came to dislike him.5
In 226, Wú Fàn died, and the secrets of his methods was lost. Sūn Quán desperately sought after any who could compare across his entire realm of three provinces, offering a reward of a fief of a thousand households, but to the end did not find anyone.6
Liú Dūn
A native of Píngyuán, Liú Dūn fled the chaos to the southeast, where he joined the service of Sūn Quán's cousin Sūn Fǔ, became famed in the south for his skills with astronomy and astrology divination, accurately predicting floods, droughts, and banditry.7 He was reportedly able to use his astrology to predict the assassination of Sūn Quán’s brother Sūn Yì in Dānyáng.8
Liú Dūn reportedly compiled his knowledge into a book of over a hundred juàn, but he also jealously guarded his techniques and would not explain his book, so that after his death, no one could understand his writings.9
Zhào Dá
A native of Hénán, Zhào Dá famously divined that the southeast had a ruler’s aura, and therefore he fled across the Jiāng during the downfall of Hàn. He was a mathematician and numerologist. One anecdote says that he used his skills to calculate the number of locusts, and when someone challenged this by saying flying locusts could not be counted to verify his claims, he took a handful of beans and threw them on the ground and immediately calculated their number, and on counting the beans it was found that he was indeed correct.10 Another anecdote says that someone wrote a large number on a slip of paper, put it in an empty granary, and asked Zhào Dá to calculate the amount of grain. He did his calculations and reported a number, but added “But only in name and not in fact.” The number was indeed the number written on the paper.11
Zhào Dá entered Sūn Quán’s service, and when Sūn Quán went out on campaign he would have Zhào Dá calculate the pacing, and it was always as he said. Sūn Quán asked about his techniques, but Dá refused to share his methods, and so was disliked.12 After Zhào Dá died, Sūn Quán went so far as to dig up Zhào Dá’s coffin in hopes that he might have been buried with a book of his methods, but no such book was ever found and Zhào Dá’s techniques were lost.13
Annotated Technicians
As perhaps further evidence for the difficulty of drawing the line between real skill and charlatanism, there are five other figures recorded in the Wú lù, some of whom sound much less mystical, that Péi Sōngzhī decided to annotate to the same chapter, since they apparently were also considered to be “technicians” by the compilers of the Wú lù. These were:
Huáng Xiàng, a calligrapher.
Yán Wǔ, a master of wéiqí (Go, to use Japanese pronunciation)
Sòng Shòu, a dream diviner said to be accurate over 90% of the time
Cáo Bùxīng, a painter. An anecdote tells that he once drew a fly on a painting, that Sūn Quán thought was real and raised his hand to swat.
Gūchéng Zhèngyù, a physiognomy appraiser.
These five together with Wú Fàn, Liú Dūn, and Zhào Dá, eight people in total, were apparently all famed and praised technicians at the time.14
Péi Sōngzhī also includes an annotation from Jìn Yángqiū that mentions a Gě Héng, an astronomer and engineer, who built a mechanical star map.15
Hopefully this illustrates a little the difficulties in drawing the line between real skills and charlatanism. The more fanciful anecdotal claims of the abilities of Wú Fàn and Zhào Dá are easy to dismiss, but on the other hand, it would seem reasonable to wonder if perhaps there was some real math involved in Wú Fàn’s calendar date number crunching or Zhào Dá’s calculating the pace of Sūn Quán’s armies, that ended up being overshadowed by the more occult anecdotes. Astrologers like Liú Dūn were probably also doing some real astronomy in their star tracking once you set aside the divination part.
But then sometimes, drawing the line can be really easy.
There is another, more fanciful story, that Péi Sōngzhī outright considers nonsense (you will probably agree after reading it), but still annotates it to the very end for posterity as a popular story, which perhaps provides some insight into what sort of character Sūn Quán was in the minds of the people of the southeast, plus a few small glimpses into cultural, economic, and culinary history:
Jiè Xiàng was a technician from Kuàijī, said to be capable of many different skills, that Sūn Quán summoned to Wǔchāng (this story evidently took place between 222 and 229, when Wǔchāng was the capital instead of Jiànyé), where Sūn Quán had a mansion built for him and bestowed him with rewards, in return for Jiè Xiàng teaching him invisibility techniques. Jiè Xiàng also performed transformations, planting melons and vegetables and fruits that could all be eaten as soon as they sprouted.
Once, Sūn Quán and Jiè Xiàng talked about what kind of minced fish was the best to eat, and Jiè Xiàng answered with “mullet fish.” Sūn Quán replied that they were talking about fish at hand, while mullet fish was caught from the ocean and not available. Jiè Xiàng therefore had a square hole dug in the courtyard, filled it with water, fished in it, and caught a mullet fish. Sūn Quán was amazed and asked if it could be eaten, and Jiè Xiàng answered that it could, and the fish was sent off to the kitchen to be prepared.
Sūn Quán then commented that an envoy from Shǔ was on its way, that ginger from Shǔ would go very well with the fish, and that it was a pity the timing was off with respect to the envoy. Jiè Xiàng replied that Shǔ ginger was very easy to obtain, and told Sūn Quán to give some money to an attendant to buy ginger. Xiàng then wrote a talisman and put it in a bamboo pole, gave the pole to an attendant, and told the attendant to ride the pole with his eyes closed. The attendant did so, and when he opened his eyes he was in Chéngdū. The Wú envoy Zhāng Wēn was in Chéngdū at the time, he and the attendant recognized each other and were amazed, and Zhāng Wēn wrote a letter for the attendant to take back to his family. The attendant took the letter, bought ginger from the Chéngdū market, closed his eyes, and when he opened them he was back in Wǔchāng, just in time as the kitchen finished preparing the minced fish.16
Setting the ridiculousness of the story aside, its preservation is still incredibly historically valuable. It gives us some insight into what kind of food was available in those times, where it came from, and how it fit within the larger economic and diplomatic situation. The story also provides evidence that Sūn Quán had something of a reputation for interest in more occult teachings. And speaking of that interest…
I have a confession. I wanted to talk about all these Wú technicians as an excuse to talk about someone else who is not included in the Wú technicians chapter. It’s a really, really fun story of Sūn Quán’s interest in technicians and more occult skills.
Yeah, let’s talk about that time Sūn Quán decided to title an invisible ghost as a King.
Wáng Biǎo
In Línhuái's Luóyáng county (not to be confused with Luòyáng, the capital city) there was a spirit that called itself Wáng Biǎo, that could speak and eat and drink like ordinary people, but was invisible, attended by one maid servant named Fǎng Jì.
In 251, Sūn Quán sent for this invisible spirit Wáng Biǎo, sending his attendant Lǐ Chóng to bestow the seals and ribbons as a General and as King of Luóyáng county on Wáng Biǎo, and escort Wáng Biǎo to the capital at Jiànyè. Sūn Quán had a mansion built for Wáng Biǎo, and regularly sent attendants to bestow food and drink on Wáng Biǎo, and Wáng Biǎo reportedly made accurate predictions of floods and droughts and small affairs.17
In 252, Sūn Quán was deathly ill. The officers and officials repeatedly went to Wáng Biǎo to ask him to pray for good fortune. Wáng Biǎo ran away.18
Sūn Quán died on 252 May 21st.19
Arthur C. Clarke, “Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination.”
For example, the Diǎnlüè annotated to SGZ 8 mentions the Tàipíng Dào cult using charmed water to treat the ill.
SGZ 29 and SGZ 63.
SGZ 63: 吳範字文則,會稽上虞人也。以治曆數,知風氣,聞於郡中。舉有道,詣京都,世亂不行。會孫權起於東南,範委身服事,每有災祥,輒推數言狀,其術多效,遂以顯名。
SGZ 63.
SGZ 63: 黃武五年,範病卒。長子先死,少子尚幼,於是業絕。權追思之,募三州有能舉知術數如吳範、趙達者,封千戶侯,卒無所得。
SGZ 63: 劉惇字子仁,平原人也。遭亂避地,客遊廬陵,事孫輔。以明天官達占數顯於南土。每有水旱寇賊,皆先時處期,無不中者。輔異焉,以為軍師,軍中咸敬事之,號曰神明。
SGZ 63: 建安中,孫權在豫章,時有星變,以問惇,惇曰:「災在丹楊。」權曰:「何如?」曰:「客勝主人,到某日當得問。」是時邊鴻作亂,卒如惇言。
SGZ 63: 皆能推演其事,窮盡要妙,著書百餘篇,名儒刁玄稱以為奇。惇亦寶愛其術,不以告人,故世莫得而明也。
SGZ 63: 趙達,河南人也。少從漢侍中單甫受學,用思精密,謂東南有王者氣,可以避難,故脫身渡江。治九宮一算之術,究其微旨,是以能應機立成,對問若神,至計飛蝗,射隱伏,無不中效。或難達曰:「飛者固不可校,誰知其然,此殆妄耳。」達使其人取小豆數斗,播之席上,立處其數,驗覆果信。
SGZ 63: 又有書簡上作千萬數,著空倉中封之,令達算之。達處如數,云:「但有名無實。」其精微若是。
SGZ 63: 初孫權行師征伐,每令達有所推步,皆如其言。權問其法,達終不語,由此見薄,祿位不至。
SGZ 63: 權聞達有書,求之不得,乃錄問其女,及發棺無所得,法術絕焉。
SGZ 63: 吳錄曰:皇象字休明,廣陵江都人。幼工書。時有張子並、陳梁甫能書。甫恨逋,並恨峻,象斟酌其閒,甚得其妙,中國善書者不能及也。嚴武字子卿,衛尉畯再從子也,圍棋莫與為輩。宋壽占夢,十不失一。曹不興善畫,權使畫屏風,誤落筆點素,因就以作蠅。既進御,權以為生蠅,舉手彈之。孤城鄭嫗能相人,及範、惇、達八人,世皆稱妙,謂之八絕云。
SGZ 63: 晉陽秋曰:吳有葛衡字思真,明達天官,能為幾巧,作渾天,使地居于中,以機動之,天轉而地止,以上應晷度。
Gě Hóng's Shénxiānzhuàn annotated to SGZ 63.
SGZ 47: 初臨海羅陽縣有神,自稱王表。周旋民閒,語言飲食,與人無異,然不見其形。又有一婢,名紡績。是月,遣中書郎李崇齎輔國將軍羅陽王印綬迎表。表隨崇俱出,與崇及所在郡守令長談論,崇等無以易。所歷山川,輒遣婢與其神相聞。秋七月,崇與表至,權於蒼龍門外為立第舍,數使近臣齎酒食往。表說水旱小事,往往有驗。
SGZ 47: 諸將吏數詣王表請福,表亡去。
Jiànkāng Shílù 2: 夏四月乙未,帝崩於內殿