Modern China and the World in the Ancient Prophecies

Background of the Prophetic Book, Tui Bei Tu: Tui Bei Tu is a professional prophetic book, which consists of a collection of prophetic poems and drawings. All the prophecies in it were casted and written by two famous prophets, Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang during the period of Zhen Guan in Tang Dynasty…… Emperor Tang Taizong (Li Shimin, 559-649, AD) loved the art of prophecy and appointed a few famous prophets as his higher officers. Li Chunfeng and Yuan Tiangang were two such outstanding prophets. Emperor Tang Taizong was seriously concerned about the future of Tang Dynasty, and ordered the two prophets to cast prophecies to predict future events and tendencies…… Li Chunfeng Li Chunfeng was a high officer in the Royal Court who was in charge for compiling the history and the calendar. According to the book, Taiping Broad Collection of Legends, published in the Song Dynasty (960-1126, AD), when Li Chunfeng was correcting the calendar one day, he had predicted that a solar eclipse was going to take place on the first day of the following month. In those days, solar eclipses were regarded as an ill omen. The Emperor did not believe him and felt deeply unhappy. He said to Li, ‘How will you punish yourself if the solar eclipse does not happen?’ ‘If it does not happen, I am willing to accept the penalty of death.’ Li answered firmly. On the ominous day, the Emperor, Li Chunfeng and other officers gathered together in a big yard. The emperor still didn’t believe it and said to Li, ‘I grant you the chance to go home and bid the final farewell to your wife and children.’ ‘No, it is still early.’ Li answered, and then he went to the wall and marked on the wall. He said to the Emperor, ‘When the shadow reaches this mark, it will happen.’ When the shadow reached the mark, the solar eclipse indeed happened. This event proved to the Emperor that Li's ability in casting prophecies was trustworthy. … … Yuan Tiangang Yuan Tiangang was born in Yi Zhou (a county, today’s Chengdu in Sichuan province). His great-grand father, Yuan Da, was a local officer in charge of two counties in today’s Sichuan province. His grand father, Yuan Song was a local officer and military General responsible for local affairs and safety. His father, Yuan Ji was only a low-level local officer. Yuan Tiangang was well-educated and very eager to learn since a young age. He had read a variety of books and was good at Eight-trigram prophecy and physiognomy. His ability in physiognomy made him very famous. He was summoned by Emperor Tang Taizong in the year 632 due to his superb ability in physiognomy. According to the records in the book, Taiping Broad Collection of Legends, Yuan Tiangang looked into a mirror one day and realized that his opportunity was going to come. Soon after, he received an imperial edict from Emperor Tang Taizong summoning him to the Royal court. So, he went to Changan (today's Xi’an). He thought that the Emperor would be suspicious of his prophetic abilities because he had only heard rumours from other people. Therefore, he decided not to meet the Emperor straight away. Instead, he drew some pictures in the street. One picture showed a group of pigeons dropping eggs down to the ground as they were flying past. Another picture showed a candle hanging upside down on the ceiling with its flame facing downwards. Nowadays, we can look at his drawings, and perhaps interpret the flying birds laying eggs as modern bomber planes, and see the resemblance of the upside-down candle to the modern electricity powered light. In his days, however, these things were unthinkable. People passing by just thought Yuan was a crazy man, but there was one person who understood his pictures. That person was the prophet, Li Chunfeng. How did Li Chunfeng know that Yuan Tiangang had arrived in Changan? Legend had it that Li had the ability to know what was happening by the changes in a gust of wind. One day, Li Chunfeng and another officer, Zhang Shuai, were chatting with the Emperor in the garden, and suddenly, a gust of wind blew past them. Li said, ‘some people are crying over 5 li (a Chinese unit of length. Today, a li is defined as 500 meters long) in the South direction.’ Zhang, who was also good at prophecy and Fengshui (geomantic omen), said, ‘some people are playing music.’ Of course, the Emperor and the others did not hear anything. Everyone knows that a gust of wind outside is a common natural phenomenon, but what they had said made the Emperor suspicious. He sent a soldier out on horseback to find out what was happening. When he returned, the soldier reported that there were people carrying a coffin to a grave yard. There were people crying, and a band playing funeral music. Most people are unable to hear humans crying at such distance. This example further demonstrates Li’s extraordinary ability. On a fine day, Li had a strange feeling that something was happening in Changan, so he went to the streets to have a look. He saw a man (Yuan) drawing and displaying pictures on the ground. Li went up to him and interpreted what the pictures meant. Yuan nodded in agreement, and said to Li, “I have been waiting for the person who understands my drawings, and I have now found him.” Yuan was actually testing Li's ability as well. They had heard of each other but had never met before. Now after a brief encounter, they talked as if they were old friends. It was Li who introduced Yuan to Emperor Tang Taizong. During the meeting, the Emperor asked him, ‘There was once a famous prophet, Yan Junping, from your home town, Sichuan province. How do you think you compare to him?’ ……