Chapter 28: Questions and Answers
"You are a writer, so your knowledge base should be broader than us ordinary folks. In the Tui Bei Tu, what is the prophecy of the third image?"
Chen Ran pondered for a moment before replying, "The prophecy of the third image is: The sun and moon high in the sky, shining upon the earth below. Blurry and perplexing, neither purely civil nor martial."
"How do you interpret that?" Li Annan asked.
"The sun and moon high in the sky: The sun and moon hanging high can symbolize the emperor and empress. If it symbolizes time, then it means day and night."
"Shining upon the earth below: The previous phrase implies above, while this one implies below, suggesting a hierarchical relationship. It can symbolize slaves or servants. If it refers to a location, it indicates that this event happens on the ground."
"Blurry and perplexing: The male rabbit kicks its feet, while the female rabbit narrows its eyes. When two rabbits run side by side, how can one tell the male from the female? These words symbolize men and women, but they can also symbolize genderless eunuchs."
"Neither purely civil nor martial: If not a civil official, then a military general. If not a scholar, then a common brute."
"Connect the four phrases of the prophecy, and the meaning becomes: This person—whether an emperor, an empress, a slave, a servant, a man, a woman, a eunuch, a civil official, a military general, a scholar, or a commoner—stood on the earth and did something."
"I remember there is also an accompanying illustration of a woman holding a knife. Holding a knife is also ambiguous; she could be going to kill someone, or she could be going to save someone."