An Ancient Example of Date-Selection

In the fifth year of Shaoding, the Ren-Chen year, Wu-Shen month, Ji-You day, Geng-Wu hour—Lord Hu trial for Zhang Nanshu “moving the fire” (relocating the spirit tablet), sitting Xin repairing Yi direction; that year on the first day of the eighth month, a Ji-You day at the Geng-Wu hour for construction. It belongs to the upper configuration of White Dew; obtained Scenery Gate Yi Wonder plus Ding Wonder arriving, Yi receiving Rest Gate arrival; Xin eighth-month monthly wealth at Yi; moving wealth, robbery edge, dark luminary, and Fuguo all arriving at the direction; the person’s natal emolument-horse arrives at Dui Ding-Chou, noble person arrives at the central palace—great flourishing.

Explanation: Southern Song Shaoding five is 1232; the first day of the eighth month is a Ji-You day of the Wu-Shen month. White Dew upper yuan is called “White Dew nine-three-six,” that is use Yin nine configuration; Yi and Ding meet Scenery Gate at the third palace. Yet examining Lord Hu as born 963–1039 CE, this chart has grave doubts—the only explainable place is that it was obtained through spirit writing.

The “Lord Hu trial” mentioned in this essay is Hu Ze of the Northern Song, courtesy name Zizheng, a man of Yongkang County, Wu Prefecture (Jinhua Prefecture in Ming-Qing). He has a biography in volume 299 of the History of Song; after death popularly deified, all called Lord Hu Gong.

According to the Jinhua Prefectural Gazetteer: “At first the lord enjoyed the Son of Heaven’s recognition; when his rank was advanced by edict, he memorialized to exempt the poll tax of the Qu and Wu people—to this day they enjoy his gift. Since the lord’s death, there was no way to repay his grace; so where books were chanted, temples were built and he was enshrined.”

His achievement was memorializing to exempt the Wu people’s poll tax, so a temple was built and he was worshipped. However the historical fact of Lord Hu memorializing to exempt the poll tax of Wu and Qu prefectures is actually not history—it arose from popular misunderstanding.

Yet popular feeling ran deep; later through fabrication by monks of Guangci Temple, a Heling Temple was built to worship Lord Hu; and further, some Buddhist temples in south-central Zhejiang—though without Hu Ze temples nearby—for raising incense also falsely claimed affinities between Lord Hu and their many temples, and so it spread widely.