MDDM Ch. 64 As above, so below

[jbor]

      Hsi cackles. "As above, so below. Eclipses indicate for all to see
    that something is wrong in the very Heart of the State,...tho' with this
    Emperor, if *anything* goes amiss, his shoes failing to fit, his
    Luncheon disagreeing with him, whatever it is, he'll blame it 'pon the
    Eclipse,-- that is, upon us."
      Ho groans. "Our heads, for a little indigestion?" (624.22)

The jokey repetition by Zhang of this cliché or motif in this interlude
seems to undercut its supposed pertinence to the novel as a whole, or at
least it demonstrates how such a formulation is open to travesty and abuse.

best