至元十六年彰德路民謠
元史五行志二
葦生成旗。民皆流離。葦生成槍。殺伐遭殃。
Words referring to people (civilians) having to leave home and wander around to escape from war, and to how they are killed in the war.
至正二十八年彰德路童謠
元史五行志二
塔兒黑。北人作主南人客。塔兒紅。朱衣人作主人公。
When the color of the Tian Ning tower was black, people from the north ruled; when the color of the tower was red, a man in red shall be the master. This is a children’s song predicting the coming to power of Zhu (meaning red) Yuan Zhang’s coming to power and the end of the Mongolian dynasty.
至元十六年彰德民謠
元史五行志二
李生黃瓜。民皆無家。People become homeless when cucumbers grow on a plum tree. Words referring to the difficulty of life when China was in the transition from the Yuan (the Mongolian) dynasty to the Ming dynasty.
至元五年八月京師童謠
元史五行志二
白雁望南飛。馬札望北跳。
The white geese fly towards the south and the horses jump towards the north. A children’s song in the capital city referring to the Mongolians’ heading north for home soon.
至正五年淮楚間童謠
元史五行志二
富漢莫起樓。窮漢莫起屋。但看羊兒頭。便是吳家國。A rich man should not build a mansion and a poor man should not build a house. Simply looking at the head of a sheep, then you know you have neither home nor country. A children’s song referring to the rough life under the Mongolians’ rule.
至正十五年京師童謠
元史五行志二
一陣黃風一陣沙。 千里萬里無人家。 回頭雪消不堪看。 三眼和尚弄瞎馬。A gusty yellow and dusty wind blows on thousands of miles where people do not reside. When one turns one’s head, the snow melts before sees it. A three-eyed monk is playing with a blind horse.
元統二年彰德民謠
元史五行志二
天雨【氂】。 事不齊。
When the sky is raining white hair, everything is going wrong.
至元三年彰德民謠
元史五行志二
天雨線。 民起怨。 中原地。 事必變。
When the sky is raining threads, people are complaining greatly. Something severe is going to happen to the central plains (of China).
金末庚午歲童謠
元史郭寶玉傳
搖搖罟罟至。 河南拜閼氏。
A children’s song predicting the defeat of the Jin army by the invading Mongolian army.
夏貴引諺
元史洪君祥傳
殺人一萬。 自損三千。
When one kills ten thousand people in a war, one has to lose three thousand sodiers at the same time.
雷州民為烏古孫澤歌
元時烏古孫澤傳
舄鹵為田兮。 孫父之教。 渠之泱泱兮。
長我稻。 自今有生兮。 無旱無澇。
A song sung by people of Lei Zhou praising their official Wu Gu Sun Ze, who was able to plan irrigation for farm lands properly.
時人為歸暘吳柄語
元史歸暘傳
歸暘出角。 吳柄無光。
Words praising Gui Yang for not going along with some people who failed in an attempt to establish their own government during the Yuan dynasty. His contemporary Wu Bing went along and was despised.
紹興鄉里為俞母語
元史列女聞氏傳
欲學孝婦。 當問俞母。If one wants to be a filial daughter-in-law, one should consult Yu Xin’s wife.
蘇州民為張士信等謠
明史五行志三
丞相做事業。 專靠黃蔡葉。 一朝西風起。 乾。
Words predicting the defeat and death of Zhang Shi Cheng, who was one of the major warlords at the end of Yuan dynasty
建文初年道士歌
明史五行志三
莫逐燕。 逐燕日高飛。 高飛上帝畿。
A song sung by a Taoist practitioner predicting the coming to power of Emperor Cheng, who took away the throne from his nephew Emperor Jian Wen by military force.
正統二年京師小兒歌
明史五行志三
雨帝雨帝。 城隍土地。 雨若再來。 還我土地。
A children’s song sung in the capital city, predicting that when Ming’s Emperor Ying, who was captured by a northern tribe, returned to the capital, his younger brother, who took over the throne, would have to give the throne back to him.
萬曆末年道士歌
明史五行志三
委鬼當頭坐。 茄花遍地生。
A song sung by a Taoist predicting that when the eunuch Wei Zong Xian took control of the court, there would be much bloodshed.
萬曆末年謠
明史五行志三
鄴臺復鄴臺。 曹操 (《古谣谚》人物)再出來。
A rumor predicting an uprising organized by Luo Ru Cai against the Ming government.
官人為馬后歌
明史太祖孝慈高皇后馬氏傳
我后聖慈。 化行家邦。 撫我育我。
懷德難忘。 懷德難忘。 於萬斯年。
毖彼下泉。 悠悠蒼天。
A song sung by the servant maids in the Ming court about Empress Ma who was really kind to everyone, including the emperor’s concubines in the court.
方孝孺絕命詞
明史方孝孺傳
天降亂離兮。 孰知其由。 奸臣得計兮。 謀國用猶。
忠臣發憤兮。 血淚交流。 以此殉君兮。 抑又何求。嗚呼哀哉兮。 庶不我尤。Words said by Fang Xiao Ru, who was loyal to Jian Wen Emperor, before he was executed by Emperor Cheng, who took away Jian Wen’s throne by military force. In these words, he said he did not regret dying for the cause of being loyal to his emperor.
韓郁引諺
明史高巍傳
親者割之不斷。 疏者續之不堅。
It is impossible to cut off one’s relations with one’s blood relatives, just as it is impossible to establish any bond with someone who is not a blood relative.
時人為韓雍陳選語
明史陳選傳
前有韓雍。 後有陳選。
Words referring to two greedy and corrupted officials.
江陰民為周斌歌
明史楊瑄傳附周斌傳
旱為災。 周公 (《古谣谚》人物)禱之甘露來。 水為患。 周公禱之陰雨散。
A song sung by people of Jiang Yin concerning their official Zhou Pin, who was able to call for rain when people needed rain, and able to stop rain when a flood was forming.
京師為左鼎練綱語
明史左鼎傳
左鼎手。 練綱口。
Words spread in the capital city concerning two officials. Zuo Ding was good at writing reports to the emperor, and Lian Gang dared to say anything to the emperor.
成化時謠
明史萬安傳
紙糊三閣老。 泥塑六尚書。
Words referring to those high-ranking officials surrounding the emperor. The words describe how incompetent and useless they were.
時人為朱銓龍文語
明史石亨傳
朱三千。 龍八百。
Words referring to how two people actually bought their way into the government posts they were holding.
彭時引諺
明史彭時傳
子出多母。
A son comes out of many mothers. A proverb used by Peng Shi to advise the emperor to spread his love to different concubines in the court instead of just focusing on one who could no longer bear children, since the emperor still had no heir at the time.
時人為李東陽劉健謝遷語
明史劉健傳
李公謀。 劉公斷。 謝公尤侃侃。Mr. Li was good at thinking, Mr. Liu was good at judging, Mr. Xie was good at speaking. Words referring to three outstanding officials during Ming’s Emperor Xiao’s reign.
時人為王恕謠
明史王恕傳
兩京十二部。 獨有一王恕。
Words about how Wang Shu, a high-ranking official, was always ready to tell the emperor what he thought was right, to the point at which the emperor was tired of him, too.
川東人為梳賊官軍土兵謠
明史洪鐘傳
賊如梳。 軍如篦。 土兵如剃。
A song sung by people of Eastern Si Chuan about how the government troops were killing and robbing the people, like the bandits they were trying to catch.
潯州人為陳金語
明史陳金傳
永通不通。 來葬江中。 誰其作者。 噫。 陳公。Words by people of Xun Zhou complaining about how Chen Jin, the governor of Southern China, had come up with a bad policy to deal with the minority group Miao.
江西民為土賊土兵謠
明史陳金傳
土賊猶可。 土兵殺我。
A song sung by people of Jiang Xi about how the government troops were worse to the civilians than were the bandits whom the troops were trying to eliminate.
都下為林俊張黻語
明史林俊傳
御史刑曹。 黃門出後府。
Words referring to how two officials who would not flatter and bribe got into trouble and were thrown in jail.
京師為嚴嵩嚴世蕃謠
明史楊繼盛傳
大丞相。 小丞相。
Words referring to the father and son, Yan Song and Yan Shu Fan. They were dominating the court even without official titles.
都門為萬采方祥諺
明史董傳策傳
文武管家。
Words referring to how two officials in the court were serving Yan Song as though they were his butlers.
呂坤引蜀民語
明史呂坤傳
入山一千。 出山五百。
Words said by the loggers of Si Chuan about how logging was a tough job. You got one thousand man to the mountain and you would only get half of them out of the mountain alive.
都人為陳與郊語
明史王汝訓傳
欲京堂。 須彈章。
Words said about Chen Yu Jiao, who were impeached and yet were promoted after that. The words said that if one wanted to be promoted to high positions, one should be impeached first.
南康士民為林學曾李應昇謠
明史李應昇傳
前林後李。 清和無比。
A song sung by people of Nan Kang referring to two very good judges who were able to save innocent lives.
秦中士民為曹文詔謠
明史曹文詔傳
軍中有一曹。 西賊聞之心膽搖。
A song sung by people of Shan (first tone) Xi and Shan (third tone) Xi about Cao Wen Zhao, who was in charge of eliminating bandits in these two provinces. The words say that if there is one Cao in the army, all the bandits will be scared just by the thought of him.
諸軍為左良玉猛如虎謠
明史猛如虎傳
想殺我左鎮。 跑殺我猛鎮。
Words said by the soldiers about two generals. They missed Zuo Liang Yu, since he never let them work too hard, and they complained about Meng Ru Hu, since he trained them too hard.
濟寧人為方克勤歌
明史方克勤傳
孰罷我役。使君之力。孰活我黍。
使君之雨。使君勿去。我民父母。
A song sung by people of Ji Ning about their official Fang Ke Qin: It is all because of him that we get out of mandatory labor, it is he who gets us rain for our crops, and he had better not go anywhere as he is like a parent of the people.
松江民為趙豫謠
明史趙豫傳
松江太守明日來。
Teasing words said by people of Song Jiang about their new governor, Zhao Yu. People of Song Jiang liked to sue one another. Zhao Yu would advise them to think things through and come back tomorrow. The words go like this: the Song Jiang Governor will come tomorrow.
時人為何廷仁黃宏綱錢德洪王畿語
明史錢德洪傳
江有何黃。 浙有錢王。
Words referring to the outstanding students of Wang Shou Ren, who could really expound their teacher’s thoughts well.
吳人為皇甫氏張氏兄弟語
明史皇甫涍傳
前有四皇。 後有三張。Words referring to the good writers: four brothers of the Huang Fu household, and three brothers of the Zhang household.
館中為許國李維楨語
明史李維楨傳
記不得。 問老許。 做不得。 問小李。Words said by people in the National Archive of certain period of Ming dynasty. If you do not remember something ask Xu Guo Qi, if you cannot do something well, ask Li Wei Zhen. These are words praising the two knowledgeable people.
焦芳引諺
明史閹黨焦芳傳
無錢揀故紙。If one does not have money to buy new paper, one should just use some scrap paper from before. A proverb suggesting how a poor person can save money.
時人為李恆茂李魯生李蕃語
明史閹黨霍維華傳
官要起。 問三李。
If one wants to get government jobs or be promoted, one should ask those three Mr. Li’s who are hot at the moment.
時人為田爾耕謠
明史閹黨田爾耕傳
大兒田爾耕。
Words referring to one man, Tian Er Geng, who worked for Wei Zhong Xian, a powerful eunuch during a certain period of Ming. He was almost like the big son of Wei Zhong Xian (who could not possibly have sons).
福王時南都人語
明史奸臣馬士英傳
職方賤如狗。都督滿街走。
Words referring to the time when an evil court official, Ma Shi Ying, was dominant. At that time, one would only have to pay him to get a government job.
華人為貓里務語
明史合貓里國傳
若要富。須往貓里務。
If one wants to get rich, one should go to Ma Li Wu, the small island nation that was a trading center at the time. It is close to the present-day Philippines.
舟人往西洋諺
明史賓童龍國傳
上怕七州。下怕崑崙。針迷舵失。人船無存。
Words referring to the danger of traveling on ships to oceans west of China.
真臘諺
明史真臘國傳
富貴真臘。
Words referring to a rich country, Zhen La.
三佛齊國舊港語
明史三佛齊國傳
一年種穀。 三年生金。
Words referring to the country San Fuo Qi in present day Southeast Asia. This place has very fertile, arable land and very prosperous trading activities.