Following the pattern of God.
God said to King Wen:
Take measures against hostile States,
Along with your brethren,
Get ready your engines of assault,
To attack the walls of Tsʼung.[20]
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After Wu became the Emperor the worship of ancestors was promoted, and dragons, tortoises, and phœnixes made regular appearances, while vegetation flourished, and the mugwort grew so plentifully that a palace could be erected from it.
After Wu died spirit-birds appeared, and a mysterious bean, which was an elixir, grew up. The Crown Prince was still a minor, and for seven years the Duke of Chou acted as regent. Accompanied by the young king the duke visited the Ho and the Lo. The king dropped a gem into the water, and after day declined “rays of glory came out and shrouded all the Ho (Yellow River), and green clouds came floating in the sky. A green dragon came to the altar, and went away. They did the same at the Lo, and the same thing happened.” A tortoise appeared, and on its shell were writings that told of the fortunes of the empire till the dynasties of Tsʼin and Han.[21]
The tortoise-shell and stalks of a variety of grass were long used in China for purposes of divination. What the tortoise and the grass revealed was supposed to be the will of the spirits. Nowadays lots are drawn, spirit-writing is believed in, and revelations are supposed to be made when a bean symbol is tossed in the air, as is a coin in the West; when the flat side is uppermost the tosser is supposed to receive a refusal to his prayer.