ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with an account of a panic that took place in Ch'ang-an; it will close with an account of the successful action taken by Chinese officials in an emergency. Panic broke out in Ch'ang-an city in the late summer of 30 bc. Earlier in the year incessant rain had fallen for over thirty days in the three metropolitan districts, bringing floods in its wake. Shih Tan said that the heir commanded the loyal support of the people; officials would refuse, to the point of death, to accept an edict ordering a change in the succession; and he himself would seek permission to die first in such a cause. The end of the panic was marked by an imperial edict, issued in the ninth month of 30 bc. 'The panic which overcame the population owing to the fear of floods marked the zenith of the power of Yin.
