The night-blooming cereus briefly appears. What does this mean? The brief appearance of the cereus blossom symbolizes a very short time. Because Yuan Shikai didn't have enough virtue, he was emperor for only eighty-three days. His eighty-three day reign was like a cereus flower, which only blooms for a short time at night.

In the east, west, north, and south, / Dragons quarrel and tigers battle. During the time of Yuan Shikai, the Hong Xian reign period, there was Feng Guozhang in Nanjing (the "southern capital"), Duan Qirei in Beijing (the "northern capital"), and others in Xijing (the "western capital") and Dongjing (the "eastern capital"). It was a time of the warlords vying over China, carving up chunks of the empire with each person staking his own claim. There they were in the north, south, east, and west, sparring like dragons and tigers. It was like the eight immortals crossing the ocean, each displaying his own spiritual powers. How long did this go on?

At seven and eight the fate is fixed. "Seven and eight" doesn't mean seven years or eight years. Nor does it mean seven times eight, which is fifty-six. It refers to seven years plus eight years, which is fifteen years. Therefore, this isn't talking about the seventh year or the eighth year of the Chinese Republic. It refers to the fifteenth year of the Republic (l926), the year that the North War Expedition [the attempt to unite the northern part of China] met with success. "At seven and eight the fate is fixed." It was all determined long before it happened. And throughout the land, things are roughly stabilized. At that time China began to have a little bit of peace and calm.

In the fourth verse, it's President Jiang's (Chiang Kaishek's) turn. What does the verse say?

Shields and spears are drawn
To busily catch the deer.
A hero in the bushes is about to descend the mountain.
Multitudes of valiant warriors, waiting and ever-ready,
Assemble at Jiangnan like clouds gathered by the wind. 
At Jinling the sun and moon again send forth their light.

Shields and spears are drawn / To busily catch the deer. / A hero in the bushes is about to descend the mountain. "Shields and spears are drawn" refers to battle. People armed themselves with knives and guns. This phrase also describes the time when warlords were carving up the empire. "To busily catch the deer." They all wanted to catch the deer, that is, to rule China. They wanted to make themselves kings. They all wanted to have control over China's territory, either as President, or as Chairman, or as head of the Ruling Committee. They all had the ambition of "catching the deer" (ruling China). We should pay attention to the line, "A hero in the bushes is about to descend the mountain." It's an allusion to President Jiang (Chiang Kai-shek). The top part of the character that is President Jiang's (蔣) surname has a grass radical (艸) [and so the word "bushes"(草莽) is used in this line]. The bottom part of the character Jiang (蔣) is the character "about to" (將), which also appears in this line. This refers to President Jiang coming out to make his appearance. He was the hero in the bushes who was about to come out of the mountains and bring peace and order to the country. Thus, the next lines say, "Multitudes of valiant warriors, waiting and ever-ready, / Assemble at Jiangnan like clouds gathered by the wind. / At Jinling the sun and moon again send forth their light." This is referring to the success of President Jiang's North War Expedition. At that time in China there were warlords who had staked out their territories all over the land. President Jiang went out and quelled the warlords, so the previous line read, "A hero in the bushes is about to descend the mountain."

Multitudes of valiant warriors, waiting and ever-ready: Many heroes and warriors were competing for power and fighting for control of the country. Assemble at Jiangnan like clouds gathered by the wind. At that time, they all converged in Nanjing. All of China's great warriors and statesman of the time gathered in Jiangnan, that is, in Nanjing. At Jinling the sun and moon again send forth their light. Jinling is another name for Nanjing. The sun and moon seemed to shine again in Jinling, and it wasn't so dark anymore. The sun came out again, and so Nanjing saw the light once more. This means that as early as the thirtieth year of the Guang Xu reign period [when this prophecy was spoken], it was already determined that President Jiang would come forth to govern the country.

It's probably due to the extremely heavy karma of killing that the people of China did not have the blessings to enjoy a life characterized by peace, prosperity, and seasonal winds and rains. When the internal turmoil had just about subsided, foreigners came to invade China. Who were these foreign invaders? They were the Japanese.

For several thousands of years, the Japanese have wanted to devour China. Do you know what the Japanese called the medicines they sold? They had a kind of medicine called Light and Quick Pills (qing kuai wan). Wan means "pill," but it also sounds like the word for "over," as in, "It will all be over soon." When people got sick, they would buy these Light and Quick Pills and swallow them. But the name was a pun meaning that the Qing dynasty would soon be over. [In Chinese, "Light and Quick Pills" sounds like "Qing is almost over."] You see, the Japanese had cherished the hope of swallowing China for a long time. They ate Light and Quick Pills to cure their illnesses. But they were thinking, "If we can overthrow the Qing dynasty and take over China, we'll all be free of sickness. What sickness will we be free of? The sickness of hunger. Our hunger will be satisfied." That's the story of the qing kuai wan. What's more, when they made oil-cakes, steamed buns, dough twists, and other pastries, they didn't call them pastries. They referred to them as "China." They treated their pastries, steamed buns--anything edible, in fact--as China. They would consume China. They would pick up their food and eat it as if it were China. That's how they brainwashed people with the idea that they would devour China one day.

The prophecy continues to say:

A tiger from Japan,
A wolf once it crosses the sea.
The red sun that fills the skies becomes dim and obscure.
The vast spiritual land is maimed and devastated.
Everywhere the people are crying for their fathers and mothers. 
With the rumble of spring thunder,
  sunshine and clear skies are seen.

A tiger from Japan. This is saying that the Japanese over there in Japan was like a tiger. Although Japan is a small country, the League of Nations were in fear of it. For what reason? The Japanese are daring, brave, and fearless in the face of death. One time, before the Second World War, the League of Nations organized a military drill out at sea. At that time, it was still called the League of Nations, not the United Nations. Since I'm not an archaeologist or a historian, I don't know the exact date. However, that time the troops of all the various countries--England, France, Germany, the United States, and others--were going through the steps of the drill on their own cruisers. The drill sergeant called out, "Forward march!" and all the soldiers started marching forward. When the troops of the other countries reached the edge of their respective ships, they continued marching in place, lifting their feet up and bringing them down without moving forward. But what did the Japanese soldiers do when they reached the edge of their cruiser? They walked right into the ocean, with no fear of death whatsoever. After that incident, the allied troops of the League of Nations didn't dare to look down on the Japanese army. Everyone thought, "Wow! What a military spirit! They aren't afraid to die!" The allied troops of the League of Nations were just about scared out of their wits. That's why the Japanese are likened to a tiger. They are as fierce and brave as a tiger.

A wolf once it crosses the sea. They crossed over the sea from Japan and landed in China. In their own country, they were likened to a tiger. They were as feared as tigers. After they crossed the sea, they turned into a wolf. Wolves are even more vicious than tigers. They roam about at night, devouring young children and carrying off piglets, stealing what belongs to people to make a meal for themselves. The Japanese are likened to a wolf after they crossed the sea. When they came to invade China, they were even worse than a tiger. They turned into a wolf. There was no way in which they did not go to the extreme. One knows not how many Chinese were killed. Thus the red sun that fills the skies becomes dim and obscure. There was a sun, but the sun was obscured and everything was gloomy. Originally there had been a red sun in the sky, but at that time everything became dark and gloomy. Why? The sun and moon no longer shone. It was like twilight, for the sun and moon didn't give off any light. At this time they turned China into the vast spiritual land, maimed and devastated. One of the names of China is "spiritual land," because from of old many people in China cultivated the spiritual path and became immortals. It is called the "spiritual land," a place where spirits and immortals gathered. But now it was ripped to shreds, as the Japanese went through China burning, killing, plundering, raping, and doing all they could to maim and devastate the country.
Everywhere the people are crying for their fathers and mothers. There was a mass exodus--flocks of people trying to escape the calamities of war. Children everywhere were calling out for their fathers and mothers. They couldn't find their families. They were wandering without a home. This line refers to a situation in which everyone was fleeing from the war and living a vagabond life. The circumstances were so cruel and distressing that one could not bear to witness them. "Everywhere the people are crying for their fathers and mothers." With the rumble of spring thunder, sunshine and clear skies are seen. "Spring thunder" refers to the atomic bomb. The sound of the atomic bomb exploding was like the rumble of spring thunder. As soon as it exploded, the skies cleared up and the sun could be seen again.

The next verse is the sixth one, and it refers to the Xian Incident. The lines concerning the Xian Incident are as follows:

Within the army barracks,