Listen to this articlehóng fàn 洪范
The Grand Rules
本义为大法，指人类生活所遵循的宇宙的根本法则。“洪范”一词出自《尚书》。“洪范”包括九个类别的法则，即“九畴”。“洪范九畴”划分了生活世界的不同领域，并规范了每个领域中最重要的元素，由此构建了天地自然、人伦政治以及天人关系中的基本秩序。古人认为，“洪范”所说的九种大法是上天赐予的，具有不可抗拒的权威。
This refers to the Grand Rules, i.e., the fundamental universal laws that all people follow in their life. The term first appeared in The Book of History. Composed of the Nine Great Rules, it divided human life into different areas, laid down the most important elements in each area, hence the basic order that determines the relations between heaven and earth, ethics and politics, and nature and mankind. Ancient people believed that the Nine Great Rules in the Grand Rules were bestowed by Heaven with irresistible authority.
引例 Citations：
◎箕子乃言曰：“我闻在昔，鲧（ɡǔn）堙（yīn）洪水，汩（ɡǔ）陈其五行。帝乃震怒，不畀（bì）洪范九畴，彝伦攸斁（dù）。鲧则殛死，禹乃嗣兴，天乃锡禹‘洪范’九畴，彝伦攸叙。”（《尚书·洪范》）
（箕子于是说：“我以前曾听闻，鲧封堵洪水，乱用了五行。上天于是震怒，不再赐予鲧九种大法，恒常的治国法则因此败坏了。鲧被流放至死，禹于是继承父业而兴起，上天将九种大法赐给了禹，恒常的治国法则因此恢复了秩序。”）
Jizi thus said: “I once learned that Gun misused the five elements, i.e., wood, fire, earth, metal and water, in his efforts to control the floods. The Ruler of Heaven was furious and deprived him of all the Nine Great Rules. As a result, the long-standing laws of governance of the state were jeopardized. Gun was sent in exile until his death. His son Yu took over his father’s duties and became very successful in harnessing the floods. Heaven bestowed the Nine Great Rules on him. Order was restored due to the operation of these long-standing laws of governance. (The Book of History)
