Scholarly Debates and Error Correction
辨訛·辨偽
Preface to the Scholarly Debates
辨論序言
Declaration of Critical Intent
批判宣言
術士好奇而嗜利，論言繁興，比以為吉，彼以為凶。自漢褚少孫補史記已言之，況又經六代唐宋元明以來，其謬說又不知凡幾。二十四向而神煞盈千，六十甲子而術家盈百。以前民利用之且而成惑世誕民之書，不可不辨也。
Diviners love novelty and crave profit; their theories and pronouncements have proliferated endlessly -- one calls a thing auspicious, another calls it inauspicious. This was already noted when Chu Shaosun supplemented the Shiji in the Han dynasty, and through the Six Dynasties, Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming the erroneous theories have multiplied beyond count. Twenty-four compass directions, yet spirit-sha number over a thousand; sixty sexagenary combinations, yet divination methods number over a hundred. Books that were once useful to the people have become works that confuse the world and deceive the populace -- they cannot go unexamined.
Scope of the Debates
辨論範圍
顧流傳民間者隨地而異，耳目難周。卷中辨論者，夫亦舉一隅云耳。作辨論。
What circulates among the people varies by locality, and it is impossible to observe everything. The debates in this volume merely raise one corner [of the issue], that is all. Thus we compose this critical examination.
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