Author:
Unknown scholars of the Dun Huang area (China), ca. 900 AC
Editor and translator: Arne Walter Ziems, August 2020
More Info: www.othala.me
This book is part of the series “Translations of Chinese Classics”:
Vol. I : The Duke of Zhou´s Book of Dreams
Vol. II : The Dun Huang Source Book of Dreams
Bibliographische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek:
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in
der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische
Daten sind im Internet über www.dnb.de abrufbar.
© 2020 Arne Walter Ziems
Herstellung & Verlag:
BoD – Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt
ISBN: 978-3-7494-1837-4
Chinese characters compose a picture illustrating an idea. As an image can carry way more meaning than mere words, I did my best to put the image painted into sentences, hoping to grasp the idea and convey the meaning.
The translated text dates back to the late Tang Dynasty, it is about 1100 to 1200 years old. Several copies have been transmitted through time. Some of these copies differ in their transmitted content.
Sometimes you will find three different lines transmitted, the interpretation of these might also contradict the meaning of a transmitted line from another copy.
The respective lines of the original text are written without any punctuation. I took the freedom to separate the dream image from the interpretation or divination for the purpose of easier comprehension.
Throughout the time of Imperial China, dreams were given a very high importance. In fact so much, that the messages of the dreams were regarded as unerring indicators or omens for success or failure. Dreams were seen to indicate the rise or fall of a person into position and salary, they would forecast health, disease or death, a happy or an unhappy home, the arrival of important matters and letters etc.
The Dun Huang Source Book of Dreams dates back to the late Tang Dynasty, around 1100 to 1200 years back from today. Unlike the modern western psychology of dream interpretation it is not based on hypothetical guesswork were one invents some frame of symbology and then tries to prove by the dreams that the hypothesis should be right. On the contrary, the approach of the old Chinese was that of a true empirical science, finding veracity and meaning of the dream symbols by first recording the dreams in detail and then waiting out what events happened in the life of the dreamer. They collected an extensive base of case studies in that manner and only when a solid database had been established, they would match the symbols of the dreams to the outcomes that most likely would follow them. To be able to do this, they would entertain a number of sites, usually temples or monasteries, where they would invite people to have their dreams recorded. Other than that, the precursory dreams of individuals having gotten into positions of high power, like becoming Dukes, Ministers to the Emperor or even Emperors themselves were studied in detail as well. Therefore, dreams could be a highly political matter. Subsequently, some books regarding the interpretation of dreams were falsified or even forged. The far more on history progresses, the more likely this becomes and it is the same in any culture. The oldest book and the core reference work on the interpretation of dreams remains to be “The Duke of Zhou´s Book of Dreams”, written down around 3100 years previous to today. That book is already about 1800 years older than the text of this book on dream interpretation. The content of the book of the Duke of Zhou does not contradict itself. The content of this book in some instances does. For some lines which contradict the interpretation of the Duke of Zhou, I added a notation if so. However, I did not compile a full comparison. The book itself was recorded in the area of Dun Huang, the book is named after the area it was recorded at.
The comparison with the images of my own dreams and that of other people who told me their dreams, however isolated and not statistically relevant, suggest that the interpretations given are accurate. I view the single divinations as modules which can be combined and adapted as necessary. Also, the items of the symbols may change in time, like few people use handcarts anymore. But the symbol itself remains unaffected, independent from the item. E.g. a bell as a symbol remains a bell, whereas in a dream nowadays it can be a bell, a doorbell, a telephone bell etc. Or the symbol of a “fast running horse” may still shape the image of a fast running horse, or it may be a race car. Or people dreamt of flying then as they do now, even though there were no planes around back then. So I would suggest to look for the symbol, not so much for the particular shape or image your subconscious chose to deliver the symbol.
Another use of the book I would like to propose could be for the use of decoding omens of daily life. I got aware of this while translating the book and observing unusual coincidences and what happened shortly after in life with the dream images and divinations of this book. This is about what the Church calls “superstition”, some western science calls “coincidence”, some western science calls “chance” and some other western science calls “synchronicity”, “synchronicity” and “coincidence” are very similar in their meaning, but used with a very different attitude by the respective followers of the western science sect.
夢見天門及觀天者，其人富貴長命
Dreaming of seeing the Heavens Gate and reaching it or those who observe the Heaven, such people will have riches and honours constantly in their fate.
夢見天上有人下來者, 大吉
Dreaming about someone coming down from Heaven, very auspicious
夢見天者, 主得財
Dreaming about the sky, Master gaining wealth
夢見天者, 禍患消除
Dreaming about the sky, disaster removed
夢見天門者, 有喜事
Dreaming about the Heavens Gate, there will be a wedding/happy occasion
夢見天開破者，必有軍事
Dreaming about the sky splitting open, there will be military matters
夢見天破赤開，必憂早行（夢見天裂，大吉利）
Dreaming about the sky splitting open red, certainly worry about a mourning arriving (Dreaming about the sky splitting open, very auspicious and lucky)
夢見炎天，必為國兵（有戰事）
Dreaming about a burning sky, becoming a soldier (there will be war)
夢見天地大小者，軍事起不吉
Dreaming about [seeing] Heaven and Earth [the entire world], military affairs rising inauspicious
夢見天白色者，禍患除
Dreaming about a white sky, disaster removed
夢見上天者大吉，生貴子 (夢見上天，入官得祿，大吉）
Dreaming about flying to the sky very auspicious, giving birth to a noble son (Dreaming about flying to the sky, entering the government and obtaining official salary, very auspicious)
夢見天地合者，所求皆得
Dreaming about Heaven and Earth joining, succeeding in all cases to which one attains
夢見天上黑氣貫地，時疫疾病
Dreaming about the Heaven passing down dark chi towards the Earth, time of plague and disease
夢見天上草木落，得財
Dreaming about grass and trees [vegetation] falling from the sky above, obtaining wealth
夢見天明者，合大喜
Dreaming about the rising sun, joining exultation
夢見天帝釋者，大吉
Dreaming about the Jade Emperor or the Buddha, very auspicious
夢見天崩者，年大荒
Dreaming about the sky collapsing, year of huge desolation/scarcity