Qi (氣)

卒然遭邪風之氣嬰非常之疾患及禍至而方震慄降志屈節欽望巫祝告窮歸天束手受敗

Then, without warning, they meet the qi of harmful winds and fall ill with some grave and unusual disease. Only when trouble comes and disaster strikes do they start to tremble. Swallowing their pride, they bow low and look up hopefully to shamans and priests. When they have nothing left to try, they leave it all to Heaven, fold their hands, and accept defeat.

建安二十二年癘氣流行

In the twenty-second year of the Jian'an era [217], a pestilent qi spread through the land.

○乙未。勅曰。如聞。此日、太宰府疫死者多。思欲救療疫気、以済民命。是以。奉幣彼部神祇。為民祷祈焉。又府大寺及別国諸寺。読金剛般若経。仍遣使賑給疫民。并加湯薬。又其長門以還諸国守、若介。専斎。或道饗祭祀。

Eighth month, twelfth day. The emperor gave an order: “I hear that many people in the Dazaifu have lately died of the epidemic. I wish to heal those struck by the epidemic qi and so save the people’s lives. Let offerings be made to the kami of that region, with prayers on the people’s behalf. Let the great temple of the Dazaifu and the temples of its other provinces read the Diamond Sutra. Send envoys to give relief to the sick, and give them medicines as well. And let the governors of the provinces from Nagato on toward the capital, or their assistants, keep themselves strictly pure by fasting, or else perform the road-feast rites.”

○乙未。大赦天下。詔曰。比来。縁有疫気多発。祈祭神祇。猶未得可。而今右大臣。身体有労。寝膳不穏。朕以惻隠。可大赦天下、救此病苦。[...]

Twenty-third day. A general amnesty was declared throughout the realm. The emperor said: “Lately the epidemic qi has been breaking out widely. We have prayed and made offerings to the kami, but we have still found no relief. And now the Minister of the Right is ill, and he cannot sleep or eat in peace. Out of pity for him, I declare a general amnesty throughout the realm to save him from this suffering.”

○甲寅。詔曰。朕、君臨宇内、稍歴多年。而風化尚壅。黎庶未安。通旦忘寐。憂労在茲。又自春已来、災気遽発。天下百姓、死亡実多。百官人等、闕卒不少。良由朕之不徳、致此災殃。仰天慚惶。不敢寧処。故可優復百姓使得存済。免天下今年租賦及百姓宿負公私稲。公稲限八年以前。私稲七年以前。其在諸国、能起風雨、為国家有験神、未預幣帛者。悉入供幣之例。給大宮主・御巫。坐摩御巫。生島御巫及諸神祝部等爵。

Thirteenth day. The emperor said: “I have ruled the realm for many years now. Yet my good influence still does not reach the people, and the common folk are not at peace. I lie awake all night until dawn, and this is what weighs on me. Then, since spring, a calamitous qi has suddenly broken out. Truly many of the common people of the realm have died, and not a few officials have died too, leaving their posts empty. Truly it is because of my lack of virtue that this disaster has come. I look up to Heaven in shame and dread, and I dare not rest at ease. So let the common people be generously relieved, so that they can survive. This year’s taxes are cancelled throughout the realm. So is the rice the common people owe on public and private loans: for public rice, loans made up to the eighth year [736], and for private rice, up to the seventh [735]. Some kami in the provinces can raise wind and rain and have shown their power on behalf of the state, yet have not received offerings. All of them shall be added to the list of those that do. And let ranks be granted to the chief palace priest, the shrine maidens of the palace, of Ikasuri, and of Ikushima, and the priests of all the kami.”

病疫之由昔以為非其時有其氣春應温而反大寒夏應熱而反大涼秋應涼而反大熱冬應寒而反大温得非時之氣長幼之病相似以為疫

As for the cause of epidemic sickness, people used to say it came from a qi that arrives out of its season. Spring should be warm, but it turns very cold; summer should be hot, but it turns very cool. Autumn should be cool, but it turns very hot; winter should be cold, but it turns very warm. People catch this out-of-season qi, and young and old fall sick in the same way. That, they said, is an epidemic.

夫痘胎毒也伏於有形之始因感而𤼵為生人所不能免然其𤼵也或染時氣或感風寒或因飲食或由驚恐以病引病為患多端變更莫測且其間順吉者少險逆者多有千方百計而不能冀其愈於萬一者此其所以為難也

Smallpox is a fetal poison. It lies hidden in the body from the moment the body takes shape, and it breaks out when something sets it off. No one born can escape it. It may break out when a child catches a seasonal qi, or is chilled by wind and cold, or from food and drink, or from a fright. One illness leads to another, the harm takes many forms, and its changes cannot be foreseen. Besides, few cases go smoothly and many are dangerous. In some, a thousand remedies and a hundred plans cannot give one chance in ten thousand of recovery. That is why it is so hard [to treat].

種痘之時要細閲小兒氣血冲和臟腑均平内無痰熱食積所傷外無六淫之氣相侵方可用上好痘痂種之一嵗者用二十餘粒三四嵗者用三十餘粒置於淨磁鍾内以栁木作杵碾為細末以淨水滴三五㸃入鍾内春温用冬熱用乾則再加水幾㸃總以調匀為度不燥不濕用新棉些須攤極薄片裹所調痘屑在内揑成棗核様以紅線拴定仍留寸許長則剪去将苗納入鼻孔分男左女右不可離人時時㸔守倘小兒用手拈弄急禁止之或被𡁲出急将苗塞鼻内不可稍緩恐洩苗氣下苗後必以六個時辰為度然後取出如遇天氣嚴寒多留數刻若遇時令和暖早取數刻亦可要在臨時斟酌痘苗取出之後其苗氣漸次而入傳遍五藏至七日始𤼵熱發熱三日而苗見見苗三日而出齊出齊三日而灌漿漿足三日而回水結痂大功成矣

At the time of planting, examine the child closely. Its qi and blood must be in harmony and its organs in balance. Inside, it must not be troubled by phlegm, heat, or undigested food. Outside, it must not be under attack from the qi of the six excesses. Only then plant it, using the best scabs. For a child of one year, use twenty-some pieces of scab; for a child of three or four, thirty-some. Put them in a clean porcelain cup and grind them to a fine powder with a willow-wood pestle. Drip three to five drops of clean water into the cup, warm in spring and hot in winter. If the mixture is dry, add a few drops more. What matters is to mix it evenly, neither dry nor wet. Spread a little new cotton into a very thin sheet, wrap the mixed scab powder in it, and pinch it into the shape of a jujube pit. Tie it with red thread, leaving about an inch of thread, and cut off the rest. Put the seed into the nostril, the left for a boy and the right for a girl. Someone must stay with the child and watch it all the time. If the child plays with the seed, stop it at once. If the child sneezes it out, put it back in the nose at once, without the least delay, or the seed’s qi may leak away. Once the seed is in, leave it for six double hours, then take it out. In bitter cold, leave it in a little longer; in mild, warm weather, it may come out a little earlier. The point is to judge at the time. After the seed is taken out, its qi enters little by little and passes through all five organs. On the seventh day, fever begins. After three days of fever, the spots appear. Three days later, all the spots are out. Three days after that, they fill with fluid. Three days after they are full, the fluid dries up and they form scabs, and the great work is done.