《资治通鉴·汉纪·汉纪五十四》
州、郡长官自拥有强兵，不肯进贡。官员们又饿又乏，尚书郎以下的官员自己出去采摘野菜。有人饿死于断墙残壁之间，有人被士兵杀死。袁术认为，民间流行的一句预言 代汉者当途高 中的 途 与自己的名字 术 和表字 公路 相应，并认为袁氏的祖先出于春秋时代的陈国，是舜的后裔，舜是土德，黄色；汉是火德，赤色；以黄代赤，是五行运转顺序。于是他就有了篡位的打算。
袁术以谶言 代汉者当涂高 ，自云名字应之。又以袁氏出陈，为舜后，以黄代赤，德运之次，遂有偕逆之谋。
The governors of states and counties had their own strong soldiers and refused to pay tribute. The officials were hungry and tired, and the officials below Shulang went out to pick wild vegetables. Some starved to death between the broken walls and ruins, and some were killed by soldiers. Yuan Shu believed that “途” in the popular prophecy “代汉者当途高” corresponded to his name “术” and his style “Gonglu”, and that the Yuan clan originated from the State of Chen in the Spring and Autumn Period, and was a descendant of Shun. Shun was the virtue of Earth, yellow; the Han was the virtue of Fire, red; yellow replaced red, which was the order of the five elements. So he planned to usurp the throne.