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Stove

Dreamed between 445 & 225 BCE by a dwarf courtier of Wei

The Book of Han Fei Zi records that when Wei Ling Gong was the king of the Wei, he was extremely dictatorial and he relied heavily for advice on a single favorite minister, Mi Zi Xia.

A dwarf came to the king and said, "All I dreamed came to be true." Wei Ling Gong asked what he had dreamed that came true, and, the dwarf said, "l dreamed about the stove god and now I see you."

The king was enraged, and said, "When people dream of the sun, it is said that they will then see the emperor. You say that before seeing me you dreamed of a stove. How is this?"

The dwarf said, "The sun gives light to the universe and nothing can be protected from it. Likewise, the emperor's virtue covers the whole country and no one can resist it; that is why if one dreams of the sun he sees the emperor. But if only one person sits in front of a stove, all the others behind him cannot see the light or feel the heat. At present, when deciding matters of state, you only listen to your favorite, Mi Zi Xia. He is like a person sitting right in front of the stove, blocking the light and heat. Looking at it this way, aren't you more like the stove god than the sun?

Therefore, I dreamed of a stove and it is natural that I saw you."

EDITOR'S NOTE

This account is old, from the Warring States period; the state of Wei rose in 445 BCE and fell in 225. Wikipedia's list of its kings omits Wei Ling Gong, so I can't date it more precisely than this; and the dreamer's unnamed. A shame. I'd like to honor him. This was gutsy. Long tradition in courts all over the Old World gave jesters, especially if small, license to tell kings what others dared not. But autocrats lash out.

--Chris Wayan

SOURCE: The Interpretation of Dreams in Chinese Culture by Fang Jing Pei and Zhang Juwen (2000) pp. 137.


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