Original text:
One year has twelve months, each month has its regular decree. The ruler issues and the ministers obey, called the grasp of the golden mirror.
From this the six qi follow, fulfilling the nature of all things. When the seasons reverse their normal order, living beings suffer illness.
The virtue of the Zhou and Han declines, the royal wind no longer competes. After the defeat of Chao Cuo, the feudal lords become stronger.
Every hundred li has its own prohibitions, the four seasons govern themselves. In the height of summer we build earthworks, in early spring we cut down lives.
Who can rescue this loss? Await the ruler to assist the state’s reins. Lofty as the Wei gate, the law hangs upright and proper.
Silver is born in the bends of Chu mountains, gold by the banks of the Po River. Southern people abandon agriculture, seeking it brings much hardship.
They sift sand and carve stone, laboring without winter or spring. Hands and feet become calloused, loving profit more than their own bodies.
The swidden fields are already lazy to clear, the rice paddies also reluctant to weed. Together they become idle wanderers, all speaking of seeking gold and silver.
In the end gold and silver are no different from mud and dust. If they are not clothing, food, or shelter, they do not alleviate hunger and cold.
Abandoning the root to chase the tip, becoming richer day by day yet poorer year by year. That is why the ancient sages discarded hidden treasures as not precious.
Who can restore the ancient customs? Await the ruler to hold the nation’s balance. Donate gold to replace jade, lest the people be overburdened.
Private households have no money furnaces, the plain has no copper mountains. Why levy taxes in autumn and summer, year after year demanding copper coins?
The weight of money grows daily, the labor of farming grows exhausted. Cheaply sell millet and wheat, cheaply trade silk and cotton.
At year‑end clothing and food are exhausted, how can there be no hunger or cold? I have heard that at the beginning of a country there is a law that hangs unaltered.
Labor must be counted by the number of people, rent must be measured by mulberry fields. Do not demand what the land does not have, do not force people into impossible tasks.
Let income equal expenditure, the upper will be satisfied and the lower at peace. When the military rises, a new law appears; when the military ceases, it never returns.
Make us farmers and sericulture workers, gaunt between the fields. Who can reform this injustice? Await the ruler to wield profit and power.
Restore that rent‑and‑labor law, making it as steadfast as the Zhenguan era.
The capital’s four directions set the foundation of royal civilization. Long‑serving officials become seasoned in governance, then moral teaching is reinforced.
How should the capital’s magistrate act, moving without hesitation? Please, ruler, bend the indices, ten years for fifteen people.
Statutes are constantly revised, officials work diligently. Lenient and harsh policies are not uniform, how can the people’s hearts be pure?
The nine provinces unite as a head, the herdsmen follow. If the world is thus governed, how can my people be at peace?
Who can change this law? Await the ruler’s endorsement. Choose good officials carefully, let them prosper for generations.
Thirty men have households, twenty women have families. In recent times there is much disorder, marriages often lapse.
Marriages are not early, childbirth is often delayed and painful. Children are not yet grown, parents are already frail.
Ordinary people value the day of achievement, mostly when they are grown. Wanting to repay parents but not waiting, filial piety has no outlet.
Alas, the three livestock are raised, few reach the courtyard. Regrettably, ten thousand measures of grain are used to feed wife and children.
Who can correct marriage rites? Await the ruler to uphold the nation’s dignity. May all filial sons have hearts without sorrow for wind‑blown trees.
「いいね！」 1
There are twelve months in a year, each with its fixed seasonal schedule. When the ruler issues a decree and the ministers carry it out, this is called “握金镜” (meaning to grasp the laws of heaven and earth).
Only then can the six qi (wind, cold, heat, humidity, dryness, fire) operate in harmony, allowing all things