《古谣谚》·卷十四

至元十六年彰德路民謠

元史五行志二

葦生成旗。民皆流離。葦生成槍。殺伐遭殃。

Words referring to people (civilians) having to leave home and wander around to escape from war, and to how they are killed in the war.

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至正二十八年彰德路童謠

元史五行志二

塔兒黑。北人作主南人客。塔兒紅。朱衣人作主人公。

When the color of the Tian Ning tower was black, people from the north ruled; when the color of the tower was red, a man in red shall be the master. This is a children’s song predicting the coming to power of Zhu (meaning red) Yuan Zhang’s coming to power and the end of the Mongolian dynasty.

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至元十六年彰德民謠

元史五行志二

李生黃瓜。民皆無家。People become homeless when cucumbers grow on a plum tree. Words referring to the difficulty of life when China was in the transition from the Yuan (the Mongolian) dynasty to the Ming dynasty.

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至元五年八月京師童謠

元史五行志二

白雁望南飛。馬札望北跳。

The white geese fly towards the south and the horses jump towards the north. A children’s song in the capital city referring to the Mongolians’ heading north for home soon.

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至正五年淮楚間童謠

元史五行志二

富漢莫起樓。窮漢莫起屋。但看羊兒頭。便是吳家國。A rich man should not build a mansion and a poor man should not build a house. Simply looking at the head of a sheep, then you know yo