Jiǎn Dàwáng Pò Hàn 柬大王泊旱
King Jian’s Response to the Great Drought (modern editorial title; 柬 = 簡, a graphic variant; pò hàn 泊旱 or pò hàn 迫旱 in the source = “confronting/dealing with drought”)
(anonymous; excavated bamboo manuscript, no attributable author)
About the work
Jiǎn Dàwáng Pò Hàn 柬大王泊旱 is one of the texts in 馬承源 Mǎ Chéngyuán ed., 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》 vol. 4, Shànghǎi gǔjí chūbǎnshè 上海古籍出版社, 2004, comprising approximately 16 bamboo strips. The text is a Chǔ court narrative set during the reign of King Jiǎn of Chǔ 楚簡王 (the character 柬 in the title is a graphic variant of 簡). The text records the king’s attempt to conduct rain-divination (zhēn 貞) during a severe drought (dà hàn 大旱) and the subsequent exchanges among the king and his senior ministers — the turtle-diviner (guī yǐn 龜尹), the ritual administrator (lí yǐn 釐尹), the prime minister (lìngyǐn 令尹) Zǐ Lín 子林, and the Grand Steward (tàizǎi 太宰) Zǐ Zhǐ 子止.
Abstract
The narrative opens with the king commanding the turtle-diviner (龜尹 Luō 羅) to perform an inquiry (zhēn 貞) at the great altar of Dà Xià 大夏. The king personally attends the divination, standing facing the sun — but the prolonged exposure in the heat causes him to sweat to his waist (hàn zhì dài 汗至帶) and fall ill. The turtle-diviner, perceiving the king’s distress, hastens to transfer the divination to the ritual specialist (lí yǐn 釐尹), who divines concerning “high mountains and deep valleys” (gāo shān shēn xī 高山深溪) — the king’s repeated dream image. The divination result is propitious (fú 孚); the lí yǐn reports success to the king.
The king then asks whether the proper sacrifice (jì 祭) can be performed using his own body as offering (jūnwáng zhī shēn shā jì 君王之身殺祭 — “blood-sacrifice using the king’s own body”). The lí yǐn refuses: Chǔ has a permanent custom (cháng gù 常故) that does not permit the king’s person to be used in such a rite. This exchange — the king’s willingness to offer himself and the ritual officer’s refusal — is framed as mutual adherence to proper norms, a sign that both king and ritual officer understand their roles.
A second major dialogue follows between Lìngyǐn Zǐ Lín and Tàizǎi Zǐ Zhǐ on whether ministers have the right to remonstrate (zhēng 爭) with the king. Zǐ Zhǐ argues that since the king is a “primal lord” (yuán jūn 元君) — morally exemplary — there is no need for remonstrance. When Zǐ Lín presses, asking about cases of military crisis or state endangerment, Zǐ Zhǐ counsels speaking in court.
The narrative climaxes with the king dreaming of three inner gates that have not yet opened (wáng mèng sān guī wèi qǐ 王夢三閨未啓) and asking his advisers Xiāng Tú 相徙 and Zhōng Yú 中余 for its meaning. They defer to the Tàizǎi, who explains: the unopened gates are what is called the “drought mother” (hàn mǔ 旱母) — Heaven’s punitive instrument against lords who cannot govern (bù néng zhì zhě 不能治者); if governance is poor, the people will scatter even without drought. The king weeps and asks what he must do for crops to ripen. Zǐ Zhǐ prescribes a period of ritual austerity in the Yǐng 郢 outskirts.
Genre and significance. The text is one of several Chǔ court narratives in the Shanghai Museum corpus set in identifiable historical reigns (King Zhāo in KR2p0046 KR2p0046; King Jiǎn here). The concept of hàn mǔ 旱母 as a Heaven-sent punitive force against bad governance connects to the broader Warring States theology of Heaven-responsive rulership. The dialogue structure — king, ritual specialists, and senior ministers debating proper ritual, remonstrance, and cosmological interpretation — resembles the deliberative narratives of the Guóyǔ 國語.
Translations and research
- 馬承源 ed., 《上海博物館藏戰國楚竹書》 vol. 4, Shànghǎi gǔjí chūbǎnshè, 2004 — editio princeps.
- Zhōu Fèngwǔ 周鳳五, philological notes on the 上博四 narratives (Jianbo network, 2004).
- Cook, Scott. The Bamboo Texts of Guodian: A Study and Complete Translation. Cornell East Asia Series, 2012 — contextual comparison with Guodian Chu narrative traditions.
Links
- Wikipedia (Shanghai Museum bamboo texts): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Museum_bamboo_texts