What the Future Holds
Insights from the Plum Blossom Poem
By ZHANG TIANLIANG
The Northern Song Dynasty supported many scholars and poets. One of the most legendary was Shao Yong. Shao Yong's renown comes from a poem that some believe foretells the future“Plum Blossom Poem.”
It is said that Shao Yong lived alone in the mountains to devote himself to study of the “I Ching”, or the Book of Changes. At that time he was grappling with a technique called the “Number of Changes.” He was getting no where until one afternoon as he napped, a mouse made noises. We know how noisy the little creatures can be. Shao grabbed his porcelain pillow and threw it at the mouse. The mouse skittered away to safety as the pillow broke into pieces.
Among the porcelain shards, Shao found a note. He read it again and again. A shiver of excitement coursed through him. He read each character with great attention.
“On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Shao Yong will break this pillow into pieces.”
He was speechless. The date and event were completely accurate. Every character of his name was an exact match.
Who wrote this note? He studied the note for clues of the writer. He searched and found the house of the note's author. Just as he was about to knock on the door, it opened. As if he had been expecting him, a middle-aged man stepped out and greeted Shao.
The man said, "Before my father passed away several days ago, he told me to pass this book to a man named Shao Yong, who would come and visit the house today." Then he presented a book to Shao Yong. According to the legend, Li Zhicai wrote the note in Shao Yong's pillow. He studied under Chen Tuan, another legendary figure in Chinese history.
Shao Yong carefully studied the book. Now, legend has it that Shao Yong could accurately predict the future. He had mastered the “Number of Changes” and with it crafted the divination technique called the Plum Blossom Number of Changes. His most famous prophecy became known as the Plum Blossom Poem.
Ancient Chinese divination is an art in itself. It all starts with a number of symbol. That is the big hint. The fortuneteller uses it along with information from the inquirer to tell the person's future.
Actually, the use of divinatory symbols in the school of Plum Blossom Number of Changes is the true study of "numbers" in that the studied factors correspond to the variables of multivariate equations in modern western algebra. Except the Plum Blossom Number of Changes is a more advanced science of numbers, because it integrates the factors of time and space.
Shao Yong wrote several stanzas for the Plum Blossom Poem. Here is the tenth for you to enjoy:
Dots of plum blossoms herald the arrival of spring in Heaven and on Earth
If you want to know what will happen, ask Bo and Fu for the causes
Peaceful days will naturally come to this world
Making his home wherever he is, who is the host and who is the guest
(From pureinsight.org Used with permission)
