Chen''
讖is the Chinese term for '
prophecy
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a '' prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or pre ...
'. It is also written ''chan'' or, in the
Wade–Giles
Wade–Giles () is a romanization system for Mandarin Chinese. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Francis Wade, during the mid-19th century, and was given completed form with Herbert A. Giles's '' Chinese–English Dictionary'' o ...
transliteration as "''ch'an''": "The ''Ch'an'', couched in enigmatic language, predicted luck and disaster, and constituted
oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The wor ...
books." These prophecies could derive from a dream, be brought from overseas, be discovered in excavated inscriptions, or be revealed in "an ecstatic trance". These prophetic texts were much used by the emperors.
Chen and the emperors
At the partition of the empire at the end of the
Later Han Dynasty, "
Liu Bei
Liu Bei (, ; ; 161 – 10 June 223), courtesy name Xuande (), was a warlord in the late Eastern Han dynasty who founded the state of Shu Han in the Three Kingdoms period and became its first ruler. Although he was a distant relative of the H ...
... (161–223) in
Shu and
Sun Quan
Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...
... (182–252) in
Wu proclaimed their own mandates and, of course, used favorable ''chen'' prophecies ... to serve their own purposes."
In the
Liang Dynasty
The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...
, "
Emperor Wu himself quoted prophetic-apocryphal texts".
In the
Sui Dynasty, ''chen'' texts were promoted by Wang Shao (''fl''. 543–608) : as "imperial historian, Wang repeatedly presented favorable prophetic-apocryphal texts and contemporary ''chen'' prophecies to
Emperor Wen ... . The emperor was greatly pleased. Encouraged, Wang collected ... ''chen'' prophecies ... and ''wei'' apocryphal texts, and compiled a ... collection ... . Emperor Wen then had this collection distributed nationwide.
As founder of the Sui Dynasty, "When
Yang
Yang may refer to:
* Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy
* Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902
* YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration p ...
first enthroned himself, ... he declared that there had been a large number of ... ''chen'' prophecies in his favor.".
Chen as description
These prophetic texts were also officially accepted as descriptions of particular emperors. An official description of
Emperor Gao Emperor Gao may refer to:
* Emperor Gaozu of Han (256–195 BC)
* Cao Teng (died 150s), eunuch who received the title Emperor Gao of Wei posthumously
*Fu Deng
Fu Deng (; 343–394) was an emperor of the Di-led Chinese Former Qin dynasty. He assu ...
of the
Southern Qi Dynasty stated that "His Majesty's name, physical characteristics, as well as the tide, destiny, and the order of succession all correspond with dozens to nearly one hundred ''chen'' prophecies."
Other prophetic texts
Other instances of such prophecy are the ''Wan Nian Ke'' ("10,000 Years' Poem") by
Jiang Ziya
Jiang Ziya ( century BC – century BC), also known by several other names, was a Chinese noble who helped kings Wen and Wu of Zhou overthrow the Shang in ancient China. Following their victory at Muye, he continued to serve ...
, composed early in the
Western Zhou dynasty
The Western Zhou ( zh, c=, p=Xīzhōu; c. 1045 BC – 771 BC) was a royal dynasty of China and the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended when the Quanrong nomad ...
; and the ''Cang Tou'' ("Secret Record")
Pure Insight: The Great Chinese Prophecies (20)
/ref> by Li Chunfeng
Li Chunfeng (; 602–670) was a Chinese mathematician, astronomer, historian, and politician who was born in today's Baoji, Shaanxi, during the Sui and Tang dynasties. He was first appointed to the Imperial Astronomy Bureau to help institute a c ...
, composed during the Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...
.
In Vietnam, the 15th century scholar Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm
Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm ( Hán tự: 阮 秉 謙; 1491–1585) was a Vietnamese administrator, confucianist, poet, prophet and later a saint of the Cao Dai religion and of the new religious movement known as School of Teaching Goodness.
Bi ...
is famous for writing ''Sấm Trạng Trình'' (讖狀程, The Prophecies of Trạng nguyên Trình), a collection of chens, or ''sấm'' in Vietnamese.
Notes
Work cited
*Zongli Lü, ''Power of The Words : Chen Prophecy in Chinese Politics, AD 265–618'', Peter Lang (2003)
External links
Page from Ch'en Prophecy in Chinese Politics AD 265–618
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chen Prophecy
Religion in China