The Tribulations of Xuanyuan

The Book of Trials of Xuanyuan unfolds three thousand years of China’s cycles of order and upheaval through 108 signs. Drawing on the principles and structure of divination, it builds upon prophetic verses and odes, using natural imagery and divinatory symbols of objects to allude to changes in the state of the world. Running throughout the book is the historical cycle of “prosperity giving rise to hardship, hardship giving rise to chaos, chaos giving rise to worthy people, and worthy people restoring prosperity.” It avoids specific people, eras, and technologies, exploring only the human nature and patterns behind rise and decline. From the primordial chaos at the beginning of the Qianyuan era to the final tribulation of Xuanyuan’s return to rest, each sign holds the subtlety of being “interpretable, yet never fully interpretable.” The book is mysterious and uncanny like a prophecy, while also using historical cycles as a mirror to warn of the enduring logic that prosperity conceals worries and difficult circumstances give rise to change. It reveals both the winding course of China’s development and the profound essence of the cycle of Heaven’s way.