Dream Galaxy

Anecdote collection · Light & dark

Swallowing the sun

Guangling (Yangzhou), China · c. 920 (Wu kingdom)

應選之廣陵，夢吞日。既寤，腹猶熱。

Original text — Taiping Guangji, dream volumes 276–282, Li Fang et al. (compilers)

On his way to Guangling for official selection, he dreamed he swallowed the sun. When he woke, his belly was still warm.

Translation · Editorial translation (draft)

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Source
Taiping Guangji, dream volumes 276–282 — Li Fang et al. (compilers), 978
Rights
Public domain (ancient text)
Record type
Anecdote collection
Place
Guangling (Yangzhou), China · Chinese
Date
c. 920 (Wu kingdom)
Uncertainty
High — Anecdote preserved in the Taiping Guangji (978); the dream is reported, not first-hand.
Imagery
Sun · Light
Feelings
Wonder · Awe

How traditions have read this kind of dream

Psychological

Dreamers often report vivid light, shadow and colour. Ellis observed that vision dominates dreams even though the eyes are closed; some later writers treat light and dark as figures for knowing and not-knowing.

Ellis (1911), ch. IV

Mythological

Sun, moon and stars bow to Joseph in his dream; across cultures celestial lights mark rank, destiny and the order of the cosmos.

Genesis 37

Chinese traditions

The moon in Chinese poetry is a shared light across distance — the same moon seen by people far apart — which is why it appears so often in dreams of absent loved ones.

Su Shi; Du Fu

These are cultural lenses, not a diagnosis.

Dreams that share its images