Once in a Lifetime, part 1
Discourse on Epidemic Qi, and a Brother's Letter
- Written
- 217 or soon after (the essay, on the epidemic of Jian'an 22); 218 (Cao Pi's letter)
- Place
- Han China
- Language
- Classical Chinese
- Kind of source
- essay
- Reading time
- 2 minutes
- Difficulty
- Accessible
- Intensity
- Low: deaths described in a few lines, nothing graphic
Epidemics of the late Han (c. 196–217)Doctors and medical ideasRich and poor
In 217 CE an epidemic swept through northern China. Four of the most admired writers of the day, friends and companions of the young prince who wrote this essay, died in it within a short time.
Cao Zhi (192–232) was a son of Cao Cao, the warlord who controlled the last Han emperor and ruled northern China in his name. Cao Zhi was a gifted writer from boyhood, and his father came close to naming him heir several times. In the tenth month of 217, the year of this epidemic, Cao Cao chose Cao Zhi's elder brother, Cao Pi, instead. When Cao Pi made himself emperor of a new dynasty, the Wei, in 220, he kept his brother far from power. Cao Zhi spent the rest of his life being moved from one small fief to another.
Scholars and doctors of his time explained epidemics through qi and yin and yang: sickness followed when the seasons came at the wrong times. Others blamed ghosts and spirits and hung up written talismans to keep them away. Cao Zhi takes the first side and mocks the second. He says nothing about doctors or medicine.
We cannot be sure the essay is complete. The collection of Cao Zhi's works made soon after his death was lost by the Tang dynasty (618–907), and many of his writings survive only because later books quoted them. This essay is known only from quotations. A sixth-century commentary on the official history of the Later Han quotes its opening lines. The fullest text, translated here, is in the Taiping yulan, an encyclopedia compiled for the Song emperor between 977 and 983, more than seven hundred years after Cao Zhi wrote. The writer was also a prince, describing the deaths of commoners he probably saw from a distance.
The second passage comes from the same page of the encyclopedia. In 218 Cao Pi wrote to his friend Wu Zhi, then serving in a county post away from court, and named four of the writers the epidemic had killed: Xu Gan, Chen Lin, Ying Yang (a man's name, unrelated to yin and yang), and Liu Zhen. The full letter survives in the Wenxuan, a sixth-century anthology; the encyclopedia quotes only these lines.
Look for the two explanations Cao Zhi sets against each other, and the evidence he offers for his own. Then read his brother's lines and ask how well they fit Cao Zhi's claim that few of the rich fell sick.
What we know now
No one knows what disease struck China in 217. The official histories note a great epidemic that year but describe no symptoms (Fan Ye, Hou Han shu). Cao Zhi's observation that the poor suffered most fits what historians find in better-recorded epidemics, where crowding, hunger, and poor housing can raise the death rate among the poor (Mamelund, Shelley-Egan, and Rogeberg 2021). In the Norwegian capital during the influenza pandemic of 1918, for example, people in smaller apartments and in the poorer of two parishes died at higher rates (Mamelund 2006). Yet the epidemic did reach the elite in 217: the epidemic killed members of the court's own literary circle (Shih 2024).
Read alongside
- Preface to the Treatise on Cold Damage
Zhang Zhongjing, a physician writing a decade or so earlier in the same troubled era, watched two-thirds of his clan die. He puts the blame on people, on learned men chasing rank and fame instead of studying medicine and on hasty doctors, where Cao Zhi blames disordered seasons and mocks the people who hang up talismans.
- The Plague at Athens, and Pericles Answers the Athenians
Thucydides, who caught the plague at Athens, says it carried off the strong and the weak alike, whatever care they had. Compare what each writer says about who died, and how each treats religious remedies.
The edited translation, in simplified modern English. Bracketed words were added for clarity; [...] marks a cut. Tap a note number to read the note. Point at or tap a phrase to see the original behind it. Phrase links checked in a separate review.
Cao Zhi, “Discourse on Epidemic Qi”
In the twenty-second year of the Jian'an era [217], a pestilent qi1 spread through the land. Every household knew the pain of stiff corpses, and every home was filled with the grief of wailing and weeping. Some households died to the last person, and some whole clans were wiped out. Some people thought the epidemic was the work of ghosts and spirits.2
But everyone it struck was someone who wore coarse cloth and ate bean leaves, someone who lived in a hut of thorn branches behind a door of woven brush. As for the families who lived in great halls and ate from cauldrons,3 the households with layers of sable furs and piles of bedding, few such families were among the sick.
What happened is this: yin and yang had left their proper places, and cold and heat had come at the wrong times.4 That is why the epidemic arose. And yet foolish common folk hang up talismans5 to ward it off. That too is laughable.
From Cao Pi's “Letter to Wu Zhi” (218)
Some time ago, when the epidemic came, many of my relatives and old friends were struck by the disaster. Xu, Chen, Ying, and Liu [four writers at the Cao court] all died within a short time.
Notes
- Qi was the vital breath or energy that Chinese thinkers saw in the body and in the world. A pestilent qi was a harmful kind, believed to carry sickness as it spread. back
- Many people in early China believed that ghosts of the dead and other spirits caused illness. Families made offerings to calm them or called in spirit mediums and exorcists to drive them out. back
- Large ritual vessels, usually of bronze. “Eating from cauldrons” was an old saying for rich, high-ranking families. back
- Yin and yang were paired forces, such as dark and light or cold and heat. Scholars and doctors alike held that when they left their proper places, or the seasons came out of order, sickness followed. back
- Talismans were written charms bearing sacred signs or commands to spirits. People hung them on doors or wore them to drive away the ghosts and spirits believed to cause disease. back
Borrador: esta traducción todavía no se ha revisado por separado. Las palabras entre corchetes se añadieron para que se entienda mejor.
Cao Zhi, «Discurso sobre el qi epidémico»
En el año veintidós de la era Jian'an [217], un qi pestilente1 se extendió por el país. En cada casa se sufría el dolor de los cadáveres rígidos, y en cada hogar se oían llantos y gritos de dolor. Algunas familias murieron hasta la última persona, y algunos clanes enteros desaparecieron. Algunas personas creían que la epidemia era obra de fantasmas y espíritus.2
Pero todos a los que atacó eran gente que vestía ropa basta y comía hojas de frijol, gente que vivía en chozas de ramas espinosas, detrás de una puerta de maleza tejida. En cambio, entre las familias que vivían en grandes salones y comían de calderos,3 las casas con capas de pieles de marta y montones de colchones, pocas tuvieron enfermos.
Lo que pasó es esto: el yin y el yang habían dejado su lugar, y el frío y el calor habían llegado a destiempo.4 Por eso surgió la epidemia. Y aun así, la gente ignorante cuelga amuletos escritos5 para alejarla. Eso también da risa.
De la «Carta a Wu Zhi» de Cao Pi (218)
Hace un tiempo, cuando llegó la epidemia, muchos de mis parientes y viejos amigos sufrieron la desgracia. Xu, Chen, Ying y Liu [cuatro escritores de la corte de los Cao] murieron todos en poco tiempo.
Notas
- El qi era el aliento o la energía vital que los pensadores chinos veían en el cuerpo y en el mundo. Un qi pestilente era un tipo dañino, que según se creía llevaba la enfermedad al extenderse. volver
- Mucha gente en la China antigua creía que los fantasmas de los muertos y otros espíritus causaban las enfermedades. Las familias les hacían ofrendas para calmarlos, o llamaban a médiums y exorcistas para echarlos. volver
- Grandes vasijas rituales, casi siempre de bronce. «Comer de calderos» era un viejo dicho para las familias ricas y de alto rango. volver
- El yin y el yang eran fuerzas en pareja, como lo oscuro y lo claro o el frío y el calor. Eruditos y médicos pensaban que, cuando dejaban su lugar o las estaciones llegaban en desorden, venía la enfermedad. volver
- Los amuletos eran textos con signos sagrados u órdenes a los espíritus. La gente los colgaba en las puertas o los llevaba encima para alejar a los fantasmas y espíritus que, según se creía, causaban la enfermedad. volver
jiàn建ān安èr二shí十èr二nián年lì癘qì氣liú流xíng行
In the twenty-second year of the Jian'an era, pestilent qi spread [circulated?].
In the twenty-second year of the Jian'an era [217], a pestilent qi spread through the land.
En el año veintidós de la era Jian'an [217], un qi pestilente se extendió por el país.
- Qi was the vital breath or energy that Chinese thinkers saw in the body and in the world. A pestilent qi was a harmful kind, believed to carry sickness as it spread.
jiā家jiā家yǒu有jiāng僵shī尸zhī之tòng痛shì室shì室yǒu有háo號qì泣zhī之āi哀
Household after household had the pain of stiff corpses; room after room [chamber after chamber?] had the grief of wailing and weeping.
Every household knew the pain of stiff corpses, and every home was filled with the grief of wailing and weeping.
En cada casa se sufría el dolor de los cadáveres rígidos, y en cada hogar se oían llantos y gritos de dolor.
huò或hé闔mén門ér而yì殪huò或fù覆zú族ér而sàng䘮
Some perished with the whole household [lit. "with the gate closed"?], some died with the whole clan overturned [wiped out?].
Some households died to the last person, and some whole clans were wiped out.
Algunas familias murieron hasta la última persona, y algunos clanes enteros desaparecieron.
huò或yǐ以wéi為yì疫zhě者guǐ鬼shén神suǒ所zuò作
Some held that the epidemic was what ghosts and spirits made [caused?].
Some people thought the epidemic was the work of ghosts and spirits.
Algunas personas creían que la epidemia era obra de fantasmas y espíritus.
- Many people in early China believed that ghosts of the dead and other spirits caused illness. Families made offerings to calm them or called in spirit mediums and exorcists to drive them out.
fú夫lí罹cǐ此zhě者xī悉pī被hè褐rú茹huò藿zhī之zǐ子jīng荆shì室péng蓬hù戶zhī之rén人ěr耳
Now, those who suffered this were all sons [persons?] who wore coarse cloth and ate bean leaves, people of thornwood rooms and weed-thatch [artemisia?] doors, nothing more.
But everyone it struck was someone who wore coarse cloth and ate bean leaves, someone who lived in a hut of thorn branches behind a door of woven brush.
Pero todos a los que atacó eran gente que vestía ropa basta y comía hojas de frijol, gente que vivía en chozas de ramas espinosas, detrás de una puerta de maleza tejida.
ruò若fú夫diàn殿chǔ處dǐng鼎shí食zhī之jiā家chóng重diāo貂lěi累rù蓐zhī之mén門ruò若shì是zhě者xiǎn鮮yān焉
As for households that dwell in halls and eat from tripod cauldrons, gates [families?] of doubled sable and piled mattresses, those like this were few.
As for the families who lived in great halls and ate from cauldrons, the households with layers of sable furs and piles of bedding, few such families were among the sick.
En cambio, entre las familias que vivían en grandes salones y comían de calderos, las casas con capas de pieles de marta y montones de colchones, pocas tuvieron enfermos.
- Large ritual vessels, usually of bronze. “Eating from cauldrons” was an old saying for rich, high-ranking families.
cǐ此nǎi乃yīn隂yáng陽shī失wèi位hán寒shǔ暑cuò錯shí時shì是gù故shēng生yì疫
This is in fact yin and yang losing their places, cold and heat confusing their seasons [coming at the wrong times?]; for this reason epidemic arises.
What happened is this: yin and yang had left their proper places, and cold and heat had come at the wrong times. That is why the epidemic arose.
Lo que pasó es esto: el yin y el yang habían dejado su lugar, y el frío y el calor habían llegado a destiempo. Por eso surgió la epidemia.
- Yin and yang were paired forces, such as dark and light or cold and heat. Scholars and doctors alike held that when they left their proper places, or the seasons came out of order, sickness followed.
ér而yú愚mín民xuán懸fú符yā厭zhī之yì亦kě可xiào笑yě也
Yet the foolish people hang talismans to suppress [ward off?] it; this too is laughable.
And yet foolish common folk hang up talismans to ward it off. That too is laughable.
Y aun así, la gente ignorante cuelga amuletos escritos para alejarla. Eso también da risa.
- Talismans were written charms bearing sacred signs or commands to spirits. People hung them on doors or wore them to drive away the ghosts and spirits believed to cause disease.
xī昔nián年jí疾yì疫qīn親gù故duō多lí罹qí其zāi災xú徐chén陳yīng應liú劉yī一shí時jù俱shì逝
In former years [Last year?] there was an epidemic; relatives and old friends [kin and old acquaintances?] in great number met with its calamity; Xu, Chen, Ying, and Liu at one time [at the same time?] all passed away.
Some time ago, when the epidemic came, many of my relatives and old friends were struck by the disaster. Xu, Chen, Ying, and Liu [four writers at the Cao court] all died within a short time.
Hace un tiempo, cuando llegó la epidemia, muchos de mis parientes y viejos amigos sufrieron la desgracia. Xu, Chen, Ying y Liu [cuatro escritores de la corte de los Cao] murieron todos en poco tiempo.
Questions a reader might ask, with short answers and the sections they rest on. Not yet checked.
What happens
When did this epidemic happen?
In the twenty-second year of the Jian'an era, 217 CE, when a pestilent qi spread through northern China.
Read section [1]
According to Cao Zhi, who died, and who was spared?
The poor, who wore coarse cloth, ate bean leaves and lived in huts of thorn branches. Few rich families, with great halls and sable furs, were among the sick.
What does Cao Zhi say caused the epidemic?
Yin and yang had left their proper places, and cold and heat had come at the wrong times. He rejects the belief that ghosts and spirits caused it and mocks people who hang up talismans.
Who were Xu, Chen, Ying and Liu?
Four writers at the Cao court, Xu Gan, Chen Lin, Ying Yang and Liu Zhen, all friends of the princes. Cao Pi wrote in 218 that they died within a short time of one another.
Read section [9]
Thinking further
Does Cao Pi's letter fit Cao Zhi's claim that the rich were seldom sick?
Not well. The epidemic killed members of the court's own literary circle, so it reached the elite too. Cao Zhi was a prince, and he probably saw the deaths of commoners only from a distance.
Why might the poor really have suffered more?
In better-recorded epidemics, crowding, hunger and poor housing raise the death rate among the poor. Cao Zhi's observation fits that pattern, though he explains it through yin and yang, not living conditions.
Who and what this source names, in the original. Each name links to every source in the library that mentions it. Not yet checked.
Ideas
- epidemic, plague, pestilence The words the writers themselves used for an epidemic: Greek loimos and nosos, Latin pestis, pestilentia and mortalitas, Chinese 疫 yi, Japanese 疫瘡 "epidemic sores". Sections [1], [4], [7], [9].
- ghosts and spirits (鬼神) Many people in early China believed that ghosts of the dead and other spirits caused illness. Sections [4].
- qi (氣) The vital breath or energy that Chinese thinkers saw in the body and in the world. Sections [1].
- rich and poor Whether the epidemic struck rich and poor alike. Sections [5], [6].
- talismans (符) Written charms bearing sacred signs or commands to spirits, hung on doors or worn to drive away the spirits believed to cause disease. Sections [8].
- yin and yang (陰陽) Paired forces, such as dark and light or cold and heat. Scholars and doctors alike held that when they left their proper places, or the seasons came out of order, sickness followed. Sections [7].
People
- Chen Lin (陳琳) Writer at the Cao court, one of the Seven Masters of the Jian'an era; died in the epidemic of 217. Sections [9].
- Liu Zhen (劉楨) Writer at the Cao court, one of the Seven Masters of the Jian'an era; died in the epidemic of 217. Sections [9].
- Xu Gan (徐幹) Writer at the Cao court, one of the Seven Masters of the Jian'an era; died in the epidemic of 217. Sections [9].
- Ying Yang (應瑒) Writer at the Cao court, one of the Seven Masters of the Jian'an era; died in the epidemic of 217. Sections [9].
Dates
- Jian'an 22 (建安二十二年) The 22nd year of the Jian'an reign period of the last Han emperor. Sections [1].
Other translations of this passage. Links go to copies that are free to read online.
“Cao Zhi: The Plague Airs,” positions politics
Chris Connery, 2020. English. In copyright.
The whole essay, with the Chinese. Free to read online.
Cao Pi, two letters to Wu Zhi, Renditions 41–42
Burton Watson, 1994. English. In copyright.
Cao Pi’s whole letter, including the lines on the epidemic. Free sample page.
Difficulty: Accessible, very short and plain; needs only the notes on qi and yin and yang.
Fits these units
- Explaining Disease Before Germs. How did people make sense of what they couldn't see?
- Who Gets Blamed?. Why do epidemics produce scapegoats?
- Reading Sources Critically. How do we decide whom to believe?
Key vocabulary
- qi
- the vital breath or energy that Chinese thinkers saw in the body and the world
- yin and yang
- paired opposite forces, such as dark and light or cold and heat; their balance, and the right order of the seasons, was thought to keep the body and the world healthy
- epidemic
- an outbreak of disease that spreads quickly through many people at once
- talisman
- a written charm believed to keep away evil spirits or disease
- commoner
- an ordinary person, not a noble or an official
- clan
- a large extended family sharing one surname and ancestors
- sable
- the dark, costly fur of a small animal related to the weasel
Questions
- Comprehension
According to Cao Zhi, who died in the epidemic of 217, who seldom fell sick, and what caused it?
- Analysis
Cao Zhi rejects one explanation and offers another. What evidence does he give for his own explanation, and what does he leave unexplained?
- Analysis (reliability)
Cao Zhi was a prince, and his essay survives only in quotations made centuries later. Compare his claim that few of the rich fell sick with his brother's letter. How should the letter change the way we use the essay as evidence?
- Connection
Read Zhang Zhongjing (P03). Cao Zhi says the epidemic of 217 struck mostly the poor, while Zhang, writing of the decade after 196, says he lost two of every three members of his large clan, most of them to Cold Damage. These are different epidemics and different families. What does each account suggest about who died, and why might two writers of the same era place the blame so differently?
Activity
Students stage a short hearing set in 217. One team argues, as Cao Zhi does, that disordered seasons caused the epidemic; a second team argues for ghosts and spirits, as the people he mocks did. A panel of judges asks each team what evidence it has, including Cao Pi's letter, and who might disagree, then writes a one-paragraph verdict on which team used evidence better.
New translation from the Classical Chinese texts quoted in the Taiping yulan (compiled 977–983), chapter 742, in the Wenyuan ge manuscript copy of the Siku quanshu (about 1780), compared with the opening lines quoted in a sixth-century commentary on the Hou Han shu, with Zhang Pu's Ming-dynasty collection of Cao Zhi's works, and, for Cao Pi's letter, with the Wenxuan.
The essay as it survives, and the lines of Cao Pi's letter quoted with it: 100 percent of the passages excerpted.
Nueva traducción al español sencillo. Claude (Anthropic) la redactó a partir del original, con nuestra versión en inglés como guía. Todavía no la ha revisado nadie por separado.
- Original
- Source text extracted by code from the named edition and collated against it. Edition: Taiping yulan 太平御覽 (compiled 977–983), juan 742 (疾病部五, 疫癘), leaf 14a–14b, Wenyuan ge 文淵閣 manuscript copy of the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 (checked Qianlong 45, about 1780). Digital text: Kanseki Repository KR3k0012, branch WYG (commit fcd4315). Collated with Zhang Pu 張溥, Han Wei Liuchao baisan jia ji, juan 26, leaves 96a–96b (Siku quanshu copy; KR4h0134, commit 37b6462), the Song printing (KR3k0012 SBCK transcription), the quotations of both texts in Liu Zhao's commentary on the Hou Han shu treatise on the Five Phases (KR2a0009, juan 27, commit 6db36b6), and, for Cao Pi's lines, the Wenxuan 文選, juan 42 (KR4h0001, commit b209c1a); collation only. Authors' text only.
- Transliterated
- Machine transliteration (pinyin), generated by script, not reviewed
- Close English
- Working literal draft, machine-drafted, not edited for publication
- Simplified English
- Drafted by Claude (Anthropic) from the original and checked unit by unit against the original in a separate review, then compared with earlier translations and tested for borrowed wording.
- Simplified Spanish
- Drafted by Claude (Anthropic). Not yet checked by a separate review.
- Editor’s review
- Not yet.
- Specialist review
- Not yet. Readings a specialist should confirm are listed for later review.
- Rights
- Original: public domain. Edition: public domain.
Sources for the notes
- Li Fang 李昉 et al., comps. Taiping yulan 太平御覽. Juan 742; front matter for the dates of compilation. Wenyuan ge Siku quanshu manuscript copy, about 1780. Digital text: Kanseki Repository, KR3k0012.
- Zhang Pu 張溥, comp. Han Wei Liuchao baisan jia ji 漢魏六朝百三家集. Juan 26. Wenyuan ge Siku quanshu manuscript copy, about 1781. Digital text: Kanseki Repository, KR4h0134.
- Cao Pi. "Letter to Wu Zhi" ("Yu Wu Zhi shu" 與吳質書), 218. In Wenxuan, compiled by Xiao Tong, juan 42. Modern punctuated text. Digital text: Kanseki Repository, KR4h0001.
- Chen Shou. Sanguo zhi (Records of the Three Kingdoms), Book of Wei, chapters 1 (Jian'an 22), 2 (Cao Pi takes the throne), 19 (biography of Cao Zhi), and 21, with Pei Songzhi's commentary (Wu Zhi; the letter dated Jian'an 23, 218). Wenyuan ge Siku quanshu manuscript copy, about 1776. Digital text: Kanseki Repository, KR2a0012.
- Fan Ye. Hou Han shu (History of the Later Han), chapter 9 (annals, Jian'an 22). Wenyuan ge Siku quanshu manuscript copy, about 1776, juan 9. Digital text: Kanseki Repository, KR2a0009.
- Sima Biao. "Treatise on the Five Phases" (Wuxing zhi), in the Hou Han shu, with Liu Zhao's commentary (the great epidemic of Jian'an 22). Wenyuan ge Siku quanshu manuscript copy, about 1776, juan 27. Digital text: Kanseki Repository, KR2a0009. The treatises in the Hou Han shu are Sima Biao's, from his Xu Han shu.
- Zhang Ji 張機 (Zhang Zhongjing). Zhujie Shanghan lun 注解傷寒論. Arranged by Wang Shuhe, with Cheng Wuji's commentary. Juan 2, "Shanghan li" 傷寒例 (sickness when a season's weather comes at the wrong time). Sibu congkan facsimile of a Ming printing. Digital text: Kanseki Repository, KR3e0008.
- Cheang, Alice W. Review of The Poetry of Cao Zhi, translated by Robert Joe Cutter. Journal of Chinese Studies, no. 76 (2023): 161–179.
- Mamelund, Svenn-Erik. "A Socially Neutral Disease? Individual Social Class, Household Wealth and Mortality from Spanish Influenza in Two Socially Contrasting Parishes in Kristiania 1918–19." Social Science & Medicine 62, no. 4 (2006): 923–940. Abstract.
- Mamelund, Svenn-Erik, Clare Shelley-Egan, and Ole Rogeberg. "The Association between Socioeconomic Status and Pandemic Influenza: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis." PLOS ONE 16, no. 9 (2021): e0244346. (Abstract and discussion.)
- Shih, Hsiang-Lin. Poetry of Loss and the Early Medieval Chinese Court of the Warlord Cao Cao (155–220). Leeds: Arc Humanities Press, 2024. Introduction and chapter 3, pages 53–55.